A Meep of Faith

The good news was that her tactic had worked; her Metool friend had avoided contact with the Drixol's drill of death, and said Drixol hadn't singled out any spectators in the surrounding crowd. Everybody was safe. For now.

And that was where the good news ended.

Lily's systems were now struggling to keep her form intact, a faint pulsing running through her wings as a warning that they were suffering from overtaxing damage. She didn't need her biometrics to tell her that her health was at a quarter of its current capacity; she could feel the dissonance growing as it rippled through her body. With only one hit the burrowing head's pointed assault had brought her closer to the brink of collapse. Her underrun protection would prevent another hit from disrupting her form entirely, but after that...

The butterfly's body briefly shuddered in pain before the wings brightened once more and resolve reappeared in the form of a terse gritting of her teeth (who knew butterflies had teeth...?). She'd told her navi counterpart that she would protect Meep; she wasn't finished yet. Amy wasn't far away; she just needed to hold on a little longer.

Eric wasn't taking the situation as gracefully as Lily was. "Amy! Lily's in trouble!" he yelped as Amy took a scattered beating of her own. The Heavys didn't get a chance to inflict pain on her, but the two fire wielders had been more than happy to assist.

"Help her then! I'm a little busy!" Amy argued back. Smoke was rising from the edges of her frills and her bangs were noticeable shorter, which meant the ash marks on her face had nowhere to hide. Now that the two Heavys had been etched out of the network by the edge of her sharp pen, Amy's cleansing gel was readying itself to erase the threats remaining. The two cores seemed to be confused by the tight space, moving gently one direction and then another, but Amy's mind had already moved on to the next act.

"I can't do anything for her! She can't accept battlechips!" Eric stressed, sweat starting to bead on his forehead. Other patrons in the cafe were starting to stare at him as his distress broke though the otherwise quieter atmosphere, but Eric was too concerned about his team to notice.

"Lily! Are you okay?!" she called out over the commslink.

Her feet were still clamped to Meep, but the bond to the Metool's helmet was helping her to stay upright more than she wanted to admit. "I'm... doing my best... I think... but hurry up and find us! I need you!" Her voice quivered as she now noticed the second Drixol poking its head out of the hole. "I don't know how much longer I'll... we'll... be able to hold out!"

She was too far away to offer any healing solution; nothing she could transmit to them would be of any benefit. Amy's mind raced as she looked for another solution. This battle needed to end, quickly.

"Eric, Shotgun!" she barked with no tactfulness whatsoever as the first gel allotment slid into her palm. Firing gel from her left hand on its own didn't feel natural, but the Sword was still occupying her right arm. As much as Amy wanted to disperse of it with as much haste as possible, if this was their strongest weapon at present, ridding herself of it could cost both Lily and Meep their lives if she encountered any more resistance once this marauding lot had been cleaned up.

The first cyan blob was ejected with more force than usual, its undulating aerial display being illuminated in a peculiar way as it passed through different patches of flickering light onto its first target before it could come about and smoulder her again. Amy needed these to hit and neutralise poste-haste; if the Blazer's flamey exterior acted as a shield, despite the NetPendium's notes making no mention of such an ability, then Lily was going to be on her own even longer...

"Eric! Give Lily maximum power!" she exclaimed, the thought popping into her head as the second allotment of gel gathered density. "It will buy her some more time!"

"I thought we agreed not to do that yet!" Eric yelped. Of course Lily's health was of critical concern, but what if the change affected Amy too greatly...?

"Eric! Just do it!" There was no time for debating the matter. "Priorities!"

With a brief hesitation, Eric finally brought up the Support Assist screen and selected [150%].

Amy instantly felt a loss of power in her legs, her knees almost giving way as the change occurred. She still had full use of her extremities and thought faculties, but the effect the siphoning was having on her body couldn't be ignored any more. In a way, it reminded her of her energy levels when Eric and herself had gone on that first busting run; most of her systems had been running on limited power, but they'd still managed to get through that first experience in one piece. Upgrades had come and helped her regain some of the lost system functions, but as she reminisced on those earlier times it helped her to regain power and determination.

Eric and Amy had survived one onslaught after another. They'd survived the batworm; they'd survived with Sakura in their care; they'd survived the aquarium under the ocean; and most recently, they'd survived the firewall breach. If they just kept pushing a little longer, they could beat this too.

Meanwhile, Lily took stock of the new entity that had joined her party. She'd been too unhinged by the disruption to her systems to notice earlier, but only now was she piecing together the moments just past and recognised that this caped Metool had probably saved her life. The surrounding netizens were encouraged by its sudden appearance, and Meep too was also showing more energy than before. Could this Metool be a protector of the village...?

"Th... thank you!" she tried to offer as a show of gratitude, but a crumbling sound from the ground near the first Drixol as it attempted to stand back up on its odd feet. Time was not on Lily's side. "I don't know who you are, but we really need your help!" she petitioned to the new arrival.

Lily felt the increase in power from Amy's request, but it didn't help to repair the damage already done. Her wings were now charged with new static energy and ready to broadcast once again; at least she had that. She used the opportunity to first take a strike towards the Drixol that had assaulted her earlier; it was becoming difficult for her to keep her area scanners monitored as her energy dwindled, but she needed to be watching out for her health more than ever.

Lily's nerves eventually got the better of her as the second wave she'd reserved for its partner was also discharged towards the original attacker's direction. Call it a grudge or call it fear, but Lily didn't want its presence anywhere near her again as the static energy charged forwards, the crackling noise just a little quieter than normal.

"Meep! If you have any hidden abilities Amy doesn't know about, now's the time to use them!" the butterfly implored. Evasion was her only option now; she didn't have the necessary power to overwhelm the second Drixol just yet without risking her own deletion, and abandoning Meep would risk HIS deletion, something she knew Amy wouldn't tolerate. She couldn't abandon the mission given to her, although a slight chuckle of nervousness left her mouth as she remembered it wasn't a mission, it was a 'directive'.

The second portion of cleansing gel left Amy's hand with the same desperation as the first, this time chasing down the fire wolf as it too glittered through the cavern. Its edges licked the occasional stalactite as it tried to close the distance and nullify the threat. Amy's arm was solidified and went tubular as the tribute to Crony edged its way out of her sleeve.

"I don't have time for this!" Amy yelled as she turned her attention back to the tunnel she'd entered. She took a step backward as the Shotgun was discharged into the arena; it wasn't well-aimed, and although she'd tried to aim for the Spikey Amy's focus was already elsewhere, desperate to close the distance between herself and her support program.

----------

Actions:
[A1] Calming Spray A (40 Aqua DMG) >>> Blazer
[A2] Calming Spray B (40 Aqua DMG) >>> Spikey
[A3] [Disruptor] Shotgun (50 DMG + Spread1) >>> Spikey

Cooldowns:
Calming Spray A [Used; 0/1 TCD; Recharging]
Calming Spray B [Used; 0/1 TCD; Recharging]

Party A:
Amity.EXE: 150 / 210 HP [Sword: 4/6 Uses Remaining]

----------

Actions:
[L1] Ion Wave (25 Elec DMG) >>> Drixol A
[L2] Dodge
[L3] Ion Wave (25 Elec DMG) >>> Drixol A
[L4] Dodge
[L5] Dodge

Cooldowns:
None

Party B:
Liliana.SP: *20* / 80 HP
Meep!: 40 / 40 HP

Amy had little time to spend on dealing with the remaining crash-in interlopers; Lily's desperate situation drove the navi to swift and decisive action, and though the spinning blazer was already twirling towards her for a second pass, Amy was quicker. The first shot of cleansing gel coated the approaching virus entirely and the flames surrounding its body quenched with a hiss and a brief, staticy screech of shock. A moment later the gel had done its work with extreme efficacy against a target particularly susceptible to it.

Amy was already backing towards the other entrance of the cave, and the Spikey managed to take another shot at her in the process – a shot that Amy's reduced processing energy didn't give her the wherewithal to dodge as another fire bolt battered her. Her retaliation was just as thorough the second time as the first, though, and with a second steamy hiss Amy found herself, mercifully, without need for the shotgun in this particular moment. The rumbling continued overhead, but it looked as though whatever horde of crushing viruses was moving past, their hammering warpath only served to re-collapse the broken hole that the first ones had made; the sunlight that had streamed in along with them was obscured again, and no more viruses seemed to be following through, for now. Amy was free to make haste towards her separated support program. At the speed of desperation, surely she'd reach her friends soon.

Further off – maybe only a few desperate seconds of running, but still further than desired, Lily was dealing with a more fraught situation... though it seemed the tide of numbers had at least turned in her favour. The caped metool spared only time for a quick nod of his helmet in response to Lily's plea, he but definitely seemed invested in protecting seemingly peaceful villagers – and potentially Lily too, in her injured state, though it was hard to really 'read' a metool at the best of times.

The cape-wearing one turned his focus to the newest arrival, rushing towards it with his pickaxe ready; with one solid strike and the sound of scraping metal he battered it to one side of the opening, then turned and waved his weapon towards the watching mets around the edges of the hidden chamber. The first word was a loud, carrying 'Meep!', but after that the language transitioned into a more complex, unintelligible viral speech, accompanied by quick gestures with his weapon. Metools began to move, rushing to crib building supplies from some of the other structures quickly and carrying them to the drill hole as quickly as their little feed could carry them; once they started acting, they seemed to fall into a quick and efficient teamwork.

Meanwhile, the injured Drixol had shaken itself off and drove itself towards Lily again; the tiny SP and her ally were able to dodge this attack, and before it had another chance to teleport away, Lily battered it into submission with another pair of ion waves – it was hard to tell immediately if it was the first or second wing-beat that did the job – what mattered was that it was dealt with.

While the civilian mets began hurriedly closing over and reinforcing the drilled hole, the caped metool attempted to keep the remaining virus' attention, diving forward to strike it a second time with his pickaxe. As he did, Lily's smaller companion meeped with helpful exuberance and slammed his own weapon into the ground, sending a shock-wave across the space between them toward the virus as well; his aim, unfortunately, wasn't the best, but between the multiple assaults from different angles, the virus seemed to turn to a more malicious tactic. Instead of driving its drill towards any of the actual combatants in the battle, it teleported a short distance and aimed itself towards the working metools instead.

The defender reacted – about to deliver a finishing blow to the virus, he dashed and slid into the line between the virus and its prey instead, pulling his helmet down low. A resounding clang echoed through the chamber as many of the watching metools ducked under their helmets in fear. The Drixol had recoiled from the blow, failing to pierce through to the metools beyond, but the defender staggered back as well, reeling with dizzy steps for several paces before he managed to straighten his helmet again and shake off the impact. He didn't seem badly injured, but his helmet had definitely taken a bad scuff, and didn't look like it would be able to repeat the performance. With a small shake, he seemed to pull his helmet down tighter and swung his pickaxe, readying it again with another challenging 'Meep!', this time shouted at the attacking virus.

-=Hide-away Cave Invaders=-
BlazerBlazer (Blazer)

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

Area: Kotobuki Town, Netopia, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 80
Attack Damage/Effect: Movement + 15 Nova 2 Fire Damage
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Flies forward and then SPINS, unleashing a gout of flame from specialized vents on its' flanks.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Burner1, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes: CLEANSED (Ping!)
SpikeySpikey (Spikey)

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

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

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Fire + Spread 1
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description - Fires HeatShot
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): HeatShot, Zenny
Special: Uses pack tactics when with at least 2 other Spikeys: CLEANSED
HeavyHeavy (Heavy)

Heavy viruses move slowly, and only dodge when they attack. When a Heavy attacks, it teleports to a position to the left or right of the intended target, and proceeds to try to ram the target with a quick sideways motion. The number of times it will consecutively attempt to ram the target before teleporting back to its starting position depends entirely on the number of actions the virus has. Teleporting before and after the attack do not require an action. Movement and attacking are one and the same to this virus, thus even a non-attack collision with it is damaging.

Area: Yoka, Kotobuki Town, Netfrica, Netopia

HP: 75
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Line Attack + Impact + Break
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Teleports into enemy area, shakes side to side, and slams into everything in it's path. Can attack up to 3 enemies at once.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Shake1, Zenny
Special: Uses Areagrab as a free action. A: CLEANSED
HeavyHeavy (Heavy)

Heavy viruses move slowly, and only dodge when they attack. When a Heavy attacks, it teleports to a position to the left or right of the intended target, and proceeds to try to ram the target with a quick sideways motion. The number of times it will consecutively attempt to ram the target before teleporting back to its starting position depends entirely on the number of actions the virus has. Teleporting before and after the attack do not require an action. Movement and attacking are one and the same to this virus, thus even a non-attack collision with it is damaging.

Area: Yoka, Kotobuki Town, Netfrica, Netopia

HP: 75
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Line Attack + Impact + Break
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Teleports into enemy area, shakes side to side, and slams into everything in it's path. Can attack up to 3 enemies at once.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Shake1, Zenny
Special: Uses Areagrab as a free action. B: CLEANSED

==

DrixolDrixol (Drixol)

Area: Electown, Kotobuki Town, Hades Isle

HP: 90
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Null + Break + Piercing
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Flies at a line of enemies, drilling through all in its path.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (Teleport) + (20 Null + Break + Piercing)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: After the initial flying drill attack, this virus teleports through a hole in space, and makes a second pass at the chosen enemy target from a new direction.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DrillArm1, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes when attacking.
Special: This virus will never execute its secondary attack without using its primary attack first, and always in immediate succession. Any other actions it takes must occur outside of this sequence. If anything causes an interruption between its primary attack action and secondary attack action, they revert to starting their primary attack again. A: CLEANSED
DrixolDrixol (Drixol)

Area: Electown, Kotobuki Town, Hades Isle

HP: 90
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Null + Break + Piercing
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Flies at a line of enemies, drilling through all in its path.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (Teleport) + (20 Null + Break + Piercing)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: After the initial flying drill attack, this virus teleports through a hole in space, and makes a second pass at the chosen enemy target from a new direction.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DrillArm1, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes when attacking.
Special: This virus will never execute its secondary attack without using its primary attack first, and always in immediate succession. Any other actions it takes must occur outside of this sequence. If anything causes an interruption between its primary attack action and secondary attack action, they revert to starting their primary attack again. B: 30Hp (roughly in the middle of the chamber)

-=The Split Party=-
Amity.Exe: 135Hp [Normal]

==

Liliana.SP: 20Hp [Equipped to Meep]

-=Friendly Follower=-
Meep!: 40Hp [Normal] (across the chamber from the invading Drixol)

-=A Challenger Appears?=-
Caped Metool: 70Hp [Normal][BreakGuard1] (between the Drixol and the mets repairing the breach)

-=Terrain=--
100% Normal

• No effects.

Terrain is rocky earth, focused on two separate locations quite distant from one another and out of sight. The entry tunnel where Amy is is broad and long, with many stalactites and stalagmites scattered through it. The shelter cave where Lily is is large and round, and has a large mass of metools in it, some are hurriedly patching in the breached hole, while others watch on in trepidation.

Amy can reach Lily by the end of the next turn

The darkness was a hindrance that was both unwelcome and uninviting; each stone was a slipping hazard, each shadow was a potential threat. How the Metool were able to live in such disarray was beyond her has she tried to dart and weave through the pillars of mineral decay that often led her straight over an adjacent clod of dirt. Her boots weren't designed for such rugged terrain, and the heated coals only made matters worse as the occassional hiss caused her to recoil in trepidation, only to run into either a wall or a stalactite, or stumble over the seemingly endless scatterings of dirt too large to merely step over.

Amy demonstrated this as one particular coal crackled whilst discharging embers from its more energetic innards out into the world; her misstep to avoid the glow caused her to run directly into a stalactite impossibly shaped like another humanoid navi. In instinct her arm swung at it defensively, forgetting it had a sword attached to it. The resulting cleaving created a pillar of glittery metal that fell toward her, sandwiching her leg into the ground and causing her to fall backwards, throwing her back into a stalagmite she'd stepped around seconds ago.

How had she ended up in this situation?

A wave of pain coursed through the same area her partner would normally take cover in, an empty hollow as said partner was doing their best to finish what was HER directive. Had she not been direct enough? Had she allowed others to make her decisions for her... again? Something in her mind knew that Lily had chosen the right path, so why couldn't she accept that this was a logical possibility of their parting ways? Was it because she felt responsible to Lily if something bad happened to her, or was it because she didn't trust the girl to be able to defend herself... or the precious Metool to be in her care...?

Through the PET connection Amy could hear nervous chattering between Eric and Lily. Now was not the time for such thoughts, but now the rock presented a new problem to the lady in the blue dress. Lifting up the metal fragment pinning her legs down was out of the question, there was simply too much weight for Amy to be able to push it off. As she looked up into the darkness she realised that she must have slashed at the rock in precisely the right location, the remainder of the stalactite severance being clean without burring. The remainder that rested on her was solid in nature, quite likely the result of many years of cavern gravity simulation. Despite multiple stabs and slashes of the rock with her sword, it remained in one piece, each action taken to break it apart only resulting in further damage to her lower regions as the shockwaves pulsed through the rock and back into her body.

Amy quickly realised there was only one way she was getting out of this situation as she angled the blade from her arm inbetween herself and the fallen pillar. Her cries of anguish were amplified throughout the cavern as the sound of tearing fabric accompanied a grating sound. She ignored the pain that screamed from her thigh as she used her leg as a fulcrum, the sword tearing at both her dress and her upper thigh. Slowly but surely, one push after another, the sword was able to gently slide the pillar off to her right, a loud thud as it impacted the dirt. A loud clang quickly followed that reverberated throughout the chamber, the sound being immediately followed by words best left unsaid.

Amy needed a moment to regain her composure before returning to her feet. How much time had she just wasted? Should she rip the dress fragment off to stop it from getting in her way as she ran? Would it grow back if she tore a large portion off? It had survived small tears, but what about half the train? Another quick blink of her eyes followed as her head shuddered. Stop thinking. Run. Move. Go. Dodge. Duck. Dip. Dive. Dodge. And so her mind repeated as it stopped dwelling on unimportant matters and focused on closing the distance between herself and her friend. To her joy the tunnel slowly grew brighter in the distance; whether this was Amy and Meep or something else entirely was impossible to tell from this far away, but regardless of the outcome her legs carried her body towards the lights as fast as they could.

"Eric! It's going after the villagers!"

Eric didn't need the play-by-play from Lily; his eyes were watching the monitor and saw that the Drixol had changed directions. With faster reflexes than both Eric and Lily, the hero of the party had wasted no time in sacrificing a clean attack to instead protect those that must be under its protection. The gesture caused his once-useful shield to shatter as it connected with the drill's piercing attack, but for the moment it still looked to be in better condition than the ailing butterfly.

"What do we do, Eric?!" Lily petitioned as the effects of the battle once again caused her wings to flicker ever so briefly. One part of her badly wanted to give the cowardly Drixol a one-way ticket back to its spawn location, but the other half couldn't ignore the danger before them. The risks were now two-fold; she didn't have a direct line-of-fire on her remaining foe that, if it dodged the assault, wouldn't put both the new sidekick and its charges in harm's way. She was in no state to be pulling off any daring tactical maneouvres, despite her wings already humming with the next pairing of disruptive electrical ions ready to despatch their given target.

"Amy's coming, you just need to hold on!" Eric assured her as he desperately continued trying to upload battlechips to her system. No amount of insertions and commands would give him success, but it didn't stop him from trying.

Being reminded of her partner's absence wasn't the news Lily wanted to hear; the pair could be deleted before she arrived. "You've got this!" the butterfly cheered to their ally and the repair workers as she then looked down to Meep. "Meep, I know I'm asking a lot of you, but we need to move," Lily begrudgingly concluded. "If you can get me a little further that way, maybe we can end this, together," she offered, the words not exuding confidence. She knew it was the right thing to do, but not necessary the smart thing to do.

Her feet could feel vibrations through the helmet as Meep complied, a new energy in his step as the creature took strides towards the settlements. It did create an arc of opportunity, but if the Drixol decided to ignore the distractions created by the caped hero and the citizens desperately trying to patch the invastion tunnel, things would get very dicey for the duo.

"I can do this!" the butterfly chanted to itself. Its focus was locked intently onto the drill's head as the two bursts of energy charged forward, one after another. The crackling once again faintly lit the surrounding area as they burst forth, their disruptive nature ready to assist the party. Whether the ability was a gift or a curse, Lily still hadn't decided. In any case, Lily had had just about enough of fighting solo.

"Amy, where are you?!"

----------

Actions:
[A1-A3] Move (somewhat dangerously) through tunnel towards Party B

Cooldowns:
Calming Spray A [Recharging; 1/1 TCD; Ready!]
Calming Spray B [Recharging; 1/1 TCD; Ready!]

Party A:
Amity.EXE: 135 / 210 HP [Sword: 4/6 Uses Remaining]

----------

Actions:
[L1] Movement to gain safe attack line on Drixol B
[L2] Ion Wave (25 Elec DMG) >>> Drixol B
[L3] Dodge
[L4] Ion Wave (25 Elec DMG) >>> Drixol B
[L5] Dodge

Cooldowns:
None

Party B:
Liliana.SP: *20* / 80 HP [Equipped to Meep]
Meep!: 40 / 40 HP

While every minor mishap and tiny delay might have seemed like interminable, too-long seconds to Amy, the scuffle in the main hide-away came to a head in a matter of hectic moments. While the villagers completed their hurried repairs in the background, the main combatants each sought to act first; the Drixol began spinning its drill again and the caped metool dashed forward, while Lily and Meep shifted swiftly to one side, attempting to find the perfect angle to end the conflict cleanly. It was a coin flip as to who would manage to strike first, but this time fate didn't manage to favour Lily's efforts – the defender reached his enemy ahead of her, striking in with his pickaxe and putting an end to the immediate threat in his own way, before Lily could neautralise it more gently. Lily's shock-wave rolled through the space a moment later, but it was still a moment too late as the defeated virus swiftly broke apart into junk data that scattered into nothing.

Around the chamber, the watching civilian metools began to cheer in tiny, enthusiastic voices, jumping up and down in their excitement and chattering amongst themselves while the caped defender jumped back from where the final blow had been struck, flourished his pickaxed, then seemed to 'sheath' it behind his back – it hung in place, improbably floating with a tiny gap between the weapon and the back of his cape, but this made about as much sense as anything, for a virus family that didn't appear to actually have hands.

The rumbling continued overhead, but with the gap breached and the tunnel secure, it didn't seem like there were any more threats incoming for now. The caped metool turned towards Lily and Meep, approaching the pair and giving a gesture that might have been a short bow, or possibly a tip of the helmet. He looked at Lily in particular, examining her curiously, before a small speech bubble appeared in the air beside him. There were a few garbled, indecipherable characters in it, but with some apparent concentration on his part, it resolved into a single word - “Navigator” A question mark flickered in and out of sight at the end of the word, while a mathematical 'not' symbol flickered in and out of phase at the beginning of it as well. His head tilted slightly as he tried to work out what Lily was.

It was a moment or two after this that Amy finally emerged from the dark tunnel, into the hide-away cavern, to find the crowd of now quite excited metools seemingly resisting the urge to crowd around Lily, Meep and the caped one. Many eyes turned in her direction, and the defender shifted quickly again, sliding to one side and the back around to put himself between Lily and the new arrival with a sharp, warning 'Meep!' - after another second though, he glanced over his shoulder to Lily, then back towards Amy and gave another more questioning, though still cautious 'Meep?' in her direction.

-=Hide-away Cave Invaders=-
BlazerBlazer (Blazer)

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

Area: Kotobuki Town, Netopia, Netfrica, Hades Isle

HP: 80
Attack Damage/Effect: Movement + 15 Nova 2 Fire Damage
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Flies forward and then SPINS, unleashing a gout of flame from specialized vents on its' flanks.
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Burner1, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes: CLEANSED (Ping!)
SpikeySpikey (Spikey)

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

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

HP: 90
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Fire + Spread 1
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description - Fires HeatShot
Element: Fire
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): HeatShot, Zenny
Special: Uses pack tactics when with at least 2 other Spikeys: CLEANSED
HeavyHeavy (Heavy)

Heavy viruses move slowly, and only dodge when they attack. When a Heavy attacks, it teleports to a position to the left or right of the intended target, and proceeds to try to ram the target with a quick sideways motion. The number of times it will consecutively attempt to ram the target before teleporting back to its starting position depends entirely on the number of actions the virus has. Teleporting before and after the attack do not require an action. Movement and attacking are one and the same to this virus, thus even a non-attack collision with it is damaging.

Area: Yoka, Kotobuki Town, Netfrica, Netopia

HP: 75
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Line Attack + Impact + Break
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Teleports into enemy area, shakes side to side, and slams into everything in it's path. Can attack up to 3 enemies at once.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Shake1, Zenny
Special: Uses Areagrab as a free action. A: CLEANSED
HeavyHeavy (Heavy)

Heavy viruses move slowly, and only dodge when they attack. When a Heavy attacks, it teleports to a position to the left or right of the intended target, and proceeds to try to ram the target with a quick sideways motion. The number of times it will consecutively attempt to ram the target before teleporting back to its starting position depends entirely on the number of actions the virus has. Teleporting before and after the attack do not require an action. Movement and attacking are one and the same to this virus, thus even a non-attack collision with it is damaging.

Area: Yoka, Kotobuki Town, Netfrica, Netopia

HP: 75
Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Null + Line Attack + Impact + Break
Attack Accuracy: C
Attack Description: Teleports into enemy area, shakes side to side, and slams into everything in it's path. Can attack up to 3 enemies at once.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Shake1, Zenny
Special: Uses Areagrab as a free action. B: CLEANSED

==

DrixolDrixol (Drixol)

Area: Electown, Kotobuki Town, Hades Isle

HP: 90
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Null + Break + Piercing
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Flies at a line of enemies, drilling through all in its path.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (Teleport) + (20 Null + Break + Piercing)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: After the initial flying drill attack, this virus teleports through a hole in space, and makes a second pass at the chosen enemy target from a new direction.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DrillArm1, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes when attacking.
Special: This virus will never execute its secondary attack without using its primary attack first, and always in immediate succession. Any other actions it takes must occur outside of this sequence. If anything causes an interruption between its primary attack action and secondary attack action, they revert to starting their primary attack again. A: CLEANSED
DrixolDrixol (Drixol)

Area: Electown, Kotobuki Town, Hades Isle

HP: 90
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 20 Null + Break + Piercing
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Flies at a line of enemies, drilling through all in its path.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (Teleport) + (20 Null + Break + Piercing)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: After the initial flying drill attack, this virus teleports through a hole in space, and makes a second pass at the chosen enemy target from a new direction.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DrillArm1, Zenny
Special: Omnishoes when attacking.
Special: This virus will never execute its secondary attack without using its primary attack first, and always in immediate succession. Any other actions it takes must occur outside of this sequence. If anything causes an interruption between its primary attack action and secondary attack action, they revert to starting their primary attack again. B: DELETED (Ping!)(by Caped Metool)

-=The Split Party=-
Amity.Exe: 135Hp [Normal]

==

Liliana.SP: 20Hp [Equipped to Meep]

-=Friendly Follower=-
Meep!: 40Hp [Normal]

-=A Challenger Appears?=-
Caped Metool: 70Hp [Normal][BreakGuard1]

-=Battle 4, Victory!=-
Spoils: 1500z, 22 BugFrags, DrillArm1Damage: 60 + Break + Knockback + Long Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: A long drill is created to bore through enemies. It can hit one enemy twice, and a second enemy once.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Knockback paired with Long Attack causes the drill to hit close ranged targets twice, instead of once. This is because it pushes the closest target through both hit zones. Knockback only triggers once.
Trader Rank: D

Ionised wind arced against the remainders of the drill's remains as it flowed through the static mess and dispersed the cloud into oblivion, confirmation that she'd played second fiddle to the caped hero's first strike. No core flew away from this entity as the dust became invisible to the naked eye; Lily had not been able to destabilise it enough to trigger that reaction. The Drixol's partner's core hovered outside the group's edge in mid-air, as if it had been waiting for its friend. No such event occurred, leaving the glowing orb alone and defenceless. It may have been Lily's imagination, but when the core departed the area through the entrance that led further on, it was almost like it did so at a slower pace, bouncing off the wall in the process like a lost, wandering child unsure of its goal.

"Eric, are you sure they don't have thoughts in that form?" The situation couldn't have gone down any other way, but somehow a feeling of guilt was bothering her.

"I don't know. That would be a question for Amy, I guess." Eric didn't seem particularly worried about this virus being shredded, given its propensity for attacking a fellow virus doing nothing harmful, but there was still much about Amy's EJO practices he didn't yet understand. For example, the colour of this lone core was yellow, which puzzled him as it flew away; every core he'd seen until now had been cyan in appearance. "Why is that one yellow?"

Lily shrugged as celebrations began around her and her partner. "I don't know. That would be a question for Amy, I guess," she replied, cheekily mocking him in the process. Her demeanour was already improving; the danger had passed, and although she hadn't done it on her own the battle had been won and she was still alive. A large sigh of relief followed, but doing so caused yet another shimmer of her wings. The reminder of her frail state beckoned her to look back to the tunnel she expected her partner to appear from, but before she could do so the caped companion sought their attention.

Lily reciprocated the gesture with one of her own, as the upper wings tipped forward 45 degrees to match her bowed head and remained so momentarily. "Where are my manners...?" she apologised as her head remained lowered. "I would have been navi dust if it wasn't for you... thank you very much for saving us."

As her head rose back up it saw the amalgamation of odd symbols that eventually bore a readable message. "No, I'm just a support program. My navigator can't be far away..." Her head now followed the original desire to search for the lady in blue, and to her joy a familiar figure finally appeared at the entrance. An impossible grin shone from her face when she saw a sword still protruding from the panting navi's right arm; the tears still self-mending on her dress implied a fearsome battle of her own.

"Over here!" she called out. "Looks like you used it after all!" she commended gleefully, her navigator being a welcome sight after the battle just won.

The village Amy had stumbled onto was free of any carnage that she had expected to find. Instead of jumping headfirst into battle, it appeared that the fight was over, and celebrations were in order. A brief moment of panic was quickly dissipated as her support called out to her, Lily's voice being confirmation that the party had indeed survived. The butterfly's callout naturally made some of the ecstatic party turn to see who she was talking to, and the nervous reaction from some made it clear that Amy may not be welcome here. Before she could offer a gesture of peace, a flapping noise broke out above the chatter and a metool with a cape soared over the party to come between Amy and her partner. Its initial reaction made it clear it was ready for a potential battle.

"Woahhh!" Amy tried to throw her hands up in defense, but such an action likely sent mixed messages, given one of her two hands was still morphed into a shiny blade. She shook the hand as its coding was dismissed, returning her hand back into its normal state as the oversized sleeves consumed it once again.

"Not looking for a fight, I'm just here for my friends!" she advised, looking to Lily for some sort of backup. "Lily, what should I do?" Her question was laced with uncertainty, unsure if this was another threat or just a misunderstanding.

"It's okay, she's my friend!" Lily called out as she attempted to detach her magnetically charged feet from Meep's helmet. "Took you long enough," she quipped as the pads loosened their grip, allowing her body to take flight. Meep noticed the detachment and followed behind her as she flew next to the caped hero. "I don't know who this is, but without his help we wouldn't have made it." Lily's wings gestured in their angle as Lily offered an explanation. "That's my navigator. She doesn't make the best choices, but I guess I'm to blame a little as well."

Amy's face pouted at the harsh judgment but could think of nothing meaningful to counter it. If she'd believed that Lily wasn't capable of looking after herself then she shouldn't have let them go on their own. The blame would indeed lie with her as the head of the party. "And here I was, rushing over to try and save you..." she responded dejectedly as aloe gel began flowing down her arms. This unknown stranger had come along and saved her partner and friend, but Amy felt a tinge of jealously from the fact that she'd been robbed of the opportunity to prove her value. A moment ago she'd been fearful for their lives, but was that just her over-reacting to the situation...? "I suppose I should thank you for looking out for my friends," she offered as a way of thanks to Lily's associate, but the tone fell short of meaningful gratitude and more like an obligatory statement.

"See what I mean? She should be happy that we're all still alive, but instead she's moping about something stupid." A small flap of one wing sent a gust of wind at the navi, gaining her attention in the process. "Hey, we won! Whatever's wrong, get over it!" Her brief flight had taken more energy out of her than she had expected. Whether by chance or on purpose Meep had come to stand underneath her, allowing her feet to once again land on the metool's helmet for stability.

"Just hurry up and heal me already, would you?" Lily sensed the gel in her partner's sleeves and was ready to lose this lethargic feeling.

The overhead rumblings of the destructive viral horde began to slowly abate in the brief moments of exchange between Lily, Amy and their new friends. While the cape-wearing met still seemed at least a little on guard, he nodded and sheathed his pickaxe again, once it became clear that Amy wasn't another threat.

Increasingly more and more of the civilian metools began to cluster up around the group, chattering and meep-ing in a chorus that neither the navigator nor her SP could really understand beyond a general sense of enthusiastic gratitude. Beside them, the smallest metool happily waved his pickaxe around and seemed to soak up what one could only assume was praise, while the caped one seemed somewhat more stoic, attempting to nod and acknowledge as many of the clamouring mets as he could without it getting ridiculous. After a few moments of this, however, he spoke up – in viral language that didn't translate, unfortunately, but the crowd slowly subsided and follow his requests. Many began moving back to check the hide-away for any further damage or weaknesses, while others began to help a number of mets who had seemingly been injured or scuffed up during their rushed evacuation - they came or were brought forward into the open space while others began to produce small amounts of medical supplies, most of which seemed to consist of an inordinate amount of bandages. Bandages fix everything.

Once he has overseen that this process was being taken care of, the defender returned his attention to Lily and Amy. As much as Amy's own gratitude was a little flat, the caped one didn't seem to mind. Instead,he focused on Amy and took a moment to clear his throat. A look of concentration took his features as the small text box appeared beside him again, spelling out legible letters meticulously from the elements that began as viral gibberish. The words that formed were more of a confirmation than a question.

“Tunnel, Entrance; Safe? Protected?” Between these words and the next, there was a slightly jittery symbol that mostly maintained itself as an if/then logic symbol. “Gratitude.” This time the nod of the helmet was much lower, and it could more easily be read as a small bow instead.

“Meep!” Beneath Lily's feet, the smallest metool piped up. He was looking between the other three with wide eyes, but waved his pick axe in the air, then tapped it down on the ground in front of him, looking towards the caped one, out towards the many other non-combatant metools, and back to the defender again. “Meep!” The other metool looked back thoughtfully, but seemed uncertain, before looking up to Lil and Amy again.

“Meep,” he shook his head for a moment, then concentrated again. The text box reformed. This time the letters came a little faster – some of these words might be ones he'd practiced using before.

“Still Travelling. Learning. Many to Find, Many to Help. Many to protect.” It seemed he did not live here, or specifically protect just this village, after all. He paused, focusing more carefully and closed his eyes for another second or two. The letters resolved one by one. “Growing. Changing. Here; no more fighting.” At last, he opened his eyes and looked up to fix Amy in particular with his gaze – there was definitely more depth to it than the usual almost-oblivious single dimension that most metools displayed. “Your Intention?” the text box read in slightly uncertain characters that shifted shape a few times before he got them right and firm.

[MULTIPLE ENTITIES DETECTED IN SAME LOCATION. DISABLING SPLIT OPERATIONS MODE.]

Lily could feel the diminishing cycle output immediately as the heightened alertness dissipated from her mind. Her exhaustion was becoming harder and harder to ignore, and the sounds of the metools around her tending to their brethren was only adding to her stress levels. Her wings gave a final thrust off of Meep's helmet as she launched her body into the air. It landed in two outstretched hands covered with aloe gel, transferring itself onto and into her body to alleviate the damage done to her own outer casing. Lily hadn't experienced such a potent level of healing aid before, but as the solution refreshed her extremities she felt a strange sensation, like she'd been submerged in a heated pool. It was relaxing, refreshing and energising, all at the same time.

"All fixed," Amy confirmed as Lily once again took flight. She originally flew over Amy's head, pausing before turning around and returning to Meep, but not before picking up the remaining fragment of the Drixol's body and dropping it into Amy's hand.

"Another battlechip?" she enquired.

"Looks like it," she concurred, sending it into the uplink for Eric to deal with it.

The metool guardian again attempted communication with the pair, as Amy did her best to follow along. "I... I just did what anybody should do..." she suggested as her eyes gravitated towards Lily and Meep. "You see a need and you help, right...?"

Meep replied to the hero with his own chatter that the duo had no chance of understanding, but the hero's response to the littlest helmet turned back into a question for the navi team to answer.

"I came for him," Amy admitted, thrusting a finger in Meep's direction. " When I met him he was being bullied by two of his own kind. I told him I'd come back for him so I could protect him, and... here I am." She was about to explain further, but the memory of deleting two virii made her hesitate; it wasn't a moment she was proud of, but if she didn't explain that as well then her reason for trying to redeem herself for past mistakes wouldn't make much sense.

"And she put us in harm's way multiple times to do so," Lily interjected. "Do OUR lives not matter...?""

"Hey, you saw the boulder too!" Amy argued back. "A moment later and there wouldn't have BEEN a Meep to save! That was us! The strong protect the weak! That's what I was taught!"

"Then why haven't you thanked this metool properly?" Lily asked whilst gesturing to the caped saviour. "That 'thank you' earlier was awful. When I needed help you were too far away to be useful, but he came and defended not just me and Meep, but this whole town. If the strong protect the weak, then the weak should be thankful, no?"

"I know I'M thankful for him having been here," Eric added.

Amy realised her wrongdoing and turned around properly to face the caped metool. "They're right. I should be more thankful to you; you did save my friends." She did a small curtsey of her own, but the gesture made her feel even more awkward about the situation.

Meep took a few steps forward toward Amy, and Lily used the moment to head back to her natural station below her shoulders. "THIS. THIS is where I belong.". A long sigh of satisfaction followed as her wings pivoted from yellow to cyan. "So? Anything else you want to add?"

Amy had calmed down enough to recognise her immaturity. "I'm sorry about earlier. You're right, I should've been happy you were all safe." Amy couldn't give Lily a hug, but an awkward exchange still occurred as Amy tried to reach behind her to give the small program a comforting pat.

"Okay, don't ever do that again," Lily chuckled as a wing pushed away the hand. "You were the one who said it was our mis- DIRECTIVE to save your friend. It's done. I would think you should be thrilled."

"I am, I am, promise." Meep was still by her side, and despite the occasional weird look from passing Metools he continued looking up to her, the eyes beaming in that way only Metools can.

"I can't believe he's still alive," Eric commented. The day's events had certainly indicated that Meep lived in a hostile environment. "He must be a smart little virus."

Amy agreed as she picked Meep up in her hands. His round eyes changed, forming a quizzical shape as if to ask What now?

"I promised I'd come back for you," she reminded him. Upon standing in what could possibly be his home town, Amy was no longer sure whether it was right to offer him a chance to live with her. If this was Meep's home, it might have been rude to assume he would even want protection in a safer network. She knew firsthand that home is what you make of it, whereever you make it. "I suppose maybe I assumed you needed somewhere safe, but..." Amy was tiptoeing around the question she was becoming too nervous to ask. Her eyes closed as she bit her lip in fear. "I made a promise to you... to protect you. Do... do you still want to come... live with us...?"

Meep's eyes closed, as if it was considering her request. The long pause brought about a sense of unease in the girl's heart as she realised that she had become more attached to this little creature than she originally thought. If it rejected her that was his decision, but that choice now scared her for different reasons.

After what felt like an eternity to our purple-haired heroine, the metool started bobbing up and down in Amy's arms, its best way of nodding its head without having full use of its legs.

"YES!" An ecstatic twirl followed as Meep became a little nauseated by Amy's joyful pirouette. "Oh I'm sure you're going to love your new home!" Amy remarked. "It's a lot more colourful than this underground village, and while you may not have as many friends there now, I'll do my best to change that, I promise!"

"'More friends'?" Lily sounded confused. "Exactly how many programs do you intend to bring back from the net...?"

"As many as possible!" she happily asserted. "Any virus like Meep is welcome in our home!"

"Whatever makes you happy, I guess..." A change in the electrical properties of the air agitated Lily's wings; it could have meant something, it could have meant nothing. In any case, the tiny bug-like creature found herself wanting to escape. "Amy, can we go now? I don't feel safe here, and we've been wandering the net for too long."

"Lily's right. My friend should be here any minute. Are you ready to log out?"

The explanation wasn't necessary. With her primary directive in hand... hands... her job here was done. "Do we need to go outside first?" It was reasonable to conclude the PET wouldn't be able to establish a logout path from underground.

"I wondered that too, but the PET has a lock on your position and says that logout protocols can be activated..."

"WAIT!" Lily cried out. She again loosened her bonds to Amy as her body lifted back into the air and flew back one final time to the one who'd risked its life to protect their party. "Again, thank you for your help. I hope that maybe we'll get a chance to meet again." A chuckle followed as a counter thought entered her head. "Okay, I lied. I never want to meet again under circumstances like this. But I hope you stay safe." A final bow came from her tiny body and its wings as she returned to her navi counterpart.

Both ladies were more than willing to accept free transport. "Bring us back," Amy confirmed as the edges of her dress began to ripple from the winds of an invisible force.

"Good. If we're being honest I never want to come back here," Lily murmured from the back pocket of Amy's dress.

A kaleidoscope of colours formed around her being, but instead of the expected tunnel skyward their data stream opened from within the space they were standing, and their data packets swirled into a finite point like water circling a drain until all the data had been collected. The hole then closed, leaving nothing but a few errant cyan mist particles floating in the air in the navi's wake.

----------

Battle #4 Complete! Party logging out of Kotobuki Net.

Rewards:
Zenny: +1500 (3420 >>> 4920)
Bugfrags: +22 (53 >>> 75)
New Battlechip: DrillArm1Damage: 60 + Break + Knockback + Long Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: A long drill is created to bore through enemies. It can hit one enemy twice, and a second enemy once.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Knockback paired with Long Attack causes the drill to hit close ranged targets twice, instead of once. This is because it pushes the closest target through both hit zones. Knockback only triggers once.
Trader Rank: D
Battlechips: 17 >>> 18

{>>> To Kotobuki Town: Osanajimi Plaza >>>}