The judge for this fight is a bored-looking gray brute who seems to care more about watching the other fighters paired together than he does about pairing up anyone of his own. He indicates MALLEUS and VALKYRIE without hardly looking at them before he leads the pair off to a ring of stones set in the ground. "Stay in the ring," he grunts. "If you go out you lose. If you don't, I'll declare a winner. Get to it." He fixes the pair with a grumpy look that says more than words that he'd prefer to be assigned to anywhere but this division. "You go first," he adds in a growl to Malleus.

Malleus stopped in the center of the ring and turned to face his opponent. He ran a quick assessing eye over her and was pleased to see that though they were of a similar height she was on the lighter side. Good. He could use his weight as an advantage. Her paws were troubling, but he'd dealt with many a clawed predator and he thought he could handle her. He set his defenses, cracked his neck and then charged without so much as a word of warning. She knew why he was there; that was all the warning she needed.

MALLEUS versus VALKYRIE for TOURNAMENT
Round ONE of THREE
Size: Extra Large
Build: Heavy
Companion: Barbary Macaque (battle)
Fight Skill Level: Advanced

The coydog led them to the ring and her opponent immediately strode into the center. She trailed after him, her eyes on his backside. Valkyrie took no pleasure in eyeing his bum. She was looking at him not to gauge his appeal but to get a sense of his physicality. He was big. Bulky. That was good. She could use her speed to her advantage. He charged at her suddenly, perhaps hoping to catch her off guard, but she was ready. She leaped aside nimbly, feeling him rush past her like a bull, and then spun to follow after him, her jaws reaching for his right heel.

MALLEUS versus VALKYRIE for TOURNAMENT
Round ONE of THREE
Size: Extra Large
Build: Light
Companion: Japanese Macaque - Battle
Fight Skill Level: Intermediate
Mutation: Retractable Claws - battle

His claws raked through the grass as he tore across the ring. In preparation of a strike he timed his breathing so that he would hopefully be exhaling when contact was made. If successful this would lessen the 'wind's been knocked out of me' feeling that came with a blow to the chest. He was certain he was going to get her, but she was faster than he'd anticipated. The lithe woman leaped away in the nick of time. Seconds later he felt sharp pain in his right heel. Instinctively he wrenched his heel free and then kicked out, his giant paw hopefully striking her in the teeth like a hammer blow.

MALLEUS versus VALKYRIE for TOURNAMENT
Round TWO of THREE
Size: Extra Large
Build: Heavy
Companion: Barbary Macaque (battle)
Fight Skill Level: Advanced

Success. Blood burst across her tongue as her teeth sunk into her opponent's heel. No sooner had the metallic tang hit her senses was the heel gone, wretched from her grasp without care for the damage done. Knowing that a retaliation was undoubtedly seconds away, Valkyrie slammed on the breaks, intent on distancing herself from her opponent, but she couldn't escape the foot that rocketed back towards her almost as quickly as it had been torn from her. Malleus' paw struck her full force in the face. The force of the blow was enough to bring forth a torrent of blood from her nose and to bring tears to her eyes. Blinded, she reeled backwards.

MALLEUS versus VALKYRIE for TOURNAMENT
Round TWO of THREE
Size: Extra Large
Build: Light
Companion: Japanese Macaque - Battle
Fight Skill Level: Intermediate
Mutation: Retractable Claws - battle

There was a sound as contact was made. Malleus wasn't sure if it was his paw striking flesh or her nose getting tweaked, but something made an audible pop. The healer side of him was curious about the injury, but there was no time to investigate. No, it was time to put his weight to good use. He spun around, arching sideways in a 'U' shape as he sought to bring them more or less face to face. He rolled his right shoulder forward and sought to slam it and the right side of his chest into his opponent's right shoulder.

MALLEUS versus VALKYRIE for TOURNAMENT
Round THREE of THREE
Size: Extra Large
Build: Heavy
Companion: Barbary Macaque (battle)
Fight Skill Level: Advanced

Her vision was blurry with tears and Valkyrie had to will herself to remember where she was and what she was doing. It took time to recover so by the time she got her wits about her Malleus was already looming in front of her. There was no time to dodge, no time to escape the blow, so instead she rolled with it. She turned to face him, her front legs lifting off the ground and clawed paws reaching forward, and offered him a savage hug. The goal was to wrap her paws around his neck and rake them down the sides.

MALLEUS versus VALKYRIE for TOURNAMENT
Round THREE of THREE
Size: Extra Large
Build: Light
Companion: Japanese Macaque - Battle
Fight Skill Level: Intermediate
Mutation: Retractable Claws - battle

And the winner is...

VALKYRIE

MALLEUS must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Malleus: 267.65 Valkyrie: 269.09

- Judged by nyx