Scene #6333: Marksman vs Juggernaut

Owner	Pose
Lemeza Kosugi	The Shrine of Adversity. An improbably-good arena, where one can fight all manner of dangerous foes without holding back or worrying about that pesky "danger" factor. The perfect place for one to hone their battle prowess. And among those availing themselves of the opportunity is the world's strongest archaeologist. Although for the time being, he's eating curry in one of the waiting rooms, resting after a couple fierce bouts and hoping a certain yggdroid managed to receive his invitation to spar.
Septette Arcubielle	"I understand you've changed things up a bit," Septette says as she rounds the corner into the waiting room. No sword by her side this time, unless it's under her shawl- that sort of ruse only works once. "Heard something about claws on the radio a while back. You must have a high opinion of them if you wanted a rematch." Her eyes drift down to the bowl of curry in his hands, then back up to his face with one eyebrow slightly arched. "I've got an arena loaded up for when you're finished. This way." The room she leads him to is all dull gunmetal gray, with hexagonal-textured ground, walls, and a ceiling. Not much by way of cover here, but Septette isn't precisely the sort to make use of that in the first place. She turns on her heel maybe twenty feet from the entry-point of the simulation and holds out her hands palms-up by her sides. "Fire when ready, Mr. Kosugi." Well, her confidence certainly hasn't flagged since their last meeting.
Lemeza Kosugi	"Yep! New weapon, new options." Lemeza shows off his Tenno-styled claws, complete with the Treasure of Life socketed into one of them. "Truth be told, having too many weapons on me slowed me down in the past, but these are lightweight enough to work." He quickly finishes up his curry, puts the bowl away, and follows Septette to the arena she'd set up. Lemeza takes stock of the proffered battlefield. Nowhere to hide, but it's got walls, so it'll do. Maybe he can get the hefty yggdroid to knock loose some of the ground to his benefit? Anyway, she's offering him first shot, so might as well take it. He draws his pistol, aims directly at his target, and pulls the trigger. Not exactly a flashy opener for the guy. "I wonder. What /have/ you been up to since we last met?"
Septette Arcubielle	Plink. The bullet passes through Septette's shawl, strikes something metallic inside, and bounces off. Somewhere behind her it audibly pings against the far wall of the arena, embedding in the soft metal after bleeding off most of its momentum on her frame. "Oh, you know, the same sort of thing," she says with a put-on casual tone and a slight grin. Her hands ball up into fists; legs tense with a liminally audible shriek of piano-wire tendons. "Killing monsters. Defending mankind. Hopefully-" She explodes forward in an alarming dash, throwing a straight punch right at Lemeza's jaw and scattering fragments of metal where her talons ripped the floor. "-staying sharp. But we'll see."
Lemeza Kosugi	Though he's seen it before, Lemeza's still not quite used to the yggdroid's crazy speed. And he's actually a bit surprised that his gunshot did /nothing/ this time. Curious. Still, he saw something like this attack coming, and as Septette dashes toward him, he slides off to one side. He misses the punch itself, but ends up catching the razor edge of a foot-talon and drawing a bit of blood. "Well, you're definitely sharp and pointy, but I don't think that's what you meant. And I see you've armored up since the last time." Lemeza takes a split second to consider his options -- then has what he considers a Really Good Idea. He hooks a claw onto Septette's foot-talon-thing, uses the momentum to swing himself back around toward her back, and drives his shiny claws right into what is hopefully something that takes significant damage. "You were curious about how well my claws work, right? Let's find out, shall we?"
Septette Arcubielle	The grappling maneuver works precisely as advertised- partly due to Lemeza's consummate skill at all manner of platformery shenanigans, and partly because Septette is as solid a handhold as one could hope to have. The attack itself, however, does not. It pierces her shawl, goes around her spine and between her tan ceramic 'ribs', strikes directly at her glowing core, and... Plink. Seems like that isn't a boss weakpoint after all. In retaliation, Septette twists her left arm around at an inhuman angle to try and grab Lemeza's wrist: if successful, she'll flip him over her head and slam him onto the floor in front of her on his back! "Could use a bit of sharpening," she observes dryly. "I think you're made of tougher stuff than they are."
Lemeza Kosugi	"Oh COME ON! That was a direct hit!" Yep, Lemeza's frustrated. "And I jabbed at you REALLY HARD!" Septette grabs Lemeza's wrist. "I'll have you know I sharpened them--" Septette flings Lemeza. "--just before you got--gyah--" Lemeza hits the ground. "--here!" Good news though: Lemeza was paying attention, and made sure to land into a backwards roll, putting some distance between him and the bulwark of impenetrability before him. Gonna have to play this one really carefully, now. He takes his time. He sends a couple bullets toward Septette, aiming each one slightly differently, but his goal here isn't to do damage -- it's to find a goddamned weak spot on this literal tank. "C'mon, I know I broke through your armor before. There's gotta be a way around this!"
Septette Arcubielle	Plink. Plink plink. This is bizarre. Has she actually gotten tougher? Was she somehow lowballing her durability in their last fight? ... Did someone swap out Lemeza's bullets with under-loaded cartridges? One even catches her right in the eye: it flattens into a metal disc on impact as she stares at him, then falls to the ground almost comically. "You'll get it eventually, I'm positive," she says in a sprightly and encouraging tone. "In the meantime, be a dear for me and hold still, won't you?" A ball of fire materializes in her palm, and she lobs it towards Lemeza in a lazy arc. On impact with the ground, it erupts into a widening splotch of sticky flames.
Lemeza Kosugi	"Hold still--Hold Still!?" Ohh man. Septette did NOT just tell an evasive and mobile explorer to hold still. Lemeza does the opposite of oblige. He runs under the flame's arc straight at Septette, avoiding it completely, then spins and /backflips/ to land on top of Septette's shoulders... shoulder-analogues... whatever. On top of Septette. "How about we see just what's under this stupid thing you're wearing!" The tungsten-unobtanium alloy may be uncrackable, but a shawl's still a shawl; Lemeza sticks his claws into the shawl and tries to rip it off and apart. Good thing Septette's a robot or this would be getting rather raunchy right now.
Septette Arcubielle	She doesn't actually look any different once the cloak's peeled away, strangely- her anatomy is elaborate enough, with its subtle cogs and tucked-away electronics, that it could've varied a bit, but there aren't any gross alterations; no hidden plate-armor or ballistic vests under there for certain. Septette, of course, reacts instantaneously, because that's what Septette does. Before he's even finished pulling her shawl off with his claws, her right hand's coming up in an uppercut to his solar plexus, aiming to dislodge him from her shoulders- and possibly even knock him back into the still-sizzling pool of magical fire. "Exceptionally rude of you, Lemeza. Next thing I know you'll be throwing up curry in my hair."
Lemeza Kosugi	Uh-huh. Everything's just as before. Curious. Lemeza's looking up and down Septette's various machinery bits looking for a point that takes damage. But, the droid's right - this /is/ exceptionally rude. Possibly a violation of robot privacy laws, even. But this is a /fight/. Can't be holding back because of silly things like decency. Septette takes a swing. Lemeza casually hops off her shoulders to check her out from another angle (seriously, this has to be illegal in certain jurisdictions). Septette misses. Lemeza finally finds what looks like a good place to strike, between some rather-exposed cogs and an important-looking circuit board. "You know what's rude? NOT TAKING DAMAGE IN A FIGHT!" Right after he vents his fury vocally, he starts venting it physically and just UNLOADS. Stab, stab stab stab stab STAB STAB STAB!! Lemeza starts FURIOUSLY hacking away at Septette's body, sticking his pointy claws anywhere they'll fit. Honestly, it's a bit of a gamble given the lack of damage he's done so far, but it's the best he's got with the tools he brought.
Septette Arcubielle	Lemeza's enthusiasm for murder is a fair bit terrifying. Were Septette a being of squishy flesh and blood, she'd have about a dozen sucking chest wounds and a punctured pericardium right about now- his claws scrabble and slide over her ribcage with a shrieking din of metal-on-metal. Somewhere in her shoulder, a weak point on a hydraulic cable is nicked, drawing a dribble of thin black fluid. That marks the point at which Septette decides she's had enough of studying Lemeza's onslaught. She draws back her arm, unfolds a wickedly-curved three-foot blade from between the 'bones', and sweeps it horizontally quickly enough to whistle through the air. "Good job. Are you quite done?"
Lemeza Kosugi	Success! Upon seeing his blade find purchase on a hydraulic cable, Lemeza grins. That's exactly what he was looking for. Unfortunately, he got just a wee bit too into the murder-stab bit and notices the incoming blade a bit too late. He does have enough time to deflect the main strike with his claws, though the blow is enough to send him flying and skidding across the floor. Doesn't matter though; he knows where to aim. "Apparently I am, since you knocked me away so unceremoniously... but yeah. I got what I needed." Lemeza refocuses himself and falls back onto his pistol - he knows it'll probably plink again, but there's something he wants to try out. He finally starts banking his shots, the first ones aimed at the ground and bouncing upward toward what are presumably Septette's joints: shoulders, elbows, knees, and whatever you call that part where the leg joins the torso.
Septette Arcubielle	Septette does precisely the opposite of defending against Lemeza's gunshots: she sprints towards him, her momentum adding to the bullets' velocity on impact like a head-on collision. Some of them might have even slowed her down a tad, but it's difficult to tell. Unfortunately for Lemeza, her closing the distance in such a manner now pens him in between the lake of fire behind, and her sweeping blade in front: it'll be exceptionally difficult to wiggle out of this one, and her blade's glowing an ominous red hue. "Don't get cocky over bloodying my nose," she chides gently- her playful tone, as usual, a sparkling counterpoint to the high-velocity violence. "That's a five-minute patch."
Lemeza Kosugi	Oh, right. The fire thing's still burning. Lemeza sighs, and lets himself get slapped through the fire and flames, using the time he would have spent dodging to instead raise his shield. The blow still hurts. But! It's the distance that matters. After that tragedy of positioning, he gets up and starts shooting while backing up further and further. To the untrained eye, it might look like Lemeza's a rat being trapped into a corner. But his expression will betray to Septette that he's not really too worried - if their previous match didn't do that already.
Septette Arcubielle	The distance? What distance? Septette sprints back in- right through her own flames, getting liquefied metal from the floor splashed on her talons and lower legs in the process. One hand tries to wrench Lemeza's shield away; the other goes right for his throat as the blade retracts, trying to simply grab him and lift him off the floor. "You're a little bit tougher than I remember, too. Need to stop softballing it. Did your investigation of that life gem turn up something? I'd hate to think I have myself to blame for this."
Lemeza Kosugi	"Catchmeifyoucan!" Lemeza rattles off his taunt as fast as he can, launching himself up the wall even before Septette actually pushes off the ground. His anticipation was definitely, absolutely necessary - the murderdroid does manage to close in... very, VERY quickly. Too quickly. She rips away Lemeza's shield, and the other sinks deeply into his side -- it was meant for his throat, but at least that anticipation was good for /something/. Jeez though. The shock of it all keeps him from answering Septette about the life jewel. His upward momentum didn't suffer, at least. Accepting the fact that he basically just got bodied, he ignores the gaping wound and kicks off with both legs against Septette's face, getting as much height as he can from that. Then a jump in midair. Then a couple claw swipes at the wall for even more altitude. Then... he plummets. Claws forward, he's dropping like a fleshy rock at the pain train with a devastating blow of his own: a face stab so hard even adamantium won't be able to tank it out.
Septette Arcubielle	Piercing Septette's face would be almost impossibly impressive: pieces like that cannot be repaired, only replaced with the finite supply of salvaged parts from other yggdroids. That she's kept her own face for this long implies that nothing in all those centuries of monster-slaying has managed what Lemeza is attempting. He fails, of course- the claws glance off her cheek, nick another hydraulic tube in her shoulder, and draw sparks all down the length of her arm. But she looks distinctly impressed at his audacity in trying. That doesn't stop her from bringing up her elbow, almost casually, towards his face. His own falling momentum might screw him here.
Lemeza Kosugi	KA-THWACK. Lemeza's face collides with Septette's elbow, and that's the end of that. He crumples to the ground, dazed and bloodied enough that continuing really isn't viable. He's conscious at any rate, though. "By the Philosophers, what are you MADE of!?" He's conversing from the ground, since standing up at this point would just make the bleeding and dizziness worse. "I threw everything I had and you just /stood/ there. How?" He sighs, lays his head back, and waits for the simulation to clean everyone up.
Septette Arcubielle	The simulation fades out, replacing the dull metal arena with a stark white room. The drip-drip of hydraulic fluids from Septette's scratches comes to a halt, and her shredded cloak pieces itself back together- presumably Lemeza will start feeling a bit perkier, as well. She offers him a hand up from the floor, smiling brightly. "Enchantments can be used to make materials stronger. Magic can also be used to execute 'programs' or gather information. Consider that in the context of an evolutionary algorithm," she says simply. Then, shifting to a brighter tone: "I'm amazed how quickly you became proficient with those claws, yourself. That grapple-to-backstab wasn't something I thought you capable of, Mr. Kosugi."
Lemeza Kosugi	"I've had a bit of practice." Lemeza hops up with Septette's help, fully back to his senses and patched up as expected. He grimaces, clearly feeling like he could've done much better than he did in that fight. "So you're saying you... adapted yourself to my style of fighting. I guess I should've seen that coming." He looks at his weapon set: whip, pistol, claws. Yeah, everything but the claws was the same. "I'll figure something out." Foreshadowing another rematch? He then raises the claw with that life jewel embedded in it. "I've got this thing working to /some/ degree. I've been able to heal other people and bring at least one person back to life... but I can't get it to work on me no matter how hard I try." A sigh. "I think I know why that is, too: the Mother's soul must still be in here to some capacity, and she remembers what I did to her in La-Mulana. Guess I should be thankful this thing hasn't exploded in my face, huh?"
Septette Arcubielle	"Not precisely," the killbot replies: "Not to you in particular. But if I had to guess about that gem..." She moves to exit the simulation, walking back towards its subtle entry-point, and glances back over your shoulder. "It probably thinks it can outlive you, Lemeza. Magic items tend not to respect sell-by dates. You can take that one to the bank."