"Welcome back viewers! I'm sure you were excitedly waiting for the show to go on and I'll be happy to oblige! I am your host Staan and we stopped before revealing the name of our lovely lady! Give an applause for Mystelfina Goetia!" Staan spread out his arms towards the redhead girl, who was bathed in manic applause and wolf whistles.

Said girl preened under the attention Staan noticed. "Anything you want to say to your beloved fans?" He gave a wink to the camera before it panned on the girls fair features.

"I'll do my best for you guys! I'll show you there is more to me than being a trophy wife. I'll win this and finally be free again!" She said confidently as an heroic aura surrounded her. Magic was, well, magical for things like this.

Staan waited as the applause continued. Maybe it would continue if he didn't put a stop to it? Quite likely.

Staan clapped and everything was bathed in silence. "And now to the next candidate!"

Two spotlights shone down at the same time, revealing a being formed out of two metallic balls hovering over the ground. The smaller ball hovered above the bigger one, a giant lens covering up most of it, with a tiny speaker box below the lens.

The other spotlight revealed a humanoid being, covered in greenish black exoskeleton, standing on two legs. It's thin arms and feet ended in three claws as they hung off it's main body, comprised of a highly mobile spine ending in a sharp tail. It's head was elongated, lacking eyes, compensated by huge batlike ears. It's maw was coated in green saliva, giving it's teeth a dangerous sheen. It stood open-mouthed, as saliva dripped to the ground, hissing and steaming at the contact point.

"Of course I meant the next candidates! Plural! What a surprise to introduce two contestants at the same time!" Staan's eye twitched as his grin grew slightly strained again.

"Our round fellow here, is an offspring of a highly sentient AI race that populated it's galaxy. They strove to expand even further, but with the way they evolved, emotions were left behind!" Staan quickly got back into his element and played the backstory up for the viewers.

"As a being who developed more emotions than usual for it's race, he has been an outcast since young! Barely scraping by, never getting any upgrades. You wouldn't believe he was over 200 years old!" The audience gasped and booing filled the halls.

"200 years of painful existence in a world nobody understood him. He only wanted the best for the others. Please welcome article 1337. The last functioning sentient being of the H3-R0 model." More applause filled the stands after that introduction.

"Any inspirational words you want to say 1337?" Staan looked encouragingly at the android, as the viewers calmed down.

Soft and gentle beeping flowed out of 1337s speaker box, almost melodically lulling it's audience into a world of happy thoughts.

"That was.. beautiful, thank you 1337." Staan waved a handkerchief into existence, gently dabbing away at the tears threatening to ruin his makeup. He took a deep breath, calming his nerves and returning to his inviting smile.

"The last contestant is a being from the.. let's say far away parallel dimension. Nobody would ever be able to pronounce it's name, not even it's inhabitants who named it! Please give a warm welcome designation.. Infiltrationstock 892!"

The applause filling the hall was a lot more subdued and the being noticed. It's maw opened wider, revealing more rows of teeth as it chittered in sardonic delight.

"It's bred for war, both male and female, at the same time it's neither! It was made for silent infiltration, manipulation and.. seduction?" Staan flipped his information card to see if there had been a mistake, but didn't let it show on his face. As steadfast as before he continued.

"With that we have all five contestants ready and introduced! How will they fare in the coming contests? Who will win the first event? Everyone is able to bring home the win!" Staan hyped up the crowd, snapping his fingers as a giant wheel with colorful spaces appeared.

"What will the first contest be?" The camera panned over the contestants, catching their expressions as the wheel was revealed. The ferret like beast gently snored, as a slime bubble inflated and deflated with each of its breath.

Xiaoshe looked on with a confident expression, his hair and robes still billowing heroically.

Mystelfina looked over the segments of the spinning wheel, expression flickering between nervous and calculating.

1337 beeped a surprised beep.

The chitinous monster continued smirking, as if everything was going along it's plans.

A second drumroll joined the first one as the first one intensified.

The spinning wheel started spinning and a band appeared on stage, a purple colored slime in a tuxedo started a drumroll, slowly getting louder and faster as the wheel passed by all kinds of events. Hotdog eating contest, a cake throwing battle, the wheel went on and on.

"This is where the usual company would force in a few ads!" Staan cheered at the audience. "But not us! No silly cliffhangers just to announce what the next battle will be!"

The wheel slowed down and came to a stop. The drumroll intensified in a way no human would possibly be able to do it, as the second drumroll ramped up to the same intensity.

"It is the bridge of madness!!" Staan said ominously with a bright smile as the crowd went wild. "And thank you Mark, for the amazing musical assist." The crowd clapped in appreciation for the amazing drumroll. With a bow the tuxedo slime disappeared in a puff of rainbow glitter.

"In this event, you will all walk on the bridges of your choice at the same time. Eggs and fragile balls of glue, soft easily breakable pillows filled with feathers will all be shot at you from toy cannons!" Staan looked over the contestants to see confusion fill their faces. His grin grew.

"Some of the eggs will be rotten, some of the pillows will be hard, sometimes something else might hit you, like bags of honey or ants.." Only two of the contestants gave visible reactions at that, growing slightly pale. The alien beings' saliva production seemed to have increased as only the increased hissing and steam clued him in.

"The goal is to reach the end of the bridge in one piece. The order you reach the end in? Doesn't matter! Only the winners will gain a boost in their power system!"

Ohh's and Ahh's filled the crowd as Staan clapped his hand and all contestants appeared on a mountaintop, multiple bridges disappearing into the distance.