The Duchess of D'or had only visited the tournament to survey the sponsorship her father paid for. She'd been in the stadium for the past two hours, yet there was no sign of the advertisement.

Despite being present in between matches, she had not only failed with the task she was given; to ensure that the D'or family got sponsored.

Instead, she got distracted, bought a product from another company, singlehandedly offended Eimy and Mewmi with the same collar. Also made Faim, one of the most laid back people she knew lose his patience with her and went to work out at the gym to blow off some steam. Dirlu was by herself, testing the supposed mop vacuum for its efficiency.

A total waste of money.

1) The blender attachment needed to be sealed properly or the contents would spill or worse, lose a finger or two while adjusting the apparatus.

2) The hammer only vibrates when its attached to the vac.

3) The soap dispenser and scissor are separated and only have the label of the brand attached to it.

What was the point of having one if it isn't able to collect the pieces she broke?

“You can take the vacuum.” Dirlu gave them the product and allowed the Beauchamp brothers to take the attachments for their own personal use.

The mop heads could be replaced easily. She could find a better use for those attachments.

The hammer could be used as a weapon. The soap dispenser and the sheer she can keep. Perhaps Cutten could redesign the mop vacuum for a better household appliance. Dirlu considered as an afterthought.

Eimy hated the assumption of being treated as someone's property. Just because she was a workaholic to an extension didn't mean that her employer had a leverage over her. What infuriated Eimy wasn't the collar itself, it was the intention Dirlu had with her knowing that she had been abducted twice. If Faim hadn't caught the Duchess of D'or with his quick reflexes, Eimy would've been the one screaming her head off instead of Dirlu. It was a déjà vu of her first abduction.

She was ambushed by three men on her way home after a long day of work from her two jobs; as a waitress and a housekeeper. One of them had sneaked up from behind her while another another used a cloth laced with chloroform and silenced her while she fought as hard as she could to escape, only to flail in vain as her body went numb before blacking out. The second time it happened, she wasn't aware that a ninja had slipped a somniferous powder in her tea.

The duchess of D'or knew what Eimy had suffered after the first incident back when she stayed in the D'or Manor to work as a new servant. Rising earlier than the rest of her workers to conceal the emotional scar with the lingering fear that someone could sneak up behind her and rapture her again.

Dirlu saw the state she was in and reopened the wound again. Eimy's eyes watered and held back angry tears as she wiped away the tears withe the back of her hand. Then washed her face at the ladies' room, consoling herself.

A gunshot was heard, then another.

It took one gunshot to startle shapeshifting  feline, another gunshot to shoot the branch Mewmi was standing clean off as she fell from four stories to the ground and landed on all fours.

Just beacause she managed to land on all fours doesn't mean that she didn't get hurt.

She felt the impact upon the hard landing, her hind legs got dislocated, the excrutiating pain sent a shockwave that rattled her bones and meowed loudly, screaming.

“Mrreeeeeoooww!” She yowled from the pain, a loud protest from landing four stories high in a span of two seconds.

Then a hiss followed when she sat. The mana hunter approached her, pointing the musket at the target before realizing that it was a cat and lowered his weapon.

“Sorry little fella.” Felix apologized. Mewmi turned around to see the hunter. “If I'd known you were up there, I wouldn't have shot ya.” Felix gave a crooked grin, exposing his chipped tooth.

Mewmi glared at the mana hunter and hissed angrily. She couldn't tell which was more infuriating; the way he was talking to her, or the way he approached her?

“Easy there. I'm not gonna hurt ya.” Felix put down his musket to the ground and came closer. “Here kitty kitty kitty.” He cooed before she clawed him and tore the wrist of his glove as the edges of the glove flayed at the hem of his poncho.

Before he could react, she clawed the side of his jaw and hissed angrily. Felix glared at the cat, but instead of a cat, it was a gijinka with sprain ankles. Mewmi bared her teeth, fangs protruding as she growled. The mana hunter paced backward and grabbed his musket and pointed at her.

“All hunters are the same.” She spoke gutturally, “they corner their next prey and toy with them until they kill for the thrill of it.”

Felix responded, "What thrill? All I see is an injured creature." He tossed his musket onto his shoulder. "Run along now. Shooting you will be no different than shooting a dummy."

Mewmi gasped.

“This hurts worse than my sprain hind legs.” Mewmi shapeshifted back into a cat and meowed dramatically.

“Mewmi! Where are you?” Eimy hollered.

Mewmi meowed and crawled, calling out to Eimy, giving her saddest cat face before Eimy had found her.

“There you are.” Eimy picked her up, she heard Mewmi wince when she held her around her hind legs. “Did you hurt yourself again?” Eimy enquired as she examined her paws.

“NO! A hunter shot me down. Bang! Bang! He shot the branch I was on and I fell. Hunters are evil!” Mewmi spoke while she was in her cat form. “Y'know what he said? Shooting me would be no different than shooting a dummy. That hurt more than the landing! Hunters are sadists I tell ya.” Mewmi laid her jaw over Eimy's shoulder as her eyes watered.

“Let's go to Iixr's to get some ointment for your injury.” Eimy prompted as she petted her.

“Will you make pâté for dinner?” Mewmi requested, hopeful.

“Yes, there will be pâté.” Eimy confirmed.

“Yay! Pâté!” Mewmi cheered while Eimy headed back to their world, as they crossed from the gymnasium adjacent from the main hall, Faim blew off some steam with lifting weights and cardio.

Just then, the shapeshifting feline had spotted an old man from the corner of her eye as she caught sight of the wooden staff to the same shape and length as the silhouette she had seen a while ago while Eimy reached the exit.

“It is Warlin!” Erica had confirmed her suspicion once she zoomed in on the footage. The staff in his hand, the long beard, the garb, it all added up. “But how did he manage to escape?” The last time they faced Warlin and the Emperor. They had to neautralize a 16-feet-tall, four-armed giant, which wasn't an easy feat. If it hadn't been for the fortified Gauntlet that was set up and Brandon's prowess with machinery, the rest of the team would've been corpses instead.

To summarize the whole ordeal, Warlin and the Emperor were banished in separate dimensions. The old wizard managed to escape whatever world he was trapped in and came back.

Clyde squeaked, urging her to focus.

“You're right, Clyde. We have to catch him.” Erica rose from her seat and gathered the tools she needed for this operation. A flashlight, a magic crystal, a monkey wrench, duct tape, a juice box, and other miscellaneous items that she could store within her hammer space before she picked up Clyde the rubber duck and some velcro and taped Clyde's bottom with velcro to attached near the brim of her hat as well so that her partner in crime wouldn't fall off.

“Time for questing.” Erica enunciated before she turned on the flashlight. Clyde quacked

Brandon picked the tray of empty scraps and discraded it in the trash shute, then placed the empty tray over the tray holder of the trash before he exited the food court. He fished out his phone to check for any notifications or new text messages. There weren't any, so he pocketed the mobile device and headed to his work area.

Ratu and Ruben II were deciphering the location of the prize money. “Listen up, runt. I want you to search for every nook and cranny of this place. If you find a hidden route or a heavily guarded area, let me know and I'll make a full-proof plan to snatch it.” Ratu nodded then ran past Violet.

The rotund Cinnabarian turned pale at the sight of the erstwhile Aubergine Assassin.

He still remembered their previous encounter, she had paralyzed him with a poisonous dart that rendered him immobile, compromising his respiratory system, extracted from the venom of a violet viper. A serpent known for killing its prey in one bite.

Back then, he was within an inch of his life while Violet prodded Ruben II for information about Scarlet's whereabouts, determined to find her location and kill her for the bounty. Despite that she gave him the antidote and spared his life. Ruben II held undiagnosed trauma as he saw Violet again. Fortunately, she hasn't seen him yet.

“Will I be able to see you again?” Jacinto asked her.

“Only time will tell.” Violet replied before Jacinto gave her a peck on the lips. Then ran to resume with his job, if He didn't arrive to the dock in time for the next shipment, he would be stuck in the mainland by nightfall.

Just as she turned away, she saw Ruben II stating at her, paralyzed. Violet took a step forward, the large Cinnabarian took a step back. “Calm your nerves, Rubrum, I'm not here to kill you.” Violet responded as he relaxed.

“As if I believe you.” Ruben II scoffed and gritted his teeth. “You killed Dulas, the sages of the Indigo tribe and Tsiteli the Soothsayer, poisoned me and persecuted Scarlet for a bounty. Your word has no value.”

“I left the past behind me.” Violet looked firmly, chin raised and placed her hands demurely on her stomach.

“Like the stream of blood that comes out of the womb in every cycle. You have blood on your hands from the lives you took, no amount of repentance will change that.” Ruben II replied derisively.

“The past is history, the future a mystery, and the present an opportunity.” Violet replied.

“Wise words coming from a slippery snake.” Ruben II remarked.

“Take it as you see fit.” Violet interlocked her fingers as she stepped forward. “Since my words have no value, neither your actions.” Violet walked away.

Eimy came to Iixr's house, Iixr had vast knowledge in plants and used it to make medicine, tea, ointments, elixirs, enemas, essential oils, etc. If you needed a remedy for any ailment, she had it ready to trade or sell. Unless the severity of the ailment became irreversible or linked to a curse. Iixr herself came from a long line of healers and gypsies, some slanderers alledged that her ancestors were psychics, sorcerers and djinns. Iixr ignored the rumors that linked one of her ancestors to the D'or Dynasty.

Iixr heard a knock from the door as she put down one of the jars that fermented fruits and wiped her hands on a washcloth before opening the door. The healer saw Eimy holding Mewmi, Iixr clicked her tongue at the shapeshifting gijinka in disappointment.

“Shapeshifters never learn.” Iixr commented before she invited them inside her house as she walked up to the shelves to look for an analgesic ointment and showed it to them.

“This analgesic is made out of arnic, ginger root, butcher's broom and cocoa butter.” Iixr explained as she showed the vial and uncorked it.

Eimy put Mewmi on a stool. Then reached the pocket of her vest to take out the money.

“It will cost you ğ650.” Iixr stated, as Eimy counted the money while Iixr applied the ointment to Mewmi's hind legs. Iixr first dabbed at the injury with the ointment then rubbed it.

Mewmi whined from the ministrations and the effectiveness of the ointment.

“If you want to regenerate the torn tissue, I'll need sweat from a gelatinous golem.” Iixr suggested.

“I doubt Seep would like to be extracted.” Eimy recalled as their encounter with the semi-watery specimen wasn't very pacific.

“I don't blame him either.” Mewmi commented, “Cutten is a creep that uses his doodads for mind control. He drained Seep like gelatin on a straw the last time.” Then Eimy heard Mewmi make slurping noises.

“Looks like you're recovering.” Iixr spoke to the gijinka.

“I'm only rambling to numb the pain.”

“Your hind legs will recover in a couple of days, with the missing ingredient you could recover in a matter of hours.” Iixr prompted.

“I'll take my chances with Seep,” Mewmi stated, “please take me to the Xanadu Forest. I gotta get to the Tryout tomorrow. We can invite him to watch the tourney.”

“I doubt that a gelatinous golem would want to go to a hostile environment to watch a fighting tournament.” Eimy stated.

“It'll be fine, just give him fruits and mineral water and he'll be happy.” Iixr suggested and Mewmi agreed with that statement.

“He's still afraid of vacuums by the way.” Iixr added as an afterthought. Mewmi begged her to take her to the Xanadu forest. Eimy gave a defeated sigh after constant begging and doe eyes from Mewmi.

“Fine. Let's go.” Eimy picked up Mewmi as she wrapped the feline around her nape.