Moving on.

Soundman appeared in the network from a link, and continued walking as he had been for a short while. There was none of the usual banter between operator and navi-- not here, not now.

For Soundman and Trenn, all that remained currently was resolve. And as Soundman continued, step after well-paced, beat-like step through the network, it seemed that they would encounter something aside from their resolve very shortly.

It was inevitable, really-- one couldn't take a simple stroll through a network without running across at least 10 groups of viruses, these days...

Virus Attack!

CanondumbA: 50 HP
CanondumbB: 50 HP
CanondumbC: 50 HP
ShrubbyA: 50 HP (behind CDA)
ShrubbyB: 50 HP (behind CDB)
ShrubbyC: 50 HP (behind CDC)

Terrain: 100% Normal

Soundman.exe: 180 HP

-BATTLE 1-
-FIGHT!-

Soundman's right arm shifted slightly, the weight changed. He hefted the newly-materialized Widesword into position, and let the flat of it come to rest against the palm of his left hand.

A small breeze drifted through the area, blowing through Soundman's hair-

Wind chimes. The sound of countless wind chimes. Every time the wind ruffled Soundman's hair, the wind chimes sounded.

When the chiming stopped, Soundman was gone.

There was the sound of rent air behind the Shrubbies as Soundman cut a horizontal arc through the air with his Widesword, stepped forward, spinning, and then sliced again, this time within range of the Canondumbs.

The musical navi made an even wider stroke out of a spin, and the wind chimes began again.

1: Areagrab behind Shrubbies. (+Acc to next attack, +Dodge)
2: Widesword @ Shrubby group (80)
3: Widesword @ Canondumb group (80)
4: Widesword spin @ (both groups?) whatever group is remaining.

Soundman attracts the enemies attention with his noise, before disappearing and swiftly destroying the Shrubbies. The Canodumbs are unable to attack Soundman before he deletes them with a slash and a spin.

CanondumbA: Spin Sliced
CanondumbB: Sliced
CanondumbC: Sliced
ShrubbyA: Back-Slashed
ShrubbyB: Back-Slashed
ShrubbyC: Back Slashed

Terrain: 100% Normal

Soundman.exe: 180 HP

--Victory--
Reward Data: Ringlog1

Soundman juggled the small chip data in his hand as an absent-minded gesture, then sent it up to the PET and moved on.

((Battle 2.))

Virus Attack!

KabutankA: 80 HP
KabutankB: 80 HP
KabutankC: 80 HP
BeetankA: 50 HP
BeetankB: 50 HP
MushyA: 80 HP
MushyB: 80 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Soundman.exe: 180 HP

-BATTLE 2-
-GO-

Soundman slashes at the viruses with his Widesword.

((1: Widesword (80 @ Kabutanks)
2: Widesword (80 @ Beetanks)
3: Widesword (80 @ Mushies)
4: Widesword (80 @ Whatever lives)))

((If you blame me for being lazy, I can throw that right back at you for hitting me with a one-line wanker of a modpost. >:0))

((Oh, go ahead and be all ex pos facto on me.))

Soundman dashes in at the viruses wildly, brandishing his Widesword with intense ferocity, slashing here and there, deleting a total of four viruses!
Enraged by the attack on their companions, the Mushy virus and Kabutank virus blast off at Soundman individually. The spores didn't make it so far, but the bomb hit dead-on.

KabutankA: DELETED
KabutankB: 80 HP
KabutankC: 80 HP
BeetankA: DELETED
BeetankB: DELETED
MushyA: DELETED
MushyB: 80 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Soundman.exe: 150 HP

Soundman skidded backward on the heels of the explosion, shifting stances rapidly and breaking into a run back toward the viruses. "Trenn!" he called, curling his left hand into a fist. "Heatshot!"

"On it!" Trenn said, reacting in an instant. His hand snaked its' way into his pile of chips, reaching for the distinct red of the Heatshot-

Soundman continued his dash toward the Kabutanks, Widesword trailing behind him as he ran-

-Trenn's hand grasped the chip and pulled it from the pile, scattering a few chips from the top of the bench and onto the ground-- he'd grab them later. His hand reached to slap it into the PET, and- went to put it in the wrong way-

-Soundman reached the Kabutanks with a start, and struck out at the first one with a finesse that was unlike him; a spinning, wide slash, which he followed up by using the momentum to stab at the second Kabutank-

-Trenn's hand fumbled with the chip for just a moment, nearly dropping it once or twice before he finally slapped it in...

...just in time to see the Heatshot peeking at him from the bottom of the pile of scattered chips next to him, unused. Wait, then what did I...

-Soundman came out of the spin facing the far-off Mushy, and activated the chip Trenn had sent to him.

He took off like a rocket.

Flames poured from the musical navi's feet as he roared through the air toward the Mushy, left hand pointing at the mushroom-y virus-

-Trenn grabbed the chip almost faster than his eyes could track, and slapped it into the chip slot of the PET roughly, the action giving off a loud, louder than it was supposed to be, 'CLACK'-

-Flames began to build in Soundman's left hand; the Heatshot was almost ready to fire, but he was getting close to the Mushy...

So he did something that came natural to him. Soundman held his left arm forward, palm-speaker glowing red from the heat... and braced for impact.

1: Widesword (80 @ Kabutank B)
2: Widesword (80 @ Kabutank C)
3: Burner (Used to send Soundman flying toward Mushy B)
4: Heatshot (40 Fire @ Mushy B)

Soundman does an almost majestic, artful display of swordsmanship as the Kabutanks are quickly reduced to ribbons at the edge of his Widesword. Soundman saw the chip data drop to the ground, but couldn't be bothered to grab it now.

Suddenly...

BLAM! Soundman is sent off like a rock through the air on a collision course with the lone mushroom. As he brought up his firey hands...

BOOM.

In a sudden blast of fire, mush, and zenny, Soundman lands in a small indentation in the ground. The mushy was totally obliterated. Soundman had done it, though it had hurt him smashing into the ground and skidding a bit from the force. (20)

Now all he had to do would be to gather up the goodies from the viruses bodies.

VICTORY!!

Soundman GET: LilBomb, 500Z

(Soundman.EXE: 130HP)

Soundman got up from where he had landed, panting and grinning like a maniac. "Did you see that?!"

"Yeah," Trenn was laughing, "that was great."

Soundman gathered up the various bits of Zenny and the chip data, and sent the lot to Trenn before trekking onward.

...Well, not without healing himself first, anyway.

(Healing Serenade used, should heal me back to 180)
((Battle 3))

Soundman heals before moving on. He soon comes upon another group of enemies. Three Mushrooms are scattered around the front part of the field, looking around nervously. In contrast, two champu sit in the center of the area, a few yards apart, looking impatient to get started. Closer to the back, three canodumbs sit side by side. If you look closely, you can see a Shrubby darting around behind the group.

MushyA: 80
MushyB: 80
MushyC: 80
ChampuA: 60
ChampuB: 60
CanodumbA: 50
CanodumbB: 50
CanodumbC: 50
Shrubby: 50

Soundman: 180

Terrain: 100% Normal

Battle 3 Start

Soundman looks at the viruses, then scratches his chin.

"Humor me for a minute, Trenn." Soundman says over a private channel, grinning. He takes a step-

-And then another, and another, and another....

-Walking away from the viruses. They haven't done anything to him, and he had heard tales of intelligent viruses at times... so why not? Maybe they'd actually just let him walk away.

Soundman walks away, as the viruses notice him, and simultaneously turn toward him. If this were some sort of stealth game, '!' would probably be appearing over their heads at this moment. They'd chase him a moment after. Unfortunately, 'reality' is a little different. They open fire on the walking target, scoring multiple hits as the mushies make clouds of poisonous hallucinatory spores (one firing its cloud in a completely different direction...), the champus dodge around and jab-- the canodumbs shoot (one missing), and the shrubby finally rolls a log which trips up Soundman, all accompanied by the arrival of more viruses.

Apparently, this is not metal gear solid something to regard as a simple cute little incompetent amount of viruses, despite their strange appearances.

MushyA: 80
MushyB: 80
MushyC: 80
ChampuA: 60
ChampuB: 60
CanodumbA: 50
CanodumbB: 50
CanodumbC: 50
Shrubby: 50

Soundman: 50 [Confused]

MetoolEXA: 70
MetoolEXB: 70
MetoolEXC: 70
Spikey: 90
Spikey: 90
Spikey: 90
Spikey: 90

Terrain: 100% Normal

Battle 4, Let's Fight!

The fact that little yellow chicks were now swirling about Soundman's head could not have been a good sign, under any circumstances. Much less these circumstances.

Soundman ambled about for a moment, dazed, before speaking over the private line.

"I FEEL WEIRD, TRENN!" Soundman shouted at the viruses. Trenn turned the PET's speaker volume down a bit.

"It... looks like Confusion to me, if I remember my statuses correctly. Try to... try to ignore the... ducks? Chicks? ...and just dodge like crazy. It should wear off pretty soon." Trenn explained, grimacing. "You should probably at least use Healing Serenade though, you're looking pretty... beat up."

"Rooogerrr..." Soundman whispered, giving a shaky thumbs up.

Soundman focused on one of his abilities for a moment-

-and the most horrid, ear-bleedingly off-key sound began to play out of his speakers. It could be called closer to an out-of-tune piano playing a song called 'A cat dies' than actual music. Sheet music slowly warbled its' way out of his Subwoofer, forming crooked lines with seemingly random points where it tweaked too far in the opposite direction in an attempt to correct itself. As the sheet music continued to pour outward, the sound intensified...

So, of course, Trenn did what any sane person with working ears would do.

He hit the mute button on his PET.

Meanwhile, the crooked, slightly warped sheet music shakily formed a bubble around Soundman as the song drew to a close, and then converged inward...

[TURN SPLICE: 1: Healing Serenade (60 heal @ Soundman)]

The spikeys that were about to rush forward to finish off the confused and heavily wounded Navi instead stopped dead in their tracks, laid down upon the ground, and began to whine or howl at the unholy sound created by Soundman's speakers.

The Champu's raised their gloves over their ears and cringed, gnashing their teeth visibly.

The Metools hid under their helmets, able to blessedly block out the sound completely.

The Mushies and Shrubby... displayed a strange reaction to it... They stood still and listened calmly.

However, CannonDumb's don't have ears, and wouldn't care about music or noise even if they did. One targeted Soundman, lined up the shot, and fired. It hit Soundman, ending both the song, and his confusion, abruptly.

The other viruses recovered, the noise no longer assaulting their senses.

The Spikeys looked seriously irritated as they paired off and began to circle around, growling menacingly...

-----------
Summary <Split Turn: 3 Actions Remaining>
-----------

---Allies---
Soundman: 90 (No longer Confused) [On Normal Terrain, adjacent to the patch of Grass Terrain]

---Enemies---

-Group 1- [Behind you; between you and the Cannon group]
MushyA: 80 (On Grass) [3 moves behind, and to your left]
MushyB: 80 (On Grass) [2 moves behind, and to your left]
MushyC: 80 (On Grass) [3 moves behind, and to your right]
ChampuA: 60 (On Grass) [2 moves behind]
ChampuB: 60 (On Grass) [1 move behind and to the right]

-Group 2- [Far behind you, on the other side of the grass patch]
CanodumbA: 50 (Reloading) [5 moves behind]
CanodumbB: 50 (Targeting) [6 moves behind and to your left]
CanodumbC: 50 (Targeting) [6 moves behind and to your right]
Shrubby: 50 (Taking cover) [Behind CannondumbC]

-Group 3- [In a line, 3 Moves Ahead, between you and the Spikeys]
MetoolEXA: 70 (Defending)
MetoolEXB: 70 (Defending)
MetoolEXC: 70 (Defending)

-Group 4- (They are outside of attack range.) [Far ahead, on the other side of the Metools]
Spikey: 90 (Circling to the left) [5 moves ahead, and to the left]
Spikey: 90 (Circling to the left) [4 moves ahead, and to the left]
Spikey: 90 (Circling to the right) [4 moves ahead, and to the right]
Spikey: 90 (Circling to the right) [5 moves ahead, and to the right]

Terrain: 70%% Normal, 30% Grass

Soundman shook his head, the sudden weirdness that had clogged up his programming fading to give way to the realization that some strategy was going to be needed here if he planned to survive...

Almost as if on cue, three chips were slotted in. "There's a bunch of wood-type viruses on some Grass behind you. This oughta work pretty well." Trenn's voice informed, deadly-serious, over the private line linking him to Soundman. Soundman turned his head back to look at the viruses-- the readout ID'd them as 'Mushy' and 'Champu' types-- and in an instant was gone, a small flicker being the only sign that he had even been there.

A second later, he was in the middle of the grass, a strong F sharp rippling outward from his speakers almost like a wave, causing the Grass to shiver where it touched; then, all at once, there was fire, erupting upward from the grass wherever the note had passed. The name of the chip erupted from Soundman's mouth in a cry mimicking the ferocity of the flames that now shredded through the grass and, with luck, the viruses around him: "BURNER!"

The note jumped up half a decibel in volume as the flames reached their peak as though prompted by Soundman's shout; then, with an almost flattening wave of Soundman's arms, they sunk low to the ground and crashed outward, like the remnants of a cannonball hitting a pool.

The note that Soundman had held the entire time ended abruptly as the flames disappeared, complete with an almost palpable lack of a needle screech.

The silence that ensued did not last long, however; Soundman's speakers all worked in tandem this time, blasting out his Restez signature's familiar tune with at an almost deafening volume, row after row of sheet music dancing out of not just his subwoofer backpack, but every other speaker on his body, rows and rows of thick, heavy sheet music overlapping repeatedly to form a bubble around Soundman that was almost too thick for him to even be seen through, before disappearing from view, the one remnant of their audible presence being a (louder than normal) bass chord.

Soundman gazed around through the visual din of the rising ashes, coupled with the visual distortion from the bass chord playing through his subwoofer, in an attempt to grasp whether or not his attack had worked.

In the back of his mind, however, something was calling to him...

--End of Turn Splice--
2: Areagrab (Move to middle of Grass Terrain)
3: Burner @ Everything on Grass (2x from Grass terrain; 3x on Mushies for Wood Type+On Grass; 240 Fire to Champus, 360 Fire to Mushies if successful.)
4: Restez (80 HP barrier @ Soundman)

--Cooldowns--

Healing Serenade: 2 TCD
Restez: 2 TCD
All others: Ready

A couple of cannon shots and a shockwave pass through the spot Soundman had recently occupied as he teleports elsewhere. His Burner attack incinerates the patch of grass and everything on it, deleting several viruses. He then throws up a barrier just in time to stop a fireball from striking him. A few more fire blasts pass him by fairly close.

-----------
Summary
-----------

---Allies---
Soundman: 90 (50HP Barrier) [On Normal Terrain]

---Enemies---

-Group 1-
MushyA: Deleted
MushyB: Deleted
MushyC: Deleted
ChampuA: Deleted
ChampuB: Deleted

-Group 2- [Far behind you, on the other side of the grass patch]
CanodumbA: 50 (Targeting) [3 moves behind]
CanodumbB: 50 (Targeting) [4 moves behind and to your left]
CanodumbC: 50 (Targeting) [4 moves behind and to your right]
Shrubby: 50 (Taking cover) [Behind CannondumbC]

-Group 3- [In a line, 5 Moves Ahead]
MetoolEXA: 70 (Attacking)
MetoolEXB: 70 (Defending)
MetoolEXC: 70 (Defending)

-Group 4- [Far ahead, on the other side of the Metools]
Spikey: 90 [5 moves ahead, and to the left]
Spikey: 90 [4 moves ahead, and to the left]
Spikey: 90 [4 moves ahead, and to the right]
Spikey: 90 [5 moves ahead, and to the right]

Terrain: 100% Normal

The fireball struck Soundman's barrier with a sort of tinkling sound, notes rising with the strike and then dying away as bits of sheet music fell to the ground and shattered like glass.

Soundman glanced around as the last bits of smoke and ash drifted away; there was not a single patch of grass left, and all the viruses that had been positioned on it were, if anything had been left when he was done, carried away with the rest of the ashes by the wind.

So what now, Trenn? Soundman's thoughts went over the private line. He turned to face the Canodumbs, regarding them with a fierce gaze.

"The Canodumbs should be next. I'm sending you a couple of chips to use on them; they shouldn't be too hard to hit, seeing as how they can't actually move. Your barrier will protect you from their cannon fire if you're going to line up the shots... just try not to get blasted too hard, okay?"

Got it.

Soundman's right arm raised, extended toward a Canodumb. Bits of flame and power coalesced inward to form a tightly-packed fireball in his hand, but Soundman hesitated to fire. It wouldn't be enough...

Not without a little bit of music. Waves of sound rippled through channels in Soundman's right arm, sending shivers throughout his body as they neared his palm speaker; a beat began to play as the fireball increased slightly in size, a simple drumming noise with a slight twinge of a jazz beat. Musical notes rose and flickered on the surface of the fireball as it began to glow brighter with a sort of inner light, and Soundman grinned. Now it was ready.

Soundman grasped his right forearm with his left hand to steady it, aimed at the Canodumb... and fired.

A wave of fire blasted backward and curved around Soundman's barrier, layers of sheet music appearing only to be charred black as the kickback forced the Heatshot outward. The torrential fireball sizzled as it ripped through the air, forming an almost musical backdrop to the drum beat that it played; a song of deadly promises for its' target's demise.

Soundman took off at a sprint the moment the fireball was safely away, jingling footsteps playing a staccato beat of high-high-low on the ground as he ran, weaving back and forth in an effort to shake off the aim of the cannons even as he moved ever closer to them.

A book, its' plain cover labeled 'sheet music', appeared, levitating, in front of Soundman's left hand; it moved as his hand did, flailing about as he ran.

He was getting close to the right angle for the shot; this much he could tell. Soundman arced suddenly to the left, then dropped down and broke into a feet-first slide, facing toward the Canodumbs. His left arm was held outward, book of sheet music levitating almost ominously in front of his hand...

A high-pitch whine, like a pulse, ripped its' way out of Soundman's left palm speaker and hit the back of the book with a forceful impact, causing all sorts of musical notes and lines to burst outward from the front cover of the sheet music book, in an almost poetic mockery of a shotgun blast...

...aimed directly at the two Canodumbs that Soundman hadn't shot at yet.

1: Untapped Power Heatshot (10 Null + 40 Fire @ Canodumb C, Spread to Shrubby)
2: Move towards Canodumbs while trying to dodge cannon fire
3: Move towards Canodumbs while trying to dodge cannon fire
4: Slide and fire off Shotgun (50 @ Canodumb A, Spread to Canodumb B)

The Shrubby darts out from behind the Cannondumb, spits a log at Soundman, and ducks back behind once again... Just in time to be incinerated along with the gun virus it took shelter behind by Soundman's Heatshot. His evasive actions cause him to avoid attacks from both cannons, and apparently more as a shockwave blasts by, followed by a fireball. His shotgun attack deletes both of the remaining Cannondumbs... However, he is struck by a fireball high-side from one direction, and the ringlog low-side from the other, and ends up face-down on the ground.

Other than Soundman's pride, he is unhurt by the experience, and possibly better off for it as a pair of fireballs pass overhead where he'd just been standing.

-----------
Summary
-----------

---Allies---
Soundman: 90 [On Normal Terrain] (face-plant, one action to stand up)

---Enemies---

-Group 1-
MushyA: Deleted
MushyB: Deleted
MushyC: Deleted
ChampuA: Deleted
ChampuB: Deleted

-Group 2- [Far behind you, on the other side of the grass patch]
CanodumbA: Deleted
CanodumbB: Deleted
CanodumbC: Deleted
Shrubby: Deleted

-Group 3- [In a line, 5 Moves Ahead]
MetoolEXA: 70 (Defending)
MetoolEXB: 70 (Attacking)
MetoolEXC: 70 (Attacking)

-Group 4- [Far ahead, on the other side of the Metools]
Spikey: 90 [5 moves behind, and to the left]
Spikey: 90 [4 moves behind, and to the left]
Spikey: 90 [4 moves behind, and to the right]
Spikey: 90 [5 moves behind, and to the right]

Terrain: 100% Normal