A loud BOOM!!! exploded into the air above them as a huge ball of confetti exploded, sending colorful pieces of paper blooming out in a chrysanthemum blossom.

The tiny pieces fluttered down onto the contestants, the platform, and the beach, catching the sunlight as it streamed downward.

Immediately, Jenna and Anaïse jumped from their dais and ran for the cliff face.

Jenna slumped down on all fours and began jumping onto the cliff, digging her claws into the cliffside. With powerful shoulder and leg muscles, she pulled herself up using all four legs in the only way a cougar could.

This was her forte, her familiar territory. Her kind wasn’t called mountain lions in some parts of the galaxy for nothing.

Further away, Anaïse reached out with steady measured calm movements and touched each exposed part of rock. As before, she melted the rock face where she touched and built her own small protrusions and toeholds, scaling it with relative ease.

Beside Candi, the winged females had already taken off into the sky. This was the least of their challenge.

Candi was about to head towards the cliff when, from the side of her peripheral vision, she saw something fly at her.

Ducking with the instinct of a trained fighter, Candi rolled off her dais and sprang up on all fours in defensive mode.

The thrown object impaled itself onto the tree behind Candi with a solid THUNK.

She had barely dodged a flying knife, aimed at her gut.

Helene was still standing on her dais, her face smiling in that gentle sweet smile.

“Oooh. You’re fast. But that’s okay. There are a few more where that came from.”

Candi clenched her teeth.

“Aren’t you supposed to save your weapons for that coyote you have to take down?”

Helene smiled.

“If you die here, I can take my time and find that coyote. The event doesn’t end until I make it to the final dais.” She jumped off the dais and pulled out another knife.

The two women circled each other. Helene was holding a knife. Candi had nothing in her hands.

“We don’t have time for this, Helene.” Candi warned. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Correction. YOU don’t have time for this.” Helene laughed in that same cheerful sweet manner that was so diametrically opposed to the evil glint in her eyes.

Suddenly, Helene lunged.

Candi dodged the lunge and caught the arm that held the knife. She had already seen the loose way Helene held the weapon. The woman didn’t really know how to knife-fight.

With a quick twist, Candi bent Helene’s wrist backward.

Helene howled. The knife dropped to the ground.

Still working with Helene’s forward momentum, Candi yanked on Helen’s arm, helping to move her body forward. As Helene pitched towards her, Candi raised her knee and jammed it into Helene’s stomach.

“Uuughhhh!!!” Helene grunted, doubling over.

At the same moment, Candi brought her elbow down and whacked Helene at the small of her spine.

CRACK!!!

“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!” Helene shrieked as Candi threw her body down to the platform. Her back was bent at a weird unnatural angle.

Candi looked up as Slate’s dark flying body circled around her, casting ominous winged shadows. It had all happened so quickly that he hadn’t even gotten a chance to intervene on her behalf.

Candi waved at him to signal that she was fine and turned back to Lorem Ipsum.

“I don’t have time for this. You deal with her. I have to go catch my snake.”

Lorem Ipsum blinked his eyes in rapid succession and then made a motion for her to go.

As she turned and ran for the cliff face, Lorem Ipsum shivered, squeezed his fists together in front of his chest and squealed like a little girl.

That was such an unexpected thrilling start to what should have been a basic Strength and Vitality event!

It was too bad it wasn’t a little bit more bloody. Red fluids smeared all over the glass platform would have made an exciting visual display.

But no matter. A fish woman with a broken back was just as exciting.

Out of all the visuals hover pods, there had to be half a dozen that had captured the fight at the right angles for it to be replayed in slow motion and in various exciting successions.

All he had to do was get some animation that showed a spine snapping at the joint where Candace Farrah had shoved her strong bony elbow directly in.

The cracking sound at the point of impact could be superimposed onto the animation and it would be an amazing visual for the audience!

Ignoring Helene’s loud moans, Lorem Ipsum hovered over to the tree where the knife was impaled.

Gesturing with his hand, he motioned for a couple of visual hover pods to take a few images there as well.

When placed together with the visual of Helene’s knife throw, it would eliminate all doubt as to who started the fight.

???

“Disqualify that fish!!!” The Crown Prince raged at his Court Attendant.

He was standing on the balcony of the Royal Palace, watching the event on a huge virtual screen with a small group of his court aides and the Emperor of Erenveil.

“Your Royal Highness, it looks as if she is not even able to stand up…”

“Are you arguing with me? I said DISQUALIFY HER!!! How dare she try to hurt my Candi!!!”

“Yes—yes your Royal Highness. I will send the royal decree immediately.”

Byron’s eyes narrowed as his fists shook with the intensity of his fury.

“Byron.” The Emperor cleared his throat. “Didn’t I tell you not to get too attached to any of the contestants?”

“Yes, Father.” Byron nodded. His eyes reverting back to their calm coolness.

“It is your royal duty to marry the one who wins the Avgo event, regardless which of those women it is. Don’t forget. You are part of the prize.”

Byron sighed with a heavy heart.

“Yes, Father.”

???

Slate soared above the platform on outstretched wings with his talons unsheathed. His eyes were frenzied with madness.

Although he was grateful he did not have to intervene on her behalf, Slate would not have hesitated to kill Helene Cordera had Candace been in real danger.

Doing so would have immediately disqualified Candace from the Avgo Event, but he would rather have a safe and living disqualified Candace than a dead or severely injured one.

At the moment that the fish girl threw the knife, he was ready to throw a bolt of fire and incinerate her, but Candace had reacted so quickly he did not even have a chance to defend her.

She was an amazing woman. Even as he was racing to reach her, she had swiftly and cleanly taken down her opponent with two solid moves.

Seeing Candi unhurt and moving onto the next part of her event, Slate circled around a bit and returned to his pod. There was not much else to see here.

Fish girl was now lying on the ground moaning with pain and unable to get up, but Slate could care less. He knew it wouldn’t take long before a medical evacuation crew arrived to take her away.

He grinned. She was about to experience a whole new hell, but he didn’t have time to witness that. He was leaving to watch over his woman.

Two of the visual-gatherers were hovering around Lorem Ipsum as he spoke with earnest concern directly to the crowd, relaying play-by-play, his first-hand eye witness accounts.

Meanwhile, the rest of the visual-gatherers had moved onward, zooming in on the remaining contestants of the Avgo Event.