Green Goo

Green Goo
By Theo Winters

Written for Arrow Quivershaft

Thenyr took in a long drink of water as he relaxed on the bench, waiting for his name to be called for his next round. He didn't think it would take that much longer as the final fight of the quarter-finals was almost wrapped up, the two contestants dance around the large open ring as they battled it out. The crowd was loving it, cheering so loudly it was hard to tell if they were for the lion or the fox.

The tall thoradan (though most of the crowd thought he was a hawk) was rooting for the lion to win if only because he seemed like he would be easier to beat in the next round. Sadly it didn't seem likely, the fox was thin and nimble and was easily moving in and out of the range of the heavier lion. The lion himself seemed to be tired out, his tail thrashing from side to side.

Still, the lion was giving it his all and was able to surprise his foe with a quick twist of his body, sending his tail out to smack at the fox's face as a faint, his wooden staff following a second later. The canine wasn't fooled though and ducked out of the way, bringing his own staff up to block the lion's attack then quickly moving inside to swept the feline's leg and sent him tumbling to the ground.

In a single move the fox lifted his staff and spun it around over his head, the tip starting to glow with blue light. Thenyr leaned closer, this was the first magical finisher that he had seen in the tournament and was interested to see what the fox had in store. The end of the staff came down on the center of the lion's chest, blue light washing over him growing so bright that he was forced to look away. When he turned back, blinking away the remains of the light, the lion was gone and a rather put out looking house cat was sitting in the pile of clothing a pair of two large glasses sitting on top of his head.

Around the large gym the crowd cheered and the fox taking a step back, bowing to them as the human announcer came back into the ring. He looked down at the annoyed house cat and laughed a bit. "The winner of this match is Benjamin and with a big finisher as well! We'll have our first semi-final match in a few minutes once we get the ring cleared up."

The crowd cheered again as the human and fox cleared out of the ring. A couple of volunteers came out and picked of the former lion and his clothing while the rest reset the smeared chalk edges of the ring.

Thenyr fanned out his tail feathers and sat up a bit taller on the bench, the odds were good that he was going to go out next so he wanted to be ready. He wasn't sure which of the three other fighters he would be going up against. Personally he would have liked to fight the goat he had seen before but he couldn't be sure, so he had to be ready for anyone of them. Fox, goat or gryphon.

Though this time it didn't matter if he won, he was involved in a charity tournament for the local community college and in fact they were fighting in the college's gym. Of course that didn't mean he wasn't going to go all out, that's why people came to these matches. That and he would be able to get access to the college's small library of magical books, some of which he had never seen before. That was worth a good fight!

Benjamin sat down on the bench next to Thenyr, nearly landing right on his wing. He didn't say anything, instead he gave the avian a tired smile and grabbed a bottle of water. Apparently the spell had taken quite a bit out of him.

As the volunteers finished cleaning up the ring the announcer came back out, a smile on his furless face. "For our first semi-final fight we have:" he made a show of shuffling his note cards. "Paris," he called out, pointing to the bench. On the far side the shorter gryphon stood up and walked into the center of the ring, taking his place on the challengers mark.

"And he will be going against..." he paused again, letting the audience worked up a bit. "Thenyr!"

A smile played at very corner of his beak as he stood up from the bench and walked out into the center of the ring, making sure not to step on the chalk outline.  He moved up to the defenders mark and placed his talons firmly on the floor. Two of the volunteers came over, handing each of them a light wooden staff. He took it and held it to his chest, sizing up his opponent.

The gryphon was about a head shorter then he was with wide eyes and bright red feathers. His feline half looked to be that of a cheetah instead of a lion, giving him a thin sleek build. He shifted from one paw to the other, looking back at the thoradan and giving him a short nod.

Thenyr shifted his weight and tucked his wings close to his back as the announcer walked out of the ring. He didn't may too much attention to him, keeping his eyes on Paris for the moment.

"3!" the human called out.

He clenched his hand around the staff, the magic embedded in the wood pressing up against his fingers. It would prevent any serious injury but would still allow a good stunning blow. This wasn't supposed to be a battle to the death.

"2!"

The gryphon's flexible beak pulled into a smile as his long tail swayed form side to side. He was ready to spring as soon as the word was given.

"1!"

Thenyr took in a long breath and slowly allowed it to trail out of his nostrils, his golden eyes locked on his opponent. Time seemed to slow down around him as he waited for the word.

"Fight!" the human yelled.

Paris leapt forward on his powerful legs, his staff swinging around quickly and aiming for the avian's head. He took a few quick steps back and brought his staff up to parry the attack, pushing it up and away. It gave him a momentary opening on the gryphon, which he was happy to take. He snapped the butt of his staff forward and smacked it onto the side of the feline leg.

The gryphon let out a growl and took a quick step back though he was limping on the leg. That was a good start for the fight, but it was only a start. He pressed his advantage, moving quickly forward, his wings fluttering behind him as he swung again.

His opponent took two quick steps back from the attack, moving almost to the limits of the ring. With a smirk the hybrid spun his staff around and braced himself for a moment before leaping onto a new attack. He swung high with the staff, but as Thenyr brought his own up to defend the gryphon used his speed to pulled it down and sweep up against avian's legs.

The speed was to Paris's advantage and the staff moved too quickly to be dodged. It hit against his foot and sent him tumbling to the ground. He jumped back up as fast as he could, and returning the attack and making his opponent laugh. That's the way it went, back and forth as they fought, they were both skilled fighters and knew exactly what they were doing. Each move and hit was made to try and slow the other down, making it easier to score hits.

Unfortunately Thenry was starting to tired, but Paris had a lot more stamina then his feline side would indicate and while the avian was gasping for breath his opponent hardly seemed winded. It slowed him down just enough that when he slid his foot back to brace for an attack it slipped on the floor and he stumbled back. Paris took advantage of the opening, swinging his staff quickly and hitting the back of the avian's hand, the staff falling free to bounce across the floor, the gryphon kicked it away and nodded his head and lifted up one hand, green light started to glow around his fingers.

Thenry braced himself to make one last attack, but the gryphon was too fast, the power building up around his hand before launching itself at the avian, hitting him square in the chest. There was no force to the finisher but he still found himself gasping as the air was knocked out of him. He power washed over him, running across his body and between each individual feather.

He wasn't quite sure what the spell was going to do to him. The finishers had to be a transformation of some kind and completely reversible, but other than that anything would go. He felt himself shiver, dropping down to one knee. The magic was sinking into him, all the way down to his bones.

Without warning the weight of his wings shifted in a strange way. He turned his head to the side and let out a dismayed gasp as he saw his flight feathers starting to turn bright green, the shape of them melting away as they merged together into a thick coating of slime. As he watched it started to spread out across his wing, the changes picking up speed as they went. A thick glob of slime started to fall away, dropping on the floor with a heavy splat.

He shifted as his other wing starting to change as well. More and more of the slime started to collect around his feet , rolling up against the talons. As soon as it touched them they started their own transformation. Slime was starting to dribble out between the scales, dripping down his legs and over his talons. Soon he was starting to see the same thing on his hands, more and more green slime starting to bubble free and enveloping the scaly yellow skin.

A moment later he heard a hissing sound and his nose was filled with an acidic burning. Looking down he saw the slime started to soak though his the blue fabric of his vest and his pants. It was speaing into the material as the naturally acid in the slime causing the material to dissolve.

Reaching down, he Thenry grabbed the front of his vest and pulled, the material coming away as shreds in his hands. "Not again, do you know how much this costs?" he said, looking up at the gryphon.

Paris shrugged, taking a step back away from the transforming avian.

He clenched his beak, feeling the hard material starting to twist and bend. Crossing his eyes he watched as his beak started to turn into slime. It held its shape for a few moments before starting to collapse down onto itself.

Thenry felt his legs go wobbly under his weight and slowly he sank down into the ground, landing on his rump. His tail feathers folded under him in a way that should have been uncomfortable, but instead they simply turned into slime as soon as they touched the floor. With a wet thump the last of his wings melted away, the slime running down his back and shoulders.

As he watched the slime enveloped his fingers then rolled down his hands... though his hands didn't last much longer either. He sank down deeper into the puddle, feeling the last of his legs melting away as his acid did a number on his pants. With a bubbling growl, he glared at the gryphon as the changes wrapped over his head. He felt the feathers melting away, pressing down over his face and enveloping him. He collapsed down into the pile of green slime, spreading out as the last of the changes came over him as his eyes turned into slime even as he glared at his victorious opponent.

With nothing else to do he relaxed into his changing from as his mind was remade to match his green self. It wasn't all that bad being slime, he could feel his body rolling out over the floor, twisting and rolling under his command. He could feel the warmth of the gryphon a few feet away as well as the rest of the fighters and audience. As the last of his clothing bubbled away he started sliding towards the crowd, feeling a bit hungry. He didn't get very far before someone came up and herded him into a plastic cage and took him away from all the tasty food. Still it wasn't all bad, the cage was warm and someone dropped something in for him to digest now and then.

A small part of him knew he was going to have to send the gryphon a bill for new clothing once he turned back to himself. Not that he was in any hury for the moment. It was good to be a slime.

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This story was written and copyright 2013 by Theo Winters, reposting and archiving are allowed as long as this copyright notice and the author's name are not removed. This story cannot be published without permission of the author. The character "Thenyr" is owned by his creator, and is used with permission. Violators will lose their central nervous system.