Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

   "Why did I have to be right—?!"   

Nyr dissolved his whips back into the sparking ether from whence they came, and, finding himself with no room to dodge, cast [Protection from Energy] in an attempt to bolster his defenses against the black lightning-infused claw swipe!

Alas, it did nothing to stop the physical component, and Nyr quickly found himself knocked off his feet, tumbling across the ground. His vision was hazy and he quickly became aware of the charred, crimson-dripping slash mark across his chest. It stung so horribly and bitterly...

   "Come on, little one... Where are you?"   

"I..."

The Sovereign cups her face in her hands and begins to sob.

"I... DON'T    WANT THIS!!!"    she wails.

* Something's coming.

She starts to glow an increasingly intense purple, and starts to sound like the Voice of the Legion.

   "I NEVER WANTED IT TO BE LIKE THIS! I NEVER... I... i don't..."   

"The Arena," Domon says flatly. "Not a tournament stage, just a big multiversal melting pot."

The Raijū gets staggered by the water blasts, which seem to weaken its power, and then engulfed in Azula's flame.

It comes walking right out, slowly trotting towards and past the group as multicolored lightning strikes all around it and arcs off its body.

Terlette shrieks as a bolt of black lightning smashes her with immense power, dropping her to the ground. "D... does anyone else have something that can stop electricity, or am I the only one?"

The Raiju is taking it slow, but Ninth doesn't. She attempts to directly slug it in the face with her monstrous strength, though she directly take on the lightning as a result!

Chara jumps, a bit surprised by her outburst. For a moment he doesn't know what to do or say. Then he gets an idea. It's not an idea he likes, fearing that it may come back to bite him later, but if it helps right now...

"... I don't think anyone would want this.", he says. "But getting killed is something they'll want even less. Even if you're right, how many people will choose death over living out a lie on limited time? Maybe, if you find a different solution, you can still help them in another way. And then they won't have to resist you."

He then sighs.

"... listen... the Player who guided me is somewhere in this world."

"What? He is?", Frisk asks, to which Chara nods.

"Try to find him, sovereign lady. He represents the beliefs you use to fuel your actions. Maybe you'll find answers that way."

   "i... don't..."   

The glow intensifies until purple light consumes the Sovereign's surroundings - then fades just as quickly. She is now on the floor in the fetal position.

"i don't deserve... your kindness. i have to repay it, but..."

She shakes her head. "the only gifts i can offer will drive you to madness, for they are made from my despair. so... why..."

Chara pockets his knife.

"I'm not kind. I'm one of the most unkind people I know. You can ask anyone who knows me. Except Frisk, he believes anyone can be kind, which is just naive.", he says, to which Frisk looks unamused.

"If you disagree with me not being kind... repay me by putting effort in looking for another solution."

He crosses his arms.

"If there really are no other solutions, then alright. I'll accept that. But I want you to truly try, and if there is another solution, then you have to accept it. If you can do that, you can consider me repaid."

"... that kind of trivial 'doing it is its own reward' thing is... so stupid." The Sovereign sniffles a little before slowly rising to her feet. "You should have better."

Beat

"... Frisk. I want you to come out for a moment."

Nyr got to his feet, horns crackling as he tried to find something in his spells that would have helped him in this instant. How unfortunate that he had devoted so much to lightning... He had at least one spell, which he began to charge on the side.

   "I've... ach... I've got a few spells, but my mentor stressed mobility and creativity, not countering and controlling."   

Thankfully, at that moment, mini-Kulve came sauntering in like she owned the damn place, before promptly dropping the act when she realized that Nyr had been so intensely brutalized with a single swipe and charging in. No fancy stuff — the gold-mantled LEGO construct simply charged headfirst at Raiju, aiming her horns for its side!

"Don't get me wrong, I agree on it being stupid. Just-"

He pauses when the Sovereign wants Frisk to come back out. Chara looks at Frisk, puts his arms on his hips and sighs.

"Well, you heard her."

Frisk nods. Chara's eyes close, and his hair, skin and clothes change back to normal as Frisk regains control and Chara appears as a spirit besides Frisk.

"Are you feeling better now?", they ask.

Azula flinches as red lightning zaps towards her, but sticks her hand out just in time for the bolt to strike her fingertips!

"Urgh!"

She controls the flow of her chi and the lightning follows, flowing down the arm... through the stomach... and up and out the other arm!

"GAH!" It feels weird, but she successfully redirects the red lightning out her arm and into the sky.

Ozymandias-Bannered Mare

In one of the rooms of the Bannered Mane Inn is a man in a golden bodysuit, covered with purple robes while sitting criss-crossed on a bed, he is apparently peaceful at the moment.

"... a little. I'll admit it feels weird to say that."

The Sovereign kneels before Frisk and puts her hands on their shoulders.

"You have Determination, but you also have simple hope. Your hope is so strong, it affected even me. If you ever see someone who isn't me but carries my aura of despair... I'll be counting on you to save them as you saved me."

With that, she lets out a deep, shuddering sigh. "Now, I will seek out the 'Player' Chara mentioned." Then she makes her exit.

Frisk's body is surrounded by an outline of green light, as they momentarily radiate an aura of refined hope power.

BATTLE WON!

You gained Alpha Energy!

The Raijū gets stunned by Ninth and then knocked aside by LEGO Kulve. It rolls onto its feet just as quickly, though, and starts bounding from place to place, up to the walkways and back down, all over the exterior of the Dwemer ruin, building up an aura of green electricity.

Terlette gets up and tries to track the beast's movements... she's struggling.

Edited by KiriK on May 31st 2020 at 5:51:23 AM

Frisk looks a little surprised at first, but then smiles warmly and nods.

"I promise I'll do everything I can to help."

They wave after the Sovereign as she makes her leave, and Chara, once the two are alone again, sighs.

"I'm getting the feeling we'll be stuck helping to handle things in this world for a while."

"How so?", Frisk asks.

"What she said didn't sound like just plain advice. I've got a feeling it meant something more important."

He then looks at Frisk with an amused grin.

"On another note, I am SHOCKED that you didn't try to flirt with her.", he teasingly says.

"W-what!? She needed our help, I w-wouldn't..."

Chara just laughs, as it's now Frisk's turn to look unamused. He lets Chara have this minor victory over them though, as they're proud that Chara not only actively tried to help her, but also succeeded.

It proves to Frisk that the efforts of the both of them, and everyone at home, wasn't for naught.

Now, if only they could make this kind of leeway with Flowey too...

Azula starts trying to pin the Raiju down with bursts of flame. They're searing hot - and dense, more like blasts from a giant Bunsen burner than a traditional firebender's blasts.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Ninth uses her enhanced senses and speed to try to keep track of the beast, preparing to erect a barrier over her teammates if she need. She spends a lot of the turn T-posing as a result, while constantly running over to Nyr, Terlette and so forth.

The "battle" isn't over quite yet.

Soon after Frisk and Chara have finished their talk, a familiar sound becomes audible, muffled yet slowly growing closer.

Then the master of cool, lord of spaghetti, Papyrus himself◊ kicks the door open with a resounding, "NYEH HEH HEH!" and the sound reaches full blast.

Nyeh Heh Heh, but it's in swing rhythm/tempo

"Humans! What do you think of my mixtape? Napstablook did it! Are you not impressed?! ARE YOU?!"

The skeleton brandishes Galaxia and points it to the ceiling with one hand while placing the other confidently on his hip. "I, the great Papyrus, have undergone great trials and feats to reclaim this legendary blade from the hands of my nefarious doppelgangers! I would love to tell you all about the story... after you go to JAIL! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Beat

"Just kidding! About the jail part, I mean."

Bannered Mare

Something crashes into the ground near the Bannered Mare, shaking the building.

Edited by KiriK on Jul 21st 2021 at 12:11:04 PM

Frisk and Chara, confused for a moment, turn towards the door.

And right before the kick, Chara realizes.

"Oh fu-"

Cue the kick, startling them both in falling on the ground. Even though Chara can float as a ghost. That's how you know he got seriously startled.

Neither of them can even say anything from the moment Papyrus enters to the moment Papyrus stops talking.

Even afterwards, Chara's not saying anything, but his eye seems to be twitching. Frisk immediately starts talking to prevent a freak-out.

"That song was really cool!", they say, not really being dishonest about it. They really do think it's cool.

"Whoa. Sounds like you had a whole solo adventure on your own here, Papyrus.", they then say in response to his explanation of how he got a sword.

Ozymandias-Bannered Mane

Ozymandias was startled by the crash and nearly fell while sitting criss-crossed, he apparently got up and takes a look to see what crashed outside the inn.

"Well, the sword doesn't really belong to me," Papyrus admits sheepishly. "However, I haven't found its rightful owner yet, and it doesn't zap me when I hold it, even though it zaps everyone else! That must mean I am worthy of its power!" Papyrus sheathes the sword across his back and strikes a Dynamic Akimbo pose.

"The villains of this tale are a pair of skeletons like me who dress in blue and purple and are evil and nasty. Not at all like me, right? They call themselves Skeletor!"

The source of the crash turns out to be Galaxy Man!◊

"Ouhy... Talk about a rough landing."

Frisk ponders it over.

"Sounds logical.", they eventually decide.

"No it d... nevermind.", Chara grumbles before turning to Papyrus.

"There's more skeleton monsters? I thought it was just you three."

"Huh?", Frisk asks, looking at Chara with a confused expression.

"... what?"

"There's only two skeletons. Papyrus and Sans."

"Uh, yeah, that's what I said."

"No, you said three."

"Three? ... Did I?", he asks, slightly uncertain. "... well, I meant two. You and Smiley.", he says, looking back at Papyrus for the latter sentence.

Papyrus laughs, though it sounds very nervous compared to normal. "Yes! Just us thr-two! Two! There never was a third and never will be!"

"Anyway, before I kick my story off, what was that thing you were talking to earlier? I didn't want to approach sooner because it was... erm..."

He narrows his eyes, looks aside, leans in close, all that 'secrecy' stuff.

"Scary."

Ozymandias-Outside Bannered Mane

Veidt apparently was both curious and interested at the robot master itself, he carefully approached Galaxy Man to make sure he wasn't an enemy.

"Excuse me, but I haven't seen a robot like you before, who're you?"

Both Frisk and Chara raise an eyebrow, but Chara nonetheless writes it off as Papyrus being weird again.

"You're probably right. That'd be weird, seeing as the only other one is a dude AND your brother."

Frisk, who knows Papyrus better than Chara because they spend much more time around him, decides to keep that little moment in mind for later.

"Just a lady down on her luck. It was actually Chara that helped her out this time."

"... Lady? Okay!"

Papyrus poses.

"So there I was, beneath the famous Battleship Halberd, when suddenly it went plummeting towards the ground! I raced over to check on its captain as quickly as I could, but when I arrived, the Skeletors were already there, and they summoned an infernal skeleton monstrosity with rocket launcher shoulders to hold me off! I won the battle, but by the time I did, they had made off with the sword Galaxia, so then I..."

His story fades into near-incomprehensible drivel, save mention of a dragon, a being made of skeletons calling itself Gravelord Nito that lent Papyrus assistance, and Galaxia manifesting a whirlwind the size of a small continent to blow the Skeletors away with enough recoil to fling its wielder Papyrus back to the Arena.

Galaxy Man hops to his feet and points a finger at himself proudly. "I'm Galaxy Man, DLN-072! I'm a Robot Master made to help with astronomy and calculating rocket trajectories!"

Despite not having a mouth, he somehow manages to convey a smug look. "Impressed?"

Frisk sits down, listening eagerly. Chara never really understood how Frisk had the patience to sit through the stories Papyrus told him. Not that most of them are bad by any means, at least the skeleton's stories were entertaining, but they're always too long and loud for Chara to bear.

Beat

... Nevertheless, Chara would be lying if he said this tale wasn't interesting enough that, for once, he didn't much care for those downsides.