Chapter 76: A Fight Too Intense
Inside the school office.
Black Widow held her custom firearm steady, while Cheetah's green eyes glowed with a feral light. Two breathtaking women faced off against each other.
Xi Nian sat on a chair between them, pressed back against the wall, yet outside of the clash itself.
It was like a living masterpiece.
…
Facing the black muzzle aimed her way, Cheetah had been standing motionless. Suddenly, in the next instant, her body lunged forward low to the ground, bursting with terrifying acceleration!
Black Widow's sharp eyes narrowed. Her grip on the pistol remained steady as she reacted instantly and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three silenced shots rang out in succession!
But Cheetah's eyes flickered like green flames as her feet slammed against the floor, her agile body weaving in a zigzag pattern. She moved like a human leopardess, dodging even at such close range!
The bullets smashed into the ground nearby, sparks flying, leaving deep pits in the floor.
Seeing Cheetah closing in like a gust of wind, Black Widow adjusted her aim at the woman's forehead and squeezed the trigger again—then dropped the gun entirely and swung her fist.
Cheetah sensed it and dipped lower, a bullet grazing through her curls. At the same time, her clawed hand swiped forward.
Crack!!
Black Widow's Widow's Bite bracers met Cheetah's sharpened, claw-like nails in a violent clash!
Screee—
Black Widow's pupils shrank. The Widow's Bite, originally invented by Soviet scientists and later enhanced by S.H.I.E.L.D., now bore deep cracks where Cheetah's claws had raked across it, the damage even reaching her skin beneath the gloves!
Cheetah too paid a price. From the cracked bracer surged tens of thousands of volts, flooding into her body along her claws. Enough to easily drop a normal man, it only made her grunt in pain. Her limbs faltered, and the swipe of her other hand lost its full strength. Instead of rending through Black Widow's chest, her claws merely tore open the black tactical suit, revealing the purple-clad form beneath.
Black Widow didn't flinch, instead driving her knee upward toward Cheetah's abdomen.
Cheetah twisted midair to dodge, springing past Black Widow.
Still airborne, she suddenly gripped her own sweater with both hands. With a savage rip, the brown woolen garment split apart, exposing her full, mature, and lethal body.
It was a brutal yet strangely mesmerizing sight.
But Xi Nian had no time for distractions.
Inside his body, something unprecedented was happening.
With Gwen's Spider-enhanced physiology already within him, his earlier contact with Cheetah now triggered another gain. His body was adapting, absorbing—Cheetah's power.
But her powers weren't natural.
They weren't genetic, nor a simple mutation. They were a curse granted by the Old Gods, power wrapped in cost.
The spider's gift was that of the apex predator among arthropods. Cheetah's was the apex predator among mammals.
Now, both predatory powers fused within Xi Nian's adaptable body, layering together, strengthening.
Neither Cheetah nor Black Widow, locked in combat, noticed this miracle.
Facing Black Widow again, Cheetah sneered. "Don't you want a taste too?"
"What are you talking about?" Black Widow snapped back, feigning ignorance.
"How about together? I don't mind sharing." Cheetah licked her lips, voice sultry and mocking.
For the first time, Black Widow faltered. She had never even thought that way, but Cheetah's words planted a strange ripple of temptation in her heart.
Something was off.
Before she could react further, Cheetah's eyes hardened. Her smooth, pale skin erupted with leopard spots, fur spreading across her body. A tail whipped into existence behind her. Her hands became fully formed claws, and her ears sharpened.
This was Cheetah's true combat form—the humanoid leopardess.
Her speed now tripled, far beyond before.
Black Widow's heart sank. She barely had time to cross her arms in front of her chest.
Slash!!
Blood sprayed.
The tactical suit shredded like paper. Five deep claw marks gouged across Black Widow's arm, even with her enhanced body. The impact hurled her backwards, crashing into the window, and she was flung out from the fourth floor!
"You think you deserve to share my prey?" Cheetah flicked blood from her claws, her eyes glowing with savage triumph.
"Little one, no more interruptions. Let's play properly now."
She turned toward the wall where Xi Nian sat. He still had his head bowed, sitting motionless in the chair.
"Don't tell me you're scared stiff already?"
Cheetah stalked closer, her long legs tense with sleek muscle, every step like a predator savoring the moment.
Her humanoid, leopard-like body radiated a primal, feral beauty.
But as she neared within three meters, her beastlike pupils shrank. She saw golden light weaving and burning across Xi Nian's left arm beneath his sleeve, like a holy flame.
"The Silver Bracelets of Protection? Diana gave them to you?" she sneered, though surprise flickered in her eyes. "If Diana herself were here, perhaps I'd hesitate. But just a single bracelet? It's hardly a threat to me."
Xi Nian said nothing.
She was wrong.
It wasn't Xi Nian wielding the bracelet's power. The artifact had awakened on its own, suppressing the wild ferocity rising inside him.
Cheetah, seeing no reaction, reached out to grab him—then snatched her hand back as if burned.
Her fur bristled, instincts screaming.
What was this dread gnawing at her heart?
Before she could think, the ceiling above shattered with a thunderous crash.
From the daylight above descended a tall, radiant figure. Even before landing, a golden lasso coiled through the air like a serpent of fireflies, wrapping firmly around Cheetah's waist.
Looking down at the familiar rope, feeling the inescapable restraint deep in her genes, Cheetah froze. Then her teeth clenched, and she spat out bitterly:
"So you came after all!"
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