Patricia walked down the hall, eyeing every nook and cranny, tiles and corners, even the windows in hope of finding something out of place. Oddity in patterns usually led to secret passages. Unluckily, nothing. From the ceiling to the floor, everything was ‘normal’. She wanted to find the Life Gem. It had to be in the Colosseum.
As she continued down the hall, she spotted Brandon exiting one of the rooms. She approached him to ask him if he knew what was powering the place. Brandon, the mechanic and coordinator of the place, had to know and have access to every part of the place. He pulled his goggles down to wipe away the stream of sweat, leaving a streak of soot across his forehead. With a heavy exhale, he apologized for he did not know what the power source looked like or where it’s placed.
“If you want to know,” Brandon said, “Go ask the higher ups. Most of the lines end practically nowhere, making it hard for me to trace them back to the source. If there is a problem that I can’t fix, I have to report it to them.”
“I see,” Patricia replied. “Well, no need. I was simply curious.” She grit her teeth at such useless information. “Please, continue with your work… and what exactly is it? You seem to be busy these days.”
Brandon heartily laughed at her curiosity. “I am sorry, but not many people ask me about my job. In any case, I was told a tournament will be held. They told me to make sure everything is functioning properly. So far, everything seems to be as should.” He tapped his chin to think if he did have a problem. His glove left soot on his skin. “Yeah, all is good.”
Patricia was losing interest and had to get away. “Well, if you do find a problem, call me. I grew up knowing how to do some handy work.”
Brandon eyed her from head to toe. She had shiny, clean, blonde hair, fair skin with a smooth complex, a colourful, puffy jacket with a sleek, white button up, a black skirt down to the thigh, a pair of nude stockings and a pair of two-inch high heels. He chuckled at the sight.
“I would never guess such a past. Young people these days sure know how to surprise the world.”
Patricia bowed and took her leave.

After a few corners, she came face to face with a rubber duck. She saw the hand holding it as it wobbled the duck.
“What are you doing there, Patty?” An animated voice came from the corner.
Patricia pushed the duck with her palm and she rounded the corner. “Nothing of your concern Clive.” She then turns to the five feet tall ventriloquist. “Erica… What are you doing out of the surveillance room?”
“As much as Clive wants to watch the ghosts wander the halls,” Erica joked, “I, on the other hand, don’t have much physical bodies to watch.” She wiggled her fun belt, grabbed her flashlight, and aimed it at Patricia. “While Marie can take over, I am actually here to do some sleuthing.” She rapidly clicked her flashlight on and off.
Patricia winced at the light, then proceeded to look down at the pretend detective. Her eyebrows cocked upwards. “What fishing line did you bite?”
“Clive was the one who caught it.”
“Huh...” Patricia exhaled as her eyes shifted focus onto Clive and then back onto Erica.
“You have been to places far beyond your reception desk,” Erica commented. “From another floor to the opposite end.”
“Even to places that ghosts don’t go,” Clive added.
There was a brief silence as Erica waited for Patricia to speak.
“Throat a little dry?” Erica said as she whipped out a juice box from her back pocket. She smiled as she waved it in front of Patricia. Her eyes then dimmed. “Also, even though I like sweet food, I’d rather not have things sugar coated.”
Patricia pondered on whether to tell her the truth, or make an excuse. Would Erica, and Clive, be interested in the gem, or would they report it to the higher authorities for such actions? She grabbed the juice box and shoved it into her three coloured jacket. “Nothing important. Simple curiosity is all.”
Erica shrugged her shoulders, accepting the answer. Pivoting around to leave, she spoke, “Searching is so much easier if you have the right people.” She began walking. “The gem that is.”
Patricia’s heart skipped a beat. She managed to utter the word, “Wait!” Erica stopped, placing her feet side by side, and turned on her toes. Patricia bit the inner part of her bottom lip before continuing, “How do you know about that?”
 Erica shook her head and sighed. She rubbed her temple as she replied, “Just because I am on surveillance duties, doesn’t mean I only have eyes.” She tapped behind her ears. “Ears are also used for security purposes too. And rumours have it, you’ve been sneaking around for some secrets.”
“And where are you getting these rumours?” Patricia asked.
“Confidentiality,” Erica giggled. “That is all I can say.”
“Then why even start it?” Patricia said with a hint of annoyance.
 “A tip.” Erica waved her pointer at Patricia. “There will be at least one person who will help you in your endeavours.”
 Before Patricia can say anything further, Erica skipped away. Patricia saw Erica placing Clive next to her ear, and then shaking her head in refusal. Patricia simply dust that image out of mind, thinking it was an immature child’s play.
 She leaned on a leg and crossed her arm. “Someone?” The thought of what Brandon had said came, ‘a tournament’. “Someone from the tournament perhaps…?” 

She did her research to attract a suitable candidate that could aid her in finding the Life Gem, given the right motivation, she would cooperate with her endeavor. And if the candidate refused to follow through, she took measures to ensure that the patient remained captive. Patricia kept the antidote safely secure as a guarantee that the thief wouldn't snatch the opportunity she had worked for. Patricia scouted around the perimeter once more.

"You want this locket!?" Ruben took the locket Haeji had been looking for, "Then go get it!",  only for the infuriated ginger to toss it angrily  at a good distance as she watched Joon's locket get busted as it landed on the ground floor with a loud clink. "Just like I had to go chase for a money that doesn't exist!" Ruben bellowed. Haeji's eyebrows furrowed, her nostrils, she pointedly glared at Ruben. He heard rumors about a person born having one eye having a different color than the other to be linked with a lost soul inhabiting another body to be a myth, and with the tinted tips of her hair to being a high ranking member of a gang, but what he witnessed was pitiful.

"You bastard!" Haeji cried as she hit him repeatedly while the security guards and the male Rave Hunters were distracted, Patricia was only centimeters away when she had found the busted locket and picked it up. She opened the wedge of the locket it to see a photo of Joon and Haeji eating ice cream.

"You threw away the only thing that was held dear to my brother!" Haeji punched him even harder while Ruben withstood the hits and bruises. "You don't care about anyone other than yourself!" She shouted before she punched him in the gut. Ruben doubled over before Haeji kicked him in the jaw. Sajid pried Haeji away from Ruben while Logan came closer to interrogate him.

Thomas devoured the last chunk of meat from the baby back ribs, sucking the sauce from his fingers.

"What do you think they're talking about?" María asked, Zack glanced at her and then at the lady in lavender apparel.

"I don't know. I'll go check." Zack stood from the table and tiptoed towards Stacey and Sora to eavesdrop on their conversation. The Morean maiden gave an annoyed glance at the green eyed Dimension Guardian.

"The fighting tournament is merely a ruse to gather some of the strongest fighters in one place either to eliminate them or to take away their powers." Violet warned while Sora and Zack took heed while Stacey showed no concern.

"Suppose what you're saying is true. How do you plan on getting everyone out of the stadium?" Stacey questioned.

"You can show them the exit, but not everyone will want to leave." Violet countered with a rhetoric. "The participants joined the tournament to test their luck at winning the prize."

Sora then recalled what Samoht told her. "The Gladatorium is hosting a tournament event for the winner to win a grand prize."

"What is it?" Sora asked.
"I can't say it yet because that would get me in trouble with my supervisor, but I'll tell you this, the prize money that they are offering can be converted into any currency. You just have to get registered to be eligible to compete."

"I remember. The receptionist mentioned the prize money." Sora hinted.

"Which was...?" Stacey dragged the last word into a hiss.

"Convertible money." Sora answered.

"The prize may vary from person to person. Whoever planned this, established the price as a scam." Jacinto speculated.

"If there is evidence of fraud, they have no choice but to cancel the operation." Violet mused at the idea.

"I'm in." Stacey decided, the corners of her mouth lifted into a smirk as she stood up from the chair, she turned around and caught Zack eavesdropping. Stacey's brows furrowed as Zack gave a sheepish grin in return.

"Are you implying that there is no prize money?" Logan enquired. Mochi looked at Haeji sob while he noticed Patricia coming towards them, the spotted cat hissed at the blonde receptionist while Haeji saw her holding Joon's locket. She walked up to Patricia as she returned the locket to Haeji.

"Why are you listening to him anyway, he's not even a real guard." Tr called him out while Ruben glared at Tr.

"Is there a problem?" They turned to see Patricia coming forward. Logan was staring at her again.

"No." Sajid denied.

"There is a problem! THERE IS NO PRIZE MONEY!" Ruben protested.

"No won?" Haeji questioned before Mochi meowed the same question.

"Apparently, one of them is lying." Sara responded as she tilted her head at the accuser.

"Not surprising." Patricia replied casually.

"If there is evidence of fraud, is up to us to investigate." Logan declared.

"Yeah! I demand my refund!" Ruben second it.

Alexander and Tr looked at their leader and they knew that he didn't really care much about the supposed fraud, he just wanted to find an excuse to search for the illicit robot parts and he found the opportunity to do so. Patricia also took advantage of the situation, she had found a fat scapegoat that basically served himself up on a silver platter. Regardless of the outcome, Nat would take the fall for her negligence without the need of using one of her decoys for the dirty job.

"We've been authorized to not let anyone in." Sara stated.

"Are you kidding!? We just saw this fat eyesore leave the room that you're supposed to guard!" Tr remarked petulantly.

"Who you calling an eyesore? You skinny puke!" Ruben spat before Tr and Ruben started beating each other again before the security guards and Tr's teammates intervened.

"I can see why." Patricia commented while the guards and the men in jumpsuits separated them.

Stacey curled her fingers into a fist as she put it on her hip. "You can't last one minute without snooping around, can you?"

Zack stood up as his spiky black hair was in view, "I would when there isn't any secrecy around." He whined while she chastised him.

Violet ate her soup while Jacinto picked up the tea. Thomas and María came to catch up to them. "How did it go?" María asked at the Arivex.

"It went well to say the least." Sora said.

Just when Violet consumed down to the last drop of the soup she heard Thomas speak. "Is best that we leave since there is nothing for us here."

Violet looked at Thomas, his blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, light skin and smooth jawline and his red crystal pendant. She received a vision of him wearing a uniform as he entered into the darkness, his pendant illuminating a path. Then she saw a fire that came from a dragon's mouth. A dragon with hardened orange scales, blood red eyes, and a pendant clung to her neck with an icon of a golden bicep as a symbol of strength. Next to the orange dragon, a fluffy grey dragon was attached, only this one had cobalt blue eyes and a pendant shaped as an hourglass. They grey dragon uttered something that couldn't be heard until Violet snapped out of her vision.

"Sora, I heard that there is another round tonight. Are you going or not?" Zack asked her.

"Sure. I'm going to check if it isn't too late to participate." Sora paced eight steps.

"Just don't get duped this time." Stacey remarked while Sora rolled her eyes.

"Good luck." María added.

"Be careful, you don't know who you're up against." Violet warned.

"Don't listen to her, Sora. She is trying to trick you the same way she did when you were fighting her." Stacey warned her.
"Yeah, she's trying to discourage you from fighting in the Redemption Round, don't listen to her." Zack insisted. Sora looked at her teammates and then at Violet.
"I will fight, there's no doubt about it." Sora clarified. Violet withdrew herself from the table.
"It will require strength and patience to defeat them, you were warned." Violet hinted as she strolled out of the food court with the sailor.

"That's enough! We're not going anywhere with this! We are going to solve this now." Logan shouted as he scolded Tr and Ruben.

Haeji picked up Mochi, the cat leaned in to her ear and whispered, "I think now is a good time to leave."

"No, I wanna see how it's gonna turn out." She murmured back.

"Like I said, we're not authorized to let anyone in." Sara reminded them.

"Unless the supervisor is present. Where is Penumbra?" Patricia enquired as she crossed her arms.

"You're awfully persistent for a receptionist." Sajid commented as he walked up to her. "If you're so adamant in wacthing over the halls like a guard dog, you should've taken Penumbra's position instead of settling for the reception." Patricia gritted her teeth as she dug her fingers into the sleeves of her tri-colored jacket while trying to maintain a smile.

"I prefer to multitask." Patricia metioned.

"If you say so, but I've noticed that you've been walking around all over the place. It almost looks like your searching for something." Sara mentioned.

"Quit the chit chat! Are we going in or not!?" Tr started to pester the security guards, then Ruben joined in demanding his refund while this was happening, Logan opened up an application within his watch to file for a search warrant. When he typed the information, the supervisor arrived. Penumbra recognized Ruben II by his red curls and freckled face.

"You again!" Penumbra barked as she glared at the Cinnabarian.

"You know him?" Sara asked her.

"This guy has tried to sneak into the restricted area the first time, then I caught him badgering a woman, and now this!" S Penumbra spat at Ruben.

"I want my refund! This tournament is a scam!" Ruben retorted.

"Then go to the administration to get your refund, you cheapskate!" The supervisor admonished him.

"So you're affirming that the tournament is a cover up." Logan interjected.

"No!" The supervisor pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Just let them pass." Patricia suggested. "We have nothing to hide."

Supervisor Penumbra signalled the security guards to allow them entry. Souls Penumbra allowed Patricia, Logan, Alexander and Tr inside, Ruben was about to enter but S Penumbra signalled them to keep Ruben out, the supervisor entered and warned them to not keep Ruben out of their sight.

Logan, Alexander and Tr searched the room through every nook and cranny while the drone recorded. They spotted the open safe and the switch, only a blank check was there.

"Nothing." Logan uttered.

Tr looked at two medium sized golden trophies with a gem embedded in each one. "This is what they're gonna give to the winner?" Tr scoffed before he held one of the trophies.

"Put it back where you found it." Logan said in a bored tone, not bothering to look at Tr. Instead of doing what his leader told him, he took a selfie with his smartphone, then put the trophy back where he found it.

Logan took out the books, portfolios and pamphlets then ordered his teammates to move the bookshelf.

What are they doing? They won't find anything back there. S Penumbra thought to herself before they saw a crevice neatly lined up at the wall before Logan scanned it as the measurements were registered and archived.

Patricia gave a genuine smile when Logan opened the passageway she was looking for. "Is the drone recording this?" Logan asked as Alexander went to check on it.

"Yes!"

"Do you see anything?" Tr asked loudly. Logan had walked into the passageway as he turned on the flashlight of his mobile device.

"Yeah, looks like small shaft in here." Logan responded as he moved forward as he saw cables and beams in the corners of the passageway. I can finally search for the hotspot.