Meleeman and Crushman

((Hopefully this is modded correctly. if you see any issues, please PM me))

Before anyone can react, the Dark Auger roars to life, sending two pulses across the network. Both shockwaves strike BlockMan's rockcubes, sending two large, imposing obstacles careening out of control toward our heroes. MeleeMan finds himself staring straight at an oncoming rockcube when he felt a soft arm wrap itself around his midsection. Kunie scoffed and tapped her emblem, causing a transparent blue visor to materialize across her face. "Stand back and get away from combat? Please, you're the one who's got to be more careful" she quipped in a voice that, while somewhat condescending, carried little disdain, "I'll do us both a favor and see if we can't get ourselves into a less..." she paused as she took aim at a nearby crystal spire, "...dangerous position."

With that, Kunie launched a small metal dart toward one of Rhinestone's crystal towers. As soon as it hit, MeleeMan found himself pulled by his chest across time and space, Kunie's Teleport Dart having carried the two navis out of harm's way. The Rockcube that was meant for MeleeMan sailed harmlessly past into the distance. That was certainly a close call.

Blockman, however, was not so fortunate. Heeding MeleeMan's orders to protect his wounded allies, he did the only thing a block with legs could do — get in front of them. Unfortunately, as he stepped in front of CrushMan and Shine, he could do little more than block the oncoming rockcube with his own body. In an ironic twist of fate, the cubial navi was crushed by one of his own objects. As the stone cube slammed into him, Blockman managed one final shriek of "BLOOOOOCK!" before being shattered into a million pieces, his own remains indistinguishable from the Rockcube's rubble. MeleeMan responded with a powerful Magbolt that struck the Dark Auger in the side, coils of electricity playing over the dangerous-looking obstacle. The DarkChip obstacle gave a whine of protest, sputtered, and exploded in a burst of violet light. Though physically harmless, the navis can't help but give an uncomfortable shudder as the unnatural radiation played across the battlefield, lingering just a little longer than one would expect.

XiaoStone, crossing her arms over her ample bosom and smirking as she unfolded her two crystalline fans, dashed forward in an effort to finish off her proverbial parents. Her first stroke sliced into Crushman's well-placed shield, reflecting the impact back at her and causing the green-haired amalgamation to stumble backward in shock. Using the brief respite to his advantage, Charles begins his negotiations with the battling trio.

Rhinestone and Xiao glared at each other for a moment, their respective weapons drawn and prepared to strike. Finally, Rhinestone lowered her gauntleted arm cautiously and brushed her silvery hair to the side. "Make no mistake, Xiao.EXE..." she said warningly, "What I am about to say does not absolve you of your crimes against the network."

Xiao nodded, stepped back, and crossed her arms across her chest. The Electopian-style netnavi continued her steely glare toward Rhinestone, but relented and allowed herself a coy smile. "Understood, Miss Rhinestone. Any alliance made in the present situation is only temporary, that it is." she replied, "May I assume then, that we have established a common enemy, that we have?"

Rhinestone didn't share Xiao's smile, instead opting to turn her attention to the former trapdata. "For the time being..." she said curtly, pointing her gauntleted arm toward the sky and forming an elegant azure energy blade from her wrist. Xiao smiled wider and snapped her fingers. Instantly, several metal handles appeared between her fingers, three in each hand. As XiaoStone regained her senses and before Charles could complete his negotiations, the unlikely duo set upon her with renewed fervor. Rhinestone's Aquaknife struck first, bypassing XiaoStone's crystal fans and nicking her bodysuit just above her hip. Xiao followed suit, igniting her metallic handles with energy blades and unleashing a barrage of charged kunai upon her doppelganger. Two slightly glowing blades lay embedded in XiaoStone's bodysuit as she gasped, glared for a moment at CrushMan, disappeared...

...and reappeared in front of Parabola, unfolding her fans and slicing the Netpolice enforcer down the middle in a single fluid motion! The bespectacled navi stared blankly forward in shock before dropping her Killculator to the ground and crumpling in a heap. With her last breath, she managed to enter in a single set of functions into her weapon, binding the Techari construct where she stood.

Seeing MeleeMan rapidly advance on his position, Grigorio clamored across the ground, reaching for the remote. As fine wisplike strands of data crept from his body, the Techari Admin managed to procure his tiny remote, cursing as he struggled to get the trapdata to follow his instructions. "You... You do not understand!" shouted Grigorio in protest as MeleeMan rammed his rageclaw into his already-wounded chest, "You... You are a fool! The Teksqp... they... cannot be trusted! You're playing right into... Grigorio spoke no more as MeleeMan slammed him into the ground. The Techari admin went down hard and did not rise again.

OrangeCrush, meanwhile had cornered Silverfish and Punct, pointing a rather intimidating coil at them and laughing. "Master says DESTROY! CRUSH! OH-EM-GEE, MASTER!" he shrieked, discharging a pair of magnetic missiles toward their location. Punct stumbled as the projectile struck her, its electric current siphoning her data and leaving only her undershirt between her core data files and the outside world. Silverfish was not so lucky, and although he managed to discharge a burst of water before his deletion, did not survive the powerful onslaught. "I... I'm glad... you're... okay," he gasped, turning his head toward Punct and extending a finned hand, "He... He'll be... happy too..."

Shine scowled and charged blindly toward OrangeCrush, a pair of shotgun modules appearing on her hands. "How DARE you attack her! She's our friend!" she cried, leaping onto his back and discharging both weapons at the same time. The orange behemoth shrieked in pain, attempting to remove the orange-clad female from his backside. Punct withdrew a pair of vulcan battlechips and pointed them toward OrangeCrush, but hesitated, not wanting to damage her teammate!

-*-

Unbeknownst to the navis below, a small, lithe navi crouched on a nearby precipice and watched the battle unfold... apparently waiting for something, but what?

-*-

Techari Admin — Grigorio.EXE: DELETED [Normal]
Techari — Stylish Goon: DELETED
Techari — XiaoStone: 40 (Stunned! -1 action) [Normal] [Equip: Widesword x2]
Techari — OrangeCrush: 150 (Shine on back!) [Normal, Near Rockcube]
Techari — MeleeMan?: DELETED [Normal]

Teksqp — Silverfish.EXE: DELETED [Cracked]

Dept. of Public Safety — TorrentMan.EXE: DELETED

Crystal SpireA: 40 HP (Center of Field)
Crystal SpireB: 50 HP (Near CrystalSpireA)
RockCubeA: 160 (Rockcubes A-D are close to each other)
RockCubeB: 200
RockCubeC: 200
RockCubeD: 200
RockCubeE: 200
RockCubeF: DELETED
RockCubeG: DELETED
Dark Auger (Object) - DELETED

Ally — Shine: 58 (On OrangeCrush's Back!)[Cracked]
Ally — Kunie: 32 [Cracked]
Ally — Second Lieutenant Punct: 1 [Cracked]
Ally — Enforcer Parabola: DELETED [Cracked]
Ally - BlockMan.EXE: DELETED
Ally - Admin Xiao.EXE: 44 (Equip: Sword) [Normal]
Ally - Dept. of Public Safety Lieutenant— Rhinestone.EXE: 58 [Cracked]

Crushman: 130 [Cracked]
MeleeMan: 140 [Normal]

Field: 40% Sea, 30% Cracked, 10% Hole, 20% Normal

Xiao.EXE: Normal/Wind
Max HP: 275
Actions: 3
Buster Damage/Charge Damage: N/A (no buster)
Battlechips: Kunai1 x3, Sword x2, Widesword, Areagrab x3
Signature Attacks: None
DarkChip: VorpalDarkness — 6 hits of 20 slashing, breaking, piercing, and seeking damage. Xiao's dodging ability is reduced by 2 ranks.

Rhinestone.EXE: Normal/Cursor
Max HP: 300
Actions: 3
Buster Damage/Charge Damage: 20/80
Battlechips: Aquaknife x1, Aquasword x1, Bubbler x3, MarkCannon x2, RockCube x2
Netpolice Weapon: Crystalline (200 Ammunition)
Normal Shot: Crystal Spire - 50 HP object, 30 Damage, Medium-area cracked panels (100 Ammo used)
Alternate Shot: Gemstone Missile — 40 Damage (40 Ammo used)
"That is... unfortunate. But so be it." The Master seemed hardly perturbed. But what was he talking about? The enemy had simply done as expected. Attacked. Hadn't it? Where'd the Target gone, it'd just disappeared after that scowl. Crush liked that look. It was familiar. It made sense to him. It looked like an enemy. Appropriate, simple, it was how he liked things. "Let's finish this ugly business." Ugly business? He'd never heard the Master say anything quite like that before. Or was this still part of his act? Of course, it must be. Breaker was too nearsighted to see the Master's far-reaching plan. That was why the Master was the Master, and why he was... was... He couldn't think the word. CrushMan had heard the Master refer to him as something so many times, he knew the word, but he refused to think it. How curious.

"Breaker. Let's finish this battle."

Action 1

"Shine, get down from there! That thing's a monster! Get away, quick! I know you want it beaten, seeing something like that, especially after what happened to Parabola, but we can't be reckless now!"

Parabola? What happened to Parabola?

"Just get down and engage it from afar, and assist MeleeMan... In taking it down." CrushMan waited for the rest of the Master's orders. But there were no more. Silence.

What? What? He was leaving the false CrushMan to be handled by someone else? No! It was his battle, his duty to destroy the imposter! It was stealing his identity, his being, some ugly freakish thing that dared even approximate his individual self! It was his duty to destroy it!

"That thing's too disgusting to keep alive, don't you agree? Bad enough it looks like this freaky renegade, my apologies Shine but combining the two of you together is just not pretty. Again, sorry guys, but I guess I just don't have the stomach for dealing with that thing. Getting close once was once too many. Besides, I get the feeling you don't like fighting girls, MeleeMan. You've avoided attacking every female enemy we've had so far, right? Hah, well, that's very gallant of you, certainly. Not enough gentlemen left, if you ask me. And I guess I feel obliged to finish this deal with Nameless now. You leave her to us. So please, Shine, MeleeMan! Destroy that thing!"

Action 2

"But first..." the Master whispered. "I have something I have to do. CrushMan? Get close. Look like you're going to ram into him, then run around him at the last moment. Damage is acceptable at this point. I'd prefer otherwise but... this is a matter of pride now."

"I take that back!" The Master shouted, "We'll throw in one more strike for the team! C'mon Breaker, let's go!"

CrushMan threw himself forward. He left the battered shield where it was, useless and broken. And he discarded the sword he'd used to pose earlier. He just charged, straight toward the thing in front of him. And when it looked as if he'd ram straight into the enemy, moments away before impact, he veered back slightly and maneuvered around the side. He'd left quite a bit of distance between the two, unfortunately. He'd misjudged the distance, he supposed. Would the others really fall for such a pitiful feint, thinking it an attack? But CrushMan forgot everything, every thought left his mind as the Master spoke in a voice he hadn't heard in one entire year. It was absolutely terrifying, the voice of judgment, the voice of authority and punishment. Cold and venomous, it was the voice of the Master.

"Listen to me, you pathetic, worthless, nothing. If you've copied any of our pride into your soulless empty husk of a body, you'll kneel and accept your fate. Taking back everything I've ever done for you, everything I'd ever taught you, taking all that and throwing it back into my face... You're disgraceful. Die. Your Master commands it."

CrushMan flew past the copy after that. He ran straight towards the other thing, the one from earlier. And he tried desperately to forget that voice again, to forget it and all the memories he associated with it.

Action 3

Breaker hurled himself forward, not exactly even knowing where he was going. The Target, the Target, where had she gone? "Tch, that was stupid Charles..." Charles? Who was Charles? "Saying such things, with Shine so close by..." Was the Master giving him another new name, a new identity? He hoped not. Two was enough. But he said, 'saying such things'. It couldn't be him. CrushMan couldn't speak, no, never. So was the Master speaking to himself? Charles...

"There, Breaker. There she is. Enemy location pinged on your HUD. Let's take her down." Ah, there she was! There, standing over... something. Someone. Parabola? Why was she lying down? There was a battle to be fought! Perhaps she was not so worthy an ally after all!

He lied to himself. CrushMan knew. He'd pulled her out of the muck when the enemy had revealed his super weapon, and she had in turn held the foe still while he drove his blade down. Yes. Parabola. And she was now dead. Unfortunate, the Master had said. CrushMan believed that the situation deserved a better word.

"Nameless," the Master said. "I wonder what you're thinking now?"

Action 4

The Target, something was wrong. She didn't look as... active. Parabola's weapon, of course. There she was again. This would be the last time though, it seemed. Electrical buzzing energy blazed through his arm as CrushMan neared. Doonk-shuuush, the metallic sound came as a thick metal shaft flew out from his shoulder and went down all the way to his fist before enclosing it all in a metal box as a thick layer of billowing white smoke exhumed from the device. The top half thinned to half the size of the shaft below and then four razor-like metal blades jutted out the top, arranged in the pattern of a square with but the tiniest space separating each. And then they started to spin, each metal shaft, the thinner spinning faster than the thicker bottom half, with the four blades dancing about one another and squealing with a high pitched whirr.

"I really am sorry about this. But you're not stable. People just can't go around attacking others for no reason. You just had the wrong influences. It's better this way though. You never could have been anything else except what those before you had done. You would have never been yourself, never been 'unique'. You'd always be the copy. So yes, I do think it's better this way."

"Breaker?" CrushMan nodded and held his arm back, ready to swing out with the pulverizing weapon. For the first time in some time, Crush could tell that the Master couldn't hold a proper mask. Crush knew that the Master wanted to feign compassion. But his true feelings were leaking through. The disdain. The arrogance. The hate. "That's it then. I promise it'll be quick." Quick? With a weapon like this? Perhaps that was an order. Crush put a little extra punch into the weapon, almost strong enough to punch through a RockCube in one strike. The battle had dragged on long enough. It was time for the imposters to fall. "Maybe in your next life, a fortunate star will bless you. But not this time."

"Goodbye Nameless."

Summary

1. Request that Shine get off OrangeCrush and Assist MeleeMan
2. Command OrangeCrush to Die
3. Dodge
Free Action. Smash — Adds
Break to Next Attack
4. MagBolt to XiaoStone — 90 Damage,
Elec, Break
"Hmph. I'll trust the Tek-squew-pth-whatsit over you, nancy boy," MeleeMan grumbled, dusting his hands together as he rid himself of the claw. He smirked down confidently at the defeated scientist's body. Even after all of the good sentiments and time spent protecting his allies, it felt good to deliver an old-fashioned, bone-shattering blow to an opponent, abandoning all of his moderation for his primal urge to injure his enemies. "It's a good thing Kunie rescued me there... Maybe she likes me after all? We might..." he thought, smiling with a bright grin.

In the passing of a moment, MeleeMan's satisfaction left him and he began to wish he'd devoted more time to his allies protection. Looking back at the broken auger, MeleeMan felt his eyebrows tremble as his gaze then moved on to see the still-living forms of the giant orange abomination and the slender silver hybrid, unaffected by the destruction of the machine. "The attack... Rania, they're still alive! Destroying the machine had no effect!" he cried, clutching his head. "Are my allies okay? Did they...?" he asked, looking back to Rania with his teeth clenched, knowing what the answer would have to be. When his operator didn't immediately respond, his eyes confirmed what he'd already suspected.

"I work hard at this, don't I? I'm beginning to see why a guy like me doesn't make friends," he muttered to himself, dropping his tense shoulders for a menacing scowl. "Because every time there's a lull in the fighting, and I try to give everybody a way out, some punk takes advantage of the situation and pulls a retarded move like that," he growled, his hands clenched so tightly he felt as though the nerves in his arms must be on the point of severing themselves. "Damn you! I don't care if you're all some kind of soul-deprived clones! Even animals no when to back off! You killed my pal Blockhead and you killed that young netpolice officer! Why can't you guys just run away like sane, rational creatures, huh?" he bawled in anger, running for the two. "Why do I have to rend you apart before you're willing to see the consequences of your actions?! That's it! I'll tear you both limb from limb!" MeleeMan's voice echoed through the tense air of the battlefield as he barreled towards the remaining enemies.

"Screw moderation! Screw it! I let myself get lax and my allies paid for it! I let myself think, 'Well, the enemy's tiring out too, we can ease up,' and what do you idiots do? Do you have no concept of your own well being? DO YOU?!" he screamed, his fists billowing smoke all around his giant form, his feet thudding powerfully against the ground as he extended his fist in anger. "Do you idiots understand? This is a battlefield! When you make brainless decisions like that, this is what happens to you! CAN YOU COMPREHEND THE NUMBER OF TINY PIECES I'M ABOUT TO BREAK YOUR SKULLS IN TO!?"

The imposing figure of OrangeCrush meant nothing to MeleeMan. CrushMan was like me. He thought he could afford to toy with his opponents. If we'd been fighting at full potential, this nobody would be a pile of paint chips by now. Dammit! Focus!" he scolded himself, still rushing towards the enemy, inconsiderate of all else around him. "It's not your fault, Rania," he muttered, vaguely hearing Rania's voice as he moved to attack. "But still, I'm not going to sit around and be the death of any more of my allies," he told her, cutting off his communication link with her. "You're too soft right now, I know it. You want me to yield and let Breaker talk with them. But I'm not letting anything get between my fists and their sorry glass jaws. Not you. Not Breaker. I don't care if one's a woman and the other's a joke. They're both going to be smoldering piles of ash when I'm done!"

Rania was upset, but decided it wouldn't make any difference whether she tried to intervene. "It's hard to make progress with him when his hotheadedness knocks down all of the coolness we've tried to build up. Normally, I'd just turn back on the communicator. I guess he forgot I could do that. That lunkhead..." she sighed, feeling just as depressed as her navi was, though not displaying her feelings nearly so strongly. "The least I can do is slot in some chips now, I guess. A thunder and a shotgun ought to be enough for him to get what he wants." Checking herself, she sent in a heat shot, knowing that he wouldn't be satisfied with just two weapons.

Anticipating the data, MeleeMan first released a ball of lightning from his large open palm. He then led off the real attack with a blazing upward punch to the orange navi, than switched over to the shotgun. "Fools! Idiots! I hope you're ready to die, chumps!" he unloaded a clip from it, hoping to release more but finding it good for only a single shot. "Not good enough, dammit! Rania, this is vengeance!" he growled, cracking his knuckles together after tossing aside the wasted weapon. "What the hell am I supposed to do with that useless thing? This trash deserves twenty of those things!"

Turning to the woman, another frown spread over the warrior's face. "You next, sister. It's a shame I'm about to rip that pretty face of yours off and use it as a sweat rag." He moved forward slowly and then raised his fist into the air, forming a gun cylinder around it, shooting a bit of flame into the air as he did. "Remember this in your next life: might wins on the battlefield! Gauge your strength and know when you're picking a fight against the strongest in the world!" With those words, he launched off the weapon toward the woman's face with a slight recoil.

Rania sat again disappointed at her navi's dissolve into anger. "I suppose MeleeMan's intentions are good, but he still can't help himself. It's hard for him to just cry or laugh something like this off, so the only thing he can do is get angry at everyone, but most of all, at himself. I hope one of these days MeleeMan and I will be strong enough that we never have to worry about concealing our emotions through hate again," she spoke to a shadow on the wall, wanting to speak with her navi but not knowing how to console him. "I'm not sure if it's losing his comrades or the wasted efforts on his part that affect him more, but MeleeMan's just as vulnerable to loss as any other human. I guess he really is more sensitive than he seems..."

MeleeMan sighed, clenching his teeth together agitatedly as he looked at the pathetic figure of Punct, weeping over Silverfish. "I tried hard at this... Blockhead... Parabola...! Dammit!" he muttered, pounding one fist into the ground, then bracing himself on his palm as he prepared for any last resistance. Looking to Shine, he gave another unenthusiastic look. "She'll finish him off even if I didn't get him... Enemies reduced to dust, allies too... The battle must be over now."

1) Thunder1 to OrangeCrush [40, stun]
2) Soul Fist Uppercut to OrangeCrush [60, lower accuracy]
3) Shotgun to OrangeCrush [50, splash]
4) Heatshot to XiaoStone [45, splash]
5) Dodge
((Apologies, Post Saved, Will post, busy, augh))
The six remaining warriors unleash a furious barrage against the Techari Trapdata, giving no quarter to the opponents. first, CrushMan's MagBolt and MeleeMan's Heatshot striking her simultaneously. Her lithe body convulsed as lightning played across it, charring her bodysuit and leaving dark burn marks on the smooth fabric. A shocked expression crossed her face for an instant before her form shattered into several crystalline pieces.

Shine, hearing Charles' orders, reluctantly presses off against OrangeCrush's back, entering a neat backflip and landing a safe distance away. Good thing too, because the Techari goon found himself under fire from the relentless onslaught of attacks. Bursts of energy exploded on his massive chest, blasting apart large chunks of his remaining data and causing the towering monstrosity to tumble to his knees. Ha....Ha... Like... I'm totally going... to light... the Target up! he gasped, placing his arms in front of him and allowing dangerous coils of electricity to arc between his fingers. The remaining navis drew back in shock as the ElecReel pulsed dangerously in his hands. The lightbulb around OrangeCrush's head glowed brightly as the battlechip reached its maximum charge. Crush! Destroy! DIE! OBLITER...

OrangeCrush never finished his sentence as a trickle of data leaked from the corner of his mouth. As he glanced down at his torso, he noticed three luminescent daggers protruding from his stomach. As the orange creature exploded into crystalline data, the graceful body of Xiao.EXE stood behind him, her fan unfolded and her arms crossed across her chest. "Truly a pity, that it is," she said with a coy smirk, "Certainly a waste of a man of his aptitude... and the Teksqp could have greatly benefited from technology such as this, that we may have."

Rhinestone scowled and pointed her weapon at Xiao, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying that you'd have been willing to turn those things against us? Where are your morals?!" The female navi's silver hair blew wispily in the digitized wind as her crystalline glove began to radiate light, "I should destroy you where you stand, you know!"

Xiao laughed softly, shaking her head back and forth and shrugging her shoulders. "Now now, Miss Rhinestone. I do believe that we have made a strong degree of progress between our two organizations, that we have, she said, a cryptic smile on her face, "In fact, I'm looking forward to... 'working' with you in the future, that I am."

Shine, meanwhile, had helped Punct to her feet, the red-haired NetPolice agent leaking data through her rent bodysuit. "I... pause, was careless, period," she muttered, wavering slightly as she spoke, "Do not... pause... not... not... not... not..." A burst of crimson code flashed across her pupils, and she shook her head, apparently brought back to her senses by the pulse. "Do not... concern yourself with me, stop." she said weakly, "Come, comma, we're almost to the rendezvous point, stop."

The navis begin to move their way to the north, still not noticing the lithe figure following them from above.

-*-

Victory!

MeleeMan: Kunai1, RockCube, 1800Z
CrushMan: ElecReel1, RockCube, 1800Z

FXP:
8 FXP Base
4 FXP Recruitment Bonus

-*-

Techari Admin — Grigorio.EXE: DELETED [Normal]
Techari — Stylish Goon: DELETED
Techari — XiaoStone: DELETED [Normal] [Equip: Widesword x2]
Techari — OrangeCrush: DELETED [Normal, Near Rockcube]
Techari — MeleeMan?: DELETED [Normal]

Teksqp — Silverfish.EXE: DELETED [Cracked]

Dept. of Public Safety — TorrentMan.EXE: DELETED

Crystal SpireA: 40 HP (Center of Field)
Crystal SpireB: 50 HP (Near CrystalSpireA)
RockCubeA: 160 (Rockcubes A-D are close to each other)
RockCubeB: 200
RockCubeC: 200
RockCubeD: 200
RockCubeE: 200
RockCubeF: DELETED
RockCubeG: DELETED
Dark Auger (Object) - DELETED

Ally — Enforcer Parabola: DELETED [Cracked]
Ally - BlockMan.EXE: DELETED

Ally — Shine: 58 [Cracked]
Ally — Kunie: 32 [Cracked]
Ally — Second Lieutenant Punct: 1 [Cracked]
Ally - Admin Xiao.EXE: 44 (Equip: Sword) [Normal]
Ally - Dept. of Public Safety Lieutenant— Rhinestone.EXE: 58 [Cracked]

Crushman: 130 [Cracked]
MeleeMan: 140 [Normal]

Field: 40% Sea, 30% Cracked, 10% Hole, 20% Normal
"Dammit... I wasn't able to do much of anything in the long run, eh Rania? I've saved a few, but this war's going to reduce the Netpolice to nothing if this keeps up... Not to mention the mafia," he said, curling his lip into a slightly distasteful sneer and looking back at Xiao. "I'm still worried about Shine and Kunie too, and Punct looks like she's been through a virtual meat-grinder. It'd be better for everyone if someone just stayed back and guarded her. We're headed into some dangerous stuff now. I can feel it."

"Don't worry too much about it, MeleeMan. She knows the danger she's in, and honestly, she'd probably be less safe back there isolated than she would be traveling along with you guys," Rania reassured him, lying back down on her pillow and keeping the PET next to her face. She surprised herself with how casual she managed to remain, but the bed was feeling very comfortable, so she allowed herself briefly to sink her face into the soft pink pillow.

MeleeMan grinned, coughing into one hand for a moment, then looking back up. "You look just like a little kid, Rania. Don't try to tell me you're almost... eighteen," he laughed, gritting his teeth for a moment.

Rania smiled back at him, but inside, she was panicking as she came to a revelation. "This battling's probably put too much stress on him. Not only did he have his strong body broken just now with an opposing force equal to his very own power, but further more, he's had to deal with a lot of loss throughout all of this. Hang in there, MeleeMan..."

"What's with that face? Did you wet yourself?" he asked, keeping his face turned away from her as if he were asking the question seriously.

Rania frowned again, putting the pillow back over her face as though in disgust to hide a laugh. "Well, at least he's keeping up his good humor," she sighed.

((Ready for the final))
As the two navis stood waiting, there was a sudden flash. Four robed forms stood around Crushman, their backs to him. Meleeman had just enough time to notice their colors and masks before Crushman exploded, forcing him to close his eyes. Taking that moment to strike, all four forms dashed at him, readying their attacks. His allies were too shocked to do anything, so it looked like Meleeman was on his own. Luckily for him, fate intervened. Four blasts rained down from the sky, slamming into the ground directly in the attackers' paths. Rather than just dodging around the shots, the four grunted with displeasure and retreated back a few yards. A netpolice vehicle descended from the sky and Meleeman's savior jumped out. They were thin, wore green, had a black visor accross their eyes, and a large gun attached to their arm and were also.... female? Hopefully being saved by a girl wouldn't damage Meleeman's manly pride. She motioned to Meleeman's allies, "You guys, like, better get out of here. These guys are pretty nasty. I only needed the copper to get here so you can like, totally take it to get out of here. Since there's a jack out barrier in place, it'll be your only way to get out of here." The group seemed to hesitate a bit, so she added, "That was like, an order people."

Now complying, the group departed leaving the battle as two versus four. The new navi pointed her gun at the group, who just stood there silently, "That was nice of you to let my people go, although I suppose keeping the number of enemies as low as possible was the main part of your plan. I'm sure you're just going to try to track them down and delete them later, which is why I've got to take you hussies out now! Now where's your pervy boss?"

"Ho hum... I was hoping to let you battle it out for a little bit and then preform a sneak attack, but it looks like you knew who you were tracking. Of course, I like that in a woman." One of the cracked panels exploded and a gigantic form sprung up from underneath. It was covered in gold and blue armor, which looked like that of a Japanese warlord. He laughed as he flew through the air, "Ha ha ha! Though by calling me to the surface, you've only hastened your doom! Beg now and perhaps I'll spare your life, lovely maiden! I'll show you that my mercy can be as great as my power! Though your friend will surely be-" His sentence was cut off as he came back down and got stuck in the very hole he had just created, "I- I'm stuck!" He cried.

His attendants rushed into action, surrounding him and, with great effort, pulling him from the ground, "Master, are you okay?"

"I'm... I'm fine. Curse this armor.... it makes my sleak form to bulky." Even though he said this, it was obvious that it fit his form quite well, making him 'bulky' as well. He pulled out two pistols and aimed one at each target, "Well then, let us battle and do so with honor."

"Honor? You just cheap shot one poor navi to his doom and you outnumber me. By the way, like, what do you mean the two of us?" The green navi slowly turned to the side and looked at Meleeman, "I... thought you left with the rest of them. You're... not with the Netpolice, like, are you? That's why you didn't pack up when I ordered the rest of them to, right? Crap, this is, like bad. I wasn't supposed to get civilians involved." She looked kind of gloomy for a second, clearly not used to screwing up. She then perked up a bit and smiled at Meleeman, "But if you don't die, it should be fine, right? My name is, like, Syne, and I'll be saving you today!"

"Hey, hey, don't ignore me, the great Boss Oni! I won't let you steal the spot light and be the only one to have an introduction! Now let's fight it out!" The armor navi said, "Come, my servants, let us show them the power of the strongest man in Teksqp!" His four allies each took a position around him and materialized a throne underneath him and lifted him up.

Meleeman: 140
Crushman: EJOed!

Syne: 1100

Red Ninja: 100
Blue Ninja: 100
Green Ninja: 100
Yellow Ninja: 100

Boss Oni: 1600

Field: 40% Sea, 27% Cracked, 13% Hole, 20% Normal

Battle 3 Start!

((If I screwed anything up, lemme know. Also, sorry about deleting you, Tom, but I was told that you had to go, no mercy. Blame *probably shouldn't mention a name, so I won't*

EDIT BY TWI: Blame me, lol))
"Breaker! Wh-What the hell?! There's no way he took out Breaker that easily!" MeleeMan growled, sliding backward away from the strange navis that had taken center-stage upon the battlefield. The navis looked nearly unscratched and both very powerful, so he imagined that they must be a fair degree stronger than anyone else who'd shown up thus far, even those equipped with dark chips. "Dammit! Breaker's gone and all of my other allies have split. Should I be gone too?"

"It's true, MeleeMan, I've lost contact with Charles completely. That new armored navi must be extremely powerful to delete him, especially considering that your ally was still so healthy before the attack. We'd better approach this carefully... I'm not sure whether I want you getting involved at all, actually," she said nervously, looking at the huge navi that had broken from the ground.

"What, you serious? I'm not stepping aside for some girl to do everything for me. I'm already indebted to her for helping me to avoid that blast, there's no way I'm letting her push me aside and take this guy for herself. After all, I've got to avenge Breaker, don't I?" he defended, adopting a ready stance.

Rania shook her head, but placed the folder back into her lap all the same. "Vengeance is never a proper motivation for fighting, and even then, I don't see why it has to be you who deletes him. I couldn't do anything further to stop you right now save cutting your supply of chips, and that really wouldn't help any one." Sighing, Rania prepared to send her navi the chip data.

"That Boss Oni guy is supposed to be tough... but Syne seems to be a Netpolice officer. Hmph. Save the day? Does she even realize all that 'saving the day' would entail in this situation?" he grumbled. Moving forward, he nodded to express his intention of working together with her. "Regardless, I don't care if you're some justice bimbo or whatever. For now we'll work together and destroy that guy."

"We've actually got a bigger problem right now. Take a look around the field," Rania commented, pointing around on her screen at the water that covered the battlefield, forgetting that her navi wouldn't be able to see the motion. "There's a lot of water. Besides all of that, there's unstable spots and even open holes."

"Wow, no duh," Meleeman sighed. "Not like some huge fat guy just popped out and broke a giant hole in the floor or anything."

Rania adopted an unamused frown, fishing through the folder for something fitting the situation. "Well, obviously, you've got to avoid the water, but if you think about it, there's also ways to use it to our advantage. If you can just tap back into those forms you achieved from busting alongside Rass or Seraphim, then you can overcome them entirely."

MeleeMan shook his head, then crossed his arms in a matter-of-fact way. "Utterly impossible. That power seems to be exhausted right now. I mean, I'm still damn charismatic, but I can't get that back right now," he admitted.

"Very well then, the next best option is to consider using thunder type attacks while staying off the water. That means that the magbolts out of the question right now. Instead, I'd like you to consider combining the bubble battle chip with the power of a thunder attack. Don't try to be fancy right now or you're certain to wind up worse off for it, okay?" she inquired, slotting in the two chips.

"What? I'm fricking MeleeMan and you're telling me not to fight my enemies close-range?" the navi growled, accepting the chip data all the same.

Rania frowned, resting her chin moodily upon the pillow. "Well come on, you don't want to get surrounded, do you? There's five enemies right now. You need to reserve some of your energy for dodging their attacks, and that will be much harder if you're surrounded by water as well or happen to fall through a hole."

"Fine, but hey, you gotta let me do more than this, okay? At least send me a heatshot cannon or something," he grumbled, firing off the bubbles she'd sent him unenthusiastically. Rania consented unhappily, slotting in the heatshot as well. "That'll be fine then," he nodded, looking for a stable spot to stand, his eyes unseen behind the heavy iron eye-mask of his helmet.

Walking cautiously, he found what seemed like a good spot to stand. Testing it briefly with his foot, he braced his knees and clenched his hands forward. With a small grunt, he launched forward a ball of electricity from his gloves towards the ninjas. Shaking off his hands a bit as though to dispel the static, he prepared himself for the heatshot.

Smiling, he enjoyed the feeling of warmth as the heat ran through his gauntlet. The glove slimmed out, the fist retracting to form a barrel at the end. "Now, for one more shot, then it's time to see what these things are made of," he grunted, firing off a blast of flames and then retreating a short distance to see what would happen. "I can't believe this... Me, on the sidelines, while some chick does all of my fighting for me? This wasn't how I imagined things going..."

1) Dodge (try to get onto anything but hole or water)
2) BubbleStar1 to Red Ninja, Blue Ninja, and Yellow Ninja [20 water trap in bubble]
3) Thunder1 to Blue Ninja [40 elec, 1 action stun]
4) Heatshot to Green Ninja and splash to Boss Oni [50 fire]
5) Dodge
As Meleeman moved to find some proper footing, landing on one of the ever decreasing patches of normal floor, the other two navis started to get into it. Boss Oni lifted up each of his pistels and fired a shot from both. Syne immediately brought up her own weapon and shot both of her opponent's projectile out of the air. As the shots collided, a bit of debris flew from Syne's, which hit Oni's armor and scratched it a little. Syne nodded in satisfaction and mumbled, "Excellent. Mine are just a bit stronger."

"Grrr..... Its obvious that our battle can not be solved with just our guns. Come, my yellow lover, let's use that weapon!" He reached behind his chair and pulled out a large spear. It was so big that it was hard to believe that the heavy set navi could lift it... And with a closer look, it became apparent he couldn't. His yellow ninja held up the end of it, steadying it as he took aim.

"This could be, like, painful." Syne commented as she braced herself to dodge.

Boss Oni just chuckled, "You might think yourself quick, but I can garentee you won't dodge this... Not when I aim with my falcon-like regal eyes!" He then threw the large object, his assistent helping him get enough thrust to launch it. Syne attempted to move to the side but the enemy's aim was dead on, so it managed to strike her in the arm, "See, what did I tell you? Heh heh heh..."

"Crap.... he must be a Cursor type as well... Of course, that just means that his aim is only as good as mine. Now let's see what happens when I use the same trick." Her gun charged up, the tip of it glowing purple. She fired a blast from it, which dashed off towards Boss Oni. His eyes got wide.

"Quick, my lovelies! To the side, to the side!" He started gesturing madly, but nothing happened. Looking down he saw why. Three of his servants were incased in bubbles, curtesy of Meleeman. Though it was doubtable he had planned it this way, Boss Oni had been so focused on attacking Syne that he didn't even think to pay attention to his other opponent, allowing a sneak attack from one who was normally loud and rash, "Damn it!" Boss Oni cried, closing his eyes. The blast nailed him right in the face. It stung a bit, but it didn't seem to be that powerful, "Heh... that all you got, young maiden? Perhaps you should just give up now and become one of my loyal followers." He then opened his eyes and saw... nothing, "What? What did you do to me? My sight! Gah!" Boss Oni yelled out in frustration and anger. Then one of the corners of his platform suddenly shot down, "What? What just happened?"

"Blue was taken out, sir. The other navi used an electric ball to fry her while she was still in a bubble." The Green ninja said matter-of-factly. Her gaze then narrowed and she pushed Boss Oni to the side, "Sir, look out! Argh!" The Green Ninja took the hit but managed to protect her master in the process.

"Another strike by him? Curse that boy! You!" Boss Oni pointed a pistel threatenly in front of him. Of course, he was pointing it off into the distance, far off from Meleeman's position so the drama was sort of lost, "A dog like you should not pose a threat to me, which is why I thought I would be merciful and save you for last so that you might witness my glory! Instead you repay my kindness with treachery so now the first one dead will be you!"

"Not likely. He's, like, under my protection, so you better concentrate on getting rid of me first. That is, if you can even find me." Syne shot back. She then turned to Meleeman and gave him a thumbs up. It looked like they were off to a good start.

Meleeman: 140
Crushman: EJOed!

Syne: 1020 (sea)

Red Ninja: 80 (bubble)
Blue Ninja: DELETED!
Green Ninja: 60 (Sea)
Yellow Ninja: 80(Bubble) (Sea)

Boss Oni: 1566 (on throne, blind)

Field: 40% Sea, 27% Cracked, 13% Hole, 20% Normal
((Aim, please look here.))