The real Alma remained unconscious, Goung and Geoffrey hefted her body to the desk chair before Samoht tied her wrists to the armrests of the desk chair with plastic handcuffs in case the elf woke up for another rampage while Vilma recorded them with her phone. Akane was on the lookout to check who would pass by the reception amidst the mess.

She first saw Faim, Ximo and Uiwo leave the stadium, then saw Patricia enter the stadium.

The blonde receptionist was caught off guard at the sight of magic users casting spells like confetti and random strangers fighting in a frenzy from masked men to hooded teenagers stabbing each other, from skilled fighters using their weapons to cause property damage. There was also a curly haired brunette riding a baby blue dragon as she harpooned two men with her glaive, leaving them severely injured. Not to mention the stray snakes slithering about and frogs croaked in confusion.

Patricia headed to the reception quickly before Akane opened the door.

“I've only left for 10 minutes and this place turned into a bloody massacre.” Patricia snapped in an outcry.

“Collateral damage you mean.” Geoffrey corrected.

“You know what I mean!” Patricia barked, “It's unbelievable that the guests have made a mess this big as if they were in a horror film! The hostess only had one job and she couldn't even do that right! Where is she?!”

Natalie had her hands tied trying to stop strangers that had more physical strength, magical power, and far more heavily armed than her. Risking herself from becoming the next casualty while trying to aid some of the injured victims to safety.

She needed help, but who was going to help her? A shriek was heard while some of the magic users and an armed man prepared themselves, they were shrouded in a veil of smoke. A masked man used his night vision goggles and detected the host, seven magic users but he didn't notice a large bicephalic dragon looming behind him.

“I'll make minced meat outta you.” Claw whispered at the armed man with night vision goggles and instinctively shot her on the head. The bullet protruded through her thick scaley cheekbone.

She breathed fire from the pain, to her, it felt like an explosive mosquito bite. Two masked magicians made a vanishing act while three skilled mages used Claw's spewing flames to redirected back at them.

“F-R-E-E-Z-E.” Saw spelled before the three robed mages were turned into ice sculptures, including the flames that were aimed at them.

“Natalie, are you alright?” Saw inquired as he looked for her. Claw found the host being held hostage by the armed man as he held the gun to her head while he put his hand over her mouth. Nat's eyes bulged and her thick eyebrows raised in a panic.

“You're coming with me.” The armed man whispered to her ear.

“I found her.” Claw alerted him before she held her scaly cheek in annoyance.

“Where?” Saw's crimson eyes darted to and fro before she spotted the armed man taking the host away. “There she goes.”

Natalie had to react to where the armed man directed her to go. It was a quiet, speedy retreat to the hallway.

Mirror felt a dark presence following him, as if a dark shadow loomed behind him. It was of no help that he shapeshifted to look like Alma. Nulekai followed Mirror's tracks like a predator that he overlooked the elf that he originally set out to find—Ryo. The Nylvalenorian elf followed the sorceror with sword in hand.

I finally found you, Nulekai. I'm not going to let you hurt another elf.

Mirror ran backstage where he found a small group of people taking refuge, he looked for Brandon but he couldn't find him. Eleanor, Glen, Jane, Jecamiah, and Johnathan were there. Jecamiah felt a dark presence approach, he made a prayer walk around the room. Two other individuals also prayed, for they also felt spiritual darkness creep in.

“Glen, do you know where Brandon is?” Mirror asked, impersonating Alma since he knew that Warlin could be nearby if he caught on to him.

“He's at his workstation, activating the portals as we speak.” Glen informed before he noticed something was bothering her, “Are you alright?”

“I'm trying to keep myself under control.” Mirror confessed while he looked around and noticed one person praying.

“I don't blame you, there's a lot of tension in the air.” Glen admitted.

“It's not just a storm that's coming, it's a whirlwind.” Mirror gave the hint.

It was a strange coincidence that Gato contacted the covert cosmic corsair when he dropped by the stadium to keep a low profile and to get some rest and relaxation after transporting wares from one dimension to the next. It was also a strange coincidence that he spotted the Dimension Guardians, including the crystals in person.

At first, the humanoid feline made a puzzled expression but when he saw one of the dimension crystals glow.

Thomas and Zack were cornered by three spellcasters, one of them uttered a combination spell before a gust of wind blew their capes, courtesy of Zack. It didn't deter the trio from attacking them.

Thomas and Zack felt heavy, as if the gravity was crushing them gradually. Stacey and María were fighting against a spellcaster that had marbles between his fingers. Marbles of different colors. He threw a grey marble at their feet, as the marble broke.

“Petrify.” As he uttered the spell, María and Stacey were slowly turning to stone from their feet to their calves as the spell gradually took effect.

Stacey's green dimension crystal glowed, as she gained mobility. Stacey bent her flinty knee to grab María's legs. Needless to say that the spellcaster was surprised to see the girls move.

They're supposed to be turned to stone by now! How are they moving?!

Stacey was in her element, she manipulated the stone and used it as her armor. María got on top of Stacey as they charged in, the spellcaster threw a blue marble at Stacey and the marble broke against the flinty chest plate of Stacey's new body as the water soaked the stone. María hydroformed it into a watery shielded and combined their powers to produce a mudslide while they made made the other spellcasters get coated in mud before Stacey rammed the spellcasters. The spellcasters unceremoniously fell next to Thomas and Zack.

As Ragdoll had seen one of the Dimension Guardians in action, he waited for the right moment to steal one of the dimension crystals. He stroked his whiskers while he watched them search for Sora at the time. Now that the Dimension Guardians regrouped, he needed to find the weakest member of the team.

As the furry anthromorphic corsair spied on them, he passed by a red haired lad consoling a coppery skinned centenarian.

Phixa dried her tears while Piros comforted her. It was tragic to witness a couple die the way they did. All of this madness could have been avoided. What were they trying to prove? Piros thought as he casted a wry glance at what remained of the two deceased dancers. There was nothing they could've done to stop them, the least they could do was give Lia and Eli a moment of silence.

First was the death of Barbed Wire and Lava Wire, née Lamp. Two Shadow Soldiers that grieved for the loss of their only son and were killed by a deadly toxin known to their own species categorized as Highfeldiläxomurntarianfox 45.

Stella and Micah were searching for any clues to where the usurper may have gone. When the Izarian was around the corridor adjacent to the infirmary, when she had neared the door of the storage room Scale had found her and begged for her help.

“They were being controlled.” Scale said convinced after Stella noted the names of the deceased Shadow Soldiers.

“What gave you that impression?” Stella asked while she noted Scale's statement.

Scale then recalled on how Lava had tried to fight back. At first, she was determined to eliminate Scale, but then she had a brief recollection of her surroundings and was disoriented before she recognized him.

“Scale, is that you?” She called fearfully, a disoriented look pressed upon her face. Scale nodded, but as he did so, she began convulsing, a large, inhuman grunt escaped from somewhere deep inside her body. 

Scale so desperately wanted to help his friend, but he had no idea how, so instead, he did what he did best. He ran. 

“I saw her convulse as if she were possessed. The grunts sounded inhumane.” Scale described while Stella typed his declaration. “Barbed and Lava weren't acting like themselves. Despite that they were still grieving for the loss of their only son, they wouldn't have come all this way to simply attack us.”

“I'm sorry for your loss.” Stella mentioned as she saved the file. In all honesty, there was nothing she could do to help him. Possession and the supernatural was out of their control.

“They were distraught by the death of their only son, he was murdered by a revolution governed by the Shadow Soldiers.” Scale mentioned.

“So this Shadow Soldier Revolution, is it a movement linked to any communism or terrorism by a certain group within that realm, or is it an isolated case?” Stella asked.

“Well--” Scale explained what had occured related to the revolution. “--it started out as a alliance to prevent invaders from stealing their land and resources since their world were mostly governed by the Shadow Soldiers at the time. The realm is the only place they hadn't invaded yet. The revolution divided itself into two factions; the ones who believe that Grim Bootleg will suceed in gaining dominion, and the ones who believe I can stop him.”

“Grim Bootleg, sounds like a name for a space pirate if you ask me.” Stella commented before she added, “So the son of the Wire family got killed because he believed that you're the one able to stop him.”

“He and the others formed an alliance that planned to help train me. Unfortunately, half of them were dead by the time I arrived for my first training session.” Stella then reopened the file she previously closed adding the revolution and Grim's full name in the file while he was noted as the prime suspect. “The rest later got picked off one by one. Barbed Wire and his wife believed their son was just a random killing, but I know that it was because of my association with the alliance that this happened.” What Scale doesn't know is who orchestrated the killings?

“Do you have any leads of who the killer may be?” Stella asked him in earnest, she gave him a serious glance. Her red eyes were piercing round rubies.

“That's what I've been trying to figure out, it's as if whoever is after me knows my every move, following me around like a shadow at every turn.” Scale admitted as he mentally revised everything that occured to the days leading to the contract and tried to figure out who it was.

Grim tossed the empty can of Cröstnack in the trash bin, then he saw the chaos that ensued. A crazy curly haired brunette swung her glaive as she sliced clothing, stabbed the magic users while her baby blue dragon bubbled up the next targets for Maori to harpoon with. For an instant, he considered recruiting her for his upcoming army once he succeeded in claiming ownership of that realm, despite that his twin brother and sister-in-law had stated if he defeated Scale despite that he knew that they were openly against his plans for intergalactic domination, or was it multiverse domination. He shouldn't have gotten distracted since he got trapped in a bubble which the baby blue dragon trapped him in.

“I finally caught him.” Maori declared, the dark cloak, tall stature and ambiguous face was very misleading since she hadn't caught a glimpse of Nulekai's face, though the dark energy Grim exuded like a thick musk was similar, not as potent, but staggeringly close.

Grim yawned and laid down, bored. Maori fumed before she stabbed through the bubble, but instead of stabbing him, the bubble popped as it let out a dark smoke.

He leaned behind her, and whispered, “Boo.” Maori turned to slice him in half but he teleported out. “As much as I'd like to stick around and get shishkebobbed, I have better things to do.” Maori Knaiver held a firm grip on her glaive while the Shadow Soldier walked away, she threw her weapon like a javelin before he raised his scepter to change the weapon's trajectory to hit the Rax, the baby blue dragon before the scaley creature shielded herself in a bubbly forcefield. The blade lodged itself in a gelatinous coat of the bubble which was 2ft deep in density before the bubble expanded to prevent the curved blade from stabbing her limbs.

The Shadow Soldier walked past the infirmary where Annabell, Chris and Eros were taking refuge. Nour was well guarded by the members of the Ji Clan with Jian and Suki on guard, they allowed some of the injured to enter the infirmary for the nurses to treat them as best as they could.

A mute runecaster had used sign language to cast a rune to bring three unconscious bodies which she found on her way to the infirmary, one of them was Felix.

“We're running out of room. We can't take in another patient!” A nurse warned as she changed her blood stained gloves.

“There's nothing more we can do. We're running out of medical supplies!” Another nurse groused.

“We need help!” Two patients rasped.

“Eros, can you use your white magic to heal these people?” Anabell asked him since he recovered thanks to Chris's healing magic.

“Of course, M'lady.” Eros complied, before he uttered a spell to release a gust of wind to heal the moderately to severely wounded. The breeze reached to Joon as his pale complexion became slightly healthier. The whirlwind of healing magic penetrated the pores, regenerated the damaged tissue rapidly, any damaged artery got repaired and the oxygen felt fresher and cleaner as the majority of the patients got physically restored. Some of them cried with joy before the healed got out of their beds to make room for the next patients.

Octavia and Alexander had debated whether or not they should follow Logan out of curiosity, at first, they unanimously agreed to not follow their team leader. Despite that they were in the stadium to search for the bootlegged Rave parts that were supposedly being sold around that jurisdiction.

They hadn't found a single lead, the search became more difficult with the skirmish, despite that the team had taken down gigantic white robots and wily malware. Even the team were drained from fighting adversaries with magical properties and supernatural powers.

There were occasions that the Rave Hunters had to make a tactical retreat to come up with a better strategy to take them down more effectively.

Octavia was quick and concise with her approach in extracting information like Logan, but she wasn't keen in taken down adversaries that she couldn't control wirelessly.

Alexander was receptive in finding the problem and eliminating it then and there, but despite his best efforts he was susceptible for a burn out.

Ash had more dexterity in taken down the opponent up close and personal, yet she was vulnerable for a well devised attack and got hit in both sides.

TR's classic formula for taking down the baddie with his weapon evaporated as quickly as it came.

Astrid was depleted for helping her squad with her time stopping power, and thanks to her ability, they managed to leave the stadium around two seconds before Faim and the Beauchamp Brothers did when the portal had designated to take them to another world which wasn't their own.

The team panted, Alexander knelt to the ground as if he had ran a marathon. Astrid was on the verge of passing out.

“I'm,” Ash exhaled, “exhausted.”

Faim, Uiwo and Ximo had walked past them as they where talking among themselves.

“How about we eat at the Magno-Mall? I'm in the mood for an all-you-can-eat buffet.” Faim suggested.

“I'm game for one of Gastro's chicken liver, beef stew with mashed potatoes and onion rings.” Ximo commented as he looked forward to take a bite of the dish.

“I'll just stick with rice, drumsticks and avocado with a fruit salad on the side.” Uiwo replied before he eyed, wondering why his brother wasn't worried about the pending law suit.

“I can't wait.” Faim commented before he rubbed his hands as he looked forward for his lunch. TR panted before he regained his breath.

His green eyes looked up from the ground and noticed that there weren't any robots in the vicinity. Which was weird.

“Where the hell are we?” TR asked angrily asked.

“I have no idea.” Ash looked around, the air was cleaner, there were oak trees and evergreen trees near the stadium.

“Beats me.” Astrid admitted as she recognized Faim by his braided rat tail and his orange gi.

“No!” Octavia gasped, “There's no Wi-Fi around here.” Octavia raised her smartphone to find a bar. The team groaned while Octavia wandered off to find the signal.

“I'll go ask for directions.” Astrid raised her hand while she regained her breath, then straightened her posture before she followed Faim. Alexander and Ash trailed behind her.

“Are we heading to the station, or are we taking a taxi?” Faim asked.

“The train is much cheaper.” Uiwo suggested.

“Yeah, but it'll take a while for the train to arrive. The taxi is much faster.” Ximo insisted.

Astrid walked up behind Faim and tapped his shoulder. Faim spun to see one of the competitors, Astrid accompanied by Ash and Alexander. “Um—my friends and I got lost, do you know where we are?”

“We're at the Auctorian Stadium,” Faim replied, “Congrats on winning the match.”

“Thanks, you too.” Astrid saw Faim grin from ear to ear.

“We're heading out to get lunch, wanna come?” Faim enquired, before TR came forward.

“I could use some grub.” TR was the kind of guy who spoke what was on his mind, even if his brashness annoyed Ash to no end. Octavia had walked to where her friends were, searching for the signal by the time Alexander asked about Logan.

“Octavia and I saw Logan leave with a woman a while ago.” Alexander explained just as Octavia showed them a photo of Logan. They recognized him immediately.

“So that's his name.” Ximo glanced at the photo.

“Yeah, we saw him leave with Dirlu a while ago.” Faim confirmed their statement before he looked at the corner of his eye, waiting for the taxi to arrive.

“He's probably heading to the Capital to file a lawsuit as we speak all, because this idiot got frisky.” Uiwo commented and casted a glare at his muscular, younger brother.

“I already apologized for spanking him, if he wants to sue me for harrassment, then let him. I already have my paperwork in order.” Ximo spoke nonchalant before he crossed his arms.

“Wait, is he really gonna sue you?” Ash asked at the entrepeneur of the Xtreme Gymnasium.

“If he's getting lawyered up with the help of the Duchess of D'or. Then there's no telling what they can do.” Ximo stated.

“Chances are that he'll be the one needing a restraining order from her.” Uiwo sniggered.

“Where is the Capital?” Octavia Kumar enquired, surreptituously eyeing at Faim's frame as if he were eye candy behind her tinted visor while he gave the directions.

After Faim gave the directions, Ximo saw the taxi arrive. Uiwo opened the door before entering, then Ximo and Faim took a seat before Ximo paid the taxi driver to take them to Central Square where the Magno-Mall is located. The Capital is at the neighboring municipality of Eezga, called Coeur D'Ore, a large city governed under the D'or Dynasty. The Capital law firm of Coeur D'Ore is under Capital, Central City. To summarize, it was 42 minute drive by taxi to the city.

Uiwo and Faim were kind enough to loan the money to pay for the taxi to take the team of Rave Hunters to their destination. Different world, different currency.

Good luck on your match tomorrow.” Faim waved at Astrid goodbye before he got into the taxi.

“Thank y--”

“Thanks for the lift.” Octavia replied before Astrid could finish her sentence.

The team members got on board the taxi one by one when their ride arrived, Alexander closed the door of the taxi after being the last to enter the vehicle. The taxi driver drove off, leaving the trail of smoke that came out of its muffler as it dispersed on their way to the city.

A/N: Whoever guesses Mirror's hint gets a free sketch of their OCs + stickers.