To the Weather Station

Two metal rings clattered to the surface of the Netscape. They'd just fallen out of the sky for no real reason.

Then a streak of yellow and green plummeted down after the rings. They rose, hovering unsteadily in the clutches of some poltergeist force. The streak flipped in midair, whooping. Her feet landed right on the rings. Then the magnetic field kicked it, and propelled her soles six inches above the rings' surface.

Beatnik was in.

The weather station's page was a heck of a ways from home. She'd had to cruise all the way out to ACDC to get to the nearest access point. With nary but a thought, Beatnik fired a ping back at Antoinette's PC. It returned with a junky latency.

"Toni, you hearin'?" Beatnik asked of the empty air.

"Yes," was the monotone reply from a media window that opened up on the inside face of one of of Beatnik's floating armour plates.

"Well, let's get a move on."

She skated leisurely off in what was most likely the right direction.

[Battle 1, please.]
As Beatnik leisurely skates her way to the Battle Station... I mean Weather Station, she runs across two oooooold stoves, which are moving like at... stupid paces, and an inflatable virus.
Said inflatable virus, INFLATES, and blocks the way.
Then it pops back to normal.

OldStoveA: 50 HP
OldstoveB: 50 HP
Powie: 60 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Beatnik.exe: 100 HP

-BATTLE 1-
-ROUTINE, SET-
-EXECUTE-

((<inserts some random obligatory mod advice here for new players, but realizes EN totally knows the system and shuts up.>))
The media window popped back open. "Oh God," Toni said as the viruses slid into her PET's viewing window.

"Aw, relax. It's just a coupla dinky-doofs. I'll blow by 'em, hold on."

Beatnik dropped into a crouch like a sprinter readying up at the blocks. An unheard starting gun cracked, and she took off, skating at something close to her very commendable top speed toward the gap in between the two stoves.

Then a Powie popped out from behind the OldStoves and dropped its massive weight-like body in her path. Beatnik saw the additional virus in the top edge of her vision just in time to slam on the brakes. She slid sideways to a halt, like a hockey player.

"Well, not gonna be gettin' through there." She grinned in dark anticipation. "So let's blast through 'em!"

In the Real World, Antoinette was staring at the stack of Battlechips on her desk in horror. There were three of them.

"No," she said flatly into the microphone. "They may have been a pushover to you before, but you're nothing."

Beatnik's expression flattened out. Now she was just pissed. "Things get hairy, I'll zoom myself right on outta here. Promise, pinky-swears and crap. Now just gimme a friggin' chip."

Toni bit her bottom lip and slotted in the Shotgun. Beatnik's face lit up again as the data packet arrived in her possession. She kicked off again, skating around in a strafing pattern to a pre-designated point. She wasn't in any great hurry, but she was definitely moving faster than her regular strolling pace.

One of the plates of metal floating around her revolved untl it was in front of her. Beatnik reached out and prodded its back side with one finger, transferring the chip data to it. There, she'd arrived; now she was 'standing' with both OldStoves lined up in front of her.

"And so begins the new age of Beatnik!"

She swung her hand back and slammed it forward, smashing her palm into the rear face of the prepared sheet of metal. The force of the impact ejected the energy from the front side, propelling a blast of plasma toward the OldStove.

"Next, Toni! Gimme the Rageclaw!"

"You are going to get yourself deleted," Antoinette informed her Navi over the audio connection as she slotted in the requested chip.

A couple more plates of armour swung in and cased themselves around Beatnik's hand, transforming it into a boxy gauntlet. Talons made of shimmering magnetic force, like mirages atop hot asphalt, shot out of the gauntlet to complete the Rageclaw. Beatnik blasted from a standstill to top speed in a fragment of a second. The yellow-and-green blur shot past the Powie. She aimed a mighty tear at the virus as she went by.

Beatnik angled sideways and took off in another direction. Still at charging speed, she carved a circle around the pack of viruses, making sure to keep ten yards between herself and the enemy at all times. The Rageclaw remained bound to her arm, ready for another use.

[1. Take Aim
2. Shotgun @ OldStoveA (50 NORMAL damage), splash to OldStoveB
3. Rageclaw @ Powie (40 NORMAL damage)
Gust: Help Beatnik to skate away -- Dodge]
Beatfridg-I mean Beatnik races at HIGH SPEED to the side of the viruses, loading up her shotgun and licking her lips in anticipation. Pulling the trigger, the music spazz blasts the two Oldstoves to smithereens before they can do a thing.
She then whacks the Powie, who tries stomping on her with a ':<' face on it, but she gusts out of the way.

OldStoveA: HIGH SPEED
OldstoveB: SHOTGUNNED
Powie: 20 HP

Terrain: 99% Normal, 1% Cracked

Beatnik.exe: 100 HP
"See?" Beatnik chortled as the residual data of the defeated OldStoves drifted away. The Powie bore deep scars inflicted by her magnetic Rageclaw talons, so that a good sign, too. "No probs. Smokin'."

"'Smoking' is something that you could have been. Rather, a smoking crater."

The Navi's burst of speed had worn off by now. She was back down to her regular skating pace. Huffing and puffing a little, Beatnik wagged the Rageclaw-gauntlet in a no-no manner. "You're doin' way more than enough worryin' for the both of us. Whew..."

Toni picked out the last available chip -- a Cannon -- and thought about slotting it in. "You're tired already?"

"I'm outta shape. Ain't done this sorta thing since...well, since y'know when. Programmin' ain't optimized for this stuff."

Beatnik slid to a stop, took a deep breath, and dug down into her deeper reserves of energy. Boom -- she was off again at full tilt, aiming to finish the Powie with a brutal Rageclaw stroke.

[1. Rageclaw @ Powie (40 NORMAL damage)
2. Dodge
3. Dodge
Gust: use to keep dodging]
Beatnik races off toward the Powie, slashes it, and it explodes.
Oh joy.

OldStoveA: HIGH SPEED
OldstoveB: SHOTGUNNED
Powie: SMOKIN'

Terrain: 99% Normal, 1% Cracked

Beatnik.exe: 100 HP

-VICTORY-
Get: Fireburn1
"Well, that ain't bad," Beatnik commented as the last Powie disintegrated in her wake. Instead of stopping at the battle's conclusion, she just kept skating on in the direction of the weather station, using up her last burst of speed to gain some extra ground. "Woulda liked some cash, but we can dance to what the jockey plays, yeah?"

Antoinette said nothing. They had won their first real battle since their expulsion from the NetMafia. And so begins the spiral down into the depths of cockiness and deletion, she thought as she loaded the chip data onto a blank writeable.

[Battle 2, please!]
As Antoinette predicted a downward spiral into deletion, the net mirrored her thoughts.

Perhaps she had taken a wrong turn, or perhaps the path to the WeatherStation just crossed through some very strange territory, but the location that Beatnik found herself surrounded by now wasn't all that similar to the net she had just been in.

Seeming to steal it's mood from the depths of evil, the territory became cracked in some areas, making progress a little more risky. And, to top it off, it became dark and hazy.

As she skated full speed, she found herself coming to the end of the NetRoad. Faced with an abyss, it would seem that Beatnik's path had become a dead end, and that if she wanted to find her way to the WeatherStation, she'd have to try a different route.

However, in the direction that she had come from, she could now make out 5 distinct figures. Unfortunately for her, it was too dark and too hazy to make out quite what they were. Whatever they were, they seemed to be swaying back and forth, and approaching her with malice.

There was a noise to her left, but as she turned, she saw nothing there. Then another sound to her right, but again she'd find nothing. What was going on?

Warning signs should blare about now, as Beatnik found herself in a dark, gloomy environment stuck between a fast approaching group of mysterious strangers and an infinite abyss.

Whatever would the poor girl do in such a horrifying situation? Could this be her Dead End?

BATTLE SUMMARY
Enemies:

--In the Distance, can't be made out--
SpookyA: 30 HP
SpookyB: 30 HP
SpookyC: 30 HP
SpookyD: 30 HP
SpookyE: 30 HP

Allies
Beatnik: 100 HP

Terrain:
Spooky Dead End:
30% Missing Behind Beat, 60% Normal, 10% Cracked (Scattered)
Mysterious Overcast: Won't be able to see enemies until they are closer or she moves in
((Doesn't lower accuracy significantly as shadowy figures may still be seen))
((OOC: These stats shouldn't be seen by Antoinette, the Viruses are still a mystery to you IC. I included them so that other Mods would know what you were up against, since this mildly interesting battle has no need to be Modlocked))

--HALLOWEEN BATTLE--
--BOO!--
"Aw, God. Crappy directions," Beatnik whined as she peered over the edge of the broken road. "Guess it ain't this way, then."

"Beatnik, I'm losing CHHHHKT display," Antoinette said over a fuzzy connection.

"So tighten it up." The Navi turned by swiveling on one magnetic ring. She stuck out her other leg to stop herself so she could stare down the path.

"Yo, Toni! Ya gotta tell me 'bout these mooks when they come creepin' up on me."

Audio static.

"Toni?"

Audio static.

"Fuggin' hell."

Audio static.

Beatnik droppd into a sprinter's crouch and squinted through the sudden gloom. Far ahead, she could dimly see moving shapes. An ambush, huh? Well, she'd been in loads before, and she'd gotten out of most of them in one piece.

But this time, she didn't even have Toni watching her back. Beatnik was flying blind.

She clenched one fist. The air around it rippled as she re-allocated her magnetic field. A punching blade of concentrated electrical force, like static moulded into shape, fizzled into reality. No chips? She'd have to work things out herself. In her past life, she would have been able to tear them to pieces as quick as blinking, regardless of what they were.

Beatnik let a long and unnecessary breath whistle out through her teeth. Then she started to skate, picking up speed with each stride.

A packet of chip data beeped on her mental in-tray. It was that new one they'd just picked up a couple of minutes ago -- the Fireburn1. Seemed like at least the chip connection was still open. Not having to listen to Toni complain for once was almost like a bonus.

The haze cleared away as Beatnik closed in on the ambushers. Oh, Spookies. She'd seen a few before, but not too many. If she remembered right, they were wily little suckers, teleporting back and forth to save their skins. Well, she'd give them a good roasting.

The blade's white static turned red. Beatnik smirked. Her next skate-step paused for a second at the end, building up energy, and kicked herself up to top speed.

The Fireburn's data seemed almost too slow to keep up. The magnetic blade was dragged out in length as if it were lagging behind her. Beatnik zipped through the Spookies' ranks, lashing out with the blade as if it was some kind of very long and very hot whip. It left burning streaks that hung in the air for a few seconds before being whipped along in Beatnik's wake in the form of a flurry of cinders.

1. Charge!
Gust: Use to boost charge speed.
2. Take aim
3. Fireburn1 (50 FIRE damage to SpookyA, SpookyB, SpookyC)
Beatnik CHARGES toward the enemies, making panels break as she rushes toward them, wow, how surprising.
Anyway, she comes in view and BOBBAQUES some of them, except the last one on the trail got away just in the nick of time.
Another one, slapped her on the face with its tongue.
That wasn't a very good idea.

SpookyA: BOBBAQUED
SpookyB: BURNT
SpookyC: 30 HP
SpookyD: 30 HP (In front of Beatnik)
SpookyE: 30 HP

Allies
Beatnik: 90 HP

Terrain:
Spooky Dead End:
30% Missing Behind Beat, 60% Normal, 5% Cracked (Scattered), 5% Hole
The forcibly applied tongue-to-the-face threw Beatnik completely off her stride. She nearly overbalanced and fell over, which at the speed she was going would doubtless have resulted in some pretty bad road rash. She stuck out a leg and was able to stop herself before she dropped onto her face (which was still dripping a bit of ectoplasmic saliva).

A neat little move with her feet got her turned around in a second. Her tail of hair whipped around behind her as it failed to keep up.

"Frickin' gross!" she roared, snapping her fingers for more chips. As the data packets came down the pipe, the audio link sizzled briefly, allowing Beatnik to hear what was going on topside. It sounded suspiciously like Antoinette was laughing.

Still snarling at her embarassment, Beatnik booted up both chips at once. Spheres of blazing plasma formed in her hands. She fired the first at one Spooky, then swiveled to launch the other at one of its buddies. Her red eyes snapped to the last ghost as her Rageclaw-gauntlet locked into place around her fist.

Like a streak, she was off -- not toward the Spooky, but around it. No tongue on the Internet would be able to keep up with her once she was in full motion. Beatnik turned hard, and shot toward the Spooky with the taloned gauntlet flying in deadly sky-blue arcs.

1. Cannon @ SpookyD (40 NORMAL damage)
2. Shotgun @ SpookyC (50 NORMAL damage + splash1)
Gust: Dodge
3. Rageclaw @ SpookyE (40 NORMAL damage)
The first Spooky let out a little wail as Beatnik OMGPOINTBLANK's it, blowing it to bits.
The other Spooky was a little lucky and tried jumping out of the way. But Beatnik was so pissed that the Shotgun blast spread out wide enough to catch the Spooky, still deleting it.
The last one was promptly cut into teensy-tiny bits. Yum. Spooky Strips.

SpookyA: BOBBAQUED
SpookyB: BURNT
SpookyC: SHRAPNEL'D
SpookyD: OMGPOINTBLANK'D
SpookyE: CHICKEN-I mean SPOOKY STRIP'D

Allies
Beatnik: 90 HP

Terrain:
Spooky Dead End:
30% Missing Behind Beat, 60% Normal, 5% Cracked (Scattered), 5% Hole

-VICTORY-
Get: 500z
Feedback screeched over the audio link, making Beatnik grab at her ear in pain. It hissed back down, fizzled away, and was replaced by Antoinette's voice. "There. Beatnik?"

"Hearin' ya a little too clear, as always," she muttered, lowering her hand.

A couple of lines worth of program adjustment restored Antoinette's video feed, as well. For the first time, she saw the remains of the viruses that Beatnik had just gotten through deleting.

"Looks like you managed passably by yourself."

"All you gotta do is slot those chips."

Leaving the ambush site behind, Beatnik resumed her skating back down the path, telling Toni to pull up the location of the weather station again so she could put together an alternate route.

[Battle 3, please!]
Beatnik speeds off toward the Weather Station homepage, going to check on the daily weather.
However, more viruses block her way! They seem to be of the Melee variety, with flaming fists and cool, blue swords. This might prove to be a challenge, maybe!

ChampuA: 60 HP
ChampuB: 60 HP
SwordyA: 60 HP
SwordyB: 60 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Beatnik.exe: 90 HP

-BATTLE 3, GO-
"Well, paint my ass green and call me a rocket ship," Beatnik said as she rounded a corner and came face-to-face with the next roadblock. Antoinette's experienced eyes flicked across the display, and she recognized two distinct species of virus that Beatnik had no business encountering at this stage in the game.

"You're finished," Toni said quietly into the microphone.

"Aw, garbage." Beatnik raised a hand and flattened it into a karate-chopping shape. "There's gotta be some of that old kick-in-the-pants still kickin' around somewhere."

She pushed her straightened hand into the keyhole on the lock on her chest, and turned the hand at the wrist. The first light on the lock's rim lit up.

"FIRST LOCK! TECHNO WALTZ!"

Electricity crackled across the faces of the armour plates that floated around her. Drawn by some powerful magnetic force, they swung around and locked into a wall in front of her. Beatnik kicked off from zero to sixty -- straight at the viruses.

Toni drummed her fingernails on the edge of her desk. It was almost like she was nervous.

At the last moment Beatnik zigged to one side. She carried on the strafing pattern for half a second and then completed the zag, and went blasting blindly through the middle of the group with the charged wall leading the way. As soon as she was clear on the other side, the wall broke into its component pieces. Beatnik stopped hard and shot off on a right angle, intent on getting the heck out of the survivors' sightlines.

1. Charge Techno Waltz
Gust: Dodge
2. Techno Waltz @ SwordyA (90 ELEC damage)
3. Dodge
Beatnik charges up her energy as one Swordy teleports in range of the navi. It delivers a great slash to the magnetic warrior, but she blows herself out of the way and slams into another Swordy, rendering it total roadkill. A Champu warps toward her position, but both its punches miss as the sonic ballerina twirls erratically out of the way.

ChampuA: 60 HP
ChampuB: 60 HP
SwordyA: ROADKILL
SwordyB: 60 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Beatnik.exe: 90 HP
"Dispose of that other Swordy before you move on to the rest of them," Antoinette warned, slotting in a flurry of new chips with the swift hand of one well experienced to such seat-of-the-pants flying. Beatnik processed the chips in a flash, and by the time Toni could complete a blink, a sphere of fire was already in the Navi's hand.

"You're worryin' yourself again. I got 'em."

She thrust her palm out toward the viruses. A streak of bright red light, hot enough to incinerate anything it touched, shot out from her hand. It carved a zig-zagging ribbon of scarlet through the ranks of the viruses, like the path of a luminescent ball bearing in a pinball machine. A moment later Beatnik was whizzing along in the Fireburn's rapidly cooling wake.

Burning, raw plasma exploded from both of her hands. One projectile hissed toward the Swordy; the other was bound for the Champu. She put on an extra burst of speed and skated out from the middle of things, most likely leaving blades and flaming fists well behind even her flying tail of hair. Those Swordies may hit hard, but they sure were bad at keeping up with anything that was even remotely quick.

1. Fireburn1 @ SwordyB, ChampuB, ChampuA (50 FIRE damage)
2. Cannon @ SwordyB (40 NORMAL damage)
3. Shotgun @ ChampuB (50 NORMAL damage, splash1)
Gust: Dodge
[Bump.]
Beatnik started out incredibly strong, shooting a red laser in pinball formation, and managing to bounce off all but one enemy.

She then rushed in, and fired to blasts of energy, each of which hit, though the Shotgun style blast only hit one target.

She skated off, and looking back at the destruction left in her wake, there seemed to be 2 dead Swordies and 2 weakened Champus.

One of which tried attacking her, but she skated far too fast for it. The other one wheezed in pain, before focusing back in on the battle.

BATTLE SUMMARY:
ENEMIES:
SwordyA: -DELETED-
SwordyB: -DELETED-
ChampuA: 10 HP
ChampuB: 20 HP

BEAUTIFUL BAD BEATS:
Beatnik.EXE: 90 HP

TERRAIN:
100% Normal
"Aw, c'mon!" Beatnik shouted back at the Champu as she skated around them. "You were supposed to die!"

"Temper, Beatnik," Antoinette advised. With her trademark stoicism returning, she slotted in the last Chip they had -- the proven Rageclaw. Beatnik brought the armoured gauntlet to form around her hand and eyed the remaining viruses. Her red eyes flicked from her fist to the Champu.

"Toni, I got me an idea."

She sighed. "If you must."

"Spare me, I ain't stupid."

"If you must."

Beatnik gritted her teeth. Determined to show Antoinette up (as usual, of course), she kicked off toward the Champu. As she got within range, she closed her magnetic claws around the spot where the first Champu should have been. Instead of checking whether she had a successful grasp, she had already locked onto the other virus. Her entire body pivoted and her Rageclaw swung around, hurling what should have been the Champu into its buddy.

Feet swung around, momentum was diverted, and Beatnik went shooting toward the twin Champu. If everything had gone the way it was supposed to, her gauntlet would be tearing through the remains of the viruses' data, not the Champu themselves.

1. Rageclaw: Throw ChampuB at ChampuA (20 NORMAL damage apiece)
2. Rageclaw @ ChampuB (40 NORMAL damage)
3. Rageclaw @ ChampuA (40 NORMAL damage)
Gust: Dodge