The Gripper Duels

The Gripper Duels were a series of four battles between Queen Starkeeper and each member of the Gripper Pack. All of them saw Starkeeper's victory. However, Destroyer's battle was between him and his order sister, Thorn.

Basics
During the Flightmare War, Starkeeper challenged Destroyer, Venom, Killer and Eclipse to individual battles to prove their strength. Waterslink didn't participate because she was a close friend of Starkeepers. The battles ended around November of 2020 with the final battle being Destroyer's fight with Thorn.

Beginning
Starkeeper challenged the four Pointed Deathgrippers, Destroyer, Venom, Eclipse and Killer to battles. Waterslink wasn't involved due to her non-violent nature. They were claimed to be "just for fun," but the Slayer turned them into a game of life or death, where the only goal was to kill Star. The duels would happen in Starkeeper's arena and would all occur a week apart from each other. Star would also transform into a Deathmare (Deathgripper-Flightmare hybrid) every time, as per GirlZilla's instructions.


 * Duels declared
 * Secret plan to kill Starkeeper
 * Waterslink not involved

Starkeeper Vs Eclipse
The first round was against Eclipse, the stealthiest of the Deathgrippers. During the fight, he would use the shadows around the ring to his advantage, hiding and sneak-attacking Starkeeper. However, when Eclipse tried to pounce on Star from behind, he was smacked by Starkeeper's tail and sent flying into the wall. He struggled to get back on his feet, but was pinned down by the Queen before he could do so. Starkeeper was declared the winner and the battle was won.


 * Eclipse defeated

Starkeeper Vs Venom
Next up was Venom, the most toxic of the Deathgrippers. Star knew that if she were to touch his skin, she would be poisoned. To combat this, Star used ranged attacks like Destroyer used to give Venom his scars. Venom dodged the mist that came his way and proceeded to pounce. Starkeeper ducked out of the way and Venom landed in the sand. He got back up and pounced again. Star moved aside from the wall she was backed into and Venom was slammed into the concrete. He declared his lost when he regained conscious.


 * Venom defeated

Starkeeper Vs Killer
Killer, the most violent of the Grippers, was up next. To trick him, Star transformed into Waterslink, tricking Killer until he was pinned by the Queen.


 * Killer defeated (kinda)

Thorn Vs Destroyer
Due to certain events, Starkeepers battle with the last member of the Pack, Destroyer, was canceled. However, not all was lost, as Thorn, Des's older sister, was willing to take Star's place. The two met at the entrance of Pointed's portal to the Realm. Confident, Destroyer charged his rival, but was severely outmatched. After fighting for a while, Destestroyer's wings were grabbed by Thorn. In pure rage, she tore his wings clean off his body. Defeated, Destroyer lay on the ground, panting and loosing blood. Thorn looked down at her bloody claws and was shocked at what she just done. She then fled in shame, leaving Destroyer in GirlZilla's treatment. While his wings would later be restored by Gothra's silk, Destroyer would be forever traumatized by the event.


 * Destroyer defeated
 * Destroyer fearful of Thorn

Trivia

 * There was meant to be a battle for Waterslink, but it was canceled due to the power of friendship.
 * In the stands were GirlZilla, Snowflake and the other dragons sat to watch the fights, dragons would pass around popcorn and other snacks to the spectators, similar to a baseball game.
 * During the fights, the Slayer secretly hid earpieces on each of the dragons' horns, giving them instructions on how to kill Star.
 * Destroyer's earpiece wasn't removed when he lost to Thorn and was revealed later.