Word of Tegan's challenge spreads faster than the time it takes him and Starve to reach the stadium. No one has ever had the balls or the skill to take on the general, making this quite the historic event. In fact, the last time the place was this full was when Wraith fought the queen and became colonel. The crowd erupts as the two fighters walk out onto the battlefield from opposite sides. Starve yells something to Tegan as he continues his stroll toward him but he's easily drowned out by the spectators. Tegan tries to reply but is equally unsuccessful, causing them both to stop in their tracks and gesture at the stadium to quiet down.

"No more noise now."

The queen makes her presence known as she descends into the arena, landing between the contenders and successfully silencing everyone.

"Ok, fellas. What's all this about?" asks the queen.

"Kid wants me to send his ass to the MD." says Starve.

"Is that true, cutie pie? You want General Goldilocks to beat you up?" she asks Tegan. Starve rolls all of his eyes at his temporary title.

"I want to be a general." says Tegan with resolve.

"What if I don't want you to be a general?" she asks.

"Then I'll fight you after him."

"Mmmmgh." A smile accompanies Quinn's moan as she looks at Tegan, thinking over the situation. "Well ... you got all these folks out here to see a fight. Don't bore them!" Her arms extend to pinch their cheecks simultaneously before she flies off to her seat where Sleaze, Tempy and Pop stand waiting. Wraith watches off to the side by herself.

"Listen up, soldier!" shouts Starve. "I got more important shit to do than this so you get one chance! Walk outta here now or never walk again!"

"That'd be a long ass walk of shame, sir! Not my style!" says Tegan. "Nothing's stopping YOU from leaving though!"

The general responds with an irritated grunt before going on the offensive, lunging at Tegan with intense precision! His fists are unable to make contact, missing their mark due to backsteps and jukes. Starve slows down but continues his assault. His eyes focus on Tegan's movements. A left hook is ducked. A straight jab is blocked. The young soldier appears to be untouchable, dodging and deflecting the general's blows with a hair thin margin for error. The captivated crowd remains silent, not entirely sure who has the upper hand. Another block. Another dodge. Anoth- Starve speeds back up! He swings a left hook again. Tegan ducks it and is instantly punished as an elbow plunges into the back of his head, stunning him just long enough to receive a stiff kick to the face! The stadium roars as the first drops of blood are spilled. There is no pause, no hesitation as the blonde triclops pummels his opponent with punches! For each one blocked, another two connect. "Fuckin pussy." grunts Starve. Frustrated that Tegan is still able to block at all, he finds an opening, grabs his right arm and bends it in the opposite direction. With one swift motion he gets behind Tegan and drives him downward, holding his arm up and forcing him into a crouched position. A bit more pressure and-

"HRRagh!!" The snap is louder than Tegan's reaction. Both are practically inaudible compared to the noisy masses. "I was wrong ..."

"Damn right." Starve grins as he holds Tegan in place. "It's too late to be a fag about it now."

"No," says Tegan. "about you leaving ...."

"What about it?"

Tegan jerks forward violently, dislocating his own right shoulder!

"I'M stopping you!!"

He throws his head back into Starve's jaw! They flinch but Tegan recovers first and rises with a spinning left elbow. The general raises his hand in time to counter, still holding onto Tegan's limp arm. It doesn't stop prince charming from attacking, twisting around with his broken limb serving as a direct tether to Starve! The audience is losing their shit watching Tegan use himself like a sentient yo-yo until he finally lands a solid spinning hook kick to the back of Starve's head. "Fuck this bullshit!" Starve throws Tegan into the air by his arm and immediately flies up after him! With a grab of a leg and a quick aerial roll, he hurls Tegan into the ground and his foot follows, crashing down onto his chest. This time the sound of bones shattering is loud enough for everyone to hear as he's furiously stomped on repeatedly. The cheering begins to die down.

"¡Maldición!" says Pop. "Why did he think this was a good idea?"

"He wants to impress Wraith." says Sleaze with a sigh. "Dad has no idea of course."

"Well yeah. Your friend is still alive." Pop squints down at the fight. "And he still has his pene." She notices Tempy staring at the beating.

"C'mon, Teegs." Tempy mutters to herself.

"Niña-" Pop is interrupted by a sudden uproar from the crowd! The stomping has stopped. Tegan is holding Starve's foot in place with his functioning hand!

"He's letting this go on for way too long." says Tempy.

Starve takes to the air with Tegan hanging onto him, flying towards the pillars and the side walls of the arena, making sure to turn past them in such a way that only Tegan hits them. The general whips around until he feels the grip loosen. A sharp turn flings Tegan straight up and once again Starve flies up to grab him. But instead- THWOCK!!! The entire stadium shakes! Starve plows into a wall before tumbling to the ground. Tegan lands on his face a good distance away. He lays there motionless, a bloody, swollen mess. Everyone waits to see who will get up first while trying to figure out-

"What the fuck just happened?" asks Sleaze.

"Your friend punched your dad really hard." says Pop. "Then he ate shit. Try to keep up, mijo."

"Dad isn't gonna beat him." says Tempy.

"Our boy's lookin pretty fucked up at the moment." says Sleaze.

"I told you. Nobody beats Tegan except Tegan."

"So he broke his own ribs and sent himself to the MD?" argues Sleaze.

"He didn't actually fight then. If he did, he would've won."

"You say that buuut ...."

"Look."

Tegan creeps to his feet, coughing and gagging with each breath. He wobbles his way over to Starve with heavy labored steps. He crouches over the twitching general, balls his left hand into a fist and rockets it into Starve's face. The place quakes again and Tegan reels back as if he was the one who was struck. He shakes it off and does it again, this time gritting his teeth through the impact. He does it again and again, breaking the ground more and more with each hit. Starve reaches up and grabs his throat with one hand! His claws disappear into Tegan's neck, covering them both in streams of blood. Tegan raises his fist one more time...then THWAAAHMN!!! He plants Starve's head in the arena floor and cracks a nearby pillar! The claws rip free from Tegan's flesh as he falls back and shivers.

"TEEGS!" shouts Tempy. "HURRY UP AND END THIS!" Everyone including the queen looks at her with all the confusion.

Starve unearths himself, stands and does a quick stretch. "Fuck me! The kid's got sand!" he growls.

"Uuughph." Tegan groans as he sits up. He pokes at his right arm a few times before relocating his shoulder. "... chest," His broken arm has healed incorrectly. "face," The holes in his throat have stopped bleeding. "neck." It takes him a moment to stand.

"Ok soldier." says Starve. "You got some good hits in but we're done."

"Why? You giving up?" asks Tegan.

"You clearly can't keep this up. I'm not trying to kill you, dumbass."

"Am I a general?"

"No, fucktard."

"Then we ain't done, sir."

News of the fight reaches Terrace and she meets up with Wraith at the stadium just as the brawl reignites. She looks onto the field with a mute bewilderment that almost instantly becomes discontent.

"This Tegan guy must be a fine tuned idiot." says Terrace. Wraith stands there quietly with her arms folded and eyes glued. "I mean, what makes him think he can take on the general?" She waits for a response but gets nada. Even though the colonel isn't known for being particularly chatty, it's unlike her to withhold her opinion when asked. "I bet he dies. What do you think?"

"If he does, then he would've died doing something no one else has been brave enough to try." Wraith finally replies.

"Hmm. The way you pronounced stupid sounded a lot like the word brave?"

"In that case, the way you are speaking to me is extremely brave."

Their already short conversation is cut in on by Durma who, like Terrace, is just arriving. "Salutations, ladies!" Both Wraith and Terrace salute without facing her. "This turned out to be quite the gathering."

"Everybody loves a good massacre." says Terrace.

"PC Tegan seems to be holding his own." Durma takes a moment to inspect the match. "General Starve is in magnificent form as usual. However, he isn't in control of this fight."

"Are we watching different fights?" scoffs Terrace.

"At first glance it's easy to assume the contrary." Durma elaborates. "PC Tegan is obviously injured but pay attention to where. He's focusing on specific body parts and trading blows with the general in those areas alone."

"So what?" snaps Terrace.

"Interesting." says Wraith. "He is limiting the amount of damage he recieves."

"Precisely." says Durma. "As to why he's also limiting the damage he inflicts ... I have no clue."

These motherfuckers start going at it and the walls tremble as they duke it out! Starve still doesn't appear to be hurt even though he's taking the same number of hits as Tegan. He decides to amp things up by using his winged pair of arms for extra punches. Despite having two more fists to deal with, Tegan successfully maintains his strange tactic of keeping the general in this violent stalemate. Somehow he's doing better than when they originally began.

It seems like this battle might not end and the crowd loves it, getting so riled up that many are now fighting in the stands. This wouldn't be so bad if the audience was just civilians but most of the military dropped whatever they were doing to witness the duel and are now participating in the developing chaos instead of stopping it. All the commotion distracts the non-lookers from the climax of the brutal show they attended. Tegan creates some distance but purposely leaves himself open for attack. He knows the general won't pass up the chance to strike. He knows the general underestimates him. This is why he knows the general won't win. As expected, Starve lunges forward to grab him! Tegan charges into him, headbutting him in the eyes with his six forehead horns! This is it. He latches onto Starve, hoists him up and slams that son of a bitch down on a sharp piece of stadium rubble!

Things are getting so rowdy in the stands that no one notices the armored figures emerging amidst the skirmish. They arrive like stationary ghosts in the frantic masses, instantly deterring anyone who notices them from continuing to riot. Everyone knows the queen's elite soldiers are not to be fucked with and the crowd immediately settles down simply because they're here. Only now does everyone realize that the clash they came to see is over. Both Starve and Tegan lie in the middle of the field, blood pooling under the general as he chuckles to himself.

"Heh heh heh ... damn, kid. That was a good move." says Starve. A fist sized hole in his lower back is gradually healing as he lays on his side.

"That means a lot coming from you, sir." Tegan says softly into the floor. His eyelids are heavy and the slow intervals of darkness are accompanied by the sound of rushing footsteps and concerned voices. He can bearly make out what they're saying and he's not able to see anything more than legs, most of which he recognizes. He does catch a glimpse of a man in the distance that he's never met. The sturdy, intimidating fellow in a white suit and some kind of mask walks just out of Tegan's peripheral vision toward two other similarly dressed figures. One of them, a tiny woman with long green hair, stares over at Tegan for a bit. At least it seems like that's what she's doing. It's hard to tell from so far away with her hair covering her pale face that might also be a mask. Another round of darkness, then they're gone.

"Hey, soldier. Keep those eye's open." orders Starve as the two are surrounded to be carefully prepped for transport to the MD.

"Yes, sir." says Tegan.

"Talk to me. What do you see?"

"Legs. A particularly nice pair next to you."

"Tan with short shorts and a wolf tail?"

"Yes, sir."

"Stop looking at those." growls Starve. The aforementioned legs and tail belonging to Pop wiggle a little bit in Tegan's direction.

"Sure thing." There's a nudge in Tegan's side. Someone is poking him with their foot. "Who's doing that?"

"Lt. Terrace." says Starve.

"That bitch is a drag, man."

"Heh, she's a decent soldier." he laughs.

"Y'know I thought about fuckin her just to put her out of her misery. My dick nearly packed up my balls and moved out, said it's a bad neighborhood." He gets a firm kick in the ribs for that statement and the darkness returns as the sounds of Starve's laughter and Tempy cussing at Terrace fade away.

"Soldier? Tegan?" calls Starve as he's lifted onto a travel beast. Tegan's eyes are still open. "I said talk to me, dumbass." 

Starve watches a medic crouch over Tegan then shake his head before confirming "He's dead."