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Rubi-Kan Vagrants <X-Watch-Chatter> 3 Hibiki Tachibana says, "...Are you saying Bugsters can--so the ones Cantio have made aren't like the ones we've beat up until now? They're...fully sentient?"
<X-Watch-Chatter> 3 Bercilak says, "Thei may bicome as swich, yea. But cognicioun alon maken one not deserven of lif. Once mo shalt I fraist hit, to enjuge swich."
<X-Watch-Chatter> 3 Hibiki Tachibana says, "...So they can become...alright. Let us know what happens. Because if we go to Cantio's research lab, and we run into more..."
<X-Watch-Chatter> 3 Bercilak rumbles a laugh. "That shalt thou espy thine own self, I trow."
<X-Watch-Chatter> 3 Hibiki Tachibana says, "...Heh. You have a point there."


There is trouble looming on the outskirts of the coastal village so familiar to those involved in Cantio's Bugster experiment. This time, it is trouble of a manufactured nature. The wooden spikes erupting from the blocky, digital earth, and the giant earthen slabs on the opposite side of the town's walls, are no longer the only alterations to the terrain. Just as with those features, the Green Knight is responsible.

    It is noon, or close to it, which means that there is plenty of light shining upon a towering wooden pen. The structure has grown from the earth in much the same way as the spikes near the eastern wall. Rather than planks, its posts are thick, oaken trunks of living trees. Looking upon it, you cannot see the other side, for one because the posts are so close together. For two, because what space does exist between them is dominated by teeming masses of low level viruses.

    Poochoozes squeeze and strain against spiders, which twitch uselessly against snarling wolves. It is as if the Green Knight trawled the whole of the countryside for every weak or middling virus he could, and brought them all here to serve as some manner of bizarre display. It is not your eyes he intended to catch, however, but the Silver Bugster's.

    The people of this town are hurrying for the exit--given fair warning by Bercilak that he would indeed destroy it if that Bugster chose an easy meal over their protection. The few guards bold enough to try and stop him from giving this test lie scattered around him, battered into submission with the haft of his axe. Some few still remain to watch what will happen. To see what the Bugster will choose--an easy meal, and a massive increase in its strength, or a fight with a difficult opponent who promises not to fight back?

    The clock is ticking, and Bercilak's axe is already crashing into homes, overturning carts. Is this the test? Or is it something else? If you think the Green Knight's test more complex than this, you'll have to defeat him for answers. Will the Bugster be your ally?
Cantio Were it up to Cantio, she'd have no trouble making a decision in this matter. It's only because of two things that stop her from doing a thing about this situation, instead opting to deploy the silver Bugster to take on this without her guidance or even presence to skew its decisions.

The first: Bercilak's own admission that he wished to test the Bugster's mettle, to see whether or not it was truly deserving of the existence bought with a human's life. She's rather curious about the results herself, and letting it make those decisions might just shed some new light on Bugsters as well as guide her future experiments in the matter.
The second: Cantio still hasn't really sorted out how to address the town's existence. She knows what she wants to do, sure, but actually spelling it out in a way that'll be clearly understood is still going to take a while.

And so, it's the rubbery silver knight riding a similarly rubbery Poochooze that arrives outside the coastal town, speeding towards it as quickly as... It's not clear how its rubbery mount even moves compared to the slimier Virus, but it manages to do so anyway! When it comes face to face with the two choices before it, however, it stops.

It weighs its options. It looks at the gathering of weaker viruses that would make for a fantastic meal, something that would undoubtedly make it stronger than ever. It looks towards the town, already seeing some people trying to escape and others knocked unconscious by the Green Knight who would surely crush it in a direct fight.

Unfortunately for the Bugster, a third option doesn't appear to be present here. Its head creaks slightly as it stares at the gathering of viruses within those unnaturally shaped natural walls, and it stares at the Green Knight within those incredibly unnaturally shaped unnatural walls of the city. It raises its sword, forming a fireball at the tip, then swings downwards and launches it at...

Bercilak. It's not a potent fireball at all for someone of his stature, but it's still a ball of standard fire. "What is this?" It asks of him as it slides forward, shield braced on one side and sword drawn at the other. "Are you... Have you gone berserk, too?"
Hibiki Tachibana     Hibiki did indeed say she would espy things her own self, so of course she's going to be here. That said, she wasn't actually sure exactly what the trial of the day would involve ahead of time. Having known Bercilak and been tested by him herself in the past though, she knows it's probably not going to be an easy affair. Or one that isn't going to end with someone eating some serious licks.

    She /was/ hoping it wouldn't be something that'd get the town itself mixed up into things, though. Finding an overview of both the destruction and the monster-filled pen from atop the city walls, she's left clutching the crimson pendant around her neck with a grimace. /Is/ this the test? Even if it is, is she the kind of person to stand by and let it happen, or is she going to get to the bottom of it? In the worst case scenario, of the silver Bugster arriving and going for the viruses instead, she might end up having to try and do something about it and Bercilak at the same time...because if anyone makes good on their word, it's the Green Knight.

    Right at the cusp of her own indecision, the not-so-green knight arrives. She watches it, from above, with tightly pursed lips - she has every reason to be nervous, but...in the end, its decision looks to be made. Her expression lightens up, briefly. And then it settles back into resolve, kicking off over the edge of the wall.

    "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron..." A golden sphere of light crashes down close to Bercilak, before bursting apart in all directions to reveal Tachibana Hibiki clad in her Symphogear, rising up into feet-spread left-fist-first ready stance. "That's what I wanna know," she adds on after the Bugster's comment. She's not going to spoil the possibility of this being the actual test, but she's serious too. "But if you're hanking for a fight that badly, Bercilak--"

    She casts a glance back over her shoulder, to the Bugster. There is, maybe, a slight smile underneath her scarf. "...I'll fight by your side."
Staren     A big flash of white and orange races from the warpgate to town at racecar speeds. It leaps over the wall... and what lands on the ground in view of Bercilak is a 10-foot-tall mechanical humanoid. Where the Samson was barrel legs and huge pauldrons, the Delilah is, well, *comparatively* slender, though still proportioned like a ten foot tall humanoid warrior, with rounded shapes and a missile launcher behind the right shoulder. Each forearm has some kind of energy weapon and a retractable blade. The helmet has an antenna sticking up from the back, a ridge atop the head concealing the barrel of some kind of energy weapon, and three glowing orange horizontal slits at eye level. The paintjob is predominantly a shiny white, with dark, low-reflective black on the flexible armor layer exposed between plates at the joints, and glowing orange accents that almost look like gems on the knees, chest and shoulders. The helmet has a knee-length ponytail of 'hair' matching the dark brown of Staren's own, and completing the look is an obviously holographic, glowing, Concord-orange scarf, dramatically over-long. It doesn't actually look like fabric, and the shape is abstracted somewhat, giving the impression of a ragged piece of fabric rustling in the wind.

    "BERCILAK?!" Staren's voice shouts from concealed speakers built into the armor. "What the HELL are you DOING?! These people don't deserve this!" She holds out her arms as if to fire the cannons, then hesitates when she sees that missed shots will hit homes. "Tch..." She waves a hand, and a swarm of tiny gyrojets (and some sensor drones) warp in around her and beeline for Bercilak, aiming to stick in him like rocket-powered needles (or adjust course to less-damagingly sideswipe into buildings if they miss.)

    Staren's already charging, armblades extending and exuding high-frequency shredding energy fields as she opens with a left-handed slash to try and make Bercilak defend, following up with a stab from her right arm!

    "Using people's homes as shields... How could you?!"
Rubi-Kan Vagrants [Vicinity] Silver Bugster: What is this?
[Vicinity] Silver Bugster: Are you...
[Vicinity] Silver Bugster: Have you gone berserk, too?


    The fireball collides with the Green Knight, just after he's overturned a merchant's stall. The massive harness over his machined plate takes the blow in stride, as does he--standing straight, massive axe planted upon the ground with a thud. His cloak of helenium and feather reeds billows behind him as the scorched metal gradually returns to its original hue. When he turns to look at the Bugster, their reflection is distorted by the pitiless black screen of Bercilak's t-visored helmet.

    "Nay. Todai shalt be thy second fraisting. Chuse. This toun, or thy oun ofstrengthening."

    Unfazed by the Bugster's presence, Bercilak strides past them over to one of the downed guards. The monomolecular green edge gleams menacingly as it rises into the air. If the Bugster doesn't intervene, the edge will race to the ground--to the unconscious guard's throat.

    Hibiki's dynamic entrance sends the axe askew, planting it into the earth inches from a lethal blow. Bercilak lifts the axe from the ground.

[Vicinity] Staren: Using people's homes as shields... How could you?!

    Bercilak jerks a thumb towards a house bearing a clear and present mark from his axe. He isn't just using them as shields, he was actively trying to fuck them up--all for the sake of making the Bugster choose. "'Tis unhard," he simply responds, cracking his neck. There is no attempt to defend from Staren's blows. Accordingly, her left slash cuts a gouge in that huge chest harness, the metal bizarrely 'curdling' as its regenerative factor mends the damamge done. Her stab in turn draws blood, a crimson trickle oozing from the spot where it punctured the tough, synthetic weave to which the plates of his bodysuit are attached.

    Concerningly, it also draws a chuckle.

Bercilak de Hautdesert is listening to Iron Maiden on Discoverize. Listen along? Y - N
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      That Staren's Delilah is a good two and a half feet taller than him bothers Bercilak not at all. This armor of his is highly anachronistic for the way that he speaks--it would look right at home in her neck of the woods, save perhaps the cloak of seasonal plants. With her blade still imbedded in his armor, microthrusters abruptly fire at the back, carrying him upwards and forwards with alarming speed for his bult. Metal 'tusks' on his hauberk pose an impaling hazard all their own, but the sheer force of his acceleration is enough to rip her blades from his armor, causing another dramatic scarlet splash across his armor.

     The haft of his axe is brought sharply from right to left, attempting to catch her armor at the neck and force it aside with his downwards momentum following the cutoff of those thrusters. His boots hit the ground with a heavy thud, and with another short burst, he makes a 180 on a dime, his cloak serving to conceal, in part, the sweeping of his axe's beard in a low arc meant to catch Hibiki's ankle before she can start in with one of her trademark leaps, yank her towards him, and deliver a gauntleted punch intended to send her flying.

     Boosting backwards to disengage, he starts in on the Bugster with a rapid flurry of swings that is extremely intimidating for the fact that the axe is as tall as the Green Knight, and the edge is about as tall as a small child. One, two, three, four, hip to shoulder, shoulder to hip, edge of the heel aimed at the neck, overhead meant to hook the shoulder and force them into the dirt.

     Bercilak showed *up.*
Cantio That's the punching one. Hibiki, if it's recalling what Cantio called her that time. The Bugster steps aside briefly as it sees her approaching, looking visibly confused through nothing more than body language and a non-emoting face when she announces her intent in being here.

"I see... Hm. Yes, good. I don't think I would... Have a chance on my own here." It answers, flicking that sword sideways once before settling back into a more defensive stance. It stares at Staren's robot when she arrives next, looking wary again despite still having no actual face to show it with. As with Hibiki, however, it soon relaxes when it realizes that it's got more allies here than expected.

It's still wary of getting too close to the houses, though, especially considering the odd looks it's getting from the locals. Still, it's not as though it has many options at the moment. Either it faces Bercilak here, draws him out of the town, or...

Actually, that's pretty much it. It's nowhere near fast enough to escape, and leaving the town alone is out of the question unless it gets orders to the contrary. Without hearing a peep out of Cantio, however, it just keeps its feet (and Poochooze Bugster mount) firmly in place when Bercilak gives it a simple enough choice.

Before it can answer, however, he brings the sword towards the fallen guard. Its mount rolls as quickly as it can, but it's nowhere near fast enough to intercept  him physically. As such, the best thing it can do is hurl a fireball his way and hope it stops his blade from making contact with the guard.

"If you wanted to test me, I am right here. Just..." It announces with a slight jitter in its movements, almost as if it's hesitating during its approach. It doesn't stop moving, however, and keeps on approaching Bercilak at that same slow-ish, but unnaturally steady speed with a bit more strain in its step(?). "Give me a second. I am not as spry as the red one was." It might take another second or three before it finally gets close enough to slash at the Green Knight, but he makes the first move against all of the defenders present.

It's clear enough that Bercilak's speed is going to work in his favor. As such, the Silver Knight has to adjust its strategy. Keeping its shield raised, it slides its blade against the outer edge of the shield to create a few sparks that eventually float nearby as... Another fireball! It's not the most inspired maneuver, but it lets it build something up even as his axe clashes with that shield and batters the silver knight's armor in several places at once.

It's definitely outmatched here, but it doesn't flee. It leans forward into those strikes to try and break through, and it has to slam the bottom corner of its shield into the dirt to keep itself from eating dirt. From that angle, however, it's able to thrust upwards at Bercilak with a more stable base, trying to drive it into his side before finally launching the fireball at his head. It pulls back with the sword at that moment, then launches into a slower, but still moderately well-controlled series of swings towards an arm, a leg, the same arm, then at the slash that Staren had made earlier.
Staren     Staren had filed 'arthurian knight' under 'heroic spirit' and assumed Bercilak's tech was due to being summoned from a world later in the timeline, or having picked it up in the Multiverse. But if he's not... what is he?

    A *massive* wall of meat, apparently! Staren didn't show up in power armor to intimidate him, just to try and keep up! Behind her visor, she's shocked at his lack of defense... and then realizes what's coming next almost too late! She twists in his grip, retracting her blades and firing her own thrusters to avoid getting badly impaled, but is still slammed into a building with big scratches across her armor, *barely* shifting position to turn that head-chopping attack into a glancing blow! She tries to stab him but he's already moving on to fight Hibiki.

    "What is your DEAL?!" Staren calls out, scoffing and rolling her eyes at the suggestion to grab his 'notes'. However, not one to miss an opportunity, while he's fighting the others and NOT smashing up buildings, her missile launcher swivels down into firing position and fires a half-dozen minimissile salvo, futuristic high explosives homing in on the destructive knight before detonating! She fires the plasma cannons at his feet for good measure, the comet-shaped fireballs having a tendency to spread over the target on impact, finding unarmored spots to burn through!

    "What's the point? Testing a knight's morals but hurting innocents in the process... Doesn't it undermine those morals in the first place, if they have any value to you?!"
Hibiki Tachibana     Of course, Bercilak knows very well how she fights by now. That goes for most people who have seen her throw hands at all, honestly, but it makes the Green Knight's maneuver no less effective - her armored ankle is caught and she lets out a sound of surprise as she's yoinked forward off her feet. The follow-up fist slams clean into her gut and sends her away in the opposite direction, one of the axe-hewn buildings being the only thing that stops her from going further.

    Thankfully, she only leaves a slight Hibiki-shaped indent and cracks in the material rather than flying straight through it, and is able to dislodge herself and land back on her feet without too much trouble. She'd rather not take too many of those, though. "Hah...I don't think any of us would," she replies to the Silver Knight. "He's no joke." And she didn't miss him going for the guard. He's not playing around one bit.

    The Bugster isn't that fast, but it's clearly trying. And she's not going to let it suffer that barrage on its own, while its doing its best. It makes her stop, briefly, and think about how strange this is. About the Bugsters she's destroyed, and probably would again if she had to. About Rita's thoughts on them. 'Is it the kind of thing someone would be happy to have died to create?' What Cantio's done has been done, and nothing will take that back. But now that it's here, in front of them, fighting now...

    "Staren! And you--" Huh. Does the Bugster have a name? "I'm going to try and make an opening!" As soon as she says that, she /does/ break out into one of her trademark leaps - getting a running start away from the building before the pistons in her leg armor eject and shoot back to make a dirt-scattering sudden jump, coming down while the Bugster is launching its own fiery multi-pronged assault and the Green Knight's face is filled with fire. Her heel comes forward to smash into Bercilak's skull from the side with breakneck force and the burst of momentum behind it...!

    Kicking right back off shortly after connecting, she whirls her entire body around into a spinning knee smash at the exact same point, fully intent on sending him flying if not breaking his neck. He's ridiculously hard to kill. She wouldn't dish it out if he couldn't take it.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants [Vicinity] Silver Bugster: If you wanted to test me, I am right here. Just...
[Vicinity] Silver Bugster: Give me a second. I am not as spry as the red one was.


    "Ah! God," intones the Green Knight approvingly, as another fireball crashes into him, melting a a thick green pauldron setting his cloak ablaze. It ought to go up like kindling, but it's as if the fire is passively being beaten back, even as ashes drift into the air. His axe is like the weight of the world upon one's shoulder--but the Bugster is tenacious, determined not to fail. This, too, holds weight in Bercilak's court.

    He snarls with delight as the Bugster's sword strikes a plate over his abdomen, deflecting it with a shower of sparks and skewering through the thick synthetic weave beneath. The fireball collides dead-on with his head, driving him backwards as cracks spiderweb across the T-shaped visor of his bucket helm, and molten metal drips over it, momentarily obscuring his vision.

    It's a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the still-mending spot where Staren's stab had landed, and the blow manages to crack the massive harness, sparks flying from it. There is a hum of something powering down.

Galahad, Inc. RK87 Tank Armor Offline

    Staren's missiles collide with his back, numerous explosions shearing the harness completely off of him in bits and pieces, before that regenerative effect can repair it. What's left when the smoke clears is still a formidable suit of armor--a bodysuit, with thick, green machined plates affixed to tough synthetic weave that stubbornly resists attempts to pierce, puncture, freeze or burn it--not to say that Staren can't! Her munitions find purchase, but only with dramatic displays as that. When the smoke clears, Bercilak's cloak is gone, and blackened plates slowly pop back into their proper shapes.

    "Nay. But to tel thee mo anau wouldst corrump the fraisting, Staren."

    The helmet regains its proper shape just as Hibiki's leg collides with the side of his head. It dents the side of the helmet and sends him flying over the city wall. Correcting his course midair, he prevents himself from completely destroying a house formerly touched by his axe. Scanning the battlefield, he rockets backwards and lands outside the walls of the town. In truth, the first part of the test is over--but they don't need to know that, and the town needn't suffer for it. This is fun.

    "COME!"

    The next sound that all of you hear is the deafening roar of his hoverbike, a massive, thickly armored thing in green, with golden decals of hounds chasing alien prey. The pulse detonation engine rattles the armor of the Bugster and Staren's Delilah even before it reaches them, beats and thrums in Hibiki's chest. Bercilak's piloting is par excellence--with one hand on his axe and the other at the controls, he makes a swipe at Staren, attempting to drag her outside the walls, while next attempting to ram Hibiki and the Bugster in the cowcatcher at the front to do the very same.

    That's right--a toku scene change for a toku test of virtue.
Cantio Clearly, there's something Bercilak doesn't want to reveal just yet. What that is, the silver Bugster has no clue. The best it can guess is that it's all part of that test, but whatever the test is hasn't quite clicked for the artificial being just yet. Its attention is still on trying to fend off the Green Knight and figuring out what that test even is, as it's having quite a bit of trouble making much headway against the more experienced fighter.

There is some small relief as he launches himself outside of the town, however, by both the Bugster and the people inside. The Bugster no longer has to worry about damage to the town as it chases him outside, and the townspeople no longer have to worry about the Bugster going berserk inside the town!

That big pile of viruses might still be a thing, though.

As the Bugster follows Bercilak outside, it glances around to try and find the direction that terrible noise is coming from. It feels Bercilak's hoverbike before it can see it, however, its innards rumbling from the noise and the pulses. When he zooms right on in with axe and all, there's not much room for the Bugster to maneuver nor does it have the reflexes to deflect such an attack. The best it can manage is holding its shield and sword in front of it, but even that can't stop the charge that knocks it right off its mount in an explosion of cheap pyro sparks and flailing arms!

Tumbling to the ground, the Bugster knight shuffles along the ground briefly before picking itself back up, somehow still attached to the Poochooze Bugster beneath it the entire time. Its surface is marred with inexplicable burns and large gashes already, but it doesn't look like those injuries are slowing it down despite pieces of its armor cracking off.

If anything, it actually seems to be moving more comfortably as that rubbersuit armor peels right off. "The first step... We've done it." The Bugster announces, glancing over at Hibiki and Staren briefly. It gestures back at the town, then levels its sword at shoulder height while pointing it at Bercilak in a stance not unlike Cantio's own preferred stance.

"He is out of the town. Now we only need to..." It doesn't seem like it actually knows how to proceed from here. Instead of finishing that thought, it just throws itself right back at the Green Knight, but not nearly as wildly (ish) as before. Instead, it takes more measured steps/slides as it tests his defenses, stabbing at his limbs and trying to draw his defenses in multiple directions without overcommitting just yet. Is it holding back, or is it biding its time?

It's totally biding its time.
Hibiki Tachibana     "You say that, but you're the one coming to us--!"

    Hibiki is very familiar with that sound. At the deafening engine, the shaking that rattles one to their core in the presence of Bercilak's trusty steed. She just never thought she'd be on the to-be-roadkill end of it any time soon. He's a top tier rider, and she's only just barely able to turn to watch what happens with Staren when she realizes the Green Knight put them in his sights as well.

    Her body does the first sudden response that comes to it, which is to throw both hands forward to grab onto the front of the hoverbike. All this really stops is her being rammed at full-speed and caught up directly by the cowcatcher, because she still ends up immediately being carried back with the acceleration and holding on with everything she has. Her boots dug into the ground leave two long gashes in the town's walkways behind the bike's path, and then in the earth outside the walls as they're all brought out.

    "Takin' it somewhere emptier...!?" Only when they're out do the mechanisms in her leg armor push out forward once more, pistons extending forward to their limit--before slamming back in, producing a shockwave of force beneath and behind her at the same time she tightens her grip and arches her back with a loud roar. Fingers digging into the metal, using that sudden expulsion of pressure and leverage to heave up on the front of the hoverbike...!

    Hibiki can't stop Bercilak's ride in its tracks so she's going to *fling* it up and behind her instead. He's either going to eat dirt or get tossed out of control into one of the nearby trees, depending on how he handles it!

    Though no matter how it goes, the magical girl ends up heaving for breath as she straightens back up, glancing towards the Bugster before looking back in Bercilak's direction. "One step down, huh...but now that we don't have anyone else to worry about, we can fight all out!"
Staren     The weakened wall Staren was thrown against earlier collapses after the explosives go off. It was probably going to fall down anyway.

    Honestly... Staren can think of one way that this *could* all be a test, and indeed, explaining it would give away the game...

    Either way, at least he's out of the town now. Staren whistles at Hibiki's kick sending the mountain of a man flying like that. "Nice! But don't worry about me, make an opening for the Bugster!" She starts running after him, only to hear that ROAR and her sensors telling her something about an approaching engine.

    He's FAST. She was going to shoot at him, but he's in her face all of a sudden, Staren's reactions amplified by motors and thrusters enough to at least stop her from catching the axe in the WORST way! There's a nasty gash through the outer armor layers and something sparking and smoking a little. She struggles as she's dragged along, pulling free just before reaching the town gate...

    ...But the Delilah appears atop the wall seconds after, anyway, then leaps down, holoscarf billowing dramatically, and Staren aims both arms at Bercilak, trying to lead the target so as to hit *after* Hibiki's attack perhaps creates an opening for the spreading, burning plasma! (She said focus on creating an opening for the bugster, but they're both using fire, after all! She may as well take advantage of any openings too!) Oh right, THIS is something she needs to get used to again, the relatively slower-moving projectile of plasma, more like an arrow than a bullet or a laser beam. On the bright side, as long as there's a hole in the armor *somewhere*, she doesn't need to worry so much about aiming at weak points. It's a tradeoff!

    ...The Bugster's not doing much though. The Delilah's helmet turns to the slime knight, ponytail whipping dramatically behind it. "I don't think he's letting it end here. He'll probably go *back* into the town if you don't drive him off."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Hibiki just up and tosses the bike. Bercilak's expert handling has it righted, pulling into a lateral drift, digitized dirt kicking up as the lifters edge close to the ground, back end swinging wide. But even as motivators flip up to create drag, even as the roar of the engine dims, there is still the fact that Hibiki is strong as fuck. Momentum carries the back end and causes it to fell three trees.

     Bercilak's axe makes a swipe for each one, attempting to cut them into manageable sizes and not end up buried beneath them. Even one-handed, his axework is masterful, the blade finding its mark, weapon tossed from one hand to another, choked all the way up to the beard to make the final cut.

    It isn't enough to keep him from getting battered by falling logs. Nor is it enough to keep him, and those logs, from being set ablaze by Staren's plasma. The whole of his body burns, as there was indeed a hole still mending somewhere in his armor. The bike powers down and Bercilak's axe is struck deliberately against a burning log. The inside of that armor must be positively molten--because light escapes it from within even the darkened visor. Something works to mitigate the damage caused by the plasma, but even then, smoke filters out from inside it.

    Bercilak's axe drives three flaming logs Hibiki's way. He tosses his smoking helmet off to better see Staren's projectiles. One of them is deflected by the cheek of his axe, but ends up flensing the skin from his face. Then she'll get a bit of an idea, however grisly, of what he is. Melted skin briefly reveals the inhuman glint of a cybernetic eye. This is not a Heroic Spirit, but a far-future version of the legendary Green Knight. In seconds, the wound is healed, replaced by a hale and healthy, slightly unnerving grin, as his undercut mohawk blows just as dramatically in the wind as her Delilah's holoscarf. His thrusters kick up again, lifting him into the air, and his axe collides with the ground. All around Staren, willow trees sprout from the earth with preposterous rapidity, their wispy yet razor-sharp boughs lashing wildly in all directions.

    Using the momentary shock value thereof, he rockets towards the Bugster.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants [Local Broadband] Silver Bugster: Hrn. I... Need to protect these people. And those in Cadenza. This is their home.

    If the Bugster wants to buy time, Bercilak is more than willing to sell it. An axe doesn't have the defensive edge that a shield offers--but in hands as expert as Bercilak's, it hardly matters. The haft of the weapon is always moving, so too the position of his hands along it. The cheek of the axe swats aside thrusts, the blunt eye halts swipes, and the butt of the haft batters their shield to keep the pressure up.

     "Thy armer is brak by strength of mine strok," notes Bercilak. "Wherefore dost thou guard theim, that entrete so hatesomli with thee?" Why are they trying to hard to protect people that hate them? People that want nothing more than for them to be gone?
Cantio If it wasn't clear already, the Bugster's martial skill is nowhere near Bercilak's at this point in time. Although it's relatively sturdy for what it is and has far more strength than the average human, facing off against a legendary knight is a recipe for terrible bodily pain.

Or toku sparks, since this thing doesn't seem to have much/any blood in it. Each strike of that axe against exposed not-rubber creates even more violent sparks to fly through the air, and the Bugster staggers back as it tries to get its bearings straight. "An opening...? But you are..." It looks towards Staren, visibly trying to comprehend her line of thinking even as the fight continues. She raises the point of having to keep fighting, and that's enough to get the Bugster to raise that blade back to its shoulder again.

"We... Can fight all out, yes. I can try to restrain him, but an opening..." Does it even have a signature attack? Its experience in fighting powerful foes is rather lacking, but to even think about trying to attack with something more than basic sword maneuvers and fireballs is...

It starts remembering things. Even as Bercilak's repeated strikes from his axe draw more sparks whether from the axe head cutting across the silver Bugster's body or the haft smashing right into and through its shield, images start piecing together in the Bugster's mind. They're still a hazy mess, but it's better than what it had before.

"They might hate me now, but... They did not hate me before. I was protected by them before." It answers, pushing back against Bercilak suddenly as the shield starts to burn in the silver Bugster's hand. Although it's still probably not strong enough to budge the Green Knight with that shove, it is still able to throw itself back as it raises that shield covered in flames and...

Slams the shield into the top of the shield. Clearly, this is meant to evoke the image of an axe, but it might be a little more convincing only because its gear is made of such a weird rubbery substance to begin with. With flaming 'axe' in hand, the Bugster leaps into the air and spins wildly, creating a small shoulder-height flame cloud around itself.

"Even if I'm this old and in this shape... I can still protect these rowdy kids." The Bugster still speaks in a steady tone as it comes down at Bercilak, finally swinging that flaming axe at him on the way down. Once it makes contact with anything, an explosion follows that practically engulfs the Bugster in the process!
Hibiki Tachibana     "Nice combination...!" Hibiki calls back towards Staren with what can only be described as hype (no not the resource) in her voice. For someone who likes finding solutions that aren't fighting, that sure does look like some kind of battle high. But it'll take more than some flaming logs to put down Bercilak of all people. She's not surprised at all to see him lumbering out and hardly inconvenienced, even while he burns out from the inside.

    Or that he's quick on the counterattack. In the face of the trio of incoming logs, Hibiki braces herself and re-enters the same stance from before - and with another loud kiai, twists her body into a full force jab. Her fist splits the first down the middle and lets the halves fly away, and she transitions into stepping forward into a rising kick, cracking the second one from below and sending it skyhigh fast enough to snuff out the fire. The third strikes head-on however, her small frame vanishing under it as it and her are sent flying back into a crushing landing on the ground.

    She remains there for two seconds before the whole thing is suddenly hefted up from below like a massive flaming bat, the magical girl scorched and bruised but apparently not bothered one bit by the heat as she rises back up. She looks ready to return the favor--but before she does, the exchange between Bercilak and the Bugster reaches her ears.

    Fighting to protect even when you're hated - or think you're hated. That's something she knows. The Bugster's response catches her off-guard, though. It...remembered? Not its name, but that. And that's all the reason it needs to try this hard. To defend Cadenza...and it's people.

    "That's the spirit, old timer! Looks like you found your resolve!" This has told her all she needs to know about Cantio's Bugsters. About what they can be, no matter the circumstances of how they were created. That's why she can put her all into hefting up the makeshift weapon that Bercilak has gifted her, leap high into the air--and ignite her thrusters at the apex of the jump, to send herself hurtling back downwards at the same time she swings the log down vertically!

    "Haaaaaah!!" She adds fuel to the very literal fire of the Bugster's attack by smashing the fiery trunk down hard enough to shatter it on Bercilak's everything, ensuring he won't be going anywhere in the face of the rubbery knight's assault.
Staren     Staren *winces* at the sight of what the plasma is doing, at Bercilak's armor glowing, molten. What kind of creature *IS* he??? That the person under the armor can survive that... Plasma weapons are *nasty*.

~Approximately five months ago, in what would be AU15 by the Multiverse's calendar~
    Well that all was SHADY AS FUCK. Mysterious murders, a 'kidnapping victim' that turns out to be a robot and self-destructs... SOMEONE has been after the party ever since it was given The Package. "DRIVE!" Staren shouts. "WE CAN STILL MAKE THE BOAT!" As the transport accelerates and speeds almost recklessly through the streets of MercTown, Staren, clad head to foot in (still scorched from earlier) white body armor, climbs up onto the roof, where a mech like a car cab with legs, thrusters, and mounted railguns is crouching and strapped down. Staren unclips some straps and climbs in, starting up the machine...

    ...and barely in time, as the transport screeches to a halt, almost fishtailing so as not to run into the squad of commandoes and three ten-feet-tall faceless humanoids of black metal. "The NARUNI?! We don't have anything of yours!" There's shouting as the party piles out of the car, the driver leaning out the window to blast foes with eye-beams, a birdman mage taking to the air to fling people with telekinesis, and an armored woman suddenly growing vines out of the armor that fling sap to stick some of the commandoes in place. Grenades and laser beams fly this way and that.

    Staren fires the railguns at one of the robots, hypersonic slugs deflecting off armor. Staren grabs an M72 LAW off the passenger seat and leans out his own window, extending and firing it... and the construct emerges from the resulting cloud of smoke and flame barely scathed. Staren pulls his head back in the window and it closes just in time as a rain of plasma fire hits his mech, raising the temperature slightly as well as damage indicators.

    Staren is very, very aware that there is both a sealed cockpit AND a suit of armor between him and the superheated flames. He'd be cooked in an instant without them...

    "PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!" And then a red dragon that is, indeed, the size of one of the robots flying tackles it and starts clawing it--

~Now, AU29~
    Staren shivers at the thought of any of that fire making it through HER armor. Bercilak should be cooked... AND YET IT MOVES. Staren stares behind her visor at the burning figure of Bercilak, the truth at last becoming clear. He's a machine?! Or a fullcon cyborg... either way... "HIBIKI!" She turns to make a thruster-assisted dash towards Hibiki, trying to use her armor to knock the logs aside -- only to be stopped dead in her tracks by... TREES?

    The Delilah is pincushioned by wood, because freaking magic nonsense. It's not as bad as last time she was here, getting speared by the berserk knight -- the armor does its job -- but it's getting pretty beat up. The helmet's glowing decorations go out as tree smashes faceplate, breaking a camera and making Staren rely on her cyber HUD.

    "You don't need a reason, to do the right thing..." she mutters, but quietly, and without using the armor's speakers. The Bugster Knight needs to provide his own answer.

    Staren deploys the vibro-armblades and spins, cutting the trees and flinging the wood off, the Delilah's outer layers now full of little holes as it glances at Hibiki, "Damn, you're tough for how skimpy that armor is..." then turns towards Bercilak and the Bugster.

    Staren's eyes widen in surprise. It... remembered something?

    "Well... that's good enough for me! And he doesn't fight alone, Bercilak! There will always be those who fight to protect the weak... And together we're strong, even if individually we have our weaknesses!"
ired to keep Bercilak on the defensive from one blast of heat and shockwave after another!
Staren     Staren contributes her own explosions, following another pair of plasma blasts up with another salvo of rockets, this time ripple-fired to keep Bercilak on the defensive from one blast of heat and shockwave after another!
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      He'd hoped the Bugster would say something like that. The first part of the test, they have passed with flying colors. The second, final part, he imagines will be much the same--but Hibiki is having such a good time, and Staren is so invested into this. It can go just a little longer.

     Hibiki's counterattack forces him on the defensive. He chokes all the way up on the axe, flipping its broad cheek around to serve as a target shield. Even though he manages to blunt the impact, the log shattering against his weapon, Hibiki's strength still forces him to a knee.

     Flaming strikes of the Bugster's weapon shear off plates of his armor faster than its regeneration factor can mend them. The synthetic weave of his bodysuit smolders and smells of foul, acrid chemicals, his skin blistering and melting where the Bugster's weapon doesn't lacerate.

     Staren's missiles come flying in. Bercilak has no way of knowing that they'll only target him--nor would he particularly blame Staren for carpet bombing just to be rid of him. That being said, he's gone to a lot of trouble to give this Bugster a chance, and so rather than defend himself, he shifts his grip on the weapon, batters the Bugster away, and takes the brunt of her missiles.

     When the smoke clears, the lower half of the Green Knight is still standing, armor intact only on the right leg. From the stump at his torso there grows a spine, then a skeleton, much of it replaced with spot-fabricated cybernetics. A reinforced spine, an artificial heart, synthetic-weave lungs, powerful piston-reinforced arms, all visible only for a few seconds before musculature knits over it, and a tough green hide over that.

     His axe is picked up where it had fallen. But not wielded. He extends a palm easily capable of engulfing Staren (outside of the Delilah) or Hibiki's head--or the Bugster's, for that matter. A silent 'we're done for right now.'

     "Staren. Hie thee to the toun yonder, as hit is leveful." She may not recognize the latter half, but his tone suggests it's the equivalent of saying 'please.' "Bitell theim what this Bugster didst bisaie. If thy armer doth cronicle what thou ofhere, so much the bet." But there's also the matter which Staren brought up--about hurting innocents.

     "It may so als bihowe thee toknoue that mine axe smakken not the blod of the ungilti. E'en theim that stond ayen me, who-sum-ever thei wert, I didst uphele with mine clerkli craft, afte mine strok of skirmerie." He smiles, pointing at her with a sausage-sized green finger. "Verily, the same clerkli craft which I emploied upon thee, whanne-so we two ifoughte the Red Bugster." If she cares to check them out, she'll find his words to be true. Even the guards he whacked with his axe, his nanites healed to prevent any lasting injury.

     Bercilak strides then over to Hibiki and pats her on the head. She probably knew what was up the whole time, but he appreciates her being a sport, all the same. That just leaves the Bugster.

     "And thee... sware me one finable questioun." He points towards the caged viruses. "Shalt thou hath theim as thy medinge...?" It's the second part of the test. The -true- test of temperance. Now that it looks like the test is over, will the Bugster go with the easy reward? Or will they abstain? A knight in the most idealized, romanticized version, after all--the type of knight people fondly imagine, and not the historical example--doesn't do what's good because it's easy. Or because they expect a reward or recognition.
Cantio Although the Bugster doesn't have anything resembling lungs, it still manages to heave slightly with clear signs of exertion as it braces itself with the sword and shield-turned axe planted against the dirt in front of it. It remains stock still when Bercilak holds his hand forward, then relaxes in whatever way it might once he signals that the battle is over.

That just leaves more time to be utterly baffled as Bercilak speaks to Staren and Hibiki about... Something, and that headpat given to the latter has the Bugster trying to comprehend something else. Unlike them, the Bugster hasn't spent much time around Bercilak, so his manner of speech is still confusing as shit! It looks from person to person slowly, just doing that for quite some time even as he gives Staren that request and addresses the Bugster. "... What?"

It's not until he points at the gathered Viruses that it finally understands! Except it totally doesn't understand, but it does hoist that axe onto its shoulder. "Oh. Yes, those should be destroyed, too. It would be dangerous to let them out all at once."

As the Bugster completely misses the point, however, it does stop short of actually approaching the mass of viruses at all. Instead, it turns to the trio once more. "Can you do an old man a favor and take care of that for me? If I start killing them, I might start eating too much. My ma-"

It twitches. "Mast...? No. The old... Someone?" It clutches its head and shivers visibly, then sets the axe back down before starting to yank the sword out of the shield (for easier transport). "Someone told me not to eat too much, or it'd be bad for my heart. If I have one. I'm not going to overeat like that red one did."

Perhaps it's temperance, or perhaps it's self-preservation. Either way, the silver Bugster seems to have no interest whatsoever in going after that many viruses at once. Instead, it just slides off that Poochooze Bugster, then settles down on the ground and lies on its back to stare straight up at the sky.

"Thank you. I'll head back home later." It doesn't blink, but it doesn't have eyes. It just has that weird helmeted visor that barely indicates where it's looking at all.
Hibiki Tachibana     Landing back on the ground and panting for breath back after the wildly destructive and fiery three-way attack, Hibiki gets to stand back tall and watch Bercilak regrow everything above the waist. She's knows he's fine and she's seen it happen before, but she's probably never going to get entirely used to the sight...actually, how far does Hiromi's blessing of wolfblood go for her? Would she be the one Wolverine-ing if pushed that far? Actually, she doesn't want to think about it. At all.

    Fortunately, ensuing headpats dispel any lingering thoughts of visceral regeneration, and she closes her eyes and enjoys the feeling for a second before she remembers to be embarrassed, leading to clearing her through and tugging awkwardly at her scarf while glancing away. She liked it, but she's not allowed to say that out loud. But she /did/ have fun, and she knows Big B well enough to know to have rolled with everything.

    Almost had her in the first half though, not gonna lie. And besides, there's still one final thing to settle - the Bugster's final decision. For this, there's can't be any fists flying or logs chucked around; it's going to have to be a decision that the Bugster makes itself. After all of that, she has faith...but it'd be a lie to say she's still not on edge, pursing her lips and deciding to watch quietly from the sidelines.

    Aside from Staren before she heads off at any rate, as Hibiki makes a side-glance up at the Delilah. This glance turns into a stare, and then a raised eyebrow. She has only one thing to ask.
Staren     Staren suddenly wants a polearm to swing dramatically to make a 'yes, the fight is over' gesture. She has to settle for lowering her arms and having the now-empty missile launcher rotate back into stowing position.

    She considers getting out of the armor but decides it probably commands a better audience. Staren nods to Bercilak -- his earlier comment made her expect as much -- and walks back into the town, making the Delilah's speakers play big solid footstomp sounds as she walks to increase her presence.

    "Citizens of... this town!" She announces, and takes off her helmet so everyone can see a friendly face speaking -- at least, those in sight of her. Others hear from drones' speakers as they're warped in and fly around the town. "Today, among those who showed up to defend you was this man..." She warps in projector-drones that play clips of recorded video on the sides of still-standing buildings and the town wall, highlighting the bugster's dramatic moments. The editing isn't exactly polished, but the point is clear. "Despite everything, despite your fears, he wants only to protect you -- placing your protection above any desire for power, or even his own safety."

    Beat.

    While she's here, may as well... "Also: I don't know who told you that Cadenza must rule you with music, or attack you should you wish independence. Cadenza and... this town can live peacefully, side-by-side. There is no rule demanding that nation imitate some iron-fisted tyrant, it doesn't have to keep this territory lest it show weakness and invite war. All of the nations know that the contests to control the drive core are where they need to show their strength, not some petty, military struggle to put a 'mine' sticker on your walls."

    "You can be free. Send a diplomat to Cadenza, and you can embrace the future rather than fearing and hiding from it."

    Beat.

    "...But maybe come up with a name first, because it's really awkward having to constantly say 'this town' for me and you know it'll be even *moreso* in formal meetings." She smiles.
Cantio <J-IC-Scene> Hibiki Tachibana says, "...Hold up, Staren. Did you just call my armor 'skimpy'?"

For whatever reason, the Bugster turns its head towards Hibiki the moment she says that. Something with eyes would easily be detectable looking around, but without such eyes?

The Bugster just keeps facing Hibiki. Eventually, it nods.
Hibiki Tachibana     Hibiki sideglances back at the Bugster. At first, it was just going to be to respond to its request in the affirmative. Of course they'd do that much for it. It really did pass all the trials and then some, in her book.

    But she just ends up looking back. Stare. Stare. Is it looking at her...? Without any obvious gaze to follow, it's hard to tell what it...

    She squints. What the heck does it think it's nodding for!?
Cantio Staren heads right back into town, and the townspeople have quite a bit of work to do. Thankfully, Bercilak's made more of a show than actual work for them, so they're not too worried at first when the Delilah pipes her voice right through.

"Hey, it did do what it said it would."
"Yeah, but what about that last one?"
"So we'd be flipping a coin for the next one, yeah?"
"Not a guaranteed loss, but..."
"Are they still going to bring more of them around?"
"I mean, it's... Maybe it's okay with some more testing?"
"We've still got that fox lady's barriers, so maybe they won't have to come by too often, I... Guess?"

Although the townspeople sound uncertain, it doesn't sound like they're absolutely opposed to trying to get back into talks with Cadenza. Or talking at all, even if they're still wary. Alas...

Hibiki is probably the only one that might need to be wary. It could just be asleep, but it did nod, and it's still facing her. Probably just a coincidence, right? Right.

It coughs once.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      In a flash of blue light, the slowly mending armor disappears, replaced in that same instant by clothing much more apropos of someone with his kind of technology. Motorcycle boots, black denim pants, a strained white tank top, and an olive drab jacket-turned vest (the sleeves torn off) bearing the name and logo (a sword in a stone) of 'GALAHAD INC.' across the back. Metal studs on a thick leather belt gleam in the sunlight as he approaches the town, axe shouldered.

Bercilak de Hautdesert is listening to Judas Priest on Discoverize. Listen along? Y - N

    He leans on the axe, smiling, listening to Staren's explanation with an approving nod. When she is finished, and only then, does he tap the haft against the ground, closing his eyes and enjoying the music.

A token of my unyielding love

Thick, gnarled roots grow to replace the wall cracked during the fight.

So that when winter's mantle steals the earth

    Houses with caved in roofs receive mending from creeping, flowering vines whose waxy skins will repel even the worst coastal thunderstorms.

And all around seems dead and cold

Walls shattered by his axe are replaced with study, rectangular wooden growths, upon which there grow plentiful clusters of grapes. Overturned merchant carts are lifted up by bushes full of ripe red strawberries. And...

This rose reminds you of a time when all was warm and living

    Three roses grow. One in Staren's path. One in Hibiki's. And one in the Bugster's.
Staren     Staren mutters as her sensors pick up the distant conversation. "Should people really have to prove a right to live...?" She tilts her head. "...Mayhap. But not like this..." The rest of the speech though. Damn. Is this guy like a cyber-knight? They probably wouldn't trash the town even just for show, though... Ooh, strawberries. Who doesn't like strawberries? Staren picks one and eats it, and on her way out, is confronted by a rose. Clearly, it's for her, so she picks it, careful to get roots as well, to take home and study in case it's some kind of cool magic rose.

    Maybe she should give the bugster knight some cool gifts too, but now doesn't seem like the time. This is Bercilak's show.