Down the Tubes!

Sketi staggered back from the second hit and collapsed on the tiles behind her. "Urk..."

"Hey, are you okay?" Karin asked, glancing at the helath bar for Sketi along the side of her Pet's screen. She was relieved to see her Navi wasn't too badly injured, but another slice of her health had been knocked off. Karin suddenly shot an alarmed look back at Sketi who had just begun to giggle in a rather off-kilter way.

"Hey are you okaaaay? You look pretty low, pretty low..." The lyrics escaped Sketi's lips in a rather sluggish way as she forced herself into a seated position. "You look pretty low, very handsome awkward!" Another slightly frightening giggle and she shoved herself to her feet, staggering around a bit. "Heey Karin. We're alright, just didn't expect it to teleport is all. OR hit twice. Send us some chips please, guns seem to work fairly well on it." The Navi's eyebrows arched up under her helmet at a sigh of relief from her Operator. "Hey! You didn't really think we were out of it, did you?"

"For a moment you had me worried." Karin remarked dryly. "I can't think of another reason for a Navi to start singing in the middle of a fight if singing isn't a part of their signature. I'll send you one chip for now, dodge for the rest of (this turn)." She looked over her chips and pulled out the shotgun, slotting it into the Pet.

"Gotcha, we'll take this thing down while keeping ourself safe!" Sketi hummed as the various pieces of Linky picked themselves up from where around where the freak Champu had been. They whirled around each other as if confused before darting back to meet up with the other parts of Sketi's weapon system. The half-spheres returned to their normal colors and the petals returned to their normal shapes. They all began to glow, the the cables beginning their usual pre-Shotgun light. Her arm was covered in a bright light as soon as the wire 'gauges' were full. "Hey hey! Mr. Punch-You-in-the-Face!" Sketi shouted, raising her arm as the lower half finished transforming. "Hope ya don't know how to duck!" With that she fired, recoil preventing her from firing off two shots even if she could.

Karin stared at the screen for a moment then began to type a message to her Navi. 'What the hell, Mr. Punch-You-in-the-Face? What's that about?'

"Yes, Mr. Punch-You-in-the-Face. Thats where it's been aiming! And its what we've decided to call this virus for the rest of the fight, even if it means making it angry!" Sketi explained as her hand turned back to normal and she cart-wheeled to the side. When she was standing again she leapt back several times then darted in the direction she'd come from, all in an effort to avoid the virus's attacks.

~~
Action 1: Shotgun 50 @ Mr. PYF(Champu(?))
Action 2 - 3: Dodge
Sketi manages fairly well this time, nailing the Champu in the nose and swiftly shifting her body to avoid its flaming punches.

Champu?: 50 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Sketi.exe: 60 HP
Karin groaned and shook her head at Sketi's naming of the virus. "Naming it better not make you more attached to it." She warned in her best somewhat threatening voice. She picked over the chips then slotted them in. "Use those in the order I gave 'em to you and we should be finished soon."

"Heey now! We're not that kind of girl! It takes a much longer time in our presence to win our affections!" The Navi sounded quite offended, she even crossed her arms over her chest to make her point. "And anyways," Sketi continued in a much more at ease voice, her hands slipping down to hang by her side. "You have to do the optional side quest with the boss with over 70000 health first!" Karin groaned and Sketi grinned and Linky shone with light.

"You suck and I was half-dead. I didn't realize it only had 7000 hitpoints 'cause my eyes were blurring up." Karin 'explained', realizing her Navi was referencing a game she'd been playing a few nights ago. "You're such a pest sometimes."

"Of course, of course! Now then, on to finishing off this fight." Sketi turned on her heel to face the Champu, having turned side-ways during her argument with Karin. "Nice choice of chips, we can work well with these." She raised a hand and watched as two petals drifted forwards, charged each other and joined at the tip, and then began to crackle with electricity as they floated just beyond her fingertips. Sketi reached out to take it, holding one of the broader ends carefully as she readied her throw. The static in Linky abruptly made its reappearance with a vengeance. Sketi dropped to one knee and dropped the Zapring, clapping her hands over the sides of her helmet where her ears apparently were.

"Hey! Sketi are you okay?" She asked, catching sight of her Navi at the edge of the screen and scrolling the view back over to her. She scowled at the Pet when she heard some of the static and mumbled something under her breath. "Hey, hang in there, the static will disappear after the fight ends, right?" Sketi cracked an eye open and nodded, snagging the Zapring with one hand and pushing herself back up with the other.

""Ugh, we won't be able to fight properly if this keeps up." Sketi added, pulling her arm back before flinging the electrically charged petals at her foe. She skipped to the side then raised her arm, light creeping up the wires on her back but gathering speed as they went. Suddenly it was full, and she watched patiently as her hand and part of her lower left arm shifted and slid into the boxy shape of a Cannon. She aimed and fired, shaking her hand out after it slipped back into its normal shape. Karin noticed something when Sketi began jumping around to avoid more attacks, a few sparks were flying from where the wires connected to the Navi's neck. She didn't say anything though, that would be repaired when this fight was over.

~~
Action 1: Zapring 40 + Stunning @ Champu(?)
Action 2: Cannon 40 @ Champu(?)
Action 3: Dodge
Sketi's blasts hit the mark, stunning it, then blasting it! Fragments fly off wildly, leaving a wireframe of the virus that would be soon to collapse, right?
Wrong.
An egg-like capsule surrounds the Champu, expands, and then dramatically cracks open, to reveal...
Something entirely different.
The Champu is now clearly 12 feet tall, and it's flaming fists have finger-like protrusions coming out of them in the shape of dragon heads. The normal red boxer headband is now a pure gold, the whole of the eyes are lit on fire, and its flaming hair has grown back down, almost touching the floor. The transformed virus let out a terrible howl as the battle continued.
Well, this is going to be bothersome.

ChampuAvatar (2nd Form): 400 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Sketi.exe: 60 HP
Sketi grinned and turned around as soon as she saw the shotgun hit, clenching both her fists and leaping into the air. "We did it! We have brought down Mr. Punch You in the Face!"

"No, you haven't! Look behind you and be careful! I'll send you Zapring and unlock Terminal. Get away from it immediately afterwards." Karin said in a rush, voice rising slightly with worry. She slid in the chips then scrolled her screen over to the newly evolved virus, snapping a screenshot of it.

Sketi whirled around at the warning, her eyes widening and mouth dropping open as she stared at the thing standing in front of her. "Lord of the Undernet." She breathed, taking a couple steps backwards as Linky lit up with chip data once more. Static began sounding from the weapon system, but quietly this time as if it too was in awe of the virus in front of it. "That...that thing is huge! Like, three times our size at least!" Sketi suddenly cried, waving her arms around to emphasize her point. The Navi was panicking, fear underlying all she said and the way she moved and stood.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Sketi suddenly barked, attempting to make her voice as energetic and reassuring as possible. "After this we'll log out, and its not a definitive that this thing can delete you! All we can do is give it our best shot." Her enthusiasm flagged halfway through her last sentence and made her end with a rather flat tone.

"...right. We beat this thing down once we can do it again!" Sketi cried with renewed enthusiasm, pumping a fist into the air. "We'll wipe the floor with this thing, just make sure you keep us safe!" The Navi thrust a hand out in front of her with a single finger pointing at the virus and turned her body so the side faced the virus. Two of the petals began crackling with electricity and drifted towards her hand, one flipping in midair to merge points with is fellow. Sketi shifted her hand to grab one end of the merged weapon, pulling her lead arm back across her chest before flinging it forwards. Electricity visibly sparked across the surface of the merged petals as they were flung like a Frisbee towards the virus.

Karin sighed in relief, lowering her head for a moment as if to get her breath back She had been worried she wouldn't be able to reignite her Navi's fighting spirit, encouraging others really wasn't her thing. "Follow through Sketi, you're not done yet."

"Of course! We won't be done 'til this thing is bits of data drifting across the Net!" Sketi called back, voice once more full of glee as she turned to face the virus head on. The petals separated and came zipping back, slowing and turning to join the other pieces of Linky that had lined up in front of her. Sketi brought her right arm over her left shoulder and hesitated, running through her custom weapon's status on her visor. Her uncertain look turned to a certain one, hesitation vanishing as her mouth curved up into a grin and she flung her arm down and across, shouting "GO!" at the same time. Linky's pieces flung themselves towards the virus, Sketi running after them almost immediately. Linky reached the virus first. Sketi came in a quick second, twisting her body to slam sideways into the virus before sprinting off in the direction she now faced. Linky pulled itself out of where ever it had hit and darted after her, slowing as she slowed and turned in an arc. The pieces arranged themselves next to the helmet as Sketi suddenly leapt into the air, turning her jump into a front flip in an additional effort to avoid getting smacked by the giant Champu.

~~
Action 1: Zapring 40+Stun @ ChampuAvatar
Action 2: Terminal 40+Break @ ChampuAvatar
Action 3: Run 'n Flip (Dodge)
The electric attack hits the enemy dead-on, stunning it into submission for a bit. Sketi takes this chance and follows up with a powerful javelin stab from Linky and a elbow slam by herself. The Champu directs its flaming fist toward her, sending the four finger dragons rushing out in an attempt to slam into the navi. Sketi manages to flip over them and land safely on her feet. The stray attack, however, careens into the floor, breaking panels here and there. The dragons retract, and the Champu slowly turns to face Sketi once again.

ChampuAvatar (2nd Form): 320 HP

Terrain: 88% Normal, 12% Cracked (Scattered)

Sketi.exe: 60 HP
"This is going to be a long drawn out fight, isn't it?" Sketi said, tilting her head back to stare at the endless airspace of the Net. "It looks like if we get hit its going to hurt a lot too. Well, it could've been worse." She moved her chin back down and took a long look at her opponent. "See any weak spots, have any plans?"

"None that will finish this as quickly as you'd probably like. Slice it up with this and dodge like mad." Karin slotted in the Rageclaw and hesitated. "About it being worse, at least it doesn't have a thousand hit points or something similar."

"Yeah, and there's not two of them! Kinda wish we could use the chips from earlier though." Sketi said wistfully, wishing she could smack her opponent a couple more times with a Zapring. "Anyways, we'll hang in for the rest of the fight, you want us to just use Rageclaw to finish it, right?" Sketi asked as she held her arms out in front of her. Two petals from either side of her head plunged into the opposite arm and melted down into goo. The ooze slide its way up to her elbows and down to her fingertips before hardening.

"Yeah, Rageclaw then dodges for the rest of the (turn). Attack right after it has and you should be alright. I think I'll head out to grab a sub chip and another battle chip after this fight." Karin fiddled around with her chips and stacked them up by the faucet on the sink and slid off the counter with a squeak.

"Alright. It'll take us a while to beat this thing but if something really bad happens we want you here anyways." Sketi informed before sprinting towards the ChampuAvatar. The Navi leapt up and slashed at the virus's cheek, landing on all fours and throwing herself to her feet and ran away from it as quickly as possible, swerving to avoid cracked panels that might get in her way.

~~
Action 1: Rageclaw 40 @ ChampuAvatar
Action 2 - 3: Dodge
Sketi slashes the Champu, and jumps back as it swings heavily down at her figure, breaking a few more panels in front of itself. I'd be careful of a direct approach.

ChampuAvatar (2nd Form): 280 HP

Terrain: 85% Normal, 15% Cracked (Scattered)

Sketi.exe: 60 HP [Rageclaw]
"Woah...that was a little too close for our comfort." Sketi said, slowly swaying back and forth on her feet. She was a little shaken up from how close the virus had come to hitting her. "Hey Karin, it seems to be reading our moves, what now?"

The NetOp slid her hand across her forehead before replying. "You'll have to attack from the back or the sides. Get in, get out, and don't dawdle trying to get in more then one hit. Constantly move too." She added, noticing her Navi's current lack of motion. "It'll tire you out, but you'll have a chance to rest after this." She fiddled with her PET for a moment then stood up, swiping the chips into the pocket of her raincoat.

"Hey, you're not going to just leave us?" Panic echoed in Sketi's voice. "We'll turn into virus-feed!"

"Don't worry." Karin chuckled and gave her head a shake. "It's only temporary. I'm running out to get a subchip I mentioned earlier." A pause. "I think you were right about there being more enemies in the system then I first thought. Just keep attacking like I told you and I'll be back soon."

"Got it, don't get hit by a car, 'kay?" With a cheerful grin Sketi rushed towards the ChampuAvatar again, getting within a few netfeet before leaping to the side. She turned and darted behind it, holding out a claw to slice into it's back. After that she kept running. Sketi zigged and zagged as necesscary to avoid it's attacks and try to get around the cracked panels.

Karin watched up until Sketi attempted to get to the side of the mutated Champu then pulled herself away. The PET was slid into it's case and carried in hand as she rushed out the door and down the steps to to the front door.

~~
Action 1: Rageclaw 40 @ ChampuAvatar
Action 2-3: Dodge
Karin leaves, letting Sketi do what she does best, fight. Slashing at its side, before retreating, the navi shows a great notability for Guerilla warfare while another fist is sent hurtling towards her, nearly singing her hair. Grr... Long battle.

ChampuAvatar (2nd Form): 240 HP

Terrain: 85% Normal, 15% Cracked (Scattered)

Sketi.exe: 59 HP [Rageclaw]