Fists of Semi-Fury

It was another peaceful day at ACDC Park. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky...one person, however, wasn't particularly paying attention to any of that. In fact, based on her sitting meditative position, it looked like she wasn't even aware of her surroundings. After a couple of minutes, her PET beeped, but the young lady didn't even seem to hear it. A Navi in magenta and black gear appeared on her shoulder, apparently pondering if she should disturb her. "Hey, uh...Leslie?"

No response.

"Leslie!"

Not a peep.

"Earth to Leslie!"

No acknowledgement.

"You asked for it..." The volume indicator on the PET flashed on the screen, showing that the sound was now turned to its maximum. "LESLIE KARA BATTLE!"

"What the?!" The meditating girl immediately fell backward, out of sheer shock. "What was that about?!"

"You didn't-" Okay, time to turn down the volume..."You didn't answer me when I called you, so I thought I'd make sure you'd hear me no matter how deep you were in!"

"Well, it worked! And I'm not happy, because I really felt like I was become one with the universe! And martial arts is as much about inner strength as outer strength, ya know!"

"I'm perfectly aware of this! But anyway, you got an e-mail from your father."

"Ugh, it's probably just telling me to grab some ramen on the way home for supper or something. That really could've waited!" Leslie looked back to make sure no one was behind her, before somehow pulling off a backflip from a sitting position into a regular standing one. "Well, now I'm too pissed to meditate, so thanks a lot!"

"Will you calm down a sec?! If that was all there was to it, I wouldn't have bugged you! But there was something else. He also gave us some coordinates in ACDC Area, and told us to 'pick some up'. He didn't say what, but he did say that we should get it as soon as we could."

"...Well, that's weird. Father's not usually cryptic like that. Okay, now I'm curious. Let's go find out what he wants!"

"Only if you apologize for yelling at me for no good reason!"

"...Okay, I'm really really sorry. Now can we PLEASE get a move on?"

"That's better. The coordinates are easy enough to follow. Just jack into the park squirrel, and it's a straight shot from there. Simple enough, right?"

"Well, yeah, but what if we run into some viruses? I'm not saying we can't handle any, but if we run into something strong, we might have a problem..."

"That's fine by me! There's nothing better than fighting a tough foe! "

"Well, I mean more along the lines of fighting lots of them. As in, it being completely impossible to win with chips alone because they can take too many hits."

"We can figure that out after we find something like that, okay? There's probably not anything like that in ACDC unless we go really deep into it, anyway!"

"...Yeah, I'm just overthinking it. All right, let's go check things out!" In a single smooth motion, the young woman whipped out her PET, and pointed it at the squirrel. "Jack in! Martia, Execute!"

(TO ACDC NET)

A moment after Martia rematerialized in the PET, she was joined by the mass shipment of alcohol she was charged with delivering. "I, uh, really hope this is all that Navi needs for the rest of his life..."

"If he drinks like Father, it'll last him about a month..." After returning her PET to its holster at her hip, Leslie began to tighten her hand wrappings, as she slowly but surely started her trek over to the MetroLine. "Anyway, enough of the depressing stuff. How'd you like your first fight?"

"It was...interesting. No offense, but next time, it might be better if I use more than one thing over and over again..."

"Hey, if that lasted any longer, I would've given you more stuff! But, it didn't, and we have a little bit of cash, and that new chip-ShockWave, I think it was called-should come in handy!"

"Maybe, but...well, I'm not really sure how I feel about using stuff at range like that. I'm not named Martia for nothing, you know!" The Navi folded her arms across her stomach, since, well, doing it around the chest would've probably been uncomfortable. "I think I'd definitely like close range stuff more!"

"Yeah, I hear you. Running up and letting them have it before they have a chance to know what hit them...sounds like a plan! But, like the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers."

"I guess..." With a sigh, Martia leaned back against the giant crate. "...Oh, right. Don't forget about supper now!"

"I know, I know! I'm gonna stop off at the usual place on the way home. They're cheap, and give you lots of food. Perfect for those that have to scrounge for every last zenny!"

"And the way you eat, you don't have to worry about the taste, because you wolf it down so fast you can't even taste it!"

"What? Spending every day tempering body and spirit makes you hungry, you know!"

(Off to...wherever Leslie's home is!)