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The Champion

Los Angeles July 8th, 2180

7:00 PM

The rabbit was calm. The kid was big, yes. Strong, dangerously so. But this was his first fight in a real stadium. The young thorny lizard, Will, was still trying to psych himself up. The kid was barely even eighteen and he was not handling the limelight very well. He was trying his best not to appear nervous. But Daniel could tell. He'd been there. Young, everyone expecting good things. The crowd loved the kid, though. But it probably had more to do with the animosity they had for himself. The announcers practically whisper his husbands name and cringed when he took off his shirt. The model that came in with Will had her whole history read. Meanwhile Richard, the Bat that Daniel was married to, a model as well, rarely got more than a sentence. Seemed like the only other person glad to see him there was Will. Even as they stood at the center of the ring, ready to start the fight.

"Hey, relax." Daniel smiled.

Will nodded with a smile and shook himself out of his stupor.

It wouldn't help. The fight as a whole was uneventful. The lizard got a couple good hits in. Hits that the announcers talked about the whole fight. Daniel knew it, Will knew it, too through the haze of his half conscious state. Daniel was going to have to knock the kid out to win. The good news was that Daniel could outmaneuver the lizard. He ran laps around the kid. The bad news was he could floor Daniel with a single punch, and his species advantage. The fight had little rules. Use whatever legal means to knock out the opponent. All these bloodsports had combined over the years until it was just fighting to be the best. There were still weight classes, yes. But at the top levels, even those blended together.

Contempt was written on the faces of the men watching over the fight. Judges had nothing to say, tried to spin it, but Daniel didn't listen. The closing ceremony was rushed, to make time for advertisements and anything else to distract from what many described as "just another cheatin' tranny's" win. The rabbit excused himself to the lockers while they interviewed the lizard. It suited him just fine that they didn't want to speak to him. The sooner he got out of there the better.

He took his time in the shower. Put some jazz in the speakers. No one ever bugged him here, on one wanted to. Sometimes his husband would sneak in, though a match this high profile meant he was talking to reporters about clothes like he was paid for. His usual alone time was disrupted as he was dressing. The lizard, Will Dunn had entered the room.

"Hey." He younger male said, looking somber.

The rabbit nodded, "How you feeling?"

The lizard beamed, "Best night of my life."

"Is that so?"

"I just wanted to say it was an honor to even be in the ring with you."

Daniel grabbed a shirt from his bag, "You could have walked home with the belt."

"I uh." The lizard sighed, "They really hate you, you know."

The rabbit laughed, "Oh, I know."

"They've been hounding me for weeks." He sighed, "Just don't go down."

Daniel nodded, "Sport hasn't changed much in hundreds of years, why would it now?"

"Yeah. Well, I threw my first fight. I should feel ashamed, huh?"

Daniel looked up at the large lizard, "Just so you know, you've given me and hundreds of people like me hope by not giving in."

"Maybe I'll be able to sleep again." He scratched his neck, nervously

Daniel stood up, walked over to put his hand on the other's shoulder, "Thank you, Will. Don't let them change you, okay?"

Will nodded, "I will do my best."

Daniel grinned, grabbing his bag, "A conscience is a heavy thing in this business."

"Good thing I'm strong, huh?" He chuckled flexing his large muscles.

Daniel nodded before heading out, "Good luck, kid."

"You, too." Will waved before starting to undress himself.

Richard was waiting for him outside the lockers. They kissed for the cameras, walking hand in hand through the crowd.

"They are trying to bring the lil' guy down with you, now." Richard said in a whisper.

Daniel sighed, "God dammit, of course they are."

"But," Rich said in his usual sing-songy voice, "Media's not buying it. So that's good."

Daniel grinned, "Anything else I should know?"

"Nope." Rich smiled wide for some reporters, showing off his husband for the crowd. He was good with the crowds, his best feature.

After a while of talking to the reporters they were ushered through the halls by security. It was something neither of the two had encountered before. When Rich asked them what was going on, they just said someone unsavory was spotted near the building.

The two were pushed out a back alley. It was empty, poorly lit and far from the earshot of the patrons exiting the building. Daniel, sensing something was off, grabbed Rich's hand, pulling him into the alley. The security started yelling things, but the adrenaline kicked in for the two of them. Just as they broke into a sprint, there was a couple gunshots. The hand Daniel was gripping went slack. Rich had been shot. Daniel stopped in his tracks, holding the bat as he fell to the ground. He tried to find someone in the area, but the door had already closed. He fumbled for his phone, calling the ambulance. The phone was being hacked. Some kind of blocker was keeping him from making calls.

As the bat began dying in his arms, he could hear footsteps behind him. The tiger he'd seen hanging out with the CEO's at fights was hovering over him. He was a well dressed man, calm and stoic in appearance. He had a shit eating grin as he towered over the hunched over rabbit.

"Give up your title, or you go down next." He said as he leaned over the couple.

Daniel stood up, throwing his fist up towards the man. The tiger was fast, stopping the punch, holding the rabbit in place.

"Look up to your left. See the cameras? I know a good editor. The best." He said, slyly.

He let go of the rabbits fist, "Take a moment to say your good-byes and think about what I said, okay? Wouldn't want another tragedy." He laughed, turning on his heel and walked down the alley into the back lot.

Daniel turned back to his lover, trying is his phone again. This time the call went through. The blocker had been lifted. The tiger just wanted to say his piece. The bat was barely there when the tiger had left. He gripped the bat's hand tight, trying to keep him conscious. But it wouldn't work. Someone was on their way, but it was too late.

The tiger had just taken everything from him. It felt as thought he'd just reached into his chest and stopped his heart beating in that one moment. He knew they hated him, but this was something else, the tiger didn't want him dead, he was manipulating him. He looked back at where the tiger had stood. He wanted to know who it was who took everything from him, but he was already gone.