Casual busting and Catching up

((From => Lyntael's Home))
---------

It was a clear, sunny day in Kotobuki, with a mild, pleasant warmth and a soft breeze that chased small, fluffy clouds across the sky. The rest of the surrounding arrival zone would likely have matched the atmosphere as well, if it had been the main active network layer. Unfortunately, this section of the Kotobuki net, in the deprecated rogue nets, was not bustling with happy navis enjoying the sites and scenery designed for their enjoyment, and the many attractions and relaxation opportunities that the network normally boasted seemed just that little bit abandoned, here.

It more resembled an old theme park, long forgotten; fun and exciting for an entirely new set of reasons, more enticing to explorers and treasure-hunters than youths. Beyond the immediate arrival zone, surrounded by old, disused information booths and help kiosks that once offered insightful directions towards the most enjoyable attractions and now merely flickered fitfully, it did seem as though the occasional building or store front was still operating some measure of business, somehow, though they were scattered and intermittent. In the distance to one side, a giant ferris wheel moved slowly, stuttering every now and then; several of the carriages seemed to have worn out, broken or degraded beyond all safety, while many others looked more or less intact, their lights blinking and flickering on and off.

It was just one of many neglected sights that greeted Lyntael as her own unstable light beam dropped down into the arrival area and deposited the girl. She stumbled a step forward, wincing, and rubbed at her arms for a few moments, letting the sting of the transit fade, then stood and rolled her shoulders, stretching as she looked around and waited for her friends.
[>> Harke's Homepage - Homepages]

A swirl of blue liquid manifested onto a teleport pad in the middle of the Kotobuki network, gradually building up height, until the whirl split open, and out stepped Eternalis and Aurora. From Aurora's arms, Sparky jumped out and ran a circle around the two, before scouting out the surrounding area. However, the area wasn't quite what they expected.

Eternalis looked around, examining a nearby dilapidated-looking model of a children's playground. The whole place looked like an abandoned entertainment district of some sort. "Did we get directed to the Rogue layer again?" he asked.

"I swear I set the destination to the normal layer," said Harke. A small pause, before he continued. "Yeah, seems like it just defaults to this layer, possibly because of your strength level."

"Well, she shouldn't be too far off," said Aurora. As if on cue, Sparky barked and zoomed towards a nearby figure at speeds that would certainly knock them over. "Wait, Sparky!" she called out, yelling in the direction of the Navi, her lithe figure and light attire identifying her as their friend Lyntael.
The sound of barking made Lyntael turn suddenly and she felt herself break into a bright grin, eyes dancing. She crouched to one knee and held out her hands as the enthusiastic blur raced towards her.

“Sparky! Hey! Good boy – Ack! Hehe... Hi there... Hi, Yes, hi!” She caught the bundle of dog and broke into giggles as she tried to pet him without getting too badly licked. Despite her readiness, the impact bowled her back amidst laughter, but she just buried her face against his neck and scritched all the way down his body. In a moment of distraction, she countered, rolling over to her knees in a swift motion that turned the pup over as well, and gave her a better chance to rub and ruffle his belly for an extra few seconds. She glanced up the way he'd come, looking for Aurora and Eternalis. She could feel the excitement of seeing the pair again washing away the rest of the nagging annoyances that had dogged her more recently and she nuzzled Sparky one more time before jumping up.

“Come on, let's go say hi!” It was probably no use trying to get a head start on the pup, but she gave it a shot anyway, leaving him on his back amidst scratches as she bolted up and made a break towards the other two figures. Even so, she slowed as she got there, then jumped, crossing the last five or six feet to land in front of the pair and put a stop to her momentum.

“Aurora! Eternalis!” Without thinking too much about it she reached in for a hug quickly, holding the other woman for a moment before stepping back and turning to offer the same to Eternalis with a brief squeeze. “Hey, it's so great to see you, it feel like it's been forever!” She giggled as her eyes flickered briefly over the other things they'd brought and her eyes settled on the slightly crumpled game spinner. Despite herself, she felt a slight blush trying to creep into her cheeks, and her smile became a slightly lop-sided smirk instead as she shook her head.

“You know I spent the next two days wishing I'd just said yes that afternoon... Maybe next time, right?” She giggled again and waved one hand. “I kept meaning to write you both, but things kept coming up... It's been...” She settled and her mood calmed again as she glanced off to one side, then looked around at other distractions. “Well, it's definitely been a few weeks... I'll say that. Come on,” She focused back on her friends and then glanced around the run down forgotten theme park. “Let's go explore! This place looks so creepy, there's got to be something to practice on around here, right?” She stepped back, half turning to wave them along with her as she cast her eyes over the area, looking for the most exciting direction to venture in.
Excitable as he always was, Sparky's enthusiasm made for a good entrance as he greeted Lyntael with a flurry of licks, while his caretakers walked up with a more measured pace. "Lyntael! It's good to see you again," said Aurora, opening up her arms to receive her embrace. There was a brief tingling sensation, though it was more of a warm tickle than anything painful.

Eternalis was distracted by Sparky running circles around him from the race that Lyntael started with him. It seemed that despite his speed, the belly rub distraction led her to a win, as he sat for a few seconds waiting for further rubs before he saw that she had already sprinted off. The pup didn't seem to notice it much in any case, and was happy to just be running around out in the open networks again.

The blue Navi was a little less ready to receive the hug as he was offered one, owing to his attention to Sparky. He left her hanging for a bit before he realized and laughed. "Oh--sorry! Likewise," he chuckled, wrapping his cool arms around her.

The comment about their previous gathering together made Aurora blush and wave her hands about. "I, uh, I don't know what came over me, honestly. Yeah, maybe next time," she laughed nervously. Though her voice faltered, she was a little relieved that Lyntael didn't take it too oddly, as she had also spent the same two days ruminating over whether to e-mail back about it. In the end, she couldn't find the return address to write back, owing to the odd encryption method, and resolved to simply wait.

Eternalis seemed to take it a bit more in stride. "Sorry, it got beat up a little," he apologized with a bit of a chuckle. The mood sobered down a little as Lyntael led the way forward. Eternalis felt it a little odd that she was so enthusiastic about it while she had been resignedly marching forward before. It might have just been something in his head, he thought, as he walked forward behind her.

Aurora had the same thought process, though less from their mental link and owing more to just the same train of logic. "Oh, sure! Let's see what's around this place," she said. She ran forward to meet Lyntael at her side, with Sparky chasing them up to lead the vanguard excitedly.

"Hey, what do I do with this thing, then?" came a quip from behind them, with Eternalis turning the beat-up spinner device in his hand to examine it as they walked. It wasn't really beat up too much to compromise its function, but the large dent that it had in its middle certainly made it look a little wonky.

[Rogue Battle 1 - Ready!]
[Eternalis.EXE: 600/600, Aurora.EXE: 100/100, Sparky.SP: 80/80]
As she began to pick her way forward through the run down area, Lyntael glanced across to Aurora and grinned, then looked back to Eternalis, with the crumpled spinner still in one hand. They hadn't brought anything to carry, and she hadn't thought to either, but the place seemed safe enough for a battered piece of equipment. Nothing would really pay it any attention, she was sure. She waved one hand in a relaxed motion.

“Don't worry about it. I'll have to come back this way anyway, sooner or later, so just, um... put it on a bench or something, I'll grab it when we wrap up. It'll be fine there, probably.” Some part of her reflected that she was usually much more careful about her things than that, but it didn't really seem to important, all things considered. It would be fine until they came back. She looked forward again, skipping lightly between the divots in the path that had filled with murky run off over time. She'd come out with her trainers on – sensible white sport runners with yellow highlights and lemon ankle socks – but it still felt fun to dodge the puddles as she went.

In between light skips she found her attention drifting towards a large, multi-coloured structure, its colours faded and its neon lights faintly flickering. It looked like a big building, and some of the pictures made the suggestion, where they could be made out, of ghosts and vampires and other traditionally 'spooky' figures. A broad pair of double doors were closed and bolted by a large, degraded padlock. Lyntael drifted in that direction, still looking around as she went, until her steps took her to stand in front of the locked doors. There was an old ticket booth to one side, but the interior beyond the window had become a single solid mass of wood and paper-like material, with conflicting grain and occasional ticket-shaped patterns; whatever code it was made from was clearly broken beyond repair. Lyntael frowned as she tried to pull the door open, then began to examine the ruined lock.

“Hey, so, what else have you guys been up to? Any fun adventures?” She glanced back once then lifted and tugged, trying to make some part of the door-lock situation give out. The padlock rattled and the wood shuddered but held. “Rgh... come on... Maybe there's another-” She tried again, putting one foot high up on the wood and pulling at the padlock with both hands while her skirt hung in a tactful, if slightly gravity-disobeying, way. A moment later, a small burst of wind swirled down from above, slipping in between Lyntael and the door and adding its pressure to her pull. The wood creaked louder before the rotten sections of it around the metal lock crumbled on one side. The door that still held the lock dragged open a foot with a grinding sound while Lyntael jumped back the extra half step, catching her balance on one foot quickly as she steadied herself.

“Yes! Ghost house! Want to explore?” She peeked around the door, into the foot wide gap; it was black and dark beyond, then looked back towards her friends with an excited grin and dancing eyes. A part of her wondered whether it was really okay to be damaging things like this, but, really the whole place was abandoned and unused now, it couldn't possibly still belong to anyone, surely. She wondered how much of the old thing would still be working, given the flickering lights and broken code.

((Ready for Battle 1, Lyntael: 350Hp, Elec, Wind (Gust and Airstep), Bounty: None, Consent for allied effects confirmed))
(+4 FXP)

As the quartet began to explore the abandoned theme park, they would find themselves in a somewhat sweltering part of the network, lava and heated vents blowing hot air into the surrounding area as far as the eye could see, not that it mattered much. Grass, albeit wilted, still was prevalent in the area with very scant pieces of normal paneling. Before long, however, the group was forced to stop as an OldHeater seemed to menace them out in the open, whist soft grass and soil was spread beneath their feet, a pair of machines in the distance seemingly adding to the heat of the area they found themselves in; Lava spewing into the air every so often as grates of heated air continued to slowly force their way along the terrain, overwriting the surrounding non-hot terrain...if they didn't know any better, they would have sworn they were in Netfrica through a twist of fate.

But before the navis could even begin to think of leaving the immediate area, a quartet of viruses quickly made themselves apparent. A Spikey2 immediately running towards Sparky, a heated growl coming from the wolf-like virus as it sniffed the SP from a distance. A Blazer quickly blasting out from the outer edges of their newly made battlefield, spinning around like some hotshot dragster, belching flame across the field as it flanked Lyntael to some degree. A Hothead quickly dropping from the sky atop the lava spewing machine of indeterminate origin, staring MENACINGLY at the quartet. And finally, a Champu coming in as it sat atop the heated grates, near the heater belching out more of those annoying grates...though behind the heater itself, a glimmering cashe would be seen, if barely, when the navis took notice of the boxing virus. The OldHeater belching ever more flames out of it's rickety body, battle routines locked in and the quartet would be forced into a battle.

-- Viruses --
Spikey2Spikey2 (Spikey)

Spikey viruses are a little faster than the average virus, allowing them to cover more ground than normal with movements and dodges. They may attack while moving, but as normal, they cannot attack while dodging without expending a second action to do so. Spikey viruses are also able to use something called 'pack tactics' when 3 or more of them are present. Simply put, the Spikey viruses attack and dodge as a wolf pack. In addition, they are treated as having a reduced power Haste and Accuracy Enhancement effect which grants them a +5% bonus to evasion and accuracy while this effect is active. The effect is passive, and only expires when their numbers drop below 3.

Area: ACDC, Kotobuki Town, Yumland, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 190
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Fire + Spread 2
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description - Fires Heat-V
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Heat-V, Zenny
Special: Uses pack tactics when with at least 2 other Spikeys
: 190 HP (Flanking Sparky, to the right) (Grass)
OldHeaterOldHeater (Oldstove)

Oldstove viruses move and dodge at a very slow pace.

Area: ACDC, Kotobuki Town, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 130
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Fire + Line Attack(3) + Panel Crack
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Flamethrower to one enemy.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): FireBurner2, Zenny
Special: Slow Movement. Cracks Terrain.
: 130 HP (Dead ahead to the north) (Normal)
HotHead2HotHead2 (HotHead)

HotHeads alternate actions between attacking and guarding. These are the only actions HotHeads may perform, and the first action of every battle is always guarding. HotHeads will not break from this pattern unless forced to by status effects. HotHeads cannot be lifted or thrown, even with Rageclaw.

Area: Netopia, Hades Isle, Kotobuki Town

HP: 120
Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Fire + Break + Small Lava Terrain Change
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Fires Cannonball. Breaking. Creates Lava Terrain.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): LavaBall2, Zenny
Special: Immobile.
- Iron Body when not attacking.
: 120 HP (Sitting atop the Lava Maker) (Lava)
Blazer2Blazer2 (Blazer)

Blazers are a modified strain of Fishy virus made to fully exploit their previous possession of Burner battlechip data. While they retain, for the most part, the appearance of a Fishy virus, their fins are more heavily rounded and there are a set of specialized gills on either side of their underbelly that can spew flames. In addition, all Blazers are now a stark reddish color, with the intensity varying from a charcoal-ish gray-red at the first tier to a violent intensity with the Omegas.

Area: Kotobuki Town, Netopia, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: Movement + 45 Nova 2 Fire Damage
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Flies forward and then SPINS, unleashing a gout of flame from specialized vents on its' flanks.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Burner2, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes
: 140 HP (Flanking to the left of the group) (Grass)
ChumpuChumpu (Champy)

Champy viruses teleport when they attack.

Area: ACDC, SciLab, Electown, Kotobuki Town, Hades Isle

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Fire + Impact x 2 Punches
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Punches twice with fire.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): FireHit2, Zenny
: 150 HP (Dead ahead, towards the south) (Grass)

-- Navis --
You are mostly in the middle of the field, bunched up in a rough diamond-shape
Lyantel.EXE: 350 HP (Edged towards the South) (Grass)
Eternalis.EXE: 600 HP (Edged towards the North)
Aurora.SP: 100 HP (Flanking Eternalis' Left)
Sparky.SP: 80 HP (Flanking Eternalis' Right)

-- Terrain --
15% Furnace
  • Fire attacks: Splash to all adjacent panels for 20% Source Damage. Does not chain across multiple Furnace panels.
  • Heat Mirage: Non-Fire Elementals get -10% Accuracy, +10% Evasion against Non-Fire Elementals.
  • Aqua attacks: Vaporize into steam, increase accuracy penalty to -20% for Non-Fire Elemental and -10% for Fire Elemental for turn after hit.
  • Changes to Metal Terrain when hit with an Aqua attack of 100 damage or greater.
  • Echolocation nullifies the effects of the steam cloud and heat mirage for the user, and Seeking just ignores it.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Fire.
(Small patch centered around the Heater in the East)
10% Normal
  • No effects.
(Two very tiny patches to the north and east)
40% Grass
  • Wood Elementals get +5 HP/action.
  • Fire attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Soil.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Wood.
(The rest of the field)
35% Lava
  • Non-Fire Elementals lose 5 HP/action standing, 10 HP/action submerged. Doubled for Wood Elementals, nullified for Fire Elementals.
  • Aqua attacks: Panel explodes, +100% Source Aqua Damage, change terrain hit to Normal.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Fire.
(Towards the North of the field, mostly converged on the Lava Maker)

-- Objects --
BMD: 25 HP (Behind Heater) (Furnace)
Heater: 40 HP (Off to the left of the field, pointing towards the group) (Furnace) (Special: Converts 5% non-Lava, non-Furnace terrain to Furnace at the end of every other turn, starting turn 1, can convert underneath a combatant) (Heatbody) (Element: Fire)
Lava Maker: 40 HP (To the right of the field, pointing towards the South-West) (Lava) (Special: Converts 5% non-Lava, non-Furnace terrain to Lava at the end of every other turn, starting turn 2, can't convert underneath a combatant) (Heatbody) (Element: Fire)

-- Rogue Battle 1 Ready? Start!! --
[LynFXP: 338 > 342]

"Leave it somewhere here?" echoed Eternalis, looking around for a place to put down the beaten up device. A nearby bench was indeed available, but with curious viruses roaming around, they might find it repurposed as a plaything when they returned to it. "Hmm... This might work." Some discarded tarp that came from a nearby tent later, Eternalis had fashioned an inconspicuous hiding place for them to return to. With how bright the colors on the tarp were, it would likely be easy to spot on the return trip. "There! Should be good to go."

Moving ahead with Lyntael herself, Aurora and Sparky walked alongside, with Sparky being the more enthusiastic of the pair. While Lyntael avoided the little puddles in the road as she went, Sparky had a good time splashing in as many of them as he could find ahead of Lyntael, eliciting some giggles from Aurora. As they approached the haunted house attraction, Eternalis arrived from the back, looking up at all the different pictures displayed on the faded pictures surrounding the building. "Half expecting some of those to just be viruses popping out to attack," commented Harke.

"I'll keep an eye out for scary Spookies," laughed Eternalis.

Aurora thought for a moment about Lyntael's small talk. "It's actually been a relatively quiet time since we last met, I think. Unless my adventures in baking count?" she replied. Then, she clapped her hands together. "Oh! I forgot, I was just making some before we left; I should've brought some to share..." exclaimed Aurora. In the excitement of heading out on the trip, she had all but forgotten. After briefly deliberating whether she could pop back quickly to the PET to sneak them out, she decided it would probably have to wait. However, as she was lost in her daydream about her forgotten cookies, Aurora jumped a little when the padlock gave way to Lyntael's efforts, clanking loudly.

"Well, count me in," she said, laughing at her own small jumpscare. Sparky barked in affirmation, as he inspected the broken lock.

"Are we going in there?" asked Eternalis, craning his head to see beyond the small foot-wide crack in the double doors. "Hold on, let me just..." he said, grabbing hold of the edges of the doors and pushing them further apart. The doors grinded against the ground noisily as they were pried open, until the opening widened to better fit them walking through. As he did so, a low pitched hum rumbled from within the building, along with a burst of hot air.

"Aaah, someone left the heat on," commented Aurora, as Eternalis led the way through the entrance.

Moving further into the area, it seemed like the haunted house had intended to use a backdrop of a volcano with a fearsome face carved into it as lighting. With all the neglect, however, the lava flow from the artificial volcano setup had taken on a life of its own, making the place a sweltering heat trap. Despite being overtaken by the heat, there still seemed to be wild grass sprouting up in places, trying to claim the place for its own. They walked through the place for a little while. Some props for scares and spooks were lying about, including some statues and mannequins dressed up as vampires and ghosts. From the rampant heat, however, their faces had melted into a disfigured waxy mess, enhancing their spooky factor in an unintended fashion.

"Eww," Harke commented.
"These are definitely kind of creeping me out..." murmured Aurora, looking at a particularly grotesque melted vampire face. Suddenly, Sparky's barking made her jump, alerting them to the arrival of some mean-looking viruses, who didn't seem to be part of the show. "Oh! Viruses! Finally, I was starting to think we had actual ghosts in here."

"Time to clear things out, Lyntael. On me, Sparky!" said Eternalis. Lyntael would feel a faint connection between her and Eternalis form, linking his lifeforce to hers. Meanwhile, the pup replied with an affirmative bark, and swooped under Eternalis's feet in his hoverboard form. Aurora took a step backwards to let Eternalis take center stage, the air around her warping about before she vanished into thin air.

"WaterLine, Timpani, GolemHit, going your way," reported Harke, chip data transferring to Eternalis's systems. The blue Navi's hand started shimmering briefly, as he threw out a blob of his body at the nearby Spikey, which erupted into a pressurized geyser of hot water. Then, as if by instinct, he tilted himself slightly to the side, as a series of electrical bursts sailed past his shoulder, aimed at the Champy-type virus to attempt to intercept its teleporting punches. This mental link is definitely going to need some getting used to, he thought; a laugh came in from the other end of his mental space.

Under his feet, Sparky's thrusters were working well, making quick bursts of movement to avoid anything that came their way. Eternalis continued to use the supplied chips in his possession. A swirl of blue slime appeared behind them, reshaping itself into the form of the Timpani chip. The virus's trumpeted head reared back briefly before playing a smooth tune that reverberated throughout the haunted house. Meanwhile, Eternalis himself threw another chunk of his body into the air, which started rapidly growing, before landing down with a crash, hopefully near the vicinity of the fiery HotHead virus.

Two chunks carved out of his own body, Eternalis's body started repairing itself in short order to replenish itself, ready for any retaliation that came their way.

-- (Eternalis: One for All @ Lyntael, 1 action @ Aurora, 1 action @ Sparky)
[A1] Infiltration Module @ Self (Invis + Self-Slow)
[S1] Equip @ Eternalis
[E1] WaterLine2Damage: 130 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: A wall of water gushes from the ground, drowning up to 3 targets.
Duration: Once
Element: Aqua
Trader Rank: C
: 130 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack (Acc: B) @ Spikey2 + Lava Maker (+100% Aqua vs. Fire, +15 Elem. Affinity)

[A2] (All for One) ClusterShot2 @ Chumpu (+15 Elem. Affinity)
[S2] Dodge (High Gear: Evasion+10%)
[E2] TimpaniHP: 50
Properties: Heavy
Object Damage: 50 + Impact
Damage Method: Throw, Telekinesis
Status Effect: Hold + To-All-Clause(Enemies)
Accuracy: S
Description: Stops all enemies from moving with a powerful sonic wave.
Duration: 1 turn or until destroyed.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C
: 50HP Heavy Object, 1-Turn: Hold + To-All-Enemy (Acc: S) @ Behind Self

[A3] Dodge (Self-Slow: Evasion-10%)
[S3] Dodge (High Gear: Evasion+10%)
[E3] GolemHit2Damage: 190 + Break + Panel Crack + Wide Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: A fist of stone falls from the sky to smash an enemy, and create a shock wave that hits two nearby enemies. The area affected by the fist becomes Cracked terrain.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C
: 190 + Break + Panel Crack + Wide Attack (Acc: C) @ HotHead2 + Lava Maker

[E4] Influx Aegis @ Self (Stage 1: Support Base x2 (40), Stage 2: Delay (3 Actions): Support Base x2 (40), Stage 3: Delay (6 Actions): Support Base x2 (40))
The blast of hot air ruffled her clothes and made Lyntael take a step back blinking as she let Eternalis heave the creaky old door open further. That was not what she'd been expecting, but it was Kotobuki after all – it probably made sense that the net's innate fire alignment would more easily get amplified the more it fell to neglect, she supposed. She let Eternalis lead the expedition into the dark, following behind with careful steps and a soft grin towards Aurora.

“Cooking adventures always count. I've fallen behind on some of the things I've been meaning to learn... I've had a lot of other stuff on my mind, I guess.” For a moment, a small soft sigh escaped her lips, along with a very familiar downcast expression, but Lyntael banished it a moment later, focusing instead on the melted figures and making equally intrigued and grossed out noises over them, along with Aurora.

The distraction was supplanted a moment later by a more pressing one, and Lyntael's attention snapped up to where new viruses were showing up from the depths of the run down spook house. Her eyes darted around and she turned, putting her back to the centre of their group on instinct as she looked at what had accosted them. A small gust of air whipped up into a soft breeze that circled her and made her skirt and vest flutter slightly as she dropped into her usual light combat stance.

“Right!” Her voice called back in response to her allies, but as she assessed the encroaching viruses, it was strange. She felt cautious... alert and tense... but the feelings of fear that she remembered were strangely quiet. It was going to be a fight, and it was serious, but the terrified anxiousness that she always remembered feeling – that she'd been partially anticipating – didn't come, at least not strong enough to take hold. This was why she was here, after all... and what better place to vent the frustration she'd been feeling than on viruses that she needed to fight anyway? Her stance widened and her fists clenched.

Even as Eternalis and and Aurora made their first moves, Lyntael lowered her gaze and kicked off, two short, wind-assisted steps carrying the small form across to the side they weren't facing to meet the spinning Blazer as it approached them. She struck fast, one leg sweeping around on the upstride of her last step to strike at one side of the virus before she let her momentum curl her other leg and sweep low. As her profile disappeared from in front of the virus, Lyntael rolled onto one shoulder, sliding practically beneath it and letting the rest of her turning movement snap her opposite leg upwards aimed to hit striker first into the front of what passed for the virus' face. At the same time, her first leg bend, drawing in to her chest before extending again with a blast of force accompanied by the winds that circled her, this time driving towards the underside of the spinning creature.

The kick carried her up again, back-rolling into a crouch in front of the virus and gathering herself to launch up and past it one more time, this time leading with a rising up that spiralled her body through the attack to land on the far side of her target. The flurry of blows had taken barely a moment or two to execute, though Lyntael herself wasn't paying too much attention to the speed of her movements, focused instead on connecting each strike in turn. As she landed, the swell of energy rising from her chest reached her skin and Lyntael let out a short, wordless shout as she let it flow, sending a localised shockwave of electrical sparks bursting off her body in every direction. Her charged hummed, comforting and stable within her as she fought, sending light patterns across her skin and dancing with an erratic warning glow to anything trying to strike her. She knew she'd always been afraid of this, but... today the fear just wasn't really there, beyond a background caution.

“Hey... So...” Her voice, slightly breathy, called out across the battlefield towards Aurora and Eternalis. “You know how I said that Rogan sometimes...” As she spoke, she turned her attention towards the other viruses on the field, and broke into a short three-step run towards another neglected target – the oldheater ahead of where they had been exploring. Just before she reached it, she jumped, sweeping both arms in front of herself to let her body twist and spin, and bring her leading leg around in a vicious, blinding strike towards the top of the virus. The charge in her body raced inward from her strikers through to her chest, combining into the familiar pulse that then flowed outward through her leading foot in a brilliant flare of electrical energy.

“Rragh... How he sometimes, you know... does some pretty illegal stuff?” She landed and regained her stance, bouncing back a short step while, within her, the sensation of sudden drain and cycling build began a a pace that still mostly matched her heart beat. She cast another look towards her friends, then around the area to see if any of the attackers had been missed.

Summary
L*) Subtype: All attacks containing Knockback or Pull gain Wind-Type.
L*) First Armour: 20Hp Casing (as subtle outfit reinforcement)
L1) Basic Buster Strike: (30, Disarm, x4 Hits, A) @ Blazer
L2) A Manifest Spirit (Multi-Stage: (First: (15Elec, Nova2, A)), Then: (Time Delayed (15Elec, Nova2, Per Turn, for 3 additional turns)) (Overcharge -1 per pulse)
L3) My Pain is Real: (Multi-Stage: (On Set: Self-Slow2), Counter(On Hit): 45Elec, Knockback, Nova3) (Overcharge +1 on Set, +2 on Trigger)
L*) Fast Armour: 20Hp Casing Refresh
L4) And Beats Anew: (40Hp Elec Barrier, Buster Charge, Off-Target1, 2CD (Overcharge -1)
L5) Half-Charge Buster Strike (240Elec, Disarm, A) @ OldHeater
L6) Buster Charge

Cooldowns and Overcharge

A Manifest Spirit: 3TCD
My Pain is Real: 3TCD
And Beats Anew: 2TCD

Overcharge: Begin: 0, Manifest Spirit -1, My Pain is Real (Set) +1, And Beats Anew -1, Half Charge Strike +3, End: +3
Starting things off hot, Eternalis' watery spout would begin to send out spouts of superheated water, steam picking up across the field briefly as the Spikey managed to jump out of the way in time, the lava making machine was pulverized in the process, the hothead being sent skyward briefly before landing on the normal as Eternalis' SPs were quick to equip and disappear from sight one after the other. Meanwhile, Lyntael would swiftly hit at the Blazer, all four of her attacks connecting before the virus had known what hit it (120) as it had begun to spin about from the attacks due to the force of the blows. This, however, did not deter it from what would happen next, lead to it turning it's blazing engines back on, circling around tightly and slamming at Lyntael with a fire tackle, spinning about on a dime as it attempted to burn her away...but thanks to her protections, despite the grass' amplification and it's heated anger, it managed to do little but singe the very outer layers of her clothing. As this went on, the Hothead would open itself up quickly, hawking out a massive ball of lava out towards the goopy blue navi and his compatriots and despite his SP's best efforts, the navi was smacked right across his blue goopy body, lava flowing over his body like sloughing mud onto the field, quickly giving him a hotfoot (90) on top of the initial hit.

Quickly retaliating, however, Lyntael would let out a shock of energy, the nearby Blazer quickly getting hit and sent into a near-death spiral, nearly hitting the ground (15) as it nearly completely lost it's ability to stay afloat. Meanwhile, summoning behind himself, a powerful Timpani would begin to blast into the area, despite it's deepest reverb, the two allied navis were unaffected...but the viruses, on the other hand...well, they weren't moving a damn inch for a few moments as an octet of blasts were sent the Champu's way...and quickly ahnihilating it's existence, even as a few blasts missed it's form, enough managed to land (25x6) and vaporized it's existence. The remaining viruses reared back, cautious of what's been happening, even as decorations soughed off from the less intense heat, the OldHeater would quickly make an attempt on Eternalis' life, belching flames at the blue goo man...and going EXTREMELY wide as the winds picked up, destroying the nearby grass and some newly made normal panels into crackling husks of their former selves.

Whilst the Spikey and Blazer watched, the HotHead would close it's gaping mouth as a defensive measure...as Lyntael set herself a trap...and Eternalis attempted to crush the opposition. A massive blue blob utterly crushing the Hothead through it's armor (380!) and crumpling it away like a giant can. Rallying against the power of the Timpani had against them, the Spikey would make the token attempt to blast another chunk out of Eternalis' form, which it did, a brilliant blast of heat ripping into Eternalis' form as he tried to evade it, but sadly, the angry firedog managed to blast a small hole into his body (45), whilst Lyntael would quickly protect herself, and with the added power, attempted to blast the OldHeater off the network...and did just that, causing an explosive blast to wipe it away with little effort on her part.

The mostly dead Blazer, watched in horror as Eternalis began to repair his coding, slowly but surely the blue blob would reconstitute some of the damage taken this fight (+40), the Timpani slowly disappearing from the net as it's song was sung, the remaining viruses would grumble under their breaths, knowing full well the end was soon. All the while, the heater program began to create more Furnaces in the area, overwriting one of the cracked panels in it's wake.

-- Viruses --
Spikey2Spikey2 (Spikey)

Spikey viruses are a little faster than the average virus, allowing them to cover more ground than normal with movements and dodges. They may attack while moving, but as normal, they cannot attack while dodging without expending a second action to do so. Spikey viruses are also able to use something called 'pack tactics' when 3 or more of them are present. Simply put, the Spikey viruses attack and dodge as a wolf pack. In addition, they are treated as having a reduced power Haste and Accuracy Enhancement effect which grants them a +5% bonus to evasion and accuracy while this effect is active. The effect is passive, and only expires when their numbers drop below 3.

Area: ACDC, Kotobuki Town, Yumland, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 190
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Fire + Spread 2
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description - Fires Heat-V
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Heat-V, Zenny
Special: Uses pack tactics when with at least 2 other Spikeys
: 190 HP (Near Eternalis, roughly a couple arm's lengths away on the right) (Grass)
OldHeaterOldHeater (Oldstove)

Oldstove viruses move and dodge at a very slow pace.

Area: ACDC, Kotobuki Town, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 130
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Fire + Line Attack(3) + Panel Crack
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Flamethrower to one enemy.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): FireBurner2, Zenny
Special: Slow Movement. Cracks Terrain.
: DELETED
HotHead2HotHead2 (HotHead)

HotHeads alternate actions between attacking and guarding. These are the only actions HotHeads may perform, and the first action of every battle is always guarding. HotHeads will not break from this pattern unless forced to by status effects. HotHeads cannot be lifted or thrown, even with Rageclaw.

Area: Netopia, Hades Isle, Kotobuki Town

HP: 120
Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Fire + Break + Small Lava Terrain Change
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Fires Cannonball. Breaking. Creates Lava Terrain.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): LavaBall2, Zenny
Special: Immobile.
- Iron Body when not attacking.
: OVERKILL!
Blazer2Blazer2 (Blazer)

Blazers are a modified strain of Fishy virus made to fully exploit their previous possession of Burner battlechip data. While they retain, for the most part, the appearance of a Fishy virus, their fins are more heavily rounded and there are a set of specialized gills on either side of their underbelly that can spew flames. In addition, all Blazers are now a stark reddish color, with the intensity varying from a charcoal-ish gray-red at the first tier to a violent intensity with the Omegas.

Area: Kotobuki Town, Netopia, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: Movement + 45 Nova 2 Fire Damage
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Flies forward and then SPINS, unleashing a gout of flame from specialized vents on its' flanks.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Burner2, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes
: 5 HP (Flanking to the left of the group) (Grass)
ChumpuChumpu (Champy)

Champy viruses teleport when they attack.

Area: ACDC, SciLab, Electown, Kotobuki Town, Hades Isle

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Fire + Impact x 2 Punches
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Punches twice with fire.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): FireHit2, Zenny
: DELETED! (Ping!)

-- Navis --
You are mostly in the middle of the field, bunched up in a rough diamond-shape
Lyantel.EXE: 350 HP (ElecBarrier:40)(Casing20)(Slow)(Manifest Spirit: 3 turns)(Counter:My Pain is Real) (About where the OldHeater was at) (Normal)
Eternalis.EXE: 505 HP (Influx Agis: +40 3 actions from now, +40 6 actions from now)(Edged towards the North-East) (Grass)
Aurora.SP: 100 HP (Flanking Eternalis' Left) (Grass)
Sparky.SP: 80 HP (Equipped to Eternalis' legs/feet) (+10% Evasion to Eternalis) (Grass)

-- Terrain --
20% Furnace
  • Fire attacks: Splash to all adjacent panels for 20% Source Damage. Does not chain across multiple Furnace panels.
  • Heat Mirage: Non-Fire Elementals get -10% Accuracy, +10% Evasion against Non-Fire Elementals.
  • Aqua attacks: Vaporize into steam, increase accuracy penalty to -20% for Non-Fire Elemental and -10% for Fire Elemental for turn after hit.
  • Changes to Metal Terrain when hit with an Aqua attack of 100 damage or greater.
  • Echolocation nullifies the effects of the steam cloud and heat mirage for the user, and Seeking just ignores it.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Fire.
(Small patch centered around the Heater in the East)
20% Normal
  • No effects.
(Two very tiny patches to the north and east, and where the Lava maker was at)
15% Grass
  • Wood Elementals get +5 HP/action.
  • Fire attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Soil.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Wood.
(The rest of the field)
25% Lava
  • Non-Fire Elementals lose 5 HP/action standing, 10 HP/action submerged. Doubled for Wood Elementals, nullified for Fire Elementals.
  • Aqua attacks: Panel explodes, +100% Source Aqua Damage, change terrain hit to Normal.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Fire.
(Towards the North of the field, mostly converged on the Lava Maker, one small panel underneath Eternalis)
20% Cracked
  • Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
  • Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
  • Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
  • PanelShot: Splash1.
(Towards Eternalis' left, in a straight line and where Eternalis' GolemHit struck)

-- Objects --
BMD: 25 HP (Behind Heater) (Furnace)
Heater: 40 HP (Off to the left of the field, pointing towards the group) (Furnace) (Special: Converts 5% non-Lava, non-Furnace terrain to Furnace at the end of every other turn, starting turn 1, can convert underneath a combatant) (Heatbody) (Element: Fire)
Lava Maker: DELETED
Not quite expecting Lyntael to continue talking during the battle itself, Eternalis and Aurora were a little involved in the battle to respond immediately to her inquiry. Eternalis was the first to do so. "I remember you saying that; did something else happen recently?" he probed, right before a fireball blasted his face in. He made a little surprised noise, but it wasn't really enough to do much damage that his recovery systems weren't equipped to handle.

Strangely enough, he found his body recovering slightly slower than before, though it was still enough. Before he worried for it, Aurora's thought chimed in. Probably just rusty from not having battled for a few weeks, she posited. Logical reasoning. Scanning the field, their attacks had been pretty effective, though not without stragglers. "Lyntael, I'll leave the bird to you!" he called out.

"Sensor and some swords coming your way," said Harke, with more chips being fed through the system. Still lurking in the shadows, Aurora set up the Sensor as a small KillerEye turret materialized. Swiveling towards the remaining Spikey, its pupil shrunk briefly before a beam of light shot forward towards the canine virus.

On Eternalis's side, the StepSword and Katana chips integrated into his arm, tapering it into a thin blade. Soon after, he vanished from atop Sparky, and met the virus head-on with blade in mid-swing. A lightning-fast horizontal cut started off as Aurora's shot flashed by, followed by two rapid diagonal strikes in a cross pattern. A deadly two-pronged assault, from which there was little way to return.

-- (Eternalis: One for All @ Lyntael, 1 action @ Aurora, 1 action @ Sparky)
[A1] Infiltration Module @ Self (Invis + Self-Slow)
[S1] Dodge (High Gear: Evasion+10%)
[E1] Influx Aegis @ Self (Stage 1: Support Base x2 (40), Stage 2: Delay (3 Actions): Support Base x2 (40), Stage 3: Delay (6 Actions): Support Base x2 (40))

[A2] (All for One) Sensor2HP: 100
Properties: Anchored, ElecBody
Object Damage: 100 + Impact
Damage Method: Telekinesis
Attack Damage: 130 Elec + Beam Attack + Stun 1
Accuracy: S
Description: Summons a Killereye to search for enemies. Fires an eye-beam when it detects them. It can see through invisibility.
Duration: Until destroyed or until it attacks.
Element: Elec
Special: ElecBody: Immune to Elec damage. Special: Laser TAG: Attack triggers when something moves through the targeting laser beam, no matter who or what that may be.
Trader Rank: C
: 100HP Anchored ElecBody Object: (130 + Beam Attack + Stun + Self-Destruct): Laser TAG (Acc: S) @ Spikey2 (+15 Elem. Affinity)
[S2] Dodge (High Gear: Evasion+10%)
[E2] StepSwordDamage: 120 + Slashing + Wide Attack + Teleport
Accuracy: S for primary target, A for additional targets.
Description: The user warps in front of an enemy, then swings with a strong sword. Can hit up to 3 targets with good RP. Rare
Duration: Once.
Element: Null
Special: Teleport: When RP Quality is excellent, this attack also counts as a free dodge.
Trader Rank: C
: 120 + Slashing + Wide Attack + Teleport (Acc: S for primary target, A for additional targets.) @ Spikey2

[A3] Dodge (Self-Slow: Evasion-10%)
[S3] Dodge (High Gear: Evasion+10%)
[E3] Katana2Damage: (80 + Slashing + Wide Attack) Then (80 + Slashing + Long Attack)
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a long metal blade with exceptional cutting speed. Hits with a wide slash, then a long slash in the span of a single action, hitting 3 and 2 targets, respectively. Only one target can be hit with both slashes. Rare
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 2 uses.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: B
: (80 + Slashing + Wide Attack) Then (80 + Slashing + Long Attack) (Acc: B) @ Spikey2

[E4] Influx Aegis @ Self (Stage 1: Support Base x2 (40), Stage 2: Delay (3 Actions): Support Base x2 (40), Stage 3: Delay (6 Actions): Support Base x2 (40))
A short gasp escaped her lips as Lyntael bounced back on her toes from her last strike and the brief wash of flame from the blaze had become embers that smouldered at her skirt and vest. She brushed at them quickly, but for once her outfit seemed to have held up to the small amount of punishment without tearing or exposing her in awkward ways. She looked to one side and nodded back to Eternalis, then turned to check what he meant. A small frown brushed her features for a short moment as she found the spinning virus still functioning, if barely. She still wasn't quite cutting it the same as her friends, a side thought murmured as she tried to refocus. She could do better.

With a couple of short steps, a curling gust of wind brought her back too where she'd left the Blazer and she kicked at it quickly while her skin crackled. The first strike was a hooking kick aimed to send the virus flipping back up into the air in front of her where she struck one fist after the other in a rapid double then jumped and twisted into a final roundhouse leg sweep that ought to send the virus crashing into the nearby wall at chest height, if it retained enough integrity to embed itself. Around her, another cascade of sparks scattered into the air, her charge pulsing in rhythm as she glanced across to Eternalis while Aurora was still acting in stealth.

“Yeah... A lot of things, actually...” She called out an answer, as a beam of energy erupted from hiding towards the Spikey and she focused on it. Her charge pulsed, building in her chest and she let her instinct guide it. At the beam cleared, Lyntael took a half step towards the remaining virus then rolled her shoulder, feeling the current surge in from her strikers, gather and then flow out towards her left ankle as she put one hand down turned the motion into a half wheel that slammed her leading foot down onto the ground heel first. A small clap of sound and light accompanied the blast of energy that thundered across the ground towards the virus as well, chasing the beam. When it reached its target, the charge split and reflected on itself, branching back into two more furrows that crossed the room back in different directions, thankfully to either side of where Eternalis warped to – though if Blazer was still kicking, one of them was definitely angled towards it.

The feeling of drain followed, as it normally did, and Lyntael drew a long breath then kicked up to her toes again and re-took her stance. The momentary empty ache was quickly replaced by rebuilding charge, familiar and warm. It was building quicker, but not too much yet... it wasn't desperate for release, yet, and the feel of it running through her was only just starting to edge towards discomfort. Nothing to worry about yet. She looked around.

“I... I always kind of knew about Rogan... I knew, but... sometimes you don't really know, not until something goes really wrong, you know?” Her shoulders shifted as she breathed in and out again, pacing her breath. “Is that all of them...?”


Summary
L*) Subtype: All attacks containing Knockback or Pull gain Wind-Type.
L1) Basic Buster Strike: (30, Disarm, x4 Hits, A) @ Blazer
L*) A Manifest Spirit: (15Elec, Nova2, A) (Overcharge -1)
L2) Buster Charge
L*) Fast Armour: 20Hp Casing Refresh
L3) (Trying to sneak this in after Aurora's Sensor beam, but before the StepSword – Otherwise not attacking if it's not needed) My Fear Rejected: (45Elec, Knockback, Spread2, Break, Shot-Type, Charge Burner1, A) (Overcharge +3) @ Spikey, Heater, Blazer if it's still about
L4) Dodge etc. for all

Cooldowns and Overcharge

A Manifest Spirit: 2TCD
My Fear Rejected: 3TCD
My Pain is Real: 2TCD
And Beats Anew: 1TCD

Overcharge: Begin: +3, Manifest Spirit -1, (Fear Rejected +3), End: +2 / +5
Continuing along the flow of battle, Lyntael would quickly erase the Blazer's existence with a few well placed attacks, sending it flying away, data scattering to the winds before it could get electrocuted even further. Meanwhile, Eternalis was busy reforming his body (+40)(+40) as his SP summoned forth a KillerEye, the Spikey attempting to evade the forthcoming beam...being struck by it immediately and with it, cut apart the poor feral doggo before it could get another attempt on their lives. Continuing to heal (+40)(+40)(+40) as Lyntael destroyed the Heater with one final attack. As rewards began to appear for their work, the BMD spun about slowly, ready to be collected in the dank and broken down haunted house.

-- Viruses --
Spikey2Spikey2 (Spikey)

Spikey viruses are a little faster than the average virus, allowing them to cover more ground than normal with movements and dodges. They may attack while moving, but as normal, they cannot attack while dodging without expending a second action to do so. Spikey viruses are also able to use something called 'pack tactics' when 3 or more of them are present. Simply put, the Spikey viruses attack and dodge as a wolf pack. In addition, they are treated as having a reduced power Haste and Accuracy Enhancement effect which grants them a +5% bonus to evasion and accuracy while this effect is active. The effect is passive, and only expires when their numbers drop below 3.

Area: ACDC, Kotobuki Town, Yumland, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 190
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Fire + Spread 2
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description - Fires Heat-V
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Heat-V, Zenny
Special: Uses pack tactics when with at least 2 other Spikeys
: DEADER
OldHeaterOldHeater (Oldstove)

Oldstove viruses move and dodge at a very slow pace.

Area: ACDC, Kotobuki Town, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 130
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Fire + Line Attack(3) + Panel Crack
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Flamethrower to one enemy.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): FireBurner2, Zenny
Special: Slow Movement. Cracks Terrain.
: DELETED
HotHead2HotHead2 (HotHead)

HotHeads alternate actions between attacking and guarding. These are the only actions HotHeads may perform, and the first action of every battle is always guarding. HotHeads will not break from this pattern unless forced to by status effects. HotHeads cannot be lifted or thrown, even with Rageclaw.

Area: Netopia, Hades Isle, Kotobuki Town

HP: 120
Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Fire + Break + Small Lava Terrain Change
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Fires Cannonball. Breaking. Creates Lava Terrain.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): LavaBall2, Zenny
Special: Immobile.
- Iron Body when not attacking.
: OVERKILL!
Blazer2Blazer2 (Blazer)

Blazers are a modified strain of Fishy virus made to fully exploit their previous possession of Burner battlechip data. While they retain, for the most part, the appearance of a Fishy virus, their fins are more heavily rounded and there are a set of specialized gills on either side of their underbelly that can spew flames. In addition, all Blazers are now a stark reddish color, with the intensity varying from a charcoal-ish gray-red at the first tier to a violent intensity with the Omegas.

Area: Kotobuki Town, Netopia, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: Movement + 45 Nova 2 Fire Damage
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Flies forward and then SPINS, unleashing a gout of flame from specialized vents on its' flanks.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Burner2, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes
: DED
ChumpuChumpu (Champy)

Champy viruses teleport when they attack.

Area: ACDC, SciLab, Electown, Kotobuki Town, Hades Isle

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Fire + Impact x 2 Punches
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Punches twice with fire.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): FireHit2, Zenny
: DELETED! (Ping!)

-- Navis --
You are mostly in the middle of the field, bunched up in a rough diamond-shape
Lyantel.EXE: 350 HP (ElecBarrier:40)(Casing20)(Slow)(Manifest Spirit: 3 turns)(Counter:My Pain is Real) (About where the OldHeater was at) (Normal)
Eternalis.EXE: 600 HP (Influx Agis: +40 3 actions from now, +40 6 actions from now)(Edged towards the North-East) (Grass)
Aurora.SP: 100 HP (Flanking Eternalis' Left) (Grass)
Sparky.SP: 80 HP (Equipped to Eternalis' legs/feet) (+10% Evasion to Eternalis) (Grass)

-- Terrain --
20% Furnace
  • Fire attacks: Splash to all adjacent panels for 20% Source Damage. Does not chain across multiple Furnace panels.
  • Heat Mirage: Non-Fire Elementals get -10% Accuracy, +10% Evasion against Non-Fire Elementals.
  • Aqua attacks: Vaporize into steam, increase accuracy penalty to -20% for Non-Fire Elemental and -10% for Fire Elemental for turn after hit.
  • Changes to Metal Terrain when hit with an Aqua attack of 100 damage or greater.
  • Echolocation nullifies the effects of the steam cloud and heat mirage for the user, and Seeking just ignores it.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Fire.
(Small patch centered around the Heater in the East)
20% Normal
  • No effects.
(Two very tiny patches to the north and east, and where the Lava maker was at)
15% Grass
  • Wood Elementals get +5 HP/action.
  • Fire attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Soil.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Wood.
(The rest of the field)
25% Lava
  • Non-Fire Elementals lose 5 HP/action standing, 10 HP/action submerged. Doubled for Wood Elementals, nullified for Fire Elementals.
  • Aqua attacks: Panel explodes, +100% Source Aqua Damage, change terrain hit to Normal.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Fire.
(Towards the North of the field, mostly converged on the Lava Maker, one small panel underneath Eternalis)
20% Cracked
  • Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
  • Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
  • Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
  • PanelShot: Splash1.
(Towards Eternalis' left, in a straight line and where Eternalis' GolemHit struck)

-- Objects --
BMD: 25 HP (Behind Heater) (Furnace)
Heater: DELETED
Lava Maker: DELETED

Battle 1 Win!
Lyntael and Eternalis get: 2250z, 28 Bugfrags, 3 FXP base, 2 FXP for interactions between one another
Eternalis also get: Burner2Damage: 130 + Nova 2
Accuracy: B
Description: The area around the user spontaneously combusts, causing anything nearby to be scorched with fire.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: C


Open BMD?
[LynFXP: 342 > 347]
[Z: 55345 > 57595]
[BF: 842 > 870]

With the Spikey and Blazer being dispatched by the tag team from the three Navis, the battle wound down to a close. Sparky's body shone brightly as the hoverboard clicked back into his normal form, and the pup made a dash for the gleaming blue Mystery Data crystal and jumped onto it. As he jumped onto the data crystal, however, Sparky was caught mid-run and lifted into the air by an invisible force. It quickly revealed itself to be Aurora, uncloaking herself in short order and carrying Sparky in her arms towards the other two.

"Seems to be all of them," said Eternalis, looking around.

Aurora's expression was that of some concern. "Rogan... If something went wrong, then," she murmured to herself, thinking back to the time when she was able to sense Lyntael's electrical circuitry from their time in the Sharo network. They had hugged not a few minutes ago, but it didn't occur to her to do the same analysis then; it was a simple show of affection.

From what I could tell from the battle earlier though, it didn't seem like anything had changed, so maybe I'm overthinking things, she thought. You could ask to check her up again, her partner's thought chimed in.

Aurora nodded to "herself", and turned to Lyntael. "If anything's happened to you, I could give you another check like I did back in Sharo," she offered. "I didn't see anything off when you were battling just now, but just in case?"

Next to her, Eternalis patted Lyntael on the shoulder in a show of support. Some small noise made him perk up slightly, and he turned towards the source: the Mystery Data crystal. It seemed that Sparky jumping onto it earlier had started its decryption process unwittingly.

[Open BMD: Y]
Another ripples of cascading sparks flowed softly off Lyntael's form as she turned about one more time, checking the dark corners nearby for any further danger. After another moment she let herself relax, breathing deeply and letting the pulse of her charge settle back again gradually. She had to stifle a small giggle as Sparky was interrupted from his antics by a reappearing Aurora, but gave herself another few moments apart before rejoining the others.

Instead, she wandered around some of the nearby displays, deformed and melted as they were now. That hadn't been too bad; the fear hadn't come, for some reason. Maybe she really was just getting use to it after all? Her steps lingered briefly in front of a disfigured shape as she looked at it. It was a spooky ghost girl – grey tones, but about her own height, dressed in a ragged Electoptian school uniform. Fire from the viruses has burned parts of the figure, ruining its hands and feet as it reach out towards viewers. Lyntael's eyes lingered as she thought about the fight, tracing across the damaged model, and tracing the bloody wounds that had been drawn onto the ghostly shape. Something about it unnerved her, and after a moment she tore her eyes away and turned to face Aurora instead as the other woman spoke up.

Lyntael flinched at the words, and a thought in her mind wondered briefly why before it was replaced by the increasingly familiar threads of frustration Not them too, surely? She shook her head, pulling back a half step and waving one hand.

“What? No, I'm fine. I'm just the same as always. Why is everyone acting like I'm some kind of fragile doll all of a sudden?” The brief flash of irritation made it into her voice, though Lyntael herself didn't notice it as she rolled her shoulders. “I'm fine. I thought I did really well there!” She glanced up to Eternalis instead, seeking support. “I did, right? I even kept up with you, didn't I? Almost, I mean, and that's without any operator or safety net or anything.” She shook her head again and walked back over to the crystal, arms crossed as she waited for it to unpack, and trying to take her mid of the sudden return of her background annoyances.

“No... it was all on Rogan's side, really. Well, the first bit was.” She swayed slightly, the gruff cross of her arms sliding down to a softer, more withdrawn pose, one hand holding the other elbow as she looked around the spooky chamber.

“We were... Well, it all started when we had to go and infiltrate this... I mean, I shouldn't say, but... it was a mafia base, hidden up deep in the Sharo woodlands. I mean... We didn't have to, not exactly, but Rogan needed to, so he could learn the things he needed to, to keep himself safe, you know? But...” Her voice trailed off as she watched the blue crystal and looked for the words to describe what had happened at the facility.

[Open BMD: Y]
(+2 FXP)

The slowly turning cache would quickly pop open, revealing it's contents at being touched, showing to Eternalis a decent sized gun with four orbiting electrical spheres crackling around it. Meanwhile, a brief visage of a seahorse virus eternally ablaze would cross Lyntael's vision before a small flood of golden zenny flooded out of the BMD for her to accrue.

Eternalis get: Arsenal2Damage: (60 Elec damage) + (15 Elec damage x 4 hits)
Accuracy: A
Description: Fires a large laser beam encircled by four smaller beams.
Duration: Once
Element: Elec
Trader Rank: C

Lyntael get: 15000z
[LynFXP: 347 > 349]

"No, I mean..." Aurora said, stopping herself mid-sentence. She doubted herself; was she actually coddling Lyntael that much? Surely concern for a friend was a good thing? She recalled the bizarre internal electrical flow that she had felt prior that made her wonder how their friend was still even standing. Her grip on Sparky unconsciously tightened up slightly. The pup wriggled in protest, and Aurora realized it before relaxing her grip.

At that moment, Eternalis stepped in front of Aurora slightly. "You did just fine, Lyntael. She said as much herself, she saw nothing wrong earlier, and I didn't either. If things got better, then she'd want to see if anything changed for the better from last time, right?" he reasoned, trying to defuse the situation.

As the environment cooled a little, he felt a small tap behind him, and a silent feeling of gratitude transmitted from his partner. With a wry smile, he stepped back to where he was, giving Aurora's shoulder a little squeeze as he did so.

At the mention of a mafia base, Aurora perked up. "He had to infiltrate it physically? Ah, I suppose that's normal, not everything would be connected to the greater network..." she mused. At that moment, the Mystery Data crystal had decrypted, and she picked up the gun-shaped battlechip data; she could definitely use it. The gun vanished in her hands as it was transmitted back up to the PET.

Looking at the melted ghost girl figure that Lyntael had been inspecting, she looked off towards the rest of the fire-warped haunted house, and gestured with her head silently to Lyntael; perhaps they could keep walking as they were while she talked?

[Rogue Battle 2 - Ready!]
[Eternalis.EXE: 600/600, Aurora.EXE: 100/100, Sparky.SP: 80/80]
Giving a last glance to the damaged figure, Lyntael shrugged and rolled her shoulders. Something uncomfortable that her mind dismissed and turned away from before it could reach her conscious thoughts. She nodded to Etneralis' reassurance, then fell in step with them both as they began to explore further.

“Yeah,” Aurora's question drew a rueful grin from her as they ventured into the dark. “Normal... as much as normal is, for us, I guess. I was doing camera work for him, and using the internal security systems to be his spotter, you know? And to give him blind spots when he needed them. Rogan was doing most of the dangerous work, since he was still going to be passing by lots of people and blending in.”

The dark beyond the first room led to a smaller space with more spooky figures looming out of the walls. Some of them were physical props that protruded into the room, while others flickered with static or skipped through broken parts of programmed animations that no longer worked. Lyntael grinned as she ducked under some sort of green gremlin-like creature's grasping arms and poked it in the nose, making the figure sway back and forth.

“It went really well, but...” again, she found herself trailing off. Was it really important to talk about all of this? A part of her wanted to share it with someone, she knew that, but she caught herself wondering if they really needed to know all the upsetting details. She shook her head and sighed, before climbing through one of the metal barrier rails at the far end of the room, onto what seemed to be a set of rail tracks that curved away into the darkness in two directions. In the middle a black and red painted carriage had come off the tracks and was tipped at an odd angle, one of its runners twisted out of shape.

“Right at the end of it all, just as we were getting out... Rogan got caught. I didn't even get anything wrong, it was just... he said something, some... some turn of phrase or way of wording something, and it gave him away.” She shoved at the carriage, trying to right it, but the thing wouldn't budge. It hadn't been fair. It still wasn't. They'd made up, she knew, but now things were stranger than before, for some reason. She shoved again, putting her shoulder under it and heaving until her hair crackle,d but the carriage wouldn't budge. Without thinking about it, she gave it a thump with one fist and stepped away again.

“He killed two guards. The were mafia agents, I know, but they were still just guards, doing a job. I... I freaked out. I was screaming, and crying, and... and just asking why, and he was just... so calm. Calm, and serious, and hard, and in control. Like he hadn't just done it. I panicked. I was a mess. Rogan got us out, got us away safely... cleaned everything up, and made sure nothing traced back to us...” giving up on the ride car, Lyntael turned to look down the tracks, trying to decide which way to wander. Her arms slipped up to hug at herself as she peered into the gloom.

“It was all.. fine... in the end. But you know, I wondered. I wondered, if I wasn't just a stupid idiot girl who thought she knew someone better than anyone else, with her head full of daring, romantic fantasies... I wondered who the real Rogan was. We fought about it... there was shouting. Rogan was upset, but he locked it all away, like he always does.” She paused, frowning. “Did. He's not doing so well now, but that came later...” She began to move a few steps down the track, balancing on one rail as she took delicate steps, arms out to the side, then looked back.

“I think this way is forward, if that cart was going the right way. Want to see what's down there?”
Their trek through the abandoned haunted house continued mostly unimpeded, into a smaller room. While Lyntael played with one of the physical props that were spread throughout the little area, Aurora followed along, watching the gremlin statue she had jostled wobble back and forth. It looked about to fall over, and she nearly jumped for it, but it swayed back into a stable position shortly. Taking advantage of Aurora's distraction with the statue, Sparky took the chance to jump out of her arms, finding his way into a hidden side entrance camouflaged by a fake wall; it was most likely meant for maintenance. "Whoa, boy, don't wander off too far," said Eternalis, who was leading not far ahead.

Don't fall too far behind, Aurora's voice echoed towards him, as she walked past, along with Lyntael, who had found something else she wanted to fiddle with: a nearly upturned carriage that seemed to be the ride through the haunted house. She motioned to see if she could help with the cart, but at the same time, it looked like she was more taking out her feelings on it rather than doing anything productive with it. The reason came to light quite soon, as Lyntael continued with the more grisly details of her story.

Working as a spotter definitely was something she was familiar with. It had been her line of work to provide assistance for someone else, albeit it was her Navi partner instead of a human infiltrator. She had watched many a hapless program breathe their last. Until the incident with her previous partner, it was something she had gotten... acclimatized to. She realized that she had never yet seen a flesh-and-blood human die, much less killed. Programs could be restored, humans couldn't. Aurora wondered, would she take it the same way herself? She didn't quite know whether she wanted to find out.

Even after Lyntael was clutching at herself, trying to console her own state, Aurora could only nod to follow her suggestion of going over the tracks, her mind still occupied. As she realized her silence, she shook her head to clear it of her thoughts. "Oh, sure! Let's head out--hang on," said Aurora, before turning back towards Eternalis and Sparky, who they had left behind a little while back. "Come on, Sparky, let's go!" she called out.
With a glance back towards Aurora, and beyond her to their other companions, Lyntael skipped lightly to turn back around and begin walking one foot in front of the other down the curving length of metal track, her arms drifting out to each side as she went. She remembered the doubt she'd felt, and the borderline self-loathing she'd almost fallen into over Rogan's actions then. Looking back, she could only wonder at why she'd beaten herself up so harshly about it. It was okay in hindsight, she supposed – she knew, more certain than ever now, that she hadn't been wrong about him, not really, but at the time she'd doubted... and that feeling had been hard to bear.

The tracks curved away into darkness, the lights from the landing fading to nothing as the first bend cut them off, but Lyntael continued in the pitch dark with careful steps. Somewhere in the gloom, a sound track of spooky ghost shrieks began to play, but it crackled and cut out into a slowing distortion the grew more abstract with each loop. It almost sounded scarier that way.

“Anyway...” She spoke quietly, still looking ahead into blackness. The track had straightened and now it began to dip on a gradual descent. “I was really upset. I ran away.” She paused, partway down the sloping metal track and looked around to see if she could locate her friends still, then reached out one hand to try to take Aurora's in hers, waving it in slow, blind movements until she found her friend. “Not really, just... just like... like a little girl 'running away' to the playground, but then coming home when it got late anyway.” She felt herself smile softly in the dark, and closed her eyes.

“Rogan worried. He wouldn't admit it, but he did. I was angry at him, and he had said he didn't want disturbed, and so I thought, fine, you know? And I went. I wanted to do something silly and crazy, just to get a reaction out of him. I joined a net faction. I was gone... almost a whole day. When I got back, Rogan was searching for me; he'd stopped everything else, and put all his work on hold... and... and he sounded so relieved, when he saw me come home... he tried to hide it again, but I could hear it, and I knew I hadn't been wrong.” Just as she started walking again, one foot drifting out from the rail in a lazy forward arc, she stopped.

“Oh, drat. I should have brought it!” She had just realised that the wonderful gift that Drago had given to her was still at home in her room. The little carry bag would have been perfect for exploring a run down old place like this. “That was silly of me. I have this cute new messenger bag, that subordinate I was paired with gave me after our mission... not much use hanging on my bedroom door though, is it? Oh well...” She shook her head and squeezed Aurora's hand before continuing to explore. At the bottom of the slope, an array of bright neon lights lit up suddenly, if in incomplete, halfhearted form, showing the flickering and only half-formed impressions of monstrous shapes, while fans blew leathery streamers across the tracks. The effect would likely have been much better in an actual ride car, probably. Lyntael giggled at them.

“So, they're called the Neo-shogunate, or well, the Neo-shogun Empire, I suppose,” she giggled again. “But they say their whole mission is about making the net safer for everyone, so it seemed like a neat choice. Have you heard of them?” Even in the broken and burned out neon lightning, Lyntael could only just make out the shapes and faces of her friends as she looked towards them.
As the track led further into the darkness around the bend, Aurora's brow furrowed. Let's take it slow and keep two eyes out, she pinged to Eternalis, who had just beckoned Sparky over into his arms. The pup was somewhat apprehensive at first, but obliged soon enough, and he trailed behind the vanguard of two girls. The echoes of their steps along the dirty tracks played through their shared mental space for a while, with the footsteps being slow and staggered. In Eternalis's periphery, a small holographic display popped up, and he saw Aurora's field of vision through it. In the darkness, the display showed Lyntael's murky figure stumbling about, before Aurora's hand came out to catch her hand.

Through Lyntael's palm, Aurora felt the beating electrical pulse that came through her strikers while she listened to Lyntael's story. While the electrical pulse itself was erratic at times, it wasn't much different from what she had sensed previously in Sharo. She second guessed herself briefly, did she need to feel it up more? The spontaneous thought made her shake her head, but it was too late, and she could already sense Eternalis's amusement from their mental link.

"Oh, I imagine you snuck off a lot behind his back, including coming to our place, but it's a relief to hear that your operator still cares about you," said Aurora, squeezing Lyntael's hand in turn. "Joining a net faction sounds pretty fun too. Hadn't you joined the NetPolice's Technology division at some point?" said Aurora.

"I did, though I don't think I did much with that membership. I think they do have some stuff at the faction supply that's apparently hard to come by," laughed Eternalis. Despite them not walking too far in, the darkness was already overtaking them, and it was difficult to see much of anything save for the occasional spark off of Lyntael's body. "Honestly though, if you got a messenger bag from signing up? That was more than I got, I remember us having to fetch a drink for one of the officers and they just let us in without much fanfare. It was pretty funny, all things considered."

As he reminisced about his comedic sign-on to the NetPolice, the lights in the tunnel lit up suddenly, giving them a bit of a start. "Well! That's much easier to see in. Maybe we should've tried to get the cart running after all," he commented. As soon as Lyntael mentioned the name of the faction that she had joined, however, he stopped for a moment. "Neo-Shogunate... Isn't that the one we were up against with that big group we had together?"

Aurora's expression looked somewhat conflicted for a moment. Perhaps you shouldn't have mentioned it, she thought, to which Eternalis's reply thought came that he had simply blurted it out without thinking. Scratching her neck for a moment, she turned to Lyntael to explain. "Yeah, we've met them before; we joined a GNA contingent a long while ago that had us fight against an army that they had raised up to take over some Netopian network sector. I... don't suppose you saw anything about them doing something like that?"