Well, that was a question that was easier to answer. With Mikel's acknowledging nod, Alderoth straightened himself, and after Wanda explained it, he continued.
"The Summoners are powerful mages, meant to protect nations from harm and to be a guiding force to other mages."
"We're essentially the cream of the crop and the best of our generations, although a few of us do endure for longer."
Mikel chuckled, and he shook his head at Pietro, sparing Alderoth a not-entirely-subtle glance.
"I would be more surprised if he revealed everything he knew to any one of us, to be honest. He can be oddly wary."
He extended his hand for a handshake, nonetheless, smiling a little.
"Pleased to meet you still."
Creator of the Avatar Arena and its Discord server.The two are intrigued by what Wanda and Alderoth tell them, with Billy being especially curious.
"So you're like a supermage? And a superhero?"
"What kinda magic can you do?"
"Can you do the same things Mom can?"
"Do you get headaches from using magic?"
Oh boy, there they go again.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Isos simply continue to eat, gleefully unbothered by the question. She does and can appreciate being cleaned up, but right now her focus is elsewhere, solely on eating, and she eats until she's done, chewing loudly on her food and reacting somewhat weirdly should anyone approach her, keeping a tight grip on the sushi box until it's time is done.
That done, Isos simply toss it away, and stands there, clapping her hands together while grunting. By all indications, she doesn't know that there's a choice to be made, simply gesturing for more food, hands held to grab whatever can be given to her. She's so hungry that, should one be mean enough, she'll shovel snow into her mouth.
Of course, if too much time is spent dawdling about or should she be fed snow, she freezes and begin to instantly cry, with the same echo, but stronger. "BBWAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" there's a brief relief, although her face is stuck in an horrified grimace, face crimson and eyes scrunched, before "WAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Once again, should that ensue, the sky open up into ominous galaxies and stars all about, some casting light powerful enough to start illuminating the area below. But of course, for Isos to cry, they'd need to wait a while.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterWanda gently pats her sons on the back, not wanting Alderoth to be overwhelmed by an avalanche of questions.
"Tommy, Billy, try not to ask him too many questions."
Pietro chuckles a little, and he shakes Mikel's hand.
"Same here. So, what kind of magic are you the master of? I wanna say it's similar to Alderoth's, but you are pretty freaking different from him."
Alderoth, at this point, raised his hands a little as a gesture to have the children try and slow down. Mikel, who was mainly conversing with Pietro, simply looked on with some measure of amusement.
"Alright, alright, one question at a time, please."
He raised a finger.
"But, the same magic as your mother? Not exactly. We have some abilities that are shared or otherwise similar, but I have a different type of magic."
To demonstrate, he held out his palm, and a crystal orb materialised above it, shimmering and reflecting the light like a diamond.
Mikel nodded, lowering his hand, and inclining his head to the side, a small smile forming across his lips.
"I am also a mage, although I am more of a Seer. I am able to look into the future and determine possibilities. It is less effective in a muddled realm such as this one, but it is still useful."
Glancing over at his half-brother, he continued, "Alderoth does not appreciate it as much as I do."
Creator of the Avatar Arena and its Discord server."Whoaaaa.", Tommy mutters as he and Billy look amazed by the crystal orb that Alderoth creates.
"Can you teach me how to do that? I have magic too!", Billy excitedly asks. "Look!"
He turns to the side, holds out his hands, and begins to glow in an aura near-identical to Wanda's, except it's in blue. Spheres of Chaos Magic form in front of his hands, and he moves them around in a circular formation.
This is, coincidentally, also the first time since Wanda and Pietro met them that the two will have been able to see Billy use his powers for anything other than meditation. Considering the headaches he got at times, they hadn't really gotten far enough to let him practice using his actual powers. Now that it's not in a fight, they'll be able to take in Billy's powers too.
They may be surprised to see that, despite him being much less experienced than Wanda, his magic looks more stable than Wanda's did before she trained with Mara to combat the Cyber Angels.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Wanda can't help but crack a proud little smile at Billy's demonstration.
"Great job, Billy! Even I wasn't able to make it that stable on my first few tries," she says.
Pietro raises an eyebrow at Mikel's last comment.
"Really? God knows I wouldn't mind being able to look into the future. You'd be able to plan ahead for just about anything," he says.
Alderoth allowed the orb to settle on his hand as he gripped it, the object now appearing to be entirely solid.
"I could try, although I'm not entirely sure if your magic would have a similar technique as mine..."
He narrowed his single eye, before handing over the orb to Billy.
"How do you use your magic?"
Mikel frowned at that, before sighing.
"Alderoth... does not approve of Fate. The idea that the future is predetermined, even by a little. He has the potential for Seeing, like I do, but he refuses it."
Creator of the Avatar Arena and its Discord server.Billy looks really happy about Wanda's praise. Then he looks back at Alderoth with a confused expression.
"... I dunno. I just... do it."
"Yeah, like how I can run as fast as Uncle P.", Tommy says. "I don't really think about it, I just do it."
Billy stops using his powers and takes the crystal orb, looking it over. Tommy then walks up to him.
"Do you think we could trick those staff robots at the Pizzaplex into giving us game tokens for this?", he asks with a mischievous smirk.
"No way, if they're not tricked they'll probably ban us!", Billy immediately protests.
"Hmmmmmm... maybe."
Curious to see if anything would happen, he makes the orb levitate with his powers.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Nov 11th 2022 at 1:59:47 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Skyrim
Marisa knows a hungry face when she sees one, it's an expression Rumia has often. She fishes around her bag, looking for something edible. She pulls out a manju, smells it, then grimaces. She puts it away and makes a mental note to not keep those in that long. She rummages again and this time pulls out some mochi, which she inspects and finds them fortunately not horrifically out of date but instead inexplicably fresh looking. Must be some secret of those Moon Rabbits.
"Here, a little treat from home." she says, handing Isos the pounded rice confectionaries. Biting into them, she'd find they had a sweet red bean paste filling. "Got 'em from those Moon Rabbits in the Village during my last visit there."
If the others end up going somewhere she'll follow.
Edited by shroobot3000 on Nov 11th 2022 at 3:45:02 PM
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Wanda playfully tousles Billy and Tommy's hair.
"Now, now, what did I tell you about messing with the animatronics there? I don't think that map-giving one ever forgot the prank you tried to pull," she says.
Pietro leans against the nearest wall.
"I'm not a philosopher or anything, but... wouldn't knowing what might happen give him a chance to change things? Or is that not how things work?" he inquires.
Skyrim
Majima sighs, before saying "We need to hurry up and get to shelter. No telling what's out here."
He looks to pochita, and begins to pick up the chainsaw dog, much to his confusion, putting it in a piggyback ride, before putting it back down. He looks to the kid, then points to his shoulders as he crouches down. He then points to the faint signs of a nearby town, smoke from fireplaces, lights of a town, a road. He looks to the others, saying "Let's get to town. There'll be food, shelter, and likely a good spot to rest."
Pochita borks a bit, running over to the nearby road and carving out a symbol with its otherwise idle chainsaw, or more, digging with it inactive. The symbol present is 道 (Road)
Pochita borks a bit, before he begins to walk down the road, as if giving directions.
Billy would find the orb to be... well, a crystal orb. Besides having a magical origin, there seemed to be nothing amiss with it.
Alderoth placed a hand on his chin, thinking, his eye glinting and almost appearing to glow.
"Alright... have you tried picturing it in your mind? Concentrating and forming a crystal orb with your thoughts?"
He looked up at Wanda, before glancing at the twins once more.
"You seem fond of them."
"Not quite how it works, I'm afraid," Mikel explained at last, "some things you can change, and others you have nothing to do except to wait and adapt."
"Alderoth is not fond of that idea, much like he loathes being helpless in any way."
Creator of the Avatar Arena and its Discord server."That one deserves it, it keeps coming back to give us more maps. We have like five of them now!", Tommy laughs.
Billy looks back at Alderoth for a moment, then gives Billy the orb before holding out his hands.
"I'll try.", he says before he starts to focus, his magical blue aura surrounding his hands again. Tommy starts to watch curiously.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Nov 11th 2022 at 2:24:52 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Wanda shows Tommy a playful smile.
"Well, it might be better to have a spare map and not need it, than to need one and not have it. Though you're right, that robot could try being a little less... overzealous."
Her gaze flickers to Alderoth.
"Can you blame me? They're both wonderful boys."
Pietro simply nods as Mikel clarifies how being a Seer works.
"Well, at least he'd get to change some things. Sometimes, you've just gotta take whatever you can get."
Somewhere in Skyrim
Tee had only so much foresight. While he served for Epok, he had to wonder his creator's purpose for them being sent. As Majima motioned for shelter, Tee and The Compass looked to the child, patting their head as they smiled faintly, Tee speaking up as the luminous avian nuzzled the top of their hand.
"Let me guide your path..."
It soon flew onto The Compass's shoulder, and the woman smiled and nodded to the group, rushing ahead as the wind seemed to effortlessly aim then towards the village, as the two ran ahead, and as they ran, luminous orbs like wisps lit the road, brightening their path as the two ran ahead.
Edited by ArbiterOfTheBog on Nov 11th 2022 at 6:08:40 AM
Awawablublu Isos begins to eat the mochi, at first surprised at it, then appearing to be placated. She doesn't like it like with sushi, but she's not gonna cry before the group make it. She still doesn't thank Marisa, but it's mostly due to not having any particular grasp on that, rather than malice. And indeed, she stares very confusedly at Majima's shoulders, not realizing what he means to do before she sits on them.
The small child then cry out in surprise, and laugh, as the orbs flare to life before her, holding her hands out to try to grasp them. That aside, she's relatively quiet for the ride: or at least, she doesn't do anything stupid, fascinated by Tee and her new friend.
However, at a point, she stops and look around, spotting a tree. Seeing its trunk, and that apparently not all of it fit in her vision, she grunts and begin to crane her neck up, wishing to see the trees in their entirety. By reflexes, she grabs unto Majima, but still seems to be annoyed at her inability to fully look up, prompting her to grunt.
...
HUB CENTRALIS
wew its been a while
A pale figure detach itself from the rest of the rabble of the city, those returned or not. That, anyone could figure out with a look, was someone special, even without the massive green scythe she happened to be carrying, easily double her size. Petite as her appearance might be, sickly indeed, she's carrying it one-handed without much effort, wandering through the empty streets.
With pale skin, green eyes and jet-black hair, she'd look normal if not for for her set of black "horns", black jagged things jutting out of the top of her skull. Her clothes vaguely allude to a goth style, with black leggings and a long black dress -black is a theme, geddit -, with a white ribbon struggling valiantly against the obsidian omnipresence of her palette.
On her hands are gloves (?), with long black claws to them, useful for slicing, if that long scythe isn't available to do the job. The right gauntlet has what appears to be black chains coiled around it: they tie her scythe to her, the chains being directly tied to a mechanism on the middle of the weapon. If she ever needs to, her left gauntlet also has chains wrapped around her forearms, although those generally go nowhere, so they're wrapped around her much more tightly.
On her back is one more scythe, a much fancier and shorter one. It's barely identifiable as a scythe even: merely a long white stick, with pink Tron Lines running all over it, with what appears to be a myriad of holographic projectors at the top of the stick, surely to display some kind of Hard Light construct of a blade.
Either way, Dead Master in back in the Arena, staring at the MOON over Hub Centralis in curiosity.
that wasn't there last time
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterOn the road to Riften
Majima keeps the kid steady, until she starts going a little odd over a tree. "Hey, Watch i-"
He stops, noticing the child pouting. He smiles, as he begins to step back. "You want to see the whole tree, don't you. Well, It's hard to see the top of the tree from here." He proceeds further down the road, before turning around again, standing in a spot where the kid riding piggyback could see the tree's top. "Bit easier to see from here."
Pochita, in the meanwhile, borks towards marisa, the ranger, and to Majima, before running further down the road, towards a town, with a sign nearby saying "Riften" on it. Pochita cant really read it but, he knows what a signboard is, and what a town looks like.
The guards of riften, in the meanwhile, see the lil chainsaw doggo running around, and are very, very confused.
SOL Opost: Report 1, Terrarian, Dryad, Radahn, Niall, Artorias, Simmons,
SOL Opost: Report 1
Victor Von Doom sat back in the swivel chair of the master control room of the Latverian Embassy in Hub Centralis. All around him were screens showing cameras and news reports, so that there was not a single thing going on within five miles of that building that he was not privy to. As his watchful eyes wandered over the terminals, he spoke into a running tape recorder.
"Arena report number one. I've been here a grand total of…Five hours, and already I've been challenged by another reality's God of Thunder. He was no less annoying than the one I am familiar with, but was more easily dealt with. The ADD allowed me to outsmart him, using his own godly weapon against him, but I barely managed to escape intact, and if it weren't for that I'd be a red blotch on the wall. So, I've begun construction on an armor mod, one that will allow me to take in electricity and repurpose it into a protective aura around me. In the meantime, I've brushed up on my mystic arts, but…If I, if Latveria is to survive in this new world, we will need aid. Allies. Help, in the form of likeminded individuals who will seek to help achieve the goals of an ally if their goals are achieved in return. I need a group.
I'll set out in search of members tomorrow. For now…I sleep."
Illmaticigant
"A crusade of death? That, at least, he can help you with." The dryad sighed, casting an annoyed glance at the fettered man struggling against his natural chains even still, despite the time that had passed and that it was obvious he wasn't getting out unless the Dryad wanted him to. "We'll be ready at your call, when the time arrives. Creatures like this should not be allowed to exist. And don't worry about how to communicate. Long as you're near an animal, a tree, flower, anything, if you want us, I'll know."
With that, more vines grew from the oasis ground and formed a seed-shaped prison around the Terrarian. The roots forced themselves from the ground, becoming almost like legs, with which the massive seedjail kept pace with the Dryad as she turned and left the area.
What Was Once Radahn's Camp.
Radahn looked to Seliph. He stared for a considerable amount of time, as if considering something, before reaching out his own hand and using his index and thumb to shake Seliph's hand, as any more than that and he risked accidentally taking the man's arm off entirely, as a result of the size disparity. He opened his mouth, either to express gratitudes or to ask a question, but before he could, a shout rang out through the forest.
"The Starscourge is weak!! ATTACK HIM!!" A great snarl crossed Radahn's face as these words echoed across the land.
"Godrick, you slimy bastard…" Radahn got to his feet as soldiers adorned with a specific flag burst from the trees, running towards the four men and dog.
◊
While Sif the Regular Sized Gray Wolf charged forwards into battle, ripping off limbs and bitting out throats, the Knight Artorias covered his hound, as any soldier who dared to come near Sif while she was distracted with another would be swiftly met with the great blade of the Abysswalker.
As for Niall, he utilized his mastery over electricity to bring down large swarthes of the soldiers as once, but they just kept coming, slowly overwhelming the commander.
Normally, an army like this would be nothing for Radahn, but something in the way he swung his blades, without any semblance of joy or purpose, revealed why he was struggling so much against Godrick's soldiers. He had lost all will, all reason, for life. Without his men, without his army, there was nothing for him, and though he was hopeful and grateful for Seliph, some part of him wondered if it'd actually be enough.
Grandnova Warehouse, Onyxis
Appreciating his hospitality but not needing it, Simmons, Danse, and Goode all leapt from the APC, using the gunfire that the armored vehicle was attracting as a distraction so that they may charge forwards, behind Adam.
Meanwhile, the Elite Bot is taken by surprise when its punch is avoided entirely. While the crotch attack is met with minimal results (robot sperm is stored in the icloud, as is common knowledge), the elbow is bent dramatically and Gram cuts clean through the neck area of the machine, sparks and a blue liquid pouring out as the connection with the neuroptics is severed. No longer able to see its enemy, the robot makes multiple blind swings and punches before collapsing into the snow, having lost too much fuel leading to catastrophic failure.
The three Brotherhood soldiers appeared on scene, armored up and with weapons in their hands.
"Good work. Let's move in." Simmons complimented Adam as he swept through the door of the warehouse, the other two following. If Adam were to enter as well, he'd see their next challenge: A machine, standing in an oddly familiar offensive pose.
◊ It looks directly at Adam, as if recognizing him, before an artificial voice snarls a single word.
"YOU."
With great power…you know the rest.Filia lay still unconscious; blood stained her face and hands. A shallow breath releases from her lungs and the cold air from her lungs turn to fog as it flies into the sky. Her eyes crack open for a moment as Odio starts to approach, the demoness able to turn her head with a strenuous effort toward the demon king.
Her vision is blurred, and she is desperately trying to raise a hand at Odio to defend herself. She panicked, a loud ringing in her ears growing more audible and the vision in her eyes darkening. Power begins to well up in her hand, but when Odio plunges his broken blade into Filia, she can no longer fight back.
The pain is intense, the gashes left by the blade oozing lots of blood. In a matter of moments, she loses consciousness again. Darkness takes the demoness and she has no idea what just happened. A flicker of light appears beneath her eyelids.
Filia floats in an endless black void, comatose until a warm white flickering with a mix of orange and purple nigh indescribable appears before her. Filia's eyes open in response to the light, immediately narrowing them when confronted with the luminous glow. Ground forms beneath Filia, deep brown soil that harbors no grass or seed. Filia steps upon it, stumbling backward and looking down at her hands.
Her injuries from Odio were gone, at least here. She notices the ground beneath her ripples as though it were flowing water, but remains solid and dry. Filia's tripped out by it, taking another few steps backward. A presence looms in the light that cannot be seen, unlike any she has met.
"Filia."
A voice whispers from the light, Filia raised her head toward the luminous rays with a squinted gaze. When her eyes squinted, Filia made out the light's source, a swathing sphere of intense fire. Filia had not heard the voice, so it utters once more
"Filia."
Filia's eyes widen, the voice speaks with her voice, but beneath it, the voices of everyone she's met echo.
"Who the hell are you?"
She shouts defiantly at the light, and no response comes. Raising an open palm at the sphere of burning flame, Filia unleashes an ice beam. The ice beam stops in place just as it exits Filia's hand, and it retracts back into her palm.
"ANSWER ME!"
Filia shouts.
"I am, that I am."
The voice responds with the full breadth of volume only something supernatural could ever accomplish. So loud it sends Filia sliding backward, the demoness barely able to stand her ground.
"I made you, have you forgot-"
The voice stops suddenly, the warm white of the light briefly dimming. From within the massive sphere, a humanoid shape emerges. The humanoid is featureless, made entirely of translucent golden light. The figure floats with grace toward the ground, tendril-like appendages of light following the humanoid from the sphere of flame. Once the humanoid touched down dozens of feet away from Filia, the ground between the two of them disappears instantly.
Filia reacts violently, raising a fist to swing, only for it to pass right through the figure. The figure forms a golden hand, and Filia is suddenly unable to move.
"A demon..."
The figure whispers, gently laying a hand on Filia's face. Filia's eyes flash gold in response, prompting the figure to step back for a moment.
"Foul odious devil, a stain on my creation! How dareth thou return to my gaze? Hast thou come for charity? To beg upon thy knees to return to the World? To call upon the maker you warred against to ask for your cleansing?"
Each word echoes a thousand times in Filia's mind, the demoness realizing exactly who was before her.
"Yahweh."
Filia quietly utters, Yahweh, as he appears to be, casts a golden hand toward Filia.
"Your punishment for the sins committed by you and your spawn will badger you for the rest of your putrid days. Now, go!"
Filia's eyes shoot open, taking a massive gasp of air and leaning up. Taking a look around, the ripples of Odio's banishment just starting by the time she awakens. Moving her gaze to Narktus, the demoness stumbles to her feet and starts to waltz toward him. The gashes made by Odio's blade have frozen over, and the bleeding temporarily stopped.
Looming over him, Filia's labored breaths slow.
"You have some explaining to do."
She says, offering her bloodied hand.
Nitori
Called it. "Hmm..."
Icarus contemplates for a while, then responds, counting the benefits off on his fingers.
"You'll get to draw from the near-infinite resource pool of Exotic Ventures and access a lot of new blueprints. You'll get collaboration partners whenever you need them. You'll get unique problems that you may not have worked on before. And as long as it doesn't harm a task's completion, you can take whatever approach you like, and you can take whatever rewards the task has to offer, though these kinds of rewards may not always be there. How's it sound?"
The Dark Fog expands...
Distance to the Arena: ~8pc
Infested star systems: 151
If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong.Nitori's workshop
Nitori makes a noncommittal hum as she thinks.
"Not really starving for resources right now except that guy's scales, been seeing a lot of fancy tech I wanna dismantle anyway and you know how I feel on co-ops." she says, leaning against the wall. "And if there's no guaranteed payment then ehhh... my labor's pretty valuable."
"I might be willing to be an associate but don't count me as a full member or anything like that." she finally answers.
Riften outskirts
Marisa follows along with the others to Riften, deciding to join in on amusing Isos by shooting a stream of star shaped danmaku bullets at the sky. She ends up catching up to Pochiter before Majima due to his distraction.
"Riften huh? Looks like a nice enough place I guess." she comments. The guards might be slightly weirded out by what looks like a stereotypical witch in bright red holding a broom with a lantern on it.
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Patrol Vessel
When Icarus complies, nearly all infrastructure, aside from what is keeping the ship afloat, abruptly dies out. Causing the emergency lights to activate as Lucas' arm seems to be glowing ethereally. Speaking in a more serious tone.
"They have been watching us from the start, so listen carefully."
"Machines and the alien creatures who hail from Riperia and the Magma Carta all have sovereign rights which far exceed any being considered magical. So I ensure you in keeping Everglade's ideology of who she considers the enemy, to be neutral. Never deviating it to any extreme hatred or reverence for magic, but I will not question you if that happens."
Lucas feels the need to rid himself of any altruism and continues.
"This is not out of good will. She is merely a gun to most of the Reich, to have her act erratically in the name of the nation — while amusing to Command — is logistically bothersome to everyone else. Aside from that... She just needs a someone to talk to outside of work."
He sighs, if Icarus understands then all systems return online and the lights are back to normal.
"Pardon the interruption, what were you going to say next?"
Edited by BoniniBanana on Nov 12th 2022 at 9:46:06 PM
realSomewhere in Skyrim
Tee notices how the child cranes their head, even as he and The Compass we're at the edge of the village. And with incredible agility the two returned to her side, and gently lifted her off the ground, and The Compass raised her up into her shoulders, as Tee flew up over the tree, illuminating it in a warm glow for a few seconds before looking down at Isos.
"You will grow tall, do not worry little Isos."
Awawa

Wanda, beyond relieved that Tommy and Billy didn't have an existential crisis on the spot or something, places her hands upon the boys' shoulders.
"Like I said, they're a group of sorcerers. You remember what your Uncle Pietro and I told you about the Avengers? The Summoners are kind of like them, except they all use magic," she explains.
Pietro nods to Mikel.
"I guess that makes sense. Still, you'd think he might at least mention having a brother to one of the two people who know him best," he says.