》AT THE ANTEROOM...

Patricia smirked as she recalled how she persuaded the Indoraptor on how signing the form. After the Raptor Squad split up to collect the shipment of humans in their world, Patricia caught Shadow turn into a human taking a purple diary with black binding out of her satchel. In Shadow's human form she has long black hair in a ponytail, red eyes, and wore a long sleek black shirt along with dark red pants.

Hello Diary,
Today I spent time in human form. It makes the humans less nervous, though I think I like it when humans are nervous because then their hands smell better.
Not like I'll take them for contestants.

As Shadow scribbled her name on the diary. Patricia was merely inches behind her.

"Nice calligraphy," Shadow flinched from Patricia's surprise commentary, "I apologize for intruding, though I would have to ask you to sign a form. Apparently, the letter S does not count as a name according to the one in charge of this tournament." Patricia explained with a smile on her face as she took out a pen. "Follow me to the reception. The sooner you'll sign, the sooner the tournament will commence." Shadow's red eyes glared at Patricia, then at the her hand holding the pen. "Right this way."

The hostess headed to the 5th floor to meet up with the other staff members. Her curly black hair in view as her dark brown eyes beamed in delight before seeing the rest of her crew dressed for the occasion. Johnathan Smith was sharp as ever alongside Eleanor Baker. Adrian got dressed in a black suit, as his stubby fingers adjusted the tie. The Luna sisters, Mia and Lizzy with their own stunning dresses and accessories, though Glen kept the casual striped shirt and sport pants, his white cap shielded his eyes from the lighting. "This is it! Everyone go to your places. The tournament is about to start." The hostess announced.

"It's about time." Adrian said, Brandon simply shook his head before joining Marie and Erica for surveillance and editing.

"What are you all waiting for? Let's go!" The hostess clapped as the others rushed to take their positions.

Stella got to the 2nd floor to look for Micah among the spectators. She had to walk down the rows of seats until she found her sitting next to Baci Llus. "Micah, there you are."

"Stella, meet Baci Llus. Baci Llus, meet Stella." Micah gestured to her Izarian friend to the tall Bacillian immigrant. "Nice to meet you." Stella extended her arm to shake his semi-solid hand. "Likewise."

"Micah, I found this glued next to one of the stalls with bubblegum." Stella showed her the lipstick.

"I'm aware about your mishap in the ladies room." Micah replied before she slurped on a straw full of soda.

"Don't say it like that!" Stella blushed as she squawked.

"Don't worry about it. It happens. Sometimes I get a little gassy when I eat one too many burritos." Baci Llus commented, both Stella and Micah stared at him for several seconds in awkward silence before they changed the subject.

"Why are you here Stella? Shouldn't you be getting ready for the match?" Micah asked her.

"That's the problem, I'm not ready to fight yet." Stella admitted.

"You made me come all this way for nothing." Micah deadpanned. Stella was irked by her indifference.

"I am going to fight in the arena, for your information. I was going to give you this lipstick but I'm keeping it." Stella raised her voice as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"You know that I'm not interested in make-up, and furthermore, did you check the power source of your weapon?" Micah inquired as she looked below the empty arena. Stella unloaded her galactic gun, it's quartz-powered. In all honesty, she wasn't sure if this was considered Melee or not, she wasn't using magic nor any supernatural ability, but if it was a magically powered crystal. Stella could get disqualified if the power source derived from any magical properties.

"It's quartz-powered." Stella checked.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Did you figure how you're going to take down the dinosaur you've befriended?" Micah asked her.

"As if I'm gonna tell you." Stella's tone dripped with contempt.

"You do well, never tell your enemies what you're planning." She replied in a chipper tone. Stella huffed and stomped away.

"Way to encourage her, Mic." Baci Llus replied sarcastically.

"It's the only way to get her to stay focused on the match, she's gonna need it. Plus, I'm still mad at her for making me miscalculate back at the spaceship." Micah took another sip of her soda, she's not gonna tell that she wants Stella to tear the Indoraptor limb from limb either.

At the men's restroom, Thomas grabbed the paper towel to dry his hands and tossed it at the trash bin. As he walked out of the restroom, Sora saw him.

"Thomas!" He turned his head to look at the Arivex.

"Sora!" Thomas called out to her before she walked up to him and smiled.

"I finally found you. Where are the others?" Sora asked.

"Stacey and María are at the second floor, while Zack..." Thomas paused just as Zack came out of the men's restroom.
"Sora!" Zack ran up to her.

"Hi Zack." She greeted as the teenage boy got jumpy from the excitement.

"Tell me that you're gonna stay for the tournament, please. Thomas is being a real party pooper!" Zack begged her.

"I'm not staying--" Zack whined as she said that, "--I'll be fighting in the match." Sora added.

"Yes yes yes! I can't wait for the fight to start." Zack cheered, getting hyped.

"About that... I don't know where the arena is, much less know who I'm going to fight." Sora admitted.

"Sora, are you sure that you wanna fight?" Thomas asked her.

"Definitely, I just wanted to see you guys first before I go." Sora clarified.

"Oh yeah! I'm rooting for ya." Zack slung his arm around Sora's neck which was more of a brotherly gesture as they walked up to the second floor with Thomas being 3 paces behind them.

"Shouldn't the show be starting by now?" Baci Llus asked. 

"Honestly, I'm just as clueless as you are. It's nearly an hour since we got here and I see no sign of the tournament starting any time soon." Micah responded before a yawn escaped her.

"Already bored?" He asked her, his elbow laying on the armrest.

"Is time for me to sleep, I've been awake since 5 in the morning. Usually Amoebians like me stay awake between 6 to 9 hours, but with space travel and Stella's training simulations I have to stay awake from up to 12 hours or more, which is not healthy." Micah explained as she let out a drowsy drawl.

"And I thought Mitis was just being lazy and she was using that sleep cycle of hers as an excuse."

"Most of us are workaholics by nature. We like to be productive." Micah yawned. "Wake me up when it's Stella's turn to fight." Micah adjusted herself into a comfortable sitting position for her to sleep.

"Fine then." Baci Llus said before Micah took off her goggles and closed her eyes shut. Baci stood up from his seat to throw away the paperbag and plastic soda cup into the trash. By the time he returned to his seat, Micah was already fast asleep with her mouth slightly open, snoring.

Stacey and María sat at their seats, Stacey was on her phone, scrolling on a shopping app to kill time while María had plugged in her air buds, listening to her playlist. "Hi girls." Stacey's head cocked to her left when she heard Sora's voice. 

"Hey Sora." Stacey responded while Maria's head shook like a bobblehead from side to side, listening to the music when Stacey nudged at the blue Dimension guardian. "What?" María asked, pausing her playlist. When she looked up she spotted the Arivex. "Hi Sora." María greeted as she smiled sweetly. 

"Excuse me." Zack scooted his way to his seat.
"I'll be fighing at the tournament, wish me luck." The Arivex said.

"Break a leg." Stacey stated.
"Thanks." Sora said as she headed out.
"But not literally." María added. Thomas then sat down on his seat.

Stella walked angrily, nostrils flaring and her red eyes glaring dangerously. A dissonant bond that lead to internal dismay and impulses. To all which ends with a burn out. Stella walked past Carina, the usurper lowered her sunglasses for her cat eyes to be seen. The Izarian agent entered and past by infiltrated bounty hunters, fighters, deities, and an average group of people. But worry not. This is simply a warning. Stella's magenta hair swept side to side before she slowed down and walked at a normal pace, when in the corner of her eye, an elf with cobalt blue eyes walked away looking for the arena. 

Let's just hope you don't burn out like a star.

Stella entered into the waiting room to meet up with the other contestants. Patricia stood nearby as she watched over the guests.

Chris was about to find Tony when a teenage girl bumped into him. A blue-eyed brunette with a purple crystal dangling around her neck. "Ow!" Sora recoiled when she looked at the handsome Venusian. 

"Are you ok?" Chris looked at her, his blue sky eyes boring into her soul. Sora blinked once or twice before she registered his question.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Sora put the strands of her brown hair behind her ear looking to the side. "I'm trying to find the arena before the match starts. I don't wanna be late."

"I'm actually one of the competitors, though I haven't met the other combatants yet." Chris admitted. 

"Me neither. Guess we're the only ones." Sora said. 

"The name is Chris." He introduced himself to the Arivex with a dimpled smile.

"My name is Sora Hasaki. Nice to meet you." Sora extended her arm and Chris reciprocated the handshake like a gentleman.

Ryo was still wandering around the halls before he encountered an elderly man wearing a samurai straw hat and a long white beard. "Looks like you're lost, young man." Yin said as he stroked his beard. 

"I have to find the arena, otherwise my endeavor would be for nought." Ryo responded. 

"I can take you there if you like." The Yamitzu master suggested. 

"Yes, lead the way, elder." Ryo accepted, Yin put his hands on his back and walked down the hall, turned to the right and past by a young Arivex and a handsome Venusian. 

"I should really get going." Sora said as Chris looked at his watch. 10:47 AM

10:48 AM

"We still have time to look for the arena." The blonde Venusian unrolled his sleeve. 

A green-eyed blonde receptionist had her hair swept up in a ponytail, sported a three colored jacket, a white button up shirt and nude stocking had approached the competitors. "Leaving so soon?"

"Yes, the match will start any minute and I don't want to be late. We're one of the combatants, and we need to get ready for the match." Chris clarified before he gestured towards Sora.

"No problem. Right this way." Patricia let a smile that is used to welcome guests before the two combatants followed her until they stopped to where the rest of the competitors were gathered.

Stella walked into the room as she looked at the new competitors whom she hadn't seen before. She saw Shadow talking to an Asian contestant while they tried to kill time as she watched her throw the die. Stella looked at her wrist.

An EMCuff. Is she a criminal? Stella thought to herself as she looked at the model from afar, judging by its shape and size it seemed to be fabricated in the mid 2030s based by its simple design equipped with nanotechnology.

Shadow rolled a die. The die showed: 4. Then Shadow picked up the puny die with her sharp sickle like claw and scopped it before she handed it to Haeji. Then Haeji rolled the die, the die showed 3.

"So we should flip a coin, whoever gets Tails gets candy!" Hwa Hae Ji suggested before the Indoraptor nodded in agreement.

"Sure!" Shadow flipped a coin. The coin showed: Tails.

"Oh, I guess you get the first one!" The Daoitu thief took the piece candy out of her pocket, grape flavor.

"Let's do it again." Shadow opened up the candy wrapper with a twist of her claw while Stella walked past them.

"My turn." Haeji flipped a coin. The coin showed: Tails. "YES."

"You get it!" Shadow congratulated her before swallowing the candy in one bite.

Haeji opened the butterscotch flavored candy and ate it. "That was good!"

Stella had spotted Faim as he sat next to a blonde teenage girl. "Hi, Faim."

"Hey Stella, you ready for a one on one?" The blonde martial artist stood up from his seat warming up for a spar.

"Sure, that is if we get to fight each other. Are we going to fight using weapons or it's just old-fashioned fisticuffs?" Stella asked.

"I usually fight unarmed, though I read at the pamphlet that you can use weapons as long as there is no magic involved." Faim replied.

"So you're in the Melee Division too? That's great! I could use a sparring partner for a warm up." Stella took a couple of steps back before taking a fighting stance.

"You read my mind." Faim took a fighting stance before Yin came in and got in the way before the two could get a chance to practice bringing another competitor along. A tall elf with raven hair, light skin and cobalt blue eyes glanced at the other combatants before he directed his gaze at the Yamitzu master.

"Thank you, elder." Ryo expressed his gratitude with a bow.

"Think nothing of it, young man." Master Yin replied, unaware that the elf was a lot older than he appeared to be.

"And this is where you'll be waiting until the match begins." Patricia said as she gestured to the room while Chris and Sora entered.

"Enjoy your stay." Patricia added before she exited the room.