Chapter Four (Maine P.O.V)

"Ah, why haven't the others arrived yet?"

Stifling a groan, Maine cradled his head which threatened to explode due to the living headache sitting on the cushion opposite him.

"You've been asking this for the fucking umpteenth time and I'm telling you for the fucking last time; they're on their way back. Besides, why haven't you called Rebecca if you're this curious about their coords?"

With long cyber-arms splayed on the cushion, Pilar grumbled. "I've been pinging her more than four times already, and she hasn't picked up even once... Not even to insult me. I'm having a bad feeling about this, Bossman."

"Bad feeling, my ass." Maine uncaringly shut him off and threw him an iron. "Just get to the maintenance and fill up the irons with leads. I want us to be done here, pronto. When the others come back all that'll be left is to go over the plan one more time, and then delta to the edgezone."

Even though Pilar let out a harsh huff, he still thankfully got back to doing what he does best -when he ain't fucking himself, that is.

Unfortunately, Maine's respite only lasted till Pilar was done with the third iron.

"Hey, Falco."

Pilar turned to the man who sat reclined on the worn couch at the edge of the room.

"Come help us with this."

Falco opened an eye and regarded Pilar. "With what?"

"What do the fuck do you mean, what?" Pilar lifted the iron in a gesture. "This. Join in the collective effort."

"Zip me the eddies, and you'll get the helping."

"Huh? Why the hell should I do that?"

Huffing, Falco reclined himself even more.

"You do know I'm paid to drive, right? Serious emphasis on the drive—and nothing else. I ain't some leadhead that'll go do a job without any scratch. Not how this old timer rolls."

"Old timer with that fake beard of yours?" Pilar scoffed, "Sure you haven't been watching too many movies from the time of Red?"

"Wrong period. It goes way longer than that."

"And that ain't fucking refutes my point."

Maine sighed as he left both gonks to their argument while keeping himself busy with loading the irons—though, he'll be docking Pilar's share on the next gig for this.

See how the short-circed fucker will get that cyberware he's been eyeing for ages.

That thought brought a slight quirk to Maine's lips.

Suddenly, Maine's holo-call pinged.

[Dorio: We've arrived. Heading in.]

''Bout damn time.'

Unlike a certain gonk, while Maine hadn't been vocal about his concerns, that did not mean he wasn't worried... Well, less worried and more concerned.

The others should have been here, minutes ago—the nature of what they must do required that much.

The Animals weren't known to be patient like their shitty counterparts... Well, they and the Maelstrom.

That the others weren't here could mean that the Animals had decided to nab Sasha at her place with Dorio and Rebecca getting involved in the skirmish.

While Maine was apprehensive at the prospect of tangling with a poser-gang -like the Animals. All that apprehension goes on a fucking trip if he so much as sees any of them getting hurt.

He would fucking flatline the lots of them.

Thankfully, Maine's Input has been pinging to keep him posted—even though he feels like she's been leaving some deets out.

Sasha is alright. Although Maine's fears had been actualized as the Animals did try to nab Sasha on the way back to her place—though the emphasis on the 'try' as he wasn't currently on a warpath at the moment.

Nevertheless, that was made possible due to Sasha's perspective Output; Manny.

'Now ain't that fucking amusing?' Maine thought, letting out a small huff.

Even though Maine made it a self-imposed rule not to get too involved in his team's personal lives, Sasha wasn't included as she is the special exception.

Maine does see her as a little sister, after all.

So while Maine is glad that Sasha has finally decided to open up to others and live life a little. He couldn't help but feel left out—well, left out wouldn't be the right word…

But at the same time, it wouldn't be the wrong word.

Upon hearing the sound of the front door opening, Maine sighed, slotting in the lead for the last iron on his table. Maine will be keeping his reservations till he gets a read on Mr. Mysterious.

Till then—Maine will be content to sit back and watch the show...

Namely, Pilar freaking out as any hope for a relationship with Sasha just flatlined. Then again, Maine wasn't all that enthused by the prospect of Pilar dating Sasha -while Pilar isn't the worst choice in a city like this, he certainly ain't getting an A mark.

So no loss on that part.

But that doesn't mean Maine approves of the stranger, either.

"I'm back..." Dorio said, announcing her presence to the others.

"Dorio..."

Nodding, Maine regarded her while feeling relief that nothing bad seemed to have happened judging from her appearance.

"So, you're gonna' be giving me the full deets, now?"

Dorio shrugged with a small sly smile.

"Well, it's not mine to tell, and besides... I wanna see how you'll react when seeing him."

Maine hummed in bemusement.

Pilar, Maine could understand. Heck, Maine could understand even Falco being surprised... Well, not surprised. But Maine could see the man feeling quite flabbergasted.

Although for himself, not that much.

Dorio had already informed him of what he should expect; that Sasha had been attacked and that they were coming with Sasha's potential Input. So while Maine knew that there would surely be surprise gasps and howling, Maine couldn't understand why he would be among the numbers.

Rebecca strutted in with a wide beam. "What's up choombas, miss me much? ~"

"Is that the first thing you say when you haven't been answering my calls?" Pilar interrupted his sister with a look.

"And why the fuck must I answer you when I don't want to. You ain't my fucking out... Put." Rebecca trailed off, eyes widening before her lips followed suit. "You know what you're right. Sorry about that, Pilar."

"... Eh? Sorry. You? You're sorry?" Pilar's short-circed reply was the unspoken words of all the men present. "Who the fuck are you, and where's the real Rebecca?"

"Hmph." Rebecca huffed. "Can't I be in a good mood for once? Besides, why shouldn't I be happy when Sasha -my favorite choom- has finally nabbed an Output for herself?"

The room was tensely silent for a moment.

"... …Hmm?" Falco raised a brow.

"Heh." Maine, the only one in the know shook his head with an amused huff escaping his lips.

"..." Pilar though blinked, and blinked, and blinked, and— "… THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN SASHA'S NABBED AN OUTPUT?!"

With a gremlin-like cackle, Rebecca said. "Knew that would throw you off. The look on your face right now is so worth telling Dorio to keep quiet about it."

"So who's the lucky guy?" Falco asked.

"He should be coming in any moment now," Dorio replied, scratching the side of her head. "Sasha told us to go ahead. Says she wants to talk with the big guy."

"I wanna' talk with the guy, too," Pilar said darkly, resting on his hand was an iron. Maine was quite it was a loaded one. "A talk with my little friend, that is."

"Pft...Hahahahahahaha!" Rebecca chortled, holding her stomach. "Tru-Trust me when I say this, Pilar. I'd just met him today, and I can say I haven't seen anyone more dangerous in Night City."

"Hah. Now I know that's a joke."

Falco sat up, his interest now apparent on his face.

"Ain't no one ever truly dangerous in NC—except, you're Morgan Blackhand or Adam Smasher."

Maine agreed with Falco on that.

No amount of iron or chrome or body stims can save you from a bullet, a bomb, or even a plain old lucky stab. In this city where life is nothing more than a commodity—a statistic, no one knows when it's their time to follow the grim reaper. It's because the Corpos know this which is why they use people like him—Edgerunners to do their dirty work.

But even that, doesn't save them when their time comes...

Rebecca walked and plopped herself on the cushion next to her brother. There was a dull look on her face.

"Hey, is there any time you guys ever seen me look afraid? Not talking about our kiddy times, Pilar. I'm talking about ever since I'd begun edgerunning."

Thinking back, Maine couldn't think of a time he had seen Rebecca shiver in fear—her first reaction to an iron pointed at her skull would be to draw her own, or curse whoever was pointing it at her with sweet colorful words.

Her only sense of fear would be caution—the kind of caution when drawing her iron would mean leading the heat to her crew, and even that has its limits.

"So you're saying, he's that dangerous?" Maine asked with arms crossed Akimbo.

Dorio, who relaxed on the door, exhaled.

"Hmm... It's less dangerous and more of 'try this shit and we flatline.' Simple as shit"

"Hahaha… I swear I've never felt like that in my entire life." Rebecca hauntingly chuckled. "My first move when I saw him was to pull out my iron and start shooting like crazy—then next, I flatlined... Or kinda' felt like it. Damn, that was scary. It's like I was looking at a live bomb… I still can't believe that the first words that came out of my mouth were to congratulate Sasha on nabbing him as her Output."

Maine subtly looked at Dorio who subtly nodded in confirmation.

Fuck.

Damn, who the hell is at his front door, right now?

"Okay~ so, why the hell did you leave Sasha alone with him?" Maine asked.

"What were we supposed to do? And in case you've forgotten; it was Sasha who asked us to leave her alone with him. She didn't ping us to do the opposite..."

Rebecca sat up with a sigh.

"Anyways, I don't think he's a bad guy. Not in a gang, Scav, or even Corpo way. Don't ask me how; I can just feel it. He's just dangerous s'all... Then again, who isn't in this city?"

"So, what's the call, bossman...?" Pilar called to him—his bitching face was replaced with a solemn one. "We doing him hot or not—ow! What the fuck, Rebecca?"

Punching Pilar in the ribs, Rebecca said. "Is there something fucking wrong with your brain, leadhead? I just said he's dangerous and the first thing you do is go looking to get yourself zeroed."

"What? It's not like he has an answer for a hail of bullets coming right at him."

"But what if he fucking does, gonk?"

"Hah! That ain't possible."

"Alright, that's enough." Maine interrupts the siblings before they can start another bout of argument. "We aren't flatlining anybody. He's got Sasha's unspoken seal of approval, and we've got to respect that. So, all we do is wait and see. If he's ain't a problem, then all's well and good. The opposite, well..."

The remaining words while unspoken were known to all in the room. Irons blazing, incendiaries and bombs blasting. Typical violence at its finest.

No one in NC is gonna' be making it out in one piece. Not even Mr. Mysterious.

… Unless you're Adam fucking Smasher.

Dorio's eyes glowed yellow for a moment. "Alright, get ready. They're heading in…"

Tacit nods were exchanged as everyone resumed back with what they were doing—or rather, resumed back with added caution to their every move.

One can never be too cautious in Night City. Not even the Maelstrom, who were known as one of—if not, the most unruly gang in Night City can behave so impulsively.

If so, they would have been wiped out by the others a long time ago.

Now while it is only just one guy, Maine isn't about to be a gonk and dismiss him as a non-threat. Not when Rebecca and his Input had specifically stressed about his level of danger.

But even so...

'This ain't about pride. But isn't he just one guy?' Maine thought as the sound of heavy footsteps drew closer. 'It's nothing a bullet or two cannot fix. Besides, we have the home advantage.'

Soon enough, HE came into view, and then...

Then...

Then… … … …

⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎

Even to this day, I stand by my choice that my behavior was perfectly normal and logical.

Now I know Rebecca and Dorio were quite cautious of Manny—and when someone as loud and crazy gun-toting as 'Becca feels cautious about someone. It means fucking keep an eye out for your interest and life.

But, come on... To me, he was merely just one guy. Ok, maybe I should have assumed that he was chromed up with the latest cyberware, or juiced enough to make most Animals blush. But he was only one man... In a room of experienced Edgerunners.

I'm not one to brag—seeing as we weren't part of the big leagues at that time- but my crew; we were dangerous. It had been merely four years since we'd come together to start this shit, and we were rocking it.

We've had our ups and downs. But our rep; yeah, we fucking delivered.

So, I'll say it again; I stand by my words that my behavior; that little dismissal I held for Manny was perfectly logical...

But then again, I, like the fucking millions out there were wrong.

So, very fucking wrong.

Manny ain't just one guy. These days, he's the Cyberpunk Jesus.

Sometimes, I look back and doubt if he is even fucking human... And I'm quite sure that is the thought running in the mind of every living being that has met him.

At least, that is how it is for me.

⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎⸎

'Damn, he's big.'

Seeing Mr. Mysterious walk in, Maine had to admit; that Dorio and Rebecca had not been exaggerating on his look in the slightest.

Rather, they had been understating it.

If it weren't for the lack of skin tears and peeking cyberware, Maine would have assumed he was looking at the male version of Sasquatch.

On the other hand, not even Sasquatch had the height of the guy.

He was big—ginormous, even.

Mr. Mysterious has the look of a dangerous man.

But Maine wasn't going to quit his observations just yet.

What Maine did next had merely been a little hazing. All things said and done, Maine wasn't going to let some stranger waltz into his place without showing any proper form of courtesy.

Maine might not be as pompous as the Corpses, but that doesn't mean he is open to shit on.

The large brown skin merc narrowed his eyes...

Then…

His head shattered into a pile of gore and brain matter. His chest ruptured out spilling metal chips and fleshy bits. His arms were mangled in ways he had never seen nor wanted them to be in. His body vanished in a bloody mist.

Maine had been zeroed.

Maine had been flatlined.

Maine was dead...

"Hey..."

The deep voice of the stranger pulled Maine out of the nightmare.

"Wh-Wha-WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Maine roared, a look at Pilar told him that he wasn't the only one sharing the sentiments.

The poor bastard looked like he'd just gone ten rounds with the Devil and lost each one.

"Um, is he always like that?" The stranger—no, the monster asked Sasha.

"No... No…" Sasha replied and then turned to Maine. "Maine, you alright there?"

"Uh-Uh yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

Maine slowly nodded, taking a deep breath before regarding Mr. Mysterious (or was it Mr. Fucking Dangerous, now?) a tad more cautiously.

Had all that been some kind of illusion or some new QuickHack that hasn't entered the market, yet?

Maine hoped it wasn't the former and damn prayed it wasn't the latter. It would be damn scary facing someone with that kind of QuickHack.

"So, you're the mysterious Manny." Maine cleared his throat as he said in an even tone. "I heard you've been taking care of our Netrunner, there."

The stranger—Manny shrugged. "More like the opposite if you ask me."

"Really, huh?" Maine hummed and straightened up from his couch. "... Allow me to level with ya. You're scary and I don't trust you. No offense, but I don't normally trust the unknown... Unless it's a sweet gig. And you, choom are an unknown that's certainly not a gig."

"Maine—"

Sasha began—only to pause as Dorio placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head with a small assuring smile.

"It's alright, you of all people should know how he is by now."

Meanwhile, Maine carried on with pause.

"... I've got questions that need answering. But unfortunately, not enough time to ask them. Then again, seeing as you're here with us would mean that you wanna' join our little rescue ops. So for now, I've got one question to ask; sure someone like you is up for this?"

"Huh, what are you talking about, Maine?" Rebecca raised a brow. "I mean look at him. He's perfect."

"Maybe, if it's zeroing gonks and all. This time, what we're pulling off requires a covert approach. A simple mistake on our end is all the Animals need to decide that keeping Stella alive just ain't worth it. Manny, here looks more like he'll be comfortable lighting up a storm. I just got to know if he can go covert and follow instructions while on the field."

Maine turned to Manny—only to realize that he was gone.

"Huh? Where'd he go—?" Maine asked—only to freeze as Manny's voice came out in a reply. This time, it was uncomfortably close.

An iron clicked.

"You don't need to worry about me."

Sitting beside Maine was Manny pointing an iron -his iron- at him.

"As you can see. I'm quite good at being covert."

The room was tensely silent as no one made to move. Not when Maine's life had been carelessly placed in the hands of a stranger.

"Manny..." Sasha's said, chidingly.

"What? It's just a presentation of my skills. " Twirling, Manny presented Maine the iron for him to take. "See, no harm done."

Sasha sighed in exasperation while the little gremlin, Rebecca, shivered in excitement.

"Fucking nova! Now, that's some cool Ninja shit, right there!"

As he took back the presented iron, Maine eyed it, sure that he had kept this one specifically slotted in his holster. For Manny to have klepped it right under his and everyone's nose spoke of a considerable amount of skill.

The kind Corpos would kill to have.

'Just who the hell is this guy?' Maine thought as his apprehension towards Manny merely increased. 'And what does he want from us?'

Although ostensibly, Maine merely nodded.

"I feel ya, loud and clear. Alright, show's over. So everyone, gather up... We've got planning to do."