HighwayMan, bad beginnings

Despite annoying him and damaging him a bit over the race, HighwayMan managed to pull off a win! He Cackles as he slows down and collects the spoils, saying "You see that Rei? Good stuff eh? I told you doin' stuff on the net could be exciting. Got my fire burnin".

Reilyn meanwhile, has managed to locate enough of her wits to finally get dressed, though she just slumps back down on the bed. Despite the minute or two that passed since her navi commented, she just replies "Ehh, I guess".

The navi blinks and crosses his arms, drifting at a lazy pace down the net-o-bahn as he grumbles "What? Thats it? That was epic".

She shrugs and mumbles "Exciting for you. What did I do? Pass you a few chips? Not exactly exciting".

HighwayMan shakes his head and heads off an exit of the net highway. Time passes and finally he asks his operator "So, what chip was that? Anything good?"

The girl tugs the chip free form the broken ejector port and looks the thing over, the picture meaning pretty much nothing to her. She flips it to it's thin side and mumbles "DashAttack". She notices the zenni deposited in her account too and just gives a 'Hrm'.

HighwayMan pumps his fist and grins "Freakin' sweet! I love that chip. Zoom.. Woo!", he exclaims.

Reilyn just shakes her head and asks "Anyway, moving on? Where the hell are you now?"

The navi grumbles and gripes to himself, something about still being 'fu*ked up from the last few fights', but he nonetheless looks around at his surroundings and scratches his head.

He shrugs and says plainly "Ehh, beats me".

He continues to walk along, where ever he was now, maybe still in the ACDC network somewhere. He idly rubs one of his sore arms and waves away a plume of acrid smoke trailing out of one of his dual-exhaust-pipes, now in need of repair.

(( Requesting Battle 5 ))
After the adrenaline kicking race, HighwayMan was more than ready for his next fight...But things aren't exactly consistent in the vast, endless world of the virtual network. The speedy navi came across an old, brittle looking navi, too thin for his own jumpsuit while having a beige fisher hat that had a dark shade cast over his eyes. Sitting on a single bench in the middle of nowhere, there was no sign of other navis, no sign of civilizations...No sign of viruses either.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllooooooo, sooooooooonnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyy..."

The way he spoke seemed to go on as long as the navi's age, but thankfully, his movement was just as regular as any other navi as he stood up from the bench and leaned against his cane. "Yooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu'rrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee ovvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeerrrrr sttttttteeeeeeeeepppppppppiiiinnnnnnngggg iiiiiiinnnnnnntooooooooo myyyyyyyyyy ttttttttteeeeeerrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiitttttooooooorrrrrrryyyyyyyy..." Tapping his cane against the ground in a rhythm, he gave HighwayMan a piercing glare through the shadow over his eye. "Leeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaavvvvvveeeeeee beeeeeeeeforrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeee youuuuuuuuuu geeeeeeeeeeeeeeet huuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrttttttt, sooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyy..."

SlowMan.EXE: 250 HP

Terrain: 100% Mud

HighwayMan.EXE: 95 HP
For several moments, HighwayMan just isn't sure how to reply. All his travels and fighting over the years has taught him the dangers of judging a book by their covers but.. Well, come the hell on, this old timer was threatening him? Sure the bastard could be a mighty wizard or a battle genius but he had stepped on the wrong ego today.

"The f*ck?! Your turf? Look you old bastard, give me one good reason why I shouldn't just beat you into a fragmented mess, or at best, laugh and go where I please"

He crosses his arms and waits, expecting.. Well, he's not quite sure what for, but he hasn't manifested his weapons or even made any aggressive motions, except maybe to give a stern look. Part of him just wanted to laugh and ignore the guy but he couldn't just let people talk to him like that.
SlowMan stayed silent as HighwayMan began to talk down on him, continuing to tap his cane down on the floor. "Beeeeeeessssssttttt waaaaaaattttcccccchhhhhh yooooouuuuuurrrrrr moooouuuuuuttttthhhhhh..." The navi gave out one more tap that echoed throughout the field as two, pitch black spheres appeared next to SlowMan and flew right towards HighwayMan.

The high-talking navi had no chance to react to the preemptive attack as it bashed right into his stomach...But it didn't cause any sort of harm to his body. "Leeeeeeeeeetttsss seeeeeeeeee whhhhhaaaaaaatttttt thhhhhhhhhheeee liiiiiitttttttlllllleeeee puuuuppppppyyyyyy caaaaaaaannnnnnnnn doooooooooo..." All of a sudden, a quick jolt ran through the navi's body as things began to change from within!

SlowMan.EXE: 250 HP

Terrain: 100% Mud

HighwayMan.EXE: 95 HP [Glitched!]

    [li]Potato in the exhaust: Afterburner LOCKED
  • Engine Stutter: Speech is now stuttered

-BOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSS BAAAAAATTTTTTLLLLEEEEEEEE, SSSTAAAAAAAARRRRRRRTTTTT...-
(( I realized that HighwayMan's exhaust pipes are only present in his demon form. Bad, bad inconsistent me. Will fix. ))

The navi grunts as the blow knocks the wind out of him. Fortuntely, it seemed to do little else, other than her felt... Off somehow.

"Y-you old bas-t-tard! Wha-ah-", he starts but clamps a hand over his mouth at the glitch. "Cccantt-", he tries again, but it's useless.

With an angry growl, HighwayMan raises his hands above his head and a blast of green flame erupts in each one. The flash fire quickly snaps between his hands and begins to spill between them. Barely a moment later the fire is gone and he holds his now-manifested blades, connected at their ends by a three-foot chain.

Since talk seemed useless, and it was cheap anyway, he supposed, it was time to get this shindig a-started.

His operator, however, wasn't exactly sure what her role in this was. Sure she should pass her navi chips, but he usually told her what to give. Left to her own devices, she looks at the new chip, blinks, and with a light shrug (and a bit of struggle to get it to read), delivers it. She also figured HighwayMan was looking a bit messed up, and surely he could use the repair chip after that?

The navi winced as he tried to kick in his afterburners, to blow this stupid old man away, but something was wrong with his body. The heat wasn't rising, he wasn't getting the surge of energy. It just didn't look like it was going to happen. Hesitating for a moment, as what was supposed to be a cool-looking display suddenly became a big, fat failure, he instead tries to stay light on his feet, keeping an eye on the old man's.. er.. balls, and whatever new powers his changes will bring. Though it's way too early to celebrate, he at least feels relieved when chip data enters his mind. He didn't even have to tell Reilyn, maybe she was learning?

Taking a step towards SlowMan, green flame erupts from his shoulders and the living fire takes the shape of a pair of wings. The navi gives the old man a wicked grin and holds his swords toward his foe. But just that fast, he is gone and a green blur of light and fire and polished steel flies forward! The muddy ground flies to the sides in his flight, as the wings let him ride it like a jet-ski, kicking up a brown wave to either side.

As he lands, he wheels about to quickly get his bearings and though he would have preferred more attack chips, he isn't going to complain as he passes the recover data through himself and the fading flame wings melt down and cover him. Sparks fly and smoke sputters from him as the wrap him briefly in a cocoon, then fragment and scatter away, leaving him more whole than before.

1 - Dodge

2 - Use Battlechip: DashAttack (90+Impact+LineAttack5) @ SlowMan

3 - Use Battlechip: Recover30 (Heal 30HP)
HighwayMan was cautious to approach SlowMan, but he definitely wasn't scared to jump right into the action when he zoomed right into his target with his new chip. The blurring-fast speed had caught the old navi by a surprise as it dealt a good amount of damage.

"Maaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrsssss, maaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrsssssss..." SlowMan created a yellow ring at the end of his cane and threw it towards HighwayMan, hitting and stunning the speed navi! He was able to heal most of the damage thanks to his recovery chip, but the paralytic effects began to take hold over the navi...

Fortunately, the glitch effect was slowly losing grip over HighwayMan as one of the effect faded away. SlowMan also took notice and began to prepare another volley of his buggy balls!

SlowMan.EXE: 160 HP

Terrain: 100% Mud

HighwayMan.EXE: 85 HP [Stunned! / Glitched!]

    [li]Potato in the exhaust: Afterburner LOCKED
  • Engine Stutter: Speech is now stuttered
HighwayMan grits his teeth and tries to throw off the shock from the old man's cane. "Old f*ck, your going down". He has to spout bravado after all, at least for himself and his operator, who is actually looking a bit worried. He is out of healing, halfway to being deleted, and this is definitely his last battle on this run through the net, for better or worse.

"High-way", is all Reilyn can say. She doesn't have a clue what to do, other then pass some chips. She doesn't even know what kind of chips would be best in this situation, if any, but jams the shotgun and cannon into the PET anyway.

The navi gives a half-grin as he says "Aww, you do care", to his operator. He focuses on the old man as best he can. He knows the mud is slowing him down and the old man is working on keeping him messed up. The best thing he could do was try to regain his edge. He tried to keep light on his feet and move about in place, to make up for the mud but all the while was thinking how nice it would be to have some kind of chip or something to get rid of it all.

"Eat it, pops", the navi yells as he gathers a glob of viscous green flame in one hand and sends it headed at SlowMan. His operator may have sent him chips, but he has a hunch, with all the mud, that this old man is a wood type and hopefully he is about to feel the burn!

1 - Stunned

2 - Dodge

3 - Activate Sig: Road Rash [Delayed Damage 20Fire/turn (Burn), 2 turn duration; 1TCD] @ SlowMan

Sig Road Rash cooldown: 1
While Highwayman struggled to free himself from the paralysis, SlowMan finished creating his bug-balls and teased the navi. "Leeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnn frrrrrrrrroooooooooommmmmmmmmm yooooooooouuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrr miiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssttttttttttaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeee..." As soon as the old navi threw the ball, HighwayMan was freed from the stun and dove into safety!

In retaliation, the speedy navi launched his burning green flame onto SlowMan, latching onto the target as it began to burn slowly throughout his body! SlowMan didn't scream in pain, or even looked like he was reacting at all...Or, at least, that's what everyone thought or a second before his delayed reaction "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..."

Though the fire was still burning on his body, SlowMan tapped his cane against the ground to cause a pillar of wood to shoot up from the ground. It "slowly" made its way towards HighwayMan, but it missed in the end...

SlowMan.EXE: 120 HP [Burn 20 (1 Turn)]

Terrain: 85% Mud, 15% Grass

HighwayMan.EXE: 85 HP
HighwayMan tries his best not to panic, knowing he is only avoiding this stuff by the skin of his teeth. Just the same, he decided keeping the old man rattled was best. "C'mon you old sack of sh*t, is that all you got? I'm not even trying here!", he barked with enough false bravado to hopefully give him an edge.

Knowing he was only still alive by dumb luck, the navi figured he should keep light on his toes and keep a-dodgin, since it kept him alive last turn. Trying to shuffle about in the mud is a pain in the ass, but hopefully, being a speed type, he would somehow break even. "Rei, we need to talk about a chip or something to change terrain", he grumbled.

His operator, meanwhile, couldn't understand why he hadn't used the chips she had given him. Sure he had his own fire thing and that seemed to be working but.. Well, whatever. "Right, and how much will that cost? Let me guess, all the cash we got this whole run through the net?", the girl snaps at her navi.

As HighwayMan raises one empty hand (he just realizes he never even had time to conjure his beloved blades), in a flash of green flame, it becomes a shiny cannon. He mumbles "Only around five grand for the program" as he takes aim for a moment in between jukes and uhh jives. He fires at SlowMan, hoping for the best.

Turning about, hiding his hands for a moment, his origional one had reverted and he other empty hand was now a long double-barrel! He took aim and fired at SlowMan again.

Oh, and for good measure, since SlowMan seemed so keen on stopping his afterburner, he could eat it. With a blast of green flame blazing around him brightly, his operator passes him the only really usable battlechip he has left, the shockwave. Sorta funny, using a blazing burst of speed to throw a comparatively slow-moving chip but meh, it didn't look like SlowMan was going to be leaping out of the way of anything anytime soon. At any rate, both his hands now reverted, he raises his hands and his beloved twin blades manifest in a flash of green flame. Already positioned downward, a quick thrust later as eh slame them into the mud and a shockwave of energy flies along the ground, flinging mud everywhere as it heads to SlowMan.

1 - Dodge

2 - Use Battlechip: Cannon (40+Knockback) @ SlowMan

3 - Use Battlechip: Shotgun (50+Spread1) @ SlowMan

4 - Overdrive!! Use Battlechip: Shockwave (40 + Line Attack + Ground Attack) @ SlowMan

Sig Road Rash cooldown: 0 READY
SlowMan was still very much burning from the fire brought out by HighwayMan, but it was finally extinguished after leaving some serious burn on the enemy navi. "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwccccchhhhh..." Grumpy as usual, SlowMan brought up his cane as if he was holding a gun and aimed it towards HighwayMan. In a blink of an eye, the cane had transformed into a sizable machinegun, firing bullets in rapid fire, completely going against the navi's "slow" methods altogether!

Though the speedy navi tried to dodge, the mud did hold him down and got shot shot up by two flying bullets. However, the moment SlowMan stopped his attack, HighwayMan retaliated with his cannon and shotgun, catching the old navi off guard. The cannon was a miss when SlowMan instinctively dodged, but the shotgun was right on the money!

"Nooooooooootttttttt gooooooooooooooooooooddddddd..."

Realizing that he didn't have the advantage he had before, SlowMan prepared to go on the defensive. But HighwayMan continued his assault and launched a muddy shockwave towards SlowMan, ripping through the navi and sending him into a critical state!

"Myyyyyyyyyyyyy teeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiitttttttttttooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyy..."

Forced to Jack out, SlowMan disappeared along with the muddy floors and the bench he was sitting on, leaving behind a small data-crystal for HighwayMan's taking!

SlowMan.EXE: [cplor=red]1 HP / EJO[/color]

Terrain: 85% Normal, 15% Grass

HighwayMan.EXE: 65 HP

BATTLE WON!
650z + [SlowGauge] BattlechipSlowGauge
Effect: Slow
Accuracy: S
Description: Dodge rate down 10% for 3 turns for one enemy.
Duration: 3 turns
Element: Null
After eating machine gun shots and barely squeaking out a win, HighwayMan sighs and pulls his feet up from the mud with sucking noises. He grumbles and says "I freaking hate mud".

Reilyn notes how messed up her navi is and asks, with a hint of worry in her voice, "So, you goin' on or..?"

The navi sighs, dropping his weapons as they disolve into green flame. "Naw. That old bastard caught me hurt already and now I'm half-deleted". With a note of irritation in his voice he mumbles "Looks like he kept me out of his turf afterall". He grabs the data the navi dropped and transmits it back to his PET.

"Alright, coulda went better, coulda went worse. I'm outta here. Give the PET the jackout command, I don't feel like loosing half of what we got by bailing", the navi says.

Reilyn seems confused at the whole prospect but merely shrugs as she finally gets a blank chip into the PET and fumbles through it's menus for the command. Finally finding it, she sends the jack-out command and waits.

"Got it. HighwayMan.EXE, comin' in for a pit stop", the navi calls out as he vanishes in a blast of green flames.

(( Jacking Out! ))