[center][h2][u]‘The Devil’s Playground’[/u]
Part 3[/h2]
Featuring: [@DJAtomika] &[@fallenreaper][/center]

Vellios led Haze into the Afterlife club, his eyes quickly scanned the hypnotic scene. Bodies moved and swayed with the electronic music that rippled through the main room, their figures parted just enough to allow the two turians through without incident. It took moments for Vellios to spy Aleera. The asari was sitting pretty as could be near the main bar as she daintily sipped the drink in her hand, her eyes panned the scene lazily and continued to wiggle impatiently on the seat. The black carapace turian nudged Haze in the ribs then pointed toward his contact. 

His voice spoke quietly through the heart pounding noise drowning out his words. [color=rosybrown] “There she is. Keep close and have your chits ready, else she might not wait.”[/color] 

Putting on his best smile, Vellios strolled through the crowd toward the asari. Her eyes immediately lite up when she spotted him and her figure rose, straightening upright and moving off her seat promptly to greet him. She edged closely with an arm held out as Vellios gently took it, pressing it to his mouth in a brief peck. Smirking at his politeness, her attention shifted to Haze. 

“And who’s the handsome turian you brought?” It wasn’t a surprise Aleera was already starting to flirt, her hand removed from his talons then passed it to Haze to see how he would react. 

The gray carapace Turian smiled invitingly at the soft Asari hand pressed against his chest. Underneath his off-white shirt, his heart was strangely at ease. He knew the flirting blue-skinned wonder wasn't into him for his looks. The credit chits in his pocket said otherwise.

Afterlife was a dodgy place for Hazan. Many of the mercs and bounty hunters that frequented the place knew him by reputation. But to them, he'd been just a voice at the other end of a sniper rifle's scope. The bank account at the end of a dirty transaction. He'd made sure to keep his face as unknown as possible. As highly as unlikely it was for him to be recognize, he was still quite nervous. He didn't want his newest excursion into Afterlife to be his last.

[color=dodgerblue]"Just a friend. Hear you've got a nice little...business proposition for us."[/color]

Vellios chuckled at Aleera's flirting nature when she retracted her hand. Her eyes seemed to light up at noting the turian being almost as much comfort as Vellios himself, her hips wiggling their way back to her seat where she sat down once more. "I assume you informed him of all the requirements and such for the fight? You both will be searched from head to toe a few hours before entering the arena. So I hope neither of you are shy about your...figures." 

Her tone was teasing as she took another sip of her drink, waiting a moment before commenting. "You two are early compared to the other competitors." 

Immediately she seemed to spot another set of the competitors, a turian and human, as she raised her arm to get their attention. She made a simple wave causing the pair to see her then start to make their way toward her. Their figures moving easily through the crowd that Vellios mentally noted it and nudged Haze gently in the ribs to examine the pair coming toward them. 

Hazan nodded as he took a seat. His eyes moved right to the incoming pair and examined them silently. Sizing them up. Judging them as opponents. The Turian he could easily take, if his style were to be what he assumed. His facial paint suggested that he was a colony Turian, which meant little training...what he assumed anyway. His size suggested otherwise, which led Hazan to believe that this particular Turian might've been brought up on Omega. Or somewhere that had given him combat experience.

The human was ramrod straight in his posture, muscled and lean. Hazan immediately went for the ex-Alliance route. A former Alliance marine who'd left the service to go mercenary. The stiff posture and the way he carried himself lent to that fact. But the eye patch told a story of many, many fights. Perhaps here, perhaps elsewhere. This man had lost an eye somewhere. A flaw they could take advantage of. After all, with only one eye this man's perception of depth would be quite hampered. Unless of course he was already used to it.

He leaned in towards Vellios and mumbled under his breath, making sure that he wasn't audible past them.

[color=dodgerblue]"The Turian's colony born, probably trained on a colony too. He looks formidable, so he's one to watch out for. The human's probably ex-Alliance gone merc. Lost an eye, that's a flaw we can use."[/color]

[color=rosybrown]"Interesting..."[/color] Vellios stated, calmly as he noted their company edging into try to listen in. He suspected she had her tricks to eavesdrop but he wasn't sure how effective they were and he wasn't about to test it. [color=rosybrown] "Keep an eye on them but keep your observations low key."[/color] 

[color=dodgerblue]"Mhm. In any case, if we do fight them, you can take the human. Your style would confuse the shit of out him. I'll take his friend."[/color]

Aleera smirked then took another sip as she watched the two edge to the bar, their asses sitting on the stools and ordered their own drinks. The asari flashed the human a flirty smile and slide over to the turian and human, her head leaned over between them as she whispered something. The human didn't even glance their way though he did shift his head, likely eyeing the pair from his peripheral vision, while he leaned back in his seat. His partner was more blunt when he faced Vellios, the closest, and spoke. "So, you're the fresh meat for the tourney? Ever been in a fight before or this your first?" 

Vellios smiled, being friendly. [color=rosybrown] "Name's Vellios and this is my partner..umm, you're going to have to intro yourself friend. I can't always remember names for the life of me."[/color] 

It was an obvious lie while Vellios tried to give an impression he didn't know Haze well and might toss their competition own observations over them. His talon thumb jerked and pointed toward the grey carapace turian. 

Hazan kept quiet as he nursed his drink. When Vellios spoke up, feigning ignorance of their relationship, he looked up and nodded.

[color=dodgerblue]"Hazan. Pleasure."[/color]

He kept his reply curt and to-the-point. Changing the impression he'd give the other Turian. Playing the same game Vellios was.

[color=Rosybrown] "Naturally I had to get the partner who's not much of a chatter, the strong, silent type it seems."[/color] Vellios commented, liberally putting a target on Hazan's back for the two. [color=rosybrown] "How long have you two been working together or in this career?"[/color] 

The turian was about to speak when the human interrupted him. "Long enough. No point in getting to know each other. Another group has arrived and we won't be here long." 

Vellios turned his head to glimpse two more individuals enter into the room, a krogan and a salarian was edging closer and drawed Aleera's arm to wave at them. Again, another team joined them while they took a seat nearby the others. The krogan was fairly young, his skin was the yellowish coloring most his species held in their youth. His weight caused the stool to creak while he ordered the harshest things on the meal and began to drain his glasses. The salarian logically ordered water while he waited for the final team to arrive. His eyes lazily look over the crowds, though Vellios was sure he was checking out the competition. 

[color=dodgerblue]"Looks like that Krogan's got something to prove. He's going to be tough to beat."[/color] Hazan mumbled under his breath again, idly glancing at the two new arrivals. His drink lay unfinished on the counter, as watered down as it was he didn't want the buzz of alcohol in his system to impair his ability to fight.

[color=rosybrown] "He's not that bad. It helps he's young..."[/color] Vellios mumbled then took a drink of his hosok he had justed ordered. [color=rosybrown] "I'm more curious why the salarian is here and why. He's either got a hidden skill or something he can use in the ring that allows him to consider this career."[/color] 

Aleera finished her own then moved off the stool, her figure gracefully swayed around to gesture to them to follow her. "The fourth team is already winners of the previous tourney and are waiting for you. They will be a mystery challenge for one of your teams so I hope you enjoy surprises. I also need any chits for the entrance fee, making the end reward about 1300 chit for the team that makes it to the end."

She started to lead them out quickly through the club's back as she held out her hand for each of those who had yet to give her the fee to do so on their way out. 

[color=dodgerblue]"Not bad a reward for a fight. Hopefully a fair one."[/color]

Hazan kept his last words to himself as he stood, abandoning his drink to follow Aleera, though he paused for a second to let Vellios take stride next to him. His credit chit sat in his back pocket, ready for payment once they were at the venue.

[color=rosybrown] "Might want to give that to her when we exit."[/color] Vellios stated as he winked at the asari, having given his chits before, and walked out the door only to turn and wait with the human and turian while the krogan and salarian gave theirs.

[color=dodgerblue]"Sure."[/color] He stated calmly, producing the chit and handing it to Aleera right away.

When Aleera gained the chit, she grasped them tightly, then lead the way. They followed down a long alleyway and into an underground building, their figures vanished from sight. Omnitools casted a faint, orange glow that lead the way. Deeper, and deeper they went until they all could hear the voices of the crowds getting louder with their approach. Slowly, they came into view as well as the area. A rounded area caged in by what some humans might describe as a dog pen of fairly large size, about 12 foot sqaure area with a concrete floor and what seemed to be electricity flowing through the steel fencing.

Vellios looked at Haze for his reaction. 

And his reaction was a surprised huff and a slow nodding of his head.

[color=dodgerblue]"Not bad."[/color]

[color=rosybrown] "Still think this was a good idea?"[/color] Vellios teased. 

Standing just beside Vellios, he could already hear the soft, low buzzing of the electric fence around the pit. The arena fit the descriptions he'd heard of other fighting rings, offworld or in fictional stories he'd read on the Extranet. To see something like this...was strangely satisfying. To fight in one, even more so.

[color=dodgerblue]"Pretty simple setup... Though I think we could use those fences to our advantage, if we play it right."[/color] He mumbled to Vellios, hoping he and only he would hear.

[color=rosybrown] "Naturally. Just try not to touch or get caught in the fencing, especially by the krogan. He doesn't look like he'll hestiate to kill you and [i]accidents[/i] tend to happen here."[/color] Vellios admitted while he looked to Aleera, his voice returned to normal when he addressed her. [color=rosybrown] "So, who's first?"[/color]

"So happy you asked, Vellios. I believe we'll stick you two with Sarix and his partner, as a warm up. Then Urdor and his partner can take on the winners..." She said, her fingers pointed to the human and turian team then the krogan and salarian. "Oh... and there's one thing I forgot to mention one little detail: you can't watch each other's match. So any tactics you're hoping to gain, won't be seen. The waiting team is set into a isolation room until it's their turn. First up is Urdor's team."

With those words, she ushered for Vellios, Haze and the other two to follow her while she lead them to separate rooms. It was there the two would sit and wait, allowing them to talk tactics and about their observations. Naturally, Vellios was pacing around instead of sitting. His legs too energetic to stay still for long. 

[color=rosybrown] "How fucked do you think we are?"[/color] Vellios asked Haze right off the bat. 

[color=dodgerblue]"Honestly? Not very. You know what you're doing, same here. All we really need to do is mesh together and we're golden. It's our opponents I'm more worried about. Like the krogan and salarian. And since we can't watch them, we can't adapt until we're in the pit with them."[/color]

Hazan shrugged his shoulders and rolled them gently, limbering up before they were called into their next fight. The blind waiting room had killed his plans to read the prior fights and strategies, so all he could do now was wait, just like Vellios.

[color=rosybrown] "Adaptation is easy for me. I'm concern, like you, with the winners. At least the other teams we can estimate what to expect. The krogan will likely try to be brute force, the salarian likely knows some fighting style that will limit his damage. The turian will think tactic as in doing the most damage with the least energy while the human is the same way. Which do you think we have the most issue with?"[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]"I'd say the krogan and salarian. The other team have more predictable fighting styles, since we're both Turians and humans are, well, human."[/color]

[color=rosybrown] "Let's hope our winning team isn't a krogan tag team."[/color] Vellios smirked, teasing a bit. 

[color=dodgerblue]"Well, two krogans, we just make them charge each other, right? They're walking tanks, so if they crash into each other, KO?"[/color] Hazan chuckled, trying to relax even though he felt nervous.

[color=rosybrown] "You would think, but not as easy as it sounds. They tend to have hard heads."[/color] Vellios said. 

An hour passed, the two lost in their own thoughts while they heard scrapes of the outside playing out. The crowd cheering the winners on and even placing new bets, the announcer silent and seemed to irritate Vellios in an unsettled state. Thankfully his bio readings were normal or he knew Serena would've read his omnitool, she had likely bugged his equipment, as he looked to it a few times. Aleera stepped into the makeshift locker room as she smiled brightly. 

"You two are next."