"That must be really difficult." Stella commented while she finished taking notes.

"You have no idea." Haeji replied.

"My colleague spends time fabricating formulas, antidotes and weaponry. If I could get a blood sample from your brother, Micah could find a cure for his illness." Stella told her.

"You really mean that?" Haeji asked her while Mochi squinted at Stella surreptitiously.

"There's no harm in trying. By the way, if you want me to unlock the EMCuff that you're wearing, let me know." Stella walked away before she heard the announcement.

"Up next, Shadow Vividstripe versus Stella Spacey!" Eleanor announced as Baci Llus got back to wake Micah up from her nap.

"Micah! Micah, wake up!" Baci Llus shook the Amoebian from her slumber. 

"I'm up! I'm up! Did I miss anything?" Micah drawled as she stretched her short limbs before wiping the crusted mucus from her eyes.

"Is Stella's turn to fight." He reminded her.

"Well this will be entertaining." Micah said in her usual monotonic voice.

Stella readied her galactic gun, her deactivated sabre and lipstick laser in case she needed it while Shadow towered over the Izarian, "Good luck, you're going to need it." Shadow licked her sharp teeth, saliva secreting poison, inches away from sinking her teeth to alien flesh before snapping her jaw shut.

"Thanks, good luck to you too." Stella said as she felt the Indoraptor breathing down her neck for a brief second before she turned around to see a pale looking human with long flowing purple hair and piercing green eyes with a bow casually slung across her back and a thick tome labeled Scary Tales sticking out of a pouch at her belt. It had a creepy green grin painted on the cover. If Shadow's human skin tone were two shades grayer, and she would've been a foot taller in stature, Stella could've sworn that Shadow could pass as an Izarian herself.

"Well, wouldn't want to keep the others waiting." Shadow said while Stella watched her walk out to the open space for the audience to see before she reverted back to the Indoraptor form. The crowd cheered while Blue, Indy, Ripper and Suzanne were cheering her on. Marie was in awe by Shadow's transformation, Lizzy clapped at the Indoraptor's debut while Adrian maintained his stoic posture, as solid as a stone statue.

"WOOOOOO! Shadow!" Blue hollered while Indy hovered above the tasty looking humans.

"That's my sister!" Ripper cheered.

"I can almost taste the three thousand hands." Suzanne mused, licking her sharp teeth while Indy looked at the black Indoraptor holding another large bowl of blood for a second then snorted.

"You already drank three bowls of blood and you're still hungry?" Indy raised her eyebrow. 

"Well yeah." Suzanne said before slurping on the bowl of blood.

"When am I going to eat one? I already won the dare a half hour ago." Blue groaned.

"After Shadow's fight, now shush!" Ripper reminded her. Micah rolled her eyes at the Raptors' playful banter.

Stella strutted her way out before waving at the countless guests and spectators. "HOWDY!" Stella hollered as she heard whistling, catcalling and cheering. Marie liked Stella's bubbly personality, Lizzy liked Stella's style, Adrian on the other hand remained unphased by Stella's presence and appeal even while the Izarian entered into the arena to catch up to Shadow and to the referee as the sole of Stella's cyan boots got caught in the sand as she walked towards Glen. When she stood next to them, the referee stood between them.

"You have five minutes to defeat your opponent whether it's by knock out, a ring out, or by drop out. Using magic will result in disqualification. That also includes shapeshifting, elemental magic, or magic weapons." Glen reminded them. 

"Quick question: is using a quartz powered weapon classified as a magic weapon?" Stella asked, Micah facepalmed at Stella's ill-timed interrogation.

"As long as it doesn't require any spellcasting, summoning or conjuring, you can use it." Glen clarified.

"Yes, thanks." Stella smiled before the referee took his steps back while she took out a weapon from her holster and Shadow took her stance, with a blow from Glen's whistle the match began.

The Indoraptor charged in for Stella when the Izarian took out a quartz-powered sabre, similar to a lightsaber but the mass and density of the pseudo-blade can be adjusted to be as solid as a real blade. By the time Stella took out her sabre, Shadow rammed Stella, knocking her back near the edge of the arena. Nearly half of Stella's body was covered in grains of sand. The sabre was nowhere in sight, Stella sat up. "My saber!" The alien farm girl shouted in a panic when Shadow approached her, as she bared her sharp teeth and sickle claw ready to cut the chilling suspense. She placed her sickle claw on Stella’s throat, but Stella wiggled away, scrabbling to her feet and fumbling for a weapon. Unsure of what other weapons Stella had in her disposal, Shadow backed away. Stella didn’t register what was going on, but then she realized that Shadow was hiding. Why?

The question was answered when Shadow - in Indoraptor form - sprung onto Stella from behind. Again Stella wiggled away, leaving the two facing each other, neither willing to make the first move.

"THE DINOSAUR CHEATED! SHE SHAPESHIFTED! DISQUALIFY HER!" Micah screeched before Baci Llus tried to calm her.

"Calm down, Mitis!" The blue skinned, semi solid alien specimen named his co-worker by mistake, why do Amoebians have to look so similar?

"My name is Micah, you nincompoop! I know what I saw! SHE CHEATED! DISQUALIFY HER!" Micah writhed in Baci's arms as he tried to subdue her, yelling at the top of her lungs! Glen blew the whistle to stop the match.

Shadow and Stella were both confused at what had transpired. They both looked up as all eyes were on Micah. "LET ME GO!" Micah wriggled out of Baci's hold. "I DEMAND A REPLAY!" She pointed with her gloved hand at the arena.

"We'll be right back after the commercial break." Eleanor announced before the editor cut to commercial.

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The referee had to step out of the arena. The Izarian farm girl and the Indoraptor princess watched the referee leave as he stood in front of the judges as they discussed amongst themselves about the match and the footage. The competitors looked at each other before Stella shrugged.

"What do you think about this weapon here?" Glen asked as he put down the deactivated sabre on the table for Adrian to inspect the gadget while Lizzy and Marie looked at the weapon. From what the head judge could see, the handle was made out of platinum and stainless steel, the pommel of the blade had a lid that can be screwed open or closed. The power source, two cylinder quartz powered batteries. The origin of the batteries seem questionable, but not as confusing as the other power sources, or magical properties he had inspected previously in the Magic Division. 

"I have to admit, I thought that quartz powered batteries have been discontinued, but I have been mistaken, which is rare." Adrian admitted as he put the batteries back into place before screwing the lid shut by twisting it.

"Can I try?" Lizzy requested, Adrian passed the handle before she turned on the sabre. When Lizzy turned it on, it looked like a dimly lit flashlight before she tweaked to look like a hologram.

"BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!" Stella hollered, before the laser blade cut off the corner of the table which left an acidic scorch mark, Lizzy flinched at the sudden flash of the pseudo-blade when she accidentally dropped it.

"It's like a real life lightsaber." Marie commented before Glen picked it up. He held a firm grip on the handle before Stella saw Glen holding the sabre.

"He found my saber." Stella said before the Indoraptor cocked her head to the side.

《《《 REWIND

REPLAY

By the time Stella took out her sabre, Shadow rammed Stella, knocking her back near the edge of the arena. Nearly half of Stella's body was covered in grains of sand. The sabre was nowhere in sight, Stella sat up. "My saber!" The alien farm girl shouted in a panic when Shadow approached her, as she bared her sharp teeth and sickle claw ready to cut the chilling suspense. The referee had spotted the glint of the handle as he stepped closer to pick up the sabre when the Indoraptor cornered Stella with sickle claw in view, when Shadow had placed her sickle claw on Stella’s throat, but Stella wiggled away, scrabbling to her feet and fumbling for a weapon. Glen kept his hands behind his back, hiding the sabre within his grasp as he watched the combatants scatter in a panic. I should give this to Brandon or the judges to see if this weapon follows through the regulations of the match. Glen thought to himself before Micah shouted from the top of her lungs.

》》》

Present

The referee got back inside the arena as he returned the weapon to Stella. "The weapon has been inspected and it seems that it followed through with the rules." Glen told Stella before he looked at Shadow. "Since you resorted to shapeshifting, I have no other choice but to disqualify you."

Ripper yelled, "REMATCH!"

Indy clawed him sharply and said, "There's no need for a rematch; they should apologize for the inconvenience."

"You gotta be kidding?! THE RULES WERE PERFECTLY CLEAR! Your friend could've chosen to fight in one form during the whole match!" Micah shouted at one of the Raptors.

"Micah!" Stella yelled from where she was.

"I know what I saw, they knew the rules!" Micah hollered for everyone to hear. Stella facepalmed.

Then Micah and the Raptor Squad got into an argument between magic and science. It wasn't pretty.

“Shapeshifting is basically rearranging the atomic structure. Take clay for example, it can be molded into any shape or size. Even a Brontosaurus can tell the difference. It's basic science.” Suzanne stated matter-of-factly.

“You want science.” Micah pulled out one of her gadgets, "I'll show you science." Micah grinned darkly, Stella knew that look.

"Micah NO!" She saw the Amoebian take out the Atomic-Morphing-Accesory. Which only a few space cadets were allowed to have. "TAKE THIS!" With a shot of the ray, it hit Suzanne. Her cells morphed and turned her into a ßteinen. Which is basically a sentient alien golem.

"Oh shoot," muttered Blue. She fired a ball of fire at Micah. The Amoebian jumped outta the way, Baci yelped from the close proximity from the blast.

"Hey, watch it!" The blue alien yelled, as he angrily shook his fist. The Amoebian couldn't have gotten far since she had short legs. Blue fired another ball of fire, bluer, hotter and deadlier. The Amoebian activated an electromagnetic barrier to shield her from the fire blast. The staff had to use fire retardants to quench the fire.

Blue clapped her hands and said, "Don't you have the backwards thing?" to Indy.

"Yup. Haven't used it today," Indy smirked.

She formed a green ball of light and hit Suzanne. 

Back in her Indoraptor form, she writhed in pain.

Ripper healed her easily, and Blue shot balls of freezing fire at Micah, yelling, ducking and dodging fluidly. 

Micah barely escaped the assault, unable to return with the intensity of magic being thrown at her.

"CAN WE STOP ALREADY? I WANT THOSE HANDS! PLUS, THAT IDIOT SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED FOR SURE!" Shadow shouted, though inwardly smirked fiendishly.

"I'm not even a competitor, you paleolithic fossil!" Micah yelled from afar.

"MICAH STOP!" Stella shouted, her teeth grit.

"STOP!" Stella yelled, trying to contain a headache. Micah saw the stadium lights blink for a second.

"Nice going, Streptocock." Micah snarked as she crossed her arms. Not too far where the Raptors and Amoebian were, Carina was watching the skirmish, which was more entertaining than the actual match.

"Very well then, guess I'll have to talk with the higher-ups." Glen said as he had to take a break.

Stella was seeing fuzzy for a second while she heard Shadow shout. Micah on the other hand rolled her eyes at the façade. I can't believe this, oh wait, I can believe that Stella would fall for this sort of thing, but what happened to the common sense of these people, have they seriously forgotten that those Paleolithic predators won't stop at nothing to sink their teeth into whatever it is that they're after. Micah thought as she returned to her seat with a resting grouch face, arms crossed as the stench of burnt velvet and leather wafted in her nostrils, despite that she didn't have a nose.

Can we just fight already? thought Shadow angrily. I want my hands.

Shadow paced around. I just CANNOT BELIEVE how stupid the aliens are. Why did Suzanne even lower her force field? I don't know. These aliens will stop at nothing to sabotage. 

"I'm sorry about Micah, she's usually not like this. In fact, she's the one who stops me from doing something stupid." Stella said to cheer up Shadow, though it didn't seem to work out much. "Micah can be nice once you get to know her. Sure, she can be high-strung and stubborn, but that's part of her personality. She actually saved my neck a couple of times, and she insults nearly everyone, including me so." Stella shrugged.

Shadow smiled painfully. "I guess. But it's still hard to figure that Suzanne was almost a golem."

"Well, the ßteinen are actually one of the most intelligent species in the galaxy, despite their primitive appearance and stiff movements."

"Really," said Shadow, "Suzanne could study them, but after this I doubt she'd like to."

"There are departments in the I.B.I. that investigate undiscovered planets and species, unchartered regions of different galaxies and a branch to protect endangered species, a department for searching wanted intergalactic criminals, cosmic corsairs and space pirates, and a witness protection program. Micah knows the ins-and-outs of those organizations since she understands the technobabble that goes on there. I'm just a space cadet that checks for any irregularities here and there." Stella elaborated on the subject with her opponent in order to kill time.

The hostess had gotten out of the backstage for a bathroom break when she spotted the referee nearby. "Hey Glen, what's wrong?"

"One of the combatants complained about the forms." The referee notified.

"Which one?"

"The shapeshifting dinosaur."

Nat pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not again." She muttered under her breath. "What is it this time?" She asked in the polite term in which she could muster. 

"According to this form, shapeshifting is considered science with the cells changing during transformation and all that jazz." Glen stated.

"The rules are perfectly clear, Glen." The hostess cocked one of her thick eyebrows.

"I know that, and there's also a complaint about her opponent using a weapon that falls into that category." 

"You gotta be kidding." She deadpanned with an indifferent facial expression.

"And she also demanded to be placed in the Magic Division."

"That division is already full. I already established the divisions, I can't change the line-up when we're almost done with today's matches. Listen, if that's the problem then I have a solution. Let both of them fight unarmed, make her decide which form she prefers to fight in for the entirety of the match. If she wins the match, she'll have the creative liberty to transform whenever she wants for the rest of the matches. If she refuses, she can drop out on her own volition. Is that simple." Nat suggested as she shrugged before heading out to the restroom.

Glen simply groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck as he walked back to the arena. Shadow and Stella looked at the referee. "The higher-ups have made a decision. They have proposed a challenge for you, miss Vividstripe. You can shapeshift freely during the next matches if you win this match, the conditions are that you both fight unarmed. You are given the choice to pick one form, your human form or your Indoraptor form. The match will last 5 minutes. If you can fight without shapeshifting during that time. The shapeshifting debacle will be put to rest. The choice is yours, do you accept the challenge? Or do you want to drop out from the tournament?" Glen asked her. Stella looked at Shadow as they waited for her response.

"I accept," Shadow said, smirking. She turned into an Indoraptor and flicked her tail idly. She let glistening poison drip out of her fangs menacingly. It was all part of her scare tactic, since she'd be fighting as an Indoraptor.

"AND NOW WE'RE BACK!" Johnathan announced as the match resumed. "It looks like both combatants violated the rules. One broke the rules by shapeshifting while the other used a weapon unfit for the Melee Division. They were both penalized, however, they were given an ultimatum to stay in the match. The penalty: they will both fight unarmed. Who will win the match?"

Demented dinosuars. Micah thought as she looked back at the arena. Is a good thing that I don't have to deal with those monsters in my home planet. I don't wanna imagine what it was like having to constantly fret about predators prowling at every corner on a daily basis. I can still remember what my gran used to tell me back when she used to deal with those monsters during her youth.

On the right side of the arena, Shadow stood in her Indoraptor form. On the opposite side of the arena, Stella took a casual stance before positioning herself in a defensive stance, their eyes locked on each other briefly before Glen blew the whistle.

The combatants ran towards each other before Stella skidded to a stop before she dodged a punch that came from Shadow's right hook, the space cadet grabbed her arm mid-swing and twisted it, then put her arm behind her back as she did back when she used to practice combat training as an intern. Shadow still had a free arm that she could use to defend herself. The hybrid tried to elbow Stella's midsection by the time she hooked her arm around Shadow's neck into a chokehold before knocking her down to the sand pit. "Ready to quit now?" Stella asked her as if she was actually in one of her training sessions. 

Suzanne glared at Micah ferociously. She was thinking up a weapon she could retaliate with.

"No way!" Shadow protested as she tried to get up, but the Izarian farm girl kneed her to the sand pit. Now that I think about it, didn't she have a sentient book on her person? 

Blue had borrowed Shadow's Scary Tales and opened it to see what was Micah's greatest fear. 

Shadow bit Stella's arm before the red-eyed alien winced in pain just as the hybrid crawled out of the way. Stella looked at Shadow, but she was in her human form. Did she shapeshift again? Stella felt Shadow kick her in the face. She felt queasy, and her vision was wobbly. Shadow loomed over her before stepping on her gut. Yep, I got poisoned again. Shadow flicked her tail rhythmically before she bit into Stella's hips then hoisted her up and tossed her to the side to the edge of the arena.

Adrian noted the Izarian's poor performance on a piece of paper while everyone was watching the match. When her blurry vision focused on Shadow she saw something behind her. Stella's eyes widened. IS THAT AN ELEPHERDANT?! Stella thought, unsure if it was a side effect of the poison that made her hallucinate, or if it was a real one. The Indoraptor took advantage of Stella's weakened state to give one more push to get her out of the arena with a clawed foot as she rolled the spaced out cadet. Baci saw Stella's paralyzed body hit the concrete floor. "Your friend lost."

"NOOOOOOOO! Couldn't this get any worse!" Micah bemoaned before Stella frothed blotches of blood and saliva before they had to call the infirmary to put her on a stretcher.

Shadow stepped down from the arena before the referee got out of the arena. "Congratulations! You are now granted shapeshifting immunity." Glen tipped his cap before getting a snack.

"It's been a while since I saw an act of barbarism so I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10." Adrian stated.

"The way you tossed Stella's body like a ragdoll with such finesse. I love it! 9 out of 10 for the finishing move. Is rare to find subtlety in over the top fights." Lizzy commented.

"And I love dinosaurs so 10 points for you." Marie added.