Season 36, Week 1
Arnaud G. Vasquez
(Wild ARMs 4)
 
There have been a few grave injustices in ranking over the years. Worker 8 in Middle. Jet in Heavy. Lezard Valeth in...some division; presumably at least one of the four was a bad fit for him. But few stick out more than the case of Arnaud G. Vasquez. The drifter with the razor-sharp intellect proved that putting him in Middle was a mistake when he picked up six wins en route to an easy Middle championship. But the reranking wheel has inexplicably spun him out into his old stomping grounds... so he'll just stomp the division again! Fortunately, this season begins with a retread of his last, as Arnaud's first foe is once more a Filgaian demoness with mediocre magical offense. The same strategy will serve him well: Slow Down and proceed to dominate. Although he could probably come up with a more complex strategy, one simply isn't necessary for this fight - Mother is no more than Beatrice sleep magic or impressive vitality. Middle has already learned to fear the name of Arnaud G. Vasquez, but Arnaud will be happy to provide a review session!

V

S

Long has the League ignored, passed over and generally left out Mother over her much lesser children. And for what reason? Because she doesn't have a pretty face? Because she's not popular with the crowd? Because she's not "with it"? No matter. The true leader of the Metal Demons has arrived, and she will show those silly higher-ups just how "hip" she can be! First up, one of those Spirit of Youth brats from the latest Filgaian adventure, not unlike the punks she fought long ago. Arnaud may think he's so hot with his status and ID tricks, but let's see how well he does when he's up against a boss with nothing but his puny damage! Since he almost lost to Beatrice last season, the far stronger, original mother of demons should have no trouble mopping up this teeny-bopper. Whether it's by the cripplingly accurate status effects of Als-Magna or the sheer destructive power of some of her other hard to pronounce spells, this new-fangled Dream Chaser or whatever will learn the folly of facing the original terror of Filgaia! OH HO HO HO!


Tide
It was simple.
It was brilliant.
The real question of course, was why he didn't think about this sooner.
---

" You call that a 'razor sharp plan' ?" the master fencer questioned. The sarcasm in her voice was evident, but also something the brilliant drifter had gotten used to. Of course, he probably should've thought about this a bit more since now he had monster guts all over his clothes...

" It was a good idea at the time! I figured since she ate a demon whole, I could provide enough food to keep her occupied or until she explodes!"

" What I don't understand is how Arnaud's crazy plan worked..." Yulie spoke timidly.

" He probably just wondered what he could do to defeat himself. The difference between him and a demon that eats everything doesn't seem to be that large anyway", Raquel concluded.

"...What?!"

Arnaud G. Vasquez: 38
Mother: 33

SageAcrin
Arnaud is smart.

A vast, near-encyclopedic memory, fast thinking, fast acting when needed.

Mother's biggest claim to intelligence is managing to brainwash a already not-particularly-bright demon into doing her bidding.

Oh, and trying to destroy worlds.

Y'know, because it sounded good.

As the cliche goes, the results were obvious.

---

Mother groaned on the floor.

Her battle was lost.

"...that was incredible!" Yulie said, stunned.

"I know. Not only did he challenge her to a chess match, but he poisoned the pieces, board and table for the inevitable attempt to eat them, then him, out of frustration!" Jude said, as he cheered for Arnaud.

"...I don't have the heart to tell him chess pieces don't come in non-toxic." Arnaud said, shrugging, as he looked up at the cheering crowd.