hells bells || rottmnt oc fic

The massive crowd of yokai erupted into cheers and hoots as a goat-looking figure began to appear in the Battle Nexus arena, being lifted from the trap room by a circular platform. They squinted, although the action wasn’t noticeable through their bangs, and brought a hand up to shield their eyes from the sudden burst of light. After a few seconds, the platform slotted seamlessly into the green tile of the arena and the yokai took a step forwards, letting out a sigh. They looked up at the blaring green-tinted lights above them with a confident smile, casting their gaze back down to prevent any harm to their eyes. 

‘Ah, the battle nexus. What a place to be alive,’ They thought to themself, studying a few random faces in the crowd. They’d been a part of the battle nexus for a couple of months now, but they’d never get over the endlessly unique assortment of individuals that showed up to watch (or take part in) these matches. Never. 

Their nose suddenly twitched on an inhale, picking up on the stale and dusty scent in the air while barely containing a sneeze. Yeah, that’d be quite the laughing stock, wouldn’t it?

‘God, keep your head in the game, Curtis,’ They shook their head at themself, turning their attention back to the crowd. They stood on one side of the arena and threw their arms into the air, eliciting another uproar from the crowd. 

They did have to admit, it was pretty cool having all these people cheer for them. After living the first sixteen years of their life quietly on the sidelines, having everyone know their name was like stepping into the limelight for the first time–literally. Curtis grinned at the thought and stole a glance at a camera that had focused on them, giving it a wink.

---

“Ah– oops, sorry!” Leo apologized quickly, chuckling nervously at the snake yokai who was now glaring daggers at the disguised turtle mutant, cradling their tail. He scurried forwards, trying his hardest to make sure he didn’t lose his two companions in the crowded stands. Leo grunted, adjusting the fluffy coat he was wearing while pulling at the scratchy fur scarf wrapped around his neck. Don’t even get him started on the felt wolf mask Mikey had him wear. Speaking of the younger turtle, Leo nearly walked into him as April stopped abruptly in front of the brothers. Mikey almost jumped out of his purple disguise, sweating buckets as he hesitantly peeked over April’s spiked shoulder. 

“Wha-what happened?! Did we get recognized?” Leo was quick to shush Mikey and slap a hand over his mouth at his loud exclamation. 

“No, not unless you keep yelling like that!” Leo quietly snapped, taking a few cautious glances around to see if anyone had caught on. Thankfully, no one paid them any mind. April gave Leo a look before continuing to move.

“Relax, you two. I was just waiting for some yokai to walk down the stairs.” She explained, beckoning the two forwards to go down the stairs themselves. They wanted front-row seats, after all. Again, Leo walked behind Mikey and April, and again, Mikey was nearly jumping out of his shell at every sudden movement from the yokai around him or the loud voice booming from the overhead speakers.

Leo rolled his eyes and sped up a bit to match Mikey’s pace, draping an arm over his brother’s purple-furred shoulders. Mikey startled again before realizing it was Leo, looking up at him like some kicked puppy. Leo winced, patting his brother's shoulder. “Listen, Mikey, we’re gonna be fiiine. These little disguises you made us are top-notch, there’s no way anyone’s recognizing us.”

Mikey perked up at the compliment and nodded, but wasn’t fully convinced. He piped up nervously; “I know, but just… if Donnie or Raph find out we were here, or-or we get caught and they have to come help us-”

Leo cut off his ramblings, pulling Mikey a bit closer as a yokai passed them on the stairs; “Now, you listen here, Mikester,” Leo jabbed a finger at Mikey’s chest, “all this worrying? Yeah, it’s gonna get us nowhere. We’re here to enjoy ourselves, watch some sick battles, and then go home with no issues whatsoever.” He paused briefly as April slipped into one of the front row aisles, the two turtles following suit. “Big Mama’s not gonna catch us, Don and Raph aren’t gonna bother us. Trust me, Mike, we’re good.”

Mikey sighed, trying to calm his nerves as he nodded, giving Leo a tentative smile. Leo returned it just as they found a few open spaces to watch from. Leo groaned in relief, leaning against the railing while waiting for the battles to start.

Meanwhile, April was thinking of anything but the fighting to come or the consequences of them being caught here. Her eyes were rapidly darting around the stadium, focusing on the overall eerie aesthetic of the place. From the glaring green spotlights to the stalagmites jutting out of the ground in the arena, this place looked sick! April couldn’t help the small squeal she made when she saw the announcer’s booth, decked out in all sorts of spikes and mystic lights. God, she’d love to be in there, commentating on the battle nexus fights. And the VIP box? Holy shit, that Big Mama statue on top was stunning.

Leo suddenly dragged April out of her thoughts as he slung his arms around her and Mikey’s shoulders, his lips sliding into a smirk. He knew it was a good idea to bring them here. “Alright, mis hermanos, looks like the party is gettin’ started!” He exclaimed, pointing a finger at the circular hole that had just opened up on the arena floor. They watched the fairly small competitor enter the arena, and were mildly surprised by the uproar that came from the crowd. Someone seemed popular around here. 

“What’s the deal with them?” Leo queried, mostly to himself, pointing to the goat-like contestant. April and Mikey shrugged but were entirely engrossed with the competitor as they winked at a nearby camera.

A nearby yokai overheard Leo and nudged him, turning slightly towards him to explain; “That’s Hell’s Calamity. They’re one of Big Mama’s new rising champs,” they practically had to shout over the commotion the crowd was making, “they may not look tough, but they’re relentless. Little fucker never lets up.”

Leo quirked a brow, his arms retreating from April and Mikey’s shoulders as he leaned over the railing in front of him. “I see, I see.”

‘Wonder why they’re called “Hell’s Calamity”,’ Leo thought to himself, scratching his chin as the announcer swiftly (and loudly) introduced the Calamity, even after he stated that they needed no introduction. Leo found an amused smile creeping onto his face while he watched the Calamity fidget, unable to stand still. This should be fun.

---

Curtis rolled their shoulders and shook their hands (hooves? Hooved hands?) out, hopping from hoof to hoof as the announcer continued speaking. They watched as the floor opposite them opened up and covered the arena with sickly green smoke. It slinked around the arena as if it had a mind of its own, eventually surrounding Curtis. They held their breath, the nerves kicking in slightly as they watched a shadowy black silhouette rise from the hole in the ground. It was extremely difficult to see past the smoke; all that Curtis could discern was that they were big.

The announcer introduced their opponent, a yokai by the name of “Snapper Trapper”. Curtis’ face visibly dropped, processing the implication of that name. They prayed it wasn’t what they thought it was as they took a defensive stance, their limbs twitching in anticipation.

The buzzer rang suddenly, breaking Curtis’ focus for a split second as a plant-like tendril shot out from the green fog. They yelped in surprise, quickly diving to the right as the tendril slammed into the wall behind them, a few cracks splintering out from the impact. Woo, that thing’s got some serious power behind it.

Curtis scrambled to their feet and continued dodging, jumping up higher than they should be able to and moving around with a slippery-like efficiency. There was more than one tendril–vines, now that they got a closer look–and it was getting a little hard to keep out of their reach. One vine shot out to block their path as another raced toward them. Curtis grunted and jumped up onto the one in front of them, flipping backwards to evade the second one. They landed almost perfectly, wasting no time as they started running again in the opposite direction.

Mikey was immediately fascinated, stars practically forming in his eyes. He shook his fists up and down, squealing with child-like wonder as he watched the Calamity intently. “Whaaaat!? She’s so good at that! This is awesome!” He almost screamed while latching onto April, who was equally enamoured, without ever letting his gaze lose the goat below him.

Leo let out a long “psh!”, waving his hand at Mikey nonchalantly when he realized how excited his brother was. He couldn’t let this random yokai show him up in front of his brother and pseudo-sister, no way. “Puh-lease, I could do that with my eyes closed. He hasn’t even landed a hit yet!”

April playfully rolled her eyes, her arms crossed. Well, as crossed as they could be with Mikey squeezing her in a death grip. “Sure ya could, Leon.”

Leo scoffed and gave April side-eyes, but his attention was pulled back to the arena as the audience burst into gasps and cheers. The green smoke had finally settled, revealing a large, venus fly trap-looking yokai. It bellowed, the deep sound echoing around the arena and shaking everything in its vicinity.

Curtis froze momentarily, cursing to themself. They had a feeling it would be a fly trap. Unfortunately, there was no backing out now. A plan quickly formulated in their mind as they braced against the ground and launched themself forwards, a wicked smile strewn across their face. The fly trap yokai sent another vine at Curtis, but they grabbed it and pulled themself up and over before it could get a hold of them, pushing themselves off of it to ram into the side of the opposing yokai.

Mikey and April cheered obnoxiously loud at the manoeuvre, nearly blowing out the eardrums of the surrounding yokai (and Leo), already getting into the spirit of the battle nexus. They blabbered at each other, mindlessly saying things like “did you see that?!” and “that was so cool!”. Leo snorted at the two, resting his head on his hand while he leaned on the railing.

The yokai roared in pain from the impact as another vine shot forwards and, this time, caught Curtis, throwing them to the ground with a loud thump. A chorus of “ooo”s rang out from the crowd, and a deflated “nooo!” came from Mikey and April, but just as quickly as Curtis had been thrown down, they sprung back up again, scowling. That had very clearly pissed them off.

Curtis reeled a hand back, standing their ground even as a few vines started forwards again. Then something ignited, and a fireball was suddenly blazing in the centre of their palm. Curtis lifted a knee to their chest, taking a position similar to that of a baseball pitcher, before absolutely sending that fireball at the fly trap yokai. It whizzed forwards at an unimaginable speed, searing the vines that were previously aimed at Curtis and continuing on its path toward its target. It made contact with a sickening sizzle, and the yokai cried out again, flailing madly.

The crowd barely had any time to react before Curtis was lunging forwards again with renewed ferocity, grabbing hold of one of the charred vines lying on the floor. Luckily, it was still attached to the yokai. Perfect. Then they were off, bolting around the arena with impeccable speed. At first, it was hard to tell what exactly they were doing. That is until they were done their first lap of the ring and the charred vine had loosely wrapped around the yokai’s legs.

Unfortunately for Curtis, their opponent had also noticed, and the onslaught of vines got much worse. A few times, they were knocked off of their feet or stumbled, just barely dodging, but they continued on their path. Eventually, the charred vine began running out of length and Curtis was getting too close to the yokai. Their eyes flitted around for a moment, then focused on something that seemed entirely too risky for them to try. Regardless, they let go of the charred vine and dodged swiftly to the side as a new one plunged into the ground next to them.

Then their grubby little hands were on the new vine and they were off again. The yokai was caught off guard, including most of the crowd, as they began running laps around it again with its perfectly intact and functioning vine in tow. It growled, attempting to thrash the captive vine around to free it from Curtis’ grasp. They grunted, being thrown slightly off balance by the sudden movement. They knew they’d eventually be overpowered, so they turned to the next best thing; gravity.

Curtis speedily approached the wall, leaping up and then launching themselves as hard as they could off of it. The vine was quickly pulled taut, and Curtis was left swinging around the yokai. They whooped with glee, making quick work of tying up the fly trap with a grin on their face. The crowd went wild as the yokai started to lean, losing balance with its legs tied tightly together, and it tumbled over with an aggravated snarl and a loud thump.

The noise began to die down as people started to notice that Curtis was nowhere to be seen. Everyone held their breath, especially Mikey and April, as they searched for the small goat. Then there was a hand reaching over the thrashing fly trap yokai, and there was Curtis, hauling themself up and over the yokai. The audience went surprisingly quiet, making Curtis’ stomach churn. Nevertheless, they straightened up, nearly being thrown off again by another jerk of their opponent. So, they threw a fist in the air, not wanting to stand on this yokai any longer.

Cheers and screams echoed around the arena, the crowd responding with an overwhelming wave of applause. Hell, April and Mikey were practically jumping up and down, squealing and clapping with glee. However, Leo wasn’t that amused. Okay sure, they immobilized their opponent with its own vines, but they barely did any actual fighting! And what happened to that fire they used? They could’ve had that yokai defeated soooo much easier!

Soon enough, Calamity and the fly trap yokai were descending into the floor through that nifty trapdoor, and the crowd came down to its regular pre-battle volume.

“Wasn’t that cool, Leo!?” Mikey practically shouted in his ear, painfully startling Leo out of his thoughts. He quickly regained his composure and scoffed, putting on a poker face. “Yeah, yeah, they were alright I guess.” Mikey and April turned to each other with stars in their eyes, and then back to Leo. He groaned. They were going to be here for a while, weren’t they?

---

He was correct. The trio continued to watch Curtis kick ass in the battle nexus, each round they participated in featured some new challenge. The first battle they watched, as they had eventually pieced together, was a no-weapons round. Impressive. They went from heavy weapons only to small weapons only, low visibility to blindfolded (now THAT was impressive). When regular weapons were allowed, Curtis usually went for some form of axe. It was an interesting choice.

Okay, fine, he’d admit it; they were starting to catch his interest. Their combat skills were pretty good. But it wasn’t until the current round that Leo really started to favour Hell’s Calamity. In this round, each opponent was allowed to have one small mystic accessory.

“Oh-ho-ho, this should be fun,” Leo exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in excitement; anything that involved magic or mystic powers was bound to catch his attention. Mikey and April shared a look, seeming satisfied that Leo was finally giving into the hype of the battle nexus, and Hell’s Calamity, more specifically.

Curtis’ opponent, a large leopard yokai, picked up an odd-looking crown from their rack and adjusted it onto his head. Its frame was crafted from some shimmering gold metal, unlike any metal the turtles or April had ever seen before. It was twisted into ornate patterns and swirls, looking more akin to a fancy gold vine crown than anything. Leo came to the, quite obvious, conclusion that it was some mystic metal. In the middle of the ornate metal band where it dipped down towards the forehead was a gleaming amber gemstone. It looked like it changed hues when the light hit it just right.

Meanwhile, Curtis cautiously plucked a peculiar blue-silver ring from their rack, inspecting its rough light blue gem before shimmying it onto one of their digits. They put their hand out in front of them, smirking at the ring before turning their head slightly to look at their opponent through their ashy-blonde bangs.

The leopard huffed at them, crossing his arms with a confident grin. “You ready to get your butt kicked, kid?” 

Curtis snorted at the possibly unintentional pun and turned to face the leopard fully, matching their stance and expression. “Nah, nah- Don’t get ahead ‘a yerself, leopard man,” Curtis sneered, their northern accent slipping through slightly, “if you haven’t so kindly noticed, I’ve been on one hell of a winning streak tonight, and I don’t plan on losin’ it now.”

The yokai growled, his fur bristling. Curtis gave him a cheeky grin before the buzzer went off. The pair didn’t move for a moment, eyeing each other- one with amusement and the other with anger- before the leopard yokai split into two.

Curtis was taken aback for a moment, their face dropping into one of confusion and… slight unease. The leopard continued duplicating until there were at least a dozen clones on his side of the arena, all snarling at the poor teenager in front of them.

Mikey booed from the stands, nearly leaning over the railing before Leo grabbed a fistful of his jacket collar and gently tugged him back. “That’s unfair! Totally overpowered!” The turtle shouted, receiving unsavoury glares from the surrounding yokai. Apparently, he didn’t care about drawing attention to himself anymore.

Curtis paused, counting out each clone with a point and a mutter while they rubbed their chin with their unoccupied hand. One of the leopards looked at Curtis puzzledly before shaking his head. Another leopard suddenly pounced forwards, claws unsheathed and aimed right at Curtis’ face. They simply stuck their tongue out and blew a raspberry at him before popping out of existence with a flash of blue.

The leopard came to a screeching halt, claws scraping on the tiled floor to bring himself to a stop. Unfortunately, by the time he had stopped and turned around, Curtis was already there to greet him with a solid roundhouse kick to the face. The leopard flew to the side and hit the floor with a “poof!” as it exploded into a yellow cloud of shimmering dust.

Hm. Interesting. One clone down.

They heard the next one coming before they could see it, zapping out of view again just as another leopard went to tackle them. Curtis reappeared after a second but was immediately rushed by two more leopards. So this is how he was going to play it, huh? They teleported again, knocking another clone out of existence with a swift punch to the jaw before ducking to avoid a swing from behind them. This process continued, with Curtis teleporting away to avoid an attack while also attempting to eliminate another clone.

After a minute, Curtis noticed the number of clones wasn’t really changing, and they had yet to figure out which leopard was the original. They were still getting jumped every few seconds, no matter how many leopards they turned into yellow glitter. They grunted and attempted to dodge as another leopard lept for them, the clone just barely nicking the side of their forehead. Curtis winced, bringing their hand up to prod at the cut before preparing themself for a stupid plan. If Curtis could poof them faster than their opponent could summon them, surely they’d find an opening, yeah? Yeah.

The fight quickly blurred into a muddled blob of blue and yellow when Curtis started to instantaneously teleport around the clones, kicking and swinging at them just as fast as they were teleporting. Leo whooped and whistled while April and Mikey aggressively shook each other out of excitement. Leo never thought teleportation could be used in a way like this; hell, Curtis was teleporting so fast that Leo could hardly keep his eyes on them. Oh, how he’d love to get some pointers from them.

Curtis was bouncing off the walls at this point; quite literally. They were cackling maniacally, launching themself off of different clones and practically ramming into the remaining ones. Hell, a few fireballs had left their grasp and incinerated any clone that had stepped in the way of their trajectory. One particular leopard hurriedly dodged a fireball, his back arching away from the flames with fear. Curtis’ gaze snapped to him while punching a clone smack-dab in the middle of its face. There he is.

He noticed his mistake a moment too late, his expression dropping into one of horror as Curtis disappeared from his view. It was fairly predictable where they’d be next, however, and the leopard quickly whipped around to block a powerful kick from Curtis. The impact of their hoof made him stumble, pain shooting up his arm. That was bound to bruise later on.

Curtis had been pretty confident in themself up until this point, a pleased smile on their face as they delivered a punch to the leopard’s face, effectively breaking the mystic crown that he had been wearing. Curtis made another attempt to land a right hook but instead felt their heart drop when the leopard caught their fist, ripping the ring off their finger and making eye contact with them for a split second before throwing them to the ground.

The yokai quickly lashed out at Curtis’ face with unsheathed claws, making an effort to pin them down with one of his back paws. Curtis yelped and rolled out of the way to get back onto their feet just in time, quickly taking on a defensive role as the leopard desperately tried to claw at their face. The wrappings around Curtis’ arms did little to protect their forearms from his sharp claws when they hid behind them, so they resorted to ducking and weaving the best they could, but it wasn’t looking too good.

Mikey and April were distraught at this point, hanging on Curtis’ every move. Leo held them in a death grip by the backs of their jackets, partly because he was also on the edge of his seat, but mostly because he was worried the two of them would try to jump down and help them.

Curtis’ forearms were pretty ripped up by the time they had finally gotten another good kick in, sending their opponent flying backwards and tumbling to a stop in front of the arena walls. Curtis only had a moment to think–to formulate a semi-decent plan–before they rushed forwards, nearly running on all fours to get themself there faster before the leopard could realize what was happening.

“GEEEET FUCKED!” Curtis hollered before jumping up and slamming the leopard into the wall with their hooves, a sickening crack ringing out through the arena. Curtis hurriedly pushed off of him and froze, watching the yokai in front of them slink down the wall and crumple onto the floor. They started panicking, mind racing, before letting out the loudest sigh of relief when they heard the leopard groan in pain.

They quickly turned to face the rest of the crowd, hiding the discomfort on their face the best they could, keeping up the ecstatic energy by confidently flexing their arms with a cunning grin. Yet again, the crowd went wild, and Curtis basked in the praise of onlookers. But this time, it couldn’t fully extinguish the pit of anxiety forming in their stomach.

While the crowd cheered, Curtis slowly made their way back to the centre of the arena, wiping the blood from their brow and wincing at the sting that it left afterwards. They’d have to get that patched up. Ah, well, the cuts all along their arms would also have to be treated, but they’d rather not think about those right now.

As Curtis reached the middle of the arena, a louder buzzer went off–sounding more akin to an air horn–signalling that Curtis was done for the day. They took a breath of relief, weakly throwing their arms back up in the air to keep the crowd entertained as the announcer gave Hell’s Calamity a final send-off. Curtis could feel the floor shift underneath them as they began to lower into the floor, giving the crowd their last waves of the night. Once they had finally dropped below the floor level and the hatch above them closed, they slouched over in exhaustion, nervously wiping their hands on their pants.

---

Mikey, Leo and April watched as their new all-time favourite person descended out of view, all three of them staying silent for a solid ten seconds after the hatch closed. Yokai started to filter out of the stands, pushing past the trio and towards the exit. They all slowly turned to look at each other, mouths hanging open in awe, before they started squealing with excitement and violently shaking each other.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Mikey shouted, throwing his hands into the air as they exited the Battle Nexus. Leo and April were nearly as ecstatic as he was, following close behind. 

“Right?!” April hollered, skipping enthusiastically next to Mikey, “That leopard was all like ‘I’m gonna kick your butt!’ and she was all like ‘Nuh-uh!’,” April paused to put a hand on her hip and wag her finger, imitating the previous battle, “‘No you ain’t!’”

Leo piped in suddenly, a wide grin on his face, “And did you see those teleportation moves?” He squealed, stomping his feet briefly before falling back into pace with Mikey and April, “I’ve gotta get some tips from them sometime.”

The three of them continued to gush, the whole way through the Hidden City and then back to the lair. Passerbys gave them odd glances and vague gestures, but the three teenagers didn’t even notice.

Even as they hurried through alleyways and scurried down the manhole their chatter never halted, seeming to come up with a new point to idolize with every passing second. Their loud conversation turned to hushed whispers as they traversed the sewers, attempting to steer clear of the rest of their family while they still had their disguises on.

Unfortunately, nothing ever goes the way it’s supposed to with the Hamatos.

The trio skittered to a stop when they entered the skateboarding room, spotting Donnie enter from one of the other tunnels. They held their breaths and stood deathly still, hoping that Donnie would keep his eyes on his armband. Alas, he glanced up at the three, standing near the back of the room with looks of panic on their faces. He raised a drawn-on brow, looking them up and down.

“Why are the three of you dressed like that?” He questioned, halted in the middle of the room. Mikey, Leo and April quickly spring back to life, trying their best to look nonchalant. Mikey was the first to come up with an excuse, glancing at his nail polish in an attempt to hide the worry on his face.

“Oh, no reason, there was just this suuuper cool costume party we went to,” he remarked, subtly tugging at Leo’s arm to get him moving before Donnie started asking questions.

To his surprise, Donnie simply gave them an odd look and shrugged before continuing out of the skateboard room and to his lab. The three of them stayed there for a moment longer, glancing at each other in confusion, before warily heading to Mikey’s room to change out of their disguises.

---

Curtis hummed a quiet tune as they began to make their way through the lower floors of the battle nexus, bobbing their head and tapping their hands on their pants to an unheard beat. They watched the yokai around them, some passing by and others stopping to chat. Most, if not all of them were employees of Big Mama, each having some task to be doing right now. Curtis heard someone call their name, barely having any time to react before a roll of bandages was thrown at them.

Curtis fumbled, just barely stopping it from falling to the floor. They glanced up at the familiar kangaroo yokai that had tossed it to them, an amused look on his face.

“Hey, good job out there, kid! Figured you’d need those after your last fight,” he congratulated, pushing a cart of laundry along. Curtis froze up slightly, processing the interaction, before quickly recovering and putting on a cool facade.

“Aye, thanks, man! Appreciate it!” Curtis called over their shoulder, giving the yokai a quick salute before resuming the trek to their room. They tore off the old wrappings on their arms, now cut up and stained with blood, shoving the remains into their pocket before unravelling the new roll. A shiver ran up their spine as they stared at the shallow cuts that were scattered across their forearms; they were always a squeamish person. Regardless, they started to temporarily wrap their arms back up.

The walk back to Curtis’ room was certainly not as peaceful as they had hoped; dozens of yokai had stopped them or hollered at them as they navigated the endless hallways, congratulating them on their victories. Curtis had never been one to handle compliments well, but they were doing an alright job so far.

Another familiar face called out to Curtis, this time a sheep yokai. “Oh, hey Denice!” They greeted her, giving her a small wave as they slowed to a stop.

“Hi, Curtis! I hope yer pants have been behavin’ themselves now,'' Denice laughed, smoothing out the ruffles in her dress. Curtis perked up, instinctively kicking their leg out to look at the aforementioned article of clothing. Denice had sewed them up to knee length so that they wouldn’t fall mid-fight anymore when Curtis rolled them.

“Oh yeah! The pants are sooo much more comfortable now, thanks for hemmin’ ‘em!” Curtis thanked her, moving their legs around a bit as if to prove their point.

Denice smiled, “No problem, hun! Let me know if ya need anything else, yeah?”

Curtis grinned, giving Denice a thumbs up. “Will do!” And then they were off again.

By the time Curtis got to their room, they had a massive smile on their face, going back to humming a tune when the number of yokai they passed started to thin. The anxiety they had felt before had slowly ebbed its way out of their mind on their way here and was practically gone as they unlocked their door, swinging it open and stepping in.

Ah, they would never get over their quaint little room. It was set up similarly to an actor’s dressing room, with a desk accompanied by a chair and mirror on one side of the room, but also had a small bed tucked into the corner along with a dresser and nightstand. There was also a small couch and coffee table opposite the desk, giving the room a welcoming vibe. Ugh, Curtis couldn’t get enough of the small space. It was like their own little world where they wouldn’t be disturbed-

“Curtis, a word?” The goat in question bleated in surprise, cursing as they whipped around in embarrassment to see a fox yokai leaning up against the wall with an amused look on his face. His tail twitched slightly, tilting his head up to stare at Curtis from under the brim of his hat.

Curtis groaned, putting a hand to their chest as they kicked the door closed behind them. “Jesus, Aavar! You scared the livin’ shit outta me!”

Aavar huffed, pushing off from the wall to stand at his full height. “I have to keep you on your toes, hm? Can’t have anyone sneaking up on you, now.” Curtis scoffed, tossing the half-used-up roll of bandages on the couch. 

Aavar was Curtis’ appointed mentor for the Battle Nexus. They were sure that Aavar wasn’t fond of them, only putting up with their shenanigans because he couldn’t go against Big Mama’s orders. Hell, when they had first met and he realized Curtis didn’t have any previous fighting experience, he almost turned around and walked back out of the room.

A thought dawned on Curtis and their expression melted into one of horror. “How long have you been in my room?”

Aavar waved a hand at them, stepping to the side to inspect a figurine on their desk. “Not long, not long, don’t worry.”

Curtis sighed, dragging a bloodied hand down their face. “So what’s up then, Aavar?”

He paused, clearly debating what he should say next.

“How were your battles?” He questioned, eyes glancing down to their freshly wrapped arms and bloody hands. Curtis shifted on the spot, trying to think of something to busy their hands with. “You’re going to need to disinfect those, by the way.”

Curtis groaned; that one crucial step had completely slipped their mind when they were given the bandages. They shuffled over to their desk, searching for the bottle of rubbing alcohol. “They were good,” they responded flatly, tugging open drawers and rifling through them, “god, that fly trap one was a trip. Really had me scratching my head on what to do.”

Aavar hummed, crossing his arms again. “Yes, that was quite impressive. Good job,” Curtis perked up at the praise, a small smile making its way back onto their face. “How about that last one?”

Curtis’ expression immediately dropped and their movements faltered for a moment. There it was, that feeling of anxiety creeping back up their spine. Curtis quickly went back to searching for the rubbing alcohol, kissing their teeth. “What about it?”

Aavar sighed, his tail swishing back and forth with agitation. “You got sloppy, Curtis,” the young champion in front of him whipped around to retort like he knew they would, but Aavar continued anyway, “you relied too much on this silly mystic trinket,” he suddenly produced said ring from behind him, flicking it in Curtis’ direction, “and nearly lost because of it.”

Curtis caught the ring, glancing down at it before scowling at Aavar. “Whaddya mean ‘nearly lost’?!” They snapped, glaring daggers at the fox in front of them. “Didn’t you see? I was kicking the shit out of that guy!” Aavar opened his mouth to comment, but Curtis cut him off this time, “Sure, he got some hits in on me at the end, but I still beat him! Where’s the entertainment if I just win every battle, no problems?”

Aavar took a moment to process the last sentence and groaned, pinching the bridge of his muzzle. “Ugh, you’ve been talking to Big Mama too often,” Curtis paused, a flash of confusion crossing their face before Aavar put a hand on their shoulder, “listen, Curtis; forget about the entertainment.” Aavar’s expression turned dark, confusing Curtis even more, “Every battle here is a gamble on your life. You’ve seen it before; it doesn’t always end at a knockout.”

Curtis’ expression dropped, nearly gagging at the memories that statement brought back up. It was true; they had seen some… gruesome fights take place before they entered the ring.

Aavar took a breath, “Big Mama’s been going easy on you so far; giving you mediocre opponents and a number of different advantages, but it won’t be like that forever.”

Curtis could only stare up at him with large eyes, their breathing turning shallow. Aavar exhaled, patting Curtis’ shoulder to ground them a bit. “I don’t mean to scare you, but you have to keep improving for the sake of your survival down here. You cannot afford to fall behind.”

Curtis suddenly shoved Aavar’s hand off of their shoulder, taking a step back to create space. “Well, you did a great job at not scaring me,” they responded sarcastically, rolling their eyes to try and get rid of the water that had welled up in their eyes. Aavar huffed, crossing his arms once more.

“Curtis, it is imperative that you take this seriously. You could-”

Curtis’ mood soured, barking out a response; “Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it. Can you go now?” A pang of unpleasant familiarity hit them hard in the chest, nearly winding them along with a wave of vertigo. They managed to stay steady on their feet, swaying only slightly.

Aavar hesitated, studying Curtis a moment as his brows furrowed, before he swiftly left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Curtis paused for a moment, eyes lingering on where the yokai had just disappeared before a frown appeared on their lips. They rubbed at their face again, groaning. Their anxiety was back and worse than before, making them feel sick and out of breath. Curtis heaved out a sigh, falling back onto their couch and staring up at the ceiling. This is exactly what they hoped they would avoid here.

They let their head fall back down, spotting the bottle of rubbing alcohol under the coffee table. Oh.

With a solemn expression, Curtis leaned down to grab the bottle, placing it back on the table along with the ring they had been gripping tightly in their hand, before beginning to unwrap their arms again.

END.