Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

He looks genuinely surprised.

"I did? ... huh.", he says, sounding like he's unsure what to think. Pseudo, meanwhile, finds an envelope and puts the letter inside.

"Alright, tomorrow we'll be accepting Cyber's proposition.", he says as he sits down behind his computers. He clasps his hands.

"And then we'll see what comes of it..."

Smiling slightly at Botar's surprise, Thor nods to Pseudo.

"Let's hope that accepting his offer proves to be wise in the end."

"Yeah, let's hope so.", Pseudo says, still a bit hesitant in one way, but determined to go through with his decision.

Rising from his chair, Thor decides to leave Pseudo and Botar to their own devices as he heads for the base's training room.

Luckily, the armor doesn't degrade to the point of falling apart and retains all of its magical properties too, otherwise they wouldn't stand much chance against Farandare's spells, especially since they're still, even now, steadily sapping whatever ice resistance they have left. Even Alleria's thorough enchantments can barely hold this kind of power at bay.

Farandare gets hit by both the Shout and the wave. To even out the odds, she summons a Daedra of Hircine wearing a fur loincloth and an antlered headwear, accompanied by a pack of three ghostly wolves. The pack immediately sets about harassing Alleria as she's trying to cast a spell, followed by the Herne itself shooting an arrow at her.

She then summons a hovering tome somewhat resembling a Black Book of Mora, open and hovering at her side. This tome repeatedly starts casting Ice Storm from its pages in the direction Farandare is facing, and as no one here is unaware, Ice Storm is a spell that covers a pretty wide area.

Enda, seemingly aware of this, uses Whirlwind Sprint to try and put an end to Farandare before things can get overwhelming. What happens instead is that Farandare unleashes her Howling Blast◊ at point blank, rapidly overwhelming both Enda's natural frost resistance as a vampire, her armor's enchantments and her Atronach Stone magic absorption all at once to turn her sister into a clunky ice statue. She's not quite dead yet but getting there rapidly.

Farandare's Spell Slots: 8/30

Edited by Arachnos on Feb 19th 2020 at 8:23:01 AM

The Moon

Prev

Augus simply laughed in response. "That's the same trick again!"

He let Azrael hit him in the chest a few times, before pushing himself away with a burst of Mantra.

"Now, why don't we start taking this seriously...?"

He flexed his fingers and reached down for Wailing Dark, as a wide grin grew on his bearded face.

Next

Edited by OmegaShadowcry on Feb 20th 2020 at 11:01:55 AM

"Divines guide me..."

Not wanting to risk attempting to power through such a massive Ice Storm, even with Sapphire Starlight at his disposal, Viserys decides to sheathe the Infinity Sword for now. He then raises his now-sparking hands before unleashing a Lightning Storm at Farandare.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 19th 2020 at 5:50:03 AM

Awkeff idly taps Tenebrae against the Infinity Sword's hilt, not even seeming aware of it, as she strolls up towards Farandare. She takes a stance.

The walls distort slightly more, becoming visibly wavy...

Then Awkeff freezes time, weaves through the Ice Storm, and attempts to lay into Farandare with Tenebrae as much as possible before time resumes! Her slowness due to the rock armor means she has very little time to do so, but she's attacking as hard as she can!

Next

Edited by KiriK on Feb 20th 2020 at 6:01:01 AM

Hub Centralis

In a back alley of the town, Ren slowly awakens, having slept slumped against the wall. He'd stuck in the Hub Centralis from the moment the Arena had changed, not eager to venture out into Skyrim's colder territory. The boy doesn't even have a jacket, so he'd have most likely frozen to death if he'd gone there.

Pseudo's Base

Pseudo is looking through his camera feed, trying to find who the Assassins chose as their representatives.

After a bit of looking, he seems to have found them. He then tries to call Meta Knight.

Central Hub

   Shhhhh...   

A faint, ghostly voice echoes out near Ren. It's hard to make out the nature of its source, due to 'Shhhhh' being all it's said.

Battleship Halberd

Meta Knight answers. "Present."

Ren jumps up to his feet, taken by surprise by the sound and intimidated as a result. He starts looking around.

"... w... who is there?", he asks with a somewhat weak voice.

"Ah, Meta Knight. I've located the position of the Assassins' representatives. I will send Botar over momentarily to warp you to their location.", Pseudo says.

   Shhhh...   

   You don't... have... to fear... me...   

The source still cannot be located yet, but the voice sounds like a young girl talking while being strangled, each pause like a desperate gasp for breath.

"Okay."

"... Isn't there something to hand over to them as well?"

"..."

Ren backs off a little, deciding to crouch, using his legs to hide a sharp rock that's behind him. With this pose, should whoever's talking attack him, he figures he should be able to snatch up the rock and jab it into their head.

"Show yourself then.", he says, sounding a bit uncertain.

"Yeah, Botar will give you the letter. He will also remain close to your location, just in case.", Pseudo says.

Right as he's done saying that, Botar warps into the room Meta Knight is in.

Slowly, it enters Ren's view.

No, it doesn't approach him, it seems to fade into being within his line of sight.

An animatronic bear with a predominantly black-and-red color scheme, something faintly visible under the cracks, where an endoskeleton should be.

   Have you... been hurt...? Have you... suffered?   

She... it... 'yes'... sounds genuinely curious and concerned.

Meta Knight is unfazed by Botar's sudden appearance.

"Good timing."

Edited by KiriK on Feb 20th 2020 at 1:11:11 PM

Ren appears...

surprisingly calmer by the way Lefty appeared.

"I... um...", he says as he slowly gets back up, a little confused by what he's looking at. "Y-yeah, in the past, but not at the moment..."

Botar appears slightly amused that Meta Knight isn't even remotely perturbed by how sudden his appearance was.

"Good timing is necessary for my job.", he says as he hands Meta Knight the letter.

"Ready?"

"Good, he's there. I'm going to hang up now, just in case they have a way of tracing this connection."

   M... me... me too.   

Lefty looks at itself.    Trapped... in too deep... I have to... protect... anyone I can...   

"Mm." Meta Knight hangs up first.

He turns to Botar. "Take me there."

"O-oh... I'm, uh... sorry...", Ren says, not really used to trying to comfort someone. The awkwardness is clearly visible on his face too.

"What happened?"

Botar, ever the stoic one, silently warps Meta Knight to his destination.

Traitor's Post, Skyrim

Meta Knight will reappear near the wooden hut. There's a blizzard razing over the area and nobody seems to be in sight, but the door to the hut is slightly open. So they're probably in there.

If Meta Knight approaches, he'll be able to hear some faint music coming from inside.

Despite no previous indication of exhaustion or low power, Lefty suddenly slumps down against the nearest wall.

   Are you sure... you want to know...?   

Firmly gripping the letter, Meta Knight wraps himself in his cape as he strolls on over to the hut.

He raises one hand and knocks for politeness's sake.

Ren nods.

"You were worried for me... and you don't sound like a bad person...", he says. "I'll listen."

The music stops for a moment and footsteps can be heard.

Then the door opens, revealing Tyler◊, who looks surprised.

"Oh! You're... Meta Knight, right?", he asks.

"Meta Knight? The guy with the big airship?", Tom's◊ voice rings from deeper within the house. Considering his affinity for playing the flute, it's safe to say that the music had come from him.

"Yeah, him!", Tyler says to Tom, raising his voice a bit so that his brother can hear him. After that he turns back to Meta Knight.

"Well, don't just stay in the cold, c'mon in.", he says with a friendly smile, walking back a bit to allow him to enter if he pleases, which Meta Knight, as an experienced warrior, may note is meant to be a sign that it's safe to enter. Because, if it were a trap, it'd have been more likely that Tyler would've stepped to the side and be able to close the door behind Meta Knight to lock him in.

Maybe it's just a way to lure him in, but at the very least him stepping back means that's one trap they cannot potentially pull.

   W... Wi... wwwwwwwwilliam... Afton.    Lefty's voice sounds like she's choking on the very name. The animatronic tucks its legs in closer.

   I was... only seven... when...   

Ren will be able to suddenly see a young girl's ghost appear curled up beside Lefty in the same posture. The ghost lacks color, being partially transparent, and completely light gray save for two features: her eyes, which are completely black save for white pinpricks of light from the pupils, and the tears running down her face, which are a darker shade of gray.

   He took... my life away...   

"... Mmm." Meta Knight walks in.

"I have a message from Pseudo Porky. Are you the Assassins, or associates thereof, meant to receive it?"

Edited by KiriK on Feb 20th 2020 at 1:56:03 PM

Ren remains silent as she speaks, though looks surprised when the girl's ghost manifests. It then turns to shock when she says what Afton did to her.

He remains silent evermore, then walks over to her. He sits down next to the ghost girl, their heights while sitting about equal... and puts his hand on her shoulder.

He can actually touch her, and that may shock the girl.

"I can't say I know what it's like to get killed...", he says with a soft voice. "But if I ever see that person, I'll tear him apart for you."

"We're merchants they hired to get them whatever equipment they need that we can get our hands on. Mostly provisions.", Tyler says as they walk into a rather messy living room, where Tom awaits, flute in hand.

"Hey, welcome. Sorry about the mess, it was that way when we got here. Someone probably fought in here or something.", he greets Meta Knight.

"Anyhow, this time they asked us to get Pseudo Porky's answer to their proposition. You mentioned his message. Does that mean you have their letter with you?"

Edited by DevilPsyco on Feb 20th 2020 at 9:00:18 PM

She blinks briefly, but seems more worried than surprised.

   N-no... I think... he might... tear into you... I wasn't... his only victim. I tried to save... those who came after... but I... I...   

The ghost tucks her face into her arms and just bawls.

"I see..."

"Indeed I do." Meta Knight pulls the paper out from his cape and hands it over.

Still a bit awkward with the notion of having to console someone, Ren tries to gently pat the girl on her back now, able to touch her yet again despite her being a ghost.

"Even if it didn't work, you trying to help them was really nice of you."

He shows a small smile. A rare sight on the boy's face, having only shown a genuine smile to less than a handful of people in the Arena so far.

"And you wouldn't have to worry about me. I can fight."

Tyler takes it and smiles.

"Great, this means more money for us!"

"They pay us for every service we do for them.", Tom clarifies. "We may not have any practical use for money, but hey, it's shiny, and we don't do stuff for free."

"So, are you sticking around until the blizzard dies down?", Tyler asks. "With how cold it is, it's not safe to go outside."

He then winks playfully.

"Don't worry about the both of us being here. We're only getting paid to get that letter back to the others, so we wouldn't hurt you."

"Unless you attack us first.", Tyler shrugs as he lazily lies down on top of the fallen-over couch and starts to play some nice, calming music on his flute.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Feb 20th 2020 at 9:09:28 PM

   Th-thank you... i-if you're sure...   

The ghost wipes the tears, though they don't stop coming.

   What's... your name...?   

Meta Knight muses on it.

"I can fly and the cold does not trouble me. All I have to do is move in one direction until I'm out of it, then I can get back to my battleship from there. However..."

His eyes briefly shimmer.

"Perhaps there would be something to learn from a conversation."

"My name's Ren. Most kids say that's a bit of a weird name.", he says, trying to make a small joke to see if she'll cheer up a little. He really is inexperienced with comforting, so he hopes it'll work.

"What's your name?", he asks. He also wants to ask how she ended up in a metal...

... he needs a moment to recognize what animal Lefty is based off of.

... A bear! Right, a bear! ... Man, he'd have known instantly if it had looked like a wolf instead.

Anyhow, the reason he doesn't ask is because he's afraid she'll start crying even harder if she has to think about how it happened.

The both of them appear happy.

"That's great. Then I'll set you some tea."

He smirks teasingly.

"You can keep an eye on the ingredients I'm using if you get scared I'll try to poison you.", he jokes.

"Don't say things that'll make him change his mind now.", Tyler says, stopping his flute playing to throw his brother an annoyed glance.

"Right, sorry. 'T was a jest.", he giggles before walking into the kitchen. Tyler then looks at Meta Knight while still laying on the top of the couch.

"So, what do you want to talk about? Keep in mind that, if you ask questions about the Assassins, there's some things we're not allowed to tell you."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Feb 20th 2020 at 9:19:46 PM