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Lemeza Kosugi     The Village of Departure is looking a bit emptier these days. The residents are doing fine, and the Elder's hut is now more of a fancy mansion, but there's a distinct lack of tourists milling about - and those familiar with recent developments would know why: there have been reports of aggressive creatures emerging from the entrance of La-Mulana, posing a threat to potential patrons. Out in front of the mansion, the elder Xelpud is discussing his latest business venture with a couple of very good-looking models in revealing evening gowns, hanging on both him and his words (or maybe just enjoying the fact that this leader of an ancient civilization is very, very rich). If anyone else is present, he's only half paying attention to them.

    "So ladies, I got to thinkin'. Most people run from scary monsters, right? But turns out there's a whole Multiverse out there, and all those other worlds have a lot of fightin' types just looking for a thrill. So I says to myself, Xelpud, what if we made an arena here and had these warriors do battle for our entertainment?" The ladies energetically agree that this sounds like a good idea, but they're mainly just enjoying the fact that this exotic ancient dude has lots of money and is willing to spend it on them.

    Before Xelpud can continue, though, a rather annoyed voice interrupts the Elder's sales pitch. "Yes, yes, that's very grand, Elder, but we've got a bigger issue going on. Perhaps we should focus on removing the Guardians' souls from the La-Mulana ruins /first/?" The owner of the young voice sounds rather stressed to boot... and are those jets of flame in the background? "Case in point, Amphisbaena's already revived, and she is /angry/. Perhaps if there's any of those Multiverse Elites up there, you could send them down here to help? Instead of talking about how you're going to profit?"

    Xelpud's tone shifts from capricious to serious. "R...right, Fobos. But don't you think they'd want to hear the history--" Fobos' shriek of "XELPUD!" suggests that maybe this isn't the best time. "Right right, suppose you'd better get a move on then." Xelpud sighs. "He sounds harried. Though he shouldn't need all of you; if any of you wanna learn about our people, you're welcome to ask me anything you'd like."

    Those who choose to enter the ruins, rather than stay behind for a Q&A lore-dump, will find a very easy path to follow through the Gate of Guidance, leading right to a young and rather handsome fellow standing above a pit with a twin-headed snake, which is breathing fire upward with both heads in an attempt to scorch the lad. There's enough of an opening that anyone approaching has an easy first strike, and can jump right in.
Hemlock Hemlock is here. The bard-journalist in a newsie cap, a pretty generic dark-haired human, is currently standing near the mansion where ZXelpud is explaining everything to the ladies. He's taking notes on what Xelpud tells them, being mostly quiet himself. He /also/ takes notes on the shouting, though Hemlock doesn't join the others to go fight. He's not too much of a fighter, and he's far more interested in history.

"You have history to explain? I'm all ears. Though I am curious about this Amphisbaena. What is she? What does she do? How would she contribute to your death arena in terms of being an entertaining battle?"

Yep, Hemlock is all game for the super death arena. He just wants to be the first to cover it.
Grave Matters     Three teenage girls in Japanese school uniforms (albeit from three different schools, apparently) are standing here in this weird forest village place, with its own tourist stand. They spectate as Xelpud lays out his plan as though they aren't even there, and then at the frantic insistence of whoever that is yelling over the radio, Matsuri says, "I'll save the history lesson for another time. It sounds like there's some trouble that needs to be dealt with. Come along, Shiho."

    Shiho twists her smoke-gray hair around her finger as she follows the path towards some terrible fire-breathing monster. "Oh, I hope it's especially terrible and grotesque~." she says, sighing wistfully, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Do you suppose they would complain if I took part of it home with me?"

    "I'D complain!" the pink-haired leader hisses. "Stop being a weirdo perv and help me fight this thing! Ruri, are you coming?"

    The red-headed, red-eyed, pony-tailed people beater, aka Ruri, replies, "<<No!>> I am going to stay here and listen to this <<Deepest Lore>>! I will subscribe to his <<Patreon>> and rate his videos"

    Matsuri squints at Ruri and then decides she doesn't even want to decypher what the hell the princess of the underworld is talking about now. "Whatever, join us when you're done."

    Then Matsuri and Shiho do magical girl transformations along the way to their destination, see someone fighting a giant twinsnake monster, and leap into the fray. Shiho releases a swarm of flapping orange energy bats from her hand, while Matsuri tries to circle around to whomever This Dude is while her team mate attempts to distract the enemy.

    Ruri just gestures at Hemlock. "What he is saying is also my questions!" Ruri is also an ace reporter. She just discovered that, just now.
Riva Banari Something something ruins something origin of life, something murderous beasts something. Riva is here to check things out because of something something danger to environment and possibly human civilization.

She's looking a little tired, perhaps even irritable as she strolls through the village, a huge anchor-shaped hammer on her shoulder. She doesn't look all that impressed at Xelpud's demeanor and the women hanging on him. "Are you really thinking about this?" She asks...

But then there's an emergency. "Oh, look, sounds like a dude that needs help." Riva says, shuffling off to leave the Elder to his own devices for the moment.

INSIDE THE RUINS

"Nice place." She observes to no one in particular as she strolls through the Central American ruin motif. "This definitely looks out of place though. Where is this again?" She gestures to the others, but then shrugs. "Oh well, let's deal with the other problem."

AT THE PIT

"Do you get giant angry twin-headed snakes here often?" She asks Fobos. "This looks like you're going to need a bigger gun." A pause. "A /really/ big gun. Wow. That's a lot of snake. At least twice as much as should be there." A pause, and then she sighs. "I am not getting paid /nearly/ enough for this anymore." She pouts, and then leaps into the pit, dropping in straight for the snakeheads! The Ajoran Cross flares with the orange-crimson light of Anima as she drives it down in an attempt to crunch some snake!
Lemeza Kosugi ===On the Surface===

    A twinkle crosses Xelpud's eyes as Hemlock takes a pointed interest in his plan. "Ah, so you are interested in my idea! Your questions first, then. Amphisbaena is one of the Guardians of La-Mulana, so called because she used to guard the ruins, and Mother, against intruders and the weak. There were eight of these Guardians in total, and we'd set them there to ensure than anyone who was able to surpass them and challenge Mother herself would stand a reasonable chance of sealing her away successfully. This guardian in particular is a two-headed fire-breathing serpent, and if that doesn't draw an interested crowd I don't know what will!"

    Then this Ruri starts talking about Patreon and videos. "Eh? You young'ns are interested in this too? Glad to hear it! Hahaha. I hadn't thought about videos, but that's a great idea! I can livestream the fights and collect donations from everyone who can't make it in person! What's your name?" Xelpud consciously moves his hand to a more wholesome location on one of the ladies he was embracing, thinking maybe things should be a bit more family-friendly here after all.

    It's right around this time that Lemeza shows up, short of breath and somewhat exhausted. "Hey, you sure this is respectful to your own people? I mean, a tourist attraction is one thing, but a battle arena? Isn't that a bit much?"

===DOWN IN THE RUINS===

    Fobos looks rather relieved when Riva, Matsuri, and Shiho arrive to deal with the rampaging Amphisbaena, directing them to where the Guardian is flailing about. "I only ask that you don't destroy the RUINS--" Relief turns to panic as Shiho fires her orange energy beam, and Riva goes CRASHING down onto the snake's midsection! The force of these attacks might have threatened the integrity of the ruins if they hadn't hit their targets. Fortunately for all involved, though, everything connects, and Amphisbaena flinches at the damage. The flinch isn't that much, though, as she immediately counterattacks! The twin heads slither around Riva in an attempt to engulf her in a death coil, while simultaneously firing off flame jets at Shiho in retaliation.
Hemlock "Two...headed...firebreathing...serpent." Hemlock says slowly, making sure he understands correctly as he takes notes. It actually doesn't weird him out too much, partially because he's from a fantasy world, and partially because he's pretty sure they control the government. Once the notes are down, he nods. "Yes, I am interested. Battle arenas tend to be good for commerce where they work, to my understanding. Monster-fighting is a classic profession, and there's no reason it cannot be a sport." Yes, Hemlock's all for it.

Ruri agreeing with his questions gets a glance to her from the ournalist. "Are you a junior reporter, by any chance? While this was my scoop first, I suppose there's nothing against rivalry." Yeah, he doesn't really care that she's there, and a glance to Lemeza as he approaches. "Mr. Kosugi. Though you did not ask me, is it really disrespectful to show the world what there is inside these ruins? Show them the capability of the guardians, let them know all about them? It's a form of showing the truth. I'm all for it." Click, click, click of the pen. Hemlock turns back to Xelpud, with a new question.

"Though that does raise a valid point. Have the rest of the Elders agreed to this? Is there any sort of contentious debate about it?"
Grave Matters     Ruri does a victory V-handsign over one eye and answers Xelpud dramatically, "I'm Ruri Tsuguhara, Crown Princess of the Underworld!" When Hemlock asks if she's a reporter, she answers, "<<No!>> I'm Ruri Tsuguhara, Crown Princess of the Underworld!" It's less dramatic hearing it a second time. "Hm, hm! <<Yes!>> Broadcast your mind or something! Anyway, what sizes do those t-shirts come in?" She starts rooting around in her wallet for cash.

    MEANWHILE.

    Firebreath comes searing forth to engulf the place where Shiho stands...! Thankfully for her, she raised her parasol above her head and floated upwards into the air to avoid being completely broiled, but she's still clearly a bit charred and smoldering, at least in her floofy Halloween Wizard magical girl outfit. "I should have expected that, I suppose. Ordinarily Ruri would have been here to absorb the blow."

    Matsuri says to Fobos in monotone, like she's reciting something from a card, "Don't worry. If anything gets broken we'll just ask for our local repair wizards, the Fixers, to put it back together. But we'll do our best not to cause undue harm." Then she swings her huge scythe in a dramatic arc under one of the snake monster's necks, trying to knock its head upwards with the slash, and prevent its heads from teaming up.

    And also maybe to not keep encoiling Riva.
Riva Banari "I'LL DO MY BEST!" She yells back up to Fobos. Unfortuantely, he might end up having to make a decision on which he wants to keep more: The Guardian or the Ruins. Tough call, right? Surely leaving a multiheaded ravenous murdersnake won't have any negative consequences.

Still, she gets coiled up and crushed! This is a problem. As she pops and makes some unpleasant noises. "Gggggh! WHY DOES IT ALWAYS NEED TO BE SNAKES!" She yells, struggling about so she can free an arm. Her hammer, not so much. But she only needs one hand. With a grunt, she thrusts her hand into a ripple in space, a golden light wavering in space there. She drags her hand back, and she reveals...

A shotgun. Oh. "GET OFF ME!" She yells, swinging the gun around to point it at the closest snake-thing she can get a bead on. With a BANG, she fires, golden energy blasting out in a wave of light and pain.
Lemeza Kosugi ===On the Surface===

    Ruri's claims have Xelpud very interested. "Hah! Kids these days. You say you're princess of the Underworld? I can tell there's /something/ about you. Good to see you're 'with it' as well, you know about Youtube? I'm thinking about uploading some highlight clips to drive consumer interest. What do you think? And, ah, I think we have shirts in your size, too! What would you like?

    While Xelpud indulges Ruri's enthusiasm, Lemeza addresses Hemlock's questions. "Hemlock, I fully supported turning the ruins entrance into a tourism hotspot. The world does deserve to know its own history. My objections are to dragging the /souls of the dead/ back for mere sport, rather than cataloguing their role and otherwise letting the souls rest."

    As Lemeza pauses to sigh, Xelpud seizes the opportunity to take control of the conversation. "Come on! Of all the people, I thought you'd be the first to take on the adrenaline rush! It'd be good for your image, too! Show everyone how you took on mortal peril and emerged victorious!" He looks between Lemeza, Hemlock, and Ruri. "I'm the only Elder around these parts, by the way! We do have a few Philosophers though. My good Fobos is one of them, he's in contact with me over the radio, by the way, and he's helping me retrieve the Guardians. Good eye for capitalism, that lad."

    Fobos responds sternly via the aforementioned radio, with an imperative tone. "You do remember the ORIGINAL point of this mission, right? Profit is /not/ our priority. Relocating and properly containing the Guardians' souls is the priority, so we may keep the general public safe. I would ask you to take this a bit more seriously, Elder..."

===In the Ruins===

    For all of Philosopher Fobos' concerns about destroying the ruins, every attack lobbed against the enraged Guardian has connected without any collateral damage. Matsuri's scythe barely grazes one of Amphisbaena's heads, but it's enough to make it flinch and pull back. The other head, however, takes the opportunity to fire /another/ jet of flame, keeping up the attack and trading off with its partner.

    Down below, Riva's shotgun finds its target, and takes a few fleshy snake chunks off of the coil crushing her. There's less of a flinch, however, as Amphisbaena powers through and tightens its grip on Riva, paying less attention to how effective the coil is at keeping her in place, and more on SQUEEZING AS HARD AS POSSIBLE. A gamble, to be sure, but it might pay off.
Grave Matters     "The youtube, yes! It is full of hilarious videos of cats! The ultimate in human achievement!" She hm-hm-hms at the selection of t-shirts before opting for the darker colored one with the spiks. "This one reminds me of home! Except at home the spikes would also be on fire, and probably attached to some sort of undead <<bulldozer>> that chases souls for all time, but close enough!" She sorts through her wallet again and frowns. "Ehh...? Matsuri was supposed to cash our checks from our job with the Paladins. She has not given me my share yet. I will be right back with money! You, Mister <<Blark Bent>>, keep up the <<good work>>!" She gives a double thumbsup while jogging backwards towards the location of the boss fight.

    MEANWHILE.

    Matsuri tries to ram her scythe's pole into the boss monster's offending appendage (body part? coils?) and see if she can loosen things to get Riva out faster. Shiho flies around nimbly with her parasol, in ways one would not expect it to be able to fly, merely as if convenient breezes were blowing through. She then floats above Amphisbaena, and then drops suddenly when she collapses her magical flying umbrella, accelerating herself with magic to try to land a high heeled boot right between the eyes of one of the Guardian's eyes. She's doing her best, but she's not the heavy hitter of the group!
Riva Banari The good point is that she blasted them. The bad point? Well, they got angry. Good! But maybe not so good, when they start squishing more. Riva gasps, turning beet red as she gets squished and grunting in pain at the increased pressure... But then the pressure moves in the wrong way, the magical girls open up an opening, and she wriggles right out before the pressure becomes overwhelming, sending her tumbling out of the grip! She falls into the pit, hitting the floor with another grunt. "AGH!" She yells. "WHERE DID THIS THING EVEN COME FROM?" She yells up at thie Philosopher, but scrambles back to her feet, pulling back a little, trying to reposition herself. She leaps onto the slithering coils, scrambling along them as she works her way towards those firebreathing snake heads.

"FOCUS THE HEADS!" She yells to them as she makes a mental note to do something nice for them later. As Shiho smashes down, Riva focuses on the same head, firing rapidly at it and sending a repeated fusillade at it!
Hemlock Hemlock takes more notes as they talk, responding to Lemeza. "I see. So you're morally against using the dead for sport. Interesting." Going into whatever article he writes for sure, as he then turns back to Xelpud. "My apologies. I assumed there were others." Though as Fobos talks up and mentions the primary priority, Hemlock considers. "What do you think the primary benefit of this arena would be for the community? Certainly, you have arguments against those like Mr. Kosugi, correct?"

Ruri gets a nod as she heads into the caves. Hemlock's almost done with his interview, and then he'll head off himself, but not for the caves. He didn't bring his adventuring boots.
Lemeza Kosugi ===On the Surface===

    "That's right." Lemeza acknowledges Hemlock's question. "I really have no idea /how/ Robed Baldy over here got Fobos to agree to this in the first place."

    Answering both Lemeza and Hemlock at once, Fobos chimes back in over the radio. "That's because this was the Philosophers' idea in the first place! Except for the profiteering aspect. There seems to be residual life-creating energy deep in the ruins, and it's reviving everything slain down there. Including the Guardians. The whole point of the Colosseum is to contain the most powerful souls in a safe location, and to keep defeating them so they don't get out of hand. The benefit is public safety, Hemlock, and our Elder has missed that important aspect in his greed."

    "Pah!" The aforementioned Elder disagrees. "You think Elites will come fight for free, sonny? With all the revenue from admissions, we can fund all sorts of prizes! Come one, come all, help tame these beasts and win a million yen! Or more, if we're lucky!" It's not obvious whether Xelpud's taking this at all seriously or not.

===In the Pit===

    Taking hits from multiple opponents, and on multiple sections of her body, is not something Amphisbaena was prepared for. Shiho's kick successfully drives a heel into one of the snake's twin heads, knocking it into one of the arena's walls and horribly disorienting it. With a few shots from Riva's shotgun following up, that head doesn't last much longer - it disintegrates and entirely ceases to be a threat. The other head struggles to react properly, the attempt to ensnare Riva going horribly awry. The uninjured head swoops around, attempting to both slap Shiho into the pit and bellyflop onto Riva before either of them can do even MORE damage.

    In response to Riva's question, Fobos calls out, "Is where it came from really important right now?!" He seems a bit peeved, but then again that KOed head did sweep him off his feet as it fell. He's getting a bit scuffed.
Hemlock "I see." Hemlock says to their response. He's getting ready to pack up and go, but he has his own take on it first. "I believe Elder Xelpud has a point. Adventurers usually want something when they slay monsters. If you can't reward them, they won't participate unless they're some of the few who just like to fight, or want to turn the monsters into parts. It costs their own resources, you must remember, in order to slay a monster. I recommend that if you want this colosseum to get plenty of fighters, atleast consider how it'll make money." He's not a businessman in any traditional sense, but he's an adventurer, and knows what adventurers want. And that's loot.

"Thank you very much for entertaining my questions. I must be going now." A tip of his hat, and Hemlock will head off. Probably tour the local area for a little bit before heading through the warp gate home. He does chime in a message over the radio, though. <"Good luck on your fight, everyone.">
Riva Banari The giant snake is a problem. Of course it's a problem, it's a GIANT FIREBREATHING SNAKE. It hasn't become LESS of a problem in the intervening time... No wait, it's become precisely half the problem now that one head is gone. Riva yelps as she falls back, trying to dodge getting crushed again. Thankfully, one of the heads going down gives her a chance to get away from the coils... But not the belly. The impact crushes Riva right into the floor. Surely, she couldn't survive that...

But a twitching hand pushes out from under the snake, and Riva pulls herself out from under it, groaning as she is battered and bruised. All this blunt force trauma is adding up. "Maybe! It might help us in sending it /back/ there!" She grouses back, and staggers to her feet. Looking around, she considers her options...

Oh, there's her weapon. She scoops up the Ajoran Cross, and turns back to the remaining head. "Just stop. Please. Two heads are NOT better than one." She quips, trying to hurl herself back at the remaining head, delivering repeated overhead blows. "JUST. STOP. BAD SNAKE. BAD! BAD! BAD SNAKE! NO RODENTS!"
Grave Matters     Shiho is slapped towards the terribly deadly python pit, but Matsuri dashes superhumanly quickly to scoop her out of the air and land safely on the other side. Shiho is squinting one eye closed in pain as she says, "Ah, thank you. Being slapped with a snake is not on my bucket list, but if it was, I can now safely say it has been accomplished. And also that it hurts more than one would think."

    Matsuri turns, holding the older girl in her arms and scans for their missing team mate as Riva blasts the monster with her shotgun once more, filling the air with the sound of gunfire. Oh and using that odd melee weapon of hers. "Damn it. Where the hell is Ruri--?"

    Then a princess in a black and red diamond pattern mini dress comes leaping through the air, one hand holding onto her crown, while the other raise up above her head in a fist. She turns as she descends, and puts her whole body into a superhumanly strong blow disproportionate to both her frame and build, aimed to strike Amphisbaena in center mass and try to drive the Guardian into the ground HARD. "Princessss... PAUNCHU!" she yells forcefully as, either way, a lot of force is about to be released from her fist into SOMETHING.
Lemeza Kosugi     Down in the snake pit, the resident snake is having a Really Bad Day. Amphisbaena scores a couple hits against the highly aggressive ladies tearing her apart, but that's little consolation. The one remaining head lets out a very pathetic puff of smoke, seemingly attempting to levy one last scorching attack but failing, as a combination of being concussed with a Cross and being punched by an impossibly-powerful strike end up finally putting this beast down for the count. The body dissipates into nothing, marking the end of the battle. But there's still a bit more to do.

    "Ah, excellent!" Fobos picks himself up and unveils an oddly-shaped relic-looking-thing. "Now we can relocate the poor girl's soul." A bit of mystical handwaving, and anyone who can see spirits will see the deceased snake's soul get drawn into the device. "Thank goodness Alsedana was able to make us new Ankhs for this. Though," Fobos makes the next remark to himself, "I wish the old man would pass along his techniques to his fellow Philosophers... he can't really be keeping this up much longer."

    As the party leaves, a rumbling voice reverberates through the ruins, coming from below. The volume is faint, but it definitely belongs to a very large being. "Zebu, how long can you keep these games up? This truce will not last forever!" Whoever said that is evidently revving for a fight, and he's not the only one: more voices chime in, arguing that whatever they're feuding over needs to be settled by blows. The details will have to wait for next time, though, because Fobos hastily ushers the others outside the ruins. "Quickly! We've got what we came for! Let's go, we'll deal with them another day!"

    Back on the surface, Xelpud's looking rather smug after Hemlock's words of wisdom. Good luck deflating THAT ego.