ORIGIN

INCOMING: PRATAP, THE BALL OF FIRE!!!

That 'little raven' came streaking through the sky, right out the gate. He spun in the air, then abruptly unraveled his wings, letting their full span show. Hot like a meteor (not that anyone knew what that was), ready for battle! The sight of his opponent miraculously did not seem to tamp down the raven's confidence either; no, he simply smiled at the large oil tank as his wings beat rhythmically, keeping him in the sky.

"Now that's a challenge," would be his only remark, before Pratap would attempt to dive in for the Loch Nessie's eyes. Lots of eyes, lots of targets for scratching! They were not even matched, but Pratap would not fade away without leaving any marks.

Pratap had expected aiming for the head to result in a chomp. It looked as through Pratap had landed a good hit on those eyes! Let's not let looks distract us, however -- unlike the Living Shadow, Pratap had plenty more weak spots to defend. He would attempt to use his reflexes to pull away from the beast's head, launch off back into the sky where he was safe.

But, alas, his reflexes were untrained, and he was not quite quick enough. It got a good hold of his retreating wing, causing the bird to shriek! A damaged wing meant his greatest advantage, flight, was now at risk! But all was not fully lost.

Something about being inside of a monster's mouth, if even for a moment... did not bode well for Pratap.

This was turning into a game of cat and mouse, and Pratap did not like being on the defensive. Think of the audience! Think of Pratap himself!! Still, unless the setting or the opponents changed, this banal repetition was all Pratap could think to do. Again, the bird attempted to move out of the way of the bite! Hopefully his earlier attack would counteract the effect of the bitten wing... but, in terms of probability, wouldn't that make it just as hard to dodge as last time?

Hm. Pratap was not liking this -- but then, an uneducated bird that spent most of his time in the chrysalis couldn't do math that complicated! So maybe it was fine! They'd just have to see.

Probability... success!!! That's how it worked, right? You could veritably succeed at probability? Whatever, point was, Pratap was back in the air! The perfect set-up for another attack! And, perhaps... a provoking line: "Hah! Poor matchup, isn't it... Vee?" The meaning of that could go one way or another, depending on "Vee's" perception of the power imbalance. If it were a truly confident beastie (which, why wouldn't it be?) then it would probably read it the way Pratap predicted rather than the way Pratap had intended. Then it could sit in the back of the mind and fester until the full vile impact was realized! Backhanded insults were like that.

So were tragedies.

Shouts and jeers went flying about the arena. Eventually, a popcorn bag tried to join them. 'Twas a good idea! But a poor, poor execution. This was almost fun, made Pratap feel quite high and mighty. Perhaps with a little more teasing and jeering, "Vee" would snap and tap out. Or, inversely, try to kill Pratap.

"Oooohohoho, you're a poor shot, Vee!" The raven chuckled. "Probably the whole... eye thing, you know?" Oh, the power of it all... as long he was in the sky, this dumb little chicken could say aaaanything he wanted! And as long as his points were self-proving, he could be certain those taunts would dig under that oily flesh and stay buried.

Ah, but the jeers and the malaise of it all were getting to Pratap too. "Seems we're not a fan favorite, are we, Vee? Tell you what, I'll help you out. I'll take a little trip down there... and, if you can catch me, you'll have been made the victor!"

Now this was a gamble. A bad, bad gamble. But, I mean, they needed a hook, and beyond that: "Vee" looked to be a fish! Pratap had already asked the fish to fly (which it couldn't), now he was asking it to run! The whole audience would be judging this little (big) fish for being incapable of doing the impossible, and that was a cruel enough victory for Pratap.

So Pratap would attempt to land... across the arena from "Vee". He would not make it as far as he wanted, and his landing would be pitiful, but... voila!

I'm so sorry Lab.