Blackjack's People #153
Arena One Regulars
By Blackjack [Blackjack's Shadowrun Page: www.BlackjackSR.com] [BlackjackSRx@gmail.com] [@BlackjackSRx]

Posted: 2019-07-26

Rickey Wretchardo

Archetype: Human Arena Fighter

Usually the first opponent newcomers fight at Arena One, Rickey is low on skill, high on weight, but still maintains a decent fan following despite his hundred or so defeats.  He gets his name from the fact that he covers himself with near rotting grease before every fight, something that often makes opponents begin to wonder if achieving fame is worth getting slimed by a 600 pound human wearing only a banana hammock.  Rickey rarely taunts, just growls and spits a lot.  He often gets better audience response when he loses than some other fighters get when they win. 

Dunker

Archetype: Troll Arena Fighter

Also what some people may consider a ‘novelty fighter’, Dunker is rather diminutive for a troll, only reaching about 1.8 meters in height.  She does, however, retain the strength and body density of a troll much larger than herself.  It is for this reason that newcomers are usually handed their first ass kicking from this brick wall on pylons.  For matches that allow weapons (we’re talking about non-lethal; these are not death match fighters by a long shot) Dunker uses a mildly padded club so she won’t knock an opponent’s brains all over the arena if she scores a direct hit.  Almost as if she’s following a script, Dunker always begins with a taunt (often about how she plans to tear off her opponent’s genitals with her teeth), lets her opponent get in a few hits for a minute or two and then, right at five minute mark, she goes to town, usually knocking her opponent out right at the six minute mark.  Fans often count down those act breaks, leaving some more cowardly components to scramble for a way out of the arena before the countdown ends.

El Nerdo

Archetype: Elf Arena Fighter

Why El Nerdo insists on being a combatant in this seedy of a sport is beyond those who know him.  He is highly skilled in multiple martial arts, but prefers to prance around the arena, spouting random facts as taunts, and making sure he gets his glasses knocked off during the round so he can feign blindness.  With knowledge of his true skill, the upper echelon of Arena One recruited him as a ‘storybuilder’, which basically means most of his fights are ‘guided’, but not quite fixed.  Before reentering the fighting, El Nerdo developed and practiced ways to make his more effective skills look like dumb luck in the arena.  En Nerdo is now at the point that he’s almost a puppet for management, not that El Nerdo would give a shit.  An actual, well, nerd, El Nerdo spends his spare time studying anything he can get his hands on.  He is skilled in so many random areas that, when something goes wrong with the equipment, structure or computers at the arena, management often gives him a call.

Pumice

Archetype: Ork Arena Fighter

Called ‘Pumice’ because of the bulging and, well, pumice textured dermal armor that almost grotesquely covers every inch of her body, Pumice is a terrible fighter, but occasionally wins because she simply wears down her opponent.  With matches that sometimes last a half hour or more, Pumice usually goes on before Street Name Smackdown, while people are filing into their seats.  Nearly all of her fights end in a draw because she is nearly impossible to knock out, and the overabundance of such heavy protective ware has made Pumice slow to the point that she rarely gets in a hit.  Outside of combat, Pumice complains incessantly about how itchy/heavy/smelly/unwieldy her plating is, prompting some to consider gathering enough money for a reversal procedure, knocking Pumice out, and getting her armor removed just so she’ll shut the fuck up.

Durf

Archetype: Human Arena Fighter

Durf is, well, a guy.  He dresses in street clothes, and appears to have no definable skill that should allow him to win.  But, for some odd reason, he does anyway.  He dodges sloppily, but the hits still don’t land.  He’ll fall, avoiding a kick to the face.  And when fighting with clubs, be just somehow manages to see the openings, allowing for an accurate, albeit not that powerful, whack.  It’s these whacks after dodges after whacks that just wears down an opponent.  While this ugly fighting is effective, Durf’s popularity is stagnant as nobody seems to want to get behind a guy in street clothes who fucks up his way to victory.

Gatling

Archetype: Human Arena Fighter

A former street sammy, Gatling left the game when he suffered leg and spinal injuries that pretty much took the ‘run’ from his ‘shadowrunning’.  But arena fights don’t require munch sprinting, not that Gatling does much of that.  He has focused on upper body strength and speed, allowing for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 punch combos that earned him his name.  More than just a damage machine, Gatling is also in cahoots with management to end a fight by their command.  Now, this doesn’t for a second mean that Gatling will throw a fight.  In fact, Mr. Teeth had to get some dental work done when Gatling thought this was what he was suggesting.  All he does is pretty much adjust the length of a match to fill in the schedule.  Almost overly friendly, Gatling makes his best effort to make friends with the person whose ass he’s about to kick, although such friendships often dissolve shortly after the match.