"You must be Piros." Alexandra intiated, cutting away the awkward atmosphere.

"Yes." Piros then cleared his throat. "I'm Piros. I watched your fight."

"Well, it was the first match. It's been a while that I've got to fight someone." Alexandra commented while she cracked her knuckles.

Piros? "I saw your name under mine earlier." Phixa mentioned. Piros blushed.

"When?" Piros asked, Herring's eyes darted at Piros and then at Phixa in a panic.

"An hour ago, when all the names of the fighters were shown in bullets before the tournament started."

• Phixa  |  ᛈᚻᛁᛉᚪ
• Piros   |  ᛈᛁᚱᚩᛋ

"Are you going to fight as well?" Phixa asked him, looking at him in the eyes.

"No." Piros responded.

"Believe it or not, Piros is a common name, the land where I was born is also named Piros." Herring interjected as he slung his arm around his best bud.

Alexandra snapped her fingers as she caught his drift. "Like Paris!"

"Yeah! She gets it!" Herring said as he pointed at the blonde angel that helped him keep the lie convincing whether they knew it or not.

"Oh, it must be another fighter then." Phixa said while Piros took another look at her. The phoenix hybrid took a look at the red haired hue-man before taking a side glance at the angel. "I'll be getting lunch if you need me."

"Have fun!" Alexandra replied before one of her biological needs kicked in. Duty calls. She flapped her wings then flew to find the women's restroom.

Then it kept Piros thinking about earlier. The receptionist took a glance at the ruddy lad, "you must be Piros, I presume?" He approached to the receptionist that had a sandy long-sleeved tunic and a peachy complection.
"How did you know?" Piros asked.
"Your friend has requested me to save you a spot. Herring, I believe?" The receptionist gave that Buddha-like smile.
"Aren't you going to give me a ticket?" Piros glanced at the booth.
"That won't be necessary, your friend paid for your ticket firsthand. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't received the ticket that the receptionist told him about.

"Herring, where's the ticket?"
"What ticket?" He asked.
"The ticket for my entrance. Didn't you pay?"
"I didn't pay for any ticket because I told the receptionist that you were my blood relative. That way, he could save a spot for you to watch me fight." Herring told him, though Piros wasn't convinced, the receptionist said your friend not relative and Phixa mentioned his name a minute ago.

"Then who is the other Piros that she mentioned?" He inquired while he furrowed his auburn eyebrows at Herring.
"It could be any Piros. Piros Ppalgan, Piros Punakas, Abang Piros, Cochineal Piros, Piros Purpur, Byrrus Alvon Piros, Piros Cuvapp, Piros Gorria. It could be any average Hue." Herring rambled.

"Are you fully certain?" Piros asked him, looking Herring straight in the eye.

"Absolutely certain." Herring vehemently swore. That quelled the doubts in his mind.

"Then I believe in your word." Piros said.

The hostess was already waiting for Ryan, Breloq and Felin not too far from where they were. "Well, it was fun while it lasted." Breloq commented when they got out of the arena.
"At least we don't have to fight anymore." Felin said before Ryan ruffled her hair playfully.
"You got that right." Ryan said before they spotted Hexice standing right in front of them.
"Not quite." Hexice replied in a singsong before he walked up to them. Breloq was ready to summon a door to send him away.
"Begone Hexice." Breloq uttered while Hexice put a hand on his mouth, making a mock-gasp.
"How can you treat your fellow kin so coldly?" If Breloq's beady eyes weren't sewn in place, he would've rolled his eyes at the Deity's theatrics. "I couldn't resist, so I'll tell you anyway." Hexice breathed, "you'll be fighting in another match tonight."
"What?" Ryan and Felin asked in unison. So it wasn't just me who heard that, Breloq thought.
"He's right," the hostess walked in, "that is if any of you accept to participate in the Redemption Round." Breloq looked at the human hostess then at Hexice's face, which it was exuberant for a porcelain deity. "I'm giving an opportunity for defeated fighters to have another chance to return to the arena to compete. Once the combatant passes the Redemption Round, they have another chance to win the tournament." She explained.
"Well well then," Breloq shrugged. "Little Ryan here can still get to prove his proficiency in runic arts." He scratched the air with his pointer. "Even the deities have no access to such magic."
Ryan buds in, "It is just a game. Sparring for some prize. And maybe help Felin get over her fear of the arena, but that is all." Ryan ruffled Felin's hair.
"You helped defeat Prometheus and summoned Vivanastra. Of course to the people here they mean nothing, but if they were to know what accomplishments those were, they'd think you're not even human," Breloq explained. "Now, no need to be humble and go all out."
"Yes, yes," Hexice agreed. "Please by all means  entertain me, I mean us. This place will definitely minimize any damage that'll be made... maybe."
"That didn't sound so assuring." Felin mumbled.
"Oh little orphan lioness. Strength is all you have. Well, fear is. So, I suggest you play your part by not thinking," Hexice said, transitioning from whimsical happiness to unamused indifference. "With a snap of his fingers, his voice reverts back to his giddy singy tone, "I'll see you later. I got my eye on something else. Bye~!"
Natalie watched the porcelain deity walk away, then looked at the trio. "So I'll take that as a yes. I'll be seeing you three in tonight's round."
"Not me," Breloq interjected, "I made a good performance according to the judges."
"Right," The hostess exhaled, "I will notify you about the forms of the Redemption Round this afternoon." Natalie twisted her heel then walked out to check on the next defeated participant.

"Piros, do you have any gules on you?" Herring asked. Piros checked through his pockets and took out 50 gules.

"I'll pay you back after my next catch." Herring took the spare change to see if he could by some decent sake.

The hostess headed to the backstage of the stadium. Warlin kept an eye on the Venusians,  one of them are needed for the Gladatorium Tryout and he needed to plan the return of his Imperial Majesty perfectly.

Chris declined the offer to participate in the Redemption Round. Tony, Chris's younger brother, headed to the men's restroom. Warlin, a wizard who served the Emperor, followed the younger brother to the restroom.

The receptionist notified Chris that a man was looking for him, upon leaving the stadium, he found his estranged father, Simon, near the blue car. With a devious grin, Simon approached his son. As the two men stood 12 feet apart. Simon announced,"Give me the crystal."

Nat checked on the security cameras, during the commercial break, Erica and Natalie had to watch the footage after one of the spectators called out one of the combatants. One another security camera, it can be seen when Warlin entered the men's room. After Tony took a leak, he zipped up his pants. When he turned around, Warlin casted a sleeping spell on him. With a wave of a staff, Tony disappeared.

"As if I'm going to let you." Chris retorted, glaring at the man in front of him.

Simon summoned the gem with a snap of his fingers. Chris's eyes widened. "Have you forgotten, son? What I say, goes." Simon held the small gem that Chris shrunk and with a touch, the gem reverted to its original size.

Warlin got out of the men's room. Alexandra came out of the women's bathroom nearly the same time. "Shouldn't have eaten the teriyaki with hot sauce." Alexandra said while she creased her face in discomfort.

"So that's the problem." Erica said.

"There's nothing else we can do about it." The hostess responded before she felt her bladder full. 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.

Herring found a sushi bar that sold sake so he went in bought a shot, by the first sip, he spat out the alcoholic beverage. "You call this sake!? I've drank fish oil and it tastes better than this carp!"

Hwa Hae stood next to Joon, her older brother coughed as he spat out a blotch of blood. "What's wrong with him?" She asked the nurse.

"This is not good. The blood taken from him showed signs of an infection." Nour explained, the sick patient coughing even louder.

"He can be treated!" Haeji shouted, denial laced in her voice, her mouth quivered.

"Yes, but I need to give him an antidote for the virus he acquired. The problem is that we are running low on supplies." Nour then picked up a vial and opened the plastic that contained the syringe, putting the needle inside the vial to fill the syringe with the remaining dose of the antidote. "This is the last dose that I have of the antidote. If he's immune to it, then there is nothing I can do for him." The Tunisian nurse warned her.

Hwa Hae Ji sobbed, feeling helpless as she watched her brother cough uncontrollably.
After she saw the nurse inject the antidote, Joon felt the coughing stop, though he looked more ghastly than he had been before. "Haeji." Joon weakly muttered before he closed his eyes. Hwa Hae Ji ran out of the infirmary crying.

Micah got out of her seat and dashed to the infirmary as fast as her short legs would allow her. Stella hazily saw the lights of the ceiling while the paramedics turned the stretcher to the left and down the hall. She heard Micah's voice call out to her. "Stella!" The Izarian groaned while they took her to the infirmary.
"Outta my way!" Micah shouted while she passed by a random stranger before she made it to the infirmary.
"Are you her relative?" Nour asked at the short alien.
"I'm her colleague." Micah pulled out a plaque with the initials I.B.I. "She got poisoned by an Indoraptor."
"You'll have to wait outside." The nurse informed.
"I've dealt with these types of cases before." Micah crossed her arms while maintaining a professional tone.
"I have to attend the patient." Nour said while the Amoebian gave an antidote that has turquoise colored liquid.
"Use this in case your detox methods fail." Micah walked out of the infirmary.

Nour looked at the vial that was given to her. It was the only thing that she had left. The Tunisian nurse went to check on the gray skinned alien. Stella was trembling from the side effects of the poison. If it wasn't for her pulse, she would have mistaken her for dead, the Izarian's hazy gaze was also misleading so Nour replaced the syringe and tested the antidote Micah gave her. Desperate times, desperate measures. After one of the paramedics removed Stella's jacket, Nour injected the antidote.

Stella's cloudy red eyes mistook Nour's silhouette for Carina's. Stella inhaled, "Carina," she exhaled before she closed her eyes.

Carina looked out on the open portal and saw two men standing, one of them was holding a powerful gem which caught the attention of the usurper.

"I'm one step closer to eliminating this filthy rock. Too bad I won't be there to see the looks on your faces." Simon paused, "Oh wait, I can." Just when he was about to destroy the stadium, Simon noticed a shift in energy.
"Where's your brother?"

"He's not your concern." Chris remarked, though deep down he thought, He should've been back by now.

How am I going to take that gem? Carina thought before Simon saw her and smirked.

Chris saw his father teleport with the gem and stood behind Carina. "It's rude to eavesdrop." Simon whispered behind her ear, when Carina turned around to face him, he grabbed her by the neck, choking her. Chris teleported to where they were. "You know the old saying: Curiosity killed the cat."

With a snap of his fingers, Chris teleported Carina out of Simon's vice grip and took the gem back. Carina coughed, as she tried to breathe after the chokehold. Simon gave a psychotic smile as he slowly clapped before he walked a couple of paces forward.

"Very good," Simon said sarcastically, "you finally had the gull to play with your daddy." Then he dropped the smile to put his sneer in place as he ceased the slow clap. "Play time is over." He glared with a menacing tone.

Warlin saw this and decided to take matters into his own hands.

Chris was more than ready to defend Carina whed Simon's hands glowed dangerously to release a blast of great magnitute until a collar appeared around Simon's neck, nullifying his powers as the glow faded and went out in a flash and Simon disappeared before the flash faded.

They shielded their eyes from the blinding light before it died down. The handsome Venusian looked at Carina with concern. "Are you alright?" He looked at her verdant eyes, though by the looks of it, she looked like a scared cat with those eyes.

"I'm ok." She let out a cough, "Thank you. I just need some fresh air." Carina said as she cleared her throat.

"Here." Chris gave her a white handkerchief.
She held the thin piece of fabric. "You need this a lot more than I do." The Venusian said in a non-committal tone as she held a firm grip on the handkerchief.

You have no idea. Carina thought with malicious intent. "Thanks for saving me."

"No need to thank me." Chris gave a smile before he left her alone to find Tony. Carina uncrumpled the handkerchief to find any trace of him in the thin fabric. A drop of saliva, sweat, a strand of hair, anything that she could use to her advantage.

Nothing. Drat! Carina's eyebrows furrowed.

Hwa Hae Ji had been balling her eyes out for her brother. “It's not fair!” She leaned her head to a wall away from other people. “I'm losing my brother and my chance to pay his treatment.” Then Hae Ji remembered Patricia's smug face. “I hate her!” She banged her EMCuff against the wall, trying to break the bondage the blonde receptionist had over her. “I hate her!”

And again.

“I HATE HER!”

And again, and again, and again until she got tired and sat down, hugging her legs.

"How am I going to help my brother now?" She asked herself.

The sound of high heels clanked before Haeji raised her head to see the source of her problem, Patricia.

"Why so sad?" Patricia asked her. The thief of Daoitu stood up teary eyed and angry.

"It's because of you I'm like this." Haeji seethed. Patricia clicked her tongue as she shook her head condenscendingly.

"No no no. You put yourself in that predicament, I simply took safety precautions to ensure you don't swipe the first thing that caught your attention." The receptionist replied casually. Haeji gave an accusatory glare. "During my stay in your world, I heard rumors about you and decided to make my research before moving forward with the preparations. I compiled all the information I needed to bring your brother here to the tournament. It's no secret that you would do anything to find a cure." Patricia took out a vial from her pocket of her three colored jacket. "You see this?"

Haeji's heterochromic eyes stared at the vial.

"I hold the cure for your brother's illness." Patricia stated.

"I don't believe you." Haeji deadpanned.

"I don't blame you. Believe it or not. I was in a similar situation, though I won't bore you with the details."

"What do you want from me?" Haeji asked her, scrutinizing her motives.

"I want you to make my job easier. Go and have fun with the competition. Accept the offer Mrs. Santos gave you, she doesn't give second chances to just anyone. If you win in the Redemption Round, I'll loosen the leash on you. In exchange, you do something for me when the time is right." Patricia warned her.

"Really?" Haeji dried her tears.

"Obviously. I'll call you to give your next instructions. Now move along." Patricia said while Hwa Hae Ji walked out of the hall.