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Unseen by ScorchMan, a slight grin flickered across his patron's expression as the view screen came up; her eyebrows arched and she tilted her head a little, taking in the view.

“Hellloooo Sailor...” Her tongue played briefly over the tip of one of her small, pointed teeth before she caught herself. A short giggle escaped her before Prose cleared her throat softly, though she was still grinning.

“Ah... ahem... aaaanyway... I've been doing a quick reconstruction...” she made a gesture with one hand, moving fingertips to the centre of her chest before casting them out in a circle that threw slim blue tracers and wire-frames over the surrounding space; a red dot marked as the Myriad virus ScorchMan had fought moved thought the fight swiftly, before crawling away to burrow into the ground near her feet, as it had before. She looked up to him, thinking, then traced her fingertips through the air in front of her again, subtly changing the reconstruction. “I'm guessing if Mr. February there is your eyes, then you can't see normally like that? I can change this up if you use something else... If you can read the data space, I can do it in ray trace... or... Infra-red? Straight up therm-optic? What d'you need?” If ScorchMan had a preference, that worked, the bunny girl was quick to reconfigure her reconstruction to one he could read, but else-wise it was still easy enough for Griffin to make sense of and relay. She stood back, looking at the spot where the virus had vanished again then back to ScorchMan with hand on her hip and her head tilted.

“We can talk about how we're going to take care of this in a minute... First, I need you to fill me in. What actually happened, because, you know, these things don't come up to the normal nets on their own. So come on... What were you really doing?” She swayed back and forth with a playful smirk and a teasing cadence to her question. “Like I said, you're not in trouble, and I don't work for the GNA or any of the post net-war factions or anything like that. I'm not even really supposed to spend a lot of time around individual net navigators directly, but this needs cleaning up... and I've got holiday deliveries to get to soon enough, so the quicker we sort it out, the better.” She folded her arms, awaiting an answer, but despite the seriousness of the words, she still seemed upbeat and friendly – there wasn't any hint of recrimination or threat in her questioning, just curiosity, it seemed.

Around them the recovered network went on unperturbed and peaceful; a warm breeze whistling through the nearby fields, tall structures in the distance, glittering slightly in the sun, and a clear sky overhead; it was vaguely at odds with ScorchMan's way of seeing things – and thus the extreme readings the woman's small form was displaying – not actual heat, but simply density of code and volume of raw energy circling within. Prose bounced on her toes, letting her hands slip behind her back instead.

His awareness was a bloom of reds.

Compared to the soothing yellow cradle of the PET, the Net was always a bit cold when ScorchMan first touched down, typically a blur of deep shadows and little else to his heat sense. He didn't know when he started noticing that, but touching down to ElecTown Net and already feeling warm and comfortable was a feeling he wasn't the slightest bit used to. All around him was a swirling crimson gradient, the energy that had seared into the ground still diffusing into the Net. The pride he took in his growing power - that, too, was something new.

He wasn't alone. Nearby was a point bright enough that facing it felt almost like standing before the Myriad's jaws. Was this his patron? "Hello? Is someone there?" ScorchMan called out, relieved when the presence spoke up. Walking over, he realized the voice was coming from somewhere near his waist: a child? A small smile came unbidden, even when Prose's introduction faltered. "Old injuries, nothing to worry about. It's good to meet you, Prose, thanks for coming," he waved off her concern; it was easy to guess what she'd noticed.

"Speaking of being prepared, I should get my Operator on board." As ScorchMan gestured, a window popped open roughly eye-level to Prose. The room beyond was dark, with a deeply suggestive view of a man's bare torso amidst tangled sheets. Griffin Reim enjoyed his gym time, and it showed on every inch of visible skin, from his shoulders to the deep V of his hips where his boxers had ridden low. A gentle snoring came from just off-screen - utterly oblivious to the view, ScorchMan keyed the PET's alarm, calling, "Griffin, time to get up!"

"Whuzzah?" A symphony of abs flexed as Griffin levered himself upright, holding the PET up to his face. His cheeks dimpled around a sleepy grin as he noticed ScorchMan's company, "Awww, who's your friend? Hey lil' bun, how's it going?" He seemed utterly unconcerned with his state of undress, making no move to correct it as he set the PET on his nightstand, stretching and sighing explosively.

"My seeing-eye human," ScorchMan deadpanned to Prose. Turning to the window, he summed up the last few minutes for Griffin's benefit, "This is Prose, I met her on the mission BBS last night. She's gonna help me track down that spider-beast we fought, so I'll probably be yelling for Battlechips in a little bit." While Griffin hummed his understanding (and stretched a little more), ScorchMan turned back to not-quite-face Prose. "On that note, how did you want to go about this? The Myriad virus melted its way underground, so I was thinking I'd open the floor up and see if its escape route is still there. That's, uh, assuming you're fireproof; otherwise, I'm open to suggestions." It was hard to tell from the impression he got of Prose what element she might be, but the way she shone he wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be a Fire-element like him. His furnace flared a little in anticipation, flames flickering across his chest.

Winding down from his last punch, Courser let the momentum carry him on a low water current in a small circle, finishing with a flick of his fingers on both hands that saw the icy formations break apart and melt into fluid whips again, before retracting entirely into his hands. He folded his arms across his chest as he came back into view fully.

“Well, points for effort, boys...” He scanned the area for any further thread,s and nodded to himself once he was sure it was clear. Not far away, his main decoy had skated down to begin examining the large bomb that hadn't quite managed to explode. The clone circled it once, then whistled aloud. Courser felt a small smirk crest his lips.

“Fate seems to like us today, Jen. Make room for this one...” As the rest of the data filtered back, the his decoy stood straight again and rubbed his chin, looking somewhere off to the side and behind Courser himself, rather than making eye contact directly.

“Conversion to chip data for navis looks like it'll shorten the fuse a bit, boss, but it'll pack a lot more punch than the original too. Sounds like it'll fit us just grand, don't you think?” He finished transferring the remaining convertible data back to her Pet and checked the totals as he did. It'd be an while before they had enough to take the next step, unless they stuck it rich unexpectedly.

“Another bomb!?” Jenny's incredulous cry made both CourseMen smirk in unison. “Is this normal? It says... is that number right? Courser, that's more than double your own program integrity! And it doesn't exclude you, like the other one does! I can't let you use that!” The tones of mild panic were still laced with an edge of excitement that Courser recognised and he moved to give the area one last once over before continuing, weaving between the broken sinkholes and moving further through the valley.

“Don't fret, Jen, it'll be fine. I know what I'm doing... I haven't gotten hurt yet, have I?”
“I... uh... Well, no, I guess, but...” He could hear her caution wavering.
“Not a scratch, right? Come on, just switch it in. Would a guy who looks this good in a long coat be wrong?” Alongside him, his decoy shook its head.
“He's got you there, Jen... I mean, those buttons, that back...”
“Alright, alright! I'm taking out one of the low accuracy ones. Just be careful with it, okay?” Courser only nodded in response and skated on, two pairs of eyes to the surrounding landscape as he searched for something else to test his latest unsafe acquisition on.

((Ready for Battle 12))

With a final CHOMP...Stephine watched as Jazz was swallowed up...devoured by the WORM...and she had to stifle a cry of anguish. Her PET flashing warning sounds at her as the navi that forced his way into her life disappeared...it couldn't quite figure out what kind of situation Jazz was in...it all seemed hopeless as the light from the WORM's mouth disappeared, the radiant blue light disappearing with little fanfare...she should have forced him out with an Escape...she should have stopped him from going in the first place. All the while her PET screamed at her for the lack of a navi or connection to one...before going blank...nothing on screen.

Meanwhile Jazz had fired off shots in the darkness, eyes glowing the deep crimson they had as he fired off shot after shot, almost shouting out at the worm to DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE as he threw the weapon down the throat he could see, it dissipating almost immediately with contact in the infinitesimal void, unraveling at the most base 0s and 1s everything in the net was made up of. He breathed, he bled onto the WORM's throat, a brief flash of hopelessness gripping at his digital heart as he realized he was swallowed up, just barely able to keep himself falling forwards into the void...the screams raging and rioting right into his own mind...only to be partially drowned out by his own inner turmoil and demons jabbing at him, laughing at him...telling him everything...was his fault...survivor's guilt? Or was it something more? Even he could barely focus as his eyes continued to move about as his head filled with everything...the screams...the rage...the demons...the hopelessness of it all...he could scarcely think. Is this what I deserve? For that day? For my failures...Jasmine? A single thought passed through his head...coherent...he could practically see the words floating in front of his blackened vision...all the while he mentally continued to switch between songs...a cacophony of musical styles...of out of context lyrics and beats...everything passing by in a flash in the back of his head as he tried...TRIED to keep himself sane...trying to find the will to move instead of laying down and dying...as the worm processed it's meal...slowly bringing him to it's throat to delete the rabbit wholesale...ears slumped over either side of his head and legs pinned down to the floor of the throat...

Back in the real world, Stephine was freaking out, trying to get her PET screen to turn back on, her PET in a flux as she continued to try and turn the screen back on...try and get ahold of Jazz as she tried to get things back to normal...before it finally came back on...garbled trash bytes flooding over the screen for a brief moment before finally showing the status of both WORM and Navi...Jazz was alive...but he wouldn't be for long...a screenshot of the PET at current happening almost automatically before she called out to him, jamming random chips into the PET...hoping they would reach him, one after another they fell through the bottom as the PET tried and failed to send the data to him for one reason or another...until one finally clicked...and data sent to him.

As he stood in the darkness, Jazz continued to sink into the darkness, mentally and physically...he was alone...he was going to die...he had no reason to believe he could escape...even the songs he tried to play faded to nothing as he readied himself to die. Jasmine...I'm coming... at least...he thought he was alone.

JAZZ! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?

Stephine's voice broke through the cacophony at last. His ears popping back up immediately. Stephine? STEPHINE CAN YOU HEAR ME!? He shouted, but she didn't reply, all the while she was shoving chips inside the PET with every second she could, a failure sound echoing through his head as she shouted.

Don't you dare die on me you damn rabbit! I ain't finished with you! Your fuck buddy is arranging your graduation from the top most nets! You want me to explain to her how you died!? The damn thing should only take one more shot to kill! Stephine shouted as she continued to shove chips in...finally one clicking in the PET and sending itself to Jazz.

Warmth enveloped him as the chip downloaded, a familiar shape began to fill his hands...a rifle. Notches on the stock and barrel of the weapon, a worn steel barrel, and a firm but familiar feeling trigger wrapped around his finger as a lightly scuffed scope fitted itself onto the middle of the barrel. Jazz, stone faced, simply raised the weapon up...turning his upper body as much as he possibly could to aim at the fleshy walls that surrounded him on every side. He didn't say a word, he took his aim at the fleshy internals of the WORM before it could finish what it set out to do. Despite everything screeching at him, human and navi. A flash of the muzzle as he pushed the trigger as many times as he possibly could. Gun barely kicking back into him as he continued to fire wildly into the interiors with the weapon, brief flashes showing the monster's internal structure before going all back to darkness...once...twice...thrice...quince...all four shots ringing out hollowly into the mouth, throat...wherever the shots sent out, he hoped it would be enough.

Overview
*Floatshoes active
*Break Passive: Mass Destruction (+1 coverage to Blast, Spread, Splash and Nova attacking chips)
*Break Active: Smash (Adds Break to one chip attack, once per turn)
*Add break to first attack
1-4: CircleGun1Damage: 100 + Seeking
Accuracy: A
Description: A highly accurate cannon attack that can see through invisibility. Can fire 4 times before being expended. Rare
Duration: 4 Uses
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C--->WORM (First shot has Breaking property)
-----Turn Splice------

The world seemed to darken before Jazz's eyes. The closer it got, the more of his vision was swallowed by an eclipse of gnashing teeth. He fled, but without the benefit of caves to hide in or a frozen slope,there was no outrunning the WORM. Closer, closer came the jaws - and then there was nothing but crunching, ripping darkness. Stephanie, a world away, had to watch her Navi vanish behind that unearthly mouth. Blue light lit its gums from within for a moment, and soon faded.

The BlueMoon's light illuminated the fleshy cavern Jazz found himself in, but the darkness of its throat was absolute. Rather than burn down its gullet, the beam was seemingly swallowed up outright, motes of afterburn disappearing into the gloom. Mercifully, the beast had stilled enough for Jazz to get his footing, but he could feel the throat rippling beneath his feet, contracting, pulling deeper into that uncertain dark.

In defiance, Jazz drew his gun and let his salvo fly. Some of the shots, perhaps about half, went the same way as his BlueMoon, disappearing into the dark without penetrating. His last four shots were luckier, punching into the fleshy walls. The WORM thrashed; from the void came a riot of bellowing; if Jazz could think through the cacophony and his own painful bites, he might have been able to hear it not as a beast's roar, but as a thousand human voices, raging and rioting.

Abruptly, Stephanie's PET came alive, screens flooding with garbled trash bytes. The WORM's designation finally resolved to show its write protection: whatever connection it had to the NET reeling tenuous and frail. Would one more good hit manage to slay the beast before it finished its meal?

-The Things that Lurk Beneath the Net-
B49NA4152Y.WORM: 1 HP [Mud] [Slow]

-P̵̸͠R̶͠E͞҉̷͝Y͢͏̵̴-
Jazz.EXE: 130 HP [Mud] [Hold] [In WORM's mouth]

-Terrain-
95% Mud [Nest Depths]
5% Missing [Back of WORM's throat]

-Special-
Nest Depths: There is no way out at present.

-EXTERMINATOR - PURGE THE INFECTION-
-TURN #4: CONTINUE?-

((Mission thread opened Here))

When ScorchMan returned to the scene of his latest battle, he found that the network had already more or less repaired itself; the deep furrow in the ground had sealed over and the surrounding terrain looked like unremarkable patch of a similar landscape. Normalised panels made up the majority, with the odd strip of metal or magnetised panels forming lines and divisions; far off he could see the now repaired fields that he had trekked through before, with newly repaired measuring instruments poking up amongst them, where previously there had been scarecrows for him to dispatch. The air remained hot and dry, however, almost uncharacteristically so, for Electown's outer nets.

The location was as deserted as he'd left it, except for a single entity, standing more or less on the spot where the dangerous spider virus had burrowed into the ground and fled. Though ScorchMan's own senses were more limited, if Griffin was watching on, the screen showed him a small figure; a petite, feminine build that stood three feet tall at most, including the laid back rabbit ears that added several inches on their own. Along with the ears, she was covered in a short coat of pure white fur.

Dress-wise, the woman was attired quite minimally; she was barefoot, with a denim skirt, divided into individual strips of an inch or two across for ease of movement, that ended at her mid thighs, and wore a slim chest band that was made in the same denim style and looked as though it didn't really have too much restraining or supporting work to do, other than covering decency. A pair of stylised red wings were printed on the back of it, either side of the back hitching, and small rabbit tail poked out between the pleats of her skirt. This, along with the ears, probably made it no surprise that there were clear signs of other lapin features defining her face as she turned around to face ScorchMan's arrival. She grinned and waved a hand.

“Heya! ScorchMan, right? I'd be surprised if you weren't, hehe.” The voice was small and high-pictched, but not enough to sound squeaky or shrill; rather, she sounded playful and upbeat. The bunny-girl painted a fairly innocuous image on Griffin's screen as she waved his navi over. To ScorchMan's way of reading creatures, as he got closer, the figure positively glowed with the weight of code and energy output concentrated inside her form. The small figure was an almost uncomfortable beacon on his senses. The reading for her showed up as 'Prosopopoeia.lapin', but her program integrity was masked.

“Nice to meet you! I'm Prosopopoeia, but you can call me Prose. Sorry for Shanghai-ing your thread, but this is kinda an anomaly and it'd be bad for any other under-prepared navigators to get mixed up in it. It's pretty lucky that you...” For a moment her voice trailed off; Griffin might notice her looking ScorchMan over and leaning in with a tilt of her head, peeking up at his visor, before wincing and drawing away again. “Are you okay? I hope none of that came from the Myriad. Lasting damage of some sort? Sorry...” she cleared her throat and looked down at her feet, embarrassed for a moment.

A beat began to pick up around him, an electric guitar and a piano singing out with heavy beats as he barely managed to avoid the teeth of the massive monster, turning around to try and gnash at him, rip him to shreds. All as the WORM's saliva flecks managed to get stuck onto his face and weighing down his green fur. Simply wiping it all away as he calculated his next move, the entire area was covered in slippery, sticky mud as he barely hovered above it all, turning to face the creature as it continued to roar out. This was one WORM problem he needed to excise quickly, stone faced as he continued to slide downwards, his pick still tightly in his hand as he went about this...and quickly decided on his course of action as his sword disappeared into nothingness, having released it from it's duty for the time being, not that he needed another way to turn with how things began to even out.

As the worm began to turn around for another attack at Jazz, he would quickly begin calculating it's trajectory down towards him, racing at him headlong with little regard for it's own safety...waiting for a moment to know how to evade it's next charge...and with a kick off the ground, he made his move, sending mud up into the air as the white rabbit crossed towards one of the farther sides of the field on the opposite way the WORM was likely headed towards him at. His feet continuing to find purchase just above the muddy terrain he had made, he immediately turned himself towards the WORM's gargantuan body, sliding to a stop as he did. Stephine. You been recording how much we've done to this thing? I'm hoping it doesn't take much more...I'm runnin outta room down here. Jazz finally spoke, out of breath and worrying for his safety.

The tapping of a screen out of his sight filled his ears, drowning out the song he had began playing just a moment ago, foot tapping along with the beat despite everything. Nothing's been showing up...but I THINK it's somewhere in the early 300 range? If the thing is continuing to burn from that FireBomb you dropped on it early on? You've been a lot more focused on survival than actually dealing damage though... Stephine finally answered, it was not a ton comparatively to what he's been capable of showing off in the past. BlueMoon and Machinegun, then. I think I have the perfect trajectory here. I need to nuke this thing down NOW. Jazz said immediately, he was gonna get wrapped up in it's coils before long if he waited anymore...and that he couldn't deal with.

CLICK
CLICK
DING!

Inhaling deeply as each click loaded into the PET, the confirmation the data was sent...time almost slowed down for Jazz as his mind processed the situation. I'm awake...and I'm alive...and I don't intend on going back to sleep any time soon...so...please...please...DIE FOR ME! Jazz spoke softly...eyes closed for a moment before opening up...hands outstretched as a beam of energy erupted from the rabbit's palms, an extremely light blue beam of light exploding forwards as he stood his ground. Deep black claws trying to find purchase in the wet mud below as his eyes glowed an ominous dark red all the same. His body quivering out as the beam slowly petered out, attempting to find purchase in the WORM's thick skin like nothing else before finally disappearing. Jazz seemingly fatigued from the action, but holding onto his consciousness for the time being, even as his eyes continued glow their deep red hue...and the top part of his body suit having ripped to shreds in the process, exposing the neumerous scars and gashes the rabbit had obtained as "trophies" over the years.

I have people I wanna see again...on the other side...but I don't intend on dying yet...I also have people I wanna see again...here... Jazz thought, even as the bitter cold began to hit him full force, his body shivering in the cold despite his fur. He ignored it wholesale. He had his eyes on the prize as he continued to unpack the chip data...a single barrel shotgun began to form into one of his hands, a barrel full of ammo lodged deeply in the gun like it didn't belong and gripping it tightly, even as blood rushed to his digits from how tightly he gripped it, he pulled it upwards the WORM body that was no doubt still flooding in front of his sight...and despite his rage, anxiety...hatred bubbling up to the surface, the rabbit had the faculties to try and evade another attack. Attempting to dodge backwards, moving as far back as he possibly could, claws in his big rabbit paws still on full display from the rabbit's feeling, trying to keep him rooted to the floor as more mud splashed upwards from his hops backwards.

Gun held up in the air at the massive creature that saw him as a snack...the rabbit pulled the trigger. The weapon sending a single bullet forwards as the weapon's recoil sent his arm straight up into the air, threatening to break every single bone and muscle in his arm...but it quickly reset back towards the WORM, a second blast ringing out and sending his arm upwards as a single bullet blasted forwards...and like clockwork, his arm reset in front of him like before...second after second he shot off seven more blasts from this disgusting frankenstein of a shotgun, bullets sent out haphazardly as anger continued to bubble up to the surface. Bullets hitting the massive target in front of him...splattering into the mud...or even so much as ricocheting off the ground to elsewhere in the field...and all above else...the rabbit under his breath muttering strange things...concerning things...

Die...
Die...
DIE!
DIE!
DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!

Overview
*Floatshoes active
*Break Passive: Mass Destruction (+1 coverage to Blast, Spread, Splash and Nova attacking chips)
*Equipped: Sword in the shape of a climbing pick. 4/6 uses remaining
1: MudStageEffect: Full Stage Mud Terrain Change
Accuracy: S
Description: Changes the entire battlefield to Mud Terrain.
Duration: Once
Element: Wood
Trader Rank: C full stage change to Mud, eject WORM to surface to gage its position
----Turn Split, 5 Actions remain----
*Unequip Sword
2: Judge WORM's Trajectory at Jazz
3: Movement away from the WORM's Mouth, opposite of it's attacking direction
4: Chip: BlueMoonDamage: 200 + Lunar Drain + Uninstall
Accuracy: A
Description: Fires a ray of lunar energy at an enemy, which also inhibits the NaviCust. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Lunar Drain: Removes the target's outermost defense layer, even if it wouldn't normally be removed by this attack. Nullifies any counterattacks from that defense. Still triggers other defenses' counterattacks, if applicable.
Trader Rank: A: 200 + Lunar Drain + Uninstall (Acc: A)--->WORM
5: Movement backwards from his position
6: MachineGun1Damage: (30 x 9 Shots) + Spray Fire
Accuracy: D
Description: Creates a machine gun that fires 9 shots at a single enemy. While inaccurate, its missed shots are capable of hitting others.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Spray Fire: If a shot from this attack misses its primary target, it has a chance to hit something near the enemy instead of completely missing. Good RP increases the chance of triggering this effect.
Trader Rank: D: (30 x 9 Shots) + Spray Fire (Acc: D)--->WORM

See you there.

-ScorchMan.EXE

Thread Moved -->> [#nullException]

Let's just tuck this one away nice and safely before any well-meaning GNA folks pick it up. That's better.

What you've got there is definitely a Myriad virus, no mistake, but no fibbing now... were you messing around down in the rogues or chaos before your time? Those nasties don't come up as high as the top level nets. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone... but if you took an excursion down and it chased you back as prey, maybe lesson learned, huh?

Still, if it came up to the location you've got listed there, that's going to need taken care of. You might have been able to see it off, and hey, well done on that, but a lot of folks in the regular nets wouldn't be that lucky or capable...

Tell you what... I've got a few more deliveries to make and a few loose ends to tie up, but cleaning this up is on my list now, so, if you want in, and you want to help, meet me back at the last place you saw it about three and a half hours from the sending time of this message. I won't say no to a capable pair of hands, and there'll be something nice in it for you if you hold up well.

-Prose