The Proving Grounds: Tau (Jacogos) vs. Damage Inc. (Damacyn)

[Jacogos]

Colosseum Match

Deciding Factor: Death or Surrender

Time Limit: None

Subject Tau vs. Katerine Fitzgerald, Brittany Jones, and Klara Yelizarova

---

The air was tense today as the sun rose to its highest point, marking the hour and letting everyone know it was time for it all to begin. The Shade pondered his options as he overlooked the stadium today, wondering how this was going to play out. It was Tau's first time in the Proving Grounds since Sigma's... unfortunate disappearance. It was a momentous occasion, and one he should be excited for. Yet all it did was make him... anxious.

If these experiments can't do what I program them to do, there's no more use in pouring resources into them... he thought grimly, bringing up the opposition's information on his chair's built in computer screen. Three girls making up a team of demolitions experts known as Damage Inc. It was almost comical, and yet he was impressed by their track record. They were quite the team...

But very few things could stand up to Sigma... Let's see how they can handle Tau...

Deciding it was time to start the ceremonies, the Shade stood up and began to introduce the competitors, while below, the gates into the colosseum began to open slowly...

---

The four warriors enter at opposite sides of the ring: Tau from the north, and Damage Inc. from the south. At first, they see a dirt field surrounded by tall stone walls, reminiscent of a Roman Colosseum in aesthetic, though much better tended. No sooner than they are a few feet into the field, however, the entire world shifts around them. The air thins, gravity loosens, and time itself seems to halt as the arena disappears and is replaced by...

Spoiler:  

... an old, crumbling rooftop, filled with scattered debris and outcropping that are likely unused air conditioning units, vents, solar panels, etc.

The entire roof is roughly 200 meters square, oriented with Tau at one corner and the girls on the opposite one. In the center, a small crumbling hole leads down the next floor, an open area that seems to have never been occupied in the first place. The rooftop is littered with random cover, making it hard to move in a straight line for more than a few yards. The building itself is a skyscraper, standing alone for roughly a football field in any direction as the tallest building in sight. Looking down off the sides, you can see the clouds and not much else.

As all of this information processes, a large flock of ravens caw out in unison and scatter to the wind, leaving the combatants alone on top of the world. Meanwhile the night air howls, waiting for blood to be spilled. With the moon looming in the distance, perhaps there may be enough for the crows to feast well.

---

(The height of the building causes the air to be thin, so be careful of overexertion. In addition, as the fight goes on, the rooftop will become increasingly unstable, especially if explosive ordinance is used. After both players post twice [i.e. at the start of round 3], rooftop begins to fall down to the next level, starting from the hole in the center. Every round after that continues this process, moving towards the edges of the roof until the entire rooftop has caved in by my 10th post. Other than this, no other interference will be had, so let's have some fun with it! As is traditional, you shall have the first post, Dama!)

[Damacyn]

Somewhere in Oregon - Some hours ago

Three young women were chilling out in the living room of a rather untidy appartment, a girl with a white mohawk was barking obsceneties at a TV that was casting a Baseball match, a besbectacled petite girl was reading a sappy romantic novel and an amazonian woman was reading some Dostoevskij while lifting a kettlebell.

"I heard you girls need a job" Said a woman in her early 20's while stepping in the room.
"D? How did you-YOU MOTHERFU**ER IT WAS OUT, OUT!!!" Barked the punk girl at the TV.
"Hey D, what you got for us this time?" said the girl with the glasses while closing her book.
"Have a look at this..." said the woman while throwing a file on a table, it was labelled Top Secret and it immediatly caught the attention of the girls.

"What is this? The new masterwork of some post-modern artist?" Joked the girl with the glasses, but her smirk faded from her face when she checked out the intel on Subject Tau. "Oh Boy..."

"Hey lemme see!" Said the punk while snatching away the file, her face blanked shortly after. "THIS IS FU**ED UP!!! How are we supposed to destroy that thing?!?" Barked the punk at D.

The woman just smirked "If you girls aren't up for the task I can always call another team..."

"We are best, we will crush that thing no matter how spooky is, it's no match for our strenght! right girls?" said the amazon with a tick slavic accent while closing her book and putting on a pair of spiked gauntlets.
"I-I don't know Big K, I don't even know if it's woth the trouble" Said the girl with the glasses clearly worried.

"I knew you would say that!" said the woman with a grin while opening a briefcase.

---

"THAT WAS FU**ED UP!!!" yelled surprised and a bit frightened the white haired punk.
"Wow, but the scenic is beautiful... and is a biiiiiig drop down here!" said the girl with the glasses while looking amazed from a ledge.
"Girls, I see enemy!" said Big K while squinting in front of her.

The girls gathered and checked their equipment, The woman with the glasses, Katerine or Kat, brought with her a couple of pipe bombs, four C4 charges that needed assembly and 20 meters of fuse. The punk girl, Brittany or BJ, bought with her 4 molotovs, her trusty knife and a snub nose that she hid in the sleeve.

"What about you Big K?" asked Kat
"Tsk! I need no weapon, My knuckles are like steel!" boasted the amazon while bumping her fists, producing a loud metallic clank, The other two girls just shrugged.

"Alright I'm going to check out this guy, it will be Hit and Run!" said BJ with a grin while speeding to Tau on her roller blades.
"Good Idea! I'll go check out the-awwww..." Kat said while kneeling on the ground, she was desperately gasping for air.
"Kat are you well?" Asked distressed Big K while helping her friend getting back up.
"Y-Yeah... it seem that the air here is thinner... go after BJ, I'll check out the stability of the building" Big K nodded and headed towards Tau.

---

"Yo! Nice day for a match, uh?" Said cheerfully D to the Shade while she made herself confortable on a seat near him, she even bought pop-corns and coke!

---

(OOC : This is going to be one hell of a match! xD Also, what is your time zone? I'm GMT +1)

[Jacogos]

Combat Initiated.

Scanning Area...

...

Scan Complete. Loading Personal Interface...

Visual, Auditory, and Logical Database Online.

The world bloomed into existence around Subject Tau as its sensory mechanisms began feeding it information about the world around it, slowly coming to an understanding of where it was and what was happening. The first bits of information were hand-fed to it:

You are Subject Tau.

Ah, yes. For some reason, this seemed right. Familiar. Almost... as if it had already known this fact before it was stated. That made sense. Very well. What else?

You are an android possessing amazing capabilities.

Fascinating. The power that it felt within it... It stirred faintly, slowly whirring to life, but it was not accessible yet. Tau would have to be patient. It knew this, somehow. Instead of focusing within it, then, it should begin looking around. The small, basketball-sized orb of red light began to shift slightly as Tau 'looked' around; it was this orb of light, strangely enough, and would stay that way until later. It was not sure how it knew that, but it did.

The area around Subject Tau was a building, the rooftop of one to be precise. The results of the android's on-board computer scan were now being fed to it, giving it some precise and interesting information. The building stood alone, hundreds of yards tall, and was probably the only real place that it could exist for the moment. The floor that it hovered over currently was structurally unstable, however, and would likely begin to crumble away within the hour. That was not good. Though Tau floated for the moment, it was only a hover, not flight, and the Subject technically was required to stay ground-locked for all intents and purposes, no higher than two feet off the floor.

Luckily, there was a floor below this one, though it was a small distance down, quite a drop if the floor gave way. Tau would have to look for an opportunity to reach this floor after some section of the roof had already given away, to minimize damage.

Unfortunately, Tau didn't have much time to continue to think on this; currently, two humans, according to its visuals, were approaching Tau, one rapidly, one slowly behind the first. All that it could tell currently was that the quick one had some things attached to her feet that allowed her faster velocity, while the slow one was larger and seemed to have some things attached to her fists. Also, both were female. That might be important. It thought.

Before Tau could think any more, one last thought was processed to it, in a firm, commanding tone that it could not ignore.

Destroy your opponents.

"Very well then," Tau spoke aloud, a monotone and non-gendered voice that didn't quite sound as robotic as one might think. "Let us begin."

[Damacyn]

"Here it is! I guess..." said BJ a bit confused, she was expecting something more... threatening than a shimmering red basketball. She took a photo of the android from her pocket, and compared incredulously the photo to the hoovering ball.
"Aw c'mon ya got to be kidding me!" She said with a disappointed pout.
"Don't let your guard down, Appeareance can deceive!" Said Big K, while looking warily at the ball. Even if the ball was standing mostly motionless, she knew the Thing was preparing an ambush.

And then Tau spoke.

"Whoa! this thing is alive!" Said startled BJ while raising her gun at Tau.
"C'mon little robot! Come out from your cocoon, I'm ready to squash you!" Boasted Big K while assuming a boxing stance, whatever that thing will do she's ready to retaliate.

---

"Mmmmmh.... The place is going to collapse anytime soon" Said worried Kat while inspecting the hole.
She pondered a bit, looking at the hole and then at the corners of the roof, she had an idea, an awful but spectacularly awful idea.
She even grinned widely at the awfulness of the idea and with her googles she looked like a mad scientist ready to break a law of nature and common sense.

She took out the wiring from her backpack and tied an end around some debris, she almost fainted due to the lack of oxygen but she was determined in executing her "evil" plan.

---

(Ooc : Sorry if late, I had some issues with my connection)

[Jacogos]

It appeared that the two human women were speaking to it. Fascinating. Tau's processors whirred quietly as it slowly hovered forward, its visual receptors focusing first on the loud one, then on the big one.

"I am Subject Tau. We are fated to do battle this day. What might I call you, before you are eventually reduced to ash?" the android asked, its natural curiosity lending it to inquiries before actual combat ensued. It could feel the tension in the air, within itself; Tau knew it would soon be time to battle.

In fact, it might even be at that moment. No sooner than the last few words left its sound system, an electrical surge began to well up within its core, waiting to be used at its discretion. A quiet readout gave it direction:

This electrical discharge can stun opponents. It has a short range; use it wisely.

Musing to itself, Tau realized that it had very little time with which to utilize this weapon it was being given. Though far from lethal, every advantage mattered... did it not? Therefore, while the two women seemed distracted by its spherical form, it discharged the energy.

Crackling with electricity, the red orb shot forth two pulses of energy, one towards each of the nearby women. Splitting the attack into two was less powerful than just one pulse, so the shock would not be nearly enough to paralyze. However, it was still enough electricity to jar the nerves for a short time, perhaps even cause one of them to back off while Tau awaited its next form of attack.

Speaking of which, Tau realized that attacking right then might have been the wrong way to start this match, considering it was 2v1. Noting this with a faceless grimace, Subject Tau retreated a few feet to await their reactions.

[Damacyn]

"AAAAARGH!!! YOUSONOFAB***H!!!" Yelled in pain BJ, ignoring the request to give her name by the talking basketball, while the zap was painful it wasn't enough to stun her, rather the only damage was a spikier mohawk.
"That's it I'm going to kill this bad motherf***er!" she barked while she charged her gun.

Big K grimaced in pain but she sustained no real damage, except making her angry. "You little bad robot! I'm going to teach you to not hurt BJ or any of my friends!" She crashed her fists togheter, producing a loud and threathening clank, she looked at the weird "android" with a killer look, as if her eyes alone could destroy it, she was clearly furious.
"I'm Klara Yelizarova and I'm woman that is GOING TO SQUASH YOU LIKE BUG!!!" Big K boasted and sprinted towards Tau, she wanted to grab it and smash it on the ground with all her might.

Meanwhile, Kat was slowly descending into the floor below, she felt the muscles in her tiny arms almost giving up for the lack of oxygen, but her will was stronger... Stronger untill she was just a meter to touch ground and then she felt down with a loud tunk.
"Owowow!! Next time I'm gonna take a pillow with me" she said while getting up weakly.
Every step for her was heavy, it didn't helped that she had almost 20kg of explosive materials in her backpack but she kept repeating in her mind that her will was stronger, yet 100 meters seemed like a kilometer to her!

[Jacogos]

Close Combat incited. Preparing Phase 2...

Tau was not completely surprised when the two women retaliated immediately after the electrical shock; these 'humans', as it could gather, were temperamental to say the least. The fact that they hadn't simply rushed in to attack in the first place only meant that they were unsure of how to deal with Subject Tau, at least at first. Now that it had attacked, they seemed far more willing to initiate combat.

Because of this new production, Tau continued its retreat from before, though slowly adapting its route away from the corner of the building (in fact, Tau now headed northward, away from its corner). Using its current levitation feature, it glided over obstacles with little effort, hoping that the approaching woman would be slowed down by them at least a little bit.

Unfortunately, a bit of movement wasn't enough to avoid the bullet from BJ's gun. The lead projectile tore through Tau's mostly insubstantial form, causing the little android immense pain. The sphere warped and shuddered as the bullet passed through it in its entirety, flying off the edge of the building and finishing its trajectory elsewhere. Meanwhile, Tau's form nearly dropped to the ground for a moment before its processors rerouted everything for damage control. The red light flickered, then shone brighter.

Damage Estimation... Wounds Critical for Current Form...

Shifting.

And then the light got brighter. As it shone, Tau continued its pre-diagnosed path away from the two women, but slowed as its form began to alter. Within the light, the ball became something else, growing what humans called 'arms', 'legs', and a 'head'. After this sensation stopped, the light began to dim, fading back into an incandescent glow that still permeated Tau's being. Everything else about Tau's appearance, however, was now much different.

Where there had been a red orb of light, there was now a red-tinged child, floating at the same height the orb had been and studying the two women with burning, robotic eyes. Only about 3' tall, Tau was now clothed somewhat a greyish shirt and trousers, with bare feet hanging almost limply in the air. Its platinum-blonde hair was short-cut and pulled back into a short ponytail, barely enough to actually make the style itself.

As Subject Tau settled into its new form, however, it was also greeted with a new ability: fire.

Burn your enemies with the power of fire. Use with caution. It burns you as well.

So much to learn. So much to explore. Tau was no further than a rough minute or two into this fight and it already was experiencing such strange new sensations. Holding up its hand, the child-Tau spawned a bit of fire into existence before it. It remembered the pain from before, its other hand reflexively moving to cover its stomach where a small wet spot was forming on its shirt.

"That hurt..." it mumbled. Without further warning, Tau launched a plume of fire in front of it, reaching up to fifteen feet in front of it within a few seconds.

[Damacyn]

"WhoooHooo! Bullseye!" Said victorious BJ with a cocky grin on her face. "That will teach ya for messing with Damage Inc. Ready for round two? uuhnf!..." She said while kneeling down, gasping for air, she forgot that the air was thinner here but she wondered how Big K was still capable of running behind the Thing without even feeling even tired.
"Probably adrenaline or some commie BS..." She reasoned in her thoughts while weakly getting herself back up and, by trying to find the same adrenaline of her friend, she speeded behind the ukraine woman, trying to catch her up.

"You're not going away so easily little robot! You'll crumble to dust like we do with buildings!" Threathened the ukraine amazon while furiously chasing the orb among the rubble, she was less agile than Tau but she was still capable to navigate the daedalus of broken panels and decaying concrete, she was adamant in destroying that abomination no matter what.

Then the orb shone with a force that almost blinded her, it was hard for the amazon to chase the thing, but she just shrugged it off as just a trick to disorient.
"Cheap tricks will not save you little robot! I'll put off that light like candle!" She boasted while covering the blinding light with her arms.
As Tau dimmed she lowered her arms, but the vision of its new form just changed her ideas about destroying it.
It was a child, her motherly instincts kicked off when she saw a child as her supposed enemy, she just couldn't bring herself to hurt something that for her was supposed to be innocent.
"N-ni... I-I can't...T-Tilʹky ne znovu!" She muttered while stepping back.
She blocked the soaring flames that the Thing threw at her with her arms. Luckly the gauntlets avoided the contact with the direct flames but the heat was extremely painful.
She grimmaced in pain, helpless and with nothing that she could do without hurting a child.

---

"Alright... first one deployed and online... ufff..." Said weakly Kat as the leds on the bomb strapped on a pillar blinked into existence, she was tired and sweaty and with a big need for oxygen but she grinned anyway, her plans for a nice "fireworks" shows were going flawlessly and with nobody hindering her.

She grabbed a portable radio from the backpack and called BJ. "Hey BJ I need a Carrot for the Mule, Maine or Washington side, Slow Tempo if you want... nope thats Arizona side... W-What?!? How dare you! I-I would never do that!!" Her face turned all red "Alright, screw it, just tell it to Big K, alright? sigh..." She facepalmed, wondering if her plan is already screwed.