Vroom! Screech!
Riku slammed on the brakes, and the Curtis screeched to a halt near their destination.
"Choom, you drive like you're in a street race!" Jack Welles said, pretending to gag before hopping out of the car, already pulling his gun.
Riku grabbed his submachine gun and jumped out too. The sound of gunfire echoed nearby, sharp and unmistakable.
Beep!
Riku dialed V's number again. This time, she picked up quick.
"You deaf or what?!" V hissed, her voice low, clearly hiding somewhere. Still, she answered, ready to chew him out.
"It's me, V! Riku, remember?" Riku blurted before she could hang up.
"Huh? Riku? Why didn't you say so sooner?" V replied, her tone softening. They'd just met that morning, and Riku had left an impression—she wasn't about to forget him.
Riku rolled his eyes. Say so sooner? You didn't give me a chance, V!
"Where are you? Padre sent us to help you out," Riku said, name-dropping the fixer to ease her suspicions. In Night City, trust was hard to come by, but the Padre was a solid bridge.
Sure enough, V relaxed at the mention of Padre. "Sending you my location. Be careful."
Her coordinates popped up on Riku's cybernetic eye. He could hear her breathing heavily—she was hurt.
"You injured? Can you hold on?" Riku asked, moving toward her position while glancing at the map in his HUD.
"I'll live. Got jumped by a bunch of Scavs from Pacifica. Heavy firepower. My bad, got careless," V growled, her voice dripping with venom. She sounded ready to tear those Scavs apart with her bare hands.
"Hang tight, we're almost there," Riku said, exchanging a look with Jack. They slipped into a narrow alley, the kind of dark, grimy spot perfect for Night City's underbelly.
Heywood's south and east sides were riddled with places like this—perfect hideouts for Scavs. The neon signs overhead cast faint, colorful glows, but the alley stayed shrouded in gloom.
"Damn it, did that punk get away?!" a voice barked from ahead, speaking some Eastern European language. Riku didn't know which one, but his [Limit System] translated it instantly.
"Keep looking! I clipped that chica, she's not far!" another Scav replied, their boots scuffling through the alley as they hunted V.
Riku glanced at Jack, who was waving his hands in some cryptic gesture, looking like a total gonk. Riku frowned, confused.
"You mute now? What's with the hand signals?" Riku messaged him, annoyed. We're not offline, choom, just send a text!
"Damn it! I meant one for you, one for me!" Jack shot back via text, rolling his eyes and ditching the gestures.
Riku nearly laughed, giving Jack an OK sign, which he understood immediately. They sprinted to the alley's intersection and opened fire, catching the two Scavs off guard.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots rang out, followed by a wild burst of gunfire.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
"Choom, you shooting at the sky or what?!" Jack yelled, diving back into the alley for cover, clearly fed up.
Riku, trailing behind to cover him, cringed at the jab. They'd planned one target each, but Riku's shot went wide—way off the mark. Jack, on the other hand, nailed his Scav with a clean headshot, dropping him like a sack of eddies.
In Riku's defense, he'd never fired a gun outside of a game. That stray bullet? His first-ever real shot. Even a sharpshooter wouldn't hit the mark with an unfamiliar weapon, let alone a rookie like him.
Not one to give up, Riku itched to take another shot. Unlike Jack, he didn't need to dodge bullets. But before he could move, Jack grabbed him. "Don't stick your head out, you gonk! Wait for him to empty his clip!"
Riku sighed, exasperated. With Jack around, he couldn't exactly tank a hail of bullets, walk away unscathed, and expect Jack not to freak out. A body full of holes and no scratches? That'd raise too many questions.
Bang!
A single shot echoed, and the alley went silent.
"Huh?" Jack looked at Riku, puzzled.
"It's V," Riku said, checking his map. She'd moved in, drawn by the noise.
Without hesitation, Riku stepped out of the alley. Sure enough, the second Scav was down, sprawled on the ground. At the far end of the alley, V's red hair caught the neon light—a long shot, but she'd nailed the guy with a headshot, too.
"Guess everyone's a sharpshooter but me," Riku muttered, glancing at his gun. What's the point of this thing? Growing up in a civilized world didn't exactly prepare him for Night City's daily gunfights.
"You guys here to save me or what? I'm the one bailing you out!" V said as she linked up with Riku and Jack, her first words pure sass. She didn't mind the extra hands—soloing this mess was impossible—but she wasn't thrilled about babysitting dead weight.
Jack shot Riku a look, biting his tongue to save his choom's pride. No need to look like a total gonk in front of V.
"Couldn't help it. This gun's a pickup, doesn't vibe with me," Riku said, tossing out the classic excuse.
"Yeah, right. My gun's a pickup too, and I burned through my last one ages ago," V shot back, mercilessly poking holes in his story. Riku coughed awkwardly, caught out.
"Haha, chica, we're gonna get along just fine," Jack said, bursting into laughter. Not meeting this V sooner was a crime—she was a riot.
"Jack Welles?" V said, eyeing him with surprise as she clocked his name.
"You know me?" Jack asked, pointing at himself, caught off guard.
"I'm at Coyote Cojo all the time," V replied. Jack didn't know her, but she'd seen him around the bar plenty.
"That's wild," Jack said, scratching his head. How had he missed a nova chica like her? It didn't add up.
"Let's save the chit-chat. Trouble's coming," Riku cut in, his nose twitching. The stench of blood and guts in the air was stirring his hunger, sharpening his senses to the scent of human flesh. More Scavs were closing in.
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