"What do you mean the timeline got screwed up," Tija whispered into her phone. Jet heard her but didn't move to listen.

"What will this do to us?"

Jet waited for Tija to continue, but she didn't say anything else before getting off her phone. He paused for a few minutes before he got up to look at her. "What was that about?"

"Nothing to worry about. Just screwed up a very important order." Tija tried to put on a neutral face.

"That didn't sound believable," Jet said.

"Well, nothing for you to worry about. The fights have been moved to today. So get ready." Tija got up and left the room.

It took Jet a few seconds before what she said clicked in his mind. "Why is the Alteras Games starting early?" He jumped out of bed to get ready. Then saw the pamphlet with Amanda's ring on it. "I still need to get that back." Then he thought. 'Why am I even doing these stupid games? I literally could sneak into the Tower.' But he threw out the idea when he remembered the wall they had walked on. The place was super guarded.

"Ford, hurry up. We need to get going." Tija slipped back in unnoticed.

"Shouldn't we have been warned about this yesterday?" Jet complained as he hurried out the door.

"Something has happened, and it was moved up. Luckily my friend warned me this morning." Tija ran over to the counter and checked out of the motel.

"So, how long until the games start then?" Jet asked as he practically dove into her car.

"In about four hours." Tija didn't give time for a reply before driving off at dangerous speeds.

When they got to the building, Jet asked. "If we have four hours, why the hurry?"

"Well, you need to go check-in. As for me, I've got a lot to do before the day is out." Tija looked at Jet and smiled. "Good luck Ford."

"Luck is for fools. I'll wing this like I always do." Jet moved away from the car and then shut the door. Then a thought struck him as Tija drove off. She was talking completely differently from what she had been. But he decided to ignore the thought and went into the building. The guards didn't even stop him, which was surprising. He did have weapons on him. That thought passed when he saw the other guy in the room. There was a guy covered in weapons.

"Aww, good, the two volunteers are here." A woman walked up to them, clapping her hands together. "My name is Gegol."

Jet, not knowing what to say, stayed quiet. However, the other guy did not. "No need for introductions, Lady Gegol. I'm sure everyone knows your name." He bowed to her very fluently. Gegol looked at Jet, but nothing happened.

"Ok, follow me." Gegol walked off without ensuring they followed. "Now, you both will be put on opposite sides of the bracket. We want an epic showdown. Lord Joy is in quite the foul mood."

The other man stopped in his tracks. "How foul?"

Gegol stopped and looked bad. "Nothing to worry about, Stix. He hasn't changed the games to only deathmatch, and if he does, I suggest one of you forfeit before he cancels that."

"Yes, my lady." Stix bowed to her.

"Now, Stix, you use curses. But you, Ford, left the magic line blank. Do you use any kind?" Gegol must have been in a hurry because she turned to walk away again.

Jet sped up and gave an answer he could live with. "I can manipulate the elements around me." That, at least, would leave wiggle room.

"Oh, that's a good one. Had one of your type twelve years ago. But I don't remember you winning a game. Were you born with magic?" Gegol asked.

Jet was not sure how to answer the question. They may keep anyone with magic in their records. "Yes, I learned at around eight that I could use magic. As for my parents, I have no clue. I was found in the forest near a small town."

"I can work with that story. Now here are the waiting rooms. Inside you'll find a paper with the crimes the others have committed. By law, any volunteer has to know what they're up against. So read through all materials and rules of the games. I'll be back in two hours." Gegol never even stopped as she pointed at the two rooms. Stix didn't even say anything and took the door on the right, which left Jet the door on the left.

Jet sat down at a table with all the papers. "Let's take a look." He murmured and picked up a document. "Murder, murder, murder. I might make this list, rape, and murder. What the hell? Unlicensed milking and rape of the stock." Jet frowned. He found a computer to look up the name. "What, this guy raped his cows?" After getting the full picture of what the stock was, Jet paled slightly. The stock was not an animal. They were women, and they were milked. "This world is disgusting." He found that women's milk was quite the acquired taste. Jet kept reading down the list and decided to stop after reading. "Carving and killing without the proper permits. I think I should get out of here." He wanted to teleport away and have nothing to do with the place. Too bad someone walked into the room before the thought was done.

"Oh, that's some rockin hair you got." Jet stared at the woman who had entered the room. "Sorry, my dear, my name is Fiona. I'm here to make you shine."

"Shine?" Jet asked stupidly.

"Why yes, you need to sparkle out there. The more popularity you have, the more support you get." Fiona brought out racks and racks of clothes.

Jet rubbed his chin. "I should be fine on my own."

"First time I see. You haven't had time to read the rules yet, have you?" Fiona looked at Jet pityingly.

Jet picked up the paper for the rules. There were basically no rules at all. Anything could go, even killing wasn't an issue. However, the spectators could add special rules with votes. If enough votes were against him, they could take his magic away or his weapons. Of course, Lord Joy has the right to make any rule he wants. "May I ask what Lord Joy is upset about?"

"Oh, you haven't heard, my dear? His son was killed and buried in the streets. That poor boy was murdered, split into small pieces, and buried." Fiona explained.

Jet was glad Fiona was turned away from him. She may have noticed him pale at what she had said. That scenario sounded familiar. "Do they have any leads on what happened?"

"That's not our concern. They will find the culprits no matter what. Young man, you need to watch more news." Fiona said.

'Great, that's all I need. I should return to Earth and forget about looking at the Tower.' Jet thought, but he needed a couple more days to return to Earth. He could Jump into the unknown, which he would do as a last resort. "Yeah, I come from a small town. So news usually travels by mouth."

"Country boy, aye. I've always lived here. Ah ha, I think this is the look for you." Fiona pulled the suit out of Jet's bag. It had been the one Tija had gotten him.

"That is a good look?" Jet remembered the greyish metallic-looking suit. It even had some frills on the arms and legs.

"With a few modifications, oh yeah. I can make this work." Fiona walked off to another room. Jet waited for her to return with a dreaded feeling. Sure enough, several others stepped in with her. He didn't say a word and got up. They put a stool on the floor for him to stand on. Before he was asked to step onto the stool, he had already done so. "Oh good, eager to get ready. That's good, that's good, not much time is left."

"How much time is left?" Jet asked.

"Five minutes." Fiona had the other strip Jet fast. He got whiplash. But it did not take them long to get him ready.

Jet looked into the mirror, wondering why they needed all this effort. The clothes were going to get ruined in the matches. Then again, he had no idea what happened in the matches. "I look ridiculous." He looked at the silvery suit with white frills.

"Yeah, yeah, the eyes aren't quite right." Fiona walked over to the desk and pulled a small box out. "Oh, these will do nicely." Fiona handed Jet some contact lenses.

Jet didn't fuss and put them on. His eyes now looked milky white. "So, when did you cut my hair, and why is it spiky? I think we should go for a different look."

Fiona grabbed Jet by the hand and ran out of the room. "Sorry dear, no time left."

Jet was not sure what the hell was going on. But he has found himself out in a field full of people. "Fight until there are only eight people left." Some robotic announcer said.

Jet's first thought was, 'what if there are less than eight left at the end?' He decided he would find out. Looking around, he found Stix looking his way. That was all he needed was to be a target right off. Then he realized everyone was looking at him. 'Right, I'm the guy with the missing arm. So the predators are circling, or would if there was room.' He groaned at his thoughts. It also didn't help that he was far more noticeable than the rest. Now his thoughts wandered to Fiona and if she was asked to make him stand out so much. Getting rid of the cripple would make for good fun for these people.

"Now, a quick word from our beloved, Lord Joy." The announcer pronounced.

Jet looked around and found where he was sitting. The guy did not look happy at all. Lord Joy sat on an extravagant chair, leaning on his hand. After a few minutes of silence, he said a few words. "Get on with it."

"You heard the benevolent one. Let the games begin."

Jet was glad there was an uproar because he had broke out laughing. That was completely insane calling Lord Joy benevolent. Then he saw everyone diving at him. Ok, not just people, but spells as well. They were going all out to kill the wounded one. Too bad for them, Jet was not in the mood. A hole formed below him, letting him fall. He moved through the ground and came up somewhere out of the fight, or so he had thought. Stix had managed to keep track of him.

"Roulette curse," Stix yelled.

Jet didn't quite dodge the curse. He prepared for pain, but nothing happened. In fact, he felt completely fine. "Hey, why are you chasing me? I'm a volunteer just like you."

Stix shrugged. "Nothing personal, just getting rid of the competition. Too bad the last curse was a dud." Several curses flew from his hands at Him.

Jet went into overdrive, grabbed World Breaker, and cut the curses. He would like to say he had planned for that to work. However, he had only reacted. Stix took it as a sign to throw more curses at him. Jet kept pace, dodging and destroying the spells, and the ones that did hit hurt. He wasn't sure how the curses worked, but he had anything from burns to icy spots where they hit, and Stix was not giving Jet any leeway to think. After a few minutes, he got fed up with Stix and sent a mountain of earth spikes at him.

"Everyone stop. The match is over."

Jet stopped his barrage of spikes. Then he cringed when he saw what he had done. Stix had managed to dodge them but looked terrified. Behind him, what would be described as a massacre. Bodies had been torn to pieces, and what wasn't were hanging. Only two others had survived Jet's attack.