5091/System Tower, Floor 55 - Bodybuilder Parade

System Tower, Floor 55 - Bodybuilder Parade
Date of Scene:	16 February 2017
Location:	The System <TS>
Synopsis:	The Tower has returned to Britannica, sapping system resources and generally being a nuisance.
Cast of Characters:	Lexicon, 675, Silica, Rebecca Chambers, Yomi Isayama, 619, Deelel, Gilgamesh, 1090

---

Lexicon has posed:
    The System, Silver Drive Britannica. For those unfamiliar with the digital world of the System, this Drive strongly resembles a European mountain town surrounded by peaks, high-altitude fields, and aboreal valleys populated by evergreen trees. As lifelike as it looks, there's a distinctly polygonal look to the landscape, and glowing lines of white dash along the ground in places, converging on the rustic city itself. For those familiar with Britannica, those pulsing white energy lines appear dimmer than usual, and the reason can be seen from anywhere in Britannica-- An impossibly tall black tower piercing into the sky, rooted somewhere in the snowy wilderness. As such, those that Lexicon has reached out to can easily locate it.

    At the tower's base, the Silver DCC herself stands with her arms folded, glowering up at the great steel doors. On either side, glowing tiles indicate the number '55'.

    Beside Lexicon and wearing long, red shrine vestments is the woman some would know as Stylono, fretting over a clipboard covered in digital readouts, "Each time the floor increases, it drains more.. This trend is very worrisome, My Lady."

    "I know, it's tickin' me off," Lexicon responds without looking. Instead, the shorter of the two turns around to place her back to the door, waiting for her summoned help to arrive, "At least I can rely on strong allies to help deal with it now."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra Cosntantine has dealt with the System Tower enough times that she's already here, staring up at the black obelisk with her arms crossed. One finger tapping on her platemail armor.

    "Again and again. Like some edifece presented by the Gods purely to proclaim their inevitability." Hmph. "I don't like that sense of insurmountability it exudes."

Silica has posed:
    "This thing keeps showing up..." muses Silica as she wings along from the Cablerail station. She can easily see the drain of the Tower in the landscape, and the source of that drain, which she's flying toward at top speed. "It's a good thing I was listening to the syndicate band." She looks over at her companion. "Right Pina?"

    The dragonling just chirps as if in agreement, the pair beginning their descent when they see the tower starting to get more broad in their field of view. "We'll help Miss Lexicon out again, just like last time."

    Once the Beast Tamer spots the diminuative DCC and her taller aide, the Cait Sith calls out. "We came as fast as we could!" before landing with a faint bend of her knees, kicking up some snow from the impact.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
As soon as Rebecca Chambers arrives, she comes to a stop in front of Lexicon and Stylono and says, "I'm Rebecca, I'm here to help." She salutes briefly, before looking around to survey the general area as she loads a clip into her Beretta. She's not too familiar with this spot, but she figures after this mission she should know it fairly well. Besides it seems like there's always something happening here, and it's good to have a good idea of what's going on. After looking around, Rebecca nods in response to Lexicon's comment. "We'll take care of this, don't worry!"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
Fortunately, today was a farly tame day in Tokyo. There were only a few singular Category D sightings, so Yomi was able to leave the office as soon as her shift was done. She still had her phone for emergency calls, but something else that sounded interesting had caught her attention. "Silver Drive Britannica, huh..." It was definitely unlike any place she'd seen before, but most of her life has been spent in Tokyo... so that doesn't say much.

As she approaches the tower and sees the rest of the aid incoming, Yomi can't help but smile. Just like with the emergency in her home city, it seems people are willing to help others quite a lot. Once she gets close, her gaze shifts between Lexicon and Stylono. "I assume one of you two is Lexicon..." She eventually settles on the right one, guessing based on fanciness of outfit. Someone in charge should look the part, after all! "My name is Yomi. I've never been to a place like this before, but hopefully I can be of some help."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
'The tower has reappeared.' It was a simple enough dispatch, and had it been sent to the wrong recipient, would have meant little without the surrounding context. One Sanae Kochiya recognizes it immediately, however, and had come as quickly as she could. Wearing her usual ceremonial robes, the green-haired priestess can be seen from some distance away as she approaches the eyesore, in flight at least a dozen meters above the ground, before she sets her feet down closeby.

    "Miss Stylono," she calls out, since she's usually the contact point, even with Lexicon on the scene -- she'll get her turn. She wasn't around to catch that snippet of dialogue from the assistant, but it seems she's noticed the subject matter, anyway, as she paces up the remaining distance, "The energy drain looks like it's severe, so there's no time to waste, right?" Inwardly, Sanae wishes that they weren't playing a game of hot potato with this, but it's such a mysterious thing that it's difficult to get a fix on what its true nature is. The fact that it's a crisis every time also makes investigation difficult. ...maybe if she snooped when it was some other Drive's concern.

    She recognizes Silica from before, and the tamer gets a friendly smile and wave, though brief given the circumstances. She also gives a nod of head toward Yomi and Rebecca, "I am Sanae Kochiya, the priestess of the Moriya Shrine in Gensokyo. I'm also good friends with Lexicon," she just says that, without having ever actually asked if the feeling was mutual, "So of course, I'm here to help, too!"

Deelel has posed:
Once more the call from Britannica goes out and the keyblade weilding program clad in the glowing blody suit. She looke to Lexicon for a moment nodding. "It just keeps seeming to be a thing doesn't it?Well don't worry you have help on this and ya it could be building up to something that might crash the system."

She seems ready for trouble and just fell in with the gathering group.

She knew many of the people who were shopwing up but not all such as Yomi who is getting looked overby the program.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     This place sets the King of Heroes ill at ease. He did not wind up here on purpose, did not come at the call, though he of course heard it over the magic of the strange Box he still is becoming accustomed to; no, he simply wandered in in his exploration of the vistas and venues that await him in the countries of Multi-Vars. These foreign lands are still alien to the King, strange and unpleasant in more ways than he would care to like. Everywhere, humanity. Like a plague. Like locusts. Like empty little clay jars. But, everywhere, too, the exceptional, the miraculous, the beautiful people who draw his gaze and his fascination.

     This place, though, makes him...uncomfortable. It is alien to him, in a way that is most unusual - alien in design, alien in form, alien in how close it is to reality but how off it is at all the important points. He senses it, perhaps, or it tugs and nudges at the back of his mind as he wanders the countryside of Silver Drive Britannica. It is not /real/ to him, in the way that stone and earth and fire and sky are. It is...subtly off.

     Perhaps that is simply the way of Multi-Vars.

     The great black Tower draws his attention. Such an edifice is, of course, a local bastion of might, or an imposing place where monsters - and thus treasure - dwell. The King wanders towards it, and even before he gets near it, there's a palpable *Divinity* that precedes him, like the flood of sunlight over a field or into a warm room. Divinity is part and parcel to his most basic nature, and he cannot help but let it run before him. When Gilgamesh finally comes into view, he's...well, he's *beautiful*, in an unearthly, impossible kind of way. Every part of him seems impossibly pretty. Even the patchwork dress wrapped around his body, made up of patches of a Hellsing uniform and an X-COM uniform, looks like the finest robe draped over him rather than a shitty patchwork of cloth and sub-par needlework. The words VIGILO CONFIDO and HELLSING: WE ARE ON A MISSION FROM GOD are like a covenant etched in fabric.

     He stops near the rest of the crowd, his gaze tilted upwards. "A fine Tower," he says thoughtfully, "But it offends me nonetheless. It is home to monsters, yes? Home to things that defy the laws of man and god alike, and must be rectified?"

     "Rejoice, then. The King has come to aid you in dealing with it. In exchange, since a reward was promised," Gilgamesh points lazily at Cirra, "You, become my treasure."

     He doesn't seem to see anything wrong with this at all.

     His eyes track back up the Tower as he listens to the other conversations, because he is not in fact an idiot despite being somewhat loud and out-of-tune with the rest of the world. "To what gods was it made to glorify?"

Tutela (1090) has posed:
    It doesn't take long for the wandering security program to make her way to Britannica... she's mapped out the system and can practically arrive where she needs thanks to the hidden drive under the Hub... as such, Tutela arrives a bit stealthily behind the oddly large group that's here for the tower. Her Black and White featherblades are mounted on her back and she's got this sweet little sleepy smile upon her face as she moves behind Lexicon and Stylono.

    She's been at the tower once before, and it ended... strangely, but this time, she's just going to chill back and wait, she was told not to transform by the Drive Core Controller of this area, maybe to not shock people ... again. "Hiii." comes her sleepy, yet cheerful voice. "Tutela's here...." a slow wave to everyone present. "I'm going to help out... I hope you don't mind."

Lexicon has posed:
    "A-actually, my name is Stylono," the taller of the two natives admits when Yomi greets her with the wrong name. Holding out a hand, she gestures, "Allow me to present our Drive's Core Controller, Lexicon." A shrinely appearance with pale blue hair sure does stand out as fancier than the casual outfit of the shorter brunette, even with the ankle ribbon.

    The DCC scowls just a bit at the mistaken identity, but quickly pockets the feeling when her Priestess corrects it so politely. Her countenence also brightens when Sanae appears and she finally speaks up, "I don't know about close friends, but my sisters like you so that's close enough." She glances towards Deelel, then Stylono, who nods at the program's comment.

    "Yes, our concern is what will happen as the resource drain increases. I'm collaborating with the priestesses of the other Drives to find any precedent for what to expect and what we can do to stop it in the long term. For now, the mission is short-term damage...control..." She trails off as Gilgamesh approaches. After a pause, a faint blush crosses Stylono's cheeks. Rummaging, she produces her phone, lifts it, and snaps a picture of the King of Heroes. Only after lowering her phone does the Priestess clear her throat, "--A-anyway. While we research the Tower's history, the mission is damage control for now, before it can really get out of hand on our resources."

    "I'm seeing a lot of familiar faces," Lexicon comments, "And some new ones. Welcome to my Drive, or welcome back at any rate." A nod towards Silica and Sanae, then Rebecca to her other side, "So our goal is to clear this floor's traps and viruses. Once cleared, the Tower disappears and stops draining the Drive." She casts a bemused look at Gilgamesh, "If it was made to honor a god, then whoever it's directed at is really trying the patience of this land's local goddess."

    There's the briefest of moments where one can nearly see the chill run up Lexicon's spine, a little cringe-like flinch. Only once it's passed does she turn enough to greet the arriving DCC, "Tutela, you made it. Welcome to Britannica. I don't mind if you help out but please try not to get too crazy."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Such a vision of male beauty, like a Greek, or perhaps Mesopotamian, god chiseled into stone, but instead of flesh! Sanae Kochiya might be reacting to that weird Highlander sound in her head when she turns it to regard him, though she doesn't look star struck. Rather, she only looks confused for a moment. He's obviously important, because just look at the size of those baubles dangling from his ears, plus the pressure he radiates. He doesn't really seem to get how clothing works, but considering some of the fashion disasters of her own impressionable youth, she doesn't call him out on it. Instead, she inquires, with her head tilted to the side, "King? Miss Lexicon never told me that Britannica is a constitutional monarchy." Given the ecclectic souls that live within the System, it's not hard to mistake him for a native.

    Cirra is on her own with the strange boy king's claims, since she knows she can handle herself just fine. ...huh, was that other girl here a moment ago? The shrine maidenly girl has no reason to be mistrustful, though, especially with how sleepy-dreamy she speaks. "Ah, what a My Pace personality," she remarks aloud, perhaps one of those things that was meant to be only a thought. "It's always good to have more help with these tower appearances." With this, she hushes up, turning instead to Stylono as she begins the mission briefing, and patiently waits. Besides a hint of a stifled giggle at the picture snapping, that is.

    "Let's get to the bottom of this, then," Sanae agrees, withdrawing her paper-tipped wand and seemingly preparing for action! "For the sake of not passing on the riddle of this troublesome tower to Miss Lexicon's adorable sisters!"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel now pauses for a moment as she looks at Gilgamesh for a moment and she tilts her head a little bit. Gil seems to be a off set at this place she also takes a look at GIl's clothing and an eyebrow goes up for a moment. At the word rectified comes up she twitches slightly but she's pretty certain there was no ill intent or the strange man even knew the context of the term for her. She gets over it fast enough.

"Greetings human, at least I presume your so. I won't complain about backup on this, and heh, at least for my system? Well that's a story in and of itself but likely should wait, I'm Deelel."

She's got an odd faint digital warbel that might come off as a bit unatural to Gil.

She seems ready to go from the looks of it, but shehas no visable weapon just yet she also looks to Cirra for a moment, then back to the young king.

"Wasn't given life to fight,but I learned well enough. Weshould stop wasting cycles and get to work, right?"

With that, Deelel is ready to set out as soon as the go ahead is given.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"Hmm. Really?" Yomi clears her throat softly. "Sorry, jumped to conclusions based on the fanciness of her outfit. My boss wears a business suit, so..." The girl shrugs. "Anyway, nice to meet both of you." She's in her school uniform, so it's not like she can say much about fancy outfits.

The others are greeted with a smile and slight bob of the head. "I've only just stepped out into other worlds in the past few weeks, so try to be patient with me. It's already a little overwhelming..." So many strange new people... that one is certainly pretty, though a few here seem to be close to the age of her ward... "A..anyway. I'll do all I can to help. If monsters need fighting, I can handle myself." Her hand touches the hilt of her sword briefly, but doesn't draw it.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Rebecca disables the safety on her Beretta and enables the laser sighting on it. "Traps and viruses, huh? Definitely not the viruses I'm used to dealing with." She doesn't smirk at that comment as a stern look is already on her face as she looks forwards. "We can do this! We can overcome anything!" She narrows her eyes and prepares to move out at a moment's notice. "I'm ready when the others are, just say the word!"

Silica has posed:
    A shiver runs up Silica's spine when that sleepy voice rings out. She's here!

    The feeling passes though, and Silica offers a wave to Tutela with a little smile. "Glad you could make it!" she offers up, before looking around the rest of the ecclectic group.

    Gilgamesh gets a long look, the Cait Sith's ears flicking to and fro idly as she takes in the radiance... "Hey, that's a neat texture pack, wish ALO'd add something like that." Wait, what?

    Pina lands on Silica's shoulder, and the pair wait for things to kick off with idly swaying tails that counter swing each other.

    Meanwhile, Silica is watching Tutela with an internal little voice saying 'No' over and over.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    As the situation is explained to the first timers, Cirra turns to look at Gilgamesh as he says something... ridiculous to her. The silver haired woman's expression remains stoic as appears unimpressed by the boy's beauty or the divinity he exudes. She turns back to the tower.

    "You're far to late to make a statment like that."

    She glances aside at Tutela's arrival and pressence makes Lexicon nearly jump. Tutela is watched carefully since even Silica responds to her pressence.

    "If you're here to be usefull." she aside to Gilgamesh. "Be sure to do so rather then chasing people you don't know."

Gilgamesh has posed:
     Sanae gets a weird look from Gilgamesh. He points from where he understands East to where he understands West. "I am Gilgamesh, King of all the Is, Was, and Ever Shall Be. From where the sun rises to where it sets is mine to rule, and mine to do with as I please."

     That wasn't /really/ an answer but it was *kind of* an answer. It *was* an introduction. This doubles as an introduction to Deelel as well, sort of. It's, uh, more than a little arrogant, but it's sort of easy to understand where it comes from - Divinity, Rule, these are things that he *is*, not things he *claims*. He didn't win a crown; he was born a crown. He is as close to literal Divine Right as it's possible to *get*. Being a King is a thing fundamental to his existence, so it's not surprising that he is.../like this/.

     At the very least, Gawain or someone has introduced him to the idea of photographs, so when the beautiful King gets a screenshot snapped of him, he doesn't react with shock or hostility, just mild curiousity. He takes out his own Box and experiments with it for a moment to snap a picture back; pleasant surprise radiates across his face as he succeeds in snapping a picture of Stylono. A moment later, he takes one of Yomi, then of Cirra, then of the Tower. Click, click, click, click, click. The King of Heroes is temporarily *greatly* occupied.

     He looks up at Cirra a moment later. "I am not chasing you. I said you would be my reward. I was promised one, after all, so I decided to choose the one that would please me most."

     The King snorts. "Useful? I am the King. Slaying monsters and disabling traps is my purpose. I would not claim you merely to leech uselessly off the efforts of others. I will earn my reward."

     The phone vanishes into...nowhere. He just tosses it over his shoulder and it disappears. Gilgamesh gives Silica a weird look; he /clearly/ doesn't understand a word that just came out of her mouth, and the look on his face is one of someone who is trying to look like they understand but obviously doesn't. "...yes," he says finally.

     "Traps and..." Gilgamesh pauses, like he's trying to figure out that word. Eventually, he decides that he understands.

     "Very well. I understand our purpose."

Tutela (1090) has posed:
     The picture flash from Gil gets an annoyed face upon Tutela. "I don't like pictures taken of me." she comments flatly, a strange deviation from her otherwise normal tone of voice. Though she turns back to Silica and a smile is given once more, walking over to the Cait Sith and giving her this BIG HUG. "Si-li-ca~" the sleepycute voice is back once again now that she's spotted her favorite Cait Sith that she's not fully broken yet. And there's a Cirra too. She gets a sleepy wave too! "You got off that rollercoaster."

    Sanae gets a look herself, a light nod. "Mmmhmm. Though, most people don't seem e that much. It's okay though!" Yomi gets a smile herself, "I haven't seen you... welcome to Britannica." She lets go of Silica and stretches. "Kay, Lexicon. I want to see what this floor does too! Maybe we might see that virus again. I wanna take it to Cautio for research. I'm sure the AVI's and Kernels would like to help with it too!"

    Rebecca's gun gets a look, and a tilt of her head before the feather-blades come off her back, arming up. "Someone... else is ready too. This... shall be fun~!" Tutela tilts her head a bit and seems to mouth a few things to something or someone before tapping her ear. "Cautio wishes us luck."

Lexicon has posed:
    "Er, yes," Stylono nods once, "What we call a virus, other worlds would call a monster. It should be easier to deal with than a biological pathogen, if that is what you expected from the term. My apologies for the lack of clarity." She helpfully tries to explain to Rebecca. When her picture is threatened, Stylono reacts with the slightest of glancing-over poses, which might be attractive to certain sensibilities, "--Eh?"

    "King of all that is, huh," Lexicon remarks flatly, "That's fine. There's no Sun or Moon here anyway, just the skybox cycle. Try not to get in over your head, huh?" Her attention shifts to Silica when Tutela moves in for hugs, and there's a silent sort of 'hang in there' look exchanged with the Cait Sith. Lexicon Knows. "That Floor got a bit nuts. Nothing to stress about, but just try to save that trick for emergencies, okay Tutela?"

    Regarding texture packs, the DCC shrugs with her eyes closed, "He's not from the System, so I don't know what's up with the outfit. Must be fashionable where he's from, if he's a king an' all." The Elite are always so far ahead, after all. Just look at Lexicon compared to the ordinary, easily copy-pasted outfits of the regular denizens of Britannica. Barring the odd reformed virus, anyway.

    Somewhere else in Britannica, Christmas' window lurches. Her text box likewise jerks, text sprawling across it.
CHRISTMAS
    AH-CHOO..!

    Back at the Tower, Lexicon simply nods to Cirra and Sanae's eagerness to help. She simply comments, "You'll get nowhere buttering me up about how cute they are, Kochiya," with a slight smile. Glancing across the group, she adds, "This is more help than I usually get, too... Alright." A fist smacks into her palm, "Let's do this already." Behind her, Stylono hauls the doors open, standing aside to allow entry into the black pits of the System Tower.

    And the interior, after a brief 'you might have been teleported' transition, is ... unremarkable. Compared to previous Floors, it's excessively plain, a boxy room with ordinary interior walls rather than the usual brushed black metal. At the far end, a dozen meters or so, is a door with a simple glowing green 'EXIT' sign hanging over it, barred off with a comically large lock. Right beside the door, sitting on a simple endtable, is a large golden key.

    And the only occupant is a blue glob of jelly with a doggy snout, ears, and a tail. An ordinary-sized, normal, and as many will attest-- completely harmless Poochooze bouncing placidly near the doorway.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    The Judge hmps as her meaning flies over Gilgamesh's head. She looks at Tutela again. "Technically I launched the rollercoaster at the Virus." The virus that was /riding/ the rollercoaster with her had a brief but regretable life. She moves forward as the doors are pushed open, with a reassuring glance to Silica.

    Cirra summons her LAw Blade as she crosses the threshold and examines the ...plains tower floor and the poochooze at the fire side.

    Head tilting towards Lexicon. "Trap?"

Gilgamesh has posed:
     "I don't know what that is," Gilgamesh says to Tutela somewhat disinterestedly. A moment later, he puts two and two together. He grabs his phone out of thin air - or, more precisely, a ripple in the air.

     "Is that this?" He asks, turning the phone around to display a picture of the Tower. "Is that what this is called? Taking a picture? Why is it called such a thing? It is not a picture; it is a frozen moment of time. A picture is..."

     He makes a motion with his hands. "Painted on a wall, with ink and clay. It is made. How would you *take* a picture, besides simply removing it from the wall?" This is a much more interesting thought to him, so he sticks on it for a bit. If he even notices he's offended Tutela, it's...sort of hard to tell. His personality seems to swing between 'a wrecking ball of ego' and 'a fascinated, excitable teenager' without warning. He also tries to get his head around the lack of a sun or moon, sounding out the word 'skybox' with his mouth. Eventually he just gives up.

     They teleport into the Tower. This is jarring. Unexpected. The King is visibly off-put by this, his head swinging around out of his almost lazy stupor in mild shock. He stops trying to sound out /skybox/ and stops trying to figure out how you can *take* a picture, instead laser-focused on the dungeon and its surroundings.

     He isn't drawing a weapon yet, though. He suspects a trap, just like Cirra does, and everything about his divine body is tensed like he's waiting for it to spring.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
"A monster?" Rebecca seems surprised and intrigued at the same time. "That's good to know. I just wonder if my weapons will work against them." She shrugs, then runs a hand through her hair. "Only one way to find out I suppose." When the doors open, Rebecca moves inside quickly, and isn't surprised in the least bit by the teleportation thing. She's come to accept the possibility that anything and everything can happen in the Multiverse. Once things come back into view, she blinks her eyes a few times to get readjusted to her new surroundings.

The whole situation seems simple enough, what with a weird ooze guarding a key, except it's not your typical ooze based on the body parts it has on it. And the fact the key is sitting in plain sight causes her to go onto high alert. "It can't be that easy, there has to be something else lying in wait for us..."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Of course Sanae knows who Gilgamesh is, or at least her original world's version of him. It doesn't seem to help her confusion much, though. "I always figured you'd be more..." She pauses to consider her words, "Hirsute." Hopefully she's not going to cause a multiversal scene to distract from the Tower with this, but she's bluntly honest, since when she thinks of that part and time of the world, all she can think of is those dudes with the super awesome beards. "Nevermind that, though; it's nice to meet you, your highness. Let's cooperate and put an end to this scourge that blights Britannica." She gives a broad smile!

    Perhaps picking up on the subtle (or not so subtle) body language, she sidles up to Silica, next. Currently, practically towering over the girl, she moves to try and give a friendly pat of the head. "Everything okay, Miss Silica? Don't worry, I'm sure the Tower is going to take a break from doing anything scary, this time around." She completely misreads the reason, it seems. To Lexicon, she gives a light laugh, "I won't expect any preferential treatment!" She's here to pull her own weight, no matter if their friendship is close or not, which on that topic, she also regards Tutela again, still smiling. "Ah, I've been around before, but thank you! I just help out with things like this. The loot is super cute, so it's worth it."

So that's her real motivation.

    However, now, it's a time for action. Sanae moves to roll up her sleeves, an action that isn't that meaningful since they slide right back down with their own weight, and then paces on in boldly. She expects to find a new challenge and some kind of crazy environment on the other side. Instead she finds a rather...sparsely decorated room, with a Poochooze bouncing around nearby. "...maybe the tower architect finally ran out of ideas," she ponders. "Or this was a test area we weren't intended to enter!" She approaches the dog-sized, and dog-themed, slime creature without an ounce of hesitation. "Hey boy," she says, holding out her hand. "Are you lost?" If this is a trap, she doesn't seem to pay it any mind.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
When she sees Silica's reaction to Tutela, Yomi reaches over and rests a hand on the girl's head, giving her hair a little ruffle. "No need to be worried about what we'll find in there. Here." One hand goes to her pocket and pulls out a box of Pocky. She shakes it a bit and holds it out toward Silica. "Have one! And you too." The second offer goes to Tutela with a smile. She isn't sure what exactly the issue is, but she knows the power of Pocky. "Anyone else want one?"

And then they're teleported, and she goes from happy-go-lucky teenage girl to tensed and cautious swordswoman. Though she doesn't draw her katana yet, she does grip it tightly, prepared to unsheathe it at a moment's notice. "Is that a... dog... slime?" She doesn't lower her guard, but she does give it an odd look.

Silica has posed:
    Oh god she's right he--- hugged. Silica tenses up a bit at the hug, but then hugs back loosely. "Hehe... Hello." Pina just kind of passively growls, but doesn't do anything more. The pair relax once Tutela's attention is elsewhere, and she pulls her dagger, following after the others, ready to provide backup and support. That's her role in these things. Plus there's others to 'tank' for her so she can keep her eyes open for adds and the bosses pattern changes.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel didn't intend to be confusion but it happens sometimes with her dealing with other speices. IT's not intentional and this man is here to help she won't take offence to aid honestly. She now eems tobe ready for the momrnt and seems amused at Cirra and Gil's interplay but she does not comment at it. She moes on ahead as the group comes out.

"A virus on my world is very different than from here, they are more akin to a plague."

With that Deelel summons her keyblade the dual disc seemingly out of nowhere and movs on ahead the is magic to it as well as.

"Keep frosty and Silica keep behind me if it gets to be too much."

Tutela (1090) has posed:
    "You're describing a painting. It's a type of picture." a reply back to the kid as she moves forward, getting herself ready for the upcoming thing ahead, her smile returning back to her face as she flips the featherblades back a bit, the points pointing behind her as the group's teleported in. She blinks a bit, looking around the room... and that poochooze. She tilts her head at it, then the key then the door. Her eyes go from virus to key to door to virus to key to door. A tilt of her head the other way.

    "What?" she questions, moving forward some. "Tutela's going to check." she smiled, looking around the room a bit warily. Nothing's setting off her dangerous virus sense... and that Poochooze is just there. "What's... a simple virus doing here?" she mutters a bit. She turns around some, looking at the group... she points at .... Gilgamesh. "Stay behind me... I'm going to pick up the key." she comments, that sweetsleepy voice of hers is accompined with a smile...

    She keeps an eye on the Poochooze, even with Sanae calling for it. What is it with that girl and this virus... "You want to take it home, don't you?" blunt question, but hey, with that out of the way she puts her blades back on her back and reaches for the key, and assuming someone or something does not stop her...

    Yoink! "I got it...~"

Lexicon has posed:
    Voices cause the Poochooze to turn around, facing the party as they arrive one by one from the Tower's exterior. Beady black eyes fixate on Sanae as she approaches, speaking to it like a lost puppy. In most situations, that would probably work! But this quickly identifies itself as an abnormal situation when the Poochooze speaks: "Lost? Of course not!" It sounds quite cheerful, even as the surface ripples suddenly and the slime expands in ... well, an unusual way, mostly from the bottom, until the Poochooze has assumed a mostly-human figure with the goo-dollop body as its head (which makes the tail a ponytail). The figure is also ripped as hell, demonstrated when the Poochooze Man suddenly flexes with a sound like a gunshot, "HUAH! I was just taking a break after a RIPPING upper body workout!"

    "Damnit," Lexicon comments, her eyes narrowing, "Is it this guy again?" The unusually muscular Poochooze that ran off when Tutela revealed herself looked a lot like this one, now. Though... she squints. Is he even more beefed up, now? And how can something made of jelly even get muscular like that, anyway?

    Poochooze Man's pose shifts and he flexes to show off his core, arms tucked behind his 'head', "HNH! I'm all rested up after that. So you ladies an' gents," He pluralizes it even though Gilgamesh is the only guy actually present, "...can help me out!" His flexing pose changes again, and as he flexes, the goo-bodybuilder snatches up the key before Tutela can, while displaying his trapezius and shoulders, "Huah! Not so fast, DCC! Today is Leg Day! Let's get our Cardio on!"

    With no warning, the Virus springs into action, sideways and right into one of the room's walls. With a drywall-shattering crunch, he punches right through it, leaving a neat silhouette of a flexing weightlifter.

    "Ah crap--!" Lexicon throws her hand to one side, surrounding herself in a pillar of white light. From within her own transformation sequence, she shouts with a reverbration, "We probably need that damn key, get him!"

Silica has posed:
    "What? No, nonononono, come back here you!" Silica then sets off at a surprisingly fast sprint in pursuit of the fleeing Goo-builder. She just slips through the outline, being much smaller than the bodybuilder that made it. Being small can be a benefit sometimes. "I won't let you get away! Pina! Bubble Breath! Lets try and slow him down!"

    Pina chirps, then rears back, before unleashing a stream of bubbles that pop around the Poochooze-Man, trying to cause a Stun effect. If nothing else the popping bubbles from nowhere might be distracting.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     Gilgamesh is now munching on the pocky with a thoughtful look on his face. "Perhaps instead I should have laid claim to you," he says idly in Yomi's direction, "This food is not unpleasant, and you also are beautiful. From what country of Multi-Vars does it hail?"

     Tutela gives him an order. The King bristles, clearly annoyed, but he does bother to follow along behind, so apparently he's at least cooperative despite his ego.

     And then that happens. There's really nothing else to say.

     "Hah! Very well! The King accepts your challenge, muscle monster! Prepare yourself, and be honored that your loss comes at my hands!"

     Gilgamesh hurls his dress off. It vanishes into the weird rippling void, leaving him...well, you know. Completely naked.

     He's *excessively* pretty. And kind of ripped, though not in an adult way, in a seventeen-year-old-who-works-out kind of way. Despite not having a beard, or much body hair, there's something powerful about him, some radiant and divine.

     "We race!"

     And then the King is off. He's *much* faster than he appears, probably because of, well, the aforementioned Divinity infusing and suffusing his body. He's an entity from the Age of Gods, not a Servant; his two-thirds Divine nature is showing even stronger as flawlessly-crafted muscles go pumping in beautiful form, sending him hurling through the body-builder-shaped hole in the wall.

Deelel has posed:
she looks to see the Poochooze for a moment her eyes narrow but it seems to besomesortofslime?Whatthe heck?Shje's not evne sure what to think.

"A Gym rat but that...doesn't make any sense!"

DEelel keeps her keyblade ready and bolts after him. "Oh you get back here, you glitched out null unit!"

With that she's charing right after him at high speed along side Gil she doesn't even seem to click on just what's happened.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
As soon as the virus suddenly takes off and breaks through the wall, Rebecca does a brief double-take, before shaking her head out of it and scowling. "Damn it! Come back here!" She yells out as she rushes after the virus with her Beretta drawn. "If you don't stop now, I'm gonna test out how well my Beretta works... and YOU will be the lucky subject!" She grits her teeth a little with that last comment.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
"Ah, I...might already have," Sanae sheepishly admits to Tutela's guess, complete with looking up with her hand rubbing behind her head, and a light laugh. "They only really become a problem when they're big, though, so as long as you don't overfeed them, or let them gather in large groups..." She is shocked out of her impromptu lesson on the care and grooming of Poochooze, when this one actually talks back. "Wh-what? A talking Poochooze!?" You'd think she would't be so surprised, being surrounded by what are fundamentally talking animals in Gensokyo, but this was always something different. It's enough to send her back onto her butt. "...and it's taking on a new form." She's completely weirded out when it gains a muscular, humanoid shape, and suddenly she's not too enthusiastic about petting it anymore. "That's not cute at all!"

    Can she ever trust a Poochooze again? More importantly, what is it talking about now? She shields her face with a sleeve as the Poochoo-man suddenly grabs the key and bolts off, wafting away the particulate debris that results. "So that's what he meant, ah...geez, I'll need a moment." Knowing that in this shape, she would be no match for a quickly scrambling off muscleman slime dog, she invokes a minor miracle in order to correct this mistake. Thankfully her own change is significantly less flashy, considering it basically consists of a curtain covering her for a few moments, a few fidgets, and then she's changed into what appears to be a stereotypical high school gym uniform, buruma and all, and a headband tied around. "Okay, I'm ready! ...ah, geez, that thing is fast. I better not waste more time!"

    This thankfully also bought her enough time to only see Gilgamesh from behind, as her newly athletic shoed feet join the chase!

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"What, Pocky? You can get it at any convenience store in Japan." Yomi grins and puts one hand on her hip. "Sorry, I'm already taken. I'm flattered, though." She seems pretty laid back about the fact that this strange shiny man is hitting on her.

The cute little dog slime gets a stronger reaction, though. Yomi blinks several times as it grows. "Uh... Is it supposed to do that?" It doesn't seem to be attacking anyone, so she doesn't draw her sword yet, but... that is quite weird. "Leg.. day... Hey, wait!" And then things get even weirder. The shiny man strips, the other girl changes clothes, and Yomi rubs at her eyes with one hand. "I must be asleep or something... But it does have the key, so!" Fortunately, she is quite a bit more slight than the musclebound poochooze, so has no trouble slipping through the hole he made in the wall. "Is this sort of thing normal for here?"

Tutela (1090) has posed:
    Tutela looks a bit nonplussed at this. The key she was going to grab got stolen and now there's a naked guy running around, chasing the Poochooze Man... Silica's trying to slow the Poochooze Man down... Sanae's running after him. Rebecca's running after him with a gun drawn and so is Deelel. Lexicon's transformed and Tutela... well..

    Tutela's standing there looking quite dumbfounded at this whole ordeal. "I knew I should have beheaded it..." she mutters to herself, pouting slightly. Oh, and Yomi off towards it. Tutela's look grows more annoyed and dumbfounded than anything and she just... watches.

    And out comes a tub of popcorn, she's gonna see how this goes before she gets invested in this, Lexicon said she couldn't transform but, this guy... well, this entire /everything/ was annoying her...

Lexicon has posed:
    The light surrounding Lexicon fades, revealing her also in a new look-- the bodysuit and metallic Processor armor pieces of Silver Soul. Brown hair is now a stark blue-white, and her eyes are red, glowing with sigils of power. Bunching her legs up, she creates a platform behind her against which to plant her feet, "YOU BETTER GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!" Compared to her quieter manner of speech before, the DCC of Britannica sounds downright furious now. And a lot less polite. She springs off her magical 'wall', hurling herself in pursuit, though her longer startup time via transforming means Lexicon is the last one in line.

    She doesn't care about fitting through Poochoo-Man's silhouette-shaped opening, either, smashing right through it with an infuriated roar.

    "Now, now!" the athletic virus chides Silica, "We just started the exercise! Stopping now would be a waste!" As bubbles pop around him, threatening to get closer, he turns suddenly and strikes a new pose. Debris shatters from the impact as he punches a new hole in a new shape, both arms raised in a strongman pose, "HUAH~! A cardio workout should last thirty minutes at least or your body won't benefit~! Let's pump those legs!"

    The wall neatly blocks the bubble attack, so at least he seems to have done that intentionally to avoid losing the race too early.

    "It's not over 'til you can feel the burn!" In the next room, Poochoo-Man takes another sharp turn, one arm low and the other high in a single bicep flex, and punches a fresh opening.

    The smallness of this Tower's floor becomes clear, suddenly: It's a honeycomb of rooms with walls just for this virus to smash through while leading a merry chase.

    With a shuffle of cloth, Stylono (who followed everyone in this time) seats herself on her knees beside Tutela, "...It's certainly unusual, isn't it?" Her head tilts, "You're not getting involved after all?"

Silica has posed:
    Pina chirps sorrowfully as it's attack gets blocked. "It's okay Pina, you did your best." Silica replies, before pulling a hard, skidding turn to follow after the turning Poochoo-man. She dives through the new hole, using her slender body to fit, then loses footing. She tumbles across to smack into the far wall, scrambling to get back to her feet and continue the pursuit. "Now I wish I'd taken Miss Sinon up on her offer to help me build my Archery Skill." she grouses. She'll be behind some of the others now with all the time lost with her little failed acrobatics maneuver.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     It's hard to tell if Gilgamesh is /flirting/ or if he's just...kind of...weird, and perhaps operating on some very, very outdated ideals. He doesn't appear to be leering or doing any of the other things usually present for flirting. He doesn't appear too distraught by being told 'no', either, which is probably points in the book above and beyond most guys who say things like he says.

     Granted, he's also currently involved in a naked muscle race against a giant gooey dog-man, so it's hard to say if he's actually apathetic or *heavily* distracted.

     Mercifully for everyone involved, as he rounds the corner, his own divinity is providing a censor for his...uh...Kingly Sceptre.

     "Hmph! I admit your strength, strange creature, but I am the King - you will not triumph over me!"

     Gilgamesh flings himself through the wall, aiming to tackle the creature - or at least impede its movement for others by grabbing its legs. He may not be able to /trip/ it but he might be able to slow it up, and he *IS* much stronger than he looks! (Demigods usually are.)

Tutela (1090) has posed:
    Tutela shakes her head some and offers the popcorn bucket to Stylono. "Very." she mutters, her voice isn't that cheerful noise one may be accustomed to. "I should have taken it in when I had the chance /last time/ I dealt with this thing. Admittedly, this is kinda amusing." she gives a bit of a giggle, "Though, that naked man... may have to throw him in Mordion Gaol." and there's that innocent, cheerful voice.

    Though, when Stylono questions her about getting involved, she gives a bit of a shrug. "It's a mockery of the people here, so.... I'm just going to wait. More popcorn, Stylono?"

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
As the virus slows down, so does Rebecca, but then the virus begins to flex and pose... like it's a fitness instructor or something? Rebecca can only stare in a dumbfounded manner. "What is going on here? I thought we were chasing a virus, not some Jillian Michaels wannabe." She rolls her eyes a little, then scowls as she sees Tutela and Stylono eating popcorn. "And snacking at a time like this? Please." She shakes her head.

At least Gilgamesh has the right idea, and Rebecca eases up a little with that. She levels her Beretta at the virus, so that way if Gilgamesh needs backup, he'll have it at a moment's notice.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
After ducking through the first hole, Yomi blinks in surprise. "Wait, there's more of these walls?" She runs to the side and darts through another, then another... then turns around at a crashing sound behind her just in time to see Silver Soul making new holes in the walls.

"Hmph. Well, if none of these are support structures, then I suppose..." A brief wind whips up around her as she begins to draw her sword from its scabbard. "Come forth, Ranguren!"

With a slight shimmer, a massive beast fades into existance, breath steaming. Yomi reaches up and pats the spirit beast's mane before neatly hopping onto his back. "After that... whatever that is!" Ranguren lets out a low growl and lowers his head, then proceeds to ram through the next wall. And the next, not seeming to mind the bits of rubble clinging to it.

As she reaches the cait sith, Yomi reaches a hand down to offer to Silica. "Come on up, I'll give you a lift!" Provided Silica isn't afraid of riding on a Nue.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
A girl that relies on magic, miracles and, let's be honest, sometimes a bit of cheating to get the job done, isn't really built for running. True, she could hover instead of sprinting, but that seems hardly sporting! Even though, much like some of the others, she's significantly less bulky than the musclebound monster that's at the head of the pack, she still takes a few moments at each opening to mimic the pose that made it. Plus, some of them are deceptively tricky! "Phew," she says, already sounding a bit winded. "I haven't had a workout like this for a few years now!" Just when it seems like she might slow down, though; well, there was mention of the cheating and magic, and she could not disappoint Lady Silver Soul by losing her pace, so she adds a dose of wind magic to make her steps a bit lighter.

Besides that, though, she's playing 'by the rules'. No sudden tornado hazards or blue turtle shells seek out the Poochooman.

    Still, as the chase continues, and they pass some of the vaguely same rooms, albeit from another direction, it's becoming clear to her that they're kind of being lead in circles here. Or at least a very elaborate game of NIBBLE.BAS, if one were to plot it from a top-down perspective. "Come on," she calls out ahead, trying to reason with the Poochoozeman that, while she's not being outrun, she doesn't feel like she's making much ground on either, especially with the posing and odd hole shapes created in the process. "Don't you want to go back to being small and round? It's such a carefree life!" Or so she would assume. For all of that focus, she doesn't seem to be aware of the popcorn gallery going on in their midst, or the growing frustration of Tutela.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is just moving with all the speed she can muster this thing is fast, very fgast all things considered.

"I don't need to exercise I'm not even made of flesh! I don't even have blood!"

The organics? Sureit's good for them, she knows that much? Her it's kinda moot to work out save for learning physical actions. Thatmaske sense fo her and she mutters she can't feel the burn but she's chasing on after Poochho man.

"Do I need to use my bike? User help me I'll do it!"

Lexicon has posed:
    The chase puts Poochoo-Man into a corridor of black walls he can't break through, just the straightaway that's needed for Gilgamesh to catch up to him. The diving tackle entangles the slime-wrestler's legs and he goes down with a "Whoops!" Shooting him wasn't very effective-- bullets and jelly don't really interact much-- but tackling him certainly took him down. The large key goes tumbling away in a graceful arc when he loses his grip on it and hits the tower floor with a splat. Bouncing off the floor, his 'body' disappears and he rolls to a stop as a round glob, swirley-eyed, "Oh, man..! What a hit..!"

    There's that familiar sound of a wall being smashed through as a new Poochooze-person erupts onto the scene in time to catch it. This one has a more feminine appearance, though still ultra-muscular. She twirls with a wink, "Let's blast those thighs, ladies!"

    And then dashes off, bashing a new hole in a similarly flexed fashion, "Whoo~hoo~!"

    There's been a bit of a roundabout-- the new opening exits right back into the original hallway with the exit door, Stylono, and Tutela. Poochoo-Girl turns sharply, then again, escaping right between DCC and Priestess with a crunch of drywall and wood.

    Stylono, to her credit, was in the middle of declining Tutela's snack offer when the virus charged by, knocking the popcorn right out of Tutela's hand. She glances down at it with a little frown, "O-oh, dear... I'm sorry, Lady DCC. How unfortunate."

    Yomi's monster summon starts making short work of walls, which means Lexicon no longer has to do just that and can speed up. While everyone else seems content to run, she's flying, skimming the floor with a toe while hauling her plasma-bladed axe. A stylish dash that only ends when she realizes the chase-train has interrupted whatever Tutela's been doing during this lap, "--Ahh jeez..!"

    Even the anger-fueled Silver Soul can see what result this will have.

Tutela (1090) has posed:
    Well, this certainly changes a few things. With the new hole in the wall and the /new/ virus charging by... her popcorn gets strewn across the entire floor... "M.... my popcorn." she muttered, a sad sounding voice coming over the radios and echoing in the room. Listening to the conversation on the radio, she hears the panicked voice of the Fairy Catgirl... and Sanae... and then Lexicon's permission. "I was... enjoying my popcorn." she mutters, standing up and patting Stylono on the head. She launches the twin blades up into the air as a white, codified tube overtakes the girl.

    "I'm afraid... I can't just let this pass now." the voice gets steadily more grown up and serious before the transformation sequence finishes, the white tube shattering and leaving a more-dressed-than-gil-but-not-by-too-much woman in its place, a crack of a whip sword echoes through the room and her little Magic 'wall' appears behind her, the DCC's feet upon it.

    With Lexicon's introduction, she smiles, "I'm here, my cute little catgirl." she calls out to Silica, "Iron Soul will treat you after I deal with this." another crack of the whipsword and she kicks herself off the wall and, with a echoing laugh, "Come back here, coward! It's /MY/ turn to play with you! And I'm hoping to get /some/ satisfaction out of this... or it's off to the GAOL with you!"

Gilgamesh has posed:
     So that /sort of/ worked. That's progress! Gilgamesh will accept progress. He brings himself to his full height, moving over to the little Goochyena or Poochooze or whatever the weird little blue thing is called.

     Gilgamesh crouches low to the ground, balancing on his tip-toes. "/I win/," he tells the creature with a broad, self-satisfied, and just a tiny bit egotistical smile.

     Then he straightens. His robe just sort of falls over him out of nowhere. He swings his foot backwards, and, with godlike strength, *punts* the creature straight up as hard as he can.

     It turns out 'as hard as he can' is really, really, *really* hard.

     With a flick of his hand, a sword manifests and fires straight up after it, just to make sure he finishes it off. The sword vanishes once it's cleaved its target.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
"A youkai is in the chase, now," Sanae blinks? And not even the kind that's a cute girl with a few animal features, or whatever. She can't afford to stop and ask to take a picture with it right now, though, especially with it bounding around and opening even more holes, so that people don't feel strangely compelled to copy their poses on their way through them. You know, people like her. By now her lungs are burning a bit from the workout, and she wishes she'd had the good sense to just float along like Silver Soul is, and like she could have done. But, it's too late for that now. Somewhere in the middle of it all, that woman from before has a gun out. This is pretty chaotic, someone needs to do something. Perhaps like that King.

    "You did it," the priestess chirps, as Gilgamesh tackles the first Poochooman! As she approaches, though, her face wrinkles up slightly, as to the viewers at home, a pixelated mosaic accompanies where he made his leap. "Ah, your highness," she says, averting her eyes. "They make this thing called a speedo, now, so..." At least there would be some small shred of decency, and it wouldn't impede his 'ancient athlete'. Just as it seems like the key might be recovered, though, another Poochooze humanoid emerges, and *yoink*s it right up. "...hey!" She sees it go barreling through the starting line, completing the lap, and also ruining some perfectly good popcorn, but she isn't certain what that means right away.

    It was time to catch her breath, anyway, perhaps. Which is good timing, because Iron Soul finally makes her appearance, and Sanae comes to a stop. It's her turn to simply watch, or perhaps that isn't a strong enough word. Maybe more like gawk. "Hmm...her qualities aren't the same as Lady Silver Soul," she figures, leaning up against a post nearby to Stylono, with a few gasping breaths, before finally sliding down to a seat. Hopefully sitting out a few moments won't disqualify her from receiving loot! "Ah...ugh, PE suuuucks."

Deelel has posed:
So Poochoo-Man passes off to Poochoo-woman? Deelel stares.

"I keep telling you I'm not made of flesh! Get gliched!"

Oh the frustation is there in her voice as she keeps chasing after the new one. Yomi's monster summon does also get Deelel attention but she keeps running.

"Enough of this... Haste."

A glow comes from her Keyblade as she moves to cast a haste spell upon herself and is now moving a godo deal faster.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Silica has posed:
    Silica seems to have gotten a bit further behind than she thought. She comes into the entry room again, in the aftermath of the Poochooze-Girl's passage... She grinds to a dead halt when she sees Tutela's popcorn go flying. "Oh no, she's here." that's as Iron Soul comes out of her transformation, then kicks off after the Poochooze person.

    Silica hangs back after the Iron Jailor launches off. She looks to Stylono, then after Iron Soul, before swallowing thickly. She steels herself, then sets down into a three-point pose, then LEAPS forwards, resuming her running in pursuit of the key.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Another Poochooze? Rebecca's not going to let her get away. Unfortunately, she's also just realized that her bullets won't do much good. So she gets her stun baton instead. "Looks like a little shock therapy is in order!" Rebecca comments as she takes off running after the feminine Poochooze. Some of the others might be out of breath, but Rebecca's just getting warmed up. "I can do this for awhile, so don't think you'll wear me out!"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
There will be more time to admire the nue later! For now, there are walls to smash! Er... a key to recover! Yes.

Yomi and Ranguren are there just in time to see the poochooze go down, the key go flying... and a new poochooze take over. "What?!" The spirit beast rumbles softly, and Yomi looks thoughtful for a moment... but shakes her head. "Not yet, Ranguren. Not when we can't see what's past these walls. Let's just keep giving chase." Ranguren lowers his head and rams through another wall, not quite managing to catch up to the surprisingly speedy poochooze.

By the time Yomi and Ranguren are back to the room they started in, she can see the popcorn on the floor. Then Tutela transforms and... "...Miss Tutela, you look a lot..." She pauses for a moment. "...taller."

They don't stop for long, though, barreling through another wall after the poochooze. "How fast is that thing?" Ranguren begins to growl more and more after each wall he headbutts through, and Yomi pats his mane reassuringly. "Not yet, too many in the way."

Lexicon has posed:
    Stylono scoots back when Tutela transforms, having never seen this other DCC's digital divinity in action. Immediately upon Iron Soul's debut, though, she wisely decides to keep her mouth shut until Iron Soul has joined the chase for Poochoo-Girl. It's only then that she rises to her feet and moves to tend to Sanae, producing a fan for the girl, "They did promise exercise, I suppose..?" The Priestess flinches when Yomi's Nue smashes through the corridor from one side to the other, and again when Silver Soul repeats the trick through a different set of walls.

    "Everyone certainly is excited. If you need to rest, this spot seems safe enough for now."

    The disabled Poochooze-Man is booted up with a yelp by the mighty foot of Sumeria's King. The kick, which is pretty dang strong, knocks the slime up into the ceiling where it splats and spreads out, and just stays there like a piece of gum. A large glob does drop back down in time to be cleved in two, disappearing in hexagonal pixels before it hits the floor, but the ceiling is painted a messy blue shade with x-shaped eyes and a tongue sticking out. Whatever the deal is with Poochooze-Man, he's definitely out now. Monster: Defeated!

    Meanwhile the new Poochooze-Girl is having some trouble smashing through walls. The trouble is, between Ranguren and Silver Soul, she's running out of walls to smash into in order to delay pursuit or throw off longer-ranged attacks. Iron Soul joining the chase further narrows escape options and narrows the gap between the runners and the runnee.

    "Such a mess, we'll have a clean-up party after we're done~!" the slime monster declares, "Let's work together now! One, two!" She smashes through another wall, leaving a neat silhouette, then turns sharply, "Three, four! Feel the burn~!"

Deelel has posed:
They just keep turning up the heat here andshe's going after them for a moment. She doesn't need to rest she's intending to keep going after the girl and she's speeding up at this point. Why are these things sucking down power like they do? Oh well they call can't be like Christmas sadly it seems. She moves in now with her key blade and is moving quite rapidly now when she gets a clear chance she throws her weapon like a boomerang at the fleeing Poochooze-Girl.

"Let's get our game on with this! I'm tired of it running us around like this!"

Silica has posed:
    Doing her fastest run, which is pretty darn quick because of the Cait Sith being a Light Body race, Silica manages to catch up again, but she's sticking to the wide open areas, watching the turning and the pattern of motion. She radios in a plan, and someone points out it's not running through open space either... that's a good point, and a possible weakness.

    She does tense up with the sultry sound of Iron Soul coming through her earpiece, but soldiers on. It'll be fine... "Alright, lets do this together!" She starts charging Water Magic through the blade of her Dagger, causing it to begin to gleam a pale blue-white, hold the Skill, wait for the right moment.

Tutela (1090) has posed:
    Her Kitten speaks up on the radio, 'flank it' is what the DCC got from that and flank it is what she does. She looks towards Deelel, Silver Soul and everyone else chasing the last one and starts wordlessly pointing before Iron Soul herself banks off and through a wall. "Let's see how you like the burn..." she grins, cracking her whipsword towards the wall that the Poochooze-Lady is running towards, in an effort to change her direction.... with a wall of lightning. "Thunder Blade Wall!"

    If it likes punching through walls that much, let's see if it's stupid enough to punch through /this/ wall. If so, it's going to get a very nasty jolt! Meanwhile, Iron Soul goes back to join the chase in a different direction, wanting to head the thing off at the pass. "You have to be a real sadist to like tortuing my poor little kitten like that, and my poor little King too! Making him run off like that without his clothes." tsk... "ONLY I am allowed to do that you incorrigable virus! These are /my/ playthings and you.... you're going with me."

    It's here that she winds up... and cracks that sword again, this time in an effort to try and contain the Poochooze-girl in a binding sword... and if successful, she'll channel her own lightning capabilities to shock it.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Feel the burn. That's what Rebecca is feeling as she starts to run a little low on steam herself. To make up for this, she lowers her pace a little so she can try to keep going without passing out. All the while, she notices Deelel throwing her keyblade at the virus, almost like it's a boomerang. She sighs, realizing her stun baton isn't made to do something like that.

Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, Rebecca looks around with eyes narrowed, attempting to figure out if there's some kind of pattern this feminine virus might be taking so she can try to cut it off and ambush it.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
There is a visible bit of relief on Sanae's face. Stylono is so nice and reliable! She looks relaxed even when the figurative wrecking balls go flying through their corridor, wafting her green hair around briefly as they go. "Thank you, Miss Stylono," she says, summoning enough energy for a broad smile on her face, "I just need a quick rest...ah, you don't need to go that far, though, really!" Her eyes glance to the fanning, and she momentarily wonders if she's this way with Lexicon, when she doubtlessly does her training. Or at the end of a particularly intensive book cataloguing, whichever. It does give her some time to ask questions about something she'd wondered about, though, once they're relatively isolated: "There was something I noticed, about Miss Lexicon, and that other girl. Don't they seem almost like different people when they're like this? What's that about?"

    She glances over to where Gilgamesh had completely finished off the pervious Poochooman, and she looks a bit regretful, even if she understands. This is the monster's life, too, after all. "Poor thing. All it wanted was to get people exercising." Like some kind of augmented reality game. She picks herself back up to her feet, having not been distracted enough to tune out the strategizing going on while recovering, though at this point she wonders if she'd be a bit of a fifth wheel here. "Hmm, I guess I can try to help fence it in. Man, I feel so dense, letting that Poochooze lead me around like that. But, as expected, Miss Silica is really good at the strategy side of things." She sets off, after that, a slight glide in her steps from wind augmentation. "Be back in a bit, Miss Stylono!"

    She isn't certain what contribution she'll have. She only listens over the radio for what others are doing, and withdraws a set of four paper cards from somewhere on her gym uniform. You know, just in case! She'll opt for any approach vectors and corridors that others aren't currently covering, or to reinforce any that might need it. In the end, there are only so many ways one can escape a room.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     Gilgamesh gives Sanae a weird look. "A spee-doh?" He says thoughtfully. He enters this into his phone for further reference, fucking up the spelling catastrophically in the process. The race is more or less ignored; he promised he'd contribute, he contributed. Besides, everybody else was clearly...enjoying themselves? Doing something? Modernity is weird. Who knows.

     After all, they wear /clothes/ when they do athletics. Disgusting.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
Just one more wall, and Yomi presses a hand to Ranguren's back. "Wait here. If it comes back your way, you know what to do." The exorcist hops off her nue's back and runs through one of the many holes in the next wall. As she gets further away, Ranguren shimmers and begins to fade, though anyone with even a lick of spirit sense can tell that he's still there, just not fully corporeal.

As Silica chases the poochooze from one direction and Iron Soul puts up a thunder wall in another, Yomi takes position near one of the last pieces of unbroken, non-black wall, her sword drawn and ready. "Give it up! You're surrounded!" Something about the way Tutela is acting, though, tells her that promising mercy if the poochooze surrenders isn't something she can do...

Lexicon has posed:
    "Ahh," Stylono hums thoughtfully, "The transformation... they become empowered by system resources." Lifting her gaze, the priestess glances after the two DCCs, the program, the exorcist, the special agent, the fairy, and Gilgamesh scattered throughout various stages of pursuit-to-not-pursuit. "This process...amplifies some parts of their personality, I think. I've been in service to the Silver Cathoderal since the first Core Controller, Pedia." Eyes closing with a fond look on her face, she admits, "Pedia..also changed a little in Digital Divinity. Though Lady Iron Soul seems to change quite a bit more than Lady Silver Soul. I can speak with confidence that, like this, Lexicon becomes quite...hot-blooded."

    "YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF!" echoes from the pursuit, when Silver Soul smashes down a perfectly good wall. She's broken off the pursuit directly to follow along the side, smashing through fresh walls as she goes using her axe.

    The Poochoo-girl turns suddenly to avoid electrocuting herself on Iron Soul's whip-wall, "Whoop!" and finds herself face-to-face with Silver Soul, raising an axe overhead, "--Whoop!" The evasion sends her out into the open, staggering as she twists around a keyblade thrown her way...and again as it returns to Deelel's hand, "Oh my, oh my, this is no good~!" And with Yomi and her Nue guarding the only section of (relatively) intact structure close enough to dart back into, and Rebecca rapidly approaching with a stun baton, the fleeing virus is left with nowhere to go.

    "It's in the open!" Lexicon wrenches her weapon from the floor, "Do it now!"

Silica has posed:
    Suddenly Silica! Using Someone's shoulder for a convenient leaping point, the (extremely light, like omg how is this a person) Cait Sith leaps into the air, and slams her dagger into the ground. "Glacier Slash!" The momentum of her jump translating into slashing the ground itself with the blade, trying to impart the Water Magic in the Sword Skill into the floor, making it slippery and hard to keep footing on.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
The virus is cornered and there's nowhere else for it to go! Rebecca smiles a little as she gets closer. "Sorry to make such a shocking revelation, but you leave me no choice!" She picks up the pace and attempts to thrust the electrified baton into the virus. She also lets out a yell like a war cry or something.

Lexicon has posed:
    The floor ices over to a radius just enough to cover over the ground the Poochoo-girl is charging over. When she tries to evade Rebecca's approach, she instead slides, arms waving, "--Oh my!" And then, with little fanfare, Rebecca's stun baton buries itself in the slime virus' face with a crackling eletrical sound. Due to the opposing running/sliding speeds, the impact is enough to flip Poochoo-girl end-over-end until she splats onto the floor and slides some distance across the floor until she stops. The humanoid body disappears and it's just a swirly-eyed poochooze sitting there, flat and unresponsive.

    The key, released on impact, flips through the air right for Iron Soul. Catching it should be a simple process. All that's left to do is use it to unlock the exit and bring an end to this weird Britannican adventure.

Tutela (1090) has posed:
    Iron Soul shakes her head with this, "Such a waste." she mutters, watching the SWAT member flip that Poochoo-girl over and let her splat against the ground, she chuckles a bit... shooting a look towards her kitten, Silica. "Nice work, my kitten." she gives the Fairy Catgirl a smile, it's a /smile/. But that's not all that catches her attention. The flung key is still in the air and, with a dismissive wave, she catches that key in her hand and floats over to the fallen Poochoo-girl.

    And proceeds to vigorously /step on it/. "And this... is for.. interrupting me! YOu worthless little virus, be happy I'm grinding you under my heel, worm, I wouldn't deign to lay anything other than the heel you deserve to be under on you." with a swift kick up to launch it in the air, she proceeds to roundhouse it and kick it right into the back wall... following up after it... "Tch, you're not worth my time anymore..."

    "Viruses..." she mutters, floating over towards the door, shoving the key into the lock and unlocking the door. "My kitten goes first... then everyone else~" comes that sickening sweet voice from Iron Soul. "Shall we, Silica my kitten?"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
Though she can't fly, Yomi stays very still as the ground ices over, just in case. She's pretty sure of her footing when she's standing in place, at least.

The fact that both she and Ranguren have just basically functioned as deterrents and nothing else doesn't bother her, though. Sheeing the poochooze taken down and the key fly through the air make her relax her guard, just a bit. "Ah... I didn't think it would be that easy." Sure, there was the chase, but nothing really dangerous... probably? Yomi watches for a moment and blinks as Iron Soul stomps on the poor thing. Well... it -was- annoying, but... "What -are- viruses anyway?" she muses to herself, unable to really get a read on the creature. Regardless, once the threat has passed, she sheathes her sword again. The moment it clicks into place in its scabbard, all traces of Ranguren disappear as if the nue was not there in the first place. "Where does that door lead, then? Back outside, or another room?"

Silica has posed:
    And that's that. Silica stands, yanking her dagger out of the ground and sheathing it. She takes a breath to calm her nerves... and then has them frayed again by that sultry voice from Iron Soul.

    Squeak.

    Best not keep the Jailor waiting though, she gingerly gets clear of the ice patch, then scampers over to the doorway, trying to get past Iron Soul as quickly as possible.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Finally, the enemy is dealt with, now to get through that door! Rebecca picks up the pace as she runs for the door, hoping to clear this silly floor already. "That was unexpected, but I guess you learn something new each day..."

Deelel has posed:
The Poochoo-Girl is not down yt she's made hee strike and it missed her bladeis recalled and once more it's in her hand. Rebecca may actually be the one to get this oneand Deelel doesn'tmind at all. It's now time to deal with it, with everyone piling in? She'll rush the virus aiming to add herown keyblade strikes to it should it be needed. It does not seemto be needed after all she lowers her weapon and sighs.

"This is one crazy system...but it's never boring. Is everyone all right?"

Lexicon has posed:
    "A virus is to the System what a monster is to other worlds," Lexicon answers Yomi directly as she dismisses her axe, "It's rogue data. Poochooze in particular are pretty harmless, but there are other, more detrimental viruses that can cause harm to the System. Malvaders are an example, nasty little shits, those ones." Still floating, she turns in midair, examining the destroyed walls that used to make up this Floor's architecture, "Jeez... At least we don't have to clean this shit up." She also quickly takes stock of everyone who'd entered the Tower, nodding once she's accounted for everyone.

    Per Iron Soul's request, Silica is the one who passes through the unlocked Exit. The moment she does, the Tower itself disappears. Gilgamesh, Silica, Tutela, Lexicon, Yomi, Sanae, Rebecca, Deelel, and Stylono are all deposited onto the snowy countryside of Britannica. The pile of crates Stylono had stood beside earlier is still there, revealing this is indeed the same place the Tower had stood shortly before. It is nowhere in sight, now.

    "Freakin' finally," Silver Soul comments. A column of white light shoots up around her. When it fades, Lexicon has returned to normal with a sigh. Her voice has also returned to the softer, more mellow tone, "...The Tower's puzzles are getting more erratic and unusual. And the boss floors have been tougher, too. I'll confer with the other DCCs later." She lifts a hand, gesturing, "For now, Stylono brought care packages for everyone by way of payment. And if you like, I'll offer rooms at the Cathoderal if you wish to stay and rest before returning to your homes."