Chapter 9
I don't own Killing Bites
I do not own Destiny 1 or 2 or any dlc
Story start
Sorry for the late update next chapter will come sooner
Also so everyone knows there will be two version of this story, one which is the real one will have Ui hiding her strength as it makes sense in the long run and I like the plans I have made for it as it allows Ui and Callum to manipulate the Bureau while they think that they've been blackmailing Ui the whole time. It would be like convincing a kid that chocolate tastes bad and that you'd eat it for them.
However, I know a lot of people look forward to Ui kicking ass a lot sooner than that, for that reason at the bottom of the next chapter I'll have the alternative story and yes, it will be awesome.
As the players continued to roll their virtual die and move their pieces it was obvious that another fight would soon happen, a big one. Gorilla, Croc, Hippo and the mystery piece were all on a collision course to Tiger in the middle of a heavily forested area. I couldn't exactly blame them, tiger on his own was almost strong enough to guarantee a win against everyone else...almost. The one negative I saw was that the place they were going to meet gave tiger a definite advantage and Okijama being a hippo therianthorpe would be at a disadvantage but I guess Tiger's financer expected something like this to happen and planned ahead.
If they worked together though I don't think that advantage would be enough, sure Tiger would definitely take at least two down with him and the others would likely have enough wounds that made any further participation unlikely...but that's only if they could work together. The main problem with that plan was that while it was the logical thing to do a lot of therianthropes seemed to lack common sense or the ability to work in a team. Or even think logically at times, though there were exemptions such as the lizard sisters who proved just how devastating working as a team can be.
Sure enough, after a poultry attempt of cooperation they decided of all things one-on-one with Crocodile going first. Did they not realise that even if they somehow defeated Tiger, which was a very big if by the way. That they'd be so weakened by the fight that if they didn't pass out, they'd be easy pickings for the rest of the group. But again, that was a very big IF, much more likely was Tiger taking each one of them out, and each of them realising just how much they fucked up seconds before they died. By that point it would be too late to change tactics, especially when the toughest therianthorpes would want to go first...to prove they could beat a Tiger in a straight fight. The second the first one fell, let alone the second the team plan would no longer work. Croc was needed for his ability to take damage and dish it out, Gorilla for his strength and ability to grip and Hippo...well a brute charge from him would be devastating even to Tiger. As for the mystery piece I had no idea how they would fit in but the second any piece was lost the fight was over, croc could take damage but he couldn't deliver anywhere as much as Tiger could in a short time, Gorilla could certainly give damage but wouldn't be able to take anywhere near the amount of damage a fight with Tiger would result in. As for Okijama well he had the heart and presence of a warrior and was the only one who could understand let alone appreciate teamwork but compared to Tiger...well again a full-powered charge would deal even more damage than even Tiger could shrugg off but Tiger's agility and flexibility would make sure he would never take the full force and afterwoods Okijama would be vulnerable to retaliation.
It was honestly unfair that there was those like Tiger, Lion and Hitomi who were given the power (or born with it in the case of Hitomi) but lacked the proper ability to weild it fully. It was like giving a sniper or assault rifle to an idiot whose whole understanding of combat and guns comes from fucking xbox instead of a trained soldier. If Okijama had the same level of abilities as them, he'd be nearly untouchable. Instead, he had to work for his strength, he'd eventually get that good, but not for a few years at least but when he did...none of them would be able to hold a candle to him. That was the difference between someone given power over someone who earned that power with blood and sweat.
At the start Croc seemed to be able to hold his own, repeatedly snapping and lunging at Tiger faster than I'd expected. Of course Tiger was holding back considerably but still, it all came to an end though when Gorilla came out of nowhere with a punch that sent Tiger flying.
"Well, this fights over." I remarked outloud
"Baka, Tiger isn't taken out that easy." said Yoko
'Wasn't taking about Tiger.' I thought to myself rolling my eyes 'With that hit, Tigers going to stop holding back and take them out, they've lost their chance and unless they create another one they have no chance.'
But than again maybe they were already making one, Cheetah was getting quite close to both Gecko and Cobra. Those two were honestly two of the worst matchups for her and the stupid idiot that was her player didn't seem to realize it. Sure against Gecko or Cobra singularly she had a good chance of winning but that wouldn't happen here. Gecko used to be in the mafia and was quite dangerous even before she became a therianthorpe, hell if everyone was fully human like the killing bites were in the past I could see this easily coming down to her and Tiger. With her knowledge of martial arts and her ability to have an unbreakable grip...the second she grabs Eruza it could very well be over for her, it's the same thing with Cobra. He may be a cowardly, perverse piece of shit who only openly targets or harrasses those he knows he can beat and with those he's not sure about, he ambushes like a coward from an alleyway. I could already guess the tactic they'd use, Gecko would distract Eruza while Cobra would get in close for the fatal blow, likely from a hiding spot that she would never see coming. Both have ways of counteracting Cheetah's speed, one on one either would be a difficult fight, combined she'd have no real chance and by the time Eruza realised just how bad the situation she was in was it would be too late for her to withdraw.
'Seriously what was she thinking?' I thought as I looked at the player giving Cheetah her order. The woman overwhelmingly pink outfit looking hideous. 'Both of Cheetah's enemies at this point are both from the Sumitomo Zaibatsu faction so unlike the ones fighting Tiger they don't have to be worried about being hit in the back.
From the screens a flash of movement catches my eye, it seems Tigers back up and decided to take out Gorilla first, likely in retaliation to the surprise attack from the former earlier on. I did notice a strange absence of blood though and when Crocodile was taken out shortly later I thought it was a bit too easy for Tiger. Sure it the blows were from Tiger and Croc certainly had a devastating wound and just maybe Gorilla suffered a broken neck...but that still seemed hollow, I still expected something more.
Across from me it looked like Tigers player Shinada had also noticed Eruza's perilous position I meanwhile was more concerned about Okijama, though I would likely send in Hitomi to help Eruza while Ui came to Okijama's aid, if needed. While there was killing allowed and even encouraged it wasn't necessary, all that was necessary was that the piece was removed from play from being unable to fight, move etc. Falling down a hole and being unable to get would count just as much as a KO...it was funny that despite everyone's preening most of them couldn't see the forest for the trees and were more focused on the out come of single battles rather than the final one and planing moves ahead. Meanwhile it looked like Tiger had remembered that there was another piece near him...I really hoped Ui was ready.
Elsewhere with Ui
Under the surface of the island sat a maze of tunnels recently dug, they in no way encompassed the whole island but the size was still impressive considering just how little time it took to make them. In the centre of that mass sat Ui, ears twitching, the tunnels picking up and amplifying any and all sound. This way she could monitor a large portion of the island without being seen and could react quicker and from what she could tell Okijama needed help as soon as possible, his heart was still beating but in a panicked state, as far as she could tell only one person with a beating heart was still moving. There was also the concern of what had to be the mystery piece moving to the same location and she knew it was the mystery piece. Some people, especially those with above-average smell knows that everyone has a unique scent, what those people don't know is that everyone has a unique noise. From the beating of their heart, the heaviness of the step all of it is unique and made even more unique from being a therianthrope but it is still was harder to pick up and tell apart from sound than smell and if it wasn't for the tunnels even she wouldn't be able to tell who was fighting. From the sounds it was three mammals and one reptile, reptiles having a much different heartbeat to mammals, it was likely Crocidile as he had feet and the steps were much too heavy to be Gecko's. One was obviously Orcihime as she had long since had his noise memorised. One was Tiger due to a powerful heart beat and almost impossibly silent footsteps and breathing, the last one was confusing though, first it was quiet and small but then suddenly it was much bigger and louder...it was a guess but it was likely Gorilla, it would explain the sudden difference in sound.
As for the other therianthropes, were much further away, in truth only a few worried her the main one being Cobra. In her tunnels she was practically safe, they were simply too small for most of the competitors to reach her and their only choices once she was in one was either try to collapse it or dig her out. Cobra though...he could easily enter a tunnel and with his heartbeat could easily get close to her if she wasn't paying attention, and from his bio she knew exactly what he would do if he did catch her by surprise.
So for now she had to be 100% ready for a surprise attack and ready to get Okijama out of there, all she needed to do was dig a tunnel big enough for Orcihime to fit down and take him far enough away from the fight plus at least one to act as a decoy. The problem was the tunnel Okijama would go down would still be in the same quadrant so she'd need to occupy them long enough to give him time enough to recover or to get away otherwise they'd be able to find him with little trouble once they realised the minute bomb went off, not that it would. Callum already told her that he made sure the ones that they wore were dudes so that they couldn't be easily killed by someone with the press of a button. But save guards aside she'll also need to collapse the tunnel behind him so anyone who tried following him down would either get stuck in one of her normal tunnels or go down one of the decoy ones, thinking that Okijama would be at the other end and not knowing that they end well outside the quadrant or in a dead-end. All that's needed is one more order and she'd be there digging the necessary holes and as a red glow appears from around her neck...it's clear that she's got it.
Back with Callum
As Okijama faced down Tiger I grew increasingly worried, was Ui ready and in place or would Tiger take him down before she could do anything? As useful as her tunnels were they did slow down responding to situations on the surface. Luckily, before the battle could start Tigers player moved him and I breathed a sign of relief. It seemed Shinada decided to prioritize getting Tiger to his sister over making sure Okijama was put down. Understandable as not only was Okijama little risk to Tiger, in the long run, being slower and nowhere near stealthy enough to take him down but if anything happened to Eruza...I'm pretty sure Tiger would rip apart anyone that had anything to do with it, either from their own actions or there inactions. So the move was both intelligent and acting upon his own self-interests...mainly living afterwards.
However the second the collar glowed red, Croc came out of nowhere with a powerful chomp to Tiger's leg, effectively immobilizing him. It seems that instead of killing him in a fight they'd let the bomb worn around his neck do all the work for them. Thus proving my that my cautionary effort in making sure that the bombs worn around Hitomi's, Okijama and Ui's neck weren't live were valid. I knew something was going down and that it would be easy for anyone with the correct codes to kill any therianthorpes that were in the way with a few keystrokes at most. If someone did try to kill them in that way I would need to make sure that no one knew that they were still alive. Funny enough though, the collar designated for Hitomi was already disabled '...I wonder who could have done that?' I thought sarcastically
Tiger could kill Crocidile sure, but I'm guessing that Croc had fully locked his jaws so even death would not loosen them thus resulting in either Tiger having to fully prise apart the jaws to get away or cutting the head off. Either one of those choices would take too long to guarantee that he would able to leave the quadrant before the bomb went off. But it seemed that Croc knew that the position he in was both advantageous and dangerous...I mean it was his face that we was attacking with with, so to lessen the danger Croc started to spin and slam Tiger against anything nearby, much like a normal crocidiles death roll. This death roll ended up with Tiger hanging upside down from Croc's jaws, a much better position for Croc than before, the last position would have allowed Tiger unfiltered access to Crocs head and face. In this position though Croc had the advantage and if Tiger didn't act quickly then Croc would likely use the leverage from grabbing either his waist or upper thigh to rib that leg clean off, or at the very least shredding it to pieces. By then it wouldn't matter if Tiger could reach the next quadrant as he'd be in no state to fight and Shinada's concern would go from Eruza to trying to keep tiger alive. In the meantime however, Croc seemed to be content with swing Tiger around.
As the players start to babble I continue to make plans, both with Tiger getting out of this and with Tiger being taken out. It was only the voice of the game master that broke me out of my thoughts
"Mr Maclean, will you move or keep your piece where they are?"
"I would like to move." I answered much to the shock of everyone around me
Rolling the virtual dice I easily got the required number to ensure Hitomi made it to Eruza in a single go. Even if Tiger managed to get out of his predicament he'd need at least one more roll to make it, and by that time it would have been over for Eruza.
"You abandoned such a tactically advantageous location as 15-24 for the ordinary one found at 11-24 for what reason...don't tell me its to help Cheetah?" asked Yoko mockingly "Have you forgotten that she's your enemy?"
"Have you forgotten that this is a game of strategy and asking someone what their strategy is the same as asking to look at everyone's cards during a game of poker." I shot back much to Yoko's anger "But since you seem to be struggling at this I'll tell you this one time, it's because Hitomi and Eruza are friends."
Immediately Yoko lost her angry look and seemed to become even more furious while most of the other players and the entire crowd that was watching started to laugh, completely missing what was right in front of them.
"You can't help out an enemy just because their friends with stakes this high, if you really that concerned you should have made sure that they were on the same team. I would have made more sense that way, but I doubt Yatsubishi would have let you have her." said one of the players continuing to laugh.
"Enough! Desecrate the Killing Bites any further and I'll never forgive you!" said Yoko, silencing the laughs instantly
Sipping my tea I answered "And you think I need your forgiveness why? With serial killers and rapists as well little children fighting as if they were warriors...what is left to desecrate?"
I swear I heard one of Yoko's teeth break from how hard she was clenching her jaw.
"Oh look." I remarked casually as a further insult to the brat, it was like she was comparing killing bites to the Iron Banner when it wasn't even Gambit. "It looks like Tiger has shifted the odds into his favour."
Sure enough, Tiger had managed to change his position, somehow wrapping himself around Croc in a way that when the bomb went off, depending on it's power that was it would also cripple Croc. Croc seemed to be of the opinion that he could withstand it, I however knew just how much power they packed into those little bastards. It wouldn't kill him, well not likely, but it would definitely cripple him for the remainder of the match and honestly likely longer than that as well. But still, a sacrifice play in any shape or form coming from Croc surprised me, maybe he was more than just the common thug his bio made him out to be? He was still a thug though and if he took Tiger out with him so be it, both were far from innocent, Croc especially and I had plenty of evidence that Tiger and Lion taking out any future competition long before they got strong enough to challenge them for the metaphoric crown much like how a lion would kill the cubs of its rivals to prevent a future threat. It seemed that their goal was to be the two undisputed champions before eventually taking the other out so they could stand uncontested at the top forever. Even if a stronger therianthorpe came along in the future they'd either be retired, dead or their defeat would be marred with people saying 'yeah they defeated Tiger/Lion but no chance they could have done it if they were in their prime' and would thus forever be remembered as the strongest and most powerful Brute in all of history.
As the timer continued to count down, I wondered what would happen, would Croc remain resolute now that he was now in very real danger or would Tiger somehow get away? From their conversation it seemed that Croc still thought he could take the blow while Tiger taunted him say that Croc realsied him now that he'd simply be a weak human and that if he wanted to take him out then he'd need to act as a Beast...idiot any animal that doesn't care about survival would have long since gone extinct, what you are describing is nothing more than a rabid wolf. Too far gone to be saved and was only interested in infecting or taking out as many other as it could before it was finally put down
Okijama, however, seemed to have other ideas and as Tiger's collar was seconds away from going off he charged at them and was able to get them to separate. Croc was sent slaming into a tree while Tiger was able to flee and get out of the quadrant quick enough to cancel the bomb going off.
All I could do was sign as Okijama started speaking
"While I truly respect your resolve and dedication, real animals value their lives. While there are no rules in Killing Bites it should not come down to a suicide show!" said Okijama passionately and while I agreed with him and saw where he was coming from I doubt Okijama really knew the type of people he just saved. These weren't warriors like he was, these were the rabid wolves.
More concerning to me was the fact that now Okijama was in a bad situation. Croc had already shown that he could get up from a devastating blow and while in nature a crocodile would have no chance against a fully grown hippo, this wasn't nature and Croc had also shown that he was okay with mutually assured destruction as long as he took out the other person.
"I agree, that is how things should be Okijama." said Toh
"Mrs Toh, first Ratel and now Hippopotamus. Does Ishida intend to interfere in every fight that doesn't concern them?" asked Yoko "Maybe you should be more concerned about the lives of you own pieces, at least that way you have more chances of winning."
"Hold on! I've just received word that a camera crew has arrived at the scene of the fight between Cobra, Cheeta, Gecko and Ratel!" said the announcer, with that the main screen switched from Okijama to the fight going down with Hitomi
