Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Taako watches the green thing, then pats Kravitz on the shoulder. "Would you go deal with the food? Just pick a table and sit down."

Kravitz goes to the counter, takes the Angus burgers, and sits down at an empty table as Taako brandishes... a closed umbrella, pointing the tip of it at the green humanoid as if he were pointing a gun at it. "What the hell are you?" he asks in a dismissive sort of tone. "There's people around here, so I won't hesitate to fire!"

edited 5th Apr '18 8:20:03 AM by KiriK

"Trust me, you'll be one of the first people I'll tell in such a situation."

Future!Nicole takes a moment to tie her long, brown hair back into a messy ponytail before continuing.

"Wouldn't hurt to have Sebastian on hand as a Plan B just in case Cinke can't hack it, though, and thanks. Now, what I'm about to say is gonna sound paranoid as hell, but hear me out... what if Troa's the one making Niko behave like this via her telepathy? It'd explain his weird reaction to the mere mention of her name."

« Nicole... » she says, her voice growing slightly offended. « Why would she do that ? »

Sarah briefly raise up but then sit down again. She look vaguely confused and somewhat annoyed now.

—

« Nwhfeygddtyferhgdeeh notfesaaaaa aaaiiieeez azziiieeez. » It says, fizzling it’s arms out.

The green throws himself at the counter and then stay on the floor before getting back up to gesture at food, unconcerned by the weapon.

edited 5th Apr '18 8:27:59 AM by Bolded1

"Oh, so you're a hungry boy, are ya?" Taako lowers the umbrella. "Well, you can't have any of my food, but check this out!" He whips out a fork, pulls out an ordinary rock (not his Stone of Farspeech, which is what he's been using to contact Lup), and stabs the fork into the rock. The rock transmutes into a cheddar-cheese bread roll.

"Did you seriously just steal the Glutton's Fork from -" Kravitz starts.

"Ah-ah-ah! Illegally borrowed. I also illegally borrowed this, remember?" Taako says, pointing to a gigantic, wicked-looking sword on his back that no wizard would ever want to carry. "It was technically mine before I let him hang on to it!"

Somewhere outside the Arena, Magnus Burnsides looks at the sword missing from his bedside, feels the lack of a fork in his pack, and mutters, "Damnit, Taako..."

"So yeah, eat this," Taako says, throwing the cheesy bread roll at the green creature.

edited 5th Apr '18 8:46:08 AM by KiriK

Future!Nicole raises her hands defensively.

"Whoa, hey, take it easy there, Sarah!"

Once Sarah's calmed down, she breathes a sigh of relief.

"Should've known you'd react that way... now, Troa has strong telepathic powers, she's no stranger to screwing with peoples' minds, she's infamous for being a sociopathic kingpin who'd gleefully target her own flesh and blood without a hint of remorse, Niko's acting very unlike himself and having uncharacteristic outbursts, he freaked out at the mere mention of her name... Again, I know damn well how batcrap crazy this all sounds, but still, I can't help at least considering the possibility that it might be Troa behind all this Niko business."

The humanoid is hit by the cheese and fall over briefly, before reversing himself to eat the cheese.

It stand up and then it’s head deflate to the size of a thumb. The bizarre small head then hold his thumb up in approval as triumphant music play in the background.

—

Sarah pinch the bridge of her nose.

« We took her down and she helped us out years later. She’s making real efforts to redeem herself, did you lose your memory Nicole ? He reacted badly because she can see his thoughts and understand how he got like this. That’s all. »

She take her glasses off to clean them.

« Beside, why would she do that ? »

edited 5th Apr '18 8:58:39 AM by Bolded1

Taako reflexively recoils at the sight of whatever the creature is doing. He reaches into a sack and pulls out a handful of gold coins, leaving them on the counter as he takes the Filet-O-Fish and hesitantly joins Kravitz at his table. "You know that creep?"

"Can't say I've ever seen anything like it."

A red-robed specter appears by the table. Its form blurs and morphs, before settling down into the shape of what looks to be a female Taako.    "'Sup, goons?"    Lup asks as she takes her seat and grabs an Angus Deluxe off the tray.

Taako mutters, "I've been doing... well, let's call it 'recon', and I gotta say, this Arena place is hella magical and hella freaky."

   "You mean like you?"   

Taako punches his sister in the arm playfully. Each of the three people seated at the table takes a bite of his or her respective food.

Taako opens a viewing portal through which Angus McDonald peers in, just as the elf takes another bite of his burger. "Hey, look, Ango! I'm eating you!"

"Wow, um... that's pretty dark, Sir."

edited 5th Apr '18 9:10:51 AM by KiriK

"I remember, but that doesn't change the fact that before this supposed change of heart, Troa was a vile, sadistic piece of garbage who got off on being a monstrous bitch and doing horrific things. Plus, she often liked pretending to be good even though she sucked at it, so who's to say she's not just doing a better job of putting up a benevolent facade this time around? As for why she'd do such a thing, well, to get back at you for stopping her, why else?"

Future!Nicole lets out a sigh.

"But I get the feeling you're just gonna brush all that aside and, like... arrange for a meeting between me and Troa here or something, so let's just get back to the whole Niko ordeal."

edited 5th Apr '18 9:22:34 AM by IchigoMontoya

"Don't be too worried about my sword," Megan said, preparing herself to enter Super Mode. "It's been through more than most blades of its type should be able to endure."

Megan felt the flow of energy throughout her body, the way it ebbed and flowed... She focused on drawing it to the surface, out from the center. Her scales flared with an inner light and shone gold, as did the rest of her body. Her eyes turned red and gained slits, rather than pupils, and two large, wide beams of golden light erupted from her back, looking quite like wings of some sort. Her blade resonated with her own inner power, and turned from a pale, icy blue, to a purer silver. She put her blade in a readied stance, and channeled her power into it, causing the blade to glow with a brilliant inner light.

Super Mode, eh? I think I could get used to this...

"EXPLODING... GOD... SLASH!"

A burning-red trail shimmered in the air, following Megan's blade. Her training in the School of the Undefeated of the East had advanced surprisingly quickly, but that wasn't her main focus. She was focusing on the moment, what was occurring right now, instead of anything else. For the first time in a while, she felt like her thoughts were clear. It was a... liberating sensation, to say the least.

edited 5th Apr '18 9:35:14 AM by OmegaShadowcry

The creature grab a piece of wood and set it on the floor before swinging its arms several times at the air, causing it to turn into a chair-like... thing.

The freak thing sit there as food is given to it. It grows hands on its feet to bring the food to its mouth.

« NOMNOMNOM... OMNOMNOM. » It chew out, staring intensely at the group

—

« I won’t, she is even busier than Olivia and it sound like you’re stuck in the past with her. » she says. « Even I forgave her and I suffered more than you did at her hands. »

« Beside, I can deflect or manipulate brain waves, I would have undone standard telepathy a long time ago. Furthermore, doing something like that would earn her a beatdown from me and the other Sisters. She did nothing to Niko, as far as we know, and is trying to hard to turn a new leaf over. You still think of her as the kingpin but I see her as my sister who's trying to undo her former evil."

edited 5th Apr '18 9:29:08 AM by Bolded1

"Good. I have one more thing to teach you for now. Next time we meet, I will teach you the ultimate secret technique. For now, it's time for you to learn Hyper Mode... the hard way!"

Domon throws his sword at Megan's feet, revealing that it's incredibly rusty. "Take that sword and cut a tree clean in half with it, not the slightest fracture or stop in your motion. I will physically assault you if it takes longer than thirty minutes."

"Sheesh..." Taako looks at the creature with discomfort. However, he does not address it or attempt any sort of further interaction, merely returning to eating with his sister and his boyfriend.

"You mean, you're brushing all of the horrible, mind-damaging, inexcusable atrocities Troa's ever inflicted on you, Deez, and god knows how many others under the rug because she said she was really, really sorry and promised not to do it again? Forgetting that she wanted to groom genetically-engineered children into war machines that she would've used to commit genocide on the Xir? Ignoring how Deez was briefly her brainwashed and mindwiped slave, and probably would've stayed that way if not for Plat? Look, I'm willing to forgive someone if they genuinely wanna atone and all, but Troa? Yeah... She can probably see the Moral Event Horizon in her goddamn rear-view mirror."

Future!Nicole massages her temples.

"I'm sorry, Sarah, I shouldn't have gotten carried away like that. It's just... you do see where I'm coming from with all this, right? The whole Niko thing's been on my mind, too, so..."

edited 5th Apr '18 10:07:01 AM by IchigoMontoya

"She didn't just say she was sorry. When she did, we put her into prison again and waited until she genuinely made changes. You assume that we let her back in when she started showing remorses but for years, she was dead to us until she helped us with an alien invasion. And even then, she wasn't allowed to even be in sight of my children." she declares. "Likewise, Samantha hated her a lot and beat her up badly during the final battle here, it took her the longest time to forgive."

"These children were created for revenge, indeed, but we worked to make them into fine adults as well. " speaks Sarah. "And I repeat that she herself is working on fixing what she did to plenty others."

"I can understand." she says, massaging her temples after sighing. "I just want to find someone, not argue with you over forgiveness."

—

After devouring the food, Infinity fling himself over to the door, leaving the restaurant.

"...Ah, screw it. See if you can't bring Troa here sometime for me to talk to, woman-to-woman. I can't promise that I won't still be mad at her and whatnot, but I'm willing to at least try giving her a chance like I did with Olivia."

Future!Nicole sighs deeply, then rests her head on Sarah's shoulder, should she allow it.

"And hey, we already came up with the plan to get Cinke's help with Niko, so... consider the mission to find someone accomplished."

"I'll tell her about it." she says, before sighing as well, and letting Nicole get away with putting her hand on her shoulder.

"True." she declares. "Well I did think of her but you convinced me to go check on her."

"Thanks."

Future!Nicole then flashes a good-natured smirk at Sarah before tousling her hair.

"Really? Heh, I'd hate to imagine where you'd be without me to tell you these things, Sarah."

She kind of wink. "It's pretty hard to find telepaths as powerful as Troa and I'm not confortable with people snooping around his memories."

"Unless it's someone you know, so... Troa and Cinke, it is, then. We'll finally learn just what the hell's going on with Niko and how to help him, maybe you'll be able to patch things up between me and Troa... two birds, one stone."

Nicole raises an eyebrow at Sarah, her expression one of amusement.

"Don't tell me: You knew this'd be a good chance to both get someone to save Niko and potentially make peace between me and Troa, didn't ya?"

edited 5th Apr '18 10:56:07 AM by IchigoMontoya

"Well, I'm not omniscient. I'd be very happy to have that happen but I'm only a woman in the end, I can't predict the future." she says, chuckling.

"Depending on how things end up going, you'll probably be the happiest woman around in regards to the outcomes. So far, I like the odds of that happening."

Future!Nicole grins at Sarah.

"You'll have the Niko you know and love back soon, Sarah. I promise."

She nods with a honest smile, quickly wiping away something in her eyes.

"i hope so, I don't want for my poor boy to be affected by this place any longer. I'll watch them very closely next time they enter... and it will take a while for me to even consider the option of letting them get within it again."

Vague Sylvalum

A giant rippling tear in the fabric of reality opens up. Trillions of screaming voices erupt from it, not in pain or in fear, but in sheer abject rage. However, one voice, calmer than the rest but still seething with the same malice, rises above them.

   "This Arena is quite delightful! I think I'll take my time destroying this dimension. Come, champions of the Arena. If you want the slightest chance of surviving to continue your chaotic existence, you will hunt me down!"   

The screams continue on after that singular message, echoing throughout the planet.

???

Derak, God of Nihilism, grins maliciously on the other side of the tear.    "The fools. Anyone who actually does enter will find themselves in my world - in The Land of Eternal Night! In this blinding darkness, they will suffocate. I'll merely deliver the final blow.`"   

edited 5th Apr '18 11:17:19 AM by KiriK

"Sounds like a good plan to me. If there's anything I can do to help out, don't hesitate to ask."

Future!Nicole smiles at Sarah, then gives her a hug.

"I'm goddamn proud of you, Sarah. I hope Niko and Sandy know just how lucky they are to have a mother as great as you."

Soon afterwards, Vegeta and Cabba arrive nearby.

"Wh-what was that, master ?!"

"A world-wide suicide note." answers Vegeta. "That idiot is begging to be blasted apart, and I'll fulfill his needs."

"You will need help for that !" answers a female voice, as the Justice League descends near them.

"Just another world destroyer." notes Batman. "Of course, his threat is not to be underestimated. Tread carefully."

"Batman is right, we'll move as a team."

"Humph ! I don't know you !" says Vegeta.

—

Sarah give the hug back.

"Well, they're also lucky to have Demo as their father, or you as their aunt, or Argo as... nevermind."

Megan picked up the rust-covered blade. Part of her died on the inside looking at a weapon in such a state, and then a bit more died when she heard that she had to chop down a tree with it. This poor blade... oh well, training is training. Let's see... I might be able to reinforce it a bit with a little of my mana... Hm. Better not

She found a small grove of trees, of decent thickness. She picked a tree, readied, and threw out a cut at it. The blade cut surprisingly far into the trunk for something so rusty, but when she pulled the blade out, the top half of it was missing, embedded in the tree somewhere. "Bahamut damn it..."

She took a second strike at a different tree. To her surprise, the chop traveled most of the way through. She didn't recall infusing her mana into the blade, so she was understandably surprised when she noticed that the missing part of the blade had been replaced with a mingling of mana and the energy from her training — Ki, it was apparently called. By the end of that strike, however, the physical blade had been completely vaporized. The entire length of the blade was made of Draconic mana and ki, although it seemed to be wavering and unstable at the moment.

She focused herself for a third slash. She calmed her mind, and the mana-blade snapped into the correct shape as she swung it. It seemed like this strike would do the job, but she wasn't sure. All she could do was keep her focus and let both her Draconic mana and her innate energy do the work. Regardless, at the end of this cut, the handle of the former rusty sword would likely be exploding. That poor sword... It's also possible that a glimmer of gold ran through her scales as she swung, but that's not important right now.

edited 5th Apr '18 11:35:28 AM by OmegaShadowcry