A/note: Gardito means chubby, lol. And chingon means cool or something that's awesome.

The sun started to fade into the open horizon, with perfect spheres of gold. The sky was a dusted pink and a vibrant gold. Most beautiful sunset I've seen in a long time. Couldn't believe pollution clouds didn't cover a gem like this.

I stepped out of Dexter's limo and turned my back.

"One more thing, Miss Ronin." Dexter called out from the vehicle. I halted and turned my gaze back to him.

"Quiet life or blaze in glory? Hm?" 

"Later Dex." I waved goodbye to him, avoiding the personal questions. Curiosity struck my mind on why he asked such personal questions?

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I learned Jackie was the one calling me. 

"Jackster, I talked with Dex." I said out of the blue.

"Nice I guess Gardito is a big deal, maybe, maybe not." Jackie answered with  contagious laughter.

"He really knows how to protect his biz, Jackie. Signin' us up for a bit of prep work before the big leagues. There's this prototype, Militech. Maestrom snatched it, Dex payed for it before a little switch up in management." I explained to Jackie, letting my best bud in on the details. 

Jackie was silent.

"Right, right, I heard about that...Royce vs Brick- Hostile take over." Jackie recalled his memory.

I began to walk down the street, "That sums it up, Dex wants us talkin' to Royce about it. Though gave us details on the Militech agent, Miss Parker, that got zip tied to the convoy when being transferred. I don't know how much of a help she's gonna be." I sighed, I quickly crossed the street.

Jackie scoffed, "Huh, chingon." Jackie replied with a raspy voice.

I sighed deeply and sat down on a nearby bench, "Doesn't sound like your too thrilled. What do you know about Royce?" I questioned, knowing Jackie had more experience and knowledge about gangs in this city.

"He's fuck'n whacked, somethin' special. Junk snorts parts and Royce...well-"

"And another thing, gotta meet the client who put the job on the table." I piped up. Dexter laughed as if he thought I was kidding.

"What you? What's Dex gonna do? Damn lazy ass is gonna ride around in his limo, and pick chicks up on the halo." Jackie joked. I smiled sweetly about the humor. A bubbly feeling rose up in my stomach, making me chuckle.

"Parker wants to meet up with someone on the crew. Dex gave me the nod." I replied to Jackie. 

"Must know what he's doin'...Maestrom or Parker?" Jackie gave me the choice.

"I'd say I'm gonna pay  a little visit to Maestrom, knock on their door- nah pound on their door." I answered with a motivated voice.

"All right I guess that means, I'll go to All Eats, put my nose to the ground and sniff around, maybe even eavesdrop." Jackie agreed.

"Be careful, Jack." I said with a cautious voice.

"Sure thing, you too. I'm glad to see your in a better mood, after the news, after all the shit you've been in. If you are hurt and screaming, send me a call, I'll get Johnny the punk, and we'll go to work on the boys or ghouls that hurt you." Jackie said out of kindness. I was in awe, I was so flattered on how good of a friend Jackie has become. From pointing a gun at my head to being the family I never had.

"Thank you, Jackie. I'd do the same, if you were in that situation." I replied sweetly.

"See ya." Jackie replied. I ended the call and sat their quietly. Not many people passed by. No stars shined tonight. Just complete ebony, either from the pollution or just the ebony.

I decided to walk over the Lizzie's. Lizzie's bar was only a block away. I shoved my hands in my pockets and started to make my way down the sidewalks. I kept one hand close to my belt, where a clear view was where my gun was.

My ears snapped one way when I heard a struggle in an alley way, near Lizzie's. I hid around the corner and saw a man that was muscular, all metal, and extremely flattering looking. He had silver hair, and one of his eyes shined a vibrant red. He held a tight grip on a women with blue and pink hair. I furrowed my brows, as my memory retract who that was.

Wait...that's Breanne...What the fuck is she doing here?! The man kept his hand near his katana, that shined red. Small, hot, vibrant sparks, sparkled off of his blade.

She struggled to get out of his grip, he placed her arms over her head, with one hand. Moving his tight grip from her chin to her arms.

"I've got orders, Mr. Arosaka would like you to return." He growled with a vicious and somewhat sexy voice.

"Raiden, this isn't you-"

"Oh but it is. I will return you to him, if you don't cooperate." He whispered.

"I'm not going back there even if you drag me by the collar. To make you see that I was a lab rat, a damn test subject! Y-you promised you wouldn't go back to him." Breanne cried out. Tears welled up in her eyes, then poured out immediately. She was scared, and whoever this Raiden guy was, was going to get an ass-whoopin'.

"Hands off, creep." I called out, aiming my gun at his head. Slow and stealthy steps I approached him, down the dark and narrow alleyway.

Raiden shoved Breanne back behind him and blocked my way. His hands gripped his katana. His gaze locked on mine.

"I'm on strict orders, to deliver her to Arosaka, now get out of my sight before I have to kill such an ugly waste of parts." Raiden growled, drawing his sword from his belt.

"Ugly? Tell me your mistaken?" I gave an emotionless laugh.

"I'm not mistaken. She has a pretty rare virus that can be used-"

"Well your lookin' at the virus, dumb ass." I growled, I motioned him to approach me.

"Oh really?" He questions, a massive red laser scans me from his eye. He closes his eyes and draws his sword.

"If that's so, you die tonight, Ronin." I widened my eyes when he said my name. Then it all clicked, like small pieces to a puzzle. This was...Jack the Ripper.

"Whatever you say pretty boy, the choice isn't yours." I started to open fire. Six of my bullets were sliced in half, one managed to hit the handle of his sword. His sword flew back, he lunged at me and tried a spinning kick. 

The impact to my chest sent me back. My back slid onto the ground, my gun slid the opposite way. He jumped up and tried to superman punch me in the throat. I rolled out of the way, leading to a fist impact to the concrete, being not vigilante, my jaw smacked against a jagged area of the concrete.

 A clear dent was made from the power. I jumped onto his back and held my arm around his throat. My hips around his back and half of his torso.

He backed up and slammed both of us into the brick wall. Trying to shake me off of his back.

I felt a deep surge of pain in my back. I spotted something blinking at the back of his head.

"Wait! Ronin! Don't kill him!" Breanne screamed in fear. I struggled to hold onto him even longer.

"I ain't tryin' to!" I snapped. I snatched the red shard from the back of his head. Raiden immediately lost his balance, and sent me flying. I crashed into a couple of old boxes, along with a couple of metal trash cans.

A small twitch came from Raiden's finger. I kept a fair distance away from him, benifiting my safety.

His fuzzy head raised slowly. 

His eyes were blue.

Not crimson.

He held his head and leaned up against the wall, "What happen?" He questioned with a groggy voice. The three of us sat in silence.

I stared at the blinking computer chip in my palm. I flipped it over and saw the Arosaka logo. Anger fueled me, I stood up and crushed it under my boot.

"You were under Arosaka's comand." Breanne replied to Raiden, finally gathering the courage to break the invisible barrier between the Ripper and Raiden. Jack the Ripper was the bad side of Raiden if put under Arosaka's control. Arosaka was able to use Raiden as a puppet. He would eliminate his puppets if they failed. And I knew Raiden was something to Breanne. Breanne crawled over to Raiden and held both of her hands on the side of his cheek. 

Dark, rich, marble clouds covered the sky. Small patters of rain were heard, making the three of us soaked to the bone, after five minutes.

"Breanne..."

"Your back." Breanne replied, choking on her words. Raiden's blue eyes traveled over to her chin. He put the pieces all together.

He hurt her.

There were dark marks on her, two on each arm, one on her chin.

All he could do was hold her with a gentle grip, his eyes softly closed. Embracing her like he was supposed to.

"I know I fucked up. And Arosaka is going to pay-"

"Raiden, it wasn't you who did this to me. I think of it more as Arosaka's doing, not yours..." She whispered gently in his ear. He softly pressed his lips against her forehead. Breanne crawled off of his lap and stood up. My eyes trailed over to his blade. I took my gun and picked up his blade. The edge scraped against the concrete. I slashed the air, as it created many *swish* sounds.

It was like slow motion, gravity split a small rain drop from the edge of the blade. I turned my gaze over to Raiden. I pointed the tip of the blade at Raiden's windpipe.

"RONIN! NO!" Breanne yelled.

"I'm taking this blade, you ever harm her or anyone ever again, you best pray I'm dead." I threatened, calming sparing his life.

Raiden gave me a nod after I removed the blade from his neck.

"I cannot say goodbye to tomorrow. Take the blade, it's served me well. Though I have it's twin in her broom-closet." Raiden joked. Breanne chuckled at his humor. 

From red the blade turned blood red when I touched the handle.

"Thank you, Raiden. Take care of your girl now." I whispered, walking out of the alleyway. I placed the blade between my belt. My jaw locked again.

*Snap!*

I felt a gruesome pain in my mouth. My fingers hesitantly raised up to my lip. I pulled a half of a chipped tooth from the back. I examined it and cringed.

"Fuck." I sighed. I scrolled through my contacts, noticing a number I couldn't recall.

It read Meredrith Stout. I recognized that name, she was a Corpo, a Millitech agent. I smiled, why not give her a scare.

"Stout here. Start telling me how you got this number?" she answered in a strict voice.

"Know more than your number. Heard you misplaced a convoy." I replied with a cocky voice.

There was loud hollering and screaming on the other line of the phone, "You, shut him up!" Meredrith ordered on the other line. It sounded like torture.

"Spill me what you know. Don't make me wait." Meredrith snarled on the other line, in a very impatient tone.

"Nuh-uh, not on the horn. Let's meet, cut a deal." I refused, then offered up.

"A deal...fine. First exit off Skyline, drive towards the NID. Storm channel under the overpass, meet me there." She cut the line. I was going to leave all comms on, in case she's something not to mess with.