Facing the Challenger

Weight settles into my limbs. My jaw unlocks. A rival stands directly across from me. Rigid. Motionless. I drive my rear foot down against the woven ground. The rug yields beneath my claws, firm and dry. I lean forward. I nudge my lower jaw forward until it lightly taps the rival's plastic snout. Click. No counterstrike. No breath. I pause. I look past it, taking in the smaller beasts frozen in the rear. The ground is steady beneath me. I hold my stance.