A Composer's Whimsy

A gentle piano and flute duet started up as a flash of white light flared into existence in ACDC Net. When the light faded, Comp was floating on his back the usual few feet off the ground with his eyes closed, waving his baton to the beat. "Mmm, good stuff," he murmured, a lazy grin dominating his face. Cracking an eye open, he peered upside-down at the window Noah had opened up. "So, what now?" the Navi asked.

"Just busting, I guess. No sense in doing anything crazy, seeing as I just got our first few chips a while ago," Noah replied, "just drift around until you find something."

"Drifting, I can do." And drift he did; Comp set off in the first direction that came to mind, which happened to be his immediate left. Not bothering to reorient his body to face the direction he was now drifting in, Comp was floating sideways down a side road in the Net, still conducting the music that was being played from Noah's PET.

<(Battle 1, Set Metal at the ready)>
The side road was less traveled by, so Composer had nobody to question his method of sideways travel. There was, however, a group of yellow hats to impede his effortless progress.

MetoolA: 40HP
MetoolB: 40HP
MetoolC: 40HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Composer.EXE: 100HP

-Intro Battle, Fight-
"Erm, Comp? You've got company," Noah pointed out. Hearing this, Comp turned his head to face the Metools. Sighing, he stopped conducting the gentle lullaby, and the music faded away at his command. With a final wave of his baton, the stage began to morph, the panels becoming silver and shiny.

"Phooey, now I've gotta get off my back," Comp complained, swinging upwards until he was vertical. Raising his baton like a conductor about to start an orchestra on it's way, he called upwards, "I think another lullaby's called for, Noah, but maybe a different flavour than that first one."

At this, Comp started up a 4/4 swing-time beat, and a light, jazzy duet began to play. Moving his feet to the beat, the whimsical composer began to glide, sliding through the air above the new metal arena as he danced to the groove. As he sent a message to Noah asking for the Shotgun chip, he began to sing along.

"And there's a weepy old willow,
He really knows how to cry."


As he sang, Comp was still gliding along, slowly but surely aligning two Metools, so one would be right behind the other by the end of his journey. From the end of his conductor's baton, lights started to shine. The lights formed into a long, blank music staff, which began to swirl around Comp as he danced and sang. Notes quickly popped into existence, wavering slightly in their white light.

"That's how I'll cry in my pillow,
If you should tell me farewell, and goodbye."


On the final note, the music staff uncoiled from around Comp, and shot towards the two Metools he'd targeted. Upon impact, the music staff exploded into a shower of bright lights, and the loud boom of a bass drum resonated, not unlike thunder. The music continued to play, with Comp still tracing a deceptively fast path around the Metool he hadn't targeted.

"What now, Comp? Do you need another chip?" Noah asked, fingering the remaining chips in his giant hand.

"Nah, they won't be necessary. I think I'll take this last one... double time," Composer replied, interrupting his conducting with a dramatic sweep of the baton. Immediately, the background music doubled in tempo, giving the battleground a confusing overtone. "Let's take this meter, and add some chaos to it!" the composer exclaimed, spinning on the spot with his baton pointed outwards. A long, undulating music staff trailed behind the baton, notes already there. From here, Comp moved his hand like a blur, swapping notes for notes, slashing things, editing the once-gentle piece into a distorted cacophony. The music changed to fit the staff floating around Noah, twisting and distorting until it was no longer recognizable as the original piece. With a final cymbal crash and a jab of his baton, Comp sent the glowing staff flying at the last Metool. It collided with another loud cymbal crash, and a burst of static-y light, spreading across the metal panels with a loud crackle.

"Did I get 'em?" Comp wondered, stopping his drifting and flipping upside-down for the hell of it.

*Set Metal (Metalzone around the Metools)

1. Align Metools A and B so B's behind A

2. Shotgun to MetoolA (50, Splash to MetoolB)

3. Irrational Meter to MetoolC (60 Damage, Elec, Glitch, x2 due to Metal panels)
The strange musical way of attacking caught the Metools off guard. There weren't many musical Navis on the net, so Composer was an oddball. Deletion was far too easy for him, and soon he was looking at the spoils of battle.

MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED
MetoolC: DELETED

Terrain: 50% Normal, 50% Metal

Composer.EXE: 100HP

-BATTLE ONE, VICTORY!!-

Rewards:
- [Shockwave] Battlechip
- 180z
"Hey, that's decent. Get a blank chip ready, Noah," Comp remarked, drifting over to the pile of data. "And a token offering of Zenny; how nice of them!"

"Onward and forward, then?" Noah asked, hitting the keys that would result in transferring the money and chip data to the PET.

"Nah, forward's too boring. Don't feel like following the road anymore," Comp shot back. To prove his point, the eccentric Navi glided right off the road and deeper into the no-man's-land that was sure to be more populated with viruses.

<(Battle 2, Set Metal at the ready.)>
Moving further into the ACDC networks, Composer was gliding along happily when he found a couple of Beetanks merrily blasting away their bombs. Seems they had blasted a clear line of panels, and the ground was getting cracked. With them was a Melody, bouncing along, perhaps as a curious watcher, no more.

BeetankA: 50HP
BeetankB: 50HP
Melody: 80HP

Terrain: 70% Normal, 30% Cracked (Either side of Composer, 15% left, right)

Composer.EXE: 100HP

-BATTLE TWO, FIGHT!!-
"Don't look now, Noah, but my drifting's been interrupted again," Comp remarked, stopping on the spot and peering at the new viruses. With a sigh, he raised his baton and added, "If they want to tango, I'll be happy to set the stage."

"Want anything before you start on your way, Comp?" Noah queried, chips at the ready.

"Hmm... yeah, the Shotgun sounds nice. I'm gonna try and pull the same trick I did last time," Comp replied.

"Doesn't that get repetitive, though?" Noah asked. Comp just shrugged.

"The best riffs in music are the ones you hear the most often; they usually work the best. Same things applies to busting." As he said this, Comp was sinking lower and lower to the ground, until he was millimeters away from touching the panels with one foot. His finely-polished shoe waggled in the air for a few seconds, then finally stamped down on terra firma.

Everything happened at once. The moment the Composer stamped down, a bright spark shone from his shoes. The spark continued down the panels until it ended up right in the middle of the virus group. Immediately, the spark spread out in a wide radius, forming a shiny, circular steel dance floor. At the same time, a lively rock beat began to play, followed closely by an old classic rock tune.. At the same time "Come on, now, stick to the beat," Comp murmured, shoulders rising and falling to the beat. His baton was a constant blur of motion; afterimages made of the same white light he always tended to emit were left in it's wake. While he was moving to the beat of the song, he was also moving. Forward, to avoid that nasty line of cracked panels, and then left, circling the perimeter of the dance floor.

As Comp neared alignment of the two Beetanks, a music staff shined into existence, trailing after his baton like a long ribbon. Notes blinked onto the staff as Comp spun on his heel, and peered at the trail of music. "Needs a little touch of... something..." the eccentric musician muttered to himself. After a few seconds of aimless drifting, he snapped his fingers (with an accompanying cymbal crash) and exclaimed, "I've got it!" With an excited whoop, he grabbed the staff by one hand, readied his baton in the other, and slashed across the music with it. Immediately, the background music jumbled up, becoming more and more garbled until it more resembled static. "Crunchitize!" Comp shouted, letting the randomized Shotgun song fly at the Beetanks. As soon as the Shotgun detonated with the furious flash of sound and notes, the music resumed playing as normal, and he grabbed his head and winced.

Noah's window blinked open as soon as Comp reached for his head. "Are you about to lose it?" the gentle operator asked softly.

Comp regained composure almost immediately. "Nah, I'm fine. Just a... bug, shall we say?" He snickered for a second, then sobered up and asked his Operator. "Hey, give me a spotlight for a bit, will you?" Upon receiving confirmation, the Net inexplicably dimmed and a spotlight shone down on the composer. Clearing his throat, he turned his head skyward and spoke his dedications.

"This one's for you, old friend." He began to glide around the edge of the dance floor, eyes locked on the Melody. Waiting a few more seconds for the music to catch up, Composer's rich tenor began to sing out.

His name was Noah, he was a player.
But it was music that he played, through his saxophone he made,
The lovely swinging the couples danced to.
And before all the dance floor's cries, passion sparkled in his eyes.
From Sharo he was flown,
Tossed to the great unknown.
He's got no friends, he's got no lovers, but he's not alone,
At the Copa...


*Set Metal (Metalzone around virus group)

1. Align Beetanks A and B

*Randomize (??? [1-100] Damage to next attack)

2. Randomized Shotgun to BeetankA (??? [1-100] Damage, Splash to BeetankB)

3. Dodge (and sing to Copacabana)
<(Bump #1)>
Composer touched down to cover the battlefield (and the cracked panels) in metal before rhythmically preparing a song on a tangible staff. He randomized the piece before sending it at the Beetanks for a little critique. The song evidently left them speechless, as they were unable to respond due to being deleted.

The musical note form of the Melody was a bit intimidated by the powerful song, and stayed at a distance from Composer.

BeetankA: DELETED
BeetankB: DELETED
Melody: 80HP

Terrain: 70% Normal, 30% Metal

Composer.EXE: 100HP
"Just the Melody left," Comp quoted. True to word, the music abruptly cut out, leaving only the melody of the song playing in the background. It sounded oddly hollow.

"So now what, Comp? You know the Irrational Meter's not going to be strong enough to finish the Melody off," Noah reminded the Navi. Preparing to slot in a chip, he was stopped by Comp.

"If this works, Noah, I won't need the chips. My baton's all I need for this... and the music, of course," Comp answered, twirling his conductor's baton idly. With a lazy sweep, he created another song, twirling it to his side like a ribbon. Fixing relaxed eyes on the Melody on the other side of the dance floor, bouncing to the beat.

"Now then, Melody. There are two ways you can go about this," Comp started, drifting a bit forward until he was on the metal stage as well. He continued, "You could bounce right over here in an attempt to attack me, but I don't think that would go over very well. You see, hitting me would end up making me more annoyed than too injured to continue, and as you can see, I can make as many of these staffs as I want, and any of them can be dangerous to you." His eyes narrowed a bit for a split second, but just as quickly, relaxed.

"See, here's the deal. I've really got nothing against viruses, just so long as they don't come at me trying to rend me into a bunch of little pieces. Live and let live, know what I'm saying? They say every time you kill a virus, a new one appears somewhere else, so why fight a battle we Navis are never going to win? That, and you look like a bouncy music note, which I think is pretty cool. So, I'm willing to let him hop off and continue your virusy life, doing virusy things, playing virusy games with your Melody friends," the Composer elaborated. He never stopped twirling the staff of music in his left hand.

"So, what'll it be? Will you leave the floor gracefully, or will you join me for the last dance of your life?" The music never stopped playing, sending it's hollow, almost sorrowful tune wailing through the skies of ACDC Net.

Noah looked worried. "I hope you know what you're doing, Comp," he murmured.

1. Negotiate with the Melody, try and convince it to leave

--TURN SPLICE-- (Moves 2 & 3 reserved for if the Melody decides to Attack)
The Melody looked somewhat subdued, after Composer started talking to it. Its round eyes stared into the music Navi's own, trying to decipher the actual meaning of the words he was speaking to it. It bounced in place as it did so, perhaps contemplating the peace offering. At last, after what seemed like an interminable amount of time, the Melody ceased bouncing, and humbly came up to the Navi's feet. Snuggling against a leg, it seemed that Composer had made a friend. It looked up at the Navi and tried to smile at him, however viruses smile. Then, it bounded off into parts unknown to tell its friends about the strange attacker it met today.

BeetankA: DELETED
BeetankB: DELETED
Melody: BEFRIENDED

Terrain: 70% Normal, 30% Metal

Composer.EXE: 100HP

-BATTLE TWO, VICTORY!!-

Rewards: 350z
"Comp, you made a friend!" Noah grinned slightly, readying the PET for accepting the zenny.

"Well, you can't expect me to just go around killing everything that stands in my path, can you?" Comp retorted. After a moment, he added, "Plus, the Melody was a music note, which I still think is a pretty cool idea for a virus. Even if they're meant to bounce you to death..."

Deciding not to give it any more thought, the strange Navi uploaded the zenny to Noah and continued right along his merry way. "Maybe it's because I'm Bug-type?" he mused, twisting into a lazy barrel roll as he wandered into the no-man's-lands of ACDC Net.

<(Battle 3)>
Composer drifted along carelessly for a while until he arrived at a number of armed virus fortifications. They didn't look like much, but the Navi stopped just shy of them. Unsure of whether he'd been noticed, Composer strafed around the turrets a bit before seeing one turn towards him. From behind it came a small and even less threatening bunny. The animal hopped up and down a few times before launching a speedy ring of electricity at Composer, which he dodged.

The other turret turned towards him as well, revealing a second bunny virus.

CannonDumbA: 50HP
CannonDumbB: 50HP
BunnyA: 50HP
BunnyB: 50HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Composer: 100HP

Battle 3 Start!
"Ugly freakin' cannons dead ahead, Noah. Oh, and electric bunnies too," Comp noted, wrinkling his nose in distaste. Cannons, made for no purpose other than to shoot and kill things, with big bullets that made a mess when they hit.

"Watch it, Noah. The Bunny's getting agitated," Noah cautioned. Sure enough, the electric virus shot a small electric ring at Comp, who twisted around it. However, a few sparks were left on the Navi from the close call. In that instant, something...wrong happened.

"OI!" Composer yelled, wide eyes suddenly flashing blinding white for a brief instant. In a movement that could only be described as twisted, he sank to ground level and slammed a bare fist into the ground. A loud boom that sounded more like thunder than a bass drum resonated, and a spark erupted from the point Composer had pounded. The spark, as it had been known to do before, traveled along the ground until it was right in the midst of the virus crowd, where it morphed into a large patch of metal ground. Unlike the usual circular dance floor, however, the shape of the metal dance floor was warped all to hell, more like a child's scribble than a circle.

At the same time, a large red warning message blared on Noah's PET for a split second before vanishing. Just as quickly, Comp's eyes were back to electric blue, and a bit lidded. "Not fair, trying to get in a cheap shot," he complained. Casting eyes, that had seconds ago been shining like beacons, skyward, he called to Noah, "Mind helping me out, here? I need something that will get rid of these things."

Noah looked first to the chips he had stocked, then to the readouts of the viruses. After some debate, he decided to slot in two he hadn't used yet. "Comp, I'm sending you our Rageclaw, and the Shockwave we got earlier. Can you think of any ideas on what to do with them?"

After a few seconds of sitting in the classic 'pondering' pose, with one arm draped over his knee and the other resting his head, Comp snapped his fingers. "Yup, I got it. Have fun watching up there," he replied, setting to work.

The Shockwave would be the first to go. The composer stood stock still for a moment... and suddenly broke out into some sort of stationary dance, waving his arms in powerful, controlled motions. He would swing an arm as though to strike a drum, and retract. For every motion he made, a different sort of drum sounded off. From a snare drum, to a Netfrican conga, to a tom-tom, to even a high hat. "Erm, what are you doing?" Noah asked, confused. Comp was steadily increasing the tempo in which he moved his arms, resulting in a gradually rising drum solo. Finally, he raised his right foot, and stamped down as though to hit the pedal of a kick bass. The result was a very visible, and very loud shock wave firing in a straight line, at one of the pairs of Bunnies and CannonDumbs.

"So, what now?" Comp asked himself, staring at a small ball of light bobbing in his hand; Noah realized it was the chip data for the Rageclaw, and the Navi had no idea how he should use it.

"Why not use it as a-" Noah was cut off by possibly the most annoying sound he'd ever heard. Comp had drawn a staff and was twirling it like usual, but instead of letting it fly, he allowed it to wrap around his arm. And what should have been music on the staff was instead an innumerable number of whole notes, as to be used for tuning. Though, they did not sound nearly as pleasant as the usual music Comp gave off. What was currently playing sounded like a symphony warm-up... with a symphony full of five-year-olds. Noah could not hear a single on-key note in the entire piece; it was hell on his musically-trained ears. He noticed Comp also had a very obvious grimace on his face.

"Alright, then, who gets to taste all these ludicrously sharp notes?" Comp bellowed over the cringe-worthy din. Narrowing his eyes, he saw the CannonDumbs; of course, they wouldn't even be bothered by it, the earless bastards. "First to go, then," the Navi decided, dashing through midair towards one of the green eyesores. With a mighty swing of his finely-dressed arm, Composer let the music staff around his arm morph into the vague shape of a large claw around his hand. The claw, assuming he didn't completely bungle the swing, should successfully catch the CannonDumb, and send it flying one way or another into the Bunny it was nearest.

Finally capable of muting the damned noise, Comp rapidly backpedaled and took to cruising at a fair clip, looking regrettably at the repulsive music staff on his arm. Taking a look skyward to where Noah was surely watching, he admitted, "Okay, next time, you come up with a use for the stupid melee chip. Nobody likes sharp notes, even and especially if they're sharp enough to kill a virus with."

*Set Metal (Metalzone around the viruses)

1. Shockwave to CannonDumbA (40, Piercing, Ground, Line, hopeful splash onto BunnyA)

2. Rageclaw Throw; CannonDumbA into BunnyA (20 to each)

3. Dodge
The first drumming motions set the viruses into confusion, a strange unorthodox method of approach. The Bunny, at least, were entranced by the music, huddling close together and murmuring something to each other. Unfortunately, this proved to be their undoing, as the Shockwave razed through a Cannon and a Bunny, its comrade released from its trance just long enough to leap away in fright. What was this frightening thing, it was probably thinking. The Cannondumb was unmoved, however, and blasted Comp with a surprise shot. (20) Retaliating with a screeching symphony of squawking, Composer whacked the turret clear into the rodent, destroying them both.

The other bunny was a bit too scared out of its skin to do much, and the turret beside it was pointed elsewhere for some reason.

CannonDumbA: DELETED
CannonDumbB: 50HP
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: 50HP

Terrain: 70% Normal, 30% Metal

Composer: 80HP
"Ooooookay?" Composer was really getting confused by the various reactions of the viruses he was facing off against. Weren't all viruses supposed to be hungry Navi-killers...not that he minded. Still, first there was the Melody that he'd actually ended up talking into not hurting him. Now, these viruses seemed... scared of him? (with the exception of that one CannonDumb, that had just shot him. Not that it hurt TOO too much, but had he been human he would've ended up with a rather nasty bruise on his chest.) It simply boggled the mind. "Noah, I think they're scared to attack," the composer observed, leaning forward a bit to peer in the air. Yep, he decided, they were scared. If a CannonDumb was actually pointing somewhere other than the most obvious target (the Navi it was attempting to delete), it had to be freaking the hell out. And the Bunny... Composer honestly felt sorry for it. He had just brutally murdered it's Bunny friend... even though it had tried to zap him earlier.

"Try to strafe around them, Comp. Don't get too close or you might spook them," Noah advised. Comp nodded and started to speak to the viruses... again.

Spreading his arms wide (the fact that one had a large, twisted music staff curled around it might not have helped, but whatever), Comp attempted to explain his actions. "Viruses are usually drawn towards Navis. Navis, in turn, delete the viruses so they won't be a threat until they rematerialize. You two know that, right?" Not getting an answer, or expecting one, he kept right on going.

"Your buddies tried to attack me, so I retaliated. It's a fact of life; on the Net, it's delete, or be deleted sometimes, especially in the feuds between my kind and yours. You can feel it, right? I'm partially a bug, so you could say I'm a bit closer to viruses than a normal Navi. And I don't really want to just go around deleting viruses for no reason, when they're not set on attacking me. It'd feel like I'm no better than a rogue virus in that sense," Comp elaborated, spinning his baton around his fingers.

"So, I want to walk away from this. I'm sorry your friends had to go, but hey, think of it this way. They're still around somewhere, only they've been recoded into a different form, in a different place. Search around, you might meet up with them again, hey?" At this, the Composer started gliding sideways, slowly and cautiously. At the first sign of trouble, he was ready to bolt. Thinking for a moment, he PMed Noah, saying, "I'm gonna see if there's anything I can send up to the PET from those first two viruses. You never know, right?"

Noah nodded, and let Comp do his thing. With a slight twitch, the Navi activated the program he normally used to send data up to the PET, only instead of just immediately activating it, he kept it open and locked onto where the CannonDumb and Bunny had collided. If there would be anything leftover from the two deleted viruses, it'd be there.

1/2. Strafe around the two remaining viruses, apologize, convince them he won't attack if they won't. Dodge if necessary.

3. Check for data leftover from CannonDumbA and BunnyA.
<(PAUNCH.)>
The Bunny was hasty to nod furiously and leap off into the distance, while the Canodumb couldn't do the same for obvious reasons. It felt that if it was going to go, it was going to go with a bang. Composer only barely managed to dodge a sudden sneak cannon burst that it fired.

CannonDumbA: DELETED
CannonDumbB: 50HP
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: FLED

Terrain: 70% Normal, 30% Metal

Composer.EXE: 80HP
"Comp, incoming!" Noah shouted, watching the CannonDumb fire off it's last shot.

"I've got it!" Comp called back, contorting in midair to avoid the blast of energy. He sighed as he righted himself and faced the virus. He knew what this would mean, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

A beautiful, almost melancholy duet, the same one Composer had been playing upon entering the Net, faded into existence. Revolving to the rhythm, Comp drew another staff of music, staring at the notes scattered across the many lines with an odd look in his eyes. Softly, he began to hum along with the melody, gliding along with the staff trailing behind him like a streamer. In the real world, Noah did the same with the harmony line, providing the music with an additional layer of depth.

"It's a shame that you weren't created as a virus with freedom of movement. Then maybe you wouldn't have to go," Comp remarked, looking at the cannon he was circling. "Hey, who knows? Maybe you'll end up as something new, something fast and agile next time," he added, shrugging slightly.

With an air of finality, the musical Navi murmured, "Scramble." Noah stopped humming.

Once again, the music went to hell. First it doubled in volume, then tempo, then reduced itself to a 3/4 signature. Then slowed down, and became a 10/8 time. Half-muted. Sound quality reduced by half. Volume doubled again. Unmuted. Swing timed. Sheet reversed. Beats 1 and 3 replaced with beats 2 and 4. On and on and on, until there was nothing left but noise.

"Times like this I wish I didn't have this effect on music. It sounds so ugly," Comp said, readying his baton for the final note. A downward swipe, and a cymbal crash later, the staff sailed towards the stationary CannonDumb. What was once music now sounded more like a synthesized scream than anything else. Upon detonation, it exploded in a brilliant flash of lights, too bright to look straight at. Comp averted his eyes before it touched down.

"Gonna be alright, Comp? You haven't really faced a dilemma like this before, have you?" Noah asked.

Comp rolled his eyes and waved it off. "I'm fine, Noah. I'm not gonna start bursting into tears like some baby Navi. It's just a bit... messy, you could call it," he answered, turning his head back towards the metal circle that had been the dance floor.

1. Irrational Meter to CannonDumbB (60, Elec, Glitch)

2/3: Wait for the battle to end.
Unable to escape its fate or the floor it was bolted to, the CannonDumb succumbed to a musical death. It also dropped a chip as a final farewell so as not to be forgotten.

CannonDumbA: DELETED
CannonDumbB: DELETED
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: FLED

Terrain: 70% Normal, 30% Metal

Composer.EXE: 80 HP

[Battle 3 - Victory!]

Get: 200z + Cannon Battlechip