Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

"Ah, no worries."

The dark-haired man stood to his full height, brushing his robes off and smiling faintly, already keeping a tight grip on his lamp-staff. Was it perhaps something of importance for him?

"I was just about done, anyway."

That was going to be the end of it, yet the other man's demonstration of power seemed to ignite something from him, and a growing speck of interest blossomed forth from within the depths of his mind. He tilted his head and narrowed his eye at the manufactured arm.

"Is that a constructed limb of sorts? Does that have better capabilities than a regular arm, or does it have its limitations?"

"I guess you can call it a construct. That would be the definition of course. But to me, its just as much my arm as my legs are my legs. It functions as both an arm, and a conduit to channel my power through. Otherwise I'd probably die from the power."

He said this while looking at his arm, sighing. His power was immense, but it all had to come from a conduit. Way back when, when he didn't have a conduit like his Voidborn arm. The lack of it was what almost killed him.

But now the arm was more than just somewhere to channel his power, it was his own flesh and blood.

"Now may I ask why you seem to be keeping a grip on that lamp of yours? If it's a weapon and I'm being perceived as a threat, I do apologize."

"Requiring a conduit to channel your powers, hm? Not quite how it works for me. My power is as natural as the blood that flows within me."

He paused, his purple eye shimmering with... something. Was it merely interest, or something else entirely?

"My condolences, however. Do you not have some kind of artifact you can use just in case you lose that arm?"

Once prompted about the lamp-staff, he almost chuckled, shaking his head and his lips twisting with clear amusement, although, just as quickly, his expression returned to a more neutral one.

"Ah, no. I just prefer to keep my staff close to me. It has nothing to do with theoretical dangers."

"Where are my manners? My name is Alderoth Karras. The Ninth Summoner."

Null extended his normal arm, hand open.

"Null. Pleasure to meet you."

With a bit of a sigh, he shook his head in response to his question

"My power is very much infinite. Any artifact that I have tried channeling it through has been destroyed. Even the most powerful objects in my realm couldn't survive it."

He looked Alderoth up and down, seeming to think about something

"You can't really survive in the Arena without power can you... I've told you about mine, what's your power?"

"A pleasure."

A handshake quickly accepted, before Alderoth eventually pulled away, instead now resting his hands on his lamp-staff, which he had placed in front of him.

"Infinite, or simply of incredible power? Moreover, that seems concerning. Is there no way to limit its release?"

His lips curled into a small smile, and he briefly brushed away a lock of hair from his covered eye, before speaking up once more.

"I am an Archmage, capable of performing magical spells and abilities at will."

"Infinite. I was born with the ability to tap into an infinite well of energy. Outside of existence itself. The only thing stopping my ascent to Godliness is the fact that I do not wish for that. There is a way to curtail the amount that is output, but it is worth way less than letting it flow naturally. Besides, if I limit it, it might just get mad at me."

As he didn't think Alderoth was a threat anymore, his Voidborn arm slowly vanished, taking the energies in the air with it. Leaving just his stump of a shoulder there.

"At will huh? I'd assume it takes energy... Are you like me in the sense that you tap into a well of energy? Or does it come from you?"

"...Ah."

Alderoth leaned back, fingers rapping against the wooden handle of his staff. For a few moments, there was a noticeable pause as the Summoner mulled over what to say next.

"Why do you not want to be a God? That seems to be a waste of potential, if you would ask me."

He spared a glance around the surroundings.

"Archmages produce their own mana, unlike regular mages, who make do by absorbing magic from their ambient surroundings, to put it simply," he began, briefly pointing to his wrist as if to indicate that it was internal, "it also gifts us with much greater magical capability than the regular spellcasters."

Edited by SymeSynth on Oct 22nd 2020 at 11:01:42 AM

"I don't want to become a god for one simple reason. My Masters before the Arena pursued that kind of power. It corrupted them, made them want more power. They had the Void with them, and yet they sought more. I do not wish to become that, I want to help people with my power, not let the power take control and make me want more. So I limit myself, I don't let the greed for more power control me. I will use my power for good and for helping others. Then I will die, taking this power with me, so that nobody else will have it."

"So am I. Jake and I are going to do whatever we can to defeat Grima once and for all.", she says, looking more serious. "One of my sisters uses a custom made Ballista, and I'm considering asking her to lend it to me."

She sighs again.

"Which'll cost me even more gold in the end, and if it ends up destroyed I'll really have to pay up."

Nicole ponders for a moment before offering Anna a reassuring smile.

"Tell you what, I'll lend you some of the money I won during the tournament," she offers. "If she protests or anything, just tell her that you'll need it for the greater good. This is probably gonna sound nuts, but letting an ancient world-ending dragon run around ain't what I'd call good for business."

"I don't think she'll protest, gold is gold after all. But are you sure about that? I don't want you to have to give up a potentially hefty amount of your own money for this.", Anna says. "Getting my sisters' help and borrowing the Ballista is probably gonna be more expensive than you realize."

"Hey, if it helps us put Grima in the dirt, I'd be more than happy to pay up," Nicole replies. "I've got plenty of money anyway, so you ain't gotta worry about me going broke."

"We'll see if you'll still say that once we get the bill.", Anna jokes.

"But in all seriousness, thanks for wanting to help out. Having their support and an extra Ballista will greatly boost our chances."

"It's the least I can do besides take the fight to Grima myself," Nicole replies. "Wanna go check up on Jake and Anna 2, see how they're doing?"

"Alright, but don't let her hear you call her that, she'll insist that I'd be number 2 since she's older.", Anna says, laughing, after which she turns around and walks back to them.

"How's it going?"

"Well, I got her down to a 25% discount instead of 20%.", Jake says, exhausted.

"Your fiancee is a good haggler, but that's as low as my prices go. I need to earn my living too after all.", Anna's sister says.

"Aren't you a veteran commander of a royal army?"

"Yeah, but I still need to earn money!", she says, smirking in a silly way.

Chuckling, Nicole walks across the dock alongside Anna.

"What, the Annas don't believe in family discounts? I ain't a businesswoman or anything, but I think you can afford to make exceptions when there's a rampaging evil dragon out there."

Her gaze flickers to Jake, and she greets him with a grin before giving him a hug.

"Long time, no see, dude! Hope you can still tell which Anna's yours in a red-haired sea!"

"I did give a family discount. 25%.", Anna's sister says, shrugging.

Jake hugs her back and laughs.

"Don't worry, I'd never mistake which Anna's my fiancee."

"He's not even lying. We once all dressed up the same during a family meeting and he still found her in an instant."

"Earned me a good buck that day as well. I bet that he'd be able to do it and all of my other sisters bet that he'd get it wrong~", Anna laughs.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Oct 22nd 2020 at 9:03:42 PM

"Man, you've gotta invite me to an Anna family reunion one of these days," Nicole says after the hug. "Unless you're already planning one with Sam and co. after Grima bites the dust."

Shadow Konngara takes the pies to the face (?), staggering a little, then her entire throne collides with her, nearly causing the living sword to topple over.

   "The weight of our sins bears down upon us, crushing. All are guilty. All must be judged."   

   SHIBABOO   

The mouth of the blade chatters before vomiting a set of three glowing chains similar to the ones used by Konngara for her evil-destroying attack. These will not deal damage, but they will attempt to wrap themselves around Wanda, Pietro, and 42 in an unbreakable grip to prevent them from doing anything.

   "But who truly holds the authority to judge the right from the wrong? Who can truly claim to be impartial? Who can truly understand the motives and actions of others? Bias is justice's greatest foe."   

   DIVINE JUDGMENT   

The tip of the blade shines a ray of light upon Wanda. If she is struck, her current health will be halved, which should be particularly effective since she has yet to take much damage given that she has recently rejoined the battle.

   "The answer is simple. Only in indiscriminate slaughter can true justice be found. True, unbiased, absolute destruction so that all may pay for their sins."   

   BLOODBATH   

Blood begins raining from above and a chorus of screams is heard from nowhere as Konngara rampages across the battlefield, manically slashing everyone and anyone with seemingly no rhyme nor reason. Those who witness this carnage and especially those who are hit by it have a chance of being struck by supernatural dread, causing them to become incapable of focusing and possibly even run from the battlefield like Adachi just did.

Edited by Arachnos on Oct 22nd 2020 at 7:44:06 PM

42 is caught by the chain and struggles to break free. She manages to fall and roll to avoid the Bloodbath slashes, though.

>>>

Skippy blocks the slashes with his Keyblade, being sent skidding back. The despair gnaws at his heart...

No. He's stronger than this. He goes for an uppercut into a falling stab!

Grymm grunts, seeming unimpressed.

   "Doesn't seem like my kind of occupation, even if I weren't one step removed from a chew toy."   

He sighs.

   "Children, I don't know what this Giegue is, but the beings who invade our world are not to be taken lightly, and those worst among them can drive the strongest-willed people to madness with but a glance in their general direction. The only reason I've gotten by is, well, I'm already there."   

He listens to Ninten's dramatic retelling, tensing up for the finale...then just goes slack and stares in silence, the wind clearly having left his sails.

   "Theeee...whothewhatnow?"   

Ugo gives an affirmative nod, and then watches as Lucien enters the room. Lucien then frantically shakes his head.

"Oh, no, how could I ask a guest to serve his own party? I promise, I'm quite fi-"

He then seems to lose his balance and stumble for a moment, though he quickly staggers back upright before he can spill a single drop. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts, and gives Ninten a sheepish smile.

"Perhaps it would be for the best to accept your help after all..."

The screams don't really seem to affect Pseudo all that much. However, with the burn already plaguing him, Pseudo is not fast enough to block every single slash coming at him, getting hit by a few of them and, judging by his sudden gasp and wider eyes, gets affected by the dread. His pupils show signs of static as his mind is trying to process how to respond to the effects of this dread.

For now, it manifests with Pseudo seemingly becoming unable to move.

"I don't really know when there'll be another reunion.", Anna says, looking at her sister.

"Not for a while I think. Most of us are too busy to meet up for the time being.", her sister says. "Even me being here to talk business is a lucky coincidence, with me having a few days off. Speaking of which though, I did decide on visiting the rest of us during these days as well, so I'll have to be off in a moment. I'll send a message regarding how we'll make this work within the next two weeks."

"Thank you.", Jake says, shaking her hand. When she turns to Anna, she instead receives a hug.

"Thanks for your time, sis~"

"Of course, little sis~", she says, hugging her back. She looks at Nicole afterwards, raising her hand for a handshake.

"Nice to have seen you again as well."

"Giegue is no laughing matter either. He's so much stronger than the three of us, and with what ended up happening-"

"Let's not discuss that sorta stuff here. This is supposed to be a happy event, right?", Ana says, with Lloyd just nodding as he starts smiling again. They then both look a little amused at Grymm's rather fitting reaction to what Ninten said.

"The hippie who-whoalookout!", Ninten says as Lucien almost loses his balance. Once Lucien relents and accepts Ninten's help, his hands glow with a psychic aura, and the platter, along with everything on it, gains such an aura as well, now slightly floating.

"Those won't be falling anymore.", Ninten happily smirks.

Pietro and Wanda are both ensnared by the chains, and subsequently slashed and blasted by Divine Judgement.

   "Argh... crap! Maybe we should just run... there's no way in hell we can stop her..."   

"Shit... if we don't keep fighting, Pietro, there's no telling how many people she'll slaughter!"

Spitting out blood, the wounded but nonetheless determined Wanda attempts to telekinetically undo the chains wrapped around her, her brother, and 42. If successful, she'll try to bind Shadow Konngara with them before falling to her knees.

Pietro manages to fire off a Chaos Beam at Shadow Konngara before hurrying to his sister's side as quickly as he can. Well, as quickly as he can with his current injuries, of course.

Nicole shakes the other Anna's hand.

"Right back at'cha, girl. Thanks again for your help."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Oct 22nd 2020 at 1:23:59 AM

"No problem. Take care, all of you~", Anna's sister says before walking off. Jake turns to Anna and Nicole.

"Sorry, I couldn't get her to go lower on her price."

"Are you kidding me? To even get this much off is almost like the stuff of legends.", Anna happily says, giving Jake a hug. "Maybe it'll end up bring somewhat affordable after all."

Nicole smiles at Jake and Anna.

"Yeah, I think this is a friggin' absolute win. Before you know it, you'll have that ballista ready to shoot Grima right where it hurts."