Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Specter Knight is successfully distracted by Arthur and gets slashed by Survivor as a result. He doesn't appear to be too harmed though, and, grabbing his scythe tightly, charges right for him in a flying rush. If his scythe slash hits, it'll deal great damage, as the stat boosts Anna provides greatly heighten Specter Knight's own.

It doesn't help that a sharp sound emits from Specter Knight as he rushes, and he shines for a moment, indicating that his attack will be a critical hit.

Zacharie, seeing Nicole coming, responds in a similar fashion, avoiding her dive by flying back and upwards, then attempting to swiftly fly past her while holding out his sword, intending on a charging slash.

If Nicole can react quickly enough to parry the sword though, he'll be out of balance for a moment, and vulnerable to a follow-up attack.

Eta and Kappa don't attack this turn.

Mara doesn't respond for a few seconds, which is very unlike her.

   "I'm surprised you trust me with this kind of involvement. If push comes to shove, I'll give your plan a try."   

A moment of pause.

   "... be on guard."   , she suddenly says.    "I feel something powerful brewing. Something is going to happen."   

Masc looks up at Simon and takes the Holy Water, though isn't immediately sure what to do with it. He quickly figures it out though and throws it at the Barrier Trio.

The fire attacks still deal a good amount of damage, and Peri's critical strike connects and a visible scar appears on the golem she targeted. Finally, an actual visual sign of damage.

Flint, seeing a chance and deciding to act on it, grips the Drago Fang tightly, apologizes to Hinawa in his mind, and strikes the golem in the scar, making it shudder.

The Barrier Trio then changes their pose once more, this time hanging onto each other a little. They glow for a moment, then gain a colorful aura. Masc's eyes go wide, remembering Flint's Final Smash.

"Watch out! Super attack!", he yells as he dives into his puddle again. The Barrier Trio shines three times and begin to shake as they unleash their Final Smash. Purple smoke erupts from the Barrier Trio, psychic energy starts swirling around the battlefield, gets absorbed into the Barrier Trio, then released in a massive wave of energy powerful enough to destroy most of the top of the tower and the way to it. People will have to either get back to the room that the Hoshidans are in or stand on the top of the tower to avoid falling to their possible deaths. If they choose the latter, they'll be stuck in a limited space, making charging attacks and longer-ranged attacks impossible, and if they choose the former, they will no longer be able to get close enough to perform physical attacks.

Flint chooses the latter, stranded up on the tower top with the Barrier Trio. Masc's puddle, however, is nowhere to be seen, and Flint looks around franctically.

"Claus!? CLAUS!?"

While he looks around, Takumi might notice the boy close by him, having been knocked out of his puddle and out cold by the blast. But he's still alive.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 22nd 2019 at 9:54:12 PM

Hahaha, oh poody po-

Emmeryn raises a Barrier, but all three get thrown about by the attack, with Ryoma daring to dive in to try to rescue Emmeryn since she's the closest.

When the light fade, Peri's horse is gone and she's atop the tower, smiling widely in spite of her wounds. Notably, there's a long streak of blood running down her face, covering her already-covered eye in blood. She grunts and get back up, having to lean on her Killer Spear.

Xander is also there, being sturdier than Peri, he suffered somewhat less, though he's still bloody. However, he gets on his feet quicker, checking the damage around him.

Emmeryn is in the room where the Hoshidians are stationed, too exhausted by the use of her barrier to really act as of now. Ryoma and Oboro check on the survivors.

Don't worry, we'll take over. Takumi ! Let us assist ! he says, aware that Raijinto allows him to strike from afar.

Takumi, meanwhile, notices the boy and quickly make a connection between him and Flint's call !

He lives ! And we've got a healer ! he says, though he's worried.

—

Arthur is nearly hit, but Laurent decide to throw caution into the wind and perform Celica's gale. The attack's power is reduced to avoid hurting the others too much, but it's still strong.

Samsara awaits her occasion, leaning backward as she prepares to unleash Astra. Arthur is blown away by the gale but Kellam catch him... and get toppled over once more.

—

Camilla observes, fascinated by the weapon's power and speed.

Richter jumps off the ground and lashes his whip at Eta.

Roy spreads his stance and draws the Binding Blade back, flames building along its edge.

Simon does a Smash Bros.-style dodge roll towards the Barrier Trio.

And it... fucking... works. He comes out of the wave completely unharmed despite having just slid into its path of destruction.

That only worked because Smashers and Final Smashes use evasion physics from the same world, and thus a trophy character can evade a non-trophy character's Final Smash regardless of its origin, as long as they time it properly.

He briefly contemplates loudly declaring to the Trio, I'm not trapped in this collapsed tower with you! YOU are trapped in here with ME! but ultimately decides to hold his tongue, instead lashing at the Barrier Trio with a forward-smash whip strike.

Yusuke finally empties his clip, returning to using his persona to fight, not striking, but rather trying to look for a leader of sorts for these forces, or at least, a larger target.

Raising Olympus' Wrath just in time to parry Zacharie's strike, Nicole quickly follows up by coating her free hand in Arcane Magic, balling it into a fist, and attempting to punch her friend-turned-possessed opponent right in the face, putting all of her weight behind the blow.

"Normally I wouldn't, but given that our predicament is anything but normal, I'll gladly make an exception."

At Mara's warning, Wanda quickly summons a barrier to defend herself from being obliterated by the wave of energy... only for it to completely shatter as she's nearly thrown from the tower.

Before Mara can worry about them falling to their deaths, however, Wanda manages to grab onto the edge in the nick of time. After a moment, she slowly but surely manages to haul herself back onto solid ground before wiping some blood from her mouth.

"Shit... Okay, Mara, if you think now might be a good time to try what I proposed, then let's give it a shot and pray that it actually works."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Apr 22nd 2019 at 1:25:45 AM

Nicole's blow will lose some of its impact due to striking Zacharie's mask, but the power behind it is still enough to send Zacharie crashing onto the ground, making him drop his sword.

Celica's Gale does little to nothing to Specter Knight, but Zacharie gets stunned some more as a result of the attack, it dealing extra damage against Eta and Kappa. Eta then gets struck by Richter's Vampire Killer as well, and two of the three wings Eta has suddenly vanish.

Masc doesn't wake up yet. Flint turns to the doorway and looks relieved upon Takumi's confirmation that Masc survived.

"Thank you! Please keep him safe!"

The Barrier Trio, after getting hit by the whip and fire, shines again, then launches a psychic sphere up in the air, which begins to darken even more than it already was.

Then, huge psychic blasts descend from the sky towards the fighters on the top of the tower, with the Barrier Trio having performed PK Starstorm. Flint, while not having seen this attack before, knows well enough that he has to start dodging, though while doing so eventually gets struck in the back of one of his legs, falling on the ground and dropping the Drago Fang, which slides off of the tower and falls down to the courtyard below.

He struggles to get up now, the leg that had been hit now badly bleeding, but still manages to do so, and delivers a powerful swing at one of the Barrier Trio.

   "Well, your luck in battle is as great as I'd heard it was."   , Mara says after Wanda's climbed back up. She then ponders.

   "Hmm... Allow me to try something."   

Mara's spirit manifests behind Wanda.

   "While I was stuck in that brat's body, I was being made to pull his strings. I'm not entirely sure how this was achieved, but I can attempt to replicate it. It might take some time though. Spend as much power as you can protecting yourself, if you get hurt I might lose my concentration."   

Her image shudders and flickers, seemingly in deep concentration. The powers she was giving Wanda disappear, but Mara is surrounded by a rainbow aura, and from it, tendrils of spiritual light protrude, slowly weaving towards the Maximoff.

PK Starstorm comes bearing down now though, so Wanda'll have to follow Mara's advice and protect herself fast.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 22nd 2019 at 10:51:30 AM

Roy slams down a fully-charged Flare Blade, hoping to clip Kappa with it.

Richter continues lashing his whip at Eta.

Simon is brought down to his knees by PK Starstorm.

He promptly gains the Final Smash aura himself and returns fire with Grand Cross, bringing giant energy crosses up from below as if mirroring the Starstorm's meteors falling from above.

Survivor dashed backwards, and sliced his sword, creating a green projectile that flew toward Specter Knight. He held out his hand, and 5 grenades appeared on it. He threw them at Specter Knight before dashing back again to avoid getting blown up by his own attack.

Xander and Peri begins to dodge, being light on their feet in spite of their armors, probably since most of it is gone. Xander dance through the projectile, arc Siegfried backward and... crit !

Right where I want you ! he says, going for a potent sword strike ! Peri, however, is less skilled and is unable to attack !

—

Takumi nods and attempts to help the kid to get him to reach Emmeryn. The former exalt attempts to use Heal on him, while Oboro sit back, clenching her fists.

N... no, I'm useless ! she bemoans, aware that she lacks the capacity to strike from afar easily.

Ryoma pull out his sword and get himself ready.

—

Samsara strike at Ato with Astra, attacking five time over very quickly, though with reduced damage for each strike. Laurent spin around and cast Celica's Gale once more, since it hit twice.

Arthur and Kellam get right back up.

—

The rest of the sheperds joins up and begins the clean-up, though one Risen stick to the back : he's a mudman, with a burlap for a head, and nasty claws...

Yusuke would rush the mudman in the back, Calling forth Susano-o to cast Bufudyne. "Die!"

"Huh... I thought for sure that'd be enough to knock him out. Blast it, Glali, where the friggin' hell are you? It ain't like ya to drag your feet!"

Taking careful aim, Nicole unleashes a lightning blast from Olympus' Wrath at Zacharie.

Nodding to Mara, Wanda fires the most powerful beam of scarlet energy she can muster towards the oncoming PK Starstorm, hoping to hold the attack off long enough for Mara's plan to succeed.

"With any luck, this should give us the advantage we need to finally end this battle..."

Specter Knight brings up a lantern that creates a spinning barrier of fire around him, which blocks the green energy attack.

The grenades blast their way through though, and Specter Knight is blasted against a pillar behind him.

Kappa gets hit by Roy's blade and then by Celica's Gale once more, but this time Zacharie doesn't flinch, getting back up again and flying backwards, slightly slower now that he's missing four wings. Four, as those two attacks destroyed two of Kappa's wings too.

Since Zacharie flew back, the whip misses Eta. Two of Samsara's Astra strikes still hit it though, and that gets Zacharie blasted by Nicole's lightning too.

He still flies, though his wings flap a little more weakly than before, hinting that Zacharie doesn't have much energy left.

So of course now is the perfect moment for him to get his Final Smash.

Glowing in a multitude of colors, he flies down fast and snags his sword back up, then holds it up high above his head as it begins to glow with energy.

"King Slayer.", he mutters, after which he touches down on the ground and leaps towards the group, swinging his sword once to unleash a truly powerful energy strike. The group may be able to shield themselves from being damaged, but they will not be able to stop the entire strike from damaging the pillars in the catacombs. Specter Knight is hit by the Final Smash as well and is sent hurling further into the room.

After the attack, the ceiling starts to rumble and the pillars start to shake. It takes little time before the catacombs start to collapse, though if they hurry, they might be able to either find cover or get to the stairs to go to the courtyard right above the catacombs.

The PK Starstorm is repelled successfully, and the Barrier Trio doesn't move, recharging energy to launch another PK Starstorm next turn. As such they can only take the damage from Xander's critical hit and Simon's Grand Cross without a chance of counterattacking.

Flint has to take a moment to catch his breath, though doesn't spend any time on looking after his leg. Hinawa is more important. She's right there, and he refuses to give up on her.

Masc, having only half a body, isn't really heavy, so Takumi shouldn't have any problem dragging him to Emmeryn.

The Heal takes effect though, which means that his wounds weren't lethal, and he slowly wakes up again.

"... w... what happened?", he asks, groaning.

The ethereal strings reaching out from Mara's spirit reach Wanda's body and promptly stick into her, creating glowing rainbow spots on the parts of her back touched by the strings.

Several things happen simultaneously, which may leave both Mara and Wanda very disoriented and confused.

First (not in sequential order, just order of notation), Mara's spirit demanifests.

Second, Wanda's eyes turn the glowing red of a Galeem puppet, but lacking the violet sclera of a Dharkon puppet. Additionally, she does not have either a pale blue or piercing red smoke-like aura associated with either kind of puppet. Instead, she has a sparking, yet black aura emanating from her body.

Third, both Mara and Wanda now perceive the world through Wanda's eyes, only the world from the perspective of both is like they're staring into a pair of those gimmicky slideshow toys that predated VR gaming. Mara can perceive Wanda's presence, and Wanda can perceive Mara's, but they cannot actually see each other, and what would be their peripheral vision is seemingly taken up by a void-like space.

Fourth, Wanda is now capable of using Mara's abilities, at least the ones she already knows of, and has the same modifiers on her that Psycho!Ness had as a puppet of Mara.

Fifth, Wanda's body begins moving autonomously of either inhabitant soul's will, while exhibiting behaviors typical of Mara.

   "This is trippy as all hell."   , Mara says, then looks around in the void.    "Maximoff, can you hear me? Are you sure you want to try this? Those golems aren't attacking, so if you want to turn back now might be our only chance to do so in this battle."   

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 22nd 2019 at 11:46:13 AM

Richter covers himself as the Final Smash damages him, Roy, and the support pillars.

"Everyone above ground, now!" he yells, turning around and climbing up a ladder at the entrance to the catacombs.

Roy rushes behind, following Richter.

Simon quickly does another forward smash while the Barrier Trio are charging.

Edited by KiriK on Apr 22nd 2019 at 4:45:48 AM

Peri and Xander attempts to attack together, putting out as much damage as possible and striking hardcore. Xander remains dignified in his attacks, carefully preparing himself to defend, but Peri's retentless, losing her mind entirely and shrieking as she stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, and stab.

Things might go badly if she break through the golems and get to the puppet behind.

—

You got knocked out by that huge attack. Are you... huh...

Oboro and Emmeryn are a little speechless at the "cut in half" part, that Takumi somehow managed to dismiss himself.

Takumi prepares to strike true, his Fujin Yumi getting ready to strike down his enemy.

—

W-whoah ! Retreat ! says Samsara. A bloodied Kellam stands on her path though, so she opts to try and drag him out, getting help from Arthur, who manages to single-handedly lift the big man over his shoulder and begins to make a run for it.

Samsara prepares to defend him, but Laurent's quicker, launching precise fire spells while backing off. As a result, Samsara also begins to run back.

Arthur begins to climb up, and Samsara contribues, using her surprisingly decent strength to push Kellam up.

—

The Risen's caught off guard, and is frozen in place.

Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 22nd 2019 at 11:46:41 AM

"Oh, come on!"

Nicole prepares to retaliate, but Zacharie's Final Smash comes too quickly and the ensuing energy strike lifts the Arcane half-dragon off her feet, sending her crashing through a pillar before she lands harshly on the floor.

"Argh... Shit, Zach, you just had to bring the goddamn ceiling down on our heads, didn't you?"

After taking a moment to climb back to her feet, she sheathes Olympus' Wrath and hurries after the others towards the exit, not exactly keen on being buried underneath tons of rubble.

"Why do these puppets never go down before they have a chance to use their supermove? That'd sure make life a helluva lot easier for us!"

"This does feel really strange, but... it might be exactly what we need to defeat those golems and free Hinawa. Just... take a moment to get adjusted, Mara, and controlling my body should feel like being back in your own, complete with access to your full power. If I'm right, hit those golems with your strongest attacks."

A pause, as Wanda takes a moment to adjust to this bizarre new experience.

"And if I'm wrong, then return control to me and we'll go back to fighting the old-fashioned way, even if it takes us longer to punch through."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Apr 22nd 2019 at 3:14:47 AM

Specter Knight appears to get buried under the rubble.

Masc blinks, then glances down at his lower body. Or rather the lack of one.

"Oh, no, I've been like this for three years already.", he says, only able to be this casual about it because he's gotten used to this state.

"What about Dad!? Is he okay!?", he asks, now worried too.

The Barrier Trio can once again only take the damage dealt to them. However, they've also recharged, and prepare to unleash another bout of Starstorm.

They appear distracted for a moment though when Zacharie suddenly bursts out of the collapsing ground below, now flying in the courtyard, where his movements are no longer limited.

Regardless, fellow Galeem puppet or not, Zacharie's presence does not deter the Barrier Trio from launching another Starstorm. However, the fighters wouldn't have to worry about it.

Zacharie, meanwhile, swings his sword to send three sword-shaped energy beams down at the hallways near the catacombs, trying to strike at his enemies before they even have a chance to follow him outside (Dealbreaker).

   "Alright, if you're up for this."   

She attempts to move, but finds it doesn't fully work. She then tries to think of how she should move, and Wanda's body proves to be more cooperative.

   "This should be good enough."   

She then hesitates.

   "Wanda."   , she says, suddenly sounding deathly serious.    "My strongest attack would wipe this castle and everyone in it off of the map. I think it's in our best interests to not go that far right now."   

She wills Wanda's body to create 6 of Mara's energy shields above herself and her allies to completely block the Starstorm.

   "Haah, it feels so good to be able to do my own thing again."   , Mara grins as she wills Wanda's body to launch one of Wanda's Arcane Beams, though it explodes like one of Mara's punches upon impact with the Barrier Trio.

The Barrier Trio, meanwhile, has to charge again. Flint wastes no time in delivering more powerful punches to the golems, not letting Zacharie's arrival distract him from getting to Hinawa.

Within the collapsed catacombs, the rubble in which Specter Knight is buried begins to move.

Go forth, friend !

Samsara nods and leap forward, using her high agility to wall-jump and attempts to reach Zacharie. Should she do it, she attempts to slam at him twice while in mid-air, knowingly looking down at Laurent, who's preparing a spell to save her from the fall.

Takumi is distracted by this, along with Ryoma, especially when they all notice the attack.

Your father is... safe ? A barrier has appeared to shield him along with the others ! says Ryoma.

Why are they getting all the action ? That's it, I'm going in ! says Takumi, preparing to fire an arrow.

Xander has the decency to step backward to prepare himself but is rescued by the shield, he smiles, nods, and keep striking. Peri is just... hitting, ignoring the events occurring around her.

Y-years ?

Survivor counters the projectiles with his own projectiles from the Terra Blade, before continuing to move. He looks at the rubble, kind of dissapointed.

"Too bad that guy didn't drop anything."

Once she's escaped from the collapsing catacombs, Nicole turns her gaze skyward, quickly noticing the airborne Zacharie.

"Friggin' hell, Zach..."

Transforming into her Draconic Form, she spreads her wings and takes off after the Galeem-controlled merchant, evading any oncoming energy blasts in the process. Upon closing the distance, she attempts to nail Zacharie with a downward punch in the hopes of sending him crashing back down to the ground.

"Don't worry, Mara, the only things I want wiped out are those three golems standing between us and freeing Hinawa from Galeem's control. And on an unrelated note, after this battle, I suggest that we practice refining this possession technique, in case we ever need to use it again."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Apr 22nd 2019 at 5:02:57 AM

Roy and Richter escape the catacombs, leap into the air, and attempt to slice up Zacharie with simultaneous up specials (Blazer and Uppercut) from the front and back.

Simon stops as the Arcane Beam rushes past him, and he turns to see Wanda's body 'controlled' (well, more like 'inhabited') by Mara. That doesn't look like it'll end well...

He jumps into the air and attempts a diving kick on the Barrier Trio's heads.

Yeah fucking thanks. Rbade is concussed. I'm pretty sure he was looking in the wrong direction.

Either way, he topples over and the energy he was charging goes *FWOOM*

Masc looks relieved.

"Thank the dragon.", he mutters to himself, then get's up, his lower body submerged in his puddle again so that he can move.

"Yeah, but don't worry. When Galeem and Dharkon are defeated, I should be turned back to normal. At least I hope that'll happen.", Masc says. "If it doesn't, I'm in serious trouble. But let's not think about that. We have more pressing matters at hand."

Zacharie, now able to move to his heart's content, avoids Samsara's attack easily, and almost goes for a skewering stab, but has to stop to dodge Nicole's incoming punch. Having lost a lot of energy hampers Zacharie's speed though, and while Richter's attack doesn't hit either, Roy's does, and Zacharie, struck by his blade, starts to fall down towards the ground.

It's then when Specter Knight bursts out of the rubble and practically launches himself out of the catacombs and up into the courtyard, attacking with what appears to be a talon on his hand. Zacharie only barely avoids taking damage by flipping in mid-air and gracefully landing on the talon, trying to stab at Specter Knight as Eta and Kappa waste no time in acting, the former launching a quadruple-striking energy attack at the other enemies (Susurrus) and the latter releasing small feathers around Zacharie, slightly healing the damage dealt to him (Ameliorate Feather).

Now the other fighters will know that both Zacharie and his Add-Ons are capable of healing, which means that they cannot afford to let them get more healing off, otherwise they'll risk Zacharie regaining enough energy to pick up in speed again. And if that happens, he might be able to outlast them in terms of energy, then pick them off when they're tired.

Both Specter Knight and Zacharie are in a perfect spot for Takumi to potentially shoot at though. Maybe he can assist here.

It might be necessary, seeing as Specter Knight begins to glow a multitude of colors...

The Barrier Trio keeps getting struck by Peri, then by Simon's kick to the face, and finally more damage begins to show, pieces of the golems cracking and breaking off now.

Flint, truly exhausted, has to make use of this moment to catch his breath, so that he'll be ready for when the Barrier Trio fires another PK Starstorm, which, unless they're defeated this very turn, will be inevitable.

   "You've become awfully trusting of me. You're not afraid of the risk that I might learn how to easily control you, then abuse this once our coalition ends?"   , Mara asks, and while Wanda can't see her, she'll practically be able to feel her devious grin.

As Wanda's controlled body launches another explosive Arcane Beam at the Barrier Trio, Mara continues to speak.

   "Now tell me, and be honest. Do you trust that I won't take advantage of this?"   , she asks, sounding serious.    "Whether or not I'll accept your offer to train with this depends on your answer."   

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 23rd 2019 at 5:08:52 PM

Richter raises a shield that manages to tank the Susurrus, then throws an Axe at Kappa.

Roy is hit by Susurrus and knocked back, but he tech rolls against the ground and rapidly slashes at Specter Knight with a Double-Edge Dance. His own aura is beginning to manifest.

Simon bounces off the Barrier Trio with his successful kick. As he falls to the ground, he lashes his whip at the cracked part of them (forward air).

Edited by KiriK on Apr 23rd 2019 at 10:15:22 AM

Takumi waits... and release, aiming to strike the Add-Ond by surprise with his arrows. Meanwhile, Samsara exploits some platforms, created by Laurent, and jump over the projectiles.

« Astra ! »

She glows green and strike five times over at him, critting twice and attempting to defeat Scepter Knight.

Focus on the Knight ! she yells, as Takumi attempts to keep Zach busy with Yumi Fujin.

—

Peri and Xander keep up the strikes, also aiming to end things this round.

Rainbow Factory

X gets knocked down by everyone else.

HABIT also get whammed by a shot of the Rainbow Cannon, and grumbles something about friendly fire before deciding to stop, realizing he's in the perfect position to negotiate. Another hooded male exits a shadow portal, before pulling back his hood to reveal the mug of Xigbar.

X gets up and glares.

Primordia

The being roars to the sky again, rushing off in a direction only to clash with a man in a blue leather jacket, jeans, and a button-up shirt.

???:    "Who the hell are you?"   

Purple Being: "GREAH!"

Edited by DefRevenge24601 on Apr 23rd 2019 at 11:43:20 AM