Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Hub Centralis

The screen shifts slowly...

Thanks man, I owe one... By the way, how did you get those neat powers?

Pica-Verse

The group wave goodbye at Anna, and then they follow Hatch to the School.

In one classroom, there are a lot of drawings from children covering the walls... But one of them is glowing with a yellow light.

"Look at this drawing."

The drawing depicts a landscape, a pretty common theme for children to draw. It has three houses, grass, and a smiling sun. But in front of those houses, there are standing three familiar persons.

Yup, this is my drawing. Young!Emi said proud of himself. They are my two besties and me.

"But this drawing is glowing like a portal... But it isn't a green or red one... It's a yellow one."

Carolina: What could it be?

Hunter: And how this child could draw a portal by himself?

LRRH: I think we should enter this portal.

An hour came and an hour went.

Anna and Wyll both stood waiting outside Da Green’all. Her boot tapped against the ground as she looked through the surging crowd of visitors and residents alike, finding the goblins to be somehow taller than they individually seemed when huddled in green masses as they were now. At last, her own crowd came beneath the orange cloth canopy under which she stood. The woman would be easy to scry, with her flaming hair and the armor on her back illuminated with a shade of blue.

Squeeble Squobble arrived first, with Talion following not to far after. Robert Baratheon took a bit longer to arrive; he came caked in blood and with three different goblins at his heel, but they seemed to revere him rather than resent him as greenskins oft did. Even he didn’t seem to know what exactly had happened. Aloy simply didn’t show.

"Everyone ready?" Asked Anna.

Edited by ISZATSO on Mar 13th 2024 at 12:21:32 PM

Pious Augustus - Hub Centralis

"   It's a blessing from the gods I worship.   "

Commander Yammark - Da Green’all

"I'm ready..."

Da Green'All

Corrin walk in feeling happier than before, if lightly concerned about what Baratheon had done. Though he knew him well-enough, off their trip into the Bloody Crags, to not be that surprised.

I'm ready!

Greenhall

Ivory shows up again, currently missing an arm (which ends in a slowly dripping mass of skin-colored sludge), though it's regenerating rather quickly.

"Apparently goblins are resistant to poison. So I made my flesh explosive instead."

Of course.

Because that's a thing normal humans do.

Totally.

Solopost - Onyxis - Artemis Alter

Somehow, a snowfield is on fire.

"...how."

Artemis looks slowly over at Koyanskaya, who has a smug smirk on her face.

"Oh, just generous amounts of napalm, darling..."

Artemis just stares flatly for a moment before sighing. Of course she would.

"...you just wanted to set the snow on fire."

"Yup~"

"I came here for it to be cold, not swelteringly hot."

"Mhm~"

"And yet, you did this."

"Are you surprised, Arty?"

"No."

Artemis just sits down on what little snow isn't burning and lets out a long sigh.

"..."

Her expression is hollow. Just a few days ago, she had been actually smiling for once- rare for someone like her. Now, she felt... empty again. Her only friend a two-faced fox who seems to have no tells for when she'll be actually helpful or just mess with Artemis for no reason.

Yet, staring at the flames, she also feels... something repressed within her. Locked away, not moulded to any sort of existence.

"Flames would be a great tool to extinguish a population..."

...

Artemis blinks hard a few times.

"...huh... Why would I say something like that..?"

Behind her, Koyanskaya just smirks.

"Oh, you must just be tired, darling... come now, rest some more..."

Instantly, the field of flames winks out as Artemis heads back into the tent and falls asleep.

Hmm... as long as she keeps relying on what mana I give her, I can keep her like this for as long as I need to until I find a way to release her seals~...

Da Green'All

"I don't think I understand half what their stories were about but that was fun." Yuki remarked as she rejoined the others. Greenskin storytelling was certainly interesting. She wondered who this 'Boss Smashface' was to get a name like that. "Oh and I'm ready."

Da Green'all

Arnoldo says smugly: I'm ready.

Francis just gulps.

Hub Centralis

Cool!... I would like some neat powers, too...

The girl's thoughts stopped when the screen shows the very clear image of Pablo, sitting on a bench near a fountain.

"Maru! "Maruka! It's no use... I've lost the girl of my life! And on top of this, I lost the paper piece with her phone number in the washing machine! What I'll do...?"

Is him, indeed. At the very same square I meet him.

She sighs.

It's possible for you to take me back with him, please?

Makai

Peppino screams in terror at the walking talking cassette player, but he's not too busy screaming to dodge Stecasse King's leg grapple, tumbling to the side to escape.

Kingdomsonaformers

"Thanks," Xion grunts as Makoto heals her. She just cuts out the fancy light-ball thing and teleports behind Barricade in the middle of his blasting, slashing at the back of his neck with a wild Keyblade combo. The Replica finishes her assault by air-dashing back and throwing her Keyblade with a shout of "Get 'em!"

Metro

"It's a competitive sport back in my world. Teams compete to cover the most ground in their respective color of ink. The team with the most turf when time runs out is the winner."

okay but teams of WHAT, like what ARE you

Edited by KiriK on Mar 14th 2024 at 4:05:59 AM

Kirik

Save:

• Ebb and Flow

Inventory:

• Kunai x 2
• Smokebombs x 10
• Toxic materials to coat the kunai in x 5
• Book x 2
• BLT x 1

Well, nothing to cover the ground with Ink here. Speaking of Ink, where does it come from?

• Ask about number of players per team
• > Ask about the Ink
• Ask about Agent 8

| You |

“How do the teams cover the ground in Ink? Are tools involved or do competitors have biological powers over the Ink?”

There’s Ink on the walls and ceilings, and did that patch of ink just move?

| You |

“Huh, moving ink…”

Again, thinking out loud in a volume that can only be heard in quiet environments.

Edited by TheTropingAlliancer on Mar 14th 2024 at 9:22:36 AM

Tropique

Sora puts a hand to his chin and taps his foot as Sarah monologues at him. "Uhhh...huh. That sure sounds...bad."

He is SO not getting it.

   "There's always a catch in dealings with the almighty. I'm curious about this 'Gor'."   

Metro

"Both." Agent 8 pulls out the Order Dualies and sprays the floor and walls. A canteen-like bag of ink on her back visibly drains as she does so. When she stops, she coolly puffs the barrel of one like that of a smoking gun...

then turns into something the same color as the ink, disappearing beneath the surface before the transformation is finished. She can still be seen swimming through it, making ripples and scattering flecks of the stuff around.

Edited by KiriK on Mar 14th 2024 at 5:46:03 AM

PTKH (Xionpost)

Makoto isn't intimdated by the sudden approach, tossing his bag into the air, with several things falling out. School supplies, pencils, flowers, various strange objects, and most importantly, a shortsword, which he catches, trying to bring it down on the incoming Frenzy.

Kirik

Save

• Adventur-ink

While the initial transformation is a bit surprising, this is also probably a cue to follow her to investigate the situation, whether this is a currently active Turf War or the aftermath of one.

Moving along, “Pyra” carefully checks the walls and ceilings in case anything/anyone falls on them, stepping without making a noise.

The UI’s also doing some work separate from “Pyra”. It seems to be… searching up information of Calamari Inkantation and slowly loading up that info to not overwhelm “Pyra” by doing it all at once?

| You |

(Interface, did you open my Progress folder to upload info?)

(Ah.)

Skyrim, North East Sea

These two again.

A tank rolls up to the beach, with Obese and Shadowman◊ emerge from it.

"Sir, please, I don't think this is a good idea-"

"Of course it is, Shadowman. I must avenge my honor."

"But what exactly will this accomplish?"

"Revenge, Shadowman. Revenge against that pink fatass fish who told me I look, quote unquote, 'juicy'. We will therefore go into the ocean, find him, and blast him into sushi!"

"Sir, the tank isn't waterproof!"

"If any gets inside we'll just drink it, problem solved."

"Sir-"

Obese almost completely gets out of the hatch, pointing at the ocean.

"Onwards Shadowman! ONWARDS!"

With determined fervor the tank shoots forward, driving straight into the water until it and those within are completely submerged.

...

Beat

Beat

Blub.

Hub Centralis

Ken◊, standing on the bridge, throws the Jumanji board into the water surrounding the Hub Centralis, having strapped two cinderblocks around it. It sinks immediately and Ken slaps his hands together.

"Good riddance."

He turns on his heels and starts walking away. The Stalker's final words ring through his mind again though, troubling him. He's supposed to know why the Stalker went for him? When it apparently wasn't just because he threatened to burn the game? What exactly had Ken done to earn his ire? He's a hero! He saved the world, for God's sake!

Ken chooses to stop thinking about it for now, bringing out his walkman, putting in his earpods and listening to music as he continues walking, tuning out the world around him.

As for the game, it continues to sink further and further... but instead of disappearing into the depths forever, a silver-colored tentacle suddenly snatches it away.

Tower of Mzark Camp, Skyrim

About five Black Hole infantry units are scouting the mountainous area located on the surface above Blackreach, currently at the camp of the nearby tower. Some of their helicopters around the area had been shot down recently and an investigation was in order.

"I found something!", one of the soldiers suddenly says, getting the others to come look. They see nothing at first, but the soldier simply taps an empty bit of air beneath his knees and it makes a clanging sound. The others start feeling around and realize what exactly is hidden right in front of them.

"A camouflaged hatch?"

"Possibly an entrance to the base of whoever shot down our copters."

"Try to open it up, I'll contact HQ."

The soldier starts calling, but finds that there's no connection.

"Line's dead."

"Must be the altitude."

"We managed to open the hatch. What do we do? Return or investigate?"

"We might forget the location of the hatch if we leave now. We should go in."

With that decision made, the five descend down into the entrance tunnel. It leads into a bigger network of tunnels that have been dug out.

Laqueus

"This is definitely an enemy base. Stay sharp and keep your weapons trained. And no matter what, don't split up."

The five all nod and start exploring cautiously. They find doors after a while, some containing empty chambers, some containing chambers with papers. Most papers are blank, but a few of them catch their attention.

"This one says 'Assassin log' at the top.", a soldier comments as he looks over the papers.

"Hm... we should take those papers with us. Any information on the enemy is valuable information."

They continue to trek on, walking in a single file line. The next door they find is closed and they can't get it to open, so they turn to the door on the opposite side of the hall, opening that one up. They're somewhat shaken by what's on the other side of it.

A large red room, filled with old body parts. Dried blood is splattered across the ground, and some sort of pentagram-like symbol is drawn on the ground. There's a closet in the back, and it gives off an eerie feeling. The soldiers look at each other.

"Should... we... check?"

"I'm not going in there."

"Neither am I."

"Then I will. Keep your weapons aimed at that closet door, just in case."

One of the soldiers carefully walks into the room while the remaining three keep their weapons at the ready. ... wait, weren't there five soldiers just now? Where did the fifth one go?

The soldier creeps up to the door and very slowly opens it up, expecting some kind of jumpscare... which he briefly gets when something falls out of it. It's...

"Good god, it's half of a body.", one of the soldiers comments.

"Is... is it child-sized? Is it a corpse? Some ritualistic sacrifice?"

"It looks practically stitched together."

The one that opened the closet looks it over. Its skin is red, its feet are clawed. And he finds that it has a furry brown tail, almost like a monkey's.

"It's almost as if someone was creating something.", he says, disturbed.

"Are you saying that those body parts on the floor..."

"What kind of enemies are we dealing with h-"

The soldier's speech is interrupted. The other three turn to look to find that he's gone.

"What?", the one near the closet asks as he rejoins the others, not bothering to put the half-body back in the closet. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know, he... he was just here!"

"Something is very wrong with this place. We should leave while we still can. If we come back here, it should be with enough troops to actually fight."

"Agreed. Let's go."

The three step out of the room again to find that the previously lit hallway had fully darkened.

"Sir, we can't see anything like this."

"Turn on the suit flashli-"

Something snatches the soldier up and instantly drags him into the darkness. The soldier lets out a horrified scream, but is swiftly silenced. It was clear to the remaining two now that there's something horrible in here with them.

"Oh god!"

"Quick, the lights!"

After some panicked fiddling, they manage to turn on their suits' lights, and they now see what's in front of them◊, towering over them monstrously.

"W-WHAT THE F-"

Bad End

Bon lurches forward, grabbing the soldier by his helmet, letting out a guttural growl as the metal fingers pierce through the glass to reach the soldier's face, digging into skin and eyes to start mutilating him. The soldier's horrifying screams of agony fill the hallway, leaving the final one momentarily frozen in shock.

   "ZZZZZT-come in, soldier! Why aren't you answering!?"   

The sound of commander Adder◊'s voice now coming out of his transceiver snaps him out of it. As Bon puts down what used to be a Black Hole soldier, putting his hands together next to his face as if admiring his work, the last remaining soldier starts running deeper into the base (as Bon is blocking the way back). He grabs the transceiver.

"COMMANDER ADDER! We found a hidden enemy base, b-but there's some kind of monster inside here! I-it killed the rest of the group!"

He can hear the sound of thumping metal. Bon is chasing him, and he's catching up.

   "Calm down and explain the situation! What is your specific location!? You disappeared off of the radar and ignored our efforts to contact you."   

What? No, they had no signal. Adder shouldn't have even been able to try. Why would he claim...

"I-I'm inside the base! It's a camouflaged hatch near a tower, and-"

Something jumps out at him from the darkness in front of him.

Something fast.

Something big.

Something red◊.

It's the last thing he ever sees.

...

   "Hello? Soldier, answer this instant!"   , Adder calls out from the transceiver, which now lays on the ground. Mara crushes it underneath her foot, wordlessly carrying the soldier's corpse and tossing it to Bon when he catches up. That robot can have his fun, these bodies don't have the right proportions to work with anyway. But not before grabbing the log entry he was carrying.

Continuing on in silence, Mara enters her room, eyes briefly narrowing in anger when she finds the half-body lying on the ground. She picks it back up and stuff it back in the closet. She still has work to do here.

Lastly, she returns the log entry to the room it was found in.

   "This wasn't meant for the likes of them."   , she sinisterly says to herself before stepping back out of the room and closing the door behind her.

Right. What particular authority does Gor hold to know what happened? It could be lying to you or trying to trick you into doing something that wouldn't be in your interest, Sarah shrugs. If what it says is true, Odin needs a good punch to the teeth. Several, in fact. But why don't we take a step back and contemplate that Gor could be a manipulative god?

THOR ponders, mulling while scratching his beard, he apparently is in DEEP gravitas.

I think that doing anything involving gods, especially big gods, should be considered very carefully. Especially when we go off information that might be biased. For one - If Odin's goal was to safeguard his existence, why'd he wait for Set to be at the peak of his power to turn on him? His world could've drowned in evil too. And if it was a matter of getting rid of Set when he wasn't so useful anymore, why'd it take so long, if Set's deal in this was granting Odin mastery over a certain power?

THOR, you're familiar with the Godworld. Would it take time for Odin to learn something like manipulating evil?

THOSE POWERS WERE GIFTED TO US BY FATE! ALL OF US WERE ASSIGNED ROLES TO FULFILL UPON CREATION - FOR ODIN TO MASTER THE POWER OF BENDING EVIL TO HIS WILL MUST HAVE REQUIRED TIME. IT IS VERY MUCH LIKE ASKING A HUMAN TO SUDDENLY GROW MORE EYES OR LEGS! THOR taps his face and legs, Sarah looking surprised he granted her an answer. YET AT THE SAME TIME, GODS ON MY FATHER'S LEVEL CAN BEND TIME IN SUCH PRECISE WAY AS TO MASTER ALL FORMS OF SKILLS WITHIN LESS THAN THE SHADOW OF AN INSTANT! IF THERE WAS ANY GOD WHO COULD CHANGE THE SHAPE OF HIS NATURE TO MASTER A SKILL LIKE THIS, IT WOULD BE HIM! AND THE SOONER THE BETTER!

But then again, it is suspicious that Odin and you alone were sent to destroy Set. What about the other Pantheons? Sarah figures it's wise to be the thunder god's advocate.

PLACED UPON PERIL BY AN ENORMOUS FOE, OF COURSE! AN INCONVENIENT TIMING - BUT I WILL ASK YOU TO CONSIDER THAT THE FALL OF THE GODWORLD WOULD BE EQUIVALENT TO SET DROWNING THE WORLDS IN HIS TAINT! THOR points down. '''FOR EONS INFINITE, WE HAVE HELD BACK FORCES OF MIND-SHATTERING POWER! ARMIES OF EVIL GODS! SENTIENT WORLDS GONE MALEVOLENT! ABYSSES OF DARKNESS BEYOND EVIL! WERE THE GODWORLD TO FALL OR BE COMPROMISED, THERE WOULD BE GREAT PERIL PLACED UPON COUNTLESS WORLDS!

Sarah blinks, scratching her chin in consideration.

WE ARE ONE OF MANY SUCH DEFENSERS ACROSS EXISTENCE, UNDERSTAND. AND YOU MORTALS HAVE AN EXCELLENT KNACK FOR PICKING UP WHERE WE DIVINE BEINGS FALTER. BUT THREATS ON THE LEVEL OF A FULLY-POWERED SET ARE... SADLY SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO DEAL WITH MORE OFTEN THAN YOU WOULD THINK. TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT ASTRAL PROJECTILE OURSELVES ACROSS WORLDS WOULD BE IMPRACTICAL! It doesn't really make Odin look innocent, after all, that he was willing to take that risk and help the Arena when no other God could is... telling.

NEVERMIND THE COUNTLESS BEINGS WITHIN THE GODWORLD! ALL OF THEM WOULD DIE IF WE WERE TO FAIL!

But at the same time, it didn't make sense that he'd free Set and would let him prowl about the Arena, if he meant to doublecross him once Set's usefulness had ran out. Had Set perhaps surprised him with his plot?

... Did you and the other pantheons ever fought someone named "Gor"?

'''PLENTY OF NAMES END IN -OR IN EVIL FOREIGN GOD CULTURE! BUT WE NEVER FOUGHT A MERE "GOR"! AND REMEMBER THE NAME IS NOT SO SOLITARY ACROSS ALL OF EXISTENCE!

Edited by Bolded1 on Mar 14th 2024 at 11:52:59 AM

Xion Zion Bion

Barricade growls at the damage, whipping around to try and catch Xion only to see her Keyblade flying at him instead. He raises a baton to guard but stumbles back due to not having the time to properly brace, leaving him briefly open. If Xion doesn't take advantage for whatever bizarre reason he'll recover and fire from both arm guns.

Frenzy meanwhile sees the blade coming and... catches it in her metal hands. Think you'll need a bigger knife. She grins and goes to push his sword out of the way to then kick him in the stomach.

Lourent

Niko◊ appears out of a portal. He figured it was time to resume his search for information on 0.02, finally gathering up the courage to come back here on his own. He's strong, he'll be able to handle himself. And if not, he's also fast, so he can run away if need be.

He just hopes his parents won't mind him sneaking off to do this. But he'd noticed that his dad and uncle were growing more uncomfortable with the subject whenever Niko brought it up. So he figured it was probably best to not tell them he was gonna come back here for this specific reason. Yes, they know he's in the Arena, he's not gonna sneak off to a place like this, but they don't know why.

Anyhow, he walks off, back on his search for information.

Dr. Wily's secret base

Eggman Nega◊ is sitting in his room, eagerly typing encrypted messages that come out in Morse Code.

- . ... - .. -. —. / .. ... / —. —- .. -. —. / ... ..- -.-. -.-. . ... ... ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. -.— / ... —- / ..-. .- .-. .-.-.-

.-. . —.- ..- .. .-. . -.. / . -. . .-. —. -.— / .— .. .-.. .-.. / ... —- —- -. / -... . / —. .- - .... . .-. . -.. / -... -.— / - .... . / .-. —- -... —- - ... / .— —- .-. -.- .. -. —. / ..-. —- .-. / ..- ... .-.-.-

. -. - .-. .- -. -.-. . / .. -. - —- / - .... .. ... / .-. . .- .-.. — / .. ... / .- ... / —. —- —- -.. / .- ... / —. ..- .- .-. .- -. - . . -.. .-.-.-

.- .-.. .-.. / .. / -. . . -.. / .. ... / — —- .-. . / - .. — . .-.-.-

He sends the messages, the encryption ensuring that neither Dr. Wily or any of his robot masters would be able to intercept them. He leans back in his chair and waits for a bit.

...

Eventually his computer shuts off by itself. Despite its lack of power, a message is still shown on it.

"AFFIRMATIVE. CONTINUE AS YOU ARE. DO NOT DISAPPOINT. THERE WILL BE NO SECOND CHANCES."

Eggman Nega grins evilly. He'd gotten more time. Now he has to make sure to use it well.

G.E.M.

Linda◊ finishes up briefing some soldiers about their next mission. Claus◊ walks up to her with his helmet on.

"Ah, good, there you are.", Linda grins. "The rest has been briefed as well. You know what to do."

"..."

"You're gonna do it, right?", Linda asks, no longer grinning. Claus glances away, not looking happy at all.

"... yes..."

"Good. Out you go then.", Linda grins.

"And remember... secrecy saves lives."

G.E.M. (but like their actual home base, not the base in the Arena)

Sitting in a fully dark room, G.E.M.'s boss is typing away at a computer, bringing up documented information on the Navitus artifacts and the effect they've had on this world.

When the experiments come up (the ones that helped gather data for them to make Linda's anti-Navitus weapon), the man pauses. He goes deeper in the documents, finding some password-protected files that he, as the boss, naturally has access to. What he finds surprises him.

A report from Norm. Judging by the date, it's already several months old, and thus not completely up-to-date anymore. Still.

While no specific locations can be targeted at the moment, the energy sensors placed on the base, which are confirmed to be working at 100% capacity, have insinuated that there are still various moving targets harboring Navitus energy in some form in the Arena, with one signal being much larger than all the others. We are currently awaiting orders from Miss Ishizu and the council to determine if an investigation is necessary or if we should ignore these and return home. Strangely, the sensors have also picked up very minuscule particles of Navitus energy on Thor and Loki, suggesting that they, knowingly or not, may be involved with someone harboring such energy. Though once again, we have yet to receive orders on how to proceed with this information. On a personal level, I believe Thor and Loki are to be trusted. However, it's the boss and the council who decide what to do from here on out.

The man hums and grins deviously.

"Thor and Loki, huh? How very interesting..."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Mar 14th 2024 at 1:02:20 PM

Cecil, after a solid few moments of staring at Baratheon in mild glee that the guy he met shortly in the Bloody Crags was in fact quite bloodied by blood other than their own, just folds his arms.

"No shit!" He replied to Anna.

"Gor is an entity worshipped by a church that established itself here some time ago," Thor explains to Sephiroth. "Loki and I actually had a chance to visit this temple and meet the worshippers in person. From what I can tell, they don't appear to have any ulterior motives. If nothing else, Azura - the elven priest who served as our guide - seems like a genuinely good person who believes in her church's cause and wants to help others."

He leans against his axe.

"I'll admit, Gor is a rather... enigmatic being. Perhaps they're something other than a god. However, they possessed knowledge of Odin's twisted scheme, something even the likes of Narktus and Pseudo and Cyber had never caught on to or considered at any point," he continues.

He considers adding that Gor had also known the reason for Horus doing absolutely nothing about Set was because the former had been too afraid to face the latter in the Arena, but he didn't feel like risking another potential quarrel with Sarah.

"Not that any of Egypt's other gods were coming forth to help battle that monster even before he was on the verge of destroying existence itself. A pantheon of impotent cowards and frauds, all of them."

Tropique

"What's a 'church'?", Iris briefly asks Thor. She seems to genuinely mean it.

"Well, whatever it is, you should take me to visit it before we go to Odin. I wanna see it for myself."

She then listens to the things Sarah and THOR say and takes them in, giving an answer once they and Thor are done talking.

"I don't think we'll be getting any real answers to anything until we ask Odin ourselves.", she notes. At least at this point she does want answers badly enough that she'll probably not immediately rush in with an uppercut the second Odin's in front of them.

"And if it turns out Gor was the one who was lying, I'll be saving my punches for them instead!"

Apparently Iris has a knack for wanting to punch beings that are objectively more powerful than she is.

Despite those words, she does look somewhat contemplative. Who knows what gears are turning in her head though.

Pious Augustus - Hub Centralis

Attempting to keep his promise, Pious chants, "   Tier ~ Pargon ~ Aretak ~ Pargon ~ Xel'lotath ~ Pargon ~ Pargon!   "

Normally, the summoning circle brings the chosen thing across, but Pious is feeling generous and somehow creates a portal bridging Pablo and Maruka. He's that strong?!

Stecasse King - Makai

"You're quick on your feet, but I am quicker! Behold my Chojin Encyclopaedia!"

Stecasse King loads a strange cassette from his backpack into his body. What is he up to?!

Anna gave their responses a sly smile, looking the crowd over. She cleared her theought and spun on her heels, waving for the others to follow as she turned and pushed on through the crowd, under the massive, newly-opened doors, and into the towering hall.

Within, the walls stood some hundred-and-fifty or so feet high, with bags of literal flesh dangling from the rafters and still-bleeding. Goblin-guards snoozed on wooden platforms built into the sides. The throng of people within was akin to a sea and even Anna seemed concerned that there wouldn’t be enough room for many of them, though those worries were vanquished the moment she saw the longtable that stretched nearly the entire length of the hall.

Like a straightforwards road of wood it shot towards the distant side of the building, kept warm by rows of blazing hearths placed symmetrically on either side. Anna thought it best not to think what was burning in them. A sharp, non-goblinoid but not-quite-human-either voice cut through the commotion, an armored lady with purple skin and sharp ears sticking out on either side of her head standing proudly near Wyll.

   "I did not expect to see you here, Wyll."   

"Minthara," The man scowled. "I should’ve known. Come to beg for but a portion of the Paunch’s army, have you?"

“Minthara” seemed to find something about this amusing.    "I have come to introduce the mighty Grom to the path of the Absolute. And when he and his army have been shown they way, the proper way…maybe I’ll have him cut you down where you stand. As a gift, for your little stunt at the Grove."   

"Know one thing, drow, one way or another…you will not leave this city alive."

The this, the woman gave a hearty laugh.    "We shall see, Wyll…we shall see."    With that, she waved the party goodbye and disappeared into the crowd.

…

Much to Anna’s surprise, everybody (all the visitors, at least, and a good amount of the higher-ranking goblins got their seats. The less prestigious greenskins remained outside) was provided ample seating at the almost comically long table as they were ushered to their chairs: on one side, Wyll was pushed next to Yanmark who was placed next to Yuki; directly opposite them was Anna next to Arnoldo next to Baratheon next to Cecil and Corrin and then Ivory. Daine had opted to avoid the feast. All around the group were familiar faces (Kado, Luin, Cardell, Taylor, Ammy, and Eliphas Levi the French poet and writer), for all had come to partake in the festivities, earn the reward for their dishes, or attempt to negotiate with Grom the Paunch himself.

Grom, who sat at the end of the table nearest to the group, some thirty feet away and yet still very much visible due to his overwhelming size. His fat spilled out onto the table before him and his throne of wood creaked and groaned with every movement. An unfortunate goblin passed by and the greenskin’s thick fingers wrapped around its torso, lifting the grot and dropping it into his open mouth. It disappeared screaming into his maw. A dribble of red bled through his teeth and ran down his chin as he smacked his lips and gulped, dripping onto the paunch for which he was known. His broken axe was by his side, the wood grip sticking out from beneath the table and resting against the throne.

”Pyra” Solo

As the exploration continues, the UI is also experiencing appearance changes to adapt to the new environment.

| You |

(I guess Interface is getting used to the new environment as well. Hmm? What are these?)

Several Display Options toggles from the TvTropes UI pop up. UI has transformed itself into the TvTropes UI alongside the visual novel UI, giving “Pyra” new abilities to experiment with.

[You unlocked Trope Mode!]

(Show Spoilers… Night Vision… Sticky Header… Wide Load? Well, let’s save for now and experiment with these later.)

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• Adventur-ink

GROM TIME

Corrin blinks a little at hearing what Minthara has to say to Wyll. And at Minthara's appearance in general. For someone hailing from a general fantasy setting, this was his first encounter with an actual elf. Though he was willing to make his actual first encounter happen with another, less bloodthirsty elf. Wyll and her seemed to have past history, after all. And while Wyll and Anna dealt in shady stuff both, he seemed like an alright guy.

As they get seated, Corrin slowly move his hands over to his swords and decide to put them between his legs, tip pointed towards the ground. An awkward solution but the other world's Siegfried is large and unwieldly. And it'd be difficult for him to make it fit through the armrest without causing the blade to cut into Cecil or Baratheon's seat, making it hard for them to sit up.

And he felt like that could doom his companions.

Corrin suddenly feel like the German soldier in that "are we the bad guys?" macro as he watch a fat greenskin warlord casually devour a small goblin whole - penance for the goblin's crime of being... too close? Corrin glares at what he sees. If Wyll and Anna were indeed planning something, or hell, if Minathara was planning something, he'd be happy getting to stick his blades in Grom's porcine neck.

His good mood take a hit as Corrin still smiles slightly and go through the motions. Maybe beforehand, he'd have been willing to call out Grom on his casual cannibalism... But since those instances of heroism before had never worked, with Garon shrugging it off or his siblings defusing the situation, he was cynical about the odds of everyone at the table getting up and helping him slay Grom.

Greenhall

Ivory sits down in silence, noting the tensions that seemed to run high throughout the hall. His arm was completely regrown now, though that wasn't his main concern anymore.

I've got a really bad feeling about this...

He sets his oversized halberd down against his chair, the onyx-black edge gleaming in the light. If shit hits the fan, he'd rather be armed in both senses. Not that he didn't have a shitton of other weapons on his person.

Then the obvious cannibalism happens.

Now, Ivory may have come from a world where eating your fallen foes was normal- hell, sometimes even a necessity to survive -but... he didn't eat his own friends and comrades, for crying out loud! His entire body ripples (quite literally, it shockwaves against his slime-like flesh) as he holds himself back from pulling something that he assumed would be rather suicidal, even for him.

"Who the hell eats their underlings like that..? The greenie's worse than a snapjaw..."

He closes his eyes to check his oversized pack (which he had set behind his chair) using his clairvoyance.

A spaser (plasma) rifle, 3 laser pistols, a chrome revolver marked with a Ψ symbol (his mastercraft symbol), a plethora of daggers, swords, and axes, all the same onyx-black color as his halberd, and...

...just a few grenades. Totally not over 50.

Oh, and all the other stuff like food, ingredients (for his own meals) and healing injectors.

And most importantly, Spheres of Negative Weight, to make this all weigh basically nothing, at least while it was in his bag.

If this really does turn into a scrap, I could just throw one of those handheld sun explosives...

...Ivory, that's a fucking handheld nuke you're talking about. You may be able to escape the blast radius, but I doubt anyone else reliably could.

Makai

"DON'T YOU DARE"

Peppino lunges at the Stecasse King, aiming to punt him with a grossly enlarged foot while the cassette tape is loading.

Minira

Previous

Dedede descends from The Flying Krock, his body puffed up like a balloon for a slow descent. As he touches down in front of the Guild Hall, he spits a visible cloud of air and returns to his normal proportions. The ship flies off soon after.

Tropique

Sephiroth's eyes narrow.    "I see. I will have to be there the next time you see Gor. I want to see them for myself."   

Sora thonks. "I've only ever been to a cathedral, but that's just a bigger, more important church, right? So, a church is a place where people worship something powerful, or at least something they believe is powerful. Do you think there were ever any churches in your name, Iris?"

Sephiroth looks at Sora, who gasps and puts a hand to his chest.

"That was...Roxas' voice. He must be thinking about you right now."

Xion

Xion does indeed press the advantage, swiping side-to-side to bat Barricade's head around, finishing with a downward smash into a backflipping uppercut with all her strength, hoping to knock him off his feet!

Metro

Agent 8 pops out of the wall, retaking human form.

"My turn to ask questions. You're not from my world, I know that. So how do you have the Calamari Inkantation in a playlist?"