Why do witches burn?

ACDC Net. A place known for its simple to defeat viruses, and therefore perfect for a Navi just starting out. Which happened to be what FlareMan was doing. "I'm here, Christopher."

"I see that. ...How much do you wanna bet we'll find three Mettaur once you start searching?"

"It's what happens. The Mettaur detect low power from a Navi without significant upgrades, and determine that a few can easily dispatch him. Of course, so long as the Navi is competant, he can win with little trouble."

"Yep. But who knows, maybe they'll detect that this isn't your first battle."

"Yes, and that's why I'll proceed with caution." And so that's what he did. He moved forward into the ACDC Area, searching for viruses with much caution and discretion.

(searching for Battle #1...dang, it feels good to say that after a while)
As Flareman continued foward, it wouldn't be long before he encountered a virus battle.

And, would you look at that, Christopher won the bet. A trio of Mettaurs, ripe for deletion. The one furthest lo the left was looking around nervously, the furthest right one looked about ready to drop under it's hard hat at any second, and the center one seemed to be facing the wrong direction at the moment.

My, if there were any viruses who appeared easier to delete, the duo would be hard pressed to find them.

All the same, Flareman approached with caution and discretion. Cockiness never got anyone far.

[BATTLE 1 START]
Battle Summary:
Incompetant Mettaurs(Left to Right):
MetoolA: 40 HP
MetoolB: 40 HP
MetoolC: 40 HP

Predicted Winner:
FlareMan.EXE: 100 HP

Terrain:
100% Normal
Yep, he knew it. "Told you."

"Indeed you did." FlareMan bent his knees slightly, looking over the Mettaur trio. They didn't look like much, but for all he knew it was just something to let his guard down. "Shall we begin?"

Christopher stretched a moment, then pulled out a pair of chips. "All right, but after three months of not virus busting, I'm probably a little rusty at my slot-in motion."

"Affirmative. I'll allow a little extra time for the chip to transfer before preparing it."

"All right. But first, why not test your own abilities first?"

"You mean...like this?" Turning towards one of the edge Mettaur, FlareMan leaned back a little, as if inhaling deeply. And suddenly, he stuck his head forward, with his flamethrower nozzle pointed towards the virus, and spat forth a volley of small fireballs...and another...and another. He had to admit, it felt good to do that again. "Ready for the next attack!"

"Right. Get ready!" With a mighty slam, the middle aged man placed a chip into his PET's insertion slot. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Slot in!"

The flame on FlareMan's right wrist suddenly disappeared, along with the hand in front of it. A blue gun with a black stripe dividing it into two segments took their place, which was soon trained on another of the helmeted viruses. With a blasting noise, a pinkish laser blast was shot forth towards it.

But did it end there? Of course not. A second chip was forcibly placed in the handheld device. "Continue! Battlechip, Cannon! Slot in!"

The Shotgun faded, and was replaced with a green cannon. The process was otherwise identical to the previous attack, in that he pointed it towards the virus that hadn't been blasted at yet, and let loose with the long range assault. Upon the sound of it hitting something, be it Mettaur, floor, or otherwise, it faded, revealing his ordinary hand once again. "Attack round complete. And for reference, I noticed no difference than usual. Perhaps that battle you operated with SplashMan helped with your timing."

"Ah, good. Now stay alert, and check to make sure you got them all!"

"That goes without saying." The flame Navi looked around, to see if the Mettaur trio had been sufficiently deleted, blasted, and otherwise incapacitated.

[Order of Turn:
1-Flame Gatling sig attack on MettaurC (20x3, Fire)
2-Shotgun chip attack on MettaurB (50, possible splash)
3-Cannon chip attack on MettaurA (40)]
(bumpity...the return of it!)
The poor little Mets never even had time to get a defence together. The virus on the far right, the one that looked liable to go diving for cover under its nigh-impenetrable helmet, froze up at the sight of fireballs screeching toward it. The flame blew it away, and sent its helmet spinning off across the Netscape like some kind of bowl-shaped frisbee. Flareman Shotgunned the second in the back, sending it flying. The last Met took an uneasy step back. If it was contemplating an escape, it get away fast enough; it met the same end as its fellows from the business side of a Cannon.

It was all very pitiful, really.

MetoolA: DELETED!
MetoolB: DELETED!
MetoolC: DELETED!

FlareMan.EXE: 100 HP

Terrain:
100% Normal

[[color=green]VICTORY ASSURED![/color]]
Flareman scores: Guard1 x1, 100z.
So confident was he that he had hit his mark with every attack, that FlareMan headed over to collect the reward data before the smoke even cleared to inform him that he had, in fact, done so. "That was rather easy...especially for ones as experienced as us." A quick access of the data revealed a minor amount of cash, and a chip. The signature was unmistakable. "Guard1 data acquired, along with 100 zenny. Sending the data over."

A moment later, a chip featuring a Mettaur spat forth, and into the waiting hand of his operator. "Well done, FlareMan. However, we won't be proceeding any further. Go ahead and jack out now."

...One battle, and they were done? There must be some reason behind it...he knew Christopher far too well to not know something was about to happen. "Affirmative. Exiting the Net now." And so, having disposed of 3 whole Mettaur, FlareMan took his leave of ACDC's Net...though he suspected it wasn't going to be a long absence...

(back to Netopia's real world!)
(From Trillian's PC)

Dark Boy warped down to the ground and got up from his crouched position, surveyed the area a bit, and stood there waiting for FlareMan. Seems quiet today...wonder what the "fearless" three are doing. Dark Boy chuckled as he remembered his first battle.

((Awaiting FlareMan))
(HALT. Dark Boy, go check your PMs ASAP.)
FlareMan, do you need something? Whats up? Dark Boy said as FlareMan warped down.

Christopher, whats on your mind? You seem surprised.

((Requesting Explanation LOL I checked my PMs))
"It's nothing important. Now, why don't we find some viruses?" Christopher might've said more, but was cut off by the beeping of his PET. "Hmm? Mail? Let's see..." His eyes widened as he began to read the e-mail. "...FlareMan. Read this."

"Hmm? Must be an important e-mail..." The flame Navi brought up a mini-screen featuring the electronic letter, and read the entire thing. However, unlike his operator, he remained completely stoic in the process. "...I see." The screen dissipated, and he turned towards Dark Boy. "My apologies...but we'll have to do this at another time. We're needed elsewhere..."

And before anyone could react, FlareMan vanished from the Net before even a single battle has passed...

(back to the Netopian real world!)