Chapter Text
The Watson branch of the NCPD was in shambles, both due to the influx of calls regarding a Rogue borg killing most of the Tyger Claws and Maelstrom assault in progresses, and due to having to pay the aforementioned borg for doing just that. Adam Smasher’s rampage somehow ended up in Maelstrom Territory at the All-Food Factories. With the caked-up blood all over his new rig, he almost blended right in with the burning cars and Maelstrom Fanatics running around.
Kiwi decided that she was sick of all the carnage and smell of human remains-
YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE A NOSE
-and went to Lucy’s place to take a rest. “Babe, when you’re all done, pick me up at their place. And be in one piece or I’ll kill you,” she said as she ended the call.
Adam scoffed as he rotated his shoulder, checking over his inventory to make sure he’d be up for one last raid.
OF COURSE, I HAVE ENOUGH AMMO, WHY THE f*ck WOULDN’T I?
It was strange, people walking down the street and not fleeing at the sight of him. People were still wary of Adam’s appearance, but you could attribute that to him dual-wielding giant HMGs and his paint job being a sinful red on Arasaka Black, with a splatter of guts and gore. God forbid anyone has any fashion sense these days, with all the neon tube tops and ripped jeans. Jesus, those went out of fashion in the late 20’s, grow up. While his stomping grounds were the Ebunike, he usually took AVs to and from the docks, resulting in his appearance usually being like God's Gift to the Maelstrom guards. As such, he didn't know much about Northside politics.
Knowing that Jackie usually knew the word on the street, he called him up, leaning against the side rails.
Wassup, choom?
Jackie, heard anything bout Maelstrom lately?
Oh! They had a change of leadership lately
Oh yeah? What happened to Brick?
Flat out ousted by Royce
word is he killed any Brick Supporters
Tossed em into something they call a microwave
Morbid, but good to know
They were on my payroll to protect the Ebunike
Ay, poor bastards
He's a brutal bastard, but he's f*cking good at biz
heard he's the reason why Maelstrom's been so bold
raiding corp transports and the likes
Damn, you really keep your ear to the ground, don’t you?
Haha, you know it! Anything else?
Nah, that was about it. Preciate it
Anytime. But don’t ask us for help
V and I are at the Coyote
Been bumming drinks off of Pepe since Mama isn’t here
Real rowdy boys, huh?
I’d say don’t drink and drive
But i’m not a damn square
Go, do crimes.
Orale! We’ll drink a shot or three for your health!
Man, it's weird helping out a living f*cking legend
ROYCE… ROYCE…
…OH! THE TWITCHY f*ckER THAT WAS ALWAYS ARGUING WITH BRICK!
Adam was more surprised than anything that Brick of all people would be the one to get the axe, but Maelstrom was anything but stable.
“DOESN’T f*ckING MATTER TO ME, IF MAELSTROM RESPECTS ONE THING: IT’S THE POWER OF CHROME AND METAL.”
Cracking his neck and setting down an HMG, he pulls out his last cigar, lights it up and took one long draw. Blowing it out of his nose, he smiles and shudders from the sensation. “GOD, I LOVE TOBACCO,” he bellows as he flicks it to the ground, grabbing the other HMG.
Standing in front of the loading bay, he turns on his recording and says “Oh, I know what the ladies like.”
The bay doors opened as a group of Maelstrom Fanatics walked out, but froze at the site of a random Borg standing at the entrance. Before they could say anything, Adam yelled out-
“ALPHA. MIKE. FOXTROT.”
“...What’s that supposed to mean?”
“WHAT DOES IT MEAN? IT MEANS: ADIOS, MOTHERf*ckER!”
The chrome junkies didn’t stand a chance, couldn’t even lift up their iron to fire back a single shot as they were torn apart by the oncoming fire. It ripped through their subdermal armor with ease, and their corpses were riddled with holes large enough to see through. Adam dropped the now empty HMGs and held his hand up to his ear.
“AH, THE SWEET SOUND OF…NOTHING,” he said to no one in particular as he ended the recording. Marching forward to the bay doors, the crunch of the asphalt quickly turned into a sticky squish as he waded through the carnage of his fanatic victims, and hit the intercom on the right.
A raspy voice answered, understandably pissed off that some random psycho just massacred two, maybe three good men that could have easily been used for another experiment. “If you’re looking for any of your inputs and/or outputs, tough sh*t. They’re already getting… processed,” he chuckled morbidly as he awaited a response.
“GREETINGS, POSERS. I’M HERE FOR-”
“Sorry, buddy. No try outs.”
“NO. I’M HERE TO-”
“Oh, you’re the fresh meat, right? Haha, tough luck! Your chrome looks like ass, you don’t even look anything like Adam Smasher!”
“OH, I’M MAKING IT PERSONAL WHEN I GET TO YOU .”
“Lit a fire under you, did I? Hah! Royce would love you, but you already killed some of my guys, so guess you’ll just have to donate your chrome to compensate for that.”
“WHO THE f*ck ARE YOU TALKING TO- IS THAT THE f*ckING GRIM REAPER?”
Adam wasted no time in pulling out his Ba Xing Chong smart shotgun and shooting the intercom. He can hear a commotion inside of the factory, all the stomping of Maelstrom fiends as they get their supplies ready, various mines arming and the sounds of turrets sweeping the area.
Looking down at the iron of the dead Fanatic below him, he noticed the frame of a Militech Saratoga. Hmm, seems like our resident psycho borgs really did hit the militech motherload. He thought about the implications of Maelstrom with Corpo-grade weaponry and weighed his options.
For like…two seconds.
There’s no way these chrome junkies can even use this equipment to its full potential. Even a baby could hit the broad side of a wall with a Crusher.
But he did think more about asking for support for this raid. But it has been a while since Adam got a real challenge as a solo.
TIME TO EARN BACK THE SOLO TITLE.
Two lone guards were posted next to the side entrance to the main production floor.
“f*cking sh*t. Why the f*ck do we have to be the frontlines when there’s a killer borg loose in the factory?”
“Why? Because you just had to ask ‘for what?’ when they were asking for volunteers!”
“It’s not my fault that I’m a naturally inquisitive person!”
IT’S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT.
The two guards froze in their tracks as they heard the low, metallic growl of the intruder above them. The sickening smell of decaying flesh lingered in the air as drops of blood splattered all over the floor.
“Misha.”
“Yes, Unger?”
“...we’re about to die, aren’t we?”
"YES, BUT HEY, CHIN UP FELLAS."
They look up at their would-be eviscerator, still shaking but keeping their gaze on him
"YOU GET THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE LIFETIME!"
Gulp
“TELL NO ONE THAT I’M HERE, AND WALK AWAY. I’LL LET YOU LIVE-”
“You don’t have to tell us twice. Unger, let’s go.”
“And what? Let you massacre everyone here? Let my brothers-in-arms down rather than die with honor and dignity?”
“THAT’S ABOUT THE GIST OF IT, YEAH. WHAT’S YOUR CHOICE?”
There’s a palpable tension in the air as time slowed down to a crawl. Misha and Unger look at each other, weighing their options. Rather quickly, however, as they immediately throw down their weapons, rip off their Maelstrom shirts, and blocked any and all Maelstrom contacts.
“You f*cking got it, choom! Honestly, I f*cking hated being here, they are so weird!”
“GOD, I LOVE SELL-OUTS,” Adam reveled as he quickly jumped down to the floor, crushing their weapons with his bionic legs.
Not having to be told twice, the two men immediately ran to the exit, not even looking back as they turn the corner and almost slip.
“Don’t even look back, Misha.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice, asshole! I got kids!”
Adam counted... 1...2...3-
KABOOM!
A large explosion around the corner shook the walls, much to Adam's delight. He had gathered up every single mine in the area, and put them in a pile around one of the blind corners, killing two birds with... way more than a tiny little stone.
"HAH! THEY ALWAYS FALL FOR THAT!" he exclaimed as he patted himself on the back. He chuckled a little more as he imagined the look on their faces after seeing around five laser mines while running at full speed, unable to stop as they slip on fall on their asses right into their deaths.
CLASSIC.
"NOW THEN. TIME TO NUT UP, OR SHUT UP," Adam bellowed as he linked up to the camera system around the All-Foods production floor. He counted out around 20 armed Maelstrom of all shapes and sizes, but it definitely wasn't the entire fighting force. A quick ping revealed around 75 bodies in the building in total, which was… concerning for Adam.
HMM, I’M DEFINITELY GONNA RUN DRY BEFORE I DISABLE EVERYONE HERE. I COULD USE THE HMG OFF THE TURRETS AT THE ENTRANCE…
… DAMN, I DON’T FEEL LIKE WALKING BACK THERE ANYMORE.
The Maelstrom force scattered around the production line began buzzing, asking each other what just happened. The confusion amongst them was the perfect time for Adam to strike, busting through the security gate.
“LADIES AND GERMS, WE CAN DO THIS THE HARD WAY, OR THE REALLY HARD WAY. PICK YOUR POISON.”
Adam got his answer in the form of immediate gunfire and three quickhacks attempting to cut through his firewall. “OH, GOOD. I WAS REALLY HOPING YOU’D DO THAT!” he yelled as he ran for cover. Usually, he’d either just completely overwhelm the enemy through sheer firepower, or the small arms would just ricochet off of his armor as he stood there unfazed. However, it’s back to basics for our resident Boogieman, considering the fact that he’s outgunned and outmanned in a rig that he hasn’t fought in since 2023.
“FLUSH THE BITCH OUT!”
“BLOOD AND CHROME!”
“C’MON! SHOW US SOME SKIN!”
Getting flanked from his left and right, Adam dropped a flashbang on the floor and broke out of his cover. The two idiots that were running full speed got blinded and hit each other, knocking each other out as they crumpled to the floor.
“NICE TRY, IDIOTS!” Adam yelled as he lobbed a grenade up to the balcony, attempting to flush out the ones hiding up top. The quick hacks that were queued up were quickly dismissed by Smasher, prompting him to try and discern which idiots are trying to hack him. All three are on the second floor, but the ladder to get up was knocked away in the chaos.
This would worry anyone that was poor because who the hell doesn’t have Double jump cyberware chipped in Night City? Hell, you could get Charge Jump if you’re that tight on eddies.
Jumping up with the grace of a Rhino on Ecstasy, the sheer weight of Adam’s rig made the entire walkway shake and nearly collapse as he scanned his environment. The fanatics were scrambling as they cursed and shot at Smasher, some getting lucky as they sprayed into his frame.
Smasher takes numerous hits to his frame as he locks on to his first target, turning the first netrunner into red paint on the walls with the Ba Xing Chong. He quickly turned to face the other two Netrunners that were side-by-side and fired multiple volleys toward them, punching through their cover and embedding the tiny rockets into their flesh, punching them back into the wall.
“YOU’RE f*ckING WITH THE ROLEX WEARING, DIAMOND WEARIN’, KISS STEALIN’-WOO, WHEELIN’ DEALIN’, EXCELSIOR RIDIN’, JET FLYIN’ SON OF A BITCH! I’M THE ALPHA AND THE GODDAMN OMEGA, AND I’M TAKING ALL YOU BITCHES DOWN TO POUND TOWN!”
“WILL SOMEONE SHUT HIS TRAP ALREADY?”
“WOO!”
Royce left Dum-Dum in the main pad, telling his second-in-command to stall… or rather be a meat shield for him as he readied the Militech Crusader in the shipping area. He honestly couldn’t give a sh*t what happened to any of those idiots, he’s more pissed off at the fact that their base of operations is being assaulted by some random merc, not even some rival gang or even Militech trying to get their sh*t back.
Here's to hoping this piece of sh*t could be somewhat useful
“sh*t!” one of the mechanics exclaimed as sparks flew out from the connectors.
“What the f*ck is happening back there?!”
“There’s no link! It’s gonna cook your core!”
“Shut your traps! Get the f*ck up there and reinforce Dum-Dum!” Royce yelled as he ripped forward, forcefully removing the rest of the connectors.
“NO NEED. DUM-DUM’S BEEN…TAKEN CARE OF.”Adam jumped off the balcony onto the warehouse floor, servos whirring as he prepared his cyberwar for a quick fight. He rolled his shoulders back, extending his forearm to get rid of any tension in his gorilla arms. He cracked his neck... or rather he mimicked the movement since he doesn't actually have a spine, just the implant supplanted to support his back. He installed little poppers in his neck to make the noise, just for intimidation.
“f*ck me, is that the f*cking living legend himself?” Royce whispered to himself as he scanned the Samson frame at the back of the warehouse. Blocked off from the rest of his forces, he can feel panic rising as the Crusader roared to life.
“WHAT, YOU A FAN? WHY YES, IT IS I! THE BOOGIEMAN OF NIGHT CITY, THE STREET SAMURAI, THE ONE AND ONLY!”
“The f*ck are you here for? Did you finally get bored of that stupid kid from Santo Domingo?” Royce yelled out as he readied his laser cannon. The activation took some time, considering the fact that the rig itself is barely operational as it is.
“NAH.”
“Wha- YOU KILLED ALL MY MEN FOR WHAT? SICK KICKS?”
“HMM. I’D SAY IT’S MORE LIKE… I GOT BORED AND ENDED UP HERE, PLUS I LIKED BRICK MORE. YOU WERE ALWAYS SUCH A WHINY LITTLE BITCH.”
Royce’s eyebrow twitched as he steeled his resolve to put an end to one of Night City’s living legends or die trying. Holding up the laser cannon, he aimed at Smasher and charged up a shot. “I’LL SHOW YOU, MAGGOT! I’M GONNA STOMP YOUR GUTS OUT AND PUT YOUR HEAD ON A SPIKE!”
“HOHOHO, FINALLY! BRING IT ON, SCUM SUCKER!”
Adam dashed forward, ignoring the bumbling mechanics trying to scramble away from the fight and went straight at Royce, who fired off a charged laser shot directly at him. Luckily, Adam has a brain and dodged the obviously telegraphed attack and tucked his shoulder down. With a hard, metallic thud, Adam made contact with the Crusader, but didn’t knock Royce down onto his ass, like he was used to. Instead, there was a clash between the two, and it was a fierce struggle for control.
Adam pushed into Royce, but Royce wouldn’t budge, putting more power into his arms and adopting a grappler stance. Dropping his Laser cannon, he attempts to give Adam the slip by feinting to the right. He falls for it, being rusty in his CQC skills, and is shortly held into the air.
“THE f*ck IS THIS- ARE YOU TRYING TO BANE ME?
“EAT THIS, YOU SCOP-SUCKING MAGGOT!”
“HE’S TOTALLY GONNA BANE ME!”
In one fluid motion, Royce lifted up his knee and slammed Adam down.
WHAM
“MAN, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN COOL IF I HAD A SPINE TO BREAK, MORON… I’M NOT PUTTING A MIDDLE FINGER, AM I?” Adam realized that his cyberspine was most likely not ready for someone attempting to Bane someone like Adam Smasher, and it was promptly dislocated, leaving him disabled for a quick minute.
Royce pumped his arms in the air, claiming victory over Adam as he stomped on his body. Adam was cursing his body for not responding, realizing that he may be in actual trouble if his spine doesn’t repair itself in time.
“HAHA! YOU LITTLE f*ckER! I’M GONNA LITTER THIS GARAGE WITH YOUR CORPSE AND SELL YOUR SPARE PARTS TO SCAVS!”
f*ckING sh*t, ANYONE BUT THE SCAVS! C’MON BODY! RUN DIAGNOSTICS.
Warning, systems down. Repair spine alignment immediately.
TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW!
Did you know that a group of cows is called a Flink?
JUST SHUT UP- WAIT, REALLY? ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS A HERD…
Adam didn’t even realize that the pressure on his chest was suddenly gone, but the rush from being lifted up once again reoriented back to reality. Hearing a grunt of effort below him, he had a solid guess as to what Royce was doing: trying to rip him apart.
And he sure was, gripping Adam’s arms and legs like a barbeque skewer and trying to pull him apart. “C’MON, YOU USELESS MAGGOT, PAPA NEEDS SOME NEW CHROME!” Royce strained out as he attempted to force the Centaur past its limits.
Adam braced himself for a sloppy death, not feeling much of anything as his body was being stretched out further and further.
“GOD DAMN IT, I’M GONNA DIE TO A DEFUNCT MILITECH CRUSADER.”
POP
All systems online, welcome back, Adam Smasher. :)
“HUH?” Adam’s confusion was followed by all of his pain receptors firing off, but quickly replaced by a smug sense of superiority. “HAHA!”
He ripped himself out of Royce’s clutches and rolled backward and away from Royce, giving him ample time to ensure that the rest of his systems are at least operational. Rolling his shoulders and bending to the left and right, he smirked at the fact that Royce had fixed the knot in his shoulder and the weird numbness in his back. "HEY! YOU EVER CONSIDERED BEING A CHIROPRACTOR?"
“f*ck YOU, SMASHER,” Royce rasped out, his voice on edge due to the strain of the Crusader not being fully compatible to the Maelstrom network, “I DON’T GIVE A sh*t IF I HAD YOUR POSTER ON MY WALL, I’M GONNA REPLACE IT WITH YOUR f*ckING SKILL INSTEAD!”
“AW, DID YOU JERK OFF TO ME, TOO?”
You could just see the moment Royce’s blood vessels pop as he just screams in utter fury. Like a raging bull in a Chinatown shop, he blindly charged forward with the last of the Crusader’s energy. Smasher, however, was not going to underestimate his opponent again, and activated his Sandevistan, slowly down time to a near crawl, from his perspective.
He did a brisk walk to Royce’s right side, held out a leg, and waited for the inevitable. But he didn’t deactivate the Sandevistan, no. He wanted to savor this moment. He watched as Royce’s right foot began to move upward, and got caught on his leg, beginning the world’s slowest fall.
“f*ck YOU, SMASHER!”
CRASH!
“I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER,” Adam yells victoriously, squatting over a box of vintage grenades and thinking about how many would be necessary, and how much is overkill.
Overkill? Ah hell, who gives a sh*t?!
A wicked smile made its way onto Adam’s face as he grabbed the entire box and just threw it at Royce, who was still trying to get out of the metal coffin. If anyone said that they heard that Royce was begging for his life in his final moments, they’d be wrong.
He was just pissing his pants as Adam threw the final grenade toward him, turning around and whistling as he waited for the explosion.
KA BOOM
“HAH, EVEN THE SOUND EFFECT WAS VINTAGE!”
He walked out of the storage area to blinding lights, coming from a Militech Behemoth. “Adam!” the truck’s speaker crackles to life, “you look like hammered sh*t!”
“BLACKHAND? THE f*ck YOU DOING HERE?”
“Well, I was originally gonna get you boys to help me out with a little problem concerning old Militech hardware being stolen alongside some experimental hardware that was going to another facility-”
“BUT I BEAT YOU TO THE PUNCH, HUH?”
“Seems that way, Amigo. By the way, you wouldn’t happen to find any information that would lead you to suspect someone to have given away the information of the convoy?”
Adam shook his head. Honestly he hadn’t even bothered to look at any terminals, he was too busy figuring out different ways to angle bank shots to hit the Maelstromers. Style points still rule, smoking sexy style.
“Oh! Before I forget, Yorinobu asked to meet you and David at the Afterlife. Something about it finally being time.”
“HELL, IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME THAT ROCKER BOY FINALLY GOT OFF HIS ASS. YOU COMING ALONG?”
“Nah, gotta grab this experimental shipment. You’ll need it for this ride. I’ll be there shortly," Blackhand waved as he got back into the Behemoth,
Adam waved as the Behemoth cruised by, parking inside the loading bay. He whistled as called in a ride, ringing up David.
Adam! What’s up, choom?
Kiwi’s been here, she was drenched in blood and smelled like… well, blood.
Lucy and Rebecca bathed her
Honestly, she’s like a cat
Sounds about right.
Did you hear that Yorinobu called for us?
Yup, Blackhand came by, gave us the news before drinking all of our damn whiskey
Jackass, he owes me
Meet you there?
Yeah yeah, sure.
See ya
See ya!
Before leaving the scene of the absolute beatdown he just inflicted onto Maelstrom, Adam posed outside of the All-Food factory wall, slashing a line over the Maelstrom logo. "ONE QUICK PIC FOR THE ROAD, YOU BOYS DON'T MIND, RIGHT? SAY OBLITERATED!"
Konpeki Plaza, a shadow of its contemporaries around the world. To try and compare it to the Tokyo branch would be a very insult to Saburo Arasaka himself, and yet the so-called "elites" of Night city flock to their gates, hoping to spend all of their net-worth for bragging rights to their other small-fry friends.
On the unbearably uncomfortable real leather couch that's more of a flex rather than made for comfort, Michiko Arasaka put her cigarette out and puffed out the last bit of smoke left in her lungs, opening her eyes and sighing as she threw her head back. Not a single part of the couch felt good on her back, but she couldn't bring herself to get up off the couch into the actually comfortable bed. Not until she decides what to do with herself.
Adam is still in the city after all this time, and he seemed to actually... change. From all the footage that I've seen, it looks like he's actually having fun, and not in a psychopathic way.
"... Ah, f*ck it."
Don't make a big deal out of this.
But I want to talk to you, privately.
and bring your netrunner girlfriend
NO
f*ckING
WAY.
"My life is just so goddamn preem."
