Gen Uriboshi drew his first five cards with slim hands. He placed them down on the table. He winced at what he had drawn. How did he make these work with what his players had brought to the table?

He just had to get started and hope for the best.

(“Everybody ready?,” he asked.

“Let's get started so we can win that money,” said Rabbit. “My summoner is the best summoner ever.”

“Your summoner can only summon slimes,” pointed out Ken.

“What's your point?,” asked Rabbit.

“This is the city,” said Gen, breaking into a potential argument that could derail things before they got started. They didn't have time to fight with the time limit they were under. “It's a jungle of skyscrapers with multiple bridges across waterways, highways, and air traffic to other parts of Near Asia.

“Parks and natural wilderness run in strips with the urban sprawl built around them. Some of these places are very dangerous to go in at night thanks to the things living there, human and not.

“Some of them are dangerous in the daytime.

“The Net exists as virtual communication for the numerous jacked in users everywhere. Unfortunately most of you will have to use your pdas since you couldn't get a jack because of your class restrictions.”

The table created a city which mixed Manhattan with Los Angeles with small areas of jungle between highways, and along rivers that could have come from Miami.

“That's neat,” said Kay. She leaned over the city. “Can I place my clinic here?”

She indicated a strip of trees near what looked like a suburb. A small temple stood out in the area.

“Sure,” said Gen. He placed a small building in the spot. He noted that it was close to the temple, trees, and water. He supposed Kay wanted a quick escape in case of trouble.

He stirred the water off the coast of the massive city. A hurricane took up half of the map out there. He nodded. He didn't know what his players could do against that, but he had time to think of something until it hit shore.

“Let's set the scene with Itchy,” said Gen. “Then I can work the rest of you in as we go.”)

Vizor sat in a seedy bar, drinking whiskey, tuning out the band, watching the crowd. He had taken a seat in the back, draped in a poncho and shades. He had an almost full prosthetic, but he liked to keep it hidden as much as possible.

It was an edge against anyone looking to do him harm. He made his money doing odd jobs. The odd jobs he specialized in made him enemies. He liked to keep them in the dark about what he could do as much as possible.

He spotted a cadre of Skulljacks pushing into the bar. They were talking to themselves. He supposed they weren't hunting since they didn't seem to be eyeing the crowd. They ran a lot of territory on this side of town. If you were freelancing, chances were you were getting jobs from or against them.

Vizor had done both at one time or the other. He was prepared to live and let live as long as they passed him by.

A cadre of Red Pythons came in behind the Skulljacks. They had hands under their coats.

Vizor pushed his table over and drew his sidearm. He didn't want to shoot up his favorite place, but he wasn't about to let anyone shoot at him unchallenged.

It was four on four, but the Pythons already had their weapons out. The Skulljacks were surprised by Vizor's move. They went for their weapons. The Pythons opened fire and two of the Jacks went down, armor lit up under shredded clothes. The third target threw himself into the crowd on the dance floor which was scattering for the exits. The last man threw himself at the bar and escaped a bolt as he went over the top of it.

Vizor shot one of the Pythons in the face. He didn't want them turning their weapons on the crowd. The only thing behind him was a wall.

One of the three surviving Pythons fired at the cyborg and missed. His partner made sure that one of the downed Jacks wasn't getting back up again. The Jack on the dance floor fired at one of his enemies and missed as the man moved to the left. The guy behind the bar popped up and dropped the man moving toward him with a headshot.

The two Pythons began spraying the room as they backed up. They had been an equal force and had killed two of their enemies, but two of their group had been killed. They would have to report a partial success depending on whom they had killed.

Vizor ducked down behind his table and let the blasts go over his head as the metal took some of the blasts. He didn't see the Jack behind the bar drop another one. He fired at the one survivor backing through the door and missed.

He jumped up and ran for the door. He pushed through the crowd trying to get out of the bar. He couldn't be caught by the police. They would take him apart for using a weapon in a crowded place like that.

He liked being a cyborg.

He pushed through until he was out into the street. He heard sirens coming from above. He had to get clear. The police hated cyborgs. They hated armed cyborgs. They hated armed cyborgs that used their weapons most of all.

He saw his cycle ahead. He used his implants to turn on the engine so he could just ride off at a safe speed while the police tried to figure out what had happened at the club. Maybe the gangs were going to war.

He wondered how the rest would take that. It meant business to him. He could hire himself out to both sides and collect money until one of them was gone. He liked the thought of that.

He supposed the gang would like to stop the war before it got started. They were bleeding hearts.

He still had to let them know. If they wanted to interfere in things, more power to them. At the very least, he might need backup in case he had to take some of the bangers down for money.

And Luna lived for violence, even if all she could do was summon slimes. He had never thought of a slime being dangerous before he had met her. He hoped he never met another summoner like her either.

“Call Luna.” His internal phone made the connection for him as he rode away from the club. He kept an eye on his head's up in case the police gave chase when they started closing the surrounding blocks down.

“This is the great and mighty Luna,” said the summoner. “Be worth my time, or be gone.”

“Some Pythons just jumped some Skulljacks,” said Vizor. “Shot up the club. Had to defend myself. Trying to get outside the local net.”

“Where are you?,” asked Luna.

He gave her the nearest address and the direction of travel.

“Hold on,” said the summoner. “The mighty Luna has to consult with her fearsome peers.”

“What peers?,” asked Vizor. As far as he knew, their group was her only peers.

“News drones are on the way,” said Luna. “You have to get off the street.”

“That's awesome,” said Vizor. “I don't think there's any place for me to do that.”

“The great and mighty Luna suggests you find a coffee bar and wait until she calls you back,” she said. “Hide the bike too.”

“What are you going to do?,” asked Vizor. He asked his implant to find the nearest coffee bar. He changed lanes and turned to head to it.

“When the great and mighty Luna wants you to know something, she will tell you,” said Luna in her squeaky voice. “I will call you back when I have a plan.”

She hung up before he could ask about coming up with a plan.

Vizor thought about his friends as he pulled up to the coffee bar. He parked his bike in a space and went inside. Luna would help him out somehow. He had no doubts about that. Calling her had been his best option since she didn't have a home location to track the signal of their call.

The others all had lives out of the underground they didn't want disturbed.

He hoped she didn't throw a giant slime on him as her way of helping him out. That would be a pain to explain to anyone who saw him.

He ordered a giant coffee and watched the net on the wall. The holographic reporters explained how city might be in for a round of violence as local gangs shot at each other at various places. Casualties were listed for anyone to find their loved ones on if they were thought to have been caught up in the multiple shootings.

He didn't see any mention of incredibly handsome cyborgs being wanted for questioning after his escape from the club.

He had made a clean breakout. All he had to do was keep his head down, stay away from the club, and maybe avoid any Python that he could.

He hoped he had chances to plan any assault before they found out who he was.

Maybe he could drop one of Luna's giant slimes on one of their houses and let them try to deal with that while it was trying to eat them.

He found that hilarious except when she did it to him.

Sana walked into the coffee place. He nodded at Vizor as he ordered a cup of coffee with too much whipped cream and too little coffee. He walked to the back of the place, keeping an eye on the other customers in the room.

Vizor joined him, throwing away his empty cup in a public trashcan.

“Looney called,” said Sana. He wore a plain dark suit with a pin of the kana for peace on his collar. “She said there was a problem.”

“I think the Pythons declared war on the Skulljacks,” said Vizor. “I think we should do something about it for money.”

“Not our problem unless the police can't handle it,” said Sana.

“They opened fire in a crowded club,” said Vizor. “It was just luck no one was killed.”

“So what do you want to do about it?,” asked Sana. He sipped his coffee.

“I think we should find the guy in charge and let Luna do what she does best,” said Vizor.

“That's asking for a lot of collateral damage,” said Sana. “Plus I have to deal with the hurricane coming in.”

“How are you going to do that?,” asked Vizor.

“I can dispel storms if I can get in range,” said Sana. “It's one of my spells.”

(“You have a spell for that?,” asked Rabbit and Gen at the same time. She gestured for him to go first.

“Yes,” said Ken Nelson. “It's on my sheet under spells. The problem is the range is only a few hundred feet before I can get rid of the hurricane. Basically it would have to make landfall.”

“If we can get a group call,” said Cyrus Kent. “I can help out with that.”