Sir Rathus Kaine Returns

but did victor frankenstein actually have a phd

The Wreckers - Cashing In

Another round of thugly antics. Again, check out Puckarooni for her Pokemon Superhero AU. Cool jams, friendos.

Alolan Joe - Alolan Ratata Leader and self proclaimed mousestache afficianado

Ben - Spearow Brawn of the group of Bachelor of Thuganomics

Zach - Zigzagoon Dunno what he’s doing, but he’s doing it well

Sherman - Sentret Newbie, but he makes up for it with heart

~~~~~

Zach handed the sturdy box to Ben, who nodded and set it in the center of the table in the backroom of the Thrifty. He crammed the edge of the crowbar under the lip of the metal lid.

“Alright, you got it, Sherbet?” Ben said to Sherman, who took hold of the bottom of the box.

“Sherbet?” Sherman said, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Said Ben, inclining his head down. “You. Got. It?” He held a stern face.

“Uh,” Sherman adjusted his grip and help tight. “Yeah, I got it, Be–uh. Bu…,” He looked around the thrifty and his eyes settled on a row of candies. “Bu–ttercup?” He looked back to Ben.

Zach snorted from the couch he had plopped down on. Ben shook his head, “You got a lot to learn, rookie.” He squared his shoulders, “Just, hold onto the damn thing.”

“Yes sir,” Said Sherman, his punctured ego dedicating itself to his task.

Ben worked at the crowbar, prying a little more of the lid back and setting the crowbar deeper. Once he was satisfied, he gave the crowbar a swift jerk that popped the edge of the lid off. The shrapnel flew across the room. Joe stepped into the doorway with impeccable timing.

“Gentlemen, I- Gah!” Joe squeaked as he narrowly missed the chunk of metal box that zipped past him.

“Oh, I see now. So it has come to this,” Joe straightened up and put up his fists. “Mutiny. I knew this day would come. But you’ll have to best me in combat, fiends. Come on then, let’s do this!” Joe began to hop around, waving his fists in front of him.

Sherman popped up, “Whoa wait! It was an accident, Boss. We were just trying to–”

“Finally,” Ben said, shouldering his crowbar, “Been waiting for a chance to knock that cheesy smirk off your face.” 

Ben charged at Joe, swinging the crowbar down towards Joe’s head. In a flash, Joe brought up his hands to catch the blow, the two locked eyes and grit their teeth.

“Oh, Heck Yeah!” Sherman said, eyes sparkling. He scurried over to the couch and hopped into the spot next to Zach. “This is gonna be epic. Don’t you think?”

Zach shrugged, “Maybe.”

Joe and Ben tussled for a bit. They wrestled and rolled and tumbled, finishing with Joe having taken the crowbar from Ben.

Joe pointed the crowbar at Ben, who crouched on the ground catching his breath.

“Will you yield?” Joe said.

“Yeah yeah,” Ben said, bruised ego kinda killing the mood. “I will honor the code of the thug and serve your blah blah blah.”

“Perfect,” Joe said and tossed the crowbar back to him. “Whew, almost got me that time.”

Ben caught the crowbar and stood up, “Oh blow me sideways, bristles. You hold back every time.” He scoffed out his nose and went back to the table. “Hey, Sherbet, we opening this thing or what?”

Sherman, stars in his eyes got up from the couch, “You guys are so cool. Like, when you were like, ‘Whapam! Take that’ but then Joe just did that thing where he, you know, just ‘Whoosh, bam!’ and you went flying and…” He flailed his arms. Zach leaned away to allow Sherman room to embellish.

“That’s enough, Sherman.” Joe said, “What are you opening anyway?”

“Dunno, Zach found it in the junkyard and couldn’t open it.” Sherman said “He even did his–” He wiggled his fingers and flip flopped his wrists. “Stuff.”

Zach also wiggled his fingers and then shrugged.

Joe stroked his ‘stache, “A rather tricky treasure trove, it would–” He paused, “t-uh, tantamount to tremendous tantalizing trophies for this team.” He smiled at his cleverness.

Ben scoffed, “You are such a dork.” He glared at Sherman. “Come on, hold this sucker down before I use this crowbar to vent all that hot air in your head.”

Sherman hustled over and gripped the box again. Ben got the edge into the lid again and gave it a adrenaline-fueled push. The lid peeled back like a tuna can and revealed the contents within. Ben tossed the crowbar aside as they all gathered to peek inside the box.

“Oh,” Said Zach with a neutral voice.

“Whoa,” Said Sherman with a hint of wonder.

“Hmm,” Murmured Joe, contemplating.

“Oh, goodie. More junk.” Ben said, his shoulders slumping down.

“What? This isn’t junk,” Sherman reached inside and pulled out a handful of the contents. Play cards. A bunch of them, haphazardly scattered inside the box. They had colorful pictures of monsters on one side and a big logo plastered on the other. “Don’t you remember Pouch Gremlins? For the Game Lad?”

Joe snapped his fingers, “Ha, I knew they looked familiar.” He took a few of the cards out of the box. “I used to play a shared copy of Powgrem with my brothers and sisters way back when.” He started flipping through the cards. Zach also began to dig through the contents of the box.

“Feh,” Ben said looking over the couple that Sherman had fished out, “That baby game about little kids making friends with super powered monsters and battling them. All the designs looked so lame.” His sharp eyes landed on a shiny card in Sherman’s hand, he snatched it and nodded. “Except this guy. He was awesome.”

Joe and Sherman looked at the card. Sherman smiled, “Oh yeah, Psycat. The legendary survivor of psychic experiments. The lore said that he was a loner Powgrem who killed off his old master. Pretty dark stuff.”

“Yeah, super edgy and took no shit. I liked him.” Ben said.

“My favorite was the one you could start out with, Grassasaurus Rex!” Sherman said, pulling out the relevant card, “His solar cannon attack was unbeatable!” He looked to Joe, “Oh, who was your favorite, Joe?”

Joe dug into the box and nodded, pulling out another shiny card, “This one.” He held it up, “The trickmaster, Ghostgar.” He laughed, “When I would play against my siblings, they would actually ban me from using him cause he was too good.”

“How about you, Zach?” Sherman asked, “Did you have a favorite?”

Zach was organizing the cards by color and rarity. Without looking up from his work, he muttered, “Yup.”

Joe chuckled. Sherman pressed on, “Such as…?”

Zach paused, looked over the stacks of cards before grabbing out a fairly common looking card and holding it up. “This guy.”

“Oh,” Sherman said, a little disappointed, “I guess Joltling is pretty popular.” He looked back to Joe, “I mean, it was the mascot of the series.”

Joe nodded and regarded the box again. “Hmm…what do you suppose these were doing in such a secure box?”

Ben scoffed, “Loser probably wanted to hide his shame when he moved on to something better.” He was gathering up all the copies of Psycat and silently judging the edginess of each one.

Sherman looked at the box, “Maybe they were special and he wanted to keep them safe?”

Zach finished sorting and stacking and said, “Resale.”

Joe, Ben and Sherman all looked up, struck by the idea.

Joe caught it first. “How much do you think these cards are worth?”

Ben smirked, “I hear things get more valuable over time, if you collect enough.”

“And look at all of these shinies.” Said Sherman, “They’ve gotta be worth a fortune.”

“Zach, gather up those little treasures,” Joe said, stroking his mouse-stache, “We’re headed to town!”

Ben and Sherman cheered, Zach packed the cards away.

“Gentlemen,” Joe said, “Let’s go make some money.”

…

“50 bucks?” Ben said incredulously. “Are you serious?”

He leaned over the counter of the hobby shop, making the cashier back away slightly. From behind the counter, he gave his big, friendly, Snorlax smile, “Yup, 100 even. Pretty—impressive collection, though.” He said through a yawn. “So, will that be cash or store credit?”

Joe managed to pry Ben away from the counter. “Uh, excuse my friend here. I am pretty certain there were quite a number of rare cards in there. Surely they would fetch a handsome price?”

The cashier shrugged, “Maybe a bit ago, but not anymore.” He turned in his swivel chair and grabbed another box of cards. “Everyone’s moved on to Data Goblins.” He showed them the box. Though the designs were slightly different, it seemed like the exact same game. “People just aren’t buying Powgrem anymore.” He set the box back, “So, 50.” He smiled again.

Ben wrestled out of Joe’s grip and got uncomfortably close to the cashier. “Listen, tubby, how about you grease these pockets before I grease up your face?”

The cashier held his smile and opened one of his eyes just enough to glare at Ben. The sight sent a chill down the young thug’s spine. “Fifty. Dollars. Even.”

…

Ben and Joe shuffled out of the hobby shop.

“Hey guys,” Sherman said, hustling up to them. “How’d it go?”

Joe looked at Ben, who scoffed, “Waste of time.” He looked away and folded his arms.

Zach and Sherman looked at Joe. Joe pulled the 50 dollars out of his pocket.

“Oh,” Said Sherman. Zach gave a resigned shake of the head.

“Well, you win some, you lose some.” Joe said. “But I still think 50 dollars for free is a win.” He smiled.

Sherman nodded, “Still, it would have been nice to at least keep–”

Zach zipped around in front of him and held up the Grassasaurus Rex card. “Here.”

Sherman lit up and took the card, “No way, you held onto my favorite. You’re the best.”

Zach shrugged and walked around to the other two members and held up their favorite cards.

“You sly devil,” Joe said, taking the card and slipping it into his pocket. “Should have known.”

Ben snatched his card, “What the heck? Isn’t this thing super rare? We might have gotten more cash for this.” He glared at Zach, who returned with an indifferent quirk of the eyebrow.

Joe nudged him, “You’re welcome to head back inside to trade it in.”

Ben looked back at the shop, then down to his Psycat. “Yeah, never mind. Psycat is too cool for that.” He also tucked the card into his pocket.

Zach also tucked a card into his pocket. The picture looked like a Joltling, but was a little off. It appeared as though it was merely wearing a Joltling costume…

been playing okami recently…

So guys, ive been thinking about it for a while, and

Should I do a series of illustrations/tutorials about armor and character design?

Day 1 - Ring

I can’t draw for Inktober, and it is unlikely I will be able to do a REAL NaNoWriMo, but I still want to try challenging myself. SO! I will take the Inktober prompts and write little blurps to do some on-the-fly world building for a random idea I had a while back. A Giant-Monster themed WWE/UFC fighting league. Enter the KFL, Kaiju Fighting League. Let’s see how this goes. Wish me luck.

----

Prompt: Ring

Title: In The Ring

“Ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between!” The announcer cried. He stood in the center of the massive battle pit. The impressive, gilded microphone he clutched glittered in the spotlights aimed at him. “Welcome to the opening night for the Kaiju Fighting League’s 30th anniversary!”

The crowd roared. People, beasts, monsters and things without names all stomped in the grandstands to chants and cheers. Their voices rattled the cage surrounding the pit. The announcer let them roar for a bit before continuing.

“Years ago, when humanity fought the calamity, it was through teamwork with strangers that led us to victory! And when the calamity was destroyed, we did what we do best.” He put his hand to his ear to wait for the audience.

They rewarded him with a unanimous cheer, “WE FIGHT!” Followed by more roaring applause.

The announcer pumped his fist in the air, “Hell yeah! That’s why our founder, Thrash Flexman, the Ragin’ Stallion himself, founded the KFL and brought the strongest warriors together to enjoy that most traditional of past times. The Brawl!”

At his call, the monitors high above him blared to life. Dancing across the screens were images of the highlights from the last year. The names of champions rolled by alongside their best fights. King Carnage, the colossal apeman with a crown crafted from fighter planes, knocking his opponent so hard it sends him flying through the protective ring. Kill-ogram, the titanic metal beast, charging against the blows of his opponent to send a strike that causes the poor warrior to crumple into a heap. Cassidy Quake, a monstrous catfishman with whip-like whiskers, grabs his opponent and cheers to the crowd before leaping into a flying suplex. 

More heroes flash on the screen and the crowd whoops to each cherished memory. The screen then darkens and shows several silhouettes.

“But no one can reign champion forever! It’s time for new blood to step up to the challenge!” The announcer calls out. “You hear that?”

The gates leading to one side of the arena open up and the newcomers wander out. They march, beasts, dragons, monsters all, out to one side of the ring. Out front, a rather lithe monster leaps onto the cage and cries out, “Bring out my meal!”

The announcer barely manages to keep his feet as the 20 ft tall raptor claws against the cage, rattling the whole battle pit. The crowd is eating it up and start to chant for the kings.

The announcer steadies himself. “Ha, I can tell you’re hungry for the Crown. But it won’t be that easy.”

The lights go out and the music clicks on to play a rocking theme. Spotlights flash to the opposite gate which rattles open. With prestige, pride, and confidence, the Kings enter. Top of their brackets, they march to the cage. Fans wave banners, swing merch, and throw bananas. They stay focused on their new opponents, except for King Carnage, who attempts to catch the bananas. 

Cassidy Quake makes it to the cage first, he signals to the announcer, who runs over with the mic. Cassidy takes the mic gently between his fingers and swishes his wild whiskers before speaking.

“I don’t care who you are, or where you came from.” He points to the raptor still clinging to the cage and wearing a manic grin, “If you want this crown, we meet in the ring as warriors!” He dropped the mic, the announcer did his best to catch it. His fellow Kings respond with a resounding battle cry that makes the whole arena shudder. The crowd goes absolutely wild. Bananas are flying everywhere.

The announcer gets back to the center of the pit.

“Alright KFL Fanantics! That wraps up the pomp and circumstance. Now comes the fun part! Are. You. Ready?”

The crowd explodes in applause and cheers.

“Then let’s get started, KFL 30, LET’S ROCK!”

Music flares to life as newcomers and Kings alike head back through their gates and the games prepare to get started.

The Wreckers - New Hideout

Chapter 2 of my Pokemon Thuglife AU. Again, inspiration comes from my good friend Puck’s Pokemon Superhero AU, Dustpan. Check her Twitter Puckarooni.

Enjoy the exploits of my young punks.

Alolan Joe - Alolan Ratata Ben - Spearow Zach - Zigzagoon Sherman - Sentret

~~~~

The Wreckers stood in the parking lot of the old thrift shop. The sun was setting on the cape and cast an orange glow over the scene.

“Ben,” Said Joe, contemplating while stroking his ‘stache, “When I said we needed an official hangout for our official crew, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

Ben quirked his head to the side, “It’s the only abandoned place left in town.” He folded his arms and turned to Joe, “Unless you want to start a turf war with The Darkness.”

Sherman coughed, “The Darkness? B-But they are the biggest and baddest team in town.”

“We’d be crushed.” Zack said, picking up a discarded “thrift shop rewards” card off the ground.

Joe cleared his throat. “Right, no need for that.” He looked back to the thrift shop. The sunset reflected off the cracked windows and illuminated the several layers the filth and graffiti that had piled on since it was abandoned years ago.

“It’s…perfect.” Joe said, gagging on the words as they came out. “Let’s go in a check out the official crash pad for the Wreckers.”

They all nodded and followed Joe into the thrift shop. The setting sun continued to creep its way down the horizon.

…

Ben ripped off the boards baring the entrance and they made their way inside. The shelving was in disrepair and the paint on the walls was peeling. The floorboards showed their lack of maintenance as well. The air was heavy and each footstep echoed and somehow enhanced the silence.

The team split up to investigate the shop.

Joe wandered the aisles, murmuring about future design plans. “ah yes, the pool table will go here. And this is where we can have the television. I wonder where we could fit the couch…”

Ben had already set about pushing some of the shelving around to make space for themselves.

Zack and Sherman wandered the perimeter together.

“Hey, Zack.” Sherman said, looking over the stuff on the shelves, “Do you know why this place was abandoned?”

Zack looked over a handful of penny candies he had found.

“It’s haunted.” He said.

Sherman looked at him in a moment that seemed to last too long.

Zack looked up at him, his eyes shining from within his hoodie.

“Maybe.” He concluded. Sherman let out a breath he realized he had been holding. He turned and noticed that Ben and Joe had overheard the comment and had stopped their activities. Everyone froze for a moment.

“Welp,” Joe said at last, “I think that works for our first survey.” He clapped his hands, “We’ll come back again tomorrow.”

Ben scoffed, “Feh, what’s the matter? You scared?” He crossed his arms and smirked.

Joe and Sherman spoke over each other, each with their own flair for denial.

“Yes,” Zack said sheepishly.

Joe looked back at the sunset, “Besides, it is getting rather-” Suddenly, the four of them were plunged into pitch black. “-dark.”

From the center of the shop a hazy purple glow bubbled up from the ground. The four members clamored for the exit in the dim, eerie light. Ben grabbed at the door but it wouldn’t budge. They fought for an attempt to try the door as the light grew stronger. A large ball of purple ethereal vapor hovered in the center of the shop before a pair of bright red eyes flashed and locked on the small group.

“TRESPASSERS!” Came a bellowing voice. The mass started to float towards them.

“Dammit, Ben! You had to pick a haunted place.” Joe cried.

“This is not my fault, you bristle-lipped jerk.” Ben said. Joe snapped to Ben with eyes full of fire in complete disregard to the looming supernatural danger.

“Guys, come on,” Sherman said with a quivering voice, “Isn’t there something we can do?”

“Give it something?” Zack said. He reached into his pockets and pulled out his current stash.

Sherman picked out the thrift shop rewards card, “What is this?”

Joe glanced over and saw the card, “That!” He said, snatching the card, “Is our ticket out of this.”

“TRESPASSERS!” It roared again. The mass had finished its slow, menacing migration and was now looming over the four of them. “YOU WILL BE–“

“Actually,” Joe said, holding up the card, “We’re customers.” He spoke with absolute confidence, almost casually.

“Customers?” The mass said, in a nervous and soft tone.

Suddenly, the lights in the shop came to life. Joe and his crew covered their eyes until they adjusted. Standing before them was a young woman with wild, flowing purple hair and a tall pointed hat. She wore an apron that had a name tag on it.

She clapped her hands in front of herself, “I’m terribly sorry, valued customer, feel free to look around.” Her voice was mellow and comforting. The four of them glanced at one another and then to the shop. Illuminated, it had taken on a new life, looking much less of a total wreck than before. The woman nodded and then levitated off the ground to go tend to the aisles.

The crew stood in shock. Ben woke up first and slapped Joe in the gut.

“Ouph, ahem yes.” He straightened up, “Well, I am afraid we can’t stay tonight. Must be moving on.” He offered.

The lady turned to them with a dour look on her face, “O-oh.” Her shoulders slumped forward, the lights began to dim.

“A-actually,” Sherman said, “I was wondering if you had uh–” He glanced at Zack who pulled out one of the penny candies and shrugged. “Uh, penny candies?”

She lit up again, the lights of the shop coming back to full illumination, “Why yes we do. Right this way, valued customer.” She glided through the air and showcased a small section with different colorful wrappers on display. “We have a rather impressive selection, I think.”

Sherman and Zack joined her and began nervously looking over the candies. The atmosphere relaxed slightly, Ben looked over the shop and sighed.

“I guess this is a no-go, huh?” Ben said.

Joe twizzled his mouse-stache, “I wouldn’t say that.” Joe walked up to the floating ghost woman. “Say, my dear. You wouldn’t happen to have a place where we might be able to rest a spell?” he motioned to the others, “We have been working hard all day and could really use a place to take a load off.”

She regarded him for a moment, her face scrunched in and she glanced around the shop. “Hmm, well,” She said, biting her lip, “I am not really supposed to, but,” She looked back at him, “But you are valued customers so I think it will be fine.”

She flitted over to a door along the back wall that said “employees only”. She opened it up and it revealed a small lounge with a TV, a couch, some tables and chairs and a vending machine. “Feel free to relax as long as you like.” She said. “After all, it has been a long time since we had customers.” She looked away, her eyes unfocused, “A long…time.”

“Yes thank you,” Ben said, scooting past them and hurling himself on the couch. He landed with a thud and kicked his feet up on the shoulder rest. “Aha! That’s more like it.”

Joe joined him in the room, seated at one of the tables. “Yes, yes this will do wonderfully. Thank you very much Miss…uh,” He squinted at her apron, “Drevie?”

The woman nodded, “You can call me ‘Dee’.” She said.

Joe smiled back at her, “Excellent, Miss Dee. My name is Joe, that’s Ben.” He motioned to the couch. Ben lazily lifted his hand in greeting. “And the two outside are Zack and Sherman.”

“A pleasure to meet you all. Oh, I had better get back to the floor. Take care.” She said and fluttered off.

Joe leaned back in his chair and stroked his mouse-stache. “yes, this will work.”

…

Sherman and Zack joined them in the lounge when they finished purchasing their candy. The ordeal had left them all rather spent, before they knew it, they had passed out in the employee lounge. Joe joined them in resting his eyes a spell. Ben had been snoring since Dee went to cash out Sharman and Zack.

Dee dutifully stood at the register till daybreak, awaiting any further customers.

…

Joe pried open his eyes as a brisk chill washed over him. He sat up from where he had been lying in the grass. He looked around. He had somehow ended up outside, looking at the backside of the thrift shop. Nearby, the rest of his crew snoozed in a heap. Joe got to his feet and cleared his throat.

“Alright, look alive you punks.” He said, clapping his hands.

Ben grumbled and pulled his blanket tighter over him, which was actually Zack’s hoodie and caused the poor boy to be flung over onto Sherman, who yelped and flailed his arm, smacking Ben in the face. The three of them groaned.

Joe rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “Let’s try that again. Up and at’em, gents!”

The three of them got to their feet.

“Hey, where’d the couch go?” Ben said.

“Did Dee kick us out?” Sherman said.

“Ben was snoring.” Zack said. Ben shoved him.

Joe shrugged, “Dunno about that. But I dare say our souls have not been sucked dry, so that’s something.”

There was general murmur of agreement.

“So,” Ben said smirking, “This haunted shop our official crash pad now?”

Joe looked to Sherman and Zack.

Sherman smiled, “It’s a wreck, but I guess that is kind of our thing.”

Zack nodded.

Joe laughed and twizzled his mouse-stache. “Then it is settled.” He placed his hand on the side of the building, “This will be our new pad.”

The others gave a vigorous cheer. Vigorous for the early morning, at least. Joe then turned to Ben with sharp and critical look, “Now Ben, you may apologize to me.”

Ben quirked an eyebrow, “Huh, for what?”

Joe stroked his ‘stache, “You know very well what, you sharp-eyed pigeon!”

Ben stepped right up into Joe’s face, “You wanna say that again?”

Joe sized up Ben, Ben sized up Joe. They sized each other for a moment before Joe spoke again, “I apologize for my morning breath, it must be difficult to stand there.”

Ben blinked through watering eyes, “Absolute torture.”

The two of them laughed and Joe wrapped his arm around Ben’s shoulders, “You had me going there, friend.”

“No use beating you,” Ben said snickering, “Your head’s too damn hard.”

They exchanged another laugh and walked out to the parking lot. Sherman looked at the haunted shop again.

“I hope we see Dee again.” He said.

“We will,” Zach said, taking out the rewards card and flipping it over in his hands.

having writer friends is being like in the world’s tiniest fandom except to get new content you have to beat it out of the author with a stick

Been in a funk lately. :/ So I’m experimenting with different techniques to try and get myself out of it.

Day 2 - Mindless

Let’s see if we can make a trend of this.

Prompt: Mindless

Title: The good of mindless entertainment

The grandstands of the arena were filling up. Eager KFL fans, with their banners and signs, took their seats and prepared for the night of fights. The classic rock jamming over the speakers played background music for the excited chatter of the spectators.

Arriving to their designated seats, Victoria tossed her bag full of cheering section gear on the fold-up bench seat, her date, Mitch, dropped himself into the seat adjacent. She stripped off her jacket to reveal her limited edition “Quake in Fear ‘09” Cassidy Quake T-shirt. She did a quick pose to show off the fruits of her fanaticism. For his part, Mitch managed a gentle applause.

“Oh come on, you can do better than that.” She said, grabbing some of her banners and thunder clappers. She handed the merch to him, “Tonight’s match-up is a toughie and Quake’s gonna need us in his corner to cheer for him.”

He took the themed items and sighed, “I don’t think he’ll be able to hear us.” 

“You say that,” She countered, “But this one time.” She said, opening her hands in front of her, the way one does when they are about to wind up into an enthusiastic story. He leaned his head into his hands and watched her with a weak smile.

“Quake was on the ropes, right?” She said, “Baron Thuggly was about to barrel into him.” She mimed winding up a big punch. “But then! I called out,” She cupped her hands around her mouth, “‘You Can Do It!’” She said in a raspy scream-whisper voice. 

Mitch nodded along. “And did he do it?” 

“Not only did he whip around and catch Baron Thuggly right in his big ugly jaw,” She swatted at the air, spinning her around to put her back to him. “But then, Quake turns around and,” She turned slowly and looked at him. She smirked and gave him a slight nod.

He laughed, “Wow, all that for you huh?”

She spun back around to face him, “You better believe it!” She grabbed the edge of her shirt, “I bought this shirt after that match, as a memento to how awesome that moment was.”

He sat back in his chair. “I dunno, all this stuff just seems like mindless violence. I mean, isn’t it all fake?” He said, looking up to her.

She glared at him. “First of all, I’d like to see you back flip off a skyscraper and body slam through a monster truck and tell me its fake.” She put an arm on his shoulder, “And second, you could stand a little bit of mindless fun.”

He patted her hand and let out a slow breath, “Yeah, maybe.”

She smiled, and the lights cut out. 

The music went from banal classic rock to driving hip-hop hype music. 

The ring lit up with spotlights and the announcer stepped out to the center of the massive ring. He raised his microphone and the crowd went wild.

“Ladies and Gentlemen and everything in between.” He said, his voice echoing through the arena “Tonight’s fight will be one for the record books. Coming in for the Red Corner,” He gestured to the red colored entrance. A massive stone-statue looking creature lumbered onto the runway. “The mountainous stone soldier, clocking 3 stories tall and weighing a mind-bending 100 tonnes! Your challenger tonight, GARGOYLE!” 

The statue charged down the runway, each heavy step causing the whole arena to shake. He hoisted himself through the sturdy gate and stepped into the ring. He raised his massive fists in the air and roared. Some people in the audience cheered. Victoria applauded politely. Mitch followed suit.

“And now,” The announcer said, the music dropping out again, “Please welcome. Your champion in the blue corner!” The blue entrance lit up and showed a silhouette. The coils of the figure’s long whiskers were unmistakable. The music started low as the audience started to whoop and holler. Victoria was already on her feet, waving her arms and cheering. 

“The Kaiju that shifts the very world. The beast who bested the Gorgon and toppled the 100-Man Mountain challenge. Everyone, please welcome, CASSIDY QUAKE!”

The spotlights went wild, revealing Cassidy, standing valiently at the entrance. Empowering and brassy music kicked on. The arena went absolutely wild. Victoria was waving her banner and screaming. Mitch waved the banner he had been assigned and whistled through his teeth to join the crowd. The energy was tangible as Cassidy confidently hustled to the ring, his catfish whiskers trailing behind him. He stepped to the edge of the ring and hung off the gate before swinging himself inside. When he landed, the impact made the arena shudder. Even the challenger had to steady himself. 

The stage was set.

“Now, fighters.” The announcer said, “I want to see your warrior’s spirit tonight. Don’t hold anything back!”

The two competitors tapped fists to signal their agreement and went to their sides of the cage to prepare.

A large timer above the ring ticked down the final minute before the fight would kick off. Victoria waved her banner. Mitch couldn’t help lean forward, his heart racing. The anticipation in the air was making the hair on his neck stand up. A small grin slipped on his face.

When the bell rang, there was no time to waste. The two competitors came out swinging. Even in the first round, resounding strikes made the cage shake and shudder. As Quake went to work, Victoria would take breaks from her cheering to point out common tactics and strategies, and the signature moves of each fighter. He nodded along and did his best to keep up, she was rattling off information between cries and cheers.

“Wait, so, why can’t he use the Quake Buster there?” He said.

“Cause he was caught in the guard. He had to --YEAH! RIGHT TO THE HEAD!-- Sorry, he had to clear the leg first.” She said, her eyes staying on the battle.

“Clear the leg?” He said.

“Yeah, like, watch, see that? That’s clearing the leg, oh here it comes! Watch!”

Cassidy wrapped his arms around Gargoyle, lifted the massive kaiju into the air, and brought him down with a thunderous impact. The ring rattled dangerously, fighting to constrain the incredible force. The shockwave sent a wave of air pressure that knocked nearly everyone off their feet. 

“Whoa,” Mitch said, his heart fighting to catch up with his adrenaline. “That was awesome.”

“I know right!?” Victoria said, she grabbed the thunder sticks and banged them together. “GET HIM QUAKE!”

Mitch got to his feet, knees wobbly, and waved the banner. “Get him!”

Round 10, the challenger had managed to get a lucky sweep that brought him into a tough grapple. Less than a minute on the clock, but if Gargoyle could sink the choke, it could be over for Cassidy. The champion was pressed against the cage, struggling for a hold.

Victoria was screaming, her voice going horse. Mitch waved his banner frantically. He could see the energy draining away from the champion. With the banner clenched in his sweaty grip, he worked up all the energy he could and screamed, “YOU CAN DO IT!”

Cassidy’s eyes snapped open and he grabbed through the gaps in the fence and lifted himself up, pulling gargoyle off the mat. The pull of gravity and tired limbs loosened the challenger’s grip and he slid just enough for Cassidy to slip his way out of the hold and get his arms around Gargoyle again. With an ear-splitting shout, Cassidy jumped into the air, lifting the massive kaiju with him and bringing them both down for another clutch Quake Buster. The arena shook, the cage rattled, the crowd cheered. Cassidy rose to his feet, Gargoyle did not. The officiating robo-ref rushed to the downed fighter’s side, scanning his battered body. He straightened up and waved his arms in the air, signalling the end of the fight.

Had you been pressing your face against any of the windows for the arena, you may have felt, in that moment, the windows buckle outwards. Because the combined roar of every voice in the arena was like a physical blast. Within the cacophany, the robo-ref lifted the hand of Cassidy and the announcer cried through the din.

“Your winner and defending champion, CASSIDY QUAKE!”

In the stands, Victoria and Mitch had embraced each other and were leaping about. He looked back at the ring and to the hero who pulled through in the end. Cassidy, looked over his shoulder and into the stands and gave a single nod and smile.

Mitch clutched his chest. “I think,” He said sheepishly, “Do you think he heard me?”

She patted him on the shoulder, “You better believe it.” Her voice was ragged, but she spoke with a smile. “Come on, let’s go get you a shirt.”