---
"David, David!"
"Can you hear me?"
"Wake up, man!"
Amidst a flurry of voices, David slowly felt himself regaining consciousness.
A blinding white light filled his vision as he forced his eyes open.
The first thing he saw was Lucy, Jack, Victor, and a few others, their faces filled with worry.
"Sh*t! He's awake! David's awake!"
Jack let out a relieved shout, punching the air. "Damn, Lao, you're a f***ing miracle worker!"
"Hey, Jack! Be careful, will ya?!" Victor grumbled. "I told you already—David was just in shock from the damn cyberware strain. He wasn't dying!"
"David, how are you feeling?" Lucy's voice was soft but full of concern.
"...Where am I?" David groaned, his throat dry as sandpaper.
"Don't move too much." Lucy quickly stepped closer, steadying him. "You're in Lao's clinic. You need to rest, okay?"
Victor smirked from his chair, twirling a small med tool between his fingers. "You crazy bastard. I thought you were just messing around with some combat enhancers last night, but nah—you went straight to fing up the entire Tiger Claw Gang*!"
"Jack gave me the rundown," Victor continued, shaking his head in disbelief. "I've seen a lot of sht in my life, but you? David, you've got nerves of f**ing steel!"
He leaned in, shining a small diagnostic light into David's eyes. "Alright, follow the light. Can you see it?"
David squinted but nodded. "Yeah."
"Good, means your optic nerves are still intact."
Victor exhaled and switched off the scanner. "When Jack and Lucy hauled you in here, your eyes were bleeding. Thought you fried your implants or something, but looks like you just pushed your cyberware way past its limits."
David looked down at his body—wires, tubes, and vital monitors were attached to him.
"Alright, I'll give you a sedative," Victor muttered, grabbing a syringe. "You need to rest."
Before David could protest, he felt a cold sting in his arm.
Darkness swallowed him again.
---
When He Woke Again…
David's eyes fluttered open. The clinic was dimly lit, quiet, with only a few blinking holo-screens breaking the darkness.
The only other person in the room was Lucy, curled up on the sofa, fast asleep under a blanket.
He tried to move, but the slight shift rattled the wires around him.
Lucy's eyes snapped open.
"David?! You're awake!"
She practically jumped up, rushing over to him.
"Easy, easy." He chuckled weakly. "I'm fine."
"Yeah, right." Lucy rolled her eyes, carefully steadying him as he sat up. "Lao said your body's completely drained. You should still be lying down."
David stretched slightly, feeling sore all over.
"Where's Victor? And Jack?"
"They got hungry," Lucy said with a small smile. "Went to Misty's shop to grab food."
David smirked. "You stayed here the whole time?"
"Hmph, don't flatter yourself!" Lucy pouted, crossing her arms. "What you did last night scared the hell out of me! If something had happened to you, I…"
She stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing what she was saying.
David raised an eyebrow. "If I what?"
Lucy's cheeks turned pink, and she quickly looked away. "I-I just meant… if something happened, our team wouldn't have a captain! That's all!"
David let out a soft laugh. "Alright, alright. I get it."
She helped him onto the sofa, tucking a pillow behind his back.
"How are you feeling now?" Lucy asked, checking his forehead with the back of her hand.
"Hungry as hell." David smirked.
She sighed in relief, sitting beside him. "You were out for a whole day. I even called Claire at the bar—told her you wouldn't make it tonight."
"Wow, how considerate," David teased.
Lucy rolled her eyes but smiled.
---
The Aftermath of Last Night
"So… what's the news on the Tiger Claws?" David finally asked.
Lucy's face darkened.
"You really wanna know?"
David nodded.
Lucy crossed her arms. "Well, for starters—the entire main hall was burned to the fing ground!* Nothing left but ashes. The whole city's talking about it."
"NCPD, News 54, WNS, and every damn news outlet is covering the story."
David smirked. "Good."
Lucy, however, didn't look so amused.
"David, listen to me. This is serious. If I had to guess, even the big corporations that backed the Tiger Claws are probably paying attention now."
David raised an eyebrow. "And NCPD?"
"So far? Nothing." Lucy shook her head. "That black fire of yours literally wiped out all evidence. Jack went back to check today—not a single trace left."
David chuckled. "Told ya, Amaterasu never leaves a mess."
Jack's voice suddenly cut in from the doorway.
"David, my man, you are one scary son of a b*tch."
Jack, Victor, and Misty walked in, carrying bags of takeout.
"Here," Victor said, setting two plates of pasta on the table. "Eat up, or Lucy's gonna have a f***ing panic attack again."
"Tsk!" Lucy huffed. "Old man, you talk too much!"
Jack laughed as he dropped onto the couch. "Damn, David. Last night? Crazy sh*t. I've seen a lot of gang wars, but what you did to the Tiger Claws? Straight-up nightmare fuel."
David smirked. "Scared you, huh?"
"Hell yeah! There were limbs everywhere! I had nightmares just thinking about it!" Jack shuddered.
Then he leaned forward, serious for once. "Listen, next time, don't pull that lone-wolf sh*t, alright?"
Lucy immediately nodded. "Exactly! You're our captain, but that doesn't mean you should take all the risks alone!"
Jack crossed his arms. "Yeah! If something happens to you—"
"Jack!" Misty elbowed him.
Jack winced, then muttered, "Bah! I take it back. Nothing bad's gonna happen to you!"
The room fell into a comfortable silence as they ate.
After a while, Lucy wiped her mouth and looked at David seriously.
"I have a proposal," she said.
David raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"When we go on missions," Lucy said, "we vote. Majority rules. You, as captain, get two votes. The rest of us each get one."
Jack snapped his fingers. "Smart! That way, you can't just suicide-run into fights anymore!"
David sighed. "You two really planned this out, huh?"
Lucy and Jack exchanged looks.
Then nodded.
David looked between them, then exhaled. "...Alright. Fine."
Jack grinned. "Damn right!"
Lucy smiled. "Good."
But deep down, David wasn't just worried about himself.
If the Tiger Claws were this easy, what about the real enemies?
What about Arasaka?
What about Militech?
If his team wanted to survive, they all needed to get stronger.
Not just him.
All of them.
And from now on—he would make sure of that.
---
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