It. Was. Hot. The bright, desert sun was something Rickie was not accustomed to, nor was the car that carried her for miles from the Midwest. But she always wanted to make a trip like this at least once in her lifetime, where her end-goal was to meet up with a couple friends of hers near the California coast. Obviously, they were going to have a nice little scrap along with just hanging out in general, but she needed to make the journey for that to happen.

She immediately regretted getting out of the cool air conditioning of the car as she got out and stepped into the hot, desert climate. She wished she just flew instead, but then remembered how annoying that would be compared to just driving the whole way. You can't exactly just pack up, load up, and go with a commercial airline; there's too many other logistics involved, plus the TSA. Besides, she would've missed out on seeing how the landscape went from a hilly, grassy farmland, to a flat, barren desert. She would've missed out on all the cool and interesting sights and scenery throughout her trip.

Like the somewhat sketchy dive bar she was about to enter.

Normally, she wouldn't enter a random dive bar on her own accord and alone. Ever. Especially one in some small, unincorporated town in the middle of the desert. She would've gone straight to the motel to check in for the night and leave it at that.

But there was a contact she wanted to meet up with who wanted a quick scrap while she was in the area - a friend of a friend, so to speak - and this person wanted her to meet up at this specific dive bar. It wasn't that hard to spot, as it was one of the several, notable buildings in the immediate area and had a simple, yet obvious sign that read Hair of the Desert Dog with a silhouette of a coyote head and a cactus beside the text, along with a neon sign that read OPEN that hung inside the window. The other two buildings were the motel she'd be staying at for tonight, a gas station, and a few stores along the two-lane highway.

As Rickie stepped out into the hot, desert sun, she immediately felt like she was about to sweat just from standing out in it. "Well...at least there's no humidity," she muttered to herself, "Just wish there was a bit of wind."

At least the walk to the bar wasn't that far - she just had to cross the sidewalk from her car. If it wasn't for the lack of storefronts and the big, slightly obnoxious sign, she most likely would've missed it. After all, the bar looked like a big, concrete block with some holes cut out for windows and doors and painted an off-putting white color that looked more like...

"God I feel so awkward coming here..." She thought as she walked toward the door to the bar, noticing a small line of motorbikes parked right along the curb and a bicycle resting along the side of the building. She could already detect the smell of alcohol emanating from the bar, along with the smell of cigarette smoke from a rugged-looking coyote sitting on an upside-down milk crate just around the corner.

She pushed open the door and entered.

Inside was more or less what she would expect a middle-of-nowhere bar to look like: rustic, old, local & vintage decor, and the only sources of lights were those lining the bar and above the pool table, dart boards, and video poker machines. There were a few lights illuminating the various liquor and mixers the bar had to offer on their glass shelves behind the bar as well. While smoking isn't allowed indoors anymore nowadays, she could still smell hints of cigarette smoke from the outside seeping in and mixing with the alcohol smell. Even most of the patrons seem to fit the theme of the bar; even if this technically wasn't a biker bar, the majority of the patrons appeared to be that clientèle. Rickie was one of three people she could see who wasn't wearing a leather jacket - at least her usual jeans and orange crop-top look made her blend in, somewhat.

But what stood out to her was some of the theming, as she noticed various vintage and modern photos of famous and not-so-famous boxers and wrestlers clustered on one section of the wall as if it were some sort of gallery. That or they could be of the owner or people they knew or are related to? Who knows.

Trying to not seem awkward, she ordered the first beer she could think of that was, hopefully, a local brew they would have. At least the bartender was a friendly chihuahua and there weren't any strange characters around, save for the small biker gang. "Heh...of course they would all be coyotes..."

"Sorry, what was that, miss?" They asked, in a casual but polite tone. Rickie noticed the bar was just barely under their pointy muzzle; it was cute and all, but she wondered how they put up with the handicap.

"O-oh, nothing, nothing," she uttered, waving a paw and smiling.

They shrugged. "Well, just let me know if you need somethin'," they replied and wandered off to continue with their duties.

Rickie sighed and checked her phone to see if her contact, or rather 'Kelly', said she was already here or not. She didn't replied to her last message when she asked, but that was a few hours ago; she wanted to give this 'Kelly' enough time to get here and prepare. She sent her another message, asking her again if she was here or not.

She waited a few moments, quietly sipping on her cheap beer. So far nothing, but...why did 'Kelly' leave her on 'read?'

Soon enough, she finished her beer, albeit fairly quickly, and waved down the bartender. While she was a bit hesitant again, she asked the little dog what were some good mixed drinks they knew of that were inexpensive and could get her drunk quickly.

"Hahaha! Well you see, there's the...ugh, not this bitch again..." they groaned as they facepawed, tucking their tail between their legs as they noticed who just entered the bar.

"Who...?" Rickie turned to look and took notice as well. She was a peculiar one for sure, possibly could've been part of that gang if she donned a leather jacket like the rest. Yet, the desert lizard tomboy only wore a tattered and torn white crop top that looked like it would fall off at any moment and expose her black bra underneath, a pair of daisy dukes that appeared to be in a similar condition, and a pair of old, sandy red sneakers. Her scales over her body were a dark grey mixed with a greyish brown, though Rickie noticed spikes protruding out of her back, her tail, and on the top of her head, making it look like she had short demon horns. Her sandy blond hair seemed to blend in with her overall palette. What stood out the most, however, was her orange-colored eyes that seemed to pop out of her skull, and her bright, white, pointy-toothed grin, as if she already picked out her next victim.

And this scary-looking lizard was heading right for Rickie, immediately plopping down in the seat next to her, making her jump in her seat and shoot out her tail in a startled poof.

"Howdy!" She gleefully greeted her, her teeth on full display. She sat in a way that she was leaning more forward and using her hands to support her, as if she was intentionally trying to get in Rickie's face.

"Uh, h-hey," Rickie replied as she slowly calmed down, but still remained on high alert. "Maybe she's just the more...excited and social type?"

"You must be Rickie, ah reckon," she said, giggling at her unintentional alliteration. "Pfft, 'Rickie,' 'reckon,' man ah'm good." Her voice had a noticeable, Southern accent, though not as thick as if she was from the deep South but more like the Southwest.

"You must be Kelly, then?" She replied, trying to stay a tad bit formal. "I...actually wasn't expecting you to show up so..." she struggled to find the right words to not sound offensive, but decided against it. "Ah, it doesn't matter," she said, waving the awkwardness off, "I need something stronger than beer."

Rickie was about to flag down the small chihuahua when Kelly suddenly shouted at him.

"Hey! El Pequeño! Get some strong drinks for me and mah punching bag here, comprende?"

Rickie shot Kelly a look, glaring at her. "I'm sorry? What?"

The bartender was fuming as they heard her make fun of them. "No me llames pequeño O pequeña, puta..." They thought before turning around to try and be polite towards her. "What would you like bi--miss?"

"You know mah usual. And whatever this sandbag wahnts," she sneered, pointing a thumb at Rickie.

They nodded, grumbling a bit, then turned to Rickie. "And what would you like, miss?"

"A Long Island, please. May end up needing another two or three later, though."

They nodded happily and went to prepare the ladies' drinks.

Rickie gave them one last smile before shooting a dirty look at Kelly. "What the hell was that all about?" She asked in a quiet yet serious tone.

"What was what?" She asked, pretending to be oblivious, still keeping up that toothy grin.

"Why were you so rude to the bartender?"

The lizard girl just shrugged. "Because Ah cahn. Besahds, the lil guy loves the abuse, 'e just doesn't wahnt to admit it."

"No, I'm...pretty sure they don't."

"Yes, Ah'm pretty sure he does."

"Okay! Then how would you know, hmm?"

Before Kelly could reply, the bartender returned with their drinks. "Alright, here we go, ladies. Here's your Long Island Miss..." They said, handing the tiger her drink.

"Rickie," she replied, taking it from their tiny paw.

"Rickie," they repeated back, giving a little smile.

But that calm, polite demeanor quickly faded when they turned to the lizard. "And a Jack & Coke for you," they said as they tried to not flat-out slam it down in front of her. "Let me guess, you want to put it on your tab?"

"That's rahght, Señor Pequeño," she replied, cheerfully.

The little chihuahua let out a snarl, trying not to show their teeth that much out of professionalism. "Well," they said with a huff, "Just so you know, you still owe me, one, two..." They said, pretending like they were trying to do math in their head. "Oh, about...$673 in an unpaid tab, not including these two you want to add on to it."

"Don't worry, tiny taco, Ah'll get that paid in not tah'm."

"Yeah. And you said that every time you've barged your sorry ass in here!" They barked, both literally and figuratively.

They went back and forth for a bit as Rickie just sat there watching, sipping on her Long Island and thanking whoever or whatever is out there for it to get her drunk as fast as possible so she could forget this place and go back to the motel. Given that others in the bar began to take notice as well, Rickie wasn't too keen on fighting her anymore. However, she suspected she'll have to fight for the bartender and, by extension, everyone else here - it sounds like this wasn't their first tangle with the lizard girl, and probably won't be the last if nothing's done about it.

"Fahn! Fahn! Ah'll get 'er to ya in...a week, how's that?"

"Tomorrow. Or else I'm going to press charges."

"Tomorrow!?"

They nodded. "I can't be putting this off any longer. It's hard enough to make money here as it is. Hell, I don't even know why I allow tabs anymore, since no one seems to pay them off anyway." They let out a sigh and walked away to take care of any other duties.

She nursed her drink a bit, swirling it gently and watching the ice cubes spin in the brown liquid. Her demeanor and tone suddenly became serious. "Hey Rey! Wait a tick..."

Rey turned around, raising an eyebrow at her for a second and then faced her, arms crossed. It's rare when she would call them by their name and not some derogatory nickname as per the norm for her. "I'm listening."

"The Pit, out back. Ah'm sure Ah can raise enough dough for ya, and then some. Ah mean, look, look!" She gave Rickie a hard punch on the shoulder. "See? Got an opponent raht here!"

"Is that so?" They replied, turning to Rickie, who was rubbing her arm. "And does your opponent accept?"

She stopped rubbing and nodded. "After what I've seen, I think I need to teach this one a lesson in manners."

"Yeah, yeah, in your dreams," Kelly replied, waving a hand at her, "Just don't throw a hissy fit when ya lose." She finally started to sip on her drink, but she quickly drank it all as if she was taking a shot, slamming the glass back down. "Aaaaaaahhh! Whew! That'll get yer goin' for sure!" She shook her now empty glass in the air. "Another! I wanna be ready for the fight!"

"You mean accrue more debt to me? Fine by me," Rey replied, preparing her second drink.

Rickie was tempted to get another herself, but decided to wait until after she beats Kelly to a pulp. This all isn't her issue anyway, and she'd rather stay as sober as possible if she was about to partake in an unsanctioned fight at a random dive bar.

The lizard downed her second Jack & Coke, slamming the empty glass down like before. "Ah told ya! Ah'll get you yer money back, don't you worry none."

The little chihuahua simply nodded as he took her empty glass and replaced it with another Jack & Coke without her asking. Rickie noticed the bratty lizard didn't seem to mind as she kept going on and on how she'd pay off her tab with this fight and how she'd win in a landslide - yet Rey seemed to just let her keep running her mouth, occasionally giving her more alcohol. At one point, they gave Rickie a wink as Kelly rambled on, then continued to let her gab while they refilled her drink when it was empty.

"The hell was that about? And she's had...I think, four? Five already? She doesn't even look drunk!" Rickie thought. Her drink has long since been finished, the empty glass sitting long forgotten on the bar as the last little bits of ice within melted.

While Kelly still rambled on...somehow, and Rey patiently listened while he absentmindedly 'cleaned' several glasses with a dishrag, a small Mexican wolf approached them from behind the bar. She didn't appear to be about as tall as Rickie, though not as bulky, but it was clear she made sure she was dolled up for the evening - and yet, she still had a somewhat masculine appearance to her, though it was hard to tell. However, it was obvious she was fit and strong, if those muscular arms were any indication. The wolf held up a finger to Kelly to silence her, then whispered something in the chihuahua's ear.

It was a bit tricky to tell, but Rickie could somewhat hear them when her ears turned towards the two canines. This wolf's voice sounded...deep. Quite deep. "Could she be..."

Just then, the two canines shot up at the two patrons in front of them. Rey spoke first. "Okay, ladies, Rosa here has agreed to play ref for your fight. However, due to legal reasons," they quickly pulled out two pieces of paper from behind the bar, "You two must sign a waiver prior to getting into The Pit."

Rickie took the waiver and was shocked to find what was on it. It was all that familiar 'Lorem ipsum' dummy text to appear as if it was a legitimate document, save for one instance where all it read was: Please don't sue us for your dumbass behavior.

Meanwhile, Kelly scribbled her name down without even reading the damn thing.

"Um...what the fuck is this?" Rickie asked the two canines.

"It's our waiver, like I said," they replied with a nervous smile.

She looked at it again, then back to the canines. "This is all literally dummy text..."

The wolf shrugged. "So? It fine. Sign, por favor," she said in her broken English with a noticeably deep voice.

Rickie took another look, then slammed the paper onto the bar. "No, gracias..." She turned around and slid off her bar stool and headed towards the door. "I knew I shouldn't have come here..."

*SMASH*

"OW!" She hissed and rubbed a paw on the back of her head after getting hit with an empty glass. She immediately reeled on the three behind her, growling and baring her teeth. "Alright! Who threw that!?"

It was pretty obvious given that Rey and Rosa backed away from Kelly, who was standing there nonchalant and acting like she wasn't the one who just threw an empty glass at the tiger.

"Oh please! Don't act like I don't know it was you, bitch!" She called out.

"Yeah, and? What'cha gonna doo about it, hmmm?" Kelly retorted with a smirk.

"I'm gonna knock that shit-eating grin right off your face is what I'm gonna do!" She charged right at the lizard, aiming to smash her fist to her face, but Rosa quickly stepped in between them to keep them apart.

"¡Basta! ¡Basta!" The wolf interjected. "You two settle in Pit. Lagarto," she barked while turning towards Kelly, "You know rules. Meet out back."

The lizard nodded, still showing off that smirk of hers as she made her way out at the back of the bar. Rey quickly followed her, though not before grabbing one of the nearby coyotes to watch the bar for them temporarily.

The Mexican wolf then turned to Rickie, somehow procuring a piece of paper out of nowhere. "Tigresa..." she said a bit more quietly, placing the piece of paper down on a nearby table. "Sign...please," she calmly ordered as she held out a pen. After she watched the tiger begrudgingly sign it, she snatched the 'waiver' from the table and crumpled it up, shredding it to pieces with her claws.

Rickie just stared in disbelief, trying to process what the hell just happened. "Wha...What the fuck was the point of that if you're just gonna tear it up like that!?"

"Policy. Now, come, tigresa. I take you out back and explain rules," she said in a more friendlier tone, beckoning her to follow.

Rickie just rolled her eyes in annoyance and followed. "You're lucky you're kinda cute, señorita..."

* * *

A small crowd gathered around the wide but crude fight pit in the back of the bar. All it was was a sunken hole lined with a continuous, wooden wall. The floor of it was the same, loose sand on top of hard rock like the surrounding environment outside. In fact, the whole setup was outside in a fence-off area for privacy. There was one section of the wall that acted as a door to and from the pit, leading into an uncovered, dug out staircase. It was obvious it was quickly put together some time after the bar was built, appearing recent enough that it must not have been part of the original building plan. The small crowd around it consisted of everyone who was in the bar, including both bartenders and the lone bouncer, who was a cougar, thus leaving the bar open yet vacant.

But that didn't matter to Rey, Rosa, the bouncer, or anyone else, for that matter.

All that mattered to anyone right now was seeing this strange tiger taking a beating from the infamous lizard bitch, and the fight's only just begun.

Rickie got shoved back into the wooden wall from a hard tail whip by Kelly, forcing out a loud grunt from the tiger in response to those hard, thick scales slamming into her stomach. The lizard took advantage of this opportunity to come in and punch the tiger square in the face, but didn't anticipate how quick her opponent would be. She was only hitting air and was suddenly tackled onto the ground hard with her opponent on top.

"Gotcha now, bitch!" Rickie shouted as she threw quick and hard punches to Kelly's face. She made sure her legs were tight around the lizard's smaller body to keep her from squirming so much, though she knew her heavier weight would be to her advantage regardless.

Meanwhile, Kelly was desperately trying to either block or grab at the tiger's fists coming down on her, barely getting in some counter punches as those bony knuckles smashed and cut her softer scales on her face.

"Get...off...agh, ya dumb cat!"

They continued with this back and forth in the ground and pound Rickie initiated, with the tiger dishing out the most damage, but then she suddenly felt something warm and wet shoot straight into her face, some of this substance hitting her eyes.

"Jesus! What the fuck! God..." She growled and hissed, quickly trying to wipe off whatever was shot right at her face. Only this forced her to lose her focus and get shoved off, falling face-first into the hard, sandy ground. As she was getting up, she noticed her paw pads were completely covered red with...

"The hell? Is this...blo--OOOOWF!"

As soon as she stood up, Kelly body checks her into the wall before she could get a chance to comprehend what was going on. Thankfully, with a completely earthen floor beneath them, Rickie could tap into her rusty but useful seismic sight from her earthbending abilities to still try to react to Kelly's oncoming attacks, even if her sight's nearly gone.

But that didn't help much at all.

Once Kelly threw her opponent into the wall again, she slammed into her over and over again, though used her hard, spiny but blunt back scales to add more damage.

Rickie got hit by the first slam, but quickly got her arms up and tried to stay low to protect as much of herself as possible. Regardless, however, getting hit like this left a lot more cuts and bruises than if she didn't have scales on her back. She wasn't sure how much more she could take from all this. Her legs felt like they were going to give at any moment as her arms felt heavier and heavier from being held up for so long and taking such a beating.

Oddly enough, the lizard suddenly stopped and turned to face her opponent again, looking a lot more bruised and bloodied than before and looking like she was struggling to stand up.

"Awwww, come 'ere sugah," Kelly cooed as she grabbed Rickie by her shirt collar and yanked her up to her feet. "Ya ain't gettin' tire' on me yet," she teased, grinning at the tiger menacingly with her orange eyes piercing through her bloodied and scuffed up scales. She held the tiger up against the wall and pulled back to punch her square in the face, but stopped before she had a chance to do anything when a blood-covered paw latched onto her face. She immediately let go of Rickie as she screamed when those claws dug into the softer scales of her face. Rickie took advantage of this and spun Kelly around by her head so they swapped positions, then shoved her hard against the wall.

"I ain't tired at all!" She roared, slamming the lizard into the wall again, trying to get those back scales to lodge themselves into the aged wood. Her first attempt only left a pattern of wedge cuts in the wood that matched Kelly's back scales. Then Rickie tried again.

*CRUNCH* went the sound of splintering wood against scales, paired with the lizard's breathless groans.

"Goddamn...ya almost got me thar, ack, com'on now!" She groaned, trying to wiggle herself out of her predicament. "Gah, almost got 'er--UGFF!"

"Third time's a charm," Rickie taunted, feeling satisfied that Kelly was nice and wedged in there good enough. She made quick work of the lizard soon after, pinning her by her shoulders to get some leverage to ram several knee strikes into that softer underbelly. She didn't care Kelly was quickly becoming more and more winded; she was just getting started.

But even when she backed up and threw a solid, targeted side kick right to Kelly's belly, that stupid lizard still managed to show her signature, shit-eating grin.

"You're dead, bitch!"

With a roar, Rickie put all her weight into pinning Kelly further into the wall by the chest and then began punching.

And kept punching.

And punching.

Blood was flying everywhere and getting all over both the fighters with each punch the tiger smashed into the lizard's face. The small section of The Pit where this beating took place became more and more painted red. Even the onlookers above had to quickly move out of the way so as to not get sprayed by the blood bath. Rickie soon felt her own knuckles stinging and probably tearing from this beating she was giving Kelly - as far as she was concerned, the lizard bitch was still conscious, even if her face became unrecognizable by now.

"¡Basta! ¡Basta!" Rosa screamed, trying to pry Rickie away as hard as she could as their scuffle left her dress, stockings, and high heels covered with sweat, sand, and blood, along with ruining her makeup. "¡Basta! Fight over!" The wolf resorted to putting the tiger in a firm hammerlock, which seemed to have calmed her down.

Two of the biker coyotes jumped down from the small crowd above, tiptoeing their way through the blood puddle and gently peeling Kelly off the wall while Rosa escorted the tiger out of The Pit.

* * *

Rickie sat alone at one of the high tables in the corner, slowly sipping on her third glass of water. Her paws were mostly cleaned up, save for a few spots where the blood stained her fur, and there were bandages all over her knuckles, face, and torso. Kelly, meanwhile, was elsewhere out of sight, though some commented how unrecognizable Rickie left her.

No one commented, commended, or even scolded her about the fight. It's as if this sort of thing was so common around here, so mundane, everyone seemed to have forgotten it ever happened as soon as it was over. She already pocketed her winner's share of the bets placed on her, which came to roughly $100 and some change, but this fight wasn't about the money - it was about putting that loud mouth lizard bitch in her place after demanding a fight from her prior to her arrival. She hoped Kelly learned to think twice about running her mouth and starting unnecessary fights in the future, but that hope ran thin.

Once Rickie finished her water, she brought the empty glass over to the bar and flagged down Rey.

"You want another one, miss?" They asked casually as they approached.

"Nah, I think I'm done for now. I should probably get going to the motel and turn in for the night."

"It's...not even ten in the evening yet."

"And I'm tired as all hell and getting too old for this shit..."

They shrugged and took the glass from off the bar. "Fair enough."

Rickie began to leave, but gave a little wave at the small chihuahua. "See ya, Rey."

They gave a little wave back. "You take care, Miss Tigs." They were about to go back to their duties, but then remembered something and tried to catch Rickie before she left. "Oh! One more thing!"

Rickie turned around as she was about to head out the door. "Yeah?"

They let out a satisfying sigh. "Thank you for dealing with...her. I don't think I've seen Kelly take such a beating like that before."

"Well, maybe she'll think twice about picking fights with strangers."

They shrugged. "Let's hope so."

She waved one more time. "Anyway, I'll see ya around, maybe."

The chihuahua simply nodded and returned to what they were doing as Rickie left the bar.

"Nice to know at least someone appreciated what I did," she thought as she got in her car, noting the drastic difference between the blazing hot, mid-afternoon sun and the chilly, early evening air. But after what she just went through, the cooler air was a much needed relief. As she drove a mere minute down the street to the motel, she thought about just going to bed in her current state because of all her aches and pains; she'd deal with the soreness, stiffness, and stink in the morning. Regardless of all the pain and blood spilled, and the lack of praise or...really anything from others, she was just satisfied to put some cocky loudmouth that terrorized the locals in her place. And that's all that mattered to her in the end.