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"Up for A Challenge"

The afternoon was hot and bright outside as Luka opened her eyes to the cool dark bedroom. It was probably about noon, and her glancing at the clock confirmed it was 11:48 in the morning. As usual there was shouting and a ruckus being played out downstairs as the wolf sat up on the edge of her bed and stretched her arms out with a great big yawn. She'd only been at this home for a week and a half now, and she knew that it really wasn't the best place to settle down. She peered over the edge and down to the bunk below her; her brother had already vanished, likely his was one of the multitude of muffled shouts coming from downstairs. Pulling a rubber scrunchie from under her pillow, she tied her voluminous red hair back behind her head and into a ponytail that cascaded down her back.

This all seemed so familiar; of course, this was back when she was twelve. She had been moved from foster home to foster home along with her younger brother as the pair of them held on to one another; in the same way they always had, ever since their parents were killed. She remembered the idea of being a number in the system had just become 'another life' for them, and that by this time, she had already gotten used to being moved from place to place.

Dropping down from her bunk, Luka landed softly on the floor and with a bounce, she made it to the door and opened it; finding Tank standing there. He wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, that stupid look on his stupid face always sent a chill down her spine as she stared up into the raccoon's chubby cheeks and that vacant expression in his eyes. He was still twice her size, and much meaner than any raccoon ever should be.

"Whaddyou doing getting up at noon?" He asked, his voice almost incoherent as he spoke. "You know mom'n dad cant' stand a lazy spoiled brat living in their house."

"Well guess that's their problem since they aren't my mom and dad." Luka replied coldly before storming into the hall to get away from him.

That was when Tank made the mistake; a terrible, scary and all-too-painful mistake by grabbing the wolf by the shoulder and pulling her back.

"NNH!" Luka grunted as she hit the door she'd been thrown into. As her shoulder was pushed inward, she was forced to glare up into Tank's face as he pulled his arm back and balled up his fist.

"Now you're gonna get what's comin' to you..." He growled in frustration.

Before she realized it, Luka felt her head get locked into a lock under Tank's arm, she growled and grabbed at his forearm, scratching at his fur as he began to drag her foot first across the floor. This wasn't the first time that the smaller, scrappy Luka was bullied. None of her "siblings" really liked her, she was often disregarded as a runt of the litter, and in a foster home, she didn't really have any parents to turn to for guidance. She scowled and shook angrily as Tank dragged her toward the bathroom. He wanted to dunk her head, his stupid guffawing laughter told her this. But she was about done with this treatment. She scratched and bit at his arm, but couldn't really get ahold of it as they turned the corner toward the bathroom.

"St-stop, let me go dick head!" She shouted at him. "You can't do this!"

"Oh quit complaining." Tank said as he showed little effort in the drag. "You know that mom and dad are never gonna believe you. I am their legitimate kid, after all."

By this point, he was forcing Luka closer to the toilet. He lifted his foot to lift the toilet lid and she spotted the opportunity. "Maybe, but you are going to be the fucking last of their line!" She shouted as she balled up her fist and punched it into his soft spot. Hard.

It took a few seconds for Tank to react. She could practically feel the tingle of pain that shot its way from his groin up to his brain, and he instinctively released her, letting out a shrill scream of pain as he grabbed his crotch moaning relentlessly as tears streamed down his cheeks. "AHHUAHHH!!! WHA-WHAT?!" He screamed at her. "Why you little--"

He didn't even finish his sentence as a left hook shot its way across his face. The force of the impact made his head turn abruptly to one side and his body jerked as it followed suit. He landed on the floor, dazed from the punch and grabbed his head. She wasn't done with him; Luka grabbed him by the hair and got in another successfully hard punch that made his head jerk back as it, then his shoulders struck the open commode behind him. Luka growled angrily as she got to her feet and punched him again; this time square in the face, causing him to give off a stifled scream as his nose began to pour down streams of blood. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him toward her, her fist raised for another punch. But Luka saw the fear in his eyes; this sudden turn against him, he wasn't expecting it, and he was in more pain than he ever thought possible. Luka stood there for a minute, her hand trembling in anger as she looked at him. But soon thought he wasn't really worth the effort to beat him into unconsciousness. With a slow breath from her nostrils she dropped the toilet lid onto Tank's face, he grunted in shock as she did so, and she turned the handle on the toilet, causing it to flush.

"Go soak your head, you little shit." She sneered as she got up and made her way out of the bathroom.

Nobody bothered her after that; when Tank came downstairs, he had claimed he slipped and fallen into the toilet. The parents bought it, but all the kids in the house knew who was responsible for it. Six months later they had moved on to another home--and then four years later, when she was about to be pushed from the system completely, she and her brother had separated, and she never saw him again...

***

But that time was over; Luka sat back, relaxing after her last match as the sounds of cheers and fighting echoed even into the locker room. The smell of old ammonia and cleanser filtering in from the latest cleaning of the shower room as she laid on one of the many changing benches between the rows of lockers. It was quiet here, she could relax here. Her long, thick mane of red hair draping down, the fiery red becoming a golden yellow toward the tips as they hung only a few inches from the floor.

Had she been dreaming? She pulled the now cooled wet cloth from her eyes and looked around. She really didn't know what had her thinking of the past, she still had a job to do.

Just as she thought this, the doorway opened slightly, a loud explosion of noise coming from outside turned her attention to it and she spotted a timid young feline looking in, but trying hard not to look directly at the woman lying on the bench twelve feet from him. "M-Ms...Luka?"

"Charles, you really gotta stop acting so shy. I mean it's not like you haven't seen a half-naked grown wolf woman before right?"

"Er--"

"Well shit. Don't tell me you take it up the tailpipe too?" She assumed, snorting as she sat up.

"You--you're on, Ms. Luka. Your next--ah match is in five minutes."

"Who? That joke of a hyena with the long blond hair?"

"Ye-yes, that's the one."

"Oh come on, Chuck. I mean seriously?" She asked aloud as she flopped back onto the bench. "I mean what I wouldn't give for a real challenge one of these days. You know? I mean someone who doesn't just throw a towel in on the third round. It's getting really boring around here."

"Yes. But you're a popular contestant." Charles shrugged indifferently. "And the pay is good, right?"

"You tell me." She sighed. "All right. I'll get ready."

As soon as the door closed, Luka sat up from her bench and went to her locker. She pulled out the black top with the white edging and slipped it on. Even with as large as it was, it could barely contain her. She pulled it down just under the cup of her breasts and tied it together at the middle. Taking the matching briefs for her bottom, she pulled them on, and then she put on the thigh-high socks and gloves to complete her outfit and to finish it off, she strapped her blood-red gauntlets to her wrists and for a brief moment, she admired herself in the mirror. She reached her arms back behind her and did a stretch, pressing her chest outward as she stood upright on her toes, and with a swish of her thick wolf tail, she made her way through the doors.

Camera flashes immediately filled her sights as hundreds from the crowd. The visuals were disorienting as she made her way past the oceans of people, being escorted along a single line being cleared for her as she made her way through. She raised her arms in a defiant gesture to the crowd, which only got them more worked up. As she made her way across a particular row of seats, she looked right and spotted a woman simply looking at her; she too had red hair, she had an impressively muscled body hidden beneath a sport top a bit like her own, only it was red with gold accents on it, and was secured on the back instead of the front. She had a pair of workout shorts as well. Her gaze was intense and she was looking directly into Luka's eyes, even her fur color was similar.

Their gaze locked for a good thirty seconds until she was ushered away and toward the ring, which surprisingly had no one standing in the opponent's corner as she climbed up into it and took a seat in the stool placed for her. After several minutes, the lights went out, leaving the room in darkness and a single spot shone down in the center of the ring. A fox entered, dressed in a suit and bow tie and armed with a microphone as he made his way to the center of the stage where the spot focused on him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fighters. I regret to inform you that this match has been cancelled!"

"WHAT?!" Luka shouted indignantly.

"I'm afraid our opponent; Jade Argus, has forfeited her entry into tonight's fight and we will have to move on to the next bout." The man explained. "The next battle between Clinton Rush and Maximillian Montgomery will be in two hours, so we apologize for the inconvenien--"

Before he could finish his sentence, Luka had rushed onto the ring and instantly snatched the microphone from his hand. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa now, mister ref. Now I know for a fact a lot of people have bet a lot of money on tonight's bout with me, so how about we offer up a reward for this opportunity? Twice the reward for everyone who voted on me losing tonight's fight, in exchange someone in the audience that can take me on. Someone who actually could put up a fight with me take Argus' place?"

"Now, wait just a minute. That's against the rules--" The ref's voice was quickly quaffed by the outrageous screams of the entire arena, cheering at Luka's surprising announcement. She nodded, and waved her hands. Taking in the applause and showboating herself a little bit.

"I don't think our audience cares about the rules tonight as long as there's a fight." She said. "What do you all say? Is there anyone out there with the tits or balls to challenge me?"

Luka's eyes scanned the audience, and as they passed over the section she'd seen that other wolf a few minutes before, she didn't see her still sitting there and mentally she felt a little disappointed, until-- "I'll challenge you!"

The audience gave an uproarious cheer as Luka turned to see the wolf standing in the challenger's corner, in all her glory as she stepped through the ropes and walked across the ring toward her. "Oh. Well. I hoped you'd be the one to answer the call." She teased.

"Well, I came for a fight. And since I'd miss it otherwise, I thought I'd go toe to toe with you, maybe knock you down a few pegs."

"Oh really?" Luka growled as she approached the other wolf until they were practically touching faces. "And what do they call you?"

The wolf continued to stare into Luka's eyes even with her being an inch taller, it didn't seem to frighten her one bit. "Valkairis." She said shortly. "But...most people just call me Val for short. And instead of some cash prize, how about we settle this the old fashioned way? Winner buys the drinks?"

Luka's smile widened as she stared the other femme down and in an almost official move, the pair touched fists as she responded. "Oh, you're on." She said as the lights suddenly dimmed and the pair turned to their opposing corners.

As the lights were restored to the auditorium, both women were standing at the corners as the referee exited his hidden spot off from the side of the ring and walked to the center. This time, a microphone lowered for him and he took it in his hand. In his best announcer's voice his words echoed throughout the stadium, ringing loud and true and above the screams and cheers of the fans. "Tonight, we have a special bout. One that isn't on the pamphlets, but one that this stadium's owners have agreed to. To those of you who had voted the challenger Jade Argus to win tonight's battle of the vixens fight, they have agreed to double the cash payout for the woman taking her place. In the main corner, standing in at six foot eight inches is the amazing, powerful and beautiful champion of the evening: Luka Cross!"

Cheers were rocking the entire stage as Luka made her way to the center of the ring and joined him. The fox continued. "Her challenger this evening is no less surprising, and I'm surprised these two aren't related, but this wolfess radiates a powerhouse strength and stands in at six foot seven inches: Valkairis Sarikblod!"

Val made her way toward the center of the ring as well, and as she met with Luka, the pair met hands in the center, placing their knuckles together without blinking once. The fox put his hands over both sets of fists. "This is a three round bout, the fighter best two out of three will be crowned the victor. There are no rules outside the obvious of keeping the fight clean; no strikes below the belt, and any exiting of the ring including being thrown out will result in an automatic loss. Now, return to your corners and when the bell sounds, come out fighting!"

The wolves' hands separated at the ref's 'blessing' and they each walked to their corner. Val slung a leg through the rope and found a seat at her corner. She sighed as she sat down and watched as Luka hopped over the top rung of her corner's rope and stood on the other side, pumped and ready to go...

"Get up, loser!"

Val screamed in pain as Betty was up to her old tricks again, this time grabbing her hair and yanking her almost clear out of her seat on the swings. She fell back to the ground, hitting the sand and sending up a pile of dust as the bully took the swing she had been using. "Hey! What was that for?" She exclaimed in frustration, rubbing her head.

"You been on this thing long enough." The bigger girl said, sticking her tongue out at the wolf. "Just because you're some weird, abandoned orphan don't give you no special privileges here."

Val's eyes were streaming with tears as she stood up angrily. "I'm not an orphan!" She exclaimed. "My daddy's coming back and he's going to kick your daddy's ass when he finds out how you treat people!"

"Oh boo-hoo! I'm shaking." Betty taunted sarcastically. "Look you might be a wolf, but I'm bigger than you. Now go away!"

The girl began to laugh, her stupid-sounding horse laugh was grating on Val's nerves as she stood there in disbelief that anyone could be this mean. That feeling of upset began to slowly grow in her chest with a fire that kept getting hotter and hotter.

"UUUUUUUUUUAAHHHHHHH!"

Nobody expected that kind of a sound to come from an fifteen year old wolf; especially one as stocky and short as Val was. Before she even knew what she was doing, she found herself grabbing Betty's stupid pigtailed hair and yanking it down hard. It wasn't enough to get the bearish-type girl out of the swing, but it was enough to pull her far enough down to get a good, solid punch in. The punch connected with such force that she could feel the cartilage under Betty's nose crunch with the impact. She punched again, and again until she felt something wet and warm splash over her fist. Val had quite literally lost every bit of her cool and was screaming incoherently as Betty finally fell from the swing and down into the dirt. In a fevered pitch of frustration, Val threw herself on top of Betty and began to hit her with a flurry of punches to her face, when Betty thought to reach her hands up to block the punches, Val simply moved her fists to punch the girl in the chest and the abdomen. No one had ever seen her act like this before, and it was enough to send several other children screaming toward their classes for their teachers. By the time they managed to get two teachers out to pull Val off of Betty, Betty was wailing and in tears from the brutal beating.

It was Val's first time in detention; after she'd calmed down, she had nothing better to do than to stare quietly at the corner she'd been placed in while her classes continued in the next room. She could hear her teacher talking about never repeating what Val had done. She knew she'd make an impression at her school, but even in Texas, Val guessed she'd gone too extreme. She didn't even see Betty for the remainder of the day, or on the bus home that afternoon; it was then she wondered what kind of monster she had turned into.

Home. That's what it was called, but she didn't call it that when she walked up the driveway toward the main house, expecting her caretaker Sobek to be fuming mad at her. She didn't expect to see...she practically screamed when she saw the familiar figure in the doorway of the house, filling it out like some massive figment of her imagination.

"A-Ahriman?" She stopped in place and sobbed his name. He father's closest friend. "That means--" She went running toward the house, tears streaming again as she ran, laughing happily until she found his embrace. "Ahriman! You're back! You're back!" She blubbered now.

"Hey pup..." His response was a bit restrained as he hugged her.

Eventually the hug was interrupted by her leaning back. "But...where's daddy? You brought him home, didn't you?"

The devastating news Val received that day; that her father would never return from the war, that changed everything...and it only made her feel even more like a monster. But Ahri always had a way of comforting her. "They say that honor is always reserved for those who respect it..." He quoted. "So if you are to face your opponents, if they accept defeat respectfully, if they accept victory graciously, then they are worthy of your compassion..."

***

The bell's ring had barely even faded out of the room before both Val and Luka charged at each other; they moved so quickly that even the audience could barely see them move until they collided. Their arms locked together, but Val was the first to move, delivering a knee solidly to Luka's stomach and making her momentarily bounce her feet off the mat before delivering a punch to the slightly smaller wolfess. The pair broke contact and Luka followed her punch with a solid kick to Val's chest. Val slid back a few inches, and then followed that up with a soft, one handed flip to back away as Luka charged at her again.

This time Val saw the attack coming and threw her arms back as she waited for the approach. Before Luka could see what she was up to, Val let out a vicious roar and leaped toward her opponent. Luka could see that Val was much more aggressive than she'd expected and instead of trying to deflect the blow, she absorbed it; her body flew back along the mat as her claws dug into the ring, leaving a long streak of ripping in the materials under their feet. She then stood firm as Val came to a stop. Luka bent Val's body down and tightened her grip around the wolf's waist before lifting her up, and throwing her back, slamming her down in a rather impressive pile drive that caused Val to fly off the floor and bounce into the ropes about four feet away. She bounded off and directed herself into the mat, she knew she would be disqualified if she were knocked out. And she would not let that happen. Getting up, she charged at Luka again, though this time Luka was ready for it. She put her leg back and readied her fist, but as Luka swung, Val dropped to her knees and slid under the furious punch, delivering a devastatingly powerful blow to Luka's stomach.

Luka was knocked up into the air by the blow, and with a little help from Val's continued movement, she was thrown over in a single somersault until she fell hard onto the mat. She looked up to see that Val had already recovered and was coming down at her with an elbow slam, but Luka quickly deflected it and landed a solid punch to Val's face, sending her falling back in a meager stagger. She touched her lip and realized that it was bleeding, Val seethed with anger now and charged toward the other wolf. This time, Luka was ready for her and the pair locked in place with enough force to blow the hair back on several patrons in the front row. The women's bodies touched as Val tried to slam into her aggressively; but Luka managed to slip her hands back behind Val and locked them together. With a show of force, she grunted loudly and lifted the other wolf into the air, and with a move to send her back into the ground, Val struck the ring with an incredible force. Her entire body went limp and the rest of her landed hard on the mat.

"POINT to the champ!" The referee announced, pointing toward Luka's side of the ring, Val growled in frustration as she got up, shoving Luka's extended hand out of the way and the pair returned to their corners.

The air was thick with heat and sweat as Val danced a little in her corner; back and forth as the crew quickly ran across the mat, brushing them off and wiping down any spots of blood they found there. Finally; by the time they cleared the ring, she was at the ropes, eager to jump back in. And as soon as the bell sounded, she leaped with such ferocity over the corner stand that it made Luka take a step back and watch. Then she did something that Luka could never expect; she charged the larger wolf with a mighty roar. Luka crossed her arms and grunted as the sheer force of Val's attack pushed her back hard. It was enough of a whiplash that her hair flopped awkwardly over her face. The pair exchanged blows to the face before Luka managed to grab her opponent's hair and drove her face into her knee. Val gasped as she was bounced back off the knee and then delivered one of her own, directly into Luka's stomach. Luka grunted as she doubled over, only to be met with a fearsome uppercut that made her fall backwards. She landed on her elbows on the mat, using the spring underneath the stage to rebalance herself and get back to her feet. Val came at her again; not giving her any room to breathe, any moment to strategize her next move, she was moving so quickly that Luka could not see where Val was on the ring half the time until she received a bludgeoning punch to the eye. Luka spun through the air like a corkscrew, but landed on the mat and continued to move, to keep herself in the running, Luka was already sweating profusely, but as Val came rushing up to her, she didn't skip a beat and struck her once with a punch, grabbed her arm and did a full body throw. Val was one step ahead, however, and landed on her feet, giving the other wolf a solid kick to the face and sending her stumbling back. Val then leaped onto Luka's shoulders, using her weight to drop her to the floor, she was getting frustrated, angry even that her shoulders did not tap the mat and began to punch wildly at her to try and get her to stay down. Luka brought her legs back and kicked Val away, but Val quickly recovered, dashing and slamming into her with a powerful hit from her shoulder.

Luka fell back and staggered before regaining her balance, only to receive a spinning kick to her face and then another kick to her chest with her straight leg. Val finished it off by slamming both of her fists into each of Luka's arms, which fell back behind her like a pair of long, muscled noodles. She caught Val's next strike by grabbing her leg and spinning around, twisting it and pushing her away, but Val simply dropped to the ground on all fours, ran around the mat and then slammed again into her. So much energy, so much power in every move. Luka bounced off the rope, then was flung into the path of an outslung arm, causing her to clothesline and drop immediately to the floor. The hit was enough to knock the wind out of her as her body fell flat and the ref's whistle blew.

"POINT to the challenger!" He exclaimed, pointing to the other corner. "Next point wins!"

The third round was no holds barred, and both of them knew it. Luka looked at Val and noticed she was breathing pretty heavily. All the aggressive attacking seemed to have slowed her down. She knew this would be her chance to take advantage of this and as soon as the bell rang again, Luka was the first one onto the mat. This time there would be no dancing around the ring to try and pin the other one down. Luka immediately grabbed Val and gave her a short jab to the ribs then a hook across the jaw. Val screamed in anger as she threw wild punch after wild punch to try and weaken her opponent. She thrust her arm around the back of Luka's head and attempted to send her flying forward, but the move had backfired when both of them flung forward, each rolled out of the way and got back to their feet. Val roared loudly, charging in with two ferocious swipes of her fists, which whizzed past Luka's face, one then the other. She returned fire with a powerful punch to her gut, then one straight-line uppercut under her chin. Val bounced off the ground briefly, bounced back against the rope nearby and then tackled Luka. Both hit the ground and Luka quickly grabbed Val's shoulders and rolled herself on top, trying to pin both of Val's shoulders to the floor. Val obliged, but only for a moment as she tucked her legs under her and kicked, pushing Luka off of her. Again, Val came at her aggressively. Luka tried to throw a punch, but Val predicted it and caught her arm, she bent it backwards and slammed her body against Luka's before delivering a strong punch to her face. She then punched her again, but Luka noticed a decisive change in the strength of her second punch. Val was wearing out. A third punch came at her, but this time Val was able to deflect it. She spun on her heels and slammed her fist into the side of Val's head. Grabbing her arm and spinning her around like a top, Val couldn't avoid the clothesline Luka set out for her and she crashed down hard onto the floor. She wasn't done yet, as Luka lunged straight in for her, Val wrapped her arm around Luka's head and flung her to the floor again as well. Throwing herself on top of her to try and pin her down; her strength was waning, she'd used so much that her energy was starting to run on empty, she was breathing so heavily that she could see Luka's hair fluttering under her breath. Again, Luka managed to kick Val up off of her and she stood ready to continue the fight as Luka effortlessly leaped from the floor to a standing position in front of her.

Both women were battered and exhausted, even Luka's hands were shaking from the explosion of energy used. Val lunged toward her again. The pair locked arms and Luka still managed to lift Val up off the mat and slam her back down again. The audience was cheering; then it roared as Val STILL managed to rise again. Luka looked at her for several seconds before her opponent's eyes rolled back and she fell to her knee. Panting and spitting up a small bit of blood from her mouth. She rested her arm across her knee, and Luka could see she was still trying to regain her balance, but it was clear this match was finished.

The referee ran out and grabbed Luka's arm, raising it as high as he could while calling her out as the victor. The crowd erupted in cheers and flashes of photography as she lifted her other arm in a victory pose, circling to face all the audience before returning to Val.

Val was staring down at the mat, breathing heavily, barely able to move and completely unable to find the strength to stand when a hand fell in front of her. Looking up she saw Luka standing over her and she growled in frustration.

"That was an amazing fight." Luka said, still breathing heavily, but not moving her hand away from the growling wolf. "You really had me going."

Val looked at Luka's hand before accepting it. "Yeah..." She said as she was helped to her feet once again. "You didn't do too bad yourself..." She admitted as they both observed the crowds cheering them on. "Maybe I could stand for a little more training, but I'm going to have to challenge you to a rematch sometime."

"I look forward to it. Now...about those drinks."

Val let out a laugh as the pair made their way to the edge of the ring and Luka climbed out first. "You got it. A bet's a bet."

"So... Sarikblod. That sounds foreign."

"Born in the USA." Val replied. "But I'm Norwegian from my dad's side. The surname is a long story"

"Really?" Luka's interest was piqued. "Well I guess I could be challenged again, I'm pretty sure I could outdrink a Norse gal like yourself under the table. No one's ever beaten me in a drinking contest before!"

"HA! Du aner ikke hva du går inn på!" Val exclaimed. "Well prepare to have your pansy ass handed to you then!"

"You're on!"

THE END