[Arle Nadja]

Standing upon final destination, shivering ever so slightly in the chilly atmosphere above a thick sea of debris clouds that formed Li's cloud mantle, stood Arle--Life Sphere Leader. Legend had it this stage had seen many battles in past wars she hadn't been part of, but others disputed this. Apparently some speculated the existence of multiple different 'final destinations' and that their context depended upon the war in question. All Arlee knew was that being able to see the sky, Li's real sky, through the mantle was pleasant in a quaint sort of way. She couldn't tell the difference between these stars and those the life sphere's dome fabricated as part of its artificial day/night cycle, but she was sure a trained eye cold. And while this particular stage existed outside the life sphere's shields, it also existed so high in the sky and one spent so little overall time here that infection wasn't really a realistic concern unless some big bad showed up. On the other hand, falling from a stage like this presented an almost certain risk of trophification. Fighting here had a certain prestige, though. She waited patiently for someone to show up and challenge her. There usually wasn't much of a shortage because of her name, so she doubted she'd be wasting much time here.

Arle Nadja 210/210 70/70

[Blade Unlimited]

A spotlight shone down at the other end of the stadium where Arle's opponent lay in wait. Her closed challenge had been answered, the sight of her competitor was met with a racous uproar from the ambient audience audible even from way up there as they witnessed the truest of warriors standing to oppose the Life Sphere Leader:

It is Nubert and Everybody loves him-!

The crowd went ballistic, filled with hoots and hollers for the beloved creature before-

<PHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooo...>

-it was cruelly cut short as the token of everyone's attention was abruptly knocked out over the horizon by the careless foot of a passerby.

"Eh?" Tsukasa Kadoya calmly uttered, as if only noticing how something small had struck his foot a second or two after it had disappeared from the force completely. The young man didn't seem entirely all there, looking up and around as if just now realizing he was standing in the middle of some arena suspended between the heavens... whose crowd was now slinging more than their fair share of negativity.

He idly tapped a finger on the pink camera dangling from his neck before putting on a faint smirk, locking eyes with Arle. "Alright. I've got the gist of this." Tsukasa flared out his open black trench coat before withdrawing a pearlescent white device from its pocket: The Decadriver! With a whir, a leathery grey belt stretched out from seemingly nowhere on the driver's side--snaking around his hip before reattaching at the other end to form a belt while its wearer pulled a card from the white metal case now hanging off of his hip.

"Henshin!"

KAMENRIDE

DECADE!

Around Tsukasa, several mirror-like shades of similar stature spread out in a circle around him; each mirroring his position as differently shaped insignia glowed visibly within their monochrome forms. As abruptly as the mirroring shades appeared though, they each disappeared as they superimposed onto the human's body; obscuring it more and more before they finally solidified into a monochrome version of the armor depicted on the card. A group of black rectangles shot out of the Decadriver, spinning rapidly in the air before abruptly shooting back into Tsukasa's helmet and seemingly bisecting it into eight segments before locking into place; magenta color draining down from them into his newly formed armor while the bug-like lenses at the helmet burst to life with a piercing green color.

Decade nonchalantly dusted off his gloves and drifted the bug-eyed gaze of his helmet back over to Arle. His posture, that smarmy way he carried himself, was just asking to be attacked.

Tsukasa Kadoya HP: 0%/180% Shield: 0%/65% KamenRide: Decade Status: Passing through

[Arle Nadja]

Arle's expression discreetly transitioned into a frown. She had never been a fan of people who made a habit of hiding their faces, that alone would've been enough to form a negative first impression, but it frankly came as little surprise to her after that intro. Whatever that was. She knew of course that there were systems in place to retrieve that poor sap who went overboard, and that her rushing to their aid wouldn't help whatsoever. So she didn't bother. Instead she addressed her opponent.

“...Alright then, let's battle.”

Arle then took a step back and folded her arms to the side, superficially dabbing on Decade before rotating her arms back over to point both fingers at him. “Magic Missile!!” she incanted, directing several bolts of force energy that curved to track Decade as they raced toward him.

Z1RrV4eqp_1d20+6 (Magic Missile 1; Does 8 Damage)
p_1d20+6 (Magic Missile 2; Does 8 Damage)
p_1d20+6 (Magic Missile 3; Does 8 Damage)

She then quickly followed this up with a psychic attack, concentrating on attacking Decade's mind directly to impact his ability to react to the world around him a state that could be easily confused for being slightly drunk by an onlooker.

“Mind Blast!!”

p_1d20+4 (Arle's Mind Blast; Targets INT, deals 12 damage, and afflicts mind-melted)

And finally, she finished with one of her favorites... “Diacute!!” Arle incanted, conjuring a ball of magical power about herself and storing it for later, hovering about her person.

((Arle's Diacute; Storing Star Storm's 24 Damage for later))

...and breaking out into an early Fever Mode, a slight aura forming about her featuring all the colors of the puyo rainbow.
“Here we go. Let's go fever!”

((Arle's Fever Mode; Reduces cooldown/recoil on future turns depending on how many attacks she hits during the present turn))

p_1d20+5 (Arle's Appeal)

Arle Nadja 210/210 70/70

Magic Missile CD: 1 Turn Diacute CD: 1 Turn Diacute Orbs: (24)

1d20+6·1d20+6·1d20+6·1d20+4·1d20+5

[Blade Unlimited]

Bubble Shield@Magic Missile 1, 2, 3: 65 - 24 = 41 - 10 -> 31%

bDSy0q6Jp_1d20+2 (Mind Blast Resistance - Success)

Arle's sudden blasts certainly caught him off guard. Decade was no stranger to the concept of magic; but when you usually just have to deal with hulking mobs of monsters and masked vagabonds that pretty clearly telegraph their attacks, squaring down against a little teenage girl was a bit awkward. Arle's magic missiles sailed across the terminal arena before meeting their marks, but the Kamen Rider proved more than capable of diffusing their damage with a raised arm guarding against the homing projectiles. Her second and mental assault was met with even less progress.

The Rider tilted his head, the neon bug-like lenses of his helmet staring her down with an almost bemused aura. He hasn't said anything yet and the mask wasn't exactly emotive, so maybe the man was braindead! "Shouldn't kids still be in school?" No, no he's still alright in the head; just a jerk. "Unless this is it. 'Gladiatorial combat' for school credit doesn't seem like a fair trade though."

Tsukasa stepped forward with a light shrug and wiped his hands free once more before flicking open the white case-like device hanging off of the left hip of his belt. It was his Ride Booker, an item that doubled as his primary Rider weapon and the carrying case for all of his cards. Without much flourish, Decade drew a new card as a sound like that of a revving engine echoed through the subspace. Parting the handles of his Decadriver, the central apparatus of the belt rotated up to reveal its slot. The Rider effortlessly tossed the card into the driver, without even needing to glance down, before slamming the driver closed with a whir.

While an ambient voice loudly announced the card's activation, Tsukasa popped out the handle of his Ride Booker to draw it's gun mode up before rushing Arle down. First for a swift kick to knock her away before leveling the weapon's barrel--

p_1d20+1 (Beat Knuckles: DMG 5%)
p_1d20+2 (AttackRide: Blast: DMG 24%; Disables bubble shield for 1 turn)

-to unleash a rapid salvo of pink homing blasts that made an earsplitting sound more akin to cannon fire than simple lasers or bullets.

What? I said that attacking a teenage girl would be awkward; not that he wouldn't do it anyway.

Speaking of chivalry being dead, these odds were clearly way too balanced. "I think we'll need a lot more 'players' to get a 'Fever' going." Tsukasa drew another card from his weapon, flicking it down into his driver and dusting off his hands before sliding it shut as a mirror-like shimmer ran over his body.

ATTACKRIDE

ILLUSION!

BUFF⮭ (AttackRide: Illusion: +1 bonus action each turn; User rolls 75% receive 1/4 damage per attack-->decrease chance by 25% every successful activation until chance reaches 0%-->forcibly ends buff; 4 turn duration; 3 turn cooldown)

The yellow signal pointer at the top of Decade's helm began to glow a bright yellow light as his form split like a refracting mirror. Identical reflections of the Kamen Rider slid off to his sides and back. Arle's single opponent suddenly became four identically cocky Riders all looking to beat her up! While two split off to either side and began firing additional blasts at the mage, the other two rushed in for a coordinated punch with opposite arms rushing in side-by-side! The card said "Illusion" though so clearly these were all just intangible distractions to keep Arle from finding the real one right?--

p_1d20+2 (AttackRide: Blast: DMG 24%; Disables bubble shield for 1 turn; 2 turn cooldown)
p_1d20+1 (Beat Knuckles: DMG 5%)

NOPE! They are all real and EQUALLY DANGEROUS!

"How's this for a FEVER?" Decade taunted in quadruplicate.

p_1d20-4 (Audience Appeal - x1)

Tsukasa Kadoya HP: 0%/180% Shield: 31%/65% KamenRide: Decade Appeal: 0 Status: Illusion (4|75%) Blast CD (2)

1d20+2·1d20+1·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+1·1d20-4

[Arle Nadja]

“It's been working out pretty well for my grades~! And I've gotten good at it too~” Arle light-heartedly replied to the comment about gladitorial combat and school credit. Honestly, gladitorial combat would've probably been safer and less grueling than what she typically went through. At the moment that all felt like a distant annoyance in comparison to the frustration of staring at a masked foe in search of a face that wasn't there, however. Great! It was like talking to someone on a phone. ...Her favorite... She loved feeling stupid like she was talking to someone who wasn't there. 

iLSwkUXrp_1d20+1 (Beat Knuckles Dodge; True Tie goes to the attacker, so failure)
p_1d20+1 (Atackride Dodge; Success)

As Decade charged her, Arle stepped back slightly and braced herself, taking a kick to her arm before being narrowly missed by Decade's gun. She then conjured a glassy wall of magic before herself, walling off Decade and his illusory clones as she prepared to deal with them. “I don't know about that. I'm pretty spicy stuff.” Arle sassily replied.

((Arle is bubble shielding Decade's remaining two attacks))

((Arle's fever reduces the cooldowns of her diacute and magic missile!))

“Warp!!” Arle incanted, gesturing as if to attack Decade! A rip in space opened up beside her, leading who only knew where. In truth, a matching wormhole had just opened up above the arena. “Vo-Volcana!!” she went on to incant, conjuring a beach ball's worth of lava in the air. Rather than throw it at Decade however, as it might initially appear, she made a grasping and tossing motion, the lava ball shattering into dozens and dozens of smaller chunks of lava that then flew into the space rift at high speeds, before raining down upon Decade and the arena like burning hail.

((Arle's Warp! Translocates an attack through space, causing it to strike from a potentially unexpected and advantageous direction. Causes the attack to target Wis and deal 1.5x damage))

p_1d20+4 ((Diacute Boosted, Warp Boosted Critical Volcana; Does 81 Damage)
p_1d20+4 ((Crit Confirm for 81 additional damage))


She then quickly cast “Diacute!!” again, conjuring and storing a second little ball of energy orbiting her for later use. “Still think I can't bring things to a feverish pitch~?” she playfully taunted. She then quick-casted another “Magic Missile!!” to keep the pressure up, not wanting to lose her feverish rhythm this early in the match. A series of force missiles conjured from her outstretched hands, arcing out and attempting to strike Decade.

p_1d20+1 (Magic Missile; Does 8 Damage)
p_1d20+1 (Magic Missile; Does 8 Damage)
p_1d20+1 (Magic Missile; Does 8 Damage)

She then bounced a little from foot to foot as if she were playing hop scotch in place in an energetic manner, lightly rotating her torso and arms back and forth in a rhythmic manner that made her movements look almost like a little dance. If you pay attention though, you can see her discreetly gasping a bit for air in spite of the show she's putting on. Just be glad she didn't fortnite dance on you. ...Yet.

p_1d20+5 (Appeal!)

Arle Nadja 195/210 31/70

(3 turns) Magic Missile CD: 1 Turn Diacute CD: 1 Turn Warp CD: 2 Turns Diacute Orbs: (24)

1d20+1·1d20+1·1d20+4·1d20+4·1d20+1·1d20+1·1d20+1·1d20+5

[Blade Unlimited]

Despite the fight going from a 1-on-1 to a 4-on-1, Tsukasa was markedly surprised by how well Arle was quick to compensate her disadvantage. The few blows he did land were surface-level at best, and the way she was zoning the rider clones with her magic to avoid being pressured by more than one--these weren't just the skills of a kid with some special powers. These were actual combat maneuvers and strategies, and not the kind that someone could just think up on the fly without experience. "Huh. You're pretty good." One Decade remarked, twisting around to find... Arle had completely disappeared. Oh.

And disappeared through some sort of spacial distortion. Ohhhh.

And was now unleashing a violent downpour of lava blobs onto the entire floating stadium arena that was literally impossible to escape.

KqHRFPIap_1d20+1 (Volcana Dodge - Failure; Crit not confirmed)

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no.

p_1d100 ( ;-; Illusion Activated - DMG divided by 4; Chance decreased from 75% --> 50%)

"Hrgh-!" Sparks flew off of the Rider's armor as one of the clones was completely buried and overwhelmed by the mage's expert maneuver. The critical volcana mercilessly absorbed the magenta bugman into a particularly large lava clump, knocking them off the edge of the Final Destination in the burning mass before the clone completely disappeared. The three remaining Decades recoiled, as if sharing in a fraction of the copy's violent demise, but somehow managed to weave and fling themselves out of harm's way despite Arle raining death from above.

"Point proven." One of the notably crispier Tsukasas commented while steeling themselves for the follow-up force blasts being sent their way. "You're more capable than you seem. To a frustrating and dangerous degree."

p_1d20+2 (Magic Missile Dodge - Success)
p_1d20+2 (^ - Success)
p_1d20+2 (^ - Failure)
p_1d100 (Illusion Activated - DMG divided by 4; Chance decreased from 50% --> 25%)

Without all the warping and AOE trickery, he was able to evade these next attacks with a lot better success. Repeatedly crossing paths and movements, the clones were able to evade the first two--however not the last. The Magic Missile struck a Decade dead-on in the chest, causing a burst of sparks to flare off of the damaged Rider. They sprawled back onto the ground, clutching their front in pain, before fading away similar to the first. His illusions had been halved in the span of a few seconds. An unprecedented danger.

And what's the best way to deal with an unprecedented danger? Why, a Rider Kick of course!

Quickly, he switched his weapon back into Book Mode and flicked the case open before plucking out a bright gold and blue colored card from its slips. Like the others before it, Decade returned the weapon-returned-case back to his belt clip before slotting the card down into his driver and returning to facing the Arle down. Her cute little dance may have been pleasing the audience, but that bug-eyed unemotive stare and head-tilt from the Rider's mask didn't seem particularly amused. Or maybe it did, idk. It's a helmet so it's hard to emote properly in it. He's not Spider-Man! The air electrified as the Driver announced:

"I suppose I'll stop pulling my punches. Try this one on for size."

Bearing the same design of the card he inserted, yellow ethereal rectangles bearing logos reminiscent of Decade's mask spawned into existence in a long row. Several person-sized FinalAttackRide cards projected into existence and slotted down in a neat line from above before they overlaid a path from Tsukasa to his opponent. With a jump that easily cleared multiple times his height, Decade soared upwards into the air as several of the projected cards rose in tandem, tilting to maintain the solidified path of projections leading to his enemy. His fists clenched, his left leg folding while the magenta warrior's other shot out as he fell into the first card.

SHOOOOOOM

He didn't emerge out the other end of the giant card though, rather through the one immediately following it in line. Alternating and disappearing between each subsequent projection, Decade continued to warp through while accumulating speed as pink energy surrounded his form, before finally emerging from the last one: "HAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Tsukasa roared as his Dimension Kick unleashed the power of his flying Rider Kick onto Arle. If it landed, Tsukasa would be harmlessly deposited at the other end of the final card before sliding to a knee at the ground... seconds before the accumulated dimensional energy would erupt in a brilliant and fiery explosion centered on the point of impact with the mage!

p_1d20+4 (Dimension Kick: DMG 32%; +3 accuracy, bypasses bubble shields, undoes and seals transformations for 3 turns; 10% recoil, 4 turn cooldown)

Points for being stylish?

p_1d20-4 (Audience Appeal - x0 and 10% recoil)
Definitely not. In fact, I'm pretty sure trying to flying kick and subsequently explode a teenage girl that also happens to be a beloved societal figurehead is the absolute worst way to appeal to an audience. Someone from the audience even threw a can of beans at his head! It was only slightly disorienting, but who wants to be suddenly beaned by a can of beans mid-fight.

Not that Tsukasa seemed particularly pressed for his 'public appeal' at the moment. It was only the second exchange of attacks and all his literal cards were already on the table. If that last move didn't at least damage her, he was DEFINITELY going to be in trouble from here on out.

Tsukasa Kadoya HP: 32%/180% Shield: 39%/65% KamenRide: Decade Appeal: 34 Status: Illusion (3|25%) Blast CD (1) DK CD (4)

1d20+1·1d100·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d100·1d20+4·1d20-4