Chapter 12: Saving!

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Gloria's battered yellow compact car moved steadily along the highway, her son David seated in the passenger seat, dressed in the sharp uniform of Arasaka Academy. Inside, the atmosphere was tense.

David's expression betrayed a mix of frustration and resignation as Gloria spoke with increasing fervor. Her words carried the weight of both concern and desperation, and soon tears began welling up in her eyes.

Seeing his mother cry, David's irritation softened into reluctant sympathy. He sighed and offered clumsy reassurances, trying to calm her down.

Watching from the vehicle behind them, Ethan narrowed his golden eyes. Is this the moment? The start of everything—the accident that changes David's life?

Gloria's car pulled ahead, overtaking Maine's Nomad van. Ethan's focus sharpened as two vehicles in the distance caught his attention.

From the left lane, a sleek black luxury car sped into view, its chrome finish gleaming under the sunlight. Meanwhile, a gaudy pink van, clearly belonging to the Animal Gang, hurtled down the right lane.

"Now's the time. Trash that corpo's car!" one of the gang's hulking members barked from inside the pink van.

As they opened the sunroof and side windows, two Defender kinetic machine guns emerged, their barrels glinting menacingly. The pink van accelerated, swerving in front of Maine's vehicle and pulling alongside Gloria's car, using it as a makeshift shield.

The Animal Gang cared little for the lives of Gloria and David; they were nothing more than collateral damage.

Inside Gloria's car, David noticed the unmistakable glint of the machine guns outside the window. Panic surged through him as he shouted, "Mom, brake! Now!"

But it was too late.

One of the gang members turned his gun toward David's side of the car, his finger hovering over the trigger. In that moment, David's heart sank into icy dread. He wasn't afraid of dying—what terrified him more was the thought of losing his mother.

As the machine gun barrel aligned with David's window and the gang prepared to fire, a streak of golden light flashed across the pink van.

The gang member on the roof froze, his machine gun now severed cleanly in two.

"What the hell just happened?!" he shouted, his voice laced with confusion.

Before anyone could react, a figure appeared in front of their vehicle—a man with golden eyes and short, gleaming blonde hair.

"Get lost," Ethan said coldly, his voice low but firm.

The driver of the pink van leaned out of his window, sneering. "Who the fuck do you think you are? Move it, chromehead, before I run you over!"

Ethan didn't respond. Instead, twin alloy blades extended from his forearms with a sharp metallic hiss. Without hesitation, he lunged forward, slashing through the van in a blur of motion.

The gang's jeering turned to screams as Ethan's figure disappeared and reappeared behind the van in an instant.

Boom!

The pink van shattered into pieces, the sound of tearing metal and roaring flames filling the highway. The once-imposing vehicle was now a heap of smoldering wreckage scattered across the road.

Ethan stood motionless, lowering his blades as the wreckage burned behind him.

"This thing's way better than a Mantis Blade," Ethan muttered, inspecting the sleek alloy edges of his new weapon.

The van's reinforced steel frame had been sliced apart like wet paper. Its occupants, the brutish members of the Animal Gang, hadn't fared any better, their cybernetics offering no protection against Ethan's precision strikes.

[Congratulations! Justice executed successfully. Role-Playing Progress increased to 26%.]

[At 30% Role-Playing Progress, the host will unlock the second form of Demon Cyborg Genos.]

Ethan's expression remained calm as he retracted the alloy blades into his arms. His focus shifted back to Gloria's yellow car, now clear of danger, driving steadily ahead.

….

The explosion of the Animal Gang's vehicle quickly drew the attention of the NCPD, sirens wailing in the distance. Fortunately, there were no casualties at the scene, though the destruction left a stark reminder of the city's dangers.

Further down the highway, Gloria's yellow car screeched to a halt by the roadside. The headlights smashed into the guardrail, and the vehicle rocked slightly as if reflecting her shaken state.

Maine's van pulled up next to Ethan, the window rolling down as Maine leaned out. "Ethan, what the hell? You just vanished. What happened up there?"

Earlier, Maine had been stretching in his seat, only to glance back and find Ethan missing. He hadn't even noticed him leave, though Ethan had thoughtfully closed the car door on his way out.

Ethan shrugged as he stepped back into the van, his expression calm. "Nothing much. Just handled a situation. Let's keep moving."

Rebecca and Lucy, seated in the back, both looked up as Ethan returned. "Yo, Ethan, what happened?" Rebecca asked, her curiosity piqued.

"You good?" Lucy added, her tone less playful but equally curious.

"I'm fine," Ethan replied, offering them a faint smile. Maine restarted the van, steering it back onto the road toward the heart of Night City.

As they passed Gloria's car, Ethan cast a glance out the window. Inside, Gloria and David were talking, their expressions still tinged with the lingering fear from the earlier encounter.

But Ethan noticed something different about David. Despite the ordeal, there was a newfound determination in his eyes. He was speaking to his mother with a seriousness that Ethan hadn't seen before.

He's starting to grow, Ethan thought, though he had no intention of intervening further. For now, David was just a kid—an unremarkable teenager without the Sandivistan. 

Bringing him into Maine's crew would be a mistake. Without the augmentation, David would be more of a burden than an asset.

"Live well, David," Ethan murmured inwardly as the van sped past the parked car, leaving Gloria and David behind.

A few minutes later, the van pulled up outside the crew's usual bar hangout. The familiar neon glow and thumping bass greeted them as they climbed out, ready to blow off steam after the mission.

….

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….

If you want to read 5+ chapters ahead and unpublished fanfics you can check out my patreon or just take a visit.

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