That takes you by surprise a bit- you could have sworn he was set on it. You barely catch Tim give Roulette a look with an expression you can't place...gratitude, maybe?

The robot quickly makes its way inside.

Tim lingers a bit, his face lightening up significantly.

The three of you walk in, following Roulette as best you can with it going so quick.

Guess it's not feeling super social...

Eager for small talk to fill the void, you start rambling.

At the entrance to one of the training rooms, a familiar bear stands with a slight hunch. He notices his robotic friend first, perking up.

Roulette skids an inch or two, stopping suddenly when it hears Devo.

It quickly makes its way over, the others apparently in tow.

Tim's face lights up, the dog scooting over next to Devo with an eager look in his eye.

The robot gives a nod, making its way out of the room and down a hallway, disappearing from sight.

Devo's look back at the robot is equally indiscernable to Tim's earlier.

The training room he leads you into is huge, with training dummies set up on posts in long rows, with plenty of space for people to move.

Cross is already off to go pick her own out by the time you turn to face her, with Tim going up to Devo and showing off-

Is that a sword?!

The two of them also leave before you can ask, leaving you on your own.

The closest training dummy is scuffed up, as is the distinctly gymnasium-like floor beneath it.

You take a deep breath and pull out your hammer.

[OOC: You can MOVE and ATTACK.]

Okay…it probably wouldn’t hurt to showboat a little for Cross.
I gotta show her I have what it takes…

You squint at the dummy, weighing the hammer in your hand.

It’s heavier than you’d think looking at it, feeling more like metal and wood than a solid piece of plastic…but you suppose that’s just how it is here. At this point, it makes sense.

Feels…

Natural.

Your grip tightens, and you pull back, going low-

-And hitting the dummy directly under the chin in a large swing, enough to hear seams rip and have the head go off-kilter, stuffing poking out from underneath its “chin”.

Something about it sends a chill down your back, and you’re not sure whether it’s a thrill or fear.

Recognition, maybe.

But the feeling of it being natural doesn’t go away.

You hear a clapping sound from in front of you, and when you peek around the dummy, you see Cross giving you a big thumbs up.

Looks like she’s watching…

You back up, spinning your hammer to wield the claw end and narrowing your eyes at the dummy.

I’ll have to protect her out there.
Gotta show her I have what it takes.
 
The following swing comes out fast, hooking under the dummy’s chin as you pull your arm back- the pole the dummy’s on bends, under strain-

-You punch, going for a hard enough punch to send the head off flying into the person next to you’s face.

You can hear Cross laughing, and a quick glance shows that she’s delighted with you and your antics. You can’t make out the character on her screen, but you get the feeling it’s cheering for you.

She waves you over, and you're jogging towards her with zero hesitation.

Her pixel character smiles as she gives you a quick kiss, running off to go talk to one of the trainers watching on the sidelines.

With Cross gone, you turn back to your beheaded dummy.
You find yourself debating further ways to maim it when an unfamiliar voice catches your attention.

You stretch out, trying to look cool as you turn around.

At the doorway to the training room stands a pocket synthesizer in an orange jumpsuit with a whistle around their neck, glancing around the room.

They point over in the bear's direction, just a couple spots down, the trainer making their way over to him.

They peek their head out from around Devo's section, looking at you and Tim.

He glances over his shoulder, his face lighting up.

The trainer follows his eyeline, finding the robot in the doorway, looking like a deer in headlights.

The synthesizer motions for everyone to follow, soon walking with them in tow.
Roulette lags behind, perhaps pretending they wouldn't notice, but a backward glance from the trainer is all it takes to get it moving again.

Ortho turns to the robot.

Ortho makes their way through a door along with you and the others, leading into a large, square, open arena,
about the size of a gym.



It's divided into four sections by color, with each section having its own foam obstacles:

The northwest section is green, and is tiled randomly with raised and lowered cushioned pads, making it difficult to walk through without falling.

The northeast section is red, and has walls made out of foam in the shape of a little building. The front and south walls have doors, while the west wall has a rectangular chunk missing, like a window. There's enough room to move between the actual physical walls of the arena and the north and east walls of the little building, but the space would be relatively tight.

The southwest section is blue, and has a giant pit of foam cubes taking up the bulk of its space, only a narrow rim around it otherwise. There's a foam bridge across the pit, running east to west; wide enough so that two people could comfortably cross it together, side-by-side.

The southeast section is yellow, and consists of three raised, square platforms stacked on top of each other in different sizes; the bottom platform takes up the entire floor of the yellow section, while the top platform is only big enough for one person to stand on safely. Each platform is about half your height taller than the one below it.




There's a small, extra section to the south in orange, separated from the others by a net - clearly meant as a rest area and audience section.
It's got one long bench, and a vast array of foam weapons.

Ortho walks over, gently lifting away everyone's weapons, replacing each with vague approximations of them in foam.

Tim raises a paw.

Tim nods, Devo seeming to think something over and shake it off.

Roulette is at the net, looking over the different sections.

Ortho waves a plastic claw in a circle, looking over the four of you.
They point at Devo and Tim.

They use both claws to point at you and Roulette.

Your robotic teammate swivels around, glancing between the coach, and you.
You still have trouble reading the bot's expressions, but you think it looks...apologetic.

Devo stops to give Roulette a quick wave before heading off with Tim, leaving the two of you to walk to your spots.

You give Roulette what you hope is a reassuring smile-

It parts the opening in the net, stepping through.

It makes its way over into the center of the green section, stumbling on a random raised tile, but not falling.

You take a moment to steel your nerves, Roulette's words getting to you more than a little.

It's fine. It's totally fine.

Getting up the first platform is easy enough, as are the second and third. Even so, there's not much space to stand at all...

Cmon. You got this. Think about what this means to Cross.

[OOC: You can now MOVE, ATTACK, and PROTECT as either Polka Dot or Roulette. You can only do one of these things per character, per turn.

During combat, you'll very rarely be by yourself.
You can make suggestions for what your party members should do, too.
Though, while Polka Dot will always do what you ask, you'll have varying degrees of success depending on which party member and what you ask them to do.

Different characters may be more or less likely to follow your suggestions. Pay attention for best results...]

Tim's still tensed up and unsure of how to move, from the look of it.

You can't help but laugh at that, the bear laughing with you.

Roulette looks through the 'window' into Devo's area.

It begins making its way to the center of the arena, doing its best to balance within the rough terrain.

You tense up and get posed for attack, watching as Tim starts tiptoeing across the bridge. Looks like he's taking the bait.

Devo on the other hand, also seems to be staying put, the bear passing his knife between his paws visible through the building's doorway..

By this point, Roulette has made it out of the green area, right to the middle,
where it quickly makes its way around,
cornering Tim at the east side of the bridge - blocking him from getting to you, scythe raised.

Tim narrows his eyes, getting his sword up as he approaches.

It steps onto the bridge, forcing him to back up.

You take a look over at Tim and Roulette facing off before starting down the pyramid- if Devo wasn't gonna move, you were gonna go to him.

Tim, in the meantime, takes a careful stance, readying his sword.

He swings the sword, going for the bot's side.
There is seemingly an attempt at a dodge as Roulette moves back,
but the sword makes contact anyway,
as Roulette slips off the bridge and into the water-simulating foam.



A whistle blows moments later.

Everyone in the arena looks over, Devo needing to peer through one of the doorways to see them.

The bot's lens opens a little wider.

Devo leans through the doorway with an unimpressed look.

The coach focuses back on the pair at the bridge.

Roulette sinks slightly deeper into the foam, as if trying to hide.

Devo slinks back into the building at the mention of training- and seeing you approach.

Another blow of the whistle.



Roulette makes quick work of climbing back up onto solid ground to the southwest, as far from Tim as it can manage.

You bring your focus in front of you- you've reached the building's entrance.

Devo is pressed to the far corner wall, knife at the ready.

You can't quite make out the expression on his face from here.

Devo narrows his eyes as you suddenly duck to the left, out of the doorway.

You pause as you peek around the corner- sure enough, there's a window there, just like you thought.

Before you sneak over, you look over your shoulder and give Roulette a thumbs up.

The bot doesn't respond, taking position at the east end of the bridge once more.

Sheesh, taking this so seriously...

You shake your head as you step over slowly, trying to keep your footsteps light before hauling yourself through the hole in the wall-

You swear you catch a sudden glimpse of red as Devo's foam knife slashes against your shoulder. It's enough to knock you back on your ass, landing with a squeak.

When you get to your feet and get your bearings, there's no sign of any red aside from the building you're in.

Must be seeing things.

Ortho yells from the sideline.

Tim lights up, hollering all the way from the bridge.

It raises the scythe, held in both claws now, taking a step forward onto the bridge.

Tim "swallows" before stepping forward, snapped out of his gay excitement.

He closes his eyes for a moment before rushing forward, going for a stabbing motion.

Roulette instantly moves its left leg and shoulder back, leaning to the side to dodge,
while in the same motion shoving the end of the scythe forward.

The dull end of the blade tags him in the gut,
before it's turned and yanked back against Tim's outstretched wrist,
twisting enough to entirely loose the sword from his grasp.

His blade topples into the foam moat below.

Roulette pulls the scythe back, drawing it low,
blade pointed at the dog.

He glances at the scythe.

The bot doesn't move.

It's you and Devo in the building, now. He's a few steps away and still clutching at his knife, watching and waiting.

You take another step back, getting some distance between the two of you as you brace yourself for his next move.

He takes a step towards you, just a single one.

He snickers, getting into a fighting stance.

Tim takes a moment to steel his nerves before hopping over the side of the bridge, landing with a flop and grabbing his sword.

Roulette releases its stance, leaning its scythe down as if to tap his head with the blade to secure another point.

It hesitates, though, then turns it sideways and holds it down within his reach.

Tim nods and grabs hold.

Roulette pulls him up and out of the foam moat, to the southeast side.
It then backs away and raises its weapon.

You narrow your eyes as you take a few steps forward and swing your hammer low, aiming for the bear's side.

He tries to get away and fumbles, the hammer making contact-

-but not before he manages to graze your neck with his blade. It's not a full "cut", and wouldn't have amounted to much with a real weapon, but...

He gets back into a fighting stance.

Tim lunges forward and goes for a sideways swipe, putting his full strength into it- more than he probably needs to.

Roulette is quicker,
snagging Tim's blade with one claw and twisting it, turning the dog's wrist,
as its scythe comes up from down low,
slotting in just against the plush's neck.

The robot's watchful gaze feels far more intimidating with a scythe pressed to his throat.

Tim blinks, eyeing the scythe against him with a nervous expression.

Roulette tilts its head an inch.

It waits a moment.

The robot tugs very slightly on Tim's neck with the foam scythe,
leaning him towards the fake water.

The dog stumbles, flopping into the foam pile.

It turns its attention towards the building.