Lower Element Containment Mysteries [Network Advancement Mission for Jazz]

Amongst the reforming mass of tendrils, Jazz's dark passenger didn't get moving quite fast enough; the wet, slimy tendril that had re-sprouted whipped out and coiled around his body, beginning to grip and bind the hare tightly even as it streaked him with more or the viscous purple slime. It felt like it was moving even once it dripped free of the limb, and for a moment, Jazz could feel muscles and tendons beginning to form in the matter, atop his fur and sinking down to his skin, even as more of it reached back to reconnect with the other creature's body mass.

Not putting up with any more of that, however, he was quick to blast his way free, racing back to the clear space near his needle turret and tearing the body of the recently regrown slime limb away with him; its snapped and flailed, twitching as it sprayed purple blood around the space, but thankfully fell limp at his feet as his movement came to an end. A glance back as he turned around showed the main head of the virus entity, exposed and out of its bone shell again; now the regrowing tendons had stretched up the spinal column and over the head, bringing flesh and muscle to its dark bone in a macabre regeneration; Stephine would see that its hit points were climbing even now, and it leered at Jazz through its regrowing flesh – the eye-sockets were still empty, but skin and tendon were growing in to fill all three even now.

A moment later, the entire creature was engulfed in a pyre of blue flame, searing it and filling the corridor entirely with the reed of rotten and charred skin; it was enough to make even strong stomachs nauseous and the creature itself shrieked and roared with wet sounds, loudly enough o send the whole hallway reverberating. Several of the damaged tiles on the floor crumbled and fell inwards as it bellowed.

Even as the fire cleared, however, one tendril pressed forward through the receding blue to send another vicious streak of purple flame roaring up the corridor towards Jazz. Slowed though he was by the sticky goo, he was still able to throw himself out of the way just in time and as he got a better look at the results of the fire, he could see that all but that one flaming limb had been incinerated again, for now. His needle turret followed up the command to fire with two more shots for each of the head itself and the remaining limb. The creature seemed slower, less stable now and the bullets pinned the burning limb back and destroyed it, while two more sunk into the head itself, arresting its rapid growth.

An electric hum ran the length of the corridor, and a deep rumble echoed through the facility as, in a sudden flicker of lighting, the long, opaque black glass on the inside curve of the circle began to light up and reveal itself, one segment at a time. With progressive, increasing shutter sounds, the glass turned opaque, giving Jazz, his passenger and Stephine their first glance at what lay beyond the glass on the inside. It seemed to be one single massive, spherical chamber, hundreds of feet across, almost as though the cells on the outside were just satellite rings to this larger internal space.

Inside, the space seemed to have a grass flooring, and soft rain was falling in slow sheets. Arrayed around the central point were a series of five large, long stone plinths, each one bearing a single immaculately detailed figure, as well as a raised plaque that might even be mistaken for a tombstone, especially given the setting. They were too far away to make out the details of, especially at a quick glance, but the space definitely had a graveyard feel to it, and it seemed older than the other cells he'd looked at. Even a glance at the space was enough to send a jolt of emotion and sensation through Jazz and his passenger both. It wasn't the same, not quite, not exactly, but it was similar – too similar. In the very centre of the space, a slender metal rod was rising from the floor, topped with a metallic ball that crackled with light.

The creature facing Jazz seemed unaware of this development nearby, and Jazz himself still had an attack to press. Whatever else was going on right now, he raced forward, pouncing on the central head of his foe. It leered at him and the bone shell snapped shut again as he landed close, but Jazz's claws punched into it, shattering the bone and cracking through until he could sink his talons into the skull and begin trying to crush it. Another terrible shriek rang out as his hands went in and the body of the skull felt like it shattered in his grip; on her screen, Stephine could see its Hp reading zero out, and then begin counting into the negative for some reason. It continued to writhe beneath Jazz and muscle and sinew began to slap across his fingers and grow up his claws, engulfing his hands as they were buried in the broken skull. With a wrench, he was able to pull them free and strike again, severing more of the fleshy matter and rending it down further, but once again he was forced to pull his hands free quickly and the regrowing matter attempted to cover over his every point of contact. Already, purple sludge was welling and bubbling around his feet and trailers of fresh sinew were lashing up and attempting to stick themselves to his legs.

The creature seemed subdued, and inactive now, in a manner of speaking – unconscious maybe – but definitely not dead. It was hard to tell how long Jazz would have before it regained the strength to begin attacking again. If he glanced around, he could see the cell it had broken free of – the glass was shattered outward and smoke still drifted from it. Other cells and terminals were closer – the nearest one was one he'd already checked that had an inmate, in the form of one of the stone statues. It had seemed stable enough. Further down, back the way he had come, the next had been empty, with an -x designate, and beyond that, an occupied cell with a live creature. In the massive central chamber, the metallic rod reached its full extension, with the ball on its tip now in the exact centre of the sphere. It began to shine ray-tracing lines in a mass scan around the edges of the circle, as though checking it. There was still no sign of Prose returning to help him out; either she was placing a lot of trust in him, or she really had just left him to fend for himself.

-=Escaping Inmate=-
Craven Head: -90Hp[But still alive?][Subdued, but regenerating]
Vine Limb: DESTROYED [Soil][Delete Count: 3]
Burning Limb: DESTROYED [Soil][Delete Count: 2 (1 Perfect)]
Sparking Limb: DESTROYED [Mud][Delete Count: 2]
Gooey Limb: DESTROYED [Soil][Delete Count: 3 (1 Perfect)]

-=Just Wanted His Rogue Access!=-
Jazz.Exe: 120Hp [Mud][Slow(1)][RageClaw2 (3/6)][Atop its body mass]

Needler: 20Hp [Cracked][Just behind Jazz]

-= Upper Floor Corridor=-
50% Mud

• Non-Wood Elementals get -10% Evasion penalty and reduced movement speed, 25% (+/-25% RP) chance to fall or get stuck (1 action to get free).
• Automatically triggers Aqua Boost for appropriate chip attacks.
• Wood attacks: Change terrain hit to Soil.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood + Slow1.

[Most of the corridor behind Jazz and around the edges]
35% Soil

• Wood Elementals get +10% Evasion.
• Wood attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Grass.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Mud.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: change terrain hit to Coal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood.

[Central patch under Craven]
15% 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.

[One line moving out from where the Burning limb attacked Jazz and the Needler]

-=Battle [?], Victory!=-
Spoils: 5250z, 59 BugFrags

Panting loudly as the final hits not only struck true...but completely crushed it's defenses with a resounding CRACK, bone shattering loudly as the gauntlet managed to pierce through and strangle the creature at the middle of the defensive shell. Pulling his arm back and the gauntlet, he dripped the viscous goop that was within as the gauntlets stayed upon his hands for the moment despite it's HP being in the negatives, he quickly moved his hands back and forth as he began to get the goop off, splattering the recent battlefield and the creature itself before snapping back straight up, his body slowly grappling the creature between the talon-like gauntlets as he began to try and crush it's body betwixt his fingers for a brief moment before simply sighing and bringing it between his hands and keeping it gripped tightly almost crushingly so, head and body swiveling to the consoles down the corridor. Holding it tight between his hands, even as the creature attempted to regenerate again and latch itself onto him, Jazz's body quickly walked down to the one that was empty and as soon as he passed in front of it, placed the creature down on the floor right in front of the door to the empty room.

Yer not gettin out again. Yer too dangerous to leave free...fuckin abominations...people need ta learn to stop playin god with viruses... Spoke the Jazz Stephine knew, his tones a far-cry from the other's darker and deeper voice. Ach. We dun know if it's manmade or not, could be a mutation...like, what do ya youngsters call em? The other sounded out, almost immediately after, the heavier tone of voice causing Stephine to reel back in her chair. Wait, what the fuck's going on!? Stephine immediately cried out as she turned to her PET, a systems analysis beginning to go over the duo(?) inhabiting Jazz's body. Metaviruses. And yea, sorry about that Stephine. He...kinda got his "claws" into me, he ain't about to leave us any time soon. He's the OG Jazz that tore up Sharo almost 40 years ago.Pleasure, lassie.Anyways...I'm gonna keep him on a tight leash if nothing else...I just need to avoid being controlled like that again...that feeling of mania... He spoke, a feeling of uneasiness washing over him as he looked outside into the area that had become opaque...a feeling of dread...feelings of anger...everything flooding through him at once for a brief moment before shaking it out of his system.

The two continued as he walked away briefly before going to the console he remembered the -x designate was at, the turret barely glopping along messily like a dog to it's master's heels as he made his way over to the console. So...how do I seal it back up? He asked, almost dumbfounded at the console, letting the gauntlets fade away so he could type. Oh, right...I PMed Prose about it...she sent back..."On the console, top left button, then the button second from the top on the left, then top left again, then confirm with the left button in the centre that pops up." is what she sent...I have the authorization code when it asks. She spoke simply and quickly. Jazz nodded as he began to do as the instructions said. Old Jazz, however, immediately began to speak as he was doing that. Now spill it. Who are yeh? He spoke, a harshness to his voice as Jazz's body continued with the procedure. Grandaughter to one of the operated navis that imprisoned you. Stephine Magi, granddaughter to Stefan Magi and operator of MeteorMan.EXE. She explained, almost proudly in a sense. Bah! I coulda taken that piece of rock on myself if he hadn't of had friends! Gah! The older Jazz practically spat, the current Jazz finishing not far beyond that. Alright, it's asking for authorization. Need the code.Okay...lets see...CBCE#04-CBN/SpReSh-PROSOPOPOEIA:DanceS1ngFlyL0veL1ve. She says that she's in the Facility, so it SHOULD accept it. She spoke simply, Jazz nodding as he was making sure the code was correct in every way, since he knew full well these passwords were exact to the literal number and punctuation of said codes. Despite this, feeling uneasy about being there and with the creature writhing in front of the door to the cell, she slotted in two of her MiniEnergyPacks to heal up Jazz, thinking it was safe enough to give him a quick heal.

(Attempting to throw Craven Head in -x cell, using two MiniEnergyPacks (+50 HP Each), 2 MiniEnergyPacks remaining

Even as he dragged it down the corridor, the entity continued vigorously attempting to regenerate and subsume any parts of Jazz that were in contact with it; it became a juggle of clearing himself of the feelers one hand at a time, and dragging it in between, while on Stephine's screen the reading crept upwards at a steady pace, from negative ninety to eighty, seventy, sixty... The passive background pressure of anger, rage in the back of the mind, was as present as ever, and the creature's refusal to give up even in unconsciousness may have felt back-handedly infuriating because of it, but for now the sensation wasn't getting worse.

He got it tot he empty cell, but up here, on the observation level, there weren't exactly any doors. That said, looking in, there didn't seem to be any doors down below either. Negative fifty, negative forty. Then console, as he tried to work it and have a conversation with his operator, while keeping hold of his alter ego as well, didn't help matters with its oddly familiar, yet completely unintelligible script. As he followed the directions however, the opaque shielded window opened and he was able to thrust the mass inside; it tumbled down to land with a wet splatter in the middle of the room. Negative twenty, negative ten. The head rose up from the mass, skull reformed and covered in ichor and weaving side to side on its extended neck.

When Jazz finished entering the password and confirming it, the window snapped shut again and the containment rings and sigils around the room flared to life. The creature started to expand and send out new limbs just as the cell's defences came to life and it flinched, struggled, then seemed to shrink. It was pressed in on itself, solidifying into a single shape that crushed down more and more, slowly stilling its struggles as it did. After a few more seconds, all that remained was a simple stone statue on a solid base plinth, in the centre of the room. The figure on the plinth looked like a long snake, with a cobra's flared hood surrounding that same three-eyed head. The statue had an actual face, with, apart from the three eyes, roughly human-like features. It was frozen, leering up at the observation window, but the barrier went from bright glows to a cool dull pulse, and the room seemed as stable as many of the others he'd checked on, and more so than some.

Indeed, the sounds of frustration and anger rattling through the facility hadn't really diminished since he'd been fighting. Behind him, in the large central chamber with the rain and the grave stones, the device in the centre finished its scan and pulsed with energy, projecting a mesh of blue wire-frame light over the space. Text that looked like a warning began to scroll along the lines of the array, though again it was in the same unknown script.

Regardless of that, however, the immediate danger seemed to have passed, leaving Stephine, Jazz and his passenger free to plan their next move. The corridor continued along, though it seemed mostly clear to the end room now, if he wanted to head on quickly and meet up with Prose, but there was always the option of skipping his beat and taking the moment to explore the rest of this facility, the broken cell that his most recent opponent had escaped from, or to simply chill and try to get his head in order.

Letting out a sigh as Jazz sank to the floor for a moment, he watched the creature turning into a statue, his body pulsing with pain as the subchips flooded his body to remove the inflicted wounds from Craven Head...and with it, he realized something...

Ego, where's Id at? If I escaped and you got your greasy paws on me...where the hell is she at? The question came from the hare's mouth, with an aggrevated sigh coming from the same oraphice as a moment passed. No idea my Super Ego...I feel her presence, SOMEWHERE on this "Chaos" network as you are want to call it...but... "Ego" stated with uncertenty, head swiveling as the body slowly moved, getting back up from the semi-prone position and walking up towards one of the still opaque windows. It was only recently I could catch up to you, today in fact, as you delved deep into the networks. Even in the Naxa satelites and asteroids, you were just within reach and I doubt I'll keep hold once you go back topside. The monster, Ego, continued with a wistful look outside whilst watching the rain coming down as Jazz himself continued to feel the throbbing, hateful spite bubbling behind the surface of it all.

He had resigned himself to their punishment, he had even grown more and more disintrested in escape before his mysterious escape happened...why now? Why the anger? The rage? The absolute hatred behind his eyes now? Why was it suddenly flaring up so suddenly? Jazz slowly pushed himself away from the opaque window with a loud sigh, closing his eyes and shaking his thoughts away for a moment. Stephine? Could you get a message out to Prose again? Tell her things seem to okay for the moment, but it's still going downhill and fast down here. I'm gonna take a look at Craven's ex-habitat and see if I can figure things out and why the bindings failed like they did. I shouldn't have any trouble for now even if there's another escape. Jazz spoke, simply and quickly even as he tried to ignore the wails and howls of the prisoners entrapped in their own units, his mind continuing to bubble behind his visage. Ahl keep an eye on him...With what? You kind of don't have a body right now.Ahl thinka sumfin.Of course you will... The two exchanged as he made his way over to Craven's entrapment, kicking away glass as he did and peering in as much as he could through the smoke, he didn't think about climbing in -just- yet, lest he get entrapped himself. But despite that, an errant hand began to trail up the side of his face, towards his forehead and with it...him reeling back in pain as a finger touched along the eye up atop there...he himself blinking away the pain as his turret finally disappeared for the time being. Gah! Fuck! OF FUCKING COURSE that's still there. I swear to the cybeasts if this is permenant... He screamed, closing it for the time being as his fingers trailed along the crack where the lids met. Of course this would fucking come back...of course... He mumbled before going back to Craven's containment, attempting to garner a full idea of how the bindings failed, even if he wasn't exactly VERSED in such magics.

Quote (Stephine to Prose)

Hey Prose, Stephine again. Jazz managed to subdue and trap Craven Head in an empty cell for the time being. He's...also got a passenger with him...his "Ego", the Old Jazz as I like to call him. There seems to be an "Id" for Jazz to look out for as well, another fragment of Jazz's psyche from almost 40 years ago if I remember my classes right.
Anyways, he's investigating the broken cell right now, even if he's keeping a safe-enough distance to avoid reactivating the bindings right now. Is there anything else you need help with? Between me and Jazz I think we could multitask a bit if the need arises. If nothing else, Jazz could come to you and help with whatever it is you're doing up there.

Examining the broken cell, as his elements of self went back and forth, What jazz was able to make out through the shattered glass and clearing smoke was a chamber not unlike many of the other unfurnished cells. In the centre, he could see what looked like broken and shattered stone remains, but beyond that the room bore few features. The binding rings that circled the chamber were scorched and blackened, looking almost like burned out fuses. In a couple of places, the signs of repeated impact still marked the walls, and as near as any of them could tell, it simply looked as though the creature had managed to exert enough raw power to break through them, somehow. The console itself was active, but covered over with a flashing warning screen that none of them could read; it wasn't a far guess to think it was related tot he containment breach, but there didn't seem to be nay prompts for anything else he could do immediately.

Together with what he'd been seeing in the other habitats, something pervasive was saturating the space, driving everything in it to rage and frustration, even to the point of self-destructive violence, and in some cases it seemed to be driving the in-mates to feats of power they might not have managed otherwise without risk to themselves. In Craven's case, it had clearly been enough to break its holding, at terrible cost to its own body. If the passive background sense of wrath and fury that was radiating up through the facility continued, there might be other break outs as well, or possibly in-mates destroying themselves in the process.

Opposite him, in the large central sphere chamber, The wireframe traced lighting glowed one more time, before a flare of light filled the space, blinding the hallway briefly and sending a static pulse through the complex that lifted the hairs on Jazz's everywhere. When the light faded, the internal space was different; gone were the graves, and the grass and the soft rain. Instead, the chamber was a stark white void, empty of all detail and feature to the extent that it made picking the floor from the walls hard.

In the centre was a creature, solitary and the size of a building. It had a low-set body and six heavy, vaguely insectile legs. At a glance, it looked almost like a giant atlas beetle; two fore-horns extended forward of its compact head, while a third, in the centre, curved backwards and up to form the wicked spike of a proper nose-horn. A fourth, much smaller horn protruded just back and behind the the larger one, which flattened out to resemble more a face-guard than a goring implement. The body of the giant beetle was covered in armoured plates, each laced with jagged spines. It thrashed back and forth in place, struggling and straining with shrieks of pure rage against a series of six code-woven chains, each circled in multiple places with further concentric warding rings. Each chain was anchored to a wall of the chamber, and was large enough that it would likely take a half dozen navis to lift a single link of it. Near the end of each chain, a gauge and console access seemed to be built in, one looked green, but the others were all varying stages of red, yellow and orange. The creature shriek, hissed and roared as their thrashed; even here, Jazz could hear the repeated sounds to the chains grinding and and pulling against their moorings with repeated jolts of tension in between their slack moments.

On Stephine's screen, if she tried to get a read on the new visual, her PET couldn't get a clear lock on the creature. Sometimes it registered as an entity, sometimes not, fading and flickering. Eventually, it cleared up enough to begin trying to produce a designated name for it, but that, too took time. Many combinations of letters came past the field where its designate ought to print out; sometimes they formed into words that she recognised: names of old deities of wrath or destruction, the names of cataclysms past, words for violence or anger, or for bloody insurrections, or restraint and the war against it, or of entropy and chaos at odds and sometimes even vaguer words that represented similar concepts. Gradually the name coalesced into a single form, capturing the here and now of the creature, though when it was finally still, there was no extension or explanation or detail; just a single name: Cresheth.

In that moment, a return message came through to her, from Prose.

“Okay. I don't know as much as I'd like to about how you're tied in to Jazz' past, or what he has going on now. He isn't meant to be out at all. I'd know if the seal was actually broken, and it isn't. That doesn't matter right now. Leave the rest of the checks and get here, to me. I'm in the central observation room at the end of the circle. I need Jazz here, now. I'm sorry. I've been looking for any other answer to this issue, but I've run out of other possibilities.”

As the two Jazzes overlooked the broken and destroyed chamber, with the current one thinking to himself of how bad fighting Craven Head would have been if it was at full strength...it was much more on par with Rogue viruses thanks to it's self flagellation to escape the chamber, and with it, it's tentacles had been...oddly familiar to fight with how they thrashed about...how they attacked...a precursor to the modern metavirus? While he was thinking on everything, examining the room as much as he could, then came the giant...the one locked away as it's form began to come to life in front of all three of them.

Jazz's eyes trained upon the creature, soaking in it's enormity and, in addition, the chains that bound the creature looking as if they could break at any second. As if...then a flash coursed through the duo's mind, holding his head immediately in both hands as he continued to gaze upon the creature. Something...dark...something hidden to him till now flooding through his mind..."a challenge" was the only words that came to him, face beginning to twist behind his hands into a malevolent grin. Keep holda yerself Super Ego. The prospects may be tempting...but I don't know what that thing is...and it certainly looks like it could squish you without even thinkin about it. his Ego spoke internally to him, Jazz trying to compose himself for a moment as his mind flooded with ideas...ones involving tangoing with that...thing...one on one. Yea, you're one to talk...then again, I SUPPOSE we are the same navi...to a degree... He responded in turn, the navi taking some deep breaths, calming himself briefly before stepping back from the broken containment. He'd have to take a note of things for later.

Quote (Stephine to Prose)

Perhaps there was a "leak" on the gravestone where Jazz's core is "buried" at, that...or there was an external force at play leading to Our Jazz's release, leading to a chain of events on the grave's internal structure. Just a theory, considering how old it is by now. But I'll have Jazz get to you immediately, he's practically biting at the bit to be of more help to you.

Jazz! Prose needs you! Central Observation, at the end of the circle! Double time it, bunny boy! Stephine called out, Jazz immediately snapping out of his funk for the time being. Using his Signature protocols, he tapped into the "Rabbit Kick" data almost without a second thought, the rabbit moving faster than even his leech of a passenger could keep up with. His feet going into overtime as he hop, skipped and wall jumped across the area towards where he suspected Prose's path to have taken her. Leaping and bounding off like a hyperactive child on crack, he wasn't about to leave Prose waiting for long, trying to even put her speed to shame in some degree.

Dating past the remaining chambers, Jazz curved around the remaining portion of the looping observation deck at record speed and arrived at doorway at the far end; it had to be only a few feet from where they'd climbed up to this level in the first place, coming full circle, but the walls looked reinforced and there as no sign of any quick exit. It was a larger room, with a single console back facing the internal wall which was one big view panel, looking down into the central chamber below. A scattering of chairs lay about the room, forgotten and discarded, as well as what might be a vending machine of some sort, and a couple of storage units intended for personal possessions, or so it seemed. Prose moved back and forth slightly, working different parts of the main console with quick hands, though her main gaze never left the creature in the centre. After a few more moments, however, she stood back, hands reaching up to pull at her ears as she muttered to herself.

“I swear, Asteca, if you mess this up for me I'm going to delete you with a fire hose, wait until you reform, and do it again... Come on... please...!” She let out a small moan of frustration, but half turned as she did and caught sight of Jazz with a start.

“Jazz! Good, I-” The moment her eyes turned to his face, her voice hesitated and the hare couldn't avoid seeing the small recoil that passed through her body as she drew back for a moment; his more perceptive self noticed her feet slide into a ready stance in the same moment. Her expression had shifted from brief shock to worry, and a slight edge of desperation as she pleaded with him. “...Jazz? Please tell me you're still you... I can't deal with this as well...”

Behind her, as she stood facing Jazz for several long seconds, the beast thrashed behind them and more orange lights lit up across the console. An overlay on the glass panel highlighted the regulators at the end of each chain, with readouts in illegible script. One of the six chains snapped with a metal crack that seemed to echo as its whip tension sent it crashing against the chamber's walls. A red light began to flash somewhere, and Prose shifted from high tension and urgency to something different; her shoulders slumped and her head dropped, ears falling back as her eyes closed.

“Damnit...” Her voice too, sounded more simply upset now, more than anything else. The chamber below filled with blue light and everything seemed to slow; the massive metal chain that had snapped drifted at a gradual pace as it bounced off the outer wall and began to fall, while the beast in the centre slowed to a crawl as well, moving ponderously through his next violent thrash. She looked up again, eyes finding Jazz's features with a grimace. “I should never have brought you down here. This has all been a stupid mistake...”

Jazz walked simply towards Prose, the hare having a blank expression on his face as he did. His own crimson colored eyes stared into Prose's for a moment as the icy sapphire atop his head stared down at her with interest. His eyes taking note of her hesitation...her desperation as he made his way to her as she noticed the third eye atop his head. He let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding in, expression softening as he nodded at her, tired look in all three of his eyes. I am me. I am the Jazz you know and love. He spoke, simply and to the point as he flashed Prose a faint smile. I...just have a parasite attached to me is all. Hopefully he lets go when we finish down here and get some alone time together. He continued, quickly with a faint bit of hesitation in his voice. Who are yeh callin a fookin parasite!? The "Ego" spoke through him, the icy sapphire's iris darting to the side, half lidded in anger as it turned to Prose. You know what you did, Ego. Your reasoning is bullshit for what happened fourty years ago, it's bullshit now. And Megalomania isn't a valid excuse, since you actively shut down any of my, or Id's, attempts to stop you. Probably why me and her got out after all this time and you're just a phantom of the past, clinging to me like the fucking parasite you are. Now sit down, shut the fuck up and let me talk.

Jazz sighed, closing his third eye despite the protests his Ego made...no...it would be better to say this Jazz had become the Ego and his past self his Id. Letting out a decompressing sigh, Jazz brought his arms back behind him for the time being, walking up to Prose and kissing her head as he leaned in gently, ignoring the creature for the time being. It's not your fault...if anything...it's mine...for being weak to let him escape, even if it's not fully. He spoke tenderly, giving her cheek a brush with his. One day I'll get strong enough...and kill him myself. But today is not that day, Prose. Today, we need to keep these things from escaping into the net...with the worst case of them escaping topside. We don't need another Netwar, but that thing is intent on escape regardless of what happens here. So, Prose, what do you need to do. I'll personally follow you into the undernet and fucking back if thats what it takes...not even fucking Murkland itself will keep me from you. He spoke, seriously. Even a hint of coldness behind his words as he ran his logistics, eyes darting between her and the creature in the cage. Even as his blood pumped at the sight of it, Prose was keeping him grounded for now. What -can- we do now? Even if that...-thing-...escapes, we need to think about the facility here, right? We need to think rationally here...what's worse...all these inmates escaping and flooding the net...or one cybeast-sized creature? It's a tough choice to make, even in the best of circumstances. But...we gotta do what needs to be done soon...and I hate to push this on you, but...we're running out of time...and we could more easily clean up and put any escapees away than dealing with the creature thrashing about...and...I think its part of the reason why all the inmates down here are getting so agitated...it's sheer power, it's sheer anger at being stuck here...I think it's the main thing that's causing them down here to begin their rioting, transferring it's own hatred and anger to them just by proximity. He continued as he continued to observe it, Cresheth, thrashing about and making its escape as Stephine finally spoke. Is...that thing...Cresheth...a Cybeast? Or is it supposed to be a facsimile of one? It flooded my PET with names, data...but its too enormous to be a virus...it's just the right size to be a Cybeast from what I looked up in the past...Prose...what...are you?

The extra steps forward only enhanced the small woman's defensive stance and even when Jazz spoke, she didn't relax right away, but ultimately she didn't move as he approached and he felt her shudder slightly as he kissed her forehead; she didn't seem responsive or receptive, per se, but there was obvious caution and uncertainty instead, that the bunny girl appeared to put on hold out of a desire to believe his words. The quiet moment between words amplified the brief stolen sense of stillness as the blue light filled the central chamber and events inside it moved at an achingly slow pace.

“Okay. Okay, Jazz... As long as you're the one I'm talking to. Let's take care of this.” She took a longer breath then raised her head again, opening her eyes and stepping away so she could turn back to the central chamber view. She listened to Jazz assessing what he could see, at one point reaching out to take his fingers in her hand briefly when he mentioned the undernet. When Stephine cut in, however, and asked her more pointed question, Jazz was close enough to feel the small woman flinch badly; not at the first question, but the latter one. Rather than answer, however, she looked back to Jazz. Inside the central chamber, the broken chain was still making its ponderous fall after rebounding off the wall.

“You're right, Jazz. The anger you've been feeling, it's his. It's the reason everything here has been reacting this way. I thought it might be, but I didn't want to believe it. What you're seeing there is... It's a displacement bubble, of a sort. Cresheth isn't actually here in the Chaos layer, at least, not properly. You saw the graveyard before? That's the containment for this layer. Cresheth is in the Undernet layer. We only keep one undernet grade containment case per site, and one alone. I don't know how your friend is reaching you Jazz. He's... You're... it's at a different site completely. If it's just the net depth alone, then you might not be safe for long, unless he goes back to sleep properly.” She shook her head, rubbing at her own arms nervously.

“Normally, Cresheth's aura wouldn't be able to reach anything else. A series of glitches let it through, and that's when things started to go wrong. Doesn't matter now, the damage is done. A chain is broken. If I'd just managed to keep them all intact as I sorted it out, then we could fix this easily, but now...” She looked inward again as the broken chain continued to fall and Cresheth moved ever so slowly to one side, halfway through his next violent thrash.

“The cycle delay will hold for a while, but not forever. It's an emergency last resort. We've got time to talk, but sooner or later, I have to go down there now... and as soon as I step into that cell, the cycle delay will shatter and everything goes back to full speed.”

“If he gets out, the displacement bubble breaks, so he would escape into the wilds of the undernet, rather than here, and he wouldn't be too much of a threat to anyone for a while... But, Jazz... If he gets out, there will be an inquiry. I'll have to answer to it. They'll want to know why I turned the lights on here, why I started up the facility, why I made it safe and habitable for navigators, rather than just doing my usual thing. They'll want to know who was with me and why, and that leads to you, Jazz.” Her voice grew desperate again, and she turned to face him properly, holding one of his hands in both of hers as she looked up at him.

“You're... your Nice, Jazz! And whatever this is, with us... I don't want to fuck this up! You're not supposed to be out, at all, ever, but you are, and... and look at you!! You're fine! It's okay! You're nice, and you're sweet, and I like you, and I don't want anyone trying to put you away again just because some file says so!” Her gaze had the edges of tearfulness but she pressed on anyway.

“I can fix this still. I can. I have a duty to, but more than that, if I can get the chains back in place and get the bubble stabilised, then I can make this all go away, so no-one knows anything went wrong. I have to.” Now, at last, she glanced off to one side, then back at the creature.

“Stephine... You asked about Cresheth.” Prose watched the creature for another few moments, inching gradually through its thrash still. More than anything, a look of sorrow washed her features as she turned her face away from Jazz and his operator.

“He's... He's a lot of things.” She hugged herself, rubbing her own arms as she did.

“Cresheth is wrath restrained. A prisoner in his own form, furious at being limited by his own existence. He's the anger of the void. In essence, formless; a beast with rage as his only emotion; conflict that destroys everything that isn't itself, and even itself in the end. Cresheth is a Cybeast. A true beast; as true as there has ever been. Old as networking, old as data, old as the existence of any kind of shared consciousness for our world... Not in that body, or bearing that name, but his essence, the essence that is the truest part of what makes him a Cybeast; that is ancient. They all are, in their way. They fight, and strive; they bring destruction and life, change and upheaval, growth and extinction, and they are destroyed and cast down, and then they return again, in new forms, with new names. Each truly a beast, and each truly bearing that essence at the core of their being. They are primal, and they always were and will be. Even before Cresheth, before Asteca and Marridite, or any of the other newest forms they take... they were Squalo and Riccio, Drauchen and Kuman, and before that, there was Gregar... and even if it didn't start that way, Falzar as well... and before them, before the modern net, their essence existed in other forms still.”

The massive chain slowly impacted against the floor of the chamber, creating a low, prolonged rumble as it crashed down link by link in extreme slow motion. Prose looked back over her shoulder at Jazz.

“In the big picture, this is just observation and testing. It wouldn't matter if he escaped. It would only matter for me, and for you. We could both lose our freedom if we can't clean this up. So I have to go down there and get him under control again... and if I'm lucky it won't be a lose-lose outcome... So...” She glanced away from Jazz's eyes, back past him to the theoretical focus point for his operator. “So, Stephine... Are we good? For now? Until this is fixed?” To Jazz's operator, it would probably be obvious that she'd avoided her other question, and they both knew it.

Jazz listened...he nodded as he could, even as Prose's explinations continued, he could feel his other self...his "Id" festering, the feelings of anger flooding his body and mind as he continued to break free, though Jazz kept his face blank, acting as if nothing was wrong.YEH CANNE DO THIS TO MEH! He roared in the back of his mind, restrained and unable to act on his own. Jazz ignoring him as he spoke.

If nothing else, it's likely the bindings are beginning to fade, or there's a data leak in the grave itself. It's the only explination I can think of, outside of direct interference, that makes sense. Data, while it can be updated and fixed, it degrades over time...maybe the leaks happened, when I got free, when the stations overlooking it went down at one point or another within the last ten or so years? Otherwise...the gravestone might be ready to break apart without fixing it, without making a new one...and release HIM back onto the net...though, with fourty years worth of progress, he's likely not nearly the strength he was back then. Jazz explained, bringing his thought process to light...as a grimmace came across his face at Cresheth's aura. And...I don't think it's just Cresheth's influence...I still harbor grudges from way back when...even if I'm not him anymore... He continued, a sadness on his face as the thoughts went through his mind.

When the idea of inquires came up, a jolt ran through his mind as her hands grabbed one of his, and a tear came to his eye, dropping onto her hand. Her explinations continuing as she explained about Cresheth...and what it was...Stephine was right about it being a Cybeast...but it was just ever so slightly different than what she had thought...then her mind went back to the history...of net navis in their most infant stages, the AutoNavi, when they were less human and more program...they didn't have much in the way of AI back then, let alone being as close to humans, as close to human emotions, as anything when the net was in its alpha stages...

So it's only grown exponentially stronger since it's body was created...glitches have many different properties, chaos made manifest in a digital age. Stephine mused. At least, even if it -did- somehow get loose, it wouldn't be catastrophic. But...if they inquire into whats happening here, you'd both likely be lost...And I intend to make sure -he- never gets loose again. I refuse to be caged again...my home is with Stephine and you...not cooped up in a timeless void...I don't want my past to haunt the future of this net...You two need to get going then. I'll be ready for whatever I can be ready for on my end, Jazz, Prose, but due to his structure and the fact he's a walking talking Super-Ego made manifest, I don't know if I could make a proper backup of Jazz if something went wrong and the emergency jackout procedures didn't work.Alright Prose. Tell us what needs done, take us wherever we need to be, I'll never forgive myself if I left you to this alone.

When the other two both answered together, Prose took along breath and bowed her head, leaning in to let her forehead rest against Jazz's hip with a small sigh. He heard her murmur a quiet 'thank you' before she rallied and stepped back again, half turning to the controls while still looking between Jazz and the beast in the chamber every few moments.

“I'm not going to put either of you in any more danger than I already have. This has gone too far already for the both of you. I have to go down there, but I need you, Jazz, up here. You need to do what I was trying to, while I get Cresheth subdued again and ready the chains for rebinding. I can put up a field, but you might attract attention while you work. It won't be safe, but it will be safer than bringing you down into the bubble.” She looked up at him, hands still on the console for an extra moment. “Besides... If your passenger can reach you here, from his own undernet location, just because you're down in the chaos, and all its cracks... then there's no way I'm taking you down to an effective undernet zone.” With a nervous glance, she rolled her shoulders; her ears fell back again unconsciously as her nerves showed through for a moment.

“I'm won't fight him directly, not unless I have to. I'm just going to get the chains prepared for re-binding. The rest may well break by the time I've gotten the ruptured one ready, and I don't know how it will go... if they go, I'll have to get them reset as well. I just have to make sure I get that done and he focuses on me, and doesn't break out of the chamber as a whole while I'm doing it. I'm quick. I'll be okay... What you need to do, Jazz...” She turned away from him and tapped at the console in a few places, bringing up extra data fields alongside the screen overlay. Each of the six chains had read outs now, showing various information. Prose brought up a separate menu of some kind, made a few selections and the overlay flickered on and off. When it came back up, the text had changed to a more common and infinitely more legible script. Beyond, the links of the massive chain thundering to the ground continued, as Cresheth himself reached the end of his slow thrash. The other chains strained tightly, grinding, and one could almost hear the beast's name echoing in the rumble of chain links hammered at and then slowly falling slack again. A low, growing tremor began to reverberate up through the space in slow motion and a light on one corner of the console faded from blue through to yellow.

“You'll be here, watching what's happening. You can see each chain has a tension map, and the amount of power it can make use of. They're going to start breaking, probably, once this kicks off again. Try and tell me what ones are going to go when, if you can. I might be able to stop them all from breaking. You'll probably have company. His aura is reaching out through the cracks and the closer he gets to breaking free, the more any virus in the vicinity is going to encroach on whatever live data signal it can find... which is you.” Prose pointed to the second set of display data near each chain base on the glass overlay.

“For broken chains, I'll reset them, as quickly as I can... but from down there, all I can do is a full reset. The fine tuning happens up here. They'll build up a charge, and then attempt to re-bind automatically... but it's not going to work if they all go off at different times whenever they're ready. So... when a reset chain gets close to 100%, you need to knock it back; select the chain, then select 'diffuse charge', by whatever percentage of maximum charge you think it should wait for. You can keep doing it as long as you need to, to get them to all go off together. Have you got all that?” Behind her, the beast slowly settled back from its lunge, and began, with achingly slow motions, the process to thrashing its main horns back in the other direction, towards a different chain.

Prose glanced at the yellow light, then extended one hand towards the entrance of the control room; once more, the familiar rings of code circled her, then spread out into a red filed of energy that enveloped the whole space. Jazz could feel the heat and mild tingle of it across him, just like the last degradation field she'd used.

“It'll get hectic as soon as I step in, are you ready?” She swallowed and rolled her shoulders, as the pinpoints of red light at her back blossomed again into a small set of spectral wings made of the same red energy that reached out just to the edges of her shoulders, beating slowly.

Inhaling deeply as he gently cupped her cheek, Jazz leaned down to her face and gave her a kiss on the lips. His hands gently squeezing and massaging along either side of her body as he held onto her, trying to calm her down after her explination, after she finished speaking, closing his eyes and letting the moment pass before letting go of the kiss. You got this, babe. And...don't worry...I think I got it.I did. I'll work him through it if the opportunity presents itself.Anyways...don't worry about...about us...I don't care what you are, Prose. I care about -you- specifically. It's not my first rodeo with love...but hopefully, it'll be the last if we can make this all work, just don't worry, I've made too many mistakes to simply give up... Jazz spoke, wholeheartedly as he gently pat her shoulders, a little shaking in his hands. Lets just try and get through this, alive. There's not much more to it than that. With what I'm packing, well, I think a few viruses won't be too hard to deal with, you're the one with the tough job. He continued, obviously a little bit afraid, worried, angry...all these feeling coursing through him...but despite it all...he was stadying himself as he forced his courage forwards. I'm ready, honey. I'll see ya as soon as this is all over, one way or another. He finished, letting Prose go and getting himself ready for the onslaught to follow. Got the chips ready, Jazz, I think we're prepared for whatever comes after you.And whatever comes...better be ready...to be very afraid...

There was still an element of hesitation in Prose as Jazz did his best to reassure her; she didn't lean into his kiss with quite the same enthusiasm as other times, and before and after, he caught a flicker of her gaze towards his forehead, quickly hidden. Even so, she met his gaze properly as she stepped back from him.

“I do want to believe you, Jazz, I do. I hope you're right. Whatever happens, I'll make sure you're safe at least. Promise.” She took another step back, eyes casting down as she breathed in, and once again that strange static electronic sound filled the room, like something massive tearing its way through the very fabric of the network, and then she was gone.

Down in the room below, as the sound faded from his ears, Jazz saw a small white dot of a figure step out of the air; three feet of white fur, blue denim and red glowing wings really looked all the more minuscule facing the creature in the middle of the chamber, but even as she appeared, the blue light shrouding the space flickered and burst. A dozen panel cells about the walls of the chamber exploded, sending showers of sparks and smoke into the area as time in the bubble shot forward to full speed again and everything happened at once.

Cresheth thrashed, swinging his head back and ripping a second chain free, even as Prose shot away to the left, making it to the first broken chain base in barely a blink of an eye. The beasts flinched and twisted its head back in her direction almost immediately after she arrived, the other chains forgotten for a moment.

On the screen, Jazz could seen the chain details – two were now broken, and the remaining four were under varying states of tension and damage. Two, back left and mid right, were reporting strain damage at about seventy percent of their tolerance while one, mid left, was at ninety, and one, on the back right, was still mostly green, showing forty-five percent of its tolerance.

Jazz barely had any time to process what was beginning to happen down there, however, as sounds from the corridor responded tot eh warning alarm that kicked off as the time delay broke. Shapes emerged rapidly, each clearly suffering as they passed into the red light field that Prose had left behind, but driven by some fury to continue. The observation chamber began to fill up with viruses.

Dashing in first, a smaller virus that looked almost like a sheet puppet, its gown covered in stormy swirls and its head obscured by a broad-brimmed steel hat. A bluster of wind followed it as it burst into the room, carving an arc around to the far side before it caught itself and turned on Jazz. Behind it, slower but with more obvious weight, two more mechanical-looking viruses crowed in, spreading out only slightly as they barged through the door. As they, too, homed in on Jazz, bristling with an almost uncharacteristic rage, a twin point of light shone briefly against the opposite wall from Jazz, and another pair of viruses appeared – a sun and a moon that circled each other. These ones didn't seem quite as overcome by wrath as the others, and would likely still stick to their usual attack patterns, for now.

Below, Prose had started working, her tiny form still for a moment as she worked something at the massive chain's base, but the beast had clearly taken notice of her presence, a hissing roar echoing across the space as it turned her way.

-=Driven By Wrath-=
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.: 200Hp [Metal] [Front right, near the doorway]
Lunaroid2Lunaroid2 (Lunaroid)

A bluish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Lunaroid NEVER appears without an accompanying Solarite. Multiple Lunaroid may appear, but there will also be multiple Solarite with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Beam Attack
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches lunar energy at a target with laser intensity.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MoonRay2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Solarite is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Solarite. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: 140Hp [Metal] [Mid left of the room, from the doorway, opposite Jazz]
Solarite2Solarite2 (Solarite)

A reddish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Solarite NEVER appears without an accompanying Lunaroid. Multiple Solarite may appear, but there will also be multiple Lunaroid with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Recover 20 x 3 Targets
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches solar energy at 3 targets. For every non-object target it successfully hits, it heals 20 HP.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): SunFlare2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Lunaroid is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Lunaroid. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: 140Hp [Metal] [Mid left of the room, from the doorway, opposite Jazz]
MagTec+MagTec+ (MagTect)

MagTect move and dodge at slightly above average speed. In spite of the fact that they have wings, and hover above the ground, they are still subject to the effects of the terrain below. Regardless, they are very dangerous thanks to their ability to exert control over enemy movements with pincer attacks and magnetic pull effects. They know how to use these effects, too. MagTects avoid liquid terrain types if at all possible, as they do not function well at all if forcibly submerged.

Area: SciLab, Electown, Netfrica, NAXA

HP: 160
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Stun 1 + Magnetic Pull
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Pulls opponents towards them and hits with a magnet. Stuns.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Elec + Seeking + Pincer Attack x 2 Missiles
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Shoots two MagnetMissiles at a target: one from each side. The missiles move as if to pass the target, then suddenly turn towards each other in a pincer attack with the target between them.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MagBolt2, MagnetMissile2 (Rare), Zenny: 160Hp [Metal] [Front left, near the doorway]
MonsoonMonsoon (Storm)

Storm loosely resemble the Weather line, and may in fact be a distant off-shoot of them. They wear metal hats that loosely resemble straw hats. Their faces are mostly nondescript, aside from their always closed eyes, and beak-like nose. They have no visible mouth, though from somewhere beneath their nose, they appear to be chewing on a bamboo shoot. Their bodies appear to be simple gowns, decorated with swirls. This virus is normally no more or less aggressive than most viruses, but if the enemy is using exclusively/near exclusively Shot or Thrown type attacks, it will attack more frequently, knowing that its attack will help protect it from them.

Area: Dentech, Yumland, NAXA

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Nova 3 + Knockback + Wind Attack x 3 hits
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Creates a wind storm around itself, knocking enemies backward.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Squall1, Zenny
Special: High Turbulence: The accuracy of Shot and Thrown-type attacks is reduced by 3 ranks against this virus while it is attacking.
Special: FloatShoes, ShadowShoes: 150Hp [Metal] [Back left of the room from the doorway]

-=Holding the Fort=-
Jazz.Exe: 200Hp [Metal] [Middle right of the room, near the central console]

-=An Unsafe Study Environment=-
100% Metal

• Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.

(A large, rectangular room, mostly without defining features of use)

-=Battle Mode=-
Survival:
- Endure for as long as you need to; you may be able to find a chance to escape after a few rounds.
- Three new viruses will join the battle each round, though no more than seven can fit in the room at once.
- All deleted viruses will give full rewards at battles' end.

-=Chain Status=-
(Directions are mapped from Jazz's perspective, looking inward; thus 'forward left' would be to the near left of Cresheth's head, from the Jazz's perspective, the head of the beast facing the observation window.)

Forward Left: (Broken)
Mid Left: (Active) [Tension at 90%]
Back Left: (Active) [Tension at 75%]
Forward Right: (Broken)
Mid Right: (Active) [Tension at 70%]
Back Right: (Active) [Tension at 45%]

Managing The Chains:
- Chains will be either Active, and displaying their tension, Broken, or Charging, showing their charge percentage.
- Active chains rise in tension towards breaking as Cresheth tries to escape. The fewer intact chains there are, the faster individual chains will break.
- Charging chains will grapple onto Cresheth when they reach 100%, however, unless all six are attached at the same time, they may break again quickly.
- Broken chains must be reset by Prosopopoeia before they can begin charging; Jazz may communicate with her, but has little ability to control this beyond that.
- Jazz can interact with the console in order to “Diffuse Charge” on any one chain, decreasing its charge value by any percentage. This takes one Action, however, if Jazz uses a movement or feint to get to the console from somewhere else in the room, the same action can be used to interact in that circumstance.
- Giving a second diffuse command to a different chain will require a second action; one chain one action.
- Chains seem to charge fairly rapidly – about 10% per action from Jazz.
- Tension rises on all active chains evenly, however, Cresheth can attack a chain deliberately with a directed thrash; this will cause that chain's tension to spike and drag up the tension of surrounding chains a little as well.

-=Battle, Start!=-

Sighing out as Prose left for Cresheth's holding tank and the obvious distrust from Prose since he had been invaded by his lesser third, the hare immediately took to the console, even as the viruses from all around began to show up...a mech, those blasted sun and moon things, a WONDERFUL annoyance in the flying magnets...and...an offshoot of the Weather line? Viruses began to take on some REALLY crazy mutations over the years didn't they? Then again there were those Ashuraids in Sharo...well, shaking off the idea of viral mutations off, Jazz quickly set out to read off the chains for Prose so she knew what was up right at the moment.

Alright honey, I'm looking at the four that are attached to our pain in the ass and I'm going off my perspective here, so it might be reversed for you... He started, eying that ElecMech in the front, near the doorway. Hold on a sec, sorry. Stephine, BlueMoon real quick if you would be so kind. So, the Mid Left's at 90% tension, Back Left's 75%. Mid Right's at 70% and the Back Right's 45%. I'd recommend resetting the left side first, since you're gonna be resetting chains over there for a while regardless! He continued on as he began to feel the chip data entering his body, a light glow from his supposed core beginning to light up the room in a pale, weak light. Anyways, I got viruses up here so if I say something not directed towards anything in particular, assume I'm ripping up a few viruses on my end. I'll try and stay with you for as long as I can! He continued, sneaking peeks at the chain map, his fingers curling into a fist as he turned back to the ElecMech. His body charging with a radiant blue light as the moon's power began to flood his body and with it, his power rising as he began to raise his fist into the air with a brief grin on his face before bringing his arm back behind him and thrusting forwards, sending an impressively large beam of energy erupting as wind blasted up all around him, blowing his body back ever so slightly as he held his ground against the beam's explosive power as it coalesced smaller and smaller, attempting to tear through the ElecMech's armor and erase it from the battle.

As the beam's power dissipated from Jazz's body, the hare was quick to make his evasion, quickly moving to the side of the console in a calculated way, his mind racing as Cresheth's rampaging continued to get to him, his anger, his rage and his fury reaching a bubbling point as the battle continued on, face a mixture of anger and excitement at the battle in front of him. His hands reaching up to the air and with it, a large sphere made of freshly made soil began to slowly appear, wriggling life within as sticks and twigs along with the soft topsoil covering his hands, and firmly packed. Lets see how you bastards like it when I fight on some actual terafirma! Hah! He shouted as he threw the large sphere of dirt and other assorted things, flinging it high into the air before shooting it with a special gun. The sphere cracked and split open before a rousing explosion sent the assorted dirt all across the field, laying down the framework for Jazz to get some soft, loamy soil beneath his feet, causing the hare to hop from side to side as the field slowly became far FAR more inviting to the hare. Stephine, send me the WhiteWeb!

Chip sent, Jazz was quick to utilize it almost immediately. As he activated the data, a trio of nets began to appear in his hands, heavy ball bearings surrounding the bottom of each net, in addition to small pinprick sized needles that found themselves embedded into the netting's insides. Taking quick aim at the trio of viruses he intended to deal with at the moment, the hare quickly tossed them one at a time at his respective targets, the heavy barring's helping them attack each in turn as they fell in an arc regardless of the viruses in question, attempting to wrap up and pin them to the ground below, with the needles administering a potent paralic and wood-elemental shock to their systems to mesh perfectly with the lush soil beneath the viruses and give them that extra shock they so deserved.

Inhaling deeply as he took a moment to survey the area, his body in constant flux as he let his toes stay firmly on the soil beneath his feet and springing away from any potential attacks from the viruses around, Jazz began to reach into his suit again, pulling out a dried out seed he used previously. Inhaling deeply as he took a moment to survey the area, his body in constant flux as he let his toes stay firmly on the soil beneath his feet and springing away from any potential attacks from the viruses around, Jazz began to reach into his suit again, pulling out a dried out seed he used previously. Alright, lets get rid of ya real quick, shall we? He spoke, simply and without a hint of heasitation, the hare flicked the seed from between his fingers onto the field in front of him, sending the thing bouncing across the field for a moment without worry...before it neared the souped up MagTect virus, upon hopefully being within range, it drilled deep down into the soil for a brief moment before towers of wooden spikes began to shoot out all around, attempting to skewer and eliminate any and all within it's path of destruction before dying out as quickly as it came...leaving only a broken tile and lush grass in its wake.

As all of this happened, Jazz's Ego had yet to speak a word...not a single rumbling in the back of his mind...had he disappeared? Or was he waiting for something, anything, to show back up when he least expected it? Whatever the cause might be, Jazz was at least relieved to be rid of his old self...even for a brief moment.

Overview
*Floatshoes: Inactive
*STAB: Wood chips get +20 Single Hit, single target, +10 AoE/Multi-Hit
*Active: Smash, add Breaking property to one attack
*Passive: Mass Destruction; All AoE chips with Blast, Spread, Nova and Splash get +1 Coverage
1: BlueMoonDamage: 200 + Lunar Drain + Uninstall
Accuracy: A
Description: Fires a ray of lunar energy at an enemy, which also inhibits the NaviCust. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Lunar Drain: Removes the target's outermost defense layer, even if it wouldn't normally be removed by this attack. Nullifies any counterattacks from that defense. Still triggers other defenses' counterattacks, if applicable.
Trader Rank: A--->ElecMech
2: Dodge
3: Signature: Soil Bomb (Soil Stage, 3TCD)
4: WhiteWeb1Damage: 40 + Snare x 3 targets
Accuracy: C
Description: Casts three spider webs on the ground as a snare or a net to capture, damage, or otherwise hinder your enemies. Can be destroyed with Slashing or Fire attacks, or other RP solutions. Destroying the webbing instantly ends its effects.
Duration: One turn
Element: Wood
Special: Snare: A combination of Hold, Grapple, and Trap effects. However, in exchange for RP versatility, the chip can backfire depending upon RP. Nullify cancels Snare. Snared targets can be set on fire for an extra 1x base fire damage, though the target will be free of Snare the following turn.
Trader Rank: D--->MagTec+, Lunaroid2, Solaroid2 (+10 STAB, x3 MagTec+, x2 Lunaroid/Solaroid2)
5: Dodge
6: Signature: Soil Disruption---> Towards MagTec+ (First: 35 Wood in Blast2, then; Small Broken where Blast2 originated at, 2TCD) (x2 Source on MagTec+)

Cooldowns
Soil Bomb: 3
Soil Disruption: 2

A glance down into the central area as he called his instructions showed Prose working rapidly at the first chain base; red strands of energy laced out over the massive links and the whole chain churned as it was ratcheted back into the base, ending in a long, much-spiked and barbed puncturing tip. On the bottom right of the glass panel, which was serving as his data screen at the same time, a window opened up showing Prose's face in profile as she worked; her expression was serious and she didn't glance his way as she answered.

“Got it. They're all probably going to-” She stopped speaking as the screen fuzzed with static. In the chamber, Cresheth lunged his head forward and down, thrusting with his massive horns in an attempt to gore the tiny creature; as it skewered her, her form exploded in a puff or red spectral light, but in the same moment, Jazz could get a glimpse of several small white figures at different points in the room. The beast's lunge made the chains groan, and another one immediately snapped with a dull, thunderous crack. One of the new Prose figures was already by the just shattered chain, beginning to work on it. The view screen came back into focus on the one that was working again while the other prose dots moved towards different chains. “Just do your best!” Her voice finished off her earlier message.

In the control room, Jazz had more immediate threats to deal with. He had barely called out his information to his ally before turning to release the full force of his lunar might onto the mech by the door; it was just beginning to charge up a ball of electricity when the beam blasted the construct back against the door frame and scoured it from the net in one decisive strike.

Across from him, the sun and moon viruses twisted about one another and the moon-shaped one answered Jazz's moonbeam with one of its own; the hare was quick enough to dodge the bolt of light, though is lanced over his shoulder and scattered against the glass panel behind him. Fortunately, a glance behind him showed no immediate damage, but past it, he could see the battle below continuing in earnest. Prose finished with the second chain, while Cresheth looked back and forth at the different figures, released a hissing roar of sound and wrenched at its bindings with a mighty thrash of rage. One chain ,then another cracked and broke free, their anchors tearing loose of the beast's armoured body and crashing to the floor. It turned, insectile legs scraping against the floor panels; only one chain still held him as he searched for something to attack. On the screen two of the chains were charging up, and he could see one of the Prose figures sprinting on towards the back left one now.

That was all the time he had to glance as, in the room with him, the magnet virus pointed its magnets forward and made them pulse. Jazz felt the pull of the attack trying to draw him near, but it wasn't enough to drag him away from the console this time. He answered with a soil bomb that covered the whole control room, giving it a welcome, if out of place, nature feel. The windy monsoon virus having taken a moment to reposition before, now made its unimpressed opinion clear, gusting towards Jazz just slightly as a storm of wind blasted the far end of the room, throwing soil and dirt everywhere, as well as the scattered remnants of the observation room's furniture. Jazz did his best to shield himself from the stormy assault, but nevertheless felt himself thrown back against the glass forcefully as the debris in the raging winds battered him.

As he impacted the glass, he caught a glimpse of Cresheth turn about, swinging his head as he violently uprooted the last chain with a tearing metal sound. He roared again stamping his many legs alternately and shaking in place; the damaged plates of his armoured body were rapidly regrowing, new plates sliding in to replace destroyed ones. With a spinning thrash, he rounded on one of the Prose shapes as she hurriedly reset another chain, this time lunging forward and flinging his head back as though trying to prop fly the bunny girl. Once again, as he struck her, her form collapsed into red light; once again, the screen showing her face fuzzed with static and recovered showing her in the perspective of a different copy. It was almost like she was switching places with the duplicates whenever he attacked her, though there were no more copies left now. The one remaining Prose skipped back a step, hands up in a ready stance as she kept facing Cresheth and began to circle around to another chain base.

Jazz fell forward from the glass and back to his feet from the lingering blasts of wind that the monsoon had levied at him. Nets coming to his hands, he struck back, seeking to ensnare more of the attacking viruses. The first net wrapped and tangled about the magtect with a ruthless thoroughness, drawing strength from the underlying soil and working its way into every gap in the virus before vigorous plant life overgrew, practically destroying the machine. It lingered on, just barely alive, and raised one magnet in a dying attempt to pull Jazz in again, though still it had no luck.

The other nets were flung towards the sun and moon viruses, and though the lunar virus wove away from the attack, leaving the net to settle into the soil to one side of it, in wait, the sun shaped one was thoroughly entangled and ensnared. Unable to move or dodge properly it glowed a bright sun orange and launched three beams of energy back at Jazz. The hare was able to dodge them, just barely, and the three bolts slammed into the glass panel behind him, scattering away. A quick look back still showed no damage to the window, but there was no telling how strong or resilient it actually was.

The backward glance showed him the scene below in hectic motion. Prose made it to the next chain, red strands of energy pulling it in and resetting it, but just as it locked in, Cresheth jumped back, three legs part way up the curving walls as it slammed its head down and checked one shoulder forward; a volley of serrated spines showered the area where Prose was working, and at the last moment she disappeared; her tiny white form reappeared to one side of the massive beast and with an outstretched hand, a pulse of red energy shattered several of its armour plates and making its body lurch to one side. The beast rallied, however, bracing itself in the lurch and thrusting back with a speed and aggression that seemed to catch Prose off-guard for just a moment. Its body struck her, making contact this time, and Jazz saw the glow of red and white launched across the chamber like a torpedo, to impact with a crash high on the opposite wall. She dropped to the ground, landing in a low crouch, then shot off immediately, racing for another chain. On the video screen, a red stain marred the otherwise pure white fur on one of her shoulders. Four of the chains were charging up now, while two remained in their broken states.

Still fighting his own battles, Jazz released his explosive seed towards the badly crippled magtect; it burst into wood spikes and thoroughly ripped the virus apart, but even as the attack cleared, the broken hole that remained crackled with electrical energy and three small glowing orbs of electrical light swarmed up out of the space and skittered away into the room, climbing up the walls and over the ceiling as they moved in erratic zips. Each one bore a pair of black eyes and Stephine quickly registered them as more viruses.

Back in the central chamber, Cresheth hissed and lowered his head. His two main goring horns retracting back into his body and the central horns laid back flat, before he stampeded forward, curled up, and began rolling across the space towards the side where Prose was trying to work. She dodged back, darted to one side, then phased away again as the beast tore over the space, rending panels with a scraping, tearing metal sound. He uncurled, launching in the air briefly before landing feet wide and extending his horns again in a stab the bored into the wall of the chamber, rending two large gashes. On one side of the screen a red light flashed, and words scrawled across a pop up display with a flashing symbol on it.

“Warning! Central Containment Displacement Field Damaged! Displacement Bubble Will Collapse if Damage Continues! Chamber Damage: 10%!”

-=Driven By Wrath-=
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.: DELETED (Ping!)
Lunaroid2Lunaroid2 (Lunaroid)

A bluish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Lunaroid NEVER appears without an accompanying Solarite. Multiple Lunaroid may appear, but there will also be multiple Solarite with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Beam Attack
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches lunar energy at a target with laser intensity.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MoonRay2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Solarite is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Solarite. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: 140Hp [Soil] [Mid left of the room, from the doorway, opposite Jazz]
Solarite2Solarite2 (Solarite)

A reddish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Solarite NEVER appears without an accompanying Lunaroid. Multiple Solarite may appear, but there will also be multiple Lunaroid with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Recover 20 x 3 Targets
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches solar energy at 3 targets. For every non-object target it successfully hits, it heals 20 HP.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): SunFlare2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Lunaroid is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Lunaroid. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: 40Hp [Grass][Ensnared; unable to dodge] [Mid left of the room, from the doorway, opposite Jazz]
MagTec+MagTec+ (MagTect)

MagTect move and dodge at slightly above average speed. In spite of the fact that they have wings, and hover above the ground, they are still subject to the effects of the terrain below. Regardless, they are very dangerous thanks to their ability to exert control over enemy movements with pincer attacks and magnetic pull effects. They know how to use these effects, too. MagTects avoid liquid terrain types if at all possible, as they do not function well at all if forcibly submerged.

Area: SciLab, Electown, Netfrica, NAXA

HP: 160
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Stun 1 + Magnetic Pull
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Pulls opponents towards them and hits with a magnet. Stuns.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Elec + Seeking + Pincer Attack x 2 Missiles
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Shoots two MagnetMissiles at a target: one from each side. The missiles move as if to pass the target, then suddenly turn towards each other in a pincer attack with the target between them.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MagBolt2, MagnetMissile2 (Rare), Zenny: DELETED
MonsoonMonsoon (Storm)

Storm loosely resemble the Weather line, and may in fact be a distant off-shoot of them. They wear metal hats that loosely resemble straw hats. Their faces are mostly nondescript, aside from their always closed eyes, and beak-like nose. They have no visible mouth, though from somewhere beneath their nose, they appear to be chewing on a bamboo shoot. Their bodies appear to be simple gowns, decorated with swirls. This virus is normally no more or less aggressive than most viruses, but if the enemy is using exclusively/near exclusively Shot or Thrown type attacks, it will attack more frequently, knowing that its attack will help protect it from them.

Area: Dentech, Yumland, NAXA

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Nova 3 + Knockback + Wind Attack x 3 hits
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Creates a wind storm around itself, knocking enemies backward.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Squall1, Zenny
Special: High Turbulence: The accuracy of Shot and Thrown-type attacks is reduced by 3 ranks against this virus while it is attacking.
Special: FloatShoes, ShadowShoes: 150Hp [Soil] [Back right of the room from the doorway, closer to Jazz]

Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: 90Hp [Soil] [On the wall at the near right end of the room]
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: 90Hp [Grass] [On the ceiling, just above and to the side of the broken hole]
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: 90Hp [Soil] [On the wall at the mid left of the room]

-=Holding the Fort=-
Jazz.Exe: 186Hp [Soil] [Middle right of the room, near the central console]

Snare (Deals 50Wood and Snare (C) if triggered): To the side of Lunaroid, on Soil

-=An Unsafe Study Environment=-
70% Soil

• Wood Elementals get +10% Evasion.
• Wood attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Grass.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Mud.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: change terrain hit to Coal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood.

(A large, rectangular room, mostly without defining features of use)
20% Grass

• Wood Elementals get +5 HP/action.
• Fire attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Soil.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood.

(area around the broken hole, as well as three smaller patches where the nets hit and landed)
10% Broken

• Not bottomless.
• Reverts to Normal after a time, if no one is inside.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• 1-4 Movements actions to climb back out depending on method.

(Small shattered patch to one side of the doorway)

-=Battle Mode=-
Survival:
- Endure for as long as you need to; you may be able to find a chance to escape after a few rounds.
- Three new viruses will join the battle each round, though no more than seven can fit in the room at once.
- All deleted viruses will give full rewards at battles' end.

-=Chain Status=-
(Directions are mapped from Jazz's perspective, looking inward; thus 'forward left' would be to the near left of Cresheth's head, from the Jazz's perspective, the head of the beast facing the observation window.)

Forward Left: (Charging: 60%)
Mid Left: (Charging: 50%)
Back Left: (Charging: 40%)
Forward Right: (Broken)
Mid Right: (Broken)
Back Right: (Charging: 20%)

Managing The Chains:
- Chains will be either Active, and displaying their tension, Broken, or Charging, showing their charge percentage.
- Active chains rise in tension towards breaking as Cresheth tries to escape. The fewer intact chains there are, the faster individual chains will break.
- Broken chains must be reset by Prosopopoeia before they can begin charging; Jazz may communicate with her, but has little ability to control this beyond that.
- Charging chains will grapple onto Cresheth when they reach 100%, however, unless all six are attached at the same time, they may break again quickly.
- Jazz can interact with the console in order to “Diffuse Charge” on any one chain, decreasing its charge value by any percentage. This takes one Action, however, if Jazz uses a movement or feint to get to the console from somewhere else in the room, the same action can be used to interact in that circumstance.
- Giving a second diffuse command to a different chain will require a second action; one chain one action.
- Chains seem to charge fairly rapidly – about 10% per action from Jazz.
- Tension rises on all active chains evenly, however, Cresheth can attack a chain deliberately with a directed thrash; this will cause that chain's tension to spike and drag up the tension of surrounding chains a little as well.

!!Warning!!

Central Containment Displacement Field Damage: 10%

Grunting as he began to feel the sting of the Monsoon's attack, he at least got rid of the MagTec+...and with it, a cold feeling entering his body. It wasn't nessisarily -pleasant-, but...all the same, the weariness began to leave his body, he figured it was Prose's doing to some degree, but even then, he didn't want to have to stay for too long if this kept going and no telling how his body would react to the constant cold shocks he took as the viruses disappeared. Even as Prose fought, he couldn't keep too much of a tab on her, but the red smear on her body as she took a direct attack from Cresheth worried him immensely. Inhaling and exhaling, letting go of his own anxieties for the moment even as things continued on, his eyes immediately drifting to the panel beside him...chains were charging, four of them...but that warning was concerning...the beast was actually doing damage to the containment and it began to paint Jazz's ideas in a different light, how much could the beast rage before the containment field was completely gone and it escaped? He shook the thoughts out of his head, looking down at the battle below before contacting her again.

How're you feeling down there, Prose? I saw you take a clean hit and I'm getting worried at how much time we got left, the computer's screaming at me about the displacement field, saying it's at 10% damage. He spoke, hurridly, but trying to keep the worry out of his voice as much as he could. I'll try and get these chains to latch on at roughly the same time, but just try and survive down there once you get the last two chains on the right side fixed. But outside of the obvious, I should be able to get them to latch on before long, just...I'm beggin ya, try and not take too many risks if you can avoid it. He continued, an obvious look of worry on his face as he turned back around to see more viruses entering the field. Ah shit, got more viruses in here. I gotta go!

He hurridly turned to the viruses, his heart beating hard in his chest as he did. His eyes drifting towards the newcomer viruses and with them, curiosity building about them. Th' fuck are those? He asked, simple and to the point, pointing at the little fuzz balls. Lets see...Maru family viruses. Extremely small, but extremely annoying. They practically flit out of the way of attacks due to their lack of weight and are hard to pin down because of it. Stephine replied almost immediately, fingers at the keyboard tapping rapidly. Well then, guess we should freeze them solid. Gimmie the dragon and Synapse chips, I think I can clean up a lot of the rabble here.

Nodding at him, she slotted the two chips into the PET...before looking over her stack of chips, plucking the Shadow2 she had purchased earlier from another online shop...thinking about it, she shrugged, slotting it into her PET along with the other two so Jazz could begin walling up his defenses in the meantime, even with it's supposed downsides. And as Jazz felt the data from his chips, the hare was quick to release them onto the viruses, give him some breathing room at the very least if nothing else.

Slamming his hand down onto the fertile soul, code and data transferred and with it, a roar exploding from the hole he had made and with it, the form of a Wyvern flying out of the hole he had created with an angry shriek at the viruses that had flooded the room from it's hole. With it, the icy blue wyvern began to creen it's head along the area, mouth opened wide as it exhaled a stinging blast of chilly, icy, winds at the trio of Marus that had come up from below, ice and frost clinging to the walls and celing as it continued to blast them with frigid winds and hoping to completely freeze the little fuzz balls solid so it would not be disturbed by them again in the future. Letting out another feral shriek, the wyvern slipped it's way back into it's hole and with it, a trio of icy spikes in case the little things managed to survive the massive blast of icy breath to the face.

Sighing out as the wyvern had departed, Jazz turned to the Lunaroid and Solarite that he had failed to get rid of a moment earlier. With the crackle of electricity and drawing from the metal around, Jazz held his hands outwards, palms atop one another as he channeled the electricity through his form and let is slowly coaless into his palms, letting the energy begin to slowly form as he brought his hands up from one another, fingers creating strands of electrical power to "cage" the ball of energy within. Inhaling deeply as he took his chance, Jazz brought his hands into a familiar shape, fingers focused outwards as his palms began to connect to one another. Bringing his arms back for a moment as his fur stood up on end, he thrust the two hands forwards, sending the ball of static electricity outwards to attack the moon-like virus, hoping to shock it to it's core. Should it have made it's hit against the moon, strands of electricity would attempt to reach out off it's dessicated corpse and with it, attempt to latch onto the sun-like virus likely still stuck beneath the webbing he had created, attempting to give it the same shock in turn.

Even as potential deleted viral data would swirl deep into his body, Jazz's form began to waver...inky purple darkness beginning to cling to his body almost immediately afterwards, spreading faster and faster across his form. Before long, strands of purple darkness wavered from his body, reaching outwards as only a pair of ruby red eyes stared at the viruses, almost daring the remaining viruses to attack him in this state...even if whisps of darkness clouded his eyes the further something was to him, somehow becoming a shadow made you nearsighted...maybe that's why they only kill everything at melee range? So...Stephine...where did you get a Shadow2 chip, of all things?Someone was selling it on the chip board, snatched it and two swords with that pile of Chaos-Net tier zenny from earlier.AND YOU DIDN'T USE IT AGAINST CRAVEN HEAD BECAUSE?Forgot to put it in the folder.You forgot!? HOW!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?Would you believe me if I said "everything"?

Jazz didn't have a comeback to that, all he could do was sputter at the utter insanity that was forgetting to put a chip like that into the folder when she could have done so at literally any time before the "incident" earlier. Just silently turning back to the console at hand, looking at the varying degrees of how far along the chains were with their charging. All Jazz did was say a few words to Prose before doing this. Alright, I'm diffusing the left-side chains real quick to get them lined up for later. He spoke simply, taking his hands slowly to the console's screen and slowly diffusing the charges on the left side to hopefully line-up with the others, even if it meant his own detriment in the process.

Overview
*Floatshoes: Inactive
*STAB: Wood chips get +20 Single Hit, single target, +10 AoE/Multi-Hit
*Active: Smash, add Breaking property to one attack
*Passive: Mass Destruction; All AoE chips with Blast, Spread, Nova and Splash get +1 Coverage
1: IceDragon1Damage: 160 + Freeze + Homing x 3 Targets
Accuracy: B
Description: Summons a Bluegon from broken or missing terrain to breathe frost on up to three enemies, solidifying them with cold. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Aqua
Special: Ice Type: This chip counts as Ice Type for the purposes of potentially freezing targets on Aqua Element Terrain or environments, as applicable.
Trader Rank: C--->Maru-10 A/B/C
2: Synapse1Damage: 80 + Piercing + Chain 2
Accuracy: B
Description: Produces a powerful ray through sheer force of thought, which arcs towards nearby enemies when it hits a target.
Duration: Once
Element: Elec
Special: Chain 2: This attack, upon striking a target, may change directions towards a new target. This may be done up to 2 times in one attack.
Trader Rank: D--->Lunaroid2, chain to Solaroid2 (X2 base damage on Lunaroid2)
3: Shadow2Effect: Shadow
Accuracy: S
Description: Grants the user Shadow. This reduces all incoming non-Slashing attacks to 0 damage, and reduces accuracy on ranged attacks by 20%.
Duration: 2 turns
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C
*Shadow status, -2 ranks to long-range attacks
4: Diffuse Charge on Forward-Left to 20%
5: Diffuse Charge on Mid-Left to 30%
6: Diffuse Charge on Back-Left to 40%

Cooldowns
Soil Bomb: 2
Soil Disruption: 1

With too many things to focus on at once, Jazz only caught a brief initial glimpse of two more Prose figures dropping out of the ether to either side of the first one, before all three sprinted in different directions, making for different chain bases. A response came back, spoken while she was running.

“I'm fine. It's the bleeds that get through, and I can't do anything about them without... I'm fine, Jazz. Last two going up in a moment. Long as he's loose, this fight will wreck the displacement space. Just do what you can.” Her tone was clipped and serious, but though it sounded breathy from the running, she didn't sound like she was in terrible pain. Just as she answered, the beast pulled back from where his horns had punctured the outer wall and turned about, many legs stamping hard as his head twitched and tilted, beady eyes looking at each new prose in turn. With a sudden roll of its shoulders, a shake passed through its form that sent a sudden volley of large, shape spines spraying around the chamber and digging into the walls, leaving deep gashes. The various prose figures dodged and darted, but two of them seemed ultimately less nimble and burst into motes or spectral red filament while the third phased to appear directly by the next chain anchor and begin working. Where the spines and horns had torn the spherical chamber, the rends in the metal showed only blackness beyond, but sparks and smoke began to gather int eh chamber from the damaged structures.

On his end, Jazz had a room full of his own viruses to take care of, but he was quick to think their numbers with the aid of his summoned ice dragon. Despite their rapid, jerking motions, the seeking bolts of ice energy managed to find marks on two of the skittering Maru before they could reach Jazz himself, while the third flitted aside the attack meant for it, leaving the frigid attack to swirl about curving back as it sought to home in again. The two destroyed viruses broke apart, seemingly consumed by the red field of energy, before a portion of their strength channelled from the field into Jazz, providing another burst of rapid, sudden healing and bringing him more or less back to full strength.

It didn't last too long, however, as the last Maru darted along the wall and down, then in close as it sparked its way across the top of the console and connected with a tazer-like jolt of energy against Jazz. A crackle of residual energy lanced through him, seeming to make some of his senses and reactions speed up at erratic, random intervals. On the screen, another chain lit up as charging; only one remained broken now, but the earliest chains repaired were getting close to their launch point, while others were along way fro ready. Getting a chain or two onto the beast might hold it back from damaging the chamber itself, but one or two chains alone wouldn't last long.

As Jazz shook of the lingering static from the Maru, the Monsoon pressed forward, filling the middle of the chamber with another storm that threw dirt and soil around. Jazz managed to shield himself from some of the storm – only a portion of it whipped him with debris badly enough to cause harm. The nearby Maru seemed to float with the tempest of winds, largely unaffected, but the sun and moon viruses were buffeted by the scattered junk in the room as the storm harried them. Before they could recover and attack in turn, Jazz had a surprise of his own prepared for the viruses, as his own arcing storm bolt struck forward and finished both of them off, before attempting to jump a second time, back towards the Monsoon. In the heart of its own storm, however, the windy virus tipped the broad brim of its metal hat while the arcing bolt of lightning deflected and scattered up away from it without connecting.

Down below, Cresheth charged across the chamber at the one remaining Prose, horns jutting to gore again. Still working on the chain, the bunny girl looked up, them moved in reaction, twisting to one side and striking back with a broad pulse of red energy that resounded like a thunderclap. Cresheth's head was thrown aside and the horns rammed hard into the chamber walls again, though the smaller figure was briefly pinned against the wall as one of the great horns still managed to graze her and the beast as a whole wasn't repelled by the obvious force. With a violent sweep it countered in turn, dragging his horns back again and rending a longer gash in the metal as he continued trying to crush the only other entity in the room with him. Prose slipped free, ducking low as she finished what she was doing, and Jazz saw the last chain dragged back into place and light up as charging on his screen.

The various levels of charge were too close to leave be, and Jazz turned his focus to working the console while Stephine protected him with a shadowy, intangible form. Just as the first was about to reach full charge he diffused it, then the next, and the next, carefully lining their charge rates up one at a time. Around him, the Maru lashed out again, though it didn't manage to get close enough to even risk imparting any more glitches. The monsoon burst out into a fresh storm, infuriated by everything's resilience, but again, the winds cut through Jazz without dealing him any harm.

As he worked the chains, however, Jazz could see the encounter continuing below, as successive thrashes and bouts shook the chamber and cleft more damage around the walls. As big as the sphere was, it wasn't big enough for Cresheth; He stepped back, feet clattering in scraping rhythm, the lurched forward again, attempting to fling Prose skyward. The small white figure phased, appearing behind the beast now, with a counter strike that shattered more of his spiny plates – to little effect, it seemed, as each damaged section continued to regrow and reform with worrisome speed. She backed off towards the centre of the chamber as Cresheth jumped and spun about, throwing his head up and hissing his rage to the room. He lurched again, sending another shower of spines lancing throughout the chamber, and Pros skipped and dodged between them. Most she avoided, but a single spine managed to wing her again, leaving another bleeding trail in her fur. All her focus now seemed to be on watching Creseth's movements, as the beast began to buck and thrash, the stalemate driving it ever wilder and more erratic; for such a massive monster, his movements were often sharp and twitchy, and he was faster than he looked.

On Jazz's screen, the chains were all showing fair charge now, but it would still be a short while before they were ready. More worrisome now was the damage to the displacement bubble; each violent action that Cresheth took seemed to damage it more, and it didn't seem like it would hold much longer; the timing would be close. As if mirroring the realisation, a return message came back from Prose.

“Don't wait too long, the bubble can't take much more of this! He's moving around too much, make it count!” On the screen that showed her face, Jazz caught sight of her pressing a hand over one shoulder, leaving the fur clean and white again behind it, though she still seemed to be bleeding in other places.

Behind him, Jazz heard more viruses arriving. A humming, high-pitched buzz of sound heralded a pair of silver-domed Pulsebulbs careening into the room from the open doorway, just as the broken hole was temporarily filled by the rising for of a floating cube, its panels flashing between blue and red as it joined the scene.

-=Driven By Wrath-=
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.: DELETED (Ping!)
Lunaroid2Lunaroid2 (Lunaroid)

A bluish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Lunaroid NEVER appears without an accompanying Solarite. Multiple Lunaroid may appear, but there will also be multiple Solarite with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Beam Attack
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches lunar energy at a target with laser intensity.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MoonRay2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Solarite is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Solarite. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: DELETED
Solarite2Solarite2 (Solarite)

A reddish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Solarite NEVER appears without an accompanying Lunaroid. Multiple Solarite may appear, but there will also be multiple Lunaroid with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Recover 20 x 3 Targets
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches solar energy at 3 targets. For every non-object target it successfully hits, it heals 20 HP.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): SunFlare2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Lunaroid is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Lunaroid. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: DELETED
MagTec+MagTec+ (MagTect)

MagTect move and dodge at slightly above average speed. In spite of the fact that they have wings, and hover above the ground, they are still subject to the effects of the terrain below. Regardless, they are very dangerous thanks to their ability to exert control over enemy movements with pincer attacks and magnetic pull effects. They know how to use these effects, too. MagTects avoid liquid terrain types if at all possible, as they do not function well at all if forcibly submerged.

Area: SciLab, Electown, Netfrica, NAXA

HP: 160
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Stun 1 + Magnetic Pull
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Pulls opponents towards them and hits with a magnet. Stuns.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Elec + Seeking + Pincer Attack x 2 Missiles
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Shoots two MagnetMissiles at a target: one from each side. The missiles move as if to pass the target, then suddenly turn towards each other in a pincer attack with the target between them.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MagBolt2, MagnetMissile2 (Rare), Zenny: DELETED
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: DELETED
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: DELETED
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: 90Hp [Soil] [On the Console, harassing Jazz][Ice Dragon Homing!]
MonsoonMonsoon (Storm)

Storm loosely resemble the Weather line, and may in fact be a distant off-shoot of them. They wear metal hats that loosely resemble straw hats. Their faces are mostly nondescript, aside from their always closed eyes, and beak-like nose. They have no visible mouth, though from somewhere beneath their nose, they appear to be chewing on a bamboo shoot. Their bodies appear to be simple gowns, decorated with swirls. This virus is normally no more or less aggressive than most viruses, but if the enemy is using exclusively/near exclusively Shot or Thrown type attacks, it will attack more frequently, knowing that its attack will help protect it from them.

Area: Dentech, Yumland, NAXA

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Nova 3 + Knockback + Wind Attack x 3 hits
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Creates a wind storm around itself, knocking enemies backward.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Squall1, Zenny
Special: High Turbulence: The accuracy of Shot and Thrown-type attacks is reduced by 3 ranks against this virus while it is attacking.
Special: FloatShoes, ShadowShoes: 150Hp [Soil] [Middle of the chamber, storms for all]

PulseBulb2PulseBulb2 (PulseBulb)

PulseBulbs move and dodge at an average rate. They get one free movement every turn, and they must drop their MetalBody defense in order to attack. These viruses are able to see through Invis.

Area: NAXA

HP: 180
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Elec + Stun + Seeking + Cone Attack
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Dashes up to an enemy, opens, and attacks using a sonar device.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElecPulse2, EchoLocation (Rare), Zenny
Special: Omnishoes.
Special: MetalBody: An effect identical to IronBody, but does not hamper movement. Non-Break attacks deal 0 damage, and Break attacks deal double.
Special: This virus must drop its MetalBody defense in order to attack. MetalBody is restored afterwards. A: 180Hp [Grass] [Left of doorway]
PulseBulb2PulseBulb2 (PulseBulb)

PulseBulbs move and dodge at an average rate. They get one free movement every turn, and they must drop their MetalBody defense in order to attack. These viruses are able to see through Invis.

Area: NAXA

HP: 180
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Elec + Stun + Seeking + Cone Attack
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Dashes up to an enemy, opens, and attacks using a sonar device.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElecPulse2, EchoLocation (Rare), Zenny
Special: Omnishoes.
Special: MetalBody: An effect identical to IronBody, but does not hamper movement. Non-Break attacks deal 0 damage, and Break attacks deal double.
Special: This virus must drop its MetalBody defense in order to attack. MetalBody is restored afterwards. B: 180Hp [Grass] [Right of doorway]
TRICUBETRICUBE (DBLCUBE)

This virus is essentially a flying, color changing RockCube. It flips between Red (attack mode) and blue (recovery mode) every time it takes a hit.

Area: SciLab, NAXA

HP: 220
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 60 Null x 3 Targets
Primary Attack Accuracy: A
Primary Attack Description: The virus turns red, and fires red colored energy beams at three enemies that inflict damage.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Healing x 3 Targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: S
Secondary Attack Description: The virus turns blue, and fires blue colored energy beams at three allies that recover HP.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DBLBeam2, Zenny
Special: Getting hit changes it's color.
Special: Omnishoes: 220Hp [Broken] [Hovering above the hole]

-=Holding the Fort=-
Jazz.Exe: 186Hp [Soil][Shadow (1 turn remaining)][Middle right of the room, near the central console][Glitch: Erratic Haste (Attacks against Jazz have a 50% chance of being rolled as though he were under the effects of Haste. Accounting for the erratic speed-ups can cause problems, and Jazz's attacks have a 20% chance of being reduced by accuracy one rank)]

Snare (Deals 50Wood and Snare (C) if triggered): Mid Left side of room, on Soil

-=An Unsafe Study Environment=-
70% Soil

• Wood Elementals get +10% Evasion.
• Wood attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Grass.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Mud.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: change terrain hit to Coal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood.

(A large, rectangular room, mostly without defining features of use)
20% Grass

• Wood Elementals get +5 HP/action.
• Fire attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Soil.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood.

(area around the broken hole, as well as three smaller patches where the nets hit and landed)
10% Broken

• Not bottomless.
• Reverts to Normal after a time, if no one is inside.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• 1-4 Movements actions to climb back out depending on method.

(Small shattered patch to one side of the doorway)

-=Battle Mode=-
Survival:
- Endure for as long as you need to; you may be able to find a chance to escape after a few rounds.
- Three new viruses will join the battle each round, though no more than seven can fit in the room at once.
- All deleted viruses will give full rewards at battles' end.

-=Chain Status=-
(Directions are mapped from Jazz's perspective, looking inward; thus 'forward left' would be to the near left of Cresheth's head, from the Jazz's perspective, the head of the beast facing the observation window.)

Forward Left: (Charging: 40%)
Mid Left: (Charging: 40%)
Back Left: (Charging: 40%)
Forward Right: (Charging: 40%)
Mid Right: (Charging: 50%)
Back Right: (Charging: 60%)

Managing The Chains:
- Chains will be either Active, and displaying their tension, Broken, or Charging, showing their charge percentage.
- Active chains rise in tension towards breaking as Cresheth tries to escape. The fewer intact chains there are, the faster individual chains will break.
- Broken chains must be reset by Prosopopoeia before they can begin charging; Jazz may communicate with her, but has little ability to control this beyond that.
- Charging chains will grapple onto Cresheth when they reach 100%, however, unless all six are attached at the same time, they may break again quickly.
- Jazz can interact with the console in order to “Diffuse Charge” on any one chain, decreasing its charge value by any percentage. This takes one Action, however, if Jazz uses a movement or feint to get to the console from somewhere else in the room, the same action can be used to interact in that circumstance.
- Giving a second diffuse command to a different chain will require a second action; one chain one action.
- Chains seem to charge fairly rapidly – about 10% per action from Jazz.
- Tension rises on all active chains evenly, however, Cresheth can attack a chain deliberately with a directed thrash; this will cause that chain's tension to spike and drag up the tension of surrounding chains a little as well.

!!Warning!!

Central Containment Displacement Field Damage: 60%

Grumbling as he felt the Maru's corupting influence upon him, the hare could feel the erratic movements from his body, a jerk here and there, a quick spasm there. He wasn't exactly happy with this, his body was actively trying to undermine him now thanks to both the Maru and his own self. But despite this, he turned to the screen and gave a nod to Prose as he looked at the chains...and the Displacement field's structure as it was flashing even harder at him.

60%...Back-Right's at 60%, Mid-right at 50 and the rest are 40%! Once the Back-Right chain latches onto Cresheth, the Mid-Right will go right after! Protect those chains as much as you can! I'd try and get down where you're at as a distraction, but there's no telling what these viruses will do as soon as I leave! Hold out for a few more moments and if we're lucky, Cresheth should have all the chains wrapped around him and we can start putting the bastard back to sleep! He called out to Prose from the console, a feeling washing over him as his eyes darted between the viruses and console, the feeling of dread reaching up to his mind...and washing over him. But before he could think about trying to pop the Maru's exterior, the navi's eyes drifted quickly to the icicle that had been leftover from his Wyvern's attack...the icicle pointing right at the virus and angled in a way that it wouldn't crash into the console...right before launching itself at the puffball in an attempt to freeze it solid and make it come crashing down to earth.

Focusing on the rest of the viruses at hand so he didn't scare Stephine, so she wouldn't realize what might be happening, Jazz was quick to request chips, he needed to thin their ranks and fast. Hey, metal boys! How about a soul melting experience?! He called out at them, Jazz thrusting his fist deep into the fertile soil beneath his feet, his hand superheating to a bright white color as he began to channel the chip data through the ground. Taking aim at the area between the two as he summoned a whisp of flame between them, the bright, flickering ash colored spirit floating between them for a brief moment...before letting out a cry of anguish and exploding in glorious fashion. Bright white flames quick to spread about the area, attempting to burn everything and anything to cinders, and if the PulseBombs thought they were safe from it, their metal armor would peel away in an instant if they took the hit and expose them to the superheated flames, hopefully burning them to cinders in the process as his hand left the ground, a faint singe on it, but nothing too bad in the end as he flexed his digits. 50...60...70...

Inhaling deep as his thoughts raced across the field and even into the containment field as he tried to keep himself calm...hopeful...even as his heart was practically beating out of his chest...he brought his hands outwards as he channeled the spirits of the woods, a soft breeze beginning to blow in from the door as it swirled around his body, a soft green glow taking over his body even through his shadowy form. 60...70...80...

Exhaling as Jazz finished his spell of imbue, Jazz began to hold his hand out, even as his stress began to build up, further and further, he needed to at least try and get rid of these viruses. He began to create a sword into his hand, the hilt forming as tattered pieces of leather clung to the base, etchings inscribed across the handle as a handguard slowly formed over the top of it as he handled it, gripping the hilt tightly as the blade began to form. Steel forming into a crude semi-crescent shape as he slowly brought his arm back, holding it almost backwards in a way. Eying the Monsoon again, the hare took his chance, making his way across the field as fast as he could, letting the soil and grass beneath his feet guide him as he made his way over it, letting part of the spell he imbued himself with transfer into the blade of his sword. Inhaling again as he twisted his hand outwards towards the virus, Jazz brought his blade sweeping upwards at the annoyance, the curved blade attempting to bisect the creature in half from below. 70...80...90...

Gritting his teeth as he moved, he realized his sword would likely not be enough to reach the Tricube, so unfortunately for him he had to ask for one last chip from Stephine. If Cresheth got out...well...he may as well make sure it's a good chip, right? Stephine sent the chip his way as Jazz began to take aim at the virus above the hole, he sent Prose a PM.

Quote (Jazz to Prose)

The Back-Right chain should about launch at Cresheth about now! If it holds long enough for the Mid-Right to launch at him and then the rest, we should be golden!...but if he gets out...worry more about yourself instead of me. What happens to me happens because I made the miscalculation on the chains and the sphere's integrity and I'm prepared to take it on the chin if it does happen.

Exhaling, hoping beyond hope that the chain managed to shackle Cresheth...Jazz began to clench his free hand. Tighter and tighter his hand clenched as he stared down the Tricube above him, even to the point blood began to pool into his palm, nails beginning to be coated a deep shade of crimson red from him doing this...as the chip began to materialize around Jazz's entire arm. Metal plating beginning to wrap around his arm in pieces, going all the way from shoulder down to each individual digit and every crook and cranny of them. Even now a second chain should have gone off by now...hoping that it kept Creasheth busy long enough for the rest to do their work. But regardless, he was too focused, too determined to knock the Tricube's block off as he began to take his aim, and with it, brought his entire arm backwards...and jumped as high as he possibly could to try and meet with the Tricube's height...arm whirling around faster and faster as blood split between the plates that had covered him, readied him for his attack. His arm almost a blur as he lunged forwards with this same arm and with it, timed his rotation to absolutely smash the Tricube from above and hopefully, upon it being hit, sent it deep into the hole or ground that Jazz had made to make it break up into absolute nothing...with the hope that RNGesus was on his side in capturing Cresheth before he broke free.

Overview
*Floatshoes: Inactive
*STAB: Wood chips get +20 Single Hit, single target, +10 AoE/Multi-Hit
*Active: Smash, add Breaking property to one attack
*Passive: Mass Destruction; All AoE chips with Blast, Spread, Nova and Splash get +1 Coverage
*Shadow: -20% accuracy at long range, all non-slashing attacks are nulled
*IceDragon1: Homing in on Maru-10, A-rank, 160+Freeze
*Add Breaking to the next chip attack
1: BurnSquare1Damage: 60 + Blast 2 + Ground Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a small, square shaped explosion of will-o-wisps that erupt from the ground, scorching the very soul of whatever is occupying that space.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: D--->Attempt to hit both PulseBulbs by aiming it between them (x3 damage from Breaking and Terrain bonuses, -20% Accuracy)
2: Signature: Imbuing Spell on self (3 instances of Wood Imbue, 2TCD)
3: WideSwordDamage: 80 + Slashing + Wide Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a sword made of solidified energy, with a thick blade perfect for wide slashes. Can hit up to 3 targets per slash with good RP.
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 3 swings.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C--->Monsoon (Wood Imbued, +1x damage from Soil)
4: Charge GigasArm3 (Back-Right launches to capture Cresheth)
5: Jump to TRICUBE's level (Mid-Right launches to capture Cresheth)
6: GigasArm3Damage: 150 + Break + Impact + Knockback + Gigas Charge 150
Accuracy: B
Description: Grants the user the strength of the Gigas to smash their foes with an iron fist. Charge up to unleash incredible power. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Gigas Charge 150: Expend one action to increase this chip's damage by 120 and upgrade Knockback to Microburst. Buster Charges do not work as a substitute.
Trader Rank: A--->TRICUBE (Gigas Charge: +120 damage, Knockback--->Microburst) (All other chains launch to capture Cresheth)

Cooldowns
Soil Bomb: 1
Imbuing Spell: 2
Soil Disruption: Next turn

Still with the advantage his shadowed form provided, Jazz was able to spare a few moments to call out again. He could see Prose, a small white, blue and red spot moving around the massive beast, dodging and zipping with a speed and grace that Cresheth, despite his size, was doing an unsettling job of keeping up with. He saw her nod at his information, but then turn suddenly, her gaze shifting to look directly up a the observation window above, and Jazz.

“Jazz, no! Do NOT come down here! You CANNOT come down-” As she shouted, Cresheth sprang, jumping to a new position with insect-like precision, and heaved his head around, catching Prose in her moment of distraction. Once again, the bunny girl was shot like a tiny missile, across the chamber, this time directly up towards the observation window. Barely two feet from Jazz, she impacted against the glass with a thunderous crash, but between the static of the face view and the proximity, he was able to see that she had caught herself mid flight and struck the glass feet first, crouching against it as she absorbed the impact and giving him a quite inappropriate for the situation view under her skirt. A moment later her image faded out and three more took its place across the window, each launching back towards the beast below with powerful kicks. When the face view screen stabilised, it showed only empty space, moving rapidly across the chamber, but the other versions of her wore grim, almost snarling expressions that showed her pointed fangs.

A sharp crackle of electricity pulled his attention back to the room as the lingering icicle successfully skewered and extinguished the remaining Maru and a fraction of its vitality was consumed by the degradation field and fed back into Jazz himself. Seeing its moment, the Monsoon edged forward further and threw its head back, unleashing another storm of swirling winds that tore at the near end of the control room; Jazz was lucky enough that none of the debris that it flung struck him, though it wouldn't have hurt even if it had. The other viruses were not quite as fortunate as chunks of broken metal and discarded furniture whipped about, clanging off the hard metal domes of the pulsebulbs and pushing them back against the wall, and dinging the floating cube so that the red colour that it had previously settled on shifted to blue.

Before the two bulb viruses could properly right themselves, Jazz struck out as well, engulfing the entire doorway end of the chamber in flames that would even have consumed him as well, if not for his intangible defence. One of the pulsebulbs was cored through from beneath by the melting flames, and the large cube was also blasted; its shade flipped back from blue to red again. Less fortunate was the way that the flames failed to properly strike the second pulsebulb, which immediately floated forward through the dying fires toward Jazz. In a flash, it opened its case, exposing delicate inner workings, and bombarded both him and the nearby Monsoon with a hammering wave of disorienting sound. The monsoon reeled, and though Jazz's form wasn't hurt or damaged by the blast, it left a lingering dizzy sensation that would probably get worse before it got better.

He spared a glance for the counting chains as they charged up, but a shot through his middle from the TriCube took his attention back again; it had no effect on him, but TriCubes weren't generally the type to show much emotion for their failures. It hovered in place. Instead of punishing the ineffective cube, Jazz turned quickly and brought his next weapon to bear on the Monsoon beside him. His sword cleft through its lingering wind buffet and finally bisected the virus while fresh grass reached up from the soil to begin reclaiming its form. More data from its destruction fed back to Jazz as it was broken down by the red field covering the room, though he felt about as strong as he could be, for now.

In the central chamber, the battle raged on; Cresheth moved in erratic twitches and jumps, repositioning himself before lunging or ramming at the small figures moving about him. The chamber looked heavily damaged at this point, with most of its panelling torn up or torn open, and showing empty blackness beyond. Smoke and steam were filling the room, with a heavier, grey smoke settling in the bottom of the space, while lighter clouds drifted towards the ceiling. In amongst the obscuring haze, he could still see glimpses of a red glow dashing back and forth as Prose tried to keep Cresheth's attention. Another volley of sharp spins riddled the chamber, thudding in with the sound of rending metal; the warning light on the console showed the containment approaching unstable levels of damage.

For a moment the smoke seemed to clear just enough to show Prose standing alone, turning about in a small circle. The massive shape of Cresheth reared to one side, slamming his legs down and rending the ground, before his bulk seemed to momentarily disappear. A second later, the chamber rumbled and the metal of the floor buckled beneath Prose. She leapt back just as the giant beetle erupted up again, tearing up large swathes of the metal flooring in the process and turning the chamber into an uneven, torn battlefield.

On the screen, the chains were approaching full charge, with two leading ahead of the rest. A yellow warning flickered on the chain displays; impact telemetry was outside acceptable margins of error. Obscured visuals and beast signature mobility was hampering the targeting AIs. Whatever that meant, Jazz had little he could do about it from here. He had to deal with the dangers in the room facing him, and began to charge up a punch to end all punches, while behind him, the first chain reached full charge. The chain base twisted, aiming as best it could while Cresheth moved, and then launched with a dull thud of recoil. The bolt struck true, digging hard into the beast's side and punching through his layers of plates and chitin and anchoring firmly. Chresheth reared up with an almost deafening screech that Jazz could hear and feel from where he was and whipped around, trying to turn on the point of pain that had struck him. He twisted his head, jumping about and dragging the chain with him, before goring his horns down at the tight binding. On the screen, the newly anchored chain flashes a tension spike, jumping up to sixty percent almost at once.

A burst of red energy shattered several plates on the beast's other side and he hissed, whipping back to thrust his body weight back at Prose, but the bunny girl was already gone, repeating with another heavy impact on his other side, shattering off more of his armour and exposing a thick, hide-like membrane underneath. The second chain fired, striking not far from the first and digging in, and again the beast thrashed and hissed even as its armoured plates grew back in over the blasted injuries. The levels of smoke and debris filling the chamber made seeing anything but Cresheth's own massive form almost impossible now; Prose was just a small red glow of light within the smoke and on the screen the two anchored chains read at ninety and thirty percent tension already. The flashing light warning Jazz about the containment field had gone red, declaring a critical ninety percent integrity damage. The smaller view image of Prose on screen showed mostly smoke, but within it he could see harried desperation on her features.

Jazz leapt away from the console, fist spinning as he rose to meet the TriCube and smash it out of the air. His fist connected, shattering the virus into many fractured pieces with a satisfying crunch and as he landed and the degradation field fed some of its data back into him, cold-healing the damage he'd done to himself in the process of charging up such a tremendous blow. He'd barely gotten his feet again, however, as the remaining pulsebulb re-positioned to the left side of the space, circling Jazz. The lingering snare trap sprung up as it passed over it, but a fraction too slow to catch the hovering virus. It opened its dome again and blasted a second soundwave at Jazz, and though it failed to harm him the sound still disoriented him enough to send him stumbling back against the console.

Lights flashed everywhere on the display. Prose hadn't responded to his last message, and the way Cresheth was moving around was making the chain bases swivel back and forth as they attempted to lock properly. He saw, for a moment, the massive bulk of the beast jump back, skittering halfway up the wall of the chamber and latching on with its legs before its great horns retracted and lay back. His head lowered and he launched forward into another rolling spined assault that bore down on the small dot of red light in the centre amidst the smoke. It was hard to see anything as another thundering crash made the chamber shake.

“-st HOLD STILL!” The words reverberated like a deep resonance that rippled through Jazz and left him feeling oddly becalmed. In the chamber with him, more viruses had just been arriving – two wasps and another large-headed invader pressing in through the doorway, but they all reeled, going still and dazed as the reverberating words seemed to stun them.

Down in the chamber, Smoke obscured everything, save for two thin, tall lines of red light, standing up from the centre of the chamber. Slowly, they shifted, spreading out into an arching pair of crimson spectral wings that spread and curved, encircling the edges of the chamber as it failed to accommodate their size. They didn't quite beat, but as they shifted, they seemed to push the smoke out and away. It revealed Crestheth, flat on his belly and his legs splayed out to either side all around him, with Prose standing at his nose, her hands laid on the front point of his central horn. Her wings pulsed and flexed against the walls of the chamber. On Stephine's PET, the reading for Prose flickered; for a moment her signature appeared unmasked as her listed extension fell away, leaving just her name, and a hit point reading in the thousands. The moment of stillness broke as warning sirens began to sound, bathing the observation room in a flashing emergency light.

“Damage to Displacement Field Critical. Necessity For Immediate Re-Excision Imminent”
“Power Threshold for Displacement Field Exceeded. Field Collapse Unavoidable”
“Multiple High Threat Signatures Detected In Displacement Field. Immediate Re-Excision Required”

Different messages shot up across the screen, each vying for attention as the remaining chains began to fire towards the centre of the chamber. Jazz could see them each launch, but in the centre of the room, Prose turned her head, looking up at the observation window. A wide-eyed, almost tearful look of despair dominated her features as, open-mouthed, she tried to mouth something that looked like an apology, before, quite suddenly, the entire scene flashed away in a blue light, leaving Jazz looking out over the calm, rainy graveyard scene of the Chaos level central chamber instead. The screen went dull for a moment, then lit up again with a broad scroll warning message.

“Undernet Displacement Field Compromised And Re-Excised. Hard Lock-Down Protocols Engaged. Grade One Containment Measures Activated: All Personnel Must Proceed To Designated Evacuation Points Immediately For Safe Jack Out.”

There was still only one exit from the room that Jazz was in, but even though it was partially blocked by new viruses, they all still seemed to be reeling from the resonating shout that had struck them, giving Jazz a clear path to escape. The real question was, as the emergency lights bathed the facility, and Prose's protective degradation field had vanished, and as Stephine found herself unable to extract Jazz from his current location... Where should he go?

-=Driven By Wrath-=
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.: DELETED (Ping!)
Lunaroid2Lunaroid2 (Lunaroid)

A bluish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Lunaroid NEVER appears without an accompanying Solarite. Multiple Lunaroid may appear, but there will also be multiple Solarite with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Beam Attack
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches lunar energy at a target with laser intensity.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MoonRay2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Solarite is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Solarite. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: DELETED
Solarite2Solarite2 (Solarite)

A reddish space rock with a diameter of around two feet, that is always giving off a soft glow. Solarite NEVER appears without an accompanying Lunaroid. Multiple Solarite may appear, but there will also be multiple Lunaroid with them. Each pair operates in a set pattern; one dodges by orbiting the other, while the other attacks, then vice versa on their next actions. Which attacks first is random, but they never deviate from the pattern.

Area: Sharo, NAXA

HP: 140
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Null + Recover 20 x 3 Targets
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Launches solar energy at 3 targets. For every non-object target it successfully hits, it heals 20 HP.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): SunFlare2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Codependent: If its paired Lunaroid is deleted, it will check for any unpaired Lunaroid. If there is one, it will pair with it and begin their pattern anew. If there isn't, it will attack every action, and never dodge.: DELETED
MagTec+MagTec+ (MagTect)

MagTect move and dodge at slightly above average speed. In spite of the fact that they have wings, and hover above the ground, they are still subject to the effects of the terrain below. Regardless, they are very dangerous thanks to their ability to exert control over enemy movements with pincer attacks and magnetic pull effects. They know how to use these effects, too. MagTects avoid liquid terrain types if at all possible, as they do not function well at all if forcibly submerged.

Area: SciLab, Electown, Netfrica, NAXA

HP: 160
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Stun 1 + Magnetic Pull
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Pulls opponents towards them and hits with a magnet. Stuns.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Elec + Seeking + Pincer Attack x 2 Missiles
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Shoots two MagnetMissiles at a target: one from each side. The missiles move as if to pass the target, then suddenly turn towards each other in a pincer attack with the target between them.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MagBolt2, MagnetMissile2 (Rare), Zenny: DELETED
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: DELETED
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: DELETED
Maru-10Maru-10 (Maru)

Maru are rather small floating spheres of electricity, with two beady black eyes. They never appear solo, and will always have at least one other Maru at their side. While they're exactly as sturdy as one would expect from a ball of electrical energy, they can inflict bugs with their electric shocks. Maru are highly intelligent for being what they are, and love to combine tactics with others of their kind to make sure they each get to shock the enemy at maximum efficiency. Their small size and ability to move in any direction makes them extremely hard to hit.

Area: Netopia, NAXA

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Glitch
Attack Accuracy: B (special)
Attack Description: Fires a small bolt of electricity that corrupts the data of whatever it hits.
Type: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MaruBlaster2, Zenny
Special: OmniShoes
Special: Taser: If this virus is within Melee range of an enemy, its attack's accuracy is A. If an enemy uses a close range chip, they may counterattack immediately following that attack as a free action. Multi-hit close range chips only trigger one counterattack.
Special: All attacks that target this virus are treated as being two accuracy ranks lower (i.e. A is treated as C) against that virus.
Special: Can use Barrier once.: DELETD
MonsoonMonsoon (Storm)

Storm loosely resemble the Weather line, and may in fact be a distant off-shoot of them. They wear metal hats that loosely resemble straw hats. Their faces are mostly nondescript, aside from their always closed eyes, and beak-like nose. They have no visible mouth, though from somewhere beneath their nose, they appear to be chewing on a bamboo shoot. Their bodies appear to be simple gowns, decorated with swirls. This virus is normally no more or less aggressive than most viruses, but if the enemy is using exclusively/near exclusively Shot or Thrown type attacks, it will attack more frequently, knowing that its attack will help protect it from them.

Area: Dentech, Yumland, NAXA

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Nova 3 + Knockback + Wind Attack x 3 hits
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Creates a wind storm around itself, knocking enemies backward.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Squall1, Zenny
Special: High Turbulence: The accuracy of Shot and Thrown-type attacks is reduced by 3 ranks against this virus while it is attacking.
Special: FloatShoes, ShadowShoes: DELETED
TRICUBETRICUBE (DBLCUBE)

This virus is essentially a flying, color changing RockCube. It flips between Red (attack mode) and blue (recovery mode) every time it takes a hit.

Area: SciLab, NAXA

HP: 220
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 60 Null x 3 Targets
Primary Attack Accuracy: A
Primary Attack Description: The virus turns red, and fires red colored energy beams at three enemies that inflict damage.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Healing x 3 Targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: S
Secondary Attack Description: The virus turns blue, and fires blue colored energy beams at three allies that recover HP.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DBLBeam2, Zenny
Special: Getting hit changes it's color.
Special: Omnishoes: DELETED
PulseBulb2PulseBulb2 (PulseBulb)

PulseBulbs move and dodge at an average rate. They get one free movement every turn, and they must drop their MetalBody defense in order to attack. These viruses are able to see through Invis.

Area: NAXA

HP: 180
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Elec + Stun + Seeking + Cone Attack
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Dashes up to an enemy, opens, and attacks using a sonar device.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElecPulse2, EchoLocation (Rare), Zenny
Special: Omnishoes.
Special: MetalBody: An effect identical to IronBody, but does not hamper movement. Non-Break attacks deal 0 damage, and Break attacks deal double.
Special: This virus must drop its MetalBody defense in order to attack. MetalBody is restored afterwards. A: DELETED (Ping!)
PulseBulb2PulseBulb2 (PulseBulb)

PulseBulbs move and dodge at an average rate. They get one free movement every turn, and they must drop their MetalBody defense in order to attack. These viruses are able to see through Invis.

Area: NAXA

HP: 180
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Elec + Stun + Seeking + Cone Attack
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Dashes up to an enemy, opens, and attacks using a sonar device.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElecPulse2, EchoLocation (Rare), Zenny
Special: Omnishoes.
Special: MetalBody: An effect identical to IronBody, but does not hamper movement. Non-Break attacks deal 0 damage, and Break attacks deal double.
Special: This virus must drop its MetalBody defense in order to attack. MetalBody is restored afterwards. B: 180Hp [Soil] [Mid Left of chamber, facing Jazz][Stunned(1)!][Freeze(1)!][Fear(1)!]

ElewaspElewasp (Elebee)

Elebee viruses move and dodge at a high rate of speed, and they are fully flight capable. Elebee viruses attack by flying at their target at high speed, and delivering an electric sting. This type of virus may opt to stop short of the target, and veer sharply in a new direction to avoid an attack. This requires the expenditure of a second action, but occurs very rapidly regardless. Movement and attacking are one and the same with regards to this virus, thus physical contact with them causes damage. Elebees can see through Invis.

Area: Electown, NAXA

HP: 130
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Seeking
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Charges toward enemy to electrocute
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Arrow2, Zenny
Special: Flying. A: 130Hp [Just inside the doorway][Stunned(1)!][Freeze(1)!][Fear(1)!]
ElewaspElewasp (Elebee)

Elebee viruses move and dodge at a high rate of speed, and they are fully flight capable. Elebee viruses attack by flying at their target at high speed, and delivering an electric sting. This type of virus may opt to stop short of the target, and veer sharply in a new direction to avoid an attack. This requires the expenditure of a second action, but occurs very rapidly regardless. Movement and attacking are one and the same with regards to this virus, thus physical contact with them causes damage. Elebees can see through Invis.

Area: Electown, NAXA

HP: 130
Attack Damage/Effect: 40 Elec + Seeking
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Charges toward enemy to electrocute
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Arrow2, Zenny
Special: Flying. B: 130Hp [Just inside the doorway][Stunned(1)!][Freeze(1)!][Fear(1)!]
Invader2Invader2 (Invader)

Flying about with its eyes bloodshot, its lips permanently scowling, and its comically tiny arms folded, the Invader is a mostly humanoid-shaped virus, about 5 feet tall, wearing a tight bodysuit that covers its body from neck to toe. It is much shorter in reality, however, if you look past the gigantic cranium it has on its head, which easily takes up a third of its total size. Bulging with folds and creases, it seems to pulse every few moments with electrical arcs running over its surface. With intelligence up and above most viruses (and some Navis), they will not hesitate to use more complex tactics than normal viruses. The V1, V2, and V3 versions have blue, purple and red skin respectively. Normal versions wear a white bodysuit with black trim, while EX versions wear a black bodysuit with white trim. The Z version has light green skin with purple bodysuit and black trim, and its eyes are entirely purple.

Area: NAXA

HP: 190
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 50 Elec + Piercing + Chain 3
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Generates a powerful ray from its massive brain, which can arc towards nearby targets when it hits.
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Synapse2, Mindbender (Rare), Zenny
Special: Omnishoes
Special: Chain 2: This attack, upon striking a target, may change directions towards a new target. This may be done up to 2 times in one attack.
Special: Can use Mindbender once as a free action.: 190Hp [Just outside the doorway][Stunned(1)!][Freeze(1)!][Fear(1)!]

-=Holding the Fort=-
Jazz.Exe: 200Hp [Soil][Shadow (Ended)][Stunned(2)!]

-=An Unsafe Study Environment=-
70% Soil

• Wood Elementals get +10% Evasion.
• Wood attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Grass.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Mud.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: change terrain hit to Coal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood.

(A large, rectangular room, mostly without defining features of use)
20% Grass

• Wood Elementals get +5 HP/action.
• Fire attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Soil.
• PanelShot: Imbue Wood.

(area around the broken hole, as well as three smaller patches where the nets hit and landed, plus where the Monsoon was)
10% Broken

• Not bottomless.
• Reverts to Normal after a time, if no one is inside.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• 1-4 Movements actions to climb back out depending on method.

(Small shattered patch to one side of the doorway; still not regenerating)

-=Battle Mode=-
Survival:
- Endure for as long as you need to; you may be able to find a chance to escape after a few rounds.
- Three new viruses will join the battle each round, though no more than seven can fit in the room at once.
- All deleted viruses will give full rewards at battles' end.

-=Chain Status=-
Forward Left: UNKNOWN (Last seen: Launching!)
Mid Left: UNKNOWN (Last seen: Launching!)
Back Left: UNKNOWN (Last seen: Launching!)
Forward Right: UNKNOWN (Last seen: Active, Strain at 90%!)
Mid Right: UNKNOWN (Last seen: Active, Strain at 30%!)
Back Right: UNKNOWN (Last seen: Launching!)

-=Displacement Field=-
Central Containment Displacement Field: OVERLOADED: UNDERNET CONTAINMENT RE-EXCISED (Last reading: Damage at 90%!)

-=Battle 4, Victory!=-
Spoils: 6300z, 54BugFrags, ElecPulse2Damage: 120 + Seeking + Glitch + Cone Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: Blast up to 4 enemies with a cone of electromagnetic waves that disrupts invisibility and causes glitches.
Duration: Once
Element: Elec
Special: Close range only.
Trader Rank: C

Jazz and Stephine stared out in absolute shock of what had happened. Jazz's eyes welling with tears as things had spiraled, far beyond his control as Prose had to force things on her own terms...the blazing crimson wings stretching across the nearly destroyed containment field as he stared, wide eyed into the containment chamber, mouth still agape as he fell backwards into a prone position in front of the other viruses, body sizing up from the paralysis he was hit with as he tried to force himself back up. Prose...you better not...Nnnngh...disappear on me... He murmured under his breath. All the while, Stephine's PET tallied up the rewards from Jazz's fight, despite the viruses still being present and all but certain to attack him the second they had a chance, and a chip spitting out of her PET on top of it all. Prose...you're a Cybeast...aren't you? That's why you weren't willing to say anything... She whispered to herself as she saw why her designation and her HP values had been masked...either she was an extremely advanced undernet tier netnavi...or the alternative she had come to the conclusion of, no other beings in the net, outside of extremely powerful beings or constructs could even come close to that level of HP, let alone...taking on a Cybeast on their own without a second thought, on top of pinning another to the ground like she did.

As everything was compartmentalized between the two of them, Jazz let out a baleful scream. Tears running down his eyes and onto the soil below as he began to grasp at the console in front of him, each of the chains had launched, some had managed to hold onto Cresheth...others were still launching...it was...his fault. His fault that Cresheth had been able to nearly destroy the containment. His fault Prose had to do...whatever it was...to make things right...all he could do was wail out in sorrow as it all hit him at once, he wasn't even trying to escape as his body pricked at him all at once. I'M SORRY PROSE! I'M SORRRRRYYYYYY! He screamed out at the nothing in front of him, as everything hit him, as the weight of what happened hit him full force, all he could do was smash his somewhat paralyzed fists against the console to no avail as he tried in vein to do something, anything, to bring Prose back. Stephine called to him with a booming voice, trying to bring him back to reality. ENOUGH, JAZZ! What's done is done! You need to escape, now, or you'll be left holding the bag at the end of this once the lockdown is done! She called out, devoid of emotion to Jazz's plight as he looked up towards her face above him on a com screen I would know about being left to hold the bag at the end of a botched mission. You need to get out of there, NOW. Otherwise, well, you'll never be able to stop your lesser third, now will you? He's going to escape if nothing's done and it's obvious his grave isn't being monitored that closely these days, let alone maintained. Get. Out. Of. There. Otherwise you lose your freedom and I lose the chance to rehabilitate you and your Id if "she" ever shows up. Break the chains cast on you, and move your ass. She continued on, Jazz grunting and groaning out as he made his attempts to shake off the paralysis that clung to his body, plus without his shadow2 active, he was completely vulnerable to the viruses that surrounded him, ready to...wait...why weren't they attacking? Were they shaken?

His eyes peered upon the trio that had come in to play, but they were not moving, they...looked visibly shaken? His body began to well energy into his core as he tried to shake off the paralysis he had been inflicted with earlier, muscles tensing as he attempted to forcibly remove it with his will alone. Even as his fur stood on end from it all, he took a stance, spreading his legs apart, his chest heaving raggedly as he continued his attempts to reach into his willpower, an attempt to disrupt the stun that clung to his muscles before his head turned to the containment chamber again. Haaaaah...sorry Prose...but I gotta jet...if you're listening to me, from wherever you are, know this. He spoke, weariness in his voice as he slowly turned back to the viruses at hand as his tear stained cheeks shimmered in the light behind him. I don't care what you are. I care about WHO you are. And I don't want you to run away from me...come back, we can talk this out, I'll go to fucking Murkland if I have to, but I will prove I love you, one way or another Prose...even if it kills me. He spoke, low and serious in his tone as he began to activate his Cross programming.

Even after everything that had happened, Jazz's body slowly began to morph, body suit adorned with a simple pair of oversized black leather overalls that just barely stayed over his feet, drooping down to one side. A white "wifebeater" shirt slowly coming across his chest, black oil stains new and old adoring it entirely in random splotches across it as the black jacket from Yoka began to wrap around his arms, sleeves barely reaching past his elbows as a pair of large bat wings adorned the back of the jacket's leather, seemingly poking out of the back as if they were attached to Jazz's shoulder blades. Then the red pompom began to sprout from his head, right at the top where his head curved before the antena it was attached to began to droop downwards with a faint bob and finally, despite everything in his pockets now, Jazz affixed a pair of brown leather gloves to his hands, knuckles splaying a firm attention with shiny brass across each knuckle as he punched his hand with the other, popping his neck. Now then. Viruses. I would -highly- suggest moving out of my way if you don't want deleted. He spoke, a serious tone with dark infliction to it as he picked up the sword he had created earlier, swinging it before making his move. Swinging his body forwards, the navi made his rush out of the door, attempting to push away and through the viruses without attempting to attack them, he had no time, no reason to delete them if they weren't going to make his escape any more difficult than it was going to be.

Huff. Huff. Gotta get out of here...where could a possible exit point be at? The Elevator I took to get down here? No, that would likely be too far away, I doubt I could get to the Rogue Net observatory, the exit towards that would likely be closed off before long...fuck, I really needed to keep a better mental map of the path I took here. He grumbled as he began to wrap himself around in a defensive barrier and casing, grumbling as he continued to run as fast as his body would let him, though Prose's cross certainly helped to take a little bit off of his rising fatigue.

Overview
*Floatshoes: active
*STAB: Wood chips get +20 Single Hit, single target, +10 AoE/Multi-Hit
*Active: Smash, add Breaking property to one attack
*Passive: Mass Destruction; All AoE chips with Blast, Spread, Nova and Splash get +1 Coverage
*Equipped: Widesword, 2 Uses
*Elemental Imbue, Wood: 2 uses
1: Attempt to break stun
2: If stun is broken, activate ProseCross V1 (Normal/Speed, Overclock/High Gear, +10 to Null chips)
3: If stun was not broken, activate ProseCross V1, otherwise Movement towards/out of the door
*Overclock: add to a movement action, increase movement to span as far as it can go in a straight line
*High Gear: 10% base evasion bonus to all movement actions (Dodge/Fient/Movement)
4: Movement to escape out the door
5: Signature: Protection Ward to self (40 HP Barrier and Casing to a single target, 2 TCD)
6: Movement to find a place to escape

Cooldowns
Soil Bomb: Next turn ready
Imbuing Spell: 1
Protection Ward: 2