Thief: Part Six by _joleveeflareporeon |  |
Prologue
Well now we're in the middle of the tourney. Everything
so far seems fine as Viper wins his first match, but he doesn't yet know how
difficult the battles to come will be. Come, leave the computer, and join
me in the stands... I have even saved you a seat and some popcorn...
After Viper's victory, Canis Lupus joined the
second round to make an even eight. Only ten minutes later, WolverineX2 knocked
Jester, the little spotted Kacheek, out of the competition. Legolas and DrakenFireXL
faced off in a long match, but in the end, DrakenFireXL emerged victorious.
In the third second-round match, Kar escaped with a very near win.
Viper was up at bat once again. He wasn't nervous
this time when he stepped into the arena. He went straight over to Raven and
Einstein. Wall-Climber glared at him angrily; Viper ignored him.
"So?"
"Okay... Canis Lupus..." started Einstein, looking
at the screen. This time there was a picture of a ferocious Halloween Lupe on
it, except it wasn't nearly as terrifying as the real one that stood only thirty
feet away. His eyes were the most frightening of all, both of them steely and
bloodshot. "He's got 83 HP and is real high in strength and defence, but he's
pretty slow. Canis Lupus is also a 'no-weaponer' like you. By the way, did you
know that Canis Lupus is also the scientific name for wolf?"
Viper looked at Raven, puzzled. "What's a...'wolf'?"
She laughed. "It's kind of an earthling version
of you... Only it doesn't talk, can't be tamed, and is afraid of humans." Raven
scratched the underside of Viper's jaw. "Be careful."
He was about to go when Einstein called to him.
"Oh, and Viper?" He turned around. "Good luck."
Viper grinned at him. "Thanks, Einstein."
From across the arena, Canis Lupus howled and
bared his teeth, making him look even wilder. He pawed the ground furiously
like a bull on the verge of charging, and threw himself at Viper. Fortunately,
just as Einstein had said, he was sluggish so Viper could dodge him easily.
Noticing that Viper was no longer in his path, the monstrous Lupe caught his
footing and spun around, nearly tripping. This caught Viper by surprise and
he wasn't so lucky when Canis Lupus' massive paw struck him. His paw was even
larger than that that of a Grizzly and it knocked Viper to the ground a few
feet away.
He was about to get up when he felt the beast's
hot breath breathing on him. He saw Canis Lupus raising his paw to strike again,
but when he brought it down Viper rolled swiftly out of the way. He rose and,
instead of charging the Halloween Lupe, he began running towards the wall. Just
as Viper had planned, the dim-witted Lupe was following him. Viper gained speed
as he neared the wall, and when close enough, he sprang right at it. Exactly
like he'd hoped, his rear paws hit the wall first, allowing to push off of it,
sending him right at Canis Lupus at double the speed.
The poor Neopet didn't know what hit him when
Viper's forepaws struck his chest. The force sent them both flying, but Viper
was in control. When they neared the ground, he sprang off of Canis Lupus and
landed smoothly a few feet away. Canis Lupus wasn't so lucky. He landed, back
first, on the hard cement floor. He wasn't yet unconscious but he was winded
badly.
Curiously, Viper padded over to him. On Canis
Lupus' chest that was slowly rising and falling, were claw marks from when Viper
had pushed off. Without warning, the massive Lupe's eye opened a slit and, mustering
every last bit of his strength, he flung himself at Viper. Canis Lupus had the
element of surprise on his side this time and now he was on top of Viper, growling
madly. Viper could feel his partially healed shoulder beginning to crack under
the wild Lupe's weight. Suddenly Canis Lupus shivered and his bloodshot eyes
closed as he lost consciousness, crashing down on Viper. The mutant, so small
in comparison to Canis Lupus, felt his shoulder shatter completely. He was afraid
that he would lose consciousness and have to have a rematch but then the ref.
blew the whistle to signal the match's end. Viper had won.
* * *
While WolverineX2 fought DrakenFireXL for an automatic place in the top three,
Raven was in the waiting room with Viper, helping him gulp down a Healing Potion
VII. It helped... a little. And while she did that, Einstein explained that
his opponent, Kar the green Krawk, had 96 HP and was especially good with his
twin Bronze Short Swords. Einstein described that Kar used his swords in the
traditional fashion of the Mon-Kri-a band of Krawks, long Extinct, from Mystery
Isle-crossing the twin bladed attacks with the art of NeoFu.
Viper turned to look at the chart just as skull-and-crossbones
appeared on WolverineX2's name. Raven tightened his shoulder plate and patted
him on the back.
"Go on."
As Viper walked out onto the arena, he found
that his opponent was not the one waiting this time. The mutant didn't have
to wait long though. The door at the opposite side of the arena opened, and
Kar the Krawk came bouncing out, doing a series of fancy front flips. He stopped
just a few feet away from Viper, waiting for the referee's whistle to blow.
On his back were two crossed scabbards, each one holding a Bronze Short Sword.
The moment the ref.'s whistle sounded, Kar pulled
them from their scabbards, and held them, still crossed in front of his chest.
Viper growled and began circling the Krawk. Even when he was right behind Kar,
the Krawk didn't even flinch. Hmm, thought Viper. Maybe he's scared
stiff!
Viper leapt at him from behind, but just as
he was about to knock Kar over, the green Krawk jumped high into the air. Viper
looked around himself, confused. Kar was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly something
smashed into him from above. Viper was knocked to the ground by the force of
the blow and, just as he saw a flash of bronze coming towards him, he rolled
out of the way and got back up on his feet. At the other side of the arena,
Kar stood, gripping one of his Bronze Short Swords by the blade. Only then did
it occur to Viper what the Krawk was going to do, but it was too late. The blade
whizzed past him, slicing the side of his neck and then continuing its flight.
With a dull clank it hit the side of the wall. Ignoring his wound completely,
Viper ran over to it and grabbed it before Kar could. It was heavy and a bit
awkward to hold at first, but at least the sword was a weapon.
Angrily, the Krawk twirled his remaining sword
and threw it. Instead of going straight like the other one, it began curving
like a boomerang. It slashed across Viper's chest and returned to its wielder.
Kar caught it easily in his right claw, and did a few front flips before finally
landing right in front of Viper. He faked a right slash, causing Viper to move
to parry it, then made a true left slash. The blade cut right across Viper's
snake scar. Viper yelped and dropped the sword.
Kar reached down to grab it, but Viper batted
it away with his bushy tail. Surprised, the Krawk stumbled and fell to the ground.
The mutant placed on paw squarely on his back and the other on his Bronze Short
Sword, which he still had clutched in his scaly hand, holding them both to the
ground. Kar made a few feeble attempts to snap at Viper's ankles before finally
giving in.
The ref., which was a checkered Gelert, stepped
into the arena and began to count down. "Three... Two... One..." He looked up
at the crowd. "Kar has forfeited the match; Viper wins!"
To be continued...
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