"You can go scavenging for illegal Rave parts while I take a break and enjoy the show." Octavia took her coffee and walked out, leaving Logan to his own devices. Uiwo stood in line to order just as Octavia past by him.

"I'm hungry." Mewmi whined. "Is a good I packed food inside my satchel." Eimy stated.

"Yay! Food! Gimme gimme gimme." Mewmi opened the zipper of the satchel before Eimy swatted her hand away.

"No! This is for Faim. He gets hungry after fighting." Eimy glared at the gijinko.

"No fair!" Mewmi whined before she shapeshifted unto her cat form as she meowed, begging for food.

"The answer is still no." Eimy barred her teeth.

"Eimy, can you get me some egg salad with baked potatoes and hot coffee? I'm kind of famished." Dirlu requested as she passed a roll of 1,200ğ.

"Sure thing." Eimy takes the money and takes her satchel with her.

"No fair! Buy me something to eat!" Mewmi whined in her cat form.

"Master Yin, do you have any news yet?" Faim asked, but the Yamitzu master shook his head as a response. Ryo looked at the other competitors, Herring was not far as he approached the elf, mesmerized by the large sword that was on Ryo's scabbard.

"That's a fancy sword you got there, what's it made of?" Herring asked wit genuine interest.

"What you see here is a Spellblade, it's a special sword forged by elven blacksmiths. I imbue spells into this sword." Ryo replied as he took out his sword with a radiant smile on his face.

"So you are saying that you can cast spells with a slash of your sword." Herring implied.

"Correct." Ryo raised the Spellblade.

"But you didn't answer my question. What metal was used to forge it?" Herring asked.

"It's made out of a special metal that can absorb magical properties, only the elven blacksmiths know the name of the metal." Ryo explained.

"Oh, it makes sense. Reminds me of an old folktale about a sword that was forged by a coppersmith who found a magic ore and used it to forge a sword for his beloved who was destined to rule a nation, though the fabled blade only acknowledged her and her bloodline worthy of wielding it. The fable was called the Sanguine Sword or the Blood Blade, I won't bore you with the details." Herring scratched his chin at the name of the folktale.

Ratu watched as the Indoraptor and the Daoitu thief chewed on their candy. "Can I play?" He asked while her heterochromic eyes landed on him.

"Sure." She answered just as Ratu swiped the coin in a blink of an eye.

"Tails!" With a flick of his thumb, he flipped the coin in the air and caught it when the coin was in arms reach before he put the coin on the back of his hand. His hopeful expression immesiately changed into disappointment. "Heads." He frowned.

"Wanna try again? The Indoraptor asked.

"No thanks." Ratu declined the offer as he returned the coin to the owner before he walked away, holding a piece of candy that he stole from Hwa Hae Ji's pocket while he unwrapped the strawberry wrapper and chewed on the piece of candy. Like stealing candy from a babe. Ratu thought as he smirked.

Astrid got out of the restroom and saw Alexander there before he came in to give her a warm embrace. "I finally found you." Astrid reciprocated the embrace before he looked at her with his blue eyes. "We gotta meet the others at the rendezvous point." Alexander told her.

"Now? The match will start in any minute." Astrid countered.

"It'll be quick, we meet up at the checkpoint with the others and then you can go back just in time for the fight." Alexander coaxed her.

"Fine, where are we regrouping?" She asked him.

"Follow me." Alexander took her by the hand.

"And this is where you'll be waiting until the match begins." Patricia said as she gestured to the room while Chris and Sora entered. "Enjoy your stay." Patricia added before she exited the room.

The Izarian farm girl sat near the Hue-Man with aubergine colored attire, and the blonde teenager. In the corner of her eye, Stella spotted an imopverished girl with brown shaggy hair and worn out rags along with rusted shackles that had broken links on her wrists and ankles. "I'm gonna go play with Haeji." The shaggy haired hair chirped while the human teenager brushed her brown hair to the side with his fingertips.

"Sure, have fun." He gave his approval just as she ran uo to Shadow and to the young Asian teen whom Stella assumed to be Haeji. "Breloq, don't you think is odd that the match hasn't started yet?" Stella heard as looked at the teenager and a tall wind up doll with beady eyes, a zipper that reached to both of ends of his jaw, and pointed metal legs.

"Perhaps time works differently here." Breloq shrugged.

"That does make sense… I think," Ryan said tilting his head.

Haeji walked up to Ryan. "Hey Ryan, what's happening?" She looked up to Breloq. "So where's my book?"

Breloq pinches the corner of the book from the back of his pant pocket and pulls it out. He unzips his mouth and speaks, "Oh, was it not a present?" Ryan slaps Breloq's metal calf, making a slight ring.

"Honestly, I don't have a clue," states Ryan. "I was pretty much dragged into this… mostly by Breloq. He kinda just signed us up for the fight without our discussion. He has something in mind but he won't talk." Stella heard them, now that she was looking at the human and the tall deity. It reminded her of the description Hexice gave her. A human, a 10 feet wind-up doll and a poverty stricken child.

"So I guess the battles aren't happening yet, so you wanna start a fire or spar?" Haeji asked him.

"Ugh," He groaned. "I'd rather do neither. The last fight I had was with fire that almost consumed the entire world. My world at that…" And that statement confirmed Stella's suspicion.

Stella stood up and went approached them. "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt but do any of you know of a 7ft tall man, with a spade eye and a diamond eye. He was looking for you." Stella asked them.

Breloq takes a step back as he hears the description of a '7 ft tall deity'. He groans, "That white snake somehow slithered himself into this place." He rubs his forehead thinking of what to do. Speaking to Stella, "Well, if you do meet him again, don't tell him where I am. I prefer not to be around him."

"What a bummer. He was really kind enough to give me a card reading too. Oh well." Stella took out my phone to erase the note since she already found them.

"BRELOQ!" Hexice hollered as he was walking near backstage, as he pivoted to the side, he saw a door that had a small opening. Not wanting to wait, he opened it as he found to be a dimly lit dressing room. The deity took a couple of steps forward as he found a mirror, and a man with a glossy complexion. Breloq looked at the mirror and the deity's porcelain skin looked immaculate, to this Hexice let out a smile, his white teeth letting out a shine of its own. Mirror looked at the 7ft deity and moved from his seat.

"Do you mind? I'm getting ready." Mirror spoke, something that he didn't like to do much despite having a smooth baritone voice that could attract women.

"You can talk!" Hexice put his hands on his cheek, feigning a gasp.

"Very funny." Mirror signed, though his face and body language showed annoyance. The creases of his translucent eyebrows furrowed.

"Thank you, I aim to please." Hexice replied using American Sign Language before translating it to Quebec Sign Language for no other reason than to rub salt in the wound or to simply spite the combatant.

"Why are you here?" Mirror signed his question, glaring at the deity.

"Just admiring the view." Hexice put his fists on his hips before he squinted at the flashy fighter, his spade eye narrowing. "Though by the looks of it, you don't look so good."

"Excuse me?" Mirror asked before Hexice took a glimpse of Mirror's future when his diamond eye opened. Hexice clicked his tongue disapprovingly before the deity arched his back.

"What a shame, your winning streak is about to run out. I'd be careful if I were you, you don't know what is going to happen next once you step in the arena." Hexice walked by the door. "Break a leg!" Hexice lifted his leg back like a naughty school girl as he said it before smiling sardonically as he creepily got out of the door. Mirror only met the stranger and he already hated him as he faintly heard the deity hollered Breloq's name in a singsong.

"Creep." Mirror signed.

Natalie, Johnathan and Eleanor entered backstage while Erica prepared the camera and Brandon, the setting. Adrian, Glen, Marie and Lizzy go to take their positions.

"Are the cameras ready?" The hostess asked, Erica gave a thumbs up as confirmation.

"I see someone entering the arena!" Ratu shouted. Herring, Faim, Annabell, Scale and Ryan took a peek at what was going on at the arena. They saw a bald man enter, followed by two women as they took their seats. Marie and Elizabeth sat on opposite side while Adrian sat at the middle. Glen already stood in the middle of the arena.

"Looks like the match is about to start." Maggie commented as the spectators focused their eyes on Glen before large screens slowly made its descent before giving a live broadcast.

"We're live at 5... 4... 3... 2..." Erica gave her the signal to go live.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to what you've all been waiting for..." Everyone looked at the screen, especially Violet.

It's her.

"I'm your host, Natalie San-" as the hostess introduced herself for the viewers of their respective worlds to see, from the humble civilizations to the most advanced dimensions. Violet took a good look at the one responsible for orchestrating this event. "And I'm proud to present..." Mirror took his cue to leave the dressing room, "...the Gladatorium."

So you're the one behind this. Violet glared at the screen. You haven't realized the grave consequences you caused by gathering one of the most dangerous combatants in one place. She thought as she remembered Mirror, the one he saw in her vision. Violet may not have seen every competitor as of yet, but she could tell that Mirror was the most unpredictable of all of the fighters gathered to compete. At least she could gauge the competitors by sensing their aura.

Alexander and Astrid dashed to the checkpoint, Octavia sat on an empty seat next to Tony as she looked at the screen. "Where fighters from different worlds come to compete to test their strength, skill and ingenuity in the Arena. A chance to prove their worth not only to our judges, but to you who is watching the tournament today."

"That's right, Nat. We have a lot of competitors this year, starting from the strongest spellcaster to the average fighter." Johnathan stated.

"This year, the combatants will be placed in two categories: the Magic Division and the Melee Division." Eleanor added.

While the announcers were speaking, Alexander pressed on an application within his watch to come into contact with his teammates via videochat, only Logan had his electronic watch blocked to prevent any distractions that could slow down his search for the illegal Rave that he was determined to find.

Uiwo already paid for his taco wrap with enchilada and honey mustard as he took a sip of his iced tea by the time Eimy stood in line to order for Dirlu. As she stood in line to order, Felix stood behind her, waiting in line. Uiwo took a bite of his taco wrap before he walked back up to the second floor to return to his seat.

"Now that we have already covered up the rules of the divisions is time to introduce our judges: Elizabeth Luna," the screen showed Lizzy's full name and her nickname as Elizabeth "Lizzy" Luna while the judge smiled as her face and long black hair was seen, "Marie Johnson", the screen panned to her youthful smile, brown braided hair and her gray eyes, "and Adrian Mehrkens." Eleanor announced at the screen showed Adrian's stoic expression, his bald head nearly as shiny as Mirror's while his dirty blonde facial hair was seen as his stubby fingers stroked his chin. "The judges will determine the combatant's performance in the arena after every match. So be prepared." Johnathan reminded the viewers. Annabell, Scale, Faim, Herring and Ratu took a look at the judges as they peered out on the arena.

Tr received an incoming video call from Alexander, with a grunt he pressed the icon to stay on the video chat. "About time you found her." Tr said as she saw Astrid wave at him.

"Hey Astrid." Ash greeted as she adjusted the video camera.

"Wassup?" Astrid replied as she leaned on Alexander's shoulder.

"I was on the fourth floor looking for you. You can see almost everything from up here. They're showing the names of the contestants as we speak.

"Really?" Astrid asked her.

"Yeah. Everyone's seeing it." Ash said it as she stood to where the screen was visible.

"You're not missing much." Tr commented.

"Here are all the names of the combatants in alphabetical order." Eleanor gestured to an open space while the names appeared in bullets.

  •    Alexandra

  •    Annabell Lily Luna

  •    Astrid Matsumoto

  •    Breloq

  •    Chris

  •    Combat Mirror

  •    Faim

  •    Felin

  •    Herring Ja

  •    Hwa Hae Ji

  •    June Lily

  •    Master Yin

  •    Phixa

  •    Piros

  •    Ratu

  •    Ryan

  •    Ryo

  •    Scale

  •    Shadow Vividstripe

  •    Sora Hasaki

  •    Stella Spacey

  •    Violet 

Piros was amazed at the massive magic glass hovering in the air, revealing the faces of two uniformed strangers as they summoned runes to display the names, the only name that he could identify was Herring's, despite that he was illiterate.  ᚻᛖᚱᚱᛁᛝ᛫ᛄᚪ

"I like Annabell's full name, it has an air of elegance to it." Dirlu commented.

"I like the name Phixa, it has a sting to it. Fix-ah, fic-sah fix-a-fix-a-fix." Mewmi pronounced the name repeatedly, as the noblewoman rolled her eyes.

"Of course a stray cat like you would find that entertaining." Dirlu said before she heard Mewmi hiss at her.

"Combat Mirror, reminds me of one of the Gilded Gladiators." Ximo as he opened a bottle cap.

"Didn't Silvn used to have a similar stage name?" Uiwo asked him.

"Nah! His stage name was either Slick Silver or The Silverman." Ximo reminded him before chugging on the bottle of water in large gulps while Uiwo chewed on the enchilada.

"Stop hissing cat, unless you want me to throw you out." Mewmi laughed at her empty threat.

"Try it! I dare you! I can land on all fours. You on the other hand will be seen as an animal abuser for a wide audience to see. You'll be the one who'll get kicked out if you lay a hand on me." Mewmi warned with a Cheshire grin on her face.

"In that case," Dirlu stood from her seat, looming over Mewmi, "you will have no problem explaining to Eimy how you got her out of the stadium once I take back my refund." The shapeshifting cat gasp.

"You wouldn't..." but the way Dirlu grinned indicated that she would, and could do so since she paid for Eimy's and Mewmi's tickets.

"Try me." Dirlu opened her fan and waved it sideways as if she was signalling her departure. But before she allowed her to leave, Mewmi pounced on the noblewoman's back meowing no no no no no no no.

"Please no, she'll punish me by not making anymore of her delicious frittatas! She's the one who makes the tasty food. Faim can't even make a decent filet without it burning into a crisp." Mewmi begged her. "I'm so hungry that I could eat a calf!" Mewmi shouted.

"Mewmi, stop making a scene." Eimy came back to bring Dirlu the food she ordered. Mewmi shapeshifted back into her human form as she let go of her as she took her seat as her stomach growled. "Your change." Eimy returned the change, 480ğ. 

"Save that for later, right now I want my coffee." Dirlu grabbed the plastic cup and blew to cool off the coffee before taking a sip. Eimy returned to her seat before she gave Mewmi a bag full of fish sticks and a lemon soda. "For you." Eimy confirmed.

Mewmi's eyes lit up before she scarfed down the fish sticks with sea salt.

The receptionists took a lunch break as they watched the TV screen. Alma, the elven receptionist, had her dark hair in a ponytail as she wore aquamarine earrings to match her navy blue skirt, a white button up shirt, black pumps and a blue and white striped tie. Alma had a bottle of gin in hand. Buid was slurping on a noodle soup as he was waiting for the moment to watch the results of upcoming matches. 

"Can I also sign my friend to compete in the tournament? He would like to participate but he can't read Mandarin." Herring requested, omitting the fact that Piros didn't want to partake in the tournament.

"If that is the case, I could translate the form to your friend." The receptionist offered.

"That's very kind of you sir," Herring signed Piros's name on the form while he and the receptionist made eye contact, "but I prefer to tell him myself. Thanks for the offer." Herring put down the quill. The sneaky Pirian native exited the reception and entered the stadium with a smug expression plastered across his face, unbeknownst to him that the receptionist knew that he speed signed without him looking. He smirked at the repercussions that will come to the competitor sooner or later. Buid smiled awaiting for the drama to unravel.