The Virtual Suburbs

"Do we have any idea what I just crushed?" Zetaman asked, circling around the the pillar so that the Spooky couldn't see him either. "Well, whatever, I'm going to go with what works and get this last one." He told Vita, rushing ahead. He was about to jump-slam the pillar down onto the Spooky when his Operator's voice startled him to a stop.

"Wait, Zed!" She warned, going through her chips. "You've been pretty lucky with counter attacks so far, but that virus is probably expecting it. There's three pillars left too, we could end up chasing him for a while." She stopped on one of them and loaded it up immediately. "Ah-ha! Zed, try using this on him. He won't be expecting it at all."

"I... Well, I've got to agree with that." He told her, sighing and disengaging the RageClaw, loading up the new chip to his buster. He ran quickly to the side and started to strafe around the pillar raising his buster and carefully taking aim. "Just a bit more..." He commented quietly, waiting until he could see the Spooky just barely behind the pillar. He fired off the Shotgun blast, aiming to hit the pillar and then the Spooky right afterwards. Unsure of what kind of results he might get regardless, he rolled behind one of the pairings of his discharged Bolt Towers and the stone pillars.

Actions
1: Take Aim
2: Shotgun Battle Chip: PillarC, SpookyC (50 Damage + Spread 1)
3: Dodge
The Shotgun tore through the pillar, and the ghost virus hiding behind it by proxy. Unfortunately...oh, wait, there is no unfortunately. All the viruses are dead, aren't they? Well, huzzah for you.

SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: DELETED
SpookyC: DELETED [Formerly hiding behind PillarC]
CactyA: SMASHED
CactyB: BRICK'D

PillarA: 100HP
PillarB: 100HP
PillarC: 100HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Zetaman.EXE: 70HP

Bolt TowerA: 10HP
Bolt TowerB: 10HP
Bolt TowerC: 10HP

BATTLE THREE, COMPLETE

Rewards: 400z, CactBall1 Battlechip
Zetaman stood quietly for a moment as the last virus was destroyed and his buster returned to normal, followed by the disappearance of the Bolt Towers that had been left sitting around. "That was a good plan, Vita." He told her, looking to the side as to not give her the idea he thought it was that good an idea. He began to walk off further into the net once again, his eye twitching as his operator's voice started to wander into his head.

"Zeddy~." Vita teased, smiling like a cat at the Navi's quiet reaction. "Zeddy, you just complimented me, didn't ya? I think you're not such a sourpuss after all." She teased, looking at some of the new stuff they had gotten after that last group of enemies. "Wow, we're doing really nicely."

"I know, Vita, I know..." He told her, looking around very quickly and with an air of annoyance. "Come on, let's just find something else to delete already." He added, jogging down the pathways of the net in order to find something before he had to talk any more while Vita was in such a cutesy mood.

[Battle Four Welcome]
Zetaman continued on through ACDC Net to escape conversing with his operator. Soon after he was forced to stop as a solitary Champu floated in front of him with its dukes up. From either side, Bunny viruses hopped towards the Navi and shot rings of electricity at him, but Zetaman jumped back and out of the way. Finally a ratty old stove virus rolled towards the group from behind the Champu. Before him now stood (and floated) four stern looking and battle ready viruses.

Champu: 60HP
OldStove: 50HP
BunnyA: 50HP
BunnyB: 50HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Zetaman: 70HP

Battle 4 Start!
"Zed!" Vita called out as the virii began to appear. She was just a little faster in calling out than her Navi was in seeing the incoming attack from the side, but her outburst did cause him to react quickly, letting him get out of the way. He immediately brought up his buster and looked down his opponents, taking in their stance and what he should do first. "Okay Zeddy, let's take this group down. We're not about to start having trouble, are we?" Vita said, taking a couple of chip and slipping them into her Navi's programming.

Zetaman started down the Champu for a moment and then suddenly jerked forwards, as if he was moving in for a direct attack. Instead of taking even a single extra step, his buster glowed as his arm came up and he loaded the Shotgun chip immediately. He fired off a spray of digital buckshot at the boxer, the spray more than likely able to hit his furthest opponent in the back. As soon as he felt the recoil of the shotgun go off, he pulled back and rolled to the side away from counter attacks, turning his head to look towards the little electric virii to the sides.

"Nice choice, Vita." He pointed out after the shotgun blast's noise had ended. He raised his hand to get in another blow and loaded the next chip when... Well, he was holding a green ball that seemed to be formed of some kind of cactus plant. "This... What is this, Vita!?" He asked her out loud, the urgency of the situation obvious in his voice.

"I loaded that other chip we just got. Throw it or something, I don't know. It's a Cactball." Vita replied, not having the time to bring up a profile of the chip mid-battle.

"I... What... This is a stupid, stupid chip, Vita." Zetaman said, rolling his eyes and then winding back his arm and rolling forward the ball towards one of the Bunnys. "If this thing doesn't work, let's sell it for something else." He ordered.

Actions
1: Shotgun Battle Chip: Champu, Oldstove (50 Damage + Spread 1)
2: Dodge
3: Cactball1 Battle Chip: BunnyB (20 Damage x 2-4 Hits + Ground Attack)
[E-Bump]
Zetaman's feint might have worked if not for the Champu warping forward to attack the Navi directly. His shot flew at the OldStove instead, deleting it while Zetaman dodged the virus' jabs and got some distance from it. The boxer virus moved away slowly, indicating its decision not to try again. The CactBall Zetaman confusedly threw at the Bunny virus turned out to work better than he might have thought, mowing down the electric virus with several hits of prickly fury.

The second Bunny hopped from side to side in agitation, but did nothing else.

Champu: 60HP
OldStove: DELETED
BunnyA: 50HP
BunnyB: DELETED

Terrain: 100% Normal

Zetaman: 70HP
"Keep it coming, Vita." Zetaman order, lowering himself close to the ground and activating one of his Navicust programs, sending a wave of data across the ground that transformed his surroundings into magnetized panels. He started to move towards the Champu when Vita suddenly loaded up a chip with great haste. He took little time to think and activated it, his arm transforming into the massive claw he was slowly becoming familiar with. He jumped forward at the Champu with his large paw extended and tried to bring his hand down upon it. Zetaman kicked off the ground and swung himself around, pulling the Champu to his side and then ripping across the air with his paw, trying to hurl the virus into the Bunny in the distance.

"Okay Zed, let's keep up this feeling and take these guys down for good." Vita said, going through her chips and quickly selecting another one to load up. "Please please please work, this'll be so cool!" Vita added, loading up the shockwave chip they had earned to Zetaman.

The Navi responded quickly, targeting the results of his throw and slamming his claw into the ground. The chip activated with a flare of green that quickly moved into the tile in front and bore down on the Virii. He removed his paw from the ground and slowly made his way towards the normal tile, leaving his opponents in the magnetic spaces.

Actions
1: Activate SetMagnet
2: RageClaw Battle Chip - 1/6 Used: Champu thrown at BunnyA (20 Damage + Impact)
3: Shockwave Battle Chip: Champu, BunnyA (40 Damage + Piercing + Ground + Line Attack)
The Champu and the Bunny was surprised by the sudden change of the terrains and the fiery boxer found his movement to be sluggish. Taking this advantage, ZetaMan was able to grab hold of the virus with ease and throw it against the unsuspecting Bunny. Before the viruses could regroup and retaliate, both of them was struck by a powerful green force and found their untimely demise.

Champu: DELETED
OldStove: DELETED
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED

Terrain: 60% Normal, 40% Magnet

Zetaman: 70HP

-BATTLE WON!-
500z
"Whew." Vita said, Zetaman hearing her voice from somewhere out there. He had to agree, sitting down as well and catching his breath for a moment, even if he had no breath to catch. It had been a pretty fast-paced and intense battle. "Seems like you're getting used to your form." Vita added, reading her Navi's mind as he nodded and pulled himself back up. "Those electric bunnies were cute though. Shame we have to delete them..." Vita added, completely ruining the mood.

"There's more to my skill in Virus Busting than just getting used to my form." Zetaman explained, ignoring his operator's last comment and checking out his buster. "Did they drop anything interesting?" He asked her actually wanting to pay attention to their rewards for such a simple civil service. He looked back waiting for Vita's response, and there was a long silence. "Vita?" He asked. "Vita?" He asked again, a little more urgently.

"I'm here, Zeddy." Vita said, letting out a silly little sigh. "I'm just thinking you're starting to get a little full of yourself. Maybe I should stop complimenting you so often and straighten you out." She let out a small laugh, and the look on Zetaman's face caused her to cough nervously. "We, uh, we got some zenny from that. We'll definitely need to visit a Navi shop afterwards and see what we can grab."

"Well, whatever." Zetaman said, crossing his arms and looking away from his operator. He sighed out loud and dropped his arms, walking down the path further into the network. "Keep an eye out for more virii." He requested calmly, straightening his back as he walked.

[Battle Five Welcome]
Zetaman wanders deeper into ACDC when suddenly the floor behind him starts to collapse! Using some quick reflexes, the navi jumps forward before finding the ground falling down into a ring-shaped hole around mainly normal terrain.

"Kehehehe, I've caught some prey in my web, the boss will surely be pleased!" a stringy, cackling voice commented. Swiveling around, Zetaman readied his buster to find...

...A Heelnavi on a Metool? The Metool was bigger than normal, but what was really weird is that it seemed to serve as a mount of sorts to the Heelnavi.

"Alright! I think I'll beat you up for fun! Kehehehe!" the virus Rider cackled, prompting his Metool forward. It let out a deep and angry "MEEP!" before shifting forward, panel by panel.

It didn't look like you could jump over the ring-shaped hole surrounding the arena, so let's fight it out and teach this sucker a lesson.

Metool Rider: 220 HP

Terrain: 25% Missing (edges of arena), 75% Normal (Plate-like platform)

Zetaman.EXE: 70 HP

-BATTLE 5-
-ROUTINE, SET-
-EXECUTE!-
Vita was watching the screen half-heartedly as she flipped through her e-mail and checked out some price listings of things she'd be able to pick up with the zenny they had earned. It didn't last for long as a loud warning over her headphones alerted her to some action going on. As soon as she looked at her screen, Zetaman was jumping off of falling tiles onto what was basically a battle area with a virus. "Zeddy, are you okay? What the heck just happened there?" She called down, looking around the field for some sign of the a direct cause.

"Don't worry Vita, I'm fine." Zetaman replied, turning around and preparing his buster against an enemy and seeing the Heelnavi on the Metool. His face soured and he took a step back, looking behind himself into the pit and then standing his ground. "As for what happened... I think this guy here's the cause." He pointed out, noting that there was no turning back with the missing tiles and leaning forward with his buster up again.

"That virus..." Vita started, freezing up for an instance and staying. "Is... Is... SO COOL!"

"VITA! Shut up and just send me some chips!" Zetaman yelled, looking up to the Heelnavi and coughing. "Okay, listen up. I'll give you fight you want, but no complaints when you're deleted." He taunted, narrowing his eyes and giving a sly smile. He darted quickly to the side, expecting line attacks from the giant Metool at the least. He activated one of his NaviCust program and a wave of data crossed over the top of the field, the normal tiles suddenly shifting into magnetically charged one. He burst forward quickly a few meters from the edge of the circular area, making sure he didn't risk coming too close to the edge.

"Sorry Zed, I'm sending something in now." Vita said a little embarrassed, pulling up the chip data and selecting through them quickly. "Don't want the knock back of the Cannon, gotta keep his distance. Shotgun, coming in!" She called down to him, activating the chip.

Zetaman's buster charged up from the Shotgun chip data and he skidded to a halt in order to take up a firing position. "Thanks Vita, you have the time to think ahead, so I suggest you do so!" He told her, firing off the spread shotgun round at the giant Metool.

Actions
1: Activate NaviCust SetMagnet
2: Dodge
3: Shotgun Battle Chip: Metool Rider (50 Damage + Spread 1)
"Cocky brat, I'll put you in your place!" the virus Rider roared as his Metool shifted even more forward, but Zetaman luckily activated his Magnet panels, stopping the steed in its tracks.

"Tch, you're an annoying one, eat this!" The Heelnavi growled, firing off a Cannon at Zetaman, who darted quickly to the side before activating his Shotgun and firing it.

"Not gonna happen- OOF!" The Heelnavi started as he dashed behind his Metool, which immediately plopped down under its helmet, but the shrapnel blasted the Heelnavi when he least expected it.

"Heh, not bad. This'll be fun," the Heelnavi grinned, flipping the Metool over his head to land behind him, making both virus and rider off the magnet terrain for the moment. With a surprisingly agile backflip, the Heelnavi landed back on top of the Metool's helmet and licked his lips.

"Let's rock."

Metool Rider: 170 HP (Just outside Magnet Terrain)

Terrain: 25% Missing (edges of arena), 50% Normal (Plate-like platform), 25% Magnet (Around Zetaman)

Zetaman.EXE: 70 HP (Magnet)
"Shit! I didn't know that he could fire from up there too!" Zetaman said, moving back towards the edge of the arena. He looked behind himself and frowned, then looked over the battlefield. He started to charge energy into his buster when Vita interrupted him.

"Zed! Did you see that?" She asked, suddenly talking again before the Navi could offer a scathing comment. "No, not just how cute he is... Because he is cute but... Okay! Okay! No, the guy on top fell off, Zed. If you keep him off maybe the big guy will be easier to deal with." Vita added, going through their chips to see if they had much to help with said knock-off.

"Come up with something on your own time, Vita!" Zetaman returned, running along the arena for a moment before he raised his charged buster to the sky. "Bolt Towers" He called out, firing a blast of energy into the air. They formed into three towers of energy that dropped down towards the battlefield. Zetaman had done his best to target the Metool Rider, but the attack wasn't particularly accurate. He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes as the Heelnavi, then dodged to the side, kicking into the ground and shooting in the opposite direction to fake out any attack that might be coming his way. He then moved back to circling carefully, staying in his magnet panels for now.

Actions
1: Charging
2: Signature Bolt Towers: Metool Rider (3x 10 HP objects, deals 30 electric damage on contact with enemy)
3: Dodge
"It's useless!" The Heelnavi growled as the Metool rose its mighty pickaxe and slammed down, knocking a powerful shockwave into Zetaman. These guys mod their viruses well.

But Zeta's charging wasn't for naught and he quickly summoned three menacing towers that brimmed with electricity. All three fired at once, the first one knocking the rider off his steed, the second hitting the steed, and the third one well... the Heelnavi quickly grabbed the edge of his Metool's helmet and forced it down, making the bolt useless.

"That seems annoying, take this!" The Heelnavi grunted, pulling out a machinegun and firing rapidly across the arena, destroying the bolt towers and giving Zetaman a little damage.

Metool Rider: 110 HP (Just outside Magnet Terrain)

Terrain: 25% Missing (edges of arena), 50% Normal (Plate-like platform), 25% Magnet (Around Zetaman)

Zetaman.EXE: 40 HP (Magnet)
"Okay Zed, let me try to think on this for a moment..." Vita said into her PET, her Navi coming up slowly from his wounded position after the mass of gunfire. "Geez he's tough... Zed, are you-" She started again, cutting off and just slotting a chip in. "Of course you're fine. Toss this and give me a moment." She said, her screen filling with all the data again.

"Think of something good before I disown you." Zetaman said through a grin. He activated the chip and the cactus ball appeared in his hand in a flash of green energy. He quickly bowled it towards the massive Metool and dashed to the side, rushing away from any of the shockwave counter attacks from the behemoth. "I need something now, Vita!" He called out, crossing out of his magnet zone and moving to get an opposite angle on his opponent.

"No, I got it!" Vita told him, bringing up another chip. "This is the only one that can work, if it'll work. You know what to do." She added, loading up the cannon.

"I've got it." Zetaman said, moving a zig-zag across the field to bring himself closer. As he got well into mid-range, he ducked down and gripped the plain tiles, bringing his buster up just as it bulked out into the massive cannon chip. He narrowed his eyes in on the Heelnavi and let out a plume of energy. If he was lucky, he could knock that bastard off his virus mount and back into the magnet field. If he wasn't... He just hoped he was lucky.

Actions
1: Cactball1 Battle Chip: Metool Rider (20 Wood Damage X 2-4 Hits + Ground)
2: Dodge
3: Cannon Battle Chip: Metool Rider (40 Damage + Knockback)
Zetaman threw the Cactball, or maybe even bowled it, but whatever the result, the duo had taken enough damage and the Metool beamed out, knocking the Heelnavi over, flat on his back.

"Man..." the Heelnavi sulked, picking himself up as Zetman moved into position. "I get all the bad luck," crouching down into a horse stance while the Cannon blasted him to the side. Glancing idly at Zetaman, the Rider sighed, finding it pretty boring without his steed, but decided to press on by whipping out a Vulcan and sending quick, rapid shots at Zetaman, two of the three bullet bruising the navi's upper arms.

The Heelnavi cracked his neck and rolled his head before getting into a fighting stance. "Come on, that can't be it. Well, I'm having fun anyway so let's go for it, eh?" The Rider chuckled, bouncing from foot to foot.

Metool Rider: 30 HP (Just outside Magnet Terrain)[2 Actions away from Melee Range]

Terrain: 25% Missing (edges of arena), 50% Normal (Plate-like platform), 25% Magnet (Around Zetaman)

Zetaman.EXE: 20 HP (Just outside Magnet Terrain)
"Aww, the Metool went away." Vita said, frowning a bit and looking around the battlefield for where the virus had gone off to.

"A little more on my mind right now, Vita." Zetaman replied, holding the spot on the upper arm where he had been struck last. "Send something, I'm going to try my best not to get blown apart in the meantime." He told her, rushing forward suddenly and sprinting across the battlefield towards the dismounted Heelnavi. He narrowed his eyes and cut sideways a little to move into the magnet field, approaching from that direction so his flanks would be protected. "Still a bit..." He growled to himself.

Zetaman suddenly broke off his rush forward as he started to get close to the Heelnavi and rolled off to the side, ducking himself into a ball and then skidding to a halt in a slide to his right. "Chip in!" Vita told him, his hands glowing with data as he slammed his hands into the ground. A burst of green energy shot up and blew across the short distance between him and his opponent.

Actions
1: Tactical Movement (Highspeed Dash towards opponent)
2: Dodge
3: Shockwave Battle Chip: Metool Rider (40 + Ground + Piercing + Line Attack)
Zetaman and the Metool Rider stared at each other for what seemed like hours, but this was really someone's silly dramatization of the event. Both charged forward, giving into their instincts as the Heelnavi activated a Rageclaw, swiping furiously at Zetaman who quickly slid to the right and slammed his hands onto the ground before the Heelnavi could take another swing at him as the Shockwave knocked the Heelnavi off his feet and sent him spiraling into the air.

"I'll remeeeembeeeeeerrrr thiiiiiiissssss!" the Heelnavi called as he disappeared in a flash of purple light.

The ground reset itself and something dropped on top of Zetaman's head.

Metool Rider: EJO'D

Terrain: 100% Normal

Zetaman.EXE: 20 HP

-VICTORY-
Get: Guard1, 700z
His enemy blasted into the air calling down threats, Zetaman dropped down slowly and sat, taking a breather from the combat. He cracked his neck and checked out some of the wounds he had taken. They were superficial, sure, but he was a warrior at heart and wasn't going to ignore the badges of honour. He was suddenly wanged in the head by something, but he merely winced and pulled himself up carefully, grabbing the items that digitized into his system.

"Hey, Zeddy..." Vita said, notably a little tired after the stress from the battle herself. "He... That guy really thought we were just going to let him have his way and fight in melee." She said, laughing a little.

"Yeah... Yeah he did." Zetaman replied, looking at his buster. At the last minute, Vita had given him the shockwave chip while the Heelnavi had used a Rageclaw. It may have saved him, but he still would have preferred to take the virus out a little more fair and square. Next time, he wouldn't need tricks.

Vita used MiniEnergyPack. It restores 50 HP.

A wave of energy covered over Zetaman slowly in a blue aura, dissipating as soon as it had arrived and restoring his power levels. "Thanks Vita." He told her, his mood improved along with his condition. He got back onto his feet and crossed where there had once been a massive gap. "Let's see how much deeper we can go, eh?" He added, cracking a small smile as he left the battle site.

[Battle Six Welcome]