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There are only two certainties in life, death and taxes. This nugget of almost prophetic wisdom had long made its rounds through the cultural, and personal, consciousness of every would-be intellectual looking to hear themselves speak. Ambiguity, however, was a force that held little regard for common wisdom, and even the certain could quickly become the unknown.

Kaylee had been certain that the tense knot in her belly had just been a case of nerves as the plane left the ground. She had been certain that the knot had tightened by the sight of the ground rushing towards her as the plane had landed. In the cab to the studio she had been certain that the rumbling sickness she felt in the pit of her gut had been the hot dog she'd eaten only moments earlier, and now, as she stood looking at the extravagant display of opulence spread before her, that certainty had become an ambiguous malaise; the supposed causes were long past, but that knot still remained.

Even now it roiled within Kaylee's belly, as large and elaborate sets lay spread across the warehouse studio like the discarded dioramas of some Barbie-obsessed giant. Pink paint glistened under the harsh lights hanging overhead, and the shouts and calls of bustling stagehands, grips, caterers, sound technicians, and god knows who else, presented a stark contrast to the pristine decorating of those sets. Across the fake wall of the warehouse's main set--a monstrously sized stage--hung a banner declaring, "MS. CELESTIAL -- 2015" in broad, gaudy, golden lettering.

"Unh, excuse me?" Kaylee reached out to catch the arm of a passing wolf.

"What's up, kid?" The wolf didn't look up from the clipboard he was studying, sparing only a brief glance before his eyes flickered back to his work. "Ms. Celestial ain't signing autographs until after the competition, and you gotta be on the list." The male's tone was as dismissive as his refusal to look at the girl.

"I'm not a kid, ya dill." Kaylee's lips turned down. The golden-furred dingo's rounded cheeks, short stature and general demeanor had long been a problem for the girl when it came to matters of her age. Her ears twitched above the mop of well groomed, but somewhat curly brown hair. "I'm here for the competition. I just don't know where I'm supposed to be goin', s'all." Kaylee's accent deepened as she glared up at the inattentive wolf, the dulcet notes of her Australian origins floating to the surface.

"Eh? A competitor?" The wolf's attention finally snapped towards the girl, and as though he had just noticed her for the first time, he smiled broadly. His eyes drew in every inch of the canine's body; the denim shorts and somewhat billowy blouse she wore gave Kaylee an air of innocence that contradicted the scowl she was shooting the lupine. She wasn't thin, but not overweight either, a sheath of muscle and fat providing the girl a healthy look that the wolf had a hard time ignoring. "Shoulda said that first, Miss. Never know who's wandering around back here, after all. Security's usually too busy guardin' the buffet, ya know?" A little wink from the male brought a blush to Kaylee's cheeks, but her features didn't soften.

"Yeah, I bet." Her pointed answer was heavy with the sense that she were judging his presence back here as much as he'd judged hers.

"Unh... anyway..." the wolf began, that scowl slowly boring into his thoughts. He had to get rid of this one quickly. "Changing rooms are down that way. Broadcast starts in an hour. Make sure you're ready, things move quick once those cameras start to roll."

Kaylee's scowl vanished, but there was no friendliness on her features as she turned and moved in the direction he'd pointed out to her.

"Good luck, Miss!" The wolf's awkward farewell brought a bit of a smile to Kaylee's lips, but with her back to him the wolf found himself watching her walk away in silence. The sight of her ass in those shorts was enough compensation for the wolf, however, and turning to return to his work the male couldn't help but grin to himself over the strange little encounter.

The spartan decorations of the warehouse gave way to the glamour of the changeroom. Bright lights ran in rows overhead, but banks of yellow bulbs gave a warmer feel to the cramped space. Women of all shapes and sizes jostled for position in the room, each seeking out their own small counters where they could ready themselves for the competition. Kaylee was taken aback at the sounds and smells, but also by the general disinterest in clothing that pervaded the collective consciousness of her opponents. A small bengal cat in a white tanktop and purple panties shoved past the awe-struck dingo with a disdainful snort, her braided blonde hair bouncing with each sashaying step.

"Out of the way, bitch."

Kaylee's attention snapped towards the feline, but the girl was already lost in the mess of nubile bodies. What had she walked in to? Pushing forward, Kaylee found herself awash in the sea of half-clothed bodies. Nearly walking right into a pair of bare breasts--the lioness who owned them smirking at the smaller female--Kaylee murmured an apology and slid past the larger female, only to feel a hand slap her denim-clad ass. "No touching, darlin'" the lioness called after her.

Even as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks, Kaylee allowed herself to slip into the atmosphere that pervaded the room; using her body to block a freshly vacated seat, Kaylee slid into it even as the collie who had made for it first expressed her displeasure with a burst of colourful language. She could see the collie's grey eyes narrow in anger, and the girl's reflection in Kaylee's mirror drew a twinge of guilt from the young dingo.

"Sor--" Kaylee began, but the collie had already melted back into the crowd, a final parting shot taken at the dingo before the jilted canine had resumed her search for a spare seat. Kaylee let out a short breath before turning her full attention to her own well-lit face in the mirror. The plane trip had taken its toll, but the fresh faced girl still found herself smiling at the well groomed woman smiling back at her in that reflection. "You got this..." she muttered to herself reassuringly before she began to prep for what would come next.

The hour passed quickly, and with only fifteen minutes before the televised event was set to begin, a warning rippled through the sea of girls waiting to compete. Kaylee's heart jumped when word of mouth finally reached her that they were to finish their preparations and report to the main stage immediately. She stood and gave herself one last look-over in the mirror. Her worries about her body had proven unfounded, many of the girls sporting body-types that didn't fit the popular perception of beautiful, but all of them held their own allure. Whether that allure was in their muscles, their curves, their lack of shame, or--in Kaylee's case--their naturalness, it was hard to deny its existence.

The dingo ran her paws down her sides, feeling the smooth lycra shell of her pink tanktop, and adjusting the matching pink bikini bottom--white bows bouncing jauntily on either hip--and nodded to the beautiful girl in her mirror. "I've got this..." she stated bluntly, repeating the self-affirmation she'd made only a short forty five minutes earlier.

"Only thing you've got is a first round ticket home." The voice sprang from behind her and as Kaylee turned her head, she saw the well-muscled body of a t-rex--smaller than her ancient ancestors, at least--gliding past her. The stranger's head turned slightly towards Kaylee, her grey scales glittering in the light. Her chest was bound by a single looping strap of bandaging, as though she were trying to compress her breasts down, while her hips were covered by a simple, but expensive-looking, bikini bottom; the rippling white fabric allowed her thick tail to slide freely behind her, while accentuating the curves of her hips and hidden slit perfectly. Anger flared in Kaylee's thoughts.

"Sure wish I could just crawl into a sewer to get there, like you" Kaylee shot back at the departing girl. The clumsy retort only drew a peal of laughter from the imposing dinosaur as she slid out of the door, a few of the other girls chortling as well as they passed the fuming dingo. Huffing angrily, Kaylee pushed her way into the throng, drawing a few cries of "bitch!", "loser!" and at least one threat of revenge; these girls had come to win, and to them Kaylee was just another obstacle to that. Kaylee had come to win as well, however, and as she stepped out of the relative safety of the changeroom, she focused her attention on that goal.

It was well that Kaylee had resolved herself to that goal; as the spectacle of the pagent began, it became all the easier to lose sight of what had brought her here in the first place. Pyrotechnics spewed out gouts of multi-coloured sparks, and lights swiveled across the well-varnished stage as the assembled girls took their places behind the heavy crimson curtains. Only the host stood amidst the carefully planned chaos that overtook the front of the stage. His arms raised, the burly rhino grinned a toothy grin which seemed to glow.

"WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" His voice tore through the air like an arrow. Though the audience existed only within the safety of their own living rooms, bedrooms, or bars, they clapped nonetheless. "Please join me in admiring the beautiful, the exotic, and the determined contenders for the coveted title of MS. CELESTIAL!" Kaylee could feel the excitement coursing through her as she heard those words. They had been ingrained in her thoughts for years. Each small town pageant she'd competed in, every leer from a horny spectator, every defeat she'd suffered. It had all been for this.

The curtain rose with a flourish of rock music pumping from the warehouse's sound system. The cameras swerved, taking in the collection of women who had gathered. Dozens of girls stood in a number of tiered lines, each feigning a friendly smile; some hid the competitive bitterness better than others. They all knew the format of the pageant, and they knew that before long half of them would find their dreams of attaining the crown, shattered. Still they smiled, each confident that it would be the bitch beside her, or in front of her, that would be making that fated early exit. Kaylee spared herself such thoughts, however, her own nerves overpowering the ability to project that risk onto the girls around her. The pink fabric which made up the crotch of her swimsuit seemed tighter suddenly, the girl's pussy unbearably sensitive to each little shift of the gripping lycra; she was not alone. The little bows on her hips betrayed the gentle tremble of the dingo's body, but in the cramped lines she had little fear of notice.

"Such beauties!" The Rhino turned to throw his arm in a wide sweep that encompassed the assembled swimsuit-clad competitors, each frozen like statues and smiling those deceitful smiles. "Only one can win, however, and now... the first round! Let us remove the chaff, shall we?" The host strolled across the stage, dropping a knowing wink towards the nearest camera at the word 'chaff'. Behind, Kaylee the sound of heavy fabric falling to the ground in a pool of swirling purple velvet finally. This broke the spell the camera held upon her. She turned her head and took in the massive bracket board that had been revealed and marveled at the task that lay ahead of her.

Long columns of pictures and names made up the first tier of the bracket, each subsequent tier growing shorter until the slot reserved for the champion stood alone. Eyes scanning the smiling faces of her opponents as they bore down on her from the board, Kaylee found her own beaming features beside the picture of a purple haired rabbit. Astor, the board declared her name to be. She would be Kaylee's first opponent, and if the dingo's luck held, her first victim as well.

"Ladies, to your battlefield!" The Rhino's shout tore Kaylee from her nerve-tinged thoughts. Around her the swimsuit-clad bodies of her opponents begun to move, forcing the dingo to follow along in a throng of luscious beauty begging to be tested against one another. The parade led outside of the warehouse, where amidst a sea of well-trimmed grass lay a field of swimming pools. They were smaller than a traditional pool, though these particular pools were not made for the purpose of swimming. Across each hung a thick plastic pole, like a fallen mast across the deck of a ship. Foam bubbled along the length of each of them, and Kaylee's thighs tingled with anticipation.

Cameras were already well-positioned to capture the sight of the girls as they began to split off from one another to make their way to the pools they had been assigned. Small wooden plaques which bore replicas of the same pictures which had filled the bracket board told each girl which pool was theirs, and as Kaylee approached hers, she saw Astor for the first time. The lapine was short, her purple hair bound by a pair of well cropped ribbons which fluttered behind her as she walked. The teal one-piece swimsuit the rabbit wore bared matching purple rings around her thighs and upper-arms, and when the girl noticed Kaylee looking at her, she blushed. Taking her position at the end of the pole, Kaylee stood staring across the pool at the reddened cheeks, and flashing jade eyes of her first opponent of the day.

"Nothing personal, sweetheart" Kaylee called across to the seemingly bashful rabbit. She girded herself with a confident smirk, flipping a hand through her own hair as though this were no big deal to her. Thankfully the rabbit couldn't see the pumping heart which threatened to tear itself from Kaylee's chest, nor the red flaring thoughts that blotted out the calmness the dingo wished she could feel.

"Contestants, to your marks!"

Kaylee stepped up to her end of the pole as Astor did the same. The girls mounted it, straddling it and letting the foam-coated plastic press its weight against their poorly protected femininity. As horny as she'd already felt, Kaylee couldn't deny herself a slow roll of her hips as she shimmied forward on the pole, toes pointed down and dangling only a few feet above the water's surface.The thin foam made the pole slick, and Kaylee could feel her belly tensing as her body sought to maintain its balance atop it.

"Begin!"

Kaylee's mind condensed itself into a singular train of thought. She'd see the girl across from her in the pool no matter what it took. Astor took on a look of determination that Kaylee could only hope was reflected by her own features. The two girls used their hands to steady themselves as they slid across the pole towards one another, raising them only when they were close enough to grapple. Kaylee's belly was a pit, and a familiar lust had already begun to fill it. The smell of Astor's perfume, the shouts of defiance echoing amongst the girls scattered across the various pools, and the glistening water below. All of it painted a picture that served to illustrate the growing heat between the dingo's thighs.

Kaylee's paws clasped with Astor's, and the two leaned into one another until their breasts were nearly pressed together. Back arched by the awkward position, Kaylee could feel her pert ass lift slightly, thighs squeezing the pole even as she jostled Astor to try and test the girl's balance. Astor's chest rose and fell in harried breaths, nipples poking visibly through the thin fabric of her swimsuit. As the purple haired girl squirmed and fought for position against Kaylee, the dingo could smell the smaller girl's lust as surely as the rabbit could smell the dingo's. Astor's thighs quivered as they hugged the pole. Kaylee's weight advantage began to show itself as Astor found herself forced to bend sideways. The rabbit's taut belly was highlighted by her snug swimsuit as her body was stretched out. The ribbons in the girl's hair fluttered as a swift breeze curled against their bare legs, skipping across the water before it was gone. Slowly, the rabbit fought her way back up into a straight sitting position, pushing forward against Kaylee. The dingo found herself giving way, bending backwards until her tits were thrust up, nipples erect, and the back of her head nearly touched the foamy coating of their shared pole. Kaylee let out a surprised cry of exertion as she struggled against the weight of the shockingly strong girl threatening to knock her out of the tournament so early!

Kaylee released the grapple suddenly, her fingers untangling themselves from Astor's and leaving the astonished rabbit to push against open air. Astor's face collided with Kaylee's breasts as though they were a pillow, and bent over backwards as she was, the dingo allowed herself a second to enjoy the sensation of the rabbit's face so firmly entrenched between her tits. Still, the dingo's counter-attack was merciless. Grabbing onto Astor's long ears, Kaylee used them to twist Astor's head to the side.

"Aie! Le'go, Le'go!" Astor's cries fell on deaf ears. Using the sensitive appendages--not to mention the awkward positioning of Astor's head-- to her advantage, Kaylee forced the girl back up into a sitting position, regaining her own balance in the process. Body twisting, Astor found herself at Kaylee's mercy, her paws pressing against Kaylee's breasts as she tried to push the dingo away from her. Kaylee could feel the familiar rush that came with having another girl at her mercy, the thrill of knowing that her opponent was just a whim away from defeat at her hands. In that moment, Kaylee felt powerful and in that power she bathed in her own sexuality. She could feel Astor's fingers digging into the soft meat of her breasts, but the dingo let the pain--and the sensuality laced so intimately with it--fuel her determination.

"Down you go, bitch!" Kaylee crowed, her competitive spirit overpowering her good manners in a flash of desire. Astor's green eyes grew wide as Kaylee's hands began to wrench the lapine to the side, using those grips on Astor's ears to keep the girl off-balance. Only Kaylee's breasts served to balance the struggling lapine. Each yank of Astor's ears drew a stifled groan from Kaylee as well; the rabbit's firm grip on the dingo's soft tits was slipping, but still the rippling pain of those clenching fingers pervaded Kaylee's senses. The slickness of the pole served its purpose well, however, and with a powerful lurch to the side Astor's thighs lost their grip. Leg kicking up, the rabbit fell from the pole with a feminine shriek. Kaylee reveled in the helplessness of her prey as for a brief second the rabbit's position forced her legs wide and put her foam-coated pussy on display through her thin swimsuit. Then it was gone, vanishing in a cascade of water as Astor disappeared beneath the surface of the pool with a splash.

With her first opponent dispatched, Kaylee sat atop the pole even as Astor resurfaced below. The smile on the dingo's lips was charged with an intensity that drew itself from the fire of her loins, and the throbbing ache of her abused breasts. Both arms lifting, Kaylee let out a cry of triumph that melted into a peal of light-hearted laughter; she'd done it! Below, Astor--her make-up smudged and face downcast--paddled to the edge of the pool and lifted herself out of it. Ass outlined tautly by the wet fabric of her swimsuit, the girl pulled herself onto the dry cement.Her ears were sore, but such a wound paled in comparison to the injury her pride had suffered. Ears wilted, the eliminated lapine sat on the edge of the pool and waited for the round--the only round she would compete in this year--to conclude.

The shouts of battling girls began to diminish as more and more of them either found themselves in the pool, or sitting alone atop their poles. Shouts of triumph mingled with mournful cries of defeat as match by match, the field of competitors was thinned. Finally, with the short shriek and subsequent splash of a busty wolf wearing a lime green bikini, the first round ended. The hum of cameras filled the air like cicadas, their droning song a delight for the girls posing atop the poles, and a nightmare for the bedraggled losers pulling themselves from the frigid waters of the pools. Every minute had been caught by those cameras, and the film would be replayed ad nauseum for days as the tournament was discussed, debated and enjoyed by all.

The Rhino dismissed the girls--his smile as large as the horn jutting from his snout--as the broadcast was suspended for a commercial break. With fifteen minutes of commentary to follow, the girls were given a chance to recoup and ready themselves for the next round. Those who had lost their match were given as much time to ready themselves for their official exit from the tournament. As Kaylee entered the changeroom, she was met with the emotional aftermath of such an opportunity. Strutting victors preened as made their way to whatever pastime would fill their break, while the eliminated competitors tried to gather themselves. Some sobbed, others sulked, and a few seemed to accept their role with an obliging grace. Whichever they chose, they were largely disregarded by the surviving females. Side-long glances and confident smirks were the only reaction to the defeated.

As Kaylee sat herself down in the same chair she had occupied only an hour earlier, she found her eyes watching these scenes of victor and vanquished play out behind her. The wolf girl in her green bikini had removed her top, only to be pressed upon by the caracal who had defeated her. Both were locked in a passionate kiss that seemed to defy their ever so recent roles as opponents; it didn't strike Kaylee as ridiculous however. Her own mind was occupied by thoughts of Astor, the girl's heaving chest, her ultimately fruitless struggle to defeat the dingo, and the look in her eyes as she'd fallen off of the pole. These flashes of clear memory re-ignited the fire in Kaylee's loins, and even as she watched the caracal and wolf, she found her own fingers treading lightly along the crotch of her swimsuit. The heated flesh beneath the foam-dampened lycra begged for more and Kaylee obliged it.

Somewhere between the heated gasps escaping her own mouth, and the lancets of pleasure pricking her belly and thighs, Kaylee gathered herself enough to notice the very rabbit plaguing her thoughts had entered the changeroom. Astor stood nearby, her one-piece pulled from her shoulders and left to hang at the waist. Breasts bared, the girl did her best to fix her make-up. An unhappy frown on her lips and a shudder in her stance betrayed the difficulty facing the defeated lapine as she tried to maintain her composure. Kaylee, raging with a need that had only served to moisten her swimsuit more than the foam had, slid from her chair.

"Good match." Kaylee's words hung bluntly in the noisy air of the cluttered changeroom, but as Astor turned to face her, the dingo saw that the rabbit's nipples still jutted stiffly from the mounds of her small breasts.

"Yeah."

"You almost had me a few times." Kaylee's gaze didn't leave the emerald pools of Astor's eyes. She felt ridiculous making small-talk with the girl whose dreams she'd just destroyed, but her own carnal need drove her onwards. "I thought I was finished."

Astor's cheeks erupted in a blush, the girl's somber demeanor evaporating in a flustered, "Ah, well... I..." the praise had caught her off guard, expecting scorn and humiliation at the hands of the dingo. Kaylee had resisted the urge to gloat, however, and now she found herself rewarded. "I suppose I could finish you off right now... to make up for it..." Astor continued. The words tumbled from her quickly, the embarrassment at such a proposition clear in the movement of her eyes, and the reddening of her cheeks.

"What?" Kaylee's body tensed, feigning ignorance even as her heart fluttered with excitement.

Astor's eyes dropped, a sheepish smile on her lips as she considered how to word her thoughts. "To the victor go the spoils." Astor leaned in to whisper the words into Kaylee's ear even as a hand slid across the soft expanse of the dingo's soft belly. The experience had left the rabbit as desperately horny as Kaylee, though for different reasons. While disappointment and shame roared in her mind, the rabbit couldn't deny her enjoyment of the feeling of helplessness that had engulfed her as assuredly as the pool water had. Here was the girl who had defeated her, dooming her to an unmemorable exit from a nationally viewed tournament; the thrill of that humiliation burned in Astor's belly with the heat of a furnace. As a prey-species, Astor knew her role in such situations, and she played it well.

"I don't--" Kaylee began to half-heartedly protest the rabbit's intentions, but Astor's lips sealed off her dissent as they closed on the dingo's. Kaylee could feel the smaller girl's tongue trace itself along her gums, and in that instant allowed herself to melt into the kiss. Small hands roaming her body, Kaylee pressed into Astor's half-clothed form, breasts tingling with excitement as her own hands slid around Astor's body to clench the other girl's ass.

The kiss broke at last, and Kaylee actually found herself gulping in a deep breath of air as though surfacing after a long dive. Her body was a conduit for the electricity surging from the two entangled bodies. Only when Astor licked her lips and began to slide down the dingo's pink clad frame did her intentions become clear! Kaylee looked back at the room in a daze of passion and realized the affections being showered on her were not unique. Even as she watched a red scaled t-rex--similar looking to the grey scaled woman from earlier, though slightly smaller, with better defined muscles--playfully chew on the throat of a moaning cheetah, Kaylee felt her bikini bottom leave her hips.

Astor's teeth pulled on the tight fabric, lowering it enough on Kaylee's thighs to expose the glistening folds of her pussy to the tender tickling air of the sexually charged room. Puffy and needy, the dingo's bare sex presented an easy target for the lapine's questing tongue. Within seconds, Kaylee's toes were curling and her head dropped back in a lusty moan that blended well with the sounds permeating the busy environment. When Kaylee's fingers curled around Astor's ears this time, it was with tenderness. She stroked at them absently as the rabbit's tongue made a point of sending ecstatic bursts of pleasure coursing through Kaylee's body.

"Ah... oh god..." Kaylee murmured, helpless in the face of such expert attentions. Astor allowed the comment to go unanswered, her mouth gladly occupied by more important endeavors. Kaylee could feel the rabbit's hands stroking along her thighs, the girl's arms soon curling around them to squeeze at the dingo's bare ass instead. The warmth of Astor's mouth was overcome only by the heat of Kaylee's pussy, juices flowing and mingling with sticky saliva liberally. Her eyes closed, Kaylee allowed her fingers to slide down Astor's ears and tangle themselves in the lilac-scented locks of the girl's purple hair; the ribbons had been removed already, and the rabbit's hair hung freely amidst Kaylee's fingers. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..." the groaning chant barely registered about a whisper, but it only seemed to egg Astor on.

A trembling knot had been forming in Kaylee's belly, and at last it broke. The inner walls of the shivering dingo's pussy contracted, spasming as a throaty cry of pleasure rippled from the canine's throat. "Ah, sh-shit!" The cry drew a few looks from the other girls, but all quickly returned to their own preparations; time before the next round was growing short. Juices splashing across Astor's lips and nose, the dingo came powerfully. Astor's head pulled away, leaving some of the clear fluid to trickle down the inside of Kaylee's thighs, and shooting a half-cocked smile up at the lust-locked dingo, the rabbit rose.

"You had better win your next match." Astor pulled herself to her full height, mouth and muzzle still glistening with the dingo's release as she spoke. Kaylee was dimly aware of her swimsuit being tugged back into place by the rabbit's delicate paws, and a playful kiss being planted on her cheek. The feeling of her juices soaking into the lycra wasn't entirely uncomfortable, and though her body still raged with desire--a curse, or blessing, of her gender--the dingo smiled.

"You had better come back next year."

Astor, looking in better spirits herself, jabbed her tongue out before turning to face the mirror once more, returning to her attempts to clean up the disarray of her hair and make-up. It was the grey t-rex who broke up the atmosphere of the room. A loud shout of drawing the attention of all.

"Alright, bitches. Time to get back to work! I got more asses to beat before they crown ME as Ms. Celestial!" Thumping her bandage-bound chest with a heavy fist, the woman let out a peal of laughter, sharp teeth easily intimidating several of the smaller competitors who had survived the first round; nobody wanted to go up against her next.

The stage awaited them once again. Those who had lost their matches were shimmied off to the side while the winners returned to their places atop the tiered platforms. Standing in the rows, the girls were afforded more room to move with half of them forced to stand at the side of the stage, like cattle being prodded towards the slaughterhouse. Kaylee's eyes caught Astor's for the briefest of seconds, but then the rhino was back and his voice became everything.

"Ladies and gentlemen! With heavy heart we must say goodbye to such a delectable assortment of fine young athletes!" The light-hearted tone of the Rhino's voice contradicted the male's words as he gestured towards the girls who had lost their match. Amongst them some still sobbed, others waved with forced smiles, but most stood silently, cheeks burning with embarrassment as their defeat was put on display. "Farewell, girls!" The final words were punctuated by a dropping curtain which obscured the collected females from view, their role in the competition ended with the small ceremony. When the small sectional curtain lifted, the girls were gone, and Astor with them.

The Rhino's voice cut through the almost solemn silence which had followed the drop of that curtain. "For your pleasure I present the top half of our competitor pool! They'll be competing for the right to advance to round three, and beyond! Amidst these sultry bodies and determined hearts, stands our future champion. Who will it be?"

Kaylee found herself adrift in a sea of confident, smiling faces. Behind her, the bracket updated itself in a flurry of flickering images. The pictures of those eliminated taking on a reddish hue, as the victors were advanced to the second tier. With a glance back, Kaylee saw her foe. The bubble-cheeked smile of a pudgy ferret beamed down at her from the tournament board, the name Simmer scrawled beside it. Round 2 promised to be as exciting as the first, and in the back of her mind the sight of that curtain falling on the eliminated girls replayed itself again and again. The risk was real, and this desire not to lose and fall victim as Astor had girded Kaylee as certainly as her desire to win.

"Ladies, to your battlefield! Let round 2 begin!"

This was war, and Kaylee would see it through no matter the outcome.