Credit where it's due...

"This is a stupid fucking plan!" Rebecca quickly whispers under her breath as she and Ori walk towards Kuroda with bottles of hard liquor in their hands.

Ori ignores her, instead taking a swig of his drink and purposely stumbling slightly, "H-hey man! T-there enough room for two more!?" he questions, causing the drunken man to lift his head from the sand to look up at them. His eyes circle in on their drinks and he gives a welcoming smile, "S-s'long as you'rre sharing!"

Kuroda likes to the side at one of the unconscious girls next to him and gives her a prod, "H-hey, d-do you wanna another drink...?" he asks, staring for long period of time before prodding her again. Eventually he figures out that no, she didn't want another drink... "J-just one over here thanks!"

Ori nods, handing the guy his drink while taking the chance to glance behind him, checking if the Tyger Claw members milling around noticed anything off. Thankfully, their acting was 'good enough' to fly by them. "No problem bro, always take the opportunity to drink!" he slaps Rebecca's shoulder with the back of his hand, "Misses think's this shit's gonna rot my brain, as if! Only thing we gotta worry about is the liver, and I'm swapping that out as soon as I get paid!"

"T-that's your misses...? T-they make 'em younger every year..." Kuroda mutters under his breath as he takes another gulp. "Ahhgh, that shit's good... H-hey, d-do I know you...? I do right...?"

Ori nods with a smile, "Yeah, we're like, best buds Kuroda, don't you remember that kick-ass poker match we had? You cleared out the whole table and we got kicked out for it!"

...

"Uhhh... Yeah...? I remember that... Totally." Kuroda awkwardly replies, not remembering that at all but just putting it up to the drinks hazing his mind.

"You remember my name right...?" Ori asks, sitting on his heels as Rebecca does her best to fit in... Mainly drinking the liquor he'd given her...

"Y-yeah, why wouldn't I? We're buddies r-right..." Kuroda gestures his drink at him, "J-o-, no... Peter! That's it!"

"I knew you remembered me!" Ori pauses as if he just received a message, "H-hey, just got word of another party starting up... Whaddya say checking it out?"

Kuroda hums in thought, "Err, I was gonna go home with these gals-" he glances over, checking once more that they were unconscious, "BUT if you're gonna pull my leg! C-come on, l-let's go." he stumbles to his feet, trying to lift the boombox but giving up since it was too heavy for him with only one hand available. "S-someone else can deal with this... Come on, let's go!"

Ori was astounded that this was actually working... This guy was either the chillest person in existence, or simply too drunk to tell fantasy from reality... Really, did he look like a 'Peter'...?

The Tyger Claws only gave them a cursory glance before going about their usual things, completely uncaring about whatever they were doing. Drunk folks wandering around the shanty town wasn't strange after all, especially not Kuroda who'd been on a bender since yesterday.

The guy had apparently been celebrating 'hitting it big' and a 'promotion' which he wouldn't divulge no matter what way Ori tried to phrase the question. Other than that he was all too happy to spill whatever he had.

It was laughably easy to lead the guy out of Tyger Claw territory, but he seemed to be catching on when Lizzie's Bar came into view...

"H-hey, Peter... T-they party isn't in there... Is it...?" he questions, arm holding his drink drooping anxiously.

Six who'd been tailing them stepped behind him, almost causing the man to jump out of his skin. "W-what's the big idea here! Peter!"

"Sorry buddy, no hard feelings?" Ori offers with a shrug before Six throws the guy over his shoulder and marches through the doors of Lizzie's Bar as the guy squirms, he tries to scream but Six just gags him.

Susie was already at the bar, and her mood instantly brightened up when she saw them arrive. "That was quick, not a scratch on him either..." she looks Kuroda up and down. "The Tygers notice anything?"

Ori shakes his head, "They think he's still partying somewhere."

She smirks, "Good job, I'll send you the Eddies later." she snaps her fingers, "Someone lock this ass hole up!"

Some Mox gangers do as they're told, taking the guy from Six's shoulder and carrying him like a big sack of shit to the backrooms.

"Oh, before I forget, congratulations on your getting your names in 'printed'." Susie sarcastically adds, sending all three of them some files.

Ori opens it up and almost chokes on his saliva when he spots the bounty on his head, courtesy of Maelstrom. He didn't know how they were identified, but Maelstrom certainly had it out for them. Twenty thousand Eddies for each of their heads, a fat sum for any two-bit merc who felt like getting lucky.

"Ugh, what the hell is that description of me...?" Rebecca asks with her face red from the alcohol.

Since their software prevented their image from being recorded or stored, Maelstrom had been forced to describe them instead of providing an actual photo. The only problem is, since almost everyone in Maelstrom utilised Cybernetic optics, their descriptions were far from accurate, only really describing their bodies since their faces were obscured from their systems.

They hadn't been flattering for either of the three...

[Albino Child]

[Bounty : 20,000§]

[Appearance : Stark white skin with pink tattoos. Is very small, likely a child. Uses brightly coloured weaponry, is very loud and annoying.]

[Big Black Bot]

[Bounty : 20,000§]

[Appearance : Very tall, wears full black body armour, uses camo-tech, is likely gay.]

[Small Cock Merc]

[Bounty : 20,000§]

[Appearance : Skinny, overcompensating with big gun, probably abandoned by parents.]

...

"The fuck... Are they actually trying to find us or just doing this to piss us off...?" Ori wonder aloud, eye twitching at the name he'd been given.