Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

   "She is Dragonborn. But there is another accompanying her, also Dragonborn. Each alone has boundless potential. In a handful of months, one can go from a prisoner about to be executed... to the one who saves the world from its destined devourer."   

   "I may sweeten the deal... with a Black Book. My tomes contain forbidden knowledge as well as portals to my realm, Apocrypha. With the right Black Book, you could know the workings of the universe... if your mind could handle that knowledge."   

Whiterun Hold

The Maximoff twins are going for a walk up the road leading to Robber's Gorge, conversing amongst themselves.

"You're... actually considering it? I would've thought that after Galeem and Dharkon, you'd rather jump off that big-ass mountain than team up with her again."

"I don't like this idea either, Pietro, but... considering how powerful Thanos is, we might actually need Mara's help if we want to stand a chance."

I have gazed upon comparable truths since eons. Whatever it may be, Thanos's mind can handle it.

Very well then. We've reached a deal. Now, as suspicious as it may be, I am going to send you a telepathic message. It'll provide you with more informations without wasting our times, and no hidden fool shall intercept it.

   "You are most wise. I will await it with utmost anticipation."   

Mora recedes into thin air, leaving a Black Book behind on the ground.

They might see Botar in the distance, his glowing head suggesting that he just warped someone away.

Thanos immediately does just that, promptly sending a telepathic message, touching on the Arena, its properties, the fighters of interest, the groups, the foes that attempted to invade it, etc... it's very thorough.

For all his dickery, Thanos is a honest customer.

He begins stepping towards the book.

Upon noticing Botar, Wanda taps her brother on the shoulder.

"What?"

"Look who I just found."

Pietro's gaze flickers to where his sister was looking.

"Heh, I was wondering when we'd get to chat with Pseudo. Let's just hope Platinum's new science project doesn't mean he can't help us deal with Cyber."

"Thor did mention that another scientist was aiding him. Now come on, before he teleports away."

The twins begin walking towards Botar, waving him over as they do so.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Dec 15th 2019 at 3:31:45 AM

Thanos get the book and teleport away to Sanctuary.

Botar, luckily, looks around for a moment before he has a chance to decide to leave as well. He notices Wanda and Pietro and his head stops glowing as he walks over to them.

"Wanda, Pietro, it's been a while.", he says as he greets them.

"Indeed. Between taking care of other matters and recovering from what Dharkon and Galeem did, Pietro and I have been... preoccupied lately," Wanda replies. "I hope everything's going well at the base."

"Speaking of the base, would now be a good time to pay Pseudo a visit?" Pietro chimes in. "Wanda and I wanna talk to him about a few things he might be interested in."

"Things have been going exceptionally well.", Botar says. "And I'm sure Pseudo will be happy to see you."

He then teleports Wanda and Pietro into the main monitor room. Pseudo isn't in it though, and Botar looks around.

"A moment, I'll go get him.", he says as he walks into one of the hallways.

Once Botar's teleported them to the base's main monitor room, Wanda and Pietro take a seat in the nearest chairs before waiting for Pseudo's arrival.

They luckily don't have to wait long, as Pseudo walks into the room not even a minute after Botar left. They might also notice Picky◊ and Lardna Minch◊ talking to him about something right before he comes out of the hallway, though the two of them do not enter the room itself.

"Wanda and Pietro! I'm happy to see you.", he says as he sits down in his own chair.

"So, Botar told me you had something interesting to tell me."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Dec 15th 2019 at 1:00:28 PM

The Maximoffs do notice Picky and Lardna, though they decide not to comment on their presence for now. Instead, they turn their attention to Pseudo.

"A couple things, actually. For starters, Pietro and I have a theory regarding Cyber's host: we think he might be Tobajas, the boy that the Great Light's been searching for," Wanda says. "I don't know why the Assassins would choose him specifically, but it would explain why he hasn't been found yet."

"So, me and Wanda hatched a plan: we use an EMP to deal with Cyber, then pull all that now-useless tech off of Tobajas before getting him back to the Great Light," Pietro adds. "And if it works, well..."

"Not only will Cyber's demise leave the Assassins reeling and leaderless, Tobajas will finally be safe."

"Plus, the Great Light'll finally send Porky back to hell like he should've done a long time ago!"

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Dec 15th 2019 at 4:29:40 AM

Pseudo looks surprised by the suggestion, then looks thoughtful as he clasps his hands together.

"It could be a valid explanation for his disappearance. And your plan, if it succeeds, would grant us all a lot of benefits. The Great Light would no longer be occupied with their search, the Assassins would have taken a big blow to their forces and structure, and Porky would be gone. I believe this plan, if you're correct about Cyber, could be a great one, though we would have to take some factors into account. We'd have to have proof, to ensure that the Great Light will help us with this. The other Assassins also have to be accounted for. We won't get anywhere if we can take out Cyber but cannot retrieve Tobajas. Especially with Hub around, who can potentially grab him and teleport him away."

Pseudo then smirks proudly.

"Although there is one Assassin we will no longer have to deal with."

"Those are some pretty good points... So if you know how we could get around those obstacles, I'm open to suggestions," Wanda says.

"And... which Assassin are you talking about here?" Pietro inquires, raising an eyebrow.

"I think it might take a little while to come up with ideas for a fool-proof plan. Considering that we're talking about the Assassin leader, we have to make sure there are no holes in our plan. But I assure you, this is not an opportunity I'll take lightly. I'll start thinking of potential ways we can go about it, along with their pros and cons, until I've come up with something satisfactory."

He then smiles.

"Since a few days ago, Hisoka has officially become an ally, not a member, of my organization. It appears that Nesley went ahead with a plan to tempt him into switching sides by sending a powerful undead to fight him, and that plan has succeeded. Heh, and that is only one of the things that has happened recently, pretty much all of them good developments for us. Do you want to be informed of the rest?"

"That's understandable. In the meantime, Pietro and I will see if Platinum can create our EMP. Unless Stark comes back from his war soon," Wanda replies, figuring that she and Pietro ought to save Cinke's absence for when they got to discussing Thanos. "And if Vision returns, well... he could probably disable Cyber without an EMP."

"Huh... so that zombie guy Ness talked up actually pulled through. Well, even if he went over your head, it's kinda hard to argue with the results," Pietro says. "Now let's hear about the rest of these developments."

"Our first success was a mission to free the Kardas dragon. You might not have been around at that time, but Vezon used to have a powerful dragon that fell into Sombra's hands. That dragon was still locked in Sombra's old base, its limitless energy being used to fuel said base for Neo Pseudo Porky. Sombra, Ninten and a few others went on a mission to free it, and succeeded in doing so.", Pseudo says.

"Then Roll EXE finished creating a Light Chip at last. If we manage to make Hub use it, he'll be purified of his darkness, and regardless of whether he'll help us or not, there's no doubt he'd leave the Assassins once he's back to his old self. That would be a severe blow to their forces, as their ability to retreat at all times would become much more limited. Alinivar and his group, the aliens who hung around Niiue, have joined our ranks as well, giving us more firepower to work with in the form of them and Niiue's space ship. Lastly, Meta Knight has fully recovered and has repaired his Halberd. He is now once again capable of assisting us in battle if we require his help."

He then looks really pleased.

"Not to mention that the fortification of my base is near completion. It should be done by the end of the week. Not even Galeem's beams would be able to burst in from the outside anymore now that we have this level of protection."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Dec 15th 2019 at 2:35:28 PM

The Maximoffs wait until Pseudo is finished talking, then speak up.

"Damn... you've really been busy since we last met up! Not that I expected anything less from ya, of course," Pietro says, grinning slightly. "Say, Pseudo, whenever you get around to using this Light Chip on Hub, think you could let me know? I've fought the guy more than once and I'm fast enough to keep up with him, so..."

"Good... because Thanos recently had Cinke's laboratory destroyed. She managed to escape in time, but his warship reduced it to little more than a crater and she's been in hiding ever since," Wanda says. "So... if Thanos ever discovers your base, I really hope these new fortifications can withstand whatever he throws at you."

"Of course. Your help is greatly appreciated.", Pseudo says, nodding. He then looks pretty surprised.

"That was Cinke's lab he attacked? We saw the attack happen on the monitors near the end of the attack. We were so busy with fortifications, and by the time we knew who to send for help, the attack ended...", he says. "Claus will not like this news... I'm meeting with him in a few days, so if he doesn't know about this yet, I'll tell him. As for our base, you don't need to worry. I had Shadow test the previous, weaker version of the plating we ended up using, so I know for sure that pretty much nothing will be able to blast through our defenses."

Pietro gives Pseudo a thumbs up.

"Alright! Anyway, back when Galeem and Dharkon were still kicking around, me and Wanda overheard some of the Assassins talking about what sounded like their plans for the future with a guy who looked kinda like Igor with a mecha."

He proceeds to go into detail about the conversation in question.

Wanda simply nods.

"I hope you're right..."

Pseudo listens intently, looking serious.

"I see... this implies that they have members in secret that we don't know anything about yet. That's a possibility I didn't think about yet, but really should have. It'd be easy for them to set up traps for us if we assume we know everything. Alongside some kind of secret project... that could be a lot of things as well, depending on if that project is just that man's, or if it is something the whole group is working on."

He ponders.

"It's a good thing you've told me this. I was considering going for an all-out attack sometime soon. However, this information shows me that doing so could easily lead to a massive defeat, and too many deaths on our side. This also means we'll have to be more careful when it comes to dealing with Hub and Cyber. Perhaps I should give Roll's idea more of a chance. She wants to try to convince Hub to willingly use the Light Chip. Should that succeed, we wouldn't have to fight him, just keep other Assassins away so that they cannot intervene."

Lardna now seems to be peeking from around the corner of the door.

"For all we know, he could just be a new recruit. Still, I guess it might be worth searching an abandoned Assassins' bunker for," Pietro replies. "Assuming some weird-ass ninja kid doesn't try to tag along..."

"She... wants to try talking Hub into willingly using the Light Chip?" Wanda asks. "That's a very risky idea, but... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Dec 15th 2019 at 7:15:43 AM

"We'd have to be careful though. They could have left traps in the bases they don't use. If they know how to disarm them, then they could do that if they ever have need of that particular base.", Pseudo says. "I'll try to see if the monitors can't pick up any suspicious locations that could have an entrance."

He then nods.

"I think the same way, but if it has a chance of working... it helps that she is the person who knows Hub best. Maybe she can get through to him, depending on the situation."

Lardna then enters the room. Pseudo looks at her.

"Yes, do you need something?"

Lardna looks... uncharacteristically unsure. Not to mention that she isn't shouting with demands yet. She looks at Wanda and Pietro.

   "I'm not sure if we've met in person before, but you might have heard of me. I'm Pokey's... Porky's mother. I believe you're friends with the people I've met though, and... well, I'll be leaving this world soon, yet there's something I have to say. Could you... perhaps tell them what I want to say for me?"   

Picky now walks into the room too, clearly worried for Lardna. Pseudo seems to know what she wants to say though, as he nods at the Maximoffs.

"She's told it to the people here too. I think it's worth listening to, even if you despise Porky."