Tunnel Rat

Seeing a clan of Scavengers in port might give anyone the impression that they were lazy, drunken sots. This was true, but only up to a point. It was similar to how an Enclave of Elves could spend a summer sniffing flowers in a meadow, yet when threatened with war instantly become serious and march forth to meet their foes clad in Bright SteelArmor, brandishing glowing swords and staves. Port was where Scavengers took their vacations, but when at sea, they were as hard-working as any Engineer.

The Sharks were a strange exception to the rule. They were only mediocre sailors, preferring submersibles that could strike with surprise. They worked the hardest when they were running some profitable scheme to bring in gold. After acquiring the largest building in Shadowport through a combination of extortion, arson, and dubious loans, they had worked long shifts converting it to the lavish gaming establishment that was to be the cornerstone of their new business. One end was built out to house the large kitchen, and below the main floor, they dug deep to create a vast open room for entertainment of a different sort. They had held a variety of events: lizard racing, dog fights, bare-knuckle boxing, High-Stakes Twister, and dance-offs. While they made money on all of these events since their customers would bet on anything, by far the most popular was the cage matches.

The 'Shark Cage' was a thirty-foot square cage of twisted hammer steel bars set with a twenty-foot high ceiling. The bars were 8" apart and 1/2" thick. The current champion of the cage for no-weapons matches was Beluga, who had successfully crushed thirty-seven challengers. With the way her weight had soared lately, the only challenger in the last month had been Annie, who refused to give up despite their size difference.

Tonight's match was filling the stands and would have made the Sharks a fortune just in beer and snack sales. Unfortunately for the Sharks, they didn't own the casino right now. The Deeprock Engineers were selling mugs of ale from a makeshift table, and next to them, Chef Bleusnout was serving up heavily seasoned mushroom kababs.

There was no official betting tonight. Everyone knew the Sharks had no money to pay off the winners, even if Mako won. They'd be passing out IOUs that might never be redeemed. And for all her ferocious reputation, even her own crew wondered if she could win. Mako had lost her luck, a terrible thing for a Captain, and the Professor was an unknown entity who had held his own against Mako and beat her at her own table. Scavengers wouldn't serve under an unlucky Captain. If Mako lost tonight, she'd find herself with only a handful of crew in the morning.

Captain Cuda had better knowledge of the rules than anyone else and was acting as a referee for the match. Milo had immediately had questions about those rules.

"Pardon me, but as there seems to be no written copy of 'The Scavenger's Code' here in Shadowport, I have a few questions."

All of the Scavengers chuckled, and Cuda explained, "Just as well, since the Code changes constantly and is mostly verbal. But what do you need to know?"

"Mainly, what are the rules of the duel? I'm sure a cage match differs from the format of duels as stipulated by the Marquis D'Camonbert. What is allowed? What is not allowed?"

"Format? Easy. We push both of you through the doors on the opposite sides of the cage and lock them shut. I yell '1,2,3, Go' and you charge at each other. The first one to yield, or drop and not move, loses. If both people are up after three minutes you get a one-minute break before the next round."

Tallsqueak nodded, that did seem simple. "And we are allowed to bring weapons, I assume, and cast spells?"

Mako grinned, "Spells? In a cage match? Sorry, Professor, that isn't how things work. Scavengers are fighters, not wizards. No spells allowed in the cage."

Captain Cuda agreed, but not with enthusiasm. "What Captain Mako says is correct. This is a fight between Captains, not Sea Witches."

Mako sneered, "So no whining about it. If you don't like the rules, you shouldn't have insulted me and my clan. Still time for you to forfeit and slink away."

Tallsqueak scowled, "I see, but will continue. It does make things more challenging. What else is forbidden?"

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"Well, a long list, but off the top of my head, you can't use potions, no beard pulling, no trash talking about moms, no guns no matter what you disguise them as. Bear traps are fine but you can't put them on the floor until the fight starts, cannons are fine as long as they use eight-pound balls or larger, but no cannons bigger than you can carry and you can't pre-load them, no minions-even mechanical ones, smoke bombs are out since they interfere with watching the fight. You can invoke gods and demons, but if they show up they can only watch. That's the Rules. Probably other stuff, but those are the basics. You've got an hour before we start. I need to check the cage for loose bolts and get properly drunk."

The two fighters left to prepare, each in a different way. Mako spent her hour doing sword drills and drinking three bottles of whiskey to give her stamina. Tallsqueak was sitting upstairs, telling stories to Rosie and Buttercup while enjoying fresh puffcakes and fried mushrooms. The girls had decided he had entirely too much food and were helping him eat the pile of food in front of him. Bleusnout had anticipated this, the growing little girls were always hungry and he had cooked ten times what Milo could have eaten on his own.

Milo hadn't realized how much he had missed food from the Hollow as well as his adopted family. He'd been overjoyed when he saw the caravan rolling down the street, guided by Captain Squint and a group of Kulags. Being tackled by the girls was unavoidable but welcome, even the cracked rib when Rosie hugged him too hard. They'd grown, but had also gotten 'better'. Brutus told him that the change was slow, but with constant practice of the right skills, and the enhancement points they were earning, they were slowly reversing their fiendish transformation. They'd never again be little girls, but they had a good chance to not be monsters.

While Tallsqueak made the girls giggle with a story about hunting eels, and the big one got away, Brutus was talking to Sledgemonkey about finding a route between Limburgher Hollow and the Engineering Complex. Currently, the dwarves had to haul the deep copper ingots from the Hollow up the treacherously steep tunnel carved out by the World Boss, then down through the tunnels and caves that led to Harry's home, and then onward to one of the entrances to their complex. Brutus had looked at every old map he could find in the Hollow and was confident he could find a route to the lower caverns formerly inhabited by the acidic ooze.

"It might take some work and we may have to bring in the digger moles and mining teams, but I'm pretty sure we can link to the big cavern Tallsqueak talked about. Some of it is on an old map and a brief description. The expedition was cut short when a horde of small ooze and slime monsters attacked."

The Chief Engineer looked at the maps, seeing the proposed route, "And we can help with that by building level roadbeds and even laying rails. Your draft beasts can pull a lot more on rails, and Two-Screws is talking about a new design for a steam-powered engine to pull rail cars."

The girls laughed loudly at something Tallsqueak said, and both Brutus and Sledgemonkey looked at him. Brutus expressed everyone's worry. "How tough is this Captain Mako? I looked at her and couldn't get a read on her, but I shivered from the tip of my tail to the top of my head. She's a mean one."

"Tough as boilerplate. Whale fought her once to a draw, and any other Captain who fought her took a beating, and three died. Mako spent a lot of time in the arenas of Fort Hopeless. Shipwrecked when young and picked up by slavers. She lasted twelve years in the fighting pits before a clan bought all the dwarven slaves and freed them. She was expensive because of her fighting record. She's made of gristle and scars held together by spite and hate. She took over the Sharks in record time, cutting through anyone in her way. No subtlety to her. Whale said she was the toughest Scavenger she ever met. And a lot like her namesake, cunning and always hungry for more. Our Professor has a tough fight on his hands."

Brutus wasn't happy with that news. "Excuse me. I have to talk to the Chef about some cheese."