NOVGO.NET Chapter 155 - 151: Friendly Fight
Chapter 155: Chapter 151: Friendly Fight
"Gussie of House Riddlehoeven and Einswine of House Lammermoor against Bertramnus of House Guilherme and Lunetta of House Mooncloak!"
The announcer’s words, repeated, usher Gussie and Einswine toward the platform. Einswine’s hooves ring out on the floor while Gussie flaps beside him. Lamant and Elandior follow them. Meanwhile, Bertramnus, a giant bat, and Lunetta approach from the other side. Heloise Guilherme and Hades Mooncloak trail behind them.
Lobo woofs. [They’re advanced compared to Gussie, and a level below Einswine. Still, the whole point of the tournament is to compete against beasts at or above your level. Gussie and Einswine will be fine. Lunetta is fierce but honorable.]
The sight of Lunetta defending us against Ophion and Zuba lingers in my memory. Unfortunate that our houses are on opposite sides, but we knew the rules going in. At least Lunetta won’t play dirty. Bertramnus is a question mark, but he smells honest.
The stats roll out on the display screens for our competition.
[Name: [Lunetta]
[Class: [Expert]
[Race: [Common Wolf]
[Level: 9/10 [XP 40/100 STATUS: Full
[HP: 6/6 [MP: 0/0 [Stamina 100/100
[Strength: 86
[Defense: 87
[Magic: 86
[Resistance: 89
[Speed: 91
[Charisma: 85
[Luck: 89
[Skills: [Bite (Attack Skill] [Pounce (Attack Skill)] [Sprint (Skill)] [Camouflage (Skilll) [Escape Power (Skill) [Super Jump (Skill)][Telepathy(Skill)]
_______________
[Name: [Bertramnus]
[Class: [Expert]
[Race: [Giant Bat]
[Level: 9/10 [XP 30/100 STATUS: Full
[HP: 6/6 [MP: 0/0 [Stamina 100/100
[Strength: 87
[Defense: 88
[Magic: 85
[Resistance: 86
[Speed: 91
[Charisma: 88
[Luck: 89
[Skills: [Flying (Attack Skill] [Bite (Attack Skill)] [Stealth (Skill)] [Escape Power (Skill){Wind/(Skill)[Telepathy](Skill)[Procreation (Skill)[Echolocation (Skill)]
Einswine’s hooves clomp on the platform while Gussie flaps in the air, and the four houses face each other before the contest. WHOOSH. The platform levitates and rises to its usual position.
The announcer calls out, "Remember, we want a good clean fight. An honorable fight. 3...2...1...Begin!"
Bertramnus’ wings sound like a thunderstorm, and the gust of wind knocks Gussie clear off the platform. "GUSSIE!" Lamant raises his voice. "Pull back! Brake!"
An orange bundle of confusion, Gussie brakes and pulls back out, flying against the wind. Scattered feathers drift around her as she pushes toward the platform. Finally, she snags Lamant’s robes and clings to them in the gale.
It would take more than wind to knock Einswine off balance. Planting his feet, he focuses on Lunetta, baring his teeth. His famous bite might serve him well here. Pigs and boars have at least 44 teeth and can bite.
Circling him, she takes an aggressive canine posture right off. Already anticipating his famous bite. Her fangs bared, she growls. Einswine snortles.
Meanwhile, Gussie goes into zoomie mode. Her zoomies are fast and furious. Bertramnus, caught off guard, can’t match them. His wings cease to beat, and the wind recedes. Victorious, Gussie snaps at him with her beak. His leathery wings won’t be easy targets, but Gussie is relentless. Just ask Dag.
Bertramnus barrel rolls, but Gussie squawks so loud it fouls up his echolocation. The phrase is "blind as a bat" for a good reason. He flips over, flounders, and flaps around as if disoriented and dizzy, which he is. His spatial awareness has taken a hit.
His voice, however, hasn’t. Raspy. Thick. [Stop that infernal noise! She knows what she’s doing!]
Gussie flaps harder. [Then no wind! That’s not fair.]
Huffy, Bertramnus does a loop-de-loop that looks more like a pretzel. [It’s one of my skills.]
Of course, Gussie refuses to budge. [So is noise for me.]
I smirk. Gussie does, indeed, know what she’s doing, because Lamant has drilled her in combat techniques with opponents who use sound waves to navigate. Also, her survival skills from the jungle come in handy here.
Bertramnus huffs. [I could fall off the platform and splatter.]
[And so could I.] Gussie isn’t backing down. [You give, and I will give.]
Backed into a corner, Bertramnus agrees. The loud engine that is Gussie quiets down, and Betramnus’ wings beat normally, no wind. Somehow, these two implacable foes have managed to compromise on rules that make sense for both of them. No tamer intervention needed.
[Good going, Gussie!] Lobo howls his approval.
[Good show!] Lightning is warm and appreciative.
[Guss! Guss!] Finn and Leonie chime in. They love their Auntie Gussie.
Demos roars a bear cheer. [That’s the way.]
Bird and bat circle each other in an aerial combat dance while Einswine gallops toward Lunetta, taking advantage of the opening provided by the distraction above. However, Lunetta dives out of the way at the last second, and Einswine skids perilously close to the lip of the platform before backing away from the edge. Rotating his body, he charges Lunetta. This time, she doesn’t recover as nimbly, and he head butts her. CRASH. Lunetta yowls at the impact, and rolls over. She is down! But is she out this soon? She doesn’t smell injured.
The announcer shouts, "Unbelievable! An aerial war, and also a war on the floor. This time, flying creatures are choosing to match up while four-legged creatures stay on the platform. No Super Jumps this time. At least not at the moment. Excellent strategy. No confusion."
No confusion. That’s what we wanted. Lunetta is a friend, and even though the competition has put her at odds with our team in the arena, we don’t have any mutual or one-sided animosity. The goal is to make the fight as uncomplicated as possible, because all of our battles have been mega-complicated!
A howl slices the air and Lunetta pounces in a blur of fur on Einswine’s back. He snorts and bucks like a bronco. I didn’t know that boars did that. Live and learn. Claws sinking into Einswine’s porcine hairy bristly hide, Lunetta hangs on like a bronc rider, or maybe a bucking bull rider. With his hair and girth, Einswine resembles a bull more than a horse.
The announcer shouts, "What a strategy! Instead of biting or clawing, Lunetta is RIDING Einswine. What a magnificent visual."
Meanwhile, Bertramnus snaps at Gussie with his bat fangs glistening, and Gussie pirouettes away, then nails him with her beak and claws. Shuddering like he is caught in his own windstorm, Bertramnus dances away. Gussie nails him on the webbing of his wing and he shrieks, then sinks his teeth into her leg. A loud parrot shriek.
From there, an air brawl breaks out, with the two battling their hardest, down and dirty in the air. Even with my tiger vision, it’s a dizzying spectacle and I can’t make out who is fighting whom and who is injured. Both of them smell wounded. Blood. Pain.
Lamant trembles, while Elandior beckons to Einswine, frantically. Faster. Faster.
[Einswine!] Demos takes charge. [Buck her off. Don’t be a gentleman!]
[I am not! For once!] Einswine sounds frustrated. [She is obdurate! Unyielding! Her claws have dug in my beautiful fur!]
From polite fights escalating to all-out war, both pairs of combatants are out to win. Lunetta snarls and refuses to release her hold, while Gussie and Bertramnus run out of steam and retreat to their respective corners, figuratively speaking. Hovering at a safe distance, they eye each other warily. Missing feathers for Gussie and torn wing for Bertramnus. Both of them glide on the air, regrouping, conserving their energy. Stalemate.
Einswine snorts at Gussie, who breaks off the standoff with Bertramnus and dive-bombs Lunetta, striking her with her wings. The distraction works. A moment of hesitation and Lunetta’s claws slip away from Einswine’s fur. Swaying drunkenly, Lunetta falls to the platform. CRASH. Stunned, she lies there and slowly rolls over. Staggering to her feet, she looks unsteady.
Seizing his opening, Einswine charges at her, and Lunetta jumps aside, only to hit the platform again because she is off-balance. The wind knocked out of her, she lies panting and then wags her tail in surrender.
The announcer calls out, "5...4...3...2...1...Lunetta is down!"
Hades Mooncloak gathers Lunetta in his arms when the orb airlifts them away from the dais. Silent sentinels, Gussie and Bertramnus hover with quiet reverence while Lunetta departs.
The minute that Lunetta has vanished, Einswine and Gussie target Bertramnus. Because the giant bat obeys the rules that he and Gussie set out, the fight does not last long. Barely enough time to make a cup of tea. Even though Bertramnus is an Expert beast, he’s clearly outmatched by Gussie’s outmaneuvering and Einswine’s power and stature.
The fight is blessedly brief, and Gussie and Einswine knock Bertramnus out of the tournament. The announcer gives the countdown and then declares, "House Guilherme is OUT! House Riddlehoeven and House Lammermoor are the victors!"
Our family roars, squawks, and howls in triumph. Once the victors have touched down on the arena and returned to us, we congratulate them and wait for the next match.
As it turns out, we don’t have long to wait.
The announcer shouts, "Blaze of House Riddlehoeven and Lobo of House Riddlehoeven against Quetzalcoatl of House Ixchel and Yaretzi of House Ixchel!"
Quetzalcoatl? Are we fighting an Aztec god in the game?