CHAPTER 9

The four new troupe were assembled at the bottom of a tower, amongst a make shift ghost town, which served as Moxxis arena.

'Don't worry, miss. I'll look out for you' Dion said to Montayva as he stood behind her to her left. The older guy, Willy, chuckled.

'What makes you think she needs looking out for kid?' To which the younger boy glared in response to the oldest of the four.

'This is all quite interesting.' The dark man, Zareb began 'Fighting for sport' He didn't sound disgusted by the thought, more so intrigued by the idea.

'Well, I dont know about you bunch, but i'll be sure glad the hone my skills a little before we head out for some serious action' Willy said.

The speakers in various placings throughout the arena began to crackle.

'Good morning Pandoran s! Nothing like a spot of killing to start your day!' Moxxis voice purred over the speakers. "At the request of our beloved saviors Moxxi, always the drama queen 'We have a new batch of recruits to put through their paces!' The crowd cheered, and judging by the roar, they had accrued quite a large audience.
'And what do you know? I have just acquired a fresh batch of victims!' Moxxi exclaimed and the roar turned into deafening din.
'But because I'm such a wonderful person and all...' she continued after the crowd had settled some, 'We'll start off nice and easy on them.' After which ensued a long booooo from the crowd.

'Naw c'mon don't be like that' Moxxi drawled sweetly 'Y'all wanna get your moneys worth don't you?' And the boo turned into a cheer once again. One thing about the ludacious Moxxi was that she knew how to work a crowd to her favor!
'Well, lets just get straight into it then hall we? Bring on the first wave! Creatures!' Moxxi cackled wickedly as a horn sounded, and the troop of four heard the grinding of steal doors opening.

Maya and Lillith sat at the front of the booth, peering down eagerly. It was still dark on Pandora, in its early hours of the morning. There were few spotlights assembled around the arena. Axton, Brick and Salvador where also present to view the fight.

'Heh heh her, look at the kid run!' Salvador laughed.

'Ar, c'mon give him a chance!' Axton urged. 'Wheres your girl gone?' He asked the other two sirens.

BOOM! A loud explosion made them all jump.

'Wow! Now this is my kind of fight!' Brick smacked his fist into the palm of his other hand. Willy had used some sort of explosives, but they weren't watching close enough to see what he had done. Skags ran frantically around the buildings and barricades searching for their assailants. A pew, pew, pew sound could be heard, and the vault hunters watched as Zareb immobilized the creatures with a peculiar weapon, and then finished them with his repeater.
Dion had taken cover behind some crates on a rooftop, and was picking beasts off one by one.

'Uh, Lillith, where is Montayva?' Maya asked her.

'I'm not entirely sure' Lillith admitted.

'Damn, so noisy' Mordecai entered their booth, and sat down beside Brick.

'There she is!' Axton exclaimed, pointing in the youngest siren.

Montayva was running towards the older man Willy, who had a skag mauling at his right leg. The girl had her revolver in hand, and took the animal down in two shots, another with just one critical shot as it was lunging towards the kneeling man. She crouched down beside Willy as she pulled a vial from her belt. She obviously intended to heal the man, but just as she was about to inject the needle into his wound, a grossly over-sized corrosive skag headed straight for the pair.

'Nooo! Watch it!' Maya called pointlessly from behind the glass.
Montayva extended her arm into the air above her, seemingly un-aware of the impending assault. But in an instant, the pair in the arena were surrounded by a shimmering purple dome. The skag lept headlong into the shield and bounced back to the ground. As the creature stood and shook itself, it prepared for another assault.

'Now that's pretty cool' Axton said in amazement 'I wonder if that thing works for bullets?' He asked the other two sirens, who just shrugged as they watched the goings on in the arena.

Dion and Zareb finished off the green glowing beast, and its few remaining stragglers. Slowly the sheilding dome over the siren and the soldier began to quaver and fade.

'Well how was that for an interesting wave?' Moxxi beckoned the crowd 'Well no rest for the wicked! Another wave!'

The next wave was bandits, and the round remained pretty well incident free. It followed by a wave of psychos and midgets, in which Montayva shielded herself and the soldier as he sent out miniature heat seekers, which made the crowd cheer in amazement as the targets exploded in clouds of red. It became obvious to those in the booth, that Montayvas shield could stop any penetration but still allowed bullets and other objects to exit.

Dion was exceptionally proficient with his rifle, like Axton had said. Mordecai still huffed as the commando gave the kid praise.

But before too long, 3 rounds was over. And all bar the first incident with Willy, the group remained unharmed.