》At The Colosseum...

"The time has almost come for the tournament to begin." The hostess spoke as she watched from atop of the room that had a one-way glass, eyeing one of the contestants enter the stadium.

Elsewhere in another dimension, a cloaked warrior came to the Colosseum. "Welcome to the Colosseum. Are you here to compete, or to spectate?" Patricia asked before silvery hands uncovered his hood to reveal a sleek fighter, his face akin to a shiny statue, using sign language to confirm his entry.

"Welcome back Mr. Mirror. How was your vacation?" Patricia asked. "Dull, I'm glad to be back." Mirror signed, "Who will be the lucky contender to face me?" Combat Mirror asked in sign language as his glassy face locked on to Patricia.

"Beats me," Patricia paused, "the new competitor will have to try really hard to take your title." She smiled, Mirror shapeshifted into Patricia's likeness, though paralleled.

"You got that right sweetheart. My skills are unparalleled." Mirror said as he spoke just like Patricia.

⚔

The receptionists brought the forms to the hostess: the first receptionist brought the forms that were signed by two contenders who were presumably humans of Japanese origin, the second receptionist brought the forms that have been signed by four Hue-Mans, a race with a similar appearance akin to a human; the third receptionist brought only a single form from a single contender, and the fourth receptionist brought two forms that were signed by two contenders; a handsome blue-eyed Venusian and a dark, menacing Indoraptor.

The hostess looked quizically at the Indoraptor's signature before leaving to the form to the side. "Jane, are you sure that S is her real name?" The hostess inquired.

"That is what the Indoraptor wrote before the pen broke." Jane responded.

I should've sent Patricia to get the name of that contestant instead. The hostess thought. "Guess that I'll have to figure it out myself." The hostess responded before the fifth receptionist who had the aspect of a female elf brought a form. The sixth receptionist brought two forms, and the seventh receptionist brought two forms, including the form Stella signed.

The hostess furrowed her thick eyebrows when she saw the asterisk in Stella's signature. Seriously?... Who puts an asterisk on their last name?! The hostess pinched the bridge of her nose.

Patricia, the 8th receptionist, entered the office with the forms 6 contenders signed they entered the stadium. The hostess smiled when she saw the forms. "You really outdid yourself this time."

"I'm just doing my job, Mrs. Santos." Patricia replied as she placed her hand against her hip, smirking victoriously while the other receptionists looked at her.

"I need you to get the Indoraptor's name so that I can register it into the Colosseum's archive. Their names will be announced and televised in half of the dimensions that have advanced technology and I don't want any more setbacks." The hostess organized the forms before standing up from her desk.

"No problem." Patricia smirked before she walked out in stride. As she got out of the office, the last receptionist walked in with the last form signed by a human-Arivex hybrid.

"Here is the form." He handed the form before the hostess took the form.

"You're late." The hostess said while she walked out of the office.

Johnathan, Glen and Adrian were getting ready to take on their roles for the tournament. Johnathan was wearing a marine colored suit as he adjusted his tie that had a color palette similar to the flag of his country, his blonde hair neatly combed as his chubby, bearded face beamed with a radiant smile.

"Good luck out there." Glen said before covered his dark brown hair with a white cap as he wore a black and white striped shirt.

"Thanks, you too." Johnathan replied back before giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. Glen had a thin yet toned body so he recovered quickly from the love tap.

Adrian prepared the forms for the exhibition matches as his robust hands aligned the edges of the papers before grabbing them and pressed them together.

"Leaving so soon?" Johnathan asked in mild curiosity.

"Yep, I'm preparing a back up plan." Adrian responded, but before Johnathan could prod any further, Adrian's angular frame walked out of the office where the staff members met during their breaks. He walked past the Luna sisters, Lizzy and Mia while they talked about things that sisters gush about, like K-Pop artists or aesthetics. Marie on the other hand, was in charge of surveillance, mostly she was focused on the dinosaurs that were hanging around in the halls, she zoomed in on Shadow, before Adrian's silhouette passed by in an instant.

The hostess was on the 5th floor when she walked down the arched hallway to the stairs, while Adrian was on the 4th floor, they both headed to the 1st floor. Adrian entered to his booth to prepare the exhibition matches while the hostess headed to her office which was a restricted room reserved for authorized personnel only. She locked the door as she archived the names of the contestants one by one saving Indoraptor's form for later.

The receptionists returned to their posts while one of the guards supervised what went on around the stadium and noticed that one of the spectators got lost, heading to the same hall that the hostess passed.

"Excuse me sir, this is a restricted area." A guard reminded the fat spectator, his pale freckled face looking down at the supervisor.

"I'm just looking for the privy." Ruben lied.
"The what?" The supervisor asked.
"The privy, the loo, the porcelain throne. You know what I mean." Ruben clarified.

"The restrooms are out back, just turn to the right, walk down the halls and you'll find the stalls." She indicated.

"Thanks." Ruben II replied bitterly, before he turned around, nearly knocking her over.

"Rude!" She gasped.

Eleanor put on her blue blazer as she was in the women's restroom, after she got dressed for the part, she put on her favorite lipstick as she looked in the mirror, her brown hair coiffed in beautiful curls. She pursed her lips before she saw someone enter the bathroom, a winged woman with brown wavy hair and orange tips. Despite the phoenix hybrid's youthful appearance with a body of a teenager, Phixa was in fact a centenarian, she entered to one of the stalls to heed to nature's call. After Eleanor checked for any imperfections with her make up she took out her smartphone to take a selfie. By the time Phixa was done, Eleanor was out of the bathroom to meet up with Marie.

Jayshree, one of the caretakers, entered into the women's restroom to mop the floor and change the tubes of empty toilet paper in case any of them ran out. Jayshree wore a white cap and a janitor's uniform while she mopped the floor, her brown pony tail whipped to the side when Phixa exited the restroom. When Jayshree went to check on the stalls that Phixa and Eleanor used, she had to use an air freshener. "What the hell did they eat? Chinese food? Ugh." Jayshree made a stank face before spraying.

🛡

"There are a lot of people here." Annabell, one of the contenders, saw hundreds of people walking around the halls of the stadium.

"People from different worlds." Eros, her guardian, replied.

"What are you reading?" Annabell asked before the silver haired wizard passed a brochure.

"About the stadium." Eros responded befor he passed one of the brochures for Annabell to read.

"Welcome to the Colosseum Arena." She muttered.

This arena is a masterpiece, existing seamlessly in its own dimension and its own world. In order to get to the arena, you must arrive at one of the designated locations listed on your pamphlet that every participating fighter and spectator will receive. Once at the designated location, participants and spectators will speak the magic word, which changes every event, and a portal will be revealed. You will want to be quick about entering the portal, however, as we try to prevent random people from wandering in.

In the hostess's office there was a tackboard full of sketches of former competitors and spectators that violated the rules of the tournament. On her desk, there was a clipboard with the list of the names of the banished transgressors.

As the hostess of this tournament, her main objective is to ensure the safety of those entering and leaving the stadium with a custom made password for all of the guests to return to their respective worlds safely.

Once you step through the portal, you will arrive at the planet of Isaeria in the Pandora Dimension.

"Isaeria? Stella, isn't that the name of your home planet?" Micah asked her.

"No, it's Izar. Isearia is a constellation near my home planet though it's kinda strange that there is a planet with a similar name." Stella stated as she read another page from the brochure.

The planet is a Pangea, a Supercontinent with lush forests, jungles, and lakes in every direction eventually leading to the one great mass of ocean that surrounds the continent.

"That explains why we got transported from Pangaea to here. This planet has a similar mass, density, and environment." Micah replied before she continued reading.

In the middle of the continent, deep in a jungle, in the middle of an ancient ruin, lies the Arena.

Brandon checked the mechanics of the arena. Testing if it can still change it's structure to acommodate magic users and avaerage fighters. "Cryo," Brandon said as the arena turned into an icy stage full of pillars of ice and snow. "Terra," then the arena turned into a rocky terrain full of rocks and solid ground. "Métallo", then the arena turned into a metallic obstacle course full of conveyor belts, drones, fighting robots of various shapes and sizes, to the most humanoid looking to the most bizarre looking machine. "Psammo," then the arena reverted back to a large pit of sand.

This architectural marvel is the product of decades of hard work and engineering. It's a massive structure, standing five stories high and so wide that you can fit seven Viking longboats inside. The arena can comfortably seat around 100,000 with plenty of arm room.

Chris and Tony received the brochures and pamphlets that gave information about the Colosseum, from the description of the stadium's infrastructure to the tournament's rules and regulations to ensure the safety of the spectators, competitors and staff members of the Colosseum.

"We're safe now." Chris said.
"Now that we're here, what's the plan?" Tony asked him.

"I'll compete in the tournament while you stay on the lookout."
"That's it?" Tony asked him.

"Did you bring the gem?" Chris countered with another question.
"No, that gem is locked in the trunk where you left it." Tony replied with an accusatory tone.

"At least you know the password in getting back to our world, right?" Chris looked at Tony straight in the eye, almost like a glare but he was searching if his brother had at least a sliver of loyalty left.

"Yeah, I know the magic word, bro." Tony said before he moved his lips, Chris slightly squinted as he lip-read Tony, his younger brother pursed then tightened his lips while he mouthed the words Crisp Summer Sky as he backed away passive-agressively. On his way out he bumped into a fat ginger.

"Watch it!" Tony shouted.
"Stay outta my way, Flaven." Ruben II shouted back.

"Wanna fight?" Tony tugged his sleeve before the fat Cinnabarian headbutted Tony as he walked to the stall, preferably to wash away what he would like to call at the younger Venusian, "Flaven filth". Tony wanted to use his powers to make the fat ginger convulse and flop like a fish, if only Chris hadn't stopped him.

"Tony." Chris's voice cut in like a knife, dividing his attention between making him pay and following through what his brother sent him out to do.
"I'm fine." Tony brushed him off before leaving the stadium.

Ruben II entered into the men's restroom to wipe his forehead before he heard a flush from the toilet. A bearded man with sky blue skin and beard as he wore his orange visor. Ruben was miffed by what he saw in the mirror as he turned around to see that the man didn't have a nose, just two nostrils on his face. Ruben II washed his face while Baci Llus washed his hands and took the brown paper towel, drying his wrists before crumpling it into a bowl and threw it to the trash can.

"I gotta find the other contestants, see ya!" Stella chirped.

"Later." Micah shrugged just as Baci Llus stepped out of the restroom. They both walked up to the second floor.

A/N: The original characters featuring in this chapter belong to the original owners.

ADav62, Adrian Mehrkens, glenny3214, MsPizzaGirl, MyLordReaper & PenguinMaestro.