Tourney Spectator Lounge

Looking at Sabrina, the girl was only in her teens but Marius knew that her navi was going to be a tough one to fight against. But then again, the design for Splashlady was a bit obnoxious. Marius greeted Sabrina with a big smile, "Nice to meet you too, Sabrina.". Turning towards Polonius, he twirled his fingers around. "It's a great place and the food there is great! I'll show you around if you get the chance."

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Voulge connected into the small net-room where all the navis was gathering around. He saw DNR, Splashlady, and...for a surprise, SummonerMan. The navi he was suppose to fight against in the first round of the tournament. This was interesting, but he needed to keep his mind clear away from diverted thoughts. "So...Ready for the tournament?"...That's all he said for now. Ignis on the other hand was slowling circling around the blade of Voulge's weapon as if it was examining it. "How does this thing work? If it was able delete me...then...grr!"

"Hmm...So the name SummonerMan lives up to his name. Well, since you gave some of your own information away, why not share some of mine?" Voulge lifted his Avaria-Lancea, and with a blink of an eye, the lance was covered in a a small tower of fire and disappeared, revealing a Jousting Lance much bigger than its last form. "My weapon, The Avaria-Lancea, has the ability to transform into any polearm or something even similar in just seconds. Though this wasn't much, hope this will help against the fight between us." Voulge crackled a small smile and continued on with his awkward silence...

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Marius greeted Rose and tried to get on a conversation. "So, this is your second time netbattling? Well, that's two more than I did.". He stood up and walked over to the refreshment table...if there was, to grab a cup of Joe. "Well, I did fight against other navis before. But this is my first time participating in an official Netbattle."

He saw Sabrina sulking a little bit when she didn't have any jobs to "show off", but Marius didn't really feel like saying too much about it. The reason why he became a police officer is in a whole different planet. Again, he just didn't want to ruin the atmosphere.

By now, SplashLady was significantly freaked out by DNR's...remarks. "Uh...thanks, I guess?..." And fortunately, Rose's remarks gave her a perfect subject change. "Yeah, Sabrina's dad's Navi is a lot like that. But his always backs it up...I could go at his full force and still get creamed..."

"Yeah, FlareMan's tough..." Sabrina couldn't help but shudder at that freak of a Navi. Seriously, he could probably blink and viruses would get deleted. "But, thanks Rose. I just need to keep at it! There's one thing I'm kinda considering, but...well, I don't think I can say it. It might cause the world to collapse, or something..."

"Yeah...I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, Sabrina." The girl Navi shrugged, before starting to twirl her spear some more; not to show off, just that practicing would be a very good idea if she used this form in the tournament...

"Flareman huh? He must be a fire type then... but anyways... what were you trying to say then miss Sabrina?" Polonius asked curiously as he pondered this bit of info.

Meanwhile, DNR was giving a bit of a giggle at SplashLady's twirling, taking out his own scalpel sword Myocardium for a whirl. "Honestly I haven't tried using this baby out in a good while... you must like the water huh Splashlady?" he asked. He then looked over to Summonerman and Voulge as he said "Faults huh? Always nice to work on those no matter what really.."

"Thanks for the info." SummonerMan said, briefly watching the fire show. "That was decent of you, HotRod. I'll try and put the info to good use."

Rose took this time to respond to Marius. "Well, thanks. I'm sure you'll do fine though. An official net battle shouldn't be too different from an unofficial one. Besides, one battle isn't all that big a deal."

"Well, I'm sure whatever it is, you'll do fine." Rose said to Sabrina. "Though I'd love to hearing what this reality crushing goal of yours is, I'll be okay if you really don't want to share it." She added.

SummonerMan looked at DNR's continued attempts to court the previously male navi that stood in all its feminine grace before the unfortunately misled navi. "Well then, this just gets more and more interesting. Maybe I'll wait till he makes a move on her before telling him. Or maybe I'll just watch and appreaciate the dramatic irony."

Though, at the site of all the staffs around him, he noticed his striking lack of one. "Strange that all of you seem to have a staff, huh?" He said, "Must be some sort of big trend that I missed." The purple caped jerk noted.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of DNR's comment on faults, so he ignored it. SummonerMan didn't really feel bad about ignoring most things.

"A trend?...For me, it's more like a tradition to carry a pole arm such as this. I should tell you, there are others who is almost like me with weapons similar to my Avaria-Lancea.". He held his weapon up with pride and honor, but Ignis just killed the mood by opening his chatterbox. "Blegh! There are other people like you who's boring, dull, and FREAKIN BORING like yourself?! God, I really wish I was permanently deleted now."

While Marius was talking, he himself couldn't help but to see the little fling happening between DNR and Splashlady. Then he saw SummonerMan and his expression that revealed everything for Marius. "Wait...so, Is there something wrong between those two?" the operator whispered into SummonerMan's ear.

...Yeesh, everyone else seemed to have a name for their weapons. And yet she had nothing. Ah well, at least she was a better twirler despite having only just begun with it. "Of course, I love the water! I really like Yoka Area over in Electopia...all the water and ice in it...it's awesome!" Suddenly, in one smooth motion, the spinning of the spear ended as she grabbed it. "I bet you like ElecTown's Net, if you've been there before! Personally, I hate that place, since I'm not a huge fan of electricity..."

"It's not really reality crushing, just...even a year ago no one would've believed it." Sabrina took a deep breath before continuing. It was kinda weird even thinking about saying it out loud..."But anyway, my dad used to run a chip order system. They're really rare nowadays, since you have to be crazy good to do it successfully, but one day...I dunno, I think I'd like to give it a shot myself someday. But even if I did try it, we're a long way off from even thinking about trying...I dunno, it's probably just a pipe dream. But it'd probably be a pretty fun way to make a living if I could do it..."

"Chip Order System?! Man, that stuff is really really hard!" Ignis managed to hover around Sabrina when she was talking about her future job, but a hand came from behind and shoved Ignis away. "Sabrina, correct?" Voulge came up to Sabrina and sat near her and began to speak, "Have you tried it out yourself? Who knows...Maybe you inherited something from your father. Never think too negatively or else it'll get to you"

On the other side, Marius was sitting next to SummonerMan watching Splashlady and DNR going their way. "ooh, it looks like she's trying to make a subject change. Minus 5 points for DNR!"

"I see... interesting system that is..." Polonius said with a quick look down "My father...well... my father... he owns a company, let's leave it at that... so you wanna be a chip owner? That sounds rather cool actually." Polonius said in a more interested manner.

"Actually... I kinda like Sharo believe it or not, you'll like it much better miss. I think we should try a quick bust there some time, it's like the best place for water navis like yourself miss." DNR said again in an eager tone.

Rose tried to encourage the girl who had just spilled her dreams. "Well, there's no harm in trying. I'm sure you'll do fine. Though I don't really know what a 'chip=order system' is, so you'd have to explain it to me for me to really get it."

SummonerMan, meanwhile, was incredibly and uncharacteristically nice and helpful, if only because he wished to show how above deception he was, and have someone else appreciate his powers of observation. He used the thread that Rose had open and sent the Former cop an E-mail.

He largely ignored the relationship scoring, though, and rolled his eyes at the man who was doing it.

"My parents have pretty normal jobs." Rose added, just to put everyone on fairly even grounds. "Dad works at an office building; some boring white collar job. Mom works as a Real Estate Agent."

"Eh, it's not really a chip store...basically, people come to you, and ask for a chip. As long as it's within reason, you then go acquire that chip somehow. It's not for free, of course...beforehand you and your client, I guess you'd call 'em, agree on appropriate compensation. If you're good at it, you can get a pretty good haul! Not to brag, but my dad ran one of the best chip order businesses in all of Netopia!" And...that was it, basically. So Sabrina took a moment to pause and let it soak in. "I guess maybe I will give it a try one day...but not anytime soon. At the very least, I think SplashLady would need to at least stand a chance against my dad's Navi! I'm pretty sure they've never, ever had to even suffer an emergency jack out before, even against entire gangs of Aqua Navis..."

Her Navi somehow managed to completely ignore her operator, instead focusing her attention on the other Navis. "Sharo being better than Yoka? I kinda doubt that...maybe I'll give it a shot sometime, though." And now something was bugging her. Specifically, the Fire Navi's operator and SummonerMan getting together. She didn't know why, but it made her almost as uncomfortable as DNR's previous comments. Almost. "Hey, you two! What're you talking about over there? Come here and join the group!"

Marius was silently listening to DNR and Splashlady's conversation before he heard a familiar beep form his PET. Snapping it out, he realized that it was a New E-mail...from SummonerMan who was sitting right next to him. After reading the message, Marius tried to hold in his laughter and it only came out a held-back chuckle. He popped out the virtual keyboard of the PET and started to type down his reply to the E-mail.

"Hey, you two! What're you talking about over there? Come here and join the group!"

Marius raised his head to see Splashlady making the remark. This was certainly an odd situation he was in. He was about to get into a 3-to-1, navi to human discussion. There wasn't anything bad about it and of course it also depended on Summ's decision to talk with the group or not. Marius jumped out from the ground, patted his pants and jacket in a habit and said "Alright, hold on for a minute, missy."

-----

Voulge, on the other side, was listening to Sabrina's talk about his father's business process, the requirement, and even about his father's ridiculously powerful fire navi that could overcome multiple aqua navis at once. All these stories even made Ignis quiet down as well. Floating up and down gently, it looked as if Ignis was thinking about her story. "Hmm...If I had the power like that of FlareMan, I could easily crush Voulge and have my revenge!!! I'm brilliant!!! AHAHAHAHA!" Voulge looked like he could read the mind of his new partner like a book, even if Ignis doesn't have any face. He didn't care about that, he felt like he needed to comfort Sabrina.

"Must've been tough seeing the triumphing father falling down so hard after one mistake., it was just a guess from Voulge, but it felt like that it might've happened judging from the complex and gamble like trait of the business. The navi stood up from his sitting and looked towards Sabrina. "I'll tell you this, Sabrina. You are one of the strongest lady I've seen. Baring through so much struggles and problems, you still came out head tall."

"Well but of course SplashLady, I've been there two times. There's water and ice as far as the ice can see! You should see how the light crosses the water and the ice, it's... majestic in a sense..." DNR said with some flair, oblivious as he gave a slight bow towards the female.

"There are gangs of Aqua Navis? and they survived that? Well... that makes me kinda nervous for our battle against Djinni... who knows what kinda devious, wryly mind we're dealing with..." Polonius remarked as he talked to Rose and Sabrina.

Just before Marius tried to have his conversation with the navis, His PET started to beep again, but not for a E-mail. He checked to see what it was, nodded his head and started to walk away from the circle. "I'm sorry guys, I need to get going now. I really did appreciate the time we spent here." He waved to each navis and shook the other operator's hands. When he came across Rose, he shook her hands as well and bowed formally to the young girl. "I hope that we see each other in the tournament as a good friend rather than an enemy." And walked out.
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Voulge also received the same message Marius got and started to say his farewell to his new friends. "Thanks for sharing your stories with us, Sabrina. Let's meet sometime later.". The navi grabbed Ignis with his left hands, dragging the SP with him. "No! Hey! Chip Order Girl! Tell me more about your father's navi and his power!!!"

Just like his operator, he bid his farewell to every navis and operators in the group and came across SummonerMan. "SummonerMan...I'll give you lesson about undermining the power of my Lance...However, hope that we could see the tournament match as a friendly one.". Voulge started to walk along side with Marius out the door and disappeared as soon as the operator stepped out of the room.

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Destination: ACDC / Home
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"Oh," Rose said, in response to Sabrina's description. "That does sound sort of tough."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do fine if you put your mind to it. Though if your dad is going to be your chief competitor, you may want to wait 'till your out of the house, or he may like, kick you out or make you pay rent." She continued with a smile.

SummonerMan spoke aloud, not loudly or directly, as he wasn't that concerned. "I haven't said anything. And I'm good over here, feel free to keep talking, I may listen." He looked back at the screen. "Besides, it looks like some of the matches may be starting soon."

SummonerMan noted, again with a smirk, though this one at DNR's expense, that the Doctor seemed to trying to set up a date with the elegant Splash'lady'.

Rose was then greeted with a handshake and a bow before Marius left, which she attempted to return. "Thank you, I'm sure it'll be fun." She replied with a smile.

SummonerMan gave the navi a dismissive handwave. "We'll have see about that, Hotrod, " he said, with a short exhale in amusement, before returning his attention to the screen.

"Yeah...that's the weird part." Sabrina turned away, as if trying to recall something. "As far as I know, nothing happened. Around 6 months ago, he just...stopped. He didn't tell anyone why, either. It's weird, because it was something he really loved doing. I have no idea what could possibly make him suddenly stop like that...especially since just a few days, he was hired by the Netopian government for something. But he won't tell us more than that...it's just so weird. I mean, he's not the kind of person that keeps secrets, and yet here he is with two big ones...but, that's enough about that. It's just the way it is, I guess." She turned over to the med student, and smirked. "I wouldn't worry about anyone being as strong as FlareMan. Trust me, when it comes to NetBattling, my dad and his Navi are freaks of nature!"

"As far as the ice can see? Wonder if that was a...slip of the tongue?" SplashLady couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile at the horrible pun she had whipped up in her mind. "Sharo does sound nice, but that's the country that's practically stuck in a year-round blizzard, right? I guess if I ever go there, it won't be directly, since Sabrina's not a big fan of really cold weather...but really, who is?" Huzzah for obliviousness!

And it was then that Marius and Voulge chose to exit, stage right. "Okay...later, you guys!" And turning to Rose..."Well, that's the thing. I can't really compete with my dad if he's not running it. I'd probably wind up taking over his business if I did that. But that's a good thing...I wouldn't be in business for 2 weeks if I had to actually go against him!"

"Freaks of nature? You should try some of the med student navis over at my school, some of them can really warp you view of some issues...makes me wonder if your father's better than Soryu then..." Polonius said with a bit of a laugh as he nodded.

Meanwhile... "Heheh... well... I'm wiling to help you out in Sharo, electricity does wonders there let me tell you." DNR said as he looked pretty confident, smiling a bit as he continued his... "enlightening" conversation with Splashlady.

"Heh, hang on...I may have a picture of him somewhere..." Sabrina performed a quick search, before successfully finding the one picture of the flame Navi in question she had. "Hey, Splash...Lady!" Whew...almost blew her cover just then. "Think you could hologram-ize this picture?"

"Eh? Sure!" And thus did the picture of a rather lanky Navi with flaming shoulders and wrists, and a flamethrower where the nose/mouth should've been. "There!"

"And that...is FlareMan, my dad's Navi! He doesn't look like a whole lot, but...he's probably deleted thousands of viruses, and dozens of evil Navis that have tried to off him! No offense to Voulge, but if you ask me, this is the ultimate Fire Navi!"

"Nah, that's okay, DNR!" For no special reason, SplashLady began twirling her spear again. She needed practice with it. ...Which would probably be a reason itself. But whatever. "If things get tough, I've got an Elec-element Cross I can fall back on to wipe the floor! And though I bet Sharo's tougher, I can do pretty well in Yoka, too, even if I don't look like it!" REJECTED. "I think you'd be surprised by just how good I am!"

((OOC: I have homework to do, but if EN sees this, I'm only partially failing. I didn't come back to the chat, at least. Homework is winning. I don't eant to hold you cool dudes up, though, so I have to post here.))

"Well then, that solves the problem of competition." She said, puzzling on the spiel Sabrina had just let forth on her father's mysterious secrets. She'd have to consider helping Sabrina look into them, sometime. "And that would be nicer, then, carrying on the business in your father's name."

SummonerMan, still watching as more fights seemed to be beginning, rolled his eyes slightly as DNR now seemed to be inviting the 'woman' of his desires onto a date at the place he had just hyped up.

Rose was well aware of what was happening, not only through her own observation, but if anything the e-mail her PeT recieved, and the message to which it was a reply, had solidified her vague suspicions. But she remained quiet about it, respecting Sabrina and her navi, and their right to whatever they decided to do. "It could be a sensitive issue, or maybe SplashMan was uncomfortable being male or something, Who knows. Either way, it's none of my business at the moment, so I'll let it slide."

Rose looked upon the Navi that Sabrina had called up, "Well, he looks pretty impressive. I'm sure he's more impressive when you, you know, have seen him in action, grown up around him, heard all the stories about him, and have been subjected to his influence." She said with a smile.

"Voulge is gone, in case you didn't notice, so no need to excuse him exclusively. If you do that, you might as well, "No offense to every fire navi in existance that isn't FlareMan, but...". You understand?" SummonerMan spoke, rather dully. It was sort of strange, as he had a point, though it could have just been to mask his attempt to remove respect from his upcoming opponent.

Rose perked up at the mention of a cross. "An Elec-element cross? Sounds interesting. How do crosses work, anyway? SummonerMan doesn't have any at the moment, so I'd be interested in knowing more about them." She said.

"Also, I wouldn't be surprised if you were incredibly powerful." Rose said, quickly. "I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you could easily make it on your own; I'll bet with enough practice, you could beat your father's Navi, too."

"I'll bet Doctor-boy over there would beg to differ. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate his electrical "mastery" being trivialized to the level of a single cross. I mean, I wouldn't take offense to it, but hey, I'm an easy going guy." SummonerMan said, now with a little emotion in his voice, almost as if he were trying to goad DNR into anger. "I can see how some people could even see that as an insult. And if it were, somehow, coupled with being beaten by a girl, and utterly rejected by a love interest, I could see where it could make the Navi feel downright downtrodden." His voice had reached what could possibly be construed as mocking, now. If you were the cynical suspicious type. ((Though with a jerk like SUmm, you'd be entirely Justified.))

"It could almost be construed as a challenge, if they were the fickle over-zealous type. Pride, Masculinity, self-respect; these things tend to inspire fights." SummonerMan had moved more out of his mocking tone and back to dull disinterest as he looked over his gloved fingernails, and moved his eyes back to the tournament screens.

Rose gave her Navi a strange look, trying to decide what she should do in reaction. He hadn't said anything obviously ridiculous at the moment, though, she she couldn't really challenge him in outrage or anything. She decided to ignore whatever it was he was up to.

"Hmm... Well crosses work by battling along side navis, gaining friendship points. Get enough and your able to get one. Of course there are ways to lose such points, sometimes you don't even need to battle along side them to gain points, if my research is right..." Polonius said.

DNR looked curiously towards Summonerman, clenching his teeth through a smile as he said "Hear that Sum? Being a Jerk doesn't get you squat~". He didn't seem to fall for the goading, giving a quick twirl of his hologram.

DNR, being somewhat rejected, is still overly cheerful and optimistic! "So Splashlady, is there any other interest you have besides the deepness of the sea?"