Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Brutaka staggers back. The Makuta raises the Staff of Shadows to strike him down, but he blocks with his Rotating Blades and grapples Teridax by the face. The two titans struggle with each other as Mata Nui stands up and slowly backs a few extra feet away from the fight.

"... Fine, I guess."

"Works for me." Hero casts another Heal, albeit with less potency, on Beruka.

Edited by KiriK on Dec 13th 2019 at 8:43:18 AM

It's pretty telling that they take it seriously, not saying a thing as he talk or start walking away. Beruka does briefly raise an axe but then lower her hand. She check her hand when she notices that she's feeling better, closing and opening it multiple times, and raise her thumb silently at Hero, without breaking her stoicism.

I feel like it would be a very tough fight even if we were at peak condition. Let us retreat. she says, hurriedly pocketing her damaged item further.

How are we going to walk all the way there?

Hm.

Beruka points at a nearby Cynthia with her thumb. It looks like she was sent to check the damage.

Oh, yes. We occupy a fort. says Ryoma to the Einherjar, once the DK is out of "reach". While we'd need explanations, you could always go with us for the time-being.

Saizo nods to agree, and so do the rest.

Edited by Bolded1 on Dec 13th 2019 at 3:43:04 PM

"Everyone is here.", Axonn says.

"Then we're going!", Botar says, after which he warps the group away.

Beat

The Shadowed One◊ walks into the room once the group is gone.

"One doesn't easily get an opportunity to search Toa Helryx's room. Nidhiki, Krekka, Voporak. Try and see if any of the Order members have something of interest. But don't take it. Just report to me."

He chuckes darkly.

"We need them to trust us after all..."

The group arrives on the battlefield. It includes Botar, Toa Helryx◊, Axonn, Lesovikk◊, Trinuma◊, Toa Matoro◊ and Toa Hahli◊. Though there's, for a split second, also a flash of light speeding by that may imply the presence of another member◊ of the Order.

"Makuta!", Helryx calls out as she grabs hold of her spiked mace.

"Death Knight, Black Knight... close enough. Five bucks says he's probably as strong as the Black Knight. Wait 'till you hear all about this, Glali..."

Nicole puts Olympus' Wrath away and spreads her wings, then looks to Celica and her group.

"You guys gonna be alright?"

The three Einherjar turn to Ryoma, look at one another, then nod to him.

"That's a kind offer. We accept.", Celica says, as she then looks at Nicole.

"I think we will be. Our friends will be back one day.", she says, looking at the cards. "Until then... we'll have to wait..."

"I can't wait to sleep on a comfy bed again, instead of a dirty prison cell. They even put my pegasus in my cell with me. Can you believe that?", Clair says as she affectionately pets her pegasus. "But she won't have to do that anymore, will she? She won't have to sleep in a cramped, cold cell anymore. Good girl."

The pegasus sounds happy. The three, while smiling, do still show sadness in their eyes. But at least their mission has been accomplished. Some of them had managed to get away. They'd have preferred more would've made it, but they'd all agreed from the beginning that this was a possibility.

Beat

Naesala watches from a good distance from atop a tree, too far to be spotted. He rubs the back of his head.

"Oh boy, they will not be happy about this one."

He then glances in another direction, at the Death Knight.

"I don't know who that joker is though, but maybe Julius could find a way to-"

Naesala then nearly falls out of the tree from pure fright when the Death Knight turns his head to look at him specifically. Despite the distance, he knows.

When the Death Knight turns away again and leaves, Naesala catches his breath.

"You know what? Forget it. That guy looks like he'd use me as an ornament for his scythe."

He then flies off.

"Ugh, after that moment just now, I'm a lot less terrified of delivering the bad news."

Makuta's brief distraction allows Brutaka to shove him away, retrieving his thrown dagger in the process.

Mata Nui approaches the Order.

   "Ah, the Order of Mata Nui. How quaint an assembly."    Teridax creepily reaches out with one hand, fingers stretching as if to caress his foes' cheeks... then he blasts at them with chain lightning.

"I'll go with you guys, too," says Hero.

Joker runs off somewhere.

Edited by KiriK on Dec 13th 2019 at 9:09:19 AM

The Sheperds nod to the three heroes, and then await help. Fortunately, it arrives soon after, and the heroes, and those who wish to follow them, are safely brought back to the fort. While conscious of the heavy toll that happened, they choose to focus, for now, on the future.

Beruka is a bit more upset for a specific reason.. but perhaps she could get a word or two with the blacksmith about it.

Nicole nods, waves farewell to those still present, and flies off to Solitude.

Botar warps to avoid (taking Mata Nui with him should he allow it), while Helryx, Lesovikk, Trinuma, Matoro and Hahli dodge. Axonn does not, instead blocking the attack with the blade of his giant axe.

Matoro retaliates with a blast of ice, coated in lightning. Hahli does the same, sending a stream of water at Teridax, also coated in lightning.

Should Teridax dodge the attacks, Lesovikk will use his powers of Air to hover behind him and blast the two attacks to try to send them back at Teridax for a second attempt.

Trinuma aims the twin cannons mounted on his right arm and fires at Teridax.

Helryx starts charging up a Water-based attack, and Axonn tries to use this time to run over to Brutaka. Lastly, Botar appears above Makuta, floating there, and tries to kick his mask off of his face.

The three Einherjar go to the fort with everyone.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Dec 13th 2019 at 4:26:18 PM

Brutaka withstands the lightning. He adds to the assault with another dagger throw.

   "Cute."    Makuta turns intangible.

When the attacks stop for a moment, he becomes tangible again, promptly snapping his head back upon receiving Botar's kick. He then turns into an insanely dense juggernaut, his sheer weight forming a crater in the ground upon which he stands, before trying to shoulder-tackle Botar out of the air.

Edited by KiriK on Dec 13th 2019 at 9:26:43 AM

Botar gets hit, as he was about to try to slash at Makuta with his axe, and is flung backwards from the impact, nearly crashing into Matoro and Hahli.

"Ugh... damn this, his mask didn't even loosen up."

"Well, he... he can't avoid everything!", Matoro declares, firing another ice bolt. Hahli repeats her attack as well, as does Trinuma.

Lesovikk, however, now blasts the ground beneath Helryx, making her leap up incredibly high before launching a powerful geyser of water down towards Teridax.

Axonn reaches Brutaka, getting ready to defend him if need be.

"Can you stand?", he asks without turning his head to look at him.

Then, suddenly, something might hit Makuta Teridax, but he won't see anything coming, and afterwards it appears nothing was there. But if it hit, he'll have felt it. He'll know something just hit him.

   "I... I'm fine."    Brutaka rises to his full height and brandishes his blades.    "Thank you, Axonn."   

Teridax remains in super-dense form, the water blast only slightly pushing him back. However, the hidden attack makes him stumble to the side, more out of surprise than actual damage dealt. He reduces his density back to normal and creates a Kraata in his hand.

   "Let's see your devotion to your precious Great Spirit in action!"    He chucks the poor newborn slug-monster at Mata Nui's face.

In a move that will probably shock everyone, Mata Nui headbutts the Kraata when it closes in. The Mask of Life instantly reacts, turning the Kraata into... a colorless gray Visorak. Before it can actually do anything with its new form, he runs it through with his sword.

Makuta grimaces and fades from sight, becoming invisible.

Botar is about to warp to save Mata Nui, but then stares when Mata Nui headbutts it.

They all stare when it turns into a Visorak and get merc'd.

They then turns back to Teridax, only to see that he's missing.

"Damn it all!", Botar growls.

Matoro looks at Hahli, who nods and activates her Mask Power, allowing her to see hidden beings.

Makuta is behind Matoro. He spreads his arms wide like he's about to smash the Toa Inika's head between his hands.

"Do you see him?" asks Mata Nui.

"Matoro!", she calls out, and that's enough to let the Toa of Ice know what's happening. It's also enough to let Lesovikk know, and he blasts air below Matoro to send him hurling up, letting him avoid the otherwise lethal attack.

Botar then immediately throws his throwing axe in the direction Matoro was standing in, at a height that, he hopes, is aiming for Teridax's neck.

Makuta dodges - sort of. The axe lands in his chest instead of his neck, dispelling the invisibility.

   "I grow... TIRED OF THIS!"    Makuta roars, releasing a sound wave loud enough to shatter stone. He then fires heat rays from his eyes and sweeps them across the battlefield while the Order members are (presumably) stunned from the Power Scream.

Brutaka falls for it easily, getting scorched across his chest and arms. Mata Nui is saved yet again by the Mask of Life's power, shielding his senses from the damaging scream so that he can evade the follow-up.

All of them are stunned, save for a certain possible member who, if he were here, would be moving too fast to hear the scream.

As such, all of them are hit by the scorching eye lasers. Botar is still standing strong on his feet, even if the pain stuns him, but Hahli, Matoro, Lesovikk and Trinuma are badly hurt. Axonn and Helryx are more in the middle of the hurt spectrum, though Axonn's armor got greatly damaged, and a part of his axe has broken off.

Then something tries to hit Makuta again, and yet again he won't see a thing, but he'll feel it.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Dec 13th 2019 at 4:58:34 PM

Teridax staggers again. He uses Mind Reading to try and, well, read the minds of everyone present. Not to extract information, but rather to see if there's a presence he missed.

Mata Nui starts sneaking up on Makuta.

Makuta will find that there's a truly refined mind moving around extremely fast. Yes, the exquisite mind of a warrior most great, a legendary figure of... legends. An amazing guardian, an awesome fighter, someone known to get any job done without fail, no matter against who he's up against.

That powerful, godlike warrior is speeding across the battlefield like he's freaking Sonic the Hedgehog on crack, narrowly avoiding crashing into walls with elegant precision. Such reflexes can only belong to a being most skilled, most professional, most infallible!

Yes, there he goes! He charges right at Makuta again, ready to slash at him with his glowing staff once more! Yes, a staff, and clearly not two swords taped to each other on the opposite ends of a stick. How great! How royal! How eccentric! Who can stop this man, this master, this champion of speed that nobody could ever surpass? Who, I ask? WHO!?

Edited by DevilPsyco on Dec 13th 2019 at 5:04:30 PM

Makuta, bemused, lets himself be hit again. He then releases an aura of Slowness, causing this mysterious super warrior to suddenly be moving in slow-motion.

Then he walks up in front of Umbra, steps sideways, and holds an arm out.

Time returns to its normal flow.

Really, there's no escaping the clothesline.

Our most glorious warrior gets fucking decked by crashing into Makuta's arm. As such, he slides underneath, spinning around like he, yet again, is Sonic the fucking Hedgehog, before crashing into the nearest wall.

Umbra, our messiah, has fucking died.

"... uuuuugghhhhhh...", Botar groans, very clearly not even surprised by the outcome of these events.

"You know, if he didn't spend all of his time narrating to himself while he's running, he might actually be prepared for moments like this.", Helryx says. "Even with Slowness he should've still been fast enough to see this coming."

   "And now, for the rest of you..."    Makuta casually donkey-kicks Mata Nui away from behind himself. His eyes glow as he prepares another Heat Vision.

Suddenly, a blue streak comes crashing down from the sky! It is, perhaps not coincidentally, a mask-wearing cybernetic warrior.◊

He slams foot-first into the side of Teridax's face, sending the Makuta stumbling back!

Mantra of 'Melancholy' - Yasha (Orphan Wolf Legend)

Yasha runs and jumps about, harassing Teridax with a barrage of Razor Wind projectiles, but the villain catches him by the arm mid-attack. Teridax slams Yasha back and forth on the ground before throwing him away.

Yasha goes tumbling across the battlefield, skidding to a stop on all fours with his fingers digging into the soil. He faces down, his breathing ragged. The demigod looks up to see Makuta bearing down on him with a powerful downwards punch. He springs out of the way as the titan's fist impacts where he had been standing moments prior, in an explosion of dirt and rock.

Yasha jumps back again, but Teridax spears him with the Staff of Shadows like a fish on a harpoon. He pulls the demigod of melancholy close to him, a cruel sneer visible under the Kanohi Kraahkan.

   "Let's see you without that mask..."    Teridax rips Yasha's mask from his face, revealing... Naught but the face of an ordinary-looking man, save for his skin having the texture of enamel on a Buddhist statue.

"Urraah!" Yasha kicks Teridax in the face, receiving a No-Sell for his efforts... But then he keeps kicking, making Teridax grow visibly frustrated. A tangible intensity builds up as Yasha continues striking, and right as Teridax moves to retaliate...

BURST◊

Yasha explodes with blue light, delivering a fierce sideways kick to Makuta's face that forces him to let go of the Staff of Shadows! Like a pole-vaulter, Yasha leans toward Makuta as the staff descends with himself on it, performing an overhead heel strike to bring Makuta down with himself!

Both combatants now down on the ground, Yasha pulls the Staff of Shadows out from his chest in a spray of glowing-orange, magma-like blood. He uses it to prop himself up, then, raising it with both hands, hurls it into Teridax's neck right as the Makuta is beginning to rise up!

Teridax freezes in place.

   "... Impossible..."   

Edited by KiriK on Jan 11th 2021 at 2:56:41 PM

Botar, despite how much in pain he is, is about to charge at Makuta for kicking Mata Nui.

That, however, is when Yasha appears and seems to make Teridax his bitch.

The Order witnesses his complete ownage of Makuta, all left to just stare in silence with mouths agape. Even Botar. Yes, even Helryx. Our immaculate warmaster Umbra would be doing the same if he weren't fucking dead.

"... can we recruit him instead?", Trinuma asks.

"I... Would consider that wise..." Mata Nui grunts as he pulls himself up. He runs to the Order members, touching them on the shoulders one by one in order to heal them with the Mask of Life.

Meanwhile, Teridax recovers from the shock and explodes with his own fury! He undergoes a transformation into a wretched abomination!... Which looks suspiciously similar to a certain Ash Bear specimen.

Yasha gasps as Makuta, now moving his limbs with blinding speed, stabs into the ground where he had just been standing. He looks over at the Order members.

Brutaka throws him his other protosteel dagger. Due to the size difference, Yasha proceeds to brandish it like a greatsword, using it to shield himself from Makuta's relentless assault.

As they get healed, they each thank Mata Nui for his help. And, secretly, for this new warrior's existence.

After Makuta transforms, Botar charges in and attempts to stab at his legs with his blade. Hahli and Matoro... well, they do the usual. Helryx and Lesovikk do a combined attack, mixing their Air and Water attacks to form a flying whirlpool and send it right at Makuta. Trinuma starts to fly and launches blasts from his arm cannon again. Axonn charges forward with his axe, making it run through the ground to kick up debris, which he also throws when he, mid-charge, swings his axe up.

And lastly, Umbra doesn't do crap because he's dead.