Ellie sat up after hearing her number be called out. "I have to go now."

"Somethin' ain't right. I remember the tournament fights in order. You should have one more match to rest."

Ellie felt groggy. "Life is full of disappointments, I'm used to it."

"Fuckin' bullshit." Tessa responded violently. "You can't go, look at you."

"Just give me the shot so that I can fight."

"Fighter number 2 you are being called." Both of them heard it from the changing rooms. Ellie groaned as she moved a bit.

Tessa handed the adrenal shot over to the vixen. She instantly popped it open and jabbed it into her arm. "Give it a second to kick in." She commented reassuringly after jabbing herself. She waited 10 seconds then every light seemed to amplify a hundredfold. It was so strong that she instantly closed her eyes from all the harsh lights, but at least she knew she was awake now. Since that happened, she stood up and walked to the door. "I wanna ask, why was Bonesaw so popular?"

"He's very violent and brutal, he usually pins his opponent down and then beats them to a pulp, if you yield soon enough, you may yet survive."

Ellie laughed as she heard that. "Lucky I beat him then, right?"

Tessa shook her head. "The crowd need someone who can fill their urges, just as he did. That's why they come."

Ellie thought about what the Tasmanian devil said. "Guess I gotta go now."

"Hmm, good luck." Tessa stated.

"It seems my opponent is always that one that has it, not me." Ellie blurted out with a laugh to punctuate the statement, while also nearly patting her chest. Luckily, she stopped just before she hit her skin. She stretched then pushed the door open. "Okay, who am I fighting now? Bring 'em on." She shouted proudly; her clothes hiding the bandages that were used to help keep her alive and standing at this very moment.

As she looked around, she locked eyes with Finnick. 'I'm sorry, but I can't back out now.' She sighed deeply and then cut the eye contact, turning her body and head, almost as if she was a venerated gladiator. She smiled and heard plenty of cheers but also plenty of boos. This was to be expected since she did just take down the mammals champion, who was coincidentally also the actual reigning champion. To be fair to her, she had huge shoes to fill.

She finally looked across the arena, where she saw another kangaroo, bobbing up and down. "Ya got lucky outsider" (It sounded a lot like aht-cider) The kangaroo started to bounce a little more. "I won't care that ya beat ol' bitchsaw. I'll kill ya just the same."

"You know, he is quite competent, unlike you it seems like." Ellie retorted snarkily.

"I'll show you, you fuckin' pelt." The kangaroo spat out.

"They do say actions speak louder than words, so please, show me." Ellie taunted, trying to act completely overconfident, but still fearing the worst underneath.

"Okay, red, show me whacha got." Ellie charged at the kangaroo, knowing what to expect, she hoped. Then as she got close, she rolled to the kangaroos right and as expected, he swung his tail from his left. This gave her a few seconds to react, or at least a few more seconds. She used those seconds to punch the kangaroo in the back of the head, causing the kangaroo to be knocked forwards. "Lucky." Ellie rolled her eyes at that comment and then sent a forward kick into the marsupials stomach.

The kangaroo grunted then stood up rapidly. "Still lucky?" The kangaroo growled. She jumped up and gripped the kangaroo's neck. She used her weight to drag the kangaroo down. Normally this would've worked but the kangaroo, shockingly , was a kangaroo. He jumped up and forward, letting him escape the grip and even send his own attack. He punched the vixen straight in the chest. Fortunately, all the stitches held. She grunted heavily as she felt that punch tenfold. "Slipped my mind." She rolled onto her head slightly then pushed off her paws onto her legs, startling her opponent. "Lets go again." She reset her stance and had a little anger and a lot of adrenalin flowing through her veins and arteries. She waited for the kangaroo to come, and come he did. He charged and then leapt into the air, kicking the vixen straight in the muzzle.

Cheering, the crowd roared for what they were seeing. "Well, little lass, I think we both know what's gonna happen." Ellie groaned then growled. She was not in the mood for losing. "Yield while you still have the chance." 'He is predictable, I was just sloppy. Time to kill him.' She rolled backwards and landed on her hind paws, having a stable position on three of her four paws, her left paw was still available for combat. She stood up straight and breathed gently.

She was fuelled by rage now. She felt disrespected, mocked; not because of the words but because she was dropped so easily.

At the VIP stand

Finnick sat back down and saw that Ellie was being called now. "Needed to get a drink." He handed a beer to the kangaroo as well.

"Better moist my lips now." The Courier opened the bottle and drank it semi-slowly. Then Ellie walked out, like a wrestler.

Finnick was entirely confused by this bit hid it well, she knew she had the disadvantage, no matter who she faced. Why was she showboating? That was when the two had eye contact. All of a sudden, he understood what was happening. She needed this, a sort of therapeutic alleviation. Pent up rage, but she tries to bottle it up and keep it contained. She turned away and he just shook his head. 'Don't lose yourself there.'

He watched the vixen and kangaroo talk and taunt each other. "The kangaroo is nameless, I don't know his name, not written 'ere at least." The courier mentioned, answering the unasked question that lingered in the air. "But it does say profession. Oh ya fuckin' with me." The Courier laughed a bit. "He's a bouncah." Finnick groaned when he heard that. "I can't believe it mate."

"This should be an interesting fight, he seems somewhat competent, but I can't really gauge his skill from up here." The kangaroo beside the fennec nodded in agreement. "Well, I can only hope."

"What if she doesn't make it out of this alive, buddy?"

"Then I will have to continue the mission on my own." Finnick stated shakily, wishing that future does not happen. "But it would be easier if she doesn't die." He then added, almost instinctively.

"Listen, I know there's something between you two, at least from you to her. So, you can be honest." The Courier smirked. He sat calmly, watching the two brawl for what was essentially his entertainment.

Finnick watched carefully, and then saw the fox get punched in the chest. "Shit. They should hold though."

"So ya did help 'er, ey?" The Courier laughed. "I should do somethin' about that but I won't, not my job." He then laughed again. "I just wanna watch." The two watched as the vixen got struck again. This time, she recovered instantly but something was different, she was finally about to let loose.

The arena

Ellie clenched her fist and punched the ground beneath her. She growled gutturally and then went completely blank. It was like a state of mind and she wasn't listening to anything outside her own mind. She only had focus on the mammal in front of her. She saw the tail was low, so he was preparing for another jump kick. She charged at the kangaroo and then slid at the last second, striking at the tail and dropping the marsupial fighter. He fell to the ground and Ellie started to strike at the kangaroo's chest with her fists, violently, rapidly. He groaned. He punched. He hit, knocking her away.

Her expression didn't change, she didn't even react. She just got back up and remained stoic.

He ran towards her and threw a barrage of punches, which she dodged effortlessly. None of them were even close to hitting her. That's when he got pissed and then pulled out a small knife. She instantly noticed it and avoided it constantly. She then stomped down on his knee cap, dislocating it from its socket. He yelled in great pain and discomfort. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, you piece a' fuckin' shit slag." He then spun around, using his tail to force a dodge and then slashing her cheek with his new found knife. He swung it wildly, following the vixen as best as he could with only one and a half functioning legs. He then committed to a jump kick suddenly, without any preparation or wind up.

Ellie used this to her advantage and pulled his leg causing him to travel further than expected. She then struck him in the chest downwards with her palm. He crashed against the ground and was stunned for a second. She used that second to jump on top of him then pummel him constantly, until his muzzle was bleeding brutally. He then regained his bearings midway through his beating and then grabbed the vixen by the neck and brought her closer. "You're mine now pelt." He forced the blade as far as he could into the shoulder blade of the vixen. She blocked the blade as best as she could. She had no chance to escape as she was being choked and about to be stabbed.

In a second of panic, she forced her head forward as much as she could, to the point where her eyelashes tickled the very blade she was trying to block. She then dropped her head completely, hitting the kangaroo in the nose. She used this second to force the knife into the kangaroo's throat. The kangaroo choked, coughed and wheezed; he was slowly suffocating on his own blood. She stood up and looked at her enemy. As she saw him struggle, she calmed down. Everyone cheered her name as they saw that display. She then looked at her paws and saw they were covered in blood. Her paws started to tremble as it started to dawn on her what she just did. She started to breathe heavily but tried to suppress her panic. She returned to the changing room and sat down on the bench in the middle. "I did it again, I lost control again." She whispered.

Tessa ran to her. "You were incredible out there. Do ya think you can repeat that performance?" She then picked her up and championed her.

"I need a second to recollect myself." Ellie stated completely emotionlessly. She seemed to have a blank stare in the surface in front of her.

"Hey, look at me, you need to do what you do to survive, so don't think this is a horrible thing." Tessa tried to reassure. "I try to act like that as well when I'm out there on the battlefield." She sat down beside the fox and sighed. She then clicked her fingers in front of the fox, trying to get her wavering attention. "LOOK AT ME!" She then commanded with a heavy booming voice.

The vixen turned her head slightly and grunted unenthusiastically. "Let me figure this shit out for myself. Last time I was like that, it was a dark time. It's not the blood or the murder, those are completely a-ok for me but that state, it's like a monster just emerges and unleashes itself."

The VIP stand.

"She's finally letting it all go." Finnick stated confidently. "She's letting it go."

"Huh, what ya talkin' bout?"

"She's angry, just purely angry, she's hiding it well up until now but she's angry and she wants to show it."

"Heh, so ya sayin' he's fucked now?"

"Pretty much." Finnick confirmed. "She needs to let it all out here, then maybe she will be fine in general, able to mould it, control it."

"You speakin' from experience?" Finnick nodded. "Still hotheaded?"

"Ya damn right I am."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"I'll need to talk to her after this fight. There's a reason she bottles it all up." Finnick stated, concerned for the fox that he was supposed to be working with. The two still watched the fight unfold.

They then noticed the knife be pulled out. "I thought no weapons were allowed."

"Still aren't, but I could argue that they are both cheaters." Finnick held his growl in as he heard that. "If he wins, he'll be disqualified, if she wins, it will be impressive and she'll go through." The Courier joked seriously. Finnick watched the fight, fearing the worst. That was when he noticed she dislocated his knee with a powerful stomp. "Heh, she still has a chance mate. That knife might've changed nothin'." The fight continued to play out until the finale, where 'Popper' was bludgeoning the kangaroo on the ground. "He should yield now."

"No, he has a knife, so he still has a chance." Just as he said that, the kangaroo, grabbed Ellie by the throat and tried to force the blade into her throat. That was when she countered and got the knife into his throat. "That was a good counter." Finnick declared. He then got up and ran to the changing rooms, hoping he would be able to tell her to keep fighting like that. He sprinted as fast as his little legs let him, but it wasn't as fast as he wished to be. He weaved between all the mammals going to get a snack or a drink in between fights. He was fortunate to not hit anyone. He reached the female changing room and knocked on the door.

After a few seconds, Tessa opened it. "What the fuck do- oh it's you, come on in. She might need ya."

Finnick walked in and saw the vixen sit there almost entirely defeated. He knew she hated this form but it was a necessary step for her to be able to be better. He sat down next to her. "Ya did well, if ya wanna continue that performance, ya gonna have ta go into that form again."

Ellie sighed when she heard that, she didn't want that to be how she does this. "No, I'll do it on my own terms."

"Spend all your rage, then it will be your terms. You bottle it up and don't release it, that's not safe for anyone, especially you. Release it and then you will learn to control it." He then pulled out a soda ad shook it up. "Imagine this is your explosive anger." Ellie looked on in intrigue. Finnick opened the bottle, spraying the drink everywhere. He then quickly shut it. "That is what you wanna do first, agreed?"

"Get rid of it?"

"Yeah, get rid of it." Both spoke extremely monotonely, there was no change in tone from either of them. "Then it would be something like this right? Lesser, basically." Ellie nodded in agreement. "So now, if you release it, " He paused as he was opening the bottle, "you can control it." The soda started to rise and fizz again but this time, as it was about to reach the top, Finnick closed it. "You let some out but ultimately you are in control. Use these fights to let it all out." He sighed then. "Trust me, I know all about it."

Tessa sat in the background, trying to not be seen or at least not disrupt what was happening.

"Why are you helping me?" Ellie asked, unsure if she deserved it.

"Because, I care for you. When I look at you, I see myself and I wouldn't say I like that image. So I want you to be better than me." Tessa gestured with her paws, expecting to hear a little bit more. Finnik saw this and exhaled from his nose sharply. "And I care for you, because I love you."

Those three words snapped her out of her little emotional slump. She sat up straight and seemed a little shocked to hear that. She wanted to say something but was lost for words. Finnick remained stoic, he refused to show that he was completely panicking after what he did.'What did I do, what did I do?!'

She finally decided to grab him, hug him then kiss him on the forehead. She then exhaled calmly from her nose as if a whole deal of burden was shoved off her shoulders. She leaned in towards his ears and then whispered delicately, "I love you too." This calmed Finnick down, causing him to reciprocate the hug he was given. Tessa started to silently cheer for them, she was proud that they finally admitted it to each other. "Thank you, 'Zero', thank you."

"Any time, 'Popper', any time." Finnick responded, feeling better about his actions. "Now, I assume you won't back down now, so I suggest you let all your anger out, and I will be cheering on for you from the stands." He then chuckled. "Break a leg, just not yours."

"Thanks, I'll make sure I do, sweetie." Finnick blushed a bit when he heard he was called that. Luckily for him, it wasn't seen due to the colour of his fur. "Tessa, I think you'll be up soon."

The tasmanian devil sat up. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm going now." She then stood up. "It'll be the semi-finals next, don't let yourself slip." Finnick now left the room and returned to the stands. Ellie had a new found confidence, and she focused on keeping herself warmed up for the next fight. She didn't have any second chances anymore.

Meanwhile, Finnick felt much … happier, it was a sense of elation he wasn't expecting to find. It was blissful for him. Nothing could break his mood now, as he was returning to his seat.

That was when in one of the corridors, he was stopped by two dingos. He looked at them stoically, unwilling to even flinch at their sight. "What do you two want?"

"You're not supposed to be here, mate." One of them stated with a slight chuckle building up as they spoke. "And ya know what that means."

"We gonna have ta beat the shit outta ya." The other one finished, pleased with the outcome that has just appeared.

Finnick rubbed his forehead then looked back up. "Guess it does mean that." As he finished that sentence, he saw that one of them tried to grab him by the collar. He stepped back a bit and avoided the attack. He then growled, knowing that this will be an annoying fight for him. He jumped towards the one on the right but purposefully missed, actually aiming for the wall to bounce off of it. Doing so, he gained a better angle and the ability to strike one of the dingos against the wall. He decided to hit the one that was further away, crashing his foot into the dingo's cheek at a high velocity. The dingo that just fell groaned and rubbed his head as he hit the wall. Since Finnick landed on that dingo, he proceeded to strike the muzzle a couple of times before jumping off and landing to his current left, rolling away to create some more distance.

Ellie opened the door, to see what was happening. She saw the small fennec fighting the two guards. She groaned and wanted to help but saw the fennec shook his head then turn back to the standing dingo, who just accidentally also struck his colleague. He growled viciously, and then proceeded to attack wildly at his target. Here, Finnick had enough and pulled out his Macowrov, pointing it straight at the forehead of the dingo. "Give it up, no-one would hear if I pulled the trigger." The dingo then froze up and stepped back, only to hear a few chuckles from behind the fennec. He looked over there and saw 'Popper'.

He sighed and grabbed his friend to drag to the infirmary.

Finnick walked over to Ellie. "So, when you have some free time, you just bully the staff that work here?"

"They were bullying me first, I was just defending myself." He stated nonchalantly. Ellie chuckled. "By the way, yes, I was angry, but I controlled it and directed it at them in a way that wouldn't be too serious."

"I noticed that part." She confirmed. "That why you wanted me to let it all out?"

"Yeah, you'd be better though."

"I don't know about that."

"You're bigger than me. Gives you more range and versatility."

"You're smaller so you're harder to hit."

"Only goes so far in a fight, if we were to fight to the death, emotions aside, you would most likely win. We both have the skill but you have the reach. You would win most likely thanks to that."

"You're selling yourself short." Ellie tried to stifle her laughter after she said that. Finnick groaned when he heard that. "No seriously though. You would probably wipe the floor with me."

"I doubt it." Finnick responded humbly. Ellie rolled her eyes. She didn't bother arguing anymore. "If I'm better, why did we send you?"

"You're more business savvy, you are more useful outside of the fight rather than in one." Finnick raised an eyebrow, questioning what she was saying non-verbally. "It just so happens that you are a skilled combatant."

"You flatter me." Finnick finally stated.

"Why didn't you want me to help in the fight you just had?"

"I already won it, no offence but you being there wouldn't've helped me, it wouldn't hurt but it wouldn't help." Finnick answered honestly. Ellie lightly giggled when she heard that. "What?"

"Such a male right here." She teased. Finnick shook his head disapprovingly, trying to hide the blush he was getting, and decided it was time to head back to the stands. "See ya sweetie, don't get mugged on the way there." She teased again.

"I won't, see ya." Finnick responded, feeling a little awkward but also a little giddy inside. He didn't truly know how he felt confessing, especially the way he did but, it was a start.

He returned to his seat and remained a bit too quiet. "So what happened now?" The Courier asked. He huffed lightly. "Those two dingos weren't you, were they?"

"They were, I have a job to do first and foremost, so I need to be in contact with her at all times."

"Riiiiiiiiiggggggggghhhhhhhht, there definitely isn't a fursonal aspect involved." The marsupial stated confidently, knowing that he liked her.

Finnick blushed heavily, making it be seen clearly, even with his red fur. "What, no, that's stupid."

"You do anything else?"

"No, I was returning and they threatened to 'beat the shit outta' me."

"You make it difficult to actual keep it civil."

"Nothing about this is supposed to be civil, I'm supposed to be pointing the barrel of a gun to your head as I convince you to join. She'd be there as well." The Courier laughed as he heard that. "I'm smart enough to know that fear does not breed loyalty, most don't know that."

"Fear can create respect, that breeds loyalty." The Courier responded. "But you wouldn't be a mammal that would scare me, neither is she. I don't fear death, I've come to terms with it, and well, can't wait for it to come knockin' on my door like an ol' friend." The kangaroo smiled widely. "Any questions?"

"No, but there are fates worse than death, you of all mammals should know that." Finnick retorted. He turned his attention back to the fights. "So, she has two more fights?"

"Yeah, she has two more fights..."

A/N: Well well well, loverboy finally said it, sure it wasn't in a way that would be considered normal but extenuating circumstances.

I'm glad to say that Ellie was able to withstand her injuries from before, unfortunately, they may or may not be seen as a target. Finnick already feared this and well, he's probably right to fear.

With all that said, this will probably be the last thing I post before new year, so just in case. Happy new year everyone.