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Conning the Arena

Chapter 11

Sponsored by GlynWolf

By Draconicon

The first thing he did was drop his barriers. Everything that held the spirit inside, every bit of willpower that kept it caged and locked down the spread of ice was shoved out of the way, and as soon as they disappeared, the ice rushed out underfoot. The metal tiles cracked instantly from the sub-zero temperatures, all liquid in the medical cell freezing. The tubes under IV bags cracked, spilling shards to the floor that only splintered, didn't splash. The screens popped and shattered, everything breaking.

All but Malfust.

The peacock had been lucky enough to only have his throat frozen so far. His hands grappled for the bear's fist, trying to pull it away from his neck, but the difference between them in size and strength would have made that impossible at the start. Now that the ice was in charge of the bear's body, there was nothing that anyone down here could do.

" You...do not...understand," the spirit said through Olag, the bear's already deep voice dropping octaves, so deep that the voice wasn't heard, but felt. The crack, the grind, the ripple of glaciers across the land: that was the language in which the spirit spoke. " You think that you can capture me...use me...put me to work...none can. Not even this vessel. All that they can do is contain me...and entertain me..."

Olag was barely listening. He knew the monologue; it no longer scared him. He'd outwilled this spirit as a child and he would bring it back under control as soon as this was over. For now, he had to cover his tracks as best he could.

Cameras are out. Lenses cracked, frozen over if they're not. The floor's frozen. Probably tripping alarms all over the place. Can't hide that. Gotta close it off.

Another burst of cold froze the moisture in the air, sealing another two inches of water over the floor and spreading it outward toward the door. It was already shut, but if there wasn't a person in the arena that could get those open without a flamethrower, they weren't getting in. The medical room was sealed, completely and utterly.

The fear in Malfust's eyes grew by the second as the temperature dropped, past arctic cold and reaching something worse, something deeper. Something that, physically, shouldn't have been possible.

" You harmed my vessel. You finally let me have my fun."

The bear's hand clenched. It could have shattered the peacock's throat right there and then, but instead, the ice spread. Not slowly, but instantly. Every feather on the peacock's body froze in that split-second, turning from vibrant colors to crystalline structures. They could have been considered art, in that moment.

Then the spirit swung Olag's arm around, tossing him against the wall.

The crash and clatter that followed was matched only by the agony writ across Malfust's face. The peacock's lab coat and his feathers had completely broken apart, shards of cloth and feather 'ice' jammed into his body at various points. His blood froze before it could flow, and he wheezed for breath through his frozen neck. As the scientist fell to the ground, no longer befeathered but bald from head to toe, he looked utterly pathetic.

_ He should. He is weak.

Yeah. So's everyone that doesn't have you.

Should kill him.

Can't stop you, can I?

No.

Fuck._

The bear watched through his own eyes as his passenger spirit reached out and grabbed the peacock by the throat once more. There was no breathing going on; he could feel the freezing of the other man's pulse, knew that the spirit was taking away any chance for the peacock's blood to keep flowing through his veins. It was a slow death, strangulation and asphyxiation while the body's core temperature was dropping further, further, and further still.

And all the while, Olag was trying to think of a way to keep this from getting him utterly fucked. The wolf nurse that had already taken him here was gone, rushed off to the bathroom. It was just him and Malfust here.

If the cameras caught the shot and the transformation...already fucked...if not...

If not, then the other scientists would be trying to figure out where the cold had spread from. They'd eventually narrow it down to his room, and that, in turn, would point to him since he'd been sent here, checked in. Otherwise Malfust wouldn't have known he was here. He needed...

Start something else. Spread it out. Not cold; heat.

There had to be some sort of power source, something that he could tweak or trigger or rupture. Rupture. Yes.

The spirit was still talking out of his own mouth at Malfust, but Olag focused on the feeling of cold underfoot. He was no spirit of ice himself, but he had long ago learned how to feel what the spirit felt, understand how it acted, how it flexed its powers through the ice and chill. It didn't just extend cold, but 'feelers' through the ice. That was how it felt the world outside of its host.

Outside him.

Olag could barely make out what the feelers touched, but he could feel something like wires beneath the flooring. He pushed the ice to continue down that, and the spirit allowed it, giving him some control.

Further, further it went, and eventually split down towards something warmer. He kept following that current, electricity mixed with something else, until he felt something big. Not just something metal, either, but something that was vibrating, thrumming, and -

Power source. Energy. Something like that.

That would work. That would work fucking perfect.

It was hot, probably working off of some sort of geothermal bullshit or something like that. Tatyana would have known better than him, but he could make it work. That meant that it needed to stay hot for it to work properly. Everything in that stupid machine was made to resist heat, to stay chilled or some shit like that. But it couldn't get too cold without fucking with the machine.

Get it chilled on the outside, rupture the cannister, send a surge...that should do it...

Malfust went flying again. He was a passenger in his own body as he watched the peacock get abused, tortured by the spirit inside of him. He didn't entirely disagree with the treatment, but he was grateful for the slow speed of it more than anything else. If the spirit had decided to do this quickly and move on, Olag wasn't sure that he could have done anything to slow it down. The rage and fury that it operated on were cold, but relentless, and it was nearly impossible to slow it down once it had an immediate target.

He felt the chill settling into the outside of the casing at the end of the wires. It was slowly losing the vibrations, almost like it was being held in a tight fist. Too tight, as the vibrations pushed back against the chill, trying to keep the reactor moving, vibrating at the right frequency. Olag forced the cold against it further, restraining it, making it more and more brittle as it lost any and all flexibility -

Crack.

Snap.

Pop.

The first two sounds came from the reactor. The last one came from the peacock's head coming loose from his neck.

Olag was brought back to the moment as he looked down to see Malfust's beak hit the ground, sticking into the ice layers and embedding itself there. The rest of the body fell, nothing but a layer of glazed red sticking out of the broken neck to mark that there was any blood in there at all. The cross-section was something out of a butcher's kitchen, showing bone and meat and blood in equal measure.

The spirit growled, not yet satisfied, but even as it turned toward the door, Olag could feel the ground changing. His companion stopped in midstep, looked down, and then growled.

" No...we...are...not...done..."

We're done for fucking now.

" I can stop it."

And be exhausted."

" ..."

Fuck you, asshole.

The explosion that followed was as massive as the freezing blast had been, but it was not enough to kill them. It was well short of what it would take to overcome both a bear that refused to quit and a spirit of the primordial frost.

It was, however, more than enough to knock them out, and shatter the room around them. Evidence, it seemed, was going to be a problem for someone else.

#

Olag woke up with a needle in his arm. Quite the accomplishment, all things considered, though he doubted that the spirit had the energy to be too bothered by that at the moment. The polar bear grumbled under his breath, opening one eye and looking left and right.

Different room, different techs, and not so many restraints. Considering that they'd probably found him at least one room removed from where he had been - and more than likely slightly singed from the explosion - he doubted that they believed that he would be any real threat.

He wasn't too inclined to disabuse them of the fucking notion. Shaking his head ever so slightly, he closed his eyes and focused on his body.

Not too damaged for having lived through shrapnel and an explosion from below, but he imagined that was because the spirit had taken the majority of the hit. It would be drained, hard-drained, which was something that he'd have to account for in the next fight. He took deep breaths, his hands flexing and his toes curling as he took account of his body.

No lasting damage from the shot to his chest, at least. The ice had pushed that out at some point, and that meant that he would be able to breathe and run well enough. The muscles in his arms and legs were sore, slightly 'shredded' in feeling, which meant that they'd probably been sliced to hell and back while he was being blown up. That was something that should be fixable after some sleep, but again, something to keep an eye on.

Overall, he was mostly exhausted. He took one deep breath after another, letting his eyelids flutter. It didn't take long before at least one of the nurses noticed, and...

No hard-light barrier. Which meant that they believed that he would be too tired to fight if he woke up.

Good...good.

He let his eyes slowly open, and - not surprisingly - he saw Bradford sitting at the edge of the room. The Golden Retriever looked...smug. Not knowing, precisely, but smug as hell.

"Mmmph...so...came to see if I'd make it?" Olag muttered.

"Oh, I knew you would. Once I saw that you were still alive after that explosion, I made sure that you would."

Bullshit, Olag thought, but he didn't let the words pass his lips. Best to play up the tired angle just a bit. The dog got to his feet, adjusting his suit as he walked over to the infirmary table.

"That explosion went through six rooms over three levels of the facility. Nothing else in this place could have survived that...but you did. You were there, you were right there, and injured, to boot. The fact that you're still alive...mmm. You'll be an unbeatable little trophy for me to take home with me."

"Mmph. If I win."

"Win? Heh. I don't think that it's possible for you to lose, Meat. You've been running circles around everyone, and now you prove that you can survive a bomb going off that'd turn anyone else to powder? There's nothing in this facility that can stand up to you. All the other fighters are just corpses that haven't been put into their graves yet, and you're their reaper."

"What're ya saying?"

"I'm saying that you aren't fighting."

"...What?"

"I'm saying that you aren't fighting. You're the winner already. You're going right to the top."

"But -"

"Heh. I've paid good money to take you off the hands of the Ring, bear. And you better understand. I plan to get value for my money. The reputation that you've earned as the unbeatable bear is going to follow you everywhere...and everyone is going to know that I don't just own you, but use you."

...Shit.

"You'll have to wait to be picked up until the end of the tournament, of course, but the things I will do to you then..."

"...I'll spend the night in the barracks."

"You - what?"

"I'll spend the night in the fucking barracks."

"No. No, no, no, I am not risking them - not that they could - hurting you and staining my prize. You've already proved that you're better than all of them - oh. Oh, I get it."

"What?"

"You want to show them that you're better than them," Bradford said, laughing. "Ah, I understand. Well, I suppose that could be arranged...with some concessions."

"...What do ya want?"

"I'll allow you to lord it over them as much as you like - you've earned that - but I want you in the goo containment as soon as you're done. I do not want to see any risk to my property -"

"Future property."

"As good as," Bradford said, waving his hand dismissively. "But I want to make sure that you're precisely where I want you to be. No being out in the open where they might gang up on you and damage this body. I want it as pristine as possible when I take full ownership tomorrow after the tournament. Mmmm, the things I want to do with you..."

The Golden Retriever's hand went down the bear's chest, tracing a line from his pecs over his belly button, and then finally over the bear's shaft. The log of meat jumped as soon as the dog had it in hand, throbbing in response with eager glee.

"Mmm, and this part of you looks forward to it, too, doesn't it?"

Damn thing looks forward to everything.

But Olag kept those words chomped down behind his teeth. No point in stirring things up if he didn't have to. If he could get this, then he could pass on the info that the others needed to hear. And hope - hope - that they would be smart enough to keep going along with the plan. If this worked out, if he could avoid being found out as Malfust's killer for a little longer, then they'd be out of the frying pan.

And hopefully avoid the fire of the obedience devices...

"Mmmph..."

Olag grunted as Bradford kept stroking him, tugging on his cock harder and faster than he was entirely ready for after that explosion down below. Huffing and puffing, he turned his head to the side, trying not to watch or stare at it, but the dog was...rather determined, to say the least. Strokes turned to pumps, and the bear's toes started to curl as his balls bounced along with the hard pulling and tugging.

"Yes, that's it, Meat. Show me how eager you are," Bradford said. "I don't think that you understand how much I look forward to this. I've been wanting something special, something I can't just snag off the streets, for years. The lot of you out there are...something, I'll not deny that, but I can have any of you with a snap of my fingers. Nothing is so special once you can have it so easily.

"But you...you showed that you're something new, something different. I couldn't just buy you without you needing something from me, could I? You were something that had a different kind of price tag...something that needed to be pushed into a corner so that I could get what I wanted.

"Mmmmph...oh, you will look good with all the augments that I have in mind for you."

Olag kept his mouth shut. Barely. The spirit was dead tired inside him, but if it hadn't worn itself out killing Malfust and keeping them alive through the subsequent explosion, he was all but sure that it would have thrown itself against the dog standing over him. He was barely holding back from lashing out himself.

Pump.

Stroke.

Pump.

Stroke.

And then, just when the bear was starting to think of giving in and enjoying it for a bit, the dog pulled his hand back. The rich asshole wiped his hand on the bear's chest, getting rid of the pre-cum that stuck to his fingers, and chuckled to himself as Olag groaned from the sudden blue balls.

"That will do for now. Stay good and pent up for me, Meat. I want to see how well you'll do when you're finally safe to touch. I really look forward to seeing what you can do for me when all you can do is obey. Mmm, mmm, mmm..."

#

Olag was released back to general population without much in the way of fanfare. Not that he expected any, after what had happened. Making his way back to the barracks had involved passing through the damaged area, and it was...something. The metal had, of course, cooled down from the explosion, but the melted metal that lined the walls and the hole in the floor had made it quite clear just how extreme the explosion had been. It was little wonder that he had been withdrawn from the competition; there was no point having him fight when there was that kind of hard data about his capabilities.

As the doors to the barracks shut behind him - and the guards heaved a sigh of relief just before the metal clanged shut - his little group all but ran across the open space between them. Shelly was in the lead, Pirn just behind her, and Verk was at the very back. All three were barely restraining themselves as they pushed forward, shaking their heads as they joined him.

"What happened?" Shelly whispered. "You were gone for hours?"

"Surprised it was just that long," Olag muttered under his breath, shaking his head. "Bradford wanted something. Then got sent to medical."

"Did they -"

"Malfust's dead," Olag said. Best to just get it over with, he thought. "Lot of shit went down."

"...Clearly," Pirn whispered.

"How the hell are you walking free?" Verk asked, the rat crossing his arms with an eyebrow raised. "Or are you?"

"Freer than you are, asshole." Olag rubbed his forehead. "Got a few problems, nothing I can't handle. But -"

"Bullshit. There's no way that they're letting you walk around all normal with Malfust dead. You cut a deal or something?"

"Verk -"

"I want to know. I deserve to know if we're going to get stabbed in the back right now, because this was not part of the fucking plan."

It wasn't, but the rat was not making the plan right now. Olag was the one that had to make it work, and he could already tell that the rodent wasn't in a place to listen. He glanced at Pirn apologetically, then thumped the rat on the head.

As the other man fell over backwards, flopping on the ground like something out of a cartoon, the bear leaned against the wall. He grunted as he folded his arms around his chest, shaking his head.

"Ain't what I wanted to do, but if he couldn't keep from freaking out..."

"Okay. Olag. Short version. What happened?" Shelly asked.

"Well, I would like details -"

"If Olag says there's no time, I'm inclined to believe him, Pirn," the mouse said, shaking her head. "Short version. What happened?"

"Malfust found me snooping. We fought." Not quite a lie, even if it was as one-sided as it was. "Things got bloody, exploded, and I woke up with the rich guy leaning over me."

"He has something?" Shelly asked.

"No, more like...he's decided something." Olag rubbed the back of his head. "He decided since I lived through the explosion, he wants me now. Untouched, out of the competition. Everything."

"..."

"Told him that I wasn't gonna just walk out on the three of ya, which Verk woulda heard if he could have kept his mouth shut for a few more seconds. And I know who you're fighting tomorrow, if you want to hear that."

"Yes." Shelly nodded. "If you got anything, I'll take it."

"But...but Malfust -"

"Pirn. Shut up. Right now, the bird's dead, and we're going to be next on the chopping block if we can't get the hell out of here. Olag's got the info we need to have a chance tomorrow. I don't know about you, but considering the alternative to winning is going back to the medical bay and getting more implants shoved inside me, I'm going to go for the win. I don't know what's going to happen next, but I'll take the mystery over another hell."

Despite everything, Olag smirked. He'd hoped that one of them, at least, would pull their head out of their ass and get it. They were still on track to get out of here; if anything, if they could do it quick enough, they had a chance to do it without so many setbacks. But only if they didn't freak out.

As Shelly leaned in, he did the same, whispering under his breath.

"Ya got a jackal waiting for ya in the ring. Black-furred, strong. Ain't got a lotta augments, but he's got some regen going on."

"Fuck."

"Yeah, gonna take a lot of hits to take him down. Or, ya know, there's another way."

"Hard hit, let him recover, wait him out. Force him to keep recovering bit by bit."

"Yep. One of those metabolism booster shits."

Shelly nodded, tapping her chin. Olag had a few ideas of what was going through her head. After all, the booster was going to be pushing the jackal to take risks, push himself to take hits and get in close. The mouse would be able to get around that to an extent, but she'd need to be smart enough to use those chances that she got. If she could get him down and really go to town on him, forcing him to bleed energy to keep healing to avoid staying down, she'd be in the clear. Otherwise, it'd be a battle of attrition, and he didn't know who would win that particular showdown.

"Okay, I think...yeah, I think I got this," Shelly said, nodding to herself. "Fucking hell."

"Okay, okay. What about me and Verk?" Pirn asked, the long-necked giraffe shuffling from hoof to hoof. "I suppose I should know. Even if I think our chances aren't what they were -"

"They're better."

"So you say, but I don't have any proof of that. This could be much, much worse...but regardless. Yes, yes, you're right. What do I need to know?"

"Okay. You're up against some aardvark named Velma."

"...I did not expect that, I will admit. Armored?"

"Very. Responds to trauma or something. Probably to keep her from knocking herself out while rolling around. Some other stuff that makes it look like she might be sped up, too."

"...Hmmph..."

"Need any suggestions?"

"...I wouldn't say no," Pirn admitted.

"She'll have the ground, so ya gotta go for height. Stay up. She can roll around as much as she fucking likes, but if she can't figure out where ya are other than your legs -"

"Then she can't hit me so easily, and she'll have to unroll."

"More or less," he said. "And looks like they were spreading most of the protection around her shell, anyway."

"That...will be difficult, but I have some thoughts. And Verk?"

"Tiger."

"...They are not being kind to him."

"Ain't being nice to any of us, are they?" Olag chuckled. "Got some air-cutter claws and some venom in the teeth, but the venom looks like it flows both ways. Get some good hits in and he might be able to win from his opponent poisoning himself."

"..."

"I think ya want to say thanks right now," the bear said.

"Right. Thanks. I'm...sorry. I need to think."

Olag nodded, watching as the giraffe dragged the rat back with him. He kept his arms against his sides for the moment as he thought about his own potential problems.

Not really likely that he's going to throw me into the shit with Bachus after what he said, Olag thought. Wants to keep me all in one piece. Throw me to medical after the tournament is over, get that obedience implant jammed in...

He wasn't as worried about that as he probably should be. After all, there were various levels of personal control that one could exert through implants, though he imagined that the ones that they used down here were the good ones. The spirit might be able to freeze through anything that they put in him, but then again, it might not. He couldn't rely on that.

And now that they know a bit more about my body...

He doubted that they'd make the same mistake that they had when he'd gone down to medical last time. If they drugged him, they'd really drug him, and that would leave him completely helpless. And if he couldn't take the dosing, then neither could the others if they won their fight and got bought up by Bradford.

The fuck am I gonna do?

There was no clear answer. He sighed, looking down at the floor, only for Shelly to poke his arm.

"What?" he muttered.

"What happened?"

"What do ya mean, what happened?"

"You didn't kill Malfust on purpose. That wasn't what you had planned. What the hell happened?"

"Heh. Thought ya were good with the short version."

"In front of them, yes. But you're fucking me, and you're pushing me, so I figure that I deserve a better answer than they were getting. So, what the hell changed? What made it okay to kill the peacock?"

Olag shook his head. The mental image of the bird hanging from his grip, dangling down the wall with his legs kicking as he struggled to get air through a frozen throat still lingered in the back of his head. The spirit had pushed the peacock hard, punishing him time and again until he had lost any semblance of living. The sight of the life leaving the peacock's eyes had been...intense, though it wasn't the first time that Olag had killed someone.

It was the first time that the spirit had been part of it in a while, though.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead. Shelly had her hands on her hips, giving every indication that she was going to keep pushing. And...well, fuck it.

"Short version. I got something in me. Something that ain't an implant. Something that does make me stronger."

"I knew you weren't all-natural."

"Heh. The stuff ya saw so far has been, girl. This thing? It lets me take it even further. Even harder. Even darker."

"...I...you..."

"Ya want me to be kidding. I get that. Kinda wish I was, sometimes. But this thing? It's got its own wants, its own things it needs. And most of the time, I got a good grip on that. I'm the one in charge. I make fucking sure that it does what I want, and it stays down so that it doesn't fuck with people. But...if I get hit hard enough...if I get hurt enough that I can't focus on it and the pain at the same time..."

The polar bear's hand went to his chest. The bullet had hit him harder than he expected, and he remembered how far it had ripped through him. If he'd been sober, he might have been able to deal with that, or at least move enough that the hit wouldn't have done as much damage, but as it stood...

Stop thinking about it. Ya did what ya could. Stop worrying about it.

He shook his head, pulling his hand back down. There was probably a scar under the fur from the hit, though whether that was visible, he didn't know. Wasn't from above, at the very least.

"Malfust got me. I was all drugged and fucked up, but he got me. And that thing came out. It wanted him dead for hurting me - well, my body - and it took over for a little while. Couldn't stop it from killing him, so I did what I could to keep it from going crazy through the whole place."

"...Could it have done that?"

"Done what?"

"Gone crazy. All over."

"Probably." Olag shrugged. "It's fucking strong enough that it'd do a shit-ton of damage before anyone had the chance to bring it down. If ya think I'm scary, ya should see what that piece of shit can do. Ain't sure it'd win, though, so I didn't want to let it out. Plus...well, it ain't good at keeping track of who's on my side, and who's not."

"...You're saying that you kept it in for us? Is that it?" Shelly asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Gotta protect the hot piece of tail, right?"

"Ass."

"You're one to talk," he said, patting her bare rump. "But nah. Trying to keep it from getting loose and fucking with all of us. So...yeah. Now ya know."

The mouse shook her head. He knew that he'd dropped a lot on her all at once, but at the very least, she'd know. And he'd find out if he could trust her. All things considered, he was pretty sure that he could; of the three of them, Shelly was the one that had the most to gain by getting out of here in one piece and not ratting him out. Pirn and Verk would have reason to run to the scientists to try and get some sort of privilege, but her? No. She had every reason to lean on him for a little bit longer.

"Gonna get some sleep. Only got the chance to come down here because I promised to get in the slime as soon as I finished talking."

"...You'll be there tomorrow? You'll have a plan?"

"I'll have something," he said, shrugging. "And I'll get us the fuck out. Got my word on that."

"You better. I'm trusting you here, Olag. That's not an easy thing to do."

"I know."

The End

Summary: Olag's ice thing comes to the fore, and shows the danger that it can present.

Tags: M/M, Peacock, Polar Bear, Golden Retriever, Asshat, Sci-Fi, Masturbation, Ice, Danger, Death, Series, Erection, Nudity, Argument, Lore,