The announcer stepped out in front and began chatting with the crowd as if he was in their living room.

He was a long-legged white faun dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit and bow tie. His cloven hoof toes peeked out from under his pants, unshod.

His horns were impressive, jutting back behind his skull in an arc that was genteel and wicked at the same time. His silvery white goatee was curled and gelled into a perfect question mark which reached the top of his chest.

He reached out both hands and greeted the entire audience with a dazzling show of blue and pink electric sparks shooting from his fingertips.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Lorem Ipsum and we are going to start this pageant by introducing to you all eight contestants.”

Lorem waved a hand and eight virtual screens the size of a huge billboard began to slowly rotate around the center of the coliseum above the contestants.

“From this point until the end of the pageant, there will be face shots of each contestant on rotating visual displays so that you get to know each of them well. After all, one of the seven will be supremely important to all of us.”

The noise level of the crowd rose as the faces of the females on stage began to move around the dais in a slow leisure swirl.

It didn’t matter whether they could see the contestants from where they sat. With virtual screens that large, zooming in on each contestant’s face, they could see all the women clearly from every seat in the house.

Lorem gave a loud regal laugh.

“Each woman is so unique, so marvelous in depth and breadth that I cannot wait to delve in further and find out more about them. However!”

He held out a perfectly manicured claw, painted in whorls of carmine and fuchsia to resemble floral petals.

“Before we can do that, we need to clear up this situation with Earth’s duplicate entrant. Meanwhile, I will do brief introductions of each woman so we can at least get started.”

He waved a hand and a gold scepter with a round ball attached to the top appeared in his hand.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I will start with Jenna Natoli, from the jungle world of Calendula!”

He waved the scepter and the small round platform that she stood upon rose so that she was half a body higher than the other contestants.

A huge roar erupted from one side of the coliseum. Her fans and followers from the world of Calendula had come out to support her, en masse!

Jenna Natoli was a spotted jaguar with the body of a human goddess.

She was golden-haired with a pattern of swirls and spots on her full-breasted body that was sleek, sexy, and downright dangerous!

Her large slanted cat eyes were the color of bottle glass. She had a cute pert pink nose above the glint of sharp fangs that could be seen every time she opened her mouth and licked her lips with a pink tongue.

Her body was quite human, if one could ignore the swish of a golden tail behind her, swirling up and coiling like a snake.

The announcer waited until the audience had calmed a bit before moving onto the second contestant.

“Next up, Ladies and Gentlemen, is Valeria Marakesh from the tropical world of Peoria!”

He waved his scepter and Jenna’s platform lowered as Valeria’s rose from the dais.

There was a general fluttering of winds and loud raucous screeches coming from the side of the coliseum that had come in support for Valeria Marakesh.

Valeria Marakesh was part raven part human.

She had a small white face with large pale blue eyes. Her huge dark feathered wings rose up above her in a graceful arc, flowing down into a regal plumage.

Her body was not voluptuous like Jenna’s was. She was thin and waif like. Her skin was alabaster, her legs long and slender, ending in three forward pointing bird toes and one pointing backwards.

Lorem Ipsum waited until the crowd had settled a bit. Then he waved his ball scepter and Valeria sank as the next contestant rose into prominence.

“Third to arrive upon our beautiful world is Anaïse Paroles from the sandy world of Haribou!”

One corner of the coliseum lit up in the same pale blue that Anaïse Paroles radiated with cool intensity. It was a silent support but it was a very bright silent support.

Anaïse Paroles smiled and raised her arms up, waving with regal authority. She was strangely made of clear pale blue ice! Or at least to Candi she looked like ice.

Upon closer inspection, Candi gasped as she realized that Anaïse Paroles was actually made of silicon glass!

Anaïse was not only transparent, she also glowed a pale blue light that was at once otherworldly and technologically advanced.

She wore nothing to mar the absolute perfection of her perfectly clear pale blue crystalline body.

Lorem Ipsum smiled at her with appreciative eyes and then turned back to the crowd.

“We’re more than halfway through with introductions, Ladies and Gentlemen!”

He cast his scepter again. Anaïse Paroles went down and the contestant next to her rose on her small platform, with arms waving.

“In Fourth position is Helene Cordara from the water world of Emporia.”

A loud shout of support came from another corner of the coliseum. There was obviously a huge following for Helene Cordara.

Candi stifled a smile.

Helene was part fish that wanted to be a bird.

Her entire head was covered in a blue and gold headscarf twisted into a large knot, at the top of which a huge white plume of ostrich feather stuck out at an angle. The feather bounced with every move she made.

Helene Cordara’s body was covered in a tight-fitting blue and gold outfit that looked like fish scales. The ‘tail’ split and then extended past her very human legs, trailing behind her like a long fish tail.

Her few precious minutes of fame quickly ended as Lorem Ipsum waved his scepter and Helene sank back down to the dais and the woman next to her rose.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the next contestant is Bethany Dresden from the moons of Coraline!”

Bethany raised her hands to her red lips and blew a kiss.

She threw the kiss out into the crowd and it turned into a bright little red bird that flew from her hand, twittering and chattering.

The crowd oohed and aaaaed, crowing with delight.

Bethany’s outfit was a simple little black dress that ended mid-thigh, but she did not need to dress conspicuously. She was covered in red feathers!

Her headdress was a full covering that had a dozen golden antennas spreading out into a fan shaped crown. Candi could not tell what kind of bird she was but it looked as if she was another variety of bird human.

“Oh that was quite a spectacle! Bethany is a very special phoenix in deed!” Lorem Ipsum laughed as he waved his scepter, bringing her back down to the dais.

“Our next contestant is Olivia Faraday from Laroche Gardens!” He announced as she rose up on her small platform.

Olivia was the only insectoid of the group. She was, in fact, a humanoid monarch butterfly!

Her body was encased in a full-length black body suit that showed off to perfection, her orange and yellow wings. It was trimmed with black edges and flared out behind her, showcasing her brilliant beauty.

As she faned her wings, she dropped into an elegant curtsy that made the crowd swoon with delight.

Lorem Ipsum chuckled and then turned to the last woman standing on the platform. Then he turned to look at Candi.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the next position should have been the last contestant.” He turned back to the audience.

“but we have two contestants who will be battling for this last position.” The announcer held up two fingers into the air.

“Since we have two contestants from Earth, I will introduce them side-by-side, as only one of them will be able to remain on the dais by the end of this initial round.”

Once again, he waved his gold balled scepter.