The crowd roared as Armor King stood victorious over his opponent. Sweaty and bruised, the armored wrestler growled in approval, throwing his muscular arms into the air to get his audience even more excited then they already were.

“ALL RIGHT, EVERYBODY! GIVE IT UP FOR ARMOR KING!” The announcer energetically boomed over the intercoms causing the stadium to erupt into cheer once again. “THAT FIGHT WAS INSANELY INTENSE AS EXPECTED FROM THE CHAMPION! BUT IT GETS BETTER FROM HERE ON OUT, WE HAVE ONE LAST OPPONENT THAT JUST MAY GIVE ARMOR KING A RUN FOR HIS MONEY!” The audience clapped and shouted.

“Nobody can beat Armor King, he’s the best fighter here!”

“Somebody that can beat Armor? Ha, I’d like to see them try.”

“Armor King can beat anyone who steps in his ring!”

Armor King looked down at his hands, they were bruised and bloodied from the constant fighting. Since the tournament started he hasn’t taken a moment's rest to regain his bearings. Opponent after opponent, match won after match won, Armor King kept fighting. It was what he lived for, what he promised he’d do. Armor King recalled the duo matches he would have with his older brother and how they fought with everything they had every match. Armor King looks up with renewed determination. Puffing his chest out and growling, he waited for his next opponent to reveal themselves.

The stadium’s lights flickered on and off causing a small panic in the crowd. Then they stopped flickering as soon as they started. In the ring in front of Armor King stood a figure shrouded in a dark cloak. Armor King stepped back in surprise, readying himself. The intercomm crackled as the announcer spoke again.

“EVERYBODY PLEASE WELCOME, KING OF THE CARIBOU, DAAAAIIIIN! LET’S HAVE A GOOD FIGHT AND MAY THE BEST FIGHTER WIN!”

The audience booed Dainn at the mention of his name, cheering for Armor King instead. Armor King scoffed at the title of King this Dainn character possessed. Dainn reached up and in one swift movement, tore his cloak off. His name wasn’t just a title afterall. Before Armor King, a tall humanoid caribou with large antlers and a short snout stood proud. How did he hide his antlers under that hood? Steel plated armor decorated with dozens of shiny medals and elegant designs covered Dainn’s muscular body.

Armor King stared down the newcomer. Dainn returned the gesture with an ice cold glare, his forest green eyes piercing in nature. There was something about Dainn that made Armor King uneasy, but he couldn’t place it. Then the bell rang signaling the start of the match.

Without a second's notice Armor King charged Dainn, rolling into a cartwheel before launching himself forward to bash his elbow into his opponent's face. Dainn staggered back as the hit landed and Armor King wasted no time to continue attacking. Armor King reared up with his leg and brought it back down on top of his opponents head before pulling his arm back and throwing a devastating haymaker, a Hammer Impact as he liked to call it. Dainn’s head was knocked to the side and Armor King took the opportunity to grab Dainn and lift him upside down. Dainn’s body was straight up and down like a pencil; Armor King jumped into the air, bringing Dainn’s head between his legs, and slammed the Caribou king’s head onto the ring hard enough to fracture a normal human skull.

Dainn recovered just barely fast enough to avoid the three power stomps coming down at him. He rolled off to the side and spun on the floor of the ring, catching AK’s foot and knocking him on his face. AK quickly sprung up, putting some distance between the two of them. As Dainn stepped toward him in a guarding stance AK slammed his foot into Dainn’s shin, and as Dainn stumbled AK threw a combo of punches into Dainn’s face. AK’s fist smashed into Dainn’s snout as an audible crack was heard. His opponent covered his snout in pain and charged Armor King, who readied himself. Dainn leveled his large antlers to Armor King’s chest at the last second and flung the black jaguar into the air. AK came back down to the ring to meet Dainn’s fist in a gnarly uppercut that sent him flying again. Dainn took the open opportunity to land some free hits, small orange balls of energy formed around Dainn’s antlers in a semi-circle before homing in on Armor King. The energy balls impacted against Armor King’s skin and exploded into flames, searing his flesh with fresh burns. He landed hard onto the ring, bouncing a little from the impact but used it to flip onto his feet. Armor King growled deeply, glaring into his opponents eyes.

“HOLY COW, PEOPLE! THIS IS ALREADY TOO INTENSE! I’M ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT UP HERE JUST WAITING TO SEE HOW THIS TURNS OUT!” The overly excited announcer actually had his chair slide out from under him as he literally was on the edge of his seat. The loud boom of his head smacking off the table was heard before he got back up and continued commentating the fight.

Armor King charged. Dainn flares his nostrils, throwing his arms out to catch whatever Armor King threw at him. AK was on his target in a second and grabbed Dainn’s right hand pulling him down to a knee, then used Dainn’s knee as a step and kicked Dainn in the chin. AK flipped off the kick as Dainn went down. He quickstepped to his opponent, grabbing the caribou’s left leg and flipping him over. AK spun counterclockwise to avoid the free leg and landed on Dainn’s thigh, pulling Dainn’s leg towards his chest as he leaned back. Dainn roared in pain as his leg was too far back, he pounded the ring’s hard surface to take his mind off it. AK then quickly transitioned onto Dainn’s back, putting him in a half-nelson and began to pound on the back of the caribou’s head. Dainn threw his head back in between punches, catching AK with his antlers and flipped him overhead. AK rolled into the throw and jumped to his feet, his opponent doing the same.

They sprinted towards each other. Armor King dropped to the floor sliding into Dainn’s ankles, bringing him to the ground with a thud. AK rolled onto Dainn’s back, wrapping his arm around the caribou’s neck, and rolling onto his back with his legs wrapped around Dainn’s waist in an unbreakable lock. Armor King tightened his hold hoping to choke Dainn out, the strain on his muscles painful but bearable. Dainn, showing no signs of giving out, retaliated against the hold by elbowing Armor King’s ribs, which was futile with the steel armor protecting him. Armor King began to grow weak in his arms from the strain he put on them, and broke the hold by giving one last pull on Dainn’s neck, the force capable of shattering vertebrae. He rolled Dainn off him and stood up, giving his opponent a chance to recover. Dainn coughed roughly before standing himself, and rolling his neck with multiple cracks. He pounded his fists together aggressively while moving to Armor King. Armor King did the same, they then began returning blows to each other. Fists, elbows, knees, and feet flew with great speed and force, each landing hit just as powerful as the others. Armor King blocked and countered Dainn’s attacks; Dainn returned the counters with counters of his own for them to only be re-countered. Finally, after minutes of countless attacks Armor King and Dainn seemed to copy each other for a final punch. They stomped their left foot down for support as they reared back their opposite fist and used the stomp to act a sort of push to increase the damage of their punch. Their fists split the air in a straight line. Both punches hit their target, and the two fighters found eachother sliding back from the forces colliding. Blood dripped from Dainn’s shattered snout and Armor King’s mask.

“I’ve had enough of this,” Dainn snarled. His hands became engulfed in a pale blue fire-like energy. He stomped his left foot forward getting into a stance and placed his hands to his side a ball of energy forming between them, it growing by the second. Armor King anticipated his enemy’s move. Was he going to shoot the ball straight at him, or was it going to flank him as Dainn moved onto him? Dainn threw the basketball sized ball of energy straight at Armor King.

‘Too easy,’ Armor King stepped to the side as the energy ball passed him. He had expected Dainn to move close the distance, but instead he just stood there charging up another ball of energy as fireballs surrounded his antlers. Armor King wouldn’t have realized it until it hit him. The first energy ball Dainn threw at him came back around and hit AK in the back of the head. Armor King stumbled forward and saw Dainn throwing the new energy ball into his face as he fell. AK backflipped into the air from the impact. Dainn shot forward fireballs as Armor King fell then quickly formed black fire whips in each hand. He flicked the whips up burning Armor King with them as well as making small cuts. Armor King landed back into the ring and laid there. The pain from the energy Dainn used was like no fire he had been burnt by. Dainn continued to lay down punishment from the whips as Armor King lay there. The whips sliced through his steel armor like butter and the same could be said for his skin. After an endless torrent of slashes from the whips Dainn stopped to catch his breath.

Armor King couldn’t move with how much pain he was in. He willed himself to get up and at least try to land one last hit before he went unconscious, but no matter what he did he couldn’t move. He lifted his head just enough to see Dainn step towards him from the corner of his eye, black whips in hand. Why did they allow weapons in this tournament? Dainn was now standing over him. Malice clouded the Caribou King’s eyes as Armor King looked into them.

Dainn spoke with venom in his voice. “You’re a tough bastard. Let’s see how much more you can take before you burn to death!” Dainn raised his hands in the air as the whips followed. He brought them back down onto Armor King, the whips slashed his body all over burning and leaving deep gashes. Dainn stopped for a second and stomped down on Armor King’s left arm. The bone snapped shooting pain along his arm. Armor King roared and lashed out, the pain sending him into a primal rage. He caught a whip in his good hand and pulled it, sending Dainn tumbling over. Armor King stood up despite the pain. Good thing adrenaline numbs it. A red aura surrounded his body, and as AK moved towards Dainn a solid black energy flowed from his body. Armor King grabbed Dainn’s head as he got up and bashed his own into Dainn’s three times before throwing another haymaker. He followed with a series of punches of only his right arm with a few more Hammer Impacts here and there. Dainn took the punches with resistance, throwing his arms in the way to soften the blow, he even ended up with his arms broken in several places from the sheer force of Armor King’s punches. AK could feel the rage subsiding as he hurried to knock the bastard caribou out.

As Armor King was going to throw one last punch before the adrenaline wore off, Dainn exploded with energy knocking Armor King back down. Armor King didn’t have any time to understand what happened as Dainn was already upon him. The caribou stomped the ring bouncing AK into the air and threw a barrage of powerful blows and kicks as he juggled Armor King in the air. He came back down only for Dainn to hoist him up into a standing position and begin his attacks again. Armor King caught a glimpse of Dainn’s eyes as he was being pummeled. His eyes had changed from a piercing forest green to a dark green with a red iris and a wispy purple energy flowing from them. They pierced Armor King’s soul with a dark power resonating off Dainn.

Armor King could feel himself lose consciousness as each attack from Dainn seemed to be getting stronger. The pain was unbearable, each blow caused Armor King to gasp for air and cough up liquid inside his mask. When Armor King felt the blows stop he saw a glimpse of Dainn form a black vortex in front of him, his antlers covered in a bubbling green substance. Armor King could barely stand, the ropes of the ring keeping him up. How was he even alive at this point? He tried with all his might to move his legs to avoid the vortex as it sped towards him.

Is this how it was going to end? He had never fulfilled his revenge for his brother since Craig Marduk killed him in Arizona. He was not going to die here; he still had a job to do! With all the willpower he could muster, Armor King guarded himself with his arms in an X. He wasn’t going to go out without trying to protect himself, even though he knew this attack would kill him. Armor King roared as the vortex neared him, his roar shocked Dainn as it was one of pure primal aggression and rage. The vortex was almost upon him now. Then a bright flash of white light blinded Dainn. When he looked back to where Armor King was, the only thing that was there was a scorch mark on the ring.

Dainn clenched his fists and released the dark energy inside of him with an ear piercing scream of wrath. The stadium went dark, the audience was too shocked at the performance they didn’t even notice Dainn was gone when the lights came back on.

Author's Note

I like King as a character so you can imagine how much I love Armor King.