Won't you play a game with me?

"NEEEXT UP! PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE TRICKSTER, THE FOREST FIEND, THE PRINCE OF FAIRIES... SIX STRIPESSS!!"

A cloaked figure shuffled from the dark entrance. Ripples of emerald green obscured its form, nothing but scarlet pricks shining out. On further inspection, that fabric didn't look like anything natural, let it be plant fibers or lesser leather. In fact, was that...

... skin?

A chorus of giggles. The flesh-cape was ripped off, discarded to the side like trash. In its place stood an amalgam. Two gembounds glued-- no, fused-- together, all lolling heads and galloping legs making a loop around the stage, allowing everyone the chance to gasp in horror. Or disgust, whichever struck first.

Two arms raised up in a dramatic pose. "The dead queen sends her regards!" the humanoid one laughed. The other, a great bee, growled: "Who shall I send to meet her?"

They smiled uncannily, waiting for their victim. I wonder what cloak I will make...

That... was so... fucking... COOL!!!

”HELL YEAH!!”, Vanyel shouted, flinging his arms up and sending some popcorn flying, ”FOR THE QUEEN!”

He nudged his partner and grinned, eyes alight with excitement, ”Holy shit! No one's gonna be able to top that!! That was the coolest damn thing ever!!”

He wondered who the 'Queen' was, though. Whoever she was, she was probably super cool too.

He spun his magic and got ready to throw, the banana forming in his hand and... exploding into glitter, covering him and his popcorn in it. After a moment of shock he stared at himself, wondering with a touch of fear how he was going to get it all out of his hair and scales before picking up his tub of popcorn and throwing it.

”START KILLING EACH OTHER ALREADY!”, he shouted, glitter showering down as well as his poor popcorn.

Lumbering. That was a good word for the first impression Baokrish would have made backstage- all heavy muscle and slow, a show of dim-wittedness and stupidity.

Baokrish was anything but.

With his face stuffed full of body-wrecking foods, the Valkhound waited at the doors, patiently still as a boulder. His spots flared with his breath, his eyes were wide, and if anybody knew him, they'd know he was internally quivering with excitement.

This was going to be fun.

The doors to the battlefield opened slowly, ominously, as Baokrish pulled himself from the dark, illuminated by his golden markings. "And coming in from the east, the Forge's newest member..."

"BAOKRISH, GOD OF THE SEA!"

Surging forward, Baokrish pried open his jaws and bellowed, his throat warbling as his fangs gleamed viciously in the dim Orion light. "I am BAOKRISH!" His declaration was loud before he whipped his massive head onto the strange being, all twenty-four eyes blinking. "And YOU look like a meal." They even smelled like fresh meat- or was that the skin littering the floor? Oh, how the Valkhound wished to eat that.

Hunching down, Baokrish licked his teeth as he grinned. Maybe he'd have more than just that, though. Patience running thin, the beast's tail dragged across the sand, thumping down like an anvil. "COME AT ME!"

- THE LEVIATHAN -

He'd had time to give Baokrish only the most basic training--but he was confident in his creation. Granted, this beast was intended for Lord Dhracia and he'd rather it not die before being handed off, but if it did...

...eh.

And if it didn't, whether it won or lost, it would be a learning experience for it. Of course, Vargas was hoping it would tear its enemy to pieces. It was built for the water, and would undoubtedly be slow and sluggish on land--its one weakness. And the arena was-... well, land. But it looked like Nemean had picked an interesting opponent. Faster, yes. But not larger. Wearing skin--theatricality, or savagery? Vargas could not tell.

He leaned forward, eyes gleaming, popcorn utterly forgotten, waiting for the fight to begin.

Won't you play a game with me?

Aha. There it was. Matt put on their best unimpressed face as the "god of the sea" beckoned forth. Twenty-four eyes? Big, beefy body? Boring. He could really use some glamour.

They squared up against their opponent, each of their six legs restless. So, this creature was bigger than them, okay. Maybe a bit stronger. But unlike him, the fairy seemed to have a bit more brains comparatively. The brute just seemed to care about dinner. "I care about dinner." "Irrelevant."

"Oh, a meal?" Matthieu cooed, innocently tapping a finger on his backward chin. "My my, dear, I don't think you'd enjoy it. You might burn your tongue!"

That was the cue. The fairy ran-- towards Baokrish. Right towards his big, grinning, slavering mouth. At almost the right moment (he tripped a little on the way there) Matthieu lunged forward, his arms stretching as far as they could to grab onto the beast's tongue. With a resounding cacke, they twisted his hands back.

It's a bit less dramatic than he wanted, but as long as they dealt some pain, it's all good!

They were studying him, with their awkward hybrid-ness, buggy eyes and childish form. His grin only widened- oh, this would be easy! Growling out, Baokrish licked his teeth once more before pulling his front half higher, looming before Matthieu. "I'd like the CHALLE- GURK!"

See, grabbing a beast's tongue isn't the smartest move, but it would certainly surprise them. Tugged forward with a shot of pain, Baokrish let out a howl of surprise, rolling with the momentum to take as much of the child within his jaws as he could. Only- with the twist, his jaws went to the side and bit down sharply onto his own tongue, shearing the end Matthieu gripped like a pair of vicious scissors.

Surprised even further, Baokrish reeled back with another howl, Oil spraying from his lips and coating his teeth.

Bug--honestly--had no idea what was going on. The shouts had called her here, the roars and thudding music, and it seemed the perfect place to cause some chaos. She landed neatly (very much like a bat) up at the edge of the rafters, then slipped her way in a sinuous creeping down among the benches.

Monsters! Music! Lights! Food! Blood!

Eventually she'd found herself perched on a low bench, chewing a corn dog from a bucket she'd taken from Nedies. Rapt ember eyes watched the fight down below, and after a moment, she decided to spice it up a bit. She wasn't the only one, after all, who'd be throwing shit into the ring. She set her own corn dog aside, and then focused on her bucket. She glanced down--and winced as she saw the spurt of Oiled blood from the big dude's mouth--and hesitated.

Should she still do this?

Ehh, why not?!

With a grinning little twitch of whiskers, she lobbed the entire bucket out into the air low over the pair brawling in the arena--so that corn dogs would rain down atop them.

Heckling at its finest. "GET UP AND FIGHT!" she yowled, though it wasn't clear who she meant. "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

Won't you play a game with me?

Haha! The dumb brute bit off his own tongue!

Matthieu ripped away the writing, oily mass with a massive grin as they gingerly hopped away from those slavering jaws. Corndogs began to rain from the audience, something they watched with amusion. "Fae got your tongue?" he taunted. They couldn't believe their luck.

"Oh, but the show's not over yet," said the bee, snapping her mandibles. He gestured theatrically to the audience. "Prepare yourselves, for our next trick is now!"

Matt skipped to the side, aiming themselves for one of the valkhound's stocky forelegs. Boy's body bent dramatically backwards (forwards?) as the Bee bounded forwards like a mad dog. Her jaws opened wide, intent on grabbing the leg and sweeping it away-- but with less power than they would've liked, as his upper half still preoccupied with holding onto the tongue tip.

The crowd was jeering, and the opponent was dancing around him, driving Baokrish's blood to boil. "SHUT UP," he demanded, twisting on his foe as Baokrish's thick leg was swept to the side, taking his body the rest of the short way down to the ground.

Fine. He was built for laying down on land, after all.

Taking the momentum the bee created, Baokrish swung his massive jaws down towards the pair, intent on biting anything he could with full force. The boy, the bee's side, a head- anything.

Won't you play a game with me?

Success-- and also, injury. A hellish howl echoed into the air as large jaws clamped down onto Bee's skeletal side. DANGER DANGER DANGER, their mind screamed. When the teeth part, they will reveal a gaping abscess of frayed exoskeleton, full of pulsating organs and warped muscle. Look closely enough, and you might catch a glimpse of the spot where the two bodies fuse, now bloody.

Matthieu was FURIOUS. They worked so hard on that body. But a little 'scratch' wasn't going to keep them down. Using the momentum of the strike, they twisted around so the injured side was facing away and their weaponry was facing out. Six legs kicked out towards their opponent-- and SLAM.