Moraton Annual Tournamant-Beacon Away Bracket-Peter Born Vs Bai Hu Wang

It was a packed stadium in the City of Moraton. The crowds in the stands were silently, anxiously waiting for the start of the tournament...

Princess Kimera was sitting in a VIP platform in the centre of the north side of the stadium, looking as if she was waiting for someone, she moved her head to speak into a microphone "I-I'm so sorry for the wait everyone, he said he would be a bit later than usual... He didn't say why, but... Y'know, just be patient..." she said, a few people in the crowd groaned, but most remained silent...

Meanwhile, in a locker room connected to the arena by a large wooden doorway, Peter Born was sitting on a bench nearest to the exit, next to him was his dear friend, Sicarius "Oh man, on a scale of zero to "Absolutely dead", how screwed do you think I am here?" "It's only the first round, Peter, I'd give you a good three on that scale." "Three's good, I could do worse than a three..." Peter said nervously...

Skye, meanwhile, was bugging Peter's opponent, their teammate, Bai Hu Wang "Soooooo, Bai.... On a scale of zero to "Outright Fupped", how much would you say Peter is screwed?" he said with a cruel smile...

Ailin, meanwhile, was just looking around the room with a bored look "When is it starting?... Come on, the quicker this round ends the quicker my round comes!" he thought impatiently...

Prince Joeira was just leaning on the wall opposite the door to Pete and Sic, silently looking at the people he might fight eventually...

”Bitch, there isn’t even any goddamned scale. The specific degree that the teddybear’s screwed at completely breaks and annihilates the scale, so let’s just settle it at, ‘He’s fucked’.” the tiger growled in a low-toned spite. His tail lashed in an agitated fashion by his eastern flank as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Silence would overcome the crossbreed for a moment or so before he closed his eyes, grit his teeth together, and released a low, growling sigh. Bowing his head, his hands clenched his forearms as his ears flickered in impatience. ”Also, why the fuck are you even talking to me…? I don’t give a shit if we’re both in this tournament together, nor do I give a flying fuck if we’re even on the same team, so why the fuck are you wasting your time trying to talk to me?!”

From across the room, a small, tribal-marked bandana flew across the clearing, landing on the feline’s face and causing a sharp growl to sound through the air upon contact with his skin. Almost immediately, Baihu shot one of his hands up and practically ripped the cloth away from his face, glaring in the direction that it had come from. ”Fuck whoever-“ he began to say, though tensed down a bit and simply stared at the person who had flung the object at him. Once more, his ears flickered as he met gazes with a particular reptilian, who was laughing softly while getting his gear acquainted. ”…Oh, it was you. …Still, fuck you.”

”Such friendly words to a fellow friend and opponent, there,” Corvou spoke nonchalantly, lifting his gaze for a moment to wink at his companion before directing his eyes back to his wrists. In contrast to his normal outfit, the tactics teacher was clad within a sort of collared and buttoned-up vest, with a pair of slacks and dress shoes. His shirt was tucked slightly beneath the waistband of his slacks, and he was currently working on fastening a pair of fingerless, customized gloves onto either one of his hands. ”Save that rage for the matches, man.”

Bitterly, the albino shook his head while narrowing his eyes, averting his gaze over to his team leader afar. In a somewhat ticked off way, he released a low, growling mutter before bowing his head and closing his eyes once again, shielding the bottom half of his face beneath the cloth of his scarf.

”Will-motherfucking-do…”

”Oooooooh, sounds like someone’s got their panties in a bunch again~!” cooed a particular third-year; one who stood at the lockers not too far from the Azuryn himself. His sharp, emerald-eyed gaze narrowed in amusement as they watched the tiger glare at him in response to his remark, and the Huntsman simply shook his head while wearing a bright, victorious smile. Shaking his head, he glanced down at his own equipment once more, sliding it back into his locker and locking it for the meantime to prevent too many secrets from escaping. ”C’mon, just focus on having fun, here, Bai! Tournaments are a place for people to have fun and let some steam off at the same time! Which, if I may say, is something that you should really get better accustomed with doing…”

”Oh, just shut the fuck up, Akihiko. I don’t fucking need this from someone I even barely know- and stop talking to me like we’re friends.”

Grinning, the emerald reptilian quickly struck a hand over his heart, wincing in an exaggerated sarcasm. ”Oooooh, ouch~! Right in the feels, man… You wound the kokoro…”

In response to this remark, Akihiko received an anticipated glance of a rather particular and rude finger from Bai. This view seemed to trigger a higher sense of amusement in both of the drakes upon viewing, as either one exchanged quiet hints of laughter before resuming their equipment rundown.

At the moment the exchange ended, a tall, thin, blue haired Peacock Faunus in a rather sterotypical king outfit, poofy red robe and a crown over chainmail armour, walked into the VIP platform with Princess Kimera, he gave the crowd an excited grin and talked into the microphone "Sorry I'm late ev'rybody! I had poorly-timed personal business to attend to... Y'all can applause now!" and the crowd did just that, very loudly... King Levios put his hands up to signal to the crowd to stop "Okay, everyone, the first round's about to start... And this year... We have a special guest star to start us off!" the crowd once again cheered excitedly "We have the son of the one and only Nicholas and Lyla Born with us today!!" with those words, the already extremely loud crowd grew even louder "Wow, you'd think that Godzilla was out there or somethin'..." "They're cheering for you..." "They are?... Oh shit, they are! They said they had the son of my parents!.... That sounded alot less redundant in my head... I'm a ticket-seller!" he said happily, Skye rolled his eyes "No, your parents are ticket sellers, you're just what they're sellin'..." "Shut the hell up, Skye! No one asked you!" he said uncharacteristically proudly, he's sure that Bai or Skye would speak up again if it weren't for the king once again stopping the applause and speaking "Alright everyone, the first round's about to start! Peter Born Versus.... Versus.... Kimmy, dear, what was the guy's name again?..." "Bai Hu Wang" "....Pft... Hahaha, "Wang"...? Really...? Okay then...." The king laughed before speaking into the mic once again "Versus Bai Hu Wang!" the crowd cheered loudly once more as Peter stood up "Wish me luck, Sic, Come on Bai, the quicker I kick your ass, the quicker I get to the finals!" he said, once again being very... Un-Peter with how confident he was in himself... "....Does Petey seem off to you?..." Skye said, slightly intimidated by the sudden boost in confidence...

At the sudden calling from outside, Bai simply glared out at the stage-to-be. His ears remained dormant at first, much like the rest of his being, as he listened on. However, as his own introductions seemed to be immaturely placed, the martial artist underwent a rather…slow, yet obviously unappreciated shift in expression. From his current position, he only maintained a glimpse of the Moraton king, though that very look, alongside what he had said, was more than enough to cause a vicious scowl to etch upon the tiger’s lips. ”…Are you fucking joking me? He’s fucking laughing about a fucking name?!” he growled in a somewhat angered and ticked off tone while swiftly stepping onto both feet of his and grasping his forearms tighter. As he stood, his tail lashed furiously behind him. ”This is a motherfucking king?! How the Hell is that even-“

Before he went any further, Bai cut himself off- although with a large amount of effort and self-composure. Constant, foreign-tongued curses left his lips as he grit his teeth and followed after Peter, his tail continuing to lash and his newly-increased rage already beginning to fuel his ferocity. ”You know what, fuck everything already! Fuck the tournament, fuck the king- and fuck your fucking goddamned confidence, you little teddybear! I’m gonna wipe the fucking floor with you…!”

Safe to say, both dragons in the room were equally as surprised at the sudden confidence boost the ursine had seemed to undergo, especially after seeing the uncertainty he welled himself within not too long before. Corvou gave his tail a quick sway as he stared after the Born. "...The sudden personality change is somewhat offputting..." he admitted before slowly resuming to gear up.

"...Yeaaaaaah, but I don't think confidence is gonna help him much now that Bai's pretty much pissed off his rocker, now..."

"Eh, let's just see where the fight goes... It'll be interesting either way, to say the least..."

Pete laughed mockingly "Oh man, this is gonna be fun!" Sic smiled at Pete and then smiled again cruelly to Bai "I shall pray for you both... vincere omnes hostes in bello, ut superbo. Haec nos stulti qui resistentes, non morietur (may this proud warrior conquer all foes. May this fool who opposes him not die)" Pete smirked "Now come on, the crowd's probably getting impatient..." he said before exiting the room, the crowd cheered at the very sight of him, he waved as he walked to the center of the arena "Let's hope he doesn't disappoint!" "He is going to die..." "Thank you, thank you everyone! I'm sure my parents would love to see me here!" "I'm sure they're proud of you lookin' down from heaven... Anyways, Other guy who's name is a synonym for the male genitals, we're waiting for you." the crowd laughed quietly at this strange, overly long nickname, Pete smirked at the name, Sicarius kept silent despite his very slight sensation of childish amusement "Quam Crassa... (How crude...)", Skye just started laughing loudly without shame "I thought I was the only one who found that funny!"]

"Ohhhh, dear king, you're such a riot...!" Bai called out in a sudden, joking-like enthusiasm. Upon his own entry, the tiger simply jogged at a brisk pace past his team leader, wearing a wicked yet amused grin while taking his place on the opposing side of the stage. He sent a challenging glare up at the ruler as he spoke, his tail lashing furiously behind him as he sent him a devious grin. ”Joke now, but you’ll see that I’m nothing to laugh over…! Even if fate screws me over and I lose today, I’ll make it pretty damn clear that I’m no  joke to anyone in this here stadium…!” With those words, the earlier fury that had been fueling the crossbreed seemed to instantly and viciously return to his persona, and was immediately apparent as he gave his neck a warmup crack and whipped his figure around in a swift and smooth manner to face Peter Born. What sounded to be a loud and agitated (yet oddly amused and seemingly excited) cross between a growl and a laugh rumbled fiercely from his throat as he crouched low to the ground, digging his foreclaws into the stage with such rage-driven force and keeping low to the ground. The stance was uncanny to his animal representative’s, making it appear that he was about to embark upon his own hunt in the wild. ”But enough talking…! Let’s get going, dammit!”

Out in the stands, Haven had actually managed to swipe a good, front-row seat, and was actually watching the scene as it occurred.  ”He’s…taking this…surprisingly well…” he muttered curiously yet cautiously. ”…And…I’ve never seen him turn charismatic like that… It’s unlike him…”

His ears flickered a bit as he leaned forward a bit, slowly pulling the earphone that had been in his ears out. They dangled over his shirt collar as he began watching the fight-to-be with a sudden increased intensity and interest.

There’s probably a reason for that… Maybe he’s got something up his sleeve…? …

Pete smirked "Yeah, enough talk!" he said before unsheathing his sword, slamming it against the ground with a loud thud "I won't take it easy on you..." "You can do this, you can do this, you can do this... Just don't chicken out... You can do this!" he thought nervously. King Levios reached down to the floor next to him and pulled out a black, very large revolver, pointing it up into the air "Very well... Let the match..... BEGIN!!" And with that, the gun fired with a large *BANG*, the crowd went wild as Peter just... Stood there... Not moving... "You're a tank against speedsters, you're a speedster against tanks... Just outlast him... You're no good at outlasting, but that's because you're a coward... Just keep it up 'til he's tired...." he thought to himself...

Sicarius, meanwhile, just so happened to be sitting next to Haven..."He better win this... I bet so much lien on Peter..." Sicarius thought aloud...

Skye was still in the locker room despite not being a combatant, looking at the fight on a screen on the wall, eating popcorn he quickly bought just before the fight started "This is gonna be fun...." he said with a cruel smile on his face...

”The way you say that makes me think that you think that I’ll be going easy on you, teddybear…!” Bai Hu snarled back sharply, his eyes narrowing in a sudden, hunter’s bloodlust as he hunched closer to the ground. After speaking this, his eyes averted swiftly back to the king as he made his movements, and, the moment before the gun sounded, the tiger tensed his figure while glaring at his opponent-to-be another time. Soon enough, the bang of the firearm rung well throughout furred auds of his, and he quickly scanned about Peter for a slightest opening for him to take advantage of.

…It was certainly safe to say that he was slightly shocked with the lack of movement that the bear was showing, especially with the confident lip that he ranted with earlier.

Despite his urks, however, the close combat fighter showed no hesitance as he lunged forward into a sprint, his stride bestial as he took forward at a frightening and brisk speed on all fours. All grounds are free right now… Looks like he’s seen a ghost or some shit… he thought silently to himself while bounding forward, his tail lashing furiously within his path as he continued on. When within a little bit over a yard from his target, the boy quickly stood himself on his hands alone for the quickest of moments before pulling a rather flashy flip back onto his heels. With that space-closing movement, he placed himself dangerously close to Peter’s front as he began hooking his right, gauntlet-clad hand around for a seeming strike. Not that I won’t take this to my own advantage… Hell, I’d be an idiot not to do that. Standing like this is his fuck up, anyways…

Just as it looked like his strike would have connected, Bai gave a quick, amused glare shining down at Peter through chilled, baby blue voids of his as he quickly neared. If the Born child noticed in time, he actually would’ve been to see a slight smirk across his lips; not one of his normal hatred, though one that actual gave off a sort of friendly rivalry for once. It was certainly an odd, uncharacteristic gesture of his, but it happened nonetheless. Sincere gestures aside, though, the fighter activated his semblance within a fraction of a second, disappearing from view and quickly and purposely retracting and feigning his initial strike. Once this was done, he sidestepped left, hooking his other hand around and aiming a swift and strengthened open-palmed jab for his opponent’s side. Regardless of whether or not it connected, he would instantly crouch low to the ground and at the other’s feet, firmly securing his hands into the ground before whipping his figure about and attempting a legsweep for a potential bonus opening. Whether or not this following action actually connected alongside his first strike seemed not to concern the tiger at this point, however, as he hopped back in a swift manner, allowing his semblance to deactivate so he was brought back into vision.

As if the whole quick, yet minor sequence was a simple warm-up gesture – which, in all honesty, it was – the white tiger gave a couple of skillful backflips until he reached over roughly three yards from his foe, grinning and hopping to and fro a bit to warm his limbs up a bit more before crouching low to the ground. His left foot was extended firmly into the ground in front of him, while he leaned closer and on top of his right, which supported him. To complete the stance, his right arm was bent by his side with his hand in a loose fist, while his right arm extended outward, with its hand slightly opened.

Meanwhile, Haven gave his ears a quick flicker at the new voice, aiming a glance at the newly-neighboring assassin from the corner of his eye. Leaning back a bit in slight surprise, he took a moment or so to just look at him. ”Holy shit, man, when did you even-…?” he began with a slightly shocked yet amused tone, though cut himself off and shook his head, sighing. ”Er…nevermind. But… Hey, you better hope that he does. He does act pretty damn rash at times, but Bai really is no guy to laugh at in combat…”

Pete stood his ground at the feigned strike, not even flinching "Don't flinch, flinching shows weakness. Tanks aren't weak, you aren't weak, you are a badass... Probably..." he thought before Bai's first real strike hit, again, barely reacted, it clearly affected him, as it knocked him back a few steps, but he stood his ground and the legsweep just barely missed him "That all you got, you son of a-..." he said as he switched his blade into it's secondary form and aimed at where blow came from, not even looking, pretending to still be staggering back and just taking a blind shot of faith as if it would in any way affect him for the better...

Sicarius just kept his eyes on Peter, giving a prayer to himself "Come on. Come on. Come on. You can do this, Peter, you can do this... ut ejus arcus eius, et recta velox ferro (May his sword be swift and his bow be straight)..."

Ailin looked at the screen with a bored expression ".....Honestly, I'm rooting for the Teddy Bear..." Skye looked back at him "Uh... Boss? You do know who that "Teddy Bear" is, right?..." ".....Your teammate, right?..." "A weak-as-a-fly pain in the ass, yeah..." "....People do like underdogs..."

When Peter fired his shot, Bai Hu simply concentrated himself while keeping his eye on the blade, swiftly sidestepping and dodging the projectile. Using the momentum put into the movement, the albino skillfully crouched low while channeling his weight and strength into the foot that he shifted onto, lunging forward at a high velocity and going into another sprint. Lifting both gauntlets up, he held them in front of his face and chest to shield both portions of his body as he leaned forward to increase the efficiency of his rush. As the space between himself and his opponent was brought to a mere yard and a half, he effortlessly and briefly undid his defensive stance, locking his right foot into the floor as his leg stretched out in front of him, leaning forward and using his remaining foot behind him as a means of support and balance. Both of his fists gave a couple of swift jabs through the air, purposely not making contact with the bear and purposely actually aimed downwards. Such an action would have been labeled as useless and idiotic if it weren’t for several things.

Although it was a given that he made such a moment when punching, it was also the movement he made when firing shells from his gun-based gauntlet attributes.
Often times when in battle, the combatant seemed to favor Dust bullets.
Before the battle, he took care to arrange the specific order in which his bullets would be fired.

The first three fired by each gauntlet would all hold Ice Bullets, and were obviously capable of freezing things into place, or altering the terrain to some degree.

Like earlier, whether or not his actions produced the freezing actions of potential slip-ups that he hoped for seemed to be one of the lesser concerns cycling throughout the back of the teen’s intellect. He gave no openings for the bear by standing by and watching if what he did had worked, and he simply bound forward at a frightening speed once more, taking care to avoid the fresh patches of ice that he had scattered across the nearby floors. While airbound, he sharply jumped and flipped himself into a sideways arc, aiming a fierce, cartwheel-like heel kick for the crossbow that his foe held, aiming to render it useless for a moment or so. The moment that one of his feet connected with the floor would be the same instant that he whipped the remaining limb out, producing several quick and strengthened kicks towards the general chest-stomach area.

Wasting no time afterwards, the feline crouched low before intentionally pushing himself onto the ice, sliding across its surface. Leaning his figure to either side as he remained relatively close to the ground, the boy guided himself around the various bumps and elevations in the ice that he created, eventually turning around revealing his back to his opponent for the quickest moment. Placing his wrists together, he grinned quietly under his breath before firing his weapons. A blast of both flame and electricity scored through the air, propelling him at his team leader once more. Swiftly, he shifted himself halfway on the venture back, making it so that he faced the nearing student.

His right hand would hook around powerfully, aiming a forceful punch towards the stomach. It would be paired with another bullet delivery; this one empowered by a Lightning Dust bullet. Due to the close quarters, the bullet itself would have dispelled before even touching Peter, so piercing damage was nothing to be worried about.

…What his opponent did have to worry about was getting shocked by the electricity, though.

Pet, after his bolt failed, used the moment to switch his blade back to it's primary form, just in time as well, because as soon as he did so, he was nearly hit with one of Bai's ice shots, he blocked it as quickly as he could, causing the ice to freeze up the center of his sword "Welp, looks like I won't using the crossbow 'til that thaws" he said, distracted, but as soon as he came to his senses his sword was kicked out of his hand and he was kicked multiple times in the chest and stomache, feigning getting knocked to his knees by pain "Okay, yeah, that hurt..." he said casually as he got up as quick as he can, knees shaking a small bit, he looked up just to see more bullets coming his way and narrowly dodged them "Should I get my sword or... Fuck it, hand to hand!" he thought, continuing to stand his ground, but know without his makeshift shield, he planned to be a bit more aggressive "That all ya have, kitty cat!?! 'cause I can take a hell of a lot more!!" he taunted...

".....This will end either perfectly or very, very badly...."

Rather than becoming much more hotheaded than he was accustomed to being, the tiger simply gave Peter a slight, amused, and coy grin while assuming the stance that he had taken at the beginning of the fight. Greatly contrasting to any fight he had engaged within in the past, Bai gave a low, calming breath while perfectly maintaining his cool. Normally, he himself would be the one throwing taunts and insults out at his opponent, but this time was surprisingly different. Like earlier, he simply kept his left hand outstretched in front of him while partially leaning on his right foot, grinning and gesturing at the bear to come closer. ”Don’t get cute with me now, jackass,” he growled in a much lighter tone than earlier, pairing the quote oddly with a quiet chuckle.

He maintained his stance for a moment more before turning invisible another time. Though he wasn’t seen, it would be obvious where he was as Peter’s sword quickly clattered across the floor, completely sliding off of the stage and towards the lower platforms before Bai appeared where he was prior. As if nothing had even happened, he still kept his battle stance and guard up perfectly, making it seem as if the feat that had just happened was a mere act of magic. Slowly, however, he crouched low to the ground, placing his palms against the floor again as he assumed his prepared hunter’s crouched once more. Behind him, his tail lashed patiently as he waited for the other to engage him, this time around.

”If you’re doing this, then I know that you’ve probably put in some extra practice here and there…” he said calmly, his ears flickering. ”…But now…you’re stepping into my domain. Go on and take the first strike in our second round… I insist.”

Back in the locker rooms, Corvou watched the screens intently. His tail was coiled besides the bench that he sat upon, and he was able to lean against the lockers behind him as he faced the television screens overhead.

Though he said nothing, a low mutter seemed to escape his lips before he sighed, smirking under his breath and tapping the fingers of his right hand upon his left forearm.

Pete smirked "Aw, what's the matter, pussy cat? Gettin' tired already?!" he taunted...

"...Either he's close to winning, or he's close to losing..."

"This... Is alot more even than I expected..." "I just hope my match is entertaining for me... It doesn't even matter if I win..." "....Are you just talking to yourself at this point?" "Was that not as relevant as I thought it was?...."

”As I said, you’re stepping into my domain, now. It’s not that I’m scared; I’m just giving you a chance to try and do something…” Baihu responded in a rising, nonchalant voice. In a hint of calm amusement, his tail flickered behind his figure, and he breathed a quiet, disappointed sigh. ”If anything, I’d say that you’re the one who’s scared… I’ve been making all of the first moves until now, and, if I may say, I really fucking doubt that your mom and dad got to the top by not taking the initiative…” he added in a bored, disapproving tone while seemingly giving Peter a blank, unemotional stare. Tilting his head the slightest bit, the tiger gave a slight, challenging smile. ”Also, you can taunt me all you want… It won’t make me do a thing in this situation.”

Pete's eye twitched at the mention of his late parents "....Y'know what?.... You're right." he said before shrugging, still not moving an inch...

".....What're they doing?... They're just standing there arguing!" King Levios said angrily before yelling into the mic "Penis Cat! Do something!" some in the crowd laughed at this quietly and Peter snickered noticeably, but most stayed quiet, some even groaned ""Penis cat"? Really dad?.... That's the best you could come up with?... That's... So stupid..." Kimmy said, clearly not amused

"....What exactly is he doing?... What's his plan here?... Also... "Penis Cat"? Quam Fatuus... (How idiotic...)" he thought aloud

"Hehehe, "Penis cat"? Really?!" "It's not that funny..." "It's hilarious, shut up..."

Although he clearly heard what the tournament announcer said, Bai simply remained still as he was for a moment, keeping his stare upon Peter. After a moment or so, he actually stood up, seemingly breaking all senses of guard as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest. Both ears of his flickered as he slowly grinned again, completely ignoring the king’s unappreciated command, of sorts, and simply allowing his full, undivided attention to remain upon his opponent. ”Getting a bit mad now, are we…?” he asked calmly while beginning to walk around the Born in a slow, calm manner. Frosty, blue voids of his never left the ursine as he began his gradual stride, and his hands would eventually lower loosely to his sides. ”Or are we just straying farther from your parents’ footsteps…?”

He stopped for a moment once he reached a distance of two yards away, breathing a sigh as he popped his neck and knuckles while waiting for a reaction.

”Standing stray and pretty like this in a battle royale isn’t the way to get the Born name out there, you know…”

Pete shrugged "Depends on how this ends. On an unrelated note, go screw yourself, penis cat." he said with a calm voice, obviously just trying to get a rise from Bai and running out of ideas already "Hey! That's my line!... And it's funnier when you say it... Carry on!" "It's not funny at all...." "The audience found it funny..." "Yeah, the first time..."

.................................................................THIS IS BOOOOORRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNG-GUH!!" "Yeah, tell me about it... And it had such good forward momentum too..." Skye said, disappointed "This popcorn's kind of shite too..."

”No thanks; I’m not that desperate…” Bai shrugged while replying. A sigh escaped his lips as he lifted his hands, intertwining them behind his head and just staring at his opponent with a bored expression. ”Anyways, like I said, you can’t do anything to actually anger me. Not right now, at least… As things stand, only I can anger me, as weird as that sounds.” His gaze shifted to the crowds, though seemed to purposely skip over King Levios out of spite. ”Trying to piss each other off right now to get the upper hand really isn’t working for both of us, and it’s obvious that you’re trying to push for that out of me. But, honestly…I think that we should get on with it, even if it’s just to prevent the king from cracking another bad attempt at humor. Hell, it’s just…unbearable when he tries, so let’s just continue the fight for their sake.”

A deadpanned expression spread across the tiger’s face as he avoided all gazes with everyone present excluding Peter. With the extra stress that he put into the single word in that last remark, it was obvious that the king wasn’t the only one with a horrible sense of humor.

…Off in the locker rooms, both Corvou and Akihiko turned their attention away from the screens and were simply groaning while rubbing their faces.

Pete groaned and stood up "Yeah, this ain't working at all, let's go back to kicking eachother's asses... I blame you, you're the one who let me take the first hit when I was clearly using a reactive strategy... And your joke was awful... And kinda racist if you think about it..." he said with a glare...

"Hey, my jokes are goo-... Ooooooooh I got the joke now! UnBearable! I get it now! 'Cause he's a bear faunus!" "...Y'know, for an ex-prank king, your sense of humour is really bad..." "To each their own... I know I'm funny, that's why I'm funny..."

"So are they gonna fight now or what!?" "I hope so...."

”Unless we’re getting down and technical with Faunus species, it wouldn’t quite be racist since we’re both Faunus, here,” cooed the tiger, chuckling and winking in amusement. ”Not like I actually meant anything from it, though… I’d never dream of meaning something like that after being a victim of the infamous Faunus discrimination, myself. Buuuuut, away from those matters… Since you took too long to actually do anything…”

Without any warnings whatsoever, the tiger shrugged before suddenly closing the distance with a forceful and vicious lunge, hunching over a bit and pulling his gauntlets up so that the more armored portions were facing away from his face and guarding it. Upon growing closer, he kept his fists as they were, and instead snapped his right leg up and aimed a kick square into the center of the other’s chest. Following up with this action, he finally reeled his left hand away from the guard that it was caught within before immediately launching it up for a quick jab at the general neck-head area. This particular strike was also paired up with another Dust shell, and was augmented by a blast of flame this time around.

Taking a swift step back, Bai Hu locked his heels firmly into the ground beneath him before slugging at the air again, sending a barrage of Dust-fueled bullets at his foe. His fists jabbed one after another in a constant left-right-left-right pattern, releasing a flurry of practically all types of Dust at the ursine. He counted down each time he fired, eventually stopping by force and taking a moment for his weaponry to automatically reload themselves as he took a defensive stance for a moment.

Pete took the kick to the chest, staggering back a little, and casually dodged the fire, seeming pretty bored and unimpressed at this point, he couldn't think of any way to counter the barrage of bullets, ending up just taking it full force, dirt and soot being kicked up quite a bit from the shots that missed, covering the area Peter was...

"....He lost didn't he?... By Messores (By the Reapers), he lost..." Sic said in disappointment...

"Oh wow... That was cool..." "I guess..."

"What did anyone expect?... Did anyone really think he'd wi-?"

At that moment, Peter pounced as quickly as he could out of the cloud of dirt, "MY TURN!!!" he yelled out as he did so, attempting to clothesline Bai in the chest as hard as he can...

While waiting for a possible bounce back from Peter, Bai simply kept his glare upon the puff of smoke that was created by his little attack. Both hands of his guarded the general chest-head area again as he did so; a common, and somewhat favorited stance that he assumed when running the defensive. It was obvious that he was expecting something to happen despite his motions, but the shout that his opponent really only helped him by signaling that some other attack was going to happen for sure. As a result, he quickly hunched himself inwards and closer together, tucking his head and arms closer to his body and protecting the well majority of his upper body. At the same time, he moved his right foot behind him, shifting most of his weight onto it and bracing for the strike to come.

”A little piece advice, little man…? If you’re trying to be stealthy and sly with things for a moment, shouting as you’re about to fucking attack really isn’t the best thing to do…” he spoke with a low, amusement-lacking tone, though actually still wore a small smirk nonetheless. Due to the stance that he had taken, he deflected the strike for the most part, although his nose was in minor annoyance and agony because the recoil of the guard had struck it dead in the center. Although it hurt like the flames of Hell at the moment, it was all that had really happened was the strike deflection, alongside the tiger skidding back a little bit in response to the attempted rundown’s power.

During his little quotes of wisdom, the western tiger glanced about in a quick fashion while bending back a little bit from the force of the tried closeline. Murmuring lowly under his breath, he chuckled in a somewhat dark way before instantly shifting his right hand over his left wrist and aiming it down, creating a sort of ‘X’ shape as the eastern gauntlet pointed directly down at Pete’s feet. When he did so, he gave the neighboring combatant a devious grin. ”Never get too close to a close hitter when they have more experience. …You may get frozen into tight situations,” he laughed with a friendly rivalry before promptly sliding his front foot out of the way, that way it wouldn’t get caught within the effects of the Ice Dust round that he just released. Afterwards, he purposely allowed himself to fall onto his back as he retracted all strength from his arms. Instead, he held them over his head as soon as he was flat against the floor, firing them and sending himself rocketing through his foe’s legs from beneath him, across the newfound layers of ice that he had just produced. However, as he jetted away, he kept one of his gauntlets as they were, shooting another Ice round back at where he was and creating a somewhat larger pillar and platform in front of Peter.

Once this was done, he swiftly shifted himself into a sort of laying crouch as he continued to slide along. Cracking his neck, he triggered his semblance once more while constantly firing more rounds to increase his momentum along the icy floors. The streams of smoke and the bangs that each round released upon its shot did temporarily give his position away, of course, but, eventually, it would be impossible to tell where he was due to the constant, smoke-induced bullet streams that struck across the stage.

Pete was knocked back by the deflection slightly, staggering him for a few seconds, as soon as he regained his balance his feet were frozen in the ice with his legs just barely far enough apart for Bai to slide between them, as he realized he was stuck his face showed... Very little patience "Oh! Yeah! That's nice! Thank you! That's just what I've always wanted! To be stuck in ice in the middle of an average-high temprature day! Thank you, Bai, you piece of-... Ugh, Petey's pissed!" he ranted, distracted as Bai constructed the small tower "...I don't know what this is, but it look important to whatever you're doing..." he said as he wrapped his hands around the pillar as best he could, just barely getting a grip on the slippery surface as he proceeded to attempt to break the pillar off of it's base...

"What the-... What's he doing?!"

"I bet you a week's pay this fails spectacularly!" "Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Uh... Hey, what're you doing?! This isn't a tree hugging contest and that ain't a tre-!"

With that, Peter ripped the pillar from it's base with a loud shattering sound and put it over his shoulder like a hammer, he almost looked like he was putting no effort into it... Almost... What little he showed made it clear he was struggling at least a small bit "Please tell me it was important." he said bitterly as he ripped his feet from their icy prisons as if they were nothing "Oh.... Oh........ OOooooohhh.... It's this..... Hahahaha.... My my.. Bai has quite a bit ahead of him... This is a sight I never thought I would see in a serious fight, to the death or not... In hindsight, it was foolish to believe that..." Sic said with a cruel smile...

"Oh.... Okay then.... Carry on!" "...Remind me never to push his buttons..."

"Huh.... Well..... Shit.... When the hell could he do that?..." "Well.... I'll take my money when you have it..."

"....Heh.... That's new...."

While gliding about on the ice, Bai took care to watch Peter’s reactions from afar. He had to admit; he did not expect the bear to do that he did, and, even though he continued building his momentum while in his seethrough state, the tiger slowly brought himself back into view, revealing the ridiculously confused expression that had found its way upon his face. ”What the Hell are you even-?!” he began while still speeding himself up, slugging the last of his bullets out to bump his momentum higher and higher. During his pause, though, his ears seemed to stand up rather straightly, and his tail gave a quick lash and flicker as his gauntlets automatically reloaded themselves again. Frosty, piercing voids of his would quickly shift between the pillar and its holder, a slow grin appearing upon the crossbreed’s lips before he gave a self-directed laugh and activated his semblance once more. This is either gonna end badly for both of us, or… …Actually, it’ll just end badly for both of us, but I’m taking my damn chances…

Even with the discovery that Peter could lift much more than most thought he could, it would most likely take a good windup to actually do anything with it effectively; even if he were to just swing it around in a minor arc. Because of the time that it would’ve taken, Bai swiftly navigated himself along the ice in his unseen form. He waited until he was given a straight path toward the pillar itself as Peter held it over his shoulder, crouching low to the ground before blasting a couple of bullets behind him for a final speed burst. This sent him rocketing across the frost, and he leaped upwards and gave a quick, airbound somersault before purposely colliding with the side of the icy figure. His body was tucked into a sort of ball, and the more armored plates of his gauntlets struck fiercely against the ice for the most part, but the impact did effect Bai Hu to some degree, as well.

…Of course, he wasn’t worrying too much about himself at the moment.

He wasn’t the one who ran the higher risk of being crushed, due to the sheer weight of the pillar, alongside the velocity that the tiger himself had moved at.

Pete was barely staggered by the weight of the blow to his makeshift weapon and quickly regained his balance "....Really?... That's what you were going for?......" he sighed "Okay... Come on out and lose like a man, you strategic sardine... Yes, that was an insult, it sounded better in my head..." he said as he stood up straight under the weight of his pillar-turned-hammer "Yeah, by the way, this actually weighs as much as my sword, is it hollow or something? You tried to crush me with a hollow chunk of ice? Really? Man, Sic wouldn't be crushed by this thing..." he said, extremely unimpressed...

"....Please do not test that theory after you win... I like my bones unbroken..." Sic thought with half-joking worry...