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On the outskirts of the city sat an old, abandoned arena that closed down permanently months ago. However, right after it shut down, someone bought the building, refurbished it, and not only brought it back to its former glory, but even surpassed it. From the 1960s up until its closure, this arena held your typical events: sporting events, concerts, monster truck rallies, pro wrestling shows, boxing matches, et cetera. But after it was refurbished, people now go there for one reason: to watch the spectacle of various fighters battling it out in a test of bestial prowess. Only one organization holds such fights, and that is the Interspecies Fighting Organization.

Here, anything goes. Any type of matchup can and has happened, with a few exceptions. Some fights are fairly matched, some mismatched entirely either by weight or experience or both, and some are intergender fights. But, regardless of how a fight is matched up, it is always a one-on-one bout.

Tonight's fight in particular is one of the more mismatched bouts, but it's a classic kickboxing versus Muay Thai fight.

The crowd is all gathered in their seats as the IFO's announcer and MC steps into the ring, albeit with some difficulty. The bear was nearly six and a half feet tall and weighed just under the organization's maximum weight limit of 350 pounds. He wore a simple, black suit coat and dress pants and a red, button-down shirt underneath, topped off with a white bowtie.

"Welcome to IFO 21!" He shouted into the microphone, which appeared encased around his large bear paw. "As always, I'll be your host for the evening." His natural, deep voice nearly peaked the speakers of the arena, combined with his slight, Russian accent. "For those of you who are new to the IFO scene, I am Kolya Medved and I've hosted every fight since the beginning of this spectacle. And I will say," he said, holding up a claw as he rotated to face every section of the crowd, "I have seen it all. Even matches, mismatches, some of which have surprised even me. But tonight...tonight will be the IFO's very first title match!"

The crowd cheered as soon as he said that. Giving them a chance to calm down, Kolya pulled the fight card out of his pocket and began reading it off. "More specifically, this fight will be for the Men's Championship. And to make tonight's title match more interesting, we have a flyweight taking on a cruiserweight in a classic bout of kickboxing versus Muay Thai." He paused to take a moment to read off the card. "Our flyweight for tonight, weighing in at a mere 118 pounds, with a record of 15 wins and 5 losses for men's fights, please welcome our avian-wolf fighter, Kero Kou!"

Once again, the crowd cheered as the bird-wolf hybrid stepped out from behind the curtain and marched towards the ring. It was obvious just from his lithe build alone as to why he was so light, but that didn't mean he was packing some solid muscle in his torso and thighs. He had mostly light blue feathers and fur, but his ventral fur, wolf tail tip, cheek feathers, and the insides of his wolf ears were all white. His beak and legs were yellow in color.

Kero's small, skinny body and attire were more apparent once he stepped into the ring and into the blue corner. He wore a pair of short, Muay Thai trunks that were white around the waistline, crotch, and back, and navy blue around the legs, accented by a pair of red stripes on each side and trim around the leg openings. As is tradition for Muay Thai practitioners, he also wore the traditional pra jiad on each of his arms, both of which were interwoven with white and blue cloth. He also wore a pair of white Muay Thai gloves to complete the look.

Once Kero was ready to go, Kolya took another look at the fight card. "And his opponent, weighing in at 209 pounds, with a record of 15 wins and 4 losses in men's fights, please welcome the one who pioneered the IFO and our tiger fighter for the evening, Ricky Paszek!"

The crowd roared and cheered as the tiger stepped out from behind the same curtain as Kero did. He wore black kickboxing pants with three, orange pinstripes on each side and an orange paw print on the top part of the left leg. He also wore orange ankle braces with a black trim around the openings, and black boxing gloves with orange cuffs. He also had his shoulder-length, brown hair tied back with a simple hair tie, and wore his signature orange and black ear piercings on his right ear.

It was clear how mismatched this fight looked on the surface once Ricky stepped into the ring and into the red corner. His thicker, grey and green furred body almost made him look like a tank compared to Kero's smaller frame, especially with his bigger arms and chest. If he were to be wearing trunks instead of pants, his thicker legs would only make him appear more intimidating to the bird-wolf.

Yet, as Kero watched Ricky step into the ring and prepare himself for the upcoming title fight, he felt no shred of intimidation at the tiger's appearance. In fact, he thought he looked sexy in those pants and gloves and wondered how much power those legs of his had. "Wow...wonder if he wouldn't mind having some fun after this," he thought as he grinned.

Ricky had a chance to get a good look at Kero across from him as well, noticing how small and...young he looked compared to him. He knew that, within the IFO, there was an unwritten rule everyone agreed on that fighters had to be at least 18-years-old to register. Yet this kid looked like he barely made the cut, both in age and weight. But, given his fight record allowing him to have a chance to be the first Men's Champion, he didn't want to underestimate him.

When he could see both fighters were ready, and the referee for the fight stood next to him at the ready, Kolya continued. "As you are all made aware, this fight is scheduled for three, three minute rounds with a one minute rest period between each. Fighters must win with a knockout or technical knockout. Our referee for tonight is ever so scrappy Christina Fava. Now, fighters..."

He then motioned for the bird-wolf and the tiger to meet in the middle, standing behind Christina and holding the microphone low for her. She was a small, short mountain weasel. Kolya towered behind her, and his large bear belly nearly pressed against the back of her head. Despite this, though, she remained professional as she addressed the fighters.

During the face-off, they both noticed how similar they were in height, though the tiger was about a half a head taller than the bird-wolf. But Christina was only about shoulder-height on both of them, yet that didn't make her any less snappy or bossy.

"Alright boys," she began, her voice sounding much more high pitched than Kolya's with a slight squeak, "While anything goes in this fight, I want a nice, clean fight from both of you. I don't wanna see any inappropriate strikes or gropes, tail pulling, hair pulling, biting, scratching, clawing, smothering, or stripping or tearing of clothing, got it!?"

Kero and Ricky both nodded.

"Good. Touch gloves."

They both did as instructed and stepped back, respective fight stances at the ready and waiting for the bell to ring.

Christina stepped back as well, though had some difficulty rushing the large bear behind her out of the ring. Once Kolya struggled to get back out of the ring, she stood in the center, looking at each fighter one more time with a small paw out in front of her.

"Fight!"

As soon as she dropped her paw and the bell rang, both fighters slowly approached each other, with Ricky in a more closed, tight, orthodox stance, and Kero with a more open and bouncing stance.

The bird-wolf was eager to claim that title, and started things off with a quick, snappy low kick to the tiger's lead leg.

Ricky couldn't react in time to defend against that and took that kick, making him shuffle sideways. He could tell right away, the bird-wolf's kicks were not to be messed with. But considering Kero seemed to be more open, he threw two, quick jabs towards his beak, looking to at least back him up.

Kero quickly covered his face to block the jabs, though shuffled back when they hit his gloves. He had to admit that the tiger had some decent power in his punches.

He then countered with a jab of his own to see if he could force Ricky to open up.

Being closed up as he was, the bird-wolf's jab just hit his gloves, albeit not very hard. Trying to take advantage of Kero's opening, he threw a quick 1-2 combo that smacked Kero in the beak and forcing a squawk out of him. He then followed that up with a left hook and low kick of his own to the bird-wolf's leg.

Kero managed to keep his gloves up to block the hook, but that sudden kick he didn't see coming smacked him right in the thigh.

"Gah! Shit..."

Seems like he was making progress.

Wanting to keep his momentum going, he went for another low kick, then went for a middle kick aimed right at Kero's ribs.

Seeing the low kick coming, Kero got his knee up this time to block it. He was about to counter with a 1-2 combo of his own, but the tiger's leg smacked him square in the left rib.

"Nnnggg!"

Kero countered with a hard, quick front kick at Ricky's belly before shuffling away from the tiger.

"Oooof!" *hisss*

Even though that was a defensive tactic, that kick forced a puff of air out of him, though felt like it did more than just that.

But it wasn't enough to stop him.

Seeing that Kero was trying to move away, the tiger threw a cross punch, then a switch kick to his opponent's side.

As Kero tried to figure out how to get at the tiger, he was forced to stay on the defensive this round. He kept his gloves much closer to his face by now, despite him being used to staying more open per his fighting style. Because of that, he managed to block that cross punch, but thought twice about countering.

But when he saw that leg heading right for his side, Kero quickly shuffled back, parrying it to force the tiger to spin around on his other leg. As soon as Ricky would face him again, he threw two, quick low kicks to his leg.

Ricky was not expecting to get spun around like that, nor was he expecting to get smacked in the leg twice right after.

"Mmmmmmnn!"

He had to admit, he definitely felt those this time, especially near his knee. But he pressed on, keeping light on his feet as he went for a 1-1-2 combo to try and get close enough to Kero.

Kero got his gloves up just in time to block the combo, though tried to keep his ground.

He then followed that combo up with a solid, left uppercut to the bird-wolf's abs.

"Gawk!"

That uppercut forced some air out of him, knocking him back more and having his wolf tail brush the ropes behind him.

The tiger took advantage of this and threw another uppercut to Kero's abs, followed by a low kick to his leg.

The punches to his belly did make him winded, though Kero managed to get his knee up to block the low kick. He countered with a quick snap of a low kick, followed by a middle kick to try getting the tiger to back off.

Ricky took the hard low kick, which made his left leg start hurting, though managed to get his arms positioned in time to block the middle kick coming at him.

Knowing how close they were to the ropes, he wanted to get the bird-wolf backed up to them entirely by popping a couple jabs at him while inching closer.

Once Kero saw Ricky advance again, he quickly countered with a push kick to try and shove his bulkier opponent back so he could have some breathing room.

"Guh!"

The tiger was shoved back, surprised at how strong Kero's legs were to have enough force to push back an opponent 100 pounds heavier than him. He quickly tried to get back in his stance after stumbling a bit. "Shit...why the hell do my abs hurt a lot more than they should?"

Kero took advantage of this and quickly went for another front kick, followed up by another roundhouse kick to the tiger's side.

Ricky winced at the sting from the front kick to his belly, and couldn't get his arms to block the kick coming at his side.

He began to feel more winded, though tried to press on and at least get back in his stance quickly before Kero could throw something else at him.

But what Ricky wasn't expecting was for the smaller bird-wolf to charge at him and lock him in a clinch around his neck. He then rammed a knee to the tiger's gut as much as he could within the allotted time a clinch was allowed.

Ricky tried to break the clinch outright, but those small knees ramming into his gut focused his attention elsewhere.

When they were forced to break by the much smaller weasel and back away from each other, the bell rang, signaling the end of the first round.

They both went to their respective corners to rest after an intense first round. It was still up in the air as to who will be the first IFO Men's Champion, but bets were already being made among the crowd.

Ricky held his aching abs with his glove, but when he took it off, he noticed a slight, crimson stain on it. Upon closer inspection, he noticed his belly was badly cut up. "Shit..."

Once the rest period was over, both fighters met back in the middle. However, Christina didn't start the second round yet after noticing the tiger's injury. She sighed and snapped a glare back at Kero, getting right up close to him and jamming a finger in his face as high as she could reach.

"That's a penalty, bub! Watch your claws when you throw those front kicks next time, alright!" As per regulation, she stood in the middle of the ring, pointing to the blue corner and holding up a finger as high as she could, rotating so each side of the audience and officials could see.

Kero growled but tried to keep his cool and made a mental note of that. He did not want to get another penalty, let alone enough to get him disqualified. There was no room for that in this particular fight; he wanted to be the first, and possibly youngest, champion in the IFO.

After Christina checked Ricky over to make sure he was still able to fight, she went back to the middle and waved both fighters in. Once again, she told them to tap gloves, dropped her paw, and the bell rang, starting the second round.

This time, Ricky was the one to start things off with an explosive opening. He pelted the bird-wolf with a few quick jabs to try and back him up quickly, following it all up with an overhand.

Kero tried blocking and dodging those jabs, but didn't account for the sudden overhand near the end, which smacked him right in the eye and across the top of his beak.

The tiger could tell right away his opponent's defenses were opening. Taking advantage of this, he threw a left hook followed by a right knee strike into Kero's abs.

Kero couldn't keep up with the tiger's sudden assault of punches, especially after getting whacked across the cheek and nearly having his mouth guard fall out. He wasn't sure how far back his opponent backed him up, but it didn't matter; that knee forced him to bend over.

But the a sudden overhand made him fall flat on his face to the canvas.

Ricky panted heavily, almost stumbling back as the small weasel pushed him back to wait in a neutral corner. The adrenaline rush kicked in full force by now, and he kept bouncing on his toes while he waited.

"One...two...three..." The ref counted down.

Kero struggled to get up, panting hard and groaning at his aching belly and head. "Shit...that tiger can punch..."

Ricky almost felt bad for Kero getting matched up like this, but he admired the kid for getting this far into the IFO, let alone participating. But he chose to fight in something like this, and it wasn't like the unorthodox style of the fights were kept a secret.

"...six...seven...eight...n--" The ref stopped as she noticed Kero was fully standing again.

After checking if he was still able to fight and making sure he didn't lose his mouth guard, she stepped aside and dropped her paw again for them to continue.

As soon as he was able to, Ricky leapt out of the corner swinging.

The bird-wolf barely got his gloves up in time and quickly backed away from the oncoming big cat, realizing he was getting backed into the ropes again.

But he wouldn't allow him to back him up any further.

Being careful not to get another penalty, he went for a push kick to try shoving Ricky back again.

"Guh!"

That shove stopped him dead in his tracks and agitated his wounds from the last round.

"Ack! Mmmmfff..."

He tried to keep at least one glove up while holding his belly with the other, but only for a brief moment as to not give Kero an advantage.

However, Kero did take advantage of Ricky lowering his guard and threw a cross punch and a left elbow to the tiger's face.

Ricky backed up some from the oncoming cross but did not expect a sudden elbow to be thrown right at his head. He winced at the sting and growled, quickly getting back in his stance and charging at the bird-wolf again to close the distance.

He was about to throw another punch at the tiger, but Kero didn't expect the sudden clinch. He tried breaking the clinch himself, but Ricky hammered his knee into his abs over and over.

Those few seconds dragged on and felt like an eternity, until the ref was forced to break them up.

Ricky was shoved back far from Kero by the small weasel after forcing a break.

"Jesus, dude! You of all people should KNOW that was too long for a clinch!" She scolded, shaking her head in frustration. Like before when Kero got a penalty, the ref pointed to the red corner this time and held up a finger, rotating so everyone was able to see. Once that was accounted for and she checked if Kero could still fight, she allowed them to continue.

Ricky came at Kero again fast, wanting to keep the pressure on.

Like before, he threw a couple jabs to try breaking his opponent's defenses and keep the bird-wolf against the ropes.

Growling and feeling frustrated with how this round is going so far, Kero was about to go on the offensive himself, but quickly backed off once he noticed the tiger coming at him again with those jabs. He could easily tell he was getting closer to the ropes again and needed to get out of there fast.

The tiger then threw a middle kick towards Kero's side again, as he found that to be a weak point.

When he noticed that kick coming at his side again, rather than eating it like before, he went to catch it and countered with a knee to his opponent's chest.

"Agh! What the--"

Ricky hopped on one leg and tried to yank his leg out from Kero's grip, struggling to keep his gloves up as he tried to keep his balance. But that made him take that hard knee to his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Kero then broke the catch and followed it up with a low kick of his own to try and get on the offensive again.

Having his leg get bent goofy from the break didn't help his predicament. It forced Ricky to barely block the oncoming kick to his chest while simultaneously trying to regain his balance.

Noticing the tiger struggling, Kero advanced a little closer and threw another push kick to Ricky's belly in hopes of gaining some ground.

Ricky just got back in his stance until he was shoved back by another strong push kick. He stumbled back and fell on his ass for a brief moment before quickly getting back up. He hissed and tried not to cover his stomach, as his wound got agitated again, but he also knew his opponent technically scored a knockdown on him.

When they were about to go at it again, the bell rang to signal the end of the second round.

Both fighters went to their respective corners again, though more tired and sore than after the last round.

Kero's head throbbed from taking all those punches, but it didn't hurt as much as his abs and ribs. He felt a slight twitch of pain in his jaw from that hook too. Despite that, though, he knew he would be able to continue this fight, even if the tiger already has one knockdown on him.

Ricky, meanwhile, hissed and groaned at how much his stomach hurt. He was sure it was bruised by now, not to mention the blood staining his white fur from the cut itself. He wasn't sure if his head was bleeding or not, as that elbow strike hit hard near his temple. "Owww...damn...dunno how I didn't get instantly KOed from that..."

Regardless of all their wounds, bruises, aches, and sore muscles, they both knew they still had one last round left to go.

Once the last rest period was over, the small weasel waved both sore and beaten fighters to meet in the middle. Once again, she ordered them to touch gloves and the bell rang.

Ricky began to regret using up the majority of his energy reserves in the last round. His stomach burned in agony by now, yet he managed to will enough adrenaline to keep his gloves glued to his head. He waited to see what Kero would do as he began circling around the bird-wolf.

Kero was more-or-less in the same boat as well, also keeping on the defensive. But a part of him could tell the tiger was weakening; he wanted to outright finish him off.

The two kept circling around the ring for a bit, slowly stepping closer and closer to see how the other would react.

As he noticed his opponent approaching him, Ricky gritted his teeth, nearly puncturing his mouth guard.

But he didn't want to let Kero gain any more ground; he'd have to work for it.

He sucked in what little air he could and threw a quick 1-2.

"Bawk!"

He was about to throw a punch himself when that 1-2 smacked him in the beak, forcing him to reel back quickly.

But when he saw Ricky prepping for a switch kick, he caught the tiger's leg when he threw it. This time, however, Kero not only threw a quick knee to Ricky's side, but also an elbow to his face before shoving him back towards the ropes.

Finding himself off-balance again, Ricky tried to pry himself out. But he immediately felt a sharp sting from a knee strike to his side. While he did remember to keep his guard up during this, that elbow strike stung his arm rather than his face.

Yet, when he got pushed back, he almost tripped backwards and on his ass again, but the ropes caught him in time. Even then, he felt dazed and disoriented as he tried to readjust himself fast.

Kero wasted no time going after the bigger tiger, socking him with an overhand punch, followed by a barrage of punches, knees, and elbows.

Despite his sudden, aggressive assault, the ref knew it was still within the bounds of the rules and didn't give him a penalty.

Ricky growled and screamed as he ate that sucker punch, and struggled to keep his defenses up against the storm of attacks from the bird-wolf. His whole body suddenly felt like it was shutting down.

It was clear to everyone that the kid was getting frustrated and wanting to end this fight already.

Not wanting Kero to score another knockdown on him, Ricky practically tumbled into his smaller opponent in a clinch, using his momentum and weight to get them away from the ropes.

"Puuuh..."

The sudden mass of tiger falling onto him nearly knocked the wind out of him. He knew right away what Ricky was trying to do.

Kero immediately tried shoving the tiger out of the clinch, but they were ordered to break it by the ref. This time, they both complied.

As soon as the clinch was broken, Kero leapt at the tiger with a flying knee strike right into his tender, cut abs.

He barely had a chance to get his arms up when the smaller bird-wolf came flying at him, landing a solid knee right into those abs.

"Gggggggaaaaaa!"

He immediately doubled-over and held his glove over that same spot again.

Right as he saw the tiger bent over, Kero slammed another overhand punch to his head, forcing his opponent flat against the canvas, face-first.

He stood there for a split second in shock until he was forced to wait in a neutral corner by the ref. He made his way over and leaned against the corner pad, resting his arms across the top ropes.

"One...two...three...four..."

Ricky's head throbbed. His abs were sore and bleeding from his wound, staining his white fur and the canvas below him. His legs began to feel sore too from both throwing and receiving kicks. He allowed the first few counts to pass before trying to stand back up.

"...I may actually win this fight..." Kero thought as he watched the struggling tiger from the other side. It still surprised even himself that he, the youngest and lightest fighter in the IFO, made it so far to even participate in a title fight.

"...seven...eight...nine...t--" Right when the ref was about to count him out, Ricky managed to stand back up.

There was a bright, red splotch all over his white belly and the canvas below from his wounds. The ref noticed this and asked him sternly if he was okay to still fight. After she got the green light from him to continue, she stepped aside and let them at it again, albeit regretting her decision.

Kero could tell his larger opponent wasn't doing so hot anymore. There was no way he could keep going, no matter what he told the ref.

He quickly approached the tiger, keeping light on his feet but wanting to keep Ricky pinned near those ropes. He threw a couple faint punches to try throwing the tiger off and force him to get that wounded belly wide open.

The tiger was all dazed and not thinking straight; his injury has been the biggest distraction this whole fight. He ended up falling for those feint punches and kicks, darting around as best as he could to try and counter with a cross punch.

To Ricky's demise, that was what Kero wanted.

As soon as he could, Kero snapped a hard middle kick aimed right for Ricky's belly.

"Gaaaaa!"

Ricky slammed hard against the canvas sideways as the ropes behind him barely broke his fall. His breathing heaved, his abs burned and stung, and he wasn't sure how much his mouth guard dug into his teeth with how hard he's bitten down on it. All he could make sense of was the bell ringing to end the match and the crowd cheering right after he hit the canvas.

Kero was finally able to relax his body entirely when he scored his third knockdown on the tiger. As the crowd roared and cheered, he was told to head back to his corner to wait for the official call by the ref, taking his gloves off as he did so.

The medical team on standby quickly climbed into the ring to tend to Ricky's wounds. They slipped his gloves off and pried his mouth guard out for him as they sat him up, then helped him stand back up and walk to the red corner to bandage him up before the official call and ceremony.

Christina gave them a moment to rest before waving at them to meet in the middle one last time. Only this time, however, she was also joined by Kolya. She firmly gripped both fighters' wrists in each of her paws as the large bear hogged the microphone behind her.

He patted the Men's Champion belt that was slung over his broad shoulder as he gave the announcement. "Your winner...by technical knockout...and your first ever Men's Champion..." He then held the belt high in the air as he continued. "Kero Kou!"

Immediately, Christina held the bird-wolf's winged arm as high as she could, to which Kolya presented him with the large, shiny Men's Champion belt.

As soon as he was presented with his prize, Kero held it high in the air as the crowd cheered and applauded. He then had to sling it over his shoulder to shake Kolya's and Christina's paws, per business and sportsmanship practices.

And then he went over to his opponent to do the same.

It was here he noticed how bandaged the tiger was around the middle, and that he still looked out of it. Kero had to admit, he felt a little out of it too.

He looked up at the dazed tiger and smiled. Rather than shake the tiger's paw out of mutual respect, he gave him a gentle but tight hug.

Ricky lifted his arms out of the way in time for the bird-wolf to hug him fully, though it made him blush and chuckle a bit as he looked to Christina and Kolya for help. All they did was shrug, so Ricky just hugged Kero back. After what felt like just a little too long, Kero eventually let go of him.

After a moment or two after the ceremony, Kolya had to chase them both out of the ring so it could get cleaned up and switched out for the next fight, as that one will take place in a cage. Ricky was the first to leave the ring and went straight for the locker room, but Kero stayed a few moments longer to revel in his victory before leaving as well.

* * *

"Ow...fffuck fuck fuck..." Ricky moaned in pain as he hobbled into the locker room and slowly made his way to his locker. After opening it and getting his shower stuff out, he carefully slid his pants down part-way, but had to sit down to take them off completely, groaning a bit from any slight tension to his injury. He took a moment to just lay on the bench in his musky jockstrap to try and relax a bit and regain some strength. As he laid there, his ear twitched at the sound of the locker room door opening then closing. He hoped it was just one of the next fighters heading towards his direction; to his embarrassment, it was Kero.

"Hey kid..." He sighed, barely looking in Kero's direction.

Kero waved at him, still running off of his high from winning the title. He wasn't holding the belt when he came in the locker room, but knew it'd be in his possession once he changed.

"Hey Ricky! That was some fight we had out there, huh?"

Ricky snickered, still laying flat on the bench in his jockstrap. "Yes it was, kid...yes it was..."

He let out a groan as he went to sit himself back up, but noticed two, small hand claws against his back helping him. "Mmmmmm...thanks..."

"Anytime..."

Kero happened to glance at the tiger's bulge in his jockstrap and his overall, larger frame. Even though he looked beaten and injured, Ricky still looked handsome. He also noticed the partially stained bandages wrapped tight around his waist. "Hey, um...I wanted to apologize for clawing you on accident in the first round."

He growled a bit then sighed. "Not your fault. Those rules are in place for a reason."

"I know...I still feel bad about it, though." He noticed Ricky didn't look at him once, but still wanted to comfort the tiger in any way he could. He sat next to him and rubbed his upper back, as not to undo the bandages on accident.

He couldn't help but let out a soft chuff from as the bird-wolf rubbed his back, extending it and rolling his shoulders a bit.

"Mmmmm, listen, kid," he began. For the first time, he looked at Kero directly. "There are two types of fighters you may have noticed around here when something like...this happens," he said, gesturing at his injury, "Those who know when to quit, and idiots like me."

Kero dropped his arm, giving Ricky a somber look. "You're not an idiot, Ricky. You're just...very driven to see a fight until the end. Like...man, you're tough!"

He couldn't help but chuckle and feel a bit flustered at the compliment. "Damn, this kid's a sweetheart."

"Not as tough as you, kid." He clapped a paw on Kero's shoulder, making him squawk in surprise, and pulled him closer in a side hug. "Or should I say: Champ."

Kero felt a lot more flustered now from the compliment. He was glad his own jockstrap was able to hold his growing erection and not have it tent his trunks. He couldn't help but let out a soft trill and nuzzle his beak in the tiger's fur, or rather, the part that isn't wrapped in bandages.

He giggled a bit, as the nuzzling tickled him a little, then gently moved Kero off of him. "Alright, alright. Not here, dude."

"S-Sorry," he stuttered, blushing still, "I-I just...wanna show how much I appreciate you for putting this whole thing together. I seriously never knew I'd get this far, let alone become the first and youngest champion of your organization."

"I'm touched..." He said, ruffling Kero's head fur. "You should be proud of yourself, Champ."

He smiled, still flustered and blushing hot from being this close to Ricky, let alone sharing the experience of claiming his first title in his young life. He then noticed Ricky groaning as he tried to stand up, to which he quickly came to his aid.

"Whoa, easy now."

"I'm fine. I'm fine. Whew..." Ricky held a paw to his wrapped up stomach for a moment as braced himself against the lockers with the other one.

He was about to reach for his towel and shampoo, but then suddenly thought of something. He reached for the small notepad and pen he kept in his locker, jotting something down and tearing the paper out of the notebook. He folded it and gave it to Kero. "Here's my contact info. Figured we could hang out sometime once I'm all healed up."

"Uh, yeah s-sure." Kero took the paper, but didn't look at it right away.

"I gotta get showered up and changed here. Still gotta stick around for the rest of the night. Ya know, being the guy who runs this thing and all."

He grabbed his towel and shampoo and turned around towards the showers, his stripy tail pointing upwards and showing off his jockstrap-framed ass cheeks. He stopped a moment to look back at Kero and winked. "See ya later, Champ." And with that, Ricky slowly hobbled away to get cleaned up.

Kero felt like his face was burning bright red as soon as the tiger turned around to show off his toned ass. He then looked at the paper, opening it to see what it read. Right away, he noticed a couple usernames for messaging and social media apps Ricky must use, but there was something else he scribbled down too:

"Congratulations, Champ! Hit me up if you want some tiger ass to celebrate~"

Out of all the face punches the tiger gave him during the fight, none of them gave him a bloody nose like this one did.