ACDC Glitchfest

It struck Arch as distinctly odd that Hex would even be programmed with a unique jacking-in animation: a white teardrop of white matter fell from the sky of ACDC Net, splattering against the ground. Inexplicably, as black ones and zeroes blinked into existence within the protoplasm, a full-sized Navi body emerged from what should have been a shallow puddle. Hex's current form was as hodgepodge as ever, three mismatched arms on one side of his body while only a single, undulating tentacle protruded from the opposite shoulder, and two legs that should not have possibly been able to support the Navi's weight in their ruined state. A visored head looked around sightlessly, yet somehow took everything in. "Jack-in successful; commENCing search pattern," the Navi's voice program managed to cludge out independent of the head's frozen mouth. The Navi's legs began to move, the puddle from his initial jack-in somehow following his movements and remaining under his feet as he shambled along.

"What on earth have I gotten myself into?" Arch wondered aloud, watching his Navi's uncanny gait and hoping that puddle wouldn't be too harmful for the virtual environment.

<(Battle 1, READY)>
As the operator would see, the place was pretty linear, only a single wide road spread out before Hex. The arguably artistic-looking Navi swung itself around the peaceful ACDC network, looking for... something. Would that something be three Metools, approaching from the distance? Maybe so! Either way, some were coming, and they looked pretty stoked to find a target. As they approached, however, two of them recoiled backwards, finding Hex rather... disconcerting. One of them didn't really seem to give much thought to it, and flung a pickaxe towards the Navi!

-- Same Old, Same Old --
Metool A: 40 HP
Metool B: 40 HP
Metool C: 40 HP

Hexadecimal.EXE: 150 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

-- Battle 01, Ready? Start!! --
<(Note: Sage dun goofed and forgot that he picked up an HP+50 with his starter pack; also, name has been corrected to Hexadecimal. Sorry!)>

As the Metools recoiled away from his Navi, Arch couldn't help but snort in humour; honestly, he couldn't blame them, but that wasn't entirely relevant in that moment. "Hex, get outta there!" he barked, watching the Metool winding up for his pickaxe.

"Affirmative; commencing evasive action," Hex replied, before exploding into movement. Arch watched as the zombie-like shuffle from earlier seemed to meld into a combat stance not completely unlike those of the seasoned Netbattlers he saw on the news now and then. If one were willing to overlook Hex's left leg's knee-plate cracking as he bent, it almost looked kind of cool. Just as the pickaxe seemed to be getting a little too near for Arch's liking, Hex made his move, leaping to the side in an attempt to avoid the thrown projectile. The pool of protoplasm at his feet moved beneath him, tendrils snaking between it and the various holes in Hex's armor in what almost seemed like a reverse puppet show.

The leg that had previously lost its knee-plate, having just been the primary force behind the dodge, positively crumpled upon landing, leaving Hex with nothing but a long, thick tendril of protoplasm connecting him from mid-thigh to the ground. Arch sighed, and waited the few seconds it took for a new leg to rise out of the pool and integrate into Hex's body. What he wasn't expecting was for Hex to immediately begin moving again upon landing, this time with clear offensive intent. One arm, a fur-covered monstrosity that was once part of a beast-type Navi, disengaged from the shoulder, connected to the gestalt body only via a thin stand of white matter. Arch continued watching, interested, as the claw-tipped arm was coated thoroughly in Hex's own, glitchy body mass, whipped around a couple of times for momentum, then with a whip-crack motion, was positively shot towards the same Metool that had thrown the pickaxe in the first place, claws extended with deadly intent.

Just as Arch thought Hex was done, a stream of protoplasm shot out of the Navi's back, seemingly autonomous of his control. The snake of pure glitched code headed into the group of Metools, splashing into the ground and making the ground fritz a little bit with the sudden influx of bugged data.

"Further evasive action necessary. Calculating..." The ramshackle Navi continued on in his motions, either unaware of uncaring of his body's apparent autonomy. Hex's new leg proved much more up to the task of bending, looking much as he did the first time he'd dodged. He'd launched counter-offensive measures, and could only expect further retaliation. There were no shields of any kind available to him, and so the only measure he had against opposition was evasion.

Arch simply sat, took another pull of his joint, and watched the proceedings with equal parts interest, surprise, and sheer, utter confusion...for after all, where the hell had Hex ever gotten his hands on combat routines?

-Turn Summary-

*Passive: Hack to MetoolB (Glitch1)
1: Dodge thrown pickaxe
2: Infect to MetoolA (40 Null {A}, Glitch)
3. Wait for retaliatory strike(s), prepare Dodge
The thrown mattock was dodged successfully, and the Metool whom it belonged to received a whipping of corrupted data. It appeared to be stunned for a bit, but none the worse for wear, while Hex moved on to the next target. His amorphous body made a similar attack to another one of the Metools, but this time, as it was struck with the protoplasm, the Metool shrieked as it was reduced to disintegrating data.

Of course, by this time the third Metool was probably frightened out of its mind, and tried its best to send a shockwave with its pickaxe at Hex. However, the Navi was too nimble, with the squirming body able to unnaturally swerve out of the way. It seemed like there wouldn't be much fight left after that, though, as the attacking Metool dropped its pickaxe on the floor, wide-eyed.

"Met!"

Suddenly, the Metool that was attacked earlier hopped in front of its stunned comrade with a steadfast pose! A cape flapped from its helmet's back as it resolutely stared at Hex with its pickaxe out-- where did it get that cape?

-- Same Old, Same Old --
Metool A: Deleted
Metool B: 40 HP [Cape Upgrade! / Protecting MetoolC]
Metool C: 40 HP

Hexadecimal.EXE: 150 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal
"Unforeseen circumstances due to glitch data," Hex reported, perhaps a little unnecessarily as the be-caped Metool stared him down. The Navi's legs squealed a bit in protest as he rose to full height, unseen optical sensors scanning the situation. His combat routines whirred, and out of the blue, Hex called, "Battlechips requested: Shotgun, Cannon."

"Battlechips?" Arch's smoke-ridden brain struggled to slam enough synapses together to recall why on earth he would have any of those to begin with, finally switching on the proverbial lightbulb as he recalled the little 'starter pack' that had come with his PET. "Right, haven't needed those since I first found you," he muttered, reaching into a drawer and pulling out the little binder. Pulling out half of the available chips, he fumbled with the slot-in mechanism until finally the requested data was sent and ready to go. "Sorry for the wait, all yours."

While Arch had been trying to make the battlechips work, Hex had already begun to move, albeit unconsciously. A data stream, originally protruding lazily from an eye-socket in the Navi's dessicated helmet, began to stretch and move, propelled by the bug-ridden code that comprised nearly the entirety of Hex's systems. Breaking free of the helmet and leaving the remnants to drip and eventually get reabsorbed into the protoplasm that constituted his neck, Hex's free-floating tendril snaked towards the virus duo, headed straight for the giant cartoon eyes of the caped Metool.

As though planned, Arch watched through the PET's screen as, despite his tardiness in sending the chips, Hex brought an arm up even as the data was still transmitting from PET to Net. The outstretched hand had a firing port in its palm in the style some Operators preferred to busters, which was currently shining with the light that indicated a gun prepping to fire. Arch heard the characteristic whine...only to see the weaponized hand droop and begin to drop off Hex's arm. He winced, expecting a misfire (if, indeed, such things could happen with Battlechip-produced virtual weaponry) when a long tendril shot from the gap between armour pieces at Hex's waist. The appendage slid right into the hollow forearm as though slipping on a glove, aiming once more and firing the Shotgun at the would-be Metool hero, who had been so kind as to line itself up perfectly in front of the other virus.

A new weapon rose from out of the pool at Hex's feet, this one a clunkier cannon-type buster that Arch vaguely remembered designing years ago. As the freshly-amputated arm sent a tendril down to attach to the cannon and bring it up, the glowing barrel indicated that this one was already good to fire. Hex wasted no time lining up for the double-tap, sending the Cannon blast chasing his Shotgun, just in case one of the Metools had gotten wise. Out of ammo save for his own body, he immediately began evasive maneuvers once more, this time setting off at a strafing run around the territory he identified as containing the Metools. Arms (including, Arch noted with a gut feeling that was either humour or slight nausea, the one currently attached at his waist) swung in a motion slightly too fluid to look normal as the Navi ran, letting off a brief crack or squeal every other step but not stopping for an instant.

-Turn Summary-

*Passive: Hack to MetoolB (Glitch1)
1: Shotgun to MetoolB (50 Null {A}, Splash1)
2. Cannon to MetoolB (60 Null {A}, Knockback)
3. Dodge
As the data stream snaking out from Hex's eye socket headed for the Metool, it swung its pickaxe in an arc. Surprisingly, the pickaxe was able to deflect the attack, and send a wave of shock against Hex as well! (10) ... Unfortunately, its heroics were cut too short as the Hex raised his tendril-supported arm, and deleted both of them in a single shot. The cape billowed out as its wearer disappeared into pieces of data, the helmet it was attached to rolling on the ground.

-- Same Old, Same Old --
Metool A: Deleted
Metool B: Deleted
Metool C: Deleted

Hexadecimal.EXE: 140 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

-- Battle 01, Victory!! --
Rewards: [Guard1] Battlechip, 200z
"Viruses terminated. Processing...processing complete. Downloading: 200z, Guard1," Hex intoned, pool of protoplasm extending a tentacle to absorb the data; by some miracle of modern programming, the money and chip data weren't hopelessly corrupted upon contact, and instead were simply sent to Arch's PET.

Said operator cursed for a moment, flipping through the PET's never-before-opened operating manual to figure out how to transfer a Battlechip. He flipped through pages, puffing smoke as he muttered to himself, "How do they expect people to just know these things...oh, here we go, alright...blank chip, blank chip, where are you?" Attention span just a wee bit shot, he finally relocated his chip folder, and the ever-helpful collection of blank chips that came with it. "Swear to god, you think you're tech-savvy and then you discover some new shit...whatever. Carry on or something, follow yonder road onto more viruses," he waved, forgetting that he didn't have a video window open.

Hex nevertheless obeyed, resuming his shambling walk. He took stock of his current status: one minor injury from the Metool's final attack, otherwise unharmed, and thus continued down the same road he'd started on.

<(Hold for next battle; waiting for Phreeze.)>
The sound of dog paws filled the area, as Downpour made an entrance, just witnessing the last bit of deletion... He hurried on all fours, as usual, and skid to a stop near Hex, stopping right next to him, Downpour's tail wagging happily... "Hiya! I saw what you did there, good job buddy, but just to help defend you, I wanna hop in!" he said, almost giggling at the thought "My name's Downpour! I'm one of a kind, like you!" as he introduced himself, a screen appeared of Jackson, giving a discerning look "...My name's Jackson von Kreiger, son of Vyacheslav, a great Sharo cook, don't get stupid with my li-" "Relax, Jackie, he's good! I gotta feeling!" Downpour interjected, giving Jackson a big-eyed look... "Ah... Alright Downy, I'll keep my eyes peeled." he nodded before shutting the screen off, watching from the other side of his comp screen...

Downpour happily pranced about, oddly he did it with much finesse, despite his humanoid build... "I can't wait I can't wait! I wanna show you what I can do! I'm a tough guy, like you!" he smiled, his face-guard snapping shut "I think more are gonna come around! Ready to play?!"

<Co-op Battle ready>
Arch watched in silent horror as the canine newcomer pranced in from stage left, shattering the illusion of solitude with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. "I am not nearly stoned enough to deal with this right now," he groaned, stubbing out his roach and getting up in search of heavier firepower, calling into the PET, "Hex, just do whatever, use your own judgement here," as he rifled through drawers of endless miscellanea.

Hex was silent as he watched Downpour's antics. Something about the happy-go-lucky Aqua Navi sent long-since corrupted files pinging, their original purpose unidentifiable. After a brief attempt to access the files, the greeting registered in Hex's audio processors, and he replied in kind, "Personal identification: Hexadecimal.EXE; moniker: 'Hex'." A brief pause while he processed Downpour's words, then, "Request accepted, commencing cooperative virus-busting routines."

Outwardly, the crumbling Navi's body refreshed itself, parts rearranging into a new configuration, a second pair of legs shunting the first to the side and commencing motion in an ungainly four-legged spider-crawl. Unseen on the rotted face he currently wore, in the depths of Hex's nigh-endless protoplasmic body, whatever could be passed as a consciousness wondered why and how Downpour seemed so familiar to him.

<(Co-op Battle 1, ready)>
It was just then that a swarm of viruses came into view. A pair of bouncing note-shaped viruses were singing along as they hopped down the road towards the Navis. Following behind were a trio of cute bunny rabbits... made of circuit boards and wire ears that passed sparks of electricity between them like a Jacob's Ladder. And behind them were some Metools. Yellow helmets gleaming and pickaxes clanging together in tune to the beat.

-Viruses-
MelodyA: 80HP
MelodyB: 80HP
BunnyA: 50HP
BunnyB: 50HP
BunnyC: 50HP
MetoolA: 40HP
MetoolB: 40HP

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Allies-
Downpour: 150HP
Hexadecimal: 140HP

~Battle 1: Start!!~
Hex was snapped out of his contemplation as he felt his combat routines automatically boot, tentacles swaying like snakes tasting the air as his sensory arrays unfolded. By the time he'd fully perceived the sounds of the virus-song, his optics had finished scanning the group. "Identifying...identification complete. Melody-type: 2; Bunny-type: 3; Metool-type: 2. Operator, requesting assistance," his voice blared as he raised his mismatched arms, protoplasmic goo beginning to churn in preparation.

Arch stumbled back to his laptop, where he had a view into the Net-turned-battleground. Shoving his pipe in his mouth, he grunted as he perused the readout Hex's systems had calculated. "Well, uhh...I'd say go for the Melodies, since they're the strongest and all that. Your combat...things giving any input?" Arch scratched his head, emitting a smoky sigh; he didn't know the first thing about Navi combat, and however scrambled his Navi's code was, he had to know that...so why the hell was Hex asking assistance from him?

"Processing...confirmed. Primary targets: Bunny-types. Due to-" Hex's voice program immediately cut off as his head was forcefully pushed to the side, a long tendril bursting forth from the base of his neck. Wrapping around the corpse-like face once as it rose into the air, the tentacle broke off from the main body and flew forth, swimming lazily but surprisingly fast as it shot towards one of the flanking Bunnies. Continuing as though the whole thing had never happened, Hex resumed, "Due to Aqua element, allied NetNavi Downpour.EXE faces tactical disadvantage. RequESTing Battlechips: Shotgun, Guard1,"

Arch scratched his chin, thinking for a moment before deciding he couldn't be bothered to keep up with his Navi's logic. "Alright, if you say so." He managed to slot the chips in with a minimum of fumbling this time, and sat back as he took the opportunity to draw a long toke off his pipe. And thus, the newbie Operator watched his broken, fledgling Navi move into action, and wonder for the umpteenth time just what, exactly, he'd gotten himself into.

As said Navi started to move, he addressed his cohort; the decayed corpse-face currently being used for a head, still at a bit of an odd angle, righted itself and turned towards Downpour, even though there weren't actually any optics or programs of note stored inside it. "Downpour.EXE, request: concentrate combat on either Melody or Metool-type targets. Currently attempting to gain attention from Bunny-types; reason: Elec-type indicates elemental vulnerability," Hex called; truly, he didn't have any control over which viruses the other Navi targeted, but his combat routines, wherever they'd emerged from, pointed to this as the most efficient solution. With that, Hex's systems spun up as he prepared for action. "Running combat routines...eXECUTing."

Hex exploded into motion, very deliberately spreading his arms out and manipulating the many tendrils sprouting from his back to fan out. The motion served a dual purpose; the first made itself known as Hex used his new dual-set of legs to strafe to the side, momentum carrying him in a flanking motion around the virus group, seeking an ideal angle. Roughened code kludging one out for him, the Navi dropped his legs and went into a controlled fall, multiple arms bracing to catch him. One arm splintered and sent several shards of armour falling into the ever-present pool of protoplasm, but otherwise Hex remained stable as his four legs came up, around, and slammed to a stop in a wide stance, effectively halting his momentum. In the same motion, an arm was brought up, supported by two others holding it in place as a long, archaic-looking gun took aim. The Shotgun was leveled at the Bunny group in such a way that Hex's sights were trained on one standing right before the other. A trigger near his elbow clicked seemingly of its own accord, and the shot fired true, carving a straight arrow towards the viruses.

Thus came the second purpose to the spread arms, which Hex was now aiming to reap the benefits thereof. Provided Downpour didn't get up on his hind legs, Hex presented a larger, more obvious target, especially given the rickety appearance and obvious showing of his attempt to flank. As a large, blocky shield, rusted in places, emerged from the pool at his feet, he bent down into a kneel and braced behind his shield. It would only reflect a single shot, he knew, but as the inventory of his potential arsenal pointed out, he had options of recovery if more viruses turned their focus to him, letting Downpour potentially get into melee range. It would all depend on the other Navi's actions.

-Turn Summary-

Passive: Hack to BunnyC (Glitch)
1.Movement (Flank virus group, line up BunnyA & BunnyB)
2.Shotgun to BunnyA (50 Null {A}, Spread1 [aimed at BunnyB])
3.Guard1 (1 Hit Shield) + (Reflect (up to 60 + Piercing + Line Attack): On Hit)
"YESYESYESYESYESYES! PLAYTIME!" Downpour said cheerfully, before seeing the electricity "NO NO NO! SHOCKY THINGS! BUDDY, LET'S SOAK 'EM!" he giggled, before Jackson cut in... "Loading chips now! Lock 'n' drop, Downy!" "Gotcha, let's roll!" Downpour suddenly became a bit more... Mature now... He began subconsciously growling, not even knowing it... As he loaded in chips, he didn't have much of an option, so he went with the classic... Cannon, Shotgun, and Aqua Needle! He began strafing to the left, opposite of his friend "Right, pal! Taking down the Chewy ones! You take those shocky things!"

... Even though he was more focused, he still spoke like a dog...

As he neared his foes, he let loose a cannon shot towards the Metool A, running at both Metool A and B after firing and dragging his DrenchClaws across the ground, ready to make a slice 'n' dice out of these poor things...

Actions


Mobility: Strafe left of Viruses, and approach Metools in the back at full speed
Attack 1: Fire Cannon (60 + Knockback) at Metool 1
Attack 2: Attack with DrenchClaws (40 Aqua Damage + Impact + 2TCD) towards nearest Metool

Hex shot off a tentacle that swam through the air like some sort of slithering serpent. It wrapped around and burrowed into a Bunny virus in a very disgusting way. However, the effect was immediate and strange. The virus' musculature inflated all over until the ordinary Bunny was a BunnyAdonis. It stood twice as tall as its ordinary brethren and flexed its new-found muscles in a display of awesome power. This result was probably not what Hexadecimal wanted. But Glitches were a random and chaotic element to the NET. Sometimes they laid programs low; other times they empowered them to new heights.

As the other viruses looked on in awe at the newly-gifted, super-body of their comrade, the two Navis exploded outward to flank the virus group. Downpour let go with a mighty Cannon shot while Hexadecimal used a Shotgun blast. The two Metools acted quickly to meet them shockwave for shot. Hexadecimal was hit by the shockwave targeting him, taking a little damage, while Downpour was barely missed. On the other side of the exchange, the Metool that targeted Downpour was shot down, while the two ordinary bunnies were cut down by a swarm of energy pellets.

As Downpour rushed around to get to the last Metool, Hexadecimal raised a rusty shield. The two Melody viruses bounced over to Hexadecimal while the BunnyAdonis charged its enhanced electric powers. Downpour dragged his DrenchClaws through the soft tissue of the Metool, shredding the virus into a pulp. The two Melody viruses dropped down upon Hex one at a time, the first overshot and landed nearby. The second dropped upon the shield, breaking it. The shards stuck in its body and it whimpered and scooted away, wounded.

Meanwhile, sparks began shooting out around the halo of energy that had been gathered by the super buff and muscular BunnyAdonis. The Adonis took hold of the ring of lightning and hurled it at Downpour. Downpour was struck soundly by the supercharged electricity, burning through his aquatic body with pain that he had never experienced before. Smoke came from him as his processors seized up temporarily.

-Viruses-
MelodyA: 80HP
MelodyB: 60HP
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyAdonisC: 50HP [Super Buff And Muscular! (+5 Damage)]
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Allies-
Downpour: 120HP [Stun!]
Hexadecimal: 130HP

[Note: A stunned Navi loses an action the turn after they are stunned, equal to the amount of times they are stunned. If stunned more than once, or for a greater duration than a single turn, good RP can attempt to break it. During those times, you can use actions that are locked by stuns to help break the stunlock.]
"Aaaaaauuuhhheeehehhh!" Downpour screeched in pain as he was shocked violently... Collapsing, he began to whimper "B-Buddy...! H-Help..." he began to grow a bit weak, but his instincts were telling him otherwise, all he could think about was the single word...

Kill...

The words echoed in his head, until he began to whisper them, struggling to get up, he began to mutter them "Kill kill... kill..." He began to say them... "Kill kill kill kill..." and then he began to yell them... "DIE DIE DIE! KILL KILL KILL!" he yelled angrily "Jackson! Get me another killstick!" "Gotcha, slotting in Shotgun now! Forget what we have lined up! Pulverize them!" Just then, Downpour's Right DrenchClaw was replaced with a double-barrel shotgun... "TIME FOR SOME PAIN! YOU DUMP IT, YOU DRINK IT!" he charged, rushing at full force, he pulled the shotgun up, only to get into Close-range and fire a blast at the BunnyAdonis...

[center]Actions!
~!Stunned!~
Rush BunnyAdonis
Blast BunnyAdonis into shreds with Shotgun (50 + Spread 1)
Though Hex's dead eyes contained no optic sensors, a log was drawn for every action registered within the last few chaotic seconds of the battleground: the Bunny's reaction to his glitched code, the Metool's counterattack and subsequent deletion under Downpour's assault, the allied Navi's first wound of the battle. As the impact of the Melody against his shield reverberated down his limbs and into his amorphous body, Hex's thought processes, in some parallel to Downpour's feral transformation, boiled down to the barest essential of thought:

[Continue? Y/N]

[Y]

With a dull grinding of armoured joints, Hex rose back up to full height, quad-legs stamping the ground one at a time. Once more, he called to Arch, "Requesting BATTlechips: Cannon, Rageclaw1." Thankfully, his Operator was ready this time, and got the chip data loaded and ready for Hex without a word. "ReSUMING combat routines...executing," the Navi announced to the world at large, beginning his move.

Four legs began to move in a clunky, methodical gait that nonetheless propelled Hex forward towards the bouncing Melodies. It was only as he raised a buster-tipped arm that Arch interrupted, "Hex...do you need this Recov chip we've got? You've taken a few hits so far." If Hex had the capabilities to process it, he might have taken his Operator's tone for concern, but both of them knew full-well that their relationship was not built on emotion, nor was it likely to become such.

"Unnecessary; current integrity reading indicates sufficient HP readings," Hex replied, logical as ever, still taking step after step towards the Melody viruses. His arm was just preparing to fire when, once more, his body gained a life of its own. Again, a tendril of his bug-ridden protoplasm erupted, this time blowing a hole clean through his elbow joint as it arced up, around, and subsequently burrowed into the Cannon. The tendril reached the innards where the chip-data was loaded and prepped to fire...and changed it.

Hex's entire arm spasmed as his gun arm glitched into a hopelessly corrupted mass of data, graphics bugging beyond repair as the arm seized. Watching his firing solution go completely haywire, Hex could only do his best to line up the shot with the first thing he could and hope it still fired straight. By some miracle, the shot still kept its trajectory, though wound up heading for the unharmed Melody; hitting the damaged one would have caused sufficient damage for deletion...there was nothing else for it, as Hex recycled his arm and let it sink down into the opaque pool at his feet, but to report, perhaps unnecessarily, "Unforeseen CIRCumstances."

Regardless of the details, Hex understood that the situation could be salvaged, provided the glitched Cannon shot still connected. An arm within the mismatched cluster of limbs on his left side loaded the Rageclaw chip; the ordinary-looking hand furred over and gained a vicious-looking set of claws, thankfully without any at-odds effects. "Current Battlechip requires melee range for maximum effectiveness. Distance: decreasing..." Hex noted, as his walk gradually turned into a gallop. Servos in the mechanical-looking legs whined in protest as the shuffling gait was transformed into as quick of a run as Hex thought his legs could handle. His target was easily identifiable: optic sensors easily registered the shards from his shield still stuck into the front of the closest Melody virus.

Hex's arm came up as he leaped the remaining distance to the Melody, carried by the tendrils connecting him to his pool of protoplasm as it slithered along the ground. Disengaging at the shoulder, the Rageclaw-equipped limb became akin to a flail, spinning for the added momentum as Hex landed and swung down in the same motion. When the majority of his legs gave way and began immediate re-absorption, Hex ignored the jarring of his sensory network and recycled the whole lot, becoming little more than a hovering torso as his clawed hand tightened into a clenched fist. Whipping around, Hex flung the Rageclaw, and whatever he'd caught in its grip, towards the other Melody; if all had gone according to his altered plan, a simultaneous deletion would be a plausible result. Between his targets and the altered Bunny virus Downpour had claimed as his own, Hex would have to wait and see what remained after this battle.

-Turn Summary-

Passive: Hack [Add Glitch to Cannon]
1.Cannon - MelodyA (60 Null {A}, Knockback, Glitch)
2.Rageclaw1 - MelodyB (40 Null {B}, Slashing)
3.Rageclaw1 - MelodyB (20 Null {B}, Impact [thrown at MelodyA])
While Downpour 'enjoyed' not being able to move, Hex utilized the dangerous forbidden technique of weakening a virus, and blasted it up with a Cannon to get that HP down into more manageable numbers. In addition, it introduced a bug into the music note's systems...though all it did was make the heads of its mallets about as twice as big as usual. You know what they say about a Melody with a big mallet head? Good, keep it that way. Either way, it literally jumped at the opportunity to hit a defenseless Navi, but since it forgot to account for the weight of its accessories, it landed just a bit short. That had to be quite a blow to its bouncing pride.

With that, the dog Navi snapped out of his inability to do anything, and rushed the Bunny to shoot it at POINT (censored due to the mod having a small remaining shred of shame) range. While he didn't announce this to the world with undue certainty, he could have, as the 'roided up Bunny just couldn't get out of the way in time, and got turned into some 0s and 1s.

Meanwhile, the mashup of Navi bits apparently didn't have a single Sword subtype Navi in there, as his attempts to claw up the Melody failed spectacularly. Not even a scratch to show for it. He did, however, get a nice bruise atop his head where his intended victim hopped on it (20). Embarrassing stuff.

-Viruses-
MelodyA: 20 HP (Extra large mallet heads; no extra effect)
MelodyB: 60 HP
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyAdonisC: DELETED
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Allies-
Downpour: 120 HP
Hexadecimal: 110 HP
Arch's cranium ached with sympathy pains as he watched the Melody effectively headbutt Hex. His Navi made for a more-than-somewhat gruesome sight as the crushed pieces of graphic crumbled inward, a large crater forming straight between the eyes. His quiet winces turned into outright vocal protests as the remnants of Hex's head continued to fall apart, tearing apart along invisible seams like an orange peel until what was once a head and neck closer resembled a rotting flower, triangular flaps of face plastered to his chest while a pulsing bud of protoplasm sprouted from the gaping hole.

For a moment, it looked as though Hex was going to fall backward as the Melody rebounded away. Then, the long, knotted series of strands that were taking the place of legs grew several more supporting branches, rooting to the ground and absorbing the armoured torso's weight. Hex returned to full height, if missing both legs and head. Invisible optics contained within the amorphous body sized up the two remaining viruses, and the utterly purposeless effects his most recent glitch amounted to; Hex was about to continue his assault regardless, regarding the relative stability of the Rageclaw thus far, when he felt new chip data flood his systems. "Recov30 loaded," he announced automatically; it was only thanks to Arch's time spent with his Navi that the Operator heard the question.

"You're beaten up enough that you should get healed back up. Patch yourself up, and then you can keep scrapping," Arch told him, and Hex's thought processors absorbed and accepted the logic. Activating the Recov30, the somewhat-reluctant Operator watched as time seemed to rewrite itself around his Navi. Body audibly humming as rejuvenating energy flooded his system, new pieces were instantly patched and sent back up to cover his body. The grotesque factor didn't, however, seem to reduce all that much, as Arch watched what looked like double-jointed legs attached to the armoured torso, while a cracked helmet that looked remarkably like a Metool's sprouted a tentacle through a hole as it was bonded to the new head.

"Recovery complete; resuming assault," Finishing the instant recovery with a full-body shudder as a glitch distorted his features for a split second, Hex raised his array of arms, Rageclaw gleaming in the not-light of the Net while the tendrils threading through the opposite arms whipped into a frenzy. His left shoulder guard inexplicably tore open, a long tendril seeping forth and looping in a sunset arc into his other shoulder, forming a twisted facsimile of a halo. The furred right arm began to bulge, writhing as though filled with snakes; Hex twitched as he commenced moving back into melee range, pulling his glitched gauntlet back. Claws angled inward like a horizontal crane game and Hex planted his feet in front of the Melody, arm still stretched far behind him as though the glitch had rubberized his bones. Like a coiled spring, the claw lashed out, carrying all the momentum Hex's short sprint had earned him and channeling it into a palm strike meant to lift and push back, where the previously-mutated Melody remained.

Just as his arm retracted back into place, glitch fading from the elasticated limb, Hex immediately rolled with the momentum of the palm strike, allowing his right side to fall back as he raised his left arms in turn. The three limbs, previously twitching randomly as the tendrils seeping from his various wounds and faults intertwined, now resembled a long whip spiked with repositioned digits and gnarled fingers. Thin, spike-tipped arms of protoplasm undulated in a serpentine rhythm as the limb was raised, and shot forward along the same arc as the earlier palm strike; by virtue of the longer limb, the arm snaked through the air like a pistol shot, headed straight for the Melody he'd just attacked. Any further support from Downpour would simply be more pressure laid on these last two viruses...but it most certainly wouldn't hurt to make it more of a sure thing.

-Turn Summary-

Passive: Hack [Add Glitch to Rageclaw1]
1. Recov30 to self [30 Healing {S}]
2. Rageclaw1 (Throw) to MelodyB [20 Null {B}, Impact, Glitch [thrown at MelodyA] (3/6 swings)
3. Infect to MelodyB [40 Null {A}, Glitch]
Downpour gasped in shock as the Melody had bonked Hex on the head, and revealing his own claws, he charged head-long at the perpetrators of the assault, his anger in it's peak...

"GET OFF MY FRIEND, BOUNCY VIRUSES!"

As he said this, his claws raked the ground, as Downpour steadily rose on his hind legs, towering over anything else on the field, and he swept the ground in a fantastic flourish, attempting to slice the Melody into next week...

Of course, being on his hind legs also braced himself for an attack...

[center]ACTIONS!
Rush MelodyA/B (Whichever is standing after Hex attacks)
Swing at the leftover virus
Brace for a dodge
Hex's glitching system leaked into the RageClaw1 and caused its sharp claws to turn to tendrils of smoke. Calculating that into his plans, Hex took the time to heal himself. Then he rushed forward and grabbed up the mostly unwounded Melody and tossed it at the heavily wounded, mallet-headed Melody. The two Melody collided and the mallet-headed one was squashed into junk data by the impact. The remaining Melody was blind from the smoke in its eyes.

The Melody bounced ineffectually against the two Navis as both Navis rushed forward to finish it off. It swelled like a balloon as it was struck by both Navis and another glitch took its systems, exploding moments later.

-Viruses-
MelodyA: DELETED
MelodyB: DELETED
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Allies-
Downpour: 120HP
Hexadecimal: 140HP [RageClaw1: 3/6]

~Battle 1: Victory!!~
Rewards
Downpour: 240z + 2 FXP
Hexadecimal: 270z + 2 FXP
"Battle routine complete. Result: sucCESSFul," Hex reported, relaxing from his combat stance as protocols sent a long, spade-tipped arm reaching from the pool at his feet, absorbing a portion of the virus remains and processing it into useable data. Sending the resulting zenny (and wasn't that an economical mystery) to Arch, the Navi turned towards Downpour. "Downpour.EXE, continue tandem busting operations Y/N?" The Navi's monotone synthesized voice made the archaic, DOS-esque speech patterns sound completely natural; he stood frozen in place, awaiting his partner's reply.

Arch simply sat, downloaded the token sum of zenny, and looked hard through the feed on his laptop at the other Navi, Downpour. Simply sat, and watched the well-coded, personable creature that could probably have passed for human in the era of before super-Turing AI; a machine that literally became a different assortment of codes and data clusters with every passing moment, every instant of tactile input that he generated himself. Arch sat, and looked from that little blue miracle of computer science to his own Navi, which was more akin to an accidental bit of sentience, borne of some unholy marriage of glitched data. And as he sat and tried to wrap his finite, organic brain around those conflicting ideas, he could have sworn that he'd just had a crazed modern equivalent to the ancient Buddhist concept of enlightenment. As it stood, he was not the new Buddha...simply a misanthrope sitting in a dark apartment, watching his Navi and his new friend throw itself at sentient, personified computer viruses in some strange throwback to gladiatorial combat.