Howard
Barric already was uncomfortable. This was the first time in years he would be seen without jeans and boots. But it wasn't just his physical appearance that made him uncomfortable, it was just the general vibe of the gym. He wasn't sure what here made him feel like this, but it did and he was just *Uncomfortable*. Ever since the graveyard incident, he had spent most of his time going in between his dorm room, the town, and the building he had placed the cow in. Malus and he were still speaking normally. Nothing had changed, surprisingly, which he suspected the boy thought would happen. But it was just something he had to remind himself he had to get used to. Everyone did weird things here. Malus just happened to play with the line of death and life like a yoyo. 

Barric shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. The black tennis shoes squeaked against the tile floor of the gym. He had shoved his hands into his pockets of the sweatpants he usually wore to bed and tried to sink away from the center of the room where the sparring area was. He was okay with the idea of sparring with people on some level. Just not on this level. Fighting anyone wasn't his forte. Fighting Malus? Was just not something he wanted to happen ever. Barric wasn't scared of anyone at Newton's, and he definitely wasn't afraid of Malus. Unfortunately, in a physical fight between the two, it was obvious Barric would end out on top. And that's what he was afraid of. Hurting Malus was at the bottom of the list of things he wanted to do, but here he was. 

Barric bit his lip, taking a few steps behind Malus, getting closer before speaking. "Do you actually want to do this? I don't want to accidentally hurt you or anything." He murmured, barely loud enough for Malus to hear him. Barric brought his hands up, beginning to crack his fingers, trying to distract his mind.
Wilma
He wasn't all that new being in the gym for combat training. So he was most likely not all that surprised that the coach/trainer would pit him against Barric. He had no choice but to dress in a black hoodie, jeans, gloves and sneakers. 

He shrugs his shoulders to respond to his friend with an unsure gesture. *"It's part of power training and self-defense... We're not no-normal... Students... So... We... Have... To.."* Malus coughed in the crook of his elbow, turning away from Barric. His voice strained and felt a bad itch that stung the inside of his throat. When he regained his composure, he hand signed an apology for the abrupt coughing.

Then he heard his name being called by the coach/trainer who looked tired and annoyed. "Okay, you're all covered up like I asked? We don't want you draining Barric's life until he is knocked out, the school is going to be on my ass. This may not be fair on your part but you can't be feeding on people. Luckily this is mostly just a training session, I'll show you both the techniques of moves that you need to practice."

Malus bashfully rubs the back of his neck, now recalling that he hasn't told Barric about his ability to sap health from living creatures. 

"Barric, you can't physically make skin contact with Malus. This is why he is all clothed to prevent draining your health. It wouldn't be a fair fight on his part but it's best to handicap him for this training." Then the instructor begins explaining to them about wrestling techniques before calling it a break.

The two boys are left alone to have a short talk while the coach guy is marking down his sheets on his billboard.

"Sorry..." Malus whispered, turning his light gray eyes to the floor. "Forgot... To tell... Well... Kind of... Didn't want to talk about it... But... I didn't want to scare you.." He was talking about his ability draining life.
Howard
Barric honestly barely paid attention to the coach or teacher or whatever the fuck he is. It was honestly hard for him to want to pay attention to any adult besides his parents so the coach's instructions seemed to just fly over his head into the abyss. As the coach walked away he tuned back into everything being said. His head turned towards Malus listening to what he was saying. Barric gave a little nod to Malus letting the younger kid know he was listening to him. 

"It's fine. Some secrets are best kept as secrets." There was a strange twinkle in his eyes, as if he was making a joke or hinting at something. But Barric sidestepped around Malus, keeping his face out of view, stepping towards the mat. His arm leaned against the wall as he took off shoes and socks, tucking the socks into the tennis shoes. The mat sat in the middle of the room innocently as Barric nervously approached it. 

With the way he walked towards it, it seemed as if the boy was nervous the mat would jump at him. But as he took a few steps towards it and eventually onto it, he seemed to be slightly more confident. But still absolutely terrified. He peered up at Malus, waiting for the boy to decide what to do. "Uhm, do we just punch each other now..?" Barric asked hesitantly. He really didn't want to punch Malus. He didn't even wanna tackle him.

This was going to go horribly, Barric could already tell. He swallowed a lump in his throat, peering back up at the kid waiting for his answer.
Wilma
The young kid didn't get what Barric is indicating, the twinkle in his eye looked like a positive thing. This is as much Malus can tell by the expression. Then he watched Barric approach the large mat like a cat is about to jump back from the toaster going off.

He tilted his head curiously at Barric, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. Unlike the others, he walked there casually. "The teacher wants us to use wrestling techniques for our training... I guess you... Were not paying... Attention?" 

He slipped his mask on in case the kid would accidentally brush against his face in this training match. "I've... Done this a lot back in my highschool... Wrestling isn't much my thing... Get ready..."
Howard
B2 Finesse initiative

Barric shook his head. "No I really wasn't." He muttered chuckling awkwardly. He realizes he definitely should've cause maybe the coach mentioned a technique that wouldn't hurt Malus. But the coach had already ran off and he didn't want to seem like an idiot going back to ask him to repeat what he had explained to him already. That would probably just annoy the guy.

The farmer watched as Malus slipped his mask on. That'd hurt to punch is all Barric could really think in the moment. So they had to actually fight here. Barric tossed a look over his shoulder, chewing on his lip. He could go easy on Malus. Give him a better chance of beating him. Yeah, that's what he was going to do. Barric looked back at Malus. He seemed somewhat ready. Does he just start? God, why was he questioning everything? 

Barric hunched slightly, keeping himself lower than usual, attempting to make it obvious what move he was going to go for. He planted his feet, steadying himself before letting out a breath. He waited for a moment, letting Malus prepare before he set off. Barric moved forward quickly, attempting to slam his body into Malus' to knock the kid back a little without fully hurting him.
Wilma
**We flip a coin: Scythe pick Tails but the coin landed on heads**

It hurts... A bit.

Malus felt the air partially getting knocked out of him by a farmer kid full of bulk and muscle. His light weight carried him far back, nearly stumbling as he regained his footing.

To be honest on his part, Malus was never that awesome of a fighter against other parahumans. He was so used to fighting other regular people that he usually had some advantage. A few kids noticed this and they decided to go watch them from the side lines.

After being hit hard by the bull, this is when he started to really feel the pain. At this point it's really not wrestling if Barric is going to just use brute force. The farmer kid didn't really pay any attention which made Malus feel some dread. 

Even more so when he felt his hunger spiked right after getting hurt. Inside he felt the need to consume so badly. Barric is starting to look more like prey than a person in front of Malus. He shakes his head to shrug off the temptation along with the pain.

This is when he is going to try to perform the Single Leg Take-Down technique that he learned.
Howard
Barric took a step back, leaving his legs unguarded. He paused not too far from Malus, trying to see if the kid was okay. Barric chewed on his lip, debating voicing his concern for Malus, but chose not to. He'd call a timeout if he was actually hurt, right? Yeah, he would Barric convince him. As the thoughts were about to end, Malus tore him from them by grabbing onto him and slamming him into the ground. He almost screamed in surprise but cut himself off mid way, creating some sort of weird choking noise. 

Barric tore himself away from Malus, taking a few steps back, planning his next move. He just had to get Malus down. Then he could figure out a plan from there. His eyes darted back and forth like an animal trying to find a weak point on Malus that he could exploit without hurting the kid too much. His throat and head were off the table. Barric didn't want to actually hurt him. He could go for the arms? Maybe grab ahold of them and slam him? 

Barric took a few steps back, still debating before making his decision. He charged at Malus, grabbing ahold of the kid's arm and tried to flip him onto his stomach. Barric could keep him down from there.

B4 Grab the weird child

Barric grunts as Malus grabs his arm and twists it behind his back. He stumbles a bit before Malus pins him down. His arm still twisted behind his back. Barric's brain goes into panic mode without warning. His breathing is loud and he all he can hear is his heartbeat in his ears. The only warning Malus receives is a small grunt and a few pops in Barric's bones as his tail attempts to form.

His tail shoots out of his tailbone. The stringer curls into the rest of the tail, making room for its full length. The stringer dives directly towards Malus' stomach, trying to sting it.
Wilma
Oh shit! Time to Try Roll Out of WAY!

Passive ability: Vitality Drain. G1

Now he's starting to panic when he recognizes the Rice Krispy's sound effect that Barric is making with his body. 

The farm kid is transforming!?

The Snap! Crack! And Pop music played in the gym room's air.

He is now panicking as he attempts to move out of the way of the attack. Hearing the scorpion tail whip out and its stinger glistening under the light. Just as he was going to roll out of the way, he felt it pierced right under the collar bone.

A few spits of blood burst out from the fist sized stinger.

Malus let out a pained grunt as he wheezed out,"Clean the blood off or you'll die!" His throat burned from his shouting out, which was heard by the students in the room.

He's feeling the venom already taking its course as he just fell flat on his back. 

Yep. This is where he is going to die. His mom dancing over his grave about him dying from a scorpion sting.
Howard
The tail instinctively swung around, throwing the blood about and wiping it off against the mat. As soon as Malus was rolled off of him, he got up. His tail swung around, readying itself for another attack before noticing Malus' current state. Well shit. This was going to be a fun situation to explain to the staff. His eyes darted around to the group that had surrounded the mat, debating what to do. He could just take Malus to the infirmity? Hesitantly, Barric scooped Malus into his arms, picking the kid up from the ground. "Hey you're fine. Just a little bit of paralyzation." That was probably a bad way to put it. But it was the most comforting Barric could be in the moment.

He moved past a few people, turning around to use his back to push the gym door open. "You'll be fine." He kept repeating, trying his best to assure the younger kid. Barric honestly wasn't sure how long his paralyzation lasted. It was a tossup for now on how long they had before Malus could move anything below his neck. WELP good job, Barric, you kinda fucked up here. The walk to the infirmity was going to definitely going to be an awkward one. Should he retract his tail? He looked back, trying not to make it obvious what he was looking at. He knew animals freaked Malus out a lot. Animal parts seem to also fuel the fear. 

He slowed his walking, retracting the tail but not fully stopping. He realized now he had left his shoes in the gym, so this was going to make this entire event even more fun. He sighed, realizing that he kind of just left without an explanation with the kid in his arms.
Wilma
The coach takes things under control from here making sure the students don't touch the blood on the mat. From here Mal is going to get medical help, probably an anti venom if they have any, few stitches and an oxygen mask to help him breath during his recovery.