(is not responsible for any drownings that occur)

In the same flash as the Navis had appeared in the area before, SplashMan entered, as if from nowhere. "Jack in complete! Ready to start whenever you are!"

"Darn it! That brother of mine!" Sabrina was shuffling through her new chip folder, and was not quite enjoying what she was seeing.

"Something wrong?"

"Yes! Brandon hadn't gotten a single Aqua chip! Not even a Bubbler!"

"Really? That's too bad."

"Argh! He's got some good non-elemental chips like Hi-Cannon, and bunch of Shotguns, but he's got a couple fire chips! An Aqua Navi using fire attacks...that's just wrong!"

"There's enough there to battle with though, right?"

"Well yeah, as long as it's nothing too bad..."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best!"

"...Yeah, that's the spirit! I'll see what I can do about these elemental chips while you search!"

"Okay!" SplashMan saluted his operator for no particular reason than emphasizing his remark, then got to searching for viruses. Not that he had a ton of experience doing so, mind you...

(searching for Battle #1...BATTLE #1)
Two shrubbies approach the navi curiously, drawn toward the commotion. Out from behind each shrubby hops a bunny, each twitching its ears violently. The bunnies look happy at the oppurtunity to finally fight someone they believe they may have an advantage against. One more bunny approaches from the side, eager to join in on the action.

ShrubbyA: 50 HP
ShrubbyB: 50 HP
BunnyA: 50 HP
BunnyB: 50 HP
BunnyC: 50 HP

SplashMan: 140 HP

--TRY NEXT LEVEL!--

"Hey look, a virus!" While he wasn't dumb enough to head towards them, SplashMan stood there, almost...admiring them from a distance. "The bunny ones are cute! But why does looking at them give me a sinking feeling?"

"Oh, shoot, I should know this!" Back in the real world, Sabrina racked her brain, trying to remember why that was. "...OH! I remember now! They're Elec element! So you're weak to them, that's why you're like that!"

"They are?! Then I need to take them out!" Without any input from his operator, the Aqua Navi fired water from his back cannons at one of the Bunnies. "That takes care of that one!"

The operator smacked her head. "...You had to pick now to hurry about something, didn't you?"

"Uh, sorry! I just didn't want to get zapped!"

"I know! Here, let me help you!" Sabrina pulled out a lone battlechip, and inserted it into her PET, in the exact same fashion as her brother. "Battlechip, Hi-Cannon! Slot in!"

SplashMan's arm became a blue cannon. While the arm acted as though it had done it hundreds of times before, the Navi did not. "Ahhh!! My arm! It's not my arm anymore! Get it off!"

"...I sent you a Battlechip. Shoot something with it and it'll go back to normal. Seriously, you better not freak out like that every time I use one!"

The Aqua Navi took another look at the cannon, and blinked. "...Oh, right, I knew that!" He pointed it at another Bunny and took a shot at it. "Okay, shot at it!...Hey look, my arm's back to normal!"

"Not for long! Battlechip, Shotgun, slot in!"

"H-Hey, not so fast! Ack! Now my arm's something else! Do I need to shoot at something with this too before it goes away?"

"...Yeah. But try to be careful with that one! If you can attack it juuust right, you can hit something else along with it!"

"Something else? So I can hit two things with just one shot?"

"Yeah, but it's gotta be perfect! And I mean PERFECT! So don't expect it hit more than one very often!"

"Er, okay!" SplashMan did his best to get a good aim, then fired the blaster shot toward the final Bunny. "I did what I could. Hope I took out all the Bunnies with that!"

"I'm sure you did! Now get ready, whatever's left'll probably try to attack you now!"

The Aqua Navi gulped, then tried to get in a more defensive stance, failing somewhat miserably. "Now?! But I'm not ready!" He would've said more, but if anything was going to try and attack, it had probably already started by now...

[Order of Turn:
1-Water Splash sig attack on BunnyC (70, Aqua)
2-Hi-Cannon chip attack on BunnyB (80)
3-Shotgun chip attack on BunnyA (50, possible splash)]
The bunnies hop around madly as they are taken out one by one. One begins to charge a zap ring, spinning the electric projectile briefly around one ear, but is dispatched shortly after the other two. The shrubbies appear highly disturbed now, and hurriedly roll out two ringlogs which cause the hapless navi to stumble, cracking against his shins painfully.

ShrubbyA: 50 HP
ShrubbyB: 50 HP
BunnyA: DELETED!
BunnyB: DELETED!
BunnyC: DELETED!

SplashMan: 120 HP
"......"

"...Now that's gotta smart..."

"......OW!" SplashMan stumbled momentarily, then fell over, clutching his legs in pain. "Ow ow ow ow ow! That really hurt! I mean really, how can they do something so painful like that?"

"Well, virus attacks are supposed to hurt..." Sabrina's previous enthusiasm was gone. What kind of Navi didn't know how to use chips and didn't expect virus attacks to sting a bit?

"Okay okay...I think I'm good to keep going now..." The Aqua Navi stood up, and angrily pointed at the bush viruses. "No more Mr. Nice SplashMan for me! Sabrina, more of those chip things!"

"Good thing for you Brandon got a ton of these Shotgun chips!" The operator began inserting the aforementioned chip like mad. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Triple slot-in! Shoot 'em to your heart's content!"

However, by the time the last sentence had left her lips, SplashMan was already in the midst of showering the Wood viruses with Shotgun attacks. "Ha ha! Take this!"

"...We need to work on our synergy..."

[Order of Turn:
1-Shotgun chip attack on ShrubbyA (50, possible splash)
2-Shotgun chip attack on ShrubbyB (50, possible splash)
3-Shotgun chip attack on ShrubbyA (50, possible splash) (if necessary)]
The two Shotguns unleashed projectile hell on the two remaining Shrubbies, pruning those hedges real good.

ShrubbyA: DELETED!
ShrubbyB: DELETED!
BunnyA: DELETED!
BunnyB: DELETED!
BunnyC: DELETED!

SplashMan: 120 HP

--VICTORY ASSURED!--

Get: Zapring1 x1, 90z!
"Yeah! That's what you get for attacking me like that!" SplashMan twirled and did a victory stance. "I am the winner!"

"Not too bad, SplashMan! You did good! Not great, we had all the teamwork of a mongoose and a cobra, but you weren't bad at all!"

"Hey, you try getting hit in both shins at once!"

"...By the way, shouldn't there be any leftover data from the fight?"

"Leftover data?"

"Yeah, viruses leave cash behind after you win a battle, and sometimes you can even get chips!"

"Really? Neat! ...Oh, I see it now! I'll send it over to you right away!" The Aqua Navi began to transfer the remnant data over to Sabrina's PET, but suddenly stopped. "Huh?"

"What?"

"Well, there was some cash data, and I sent it over no problem. But there's more than that here! I'm trying to open it, but whenever I do all I get is a picture of a Bunny in my head!"

"Oh, we must've gotten a chip from it! Sounds like we got a ZapRing, which...sounds hazardous to your health if you try to use it..."

"Yeah...should I leave it?"

"Nah, send it over! My PET can analyze it better than you can!"

"If you say so!" SplashMan did as he was told. "And that's it! There wasn't much cash data. It was almost all that chip!"

"Thanks SplashMan!" Sabrina inserted a blank chip into her PET; a few moments later, it came out with a picture of a Bunny on it. "There! I'll see if anyone wants to trade for this!"

"Okay! So, what do you want to do now? Bust more viruses?"

"Nah, I have another idea! I know we haven't been together for very long...but I know about a place where the Officials give amateur NetBattlers missions they can't do themselves! Maybe if we do one of them, we can get a nice reward, and maybe even work on our teamwork some!"

"Well, you're the boss! And we're about as amateur as it gets!"

"HEY!! You're not my first Navi, and I've learned from my brother, too!"

"Er, um...I'm going to head for that place now! ...By the way, where is it?"

"Actually, ACDC connects directly to it! Just *blah blah blah* At least I think that's how you get there..."

"Okay! I'm on my way now!" SplashMan turned, and began skipping in the direction of his new destination. "La la la!!!~"

"...That's the most off-tune humming I've ever heard, and I've heard my dad in the shower..."

(heading for the Official BBS in Internet City)
"Whee, I'm all jacked in!" SplashMan did a little dance to commemorate this fact. "I'm ready to get to searching!"

"Then get to searching! The sooner you bust some viruses, the sooner that upgrade's ours!"

"Plus we get to test that Bubbler chip!"

"Yep!"

........

Nothing happened for approximately the next minute or so.

"...Are you going to search or what?"

"Huh? Oh, right!" The Aqua Navi scrambled to move along, commencing what he should have done over 60 seconds ago...

(searching for Battle #1)
SplashMan runs up on, yup, you guessed it, more viruses. The group seems almost as though it has anticipated its return, looking slightly beefier than the navi recalled...

CannodumbA: 50 HP
CannodumbB: 50 HP
CannodumbC: 50 HP
BunnyA: 40 HP
BunnyB: 40 HP
BunnyC: 40 HP

SplashMan: 140 HP

--TRY NEXT STAGE!--
"Uhh...is it just me, or do those viruses look like they've been waiting or something?" SplashMan looked at his opponents, wondering how they knew him. "Maybe the ones I deleted before were their friends?"

"It's possible, there's Bunnies in both groups. And like last time, let's take them out first, since they're both strong against you and can paralyze! Sound good?"

"Yep! I don't really want to get zapped..." To emphasize this point, the Aqua Navi took a shot at one of the Elec viruses with his water cannons without prior consulation with his operator. "Oh, I guess I should've asked before that, huh?"

"Eh, don't worry about it. Just try not to do it again!"

"I'll try!"

"Good! Now let's take out some Bunnies!" Sabrina inserted a pair of identical chips into her PET. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Double slot-in!"

"I don't get to use Bubbler?"

"Nah, not yet! We'll use it next!"

"Awesome! Better get rid of this, then!" SplashMan did his best to pump the remaining electrical menaces full of lead...or he would've if Shotgun fired lead. "Okay, that's all for the PET for now! Hope those cannons don't hurt too much..."

[Order of Turn:
1-Water Splash sig attack on BunnyC (70, Aqua)
2-Shotgun chip attack on BunnyB (50, possible splash)
3-Shotgun chip attack on BunnyA (50, possible splash)]
The bunnies are extremely disgruntled at their quickly realized fate, vanishing in a flood of water and shotgun fire. The three cannons don't want any similar end, and therefore each fire forth shots. Two connect, and sadly, they are rather painful. It's like shooting water in a barrel!

CannodumbA: 50 HP
CannodumbB: 50 HP
CannodumbC: 50 HP
BunnyA: DELETED!
BunnyB: DELETED!
BunnyC: DELETED!

SplashMan: 100 HP
(smacks self for not thinking of that pun before)

SplashMan found himself lying on the floor after the second blast. It wasn't that they were particually powerful, or that he he was particually...un-powerful. He just didn't like getting hit. "Ow! I hate it when I get hit like that!"

"Well, the faster we get that Speed Upgrade, the faster we can take more out in the same amount of time!"

"But it still hurts!"

"Oh, quit whining, will you..." Sabrina sighed, then started inserting chips. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Double slot-in!"

"Shotgun again?" The Aqua Navi seemed a little disappointed as his arm became the blaster-like form again. "I was hoping we could use Bubbler..."

"Just use it..."

"...Fine..." He attempted to pepper a pair of the Canodumb with the Shotgun blasts, though not with his usual gusto. "Okay, I did that, now what?"

"Now this!" The operator smirked, and pulled out a chip she hadn't yet placed in her chip folder. "Battlechip, Bubbler! Slot in!"

"B-Bubbler?!" SplashMan looked at his arm, as it became shaped like a hose nozzle. "So you were just waiting for now to use it!"

"Yep! Gotcha, didn't I?"

"That was mean! Oh well, now I get to do this!" He took aim and fired the bubbly Shotgun at the lone virus he hadn't at least tried to nail. "That was great! We need more of those!"

[Order of Turn:
1-Shotgun chip attack on CanodumbA (50, possible splash)
2-Shotgun chip attack on CanodumbB (50, possible splash)
3-Bubbler chip attack on CanodumbC (50, Aqua, possible splash)]
Bam. Bam. Ploosh?

CannodumbA: !DELETED!
CannodumbB: !DELETED!
CannodumbC: !DELETED!
BunnyA: DELETED!
BunnyB: DELETED!
BunnyC: DELETED!

SplashMan: 100 HP

Victory!

GET: Zapring1, 200 zenny.
"We win!" SplashMan thrust out his chest as he walked over towards the remaining data. "Okay, sending the stuff over! ......Okay, cash sent! There's a chip here, too...it makes me tingle all over, so I think it's a ZapRing!"

"Let's see...yep, it's a Zap Ring!" Sabrina inserted a blank chip into her PET, then removed it as the Elec chip. "Too bad there doesn't seem to be much of a demand for it...but considering how easily we just got that one, I can't say I'm surprised..."

"I guess so! So, want me to move on? Or you want me to jack out or something?"

"Keep going, you're still in pretty good shape!"

"Okay!" The Aqua Navi continued on his merry way, heading a little deeper into ACDC's Net.

(searching for Battle #2)
MetoolA: 40 HP
MetoolB: 40 HP
MetoolC: 40 HP
SeedbatA: 50 HP
SeedbatB: 50 HP
SeedbatC: 50 HP

Splashman.EXE: 100 HP

--FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!--
"There! More viruses found!" SplashMan prepared his cannons for firing, but stopped just in time. "Hey, wait! I should talk to Sabrina before I do anything! Sabrina, what should I do?"

"First off, don't use your Water Splash, we've got better moves against Mettaur and SeedBat! Second off...well, there is no second off, but here you-ah, shoot! Dropped a chip! Don't worry, I've got another copy of it in my folder...there!" The operator finally got to sending chip data to her Navi. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Triple slot-in!"

"We need to get more Bubbler chips! Then we can use them instead of Shotgun! And then we can really show them the power of water!"

"Well, once we get the Speed Upgrade, we'll work on that! I think I know where we can get some!"

"Really? Then what am I doing standing around here?" SplashMan took aim, and started blasting the viruses with several Shotgun shots. "Oh no! Now they're all going to attack me! The pain!"

"...Oh come on, they're not even very strong! You can take it!"

[Order of Turn:
1-Shotgun chip attack on MetoolB (50, possible splash)
2-Shotgun chip attack on SeedBatA (50, possible splash)
3-Shotgun chip attack on SeedBatC (50, possible splash)]
With three rapid Shotgun blasts, the accuracy of which were so perfect that Splashman may just have been channeling Tara, a Metool and two Seedbats were sent flying to land in piles of deleted data. A pair of large leaves from the remaining Seedbat swung in and scored two stinging hits across Splashman's front and back.

MetoolA: 40 HP
MetoolB: DELETED!
MetoolC: 40 HP
SeedbatA: DELETED!
SeedbatB: 50 HP
SeedbatC: DELETED!

Splashman.EXE: 80 HP
Even though he usually got upset when he got injured in a battle, SplashMan was overtaken by a feeling of awe at what he had done prior to the hit. "Wow, that was cool! It looked like I was a Cursor Navi or something!"

"You were in the zone! See what happens when you quit firing your cannons and check with me beforehand?"

"I dunno what that really has to do with anything, but if it helped, sure!"

"...Right..." A bit disappointed that a Navi completely filled with water was too dense to detect her sarcasm, Sabrina inserted a pair of chips into her PET. "Well, here, be like a Cursor Navi and use this! Battlechip, MarkCannon! Slot in!"

"Hooray, more accuracy!" Without hesitating, the Aqua Navi took shots at a pair of the remaining viruses. "Okay, one more, I think!...Sabrina? You there?"

"I'm here, I was just picking up the Shotgun chip I dropped! Here, use it! Battlechip, Shotgun! Slot in!"

"What? No Bubbler?"

"No Bubbler! Just take out the stupid virus!"

"I guess it's better than nothing..." SplashMan fired the blaster-like move at the sole virus yet to be aimed at. "Okay, that'll do it, I think..."

[Order of Turn:
1-MarkCannon1 chip attack on SeedBatB (70, can lock on)
2-MarkCannon1 chip attack on MettaurC (70, can lock on)
3-Shotgun chip attack on MettaurA (50, possible splash)]
Boom, boom and boom--three well-aimed shots spelled the end of the last viruses.

MetoolA: DELETED!
MetoolB: DELETED!
MetoolC: DELETED!
SeedbatA: DELETED!
SeedbatB: DELETED!
SeedbatC: DELETED!

Splashman.EXE: 80 HP

--VICTORY ASSURED!--

Get: Guard1, 150z!
"That wasn't bad at all! Let's see what we got..." SplashMan began transferral of data to Sabrina's PET, but soon stopped. "Not a lot of cash, but we got chip data!"

"Really? What is it?"

"Hmm...oh, it's Guard! Not too bad!"

"We've done worse. Send it over!"

"Okay!......There! All sent!"

"Yep, I got it onto a chip! We're all good, so how about jacking out now?"

"Now? Why?"

"Because the deeper we go, the harder the battles get! You're not in great shape right now, and we don't have any good way to recover your HP! Now get out! Now!!"

"Okay..." And with that...POW! He was gone.

(back to ACDC Town)