The Fighter's Tournament

As Blustiel hyped up the crowd with her roar, across the arena, stood a young orca.

'Wow. She's sure intimidating.' the orca thought as she stretched her arms across her chest. 'Not enough to make me back out of this match though!'

The announcer then walked over and said,

"Here's our next fighter, the supersonic SCREECH!"

Screech waved to some of the people in the crowd. She didn't usually enter these fight matches, but she happened to be a little short on cash, so why not?

An underground fighting tournament, this was an interesting thing for his agent to offer him after being on break for a while, but who is he to refuse a good fight?

Clash jumped up and into the ring, striking a pose of him making a W with his hand and putting it towards the sky, being announced as:
"The Triple Threat: Clash Kopis!"

He looked at the two opponents so far, the large beasty lookin' thing was a bit intimidating, but wasn't so bad if he just thought he was fighting a demon or something.

As for the other one- wait, that's Screech!

"Yo! Screech! Never thought I'd see you in a place like this!" "How're you doing?!"

This competitor wasn't getting any prize money, or at least he wasn't made aware of the contract. He hadn't signed anything, but by god he was gonna sign a lot of things when this was over. He was in the hot water now, in two senses. He could hear people cheering, somewhere beyond the wall of light that sat at the edge of his blurry vision.

He tried to call for help, but he heard nothing but the calls of some sort of crowd. There were announcements, people, voices. "The Triple Threat!" he heard, blared over some loudspeaker. The wall of light was getting closer, was he being brought down a hallway? The voices got louder, he... he must've been.

Again he tried to call for help, but was only able to emit a low whine. Someone jabbed him in the back with a baton. "Get moving, shorty." came a voice from behind him. The grey fox blinked twice as he nearly stumbled forwards, clearing his vision, a tear slid down his cheek. 

Finally he emerged into the light of the room beyond, and the cheering of people as more announcements were made continued. As his vision came into focus, he saw a muzzle strapped across the front of his face. Uh-oh.

Thankfully for now he was in fox form, and was given the decency of his lab coat and chino trousers, but it seemed he wasn't here for tea and cakes. He wasn't going to hear the end of this. Then it apparently came to his turn to receive an announcement.

"And as a special treat, don't let looks deceive you, a figure who survived the collapse of a city, a figure who survived a week in the desert during an onslaught by Empire forces, Darken Millennium!" 

Considering the fact he could do little else, he snarled at the overdramatization of his past. The announces were here to sell tickets, and the people here, seeing him as a short, thin researcher didn't make people feel like they'd got their tickets' worth.

The last competitor was here for about the reasons you might expect, money and a good fight. It was simple, fitting for someone seemingly simple-minded.
She felt like she'd surely win, and her strut onto the stage as the announcer calls her out, gave her a nearly toxic air of arrogance.
"Next up, the Fiery Vivacity, Pyra!"
She balls up her finger feathers into a fist and fist pumps into the air, cawing out "Woooo!" in pure excitement. Energy coursed through her, ready to go... then she noticed her opponents.
The angry looking wolf in a trench coat, she didn't recognize. But... she swears she's seen that blue beast before.
And of course, she recognized Screech and Clash. Suddenly she was a little more anxious. She was very curious about this 'Blustiel', and she has already fought Clash and Screech and considered them friends.

Hey, she's likely getting paid if she wins, she can give her apologies later.

Browsing the less savoury parts of the internet led you to some interesting stuff. Websites advertising "hitmen" that were most likely federal honeypots, marketplaces for hard drugs that would probably take your money and run... And advertisements for underground fighting tournaments, with decently sized prize pools. Of course, entrances were closed, but a few quick taps of the keyboard gave an axoltl backdoor access, allowing himself straight onto the list.

The lights were blinding, prompting Neon to whisper "computer, reduce glare by fifty percent." With a few computerised chirps, he could now see. His mask glowed in neon red, pink and blue as he stepped forwards. "And now, a surprise SIXTH entrant, the Mysterious Masked Marauder, the amphibian with an attitude, the cold-blooded creature, crowned with sound, Neoooooooon Kitsuuuuune!"

The crowd cheered, and Neon replied by holding a fist up in the air. 

He looked over at his opponents, his eyes scanning them slowly and methodically (not that they could see his eyes). Certainly a mixed bag, but nothing particularly hulking and huge. He could take them. Besides, he had plenty of blueprints saved so he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve... Mainly illegal melee weapons he'd seen on the internet, just because copying an AR-15 would probably not be seen as sportsmanlike. 

"So we got a bird-brain, a whale, a nerd, a blue... thing, annnnnnd a kid? Yo, hedgehog, you should probably quit this one now. I'm pretty sure most of us could knock you out with a flick of the wrist." He spoke, his voice deep and garbled, very clearly synthesized.

Blu surveyed her opponents. Definitely a very diverse cast... the red bird known as Pyra eespecially peaked her interest. Hadn't they met somewhere, at some point? In a forest perhaps? She set aside these thoughts, she'd have to sort them out later. Right now she had a fight to win. 

And while she didn't personally know Clash, she didn't like the idea of just staying quiet and not saying anything in his defense.That, and Neon just referred to her as a "thing". She wasn't about to let him get away with that. 

"And I'm pretty sure I can do the same to you with even less effort! And I'm a Werebeast pal..."

She smiled toothily, widening her eyes. 

 "...Get it right next time."

With the fighters introduced, it was only a matter of time before the tournament would be fully underway. 

"Trashtalk? I like it! Now... commence the countdown!" 

A hologram projector in the middle of the arena came to life and displayed a rotating 5 for everyone to see. 

...4 

At this point she had an idea of who'd be the easiest for her to suckerpunch. 

...3

Definitely no turning back now

...2

Show them what you're made of. 

...1 

It's showtime. 

A horn wailed, signaling the tournament's start.

Screech took note of the other fighters. She got a feeling of excitement when she saw Pyra and Clash.


"Hey guys! How's it going?" Screech said to her friends. "Don't think I'm gonna hold back on you because we know each other!"


The unknown, kitsune-masked mobian then made his comment about Clash.

"I could say the same for you, mister mask boy. What do you have to hide anyway? Just be lucky we can't use powers in this match, or you'd be outta here before you know what hit you."


A holographic projector emitted a spinning 5 in the middle of the stadium, then proceeded to count down.


'Ok. Here we go!' Screech thought as she got into her fighter's posture, readying herself for the battle.

Clash was pretty excited to see his friends again, it would certainly be a great time actually going all-out, well, as much as he could, anyway.

The other fighters were pretty odd as well, an odd grey fox and a very rude... What was he? Oh, an Axolotl, what a name for a species.

"Nah, I think just Blustiel and Darken could probably do that." "Very bold of you to assume that I couldn't do the same to you, Fox Neo." Clash responds, with an un-amused expression.

The timer was starting to tick down, so he quickly takes off his bracelets so Kane could do his job.

"Let's have a good match."

Well frig, this was so much worse than the grey fox had at first though. His eyes bulged in horror at the concept of being thrown into a ring with a bunch of civilians who were here on their own will. He paled at the idea of being put up against anyone in a 1 on 1 battle, but a free-for-all would be a bloodbath. At least upon first analysis of the other combatants. 

Darken was left standing in the arena with hands tied behind his back and muzzle on. The people who had put him there left in a rush before the countdown was complete. He tried to mumble something through the showcase steel cage strapped over his mouth, but didn't manage much more than a "Mrfrffffff"

Pyra listened to all the trash talk and greetings among her opponents.
Even the beast's voice was familiar...

The kitsune was a bit of an ass, all things considered. She rolls her eyes and stares at him with a cocked brow. "Hey dickmunch, might be a smart idea for you to run off before your expensive lookin' tech gets busted."

After a bit, she stretches on the spot, impatiently waiting for the timer to count down. Despite the trash talk, her first target? The scientist-lookin' dude. Seemed like an easy first target. Too easy. Might be better to get rid of him before they can pull any tricks from their sleeves.
They don't even look like they want to be here...

The Falcon was the first to say anything back, to which Neon gave a scoff, crossing his arms, before saying “huh, you’d think maybe it’s a smart thing to hide your face in an illegal fighting tournament.” He glanced over at the other bird... he thought it was a phoenix, by the looks as they trashtalked him back “unless you can someone punch with the force of about... one thousand kilograms, you’re not breaking anything here. Besides, if you could actually do that, you’d be breaking my face before the mask. Oh, and... I don’t think my sexuality has anything to do with this fight.”

He spread out his feet, as he swiped his hand along the touchscreen on his wrist. “Y’know, it says no super powers can be used, but they never said anything about technology...” at once, a holographic pair of knuckle dusters were attached to the axolotl’s gloves. “Let’s dance...” he said, as he pulled up his fists, waiting for at least one of the birds to make a move, first.

"Oh, we're allowed to use weapons huh?" Screech said, a bit of cockiness in her voice." In that case..." Screech closed her eyes as the cyan rings on her wrists began to glow. Suddenly, an energy spear of the same color as the rings appeared in front of Screech, levitating slightly above the floor. She grabbed the weapon and gave it a flamboyant twirl before preparing herself in a combat stance.

"This should even things out a bit!"

An electronic buzzer sounded the start of the fight. Screech decided to go for Clash first. She had fought them before so she at least knew what he was capable of.

Screech jumped onto the vertical bars of the cage and then leaped towards Clash as she let out a loud, "HYAAA!" She attempted to slam down on top of them with the blunt end of her spear.

1,000kg? Isn't that like... 9800 newtons? Seeing some of the folks here, it would seem that they can easily exceed that, so why bother? And who mentioned his sexuality?

Ah whatever, who was Clash going to ta-

"HYAAA!"

Oh, dolphin lady apparently... That's a terrible sneak attack.

(For convenience's sake, as he might be switching forms often, Clash as his normal self is Clash, Clash when he takes off the anklets is Good Clash, and Clash when he takes off the bracelets is Evil Clash.)

Evil Clash attempts to grab the end of the spear so he could subsequently slam Screech into the ground using the momentum.

The counter had finished. And by god the scientist hoped that the other combatants had things hidden up their sleeves as well. His own contribution to the battle probably wasn't going to be out of place amongst the other competitors, but he wouldn't be in control to offer mercy like the others might.

The grey fox grimaced underneath his muzzle, eventually falling over with his hands bound behind his back and writhing on the floor to try and set himself free as he realized the phoenix was sizing him up. A certain glimmer in their eye that demonstrated they were underestimating him. Although perhaps in his moment of fear Darken was underestimating the red bird herself as well.

No real thought went into her first move, as she tried her best to ignore the other fighters. 
This didn't quite work well, the kitsune successfully annoying her with his seriousness and seeing her two friends immediately start fighting out of the corner of her eye. 
She was tempted to join in, but it's better to try and 1v1 before anything else. 
She had to focus.
Chaos help her...

She rushes full speed at Darken with a mischevious smirk along her beak before jumping slightly, keeping her legs bent, and leaning to the side away from him, before extending her legs again, kicking both feet out at him with tremendous force toward his chest. 
A drop kick...
No flames required! 

Something about her dropkicks seem a little... bouncier then normal. Hey, it's not her powers, just a weird quirk of just how strong her drop kick is.

Screech knew Clash had some good reflexes, but she was not expecting him to react so quickly. She tried to let go of the spear to weaken the impact of the slam, but she still hit the floor pretty hard.


"Urgh. Nice one, Clash! But I'm glad I didn't show you this little move the last time we met!"


Screech then did a handspring backwards and landed back on her feet. She then held out her right hand towards Clash. The Energy Spear started to wiggle in his hands. If they didn't let go of the spear, Clash would be dragged across the stadium, right into a clothesline punch from Screech.

Unfortunately for Neon, the holders of the tournament weren't notified he could just summon technology into his hands, granted, it was probably something integrated in his gloves or mask or something, but it was still suspicious, so he ends up getting ejected via trap door.

(TheRedBlur has taken his character out of the RP.)

Meanwhile, Evil Clash was about to get dragged across the arena, but he got an idea.

He digs in his feet to jump into a horizontal hang on the staff part of the weapon, using the momentum, she spins 'round and 'round on it... As the spear continues to head towards Screech.

The fox had managed to slip one hand out of the bindings that were pressing his wrists together hard, making them bruise. And had only just sat himself upright in time to witness the orca and hedgehog begin clashing with one another. He winced at the intensity at which they were engaging one another. Darken really didn't want to be here.

But here he was, and before he was able to slip the rope fully off of his other hand- having taken a moment to rub the sore wrist -the phoenix slammed into his chest with her full force, if not more. It was certainly different to a gunshot, same pain, more surface area, no blood.

"Fuhhhhh-" He gasped as he was shot across the cage and into the thick steel grating that was keeping the four of them inside. Something was broken, a rib, two, three, maybe five, his sternum was definitely fractured. The nerves on the Foxes back burnt with pain from the impact on the cage's outer wall, and his head raged with a pounding ache.

He could feel himself choking, barely able to keep his eyes free of the tears that welled with a fury, and spat, spraying a thick jet of blood onto the floor of the cage. For all intents and purposes, the Pheonix had just used her power on a casual civilian. He keeled over onto the floor.

It was impossible for him to hear her, let alone see her from his position on the floor, but his attacker was about to find out very clearly why he was here. Neither of them were going to like it. Although the only thing he could think of right now was how much he didn't want to have to keep fighting her. A simple punch could kill him, if it weren't for...

The Muzzle that'd been strapped over the fox's snout split in half, clattering to the ground. Already his muscles began to feel that they were burning. Darken's fur grew long, almost shaggy, and took on darker- almost black- colors, before the real changes took place. The anatomy of the small fox began to define itself, muscles jutting out and presenting themselves, expanding, growing. His entire body began to grow. The tattered and torn clothes that were draped over his ragged body burst as their host became larger. Much larger. 

Sitting in the corner of the cage, lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, was the researcher, now coated with a thick layer of dark grey fur and now resting at over 3 times his original height. But comparatively, his muscle mass seemed to have increased tenfold.

Pyra wasn't concerned with the other fighters, and hadn't even noticed the other guy get removed from the fight. 
After landing back on her feet, she was about to rush in a second time... when she saw the blood.
Oh Chaos- she felt like she unintentionally just killed an unarmed man that couldn't fight back. 
Which to be fair, he currently was, and she had no reason to think she hadn't killed him. 

"Hey, uh... Are you okay?" She wasn't quite sure what else to say, really. This wasn't as fun as she thought it'd be, she thought he had some secret up his sleeve. They wouldn't just throw in a normal civilian would they? 
It was then she noticed it - he was growing larger. His fur darkening and growing wild, muscles bulging as he did. There we go.

On some level, they reminded her of another hulking mass of muscle, but they were more green. Still, this didn't inspire much confidence in her, as she stepped back and looked up at them. 
She can't use her powers or she's disqualified and thrown out.
Honestly, at this point, that sounds like the better option for her survival...
"N- no hard feelings, right...?" She'd fight back if she had to, if she could even manage, but seeing this change just made her lose her cool and she was almost forgetting she was in a cage match.

Screech was starting to get annoyed by Clash's resilience, but at the same time, it also made her more fired up.

"Alright, let's see what you do about this!" Screech closed her hand, and the rings around her wrists stopped glowing. The energy spear started to dissipate, leaving nothing but sparkles of energy.

'Now's my chance!' Screech thought as she jumped into the air to attempt an aerial slam with her tail. But as she flew through the air, a faint ringing droned in her ears.

'My radar sense? What is it?' Screech thought as she scanned the arena.

Screech then noticed the fox curled up in the corner next to Pyra. Their fur started growing longer and more grey. Their muscles began to grow in size as well.

Screech redirected her trajectory, forgetting about Clash completely.

"My radar sense warns me of real danger. So if that little fox is setting it off, this can't be good..."

Evil Clash forgot about the spear disappearing and ended up having to slide off when it disappeared.
He looks up to find Screech going for a tail slam, with the restriction of powers, he can't get out of this one that safely...

But then the meek scientist hulked out, and got everyone's attention... Oh jeez.

"Uh, sir?" "The people were getting a bit bored watching this until Darken transformed, which could probably be a problem..."
"You're right, we can't have our fans getting bored, they'll call off their bets!"

Suddenly, the intercom rang out:

"Alright combatants! With Darken hulking out, it's time to spice up this fight a bit!"
"From this point onward, powers are now allowed! And don't worry, you little weasels that were using loopholes won't be disqualified anymore."

"Finally!" Evil Clash was relieved, it was so hard not producing heat with his attacks.

And then he was immediately angered that Screech had forgotten about him, throwing a set of 5 Chaos Spears at her.

With the vast increase in muscle mass and body size, it was an unfortunate occurrence that the no-longer-small grey fox had in fact not gained any more grey-matter so to speak; or brain mass. The once placid scientist was now a nearly mindless beast, an organic machine. 

The lycanite raised itself up from the pool of blood with a groggy shove of its arms, which were likely both equal to the size of his original form alone. Next were the digitigrade legs, almost as though buckling under the dark creature's body to finally allow him to raise into a stand. Before it did so, the creature's senses regained themselves, he could smell, hear, feel that there were others there with him... hundreds. All shouting, all hostile... Prey. 

But there were predators here as well, 3 of them. Darken brought his legs to the center of weight and slowly heaved up to a standing position, clawed arms dangling at his sides as he scanned the cage with the dilated eyes resting in the creature's skull. The lycan coughed and spat a thick mixture of blood and viscous spittle. It growled, glaring at the phoenix who it was very quickly sizing up.

It didn't respond to Pyra's question. Not verbally at least, instead darting towards her with a vengeful roar of fury and a heavy roundhouse swing of it's enormous foot.

"I'll take that as a no!" She shouts while jumping to the side in a quick dodge of Darken's roundhouse kick.
She hears the intercom - powers now allowed. Great, but now she was wondering if it'd even help much...

After a bit, she took a deep breath, and from her beak a long and thick stream of flames spewed forth at Darken, hoping he'd catch fire.

Screech heard the intercom, then her ears started ringing again. she turned to see the chaos spears rushing towards her.

"Woah!" She shouted as she dodged the first two then activated her own spear to block the next two. The last one hit her right in the chest, knocking her backwards and onto the floor.

"Alrighty, Clash. Now that I don't have to hold back..." Screech took a big breath, before launching her own attack, sending a sonic scream towards Clash.