The benefit of having an opponent break the rules just to try and beat the shit out of you was that you ended up looking pretty good in comparison. A noble sportswoman who was unlawfully assaulted by an underhanded delinquent - who may or may not be her kid. Ideally it wasn't. Relic didn't want to be culpable for whatever went wrong in the Agate's development.

The patch that covered her left eye looked pretty sick too. She wouldn't lose it, and she'd likely avoid infection thanks to the medical attention received, but considering the dressings and such it was a lot safer to just slap something over it all for the moment. Relic hoped her next opponent wouldn't be too much of an asshole about it.

Or too much of an asshole like, generally. That last fight had sucked.

With a dozen more chips in her helmet, she stepped into the ring. She had a vague idea of who she'd be fighting - enough to know that it wouldn't be the massive purple monster that she'd gotten dangerously close to having to fight. But she knew this one certainly wasn't small either.

Relic waited for Abaddon to arrive, her nerves fading some since her previous fights.

@Abaddon

Abaddon trundled in, an underwhelming display of dragging hooves and weariness. He'd already fought twice, and the-

-wait-

-what?

Beady red eyes narrowed as the spiked bull paused, hesitating just inside the arena entrance. Confusion (admittedly his default; he was not that bright) laced heavyset features.

Hadn't he-?

"Did..." He got that far in his question before his gaze wandered a little. The jack-'o-lantern face was there. The exact colors, maybe the patterning was off-? Had his opponent... shrunken since their first match? And put on armor-? Why was the tail--why was the face more orange? What-

He shook his head and snorted, again his typical fallback. He'd said he wouldn't mind speaking to V-Chaos-Eleven again, but this soon-?

For a long moment his brain churned, going over his first fight, struggling to piece together what was different. He somehow missed the size difference. The shape. The spikes. (There was armor, to be fair.)

"We are fighting again?" he said at last, question marks practically visible above his head.

@Relic

"What?"

Again, Relic was starting the fight more than a little taken aback. It was better than getting cussed out in the first few seconds, at least? But it wasn't ideal.

She tried to puzzle it out in her head to no avail - she'd seen Abaddon's opponent a total of twice. Once in passing, one more as they shouted from the stands. Was it because they both glowed orange?

The confusion was almost enough to distract Relic from how large Abaddon was compared to her. She'd have to be strategic. She couldn't just slap this guy until he gave up - she'd need to use his mass against him.

"This is the first time. Let's... Just get it started."

Relic shot forward, body low, to crash into Abaddon's legs with her armour taking the brunt of any unintended damage.

ROUND 1/5

ATTEMPT: *CRASHING INTO HIS LEGS forgot to edit after copypasting lol
DEFENSE: Armour along spine, enchanted helmet
INJURIES: awesome eyepatch

@Abaddon

He was still hesitating, puzzling it out, when Relic charged.

The dumb, brief thought--wings?--shot through his head even as she charged for him. At the very least, though, someone rushing headfirst was enough to prompt instinctive reaction; Abaddon lowered his head to meet the charge. Skull to skull clash wasn't actually all that good for a bovine: he wasn't made for it, but at this point he was acting on reflex.

The next second was a whirl of motion, confusion and a lot of dust; the short version was, "he missed." The long version? He lowered his head, took a leap for his oncoming opponent, swung his head upward, and hit nothing. This was a fraction of a second before something smashed through his right forelimb, taking it out from under him.

Abaddon went down to his chest, an "UF-" escaping him before he came back up on three feet, limping. His turn, tail swishing, to find Relic again was much slower than it should have been... more of an awkward shuffle than a dangerously graceful whirl.

ROUND 1/5

ATTEMPT: Block but with his head
DEFENSE: no
INJURIES: tired/sore from previous fight

@Relic (requesting Discord tags for the thread if possible, please & thank you!)

Neither animal had the necessary neck support for headbutting, but considering the difference in size class between the two, Relic would've been much worse off had Abaddon's skull connected with hers.

But the bull had shot too high, or too late - she felt the air shift as he leapt toward and over her, punctuated by the sharp impact of his right leg on her armor, bone and metal ringing against each other in the explosion of dust.

They both turned to face each other, giving Relic an opportunity a moment to survey the damage before they collided again. She noted the way Abaddon carried his injured limb, her strategy crystallising.

Relic shot forward again, but with a specific target in mind. She held herself like a battering ram, hoping to take out the bull's left forelimb to inhibit his movement even further.

ROUND 2/5

ATTEMPT: Slamming into his left fore leg
DEFENSE: Armour along spine, enchanted helmet
INJURIES: awesome eyepatch

@Abaddon

The bull's eyes flashed with anger, with hurt. Relic was coming back around, and he was not a trained fighter. He had instinct, and... some experience, but that was about it. He brandished his horns for a beat, but she was coming on fast, and he didn't really know how to handle it.

He couldn't move very fast, but... she was coming right for him, and that's where he wanted any opponent. Abaddon couldn't rear up for a strike very well, not with only one unharmed foreleg to push up from, so he threw himself for her, instead. She might still impact his leg--but with any luck she'd get his full bulk crashing down for her.

ROUND 2/5

ATTEMPT: Body slam
DEFENSE: no
INJURIES: hurt leg!

@Relic

Relic could almost hear the bull's brain churn to life. Abaddon had the mass she didn't, but he seemed to struggle with figuring out how to use it best. That's where she could get ahead - she was used to split-second decisions.

But he seemed to be figuring out in the time he had. A head-on collision was what Relic was keen on avoiding, leaning heavily on her agility. In terms of strength, she was utterly outclassed.

But Abaddon didn't need four working legs to pose a threat. She saw his weight shift as she closed the distance, and in the moment she decided that landing a strike wasn't worth getting flattened. She needed to stay on her feet if she wanted a chance at winning.

She pivoted last second, darting away to the left as Abaddon heaved forward. She whirled to face him again at her now safe( r ) distance, wings flared.

ROUND 3/5

ATTEMPT: Running to the left rather than following through on that last attempt
DEFENSE: Armour along spine, enchanted helmet
INJURIES: awesome eyepatch

@Abaddon

She darted away, and completely took the tooth from his would-be attack. The bull was left stumbling as his bruised foreleg nearly gave out, and he struggled to hop-swivel to stay facing her. He kept his head low, although some warning pinged the back of his brain: "head low" might've been his default, but goring someone was probably against the rules.

He had no idea what to do next, so he started for Relic, experience telling him to press the attack and charge.

"Charge" was a questionable term, since Abaddon was heavily limping. What he had in mind was a glorious race through the dust, impacting his opponent and sending them flying into the stands with a nimble flick of his neck. What he got was a shuffle, then another shuffle, as he hopped slowly in Relic's direction.

ROUND 3/5

ATTEMPT: world's worst charge
DEFENSE: no
INJURIES: hurt leg!

@Relic

Relic considered Abaddon again as he turned to face her a long, awkward moment later. She'd done a number on his leg, more than she'd anticipated. Guilt shot through her as she watched the bull hobble through a 90 degree turn.

He didn't stand a chance.

Abaddon managed to begin shuffling towards Relic again, but the speed and momentum of his previous charges was absent. She sought to take advantage of this apparent vulnerability, exploding into movement again, seeking to slam into his left side at speed.

ROUND 4/5

ATTEMPT: Knock him off balance
DEFENSE: Armour along spine, enchanted helmet
INJURIES: awesome eyepatch

@Abaddon

The impact hit him just as he hobbled one leg off the ground; he stumbled and went over, a puff of dust pluming up around him like the world's worst (and possibly first) nuclear cloud. The grunt that escaped him sounded very distinctly like an upset and angry "moo."

Out of options, the downed bull kicked out, hoping to at least knock Relic's legs out from under her. The kick, however, was performed with only a snapped-back hind leg; his forelimbs were in no condition to be lashing around. Still, it was a strong kick. If he was going down, he'd take her down with him! ...Maybe!

ROUND 4/5

ATTEMPT: kick
DEFENSE: no
INJURIES: hurt leg! ...s!

@Relic