Killer Whales and Murderous Clowns

Happy New Year one and all and welcome to the first chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero for 2024! I've got a couple plans for this and other stories for this year so we've all got a good bit to look forward too. And since it's a time of celebration I'll skip the usual Pat reon advertisement and get right down to things. So since we don't have any guest review questions this week, let's dive on in!

The Dark Coliseum

"The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived!" The announcer's voice boomed throughout the arena, "the final match to crown this season's champion of the coliseum!" A roar of anticipation from the crowd answered this declaration. "Will the winner be the new and as-yet-undefeated team or the top fighter, the Drunken Lightning!"

The doors to the coliseum opened as he continued. "Finish placing your bets now because the fighters are entering the arena! Team Rock Valley and Nadia!" A collective cheer rose for the harpoon wielder with a much smaller section cheering for Naofumi's team. The fighters themselves, however, had other concerns.

"Oh my," Nadia cooed once they were close enough to hear each other, "I hope you're here to tell me you intend to forfeit the match?"

"Sorry," Naofumi denied immediately, "but we have a reason we can't lose here."

"And I can't afford to lose to people who only seek to fulfill their own greed," the gladiator woman remarked while readying her harpoon.

"If you think it's greedy to bring those kids back to their home village, then we'll be the greediest bastards you've ever met," Darius shot back while planting his weapons in the ground and brandishing his ax, Raisetsu Arashi. He was taking Filo's place in this match alongside Raphtalia and Naofumi. There was no rule that a defeated competitor couldn't join up with another team, so long as their whole team didn't replace said team.

"I'd like to believe you," Nadia smiled, "but that's a risk I can't afford to take." With that final remark, the time for words passed.

"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" The announcer shouted, signaling the beginning of the final bout. Raphtalia and Darius rushed forward, approaching their opponent from opposite sides in a classic pincer maneuver. Nadia moved back to avoid such a situation, twirling her harpoon around her body as she skillfully deflected the first several blows. Darius was the more aggressive of the two, using the copied moves from his mask to batter away at her defenses while Raphtalia attempted to strike whenever she saw an opening. Unfortunately, the more experienced woman saw through such a ploy.

Using the forked design of her harpoon, Nadia trapped Darius's ax and twisted the weapon away from her while lashing out with a powerful kick which caught Raphtalia in the stomach when she tried to exploit what she'd thought was a clear opening. "Ra-Shigaraki!" Naofumi exclaimed, nearly forgetting to use her stage name as she hit the ground a short distance away. The Armory Hero untangled his ax from his opponent's weapon and tried pressing the offensive but Nadia parried his next couple of strikes before catching his weapon on the shaft of her harpoon and twisting. Darius lost his balance slightly while readjusting to keep the sharpened bottom-half of her weapon from hitting his head.

This momentary slipup was all Nadia needed to force him to the ground, pinning him with her weapon's shaft against his ax. "Your technique is impressive," she observed, "you attack with the movements of a seasoned warrior but you clearly lack experience when it comes to grappling with stronger opponents."

"You're only half right," Darius grunted before activating his Raisetsu's ice ability. The Surprised harpoon wielder leapt off of him but not in time to keep her hands from getting frozen to her weapon. "I've got plenty of experience in dealing with a woman on top of me."

"Oh my," Nadia looked more curious than concerned at her current predicament before having to block an assault from the now recovered Raphtalia. "As source of thy power I order thee," she continued to block the raccoon girl's strikes as she chanted, "decipher the laws of nature and strike my enemies with lightning!" The ice around her hands and weapon evaporated as lightning erupted from it, forcing her opponent away from her, "Dreifach Thunder Burst!"

Naofumi recognized the danger the moment she started chanting and moved just in time to intercept the attack. He planted his feet as the bolt of electricity arced from her harpoon and slammed into his shield. The cardinal hero roared in defiance before forcing the blast up into the ceiling where it blasted a hole large enough to see the night sky. Nadia gasped in surprise at the feat, clearly not expecting him to have survived the attack let alone redirect it.

"Shigaraki, we're going all out!" Naofumi ordered. Raphtalia barked in acknowledgement, casting her illusion magic as she and Darius moved back in.

"High Quick," the Armory Hero chanted, greatly increasing his speed. Nadia was forced back by the rapid barrage of blows while her opponent's comrade moved into position behind him.

"Airstrike Shield, Second Shield, Dritte Shield!" The disguised hero called, summoning three spectral shields behind and to either side of Nadia, cutting off her room to maneuver.

"As source of thy power I order thee, grant me lightning," she chanted as Darius moved back to let Raphtalia in, "protect and support me!"

"Instant Blade," Raphtalia sheathed her sword while moving in for the attack, "Mi-."

"Dreifach Lightning Speed!" She finished chanting a moment before the raccoon girl came within striking range. Electricity sprang from her body before she rocketed forward, almost seeming to become a lightning bolt which raced by Raphtalia and Darius, the excess electrical energy knocking them off balance. 'You can use magic to go Godspeed in this world!' The Armory Hero nearly yelled out before catching himself, realizing it would probably be best if he nerded out later.

There were bigger concerns as the sound of a thunderous impact rang out in the arena, the result of Nadia's harpoon slamming into Naofumi's shield. The hero felt his feet slide a bit from the force of the blow but he managed to remain standing. "I've never seen that kind of magic," she cooed, "now big sis wants to know about you even more."

"We already told you why we're here," he grunted, "it wasn't a lie, we really want to help those kids." Nadia might've responded to this but two white portals appeared on either side of her. The whirling sound of a thrown weapon alerted her next as she spun around and knocked Darius's ax away before moving downwards in an impressive display of flexibility to avoid the two mancatchers which tried to ensare her. The Armory Hero wasn't done as he came down with a replica of Filo's flail.

The harpoon woman was able to block the attack but not the followup explosion. Darius leapt back and swapped out the weapon for Raisetsu as Raphtalia moved in once more. "Instant Blade: Mist," she declared, unsheathing her sword in the blink of an eye. This time the attack hit, shattering Nadia's weapon down the middle and scoring a cut on her side.

"What's this," the announcer shouted in surprise as the warrior woman collapsed to one knee, "the Drunken Lightning has actually taken a hit!" The crowd roared at the spectacle, happy to see the fight wasn't completely one-sided even if many of them had bet on her.

"We can stop here," Naofumi pointed out, "nobody has to die today. One loss doesn't have to be the end of your career."

"You really think I fight in this coliseum because I enjoy it," Nadia gave a pained smile. An identical harpoon was suddenly thrown into the arena then, embedding itself at her feet. The group glanced up for a moment, noting the weapon had been thrown from a box containing a bearded man dressed very much like an ancient Mongolian merchant. "I told you already, I have my reasons for not losing."

A sudden surge of magical energy erupted from her body, swirling around her as water was summoned in the form of a miniature tornado. "Oh no," Raphtalia gasped, "she's a therianthrope!"

"A what?!" Naofumi and Darius both said at the same time while holding their arms up to shield their faces from the wind being produced.

"Some demihumans possess the power to transform," the swordmaiden explained quickly, "they enter a state where their beast factor becomes stronger which drastically raises their abilities!"

"Great, the last boss has a second phase," the Armory Hero couldn't help but comment as the water spout dissipated, revealing Nadia's new form: a humanoid killer whale.

"It can't be!" Rifana exclaimed, knocking her chair over as she shot up, shock and disbelief on her face. This look was also shared by Raphtalia down in the arena.

"Here I go!" Nadia declared, racing forward at a faster speed than before, completely belying her increased size. Electricity crackled from her weapon as it once again met Naofumi's raised shield. This time, however, he was knocked off his feet by her enhanced strength. Darius leapt in with ice radiating from his ax but the killer whale woman shifted her harpoon and fired a blast of lightning at him.

The Armory Hero moved his own weapon to block at the last second but was still sent flying backwards out of the air where he landed on his back. Nadia resumed her attack then with her harpoon poised to stab into the downed shield hero. "SADEENA-NEESAN!" Raphtalia yelled, ripping her mask off while moving inbetween the two. The transformed woman halted her attack.

"It's you isn't it," the raccoon girl asked as tears were forming in her eyes, "you're Sadeena."

"Only one person has ever called me neesan," the whale woman lowered her weapon, "is that you, Raphtalia?"

"It's me Sadeena-neesan," she smiled, "I know I've changed a bit, but it's really me." They would've said more but some murmurs from the crowd drew the harpoon wielder's attention.

"You two," Darius began while approaching cautiously, "know each other?" He jumped back in surprise when the now named Sadeena suddenly swung her weapon at him, tearing up part of the ground where he'd been only a moment before.

"Continue the match," she ordered before rushing Naofumi, who'd just gotten back up, and clashing the shaft of her weapon against his shield. "My sponsor is still watching!"

"I am so over this competition shit," the Armory Hero commented before reaching behind his back and pulling out the Hunting Hero's weapon in blade form. He rushed the gladiator woman then, slashing with feigned ferocity.

"Shigaraki, your magic," the shield hero ordered once Sadeena was 'pushed back' by Darius.

"Right," Raphtalia cast her illusion spell again. Her original one had broken when she lost her concentration at the revelation of their opponent's identity. The moment they felt it wash over them Darius lowered his weapon.

"Whew, alright," the cardinal hero dismissed his replica weapon, "we should be able to talk freely now."

"I suspected you'd been using illusion magic," Sadeena looked around, "but to think it was on this scale and that Raphtalia was the one doing it."

"Nee-san," said raccoon girl rushed in and gave her old friend a warm hug that might've squeezed the air out of someone else, "I've missed you so much!"

"And not a day's gone by that I haven't been thinking of you," she hugged her back, "how did you get so big?"

"Master Naofumi rescued me," Raphtalia explained while the cardinal heroes removed their masks, "the bonuses from being a member of his party caused me to grow exceptionally fast."

"You forced her to fight?" Sadeena shot an accusing look towards Naofumi.

"I didn't have a lot of options," he responded, "Raphtalia's helped me as much as I've helped her if not more."

"It's because he's the Shield Hero," the raccoon girl revealed, "and that's Darius, the Armory Hero."

"The Armory Hero, the one who killed a noble," Sadeena exclaimed.

"He did it to rescue Rifana and Keel," Raphtalia recounted, "he also saved Mia and Len!"

"They're all okay," tears formed in the warrior woman's eyes at the news, "then it's true what you've been saying, that you intend on helping those kids?"

"We do," Naofumi confirmed with a nod, "believe me this isn't the way I would've liked to go about it, but it was the only option I could see at the time."

"I suppose I can't judge," Sadeena admitted, "the reason I've been competing in the coliseum is to earn money to buy the village children back. Where are the ones you've rescued?"

"Rifana is the mace-wielding girl, Philia," Darius revealed, "she's a member of my party. Keel and all the others are back at the village."

"We've been rebuilding it," Raphtalia continued for him, "our home is going to be a home again. You can come back, Sadeena-neesan, and we can all be together like before."

"Then we're going to need to put on a convincing performance," the whale woman pointed out.

"Oh we can do that," the Armory Hero assured while resummoning the weapon of the hunting hero, this time in the form of, appropriately, a hand thrown harpoon resembling a spear. "Here's the plan." He quickly explained his idea along with the function of his weapon. Everyone agreed to the improvised plan, seeing only a couple possible holes in it, and took their positions with Team Rock Valley redonning their masks.

"It's time to end this!" Sadeena declared while jumping into position as the current illusion was lifted, "I'll defeat you all with my best skill!" She ended her statement with a wink before raising her harpoon. A geyser of water sprang into existence behind whale woman, quickly becoming a wave that propelled her towards her opponents.

"Hit here with everything we've got!" Naofumi yelled as all three of them charged forward.

"Illusory Sword!" Raphtalia shouted, raising her weapon. Yellow light radiated from her sword, growing brighter and brighter as they closed the distance.

"Form Two: Choutotsu!" Darius yelled, his own weapon glowing with a bright white light. Naofumi's shield glowed with its own green light as the two opposing forces slammed together in the middle of the arena. A shockwave erupted, releasing multiple wind blades as the other glowing lights grew too bright to look directly at. In the next instant, it was over.

As the water evaporated, three figures stood over their defeated opponent. "I," Sadeena breathed out, having reverted to her human form and looking a little worse for wear, "don't think I can win this one. I surrender."

"N-Nadia…has surrendered," the announcer sounded like he didn't believe the words he was uttering, "that means the winner is…..TEAM ROCK VALLEY!" The crowd went ballistic then, cheering, or in a lot of cases booing, loudly for the victors.

"We did it!" Raphtalia cheered, hugging Naofumi and not caring who was watching. The Shield Hero thought about protesting his current predicament, but decided he could let it slide this time. He was just happy that she was happy.

"I guess that means this nonsense is finally done and over with," Darius sighed as he went over and helped Sadeena to her feet.

"Not quite," the now former gladiator revealed, "my sponsors have some of the children from the village. They might try selling them off now that I've lost."

"We'll deal with it," Naofumi assured, "for now, let's get out of here and-."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer suddenly boomed, "in response to the crowd's fevor, the sponsors have decided to declare this match invalid!"

"What," the two heroes responded in mild disbelief.

"Instead, a special exhibition match shall be held!" He continued as they noticed the same merchant who'd had a spare harpoon thrown to Sadeena standing next to him. "Now it shall be Team Rock Valley and Nadia vs Murder Pierrot!" The crowd cheered as the door on the other side of the arena opened to reveal three individuals. Or rather, a single individual and two human-sized wooden puppets.

"Are they sending, a child at us?" Raphtalia asked in minor confusion. It was understandable that she'd think this. Their opponent was petite with the figure of a young girl. She was dressed in a purple and white outfit which resembled a medieval jester's with a white and purple mask on her face.

Her puppets were painted and decorated in a similar manner. "Don't take her lightly," Sadeena warned, "Pierrot is quite a dangerous one."

"More than just dangerous," Darius realized as she pulled out her weapon, a large ball of thread with a jewel on it, "that's a vassal weapon!" Before a surprised Naofumi could ask anything about this sudden revelation, the announcer interrupted.

"Betting will be open for the first ten minutes of the match and all your money shall be refunded to place new bets," he informed, "now, let the match BEGIN!" Pierrot made the first move with her puppets.

"Bind Wire," she announced in a monotone voice. The mouths of the puppets opened and fired a web-like thread which hit both Naofumi and Nadia. Even despite them blocking, they were stuck temporarily by the adhesive substance.

"Damn it," the shield hero cursed as the puppets closed in with a large sword and a long-handled ax.

"Not yet," Raphtalia declared, moving forward and slashing at the puppets with her katana. Though they reacted in time to block, their weapons were still sliced to ribbons. "The sponsors appear to be using weakening magic on us. But even so we'll make them regret turning us into their enemies!"

This clearly infuriated the bearded man next to the announcer who shouted a command. "Weapons!" Sadeena's now former sponsor ordered, "give Murder Pierrot all the weapons she needs!" The arena staff complied, throwing various swords, axes and other polearm weapons down. Or at least they tried too. Darius moved in the moment they started dropping them in, flourishing his cape in a dramatic fashion to distract from how he was actually storing the weapons in his inventory.

"Thank you kindly," the Armory Hero quipped while waving one of the swords he'd taken, "and don't think you'll be getting any of these back without paying up first. You assholes owe us a lot of money!" He almost regretted the merchant couldn't see his shit-eating grin under his mask because the infuriated look on the bearded man's face was priceless.

"First things first," Sadeena cooed while racing past him, having freed herself from the web-like material, and knocking both puppets down with a kick and a strike from her harpoon.

"Now we finish this!" Raphtalia declared, sprinting towards the puppeteer herself, "Instant Blade-."

"Spider Net," Pierrot calmly said. Her thread weapon unwound quickly in response to this, releasing numerous barely visible wires which wrapped around the raccoon girl's sword. Amazingly, it not only stopped the blade but she couldn't seem to cut through the wire, either. Sadeena attempted to move in but her harpoon was similarly ensared and both her and Raphtalia were lifted off the ground by their weapons.

Darius came in from behind her with Raisetsu poised to strike but his opponent glanced back and bound his ax with a movement of her fingers. "Zweit Aura!" Naofumi attempted to cast a spell but found it wasn't working. 'Shit, they're blocking our own enhancement magic too,' he realized.

"Try this!" The Armory Hero exclaimed, activating the ice magic in his ax which froze the thread holding his weapon, making it unable to move and very brittle. "This is gonna sound weird but I've got to thank you," he broke his weapon free, "you just made my day!" He swung Raisetsu downwards then, only for it to be blocked by her ball of thread changing into a giant pair of scissors. "And it just keeps getting better!"

"You are….a strange one," she commented but with a strange quality to her voice. It almost sounded staticky in a way. But Darius didn't have time to worry about that as one of the supposedly downed puppets attempted to attack him from behind. He deflected it easily enough but it gave Murder Pierrot the opening she needed to bind his weapon and yank it out of his hands before binding him too. "It's….a shame."

She readied her weapon to strike while her puppets went after the others. The Vassal Katana wielder was still stuck due to not being able to let go of her weapon and more threads were working to restrain her body now. The shield hero tried to intervene but was stopped by the first puppet while the second puppet aimed for Raphtalia. Darius tried to summon another weapon from his inventory but found that he couldn't. "Skill Seal," the masked girl explained, "you won't be able to use any more of your weapons."

"Yeah I got the info as soon as you said it," he laughed in spite of the situation before a loud crash was heard. Looking over, Pierrot discovered Sadeena had let go of her weapon just a moment before being wrapped up herself and dropkicked the puppet aiming for Raphtalia. "Which is why I know to do this!" Fire erupted from his hands as he summoned a replica of the cardinal sword in its cutlass form.

The flaming blade burnt through the bindings and caused the scissor wielder to jump back to avoid being hit by it. "Crimson Blade!" Darius swung and set the other threads on fire, freeing Raphtalia and Sadeena's harpoon, the latter being caught by its owner. Murder Pierrot attempted to attack him again but was halted by another interruption.

"Shield Prison!" Naofumi called, trapping their opponent in a ball of green spectral shields and chains. "Hit her now with everything you've got!"

"For the children!" Sadeena declared, leaping into the air with lightning surging from her weapon and around her body. It was about this time that Murder Pierrot cut her way through the shields, but this also opened her up to the incoming attack. "This ends now!"

The masked girl raised her weapon in time to intercept the attack but failed to brace herself as the harpoon collided with her giant scissors. A flash of lightning followed by an explosion occurred then, kicking up a mass of dust as Sadeena retreated a short ways away. "Did that do it," Naofumi asked as the smoke and dust cleared, revealing Murder Pierrot's body, with a wooden head?

"Scape Doll," the voice of Murder Pierrot sounded from seemingly out of thin air. The weblike thread from earlier appeared then, swirling together into what looked like a human-sized cocoon before unraveling to reveal their relatively unharmed opponent. "I'm guessing you have…..about four….buffs. But that's not…..enough. Raise your base…strength…or you'll die….against the other…..world."

"We've already made peace with the other world," Darius pointed out, "but I guess you haven't heard."

"It's not enough," Pierrot insisted, "others…will come. If you're struggling against someone…as weak as me…you'll get killed. Become heroes that no one….can defeat…or you'll lose your world."

"We know that," Naofumi growled, "why don't you tell us who you are?"

"We'll meet again," the vassal wielder assured, "for now….I've fought enough…to earn my pay." Her body began to dissolve into smoke as she spoke her parting words. "Try not to get killed in the meantime." Silence prevailed for several moments as the heroes and their party member tried to make sense of the warning.

"Um, Murder Pierrot has vanished," the announcer spoke up, "that means the winner is Team Rock Valley and Nadia!" The crowd cheered in response to this but Sadeena couldn't care less at the moment.

"We need to hurry," she urged, "if we don't leave now they could take the kids!"

"I don't think we'll have to go far," Darius informed, "he looks like he wants to talk to us pretty badly, actually." The confused harpoon wielder looked at him like he'd grown two heads. Thankfully, Naofumi directed her attention up to the announcer's booth where her ex-sponsor had been sitting. It was now a bit more crowded due to the presence of a few women and…..a Filolial and a dragon!

"Sadeena!" Rifana waved from the announcer's booth. Next to her was a horned girl keeping an eye on the announcer while a dark-haired woman was sitting on her other side. She looked like she was being friendly with the merchant but Sadeena was almost certain the woman had a dagger held to her ex-sponsor's back or stomach. A green-haired girl was also waving while the Filolial and dragon glared down at the booth. "Let's collect our winnings and get out of here!"

"Oh my," the whale woman had a look between amusement and amazement, "it seems you've fallen in with some very reliable people, Raphtalia."

"They're the best," the raccoon girl affirmed before hugging her friend, "now let's go bring everyone home." And with that, the tournament ended with Team Rock Valley as its winners. Negotiations were held between the team, Sadeena and her sponsors. They were quite one-sided, especially when the Accessories Seller mentioned who the sponsor was actually dealing with. After all was said and done, the village children were given to them, leaving only one last bit of business for them to take care of in Zeltoble.

And so the saga of the Dark Coliseum ends with a happy resolution, but also a dire warning of future threats to come. But we'll get to those soon enough, so in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! And as promised I won't drop any advertisements today so instead I'll simply say Happy New Year one more time! Last thing, stop in next time as our heroes find another couple of recruits for their battle against the Waves! 'Til then.