Growing Rivalry
#36 of Story Commissions
This time, a newcomer~! A commission for FA: Jakebe featuring two wrestlers; Steelbody Cottontail (Peter Havens) and The Mountain (Paul Grausbard) and the day before they duke it out to rank up in the Titan's Wrestling League, a thing the rabbit came up with. Also features a cameo of a certain green fella in there.
Peter Havens was a man of many things. He was a hard worker, gave credit where it was due and always desired to be that guy who got recognized out in the streets like some famous person. Usually, Peter always got looks for his general size. Rabbits were generally not known their athletic bodies, but Peter set out specifically to change that bit about him. He stood at close to eight feet, towering with the body of a power-lifter covered in cream white fuzz and floppy ears. The burly bun always got a few looks at him when they couldn't believe his size, but getting known for his career was something else he strived for.
"Are you sure I've seen you before on TV?"
"For the last time, YES." He said, gritting his teeth. "The name's Steelbody Cottontail, I'm seriously sure you've heard of it at some point." He was totally sure that this kid was pranking him somehow. A rather rotund bat looked at him skeptically up and down, closely eyeing the rabbit for any sign that he possibly knew him in any way, shape or form. Sadly, it didn't take long for him to give up. Peter sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was in the middle of a line at the health store with a small cart looped around a ham sized forearm loaded with cans of various proteins and pills. The bat had confronted him since he was on line as well, but this conversation seemed to be going nowhere.
"Hmm...nah, if you were in the TWL, I probably would have seen you, sorry man. If you were though, I'm surprised, you're pretty damn big." The bat complimented before stepping towards the clerk and paying for his stuff. He soon walked off with his bag in tow, leaving Peter the next in line and slightly sulking, ears drooping a tad. It was a mystery to him why he even bothered with that guy. He tried to shrug it off and went towards the clerk with an almost comical frown. When he arrived at the counter, the frown turned to a minor scowl.
He was hoping the clerk on shift wasn't who he thought it was, but apparently his luck wasn't that good today. The black furred wolf at the counter grinned at him, his gleaming green eyes scanning him like he was prey. With a sight, Peter stepped forward to his fate and dropped his cart onto the table in front of him.
"Hello, Paul." Peter said begrudgingly.
Paul sat slightly shorter than Peter if only by a few inches, but the wolf made that up with staggering size and width. Peter had opted for a bit more 'efficient' size, as his was a combination of fat and muscle that gave him a bulky, thick and slightly more maneuverable form so long as he did his regular yoga and stretching. Paul, on the other hand was his opposite. The wolf was something of a "super-heavyweight" and bulged with muscle atop of furred muscle. His clean cut fur accentuated his size a lot more, which was probably the point of why he cut it so close. His uniform, a simple yellow t-shirt, clung to his absurdly muscular frame, his chest just daring to tear it right through the middle as his biceps forced the sleeves back every so often without even trying.
"Sup, Petey. Ready for tonight and all that? I'm sure you'll like being down in the rankings, I'm sure." Paul simply smiled and ran every item through the scanner without missing a beat.
Peter huffed and rolled his eyes as he took out his wallet. "Doubtful. Tonight's my night, make no mistake of that."
"Yes, I'm sure all of your nonexistent fans will be positively thrilled. But that rank up is mine. Friends we may be, you're not getting in the way." Paul growled lightly. Green eyes glared against Peter's own as the two started a minor staring contest with a low growl from Peter as well. Neither of them seemed to back down until Paul was forced to bag Peter's stuff and the rabbit had to take out his credit card. With that, the two shared a silent goodbye as Peter left the store. A few steps away out of Paul's predatory glance and Peter's broad shoulders slumped.
Paul had a bit of a point, but he wouldn't let that get the better of him. The two were nothing short friends, even if their conversations were a bit blunt. Even as friends, the TWL, or Titan's Wrestling League was not a good place for friendships. He and Paul had actually met there during a match and decided to play off as rivals since those were always good for ratings, which their network could always use. However, that also left a bit of publicity to be desired. Paul and Peter were but blips on the literal and figurative scale of the TWL, but Paul always seemed to grab a bit more attention due to the fact that he looked bigger and acted a bit haughtier than him. While Peter didn't want to admit that it got on his nerves...
He shook his head. Nah, there was no sense in being mad out here. If anything, he could just channel it in the ring. He and Paul had been gunning for the championship for quite some time, and tonight was their rank up match. From here, it was smooth sailing and good growth if either of them won. It would also lead to a hell of a lot more money than what he was getting now. When he first entered the League, Peter was almost stupidly small. He had to rely on his wits and taking advantage of people's size to win him matches.
Then, he started to get bigger. He hadn't known it at first, but every match and even getting the crowd on one's side lead to a stellar amount of growth. Peter had faced nothing but people around his current size which lead him to be the rabbit that he was today, but he wanted more. If anything, he was craving for it. He could sense that Paul was too, and neither of them was going to back down. Hopefully, whoever won would treat the other for a drink afterwards. Every time after a match, whomever won or lost usually offered the other something; food, drink, winner named it. It was something so they could lay out what they called their friendship so any animosity didn't leave the ring; it was a great way of getting stress out among other things.
With a sigh, Peter headed home to get his gear and to do some light lifting to get the chip off his shoulder and watch some matches to get his head in the game. Tonight, he had to deal with a few more matches before the 'main event'. Some nights were scheduled like a tournament and the winners faced off in the finals and they would move up in the rankings from there. If anything, he had a long night ahead of him.
When Peter got home, he slipped off his sneakers, switched into his workout clothes and spent his time watching matches and making a protein shake. After downing it with a shudder (he was never a fan of vanilla, but it made it go down well), he set off to his own personal gym. The funding from the TWL left him enough to support his heavy eating and supplements, but that only left him enough to get a nice looking place or a gym membership. In the end, Peter made a compromise and went for a home gym settled in one of the empty rooms of his first floor apartment. Feeling the buzz of his pre-workout kicking in, he simply got to work with his music in the background at a moderate level since he had neighbors and all.
The hours trickled by as Peter went through his push-ups with weights applied onto his back as a warm-up, dead lifts and squats after finding his belt and simply stopping with a bit of light running on the treadmill. If anything, his workout scheme was more fitted for general strength training and lifting, though he could imagine how Paul did his with a bit more "show-off potential" as Peter called it. If anything, it was probably the reason why Peter preferred working out alone. When he was in the zone, he wasn't aiming to be fancy, just ruthless and direct about it.
Before he knew it, the time had passed by and Peter was left a somewhat sweaty mess. With some time left to shower and get his costume ready, he was off to his matches once evening hit. As he was getting ready, Peter's phone began to buzz along his bed. He unlocked the screen with a flick and smiled at the text waiting for him.
"Good luck tonight, Steelbody, you got this! Show em this buns got tricks for days!" the message said. It was from someone else in the TWL, or rather, about to be. He called himself Kung Fool, though he was anything but outside the ring. He was a rather broad and burly panda who was just as big as Peter, if not larger. The two had met while in college, but Victor had decided to become the headmaster of a fraternity and take a job at the school, while still following Peter's fights whenever he had the chance. He'd also throw a few up-and-coming folks toward the TWL's way since a few of the guys over there were showing signs of huge potential.
After responding, Peter soon left his apartment and drove over to the arena. As he arrived, he could see rows upon rows of parked cars, presumably the turnout for the night's event. Some fans like to arrive early to get a glimpse of the wrestlers coming in for many reasons. When Peter pulled up around the other side, he emerged from his car with a duffel bag hooked around his shoulder dressed in his 'uniform' for the night. His costume consisted of nothing but a black singlet, a large contrast to his pure white and abundant fur. If anything, the costume served as way to make him stick out with simplicity compared to the various ways that some dressed as, especially when it wasn't going to fit anymore.
As Peter made way inside, he could see a small crowd forming near the entrance. Fans of many shapes and sizes crowded someone who stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the crowd. Almost like a tree towering over everyone. The dragon, aptly named The Lumberjack stood over ten feet tall, bulging with green muscle from top to bottom. He wore nothing but a pair of ripped up dukes that didn't do much to hide his very obvious bulge that were held up with a pair of purple suspenders to compliment the purple armband tied around a massive bicep as well as his purple and yellow mask. To finish the costume, he had but a pair of thick, yellow and black books, grinning from side to side as he signed autographs. Neither Peter, nor anyone else knew much about the guy. The whiskered green dragon tended to not socialize unless it was with the crowd, and even then he didn't speak much. As Peter passed him by, The Lumberjack gave him a thumb up and a smile, a gesture of good luck for tonight.
He slipped through the crowd and finally got inside and went down the hallway toward the designated room where people waited for their fights. When he opened the door, Peter was greeted to a multitude of wrestlers of varying sizes, mostly large as they all looked at him and either gave a wave or a nod. Two large boar twins were clustered together, the two behemoths playing cards on a table that looked too small to situate either of them as their enormous bellies were mashed up against the poor thing. Peter situated himself on an empty couch seat, making himself comfy. The television in the room was already on and tuned into the camera outside where the ring was. People were getting into their seats, not much else. Peter slumped into his seat as he glanced around at everyone. Paul didn't seem to be here yet. As much as the rabbit wanted him not to show up, he knew there wasn't a long shot for that. And as if someone could hear his thoughts, the door soon opened to reveal Paul pushing back a minor flood of people.
"Come on, if you keep asking me to sign shit, you're not gonna see me climb the ladder!" Paul cried out before slamming the door in front of him. All the eyes in the room were on the black wolf as he huffed and crossed his arms over his massive chest. "What? The hell you all staring at!?" Paul growled. Everyone seemed to immediately go back to their business as Paul walked toward the couch. The wolf was dressed in nothing but a spiked collar and a pair of tight trunks that did nothing to hide the rather large bulge produced from it. The fabric clung tightly to his tree trunk legs, every step making the legs strain to the point Peter thought he'd probably flex out of them if he wasn't careful.
He sat down next to Peter with a grunt, the rabbit offering a hand shake to the wolf. Paul complied, their hands locking together in what was their usual greeting over here. They'd tense their handshake until one of them copped out, which sometimes was merely a matter of patience than strength. White furred biceps flexed and surged alongside black as Peter and Paul continued their handshake, the two of them slumped on the couch like nothing was going on.
"So, you ready to get snapped, Leadbody?" Paul grunted.
"Not a chance, Pebble. I'm still surprised you named yourself something like The Mountain when you're barely the tallest one here." Peter chided.
"Oh, it'll be a fine name after tonight, I assure that." Paul grinned, leaning into their handshake. Paul could feel veins slowly rising and pumping along his arm as the two continued their handshake for what felt like minutes until the two of them let go simultaneously.
"Totally won that one." Peter said quickly.
"Sure, cling to that victory; it'll be the only one you get."
Everyone in the room either rolled their eyes or ignored the spectacle going on in the center of the room. This was how the two essentially warmed up before their matches. They'd casually trash talk each other as the time passed, never missing a beat before they were up on stage. At times, it was grating to listen to, but for others, it was a betting process to go through the night. As the night continued to pass, wrestlers came in and out of the room, some of them watching their friends' matches and doing the play-by-play, or nursing what actual wounds came up from the fight. The one thing everyone was focused on was the possible "boost" to one's rank. It hadn't happened with the last few fights, but everyone in the room was feeling it. Tonight was someone's night.
"Steelbody, Mountain, you two are up. Take your places." Chirped a crow who poked his beak into the room with a headset before disappearing not a second later. Paul and Peter grinned at one another before walking off towards the door. Paul couldn't help but give his lapine friend a hip check before going through the door, much to Peter's disdain before walking behind him.
As the two walked toward hallways that lead to the main stage, Paul and Peter stopped at a path that divulged into the two separate entrances. The two shared a grin and a quick chest bump.
"Best of luck. And no hard feelings?" Peter offered to say first.
Paul shrugged his immensely large shoulders with a toothy smile. "Maybe. If you're fine with me taking tonight's boost."
"Sure, be like that." Peter said with a chuckle, walking off towards his entrance while Paul did the same.
As the two wrestlers walked through the hallway, they could hear the roar of the crowd and the announcer blasting his voice onto the microphone. It started off as faint, but the closer they got, the more the crowded air assaulted their ears. Peter was slightly used to this, but had to use earplugs some days when it got really loud.
"And tonight, we have our main event!"One of the announcers, a rather stocky looking bat, blared. He turned to his co-host, a comparatively large panda stuffed into what looked like a very tight suit. He nodded in agreement, taking over for his companion.
"Yup, seems the crowd is restless. We promised em a boost tonight for one of our spandex clothed friends and they just might get it with tonight's contestants! On the left, we have someone that proves not all rabbits are small speedsters! We got the big-eared tank, the one man carrot buffet finisher, here's Steelbody Cottontail!"
Upon finishing his announcement, Steelbody stepped out from the hallway after a burst of smoke appeared, walking with a wide grin on his face as he was met with the cheers of the crowd. This is what he wanted. He figured that people were just cheering after riding the hype on tonight, but it was better than nothing. As he strolled across the pathway, he gave out a few kisses into the crowd as well as a flex of his arms before going under the roped ring and staring out into the other hallway.
"And on the other side, we have the alpha of the TWL, our furred grace and up stander of the night, The Mountain!" The stocky bat cried out. On the other side, Paul stepped out, eagerly strutting his stuff as he usually did. While Peter took his time to spread some joy to the crowd, Paul thought he was joy to the crowd. He flexed and posed with every step, his furry muscles tensed as if he meant to pounce into the stands. People cried and cheered with every step, prompting Peter to roll his eyes.
"Come on, Pebble, we aint got all night for you to stroke your ego!" Steelbody yelled out.
From one side of the arena, one could hear a chorus of boos, while the other side erupted into cheers for Peter. Paul snarled and hopped into the ring, beating his mighty chest like a primate.
"Well if you want me to snap you that easy, Leadbody, be my guest and bring it!" The Mountain grinned back.
Peter and Paul glared at each other, bounding up to one another until they were up against another right up to their enormous chests before they were separated by the referee. The ref was a rather skinny lynx dressed in black pants and a black and white striped shirt. As the usual, he warned them about going too far and not going for any permanent damage. If anything, he simply stressed them to go nuts, but not too nuts. Before long, he dove away from the ring and once he was gone, Steelbody and Mountain grappled hands. They each had their hands on their shoulders, finger digging in as their feet were firmly planted onto the ground. Neither one was willing to give in at first before Mountain started to put his height to his advantage. He slowly leaned back, forcing Steelbody to make up for it with his own before he was suddenly tumbled over across the ring by Paul.
It didn't take long for Peter to right himself, but the instant his eyes were back onto his opponent, Paul was already on top of him, wrapping his arms around his arms and pinning him down into a lock with Steelbody's arms back and his legs at the ground. Just like Paul, he was always the more efficient one of the two and tended to use his slight height difference to his advantage.
"Oop, and it seems it might be over!"
Not by a long shot, Peter thought. He glanced up from his position, face and body pointed toward the ground to see the Mountain doing what he always did when he thought he secured a win; flex and get more cheers out the audience. He brought up one arm, the other pinning back both of his hands and flexed to his heart's content. He could see a small striped figure out of his field of vision start to move up. Oh no, this wasn't ending now. With a huff, he brought up his ears and firmly slapped them against Paul's face, causing him to grunt out in surprise and loosen his grip. The audience roared as Steelbody escaped from his captor and turned the tables before the ref had a chance to get into the ring.
"Just as Cottontail always does, he's slippery even when you think otherwise! It's natural for this thing to happen, but let's see if the prey doesn't become a meal tonight!" The panda announcer said.
In the few seconds it took for Peter to get out, he had two options; either try to make some distance between himself and Paul, or try to get up close and see what went on from there. His brain was telling him to back off since he knew what his rival was capable of. His heart, however, told him to stay up close. He had him off guard and he could use it to his benefit. This never happened often, so it was the one chance he had. Shushing brain, Steelbody lunged for the Mountain. A loud grunt was heard as several hundred pounds of rabbit crashed into the Mountain, effectively keeping him onto the floor. The two grabbed and wriggled in each other's grip, the two behemoths making the ring rumble. It didn't take long before Peter stood on top of the two man pile, triumphant for a few moments, but it was all the crowd needed to know that Steelbody wasn't about to go down so easily.
In that small amount of time, the crowd cheering almost sounded like an incessant buzzing in his ears that made him tingly right to the bone. The tingling sensation continued until every bit of his fur was standing on end for what felt like an eternity. Paul could feel the pricks of Peter's fur poking at him and it took far too long for either of them to realize what was going on until it was finally happening. Peter's body slowly encroached and then gave off minor explosions of size. They happened one after the other, the rabbit's already bulky frame soaring higher and higher. The straps of his black singlet were now lost not due to the forest of his cream white fur, but the massive swell of his traps. His pectorals were now pushing against the front of his singlet while his firm, but doming stomach pushed against the bottom alongside a very noticeable chub that only served to push against the Mountain's back as it surged larger alongside its owner.
"Oh, it seems we know who's gonna rank up tonight, folks! How's the Mountain going to get out of this one?!"
"He won't!" Peter growled back delightfully. The rabbit grinned, adjusting his growing package and the straps of his singlet as the pounds simply stacked on. He shifted some of his weight as to not totally crush Paul, but he was going to make this as worth it as possible. With his enormous paws and legs on either side of the Mountain, Steelbody simply ground his unceremonious bulge along Paul's back as he squirmed for a few moments. The instant Peter tried getting up to do something else, the now smaller wolf attempted to escape. However, his escape was met with a broad hand now closing over the scruff of his neck and lifting him up as if he weighed nothing. Paul was used to looking up at Peter, but nothing like this.
Peter now stood heads above Paul, his singlet barely holding on and straining across his enormous build. He couldn't have gotten more than three extra feet or so from the process, but he looked so...big. His feet were dangling off of the ground by a good foot or so which cemented the thought further in his mind. He was soon mashed against two very powerful and very fluffy rabbit pecs, which was met with another surge of cheers and jeers from the crowd.
"Now, how's it feel to see some real mountains?" Steelbody grinned, flexing his chest against Paul's face. The sheer undulation and heft from those mounds had him trying to press his face away, but overbearing weight of Peter's hand and no way to gain traction had him effectively trapped. Peter hadn't been planning on hurting Paul, oh no. Now that he was pretty much set to the next rank, a new weight and body class and some new people to face, he wanted to enjoy what time he had with his friend. And what better way than treating him with the same amount of narcissism that he dealt towards him?
Peter resisted the urge to tend to his very obvious shaft poking at the fabric of his singlet, but decided to do something that would help the urge and give him some fun with Paul. He propped open his singlet a bit and Paul immediately began to squirm in his grip.
"Just roll with it. Better than being pinned down for the night, right?" Peter whispered.
Paul gave a quick sigh and a nod.
"After that, just break out and then I'll do that. Just wanna have some fun."
"Got it, now shut up and get it over with."
Their hushed conversation met an end before Paul was neatly stuffed into the overly stretchy singlet against Peter's immense body, his 7 foot body wriggling against the black fabric and the close to twelve foot rabbit he called a friend. He made it well to look annoyed at it all, but he knew that Peter would probably apologize profusely at the end of it all. He was slightly mad that he didn't get the boost up, but at least someone was enjoying it. And the crowd was eating it up, too. Before the night would end, people would know Steelbody as the guy who paraded a wolf around in his singlet and got away with it.
"Least until it's my turn." Paul thought with a grin.