Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

F!Shez gasps for a moment when she realizes that Alear is behind her.

"Arval!", she calls out, upon which the spiritual being disappears and F!Shez looks a little different all of a sudden◊.

In this state, both her power and speed increase drastically, to the point that F!Shez is actually able to parry Lodestar Rush, as well as then (if Alear gets stunned by Nicole's attack, or any other potential attack) attempt to trap Alear into a sword combo attack herself, attempting to deal some massive damage.

"You've got a real way with words.", Linda says before kissing him. Afterwards she slowly gets up.

"I'm all for being lazy for the rest of the day... but one thing I insist on is that I get to wash this sand out of my face and hair."

"Whoa..." Se'arah seems wowed by F!Shez's transformation. However, she quickly runs in while she and Alear are clashing. She swings a backfist across her shoulder, opens up the hand she swung with, and lunges forward to grab Alear out of her attack.

"Sorry if this hurts."

She then steps past Alear, using her back foot to trip the broken dragon child and shove her into Nicole's own outstretched hand.

With a mighty crash followed by a flurry of slashes, she seemingly goes tumbling to the ground...

krcheen

Only to rise, good as new, as a Revival Stone activates. And now she seems mad.

She rushes at Nicole again, this time making two basic slashes before dashing back...

"I am a Fell Dragon."

...then leaping through the air for a Critical Hit slam!

Edited by KiriK on May 12th 2023 at 5:06:39 AM

"Oh, fu-"

Understandably taken aback by Alear suddenly getting back up, Nicole just barely manages to deflect the first two slashes, only for the final blow to connect and send her flying. Crashing into the side of a nearby building, she takes a moment to regain her bearings.

"Argh... I didn't know we were dealing a friggin' mini-Grima, of all people. Hey, Corrin, how does that Engaging business work again? Do I have to yell something out like a Power Ranger or do I just sorta activate it?"

Likewise, Thor grabs onto Stormbringer's handle and uses it to slowly haul himself back up.

"Consider it a deal. In fact, I say we ought to handle both matters at once and just lie together in the water."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on May 12th 2023 at 3:27:28 AM

"What!? How did she get back up so easily?" , F!Shez gasps.

While unable to prevent Alear from attacking Nicole, M!Shez quickly moves to try and attack Alear from behind after her attack on Nicole has concluded. If it works, it may buy Nicole time to Engage with Corrin.

"You sure you won't drown with all those muscles holding you down?", Linda jokes.

"Yeah, I'd be up for that for sure."

"Be sure you are wearing my ring on your ring finger. Then you need only clench that fist and declare your intent to Engage."

Every character has one line where they say "Emblem, Engage!" and another where they say something more personal-themed like "Lend me your strength!" or "Won't you join me?" or "I'm sorry you're stuck with me!" so I figure that's how it works.

If Nicole does as instructed, she and Corrin will be engulfed in blue light, and Nicole alone will emerge from it with Corrin's clothing and her hair turned as white in color as Corrin's. She will have three turns in this form, and as previously stated, she will gain access to the Dual Katana weapon, Dreadful Aura passive effect, and Torrential Roar one-use attack.

Se'arah helps M!Shez with a rising sword uppercut.

—

Alear does an acrobatic flip out of Se'arah's reach, but still gets hit from behind by M!Shez immediately after. She grumbles and pivots in a perfect 180 with a horizontal cleave. She's faster and stronger than she was before her revive, enough to keep up with the Shezes' empowered forms.

"Heh, I knew putting it on before the fight was a good idea. Alright, let's go Power Ranger on her."

Rising to her feet, Nicole balls her ring-wearing hand into a fist.

"Emblem, Engage! Let's bring 'em down!"

In a flash of blue light, Nicole stands clad in Corrin's armor and flowing blue cape, her normally brown hair now white as snow. She takes a moment to examine her new appearance via looking at her reflection in the Dual Katana's blade.

"Nice... I always did think you had a killer fashion sense, Corrin. Now, c'mon, we've got ourselves a mini-Grima to smack down."

Jumping back into the fray, she bares down upon Alear and goes for a devastating flurry of swipes and jabs with the Dual Katana, capping off her relentless onslaught with a devastating downward swing of her weapon.

Actually chuckling at Linda's joke, Thor moves to pick Linda up and begin carrying her towards the ocean.

"Oh, I'm not worried. I have a cybernetically-enhanced agent with a great arse who's strong enough to keep me afloat," he remarks.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jun 24th 2023 at 7:44:37 AM

Unfortunately only F!Shez is currently transformed, so while M!Shez crosses his blades to block, the impact still knocks him into a nearby wall.

And then he also transforms◊. Better late than never, huh?

With Nicole also having transformed (by Engaging), the two Shezes quickly look at each other and nod. M!Shez then rushes forward, unleashing an insane flurry of sword slashes at Alear. Together, the attack ranges are wide enough that some of the buildings besides the group also get slashed a few times.

Regardless of whether the initial slashes hit or not, M!Shez will then jump into the air and deliver a powerful cross-slash attack downwards.

If Alear revives again or manages to evade, F!Shez will immediately use the same incredibly powerful attack that her counterpart just did.

"Watch out, or you're gonna be the living floatie for said arse.", Linda chuckles as she lets herself get carried.

Edited by DevilPsyco on May 12th 2023 at 1:13:36 PM

Hub Centralis, outside Cafe Leblanc

Standing on top of the cafe's roof is a tall young man wearing a white overcoat with bandages wrapped all around his face. It would appear that he has arrived at the scene not too long ago, and is currently observing the situation from above.

Jeridan is not one to jump into a situation recklessly, but the presence of a Fell Dragon is enough to let him know which side to fight for. Noticing that this particular Alear is quite a persistent fighter, the honorary agent whipped his arm out, producing a metal object not longer than his forearm.

With a single motion, the bundle extended and revealed itself to be a collapsible lucerne polearm. Jeridan quickly raised his weapon and hurled it towards Alear as if it is a javelin in an attempt to ensure that they will not be able to evade the following attacks from Shez, Nicole, and Se'arah. Even if it hits late, it can serve as a finisher.

Alear manages to parry a few slashes, but Jeridan's projectile polearm disrupts her, leading to her being swiftly overwhelmed by the storm of blades from Nicole and M!Shez, and her Engage Weapon disperses as they combo her.

She lies on the ground after that, then a second Revival Stone breaks and she hops to her feet - only to get hit by F!Shez's Warrior Special. This does more massive damage, but not enough to take her down, and she re-summons a rapier as she lunges at F!Shez to perform a Lodestar Rush...

Only to be intercepted in her charge as Se'arah, ducking low to the ground, impales her on the Slaying Edge.

"Nice Critical Strikes. Here's mine. It's OVER!"

Se'arah raises her sword, and Alear with it, into the air, then swings her backwards, overhead, and into the ground. The Wanderer steps back, scraping Alear against the ground, then brings her back up and around in another scraping circle, building more momentum in this repeated circular swing until friction appears to set her sword on fire.

"RENEGADE..."

With one last underhand arc, she flings Alear off her sword and into the air, then flies up above her, holding her sword overhead in preparation to strike.

"AETHEEERRR!"

She slams her sword down, dragging Alear along with her and into the ground, with enough force to make a crater on impact!

As Se'arah flourishes her sword, Alear struggles to rise, but finds she cannot.

"Oh no... Now Father will...dispose of me." She strains her head to the sky... then collapses, unconscious.

   will he now   

There's nothing to announce Gor's arrival, the deity bypassing the usual flamboyance to simply appear over the battlefield, hovering with its arms out to the side, usual grin plastered on its face. Its presence alone is incredibly ominous, almost impossible to ignore, even as the sky stays blue above their heads.

   nicole    It speaks, voice a tiny bit sterner this time, even though it keeps smiling. The wind blows quietly.

   an ominous blade approach the thread of fate of your companions   

   though the passage of time is of no importance to us   

   you are finding yourself in short quantity of it   

   are you ready to head to nohr   

   or will you accept a sordid fate   

With Alear defeated, Nicole drops out of her Engaged form and blows out a relieved sigh. While she was admittedly tempted to ask Se'arah how she managed to pull off attacks she'd only seen people from Anna's world use, she had more important matters to deal with.

"Alright, now that she's down, would someone mind getting her somewhere safe? Y'know, so her dark lord of a dad doesn't have her hunted down for failure or something."

Cue Gor suddenly arriving. She slowly looks up to meet the enigmatic deity's gaze.

"I just need Ban, Morgan, Laslow, Selena, and Odin here. They are kinda the rest of my team."

Thor merely laughs heartily as he wades into the ocean with Linda in tow.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on May 12th 2023 at 5:12:01 AM

The two Shezes untransform now that they've used their Warrior Specials, and Arval reappears (though Arval is still invisible to everyone except Corrin and Marth). The two look down at Alear, feeling bad for her.

"So... what now?", M!Shez asks, and as if tempting the universe itself, right after that is when Gor appears and talks to Nicole. Its sudden appearance startles the two mercenaries... and Arval as well.

"Who is..."

"Where did he... it come from? I didn't sense it at all.", Arval mutters. Considering what Gor is, it can probably see and hear Arval as well.

"This could be dangerous. We have to run."

With a quick hop, Jeridan dropped down from the roof and firmly landed on both feet into a crouch. The young man raised his hand for a quick wave before approaching Nicole and retrieving his lucerne. “If you don’t mind me asking, what do you need help with?”

Edited by cyzja922 on May 12th 2023 at 5:20:35 AM

Se'arah simply stares up at Gor. "I feel like that thing can explain."

Whiterun Plains

With confidence, Morph Moth replies, "I h-have to stay alive for, um, their sake. Us Reploids n-need to stick together. And T-thanks. I m-must pray to Inafune t-that I will find them soon."

Vs. Magolor Sus

In a flash, Zangeese got obliterated by Magolor Sus's attack. How can he beat him at this rate?

"For the love of Shinkiro and Hiroaki, stop killing me!"

After respawning, Zangeese tries tossing a few Psycho Cannon ki blasts at Magolor Sus, knowing that he'll get his ass kicked again.

Gor simply looks down at Jeridan, and he'll know just what happened. That Nicole's friends, the Shepherds, are held in another world by a tyrant king, with only one having made it out, and that Nicole is heading out to help her rescue them.

By the same will, Gor summons a white pillar over no less than the Dawnguard Fort.

   head there   

   your friends will know to be there in time   

   them and others   

   you will need *every single* ally possible for this   

Ignoring Shez, Gor stays in place, watching.

Nicole holds up her hands when Gor mentions others.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold the goddamn hell up. Others? You never said anything about others. All you said was 'put together a team' and I did exactly what you said," she says. "I don't need a whole army just to pull this mission off, dude. It's a rescue op, not a friggin' war."

"Huh? That fort...", F!Shez mutters. Arval looks uncertain.

"I think we should discuss this with our employer before taking any rash actions. Besides, we already have a job coming up."

The two Shezes look conflicted, but they know that Arval is right. As such, they make their leaves.

Gor does raise one eyebrow slightly higher talking to Nicole but doesn't bother reminding her of its status. It appreciate the honesty outright.

So it's gonna be honest back.    we decide what happen   

   we are your only mean of rescuing your friends   

   you will be given means to make do with their numbers   

   and will come to bless them given the time   

   now go   

Plains outside Whiterun

Yagnesta can't help but sigh as he addressed Marisa. "I do not have personal grievances with any gods per say. As a machine that moderates multiple universes as well as gods, it is a part of my duty to make sure that gods do not step out of line." He gave Jules a quick nod. "You're right, this is the kind of behavior that made gods so problematic. Hell, I even possess an authority that grants me an advantage against anything remotely divine because they are so damned hard to deal with."

The machine's face contorted into a displeased frown. "It is as A says, power corrupts, and... well, not even I am immune from that." Guilt and regret flashed in his eyes before his lips twisted into a proud smile. "That is why I created a countermeasure. I created a new being that houses approximately thirty percent of my authorities to keep me in check. While I am capable of overpowering her, she is capable of suppressing me long enough to defeat me."

Cafe Leblanc

Jeridan's metaphorical alarm bell sounded immediately when he felt a rush of knowledge pouring into his own brain, before realizing that this is just Gor's way of transmitting a message. Then, he can't help but grin a little when he realized that he will have a chance to rescue people who he previously believed to be fictional characters. That, and this will be a good chance to actually visit the infamous dusk kingdom.

Of course, Jeridan knows better than to think of this as a simple field trip, he will have to pull his weight. "I understand your concern, but trust me when I say that I won't slow you down. In fact..." He activated Otherworldly Aid and borrowed a Presence Concealment skill at rank A+. Due to the nature of his ability, the effectiveness is cut in half, but it is still enough to slip out of the Nicole's perception and allow him to move in front of her undetected despite being in broad daylight.

After standing in front of her, the honorary agent deactivated the skill. "You will find me a very useful ally to bring along." He extended a hand for the warrior to shake. "Nine-Two, at your service." Jeridan decided to use an alias for this mission, having learned not to give out his true name so easily, even if it means nothing to most people here.

Fort Dawnguard

Once more, the resolute priest found himself in the fantasy lands of Skyrim, this time just outside of fort Dawnguard.

A horse-drawn carriage trotted down the road and carried him inside, the man reading through pages of scripture and of Gor's word. Like a moth to a flame, he had been driven here for reasons beyond his understanding, a force he could only assume was Gor's own divine will.

GAWNDUARD TORF

At the scene arrives [AMANOHARA SUBARU], hitboxer extraordinaire!

"Huh..."

I'll leave whether or not she came here for the mission or just kind of showed up for no reason up to you, dear reader. Because I certainly don't know.

Nicole simply meets Gor's stare with one of her one, remaining quiet for a moment before finally responding.

"Fine. This had better be the last surprise you pull on me, though," she replies, gesturing to the unconscious Alear. "And would it be too much to ask that you get her to safety?"

Her gaze flickers over to Se'arah.

"Anything else you gotta sort out before we go? We've got one helluva quest ahead of us."

She then casts a glance at Jeridan when he demonstrates his abilities.

"You didn't have to audition, dude. According to Gor here, you already got the part," she says, looking down at his hand before shaking it. "Name's Nicole, by the way. Hope you're good at stealth ops."

"I wish I had the opposite. It'd be nice to have a countermeasure when the bird inside tries to kill me." Jules laughs scornfully at Yagnesta's countermeasure details.

Se'arah shrugs. "I had nothing better to do."

She sheathes her sword and prepares to venture off.

Nicole also automatically Disengages, separating from Emblem Corrin.

Fort Dawnguard

A member of the Neo Shepherds is here! They couldn't just sit back and do nothing while some other people rescued the original Shepherds.

Who is it?

That requires me to make up my mind first.

Reyna's off the table since she has way, way too many options to work with. RF!Anna knows Se'arah from their own world, which could be interesting but comes with its own drawbacks. Thia Silverfrond could use screen time but the OG Shepherds don't even know she exists. Hmmmm...

Edited by KiriK on May 12th 2023 at 10:59:47 AM