Riddick: Bloodhounds: 8

"The Challenge: Two People"

Author's note: Exploring into the mindset of the players, delving deeper into the thoughts and ideas of established characters from the movies (and also of the OCs of this story arc which were created in the hope of enhancement). I would love to see a Riddick 4 come to the big screen in the near future. I do believe that the story has a lot more telling to be told.

Anyhoo….I've always been curious as to the characters we see created on that big silver window we sit in front of some Friday nights. Their thoughts and ideas, where they come from and how they feel. Writing fan fiction allows me to pursue these avenues, explore a person's inner thoughts. Even though a character's fictional life may last only a brief instant on the silver screen, their life-force can be witnessed by many. I have always been intrigued by the idea of what leads a person to be at a certain place at a certain time (historical documents are filled with such variations)…. And I find such chronicles curiously interesting.

********** The Challenge: Two People **********

Two people stood outside the loading ramp of the Fairy Godmother, two people who were a bloody mess…

Not that there wasn't good reason for them to be in such condition, or that any of the spectators encircled around them would question the reason why they looked as though they'd been through a whirlwind. But rather, the thoughts going through the minds of Toombs' crew were as such, that this battle had lasted long enough.

For over thirty minutes the two had dueled…thirty-three to be exact. Thirty-three minutes of flying fists, knuckles bashing into faces and punches to the midriff. Thirty-three minutes of kicks to the groin, hammer punches to the chin and smacking fists to ribcages, and still, it seemed that neither Dahl nor Toombs were ready to cash in their chips.

Stubbornness…. pure unadulterated stubbornness, this was the idea coursing through the brains of, Miranda Goff, Eve Logan, Slink Williams and Lee Davies. All were thinking that they were tough, each one of the combatants points had been proven, so one of them should lay down arms.

With Toombs, his crew had become used to the idea that their chief was headstrong, headstrong with a slight touch of arrogance. However, when it came to Dahl, the woman was still a mystery of sorts. What kind of person displays reckless regard after having a gun placed to her head? It implied that Dahl could have the character of two different types of people, one, bold and brave, the other stupid, which was she? The signs were evident that both combatants were "bully"…..unwilling to back down until one of them lay face down in the dirt.

Dahl had been right about Alexander Toombs. The bloodhound had been using her as leverage to keep Luna in line. With his years of experience, Toombs had an idea that he knew something about Luna. Toombs was a decent judge of character, and his senses told him that the Luna viewed Dahl with more than just the fondness of one crewmate for another. The lad had a boyhood crush on the older woman, Toombs could smell it. It was amusing to him in some regard and he felt that he could use this to his advantage.

Still, the bout was ongoing, and it was not only about Dahl and Luna, but also the perception of how his crew viewed him, it was about him proving his worth as their leader. Eve, Miranda, Bugsy, Slink, Foster and Lee should not fear him, if there was a difference of opinion from his crew, Toombs wanted to hear it, but he also wanted them to comply with his orders. How could he maintain control if he let Dahl delegate orders to him? No, the solution was simple, nip this in the bud now before the Fairy Godmother was well into space and Dahl presented a challenge to him later.

Toombs looked over at his opponent. Dahl stood there with a trickle of blood leaking from her nose, and also a drop of the red fluid seeping from the corner of her left eye. Still, as bloody as she looked….his appearance was worse. The bloodhound's face looked as if it had been hit with a judge's gavel. He had a swollen nose; busted lip and a whelp the size of a Hell Hound's paw just beginning to show around his left eye.

Toombs was beginning to think that maybe he'd made a mistake in challenging Dahl to a duel. The mercenary seemed to have skills that showed an indication of military training. Had she been a soldier at some point? Her talent for combat was proving well adequate to his meet his challenge.

Dahl, having opened up a can of worms, was not the kind of woman that would just let any man push her around, disrespect her or make sport of her without realizing who they were tangling with.

Dahl was a jungle cat when provoked, a panther. Not usually the aggressor and not particularly loud-spoken, she often let men (or other women) misjudge her before playing her trump card (revealing her abilities as a mercenary). Hired by Boss Johns long ago….she did have a military background, a background that provided her with discipline, determination, and the ability to follow orders. However, Dahl would only follow the leadership of someone deserving of her respect.

A sharpshooter, she could easily blast the tail off of a Mud Demon at six-hundred paces, given the correct air speed, wind direction, and a good spotter. She could outshoot any of the men who'd been a part of Johns' crew when they had landed in pursuit of the renegade Riddick.

With a temperament that was mostly forthright, Johns' was the kind of guy who was strict (wanting those who worked for him to know their business), but he was also known for being fair, barony and direct. He was the kind of guy that demanded a certain amount of moxie and talent from his crew and loathed the idea that mercenaries should be viewed by the more snooty of society as the underbelly of the universe. Bloodhounds like Santana and Toombs gave his title of "bounty Hunter" a bad name. He valued strength of character over a desire for gain or profit. But still, his lot was no charity organization, they were out to make money. This was the kind of team Johns had established before he set out to find Riddick. Boss Johns was more about the chase and prestige of the capture over the bounty. He often split a successful bounty in four equal shares rather than taking the biggest cut for himself.

Dahl, Moss and Lockspur had served him well, that is, well until they had landed on that God-forsaken planet where the renegade had leached out the alert call. On that world they became acquainted with the man that it seemed the whole cosmos was searching for, and he was not the individual they'd thought they'd find.

Riddick was not the egotistical megalomaniac that Johns had been led to believe he'd encounter. Sure he had been Lord Marshal of the Necromongers, but he had showed no sign that his life should be elevated above others. Johns had misjudged Riddick, and that was the thing about the ex-leader of the Necro religious cult. Everyone who'd been able to hunt Riddick down, were not aware that it had only been possible because he had allowed it, a trick that Riddick often used to mislead a predator, the actual case being the hunter was being hunted by the prey.

Riddick, ex-military soldier, escaped convict, and ex-Lord Marshal had lived to escape that planet, with the assistance of Johns. And out of Johns' and Santana's crews there remained only three individuals still breathing that left that world besides Riddick...Johns, Dahl and Luna.

Toombs was becoming a little weary of Dahl putting up a better fight then he thought possible, he hadn't though it would take this long to defeat her. Of course…..just as Riddick used people's misjudgment of his character against them, Dahl did the same. She noticed Toombs glance over at his weapon which he had discarded (out of a sense of fairness) before beginning this bout. It lay on a piece of equipment just inside the cargo bay of the newly named Fairy Godmother. She could see that he was contemplating the idea that, worse scenario, should he lose, he could still use the firearm to show her who was in control.

Dahl knew that Toombs could reach the weapon before she could stop him, the thing was, she was not totally disarmed. Tucked inside her boot was a knife, a knife well able to cut the throat of her adversary. But there was a problem, there were four others standing around watching this duel, and none of them were in her corner. A question entered her brain, should she defeat Toombs, or should she let him win?

END PART 8