Baramon

Episode 4 - Earth

Howl was bouncing with energy by the time they returned to the homestead. They had a celebratory lunch while watching the news coverage of the event. All the various channels were reporting on the upset that was the newbie team Baramon who had found a loophole that was actually encouraged by the Sensei. Teams were scrambling to rethink their strategy and to get Grounds or even one of the Trainers to aid them. Everyone knew that Grounds would start facing off challengers the next day so he would have to start refusing requests. That meant many of the teams were rushing on top of one another to ask for help.

"This new development has changed the very dynamic of this Season,"_that gazelle reporter said. _"While there are those that praise Baramon for having discovered a unique means to win the Challenge, many feel that the relatively unknown team from New York have cheated; particularly those teams that have won without using aid from the Sensei or the Trainers."

"That's bullshit!" Taser bellowed, slamming a fist into the table. Everyone, including Howl, had seen the attack and lifted their glasses off the table to avoid the tiger's rage along with any unnecessary spills. "We won fair and square! It was in the rules!"

Right next to the gazelle was a buffalo Psyche wearing a pair of square glasses on his nose. "Conversely," rumbled the big beast, "professional analysts of the Season did mention that it was clearly in writing that anyone can be used to participate in the Challenge to help a team achieve victory. This has been seen previously in yesterday's matches when teams had their Sponsor actively assist or even allied with other teams."

"There are calls for clearer guidelines and rules for the competition,"_said the gazelle. _"However the office of Cornelius Grounds has stated that such an action would destroy the spirit of ingenuity and uniqueness that is encouraged in the competition."

Weed waved a hand through the air as he brought the volume of the TV lower. "Don't let any of it get to you. This sort of thing happens every year and in every Gym. Some team does something unexpected and people feel it's not fair because they didn't think of it themselves. Then they start making up arguments that if it had been more clearly stated in the rules or bylaws, they would've come up with it as well. Especially when the team makes it look easy."

Brushing his large sideburns lightly, Weed set down his fork and reached for his phone. His eyes lit up for a second. "Ah, there we go. Looks like our match against Grounds is set for this Friday. So we've got tomorrow and Thursday to practice. I'll book one of the training grounds."

"How about we spend tomorrow seeing how Grounds faces up against the other teams?" Howl suggested. "I mean, we've seen him in action many times in the videos and shit but I want to see it live."

"Good idea." Weed scrolled through his phone. "First match tomorrow starts at nine so we'll watch them from nine to about three and then spend the rest of the day practicing. Thursday will be all about training."

Howl's chest was pumping with excitement. He couldn't wait to get out in the field and show the rest of the world - at least the Psyche world - what he could do. Better, with his Hysteria power and Hiro's Focus, he was sure he could find the weaknesses of his enemies and exploit them.

Don't be so sure, Hiro warned. Grounds now knows what our abilities are. We don't even know his.

"Sure we do. Magnetise." Howl smirked smugly. "I thought you of all people would remember that."

Howl, we've got two abilities. One for you, one for me. We only know that Grounds has one_._

His face fell and he quickly turned to Weed. "Random off the wall question. I know Grounds has Magnetise but what's his other ability?"

He should've known better than to show any signs of weakness around Taser because the tiger immediately turned around and flared up.

"Are you fucking kidding me!? Ya don't know what Clay's ability is!?" He ran a paw down his face. "Christ... Bet you don't know about his Empath and Emergence Forms either..." No one got a chance to interrupt as Taser rested an elbow on the table and pointed directly at Howl. "Magnetise is Grounds' ability. Clay's is Earth Scan. Basically he can tell where you are as long as you're on the ground. Apparently it's what helps him in his normal job."

"I do remember reading in his profile that he worked as a seismologist outside of the Gym Season," said the wolf.

"Did you see videos of his other forms?" Howl shook his head and Taser sighed heavily. "Fuck me... Fine, his Empath form is -"

Buck interrupted by waving a hand between them. "Bros! Come on! Let's not talk business! We just won a fucking Challenge! Let's celebrate!"

"Ja! He is right!" laughed Gabriel, slamming a hoof on the ground like a gavel. "This is an amazing opportunity for all of us! We have a good chance at winning a Gym! Let us take today to celebrate. Tomorrow is when we hit the books." The large stallion then took a deep gulp of his drink before letting out a pleased nicker.

Taser visibly relaxed but the intense stare he was giving Howl didn't fade. "Fine. Whatever."

"Jesus. What is his problem?"

They ate, talked and watched the news as footage of their triumph was played over and over again. Some professional analyst was even brought in to talk about their victory. The massive elephant fit most of the screen and the camera had to zoom out to get his head. His analysis was that Grounds may have assisted them but it was the team's effort that got them over the line as he pointed out when Buck and Galahad worked in tandem to bring down the one Trainer that managed to catch up to them. There was no mention of Howl or Taser in there apart from their presence. A few channels over, a more conservative analyst called the spectacle a 'travesty' against good sportsmanship.

"The Challenge was to get the boulder across the finish line not find the best way to exploit the rules!"

Of course Taser blew up at the screen, screaming at the analyst. After a few more minutes of the tiger's temper, Howl couldn't take anymore. His ears were starting to ring from the constant roaring. He grabbed his food and got up from the table.

"I'm just going to finish this in my room," he said. "Then probably hit the hay." He offered his team a lopsided grin. "It was a wild night. I barely got any sleep."

Gabriel gave him a lifted eyebrow. "Was that a pun?"

Howl snickered. "Sort of."

With that, he turned and headed upstairs into relative quiet. The walls were soundproof so the moment he shut the door, the television and Taser's ranting was cut off. He sat down on the offered desk and absently ate the rest of the meal. Hiro pestered him to open the laptop and look at more videos so he begrudgingly pried it open and booted it up. They scanned through a few fights between Grounds and some other teams.

One particular fight caught his attention.

"Nightshade..." Howl growled.

There on screen were the four-black furred-or-scaled members of Nightshade squaring off against Grounds and his team. It was likely taken the previous year as Aurochs was there. The commentator even made a slight at Weed's team about Aurochs defecting due to incompetence. Both sides of the conflict were well-trained and organised. Grounds worked alongside his Trainers, moving with them instead of just taking a commanding position like the Doberman of Nightshade.

He let Hiro take control so that his ability could analyse the battle with better precision while leaving his partner with instructions to keep eating. Hiro focused on the video however, leaving Howl to roll his eyes and guide their arms to feed them while his Manifesto delved deep into the video.

Aurochs charged head on, horns lowered while the otter and panther were right behind him, flanking him on both sides. The Trainers swept their paws up to create a huge barrier of earth directly in front of Aurochs. The bull slammed a shoulder right into the wall and ploughed right through it with little effort. But in the moment when he couldn't see what was behind the wall, the Trainers pounced. The moment he breached the wall, one of the Trainers leapt at him from the side, completely derailing him. A stunned Aurochs couldn't react fast enough before a big, fat, bear dick was shoved into his ass and two large paws were stroking his cock.

The otter pulled back before he could be captured but the panther was already halfway through the hole that Aurochs had made. He tried to pull away but one of the bears seized his arm, trying to pull him through to the other side of the wall. What happened next was a bizarre tug-of-war as the panther - Night, based on what the commentator said - was being pulled by one of the bears and the otter tried to pull him back. The hole in the wall abruptly closed around the feline's arm, trapping him against the wall.

A shout came from the commentator and the camera abruptly panned to the Doberman. The big dog was panting wildly, eyes glazed over. He was bent over a stone block, paws tied behind his back by a slab of rock and Grounds pounding his ass mercilessly. Both of them seemed to be enjoying themselves well, both of them with their tongues hanging out and groaning in lust.

The moment of distraction made both the otter and panther vulnerable. The remaining two Trainers burst out of the ground beside them. One slammed the panther against the wall and began to fuck him there and then. The other seized the otter around the waist. But the aquatic mammal's fur was oddly slick and he wiggled away from the bear's arms quite easily. The otter grinned and turned only to slam into a hard, earthen wall and stumble back into the bear's arms, practically spearing himself on the fat, ursine cock.

The battle was over in less than fifteen minutes.

"They had a plan you know."

Hiro jumped back into the black ocean while Howl took control again. Taser was standing at the door, arms crossed and looking pissed as always.

"Taser! When did -"

"So Grounds was right," grunted the tiger. "When you're focused, you lose sight of everything else. A fucking vulnerability if I ever saw one."

Having hoped that escaping into his room with give him some time away from the abrasive feline, Howl only grew more exasperated now that Taser had chased him down.

"Look, what do you want?" he demanded. "I'm tired. Had a long night. The Challenge was exhausting. Not to mention the info dump you piled on me. Can we just leave it at that? We won today."

"You think this is only about winning?" Taser growled, baring his fangs. "We're here to learn. To hone our skills and be better Psyches and Manifestos. The Challenges and fights with the Sensei are tests not games."

"Fine. Whatever. Lesson learned. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to finish my lunch and then go to bed."

Taser looked towards the large mattress not too far away. "Not alone you're not."

Howl tilted his head to the side. "Huh?"

"I'm pissed at you. Can't even remember what for. Maybe it was because you have no fucking idea what you're doing and stumbling on these things with pure, dumb luck. Or maybe it's because you're only cruising by on your 'natural talent' while the rest of us trained hard to get where we are. I don't fucking know. But I'm pissed and being around you makes me even more pissed. So from what I gather, I got to fuck to get it out of my system."

He stormed forward, grabbed Howl by the scruff and dragged him towards the bed. "So we're going to fuck. You're going to make me cum. Then we'll go back to being bros who occasionally fuck and talk smack to each other."

"Geez... Is that why he's so pissed at me? Because of my ability?"

No... Hiro said. I don't think that's just it.

"What makes you say that?"

It's been a day, Howl. I'm pretty sure he's gotten off a few times since the last time we saw him. If he's angry, it's not because of what we did. And I have a pretty good idea what it is.

"Really? What?"

I'm not telling.

"What!? Why not?"

Hiro snickered at him. Howl, this is something you'll have to figure out on your own.

Howl knocked Taser's paws away and took a step back away from the tiger. "Hiro says that this is more than just you being angry at me because I'm new to this whole thing. He correctly pointed out that it's been about a day since the first match and a strong, virile guy like you would've jacked off more than once since then. You're angry at something else."

"What?" Taser snorted. "Did you have to rely on that pipsqueak to tell you all that? Did he use his ability on me or something?"

"Did you?"

Nope. I can tell what's going on without using my power.

"Then why don't you just tell me!?"

Because you should be able to realise what's going on without me helping. You're a big boy. You can figure it out.

Sighed, Howl shook his head. "No. Hiro's not cooperating. He won't tell me what's bothering you." He crossed his arms. "So why don't you just tell me why the fuck you're grudging on me so bad and let's get this over with?"

"Why the fuck does it matter? Just get me to cum and then it's water under the bridge."

"Because that's just it!" Howl snapped. "Why do you need me to get you off? Why can't you fuck Buck or Galahad? I'm sure they'd be more willing. Why does it have to be me?"

Taser seized his arm. "Because you're the asshole I've got a grudge against! If I don't get it out of my system for good, it's just going to bubble up again and then I'll probably end up fucking you out in the arena in front of everyone and cost us the fight!"

"He's got a point there..."

Don't let him fool you, Hiro warned. That's not the reason.

"Just tell me already!"

Won't.

"You really think fucking me into submission will be enough?" Howl said. "You sure you don't want to fight instead? Won't that be more fulfilling?"

"Fuck no!"

"Why not!?"

"I don't want to hurt you this close to the match against Grounds!"

Howl was starting to see a pattern. Taser wanted to have sex. Badly. He wanted to get Howl's influence out of his system but he also didn't want to hurt Howl. That seemed... very strange. He had seen this before... in Grounds.

A lightbulb went on in his mind.

"Holy shit..." he gasped. "You like me!"

Taser grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut. "Okay yes, alright? I fucking like_you. I'm not falling in love or anything but... Fuck... I want you so _bad right now!" He growled at himself and took a step back... but then something compelled him to take two steps forward, bringing him closer to Howl. "Every part of me just wants to be close to you... to smell you... to taste you... _Fuck!"_He roared and clutched his head with both paws, spinning around in frustration. "This is all your fault! You and your fucking powers!"

He turned around and stormed forward, almost nose to nose with Howl. "So please. Please. Let's just fuck so I can get this shitty feeling out of me and go back to being teammates!"

Howl opened his muzzle to speak but Hiro gave him a mental kick.

Don't go thinking there's anything else to this or even suggesting it. He clearly doesn't want to feel like this so don't go planting the idea that it's how he really feels. This is your ability. It screws with people.

As much as he would've liked to have Taser on the leash for once, he knew Hiro was right.

"Alright... I guess we have no choice."

******

When morning came, Howl got out of bed painfully aware of how empty it was. The drawback to his power was that physical contact amplified it. So even after Taser sprayed his cum all over him, the temptation to cuddle after sex was too overpowering and that just led to those same emotions that had been expelled to resurface. With a tiger's libido, Taser had ploughed Howl all through the night. They took an hour break to eat dinner with everyone else and then it was right back to fucking.

But it seemed that overnight, Taser had left.

"Can't feel too bad. He really didn't want a relationship, I guess."

He quickly checked if Hiro was awake but found his partner slumbering in the dark abyss of their ocean world. Not wanting to interrupt his partner's slumber especially after he had to take over the previous night after Howl passed out from the sex, Howl rose and made his way across the room. The leather jacket that they had received from Oliver remained on the floor where it had been callously discarded and he propped it back up on the back of the chair so that it wasn't accidentally trampled. A shower seemed the most appropriate next step so he looked for a closet... only to remember that he mostly walked around naked - or at least in his fur.

He realised what Taser and Tim said about there being effectively two societies of Psyches and Manifestos was true. Those emerged and raised outside of the Gyms were very different to those raised within. As he headed towards his bedroom door, he caught sight of movement out the window. There was a mailman, a bird of some sort, being roughly fucked by two pit bulls across the street; brothers from all appearances. Back on Earth, that would be grounds for arrest and likely a public scandal worthy of national news. Here, it was just another morning.

Stepping out of his room, he didn't realise how stagnant the air was in his bedchamber until he caught a whiff of the relatively fresh air. He guessed he became numb to his own scent atop that of Taser's mixed with the odour of rough marathon sex. The bathroom was located at the end on the other side of the floor next to Weed's room. He noticed that Buck's door was closed but Galahad's was open. Both horse and stag were slumbering peacefully in one another's arms.

The scene brought back memories of all his sexual encounters. Grounds and Taser both left before he could cuddle with them for fear of his ability activating once more and driving them into another sexual frenzy. The prospect of never being able to sleep with a man in his arms left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The bathroom itself was large, much bigger than any that Hiro had ever been to. It had to be to accommodate the enormous Psyches. There were two sinks which hinted that the large standing shower was certainly built for more than one person to occupy at a time. The presence of two showerheads also supported this. He shut the door, locking it behind him.

Though he had brought an assortment of shampoos and other toiletries that were available to them but none of them were really suited for a wolf of his size. Thankfully, just like a hotel, there was some provided for him in the cabinets beneath the sinks. He grabbed a large bottle of shampoo and conditioner before straightening and wondering exactly how he was meant to apply this onto himself. Glancing at the two-person shower, he realised that its size was not just to encourage sex but was also a practical design especially for fur-covered Psyches.

He sighed and decided he didn't want to wake anyone up just to bathe him. Stepping into the blue-tiled surface of the shower, he kicked up one of the showerheads and let the water pour down upon him. It took a moment before the water could soak completely into his fur and it took some effort to actually move all the fur so that it could seep past his outer coating and into the undercoating and skin beneath. He wondered if he really had to bathe that often being a wolf but given that his ass was caked with cum and the white fur on his chest looked like an alabaster chainmail, he thought it would be wise.

Once he was properly soaked, he picked up the shampoo bottle and gave it a sniff. Lavender musk. Not bad. He squirted a large amount of it into his large paws, rubbed them together and then began lathering it all over his frame. Any sensuality was pushed aside as he had to physically work the shampoo into his fur to get all the dried cum out. Whenever he thought he had washed aside the last of the dried cum, he'd find a sticky spot somewhere on his chest and grimace in agitation as he had to scrub it again.

Use the conditioner.

He smiled and reached down for the golden bottle. "Well good morning, sleepy head."

Not using the mental talking thing?

"Too tired. Didn't really sleep well last night."

Taser did keep us up all night.

"Thanks for taking the last two times his cock was in us."

It was actually three.

Howl laughed softly. "Geez... I didn't think my power would keep for so long." Hiro was silent for a moment and Howl immediately grew suspicious. "What? You think there's more?"

Even after he cums, memories of those feelings don't go away. Grounds may have opted to let them go but Tim and Taser were raised in a society were true affection was always cushioned by meaningless sex. Intimacy is meaningless. But for a brief moment, they probably felt exactly what they've always wanted to feel.

"You're giving this too much thought," Howl said casually. He rubbed the oily shampoo into his fur, letting it restore the rough edges of his pelt to a sleek, smoother consistency. "They're big boys. They knew that all that shit they were feeling was artificially created by my power. They came. They let it go. That's it."

Are you sure?

"Yeah. They were genuinely friendly to us before he got mad at us at the stadium. So I'm guessing it was just all layer upon layer of feelings." He shrugged and massaged the conditioner into his hair. "On the surface, he was angry because we kind of barged in on their parade and questioned what they believed. Beneath that, they liked us as friends. My power amplified those emotions. Now that it's out of their system, we can just go back to how things were."

Not sure about that. The more you're around someone, the more their emotions will grow.

"Then we just fuck it out of them!" Howl said with a grin.

Urgh... Of course.

"Hey, you think I should get tips on how to make a guy cum so hard they revert back to human form? Because I'm a demon in the sack but thus far I haven't gotten anyone to revert yet."

Good lord Howl...

"I'm being serious!" Even as he said this, he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. "I need to know how to push a guy's buttons _really_well."

God! Just switch out with me briefly or something and I can probably tell you what those weak spots are! Don't make me sit down and listen to Weed's lectures on the finer points of giving oral while you're sporting a fucking boner!

"Ooooh... Does that mean you want to do some of the fucking?"

Don't put words in my mouth!

"I'm not. They're already in your head. I'm just giving voice to them.

Hiro did that thing where he turned his back to Howl in the dark ocean and stared deep into the murky abyss. He liked to do that when he wanted to be left alone and Howl didn't pester him.

Once he was suitably satisfied that he was bathed and cleaned, Howl shut off the water and then looked around for some way to dry himself. He gave himself a good old-fashioned canine shake that splattered droplets of water all over the inside of the shower but could do little else. The holes on the sides of the shower caught his attention. There were several off them and they reminded him of the dryer system in theme parks especially those with water rides that one had to pay to use. The switch was easy to find and with a flick, hot air began blowing at him from the holes. It was like a warm, gentle massage that he happily turned around for and lifted his tail so that every part of him could dry off.

A lewd thought crossed his mind as the jets of hot air wafted across his butt crack.

Oh hell no! You are not going to get yourself penetrated by a fucking dryer jet!

"Easy, easy!" Howl laughed. "Besides, I heard that if you warm up your balls a little it really helps the juices flowing!"

Oh! God! Eeeeew!

Hiro could never stand to stare into the abyss for very long.

Once Howl was fully dry, he took a brush he found to his fur and began combing it down. With such a thick pelt and so much fur, it was somewhat difficult but he managed it eventually. The conditioner was of excellent quality and made every strand silky smooth. Once he was done, he threw on the leather jacket, hanging it over his shoulders as always and strode out of the bathroom.

The smell of breakfast filled his nostrils and his muzzle began to water. He followed the scent down the stairs, tail wagging. Galahad was cooking as always. He seemed to be the team's cook. There were quite a few poached eggs sitting on the bench and it looked like Galahad was stirring some hollandaise sauce while frying up some hash browns.

"I wonder if he sprays some cum into his food to make it more nutritious."

Do you ever think of anything apart from your dick?

"It's our dick, remember?"

Urgh. Don't remind me.

"Smells good," he said aloud. "Where'd you learn to cook, anyway?"

Galahad turned and gave him a bright smile. "Mornin' mate. Have a seat." He waved a spatula absently through the air as he continued to cook. He had an apron around his waist and nothing else. Howl wondered what kind of sexual pun was written on it. "I learned ta cook from Gabe. Well. Not really."

Howl tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Huh?"

"I emerged from Gabe pretty early on." Galahad flipped the hash browns expertly. Howl flinched as oil flicked everywhere. "When he was fourteen, in fact. Gabe's always had a bit o' wanderlust. Used to live in this rural place near sum forests. He'd always go out n' wander off inna woods. Nuthin' special. Jus' sorta his thing. But, bein' the lucky git that he is, he came back one day afta wanderin' off ta find his mum an' pop hacked ta bits."

Howl recoiled and so did Hiro. In unison, both of them said, "Jesus!"

"Yep," Galahad sighed softly. "Some serial killer came to our house and killed our mom and pop. Apparently made it all the way here to America. They caught him though. Just a month afterwards. But you wanna know what got me to emerge?"

"What?"

"The bastard sought asylum in fucking Switzerland." Galahad's fist tightened around the ladle. His other hand slapped his wrist. "Calm down, Gabe."

Howl shook his head in disbelief. "You're kidding me."

"Nope. Went to the Swiss Consulate in the US an' asked for asylum. He was a Swiss citizen apparently. Some bullshit 'bout the crime being committed on German soil, him being caught on American soil..." He shook his head. "We both finally had enough. I emerged. We both wanted our revenge."

"What stopped you?"

Galahad let out a soft snort. "Galahad. One o' King Arthur's greatest knights. I emerged from Gabe embodying 'is noble spirit an' th' courage he could never muster. Gabe likes to sit back an' plot. No offense ta my buddy buy he's all talk. I'm th' action. He uses his words. I lead th' charge. But he an' I both share th' same sense o' nobility. We wanted to get at that guy because it was th' right thing ta do. Flew all th' way here pretendin' ta be a college exchange student but really lookin' ta go after th' guy. But then..."

Weed's voice suddenly came from behind Howl. "I stumbled upon him."

The smell of menthol and ash wafted into Howl's nose. Weed came over to the kitchen counter and sat down next to Howl.

"I was on a trip to DC when I found Galahad," said Weed. "Attending the Gym there. I felt Galahad and Gabriel's presence as a Psyche and Manifesto." He tapped the side of his head still with the cigarette in his mouth. "See guys like me are trained to find out where Psyches and Manifestos are especially ones that rogue."

Where does that put Butch back in Liberty?

"What about that Butch guy that we ran into back at school?" Howl asked.

"He's under someone else's protection," Weed said with a sly smile. "It's not like I lord over the college. I just have my own people and connections that I look after. But at that point, Galahad and Gabe were unattached. Quite surprising how they managed to go on for so long without anyone claiming them." Weed took out the cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke. "But I guess that just proves how resourceful they both are. It's why I made them the tacticians of our team."

And probably why he opted to join the Gym Season. To keep them from doing anything rash and focus all their rage and anger on something else apart from murder

"And I've been sticking with this old bloke ever since!" Galahad said brightly. He turned and set a play of fresh toast with hash browns, fresh greens, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce in front of the two.

"Old...?" Weed whispered softly.

"And ta answer yer original question," Galahad said, "Barely makin' outta high school with no money an' no college degree meant we had ta make it out on our own. Worked as a cook fer some fast food joint an' after a year, got ta be a chef in a bistro. Saved my money an' moved 'ere an' that's when I met Weed an' Primal."

Howl felt a swell of familiarity and camaraderie from Hiro. Likely because like him, both Gabriel and Galahad were two individuals who were self-made. After rising from the ashes of a devastated childhood, they had actually made something of themselves. They were an inspiration.

But something bothered him.

"What would happen if we put that guy he was after in front of him? What would happen if we met dad?"

Honestly? I wouldn't give a shit. That asshole isn't part of our life anymore. We've got a new life now. I'm leaving that part of myself behind. I'm moving on. I'm walking forward. You can come with me or-

"Don't be melodramatic, Hiro. I'm not going to linger on the memory of him either. We've got a new family." He looked to Galahad and then Weed with a smile. "We don't need him anymore."

******

Thus far, fifteen teams had managed to qualify for the match against Grounds and his Trainers. Many of those teams had wisely elected to fight against Grounds later in the month. That bought them more time to face off against the Sensei but at the same time, gave them less time to prepare for the Challenge and the Gym of the next month. Each Gym opened and closed back to back, after all. While Teams could re-challenge a Sensei after they passed that Season's Challenge, that was subject to the time constraints of the Sensei. It was not unheard of for a Team to refuse fighting the Sensei because they just weren't ready.

Nightshade, however, was one of the gutsier teams and had opted to challenge Grounds as soon as possible.

So on the first Wednesday of the Season, Howl found himself entering the Main Arena once again only this time, the 'team only' area had been dismantled in favour of a bigger combat area. He sat amongst others as they watched in anticipation for what was effectively the first fight of the season.

The air was a mix of tension and excitement. Little kids were amongst the audience and they were cheering and telling their parents how excited they were about the fight. Howl had to wonder if this world had a concept of age rating. He leaned towards Buck who was stuffing his muzzle with a phallic-shaped hotdog that was apparently stuffed with cheese. Some of the kids were eating similar fare.

"Hey uh... Buck, can I talk to Brodie for a sec? Got a question for him."

"Hmrf?" mumble the stag, muzzle stuffed with the phallic organ. His eyes switched colours and Brodie took one more bite from the meal before saying, muzzle full of meat, "What's up Howl?"

"First of all, I think my cock just ran up inside of me at the sight of you biting the head of that sausage." He shuddered. "Secondly... Isn't this whole event a sort of... 'R-Rated' thing? Why are there kids running about?"

"Oh." Brodie swallowed the meat and shrugged. "Things are different un the Gyms. No one touches kids who aren't sexually mature but parents don't protect them from it either. No euphemisms about storks or anything like that. They're told outright how they're born, how Psyches are made and brought up in a culture where sex is part of life."

"That... seems really weird to me. I'm sorry."

Brodie shrugged. "That's what I thought too when I was first introduced to this world but really, that's why we're allowed to live in the Gyms or the rest of the world at our discretion. Though the way I figure it, by telling your kids about Psyches early on and how they're made let alone how they emerge, you make them aware of what life has in store for them if ever they reach that breaking point." He gave Howl a lopsided grin. "Besides, traditional families here aren't really the same. I mean look there..."

He pointed to where two big, burly guys, one an eagle and the other a ram, where looking after two children. The ram was bottle feeding a little girl - judging by her pink clothing and dress while there was a boy, about ten-years-old, bouncing right next to the eagle saying he wanted to be just like 'daddy' and get 'woolly and horny'.

"Those two are probably the proud parents of both those kids. Genetically. They probably found some woman who was willing to carry their child for them. Here, women are treated like royalty because they're the only ones that can produce offspring. Yes the ruling class technically are all men but they still treat all women with respect. One day, Grounds may decide he wants to have a kid to pass on his genetics and he'll make himself available. Might go online, meet someone on the street, blind dates from friends. Who knows? Hell, he might find a guy who turns into a female Psyche and they might connect there. There are families that have a mother/father Psyche you know."

Howl frowned. "Wait... So you're telling me that if a guy has a female Psyche and she gets knocked up..."

"Yep. It's a viable child. They never leave the Gyms Battleground for fear of reverting back and losing their kid but it happens." Brodie stuck out his tongue and giggled a little. "From what I hear regrowing a penis is kind of fun."

Howl's head spun. "Okay... uhm... I'm going to take a second to digest that but don't you get people... I dunno... preying on kids or something?"

"Oh no. Human kids are strictly prohibited. There are still standards and rules, you know. Psyches don't emerge until people are eighteen, you know. Don't know why. That's just how things are. By then, they're considered mature adults. Anyone who molests a kid beneath that age is severely punished not only for paedophilia but on the grounds of 'corruption'." Brodie shrugged. "The courts say that you're forcefully attempting to create a Psyche and that's prohibited. You're not allowed to force trauma onto someone or make someone's life miserable just so that they'll become a Psyche. Wars pushed the Clans once to such a measure and once the Battle Circle was formed, that was outlawed and considered a war crime."

I would imagine so, Hiro grunted. You're purposefully breaking someone's spirit and mind just to turn them into a weapon. That's messed up.

"We both agree on that..."

A loud boom erupted from the speakers and everyone turned towards the stadium. The battlefield was covered in the same brown dirt as many of the other battles he and Hiro had watched on his laptop. Each year, the arena did change and this year, the change seemed to be the presence of large stone statues in the shape of various mythical creatures littered the field irregularly. Each marble edifice was somehow anthropomorphised and made into a muscular Adonis. Two unicorns clashed horns against one another while their 'lower horns' were similarly crossed. Eastern-style dragons curled their serpentine lengths around one another, large whiskered muzzles hovering close to one another's erect dicks. Mighty centaurs reared up on their hind legs not only showing off their imposing stature but also their enormous cocks. White paint had been drawn across the battlefield to designate the out-of-bounds areas with magical runes erected past them. Hiro identified the runes as protective in design and were there to keep any stray shots from hitting the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Psyches and Manifestos, children of all ages, welcome to today's Sensei Challenge!"

The crowd cheered, many getting to their feet. Howl growled a little at the sight of many of the crowd holding up big black banners with the white emblem of a black flower on it - Nightshade's emblem. It made him wonder if Baramon had their own emblem.

"Today, we will be witnessing the fight between our very own Cornelius Grounds and his team and, all the way from Seattle, Team Nightshade!"

Cheers erupted from all over the stadium and those black banners waved in the morning light.

"Looks like Onyx's fan club is in full force," Taser rumbled. He was on Buck's other side. He hadn't spoken to Howl on the way here at all.

"Fan club?" Howl asked. "We get a fan club?"

Taser shot him a piercing stare but he just met it with defiance. "Fuck, you know nothing." The tiger nodded towards the dark banners. "Onyx's ability is called Notoriety. He gets stronger in all aspects the more support he has. In battle, it means that the more team members he has, the stronger he is. But he's developed it to the point that even the fans supporting him in the stands give him a bit of a boost."

Howl cast his gaze across the arena. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of people were there amongst them and all sporting some form of black emblem in support of Nightshade.

"Shit... How strong is that guy with all this support?"

Not strong enough.

"What makes you say that?"

Simple. Even with all these fans, he hasn't won a single Gym. Not yet. This popularity is a perilous thing. If he loses or makes a fool of himself, he'll lose a lot of support. He gets weaker. He can't afford scandal and I imagine going through a year of challenging gyms and never once winning against a Sensei can't be good for his ego... or his power.

Hiro was right. As the combatants began striding out from the depths of the arena, he noticed that the black panther was at the forefront of Nightshade like he was their mascot. The show-off leapt forward ahead over everyone else, scampered up the nearest statue - one of those Eastern dragons - and pumped his fists into the air.

"Oh-nyx! Oh-nyx! Oh-nyx!" the crowd chanted.

"He sure likes to showboat..." Howl grumbled.

Taser sneered. "The fucker craves attention. But then again, his whole strategy depends on it."

"What's his Manifesto's ability?"

The tiger grunted and Brodie took the torch.

"Gamble. Owen Fairchild's ability is called Gamble. When he initiates the ability, for one minute, any damage he or his opponent takes is put into a 'pot'. He then drags you into his own miniaturised Battleground. Inside, he challenges you to a game of chance. If you win, all the stuff that was meant to happen to you and him is inflicted upon him but doubled. If he wins, same thing happens to you."

Howl frowned at that. "So wait... Does that mean that if I try to fuck him..."

"Nothing will happen when he activates his ability. But if you lose the game, you will feel everything you inflicted upon him and he inflicted upon you twofold." Brodie gulped loudly. "I've seen matches where he activates the ability and then he gets one of his teammates to purposefully screw him so that when the damage hits, his opponent just falls to their knees and cums madly."

There must be a weakness... Hiro mused. How is it activated?

Howl relayed the question and Brodie said that Gamble latched onto Owen's Eyes of Ruin. The feline's Manifesto could not execute a Battleground normally as a consequence. He could certainly try but no damage would be taken until a 'game' was played.

So if he can't see his opponent then he can't activate it. Interesting.

While Onyx showboated for the crowd, Grounds and his team were introduced and they took up position in an area opposite to Nightshade. A large scoreboard sprang to life on the corners of the arena with Grounds' team being marked with the emblem of the Gym and Nightshade with their own. They both started with one hundred points.

"I never saw those points before in the fights," he said. "What're they for?"

You don't think this is just a game to fuck someone into submission, do you?

"I thought it was?"

"It's how we make sure matches actually have an end and it doesn't turn into days of fucking and to give new teams a fair chance to win," grumbled Taser, his eyes focused solely on Nightshade. "Each team starts with one hundred points. Twenty-five points per team member. Every hit you land on someone is one point deducted from you and put to the guy that hit you. When you reach zero, you're out. You get fucked and turned into a human again, all your remaining points go to your fucker. You get thrown out of the ring and your points are evenly distributed into the opposite team. First team to completely deplete their opposing team of their points wins."

Brodie grinned brightly up at him. "So think of them as hit points!"

Howl nodded and glanced back towards the arena. "Uh-huh. Okay."

"So let's give a hand to our Sensei! Give it up for the Big Bear, the Burly Boulder, the Master of Magnetism, the Papa Pounder, Cooooooornelius Grounds and Clay!"

There were an even louder cheer and Howl found himself getting to his feet and letting his voice join in. Grounds' image was flashed on the massive screens all over the arena and for a brief moment, he thought the bear had looked in his direction and smiled. Like his Trainers, he was dressed in the white and green form-fitting shirt and shorts but his shirt was a button-up shirt leaving his chest bare and exposed.

The announcer introduced the other Trainers before switching over to the members of Nightshade.

"First amongst the Nightshades, you know him, you love him, the Popular Panther, the Famous Feline, give it up for Owen Fairchild and Onyx!"

The midnight-black panther pumped his fists into the air, once again bringing cheering from the crowd. Howl sat back down in his chair and glowered. When Onyx leapt from the top of the statue, did a somersault and landed deftly on his feet, the crowd went wild.

He knows how to make an impression.

"Don't tell me you're falling for his showboating."

No. I've dealt with assholes like him before. All huff. No substance. But he's dangerous. Popular people tend to move in crowds.

Howl fell silent and let the commentator introduce the next of the Nightshade roster. Aurochs, the newest member and already with the moniker 'Unstoppabull', came forward when his name was called and flexed for the crowd.

"What's his power?" Howl asked Brodie softly.

"Brodie doesn't wanna watch, bro," Buck said suddenly, surprising Howl. "Aurochs' power is Momentum. Once he gets moving, he's hard to stop. Anthony's is Solidarity. It's the opposite. He cannot be moved against his will. He'll still take damage but you can't move him."

"Taking the idea of a charging bull literally..."

The next Nightshade team member introduced was Ebony, the black-furred otter and his Manifesto Emmett Miles. Known as the Untouchable, Ebony's ability was Slipstream. When activated, it was impossible to hold him. The ability emitted a field around his body, about an inch from his skin, that made it impossible to make physical contact with him.

"Wait, that means he can't be fucked?" Howl exclaimed in surprise, his cry drowned by the cheers of the crowd.

"Naw bro." Buck winked at him. "If ya stick your dick up his ass, it'll still get in there. It'll just be like there's a little bubble around your dick preventing you from actually making physical contact with him."

"So like a condom."

Buck gave that some thought and then grinned. "Yeah! Pretty much!"

Counter to Slipstream was Emmett's ability known as Abrasion. Rubbing up against him inflicted wounds upon the individual as if touching sharkskin. Again, it made him rather difficult to subdue through sexual contact.

I'm starting to see a pattern...

"Really? What?"

All the members of Nightshade have powers that make them hard to defeat conventionally. You can't let Aurochs start charging and if Anthony is control, he can't be moved. Onyx's power is directly proportionate to how popular he is and Owen can turn the tables by forcing you into a game of chance. Ebony can't be grabbed or touched while Emmett's skin will hurt you if you touch him.

The last member of Nightshade on the field was introduced. Obsidian the Doberman and his Manifesto Orin Lancaster. Buck explained that Obsidian was even trickier and why he preferred to stay back in most fights. Obsidian's power was Karma. Once he locked onto an opponent, any damage that was inflicted upon himself was reflected upon the opponent. Obsidian was known to lock onto an enemy and then stimulate himself which would likewise distract his opponent and leave him open. Worse yet, any who tried to fuck Obsidian might find themselves feeling the same sensations that Obsidian felt.

Then there was Orin's power.

"Disable," growled Taser. "Fucking insidious, cheap ass move."

"What does it do?" Howl asked.

"You use your ability on him or a spell and it gets disabled. He has to take the hit but then you can't use it. It stacks too. Eventually, you'll run out of everything in your arsenal unless you can wear him down."

So Obsidian and Orin are like Nightshade's damage sponge, Hiro concluded. You fight him and he can rob you of all your abilities and even spells provided he takes the damage. At the same time, you damage him and you suffer the same damage you inflict upon him.

"Fuck... He's practically untouchable."

In a fight, he can't be the first person you target.

"Why?"

Think about it, Howl. If you throw everything you've got at him, you'll have nothing left against the bulldozer, the slippery otter and the popularity powerhouse. He'll disable all your options, hurt you as you hurt him and then leave you vulnerable.

"Then with all four of them combined, they make for a hell of a team."

Exactly.

As the commentator finished his introduction of all the combatants, he explained the rules.

"Hey Buck..." Howl whispered softly. "Wasn't there a battle that lasted three days or something? How'd that come about with this points system?"

Buck gave him a lopsided grin. "Well, the battle only really ends when everyone on one team is incapacitated or loses all their points. There's no time limit. So in theory, two people could be fighting and both have a hundred points each. Happened before, bro. Especially with guys that have a _lot_of endurance. Some of the older, more experienced teams are known to drag out fights."

The crowd suddenly broke out into another cheer. Howl glanced back towards the arena where the two teams were squaring off against one another. Grounds appeared confident and not too worried. After all, he had defeated this team previously. There was no reason to be worried. But something about Nightshade's stance made Howl nervous. He scanned the crowd for the team's Sponsor, Raleigh Pots. He caught sight of the snake standing at the edge of the arena.

"Alright folks!" bellowed the commentator. "It's time for the very first team this season to face off against our Sensei to test their mettle! Everyone say it with me now! Five... four..."

They all cheered in tandem with the countdown.

"Three!" Howl cried.

Two, Hiro whispered apprehensively.

"One..." they shouted in unison.

"FIGHT!" roared the commentator.

Aurochs took the first move. He lowered his horns and charged forward, head lowered. It seemed a similar tactic to what they had executed the year before even to the point where both Ebony and Onyx took up position beside him as he ran. There was a moment of hesitation amongst Grounds and his team as they both recognised the battle tactic. Grounds bellowed an order and the team met Nightshade's offensive just like they did before.

A huge, stone wall erupted from the ground, blocking their view of the bears.

That was exactly as Nightshade had anticipated.

Ebony, the otter, jumped onto Aurochs' back, riding him as he charged right through the stone wall. Howl could only watch the screen as cleaved a massive hole right through it. As expected, there was a bear that crash-tackled the big bull from the side but Ebony was swift and leapt off Aurochs before he was taken down too. The sudden appearance of the otter disoriented Grounds' team and all eyes were on the agile, airborne mammal. Ebony waved his paws through the air. Magical runes appeared around his paws and he flung them forward. Small, compressed balls of water shot from his paws and struck the other bear standing beside the hole that Aurochs had made. Each hit deducted points from Grounds' team.

Worse yet, while all eyes were on Ebony, Onyx snuck in and grabbed the injured bear from behind. Though slightly smaller in stature, Onyx was empowered by the support of his fans. The panther managed to lift the bigger bear in the air and spun him around so that they were facing one another. Still stunned, the bear was unable to stop Onyx from turning him upside down so that his muzzle was stuffed between the feline's thighs. But Onyx was far from done. With his opponent in the vice-like grip of his thighs the panther dropped his legs and executing a crushing piledriver.

Howl and even Taser winced.

"Fuck..." grunted the tiger. "A piledriver. If I were the bear, I'd have chomped on his fucking balls. See how he'd like that."

Points were rapidly deducted from Grounds' team but there was a bit of a trade-off as well as Aurochs continued to struggle with his bear. Ebony flung his paws at Aurochs and the bear atop him was hurled right off with a flash of golden light. Another bear made to intercept the otter, riding in on a 'wave' of earth. The otter bolted away, running away from the oncoming wave with the bear giving chase. His eyes entirely focused on Ebony, the ursine didn't see Aurochs charging at him from the side until the bull crashed right through his ride and sent him crumbling to the ground in front of Ebony.

Ebony swung his paws through the air. Crackling orange whips snapped up from his fingers and wrapped around the bear's wrists and ankles, rendering him prone. Some magical force lifted the Trainer into the air, primed for Ebony to suck him off.

"Fuck, this isn't turning out well..." grumbled Howl.

"They're more coordinated than last year." Brodie was back in control of Buck's body and his eyes were darting across the battlefield like lightning. "But Obsidian still isn't moving. He's still their trump card."

It was true. The Doberman just stood on the other end of the battlefield, unmoving and watching the fight unfold.

"Where's Grounds?" Howl asked.

Watching from below, answered Hiro. Remember, Clay's ability allows him to 'sense' the presence of anyone on the ground. He can see the entire battlefield. I just hope he doesn't go after Obsidian like he did before...

"Why not?"

I don't know. I've just got this feeling that their entire plan hinges on Grounds' team expecting them to act exactly as they did last year.

Aurochs squared off against the bear that had knocked him down. He let out a tremendous bellow and charged head first. The Trainer, despite his size, was still very fast and mobile. With just a flick of his wrist, a platform of rock sprang up from the ground and flung him to the side, putting him out of harm's way.

A faint blue aura suddenly surrounded Aurochs and the bull abruptly vanished in a burst of crackling blue energies.

Brodie jumped to his fist. "No way!"

"What?" Howl demanded.

There was a faint sizzling and Aurochs suddenly appeared right behind the bear and slammed right into him. The bear let out a cry as he was speared on Auroch's horns. Points were rapidly deducted. Aurochs carried the bear all the way to the massive wall were he pinned the man against the wall and began to fuck him there and there.

"That was a high-level teleportation spell!" Brodie exclaimed. "Aurochs never had any skill with magic! And he learned that...?"

Brodie's dark eyes were filled with confusion and... hurt.

"Hiro...?

On it.

They quickly swapped placed as Hiro focused on Brodie.

I'm getting... a lot of hurt feelings. It's too long ago since they were together though. I can't see that far without staying focused for ages. But... If I had to guess... I think Brodie may have tried to teach Aurochs some spells and seeing him outstrip him in this way hurt him. A lot.

"Damn..."

They switched back and Howl turned back to the battle. A cry of ecstasy erupted from the arena as the bear that Ebony had constrained orgasmed. Though he didn't turn back into a human, points were rapidly deducted and he was considered 'out'. Ebony's body shuddered as his muscles grew taut and a little more mass was added to him. He had absorbed the EXP of the bear from the fight.

"Grounds... where are you?" Howl mumbled.

As he said this, a stone statue erupted from the ground in front of Ebony. It was a about as big as another Trainer but just made entirely out of rock. Ebony was shocked at the appearance of the statue especially when he struck out with a fist and sent him crashing to the ground, pouring points into Grounds' team. Even as the other Trainers lost their points, stone statues quickly came to replace them, engaging their enemies.

Obsidian didn't expect this.

"That's bloody brilliant!" Galahad exclaimed.

"What?" Howl demanded.

Stone Remnant, said Hiro. It's one of Grounds' techniques but it takes some time to deploy. Our Sensei friend hid underground to manifest the spell. Obsidian's power can only lock onto one opponent at a time. But no matter how much damage he takes onto that target, he can't inflict it on a stone construct!

Howl's eyes widened as more and more stone statues came springing up from the ground, surrounding Nightshade. He realised that it was the perfect counter against Nightshade's abilities. Their sheer numbers could overwhelm Aurochs' charges. Onyx's strength couldn't defend him against a large army either and his Gamble ability would be useless against something that couldn't feel any pain. The same went with Obsidian. Perhaps the only threat was Ebony but even the slippery otter couldn't escape so many stone paws reaching for him for very long.

Aurochs tried to start a charge through the statues again but with so many of them surrounding him, pushing him down, he couldn't even start to move. Several piled onto Ebony, holding him down despite his slippery aura. Onyx was rapidly tiring himself out trying to kick and bash through the statues. A punch caused his fist to get stuck in the abdominals of one of the massive bear and he could be seen whining 'not again' as another of the stone bear moved up behind him and lowered a stone dick towards his ass.

Howl turned to Obsidian, grinning at the defeat of the Doberman. But to his surprise, Obsidian just reached out and touched one of the stone statues. Black bolts of lightning tinges with red lashed out of his fingertips and ran through every stone statue.

Every construct suddenly stopped moving.

"Damnit!" Galahad cursed. "Disable. I forgot about that."

"No..."

He disabled Grounds' ability to control the statues... Shit.

Something erupted from the ground behind Obsidian like an earthen geyser. To his credit, the Doberman didn't flinch even as a huge, stone hand erupted from the ground and seized him around the waist. The massive stone fist wrapped around him and held him in place while Grounds landed deftly in front of him.

"Yes! Yes! Go get 'em, Daddy! Go!"

Grounds swept his arms wide beside him. All the stone statues abruptly shattered, sweeping upwards in a dizzying storm of flying stones. A stone platform rose up from the ground where the Sensei stood, lifting him up amongst the flying rocks. All the individual pieces came together, forming a single, solid construct that towered over them all and reached the rooftop of the arena.

"Holy shit!" Howl cried.

Onlookers gasped at the sheer size of the pseudo-bear that stood in front of them. The golem let out a bellowing roar and brought its fist crashing down upon the member of Nightshade. Onyx leapt to their defence and despite his size, he managed to catch the fist and keep it from crushing the others. Aurochs pawed at the ground with his hoofed foot then charged forward, head down. He crashed right through the fist but only managed to carve a path through it without stopping. The bull was charging for one of the bear's legs.

Ebony, acting a means of distraction, jumped up onto the golem's fist and began hurling bolts of elemental magic straight into the construct's face. Fire, ice, lightning and water flung from his paws while he rushed up the side of the titan. Grounds lifted his other hand, bringing it down upon Ebony-

CRASH!

Only for the golem to suddenly freeze and shattered like glass.

Grounds, stunned, came crashing to the ground while a storm of black and red lightning raced around him. Behind him, Aurochs had bypassed Grounds' legs entirely and smashed into the stone hand that had held down Obsidian. The Doberman stood with his paw out, coolly having disabled Grounds' spell.

Crackling orange lightning whipped out from the sky and snapped around Grounds' wrists and ankles. The Sensei was suspended a good twenty feet in the air by Ebony. The otter floated in the air on a shimmering nimbus of golden light.

"No!" Howl cried.

"It's over..." sighed Weed, lowering his head. "Grounds lost."

******

"Fuck! Rookie mistakes!" bellowed one of the Trainers. "We shouldn't have used the same techniques against them as we did before!"

Grounds sighed and gave the bear an exhausted grin. Needless to say, the members of Nightshade had been rather thorough in depriving him of all his points. They must've known that since his powers were focused on the Element of Earth, being suspended in mid-air severely reduced his capabilities. It became especially hard to focus when he had four guys stimulating him all at once. That otter, Ebony, gave good head.

"It was still a good fight," he said. "They put up a good fight and used their skills really well. They deserved this win."

"Fuck!" the Trainer growled, kicking one of the large, metal lockers and leaving a rather sizeable dent.

"Take a shower, Mattie," Grounds said. "We've got to officially congratulate them in a few minutes."

The Trainer, Mattie, look to Grounds with a grimace. "Still can't believe you'll have to give your power to that showboating jackass..."

Onyx did embody everything that was wrong with the competition. Teams and their members were elevated to the status of celebrities for each win. Nightshade in particular had a lot of funding and had gone to great lengths to promote themselves and gain fans. Part of their strategy, of course, given that Onyx's ability relied heavily on his popularity and support. He had to wonder if the panther's attitude was merely a façade he put on to become stronger or if it was simply how he really was.

"Everyone has their way of winning," he said sagely. "We've been defeated before and it is our obligation to honour the winning team."

"Doesn't mean I have to like them."

Mattie and the rest of his Trainers went to the showers to cool off, leaving Grounds to his thoughts. He had to admit to having underestimated Nightshade. That they began with the same tactic as the previous year had him wondering if they were indeed using the same techniques as before hoping that this time it would work. Lesser teams had come to believe the same thinking that luck would somehow change the outcome of the battle. He hadn't been so foolish and had opted to use his Stone Remnant technique but even that was not enough.

Still, it was rather thrilling to have faced off against a team that was quite skilled in not only teamwork but also their own abilities.

"You misjudged them."

He straightened and turned to find a golden wolf looking back at him, leaning against one of the lockers. The blue eyes told him Hiro was in control.

"Hiro. Howl. How'd you get in here?"

Hiro shrugged. "My ability let me identify the patterns of your security. It was easy to slip past them." He nodded towards Grounds. "You're taking this defeat rather well."

The bear shrugged and stood up from the benches of the locker room. "Defeat comes with the territory. We can't be sore about it. I'm a Sensei. I can't win _all_the time, you know."

Hiro's eyes narrowed and Grounds got that terrible, crawling sensation beneath his skin whenever those laser-like, sky-blue eyes pierced into him. It was like they were looking into his very soul. "No. It's more than that. You could've given up, surrendered, while they started molesting you in mid-air. But you didn't. You held on until every point was drained from you and they absorbed the rest of the EXP generated from the battle. And it definitely wasn't something to do with 'being a good sport' or 'helping develop the next generation'. You honestly didn't want them to win."

Grounds gave him a smile and a shrug. "Well, of course. I can't make it easy for -"

The wolf growled at him. "No use hiding this from us, Grounds. Remember, I can see a lot when I focus and I'm focusing on you right now. Why didn't you use your other forms if you really wanted to win?"

He sighed softly and glanced over his shoulder. It looked like his boys were blowing off some steam in the showers by fucking one another. That meant he had a good fifteen or so minutes of private conversation with the lupine duo.

"No one escaped politics. Even us here in the Gym." He sighed and crossed his arms. "There are those in the world that think that Gym system is archaic and even barbaric. We're essentially drawing entertainment from watching guys beat up one another and fuck each other. I know for one that Nightshade is one of those who would wish reform."

Hiro's ears perked up. "What? You mean like the Wolf Uprising? They want us to attack the humans?"

Grounds shook his head. "No. Nothing like that. At least not that I'm aware of. There are those people who want to depose the Sensei system. Onyx, for one, comes from a very influential family but the Sensei put restrictions on his family's trading efforts. I know his father wants to rule the Gyms so that he can turn the restrictions in his favour."

"Seems kind of selfish to me but if he earns that right through power and trial by combat, then aren't you meant to honour it?"

"That's exactly it. We are bound by our laws and traditions to follow through with his rule if he were ever to make it to the Battle Circle. People like him and Nightshade think that we Sensei are like kings. He'd prefer the Gyms become more corporate­-run thank through experience and cooperation. But that'll just lead to a whole new level of Clan Wars except instead of being between species, it'll be between corporations. It won't be won based on power but based on how much money one side can throw at the other."

Hiro frowned. "Don't you think you're exaggerating?"

Grounds closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "I don't know. We had a meeting with the Battle Circle and other Sensei previously and they expressed their concerns about these 'Free Marketers' who want things to be based on profit instead of personal growth. The Battle Circle doesn't want to do anything as it's within the rules for them to believe what they want but we were told that if they destabilise the Gyms, we would have to act."

Grounds ran a paw down his face. "I didn't use my alternate forms because I was alone out there. There would be no use unleashing them. My own emotions and opinion on the topic would also ensure that I'd be generating more EXP. I was going to lose since I hadn't managed to isolate Obsidian like I had hoped to. I didn't want to feed them and make them stronger."

A soft laugh came from Hiro. "Howl says you better not pull any punches against us then."

That brought a smile to the bear's muzzle. "You bet I won't, pup."

Hiro's smile faded. "So... Who or what is Apocalypse?"

Grounds was about to ask where he heard that name when he realised that Hiro was still in control and likely remembering one recent conversation he had with some of his fellow Sensei. "Right..." He leaned against the nearby locker. "Apocalypse was said to be the first Psyche. He's a legendary figure because of the rumour that he and his Manifesto, Armageddon, managed to physically split themselves apart."

Hiro went rigid. "That's possible?"

He shook his head. "It's a legend. We've got our own creation myths after all. Apocalypse and Armageddon represented the endless battle between Manifesto and Psyche, the spirit of conflict that empowers us. Opposite to them is Genesis and Grace who is all about self-control and harmony. Where Apocalypse and Armageddon split from one another, Genesis and Grace merged into one 'perfect being', becoming 'Gaia'. In a way, we try to follow the same path as Genesis and Grace but we are ultimately children of Apocalypse and Armageddon and are driven to fight. Get one of your friends to tell you the full story."

"Okay. But why were you thinking of them just then?"

Grounds sighed softly and shook his head. "Something the Battle Circle warned us about these Free Marketers. Told us that this schism between we traditionalists and them is a little like Apocalypse and Armageddon. If we fight them outright, we risk permanently splitting ourselves and we can't afford another war between Clans. We have to both embrace them and keep them at arm's length at the same time. We don't want the Gyms to split down the middle like those two did."

Hiro let out a thoughtful noise just as the sounds of the shower stopped.

"I better get going," rumbled the wolf. "Take care of yourself, Grounds."

"You too Hiro. I'll see you Friday."

The wolf smiled at him. "Yeah. Looking forward to it."

******

"Armageddon and Apocalypse?" Brodie asked, sipping a cup of very strong coffee. "Yeah, I've heard of them. It's the creation myth of the Manifestos and Psyches."

Hiro sat in the lounge room of Weed's homestead. Night had fallen. After watching Nightshade defeat Grounds and his team, Weed told them to take the rest of the day off and digest what they had just seen. Taser was out in the backyard wildly throwing punches at a punching bag and occasionally roaring. Galahad had been cooking endlessly while Weed had disappeared into his room upstairs. That left Hiro with Brodie in the lounge room watching the news of the battle over and over again.

"What's the myth?" he asked.

Brodie scratched the side of his face. "Well... according to what some people believe, the universe revolves around a 'rule of twos'. In most religions there is God and Devil. Isaac Newton mentions that for every reaction there is an opposite and equal reaction. Everything had a counterpart. Everything comes in pairs. The fundamental forces of the universe is the same. First there was Genesis and Armageddon. Beginning and the end. They constantly fought against one another but because there is a rule of twos, even internally both of these entities began to conflict within themselves. Self-doubt, I guess you could call it. So Genesis split into Grace while Armageddon split himself to have his own counterpart, Apocalypse.

"Genesis would fight for creation while Grace, while still loving creation, would be more passive towards it. Armageddon wanted to destroy all that Genesis created but Apocalypse reasoned that if everything was destroyed, they would be without a purpose and wanted to prolong existence if only so that they could continue to destroy."

Brodie waved a hand to one side and then lifted his other. "Genesis and Grace celebrated their similarities and came to an accord with one another." He brought his hands together. "In their peace, they found unity with one another and became Gaia, a being who could create all and loved all creation unconditionally but would defend it if the need arose. But Apocalypse and Armageddon were not the same."

He split his hand again. "They hated one another and continued to fight against one another. Their fighting grew so intense that they severed the bonds between one another effectively becoming truly unique creatures. But just as what happened with Genesis and Armageddon initially, when that bond was separated, they began to split themselves again."

"The rule of twos," Hiro supplied.

"Right. Armageddon split again into two different entities and so did Apocalypse. But by their very nature, they could not get accustomed to their counterparts and would fight their partners until again, they split." Brodie waved his hand in a circular motion. "This would keep going on and on and on in perpetuity. While Gaia created mankind, Armageddon and Apocalypse created we Manifestos and Psyches. We are the children of the two destroyers. We continue to fight within ourselves, fill ourselves with self-doubt and eventually cause a split between our personalities and make two entities, a Manifesto and a Psyche."

"But we don't split up into two different entities."

Brodie shook his head. "Gaia is loving and caring and welcomed us amongst mankind even though we are spawn of her enemies. Over time, humans and Manifestos intermingled and our abilities and powers melded with one another until we were no longer distinguishable from one another. In each human rests the ability for us to split just like Armageddon and Apocalypse did but it is the unifying power of Gaia that keeps us whole."

Hiro mulled over this myth.

The Battle Circle used the myth of Armageddon and Apocalypse as a warning to the Sensei.

"Don't encourage the split or we might go down the darker path. Keep fighting but welcome them."

Yeah...

"Every creation myth has an opposite end of world myth, right?" he said. "I mean, rule of twos, right?"

Brodie chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He shrugged. "Honestly, seems kind of vague to me but apparently the original Armageddon and Apocalypse are still out there. Still splitting. Still growing in strength. Legend has it that were the two ever to somehow meet and learn how to unify themselves like Genesis and Grace did, then the world would end as we'd suddenly have Gaia against this equal force of destruction. Until then, we Manifestos and Psyches are encouraged to fight to make ourselves stronger but also celebrate our similarities so we can be closer to Gaia."

"Seems kind of hypocritical to me," Hiro murmured. "Fight with each other but also give each other hugs. Be at war with yourself but keep yourself together."

"That's the duality of being a Manifesto and a Psyche." Brodie sighed softly and regarded his own hands. "Buck keeps telling me to come out to my family. Tell them at least I'm gay. I don't want to. But we both enjoy sleeping around because... well." He offered Hiro a sheepish grin. "I'm a small, spindly, Asian geek. The best orgasm I ever had before meeting Buck was when I edge myself a few times before cumming. Now, with Buck, I get to have some fun with some other Psyches at school. You know the Psi Upsilon Kappa fraternity is made entirely of our kind?"

"I would never have guessed." Hiro shook his head and leaned back against the sofa. "I guess I see the Battle Circle's point in warning about Nightshade and the ideals their kind follow. The conflict helps us evolve, grow stronger. It is through conflict that we grow. But we can't let the divide be so strong that we split off from one another."

Brodie smiled at him and reached across the sofa to pat his leg. "Don't let it get to you. We're just here to fight Grounds and his team. We don't need to worry about the politics of Gyms."

Wish it were that easy, Broderick.

Though he still vehemently insisted he was not gay, he could not help but feel some affection towards Cornelius Grounds and Clay. The Sensei had saved them from that grouchy, racist lion and taken them in. Plus the sex was pretty overwhelming to the point that even though Howl was in control, Hiro had felt the passion from the session seep into him through the dark ocean. Seeing the Sensei defeated like that left a pit in his stomach that gnawed at him.

"I feel it too, Hiro," Howl growled. "Grounds is a Sensei and he has to accept every fight with the possibility of losing but still... Doesn't make it easier when you see your favourite team losing a title match."

I don't follow sports but I see your point.

Hiro turned back to Buck. "Anyway, back to our lessons. You were teaching me some spells?"

Brodie nodded and went over the fundamentals of magic saying it really was as simple as invoking the right words and runes. The only problem was remembering everything while in the heat of battle. That was why most Psyches only really memorised a couple of spells in battle. Of course, Brodie had the advantage of having an eidetic memory so he could cast any spell that he had ever seen.

"So there's no such thing as an 'elemental affinity' or something?" Howl asked, watching Brodie juggle a few fireballs into the air. "Like we're better off using one kind of element over the other?"

"Of course not. Otherwise we would never be able to go from Gym to Gym and obtain a bit of their elemental powers."

Hiro cocked his head to the side. "That reminds me. Exactly _what are_the Gyms. Obviously there's the Earth Gym and if I had to guess there'd be Wind, Fire and Water as well. What are the other nine?"

Brodie listed them off. After the obvious four, there was Mind, Body, Soul, Metal, Ice, Lightning, Plant, Light and then Darkness. The first four Gyms were called the 'Foundation Elementals' while the three presiding over the Mind, Body and Soul were known as the 'Spirit Three'. The following four were the 'Variant Elements' as many considered them to be variations of the Foundation Elements. The Gyms of Light and Darkness were considered the 'Guardians' because they were said to be the 'last challenge' before the Battle Circle. However, since anyone could join the Season any time of the year it was kind of moot.

Galahad interrupted their session by poking his head into the lounge room.

"Hey boys. Time fer lunch. Bring yer appetites!"

Just with a simple glance, he could tell that Galahad cooked to relieve stress. That Buck wasn't in control spoke volumes of how the stag was dealing with the defeat of Grounds. There was a lot of pressure on Baramon now simply because their 'rivals' had defeated this Gym and were now one step ahead of them. Should they lose to Grounds in a few days, they would be perceived as being much lower than Nightshade. No doubt that would bring more taunts from their rivals.

We've got to beat Grounds on Friday.

"Pity we're not fighting Nightshade. I'd love to fuck them over."

Hiro looked towards the news where Onyx was boasting about his victory and pumping his biceps in front of the interviewer who was clearly swooning.

Who knows, Howl? You may yet get your chance.

******

Night had fallen but even though it was dark, the skyline of the Gym was still afire with the city's lights. Gossip around town focused entirely on Nightshade's surprise victory especially given they had lost the previous year and hadn't won any Gyms since then. Onyx's boasting only continued to fire up his supporters and gather more, making him stronger. The rest of Nightshade had given brief interviews but otherwise said nothing else.

Weed stood on the balcony of his homestead, a cigarette in his mouth. The rest of the team had fallen asleep. Though none of them were willing to admit it, Nightshade's victory had put a heavy burden on them and they were all feeling its weight. Taser hadn't brought anyone to his bed and Buck hadn't surfaced after the fight, leaving Brodie in control. Galahad had been cooking all day and when he passed out from exhaustion, Gabriel took over and started concocting plans before falling asleep at his desk as well. Howl and Hiro were similarly as quiet.

The professor could not sleep either.

He straightened from his leaning position and plucked the cigarette from his mouth, letting out a stream of smoke. Then, he reached for the carton in the breast pocket of his ever-present lab-coat before offering it to his visitor.

"Want one?"

"No thanks," Raleigh Pot said. "Those things will kill you, Weed."

Weed let out a soft snort. "With a Psyche constantly healing me? Doubtful. Then again, death might just be a mercy all things considered."

Pot's reptilian gaze narrowed. "I won't pretend to know what's going on in that head of yours, Weed, but you know our mission."

He sighed heavily. "Yes. I know. Beat the Gyms. Get to the Battle Circle." He lifted his gaze with a sigh. "Find out what they know."

Pot leaned against the same railings. "Before the Circle, we were all fighting against one another. The Clan Wars... effectively a Race War."

"You don't need to remind me, Pot."

"Yes I do," sneered the serpent. "I've seen that look in your eye. The way you look at that gold wolf of yours. I'm not going to lose another friend like I... _we_lost Roach. You remember what happened to him, don't you?"

Weed squeezed his eyes shut and kept a tear from running down his face. "Yeah... I remember."

"Good," growled Pot. "So tell me again why we're doing this."

He sighed softly and regarded the fading embers of his cigarette. "We were all in a massive war. Divided by barriers across race. Only the thirteen most powerful Clans with powers over the elements themselves could survive. Other Manifestos and Psyches from other races and Clans who were caught in between were being killed or enslaved. But then the Battle Circle just came in. Somehow, they had powers of all the elements. The first four of them just ended the wars. Just like that."

He snapped his fingers.

"And we want to know how and why," answered Pot. "They have absolute power over the Gyms. They hide themselves in the shadows and the present Sensei and populace don't even know why they did all this. One could easily claim unity and peace but there's something more. Something... sinister."

Weed nodded. He had heard the mantra before and it was the reason he had formed Baramon in the first place. The Circle ruled over all Psyches and Manifestos but seemingly asked for nothing in return. No one knew _anything_about them except that they had somehow managed subjugate all the Clans. Since then, only two individuals had ever managed to defeat all the Gyms and rise up to challenge and defeat the Battle Circle, eventually joining their ranks.

Something was just wrong about it all.

And Weed and his colleagues wanted to know the truth.

"Push your team to win, Weed," said Pot gravely. "I don't want to be facing the Circle alone. They scare the shit out of me."

Weed instinctively wrapped his arm around Pot's waist comfortingly. "I know. They scare me too. They're never seen. Just heard. Sometimes I even wonder if they're even alive. The Sensei claim to have met them but I wonder if they really have."

Pot did the same and wrapped his arm around Weed's shoulders to protect him from the cold night. "It's still a long road. Tell me that even if you lose on Friday, you'll stay and keep fighting until the end of the four weeks."

He snorted softly. "I dunno. I've got a lot of classes to attend and my guys _are_students, you know..."

"Weed..."

He nodded. "Yeah. I know. I promise. I'll do what I can."

"Good." Pot unwound his arm from Weed and leapt up onto the railings. "See you next time."

Before the serpent could leap off from one building to another, Weed said, "Raleigh. Wait."

"What?"

"Congratulations."

The snake gave him a bright, genuine smile. "And good luck to you."

Then the Sponsor of Nightshade was gone.

Weed sighed softly and took out another cigarette.

Unbeknownst to him, a tall but sturdy equine stood quietly just outside his room door, listening in on the entire conversation.

******

Friday came faster than expected.

Over the course of the previous days, no other team had managed to beat Grounds or his team. That gave Howl some confidence that at least the loss against Nightshade hadn't impacted the Sensei's ability to fight. When the Big Bear had stepped out onto the battlefield, he seemed as warm and welcoming as ever.

But today... Today was their turn.

They stood in the tunnel leading to the battlefield. The commentator, seemingly the same guy as before, was just starting to welcome the audience to another fight. Last Howl checked, the stands were not as full as they were when Nightshade had taken the field. Thousands of eyes still watched and cheered but at least none of them were flying black banners.

Likely die-hard Gym Season fans or fans of Grounds.

Howl smirked inwardly. "What? You don't think we've got fans?"

Considering how your fur is gold and the history of the Wolf Clan? No. I don't think we've got fans.

"Aww, come on. You don't think all those internet posts about the upstart gold wolf that convinced Cornelius Grounds to help his team in the Challenge generated any support?

What...? Hiro trailed off for a moment. That was you, wasn't it?

Howl snickered.

Jesus, Howl! Did you go posing as some anonymous guy on the internet and stir up controversy about yourself!?

"Us. Hiro. I stirred up controversy about us."

What. Did. You. DO!?

"Oh. You know. Things people already know."

WHAT!?

The commentator announced Grounds' team and the bears were met with a thunderous cheer.

"We're almost up," rumbled Taser. He shot Howl a foul stare. "If we get hit by some rotten tomatoes, I'm blaming you and that neo-Nazi Manifesto of yours."

Howl just puffed out his chest.

HOWL!

"Oh don't be just a cry baby. The comment I made about you being a white supremacist was met with universal criticism. It generated more support for you."

Then their names were shouted over the speakers.

"And squaring off against our beloved Sensei," boomed the commentator, "the upstart team from New York, Baramon!"

Howl took a step forward but a hand suddenly seized his shoulder. He turned and found Weed standing there, holding back the rest of the team.

"Good luck," said the professor. "All of you. Give it your all."

Howl smiled. "Thanks Weed." He turned to head out into the arena but Weed held him back.

"Just remember," said the psychologist gravely. "It isn't whether you win or lose. It's how you play the game."

It's not your ability, Hiro reiterated. It's how you use it.

He gave one last nod towards the professor before turning out into the arena.

"Up first, the master tactician of the group, give it up for Gabriel and Galahad!"

The cheer was significantly more muted than when Nightshade had stepped out onto the field but as Baramon stepped emerged from beneath the arena, Howl was still overwhelmed at the large number of people that were in the stands, up on their feet and cheering. There was a stab of fear in his chest when he noted that some of those voices had turned to booing. Banners were lifted with the word 'Cheaters' drawn upon it.

They probably feel that Grounds will go easy on us given that we asked for his help.

The commentator introduced Buck and Taser but seemed to hesitate before mentioning him. Howl noticed that a few of the banner in the stands related to Wolf Clan. 'No Gold for Wolves' or even 'No Howlers' were plastered across the screens as they panned across the audience.

"Would be hard to convince people we fought fair and square."

In their defence, your ability does play on their emotions. Grounds and the others are more likely to give up if you get close to them."

A valid reason and also the reason why their team was spreading out more compared to Grounds' team. They made a vague V formation with Galahad and Taser taking the outer wings while Buck and Howl took point behind them.

"Okay Hiro, you're up. What's their plan?"

They swapped places while the commentator was still talking about the rules. Hiro focused solely on Grounds, trying to discern what he could of their plan. However, all he could garner was that Cornelius and Clay had purposefully busied themselves throughout the rest of the day. It was all just busy work. The more they did, the more 'trash' was in Hiro's way as he tried to sift through all the events and memories. It was fairly clever. The same was for the other Trainers. All he could really get was that Grounds, just before the battle, had told his team to 'stick to the plan' before they emerged into the battlefield.

Crap... He's already found a way to counter us.

"Shit. Keep working. We've still got a few seconds before..."

The commentator began the countdown.

Not going to let myself get stressed out about this. I'll figure something out from what I've got.

Hiro retreated and let Howl take over.

"Anything?" Buck asked.

"Nothing," Howl answered with a shake of his head. "Grounds purposefully filled the past few days with bullshit so that there'd be too much for Hiro to sort through. Can't figure out anything. We'll have to play it by ear."

"FIGHT!" the crowd roared.

Blocks of earth suddenly erupted from the ground in front of Grounds and his team, forming little walls akin to riot shields directly in front of them.

Howl! Duck!

Howl immediately hit the ground and Buck followed suit. Taser and Galahad were a second too slow however. Bullets of earth came shooting out from the walls, springing from their very surfaces and shooting across the entire battlefield straight at them. Galahad took a few shots to the chest before he ducked behind a statue. Taser crossed his arms in front of his face and took the shots.

"Fuuuuuuuck!" growled the tiger.

Howl saw their points rapidly depleting.

Thirty seconds in and they were already fifteen points down!

He's keeping us at a range! Hiro shouted. He's afraid of you getting close. Be a distraction! Move forward and get Taser out of there!

"Buck!" Howl shouted. "Support Taser. I'll run interference!"

He bolted to his feet and shot forward. As Hiro expected, all fire immediately turned to him and he ducked and weaved from the hail of bullets. Hiro pressed himself as far as he could against Howl without fully taking over. His keen eyes and senses kept them from being hit but as they drew closer, that became more difficult. Howl ducked behind the large bear statues just as Buck pulled Taser behind another monument.

There was suddenly movement right next to Howl and he jumped when Galahad appeared beside him, panting and already sweating. A bullet of stone slammed into the statue sending gravel raining down upon them.

A quick glance at the scoreboards and it already didn't look good. 130 - 70 in Grounds' favour.

"Tell me you've got a plan!" Howl shouted.

"I got one, mate," Galahad grumbled. He ducked his head once more as a piece of rock flicked above him. "But they've got us pinned n' I need Buck ta follow it through."

Howl bared his fangs. "Then I'll run a distraction. I'm like their priority target or something."

Galahad seized his arm. "Don't let 'em get you, mate."

He nodded firmly and he shook the Clydesdale's hand. Bracing himself, Howl leapt upwards towards the bear statue. He dug his claws into the rock, using them to pull his enormous weight up the sides of the statue until he was at about the massive construct's shoulders. There, he moved around the ursine's thick neck. None of the Trainers or Grounds seemed to have noticed him but from where he stood, he could see that it was only the Trainers that were keeping up the barrage. Grounds was preparing something.

"Hiro...?"

Shit... Those bullets. He's going to use Magnetise on them. They'll trap us from behind and pin us down!

"Fuck. We can't warn the others right now. But we can disrupt their plans."

He put two fingers into his muzzle and let out a shrill whistle.

The Trainers and even his own team mates turned to him.

How'd you do that?

"What? Whistle? You can whistle too. I've seen you."

Yeah with a human mouth. How are you doing with a lupine muzzle?

"Uh..."

They didn't get time to ponder it as the Trainers suddenly began peppering him with bullets. One of the stone shards slammed into his shoulder. The force of it flipped him around, pushing his back against the statue's cheek and sending blinding pain from his shoulder. Hiro immediately went to work healing the wound while Galahad scampered across the arena to where Taser and Buck were housed.

They were rapidly conversing. Buck gave a firm nod... then he stomped hard on Taser's foot, causing the tiger to yowl in pain. Galahad then drove his fist into the tiger's hard abdominals.

"Oh hell! What the fuck did Taser do to piss them off!?"

He glanced up at the scores.

It was still at 130 - 70 despite Taser taking a hit.

No wait... Switch with me!

He did and Hiro immediately saw what they were doing.

There's no friendly fire! Taser gets stronger the more damage he takes! That's brilliant!

"What? What's going on?"

Hiro quickly explained that the teams would lose points _per hit_regardless of the damage done. That meant that because the bullets would only do light damage and could be shot in rapid succession, it would only take a meagre twenty-five hits before one of them were considered 'out'. For Taser, who grew more and more powerful the more damage he took was at a disadvantage.

So they're purposefully injuring him!

"Fuck... He's going to be hell to deal with when this is over."

Taser's face was turning red and the black stripes across his body burned with a fierce, fiery crimson. An aura of seething, red flames lashed out around him like he was encased in fire. He suddenly let out a bellowing roar that could be heard across the entire arena. Taser slammed a fist into the statue that they were hiding behind with enough force to completely shatter it and send the shards shooting towards Grounds and his team. The Trainers, stunned at the sudden tactic, scrambled away before they were crushed behind several boulders.

Suddenly, points were being switched back.

125 - 75.

None of them noticed when Buck crouched and suddenly launched into the air, shooting high above the arena and disappearing into the clouds.

"Ha! That'll be a surprise for them!"

Later, yeah. But let's focus on the now. Taser and Galahad are exposed! Move!

While the Trainers were distracted, Howl scrambled around the shoulders of the giant, stone bear and vaulted back down to the ground. Though his shoulder still ached, he rushed forward and got within about twenty yards of the Trainers before they noticed him.

"Shit! The wolf is here!" cried one of the Trainers. In his panic, the Trainer flung his paws upwards and sent a lance of stone flying straight towards Howl.

Howl!

He and Hiro immediately switched. With his keen sense of focus, Hiro sidestepped the flying projectile and lashed out in time to seize it from the air. Using the momentum from the spear, he flung around and sent it flying back towards its sender. The stunned bear crossed his arms in front of him and was knocked back as the lance shattered against his forearms.

One point deducted.

124 - 76.

The remaining Trainers quickly gathered in front of their fallen comrade to defend him, stone particles rising from the ground ominously around them.

"Boooooooooooo..."

The strange cry was getting louder and louder. The Trainers looked up.

WHAM!

And Buck came down.

"YA!"

The stag crashed into the earth right in the middle of the group with enough force to upheave the ground around them in large, stone blocks. The stunned Trainers were hurled aside, their formation broken. Buck immediately flung balls of flame straight at the Trainer that Hiro had felled before. He got a few shots in before the Trainer surrounded himself in a dome of rock. A second later, the bear burst from the protective field, ready to face off against Buck.

Not too far away, one of the Trainers that were sent hurtling through the air swung his paws around was caught by a large, cushiony stone hand that burst from the ground. His moment of respite was short lived as a brown and blonde streak sped past him, making a beeline for Grounds. The bear began to rise when a loud smashing noise met his ears and his sofa of earth shattered beneath him. The Trainer rolled onto his feet and lifted his gaze. Taser, surrounded by his fiery aura, stood in front of him.

"You ass is mine, fucker," growled the feline.

On the other side of the arena, the last Trainer landed deftly on his feet. He saw Galahad streaking towards Grounds who was recovering from Buck's surprise attack. He took one step forward before someone tapped his shoulder. The bear turned and suddenly ate his own muzzle as Howl's fist slammed into his face.

"Your beef is with me," Howl growled, adopting a boxer's stance and keeping light on his feet.

The points were switching to their favour again.

103 - 97.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats.

"Hiro, what's this guy's weakness?"

Give me a second. Got to sort out all through his past.

The Trainer lashed out with a cry. The earth beneath his feet launched upwards and curled around his wrist to form a long, seemingly organic whip. It snapped and twirled like a live serpent and he flung it around from side to side with great expertise.

"Matthew Polanzi!" Hiro cried, staggering back away from the snapping whip. The bear's eyes widened for a second, more surprised at the use of his name than anything else. "You're thirty-seven years old! Only inducted into being a Trainer three years ago when you were thirty-four. More than a decade after everyone else."

Polanzi growled at him. "I see what you're doing. Trying to butter me up, huh? Not going to work!" He cried and cracked the whip. Hiro barely managed to leapt to the side in time to avoid having his arm cleaved right off by the rocky length. The whip bit into the ground, leaving an indentation about six inches deep.

"Keep going, Hiro! You've got him on edge!"

Would be easier if I could focus on him without being attacked!

"Don't focus on his attack. Focus just on him. Look past the present. Look into him_._

I know how to use my own ability, Howl!

"Then stop bitching about it and do it!"

Hiro narrowed his gaze. Time slowed. Polanzi's whip swung through the air, rearing back over his shoulder like a cobra ready to strike. The arena, the roar of the crowd and the sounds of battle faded back into silence. His eyes focused directly on Polanzi's left paw. The bear was right handed and there was a little scar just above his right index finger that hadn't healed all the way. Flecks of bright red hair stood up in the thick mop of brown that sat atop his head and similarly long strands covered his forearms and legs. One tooth was chipped. Bright blue eyes burned with determination. His earthen whip, a favoured form that he manifested his power through though countless other forms were available to him.

Howl suddenly wrenched control back and Hiro was plunged back into the dark ocean. His Psyche pulled them to the side just as the whip crashed down a few inches from their ankle. Polanzi mercilessly snapped the whip towards them and its stone length wrapped around their calf. With a powerful yank, he pulled their leg out from underneath them and sent them crashing.

That was a point in favour of the Trainer.

"Tell me you have something!" Howl cried.

I think... I think I do! Let me have control again.

Hiro surged out of the ocean's surface and was once again in control of their body. Polanzi loomed over them, fangs bared and eyes filled with a sense of accomplishment, confident of his victory. That was exactly what Hiro was looking for.

"You were way older than anyone else that would've become a Trainer," he breathed, heart racing in his chest. "But that wasn't your fault. You came from outside the Gyms. You emerged just when you were eighteen and your uncle, a Manifesto, took you in. Your parents still loved you but you needed to protect them while you got stronger and your Psyche, Magnum, got more comfortable with you."

Polanzi's eyes shifted from blue to a yellowish-brown. "Don't listen to him, Mattie. He's just trying to get under your skin!"

They shifted back and the bear shook his head. "I know. I'm gonna shut him up once and for all." He reached for his tight shorts and tore them clean off.

"Hiro..."

I know what I'm doing, trust me.

Polanzi began massaging his own sheath, a bright red point starting to emerge from the big, furry, red bush there.

Hiro swallowed loudly and continued. "Then you came to your first Gym Season. You saw Grounds in action and you were inspired. You wanted to be just like him. You and Magnum were bears. You knew where you belonged. But you found it hard. You were way older than the other Trainers and you had a lot to catch up on. Not only in being a Trainer but being a Manifesto. Same with you Magnum. Your uncle was one of those that didn't want to participate in the battles and wanted to just live a quiet life. But he still felt it was his duty to introduce you to it just so you could make your choice."

The bear growled and yanked at the whip, dragging Hiro across the ground towards him. His cock was still emerging but he was silent.

"You had to prove yourself!" Hiro bellowed. "You had to make sure no one ever thought that your age was a handicap! So you buckled down. You pushed yourself like crazy! You became bigger, stronger. Any who teased you for your age, called you 'Gramps', got their ass handed to them and their balls squeezed of all the cum they could have. That's what got Grounds' attention. You were a thug."

"Shut up!" bellowed Polanzi. He yanked at the whip again. Hiro's clawed feet scraped across the ground and were just inches from the Trainer's own.

"Hiro, what are you doing!?"

Just trust me, Howl, I know what I'm doing. You'll get to swap out in just a second. I'm priming him for you.

"Grounds took you in and trained your personally. You were so amazed that he took a personal interest in you." Then Hiro's gaze narrowed. "But then you realised that you had just passed some sort of test for him. You had proved yourself. He did this with everyone. He's just that kind of guy. He's your papa bear. He treats you like one of his own kids and you were hurting so he focused all his attention on you."

Polanzi's lips curled up in a snarl.

"Then he moved on. Found someone else hurting after you were okay to stand on your own two feet. You love him just like your own father but you still crave his attention. You want him to put all his attention on you again." Hiro folded his ears back. "So here's your chance, Polanzi. Fuck me. You know I spent a night with him. I was his most recent favourite. You fuck me, you get his attention."

"Hiro!"

All yours, Howl.

Hiro dove back into the dark ocean. Halfway through and with Howl partially emerging, he could already feel Howl's Hysteria taking effect root in the Trainer. With their feet touching, the physical contact triggered the ability. Polanzi's mind was racing with thoughts of desire, envy and a bit of greed. Hiro's words had planted the seeds and Howl's ability was pumping it full of steroids and urging it to grow faster and faster.

Polanzi grinned viciously as his cock rose up to half-mast, already a foot long and as thick as a beer can. "Yeah. I'm gonna fuck your muzzle. You're gonna drink every drop of cum I have to give you and then Con's going to shower me with glory! I'm gonna be the guy that fucked his golden child!"

"Is this your idea!?"

Just give him the best head you've ever given.

"What!? We'll lose."

No. Just give him head... just like you gave Buster and Butch.

A lightbulb sprang up in Howl's mind.

"Ooooh..."

Yeah. And be sure to sell it, okay? He has to think he's winning.

Howl whimpered, ears folded back and bringing his eyes upwards towards Polanzi as if he were pleading for mercy. The Trainer snarled at him and seized the back of his head, roughly shoving his muzzle against his crotch.

"Don't fight me, kid," growled the bear. "Just take it like a man and give up! Go down with dignity!"

"Funny," Howl thought as he opened his muzzle and took the ever-growing bear meat into his muzzle. "Any other day and this would be the most undignified way to 'go down'."

Stop thinking and suck him off!

"Why don't you do it then!?'

Because I can't overstimulate his emotions, turning him into an overzealous man-child begging for his daddy's approval to the point where he loses all control and cums like crazy.

Hiro had a point there and dragged his tongue along the underside of Polanzi's cock. The bear grunted loudly and thrust his hips into his muzzle. That sizeable meat in his muzzle grew bigger still. The outpour of precum was like a waterfall and it was blowing out his cheeks. It took all his effort to keep breathing through his nostrils while trying not to drown on the sticky, slimy fluid.

The bear's musk grew stronger and stronger and Howl had to admit that he was growing aroused himself. The scent in his nostrils was rather alluring but as the Trainer's dick grew, he was pushed away from the source; that thick bush of red crotch fur that was like a bright red beacon in a sea of brown.

"Urf..." grunted Polanzi. "That's it. Take my dick. Take it all."

Quick! Pull away and try to fight!

"What? Why? I thought we wanted to make him cum."

Right but we're preying on his desire for approval from Grounds. If we make this about sex, he's not going to blow his load and go back to being human.

Another good point.

Howl let out a loud gag and pulled his muzzle away, spluttering as hot precum came pouring out of his muzzle. "Damnit..." he cursed aloud. "Fuck you, Polanzi! I'm not going down like this!"

He made a weak swing at the bear. That stone whip came snapped around his wrist. As if taking a life of its own, it pulled his arm behind his back and wrapped around his other wrist, holding both his arms behind him.

"No funny business," sneered the Trainer.

"You think doing this will make you shine in Con's eyes?" Howl sneered, using Cornelius' pet name. "You think you're going to make daddy proud by doing this!?"

Polanzi seized the back of his head, claws digging into his scalp. He let out a yelp as his thumb dug into the inside of his large, triangular ear.

"I will make my Sensei proud!" growled the bear. "I'm going to show him that he wasted his time on you!"

With both paws, he grabbed the sides of Howl's head and shoved his dick right back into the wolf's muzzle. Molten precum came pouring down Howl's throat and he lapped it up. The twin sensations of tugging at Polanzi's heartstrings while also being face fucked doubled his arousal. There was a sense of empowerment that this red-haired bear, this Trainer, was under his power and didn't even realise it. The cock in his muzzle was a material reward, a manifestation of his ability and Hiro's manipulations.

And it tasted good.

"Yeah... That's where you belong," Polanzi grunted. "Suck my cock! Fuck yeah!"

While Polanzi was basking in the glow of immanent victory, Howl stole a glance at the scores. He was glad that being forced to give oral didn't rapidly deplete his points.

It stood at 94 - 106 in their favour.

"That's it..." Polanzi growled, his thrusts growing more and more desperate as he lost more and more control. "Fuck... Oh Papa... Look at me... Fuuuuck! I'm gonna fuck this asshole's brains out... Papa... Urf!"

The cock pumping in Howl's muzzle was twitching madly and the bear's big, furry balls were jostling madly. The claws digging into his skull were driving in deeper and deeper and Hiro diverted all his attention to healing the wounds as quickly as they were inflicted. Howl lapped at the bright red piece of meat shoved into his throat, pulling away only to have Polanzi's paws push him back down in a rapid, bizarre tug of war centred entirely around the bear's dick.

Polanzi's eyes squeezed shut and he flung his head from side to side, letting out a feral roar with strings of saliva flying everywhere. Years craving for attention, particularly the approval of his Sensei, bubbled to the surface. His entire, muscled body heaved and pulsated. Deep within him, his Psyche - Magnum - tried to free him from the overwhelming lust and desire that had taken over. But the moment Magnum tried to wrench him free, that same power pulled him closer to the surface and he became the mired in the whirlwind of emotions that Howl preyed upon.

Both threw their head back, bellowing loudly. Their legs weakened and onlooker were puzzled at the sudden show of weakness as the supposedly triumphant Trainer toppled backwards, arms flailing madly and legs twitching wildly with toes curling in ecstasy. Howl never let an inch of that ursine dick leave him and he followed Polanzi down and continued to worship that vascular, red, two-foot long pole. Even though his paws were still held back, he used his tongue to the best of his abilities. He even let Polanzi's dick brush up against the roof of his muzzle where the little ridges there send waves upon waves of stimulation down to the bear.

Wild fantasies of once again being in the arms of his Sensei invaded the bear's thoughts. Reality folded away into wild dreams and sex-fuelled illusions. Both Manifesto and Psyche were completely lost in the realm of their own desires where Grounds once again held them tenderly, kissing them affectionately while they suckled on his muscled pectorals like a weening child. They drank from their Sensei's dick, drawing in his power all over again and standing proudly beside him every day.

"You make me proud, son," Grounds rumbled in their dreams.

And Polanzi roared in ecstasy, his cock vibrating madly. is He threw his head madly from side to side as if some part of him was still desperately trying to reject the delusion but that part was rapidly fading. Howl's paws along his thighs were replaced with Grounds' own huge, experienced fingers, admiring his muscles as he flexed for him. The muzzle around his dick was not of the upstart gold wolf but that of his Sensei, his surrogate father, bent down in front of him in the ultimate sign of appreciate for how much he had grown and developed. To him, to have Grounds before him and drinking from his dick was the ultimate honour. It was like he finally had amounted to something that he could offer his Sensei some of his strength and experience in return for all the good he had done for him.

The arena around them crackled and shattered. Polanzi bit his lower lip and thrust his hips upwards, driving his cock deeper into Howl's muzzle. The moment he brought it down, the earth shuddered beneath him and a small crater appeared from the impact around them. Not a second later, he was lifting his hips again and then bringing it back down in a tremendous boom that deepened the impact site.

"Fuck, Papa! Tell me you're proud of me!" he wailed. "Fuuuuuck! Papaaaaaa!"

Every inch of the bear was afire with raw emotion. Each cell of his body craved_for the approval of Grounds and deep within him, both he and Magnum wanted exactly the same thing. Though two separate entities, united under Howl's influence, they _doubled the desire and yearning that they felt.

The pressure, the heat and the lust mounted over and over again. With every thrust and every inch that the crater grew deeper, they came closer to their breaking point.

Until all at once, all the fire within their veins began draining. Polanzi's eyes snapped open, one blue and the other an amber brown. His claws dug deep into the earth and a stunned look crossed his features like he had just come into an amazing realisation. Everything he felt suddenly came funnelled towards his crotch. The burning emotions swirling in his head drained out of his skull like it was being sucked down a whirlpool, leaving him with an eerie silence. Fiery fingertips suddenly felt cold as all that lust, that desire and the fantasies seeped up his arms, rolling over his broad shoulders and through his still chest. Only his rapidly beating heart seemed to remain alive as the raw emotions were drained from his torso. Its throbbing felt empty in the cavity of his chest. His toes relaxed, seemingly hit by a sense of bliss and serenity when the conflagration of passion left his legs and went straight to his crotch.

There, everything gathered in his balls. The fantasies, the emotions, all the physical sensations became liquid in form, pooling together and filling his sac until the stretched the very skin and pressed right up against his cock.

The moment of serenity didn't last.

Polanzi suddenly arched his back and let out a momentous cry. The earth around them cracked and shattered, huge spires of rock shooting up from the ground just as all that cum went shooting up his dick and straight into Howl's muzzle.

The golden wolf was stunned at just how powerful the first jet was. It was strong enough that it launched his muzzle clear off the throbbing dick and sprayed his face with the hot, sticky fluids. But he did manage to swallow a bit. The moment that tiny morsel sank down his throat however, a rush of power filled him.

Just like when he had drained Buster.

Realising what this was, Howl wrapped his muzzle around the wild firehose that was Polanzi's dick even as the bears bucked his hips wildly and became a twitching mess of limbs. The molten seed that flooded down his throat made his eyelids flutter. It was liquid ecstasy. The raw power flooded his veins like every drop of cum was seeping into his blood vessels directly. A loud noise like stretching leather filled his ears.

Veins bulged across his arms, crawling upwards like hungry snakes towards his throat were they eagerly absorbed every ounce of power directly. Similar veins bulged through his golden fur from his legs and his abdominals tensed into a solid block of eight as if they were protecting the contents of his stomach from outside intrusion. Thick bands of muscles pressed up against his pectorals, pushing out their size by an entire inch. Loud cracks broke through Polanzi's cries as bone snapped and grew a little longer. Howl had to unwind his legs out from underneath him to give them space to grow.

While he grew, Polanzi's form shrunk. The huge, furry bear shrink. Thick, brown fur stood on end before seeping into his body leaving the red strands that were his natural colour. The feral tones of his cries faded as his neck and muzzle shrank back down into a freckled face. Even the tower that was his dick had to fall back down into a still impressive ten inch, human member as the last ounces of his cum flew out and into Howl's muzzle.

Polanzi's eyelids flickered, going from blue to amber back and forth until they settled on his natural eye colour.

"Pa... papa..." he murmured.

Then he fell unconscious.

Howl, panting and covered in cum, glance dup at the score.

Whoever was monitoring the battle took a few seconds to realise what had just happened. Then they deducted all the points that Polanzi had earned and gave them directly to Baramon.

The score was suddenly 69 - 131.

******

Grounds was stunned. He had specifically picked Polanzi for his team against Baramon because he was one of the most disciplined of his Trainers. As he faced off against Galahad who was admittedly a very fast fighter, he caught sight of his Trainer restraining Howl and proceeding to end the battle. Or so he thought. Then the ground began to shake and all fighting stopped as Polanzi fell on his back and Howl proceeded to suck him off.

What the hell just happened!?

"I think Howl just caught your boy in his power."

Damnit! I told him to keep Howl at a distance!

He had to admit, though, there was a swell of pride in just how much Polanzi produced. No doubt the kid would be disheartened by his loss. A little 'father-son' time would definitely help ease his spirits. Of course, watching Howl put on an inch of muscle and mass was pretty damn sexy too.

Further musing had to wait because Galahad was not going to give him much of a break.

He grunted and took a step back as the equine threw a mean right hook that nearly caught his jaw.

A tremendous roar erupted from halfway down the arena and he saw the tiger, Taser, lift one of his other Trainers and boldly hurl him right through one of the massive statues and right out of the ring!

"Damn. That kitty is strong!"

He gets stronger the more damage he takes. Galahad and Buck purposefully hit him knowing that there's not penalty for friendly fire.

"Clever boys. And Con, to your right."

He didn't need further warning and leapt back. Galahad didn't pursue as a huge, black, furry form came shooting between them. The last of the Trainers tumbled just an inch away from the bounds line, bleeding and panting in exhausted. The poor guy barely managed to get up before Buck came rushing towards him, empowered by a speed spell and delivering a crippling dropkick that send the bear flying high into the air. The crowd flinched despite the barrier spells that placed around the arena. His poor Trainer froze a few metres from the stands, suspended in the air and out of the fight.

"Well shit. Looks like it's only you and me against all four of them."

The score stood at a measly 20 - 180.

Any other person would've given up there and then.

Baramon gathered in front of him, Howl covered in cum, Taser with his stripes burning red with anger, Buck a little dirtied and grinning while Galahad stood in front of him, analysing him.

Remembering that Galahad could amplify the powers of his teammates, Grounds knew he had to act fast or Howl's ability would take him too.

Well, buddy. Shall we make them fight for it?

"You bet."

Taser growled confidently and massaged his knuckles ominously, a loud crackling rising from them. "Better just give up now, old man. You're outnumbered and out gunned. The longer you stall, the weaker you get." He licked his lips and cropped his furry, white balls. "Why don't you just get down on your fucking knees where you belong?"

"Taser!" Howl snapped.

"What?" The tiger grinned viciously. "Or should we gang bang the fucker. You wanna pin him down?"

Grounds smiled and shrugged his massive shoulder. "Sorry boys but I'm not going to give up that easily." He rolled his shoulders as Clay retreated further and further into his subconscious. With his Psyche quietly fading back, he found himself more in control of his body and through that, a sort of serenity filled him. "I wouldn't be much of a Sensei if I didn't give you a fight. So I wouldn't be get overconfident."

"Good luck, Papa Bear. I'll be rooting for you."

Grounds smile softly to himself.

I'll do my best, Baby Bear.

"Oh shit..." Howl exclaimed, or was it Hiro? His eyes were blue. "He's switching to his Empathy Form! Get back!"

All the confidence that Baramon had mustered instantly dropped.

Earthen spires erupted from around the Sensei, tips curling towards one another. They sailed across the arena, quickly colliding with one another and closing off the world to Grounds and sealing him in a solid, stone cocoon. Grounds could not help the serene smile on his face. Shifting to this form was always so calming to him. Though he missed Clay's presence, he had complete control over his body and all the power he could muster.

"Urf!" he grunted.

Even for someone of his experience, all the strength was too much to contain in a single body. It was like huge pumps had been connected straight to his balls and they were funnelling a cocktail of aphrodisiacs, mood enhancers and steroids straight into him. His sack gurgled and grew, thrashing against his thick legs like there were two miniature bears wrestling inside of them in place of his testicles, each one growing bigger and bigger every time they traded blows. It was only natural that his cock start to emerge from his sheath and harden rapidly.

He didn't even try to hold back. The last time he tried, he only managed to last an extra ten second before the floodgates broke anyway. He rolled his eyes into the back of his head, tilting said head back and leaving his jaw hanging open. A low moan rose from his throat. Cum came spewing out of his dick as an incredible geyser, shooting straight upwards and hitting the ceiling of the stone dome. It rained back down upon him, wreathing his body in warmth.

The flood did not stop. There were no pauses between orgasms, there were no heaves and pulses and powerful, staggered jets. Just as the earth was a single, solid entity, the stream of seed came pouring out continuously in a steady stream. It was a single, seemingly never-ending orgasm that shook Grounds to his very core.

Within a second, an inch of the seed had gathered around his feet. He gave himself entirely to the moment, ignoring the thunderous bangs of Baramon trying to break through his cocoon. All the power shared between him and Clay was shooting through his body and coming out in liquid form. The surface of cum rose up towards his ankles. His entire body was slick with a layer of his gooey man-juices. Some of it fell into his muzzle and he lapped it up, unable to keep the content smile off his face.

The cum levels continued to rise at a steady rate. It rose up to his calves, completely submerging his feet in the viscous substance. Moments later, it had come up to his knees and was already progressing up to his thighs. Grounds couldn't help but let out a soft choking noise as the seed reached up to his thrashing balls. It was always a bizarre moment when the thick vat of cum touched the flesh that had produced them. He quivered and the bubbling cum rose above his belly button. It maintained an intense heat like he was floating in warm gelatine. The sheer amount of cum lifted him off the ground, leaving him suspended.

In the darkness, he could feel the tip of his dick vanished beneath the surface of the ocean of his juices. The geyser that splattered the ceiling came to a bubbling halt and instead, all his cum just went straight into the mass. He quivered as the layer reached his nipples, the sensitive flesh hardening like diamonds. He padded a little in the undulating, slushy mass, the scent of his own musk filled his nostrils.

Grounds closed his eyes as the cum rose towards his neck and arched his head as far back as it could to prolong the amazing experience. He knew the moment the last inch of his flesh was covered in the seed, it would all end and the serenity of the one, long orgasm would end. The cum rose to his jawline, rising over his face and dulling the constant banging and roar of the crowd beyond the cocoon's walls. He took one last breath before the seed completely submerged him.

There was one second of respite in the calming silence.

Then all that power can rushing back into him. Where once his cock was the only outlet for the incredible strength that welled within him, now his entire body was the catalyst. His heart throbbed mightily in his chest and with each beat, it pushed out every muscle, bone and organ like it was pumping pure mass outwards into his very veins. At the same time, the power he had expelled into the cum around him acted as a force of its own. The strength buried within him was attracted to the physical form of his power that he was submerged in. There were twin forces, one inside and trying to get out and the other already outside and trying to pull its brother into reality with him.

He roared, his cry muffled in the sea of cum. The noise was instead translated into an ominous shaking of the earth around him.

Immense power pushed his pectorals further and further out from his chest, two massive plateaus growing bigger and bigger and shifting like the tectonic plates of the very earth itself. His tremendous roar grew stronger with his expanding lungs and torso. Blocks of rock rose out of his flesh and fur, curling around his pectorals and perfectly aligning themselves to the hard, sinewy bands of muscle that pressed up against his skin.

He took a breath, drinking in some of his own cum, somehow avoiding drowning. His abdominal muscles heaved with the gesture and when he exhaled, the muscles there flexed. They surged, eight perfect blocks of solid meat that held up the plates that were his pectorals like a perfectly symmetrical column that squished his belly button between them. With another breath, eight, spears of rock shot out of his flesh without drawing blood. They curved elegantly around his abdominals, forming another protective layer around his precious organs.

The building flood of pressure focused entirely on his back and he doubled over, gripping the sides of his head in preparation of what was to come. The twin presences, the manifestations of his might, pulled and pushed at opposite ends of his spine. The one inside of him pushed upwards from the base of his skull, stretching his spine upwards with loud, audible cracks. The force embodied in the cum around him pushed down on the base of his spine adding a total of three massive feet to his height. They abruptly turned on one another and slammed towards each other like two magnets suddenly realising they were attracted to one another. The eruption of power was a volcanic eruption to him and he let out a roar of ecstasy.

The feeling was blindingly pleasurable. The closest he could associate it with was having an orgasm erupt from his back. Huge, rocky spikes burst from his flesh, curling outwards to the sides like a pair of craggy wings. It felt like a series of overlapping dicks were hardening from his back before letting out their load and then solidifying into the ragged plates.

Grounds threw his head back, letting out another deafening cry that actually cut through the layers of cum and the rocky cocoon to be heard by the audience around him even if it was as a dull, almost fog-horn like noise. Spears of rock burst from his temples, curling upwards to form two powerful upward-facing horns. A third one sprang up from the middle of his forehead, smaller than the other two but still prominent to form a single, stone spire that shot forward like a unicorn's horn.

Now combined into one, the powerful force that fuelled his transformation shot down his shoulder. Every muscle and bone it passed, it amplified, increasing its size and strength. It rolled down his deltoids, ballooning them to the size of his head before rushing down his left upper arm. Grounds was forced to fling his left arm to the side as the power pulled his muscles and bones outwards in all directions until his biceps were rubbing hard against his delts and could turn coal into diamonds between their folds. The mighty force rushed down his forearms, hardened veins crisscrossing along their meaty surfaces. His paws surged outwards and pressed up against the wall of his cocoon. All at once, that same power rushed in the opposite direction. He let out another thunderous cry, this one more audible than the last. His right arm was flung outwards and pushed up against the other side of his cocoon.

Now, every inch of him wanted to release that power. He growled, pushing up against the walls of his cocoon, fangs bared. As he pushed, stone spikes rose up from his forearms and elbows. A ragged set of stone 'blades' ran up against his forearms and encased his fingertips in a set of rocky 'gauntlets' harder than diamond.

The might of his transformation surged down his torso, adding a little more size and mass to each muscle there and causing his rock armour to crackle a little before it split into two. One half sped down his left leg and the other, the right. Both pushed his thighs outwards, making his toes just _barely_scrape the ground from where he was still suspended. They then sped towards his calves before slamming into his heels and forcing his feet to slam into the ground. Every muscle along the way swelled, his feet spread out to support his new weight.

He took a deep breath, sucking in the last of the comforting cum and bracing himself for the finale.

Sensing his intention, the two forces shot upwards his legs in one, blindingly pleasurable rush. As they passed his calves, stone greaves burst from his skin and wrapped protectively around his knees and shins. They left his thighs free and made a beeline straight for his cock and balls. There, they collided at his sack, causing the mass to burst outwards in a bout of explosive growth. A deep growl rose from his throat, one that the earth around him echoed as it shook violently.

Then the force of his growth came rushing upwards from his dick, pumping upwards through the already immense length and instilling greater girth and length as it passed. He didn't hold it back but the moments when it rushed up his rapidly growing three foot cock seemed to last an eternity.

It reached the tip...

... and he roared.

******

Howl's eyes widened in terror as the dome of rock suddenly _exploded_outwards. Cum went spraying off in all directions, washing over him and peppering him lightly with fragments of stone. The deafening roar that followed seemed to exert enough force to actually push him back several feet. Buck was tossed off his feet and tumbled to the ground while Galahad wisely ducked behind a statue. Taser remained standing, somehow, even though the earth shook and heaved like it was an ocean in the middle of a storm.

The roars of the crowd joined the deafening crash that came from Grounds.

"Big Bear! Big Bear! Big Bear!" they chanted.

Others cried, "Pound him! Pound him! Pound him!"

Howl wiped the cum from his face and lifted his gaze.

"Oh shit..."

Grounds had already stood at a tremendous eleven feet when in his Equilibrium Form. In his Empathy Form, he towered over them all at an incredible fourteen feet tall. Every inch of that was muscle save for the hard plats of grey rock that stuck out from his flesh like armour. Grounds looked like a stone demon come to ravage the earth.

Two rocky horns stuck out of his head that curled upwards like a traditional demon's horns and a single spire of stone shot forwards, following his gaze. A stony array of stone spikes jutted out of his back in ragged wings. Though his upper arms and shoulders were left exposed, they were still covered in dense, brown, cum-soaked fur with thick, green veins occasionally breaking the fur. His forearms and paws were covered in the same steel-coloured stone with razor-like blades sticking out from the undersides of his forearms. What appeared like a sort of granite cuirass clung to his torso, highlighting the depth and size of his pectorals and keeping his abdominals incredibly defined. His tremendous five-foot long dick throbbed before him like a sword hanging between his mighty legs. Spikey, stone greaves wrapped around his shins and feet, each spike big enough to skewer Howl with ease.

Whelp... We're screwed.

"This can't be legal..." he whimpered.

"It's within the rules," Galahad said, his ears folded back and his tail flicking back and forth. "A Sensei can only use one alternate form durin' a battle. He can't use both. But still, he's allowed ta choose Empathy o' Emergence."

Then Galahad grinned. "And I'm glad he chose Empathy."

That stunned Howl. "What? Why?"

The equine turned that grin to him. "'Cuz I got a plan."

Baramon gathered in front of the towering Sensei. Grounds seemed rather pleased that they weren't giving up straight away and smashed his two massive fists together, sending a shower of rock in all directions.

"Well, what's the plan?" Howl pleaded. "And please don't tell me we have to suck him off. I know Taser's got a big mouth but even he can't take that monstrosity."

"Fuck you, Howl," sneered the tiger.

Galahad was still grinning. "See the score?"

It was still at 20-180 in their favour.

"Yeah?" Howl responded.

"Every hit counts," was all Galahad said before suddenly rushing forward straight at Grounds.

"Wait! What!?" Howl cried.

Every hit counts, Hiro repeated. A sudden sensation of realisation shot through his Manifesto. Howl, it's not about getting him to submit. It's about wearing down his remaining points!

Buck suddenly encased both his hands in raging flames and hurled them straight at Grounds. While the titanic Sensei swiped at Galahad, the two fireballs struck the Big Bear's face, making him flinch.

18-182.

"Holy shit! He's bigger but he's slower!

Hiro urged him onwards. Go! Go! Go!

Howl scrambled forward, dipping down and seizing a cum-soaked rock the size of his fist. Grounds spun around as Galahad swept behind him, acting as the distraction for the team. Howl flung the rock and it collided with the back of Grounds' head which was mostly unprotected.

17-183

The bear spin around, growling at him.

That left an opening for Galahad and the equine closed the gap between them. He dove at the bear, feet first and smashed his hooves against the back of Grounds' knees just where his stone greaves ended. Grounds toppled forward down to his knees. Taser came flying towards him, a terrifying roar ripping from his feline muzzle. His striped knee smashed into Grounds' face, snapping the forward-facing horn in two.

15-185.

"Almost there!"

Don't underestimate him!

Buck was rushing forward grinning brightly and jumped, feet first to unleash a powerful dropkick. The earth abruptly shuddered and a huge block of earth sprang up between them. Buck was confident, however, and he smashed clean through the wall without slowing. But he didn't see what Grounds was doing beyond the wall and the huge bear seized his leg just as he passed.

"Fuuuuuuck!" Buck cried. He was yanked easily through the air and hurled straight at the edges of the arena.

"NO!" Howl cried.

Thankfully, Buck and Brodie switched places. With his expertise in magic, Brodie quickly flung his hands through the air. A magical rune appeared behind him and caught him like an elastic net. Again, he switched places with Buck as the stag pressed his legs against the rune and launched off with the force of a rocket.

Grounds' eyes widened as the two collided and went crashing to the ground.

14-186.

Buck let loose a series of punches that forced Grounds to lift his arms in defence. A pillar of rock burst from the ground and slammed into Buck's side, sending him hurtling away and straight into Galahad. The came crashing down in a heap and struggled to untangle themselves.

12-188.

Taser let out another bellowing roar and came rushing forward just as Grounds was getting up. The wild tiger flung his fists, his knuckles colliding with Grounds' chest plate. There was a sickening crack and Taser pulled his paw back with a roar. Grounds chortled softly. His knee came sailing upwards, catching the underside of Taser's jaw and sending the tiger flying back.

Back to 13-187.

That armour is a pain.

"And I know how to break it."

Howl sped forward, another rock in his paws. He hurled it at Grounds but the bear saw the move coming and swiped at the shard, sending it flying away. Pillars of stone shot up from the ground around him, trying to knock him to the ground but he expertly and nimbly dodged past them until he had circled around Grounds.

The golden wolf stepped forward -

And suddenly found his left leg heavier than before.

He toppled forward and glanced towards his malfunctioning leg.

His eyes widened when he saw that it was encased in rock.

"Hope you didn't forget about my ability," Grounds chuckled. "Magnetise, remember?"

Past his leg, he could see Buck and Galahad slowly being encased in rock, holding them to the ground.

Unperturbed, he turned a grin back towards Grounds. "Hope you didn't forget about Tim's ability!"

The Sensei's smirk faded.

"Tim! Now!"

Suddenly, the burly tiger now with brown eyes came up from behind Grounds and wrapped his arms around the bear's chest. Tim lifted Grounds high into the air and squeezed down. Grounds let out a cry but that was quickly choked out of him as Tim's supernaturally strong arms crushed his muscled chest. The chest armour cracked and shattered.

Howl sprang to his feet and leapt forward. He swung his encased leg through the air, sending it crashing against the side of Ground's face. The stone around his foot shattered. Tim, still with Grounds in his arms, bent backwards and _smashed_the Sensei back into the ground with a crushing suplex.

10-190.

"Ten more! Ten more!"

Suddenly a stone block erupted from the ground just behind Tim, colliding with his spine. The move sent Tim back to his feet and, in turn, Grounds.

"Okay... maybe eleven more."

Grounds lifted his arm and wrapped it around Tim's head.

"You like wrestling, eh boy?" grinned the Sensei. "How's about this!"

The Big Bear kicked up his legs, putting all his enormous weight onto his back and pulling Tim back into the ground in an earth-shattering throw. Howl was knocked back by the tremendous impact shockwave.

12-188.

Grounds got back to his feet, rolling his shoulders while the stunned and prone Tim was slowly being encased in stone. He turned back towards Howl, with a grin.

"You and me now, pup."

Howl glanced over his shoulder, Galahad and Buck were still struggling. Though Buck saw his plight and quickly threw a fireball in his direction. Howl ducked and Grounds took the blow to his face. The Sensei was momentarily stunned so he bent down and grabbed another rock and hurled it at Grounds. The block smashed against the Sensei's face, again making him stagger back.

Gritting his fangs together, Howl rushed forward, shoulder first with all his might and speed. He collided hard with Grounds' chest, shattering the remnants of his chest armour and knocking the wind out of the Big Bear. Unwilling to let an advantage go to waste, he unleashed a powerful punch right into Grounds' solar plexus. Grounds gasped, eyes boggling and took several steps back, even past Taser.

Howl chased him down, taking a leaf out of Buck's book and unleashing a dropkick right in the same place. Grounds doubled over and staggered back.

The crowd was at the edge of their seats, completely silent.

Howl scrambled to his feet, clawing at the soil beneath him. Before Grounds could fully recover, he tossed some of the dirt he had collected right into the bear's face, making him cough and splutter.

Go! You can do it!

Spurned by Hiro's cheers, Howl let out a roar and launched himself at Grounds. The crook of his right arm collided with Grounds' thick neck. Even though Grounds was almost twice as tall as he was, gravity worked in his favour as he dragged the Big Bear back several feet from the lariat move. Grounds slammed into the ground, back first and Howl landed on his feet.

Stone spires launched from the ground and Howl quickly rolled back away while Grounds was still recovering. He rushed forward, shoulder first and slammed right back into Grounds' abdomen.

This time, it was different, however.

He met prepared muscle and two big paws seized his shoulders.

Before he could react, those paws wrapped around his body and lifted him high into the air. The scoreboard came into view.

5-195.

"It's over pup," Grounds said with a grin. "It was a good try."

He grimaced as the Big Bear began squeezing down on him in a literal bear hug. Somehow, though, he turned that grimace into a grin.

"Yeah. I know. We did win after all."

Grounds frowned at him but didn't relax the pressure. "What?"

Howl pointed downwards.

The bear glanced down.

Both his feet were past a certain white line. When the realisation dawned on him, his eyes went wide, and he turned them back to a still-grinning Howl.

"You're out."

There was a moment of silence. The two of them just stood there like two statues. Howl vaguely wondered if this was going to be the position where they'd be forever immortalised in the entrance of the Gym.

Then the crowd burst into cheers.

"I can't believe it!" roared the commentator. "Baramon wins! Baramon wins!"

Grounds suddenly threw his head back and laughed. He dropped Howl to the ground and grabbed his arm, lifting it up into the air in victory.

The crowd's cheers had transformed.

"Baramon! Baramon! Baramon!"

Howl, exhausted but unable to keep himself from grinning, basked in the moment of victory.

******

The locker room was simply electric with excitement. Weed had somehow managed to procure some champagne and was spraying it all over everyone in celebration. Buck was already passed out on one of the benches whether it was out of being drunk or exhaustion was up for debate. Galahad had switched out with Gabriel and now the equine was singing some victory song in German while hoisting a champagne bottle himself.

Howl was beaming and just sat some distance away. His power could drive them all into a frenzy and as much as he wanted to join them, he didn't want them to go too crazy.

You could switch with me, you know.

"Please. You're a killjoy. You'll probably mention that this is one victory out of thirteen and bring everyone down."

I'm not heartless, you know. I'd let them get sufficiently drunk first before bringing them back down to reality.

"Right."

Hiro was silent for a moment and in the darkness of the ocean, he felt his Manifesto grip his shoulder affectionately.

Still. You did awesome, Howl. Well done.

"Thanks man. Couldn't have done it without you."

Damn straight.

"Is 'straight' the right word?"

Hiro gave him a mental slap just as they both noticed Taser approaching. There was a serious look on the tiger's face and Howl immediately got to his feet.

"Not a good idea, kitty," said the wolf, holding up his paws. "My power -"

"Yeah, about that," growled Taser. "Shut the fuck up and listen to me." The tiger took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Weed was joining Gabriel in that song of his so no one could hear them. "About what happened... About Wednesday..."

Howl shrugged. "If you want to get the angst out of your system, I'm good for a lay but after we get back home, okay? I'm still a little sore all around and -"

Howl!

"What?"

Just listen to him.

Taser growled softy. "If you're going to treat this like some fucking one-night stand, then I'm not going to fucking bother."

Howl frowned. "You mean... it wasn't a one-night stand?"

Taser lowered his gaze. "To me... No."

"What? I thought you were just mad at me because of what my ability did to you?"

Suddenly the singing was over. Both of them looked to the others. Buck was wide awake and they were all regarding the of them intently.

"Fuckers..." Taser sneered. He turned back to Howl. "Look... When all the fucking anger was gone, what do you think was left?"

There, Howl frowned and he recalled how friendly Taser was to him before that first day at the Challenge when Taser had turned hostile to him. "Oh..." Then his eyes widened. "Oh!"

And he finally gets it. Who says you can't teach an old dogs new tricks?

"Hey! I'm barely a week old!"

Translated into dog years, what's that? Does that make Taser a paedophile?

"Please, no more than Grounds would be with your daddy complex."

What!? I -

He shut off Hiro and looked directly into Taser's eyes.

"Taser, dude..."

Taser sighed and lifted his paw. "Don't say. Don't fucking say it. I'm not going to listen to you shoot me down." He began to turn away. "Better to live not hearing those fucking words than being rejected."

"Not what I'm saying." He seized Taser's paw, forcing the tiger to look back at him. "I was going to say I didn't know you felt that way. I mean, you were kind of a jackass."

"That's your fault."

He grimaced. "Yeah... I suppose it is. But how are you sure that this isn't just because of my powers again?"

Taser gave him a pointed stare. "Why the fuck do you think I've been avoiding you these past few days?"

A smile tugged at the edges of his lips. "Because you were trying to figure out of these feelings were genuine and not because of my ability?"

"Damn straight."

"Is 'straight' the right word?"

That's my line!

Taser grunted and gave him a light punch though the faintest sliver of a smile was on his muzzle. "I want to give this a shot, okay? I ain't saying we'll be exclusive. Hell, we got to share EXP and shit but I'm going to tell you now that when you and I fuck, there'll be more to it than just because we're teammates or hormones."

Do you want to turn him on?

"Uh... yes...?"

Then make a counter proposal...

Howl grinned softly. "No."

Taser's face fell. "Why the fuck not?"

"Because I can't settle for that. Too complicated. Going to be hard to tell if who I fuck is going to be okay with you. How do I know you aren't going to tear Buck a new one because he can cast magic or rip off Galahad's balls because he's got a bigger dick than you?"

"I -"

"Not finished." Howl moved forward, licking his lips. "So how about this? You tell me who I can fuck. You get to tell me where I stick my dick in and who can fuck your pup? You get to watch whenever I mount someone or when someone uses me. And I'll do whatever I can to make sure I please you. Deal?"

Taser's eyes widened like saucers and he was openly salivating. His cock was rising out his sheath and Howl couldn't deny that his own member was out at the idea of being 'owned' by the big, abrasive tiger.

"Bitch, I'm not your pimp," Taser sneered playfully.

"Not a pimp." Howl leaned forward, his muzzle just at the edges of Taser's ears. "My master."

Taser moaned softly and his paws seized Howls waist.

"So we have a deal?"

Taser pressed his lips against Howl's, ravaging the wolf's muzzle and pushing him hard against the nearby lockers. Having the big, domineering feline above him was so comforting like having a big, furry, muscled roof over his head.

Taser pulled his lips away when someone cleared their throat.

They tuned towards the entrance of the locker room where Cornelius Grounds stood back in his normal, Equilibrium Form.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," chuckled the bear. "But I'm going to need you guys out on the arena. We're doing the official announcement of your victory." He then glanced towards Weed. "We're going to need your help as well. We need to schedule when we'll have your boys over to transfer over the Gym's power."

"Right. Right. Of course," Weed laughed nervously. "Not a problem."

Grounds then moved towards the others. He congratulated Buck on his magical skills and was surprised when it was actually Brodie that had done the spells and laughed at just how well the two worked together. Galahad and Gabriel got high accolades for their leadership and fighting skills so much so that Grounds even squeezed his dick saying how eager he was to get a taste of that. When he got to Howl and Taser, the tiger immediately pulled away, stiff as a board and looking like a kitten eager to please. Howl found it hilarious that his 'master' could be so easily swayed.

The big bear held out a big paw towards Taser. "You have one hell of a grip there, cub. I look forward to learning more about."

"C - Count on it," Taser stammered.

Then Grounds turned towards Howl with a smirk. "And I'll admit that I'm looking forward to seeing you two the most." He leaned down and pressed his lips against the wolf's muzzle, stunning everyone in the room. As he broke the kiss, he smirked. "Yeah... Daddy can't wait to have his cub back in bed with him."

He winked at Howl and turned his back, likely to hide his rising erection. "See you all out there!"

Howl grinned sheepishly, tail wagging.

"This is going to be fun!"

Uh-huh... And how do you think your newly christened master would take to that?

He was aware of Taser's glare and gave the tiger a little wave. "Uh..."

Taser slammed him against the locker roughly even as his tongue snaked out and lapped at Howl's neck. "Daddy, huh? Well 'Daddy' comes second to 'master'."

Howl found his cock quivering in delight.

"Yes, Master."