Pain makes you snarl, it feels like your face is on fire. It takes everything you've got to keep yourself under control, you reach up to where your agony originates. Your scaled hand brushes across your face, it doesn't feel like it has changed much except for a swelling on the right side, then something comes loose in your mouth. Using your tongue, you shift the object in your maw and spit it into your hand, you stare with a little confusion at your handful of bloody spit and teeth, "Hugh...!?" Trying to close your mouth again proves awkward as new, sharper fangs replace the freshly expelled teeth. The entire right-side of your increasingly draconic maw is filled with razor-like ivories, your foremost fang being long enough to push past your lips to be visible no matter what you try to do. A sound below makes you refocus on what's happening beneath your feet.
A loud roar can be heard from the tiger as it's forced to the ground, your brother, Cameron, managing to pin the creature to the floor, but at a cost. Fresh bruises and a few cuts can be seen on his body, which is bare from the waste up, save for a pair of dog tags he keeps around his neck. His muscles are taxed and shaky from the fight and his apparent lack of sleep; his veins are pronounced and sweat is dripping off his body. You are feeling relieved at your brother's unlikely success when you see something tossed from the crowd, the object strikes Cameron in the back of the head. The momentary flinch, following the attack, is all the tiger needs to roll free of your brother's grasp and land back on his feet. Cameron can't back away fast enough and is struck by a high kick from his adversary which sends him sprawling across the arena, he is quick to get into a crouch before the next assault. He blocks the next kick aimed at his head, but when he attempts to grab the tiger's arm as it lashes out at him again, he misses the feint and receives a slash across his right-upper arm as a result. He screams as he hits the ground again.
Your blood is boiling, your eyes are so focused that they hurt. Every muscle in your body begins to twitch. You can't let this continue.
You are vaguely aware of Anders' hand on your shoulder and of the presence of your newest ally, Amelia, looking at you with concern, but the world around you continues to dim until only the arena below you exists. It feels as though you are in slow motion, you don't hear anything but the blood rushing to your ears, like a crashing wave, and the steady thump of your heart. Before you know it, your right-foot is on the guard rail, pushing you up and over, your wing is splayed out to its full span, catching air as your footing disappears. You can only see your target, the tiger creature is hovering over your beaten brother, a wicked smile on its face. That -thing-, that -it-, slowly turns to gaze up at you, surprise writing itself across his face, you'd smile if it weren't for the fact that you are already unleashing an earth-shattering roar as you descended on him. You connect with a satisfying thump of fur and crack of bone. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you hope the bones you heard aren't yours, not that it'd stop you now...
Time resumes, there is a stunned silence around the fighting pit. You're panting while sprawled on the arena floor, you notice your brother moving back to his feet, fists raised and crouched in a defensive stance. Movement beside you indicates that the tiger monster isn't out of the fight either, you try to get up as well. You're too slow. A kick seemingly from nowhere, sends you skidding towards the crowd. Teeth and fangs clenched in pain, you have to rake your claws at some of the bystanders as they try to grab and haul you out from the fight. Pulling away from them, you come face-to-face with the tiger-man, a hay-maker already halfway to connecting. It doesn't land. Cameron's fist connects with authority across the creature's jaw, sending him tumbling into the crowd. Your brother turns to you, looking incredulous, "The fuck, Darien! What are you doing here?! What happened to you?" He's looking down at your body, you remember that you got split up before your changes became visible, you don't know how to explain yourself. Cam shakes his head, "You'll have to explain this later, I'd think I was losing my mind if I hadn't seen what I did in the last couple days..." The crowd around you is restless, shouting and jeering and making lewd gestures. They were here for a show and now, it seems, you've ruined their fun.
Cameron turns around and presses his back to yours, "We gotta get out of here, did you happen to have a plan when you jumped from the ceiling?" You look at all the glowering and angry creatures surrounding you, suddenly unsure of how wise your recent actions were.
"Uhh..." Is all you have time for before the first of the gathered monsters lunges at you. You block it to the best of your ability and swipe back with your own claw, feeling it rend flesh and sending the attacker whimpering back into the crowd. You're surprised at how quick your reaction time was, you didn't even realize you were under attack before you were already moving to counter the creature. You don't have long to muse before another couple of the school's denizens attack you. Your brother is equally busy to your rear, fending off multiple aggravators.
"I guess... We're fighting...Our way out!" He lands a couple more blows, but the strain in his voice and the way he is gasping for breath make it pretty clear that you are outnumbered and outmatched in this fight. Your breathing has become little more than ragged gasps as well, your vision blurring near the edges and a claustrophobic feeling is creeping into your heart. Everyone is too close, you can't breathe... YOU CAN'T BREATHE! Your battle rage burns bright in your heart as you lash and cry out like a cornered, wounded animal. This is the last ditch and you can't win...
*BANGBANGBANG!* The sharp crack of gunfire whips through the gymnasium, the fighting stops as the gathered animal men and women duck for cover and flee from the one who is shooting. Cameron pounces on you, driving you to the ground and covering your body. After a moment, you look up, Anders is standing on the far side of the gym, pistol raised to the ceiling. He lowers it to the 'present' as he makes his way over to you, you don't see Amelia anywhere. Cameron doesn't move, he glowers at Anders, seeing a new threat and not sure what to do. You try to put him at ease, "Easy Cam, he's with us. I couldn't have made it here without him and he rescued me from the ambush..." You can feel his body above you relax a bit. Shakily, he gets off you, allowing you to stand as well. You see many of the crowd still huddled in corners and behind benches and walls, no longer a threat.
"Damnit, Darien, next time let me know before you go leaping offa goddamn catwalks and into crowds of volatile, mutant animals!" There's concern written across his face, but you just give your best shit-eating grin as a response. "Ah, hell, you're one crazy kid, you know that?" He wraps you in one, fuzzy arm and nuzzles you affectionately, but the moment is brief. You hear a sharp inhale to your left and turn to see your brother putting pressure on a serious gash across his chest, it looks like he got clawed by something vicious back during the melee. "That looks serious, boy, we need to get you out of here fast to get that looked at!" Anders pulls of his tattered shirt and ties it around Cameron's torso to help staunch the bleeding.
"I think the bleeding has already started to slow..." Cameron says, looking a little paler than normal, "How are we gonna leave? There are plenty of guards on the upper floor, some with guns, who will be between us and escape. It's likely that they are on their way to us now, if they heard the fighting and gunshots." You nod, but you don't think you'll have to fight through them to get out.
"Anders, can we get back through the tunnels that we came through?" you ask of your wolfman. He looks like he's considering something,
"Amelia, that fox girl, ran off when I tried to make my way down here to you. I'm not sure where she went, but she seemed to know many of the creatures here. If she went to alert the guards at the front, we might find ourselves walking into a trap going back there..." Anders looks at you and your brother. You need to decide how to proceed, the stakes getting higher with every passing second, what do you do...?