Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Noted. Says Akordion, cryptically. He fly off to avoid being caught by the attacks, and then uses Tien's techniques to sprout a new pair of arms. He then immediately has three of them begins to charge up a Makenkosappo.

... You know I think it'd be much harder to dodge corrupting light than corrupting darkness. He ponders, while charging. He keeps one arm free, holding it out to blast his way out of troubles if he needs. But then again you're all kinda slow too huh?

...

Man don't you dare brush me off! Beet flies back and power up to Kaiokenx 40, before firing a piercing energy beam with her finger, meaning to shoot Leesarix through the head with it.

Dodonpa!

Edited by Bolded1 on Jun 12th 2021 at 1:49:30 PM

”Yeesh. Got it.”

Pikachu was sent out!

”Pika!”

Red does a throat-slit motion to signal that the rules of formal battle don’t apply.

Pikachu jumps into the air and tries to hit the opposition (Leesarix, Ansem, etc.) with Flash, while Red uses a Wonder Launcher to hit it with an X Accuracy.

Edited by Rbade on Jun 12th 2021 at 4:50:37 AM

Intrigue

X steps out from the shadows below Ansem, cackling as gastly, shadowy forms to Tails and Knuckles reach out from shadow and try to drag Ansem to the ground.

X:    "I'd hoped you wouldn't..."   

He then smiles at Akordion's comment.

X:    "Seems my reputation precedes me."   

"That it does!"

Young Link-

Young Link?

Young Link tries to cut his way through Ansem with a jumping slash with the Biggoron Sword.

Yink: "Happened to be around, saw the armies of darkness gathering, figured you could use a hand."

X:    "Ah damn, looks like you're kosher."   

Lourent, Oasis

"I feel like she explained it pretty well herself," Wanda replies. "The reason she's afraid is because she's worried about failure."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jun 12th 2021 at 5:21:19 AM

Killer Bat snarls when Ansem is trying to take full control over Leesarix. Not that Killer Bat needs Leesarix now that the Door to Darkness has been opened, but he considers him still too valuable to just give up.

   "Maybe so. But your powers cannot stand against the Darkness."   , Killer Bat says, sending dark energy Leesarix's way to both power him up further and try to force Ansem's influence out of him. He knows that Akordion is charging an attack, one that looks rather powerful, but he can't immediately afford to intervene.

He does end up defending Leesarix from Beat's Dodonpa though. The Darkness has now spread far enough to reach Leesarix's feet, and as such it brings forth a barrier of dark energy in front of Leesarix to assimilate the attack into itself. The barrier crumbles right afterwards though.

Killer Bat is then caught off guard and briefly blinded by Red's Pikachu though, letting out a growl before using Hornet Assassin, blindly sending powerful energy blasts around the battlefield without aiming for anyone in particular. Meaning that anyone can potentially get hit.

   "Yes. But why is she afraid of failure?"   , Mara asks, raising an eyebrow, though smiles as if she already knows the answer. ... which, given the situation, she definitely should.

She looks back at Mani.

   "I don't often give out advice, so regardless of Wanda's comment to ignore me, I suggest that, at least for this part, you hear what I have to say."   

Mani looks unsure for a moment. She does nod, but sticks close to Wanda, seeing as she knows her the best.

   "Both Wanda and Hub have made some very good points. And the advice you've gotten from others during your journey is all valid as well."   

"W-wait, how do you know I got advice from others?"

   "Magic. Now listen."   , Mara offhandedly says, lying so that Mani won't constantly question her.

   "The root of your fear clearly lies within the consequences of what will happen upon failure. But that's not just it, is it? You're not afraid to fail simply for your own sake. You're afraid to fail your eventual duties."   

Mani looks shocked and alarmed.

"How do you know what I am-"

   "Same answer as before. I promise I won't tell anyone else, so please don't interrupt me again."   , Mara says. Despite her words sounding a bit harsh at the end, there's a surprisingly gentle tone as she speaks. Mani nods again and Mara approaches, stopping right in front of her and Wanda.

   "You are afraid that you will choose wrong, and that you will become ineffective at what you're supposed to do. Afraid to let them all down. And due to the many ups and downs of both good and evil, you can't truly get a feel for either of them. Neither choice fills you with enough confidence to make you say 'yes, this is what's best'."   

Mani is about to speak but Mara raises a finger.

   "I'm also a people person, so I can tell these sorts of things."   

Mani remains silent. Mara now crouches to get on Mani's eye level.

   "Now... let me give you the final piece of advice that you'll need. That which will help clear everything up for you, which will let you make your choice."   , she says, now smiling in a sincere sort of way that is very unlike Mara's usual attitude.

   "You were born for a grand purpose, one that you will have to devote your life to. This is a fact I can tell you have already long since accepted. You have that devotion for your purpose, and you have every intention of doing everything you can to be as effective as possible. Thanks to your journey, you now possess the knowledge you need to do your job, and thanks to everyone's advice, you now understand that this is your choice to make. However, whatever your choice ends up being should not be dictated by what anyone else suggests, or by what you think would work best for everyone else."   

She raises her hand, pointing with her finger as she gently pokes Mani's neck with it.

   "Your choice should be what you want. You personally. In this regard, the only opinion that matters is your own. Listen to all the advice given, but don't let that advice sway you into choosing what the people who gave said advice feel would be the better choice for you. This is your life. And if you have to spend it in service of the greater whole... then you should at least have the freedom to choose what is best for yourself as well."   

Mara chuckles pleasantly.

   "That may sound a bit selfish, yes. But this is a job you'll have for life. And the only way to ensure that you won't lead a life full of regret from making a choice you cannot reverse, is to be a bit selfish and make that choice. To do your job the way it's supposed to, but to allow yourself to choose that job based on how you want to spend your time doing it."   

Mani is silent, yet contemplative.

   "That is the only thing that should be on your mind."   , Mara says as she stands up, then gesturing for Hub to come to them.    "With what you've learnt, you have what it takes not to fail. And your hesitance to kill is also only now, at the start. I too used to be uncomfortable with killing when I was young, to the point when I felt sick."   

When Hub gets to them, Mara suddenly grabs him by his head without looking away from Mani and, without a moment of hesitation, crushes Hub's head in her hand. Mani is incredibly shocked, watching as Hub digitally fades.

   "But when you've gotten as old as I am, it basically becomes second nature."   , Mara says.

"Y-your friend..."

   "He'll be fine, he has extra lives."   , Mara shrugs.    "This isn't the first time I've killed him."   

She crosses her arms again.

   "Whether you pick good or evil, learning how to kill is essential. Either to take out threats to your plans, or to protect those who need it. Some people just cannot be defeated without killing them. So do not worry about this matter. You'll learn. All that truly matters is making your choice."   

Mara nods.

   "You're ready, even if you may not feel like it."   

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 12th 2021 at 2:53:05 PM

Fu simply watches Mara's pep talk.

"Uh...huh. Yes, I... I see."

He doesn't get it at all. OR DOES HE? (x-files theme)

Ansem creates numerous orbs of darkness, which shoot sweeping rays of energy to cut through the Tails and Knuckles monsters. Young Link knocks him back with a mighty blow, but he remains upright, arms folded coolly. He summons a number of floating crystals of darkness that hover towards his foes, exploding at proximity.

The cheater is using homing attacks so he doesn't have to worry about Flash's effect on his vision!

—

   "Rgh... Ngh... Gh-ha!"   

The Seal Is Broken

Leesarix suddenly lashes out with one arm. The Flash doesn't matter, because he's already swinging blindly. His hand morphs into a clawed limb of Slenderman proportions, raking through the air with enough power to swat Beet down even with her Kaioken, though Terlette and Pikachu are also in the way. After the swing, his arm drops to the ground, and does not return to normal.

Terlette goes flying from the wild swing, tumbling to a stop on all fours. She sends a telepathic message to Beet. "I know what's happening now. Don't antagonize him or he'll get stronger faster. Just focus on the ones controlling him."

Predicting a possible response, she adds, "And before you ask what authority I have to command you, this man and I were lovers before his fall to darkness. Please listen to me."

Kaze brings up his Magun arm. "It has not moved yet."

Edited by KiriK on Jun 12th 2021 at 7:58:18 AM

Intrigue

X grimaced at the rapidly escalating situation, seeing his shadows get cut.

X:    "Okay then."   

His grimace quickly becomes a wicked grin as two shadowy figures raise behind him, as if puppets on strings.

One figure vaguely in the figure of a teenage girl, pulls out a sniper and starts firing at the dark crystals.

The other figure, vaguely in the form of a comically large armored man, immediately jumps up at Ansem, going for a grab. If he lands it, mechanisms keep the dark being in place as it rockets into the sky, stopping just as Kingdom Hearts is in view before rocketing back down in the same position, aiming to break Ansem over their shoulders!

Yink looks over to Leesarix, immediately side hopping between Terlette and Leesarix.

Yink: "I'll help where I can, miss!"

Akordion keeps charging up, but pay a look to X.

... Who are you? He asks, sounding dumbfounded. He keeps charging his attack for now, and Beet stare at it briefly before blocking the arm sweep. It force her back, but she withstand it at least!

He was your... ooohhhh! Huhhh, sorry?

With an apologetic mental cough, she decides to fly towards Ansem and Killer Bat and spread her hands in front of her face before attempting to blast them with a SOLAR FLARE!!!, in a bid to try to blind them both. Eat light idiots! She says, before attempting to blast them with a wide Dodonpa!

Pikachu hits the ground, and explodes with electricity.

”Piii… kaaa… CHUUUU!”

Pikachu uses a +1 Accuracy Thunder against Ansem.

Red winces and braces himself as he’s almost blown apart by an Killer Bat Blast, but Mewtwo acts from within its Poké Ball and uses a psychic burst to knock it away.

”…”

The hidden psychic also tries to prematurely detonate some homing crystals.

Wanda can only watch in silence as Mara speaks with Mani, not entirely certain what she could possibly add to the discussion. That, and she wasn't entirely used to seeing Mara, of all people, like this.

The Darkness now spreads out in front of Leesarix. Unless Leesarix moves/is forced to move off of this position, it is now no longer safe to physically approach him, as the Darkness will attempt to assimilate anyone who goes beyond its borders.

Killer Bat's sight returns to him now, and when the Solar Flare is used, Killer Bat immediately retreats into the Darkness to avoid being blinded, inadvertently also avoiding the Dodonpa. Two scythe-wielding Shadow Monsters then emerge from the Darkness as if coming out of a swamp, and when Killer Bat emerges again he points at Beet. The Shadow Monsters immediately leap at her. Physically touching them will not mean immediate assimilation, but it will hurt so much that Beat may faint because of it. And if she does, she might end up easy prey for the ever-expanding Darkness.

Killer Bat now looks up at Akordion and flies up towards him, preparing to slash at him with his blade.

"... I... think I understand what you mean.", Mani eventually says, smiling again. "And I feel that you're right. I think this was what I was missing."

She looks grateful.

"Thank you... uh...?"

   "Mara."   , Mara says.

"Huh? That's almost like..."

Mara smirks.

   "Funny coincidence, huh? I suppose 'Ma-' prefixes are pretty in these days."   

Mani giggles upon hearing that.

"Uh huh."

She takes a deep, relieved breath before looking at everyone.

"I... I think I'm finally ready to go back home. Once I'm there, I'll think everything through once more with all of this new information in mind. And then... then I'll finally make my choice based on all that."

She does a polite bow.

"Thank you so much. You and everyone else who has helped me since I first arrived here."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 12th 2021 at 3:22:04 PM

"I will... heheh... watch your career with great interest," Fu says. Is that his idea of a motivational line?

Ansem gets Heavenly Potemkin Buster'd. He spirals through the air, but somehow manages to recover into his haughty folded-arms pose.

Thunder and the Dodonpa leave their marks, but fail to make Ansem flinch. None of the crystals actually reach their targets, due to powerful fighters shooting them down or forcing them to detonate.

However, he seems content to stand back and watch instead of continue the fight, in no small part because of a certain gleaming light emitting from Kaze.

—

Leesarix, in his pained throes, opens one eye to stare at Kaze.

Killer Bat's attention may also be drawn to it.

A light is emitting from an orb on the side of the brass-like cylinder around Kaze's arm. His visible eye widens.

"It has moved."

The Magun Has Thawed

He draws the Magun's sealed form over his chest as the orb sinks into it, and a drill pops out. "Soil... is my power!"

The drill projects blades like a rotating fan as it spins, then the whole thing breaks apart into an assortment of floating pieces, which reassemble into its true form, a three-barreled handgun attached to Kaze's hand, containing a variety of odd parts◊ including a chamber that pulsates like a living heart.

He then aims this at not Leesarix, nor Ansem, nor Killer Bat. He has the balls to point the Magun at the Darkness itself. "The Magun... has thawed."

"I sense an incredible energy from that weapon... the energy of souls. Is this gonna be, like, a Spirit Bomb-type attack?" Terlette guesses.

Edited by KiriK on Jun 2nd 2023 at 11:10:06 AM

Intrigue

A large, metal box drops from the sky, it's "front side" opening up.

It's the real Potemkin, and from his arm he ejects a shell chock-full of deep blue Soil and tosses it over to Kaze.

Pot: "Package delivered; continuing mission!"

He assumes a stance that places his center of gravity low, and is joined by the shadow Potemkin, essentially creating a large wall of meat, metal, and shadow between Kaze and the villains.

X:    "A soldier, a magician, and a god walk into a pit of darkness."   

A demented smile appears before Ansem.

X:    "Nobody else leaves alive."   

The other figure immediately warps into the Knuckles hand, aiming to swat Ansem over to where Leesarix and Killer Bat are, hoping to let him have the lion's share of what happens next.

Heh, sorry to have kept you waiting. MAKANKOSAPPO! He fire the drill beam... but intentionally has it go for Beet, who flies back to avoid the soldiers. Coating her hand in specialized ki, she gently raise the palm of one at the sky, and hold the other up in a diagonal position, in a bid to redirect the energy by first surrounding it in her own, and then having it safely bounce away, her own ki preventing the barrier from being pierced.

This means that the Makankosappo is sent right back at Killer Bat, aiming to impale him on the torso. And regardless of the result, Beet flies up and tries to punch Killer Bat in the back, with a Kaioken-charge!

Kaioken times 60!

Meanwhile Akordion moves to try to pummel him from up-front. They both coat their hands and feet in ki barriers and move in sync somehow, attacking in a manner where both wouldn't interfere with another if Killer Bat were to dodge in a specific manner.

Then both pull back and immediately raise their hands, as Akordion's new pair of arms vanishes.

Take my energy then!

Same!

Smiling warmly at Mani, Wanda kneels to meet her at eye-level.

"Whatever choice you decide to make, Mani, it was really nice to meet and get to know you. I wish you all the luck in the world."

"Thanks!", Mani happily says, failing to catch the potential implication of Fu's line. She then turns around and takes a deep breath as a magic sigil appears underneath her feat. She begins to speak, clutching her hands together similarly to a prayer.

"Fathers, I call out to you. My journey has now ended. I am ready to return home."

Upon the mention of 'fathers', Mara's smile seems to falter. She doesn't look bothered or uncomfortable, but she doesn't look happy either.

Regardless, a portal starts to form in front of the group.

"Yeah, it's... nothing, really."

Fu is overtaken by curiosity. He tries to get a peek at what lies beyond the portal, if anything is visible through it.

Kaze catches the Soil charge. He takes it between two fingers, studies it carefully.

"Oh, it's not a Spirit Bomb. False alarm."

He then points a finger at the Darkness dramatically. "I've chosen the Soil charge triad to use on you!"

Firing the Magun

He raises the charge delivered by Potemkin. "The beast that chases the Sun... Night Blue."

He flicks it into the air and holds out the Magun so that the charge falls perfectly into one of the three holes on the side opposite from the drill, where a pin closes over it to secure it in place.

Next, he pulls a pale yellow charge from his own belt. "The light that pierces darkness... Lightning Yellow."

He slots it by hand rather than doing any cool tricks.

Finally, he slams a hand into his belt, causing a charge of solid golden Soil to pop out, and speaks its name as it spins in the air. "The roar of the sky engulfed in flames... Horizon Gold."

This one, he lets fall right into the gun without bothering to catch it first.

On the gun, the weird heart-thing starts beating more and more rapidly, and the drill's spin reaches maximum speed. The triple barrels on the end of it begin to glow with an unnatural light.

"Turn night into day! I summon you... RA!"

He fires the Soil charges as three bolts of colored energy, which arc through the air and swirl around each other, coalescing into not the Winged Dragon of Ra, but a big-ass bird man wielding a scepter.◊ He raises the staff high and a beam of light shoots down from its head with a heavenly sound, leaving no traces of the Darkness wherever the ray touches. He's not contributing to the fight, but he is contributing to the main objective - pushing the Darkness back.

Ansem, being a being of darkness, promptly nopes away from that shit.

Edited by KiriK on Aug 16th 2023 at 11:50:00 AM

Intrigue

X:    "Now, the fun REALLY begins!"   

Potemkin: "Finishing mission!"

Yink: "I shall drive away the darkness!"

X is right upon Ansem, having turned the Potemkin shadow into a large hand, currently holding a stored Tetris!

Yink pulls out a bow and starts firing Light Arrows at Killer Bat.

Potemkin charges at Leesarix, aiming to essentially crush him between his fists!

Hrm, that is a pretty awesome sight. Admits Akordion. Beet says nothing in the meantime, deactivating Kaioken to bump her fists up.

WRECK EM! STOMP EM! YAY BIRD MAN!

Ra.

YAY RA!

Edited by Bolded1 on Jun 12th 2021 at 4:19:10 PM

Red finishes loading up a patient Pikachu with X Sp. Attacks. He looks up in awe at the bird man.

"Whoah."

Pikachu bounces off Red's shoulders and launches itself at Ansem.

   "P I K A◊"   

It uses Flash! At this point it has been boosted enough that this Flash should hit almost as hard as a Thunderbolt. Flash in the verse/game this Red comes from is a 20 BP Electric-type Special move, not a status move.

Killer Bat is surprised when Akordion seems to target his own ally. However, he's not foolish enough to lose sight of it, and as such sees the Makankosappo is headed back towards him afterwards. He quickly tries to dodge, but he gets struck in one of his wings, the attack piercing through it. Stunned by this, he then gets punched by Beet hard enough to fly into Akordion's pummeling, after which he ends up crashing into the ground.

He's far from down though, getting back up and growling at the two... until he finally takes notice of what Kaze is doing. When the wall then comes up between them, he cannot immediately attack and interrupt, so he speaks;

   "What are you trying to do? Attacking the Darkness won't do a thing."   , he grumbles as the pierced wound in his wing heals, his body absorbing some of the Darkness to regenerate. In the end, Killer Bat is but a part of the Darkness, after all.

As per Killer Bat's inactivity, the Shadow Monsters suddenly stop moving as well, as if waiting.

Then Kaze's attack commences as he epically summons Ra, who, to Killer Bat's genuine and visible shock, is powerful enough to greatly push the Darkness back with a single attack.

Killer Bat immediately panics. This light isn't something he can stand up to as he is now, and he cannot absorb enough of the Darkness without losing his form, so he cannot become more powerful than Ra.

His eyes fall on Leesarix.

Yes...

The Shadow Monsters get absorbed back into the Darkness, likely as fuel, and Killer Bat then suddenly leaps towards Leesarix to enter his body and 'merge' with him, hoping that they'll become a being that can contain enough darkness to vanquish this accursed light once and for all.

This action lets him evade the attacks aimed at him, and the merge will provide a protective aura of solid darkness around Leesarix to momentarily protect him as well. Killer Bat will not let this merge be interrupted.

Timefreeze time bois

Wanda reaches out to playfully tousle Mani's hair.

"Even if we never meet again, promise that you'll never forget me, okay?"

Things... do NOT go as planned for Killer Bat.

Even Ansem knows it's a bad decision. "You fool!" he exclaims, reaching out vainly to stop Killer Bat before getting pummeled by the heroes' attacks, preventing him from doing that.

Leesarix doubles over, clutching his head. He thrashes about in agony, and with a sharp yell, Killer Bat will be forcibly ejected by... something that isn't Leesarix.

His unused arm elongates and sprouts claws to match its counterpart. His bones jut out from his face, tearing through the skin. His eyes fall out as his skull morphs into that of a wolf, lined with razor-sharp teeth. A single new eye appears on his forehead, staring and bloodshot. A compound eye forms on each side of the skull, made of countless smaller orbs... like Derak's eyes. The screams of pain have long faded into demonic screeching.

The monster grows bigger as fur, scales and feathers sprout all over it. Bird wings, then bat wings, sprout from its back and decay into bones. A pair of beetle-like elytra form as well, and quickly wither away, becoming shriveled husks, as its legs bend and contort in ways they were not meant to, with the sounds of bones snapping. They thicken, becoming cylindrical like tree trunks as talons overtake toes. A spider's abdomen protrudes from the beast's rear end, terminating in a giant serpentine tail with fish fins and a scorpion stinger stuck to its tip.

By the time the transformation is finished, the abomination stands at five meters tall. There is no trace of the man called Aeleris left in this... THING.◊ Only pain, anger, and bloodlust.

The Id (DBS Broly's Theme - Dragon Ball FighterZ)

Imagine the most haunting sound you can think of. Imagine that sound played ten times over simultaneously. Now imagine a skeleton monster is screaming that sound in your face.

With this horrible noise, reality collapses on itself. The temple and its surroundings, Kingdom Hearts, and even the Darkness, are taken beyond the Arena's boundaries, to a planetoid in the great OP Event void.

Ansem immediately vanishes altogether. This has gotten out of hand, and he figures that either the heroes will clean up the mess or the Darkness will consume the Arena but not reach the World That Never Was. Either way, he can just watch the chaos unfold...

"It's happened again..." Terlette gets into battle stance with her sword. "Only option left is to fight to the death, because this thing won't give up until it's completely erased!"

Edited by KiriK on Jun 13th 2021 at 2:09:08 PM

Unfortunately for Fu, he'll find that there's not. The portal is purely for traveling purposes, not being big enough to show anything from the other side.

Mani looks back at Wanda one more time, smiling and nodding.

"I won't. That's a promise."

Then, a group of 7 beings, all cloaked, floating, and each of them having six arms◊ appear through the portal.

The Fathers

"So...", one of them speaks out with a ghostly voice. "You are truly ready now?"

"Yes, Fathers.", Mani says, bowing her head respectively. "Thanks to the advice from many of the people of this realm, like the people here."

The beings shift their gazes to Wanda and Fu.

"You aided this child? If so, you have our gratitude."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 12th 2021 at 5:14:08 PM

Levitating her discarded boots and jacket to her waiting grasp as the hooded figures emerge from the portal, Wanda greets them with a nod.

"It was my pleasure to help her on her journey. Good, evil - whichever path Mani decides on, I know for certain that she's going to make you proud."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jun 12th 2021 at 9:14:25 AM