Fruit of the Underground             A large crowd of furs was huddled around in a big circle. Many of them were getting restless. It was almost time...the audience had already gathered...but they were missing the two people that actually mattered. A full fifteen minutes had already passed, and the guests of honor were nowhere to be seen. Everyone was getting impatient. Soon, one of the furs began a chant and everyone soon followed along. They all pumped their fists as they chanted a single word. Fight. And soon after their chants had

begun, something answered their call.

BLOOD ORANGE! = The crowd exploded with enthusiasm.

Everyone looked around frantically as they tried to spot their first guest.

LOCK ON! = A heavy metal tune echoed throughout the warehouse, only serving to further excite the crowd. A spotlight was turned on up above and it began to sweep across the area. It wasn't long before it found its intended target, a hooded fur, with a belt wrapped around his waist and a large metal sphere floating high above his head. He walked towards the crowd with his paws stuffed into his pockets and the metal sphere following along with him. The crowd cleared the way to allow him into the circle, all growling and screaming in bloodlust. The Bujin had arrived. Bujin removed one of his paws from his pockets and clutched onto the handle of a knife attached to his belt buckle. Wordlessly, he flicked his paw up, causing the knife to slice down and

open up a lock at the front.

BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! SHADOWED ROAD...ON STAGE!!! = The sphere dropped down onto his head, landing on his shoulders and encasing his head inside. Once it was there, a light traveled down Bujin's body as his clothing was replaced by a sleek, black tunic reaching all the way down to his feet. Suddenly, the sphere cracked open and began to split into four segments. The segments folded in on themselves and rested against Bujin's body and forming his shoulder guards and chest plate. With it properly folded away, the crowd could see his newly formed helmet embellished with a large, crimson red crest. His eyes were hidden away by a large, bright red visor, and his muzzle was hidden behind a mouthpiece. The lights traveled down to his paw to form a large, thick machete. Bujin raised it up before resting it against his shoulder, bouncing the broad side of it against his shoulder guard. The furs around him began to chant his name. That was one down. Only one more to go.

= MANGO!

Again, the crowd voiced their

enthusiasm.

LOCK ON! = This time, the sounds of trumpets echoed throughout the area. A new spotlight swept around the area to find the source of the noise. When it stopped, it came across another fur, one with the same belt as Bujin's. His face wasn't hidden away by a hood, instead having chosen to show his face proudly to the crowd. Above his head floated his own metal object, this one taking on the shape of a mango. He reached down and made

the knife on his belt chop down on the lock at the front.

COME ON! = The mango dropped down and encased

his head.

MANGO ARMS! =

FIGHT OF HAMMER! = Light trailed down his form, replacing his clothes with chainmail on his chest, and armor covering his arms and legs. The metal mango opened up, folding in on itself and forming shoulder guards and a chest plate for him. The light reached his paw, and a large, spiked mace took physical form. Once the mango was fully open, everyone could see the knight like helmet that had formed around his head. He swung his mace over his shoulder as he walked towards the crowd, which had since opened up the circle to allow him in. The knight cockily strutted in, making sure to show that he wasn't afraid of the Bujin. The crowd began to spread out widely as the circle was once again closed up. Things were about to get wild, and not everyone was too keen on taking a front row seat. Within moments, the area had been cleared, leaving a large area for the two armored individuals. They began to circle each other silently, their gazes locked together in an unbreakable grip. Bujin continued to bounce his machete on his left shoulder casually as he sized up his opponent. The knight did the same, dropping his mace back down onto the ground with a loud clang and dragging it along the floor. All the while, the crowd was going absolutely nuts. Already, several of them were holding bills in their paws. Bets had already been placed. Several of the furs were sure that they had their bets on the right guy, and now was the time to find out if they indeed had... Without warning, the knight charged forward at full speed. Bujin immediately stopped his stride and straightened to face the attacker fully. As the knight closed in, he raised his mace over his head with both paws and prepared to make a hard downwards swing. Bujin stayed in place, deciding to allow him to make the first move. The knight swung downwards with a loud battle cry. Bujin stepped off to the side and narrowly avoided having his head bashed inwards. As he did so, he swung out with his blade and struck the knight in his armored chest. The knight staggered forward with a grunt, clutching his chest with his free paw. Roaring out in fury, he took hold of his mace with both paws and swung his body around to try and deliver a hard swing to the Bujin's back. Bujin looked just in time to see the attack coming and stepped forward, once again narrowly avoiding a swing. But the knight wasn't done. After properly taking hold of his mace, he lunged forward and thrust at Bujin's back with a spike at the top of his weapon. Bujin quickly turned around and batted it away from his body, but the knight kept it up, lunging at him again and again. It became increasingly difficult to keep up, and the knight was beginning to take notice. He faked the Bujin out once, which left him open for him to strike him in the chest and blow him backwards. He fell onto his back, but he rolled with the momentum so that he would end up in a crouch. He growled lowly to himself as he got back up to his feet. He held his machete out to his left and slowly reached for the blade clipped to his belt. Clutching the handle tightly, he drew it out and held it out to his right. The two warriors stood in place and stared each other down. Everyone else began to shout at them, urging them to get back into the fight. But they took their sweet time, once again circling each other like pack animals. "You know, I expected more out of the legendary Bujin," the knight shouted over the crowd, "Word was spreading about your level of skill, and how it greatly outmatches mine. Yet so far, you've shown that all of that was just nothing but talk." Bujin kept his silence and continued to circle around the area. The knight chuffed. "Oh, I see how it is. You do think that you're better than me, In fact, you think so highly of yourself that you don't see me as worth responding to. Is THAT it?!" The knight slammed his mace down onto the ground, causing the tiles beneath to crack and crumble. "Well then I guess there'd be no problem if I shut you up for GOOD then!" At that, he grabbed his mace with both paws and charged forward. As he closed in, Bujin pulled a tab at the hilt of his sword. The sides of it lighted up in four segments and Bujin raised his blade up and revealed the pistol that acted as the blade's hilt. Bujin pulled the trigger and shot at the knight's armored torso. The bullets pelted the knight, but he showed no signs of slowing down from them. The knight closed the space between them and swung hard at Bujin. Bujin stepped just out of range and used his blade to knock at the mace and ensure that the knight followed all the way through with his swing. This left a large opening for Bujin to attack, so he stepped forward and slashed at the knight's midsection with his machete. The knight staggered forward and clutched his stomach with a free paw. As he recovered, Bujin turned around and shot at his back with the pistol part of his blade. The knight grunted as his back was pelted, but all it really did was anger him further. He roared out and spun around, swinging hard at Bujin. Not anticipating the speed of his swing, Bujin's paw was struck hard and his blade was knocked away. It clattered onto the floor far away, just shy of impaling one of the closer bystanders. Bujin glanced at it but the knight left no chance for him to go for it. He thrust the spiked end of his mace at him again and again, forcing Bujin to go on the defensive. Again, Bujin couldn't keep up with the knight's advances and was met with several strikes to his chest. He was knocked away and fell onto his back with a hard thud, cracking the tiles beneath him. The knight stomped towards him, dragging his mace along the floor. He

reached down to the knife at his belt and sliced down.

MANGO SQUASH! = The end of his mace suddenly began to enlarge. It grew and grew until it was just as big as the knight himself. He swung it around with both arms and prepared to finish Bujin off. But Bujin

reached down to his own belt and sliced down with the knife.

BLOOD ORANGE SQUASH! = As the knight swung down, Bujin slashed out, sending an energy slash out and knocking the knight's mace back. The knight staggered back as his mace returned back to normal size, leaving Bujin with yet another opening. He rolled to his feet and lunged forward, striking the knight's chest with a strong stab. The blow knocked him far away, giving him his turn to fall onto his back. The tiles beneath him caved in a bit more due to his heavier weight, resulting in him having a harder time getting back up. This left Bujin enough time to rush back over to his sword. He scooped it up and screeched to a halt, clutching both blades tightly as the knight stood back up. The knight cursed loudly and slammed his mace into the ground in anger. He reached for the knife at his belt

again and sliced down twice.

MANGO AU LAIT! = He began to swing his mace around again, but this time with a bit more intensity. As he swung, energy began to gather at the mace's head. Bujin clenched his blades, knowing what he was planning to do. With that in mind, he took both of the blades and connected them together at the bottom of their handles, forming a double bladed weapon. Once they were connected, he charged forward. "HrrRRA!" the knight roared out at the final swing, causing the head of his mace to shoot out and enlarge like it had before. Bujin's heart pounded; he only had a few seconds to do this. In one smooth motion, he pried the lock out of his belt before plugging it into the side of his pistol-blade.

= 1

= 10

=

100 =

1000! = Bujin spun around before delivering the hardest swing he could manage at the giant mace head. And as soon as his blade made contact, the mace head erupted in his face. The force of the explosion blew him back slightly, but he powered through it and continued his charge at the knight. As he ran, Bujin flipped his blade around so that the

machete was out at front.

BLOOD ORANGE CHARGE! = The knight hastily brought up what was left of his mace to defend himself, but it was all for naught. Once Bujin closed in on him, he easily slashed through the metal bar and slashed right through his armor. The knight collapsed onto his knees as his armor faded away and left him in his normal clothes. For a brief moment, he struggled to rise back up to his feet, but his body gave in before he could. The fight was over. The victor had been decided. The crowd then exploded into a mix of cheers and cries of disappointment. Several were turning to their fellow furs and laughed at them for their misfortune. Several were cursing loudly and tightly clenching the money that was no longer theirs. But for the most part, the crowd was in a chaos. But Bujin didn't exactly care. Instead, he knelt down beside his knocked out opponent and rolled him over so he was lying on his back. He reached down and pried his lock out of his belt, claiming his prize. The Lockseed. Once it was in his paw, he stood back up and examined it briefly. It was slightly scratched up, but still usable. That was all that mattered. Satisfied, Bujin stepped away from the unconscious fur and began to walk away, leaving him amongst the chaos of the crowd. As he made his way towards the exit, the furs in his way hastily moved out to the side. Whether they wanted him to win or not, no one wanted to antagonize him in any way. It wasn't long before he was out of the crowd and out the door. It was only when he stepped into a next room did he reach down and close up the lock on his belt. Once it was closed, his armor faded away, leaving him in his normal clothes. He let out a sigh of relief and walked over to the nearest chair, making sure that his hood was still kept over his eyes. He glanced around and tapped a claw against the rim of his seat. There was only one thing left to do before he could head home. Suddenly, the door he had entered through opened, and a formally dressed leopard stepped through. He closed the door behind him and set a suitcase in front of Bujin. "There you are," the leopard said to him, "Your winnings for today." Bujin kept his silence and nodded to him before standing up and picking up the case. He raised a knee and rested the case against it before opening it up. Stuffed inside were stacks and stacks of bills. Bujin smirked slightly; at least he'd be able to eat actual food this week. He closed the case and turned to leave, but was stopped as he felt a paw grasp his shoulder. He turned back towards the leopard, making sure to keep his eyes hidden behind his hood. "I suggest you be more careful around here," he said in a firm voice, "There are many in the crowd who'd be more than happy to lop your head off themselves, and I can only keep track of so many at a time." Still, Bujin held his silence, instead preferring to nod in response. The leopard smirked. "Come on. Don't think that I won't look out for the biggest money magnet in the underground. Just don't do anything stupid the next time you're out there." Bujin breathed in for a moment before stepping out of the feline's grasp. The leopard huffed before stuffing his paws into his pockets and walking out the door. Bujin could easily tell that he had angered him, but he didn't care. He wasn't here to make friends. With no other reason to hang around any longer, Bujin reached down and pocketed his new lock. Slinging the suitcase over his shoulder, he walked over to the opposite end of the room and walked out the door, exiting the warehouse and heading home.