The incident at the Lab had the Earth Defense Force in a tizzy once they learned about it.  Amazingly it did not take too long for them to come to a decision.  The threat was unknown and they needed to figure out what it was as soon as possible.  Also the threat had to be quite dangerous so they could not just send anyway, they did not want to send their own elite forces either in case Earth ever came under attack but there was a ready solution available to them.  The Planet Council quickly reached an agreement and sent instructions to The Proving Grounds headquarters, it was time to get some strong fights out in the field.

[h2]The Proving Grounds[/h2]

As Rufus was about to leave the premises a voice came over the speaker.  "Attention attention, to all of those in the Proving Grounds.  All combat will be suspended as a tournament is organized.  This tournament is of vital importance, hence the need to shut down all other fighting and will take first priority.  It has come to the Earth Defense Force's attention that an unknown threat is terrorizing worlds and it is quite possible Earth may be a target as well."  At first the people had just been mildly surprised by the impromptu announcement but once they heard about a threat suddenly everyone was in an uproar.

Earth had been close to destruction, or even been destroyed, before and news of a new impending threat quickly brought a lot of different emotions to the forefront.  Some were quite scared that Earth could once again be invaded, though the Androids helped alleviate the fear somewhat.  Others got riled up by the prospect and wanted to do some alien butt-kicking as soon as possible.  Each person reacted quite different to the sudden proclamation.

"The Force needs a task force to locate and identify the threat.  This tournament is to determine who is most worthy to fight the threat and relay information back to Earth.  Strong fighters are needed and we could think of no better location to find those capable to stopping this threat.  Sign up for the tournament and help protect Earth!"  The officials were very quickly spurred into action, stopping fights and preparing the grounds for the sudden tournament.  Rufus looked at his escort.

"Hey, I want to sign up for this tournament.  Now before you object I have every blasted right to help protect Earth.  I think you know very well that the Earth Defense Force's request trumpets over any little rules this place has."  Rufus could not help but sneer as he knew he was right.  The android looked at him stoicly and had no choice but to agree.

"Your objected is noted and I cannot stop you from Earth Defense Force business.  Still remember as soon as it is over the rules are in effect and you must leave."  By this time Rufus had already started heading back in and gave a nonchalant wave back to the enforcer.

"Ya ya, I get it tin man, just leave the alien slaying to this werewolf here!"  Rufus cracked his knuckles and made it back inside.

[h3]Jeene Quark[/h3]

"Man I can't believe they kicked me out of the lab," Jeene wined a bit as she drove a hover car over toward the proving grounds.  She had wanted to stay and work some more but they had insisted until the lab was disinfected and cleaned up no more work could be done.  They had also insisted that she join the tournament to decide who would leave Earth to locate the threat.  She had argued that she preferred to make things but that argument was over ridden as they argued that an engineer that could fight would prove to be a real asset to any such team.  There was also the fact that well, for some reason she was quite strong for a human and good fighters could be hard to come by.  In any event, she had been forced to leave, even though she had volunteered to help clean up.

Jeene flew through the air toward the Proving Grounds, which was large and state of the art to accommodate strong fighters.  Thankfully Jeene did not need to find a parking space thanks to handy capsule technology.  Jumping out of the car she put it in capsule form and tucked it away.  "Well I'm here now...guess I need to make the most of it."  She entered and quickly found her way toward registration.