//------------------------------//
// Round 7 
// Story: Three More Things! 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

As Augustus continued, he found himself on a narrow bridge over a wide gorge with sharp spikes - both metal and rock - barely visible far below, a promise of a grisly death for anyone foolish enough to fall from the stone walkway.  The archway he entered through filled with shadows as soon as he stepped onto the bridge, and he could feel it barring his return.  The full moon hung in the seeming sky above, and the archway at the other end of the bridge was also filled with shadows.  "Somehow I can't imagine this opponent is as interested in an honorable battle as my last one was..." he murmured under his breath.  Hearing the sound of hooves against stone approaching, he braced himself...only for his eyes to widen as a figure appeared out of the shadows of the archway.
The centaur-like figure stood at nearly twice Augustus' height, with just his equine portion going up to the waist topping out level with the man's chest while the humanoid portion rose in proportion to the rest of the body.  The humanoid portion was massive with muscles, with bone spurs at elbows and ram-like horns growing from a bald head.  A rat-like tail with a metallic sheen waved over the figure as it charged, sparks striking from the stone even as the tail tip launched energy blasts at Augustus, who was forced to shift back and forth rapidly to dodge only to have to leap to the railing and then over his foe to avoid both the charge and the sweeping strikes of arms and tail.
"You stink of Shokan!" the figure snarled as he spun on his forelegs, ripping part of the stone railing free and hurling it like a spear.  "I will enjoy tearing you limb from limb!"
Augustus ducked under the thrown stone, barley missing it taking his head clean off.  "Well it's clear which of you is the better host," he observed with a forced chuckle, trying to sound amused.  He started to reach into his jacket for something to fight with, only to be forced to dodge back and forth repeatedly as more energy blasts were launched from his foe's tail.
"I know how you fight, pathetic creature!" the figure snarled angrily before closing the distance in another charge, swinging his fists and rearing up to kick with his forelegs even as his tail lashed like a whip, all the strikes missing Augustus by millimeters as he was forced fully on the defensive.  "Your only strength is the trinkets and tools in your coat, but you need time to call them forth!  Without your weapons, you are no match for Motaro!"
"Wanna bet?" Augustus demanded as he shifted slightly out of the way of the next punch, seizing the wrist as it was pulled back before hauling forward.
Motaro laughed as he easily yanked Augustus off his feet.  "You think you can out-muscle a mighty Centaurian-what?"
Augustus had allowed himself to be yanked forward, kicking off as he was to use the momentum to swing himself around Motaro's body to land on his back, braced on the equine lower body in a surfing pose.  "Like I said-"  A lean to the side and the tail shot past him, the point shooting past Motaro's head, only for Augustus to seize the tip and pull with the motion.  In moments, he had the tail wrapped once around Motaro's neck, pulled taut.  "Wanna bet?"
Motaro reared and thrashed, struggling to reach Augustus on his back.  However, his arms could not bend that far to grab due to how well muscled he was, and his waist didn't twist far enough or fast enough where his human portion meant the equine to get leverage to grab the human without giving him plenty of time to lean out of reach without letting go of the tail.  Because of the structure of his spine, Motaro couldn't lean back any further towards his equine portion to get slack in his tail, and trying to pull tail free either with the muscles therein or with his hands only pulled it tighter around his neck.  He proceeded to rear and buck like a wild bronco, desperate to throw the human fighter from his back...but the very tension that was slowly strangling him helped his assailant maintain his balance.  As he felt himself starting to suffocate, Motaro leapt back towards one of the arches, rearing back to try and crush the upstart between his own weight and the stone...but the very tension of his tail that was besting him kept him at too much of an arc for the crushing to work.  In a last, desperate act, he reared back even further, seeking to overbalance himself with the intent of crushing the warrior against the stone railings of the bridge.  There was a very real possibility this would lead to him falling to his own death...but for the glory of the Kahn and to prove his race superior to the Shokan, his death was an acceptable price to stop this warrior and grant the Kahn victory over Earthrealm!
He blinked as he found he wasn't falling back further.  In fact, he was suspended halfway fallen...and still bound by his tail.  "W...what...?" he managed to gasp out, only to barley see two grappling lines tied to his tail, anchored at either end of the bridge and keeping him in that position.
"I could have jumped free just after you completely overbalanced, but before you hit the railing," Augustus allowed quietly as he walked along the railing of the bridge to face Motaro.  "You would have fallen to your death, and I'd have won without weapons...but your blood would be on my hands.  I'm law enforcement.  I'm only supposed to kill when there's no other choice."  Something was shoved into the Centaurian's mouth and nose, and he slipped into unconsciousness.
Once he was certain he was unconscious and would stay that way, Augustus undid one of the grappling lines, letting Motaro slowly fall onto the bridge rather than off it before unwrapping his tail from around his neck.  As he turned to go, he winced as he shakily reached up to rub his upper arms with his hands, trying to massage away the intense pain left there by fighting an entire horse worth of muscle back.  "By the Triumvirate, that's going to be hell tomorrow morning..."