Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

"You're making me curious already.", she says to Martin, after which she looks back at Aleifr, shaking his hand.

"The prize?", she asks. "... well, to be honest, I'm doing this just to get stronger, so if the prize is some amount of power, that'd be perfect."

She tilts her head.

"What about you?"

The Wash - Tournament Stage

"Yeah, it packs a lot of flavor for making broth. Though, since we won't be cooking anytime soon..." Martin breaks open the bone and is about to take out the marrow for a little extra food - the normal way. However, hearing Link chime in, he decides to immediately disprove the statement by cupping his hand over the broken top, draining the marrow into his own body. He looks a little bit healthier afterwards, not that he wasn't already.

Either way, it looks like he - and by extension the two teams he's with - waste as little as possible.

"Yes, but what're you planning to do with that strength? I want to get one step closer to building a home for these guys, so." Aleifr looks back to his teams, then to Thor, seeing if he might help Iris answer.

"Don't be like that Vergil guy we fought earlier." Reuben chimes in.

Edited by AqueousBunnies on Jan 6th 2021 at 8:17:58 AM

Oca could start a beam struggle... but he decides the bigger-brain strat is to dodge.

"Then you'll despise this!"

He fires a shot of ball lightning, arced to curve around before hitting Callis in the back of the torso. If it hits, there's a chance Callis will be frozen for a second as if caught in an energy bind. And since more firepower is never a bad thing, he fires twenty more in her general direction without aiming.

"Really? I'll be sure to inform the cooks of this as soon as I return to Asgard. It sounds like this broth would make a fine addition to our feasts."

Thor's gaze flickers to Aleifr and Iris' conversation.

"Iris fears that a catastrophe brought about by a dangerous artifact called the Staff of Navitus could potentially happen again," he explains.

• Well then...
• Aww, I could've cooked something with that.

Sephiroth goes and ominously looms over Iris' conversation with members of The Red Team.

Callis attempts to swat away the ball, but it zaps her.

"God... DAMN IT!"

Utilizing a level of rage on par with Buu's destruction of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, she screams herself free of the paralyzing orbs and goes for a punch, failing to remember that her movement speed isn't great right now.

Iris looks more serious.

"Yeah, as Thor said, something horrifying happened here a few months ago. Something that I never expected was even possible. And I want to become stronger to ensure something like that won't ever happen again. Even if I don't win this prize, I'll still try to get stronger."

She then smiles.

"But hey, I guess I can rest easy knowing that it could go to a good cause if my team ends up losing against yours."

She then glances up at Sephiroth, smirking playfully.

"Hey, no need to be scared. I'm still gonna give it my all to try to win."

The Wash - Tournament Stage

"Oh, I'm sure they already know."

Lambert sits up upon hearing the reasons given by Thor and Iris. "Huh, that actually does sound like something important, after all. What happened?"

Aleifr's expression turns cold for a moment. "What if we told you by 'building a new home' we meant 'slapping it down on the foundations of the Arena and vaporizing everyone else on it'?" He waits for a little too long, seemingly completely serious, before he cracks a toothy grin. "Relax, Lambert and I aren't that callous about the value of life... anymore." Lambert just gives an agreeing grunt in response from his seat, but Martin actually straight-up throws his axe in his direction, which thankfully bounces off his head without any visible injury and returns to the larger orc's hand. Team Rocket doesn't do anything that drastic, but they give similar disapproving looks.

"If you're done haunting the rest of us, what about you?" Rie asks Sephiroth.

   "If you really did succeed in such a goal... it wouldn't have put me down for a second."   

Sephiroth cockily runs his hand through his hair.    "I have no need for such power. My goal is only to affirm my own. As I will demonstrate to my opponents... in our next match."   

"We.. also don't really need any power," says Ellder, stepping in. "We hoped to learn about this world through the tournament, and, well... this has certainly been an enlightening experience."

Oca easily jukes her punch, and does a Flash Step around her.

"Nothing personal, man."

A deadly, possibly even annoying combination of attacks. On his trip around her he drops a cloud of purple toxic gas, while while behind her he tries to slap a mf Crash Bomber onto her back before leaping back.

Blinking in surprise at Aleifr's remark, Thor just chuckles half-heartedly when he reveals that he was merely joking before turning to Lambert.

"A race of beings known as the Cyber Angels came to this realm in the hopes of conquering it. However, their leader's mind had been poisoned by a staff created by a malevolent being known as Navitus," he explains. "By the time she came to her senses, nearly all of her people had been wiped out, their fortress lay at the bottom of the sea, and her mother's body had become an unwitting host for this... monstrosity. If only that tragedy could've been averted..."

He glances at Sephiroth.

"Well, hello to you, too. I'm pleased to see that you haven't run out of ways to appear arrogant and ominous."

Iris takes Aleifr's joke seriously until he reveals he's kidding, looking contemplative about what she'd do if that were really their intent.

When she's told that they're not serious, she giggles for a bit.

She then looks at Lambert.

"Thor basically summed it up. As for me, I'd rather not talk about it. Or think about it."

Meanwhile, Team Rocket gives Team Rocket their own disapproving looks, and are still thinking about hiring a lawyer.

The Wash - Tournament Stage

Rie looks to the other Team Rocket. "Do you want us to change our name to Team Galactic? There's still time."

Martin glances to Thor's Stormbringer again. "You know, I've been thinking. If I can't shore up my weaknesses, maybe I should instead capitalize on my strengths." Martin says, more at him rather than to him specifically. With a moment of focus, he grips his own axe with both hands, and a glow covers its form as it changes into a two-handed replica of the godly weapon, minus the Galeem shard.

It is at this point that Sephiroth may also notice that Rie's BFS looks suspiciously like a cross between a gunblade and Cloud's Buster Sword. "Cocky. But... a different kind than the last batch we fought against. Let's see how well that holds up."

"Hey, they're here too!" Reuben says with a wave to the Heroes of Beneril as they join in. "Exploration was a side goal for us too. We've certainly met some... colorful characters." He stops just short of saying "thank gods we get to fight you instead of another edgelord team", though even then his expression pretty much gives it away.

It's Lambert and Aleifr's turn to both pause for a moment after listening to Thor's explanation, finding the parallels to their own situation as semi-retired warlords... uncomfortable. "Unfortunately only one in a long string of attempted invasions, if I'm getting the correct impression of this realm. I wish you the best of luck then, really." He tip-toes, reaches up and pats Iris on the shoulder.

Dagrún, now back in her ninja outfit, is conspicuously silent throughout this whole affair.

Edited by AqueousBunnies on Jan 6th 2021 at 9:31:40 AM

   "I am working on that,"    replies Sephiroth to Thor. Is he being serious or trying to make a joke? It's hard to tell, really.

This time, Callis gets out of there with a quick vanish. Even slowed down, she's still fast as fucc.

The reason why is revealed when she bawoops in behind Oca, now in Super Saiyan 2, with a "No u," and fires an Elegant Blaster.

"Bluh-!"

His first instinct is to form a ki barrier to protect himself - which helps against the impact of the Elegant Blaster and stops him from toppling over, but does very little to stop the force from detonation of the monopole bomb Crash Bomber going off like a few inches from him.

   *bwOOMP*   

The fabric of space-time warps for a split second at the point of detonation before the force blasts Oca backwards, through the remnants of the Elegant Blaster and very likely into Callis.

"Fortunately, such invasions have always ended in the invaders' defeat. And as I told Iris before, I'll see to it that Navitus' other artifacts are dealt with, should they somehow find their way here," Thor says, laying a hand on Iris' shoulder. "If my lightning can't destroy them, then perhaps the fires of Muspelheim will."

He raises an eyebrow at Sephiroth.

"I'm sorry, did you just... make a joke?"

Upon noticing Martin turning his axe into a replica of Stormbringer, he gives a nod of approval as well as a thumbs up.

"A fine choice, my friend."

Iris, while surprised for a moment, smiles happily again.

"Thanks! Best of luck to you as well."

Jessie, James and Meowth look at each other for a moment before shaking their heads.

"If you're gonna participate, at least stick with the better team name.", Jessie says.

The Wash - Tournament Stage

Lambert actually cracks a chuckle. "Now that, I like." He points to Sephiroth.

Martin is pleasantly surprised that Thor isn't offended by his copycatting. It's starting to seem like a running theme with the group in general. "Thanks. Even people we've bested often have something for us to draw from. It's part of how we got here. As for these artifacts, if you're having trouble, we might be able to help in disassembling them."

"Well, if there's nothing else, we'll see you in the match."

   "Hmph. Did I?"   

Sephiroth menacingly eats a rice ball that Link made.

Callis is donked by the subsaiyan pinball, but she tries to catch him by the foot as he hurtles past and yeet him into the ground.

Oca brainos. Saiyans can smash rock with their bare hands, and dirt is softer than rock half the time, right?

TLDR, he let's Callis throw him down and ends up using the force to basically burrow into the ground.

... After a second, his ki signature winks out. Seems like he's committing stealthy.

Thor just shakes his head at Sephiroth.

"If I didn't know better, I'd assume you were Loki in disguise, playing some kind of bizarre prank on me..."

His gaze flickers back to Martin.

"Any and all help you can provide with these artifacts would be greatly appreciated. Granted, we don't know for certain if they'll find their way here, but I would rather not risk them falling into the wrong hands or creating another Culmination."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jan 6th 2021 at 7:27:10 AM

"See you there.", Iris happily says, after which she looks back at the screens.

The Wash - Tournament Stage

Aleifr clears his throat loudly at Thor's remark about Loki, not a fan of being upstaged about the imaginary 'most tricksy trickster in the room' title that he likes to hold.

When Thor gets to "falling into the wrong hands", Martin glances back at Aleifr, Lambert and, perhaps surprisingly, Reuben, before giving a thumbs-up to Thor. "If nothing else, keeping this realm in one piece is in our mutual interest. And there's a lot more than that for us - well, me."

Sephiroth returns to the stands until the announcement.

Callis tries to pinpoint Oca's position. When that fails, she creates a defensive field of ki around herself and braces for what may come.

Edited by KiriK on Jan 6th 2021 at 10:26:28 AM

Chuckling at Aleifr's reaction to about his quip about Loki, Thor nods to Martin.

"I should warn you, however, that these artifacts are not to be handled lightly. Should they deem you unworthy, you'll be twisted into a monster upon picking it up. And even if you are worthy, they will undoubtably corrupt your mind as it did with the Cyber Angels' leader."

The Wash - Tournament Stage

"The contact kind of cursed, then. Thanks for the warning." Martin shows off his floating mage hand once again - it seems like the group as a whole are no stranger to this kind of thing.