Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Arachnos gives a sarcastically sweet smile to Rey in the pool. "Oh, that's cute. Just you wait, I'll fish you out~"

Making a whipping motion with both hands, he creates two of those lashing webs, both covered in electric arcs, and swings them into the pool. Now obviously the webs become waterlogged and incapable of doing much harm as whipping weapons, but they're still electric and water is still conductive.

Ouchie ouch.

Rey rises up to the surface on his back, looking rather well-done. He limply reaches a hand out...

and teleports right next to Rbade, landing on his feet. He fires another flare-scatter round in front of them, creating a miniature wall of brightly-colored flames between them and Arachnos.

"Fusion time."

Thor listens intently to Iris' explanation, nodding and hanging onto every word. Once she's finished speaking, he looks her in the eye before taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"You have my word that I will never reveal this secret to anyone else, Iris. Not even the worst tortures you could possibly imagine would loosen my tongue."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 1st 2020 at 4:53:20 AM

"Tch, all right." Rbade is secretly glad for the action.

He gets in the position, and sticks his arms out in the proper places.

"Fuuu...!"

She immediately gives him a hug. She's so fast that even Thor might not be able to process it immediately.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I knew I could trust you~", she excitedly says. After the hug, she gets off the bed and stretches her arms and wings a bit.

"Man, this world is as lethal as can be, but ending up here is undoubtedly the best thing that's ever happened to me. Hehe, I might not even be all that angry about being trapped in that crystal anymore, because I doubt I'd have lived long enough to reach this time era naturally."

She pauses and ponders, arms crossed.

"... no, no, I'm definitely still angry. But hey, make the best of it, I'd say. And when I'm around you, that's super easy to do."

She turns to Thor, then probably surprises him by giving him a kiss on his forehead, following that up with a sleek and cheeky smile.

"You betcha that I owe you one. Even if you'll say that I don't have to repay you, I'm still gonna do it someday. I'm stubborn like that.", she says, winking at the end of it.

"Wait... YOU TWO CAN DO THE DRAGONBALL THING?!" Arachnos exclaims, but decides to wait out the fusion while keeping an eye on both Rey and Rbade. While this goes slightly away from the scope of the duel, he figures that if the point is for both opponents to demonstrate the full width and breadth of their abilities to each other, he might as well see what this combination of the two fighters offers.

Rey follows along with a smirk.

"... Sion!"

"HA!"

And the two Reys become one!

Without any Metamo-Rings, they become the standard vest-wearing Metamoran fusion.

"Hm... Let's call this form Reybade, because why not." Reybade summons forth Rbade's carapace and lumbers towards Arachnos, armored shoulders out in front.

"And for your information, we first got this working thanks to a little help from a Supreme Kai."

He quickly raises a hand and summons his Plush Buster, before he starts charging a shot. A brilliant blue glow emanates from within the velvety barrel.

Despite his initial surprise, Thor nonetheless hugs Iris right back. Once she releases him from the embrace and kisses his forehead, he offers the angel a teasing yet affectionate smile in response, rises from the bed as well, and kisses her hand like a gentleman.

"Heh... I wouldn't expect anything less from you. And might I add, the arsehole responsible for trapping you within that crystal was a complete fool to discount such a wonderful and charming beauty."

She looks surprised by the gesture. She even blushes as a result.

"O-oh my. Thor, you, um..."

She has an embarrassed, adorable smile on her face.

"I-I should probably tell you that in my time, only the Four Chosen Gods receive this sort of kiss. You, uh, just compared me to one of them, a-and I don't really know what to say to that."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Feb 1st 2020 at 2:19:01 PM

Thor grins warmly at Iris in return.

"Oh? Then it's undoubtedly one of the most apt comparisons I've ever made, Lady Iris."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 1st 2020 at 5:33:28 AM

"J-jeez, Thor!", she says, looking even more embarrassed and giving him a playful punch against the chest. "You're gonna end up killing me with compliments!"

She needs a moment to calm herself down.

"Anyhow... whoo... alright. Anyhow, how about we go get something to eat together. I'm starving.", she happily says.

Thor chuckles when Iris playfully punches him in the chest.

"Oh my! Thank the Allfathers you warned me, then, or my father would've had me sentenced to life in Asgard's dungeon!" he remarks. "My compliments were sincere, though, Iris. Believe me when I say that."

He lets out a sigh, then puts an arm around her, provided she allows him to.

"Anyway, you'll be happy to hear that this inn contains enough food for us to have ourselves a feast worthy of our ancestors."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 1st 2020 at 9:44:36 AM

Still blushing, she can't help but smile and glance away for a moment. Her eyes shift back to Thor when he mentions the food.

"Oh, excellent!", Iris happily says. "Although I don't really have ancestors. ... does a father count as an ancestor? I have... well, probably had a father. It's been a really long time after all."

"Heh, I don't see why not," Thor replies with a shrug. "Now before we feast, I just wanted say to thank you for raising my spirits today. I really needed it after our... disastrous battle with Thanos."

He then kisses Iris' cheek.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 1st 2020 at 6:22:06 AM

"Hey, no problem!", she says as she gets the kiss. She then proceeds to boop Thor on the nose with a silly smile.

"Let's get to eating now, or I might faint again."

She does a little spin, after which she walks towards the door, though still happily keeps talking to Thor.

"Hey, do you think they'll accept crystals as payment for the food? I just so happen to have a few that I don't really need."

Chuckling lightly, Thor walks alongside Iris.

"Last time I checked, I don't think we have to pay for our food here," he replies. "Although if I'm mistaken or things have suddenly changed, I imagine crystals would do just fine."

"Ah? Then there's no negatives~", she says, giggling as she opens the door. "Let's go!"

"I was just about to say that myself!"

Thor proceeds to follow Iris through the door.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 1st 2020 at 6:41:29 AM

Arachnos laughs as he witnesses the two's combined form - not with derision, despite their somewhat... haphazard-looking weaponry, but with genuine mirth.

This rush... I'd forgotten how it felt like over the years. Or rather, have I ever really known it at all? Back then, every battle was to the bitter end. There is no pleasure in fighting when failure can spell doom for hundreds, thousands, even an entire world. But here, it's just me, them and no real stakes.

Rey's friend jumped into battle with no hesitation. So it must really be true... a world where no one dies. Is this what the purpose of this place is? To bring merriment to fighters in the knowledge that they can safely go all out? Just like Valhalla. Or... a video game.

Smells Like Venom

Arachnos adjusts his necktie, a sinister shine in his glasses as he gestures dramatically at Reybade. "So, the little flies believe that a slightly bigger fly can take down a spider? Come, then! Squirm and wriggle and entangle yourselves further, as I demonstrate to you firsthand, the foolishness of struggling inside a spider's web!"

Aggressive words, but there doesn't seem to be any real malice behind them. In fact, both can probably tell that Arachnos is having the time of his life basically LARPing the final boss of an anime arc or a video game right now. But that doesn't mean he's gonna go easy on them either. A glowing pentacle, shaped like a simple perfect circle, appears around Reybade, and a crushing gravitational force attempts to force him (them?) to the ground.

Edited by Arachnos on Feb 1st 2020 at 11:30:21 AM

"You're wrong, Arachnos... We're not flies! I'm a snake, and a horse!"

Unyielding Energy! (Battle! Xerneas/Yveltal)

Reybade hunkers down and powers up in traditional anime fashion, using his rising energy to support himself against the increased gravity.

"Snakes... can slip out... of anything!"

He suddenly fires a teleportation marker courtesy of Rey and places himself right behind Arachnos.

Now! Fire the charged shot! ... and say something cool about your zodiac animal, too!

Edited by KiriK on Feb 2nd 2020 at 1:00:25 PM

"What...? Why is that the theme of our... whatever."

Rbade raises the plushter and quips something along the lines of... "And you can lead a horse to water, but you can't... force it to NOT get shot in the fucking face?"

With that absolute failure out of the way, the charged blast of roiling plasma is released.

This may prove to be a mistake. They can't see it from their position, but Arachnos' face is split by a wicked grin.

A messy tangle of webbing, more like the mess woven by a house spider than the neat web of an orb-weaver, appears in the way of the charged shot. Most strikingly, though, these webs are jet-black, so black they seem to consume light itself.

Sure enough, part of the blast seems to be consumed into these threads, dispersing part of its power. Not that Arachnos has gotten away scot-free - his suit is charred and he even seems to stagger a bit - but his remaining three protruding spider legs retaliate at the speed of lightning, stabbing their razor claws at Reybade at ORA ORA ORA speeds as he's in near point-blank range. The amputated leg just flails uselessly.

"Useless, useless, useless!" Arachnos shouts in the middle of the assault, seemingly taking cues from a different JoJo character. "You would dare use my own trick on me? I am the master of teleporting behind you! Did you honestly think I would be undone by such a paltry imitation?"

Edited by Arachnos on Feb 2nd 2020 at 2:23:04 PM

Time slows to a crawl for the fusion.

"... Yeah, actually."

Darn, I was hoping you'd say something about horsepower. Anyway, I have an idea, declares Rey's mind.

Reybade raises his plushter arm to defend against the onslaught of stabs, then fires his teleport marker backwards.

It'll be tough, but if we can keep teleporting, we can keep attacking from different directions. Oh, wait, can't we just summon something?

Edited by KiriK on Feb 2nd 2020 at 1:50:28 PM

"Buddy, we're in a fight. I don't have time to think of good quips."

Rbade adds his movements to complement Rey's.

"We can use Wolverakugan or Arceus. I think both would smash the building though. I kind of live here."