Krystal vs Apex: Arena of Dominance

[arktriumph]

The stinging pain in her lower back left Krystal reeling, but she still had enough of her wits about her to try and gain some distance from Apex, attempting to leap out of his reach before more damage could be done.

He was too quick though. The pain prevented her from being as agile as she might have been, and before she could get clear his scent swelled around her, arms closing to envelope the young vixen before she could escape!

Krystal could not contain a high-pitched gasp of surprise as she was yanked backwards by Apex, his hands enclosing her waist, resting across her stomach and pulling her close with fearsome force. Her breath caught in her throat once more as she felt the press of his body against her back, his firm, lean-muscled frame filling her with a shudder of deviant thoughts. For an instant she almost didn't want to break free, Apex's steel-like embrace overwhelming her.

But then her fiery side reasserted itself. She needed to fight back, to prevent the skunk from embarrassing her in front of the arena crowds. Her hands clamped around his wrists and she pushed for all she was worth, but Apex was clearly far stronger than her in brute strength. Thinking quickly, Krystal instead tried to stamp down hard onto one of his feet, hoping to distract him long enough that he would loosen his grip and allow her to slip free.

[CyanDimitrik]

In fairness to the vixen, she wasn't the only one whose mind lit up in distracting thoughts at the moment of body contact between them. The nature of the fight would have surely, in eventuality, brought them tight together. But thanks in no small part to her undeniable beauty and courage, it took on a different life - if just for an indulgent moment. His hands press inwards against her stomach, feeling the toughness of her toned belly in drawing her back into himself. The curve of her backside is left to press against his hips, the sensation of her slim shoulders against his chest the perfect tactile frame. He would've desired her even outside the arena - but here, in this context, feeling her body resisting him, her muscles tensed and prepared to fight, knowing she stepped into the ring with every bit the intention to be his dominator as he intends to be hers - makes it so much more exciting.

She pushes against his hands, and they respond with a squeeze, fingers slightly curling in against her defined abdominal muscle. Escape won't be had that way. But it handily reminds him that he needs to do something with her, and not simply relish in the feel of her body against his.

The preamble is a growl, more for his benefit than hers. Focus! He needs to focus. The growl becomes a sudden, surprised yelp of pain when her foot stamps on his; illustrating the woes of not covering one's feet in a fight. Her beautifully-bare stomach is released, and Apex attempts to slip back a step from her to favor the foot, raising it slightly off the ground.

[arktriumph]

Krystal heard the growl that rattled in Apex's throat, a sound that filled her with a thrill of fear, the primal power of her adversary seizing her very bones. Still, thrill or not, she was not about to give in to him without a fight. His growl morphed into a yelp as she stamped hard on his foot, her claws raking him forcefully. Then she was free!

Her breath returned in a rush, her bust swelling as she burst free, peeling her nubile body away from Apex's toned physique and throwing herself into a forward roll to create some distance. She rolled and turned, breathing heavily as she appraised her foe. It turned out the attack had bought her a small amount of time and space as the skunk backed off, favouring his foot slightly. Krystal doubted it would have done any real damage, but now she had time.

Shaking off the distracting feelings that Apex's embrace had wrought, she focused on a new target - the glinting gold of her spear lying in the dirt. With a powerful, leaping bound, Krystal attempted to dive past Apex, gathering the spear up as she rolled before springing to her feet, clasping her weapon in both hands, raised high to ward off any sudden offence by her opponent.

[CyanDimitrik]

Apex wasn't sure what he expected her move to be in this situation. Had he instilled enough fear in his prey that her only priority is getting distance and keeping it? Did she see this as a weakness she could exploit to turn the tides? It's unclear; he isn't familiar enough with her yet. Everything so far might suggest she'd try to keep her distance and maybe assess her odds...

She's coming right for him.

Apex's amethyst gaze sharpens, and he reaches out to seize her! But to his surprise, meeting him was never her intention. She dives past him, causing him to spin around. The lingering sting in his foot is easily forgotten in favor of the weapon she's now bringing to bear on him again.

He focuses on the tip, counting it easily the most dangerous and unpleasant part of any spear. And just that smoothly, he realizes they've defaulted back to square one. His stance deepens, hands raised and fingers splayed, ready to slap and grab at the weapon should she jab with it. But things aren't quite back to the beginning, are they? Her back must still be feeling the cylindrical and unyielding shape of the spear's shaft. Her mind must be reliving the moment he stole her weapon from her. Perhaps he can use that.

"Do you know the definition of madness?," he asks as he prowls around her in a slow, tense circle. The roar of the audience has dulled in his ear, his focus fully on her and the unfortunately very dangerous object she holds. "Repeating the same thing and expecting a different result."

His head turns faintly, presenting her with a confidently demeaning side-eye. "You're just making me want to use it on you more..."

[arktriumph]

The spear gave Krystal a measure of much needed confidence, her nerves jangling after the opening exchange had gone so catastrophically wrong for her. Apex was everything he seemed to be, an alluringly powerful alpha male, oozing with strength and confidence, but she was not about to give up - no matter how bad her chances appeared to be, going by the jeers and whistles of the crowd.

Her cheeks flushed as Apex faced her, prowling in a predatory circle as he addressed her. Krystal stepped with him, keeping her distance, but she couldn't help being stung by his derisive reference to her earlier efforts. Her tail curled with embarrassment and she gripped the spear tighter than ever before.

She needed to change her approach. She'd let Apex take the initiative before and it had gotten her into deep trouble, the skunk playing on her nerves. Those nerves remained, but Krystal opted to go on the offensive instead of waiting for Apex to exert himself upon the match.

"You won't take this from me again!" Krystal hissed, baring her teeth at her mocking foe and springing forward, going for what she hoped would be an unexpectedly aggressive move, trying to attack the foot he was favouring and strike it with the flat of her spear blade at full extension.

[CyanDimitrik]

It's a tense moment, trying to split a steely gaze between the girl's admittedly pretty eyes and focusing on the pointy end of the spear. Both are important tactical choices - one for intimidation, the other for survival, both to reach the same ultimate goal. Neither one is as strong as it should be, however, due to the very merit of being split. And ultimately, that's going to cost him the opening gambit on this second round of sorts.

Her words get a sneer and the intention of retort, but she's moving with it. Deft little thing that she is, she targets a lower extremity, bringing the weapon beneath a swiping hand to instead.. well, whap his foot. The shock of the weapon's fortunately blunt impact gets another yelp, the foot immediately retreating. All at once, he is of two minds: why did she use the flat of the spear's head? Did she miss or was it accidental? Also that hurt and he is therefore driven to a flash of anger.

Following the strike to his foot and subsequent retreat, Apex shifts his momentum forward again with a savage growl. Both hands grab for the shaft of the spear this time, intent not on taking it from her, but yanking it further forward - only to ram it back again, hoping to drive the blunt end of the shaft into the pit of her stomach.

[arktriumph]

Krystal was moving as Apex finished his dismissive sneer, lashing her spear at his footpaw. The flat of the blade cracked satisfyingly on impact, the fox girl attempting to give the impression that she could toy with her bigger foe in a hit and run fashion. A smile of satisfaction flickered across her youthful features as the blow connected, extracting another yelp from Apex.

Her satisfaction only last for an instant. She had poked the proverbial bare, and Apex was suddenly moving like a thing possessed, irked into action by her stinging assault. His hands snapped out and clamped down on the spear with an iron grip, and this time instead of pulling forward, he pushed away!

"OUGHHH!" A splutter of surprise escaped Krystal's mouth as the butt of her spear was shoved back hard into her exposed stomach, striking with enough force to smack the wind out of the cobalt-furred vixen. Her eyes widened with the pain and surprise, knees wobbling unsteadily as she leaned forward, desperately trying to keep a hold of her spear, achingly vulnerably to Apex's follow up as she gasped for breath.

[CyanDimitrik]

The impact to the girl's stomach is, in turn, an equally satisfying measure of recompense. Without a doubt in his mind, he must've hurt her worse than she strike to his foot - still aching though it is. But the look on her face, her buckling of her knees, it was all the perfect amount of pain-to-insult ratio for the foot-smack. Or perhaps a bit worse.

Regardless of his satisfaction in paying her back, Apex continues to maintain an air of outraged aggression. She dared to strike the top predator's foot, as if this were some kind of game! And the audience themselves seem to have the notion that she's made a terrible mistake! In fairness, Apex has worked hard to cultivate that response from this familiar crowd. He can't disappoint them. So, still holding onto the spear, he hand-over-hand approaches the girl before raising that struck foot and aiming to thrust his bare heel against the center of her chest with every intention to knock her off of the weapon again.

[arktriumph]

Panic engulfed her has Apex once again held her in place, his grip far too strong for her to tear the spear free. She was loathe to let go of her ceremonial weapon again - it belonged to her! But that desire proved to be her undoing. With a series of powerful motions, Apex pulled himself towards her hand over hand on the spear haft before ramming a kick towards her torso.

"Unnnuuhhhh!" Krystal's shrill cry echoed in the air as Apex's foot slammed down squarely between her breasts, catapulting the slight-framed vixen backwards. The spear was once more torn from her grip and she went crashing tail over snout before slumping face down in the dirt of the arena floor, winded and disarmed again.

With a moan of dismay she pushed herself to all fours, looking up fearfully to find Apex looming over her, her own spear in his hands yet again. Clutching one hand to her aching chest, she forced herself upright, trying to circle away from him while the crowd's jeers rang in her ears. Now a very real chill of fear took root in her gut when she looked at the powerful male combatant. He was making her look foolish, his strength and speed putting her to shame. She needed an advantage, and right now her agile mind could see no easy solution to Apex's sheer, unbridled power.

[CyanDimitrik]

At the moment of impact, the tense strain in the spear ended - once again, its agency lied solely in the hands of Apex. He doesn't really know how to use spears - the art of it, the skill, the craft, none of that. Weapon fighting has never been his forte or go-to. He preferred audiences watch him conquer opponents with his own two hands. It felt more primal, more raw, more physical. It was also often much less bloody, and for as brutal as he's treating the svelte girl in this match, he has no interest in actually injuring her.

Yes, his foot still aches. Inwardly, he's okay with it. He'd have been disappointed if she never made an attack of some kind.

Now, however, Apex has little choice but to make use of her weapon. He'd warned her. He couldn't let anyone say he bluffs in the arena. His word is golden. That's how, when he says he's going to decimate someone, that someone who's never faced him directly can know fear. It's a long mind game he's playing with considerations not just for the beautiful, alluring Krystal, but for opponents yet to come.

"You should've listened to me," he says as he approaches.

The spear is held horizontally before him in both hands, amethyst eyes locked onto her emeralds. This time, he closes the distance with a skirting dash meant to bring him closer to her right side, swinging the back-end of the spear flat across her stomach in hopes of forcing her to double forward, and immediately turning to slam the upper half flat across her back in a one-two motion. It lacks refinement, but he's hoping the force of the strikes and her own fatigue will see it through.