Had he the capability to continuously snarl and froth in command, Nero would have gladly played into the concept of being rabid. It was how he felt, after all. Positively fucking rabid and beyond that, ravenous. He wanted nothing more than to make this man bleed, watch as his blood spilled -- why? Because Ransom was convenient. He was a man who could handle the attack, but above that, he was little more than a threat for Alizabeth's attention. Well, a large threat to that, actually, but.. Nero attempted to keep the paw lodged between his teeth and shake, wishing his mouth was larger (or the paw was smaller) so he might do more damage. Instead, it simply looked like a puppy with a too-big tennis ball. The albino hissed as Ransom moved forward. Jesus, big boy would hurt. He grunted as Ransom's shoulder made contact against his own, the bruising almost instant as it blossomed beneath his fur. Small as he was, the boy's footing was instantly destabilized, but still Nero attempted to keep his hold on the paw, yanking his head backwards in an attempt to pull the larger lion off balance. If Nero was going to go down, he was going to try and take Ransom with him. Nero v @Ransom Dominance Round 3 / 3 Hits: Rolling 2d20: 14 + 4 Dodges: Rolling 5d20: 9 + 10 + 16 + 13 + 4 Luck: Rolling 5d20: 14 + 5 + 20 + 13 + 3

He's impressed by Nero's determination. Though the ghoul had largely tried to resist causing actual harm to @Alizabeth's son, he felt as though they more evenly matched perhaps than he'd first anticipated.

Nero was tenacious in his refusal to release Ransom's paw, the skin had broken some moments before and blood welled up from the puncture wounds caused by the boy's teeth.

Ransom snarled with the pain, instinctively snapping at the air between them, the first show of true aggression toward Nero. His anger is quick to rise and he struggles to contain it, thoughts of Alizabeth wavering but ultimately holding out as he reined back his self control as much as possible.

Suddenly, he's being pulled by the smaller lion, led by his near broken foot to stumble forward. Perhaps Ransom could have tried to resist, but he figured he would try to use it to his advantage. The giant would attempt to fall on top of Nero as he crashed to the earth.


Ransom vs. @Nero
Dominance
Round 3 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 19 + 3 + 13 + 1 + 8 + 20 + 11

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 12 + 14 + 8

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 11 + 14 + 1 + 5 + 2

code by corvus

Nero VS. Ransom FOR dominance
— RESULTS —

Nero Hits: 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 luck = 6
Nero Dodges: 4 + 4 + 2 = 10

Ransom Hits: 4 + 2 + 4 + 1 luck = 11
Ransom Dodges: 2 + 2 + 2 = 6

Nero Successful Hits: 0
Ransom Successful Hits: 1

RANSOM HAS WON THE CHALLENGE FOR DOMINANCE!

Please allow the challengers to respond to the fight results first. As per the site rules, if 3 days go by without a post from the challenger(s), they can be skipped. Whichever comes first! Any posts made before this will be removed, unless you are posting to another fight.

Smuuush. The giant landed on top of Nero.

Ransom wasted little time in rising up, getting to his feet as soon as he was able to in order to avoid any more biting and clawing from @Alizabeth's son. Striped cheeks creased under the grim expression of the ghoul as he stepped back, wringing out his sore, bleeding foot.
"You've fought well. You'd have lamed me with another bite to my foot." He's quite impressed actually, for a small lion @Nero was certainly fierce when the moment called for it.
Ransom set his injured paw to the floor, though it hurt to do so. Blood seeped out and onto the surrounding grass, he would have to wash it in the water before he left.

code by corvus

Nero was absolutely fucking sick of being squished. Between Hiccup and Ransom, it was shocking the albino yearling had any of his goddamn limbs in tact. At least Hiccup had been more his size, but this hulk? Nero was lucky to still be breathing. "Get off, fatass," he snorted, writhing beneath the black lion until Ransom pulled himself from the pile. Nero glowered the entire time he scrambled back to his feet, ears pinning against his head at the praise. "How well someone fights doesn't mean shit if you lose. Next time I'll take the whole goddamn foot off." The brazen yearling grumbled under his breath, feeling no hint of shame at the blood spilling from the paw. He wanted to snap and say that Alizabeth had said he was more important than the men, but he couldn't. He couldn't because he simply didn't feel it was true, because if it was, wouldn't she have taken him into consideration before marrying these two dolts? Introduced them, maybe? He shook his head, snorting. "Whatever. Garbage will always be garbage. Don't fuck with anyone in Scilla, don't come near me, and don't expect me to call you dad>," he said, gagging for effect. "Your allegiance with Alizabeth will not stop me from having you forcibly removed from Scilla if you cause shit. I don't want you there at all, but no one gives a fuck what I want. Everyone does what they want and fuck everyone else." Nero hissed, turning to leave the scene. "Hopefully this is the last time I'll ever see your ugly fuckin' face." exit unless stopped

She had watched the whole thing. And while she had been highly impressed by Nero's fighting - more than she probably should be considering he was slapping Ransom around. Her beast held his own, but the younger, pink boy had at least given him a run for his money.

It took everything in her not to gush, but fuck, did she want to. Standing up from her hiding spot, she slowly slipped out from behind the bones to step in front of Nero, stopping his exit. Pink, vibrant eyes looked him over intently, her features serious - hard. Jaw was set, those tattered lips pursing softly. And then she suddenly began frantically looking over his body, searching for any extensive wounds, checking everywhere it was bleeding - unsure if it was his or Ransom's blood.

All the while she let soft little praises here and there, "You did so good, really got him, huh? YOU SEE THAT RANSOM? This my kid." She beamed, grinning from ear to ear, but there was still a glint of worry in her eye. It didn't matter anything that he had said. Alizabeth knew he was angry - knew he was holding it all in. Right now he needed to know how proud she was and how important he was. No matter what.

@Nero @Ransom

He'd been willing to let the insults go, in the main they had amused him. But Ransom's cerulean eyes narrowed at the albino male when he continued on and on, never letting up even as he lost the fight he had started. Ransom might have done much worse, but out of respect for his mate had not.

It was just as well that Ransom had retreated from the boy before his vitriol had started up again. The behemoth scowled at the nonsense that was spoken. He had supposed that Nero was only angry and needed an outlet. But the boy danced too close to the fire, either with a wish for harm or relying upon the protective force of his family to shield him from it.

Ransom had no issue with letting the fierce little man leave, what else could he do? But then, surprisingly, @Alizabeth stepped out to halt her child. Ransom's brows knotted into a frown, had she been watching all along? What was this? Some sort of test of his patience? Another exertion of her control over him with not one show of loyalty in return.

She's full of motherly love, simpering to the lad. No doubt she had stoked this foolishness in him.

The ghoul could not stomach it any more. His foot still bled freely but he was no longer of a mood to bathe it. Ransom turned from the mother and son, leaving them to their touching moment.

-Exit

code by corvus

Nero, much like Ransom, was just as flabbergasted as @Alizabeth revealed herself to the two of them. He blinked, dumbfounded, and felt heat rising to his cheeks as the woman began to fuss over him. The yearling's ears pinned against his head, his head pulled back in surprise like a startled horse. She looked him over from head to toe, and part of him wondered if this was some sort of.. weird.. punishment? If she'd seen him bicker with her mate, surely teasing and treating him like a baby was.. intentional. Nero wasn't entirely sure what to do, and before he realized it, Ransom was gone. He almost wished he hadn't gone. "What.. are you doing?" he asked, brows furrowed as he turned back to his mother. "I barely touched him -- mom, you look possessed, stop." Where was Alizabeth and who was this?

She wasn't dumb, she wasn't blind. She knew Nero had done a number on Ransom's paw, but in this moment she couldn't jeopardize her relationship with Nero to soothe her mates pain. She could, soon, but in order to build any sort of trust...she had to prioritize her kid in this moment.

Alizabeth had no idea if this would mess up her relationship, but if there was one thing Ransom needed to learn about her - it was that Alizabeth put her kids first. No matter what. Very briefly did she turn to watch Ransom leave, making a mental note to find him later. For now, her attention shifted back to Nero as she offered a kiss to his cheek.

"You still did good, Nero. That's how you learn! You take things into your own paws and kick ass. Did you see his paw? Barely touched him my ass. I'm proud of you." She murmurs, smiling faintly and going back to searching him for wounds. "I just want to make sure you don't have any cuts on ya." She assures him, her tail flicking behind her a bit, kicking up some dirt.

@Nero

He was screaming internally. Why wasn't she upset with him? Nero had never expected her to show up and just.. dote on him like she was, particularly not after she'd just watched him yell at her mate and then try to amputate his paw. His brain was struggling to understand the reasoning. Did it mean she would allow him to berate the man without consequence, or was it some sort of mind game to trick him into doing.. something? He squinted suspiciously, but truth be told, the boy was too naive to understand the motives behind her actions. "So you want me to keep attacking him? What about the other one?" Nero hadn't bumped into Alabaster yet to make an assessment, but both of them were threats and therefore the yearling could only imagine an immediate dislike. "You're proud that I just told your boyfriend to fuck off and tried to rip his paw off?" What the fuck was happening? "And no, I'm fine, he didn't fight back much.." With the exception of flattening him like a pancake. "So it's not really a fight worth celebrating. And I lost, so." He shrugged, hoping she would let him in on what was going through her mind. "Can't believe I lost.." the boy sighed, deflating. How embarrassing.