Press your luck

Baccarat warped to the start of ACDCnet and started roaming around.
"Weird, normally there's more people around here. This section's a little quiet."

Blaise looked at his PET and studied the landscape

"Just keep looking, viruses should pop up eventually. We got pretty lucky to be beamed in a location that isn't occupied by other Navis."

Baccarat nodded, and explored the open area, and suddenly head small pitter patter behind them. He slowly craned his head around to look with his staff tightly clutched and ready for a potential counter-attack.
"I found something." Baccarat chuckled to himself and whispered to Blaise. "The little buggers are trying to sneak up on me.... you ready?"

Blaise readied his chips and focused on the screen, the viruses in this area are normally weaker than the rest of the net, but that didn't mean the two could slack off.

"Ready if you are."

Baccarat turned around with his staff pointed as if he was holding a poolstick.

((Ready for battle 1))

<(Just a note, Austin, could you edit your signature to include your NaviCust? Just makes things easier on the mod when everything's there, thanks!)>

Baccarat whipped about, coattails flaring...and lo and behold, he found himself three Metools. The little hardhat-viruses each held a tiny wooden tube in their mouths, capped off with a curled-up roll of what might have been paper; what could the strange tools be?

<(BLEEEE-ERRRRRP)>

All three Metools blew their party horns simultaneously, raising their mattocks skyward in preparation for a three-way ShockWave. It was a very literal welcoming party, and Baccarat was the surprise guest here!

=Welcoming Party=
MetoolA: 40HP
MetoolB: 40HP
MetoolC: 40HP

=Terrain=
Normal: 100%

=Newcomer=
Baccarat: 100HP

=THE TIME-HONOURED TRADITION=
=BATTLE #1: BEGIN!!=

Baccarat was caught off guard by all three of the metools and tried to figure out a strategy. It would be hard to dodge all three of them and be unscathed.
His thoughts were cut off by a familiar voice.
"Alright, I'm sending over some chips."

The operator sent over Cannon and Shotgun to his Navi.

"Good one ya'll, but its going to take more than a suprise to put me out of commission."

Baccarat pulled a quirky smile and cracked his neck. The faster these ugly lumps were dead, the faster he and Blaise could progress.

"..Go get'em, champ." Blaise whispered to himself.

Baccarat moved up and the cherry at the tip of his cane morphed into a standard red cannon, aimed at Metool (A). Upon hitting a small button on the grip of his staff, a large roulette ball fired at the metool. The kick from the blast knocked Baccarat's arm up over his head, he even almost lost his balance.

"Man, I've lost some of my strength," Baccarat thought "Have I really been that lazy?"

Blaise took note of the kick as well, and seemed a bit concerned for his Navi, but he didn't say anything, as he thought it would ruin Baccarat's mojo, but he wondered how Baccarat could dodge all of the shockwaves coming at him at once.

" I should have gotten more support chips before I jacked him in... oh well, he can handle it." Blaise pondered.

Regardless, the Navi still tried his best to focus on how to carefully weave around the attacks.
__


1. Tried: Cannon (60 + Knockback); (Metool A)

If the recoil from his first cannon shot in a while was a surprise to Baccarat, it was almost certainly more surprising to the Metool he was aiming at. The weaponised roulette ball socked the virus clean in the face, punching it back and away even as it began to disintegrate. Comically, its party horn was left spinning in the air for a moment, before clattering to the ground.

The central metool blew its party whistle again and swung its pickaxe in Baccarat's general direction, but unfortunately for the virus, it seemed as though multi-tasking wasn't its forte. The shock-wave veered off to the right, missing its target by a substantial distance. The third was too busy looking over at the gap in their ranks, where its fellow had been only moments before, and hadn't pulled itself together enough to act yet, but after a moment, it seemed to shake the daze off and look back towards Baccarat.

=Welcoming Party=
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: 40HP
MetoolC: 40HP

=Terrain=
Normal: 100%

=Newcomer=
Baccarat: 100HP

-Two Actions Remaining

Baccarat laughed at the demise of the poor, hard-hatted virus.
Baccarat shook his head. "It never even had a chance..." The Navi thought to himself.
"Careful Bach, we aren't out of the woods quite yet."
Baccarat raised his eyebrows at his operator.
"Oh yeah, because I should feel the numerous skills and tactics of such a formidable virus. I'm especially terrified, of their... of the-"

Both Baccarat's and Blaise's eyes followed the Metool (B)'s "outstanding" strike.
"Of that!"

Baccarat burst into laughter , no longer able to hold in his chortles. After a few seconds, he calmed down and wiped his eyes.
"Alright, now that that happened, time to put the next one out of misery."

Baccarat aimed at the Metool who "struck fear" into Baccarat's heart with such a skillful attack, firing what looked like a bright red and white poker chip. Baccarat was more prepared for the kick though, and kept his hand steady. His hand didn't even fly up into the hair when he shot the artillery.

-
1. Tried Shotgun
(50 + Spread 1);(Metool B )

While Baccarat took a moment to get his own mirth under control, the third Metool gave its party blower another go, then discarded it with a shake of the head. This navi was playing hardball; it was time to get tough. They'd teach him a lesson, they'd show him, wouldn't they? It glanced over at the middle metool, just in time to see Baccarat's oversized poker-chip shot tear through its second comrade with brutal ease. The last little metool let out a short 'Meep!' of surprise and rushed to make an attack before anything else could go wrong.

Rather than striking the ground, it simply hurled the pick wholesale at the navi across from it. Perhaps its flustered instincts were better than its normal attempts at aiming, but the small weapon spun through the air with unusual accuracy, to clock Baccarat square in the forehead (-10). The metool seemed surprised at first, but then hopped up and down for a moment, bouncing with glee at the fact that it had managed to connect.

=Welcoming Party=
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED
MetoolC: 40HP

=Terrain=
Normal: 100%

=Newcomer=
Baccarat: 90HP

-One Actions Remaining

Baccarat was conked by the virus' mattock and his head was knocked back as if it were a pez dispenser. He groaned at first, but shook off the pain and regained a fighting stance.

"Oh, you think you're cute, huh? I bet that felt really good."
a rather twisted grin overcame Baccarat's face.
" I may have used all my chips on your buddy, but now your weapon,not to mention, all of your friends are gone."
the tip of his cane reverted back to his original form, now aimed at the final metool. Meanwhile, Blaise was keeping up with inner dialogue as Baccarat spewed his rant.
"Hmm, he's been on edge ever since this battle started. It's not like him to lose his patience over a bunch of little metools.. Maybe he's just anxious, excited to virus-bust again"

Blaise held the button on the tip of his cane, and fired a small, yellow laser at the final beast.
" I bet I won't even need to use a chip to stop you."

___
1. Tried normal buster shot.

Its brief victory celebration over, the little metool... tilted slightly, making something that might have been a reaching gesture. Given the virus' complete lack of hands, this in itself was a somewhat impressive action, but when a fresh pickaxe materialised a moment later the gesture made a little more sense.

Unimpressed, Baccarat retaliated with a quick shot from his cane, nailing the little virus right between the eyes in turn. The metool reeled backwards then regained its balance, and for the second time in quick succession, it looked unexpectedly surprised. Its eyes darted left and right, then back to Baccarat, uncomprehending. The truth was, it was the sad lot of most normal metools that they were rarely hit with an attack that didn't simply destroy them outright; taking damage, and yet still being around afterwards, seemed to have quite confused this one.

=Welcoming Party=
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED
MetoolC: 30HP

=Terrain=
Normal: 100%

=Newcomer=
Baccarat: 90HP

Blaise, watching the entire scene, scratched his head as the laser turned into a golden coin, bouncing off the metool's head, rattling to the ground, and fading away.
"It... Lived?"
"Yeah, this guy's a lucky little bugger. He gets the privilege of dying last."
While Blaise is normally put off by all of his Navi's crass remarks, he decided to play along. He was getting about as sick of the metools as Baccarat was.
" Well, then you'd better finish him off before his luck kicks in again. For all we know, that thing could shank you and kill you or something."
"Hey! these things have already taunted me enough, I don't need any lip from you." Baccarat said facetiously.
Blaise just rolled his eyes and laughed to himself, sending his navi "Rageclaw1". Baccarat's cane materialized for a second, and his fingers morphed into five sharp, red sevens, drawing near and slashing at the virus.

__
Tried Rageclaw1
(40 + Slashing (Attack); Accuracy: B

Still vaguely confused, The metool retrieves its party whistle and blows it again hopefully while Baccarat has a brief sassing contest with his operator. The moment doesn't last long though, and the navi turns on it with a distinctly deadly set of lucky sevens. The metool squeaks and tries to duck under its helmet, but Baccarat is faster and the claws rake through the little virus and reduce it to scrap data.

=Welcoming Party=
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED
MetoolC: DELETED

=Terrain=
Normal: 100%

=Newcomer=
Baccarat: 90HP

=Battle 1 Victory!=

Spoils: 270z

Baccarat flicked his wrist and the red claws faded away, his staff reappearing in his hand.
"Good job, I'm sorry for not doing this more often. Its just so busy having to work at a restaurant now."
"Its fine, both of us are pretty rusty. Its not your fault anyway."
While Baccarat didn't know everything sbout the outside world, he knew that his operator needed to uphold his responsibilities in order to keep both of their lives comfortable.
"You up for some more?"
Baccarat smiled. "Oh yeah, that group barely put a dent in me. I'm still game."
With that, the navi continued to explore ACDCNet, looking for more virtual punching bags to train on.

(Requesting Battle 2; Baccarat 90 HP)

With the 'Welcome 101' formalities firmly dealt with, Baccarat probes deeper into the net, seeking something more of a challenge. What he ultimately finds, however, is something just a little bit on the peculiar side. A little to the left of where he wanders, a lone Swordy appears to be trying to train, against some sot of weighted training dummy. It strikes it once, then as the counter arm swings back in riposte, the Swordy uses its AreaGrab to blink to the other side, out of the way, and strike again.

The problem with this scene, is a trio of bunnies darting about near the virus, attempting to interfere. They aren't so much attacking it in any way, as just being, well, infuriating. As Baccarat passes close, one of them goes so far as to hop up onto the Swordy's helm, distracting it long enough that the counterbalance swings about and clangs him solidly in the helmet. Given how much of the sword virus is in fact, helmet, this really couldn't be a pleasant sensation.

With an unintelligible sound of frustration, the Swordy turns away from its dummy... and sees Baccarat instead. After a startled moment it readies its sword, and surprisingly, the three bunnies perk up as well, hopping forward in a loose formation, ears bristling with static.

-=Viruses=-

Swordy-N: 60Hp [Directly in front of Training Dummy]
BunnyA: 50Hp [Directly in front of Swordy-N]
BunnyB: 50Hp [Left hand side]
BunnyC: 50Hp [Right hand side]

-=Allies=-

Baccarat.Exe: 90Hp

-=Terrain=-

Normal: 100%

-=Objects=-

Training Dummy: 60Hp

Notes: The Dummy will take any damage dealt to it as normal, but will, if it survives, attempt to counter with a wide attack capable of hitting up to three targets directly in front of it, for half of the damage dealt to it.

-=Battle 2, Start!=-