Their spaceship landed in the center of the perplexing city. Buildings were purples and greens and had more twisted designs than the standard New York skyscraper they were used to. Hundreds- no, thousands of green aliens stood behind bright blue police tape and railings. In the middle of the crowd a huge sign reading "Welcome Rebels!" was held up. They all wore shirts saying "I Love The Rebels!" and such. Some were even dressed up in the heroes' costumes! They all cheered out things in admiration.

"Unique is bae!"

"I love you, Virus!"

"Blue Bird the Blue Crusher!"

"Nightly is OTP!"

"Yeah, Star!"

"There are a lot of fans here," Zakolac told the group and tapped his finger to his head, "but remember, I'm your number one!" With that, the friendly alien opened up the door to the spacecraft and led the Rebels out. The screams and cheers intensified as the fans saw their heroes live in person! Police stood by the crowd, but even they seemed to be starstruck.

A green man in a dark green suit held out his hand to each Rebel. "Welcome to Planet Zem! I am the mayor of Zem, five years in a row, and I'm proud to be the first mayor to welcome such great heroes! If you could all just follow me," he said and led them all to a green limousine. On the doors was the Rebels' smiley face logo. "Step inside," he invited them.

Once every Rebel was inside of the limo, the mayor shut the door and sat down. All of the sound from the crowd was nullified so much you could hear a pin drop. The car began to slowly roll through the crowd. "Us Zemenians couldn't be more proud to host you six. You really are everyone's heroes on this planet. Because of this and your victories against S.E.C.R.E.T., we have invited you to the Zem Games! I'm not sure if Zakolac explained it to you," the mayor said, casting a glance at the boy, "but the Zem Games is a tournament for the greatest warriors of the universe!. Naturally, you are the best of the best, so we felt it best to invite you. All six of you will be competing for the secret prize and title of the Greatest Warrior in the Universe! Several other contestants are in the Games, but we're sure one of you will come out on top." He began to chuckle to himself as if he knew who the winner would be.

"There are cold drinks in that fridge," the mayor said and pointed to a minifridge. "Sorry Blue Bird, we couldn't load them up with any kind of alcohol." He waited for any Rebels to accept his offer and continued.

"Right now we're on our way to the Game's contestant lounge. You could call it a hotel for the contestants. Each one of you has a room and has access to everything in the rooms and hotel. There are personal trainers there who can help you learn to wield any weapons of choice, or they can teach you how to better use your fists. The games begin in one week, so we encourage you to take part in as much training as possible to ensure your victory. You'll also have time within that week to freely explore our planet. Any questions?"

Nightmare rose his hand and asked, "Yeah, what are the rules of the games? Do we just beat each other until a knockout?"

The mayor nodded, "Yes, those are part of the rules. There are three ways to win: your opponent doesn't get up within the eight-count, your opponent falls out of the arena, or the judges' scorecard. Nothing is illegal in the tournament, besides deadly force. This is a contest for fun and for a prize so it will be competitive."

"Any consequences if we lose?" Nightmare continued.

"No, the only consequence if you lose would be your pride. This is just a contest for fun," he stressed again. "Anymore questions?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon stepping out of the spacecraft, Ally was shocked. So many people came just to see them and cheer them on. It was hard to not feel overwhelmed by the sudden fame and hide away, but she kept her serious hero persona as best as she could and gave a slight wave to the crowd. She still had trouble wrapping her mind around the fact her life the past year and in the future was just a TV show to these people. They loved the Rebels, but it was still a hard concept to grasp.

After shaking the mayor's hand she was thankful for the silence of the limo where she plopped herself down between Star and Virus. Although they were sitting the whole ship ride, after the overwhelming crowd she was glad to be able to gather her thoughts again.

Victories against S.E.C.R.E.T.? she questioned internally. Yes, Zakolac had kind of mentioned them beating S.E.C.R.E.T., but she wasn't quite sure what the mayor meant by this.

The Zem Games sounded fun, but Ally didn't appreciate being placed in them without consent. What if she hurt someone, or what if she got hurt? She'd rather be planning for the next mission against S.E.C.R.E.T. than winning a contest.

When he offered drinks she gladly opened the fridge only to see weird and unfamiliar beverages. She shrugged and grabbed one as to not be rude, but didn't open it. They probably understood human anatomy well, but she didn't want to take any chances.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightmare looked out on the crowd and shook his head. All of these people wasted their time watching their show instead of helping them against S.E.C.R.E.T. Then again, S.E.C.R.E.T. wasn't their problem and if TV stations could make a buck off of their suffering they would. Whether it be Earth or Zem, people were greedy.

He was happy that the interior was dark making Nightmare more comfortable. He listened to the mayor talk and asked a couple questions. Access to training? It's been a long time since I was taught...

He didn't take a drink when offered since he was too thirsty, but chuckled at Ally's expression when she took one.

He had no more questions, so he just say back and observed as the others asked theirs.

*******************

Star blushed and happily waved back to the crowd of fans. She didn't know this many people were fans of her and her new friends. It was like being a movie star she saw on television.

Star plopped down in the limo and listened to the mayor talk about the Zem Games. Her throat tightened up a bit as she didn't really know how to fight too well. She would really need to go to the training and possibly even beef up a bit before the Games. She never taught for any kind of competition and was more nervous than anything. She wondered if she could forfeit or purposely knock herself out of the ring so she wouldn't have to go on. Then again, people who admired her would be there and people she admired would be watching. She didn't want to let anyone down.

Upon finding out there were no consquences a weight was lifted off her shoulders. "Thank goodness," she murmured, then realized she was sitting beside Blue Bird. The bird woman always made her feel skittish and on edge.

Then she thought about the mayor's attitude. He kept calling them heroes and yet they didn't beat S.E.C.R.E.T. Did he even know that? She clentched her fists as she thought about the monsters who took her parents' lives away.

Unique was shocked. No, more like overwhelmed by how many people were cheering for them. Of course, being herself, she hardly showed the surprise on her features other than the slight rise of her eyebrows and the small twitch of her lips. She didn't make any comments as she followed the others in the limo. Once she seated, she crossed her legs and folded her hands neatly on her lap. Listening to the mayor explain the games, she noticed how much he was stressing the 'fun' part. Unique simply guessed that people have perished during the games before. Rules were rules for reasons. Her glowing blue eyes glanced around the limo before she asked, "Who are the other contestants?" She wondered if they would be able to meet their competitors before the games began, which she guessed they would. Anyone who knew tactics would know the best way to win would be observe and find the weaknesses.

The mayor looked at Unique and scratched his chin. "Well, I can't tell you their names or anything relating to their identities, but I can assure you you will meet them at the lounge. There are one or two contests from Kreig'r Academy if I'm not mistaken, and they're pretty rough." He shifted around in his seat to get more comfortable and explained, "Our citizens don't know you will be participating in the games so it'll be a real treat. We have broadcasted that you will be spectacting, not participating. Anymore questions?" The hotel was a little off in the distance so they still had time. Fans were still eagerly following the limousine.

Simon waved back to the crowd, as he gave a nervous half-smile to the eyes watching him. It was all very overwhelming, but it wasn't just that that kept the man from enjoying all the attention. The mayor had mentioned that the reasoning for everyone's excitement was because of the various victories against S.E.C.R.E.T., and while they had done quite in such a short amount of time, it seemed all too undeserved. 'Perhaps television is just blowing everything out of proportion, just like on Earth.' He laughed a bit to himself as he thought. Even on the limousine ride, he found himself unable to enjoy himself, as he faded in and out on the mayor's speakings.

"Our citizens don't know you will be participating in the games so it'll be a real treat. We have broadcasted that you will be spectacting, not participating. Anymore questions?" The hotel was a little off in the distance so they still had time. Fans were still eagerly following the limousine.

"Mr. Mayor, sir," The masked hero began, as his eyes drifted down to the floor. "S.E.C.R.E.T., is it some sort of intergalactic problem too?" He asked the question on his mind, as the way people were involved, and the way they rooted for their heroes, it seemed more closely connected than Simon had originally thought upon meeting Zakolac. It was why Simon had such a hard time keeping up his joking persona; if S.E.C.R.E.T. had reached out to other planets as well somehow, using the technology Simon helped to create, it was just an added burden, heavier weight on his shoulders that he'd have to deal with for the rest of his life.

Unique just gave a small nod when the mayor answered her question. So they were to be surprise contestants? Lovely. What made it even more great was the fact they had no prior knowledge of their participation in the games. She honestly didn't know how she felt about the whole situation. Pushing her small annoyance away from her thoughts, she glanced towards Simon. Now, the cyborg may not have been the best with identifying her own emotions but she could read other's faces. And she saw the heavy look her teammate displayed. Unique frowned ever so slightly. She felt like she should attempt to comfort him, to assure him that all of the S.E.C.R.E.T. stuff wasn't his fault, but there would be time for that later. Hopefully.

"Well, uh," the mayor said and let out a couple of awkward coughs while shifting another gaze to Zakolac, "Not exactly, no, but you'll find out more about that later on."

"So wait, let me get this straight," Ally said, leaning forward, "you guys looked into our future and took pieces out of it to broadcast, right?" The Mayor of Zem gave her a nod. "And I'm sure you know that we haven't beaten S.E.C.R.E.T. yet, right?" The mayor nodded again. "So that means you've altered our future by bringing us here and telling is about our future, am I wrong?"

"Well uh... Yes, that is true. Your future is altered from the future we saw. The future we televised was the most possible future at the moment. So, since we have tampered with your present your future is also tampered with."

"So you're telling me because you wanted to meet us so badly and have us in the Games, you could've jeopardized our lives and planet?" Her intentions weren't to be so rude, but she was disgusted that he would do such a thing for entertainment.

"Oh, uh, yes, but in exchange for competing we will give you information on S.E.C.R.E.T.! Not only that, but there is a secret prize for the winner. It could do you guys really well in the future!" The mayor began to sweat as if cornered.

"How about you tell us what the prize is? Sounds like a fair trade to me," Nightmare said and nodded to give the perception more people agreed.

"No, absolutely not, that is against the rules of the Games! The Games are one of the most sacred and beloved traditions!"

Ally cast a look to Virus. It was ultimately up to him what they were going to do.

Unique's eyes shifted back over to the mayor. How did these aliens know their future? And what gave them the great idea to alter their futures? She starting to become frustrated with these people, but she didn't let it show. She blinked in a sort of lazy manner as she said, "Rules are always broken, no matter the consequences." She turned her head and looked out the window, saying no more. Ultimately, she wasn't the one who made decisions. Whatever Simon decided, she would go along with.

The mayor's jaw dropped at his hereo's refusal to go by the rules. They were heroes, weren't they? Why were they this upset about the Zem Games on a planet that adored them? In the beginning it was hard not to ask them for their autographs and grovel at their feet. Now he was watching the image of his heroes crumble and crack. He swallowed and cleared his throat, "Thank you for the wise words Unique, but I simply won't let the rules of the Games be broken, not while I'm mayor." He then turned over to Nightmare, "It's up to- oh wait," he then turned over to Virus, "You haven't been died yet? You're still leader?" The mayor didn't wait for a response before continuing, "It's your decision. Whether you play in the Games or not, I will give you information on S.E.C.R.E.T. that should be more than of help. If you play in the Games there's a high chance one of you will win the prize. Quitting the Games now doesn't mean your future is changed back. Perhaps competing in the Games could result in a better future than we recorded." The limo stopped in front of the hotel. "Please, make your choice."

"I-I don't think we should quit," Star said rather pathetically. She wasn't used to speaking out with the Rebels yet since she was the youngest and newest member. "He's right, our future is changed. Maybe this will change us for the better if we can fight enemies harder than Poison and Hunters."

Nightmare shook his head, "It just sounds like a waste of time. Instead of wasting our time training for some stupid tournament- no offense, sir- we should be spending time training to go up against S.E.C.R.E.T."

Ally carefully considered both Rebels' points and gave her own, "I think Star's right. Putting our training towards this game will be no different from training to fight S.E.C.R.E.T. The Zems have higher technology that we'll have access too, and we should go to the fighting trainers to learn, if not brush off. We've been going against Hunters, that's totally different than going up against humans or aliens. In the end if it makes us stronger I think we should go for it."

"But we're still wasting time! S.E.C.R.E.T. could be storming the library right now and we're here playing some silly alien game! At least when we're on earth there's a chance we'll be back before everyone is killed! Here we have no way of knowing what's going on!" Nightmare shouted, shadows forming around his body.

'Why can't we just make a final decision without argument?' Unique mentally questioned herself. She didn't care whether or not they competed. But now that she thought about it, perhaps it would be beneficial for them. The training and the games might make them stronger. She crossed her arms, her metal finger tapping against her arm. "I agree with Ally and Star, we should compete," she commented softly. "By the rules." She added the last part mostly for the mayor's sake.

Zakolac whispered something in the mayor's ear after he tried to ask Nightmare for the answer, reassuring him that Virus still was alive and present as the leader.

Virus weighed his options carefully, as Nightmare brought up a very good point. Every second they spent here, training or not, S.E.C.R.E.T. was back home, continuing to mistreat and harm innocent people to progress their own agendas. They had already wasted enough time, in Virus' eyes. 'However, if we do manage to get crucial information to help in our fight...' Simon continued to view the benefits of either choice. "We're already here, aren't we?" He tried to joke to hide his true reasoning. "We might as well stick around to play in these games, we'll grow stronger, and maybe learn a handy thing or two from this information of theirs, right?" Simon continued to laugh, playing things off to get some of the eyes off of him, and perhaps play things to be less serious than they actually were.

A weight was lifted off of the mayor's chest as they agreed to the terms. "Oh thank goodness, you guys have no idea what this means to me, to us!" he said, breaking his non-fan disguise. He added a couple more coughs and stepped out of the limo. "I'll give you all the keys to your individual rooms. They have the room numbers on them so you won't get confused or mix rooms. There's a map of the hotel in the lobby. I encourage you take advantage of everything and anything you can. Please, the phones in the rooms have my number on speed dial, #001, feel free to call any time you need."

Ally stepped out of limo and took the key he handed to her. She wasn't sure what to do right away, besides check out the room. There was a lot to do, check out museums, meet fans, but the most important was probably the training. Then again, they had a whole week to train, she wanted to do a little bit of exploring first. "Star, you want to check out the sights with me for a bit?"

Star took her key, thanked the mayor, and enthusiastically nodded at Ally's offer, "Yeah, sounds like fun!" So, the two skipped the hotel and went straight for the city.

Nightmare snatched his key and went into the hotel. It looked like any normal hotel lobby would, besides the extreme use of blues, greens, and purples. Several people were on couches and chairs, eating, reading, and thinking. Everyone was alien, but they all seemed to have the same physical forms as humans. Everyone seemed friendly even though they were concentrated. "I guess I'll try the training..." he murmured and stretched his arms out as he explored. He took a couple wrong turns before finding the room where a buff Zemenian stood. "Are, uh, you the trainer?"

"Am I the trainer? Of course I'm the trainer!" he said and began to flex. "HURGH!"

"Oh boy, I can't wait," Nightmare murmured and rolled his eyes.

Unique exited the limo. She took the key from the mayor, giving him one of her rare but genuine smiles and a 'thank you'. She began her way towards the hotel lobby. Sightseeing would be saved for later, for now she would observe the other contestants. Perhaps she would converse with some of them. Silently, she entered the lobby with her hands clasped behind her back. She looked around the hotel with her usual unemotional look, taking note of the aliens either lumbering about or relaxing on the couches.

OOC: PFFFFFFFFFT i just realize that there was an IC thread. This site has a super cool set-up

Bluebird just stared out into space, actually quiet for once. Fighting until you win some super awesome prize? That sounded pretty sweet. But she hated all this attention. She could make a sarcastic comment about the whole situation, but she just wasn't in the mood. "No alcohol...this place sucks," she complained loudly, "how am I 'possed to have any fun 'round here with out my booze?" Her beefy arms were crossed her muscular chest. Her two huge, feathery bluebird wings were folded behind her. "...And what the h*ll is a Blue Crusher...?" She hated it when people 'worshiped' her. She didn't deserve it, not like the others. The other Rascals were in this for a real reason, to help this crummy world. Scratch that, this crummy universe. BB was just in for the kicks, and by that she meant literally kicking losers in the butt. She was a thrill seeker, and being a Rascal gave her the high she sought out to find.

OOC: Also, it's been a while, obviously, since I've RPed the Rascal version of BB, so there might be a couple changes 'cause the BB I use now is way different. I'll try to RP her the way she is in the story, but I might miss a few points xD Honestly, I don't even remember her design for this one. Like, what she actually looks like xD The one I use now, I'm going to guess, is super diffrent

(It's beautiful, Angel. <3

Also I'm gonna write this here real quick so there's no confusion. Basically to prevent this from being a kingdom roleplay, which is basically when everyone goes off and does their own thing and only like one or two people do anything to progress the plot, I'm going to timeskip to the end of the week and the tournament is about to start. You can roleplay your characters before the timeskip if you want, I'm only going to do it to progress Star's plotline.

ALSO do you guys want each Rebel to compete one-by-one so we'll have to wait, or do you want to do them all at once? All at once might get a little confusing, but one-by-one will be kind of slow. Just let me know. :3

ALLLSSSOOOO Every Rebel is going to win their fight and move up in the tournament, so basically a Rebel wins no matter what, but the Rebel that wins isn't preset. XD You can make the Rebels fighting each other for fun or for serious competition, whichever. XD

If anything else needs to be discussed we can take it in the OOC tab so it doesn't gunk up the IC.)

Star and Ally went to the city by foot so they could take in the strange architecture of the Zem's better. The building's weren't like anything Star saw in her travels across earth with her late parents. Everything was very rounded and relatively stout. None of the building's seemed to extend over twenty floors. The streets and sidewalks were very similar to earth's. As they walked they received a few calls and even requests for pictures and autographs, but overall the Zems seemed to respect their privacy and tended to admire from afar. Star had never received attention like this and smiled at anyone who looked on in awe.

"What do you think?" Ally asked the girl as they continued.

"It's weird, but I like it. Something about it feels familiar," Star said.

"Yeah? I guess the streets are the same, and the people are nice."

The two went silent again for a bit as they enjoyed the walk. Star couldn't shake the familiar feeling and tried to not let it bother her, but it kept gnawing at her.

"Oh, excuse me!" Ally said, interrupting Star's thoughts, "Can you please tell us any kind of places that would be good to visit?"

"Of course!" the Zem said and began to give directions. Star tried to pay attention, but she was too distracted by the aura of the city.

"Alright, thank you," Ally said and the Zem was off. "You hear that, Star? There's a museum right around the corner. Wanna check it out?"

"Sure!" Star said. "Have you ever been somewhere and felt like... I don't know, kind of like you belong there?"

"Huh... I guess you can say that, yeah."

"Yeah? When?"

"When I met Virus in the sewers."

"In the sewers?"

"Oh, you never knew? We used to have a sewer base before Alice took us in. We'd only been living there for maybe a month before we found you on the island."

"Really? Wow."

"It was pretty bad, but we made the most of it. Anyways, I think that's it."

They were a couple buildings down from a bright yellow building that stood out from the others. Rather than being ovular, it was more like a rectangle with rounded corners. The two entered and were amazed by the technology. Holograms of historical events played out, some with a voice over explaining the event, others with the actors themselves explaining what was happening as they acted.

A woman approached them and gave a bright smile. "I knew you would bring her here, you two grow very close later on." She then turned to Star, "Avery... you look just like your mother."

"My mom?" Star murmured, heart aching. Seeing her parents bodies still haunted her at night, especially since it only happened a month or two before.

"Yes, just like her, I can't wait to see your Zem form."

"M-my what?"

"Your Zem form."

"What are you talking about?" Ally asked.

"Oh... she doesn't know?"

"What don't I know?" Star asked, tearing up a bit.

"Your parents sweetheart, about your parents."

"Hey, could you be more sensitive?" Ally said, trying to defend Star.

"Sweetheart, your mother was a Zem and your father was a Ymac."

"What are you talking about?" Star sniffled.

"Look, come with me." The woman led the two through a museum until they got to an area dedicated to the Z-Y War. "Your mother was the leader of our army and your father the leader of the Ymac army. We were fighting for so many years until your parents finally ended the war. Afterwards, in an effort to retain peace your parents would hold conferences. What many people didn't know was the romance building behind the scenes. After retiring from their positions no one ever heard from them until we watched S.E.C.R.E.T. Take a look," the woman said and pointed at two holograms shaking hands.

Star gasped. They were her parents alright, only in a more alien form. "What does it mean?"

"It means you should learn more about your culture, sweetie."

"Why did they always look so human?" Star questioned.

"Well, every Zem and Ymac have powers, they must've had camouflaging abilities."

"Why did I take on the human form then? Why don't I look like you guys?"

"That my dear I cannot explain. I'll leave you be."

"B-but wait!" Star said and reached out for the woman, but she disappeared. "S-should I believe her?"

"I'm not sure, Star," Ally said, scratching the back of her head. "Let's just get back to the hotel."

"O-okay," Star replied and they began a quiet walk back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Rebels and competitors all sat in a room that led right to the stadium. Tensions ran high as they waited to compete to prove their title as Champion of the Universe. A television showed them what was going on outside.

"LAAAAADIES AND GENTLEZEMS! WELCOME TO THE 213th ANNUAL ZEM GAMES!"

Every Zem in the stadium cheered and clapped as hard as they could.

"This year will be a very very special year. As a very special surprise, our very beloved heroes will be competing!" Every Zem began to cheer, all hoping for their TV heroes to appear. They heard rumors, but weren't sure.

"Let's introduce those heroes! First off, Virus! Leader of the Rebels and creator of the Rascals! The man who can shrink down to an inch and talk to technology! Hopefully he won't need to talk to vital monitors after this!"

A woman with a headpiece waved Virus to the open door.

The announcer continued with the rest of the Rebels. "Next is Nightmare! Master of the shadows and the leader of the Rebels in The Rebuild! Will his sass help him out here, folks?"

"Next leader, eh?" Nightmare considered before walking out to line up beside Virus. He smirked at the cheers and whistles and gave a half-hearted wave. At least someone appreciated him.

"Now it's Ally! The woman with a gadget for everything! No powers, but let's see if brains can make up for that!"

Ally smiled and stood up. She was amused by the introductions and felt some of the stress melt away. In the end, there were so many Rebels it wasn't likely they would lose. She planned on having fun and enjoying the break from fighting S.E.C.R.E.T. She gave the crowd a wave and took her place beside Nightmare. Just then on the monitors a kiss-cam popped up and zoomed in on the two, though the camera was so shaky it managed to get half of Virus in there too. The crowd sent out their catcalls and shouts, causing the two focal points to facepalm.

"And that's why we love them! Next up is Unique! What doesn't this robotic woman have up her sleeves? She even has human emotions! Will silly emotions impeded her fighting? We don't think so!"

"Now watch out folks, here comes Blue Bird! Her blue wings aren't just for show, she can fly! Not only that, but she's really, really strong! Don't let her get a grip on you, it might be the end!"

"Now we've got the youngest member of the Rebels, Star! Her name isn't just a novelty act, she can create balls of light energy in her hands! They aren't just pretty, they also burn!"

Star stepped out and timidly smiled at the audience. She was excited for the competition, but wasn't too confident in her abilities. Sure she fought Poison, but she had the Rebels to back her up. This fight would be one on one.

"Give our heroes another hand! The Rebels!" The crowd went even wilder and crazier than before.

"Alright Rebels, please take a seat in our VIP area, thank you. Okay folks, let's give a warm welcome to the other competitors!"

The announcer continued to list names until four people were standing, lined up. "Let's give them another round of applause! Okay, please take a seat in the VIP area."

"Now, for the man you all have been waiting for! The champion of Zem for the past decade, Zeminec!"

(You guys can do your character's reactions and such, you know how it goes. XD)

Blue Bird crossed her arms, frowning at the scene. It was a lil' pathetic, but at least she could kick the chocolate stuffed ants outta people. Her eyes slowly scanned over those who were cheering, studying her surroundings. She looked up, quickly getting an idea of what she would be fighting in. But then again, this setting might be prone to change because, well, alien tech. Maybe they had some sort of hologram system that would change the setting each battle would take place. Maybe they wouldn't. The dark haired woman didn't really care as long as she got some fights in.

Unique stepped out and joined Ally's side when her name was called. Despite the loud noises, the cheers were somewhat uplifting none the less. She raised her arm to wave to the cheering fans and game-viewers. A small smile played at her lips. Silly emotions were right, but there wasn't anything wrong with feeling a little pride. Unique clasped her hands behind her as she listened the announcer call the rest of the names, her blue eyes flickering across the crowd.

(*COUGH* SOMETIME DURING THE WEEK *COUGH*)

(Also, the uniforms, here: )

Simon was now dressed in a simple white t-shirt, black shorts, carrying a heavy-looking backpack, as he hiked through some of Zem's very own jungles. Surrounding the two were six of Zem's most elite soldiers, each one wearing the same, black and yellow uniform. The visors all seemed to be extremely tinted, as one would only see a yellow reflection when staring into one of the guard's faces. Two in the front, two in the back, and two on either side, completely surrounding the Rebel.

Simon found himself in awe at the sight in front of him, with the variety of shapes, sizes, and colors every tree and plant came in, varying either quite greatly, or just slightly from what you'd find on Earth. A peculiar, bright blue, beetle of sorts flew past Simon, as his eyes watched it the whole way. He turned his head almost completely around, as the Rebel observed it fly off in the distance. Simon wasn't watching where was going, and ended up bumping right into one of the guards in front of him. The guard didn't budge at all, but simply continued walking, Simon, however, stumbled backwards, falling right into one of the men behind him.

The guard held out his arms, and caught the hero from falling on his butt.

Simon slowly brought himself up to his feet, as he turned to face the alien who caught him. He was going to say thank you, but simply froze, as he stared into the intimidating yellow visor.

"Keep moving." The soldier ordered, his voice sounding slightly garbled, as it came out of the helmet.

"Look, guys," Simon awkwardly laughed, as he immediately turned away, and continued to move forward. "Is all of this really necessary? I mean, this whole bodyguard thing. I am a superhero, you know, I can handle whatever comes my way."

"Dr. Spurber, I understand what may be going through your mind, but, you're our guests, and we have direct orders to keep you safe, no matter what." The guard directly in front of him informed Simon, keeping his eyes forward, alert.

"Is this planet really all that dangerous, though? Everything, and everyone, I've seen so far has been so peaceful." The Rebel continued to question.

The guard suddenly stopped, as he pointed off in the distance; an old, half destroyed temple was visible. It was covered in mold, and looked to have been abandoned for quite some time.

Virus pulled out a pair of odd red goggles from his backpack, as he strapped them onto his face. He turned the lenses of the goggles slowly, as he carefully zoomed in to the temple. It wasn't just a temple, but an entire city in the distance, abandoned. Various skeletons were scattered across the land, as most were half-crushed under debris.

"You've just been shown what they've wanted you to see. Not everything's so glamorous, Dr. Spurber. We have a lot of enemies, and with the games going on, this planet can get 'all that dangerous'. A lot of people would love to try and take out Zem's favorite heroes, and while I trust you can handle yourself on your own planet, this is foreign terrain, with the kind of enemies that are very foreign to you." The guard continued to explain, as he simply continued walking along the trail. "We're almost there."

Simon's heart sank, as he saw all of the bodies. The scientist slowly took off his goggles, as he stuffed them back into his backpack. He heard a soft 'squeak' sound from below, as he took a step forward. He looked down, only to find an old, dirty doll lying under his foot. It could've belonged to someone from the abandoned city. "W-Who did all this?" Simon questioned, as his heart rate started to speed slightly. The destruction only reminded him of the possible future of his own planet, if S.E.C.R.E.T. weren't to be stopped.

(I'll continue this later. Sorry for the bad writing.)

After everyone was announced and took their places, the announcer shouted into his microphone, "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" Every Zeminec nearly had a heart attack as they cheered and cheered. "Our first match is going to be Unique versus Phase! Everyone on this planet knows and loves the metal woman Unique, but do you know Phase? Phase comes from the planet Enu where powers are extremely rare. He has found his way to the games by defending his planet from dangerous space pirates! This Enuian can phase through anything and become almost invisible! Will Unique's sensors be able to pick up on that?"

Phase stepped out into the center of the arena. He wasn't too good at fighting, but he figured since he could phase through nearly anything Unique threw at him, he could tire her out. Then he remembered she was an android. He didn't know how much energy she had, but he would try to rack up as many points as possible before the ten minute match ended. "I hope I can hold my form long enough," he murmured to himself through a smile. He could only hold his phase form for a few seconds at a time, but he wasn't sure how many times he could keep holding it. The alien waved out to the crowd as he waited for Unique to enter.

Once she did, a referee stood between the two and held his arm up, "Ready... set... fight!" The referee quickly stepped back and away. Phase got into a simple fighting stance and nervously waited for Unique to make her move. He knew how strong she was and didn't want to be hit.

"Remember fighters, no fatal or crippling hits, everything is for fun," the announcer said.

Unique was softly humming to herself as she walked into the arena. She gave the cheering crowd a small wave before she let her optics fall to Phase. 'So he can so call 'phase' through again? This should be interesting,' she thought to herself as the referee started the match. She bent her legs slightly, her metal toes digging into the ground, with her fist raised. Springing forward, she shot towards him and aiming for a simple strike to the chest. She wasn't going into the fancy techniques until she tested the waters.

Phase let out a gasp and did what he did best. He phased into intangibility for the brief moment Unique passed through him and he phased back. He didn't want to strike out just yet, but he did anyway with an improper kick. Rather than snapping his leg, he just swung it out. In reality Phase didn't want to fight, but he did it for the entertainment of the crowd and chance to say, "I competed in the Zem Games."