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The Tiger who beat Rams
By Alex Dunne
Kai was walking down the dirt road of the Cherryton Academy. He was looking around for a particular black and white squirrel.
“KAI!” The mongoose turned around and saw who he was looking for. Out in the distance was the snooty squirrel herself, Tasha. She ran up to Kia like she was running a marathon.
“Tasha, why are you running so fast and why are you late?” Tasha stopped and panted heavily, it was a bright and hot day so she was extra tired.
“I have…gossip…to spill.” She said between breaths, Kai’s eyes widened with curiosity.
“What is it, spill the tea?” Tasha took a moment to catch her breath.
“Tybalt and Pina fought!”
“What, when did you hear this?” Kai was excited, it’s been awhile since he heard some drama.
“Last week, I heard it from Agnes.”
“Well who won, that’s what I wanna know.”
“Tybalt won, he beat Pina to a pulp.” Tasha said with a smile, but Kai questioned what she said.
“Are you sure, I mean, he is smaller than Pina.” Kai moved his wrist in a circular motion as he said that. Tasha nodded.
“I’m sure and there’s a reason they fought.” This grew Kai’s interest. “They fought because Bill threatened Moe, so Tybalt went to fight him but Pina intervened.” Kai tilted his head by what he heard.
“Ok, I’m not sure you heard Agnes right because there’s no way Bill did something like that.”
“Oh I’m sure, I can even tell you what happened.”
“Please, enlighten me.” Tasha started to explain what happened. It was a bright sunny day at the academy, it was lunchtime so everyone went to grab something to eat. Within these animals was Moe, he got his lunch and went to sit when suddenly he pumped into someone, his food spilling on the other's shirt.
“Sorry.” The animal he spilled his food on was Bill.
“What the hell, watch where you’re going, pipsquack!” Bill growled.
“I’m sorry, I can clean it.” Moe grabbed some nearby napkins and started to clean Bill’s clothes, but Bill slapped Moe’s hand away.
“Don’t touch me you little pest!” Bill poked Moe’s chest, Moe backed away. “Come near me again and I’ll kill you!” Bill left leaving Moe alone, he looked at the ground and whined a bit, he started to walk off wanting to find Tybalt. Tybalt was in the yard, he was practicing his baseball bat swings. Out in the distance he saw the blue silhouette of Moe.
“Hey Moe!” Tybalt waved at him, Moe came closer to him, but he could tell something was off.
“Hey.” He was still looking at the ground.
“What’s wrong Little Blue?” Tybalt asked, kneeling down in front of Moe.
“I spilled my lunch on Bill, so I tried to clean it but he slapped my hand away and threatened to kill me if I came near him again.” Moe explained, Tybalt started to growl.
“What, no one threatens my Moe!” Tybalt got up, he grabbed his bat and started to walk towards the academy.
“Wait, Tybalt, no.” Moe tried to stop Tyblat, but he was stronger so he easily kept going. Meanwhile, in the locker room, Pina was helping Bill clean his clothes.
“That little blue brat did this.” Bill said.
“Relax Bill, this can be easily fixed.” Pina tried to calm Bill down.
“Yeah well, he should've been watching where he was going.” Pina sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Whatever am I going to do with you?” Pina said, shaking his head, suddenly Tybalt came in with the bat.
“There you are!” He was about to jump at Bill until Moe and a second animal came to stop him.
“Tybalt don’t!” Moe yelled, Pina got in front of Bill.
“What is going on here?”
“That good for nothing, small brain blacked striped thing threatened Moe!” Tybalt tried to escape the hold of the two, but they kept him still. Pina huffed and turned to Bill.
“What did you say?” Bill panicked and looked around, he let out a sigh of defeat.
“I may have…threatened to kill him.” He admitted, Pina’s eyes widened, he looked back at Tybalt.
“I’m sorry for his actions, let’s just move on from this.” Pina suggested.
“No, I wanna knock his teeth out!” Tybalt squirmed some more.
“You’re gonna have to get through me first.” Pina said, pointing his thumb at himself. Tybalt managed to break free and was about to hit Pina with the bat until Moe stepped in and stood in front of Pina , Tybalt stopped the swing.
“Move out of the way Moe!” Moe shook his head.
“There has to be a better way to do this.”
“Perhaps there is.” Pina said with a smirk. “Follow me.” He headed out the locker room, Moe, Tybalt and Bill looked at each other and started to follow him, Tybalt glared at Bill as they walked. They made their way to a different room, they passed some students who seemed to be leaving from an intense workout, some had bruises on their faces and black eyes. The three wondered where Pina was taking them. They soon entered the room that the other animals were in, it was the gym room with lots of equipment and a ring in the center. “Ta-da.” Pina lifted his arms in the air like he just did a wonderful performance.
“Alright, I guess I can duke it out with Bill in the ring.” Tybalt said, throwing punches in front of him. Pina giggled a bit.
“Oh no, don’t you remember anything?” Tybalt growled. “I said you have to get through me first.” Pina started to remove his shirt, Tybalt and Moe looked away while Bill watched and blushed. “Alright, I have spare equipment for us, so get ready.”
“Do you even know how to fight, I mean, you don’t look like the type to fight.” Tybalt commented.
“Oh believe me, I know how to take care of you predators.” Tybalt growled some more.
“Fine then, don’t be upset when I leave you all bruised and bloody.” Tybalt removed his uniform as well, Moe couldn’t help but stare at Tybalt’s abs. Pina went over and reached under the ring, he pulled out two bags and threw one at Tybalt.
“That’s what you’ll be wearing.” Tybalt looked in the bag and saw a pair of pink gloves and shorts with a matching mouthguard.
“Wow, so embarrassing, I might just melt away.” Tybalt chuckled, he put the bag down and started to remove his pants revealing a jockstrap underneath.
“Dude!” Bill said, looking away.
“What, we’re all men here, not like we haven’t seen this before.” Moe’s face grew red, he covered his eyes and shook his head. Tybalt put on the shorts and gloves. “Hey Little Blue, do I look hot?” He said while flexing his arms. Moe looked at Tybalt and nodded his head. “Heh, thought so.” Tybalt laughed, meanwhile, Pina was putting on a pair of blue gloves and matching shorts.
“Alright tiger, let’s do this.” He pounded his gloves and got in the ring, Tybalt nodded and got in as well. Moe and Bill went to their respectful sides and got in the ring.
“You don’t have to do this Tybalt, we can just move on.” Moe said, putting in Tybalt’s mouthguard.
“Oh I wanna do this, no one gets away with threatening my Little Blue.” Moe sighed and smiled.
“Alright, just try not to get too hurt please.”
“Don’t worry, I got this in the bag and when I’m done I’m taking you out.” Tybalt said with a wink, Moe chuckled and kissed Tybalt on the cheek.
“Good luck.” He got out the ring, on the other side.
“Are you sure about this Pina, I mean, he plays baseball and works out more than you.” Bill said.
“Of course I’m sure, besides, I’ve fought bigger guys than him, plus I took you on at one point.”
“Yeah, but you lost.” Pina shrugged.
“You’re bigger, he’s smaller, I like my odds.” Bill rolled his eyes, he put Pina’s mouthguard in and got out. “Alright, each round will be around five minutes, we’ll have multiple rounds until one of us drops.” Tybalt nodded in agreement. “Bill, set a timer please.” Bill took his phone out ready to start. Pina got up and started to head to the center, Tybalt also got up and walked. They met in the center, staring at each other.
“Ready?” They both touched gloves. “Fight!” Bill started the timer. Pina and Tybalt circled each other, Pina winked at Tybalt causing him to growl, he threw a hook to Pina’s cheek making him grunt a bit. Tybalt grinned and threw a quick jab at Pina’s nose. Pina blocks the jab and throws an uppercut at Tybal’s chin making the tiger grunt, but he stands his ground.
“Come on Tybalt!” Moe cheered, Tybalt focused and ducks Pina’s jab, he throws a jab at Pina’s gut, Pina grits his teeth as the punch lands. Tybalt jumps back and smashes his gloves together.
“Come on, I thought you’d put up more of a fight.” He taunted. Pina groaned, he rushed at Tybalt throwing an uppercut to his gut, Tybalt moved his defense to his gut but was surprised to feel nothing land, it was a false punch. Pina smirks and throws two hooks across Tybalt’s face, he grunts from the punches causing his defense to fall, Pina takes this chance to throw a real uppercut to his gut. Tybalt’s body rises a bit as the punch lands, he growls and throws a jab at Pina’s chin making the ram stumble back a bit. Tybalt rushes at Pina and starts to throw jab after jab at his gut, Pina grunts as a bit of spit flies out of his mouth. Pina backs up a bit trying to get away, Tybalt keeps coming at him. Bill’s timer goes off, ending the round. Tybalt stops and walks back to his corner, Pina does the same. Tybalt leans against his corner as Moe gets in and uses a rag to clean the sweat off Tybal’s body.
“You’re doing great, I know you got this.” Tybalt rolls his head and shoulders around.
“Remember what I said, I’m taking you out after this.” Tybalt booped Moe on the nose with his glove making Moe chuckle. Bill was on the other side, Pina’s nose bled a bit so he cleaned it.
“Pina, you can’t win, you’re not built for this sorta thing.” Bill tried to reason with him.
“I don’t care, I’m not gonna let him hurt you, especially with a metal bat.” Pina argued back, he looked straight into Bill’s eyes as he said that. Bill sighed.
“Ok, just promise me that if it gets to be too much that you’ll just fall and stay down, please.” Pina rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Fine, I can do that for my scared little kitten.” Bill groaned while Pina chuckled. Bill and Moe got out of the ring, Tybalt and Pina met in the center waiting for the round to start.
“Fight!” The timer starts, Pina makes the first move with a jab to the eye, Tybalt growls from the hit and takes a step back. Pina comes at Tybalt with another jab, but Tybalt dodges it and throws a hook to Pina’s cheek. Pina stumbles with a grunt, Tybalt comes running at Pina ready to throw an uppercut to his gut, Pina sees this and blocks the uppercut. Tybalt goes for a jab to his nose, but Pina also blocks it.
“Stop hiding you coward!” Tybalt growled, he proceeded to throw a barrage of jabs at Pina who blocked his face and gut. Tybalt keeps the punches coming trying to break Pina’s defense. Pina began to back away from Tybalt, but that didn't stop him from attacking, Tybalt kept the jabs coming putting more power force into his blows. Pina is being pushed back now. “Keep it together Pina.” He thought to himself as he was pushed back. Tybalt pulls a fist back before throwing a hard jab at Pina’s defense, it doesn’t break but Pina’s back does hit the ropes. He looks behind him. “Already?” His defense slightly drops from him being distracted, Tybalt takes this chance to throw an uppercut to Pina’s gut. Pina coughs from the surprise punch and hunches over a bit, Tybalt then throws an uppercut to Pina’s chin making his head fly up. Pina stays standing and leans against the ropes to support him, Tybalt lets out a roar before throwing hooks and uppercuts at Pina’s face and body. Pina grunts from the punches as his head flys left and right while his gut is bashed. Tybalt stops the hooks and just starts to jab his gut. He throws a left jab first then a right to Pina’s gut, Pina grunts as he leans forward a bit, Tybalt then throws a hard uppercut to his gut making Pina spit out his mouthguard. Pina steps forward to Tybalt and pulls him into a clinch, Tybalt tries to push Pina off him but Pina refuses to let go. Tybalt just accepts the clinch and uses it to beat at Pina’s gut some more. Pina grunts with each punch, his body being lifted from the ground bit by bit, Pina tries to stop him with some punches to Tybalt’s cheek. Tybalt takes them with a grin as he keeps the beating coming. Pina lets out a growl. “That’s it, now more mister nice sheep.” He pushes himself off of Tybalt before taking a hold of Tybalt’s shoulder and starting to throw hard hooks at his cheek. Tybalt grunts as some spit flies onto the mat, Pina keeps this up for a couple of seconds before throwing Tybalt to the ropes. Tybalt’s body bounces off them giving Pina the chance to throw a hard jab at his snout, Tybalt yells from this and his body bounces off the ropes again, Pina uses this to throw jabs at Tybalt’s face and body. Tybalt’s nose starts to bleed from the jabs, he manages to block one of them aiming for his gut, but Pina snarls before throwing a hard uppercut to Tybalt’s chin. Tybalt’s head goes flying and he almost falls, but he catches himself on the ropes, he didn’t have time to put his defense up so Pina came at him again, but the timer goes off ending that round.
“You’re lucky.” Pina huffs before grabbing his mouthguard and going back to his corner, Tybalt smiles and goes back to his. Pina stands there leaning against his corner, Bill gets in and tends to Pina.
“What was that, I haven’t seen that side of you?”
“We all have our limits, just be glad it was against him and not you.” Bill gulped a bit, meanwhile, Tybalt leaned against the ropes trying to catch his breath while Moe wiped the blood away.
“He’s getting tired, I can tell, just keep pushing forward and I’m sure you can win.”
“I think I brought something out of that sheep, hope that doesn’t make me lose.” Moe patted Tybalt’s shoulder.
“You got this, I believe in you.” Moe said with a smile, Tybalt blushed a bit and smiled back. He took a breath and rolled his shoulders, he felt fired up again.
“Let’s end this.” Moe nodded before getting out, Bill did the same.
“Fight!” The time started, Pina growled and rushed at Tybalt, throwing a hook to his eye, but Tybalt managed to dodge the punch. Pina kept the hooks coming, Tybalt dodged some of them, but he got hit a couple of times. Pina rushes at Tybalt causing him to stagger a bit, Pina wraps his arm around Tybalt’s shoulders and starts to beat at his gut, Tybalt groans as the punches land. Moe grew scared while Bill cheered Pina on.
“Beat him Pina!” Pina pushed Tybalt away which made Tybalt stumble a bit, Pina drew a fist back before throwing an uppercut to Tybalt’s chin, Tybalt stumbled back before falling on his bottom.
“1…2…3.” Bill started to count, Moe jumped up and down with anticipation.
“Come on Tybalt, get up!” Moe called out with his mouth between his hands. Tybalt growls, he uses his gloves to help him jump up onto his feet, he raises his fists and glares at Pina who glares back at Tybalt. Pina throws a fast jab, but Tybalt ducks it and throws uppercuts at Pina’s gut, Pina grits his teeth and tries to hook Tybalt’s face. Tybalt stumbles a bit from the hook, but he stomps his foot down and throws a hook back, making Pina stumble a bit as well. Pina pants heavily and looks at Tybalt who is also panting heavily, Pina rushes at him with a jab to the nose, at the same time Tybalt throws another hook, the two punches land making both of them groan. Tybalt’s nose bleeds some more while Pina spits blood. They both growl at each other before jumping at each other, Pina throws a hook which Tybalt ducks under, he responds with two hooks to Pina’s sides, Pina takes the hooks before throwing an uppercut to Tybalt’s gut. Tybalt groans before throwing a couple of jabs at Pina’s gut as well, they keep attacking each other not moving from the spot, groans and moans could be heard around the gym as spit and sweat fly from their bodies. Moe and Bill can’t do anything but watch the beating, Moe flinches and looks away while Bill watches and growls. Tybalt’s mouthguard goes flying when an uppercut lands on his chin, but he doesn’t move instead he throws a haymaker at Pina’s eye making him yell, the eye gets bruised and goes black.
“Why you little brute!” Pina yells before drilling an uppercut into Tybalt’s gut. Tybalt’s eyes go wide as he coughs and spit falls onto the mat. He steps away from Pina, but Pina rushes at him with jabs to the head, Tybalt groans but he keeps stepping back. Once his back touches the ropes he ducks from one of Pina’s jabs and forces him against the ropes. Pina is caught off guard for a moment, Tybalt lets out a roar before going in and pounding away at Pina’s head with hooks and jabs. Pina groans as his face bruises some more making him less pretty, his mouthguard goes flying onto the mat.
“Pina, block!” Bill yelled, Pina couldn’t hear him though, Tybalt grabbed Pina’s shoulder and started to beat at his face with hooks.
“Get him Tybalt!” Moe cheered. Pina could feel himself blacking out, Tybalt jumps away from Pina who is losing balance.
“It’s over!” Tybalt throws one last hook at Pina making him spin and fall to the mat.
“1…2…3.” Bill started to count, Pina groaned as Tybalt stepped back. “4…5…6.” Pina grabbed the ropes and slowly started to pull himself up, but he missed a rope causing him to fall again. “7…8…9.” Pina huffs and lays there. “10.” The fight ends.
“You won Tybalt!” Moe cheered, Tybalt pants heavily and throws a fist in the air.
“Yeah baby!” Tybalt roars with victory. Moe and Bill get in the ring, Moe goes and hugs Tybalt while Bill helps Pina to his feet. Tybalt suddenly feels like his legs are jelly, he leans on Tybalt for support.
“Woah there tiger, let’s get you treated, don’t won’t you looking like that while we’re out.” Moe said with a smile, Tybalt chuckled and nodded. Tybalt looked back at Bill and Pina.
“And don’t ever come near me or Moe again.” Tybalt warned. “And I’m keeping the gear.” Moe and Tybalt soon left, leaving Pina and Bill in the gym.
“And that’s what happened.” Tasha said, nodding to herself. Kai wasn’t feeling it though.
“That doesn’t seem right, I still don’t think that Bill could do such a thing, even if he’s a bigger predator.” Kai said with a finger up.
“Well that’s what Agnes told me, so don’t blame me.” Tasha crossed her arms and huffed as she looked away. Kai rolled his eyes.
“Whatever, I’m sure that’s not the truth though.”
“Can we just get lunch already, maybe we can ask other students if they heard something else, will that make you happy Kai?” Kai nodded.
“Works for me, now let’s go, I’m starving.” They both went to grab something to eat, meanwhile Moe was back in line hoping the same mistake doesn’t happen again.