Intelligent Labs

"Dammit, now I feel like I'm wasting time! Or... like your guys are wasting their time, at least. I guess that's not as bad as if I was wasting my own, more valuable time. But I'm getting to fight even if I don't kill anything, so I guess... whatever," MeleeMan responded, realizing that it really didn't make a lick of difference whether he was deleting viruses or not.

Damascus accepted her blood-frags, consuming them quickly while nodding along with Magna. "Conditions of severe cold are desirable for neither blades nor machinery," she pointed out, eyeing Anyis more than Cryos. Perhaps because she was more of a long term offender.

"Hey, if I can deal with it, you SPs can deal with it," MeleeMan dismissed the issue, as if he himself had never complained about it. "Line em up, Pinky!"

Despite MeleeMan'd request, nothing seemed to be lined up. In fact, it seemed like NervousMan had cut the lights off and gone home. Just as the famous complainer was about to get in another complaint, he felt his body lift slightly and realized that they were in low gravity with viruses below them. The setup was not unlike his fight against the gecko and some other guys he didn't remember, during the mock tournament where he'd fought along with Anyis. "You don't have to explain space to me, I've got some experience," he laughed.

When Damascus raised her eyebrow, he realized she hadn't been around back then. "Damn, that was a long time ago," MeleeMan pondered to himself.

For now, though, MeleeMan would need to focus on nonlethal combat with freakish fossil viruses. Looking at the Megalians and their decidedly greenish hue, he figured he'd found some good first targets. "Green means go," he muttered, crossing his arms and nodding like he'd just said something profound. When nobody responded, he grumbled. "Rania! Time for fire chips."

"I'm sending you Firesword to take care of those viruses," she replied simply, spitting through the chip. "And also.... hmmmm..."

"Just send me the GolemHit, I know I'm going to want it. Being original is for pansies who don't have good enough weapons to want to reuse them forever," her navi grunted in response. "How about RageClaw2? I've got some vague idea about how to keep myself defended so that Anyis won't yap at me," he finished. Once all of his chips were lined up, MeleeMan became a human fireball and bolted down into the viruses, disobeying everyone who had ever asked him not to jump into things.

Unfortunately, there was one issue: Megalians were going to launch their heads from the front. He would need to be behind the shields to deal a lot of damage... or at least, he would, if he didn't have some ridiculous scheme set up. In a rare twist,he teleported into arm's length distance on front of the forward crowd, rather than behind them. Once he was in position, his first task was to wait for those disembodied heads to further disembody themselves, after which he would even further disembody them... that is, he would try to cut them apart with his FireSword, which now extended from the heat vents on his right gauntlet. An especially powerful second burst of juice would ensure no survivors.

In the mean time, he swept his free arm to try and pound one of the shield guys with it. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be making any shockwaves without ground to impact upon, but he was pretty sure his fist would make the guy's only namesake,his shield, look like tissue paper. Next, he had one more trick: rather than attacking the final virus, he released his club fist and flexed his fingers, grabbing at the virus with his RageClaw. If all went well, he would hang onto its back and have a shield against his remaining enemies that would also do his dodging for him.

Damascus, seeing no particularly opportune targets, watched for any approaching viruses, then slowly hardened her body into steel. She kept one watchful eye on the Sparklers approaching from the side, which MeleeMan had ignored entirely.

MeleeMan
1) Areagrab into melee distance in front of Front group [Teleport + Accuracy UP]
2) FireSword @ Megalian group [95 fire melee, boosted A accuracy + slashing + wide attack]
*) Red Rage @ next attack [30 strengthen]
*) Melee subtype Bash @ next attack [+impact]
3) FireSword @ Megalian group [125 to A, 95 to others fire melee, boosted A accuracy + slashing + wide attack + impact]
4) GolemHit1 @ ShielderA [140 melee, boosted A accuracy + break + impact]
5) RageClaw2 to grab on to ShielderB and use him as a shield hopefully

Damascus
1) Dodge
2) Steel Skin [Self Stonebody (we got rid of iron didn't we?), 2 TCD]
*) Variable subtype debuff @ SparklerA [24 (buff-based) debuff]
Anyis raised a curious eyebrow and frowned when NervousMan (belatedly) notified them that the viruses were merely being EJO'd instead of deleted. As if it wasn't already obvious, the NetPolice researcher wasn't telling them everything about this experiment of his, and probably didn't want to for how shady it already seemed after the most recent admission. "We are wasting time, MeleeMan. That brain-case is just using us as part of his experiments, no different than these ancient viruses of his." grumbled Anyis. What, NervousMan could hear her? Good. "Hey noodle-man, listen! Don't you forget that we're ONLY here to bring you back to HQ! Don't expect us to help you complete this crazy virus farm, because I really, really wouldn't mind dragging you back by force." Yay honesty.

"And yet you're on an elevator to the next test area anyway." retorted Mill, noting his Navi's current position.

"Well it'd be a whole lot easier to drag him out the door if the door would stop MOVING." snapped Anyis, venting her anger at the seemingly amorphous test facility.

"Please request an exit if you wish, Mother Unit. I will provide to the best of my ability." added Magna, confident in his wall-busting techniques.

"I'll... keep that in mind, thanks." replied Anyis hesitantly, as while the thought was tempting, she quickly realized that NervousMan's facility was weird enough to probably fight back if you tried to break it open. As if he predicted all this (or at least heard the very public conversation), NervousMan introduced the test team next to a vast spacey venue without any vulnerable walls in the near vicinity. Like MeleeMan said, this was hardly a foreign territory to the Navis, though neither Magna nor Damascus had been rebuilt as SPs at the time. Once the viruses were introduced... oh, they were surrounded. Of course. This was completely scientifically relevant to the experiment, and not just NervousMan being a jerk.

"Uhn..." whimpered Anyis as noticed the Sparklers to each side, crackling with electricity as they floated around in the open space. For all her bravado shouting at NervousMan, electric viruses were always the best way to knock Anyis off her perch. "H-hey, MeleeMan, why don't you take the sides while I-" And there went MeleeMan teleporting off to fight the not-Sparklers. Figures. Fearing the worst, Anyis went ahead and patched up some of her light wounds with Cryos's flames.

Noticing how his Navi was fidgeting, Mill interjected and suggested, "You could just Cross, Anyis. That's what it's there for."

"... Oh be quiet." grumbled Anyis, who obviously did not think of that herself. Without much further ado, Anyis triggered MeleeCross before the viruses could remind her of the bad elemental matchup. Her robe, bodysuit, and boots shifted palettes to match MeleeMan, and her hair got wrapped up by a ponytail string and headband, but all the other changes she expected of the Cross... didn't happen. Instead, Cryos up and vanished, granting Anyis ash-colored gauntlets and a simple chest guard before disappearing in a puff of blue flame. All in all the new MeleeCross would be rather underwhelming if it stopped there, but uh... then Anyis's arms caught on fire. Bright red flames spewed out of her Anyis's gauntlets, swallowing her arms entirely up to her shoulders. You could only really trust that her arms were even still there on good faith, because all anyone could really see was two pillars of fire. Needless to say the sudden conflagration surprised Anyis, but she wasn't being burned alive by the flames, so it seemed like MeleeCross adapted just fine to the rest of her recent changes.

"That was unexpected..." muttered Mill aloud, who just remembered he never actually edited MeleeCross himself to address Anyis's core changes. That was not a bad thing, however, because now he just had one less thing to do later.

"You're telling me..." replied Anyis in a distracted voice as she examined her revamped MeleeCross. "Well, since that worked out fine, go ahead and throw me some chips Mill. Magna, you take that electric guy, and I'll take this one." she commanded, issuing the basic plan to dispatch her mortal enemies.

"Understood, Mother Unit." nodded Magna as readied for combat by triggering his bracer shield and transforming his hands into cannon mode.

"Elec virus would mean a Wood chip... Not that we have a lot of those. Oh well. Here Anyis, take the DropDown too. Should help with the abnormal gravity in a space field like this." offered Mill as he loaded the virtual images of two chips from his PET.

With the chips received, Anyis first loaded the DropDown, allowing the flames from her arms to extend out to her shoulder blades, where the blaze then erupted into a pair of firey wings. "Been a while since I flew... You ready, Magna?" asked Anyis as she pre-loaded her MudFlop chip.

"On the Mother Unit's signal." confirmed Magna as he lifted his cannon-hands up and aimed at his designated Sparkler.

"Alright, attack!" shouted Anyis, launching herself into the air as Magna fired his energy cannon. Needless to say, that was... loud.

*SH-BOOM*
*WHOOM*

The familiar earth-shaking boom of Magna's cannon echoed through the vast arena, but this time it was mingled with the persistent burning of Anyis's fire wings. She flapped them slightly here and there to readjust position, but by and large her flight was produced from the sheer propulsion of the flames on her back, which got very very loud during acceleration. The combined noise was enough of a distraction alone, but of course the visual spectacle of a colossal beam of orange energy flying opposite of a blazing red phoenix girl was a sight in itself. As she approached the second Sparker, the flames around Anyis's right arm burned super hot, producing a dark, mucky ash around her gauntlet to serve as the MudFlop's mud. With all the momentum of her fire wings driving her forward, Anyis thrusted her fist in front of her and tried to smash the electrical virus apart in one decisive blow.

Having completed that task in as indiscreet a manner as possible, Anyis rejoined Magna back on the temporary platform, floating slightly above the floor as her wings maintained a low level of propulsion. "Ugh, that was loud..." groaned Anyis, who was about to put a hand to her ear before thinking better of it, sparing herself the risk of catching her hair on fire. "I guess that leaves the rear viruses? I can only hope MeleeMan doesn't screw up dealing with the front group himself."

"NervousMan said those bladed things would be difficult to deal with... Hrm. Here Anyis, just take this for now." thought Mill aloud before transferring a Totem chip to his Navi.

"Totem? You expect that to wipe out 4 sturdy viruses by itself?" asked Anyis in disbelief.

"Not really, I'm just hoping it buys some time. These Yurts and... Spines, they're called, are going to be the toughest to fight probably, so we should probably back-off and restrategize for now." explained Mill practically.

"Eh... alright. I'll admit I don't want to fight a tough battle when I don't even know what MeleeMan's doing back there." agreed Anyis as she looked back over to her brutish ally. With a wave of her gauntlet, Anyis summoned the Totem statue at the rear edge of the platform, facing out towards the Yurts and Spines. "And here, take this and give those viruses a little grief." ordered Anyis as she granted the fire-breathing Totem some of her own red flames. The statue quickly absorbed the wisps of fire, giving it some extra charge as it opened its mouth and unleashed an intense burst of fire towards the viruses. The Totem directly targeted one of the Spines, with the flames hopefully splitting off of the seemingly invulnerable virus and hitting the Yurts in their vulnerable sides.

With that done, Anyis and Magna couldn't do much else but defend themselves. Both of them kept their attention focused on the Yurt/Spine group in the rear, but made sure to check if the Sparklers were actually defeated and if MeleeMan was keeping the Megalian/Shielder group at bay.

Anyis's Actions:
--Cryos Compress (30 Heal, Passive) @ Self
1) MeleeCross (Fire/Melee): Level 2, +15 Fire chip damage, +20 HP
2) DropDown (High-Altitude Flight, 3 turns)
3) MudFlop2 (100 Wood damage {A}, Impact, Blind) @ SparklerB
4) Totem2 (100 HP Object, Fire/Wood Element Shift, 3 Turn Duration)
--Flame Fist: Immolation (30 Strengthen, Passive) to:
--Totem2 Fire Attack (150 Fire damage {A}, Spread 2) @ SpineA/YurtA/YurtB
5) Dodge
6) Dodge

Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Bracer (3 Hit Shield, Passive)
1) Core Link Cannon: High Output (200 damage {A}, 5TCD) @ SparklerA
2) Dodge
3) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Core Link Cannon: High Output - 5 turns
Everyone not named Magna started off on the not-so-offensive, with MeleeMan teleporting, Anyis using cold flames to heal herself (+30), and Damascus figuratively and literally hardening herself for battle. A couple of the viruses would have none of that, however, and sprung into action: a Shielder jetted forward, and crashed into MeleeMan (50). While it hurt, it had the fortunate side effect of knocking him back JUST enough that a Spine that elected to attack him couldn't adjust in time, and went sailing past him. Apparently, it then decided that it had to hurt SOMETHING, and fast, so it elected to try and go for Anyis's shins...but, it was in too much of a rush, and she didn't even have to move to watch it race right past her.

Getting shield bashed didn't faze MeleeMan a bit, and got to slashing apart some Megalian. One tried to get out of the way, but failed. But alas, the other was a benefactor of Shielder's earlier attack, and just floated there as the FireSword went wide. The second cut, however, sufficiently accounted for the different angle, and the other head virus was burned to a crisp.

By this point, Anyis was now as fiery as her partner, and took to the skies on flaming wings. Damascus, now alone, was content to give a Sparkler the evil eye, causing it falter a bit and reduce its attack power. The Yurt decided that now was a good time to spring into action, and launched their bladed discs. One targeted the giant purple golem, who had been too busy aiming to dodge, but it (somehow) overshot him slightly, causing its yo-yo of death to act like a boomerang, hitting him once square in the shield, but the second came from the back, and hit Magna square in the, well, back (20). The other tried to avenge its aura'd comrades, and hit true...and often. (20x3).

BOOM! Magna's ear shattering cannon fired...but proved to not be Sparkler shattering, as it lazily floated out of the way. It also seemed less ear shattering than usual...the spaceness canceled some of the sound out, maybe? It certainly wasn't loud enough to cancel that Shielder smacking MeleeMan again (50). Or the subsequent stone-hard punch that MeleeMan used on it, deciding that a Shielder was a Shielder was a Shielder, smashing it into pieces.

Speaking of smashing viruses, Anyis finally got around to doing so, and dive bombed one of the satellites. It tried to float out of the way, but it was simply caught too off guard to do so in time, and suffered the indignity of being erased by mud. The other Sparkler demanded blood as payment for its friend's deletion, but decided that Anyis was just too intimidating, so it decided that a friend for a friend was more reasonable, and smashed into MeleeMan...but by this point, MeleeMan had managed to snatch the other Shielder, and used it to block the attack. Or he would've, but the shield proved very ineffective at stopping the Sparkler (56 to Shielder!). It was very effective, however, at rattling the virus into completely missing its intended target. Even without any facial expressions, it was clearly distraught, since it was shaking quite a bit.

Less distraught was the other Spine, who decided to attack the less manly of the two Navis...and her SP. Anyis tried to get out of the way, but it was too quick, and her lower legs were going to feel it (50). At least its trajectory was screwed up by the dodge-induced reangle to miss Magna. The second try proved less terrible, as by then she had the sense to get off the ground before it could reach her.

Finally, Anyis set up a Totem to burn up some viruses...but it seemed to barely even affect the Spine, and one of the Yurt remained alert enough to not experience a trial by fire. The other one was turned to ashes, at least.

There was one final problem, however: the platform that everyone had begun on disappeared...causing the Damascus and Magna (and Totam) that were still on it to plummet to the, er, ground. The reduced gravity made it not hurt as much as it might've otherwise, but the sword lady's metal body didn't exactly protect her in this case. In fact, it meant she couldn't even right herself as she landed blade hair first, making her a bit on the stuck side...Magna managed to right himself, but was no better off due to the sheer force of...well, being him (10, -1 action next turn). As for the object, it plummeted down, landing with a thud...and on its side, such that neither face could do its thing. What were the odds? (10)


---GRAVITY MOCKING VIRUSES---

-- IN FRONT --
ShielderA: DELETED
Megalian-W2A: DELETED
Megalian-W2B: DELETED
ShielderB: 84 HP (in MeleeMan's grasp)

-- IN BACK --
SpineA: 109 HP
YurtA: DELETED
YurtB: 150 HP
SpineB: 110 HP (behind Anyis)

-- TO SIDES --
SparklerA: 160 HP (to right of MeleeMan)
SparklerB: DELETED

--- HIGH FLYING NAVIS ---
MeleeMan: 195 HP (RageClaw2 (5 uses left): ShielderB grabbed)
Anyis: 210 HP (LV 2 MeleeCross: Fire/Melee) (DropDown)

--- SUDDENLY LIGHT SPS ---
Damascus: 60 HP (IronBody) (-1 action next turn)
Magna: 55 HP (-1 action next turn)

--- NON-APPLE OBJECTS ---
Totem2: 90 HP (On its side; one action can be used to set it up on either mode, or an attack will right it send it into a random mode)

--- WEIGHTLESS TERRAIN ---
100% Low Gravity
The pummeling MeleeMan got this time was somehow even worse than the one he'd gotten in the last battle before they cleared the field. Even with all of MeleeMan's health points, the assault managed to significantly shrink the bar. "Damn, this has gotta be what a pinball feels like," he murmured, still hanging on to the Shielder. "Are we getting them?"

"Yeah... it's a lucky thing we've gotten you upgraded so much, or you'd be a smudge right now. You just lost like... a whole navi's worth of health," Rania remarked with mixed scolding, worry, and amazement. "That's like if I bled out all of the blood in my body..."

"Yeah, well, sorry you aren't 2.5x as strong as your peers like I am. Then maybe you'd have more blood," he scoffed. "My head's ringing, though... I'm going to take a break and polish off this guy. Damascus and Anyis and whatever friends Anyis has now will probably clean up the rest," he murmered.

"Did you see Anyis use your cross? That's supposed to signify a relationship between two navis, right?" she prodded, hoping to get some of his enthusiasm back.

"I didn't see jack squat," he barked in response.

"Huh? Cause of your helmet?"

"No, cause of this damn... rrrgh!" he growled, moving his free arm up to grab the Shielder. With both hands spewing flames, he would attempt to rip whatever guts it had out of its unshielded back. It wasn't doing but a D- in terms of protecting him and he felt like he'd rather bet on his own legs while he waited to recover. "Hey, Metalhead! Go take care of... bahaha!" he guffawed, looking down to see Damascus planted in the floor.

"Quiet. I hardly see how my situation is any worse than your own," Damascus retorted, looking like she was trying to do some sort of bizarre crabwalk as she worked to free herself.

"Mine looks stupid but this is the kind of thing somebody writes into a stupid comic strip!"

She didn't reply this time, but simply thrust her long neck forward, bringing her long, blade-like ponytail out of the ground. It clacked against her head, then burst into a long mess around her head. As MeleeMan collapsed back into a cackle, she shook it until it straightened out and lost its metallic sheen, making a sound like waving a big strip of aluminum.

Rania was struggling not to laugh herself. "Are you up for attacking those viruses?" she asked through her hands. "Anyis, look out!" she exclaimed, realizing her SP was on the warpath.

Damascus said nothing and simply transformed into a sword, then spun towards the viruses at breakneck speed. Her blade trailed sparks off the ground as she connected it with each spin, her hilt rotating around an imaginary axis. Hitting the Spines would be difficult... the last thing she wanted was to miss them and look even more like a fool. She came to a stop nearby Anyis; her hair had retaken its usual, bladed shape. She glared back to see if either virus had the balls to still be alive.

MeleeMan
*) Red Rage @ next attack
1) RageClaw2 @ ShielderB [100 slashing melee, B accuracy]
2-5) Dodge

Damascus
1) Something slapstick
2) StepSword @ SpineA and B in back [120 damage, S/A + slashing + teleport]
*) Variable subtype Debuff [-24 (buff-based) debuff]
"Damn anklebiters, since when could they jump?!" swore Anyis as the second Spine skipped off the fading platform to clip her leg. How the spinning disk-like virus managed to propel itself through its free-floating state and then jump off the platform, despite having no clear means of propulsion, was just another mystery to add to the ever-growing list of oddities and lies that NervousMan had thrown in the name of his confounded "science". Anyis thought about flying even higher up from the platform than she already was to avoid these viruses that didn't seem to give a whoop about gravity, but given that said platform just up and disappeared to save her the trouble... all while dropping Magna, Damascus, and the Totem unceremoniously to the ground below.

Damascus found herself unfortunately stuck in the strange low-gravity panels, which theoretically should've helped slow her fall, but the odd technology only reaffirmed the thought that nothing NervousMan was of any good to anyone. That said, however, the low-gravity panels themselves likely needed some sympathy, as Magna's fall to the ground below was... far less kind on that ground than it was on him. The panels the golem had landed on were cracked and heavily beaten, and the soft glow the rest of the terrain gave off suddenly sputtering and flickering underneath Magna's feat as if the panels were gasping for their last breaths of life. Magna himself was a little jarred by the forceful impact, but he stood upright despite that and just needed a few moments to recalibrate. He was damaged worse by the Yurt's attack from behind, even, but Magna was still about as bullet-proof as ever.

"This damn test chamber is as dangerous at the viruses..." grumbled Anyis with a scowl on her face, looking down at the fallen allies below. Her leg was sore from the Spine's cutting attack, but... well, Anyis was flying, so her leg could just dangle there for the time being. "Magna! Go fix the Totem!" she shouted in command, paying for the service up front by gathering some of MeleeCross's red flame in hand and hurling it down to Magna to fix some of the SP's damage.

"Understood, but I lack the necessary reference data to initiate repairs on the Unit Totem." explained Magna, his voice booming in volume to reach the Mother Unit without actually increasing the tone to match, as he took the first few awkward and clunky steps after the hard fall. He paused just for a second after that, popped his left knee joint into a new place, and found himself able to move much smoother as a result. For good measure, Magna recreated his broken bracer shield just to make sure everything was in working order.

"Just hit it or something! That fixes things, right?!" shouted Anyis back as she floated around the upper altitudes, keeping on her (figurative) toes with so many of the viruses still in one piece.

"... Understood." replied Magna, albeit hesitantly because this concept of him hitting things to repair was... contradictory to all his prior experiences. Taking the Mother Unit at her word, though, Magna lifted one gigantic arm up before whacking the fallen Totem hard. With its ground anchor not set, the surprisingly heavy object managed to fly a good several feet over from the golem's strike before landing upright. The Totem was actually turned around backwards from its original orientation, forcing its more calm, green face to take control from the fire-spitting red face on the object's back side. The green-faced Totem quickly scanned the battlefield over, glancing to Magna, Anyis, and Damascus all in turn before turning his eyes on MeleeMan, who to this point was still riding that Shielder like a mechanical bull and taking quite a whooping in the process. Having found its pitiable and needy target, the Totem's eyes glowed, and just like that the wannabe rodeo star found himself relieved of a fair amount of the damage he had just incurred.

"I... had no idea it could do that." echoed Mill and Anyis in unison, witnessing the Totem's impressive healing powers for the first time ever.

"Is that unsatisfactory? I will apply additional 'fixing' if ordered, Operator and Mother Unit." queried Magna, rolling his fingers into a fist in preparation.

"No, no, that's fine how it is. Just try to stay alive for now." explained Mill quickly before Magna destroyed the Totem outright. "By the way, the Totem's fire didn't do any real damage to the Spines. I guess NervousMan wasn't kidding about their resiliency."

"Unlike their mobility..." muttered Anyis under her breath. "So what do you want me to do? I'm kinda covered in fire right now, and you're telling me that won't work."

"Uh... Maybe we can cut them? He might've been suggesting to fight fire with... well, blade with blade in this case." suggested Mill as he uploaded the AquaKnife from his virtual folder. "Other than, I guess just try anything and everything..."

"Makes as much sense as anything else in this place, which is none whatsoever." said Anyis flatly as Mill uploaded a second chip for backup. Being the first up, though, Anyis materialized the icy dagger called AquaKnife in her armored... flaming... hand... "Oh whatever...! AquaKnife, IceKnife, FireKnife, I don't care! Just kill this damn thing!" swore Anyis before doing the sensible thing and reinforcing the AquaKnife with even more fire from her arm. With her wings propelling her forward through the air, Anyis lunged at the free-floating Spine that had just attacked her, and stabbed at the virus with the flamey, frozen cuttish thing.

"So? What's the other chip you gave me?" asked Anyis as her wings carried her away from the offending Spine, the steamy mess of her burning AquaKnife leaving a vapor trail in her wake.

"Uh... SilverFist, was it?" answered Mill uncertainly.

"... When the heck did we get that?!" asked Anyis incredulously.

"I... don't know. That's a good question, honestly..." mumbled Mill, who really had no clue where this amazing chip came from.

"Guess I shouldn't complain so long as it's not some cursed, haunted chip or anything." shrugged Anyis before triggering the chip, which seized her free hand and immediately turned the ashen grey metal of her gauntlet a radiant silver similar to her normal armor. "Hey Mill, could you explain what all this extra code is about? This battle routine is really excessive for a fist chip..."

"Is it? Lessee..." thought Mill aloud as he opened up the chip file's properties. "... Wow, uh... Rocket fists?"

"... You're kidding." balked Anyis in disbelief.

"Don't think so... Just try charging it up for a bit. Oh, and pick out a bunch of different targets..." instructed Mill cautiously.

"Oh ho, will I ever. This entire experiment has been asking for it..." muttered Anyis maniacally as she pulled her silver gauntlet back and gathered power. MeleeCross's flames were ample fuel for the mighty special technique, spreading all across the SilverFist to grant both propulsion and additional strength. Anyis herself was quite a sight at this point, soaring high above the ground on giant wings of red flame, with a steaming, blazing dagger in her left hand, and her right hand channeling a veritable pyroclasm of flame around the conductive silver superweapon. "See how your damn viruses stand up to this, noodle-brain!" shouted Anyis as she finished prepping, throwing her armored hand forward. A corporeal clone of her gauntlet blasted off from the original, the silver shell soaring like a rocket on red flames as it barreled down on the Sparkler that had survived up to this point. "And one more!" yelled Anyis as she quickly shifted her position in the air and sent a second rocket fist streaking towards the vulnerable side of the remaining Yurt. "And another!" barked Anyis again as she readjusted herself once more to fire a third rocket fist towards the other Spine that didn't hit her. "And again!!!" howled Anyis as she flipped back around to once more face the Spine she already attacked, launching a fourth and final silver-shelled rocket fist forward.

... In hindsight, the rocket show was a rather fitting display for this space-like environment. With the mighty SilverFist's power spent, though, Anyis had little to do but fly back down towards the ground. Joining Magna and Damascus, albeit floating a few feet above them, Anyis took up a defensive stance along with her SP and awaited what may come.

Anyis's Actions:
--Cryos Compress (30 Heal, Passive) @ Magna
--Totem2 Heal (70 Heal) @ MeleeMan
1) Cold Open (200 Strengthen, 5TCD) @ Self
2) AquaKnife (110 Aqua damage {B}, Slashing) @ SpineB
3) Charge
4) Charge
5) SilverFist Special (160 damage {A}, Impact, Knockback) @ SparklerA/YurtB/SpineA/SpineB
6) Dodge

Magna's Actions:
1) Crash Landing'd
--Reinforced Golem's Bracer (3 Hit Shield, Passive)
2) Totem manual fix (Wood Element Shift)
3) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Core Link Cannon: High Output - 4 turns
Cold Open - 5 turns
RageClaw rends the Shielder!
StepSword is mocked by the Spines, despite hitting!
Anyis heals her SP! (+30)
Magna rights the Totem and makes it healy!
Yurt flings its Yo-Yo, hitting the Totem and Magna's shield once each! (20, switches Totem2 mode)
Totem fails to heal MeleeMan! Who's surprised, seriously?
Anyis's AquaKnife hits but doesn't manage to cut up the Spine!
SilverFist almost looked like a divine hand in hitting everything! The Spines don't mock that!

---GRAVITY MOCKING VIRUSES---

-- IN FRONT --
ShielderA: DELETED
Megalian-W2A: DELETED
Megalian-W2B: DELETED
ShielderB: DELETED

-- IN BACK --
SpineA: DELETED
YurtA: DELETED
YurtB: DELETED
SpineB: DELETED

-- TO SIDES --
SparklerA: DELETED
SparklerB: DELETED

--- HIGH FLYING NAVIS ---
MeleeMan: 195 HP (RageClaw2 (5 uses left): ShielderB grabbed)
Anyis: 210 HP (LV 2 MeleeCross: Fire/Melee) (DropDown)

--- SUDDENLY LIGHT SPS ---
Damascus: 60 HP
Magna: 85 HP

--- NON-APPLE OBJECTS ---
Totem2: 70 HP (Attack Mode)

--- WEIGHTLESS TERRAIN ---
100% Low Gravity

==========

- BATTLE 4, COMPLETE -

Rewards:
- MeleeMan: StoneBody BattleChip data, 2800z, 39 BugFrags, 6 FXP
- Anyis: IronShield2 BattleChip data, 2800z, 39 BugFrags, 6 FXP

-------------------------------------------

Once everything was no more, a new enemy dropped onto the field!...Wait, that was just NervousMan. Of course, by now, at least one of the Navis wouldn't mind punching him anyway. "Well, that was quite interesting. Even I can't fathom how that Spine managed to rise and strike you, though...even though it hasn't existed again for long, perhaps it's already mutating into a new form...of course, though we suspect that some viruses developed from others, it can't be proven, so if I can confirm that it is possible for viruses to evolve in such a radical manner..." The brainy Navi continued to chatter about...things, which neither Navi had the desire nor interest to bother listening. "...Very, very interesting stuff, wouldn't you agree?" Nope. "Anyway, it seems like you've all taken some damage. The final test could prove extremely dangerous, so if you're not at peak form...no, that I simply won't permit." Without asking for any permission, he slammed purple energy balls into each Navi and SP. Fortunately, it was the health restoring kind, so it was unlikely that anyone was complaining.

(HP MAX for all Navis and SPs)

"At any rate, this final fight is...special. In fact, it's a bit hard to explain unless you see it for yourself, so I'll refrain from discussing it for the moment." With that, NervousMan made his way over to the center of the battlefield, and motioned for everyone to follow suit. "We'll head for the bottom level when you're all ready...but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a tad excited to see how this last one fares, so if you'd hurry up just a little this once..."
Satisfied that he'd managed to pull out the metallic Shielder mess, MeleeMan watched Damascus fumble her slash attempt. It looked like Anyis was going to come up short too, but nope; not while utilizing the ultimate cross. "Damn, metalhead! Looks like you're losing your edge," he snickered, feeling as though tearing apart a weakened defensive enemy from behind its defense secured his masculinity and high ground in the conversation. He tossed aside whatever junk he'd pulled apart. "Now me, I'm pitying the white-coat that's got to fix that guy!"

"I have no regrets. We clashed blades and came out equally matched. It was a powerful weapon, like a hardened blade," Damascus responded, although she did look moody... but when didn't she?

"Hardened blade? More like one of those little robots that cleans crap out of rugs," he scoffed. "Looks like another victory thanks to the fiery fist of MeleeMan."

Rania interrupted with a shake of her bright, red hair. "No, Anyis did most of the work this time," she informed him.

"Yeah, but wearing whose clothes? Though, if she wants to wake up wearing my shirt, I can think of an even better way to do it," he pondered, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Rania groaned and NervousMan seemed to be talking about some virus evolution mumbo jumbo, but his mind was now elsewhere. Perhaps he was getting a little dizzyingly aroused by the thought of Anyis in his cross... it perhaps he was dizzy because he'd just taken several ungodly blows to the head over the course of the last few.battles.

If the former was his problem, he'd likely have to learn to live with it. If the latter, NervousMan's healing would alleviate it. "Thanks, but that wasn't necessary. I mean, it's just more extinct viruses, right? I could fight these all day without breaking a sweat," he boasted.

"Nuh uh, you were already bleeding data. And you always sweat," Rania pointed out.

"Psh. I didn't break any more sweat, then," he spat. "Yeah, Doc, hurry up the elevator. Let's trash this last dweeb and get out of here." Damascus followed close behind, perhaps closer than usual. That last fall had made her pretty wary around unknown platforms in general.
With everyone's battle routines about to disengage, Anyis quickly landed flat-footed on the ground before both MeleeCross and her wings vanished. The red fire turned blue in a single flare, and Cryos quickly rematerialized his armor and himself in it as Anyis regained her usual clothing. "I'm starting to think you have no idea what you're throwing at us, brain-case." grumbled Anyis, directing her complaint towards NervousMan while he attempted to bribe his testers with a full round of damage repair. Standing behind Anyis, Cryos loomed overhead and inadvertently aimed a rather intimidating stance at the NetPolice researcher as his summoner failed to contain her foul mood.

"Anyis, you're letting your thoughts slip out again." warned Mill, noticing that Cryos was only a few bad comments away from punching the guy that had been sending out these strange and off-the-record viruses.

"Oh." remarked Anyis without emotion, before not doing a darn thing about it and letting the blue flame spirit continue to stare down the proctor of this experiment.

Being the aloof and insensitive machine he is, Magna quickly broke the tense ice by stomping over with the Mother Unit's allocation of loot from the last battle in hand. "Please initiate upload, Mother Unit."

"Right, right." nodded Anyis, who finally backed Cryos off and sent the zenny and chip data back to Mill's PET. "You alright, by the way? That was a long fall for a giant chunk of metal like you."

"There are no lasting compromises of function. The Mother Unit's inquiry is noted and appreciated, however." answered Magna quickly. Truth be told, NervousMan probably ought to be scared of ever dropping Magna like that again, because his precious testing environment was a lot worse off than the golem was.

With the last of the battle rewards transferred, Magna lowered his hands and Anyis was able to go over to go over to MeleeMan, whose mouth was spewing stupid again. "Shouldn't you be more concerned that I fight better with your skills than you do? I mean, unless you changed your style to being a punching bag and riding viruses like kiddy ponies... You've been really, really good at that, at least." taunted Anyis, who had knocked out as many viruses with her SilverFist alone as MeleeMan did in the entire battle. "Well, whatever, this is the last fight before we can drag this loon back to the NetPolice and call it a day. Just try to throw more punches than you take this time, MeleeMan."

"That's some impressive ego considering you were panicking at the sight of an electric virus at the start of the battle..." thought Mill to himself as his Navi and SP made their way over to the final elevator.
Any and all thoughts NervousMan had on matters such as mockery of his viruses, or nearly getting beaten up by an icy ghost, were kept to himself. He simply twitched as he waited for the Navis and SPs to gather around him, then activated the final elevator. Down they went, into more darkness...and more darkness...or was it really darkness? Oddly, they could see everyone else perfectly clearly, but everything else, including whatever they were standing on, was pitch black. The brainy Navi looked positively giddy, as though he was about to reveal a masssive present to MeleeMan and Anyis. If only. "Heh heh...hope you're all ready! Server, initiate protocol 5-2-12!"

The entire area glowed red for a moment, and became visible...a floor consisting of nothing but red framework. High above, there was an identical looking ceiling, and in the far off distance, there were strange column like things...though they more closely resembled a wormhole diagram than anything else. Maybe they actually WERE wormholes...but, if anyone had a strange desire to see one up close, they'd need quite some time to get there; for all intents and purposes, any fighting was going to be done on a completely flat battlefield.

"A strange place, isn't it? The appearance is quite primitive, entirely unlike the vibrant cyberworld we live in today. Well, this...is a replica of a place I discovered while conducting an investigation in the dark depths of the Net. I'd tell you where it was, but...even with my best efforts, I've been unable to determine it. It's a bizzare space, with no readily apparent reason for existing. Some of that, of course, is because it's begun to degrade from lack of upkeep...er, I'm sure you're not very interested in any of this. You all simply wish for this to end, don't you? Well, then..." He walked over...before turning around and causing some electricity to form between his 'hands'. "...Here I am, your final opponent!"

...But, almost as suddenly as he started, he stopped, and raised a hand. "Just kidding, of course. That would be a boring way to end things." Fortunately for NervousMan, he didn't put that to a vote. "Not to mention it would serve no purpose for my research. No, your final opponent shall be this...server, initiate protocol 5-2-12-0!"

In a beam of red light, another Navi appeared in front of the scientist, who began to float back a bit. Well, it sorta looked like a Navi, anyway. Its body seemed to be primarily made up of some sort of black fire, with a red chestplate over, well, its chest, and matching shoulderplates. Its legs were similar, with red boots that came up to what would probably be its knees. Its arms terminated with red and white gauntlets. Its head was covered in a red helmet, with an odd, glowing blue crystal occupying its forehead. Absolutely nothing of its face could be seen, aside from a pair of menacing, glowing yellow eyes. A large, yellow cape could be seen, descending from its neck, and fanning out until it was wider than even if it outstretched its arms. It made absolutely no motions at all, making it unclear if it even knew where it was, or if it knew there were others nearby.

"After some searching in the strange, pointless area, I stumbled across some virus code. I analyzed it...and was utterly amazed at what I discovered. Believe it or not, this is actually a virus, not a Navi. The data I found was badly degraded, so it's extremely unlikely that this is how it truly looked, but...well, this was the best I could do. You see, unlike most viruses, this one was actually capable of directly infecting Navis, instead of simply attacking them. I altered it, of course, so that this ability is sealed, and therefore is unable to infect a Navi by any means, but...the program that does so must remain in constant flux to resist any changes it makes, resulting in its fiery appearance."

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering in so many words, 'now why would he recreate such a dangerous virus?', and I can't say that's not a logical reaction. But, you see...despite appearances, this virus also possesses a high level of intelligence, on par with a Navi. It understands and follows even the most complex orders without question or hesitation. It can even learn and adapt to nearly any situation. See where I'm going with this? If we could use copies of this virus as soldiers, we could keep Navis out of harm's way. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

NervousMan stopped for a moment, presumably to catch his breath or something. "This is around the time where I tell you a bit about the imminent battle, isn't it? Well, why stop now and put you at a marked disadvantage? First off, though it hasn't armed itself yet, the virus engages in swordplay, which is its main method of attack. Don't treat it as some overgrown Swordy, however; its power and abilities are more along the lines of a rather strong Navi. I also would not recommend applying defenses if you can help it, as it has methods of negating virtually any form of defense, and knows exactly how to get rid of each type. Also note that the area's simple appearance isn't just for show; you cannot alter the terrain by any means. Though, note that this may be as much of a boon for you as a curse..."

"Oh yes, I certainly can't forget this...do not, at all, fear that you're engaging in overkill. If it runs low on HP, it tends to favor a certain move...a move that will decimate whatever unfortunate soul it launches it at. If you see it charging its blade, ignore what I said about defenses, and put up whatever you can before it attacks again. That said, aside from that and a few other quirks, its tactics leave much to be desired, and focuses on raw strength and a decidedly berserker approach to battle. It may be possible to devise a plan to take advantage of that somehow...but that I will leave to you." With a snap of his 'fingers', the Navi vanished, and the virus's right hand changed...into a gigantic, glowing green sword. What was with the virus and glowing? "Good luck to all of you...and may the best fighter, or fighters, win!" The virus bent its knees slightly, apparently ready to start...

--- THE FINAL FOE ---
Unknown: 700 HP

--- NAVIS THAT WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE ---
MeleeMan: 420 HP
Anyis: 260 HP

--- SPS THAT PROBABLY WANT TO AM-SCRAY ---
Damascus: 70 HP
Magna: 100 HP

=== BATTLE FIVE, READY
--- TIME TO PUT AN END TO THIS RIDICULOUSNESS
... GO
"It takes a lot it stamina to take a punch like I do! Haven't you ever seen that movie about the boxer, the one where he wears out the other guy and then takes him down in a few punches? I'm like that. I fight smart," MeleeMan defended, gritting his teeth in a way that looked anything but indifferent. "A hit doesn't matter as long as you can take it. And nobody throws more punches than I do. You know ebay I've got in my folder? Like... a bunch of FireHits... I forget how many..."

"L-let's not brag about that," Rania shushed him, hoping to derail the potential question of how MeleeMan had ended up with so many FireHits. The answer to that question would reveal profound weakness on her part, in terms of getting chips that she needs and not just ones that her navi wants.

MeleeMan dropped the subject and turned his attention back to NervousMan. "Well thank God, because I was beginning to wonder if you were a virus, honestly," MeleeMan responded, although in an impartial tone that implied he really had been thinking that, rather than flinging a random insult. He frowned at the new creature as it was unveiled. "Well, if those green guys were viruses, I guess I can believe this thing is too. And damn, what's with this strategy peptalk huddle? We could have used this before you let those other viruses make us look like jackasses," he grumbled, slumping his shoulders.

"I'm eager to test its blade. Please, allow me the first slice," Damascus requested.

"Nice of you to ask! But you're only getting it if you beat me to-!" he started, only to be abruptly cut off by his SP spinning into the shape of a nodachi. "Yeah, well, you still have to beat me over-!" he began again, but she twirled towards the enemy before he finished. "Dammit."

"Remember, Damascus, you can't keep up your steel body! He can break right through. You should use your mobility instead," Rania encouraged her SP. The rare moments where she got to give actual advice made her feel a little cool.

"Really? Are you sure that evasion is not a form of defense that this enemy plans to counteract?" Damascus asked, glaring at her enemy as she came to a stop with the bands of her cloak exploded out around her impressive body. Despite her words, evasion was exactly what she intended to rely upon, and that would be a non option if she remained sheathed.

"Um... I can't say for sure... Anyway, what type of chips do you want, MeleeMan?" the operator asked, changing focus to her navi.

"Finally! Don't get sidetracked by an SP and forget to operate your navi," he grunted. "I need the best damage chips we've got."

"Right... if he's just one enemy and overkill is encouraged, we should put down all the damage we can," Rania reasoned.

"Sure, but more importantly, I'm tired of getting outshined by Grape Ape over there," he murmured. Rania wasn't sure if he was still talking about Anyis... that size descriptor seemed more fitting for Magna. "I need an areagrab too, though. I don't think this guy is going to run away, but at the same time, I want to engage him on my own terms."

"So you don't want him to come to you because it'll make you look bad?" Rania responded skeptically.

"A real man doesn't wait around for his enemies to come to him!" MeleeMan barked, more or less confirming her suspicion. Once he'd gotten the chip he needed, MeleeMan. bounded into battle with his usual enthusiasm for violence, which was so often veiled by an air of general distaste for just about everything. He closed in on the enemy and began flinging melee attacks one after another: the fist-expanding smash of his GolemHit, followed by a barrage of FireHits, and ending with a powerful burst of flames from both gauntlets using his smoking, barrel-like, gauntlet-mounted engines. The gauntlets shook uncontrollably as flames spilled out, making a noise like a car having a critical engine failure, then gradually quieted as they got it all out of their systems. "That last part was new," MeleeMan remarked simply, shaking one arm to confirm he could still feel it.

Even now, at the climax of his aggression, the big navi's muscles tensed with the reflexive reaction of a man kicking his knee when he anticipates a doctor's hammer. He knew from an ever-growing list of painful experiences that the virus was going to retaliate... and probably choose him as its target.

MeleeMan
1) AreaGrab to nearby opponent [Teleport + AccuracyUP]
2) GolemHit1 @ Unknown [140 damage melee, boosted A accuracy + break + impact]
3) FireHit2 @ Unknown [115 fire melee, boosted A++ accuracy + impact]
4) Repeat above
*) Red Rage @ next attack [30 strengthen]
*) Melee subtype bash @ next attack
5) HeatBreath3 @ Unknown [185 fire melee, boosted A accuracy + lava panel change ] cone attack + impact]

Damascus
1) Stepsword @ Unknown [Teleport and 120 damage, S accuracy + slashing + wide attack]
2) Dodge
*) Variable subtype debuff @ Unknown [24 buff-based debuff]
"There is no purpose to this research..." sighed Anyis, lamenting the lost opportunity to beat NervousMan even more senseless than he already was. She then paused for a second, putting on a thoughtful look, before adding, "Well, the only discovery I've made today is how much of a masochist MeleeMan is," as if the aforementioned MeleeMan wasn't within earshot.

"Between NervousMan's viruses and your insults, that may actually help." suggested Mill, seemingly at the defense of the other Navi. "That's a lot of punishment to take in one day."

"I'd be happy to share if the brain-case would actually stay put for once." retorted Anyis as NervousMan spewed rhetoric about his darling supervirus. He seemed positively giddy to finally announce his grand master plan to supplant fighting Navis with this thing (god knows what the point of all the previous viruses was), but suffice to say, NervousMan's motive was about as much of a secret as his name at this point. And, naturally, Anyis wasn't too keen on that motive herself. "Nerds like you don't get to decide who fights who. Go get in a scruff yourself before throwing this proxy crap at us!" Whether or not it was intentional, Cryos popped the knuckles on his gauntlets as Anyis told the scientist off.

Mill blinked a few times as his brain tried to cobble together the logic of what his Navi just said, but ultimately he just couldn't put the words in place. Instead, he opened a private channel with his SP. "Magna, can you keep Anyis restrained if she tries to attack NervousMan after this battle? No matter what the result, I don't think that'd be a great way to punctuate a NetPolice recruitment exam."

"Understood, Operator. I will prevent the Mother Unit from engaging the Unit NervousMan in combat should the event arise." echoed Magna in confirmation.

"Great, thanks." nodded Mill as he put his PET's audio channel back on public. "So while NervousMan might've said all that about a direct assault, I don't really think he's planning to let us annihilate his prized experiment so easily."

"Of course not, he's been messing with us since the first battle. That thing totally has more ways to survive than the brain-case is letting on. He's just baiting us to trigger his virus's abilities or something like that." explained Anyis as she watched MeleeMan and Damascus charge the mystery virus head-on.

"Yeah, so I was thinking to send the disabling chips over the heavy ammo. That should help a lot in the next round of attacks if we can get some hits in." suggested Mill as he browsed through his digital folder.

"Sounds fine to me." agreed Anyis as her Operator began delivering battlechips one after the other. The first to arrive was an AquaNeedle, which Anyis quickly materialized through a forward-reaching wave of Cryos's arm. The escaping wisps of cold fire solidified into a trio of floating ice crystals, which by Anyis's will sprung forward towards the unknown supervirus. She wasted no time in summoning a Skully bone next, throwing it from her own hands right away as the opponent would focus on avoided the multiple ice spikes ahead of it. An IceWave arose next from the chip queue, causing Cryos to punch the air ahead and release a new flare of the blue flame. The momentum from the punch carried the flames forward until they froze a ball-like ice crystal into being, which jumped forward and streaked towards the supervirus. Still yet to let up, Anyis called the final battlechip in her current arsenal, looking towards the arena ceiling and commanding Cryos to emit a wave of cold fire. The freezing shock quickly condensed the air into a dark raincloud which sought out the unknown enemy and released a downpour of piercing rain on top of him.

Watching the whole combo unfold, Magna could not think of much to do on his own besides spawn his handy shield. Sure, NervousMan said defense was useless here, but the golem could make shields automatically and wouldn't really be any worse off for it. Without a means to disable the target, though, Magna couldn't think of much of an attack plan on his own. "Operator, Mother Unit, should I attack?" queried the golem.

"Yes, shoot your cannon!" barked Anyis, answering quickly before Mill could input anything otherwise. If any powerful hits were going to land, it was going to be at the end of the assault after the supervirus exhausted itself defending from everything else.

"Understood." responded Magna as he quickly and efficiently repeated the familiar motions to transform his hands into cannon mode. With the energy from the golem's core transferring almost instantly, Magna only stalled from firing long enough to ensure he wouldn't blast MeleeMan or Damascus in the crossfire. Once that much was certain, Magna pulled his internal trigger and...

*SH-BOOM*

With the metaphorical dust clearing, both Anyis and Magna stepped back from the carnage and prepared to avoid whatever counterattack may come.

Anyis's Actions:
1) AquaNeedle2 (45 Aqua damage x 3 Needles {B}) @ Unknown
2) Skully2 (120 damage {C}, Homing, Confusion) @ Unknown
3) IceWave1 (105 Aqua damage {A}, Freeze) @ Unknown
4) LilCloud (85 Aqua damage {C}, Wide Attack, 2 Turn Duration) @ Unknown
5) Dodge
6) Dodge

Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Bracer (3 Hit Shield, Passive)
1) Core Link Cannon: High Output (200 damage, 5TCD) @ Unknown
2) Dodge
3) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Core Link Cannon: High Output - 5 turns
Immediately, before even Damascus could begin being a sword, the mysterious, Navi-like virus's eyes glowed intensely, having detected that which it apparently hated most: defenses. It instantly warped above Magna, and crashed down from above. The golem managed to get his shield up in time, but it took a severe blow (-2 hits). As well as several more blows, as the foe performed what appeared to be some sort of 3-hit sword combo. The first hit shattered his protection, and the others proceeded to give the purple one some nasty scratches (shield broken, 40 x 2). Seriously, ow. Damascus tried to give it a taste of its own medicine with a StepSword, but was almost instantly parried. If nothing else, the virus certainly knew how to handle its sword.

But it certainly wasn't the only one that could effectively use its weapons, as MeleeMan warped in and started wailing away. But he proved slightly less good at punching, as his opening attack managed to miss horrifically. His fiery jabs proved much better, as though the virus blocked the first, it caused its sword to crack slightly, allowing the second to hit undeterred. HeatBreath also did its thing, but just like NervousMan had said, the ground was entirely unaltered, even though it normally should've changed. At least he succeeded in landing some blows.

But it also succeeded in drawing the unknown foe's ire, as it drew back its sword arm...and, in a move that baffled all, acted as though MeleeMan didn't have a sign above him that read 'Attack me!', and instead went to the other Navi. After its blade glowed momentarily, the Navi-like virus powerfully cut at Anyis...who couldn't avoid it. For some reason, the sword was also elongated, and gave off sparks when it hit her (200). Pain. Much, much pain. She managed to partially return the favor with AquaNeedle, though only two managed to connect. And she clearly wasn't hammering a weakness. She was, however, hammering a virus with a bone boomerang, though it didn't really seem all that bothered by it. The ice, as well, did little more than damage, though that was hardly a terrible thing. What WAS terrible was that it caused the being to back away from Anyis, which caused Magna's BFG to end up missing its target. But Anyis picked up the slack with LilCloud, doing exactly enough to bring that HP down to 0...or it would've, but apparently the virus came with a free UnderShirt or something.

Oh, and at some point, Damascus made the virus's attack power go down a bit. Anyis probably would've preferred that kick in sooner, but oh well.

In less encouraging news, a mysterious purple aura was surrounding the mysterious virus's sword. Slightly ominous. "NervousMan here. I wasn't going to say anything during this battle, but...just a reminder, it has a killing blow attack if it runs low on HP, and it's certainly low on HP right now...you might want to make sure there's something between each of you and it about now." ...Not so slightly ominous. What was the attack that was so strong that NervousMan of all Navis actually feared for his test subjects' safety at this point?

--- THE FINAL FOE ---
Unknown: 1 HP (Debuff 24)

--- NAVIS THAT WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE ---
MeleeMan: 420 HP
Anyis: 60 HP

--- SPS THAT PROBABLY WANT TO AM-SCRAY ---
Damascus: 70 HP
Magna: 20 HP
The shock, both electrical and mental, was overwhelming as NervousMan's favorite pet cut across Anyis's torso. What compelled the supervirus to attack her despite MeleeMan's face-to-face assault, what tempted it to draw an electrical blade on an Aqua Navi that was less than easy to recognize... and whatever tempted the fates to make the agile Anyis fail to avoid a head-on attack would probably never be known. The only sure fact was that it hurt, and a lot at that. There was no scream or cry of agony, just an airless gasp as Anyis's sensory systems blacked out momentarily, reacting immediately to the severe pain signal that would've otherwise crippled her. Cryos up and vanished completely, her mental focus slipping and unable to maintain the guardian's presence. She fell to her knees, her sense of balance temporarily lost along with everything else, but the gash in her body left Anyis's stunned body rigid, unable to fall forward to the ground. The state of her clothes was surprisingly undisturbed beyond the large diagonal cut, as the electric sword damaged her so severely that her damage rendering process crashed outright, leaving the wound to just show as a colorless rift in her data structure.

Anyis's senses snapped back into function in an instant, with the initial pain signal having passed, but she was far from not hurting. Her thoughts and sight were disoriented regardless, as she internally grappled with downscaling her pain sensors to cope with the dull, persistent suffering the wound emitted. NervousMan's virus was vaguely visible not far ahead, but Anyis wasn't detecting motion and couldn't focus her vision enough to perceive the purple glow around its blade. Whatever NervousMan said over the intercom fell deaf on her ears, though it mattered little since she was in no condition to do much of anything. Lazily, Anyis's orange eyes wandered up to the upper left corner of her vision, where she saw the foggy form of the LilCloud still raining nearby. One way or another, Anyis filtered out enough of the internal noise in her racing brain to send a mental command, willing the chip-summoned bit of weather back over towards the supervirus in a half-aware act of defiance towards her assailant. For better or worse, this wasn't the first mortal wound of Anyis's lifetime, so she could manage that much before leaving the rest to MeleeMan. Being at her reasonable limit, though, Anyis's tense body finally slacked as much as the data gash would allow...

*thump*

Even in her mentally dulled state, Anyis could feel the shockwave reverberate through her body as Magna crashed down right in front of her. The golem was hardly better off, the enemy's energized sword having successfully sliced into his metal body on his arm and hip for far more damage than the cuts seemed to suggest. Regardless, Magna's resiliency was not to be questioned, and he bounded towards the Mother Unit in a single leap after recovering from the staggering blows. He dropped to his own knees with another loud thump and quickly wrapped her up in his arms, the leaking orange core energy illuminating the Mother Unit's body as Magna covered it with his own. If NervousMan's minion was going to smash through Magna's shield like that, then he'd just have to figure out the hard way how to get through the golem's whole body next.

Anyis's Actions:
--LilCloud (85 Aqua damage {C}, Wide Attack) @ Unknown

Magna's Actions:
1) Protect Mother Unit (Movement)

Cooldowns:
Core Link Cannon: High Output - 4 turns

--TURN SPLICE--
Although MeleeMan always hated to admit it, Anyis was tough, far beyond where he felt made sense for a woman; in fact, in certain situations under the right alignment of stars and planets, she may even appear to be tougher than he was. That was why seeing both Anyis and her purple wonder wall go down to the virus' attack was so shocking to MeleeMan. Ordinarily he'd gripe about the enemies ignoring the VIP target, but right now, he had to wonder what NervousMan had put together in this laboratory of his... he also seriously hoped that NervousMan either had some ironclad control over this thing and his other viruses, or at least one hell of a contingency plan if this thing ever went free. "Damn," he grunted, his eyes moving behind his visor to switch back and forth between his injured ally and the surprisingly nimble enemy. "This guy must hate ice and me being insulted as much as I hate those things..." That joke wasn't particularly good, and furthermore, didn't feel at all appropriate in this situation; MeleeMan regretted saying it right after it came out.

"That was terrible! Think about how Anyis and Mill are feeling right now. This isn't a time for stupid jokes," Rania scolded him, which made him more aggravated than repentant. "They're doing what they can, but it may be up to you to finish that thing off now. But we have to keep in mind what NervousMan said... the virus has another trick waiting..."

"Yeah, I got that," he murmured, raising one fist into a ready position. "I need a weapon, fast!"

Damascus crossed her arms and shook her head. "I apologize, but my blade is useless against this virus. Its swordsmanship skills are impeccable and the edge of its blade is... worthy of admiration," she sighed.

"... You're not saying you messed up because you were hot for that virus, are you?" MeleeMan interrogated his SP.

"No. I did not realize how impressive his weapon was until I was close enough to connect. I was lucky I didn't shatter against that fierce force," Damascus shuddered, looking aside as though she'd been caught being unfaithful to her husband.

"So... Okay, nevermind. We got off track; I don't need you for a weapon, I need Rania to slot me in a damn chip," MeleeMan growled, realizing they'd wasted some time. "I need something I can use to protect Anyis, fast!" His operator flipped through her folder as quickly as she could, then spotted a weapon that her navi had not been able to make much use of so far. After all, getting the enemy far away from himself and his allies was something MeleeMan didn't often care to do... but in this situation, it might be appropriate. "WindRacket? That's a new one. I'll try anything once," he shrugged, looking at the now spinning cuff of his gauntlet. He was used to heat coming out of it, not a cool, refreshing breeze. The refreshing breeze soon elevated to a ridiculous wind, however, so he decided it'd be best to go ahead and get rid of it in the way that nature intended: by hitting someone.

MeleeMan stepped forward quickly and clasped both fists together, then swung them for the virus. He wanted to position himself between the virus and Anyis so that it couldn't further indulge its hard-on for her, but there was no time left for repositioning. At this point, he just wanted to launch the thing as far away from them as he could get it... with any luck, there was a particular range to his doomsday attack... or maybe flying through the air would mess him up? Everything said, he figured he'd probably be fine, but he wasn't so sure about his injured allies. "Damascus, get behind me," he urged his SP.

"... Forgive me for saying so, but I do not trust your capabilities as a shield. You're not made of metal," Damascus warned MeleeMan, crossing her arms defiantly. "You're not a metallic being like me or Magna."

"See how well that metallic thing worked out for your giant purple crush over there? I don't think any of us are getting out of this by hardness, even with abs like mine," he griped. "Now get behind me!"

Finally, she took his advice and huddled behind him, pressing her back to his own. He was so distracted that he didn't get much of anything out of the contact... now his eyes were locked on Anyis' figure. If she'd get back up, he would feel a hell of a lot better.

*) Melee subtype bash @ next attack [+impact]
1) WindRacket1 @ Unknown [100 damage melee, boosted A+ accuracy + northwind (on hit) + microburst (on hit) + gust + impact + wide attack]

Damascus
1) Get behind MeleeMan

--TURN SPLICE--
As suddenly as it appeared, the aura around the virus's sword vanished...only to follow by the entire blade turning purple. It raised it high above its head, and performed what looked like a single powerful swing...but if anyone listened closely, they would've heard four separate cuts. The rended air spread out, each seeking a Navi or SP. The ones towards Anyis and Magna sailed true, both slicing them to the brink of EJO...fortunately, they both remembered to wear underwear today, so neither actually did. Which raised the question of how Magna even wore underwear, but such was a tale for a time when a barrage of sonic booms of death wasn't putting everyone in serious peril. As for MeleeMan...his WindRacket only hit the sword, but WindRacket DID succeed in messing up the shock waves enough to completely miss him and Damascus, as well as blow it back right into some stray rain, which finished it off, and sent it packing.

--- THE FINAL FOE ---
Unknown: FINALIZED

--- NAVIS THAT WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE ---
MeleeMan: 420 HP
Anyis: 1 HP

--- SPS THAT PROBABLY WANT TO AM-SCRAY ---
Damascus: 70 HP
Magna: 1 HP

Rewards:
- MeleeMan: WideBlade BattleChip data, 4000z, 18 BugFrags, 6 FXP
- Anyis: LongBlade BattleChip data, 4000z, 18 BugFrags, 6 FXP

"Hmm...looks like it could use some endurance training or something." As the unknown virus dissipated, everyone's (least) favorite scientist Navi reappeared before the Navis. "Still, it certainly packs a punch, doesn't it? Speaking of which..." In what was undoubtedly a move to endear himself to MeleeMan and Anyis, NervousMan went over and partially opened their reward data. Fortunately, he didn't actually take anything. "Hmm, interesting. Well, you earned it, so it's yours. Oh, before I forget, there's something I want the two of you to have. It's a small way of thanking you for assisting my research." Something materialized inside his 'hand'...and it was small. So small that they probably couldn't even tell it was there if it wasn't so shiny. "Oh, right. I need to remove the data compression...there!" The thing suddenly enlarged, and set on the floor...turned out it was actually a pair of Blue Mystery Data. "I'd like each of you to take one. I'd been using them to research mystery data, but I can always find another. Go ahead! And don't worry, I'm already taken the liberty of Untrapping them, so you won't need to worry about battling in a weakened state." He took a couple of steps back, so if anyone decided to act on their urges and punch him, they'd have to go out of their way to do it. That might be worth it for sheer catharsis, but then again, who could resist the shininess of mystery data?

Or at least, they would've, as NervousMan noticed just how bad the purple half of the team was, and walked over to inspect them. "Hmm, that desperation attack was quite strong, wasn't it? Perhaps I should alter the parameters so that it can use it with less of a delay, or maybe even let it use it at will...what do you think? Any feedback would be quite helpful, of course."

(OPEN BMD: Y/N/PUNCH NERVOUSMAN IN THE FACE)
MeleeMan was glad to see that the WindRacket had more or less worked out, but his mood was sour when NervousMan showed up. "Enough screwing around; if you've got that thing anywhere close to Anyis, you've got it as strong as it needs to be or is ever going to get. Piss off, already," he complained, walking forward and grabbing up the data with one hand while pointing the index finger of the other forward threateningly. He wasn't quite sure if he'd be able to get Anyis' thoughts across, but he hoped he at least wasn't as far off the mark as usual. "Don't keep treating your pet project like it's ever going to be a match for fighters like us. She's a tournament semi-finalist and I'm the greatest navi in the world. I'd say your virus is about as good as he's ever going to be."

Damascus went over to help out the other two while MeleeMan continued, first lifting Magna off of Anyis. While the shield probably helped at the time, certainly a heat-producing core and confined, sweaty space weren't good for the health of an ice navi in the average case. "You're still a shield for her, even at a time like this... I wonder if I would do the same for my master," she murmured, narrowing her already narrow eyes with a thoughtful frown.

"You know why we were sent to retrieve you? Because people don't know what the hell you're up to. Now we go through wave after wave of these things like some kind of game, smashing every one, even smashing the best one you've got, and all you can talk about is how you've gotta make him better! Better viruses! Well you know what? It's a waste of your time, the NP's time, and everyone else's damned time! Pull your brain-head out of your nerve-ass and get back to the Tech Department where you belong, doing something useful with your time," he ranted, shaking his finger in NervousMan's face (frontal lobe) as he talked.

"If you piss him off, he's not going to want to go back... he might even have a stronger virus to throw at you," Rania warned her navi. "Besides, you got the reward and he's going to follow up with the NP."

"I don't do anything half-assed," MeleeMan defended, although that certainly wasn't always the case; it really depended on his own attitude towards tasks on a case by case basis. "It's no good to him or the NP if I send him back with a hard-on for waste-of-time virus weapon projects. Time to wipe your nerd board, NervousMan. Back to square one: focus on making us officers stronger or focus on making the viruses we protect the net from weaker. Something useful."

Rania decided to step in so that they didn't get a reprimand from the NP or something. She opened up a viewscreen near her navi and gave a short bow. "I'm sorry, he gets really fired up after a battle and says whatever is on his mind... I know we don't understand everything about your virus research... But you know, the NetPolice really are looking for you. It's got to be in everyone's best interests if you at least report in, right?" she reassured him. She didn't give much thought to the fact that she was still wearing a nurse cosplay getup.
Lifting someone of Magna's stature was an insurmountable task for even Damascus's strength, but she at least managed to pry the golem from his master. The supervirus's final attack went straight through Magna's complete embrace and hit Anyis despite, a strange feat no proper Navi could replicate, and as a result both of them were about as worn and ragged as it could get. Anyis was right out cold at this point, her emergency systems having reduced her to a ragdoll state as soon as the cutting wave struck, leaving her wounded self flat on the ground after her SP let go. The attack also hit Magna directly on his left arm before the second wave snuck through, and the supervirus's raw power was quite evident based on the deep cut in the golem's heavily armored bracer. His core energy was spewing out with a hiss as if it was a pressurized fluid, but true to his incomparable endurance, Magna was still fully conscious and seemingly not concerned about the... fuel (???) leak as he continued to stare at the Mother Unit even after Damascus pushed them apart.

The rush of the last few moments had finally passed, though, and unless NervousMan opted to be a huge jerk, everyone was likely out of danger. Despite his relative silence during the ugly turn of events, Mill was quite focuses as he sifted through the piles of warnings and error notices on his PET stemming from the crash of Anyis's damage renderer and the following emergency shutdown. After finally closing the last popup and giving his brain a moment to process the massive influx of information, he tilted his head back against his seat and sighed. "Wasn't expecting that... I guess she still isn't completely stable after the patch." Mill was mostly muttering to himself after understanding that Anyis's massive reformatting didn't go as conveniently smooth as... well, no one would realistically expect. A few seconds later, though, he realized that appearances were much more dramatic than the truth, hastily adding for all those concerned, "Oh, uh, but she'll be fine. This is just something I'll have to fix at home later."

"Should I not attempt to reboot the Mother Unit, Operator?" queried Magna, still on his knees and looming over Anyis.

"No, just let her rest for now. I can't repair that kind of damage from here, so it'd just be difficult for her to move with those cuts. You're really not much better off either Magna, so can you just carry her until I jack you two out?" requested Mill, who had severe reservations about someone with Magna's level of delicacy attempting something as precise as rebooting a Navi after a forced shutdown.

"Understood." nodded Magna before scooping up the Mother Unit in his hands. Both he and Mill seemed awfully composed considering the sheer violence committed against Anyis. Regardless, he shifted her limp body over to be cradled in his right arm only, as his left arm was still spraying orange energy out with a furor and would probably be quite harmful if it made contact with anything. With that in mind, Magna stood up and approached NervousMan, keeping a safe and friendly distance from MeleeMan and Damascus while the fistfighter told off the scientist. Malicious intent? No, of course not, no sir. Magna, despite his permanent and unmoving poker face, was not the type for ulterior motives. Not at all.

With Magna's stance decided, Mill joined Rania in opening a view screen to add his notes. "Surely a researcher of your caliber can reach a good conclusion on the data you've obtained, NervousMan. Our Navis and SPs are just fighters, so you won't get much advice of any scientific value from them." Without Anyis awake to offer a rebuttal, Mill found himself refreshingly free to speak. One thing that had been concerning Mill since the start was how NervousMan would spin his report if he was left on his own, but there was one little thing the Navi said before that Mill remembered about testing casualties and funding cuts. "Oh, but... We should probably come with you to HQ. I can't repair my Navi and SP until later, so seeing them in this state when we report own mission in might create a... bit of a stir over what actually happened here. That's more trouble than I really want to deal with, so if you could help us set the record straight..." Were Mill and Magna mad? Truly, honestly, no. Mill's always this candid when Anyis isn't around. Really. Passive aggressive? No such thing.
"Yes, I saw parts of that tournament. Truth be told, I didn't enjoy it. It was too...flawed." Was NervousMan going to elaborate on what he meant? Of course not, it didn't involve his research. Besides, MeleeMan was up in his face, or what passed for it, anyway. "Worry not, I haven't forgotten our agreement. You've more than fulfilled your end, so I'll check in shortly. But, I'd hardly say it was a waste of time...it's showed that it is indeed possible to reverse engineer viruses, which in turn means that every last line of coding is capable of being fully analyzed, and better counters to virus attacks can be devised. Isn't that precisely what you want? But, the applications of this research are in fact nearly endless..." The brainy Navi suddenly froze, almost like even his own body was telling him to shut up. Fortunately, it appeared that he finally was ready to listen to somebody (even if it was himself), and stopped right there.

And so, he looked over at Mill's pop-up, and in a rare moment, listened with absolute silence. Though, by the end, he almost looked...confused. "I can't say I follow you. Can't you simply report without any visuals? The NetPolice mission board is quite accommodating about that." With that, he looked down, noticing that part of the floor was covered in...whatever it was Magna was leaking. In what was probably not a completely unpredictable move, he materialized a small test tube, and scooped up a sample. After all, anything that potentially served as research material couldn't be ignored.
"Dammit, you're lucky I don't-!" MeleeMan started upon hearing NervousMan's criticism of Anyis' tournament, before realizing that, truth be told, he probably knew a lot less about that tournament than NervousMan did. They'd won a tournament together before as a team, but it was small potatoes compared to the one Anyis had been in... and yet, at the time, Rania hadn't let him anywhere near the contest. That was a bad time for him... he still remembered the weakness that had resulted from his period of downtime. Not just being rusty, but the sort of crippling illness that had taken him. If nothing else, NervousMan's tests were probably helping him ward that off for a bit. Regardless, he wasn't well qualified to take on the scientist's claim that there was something wrong with the tournament. "Anyway, I get it. Know your enemy and all that crap! Fine," the big navi surrendered, throwing his hands up. "A guy like me doesn't need that crap because he beats all his enemies regardless. But sure, I guess some other navis might have something to gain from that."

He crossed his arms and listened to Mill, then NervousMan. "Hey, all that aside, how do we know you're even going to report in? You held yourself up in this place for long enough for them to ask us to drag you out. Now that you got your research, you're going to send them a Christmas Card and then hope they forget about you again? I mean, I wanna believe you're going to do it, but you know what I think when I hear you yammer? I think you're going back into that lab and shutting the door for another few months. I think we'll be lucky if you even send that Christmas Card, let alone show them yourself again. Would it be too much to ask that you accompany me and metal-head over there back to report this in, face to brain? Y'know, for peace of mind."

"Piece of mind? A pun?" Rania asked, frowning in an unamused way. Unfortunately, her screen was still on, so everyone could see her being distracted and leaving the heavy-lifting on this to her navi.

Damascus watched NervousMan scoop up Magna's liquids and glowered. "You should ask permission before touching someone else's fluids," she warned him, slowly moving her eyes off of him to look aloof again.

"All I know is I'm taking this mystery data, Anyis is going to go get her repairs, and then you and me are taking a walk, Brainface. Otherwise, the least you're doing is writing that Christmas Card right now... and I'm going to stand here and breath down your nerve ends till I see your signature, down to the last 'N,'" MeleeMan threatened, pointing his giant finger into NervousMan's personal space again. That said, mystery data was kind of exciting for him now that the rest of the situation had calmed down a bit, so he grabbed it up with one hand (trying not to look too enthusiastic) and gave it a tap. That, of course, did nothing. He scowled and then turned his eyes, hidden behind his visor, back to his operator. "Little help?"

"Oh, right. Thank you for the gift," Rania muttered, waking up and decoding the blue mystery data. "I can do yours, too, if you're busy with Anyis, Mill."
"Wait, don't touch-"

*hiss*

"... Do not touch that." warned both Mill and Magna in similar terms as NervousMan opted to collect some of the golem's leaked energy. The sample collected made into the test tube well enough, but not more than a few seconds later the bottom of the glass vial was completely eaten through. Having escaped, the energy dripped back to the ground before evaporating into nothingness with a hissing sound.

A pause of awkward silence ensued, before Rania offered a timely change of subject. "Oh, sure, thanks Rania. I can't really load the MD myself with Anyis unconscious, and with Magna leaking energy like that... yeah." The change in subject didn't last very long, having arrived right back at his SP's incinerating fuel. Mill gave a pleading look to Magna to just explain the deal to NervousMan, before the scientist tried to extract anything manually.

Obliging as he always would, Magna elaborated. "My core energy is plasma in default state, not liquid. Liquid energy is a rare byproduct during a leak, as in normal conditions the expelled plasma will convert into gas when exposed to an outside environment and dissipate." The golem made an example of this, lifting his free arm to show the leaking cut, hissing quietly as the plasma turned into harmless, invisible gas. "This is strictly an application of states of matter, a basic foundation of chemical studies that any scientist should be well aware of. Collecting samples is unnecessary."

"So he says." punctuated Mill, letting the book close on that matter. "Anyway, our mission orders were to get you to report in and back to regular work. If you want to continue this virus project with all the funding needed, you should probably report in face-to-face and explain to the NetPolice brass how valuable your research is, right?" Mill suggested, internally agreeing with MeleeMan's thoughts that NervousMan wouldn't be beyond mailing a postcard back to base and holing himself up for another 3 months.