Friday Night Firefight - A Cyberpunk 2077 Isekai

Friday Night Firefight - Chapter 27

Diego drove us through Night City for a while to ensure the Tyger Claws hadn't tagged us for the death of Jotaro. When he finally decided that we weren't being tailed, our group left Watson and headed towards Arroyo. We knew we couldn't stay in Tyger Claw territory; things needed to cool down first. They'd be looking for whoever had killed Jotaro, and their best lead would be Cyndi and John. I was hoping that by bricking the security system and Zion killing Takeshi Kazou, none of the other Tyger Claws would know who Jotaro had up in his playroom.

Diego dropped Cyndi, John and I off at a place that was similar to the No-tell – a rundown hotel that didn't ask questions or wonder why three teenagers, two covered in days of grime and one coated in blood, were renting a room. Anna, Deng, and Zion took the white panel Scav van and Callum Black's Villefort Cortes to a chop shop that Zion knew about in Arroyo. Diego, meanwhile, wandered off to buy some clothes for the three of us who had been in Jotaro's 'playroom.'

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, the three of us piled into Diego's van and rode out to an abandoned highway underpass. Deng must have called Fred and Mor to tell them about the situation – how we found two victims at Jotaro's – because they were there to meet us. Fred and Diego took charge of caring for John and Cyndi, both of whom were starting to worry me.

John was submissive, almost like he didn't care what was happening around him. I remembered back at the Ho-oh club, Cyndi had been practically dragging him along behind her. I thought he'd been drugged up and that he'd snap out of it by the time we got him away from the club, but it seemed like he was retreating further into himself. My memory flashed back to him in the cage, silent and broken, and I wondered if he'd ever heal from his experiences. While Fred and Diego took charge of Cyndi and John, I flicked a bunch of eddies to Mor to head out and get some food. When he came back, Fred loaded up a plate of "meat" for John, who stared straight ahead, while Fred talked to him.

Cyndi wasn't doing much better. Sure, she was more alert than John, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Both Diego and I could tell something was off about her. She was like a cornered animal, staring around at everything and ready to lash out at whatever threatened to harm her. Diego sidled up next to her, talking to her in a calm and soothing voice, trying to get her to relax a little. Whenever I looked over at her, I could see the rage in her that threatened to boil over. She looked like she wanted to punch something until it broke, and the anger that never left her face worried me.

By the time Anna, Deng, and Zion returned from the chop shop and met us at the underpass, Diego had managed to calm Cyndi somewhat. She still didn't look like she trusted us much, but at least Diego had managed to keep her from attacking anyone and got her to start eating.

Deng and Zion immediately went for the food that Mor had brought and started tearing into it with relish. Anna, meanwhile, moved over to sit next to Diego and Cyndi and I saw her chatting with the two of them. Both Diego and Anna saw the same thing I did in Cyndi – a woman who wanted to burn everything around her. I had no clue what to do to help her or John, and I just hoped that the rest of the group had some kind of idea of what they needed.

Fred noticed me hanging out on the fringes of the group and came over to me with a smile. "Damn kid, this whole thing is nuts. Mor said you were doing some biz with Deng, but he didn't say you'd be saving two kids from the Devil of Kabuki."

I grunted, lost in thought. What was I going to do with the two of them? I couldn't just have them hanging around, could I?

"What's on your mind?" asked Fred.

"I couldn't just leave them there. It was...bad. But at the same time—" I huffed, not knowing what to say. "—what do I do with them?"

"Deng and I will help. Mor too. I think it's best if we all talk about it. With them. You gotta find out what they want to do. You can't just make the decision for them."