Maggie, one of the contestants for the Gladatorium Tryout, left her cat nearby to go to the women's restroom. Jinx what was not the type of pet to wait for their owner so she stood up and walked around the stadium, the black feline sneaked into the arena and sniffed around the sand pit and defecated much to some of the onlookers amusement, or displeasure.

"Congrats, Scale." Annabell came in to hug the Reptilian on his victory during his match. Scale felt the corners of his mouth lift up with joy, despite that his opponent was the one who resigned, regardless, he felt grateful. Especially since his friends were rooting for him.

"You hadn't eaten anything since we got here." Melon reminded him. Who can eat when many lives could be at stake when the fear of losing the match would end the freedom of many.

"Yeah, I kinda forgot." Scale said just as Annabell broke the embrace.

"What do you want to eat? I could send Eros to find a tasty pretzel." Annabell suggested before the grey haired wizard put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid not my lady, they ran out of pretzels at the moment." Eros lied, he had no problem running an errand, though he didn't want Annabell to become infatuated with someone that would exploit her generosity, including him.

"No thanks, I rather go order a pizza." The Reptilian walked around to find lunch, just then, a black cat walked past them.

Grim returned to the stadium and he saw the same black cat from earlier. He wasn't the superstitious type, though he was tempted to kill the black furball to make a new keychain out of its fur. Since the owner was nowhere in sight, he raised his scepter to levitate the dark feline in the air though Jinx was unfazed by it. "Meow." The cat's amber eyes looked at Grim and hissed at him.

"Vieni gattina." Maggie called out, Jinx turned her head to look at her. A wand pointed at the can, then the cat teleported out of Grim's sight. Then Maggie took off her top hat and tapped it with her wand, popping Jinx out of her hat. "I can't leave you alone for one minute." Maggie admonished her pet, though the black cat meowed quizzically, “Wait, weren't you the one who made me levitate?” then the black looked at Grim then hissed at him from afar.

The host had exited backstage while the drone searched for alternate routes until one of the caretakers knocked down the drone with a broomstick, Jayshree was seen on the screen. Logan had to admit that she was kinda cute. "Jecamiah, look at this." She picked up the drone and showed it to the bearded janitor.

"Someone must've send it to scout the stadium or to gain intel." Jecamiah commented.

"Or they sent it to search for the prize money, wouldn't be the first someone tried to sneak in to steal it." Jayshree commented.

"If that were the case, they would've cut off the power by now." Jecamiah mentioned.

"Electricity isn't the only power source here, there are solar panels on the rooftops, and there are crystals that power the portals." The brunette added.

"Is better to not give away any further information, we don't know if the drone is still recording." The bearded janitor warned before the connection to the drone got disrupted. Logan groaned in frustration that he couldn't reel in any further information.

Vilma was keeping an eye on June before her target spotted a golden yellow cat as it walked to her. She patiently waited for the blonde to make a slip up, "Vilma, a word." Though the hostess called her to the office.

The receptionist looked around the office and then at Nat's serious face, which was not pretty. Vilma's superior wasn't the type to yell her head off, no! She was the kind of person that would likely glare at someone square in the eye with glacier indifference and make you uncomfortable with the awkward silence, knowing that you messed up big time. A pin could drop and she still wouldn't budge at the disturbing staring contest until she leaned in for the cringe inducing close up, eyebrows furrowed. Vilma's hazel eyes were aghast at Nat's dark, beady, lifeless eyes.

"I know you Vilma, and how you think. This is your chance to tell me the truth." She spoke to her, being eye level with her, then stood erect. The hostess was 5 feet and seven inches tall, Vilma was 4½ inches shorter than she was. "Are you the one responsible for putting an EMCuff on one of the contestants?" She inquired.

"No." Vilma responded flatly.

"How about the sick patient?" The host mentioned, as Vilma recalled Patricia injecting something on the sick patient when no one was there.

"No."

"So you're saying that you didn't put an EMCuff on him either." The hostess implied.

"Obviously." Vilma responded.

"Then you're free to go." Her expression relaxed as she saw the host give a tight lipped smile. "Since you're not hiding anything, you got nothing to worry about." Vilma smiled at this. "Unless you know something that you're not telling me, and if I have to find out by other means." Natalie put her hands behind her neck on the desk chair as she put her legs on the desk, showing her boots as she lightly swung her feet side to side while the receptionist saw the soles of the boots the host was wearing. "I'll have to get dirty." Nat added nonchalantly.

"You don't have to worry about me." Vilma hinted as she walked out of the office. Worry about yourself, she thought derisively.

The hostess looked at the ceiling thinking, If I find out that you are complicit in keeping them hostage, or that you're plotting against me behind my back. I can be just as vindictive, or even worse than you. Then sang, "these boots aren't just made for walking."

"I'm going to get more food." Haeji grabbed an apple and a carving knife.

"Ok then." Shadow nodded and took a sack out. "Hungry too." Severed hands spill out. I push a few to Ripper before he can eat everything. 

"Why don't you use your scythe to peel it?" June asked her before she had noticed the carving on the apple. "Oh." Haeji carved Blue and Felin into the apple.

"What?" Shadow asked before Haeji handed the carved apple to the purple striped Indoraptor. "Oh that's nice but no thanks...we're not exactly vegetarian…" She gesture at the pile of limbs. "But you're welcome to take a hand or two if you like. The dragons roasted them."

"Oh," Hwa Hae Ji took some of the severed hands, "I'll save these for my bro's magic." Haeji put the hands inside a satchel that she found. Apparently, there was a stand that displayed lost and found items.

Herring was at the men's restroom urinating before he put on his trousers, as he exited the restroom. He saw Faim talking to Piros, assuming that he already made a new friend, he walked away, grumbling.

"That's a shame, you're a really good fighter. I would've loved to fight you in the arena." Faim mentioned.

"Thank you." Piros replied before he heard a female voice call out to the blonde martial artist, Faim gave a peace sign before they parted ways.

After the host announced the Redemption Round a while ago, he couldn't help feel the disdainful glares coming from behind him. He had perceived the scornful side glances after he had walked out of the men's room. Not to mention that after Piros's match, some of the competitors deliberately avoided Herring.

He could handle the outbursts, the rage, the punches, what he couldn't handle was the wedge between them. After all that they've gone through, he still couldn't believe that his best friend him, his brother, compared him to the Shogun of all Scoundrels.

"I almost forgot that you're just like the infamous general Coral. A fisherman, an ambitious fighter, and a traitor." In all honesty, the young fisherman didn't care what others thought of him, what hurt him was that his best friend, who had known each other since they were children, thought so lowly of him.

I'm not a traitor. The thought hung over him like a dark cloud that could rain on his parade in any given moment at the mention of the resemblance.

"Same face, same attitude, same blood." Piros's cold sneer was fresh on his mind. Herring walked out of the hall, when Haeji noticed him.

"Herring!" Haeji shouted his name but his mind was elsewhere. Mochi hollered at Herring too, but nothing. She could handle being ignored, but for him to do the same to Mochi was disrespectful. The fisherman was meters away from exiting the stadium so Haeji ran a couple of paces and threw the carving knife she had in hand at the wall near the entryway of the stadium, an inch away from hitting Herring's head.

He snapped into his senses and berated at Haeji as he saw her run up to him. "Are you trying to kill me!?"

"I'm trying to get your attention, fishbait!" Hae Ji flustered angrily, "What's gotten into you, anyway?"

"Me-ouch." Mochi meowed as his eyes darted at Haeji and then at Herring.

"I rather not talk about it." He scowled.

"Fine, don't tell me. But at least let me know who is General Coral?" Haeji queried just as Herring took a side glance at the entryway.

"Was." Herring said as he was leaving the stadium, the crystal above the doorway glowed in a bright reddish hue as the portal made him return to his world as he stepped out.

"Wait!" Hwa Hae Ji ran after him and got out of the stadium before the gem faded, leaving her in the Iridian Dimension. Was? Haeji thought to herself. The New Korean was in Meno, a province in the Red Kingdom. She looked for Herring on the town square.

Though she was unaware that some of the Menonites were whispering about her after they had seen her pass by.

“Is she one of the members of Punakas's Posee?” A scrawny rugged Menonite asked.

“No, she has an eye of different color.” A feminine voice commented.

“So?” Cuvapp asked.

“She is two faced. She probably has a demon inside of her.” The feminine voice surmised, looking at her and the cat.

“I doubt that the Posee would be dumb enough to have a possessed person in their gang.” Ppalgan responded.

“I never seen her around here before.” Cuvapp confirmed since he was a resident.

“She is probably a spy, stay clear of her.” The rugged man said before they scattered.

"HERRING! WHERE ARE YOU?" They heard her shout. Mochi sniffed until he caught a familiar scent.

The colorful cat used his tail to point in thay direction. "He went that way." Haeji ran as she followed Mochi's directions until they ended up at a fish market.

"You sure Herring is in here?" Haeji asked Mochi before Basa heard.

"Herring? We have all kinds of fish heeerrr!" Basa offered though his guttural voice came out menacing.

"No thanks." Haeji replied politely before she turned her heel to walk out of the fish market. As she sprinted at a good distance, she looked at Mochi over her shoulder. "I can't believe you gave the wrong directions."

"Well excuse, it's hard to concentrate on an empty stomach." Mochi meowed before she took out the carved apple and shoved it to his mouth.

She walked to the dock nearby, Herring untied the rope from the post before he got on board the canoe.

Hwa Hae Ji looked out on the shore and spotted him. "Herring!" She saw him sit down on the canoe and grabbed the oars. She shouted his name. Just when he was about to row he heard her calling him.

"Haeji?" He asked, not knowing if it was figment of his imagination until she ran up to to the dock and jumped over it and landed on the canoe, rocking it before she lost her balance and fell to his lap.

"Ow!" Haeji yelped.

Mochi jumped over Haeji's shoulders to Herring's face, obscuring his vision as the young fisherman dropped the oars overboard.

"I can't see." Herring muffled before the furry feline got out of his face. He realized too late that the oars had floated far from arms reach.

Herring elicited a disgruntled growl, then groaned. "Why are you here?"

Haeji adjusted herself to sit on the canoe. "I was looking for you, fishbait! Why were you running away from me!?"

"I'm not a coward like him." Herring glared at her.

"Then tell me who he was." She looked at him while Mochi was sniffed, the feline picked up a scent but couldn't quite place it.

Herring was apprehensive before he conceded in responding. "To answer your question, Coral was a famous shogun before he betrayed the Red Kingdom."

"Then what do you have to with him?" Haeji queried.

"I'm one of the bastards that he had scattered abroad." An awkward silence filled the air.

"Seriously?" Haeji cocked an eyebrow, her tone was more nonchalant than he had expected.

"I'm nothing like that scoundrel! I never met the man anyway! Just because I came from his loins does not mean I'm like him. Piros knows this and used it against me! Sor! I'd expect anyone to talk carp about that, except him." Herring vented before he slapped himself on the forehead.

"He said it out of anger, but he didn't mean it." Haeji came closer to him, Mochi turned away from the edge of the canoe and watch her pull Herring's wrist away from his face.

"There were times that I said some hurtful things I didn't mean to Joon before and he forgave me."

"I just wanted him to join me in the tournament and fight on the arena to conquer his trauma." He reminded her.

"I know," Haeji replied while Mochi spotted an old fisherman rowing, "but tricking him into doing something he didn't want to do is not the way to do it."

"I found help!" Mochi alerted.

Herring looked around and saw Sardin rowing on a canoe with a net full of fish. That old coot, if he sees me on baord with a girl, I'll never hear the end of it. Herring thought to himself before he dived into the water.

"Herring, where'd you go?" Haeji looked at the water trying to find him. He left me alone on a canoe, stranded. She thought as her eyes darted around until she saw a hand come out of the water to grab the oar, Herring's hand.

The old fisherman rowed to the dock, then tied the rope into the post to keep the canoe in place, grabbed the fishnet and slung it over to the back of his shoulder before he got on the dock. "Help!" Mochi hollered though the old fisherman heard a loud meow. He saw a young lady on a canoe with a cat but paid no mind, as he paced a couple of steps he heard her shout: "Herring!"

Sardin turned around but there was no response from him, at first, he thought he misheard her he turned away before he heard a light splash coming from the sodden oar. As he turned, he saw Herring swim to the canoe where the girl sat and passed it to her. So he did find a purdy little lady. You sneaky squid. Sardin smirked.

Herring came out of the water and entered into the canoe, soaked as the salt water dripped from his body. "Let me get you to the shore before someone sees us." Herring said as he grabbed the oars to row, as he brought them to the dock before he saw the old fisherman looking at them with a smug look on his face. Herring gritted his teeth angrily at Sardin. Great, just my luck.

"Ahoy there, Herring. Did you sell the mackerel?" Sardin queried, Haeji and Mochi were oblivious to who Sardin was though they assumed that he was a fisherman like Herring.

"No." Herring glared at him, giving him an accusatory glance.

"I knew it!" Sardin confirmed, though both he and Herring knew that he was not referring to the mackerel. "Where is it? There's still a chance to cook it before it rots." Though this time, he was actually curious about the whopping fish they caught this morning.

"We gave it to Ratu." Herring replied.

"You wouldn't give me the mackerel, but you gave it to a thief!?" Sardin shouted. Irate, Hae Ji stood on the dock and faced him.

"What do you know!? You don't know if he was stealing for food or stole money to get medicine for a sick relative or neighbor?" She glared at him, putting her hands on her hips, though her cat Mochi was staring at the net full of fish.

Sardin saw the little lady, and from what he could tell, she was definitely a tourist. Most Menonites know that Ratu is a thief that could pose a threat to society once he became of age, if not for Ruben II the Cinnabarian who had taken Ratu under his roof. At least the former gang leader of The Rousers managed to keep the little kleptomaniac under control. If the rotund man wasn't such a greedy cheapskate, he would've been respected.

"Do you know her, Herring?" Sardin asked him, his tone laced with concern.

"Barely." Herring acknowledged.

"We literally met over an hour ago. What did you expect?" Haeji snapped, looking down at Herring while he sat on the canoe. Mochi sniffed the fish that Sardin caught and wanted to eat one.

"From you, nothing. If you'll excuse me, I'll be fishing." Herring replied monotonously before rowing away.

The old fisherman could see that the young girl had attitude for certain. Not only that, the tips of her hair were bleached, or dyed which reminded him of the high ranked Sanguine Sages to symbolize their transition within the cult. Nowadays, gang leaders use it to display their rank within the crew. Her heterochromatic eyes also pose her as a threat in Rubrum folklore, a hue-man who had an eye with a different eye color than the other it associated with a person having two souls instead of one, that the person in question would be prone to demonic possession. In modern terms, it would've been associated with a split personality, a two faced person, or duality.

"And for your information, unlike Ratu, I don't steal for fun. I have a sick brother who needs me." Haeji turned away from Sardin before he touched her shoulder, and gave her a solemn glance.

"I apologize. I've never seen you around here before. I've known Herring since he was a little babe. He may not show it, but he has grown fond of you." Sardin said, looking at her in the eyes. "The only thing I ask of you is to be patient with him. He may be a stubborn shrimp, but deep down he's a good lad."

"Make no promises." Mochi warned Haeji, though Sardin only heard him meow.

"I know. " She told Mochi, though to Sardin it was reassuring that she was understanding. Then she walked with Sardin for a while. "We just met in the tournament hours ago, I only signed up to win the prize money for my brother's treatment. I was waiting for the tournament to start."

Haeji walked over to Shadow for small talk. “Hey Shadow, I'm uh kinda bored you wanna spar?” Herring and Faim heard the word "spar" and ran up to her. "Can I join?" They both said in unison before they looked at each other.

"Sure you can join, I'm Hwa Hae Ji but you can call me Haeji."

"You already sparred with your friend a while ago, let me take a turn." Faim reminded him.

"I don't have a problem taking turns, but can you handle fighting two at once?" Herring took a fighting stance, raising his defenses.

"Is that a challenge?" The blonde martial artist queried.

"It's a match!" Herring affirmed.

"I'm inside the melee division was it? What about you?" She asked as her eyes darted on both of them, then took out a scythe that had ‘sythe yang’ written on it.

"I'm also in the Melee division." Faim replied.

"I'm also fighting in the Melee Division." Herring said before the two fighters glared at each other.

“Also what are your names? And ages?” Haeji asked them.

"My name is Faim, 25 years of age. Nice to meet you." Faim shook Haeji's hand.

"Herring Ja, fifteen, nice to meet you. It's rare to see a woman participating in a fighting tournament." The young fisherman said before giving a smirk.

"I have to agree with the fisherman here." Faim gave an annoyed glance at Herring in contrast to Herring's smug snirk. "At least of all the tournaments I've entered, it's really rare to see a female fighter compete."

“Well I guess this one is special, nice to meet you Faim, and Herring. So," The Daoitu thief wiped the invisible dust off of her skirt, "Who's going against who?”

"That's what I've been trying to find out." Faim responded as he looked at the other contestants.

“Well, I'll go against whos the strongest then, so, who's the strongest?” Haeji asked the two most competitive fighters in the Melee Division.

"That's easy," Herring started before the two fighters pointed their thumb at themselves. "ME." Both Faim and Herring responded in unison before they glared at each other.

“Ooh boy.” Haeji thought as she gritted her teeth, nervous at the outcome.

"Everyone place your bets for the match against the fisherman, Herring Ja! Against the Flaven!" Ratu announced before he went up to ask the blonde martial artist. "What's your name?"

"Faim." He said before Ratu hollered his name out loud.

Then Faim asked himself, "What's a Flaven?"

"Why not?" Shadow said, smiling. Even if her bloody grin looks like one of a deranged killer.

“Ok well I guess I'll bet on one of you then.” Haeji complied before she looked at both of the fighters carefully. “I’ll bet on...” Haeji thought  as she squinted at the two before her eyes laid on the fisherman. "Herringgggggg?"

"Yes." Herring smiled triumphantly. 😁

"So the match was a wager." Sardin replied.

"Yeah, that was before the match began, I bet on Herring, and he lost. He still owes me money by the way." Haeji said to the old fisherman.

"He has been having a bad streak recently." Sardin and Haeji stopped at the fish market. "It was nice knowing you Haeji. I hope that your brother has a speedy recovery."

"Thanks." Haeji said before she headed back to the stadium. Sardin entered the fish market and brought a net full of fish to Basa.

Maybe after her brother recovers, Herring will have the gull to receive his blessing to marry her. Is about time the lad settled down. Sardin thought.

When Haeji returned to the town square in search for the Colosseum she only saw an abandoned stadium. "Did we get lost?" Haeji asked her cat.

"No, I think this is the right place." Mochi replied.

"Are you sure?" The New Korean asked before the feline nodded in confirmation, they looked around the abandoned stadium.

By the entryway, the red gem glowed a radiant red light before Ratu came out of the Alvonian stadium. He wanted to avoid Ruben as much as possible knowing that his plan to take the prize money would ultimately fail, though he hadn't expected to see Haeji nearby.

"Did you lose something?" Ratu asked before he walked up to her.

"You wish, now get lost." Haeji remarked.

"Whatever." Ratu was about to leave before he remembered something, "I almost forgot, a blonde broad said that your brother is looking for you." The little thief commented before Haeji grabbed him by the collar of his hanfu.

"Oh no you don't. You're not going anywhere," Haeji pulled his arm so that she could look at him face to face, "I haven't forgotten that you tried to steal my brother's locket. Now march!" Haeji pointed to the stadium before Ratu's nostrils flared, crossed his arms, and turned as he headed back inside the stadium while he grumbled under his breath.

After Sardin had traded the fish for 101 florins. The old fisherman rowed next to Herring's canoe as he wiggled his eyebrows smugly at the lad. "So you DID find a purdy lady to 'rock your canoe', did ya, Herring?"

"What are you talking about, you old coot?" Herring said as he threw the net into the water.

"I knew you'd find a good catch. Hook, line and sinker." Sardin chided.

"Fishing all day long really made you looney, Sardin." Herring said looking at the water, as the water rippled to prevent Sardin to see his flushed face.

"There's plenty of fish in the sea and you finally found one." Sardin referred to Haeji.

"We're not even courting, ya old coot!" Herring blushed then facepalmed as he heard Sardin laugh.

"GET LOST!" Herring shouted while the old fisherman rowed away laughing. Herring shot a nasty glare at Sardin. Nosy old coot.