Juuzou walked up to them to give the Ji siblings a hug. Joon reciprocated the hug while Haeji awawardly patted Juuzou on the back. "I'm glad you guys are alright."
"We're doing fine, Juuzou." Joon smiled just as the albino broke away from the embrace.
"You sure about that?" Juuzou asked as he noticed the EMCuffs on their wrists.
"Why wouldn't we?" Haeji asked rhetorically, Juuzou knew that she was using sarcasm as a defense mechanism.

Joon looked at Juuzou's uniform and asked him, "You got a new job?"

"Something like that." Juuzou replied.

Juuzou was on his way to visit Joon, the decadent neighborhood and solitary streets where the norm since Daoitu was already in neglect, perennial plants became a rarity due to the environmental ramifications that came after the Clan Wars, not to mention that the remaining residents were stray animals and beggars. As he turned to a right corner to walk down the cracked concrete which led to the Ji residence, he spotted a silhouette that came out of the window. His first instinct was to hide from the intruder as he looked for a key that was hidden within the wedge of the cement steps of the entrance as he made a detour to the back of Joon's house.

Joon had gotten out of the bathroom after he had used the bucket of hot water to bathe himself. Despite his illness, he had the strength to sit on the sofa and used the same bucket of water to put his feet inside while his body relaxed. He let out a sigh as he stretched his arms and craned his head back. He hadn't heard Patricia come into the house, though when he saw the blonde woman stand before him. "Mary? Is that you?" Joon asked her, certainly his childhood friend hadn't developed an hourglass figure during her stay in the United States of Magic.
"No." She replied while Joon craned his head back again to reduce the discomfort on his cervix.
"Then why are you here?" Joon asked while Juuzou opened the back door.
"To inform you about a tournament being held at a stadium near you at this very moment."
"Not interested." Joon dismissed it while Juuzou stepped into the back of the house while he eavesdropped on the conversation.
"The prize money could cover the expenses for your treatment." Patricia mentioned while Joon wasn't too keen in trusting her.
"That sounds too good to be true." Joon gave a dubious glance at the woman.
"You can come and see for yourself." Patricia prompted. Joon had considered her suggestion it was only a couple of seconds as the woman's viridian eyes that spotted Juuzou.

The same viridian eyes that scanned the passageway while Alexander Halt had looked at the live recording the drone reeled while Logan searched.

"Did you find anything?" Patricia asked while the red haired Rave Hunter was tracing the map on the screen.
"Not yet," Alexander replied, not taking his eyes off the screen, "we're still searching the perimeter." Penumbra watched Alexander and Tr respectively, though it was mostly Tr who she was looking out for while guarded the trophies and other items from the temperamental teenager.
"This place had been built over an ancient ruin that had been dug up decades ago, most of the routes lead to a dead end." Penumbra explained.
"You sure about that?" Tr questioned, patronizing her, Penumbra gave a neutral glance.
"I wasn't appointed as a supervisor for nought. I know my place." She replied sternly, arms crossed.

Logan trekked deeper into the passageway when he found to tunnels, the left path was broader and deeper while the one on the right was narrow. He raised his wrist to speak on the watch, "I found two tunnels."
"Yes, I can see that." Alexander responded.
"I'll take the left tunnel, the drone will go to the right." Logan notified.
"Roger." Alexander confirmed as Logan and the drone split up to cover more ground.
Nat had walked down the undergroud lair of the ruin while Brandon kept track of the dimension portals. The portals displayed the realms while the edges rippled into colorful atoms. The host spotted Brandon observe the volume and density while he closed the portal that came from Phixa's world.
"How's it going so far?" She asked as she held the letter.
"Good, some more than others." Brandon commented.
"Do you still have the coordinates to Delbwöare's domain?" Natalie asked.
"Sure do," Brandon checked on the screen as he typed the coding to Delbwöare's dimension before a small vortex opened to reveal a rural environment. "Here it is." Brandon took off his steampunk glasses when he saw Natalie hold an envelope before she jumped into the portal.

Logan took a wrong turn and found more tunnels. He decided to launch his own set of drones to scan the area. The first drone scanned the area which led to an ancient labyrinth, the second drone led to a dead end while the third drone passed through a security system which activated the radio frequency to block out the visuals. Logan lost connection with his third drone. The second drone returned while the first one was still scanning the zone.
"Did you find anything?" Alexander asked over the comm link, Logan raised his wrist watch to respond.
"No, I'm still searching." Logan replied.

"I can't believe you guys would embarrass me like that." Mewmi whined, dismayed.
"We didn't say anything that wasn't true." Eimy reminded her while Faim shrugged.
"I'd expect this from them but not you Faim." Mewmi glared at him, hurt laced in her voice.
"He had to know who he was going to take home." Faim said in his defense, no man should have to worry about waking up bitten in the nether region for a rude awakening.
"I knew that a gentleman like him wouldn't be interested in a stray cat, much less a shapeshifting one." Dirlu stated smugly, Mewmi glared at the noblewoman, nails elongated to sharp claws as she remembered how people like her treated her like a accessory, an animal to be laughed at, she clawed the collar Dirlu had in hand as the cat bell fell to the ground in a ring. "My collar!"
"I'm not a house pet!" Mewmi hissed then she ran away from them. Dirlu picked up the pieces of the collar.
"I have to agree with Mewmi, you really went too far." Eimy commented.
"About that--" Faim paused while Eimy looked at her brother.
"What?" She asked while he rubbed his nape nervously.
"--the collar was meant for you." Faim finished.
"WHAT!?" Eimy elicited an indignant gasp, then shouted when Dirlu stood straight.
"I wanted to give you a present." Dirlu explained while her servant scoffed.
"A present!? No! You want to stroke your ego by having me wear a collar like a slave. I may be poor, but I have my dignity." Eimy admonished her, dismayed. "I'm not a mule for you to yoke. It's bad enough that I work hard to pay off a debt, but how am I supposed to when your family rules most of Eezga. Even your father is also a sponsor in this tournament. What do I have that attracts control freaks?" Faim hated to see his sister get so worked up, it was one of the reasons why he left without knowing that she went missing the 2nd time. "I work to pay off the debt and something comes up whether it's you, Faim, Mewmi or an enemy of yours comes into the fray and I end up getting into a bigger mess than the last one. I get held captive by this nonsense over and over again. When I find a change of pace I get taken away elsewhere. Once I pay down to the last pence, I'm leaving." Eimy glared before she walked away angrily.

Nat found the den where the Delbwöares lived and put the envelope inside the mailbox along with the mail. She walked back to the checkpoint and found the portal. Brandon saw Nat come back out of the portal right before Brandon closed it. "You could've sent an email."
"I couldn't find their email, plus," Nat straightened her blazer, "it's more fun this way."
"Suit yourself, but you shouldn't abuse the gems that power the portals." Brandon warned as he revised the gauges.
"I know that." Nat replied while the drone recorded the footage. "You're the only one I could trust with the renovations."
"Just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I know robotics and engineering." He quipped while he put on his steampunk glasses.
"But you're a genius when you put your mind to it." Natalie mentioned as she tilted her head with a light jerk.
"Touché." As the host left Brandon resume with his work, Alexander's drone arrived to record the underground lair while the employee was inmersed in revising the dimensions, scanning the area.

Logan checked on one of the cameras on his wrist watch as the drone had scanned the labyrinth and found a crystal as it powered a keyboard that was sealed with a transparent casing that shielded the keyboard from dust and roaches that would crawl around the labyrinth. There was no sign of the third drone as of yet, he recalibrated the signal for the third drone but no response.  Logan suspected that something must've disrupted the signal, but first, he headed to the labyrinth to retrieve the first drone personally.

What is taking them so long? Patricia thought impatiently while Alexander zoomed in on the drone's camera.

"I found something." Alexander responded.
"Let me see." Tr walked over to his red haired teammate to look at the screen, then he creased the corner of his mouth into a scowl. "It's just an engineer." Tr commented dismissively before the drone had amplified the image to survey Brandon's workspace and spotted the machinery that powered the portals. "Hold on... zoom in on the right corner." Tr suggested while Alexander zoomed in on the equipment that powered the portals.
"Is that--"
"Rave hardware." Tr replied as he nudged.

Logan arrived to the drone's location to see the keyboard personally while Natalie returned to her office. Logan was about to open the casing when he heard via comm link. Rave hardware. The lens of his glasses glinted, determined as the corner of his lips curled upwards into a smirk. "Good, that means we are getting closer to our objective."

“I already finished arranging tonight's match, sent the letter to the Delbwöares and finished today's work, finally I can get lunch.” The host thought as she walked out of her office while she headed to one of the food stands. “It's been ages since I ate codfish fritters.”

At the hallway, Ratu followed Ruben while the large Cinnabarian was thinking of a plan though nothing came to him. He slapped himself on the forehead, hoping that something would come up to him, a stroke of genius, but no. His mind was blank. “Rats.” Ruben muttered under his breath.

"Cheer up, we'll think of something." Ratu replied.
"Like what?" Ruben asked, irked.
"We'll find a way to get the prize. I'll fight in that red-dent-tion round." Ratu chattered.
"Redemption." Ruben corrected before Ratu rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed groan. Now that he mentioned it, it was their last chance to take the prize money even if they were running out of options. Ruben's cover has been blown and the only chance they had was if the little thief wins. Emphasis on if, the odds of Ratu winning were basically non-existant, not to mention that he's the only child among grown gladiators. "Even if you somehow managed to win, there's no certainty that you'll be able to win the next match after this one. No, we need to do something drastic."
"Like what? Sabotage?" Ratu asked.
"No, that would be too obvious. We need to act smarter." Ruben said as he thought of something.

“If there is evidence of fraud is up to us to investigate.” Logan declared.

“I'm the one that has to convert the prize money depending the value in their world.” Quinn clarified.

"I hate to say it, but we need help." Ruben admitted.
"But who?" Ratu asked, Ruben was hesitant to respond, but he had to push himself to say it as he bit his bottom lip as he dragged the f sound.
"Ffffffff-flaven." Ruben said as he expressed disgust.

Tony woke up as he stood up to find himself in a vast space and he saw his father standing there. "You're finally awake." Simon said, his arms crossed.

"Why are you here?" Tony glared disdainfully at his so called father.

"As you can see," Simon outstretched his arms as he slowly spun, gesturing towards the prison they were trapped in, "I'm taking an expense paid vacation." Simon said sarcastically, then dropped his arms. "What does it look like I'm doing?!"

"Where are we?" Tony asked while he looked for an exit.

"Inside a wizard's hammer space, where else?" Simon snapped.

Tony could tell that this wasn't a father-son reunion, neither he nor Simon want to be in the same place much less talk. Tony put his hands inside his pockets for his phone, though he couldn't find it.

"Looking for this?" Simon showed Tony's smartphone. "You'll have to take it from me."

"No need." Tony snapped his fingers and the smartphone teleported into his hands. "It's in my hands." Tony walked up to him as he looked at his father as his face reflected on Simon's sunglasses. "Just like you are now."

"So you finally gained the courage to kill your old man." Simon quipped.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment." The younger Venusian glared at him as Simon smiled sardonically, the same saccharine grin in which he murdered his own wife in front of his sons.

Tony remembered the same smile Simon gave when their mother laid on the cold ground in a pool of blood. Chris was a prepubescent Venusian and Tony was a toddler when they witnessed the murder.

“Mama?” Tony touched the glass window of the space pod. The ship blasted off when Simon grinned sardonically as his icy cold eyes brimmed with malice as he laughed like a madman. He waited for over 200 years to wipe the smug look off his face.

With a scornful glare, Tony used his powers to suffocate him as he watched how Simon hyperventilated as the air was taken from his lungs, little by little, torturing him while Simon waited for his son to kill him.

“C'mon son, make me proud.”

Warlin used a magic glass to contact his imperial majesty as he tried to gain a connection. The image of the glass warped as he scried harder until he had a clear vision of him.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-warlin? Can you hear me?" He asked, testing the communication.

"Loud and clear, sire." Warlin replied.

"Have you suceeded in obtaining the coordinates?" The Emperor enquired as his face remained obscured.

"Of course, you may enter the stadium as you please." Warlin affirmed monotonously.

"Excellent." The shrouded emperor commented cheerily.

"Now, if I may, there is someone I would like you to see." Warlin added before he signalled Mirror to come forward, from the Emperor's end, he saw a silvery man approach. "I have Mirror under my control."

"Well done, Warlin." The Emperor applauded him, despite that the wizard had no need for praise, he smirked. "The plan is coming out better than I expected."

"I will have Mirror escort you to the premises, away from prying eyes. We don't want any unpleasant surprises for our reunion." Warlin suggested.

"Yes, I cannot wait to leave this godforsaken wasteland. Those miserable pests won't know what hit them." Emperor mused.

Logan put on latex gloves before he removed the laminated casing and turned on the labyrinth's keyboard as a holographic screen came out of the crystal, the stadium's logo played before it requested for a password.

As Logan's face was illuminated, a split screen came in to the fray as the silhouette of the Emperor came in before they unanimously said, "Operation Collateral is under way."