Drowning in Drink

    Lottus was, in fact, having fun. The snapping of bones, the shouts of pain, and the crunch of cartilage under his boot heel. He seized one Saiyan, a woman, by the jaw and swung her bodily up and over his head, sending her crashing through one of the booths before rounding to ram his fingers into the throat of a more chivalrous Saiyan man with a pointed goatee and thick sideburns. Lottus kicks them away, and was about to unleash on the alien that had been fighting with the Tuffle, when a voice calls out.

    Lottus stops, and turns towards the source. The woman with purple hair had taken an interest in the brawling, it seemed. At her words, the corners of Lottus' lips curve into an amused grin.

    "I don't need to crush ants to feel better." Lottus responds, a dangerous glint in his eye. "Call it stress relief."

    Lottus turns to her fully, his body tensing. Those nearest to the mad Saiyan scramble back and away, nursing the injuries he so gladly gave them.

    "And it looks like I don't need to waste my time at some pitiful training yard - you're plenty strong enough!" Lottus barks, laughing and curling his fingers into thick fists. His aura flares, creating the equivalent of a gale force wind in these tiny confines of a bar. "You look like you could use a good outlet too! Come, let's have some FUN!!"

    Without further warning, Lottus explodes forwards, heedless of any damage he would cause the building, or harm he would cause the patrons. His coal black eyes are locked intently on the woman, his expression full of manic glee as he almost instantly closes the distance. Lottus attempts to grab the woman by the shoulders, and crash through the tavern's wall to the outside!

---

    The woman offered no real resistance to his push - which was probably to be expected, given her inebriated disposition. Lottus grinned wide when she managed to whip out of his grip, and without much difficulty, even if she did fall down as a result. The excitement for an upcoming fight makes Lottus' spine tingle.

    He started towards her when she managed to get back to her feet, but stopped when a ball of Ki is hurled his way. Lottus was far too close to avoid the blast, and the concussive detonation shoves Lottus skidding back several feet, and searing his already burned skin. He hadn't fully recovered from the boiling water an opponent he'd faced some time ago being sprayed in his face. Well, boiling bubbles, but they still gave him second degree burns on his neck and face.

    Lottus whips his arm to the side, wiping away the cloud of smoke from his view, just in time to hear the woman give him a fair warning. She could barely stand she was so inebriated. But that was fine - if she was as good as she boasted, the fight would sober her up.

    "Oh I hope you are!" Lottus chuckles back at her, looking positively gleeful at the prospect. "I'll help you work off that drunkenness, and then you can show me how strong you really are! Let's have it then!!"

    Lottus' right arm becomes wreathed in crimson Ki, running down his arm and to his clenched fist. The Saiyan rockets forth, and aims a vicious punch right at Cato's left cheek!

---

    Lottus had almost been disappointed - his blow landed, and hard, sending the other Saiyan slamming hard against another building. She'd stopped her momentum though, and rose back to her feet, much to the delight of Lottus.

    "Good, you can take a hit." Lottus remarks gladly. "I've snapped necks with less force behind my blows than that. You've got the right stuff; unlike the rest of the dross in this place."

    Lottus starts towards the woman, his eagerness for the fight growing. She met his approach with a charge, and at first, Lottus stopped and stepped back. Her swings are wild, but uncoordinated. Lottus was able to keep pace, but never once did he think the blows weak. To the contrary, they were just as hard as his own - were she not inebriated, the woman would likely be able to keep in lock step with Lottus without issue. Lottus soon pays for his mental distraction, taking a hard knuckled blow to the bridge of his nose and snapping his head back.

    Lottus stumbles back several steps before stopping himself. He scrunches his face several times to ward off the stinging sensation, and wipes the blood seeping from his nose.

    "Better." Lottus remarks in a low tone. Besides Vocado and Dark, Cato would be the only other Saiyan to land a telling blow on Lottus so far. His excitement bloomed into a returned giddiness and he charges back into Cato's wild swings. He catches her right fist in his left hand, and his right arm lashes forth.

    But rather than crashing his fist into her, Lottus' right arm slips behind Cato's back, and he pulls her arm with his left hand at the same time as pushing against her back with his right. Lottus, laughing loudly despite the blood smearing he nose and face, swings Cato around as if they were attending an Earthling Ball. He twists with her three times before letting the Saiyan woman go, and offers an over acted bow.

    "The dance is good so far." Lottus' rasping voice rings. He falls back into his combat ready stance, grinning madly.

---

    Lottus' grin grows at the other Saiyan's question, and he chuckles.

    "Actually, yes. I was planning to do just that." Lottus replies, amused. "And if by the end of it no one with good enough combat power arrived - I'd have started killing until the alarms brought real fighters to me."

    Lottus laughs heartily, as though the prospect of slaughtering his own kind was about as fun as any game. He suddenly flinches, and his left eye starts twitching. Lottus slaps a hand to it, trying to get the twitching to stop.

    "Not yet... Not here..." Lottus mutters, seemingly having forgotten that the other Saiyan was still in front of him. The light of Ki draws his attention, but too late - Cato's blast sprays Lottus with dust and debris, forcing him to close his eyes to protect them, and covering his face with his left arm.

    Lottus is caught with his guard in the wrong place, and Cato's shoulder rams into his side. The impact throws Lottus sideways, and tumbling several yards along the street. He lays on the ground for a few moments, before his rasping laugh echoes in the air.

    "Fiesty! Good, that's good!" Lottus laughs, rolling over and pushing himself back to stand up straight. Lottus offers the Saiyan woman an exaggerated bow, bending at the hip. "Before we are done with the warm up, my name is Lottus. Low Class scum with no future, and killer extraordinaire. But don't worry about that, I've no plans to kill you at the moment. You seem like you'll be too much fun for that fate."

    Lottus straightens and tilts his head left to right, loud snapping sounds emitting from his neck in the process.

    "If you've sobered up, go ahead and power up. I want to really cut loose." Lottus says, his dark eyes glinting with the promise of violence.

---

    Lottus smiles at the other Saiyan's reply. Most folks became unnerved whenever he plays his polite bow in the middle of a fight. On top of that, she accepted his request to kick things up a notch.

    "That's the spirit!" Lottus replies, chuckling. His eyes follow after Cato intently as she leaps skyward. She challenges him to take the blast now forming in her hand - and it was certainly a bright, vibrant display. Lottus smiles knowingly as the light ripples almost blindingly. "Shrapnel Shell... Sounds fun! Let's have it then!"

    Lottus spreads his feet apart and holds his arms up and outstretched, preparing to accept Cato's attack with zeal. And indeed, the attack came - an impressive display of raw power, certainly. He simply stood stock still, grinning with anticipation. His eyes widen when the ball of Ki bursts, and only just has time to bring his arm up to protect his eyes.

    The shards indeed rain upon Lottus, but his skin seems to glow with a faint light of its own. The shrapnel Ki, which should have been tearing through Lottus' skin and armor, instead seems to crack and shatter against him! Debris and clouds of dust are kicked up all around him, but once it settles, Cato would see that Lottus is completely unharmed!

    The large Saiyan with hip length wild hair, grins at Cato, and pats the kicked up dirt off his armor.

    "A fine display of dust, if that was your intention. I liked it; very showy." Lottus says confidently. "It has great potential; I know a thing or two about using Ki as a blade - but your technique was unique. Definitely keep at it. However..."

    Lottus' eyes, which had promised violence before, now glinted with anticipation of his own answer.

    "Sometimes, the best attacks, are the simplest ones. Here, I'll give you an example!" Lottus calls up to Cato. He holds up his right hand, taking aim with his palm facing Cato in the sky. Crimson and black Ki swirl like a vortex around his hand, as if siphoning out of his arm and coalescing into a ball of dark Ki in front of his palm.

    The ball erupts as a stream of crimson black Ki, as thick as a building in diameter, and rushes towards Cato! Should it connect, the Ki will explode with a deafening thunderclap, bathing a large swath of the district in red light.

---

    Lottus could feel when Cato empowered herself, smiling even as his blast detonated. He watched her fall from the cloud of smoke that resulted from the blast, all the way to her crash against the ground. When she stood back up, Lottus' excitement grew.

    Cato was strong. Not just of power, but of sheer willpower. She didn't deserve to call herself a Low Class - she wasn't stained like he is. Most fell to Lottus like flies, with only a few exceptions so far. Cato's resilience was a magnificent thing to behold, and Lottus loved the opportunity to face an opponent that knew how to take a hit. She was wobbly on her feet, making Lottus wonder if he should push further.

    Rhapsody Shade had influenced Lottus' fervor, and he didn't much like it. But he also had begun to fear the darkness where his mind fell to if he used his true might. Her face flashes briefly in his mind - the hardened eyes, but not ones of hate as he was used to seeing, but of assured confidence - and it distracts him for a split moment. But that was all the time Cato needed, returning Lottus' aggression with a blast of her own. It arced, making predicting it's movements difficult.

    Lottus had expected the blast to burst like the last one had. Instead, the ball of Ki slams into Lottus, exploding with enough concussive force to blow the Saiyan back and down the street, rolling head over heels in a violent tumble until he comes to a full stop, skidding face down in the dirt.

    "...Ow..." Lottus grunts, pushing himself up to stand. His arms are scraped, as well as the right side of his face. He turns back to Cato, with a VERY satisfied expression. "Now THAT is how a Saiyan fights!"

    Lottus sees that she had dropped to a knee, and frowns. Was she truly so winded? He'd started fighting Cato for sport, but she seemed in a bad way to be fighting. Again, Rhapsody appeared in his mind - still injured from their last battle, and disappointed with herself after the second battle ended. Lottus shakes his head, annoyed that the winged woman had invaded his thoughts a second time.

    He walks over to Cato, stopping some two or so yards away, and gives her an appraising look.

    "...You're strong, but I don't like fighting people that aren't at their best." Lottus says to Cato. "I wanted to have some fun, fighting with a good sparring partner. But it only feels right if they fight me with the intent to crush me in turn. That they fight at their best to put me down. That they are motivated to win."

    Lottus sighs, but not in disappointment towards Cato, but in his inability to handle such situations properly. He steps up closer, and holds out his hand.

    "...Sorry. I like to boast to get people riled up to kill me." Lottus says, his cocky grin gone. He had felt, just for a moment, his bloodlust starting to kick in. He couldn't let himself fall into that trap. "You're strong - and better than what you call yourself. I am Low Class by birth, even if not by power. But... You don't feel like a Low Class. Mid Class, more likely."

    Lottus smiles, his coal black eyes ever observing.

    "I ruined your night. I'll take you to a better place than that dive, if you want." Lottus offers. "Not so much great for the drink, but very good food."

    Lottus sneers.

    "Unless you want to try and see our fight through the whole way?" Lottus adds.

---