Chapter 83

Future chapters (15+) at patreon.com/FFAddict. Thank you!

The bar.

Pilar was cautiously entering the restroom.

He was tasked by everyone to check on Maine's situation in the restroom.

To avoid startling Maine, Pilar could only sneak in stealthily.

First, he peeked to make sure the wash area was empty before heading toward the stalls.

Approaching the stalls, he heard the clinking of glass bottles falling to the floor.

Pilar hid around the corner to take a closer look at the scene inside.

A row of tightly closed toilet cubicles, and from under the door of the furthest one, several empty suppressant vials were scattered.

"Hiss..."

"How many bottles has he injected?"

Pilar began to realize that the situation was much worse than they had anticipated.

At this moment.

Maine was sitting on the glowing white toilet, his hefty right hand picking up a green suppressant bottle and injecting it into his left arm.

As the liquid slowly entered his body, the bottle fell to the ground, rolling out from under the partition door, leaving eight or nine empty suppressant vials scattered on the floor.

Unlike before, Maine didn't feel the wave of comfort that reactivated his numb arm.

He could only try to flex his left hand, which wasn't very responsive. His five distinct fingers quivered twice.

"Damn it..."

No matter how many suppressant bottles he injected, his arm felt numb, as if the signal had been blocked, difficult to control.

Maine gripped his left hand tightly with his right, forcefully bending each finger, trying to restore their mobility.

But in response, only numb trembling greeted him.

Indeed.

His left hand was trembling visibly, worse than alcohol intoxication.

Maine clutched his fingers hard, desperately trying to stop them from shaking as if hiding a scar he didn't want to see.

But the harder he tried to control it, the more his left hand shook, like a demon that had been chocking him viciously, growing stronger now.

And Maine, progressively weakening, was unable to prevent it from taking his arm.

Suddenly.

He looked up, his gaze filled with exhaustion and panic.

He found himself once again in the scorching sun-drenched wasteland.

Several blurry tracks extended before him.

The long-lost thirst filled Maine's throat; he had barely started when sweat drenched him, leaving him utterly spent.

Maine stood up, driven by a single conviction: to move forward.

Dragging his weary body, he took each step forward, gradually quickening his pace, walking, then running without purpose or end in sight.

Under the blazing sun, surrounded by yellow sand.

Maine ran alone without knowing how long, only stopping for breath at the end of the track.

The finish line?

Why did he first come to Night City?

Was it with dreams?

Or was he driven by circumstances?

He tried hard to remember, but in the end, could recall nothing.

Suddenly.

He heard someone calling and snapped back to reality.

"Maine?"

Pilar's voice came from outside the door, followed by Falco's.

"Maine, are you okay? Let's talk; there might be something wrong with your body..."

Pilar was nervously waiting outside. Concerned that he couldn't control Maine alone, he had called for the calm and steady Falco.

"All right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you asking if I'm going to become a cyberpsycho?"

"Do you think I'll end like that?"

Pilar found himself in an awkward position as the atmosphere became eerie.

"Maine, I didn't mean that..."

But all he heard was a cold response from inside.

"Stay away from me."

The two of them had no choice but to remain silent, waiting outside.

Maine tightly gripped his trembling arm, muttering to himself.

"I've come this far, there's no way I'm downgrading my cyberware!"

"What have I worked so hard for..."

A moment later.

The cubicle door slowly opened, and the hulking Maine stood there, his expression hidden behind aviator glasses.

Falco tried to reach out and steady Maine but was pushed away.

"Shut up! No one understands my body better than me!"

"I've been in this business for so long, I've persevered, and I'm not going to give up halfway!"

Ignoring the concerns of the two, Maine headed straight out of the restroom, leaving behind a pile of empty suppressant vials.

Pilar and Falco exchanged glances, both seeming to understand something.

Just as Maine was leaving, a drunken man in a suit, holding a bottle in his right hand and wrapping his left arm around a young woman, was swaggering toward the restroom.

The two were flirting heavily, enjoying each other's company.

"Come on, let's go to the restroom... Get it done for me there, you'll be paid handsomely, heh heh heh..."

The two paid no attention to the mountainous Maine approaching and bumped head-on into him.

The solid body hit like a wall, leaving the drunk man dazed, rubbing his head and cursing, "Are you blind..."

Before he could finish.

Half of his head simply vanished above the neck, followed by his arm around the young woman, which slid limply from his waist to the ground, leaving a lifeless corpse and hot blood gushing from the neck, splattering all over.

Pieces of brain and bone were scattered far and wide.

Young couples engaged in hot action were spattered with something on their faces, unaware of what had happened, and continued their passionate embrace.

The messy music masked the sound of the skull's explosion, sounding like nothing more than a thump from a subwoofer.

The dim lighting disguised the blood, making it seem as vibrant as lipstick.

The headless body collapsed completely, and the young woman beside it froze, too frightened even to look, fearing the murderer before her.

Maine, unconcerned with the young woman's shock, stepped over the body and moved on, leaving bloody footprints behind.

Finally.

The young woman clenched her fists, mustered all her strength, and let out a scream.

"AAAAHHHH!!!"

The piercing sound overpowered the music, reaching every ear in the bar, drawing their attention.

Only Maine kept walking forward, his iron fist still dripping with brain matter and blood.

Pilar and Falco, hearing the scream, feared the worst. They rushed out and were confronted with the gruesome scene.

Dorio and the others, hearing the commotion, sprang up from their booth and rushed toward the source of the sound.

Their hearts were already in their throats, anticipating a dire sense of foreboding.

As expected.

The sight of the blood-splattered scene confirmed everyone's fears that disaster had struck.

The screams quickly attracted curiosity, which soon turned into a panic storm.

Young couples interrupted their flirtations, seeing the grim reaper-like Maine approaching, their eyes bulging. They screamed and rushed toward the exit.

"A murder! A cyberpsycho murderer!"

"AAAAHHHH!!!"

"Run! There's a cyberpsycho!"

The whole bar erupted into chaos.

Some bold onlookers, eager for spectacle, still approached to find out what had happened.

Dorio hurried to Maine, urgently calling out, "Maine! Maine! Wake up!"

She tried to rouse Maine from his frenzied state.

Soon.

Four bar security guards arrived with electromagnetic pulse pistols drawn, aiming directly at the murderer Maine.

Dorio quickly gestured with her hands: "Don't shoot! We'll handle it!"

But her pleas were ignored as the security guards fired several shots at Maine.

Blue electric bolts flew from their guns, heading straight for Maine's head.

Dorio, with quick reflexes, raised her arms in front of Maine, taking the bullets herself.

The pulse exploded, causing a short circuit in Dorio's cyberware, and she collapsed to the ground in pain.Maine suddenly seemed stimulated by something, standing motionless on the spot.

His eyes began to tremble eerily.

Seeing the bar's security guards about to make a move, Rebecca drew her dual guns, ready for a fight, but Kiwi restrained her.

Rebecca's legs flailed about in the air. "Let me go, old woman! They started it!"

Kiwi calmly advised, "Don't make things worse now, let's get Maine out of here!"

Falco, seeing the situation deteriorating, bellowed, "Dammit! The dead are Arasaka's dogs; this might draw Arasaka's attention here!"

Kiwi, pressing a hand to her temple, began scanning the area for information, frowning.

"Somebody's already called the NCPD. I'm afraid the Psycho Squad will arrive here within five minutes!"

In the brief moment of this exchange,

Four security guards opened fire again. Before they could be stopped, bullets were already flying towards Maine.

Just when everyone thought Maine was going to be hit, his figure blurred, and he vanished from the spot. The heads of the four guards were then blown apart by his fists.

Blood pervaded the bar, and many customers witnessed Maine activating his Sandevistan ability, instantly killing the four security guards.

Panic ensued; they had witnessed a true cyberpsycho.

More security personnel were rushing to the scene, shooting at Maine from a distance, their bullets striking him and sending sparks flying.

Maine raised his arm cannon and began firing indiscriminately at the crowd.

Boom!

A cannon shell exploded, sending tables and chairs, along with bodies, flying in every direction.

Kiwi made a quick assessment of the situation. The fight had already begun, and there was no choice but to fight their way out of the bar.

She said urgently, "Cover their fire. I'll control Maine and hack into his cybernetic brain."

"Falco, go start the car and get ready to pick us up!"

"Hurry!"

With Dorio injured, Kiwi begrudgingly took charge of the team. Despite her resentment, she had to swallow it and deal with the crisis at hand.

Rebecca leaped into action, joining the fight against the bar's security.

Pilar was not to be outdone, throwing several bombs that shattered all the bar's windows.

A senseless, intense firefight erupted.

Those who had managed to escape the bar looked back in astonishment at the chaos within, marveling at the authentic Night City custom of inexplicable conflict.

The battle raged fiercely.

Kiwi sought cover and looked for a way to hack into Maine's cybernetics without harming him, her cyber-eye's red circle spinning in search of an intrusion path.

Maine's overwhelmed cybernetic neural system was on the verge of collapse, causing Kiwi to hesitate, fearing she might inadvertently put him out of commission.

Cautiously, she proceeded, which caused a slight delay.

Suddenly, Maine sensed something, like a thread weaving in and out of his brain.

His eerie gaze slowly turned to Kiwi, not far behind him.

Kiwi locked eyes with Maine for a moment, feeling a chill.

Whoosh!

Maine disappeared from sight, and Kiwi frantically looked around, trying to locate him.

Bang!

A steel fist as fast as lightning smashed into Kiwi's jaw, flipping her visor and knocking her out cold.

Kiwi slumped against the wall, unconscious.

This action was unexpected by everyone present; Maine had attacked one of his own!

This was unprecedented!

Dorio's eyes widened in shock as he struggled to rise, roaring angrily, "Maine!!!"

Her cry was like a tolling bell, snapping Maine back to reality.

Maine stood dazed, surveying the devastation, flames still rising behind him.

Gunfire and explosions melded into chaos.

He remembered wandering through a desert wasteland when suddenly, several mosaic-like shadows appeared, and he attacked them.

Woken by Dorio, the hallucination overlapped with reality, confusing him.

Maine looked bewildered, staring blankly at the kneeling Dorio, at a loss for what to do.

As he stood there, Rebecca turned and yelled, "Maine! What have you done to Kiwi, you bastard!"

Maine remained deaf to her words, standing still, as his eyes beneath the shades trembled once more.

The situation grew more dire.

Maine's team was in trouble.

Hacker Kiwi had sustained a severe injury and was knocked unconscious.

Dorio's cybernetics were damaged by an EMP and short-circuited.

Pilar and Rebecca were engaged in intense combat with the bar security, unable to attend to the situation behind them.

Most crucially, Maine was in the midst of a cyberpsychotic break, teetering on the edge of losing control.

If this continued, they would all die here.

Rebecca seized an opportunity, aiming at a security guard's exposed head, and shot him dead with practiced skill.

The hotel's security personnel began falling one by one, their firepower suppressed.

Rebecca shouted anxiously, "We need to evacuate now! Hold on, Dorio!"

Enduring the pain and discomfort, Dorio struggled to her feet, trying to drag Maine out through the back door.

But before she could reach him, a cannon shell the size of an arm crashed through the bar window and lodged deep into a sofa.

Dorio looked closely; the shell was marked with the logo "arasaka."

Arasaka?

Dorio's eyes widened in panic. She leaped towards Maine and yelled, "Get down! It's a bomb!"

As her words faded,

The bomb's red signal light began flashing like the tail of a rattlesnake.

Beep...beep, beep...beep, beep, beep...

The beeping grew more urgent before finally bursting.

Boom!

A massive fireball instantly engulfed the bar, and a huge blast wave burst out from the windows, followed by a thick plume of hot, smoky aftermath.

A trained Arasaka Special Task Force arrived, entering the bar with guns at the ready to commence their sweep.

Upon finding injured security personnel on the ground, the Arasaka Special Task Force opened fire without hesitation, executing them.

And in an armored command vehicle, Arasaka's Tanaka watched the live feeds from the bar, his expression cold.

The bar was engulfed in thick smoke and chaos, making visibility poor.

The Arasaka Special Task Force searched for the main targets, Maine's team, and others.

As the smoke gradually cleared and the Arasaka Special Task Force moved closer inside the bar, a solid figure began to take shape.

The Arasaka Special Task Force opened fire on the figure without hesitation, their bullets ricocheting off without any effect.

Tanaka's eyes narrowed; recognizing the figure responsible for his kidnapping, he ordered the Special Task Force to eliminate the threat.

As a barrage of gunfire was unleashed, the figure on the screen vanished.

Then the feeds showed the gory demise of the Arasaka squad members.

Maine had gone berserk!