Penchant for Violence

Gamma Row was the seedy underbelly of Lux, which was already the seedy underbelly of Konats. So, on the whole, it was certainly a place where corruption and violence reigned supreme in general, but here, in the fighting pits? The violence was all that there was. That, and hordes of screaming spectators, all looking to make a quick buck from watching someone get pummeled to death. What Salvo always found amusing was how the audience was filled with the rich and poor alike, as many of Lux's more fortunate inhabitants would sneak away to get their fix of these death matches right alongside those they looked down on in the slums. Of course, the fighters themselves were never the wealthy: only the poor were desperate enough to actually step into the ring.

Salvo was occasionally among those who stepped into the ring, though more for the fun of it than trying to make herself a dime. She was leagues above anyone else who dared step in and fight for themselves... Until today, that was. There was a lot of hubba going around about a new, promising contender: a Saiyan warrior from Plant! 

The Heran couldn't deny her curiosity, although when she finally got her crimson eyes on the ring, she had to say she was somewhat surprised by the Saiyan's sheer brutality. She liked to indulge in a little sadism in fights herself, of course, but this fella was taking things to the next level. Salvo had scarcely ever seen such intense beatdowns, even administered by herself. And no wonder he was trouncing the competition so severely! All it took was a brief reaching out of Salvo's senses to tell this man's power was on another level. Double her own! And he didn't even appear to be in any sort of transformed state, either! Just who was this guy?

"Well damn!" Salvo exclaimed with a grin, her arms crossed as she admired the Saiyan warrior from the crowd. "Anyone else stupid enough t' climb into th' ring with 'im?" She looked around to see, but it looked as though that particularly barbaric display had broken the nerve of even Konats' most hardened of fighters, and the ones who had already condemned themselves to fight each looked too nervous to dare approach the monkey. So, Salvo cracked her neck, turned towards a nearby broker and handed him a wad of cash, stated, "Put all this on th' Saiyan fer me," and then removed her coat before stepping up to the ring and hopping in, almost immediately delivering a right hook to one of the stunned fighters that was powerful enough to send them to the mat. She glanced at the Saiyan and grinned at him. "Hope yer ready fer some actual competition now!" she boasted, even though she was keenly aware of the power gap between them.

Heh, Salvo definitely liked the cut of this one's jib! That was one thing she'd always secretly admired about Saiyans - they were the only other race in the galaxy who could be said to share in the Heran race's appreciation for a good, blood-filled battle. Even among her fellow Novas, Salvo was aware that her penchant for violence was perhaps a touch more extreme than all the rest of them. Which was fine, of course, so long as none of them suddenly developed too big of a conscience and got in the way of her bloodlust. Then they might start having som problems. Here and now, though? All the other weaklings in the arena didn't matter - only Salvo and the Saiyan existed, as far as the pirate captain was concerned.

"Oh trust me, I'm well aware of how inadequate th' lot 'a these fellas are," Salvo replied with a grin as the monkey expressed his general disappointment for the common goons in the ring. "I may not quite match up to yer limits, but I can sure as 'ell give ye a bigger run fer yer money'n these blokes!" 

And the battle began! Salvo charged in for Lottus at the same moment he launched himself at her - although he was quite a bit faster than her. His knee near-instantly made direct contact with her midsection, knocking the wind right out of Salvo as she was sent flying back, her behind slamming into the side of the ring. She recovered very quickly, though - she seemed to be used to taking blows to the gut. Salvo launched straight back at Lottus, with a powerful punch right to his jaw!

Well, well, well! Salvo's quick little jab at the Saiyan had, somehow, knocked him at just the right moment, and even drawn a bit of blood out the corner of those snarling lips of his. Sure, it felt like punching a block of solid steel and hit her hand like hell to actually do it, but it proved the fella wasn't invincible. The small success prompted a grin not just from Salvo, but the guy she'd punched, too. So, the man was not only a sadist, but a bloody masochist, as well! This was going to be a joy.

"Well, 'a course!" Salvo replied as the man commented how much better Herans were in a scrap than the fairly pitiful Konatsians tended to be. "We Herans are built fer this stuff. Same as you Saiyans! We're just a bit, eh, bluer." 

Seemed that was all the chatter they'd be having for the moment, though, as Lottus was right on her again with even more power to his blow - and this time, he stomped on her foot (ouch) and essentially pinned her in place as he brought his hands down onto her skull in a ki-infused haymaker! Unlike the previous blow, Salvo was not ultra keen to take that thing in full, nor was she confident in her ability to easily stand back up after being slammed on the top of her head like that. So, in short, that attack wasn't getting anywhere near her!

Salvo's power spiked and her already muscular physique bulked up even more, just in time for her to swing her arm up and smack Lottus' fists away with an open hand! The black ki burning around him still slightly burned her hand, but it was a hell of a lot better than having her skull caved in. She followed this up by twisting herself free of the stomp he'd placed her foot under, and then leapt up to delivery a double-footed kick against his stomach to knock him back and away from her!

"Whew, ye monkeys really don't hold back right from th' getgo!" she commented after landing back on her feet. Not that she minded, of course - her blood was pumping. "Ain't no rule against any transformations 'ere, is thar?" Better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission when her skull was on the line, Salvo figured.

Salvo's kicks smashed Lottus well and true away from her, giving her a bit of room to breathe for a brief moment, though based on how aggressive the blighter was, she was sure he'd quite quickly be all back up in her personal space once more. One thing she didn't expect, though, was to have Lottus tell her she should really be going all-out against him. Salvo raised her brow in slight surprise, as she could hardly recall the last time someone she was fighting had asked her to increase her power level. Not that she was complaining, of course...

Although, when Lottus' energy suddenly surged tremendously, a dark aura overtaking him, both in the visible sense and the energy sensing, er, sense, his power skyrocketed as well! Far beyond Salvo's too, of course. "Oh, blimey me," Salvo mumbled in a mix of shock and amazement. Even Jinx would probably have some trouble going head to head with this guy, and Jinx was a good bit stronger than Salvo was. However, the shock on Salvo's face quickly morphed into a grin of excitement. "Been a bit since I had someone give me a proper thrashin'! This ought to be good."

Salvo wouldn't be taking it completely lying down, though - she clenched her fists at her sides and, once again, allowed her power to surge, with bright red ki flaring up around her and whipping up a wind storm around the arena until her strength maxed out, and her cyan skin had become more teal in tint, and her hair a touch of red. Her power hadn't quite reached Lottus', but she'd sure as hell put up the best fight she could. 

"Alright, then!" Salvo declared, "This here be me current maximum. Should be enough t' give ye th' challenge yer seekin'!" She doubted that, actually, for something told her that even this wasn't Lottus' limit, but she'd certainly be giving it her all.

And then, down came the claw! Lottus rushed straight in for Salvo, his speed so great Salvo couldn't even keep up with him using her eyes - she had to use her ki sensing to keep a proper track on him. So great was his speed that Salvo could only barely act to dampen the impact of his blows against her, her fist rising to meet his own several times, though with each exchange of blows, she lost more ground until he finally outmaneuvered her and smashed a fist straight into her cheek! Salvo twirled around in the air before she slammed onto the ground in a slight daze, but she was hardly done!

Ignoring the aching pain in her badly bruised jaw, Salvo got to her feet in a flash and threw herself at Lottus, her hands smacking onto both of his ears and gripping onto them as she yanked his skull forwards into a headbutt against her bright blue cranium!

Admittedly, whenever Salvo headbutted someone, it rattled her own brain around in her skull quite a bit, and caused this nasty ringing sensation in her ears. But it at least had the upside of looking cool as all hell, and it did seem to hurt her opponents more than it hurt her. So, the positives outweighed the negatives. However, she wasn't so crass as to assume a simple headbutt would be enough to put Lottus down. He seemed like of them real real tough types, not the kind who showboat against weaker opponents and then end up floundering once they meet someone closer to their level. Nah, he was legit. Which made Salvo feel even more confident that the money she'd bet on Lottus would pay out tenfold!

Lottus lunged right for Salvo, feinting quickly to her right before pouncing to her left, his right leg jut out and primed to smack down directly onto her orange, fluffy cranium! Salvo had only a split second to think - it was coming at her way too fast to dodge out of the way without expending a burst of ki, though she could also feel her reserves running low, so if she blocked it, she'd be left open to more powerful attacks, and also unable to counterattack. On the other hand...

BONK! Salvo's choice was made for her when Lottus' heel smacked down atop her head amidst her thinking, prompting her to see stars and stumble backwards, all the while she could feel a lump begin to grow where the Saiyan had made contact with her skull. "Grah! I'll git ye fer that 'un!" Salvo declared as she reached up to rub her now very, very sore head, though the blow had rattled her skull enough that she was not quite able to make good on her threat yet. Still, she threw herself back at Lottus with a haymaker and a few good kicks as she charged back up.

Salvo may have been tenacious, but tenacity could only take one so far when they were essentially punching through an entire mountain - and by all appearances, that was what Lottus was. A mountain of strength, speed, stamina, and skill! A perfect killing machine. The sort of fighter Salvo most aspired to be! She may have been a ways off from his level, but she'd be rivaling - no, succeeding him in strength, one day!

That day would clearly not be today, though. While Salvo's attacks were able to jostle Lottus around a bit, he was quick to reply by wrapping himself around her knee and slamming the both of them straight into the ground! Salvo grit her teeth and winced as she felt her skull rattle around in her head, all the while her ears began to ring and her stomach churned from the force of the slam. Despite the pain, though, Salvo grinned and cackled. "Looks like ye got me in a bit 'a a bind, 'ere...!" she commented as she tensed against Lottus' grip, though she was struggling to free herself from the tight hold he had around her knee.

Well, she did have one idea on how to break free, though it'd take quite literally everything she had to pull it off. She'd be left wide open afterwards. Although, what were her options? Go down in a quick and glorious blaze, or pathetically wear herself out by playing it safe and conservatively? She knew she was no real match for Lottus. She may as well try to impress with her most powerful offering!

Ki coursed through Salvo's body and focused in her hands before it finally erupted in the form of two curved blades, tightly gripped by each of her fists! Salvo threw her arms up in the air, and then slashed down with both blades at once, driving them towards Lottus with enough force to kill most other opponents she'd faced before! Salvo knew, though, that she had to fight as if she were going for the kill with each blow against this guy. And even if she did somehow kill him... She was pretty sure he'd just walk it off afterwards!

Ah, hell. Salvo had really put her all into that one, but as it turned out, her all just wasn't quite enough. Just when it seemed like Salvo's blades were going to stab right into Lottus, he up and vanished! Her blades ended up stabbing little more but the floor of the arena they battled atop, prompting an annoyed clicked of the tongue from Salvo. She'd spent all her juice on that one, so when it failed, her shoulders sunk and she exhaled in defeat. "Ah, bugger me," she whined as she got back up and turned back towards Lottus. 

Still, she grinned as he complimented her clear inability to hold back any sort of deadly intent. And apparently, he recognized her technique, too. "Ye mean I ain't th' only one who can do that? Yeesh, yer words are stingin' worse than yer fists!" His fists stun quite a bit too, though, as Salvo was soon to be reminded. Lottus, despite stating he didn't want to end this fight just yet, seemed keen on testing Salvo's durability as he rushed in and delivered a devilishly powerful punch to Salvo's cheek!

The Heran was knocked to the side with force enough to throw her to the ground, and a nice big squirt of blood shot out from her gums and onto the mat. Her eyes and brain both seemed to roll around in her skull for a moment as the cool mat felt quite nice on her un-punched cheek, her bright orange hair having fallen to cover most of her face as she lay there. But, after a moment, she snapped back to it, and quickly shoved herself to her feet, her expression quickly returning to that of someone who was enjoying herself.

"Ye got a mean right hook!" she complimented, "Though I got somethin' mean meself!" And Salvo then quickdrew her pistol from her belt in a flash, aiming with expert precision right for Lottus' nose. She then tossed the weapon aside and jumped right in, with a follow-up punch aimed straight for the very nose she'd just shot at!