Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Solstheim, Skaal Village

Thor nods in understanding.

"If anything good has come from this fiasco, it's that Pseudo now has time to prepare his own base's defenses, should Thanos decide to target him next," he says. "And while we're on the subject of Thanos, can... I be honest with you about something, Ain?"

So far it doesn't look like he's been seen. At one point a pair of soldiers exit the building, but luckily they're talking to one another and are moving away from Daroach's location, so they don't notice him.

Once he's near the window, he'll be able to see Claus, who he should recognize from the failed money exchange with Ken Tahn, talking to a man and a woman◊ about something.

Yes? She just answer.

...

Beruka is looking for Anna, flying around the map with Sirius. Samsara is also riding the wyvern, observing the ground.

That's a really nice view!

I care not for the view unless I must scout ahead.

I know, but I rarely fly, so I like admiring it whenever I can.

... And why would you not use a pegasus or wyvern more often? They provide you with mobility.

Oohh, I see that you're getting interested in our little talks!

...

Henry keep telling me statistics about the dangers of riding a flying mount, and he like to say those right before I take flight.

Oh.

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 23rd 2019 at 8:12:20 PM

Daroach thinks about it for all of two seconds before teleporting himself inside. He gets down in the closest a creature with Floating Limbs can get to a kneel, facing Claus.

"Pardon the intrusion... but I think we should have a talk, kid."

Claus and the two turn to Daroach when he appears. Claus immediately seems to recognize him, but before he can even say anything, the woman suddenly pulls out a gun, aiming it at Daroach.

"W-whoa, Linda! Put that away!", Norm says, immediately protesting.

"That rat's an intruder, so he's not leaving this place alive.", Linda says to him. Claus then turns to them, looking angry.

"He's not an intruder. Put that down or the deal's off.", he says, to Linda's surprise. She does calm down from Claus' confirmation that Daroach isn't the enemy, so she does as he says and puts one hand on her hips as she looks at him, her eyes trying to make out what his deal is. Claus then turns back to Daroach.

"Sorry about that... what do you want to talk about?"

She'll be able to spot Anna and Jake in a nearby town. Old Man Hubba and Clarisse don't appear to be with them though, but Anna and Jake seem to be talking about something serious, judging by their expressions.

"First of all, I'm a mouse, not a rat." Daroach rises and puffs up his little mousy chest.

"And second, we gotta talk about what happened after that meeting with the Tahn kid." Daroach glances aside. "I'm in a bit of trouble with my boss because of my involvement in trying to resolve the situation. Needed to make sure my efforts were worth it."

Cease. And focus.

Beruka points at the couple, and Samsara smiles, though she look a bit more serious when she notices their serious expression. The assassin opt to land on a nearby roof, and Samsara jump down said roof, jumping down some balconies and stuff to do so.

Beruka, who's a bit less agile, grumble, climb on Sirius, and fly down, landing on the streets.

Solstheim, Skaal Village

Thor takes a deep breath as he mentally prepares himself, then speaks.

"While I fully intend to carry out our plan of attack and introduce Thanos' head to Stormbringer when the time comes, a small part of me can't help but wonder... can he really be defeated? Thus far, he's managed to outmaneuver us at every turn, counter everything we've thrown at him, and emerge from every skirmish completely victorious."

The god of thunder sighs, his expression changing to one of uncertainty and, possibly to Ain's surprise, doubt.

"Cinke was right, Thanos really is nothing like anyone we've faced before... And as loathe as I am to admit it, Ain, I... I honestly have no bloody idea if we can defeat him..."

"What's the difference?", Linda asks.

"Well, actually, mice and rats have a lot of differences that-", Norm starts to say until Linda interrupts him.

"Norm, I'm not in the mood for a nerd-out right now."

"I don't see how knowing biological facts makes me a nerd."

"Guys, please. This is important.", Claus says, his tone vocally shooing them off a little. Linda sighs, getting the hint, and walks out of the room, with Norm following her. Claus then turns back to Daroach yet again.

"What kind of trouble are you in? Can I help you out? I owe you for helping us save my brother, and I haven't even gotten the chance to thank you yet.", Claus says with a small smile. "I was going to come find you to do so once Lucas had recovered a bit, but then Galeem attacked..."

The two of them haven't noticed Samsara and Beruka yet, and it'll allow the two to hear some of the things they're saying.

"I'm just saying that this situation may be more serious than we imagined. Blood Contracts are nothing to laugh at, Anna."

"I know... both Lekain and Manfroy being out there is concerning.", Anna says. "But I don't think they'd be working together. Their religions wouldn't bend to the other."

"I'll admit that the faith in Ashera and the cult of Loptyr don't mesh at all, but that's not even the only problem we face."

"... you're talking about the Thracian wyvern squad, aren't you?"

"Those weren't Einherjar, Anna. Those soldiers were real. How did Manfroy get his hands on real Thracian wyvern riders? Anankos appearing is one thing, and we know how Medeus appeared, but those are both singular beings. An army squad is another thing entirely, and if this trend continues, our friends will be in serious danger."

"I know. We'll... we'll figure something out."

"Anna, you're not gonna like what I'm about to say, I know I don't like it either, but it may be time you-"

"No.", she says. "Not unless there's an emergency."

"Isn't this an emergency?"

"Not yet. We can still win without having to rely on this. If I just casually do this, there'll be questions and demands from people all around, and we'll keep getting involved into conflicts by proxy. We'd never be able to eventually settle down once we've earned the money we need. We might never find any rest."

Jake sighs.

"I know..."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Nov 23rd 2019 at 8:41:32 PM

Ain does look surprised at that, and take the moment to rub her chin, deep in thoughts.

Hm... perhaps you should prepare more thoroughly, and rely on his mistake. Thanos seems to be of the arrogant sort, but I've learnt a very interesting piece of trivia out of that friend that Cinke brought over.

She put her fist on her chin.

At the height of his power, Thanos always loses because of some self-doubt in him. Somewhere, he think that he doesn't deserve his power, and always eventually self-destruct by giving his enemies a mean to undo what he did.

You should just wait, prepare, and wait for said slip-up on Thanos's part. Make him come for you and eventually make a mistake, so to say.

...

Samsara decide to wait for them to be down before preparing to introduce herself. Truth to be told, she plotted to tease Anna a little by trying to sell the map, but she eventually decide to hand it over cleanly.

Anankos. says Beruka, not bothering to be subtle.

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 23rd 2019 at 8:47:14 PM

"Yeah, I remember. Bastards used me as a queen piece in a twisted sort of chess game fight."

Daroach sighs. "I guess he's not really my boss so much as the employer of my boss, but he's started acting like he owns me in particular. I don't think there's anything you can do; he's way too powerful."

Hub Centralis

Ruby Rose, heroine of Breakout Force, and Jotaro Kujo, representative of Defense Federation, meet in a small plaza.

To remind you of the marks that identify their alignments, Ruby has her Season 1 outfit but with the broken-padlock emblem of Breakout on her belt next to the rose emblem, and Jotaro has his Part 4 outfit but with the addition of the basic shield emblem of Defense Federation as a badge on his hat.

"It's been a while, Jotaro." Ruby smiles.

Jotaro grumbles. "Spare the pleasantries, we have a job to do."

"With me they split me into three people.", Claus says, figuring it'd be best not to go into full detail about that to avoid a derailing, long explanation on the things that have happened in his past. He then looks a little concerned.

"I can't? ... that's too bad. What did you want to talk about then?"

Anna and Jake turn to look at Beruka when they hear her.

"Beruka?", Jake asks, while Anna looks slightly nervous for a moment before showing her signature smile again.

"This is a surprise. How long were you standing there before we noticed you? I'm sorry if we made you wait."

Thor listens intently to Ain's explanation, hanging onto her every word.

"I see... if what this mysterious ally of ours says is true, then perhaps such a strategy could actually work. I can't imagine the ensuing battle would be any easier, but at least I know now that even Thanos, for all of his power and intellect, is far from infallible.''

He offers the first Sister a smile and lays a hand upon her shoulder.

"Thank you for telling me this, Lady Ain. Suffice to say, I... really needed to hear it."

.... Who are you? she says to Jake.

Hey Anna, Jake ! Sorry, we were... searching for you. I think that you'll like what we've gotten.

She pulls the Einherjar Map out of a tiny bag that she has on her person, opting to begin things smoothly.

Ta-da! It's a long story but we've acquired the map! Some bandits had it but another Anna helped out!

...

She nods strongly.

No one is infaillible nor invincible. I kept my eyepatch on for a while as a reminder of that.

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 23rd 2019 at 8:59:55 PM

Hub Centralis

SHADE, a newer member of the Breakout Force is standing a bit behind Ruby. He looks really weird.

   "blbllblblbrlbrlblbr"   

He probably has an identifying insignia somewhere in his blobbiness.

A relatively inconspicuous human is next to Jotaro; he has a similar badge pinned onto his shirt.

"..."

A makeshift nametag says 'B-Zoner'.

"... I dunno. Just needed to make sure you were okay. How's Lucas?"

"... So, um, what were we here for again?"

"To discuss problems," Jotaro answers bluntly. Can't believe Snake would send such an airheaded brat to represent him in an official meeting.

"First of all, a third party has shown itself."

"The Assassins, right?"

"Wrong. One connected to our megaverse. It's just one guy, but Samus says he's worth looking out for."

Solstheim, Skaal Village

"Right. It's just that Thanos has singlehandedly managed to prove himself far deadlier than the likes of Troa, Steppenwolf or Vezon could ever hope to be. Nonetheless, I'll take every word of what you said to heart and do everything possible to bring about that arrogant purple bastard's downfall."

With a grin, Thor claps Ain on the shoulder.

"Heh, now that I think about it, the way you can rally your allies' spirits even when things seem bleak is yet another quality you share with Rogers."

Well, he has quite the arsenal. Thanos is a threat physical-wise, but his ship is quite the war machine, and he's got that... Saiyan? If you want to take Thanos out, perhaps you could take those down. I know that you're thinking of that, though.

Ain... shrugs.

I haven't done much.

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 23rd 2019 at 9:31:15 PM

Claus smiles.

"I'm actually doing much more okay now than I was before Galeem and Dharkon attacked. ... not that I'm glad they attacked, that was just awful for everyone involved.", he says. "But the situation did give me an opportunity to settle some things I wouldn't have been able to otherwise."

He then sits down on a chair and offers Daroach a seat on the chair next to him.

"Lucas is doing well too. I saw him yesterday, he wanted to hang out. It seems he's mostly recovered from everything that's happened."

Then Claus sighs.

"Unfortunately I'm pretty busy with the people you just saw, so I didn't have the chance to spend some time with him."

"I'm Jake, Anna's fiancee.", Jake says. "A pleasure to meet you."

He and Anna then turn to Samsara, and both look surprised at the sight of the map. Jake is flabbergasted, and Anna looks incredibly happy. She grabs the map and hugs it tight, even doing a little twirl of happiness.

"Oh my gods, Samsara, Beruka! Thank you so much!"

She opens the map and looks through it.

"They're all here! All the Einherjar that were still in here before it was taken! This is amazing!"

She starts putting the Einherjar that were collected since back into the map.

"One of Anna's sisters helped you out, huh?", Jake asks while Anna is busy. "I bet that might've cost you some money. How much was it? We'll pay you back for it."

   "bbblbblbr?"   

SHADE's eyes flash luminously. He seems fairly excited to be here.

B-Zoner regards him with suspicion.

"Who is this, er, guy?" Hey, he might know. His homeworld was fairly high up the metafictional hierarchy before it started to shit itself.

"... That's a shame."

Daroach looks around before taking a seat.

"So, what's happening here?"

"Skeletor."

"... uhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Ruby tilts her head to the side. "Isn't he that guy who flipped both us and Gravitas off when we tried to recruit him?"

"Yeah. Turns out he might've had a damn good reason to stay independent."

Edited by KiriK on Nov 23rd 2019 at 2:27:16 PM

... Nice to meet you. She says, awkwardly. Coming from her, it's odd that she'd attempt to socialize, though Jake may not notice it depending on how much he knows about the assassin.

Haha, nice! And yeah, she used gauntlets to fight. She's at the fort, or near it. She was confused about having other Annas but she was just tricking the bandits, I theorize... that said, her weaponry is unique. I haven't ever seen people uses gauntlets to fight before. She's strong, too. I mean, you're both strong, but the way she dealt with those bandits... I think that she'd give Chrom or Donnel a run for their money in a arm wrestling contest!

Your gratitude is our only reward, don't worry! reassure Samsara.

...

Erm, it was a bag. It's not much of a price, I know, but I convinced her by telling her about the folks at the fort and the royals, too.

Lady Camilla has taken my salary for the purpose of payement, yes.

That's kind of...

I'm already rich thanks to my contracts, and I am not interested in her money. I follow her because of her strength, not because of the gold in her pocket... as much as it helps with weaponry.

SHADE has no idea what a Skeletor is. He stands still and listens.

"Wait... Skeletor? Isn't he... uh, from what I know, isn't he kind of a dope?"

Solstheim, Skaal Village

"Indeed. After Callis informed me of Broly's... history, I think she and I should be able to persuade him and his father to willingly leave Thanos' service," Thor confirms.

"Well, right after Galeem's and Dharkon's deaths, I was approached by Alex, a guy I met during the last stages of our war against those two. He explained he worked for a group of people called G.E.M., and asked if my group, which consists of me, Picky and the Pigmasks I'm looking after, can provide G.E.M.'s forces with protection while they do their business here in the Arena.", Claus says.

"Naturally I was a bit distrustful about an organization seemingly seeking to use the Arena for something, but it turns out that they found out about the Arena's regenerative powers, and want to use it to harvest materials like stone and metal that they can use to rebuild their world's big cities with, which recently went through a violent struggle that ended up destroying a lot. They figured that, if the Arena restores itself, they can take whatever they need without damaging this world."

He leans on the armrest of his chair a little.

"But with all of the threats running rampant here, putting soldiers here is just asking for casualties and misunderstandings. That's why they asked for our help. Since my group is capable of defending itself, but isn't very large, we wouldn't fall under any 'big threat' categories our enemies may have, so it's very unlikely we'd be targeted. In return, G.E.M. has promised to help me protect Lucas, my friends and my family to the best of their abilities."

Jake knows enough to notice this fact, and chalks it up to her trying to be nice, so he shows her a nice smile.

Then he and Anna look confused, with the latter being confused enough to stop gushing over the map for a moment.

"Gauntlets? Samsara, we don't have a weapon type called gauntlets in our world at all, and none of my sisters during our meetings ever mentioned them. Are you sure she was one of my sisters?"