Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

EXCELLENT. I TRUST THAT YOU WILL HELP ME PREPARE THE AREA. he says, greatly appreciating Vanilla's contribution.]

Edited by Bolded1 on Jan 17th 2020 at 2:50:15 PM

Vanilla nods to Platinum as she begins rigging the lab with all sorts of booby traps. She's having a blast.

"Maybe I'll think of something by the next time we meet," Tokiko says as she follows the others into the portal. Ditto for Konngara and Tarboy.

"Another blow dealt to the face of greed and materialism! Today is a glorious day!"

"I for one am just concerned that they seem to be finally starting to learn from their mistakes. This group of enemies was not like the others. They were wise to our capabilities and equipped to exploit our weaknesses. That strange ritual at the end and that talk of a powerful blade that might well be in the hands of our enemy is giving me pause, too..."

Stock Market

Everyone jumps in, but not before Mickey looks to the door behind him. Whatever was behind that door... it must be the greatest challenge he's had in a while.

Riften

Ben Traviss◊ enters the town of Riften, having been exploring the new (to him, anyway) setting for quite some time now.

Whiterun Hold, Bleakwind Basin

Thor◊ is training at the giants' camp of Bleakwind Basin, where Cinke's laboratory used to be before Thanos had it reduced to rubble.

YOU MAY PROCEED.

Up above Thor, there's a spherical flying machine of a sort, with a screen showing Platinum's stoic face. The real one is still at the lab though, verifying the traps set up by Vanilla.

...

Palpatine is done eating, going by the way he carefully exit a restaurant. A wonder that this place apparently produced food for everyone to eat.

He's some houses away from the Jedi.

Gardens of Color, Reprium

A figure in armor◊ kneels in the field of flowers, weapon planted in the ground.

Silently, it lies in wait.

After wandering about the lakeside town and musing about how eerily reminiscent of Dathomir's Nightsisters the Forsworn encampments he saw were, Ben catches sight of Palpatine. Judging by the man's attire, he had to be either a royal or a senator.

Wondering what either would be doing so far from worlds like Alderaan and Coruscant, the young Jedi decides to cautiously approach Palpatine. At least this wasn't another encounter with Kylo Ren...

Just as he's wrapped up his training session for the day, Thor looks up at the floating screen displaying Platinum's face.

"Seeing as Broly still remains in Thanos' employ, I can only assume you're referring to Loki's plan for his captured lapdog."

(let's say this take past in the future/past)

Anakin just happen to be walking by the garden, looking confused when he spots the Lingering Will. He mistake it for a Sith outright before realizing that it seemingly wield no lightsaber. He approach cautiously, staying vigilant.

...

Palpatine notices Ben and raise an eyebrow in amusement. At least it was a "familiar face", and while he was away from his stronghold, he knew that he'd avoid detection. And beside, worse come to worse, what could a single Jedi do to him?

Ah, how pleasant to see another person! Says Palpatine. Especially a Jedi!

...

YES. THE PLAN MAY PROCEED OVER THAT MATTER.

Aqua... Ven...

The soldier's voice sounds more like a projection, such as a Force ghost, while at the same time being mildly distorted by the helmet.

His head tilts upwards slightly to observe Anakin.

This feeling...

Anakin observes the Lingering Will, frowning but not quite acting yet.

Stand back, what are you talking about?

There is... a darkness in your heart. It feels... familiar.

Xe...ha...nort...

Is that you?

Xeha...nort...

The Lingering Will lurches forward, pulling himself up with his Keyblade. The quiet echoes of his voice turn to a thunderous roar, as if the heavens themselves were screaming the name, Xehanort!

He grabs his blade and pulls it out of the ground, taking his battle stance. A wind blows through, and in seemingly an instant, the field of vibrant color turns into the dead, decaying wasteland it used to be.

Rage Awakened

The Lingering Will does a backflip, dropping his weapon. In midair, it transforms into a speeder-like vehicle,◊ which he lands right on. He then zooms around the battlefield on it, leaving a trail of light in his wake, before trying to ram into Anakin from multiple directions in succession.

"Likewise. Heh, I suppose my lightsaber must have been a dead giveaway," Ben replies, chuckling lightly and tapping the lightsaber hanging from his belt. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, what exactly brings a senator all the way out here?"

Thor grins. Finally, they might be able to score a victory against the purple bastard, regardless of how minor it might turn out to be!

"Excellent! Just tell me where to go and be prepared to send Corvus over if Thanos accepts the deal."

What are you-

Anakin gets rammed twice before he get to regain his bearing, backflipping his way out of the third ram. He draws his lightsaber to his hand and dodge the subsequent attacks, swinging at the mad being whenever it get too close.

—

I was plucked here. Quite unfortunate for an old man, would you agree? Though perhaps I should be thankful. After all, I have yet to make a most tragic encounter with a ruffian.

He fold his arms.

I trust that you simply didn't fly over here as well.

...

YOU MAY HEAD FOR SOLITUDE WHILE I CONTACT THANOS.

Anakin knocks the Lingering Will right off his glider.

He tumbles onto his feet, summoning it back to himself in Keyblade form. The warrior jumps up and hovers in midair, then launches directly at Anakin with a mighty swing.

Anakin opts not to try to match his enemy's momentum and leap backward, before jumping forward right as he touch the ground, propelling himself towards his enemy. He attempts to launch the attack promptly, with a bunch of swings of his sword!

Ben confirms Palpatine's guess with a nod.

"Correct. I can't exactly recall how I first arrived here, but I've been here long enough to know my way around."

He unclips his lightsaber, then begins tossing it into the air and catching it.

"Unlike you, however, I've ran into my fair share of trouble during my stay. Among them were Dark Siders."

"Alright."

With that, Thor takes off like a bullet towards Solitude.

Lingering Will gets slashed a couple times before he holds out his Keyblade to block Anakin's strikes.

Did anyone seriously think the magic key-sword wasn't going to be able to clash with a lightsaber?

He jumps upwards and comes down key-first on Anakin, trying to cut him down or otherwise force him into a Blade Lock.

That seems... to be most unfortunate, yes. Siths and the likes have only begun to reemerge after 4000 years of peace. For you to encounter them here is most unfortunate, though I trust that you prevailed!

He stroke his chin.

...

Anakin's surprised, but not enough to get struck, deftly leaping out of the way.

What kind of odd weapon is this?! he says, briefly twirling his lightsaber and going back to the offensive once more.

...

Platinum's bot flies off, and Platinum himself sit down, and begins transferring his consciousness elsewhere, to contact Thanos and prevent him from simply tracking down the signal.

The Lingering Will swings his Keyblade outwards, and just like that it turns into a whip with the tip of the key at its end. He lashes it wildly, carving through the air in a wide area around him with streaks of bluish-white, trying to force Anakin back.

"I did. The Sith I fought here was powerful, but he was eventually forced to retreat."

Ben then raises an eyebrow as Palpatine's remark about the Sith, whose empire was currently locked in a cold war with the Republic where he was from, only recently beginning to emerge sinks in. This man was from a completely different point in time like Kylo Ren, wasn't he?

"Did... you just say that the Sith have only just come forth?"

Upon arriving in Solitude, Thor touches down in Castle Dour's courtyard, where he waits to hear from Platinum.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jan 18th 2020 at 11:51:44 AM

Yes. Their evil was undone in the dawn of the Galactic Republic, and they haven't been seen over the span of eons... until now. Even then, Siths are few in numbers, and are still vastly outnumbered by the brave Jedi.

He raises a curious eyebrow.

Hm? You seem surprised. I am aware that those are upsetting news, but it's been known ever since the events at Naboo. says Palpatine, prodding a little.

...

Oh right, that.

Anakin uses his force powers and agility to dodge, but his offense is considerably slowed down, with him being too busy jumping around yet. He attempts to break through with a mighty force push though!

...

Thanos stare at a tiny screen in his command room. Unlike the others, it's marked by Platinum's symbol, indicating that he's partially hacked into Sanctuary, somewhat.

To what do I owe the displeasure?

I AM PLATINUM, AN ADVANCED INTELLIGENCE ARTIFICIAL. THANOS OF TITAN, I REQUIRE A TRADE.

Hm... aren't you the scientist's machine? I'm afraid that anything that you have to offer will be quite unable to attract my attention. Farewell.

Thanos prepares to kick Platinum out of the system, but Platinum's system take over another screen in answer.

YOU WILL FIND IT TROUBLESOME TO SIMPLY WAVE ME AWAY, TITAN. I OFFER YOU CORVUS GLAIVE, IN EXCHANGE FOR THE TWO SAIYAN INDIVIDUALS.

Oh? And what make you think that I would sacrifice those two particular pawns to retrieve him?

WE ARE ABOUT TO BREACH THE MENTAL WALL THAT YOU CREATED IN HIS MIND. THE INFORMATION INSIDE WOULD BE VERY USEFUL TO US, AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIND US BEFORE WE DO SO. BESIDE, IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT THE POWER OF THE COMIC GAUNTLET OFFER YOU A BENEFIT OF 456%. BROLY'S RAGEFUL NATURE WOULD MAKE HIM HARD TO CONTROL. HE ONLY OFFER YOU A BENEFIT OF 70%.

And what if I simply dominate his mind?

NOT EVEN ONE SUCH AS YOU CAN KEEP THE SAIYAN UNDER MENTAL CONTROL FOR THAT LONG. AND YOU WOULD GIVE HIM THE MOTIVATION TO APPLY PRESSURE TO YOUR REAR AREA WITH HIS FOOT.

Hmph. You're a vulgar droid, aren't you?

Thanos smiles.

Very well then. In exchange for Corvus, you shall be bestowed the two.

Platinum nods, and leave, seemingly. Deploying the very apex of his cybernetic powers though, he leaves a single file in a single computer within Sanctuary, to be used for later...

The push staggers Lingering Will back.

He pauses for a split second, then creates a magical seal of blue light around Anakin, trying to disable his Force powers for a time.

Anakin dodges, but only barely, and need to right himself up, giving the Lingering Will enough time to go on the offensive again!

"The... events of Naboo? I don't believe the Emperor's ever sent his forces to attack that planet prior to the cold war."

Ben returns his lightsaber to his belt. This was going to be almost exactly like his encounters with Kylo Ren, wasn't it?

Leaning against Stormbringer, Thor begins whistling a jaunty Asgardian tune as he waits to hear back from Platinum. In hindsight, perhaps he should have brought Loki along to chat with...