Metrophanes: Bitter Scenery

Chapter 4: VS Aris

Oct 03, 2024

Welcome to Battles Beneath the Stars, a webserial styled like the guide and script of a non existent fighting game. If you’re new to this story, be sure to start at the prologue, from there each character’s story branches into its own version of events, so you won’t need to read anyone else’s story to follow this one.

Last time Metrophanes fought Hákon and won, hoping that this would be the battle to turn his reputation around. But the crowd doesn’t seem to have grown any fonder of him.

Open on Grand Festival Hub

Metrophanes and Drakon are walking across the screen. Metrophanes stops, Drakon walks a little further before stopping and turning around.

Drakon: Are you oaky granpa?

Metrophanes: I’m fine, just lost in thought. I’ll be facing Uncle Aris next after all.

Metrophanes: (I wonder who people will hate more, him or me. Likely me, it’s become a trend after all, and he helped overthrow Dark Lord Cyrus.)

Drakon: I bet you can beat him. And then can we go the beach?

Metrophanes: I’m not sure if we’ll have time for that. I’ll need to focus on training for the next match after that. I can’t afford to lose after how far I’ve come.

Drakon: Oh.

Metrophanes: Once the tournament is over we’ll definitely have time. And I need to get going now.

Exploration Start

You’ll have to jump up on some platforms on your way to the next fight and while looking for people to eavesdrop on. This will be relevant to the upcoming fight. You may want to take the time to play around a bit with how to quickly ascend while attacking. When you’re ready to advance, approach Hákon.

Patriotic Islander: Damn it, this was supposed to be our chance to show up those self righteous foreigners. Fuck that Metrophanes guy.

Irritated Contrarian: At this point I’m a fan of Metrophanes out of spite for how annoying some people are about hating him.

Dragon Disliker: Honestly I’m just glad the dragons aren’t completely taking over this tournament, even if it means Metrophanes stays in longer.

Exploration End

Hákon: Hey Metrophanes, has anyone been going you trouble outside the arena?

Metrophanes: No. Most people simply don’t acknowledge me. I assume after seeing me fight they’re not keen to start one with me.

Hákon: That’s good, I was starting to get worried. People are getting even more heated up than usual. I even had to discipline some of my thralls for getting a little too angry on my behalf.

Metrophanes: (Now I feel a little sympathy for them.)

Hákon: …No I didn’t beat them if that’s what you’re thinking, that’s barbaric. I just took away some privileges for a bit and gave them a stern talking to.

Metrophanes: Oh.

Hákon: Anyway, I worry others may have gotten too upset about my loss, people I don’t have authority over. They wanted me to win as the fighter for this isle, and somehow they’re blaming my loss on you rather than my own weakness.

Hákon: Now that I’m out of the tournament I can focus on helping run the tournament and manage things, so I’ll try to keep things from reaching that point. But be careful. I’m sorry we’ve been such bad hosts.

Metrophanes: It’s not your fault, I brought this on myself. But I’m sure if I keep winning they won’t dare go further than their booing.

Hákon: I hope so. Good luck in the arena.

Metrophanes walks off-screen.

Transition to Gaiapolis

A city located within a mountain, with a wide river running through the interior as well. The stage starts in the harbor with a merchant boat serving as a platform, then ascends to the residential area with houses built into the side of the mountain before ending on the peak of the mountain itself, looking out into the desert beneath a cloudless sky and oppressive sun.

Metrophanes and Aris are standing at opposite ends of the harbor.

Metrophanes: Is this some tasteless joke?

Metrophanes: (It’s been so long since I called this place home…)

Aris: That’s how I feel. Let’s get this over with.

Battle Start

Gaiapolis is an involved stage, so don’t get too comfortable in any one position. After some time, the screen will move up and you’ll need to ascend to the next level of the stage, which will happen once more, but after that the fighting stays at the mountaintop.

When it’s time to climb you should recall Vulture Shah and focus on making it up, playing defensively. The screen moves slowly and the platforming isn’t hard, but you will lose if you screw it up, so don’t.

Both you and Aris are disadvantaged on the stage, though arguably Aris is at the bigger disadvantage, because his gameplay revolves around setting up small siege engines, which will not travel with him during transitions.

In general you want to keep close to Aris and deny him the time to set up any of his little siege engines: a small tower that can block your approach, a ballista that will shoot an arrow after a delay, and a catapult that will launch an arcing projectile after a delay. Each stage transition forces him to start over on setting up his offense.

His super moves however activate immediately, so be careful. Solar Bombardment will drop three rays of light in a row in front of Aris, while Bright Ballista rapid fires arrows straight ahead. Both of them can easily turn the match around by taking out Vulture Shah and a solid chunk of your health in one go.

The key is to apply constant pressure, especially when the stage reaches the mountaintop. While you needed to be careful with Hákon, taking down Aris will require more outright offense to prevent him from setting up his own oppressive pressure.

Battle End

Metrophanes and Aris stand on opposite ends of the mountaintop.

Speech bubbles of people booing appear all over the screen.

Aris: Even when it’s just an illusion, I can never win at Gaiapolis can I?

Metrophanes: At least you had a successful revolution for people to remember you for. Your own people see you as a hero.

Aris: I’d rather be known as a failure with Dark Lord Cyrus still alive and in his right mind. That matters more to me than reputation.

Aris: Sorry. This place brings back bad memories.

Metrophanes: It does for me too.

Aris: I didn’t want to say this before our battle, but Drakon told me he feels like you’ve barely spent time with him in the past few days. I think this tournament is getting you too fixated on your reputation.

Metrophanes: Or it simply made me realize how the world outside one small village thinks of me. I don’t want to neglect Drakon, but I can’t let my legacy be a burden on him. There’s only so much longer my life will last.

Metrophanes: Two more rounds, I just need to win two rounds. Then my legacy will include winning a tournament of the world’s strongest, and I won’t need to bother with this any longer.

Aris: Just be sure you don’t lose sight of your reason why. We both have a history of that.

Chapter END

Note from the Author: I had Hákon in mind as a potential fight early on, but I didn’t expect him to also stick around a little after, that conversation was in fact the last part of this chapter to be written. As always let me know what you think, and the next chapter will arrive the week after next.

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