Chapter 97 Catfight
The haremites went wild when the first two competitors strode onto the massive three-acre mattress, covering the area five hundred people had been living the night before.
It was roughly the size of three football fields in spacing, making the mattress large enough to let Kargon and Monitus from the Paradise Road event sleep comfortably on it side-by-side. (1)
If they did, they'd sleep in style. The mattress had luxurious red legendary-grade silk sheets that the gods created to prevent it from ripping to shreds.
Hundreds of pillows of various sizes lined the [arena]. Like the sheets, the pillow's casings were nearly indestructible by old-world standards.
"Welcome to Harem City's Slumber Party Pillow Fight Olympics!" Leon announced with his normal voice.
He was recording live via the Forbidden Library, where the haremites watched for close-ups. As a result, they could hear him crystal clear.
"There are three events, including a sexy pillow fight. So get your hopes up!" Leon grinned.
"First up is a very literal pillow fight. We want to showcase the offensive strength of the women picking you up on day two of the Tag event if you journey to Harem City!"
The haremites went ballistic. Everyone grew prouder of their city by the day. The forbidden library showed the women's ecstatic faces to over 30,000 watching candidates worldwide.
"We're kicking things off with a [literal] catfight! One's a tigress, and the other is a Shadow Cat." He continued.
"They both have black hair, wear black clothing, and have vicious demeanors. However, they cannot be more different. You're about to see that for yourselves!"
The cheering became delirious as the two stood off.
Everyone was mildly disappointed that Minx didn't wear her honorary Dainty Death Squad outfit into the ring, but they didn't blame her. Either way, it didn't hinder their excitement.
Kazz was famous, and no one doubted her strength. However, Minx showed her vicious prowess to the haremites two hours before. As a result, everyone was excited to watch her fight for real.
While they looked relatively similar, Kazz had gold streaks through her hair and matching colored ears and eyes.
Minx had pure black hair, fur, and clothing, making her amethyst eyes vivid and demonic, especially when they flashed neon pink.
Both squared off with expressions that communicated their willingness to murder one another, no questions asked, without it being personal.
"Let's get started with the basic rules. Two haremites will fight until one's knocked out or submits." Leon grinned.
"These pillows are nearly indestructible, and any object swung hard enough can do damage.
So listen up, men! When you see the sheer damage as Harem City pillow can do, make sure to piss yourself imagining what our weapons and claws can do!"
Explosive cheers and whistles rocked the airwaves.
"This isn't a tournament. We chose the match-ups by compatibility, and the winner of each fight gets the official prize." Leon explained.
"Lastly, it's impossible to die in this arena, and the barrier around the colosseum will instantly heal all participants after the match; such is the power of the decadent and depraved gods making and losing fortunes right now!"
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Leon grinned when he saw the cheeky gifts the gods sent him in response to his words. One of them was a t-shirt that said [Go for Broke] with a painting of Alcibiades from antiquity.
He chuckled and wondered how old [Alci] was doing.
"Who's ready to watch these two hardcore women duke it out!?" He roared with his hands held high from the skybox. His words were cataclysmic, creating a wave of never-ending cheers.
Kazz grinned and cracked her neck to the side. Then she cracked her knuckles.
Minx stared at the woman with an emotionless expression but with lethal eyes.
"Come on, girly." Kazz grinned, "If you're gonna die, you might as well smile once in your life."
The Shadow Cat didn't react, making the tigress scoff in vexation.
"Seriously? I know you're goin' for the whole [I'm mysterious with a rough past] look, but it doesn't work when your contrasting emotions are blushin', cringin', and moanin' around Leon."
Minx blinked once. Otherwise, her expression didn't change.
Kaze narrowed her eyes in appraisal. "You're one fucked up kitten, but I kinda like that. So don't take things personally, kay?"
The Shadow Cat's eyes glowed slightly, leaving a truly ominous glare that turned the tigress' face serious.
"Trash talk session is officially over, ladies!" Leon grinned from the sidebox, "So let's get this party started, shall we?"
Minx turned and grabbed a white pillow from the floor.
"You're arrogant. Do you think you can win without transforming?" Kazz grinned, "Well, I'll match ya."
She walked over to a pillow and picked it up. Then, when the two glared into each other's eyes, Leon gave the countdown.
"Let's get ready! Three!" Leon yelled without warning, causing the crowd to explode in cheers.
"Two!"
"One!"
Blink.
An explosion of black cloth exploded like a bomb detonated in a pillow. When the fibers dropped to the ground, Minx and Kazz were nowhere to be found.
"Wheeeeeew! Listen up, men! If you can't see these women, you'll be dead before seeing them!"
The haremites could only see black, white, and silver traces moving through the arena. It was a surreal sight that didn't make sense.
It wasn't until--
BOOOOOM!
--a minor earthquake rocked the stadium's south side that the haremites realized things were real.
The Forbidden Library play-by-play showed the exchange in slow motion. Both women instantly transformed into cats and chased after each other with pillows in their mouths.
Minx transformed into a pitch-black panther that appeared to be made from smoke-like miasma that left shadowy afterimages.
Kazz shape-shifted into a large, partially transparent black lynx whose body left white afterimages.
The latter's speed was incomparable, so she encircled the Shadow Cat, attempting to flank her. However, every time she attacked, she flew through Minx's shadow.
It baffled Kazz because the Shadow Cat was much slower yet could always anticipate her attacks. It wasn't until she attacked Minx and flew right through her body that she realized what had happened. It was a shadow clone!
At that point, it was already too late to avoid serious damage. Running over 100 mph in a straight line, Kazz crashed head first into the coliseum wall.
--BOOOOOM!--
"Fuuuuuuuck, that hurt!" Kazz scoffed.
The haremites were bewildered that the woman freed herself from the massive crater in the wall. Still, she was stumbling around like a drunkard.
"Watch out!" A haremite screamed, snapping Kazz out of her haze. She looked up just in time to see the after trails of neon pink eyes moving toward her at ghostly speed.
BOOM... Boom, boom!
Three clouds of limestone dust burst into the atmosphere.
"That skill was extremely satisfying to watch." Leon chuckled in amazement.
Minx blinked twice and swallowed in confusion.
She assessed her surroundings and found the impact from where she crashed into the curved wall, sending her bouncing along it like a skipping stone until she crashed onto the ground.
Kazz may have smashed into the wall, but the limitations of the event necessitated battery ramming attacks in cat form. So the Ghost Cat acted far more vulnerable than she was, waiting for the Shadow Cat to attack.
When Minx arrived, Kazz moved to the side, forcing the former to slow down to prevent the same fate she experienced. During the slowdown, Kazz grabbed the pillow she dropped and rammed it into the woman from the side.
Learning from past mistakes, Kazz watched Minx closely for a moment, assessing how the woman would react.
In a surreal display, the Minx's body began oozing black smoky miasma, obscuring her body as a natural smokescreen.
The miasma looked alive, not like Caitlyn's scythe, which seemed semi-conscious, but like seaweed ebbing and flowing underwater.
While the black smoke twisted and contorted, it never dissipated in the atmosphere. Instead, it wrapped around itself, expanding and compacting in endless cycles.
Kazz closed her eyes and let her black ears twitch, searching for the woman.
Whoooooosh!
The Ghost Cat jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a pillow that materialized out of nowhere.
"That... is absolutely terrifying." Leon laughed, "That's the type of stuff that keeps you up at night!"
The Shadow Cat appeared from thin air near the wall Kazz was at, chomping a pillow mid-jump and thrusting it forward.
From the haremite's perspective, she appeared to jump out of the ground like a carp out of water.
"That's why they call'em Shadow Cats, folks." He remarked.
"Really?" Lindy asked.
"The hell if I know." Leon chuckled, "But we just saw her jump out of a shadow. I don't know what happened, but I can tell you that I'd avoid long shadows like the plague from now on."
"I really want to know." Lindy pouted in annoyance.
"She's using shadows as a form of camouflage." Caitlyn explained, "She wrapped her body in a shadow that blends into the shadows on the wall like a chameleon. If you watch closely, you'll see her materialize in light shadows and disappear in the dark ones."
Lindy, Tricksie, and Reina looked at Caitlyn in surprise, and Leon smiled in satisfaction.
The best word used to describe Caitlyn was satisfied. While she was exceedingly docile around him, she was extremely intelligent and capable. However, she didn't use her full capabilities unless it was to serve him. It was something he shamelessly [loved] about the woman.
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[A/N: I'm ending this chapter here because I don't want to rush such an important scene with important character development.
(1) I promised a reader that I'd give better size perspectives after the fight with the Paradise Road titans, and haremites are about to get large af in the next chapter, so I'm holding true to that now!
The colosseum was built on a park, which was four acres for a good-sized (not large) city park.
A football field is one acre, 360 feet long by 160 feet wide, making its length the minimum height requirement of a [skyscraper]. In other words, a small skyscraper can lay flat on one football field. Perspective.
That means the 350-foot titans were also as large as a skyscraper and could lay on a football field.
Here's the thing, folks. Football fields are meant for the ground, and skyscrapers aren't supposed to attack you! They're supposed to stay in one location for a hundred years! XD
On another major note, humans will die from a 30-foot fall. So falling from a titan's kneecap will leave a messy crime scene.... lol. Perspective.
The disparity we feel comes from the fact that we cannot perceive flat length like we can height.
Hopefully, this breakdown helps everyone to understand that even the largest character doesn't take up that much space moving forward.
Thanks for reading! I'm finishing up this scene when I wake up. I'm almost prepared for closed writing, which will allow me to give you chapters while writing bonus chapters as well. :)]