Capítulo 229: Hunter vs Hunter
I don't own Star wars
My fist cracked across the Zabrak's jaw as the crowd roared their approval and their disappointment. He was a big man, and a good fighter, it didn't stop me from getting him flat onto the mat. He hit the fence of the fight pit and fell forward onto the blood floor as I left him there, making my way to my 'corner' and sitting down as Oriana wiped my forehead with a towel.
I was wearing my mask, so any more than that and it would get awkward. "Looking good Kal." She whispered as I nodded. I was shirtless and my fists were wrapped in brawler's bandages. And bloodstained from various opponents.
Rykkr was somewhere in the building putting bets on me, as was Lala doubling up. My job was to do what I do best and beat the hell out of anyone who thought they could beat me.
We managed to get Tulba off our collective backs with Aida's payment, however we were collectively still broke and Oriana began joining Lala in pushing me to prizefight as soon as we returned to Nar Shaddaa… I can't say I wasn't enjoying it… apart from my opponents trying to beat me unconscious, or even possibly to death, it was oddly relaxing… releasing pent up aggression like this might not be healthy but neither was bottling it up.
"1000 credits on the redhead!" roared out Rykkr as the crowd began to bet again even though nobody was getting in the ring to fight me.
"Sounds kinda cheap." I noted as Oriana smiled.
"Can't bet too big or there won't be anyone to take it on." She then added, "Plus you're making a name for yourself now. You're not a longshot anymore…"
"And it's only the first night." I noted, flexing my fingers and getting to my feet as my masked bared my Shistavaanan teeth with a snarl.
"Go get em Kal!" roared Rattletrap, waving one of his many signs next to Nerri.
"Come on noooooow!" came the announcer's voice, roaring over the arena. "There's got to be SOMEBODY to take out this upstart! Who wants a go!"
"I'll fight him." said a voice that carried over the roar as the biggest Cathar I'd ever seen in my life entered through the ring door, shutting behind her as the crowd roared their approval.
She was all black with a lion's mane of long spiky hair, with two long braided bangs down the both sides of her head, her eyes were red and she was… quite physically built… she was going to be fun.
"We have a challenger!" came the announcer as the crowd got louder. she rubbed her wrists as Oriana patted my shoulder and left. "Got a name girlie?"
"…Athena." The cathar said calmly, smiling confidently at me as she brought up her fists… an echani fighting stance. My fists went up as well.
"Athena ladies and gentlemen! Let's hope she puts our current champion out of the ring."
"500 on the cathar!" roared a voice proudly as the betting rolled up again.
…She was a fighter. A professional. Maybe a bounty hunter. She was confident, and she knew what she was doing. And we haven't even started the fight yet. She wasn't like the other drunks and thugs I've put down in this ring…
She was higher tier…I was going to have to focus. She was powerful, and her size might mean she was slow but she was a cathar so her natural reflexes and warrior instincts might make up for that and make her even more dangerous… with her build I would be a grappler, but that didn't rule out the fact that she couldn't throw a punch or a kick… she's probably used to fighting people she couldn't dominate with raw power… or her charisma, she was good looking.
Suddenly the one who had shouted, '500 on the cathar', a black-haired man, roared out angrily "Kick his ass!"
Athena smiled, and the crowd went quiet… not because they stopped cheering or betting, but because I wasn't listening. I took a breath… and heard the roar of the announcer to begin before I put my full attention on the cathar warrior.
Her tree trunk like kick came at me like a thunderbolt, slamming into my leg like a speeder. She hit HARD… she was going to be fun. My fist came forward with a jab as she slapped it away with her palm only for her eyes to widen in surprise as my other hand came cracking at her face. she clenched her teeth as I darted forward, low, before rising suddenly with an uppercut that missed her by a whisker. She caught my arm in a lock, hand on my wrist and bicep, quickly getting me into a grapple but that was a mistake. Just because I was smaller than her didn't mean I wasn't strong. I yanked my arm free of her grip as she scoffed…
Impressed? Annoyed? I didn't care. I ignored the scratches on my arm left by her claws before the same arm came forward in another jab. A direct hit on the nose, she didn't expect it. Stumbling back I pushed forward, coming at her with another punch from the air.
She lunged her leg forward and slammed it into my chest sending me back. I quickly caught my footing only for her to move deceptively fast, darting to the right as I lifted my guard only for that to be a faint, she slammed her left hand into my side before coming around with a quick right hook to my face. I stumbled from the blow, she was holding back with that first attack.
With a hop-step she skipped forward and swung her leg like a tree-trunk into my stomach and knocked the breath out of me…
…I got mad.
My fist hit her hard in the stomach, I felt her muscles tighten but it didn't stop her from gasping. With a roar my other hand charged towards her face as she blocked it crossing her arms, she lashed out, grabbing my wrist as I pulled it back but my adrenaline was up and it yanked her forward onto my knee as I rushed it forward back into her stomach.
"Gack!" she gasped but suddenly wrapped her arms around me and squeezed.
"AAaaragh!!" I roared angrily, feeling her crush my bones only to slam my head forward, slamming into her forehead. A poor headbutt, you're supposed to aim for the nose, but the way she held me made it difficult. It was a risk to get me into a rancor-hug, a headbutt to the head is just seeing whose skull is stronger but the results were acceptable. She dropped me, then she kicked me. I stumbled back as she sniffed I was just about to make another move when.
"I give up."
I stumbled, stopping myself from charging forward as she raised her hand to the immediate disappointment of the crowd… but she was smiling. "You win." She added lazily.
"Give up! There's no giving-!?" but the announcement stopped talking mid-sentence as I looked around. "…Ah-ahh-ah… I… guess she gives… up. Ladies and gentlemen… let her out. Fights are over for the night."
The door of the arena opened as she walked towards it confidently. "Not bad Mr. Wolf… not bad." She added with a purr, vanishing into the dark arena, with her fur it made her almost impossible to spot.
We walked out of the arena several credits richer, Rykkr giving us our cut of the bets as Lala fondly massaged my shoulders. "Not bad. Not bad…" Rykkr noted, his own purse significant credits heavier. "Although this isn't going to rake in a lot of credits, why are you going after all these small-time arenas?" he asked as Oriana cleared her throat, as we got to the speeder to head back to Rykkr's bar.
"Apparently Oriana doesn't want Kal, baby to strain himself." Lala pouted. Oriana however was quiet, pretty much ignoring her as we loaded up into the speeder.
"But if we sent him to the main arenas…" Rykkr began but Oriana shook her head.
"…This is mostly just to have Kal burn off some steam." Oriana noted as Rykkr brushed his mustache.
"…But with Lala's head off the Hutt's plate what are you going to do now? Just keep running around in small time arenas?"
"…More bounty work eventually," I said as Rykkr flinched.
"Just for the hell of it or are you going to make money? I'm just saying… if you want Kal to fight and you want to make some real credits I know a few venues." He waved us off, "Just think about it. Everyone wins when we win." He grinned before strolling to his own speeder as we all clambered into the one we rented. "See you at the bar." He added as Rattletrap sped us off into the Nar Shaddaa night.
"He makes a valid point." Nerri noted, sticking her canine head between the seats to speak to Oriana. "Whatever we decide to do we should either go big or not do it at all."
"Clearly Kal baby should be making big-time money!" Lala declared, proudly as I shrugged.
"…It beats sitting around Coruscant lifting crates." I added as Oriana sighed.
"We'll talk about it later." She said.
…I know she wanted us to keep our heads down but fuel cost credits, docking fees, actual food… we could live comfortably AND I could crack skulls. Win-win. We eventually arrived at Rykkr's bar, a party was going on apparently as we were shuffled to our consistently regular table, feed, and watered… Tarisian Ale, apparently Rykkr made more than we thought. Still, Lala dancing on tables would get us a few more credits… Oriana was keeping a dreary eye on her…
…Rattletrap made himself scarce after his meal, something about visiting his 'Dolly', and he'll meet us back on the ship. He'll be fine, Nar Shaddaa is a second home to him… I sat at our table as I finished my drink and was just about to get another refill when.
"Ah… not yet." A blaster poked my side and I froze. A young olive-skinned man smiled placatingly at me. "…I'd like to have a chat…" he said, pulling the blaster away and slipping it subtly back under his coat as he sat across from me, grinning. "Great fight." He added, although he looked like he wanted to shoot me for saying that. I glared at him as he held his hands up, off the blaster at least. "Just trying to get your attention…"
"…Are you a bounty hunter?"
He nodded slowly, "Kinda yeah."
"…Is there one on my head?" I asked as he scoffed, laughing slightly.
"…Kinda. Yeah…" my fists clenched on the table, he put his hands on it. Showing he wasn't reaching for his blaster "Although it's not official…"
"…Are you here to collect?" I asked as he grunted, seemingly thinking.
"…I got to know…" he said, calmly. "What you did to Sawtooth Thryat."
"Are you friends with that thing?"
"What? No… asshole keeps trying to kill me. Or at least he did… he's pretty focused on you…"
"He shouldn't be, I killed him."
"If I had a fucking credit for every time somebody told me, or anyone else that I'd be able to retire." He stared at me. "He's alive. And he's coming for you… asked me to help him."
"…Are you?"
He took a breath, shaking his head as if still thinking on the idea. "I'd rather not…" he noted. "…Athena says you're tough… and she's a good judge of character." He smiled, apparently she's 'judged' him as well. "But what did you do to Thryat that pissed him off? Blow him up? Stab him? Shoot him? A lot… I've done that too and I've never seen him this obsessive… usually he's just berserk."
"I beat the shit out of him with my bare hands." I replied, "Smashed his head against durasteel crates until he stopped moving… next time I'll tear his head off."
He stared at me, mouth opened. "…With your bare hands?"
"Yes."
"Unarmed?"
"Yes…"
"You 'killed' Sawtooth Thryat with your bare hands?"
"Yes. So?"
"…You don't beat Sawtooth unarmed." He said firmly, frowning furiously. "Everyone needs SOMETHING to killing him with… no wonder he's obsessed, you beat him in 'honorable' unarmed combat…" he rolled his eyes and relaxed on the seat. "…You two are fucking insane."
"It wasn't really by choice." I said, "He came at me and I beat him to death… at least I thought I did."
"I'd be able to retire if I had a credit for everytime I thought I'd killed Sawtooth."
"Yes. You mentioned that." I said, glaring at him. "…So… you sent your… partner?"
"Girlfriend."
"At me in the ring to get a read on me…"
He nodded slowly. "…Look…" he leaned forward, looking me in the eyes, his own narrowed thoughtfully for a moment… then he continued. "…Sawtooth wants me to help him kill you. In return he'll leave me alone for a not important amount of time… but you see that still means his crazy ass is going to come after me again once he's done with you…" I remained silent, staring him down. "So… how about instead you and I kill him."
"…I can do that on my own."
"Really?" he noted sarcastically. "Together. We can make sure…" I stared at him, "…Or maybe you'd like him to pick off your friends first? He's been known to do that…"
I stared at him quietly, the cheers for Lala's shaking ass overwhelming the bar for a moment as I sighed. "…Let me talk it over with my manager."
"…The one dancing for credits?" he asked, glancing at Lala's table.
"No the one holding her blaster on the back of your head." Oriana appeared behind him as he smiled.
"Oh… that one."
"Drop it." said Athena as Oriana jumped, the big cathar slipping out of nowhere… beside her hand clenched with her claws ready to rake across Oriana's pretty face.
"Now… now…" he began, slowly getting up as Oriana kept the blaster on him. "…I'll leave you to think about it." he dropped a com onto the table. "…Names Ozwin Knights… you let me know when you two are done talking." Both he and Athena walked casually out of the bar as Oriana soured.
"…I only caught about half of that…" she said, holstering her pistol. "What did he want?"
I sighed, waving over a waitress for a refill. "…Have a seat. Have a drink… I'll tell you."
End of Chapter.
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