"And for our next match we have... 'Creo!' Whew! Just LOOK at that thing! What a piece of work!"

Creosote shuffled out into the arena like a good little monster once it's name was announced. It was intimidatingly, with it's some twelve feet of raw-meat hide, speckled with stray teeth and eyes and a multitude of limbs, clawed, hooved, and winged alike. Everything about it screamed 'monster.' Everything, except it's posture. Partially due to it's own malformed body-plan, it was hunched over. Wings curled around it's body like a blanket or a shield, it's green and pink eyes peering around nervously.

It was not looking forward to the fight. It did not want to get hurt, and it didn't exactly want to hurt others, either. But it should. Everyone else was. They were all cheering for it, for the blood and pain that was to come. It should be cheering, too.

But it didn't move. It just stared at the door, waiting for it's opponent.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

@Effluvium

Fuck yeah, these monsters were COOL. Okay, so she'd seen cooler--but they were pretty well up there! Who'd thought to do all this?!

Meat. Like, they were half meat! It was hilarious!! And all those EYES?!

OH SHIT. Anyway, now she had to introduce Effluvium, and that one hadn't give her literally any titles. The other one had just said 'Creo,' and that was that--boring, but. Eh. She could make do.

Nemean stood upright on Chadsworthington Stevenson the Third. Or, as upright as she could manage. The spotlights swept to and fro. The music swelled. The drums beat a heartbeat roll.

"AND IN THIS CORNER!!!" (The arena was, in fact, round.) "WE HAVE... THE HORRIFIC. THE MONSTROUS. THE IMPLACABLE-" (uh) "HUNGERER... THE THRILLER AND THE KILLER, THE SHAMBLING SHADOW-...!"

Overkill?

...Nah. Hehe, in fact--

"THE OVERKILL, EFFLUVIUM!"

There, that sounded good.

She leaned back down, tiny fists slamming emphasis on Chadsworthington Stevenson the Third's stone "head" in an explosion of confetti that shot out over the arena.

"NOW--FIGHT!"

@Effluvium

The beast perked up as it heard its' name. And slowly but surely, It crawled into the arena. The air instantly changed. The stink of rot. Where there had been a faint smell before, almost forgettable within the rest of the smells, Effluvium changed that. When it entered, the sickly sweet smell of rot increased tenfold. It hung heavily in the air of the arena, pressing out other scents.

Effluvium licked its' lips, raising its head to stare at the opponent. Eyes like pustules surrounding its maw flickered between the crowd, before settling on the thing in front of it. Whatever went through Effluvium's head, it wasn't visible. For a moment it stared at the creature opposite it.

Memories flashed through it. The beaches in Leo, the attack by three prey creatures, and subsequent retreat. It recognized the creature. Not as its equal, not as it's spawn, but as something it'd encountered before. It was larger, now. Some features almost resembled it.

The multitude of limbs. The eyes. But, in the caves, many things were odd--many things didn't stand out. But Effluvium recognized the most important detail. This was something it'd nearly killed when it was spawned. Something it would finish, now. Could finish, within the arena, and its lack of rules. But it'd have to be careful. The creature could be stronger now, with those limbs, and how developed it was now. It began to circle, a burbling growl, accented by wet pops and cracks clawing from its throat.

But through all this going through Effluvium's head, only one thing would come out. A gurgle, ending in "Mmm." Even with its new intelligence, Effluvium wasn't one that was much for words. So it just lowered its head, giving no indication of its thoughts, and charged Creosote.


"When I speak."

When I think.

ROUND 1/5

100%

ATTEMPT: Charge Creo
DEFENSE: does being made of flesh count
INJURIES: N/A

@Creosote

Where Effluvium barely recognized Creosote other than prey, Creosote's mind went wild with emotions and recognition. The not-parent, the one that it had attacked it and it's siblings on the beach. The creature that had torn into it and it's siblings with way too many jaws and limbs. The one who had nearly killed it.

Perhaps this was the best (and worst) matchup Nemean could have chosen. Because this was the one creature in the caves Creosote would ever think of killing.

It returned Effluvium's gurgle with a screeching, furious roar. It would not move out of the way as Effluvium charged it. Instead, it ran forward, claws scrabbling at whatever bit of the not-parent it could reach. Massive claws scraped and gored at the front half of Effluvium. Quite possibly hitting one of it's numerous eyes, despite Creosote not aiming for anything except for the monster of raw flesh and discarded parts in front of it.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

@Effluvium

ROUND 1/5

ATTEMPT: Claw Effluvium
DEFENSE: uhh too dumb to defend right now lol
INJURIES: Bruised by the charge

Fracture my spine

As the brawl started below, high above in the stands a monster hovered amongst the onlookers. Though the meat which composed it was fashioned to a more insectile shape, the relation to the current combatants could not be mistaken, and Karambit's own exuberance reinforced it. Oblivious to those that might be nearby, sickle claws slashed through the air, a tentacled and toothed tail swaying side to side with every movement. Buzzes emanated from its vibrating body, barely piercing through the overwhelming pound of metal music and the roar of the crowd, but nevertheless announcing its presence to those who might recognize the sound.

This was the monster's usual disposition, loud and full of good cheer. However, when it'd first seen its sibling emerge into the arena, Karambit had fallen into a rare silence. Numerous multicolored eyes had stared, dumbfounded, at the scenario they witnessed.

"Crrrreeeeeooo?" it'd whined, antennae shaking with the intense effort of thought.

Grown beside it and Terror, Karambit was accustomed to dear Creo's quirks: the hesitancy to harm and the reluctance to hunt. The behavior might have been rude—what sort of polite interaction, after all, lacked tender welts and oozing scrapes?—but it was family, so the meat creature's attitude was humored much as the insect's projects were likewise. For it to be involved in a deathmatch, an error must've been made.

Had it simply blundered into this while exploring the structure? Or had it been coerced?

Maybe there'd been an unexpected change of opinion, something that'd prompted experimenting with the carnage the rest of them enjoyed. If so, as sudden of a thing as it was, support would come readily; two family members to root on were better than one, regardless of the strangeness of the circumstances. It cherished them both too much to not.

And when a stench far greater than its own permeated the arena, that's exactly what it began to do. Because where others might behold a repulsive being, a malformed disaster of moistened flesh, it saw the parent it'd hugged and nibbled on long ago meeting one of its children. Excitement resumed. Shrieks, a mixture of articulate and inarticulate, tore from mandibles.

"Fluuvvvvvvvveeeeee!" cried Karambit. "Goooood, Crrrreeooo!"

Truly its sibling was the cleverest of them all. It'd found Effluvium and arranged a reunion. Of course! How thoughtful!

And swear that you're mine

Creosote's claws met Effluvium's charge without hesitation. And it certainly proved itself to be stronger. It felt the tug of flesh being removed, before it felt the pain of bone and eyes being hit. White hot. Blood and eye fluid hit it--felt like it burned Effluvium. Memories flashed before its eyes--the bats that had torn it apart. And it screamed. First in agony, tinged with fear, and then in rage.


Whereas at first Effluvium saw Creosote as a potential meal, now it saw Creosote as a foe. It was an upgrade, at least. Through the blood and agony blinding what remained of its' vision, Effluvium's eyes narrowed onto the black spot of Creosote's form. Effluvium opened its mismatched jaws, nothing good in its plans. It aimed to grab at a chunk of Creosote, and draw it free. Intent on causing Creosote as much pain as Creosote had put it through.

"When I speak."

When I think.

ROUND 2/?

81%

ATTEMPT: Bite creosote
DEFENSE: slimy AND fleshy
INJURIES: Eyes and face hecked up

@Creosote

It felt flesh pull apart in it's claws. The stickiness of blood and the hardness as it hit bone. It pull away it's claw, observing the foreign blood and flesh on it. It wouldn't been shocked at it's own action if it wasn't utterly enraged. Such emotions were unfamiliar to it, but it found that clawing and biting helped quite a bit. Felt pretty good, in fact.

Maybe it's siblings were right.

It'd reach forward and grasp a limb with both arms. Then it'd try to do what Effluvium had attempted to do to it so long ago.

It'd pull and pull and pull until it came loose.

Claws dug into flesh until blood flowed, and it felt flesh become loose under it's claws, but the limb wouldn't yield. The bone was too strong to be broken by hand.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

@Effluvium

ROUND 2/5

ATTEMPT: Pull on an arm!
DEFENSE: uhh too dumb to defend right now lol
INJURIES: Bruised by the charge

This entire thread is a

gore

warning

Muscle and bone tore from it. The stump that had once been one of Effluvium's limbs hung limp, blood leaking strangely sluggishly. It was not silent about this, no. It squealed and screamed--the sound of a pig butchered alive. But Effluvium refused to go down to this creature. It refused to be devoured again.

Effluvium snarled, and it's thinking brain shut off beneath the pain and rage. Effluvium had never hated. It feared, and it hungered. But Creosote was pulling it, literally and figuratively to pure hate. And now it hated.

Effluvium lunged for Creosote again, aiming for one of it's limbs, and, if it caught one, pulling until it broke, or came loose. No strategy in mind. No pretenses of staying careful. No thoughts about the rules circulated it's mind. Just bloodlust, and a desire to see the creature opposite it dead.

"When I speak."

When I think.

ROUND 3/?

67%

ATTEMPT: Tear off one of Creosote's limbs, too!
DEFENSE: slimy AND fleshy
INJURIES: Eyes and face hecked up, one arm missing

((Since you got a barely, I'm counting that as a success in pulling one of it's arms off! It has like 50 don't worry))

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

You know how it is

It looked down in surprise at the arm now detached from the monster it was fighting. It had done that? It hadn't felt like it. The limb was quickly tossed to the side, and Creosote's screams rivaled Effluvium's own. Its siblings- itself- were almost killed by this thing, by this imposter of a parent. That would never, ever, ever happen again.

The blood would be worth it.

Blood that now oozed from bitten off stump of one of it's secondary limbs. It screeched, in pain this time. The whole world went awash with the red and pain of that missing limb. A similar scenario in a fight many cycles past flitted into it's mind.

That was why it was fighting.

Creosote lunged forward, all of it's maws snapping wildly. Taking flesh, limbs, anything that made it's way inbetween it's teeth to then snap down and pull and bite until it bled and bled and bled. But it bit down only on unsatisfying air. A snarl rumbled from it's throat.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

@Effluvium

ROUND 3/5

ATTEMPT: Chomp some flesh
DEFENSE: uhh too dumb to defend right now lol
INJURIES: Bruised by the charge, down a limb

Effluvium, by mere chance in it's assault in Creosote, managed to avoid the brunt of the other meat monster's attack. As Creosote's limb came free, Effluvium stumbled back with it, and with it, Creosote's attack swung wild. Effluvium shook the limb in its' jaws like a particularly unhinged dog. It shook it until the flesh in its mouth separated from the limb, and it went flying off with a spray of gore. Stray strands of flesh still in its' mouth, as it drooled openly.

At this point, the floor of the arena must've been a mess. The sand splotched with red. Clots of flesh, missing limbs, mucus the scent and color of rotting flesh, and soon, more gruesome parts. Effluvium would do nothing but add to it. Sensing an advantage, Effluvium went in for another attack at Creosote. It aimed for the chest or the face of Creosote--but there was no intent in this attack, other than rage. Rage, and a desire to cut as deep as it could, and cause Creosote more pain.

"When I speak."

When I think.

ROUND 4/?

67%

ATTEMPT: Mauling
DEFENSE: slimy AND fleshy
INJURIES: Eyes and face hecked up, one arm missing

@Creosote