Side Story Champions of the Arena III: Cursed Company

[Ver]

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"Well... Isn't this a cheery place to get dropped into?" Fushimi clicked his tongue as Arcade unceremoniously transported him and the others into the Victorian Zone. Though he wasn't outwardly perturbed by the general panic in the area, he could definitely have done without the screaming, the crying, and the lack of manners in regards to personal space. For goodness's sake, he could hardly even hear himself think in this rabble after all.

The thought did indeed strike him that he could try to take down his fellow competitors now that he had reunited with some others, the prerogative word being "try." With his team the way it was, there was no getting around that he was at a massive disadvantage. He'd have to play it smart. Maybe in this fake world, using human shields to cover his bases would have helped even the odds, but even if this was all something like a massive video game where he could kill the NPCs to no effect, it would still put a bad taste in his mouth. Fake or not, they looked real, and that made all the difference in the world.

Now, if someone did decide to be more ruthless than he was, of course, Fushimi wouldn't hesitate to do what he had to, but that was a different story.

Fushimi looked ahead to where Shang Tsung was going, toward the other group, but it seemed some of them had other things on their minds, between Chase deep in thought and Marianne taking off as though following something... or someone she caught sight of. Curious in some measure as to whether she had found some sort of way out of this place, somewhere he could better gather his thoughts and perhaps even engage in dialogue with someone else, strike up some deal, maybe he may as well.

With that said, using the panicking people as cover, he discreetly began to follow Marianne in turn.

@Yun Lee @Sark @Jeremi @Lucky @Space_Candy @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Victorian Era​

 

[Sark]

Chapter 4: Cheat Code Accepted: To the Boss Level
A white flash.
No matter where or when you were on Planet Prudence, you saw it. The sky seemed to fold back in on itself. It crumbled like paper, like a story closed halfway through. The planet itself seemed to tremble and quiver, and then...

Nothing.

A moment of piece, quiet, bliss. Nothing but light.
Then reality crept back in. In the place of the Victorian Zone, the Pre-Historic Zone and all that other madness, there existed a room.
View attachment 11538
It was derelict, decayed, and dusty. It stank of sweat and vinegar. The air was thick with musk and mildew. Empty mousetraps and broken bottles littered the room. There wasn't an object around you that hadn't been broken in some way, shape or form. Cracked mugs. Dented desks. Shattered screens. All typical signs of a rampage.

Your fellow champions flanked you. You were all sitting on rickety beach chairs, not unlike those you had encountered in the Resort at this story's start. The Missing Champions were nowhere to be seen. You were all as armed as you had been when the story began. Your powers were just as strong as they had always been.

In the centre of the circle of chairs, a thin man knelt. His shoulders were slumped in hunch. His shirt was missing. His jacket, too. His hair was messy, greasy. Red were his eyes, marked by freshly dried tears. He sniffed deeply and slowly rolled his head back.

"Hello there..." Arcade wheezed wearily, weakly. "Long time no... you get the idea..." He half laughed, half winced. "No tricks this time. No theatre. Just you and me. The Real Me. The Original Me. Talking." He wiped the snot from his chin. "I was going to let it go on longer, you know. The drama. The intrigue. I had placed your fellow Champions in some cute little jiffies, guarded by some very irritating Alternate-Timeline-Arcades... but then it dawned on me..."

The Madman chuckled dryly, softly.

"What's would be the fucking point, hm?' He laughed again. "This isn't my first 'Game'. We've done this before. So many times before. The trappings change. So do the traps. The people. The players. But at the end of the day, it always ends one of two ways... one of us always ends up dead. Either I break all my toys... or they break me. And with all my new powers... such wonderful powers... the latter just doesn't happen anymore."

"I've already won... I've... I've...." His laughs descended into deep gurgling sobs. "I've already won. That night on Prudence... The night the A.I. was destroyed, the night the City fell... P.R.U.D.E.N.C.E. played its ace: An Experimental Time Machine designed to save the city from itself. We all fell into the timestream... and I couldn't help myself. I made changes. Tweaks. I turned victories into defeats. Foes into friends. The Corporations tried in vain to stop me, but by the time they caught on, it was all too late. Time was my oyster. Time is my oyster. I have my Arena. I have a near infinite supply of alternate Arcades... and I have the power to undo any mistake I make. I am closer to Godhood than any man I've ever know... And I've met some real nutters..."

"I've won... And that thought sickens me." Arcade retched. "It repulses me. It isn't about survival anymore. Yours or mine. What's the point of a game without stakes? Without purpose? Without reason? Who would pull the lever if they didn't truly believe the jackpot hid on the other side?" He hung his head in shame. "It's not fun anymore. It's not a game. I systematically drained the fun out of something I once loved so dearly. Its all a chore. Murder. A chore. Can you imagine? Can you..."

Arcade slowly hobbled to his feet.

"Can you... make it stop? Can you fix it? Send things back to the way they were?" He stumbled forward, grabbing you desperately by your cheeks. He pressed his face close to yours, revealing every sweaty pore, every scar, every drop of snot. "Can you kill me?" He begged. For the first time in his life, a glimmer of honestly danced behind his mad eyes. "Please? Please? It'll set things back to the way they were. I'm foundation, they Eye of the Storm, that one stiff Jenga piece. Without me, the tower falls, the game ends, and things... make sense again."

"I beseech you... Sinner and Saint, Saviour and Killer alike..." Arcade breathed deeply and threw his arms wide. "Bring back the Old World, the Old Arcade... Do what you were sent here to do... What you were born to do..."

Cast List
//Alexander Anderson, Hellsing, P7, @Crunch
//Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, The Witcher, P12, @Minerva
//Eren Jaeger, Attack on Titan, P13, @Gummi Bunnies
//Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman, DC Comics, P466, @Jeremi
//Josuke Higashikata, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, P19, @Capri
//Mato Kuroi, Black Rock Shooter, P337, @Gummi Bunnies
//Mollymauk Tealeaf, Critical Roll, P26, @Lucky
//Phi, Zero Escape, P944, @Atomic Knight
//Saruhiko Fushimi, K, P4, @Ver
//Shang Tsung, Mortal Kombat, P108, @Jeremi
//Shion, No.6, P24, @Takumi
//Suigetsu Hozuki, Naruto, P414, @Space_Candy
//Zora Salazar, Epithet Erased P6, @Capri
///
//Chase Davenport, Lab Rats, P3, @Lucky
//Daniel Diaz, Life is Strange, P137, @Atomic Knight
//Ouka Namae, When a Magician's Pupil Smiles, P33, @Takumi
//Marianne von Edmund, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, P22, @Yun Lee
//Yashamaru Kurama, Samurai Shodown, P8, @Yun Lee​

 

[Lucky]

Chase Davenport and Mollymauk Tealeaf

Chase was ready to put an end to this man and it didn't take much convincing from him. He had already been hurt so much by this adventure and he just wanted to go home, but he was stopped by a purple hand, blocking him and pulling him back.

"Have you considered taking up a game of Solitaire? It's a game for the death obsessed, there's an inevitability to every hand, most of them are doomed from the start no matter what you do. Because that's what it sounds like to me. You just want an easy end. And you know that's the truth because the truth is vicious, the truth thinks you owe something to it, but you don't," he would reply, walking over to Arcade as he said to him. "You're the one who can undo the hurt you cause in the world. Be the chaos you want to see in the world, be the change, it's not someone else to fix the pain you caused. Nobody needs anybody else's baggage, thoughts, ideas- it isn't my place to take you from this world. You don't need death, you need help."

Chase was quiet, listening to this strange being's point. They strangely made sense.

@Sark

 

[Takumi]

Chapter 4: Cheat Code Accepted: To the Boss Level

A white flash.

No matter where or when you were on Planet Prudence, you saw it. The sky seemed to fold back in on itself. It crumbled like paper, like a story closed halfway through. The planet itself seemed to tremble and quiver, and then...


Nothing.


A moment of piece, quiet, bliss. Nothing but light.

Then reality crept back in. In the place of the Victorian Zone, the Pre-Historic Zone and all that other madness, there existed a room.

View attachment 11538

It was derelict, decayed, and dusty. It stank of sweat and vinegar. The air was thick with musk and mildew. Empty mousetraps and broken bottles littered the room. There wasn't an object around you that hadn't been broken in some way, shape or form. Cracked mugs. Dented desks. Shattered screens. All typical signs of a rampage.


Your fellow champions flanked you. You were all sitting on rickety beach chairs, not unlike those you had encountered in the Resort at this story's start. The Missing Champions were nowhere to be seen. You were all as armed as you had been when the story began. Your powers were just as strong as they had always been.


In the centre of the circle of chairs, a thin man knelt. His shoulders were slumped in hunch. His shirt was missing. His jacket, too. His hair was messy, greasy. Red were his eyes, marked by freshly dried tears. He sniffed deeply and slowly rolled his head back.


"Hello there..." Arcade wheezed wearily, weakly. "Long time no... you get the idea..." He half laughed, half winced. "No tricks this time. No theatre. Just you and me. The Real Me. The Original Me. Talking." He wiped the snot from his chin. "I was going to let it go on longer, you know. The drama. The intrigue. I had placed your fellow Champions in some cute little jiffies, guarded by some very irritating Alternate-Timeline-Arcades... but then it dawned on me..."


The Madman chuckled dryly, softly.


"What's would be the fucking point, hm?' He laughed again. "This isn't my first 'Game'. We've done this before. So many times before. The trappings change. So do the traps. The people. The players. But at the end of the day, it always ends one of two ways... one of us always ends up dead. Either I break all my toys... or they break me. And with all my new powers... such wonderful powers... the latter just doesn't happen anymore."


"I've already won... I've... I've...." His laughs descended into deep gurgling sobs. "I've already won. That night on Prudence... The night the A.I. was destroyed, the night the City fell... P.R.U.D.E.N.C.E. played its ace: An Experimental Time Machine designed to save the city from itself. We all fell into the timestream... and I couldn't help myself. I made changes. Tweaks. I turned victories into defeats. Foes into friends. The Corporations tried in vain to stop me, but by the time they caught on, it was all too late. Time was my oyster. Time is my oyster. I have my Arena. I have a near infinite supply of alternate Arcades... and I have the power to undo any mistake I make. I am closer to Godhood than any man I've ever know... And I've met some real nutters..."


"I've won... And that thought sickens me." Arcade retched. "It repulses me. It isn't about survival anymore. Yours or mine. What's the point of a game without stakes? Without purpose? Without reason? Who would pull the lever if they didn't truly believe the jackpot hid on the other side?" He hung his head in shame. "It's not fun anymore. It's not a game. I systematically drained the fun out of something I once loved so dearly. Its all a chore. Murder. A chore. Can you imagine? Can you..."


Arcade slowly hobbled to his feet.


"Can you... make it stop? Can you fix it? Send things back to the way they were?" He stumbled forward, grabbing you desperately by your cheeks. He pressed his face close to yours, revealing every sweaty pore, every scar, every drop of snot. "Can you kill me?" He begged. For the first time in his life, a glimmer of honestly danced behind his mad eyes. "Please? Please? It'll set things back to the way they were. I'm foundation, they Eye of the Storm, that one stiff Jenga piece. Without me, the tower falls, the game ends, and things... make sense again."


"I beseech you... Sinner and Saint, Saviour and Killer alike..." Arcade breathed deeply and threw his arms wide. "Bring back the Old World, the Old Arcade... Do what you were sent here to do... What you were born to do..."


Cast List

//Alexander Anderson, Hellsing, P7, @Crunch

//Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, The Witcher, P12, @Minerva

//Eren Jaeger, Attack on Titan, P13, @Gummi Bunnies

//Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman, DC Comics, P466, @Jeremi

//Josuke Higashikata, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, P19, @Capri

//Mato Kuroi, Black Rock Shooter, P337, @Gummi Bunnies

//Mollymauk Tealeaf, Critical Roll, P26, @Lucky

//Phi, Zero Escape, P944, @Atomic Knight

//Saruhiko Fushimi, K, P4, @Ver

//Shang Tsung, Mortal Kombat, P108, @Jeremi

//Shion, No.6, P24, @Takumi

//Suigetsu Hozuki, Naruto, P414, @Space_Candy

//Zora Salazar, Epithet Erased P6, @Capri

///

//Chase Davenport, Lab Rats, P3, @Lucky

//Daniel Diaz, Life is Strange, P137, @Atomic Knight

//Ouka Namae, When a Magician's Pupil Smiles, P33, @Takumi

//Marianne von Edmund, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, P22, @Yun Lee

//Yashamaru Kurama, Samurai Shodown, P8, @Yun Lee​

"..."

Shion stared at the man who had caused so much grief and pain for so many as he pulled the gun he had from the beginning of this arena out. Arcade was a madman indeed.

He considered ending the man's life with little fanfare, though the last time he did so it made Nezumi sad.

Even as Arcade begged, he wasn't moved by the man's words, not really. This was the same man that made Nezumi have trouble sleeping, had kept them worlds apart for five years. This man died, and came back.

"So, if things get 'set back the way they were' you'll stay dead?" Shion questioned with a tilt of his head, eyes growing cold. He wouldn't waste a bullet if the man was going to come back, and while he'd probably agree with Mollymauk the fact that Nezumi was hurt by this man in some way was at the forefront of Shion's mind.



"Oh wow, it really is no fun when the game goes on so long, huh?" Ramuda idly commented, before his eyes narrowed.

"You're kinda pathetic, it's almost sad really." He muttered coldly.

Chase Davenport and Mollymauk Tealeaf

Chase was ready to put an end to this man and it didn't take much convincing from him. He had already been hurt so much by this adventure and he just wanted to go home, but he was stopped by a purple hand, blocking him and pulling him back.

"Have you considered taking up a game of Solitaire? It's a game for the death obsessed, there's an inevitability to every hand, most of them are doomed from the start no matter what you do. Because that's what it sounds like to me. You just want an easy end. And you know that's the truth because the truth is vicious, the truth thinks you owe something to it, but you don't," he would reply, walking over to Arcade as he said to him. "You're the one who can undo the hurt you cause in the world. Be the chaos you want to see in the world, be the change, it's not someone else to fix the pain you caused. Nobody needs anybody else's baggage, thoughts, ideas- it isn't my place to take you from this world. You don't need death, you need help."

Chase was quiet, listening to this strange being's point. They strangely made sense.

@Sark

"Uh hello? That's nice and all, but have you met the tinman we have in our group? Like he's probably the first to try and, I dunno, blow Arcade up cause his objective this whole time was to kill him. He's brought it up like a broken record a couple times and tried to blow up himself and drag some of us with him like the tin head he is." Ramuda commented with a roll of his eyes.

"Our whole objective was to kill this guy wasn't it? Dunno if we can just throw him in jail or therapy and call it a day, especiallywith the people who gave us the objective." He added. Maybe they could, but he doubted it due to aforementioned tinman. At the end of the day, he wanted to go home, and this purple guy's speech just irritated him for some reason.

@Sark @Lucky @Others

 

[Lucky]

Mollymauk Tealeaf and Chase Davenport

Molly would look briefly over at the other man and shook his head. " No, I can't say I had the pleasure of meeting the tin man in our group and judging by the fact that he hasn't yet, he certainly seems to be listening to what the man is saying and not just shooting him, though I have to wonder how much of that is due to the powers he has."

Chase would pause for a beat. " Can we even kill him? Even if he wants to die, it would seem that we have done this before and keep doing this, I do think-"

"Mollymauk, my friends call me Molly."

"Molly, is onto something."

Molly would nod. " Yes, I was trying to make a point. He wants to die, I wasn't suggesting therapy," Molly would silently cast Charm Person as he looked at Arcade and said the next words,both cold and unfeeling. " I think he should just kill himself for us." *

*This RPer does not support suicide or killing oneself and is only using this for narrative purposes. One should seek actual help if having thoughts similiar to what Arcade is expressing right now.

@Sark @Takumi