Chapter 46

The Quadra purred as I pulled up to the Ho-oh Club.

 

I almost preferred Lizzies…

 

No, I actually don’t. I sighed to myself why did my chooms all want to hang out in sleazy clubs and bars?

 

Well at least they were BD clubs, and not… Clouds.

 

As I stepped out Hiromi happily bounced out a moment after as she had been in full energy since we left her apartment. I noticed the damage to the club had been fully repaired, in fact there were now more concrete barricades blocking part of the tunnel entrance to the club.

 

I guess Shobo or whatever his name is, had done some work increasing the defenses of the club.

 

As we entered, the place was actually pretty packed. Plenty of Tyger Claws hanging around drinking and having a good time, alongside some civvies.

 

I guess the gang war ending was spreading around, and now everyone wanted to blow off some steam.

 

“Is Ichi or Malcolm here yet?” I asked Hiromi and she shrugged looking towards our normal table that was occupied by some random people.

 

“Let’s check the bar?” I asked, and she was already walking that way as I kept up. The bartender nodded to the two of us, ready to take our orders.

 

No one cared about serving alcohol to minors in Night City. Especially not a gang hangout like this.

 

“Hey, we’re looking for Ichi. Has he come in yet?” I asked the bartender but got a shaken head.

 

“Haven’t seen him girls. You want something to drink?”

 

“Yeees!” Hiromi instantly jumped and started ordering something extremely alcoholic. I just ordered something fizzy.

 

“I’ll text him.” I tell her as she is already happily watching her drink be made.

 

*At Ho-oh.*

 

Then since I didn’t get an immediate response I settled into the stool at the bar besides Hiromi who was already happily chattering with a few of the Tyger Claws sitting at the bar.

 

Hiromi is gonna Hiromi I guess.

 

A few minutes later I got an update from Ichi.

 

*Ichi: Runnin’ a little late. Malcolm and I had it out a bit. Be there soon.*

 

I blinked.

“Ichi says he’ll be here soon.” I told Hiromi who turned away from the Tyger Claw guy she was chattering at that was visibly getting irritated at her chatter.

 

“Preem! Bout time we’ve been here forever already Toko!” Hiromi whined at me, and she purposefully made her voice annoying as she leaned into me.

 

And that I guess was just enough. The Tyger Claw sitting beside Hiromi that she had been annoying for the last few minutes pounded a fist into the table.

“Will you shut the fuck up you punk! You’ve been blabbering away! Fuckin’ punk brats thinking they are hard shit ruining my buzz!” He snapped, rising up. His buddy on his other side was also standing up.

 

Which is when I slipped past Hiromi, stepping in front of her.

 

I didn’t say anything, just making sure that I was between Hiromi and this gonk.

 

“Hey fuck off yourself then you gonk!” Hiromi instantly replied. I guess her previous scare wasn’t affecting her at the moment. Made sense. This was our club too. She had been going here for a while.

 

While she and the gonk got into it, I stayed between them. My increased vision took it all in. The two gonks, the Tyger Claws in the club all looking quite ready to jump into a fight. I noticed a few of the old timers, the ones that had been coming here before the war look over, and look like they were going to get involved, only to sit down as the emotions of the club turned against us.

 

This wasn’t the same club Hiromi and I were used to. The Tyger Claws were more on edge.

 

I guess the war hadn’t been easy on them.

 

It wasn’t just Hiromi that was getting looked at angrily. Hiromi wasn’t as decked out as she usually was, a lot of her TC gear left at home. She was almost… Dressing down from her usual. But I wasn’t wearing anything that marked me as Tyger Claw.

 

I didn’t even have my Katana on me.

 

This could get dicey.

 

Diplomacy, or shock and awe? I considered my options. Even as Hiromi kept barking back at the guy, obviously getting pissed at how he was acting like she was an outsider. She was even making fun of the guys dick at this point. Which definitely wasn’t going to calm things down.

 

This was gonna go bad swiftly. I could see how everyone was reacting. Hiromi was definitely playing with fire.

 

But fuck them. Hiromi and I weren’t TC, but she had done plenty of jobs with Ichi, who was. And I? Well I did fight with the Kamikaze… Even if I definitely 100% wasn’t one of them! At all!

 

The first guy grabbed a beer bottle. But not to take a drink. He grabbed it around the top, ready to smash it into what must be in his eyes, a pair of punks.

 

Eh.

 

I was no good at diplomacy anyways.

 

I waited. Just staring. Ready.

 

And the idiot set me up perfectly.

 

With one hand still holding the bottle, he reached out and grabbed at the collar of my jacket. Probably trying to throw me to the side so he could smash Hiromi with the bottle.

 

I looked at his hand holding me up, practically hauling me off my feet. Then back at him.

 

Then my hands moved.

 

Street Brawler wasn’t something I used much but I had spent a good chunk of time grinding it. Hadn’t had much need for it, as getting close was only my goal from stealth.

 

But it was very satisfying when I pulled an Alita.

 

I had always wanted to do that.

 

One of my arms gripped his forearm twisting just so as my fingers dug in, weakening his grip and letting me pull in closer.

 

Putting his neck into reach.

 

My grip was instant and unrelenting, and then since I now had him by two points it was child’s play to shift him. I might not be very heavy, but my Chrome arms gave me plenty of torque.

 

The bar rocked as I went ahead and doinked his head off the bar. Which unfortunately didn’t break, the noise echoed through the bar.

 

And then… Well I guess it was time for a bar fight.

 

His buddy swung at me, but I was a master of improvised weapons!

 

I stole the beer bottle his buddy had been holding, and ducked his fist. A moment later he had a bottle smash into his face.

 

Then with a smile of pure happiness on my face, I simply fell into the rhythm.

 

Because more and more Tyger Claws were coming at me. The fights were perfectly clear. My emotions, despite raging inside, kept completely in check with Cold Blood.

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Not that I wasn’t utterly enjoying myself. I always wanted to be in a bar fight.

 

But I didn’t make it unscathed.

 

A chair was smashed into me.

 

I took a few punches from a martial artist Claw.

 

Some crazy gonk smashed a bottle into my arms which peppered me with little bits of glass.

 

But as much as they gave, I returned.

 

Chair gonk was smashed in the face with a flying bottle that I stole from Hiromi as she was standing on the bar cursing everyone one out and to my utter delight was double fisting her middle fingers to the entire room.

 

Stirring up shit in the middle of an outnumbered bar fight? That was my crazy bitch alright.

 

Martial artist fucker knew how to fight, and he was even better than me. His longer arms and legs also helped. But he managed to slip in and started beating on me. Cold Blood fully active was the only reason I wasn’t crying out in pain as he managed to slam a few good fists into my face.

 

But a Martial Artist wasn’t always a good Street Brawler. So when I grabbed a stool, I threw off his assault, and then it was my turn.

 

“I don’t want no trouble!” I yelled out happily, purposefully playing up the chinese accent, and not sounding at all like that was true. While screaming that out I used the stool to keep catching his fists until I managed to tangle him up just right and smash the flat rim into his nose sending him to the ground.

 

Bottle guy got his neck grabbed after smashing the bottle on my arms, because he got too close and a flying knee broke his face.

 

I felt a grin on my face, as I was getting alerts for not just body, but a full level up from Street Brawler!

 

Street Brawler 6! Just for a bar fight? I would have to do this more often!

 

But then one of the gonks ruined it.

 

He pulled iron.

 

The room went still as the bastard drew his pistol with a japanese shout at me.

 

Everyone was waiting to see what would happen.

 

Everything went still, but I wasn’t intimidated. The unkept fucked up rusted piece of shit Lexington wasn’t the piece that was going to flatline me not today, not ever.

 

So I reached up, put a thumb to my nostril and blew out a glob of blood before speaking. “Careful. I’m armed too.” I warned him as I gently opened my jacket with my left hand showing the Burya in its holster. “Don’t turn this into a gunfight.”

 

“Bitch! You think you can come in here! Fuck with us!? I’ll sell you on the street as a whore! I’ll turn you into a fuck-”

“Enough.” The voice cut through despite the man yelling and every Tyger Claw in the bar stiffened, as Jotaro walked into the bar proper from the back. “What exactly is happening here?” He demanded looking around, first towards his guy that had his gun out, then towards me.