"No! My boba!" Hwa Hae Ji whined before Ratu took the money that she betted on.

"Sweet." The red haired boy counted the money, won by won. Like taking candy from a babe. Ratu smirked. Wait til Ruben finds out about this.

"You heard it folks! Faim has been declared the winner. It's rare for the combatants to come to a draw and even rarer for the judges to make a unanimous vote." Johnathan said.

"That's not all Johnathan, it seems that Faim has made quite an impression." Eleanor added as the screen showed Ximo whistle, Mewmi and a couple of new fans shout FA-EEM while others shouted FAYM. "Up next in the Magic Division, Astrid Matsumoto and Chris will fight in the Arena. Later, in the Melee Division, Hwa Hae Ji versus June Lily. Two girls with a common goal, a battle for the siblings."

Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen after the commercial break.

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The combatants got out of the arena, and by the time Herring returned to the room where the other competitors were before Hae Ji punched on his dislocated shoulder. "Ahh!" Herring winced from the pain. "Ow."

"You owe me won!" Hae Ji snapped at him like an angry ex before she swung her scythe, nearly decapitating him. Just when she readied her scythe to swing, Faim grabbed the handle under the blade and stopped.

"That's enough, he's not worth it." Faim said as he looked at Herring with indifference. Hwa Hae Ji lowered her scythe before he saw Faim walk away.

The girl with the headscarf looks pretty too." Herring trailed on.

"That's my sister you're talking about." Faim's lopsided smile dropped.

"I know. She's really something." Herring displayed a devious smirk as he looked at where Eimy was seated."Though she's not really my type. I'm not into the typical domineering housewife."

"Watch it." The blonde fighter glared at Herring as he took a step closer, though the young fisherman's nonchalant expression riled him up even more.

"I don't blame you, I'd be overprotective too if I had a beautiful sister like her." Herring walked closer. "If this was a duel for her hand, I'd have no problem taking her off your hands."

It took a lot for Faim to keep his emotions under control. He wouldn't be able to handle the thought of his sister getting kidnapped again, it was bad enough that Lufn had abducted her once before. All those months not knowing where his sister was, on what conditions she was in, or how she was being treated. If she was still alive or not. Faim was immersed with his thoughts that he hadn't noticed June calling out to him.

"Faim. Faim!" The blonde fighter snapped from his daze as he looked at June.

"Thanks, June." Faim replied, unenthused.

"I know that you're out of it because you're worried about her." June referred to their previous conversation. "Listen, I joined this tournament for my sister's sake. You understand me, you would do the same if you were in my shoes." June said, Faim looked at the young teenage girl and looked at her green eyes.

"I know, and I wish you the best of luck in your match." Faim let out a light smile, then June smiled back.

"Coming right up in the Magic Division is Astrid Matsumoto versus Chris." Johnathan chimed in.

"Who will win? The Rave Raider or the Venusian dreamboat?" Eleanor anounced before an advertisement came up.

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"Oooh! I want one!" Mewmi said as she looked at the advertisement.

"I would expect this kind of sorcery from Wiri or Iixr, now anyone can fall for anything they see on the screen." Dirlu commented with indifference whilst she fanned herself.

"An app? What kind of device is that?" Eimy squinted at the screen.

"Faim! Congrats on the win." Ximo shouted as they saw to look at the blonde martial artist.

"Thanks Ximo." Faim replied before Ximo gave a hard pat on the back. Eimy walked up to her brother.

"Congrats on winning your match, I made your favorite." Eimy took out a cup full of ramen noodles, peas, veggies and rice.

"I made it for you." Eimy said as her brother's eyes lit up.

"Thanks, you're the best." Faim took the cup of ramen along with the chopsticks.

"I know." Eimy gave a smug smile before he wolfed down on the ramen.

"Oohh, I can't wait for the Tryouts to start! I wanna sink my claws into my opponent! I'm dying to know who are the other contestants." Mewmi held back a squeal before her nails turned long and sharp.

Saki Chong Soo had watched the match before she had realized that she participated only for the Tryout to start the next day. She was about to sign a rune to transport her back to her world but before she could do so, she accidentally knocked down a staff that belonged to a wizard. A powerful wizard in fact that he was banished from the Gladatorium. Warlin picked up his staff before he looked at the runecaster disdainfully. Saki hand-signed an apology, though the wizard wasn't fluid in sign language. As much as he wanted to cast a curse on her, he didn't want to give himself away, he managed to infiltrate the stadium to follow the Emperor's instructions, or to be more precise, it was his idea before the Emperor chose to take the credit.

Hong Yuhua stood in line to order sashimi with sake while Yin wasn't far behind. Alexandra descended near one of the lines before she looked around. I'm in the mood for some teriyaki right about now. Alexandra closed her wings and stood behind the Yamitzu master.

Maori Knaiver was sipping on boba while Rax was blowing bubbles. "Did you see that? He's also going to be in the Tryout, too bad that it's tomorrow." The curly brunette propped her elbow before Rax slurped from Maori's boba. Felix stood from his seat and headed to the men's room while Maggie talked to Jinx. Chris sat next to Sora while they conversed.

Mirror stood by the threshold with his arms crossed as he observed the competitors. Warlin was looking around to find the backstage until he spotted the silvery fighter. Ah, so he is still participating in this tournament. Warlin thought before he shifted his focus to search for a route. As he was a heading to one of the hallways, he tresspassed through the restricted area, he pointed at the lock to unlock itself before he entered into Natalie's office.

Logan tested his hologlyph to display a 3D version of the schematics that he downloaded before he spotted a gap that displayed an opening, different from the other structures of the schematic. As he zoomed in, the hologram couldn't pass further than it was displayed. "I got you now." Logan murmured before he went out to search for his teammates.

After the wizard had gone through the password of her computer, he checked on the long list of passwords that grant access to other worlds and dimensions. He scrolled down in the list on the passwords before he opened another window to search for the list of banished members, one of them being the Emperor of the Underworld. With a click, he got access to the password and suspended the Emperor's banishment. "Success." Warlin declared, before he spotted a notification for the Gladatorium Tryout. The wizard opened the notification and gained intel of the competitors partaking for the tryout, one of them being the mute runecaster. Warlin smirked before he got rid of the windows and turned off the computer.

Alexander, Ash, Astrid, and Tr met up at the rendezvous point. Alexander and Astrid held hands while Ash and Tr discussed about potential suspects.

"I still think that the guy in the white robe is a suspect." Tr insisted when he referred to Eros.

"Again with that?! Just because he wears white doesn't mean he's trafficking Rave parts." Sorchya admonished her green-eyed teammate but he was still adamant on that suspect.

"That's what he wants you to think!" Tr watched as Sorchya spat out expletives at him while he rolled his eyes. Their leader arrived a minute later just before the announcers revealed who were the next combatants.

"Coming right up in the Magic Division is Astrid Matsumoto versus Chris." Johnathan chimed in. The Rave huntress heard as she looked at Alexander.

"I have to go." Astrid let go off her boyfriend's hand and ran off. Alexander's blue eyes watched as she bolted out.

"Alexander." Logan put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at the rim of Logan's glasses while the leader of the group informed his team.

"I downloaded the map of the stadium's infrastructure. As it turns out, there is a hidden passageway somewhere between the backstage of the stadium and the restricted area where the employees work." Logan smirked as he showed a holographic projection of the stadium.

"Let me guess, you hacked the stadium's website." Sorchya commented as she looked at Logan's smug face.

"Obviously." Tr interjected as he crossed his arms.

"Where's Octavia?" Alexander queried.

"She's probably watching the tournament like everyone else." Logan gave a dismissive wave as he zoomed in as he moved the projection to zoom in on the infrastructure.

"Good luck." Sora said, smiling at the handsome Venusian. Chris gave a light nod.

"Likewise." Then he headed out to the Arena.

Octavia Kumar heard the name of her teammate and the name of her opponent. Wonder who she'll be fighting? She took one more sip of her coffee before she drank it all.

So he's fighting in the tournament this time. Tony thought. "Let's see how long this will last." Tony muttered absentmindedly.

"I'm sure it won't last long." Octavia replied. "I feel sorry for whoever that loser is going to be."

Tony looked at the tawny skinned girl with an are-you-kidding-me look.

"My brother cannot be beaten so easily, I'd be more worried about her if I were you." Tony hinted. Chris got out of the awning and into the railing to fight in the arena. Octavia's mouth hanged open.

"You can do it, Chris!" Tony hollered at the top of his lungs.

"That's your brother?!" Octavia gasped, and to think that Astrid's opponent was going to be some random loser instead of that handsome blonde.

Chris's lips curled up in a seductive smile as he spotted his opponent enter the arena.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Chris asked as he stepped closer.

Astrid adjusted the beanie and lowered her head to prevent Chris from seeing her blush. As the Venusian circled around her, he noticed that she was wearing fighting gear which struck him as odd for a lady to wear.

"If I may ask my dear lady, but what are you doing here?" Chris asked her as he inched closer.

"I-I'm here t-to fight-t you." She stammered.

"What?" Chris asked, surprised. The girl nodded her head up and down. "I can't fight you! There must be a mistake." Chris stated, taking a step back.

"That's very sweet of you, um, Chris. B-but I'd like to think of this more a-as a friendly spar? Something less formal. So you can go easy on me, i-if that's what suits you." Astrid held her scythe and twirled it.

Chris shook his head. "Madam, with all due respect, I simply cannot lay my hands on a woman. It is against my nature." He looked so completely taken aback by the thought of hitting her, it made her wonder about the world he was brought up in.

Bro, I know you wouldn't hurt a hurt a lady. But be honest with yourself, you've dispatched threats indiscriminately before. Tony transmitted his thought to Chris.

I'm not going to hurt her, Tony. Chris replied telepathically.

Oh please, you once shot a woman for calling you Mr. Blue. Tony replied with his mind.

No response.

As he stated this, Astrid could feel the furious waves of insults TR was trying to kill Chris with from the stands, and she resisted the urge to whip her head around and glare him down. He's just being considerate, TR.

"TR, would you just stop?" Alexander requested before TR shot a glare at the redhaired teammate.

"He's hitting on your girlfriend in front of everyone and you're gonna stand there like an idiot?" TR retorted.

"This is Astrid's match we're talking about. She can defend herself." Alexander stated vehemently. TR glared at the arena.

Astrid cleared her throat. "Um, so! What type of powers do you have?" She asked this curiously, in a tone known to slightly reveal her Japanese accent.

"Well it doesn't really matter since I won't fight you, but since you're so curious, I'll tell you." Chris stated more in his normal self.

"Okay." She said.

Chris snapped his fingers and a wall appeared next to him, and he leaned on it as he spoke, "Well, I have many powers to choose from. I can turn people into my own little puppets, make anything I want appear with the snap of my fingers, and pick things up with my mind. I can also have my surroundings be used as weapons for me, but it doesn't matter because, like I said, I won't fight you."

Astrid could plainly see Chris brush off his powers as something mundane like using shoe polish, or combing to detangle knots off his golden mane.

She'd take advantage of his inflated ego and stomp on it. Plus since he wouldn't hit her it would be easy to win.

"Astrid is gonna win." Octavia stated.

"She doesn't stand a chance against him. Believe me, if he had to use his powers to beat her. She would be reduced to paper mâché in his hands. She should consider herself lucky that he's letting her take the victory."

Tony replied as he pointedly looked at Astrid.

"You're right, it will be easy to win that way, but I have an easier way for you to win. Do you happen to have a white cloth?" Chris asked, smiling devilishly.

"Um...no? Yes? I-I'm not-..." Astrid checked her pockets for what he described, only to come up empty handed. She shook her head. "No, sorry..."

She decided not to glance around, which is what she usually does in fear of making people uncomfortable, but to stare down his blue eyes. She didn't like the attitude this 'Chris' was radiating anyway, so she decided to stand her ground slightly.

"It won't be much of a fair match if you can't fight me, Chris...." She faltered at the end of her statement. This guy isn't planning to fight her at the slightest, so shouldn't she just take the win? It makes this all the more quicker, since this fighting isn't even the real reason she's here.

Astrid shook out the thought and assumed a fighting stance. All those things TR had taught her back in the facility raced through her head. She didn't like confrontation at the slightest, but she hated being underestimated even more.

"Astrid! Stick it to him where the sun don't shine!" TR hollered, he might be rooting for Astrid, but their teammates know that he was being polite compared to the colorful insults that he would regularly spew along the lines of hit him so hard his descendants will feel it to skewer him so bad that he has hemorroids or something juvenile as such.

Meanwhile in Sydney, Australia. A man with long ashen blonde hair was cruisin' in his black ferrari. He was listening to classical music before he changed the dial to a radio station, something new to listen that wasn't completely garbage. He then switched to the AM radio to hear something other than the aforementioned wildfires or the pandemic. The needle pointing at 873. "Coming right up in the Magic Division is Astrid Matsumoto versus Chris." Johnathan chimed, Simon internally scoffed: "As if my son was silly enough to-"

"--or the Venusian dreamboat?" A feminine voice confirmed his dismissal.

"Venusian?" Simon smirked before he clicked his tongue before he heard the advertisement that was announced on the radio.

"Enjoy the new taco pizza, hamburger pizza, and pizza rolls at Mia Pizzeria. Mmmmmm, mama Mia! Simon made a left turn. Now you can order your favorite pizza and get it delivered right at your door by using Ultra Eats or Gimme-A-Bite on the app." The black ferrari headed to the nearest pizzeria to the Sydney Opera House.

So you're fighting at a tournament. How careless. You shouldn't be messing around with hooligans, son. You don't know who will take the gem when you're not looking. Simon thought darkly as he drove.

Chris gazed at his opponent, arms crossed whilst Astrid stood in position. She readied her scythe to strike, just as she swinged the curved blade to hit him. He dodged effortlessly.

Astrid closed her eyes and brought down her scythe as hard as she could, and to her surprise she hit the hard floor.

Astrid slowly opened her eyes and saw that Chris had moved a few inches away from her and was untouched.

"Just because I'm not going to hurt you doesn't mean I'm going to let you hurt me." Chris stated, laughing hysterically.

Astrid aimed for his head, he ducked with a curt bow. She aimed for his ankles, leaped backwards in a backflip. She aimed for his shoulder, he made a shield manifest itself as it quickly dispersed into grains of sand.