Chapter Text
Back Alley Market, Show Arena - Late Night
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The loud cheers of the arena almost drowned out the desperate grunts and pants of the two animals going at it inside the makeshift caged octagon. One of them, a red panda who stood around four and a half feet tall, had a collection of wounds marking his body, bumps and bruises as well as claw marks that dripped blood onto the padded mat below. His opponent, a harpy eagle, stood just a few five inches taller, but still was in the panda's weight class. And just like the fight had taken it's toll as well. His beak was bloodied and warped from the swelling around his nostrils. His natural black plumage had begun to take on a bluish coloration from the constant impacts from the damage the scrappy panda had dished out. The fight had been going on for around five minutes. Non-stop action until one of them dropped, that was the motto of the arena the two pit fighters found themselves in. Two animals enter and whoever stands alive at the end is the victor. Modern day gladiator combat is a good way to describe it.
“What an exciting back and forth exchange! Even I can't guess who’s going to make it out of this brawl in one piece!” The raccoon commentator exclaimed through the various speakers across the arena as he sat behind a commentators desk just outside the cage, practically inhaling the microphone as he narrated the non-stop action.
The combatants circled around each other, the panda’s fists lifted up in a guard. The eagle was hunched over, the long claws on his hands extended like a pair of makeshift daggers ready to dig themselves into whatever unlucky body came across its path.
After catching his breath the panda took the offense. His fluffy tail swayed as he closed the distance with a quick dash in, sending a few fast punches to the eagle’s face, forcing him to cover under a guard. The panda then swung his knee upwards, striking the eagle’s uncovered body.
He dry heaved and backed up, the continuous exchange was taking its toll on the two fighters, with the eagle having the worst end of it. His wings have been damaged in the fight, rendering it difficult if not impossible for him to use his flight to his advantage.
With the opening made, the fighter in red, black and white fur with a mix of power and speed began to lay punches on the eagle, driving the defending carnivore back, and back, and back. Until his back hit the fence of the cage. He was trapped with no way out from the panda’s offense.
Bam. Bam. Bam! The four feet creature landed his taped, and blood covered fists on the avian’s guard. Occasionally going low, striking a hit to his body. Each impact rocked the cage, entertaining the audience and shifting the odds in the favor of the panda. But he got sloppy, too sloppy, as a punch went too wide.
The avian took notice, the claws on his hands saw a target and in that small opening that was given, he scratched. A single scratch, but a good one on the neck of the panda. With a pained yell, the panda stumbled back, holding his hand over his wound that began to drip blood at a dangerous rate. A neck scratch was not good. In a normal fight this would have been called already but this wasn’t even remotely close to official; this was the polar opposite and until he gave up, fell unconscious or died it wasn’t going to end.
“Ooooh! That was a bad call by the Red Torpedo! That might just be what the Flying Demon needs to turn this around!”
The panda groaned with annoyance as his nickname was said, pausing for a moment to curse the name under his breath. Then he held his scratch wound and took a moment to inspect the damage. The wound went across his neck barely missing his jugular. If he had been a few more inches off he might not even be standing here.
“Saaa…I admit, you gotta skills for a jobber.” The avian spoke in between raspy breaths. He circled away from the cage, taking the moment to recover.
“Shut up.” The bamboo eater scowled back at his rival but then he winced from the pain in his neck as it coursed through his body.
Fighting through it, the omnivore’s eyes shifted from his opponent to the crowd, scanning for something, someone. And eventually he noticed it.
In the crowd was a figure that to his increasingly blurry eyes had difficulty remembering their exact details. The figure did a motion with his hands, this was his signal that he had done his job.
“Are you just going to stand there?” The red panda spoke up with a snarky tone. His free hand moving up and beckoning the avian mockingly while growing a cocky smirk on his busted up face.
“What?! Those're big words from someone who’s dead meat!”
“Then come on, I’m RIGHT HERE!”
With that cry he went in despite his wound. His hands adopted into a guard, and he shot a leg outward in a kick aimed towards the avian’s body but before it struck, he felt a harsh pain across his chest. It was his claws.
During his rush his guard had been left open and before he knew it, he had another gush of blood streaming from his chest. The panda’s head felt too light as his body wobbled and involuntarily he lost his footing. The avian didn’t hesitate and pounced on the panda bringing the two down to the stained mat.
The crowd’s yells and chants, egging the two on to fight fueled the avian as his deadly claws swung back and forth striking the guard of the panda. The scratches marked his arms and spilled his blood across their sides. His arms shook as it struggled to remain steady. And then a knee came down right onto his stomach.
“UGHAH!” With a heavy cough his guard widened and his eyes bulged out, all of the air that was stored in his lungs went right through his mouth and nose like a deflated balloon. As he fumbled his arms to regain his guard he felt one more impact. The avian’s double-handed hammerfist that went down and crashed into his snout.
His head swung back, smashing hard into the mat and recoiling in a bounce. His nose broke with a crunch and blood flew marking some more of the avian’s fist and the rest going down his face. He stopped moving after that.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! Ladies and gentlemen of the Back Alley Market I hope you have made the right bets because this fight is over! The winner and now number five ranked contender for the welterweight division is KATSU THE FLYING DEMOOON!”
BROOONG!
The sound of the gong going off and the announcer speaking were the last few things his body registered before a deep darkness engulfed his being.
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Baraki’s Office - Thirty minutes later
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The scent of liquor assaulted the red panda’s busted up nose as he stood inside of the host’s office. It has been a while since the fight. His fighting attire was ditched and he now stood in a hoodie with a zipper down the middle exposing part of a white undershirt and the chains of a locket. His lower body was covered by a pair of baggy pants, his feet by sandals and his head by a red beanie with two holes from where his ears peeked out of.
His eyes looked around where he was, observing mementos of events gone past that the owner felt proud enough to put on the walls. Photos of some fighters that he could barely remember with his aching head alongside some others with one in particular featuring the logo of the Inarigumi, a criminal organization he had heard of before.
His one good eye, the other one closed due to a particularly nasty kick he received during the fight, scanned the room for something to pass the time with.
Just then, the raccoon behind the desk finished counting a group of bills. “...And that’s sixty thousand yen.” He said.
Even if he lost, the red panda was still due a pay day. Sixty thousand yen was more or less what he needed for rent, with a bit more left for him to spend on whatever he wanted.
“Can’t believe this is your third loss in a row, kid. The crowd’s getting fed up with your constant losing.” His hands went around the money, putting a seal around the wad of cash as part of his customs.
“Sucks to be them.” The red panda responded as he stuck his hands inside of his baggy pants' pockets.
“Listen, I don’t care if you have a death wish or if your brain’s finally turning to mush from all the hits you’ve taken but from me to you? You should quit already.” The raccoon spoke without reservation nor worry in his gruff voice. “The crowd might try something awful if you keep this up, hahaha!” He let out a dark laugh.
“That so…huh?”
“Of course! Red panda meat is scarce nowadays, I'm speaking very, very rare, kid." He paused for a moment. "Actually, ignore my advice, keep fighting. You'll be worth some real dough when you're dead!” With a gloating laugh he finally reached his hand out with the wad of cash the panda was waiting for.
He reached to take it, and after taking a quick look at it, he pocketed the money into his pants and gave a slow bow with an exaggerated descent of his hand from the air down to his chest. “Thank you for the kind advice, Baraki-san.”
The raccoon visibly grimaced a little, but he then leant back on his chair and simply waved him off. "Bah, get lost, we're done here." He growled to the man across the desk who left the room soon after.
He walked down the hallway, taking a long sigh during his steps. Images of different alcoholic beverages flashed in his mind as he struggled in his conscience to decide on what he will have to drink once he leaves.
As he paced himself he missed a step and harshly caught himself from tripping on the next. Jolts of pain went across his body from the sudden moves, a grizzly reminder of the result of his defeat. Despite that, the only thing he had in his mind was a heated debate over what he was going to drink later.
He took step after step, going down the stairs that went up to the host’s office. As he went down his nose then acted up, catching the scent of a type of shampoo that got him to grimace in disgust. Then his eyes turned to the source of the scent and managed to catch a glimpse of someone going up the stairs. A fox with some rather pretty white fur.
The panda and the fox crossed paths. A shill went down his back as the two slipped by one another neither stopping on their way. His legs shook a little as he descended, a sudden burst of fear had engulfed him before dissipating once the fox had gotten away from his peripheral view.
Once at the bottom, his head went from one side to another, scanning where he actually needed to go. He attempted to figure out the way but his lack of attention on how he got here in the first place left him without an idea of which direction led outside. He was about to go one way when he heard a voice call out to him.
“Hey Tricolor, over here!”
He hesitated to turn the other way and head towards the opposite end of the hallway. But he eventually did and was greeted by a sight that disturbed his blurry vision and a scent that felt like a dagger on his nostrils. It was a spotted Hyena.
“I can see you’re happy Ino.” He said as he scanned the hyena across from him, noticing a pouch that was around her waist.
“How could I not? That was quite the fall you took there, Tricolor!” She let out a long chuckle. “Hahaha! You should’ve seen the face of the crowd when you all of a sudden lost momentum and dropped like a corpse! Hilarious!”
“I’ve always been good at dropping down.” He said with a shrug.
“That’s not even the best part, Tricolor! The odds at the end were way higher than I imagined! I was expecting something around maybe 4/1 for the avian but with your performance it skyrocketed all the way to 16/2!” Ino beamed with eyes that resembled dollar signs.
“...I’m not good with odds. Explain.”
“Wooow, you don't know? Rex, you really are useless." She said with smugness in her voice. He just rolled his eyes in response. "It means that we made a profit out of this loss, bigger than the other two!” Ino swung her arms up demonstrate the difference
“I get the idea now.” His hand moved to reach for hers and pull them down. "Where's my cut?"
“Right, right. Here, a good cut to my partner in crime who doesn’t mind taking falls when it counts.” She said with a very sarcastic tone to her voice. From the back of her skirt’s belt rested a pouch, which she reached behind and pulled out a wad of bills that was bigger in thickness than the one that Baraki had given him before.
“This time it was one million yen profit for you. You’re REALLY good at playing the odds, Tricolor.” She said while putting in front of her the panda’s cut of the con. “But don’t go about wasting it all in your cheap trash beer. Save some of that so that we can bet more against you next week. Think of the pro-fits~!”
“I’ll try my best not to.” The panda simply said to her as he put the money in his pocket, meshing it with the rest that he had gotten from the organizer of the arena. Outside of a small twitch of annoyance on his eye, he didn’t seem to have visible anger on him.
“...Man, you’re boring, you know that?” The hyena pouted as her arms went up and crossed under her sizable bust. “Come on, show me a reaction one of these times!”
A smirk grew on his furry face. “Buy me a ‘cheap trash beer’ first from your precious cash first.”
“What? No! Fuck you!” She growled, the hyena’s sharp eyes attempted to pierce fear on the omnivore but all it got from him was a chuckle. With a sigh, she averted her gaze. “Ugh, you’re a fucking disaster, Tricolor. Go and drink yourself to death then, see if I care, I’ll find someone else and--AY!”
Ino’s face contorted into one of anger as she noticed that the red panda was already on his way down the alley they were in. She stomped her boot and yelled out a curse that fell on deaf ears. She yelled to the top of her lungs but could only watch as the panda got smaller and smaller in her eyes until eventually he turned a corner and went out of sight.
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Pixaco Gas Station, Robin Street near the Back Alley Market - Midnight.
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Ding-a-ling!
The sound of a bell chiming echoed in the empty 24/7 gas station, the only one in Robin Street. The only sign of life was behind the clerk desk, a black beveren rabbit that had her face planted into her crossed arms that rested on the counter. A little moment after the noise, The rabbit’s ear perked up, a single ear, and moved about to catch the source of the sound. After another small pause, she brought her head groggily up from her arms, awakening from her impromptu rest.
“Wel…nhhh…” She let out a small yawn before resuming. “Welcome to Pixaco, where we--Oh, it’s you again.” The black bunny who had lifted her head to stare at whoever came in couldn’t help but roll her eyes at who it was, the red panda with various visible bruises on his face. “Your face looks like shit.”
The rabbit’s sole ear twitched a little as it caught the small impact of the door closing. Her other ear was damaged, all of it gone except the very start of it as if it had been cut or blown off. She had piercing purple eyes, a near constant glare, and was dressed up in a clerk’s uniform with a name tag on her chest, cutely reading ‘Hello, my name is VIOLET’
“Since you’re here, I’m guessing the fight went well?”
“Something like that. Other guy hit like a wimp and scratched worse than a newborn kitty. I had to dive into his attacks if I wanted to lose.” He bluntly explained as he took a walk around the gas station towards the liquor section
“Uh-huh. You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you are a masochist.” Violet said as the bigger male went over his options for drinks. “Ah, ah. I’m not letting you take a drink for free, bum. It’s an extra to the cut you got to give me.”
“Alright alright, don’t get your ear in a knot.” He said, his hand reaching from his hoodie’s pocket and taking hold of a drink with a green label. The label and the name were in a language that he couldn’t read. A foreign brand that he really liked. “Hold off on that, though. I’d like to drink first.”
“No. I want my cash before you get wasted.” She once again spoke. “Don’t make me come there and take it myself, Jiro” Violet threatened, earning her a defeated sigh from the male that took small steps to the counter.
“Fine, fine.” Slowly, almost painfully so, he reached into his pocket and began to pull out the earnings of the day. From those earnings, he mentally counted three hundred thousand yen and handed it out to the rabbit, alongside a little extra for the drink he’s having.
“Let’s see.” She took the wad of cash and gave her finger a lick in order to quickly count what she got. “...Yep. It’s all here. Good. Surprised you can still count with how many knocks your head--”
Chi-chak! The noise of Jiro’s drink opening drowned out the rabbit’s last words, eliciting a grumble from her. “Sorry, I got thirsty.” He said as he turned to face down at her. He had to look way down, the rabbit only reached up to his chest. “You know, It’s kind of funny. I’m paying you for coaching and training, and yet all I do is lose.”
“I question the same thing whenever we train. You’re not exactly right in the head, Jiro.” She responded, the money disappearing into her clothing’s pocket. Her eyes settled on his drink for a moment. “If it spills, I’m using your face to mop it. Go outside.”
“Fine, fine, cut me the slack.” He said as he went from the counter towards the door, but stopped on his way out. “Come on, let’s talk outside.”
With a soft grunt, the rabbit hopped off the tall chair that she was on and went under the separator of the desk to head out of the suffocating gas station. Outside the two stood near the entrance, with nothing but the dimly-lit streets surrounding the two.
The stocky male drank down from his alcoholic beverage, a satisfying sigh left his mouth as he finished his sip and lowered his drink to the rabbit’s smaller height. “Want?”
“I don’t drink.” The rabbit responded as from her pocket she brought out an orange vegetable. A carrot. And then it went straight to her mouth as she ate down on it.
“Aren’t carrots like, bad for you? I’m sure I overheard that somewhere, sometime in someplace.”
“And I’m sure I’ll bury you somewhere, sometime in someplace if you keep bitchin’ about it.”
“Moody bunny.”
The two remained in relative quietness for a moment. Violet chewing down on a carrot and Jiro drinking his beer. After a while, the rabbit’s voice dispelled the silence.
“Say, why do you lose so much anyway?” Violet spoke up after finishing her snack. “With the training we’ve been doing you should be the one bashing faces in, not the other way around.”
“I ‘unno.”
“What?” She looked up at the male with a confused look. “What do you mean you don’t know?”
He looked away, not speaking up until a few seconds went by. “I mean, I don’t care if I win or lose there. Just so happens I lose more than I win.”
“That’s what I don’t get. You’re strong , Jiro. Why the hell are you out there taking dives?”
“Like I said, I ‘unno.” He shrugs again.
“Damn it. You’re going to get your head ripped out one of these days. Is that what you want, you bum?” Violet growled, irritation growing in her voice. “Do you want to die?!”
“Maybe.” Jiro responds, leaving Violet just stared dumbfounded at him for a moment.
“I…Fuck. Why do you train with me then? We’ve been at this for a month now. I can see your progress, you bum. You can kick ass at that pit fight place of yours.”
“Again, I ‘unno. Maybe I just like hanging out with you, or maybe I don’t.” He said as he finished his drink.
“Can you say something else than I don’t know?” Violet called out, growing increasingly more frustrated over how hard it was to get a straight answer from him.
“...Maybe.” He said with a faint smirk, the bunny simply sighs knowing there’s no way to get him to speak up.
“You’re a hell of a lost cause.” Violet spoke sternly to which he simply chuckled.
“Haha…Yeah, maybe I am.” He said as he flipped the drink in his hands, his eyes inspecting the label. “There’s many things I don’t know, Violet. Like what’s on this label for example. I can’t read it so I have no idea what it even says. It could be poison for all I care but it tastes good, so I drink it. I guess…That’s more or less what I think about all this.”
“You lost me.”
Jiro opened his mouth to laugh but a sharp pain shot on his neck. He grunted and slid a hand up under his chin, feeling out the painful memento he got from the match.
“Jiro, let me take a look.” The rabbit by his side said as the male brought himself to a squat, giving Violet room to inspect his wound. The scratch mark reached across his neck and down his shoulder. It hadn’t even been treated.
“You’re a total dumbass, not even a bandage over that wound?” Her voice was mean and her tone rash but Jiro couldn’t help but simply shoot a smile at her over her worry. “Stay here.”
Violet backed off from the squatting man and went into her store. After a minute or two which the male spent leaning against the wall and clutching his wound, she came back out, carrying a bunch of items from where he could discern a few: painkillers, disinfectant, cotton, a pack of bandages and an ice bag.
“That’s…a lot for my neck wound.” He commented as he brought himself back to crouching.
“I don’t want you to drop dead while you’re near my store, ‘least I need tonight is to do paperwork to the police. You can die for all I care, just not here.” She explained as her admittedly soft bunny hands unzipped his hoodie, exposing a white tank top and a yellow locket that was otherwise hard to see with the piece of clothing on.
“Take that thing off, and…” She drifted on her words as her eyes scanned for somewhere for him to sit, eventually spotting a protrusion on the wall behind them that was just enough for him to sit somewhat comfortably. “Sit there.”
Jiro nodded his head and brought his rear against the spot, finding himself in a position between sitting and standing that was just low enough for Violet to have a good view of his upper body. He then took off his hoodie, exposing his rather muscular arms under the long sleeves.
Then, Violet reached the ice bag and placed it upon his bruised cheek. “Hold it there.” She told the man who kept it in place, freeing the bunny’s hand to start working on his neck injury. He flinched as the cold bag did its work, numbing the constant pain he has had on his face since his adrenaline dissipated. The harsh feeling on his tough red panda body was something he’s felt time and time again but each time it didn’t seem to get any easier on him.
“You know, Vi. It’s kind of funny when you act like you know first aid.” Jiro said with a small chuckle, only to once again groan as it made the pain spark up like a constant reminder to not laugh.
“I’ll finish you myself if you don’t shut your trap.” The black furred girl threatened the tri-colored man who winced as alcohol was applied, the liquids burning his exposed skin and causing him to groan quietly.
“Ouch ouch ouch..That stings, Vi.”
“Don’t be a baby.”
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Half an hour later
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Violet eventually parted and put some distance between herself and Jiro, her sharp eyes observing the results of her handiwork. She had gone over and bandaged his neck, while reducing some of the swelling he had over his face and body. He still looked awful, though.
“It’s not much, but I think you’ll be fine after some rest.” She said, her hands putting away what she had used in her pocket for later disposal.
“Thanks, Vi.” He let out a relaxed sigh as the constant reminder finally began to subside. “I really needed that.”
“Don’t mention it.” Violet turned on her feet and put her plump behind on the protrusion behind the two. “The painkillers will take effect soon. You don’t live too far, right?”
“Like thirty minutes from here.” Jiro slid an arm then the other inside his hoodie, putting it back on with some difficulty, his arms and legs were feeling heavy. Must be the painkillers , he thought.
“Take it easy, Jiro.” Violet said as she reached into her breast pocket only to groan softly as she felt nothing. “I already ate it…” She muttered.
The two sat alongside each other for another small moment, the distant noises of carnivores barely reaching their ears.
“You know, Vi. Doesn’t it scare you? The Black Market is not far from here.” Jiro said in a singsongy swagger.
“What are you babbling about now?” Violet closed her eyes and sighed. “Don’t tug my ear, Jiro. Not in the mood”
“I mean, just think about it. You’re on your own, your safe zone’s a gas station that rarely has people and the black market is close.” His playful voice grew slower and exaggerated in a clumsy attempt at spooking the rabbit.
“You suck at putting fear in people, Jiro.” Violet’s fist shot out in a gentle bump to his shoulder earning her a wince in response. “Stick to fighting, you suck less at it. Besides, you should know by now that I don’t get scared easily.”
“Ha~ You’re for real? I can remember very clearly the moment you and I first met.” He turned away from the girl, his eyes closing as he did. “You pulled a knife on me out of fear.”
“What? Don’t bullshit me, I didn’t pull a knife on you.” Violet shook her head in denial, but then her expression softened as she stared at her shoes. “...I think.”
Jiro focused back at her with a snicker. “Heh. Yeah. I came in after one of my fights for a drink and you thought I was about to attack you. Something like…this!” In a moment he turned to the bunny, his mouth opening and his small yet sharp fangs emerged from his mouth’s cover.
Violet felt a shiver down her spine as her eyes focused on him, specifically his mouth. Her body froze up for a moment and her hand went down to her pocket, touching something metallic contained within. Her eyes narrowed with a defiant stare that didn’t help to hide the shaking of her hands.
Stupid herbivore instincts. She cursed her head that had begun to yell at her. Her conscience was telling her to arm herself, to fight him for daring to show his fangs on her smaller frame. But before she gave in to her sense of self-preservation he backed off, his mouth closing into a grin.
“Got you there, didn’t I?” His hand went up and playfully flicked the rabbit on her forehead. “But I wouldn’t eat you. Bamboo’s better, tastier and doesn’t not give me trouble.”
The black lagomorph shifted her gaze elsewhere after the flick that would have otherwise caused her to hit him. “Tch.” She just grunted. Her heart was slowing down to its normal rate, her instincts began to calm down. “Don’t. Fucking. Do that again.” She said, her voice sounding desperate for a moment.
“I got my fun anyway.” He said, leaning against the wall behind the protrusion the two were sitting on. Their eyes stared forward at the streets across the gas station, once again entering a moment of silence before it was broken up by Violet who pushed herself away from the wall.
“I’m going back in. Your shit attempt at a scare got me itching a carrot.”
“I should probably get going too. Let your first-class health care do its job.” He zipped his hoodie all the way up while stepping away from the wall until he was in front of Violet. “We meeting once I feel better for training?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever. I don’t see why you should even train if you keep losing, but swing by as long as you got money to pay me later.”
“Great, I’ll be seeing you then Vi.” As he finished speaking he turned on his feet and walked away from the gas station, his hand lifting and giving a goodbye wave to the bunny who watched him as he walked.
“...I can never read that guy.” Violet spoke to herself as she watched him get embraced by the shadows. She looked from one side of the street to the other, and once he was out of sight she turned to return to her gas station. She could do with some more sleeping on the job.