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As the dinosaur pokemon descended deeper into the cavern, curiosity won out in Osiris. He butted his head against the side of her mouth until he was granted a small reprieve, sticking his face out in a manner not unlike a dog in a car. From there, he was free to revel in all of their amazing surroundings. They'd come to a place that looked like a holy arena belonging to a long-dead warrior society, rife with history and storied gladiators, and ruined by time. The howl of the lycanroc caused him to jump out of fear, and her voice roused both powerful curiosity and rising dread in Osiris.

"A prize," he echoed, his head hanging out the side of Victoria's jaw loosely. The dratini wriggled in an attempt to get free, looking up at the tyrantrum. "It would be nice if we had something to show for all of our trouble in this rotten cave."

Fighting right now wasn't appealing to Osiris. Whether or not he was a "warrior at heart" was something he didn't have an answer to—he enjoyed sparring with pokemon relative to his strength level, but mortal combat was not at all a pleasant experience to him. Perhaps in the aftermath of it, when the fear was gone and he was left only with the memories of pitting himself against an opponent and seeing which of them was superior, he might have called himself a fighter... but this wasn't such a moment.

He and Victoria had been put through the wringer. It wasn't long ago that they had been thrashed by a raging giant, and their path to this arena had been rife with conflict as well. But... well, she'd mentioned a reward, and aside from that, she wasn't hostile so much as she was simply inviting them to a seemingly non-fatal (but very serious) battle. On top of that, Osiris still had a myriad of medicine in his bag, even if it was crushed to a point where its effectiveness dwindled. It wasn't the worst idea.

The dratini glanced at the rock-type canine, who was still perched up on her podium. It seemed like the battle wouldn't start until they verbally consented, which was a great change of pace. "What do you think? I kinda wanna give it a shot." he asked his companion, offering her a tremulous smile.

The silence wore on Osiris. Being in her jaws as he was, the dratini felt sensitive to her every movement. Every careful step, every time she ducked her head and snuck around a pillar... and especially when she growled. It wasn't the first time he'd been in her mouth as she did so, but it was the first time he was locked in her jaws so securely. The sound had nowhere to go, reverberating around him and echoing in his ears. He felt a shiver run down him, and he felt suddenly very grateful that Victoria was his friend.

Then, without any kind of warning, Victoria's mouth opened and that sound was suddenly a physical force. So much so that it actually propelled him forward, and it felt like for a moment he was flying. Osiris' tail crackled with static electricity while he flew through the air, and it was only thanks to his moment of preparation seconds ago that he had the presence of mind to react. All he saw was a blur of spiky orange and creamy brown, and he lashed out physically, tail swiping out as fast and hard as he could manage. His stomach flip flopped as he moved through the air, but in the instant of thought he had, he felt grateful for the suddenness.

No time to think about it meant he had no time to overthink it. He just hoped he did it right this time.

the sunset hero carried out 1 launched of one Damage :

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The electricity crackled throughout the air and waved about wildly with the dratini. Achillia hardly had the time to react. She was so focused on the smell, that she didn't even think that the two might have plotted a surprise attack. The canine neither whined nor yelped as her paws danced about the electrical crackles that threatened the very agility she used to avoid them. It was far too much, however. As soon as a single crack touched down with her fur, it was as if the entirety of the attack as suddenly magnetized towards her.

The lycanroc snarled as she was reduced to a immobile light show. Every movement was a struggle-especially the kind of movement that would help her avoid the oncoming charge of a tyrantrum. Victoria had left the safety of her hiding spot now that it was uncovered and barreled towards the lycanroc as fast as her powerful legs could take her. She slammed her head into the mutt and sent it flying off in between the pillars on the parallel side of the wall. Boulder and dust boomed and stirred as her body collided with it. Cracks spidered outward from the central point from the force. She collapsed onto the ground, but was quick to jump back to her feet-electricity still crackling around her with her lips pulled back into a vicious snarl.

Osiris suffered a rough landing on the other side of the lycanroc, a good distance away from her and an even greater distance away from Victoria. This meant that she wasn't close by to protect him, but more importantly, this meant that between the two of them and their positions, they had Achilla in an almost pincer-like position. Two of the lycanroc's routes of escape were cut off, and if they moved in tandem, her defensive options would be that much more limited. All this occurred to Osiris as soon as he looked up from where he'd landed on the rocky floor, having realized that he had done it.

Their gambit paid off. The dratini wore a very self-satisfied grin, happy with himself for doing something correctly and bordering on ecstatic that he'd managed to tag a pokemon of Achilla's caliber. He might have had help, but this was irrefutable evidence that he was useful and his work up 'til today had not gone to waste. Now they just had to keep the ball rolling from here.

He pointedly did not rush at the lycanroc again. Osiris had learned his lesson. "It's all downhill from here," he rasped to her instead, with that same enthusiastic grin on his face, feeling good about their odds now. Paralyzation was hell to deal with in a fight; not only did it make you much slower, but there were times where it could render you completely immobile for a moment. And in his opinion, mobility was one of Achilla's best weapons. Just by pulling this off, they'd struck a heavy blow against her, even if they hadn't done any super serious damage yet.

Not falling prey to overconfidence, he elected to focus on himself instead of Achilla. The dratini rose up and began to sway in a rhythmic, almost hypnotic fashion, his blood pumping as he psyched himself up more and more. It was a dragon dance, and with it he'd be that much faster and stronger... that much better of an asset for Victoria to use against this enemy.

Achillia looked to Osiris as he spoke, however, her frown was certainly one to be remembered. Electricity sparked and crackled off of her, intensifying as if it reacted to her building anger. "I said...This. Isn't. Fun." Her expression suddenly flipped from a discontented frown to a wide-eyed snarling rage of fury. A violet aura came about her as she suddenly flung herself towards Osiris. As much as the paralysis hindered her, her mobility was still a force to be reckoned with.

The lycanroc was interrupted from her lunge, suddenly being dragged back as something latched onto her tail and yanked. Victoria twisted her body and slammed the lycanroc into the ground opposite of her. She was just in the motion of repeating the action, when the canine suddenly twisted towards her with a furious snarl. The tyrantrum's snout was assaulted with bites and scratches that burned with every strike.

She was forced to release the lycanroc, her eyes squeezed shut as she backed off. This wasn't worth being blinded.

Osiris' eyes went wide when Achilla shifted from frustrated to outright volatile, lunging toward him like she was wanted nothing more than to crush him. It was a frightening enough sight that he froze up, mind blanking during such a crucial moment to his survival. And once again, his life was very possibly saved by the tyrantrum aiding him, as Victoria chose that moment to latch onto the lyrcanroc and swing her around like a toy. Iris released a breath he didn't know he was holding, a bit of tension fleeing from him.

That was right. Achilla was seriously inconvenienced but by no means incapacitated. They still had work to do. Utilizing his newly-boosted speed, Osiris opted again not to attack, trusting his ally to keep their opponent preoccupied for a little bit longer. While Achilla assaulted Victoria with an assortment of bites and slashes, Osiris continued his dragon dance, his swaying intensifying in speed and ferocity. He needed all the help he could get if he wanted to outflank this pokemon, even if her speed was crippled.

As Victoria guarded her eyes and backed away, Osris moved in. It wasn't quite as fast as he could go with extremespeed, but the rate at which he covered ground boosted by two dragon dances was not insignificant at all. The dratini strafed around the two rock-types, putting distance between himself and the two heavy hitters while at the same time putting himself in the position to get a clean angle of attack on Achilla. He skidded to a halt, staying low to the ground while he sucked in a heavy breath. An instant later it was expelled in a vibrant blast of energy, his dragon rage made manifest, tearing a path directly for Achilla. If she pressed her attack on Victoria, she would have him to deal with.

The blast of draconic energy shot through the air and blasted against the side of the lycranroc. A puff of purple smoke polluted the vicinity. The lycanroc ripped through the cloud in a blind rage and chased after Osiris' direction. The snarls of the mutt bounced off the walls as their movements became much more violent and unhinged as they continued. The raging lycanroc moved to strike the Dratini, though the electricity that crackled around them helped in making it difficult to get their muscles moving at a decent pace.

Victoria, in the meanwhile, rushed through the smoke just after the Lycanroc in hot pursuit. Frost puffed out with each breath as she opened her jaws, ready to snap down on the hindquarters of the Lycanroc and send it flying in the opposite direction. She just needed enough time to catch up with it.

Another hit! Osiris' heart swelled with confidence when his dragon rage impacted Achilla, not wavering even when the lycanroc blasted after him like a bat out of hell. Expression tightening into a mask of determination and bravery, the dratini coiled up... and remained in place, tucking his tail behind him as he prepared to stand his ground against their enemy.

He did not run. It was an action that ran contrary with his revelation earlier, at least on the surface; he shouldn't be meeting Achilla head-to-head in combat like this. But Victoria was right behind her, trying to make enough ground to keep working, and Osiris had a little trick up his sleeve that could help with that. The dragon-type's tail pulsed with a beat of energy all-too-similar to the hue of his dragon rage, and he waited for his opportunity.

Dragon Tail took a moment to get up and running, which often resulted in a bit of pain, but he was resolved to take this hit from Achilla and in return, smack her backward right into Victoria's welcoming arms jaws.

A satisfying smack echoed through the air as the lycanroc's body was struck by the dratini and launched right into the Tyrantrum's teeth. The queen snapped onto the rock type despite the stony spines that poked and prodded in her mouth. Howls, snarls, and growls echoed as Victoria flung her head left and right, shaking the dog as if it were the chew toy.

Achillia snapped and snarled, but settled her mind long enough to use a different attack. Her body glowed a bright orange a split second before the tyrantrum's jaws suddenly snapped open. A powerful force pushed against Victoria's jaws with twice as much power as she delivered. The tyrantrum cried out in pain, the lycanroc's body dropped to the ground before her. She turned and stomped away from Achillia, her jaws hanged loose as she tried to bear the pain.

The elation and immature triumph Osiris felt at connecting with Achilla evaporated into ash when he witnessed her counterattack on Victoria. His heart dropped and his eyes bulged, his face a mask of both stupefication and despair at what he witnessed - what he heard. That crack echoed thorought the room in its finality, and echoed in his ears yet still. Achilla just broke something.

And Victoria... stumbled away, backing off with her jaw hanging open almost unnaturally. She was hurt - really hurt - and it was his fault. His and Achilla's, and that revelation brought forth an anger in Osiris that he'd almost never felt before. Victoria shouldn't ever be backing off like that, stumbling away like she'd been overpowered. It was so unlike her that it was simply wrong.

He had to do something about it. "You... bitch!" he snarled, only just managing to swing his gaze over from his wounded friend to the pokemon that hurt her. He needed a way to hurt Achilla - something new, something they hadn't tried on her yet. Unbidden and unconsciously, the dratini's tail was enveloped by water that materialized from seemingly nowhere, swirling around the appendage in a thick torrent.

Osiris didn't think about attacking; he just did. The dragon wyrm exploded into movement once more, Extremespeed carrying him to Achilla faster than ever, thanks to his previous Dragon Dances. Similar to his maneuver before, he spun midair before lashing out with his tail horizontally this time, his first Aqua Tail aimed to strike Achilla in the side - in a direction that would force her away from Victoria, should his sudden aggression pay off. He was submerged in a level of anger he hadn't quite felt ever before; even Kiba and the jolteon hadn't managed to push him this far, and it showed on his face. His visage had morphed from horrified to coldly furious.

And unbeknownst to him, there was something else happening. A vibrant radiation of life energy from within, muted and minute pulses adding to his bodily length as he moved, almost imperceptible given how fast the dratini sailed through the air. In his burst of righteous retaliation, Osiris was changing.

Again, the tail slammed against Achillia, again, the force of energy blasted back against Osiris's tail with twice as much force as he delivered to her. The Lycanroc was knocked back from the attack, but caught herself on her paws yet again. The look of rage on her expression didn't shift or change from the current development that occurred before her. The little noodle she'd dismissed before was far better than she originally thought, but that didn't mean she was afraid.

Victoria's head hung low and pointed down. She had briefly attempted to hold her head up high, but the pain that ensued was too much. Of all of the pain she'd endured that day, this had to be the worst. Not because of the amount of pain, but the consequences of this wound that immediately flooded her mind. Was her jaw broken? Her breaths became heavy and difficult. How...how was she going to eat hunt like this? How was she going to eat?

The tyrantrum adjusted her head to look over just as Osiris' form began to change. Her wide eyes focused on him as he delivered a heafty smack against the wolf. The lycanroc growled as she observed Osiris, but she ceased her attacks. Not because she gave up, but Victoria could see a swirl of dark energy surround the lycanroc. As Osiris began to change, so did Achillia. As Osiris grew longer, Achillia became larger.

Osiris was totally oblivious to the changes occurring in himself, completely tunnel visioned on the lycanroc that had the nerve to do such a thing to Victoria. Even when she countered his blow just as she did Victoria's, even though he was sent sprawling back a much farther distance than Achilla herself, his rage shut out the painful warning signs his body was sending him. There had to be payback for this; in the heat of the moment, Osiris considered her actions to be practically sacrilege.

As soon as he came to a halt, bloody tracks left in his wake as he skid across the floor, he was moving again. Extremespeed carried him where he wanted to go, which was not directly at Achilla again. It was around her - he began circling the growing lycanroc in a similar manner to how he did at the start of the battle. Only now, it was much faster, and much more frenzied.

To anyone able to keep track of him, further developments could be spotted. The dragon's scales darkened in hue ever so slightly, he grew thicker alongside his continued lengthening, the white oval on his forehead elongated into a small, sharpened horn, and his ear fins blossomed into what could only be described as miniature wings. A dark blue crystal materialized on Osiris' neck, glowing and pulsing as it came into existence, and two smaller ones manifested on his tail.

Perhaps relating to the pulsating orb on his neck, the area around the battling pokemon began to be affected. The wind followed Osiris as he moved, gusting alongside him. A whirlwind that seemed almost as furious as him was born, the very weather around Osiris responding to his wrath. And as he circled Achilla, it would be something she'd have to deal with as well, with... whatever it was she was doing.

He was eager to put this to bed, but even in his current emotional state, he paid respect to Achilla's lethality, and exercised restraint by not rushing into whatever gambit she was preparing. "Let's go already!" he shouted as he sped around her, his angry voice mixed in and echoing throughout the miniature whirlwind that he'd subconsciously summoned. As soon as he dealt with her next move, Osiris resolved to punish this wolf.

The lycanroc was bigger than before. The dark clouds circled over her head, unfazed by the strong winds that whipped around Osiris. Achillia gave a challenging howl, which prompted the ground around her to rumble and crack. The room rumbled and shook. The lycanroc could hardly follow the wyrm's movements, but that was alright, she didn't have to. The ceiling above them cracked and rumbled as the dark red clouds surged upward. Blood-red energy crackled around the stone before piece by piece, rocks began to fall.

The stones smashed into the ground all around her, erupting into a flurry of sand moments after their impact. The roof caved in, but nothing remained long enough in solid form to be of permanent threat to any involved. One of the pillars of the room collapsed in the process before evaporating to even more dirt and dust that swung around the room in a wild flurry that was only intensified by Osiris's winds.

Victoria's heart pounded as she tried to get a grip on herself. She tried to keep her eye on the battling duo, but before she could recover enough to make a move, the duo seemingly disappeared into the depths of a furious sandstorm.

Eyes suddenly squinting in a vain effort to see through the sudden sandstorm, Osiris found himself faced with a creature a lot more intimidating than a normal-sized lycanroc. Just as the weather was responding to his anger, something was responding to Achilla's, as crimson clouds rose up at her silent bidding to—there really was no other way of saying this—bring down the entire ceiling on herself and her enemies. To his confusion, though, the danger began and ended in her very close vicinity, posing no real threat to himself or Victoria.

Had Achilla been counting on him rushing in on her again and getting crushed by the ceiling and pillar she brought down? If that was the case, then he was... disappointed, he realized. He'd been expecting more than just a spectacle from this gladiator. Perhaps her true aim had been the sandstorm that encircled them all, but it posed no immediate danger to him. There was nothing stopping him from escaping it, either. Whatever it was she had been trying to do, Osiris concluded, she had failed. Now it was his turn. His hesitation and confusion at her strange choice of move melted away, leaving nothing but his focused anger and determination to end this.

Turning on a dime, Osiris aborted his rapid circling of the huge wolf and suddenly rushed in, blitzing her head-on. He was not going to hide behind her or strike her from the side—when he put her down, he wanted her to see who it was that was knocking her out, and understand why she deserved it. Subconsciously, Osiris summoned a torrent of water around his tail, zeroed in on his target. There was no subtlety behind his next movements; with all of the speed and force granted to him by his previous Dragon Dances, Osiris opted to lash out with his Aqua Tail as many times as he could manage in the time-frame he had. The now-dragonair was spinning so quickly and rapidly as he made his rotating strikes that he appeared as nothing but a blur in the air, summoned water splashing about as he committed to his assault. In between attempts, he would zip around the lycanroc with his greater speed, angling for previous injuries left by Victoria if any were visible.

To any onlookers, it was the very picture of a David and Goliath battle, the smaller serpentine dragon lashing out with speed and finesse while the greater wolf bided its time for... something.

It hurt. It hurt in a whole different way than the scars along her body. It hurt because she had no idea how to fix this sort of injury. Flesh wounds could heal, but what was even wrong with her jaw in that moment? She couldn't close it, fighting with it was pointless. She stayed back from the battle, more hesitant to partake in it now that she'd been thoroughly declawed...detoothed? Dejawed? She still had Stone Edge, but that was hardly effective...as was Earthquake. The ceiling was already taking a beating, it was risky enough as is.

It wasn't just that she liked living, she needed to live. Still, she was concerned for Osiris. The dratini that disappeared into the cloud of dust just as the Lycanroc seemed to pull some sort of card against them. She moved off to the side behind the columns and out of the way of the increasing flow of rocks.

The wolf expertly dodged each strike with finesse, the paralysis doing little against the inaccurate nature of the move. She was pushed up against the entrance, which was exactly what she wanted. Osiris' tail threatened to strike her again, but was interrupted as a wall of solid rock suddenly erupted from the ground. The rock impaled the ceiling despite its new height, cutting off Achillia from Osiris completely. The massive slab waited there, as if to give time for Osiris to observe the obstacle before him, before it suddenly leaned towards the dragonair.

It cut through the ceiling as it steadily began to collapse with ease, the sound of rocks being crushed and broken echoed throughout the cavern while the sand assaulted any that lacked the natural strength to withstand it. A massive gouge was cut into the ceiling before the rock began to free-fall onto to bottom like a neatly fit domino in between the columns. The rock crashed onto the ground, immediately breaking apart into a full flurry of a sandstorm that spread throughout the entire room.

Victoria's eyes widened in response as fear struck her still, "OTHIRITH" she struggled to call out.

It boggled Osiris how a creature so big could be so agile, but none of his attacks were hitting home. Somehow, the larger pokemon was dodging and weaving his attacks with an ease that, if he didn't know better, betrayed the fact that she was paralyzed at all. And when he finally thought he had her pinned down and lashed out with one last Aqua Tail, only to smash into a massive column of stone that had erupted from the earth.

Achilla disappeared behind it, and Osiris was so dumbfounded by the change of events that he almost completely wasted the moment of stillness before it fell toward him. He knew there was no escape from its impact—it was so utterly massive, where could he hope to run?—but that didn't mean he had to take the full brunt of its force. The dragonair slithered with a fury to the corner of the room, where the distance was greatest between him and the highest peak of the rock that he could reach. Then, after one vigorous Dragon Dance to afford him the greatest amount of power he could muster, he blasted off once more before drilling into the massive stone with his strongest Aqua Tail.

That was the last thing he could remember before a cacophony of blinding, deafening force slammed into him. Before the nauseous sound of grinding rocks and moaning buildings assaulted his eardrum and the entire world seemed to be flipped upside down by the force of this phenomenon; Achilla's attack, he realized with his last dregs of mental strength. She had lured him in like a sucker, feigned her failure and he fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

When the dust settled and was swept up into the sandstorm, it left Osiris flat on the ground, crumpled up on the ground like a boneless ragdoll. It was a struggle to even breathe at this point; spots dominated his vision, affording him only a fraction of vision, and the ringing in his ears deafened out almost everything. Faintly, he could hear someone crying out... his name, maybe, but it hardly registered with him. He was more preoccupied with his monumental failure to punish Achilla. The dragon had thrown everything he had at her, but it was so simple for her to summon new strength and bat him aside like he was nothing.

He coughed weakly, betraying his position on the ground to anyone who might've lost track of him. "S-stupid dog..." the dragonair muttered, struggling to rise up once more. Maybe if he could catch a second wind or get a hold of some medicine somehow, he could bring it home, but as he was... it wasn't exactly likely.