"COME ONE, COME ALL… TO WITNESS THE ARRIVAL OF SHE OF THE BLACKEST HEART,"
The rrmph-rrmph! of a heartbeat kicked at the air, a bass backing to the (only slightly) quieter shredding of a metal guitar—

"SHE OF A RESTLESS NIGHT,"
—and quieter, still… with that heartbeat growing louder, climbing and quickening in its pace. The spotlights had long-since gone out into darkness, winking out like the stars during the end times and the inevitable heat death of a universe—

"SHE OF A SLEEPLESS CHAOS,"
—and just like that heat death, the sun collapsing in on itself, the lights ignited into an eye-searing supernova inferno. Incandescent white tinged in putrid lime and vehement violet—

"DRAAAAAAAAAAACONUAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
—and erupting from the gates like a volcano far past overflowing came a terrific nightmare. Draconua thundered forward, howling and slavering with no less than great excitement. Electricity sparked and popped beneath rippling flanks. A swathe of sanguine swarmed across her back, and it coalesced into a fascimile of wings. They carried her upwards irregardless, a ninety-foot (or more!) span hefting her body for a bellowing, roaring loop around the stands.

Not complete without some grabs at those in them, of course. For the amusement factor.

It was after about a minute that the wretched beast alighted, dispelling her wings and adornments with another shrieking roar, and awaited that who dared to be put against her.

Perhaps Nemean wouldn't be so foolish in this round and assign something with a little more... substance.

@Creosote

Creosote's entrance wasn't nearly so dramatic.

Trust me, though, Nemean tried.

"AND WHO WOULD BE A FITTING OPPONENT FOR SUCH A BEAST?"

The lights dimmed, the music briefly dimming to an anticipatory (and finally bearable) rumble. Spotlights focused in on the gates.

"THE ROTTING MONSTROSITY, THE PATCHWORK, THE LUNCHABLE"

The music rose and rose and rose, growing with anticipation with each title listed.

"CREOOOOOO!"

The gates opened, the lights flared, the music roared. Accompanied by a prismatic arrangement of fireworks, Creosote emerged.

And... just kinda stood there. It squinted with displeasure at the lights. An arm gripped at it's still-tender chest. It growled faintly, curling it's wings defensively. Then, it made eye-contact with Draconua.

At that moment, it was aware of two things.

One: This was the creature that has created the awful purple-black fire. The fire that had cooked the not-parent alive. The fire that had nearly cooked itself alive.

Two: It was hungry. The taste of blood in it's mouths had long since faded. It didn't find itself feeling bad about this, either. It hadn't felt bad about the hurt it'd inflicted, only the hurt that had been inflicted on itself. Was that a good thing? Was it improving?

Absent-mindedly, a tongue lolled out of it's mouth and lapped haphazardly at a smattering of teeth.

It didn't hesitate, this time. Maybe because it knew that hesitating wouldn't stop it from getting hurt. It was slow at first, a lumber that turned into a wild gallop surprisingly fast for such a mess of limbs. Jaws gaped open, all aiming for the unsleeping chaos' right hand. But it got no satisfaction. No blood. Only the clack of teeth snapping on empty air.

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

ROUND 1/?

ATTEMPT: Chomp a hand!
DEFENSE: no defense only hongry
INJURIES: Missing limb & mauled bits from prev fight

@Draconua

Screw a lack of dramatics—Nemean was jazzed out of her mind for such a fight. In one corner was a ravenous beast with a hunger that could not be slaked; and opposite of that was a voracious, single-minded predator that had rent its foe without remorse. Let the audience decide which described which.

Diaphanous wings buzzed an uneven and ecstatic rhythm as the living pile of meat, held together by tendons and ligaments, took a frenzied galloping pace toward Draconua. "YEAHHH!!! GET IN THERE! LET'S SEE WHAT COLOR SHE BLEEDS!!!"

(Of course, the Master knew it'd be black, but... like... it's a fun phrase.) "WOOOOOOOOOO!!!" she bellowed to compensate.

The sanguine of her mask angled downward, horns spiking through the air; and beady eyes lolled in their pinholes for sockets to fix dead-on. They gave the crawling mass of meat an appraising once-over (like she was a beast of calculated options, HAH!) before it erupted into tendon-snapping and squelching motion.

A shriek of a giggle bubbled from her lips as they peeled back to immediately reveal the full length of her jaw. There was a bit of a half-step backward—her right arm shifting just out of the meat-monster's reach just in time—before she reared her head up and brought it back down.

Jagged jaws made for Creosote's back side, to bear down in a crushing grip as wide as she could peel her mouth open. Oil sputtered from her mouth where skin had torn anew, stretched beyond its limits with the intensity of the motion.

ROUND 1/5

100%

ATTEMPT: Bite down on Creosote's back
DEFENSE: Negligible
INJURIES: Just the usual fun stuff

@Creosote

NOTE FOR JUDGING: Draconua was a Transcendent Pupil at the beginning of this fight! +5 only!

Nemean's screech of 'SHOW US WHAT COLOR SHE BLEEDS' flew right over it's head. If it had the time to comprehend what she had even said it, it probably would've thought it an earnest request rather than a call for bloodshed. As it was, however, it was far too occupied with said bloodlust.

And the teeth very rapidly approaching.

This wasn't right! Creosote wasn't supposed to be the eaten, it was supposed to be the eater! Let out a snarl-grunt, it reared back, trying to latch itself onto the valkhound's faceplate before the teeth made to tear a chunk out of it's back.

Teeth grazed it's back, creating a jagged gash of torn flesh. Blood and mucus joined the oil sputtering out of Draconua's maw. Luckily for it though, Creosote had found a foothold, claws and wings wrapping around Draconua's face and digging for purpose in her many face holes. It was simultaneously incredibly comic and horrifying.

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

ROUND 2/?

ATTEMPT: cling to face
DEFENSE: no defense only hongry
INJURIES: Missing limb & mauled bits from prev fight, bit back

@Draconua

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

(predictably)
Teeth sank into tender, mucous flesh, and Draconua grinned into it; where anything should be completely and utterly revolted, there wasn't anything but overeager glee. A shudder rippled along her flanks as she tightened her grip, and—ah, there was something twisting and attaching to her face.

The valkhound braced herself on her elbows as an impromptu facehugger's weight dragged her skull downward. An instinctive snarl wrinkled her mouth, even as a foot (or was that an arm?) scraped against tattered, bloody lips. Scrabbling limbs clung to the edges of her skull-plate, and curious claws sought deeper holds.

Some of them scraped along the blackened sclerae and pupils of her eyes, and that got a pained screech-wheeze from her. Draconua thrashed in a knee-jerk reaction—and some nostrils tore open where other claws were latched on—and heaved upward. She tightened her superficial grip on the living meatball and launched onto her hind legs; and as she went up, threw her head upward and let it go.

Why? To throw Creosote straight up into the sky, of course!

... except she let go too soon, and ended up stumbling back onto all fours with a terror likely still wrapped around her skull and neck.

ROUND 2/5

87%

ATTEMPT: Throw Creosote up into the air
INJURIES: Blinded in three eyes, some bloody nostrils

@Creosote

Fracture my spine

In the audience were the usual reactions: howls and screams, throats made raw in frenzied ecstasy. Electricity laced the atmosphere, the rush of the battle beneath the stands an empowering source that fueled the urge to share in the mounting bloodlust. Karambit's contributions could be distinguished by the buzz and rattle-clatter of antennae that accompanied its shrieks; this its standard reaction to everything, the emotions however were not so well defined.

Glee at the violence? Certainly. Excitement for its sibling? Of course. But jealousy?

Of Creo quite literally seizing an opportunity to grasp beauty by the face, perhaps there might've been a little. But the meat monster hadn't stolen the brutal affection of someone Karambit desired. Her gigantic proportions were to drool over, her violence to swoon over, but against the dear gorgeous friend she bore resemblance to, imperfections marred the glory present. And lacking those traits that captured its heart most—the shambling gait that oozed poise and limbs twisted so claws splayed in directions they shouldn't—it could afford letting family enjoy what appeared to be second-best.

"Crrreeeoo!" came the cheer. "Hang on!"

And never let this one get away.

And swear that you're mine

It screeched along with the roars of family and foe both, focused more on holding on for dear life than identifying which call belonged to who. It could feel the sticky, slick Oil coating it's claws wherever they had haphazardly slipped into an eye socket or nostril. The strange black blood made it harder to hold on, made worse by the Valkhound's movements.

It let out a surprised, frighten shriek as the beast suddenly launched upwards, head launching upward. As soon as Draconua's grip slacked on Creosote's flesh it scrambled, grasping for one of Draconua's horns as it fought to not get thrown off this bucking bronco ride.

Unluckily for it, it's grip was too slick by Oil and muscus to be effective. Luckily(?) for it, however, it managed to land square on Draconua's back. It shrieked as a back spike stabbed into it's side, claws flailing about in blind pain before it calmed enough to attempt to get a more secure grip in it's new spot.

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

ROUND 3/?

ATTEMPT: Climb up!
DEFENSE: no defense only hongry
INJURIES: Missing limb & mauled bits from prev fight, bitten back, stabbed by spikes,

[url=/member.php?action=profile&uid=333

@Draconua[/url]

Teeth snapped futilely as the wonderfully mucous beast tried and failed to scramble its way to a safe high ground. The thickly-bound muscle of her neck rippled as she twisted to snap at it from where it'd landed sprawled on her back; the thing's weight had her stumbling as her limbs instinctively tried to find a center of gravity.

Eh. May as well roll with it.

With a guttural snarl, she tucked her wings to her sides and toppled onto one side. She stretched backward, sticking her legs out and windmilling them once (rather comically) to keep her momentum so as to roll onto her back and stay there.

ROUND 3/5

87%

ATTEMPT: Roll over doggy! (onto Creosote)
INJURIES: Blinded in three eyes, some bloody nostrils

@Creosote

It had just regained some semblance of clear thought (or well, whatever constituted as thought for the meat-monster) before the platform it had landed on twisted and shook and snarled with rage. Then it started to tilt like a felled tree.

Creosote growled with panicked rage, having no intention on becoming the cave's most disgusting pancake. It would scramble and flail, trying to jump ship before it would be crushed under said ship. It had manged to get off, at least. Was it unharmed? Certainly not, even ignoring it's other rapidly-accumulating injuries.

Currently, it was screeching in pain as one of it's legs and several of the adjacent limbs were being crushed under Draconua's massive weight. The freed part of it's body twisted in vain, jaws snapping but currently unable to reach Draconua. But already it's movements were becoming sluggish with pain and exhaustion. It couldn't keep this up for too much longer.

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

ROUND 4/?

ATTEMPT: don't get squinshed
DEFENSE: run??
INJURIES: Missing limb & mauled bits from prev fight, bitten back, stabbed by spikes, crushed hind bits.

@Draconua