He had to do something. His Authentic Szechuan Fire Bomb Deluxe Supreme Max, with a pinch of salt, was more than just foodl, it was a sacred ritual, a fragile joy in night city. He spun towards Jackie, whose eyes, normally glinting with a casual street smarts, now held a flash of disbelief.
As if caught in a slow motion eddy, Teo bolted, a desperate sprint towards the monstrous threat. "Teo, WHAAAAAAT?!" Jackie's voice ripped through the sudden silence of the market, a futile cry against the chaos unravelling.
The man was a walking, screaming testament to unchecked chrome and shattered humanity. Easily seven feet of grotesquely enhanced synth muscle and combat wiring, his frame bulged with every step.
His entire left arm was a gleaming, brutal block of polished Militech Ares plating, ending in massive, multi jointed claws that still dripped with the vendor's blood, a macabre souvenir of his rampage. His spinal column, a visible ridge of polished steel beneath flayed, stretched skin, spoke of advanced bioware for raw strength and pain suppression.
His eyes, twin points of sick, unnatural green light, were ringed by thin, twitching wires that vanished into his temples, the tell-tale signs of a high tier Kerenzikov implant running hot and unchecked, pushing his limits past breaking point. His face was a mask of stretched, pale synth skin barely concealing the structural chrome beneath, a permanent rictus of agony and fury.
In his right hand, the cyberpsycho clutched a modified Arasaka J-LX "Juggernaut" heavy assault rifle. Its barrel, impossibly thick and adorned with jagged scav tech modifications, hummed with a low, dangerous charge. It wasn't merely a weapon; it was a portable cannon, ready to tear through anything in its path.
He brought the rifle up, the movement jerky but terrifyingly fast, locking onto Teo and Jackie. The market, seconds ago a bustling symphony of hawkers and hungry patrons, was now a desolate, blood spattered stage. People had scattered like roaches, leaving only the metallic tang of fear in the air, which crackled with the cyberpsycho's raw, unhinged rage.
"Y-y-you s-s-said I cou-ld g-go ho-me!" he bellowed, his voice a distorted snarl, as he raised his hunk of metal arm. The Juggernaut's barrel swung, aligning squarely with the noodle stand chef, who was cowering behind his flimsy booth bar. "NOOOO! NOT THE NOODLE GUY!" Teo shrieked, a sound Jackie had never heard from his usually stoic cousin, a raw, primal scream of pure protectiveness for his culinary holy grail.
Teo whipped out Bon Bon, his custom tech pistol. With a swift thumb, he clicked a small, glowing green button on the grip. A high pitched calibrating whine pierced the air, 'Fucker' connecting to the guns tech, its internal mechanisms whirring to adjust power.
VWOOM! CRACK! Bon Bon bucked violently in Teo's hand, the recoil almost tearing it from his grasp as the shot erupted, sounding like a miniature railgun. The tech bullet, a shimmering streak of pure energy, struck the psycho's Juggernaut with the force of a wrecking ball, tearing a jagged, smoking crater into the weapon's thick casing and sending the chromed out freak stumbling sideways, nearly tripping over his own augmented feet. (think of the charge shot gun from dah game, basically dat but with a pistol.)
Not wasting a nanosecond, Teo barked commands to Fucker. "Fucker! Quick puppet that nearby camera! Provide assistance!" The AI inside his optical implants whirred, sounding almost gleeful. In Teo's optics, a vibrant green line shot out, beelining for an overseeing market camera. "Surveillance overwritten, providing assistance choom!" the AI responded, its smooth voice echoing in his head.
Jackie, who wouldn't let his cuso face this chrome nightmare alone, had already pulled his custom pistols. He rolled, sliding into the concrete cover next to Teo, then popped up, unleashing a furious hail of lead at the cyberpsycho.
The bullets, though precise, merely pinged off the psycho's subdermal armor, leaving shallow dents and scrapes on the polished chrome. "Fuck, Teo, what are you doing?!" Jackie grunted, diving back behind cover, already slapping fresh mags into his pistols.
Teo, ignoring Jackie's outburst, launched a quickhack, Overheat. The cyberpsycho's ice defense, likely ravaged by his psychosis, was pitifully feeble. A wave of heat shimmered around the psycho, distorting the air, and a faint smell of ozone and burning flesh began to emanate from his superheated chrome.
Teo immediately stood, Bon Bon spitting two more devastating tech rounds that slammed into the psycho's chest, the subdermal armor finally groaning under the repeated assault, buckling inwards with a sickening crunch. The psycho roared, a sound of pure mechanical rage, his vision swimming through the heat haze. He twitched, his right hand tearing a spare SMG from a magnetic holster on his back, returning fire in a wild, desperate spray through Teo's double tap.
One of the psycho's bullets clipped Teo, sending him sprawling to the ground, the round just barely stopped by his own weave subdermal armor. He coughed, the impact rattling his teeth. "FUCK… I'm trying to save my noodles, Jack! I won't lose them again!" he gasped, rolling over, clutching his side, joining Jackie behind the cracked concrete barrier.
"YOUR NOODLES!?" Jackie yelled, peaking over cover, firing controlled bursts, aiming for the exposed wires around the psycho's neck. The bullets sparked, finding purchase in the softer targets.
"Optical scan complete, choom! Targeting weakness in posterior plating! Initiate neural feedback loop!" Fucker chirped in Teo's ear, a green reticle appearing in his vision, highlighting a vulnerable spot on the psycho's lower back.
"Pream, Jack! Flank him, hit his back! I'm prepping another Overheat for this freakazoid!" Teo yelled, already beginning the quickhack upload. His fingers flew across his cyberdeck, a cascade of code flowing into the psycho's overloaded neural net. The cyberpsycho screamed again, the heat building, his augmented eyes glowing brighter with a malevolent green, smoke beginning to curl from the seams of his armor.
Jackie, moving with the fluid grace of a seasoned street samurai, took a wide, low crawl, using scattered debris for cover. The psycho, disoriented by the Overheat and Fucker's unseen neural attacks, was thrashing, his Juggernaut now sputtering, sparks flying from the large dent Teo had put in it.
He turned, the SMG spitting wildly. Jackie timed it perfectly, rolling out from behind a toppled food stall, his pistols roaring. He emptied both clips into the psycho's lower back, the rounds tearing through the thinner plating, eliciting a guttural, choked cry. Blood, black and oily, mixed with synthetic fluids, splattered across the ruined market stalls.
As Jackie reloaded, Teo finished his quickhack. The cyberpsycho seized, his synth muscles spasming violently. His glowing green eyes flickered, showing a split second of terrified lucidity before snapping back to pure, unadulterated rage. He was cooking from the inside out.
"Now, Jack! Take him down!" Teo yelled, pushing himself up, Bon Bon already sighted.
Jackie, reloading one pistol with practiced ease, kept the psycho pinned, ignoring the fresh scrapes on his arm from shrapnel. "You got it, choom!" He squeezed the trigger, pumping more rounds into the exposed back, making the psycho lean down and flail his seizing arms.
The cyberpsycho, a smoking, sputtering wreck, was now a snarling, flailing target. As he hunched over, dazed by the combined assault, Jackie saw his chance. Dropping his empty pistols, he moved in, a blur of muscle and fury.
He spun, his boot slamming into the psycho's side, turning the hulking figure just enough for Jackie to unleash a haymaker. His fist, a solid chunk of reinforced bone and muscle, connected with a sickening CRACK against the psycho's exposed jawline. The impact resonated through the market, staggering the giant.
Before the psycho could even register the blow, Teo was there. He'd rounded the concrete barrier with surprising speed, fueled by adrenaline and the sheer audacity of the moment. He wound up, putting his entire body into a haymaker that connected with the other side of the psycho's head, snapping it back with a violent jerk. THWUMP! Another bone jarring impact.
The cyberpsycho reeled, a confused, pained roar ripping from his throat. Jackie followed up, a blur of fists and elbows, landing a rapid succession of body blows that made the psycho wheeze, his internal systems groaning. Teo, emboldened, ducked under a wild, clawed swipe and drove his knee into the psycho's groin with brutal efficiency. The giant doubled over, a pained gasp echoing from his strained voice box.
They traded blows, a relentless, tag team pummeling. Jackie would hammer his chest, forcing him back, then Teo would dart in, striking at the exposed wires around his neck, or driving his fist into the softer synth skin where the subdermal armor was weakest.
Blood and synthetic fluids sprayed with each impact. The psycho, once an unyielding force, was now a tormented punching bag, his movements sluggish, his rage turning into desperation. He swung his massive chrome arm wildly, but his blows were slow, telegraphed, easily dodged. His green eyes flickered, struggling to maintain focus.
They were beating him down, systematically dismantling the monster piece by piece. Jackie threw one last punch decking the psycho, sending the creature crashing to the ground. Teo pulled Bon Bon, Reloading her magazine, while staring down at the guy.
His face grim, aimed Bon Bon for the head. The psycho was a monster, but he was also suffering. With a final, explosive VWOOM-CRACK!, Teo fired. The supercharged tech round obliterated the psycho's skull, a messy geyser of chrome, brain matter, and dark blood erupting into the air.
The towering, augmented body convulsed one last time, then crashed to the concrete, a grotesque heap of ruined metal and shattered flesh. The eerie green glow in his eyes faded, leaving only empty, dull optics staring at the sky.
The market was silent once more, save for the faint crackle of cooling chrome and the distant wail of sirens. Teo leaned heavily against the concrete, Bon Bon was smoking slightly in his hand. He looked at Jackie, then at the noodle stand, miraculously still standing. "My noodles," he whispered, a hint of a smile finally touching his lips.
"Your nuts, choom." Jackie said as they started to walk towards the noodle booth.
A/N: QUICKLY PUMP THIS OUT GOTTA SCRAM FOR A DINNER.