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[2021 BOUNS] CANCEL CHRISTMAS!: EPISODE 5: RICVEN vs KRAMPUS!

KRAMPUS' KEEP
The Belly of the Beast
Ricven vs. Krampus!

Ricven flew back. Aethra Exalt shone an intense icy blue light. The aethric crystals responded to the threat of Krampus' nethra pouring from his fur. The goat demon charged. Ricven welcomed him. Krampus swiped at Ricven. The Sepian bounced out of Krampus' attack. Krampus snarled as his claws cut through nothing but air and disappointment.

Ricven was too quick.

So was Krampus.

And they met at a monstrous speed that none could fully calculate. Nor did the three elves stand and watch so idly. Santa squirmed in his sack while the three cut him down. The bag hit the floor in a heavy thud and Santa-grunt.

"Get me out of here!" Struggled Santa. The elves unraveled him.

Santa's head popped out first. His face was tanned and a little bruised, with a big nose, white dreadlocks, and thick white beardlocks adorned in green and red bands. He pulled himself out of the sack, still in his legendary Christmas outfit. With one big stretch and mighty groan, the pained but recovering Father of Christmas then laid eyes on the fighting Ricven and Krampus from a safe distance.

"HO!" grunted Santa. The jolly old man was impressed at Ricven's potential. "Look at him go. Good work fetching him, boys!" He told the elves at his side.

Stuffer, Snickerdoodle, and Tinsel beamed their brightest smiles, although they were a bit covered in minion guts. The chaotic brawl between Krampus and Ricven stormed above until the last of Ricven's parries countered into a savage swing of his sword, slapping the shit out of Krampus with the broad side of his blade. A petty move.

Krampus hit the floor face-first with a beastly yelp. If the slap of Aethra Exalt wasn't the worse, then the cold, raggedy earth kissing Krampus' face with rude love took the cake.

Ricven stayed in the air with a supreme grin on his face.

Krampus struggled to get up. He shivered in pain. Weak in the joints, and face full of agony and rage. That rage delved into the pits of his dark being, down in the grim gutters of discontent where that tiny little nethra spark grew a hundred times bigger than his foul black heart. It gave him the power he needed—that burst of malicious morale. A cruel confidence that—

"You're getting ahead of yourself again, homie!" he warned me. And he was right. It was best that I stopped the dramatics, for Christmas was coming, and Krampus must be stopped.

Cue Travis Barker's "Let's Go," and you have the theme song for this budding boss battle on deck. The song cranked up in Ricven's ears, stuffed with two music pods.

"Annoying little maggot!" Krampus rose to his hooves. The nethra within him flaring his fur up. Rivulets of dark energy coiled and sparked off of his horns. And his yellow eyes screamed pure revenge. He swung his arm out, and a scorching whip snapped in his grip. Wings exploded from his back like great bat appendages. The brute just powered up. "Now you've forced my hand!"

"Then come on then, Kramps!" Ricven bellowed like a real one from the streets. He welcomed Krampus with open arms and taunting conceit. "Bust a move, motherfucker! LET'S GO!"

The elves rooted for Ricven. Santa observed with fierce scrutiny. Ricven descended upon Krampus. A crazed swordsman twirled and swung his big-ass crystal sword against the mad whips and claws of Christmas' notorious child-eating devil—that fancied himself a vegan.

"WHOO!" Ricven bellowed. Krampus roared. They clashed like two mad comets. Energy rolled off of them akin to a mini-nuke, waves of power that nearly pushed back Santa and the elves.

But Santa had power, too.

The elves managed to scramble behind the big guy in the red suit. Santa became their shield from the oncoming surge of immense power that blasted off Ricven and Krampus. Two opposing forces were battling for dominance—the stuff of anime battles and Triple-A video game conflicts.

Ricven swiped Aethra Exalt into Krampus whip. The whip wrapped around the blade, halting its advance. Krampus yanked his whip. Ricven jolted into Krampus' kill zone. The holiday devil's eyes bulged the second Ricven's sword vanished. And in came Ricven with The Staff of Koja spinning overhead. The big bulbous end of Ricven's staff slapped Krampus across the jaw. Krampus recovered. Fast enough to crash his fist into Ricven's face.

If freckles were loose, Ricven lost a few. Fortunately, his handsome features endured the hit. Couldn't say the same about Ricven's brains, though. Ricven spun in his descent, slapping the ground with a sick thud and tumbling roll. Ricven couldn't control it. He just kept tumbling about like a ragdoll until Krampus' whip yanked him back.

"BRING THAT ASS HERE, BOY!" roared Krampus. He received Ricven only to palm his face, clutching his skull, and slammed his ass into the ground so hard that Krampus busted open a crater.

The elves fell into shock. Santa was unmoved. Krampus flapped his bat wings. He ascended just enough to deliver a vicious barrage of whips lashing up Ricven like he was a runaway slave. Krampus whip ripped through layers of aethra. Ricven's aethric shield gradually waned.

The final lash was caught by Ricven's grip!

Krampus snarled. He tried to yank his whip back. Ricven's grip was too tight to fuck with. With a pained smirk, Ricven yanked Krampus' whip into him. Krampus came down roaring. His beastly bellow cut into a sick-sounding croak as Ricven kick-flipped his foot into Krampus' chin.

The elves made pain sounds from that kick.

Krampus hit the air. Ricven's kick was a bitch to take. Unable to gain control, Krampus slammed into the ceiling, embedded into the rock. He eventually slipped from his hole. He wished he stayed jammed in that ceiling. A weak Krampus dropped out of his spot. Plunging right into Ricven's rising aerial combo of thrashing staff and furious kicks.

A combo meter popped up, tallying-up Ricven's hits.

Twelve hits. The Twelve Days of Christmas song briefly remixed itself into the current track blasting about the moment.

Ricven slipped behind the stunned Krampus and locked the devil's neck with his Koja staff. Ricven pulled. His staff choked Krampus. Krampus gasped for air. He struggled. Ricven bashed his knees into his back. Krampus' whole back arched like a bitch. Wings flapped in a panic as they wrestled in the air.

"Give it up, Krumpus!" Ricven demanded. Another knee slammed into Krampus' back. Krampus kept trying to remove himself from Ricven's brutal hold.

"To hell with you!" roared Krampus. His back was on fire. His anger on a hundred. The nethra within protested. Desiring to consume Ricven.

"Suit yourself." Ricven kneed him again. Then kept on kneeing him some more before The Staff of Koja vanished, and Ricven caught Krampus in a final grapple, slamming Krampus into the same crater Ricven came up out of.

The elves shouted and rejoiced when the smoke cleared, and Ricven rose from the debris. Santa hummed. He was impressed with Ricven's ability to drop Krampus like a bad habit.

Stuffer, Tinsel, and Snickerdoodle ran up to Ricven and gave him the daps, giving Ricven the low fives instead of high fives since they were so short.

Stuffer chuckled with joy. "GOT 'EM!"

Santa kept observing. "It's not over yet, my boys."

Ricven and the elves turned to witness Krampus coming out of that crater, mad as hell.

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