OG: Chapter 21

The Hot Tin Roof was a club out in Japantown West, close to the Bridge that led across the river into Kabuki. Notably, it wasn't a BD Club but booked live musical acts, the Mox feeling the need to diversify their holdings. It usually only had to deal with the Japantown Animals maybe hassling the staff, since it'd been close to part of their territory. Usually, the Tyger Claws were too wrapped up in the Nova parts of Japantown where the Eddies were, around Jig-Jig Street and the Cherry Blossom Market, to bother with stuff in Japantown West. That clearly wasn't the case anymore though, and with the Animals about to be run out of Japantown thanks to me Zeroing Shotgun Eddie, it seemed the Tyger Claws were on the warpath, blazing a trail through Japantown West.

The building itself was similar enough to Lizzies, a Warehouse that'd been converted into a club. But where Lizzie's featured neon signs of Skull-faced Dancing Girls, the Hot Tin Roof featured a statue of a cat stepping along the metal awning above the doors lit in teal neon. As I pulled up, though, the bodies lying on the floor in the parking lot were a testament to just how hotly contested this place was. Moxes and Tyger Claws alike had been zeroed in the fighting out here and the ground was strewn with shell casings, dropped Iron, and blood to boot. Looking around, though, I didn't see Jackie or V, which was a good sign.

That lasted till I got out of my Purloined Volkhov and listened for the gunshots. They were coming from inside the Club, which meant it was showtime. Grabbing my Hurrican Model Xipe Totec, I headed inside, calling Jackie over my Implants. He picked up, via his own Comms Implant, but I could hear the firefight inside.

"E! Tell me you're on your way over! These pendejos just don't know when to quit!" Spat Jackie.

"I'm here, Jackie, where are you and V?" I questioned.

"V's been hit, she's hurt bad! That Pendejo with the Lightsaber cut her up bad." Informed Jackie.

"Lightsaber? Mierda, you mean Takeda? Takeda's here?" I queried.

"Is that his name? I didn't think to ask, Ernesto!" Spat Jackie.

"Just hang on, I'm on my way inside!" I insisted.

"I managed to drag V into the office, but they've got us pinned down! That Takeda Pendejo put a couple Claws on us to shoot at me every time I pop my head out while he and the other Claws zeroed the rest of the Moxes! These Gonks are good shots, cause every time I try to shoot back, I have to duck so I don't get zeroed from a bullet to the head!" Spat Jackie.

"All right, I'm coming Jacquito. Keep your head down, Hermano, I'll be there soon." I intoned.

"Ernesto, something about that blade the Takeda Pendejo has can fuck with your Chrome. Be careful." Warned Jackie.

"Si, lo comprendo." I affirmed.

Then Jackie cut the feed and I stormed into the Hot Tin Roof, Xipe Totec out and ready to fire. Inside, the Club was sectioned off into three areas, the Entryway, the Bar Area, and the Dance Floor. The walls of the Entryway were covered in various murals painted in graffiti, and a pair of double doors led out into the bar area beyond. The walls here though were also covered in splashes of blood right now as bodies were slumped around, both of Tyger Claws and of Moxes, along with more spent shell casings and dropped Iron. At least one of the Poor Gonks had been hit full blast by Jaquito's Plasma Shotgun because he was missing his entire left arm and the parts of his shoulder and torso that were still intact were horrifically burned. Not the best way to be zeroed, but then what was? I noticed the bits of chrome that coated his collarbone had been melted as the ceramic and alloy bone sheath hadn't stood up to hot plasma.

Unfortunately, it seemed the Tyger Claws must've gotten control of the Cameras at some point because I heard a commotion from the bar area. I quickly snagged control back with my Cranial Implants, my implants, and improved capabilities allowing me to backtrack my way through the system like an experienced Netrunner in seconds, allowing me to tear away control of the Local Net from whatever Tyger Claws Gangoon had stolen it and enable the Self Destruct that Punchin' Judy had installed in every Mox System. Interestingly, a massive scream echoed through the Club as someone's Chrome fried from the ICE that Punchin' Judy had put into her little Self-Destruct Daemon, burning him alive from the inside out and zeroing the Gonk. Serves him right.

If the trick I pulled with the Cameras didn't catch the Tyger Claws Attention, though, the death of their Netrunner sure as fuck did, as half a dozen Gangoons in Tyger Claws Colors burst out of the Bar Area and into the Entry Hall. Time slowed down as my Sandy and Kerenzikov got to work amping up my already superhuman physical abilities and my enhanced intellect began to run the numbers. Six Tyger Claws, three with Shotguns, and three with Monokatanas. The ones with Monokatanas charged forth at me at speeds that I would describe as a walking pace, signifying Sandys and Kerenzikovs of their own. Immediately, I fired my Xipe Totec as time sped back up, the EMP Charged Rounds smashing into one of the Monokatana Wielders and shorting out his Sandy. He slowed down accordingly, meaning he hadn't cleared the field of fire when the Shotgunners opened up, taking blasts from three Tyger Claws wielding Kang Tao L-Sixty-Nine Zhao Shotguns, zeroed by his own side.

That Claw went down even as I fired at a Second Monokatana-Wielder with my underslung Plasma Launcher, pulling a Combat Knife from my Combat Harness to parry the Last Monokatana-Wielder as I did so. This time the Plasma Sheathed Bullet melted straight through the Second Monokatana-Wielder, zeroing the Gonk even as my Combat Knife deflected the strike from the Last Monokatana-Wielder. Not to be deterred, the Last Monokatana-Wielder flipped backward, lashing out with a booted foot as she did so, smacking me in the chin with the backflip kick and sending me staggering backward. She charged me with a battle cry as I righted myself, but I snapped off a parry that drew actual sparks.

This time, I was the one who kicked out, and my enhanced strength crushed her trachea, though she must have had an internal oxygen reserve or another such piece of Chrome because she only staggered back, swinging her Monokatana to try and ward off a follow-up. I didn't attack with my knife though, firing my Xipe Totec. She cut one of the bullets out of the air, but the second punched through the Subdermal in her skull and splattered her brain. She fell to the floor, Zeroed, and immediately I was forced to jump up to avoid a volley of shotgun blasts. I flipped around mid-jump and fired the rest of my clip into the three remaining Tyger Claws Gangoons, zeroing all three with shots to the face. They slumped to the floor as I landed, reloading both my Ten Millimeter and my Railgun Plasma Launcher.

I burst into the Bar Area and immediately began taking fire from six Tyger Claws with a Mix of Tsunami Nue and Constitutional Arms Liberty Pistols. A pair of shots plinked off my armor before I dove for the bar, firing my Xipe Totec as I did so, zeroing two of the Gangoons with my diving shots before rolling into cover. The other four split up, trying to flank my position, which I could see because I still had control of the Security System via my Cranial Implants. It was a good tactic and would have probably worked against someone like Jacquito. I wasn't just anyone, though, I was me.

I fired my Plasma Launcher, the plasma-sheathed bullet burning through the bar counter and spraying molten shrapnel across the pair of Tyger Claws that flanked right. They fell back and I immediately popped up and fired four rounds into the Gangoons Flanking left, Zeroing them both as the first shots scrapped their subdermal chrome in time for the second shots to mess up their organs. Not pausing for even a second, I leaped over the Bar Counter and rammed my Combat Knife into the brain of one of the two Tyger Claws Gangoons that I'd peppered with molten shrapnel earlier. As he was zeroed, I saw the other Tyger Claws Gangoon drop his Nue and pull a massive metal club with a rubber-wrapped handle from a sling on his back and blurred forward as if he'd just engaged a Sandy and Kerenzikov of his own.

He leaped for me, swinging his club for my head, forcing me to duck and smashing through the remaining section of Bar Counter with a screech of tearing metal. As he did so, I noticed a bunch of neon tattoos on his arms and torso light up. Clearly, this was one of the Tyger Claws Elites. I fired at him but only got two shots off both of which were stopped by his Subdermal Chrome before he swung at me again, aiming to flatten me. I sidestepped the vertical smash only for him to turn it into a side-swipe that forced me to jump up. I was met mid-jump with a leaping power strike of the Club from the Tyger Claw, smashing me down into the floor of the bar. Fortunately, my Armor tanked most of the blow and I only felt my ribs bruise rather than shatter. I was able to roll away from his follow-on strike as he landed and tried to squash me with his club like a cockroach.

Coming up in a crouch, I fired three more times, this time I broke through his subdermal, zeroing him just before he reached me with a charging strike. The Gangoon collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut just short of me. Looking at him, he'd been Chromed up to the nines, just short of being a Full Borg, with Gorilla Arms, a Sandy, a Kerenzikov, Reinforced Tendons, and Heavy Subdermal. That Club was interesting too, as I hefted it up and it seemed to be weighted more like an axe or hammer than a club, allowing for extra power in the strikes. I was definitely taking it back with me at the end of all this.

Regardless, I reloaded before moving on into the Dance Floor. It was here that a firefight was still ongoing, as two Moxes one a White Chick with a Pink Mohawk and a Federated Arms Pepper Shaker SMG that she pulled out of somewhere and the other a Black Chick with Purple Dreadlocks and a pair of Tsunami Nue Pistols. They were hunkered down in the enclosed DJ booth and blasting at anyone who tried for the door. However, they were cornered by another six Tyger Claws Gangoon plus Takeda.

Immediately, I fired rounds at two of the Tyger Claws Gangoons, both had Monokatanas and Darra Polytechnic DR-Five Heavy Revolvers. Both went down to my surprise attacks, though it took half a magazine to do it. The White Chick then blasted a third with an Arasaka Nowaki Assault Rifle as he turned to charge for me at speeds that made me think he had a Sandy and Kerenzikov, firing as he went. Two rounds hit my armor and I dodged aside from a third and fourth before the White Chick's blast hit him with six rounds in the back that smashed through his subdermal, zeroing him. Another heavily chromed up Gangoon down.

Immediately, Takeda charged at me faster than the others, forcing me to pull the last of my Combat Knives off my Combat Harness to parry his incoming strike. His Monokatana surged with electricity, arcing through my blade and into my left arm, locking up the muscles with spasms as he cut for my chest. My Armor stopped his blade, but I'd definitely need a new Cuirass of medium carapace after all this. Growling, he kicked me in the chest knocking me back.

"How did you get past Koshizawa? I sent him with more than enough men to support him!" Demanded Takeda.

"Was that his name? He's dead, Takeda. If you're feeling like joining him, feel free to Slammit On some more." I retorted.

"I see. Perhaps I did not give you enough credit before, Ronin. A mistake, one that I shall not repeat." Intoned Takeda.

"If you're ready for round two, I got something for you!" I grinned, ferally.

"Kakkate Koi! Show me your guts!" Shouted Takeda as he took up a Stance with his Monokatana.

"Bring it!" I shouted back.

Takeda Charged me and the fight was on. . .

XXXX

Jackie Welles would be the first to admit he wasn't the smartest Gonk in the world, but from the fighting he heard downstairs, he knew that Ernesto was fighting to reach him. Normally, Jackie wasn't the type of guy to let his Hermano face the odds alone, but with V hurt and the Tyger Claws outside the door waiting to put a bullet in him if he so much as peeked out from cover to try and fight back, Jackie wasn't so sure he could do anything about that. The last time he'd tried, he gotten clipped by a round that'd taken the top of his right ear with it. An inch to the right and he'd be zeroed on the floor right now.

"Puta Madre!" Swore Jackie as he peeked out of cover to try and draw down on one of the Tyger Claws Gangoons keeping them pinned down only to immediately be forced to duck back into cover.

"Jackie." Spoke up V.

"V, stay down, you're cut up bad there's no need for you to get back in the fight!" Insisted Jackie.

"E's down there alone, Jackie. He needs one of us to watch his back." Insisted V.

"Don't you think I know that? What are we supposed to do about it? They've got us pinned down bad!" Growled Jackie.

"Jackie. You have a Plasma Shotgun. Use it." Intoned V.

"I've been trying! I can't do that without getting Zeroed, V!" Huffed Jackie.

"Plasma can burn through the desk." Reminded V.

"That's our cover, Chica!" Protested Jackie.

"Do it. It'll catch them off guard and I can cover you." Demanded V.

"You sure that's a good idea? Seems kinda Loco. If you're wrong, we're gonna be Zeroed faster than a Gonk mixing on Synthcoke and Black Lace." Warned Jackie.

"Just do it." Repeated V.

"Loco Chica, you're crazy. Might be crazy's what we need right now, though." Shrugged Jackie.

Jackie grabbed the special Iron that Ernesto had made him, the Plasma Shotgun. God knew where he'd figured out how to build the thing, but Jackie knew it worked. He racked the slide and the whine that indicated it was charged and ready to fire greeted him, then he said a silent prayer to Saint Jude, the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. Jackie wasn't the type of Gonk to be religious, he'd Zeroed too many Gangoons and lived along the Edge for too long for that, but he figured it couldn't hurt. Once that was done, he took aim and fired.

The torrent of white-hot plasma blasted forth and slagged the metal desk, flinging superheated liquid metal and remaining bits of plasma at the Tyger Claws Gangoons covering their position from the doorway. The first two Gangoons didn't so much as burn as they got shredded from the superheated metal, getting zeroed immediately, while the two behind them fell back away from the doorway, allowing Jackie to pull his Forehammer and fire a pair of heavy slugs into one of them. The other drew down on him but V fired her Iron and the Gonk's head exploded in a shower of gore. The two Gangoons that'd been sent to the end of the hallway came rushing over. Jackie zeroed one, but the other jumped over the slug he sent his way, drawing one of those fancy Mono-edged Samurai Swords as he kicked off the wall, Sandy and Kerenzikov clearly propelling him forward.

Jackie engaged his own Sandy and Kerenzikov, backpedaling away from the Gangoon trying to zero him with fast cuts of his blade, pressing Jackie back and cutting the heavy slug he sent the Gangoon's way out of the air. The Guy was chromed up to the nines, with a Sandy, Kerenzikov, and clearly had heavy subdermal, since Jackie's next shot clipped the Gangoon's shoulder but failed to punch through the Subdermal. A cut from the Gangoon's blade rebounded off Jackie's Armor only for Jackie to get booted in the chest and knocked back. Then V put a Plasma round downrange from her Tezcatlipoca that melted through the Gangoon's chest, freaky glowing tattoos, skin, subdermal, and all. The poor Gonk was practically torn in half by the time he was zeroed. Then they were clear and free to aid Ernesto.

Jackie looked back at V, she was huffing and puffing, held together more by the MaxDoc she'd inhaled and willpower than Flesh, Blood, or Chrome. Hell, Jackie figured she was half-zeroed herself. As V slumped back against the outside wall of the Manager's Office, Jackie nodded at her.

"You gonna be all right, Chica?" He questioned.

"I'll be fine. Go help E." Insisted V.

"Are you sure?" Queried Jackie.

"You said it yourself, Jackie. He needs one of us to watch his back." Nodded V.

"Right. Stay put, V. Ernesto and I will finish up downstairs and be back quick, then we can bombshell and get you to Vik's so he can patch you up." Nodded Jackie. He turned to head downstairs only for V to interject.

"Jackie!" She called out.

"Yeah, V?" Asked Jackie.

"Take the Plasma Shotgun." Reminded V.

"Right. Yeah. Good Idea." Agreed Jackie, sheepishly as he moved to pick up the Iron he'd dropped after slagging the Metal Desk.

Then, with a nod, Jackie Welles head down the hall for the stairs, leaving V to stay put in the Office. . .

XXXX

I grit my teeth as I ducked another of Takeda's strikes. I had to admit, whatever wetware that 'Saka fitted him with was damn Preem. He was able to keep up with me the same way a Full Borg could. I'd already taken cuts to the arm and leg that fucked me up and locked up my muscles. Fortunately, unlike the stuff that V and Jackie had, all of my important Chrome had integrated into my Mechanicus Implants in such a way that they now shared those implants' hardiness against EMP Damage. It still didn't stop my muscles from spasming when hit, but both my Sandy and my Kerenzikov were still functioning perfectly fine.

It was probably the main thing that had kept me in the fight, since if he'd been able to disable those with his Monokatana strikes, I'd have been zeroed a while ago. As I parried a strike from his blade with my Combat Knife, I fired my Xipe Totec at him, pressing him back. The combination of Combat Knife and Gunshots was proving effective at countering his Kenjutsu Styel, the Gonk clearly had some kind of formal training, likely under some Saka Cylon. The Tyger Claws were pretty much Saka Puppets, after all, at least the ones in Night City and back in Japan were. I knew they had chapters in SoCal and NorCal in both San Francisco and the LA Metroplex. I wasn't a hundred percent sure if the same held true there. Given how fucked San Francisco was, though, with the locals pretty much forced to tongue Saka boot, I wouldn't count on that chapter being any more independent.

I leaned aside from another slash, bringing my thoughts back to the present. Unfortunately, the two Moxes had booked it out the back the second the remaining Tyger Claws Gangoons had been zeroed. Right now it was just me and Takeda still fighting, with Jacquito and V holed up in the Office upstairs. I let out a growl as I parried another swordstroke, firing my Xipe Totec once more and forcing Takeda to back off. I pressed my attack, continuing to fire my Iron at him till the slide locked open, signifying an empty clip. Only one round made it past the web of steel that Takeda wove in front of him, cutting ten-millimeter bullets out of the air as he did so. That last round slammed into his shoulder but was stopped by his subdermal. It still sent him staggering backward, and I lunged for his throat with my Combat Knife.

As I did so, his blade came up, parrying as he stopped my Combat Knife from burying itself in his throat and zeroing him. As our blades locked together, a crackle of electricity was my only warning before blue arcs of lightning surged up along his blade. I dropped my Combat Knife, crouching down as I did so. Releasing my grip allowed me to avoid the electric shock, but it meant my Combat Knife fell out of my grip and allowed Takeda to lash out with his blade, cutting out horizontally as I just barely ducked under his cut. I snatched my combat knife out of the air as it fell just before it clattered to the floor, gripping it in reverse in my left hand before stabbing it into Takeda's right foot, pinning him to the floor.

"Kuso!" Swore Takeda in Japanese as I backed off and reloaded my Xipe Totec.

He ripped my Combat Knife out of his foot and threw it at me just as I finished slamming home a fresh magazine, forcing me to duck aside to avoid being hit by my own blade. As Takeda surged forward for me, leaving a trail of bloody footprints along the floor, I fired my Xipe Totec at him, emptying my fresh magazine at him as he tried to close. Takeda parried several bullets out of mid-air, dodged others, and was hit by two more, jostling him but only doing superficial damage as his subdermal stopped them at the cost of its integrity. As I leaped backward, I realized the next blow would finish this.

Takeda leaped after me, his blade cutting out as he did so and I was forced to throw my Xipe Totec in the way to parry the strike with a pistol whip. Unfortunately, my Iron wasn't meant to be used in melee like this, and with a flick of his blade, Takeda ripped my Xipe Totec out of my Grasp. I surged forward at him as he did so, slamming an elbow into his throat and sending him sputtering backward, choking. I pressed my attack, jabbing him in the nose, which broke with a satisfying crunch, and grappling him so he couldn't bring his blade to bear on me. Then I leaned back before smashing a headbutt into his face. Once, twice, three times I smashed headbutts into his face, making a bloody ruin of his nose and causing his right eye to swell shut, but he slammed the hilt of his sword into my own throat and sent me sputtering and staggering backward.

"A valiant effort, Ronin. However, you have no weapons remaining to you, and while I am bloodied, I retain my grip on my blade. You fought well, with Giri, but this is the end." Intoned Takeda, taking up a guard. As he did so, however, Jackie came through the doors to the back. He and V must have taken out the Tyger Claws that had kept them pinned down.

"Yeah. . .maybe. But I. . .have something. . .you don't." I huffed out.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Demanded Takeda.

"Friends!" I roared.

Jackie leveled his Plasma Shotgun as the whining that signaled it was done charging and ready to fire finally caught Takeda's attention. Takeda whirled around in time to see the shot that would end him coming. He scowled at that.

"I was wrong. You have no Giri." Spat Takeda just before Jackie fired a torrent of white-hot plasma into Takeda's Chest.

With his subdermal spent, Takeda had no defense against Jackie's Huitzilopochtli Plasma Caster, the Preem Iron literally blasting him to bits. One half of Takeda fell to the left as the other fell to the right, the torrent of plasma literally bisecting him. He was as zeroed as any Gonk could be now. I huffed and puffed, nodding at Jackie who slung his Iron over his shoulder and nodded back at me.

"Right. You know the drill, Jacquito. Klep any Eddies and Iron up from the fallen. I got us a truck from Shotgun Eddie that's pretty Nova. V should be able to rest easy in the back there." I nodded.

"Good. She's not really able to drive right now, though she'll pull through. Chica's tough as nails." Grinned Jackie.

"So are you, Choom. So are you." I smirked.

In the end, we came away with fifty-nine weapons of various types, mostly generic shotguns, Monokatanas, pistols, and the odd SMG or Assault Rifle. Two, however, were the Oddly-Weighted Kanabo and Takeda's Electric Monokatana. Those I took for myself in exchange for half my share of the eddies. There were one-hundred-fourteen grand of them to split between Jackie, V, and Myself and that was just from Dead Gangoons. Jackie and V both grabbed fifty-seven grand while I only took fourteen grand. Unfortunately, we could only grab one of the Cars as one of us had to drive V to Vik's.

We wound up grabbing a Customized Paladin Five-Hundred that had been customized with an AV-Four Engine that turned it into an Aerodyne, Bulletproof Glass, an Armored Chassis, and a Communications Suite. This thing was practically built for Urban Combat and I briefly wondered why the Tyger Claws hadn't opened up with the two Onboard Machine Guns that came standard on the Paladin Five-Hundred. Jackie however, seemed to prefer the Kaukaz Volkhov for some reason. Apparently, he wasn't able to fly an AV. Meanwhile, I could fake it well enough with my Multidisciplinary Capabilities that it was worth trading klepped vehicles.

Jackie wound up driving V to Viks in the Volkhov, while I took the Paladin Five-Hundred back to Lizzie's to report in to Suzie Q. She needed to know how things had played out, and that V would be expecting her Ao Guang to be delivered to El Coyote Cojo. It'd been a long day, but we managed to pull through. Once I reported in, I planned to have a few drinks before heading home to tinker before sleeping. I'd earned it, after all, and when I woke up, I'd have to head out to Laguna Bend to deal with the Saka Lab for Millitech. Hopefully, this defeat gives the Mox enough breathing room for me to do that. Obviously, I didn't want to skip out on a contract with Millitech.

That was a surefire way to find yourself zeroed in a ditch somewhere, after all. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. Takeda goes down hard and requires an assist from Jackie, while V has to get patched up by Vik to be functional, but they managed it. Now, not only are the Animals off their back and running out of Japantown with their tails tucked between their legs, but the Tyger Claws have lost their Experimental Wetware Borg in the form of Takeda. Soon enough, Big E is gonna hit the Arasaka Reverse-Engineering Lab in Laguna Bend for Millitech. Once that happens, it's likely that Saka will lean on the Tyger Claws to respond in a big way. That in turn will put Big E directly up against Aleksander Yurinov for what will probably be the final stretch of Chapters in Cyberpunk.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the aftermath of the Battles of the last couple of chapters. I'll also have a character sheet update before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .