epidemiology | (no subject)

CHARACTERS: Peridot, Pearl, and OPEN!

DATE: After Oska-sim, before the Team-Bonding tasks event

WARNINGS: Robotic dismemberment, maybe.

SUMMARY: Robot fights??? Robot fights.

• BEFORE THE FIGHT •

[Now that Oska has been "fixed"… it's about time to mess it up again. At least in a contained way that doesn't involve any "false realities." Two large, pilot-able robots stand opposite each other in a large ring, circled off with linked rope and poles.

One robot is a bright green color, diamond shaped with claw-like hands, and shorter than the other robot. The second robot is tall, smoother looking, with longer "legs" and pastel colored.

Both are unoccupied… for now, but outside of the ring is a crudely, and almost lazily painted sign with the words: ]

BUY TICKETS HERE

[…Someone's selling tickets to this??

Maybe someone else is nearby who can answer some questions… Or maybe also has no idea what's about to happen, but hey, feel free to look around anyway. ]

• THE FIGHT •

[A. - Closed to Peridot and Pearl]

[~~Now that the tickets have been sold~~, both Gems arrive at the arena.

After inspecting the area marked for their fight, and then inspecting her own robot to make sure Pearl hadn't tried to CHEAT while she was away, Peridot climbs into her own robot, testing the controls. It works just as well as it did when she first assembled it, so everything seems fine. As Pearl climbs into her own robot, Peridot calls out a taunt.]

I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO PRACTICE BOWING AGAIN, RENEGADE SCUM!!

[B. - Open To All]

[Oh, so that's why those giant robots were there. An old fashioned showdown, This Town Isn't Big Enough For The Both Of Us-style... But no guns and quick drawing, and with robots instead? Seems like it. Feel free to watch, and maybe wind up dodging some torn up dirt as the fight processes.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She does.

[Said simply, but her attention returns to the fight as it's going on.

Things...aren't looking good for Pearl from the looks of things, though.]

Perri's like the very first person I got to know here...and she's been stuck in this weird gem hierarchy mindset the whole time I've known her. It's really awful, if you ask me, but...

Pearl's the only one who can change her mind about it. To prove that all these awful things she thinks about Pearl aren't true...but for it to work, they have to defend their ideals right here, right now. And it means they both have to put their all into it too.

Whoever wins isn't what matters.

[Well.

To her.

Gil probably cares.]

You are affording her far too much credit.

[He knows Ranmaru and thus knows that for a fact. But because he knows her, he also knows that she has the best intentions in mind. That she's favoring the route of compassion over abject foolishness, and it does settle him down. A little.

But he shakes his head all the same, as he cannot condone it.]

Viewpoints like those... they do not change. Not easily.

[Although notably, it's not disagreement he offers. Just pessimism that Peridot will ever truly listen and ever really come to respect Pearl, regardless of outcome.]

[His point is one she understands all too well. It isn't just meeting Peridot or Gilgamesh; even Ichiko back home...she was truly a wicked person, even if she had her reasons. But Ranmaru chose to believe she could be a better person if she just tried.

A chance she afforded everyone, really. If only because if you give up on someone, then they'll definitely never change for the better.]

To be honest, I think you're completely wrong about the credit part. Perri's the type of person who only believes in what she knows, and that hierarchy of hers is all she's ever known.

So being here, where none of that matters...she'll adjust, I think. And seeing how brightly Pearl shines oughta be a bit of a rude awakening, too...[She gives him a side glance.] Ah, unless you're doubting her capabilities?

[Maybe that's stepping too far for the sake of teasing, but.

At the same time, he shouldn't expect her to keep her mouth shut just because he's volatile. She'd gladly die yelling things that'd piss him off, defiantly.]

I would kill the one called "Peridot" without hesitation.

[How's that for volatile? Though it's not angry, not exactly. More like terrifyingly calm. Resolved to a single purpose.]

...but Pearl does not want it that way. She wanted it this way.

[So it goes without saying that Gilgamesh has little choice other than to believe in the spirit of Ranmaru's argument, even if he disagrees with it on principle. This world may have tempered him for the better. Ranmaru, Pearl, and the others may have quelled the King's inherent rage just the slightest bit.]

I think that's as good a start as any.

[She pats his shoulder firmly, trying to be encouraging.]

Just try having some faith in other people; they can surprise you.

[Gilgamesh just grunts irritably, but it's mostly for show.]

Like in you? See how well that has turned out, woman.

Yeah, see? It's working already!

[She knows how he really meant it.]