Scene #8040: The Level Checker

Owner	Pose
Ishirou	The world that is here in Secundus is... Very digital. Overly digital. Like if an AI decided to create its own pocket dimension, and also decided to then place itself as the absolute ruler of this place by making itself a giant eye in the sky that seems to watch everything. The worst thing here is that the entry into the zone is a teleporter that connects to a single floating platform, and said platform is blocked off by a shield that, as you get in, knocks Ishirou on his butt as he tried to hack through it again. "Ow." "Warning," The eye in the sky speaks in a monotone voice, "Future attempts to bypass access into this space will be responded to with lethal voice, this is your only warning, beep beep." Ishirou has had better days.
Cantio	It's been a fair bit of time since Cantio's been to Secundus, and longer still since she's seen one of the more digital areas of the region. The geometry, the lighting, everything about it still seems so familiar despite being so different, and there's a temptation to just get back in there and see what else she can test. Luckily for Cantio, she doesn't have to commit to the whole empire-building bit like before. Instead, she can see what everyone else is up to! After hearing that Ishirou's having trouble getting into some kind of arena, she follows the directions and shows up just in time to see him getting knocked on his ass. "Have you tried shooting it?" She asks as she approaches him from behind, peering at the platform and the shield while sending one of her drones up to see if it can just float on through. "I'm guessing hacking didn't work, but it might be trying to detect... Um... Firepower, maybe? Physical power would be easy enough to spoof with just a powerful physical force, if that's what it's looking for."
Alexis	Alexis ambles out of the teleport just in time to see Ishirou fall on his ass. "I take it the access tempts aren't going so well," she remarks, refraining from farther comment to not embarassing the poor guy more over his hapless tumble. Then she tilts her head back a bit to look up at the monotoning eye overhead. "That's not ominous at all," she deadpans, because it is most definitely ominous.
Ishirou	Ishirou stands up and looks at Cantio. "Oh hey!" he says, cheerfully enough. "How are you feeling?" obviously asking about how she's feeling after the fight against Murderous Spear Lady. He rubs his backside for a moment and then stares at the wall again. Sadly the wall simply prevents getting out in all directions, though technically flight still works. The eye continues to stare down but doesn't say anything. "Hitting it? No! Why would I hit it? That just sounds like it'd shoot the beam at me, or just not work...no there has to be a trick to it.." he says, now trying to scan every square inch of the platform. However, the eye stares at Cantio. Maybe she's on to something.
Cantio	"I'm good! Could be... Better?" Cantio manages a laugh at that, rubbing her shoulder absent-mindedly as she's reminded of her own body's allergy to pain. "Not one hundred percent yet, but it's nothing that taking it easy for a little while longer won't fix." She's dressed in her usual white and purple, of course, since she wasn't planning on any covert ops or trying to look particularly professional or combative today. The drones keep bumping against the walls for a while longer before Cantio calls them back, shrinking them into little cubes and slipping them back into her attache case of choice with the big stylized musical note on it. "It could be a literal test of strength. Like a... A stat check gate!" She doesn't sound super convinced, but it's enough to have Cantio approaching one of the walls. She looks up at the eye when Alexis draws attention to it, and then strokes her chin lightly while moving a hand around in the air to see if it follow her movements visibly. "I wonder if that means it's being monitored manually, or if it's just some kind of sensor..." Cantio shrugs again, then without further ado, she punches that wall! She will probably regret it because punching is not her strongest point even if she is pretty freaking strong these days.
Alexis	Alexis taps a finger thoughtfully to her chin. "I admit, computers aren't really my strong suit, I just came over because I'm curious. I'd probably--" She pauses as Cantio tries punching the wall. "--resort to something like that, yeah. Though even I am pretty sure 'brute force the system' doesn't mean literal brute force."
James Bond	"I don't know. It was very particular about wording," says a fourth voice. James Bond, dressed in a blue polo, cream-colored windbreaker and pressed khakis, his here. "Said that you were 'attempting to bypass access.'" "If she's wrong," he says with a nod towards Cantio, "It's not as if we wouldn't have been shot at anyway, after enough other ways of trying to get in." They were 'warned,' after all. It looks, externally, like he's glancing at his watch. He technically is--but the timepiece's face isn't what it appears to be. The virtual menu disappears, replaced by a flawless imitation of an analog watch's face. A black Aston Vantage growls on a driverless approach. The grille folds outwards, revealing the nose of a guided rocket. With a hiss, it flies on its way to the wall.
Hiromi	One need not ask why Hiromi, the Archwolf, is present. If there is a place that exists purely to challenge one's strength, it's a place she wants to enter. (She may or may not have tracked Cantio here.) And enter she does, dynamically, not 'flying' so much as 'traveling at high velocity through the air, having attained lift-off in some other place, and directed her velocity to carry her through every intervening gateway and into a wall.' The wall is the same one as is stopping Ishirou. Though flying face-first, she set up just enough rotation to actually land feet-first, flexing into a double-kick and flipping back into a standing posture -- unless she ends up going through it, in which case there's merely the chance of rubble on the other side as she bleeds velocity via environmental destruction.
Ishirou	"Er, no brute-forcing the system doesn't mean punching the computer, it's the process of trying to force the security system to check so many attempts to access its system that it's unable to keep up and either lets one in or overloads it and forces it to shut down," Ishriou says to Alexis. He's about to go into it more before... Ishirou nods once to Cantio, "Yeah...yeah. Me too. I'm extremely sore from that, and some internal things are a bit shaken up. No lasting damage, just need some rest. So here I am! Exploring and building up." Cantio punches the shield. While punching is not her unique talent, something /does/ happen. She isn't blasted back, knocked down, electrocuted, poisoned gassed, or vaporized out of existence. Instead, above her head, a green check mark appears, with a little sound indicating success. "Beep Beep, a successful test has been detected. You may proceed through the barrier to strength test the second. Boop." "Oh nice, so it was that simple..?" Ishirou says, before trying to walk through, and smacks headfirst into the barrier like one might a wall. "Ow, hey what the heck!" This is followed by James shooting the wall as well. Just like before, once the rocket had struck and exploded, there was a similar message and a positive-sounding chime with a checkmark. Hiromi hits the wall with enough force to actually show cracking onto the energy field. The cracks slowly start to regenerate, but the eye in the sky focuses solely on her for a moment. "Beep. Boop. Test successful. You may proceed, strong one." The way through opens for them, once they prove they are strong enough through some means. Ishirou eventually transforms into his new armor and uses a barrage of lasers to get his successful entry. The next area is a long winding 'road' of what looks like energy flooring. The edges of the road are still covered in that same glowing energy wall material, and it winds around. In your way are various small robots, each one paired with a strange robot. The robot looks like a TV on a thin rod-like body that ends in a single leg. "Test two. Defeat these enemies." The Level Checker is shielded and is not obviously part of the test. The small robots, which look like small birds form out of data.
Cantio	"If we get shot at... Well, I'm sure it'll be okay!" Cantio replies to James with unbridled confidence. She's pretty sure she'll be okay, at least, and it's easy enough to tell herself that everyone else will be, too, especially when he's firing a rocket from his car right into the wall as well and Hiromi comes in with that sudden kick to punctuate her own arrival. "H-Hiromi? I didn't know you were into computer stuff." Cantio's attention is snagged by the dinging noise, and she lets out a pleased sound of her own at the confirmation. ".. Huh. That worked. Nice job!" She gives Hiromi, James, and Ishirou (and likely Alexis afterwards) a thumbs up with her non-punching hand. She's busy shaking the slight pain out of that one. With that first test out of the way, Cantio actually has some time to turn back to face Ishirou. "I heard the competition this time around is a lot more... More. It's actually pretty surprising, but it's a good opportunity to do some more research around here." She comments with a chuckle, then sighs after a moment. "Timing could be a little better, but still." She shrugs, then turns to the floating bird robots while raising an eyebrow. "That seems like a pretty simple test... How did you find this zone, anyway?" Cantio asks of everyone in general rather than just Ishirou while drawing her sword and taking a few potshots at one of the birds. Her attention is more on the shielded TV-esque bots, though, and it's not long before Cantio tests one of them by shooting at the top of the shields.
Alexis	"Well, that actually works. Go figure." Makes it easy for Alexis to follow. She just releases an Arcanine, climbs on the large fluffy tiger-dog's back, and lets him handle the rest. Not hard when he can use both strength and speed to ram right through the Strength Check Barriers. Up until the last one, where the checker isn't even part of the test. Instead, it's a fight. Well they can handle that, too. Much more up Alexis' alley as a Pokemon trainer. "You know what to do boy." Alexis does the dramatic command point forward. "Flamethrower!" Arcanine opens his maw and unleashes a scorching stream of flame from with, directing it at the test enemies. Fwooosh! Arcanine fried robo-chicken anyone?
James Bond	A thumbs-up is given, with an impressed smirk, at Cantio--and it only widens when Hiromi's evaluation is made. Bond finds himself watching a few seconds after the fact, hand on his chin. Given the next challenge, Bond climbs into the Aston. The voice is easy enough to hear even from inside the car. There can be no doubt who's driving, once the V8 roars and the car takes off. The winding corners of the 'road' are taken aggressively, the car's back end fishtailing out to catch straggling robots. They're small enough that he's mostly attempting to defeat them by impacting them or running them over with the modified Vantage. Those that fly over or otherwise scrape by are caught out by a combination of tire-squealing drifts and tight 180s to light them up with the car's headlight-mounted EMP grenades, momentarily stunning them for the others to clean up.
Hiromi	Hiromi lands on her feet, looking somehow satisfied about the wall having only cracked when she hit it. She pauses, before advancing, to scan over the others assembled, moving only her eyes. "Testing strength, all? Seeking tests, or learning? New places, shifting grounds and tunnels, or..." Pointing up at the watching eye, she says to Ishirou, "Many challenge, for many reasons. That, why does it? Have you learned?" She turns halfway to face Cantio. "'Computer stuff.'" Though she often sounds like she's trying to speak an alien language when she uses words aloud, it's mot pronounced with that phrase. "Is it?" Walking through, she instead describes the little robots with a word that fails to qualify for multiversal translation, following it up with a perfectly understandable not-word that must mean the same thing: Artificial spirits. She walks forward, not particularly minding the birds, visually, but actually waiting for them to move, whether to attack her or evade. Once within a few times her apparent reach, she lunges, grabs it in her hand, then very slowly squeezes it, watching for how it breaks. "Or, only 'toys'?"
Ishirou	Ishirou considers the area they have...he won't be able to go on the wing easily here, but he can at least use his flight suit in humanoid mode with the hover feature. He's not sure how high the barrier goes though... "Well, I found a new Data Exclusion Zone Type, but the strange thing was that it seemed to be some sort of crash site. It took me a while to find the entrance, but when I tried hacking the control module I found..." he motions around them. Ishirou shakes his head at Hiromi, "No, I haven't been able to figure out that. I can tell you one though, that we're in an area of reality under /its/ control," he says looking up. "It might be dangerous, but I can't learn by not going in, right? I do appreciate though!" He says, smiling at Hiromi. Though to her comment of Artificial Spirit, he tilts his head slightly. "Definitely more like toys to you, I can't detect anything but simple programming. These are made to be cannon fodder and nothing else...but that one.." he says, pointing to the TV robot. "That one has a sliver of the power the eye has." The small bird robots are, literally, no match for you. They might be fast, /very/ fast/ but they aren't so easy to predict. Shooting them, crushing them, running them over, or casting fire on them is effective. The barrier surrounding the TV face flickers when shot at, and it turns to face Cantio. It doesn't say anything, nor does the giant eye. When these robots are destroyed, the barrier blocking the way forward fades, and the TV robot starts hopping towards the end of this next road. "Welcome to the Omega Processing Unit. Here, this unit uses data gathered from the multiverse, through its experiences and those faced by others who have come before you to test to see what is the strongest. OPU looks to find an opponent that can test its abilities on, to complete its programming." The TV face robot stops talking, then turns around again. This time digital warriors drop-down, each one holding a gun. They are obviously made out of data. However, James might notice that they fight and operate similarly to Russian Special Forces from his world. They are harder than the ones before, using cooperation and teamwork. They also focus their attacks on James' car, aiming to remove it first.
Alexis	Alexis laughs as Ishirou says he can't learn by not going. "That's the adventurer spirit!" The combined effort opens the way, so on the group goes. Until the Robo-TV stops and spills some more exposition. "It sounds like some sort of learning, self-adapting program." She mmms softly. "Or actually... no, maybe more trying to reach sentience? Still hard to tell at this point." Tougher enemies! Using coordination amongst themselves. Except in doing so, they focus on the remote car. Which gives them an opening. Alexis leans forward, gripping some white fluff in her hands to brace herself, and commands "Extremespeed!" Using one of his species' trademark moves the Arcanine takes off like a shot, becoming a blurr of orange and stripes to rush down and trample on soldier robots while they focus on the car.
Cantio	The more Cantio sees of the Vantage, the more she's stuck watching just what Bond can pull off in that thing. She releases some of her drones again to get some footage of that for future use, and she gives Alexis plenty of room to have her fire doggo open fire. That gives her some time to consider Hiromi's words. She doesn't answer right away, brushing a thumb against her nose as she instead settles back to watch everyone handle their own level checkers. "I guess... New places and learning. I know I'm strong already, but I haven't seen enough to know how to use it the best way I can yet. And..." She gestures at the Vantage again, then at tech on display when the shields withstand her lasers, going wide-eyed for a moment. It's not a startled or worried look, though, but one of 'oh cool, I want one' as she follows along when the TV bots start hopping. "I wonder who built these... Or if they're on sale. Maybe we can take one apart later, too...!" Her attention returns to the task at hand, at least, once the gunners come down. With the way they start shooting and actually using tactics, Cantio tries to solve the problem in the 'intended' way at first, looking for cover and trying to aim and shoot accurately with her sword-lasers not unlike using a rifle. She's not a gunner, though, and she eventually just resorts to running in to slice them apart with great speed and strength. She also makes one small mental connection. "Oh, /these/ are the Spetsnaz things! Er. Right?"
Hiromi	How seriously is Hiromi taking this? It's not really clear. It could be 'not very,' or it could be 'quite, yet focused on something other than her opponents.' At the least, her method of dealing with the next test is far, far from efficient. She rolls each shoulder, then her neck, left to right, and keeps walking forward while being shot, bullets sparking off her body as if they were shooting unusually hard stone. Her approach is not even slightly slowed, though it's not fast, in the first place. It might be that no one will leave many for her to deal with, to corner, grab by the throat, and crush against the energy-field walls. Even concentrated fire only results in the bullets falling back out of her wounds as they immediately close, though she responds to anything thrown by instantly punting it back with controlled force. What she's more likely concerned with is 'everyone else.' Initially dismissive of Bond's car, she pays more careful attention to it, from the corner of her eyes, when he shows its maneuverability, uses momentum and limited traction to his advantage. She watches Alexis' arcanine, Cantio's swordplay, and Ishirou's handling of his armor suit. The motive of the OPU is so clear and of such obvious utility that it requires no comment from her. 'I know I'm strong already, but I haven't seen enough to know how to use it the best way I can yet.' "Knowing this, part of 'strength.' More than size alone, how muscle is used, yes?"
James Bond	"Spetsnaz GRU," says Bond, a waveform on the radio bouncing with his voice. Small arms fire strikes armored plates and bulletproof glass, the windscreen slowly accumulating halted points of impact. Speaking of points of impact, they're making a concerted effort to disable the Vantage. As their forms grow closer, one of them tries something bold, causing the car to swerve as a tire gives out. The driver retains his calm, hands gripping the wheel to correct as they've done many times in the past. "Or SMERSH, maybe. Interesting." The car will protect him, for now--but it's best if he goes on the offensive. Halting an attempt to shatter the driver's side window by opening the door with superhuman strength at-speed (no doubt denting both the door and the unlucky robotic warrior), he levels his watch between his legs, and spot-welds the gas to the floorboards with a bright blue laser. His seatbelt is unbuckled, and a female automated voice reminds him to buckle it--but he doesn't. Instead, he wrestles the car into a U-turn, then ties the seatbelt 'round the steering wheel to keep it straight for the upcoming straightaway. As Arcanine carves a path through the robots still pursuing the Aston, Bond's thumb quickly pops open a secret compartment on the stickshift. An urgent red button labeled 'SELF DESTRUCT' and flanked by caution-striped warning boundaries is pressed, and Bond throws himself from the car right after. A rolling landing has him coming up with his compact pistol at the ready, taking a few precise shot groupings before the car finishes off the rest with a dramatic fireball. Bond straightens his tie.
Ishirou	These ones hold up longer than the birds. It was obvious that it was building on something, creating enemies as it learned from you. The first ones were barely a threat, getting a small amount of data and a baseline. The next ones were specialists, able to work with tactics and teamwork, but not any stronger individually than the first. Soldiers are trampled, though a few shots manage to fly at the screak of speed that was Alexis and her pokemon. Lasers are fired at the soldiers, but eventually, Cantio resorts to her method of 'Strength' which is cutting them down. Hiromi refuses to take damage, and if she does she simply is too strong to be injured but for a brief few moments. These things do not show fear, and for that, they are somehow /easier/ to kill. They had no chance against this group without Hiromi, and they suffer even less chance now. However, James' quick thinking, followed by the car's self-destruct and dramatic fireball brings this to an end. The 'Level Checker', the TV robot makes another Beep sound. "Third test success. Four test commencement. Please follow me, Boop." It starts to hop off again, as the road forms for it to travel. This time it curves towards the 'arena' area. This time, the TV robot, infused with the power of the 'god' of this place turns to face you. There is no barrier this time. "Deletion commencing, beep boop," And on its face, a countdown starts. Two creatures are formed from the data next to it. One is a giant bird, with spikey fathers and an electric Aura. The second is the silhouette of a girl of similar height and build to Cantio. She is /incredibly familiar/ to her. A beam is connected from each of them to the TV face, which seems to cover it in a shield. "Uhhh, I don't think I need to tell you what this is about. We have to beat them and destroy the TV face before it...deletes. I assume it means us!"
Alexis	A few of the potshots manage to hit, though nothing worse for wear as far as the Arcanine goes. Alexis is more concerned by the fact that he's being hit at all, which means the thing is learning almost as face as he's running. However the group wins once more, and is off following their guide of sorts to what isn't hard to recognize as an arena of some sort. Sure enough, it sets up another larger challenge, this time with pressure added through the form of a countdown to potential extinction. "Whatever this place is, it takes its testing seriously." Alexis hops off her Arcanine's back and recalls him to a pokeball. If they're starting to learn how to fight him, it's time to change up the tactics some. "Let's go, Masaider!" The switch is made, this time releasing a large bulky bipedal rhino-like creature, with heavy plates of stone on his body like armor, and swol arms Popeye would be jealous of. "Now, deal with that bird. Rock Blast!" Masaider holds up both arms, hands spread to reveal the ports in the palms. From which a rapid fire of stones like a pair of gatling guns erupts, firing at the electrified avian!
Hiromi	Hiromi is still watching when the car explodes, though more of her attention is on Bond, himself. It's probably a particularly foreign fighting style, to her. Faced with what appears to be the last test, if only because there's no apparent gate blocking the way to another, Hiromi stops to consider Ishirou's explanation. "'Deletes.'" She more or less knows what the word means. It's the removal of something. This requires she think, first, about a thing capable of removing her, and how that would be possible. She taps her foot. "Floor. Controlled, removable. Pit traps. Wide enough, little for grabbing." Hrmn. "Possible." She nods. Yes, that must be it, or something like it. Dropping the floor out from under them in a controlled space is an adequate explanation for dealing with a normally unstoppable opponent of seemingly unlimited strength. With that mystery resolved(?), Hiromi explodes into motion, eyes wide, teeth bared and sharp in a rictus grin, aiming just to the side of the bird, to take its neck with her arm, spin it around from the angle and force of her approach, and throw it to the ground, easier for herself and the others to deal with. She's resigned to simply taking damage from the aura, and moving too quickly for a paralyzing effect to stop her.
Cantio	'Knowing this, part of 'strength.' More than size alone, how muscle is used, yes?' "Exactly. I can blast things all day, I can increase my raw power through my research and devices and magic, but..." Cantio exhales softly as she cleaves through one of the soldiers. It's almost a clean cut all the way through, but the last part is jagged and at a significantly curved angle. She's also gotten shot a few times and powered through the whole ordeal, but it's ertainly having an effect on her results. Successful, but not perfectly successful. She doesn't wallow for too long, though, when Bond's car blows up. "Aw. That one looked really cool..." She doesn't bother hiding her disappointment, but she does leave the drones floating around to keep capturing footage to make sure there's still cool shots for later. One of them, naturally, catches Bond's tie-straightening bit. "It does seem like this system's learning from us, though. Drawing on old foes, maybe? Or doing research on public records to..." Cantio trails off as she sees the her-sized silhouette, pursing her lips in a distinctly unamused frown as she calls her drones back to add some more girth and size to her sword. "This one, at least... I think I know how to handle a fight like this better these days." Cantio says as she gets into a rather lengthy swordfight with the second data form, clashing blades with it and showing a distinct difference in styles. Her own swordsmanship isn't quite up to snuff compared with the silhouette's movements, and it becomes quickly apparent that she wouldn't be able to last in a battle against someone with this level of ability and equivalent physical ability. What Cantio does have, though, is a more honed sense on how to leverage her advantages, and how to utilize the space around her. Rather than trying to just match the girl with swordplay, Cantio starts swinging harder. Even though she takes several cuts in just trying to catch the girl, all she needs is a single good hit to plow the flat of her fattened-up sword slab into the silhouette, evidently aiming to just golf swing her right off that barrier-less arena.
James Bond	"Some time in the shop ought to have it ship shape," says the secret agent to Cantio facetiously. Bond continues on foot, with the Vantage now in flames and pieces. The compact PPK still held at the ready with both hands, he follows behind the TV robot, until the 'deletion' is announced. Blue eyes set with cold determination, and Bond removes one hand from the pistol to quickly unbutton his coat. He draws a bead on the bird, first. Three staccato barks from the pistol, aimed in a tight cluster towards the electrified creature's center of mass. It'd be too much to hope for that to kill it--and Bond doesn't bank on it. He's moving, stuffing the firearm into a shoulder holster as Masaider looses the rapid-fire stream of boulders. A man his age shouldn't be near as fast on foot. Keeping distance between himself and the bird, watching for attacks from the familiar silhouette, all he needs is a moment of distraction. Hiromi provides it--and the moment she's got the bird grappled, Bond lifts his watch. A moment's pause to get a clean shot, then a sharp, short sound like a wire snapping, just faintly audible. A potent tranquilizer dart. Sure, the bird is data--but he wants to see just how realistic the imitation is.
Ishirou	Ishirou takes to the sky as the boss fight is set, with the stakes being set. Hiromi makes a deduction as to how it might 'delete' her from the arena, which may or may not be correct. However one might tell that the TV robot seems to be generating a /insane/ amount of energy. Something that anyone could sense. Whatever was to happen if it reached one hundred percent would /not/ be good. Bond's plan to gang up on one is a good one. Ishirou joins in on the assault. Hiromi weather through its electric field, it squawks and breaks up, trying to shake her from its neck. This is but an echo of the real thing, but she can tell even this echo has more than a little of its power. Rocks pelt it, revealing that it has an elemental affinity...and a weakness. This allows Hiromi to better her grasp. The shot from James strikes it right in the side. For a moment, it looks like it's going to ignore the dart, but it's noticeably beating its wings less. Ishirou gets behind it, aiming his lasers at a single point on the bird's wings. Hiromi and her strength easily overpower it, much quicker than if she were alone (because there is no question of this), and snaps its neck. On the other side of the fight, the Copy-Sister does show it's as dangerous as Cantio thinks it is. Similar strength and speed, with superior skill in the blade. The two clas, with the Copy-Sister using leveraging her skill to sweep the blade under one of her strikes, allowing her to move her shoulder in and drive it into Catio's chest. It takes a moment to swing the blade around showing off. Though, Cantio has a plan, a strength that she has over the Copy-Sister. This time, when they clash, she uses her strength. To which it blocks, again and again. Though it's enough to send her small distances at a time back. The Copy-Sister seems willing to wait for Cantio to make a mistake for her to capitalize on. Except that when that 'error' comes, and she goes to block, the force is enough to send her back...and over the edge. Moments later, the second beam is gone, leaving the Level Checker there. It's still counting down. Style on it, folks.
Alexis	Alexis pumps a fist in the air as the spikey electrical bird goes down. "That's how teamwork makes the dreams work!" She turns to ask Cantio if she needs help, but nope, she's got it, as she tricks her doppleganger into a direct assault and then deflects the clone right off the platform. "Clever!" So it's only the control TV-robot counting down left. Alexis gives her dino-rino a pat on the side. "Go do your thing, big fella. Drill Rush!" With a snarl Masaider lowers his body forward and charges towards the Level Checker! The move name isn't just for show. The large horns on his head actually does start to spin like drills. Somehow. It's Pokemon biology, don't think too hard about it. All that matters is he's going to sink them into the thing.
Cantio	The swordfight with her sister-clone doesn't leave Cantio unscathed, putting on all manner of cuts and scratches and dirt marks all over her while still keeping her outfit generally intact. By the time the clone is knocked out of the arena, it wouldn't even look out of place as a Battle-Damaged Cantio action figure back home. Cantio makes a mental note to pitch the idea of selling Battle-Damaged variants back home. "That was... Geez. That wasn't clean enough at all." She mutters with a distinct sense of irritation, but at least the dangers to herself and the rest of the group have been handled with only the Level Checker remaining to block their progress. "At least we're just about done here. Now... All we need to do is break this, then?" Cantio approaches it with her sword raised, but she holds back on actually starting to smash it. "I wonder what'll happen if it actually counts down. Do you think it's a bomb, or something more..." She waves one hand, as if trying to come up with something. "... Impressive? Creative? Maybe we could..." Her curiosity doesn't mean much, though, as Alexis' Masaider goes for it with the drills. "Aw. Oh well." And so, Cantio joins in smashing up the machine, 'shrinking' her sword into more of a long sword-style before starting to practicing slicing at the Level Checker, trying to make her cuts as even and smooth as possible without jerking her arms sideways or stopping part way through.
James Bond	"Sorry, I don't intend to wait around and find out," he says to Cantio. The gun comes back out again--the remainder of the magazine shortly emptied at the Level Checker. One hand breaks from the grip, to dip into a pants pocket, as the spent pistol hangs at the opposite hip. His blue eyes affecting conversational interest, as Masaider's horns gore it, he procures a ballpoint pen from his pocket. The pen is clicked, and the point becomes a high-speed projectile. With a crack, it attempts to drill right alongside the Pokemon. As it burrows, Bond clicks it again, and the projectile looses a funneled electrical pulse meant to fry the machine from the inside out. There's a glance toward Hiromi, as Bond procures a pack of Lucky Strikes from his coat pocket. His lighter flicks open just as the pen's final pulse goes off. He smiles at her, around the lit cigarette, and exhales as he places the pack back into his coat. Glancing at numerous pierced holes and his own contribution, he makes an atrocious pun. "I think we made our point."
Hiromi	Hiromi wouldn't have minded spending more time wrestling, but that's what happens when there aren't enough opponents to go around. Things like 'teamwork' and 'combos.' Not that she really minds that, either, when it's in good company. "Hnn?" Making 'would you look at that' noises at the ongoing countdown, she asks, "Not finished? No, one more strength test, yes? I see. You need more. Another wall, to strike. Count the cracks. Time the crumbling. 'Test.' 'Compare.' 'See what is strongest.'" She takes her stance. It's like a coiling spring, or as close to one, only in essence, as a humanoid form can become. As she'd said to Cantio, 'knowing' is part of strength, and she knows every smallest motion necessary to prepare herself, from toe to finger-tip, to place the fullest of her immediate strength into a single motion. "Will be seen. This, I'll show you.." She's still standing there, seemingly unnaturally still, but straining against herself hard enough to create warping pressure on the floor under her, when the pokemon attacks, and when Cantio lays in with her sword. She's still there when Bond fires. She's no longer there when he reaches into his coat pocket. When Hiromi ceases being 'here' in one moment and is 'there' without proceeding to the next, when air bursts and breaks in her passing, when the arena becomes ground zero for the crack of thunder, uncoiled at that precisely calculated speed to apply the fullest force of open-palmed, fingers-bent strike into the machine, it's done with the expectation that this is like that first wall. If it's not a mountain in disguise, not 'a thing of practical invincibility meant to measure forces brought against it,' then there's not likely to be anything left of it for anyone else to test themselves against.
Ishirou	The Level Checker verses A special agent, Little Sister, a drill monster, and Strength in the form of wolf all strike it. The Drill opens up first, aiming to sheer through its defenses...which are surprisingly potent. It wasn't a lie when Ishirou says that it's embodied with a sliver of power from the creature that runs this place. Alexis' pokemon is caught in a drill clash with the tough outer layer of the Level checker. Bit by bit the pokemon makes progress. Next comes Cantio, aiming to finish it off with a sword strike just as powerful as the skill she used to defeat her Copy-Sister. The blade flashes, driving into its body starting to see the circuits underneath, its outer layer is resisting it, but it's starting to make slow progress. Bond comes forward with an interesting gadget. The pen drill finds its spot, and drills into the armor of the creature as well, finding that its outer layer was thick, but even that wasn't immunity. However, when it cracks it releases an electrical pulse, aiming to strike at its insides. This causes it to seize. This is unfortunate timing when Hiromi comes in with STRENGTH. There isn't anything it could do even if it was able to deploy anything to defend itself. Right now it can do even less than that. It's not a mountain in disguise, it is not immune to damage here. It seems very specific to have been removed with that defense, specifically to test their strength. They were not found wanting. Ishirou, though, had decided to take another route. He was hacking it as they attacked it, using their attacks to get through its outer layer but right before Bond could interrupt its systems. However, one moment it was there...the next there was a smear where it used to be and for as long back as there was floor to be splattered across. From above, the Eye speaks to them once more. "Tests over, score calculating. Beep beep beep," A pause then what feels like loading. "Alpha group assigned. Priority to group for future admittance into the Arena. Welcome to the Omega Arena, where I seek to increase my strength, test my limits, and strive to...achieve." "My data banks will search for appropriate opponents for you to face, and I will record the results. If you succeed, I will face you myself. Beep. I will summon you once my compiling is done. Beep Beep Boop." The eye goes silent and closes as if starting the process right then and there. It's not friendly. Ishirou lands, "Well...it seems like it's granted us access to this land now. Though I think it wants to fight us in return. Though I think the next tests are going to be with opponents it has 'compiled' so I assume stronger and able to be dangerous to us.." he looks sideways towards Hiromi. "Which concerns me a little.."