Belladonna D'gardenia awoke swallowed in darkness and with a headache that felt as if her head was ensnared in a vice. As she fumbled around in the blackness she felt she was surrounded by metal. After several minutes of wandering aimlessly, all she could do was ponder what had happened. She remembered, and likely never would forget, her and the Demon King being consumed by her [Banishment] spell. While she had not felt them at the moment, she began remembering the surge of fear, anger, and sadness that swelled as the sacrificed souls of those she called comrades flowed into the spell. Then she wound up floating in emptiness until that strange being, a man named Johnny Silverhand, informed her that she was being sent somewhere. He had been less than helpful in the brief interaction they had. Now she was trapped in some sort of metallic prison. Was this her punishment for tapping into forbidden knowledge?
Suddenly, her vision became tinted red, and streams of letters, numbers, and shapes cluttered what little eyesight she had. Everything moved so fast that she was hardly able to keep track of anything being flashed before her. One square in the left-hand corner of her vision remained still so she focused on that to see what she could make out.
> Biometric Health Monitoring...100%
>
> Cyberware Compatability...100%
>
> Dynamic State Identification Number Generator...100%
>
> Interactive User Interface...100%
>
> All Systems Integrated...Set Up of ARCHON Complete
None of these things made any sense to her. Like everything else though, this message vanished and she once more found herself probing the dark. The headache resurfaced again causing Belladonna to paw about her head hoping to apply pressure anywhere to lessen the pain. However, when she felt the back of her head she felt a foreign object attached to the nape of her neck. She followed the object from her nape down to the base of her spine. It felt metallic and smooth, but other than that she could make out no other defining details. Just as she was adjusting to this new addition to her body, a piercing ringing sound erupted out of nowhere along with a new message:
> INCOMING CALL
>
> JOHNNY SILVERHAND
>
> ANSWER? Y/N
Not knowing what else to do, Belladonna said yes and a small window opened up where the message had been revealing a portrait view of Silverhand staring back at her. He looked around all over, seemingly lost just like her, before speaking up as if he was talking into her mind.
[Hey kid, looks like you and I aren't done quite yet.]
"My mind is swirling with confusion and I feel like I'm going to go insane," Belladonna exploded in frustration at the small picture of Johnny.
[Relax. Look, I jumped the gun and just assumed I was passing you along to be someone else's problem. But it looks like I'm the one Rockerboy that life just can't leave alone without being a pain in my ass.]
Belladonna signed, half out of an attempt to gain her composure and because there was little else she could muster. "Okay, can you please just start at the beginning?"
[From what I've gathered, you're from another world and now you've landed into the shithole that is mine. Even worse, you've landed in the most deluxe of shitholes, Night City.]
She slapped the portion of her prison on her right and said, "I'm stuck in some kind of prison."
[Nah, seems like a shipping container, a big metal box we put on boats. Walk as far as you can and feel around for a lever.]
The spellcaster did so and just as Johnny said found a lever. Belladonna twisted it and the door opened into the blinding light of mid-day. She shielded her eyes for a brief moment to adjust and survey her new surroundings. What she saw filled her with curiosity, but her instincts told her this was not a good place to be. There was a black road running in both directions and numerous two-story buildings whose better days were clearly behind them. Dead yellow grass and weeds made up the only vegetation she could see and a foul stench that stung her nostrils hung all around her. Before long humans began to come into view walking along the sidewalks and piloting strange self-propelled carriages of various sizes and colors.
[Hey, help me out a bit, kid. My vision is a bit more limited compared to the last time I was waltzing around in someone else's head. Look around and I'll see if I can see some landmarks to tell me where exactly we are.]
Johnny's words surprised her, she had briefly forgotten they were still connected as she examined the town around her. She did as he instructed until he eyes focused on a building nearby, a large model of what looked like a human arm proudly displayed on its roof. Under it read the words, "Clean Cut."
[Fuck, you're in Watson!]
"Are you so needlessly vulgar all the time, Mr. Silverhand?" Belladonna asked incredulously.
[Fuck yeah I am, especially with you being in the worst possible place a newly chromed gonk like you could stumble into. Look ahead at the men near the shop with the big arm on the roof.]
Belladonna did so though upon examination she had a difficult time believing she was looking at men. These men looked more like demons than humans, both sported numerous glaring red eyes that made their heads resemble legless spiders. Any exposed part of their body seemed to have large, painful-looking protrusions of metal sticking out of them. Both held heavy-looking clubs as weapons, the clubs being just as infested with metal as they were.
[Those are some Maelstrom goons. Bastards like them live to add as much chrome to themselves as possible and shed off any bit of humanity they can. Worse thing is they enjoy doing that to unwilling folks off the street. The cyberware you're carrying makes you a huge target for groups like them, so avoid eye contact and just start walking away.]
Belladonna listened and began to head south hoping to blend in with the people on the sidewalk. Curiously, they seemed to pay her no mind either focusing on their own journey or their eyes glued to small rectangles clutched in their hands. Whatever lives these people lived the presence of a long-eared elf in mage's robes wasn't enough to catch their attention. Unfortunately, this did not seem to do have the desired effect on the people she had hoped to avoid.
"HEY, GIRLIE!"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
There was something inhuman to the sound of the voice shouting at her that she couldn't quite place. Before long the two Maelstrom men were on her with a look of predatory glee etched on their faces. The deep scaring and sores scrawled around their pale skin made them look even more demonic up close than they did afar. She could also see that someone must've scooped out the skin and bones where their eyes had been and replaced them with the distressing red orbs glaring at her. One Maelstromer sported a leather jacket and exposed chest, the other looked as though they had a metal plate welded over their mouth.
[Stay calm, kid.]
The thing was that Belladonna wasn't scared of these men. She had faced hordes of vile creatures and abominations in the Demon King's forces and came out victorious. What really filled her with dread was that men would intentionally do this to themselves. Gripping her wooden [casting staff] close to her chest, she gave a curt, "What do you want?"
"Just wanna talk," the jacketed Maelstromer said with a hideous tooth-decayed smile.
"Saw you sporting some preem cyberware from across the way and wondered where 'ya got it is all," the iron-jawed one added.
Belladonna said bluntly, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'll be taking my leave."
"We ain't fucking done yet!"
One of the Maelstromers grabbed her right arm and spun her back around to face them. Pointing his club at her, the iron-jawed man angrily growled, "We scanned your shit from across the street and your chrome ain't coming up on any database. We want it and you'll give it!"
"Or what?" Belladonna asked defiantly.
"Or we break your knees and drag your Ren Faire ass someplace you don't want to go."
Not waiting for her next response, the two gangsters readied to swing their clubs. Instinctively, Belladonna held out her right palm and shouted, "[Fireball]!"
She had expected a massive orb of flame to erupt from her palm and consume both to ashes. Yet what came out was merely a [First-Tier] version of the spell, the lowest form beginners typically master first. Still, it was more than enough to splash across the face of the iron-jawed Maelstromer and cause the man to panic. His ally aborted his attack to see what was wrong with his friend and gave Belladonna a window to run.
[Good shooting back there kid, glad you remembered you've still got some spells under your belt.]
"I didn't remember," Belladonna huffed in response, "And that was not what I expected. My spells were much more powerful back in my world.
[Guess you're starting back at level 1 then, choom.]
While that turn of phrase escaped her like many things recently, she could work out that clearly her magic skills took a downgrade transitioning from one plane to the next. A broken world, strange technology serving as a target literally painted on her back, and beginner's magic made what little confidence she had left take a nosedive. However, she noticed some new text pop-up in the lower-left of her vision.
> Attribute Increase - Reflexes - 10/[20]/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100 - 60xp Needed to Level Up
>
> Attribute Increase - Magic - 10/[20]/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100 - 60xp Needed to Unlock Tier 2 Proficiency
>
> Skill Increase - Spell - Fireball - 10/20/30/40/[50]/60/70/80/90/100 - 50xp Needed to Unlock Tier 2 Fireball
>
> Skill Increase - Headhunter - 30xp Earned - 10/20/[30]/40/50/60/70/80/90/[100] - 70xp Needed to Level Up
>
> Skill Increase - Solo - 110xp Earned - 10/20/[30]/40/50/60/70/80/90/[100] - 70xp Needed to Level Up
"What was that, Johnny?" she asked hoping the man in her head had caught the new information as she had. Everything about the words and numbers made little practical sense to her.
[Hmm, guess that cyberware you've got translates your actions into some quantifiable data. Looks like your fireball to that Maelstrom gonk's dome made you stronger. Bitchin'.]
This was something that Belladonna could finally comprehend. Similar gains in skill and ability occurred back in her world all the time. Back home though when you mastered a skill or increased your abilities you would feel a surge of invigorating energy throughout your body. Spells would be easier to cast and consume less [mana], for example. One's [stamina] would increase and improve how much physical activity they could muster. Even the terminology was similar, the "levels" of this world were akin to the [Tiers] of her own. During her battle with the Demon King, she was considered a [Tier 50] practitioner of the [Spellcaster] class, a meritious distinction that made her one of the most powerful magic-users.
Belladonna was so wrapped up in the implications of these revelations that she didn't see the people in front of her and collided with them. Just as she was about to apologize, she looked up and saw five more Maelstrom gangsters towering over her.
"You got a death wish, worm!?!" one of the gangsters shouted, a woman with half her head shaved and spikes poking out of her hairless scalp. The woman pulled an L-shaped object from her waist and pointed it directly at Belladonna's face. Not long after, the two Maelstromers she had ran away from had caught back one, the one who took a [Fireball] to the face looking much worse for wear.
"Hey Yolani!" the jacketed Maelstromer said supporting their melted comrade, "Cap that little bitch for what she did to George!"
The woman, Yolani, looked intently at the melted orbs of George's face then returned her gaze to Belladonna. Reacting fast, Belladonna tapped the bottom of her staff on the ground and shouted, "[Holy Light]!"
A runic sigil appeared on the ground before them and set off a blinding flash that incapacitated the gang.
> Attribute Increase - Magic - 10/20/30/40/[50]/60/70/[80]/90/100 - 50xp Needed to Unlock Tier 2 Proficiency
>
> Skill Increase - Spell - Holy Light - 10/20/30/40/[50]/60/70/80/90/100 - 50xp Needed to Unlock Tier 2 Runes
She continued to run until she saw a towering structure in the distance, a building that sembles three blocks stacked ontop of the other with the number 11 posted on the side. Ascending the stairs, she was relieved to see a lively host of people eating, talking, and living all around her in what seemed to be a central lobby. Seizing the opportunity, she knew she had to use this moment to find help. As if reading her mind, the image of Johnny Silverhand still suspended in his corner looked troubled.
[Don't do it, kid!]
"Help, I'm being chased by Maelstrom!"
The bustling atmosphere of the building drained in an instant and people began flooding out of the building's lobby. As she saw the people leave, she also saw the group of Maelstromers climbing the steps and shoving people every which way. Belladonna moved away from them before finding her back clanging against a fenced wall. The sadistic demons now blocked her only exit.
"Jenkins here told me you've got some preem shit on you," Yolandi said pointing her weapon at the jacketed gangster still holding George, "Also said you did some hocus-pocus shit that melted George's face. Gotta be the cyberware, so now's your last chance to come quietly or we will peel that tech from you and smash your skull into pulp!"
Belladonna wasn't about to go without a fight, but as she tried to ready another [Fireball] spell, she could not feel the sensation of energy she normally did. With terror, she realized it was the feeling she had long since forgotten as her magic skills had increased over the years, the exhaustion of her [mana]. As the Maelstromers began to advance, a pair of blades erupted from Yolandi's chest in a flurry of blood, guts, and sparks. The other Maelstomers looked back and several loud booms resulted in their heads popping open like ripe melons smashed for a festival. Bit of blood and bone splattered on her and she saw a new group of people standing before her.
They were a group of women who clearly sported the "cyberware" seemingly so common in this world, but all sported a variety of colorful hairstyles and scant clothing that left little to the imagination.
[Saved by the Mox, all fucking right!]
Johnny's outburst should have relieved Belladonna, but she still kept her guard up as one of these Moxs waltzed up to her. The two praying mantis-like blades hanging from her arms meant she was the one who killed Yolandi, so Belladonna uttered a simple, "Thank you."
The bladed Mox smirked and said, "No prob. Saw you sprinting past our turf hounded by a bunch of Maelstrom dicks looking as if they were gunna cream. Heard your cry for help and came as soon as we could. Name's Victoria. You?"
"Belladonna D'Gardenia," the spellcaster answered.
"Okay then, B," Victoria said, "It's pretty dangerous around these parts, why don't you come with us back to Lizzie's Bar and maybe we can see about getting you some help?"
Belladonna nodded. These Mox girls were strangers, but with few real options, she followed them out of the building lobby and back to the streets of Night City.