No magic. No armor. No weapons. That was how it was taking things; it had its own, naturally, of the latter two, and the first was unpracticed. Maximus had brought their spear and passed along the news that weapons were allowed, but... no. Perhaps it could practice with its own claws first. It'd been too long since then and... since it wasn't fighting to eat, its flat face disallowing easy biting wouldn't be too much of a problem, right?

Easier said than done in the backroom, but at least there was plenty of what Nedies called finger foods before depositing a slushy into both of their top set of hands.

So, when Nemean made her announcement—a spirited "NEXT ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK... VARGAS'S OWN V-SEL—what a LAME mouthful, actually—SELEEENIIIITE!!!" accompanied by an overabundance of smoke effects and blinding cyan spotlights—the kaijin strode out of the miasma squinting...

... and absently drinking out of both slushies at the same time. One was grape, and the other was cherry, and the combination was surprisingly flavorful (and very medicine-like.) Yet, flavor would not be enough to spare it the sudden awareness that there wasn't much of a hallway between the backroom and the gates, and that there were no trash receptacles along the way.

Selenite froze in place, immediately glancing up to Vargas and Vakornol in the stands, and tossed both half-full slushies to either side of them with excessive drama. As the flavored ice smoothie spilled into the sand, it settled into something resembling a fighting stance, wordlessly anticipating its opponent's arrival.

@Aspen

'...VERSUS ASPEN, THE GHOST OF URSA!'

Ghost of Ursa? Aspen didn't remember picking that title. He preferred to think of himself as less of a wooOOOooo spooky ghost and more of a slinking, elegant cat-friend who could be vicious on appropriate occasions (such as this one), but he supposed it was his own fault for not coming up with something that rolled off the tongue better. Oh, well!

The snow leopard came bursting out from the gate, sprinting toward Selenite at full speed. He'd taken off his starry pendant for the occasion--wearing something around your neck during a fight was just asking for trouble, come on. At the last possible second, Aspen leaped into the air, his momentum carrying him forward as his claws reached for Selenite's face.

Only when he was already midair did he chirrup a quick "heya!" at his opponent. He hadn't wanted to spare the air while charging. Hopefully, it wouldn't think him rude!

@V-Selenite-One

ROUND 1/?

100%

ATTEMPT: jump on selenite
DEFENSE: furry
INJURIES: none

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS... ENTHUSIASM!"

What else was there to say about all of these real go-getters? They made up for all of the wet blankets (Selenite looking lost with some damn slushies!) that would flounder out of the gates or try to strike up (eurgh!) conversation before getting at it. Some of them getting into the spirit of the DEATHmatch was better than none. Of course, Nemean never took less than 110%, but... that's for later when her expectations are utterly disappointed.

The sprite lobbed the remains of her soda into the ring and stamped her feet and clapped her hands to the tune of a legally distinct We Will Rock You. The former made no sound, being cushioned by all of her lacy pillows, but it was the thought that counted.

"KILL! RIP 'EM TO BITS! WHOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOO!" Aaand there's the heavy metal backing track.

The Ghost of Ursa? Dramatic.

Less dramatic was the burst from the door, mostly because... well—there was a greeting! Selenite, in kind, did not want him to think it was rude either. As it lifted its arms to receive Aspen (like it was just a running hug-tackle) and hit the ground with a startled gasp, it huffed an equally quick (but winded) "hello?!" in response.

Unsheathing its claws to grapple for fur and lightly squeezing its arms, the kaijin rolled to one side, and then threw itself sharply to the side. God willing, the momentum would carry the both of them around so that it was the one on top of this little scuffle.

ROUND 1/?

90%

ATTEMPT: Rolling over to pin Aspen
DEFENSE: Armored, was stanced
INJURIES: Currently beneath a big cat

@Aspen

Nemean's blatant littering registered a sense of intense disapproval in the back of Aspen's mind. Unfortunately, he was a little too busy to think about that much right now. Selenite's quills pricked painfully at his pawpads as he slammed into it, some sticking themselves into his chest, and then they were rolling. Aspen let out a small 'oof' as his opponent ended up on top of him. Well, there was probably no getting out of this given the sizable weight difference, so...

Nearly everywhere on this darn Gembound was armored or quilled apart from the face, so that's what Aspen would go for. He craned his head upward, snapping his teeth at the long ears and trying to bring his paws around to claw them. It was annoyingly difficult when your opponent had you pinned, he was soon discovering.

@V-Selenite-One

ROUND 2/?

81%

ATTEMPT: maul an ear
DEFENSE: furry
INJURIES: currently beneath a bigger... crab-human-thing?

Long ago (well, more like about half a year ago, but long ago in the Selenite's perception of things) its Overseer—the one no longer with the Forge, not Cain—had given it the most rudimentary of combat exercises and drills. They had been somewhat brutish and imprecise for something with dexterous hands, but the Kaijin had taken them somewhat to heart.

Except, now that it was in the "heat" of battle, leaning away from scrambling claws and teeth and trying to maintain its advantage, Selenite had no real idea of how to proceed. A number of hypothetical actions were drilled into it, such as going for the eyes, the throat, et cetera, but... which one to choose?

Its indecision was clear as day in its scrunched-up face and furrowed brow. All four eyes stared down at Aspen.

And then a hand reared up. Curled into a fist. Wound up backwards. Jerked forward in the direction of the cat's face.

Because punching a cat in the nose is absolutely something you do when wrangling a dangerous predator with a quadrupedal and teeth advantage.

ROUND 2/?

90%

ATTEMPT: Punch Aspen in the nose
DEFENSE: Armored
INJURIES: Um, confused?

@Aspen

Oh dear.

"THE LESS YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THE BETTER," Vakornol roared down from the stands. The selenite had made a good move getting on top and using its weight to its advantage, but it looked absolutely dumbstruck otherwise just sitting there.

Wasn't it a part of the Forge? Had it ever been in a fight in its life? Neon eyes flickered over in Vargas's direction, and she jeered quietly (instead of just asking a question like a normal person.) "I should've stuck around for a Vakornol-style training program if this is what you've got in the works, no fuckin' offense. Is it... uh," she paused to gesture toward her head with a paw, "blank?"

Aspen twisted his head to the side, managing to avoid the strike thanks to the Selenite's seeming... indecision? Honestly, Aspen couldn't really blame the Selenite. He'd be hesitant to rip out its throat, too—it was just too… inoffensive for him to enact such violence on it.

But that didn't mean he could turn this into a wrestling competition. The weight difference was too big for him to win on that, for one, and he knew what happened when Nemean thought there wasn't enough blood. So, after a moment of his own hesitation, he reached to wrap his paws around the Selenite's arm—to bring it closer so he could sink his teeth into the unarmored elbow.

And if the bite landed, he'd mumble a garbled "sorry, bro" around the mouthful.

@V-Selenite-One

ROUND 3/?

81%

ATTEMPT: elbow attack
DEFENSE: furry
INJURIES: not really

- THE LEVIATHAN -

The clumsy entrance made him stare, but he wasn't sure if it was awful or hilarious. After a moment, he settled on 'both;' the Selenite had obviously been caught off-guard, but with a brazenly dramatic gesture had tossed its... drink cups... off to either side.

The actual fight had only been a blink of time, so far: a charge, a tackle, a brief tussle. But Vakornol had a point. None of it had exactly been... precise. He glanced her way, dourly. "Its Overseer went missing. I have picked up its training but I have not yet begun. But who was I to deny it entry to Deathmatch?!" Deathmatch was great! If it won, it was proving its worth. He hoped it didn't die before he'd had a chance to train it, but...

...There's a lot of cats out here, today," he realized. A lion, a tiger, two actual small cats, and now this--whitish-gray one? Interesting. But certainly not surprising.
"Tell me, Vakornol!" he boomed, pleased; "what do you know of cats?"

@Vakornol

Aspen squirmed away, its fist meeting the ground with cracking knuckle joints, and it widened its eyes. Giant paws scrabbled for a hold, nearly toppling the kaijin ontop of him, and its punching attack now led to teeth sinking into its elbow with great ease. Glowing blood the color of verdigris sputtered from the puncture wounds.

"It's fine," it muttered once it was done yelping in apparent... surprise? Pearly white teeth gnashed as its lip peeled up. Its nose crinkled.

Think less? That was easy enough. The Selenite instinctively reeled an arm back (obviously, one that wasn't currently hosting a set of ginormous teeth inside the elbow). It jerked the bitten arm away from Aspen—on instinct, of course—and unsheathed all its claws.

Its arm came down, fingers just slightly bent to bare the full brunt of hooked talons toward the cat's facial... regions... eyes—while he was busy biting, right?

ROUND 3/?

79%

ATTEMPT: Scratch up Aspen's eyes... region... approximately
DEFENSE: Armored
INJURIES: Bitten on inner elbow

@Aspen