Calm Exit

Not long after the ninja attack, Ori, Lucy, and David found themselves sitting across from Wakako in her limbo. The rookie was nervously bouncing his leg as if he'd be asked to do a test any minute, the Tyger Claw bikes outside the window weren't helping either.

"I heard you ran into a few small problems, Zombie?" Wakaka wonders aloud as she sits demurely in her seat.

Ori shrugs, "Nothing we couldn't deal with. You might wanna lay low for a while though if Arasaka is on to you..."

She smiles, almost looking smug, "I assure you, whoever sent those ruffians to disrupt us hold little to no power over the corporation. I possess my own allies within, we shall see no more interference now that they have acted."

"Allies? You've been holding back on me."

"I do believe I requested your aid months ago. Had you accepted you may have met my benefactor already." she calmly retorts.

"Did your talk with Susie go well?" he inquires, ignoring David's incredulous side-eye at the back and forth he had with the Fixer. Or maybe this was the first time hearing his nickname, 'Zombie'.

"We worked out a collaboration of sorts, my stance on drug manufacture was an obstacle but I believe I swayed her with sex worker regulations and guarantees. Perhaps in the not-so-distant future the Mox and Tyger Claws may become closer than ever thought possible..." she tilts her head at him and lets her gaze go over David and Lucy, "New members of your 'crew'?" she asks, but Ori is pretty sure she already knows who they are.

"Maine's. You'll have to go to him if you want to hire them for anything." he states, noting Lucy's slight scowl at the idea.

"Is that so... He's the one they call 'Megaman', I recall?" she ganders, drawing a choke from David and a chuckle from Ori.

"M-Megaman...?"

"Don't let him hear you call him that..." Lucy cautions.

"I must say I am impressed you both survived an assault from Arasaka. Bare and stealth-oriented they may have been, but their quality and combat experience must not be understated."

"Y-yeah, well... We got lucky." David states.

"Quite-"

*Boom!*

Next to them the escorting bike abruptly explodes into flames, they'd just crossed over the South-East bridge into Japantown so it looked like the enemy Tyger Claws were finally making their move.

"Settle down. We were expecting this." she waves the trio off as they readied themselves for a fight.

"But-" David protests but is cut off by yet another explosion, this time in front of them, destroying a makeshift blockade that'd been hastily erected. The limbo easily drives through the fire, continuing down the road towards central Japantown where Wakako's territory lay.

*Thud!Thud!Thud*

A Tyger Claw screams as he races to the limbo's side, slamming his katana ineffectively onto Wakako's window. She just glances at him disinterestedly, not even reacting as his body turns to red mist as another explosion rings out.

"This common for you...?" Ori asks conversationally...

"Oh this? Not quite recently, but I've always been a target. When my husband sadly passed away I was regarded as 'easy pickings'. Japantown has and will always be my territory, no matter what these young fools think."

The limbo crawls to a stop just outside of Jig-Jig Street, the driver gets out and opens Wakako's door, the three mercenaries stepping out afterwards. "Now remember Zombie, our agreement." she states before walking away.

"Yeah, yeah... Cya later, Wakako." he grumbles out before turning to Lucy and David, "Feeling up for some drinks? Rebecca and Sasha helped escort Susie so they're probably chilling at Lizzie's."

"Er," David starts, glancing at Lucy, "Sure?"

She sighs, "Fine, last time wasn't completely awful." she mutters, relenting to David's puppy-dog eyes. "Maybe that was because Kiwi was there with us?"

---------------------

The sudden alliance between the Mox and Wakako's Tyger Claws came as a big surprise to most in Night City, especially after the massacre in Kabuki. The gang's attitudes immediately changed as a result, not to mention Wakako's group's colourings.

A quarter of the Tyger Claws in Japantown suddenly started wearing blacks, greys, whites, and other muted colours, and any Tyger Claw belonging to the opposing faction would almost immediately open fire upon seeing them.

Violence and gunfights became almost a daily occurrence in the once-peaceful district and suddenly became more dangerous than even Pacifica could claim. The assassination attempt of Wakako only added ammunition to it, those aligning with her goals and ideals taking up arms in her defence.

Jig-Jig Street almost overnight became as or more protected than even the Corpo Plaza. The locals weren't complaining though, as Wakako's faction had all but separated themselves from the violent, sadistic, and morally repugnant people calling themselves Tyger Claws. No longer would the Joytoys and dolls working in the area have to worry about getting assaulted by a roving gang of bikers.

Of course, all of this became a highly debated topic amongst people in Night City, mercenaries especially. The fact that 'Zombie' had been a big component in all of it hadn't been lost to most, folks hadn't forgotten about the massacre he'd helped commit in Japantown months ago.

For Ori the increase in notoriety wasn't something he really cared about. He'd covered his basis and had all but cut off communication with his family, as far as he was concerned, let the assassins come.

-------------------

A week later :

"So, what was it you said? 'Help make me better?'" Ori questions as he steps into the abandoned junkyard where David had requested to meet him.

David looks over from where he'd been throwing punches and kicks at an upturned couch, "We almost died against those guys on the roof." he throws an awkward haymaker which twists his wrist against the padding, making him grimace slightly.

"And the shooting practise wasn't enough?"

David sighs, "I had to steal your big ass iron to do anything."