“In round three,” said the ringmaster, “two condemned rebels who were rescued from our Ghost Train and circus will meet and complete the routine that Jane Everett was performing when she was so rudely attacked. Please bring forward Lena Kovács as the cat, and Martin Spencer as the mouse.”

When they were brought over to him, he looked between them and said, “Of course, the cat does not have the element of surprise this time, and may find that the mouse is not so easily lured by the pleasures of the flesh!”

The ringmaster returned to his seat and shouted, “Your fifteen minutes start now!”

Martin was certainly not going to be fooled again, and immediately started running around the arena. Lena seemed determined to catch him, but he was much faster, and in better health.

After three laps of the arena, Martin glanced behind him and could see that Lena was flagging. He saw an opportunity, and began to slow slightly. As Lena caught up, he suddenly spun around and swung his fist at her. Caught off guard, she ran right into him and doubled-up as his fist slammed into her stomach. There was a collective ‘ooh!’ from the audience.

Martin wasted no time. He kicked Lena to the ground and kept on kicking her relentlessly, despite her pleas for mercy, until she stopped moving.

After watching her for five seconds, he tested to see if she was alive, gently kicking her onto her back. Lena remained motionless, and Martin looked around the arena, a bit confused about what he should do next.

Eventually a paramedic entered the arena and began walking over to Lena to confirm her death. Watching her approach, Martin relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. He had won the round!

That’s when Lena struck, springing up from the ground with all the energy she could muster, releasing the claw-shaped blades at the ends of her fingers, and launching herself at Martin from behind.

As she landed on him, her arms wrapped around his chest and she sunk her claws in between his ribs. Martin hit the ground face-first with Lena on top of him, and she withdrew her hands forcefully, leaving long gashes in his chest bleeding out onto the sand. As he screamed like a girl, she quickly got to a kneeling position and grabbed him by the throat, mashing her fingers and causing Martin to cough up blood with his screams as she shredded his skin and severed his jugular.

“That’s what we want to see!” shouted the ringmaster, elated. “Please give it up for the winner of Round Three: Lena Kovács!”

The audience roared their approval, and I looked over at my wife. We were both immensely pleased that Lena had prevailed.

“Man, that was gory!” exclaimed my son.

“More gory than even I had planned!” added my daughter, approvingly.

Two guards dragged Martin’s body back to his post, but before displaying it they removed his mouse whiskers and tail and used a wet cloth to remove his make-up.

Then they told Lena to strip off her cat suit, and held her still while they roughly removed her make-up before returning her to her post.