CHAPTER 11: AGAINST THE ODDS

Octavia gawked in horror at the massive beast before her. She looked like one of Dad's bodyguards!

The Hellhound was of the Husky breed, about as tall as a school bus and rippling with muscle. She was slightly leaner than Brutus, giving her a more Amazonian look, but appeared just as strong.

Then there was her face. On her chiseled face was a thousand-yard glare that made her look like she'd been to war, killed people, then came back and killed a family of four.

Brutus whistled as the monster of a camper stepped over the rope. Courtney shot him a dirty look, which he ignored.

Octavia looked at Coach incredulously. "You can't," she muttered.

"Octavia, I'm really sorry. I'll get you a gift card for-"

"You can't," Octavia repeated, gesturing to the giant Husky approaching. "She's like seven weight classes above me! She's gonna fucking kill me!"

Coach sighed before stepping in front of Octavia and addressing the canine colossus. "You're late. We determined weight classes already."

"Too much vodka last night," the Husky spoke with a deep, Russian accent. Even from seven paces away, Octavia could smell the vodka on her breath. Had she even stopped drinking?

Coach squinted at her as she stepped closer. "You know, you ain't supposed to be drinking-"

She shoved Coach aside effortlessly, stomping towards Octavia with a murderous stride. Octavia yelped, protecting her face.

There was silence.

She looked up to see the husky standing over her, looking down with an indifferent expression. "What is bird's name?"

Octavia gulped. "My name? Uh, it's…fuck what's my name again- Octavia." She winced as her opponent leaned in closer. She tried to lean back, but Katya followed, backing her into the corner of the arena.

"Octavia cost team one round. Katya will break Octavia for that."

The towering hellhound sauntered over to the other corner of the makeshift ring, rolling her shoulders.

Octavia looked back at Cameron to see if this was really happening. She couldn't believe it! What he had thought would happen to him was actually happening to her! She leaned over the ropes to stare at the counselor. "Coach, can't I just forfeit? This is obviously not a fair fight!" Octavia pleaded.

Coach looked deep in thought for a moment. He looked at Katya, and his eyes hardened. He turned his gaze to Octavia, and she saw a glint in his eyes. He put on his most solemn face as he rested both his hands on Octavia's shoulders.

"No," he said simply. Octavia sagged. "Listen, go for the eyes," he continued. "Hit with the elbow, and if she tries to pin you, just let it happen."

The three smaller hellhounds giggled as their giant friend cracked her neck. Courtney cackled. "Oh-em-gee! You're so unbelievably fucked, bitch!"

Octavia gave one last defeated look at Coach. Upon meeting his solemn gaze, she reentered the arena. She wished Dad was nearby for the first time in a long while. He would have saved her.

"Fight!" Coach slammed the turnbuckle, unable to bury his grimace.

The battle started immediately. Katya charged like a bull towards Octavia, who barely dodged a running kick that drove into the turnbuckle hard enough to crack it. The hellhound spun around, stomping after a backpedaling Octavia. Roars and jeers erupted from all around Octavia, disorienting her.

"Go for the ribs, Octavia!" Cameron yelled from the crowd, just barely audible over all the people calling for Octavia's public execution.

With little else to do, Octavia pulled her fist back and threw a punch at the-

PAP.

Katya caught it. She caught Octavia's fist in her fucking hand. She looked at Octavia with an unamused glare and a low growl like gravel on sandpaper. Her grip tightened on Octavia's hand, squeezing until their hands started trembling.

Katya wound up and drove a fist into Octavia's chest with a heavy thud. Pain exploded in her whole torso as the fist hit her like a freight train, sending her flying onto her back. Octavia wheezed and clutched her chest as she scrambled away, wind knocked out of her.

She scurried to her feet and kicked the tall Katya in the thigh, but Katya continued advancing on her, shrugging off the hits like her muscles were made of steel.

Suddenly, Katya did something unexpected. She lurched forward, arms outstretched, and hugged Octavia. It was like how Dad would hug her when she was younger, lifting both her feet off the ground while her arms were pinned to her sides in the embrace.

Then the hug got tighter. And tighter.

Octavia let out a strangled squeal as her arms and ribs were squeezed inwards. Octavia didn't have enough wiggle room to kick. She tried knee-striking Katya's abs, but she may as well have been hitting a brick wall.

The pressure was building. It felt like she was getting crushed from all angles! As the crowd's cheering rose, so did her agony. She considered trying to call out to Coach, but then she remembered what he said.

"Go for the eyes."

With no regard for her own dignity, Octavia drew her head back and pecked Katya in the eye. Katya yelped in surprise, her grip loosening as Octavia's beak poked her eye. She pecked again and again until Katya dropped her.

Octavia rolled to the side, getting up to her feet. Katya snarled as she wiped her eye and blinked away the pain. "Little birdy will regret that," she growled.

"I'm sorry," Octavia squeaked before trying to dash away. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough.

A muscular hand shot out and grabbed Octavia by the shirt, yanking her forward. Before she knew what was happening, Katya was behind her, arms wrapped around her waist. Katya hoisted Octavia up, lifting her overhead as she bent backward.

"Holy fucking shit she's getting suplexed!" Someone yelled.

Octavia's world went upside down as her head and shoulders slammed into the ground, her legs flying overhead as she tumbled back.

Within a mere heartbeat, Octavia was pulled up onto her knees. The large hellhound grabbed her head and yanked it down, trapping Octavia's head between her muscular thighs.

As Octavia scrambled weakly to escape, she felt powerful arms wrap around her waist and hoist her up, rolling her up Katya's trunk. Octavia's legs hung over the hound's broad shoulders, Katya's head between Octavia's thighs as she looked up with unrestrained bloodlust.

The hellhound dropped to her haunches and powerbombed Octavia into the ground so hard the turnbuckles shook. There was no padding on the ground, just a cheap tarp, so the seismic impact easily knocked the wind out of Octavia, who could only roll onto her side and wheeze as Katya stood up and flexed, laughing heartily.

"Katya! Katya! Katya!" The crowd cheered the Hellhounds name, and some of the loudest voices were those from Glitterfang.

Octavia pushed herself up to shaky legs, gasping for breath as she leaned into the turnbuckle, bruised and beaten. She glanced at the rowdy crowd, seeing Courtney, giddy as a little girl at a birthday party.

The bratty Hellhound stood on the sidelines with her friend's brand new phone aimed at Octavia, recording. While Octavia was battered and beaten, her nemesis, who deserved nothing less than getting run over by a train, stood there with her fresh layers of makeup, unblemished.

She felt something stir within her. Like a surge of adrenaline, but different. It was like a warmth in her chest that spread to all her muscles. The matchup was bullshit. Rigged. She was expected to lose, to be humiliated in front of everyone by a spoiled little princess. Knowing Courtney, she would rub the defeat in Octavia's face every single day, despite doing nothing to earn her petty victory.

Come to think of it, what had Courtney ever done to deserve any of the joy in her life? All she brought the world was misery and division. Cameron had said it best: Her life was too good to be such a stuck up angry bitch.

Octavia's fists clenched as she felt growing rage building inside her. Not just rage. Defiance. That's what she was feeling. She was forced into a fight she was expected to lose, to get decimated by an opponent bigger and stronger. She was afraid, sure. But she would be dead before she gave her enemies the satisfaction of seeing her crumple.

Pushing herself up off the turnbuckle, Octavia raised her fists. Katya turned around, a grin on her muzzle as she cracked her large knuckles and advanced towards Octavia. She brought up her meaty fist and swung.

The punch seemed to be moving almost at half speed to Octavia. Katya's form looked like it was getting complacent and sloppy. Octavia ducked under the wild haymaker from Katya and countered with a jab to the face. It glanced off Katya's jaw.

Katya roared with anger and tried to backhand Octavia, but she ducked under that, too. Katya followed up with a kick, but Octavia sidestepped.

The crowd started murmuring in awe as Octavia began to fight back, dodging and weaving each attack as if she were a trained fighter. Many started cheering as she evaded her bullish attacker. Some, mostly Glitterfang, jeered at her.

"Stop moving, little bird!" Katya spat. She grabbed onto Octavia's shirt, before cocking her fist back. "No more running from Katya!"

Octavia didn't bother struggling in Katya's grip; she didn't have enough time to break free from her iron grip. Acting on instincts, Octavia reached out as Katya struck, and she felt a flare of energy in her bones.

PAP.

This time, it was Octavia who caught Katya's fist, using both hands. Katya looked to her meaty fist in confusion as if it was malfunctioning. Her head cocked for a moment before she roared with fury, pulling back her other hand.

PAP.

Octavia moved a hand to catch the second strike, now holding both of Katya's fists. She looked up at Katya and saw a brief flash of surprise on her face before it quickly turned to rage.

Octavia felt an overwhelming strength push down on her as Katya tried to overpower her, pushing her fists forward. Octavia's elbows trembled as she struggled to hold position. The two grunted as everyone watched in amazement, several people now recording.

In her muscles, in her very bones, Octavia could feel energy and anger crackling through her like electricity, and she held her ground, stopping Katya from bringing her to her knees.

Octavia took a step forward.

The crowd went crazy, several people screaming excitedly as Octavia dug her feet into the ground, driving Katya back one step at a time, both fists in hand. Katya pushed and thrashed, her feet scrambling for purchase as she slowly slid across the tarp. She was no longer in control.

Finally, Katya had enough and yanked her hands away, but Octavia clung onto one fist, grabbing the wrist with both hands. She pushed her hips back into Katya and twisted her body as she pulled down on the meaty arm, throwing Katya over her shoulder.

The crowd screamed, many jumping up and down in pure excitement as Katya, easily three times Octavia's weight, was somehow tossed around like a ragdoll.

Katya thudded off the ground. She stumbled to her feet, swearing as Courtney screamed at her. "What are you doing," Courtney cried in dismay. "Stop fucking around and effing crush her already!"

Katya threw Courtney a nasty glare before getting upright and stumbling towards Octavia. She reached out to grab Octavia's face, but Octavia was faster. So much faster.

She darted around Katya, wrapping her arms around Katya's waist and interlocking her hands together. With a burst of movement, she struggled to heave Katya up, her face straining with effort.

She could feel that same power course through her, and for a moment, she swore she could see something red flash under her feathers.

Katya's feet slowly left the ground and arced overhead as everyone gawked. Katya slammed into the tarp, tumbling onto her belly, falling victim to the same suplex she had subjected Octavia to.

Cameron's voice was the loudest of all the people cheering for Octavia. Well, Coach's voice was louder, but Cameron was a close second.

Octavia panted as she approached the once towering titan who now lay prone. She crouched over Katya and grabbed her shoulder, rolling her onto her back.

"You're gonna wish you wore a helmet, motherfucker," she said before bringing down a torrent of falling fists.

Her knuckles struck fast as lightning and loud as thunder, cracking against the hellhound's exposed face. Her blows came too fast to dodge, as strike after strike found their mark. The crowd's cheers fell silent, slowly turning to murmurs.

Octavia snarled animalistically as Katya's face snapped left and right with each hit. Octavia brought her fist back one last time as Katya opened her mouth to spit out a curse. Before it could leave her mouth, Octavia slammed those words back down her throat with a final decisive strike to the snout.

Katya's head rocked back, bouncing off the ground as drops of blood splattered from her nose onto the tarp.

Then, Katya went limp.

Octavia panted and gasped before standing upright, her shoulders tensed as she looked down at the fallen giant. She held her hands out, looking at them as if they weren't her own. Her knuckles were numb, aching and splattered with blood. She inspected her palms and the back of her hands as her head cleared.

"What the fuck just happened?" was all she could think.

As she looked around, she saw many people thinking the same thing. Coach's jaw was slack, as were many others. Among the most shocked was Glitterfang, whose hands were cupped over their mouths like they'd just witnessed a murder.

Coach was the first to break the silence. "LETS FUCKING GO!" he roared, and everyone immediately joined in, clapping and shaking each other around excitedly.

Among those clapping the hardest was Cameron. He wore an expression she had never seen on him before—pure, unbridled glee.

The celebration was cut short by Courtney's protests. "HEY! Coach, she's obviously on, like, performance-enhancing shit! Can't you test her for, like, steroids or something?"

Octavia looked down at her own twig arms and legs, then back up at Courtney with a baffled glare.

Courtney twiddled with her hair nervously. "Ok, fine. Maybe, like, um… cocaine?"

Coach crossed his arms at her. "Well, there's our volunteer for the next opponent. Get in the ring, missy. I'll try to call it off before you get too hurt." The look on Coach's face was beaming, a stark contrast to earlier. He clearly didn't seem to care about his bet with Cole anymore.

Octavia had never been much of a fighter—not just because of a lack of muscle, not just because of a lack of desire. Definitely not that. Anyone who was subject to Courtney's vicious mockery would want to pound her head into the ground until she started bleeding.

No, Octavia hated fighting because of the stakes. A bruised eye healed quickly, but a bruised ego would stay bruised forever. She imagined herself 12 years from now in the shower, minding her own business, then suddenly tensing up and cringing at the memory of being beaten up and humiliated in front of everyone.

Today, that fear was gone. Octavia had just crushed a fucking Amazonian. She could handle a bratty diva. Plus, this would be the only time she could pound Courtney's head into the ground without getting in trouble.

Courtney appeared to be having reservations. Her previous glee was gone now that she was the one who would need to do the fighting.

Octavia smirked, removing her helmet from her head and tossing it to Coach. She wouldn't need it. Plus she wanted to dominate Courtney. She wanted total and utter humiliation. This was her chance to stand up to the worlds biggest bitch the one way she had always wanted to: by blasting her in the fucking face.

Deciding to have some fun with it, Octavia smirked and crossed her arms. "You're so unbelievably fucked, bitch."

The look on Courtney's face was beyond priceless. Her jaw clenched as her breathing hitched. She audibly gulped. "Can… can I forfeit, Coach?"

"Hell no," came Coach's response, echoing everyone else's sentiment.