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Fiends For Hire [Anti-Hero Action/Slice of Life] (4,500+ Pages)
V4: Chapter 16 - Tournament Arc | Fiend Bracket (22)

V4: Chapter 16 - Tournament Arc | Fiend Bracket (22)

ALK VS. LAURIM

“Our first Fiend committed a heinous crime against all women, The Pestilent Plague-Doctor, Alk! But how shall she deal with fur up against her opponent who committed a heinous crime against all our eyes? Hopefully she turns into something more appealing this time, The Zonked Zoo, Laurim!”

“Finally, I get to fight you!” Alk spat beneath her mask. “I’m going to make you pay for everything you’ve done!”

“Umm…” Laurim was confused. “Have we met before?”

“No,” the woman admitted. “But you’ll wish we never had! And I have just the thing in mind to make you regret being born!” Alk jammed several needles into her arm and began concocting.

《Kada: Ohhhhh, I just don’t know who to root for! Alk and I are like besties, but Laurim’s also my snuggle buddy! Eghhhh it’s so hard! Why did it have to be this matchup? Do your best, both of you!》

“Umm, diseases, right?” Laurim muttered to herself. “Okay, something that’s strong against diseases… uhhh, buzzards eat dead stuff, so they must be pretty resistant. Transform: Buzzhound!”

“W-what?!” That snapped Alk out of her concentration for just a moment, wondering if her opponent was possibly playing some sort of sick mind game, but quickly disposed of the thought.

As the egg incubated, a bit more commentary was provided.

《Kada: Awesome, buzzhounds are so cool and creepy at the same time. We just had one show up randomly at my monster sanctuary just recently. That must be where she got the idea.》

That caused Alk to do another double-take, but she couldn’t think about it and focused on her work. The egg then hatched, and the spitting image of Bunchy the Buzzhound popped out, except this one was colored Laurim’s usual mauve-purple. That only added more questions, but Alk could save any interrogation for the upcoming torture session.

The monster took to the sky, flying high towards the roof of the arena, keeping her distance from her opponent. But then the buzzard instincts took over and Laurim began to circle her prey.

Alk finished her concoction and extracted it. While it wouldn’t be too useful with Laurim in her current form—a good move on her part—she’d just have to get the girl to change back first. Alk started throwing empty syringes at her enemy. None came close to hitting, the beast just too high up, but she wasn’t really trying to nail the shot, more wanting to aggravate Laurim.

And the bait worked. Laurim dove down, her talons rearing, ready to swipe at the pitiful Fiend. But Alk didn’t move, even holding out her arms. This tricked Laurim into grabbing the woman and scooping her up into the air. The talons dug deep into Alks shoulders, but she neutralized the pain and slowed her bleeding.

She then kicked one foot high, reaching above her head. The blade extended from her boot and it sliced into the monster’s side. That didn’t do too much on its own, but then Alk aggravated the wound causing blood to spurt like a torrent, and Laurim screeched in pain.

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The pair of them crashed back down into the arena. Alk got up quickly, dusting herself off and smirking, not that anyone could see. The wound and pain caused Laurim to instinctively revert back. There was a bit of a usually-helpful side effect from her transformations, in that they came with a bit of instant regeneration. It wouldn’t heal any internal injuries, but the incubation process reformed her skin perfectly, repairing the gash that Alk had made.

But the whole ordeal had left Laurim exhausted, and she laid wobbling on the ground, struggling to move.

“Now let’s really get started!” Alk strutted over to her and brandished her pre-made syringe. She raised it high, preparing to stab it down into the girl, but then…

《Kada: If you hurt her too much, I swear I’m going to stop being friends with you!》

“Hu-huh?! How is that fair?!” Alk suddenly swung her attention up towards the spectator booth high above the stands where she could just barely see Kada through the window.

《Kada: Quick Laurim, transform into the cutest thing you can think of!》

Laurim was caught off by the suggestion, but didn’t have the energy to think of why she shouldn’t. “Transform: Pupkitty.”

A much smaller egg rolled onto the arena this time, and out popped a small, pitiful, yet adorable creature. It took a second for the poor thing to get the strength to stand, and even longer for it to be able to start walking. It kept tripping over its dangling ears that were too big for her already oversized head.

The little baby monster did the only thing it could think to do, which was to head towards the only thing it could see: Alk. When she got to the woman’s feet, she stood up and pawed against her legs. “Meowoof!”

“What the hell is this thing?” Alk bent down and grabbed the Pupkitty by its scruff and pulled it up to her eye level. “Do you really think that this will somehow save you from me? This weak defenseless creature. I could win so easily right now. Just punt it out of the arena, or squish its tiny little head, or jab my needle right into her neck!”

Alk started to do as she said, pointing the syringe at the creature, barely getting an inch away from impaling it. But the dumb little animal did as dumb little animals do and confused the vaguely shaped object as something familiar. Laurim began biting at the tip of the needle, hoping something would come out, and started getting fussy when nothing did.

“And it’s stupid too, great!” Alk couldn’t help but pull the syringe away. This upset the baby Laurim a bit until she found a new interest. With her small paw, she reached out and snagged the mask on Alk’s face, pulling it back with her claws. “Meowoof!”

“Gah, what the heck are you doing!” Alk’s face lit up with terror, trying to rebury her face in her top so her tongue wouldn’t show as she wrestled the tiny monster's claws. “That’s not a toy!” the woman insisted once the mask was pried loose. “But you wouldn’t understand that.” She looked at its pitiful, dumbfounded, adorable eyes.

“This is stupid…” The Plague-Doctor let out an exhaustive sigh. She set the small baby creature down, turned around, and prepared to walk away. “I surrender.” But then she felt a tugging on her ankle. Laurim had caught up and was nipping at it. “Agh, I said I surrender dammit!” It took a while for them to fully separate and longer to turn back to normal, but the fight then officially ended.

“Laurim wins!”

~Unfulfilled Wish~

Alk: To get Creti’s body back so that we can give her a proper burial and keep those mawhgers from experimenting on her.