[attr="class","yami1"]"Npc" ""Arlo""
The Lions and Cougars

Falling to the ground defeated his vision began to go blurry, it was not a glorious death, but there was nothing he could do anymore. He had lost... And Arlo had won. He stood in happy comparison to the befallen man he had defeated and rightfully claimed himself capable of leading his faction currently composed of several civilians and low level kids.

Arlo had travelled to the lands on the west of the world in pursuit of discovering what the hold-up was regarding a group of wild animals. Now, admittedly, wild animals roaming the desert was an unheard of occurrence; normally, the only animals which roam the desert at any time are more along the lines of wolves or coyotes. Arlo had his theories about what may be going on, however. If they were true or not, he'd have to find that out once he arrives at the location.

About thirty clicks left to travel, Arlo takes his water bottle out and sips from it - refreshing spring water from the south f the world jaguar island to be specific and water has never tasted better. Arlo wore a large cloaked shawl over his body, and a cowl to cover his face from the sun and provide shade and resistance from sunburn or worse. Despite his clothing cooling his body down in the long run, it was still incredibly hot. Much hotter than he was ever used to walking in. He looked up to see if there was anything worth looking at aside from the piling dunes of this barren wasteland. Nope. Not a single cloud in the sky. Only a blazing star known as the sun. Arlo shakes his head accordingly to his mood. "This is depressing."

He climbs atop a sand dune, and before reaching the peak, can hear the clatter and noises being made by a series of animals. A herd it would appear to be as his eyes scanned just above the sanded hills of the diablo desert. This was an animal that Arlo had never seen with his own eyes before. But based on his knowledge and information that he can process regarding their appearance, he's come to the conclusion that the group might be a pack of mountain lions protecting a small oasis from another pack of cougars. They roar and tackle each other in madness and fury. Arlo watches from above with admiration for their ferocity and dedication to protect their own.

But he had a job to do and for the most part he wanted to get it done as quick as possible he would flick open his cell phone and take a couple pictures before texting his companions Labo, Scarlett and Rebel he knew that having them here would make it easy to make sure that none of the lions or cougars got away so for now he would wait and watch drinking another sip from his water bottle and pulling his cowl over his head some more in order to cover his face and protect him from the sun. while waiting he would go through his phone looking up stuff on the web about lions so he knew how to best handle the situation one could never be to prepared .

The lion is a well-muscled cat with a long body, large head, and short legs. Size and appearance vary considerably between the sexes. The male’s outstanding characteristic is his mane, which varies between different individuals and populations. It may be entirely lacking; it may fringe the face; or it may be full and shaggy, covering the back of the head, neck, and shoulders and continuing onto the throat and chest to join a fringe along the belly. In some lions the mane and fringe are very dark, almost black, giving the cat a majestic appearance. Manes make males look larger and may serve to intimidate rivals or impress prospective mates. A full-grown male is about 1.8–2.1 metres (6–7 feet) long, excluding the 1-metre tail; he stands about 1.2 metres high at the shoulder and weighs 170–230 kg (370–500 pounds). The female, or lioness, is smaller, with a body length of 1.5 metres, a shoulder height of 0.9–1.1 metres, and a weight of 120–180 kg. The lion’s coat is short and varies in colour from buff yellow, orange-brown, or silvery gray to dark brown, with a tuft on the tail tip that is usually darker than the rest of the coat.

Lions are unique among cats in that they live in a group, or pride. The members of a pride typically spend the day in several scattered groups that may unite to hunt or share a meal. A pride consists of several generations of lionesses, some of which are related, a smaller number of breeding males, and their cubs. The group may consist of as few as 4 or as many as 37 members, but about 15 is the average size. Each pride has a well-defined territory consisting of a core area that is strictly defended against intruding lions and a fringe area where some overlap is tolerated. Where prey is abundant, a territory area may be as small as 20 square km (8 square miles), but if game is sparse, it may cover up to 400 square km. Some prides have been known to use the same territory for decades, passing the area on between females. Lions proclaim their territory by roaring and by scent marking. Their distinctive roar is generally delivered in the evening before a night’s hunting and again before getting up at dawn. Males also proclaim their presence by urinating on bushes, trees, or simply on the ground, leaving a pungent scent behind. Defecation and rubbing against bushes leave different scent markings.

There are a number of competing evolutionary explanations for why lions form groups. Large body size and high density of their main prey probably make group life more efficient for females in terms of energy expenditure. Groups of females, for example, hunt more effectively and are better able to defend cubs against infanticidal males and their hunting territory against other females. The relative importance of these factors is debated, and it is not clear which was responsible for the establishment of group life and which are secondary benefits.

That meant that this had to be a pride of mountain lions and a flourishing one at that from what it looks like but that would not explain the cougars in the area Arlo would flick through his phone again.

The cougar is a cat of many names: Puma, mountain lion, and catamount, among others.

This adaptable predator has the widest range of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, and can be found in many habitats throughout the Americas, from Florida swamps to Canadian forests. In some areas, such as heavily urbanized southern California, cougars are increasingly sharing space with people.

Cougars are the world’s fourth largest wildcat after lions, tigers, and jaguars. They are stocky with large hind legs and a long tail—about a third of their length—which provides balance. Their strong back legs enable them to leap around 40 feet horizontally, or 18 feet vertically in a single jump.

But these were not lions those were actual lions you could easily tell the difference from their manes. While looking the others would finally arrive and the group would begin taking out all of the animals honestly it didn't take long and before they finished they would skin every single one of them the little extra zenii could not be passed on.

Happy Birthday Arlo Continued

The blonde ducked out of his range, relinquishing his bold attack in favour of not being captured in the crushing arms of Arlo, who looked positively feral as he brought his arm back and stormed forward. His range was impressive, lashing out in an enourmous haymaker, which Vallar was forced to dodge, as blocking it would have had him swept away by the power. Though annoyed he was unable to make the connection, he pressed forward, blocking the sharp attacks from the smaller man where he could, discerning which ones he could allow to strike as long as he was able to get in closer and get revenge. For every three hits he took, he managed to land one equal to the collective force of the blows he recieve. The war of attrition was a desperate tactic, but when the taller of the two was fueled by an unnerving love of fighting, it definitely turned the tactic into something more terrifying than it should have been. Perhaps the reason he was so god damn tall was the same reason he was so god damn stupid and loved fighting so much. Somewhere along the line there was a troll in his bloodline or something equally dense. The fists of the blonde struck his solid guard as the two them tried to trade blows, both keeping their guards tight enough to prevent the other from getting inside and doing further damage, any hits that landed were allowed to land, losing a fight to win the war so to speak. The two were both impressive, size and strength versus speed and tactics, though the difference in aggression was apparent.

The bestial grin and the mania clearly visible in his eyes, Arlo was clearly the aggressor, and though Vallar was able to get strikes in, he was pressed on his back foot, as his strikes were becoming nothing more than defensive answers to the forceful and aggressive drive forward that the taller fighter was progressing with. Arlo took a powerful kick to the side, but he tensed his body and used that as an opportunity to step in with his right foot, turning his upper body, his left arm clamping the leg with his waist, and his right hand struck out violently aiming to strike the blondes nose. Vallar was quick though, and leaned back, feeling the wind of the strike tussle his hair as he brought his free leg up, stamping out, aiming for the chin of the dark haired fighter, right between the strike that had gone overhead. Instead of allowing the strike to land, Arlo turned spun, throwing the kick off, and then releasing the captured leg, throwing the blonde off to the side, where he managed to rotate his body in the air and land in a three point stance, his head snapping up as the demon leapt forward, one hand drawn back ready to strike. The blonde moved to stand, at the same time he twisted in so that his right shoulder drove into the chest of the brunette, both of his hands grasping the striking wrist, and used his momentum to slam him into the ground.

Arlo skidded on his back as he struck the ground, he blinked, seeing the light blue sky blotted out by the dark shape of his opponent and his foot which was descending down to break his nose in a dangerous axe drop kick. The earth beneath the spot where the black haired fighter had rested his head cracked as the strike was avoided as he rolled, and positioned like a sprinter in his starting blocks, the dirty snake warrior burst forward with impressive speed, his arms reaching out casting a wide net that the blonde would be unable to escape from this position. The shock on his face displayed that he realized that all paths were closed to him, and as Arlo drove his shoulder into his opponent, his arms snapping shut around his midsection, trapping his arms in his vice grip as he pulled the shorter man into the air. Vallar swore loudly as he was crushed by the tree trunk arms of his friend, and the Titan cackled loudly.

"Giving up yet?"

He was met by more swear words forced through gritted teeth as he tightened his grip and brought him closer, preventing him from lashing out with his feet, but still tensing his body as powerfully as he could to prevent the small strikes that he could not prevent from hurting him. The blonde writhed with as much strength as he could muster, but everyone knew, once Arlo got a hold of you, you were not going to escape his powerful grip. He grimaced, then cried out as the grip grew tighter, but saw from behind, out of the view of Arlo, that one of their fellow former dojo members was coming running to jump in on the fight. This was going to hurt, but the blonde decided that he would take the hit for the team, as long as he got some backup to try and fight alongside him. He scrunched his eyes shut as the newcomer leapt into the air, the bangles on his wrists glittering in the light, his long black hair flowing skyward as he began to descend from the skies. Arlo grunted loudly as the strike hit him in the back, but he refused to let go of Vallar, and they both fell forward, the black haired demon crushed the blonde as they struck the ground, but rolled off quickly, ignoring the groaning of the blonde as he tried to reclaim the breath that had been squeezed from his body, and then crushed out too.

"Pick on someone your own size shithead, that little wuss isn't gonna be a challenge"

Arlo wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and spat the rest out, his feral grin turned vicious as his teeth were stained crimson.

"He may be a wuss, but at least he can hit without resorting to a sucker punch"

There was a half-hearted disagreement from the ground next to them, but both of the fighters ignored it. The demon looked his newest opponent up and down. Bengal, almost as tall as he was, but almost twice as wide. The man was muscles on top of muscles, and his clothes always seemed to be on the verge of tearing no matter how he moved. Like Arlo, the new arrival had black hair, but instead of being spikey and messy, his was long and flowing, and though typically tied back in a neat bun on the top of his head, it looked pretty good either way. He pointed a thick finger in the face of the taller demon and declared:

"I'll hit you with every other punch in my arsenal too"

Arlo cracked his neck and rolled his right arm, trying to loosen up his joints getting ready for the next fight, the faint groans of his friend were audible behind him, and it sounded like he was not going to be getting up any time soon. Arlo almost felt bad, he had landed on him pretty hard, and he had no way to properly defend himself from getting crushed. He'd be fine though, even from Arlo he had suffered worse. The demon was a little sore from his practice, but with the glint in the eye of his new opponent, he felt like he was about to get a whole lot more to complain about.

Arlo and Bengal locked fingers as their hands caught each other between the two powerful warriors. Though the younger demon held the advantage in height, tough by a smaller margin than with any other combatant, the two could be considered equals in power, and the older demon was miles ahead in experience, which; if the taller demon's math added up, meant he was on the back foot in this fight, but that was not going to stop him from going all out. The two struggled against each other, muscles quaking against the powerful grapple, the lines and sinew visible in their arms, the veins bulging throughout their bodies as their hearts pumped at a brutal pace. Arlo ground his teeth so hard it felt like they were going to crack as he tried to overpower his opponent, but his combatant would not budge no matter how much strength he poured against him. It felt like battling a force of nature, barely containing an avalanche that was about to bury him. Bengal bared his teeth, his eyes filled with bloodlust as he stared through the younger Airontoku, telling him where he was going to bury him. With an enormous roar, Bengal pushed forward with his left foot, turning his shoulder and pushing forward with his left hand too, driving his foe back, and Batal has no choice but to pull his right arm back to compensate, his right foot moving backwards too to even himself out. As her roared, he twisted, he pushed their hands down, and the force of nature overcame man.

His vision flashed white as the thick knee met his chin as he drove it upwards through Arlo's defense, and he was thrown backwards, his body reacting before his mind could, flipping him over and landing on his feet. The ringing in his ears was unbearable as his brain tried desperately to restore fully operations, but his vision blurred severely. Luckily, Arlo was a hard target to miss, and though the edge of his visage blurred into the background, he was easy enough to spot. Without batting an eye, the taller Demon blocked the incoming kick with his left arm and shoulder, the metal of his old saiyan armor protecting him from the heavier portion of the boot that was meant to seemingly take his head clean off of his shoulders. Arlo countered the kick as Bengal pulled his leg back, his right hand striking the flesh on the left side of his square jaw, knocking his head sideways, but not knocking the stupid grin off of his face. He recovered quickly blocked the next strike that Arlo threw with his left hand this time, preventing the combination of two quick jabs from landing. The shorter fighter drew his guard in and hunched his shoulders preventing any more easy strikes from his younger counterpart, his guarded boxing stance making him a much more difficult target, and centering him as a launching pad for what would surely be devastating blows that would use his powerful upper body strength to its full capacity.

The demon was nothing if not reckless though, and instead of retreating into a defense fighting stance, he increased the speed and power of his attacks, raining them down on each reachable inch of flesh on the body of his target. Even as the metal sounded painfully against bare flesh, Bengal did not flinch, simply keeping his guard up against the flurry, using his shoulders, forehead, forearms and fists to absorb the majority of the damage. He stepped back with each round of strikes, and the intensity with which Batal rained down his fists against the guarded form of the older demon prevented him from unleashing any counter attacks, as any movement that was not defending would open him up to some severe punishment. Tiring of his attacks not breaking through the powerful guard, the demon moved in, his powerful hands grasping the guarding fists, and he pulled him in tight, preventing from attacking, and drove his knee with sickening strength upwards into the abdomen of his opponent. Flesh met flesh as he drove his knee upwards, and though he struck with all of his might, striking Bengal felt like striking a wall, the man had a body comprised of steel and madness. The younger fighter could often forget that his own body was made of the same steel, he was simply not as honed in combat, and he had not yet formed that powerful thick skin that the demon were known for. Perhaps through this fight, he would be able to develop some of that when he inevitably got his shit kicked in.

"Why"

He struck again with his knee into the gut of the older boy.

"Won't"

Another sickening thud of flesh against flesh

"You"

Again he struck, his knee was beginning to grow sore from striking such a powerful defense

"Fall"

He punctuated the sentence with yet another strike, but instead of groaning in pain, he could feel the laughter growing in the chest of Bengal, and his blood ran cold, an impressive feat for an demon. His head was flung back and he spat blood as he was headbutted, then the momentum of his body reversed as a powerful sidekick struck him in the stomach, folding him over, readying him for a blow in the face as Bengal connected a haymaker, sending him sprawling sideways on the earth, rolling a few times before coming to a stop, his vision once again spinning as the blue sky filled his vision, the clouds fading in and out of view.

"You fall over a little too easy, is that it?"

Arlo was not happy with that. He pressed a hand against his forehead and closed his eyes, trying to tell his brain to keep up and stop spinning. After a minute of lying on the earth, he managed to bring himself to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth.

"I'm just warming up, don't worry. I forgot how thick your head is, but don't worry, I'll break through that guard of yours"

He held his right hand aloft, clenching his fist, the leather of creaking under the pressure.

The two bulky fighters grinned madly at each other, the blonde who sat off to the side looked at them with withering contempt, as they were both idiots, but they were both powerful idiots. Arlo was basically a useless street fighter in comparison to Bengal, who had more experience in fighting, which clearly showed in his stance and technique, but also showed in his superior defense. Arlo was tough, that much was certain, but his abilities were outmatched by the older boy who had developed his Ironhide to a much greater degree than most standard humans, almost to an saiyan degree. That meant that even if they had equal experience in combat, his friend would already be significantly outmatched simply due to their endurance differences. It would be interesting to see how he was going to manage to get the upper hand, or at the very least, how he was going to get anything through that iron guard of the older, crazier boy. If anything, it was going to be very interesting to see how their wild energies matched up. Arlo possessed a furious fire that could get anyone inspired to fight, but it never really crossed into the dangerous energy that seemed to exude from Bengal, as though his bloodlust was attempting to choke everyone out who breathed in the same air as the dense fighter. If anything, it did not seem to affect the younger fighter at all, so at least he was able to prevent himself from being overwhelmed simply by the bloodlust presence.

Two fists struck each other as they attacked. The blow rattled his entire body, and Arlo grimaced as could feel his foundations starting to break, he could have sworn that the bones in his forearms were cracking thanks to that strike, but he was not going to back down from the challenge. If the medical team was going to have to be dragged in to scrape him off of the ground, then so be it, he was going to break that stupid thick skull of Bengal no matter what. He stepped back, bringing his head back, feeling the heat from the swing wash over him, he watched the body language of his opponent to read the next strike, which came quickly in the form of a left-handed upper cut which he awkwardly tucked his right shoulder into his chest in order to block the strike, which managed to deflect the majority of the blow, but still sent him back another couple of steps. He dodged another strike aimed for his face, moving his body to the left his left hand launching forward, cracking against Bengal's jaw, sending his head reeling back. The stagger empowered Batal, and he stepped forward getting into the guard of the older Airontoku, preventing him from closing up again, and he rained down with a powerful right-handed strike which caught his opponent in the left side of his face, stretching his neck as his surprised face cranked as far right as his neck would allow.

Bengal let out a pained roar as he brought his whole body back, twisting violently, his right hand coming around in a haymaker. From his offensive stance, having put as much force into his strike as he could, it was all he could to pull his upper body back and bring his left arm up to prevent the blow from hitting him with its complete power. It struck his forearm first, which struck his face, then the rest of the strike sent him flying to the side as he cried out in pain. His feet scraped against the earth, tearing it up as he slid, dust kicked up from underneath him. The skin on his arm where the strike had landed was bruising already, his arm throbbed in unbelievable pain, and even his face was beginning to bruise too, even having been blocked, that punch was something else. He was still standing though, and he was actually kind of impressed with himself. Plus, Bengal wasn't looking too hot himself, strands of his normally perfectly kempt black hair was sticking to his sweaty face, it looked knotted and dirty, and it framed his now bruised face, which looked infuriated, like an apex predator that was about to eat some defenseless animal. Arlo rubbed his face with his good hand and grinned at the sheer volume of anger that outpoured from his opponent.

"Gottem"

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to poke the bear, but he had come this far already, what did he have to lose? Even beneath the metal of his gauntlets, his fists ached from the blows he had rained against the thick human carapace, but he was getting used to it with every strike that he landed. He could feel the difference between the first few blows he had landed in comparison to the last one. The follow-through was important, the way he was throwing the punches was not too different, but he was following through more, which slowed his strikes marginally, but increased his power significantly. The more time he spent wearing the gauntlets in combat, the more accustomed to the additional weight he became, and the more confident he was that he could break any sort of defense with the metallic knuckles. He took in a deep breath of air and held it for a moment, trying to cool himself down a little, feeling the need to slow his heartbeat down, as it was pounding in his ears, drowning out the rest of the world. He did not realize how close he was getting to losing it. Maybe that wouldn't be the worst idea.

"I'm gonna rip your f*@king head off"

Uh oh.

Each strike that Bengal let loose felt as though it caused shockwaves as they struck with such speed, strength and ferocity that the air around him began to ignite. He was pissed, and Arlo was not having a good time, barely dodging the blows, feeling his already high body temperature begin to skyrocket as the ambient temperature of the attacks began to burn his skin ever so slightly. It was not often an demon could say he was uncomfortably hot, but it appeared here that it was not as impossible as he thought. Even rare than an overheating demon, Arlo was not on the offensive, as he was currently ducking and weaving for his life, feeling more like Vallar than himself in those moments. The attacks were full of anger and power, and the younger boy was under the impression that even one of those strikes would knock him straight out of the fight. The musculature of the body of his superior had increased, almost doubling the width of his shoulders and chest, which was.... Unexpected to say the least, but he had restrained himself from commenting, feeling as though it might simply make the man even angrier and, well, larger and deadlier. His footwork moved rapidly as he circled around, trying to keep his attacker at an arms length, though unable to shake him completely, and unable to catch a breath, constantly breathing in searing air, burning his lungs and preventing him from recovering from the beating he had already suffered already.

There were holes in his stance as he moved and struck out brazenly, but getting in close to take advantage of those mistakes that Bengal was making made him feel uneasy. Perhaps it was because he was completely outclassed in a show of strength for the first time in a long time, and though it was driven by anger and some sort of powerful transformation technique, it was still impressively terrifying. Another strike came close to knocking his head off of his shoulders, and again, he was unable to pull back far enough to draw in cool enough air to ease the ache of his lungs, as he was being pursued with such fervor that even his exceptional endurance was being drained. A powerful stomping kick came towards him, and he decided that this was going to be the time to strike. He moved his body to the side, letting the heat wash over his body as he moved in close. Even at the distance between the two, it felt as though Batal had submerged himself in a fire completely. Though not unbearable thanks to his resistances, it was beyond the scope of his abilities, and he knew for certain in this moment that he was outclassed in every single way by his opponent, and what he was doing was basically buying time, and putting himself in the firing line to practice his abilities. It did not seem like a sensible trade, but he was not the most sensible guy, so he was fine with that. All he really wanted to do was land a good, solid hit, even if it ultimately did nothing, it would make him feel better.

He closed in and he could see the whites of the eyes of his opponent, bloodshot and nearly blotted out by the blackness of his pupil which had consumed the iris and spread further than it should have, as though the madness had a physical effect on his body. Arlo was not sure what was happening with that, but it was probably something to do with the fact he was twice the size of a normal man who was already quite large. His gloved fist struck out against the cheek of Bengal, and with some satisfaction, he felt the blade cut into the flesh of his opponent's cheek, managing to break through the enhanced iron hide. The strike itself did not seem to have entirely the intended effect he wanted, such as freeing up some space, in fact, because he had put as much of his power into it as he could, he had managed to close the gap between them and not force the larger Airontoku away. Bengal seized at his mistake, gripping Batal by the wrist and pulled as hard as he could. Arlo felt himself pulled from his feet and his back slammed into the ground, cracking the earth, he lay momentarily stunned before he was pulled back into the air and the earth rushed up to meet his face and he tensed his entire body moments before he hit the ground. He went limp and his hand dropped to the ground as Bengal released his grip on his wrist, raising one large booted foot in the air above the head of the taller Airontoku, who was currently groaning, face down into the earth, unaware of the coming attack.

Bengal grunted as he was struck by an enormous full blade, dented and blunted from being used for training, and now the blade had a new, man shaped dent in the edge. The blonde stood above his friend, his eyes narrowed and focused on the overwhelmingly powerful boy who was currently about to stomp on his friend.

"Kicking a man while he's down, disappointing"

The black haired boy glared at the blonde gripping the blunt edge of the blade, preventing Vallar from pulling the weapon back and preparing another attack. He did not release it though, knowing that giving the man a weapon like this would make him even more dangerous. With his strength, even that thick edge of the weapon could probably cut effectively.

"Whooo! thanks for the time out!"

Arlo seized the ankle of his opponent and wrenched as hard as he could, breaking his balance and sending him to his back as the younger warrior leaped on top, his hands striking Bengal in the face repeatedly, each strike drawing more and more blood as he began to break through the iron hide with more effect, though the rage that clearly imbued him with power certainly managed to dull some of the effects, as even as the strikes rained down, he roared out and bucked the demon from his chest, who took the hint and rolled away, Vallar mirroring the movement and stepping back, giving himself some breathing room too. Arlo was breathing heavily, and his body was in a lot of pain, but he'd be knocked out before he submitted. The enraged fighter clambered to his feet, his chest heaving heavily, blood running down the multiple cuts on his face, and his nose was currently bent out of shape.

With powerful arms extended outward, his chest seemed to increase in size again as he thrust his head backward, his mouth opening wide and from his maw an unbelievable scream was let loose. It was so guttural that Arlo was pretty sure that the blood coming from his mouth was not caused by his attacks, as those did not seem to be doing much damage anyway, but by him tearing his own vocal cords with the power of his voice. The taller boy supposed that the older one was pretty mad at this point, but it was kind of embarrassing on his part to get so worked up by sparring, especially since the bulky madman was clearly outclassing him. The demon felt like a seven-foot-tall pile of shit at the moment, and he did not suppose by being in this fight much longer he would be feeling much better anytime soon, but he had resigned himself to his fate, and he was not going to try and calm the big guy down and save his own skin. He promised himself time and time again that he would not walk away, but occasionally after a thorough thrashing, he had to remind himself of that attitude, because man was he in some pain. Not fully taking his eyes off of his opponent, he checked the two new grooves in the earth on the battlefield, both vaguely in the shape of him. He checked his bare chest, covered in dirt and scratches, but Vallar could be blamed for some of that too. Were they maybe practicing a little too hard?

The shriek ended and Bengal stood alert, his eyes bloodshot, irises completely consumed by his pupils. His body heaved with an effort from breathing, and his muscles throbbed eagerly in their swollen state. The younger boy was impressed, and also slightly disgusted by the form that the man had taken, it was clearly powerful, incredibly so, but as his power grew, it eroded at his sanity, and without his sanity, he was much easier to predict and fight. Not very easy to damage though, which was why he was getting in some practice with his gauntlets, trying to get the angle right so it did not matter how resistant something was to damage, he could get them with the edge of steel and bypass anything stupid like that. Hiding behind armor or special defenses was for punks. But hiding behind raw muscle and natural resistances... Arlo was not quite sure where he stood on yet, as it was natural to assume that he would one day gain these powers, though it was another promise to himself that he would make them look way more impressive than Bengal. Though considering all things, he did look pretty badass, it was just a shame that he had to be such an asshole about it. If the guy had a more chill personality, then maybe they could have trained together and the taller of the two could have learned some things from him, instead, they just butted heads all the time, though compared to last time they got in a fight, he was way stronger. Batal was not sure what kind of training he had been put through, but it must have been hell.

"I guess I've been taking it too easy, I've fallen way behind and I gotta catch up"

Arlo moved first this time, charging into his target, who swung wildly with his right hand, forcing the younger man to stagger his last step and let the attack sweep in front as his left hand guided the attack with some force, forcing him to overreach with the punch, opening up his rib cage, now clad in expanded muscle, and strike twice, hard and fast with his right hand, both punches landing with satisfying sounds of metal on flesh. Beneath the white fabric of his severely stretched white top, blood began to show, a small line where the metal had cut the muscle at first, then rapidly expanding as the blood began to flow. Arlo did not expect that strike to have caused a significant amount of damage on the surface level, but it was in an awkward place, and he knew the angry boy would have a much more difficult time using his right arm for such powerful attacks now, as that cut on his latissimus dorsi would hurt with each movement. Or it was supposed to, but he seemed too far gone to be having a standard pain threshold. A few more might allow him to build up the pain. Bengal twisted his upper body, his right arm moving back in a reverse grip, his massive hands aiming to catch Batals head beneath the thick fingers. Luckily, the taller man dodged the clawing strike, able to kick out his right leg and push off one of his opponent's solid thighs, sending him a few steps backward.

Bengal snarled and Arlo lowered his stance as they two approached to clash again, a powerful two-handed hammerfist came down from above, the taller boy dodged to the side but winced as shrapnel from the earth peppered him, the sharp edges of the debris slicing his skin as it exploded from the impact. He sacrificed his stable footing for another hit on the other side this time, his gauntlets once more slicing into flesh, spreading more blood on the man's clothing. With how cheap the bastard was, Arlo was expecting a bill for dry-cleaning after this, which would hurt the broke boys more than any punch could. His eyes moved up and down the muscular frame of his opponent. Maybe not. He rolled after the punch, having no way of safely recouping his footing without exposing himself to a hit that would knock him out. Landing a few feet behind Bengal, he considered leaping onto his back and striking, but moments after that consideration flashed across his mind, the madman turned around, and he realized that he would have landed right into his grasp had he chosen the offensive path here. He was learning quite a lot about fighting way above his weight class. He liked to think this was how Vallar felt in comparison to fighting him, but he was certain that the gulf that separated himself and Bengal was significantly larger than the crack in the earth that represented the difference between him and his best friend.


to be continued

[attr="class","yami1"]"Npc" ""Arlo""
6641 Words

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