Dedicated to Don81.

Happy birthday

“Wellp? What’s the problem?” Vincent took another drag from his rolled up cigarette.

“Just as I suspected.”  Alex stood up, wiping her hands and putting the rag in the chest pocket of her overalls. “It’s broken.”

The rat took a glance at the she-wolf, his expression unimpressed.

“Do you want me to explain the problem exactly?” Alex said, noticing his annoyance.

“Not really, no.” Vincent calmly replied.

He took off his goggles and looked through his binoculars.

“Although I wouldn’t mind hearing the gist of it…” he added, trailing off as he took another smoke.

“The magneto stator is busted.” Alex answered, pulling out the part from the sandrail.

“Can you fix it?”  the rat asked, still scanning through his binoculars.

“Not in these conditions.” The wolf clicked her tongue. She took a moment to look at the black rat standing on top of the sandrail. “You see anything?”

“Dust. Sand.” He said with a deadpan tone of voice, letting his binoculars hang from his neck as he threw his fag on the ground. “There was a rock as well. But I’ve seen better.”

Alex dragged her hand across her face, not really appreciating the rat’s attempts of dried witticisms.

“Why do I keep you around?” Alex huffed as she got into the driver’s seat and pulled out a canteen.

“Because of my adventurous spirit.” Vincent replied while rolling another cigarette. “Besides, I think I add a little bit of levity to our dire situations.”

“Most of which you cause.” She replied after taking a swing of water from the canteen.

“No one is perfect.” Vincent answered, not really paying attention and handed her the cigarette after which he started rolling another one.

The rat lit his cigarette and handed Alex the lighter. After taking a long drag, she turned to Vincent, who was calmly smoking, dangling his small legs off the frame and asked him with smoke coming out of her mouth. “What now?”

Vincent, as nonchalant as ever, simply lifted his tiny shoulders. Alex hit her head on the steering wheel.

“We are going to die here.”

Not to be the one to be disheartened so easily, Vincent took a deep sigh.

“A few miles back, I saw a settlement on the horizon.”

“How much is a few miles?” Alex turned her head to the side to look at the rat.

Vincent rolled his cigarette across his fingers, admiring its movements. “Twenty. Thirty. Maybe a bit more.”

Alex groaned and pushed herself back, hitting the seat with full force. Vincent took a glance at her, took another drag from his cigarette and jumped to the ground, his bare feet feeling the sting of the hot sand. He got into the passenger seat and stretched out, while Alex looked into the distant with an empty stare, smoking her own cigarette from time to time.

“We should probably get moving.” Vincent commented. “If we hurry, we just might get there before the sun starts setting.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She said with a bit of disdain in her voice.

“You have to push the sandrail. You know that right?”

She let out a grunt of contempt. “I don’t want to.”

“Neither do I.” Vincent chuckled to his own amusement. “But better you than me.”

After a few more unintelligible noises, Alex got out of the sandrail and Vincent got into the driver’s seat. Alex got behind the sandrail and pushed it lightly, the vehicle barely moving.

“Come on now, Alex!” Vincent yelled out from inside. “You are a strong and muscular wolf-girl! I believe in you! You can do this!”

“Oh, shut up!” she yelled back at the rat, unimpressed with his half-heated attempts at motivating her. She looked up at the sun, soon to reach its highest point.

“What’s taking you?” Vincent shouted from his seat. “Do you need another pep talk?”

She didn’t answer. Alex took out all her tools from her pockets, placing them in the sandrail. She grabbed the canteen and poured some water onto a bandana which she tied on her head, the cool liquid refreshing her and providing sufficient protection from the sun. She undid the straps on her overalls, letting them fall by her side. After a very quick warm up and some more encouragements from Vincent, Alex grabbed two of the back frames of the sandrail and pushed hard, the muscles of her wide back straining.

“Ladies and gentlemen. We have lift off.” Vincent laughed, a new cigarette in his mouth, he spun the wheel and the vehicle turning backwards to their new destination.

“Will you shut up!” Alex yelled out with a horse voice, her dirty white shirt was already sticking to her body from the sweat.

#

“Dust…” Vincent mumbled, dragging his finger across the sign just outside the town. “…ville…”. He took a glance beyond the sign, so crudely made and painted, with rusty nails poking out, towards the settlement. From this distance, it looked in shambles, patchworks of metal, wood and clay forming buildings just structurally sound enough not to fall apart from the first sandstorm.

The rat clicked his tongue. “We’re here.”

He turned towards Alex, who was heavily panting, collapsed on the ground besides their vehicle. “Rise and shine, Sunshine. We got a doohickey to appropriate.”

Alex didn’t move. She stared at the sky trying to catch her breath, the desert heat slowly passing by.

“Come on now. We can’t really stay here all night. People will think we’re mental.” Vincent jumped in front of Alex’s view and pushed a cigarette in her mouth.

After a long inhale, Alex finally turned her head to the side. “We are mental, Vince.”

“If you repeat something long enough, it becomes true.” He answered, sitting down beside her.

Alex sat up and took another drag. “Where did you hear that?”

“I read a book once on the matter.” Vincent shrugged. “Shall we go?”

With a sigh, the wolf pushed herself up and lead the way into Dustville.

“So…what was it that we need?” Vincent asked, following his companion.

“Magneto stator.” Alex replied, handing the device to Vincent. “A part like that might cost us a lot. More than we have. I guess I could find some work as a mechanic for a little while…”

“…or we can steal it.” Vincent chimed in.

“Vinnie. We’ve stolen enough. I don’t think we need to get involved in any more…outlaw stuff right now.”

“It will be cheaper.”

“I know how stealing works.” She sighed as they entered the town.

The further they went into the town, the more residents would appear. Lizard people slowly flooded the streets as if from nowhere, doing their daily routines, trading at shops, preparing food or fixing machines, each one of them smiling and greeting the new arrivals.

“Ugh…lizard people…” Vincent mumbled to Alex. “I take it back. Your plan of staying outside is better.”

“That wasn’t my plan…” Alex answered, looking around the colorful bazaar. “Do you think we’re the only non lizards around?”

“I hope not.” Vincent spat as he fixed himself a cigarette. “Don’t really like lizards. Ill-gotten folk if you ask me. Nothing much to offer. Lets steal the gizmo and get out.”

“We won’t be stealing it.”

“Come on! You love stealing!”

“You love stealing.” Alex interjected calmly. “I tolerate your love to a reasonable extent.”

“I’m fairly certain this is in the sphere of the reasonable.” Vincent huffed.

“Last time I let you do whatever you want, we got chased 50 miles by a band of cannibals. I don’t want a repeat of the same story.”

“Made us rich, didn’t I?” Vincent grinned, to which Alex simply sighed.

“For about a week maybe.”

“Now. That was entirely your fault.”

“Please, let us not discuss each other’s vices, alright?” Alex snapped.

Vincent took a long look at the wolf and turned away. “Killjoy.” He mumbled as he crushed out his cigarette.

“Yes. Yes, I am. Let’s ask around. We need the money and we need it fast.”

At that moment a hand grabbed Alex by the shoulder. She quickly spun around, her fists up, ready to fight.

“I am sorry…” a lizard, in a hood lifted his hands, his scales yellow on top of blue. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but hear that you are looking for some quick cash?”

Alex narrowed her eyes, not letting her guard down. “Yeah? What of it?”

“Well…” the lizard slowly reached into his robe and pulled out a piece of paper. “I happened to notice that you aren’t from around here. I work at the Deathplane.” He pointed at a huge circular building, located deep in the city, reaching far above any other building. “Tonight there is a wrestling event and it seems that we are a few fighters short and…” he eyed Alex from top to bottom. “…you look like a capable chap, more than able to stand your own.”

“Sorry, but I ain’t really a cha…” Alex began and was immediately cut-off by Vincent.

“I’m the boss here, pal. You gotta talk to me.” Vincent spoke, switching his deadpan and low tone of voice to something more rough and cocky. “Whatcha offering here, eh? My bodyguard going there and getting killt in to some deatharena?”

“Oh, not at all, Mr…”

“Steng. Rince Steng.” Vincent answered, to Alex’s complete annoyance.

“Mr. Steng.” The lizard continued. “You see, whatever horrid images the name of the building may cause you to imagine, I can assure you, once hundred percent, that no one has ever died in the arena.”

“Mhm.” Vincent answered confidently, not sure what a percent is. “And what will ya be offering?”

“There is a monetary prize for the winner, of course.”

“Which is how much?”

“Five hundred desert dreyguns.” The lizard smiled.

Alex’s jaw hung open, but Vincent managed to keep himself collected. “What’s the catch?”

“Beat everyone and you win.” The lizard shrugged. “There are prizes for second and third place of course.”

“Of course.” Vincent repeated. He nodded his head as if thinking, looked up at Alex and then back at the lizard. “Consider it done, pal.” He spat in his hand and offered the lizard a shake.

“Um…yes…” the lizard grabbed the tips of his fingers and lightly shook them. “Sign this form and offer it in the Deathplane. Be there in about two hours. They’ll give you a handbook of the rules and so on.”

“Pleasure doing business with ya.” Vincent took the form the lizard’s hand.

“Umm…yes…likewise.” He quickly answered and slipped through the crowds of people in a hurry.

Alex turned to Vincent with crossed arms as he read through the form.

“I can feel your eyes on me, Alex.” He spoke, now back to his regular speaking voice.

“What can I say, Mr. Rince Steng?” Alex huffed.

“You said you wanted money. Now we can get money.” He folded the paper up and put it in his pocket. “Shall we go, champ?”

“I don’t think I want to do this.”

“Too bad, really. Five hundred dreyguns can buy you a lot of things, you know.”

“I know…its just…” Alex stumbled on her words, but she knew she couldn’t really outtalk the rat. She grunted in defeat, to which Vincent smiled.

#

“Ugh…this uniform is way smaller than I expected.” Alex murmured as she got ready for her fight. “Hey, Vinnie? Are my tits showing?”

Vincent, sitting on one of the benches in the locker room, let out a puff of smoke and without raising his eyes from the manual simply replied “You ain’t got no tits.”

Alex furrowed her brow. “Wow. Rude.”

“Just calling it how it is.” He said and turned a page.

“Well fuck you too then.” She chuckled and fixed up her red spandex onsie.

“Sorry, Alex, you ain’t really my type.” Vincent turned another page and crushed his fag on the bench. “I prefer women who…won’t make me question my sexuality.”

“Now, you’re just being mean.” Alex walked through the empty locker room, reeking of mold and filth, and positioned herself right next to the little, black rat. “How are we going to find you a girl with that attitude?”

“How are we gonna find you a guy who isn’t gay?” Vince said as he strained his eyes to read the withered, old fighting manual.

“That’s a bit too much. Wolves aren’t really known for their…” she made a pause trying to find the right words. “…distinguishing sexual characteristics…” she slumped back on the bench and took Vincent’s tobacco bag.

“So you have told me.” He answered, flipping through the entire book.

“Besides…non-wolves don’t really do it for me…” Alex commented as she rolled herself a cigarette.

Vincent slowly turned his head and with one cocked eyebrow simply said “Didn’t really take you for a racist, Alex.”

There was a moment of silence before the pair started chuckling. While lighting her cigarette, Alex peeked over into the booklet in Vincent’s hands. A look of discomfort grabbed her as she saw the walls of text so badly copied onto the once white paper.

“That…umm…that sure is intimidating.” She clicked her tongue.

“Don’t worry. They have pictures.” Vincent said and flipped over a few pages showing drawings of figures in a fighting embrace. “Species-neutral, humanoid figures.”

Alex took the book from the rat and scanned through the images all of which depicted different grappling styles and locks accompanied by instructions, does and don’ts.

“Seems manageable…although a bit complex…” Alex said as she inspected the pages.

“Grapples are okay, fisticuffs are okay, no hitting in the throat and eyes.” Vincent commented as he took his tobacco pouch and started rolling himself another cigarette. Halfway through filling the folded paper with tobacco he stopped and turned towards the wolf, who was still trying to read the manual. “Where does the word humanoid come from?”

Alex turned back towards the rat trying to figure out where he was going with this. “What do you mean? It’s a catch all word for…you know…people.”

“Yes, yes” he waved his hand. “I mean where does it come from? Like…why is this word used?”

Alex scratched her chin, trying to remember if she had ever heard an explanation for this word. For as long as she could remember, she has known the word and had never questioned it.

“I…don’t really know…” she said with a low voice, the thought of something so familiar all of a sudden becoming so alien sent chills up her spine.

“Hmm…well, never mind.” Vincent said and continued rolling his cigarette. “We should get ready. Your match is going to start soon.”

“Right.” Alex said and got up, still a bit unnerved.

“Hey, Alex.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t worry. Your tits aren’t showing.” Vincent chuckled.

#

“Mr. Steng, your fighter will be up next.” An employee said while checking a list.

“Thank ya kindly.” Vincent replied and snapped his fingers, motioning Alex to follow him through the barely illuminated cement hallways.

“Ya ready, champ?” Vincent asked when they entered the waiting room, lighting up his cigarette.

“What’s there to be ready for?” Alex said with a laugh and a shrug. “I go in. Punch a lizard. Get out. Repeat a few times and we’re done.”

“That’s my girl.” He smiled.

Vincent sat on a bench, while Alex leaned on the wall, occasionally lightly bumping the back of her head against it to steer off the boredom and, as much she would like to deny it, the sense of pressure.  Confidence she had in spades, but she was unaware of what was waiting for her outside, the lack of knowledge keeping her a bit on edge. She looked at Vince from time to time, who didn’t seem to present any of these symptoms, although he would rarely show any true emotion whatsoever. After another few bumps on the head, Alex sighed and squatted down, paying a keen interest in a particular crack on one of the many white tiles.

There was a knock on the door.

“Enter.” Vincent said, without missing a beat.

A lizard came into the room, dressed nicer than any other one they had previously seen, with a bright purple jacket and a green pair of pants, both of which remarkably clean for the standard in Dustville.

“Jek Jok. Fight manager.” He extended an arm, covered in steel rings, towards Vincent, who in turn extended his own.

“Rince Steng. Pleasure to meet ya.”

“Likewise.” Jek smiled and turned towards Alex, who stood up. “I’m guessing you’re the new guy for the night.”

“He sure is.” Vince answered in Alex’s stead.

Jek eyed the wolf up and down, thoughtfully scratching his chin, while Alex shifted a bit in her place, unsure of what exactly to do.

“Listen, kid.” Jek said, a coy smile cracking his face. “I like you. I know a good fighter when I see one. And you, my boy. You are a good fighter.”

“Well…umm…thanks, but…” Alex stuttered.

“But is right.” Jek immediately cut her off. “I know what you’re thinking. “Who’s this guy? What’s with the compliments?” Here’s the thing. I like you. I like your gimmick. And I like the diversity you bring to the table.”

“Diversity?” Alex mustered, her eyes darting back and forth between Jek and Vincent, trying not to ruin any of her partner’s plans.

“Yeah. Diversity.” Jek shrugged. “All we got out there are lizards. Sure, they’re good fighters, but the public already knows them, you get me?” Jek let the question ring out, confusing Alex on whether or not it was rhetorical. But as soon as she was about to answer, he continued. “We manage to get other guys in here, from other towns over. But the desert is big and we can’t really afford to drive them all the way here and accommodate their stay.”

Jek strutted through the small room, Vincent carefully observing him. The lizard slid up next to Alex and wrapped a hand around her shoulders.

“Listen, kid. I’ll be honest. The bookies don’t have much faith in you. But here’s the thing. If you manage to win three matches tonight, we’ll consider putting you up on the permanent roster. Win more than that and the bigger your chance.”

“I…umm…well…” Alex quickly glanced at Vincent, who seemed to be in his own world at the moment, staring at an old, badly painted drawing of a naked lizard girl. “I should ask my manager about that…” Alex smiled as convincingly as she could.

For a second Jek frowned, but quickly smiled back at the wolf. “Completely and utterly understandable. Can’t really do business without him, can you?” Jek laughed and walked towards the door. “It was a pleasure meeting the both of you. Alex, I hope I’ll be hearing from you.”

And with that, Jek slammed the door behind him. Alex turned towards Vincent, who hadn’t blinked the entire time, the cigarette between his fingers burning out on its own.

“So…that was a thing…” Alex said, unsure as to how to approach the situation. “What do you think, Vinnie?”

“I think…” Vinnie said slowly, dragging the last bit of light from his cigarette and throwing the fag in the corner. “…that lizard women might not be my thing.”

Alex scuffed and sat by Vincent. “Anything else?” she asked, to which he simply lifted his shoulders slightly, still staring at the drawing. Alex leaned back, crossed her hands and looked towards the pulsating lights. “I don’t know. Three matches and I could get a job here. Might be a good idea. What do you think?”

“I think you should get going. Your match will start any minute now.”

“Ah…you’ll be in the crowd, right?”

“Nope.” Vincent jumped off the bench. “I’ve got to check in with these bookies that slimy lizard mentioned. There might be some game there.”

“You aren’t seriously thinking of gambling?” Alex snapped. “We don’t have the money for that.”

“Let me worry about that. You just get ready, champ.” Vincent said and he walked to the door. Just as he was about to leave, he turned towards Alex. “Oh…and by the way. Your left tit is showing.”

#

For the entire duration of time spent in the Deathplane, Alex had concluded, that although it was an impressively large structure, it offered very little else, with its broken and mismatched tiles, flickering lights, faulty self-made wiring and the ever present musk of mold and dust. She had imagined the arena being a grimy, wet and muddied field with a few dozen audience members cheering on.

Her perspective quickly changed as she stepped into, from what she understood to be, her battlechamber – a cage of sorts on the ground level, positioned between the audience stands. There she was bathed in the lights of projectors larger and brighter than she had ever witnessed before, with hundreds, if not thousands of audience members cheering her on. A booming voice echoed throughout the arena, the kind of technology she had only heard stories about and which she never truly believed. For a moment her heart stopped. And for the next half an hour, it had doubled in speed, with quick and shallow pants filling her chest and sweat quickly starting to accumulate. Although the yells of the audience members were almost deafening, the buzzing in her ears managed to overcome them in volume. And the voice on the speakers proved itself to be even more powerful.

With such charisma and confidence, somewhere, in the Deathplane, someone spoke into a device, that to Alex’s understanding, could might as well have been magical in nature.

“Dustville! Are you ready to rumble once more?” the voice asked, followed by the yells of the audience, all reptilian in nature. “I can’t hear you! Are you ready to rumble?” the voice repeated itself, answered by an even louder display than the previous one. “In that case…let’s get ready to rumble!”

With that the door to Alex’s cage burst open. With an indecisive step, she lurch forward, guided purely on instinct and adrenalin, with her brain barely managing to form a thought, let alone a cohesive sentence.

“Tonight, here at the Deathplane, we have a special surprise for you, dear viewers! He came from the west, running with the winds and communing with the trees. The blood moon guided him to our little corner of the world, promising him the chance to taste victory in true man on man combat! The deathclaw of the mountains! The nightstalker of the forests! The bloodtooth from the furthest reaches of the lands! The one and only Hearteater Alexander!”

Alex stepped onto the ring – an elevated platform, a mat bolted on it with a snake eating its own tail embroidered into it. Alex looked up, the lights almost blinding her and she saw the shades of people, throwing their arms up to the sound of the crazed audience. And then her heart got faster. No more riddled by uncertainty and a sense of fear. She felt different. She felt intoxicated. So much so that she did not notice the announcer claiming her to be of the opposite sex. Her breathing hurried, the red uniform feeling even more constrictive now than it had previously, an almost inextinguishable urge to rip it off. Alex lifted up her arms, bulging with muscle and veins, and let out a howl, the kind of howl she would let out in her earlier days with her pack. It felt like the right thing to do. And the audience approved with their insane choir.

“And from the blue corner, here he comes! Known to all, one of the champions of the Deathplane, ready and willing to take all newcomers in his sacred space, where he practices his craft of the fight! The hero of our town! The sun-chosen warrior! The bloodless renegade and the honorbound fighter! I present to you Zan of Blacksand!”

 And with an even louder cheer, the audience welcomed their hero, walking with the confident stride of someone who already knew his victory was imminent. Zan stepped onto the ring, a green lizard with patches of yellow scales sprinkled on his body, standing one head shorter than his opponent. He eyed Alex, swinging his tail back and forth, his chest sticking out, filled with pride. Alex cracked her knuckles in anticipation and got herself ready for his strike, never being the one who would first engage in combat. But he didn’t strike. He looked her up and down a couple of times as the audience slowly went quiet. And then he raised his hand up, followed by the burst of excitement and yells. He didn’t lower his hand, but rather he stood still, as if waiting for something. And then Alex noticed it.

From the ceiling a rope came. No, not a rope. A cable with something attached to its end. The device was lowered directly into his hand and he pulled it close to his mouth.

“This is the best they could offer me? A forest beast? The missing link between people and the feral animals roaming the wastes?” Zan’s words roared through the Deathplane, subduing the audience’s new found excitement. He circled Alex, never letting his eyes off her. “Nightstalker. Bloodtooth. Silly names with no true basis. Here you stand before me, with your talks of moongazing and spirit work, so rooted in your old ways. Do you even know where you are, wolf? This isn’t the forest, where you hunt down helpless prey under the cover of night. You are in civilization now. And here we have moved on from all your witchcraft and potions. Here we don’t prove our worth as warriors by slaughtering dumb animals in packs. Here, we stand as warriors, one on one, man to man. We are of the suntribe. And tonight, I will show you why moonwalkers like you should stay in your mountains. What do you have to say about that?”

Dumbfounded, Alex was offered the device in front of her face. Unsure how exactly to react to his speech, she leaned over and muttered “Fuck you too then.”

Zan’s eye grew wide and pulled the device to one side just as the audience went berserk.

“Dude! The fuck is wrong with you?” he whispered to Alex, who still didn’t know exactly what to say. “You can’t say stuff like that here! Which league did they fucking pull you out of?”

“Um…sorry?...” Alex shrugged, now completely confused about the entire situation. “I just signed in today. It’s my first time.”

“First-timer, eh?” Zan grunted. “They really decided to fuck me over here…Listen…Alexander was it? Listen.  This is standard stuff. We talk big and fancy before the fight. Don’t take any offense at what’s said, it’s part of the act. I talk, you talk, I talk and so on. A bit of theatrics to get them all riled up.” He motioned towards the audience with a slight twist of his neck. “Get them fired up and then we fight. Understand?”

“Ah…yeah…I think so…” Alex answered, now ready to get lost in the excitement.

“Do you want to try again?” Zan asked, his eyes showing a bit of reluctance.

“Yeah. I’m ready. I can do this.”

Zan narrowed his eyes and pulled the device back to his mouth.

“A brute for sure! Vulgar in nature, vulgar in tongue! Is that the only piece of language you know?”

Now confident and sure of how the entire thing works, Alex extended her hand towards Zan, flicking her fingers for him to give her the device. With a smirk of contempt, he obliged.

“You sure talk a big game, Zan, calling my life and culture beastly. Thinking you are high and mighty in your own little kingdom here. Claiming to be civilized and looking down on everybody else. Here’s the thing though…” she took a step closer to him and whispered. “…I don’t buy it.”

The crowd went wild once more and Alex noticed a gleam of approval in Zan’s eye, stirring up her spirit even more.

“The thing is I came here to see what the lizard folk are made of. I’ve heard about their fighting styles and skills and, to be completely frank, I was impressed. But here I am, standing in the Deathplane, amidst what look to be thousands of rabid fans and all I got was…” she made a small pause and took a hard look at her opponent “…just you. A little critter who throws big words around. So either put your fists up and show me where all this bravado is coming from or turn around with your tail between your legs.”

With that Alex threw the device and it rolled up to the ceiling where it came from in the blackness behind the burning lights. The crowd could barely be contained behind the fence after the speech with the announcer’s voice barely managing to overpower them.

“You are in for a show folks. The gauntlet has been thrown and you are going to witness the first ever fight between a lizard and a wolf! The sun tribe versus the moon pack! Right here! Only in the Deathplane! Fighters, walk to your corners and get ready!”

Both wrestlers did as they were told. Alex and Zan stared each other down, both assuming a crouching battle stance. Alex’s ears had long stopped ringing, barely able to hear anything else beside her shallow breathes, her entire focus falling onto her opponent. She shifted her eight back and forth, twisting her shoulders in anticipation of what’s to come. The bell rang and the announcer yelled out “Fight!”.

Alex ran towards Zan immediately throwing herself at him and managing to slam him into the ground, but the moment she was about pin him down, he managed to weasel himself away beneath her body. In that faint moment of confusion, Zan threw his leg over her neck and beneath her arm, twisting her hand to one side with his foot. Alex let out a small yellp, completely dazed at the speed and agility of her opponent. Zan lifted her body by the leg, a sense of panic talking hold of her being and threw his hand over her tails, interlocking his fingers.

Unable to move, Alex could only wiggle back and forth, a joke of a dance to the song of the yells for bloodlust. The announcer was saying something, but she couldn’t hear it, the entirety of her blood swooping into her head. She was unable to move, unable to think and everything was slowly going dark. And then she felt his grip loosen. Driven by pure instinct, she threw herself to one side, breaking away from Zan’s lock and kicking him in the chest, giving her enough time to spread the space between them.

“What a display folks! What a display! Between grapples and counters, my heart is racing! Alexander is proving himself to be a capable opponent for our hero!”

It took Alex a few seconds to regain her composure. She took on her battle stance, facing the lizard, but this time there was something odd about him. There was something in his eye, not the same approval he held earlier, but rather a look of insult, as if to say Alex was no longer welcome here.

The fighters circled each other, trying to find the best moment to strike, Alex taking off the straps of her uniform in the process and tying them around her waist and allowing herself to breathe easier.

The wrestlers launched themselves at the same time, their bodies colliding in a vicious display of strength. In the nick of the moment, Alex managed to grab Zan in a headlock, squeezing as tightly as she could. The lizard shoved his foot behind her heel and kicked, sending them both tumbling to the ground, but managing to escape her lock in the process. Alex fell to the ground and Zan slammed himself onto her, grabbing her arm and pulling back, capturing her in an arm lock.

The pain was excruciating, the hold meant to induce complete submission at the risk of losing an arm. Alex gritted her teeth, tightening her arm as much as she could, her muscles on the verge of tearing from both forces, but at the same time Zan’s grasp loosened a bit, the lizard unable stand against the wolf’s strength.

She grabbed his leg with her free arm and pushed, managing to lift his lower body off the ground. Zan let go her arm, unable to both hold his balance and keep her locked. He spun around and quickly crawled to the side to make some distance, but was immediately crushed by the wolf’s weight on his back, spinning him around and trying to grab him into a half-nelson, but her techniques were slow and sloppy, leaving the lizard enough time to out-maneuver her and escaping her grasp.

He threw himself horizontally on top of her back, grabbing her into a headlock.

“Here’s an ultimatum, kid.” Zan spoke into Alex’s ear, making sure his voice wasn’t drowned out by the crowd. “Throw the match now.”

A low growl took shape in Alex’s throat. “Why should I?”

“You don’t have a chance here. Either throw the match now and be on your merry way or I’ll expose you for what you are.”

“Oh, yeah? And what might that be?” she asked, taking the opportunity to twist her leg around on the floor to give her a good pushing off point.

“A woman.” He hissed with disgust. “This is an all male’s wrestling championship. You will be instantly eliminated and shamed. Give up now or suffer the consequences.”

“Heh…” Alex let out a small laugh as she struggled to breathe. “Here’s an ultimatum for you, tough guy. I beat you and you keep your mouth shut. Otherwise everybody will know you got beaten by a girl.”

“That’s not really an issue…” Zan couldn’t finish as Alex lifted him up and slammed him to the ground and thunderous clap.

She jumped towards him and at the last moment he lifted his knee up, Alex’s stomach getting slammed on it. She fell over to one side, convulsing on the ground from the shock and the force of the impact, trying to swear with only raspy burst of air managing to come out of her throat. Alex’s vision turned black for a second and the next thing she saw was Zan’s body, flying elbow first towards her stomach. There was no thought, only pure reaction as she curled up and simultaneously turned to one side, the lizard hitting the small opening between her arm and bicep, cushioning the blow tremendously. Alex managed to grab Zan by the wrist and with the force of her entire body turned over, throwing him to the other side of the ring.

The wolf stood up to the applause of the crowd and to the unblinking gaze of Zan. He was standing up right, arms down, his eyes cold. He was waiting for her.

Alex took a few steps to one side, then a few to the other, but he didn’t move.

“Got scared?” Alex yelled out, throwing her arms to the side, but the lizard didn’t move. Alex grinned bearing her teeth, but he remained unfazed.

The crowd got wilder, shouting, applauding, booing and everything else imaginable in between. And then Alex figured him out. He was trying to rile them up. Showing them how he wasn’t affected in any way by her. He was getting ready for something big.

“What’s the matter, Zan?” she yelled out once more, her raspy voice getting lost in the cacophony. “You forget why you came in here?”

Zan didn’t answer. He spat to one side and in a blink of an eye he completely changed his stance for something more suited to a fist fight.

“What’s this folks? Our brave champion is challenging the wicked nightwalker to a fistfight? We are truly witnessing history here, folks!”

Alex lifted her fists slowly, not completely sure what Zan was getting at. He slowly stepped closer, not breaking eye contact. Alex tensed up, getting ready for anything he was about to throw at her.

“I wasn’t born yesterday.” Zan said, loud enough to be heard by his opponent. “I’ve been around. I know how wolves…function. I know where and how to hit.” He let the end of the sentence linger on, as if trying to imply something to Alex, which she didn’t quite grasp. “Surrender now or this WILL get ugly.”

“You sure do want me to sur…” Alex was cut off as Zan threw his first punch towards he muzzle, barely missing her as she just tilted her neck back at the last second. The lizard left her no time to recover. He instantly stepped forward and threw another jab, this time towards her abdomen, hitting her elbow instead, Alex having turned just enough from the previous attack. She noticed that he was moving faster this time around. He had been holding back the entire match. For him, this was serious. The first thing that popped into Alex’s mind was something about pride and respect. The second was trying to hit him back.

She haphazardly swung her fist towards him, her attack being more of a haymaker than an actual jab. She was slow. Much slower than him. He ducked and threw himself at her, managing to land an upper cut to her gut.

For a miniscule amount of time, Alex’s entire body tensed up. And then the point of impact passed and his fist got buried in her abdomen. The wolf’s eyes bulged to the searing pain and a quick blow of air exited her mouth.

Alex took a step back, barely able to stand straight. The entire arena was spinning in front of her. With quick and shallow gasps, she slowly managed to regain her breath, although it was clearly not good enough.

“There’s no going back now, Alexander…if that’s your name…” Zan spoke. “I gave you a chance. You will not disrespect these halls while I am here. I will crush you and…” he continued on like this, but Alex couldn’t really hear any of that, between the hysterical crowd and her own personal struggle of trying to remember the basics of inhalation and exhalation.

“Sorry…” Alex spoke, now fully confident that she had the rhythm memorized. “I didn’t really catch that…something about hallways?” she said with pure honesty in her voice.

“A-are you taking the piss out of me?” Zan’s eye twitched.

“No. I really didn’t hear anything you just said…” Alex answered trying to not sound condescending as much as she could.

“You are serious? You are actually serious right now?!” Zan yelled out.

“I am, yes.” Alex shrugged, not really knowing what else to do.

“Jesu…I. Am going to fuck you up. Right now.”

“I figured it was going to be something like that…” Alex said and straightened her back, letting go of her stomach. Alex, not really being a boxing type, charged at the lizard with the full intent of just grabbing him and slamming him to the ground.

The wolf charged forward. Zan just clicked his tongue and with it letting his last ounce of pity fade away. When she was close enough, the lizard simply stepped forward and landed a direct jab into her stomach, his fist like a spear impaling his opponent.

Try as she might, Alex couldn’t really hold her breath in and her entire air supply blew out of her mouth with the sound of a raspy gurgle. And once all of her air was out, spit flew past her lips, spraying Zan. He retracted his fist and wiped his face from the saliva as Alex stumbled back and forth.

The world was going darker Alex stepped back, her jaw agape, trying to inhale with little success. Her vision narrowed as the last thing she could make out was the contour of Zan, right before she fell to her knees and then to her face.

A moment of silence.

And the crowd cheered.

“Amazing, folks! Zan the sun champion has beaten Alexand! All he has to do now is to pin him down and he will win!”

Zan walked around the wolf, her breathing almost stabilizing and her eyes slowly starting to uncross. The lizard sat on her back, making her shallow breathes even harder to intake.

“I’ll show you what happens to rule breakers around here, wolf.” Zan murmured.

A shock ran up Alex’s spine as Zan bit her tail and started pulling. She screamed in pain and panic and started thrashing back and forth, unable to escape from her opponent’s jaw. She screamed and she spun, but he didn’t let go, almost as if he was deriving pleasure from it all. Unable to do anything about, Alex was about start slamming her hand on the ring, giving up, until she saw an opportunity.

She opened her maw and with a bent in her neck she bit down on Zan’s own tail which was wagging near her. The power of her bite pierced through his skin and from the surprise and pain he let go of the wolf’s own tail and threw himself to the side causing her to lose her grip on him.

But as he flew towards the edge of the ring, his extended claw caught on his opponent’s uniform, ripping it in the process and revealing to the entire audience her privates. Zan got up, visibly surprised at what just transpired, the uniform still hanging from his hand.

 A gasp echoes through the entire stadium followed by a brief moment of silence.

“Ladies and gentlemen…” the announcer began with a shaking voice “…I have no words…except…” for a brief few seconds the sound of ruffling papers could be heard through the speakers. “…what a…display! Yes indeed! Welcome to the first ever multi gendered fight in the Deathplane!”

The shock of the crowd was immediately replaced by loud cheering, no one really noticing the blatant improvisation of the announcer. Aside from Zan and Alex. Both of them stood in shock, mouth agape, trying to locate the announcer’s cabin somewhere above amongst the blinding lights.

“Should have figured it wouldn’t have been so easy.” Zan spat and turned to Alex, fist up and ready to fight.

Alex looked at her opponent through squinted eyes, her tail still sore and ready to dish out some payback. She kneeled down and got ready for him. He ran at her, fist ready to strike with a haymaker, but when he got close enough, she surprised him with a kick straight to the crotch.

An empathetic hissing sound echoed through the arena and Zan fell to the ground on one side. He slowly turned around trying to get up, but fell to his knees, grasping at his genitals. Alex walked over him, hands to her pelvis.

“That’s for biting my tail.” She said with a smug smile. “Your mama never teach you not to touch a woman’s tail without permission?”

“And I thought you said you were a man...” Zan hissed back at her, but she paid him no mind.

Alex cracked her knuckles and prepared to pummel her opponent. She entwined her fingers and lifted her hands up in the air to smack Zan’s head, but with one fell swoop he jumped up and uppercut Alex right in the crotch, his fist almost sliding in. Her eyes bulged as he pressed further, the wolf slowly lifting herself on her toes. She wanted to attack him, but it was as if she was paralyzed, unable to move properly, she simply stood there, hands up and gritting her teeth.

A few seconds later, Zan pulled out his fist, but the moment didn’t last long. The lizard once again jumped up and slammed his fist, this time deep into her belly. Her abdomen immediately caved in upon impact, engulfing the lizard’s fist. It was almost as worse as the crotch strike. For just a second, Alex managed to exhale her entire air supply followed by a small but steady sprinkle of spit. As Zan pushed deeper into Alex, she curved herself over his arm, the sprinkling turning into a light stream when she couldn’t stand any longer and simply collapsed onto his shoulder.

“Better luck next time, “Alexander”.” Zan whispered in her ear as her eyes slowly crossed and her eyelids closed.

#

“Come on! Wake up!”

“Huh…” Alex slowly opened her eyes, the greenish glow of the tube lights in the locker room burning her retina. “Vince? What happened? Did I win?”

 “Not really, no.”  Vincent said with a puff of smoke out of his mouth. He stepped off Alex, letting her stand up. “But we should get moving.”

“Why the hurry?” she asked and immediately clasped a hand over her stomach, a sharp pain piercing her abdomen.

“Remember how I went off to check out the betting circle?” Vincent asked, crushing his cigarette and lighting the one behind his ear.

“Yeah…don’t tell me you bet on me...” the thought of owing money to lizard kneebreakers scared her stiff.

“No, not really…” Vincent nervously scratched the back of his neck. “But I did rob them blind.”

“What!?”

“Yeah…funny that…” he forced out a chuckle. “Managed to sneak in, loot the place and sneak out.”

“Oh, fuck…” Alex buried her face in her palms, her pain overshadowed by the fear of what’s to come.

“Yup. Even managed to steal to tournament prize.”

“We are dead.” Alex murmured in her hands. “We are dead. That’s it.”

“No we aren’t. At least…not yet.” Vincent started rolling another cigarette. “We can still run out of town.”

“How!? The magneto stator is still busted! We can’t just go and buy a new one now!”

“Don’t worry, I stole one.” He stated nonchalantly and handed the cigarette to Alex.

“How? When?”

“During the third match I think. You can still fix it, right?” he asked with only an inkling of concern in his voice.

“Yeah…” she answered and took the cigarette, placing it behind her ear.

“That settles it. Let’s skedaddle the fuck away from here and be off on a new adventure.”

Alex rubbed her forehead. “Don’t…don’t say it like that…we’ll be lucky to be alive by tomorrow.”

“There are still at least ten matches left. We’ll be fine. The entire town is here, so…no worries.” Vincent looked around the locker room. “There’s a window here. Give me a lift.”

Reluctantly Alex got up, still clutching her stomach. She just noticed that she was dressed in her usual clothes.

“Did you dress me?” she asked lifting the rat towards the window.

“Sure did.”

“That wasn’t very gentlemanly of you, you know?” she said as he jumped out.

“You ain’t that much of a lady.” He replied as she jumped after him.

Outside, Alex put Vincent on her back and they ran towards the edge of town.

“You know…” Vincent said as he took the cigarette from behind Alex’s ear. “Turns out this all could have been possibly avoided if we just waited a day.”

“Why?” Alex asked as Vincent shoved the cigarette into her mouth and lit it.

“Turns out…tomorrow was the female fighting tournament.”

“Huh…imagine that…”