Into the Pit

[Crom McCready]

The thunderous sounds of feet filled the small stadium, their vibrations sending a rhythmic hum throughout the building whilst violently shaking the floors below it. People of all different types of backgrounds and races filed in, knowing that they were about to witness a sporting spectacle that not many planets could provide. No one was questioning whether or not this sanctioned fight was legal or not, all that matters was that two people were entering and one was going to leave with their hand raised.

The other might not make it out at all.

Hundreds of people were flooding in to one of Coruscant's scummiest fighting pit arenas. The problem was the drinks were cheap and they put on quite possibly the most entertaining fights in the sector. That paired with the stadium seating allowing nearly a thousand spectators in along with a cheap entry cost meant that this place was packed every night.

Greeting the spectators was very steep seats, one where they circled around what was quite literally a dirt pit in the center of the arena. The seats were by design, allowing everyone a proper view of the fights no matter what ticket they had bought. It was ingenious, even the smallest of alien could sit where they could afford and have a great experience, while the fights were dirty the businessmen were dirtier and thought of these things to increase business. Nearly every seat had been filled tonight, the air buzzing with anticipation for one of the most hyped up fights of the year. It was as if electricity was bouncing around in the air, every spectator filled with adrenaline and excitement.

"You are so kriffin' crazy... Agreeing to this stupid fight." Crom McCready spoke to himself, getting his hands wrapped up by a quiet Rodian. There he was, the main attraction, sitting half naked in a locker room while an alien wrapped his hands up for the fight. Crom looked ready, confident, a strange zen about him sitting there waiting for the insanity that was fighting another man in the pits. He looked down at the little green man wrapping his fists up, a question springing to mind. "I thought this was bare knuckle, why the hell you wrapping me fists?"

"Do you hear that?" The Rodian asked Crom in his native Rodian tongue, luckily the fighter understanding him. "That is one thousand people stomping in to see you get beat. We do wraps so your punches cause more blood. More punches." The Rodian chuckled to himself as he finished his handy work, "Still bare knuckle, just you hit more now. More entertaining fight. You are on in 10. You will enter first, your opponent next. Understand?"

"Ye ye... get the kriff out of here. Get ready to see greatness, Rodian." Crom spat back, causing the Rodian to simply shake his head and retreat from the room. Leaving Crom alone it gave him a few more moments of simply listening to the crowd, random cheers from already drunken spectators urging the fight on.

@Warwick

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

Sitting on a dirty concrete step, Jayjack prepared to watch the fight. For someone so unaccustomed to the seedier sides of Coruscant, he particularly enjoyed watching fights, and betting on them even more so. Thirty credits, he'd placed down on the man named Crom. With any luck, his bet would come in, even if it was a small one. "Ugh, what is that?", muttered Jayjack, looking down to his heel. His boot was stuck in something brown, and it didn't bode well to think about what that might be. Grunting, he scraped off whatever had attached itself to his footwear on the ground beside him, resisting the urge to gag slightly. He looked up. The arena was fairly busy. Bloodsports were popular, after all. The fight hadn't yet begun. He wasn't late.

Someone beside him lit up a cigar, puffing a large plume of smoke into the air between them. If it was a gesture designed to bother Jayjack, it didn't work - nay, the only response it prompted was the retrieval of his own cigarras from the inside of his cloak-like jacket. Placing one between his lips, he lit it, using the same old-looking lighter he always used to light his sticks. Taking a long, drawn-out drag, he furrowed his brow, looking out to the arena. He was prepared now, concentrated. He had money on this, and even though it wasn't much, it put him in the zone. Shaking his head very slightly, and very slowly, it was evident that Jayjack just wanted the fight to begin.

Even more people began to pour into the seating area of the arena, and as the seats filled up, Jay practically thrummed with excitement. The show was going to start soon, and hopefully, he'd be a few credits richer. Enough to buy dinner for a few more nights, at least. Puffing again on his cigarra, he adjusted his jacket, scraped his shoe on the floor once more, and straightened his posture. He wanted the best possible view, and wouldn't accept missing a knockout or an injury because some guy was in the way. Whatever happened in that arena, Jayjack would have his eye on it.

 

[Crom McCready]

"Crom, you're on! These people are gonna start fighting eachother if you don't get moving!" A man shouted, poking his head into the room. Crom didn't recognize him but took his word, in these seedy dives he practically never met everyone there so chances are he was an employee. He preferred it that way, all he wanted was to go out, put on a show and walk out rich. The rich part hadn't happened yet but at the very least he was putting together quite the knockout reel. "You just gonna sit there all night?"

"Do you want to make this a tag team match where I use you as a kriffin' shield?" Crom fired back, "I'll get up when I'm damn well ready." Crom slowly rose to his feet and rolled his neck around, his adrenaline beginning to amp up as he knew what he was about to get himself into. He threw a few punches forward in the air to ensure he was still warmed up and he patted the tapping on his wrist to ensure the Rodian had done his job. "Cue the music, boy. We're about to make ourselves a whole lotta money."

"That's the spirit, good luck Crom! You're going to need it."

Disappearing from the doorway Crom made his way down the hall until he met his mark, waiting for the announcer to introduce him. The audience was beginning to get even more amped up, knowing just what was about to happen. Being closer to the pit he could actually hear them clearer now, people chanting and stomping their feet into the floor to make the entire building shake. He was underneath the audience now and the thundering stomps made his insides rattle in his chest, furthering his own excitement. It only made Crom think of his opponent more, a mystery withheld in the promotion as something so terrifying that it should be illegal. Unfortunately for him he was as clueless as the spectators, walking into a fight blind.

The lights dimmed and the crowd roared in response, thunderous music playing over them to signify that the fights were about to begin.

"Coruscant..." A voice played over the loud speakers with the music dimming into the background, enhancing the atmosphere further as things escalated. "MAKE SOME NOISE FOR OUR HUMAN CONTENDER... CROM MCCREADY!"

Crom burst from one side of the Pit with speed, the doors opening and the fighting clad in nothing but green shorts and fight tape came walking out with his hands raised. The lights dimmed on the crowd and were now all on the pits as the single human man walked out into the arena. He began to play with the crowd, pointing to all of them, flexing at them, kicking the bloodied dirt of the pit up into the air, anything to get their excitement higher as the tattooed warrior made his way around the pit with a big grin on his face.

"Let's kriffin' go!" He shouted to the crowd, his voice drowned out by their applause so he looked like to many he was just shouting at them.

They were only moments away from the other challenger being introduced, the small arena all joined together in this incredible moment in what might be a one sided fight.

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

That was always the problem with these fights, well, betting on them. You didn't always get to see the fighter you were betting on in the flesh, just a name. Sometimes, if you were lucky, a species. This time, however, Jayjack was confident. Crom entered the arena, gaudy and cocky from the start, and with that, Jayjack stood. Raising his arms in the air, he cheered along with the rest of the crowd. He was ecstatic. "Look at the size of him! There's no way I'll lose this one! He's got this in the bag! I can't wait to see the scruffy little Rodian that's fighting him!". This comment, naturally, was at the behest of a Rodian to Jayjack's right. Wincing, slightly, as the Rodian grunted, he apologised. "Sorry... Not like, all of you... You know what I mean, right?... Right...". Stubbing his cigarra on the floor, and stomping it in with his boot, he continued to cheer for a little longer, before taking his seat once more.

Jayjack couldn't stop smiling. That money meant less to him than the idea of winning did. Everything had been going so badly, he'd been so unlucky of late, that this one tiny win, might just mean the start of something good. It might be an upward stretch. It might be the start of Jayjack's new life. He certainly hoped so. Buzzing, he pulled the pack of cigarras back from the inside of his jacket, and placing one between his lips again, barely able to contain himself, he lit it once more. This time, the furrowed brow and grizzled frown were replaced with looks of excitement. His gaze didn't leave the arena itself. All he needed now, was a decently smaller, talentless fighter to come out of the other side...

Eyes fixated on the fighter he'd invested his money in, in the form of a bet, he didn't even listen to the announcer. Even with little knowledge of the technicalities of fighting, after all he was little more than a street brawler himself, he examined the form of Crom. Scanning his posture, height, weight, reach and presumed fitness with his eyes; Jayjack was satisfied. Crom had potential, that much was for sure. This time, he thought to himself. I've got a fighter that won't let me down. He pulled on his cigarra again, exhaling the slight plume into the air, before preparing himself mentally for the arrival of Crom's opponent, praying, just praying, that for whatever reason... He was fighting a Jawa.

 

[Crom McCready]

Smiling big, Crom gave one last shout to the crowd with both his arms raised at once. "LET'S KRIFFIN' GO!" He roared, the deafening activity in the arena more than enough to make his heart hammer faster in his chest. The announcer began to speak again, allowing Crom to retreat back to his spot in the pits to look at whatever fighter was going to meet him head on. He had heard that the insiders were all betting on the mystery challenger, furthering Crom's resolve. He liked being the underdog, the contender. This was all the same to him.

"Introducing his opponent... A monster of a fighter, a giant of massive proportions... A monstrosity so big that they would NOT let this fight happen in the Upper cities..." Each word was a warning sign to Crom, this was a set up. A joke. They couldn't possibly be setting him up against someone or something so dangerous. He took it in stride though, stretching his muscles out as the announcer finished, "INTRODUCING THE GIGORAN: GRYFF!"

"Oh you gotta be fraggin' kidding me. A god damn Gigoran?" Crom said to himself, his words drowned out by the crowd's room shaking applause as an absolutely massive creature came lumbering out of the other end of the pits. Gryff was terrifying looking, a lesser man would have turned around and ran then and there as the Gigoran towered over Crom. The fighter craned his head up at his opposition to look him in the face as he walked up to him. The Gigoran stopped just before Crom, giving him enough space to look up but not enough to strike prematurely.

Typically a Gigoran wore a metal translator face mask in order to communicate with others, this one lacked one. Though very little talking would be happening in those pits so it made sense, that and they had to give the illusion of a fair fight for Crom. His face was a mess of gnarled teeth and an expression which could give someone a heart attack was painted on Gryff's face. He stood at least several feet above Crom and looked three times as strong, when they said that this fight should have been illegal that wasn't to entice the crowd: they were being completely serious.

"Shoulda brushed your teeth, fatty." Crom said with a cocky smirk on his face, the alien snarling at him in return. "Can smell ye before I seen ye! It's gonna take them a long time to wash all that blood out of that mess of hair I can tell you that now." Gryff simply grunted in response, the Gigoran looked angry. In the back of Crom's mind he was wondering just what exactly he was getting into here but he was a man with faults, he could never back down from a challenge no matter how ridiculous it was. The two fighters began to back away from each other, waiting for the announcer to officially begin the bout. Crom proudly held his hands back up in the air with confidence, he didn't want any one who was rooting for him to feel too bad about such a disgusting mismatch. This was just another day at the office for him.

"Fighters... are you ready?" Crom gave a nod, as did Gryff. "CORUSCANT.... ARE YOU READY?!" The crowd cheered even louder, their roars of approval reaching an all time high as the announcer finally shouted, "LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

Jayjack couldn't speak. Mouth agape, he stared at the huge, white furred fighter that stepped into the ring with Crom. Crom was a strong name, he thought... Gryff sounded like the name of a... Well, someone Jayjack would have associated with in his teenage years, not the name of a Gigoran! He fell back into his seat, face slipping between his hands with a prolonged sigh. "Just for once... I'd have liked something good to happen...", he muttered, barely audibly to anyone around him. He grit his teeth hard, sending the sound waves from the clashing molars reverberating through his skull. "Twenty credit entry, thirty credit frakkin' bet... This was an expensive night to watch someone have their limbs ripped off by a giant frakkin' furball!".

Jayjack was evidently not best pleased by the choice of combatant that his fighter of choice would be tasked with besting. He struck the bottom of his fist against the concrete in anger, emitting a cross between a dull thud and a slap, partially due to his gloved hands. Resting his elbows on his knees, he placed his chin in his palms, sighing once more. Dejected, would be the best word to describe his expression. So confident had he been in Crom, that the idea that a giant furry beast could step through the gates and dismember the man hadn't even crossed his mind. Typical.

Dropping his cigarra onto the floor in front of him, this time, he didn't even bother to stub it out. He had bigger things on his mind, like the fifty credits tonight cost; which he couldn't really afford to begin with, let alone the salt-in-the-wound of watching the man he bet on be torn apart. Soon enough, Jayjack was going to hit rock bottom, and have no money left to cushion himself. No... He needed to be positive. He knew tonight was going to be the start of something good, and he had to spur himself on. "Be positive...", he silently mouthed to himself. Standing up, he swallowed a lump in his throat, before thrusting a fist into the air. "Crom, tear that glorified Wampa to pieces! Make a rug out of him!". If that wasn't being 'positive', Jayjack didn't know what positive was.

 

[Crom McCready]

The match began in a way that every fan of Crom would hate, the man rushing forward and Gryff simply slapping him with one of his massive limbs sending the human flying into one of the walls of the pit. On the screens above it showed Crom stumbling to his feet, the screens positioned to where everyone could see at all times even if they got pushed up against one of the walls. Crom spat, slapping his hands together as he applauded the Gigoran.

"You tink slapping a man makes you a good fighter, do ye? Bravooo! You schutta!" He taunted, grinning at the Gigoran. As Gryff got in close Crom dodged a massive Gigoran hand and went under, slamming his fists into the mighty beast's chest. The look on Gryff's face was one of complete surprise, Crom could hit and he could hit hard. So hard in fact that the mighty Gigoran took a few steps back in surprise, a normal human typically didn't possess this level of power. "That sting, did it?" Crom smirked, faking a punch up top only to deliver a nasty leg kick that caused the Gigoran to roar and lift his leg up in the air in pain. As Gryff was imbalanced Crom rushed forward and jumped, landing a punch clean on the white furried beast's chin.

Down went Gryff.

The entire place went absolutely berserk as a human actually knocked down a Gigoran with a well placed punch. It was far from the end of the fight but the power that Crom possessed was staggering. This was a much fairer fight than met the eye, Gryff growling as he stood back up quickly. So far both combatants had been knocked down with terrifying blows, being this early in the fight it was only going to get much worse.

"What? Are you mad? You look like you want to hit me!" Crom asked with a cocky grin on his face, dodging a punch Gryff threw at him in anger. The Gigoran's face was contorted in rage, no one had ever embarrassed him so handily and so quickly. "Maybe if you actually were worth a d-" Crom got clocked, Gryff throwing an overhand right and smashing it on top of the human's head. Crom's face looked bad in an instant, blood pouring from the top of his head from the giant's claws scratching him on the way down to add insult to injury.

The crowd went berserk, there was Crom taunting the beast only to explode into a ball of blood and pain as he collapsed onto his back. Things couldn't look worse as Gryff jumped on top of him and began to maul him, Crom curling up and blocking further attacks with his arms.

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

The match began and Jayjack didn't get much of an opportunity to support the fighter with his money behind him, before he was veritably ragdolled across the arena. Crom's body was sent careening into the wall of the pit, the result of a huge, powerful swing from the Gigoran. Jayjack winced visibly from the thud and faint crack emanating from Crom's body colliding with the wall, silently and invisibly praying to some invisible deity of luck that he might win. He shuffled in his seat, rubbing his hands together as Crom stood, and seemingly, could still fight. "He's still going... He's still going...", spoke Jayjack, quietly.

Smirking slightly as Crom re-approached the Gigoran, and had the audacity to taunt him, the Gigoran's second swing sent Jayjack into an instinctual blindness from closing his eyes. He didn't want to see the strike land true on Crom once again, but to his surprise, when he opened them again, it wasn't Crom that had been struck, but the beast. Gryff seemed as shocked about this as Jay did, and before Jay knew it, Crom had followed it up, with a series of successful attacks, a kick then a punch. Jayjack flew from his seat once more, standing and cheering, fist held aloft.

Crom had taken down the Gigoran. David and Goliath-style, Crom was doing it.

It wasn't over. Crom was taking his opportunity to taunt the Gigoran further, when a heavy swipe with the beast's claws sent Crom to the ground. There was blood. Lots of blood. Jayjack's fingers had never instinctively taken rest at his teeth before, but they were now. This was literally nailbiting action. Crom was on the ground, and there was a large amount of red splashing the canvas that was the arena. "Hold on... Head wounds always look worse than they do... They always bleed more than anywhere else... Or at least they look like they do...", grumbled Jayjack, trying to convince himself that the fight wasn't over yet.

Jayjack just stood, arms at his sides now, watching as the Gigoran, covered in almost as much of Crom's blood as Crom, pounded and swiped away at the human, convinced that Crom would be nothing more than a clawed up corpse within seconds. He sighed deeply, the dejected look returning to his face. "Well... That's it then...", he exhaled out, almost as much as sighing as speaking. He straightened his jacket and prepared to leave. Jayjack loved a fight, but he didn't come here to watch a hairy giant tear a man to pieces. Not quite leaving the arena just yet, but clearly preparing himself to.

 

[Crom McCready]

No one could be beating up Crom worse than himself right now. While furred, clawed fingers came lashing down at him all he could think about was how he let himself get hit like that. He was the sole reason he got caught there. He was too busy taunting and disrespecting his opponent when the creature he was facing was twice his size and the pure strength it possessed was so staggering he needed to focus. 'Not going to kill me today...'

As the beast's massive arm went thrashing down Crom pushed to his side and wrapped his legs around the big meaty limb in one fluid motion. Gryff punched the ground where Crom had been moments ago and out of reflex raised his arm to the sky only to see Crom clinching on to his arm tightly. He then began to try and wiggle Crom off of him violently. It was a good effort but the fighter was wrapped on too tightly, the Gigoran's patience waning thin. Dust was getting kicked up by Gryff's feet, the confused alien reaching out to try and tear Crom off his arm.

Only he wasn't there now.

Crom let go of the beast's arm and used it to swing himself forward, dealing a devastating kick to the creature's chest. Doubled over in pain Gryff began to swing wildly, nailing Crom in the process causing a massive streak of blood to explode from his own chest. With the Gigoran injured and Crom now bleeding from both his chest and head it seemed to be anyone's game as the fight began to come to a ridiculous climax.

The entire room was chanting, screaming so loudly that the air in the room seemed to be sucked out as Crom dodged one of Gryff's attacks and broke his jaw with a well timed uppercut. The alien staggered back, his jaw slacked and protruding to the side horrifically as the human got a terrific hit on him. Although bleeding, Crom was still rearing to fight and the Gigoran was too broken jaw and all. While it seemed that one of them was about to go out both of them looked to eachother and knew that this was only the beginning.

"Come on!" Crom roared, blood spraying from his mouth forward in a fine mist. "Kriffin' hit me!"

A punch was thrown, a punch was dodged.

"Is that all you kriffin' got?" He shouted, only to dodge yet another punch. "YOU'RE GETTING BEAT BY A HUMAN! WHAT KIND OF GIOGRAN ARE YE?!" As soon as he said that Gryff let out a roar that tore through the audience's chants and kicked Crom square in the chest. The human went flying, almost comically so as he skidded across the arena floor. All went silent for a moment as it looked like he had been knocked out, only for Crom to jump back up to his feet and raised both of his hands towards the Gigoran proudly. Crom made an obscene gesture with both hands to the Gigoran causing the audience to go absolutely berserk at the insanity. "YE THAT'S RIGHT! THEY'RE HERE FOR ME SNOWBALL! YOU'LL NEED A KRIFFIN' ARMY OF GRYFFS IF YOU WANT TO TAKE ME!"

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

Jayjack straightened his jacket, and pulled his gloves down slightly, ensuring they fitted snugly over his hands and wrists, the dull thuds of the strikes, combined with what sounded like faint snipping, almost like scissors, was enough for him to want to leave. He turned away from the arena this time, still stood. Pulling a cigarra from his pack once more, so as to drown his sorrows in a small quantity of nicotine, after all, he wouldn't be able to afford a drink now, he lit the cigarra and began to leave, when suddenly, the crowd roared.

The cigarra dropped from Jay's mouth in shock, as he turned to see Crom gripping onto the Gigoran's arm. The crowd was screaming in joy and excitement, and Jayjack joined them; not bothering to try and find or rescue the cigarra that had been lost moments before, he thrust his arm into the air once again, and began to cheer support for his fighter of choice. "That's it, Crom! Rip his frakkin' arm off! Pummel it 'til it can't stand! Jayjack wants to be able to eat tonight, baby!". Enthralled by the continued combat, Jayjack still stood, watching the fight, when all of a sudden Crom let go before the beast could grab him. Jayjack continued cheering, this time, wordlessly, simply shouting repeatedly so as to intensify the crowd's already incessant noise.

In what can only be described as a pinnacle of acrobatics, Crom kicked the creature again, this time knocking it down, sending Jayjack even further into his trance, facial expression written with anger and emotion now; he wanted Crom to win, by any means necessary. As Crom's chest was torn open by another claw of the gigoran, sending flecks and spatters of blood across the arena, Jayjack screamed even more violently than before. "Kill him, Crom! Tear him limb from limb!", uncharacteristic for Jayjack, to say the least. The fight was not over. It was just beginning.

A familiar crack came from the arena, though louder, and deeper. It was the sound of a broken jaw, and Gryff was emitting all the signs that Jayjack's assumption was correct. Crom screamed in anger at the white beast once more, Jayjack revelling in the flecks of blood painting the creature anew. While Jay wouldn't have known, and probably nobody else would have done, he screamed louder than anyone else in the crowd that night. Nobody wanted Crom to win as much as he did. For that moment, that brief few minutes, Jayjack was Crom McCready's biggest fan.

As what had began as man versus beast spiralled into cacophony and discord; in a way that it might have even been reclassified as beast versus beast, Jayjack continued to cheer. The fight drove into mere insanity, both combatants tapping into their most primal rage, their vicious instincts that lay within them to fight with tooth and nail to stay alive. This moment would be the most interesting of the fight. As not one, but both fighters realised there was a chance they could die in this very arena. Blood would be spilled, even more so; and there was the genuine possibility that one of them would need to be buried. Jayjack had been swallowed up by the tension in the air. He was now, in this moment, very much a part of the blood sport.

 

[Crom McCready]

As if spurred on more by the crowd Gryff began his charge. He began to run as fast as he could towards Crom, desperately wanting to finish this. His jaw was in more pain than he ever withstood before, the thought of how this happened rushing through his mind as he charged at the human who was significantly smaller than himself. The alien's white fur was stained red from head to toe in both his own blood and Crom's. Most of it had been Crom's from the flesh wounds but the darker blood dripping from his mouth that was staining the front of his fuzzy chest was most definitely his. Both of the warriors were beaten and had gotten a read on what the other was capable of by now, the Gigoran no longer underestimating the human and the human no longer overestimating himself. As Gryff closed the distance the thundering noise from the crowd could almost take both fighters out of the moment just to take in what was happening. Nearly a thousand people were roaring at them to bring a nice finish to this already legendary battle. The only question that needed to be answered was who was more worthy of victory?

As Gryff collided with Crom two things happened. One, Crom got sliced in the stomach, the Gigoran's hand going low. Blood burst out and coated the white behemoth's hand, turning this more into a fight for survival rather than a fight to entertain. There was no rules in killing your opponent in the pits, in fact, it was encouraged in some places. The wound was deep but not exactly fatal, though it was enough to take him out of the fight if he didn't end it soon. Two, Crom's hand connected with Gryff's chin hard.

They both separated, blood pouring out of Crom's stomach wound and Gryff stumbling back as if he had been hit by a swoop bike. Crom gritted his teeth and ignored the pain as his once green shorts were completely covered in his own blood, pushing forward towards the stunned Gigoran. He reached up and slammed another upper cut into him, causing his already broken jaw to break further as the beast roared in an indescribable amount of pain. Now both fighters were further covered head to toe in one another's blood, Crom looking more like a Zeltron than a human.

The pained cries of Gryff would have almost elicited mercy from someone, though, after almost getting disemboweled Crom wasn't exactly in a forgiving mood. He slammed his fist into the beast again and again, so many times that the officials began to lose track as soon after he had Gryff on the ground and had him there good. The crowd still couldn't believe what they were seeing as Crom began to turn the tide of battle into one that it would be hard for him not to win.

Gryff started begging in his own alien tongue, his body language softening as he blocked the punches that Crom was raining down on him. "DON'T YOU KRIFFIN' GIVE UP NOW, CHIT HEAD!" The man shouted at him, "FINISH IT! GET UP SNOWBALL!"

Crom actually stood up, letting Gryff wobble to his feet one last time. Those betting on him felt their hearts stop as Crom gave up a guaranteed victory for the Gigoran to get up. They had already seen the human fighter get cocky enough and get punished for it, it could easily happen again. What they didn't know was just how tired the beast was, Crom could feel it. From the way he carried himself, from the deep labored breaths, from the rattling of his broken jaw. Gryff was done. If he could time just one punch right he could knock him out in spectacular fashion for a highlight worthy finish. In a lull in the arena noise Crom shouted, "KRIFF GRYFF! KRIFF GRYFF!" He chanted, laughing as he did so when it began to catch on. The chanting of 'Kriff Gryff' spread to nearly everyone in that arena, those who abstained had a very visible sour look on their faces at what was happening as the Gigoran began limping over to Crom.

He was already defeated and he knew it, the Gigoran gritting his teeth (or at least trying to, his jaw too bent out of shape to properly do so) as he pushed forward. Crom was clapping in his face, chanting along with those who were shouting 'Kriff Gryff'. It was comical, it was absolutely insane and yet it fit Crom perfectly. For new fans this was the perfect fight to start with, from nearly getting disemboweled to leading a chant against his opponent like a cheerleader.

"Night night, Gryff." Crom spoke as the Gigoran lunged forward and threw a sloppy punch at him. Crom stepped to the side with ease and landed an overhand left, connecting one final time with the Gigoran's broken chin and causing him to fly backwards in the air. It was like something out of a movie, the lone human slamming his fist into the alien's face with so much passion and ferocity that the massive creature went airborne. Gryff lost consciousness before he hit the ground and definitely lost brain cells as his head bounced hard off the ground.

Crom had won.

Shouting to the skies Crom raised his hands in the air, ignoring the pain radiating from his face, his chest and the deep pain roaring in his stomach as he celebrated such a hard fought victory. "WHO'S THE KRIFFIN' GREATEST? I AM! ME!" He shouted, congratulating himself in a hilarious manner as he strutted back and forth in the pit. This moment was always his favorite, when he had taken on diversity and won against all odds. It was intoxicating. What was also intoxicating was the pay check waiting for him after.

"WE'RE GETTING WASTED TONIGHT!" The happy fighter shouted with a big grin on his face, pointing into the crowd that was celebrating the hardest for him.

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

Gryff's second wind, and Crom's veritable endurance only spurred Jayjack on harder. He continued to cheer, this time, with each thrust of his fist into the air, practically jumping from the floor, taking a good few inches from it each and every time. As the Gigoran charged towards Crom, Jayjack screamed even louder for Crom's victory, wishing for him to end the fight there and then. The two fighters approaching eachother, in actuality probably only took a few seconds, but for Jayjack, the interim before the collision of the two men felt like a lifetime. The fight would definitely not last much longer after this point, and everyone, the fighters included, knew it.

Boom. The two fighters collided with colossal force. Jayjack winced as the two exchanged blows, the first of which hitting Crom across the abdominal region. Not good; Jayjack didn't want his fighter to be dismembered several moments ago, and he didn't want him to be disemboweled now, either. The laceration across Crom's stomach didn't seem to bother Crom all that much, but it made Jay feel slightly sick. He found the idea of intestines strewn about the arena, even more displeasing than limbs; and couldn't bring himself to cheer quite so enthusiastically as he was before. However; as Crom had been nearly torn open, Gryff was hit just as hard, crunch, to the chin once more.

As the fighters disconnected, stepping slightly back from one another, Crom's blood was still painting the pit in a deep red. Gryff was having the same effect, though not quite as severely. Gryff seemed to dawdle, and Crom took advantage of this, and Jayjack's eyes lit up once more. As the male in green dashed towards the white (and now red) giant, he leapt into the air once more, crying out in support, though not nearly loud enough to silence the gritty crack of Gryff's jawbone. Then, to Jayjack's suprise, the white beast cried out in pain. He didn't expect that. Until he'd done that, Jay was more than happy to watch Crom crush the beast, but now, that humanised him, or at the very least made him sympathetic, almost as if watching a Massiff be mistreated by its owner. Jayjack knew the Gigoran had tried to crush Crom, and even tear his limbs off, or disembowel him, but he couldn't help but feel bad for it. It could die here, that was a very real possibility.

Once again Jayjack was wincing in sympathy and disgust. The Gigoran was being repeatedly pummeled by Crom's large and powerful fists; muffed and dampened cries emitting themselves periodically from the creature's mouth, as if begging the human to stop hurting it. Jay could barely watch. While he enjoyed a pit fight, this was something else. This brutal display of man against monster had turned into a warrior slaughtering an animal. Jay knew that Crom couldn't afford to let Gryff out of his sight, or underestimate him, after all, he could dismember, disembowel, or decapitate him when he wasn't paying attention - but this was gratuitous violence, and Jayjack certainly wasn't a fan of when it got to this point.

To his surprise, Jayjack watched as Crom allowed the Gigoran to return to his feet, presuming that he would allow him to surrender, or exit the arena; throwing in the towel. The obscenities that preceded this action didn't seem to process, however, and Jayjack's relief was short lived. The crowd was cheering along with Crom's motto of the fight, 'Kriff Gryff', something that Jayjack elected not to participate in, despite his support of Crom throughout the fight. All he wanted now, was for the fight to be over, and to get no messier. No more blood, no death. Just end the fight, and all will be well. Crom walks away alive, Gryff walks away with a bad headache, and Jayjack walks away with thirty credits. Sounds good.

Jayjack couldn't look away as Crom mocked him before his very eyes, clapping and singing along with the crowd. While Jayjack was as cocky and confident as anyone, even he saw the barbarism in this act. Spitting on the beast when he's down, so to speak. Even so, he appreciated that there must be some kind of stark irony or satisfaction one gets, when pouring salt in the wounds of someone who tried to dismember and disembowel you; and dealing the final blow isn't necessarily the first thing on your mind, especially when there's a crowd supporting you, and backing up your mockery and humiliation of your opponent, when moments before, a good half of them would have been satisfied with watching the beast tear you apart.

Then, without warning, Jayjack watched as Crom slowly, and inaudibly said something to the Gigoran, likely a final message, before throwing the final necessary punch, either knocking out or killing the creature. Realistically, it was impossible to tell which had happened, as the prolonged trauma to Gryff's head was likely to cause some lasting damage, if at the very least to his jaw, let alone his skull and brain. That being said, the fight was over. Crom had won, which meant so had Jayjack. Leaping into the air again, remembering the money he was about to receive for his bet, he cheered. "Go Crom! I knew you'd crush that furball from the beginning! Yeah!". He was lying, of course, mostly to himself, but also partially to Crom.

As Crom looked out into the crowd with his celebratory cry, all Jayjack could do was applaud loudly, whistling through his teeth, smiling that the fight was finally complete; and he could collect his money. After all, Crom didn't actually mean that he was getting 'wasted' with the crowd tonight, did he?

 

[Crom McCready]

"Your winner by.... knock out! CROM.... MCCREADDDDY!" The announcer roared with such ferocity that the crowd was given one final chance to bathe in the pure adrenaline that was the fighting pits. Crom was all smiles as he barbarically flexed at the crowd and screamed at them, taking in the moment as best as he could. Celebrating like this was a lot better than what Gryff was experiencing, the Gigoran collapse on the ground still. Crom heard groaning behind him and immediately turned around to find Gryff struggling to stand up shortly after the celebration was winding down. Crom immediately walked over to him and began helping the giant furball up, too weak himself to fully support the Gigoran's weight but he had enough strength left to help the giant alien up.

"You damn near almost killed me!" Crom exclaimed with a happy grin on his face. The Gigoran looked less than enthused with the way the fight went but accepted Crom's help, more than happy to allow the pressure from his knees buckling to be relieved by the helping hand. "Good kriffin' fight though lad. Sorry 'bout the theatrics but more I get these people relied up the more we both get paid. You understand that, ye?" When Gryff nodded slowly but refused to move his mouth Crom knew that although they had just been opponents that they were both on good terms now. Fighters were bizarre like that, willing to go to war only to come out friends on the other side. "Watch this-"

Crom raised Gryff's hand up in the air as well as his own causing one final roar of victory from the crowd, the applause beginning to die down and people had already begun to head out to beat traffic but for those that remained were treated to see the fighters act civil. Once the applause died down Crom dropped Gryff's hand and patted him on the arm one final time, "Gonna get me stomach stitched up, good frakkin' fight lad and best of luck in yer future bouts." Gryff gave him a respectful nod and began to limp back towards the entrance he had originated from. Crom did the same, raising his arm one final time to a much lighter applause but one none the less. It was so surreal that he won against the beast that it almost seemed like a distant memory already, this one being remembered for the history books.

He had just made a lot of people a lot of money and even more people lose all their money.

After the fight it was a mad dash to leave the arena. There were plenty of things to do at night in Coruscant, especially on a lower level such as this which illicit activities were all around and cheap entertainment was everywhere. Crom was sticking true to his word and planned on heading to a cantina to get smashed, that would have to come after getting his stomach stitched up and getting paid however. Once he was out of view of the public he nearly collapsed in the locker room as he sat down on the bench and grasped at his stomach. He oozed confidence but he was still very human, even though he hid it well Crom was inches away from getting taken out.

"Chit... Tore me up good, didn't you... 'Griff'." He said to himself bitterly. Crom respected his competition but was already beating himself up over getting hit that hard. "Gonna leave a kriffin' scar... SOMEONE GET THAT DAMN DOCTOR IN HERE! I'M KRIFFIN' BLEEDING OUT AND NONE OF YA'S SEEM TO CARE!" He heard the rushing of feet down the hall and simply closed his eyes, this was the least fun part of the entire fight game. With modern healing technology Crom would be just fine, ridiculously sore for a few days, but fine.

All he could think about was that victory drink.

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

Jayjack smiled as the fight finally ended, pulling his jacket down from the hip so as to straighten it. Pulling the two breasts of the jacket across his chest-region, he zipped it up, clasping it shut, before looking down, to make sure that any of his belongings weren't left behind. Then, once satisfied that his wallet, blaster and axe, and keys to his speeder bike were still on his person, he turned, beginning to make his way to the betting office to collect his cash; not yet taking a step, but preparing to, evidently trying to exit the arena before the crowds amassed and made it harder for him to leave, or collect his winnings.

Turning his head to face the arena once more before leaving, Jayjack was rewarded with a heartwarming sight, wholesome even. Crom and Gryff were practically arm in arm, and Crom was holding Gryff aloft. Impressive for someone so keen on the fight itself, to then celebrate both fighters, and the event as a whole, rather than his own personal victory; despite the previous mockery and taunting that occurred in the fight. Jayjack smiled gleefully. Despite his love of a good fight, he was, ultimately, life's underdog; and therefore seeing Crom win, and Gryff be given almost as much praise was pretty much the best outcome Jay could have hoped for.

Smiling happily to himself, he took his leave, making his way over the seats to the stairwell, and down the stairs. Applause and cheering still echoed through the halls and air, though quietened as Jayjack retreated from the main stage. Feet clacking as he moved through the hallways and corridors that led to the betting office, he eventually arrived at his destination. Patting himself down, after several painstaking and terrified seconds of being unable to locate his betting slip, he found it. Presenting it to the Toydarian behind the desk, he was rewarded with seventy-five credits. Minus the thirty he placed, that was a one-hundred and fifty percent profit. Decent enough, considering how stressful a night it was.

Jayjack definitely both needed and wanted a drink, tonight had been a whirlwind of emotion and could only really be finished off with some hard drinks. Strolling through the halls once again, he placed the credit chip in his wallet, before moving finally to the exterior of the fighting pits. Moving quickly around the corner to where vehicles were kept, just beside the backstage entrance; he mounted his speeder bike, placing a final cigarra between his lips, tossing the empty pack aside. Pulling an old brassy-gold coloured lighter once more, he lit the final cigarra, and sat atop his bike, still smiling. "Knew it was the start of somethin' good.", he said, sighing while puffing out a large plume of smoke. "I just knew it.".

 

[Crom McCready]

"YOW! Hey, Chit-head! Easy there."

Crom barked at the PB-Series Protocol Droid that was attempted to stitch him up. It was a derelict looking droid with rust spots all over its arms and chest, however, the closer Crom looked the more he realized that it was simply dried blood the pit owners didn't bother to clean over the years. "You are one nasty piece of chit, you know that? EASY!" He groaned, the droid digging in deep as it was half way done patching his stomach up. The droid looked up at him but simply went back to trying to stitch him, sloppily. "Oi! The hell you trying to do droid?"

"Activating healing protocols." It buzzed in return, a spark shooting out of its neck. Its voice began to wane and suddenly pitch back up, the blood stained droid clearly on its last leg. "Administering pain relief, enjoy!" It poked at Crom with a syringe in which he tried to back away from but it was too late, the droid pressed down the plunger and administered a double dose of painkillers right into Crom's system. In reality he could use it with how intense his injuries were but he didn't want to ruin his post-victory drink buzz by taking in too many other drugs. "Performing incision-"

"Incision? GET THE FRAK OUT HERE!" Crom roared as he kicked the droid away just in time as it almost went and undid all of its work. The droid's head went flying off as it collided into the ground, the stiff legged protocol droid no match for a well placed kick. It was almost comical the way it powered down, the sound of clattering metal against the hard tile floor followed by the whirring down of the droid's head. "WHEN I SAID GET A KRIFFIN' DOCTOR IN HERE I MEANT A DAMN DOCTOR!" Crom roared at the top of his lungs to those outside, his wound half way patched up while the rest of him was still in shambles. When no one was coming Crom let out a long sigh, "Nothing you aren't use to, lad. Suck it up. Gotta look pretty for me people."

Crom limped his way over to the destroyed PB-Droid and yanked its medical supplies from its limp, dead hands. The rest had spilled out onto the floor in what looked like waves of instruments and liquid. Broken vials of glass and medicine coated the tiled floor in a shiny sheen that camouflaged the glass on the floor just asking to be embedded in someone's foot.

"Don't need no busted up foot too... Damn." He groaned, limping over to a mirror in order to inspect the damage. "Face is fine. Still pretty kriffin' beautiful." It couldn't have been further from the truth, Crom looking more barbaric than beautiful but the thought made him laugh to himself. "Chest is fragged too, stomach is bad... Gonna need to get some touch up work on the tattoos..." He mumbled to himself before going back to the dirty work of stitching his own stomach up. "Ohhh wow... That burns... And I'm higher than a starship! THIS THE GOOD CHIT YE?!" He shouted to no one in particular as he laughed hysterically, enjoying himself now that he was successfully numb of all pain. He weaved the needle in and out of his flesh, working the thread through and successfully sealing off the wound after a few tense minutes. It was a rough job but it always was, Crom being a little too use to this now.

"SOMEONE BETTER BE BRINGING MY CREDITS IF YOU AREN'T BRINGING THAT DOC!"

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

Still considering whether or not he should leave and go home, go for a bite to eat, or a quick drink, Jayjack continued smoking his cigarra. He remained sat upon the speeder bike, using it as little more than a seat at this point in time, staring blankly towards the backstage entrance where the fighters congregated and entered. None were coming in or out at this point in time. Crom had been the only fight of the evening. It wasn't like it was a weekend, or a large event, after all. Crom, despite his evident talent, was still a relatively unknown fighter, in a relatively unknown part of Coruscant. Jayjack continued staring towards the hallway that led to the fighters rooms. He pondered the thought of walking down there for a second, but opted not to. That being said, he was keen to find out what had happened to Kryff, the Gigoran, and so he stuck around.

Promising himself he wouldn't wait longer than a few minutes, Jayjack remained on the seat of his speeder bike, waiting to see if the Gigoran came out, simply remaining standstill at the rear exterior of the arena itself. Checking himself down, just to make sure he hadn't been pickpocketed. Sitting upright, he looked for each of his personal effects. The first, his wallet, sat in his upper breast pocket of his jacket, which was, thankfully, present. The second, his blaster, sat faithfully at his left hip just as it always did. The third, his vibro-axe. Something he took everywhere with him after being mugged more than a few times, sat on his right hip, just opposite the blaster, hanging through a dedicated loop, conveniently still turned off. Finally, were the keys to his speeder bike, clinking slightly, emitting a familiar noise from his back pants pocket, on the right hand side. Losing them would be a problem, but it certainly wouldn't have been the first time. He had a spare set at home, but getting home without the bike wouldn't have been remotely pleasant.

As the minutes passed, he sighed deeply, still staring out into the hallway area. "God, I hope that big furry fella' comes outta' there soon...". Jayjack still didn't like it when the fighters died. He wasn't here to watch that. Just the fight itself. And so, he waited, and he waited... Maybe something would happen, eventually. Maybe he'd just end up getting bored. Probably the latter, knowing Jayjack.

 

[Crom McCready]

Red and blue lights soon illuminated the back alley of the fighting pits, a single medical shuttle arriving with its sirens wailing pulling up to the back where Jayjack was watching. It had been some sort of twisted joke the universe was playing on him, wanting to see Gryff alive only to see a medical transport rush to the scene as if on cue, timed almost perfectly with his thoughts. It was a bitter treat of irony, the medics stepping out of the shuttle and opening the back followed by grabbing a floating medical stretcher. They rushed in, obviously in a hurry as they disappeared into the back of the pits. It felt like hours passed until they both came out with Gryff in tow, the Gigoran limp on the stretcher. At first it seemed the blood stained beast was a goner, killed by a human's fists in one hellacious battle. Right before the medical transport closed the creature sat up and began roaring something incomprehensible to the medical staff thankfully, signifying that Gryff was more than okay. He was in a ton of pain but he knew what he had signed up for becoming a fighter.

The fighting pits seen a lot of activity like that, fighters getting injured, fighters getting transported to the hospital or the morgue. Luckily for Gryff he was making a trip to the former and not the latter. His jaw was nearly completely shattered and he needed immediate medical attention but ultimately the massive white furred alien would survive.

Perhaps not surviving from the shame of losing to a human in a hand to hand contest, but he would survive.

Moments later Gryff's opponent came stumbling out of the back too, a giant half empty bottle of liquor in his hand and wearing quite possible the strangest clothing on Coruscant. No longer donning the combat shorts Crom looked like he doubled as a courtesan as he came walking out in a hilarious looking white leather jacket that barred his chest for the world to see with a massive plume of bright white fur around the collar. At first glance he looked like he had been made of money but it was all for show, the illusion of wealth to attract more of it. It was ingenious and insane at the same time, for Crom, it had worked this time as his wallet was filled and his belly was full of liquor. That and one had to think being larger than life was part of the fight business as a whole.

Thanks to his performance against the Gigoran he was now free to get up to some other trouble, whether that be going off world or finding something to do on Coruscant the fighter was open to any possibilities. Though, all he really wanted to do now was celebrate. Glancing around the back alley he looked around to check his surroundings, mostly out of paranoia with how upset losers were when it came to gambling. Unfortunately he had been robbed a time or two after a vicious battle and couldn't defend himself, other times he sent more people to the hospital than just his opponent. Crom then began to walk forward, the distant lights of the medical transport carrying Gryff away illuminating him in one final flash of red and blue light as they passed by. 'Poor guy, shouldn't keep your chin up. Someone might punch it.' Crom thought to himself, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Oi." Crom called out to none other than Jayjack Birdleve, the fighter spotting the man on his speeder bike smoking a cigarra. "Mind spotting me one of them, lad? Not usually a smoker but..." He lifted the bottle he had been drinking from, "The drink gets me craving em and I'm celebrating." Crom wasn't entirely sure if the man he was approaching had seen him fight just now so he simply asked for a smoke, not realizing just how happy he had made Jay by winning the bout.

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

As the blue and red lights illuminated the scene, Jayjack sighed deeply. They weren't a good sight at the best of times, and it only meant one of two things. Either one of the two fighters would be getting in the shuttle, or some random citizen who'd been bottled or stabbed. Jayjack didn't really know which of the two he'd prefer. The medical shuttle could quite easily be for Crom; after all he took a heavy beating during that fight, and the blow to his head could have led to a concussion, or the gut wound could require surgery. Gryff would also be another likely suspect for the shuttle; his jaw seemed to be in pieces, and the knockout blow dealt by Crom would almost definitely be leading to at least a mild concussion. Then again, people got jumped, mugged and beaten around here on the daily. It could still be a complete stranger.

Jayjack's suspicions were confirmed when one of the fighters were dragged out into the back of the shuttle. A large, furry white mass was moved from the hallway leading to the fighter's areas, into the back of the shuttle, and the shuttle was closed up, preparing to leave. Jayjack sighed again deeply, taking another puff of the cigarra in his hand, exhaling deeply, then pulling his keys from his back pocket, fumbling with them for a second, before holding the one designated with the logo of his speeder bike, ready to leave. Seeing it a waste to throw away the unfinished cigarra, he continued smoking, and watching the scene with the shuttle.

Something caught Jayjack's attention, however. Someone else left the hallway. A strange looking fellow, oddly dressed to say the least, and he looks like he's been dragged from the back of a swoop bike for half a parsec. Wait a minute, that was Crom. What an odd dress sense for someone so gaudy and flamboyant. On second thoughts, that wasn't at all surprising. It's exactly like a cocky pit fighter to dress like a superstar, even if they're fighting on levels of Coruscant that are barely in the 2000s. Wait another minute, Crom was approaching him... And asking for a cigarra...

Jayjack happily responded, smiling somewhat at the male's approach. "Of course you can have one, I just won a few credits betting on you.". He pulled the packet from the inside of his jacket, and offered Crom the final cigarra in the pack, evidently not at all bothered by the fact that after this, he'd need to buy more. "Good fight out there. Gotta' admit, when I saw the furry frak walk out, I thought you'd be in trouble, but you handled it like a true professional. Call me impressed. Jayjack by the way. Name's Jayjack. Jayjack Birdleve. Call me Jay, Jayjack, Birdy, whatever you like.". Jayjack sat up slightly on the back of his speeder bike, looking directly at Crom, cigarra still offered towards him. Sliding the keys back into his pocket, it was evident that he was more than happy to chat to Crom, at the very least for a few minutes.

 

[Crom McCready]

"Birdy eh?" Crom replied, amused by Jayjack's nickname and the way he spoke. He took notice that the young man offered him the last cigarra in his pack, a gesture that had been much appreciated. Crom appreciated that level of kindness from people, very rarely seeing it in his travels. "Nice to meet you lad, I'm Crom McCready. Or Crom. Or Champ." He let out a laugh, he had never acquired a championship title in any of the fights he had participated in but he felt like one. Mostly because the fights he fought in weren't sanctioned or could afford champions but nonetheless to himself he was one. "I did handle it like a true professional because that's what I am, a professional. You don't send in an amateur to tame Gigorans, you send in the best." His confidence was intoxicating, the man just had gotten done being thrown into a meat grinder that was a massive white clawed alien in a fist fight and won. He was absolutely buzzing from his victory and buzzing even harder from the cocktail of pain medicine and alcohol he was ingesting. To top it all off he was getting a pleasant hit of nicotine too which fueled his speech with Jayjack even further.

Crom took a drag from the cigarra and let out a huge plume of smoke, it flowing over the front of his face and up into the air. "Though... Did get banged up in there. Probably gave you a scare since I won you a few credits." He chuckled, an outlandish sounding chuckle that was contagious in nature. "Bastard nearly chopped me head off, then he ruined my tattoo here-" Crom gestured to his open coat to the massive chest tattoo he had that went up to his neck. A massive slash mark from Gryff's claws had been left untreated, the wound would scab up shortly and it had stopped bleeding so he left it alone. "-then he wanted to play jump rope with me intestines or something... He was a tough rascal I'll give him that."

The fighter raised the liquor bottle up to his mouth and took a massive drink, partly to get drunk and partially to numb the pain he was experiencing. As the lights of the medical transport disappeared from around the corner Crom nodded at them, "I've fought aliens like him before but none have got that close. The Wookie got closer technically but if Gryff had been just a little more precise I'd be on me way to the hospital instead of him." Crom paused, "I try and forget that damn wookie." He said, his mind elsewhere as he drunkenly retold the tale poorly.

"So... Birdy... Congrats on our win yeah?" Crom smiled brightly, referring to it as 'our' win on purpose. He appreciated people who supported him and the last cigarra was still fresh on the progressively more intoxicated man's mind. "How much you get? These bookies are kriffin' thieves and will rob ya blind. I'll go in there meself and slap them around if you need me to. Also..." He paused, clearly getting hung up on something from their short interaction. "Noticed you gave me your last smoke here, I got your next pack lad. I might have won you some money but you didn't have to do that."

 

[Jayjack Birdleve]

Jayjack winced almost. Birdy? Why would he even tell Crom that nickname? Only one person called him that, Antsky, and that was a dumb childhood thing. He shouldn't have even said it. How stupid he must look now. He sat upright, continuing to smoke periodically upon his cigarra, as Crom did the same with his own; listening to every word that Crom said. After all, Crom had just been through a rather traumatic fight for the sake of money, and both of them had earned some. Jayjack considered the fact that Crom was probably the biggest celebrity that he'd ever spoken to, and that was saying something, given that he'd never even heard of Crom until tonight; but regardless, for now he was enjoying his company, regardless of how different Jayjack thought they both were. Jayjack sat and listened to Crom's admittedly long and drawn out speech, surprisingly enough, taking in every word, before even considering speaking himself. For one, he thought he'd do the man the pleasantry of allowing him to speak, and for two, he'd rather not enrage someone that can punch a Gigoran nearly to death. That would be suicide.

When it came to Jayjack's evident time to talk, he cleared his throat first, then took a large drag from his cigarra, before finally pulling the inhalant away from his mouth, holding it at his hip and exhaling deeply. He looked directly at Crom, but was still at the very least giving a kind of friendly smirk, a childish, playful grin. The kind a young boy gives his best friend when they both know they're about to do something naughty. "Hey, man. I think you did great in there. I'd have been torn apart in seconds. They might as well have had you fightin' an Acklay or somethin'! Still just as dangerous, right? Either way, I made a few credits off ya', nothin' special. Seventy-five, but it helps me keep eatin' and drinkin', ya' know?". Jayjack eyed him as he took periodic large swigs from the bottle in his hand. "Got me thinkin', actually. I might head to a cantina I know, get some food and a drink. Fancy comin' along? I mean, ya' probably hella' busy doin' somethin' now, like an after party or somethin', but if ya' not, you can either meet me there, or hop on the back of my speeder. Whaddaya' think?". For a second, Jayjack wondered what the hell he'd just done. Inviting a pitfighter out for drinks? Inviting a macho tough guy on the back of his speeder? He's insane, surely. Well, maybe not entirely. All he wanted in life was adventure, right? Regardless of what Crom said, this would definitely be an adventure.