Great Dojo

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

Such power, and all it was good at was pummelling the earth with its hooves. And yet, he had to respect such temerity. Even a stupid beast would know better than approach him...

With a smirk, he bowed and met the beast's mad charge with a swooping wave of his read cloth, and for a moment the world turned a crimson red. Something unbelievable was going on; like a red river, the red cape was flowing in the air and pulling the shrapnel away from him gently, as if it was nothing more than driftwood in the sea. Despite every piece of rubble and stone being practically a bullet, his red wings caught them all and simply pushed them aside with nothing short of pure grace.

But it was not enough. The beast of the coliseum was strong. Only when its horns plunged into the red cloak did its dance stop, and swirled around the two. For a split second, Vega was before the beast.

And then he was gone. The moment the cloak swooped around his body, before the horns could strike him, he vanished from the coliseum. All that remained was the cloth carried away by the winds. But what was the meaning of this? This was no magic ability, and yet he was nowhere to be seen. Could anyone solve the mystery of Fluffy's charge?

[yinsukin]

Fluffy

The bull rushed forward, groans turning into growls as it launched itself into the red cape.  The horns, or rather one of its massive horns plunged into the cloth and for a moment it seemed as if he had impaled the man.  In that single moment, the crowd had silenced, the announcer viciously gripped her mic, her hands clasped almost as if praying.

And then he was gone.

The massive beast turned its head back and forth, looking for the warrior.  The other two bulls put their snouts to the ground, sniffing for the man.  They wanted blood.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

But he was nowhere. Out of sound, out of sight. It was as if that attack truly had him vanish from this world. And yet, the red cloak flew freely in the air, and with it came an air of menace. Seconds passed, and stretched like an eternity. But there was nothing.

Until suddenly, a sparkle gleamed under the sun, blinding all below with its shine. Like an angel from above, he descended gloriously with sword brandished on his left, posing while lunging down with the speed of a bullet and plunged the blade straight into the gaps between Fluffy's armored carapace. In an instant, a stream of blood flowed upwards like gorgeous petals made from scarlet tears.

He smirked and disengaged, leaving the sword to mark the bull. But this was but the start. He was fast, incredibly so. The animal, the predator, for the first time in its life had become prey.

This was no matador battle. Something so ugly and crude was not worthy of his time. But he would make this execution...

Absolutely beautiful.

[Panda]

Nanako

Despite herself, Nanako could feel her anticipation building as the bull neared the man, the squirrel girl leaning forward in her seat as the tension coiled higher. Then the moment was upon them, the bull's horned rushing forward to gore the man, and then he was gone. Nanako looked around for a few moments, confused, swearing she'd seen a blur of motion right before impact. As if on cue, the man reappeared high above the bull, the squirrel girl watching with excitement as the man plunged down towards the beast and drove the blade deep into it.

To her surprise, however, instead of the oil of damaged mechanicals, what flowed instead was blood. It sprayed up like petals from a dying flower caught in the wind, flowed down from the wound in scarlet streams, staining the gold of the bull and the silver of his blade.

Her surprise left her speechless for the moment, Nanako freezing where she sat as she stared, the only one not cheering in the vast crowd.

[yinsukin]

Fluffy

A splash of scarlet flashed onto the pristine arena, as the bull fell onto its front knee.  The massive beast had fallen to the ground.  The smaller bulls rushed to its aid, intent on piercing the man with their horns.

The crowd roared with approval at the slash, even the men at this point standing up.  With that strike, the man had proven himself a warrior.

Within the floating magical bubble, the dojo leaders all watched on with amused smiles.  "Yes... the victor was decided before this match even began.  Truely our citizens have much to learn," Sethrol the Calm said, clearly satisfied as he spoke.

Ferrison Monroe let out a hearty laugh.  "BWAHAHAHA.  Is that not why we teach?  Our entire district exists for those who love battle."

Sethrol frowned.  "No.  We exist to teach martial arts."

The woman tapped her foot on the ground, or rather the bottom of the bubble.  "Let us not have this debate.  If we get caught up in this, we will miss the boy's battle."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

Oh?

As he danced across the arena, he smiled and spun his body, delivering a warm wave to his audience. Only then did he notice, something that could not escape his chilling eyes. A woman, deep within the crowd, was the sole one who did not cheer. Her expression remained imprinted in his memory like a painting.

It was most exquisite.

For a moment, his smile turned truly beautiful. The bulls rushed at him, but his reaction only took an instant. Rather than dodge, he bowed down to his crowd, letting the horns clash against one another while he ducked with no effort at all. Or rather, this had stopped being a battle. Right now, he was a performer, and the bloodstained arena his stage.

[yinsukin]

Fluffy and his crew

The massive golden bull gathered its strength and stood to its feet, snorting as it fought against the pain.  Its eyes began to glow red with anger.  As the two smaller bulls stood dazed and confused, the golden bull found its pray.  Rather than simply charging, the bull leaped high into the air, intent on crushing the man with the full force of its weight.  It would prove it was not only the strongest, but the smartest bull of all time.

The crowd stopped cheering, some in the crowd clenching their benches, leaning forward to see if the bull would gather the strength to overcome the man.  Men, women, all of the warriors of the arena were on the edge of their seats, no longer doubting the man's credibility as a champion.  No, the crowd was now picking allegiances, picking the mighty bull or the champion.

"Ah the beast rises once more," Sethrol the calm stated, his eyes closed as if he no longer wished to see.  "At this point, it is not much of a battle is it?  The man is clearly the more skilled combatant.  Moreover, he doesn't even seem to care."

Ferrison Monroe  "Bah.  The battle ends when one warrior falls and another rises even higher than before.  That is when a battle ends."

Seras was the one to speak up, folding her arms over her chest.  "Perhaps, but it is hard to call this battle a fair duel anymore wouldn't you say?  This is why I am weary about these sorts of battles.  It is an exercise in endurance not power."

"Come now Seras," Ferrison added.  "You two are far too cruel.  This is a battle for the crowd's hearts, not physical victory."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

For a moment, he looked shaken, and his expression changed when he looked at the great beast, so large it cast a shadow over him. And then, a massive impact shook the arena, and for a moment there was silence.

But the bull never touched the ground.

Dangling over the arid arena's floor, the beast seemed to float in the air. A single hand held it up, grabbed it by the chest with an unearthly strength. He could never dodge such a move, not by a beast of that size. Because he didn't need to.

It was in the palm of his hand this whole time. This performance.

"Apologize to me, beast." A stomp of his foot cracked the ground, and now he soared into the sky with the massive bull right in his clutch, raised higher in the air for the spectators to see. And for a moment, that trashing, furious creature was blotting the sun. "Apologize, that you drew breath into my world."

And with a simple motion, he hurled the beast down with explosive force, enough to crack the ground all over and send dust and debris flying. It was utterly spectacular, like an athlete dunking a basketball. Sure, it would not kill it. Yet. Because he wanted to savour this struggle, at least enough that he could paint a masterpiece on this arena, a painting made from that monster's blood and entrails. So let it get back up, rise again, and meet him while he descended from the skies.

But where did this demonic power come from? How could he be so strong?

Why, did you even need to ask?

Strength belonged to the beautiful. Therefore, he was strong.

[yinsukin]

Fluffy, Strongest Bull There Is

As the bull came down, it was filled with content as it suddenly crashed down.  However, there was no destruction, no debris flying, no reaction from the crowd.  That was when he realized.

The man had caught him.

Immediately, the bull wiggled in his grip, trying desperately to escape.  That single action had robbed the bull of the sense of power that it fought for so long.  All the champions it had slain and tortured on the grand stage, all the people it had crushed under its boot, all for the love of the crowd and for the attention of the humans.  Now it was another human that had threatened that title, the title of entertainer.

The crowd roared, drowning the bull's yelps of pain as it smashed into the ground.  The smaller bulls flew out of the ring, instantly ending their role in the battle.  After all, once you leave the arena, the eyes of the people no longer fall on your shoulders.  Now, it was a match between the giant bull and the man.  It's eyes furrowed, narrowing on the human that had humiliated it thus far.  Silently, it acknowledged the man as its superior, perhaps even its replacement.

That is what it meant to be a champion.

Once again, the bull stood to its feet, lowering its head, ready to charge.  It knew what it was: a bull, nothing more, nothing less.  A bull could not outsmart a human.  A bull could not overpower this human, but this bull could outlast this one, and turn the hearts of the people on him.

[Panda]

Nanako

To Nanako's surprise, the bull still got up, again and again. But the match had already been decided. The man was clearly beyond the capabilities of the golden beast, and its smaller compatriots had already been flung from the arena. She felt a bit of a chill as the man looked over the arena, certain his gaze had locked on her for a moment. She couldn't bring herself to cheer, even to blend in, but then she spotted the bull rising again. Part of her wanted it to stay down.

The match was over, that much was obvious, but it continued to persist. This was just some arena match, and it had already taken some heavy damage. Her breath caught in her throat as the man simply caught it as it fell upon him before slamming it down again. The match had already been decided, so why did he continue? Was the point of these matches to kill the beast?

And then those noises again, skritch-skritch-scratching at the back of her mind. For a second, she could've sworn she'd heard the flap of wings behind her, but a quick glance back assured her there weren't any. Looking back at the arena, she watched, feeling like she was moving underwater, as the blonde descended on the beast.

[Aiden]

In the Crowd

Nearby was a thin young teen girl wearing punk clothes, cargo pants with a tight black shirt. Lip piercing, short hair dyed black with purple streaks, glasses, she didn't really stand out much except insofar as she wasn't a native. No, she had sneaked in with a couple of friends from a neighboring barrio to watch the bull fights. Apparently her classmate's cousin was dating one of the staff behind the scenes, so they'd managed to get in without much of a fuss.

The girl, Zoe, had been watching with stars in her eyes as the big hunky guy manhandled these bulls and danced around them. But then, things got crazy! The big, mechanical bull but it had blood so was it a cyborg or, did it have armor? What was going on?

She'd cheered even more loudly, but as it became ever more a test of endurance she felt herself hesitate. "That's... kind of messed up," Zoe said out loud to her friend next to her. "I mean, he's basically won, right?"

"Yeah! Now he's gonna finish it off!"

Zoe winced at the thought there. "That's..."

Another friend next to her said, "Oh yeah, you've never seen these before have ya? The bull always dies if it loses. It's just how things go, ya?"

"I guess..." Zoe looked away from the fight for a moment, instinctively looking to see if anyone else in the crowd felt like she did.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

His eyes seemed to glow with intensity. He bowed, ready to meet his charge again with a beautiful smile.

[yinsukin]

Fluffy

"THE BEAST STANDS ONCE AGAIN.  WHO WILL LIVE AND WHO WILL DIE?" the blue-haired announcer said, roaring into her mic.  She tried to pretend she was there the whole time, but truethfully, she was blown away by the shockwave and no one noticed.  The crowd did not even notice, their eyes drawn to the two fighters with such magnetism that her fate was entirely tossed aside.

At last gathered to its feet, the golden bull charged, its heart and soul in every step.  Intelligence would not win the day, nor would power, only heart could win this day.  Among differences in strength, heart was something that could be possessed by anyone, man or beast.

The crowd became silent once more, awaiting the next clash between champions.

[Panda]

Nanako

The squirrel girl leaned forward in her seat as the bull picked itself up, getting ready for another charge. The cheering crowds around her had long since faded away from her awareness, Nanako's attention focused almost entirely on the scene below her. The man bowed at the beast, seemingly waiting for it to attack. Like she was sure it would, even with all the injuries it had sustained. Even though the victor was clear. The squirrel girl realized with a sinking feeling that barring some kind of mercy on the blonde's part, this could only end with the beast's death.

Suppressing a full-body shudder, Nanako watched, wanting to look away as the bull charged once again, but entirely unable to, her gaze quivering as she watched, trying to brace herself for what was next.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

Oho. He's gotten faster.

His eyes opened wonder for a moment, despite that the smile did not drop off his face. The horn grazed against him, and the earth cracked under his hooves  and utterly shattered under its horns, causing it to cave upwards, but he managed to step away just in time and step up from the newly born platform. He pulled out yet another silver blade, brandishing it with the grace of a swan to pierce its liver.