Sommelier.EXE VS Junior.EXE

As the Navis jack in, their Net Operators are shown a 3-D model of the arena their Navis will be fighting in with various features labeled and highlighted as the presentation runs. At the end of the presentation, the environmental statistics for this arena are displayed for reference.

Quote (The Underworld)

The center of the arena itself is a flat, circular plane, with a few small walls and columns to use as cover, or as vantage points. The columns are simple rounded rectangles, standing up lengthwise about 8 feet in height. They are not secured to the floor and can be knocked over, unlike the few small walls. At the walls of the arena are four pits. The walls of the upper arena are covered in a large netting that allows it to be grabbed onto and clung to, but is otherwise un-noteworthy.

The pits surrounding the center of the arena drop down into a second, lower half of the arena that is exactly as wide as the first, but is much taller than the upper arena. Close to the edges of this 'underground' arena are four small, circular platforms; these send a navi flying directly upward to ground-level, and are placed below the four pits. They must be specifically triggered, however, and do not trigger when navis enter the lower arena by dropping from above.

At the far walls of the underground arena are four additional, angled boosters which catapult a navi up to one of four horizontal platforms on the walls of the lower arena; these four small platforms each have two hand grips on the wall next to them that will pull a navi to the next platform over, either to the left or right.

---Terrain---
Upper Level: Normal (96%), Hole (4%)

Lower Level: Normal (88%), Spring Panel (4%), Booster Pad (8%)

Note: Hole Terrain means you can fall through it to reach the lower level. Hole Terrain cannot be changed.

Note 2: Breaking the panels of the upper level means creating holes Navis can fall to the lower level through. These are Broken Panels, and can either regenerate in a couple of tuyrns or be repaired/changed into something else, unlike Hole Terrain.

---Objects---

Hematite Column (300 HP) [4 ea. on upper level]
-- Can be knocked over, and rolled.
-- Can be stood upon.
-- Can be used for cover.
-- Too heavy to lift, throw, or send flying with microburst.

Hematite Barricade (150 HP) [4 ea. on upper level]
-- Can be used for cover.
-- Immovable

Hematite Cube (300 HP, extremely heavy) [4 ea. on lower level]
-- Tethered to the ceiling by ropes, which can be cut with a single slashing attack.
-- Can be stood upon, even while tethered.
-- Cannot be moved other than cutting them loose.
-- Immovable once on the ground, and may be used for cover.
-- Deal 100 Null Damage if they fall upon a Navi, and break instantly.

For Reference: The upper area is approximately 15 feet high. The lower area is approximately 45 feet high. The platforms on the lower level are 25 feet from the ground, as are the hanging cubes.

The Navis, on the other hand, appear on the upper level of the arena, a moderate distance from each other, and are not given any of the data their Operators received. The Navis would be given a few moments to themselves before the match actually began....

"I'm in." said Junior, looking around, "Hmm... a lot of levels here. Those navi-cust you installed some time ago should give me a huge advantage in an area like this."

"Yeah, you're right, though don't use them just yet. Let's try to get to at least Round 3 before we demonstrate your... special talents."

"While I know you're suggesting it just to be sneaky, which I disapprove of, I think I'll agree to it. Afterall, this way it will be more challenging and better training." Junior said.

"More challenging, huh? Sheesh, and you told me not to underestimate the other fighters." Wes sighed. He then approached the desk again and collected his folder, "Oh what the hell? Wood folder? Think of all the innuendos! Damnation!"

"Well, you're the one who decided to randomize." Junior commented. He looked around once again, "Say, shouldn't our opponent be here by now?"

"Probably, though from what I hear, they have a thirty minute waiting policy before someone is automatically disqualified. We may have to wait a while." Wes explained, "It'd be great if they didn't show up. We could keep your abilities hidden longer that way."

"I guess... but I still want to improve my skills in combat. Its better to learn one on one fighting in a safe environment like this than out on the net." Junior said.

"Eh, I suppose that's one way to look at it." Wes looked around the lobby, "Sheesh, isn't this being televised or something? I was really hoping to get some publicity for this but how are they supposed to show eight battles at once?"

"Maybe they don't think that the first few rounds are important and will televise later, once the no shows and poor fighters have been eliminated?" Junior suggested.

"That makes sense." Wes said. He clenched his fist, "Fine, all the more reason to kick ass and get as far as possible in this thing! We're in it to win it!"

"... but I have to hold back." Junior sighed. It seemed like this might be tricky afterall.

"Sorry I'm late, had a few straggling customers to take care of." annouced Sommelier to no one in particular, having suddenly appeared in the arena. She then started letting her eyes travel around the room, pausing at key features like the holes and the columns before continuing to roam. "Wow, this is pretty upscale for a Netbattling arena... SciLabs must've really gone into high gear for this one."

"To be expected, considering SciLab put their name on this. If the tournament turned out to be a flop, their reputation would be tarnished and investors would start backing off left and right. A true business nightmare..." sighed Louis, a bad rep being his own worst nightmare. "Please try to win, Sommelier. I can't even begin to imagine what will happen to the Net Cafe if you get beaten easily."

"Don't worry so much. I'll give it my all, trust me." promised Sommelier as she began twisting and stretching her body. "I have to admit, though... I think I've been behind that counter too long. It might take me a little bit to warm up." A sharp pop from her shoulder as she spun it around confirmed that suspicion. "Ow... Oh, wait, I think I see our opponent." said Sommelier as she noticed what looked like an arm sticking out from behind one of the pillars. She straightened out her black apron and tightened the knot keeping her black ponytail in place, then stepped out to face her opponent.

"Hey. You're Junior, I take it?" asked Sommelier, offering out a hand in greeting.

Junior walked out from behind the pillar where he had been waiting and greeted the other navi, "Ah, yes, that would be me. And I take it you must be Sommelier-san. Nice to meet you." Junior bowed politely.

"Normally when someone holds out a hand, you shake it not ignore it and bow." Wes sighed.

"Oh, yes, sorry about that." Junior bowed again in apology, still not obeying the normal ettiquete. He was feeling too troubled to behave according to the norms, though. His first match and he was facing a girl. Normally he found such practices deplorable and tried instead to fight them without fighting them but... after what happened the other day, he wondered if such behavior was wrong. He stood thinking about it, then figured the best way to learn the answer would be to outright ask, "Forgive me, Sommelier-san, but I must ask a question before we begin. What is more offensive to women, fighting them or avoiding to fight them? I was always taught that it was wrong to strike a woman but the other day... a friend of mine got mad when I tried to protect her and accused me of treating her like she was weak. Now I'm confused... does my giving special attention to women only really insult them?"

"Well, I guess that depends..." shrugged Sommelier, scratching the side of her head. "Some girls are into that old 'chivalry' thing still, but I think more often than not she would want to prove herself as much as you would." Sommelier then paused a moment, gathering some new thoughts. "Even before that, though... We Navis can really be male, female, or anything in between on a whim. I wouldn't worry about gender roles too much." she said with a smile, patting Junior on the shoulder. "Everyone has their own opinions and stories to tell, so I suggest you just let them say their piece and work from there."

Louis nodded silently, proud of Sommelier for echoing the ideal means to treat customers that believed so strongly.

"Now, there are people on the other side of these cameras that expect a good fight. So put up your dukes and give me all you've got. I'll be sure to do the same. Good luck, Junior." With that said, Sommelier backed away a bit and assumed a fighting stance, arming herself with a wine bottle in hand.

(Ready)

"So I should fight seriously and ignore gender? Okay, thanks. That will be a lot easier than running around and hoping my opponent accidently falls in a hole and gets disqualified." Junior said.

"You actually thought that was a viable strategy?" asked Wes. While he really should have expected something like this he was still somehow surprised. Oh well, at least his opponent hadn't screwed them over and said that men who attack women were the worst or something.

"Of course, I still don't think I can go all out against you. Sorry, its just a habit and my netop has told me to hold back for as long as I can." Junior apologized.

"It kind of defeats the purpose of hiding your abilities if you tell your opponent you're doing so." Wes sighed. After a pause, though, he reconsidered, "Unless of course you're trying to do the badass villian thing. You know, the whole, 'Ha! you think you're keeping up with me but really, I have only used 10% of my full power. Let me crank it up to 15% and see how you fare" thing. Of course, that's for evil assholes which is an angle I thought you avoided."

"Ah! I'm terribly sorry, Sommelier-san. Please forgive me. And after you helped me with your kind words." Junior bowed in apology. He then stood up straight and waited for the announcer to call for the start of the match, "Well, I'll use as much power as I deem necessary. Good luck." He paused and then called to the side of the arena, "Soulman_Junior.EXE is ready."

((Ready))

((I will be moderating this battle for the time being.))

The two competitors introduce themselves and get acquainted, then announce their readiness to start. Just then, a dark beam zooms in and crashes down to the side of the arena. The blackness fades to reveal a very angular navi, covered in black and orange armor; covered in blade like winglets. His eyes are covered by a dark blue visor supported by two L-shaped spines extending from the sides to his mouth to his ears and then turn sharply skywards and back a few degrees. His spiked orange hair almost glows in the light. He speaks, his voice amplified by the surrounding speaker system.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I am Vengeance.exe and will be the observer/referee for this event. The match between Junior.exe and Sommelier.exe will start shortly.

He looks down to the competitors, his glowing orange eyes barely shining through his dark visor.

The match will end when one of you is forced to EJO, or concedes defeat. The match will begin on my mark. Competitors ready,... Begin!

Vengeance.exe warps out of the arena into an observation booth several dozen feet above the arena floor.

Round 1 Start!

Junior.exe: 200HP
Sommelier.exe: ((PM me her HP value please))

<(Round 1! Ready, Fight!)>

((PM me your turn summaries and wait for my notification to post.))

"Well, its starting. Have a plan?" Junior asked.

"Of course. First off, we'll be using just chips. That way your true abilities will remain hidden as for an attack strategy..." Wes let his eyes glance over the battle area. He looked at the opponent's HP and then at that of the columns. How very convinient. He switched over to a private line and held his mouth close to his PET so that Louis wouldn't be able to overhear, "Okay, this round of attacks are going to basically be preparation. I'll send a few attacks to put her on her guard but for the most part, we'll hold off on offense until after everything is in place. At which point, we hammer her. First off, here's a Barrier. That will keep you safe. After, take this boomerrang to strike while dodging around the field. Try to get close to one of the column, one that's farthur away from her. I'll send more instructions once you accomplish that."

"Hmmm... Okay, I guess I can go with that." Junior said as a magical, shining bubble wrapped around him, cloaking him in its protection. With this he should be safe to carry out the plan... not that he was too sure about what the plan was. All he knew was that Wes was up to something. Well, for now he'd just do as he was told and hopefully avoid getting hurt in the process.

Junior materialized a large, curved hunck of wood in his hands. He twisted his body a bit, holding the blade behind him and called out, "Here it comes," before spinning about and chucking the weapon through the air. It whirled about the field, going in the general direction Sommelier. The blade was aero-dynamic, so if it missed her on its first pass, it would hopefully catch her on its return to Junior position. However, by the time it would reach that spot, he would already be gone. Following the directions ditated to him, the navi was already moving around the field, keeping a sharp eye out for incoming attacks. As he did so, he steadily moved in the direction of one of the far columns on the upper level. As he got close, he began to feel antsy, "So how about the rest of that plan?"

Wes sighed. His navi had given the opponent warning before making his attack. Of course, the whole point of that strike was to keep the opponent on guard, so that they thought that they were fighting seriously so prompting Sommelier to get moving would probably work for them, "Ah, yes, the rest of the plan. First, duck behind the column and lay this bomb. It will send an attack her way in a few moments when we start really pressing her. Then get ready to warp right beside her and strike with the Rageclaw. Try throwing her behind one of the columns, one of the columns other than this one, anyway. If you can manage that... then it all ends." Wes smirked. While he didn't like having to use the folder's Areagrab this soon into the match, it would be fine if they didn't allow the fight to last much longer. He was betting heavily on this strategy and he felt pretty safe doing so. This would show the other combatents who they should watch out for.

"Huh? What do you...?" Junior started to question, before recalling the list of chips in the folder provided, "Oh, so that's it. Well, if I don't have to continue the fight for much longer, I'll do it." He pivoted to the side, dashing behind the column. He stooped down near the base, lying the seed on the ground. Then he disappeared, his data breaking up, shooting through the air, and reforming beside his opponent. He formed a hairy, clawed glove over his hand, then shot up, attempting to backhand Sommelier into the air and send her flying behind one of the columns. He tried not to flinch at the thought of hitting a woman, knowing that if he failed in his endevour that he'd be left wide open to attacks and would probably get pretty messed up because of it.

Wes stood, watching anxiously. What they did next, whether they gained an easy victory or would have a long. drawn out battle greatly depended on the success of this move. Did Junior pull it off?

1.) Barrier
2.) Boomerrang1, 60 Wood
3.) Dodge around field
4.) Duck behind column and drop Treebomb1, (next turn 60 Wood damage Group/ground attack)
5.) Areagrab next to Sommelier
6.) Rageclaw1, 20+Impacting, Sommeliar (try to chuck her behind a column)

"Junior's not wasting any time..." said Sommelier as she saw her opponent speed into action. "... So why are you?" she asked, turning the focus of her speech to her Operator.

"Coming out of the corner swinging seems so uncivilized to me." responded Louis haughtily. "Just let him do what he will for now and get a gauge of his power, alright?"

"You have no sense of adventure, Louis." sighed Sommelier, making a dive for the nearest pillar as a cover. Stalling, after all, didn't usually work well without a good defense. "Can't you at least give me something to attack with? A game of cat and mouse probably isn't what the audience is looking for."

"Fine, fine, since you must insist so fervently..." groaned Louis in surrender as he grabbed a lone chip out of the pre-arranged folder he was provided. He eyed the AquaNeedle for a moment, almost as if he was waiting for some sort of response from the tiny piece of plastic before shrugging his shoulders and slotting the chip into his PET.

Once processed, the cork on Sommelier's wine bottle took on a sharper edge, continuously angling until it formed a pin-point needle. Taking just a moment to examine her weapon, Sommelier gave the bottle a few turns to get some different angles before saying, "Not bad, not bad... Good choice for such a reluctant pick, Louis." Realizing that she couldn't take all day to just examine it, Sommelier pointed the spiked bottle upward, shooting off a trio of needles which arced over the pillar and towards Junior.

With the AquaNeedle off and on its way, something clicked in Sommelier's head and she just had to ask, "... You're totally winging this, aren't you? Normally you'd have sent me at least 3 other chips by now."

"Having to use this folder I'm not used to is throwing off my rhythm, unfortunately. Just bear with it for now." explained Louis. "Here, I'll give you a Guard to help with defending." he said as he activated the promised chip.

"Please try to figure out a strategy by then..." sighed Sommelier as she raised the yellow shield that appeared in her hand. It was a little bit heavier than she expected, but with a little extra leverage she lifted it and prepared to take on whatever would come, knowing very well that Junior would come after her at some point.

Once the Guard was expended, Sommelier abandonded her cover, finding it useless since she was still being attacked regardless. Running a seemingly random path, Sommelier kept her eyes out for incoming strikes. She saw Junior toss a seed on the ground, but before her curiousity could get her mental gears spinning on that, it struck her that Junior had outright disappeared. Her head spun left, then right, back left again... Nope, he vanished. Definitely not good. Sommelier tightened her stance to try and boost her reaction time, all the while waiting for something. She didn't have to wait long, however, as Junior's AreaGrab landed him right by her, and she knew she didn't even have time to look at him. It was either dodge whatever was incoming or get hit. Sommelier made a rolling dive to the side, hoping dearly that she had reacted fast enough to escape the surprise attack...

Actions:

1) Take cover behind Hematite Pillar. (Movement)
2) AquaNeedle (20 + 15 damage, 3 hits, Aqua) @ Junior
3) Guard1 (1 Hit Shield, Reflect 60 damage)
4) Dodge
5) Dodge
6) Dodge

As Junior draws up a barrier, Sommelier takes advantage of the opportunity and finds some cover behind one of the Hematite pillars. Both competitors ready their weapons and send them off at nearly the same time. A trio of needles fall towards Junior, dropping his barrier and dealing some damage, but he managed to avoid one of the three. The boomerang was able to successfully hook around the column, striking Sommelier before she had the chance to pull up her guard shield.

Junior moves behind cover, dropping a seed behind one of the columns and quickly warping away. Sommelier ditches her cover, and manages to dive out of the way of Junior's RageClaw. They are now in the center of the arena, with no immediate cover and within 10 feet of each other.



Junior.exe: 165HP [RageClaw] [Location: upper arena floor, 20 feet from closest cover (E Hematite Barrier)]
Sommelier.exe: 240HP [Location: upper arena floor, nearly dead center of arena]

Terrain: no change

((PM me your turn summaries by Midnight, 25 March))

"'Gauge his power'?" Wes repeated, "Didn't you outright say you weren't going to go all out? And he wants to test to see what you're capable of? What kind of idiot is he?"

"Everyone has their own way of doing things. Besides, they did manage to get a hit off, dispite the fact that you disapprove of their plan." Junior commented.

"Yes... that they did. Perhaps you're not fast enough..." Wes rubbed his chin as he thought. They already had all the Speed upgrades they could carry. What else could they do? Oh well, now wasn't the time to be contempalating things like that. He just needed to focus on the battle at hand. After selecting a collection of chips and transmitting them, Wes bent his face down to the PET mic and spoke to Junior privately once again, "Okay, I'm sending another Boomerrang, as well as both Cornshots. Just fire at her to keep her distracted until the seed you planted attacks her, then back off just a bit, then hammer her again."

"This seems a bit sneaky. I'd prefer this course of action be a once and done sort of deal. I'll do it just this once, though." Junior returned his focus to Sommelier. This whole match was unpleasent to him. The only thing for it was to listen to Wes and hoped that he knew what he was doing enough that the battle would end quickly.

Junior activated the Boomerrang chip, taking the long weapon in his hands. He paused before throwing it, thinking about the type of angle he should use. She was right out in the open, so there really wasn't any need to consider chucking it around the obstacles. All he had to do was just straight up throw it. It seemed like kind of a waste but they still had two more to use, so if need be, he could try for a trickier shot later. Without any obvious complications in his way, Junior twisted about a bit and let the Boomerrang fly, swirling through the air and with a bit of extra power added to it as well. As it spun about, Junior prepped his next attack. Forming an ear of corn in his hand, he faced Sommelier and watched his Boomerrang go. He held up one hand as he waited, generating a bit of heat inside the tip of his index finger as the Boomerrang began to come back his way. He held the corn even with the weapon so that its approach blocked the corn from view. When it reached him, it disappeared from sight, "Now," Bringing down the warm hand, he tapped the corn, causing a kernal to pop off and shoot towards his opponent. Since the part of the blast would break off, he knew that he didn't necessarily need to score a direct hit to still cause damage. Of course, Junior did have to wonder... he was just complaining to Wes about using sneaky tactics so should he have really used his previous attack to mask the onslaught of the current? Of course, he had done it only to be clever and not out of malice. Maybe he shouldn't have judged his netop in such a negative light.

Junior was snapped out of his pondering by an odd pop sound behind him. Looking back, he saw a series of wooden spikes making their way towards the center field from behind one of the columns. This must've been the result of whatever the heck Wes had had him plant last turn. Jumping off to the side a bit, Junior brought up another ear of corn and pointed it at Sommelier. He waited until it looked like the Treebomb germination was close to her, then he fired off his attack as well. She'd have to be really fast to dodge both at once, which is what he assumed Wes was counting on.

As if he had been cued, Junior heard his netop mutter, "Heh heh... let's see you dance around this, girlie." Forget what he had thought earlier, it seemed his netop did pull these kinds of stunts out of malice. Oh well, as long as they worked.

Junior was now out of chips and he had been told to hold back, so he wasn't sure what to do. For the moment, he decided on just focusing on staying out of harm's way. He then asked, "So, what now? That's all you sent."

"I'm aware. I'm just thinking a bit." Wes stared at the screen for a few seconds before smirking. Then he whispered so that only his navi would hear, "All right, fine. He wanted to test you and you're holding back. I'd hate to be seen as rude, so let him see one, just one of your specials. Wink."

"Huh? Why that?" Junior asked.

"Because of the way its used. Think about it, from the outside looking in, people will just think that you're flirting with her. No one will be able to tell that you used a technique. We'll reveal one of your special moves without revealing it. It's perfect!" Wes explained.

"Play it off as flirty? Fine, not that I like the idea much." Junior put one hand on his glasses and stared at Sommelier. Chances are, she would survive his volley of attacks but his this technique worked she'd be easy prey next round. He'd be able to end the match, no problem this way. Thoughts of escaping this ordeal were the only reason he was going along with this course of action. Hopefully his next match wouldn't be against someone he had issues fighting against.

Thinking happy thoughts, Junior lowered his glasses a bit so that his eyes were visable and called out to the other navi, "Hey, Sommelier-san, my netop feels bad that we've been holding back all this time. He's given me permission to use just a bit of my power. If you get hurt don't hold it against me," with this, Junior tilted his head to the side a bit and winked, "Kay?" That should do it.

1.) Boomerrang1, 60 Wood+25(untapped power used)
2.) Cornshot1, 50 Wood+ Trick-Shot Spread 1
3.) Dodge (as Treebomb laid previous turn goes off)
4.) Cornshot1, 50Wood+ Trick-Shot Spread 1
5.) Dodge
6.) Sexy Wink, Stunx4

"Whew... That was really close..." panted Sommelier as she pushed herself up off the ground after dodging Junior's surprise strike. Her ponytail had winded its way around her neck in the scuffle, so a quick flick of her head set the hair back in its proper place. A brief pause came over the battlefield as everyone reformed strategies, prompting Sommelier to say, "I gotta say he's good, Louis. Is that enough of a 'gauge' for you?"

"I suppose. That move at the end was fairly skilled, I admit." responded Louis reluctantly as he loosened his tie a bit.

"Does that mean I can start doing things my way? Your cautious baby steps aren't
going to be taking me anywhere but my own grave." asked Sommelier sharply.

"If it means you'll stop heckling me, then fine..." grunted Louis, getting embarassed by his Navi's lecture.

"Great! I'll be looking forward to your support, Mr. Mercier." grinned Sommelier widely, immediately reassuming a battle stance. "No more dancing around, Junior! Let's give these people a show to enjoy!" she shouted as she lunged forward, breaking into a dash directed straight at Junior. With not much distance in between the two to begin with, Sommelier soon reached her target, making a leap through the air as she tried to grab Junior with her hand. She quickly anchored her feet to the ground before continuing her heckling of her opponent, trying to grab on to him when she could and wrestle him out of attacking position.

"I dunno about you, but I get thirsty when I fight really easily." blurted Sommelier out of left field in a very casual fashion. "I always have this bottle with me to address that," she stated, lifting her wine bottle up to show Junior, "But it would be rude of me to not share, wouldn't it?" With that, she lifted the bottle up to her face by its neck, letting a flow of deep red wine cascade out of it and over her lips. After a quick swig, she pulled the bottle down and swished its contents around a bit. "Ah, that's good... Always one of my favorites." Sommelier sighed contently, all the while trying to fight with Junior. "You don't seem like a wine person, though... How about some coffee? It's free of charge!" she shouted at the end, thrusting the bottle forward at her opponent, sending a spray of coffee straight at Junior. The normally dark brown color of the drink was tainted with so much cream and sugar that it had almost turned white. Sommelier would never serve such a wired mix to her customers, but it seemed to work well enough in messing up her opponents. Sometimes it was even enough to knock them out, but Sommelier expected better of Junior. At least it should slow him down a bit, she thought.

Louis, having watched the events unfold in silence, was beginning to notice the wear and tear Sommelier was incurring in her fighting. Without a word to his Navi, Louis grabbed a healing chip out of his folder and placed it into his PET, sending a surge of fresh energy to Sommelier. The female Navi flinched in surprise as she felt the chip enter her body, but quickly figured out what it was and gave her thanks to Louis. "You just said to support you, and that's what I'm doing." stated Louis matter-of-factly.

"That you are, that you are." smiled Sommelier as Louis slotted in one more chip, this time one geared for attack. "Oh, nice choice." she noted as her bottle began shaking violently as it tried to contain a violent current of water forming inside it. After pointing the neck of the bottle towards the ground, Sommelier swung her weapon in a wide arc, sending all the water inside over the ground. Instead of just being absorded into the floor, though, the water jumped up fiercly into a series of towers that marched their way loudly towards Junior.

Sommelier thought for a second on her next move, having run out of chips for the time being. Oh well, now was as good a time as any to use her attacking technique. This was a tough battle, so she figured she might not have another chance. Sommelier pulled a single slip of paper out of her apron pocket, and turned it around to show Junior. "You know, I usually only use these on punks who don't pay their bills. I guess you should be proud you're pushing me so far as to use it on an honest guy like you." informed Sommelier, sounding almost apologetic as she threw the piece of paper into the air, which immediately shot towards Junior with a fiery conviction and taste for blood. As it weaved and looped its way through the air, it became pretty apparent that this bill wasn't easy to run out on.

Knowing that she had probably outstayed her welcome on the offensive, Sommelier began to fall back into an evasive set, but Junior began acting odd and she couldn't help but be curious. After he had said his piece, Sommelier responded, "I feel a little bad that you've been holding back, too. I guess you didn't take what I told you before to heart... Oh well, I can't help it if I mow you down because of it." sighed Sommelier, shaking her head in disappointment. Junior then proceeded... to wink at her? She was already on the defensive, but she couldn't help but get a weird feeling. A guy winking... Could it be that Junior... was queer?

1) Grapple with Junior. (Movement)
2) Moch-Lattechino Express's Last Stop (Sleep, 3-turn Slow x2, 9TCD) @ Junior
3) Recov50 (Heal 50 HP) @ Self
4) AquaTower1 (100 damage, Aqua, Piercing, Ground Attack, Group Attack) @ Junior
5) "Your tab's being called" (100 Drain, Seeking, Homing, 7TCD) @ Junior
6) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Moch-Lattechino Express's Last Stop - 9 turns
"Your tab's being called" - 7 turns

Sommelier leaps into action and grapples with Junior and prevents him from throwing his boomerang. Sommelier used her experience as a bar owner with drunk/belligerent customers to expertly manhandle Junior. However, as she took a swig from her bottle, she looked down to Junior to see he had a surprise waiting for her, in the form of a hot corn kernel. The Cornshot effectively threw off her aim and the spray of hot coffee did nothing but stain the floor. It was then that the seed left behind in the last turn sprouted rapidly and sent out a wave of sharp roots. Junior rolled out of the way, but Sommelier concentrated too much on healing herself than getting out of the way.

Sommelier retaliated with an aqua tower attack as Junior attacked with another cornshot attack. The kernel struck the first tower of water and exploded, sending out two popped kernels that bounced off the back of the hematite barrier and struck Sommelier in the back. Junior managed to dodge out of the path of the pillars of water, but couldn't shake off the snake-like reciept that zipped from Sommelier's hand. It stuck to Junior's chest and drained him of power before it flew back to Sommelier and transferred that same power back to it's owner. Sommelier started to draw back, but caught a full view of Junior's wink. Her mind started to go off on tangents, trying to think why someone like Junior would wink, and why at her?

Junior.exe: 65HP [Location: upper arena floor, 5 feet from closest cover (E Hematite Barrier)]
Sommelier.exe: 230HP [Stun x4 ((-4 Actions))] [Location: upper arena floor, nearly dead center of arena]

Terrain: no change

((Get your summaries PMed to me no later than midnight at 4 April. NO EXCEPTIONS))

((There's no point in having a deadline if you're not going to reinforce it. Screw this, it aint worth my time.))

As the battle continued, Junior managed to stun his opponent. There would be no problem taking her down now. With that in mind, Wes peaked at the line up for the rest of the tourney. His next opponent hadn't been decided yet but it would either be... Red or Daisy. He glanced at his navi. He was having enough trouble as it was now... there was no way he could make it through the next round, not without a ton of mental and emotional strain, "Okay, Junior, we're dropping out. The line-up feels like fate's screwing with us too much. Oh but before you do... demonstrate the DFS on that pillar over there."

"Oh, so I don't need to fight anymore? That's good. Not sure I get your logic on the extra attack though." Junior began to charge the attack, filling it with the stress he had felt during the battle. He didn't like fighting girls, and by golly that column was going to feel it. After a few seconds, Junior finshed charging and he fired the blast, causing a large explosion and all but annilating the pillar.

"Okay, did you see that? Right now, you're too stunned to move. That beam, along with an extra attack or two would be all we need to finish you off. Do you understand?" Wes said, narrowing his eyes behind his shades, "When an opponent says they're holding back, you better fight with everything you have so that you can take them out before they get serious. Come on, Junior, we're leaving."

"Sorry... about that. He can be a bit arrogant at times." making a small bow, Junior plugged out of the arena.

Match End.

Junior.exe: Rewards: 1000z
Sommelier.exe: Rewards: Round 2 pass.