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Challenger

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by TyVulpine

Ty took a breath, standing at the edge of the arena. It was huge - to a normal-sized anthro, not a macro fox-taur like him - but it still took his breath away when he stood there and really took it all in. The stands rose high above him, fitting crowds beyond the likes of anything Ty had ever expected to come see his matches, a few gulls calling out high above, their wings flapping rapidly to move the air around them. Sometimes, hawks were flown around the arena to chase away pigeons and gulls and other birds that could make a mess on the seats of the stadium, though they didn't catch or harm any of them.

"Right... So, I guess we're doing this."

The fox-taur grinned, cracking his knuckles. Things had changed a lot since he'd started working at the macro arena: a site where macros duked it out with various martial arts and wrestling moves, however they pleased, for the entertainment of crowds. It was a great gig, in all honesty, though not one the fox-taur had ever honestly expected to luck into.

However, not all of his matches were easy and there were some injuries to be had. Most of the injuries that Ty walked away with were bruises and sometimes the odd strain or too, though that time he'd been taking out at the knees and fallen, bruising his tail bone severely, had been most unpleasant. The fighters there, due to all the attention they drew, were compensated very well even when they were off, though Ty didn't have much time off there. He was good at what he did.

And that was just why Alyssa, a giant roo, had come to challenge him. She was not quite a taur like him, with kangaroo-like front feet, although she could use them like hands to, depending on the position she was in. In that way, she could walk or hop like a non-anthro kangaroo or stand up tall when it suited her: versatile. Yet still not something Ty felt at all that he couldn't overcome. He'd fought taurs like her before, after all.

For a midday match, the stands were half full, but his heart still surged at the sight of the cameras, all the anthros who had come out to see him fight. It would be televised, of course, and that was where his score would go up too, whether he won or lost, the macro taur rankings of the utmost importance in the coming months.

"Well, well..." Aly grinned, bouncing a little, though the kangaroo-taur was poised a little differently and did not hop like a traditional kangaroo. "Are you ready for this? Didn't think a little fox-taur would take me on."

Ty rolled his eyes. It was hard to take Aly seriously when she was flashing him a white grin as big as that, but she was a formidable opponent. He didn't think she'd lost a match all season on her circuit - but Ty was the reigning champion.

And the fox-taur wasn't going down without a fight. Ty shifted his weight, bracing himself, the earth compacting under his large paws, short claws digging down for the utmost grip.

"Ready..." The referee called, his voice echoing strangely over the loudspeaker system. "Taurs at the lines!"

Ty stepped up to the line, allowing him some space between himself and Aly. The set up was unlike any other fight, outside the macro arena, but it allowed things to be as fair as possible, neither taking an advantage from long-distance or close-range.

The roo-taur smirked at him, one ear twitching, her long, kangaroo tail swaying back and forth, more easily balancing her. He'd have to be careful about that, though he didn't see any scenario, quite honestly, where he wasn't going to leave the arena without another win under his belt.

"Ready... One...two...three - fight engaged!"

Ty bellowed, using his usual lightness and agility to dart to the side, getting out of the way of her typical charge. He'd checked out a few of Alyssa's fights after she'd challenged him and, really, he could have looked at a few more too.

The kangaroo skidded past him but surprised Ty by turning on one heel, planting the other back foot into the ground and leaping forward in a move so like a kangaroo's typical hop that it took him off-guard. The fox-taur tried to catch himself and spin away, but the problem was that the roo-taur was quicker, leaping and coming down in a thunderous bound.

The boom of impact resounding through the arena, but Ty was an experienced fighter too, lunging for her from the side, trying to get his arms around her. A Full Nelson was not the easiest thing for a taur to accomplish, considering all the extra body parts that got in the way, but bearing down on the pressure points and crossing his arm across the front of her neck, under her chin, would be a start.

They grappled, fur flying, the kangaroo-taur grunting as their bodies pressed up against one another, muscles bunching and coiling. For the first time, Ty thought he may have underestimated the fight but, well...it was too late to revisit things. He was already there and in it, locked into the moment, ducking down to take his shoulder into Alyssa's side in a side takedown.

The crunch of impact sent a shudder through him as he panted heavily, straining to get enough air into his lungs. She was heavy, just as much so as he was, and Aly wasn't going down easily. When he couldn't throw her with his hip, he pulled back, grappling with her, both of them struggling to get their arms around each other. The wrestling holds were some of the most important parts of a match, what the crowds really came to see, though when a taur went down the game changed completely.

It was so different to anthro wrestling, which was perhaps one reason it drew so many crowds. Ty's breath heaved as they broke apart again, both of them trying to intimidate the other with a show of posture. Even the roo's muscles were all bunched up and tense, her shoulders slightly hunched, as if she was trying not to give away her next move.

"Come on, fox..." She taunted him lightly, testing the waters as they watched one another, flinching and feinting at attacks. "You can't stay back forever."

Ty growled, grinding his teeth together, though that only made the tension in his jaw rougher, his blood pounding.

"Just giving you a chance to put on a show, roo," he called back, lips faint in a smile. "But I see you want to get this over with more quickly, hm?"

Ty lunged before she had a chance to reply, grappling and striking with a front kick, though she was too quick to dodge it. How did she seem to know what was happening before it actually happened? Kicks and punches were easy ways to taurs to go head-to-head, but it was all about dropping an opponent. From there, it was possible to get into a hold like a Boston crab or a camel clutch, or even throw them in a body drop.

Yet when a taur went down...they went down hard.

"No, I'm enjoying myself," Aly growled, twisting in his grip so they were forced to break again, even as he went for a side punch that glanced off her shoulder. "This is the most fun I've had in ages and I'm going to enjoy putting you in your place too!"

The roo's tail swung around and Ty swore under his breath, scrambling back. He was not quick enough, however, and the heavy limb glanced off his stomach as he reeled, gasping for air. A hit like that knocked air from his lungs and Aly pressed the attack, following up with a bicycle kick, swinging her leg up and around, though he just about dodged that one.

He didn't stop her grappling with him, not sure what chokehold she was going for but, well, it didn't really matter either. He buckled a little, dragging her weight against him, and leapt up, hurling her away from him with a physical display of force. It took more out of the fox-taur than he was ready to admit, but Aly didn't seem out of breath or winded in the slightest.

They circled one another, each sizing up the other. Ty ignored the bellow of the announcer over the loudspeaker, narrating the match. It was none of his concern, even though he had not taken his usual early lead.

If I can get her down, she'll be pinned, he thought, gritting his teeth, the metallic taste of blood lurking at the back of his mouth. Then it'll be over.

_ _

"What's up, foxie?" She taunted him, though all within the bounds of what was allowed by the wrestling federation. "Something got you caught? You can't just go around me in circles forever..."

"Or maybe I'm dancing circles around you," Ty shot back with an open-mouthed grin, his tongue lolling out briefly. "Did you ever think of that?"

Aly smirked.

"No. I didn't."

He growled, his fists bunched up. But throwing a punch wouldn't help him then. Or would it?

Ty leapt forward, closing the distance between them without really thinking about it as he went for an uppercut, following up swiftly with an uppercut. Aly, of course, blocked his blows easily - but she wasn't ready for him to send a side leg sweep, knocking her left foreleg out from under her, her way.

"Oof!"

Aly wavered, going down on to one knee, her other three legs scrambling to get her back fully upright again. Yet the big disadvantage taurs had was their size: they were much larger and heavier and there were extra limbs to be tangled with also.

He wanted her down and in a leg lock - maybe a modified taur version of figure eight. That would show her, yeah, but he had to get her down first, all the way, using his own tail for balance as he bore her back and caught her sharply with

Alyssa, however, was not down. Well, she was down - but not out. She rolled with him, twisting out of his grip as he tried to get his legs around her and into a hold, the wily roo-taur squirming swiftly, though it was not easy for her to get free from him, no. Ty tried to get on her back, to get his paws around in front of her throat to restrict her movement in a hold - but it was to no avail.

She bucked and heaved and he fell aside, scrabbling in the bare ground of the arena, for grass did not grow all that readily there; they only ensured that the arena was levelled for most of the time, so the fights could proceed without disruption.

"Unff... Come on..."

He grunted at himself, not talking to Aly, not talking to anyone really. He just had to get himself up, his arms around her, drawing her against him.

How much time had passed? He didn't know, could not know, too caught up in the fight as he tried to change the came and put her in a scissor hold - but the roo seemed to be expecting that and turned the tables on him, fighting back with a leg lock in turn that he would have put himself at risk of if he had continued with the scissor hold.

It was a good show for the crowd, however, even if it all was not quite going as Ty had imagined it on starting the match. In the moment, however, there was no time to reassess, the hard ground pressing up against them as they grappled for precedence.

It was rough and it was coarse, though the rules for taur fighting were looser than anthro wrestling, as long as they didn't perform any illegal moves. If he could throw her, lifting her up for a backbreaker or even going for a drop once she was down on the ground...

That was it. Ty pulled back, moving before she had a chance to, leaping above her. He came down hard on her in a single arm drop; not a wrestling move he would usually pull out, but it helped in that moment. He drove his arm down into her stomach and the taur gasped, eyes bulging.

Ty's heart surged and he was already barking a sharp cry of victory when the world turned. Although he had come down hard on her, as the crowd cheered and stamped their feet, the kangaroo-taur was ready for him and rolled out of the way, bracing at the point of impact so she did not take the full blow without being ready for it.

And then it was Ty who was on the back foot, down on the ground, while she got her legs and arms around them. With a greater number of limbs, the macro taurs had more to work with and Alyssa's favourite move was the four arm ankle lock. Locking all six limbs around him, she crossed her ankles and pressed down on her instep, disabling his hind legs while she locked her arms around his forelegs and his arms too.

"Unff!"

With his eyes wide, Ty squirmed, fighting tooth and nail, the referee's voice cutting through the air.

"Pin!"

No! No, he couldn't be pinned! Not by the roo, no! He fought and snarled and snapped, but the fox-taur couldn't get free, not as her grip tightened, the four armed ankle lock crossing tightly around him as his face was shoved into the dirt. The fox-taur didn't think she meant to, but it was different like that, time slowing down as his body fought, partly on instinct, to free itself.

If he had remembered his training and not been reeling that she had managed to pin him, perhaps he would have been able to stage a resistance that pushed back against Aly. Maybe things would have turned out differently. At the end of the day, it was just a match - and there were no real life stakes attached to that bout.

"One..."

The ref called out, for he could not tap at his size, when they were as large as they were. Sometimes, they had a macro sized referee, but not apparently for that match.

Ty fought, grunting, the pressure around his neck easing, though her bearing down on the pressure points of his neck with the upper set of arms made his vision waver. That was the whole point of the hold: to stress the body.

"Two..."

No, he couldn't give in. His fighting spirit seared and raged through him, jaws hanging open, dragging in all the air he could to his lungs.

"Three..."

Damn it.

_ _

The crowd roared and the fox-taur's ears flattened, spitting out dirt as Alyssa released him. He shook his head, pressure relinquished around his arms and neck, though he thought if he'd had just a few more moments he could have got out of the ankle lock.

Alas, with how wrestling went, he was pinned and tapped out with a clear winner. There was nothing he could do to contest that.

At least it was a blessing that Alyssa did not brag or boast, raising her paws triumphantly and rearing back to gain even more height. It was not as if she needed to appear greater and more victorious than she already was, though taking a victory pose and playing to the crowd was all part of it.

It just usually was Ty doing it.

Ty groaned, released in the arena to get up again and retain some sense of dignity, though still flat out. Even though he was breathing deeply and evenly, he didn't know how to get up and take his loss, even though the crowd was going wild. Those cheers were usually for him, for he had not yet lost, and no longer the reigning champ of the macro wrestling scene.

His stomach dropped and his ears flattened, slowly rolling on to his side and then tucking his legs under him. Everything seemed to be working, though light shame coloured his cheeks, trying to slink down. He had to be a good sport, however, about the loss and, well, Aly had won fair and square. He had to give her that.

The red fox-taur, however, wasn't going to take his defeat as graceful, however, Emily storming over to him. As a macro taur, the vixen was a little smaller than him but not by much, having been inspired to join the wrestling scene after seeing his success. Yet thunder rolled through her gaze and the impact of her paws, thundering across the arena as he hastily tried to scramble wot his feet with some semblance of dignity.

"You fool!" She growled, though Emily had always been the more impassioned of the two, prey to a fiery temper. "Didn't you take this seriously for even a moment? That's her signature move - and you walked right into it?"

"I - uh... No, I didn't..."

He stumbled over his words, lips rippling as he held back a snarl, for it was not Emily he was mad at. He wasn't so much mad as he was frustrated - though at the same things Emily was, truly. If he'd prepared better, he may well have won. And it all came down to him what he did or did not do in the arena, one way or another.

Emily put her paws on her hips - well, the hips of her anthro half, that was. Taurs had two pairs of hips, technically.

"Yes, you did," she said, too bluntly. "But you're going to get back up in here and challenge her to a rematch, you hear?"

Ty nodded, taking a breath. Sure, Emily came on strongly, but his sister really had his best interests at heart.

Next time, he'd match up better with Aly, Alyssa. And, next time, he wouldn't be left in the dust.

Ty would make sure of it.