Scene #9588: Regulus Makes Petra Fight A Large Mechanical Apple

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	It's the height of the afternoon in this America's Bay Area, warm and sunny with a breeze coming off of the water through the city. A short distance away from a large warpgate hub that's made this San Francisco somewhat of a multiversal metropolis, the Concord University of Media Studies is settled in the middle of the city, carving out a campus green surrounded by educational and administrative buildings. In between classes, Petra has made it a habit to lounge on a rooftop she's not strictly allowed to be on during good weather. Higher up than the tops of the palm trees, she's positioned herself to be watching over the bustling movement of students below, using her messenger bag as a pillow and with her laptop on her chest to read an article for class. This is a city where Regulus would get looks, if she emerged from the Salesforce warpgate hub sitting on top of a giant robotic apple, but not terrified calls to the police. Once she brings it onto campus, people will start getting worried, but by then she's already won.
Regulus	Regulus doesn't have the ability to build a Petra-detector but she's listened and has an idea of where she can go to find her! The giant mechanical apple in question has two feet for the purpose of walking around through the streets of San Francisco while Beatles rock music plays from unseen speakers. The apple is bright red, much like APPLe, and Regulus is seated within it in an open air cockpit. She has a control panel with at least two joysticks and numerous buttons. A record player is seated behind her and occassionally a little mechanical arm replaces a needle or the record in question so that the music can continue uninterrupted. As she nears the college she takes out a spyglass and peers up and through it but fails to immediately spot Petra. "It seems...I've already been defeated..." Regulus laments. "Or perhaps...Yes...! I must merely be...defeeted!" She pushes a foot-shaped button and with a CHUNK the feet fall away from underneath the apple before tumbling off to the side. Meanwhile, the 'stem' of the apple pushes up and splits into two 'leaves' that spin rapidly like a helicopter propeller. The mechanical apple floats up in the sky, bobbing from side to side as it slowly rises up into the air! Above the palm trees and--- "Ahoy there..!" Regulus says while peering through her spyglass. "Across the starboard bow, Petra!" The giant mechanical apple floats over to the rooftop and hovers in the air as Regulus draws out a small stack of notecards. "-----!" Regulus shouts but between the helicopter propellers and the rock music it's basically impossible to make out what she's saying. Regulus frowns and draws out a loudspeaker and tries again. "Petra! I swore revenge when you attacked me with a mecha! And now that time has come! It is your turn to jump and run!" She said it in the wrong order!!! She pauses as she sees that Petra is on a laptop. "Is this a bad time...?" Another pause. "I mean--too bad! That's revenge for you!" She pushes a button and a slot along the giant mechanical apple's underside opens up and launches out a vinyl record, propelled in the air by tiny apple-shaped thrusters, and then spins around in a circle real fast! "Pretty impressive huh? This is the first mech I ever made! It had feet too but I couldn't get it to fly with the feet--"
Petra Soroka	With the music blaring out of the cartoonish robot, the natural reaction for the people of San Francisco is to part around it. The general sentiment seems to just be 'another street performer...', as Regulus passes by other people with speakers, guitars, and megaphones, though none of them have a mech. In this particular environmental context, the sound of a mechanical ka-chunk and then whirring isn't enough for Petra to look away from her schoolwork, because sometimes sounds just happen in the city. The sound of helicopter rotors accompanied by rock music, however, is. She jumps up and snaps her laptop shut, pointing an accusing finger at the apple mech. "You motherfucker-! Here?! Really?!" Here at school, all Petra's wearing is a square cut crop top, jeans, and sneakers, with her mirror hanging off of her neck as a fashion choice rather than a tactical one. The roof is flat gravel and tar, with a locked access door down into the rest of the student union building-- Petra probably scaled up here by climbing the walls, rather than taking the stairs. It takes her several seconds to take the Silver out of her mirror, dump it out, and have a morphmetal puddle extrude ferrofluid tendrils that pick up and pack away her schoolwork into her backpack, while she glares at Regulus. "Oh my god! What if I was in class?! That'd be so embarrassing!" Petra twists into a readied stance with her shoes scuffing the gravel, then takes off at a run towards the launched vinyl record, jumping onto it and using its rotational velocity to jump a second time, landing on top of the access door's roof. The morphmetal rockets back towards her, punching holes in the vinyl and snapping into her hands, pooling in her palms to form the handle of a big hammer. She looks out off the side of the roof, and sees that people are already gathering to see what's going on. She awkwardly waves down, and then groans, sliding a palm down her face. "Fine! You'll get your mech fight! But don't think you'll embarrass me twice by winning!" Petra wields the hammer as if it's weightless, telekinetically assisted, to double jump and flip in the air over the apple mech. With a spin-accelerated overhead, she throws the hammer downwards towards the cockpit controls to smash some of the buttons, then lands on the other edge of the roof while the hammer flies back through the air towards her. "It is though, right? Detatching the feet's a decent solution, but you're basically never getting those back. That's why people use landing gear, but it really ruins the aesthetic, unless you build around it like I do with the ratbots."
Regulus	''You motherfucker-! Here?! Really?!'' The other options were too scary but Regulus can't admit that because Petra will make fun of her so Regulus stalls for a second before saying, "I didn't know many places...to find you!" hoping that will deflect a little by her finding Hydrochoeria too spooky a target. If she lost there she'd probably be made to do that obstacle course like THREE TIMES. ''What if I was in class?'' "Then i would've gone to get pizza and come back...later"! Regulus is trying her best to make this banal comments as dramatically as if she were a real mad scientist. She's doing her best but she doesn't really have the malice. She isn't really worried about being a bit embarrassing in front of Petra's classmates though. If she had that sort of shame she wouldn't be making a mechanical apple in the first place. ''Don't think you'll embarrass me twice by winning!'' Regulus would honestly be surprised if she won too. Petra's been way more involved in mech fights than she has and just also in the multiverse than she has and seems way more comfortable with general violence and definitely has more experience building these sorts of things. But that's sort of the point! She's not going to become a better machinist without throwing her work at another engineer. It's just in this case 'throwing her work' is a little more literal in this case. But that doesn't mean she's going to admit it. "We'll see about that...!" She says instead. It's like the street races she used to enjoy. Naturally, a basic platforming challenge like one spinning vinyl record is child's play for Petra! Well within expectations! Ho ho! But Regulus wasn't exactly expecting a thrown hammer. "Yiik!" Regulus shouts out an indie rpg in surprise as she throws herself herself to the side to avoid getting clobbered by the hammer PERSONALLY which means instead of smashing Regulus's skull in, it instead slams against a bunch of the buttons before rebounding back to Petra. Regulus's machine swings around wildly and for a bit as the control system is damaged! Regulus, dizzily, pops open an access panel and does some quick rewiring with one hand while stabilizing the Applemachine with her free hand. "Ah...ahaha... Whew..." Regulus sits up, banging her head against the 'roof' of the access panel, grimaces, and then throws herself back into her pilot's chair. "I decided not getting them back is fine since it means someone will find them and have a nice surprise!" Regulus says. "I tried wheels but the Applemachine kept tilting over--so I stuck with feet so it wouldn't take me another two months--! But--" She pushes forward the other joystick and floats a little higher, increasing the platform challenge moderately by increasing the distance between Petra and the Applemachine. "That was just a taste...!" She pushes a button. Nothing happens. "Okay uh guess that couldn't handle the shock..." Regulus murmurs. "Okay guess---" She tentatively tries pressing another button, wincing like she half expects there to be another error, but this time...it works! Another pair of vinyl records are launched out (it's important to have the spinny platforms so Petra can get into hammering range just by jumping. The point is exercise after all!) but little chutes open up along the side of the Applemachine as two floating apples on each side fly out and hover above each vinyl player. They start spinning the rope around across the record at a quick clip, trying to interrupt vinyl platforming hopping with JUMPROPE HAZARDS along the way! "I'm pretty proud of the Apple Leaf Propeller, though, it fits the theming--!"
Petra Soroka	"Pfuh!!! You're so embarrassing!" Petra breathes out in exasperation while balancing on the edge of the rooftop. It's not that she's worried about Regulus being embarrassing to herself! She's worried about Regulus being embarrassing to Petra! It's one thing to have people at CMU know who she is in theory, it's another to have to fight a mech up here on the rooftop like it's a stage! People are gonna be posting this on TikTok! Petra walks along the upraised rim and twirls the hammer in her hands, scoping out whatever Regulus is fumbling to do in the cockpit next. She idly remembers her recent conversation with Nika about Sterling's hammer, and bemoans internally that she can't attach jets to the Silver, and then wonders if she can mimic that effect with her telekinesis... which is alright, but doesn't hit the same. By then, Regulus has figured out which buttons actually still work, so Petra hops twice to pick up speed, and then-- Flips up and onto the record that launches out at her again, but this time, lands on the outside edge rather than in the center, already mid-hammerswing. "If you couldn't balance the weight distribution, then all those legs did was give you a crutch! You're still too top-heavy--!" A side-swing swipes the little jumprope apple, sending it crashing through the air towards the big apple. Not waiting to see it hit, Petra leaps to the next record, repeating the attack, so that Regulus is shook by two cannon-like impacts one after the other hitting the same spot. The mech, like Petra predicted, tilts over from the weight and the hit, causing the rotors to start tugging at its flight unpredictably. "It's cute, though! Good theming! How'd you even meet APPLe, anyways?"
Regulus	Regulus doesn't know what it means to be the main character of the internet at any point in time! She might not always post, but she doesn't know she doesn't have to. She hasn't thought about it that hard! But ... it's probably okay to embarrass Petra a little? She thinks? She hasn't thought too much about how it might embarrass Petra either actually. She was mostly excited to show the Applemachine off. "You have to take risks for artistic integrity! It wouldn't feel right if it wasn't recognizably apple!" Regulus insists. Maybe next time she shouldn't make it a ''flying'' apple, but she wanted it to be the most like APPLe, her best fruit forever. And also it seemed easier to make Petra have to do jumping if she could fly up. She doubletakes as Petra knocks a jumprope apple against the Applemachine. It does hit, but Regulus swerved at the last second so that it glanced off the side of the apple. "I thought the records and the jumprope simultaneously would cause you more trouble. That's two whole things to keep track of--but no matter I--erk!" But Petra slams into the APPLemachine with a SECOND jumprope apple. The machine tilts precariously, apple bobbing rapidly from side to side at an erratic pattern. This is bad! Regulus went for a classical design with her Applemachine! That means it's designed to take THREE solid hits before being rendered inoperable! She's already been hit TWO times! Once more and she's screwed! Of course, everybody also knows that getting the last hit on a platformer boss is always the hardest too. Sometimes there's even a whole intermission where you can't strike at all--but this is a classic. Regulus knows what she has to do. The damage to the Applemachine means that Regulus can't rise the machine up any higher without risking overloading the engine keeping it up. ''How'd you even meet APPLe, anyways?'' Regulus's hand jolts as if Petra critically hit with her basic question about her life. Regulus avoids revealing details about her 'backstory' as much as she can, but it's hard to dodge a question about APPLe because he's her pal and if she doesn't answer the question, that might be seen as disrespecting produce and it could even start the turnip wars again. "W-well... I've known him almost my whole life. We've looked out after each other ever since we left home." Well, it's probably just true that APPLe does more of the 'looking after' and Regulus does more of the 'dragging into trouble' but she seems to believe the sentiment at least. "He ... knew my mum." She exhales, "A-anyway! Final Apple Form! Activate!" She slams her fist on a discoball button. In addition to the two spinning vinyl platforms and two remaining jumprope apples, the platforms start tilting from left to right as if mimicking the movements of the struggling Applemachine. But that's not all! Panels start sliding open on the Applemachine, gradually taking on elements to make it look more like a discoball than an apple, though the panneling isn't wholly complete like a discoball would be. She needed space for the other slots, panels, and Regulus seating area! But Regulus, using her arcane skill, sends light careening into the Applemachine, sending big flashes of light all around the vinyl platforms, threatening to blind Petra with light along with all the other problems she's got going on! They don't hurt like Petra's actual laser beam though! It's just light! "If two things to think of simultaneously was two easy... Try four!" Regulus throws out two peace-signs with both her hands and then turns around in her seat to look for her parachute...
Petra Soroka	"You're telling that to the girl who makes all her robots look like rats! Taught by the guy who makes all his robots look like his own face." Petra has to admonish Regulus's technique, as her roboticist senior. Even though Regulus is one hundred years old! "Once you're really familiar with a certain shape, you'll learn the tricks to making it work no matter what. It takes practice!" Frankly it is entirely appropriate to embarrass Petra. If Regulus didn't even manage that, then attacking her would hardly be revenge at all. It'd just be giving Petra a toy to play with and then break and go on her merry way. "I thought the records and the jumprope simultaneously would cause you more trouble." "Are you kidding? This is practically my morning exercise routine! I'm not lazy and out of shape like you." Petra crows, while still being spun around and around due to standing on the record. In order to keep from getting sick, she has to hop off again, giving Regulus's machine time to restabilize and move to the next phase. Now, she's running back and forth along the length of the rooftop arena, like an impatient platformer protagonist waiting for the next damage window. "W-well... I've known him almost my whole life." "Oh my god." Petra skids to a stop, kicking up gravel. She stares up at the Applemachine, eyes wide. "APPLe is, like, your fucking uncle?? That's-- cute as hell???" Like a dog eagerly hopping around when its owner raises up a ball-holding hand, Petra waggles her hammer and bounces back and forth to jump at the opportunity when the vinyl platforms reappear. She runs and jumps, effortlessly bouncing on one foot on the spinning platform over the jumprope without even looking, to taunt Regulus, before the last part of the Final Apple Form is revealed. "Ha! You built this whole thing like it'd be a challenge to you, but forgot that in every single way, I'm better th-- ahh-?!" Petra has no defenses against a bunch of blinding lights! Especially not arcane ones! And if there was any doubt left that this rooftop scuffle might fly under the radar, it's erased when the Applemachine lights up bright enough that the disco-ball rays are visible even in the afternoon sun, colorfully flashing everywhere. The people on the ground, who had until now been wary and curious, whoop and cheer a bit. Petra yelps and loses her balance to cover her face, immediately getting spun around and tangled up in the jumpropes. Several more revolutions of the vinyl leave her wrapped up beyond any hope of escape, until her hammer shatters into little metal pieces and telekinetically slices all around her to turn the rope into ribbons. Out of breath, Petra staggers back up to her feet, Silver coalescing formlessly in the palm of her upraised hand. "Okay. Well, good one. That was your magic, right? Clever and thematic. You did it." "So now that you've had the chance to show off, I've gotta finish this before you steal any more of my dignity." Rather than forming any coherent weapon, the Silver lances towards the Applemachine as a singular sharp spike, more like a weaponized arcane skill. It pierces through the metal plating like tissue paper, and then blossoms into a sunburst of thorns, ripping through the electronics within. Petra immediately starts pulling ratbots out of her mirror, deploying them to magnetize to any scraps of destroyed robot that might fling off of the machine before they can rain down onto campus.
Regulus	''Taught by the guy who makes all his robots look like his own face.'' "I...don't really know that guy! But--okay, okay, I get what you mean, I'm going to practice! I just wanted to show you my first successful mech!" Regulus didn't know you could make mechs like this until she met Petra so despite being a hundred years old, she does see Petra as her roboticist senior. Regulus didn't even like robots until she saw one destroy America though, admittedly, it was because they were trying to imprison her. "Don't most people start working out in their, like, 30s?" Regulus asks, hoping for a few more years of leniency, philisophically speaking. "I sort of figured all the running around for my life I've been doing lately would count." She has been running around for her life so much lately, it feels like. ''APPLE is, like, your fucking uncle??'' Regulus flinches. Petra is learning too much about her! She looks over to the 'Self Destruct' button as it tempts her to just blow up her robot and flee right now. (Regulus would not succeed the Don't Press Me Lobotomy Corp challenge without foreknowledge that it would kill everybody around her. That said, the Self Destruct button doesn't actually blow up her robot, it doesn't actually do anything. Regulus couldn't figure out how to make the Self Destruct Button work without being caught in the blast radius. It's a Self Destruct Button of Principle.) But then... one of her tricks actually works! Regulus's own sunglasses help obscure that she's actually totally surprised by this. One more reason to wear sunglasses that doesn't have anything to do with protecting her eyes from the sun or her own arcane skill. Emboldened by cheers and something working, Regulus is all too happy to talk about her arcane skill especially because it's not talking about her life prior to the multiverse or her era being reversed for that matter. "Oh--yeah! Light manipulation. It's really useful for sneaking around and putting on absolutely killer light shows." ''I've gotta finish this before you steal any more of my dignity.'' "Huh?" Regulus says, having NOT CONSIDERED that PETRA might have a phase two of her own. "Oh--bugger me--!" Yeah, of course Regulus wasn't exactly going for a real fight and on some level something liek this was probably wholly within expectations, but she still winces as smoke bursts out of the vinyl launcher and the apple shooters. "AH... watch out below, friends...! We're experiencing technical difficulties...!" She grabs her vinyl record player as the APPLemachine starts plummeting downward slowly. She leaps out of the Applemachine towards the street below, her bright red parachute poofing out as she tries to twist around to thank Petra for dealing with the shrapnel and also say she'll get her next time, next time. But she ends up twisting around in the strings. "Ahhh! Looks like you got me, Petra! But I'm not gonna give up!" She has no friggin' idea on how to build something that can withstand a direct strike from the Silver like that though so uh ... problem for Future Regulus.