A friend perhaps?

"And now, you all know her. You all love her. Say hello to our latest addition to the pit, dead gorgeous, Cassandra, the Heart Stopper!" the pit owner announced on her weathered megaphone.

As the demons behind the arena walls cheered, the long-legged girl cat walked in. Wearing a leather bra and panties, with nothing but black straps and boots over, she slammed the blade part of her mace and blew kisses to her adorning fans. The other girls were already announced, waiting patiently for Cassandra to finish. Jane rolled her eyes, impatient. Cassandra picked up her mace, never dropping her femme fatal act. Only when her opponent was ready did she strike her blades together.

The irritated Ninja attacked first. With a loud roar, she hit and hit with her blade but was no match for Cassandra's abnormal strength. The new star blocked her left and right, grunting and gasping. Once fed up, she smirked readying her weapon. Dislodging a pin, a spike flew out of the mace's head. A neat feature she was not aware of while grabbing it from the shabby shelf at the dump. Stunned, her opponent tried to dodge it. The spike hit her in the hand, disarming her. She fell to the ground, with holding her bloody appendage. The demonic audience roared, cheering her on. Jane attempted another attack but stood no chance alone. The mace head hit her chest plate, making her fly to the other side of the arena.

The new girl had the best cooperation with Lavinia, who threw her knives slowly and carefully so that Cassandra could have time to pose while dodging them.

The fights were far more manageable now. It was an unspoken rule in the pit that the preshow was more choreographed than the main fights. The real hurting was left for the male gladiators. A rule gleefully ignored in her case.

After her provocative debut, she was not sent to fight veteran warriors anymore. Her charms did the trick, making her life and her coworkers a little more manageable. It did not take her long to put two and two together and make her sex appeal her trump card.

The crowd was enamored, making Cassandra the most desirable eye candy in a relatively short amount of time. Her opponents would act out from time to time, causing cuts and bruises. Their envy fueled her with motivation, making her fight even harder.

In the end, they were no match for her abnormal strength and could only prolong the charade for the audiences' entertainment. As the girls fell to the ground, one by one, Cassandra raised her fist in the air and strutted out, letting the main show take the scene.

"You were amazing!" Lavinia grinned, secluded from the crowd's gaze.

"Thanks. Your attacks were phenomenal, by the way," Cassandra said as they watched the rest from their entrance.

This time, a large mechanical chariot was rolled out. There were no real horses in Helltown, so someone scrapped bits and pieces to make two animatronic stallions. Among neighing and letting steam out of their nostrils, they could also spew magma from pipes in their chest. The two girls flinched every time it moved faster, because the last time it was used, it malfunctioned and one of the fighters was scorched to the bare bones.

"It's so sad, what happened. Whatever happened to him," Cassandra asked.

Lavinia hummed. "Yes. Don't worry, his fighting partner got that taken care of."

"How?"

The short girl glanced at her, as if not sure how to reply. "He ate him."

"What!"

"Not everything! Just the brain and heart. That way his essence would transfer to his body."

Cassandra tilted her head. "So, let me understand. The hurt gladiator now shares a body with his friend."

"Sort of. He can't talk or move without the host's permission. But at least he has all his appendages," Lavinia concluded.

Her companion frowned, when the crowd went wild again. It was Big Bertha time. They watched her with a mix of fear and awe.

She was stocky with short hair. Her skimpy armor was decorated with scalps of the poor souls unlucky enough to pass her way. She growled as a hello, making Lavinia jump.

Reaching the middle of the arena she yelled stretching out her hands to the spectators, "Do we have a volunteer?"

A reluctant scream and a thump was heard. This time, her unfortunate opponent was a lanky demon. An onlooker thrown into the pit by his companions.

These black demons resembled malnourished bats. Unlike pig demons who roamed the dump, these were city dwellers. A little higher in rank, yet not above the occasional mockery.

He was shaking like a leaf watching the ample deranged woman strut in front of her fans. Bertha grinned, as her eyes sparkled with murderous intent.

Lavinia gulped, taking a step. Cassandra felt no better. The main attraction, turned to the crowd screaming, "Now that those hussies and that rickety mule finished prancing around, it's time for the real show! Are you ready?"

The demon ran towards the steep walls, trying to get away. She swiftly caught up, grabbing his tail as he clawed the bricks with his long black fingers. "What kind of demon are you when you can't even fly?" she said dragging him towards the center. Shrieking from freight, the weak demon scratched and scurried, but nothing could loosen her tight grasp.

A special stool with shackles would always be dragged in for her show. There, for the crowd's viewing pleasure, she would show her most prized quality - her gift for gore. The shaking creature begged and pleaded as she locked him into the chair. She used his tail to shut him up by tying it around his neck. He gargled and choked as she moved to his right arm, which she broke in two places. His other arm was next, which she dislocated and pulled up, arranging it as she pleased.

Moving behind her poor victim, she glanced at the gladiator girls, who followed her every move with a mix of terror and disgust. She pointed toward them, mumbling something. Cassandra's shoulders moved uneasy, as she could not shake the feeling that this entire display was meant for her.

Grabbing the victim's rib cage, she buried her long sharp nails into his skin and pulled his bones out. Ripping the soft tissue, she carefully pinned it back on the protruding bones, arranging them into the shape of wings. Once done, she proudly stepped away showing her creation to her adoring fans.

"Isn't that better?" she addressed the crowd, who applauded and screamed her name in a frenzy.

Clapping, Tamara said through her megaphone. "Wasn't that great! Let's here one more hooray for the one and only Bertha!"

As she walked back inside, she passed the girls with her nose raised. The girls watched her go with a shiver going thought the entire group.

At the mess hall, an unusual sight awaited them. Along with their usual plates, shallow bone cups were placed near the utensils. The boss waited for them all to sit down before serving her regular mush. Afterward, she went back into the kitchen area, returning with a glass jug filled with clear water. The fighters covered their wide open mouth, mesmerized by the see-through liquid. Tamara smiled pouring it into each cup.

"Unbelievable," Sara whispered, admiring the tiny ripples. "Do you know how rare this is?"

"Yeah, wonder how it got here?" Ninja said.

"Let's not think top much about that," Tamara said filling an additional cup. "Fellow fighters, I have a big announcement. You were invited to do a private show on one of the highest levels of the Helltower tower."

The girls smiled astounded.

"Now, finish your meal, and then you are going to the beauty salon. You don't want to go there covered in soot and who knows what else?"

Lavinia said impressed, "In all my time here. I don't remember seeing such clear water. And I have been here for a really long time."

"How long is that exactly?" Cassandra said.

"It's difficult to say. Time is very vague when there is no night and day. But I suppose my year of death was 701 ab urbe condita," she said in her sweet voice.

Cassandra blinked, scratching the top of her head with her tail. "Is that BC or AD?"

"It's a little before... I'm actually from a similar time period. In fact, my tribe sacked Rome," Jane added.

Cassandra looked at her annoyed. "I don't remember asking you anything."

Jane slouched. "Just thought we were swapping stories from Earth," she mumbled, looking at her food.

"Really, I don't remember hearing of any Janes from that time. And I actually majored in Ancient Greek and Latin," Cassandra declared cold. Jane scowled at her, irritated.

Lavinia watched the two girls nervous. "You know what else I didn't do in a long time. Went to a beauty place. Isn't that exciting?"

Cassandra turned to her. "It is. I didn't even know there was such a place here?"

"There is on the first floor of the first tower. The only bad thing about it are those nasty costumes," Lavinia said frowning.

"Costumes?" her friend replied.