Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Lucas, as he walks alongside Pietro, doesn't show it on his face, but he's thoughtful.

Considering that Ridley had some sort of grudge, there HAS to be something going on here. There's just too many things that don't add up. I'll find out though. I'll make it my mission to find out. ... But first, food.

Claus looks concerned. He'd try to use Life Up to help ease the pain Roxas feels, but he can't use passive PSI. All he can do is put his hand on Roxas' shoulder to try to comfort him.

"I-it's alright. Try not to think about that particular and calm down, then the pain will probably subside."

"Alright, let's go."

Mero started to walk toward a village. In the distance the others would see the village was suspended in the water, and it was inhabited by what looked like frog people.

Edited by Merokoheroko on Feb 29th 2020 at 8:12:28 AM

"O-okay..."

—

During his frequent returns to that place, to Twilight Town, Roxas saw three ordinary kids - Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They were friends, and seeing them encouraged him to try and befriend Axel.

Eventually, though, Axel was sent to Castle Oblivion, to deal with a suspected traitor in the part of the Organization who were working out of there. It turned out to be Larxene and Marluxia, but Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion were also eliminated as well. At the time, though, Roxas only knew that 'one of the members' had fallen, causing him to worry that Axel was among them.

It was only later that Roxas would learn/realize that Sora was there too, and everyone in the Castle Oblivion crew, whether allies, traitors, or Axel, were contending with him as well as each other. And because Sora made it through in spite of his memories being tampered with, because Sora went into a state of hibernation to fix his memories... Roxas went into a coma.

Upon awakening, Roxas was able to befriend Axel, and due to his ability to manifest a Keyblade, he was able to free hearts from the monsters called Heartless. Other members could strike down Heartless, but those hearts would not be freed, and would simply turn back into Heartless elsewhere. By freeing their hearts with the Keyblade, Roxas was able to help Xemnas in his plan to create an artificial replica of Kingdom Hearts, an ancient force said to be the heart of all worlds. The Organization's ultimate goal was to complete their artificial Kingdom Hearts, in order to gain hearts of their own.

—

"Because, you see... the Organization is made up of Nobodies. We're just the empty shells left behind by people whose hearts became Heartless. We don't feel, we're not supposed to exist. Sora got to come back from being a Heartless, which is why I didn't get to keep any memories, but all the other Nobodies remembered the people they used to be. They acted on logic and their memories of emotion."

Roxas cracks a half-hearted smile. "For the first week or so, Axel compared me to a zombie."

He then takes a sad expression again. "But... I don't remember anything from then until I left the Organization, almost a whole year later. I don't know what's missing, but it's important to me."

—

Whatever the case may have been, Roxas grew angry at Axel for keeping secrets from him, about both his nature and...

and something else...

... and Roxas fled from the Organization, confident that no one would miss him if he died. He went to Twilight Town, where he fought another Keyblade wielder... who did he fight?

Who???

—

As Roxas continues, Claus might notice blood trickling down from his nose in addition to the tears from his eyes.

—

He had an epiphany from that battle, returning to the Organization's world to take vengeance, sever Kingdom Hearts from Xemnas, and find some damn answers about Sora.

He encountered someone named Riku, who knew Sora, but was Roxas's enemy. They fought, and Riku won by transforming into a larger, more menacing adult form that radiated dark power.

—

"The next part is... where I see a connection to your brother."

Luxord simply follows Mero.

He smirks at the apparent absurdity of this world, but says nothing.

Edited by KiriK on Feb 29th 2020 at 10:13:47 AM

"That's... wow... I dunno what to say to all you've said so far. I..."

He then notices the nosebleed.

"Hold on, your nose..."

He digs through a pocket on his jacket, grabbing a tissue out of it and offering it to Roxas with a slight smile.

"I don't know if that's a regular nosebleed or a psychic nosebleed, but I know from experience that you'll need one of these. Use this, then continue talking. I'll wait for a moment."

"... Probably psychic, but thank you." Roxas plugs his nose with the tissue.

—

Roxas was captured by Riku and placed into a simulation by a girl named Naminé and a man called DiZ. They were the ones working to repair Sora's memories, and for some reason, Roxas had inherited those memories as well as a second Keyblade from the wielder he fought -

—

"XION! HER NAME WAS... xi... on..."

Roxas's eyes glaze over as he seems to immediately forget his sudden realization. Claus, however, should be immune to the effect due to other-world-stuff.

—

Roxas had some of Sora's lost memories, so Naminé and DiZ needed to keep him unaware while they went through the process. In the simulation, Roxas was just an ordinary boy, and part of Hayner, Pence, and Olette's friend group. However, Axel managed to break into the simulation and tried to bring Roxas back under Xemnas's orders, but failed because Roxas no longer remembered his time as an Organization member and thus stubbornly resisted this stranger claiming to be his friend.

Eventually, he began to experience Sora's memories through dreams in the simulation, and realized from those dreams that Naminé was the Nobody of Kairi, a girl who Sora cared about. Naminé later came before him in person, taking him inside the simulation's version of the very same mansion in front of which he first came into being, to try and slowly help him adjust to his impending fate, but DiZ and Riku were insistent on finishing the job quickly.

As a consequence, the simulation slowly fell apart and broke down around him, until suddenly everything that he lost came back to him.

Roxas, consumed by fury, stormed the simulated mansion and began to destroy it, jeopardizing the state of the simulation. By then it was too late, and he had to fight off Axel with the twin Keyblades he suddenly remembered he had.

After taking out his vengeance on everything he could find, he ran into Sora himself, asleep in the restoration pod.

At that moment, suddenly, he decided to give up... but a woman appeared and offered her hand.

—

"And before I knew it, I was in the Arena."

Claus jumps hen Roxas exclaims what he temporarily remembers. He listens to the rest of his story first before speaking up again.

"Wow... yeah, you went through a lot as well... I'm sorry. So you said this other person you didn't know the name of for most of your story was named Xion?"

"... I said that? Who's Xion?"

It seems like, whoever she is, Roxas can't remember her. Hence, him not remembering anyone being there at all... on the day Xion joined the Organization.

Claus realizes that something must be going on. He feels like he owes it to Roxas to at least try to explain, since he understands why it'd be a bad thing for Lucas to get his memories back.

"You... mentioned a Keyblade wielder named Xion. But you seemed to forget her immediately afterwards."

He tilts his head.

"Do you think maybe someone messed with your memories to make you forget about her?"

"Ngh..."

Roxas clutches his head again.

"N-no, she was... she was... Sora's memories..."

His eyes glaze over once more.

"h-hey, don't worry.", Claus says, looking concerned again. He then shows a supportive smile.

"Hey, you know, we're all beat from that battle... maybe you'll have an easier time remembering once you've eaten something and had a good night's sleep. We're some distance away from the big town in the middle of this continent, but if you hold onto me, I can fly us to my base. It's closer, should only take me a few minutes. You can safely rest there. What do you say?"

"That... sounds good."

Roxas smiles at Claus.

"Thanks for listening to my story. Do you understand now why your brother's lost memories felt like a personal concern to me?"

"I do...", Claus says, nodding solemnly. "But I'm really doing this for his own safety. Even in the small chance that he would be able to handle those events now, he'd still... well, he'd have memories of two different lives now. I don't want to know what kind of effects that could have on him. The Lucas we know might not exist anymore if that happens."

He then gets up and offers his hand to Roxas to help him get up too.

"Thank you for listening to my explanation too.", he says with a somewhat bigger smile.

Roxas takes Claus's hand and rises up.

"I don't like it. But I'll accept it."

"Thank you.", he says, looking appreciative. He then expands his wings again and hovers slightly above the ground.

"Now then, grab a hold of my underarms and I'll bring us to my base. You don't have to worry about your weight, I can carry much heavier things than normal people can."

"... I can fly, too, but..."

Roxas grabs on, gently.

"Yeah, but I'm guessing your flight may use some energy. With me, as long as my wings are intact, I'll be able to fly. So it'll be easier for you this way."

Claus then carefully flies up, grabbing a hold of Roxas' wrists too to ensure Roxas won't fall if he happens to lose his grip on Claus.

Once they're steady, he flies off in the direction of his base.

Coast near the Cyber Angel Fortress

Ridley's body washes ashore, the Space Pirate leader not moving or making a sound. A hand is then placed on his neck, checking for a pulse.

"Excellent, he's alive. Barely, but still alive." , the green Cyber Angel◊ says as it removes its hand. It then turns towards the soldiers◊.

"Grab a hold of him and bring him inside, and be careful not to hurt him. Even a slight gust of wind can probably kill him at this rate, and the Queen wants him alive."

It smirks in a pleased way as it looks at the soldiers carefully lifting Ridley up.

"The Ridley from the world we once visited had slipped through her grasp, but this one, however, will be of good use to us."

Ridley slowly blinks, glancing at the green Cyber Angel and letting out a soft, pitiful snarl. In response, the green Cyber Angel pets his head in a motherly way.

"Ssh... don't you worry. We know of your ruthless nature. You'll like the end result. Now sleep..."

Ridley, too hurt to do much of anything, simply loses consciousness as he's carried to the fortress. A large metal bridge comes out of the front of the base as a giant gate opens, the bridge connecting to the sandy beach and allowing the Cyber Angels to carry him inside. Normally they seemed to leave and enter through the walls, but it looks like they can't do that when they have someone else with them.

Of course, the moment everyone is on the bridge the force field appears, making it impossible for anyone else to slip in. Then, once they've all entered the base, the bridge goes back and the gate closes.

Inside the base, the Queen is watching through a monitor, patting an object she's holding in her hands while sporting a dark grin, chuckling lightly and creepily.

Sea near Astil's Outer Border

The Uncaged Beast

On the bottom of the sea lies the Omega Pirate's corpse. a strange, thick, light blue liquid seeps from its body. It slowly floats in place, unable to really get anywhere.

That is, until a blue tentacle-like appendage appears out of the sand, able to grasp the liquid and pull it in. A low, garbled noise rings through the waters as whatever it was attached to disappears into the sand, slowly heading towards Estraole.

Windu follows his odd little group to the village.

Farandare staggers in pain from the attacks with a violent shriek.

   "Well then, bitch... You want to play with the powers of the earth? Go on a treasure hunt for my useless trash of a sister!"   

Farandare gestures in Alleria's direction as the latter is preparing spell, and the floor beneath the holy vampire splits, tendrils of earth grabbing her as she disappears into an earthen grave. Thanks to her Shara Isvalda abilities, Awkeff can dredge her up, but it will still take some doing as the earth will try to disobey her will, just like the stone wall that stopped them from saving Serana.

   "And you, overly faithful cur! I've had just about enough of you too! Stop prancing around like an excited puppy and DIE ALREADY!"   

A flash of sickly green light leaps from her hands at Viserys. If it connects, he will rapidly feel his strength leaving him, losing both movement speed and attack power at a rapid rate.

Regardless of whether she connects these spells, she is then forced to whirl to face Enda as she comes at her, Stalhrim blades blazing.

   "As for you, sister dearest... I will admit, there is just one edge you've always had on me. Magic is unreliable on you. So I guess I'll have to take care of you the old-fashioned way!"   

Farandare casts a healing spell on herself before Stalhrim and Silmeri clash, causing the room to erupt into violent detonations again.

Farandare's Spell Slots: 5/30

Previous

Edited by Arachnos on Jul 14th 2020 at 11:52:07 AM

Awkeff charges up a vibro-blast and launches it at Alleria. After a few moments, the surface of the ground around her should explode, in a manner akin to vomiting her back up.

Then, casting away her rock-armor and reverting to 'stage 1' of her power-up for more speed, she leaps in to bring her sword to bear against Silmeri, trying to overpower Farandare alongside Enda.

As the swords strain against each other, everything blurs for a moment, like it did when incredibly powerful beings projected their voices into the Dragonborns' minds in past adventures, and the walls of the castle blow apart to reveal a sky of warped, rainbowy hues that seem to dance like flames, as though a phenomenon is presently distorting the area!

Shulk joins the team on the journey.

Viserys leaps aside just in time to avoid the oncoming blast of green light before flourishing his fiery blade.

"Wuld... Nah Kest!"

He dashes straight towards Farandare via Whirlwind Sprint, then attempts to slash her across the goddamn face with a mighty swing of the Infinity Sword.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 29th 2020 at 2:26:52 AM

Farandare, ultimately unable to overpower them all at once, lets the shockwave of the blast hurl her away from the clash, landing away from the group.

   "So taking my servants wasn't enough for you... you had to destroy my very home, the place I lay my head, my nexus of power... How rude... This is... this is..."   

Absolute Hatred

   "UNFORGIVABLE!!!"   

The expression of wrath on her face is indescribable. Blood is gushing through every orifice as her eyes turn into pools of inky darkness, each containing a single ember. If Reyna had been here, she may have recognized this as Farandare's Wassail state.

She transfers Silmeri to her left hand as torrents of icy power start building up in her right. By the crushing vibe of the magic being emitted, they may recognize this as the very same spell that nearly obliterated them all in Farandare's Colosseum, right before Alleria intervened.

   "So it's finally coming... this is one of Farandare's trump cards! Frozen Orb!"    the newly freed Grandmaster exclaims in fear.    "Dive for cover, erect wards, anything! She's going to raze the area and this spell could slay a Legendary Dragon in a single hit!"   

A giant ice orb covered with spikes like a morningstar◊ leaps out of Farandare's hand towards the rest of the group. However, the main threat is not the orb itself, but the excessive, almost Gensokyan amounts of icy spears it sprays everywhere around itself as it flies.

Farandare's Spell Slots: 4/30

Edited by Arachnos on Feb 29th 2020 at 6:03:02 AM

   "Feim... Zii!"   

Awkeff turns intangible, letting the barrage pass through her harmlessly as she stands still and recovers her stamina.

Viserys uses a combination of Spellbreaker and Sapphire Starlight's armor to try and weather the storm of ice spikes. However, the sheer power behind Farandare's assault drives him back quite a bit, leaving him unable to retaliate.

Storm

   "BASTARDS! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! THE NERVE, TO STAND AGAINST THE QUEEN OF SKYRIM HERSELF! THE QUEEN OF TAMRIEL! THE QUEEN OF ALL THAT LIVES AND DIES! I SENTENCE YOU ALL TO DEATH! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! FEIM KRAH DIIN!"   

A raging ice storm, similar to the one summoned by the Blizzard spell, albeit less lethal, smothers the area as Farandare disappears from sight using the vampire power of obfuscation. While the whirling snow does not do much damage, it makes finding Farandare in the tempest almost impossible by either sight or sound.

   "I AM TIRED OF THIS GAME! I JUST WANT YOU TO DIE ALREADY! SUFFER! FREEZE! PERISH! SCATTER! DISAPPEAR! DIE, DIE, DIE FOR ME!"   

Her voice, carried by the howling wind, seems to be coming from everywhere. They can barely see each other, reduced as they all are to mere dark silhouettes under the swirling white blanket.

A jagged shard of ice comes out of seemingly nowhere and finds Alleria precisely in the back. The vampire sister coughs up blood and collapses to the ground.

   "THREE TO GO."    An Ice Storm spell, likewise seemingly coming out of nowhere, attempts to engulf both Awkeff and Viserys at once.

Farandare's Spell Slots: 2/30

Edited by Arachnos on Feb 29th 2020 at 6:29:58 AM