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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.

She couldn't see him. She couldn't hear him. Hell, she could hardly stand to hear herself. It hurt to speak. She'd managed to avoid the attack with the blind luck of moving away just before, so at least she wasn't down and out. The tyrantrum had decidedly concluded that it was time to leave. Not perhaps, time. She gave up on her attempts to speak, finding it not only worthless but incredibly humiliating.

She studied the ground as she struggled to see through the raging sand. She needed to find Osiris and get out of here. She wasn't going to be able to snap him up, but hey, those tiny hands had to be useful for something, right? The rex looked about, desperate to find her friend, but instead, came eye-to-eye with the massive mutt. The glowing red eyes stared directly into her's, no trouble at all seeing in the very storm she created.

Victoria growled at the lycanroc, but backed off. Despite her display of submission, the look of defiance in her eyes told Achillia that this wasn't over. So she'd make it over. The red clouds that circled her took on a violet hue as they intensified and expanded. The aura of energy circled around her and expanded outward. Before Victoria could react, she was swept up in the deep purple tornado. Bright red rings sprouted around her feet and circled her, ensuring her entrapment in the attack.

She bellowed and roared, but it was no use. She couldn't free herself of the attack. With a final pulse of black and blue waves, an explosion erupted underneath the tyrantrum that blew her off of her powerful legs and into the air. The tyrantrum fell back down to the ground, limp and unconscious. Achillia stood over the rex triumphantly before her voice echoed with a much deeper tune, "You're out."

Kat carried out 1 launched of one Damage :

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It took him a lot longer than it should have, but Osiris eventually managed to raise his head off the ground. The effects of the massive blow he'd just taken were fading. Fading entirely too slow, but they were. The ringing was getting steadily quieter as his equilibrium settled, and as he blinked, a little bit more of his vision was restored. There would be no recovering from the ache in his body, and its absolute refusal to obey his commands with anything approaching urgency.

At this point, the whirlwind he'd summoned had all but died out, only a few last breezes subsisting. Achilla had knocked the rage out of him, as humiliating as it was. It was a good thing for Osiris that he didn't even realize it.

He had made it to the point where he could survey the battlefield. The dragonair's heart hardened as he bore witness to the sight of Achilla tearing into his tyrantrum ally. Again. Victoria wasn't just hurt, she was down and out, and now Achilla was more powerful than ever. And Osiris was battered, bruised, and only inches away from defeat. He had to pull off of a miracle. If he didn't, Achilla may very well kill them, her goodwill earlier forgotten in face of the intense battle they'd found themselves in.

For now, though, he merely observed. The dragonair lay on the ground, his head loosely rolled in the direction of the giant lycanroc, eyes tired but intent as he combed her form over for any indications of weakness. Had they at least made a dent in her?

The lycanroc had the opportunity to kill the tyrantrum. The stone rex was out cold from the looks of it, so all it would take was either a well position bite or a stone through the head. Despite the prime moment of opportunity, the lycanroc passed. She wasn't a murderer. She was upset that the others had resorted to less-than-fair means to deal with her-in her eyes-but she wouldn't write her name next to death.

Her breaths were heavy, it was kind of surprising how much these two had taken out of her. It would have been exhilarating if not for the stinkin' paralysis. She looked off to the side at the dragonair as the sandstorm raged on. The dragon looked just as defeated as their friend here. Which meant- "You're out too." She declared.

The lycanroc turned back towards the entrance, leaving the two to simmer in the sandstorm, "Come back when you're ready for a fair fight."

He wasn't out. Not yet. Osiris had strength yet left in him; it might have just been the leftover dregs of his Dragon Dance, but it was something. He didn't have a problem with her turning her back on him, though. The less she thought of him, the likelier it was that she wouldn't see him coming when he cracked an Aqua Tail against her jaw hard enough to break it, just like she did to his friend.

At the same time, though, he couldn't very well let her walk away. They couldn't have gone this far for nothing, and if Achilla left them now, that's precisely what they would have at the end of this. "What was fair about that? I had you until you turned into a giant and started throwing the whole building around!" Osiris bit out. It wasn't hard to find the strength to rise up now. The anger was returning, but it was tempered by experience now. He wasn't unstoppable just because he was angry. If anything, it made him more vulnerable.

The fact that she had the gall to talk about fairness, though... there was no way he could keep a totally clear head. She nearly blew Victoria's jaw off. Nobody signed up for that.

Oh, the wyrm still had some fight left in him. Achillia whirled back around with a snarl, now on guard since Osiris showed himself to have the energy to speak. The lycanroc spoke, "Exactly! You are too weak to stand against me and my strength-even with your petty resorts to freeze and paralysis. You're not ready to fight me at my strongest, so the fight is unfair. Come back when you're truly worthy of my possessions." The lycanroc didn't turn around, instead, she waited for Osiris' response, if any.

Victoria's brief moment of darkness faded as she gradually returned to consciousness. She could hear voices, but the ringing in her head made it difficult to focus. The tyrantrum lacked the strength to bring herself to move. Her jaw did more than just sting, which innately caused a flare of panic to rise within her all over again. She needed to get out of here and get this fixed-but she had no idea how.

She wanted to talk. That was good; Osiris could use all the time he could get. At the same time, however, he absolutely had to keep her interested. Achilla walking away from them was the worst-case scenario. It might have been selfish of him, but he wanted those treasures she referenced. Victoria deserved them for sheltering him all this way, to say nothing of how she protected him left and right during this battle itself.

Osiris rose up to his full height, the base of his tail coiled on the ground as he demonstrated that he was even healthier than a moment ago to Achilla. It was a mark against him that he swayed precariously while he did so, a momentary bout of lightheadedness threatening to topple him over, but he withstood it. He had to keep her in the moment... "There's nothing petty about fighting smart. Your speed's the best thing you've got going for you, and once we crippled that, the fight went our way in a big way," Iris retorted. He was arguing for the sake of it, really, but there was belief in his words. Achilla was wrong here. "How brittle are you and your strength that petty tricks can get you clobbered by a couple of unworthy weaklings, huh?" he taunted. As twisted as it was, he was proud of their performance in this fight.

Breathing heavily from just talking so much, Osiris attempted to discretely gauge the distance between him and the lycanroc. Bum rushing her hadn't worked out for him so far, but tricks had. If he blitzed her while they were talking, it might work. He kept still for now, though.

"If you honestly think you 'clobbered' me then you truly have no idea what a hard-earned victory looks like," Achillia snorted, "I was only just getting started and yet the two of you were demolished in a single hit each once I stopped fooling around." The lycanroc turned away again, growing bored of the dragonair's ramblings, "There's nothing strategic about what the two of you did, all I see is a reliance upon blind luck."

The world spun around Victoria as the sandstorm raged on. Her jaw lay limp on the ground, her head forced to tilt off on its side seeing as laying on her jaw provided a new wave of pain. The tyrantrum shivered, but steadily rolled herself onto her stomach. Pain erupted just below her cheeks, but still she tried to set herself up. She stumbled and leaned against one of the remaining pillars, her scales scratched and slid against the stone surface, leaving marks of red along the side. As she did so, her own body took on an eerie glow. She needed to make sure she lasted long enough to stand, especially if the Lycanroc saw her and decided she needed another hit of whatever the hell that attack was.

And there was his cue—Achilla had grown bored of him and turned around. Gathering what courage and strength he had left, Osiris crouched low on the ground, closed his eyes briefly and hoped that this would be the final push they needed to put down this gladiator. Because if it wasn't, then they'd lost. Victoria was out and he was on the verge. The dragon's eyes snapped open and locked onto their enemy. Victoria climbing to her feet didn't even register to him, he was so tunnel-visioned.

It was all or nothing now. He blasted off once more, making a bee-line for the rock-type who had turned her back on him. Mid-flight the dragonair summoned another Aqua Tail, flipping forward mid-air to bring it down on her vertically, aiming to hit the wolf pokemon square on the back in an overhand strike. He steadfastly ignored the creaks and groans his body made, biting the inside of his cheek hard in an attempt to distract himself from the sharp warning twinges of pain that flared up inside him. He'd rest after the fight, he told himself.

The attack landed and the wolf was angry. Right on her back, the aqua tail slammed. Achillia yelped as she was suddenly knocked down. Snarls ripped through her throat as she turned to grab the dragonair, but the electrical crackles started up with a vengeance, as if to make up for the prior turns. Her body seized and rolled onto her side, violently convulsing with whimpers of pain. Once she collected herself enough, her angered glare turned to the dragonair, "I...I said you were out." she growled, "This is not going to be a fight to the death!"

The eerie glow continued. While her movements were sluggish, her body hardened. She could hear Osiris' voice in a specific direction, towards the entrance they came through. She started in that direction. Each step she made grew heavier as the Curse she placed upon herself progressed. Her whole body felt heavier, but she knew it was only temporary. Once she found Osiris, she could get the two of them out of there...and if the wolf was still there? Well, perhaps Earthquake wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Sucess! Osiris backed off immediately, not willing to get caught slipping by the downed lycanroc. The thought of pressing his assault occurred to him, but paralyzed and wounded as she was, Achilla made him feel a pang of... not regret, exactly, but definitely sympathy. He tried to squash that feeling.

Her words did give him pause, though. "Tough. You don't get to say when I'm out," Osiris bit back, watching her warily. He paid her prowess respect even now. "Because I've still got fight in me, and I'm not giving up. Not until you say you're sorry." the dragonair all but demanded, a note of petulance entering his voice.

Victoria deserved an apology for that cheap shot.

The lycanroc's look of defiance faded out, replaced with a look of confusion. The dog's head tilted to the side, "Sorry? What would I be apologizing for?" The canine studied the dragonair for a brief second, "The two of you accepted the battle, you should know that with combat comes the risk of harm. This isn't some kiddy-party where we play tag."

She could hear the voice of the lycanroc and Osiris more clearly. While her ability to understand faded in and out, she could at the very least understand that Osiris wanted something out of the Lycanroc. Her blood boiled. Not because of anything Osiris did, but at the memory of seeing the massive rock come crashing down upon him. The Curse continued, her pace slower and her steps heavier. All prior thoughts of flight were steadily becoming abandoned.

Was she really going to let this mutt get away with all that it did?

Osiris boggled at the lycanroc. "You almost blew her jaw off! You broke it! That's - that's not okay, even if we're fighting!" he protested, growing incensed despite his growing fatigue. How could Achilla think that was okay? "You could have easily pulled your punch enough so that she let you go! There's no doctor around here and I don't know how to fix a broken jaw!!" he went on, growing louder as the reality of the situation set in.

For now, though, it looked like the fight was over. Or at least at some kind of ceasefire while they worked this out. Osiris only hoped Victoria was okay, wherever she was. Maybe he should just drop this to go get her to a doctor, first thing...

The lycanroc was equally as shocked as the dragonair, not because she was astounded by his anger, but the information he had to offer. Her eyes widened, "Wait-I what?" she spoke up with a sudden flair of panic. She absolutely hadn't meant to do such a thing, just force the tyrantrum's jaws open so that she could escape. It seemed to her that he overestimated the hardiness and underestimated the strength of the tyrantrum.

As she forced herself to stand, Victoria finally arrived to the scene. Her heavy footsteps announced her presence. Achillia looked over in the direction of the source of the sound, seeing nothing but the fury of the sandstorm she'd created at first. The foot steps paused, a silence hunt in the air before a clamorous sound echoed throughout the chamber. A violent fury of shockwaves ripped through the storm and shot forward, the entire underground area beginning to rumble and crumble even further after the abuse.

Achillia was blasted back through the entrance and into the hall by the force, her back struck against the wall and her body crumbled. The Earthquake shook the ground and caused the much abused ceiling to shift and shiver as it struggled to stay up. At the very back of the chamber, boulders and rocks began to crumble to the ground, taking down the pillars with it as the supports of the hall could no longer withstand such abuse.

And Victoria was satisfied with this.

He felt a spark of gratification at Achilla's sudden panic. So she wasn't all that bad, and it probably wasn't on purpose. Maybe this would mean she'd help him patch up Victoria, or escort them out of the dungeon to the nearest doctor -

The thundering footsteps of his ally jolted him out of his thoughts, and he was equally as confused as Achilla for a moment. He connected the dots a split second faster, however, and at least tried to do something. The dragonair primed himself for a jump, honestly hoping to clear the distance between himself and Victoria to check on her, but her Earthquake struck first. It caught him mid-spring, causing him to careen through the air in the opposite direction of Achilla, landing in a heap a ways from the tyrantrum.

At the very least, he was clear of any falling debris. But on the flip side, that had been the last bit of force he could take, and in his last few moments of hazy consciousness, Osiris struggled to get a better look at Victoria. Had she fixed herself somehow?

No, she hadn't. Her jaw still hung loosely and painfully. She held her head up with as much of what little strength she could muster. The tyrantrum's eyes blazed with a fury as she focused her attention on the mutt. Her movements were slow, but she had her sights set on the lycanroc. As much as she cared for Osiris, the fact that the lycanroc was so easily blown back appealed to her. Perhaps they were closer to victory than she thought. Perhaps, just maybe, she-or rather they could do this.

The tyrantrum's growl echoed loudly, seeing as her mouth was unable to close, as she stepped closer to the lycanroc. Achillia struggled to stand up, the weakness and paralysis finally catching up with her. She struggled and squirmed, but the tyrantrum drew near...