Match of the Millennium

Description: As part of the new initiative from Spangles, a new line of attractive, fun animatronics are being introduced to encourage more parties at the Spangles. Replacing the old Showup Hoedown animatronics, the DinoSpangles Friends are the latest in realistic robots to entertain children. The first of such, Clowniosaurus Rex, is still in it's crate in the back room, ready to set up. Rashid needs to spend the night as security work, to make sure nothing bad happens to the new products overnight. What isn't known is that Ultratech is the one providing the animatronics, and the animatronics are actually Riptor, who is a cyborg velociraptor, trained to entertain, nurture, and play with children and unconscious. Rashid is not children. And he sure isn't unconscious yet.

[RASHID]
Rashid has done the SNF thing once before. The result was a tough battle against one of the famous Bogard brothers that he somehow managed to come out the victor. It was a learning experience and on top of that fun. That is why he thought he would give things another try. This is not what he expected.

"I don't know, Azam....I think this is supposed to teach me patience or something? I mean the F stands for fight, but they never told me who my opponent is." The Arab lets out a sigh as he speaks to his butler through a little mic on his earpiece. No one else was to be let in the building and even the crew came in only to set up the cameras before leaving. This whole deal seemed odd. Rashid was supposed to be security detail or something. This isn't a fight. This is a job he didn't want or need.

He idly leans back in his seat as he bites back a yawn. His sandal clad feet kick up to rest on the nearby table as he idly pokes at his phone. At least he has a way to entertain himself. He has spent most of the past hour just messaging friends and checking the news. The young man has no idea how bad things are about to get.

[RIPTOR]
For years, the motto of Spangles Restaurants has been "Where It's Just Better!" But to some people in upper management, that didn't include the creaky old animatronics. Back in the day, Hoedown Dillo and Injun Joe would've been played by a man in a suit. As a cost-saving measure, at some point, animatronic robots were introduced to fill that role, but children found them, quoting from a survey, "weird," "bad," and "uncanny." (That last one may have been a parent.) And so the search went out for new lifelike creatures to fulfill the role of entertaining kids, and Ultratech stepped up with an extremely discreet offering that was very, VERY lifelike.

Clowniosaurus Rex, they called it. Maybe at one time it was supposed to be a double tie-in with Spangles, Ultratech, and the new Jurassic World movie? Who can say how such an abomination is made. A modification of the standard Riptor unit, but with a focus on entertaining! Intimidating cyan Ultratech logos etched into her cybernetic body, replaced with fun clown faces! A beautiful clown makeup getup carefully applied to her face (Riptor already hates it)! The Riptor unit, Ultratech Sales reasoned, already has motherly instincts - all stock Riptor unit manuals even come with a chapter entitled "So You Found An Egg" - so it stood to reason it could probably handle playing with children, as long as they didn't move too suddenly, scream too loudly, or irritate the dinosaur.

For some reason, the Spangles Corp thought this was reasonable. Riptor's charismatic new handler, Tod Dyson, assured everyone that everything would be alright.

Over a radio on the inside of the crate containing the Clowniosaurus Rex, Dyson is talking to Riptor. He's not sure she can understand him, but Dr. Gupte's notes assured him that Riptor had a full grasp of the English language, so he didn't feel quite as silly. "Now, we're going to open the crate in just a few minutes, girl. This was supposed to happen in the middle of the day, like a birthday present - hence the balloons - but R&D figures it might be better to acquaint you with your surroundings overnight, while the restaurant's empty. Good luck out there."

A buzzer sounds, and the sides of the Ultratech Standard Shipping Vessel fall away. (This is probably visible on Rashid's cameras!) The balloons lay limply on the bottom of the crate, punctured by raptor talons. And Riptor, painted like a clown, finds herself in the restaurant's expansive kitchen. Guttural chirping ensues, as she begins prowling around her new surroundings.

[RASHID]
"Hmm?" Rashid was still talking to his butler and texting friends when movement on the camera catches his attention. That wasn't open before was it? And what is with all the deflated balloons? He seems to have missed the clownish dinosaur move away and begin to stalk around the place. "Hey Azam. Will get back with you. I think something is up."

Rashid pulls off the earpiece and puts it on the table next to his tablet and he slowly gets up. "Hello?" He thought he heard a chirp? Did a bird get in here somewhere? He could only hope it was an SNF official here to tell him that it is almost time for the fight. It actually is getting close to that time, but Rashid is going to find out in a much less fun way.

His steps are soft as he move about. He thinks he knows where that crate is supposed to be so maybe he should go check it out. Patting down his pockets he pulls out a little flashlight and he hums to himself as he leaves the security station.

COMBATSYS: Riptor has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Riptor           0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Rashid has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Riptor           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0           Rashid

[RIPTOR]
Somewhere behind Rashid, the door on the other side of the security station opens, then closes with a soft click. Riptor sniffs the air. She can smell someone was here - recently! Was someone supposed to be here? Is this a combat test? She growls quietly, as she was pretty sure this was supposed to just be a night to check out this weird food-nest, which smelled of grease and sadness, but first she has to secure the perimeter.

Staring at the bank of consoles, Riptor monitors Rashid's movement, just as he would've been seeing hers earlier. The cameras themselves are extremely unreliable and probably need to be replaced; a couple of them fuzz on and off with a burst of static, and that one pointing into the supply closet is clearly just displaying a loop - probably an amateur patch job. But she sees Rashid going back the way she just came from, and resolves what to do. Quickly, Riptor assesses the room, then spies a very obvious switch and lays a claw upon it.

MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE SECURITY:

All the lights go out with a distinct bassy hum. A few seconds later, with a click, the emergency lights snap back on, bathing the inside of Spangles in sparse pools of red light. From behind Rashid, there's a barely audible clicking noise, like claws on tile. Probably because it's claws on tile!

Riptor sprints rapidly out of the darkness, leaping on top of Rashid and digging her claws into his back if she lands the jump, before running off into the darkness again.

COMBATSYS: Rashid blocks Riptor's Primal Run.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Riptor           0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
"This place gives me the creeps." Something about the whole Spangles deal just gives him the creeps. At least it isn't like he is having to eat here or anything. But still the sooner this is all done the better. Or at least he thinks that right now. That all changes in a few moments.

He gives a bit of a jump when the lights go out and then snap back on. And while Riptor is quick and for the most part quiet it seems like Rashid heard something because he turns about right when he sees.....a raptor in clown makeup? "What in the...!?"

He falls backwards as the dino lands on him as he kicks his feet out to where the claws scratch along his chest, but don't dig in deep like she had hoped and he is quick to get up when Riptor looks to sprint away. Was this his opponent? What the hell? Why does it look so silly? Then again the claws didn't feel silly. That really hurt.

He isn't giving chase in a normal sense. Riptor bounds off and Rashid decides it best to keep his distance. He gives a bit of a hop and a short roundhouse kick. One that creates a little tornado of energy that looks to give the dinosaur chase. "Take that!"

COMBATSYS: Riptor blocks Rashid's Whirlwind Shot.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Riptor           0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0           Rashid

[RIPTOR]
Upon her opponent voicing a "take that," Riptor turns in time to see the little tornado of energy - and keeps turning. Extending her cybertail - which, despite the best efforts of Ultratech Appearance Modification Engineers, doesn't look like it's clowning around at all - into its longer whip form, she attempts to dissipate the energy whirlwind with it. It's not entirely successful - some of the outer layers of metal buckle or peel back - but it does prevent her from taking the brunt of it.

She continues on into the darkness, and that's when Rashid's phone pings him to indicate he has a text message, which has the words "LISTEN TO ME" and a link to an audio file, which is a prerecorded message that sounds much louder than it is in the stillness of the partly-darkened spangles.

"Hello, valued customer! This is Tod Dyson, new acting head of the Ultratech Riptor Unit Research Division, here to congratulate you personally on your adoption slash purchase of a specially adapted Riptor Unit designed for interacting with children while dressed as a clown! Fun Riptoid - that's a Riptor Factoid, you see - the Riptoid possesses the instincts of a mother dinosaur, with the combat prowess of three! We suggest you leave the "Clowniosaurus Rex" to discover the bounds of her new 'nest' alone, as she's prone to startling if she thinks there's an intruder in her home. Any further questions can be found by referring to our friendly user manual, 'You and Your Riptor Unit.' Thanks again, and congratulations, from Ultratech." BEEP.

From out of the kitchen, there's the sound of a door swinging, then Riptor hurtles out of the darkness again, aiming to wrap her extendable, prehensile tail around Rashid's powerful leg and knock him off balance.

COMBATSYS: Riptor successfully hits Rashid with Medium Hurl.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Riptor           1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
Rashid lets out a sigh of relief as he thinks he chased off whatever the hell that creation was. If that is what he is supposed to fight that was not what he was expecting at all. Why couldn't it be something normal?

Then he hears his phone go off and he plays the file. His eyes widening some as he listens. Oh great. So he got stuck in here with something that sees him as a threat. Yeah, he is going to get the hell out of this place. That was his plan at least before Riptor comes bounding out and snags him by the leg. He tries to move it out of grasping range, but still gets caught and he loses his balance as he catches himself on a hand and his one good leg.

"So much for flight." Normally he isn't one for fighting females, but this one he might make an exception. He kicks up his foot to where he is just balancing on the one hand and he swings his body about to go into a forward roll. One looking to carry him forward before explodes out of it right at Riptor. He twirls about quickly seeming to become something of a tornado himself as he looks to deliver a few quick strikes.

COMBATSYS: Riptor fails to interrupt Spinning Mixer from Rashid with Tail Sting.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Riptor           1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0           Rashid

[RIPTOR]
Bringing herself around as Rashid rights herself, Riptor is surprised to find him back up and moving again so quickly. This one is agile, she notes to herself. Before she can fully brace herself to react, he's up again with a flurry of spinning blows; attempting to bring her already-extended tail to bear is no good, and instead it just ends up flailing in the air activating a weird new subroutine where it sounds like a party horn going off. A container opens and flings confetti everywhere.

Having been duly pummeled, she half hops, half limps into the darkness, refusing to turn her back on Rashid now. This one's a strong one, unlike the one they brought to the lab for her to test her teeth on, and she would do well to remember that. Rashid will have to go find her if he wants to ensure the threat is dealt with.

An animatronic Injun Joe, stripped of his anachronistic, and honestly more than a little racist, Native American trappings falls out of a nearby closet. As it hits the ground, it says, in a weird, off-pitch voice, "Spirits say, be careful of bear in a square, because cornerered bear is fiercest bear of all.

Man, no WONDER no one likes these old animatronics.

[RASHID]
Riptor is driven back and Rashid comes out of that spin with a bit of a grimace. "Oww. What are you even made of?" The voice said something about Ultratech right? He might have to look more into this company.....if he makes it out of this place. One step at a time there, Rashid.

She moves quickly, but he thinks he knows where she is going. When the old animatronic Injun Joe falls over he is startled again. Ugh, he feels like he is in a stupid video game relying on nothing but jump scares. He always hated those. He gives Joe a bit of a kick then winces. "Gah!" he should have known better to kick that thing when wearing open toed sandals.

He manages to focus back on the task at hand. He has a dinosaur to track down and he manages to do so with some effort. "Get back here." he calls and he takes a few steps forward before leaping in the air with a nice flip. The oddness is how he seems to almost land on the air itself and push off again, changing his angle so he can soar forward and extend a foot to plant it right into Riptor. "Hah!"

COMBATSYS: Riptor blocks Rashid's Airborne Eagle Spike.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Riptor           1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0           Rashid

[RIPTOR]
Rashid probably SHOULD worry about kicking things with open-toed sandals. That seems like kind of a bad idea? That includes cyborg dinosaurs! As he does his video game double jump, his foot is met with her hip; he gets a meaty crunch from the attack landing, even with the hip block. Several of the glowing clown faces embedded in her augmented scales fizzle out with a spark.

RIPTOID: The legs of the velociraptor were, and are, its most powerful limbs!

With a hiss and a growl, Riptor clambers up onto a metal shelving unit nearby; pots and pans rattle and fall to the ground. Using the advantage of height, Riptor leaps down at Rashid; should the claws land home, they'll be followed swiftly by a sharp bite from her all-natural dinosaur teeth (in her wholly-unnatural clown-madeup face) and a fling to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Rashid just-defends Riptor's Clever Girl!

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Riptor           1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
At least in the case of this kick it is the bottom of the foot instead of the toe. Trying to fight something made of metal probably still isn't a good idea. He is at least going to be sore if he manages to make it out of this one. The feel of where the claws dug in on the initial attack can be felt and are a good reminder to Rashid that he should avoid them.

Protip: Probably best for him to avoid the sharp teeth as well.

He lands a few feet away after the kick and he tries to keep track of the movements of Riptor. She is quick, but he manages to keep pace and he falls backwards when she goes to land on him, his arms shooting upwards as he looks to knock at the inner part of her legs so they land at his sides instead of of on him. He then pushes with his feet to slide away before that bite manages to hit home as well before kipping back up.

He is hoping to have at least confused the robosaur for a moment. Enough of one that comes in like a tornado once more, this time a bit more faster as he becomes a whirlwind of energy and elbows.

COMBATSYS: Rashid successfully hits Riptor with Dash Spinning Mixer.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Riptor           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0           Rashid

[RIPTOR]
Wham, bam, no thank you ma'am! Rashid doesn't want any teeth in his body that aren't his and who can blame him? Riptor is fended off, and when Rashid becomes a whirling dervish of limbs and chi, she is caught, pummeled, and sent packing. Nature's former apex predator goes skidding gracelessly across the floor of the Spangles kitchen, creating a health inspector's nightmare as she leaves a trail of blood, coolant, and clown makeup behind.

Then again, this probably isn't the first time a clown's been mangled in a Spangles.

Grunting and growling, her feathered crest breaking free of the party hat rudely stuck to her head, Riptor disappears into the darkness. Is... that it? Is the threat over?

From the front of the restaurant, the Hoedown Dillo animatronic suddenly breaks into song. It's clearly getting closer, and in fact ambles into the back hallways, echoing some idiotic spangles advertisement jingle or other. Then the backup Hoedown Dillo does too. Eventually Rashid will probably figure out what she's doing: she's making extra noise to disguise her re-entrance.

A gout of flame marks Riptor's return to the scene of the beating, laying down a carpet of potential property damage all around them as she leaps at Rashid in a frenzy of claws and teeth and burps of flame, her whipsword tail lashing to and fro. Her clown makeup is melting off and her eyes are filled with anger - she's not just being humiliated by a mammal, they DRESSED HER LIKE A CLOWN!

COMBATSYS: Riptor successfully hits Rashid with Ultra Predator.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Riptor           0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1           Rashid

[RASHID]
There is a little glimmer of hope that the dinosaur is finally retreating. He has managed to do his best not to get maimed and has done well so far. "I should get ahold of Az...."

He trails off whent he Hoedown Dillo starts to make noise. And then one of the backups joins in. His brow furrows and he tries to ready himself as his gaze darts about. When that flame explodes from the hidden dino he looks to leap away. He may narrowly avoid that first burst of fire, but then Riptor impacts hard and begins to flail, bite and burp up more fire. The Arab can do little but try to cover up and one final lash of the tail sends him right into and through a wall. When all is said and done the place is a mess, but it has gone quiet.

Then there is a rattle of pots and pans and small gust of wind that picks up somehow despite the doors and windows are all sealed up. Still it continues to pick up and build in power. A tornado seeming to come to life inside the restaurant and looking to pull in Riptor.

Then exploding out of the hole in the wall is Rashid. His clothing torn and blood coming from the various cuts and scratches inflicted. Even his hair and beard is singed with small burns showing on his exposed skin. He is in bad shape, but he looks to exlode right into that tornado become a frenzy of kicks and punches as well if Riptor can't escape the pull of the vortex.

COMBATSYS: Rashid successfully hits Riptor with Ysaar Mixer.
- Power hit! -

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Riptor           0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0           Rashid

[RIPTOR]
Perhaps it's the unfamiliar environment. Perhaps it's underestimating her opponent. Whatever it is, Riptor is wholly unprepared when Rashid the human blender comes through a wall, creating a tornado of embers, drywall, fists, feet, man, and dinosaur. It only ends when, with a crash, she is ejected through an interior-facing window into the manager's officer, where she flops angrily trying to get to her feet on top of a desk full of now-shredded receipts from the previous day.

ELSEWHERE

Tod Dyson frowns to himself, looking at a readout. The Riptor was just supposed to be on patrol of the area. Why were her vitals dropping so rapidly? He picked up a smartphone and repeatedly tapped a button called 'Recall,' but kept getting notes that the signal wasn't connecting. His frown deepened. If it somehow lived, but couldn't respond to Ultratech command... Legal won't have that.

He taps out a number on his phone, placing a fairly urgent call.

MEANWHILE, IN SPANGLES, WHERE IT'S JUST BETTER<TM>

Finally catching her footing in the manager's office, Riptor breathes heavily. This man who may also be a blender is quite the threat. There's an irritating beeping IN HER BRAIN that says she should probably retreat, but the screaming frenzied animal part of her brain is overriding Ultratech's cybernetics right now. As such, she comes tearing out of the back again, trying to alternate between keeping her distance from Rashid, but also lunging forward and snapping at his dangerous feet. She might be trying to eat his sandal, honestly.

COMBATSYS: Rashid interrupts Strong Bite from Riptor with Nail Assault.

[                          \\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Riptor           0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
The winds die down and the place is left in an even bigger mess. It will probably take quite some time before this location will be ready to serve people again. Breathing heavily Rashid just stands there doing his best to see where Riptor went.

Oh, there she is....and she is coming right for him! "No no no!" he does kick out and those teeth tear off one sandal and another bite grazes his arm opening another new wound. "Hnng...." he hops back on his bare foot as he tries to look for an opening. It is when Riptor is moving backwards to avoid Rashid when he sees it.

When Riptor moves back Rashid leaps forward into a quick roll. Just as quickly he explodes out of it with a low double kick looking to slam feet into the Dinosaur once more.

"Oww!" Okay kicking it with sandals was bad. Kicking a robot dinosaur with a bare foot was an even worse idea.

[RIPTOR]
The combat dinosaur hits the backdoor employee entrance, sending it hurtling backwards off its hinges. Riptor is still, her eyes closed and her glowy bits not glowing, but it's suddenly very loud and very bright in the back half of Spangles (Where It's Just Destroyed). A man in full combat armor strides forward, and over the sound of the helicopter that's landed in the empty parking lot outside, he yells, "APOLOGIES FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, SIR. THERE WAS APPARENTLY A SHIPPING MIXUP OF SOME KIND. WE'LL BE TAKING THE MALFUNCTIONING PROPERTY NOW, STAND BACK."

An Ultratech Security Grunt Unit marches in with ruthless efficiency, carefully loading Riptor into another crate; alongside them is Tod Dyson, who kneels down next to her. "What did they do to you?" he muses. He wipes the clown makeup off of her face, looking distressed. "I never expected this to be a combat situation, I'm s--"

Riptor's eye snaps open. Her back leg flashes out. Tod Dyson is suddenly missing most of his neck.

Riptor lies still again, staring at Rashid, but making no move to escape her Ultratech Standard Confinement and Delivery Vessel. Someone asks the other one a question that no one else can hear, they both shrug, then they bundle Tod into the box with her and move out with military efficiency.

Soon, all is quiet again at Spangles. Of course, the place has been utterly wrecked, and there's now at least three different sentients' blood on the floor of the kitchen. There's broken glass, scattered cooking equipment and knives, and there's even a wall missing. Some stuff in a hallway is on fire, or blackened to a crisp. Sure hope there's no surprise inspections tomorrow!

Spangles: Where It's Probably Getting an F-Minus From The Board of Health!<TM>

COMBATSYS: Riptor takes no action.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Rashid           0/-------/----===|

COMBATSYS: Riptor can no longer fight.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Rashid           0/-------/----===|

[RASHID]
The loss of blood has Rashid feeling woozy as a whole and while he still stands he probably would be raptor food if not for the fact he managed to damage Riptor enough to stop her assault.

Then people burst in and chaos ensues. Rashid honestly isn't sure what really happened. All he knows is within moments Riptor is gone along with a fresh dead body and Rashid is left standing there in the middle of the restaurant half concious and utterly confused. Was this really his fight? Or was this just some weird mix up he somehow got pulled into?

Slowly he turns about and he staggers back to where he had set his phone down. Given the table was destroyed he has to look around through the debris to finally find it. After hitting a quick dial he quietly speaks into it. "Azam, I think I have a lot of explaining to do. What does my balance look like right now?" Before Azam can give an answer Rashid just faceplants on the ground. He's probably all right."

COMBATSYS: Rashid has ended the fight here.

Log created on 12:21:08 06/15/2018 by Rashid, and last modified on 16:53:12 06/15/2018.