Hell on Skates

Beatnik reeled in her magnetic field. The plates resumed their slow orbit around her. She stooped to collect the zenny data, then turned around and saw another Navi.

"'Sup," she said eventually. "You here to let me hand you your ass back?"

A flash of green slammed into existence about midway between Arc and Beatnik. Shortly after, Holoß loosely shook his projectors, his way of making sure everything was still working after materialization.

He looked to his left. White cammo, nice boots, and... is that a Scouter? Simple but functional, probably military. He briefly flashed to mirror her form, waving with one of her hands, before shifting back to his usual form.

He looked to his right. Now, that was... interesting... He shifted into Beatnik's form as well, but the effect was lost by the fact that he simply couldn't make peoples eyes bleed though sheer force of saturation like the outrageous Navi could. Also, he still had Holoface, so he couldn't get that particular sneer the Navi seemed to produce with such ease. He also waved to his fellow Electric Navi before shifting back.

I should have stayed at a distance...Arc told herself, not exactly thrilled by what this eye bleeding navi just asked her. "...And why would I want to fight you... boy?" she asked... figuring that the navi was male from the lack of chest...

And then, a new navi somehow managed to appear right between the two, catching Arc off guard and causing her to take a step back. Who the hell is this? she asked herself mentally, looking right at Holo when it... mimicked her form and waved. It doesn't seem hostile but just what is... wait, no, it can't be. Arc thought, reaching a realization about this strange navi.

"You are... Holoß, aren't you? The quarter finalist?" She asked the new navi after it took the form of the... boy...

"I'm not a boy, asshole," Beatnik snapped. "I'm a fridge."

With that perplexing remark hanging in the air, Beatnik rounded on Holo and put on her nastiest face. "And you knock that off. Crappy copy. You didn't even get the colours right. I guess you two losers belong to the Ops that're botherin' Toni, huh?"

Holo nodded to Arc, giving a playful one-two punch to the air for additional confirmation.

After Beatnik's retort, though, he shrugged and switched back to normal. At the mention of 'Toni', he changed his form to resemble the operator's, playacting a dramatic reading from a book labeled "Crappy Poetry."

"A... Fridge?" Arc asked, utterly confused. Why in the world would this navi think it was a fridge? Did, did it get glitched somehow? "You don't look... anything, like a fridge..." Arc said, raising a single eyebrow at the navi.

"Maybe..." Arc responded to Beatnik's question, before she noticed Holo take a new form. Arc mentally substituted Holo's colors with black, and realized that he was copying that person in black, the one that didn't seem hospitable. "...Most likely... Although, I'm curious, but book of crappy poetry?" She asked, leaning down and to the side and taking a look at the book. "...You know what, nevermind, that probably isn't some I should know." Arc said, standing back up straight.

"...You know... Since our ops are supposedly together... Why don't us three bust together?" Arc asked, looking at the two. "By the way, I'm Второй_Arc.EXE, but just call me Arc for now." She informed the two, reaching a hand out to them.

Beatnik's mouth was a flat line until Holo shifted into Toni-form.

Then she started to smile.

Then she started to grin.

Then she started to laugh.

She doubled over, arms around her gut, laughing herself stupid.

"That's perfect," she snorted. "Wish I was recording that one to show her later. Mang, that's perfect."

Determined not to let Holo show her up, Beatnik fired up that stupid .GMO Toni had written for her months ago. Sure, it was retarded, but at least it was good for something now. Beatnik burst apart into a dazzling nebula of eye-searing light, and re-composed herself into refrigerator form.

"See? Fridge," said the face on the freezer door. "Ain't my fault, though. It's all Crappy Poetry's fault."

She switched back to her regular form. "Name's Beatnik," she said, folding her arms. "And ya mooks can only come with me if ya can keep up with me."

Holo, now back in is usual form, began an overly complicated "handshake" on Arc's outstretched hand, including several fist bumps and some other needlessly complex finger waggles, but gave up half way through when it didn't appear like she'd be able to follow what he was doing.

After Beatnik introduced herself (he had to resist the urge to go Holofridge at the sight of her GMO activation), he pulled out the Textbox that he carried for situations where trying to pantomime his thoughts would be a little too complicated. Guiding it in front of him with two fingers, he grabbed opposite corners and drew them together, shrinking the application to the size of a name tag. He then used it as such.

Quote ()

HOLOß.NET

He pointed to the little black box with his thumb, then changed into the scene of a Metool getting repeatedly bonked over the helmet with a mallet before turning into an anthropomorphic dune buggy, revving his engine and jerking forward as though barely to hold back from squealing off at recklessly high speeds.

The Textbox application, with a sad little sigh, vanished from sight until called upon again.

Arc tried to follow along with Holo's complicated handshake, even using her targeting system to try and predict what he was about to do next. Unfortunately, Holo stopped part way for whatever reason.

"...And fridge..." Arc said quietly, raising a single eyebrow in bewilderment. "...Why would you willingly use that GMO?" She asked, before Beatnik introduced herself, ignoring her hand.

Wait... Beatnik? As in... wait, he can't be that Beatnik... I don't think anyone from the mafia would be willing to turn themselves into a fridge... Arc thought, somewhat shocked by Beat's name. Shen then notice Holo do.... something silly, and figured he meant he was ready to go.

"Oh, you two are basically ready to head out? Just go on ahead, I should beable to keep up." She said, motioning for them to go on. "There's something I want to check with my netop in private, so I'll have to tail behind you two." She added.

Arc followed the two deeper into the network, once they got going of course.

((Ready for battle 1 once the other two are))

Beatnik's face lit up as she watched Holo's transformations, as if she were a kid at her very first circus. "I like you," she grinned. "You gotta sense of humour. Not like Miss Crappy Poetry or Parka Lady over there." She thumbed towards Arc.

And why a fridge? "Cause I'm a fridge, and I gotta accept who I am. That, and Toni is a jerkass." Beatnik rolled her red eyes. "Long freakin' story."

Then Arc got the jump on her, and that was just completely unacceptable. "C'mon, Bee!" Beatnik called. She dug in one foot and pushed off hard, sending her sailing past Arc at high speed. She'd be the first to any viruses that might be waiting for them, but it wasn't like she couldn't use the other two as meatshields.

[Battle 1 go]

Bee? Eh, whatever...

Holo's rear wheels spun at high speeds while his front ones did not, causing him to fishtail in place. However, they were still false wheels, so the satisfying squeal of him peeling out nor the smell of burning rubber accompanied him as he unlocked his front wheels and zoomed out into the network, chasing after the Yellow Blur.

Deciding that a dune buggy with a face, no matter how much "vroom-a-zoom-zoom!" it had, wasn't the classiest way to ride, he transformed into a cheetah as he went over a bump and was thrown into the air. He landed, sleek and powerful, and pushed off with greater speed towards the groups first batch of unsuspecting prey.

((Battle 1 a-go-go))

((Day 1 Bump))

((2 bumps)

((Red and Blue Bumps))

[Apologies for the long wait.]

Moving through the Hades network, the trio of Navis happened upon a large stream of lava, with a nice-looking stone bridge over it. Atop the bridge, some Handy were hovering around, waiting for some prey to kill. It looked as if they were alone, but a closer inspection revealed that the stream of lava also had some inhabitants. A trio of Spikey were casually rolling around in the scalding magma, playing around with some Flamey as well. They saw the Navi trio come closer, and turned hostile!

-- ENEMIES --
Flamey A: 60 HP (Lava)
Flamey B: 60 HP (Lava)
Flamey C: 60 HP (Lava)
Handy A: 80 HP (Normal)
Handy B: 80 HP (Normal)
Handy C: 80 HP (Normal)
Spikey A: 90 HP (Lava)
Spikey B: 90 HP (Lava)
Spikey C: 90 HP (Lava)

-- ALLIES --
Holoß.NET: 140 HP (Normal)
Второй_Arc.EXE: 140 HP (Normal)
Beatnik.EXE: 100 HP (Normal)

-- TERRAIN --
50% Lava (Lava stream)
50% Normal (Everywhere else, bridge counting for 20%)

-- TEAM BATTLE 01, READY? START!! --

"Hey Vik you th-" Arc was about to ask her netop, before a yellow and green blur went right past her.

"Hey, Arc, keep an eye out fo- Oh hey, you already found Holo." Vik told her navi, at the same moment that Holo took off.

"Ye-yea." Arc responded on a private line to Vik, before chasing after the two navis. "Say, Vik, doesn't that other navi seem familiar to you?" Arc asked, her gazes focused on Beatnik's back.

"Um... No, the navi doesn't seem familiar to me. Why?"

"No real reason... Damn, they are fast." Arc responded, lagging behind the two a little. When she thought she could keep up, she wasn't expecting the two to be that speedy. She managed to catch up to the two at some bridge, covered in a few viruses. Just three? That seems easy enough. The navi thought, looking right at the three hands.

"Vik, send me two energy bombs." The navi ordered her netop, her gun materializing in her hand. She looked at the viruses on the bridge, before her gaze shifted towards the lava, where she saw six more viruses.

Three viruses per navi? That seems fair... I should make sure I don't miss. Guess it's time to test that then. Arc figured, placing her free hand on her headset, and pressing her fingers on it lightly. Once she did, the data in her visor changed. The data became more streamline, more realiable, much better than it was before.

There was now a slight burning sensation up along her spine.

It looks like the targeting system is operating under acceptable parameters. Arc thought, looking at at her visor real quick before turning her attention towards the Flameys. Even though there will be 'slight' overheating from pushing her targeting system for as long as she is about to, that was still under acceptable parameters. The two Energybombs that Vik Sent her had finally been processed, and one of them appeared in Arc's free hand. Quickly, she loaded the bomb into the grenade launcher mod of her weapon, and aimed it right at the flaming viruses.

"I got the flameys, so don't worry about them." Arc informed her two companions, pushing her targeting systems even further. The data it was now showing was much more accuracy, hell, she could probably shoot with no problem on the icy surfaces of her homeland with this kind of data.

Arc tilted her gun up slightly; making sure the trajectory would make the explosive land on one of the Flameys, or at least land where it would catch one of the viruses in the blast. Arc pulled the trigger, and fired her most powerful bomb. Once her payload of destruction landed, she loaded another bomb into the launcher of her gun, and stopped pushing her systems as hard as she just did. While her next shot won't be as accuracy as her last, it should be able to do the job of finishing off any survivors.

((Passive: Take Aim Action2
1Overdrive: Accuracy enhancement this turn and next, sacrifice nerf
2Energybomb Flamey B and gang: 3 hits of 40 + Blast2, A accuracy
3Energybomb Surviving Flameys: 3 hits of 40 + Blast2, B accuracy))

Beatnik realized with a start that Arc had gone before her.

"Hey!" she yelled indignantly. "Hey hey hey hey!" But it occurred to her that this was only serving to put her further behind, so she decided to see if she could blow up more shit than Arc had.

She snagged a few chips off the queue. Asking Toni for specific crap was out of the question, of course, because Toni was a lazy jackass who would rather write cruddy poetry than, you know, keep her Navi alive. She came up with a fistful of Zaprings.

"Move!" Beatnik yelled, clipping Arc as she blasted by. Those hands looked like decent enough punching bags. The first Handy got the first Zapring, which appeared as a circle of electricity in her hand. She discused it at the virus as she howled toward it. With the first shot away, she slammed down her foot, stopped practically on a dime, and flung the other Zapring toward the Handy's twin.

That left the third Handy. Beatnik had come here to show off and throw shit, and she'd run out of shit.

The chip waiting at the top of the queue would do just fine. Beatnik kicked off in a long loop around the third Handy as she waited for the chip to boot. The blue plates in her magnetic field jerked themselves down and locked into place around her arm. Within a second or two, they'd configured themselves into the shape of a giant blue metal fist. Beatnik wasn't too sure where the Handy's eyes were, because, uh, it was a hand, but when she hit a point in her orbit where she thought she was kind of out of its sightline, she dug in one foot and changed course to charge right at the virus.

She cranked her first back, sucked in a deep breath out of the air that was ripping past her, and slammed her knuckles down on the virus. Hand, meet fist.

Before the Gutpunch could go dissipating and unlocking the plates around her hand, Beatnik grabbed one more chip. The fisty-part of the blue arm collapsed, and a tiny core of plasma started charging inside. Beatnik skidded to a halt at the edge of the overlook, pointed her fist-cannon down at the Spikeys, and pulled the invisible trigger. The recoil pushed her all the way across the bridge and almost off the other side. A mushroom cloud rose from the Spikeys were. Or had been. Heh.

[1. Zapring2 @ HandyA {A acc} (80 + 5 same-element = 85 ELEC dmg)
2. Zapring2 @ HandyB {A acc} (80 + 5 same-element = 85 ELEC dmg)
3. Gutpunch @ HandyC {B acc} (70 + 15 Flamenco Overdrive = 85 NORMAL dmg)
4. Tankcannon1 [wide-bore] @ Spikeys A-C {C acc} (90 NORMAL dmg + Blast2)]

After seeing that the others had already begun unloading upon the viruses, Holo decided to get things started off right. Systematically, each one of his body parts blinked out of existence, their projections cut short by the fact that their projectors had separated into two separate floating piles of hardware. A moment later, two Holoß's stood about a foot apart wearing twin looks of confidence. As the chip data streamed in from the support Aelieth provided the Navi(s), (each) Holo momentarily gained a pulsing brightness as the battle chip code integrated with his (their?) own.

In mirrored movements both of the Holos setup on either side of the bridge. In an equally symmetrical fashion... they both became cartoonish fire hydrants, complete with smiling Holoface. They both smiled at the viruses, bouncing around in the way that only a fire hydrant a la Walt Disney circa 1930 could bounce around. A deep rumble and a surprised face later ( 8O ), and sweeping torrents of water literally blew the top off of HoloHydrant 1 and 2, sending sweeping torrents of water gushing over the battlefield. While the real Holo tried to focus the blast towards the Spikeys, HoloClone targeted at random, selecting two of the viruses on which to blast his deadly payload.

Once the waters finished flowing, both Holos reverted back to the normal shape and met up facing the bridge. With a nod from both, they each sprouted a rather bizarre looking gun. It looked almost like an elephant gun, however instead of one there were nine barrels pointed forward in a Seussical fashion. A cacophony of blasts resounded from both guns as each bombarded the battlefield. Several of the shots were just harmless images, but most would sooner take your arm off than look at you.

Their wide swaths of destruction complete, both of the Holos went on the defensive, juking left and right, ready to throw themselves out of harm's way should anything actually be left to retaliate.

==Summary==
--HLR: 20 HP barrier
1. Double Vision (1 Decoy, lasting 2 rounds + Delayed Damage(Decoy ceases to exist): 20 damage + Elec + Shot. 2 TCD.)
2. Wideshot (Targeting Spikey B, possible to Spikey A and Spikey C. 60 + Wide Attack + Aqua.)
--VHP:MI: Targeting Flamey A. 20 Elec Damage
--VHP:MII: Targeting Handy C. 20 Elec Damage
3. Spreader (Targeting Handy B, possible spread to all remaining viruses. 30 damage + spread 8)
4. Dodge

((1 Bump))

Explosives were thrown about quite ridiculously, engulfing the Flameys in a matter of seconds within a barrage of violent energy bursts and deleting them. Zaprings and a sound GutPunch also found their way towards the Handy, courtesy of Beatnik, whose assault sent them packing to the great viral rave in the sky. Holo, meanwhile, did some splitting up thingamajiggy and killed everything with a WideShot.

-- ENEMIES --
Flamey A: DELETED
Flamey B: DELETED
Flamey C: DELETED
Handy A: DELETED
Handy B: DELETED
Handy C: DELETED
Spikey A: DELETED
Spikey B: DELETED
Spikey C: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Holoß.NET: 140 HP (Normal)
Второй_Arc.EXE: 125 HP (Normal)
Beatnik.EXE: 100 HP (Normal)

-- TERRAIN --
50% Lava (Lava stream)
50% Normal (Everywhere else, bridge counting for 20%)

-- TEAM BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --
Holoß: [HeatShot] Battlechip, 400z, 4 FXP
Второй_Arc: [LineOut1] Battlechip, 400z, 4 FXP
Beatnik: [CountBomb1] Battlechip, 400z, 4 FXP