Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Hub Centralis

Fu is wandering around near the bounty boards, looking mighty anxious.

Hub Centralis

Botar◊ has just appeared in the town, about to bring a nearby Ninten◊ back to the base. Ninten's holding his head a little low, having heard the news about the Cyber Angel conflict having ended while he was out cold. The fact that he was unable to help his friends at all really stings, not to mention that he feels horrible after he'd been told over the phone how exactly that conflict ended...

He's silent as he approaches Botar, averting his gaze.

"You know, none of us hold it against you that you were unable to be there. You were out cold, that wasn't your fault.", Botar says to show that he's not angry. It doesn't really seem to help Ninten's mood though.

As Ninten approaches Botar though, he notices Fu nearby and is intrigued enough by his anxious behavior to snap out of his current state. When Botar notices Ninten staring he looks as well, confused when he sees the state Fu is in. Ninten's still the first one of the two to approach Fu though.

"What's wrong?", he asks, and if Fu looks at him he'll see his law-abiding's friend's familiar face, only a few years younger.

Reprium

Standing at some distance away from the forest is Pandora, looking uncertain and lost. Not lost in a literal sense, as she's quite aware of what specific forest she's standing in front of. It's where the creature lives, the one that killed some of her soldiers and almost killed her mother.

Just the thought of them, even when not in reference to the incident in this forest, makes the knot in her mechanical stomach worse. It'd been a little over a week now, time she spent by herself, but she doesn't feel any less guilty and horrible than she did before. She truly doesn't know what to do anymore.

A part of her holds a desire to enter this fortress and confront this creature, even if, without that accursed staff, it'd most certainly mean her demise. Another part screams at her not to take such risks, take the chance she was given and live. The problem with that logic is just that she doesn't really know what to live for.

Fu looks at Ninten. His time-traveling mind quickly figures out his deja vu.

"Uhhh... Did you ever meet that robot girl, 42? Cuz if not, my business is with the big guy."

Reprium

Pandora will be able to hear movement around her. She's not alone.

Edited by KiriK on Sep 9th 2020 at 2:36:16 PM

Ninten raises an eyebrow, looking curious.

"Uh... well, I've seen her a few times, I guess."

"What is this about 42?", Botar asks, approaching as well. Ninten looks up at him for a moment before looking back at Fu.

Pandora hears this movement loud and clear and, while not turning around quite yet, glances in the sound's general direction, anxiously wondering if someone out to get her for everything that's happened has found her.

Hub Centralis

A certain version of Kyoko Sakura is hanging around, eyeing Fu and co.

"Grrmbmblbm demons..."

Hub Centralis

Defense: "Last time I saw her was the big old showdown. Last I remember, she had quite the fuss."

Defense enters scene left, hands in pockets as he walks in rather leisurely.

Defense: "I assume there's an issue?"

Hub Centralis, elsewhere

"ow."

Freddy lands on the ground very unceremoniously, close to the scene but not close enough to interact. Kusanagi lands next to him, being much more graceful.

Fu bows to Botar. "Well, I'm the one who keeps her informed on the Arena's various happenings, both past and present. But last time I saw her... she wasn't acting like herself. She said she was making a 'last hike' to Reprium. I understand she's affiliated with you guys, so do you think you could, uh, go find her?"

Fu rubs the back of his head. "I tried to follow, but I got... let's just say 'an uneasy feeling'."

The sounds are going further away. Perhaps it's nothing...? Or...

"A 'last hike'?", Ninten asks, looking worried as he turns back to Botar.

"That's dangerous talk. We've got to do something."

"Yes. I will inform Pseudo of this immediately.", Botar says, immediately warping away, leaving Ninten with Fu for a moment. The boy, after raising his hand in greeting to Defense (just to be polite, as they haven't met before), he looks at Fu for a moment as they await Botar's return.

"Have we met before? I'm feeling an odd kinda deja vu for some reason."

Pandora, realizing that whoever's making that sound isn't after her, calms down a little. While she does get an off feeling about it that she can't explain, she still figures it might be best to just leave whoever that was alone. Should the person know who she is and recognize her, even if Pandora doesn't attack or doesn't get attacked, it'll still give off the wrong impression for sure.

"..."

The feeling becomes stronger as she turns away, and after some pondering, she figures that she should at least ensure that whoever that was doesn't enter the monster's forest. So she carefully starts going in the same direction, her steps silent in the grass despite her metal body.

I'm not telling you that we should've bought a lot of sushis, but I'm telling you that we should've brought a ton of them instead!

The odd sight of a cartoon cat just vibing next to three teenagers can be spotted in Hub Centralis. More precisely, it's Haru, Joker and Violet, though they're not clad in their P Ts outfits yet. They are carrying some bags though.

> Burgers are better.

>You're right, let's head back.

>You would've ate it all...

Morgana panics a little. W-wait! Slander! I only ate half of it last time. There was plenty left for you guys!

Ohoh, but we had to almost fight for it though! It was a bit too chaotic.

Yes! It was kinda rough. You can hit people so hard with your elbows, it's amazing! and a bit scary

Hub Centralis

Defense nods over to Ninten before looking back at Fu.

Defense: "Yeah, alright. You just looking for a crew or are ya wussing out entirely?"

He stares needles at the demon while smirking.

Kusanagi and Freddy begin walking to the scene, passing the idle Phantom Theives.

As the group spoke, flames began to flare up, swirling around the whole mountain and bathing them in their heat as they started to gather to a point above.

"In Life and Death, there is Vice, there is Virtue. Good and Evil. Light and Dark. In rejecting these sinful dualities, rising above the cycle of Life and Death, you become pure."

And then it all came crashing down - a massive storm of holy fire, engulfing the peak of the mountain. It was pure pain, like every single nerve in each of their bodies was being ripped from its place. The flames were so dense that they blocked out all sight, and so loud that they blocked out all hearing, and yet they heard the Profaned Goddess clearly through it all, her voice still as monotone and calm as before.

"Feel the heat of my holy flames, the pain of your sin, and embrace it. Let it wash away your Vice, your Virtue, feel your sin ripped from your body. Fear not the heat, nor the pain. Let it temper you in the forge of purity, and you will know the power of the Profaned Goddess."

As they were scoured by the flames, they'd feel the heat permeating them, through to their core, every fibre of their being aflame... And then, as quickly as the flames started, they died off. Everything around them was scorched by the flames... Except for them - they were unharmed. The pain was gone in an instant, but that feeling of heat remained inside of them, as if their internal temperatures had doubled.

Kyoko keeps watching, a bit disinterested... wait a tic.

Robot girl = A.I. = BAD.

She walks over to the group.

"Howdy... some sort of trouble brewing?"

To Ninten: "Hmmm... Let's just say you will get to know me and leave it at that. No time to explain it in depth."

To Defense: "I mean... I can send a copy of myself, but showing up in person? No way, man."

To the Phantom Thieves: "Oh, perfect, those guys. Yoo-hoo!" He waves to try and get their attention. "Your assistance is requested!"

If they and/or Kusanagi and Freddy come over, he'll fill them (and also Kyoko) in, telling them the same details he had just told everyone else - with an added explanation of who/what 42 is.

The sounds of movement stop. There's a glint in the darkness, and some kind of force attempts to seize Pandora and trap her in place before the sounds return, this time very clearly the footsteps of someone running.

Running towards the forest's center.

........ Is that a giant animatronic bear thing? Asks a stunned Violet.

Oh, they're so creepy! I had to celebrate a birthday with some of these and apparently I hated it! Indicates Haru. Why is it walking around so casually though? Ah, what a mystery.

When they notice that they're being lulled in, the P Ts immediately approach. Oh, I see that we have a bit of a reputation! What kind of situation requires our assistance though?

Joker just hang back, with his hands in his pockets.

"Okayyy...", Ninten says, finding it an odd answer but also looking like he knows what Fu's getting at.

Botar then returns with Pseudo◊, Pilly◊ and, surprisingly, Locke◊.

"From what Botar just told me, it sounds like we have to intervene immediately. You said 42 was headed towards Reprium, right?"

He turns to Botar before Fu can even answer.

"Botar, get ready to bring us to Reprium. But first bring Ninten back inside."

"Huh? Wait, I wanna help out!", Ninten says.

"Considering you passed out in the snow, you should probably rest up."

"But...", Ninten says, after which he looks upset, though he doesn't object anymore. Botar then warps him back into the base, and the four then wait for Fu to finish up with explaining the situation to everyone else present.

Pandora finds herself trapped in place.

"W-what is-"

She then hears the footsteps and realizes where they're headed.

"Stop, you fool! You're running towards your demise!", she shouts after the person, hoping that they'll stop and turn around.

Meanwhile, much deeper inside the forest, something snaps awake.

Hub Centralis

Defense: "Oh, of course. Well, at least you grant us the courtesy of your presence now. Or is the real you tampering with the Partner robots?"

Kusanagi and Freddy arrive, and are explained the situation.

Kusanagi: "42... she's the one who helped fight off Afton, right?"

Freddy: "wait. what if she went and got norted"

Kusanagi looks at the bear, confused.

Freddy sighs, steam coming out of his "nose".

Freddy: "dumb of ass. she's the one we told about the old fucker"

Kusanagi: "Oh, right."

Edited by DefRevenge24601 on Sep 9th 2020 at 1:41:54 AM

Miles and the gang were no strangers to pain, but this? This was on a whole other level to anything they'd dealt with before. Almost immediately, they all collapsed to their hands and knees, like the sky itself had dropped on them and, in a way, it had.

Despite this, the group managed to remain conscious. The images of all the terrible things Yharim had done to his own world flashing through their memories. Clone Calamitas. The Ocean Kingdom. The Devourer. The Five Heroes Legacy being tarnished....

A righteous fury took hold within their hearts at that moment.

From within the flames, a pair of wings made from Void could be briefly seen on Miles back as his hands found his friends' and they stayed like that. Their shared fury making it look like the wings were birthing something from the depths of the Void itself...

Only for the flames to finally dissipate and Miles could breathe again along with the others,"Is...is everybody ok?"

"Yeah...I think so..." Nebula breathed heavily as her hands held both her partner's and her sister's,"Let's...never do that again..."

"Agreed..." Shyna groaned before gasping and pointing at Miles' back,"Miles! Look!"

"Huh?" He glanced behind him to see the Void Wings still present. To which, he groaned,"Gosh darn it..."

"Be proud of yourself, my pilot," Zero said in a surprisingly comforting tone as he stood up,"You've taken another step towards your destiny."

"Not in the mood for your "God and Devil" talk, Zero," Miles remarked as he stood up and brushed himself off before looking up to Providence,"So, did we pass your little trial?"

Hub Centralis

A certain silver-haired speedster comes across those presently gathered. Wondering what the hell this was all about, he dashes over to the group.

"I'm guessing either Set and his lackeys are out doing their usual evil crap, Thanos just came back... or you're all having a party that I wasn't invited to."

Hub Centralis

Kyoko rubs her chin.

"I don't get it too much, but it seems like a fight's in store."

"And she's a contract-y girl like me, huh? I bet her contract did that thing where it backfires and turns you into a daemon- er, 'witch'. Or something similar..."

Charizard is unable to avoid the attack - and having taken that final smash earlier, it goes down, growling the whole way until it slaps the dirt back in base form.

Good work, Charizard!

Go, Mewtwo!

Mewtwo instantly uses Recover once it's sent out, and locks its focus on to Pikachu.

"I'll handle the transportation." Fu stabs his sword into the ground, creating a magic circle.

He then flips off Defense right before realizing Pietro is there, but he's too slow to stop it and explain. Everyone gets teleported to Reprium...

... right in front of Pandora, and just as the freeze effect dissipates.

They picked up a +1 through Fu's dark magic - Domon Kasshu.

"Oof... Sorry." Fu turns to Pietro. "It's actually trouble with a friend of ours - the robot girl you threw a shield at during the big battle. I can 'port you out if you don't wanna deal with it."

Reprium

Freddy: "okay, ive officially done enough fuckin teleporting to last me a lifetime."

Kusanagi: "Alright, so where's the threat?"

Defense, on the other hand, notices the presence of Pandora.

Defense: "Oh, wonderful, you're involved. So, what's the scoop, Your Highness?"

When Pietro arrives, Pseudo's group looks at him, about to greet him. However, that's when they get teleported...

Pseudo, Pilly, Botar and Locke appear at the entrance of the forest, and the first thing they notice after realizing where they are is Pandora, who appears understandably shocked at the entire group's sudden appearance.

"Queen Pandora!?", Pseudo asks.

"Why is she... wait, did you hurt 42?", Pilly asks. Pandora narrows her eyes in even greater confusion at her and Defense.

"What? 42? No, I'm not involved with anything involving her. I simply heard someone entering this forest and-"

She then pauses, looking frightened.

"Wait, that was 42 who went in here!?"

"... I'm guessing it's likely. What does that ma-"

Pandora activates the thrusters of her wings before suddenly rocketing into the forest.

"... What the hell was that about?", Locke asks.

"I don't know, but I don't like the looks of this.", Pseudo says. "Go in after her."

The four of them give chase.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Sep 9th 2020 at 11:38:58 AM

Oh, before we go, we should gather the gro

...

Ohhh, Futaba would call it a "big oof" I think. Morgana glances at the bags of burgers.

An occasion worth pressing F for!

Isn't that said when someone dies?

>We're fucked

>It's fine, we'll pull through.

>No Akechi? Awww...

The P Ts look very confused at Pandora, but then decide that they have to roll with it and take their alternate forms. Since the Morgacar would be useless in a forest, Morgana just hang on Joker's coat while the latter stylishly head deeper with a grapple gun, and the two young women follows him, using their preternatural speed to keep up.

The burgers are left behind but before anyone can grab them, Luffy pop up, grab the bags and run off.

Edited by Bolded1 on Sep 9th 2020 at 11:13:07 AM

Kyoko makes a face.

"Bleh, teleporting is weird."

She follows along after the other running characters. They all seem to know where they're going, right?

Edited by Rbade on Sep 9th 2020 at 2:19:07 AM

"Hold on, what the fu-?"

Before he can finish his sentence, Pietro is summarily teleported along with everybody else to Reprium.

Reprium

Upon arrival, he takes a moment to process what just happened before turning to Fu.

"Great... you know, I doubt she would've gone rogue if we'd just dealt with the freaking Cabal earlier," he replies, "or had Set's little pet sociopath warped away before she could murder Zaphara and all those other Cyber Angels."

He lets out a sigh.

"Well, if 42's planning to go full Ultron, it'd be pretty crappy of me to not help keep that from happening."

With that, he proceeds to dash after the others.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Sep 9th 2020 at 2:35:39 AM