Warning: Contains lots of violence in the form of MMA with fewer rules than normal. Reader beware.

As Aura walked towards the training facility, she felt a creeping anxiety overcoming her. "Gods, that looks scary," she thought, getting closer. She paused as her hand reached for the door. Was this really a good idea?

She quickly tried to push her doubts aside and threw open the door. As she did, she was overcome by the combined scent of death and musk that lay within. She stifled her gag reflex the best she could and walked inside.

The moment she entered the building, she found herself being slammed against the wall and pinned there by the throat. She began to struggle but stopped as her assailant spoke.

"So. You're the new recruit, huh? Y' don't look like much."

Aura tried to gulp the best she could. Unfortunately, it was a bit hard, what with the hand currently pinning her to the wall by the throat and all. She could almost feel herself beginning to go limp, though she wasn't sure if it was from the fear of being pinned to the wall by one of the most feared commanders in the Dark Lord's army or if it was just the fact she was currently being strangled.

As she tried to figure out a way out of this, her assailant spoke again.

"Listen here, kid. First things first, you better fuckin' know who I am. M' name's Wolf, and I'm the one in charge around here. Got it?"

Aura pitifully nodded.

"Good. Now, let's see what you can do."

With that, he released his hand from Aura's throat, and she fell to the ground coughing. She tried to stand back up, but the moment she was on her feet, Wolf grabbed her by the shirt collar.

"Unfortunately for you, all my regulars are out today. That means you're gonna be facing me. Now, gear up."

He let go of Aura and shoved her towards the wall. She recovered her balance, just stopping herself from cracking her head against the wall, and brushed herself off. As she did, she found herself wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

As she pondered on the question, Wolf threw a bag of gear at her. He gestured towards a nearby door. "Change in there."

Aura went into the small room and began going through what she'd been given. One by one, she pulled the beaten up, old gear from the bag. A ripped up pair of bloodstained MMA trunks. A ripped and bloodstained sports bra. Some headgear that seemed to be missing half the padding. Some torn-up MMA gloves. She found the fact they were fight gloves and not sparring gloves particularly disturbing. She also found it interesting that the only thing that wasn't torn up and covered in others' blood were the ankle guards, which seemed to be brand new. Even the groin guard she'd been given was barely holding itself together, and she could only hope that someone had forgotten a tampon the day they'd been wearing it.

"Gee. Way to spare no expense," she remarked sarcastically.

She set to work getting stuff on. She started with pulling her own clothes off. She then started pulling on gear. She started by trying to wash off the groin guard, but between the fact the sink could barely spit out any clean water and how caked on the blood was, she decided she was better off just putting her panties back on and wearing the guard over them. She then pulled on the trunks and bra, struggling for a moment to get the ripped-up bra into such a position that her breasts wouldn't be exposed for the whole world to see. She then slipped on the ankle guards and got her hands wrapped up the best the wraps would allow her to. After trying her damnedest to get the headgear on somewhat straight, she finally gave up, put on the gloves, and headed out to see what horrendous fate awaited.

The moment she walked out, she was shoved off towards a cage.

"We're fighting in cage four," said Wolf.

Aura looked off towards the cage and gulped. The cage seemed to be falling apart, the steel wire along the sides had been hastily patched up in places with barbed wire of all things, the mat was covered in holes where the padding was missing and the concrete base underneath was showing through, and the entire floor was stained with so much blood that she was certain there was more blood there than in her entire body.

Still, as Wolf shoved her once again, she realised she probably didn't have a choice in which cage she was fighting in and started walking. She walked over and climbed in though the open door, which seemed to be barely hanging on itself. The moment she was in, she turned to face Wolf.

"So...how is this gonna work?" she asked, her voice audibly shaking.

"Heh. Here's how this is gonna work. You're gonna fight me. Fight only ends when either you or I are unconscious. And before you start askin', no, there are no rounds. No, there is no time limit. And, no, y' can't fuckin' tap out. You either break out of the submission or face the consequences. And it doesn't matter how injured you are. If you aren't unconscious, you're gonna keep fighting, regardless of how many bones you break. Got it?"

"Y-y-yeah."

"And one more thing: if y' get desperate enough, nothing is off limits."

"Um..."

"Now, let's see what you're capable of."

With that, the grey wolf charged Aura. Before she had a chance to think about what was happening, her body sprang into action, leaping off to the side. Wolf, missing his charge, pivoted on one paw into a push kick. Aura narrowly caught it, before having to release it to avoid the punch Wolf'd just thrown. The whole time, Aura's mind scrambled to catch up just enough to start fighting back. As she struggled to think, her instincts kept her going, stopping blow after blow, whether with a block or a dodge. Her instincts couldn't fight back, though, and if she didn't start retaliating soon, she'd be too tired to do anything, left at the wolf's mercy.

As the adrenaline started to kick in, her brain rushed into overdrive, catching up with the action at last. Just as she began to become aware of what was happening, Wolf lashed out with a kick to the head, which landed dead on, sending Aura flying sideways. He quickly followed up with another kick to the body. He then tried to go in for a knee, only to have Aura wrap her arms around his waist and lift him up just enough to slam him to the ground. The air rushed from his lungs, and Aura quickly climbed onto his chest, eager to sieze the opportunity. Before he had a chance to recover, she began pounding away at his face. As she repeatedly struck him, she began to visibly injure him. However, right when she was least expecting it, he curled his legs up and around, clasping them around her neck and pulling her backwards, off balance. Wolf used the opportunity to throw her off of him and reverse the situation, getting Aura into a guard position. From there, he started to take revenge, bloodying Aura's muzzle and swelling her right eye shut. Aura wasn't just going to take it lying idly, though, finally catching one of his punches and trying to get him into an armbar where she could hopefully break his arm, if not make him rethink the whole "no tapping out" thing.

Unfortunately for her, he quickly got to his paws and began to kick her in the head. Right when she seemed weak enough, he then picked her up and slammed her against the ground, violently causing her to release her grip. Stunned, she was able to do little as the wolf climbed onto her stomach and began to strike her in the head once more, returning every blow she'd landed earlier. She desperately tried to regain her wits and fight back, yet every blow left her weaker and weaker. Finally, her face covered in blood, she tried rolling over in a desperate attempt to protect herself. However, shortly after, Wolf pried her arms out just enough to slip a muscular arm of his own under her chin. He then wrapped his legs around her stomach and tightened his arm around her throat, rolling on his back so that her face was fully visible to any onlookers. Aura gasped for air and tried to fight back, but Wolf quickly shifted his lock, strangling her. Despite her attempt to fight back, she quickly found herself limp in his arms.

Having rendered another opponent unconscious, Wolf threw Aura's body off to the side. He began to walk off, but, hearing her cough as she woke up from unconsciousness, he ran back over to kick her in the face one last time. Then, satisfied with the damage he'd inflicted on the beaten, bloodied fox, strode off.

Aura sat there, blood dripping from her muzzle, as she tried to figure out what to do next. Her immediate instinct was to hunt down the wolf and make him pay for that last little insult. She quickly wrote that option off as pure fantasy. Finally, she settled on trying to pick herself up and make her way back to the room where her clothes all were. Right as she was about to open the door, she heard someone behind her speak.

"Where do you think you're goin'?"

She spun around and found herself muzzle-to-muzzle with the wolf who'd just choked her out.

"I-I-I was j-just gonna g-get ch-changed back into m-my clothes."

"No you're not. You've got training to get to."

Aura was confused. She'd lost. Doesn't that mean she's rejected? Before she had a chance to respond, Wolf shoved a bottle of water at her.

"Now, rinse that blood off your face and go join group 3A over by cage three. Let's see what you can do sparrin' with them."

"O-o-okay."

As Wolf walked off, Aura couldn't help but stand there, staring off into the distance, confused as to what was actually going on. She stood there a moment, before it struck her that she should probably be doing stuff. Though she was a little uncertain about continuing to fight after the beating she'd just taken, she accepted that she likely had little choice in the matter, and instead opted to just go with it, squirting herself in the face with the water she'd just been given. The cold burst of icy water put just enough vigor back into her that she felt like it wasn't a completely bad idea to stick around.

She shook herself off and set off for the group she was to be sparring with. Arriving there, she was greeted by a fallen angel who introduced himself as Dark Pit.

"So, you're the new recruit? Wolf told me you'd be joining us. I heard you pulled off some pretty impressive stuff fighting him."

Aura shifted nervously on her paws. "Eh, I don't know about *impressive*, per se..."

"Oh, come on. You took him down and mounted him."

"Y-yeah, but then he threw me off."

"Okay, but then what happened?"

"He climbed atop me and started beating me." Aura was unsure where this was supposed to be going.

"And, then?"

"Then, what?"

"Then, you got him into an armbar!"

Aura stood there, staring at him. What was he trying to imply?

The angel continued, "Aura, it's not everyday that Wolf finds himself in such bad positions, especially against a new recruit. That you managed to get him in those positions is impressive in and of itself. You've got potential. Now, let's see how much of it we can coax out today."

He turned toward the cage. "Alright, you two, that's enough. Get out!"

He then scanned the rest of the group quickly, before settling on a blood red wolf about her size. "Hey, you!" He pointed at the wolf. "Come over here!"

The wolf came over. "Yeah?"

"I want you to try taking on Aura here." He gestured at Aura.

The wolf eyed Aura, then smirked. "Heh. No problem. Want me to go easy on her? Give her half a chance?"

Dark Pit looked at the wolf with a blank look on his face. "I don't think that will be necessary. Now, get in the cage, you two."

Aura walked towards the cage, uncertain of what was to come. The wolf certainly seemed confident in his own abilities, and he seemed better than she was. How was she gonna handle this?

She climbed into the cage and waited. Across the cage, her opponent was making violent gestures at her. She growled. Who did he think he was? Suddenly, from outside the cage, she heard Dark Pit cry out "Fight!" This time, her brain sprang into action immediately, trying to size up the wolf. He seemed to be adopting a very loose stance, and she noted that she might just be able to slip in a flying knee if he wasn't careful. She filed it away as the wolf went for the first strike. She dodged out of the way and slammed her knee into his gut. He coughed and doubled over, giving Aura an opening to grab his wrist and sling him around, throwing him to the ground. His wrist still in hand, she dropped to the ground and put him into an armbar, hoping that over here, tapping out was an option. The wolf, however, still had a lot left in him, and he curled his arm in, pulling Aura in close, before striking her with his free arm. Her head snapped back, and her grip loosened, allowing the wolf to break free. She quickly tried to regain her wits and get to her feet before the wolf could do any real damage to her.

The two stood back up, and continued fighting. The wolf tried to strike out with a few jabs, but Aura dodged them all. Aura responded with a leg kick of her own, but he jumped back out of the way. The two continued striking at each other, landing some blows and whiffing others, for a good few minutes. Then, the wolf charged forward, and, before Aura could react, he slammed his fist into her face, sending her flying backwards into the cage wall. He continued to rush forwards, hitting her with more punches. He then grabbed her by the ears and dragged her head down, straight into his knee. The strike landed dead on onto her right eye, and she could feel the blood start to pour out. He kneed her again, this time slamming his knee into her muzzle. As he continued to slam his knee into her face, she struggled to find a way out. Suddenly, Wolf's words from early rushed back into her head: "if y' get desperate enough, nothing is off limits." She panickedly tried to think of something, then, saw her way out. As her face was brought down once more, she noticed the bulge in her foe's pants, and its very distinctive shape. Without a second thought, she threw her knee up, slamming it into his groin. As it landed, the soft flesh against her knee and the pained yelp from the wolf confirmed what she'd suspected: he wasn't wearing a groin guard.

Continuing her assault, she threw her head up, slamming it into his jaw. He released her and flew back, stunned. She took the opportunity to recover, her head still reeling from the knees she'd taken. By the time the room stopped spinning, he had also regained his footing, and was now more pissed than before. He threw himself forward, trying to hit Aura with a flurry of blows, but she jumped back out of the way of all of them. He followed up with a kick to the head, which narrowly missed. Aura continued moving back as the furious wolf crept forward. Suddenly, she noted something else. His stance was even more open now than at the start. As the wolf lashed out once more, she decided that now was her chance. As he returned to a neutral stance, Aura rushed forward and flung herself into the air, knee out. The wolf barely had a chance to register what she'd done before the knee connected with his jaw, dead on, sending him flying backwards, eyes rolled back into his head. As he struck the ground and Aura landed, Dark Pit yelled from outside the cage for them to stop. He flew in over the top, and landed next to the two canids. For a second all was silent. He bent down and picked up the wolf's arm. As he released it, it flopped to the ground, limp. He stood back up and turned to Aura.

"Good job. It seems you've picked up on how things work around here. Now, go get that eye of yours patched up. You're spilling blood everywhere." He gestured off towards a sign that said "Medical". She walked out of the cage towards the room. As she opened the door to the room, she heard the wolf she'd been fighting just a minute ago yell out.

"Damn it! If I ever see that fucking fox again, she's dead, you hear me?!"

She sighed and shook her head. Well, he'd learn one day. Or maybe he wouldn't and her body would be found in a river. Either-or. She walked into the medical ward. Sitting just inside was the wolf she'd fought earlier that day.

"So, y' finished your first spar, huh? How'd it go?"

Aura was taken aback at the amiable nature of the fearsome canid. "Eh...it went...well."

"Doesn't look it." He gestured towards her eye. "What happened there?"

"Uh...well..."

The wolf laughed. "Nevermind. I saw that fight. Pretty impressive, I must say. Though..." He winced. "I felt that groin strike."

Aura couldn't help but laugh. "Well..." She suddenly became aware of the fact she was laughing at her foe's pain. "You know..." She looked down, ashamed.

Wolf laughed again. "Kid, don't feel bad. It wasn't your fault the idiot forgot his groin guard. Y' did what y' had to."

"Yeah..."

"Now, do something about that eye."

"R-right."