The Divine Quest

"These are some very angry bears!"

Xenneth stated the obvious while Megami brought up a barrier while moving about. She kept close observation trying to keep her reflexes in-tune and ready for any more of the following attacks from the viruses. However, she felt this was excessive. To be of no harm, but to be completely assaulted by a bunch of cuddly animals? Also, Xenneth seemed so determined to help them! She could not simply delete them, especially if they were just trying to protect themselves and their treats.

She had to find some reason!

"E-excuse me, bears!" Megami cried out loud, "We will not hurt you! We have only come to help!" she had cried out loud.

However, this was not the idea situation to simply be yelling out claims to want to bring the peace and love. The female NetNavi stayed well aware of her surroundings, stretching her legs apart, and ready to dodge and roll if need be. Even as she prepared to move her body in a quick reaction, she had rid herself of her sword, placed her hands before her and cried out with her hands together to amplify her voice.

"Could you please stop?" she exclaimed, "We have no reason to fight you. We have only come to get rid of those mean sword-things that attacked you!"

Whether it was a valiant plea for peace that was a success or simply a cry that would fall on deaf ears were on the viruses. However, with the look in Megami's eyes, she had a worrisome expression that was nothing short of pure dread at the thought of having to hurt them.

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Passive Signature: Burst Aura (Generate 20-HP Barrier) {Megami}
Action 1: Dodge [Dodge dem' Pic-a-nic baskets] {B} {Megami}
Action 2: Reason [Call for a Bear-Truce!] {B} {Megami}
Action 1: Dodge [Avoid delicious food] {B} {Megami}
Action 4: Talk [Offer to overthrow Swordy Tyranny] {B} {Megami}

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OOC Notes:
Now Listening To: "Emergency" by the Artist Paramore (Battle Theme)
Current Attire: Default GMO
Chatty Ditz: -----

Having successfully suplexed one armoured foe into the other, the grizzled king of the hill rolled over and came up slashing fiercely at the more hale of the two, growling and roaring in an incoherent rage as it further mauled the advanced swordy. The ignored one, still shaking itself off from being slammed, made a wide sweep at the bear that failed to do more than ruffle his fur, but came a hair's breadth from also slicing Warrior as well, as he teleported into close range.

The momentary distortion of him phasing in saved the swordsman from the blow, and before anyone else could react, he plunged his knives with swift efficiency into both of the sword viruses, depleting the remainder of their HP and causing them both to begin crumbling into junk data. Then, in an action that left the elder teddy more than a little confused and disoriented, quickly vacated the basket pile without another word.

While Megami refreshed her defences and sued for peace, Warrior's decoy, though he had been mocking and taunting the remaining swordies, had nevertheless drawn the attention of several of the other bears, three of whom hurled picnic baskets at the loud and noisy disturbance. Two missed, but the third connected, exploding in an unpleasant mess of goey potato salad, that thoroughly covered the poor decoy, before the illusion was dispersed from the net.

The other two bears around the base of the pile had been turning to assist their boss with his rivals, but now seemed equally uncertain in the face of their sudden dispatching, especially since the assailant didn't stick around. They looked to their leader for guidance in this confusing matter, and the scarred bear turned about on the pile, looking first at Warrior as he returned to the base of the pile, the towards Megami, calling out from the side-lines. He growled warily, then after determining that neither of them seemed to actually be making a move on the hoard, let out a more or less neutral sounding huff and dropped down to sit more comfortably on the pile of baskets, beginning to poke his nose into the nearest one to see what it contained.

The other bears followed suit, with most of them giving Megami and Warrior wary glances as they relaxed. They weren't exactly friendly, by any stretch of the imagination, but at the very least they didn't seem to be feeling directly hostile towards the pair any more. A slightly uncomfortable truce reigned, for now.


-=Foes=-

Swordy-N EXA: DELETED
Swordy-N EXB: DELETED
Swordy-NA: DELETED
Swordy-NB: DELETED
Swordy-NC: DELETED
Swordy-ND: DELETED

Teddy Ex: 105Hp [On top of the Pile][Non-Hostile]
TeddyA: 100Hp [Non-Hostile]
TeddyB: 100Hp [Non-Hostile]
TeddyC: 100Hp [Non-Hostile]
TeddyD: 90Hp [Non-Hostile]
TeddyE: 100Hp [Non-Hostile]

Teddies form a ring around the pile of baskets. The Ex Teddy is king of the hill.

-=Allies=-

Megami: 90HP [20hp Barrier][Standing back a short way]
Warrior: 120HP [Topaz Cross: Heal(15) once per turn][Near base of pile]

-=Terrain=-

All Normal

-=Objects=-

Big Pile O' Picnic Baskets: At ground level, small baskets are 10Hp each, and can be grabbed out of the pile with ease. Towards to top of the pile, larger baskets are 20Hp each, and can only be grabbed by someone actually on the pile. The pile of baskets will not exhaust, unless everyone gets excessively basket-happy.


-=Battle 8 ... Concluded=-

Rewards:
Warrior: 450z, Sword, 2Fxp
Megami: 450z, Sword, 2Fxp

Quote (Sword)

Damage: 80 + Slashing
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a sword made of solidified energy, with a very short blade. Hits one target per slash
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 6 swings.
Element: Null

((Payout is light on, sorry, because I can only realistically give you rewards for the Swordies, in this particular case.))

"Thank you for participating in our Holiday Chip Event!"

That's what the e-mail said the moment Megami had picked up the data and got a good distance away from the bears. Her right hand reached out as she accessed the screen hearing the electronic voice. Xenneth, lifting a brow, had taken in a breath realizing just what this message was actually.

"I remember this!" Xenneth exclaimed, "I think we did this event last time! We get to trade a chip I believe!"

Megami beamed a smile hearing Xenneth excited. It was rare.

The violet haired boy had went through his library of chips in his satchel. There was one in particular that he was not exactly fond of. Maybe because it was rarely used since Megami had a wonderful healing ability? Taking the Recover30 Chip, Xenneth had slotted it into the P.E.T. loading it into the E-Mail's chip-trader slot and e-mailed it. The reply was so quick that he wondered if the guy who was running this was even human.

If he wasn't, it wouldn't be a surprise.

"Hmm? This chip is new! Wave Arm level one?" he asked, "I guess I will have to thank Shur..."

He paused.

"Shuryi?"

That didn't sound right...

"Sherbert?"

He totally forgot the name of the show owner. It was humiliating considering he was holding the P.E.T. with the e-mail.

"Uh...n-nevermind...h-hey! Are you okay, Jake-san? Sorry if me and Megami couldn't do much! You guys...really handled those sword viruses...but I guess that's no surprise." Xenneth, a bit ashamed that he did not have the synchronicity of Jake and his NetNavi Warrior, had lowered his head with his tone to follow. Megami, oblivious to his feelings at that moment, still had a smile as she was impressed with her and Xenneth's achievements so far if anything.

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OOC Notes:
Now Listening To: "Emergency" by the Artist Paramore (Battle Theme)
Current Attire: Default GMO
Chatty Ditz: -----

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"Us? No, we just took out the leaders. You guys handled the rest much better than we could have -- you did a great job!"

A Burner Battle Chip came to Jake from the same E-Mail Event that Xenneth had gotten the Wave Arm from. He put it in his collection for now; that'd be a useful one to keep on hand.


"Soooo..."

Warrior "smoothly" made his way over to Megami's side, crossing his arms, lifting his chin, and closing his eyes, trying his darnest to give off a "cool" vibe.

"Did you see how I moved so quickly behind those sword viruses that it looked like I teleported? And how I slid down the pile of picnic baskets like I was surfing?"


One could say he was arrogant as ever, but really he just never got tired of Megami's enthusiastic compliments whenever he did something "cool". He'd developed a sort of craving for those compliments now, so it was obvious that he was trying to nudge for yet another one.

"I thought it was pretty cool."


His dazzling topaz amulet glittered fabulously as he stood there in his "I'm so awesome" pose, not entirely aware of how silly he looked with that thing on (and not entirely remembering that it was even on to begin with). Meanwhile, the bears could enjoy their food as they watched the humerus would-be "romance" scene unfold before their very eyes.

- -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -- -

Cooldown Tracker:
-- Jewel Cross (2/3)
-- Teleport Juke (0/3)

Equipment Tracker:
-- Topaz Cross (10 HP)

-

"Yes! I did!" Megami beaming a smile once more to Warrior, "But I have one question?"

Once again, Warrior's words feel on deaf ears. Not so much as she did not hear him, but yet, she was not sure how to comprehend his movements and composure. Looking him over after asking the question, Megami noticed his physique, his posture, and even the way he folded his arms while standing with a since of bravado. The female NetNavi was unsure if there was something wrong or he was always like this.

"...are you okay?" she asked before lifting her right brow, "...is it...as they say in Xen-kun's world, 'the gas' that you have?"

*SMACK!!!*

The sound of Xenneth's hand smacking his forehead was audible. Megami's comprehension of was terrible, but it was nice to know she was paying attention and soaking up conversations like a sponge; especially when women were making fun of Xenneth for his own posture.

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OOC Notes:
Now Listening To: "Emergency" by the Artist Paramore (Battle Theme)
Current Attire: Default GMO
Chatty Ditz: -----

-

"..."

The sad Warrior was sad.

"It's alright Warrior. Maybe if your attitude didn't stink, she'd--"

"You shush, Jake!"

Well there went his pun.

Warrior kept his eyes closed and crossed his arms tighter if such a thing were possible. He could sense the bears laughing and mocking him behind his back.


"It's... not 'the gas'."


Dumb bears.

This was obviously all their fault.

"Let's uh... get away from these teddies before they get feral or something."

He should've stolen one of their picnic baskets while he was at it. That'd show them!

- -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -- -

Cooldown Tracker:
-- Jewel Cross (2/3)
-- Teleport Juke (0/3)

Equipment Tracker:
-- Topaz Cross (10 HP)

-

"Oh? The bears?" Megami said looking over her shoulder to the Teddie viruses. She gasped in realization!

"Oh! Yes! I understand!" Megami said smiling warmly to Warrior as she walked away from the scene, "That is fine! Xen-kun did mention that certain men felt uncomfortable around items that are considered "cute" as he said.!" Megami paid no mind to the bears no more as she walked down the path of ACDC's network. A long trek they had taken, but yet she was content to at least be out and about making a new friend.

Even if she was slightly oblivious about his mannerisms, she found them to be very interesting for one of the first NetNavi friends she made.

"Warrior-kun! You have my thanks!" Megami said happily as she strolled ahead, not even giving the male NetNavi a glance, "I have never honestly spent as much time knowing a NetNavi as much as I have you. I must say, it is very delightful!" she said happily.

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OOC Notes:
Now Listening To: "Emergency" by the Artist Paramore (Battle Theme)
Current Attire: Default GMO
Chatty Ditz: -----
Notes for Mods:: Ready for Battle Nine!

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((Hurhurhur, using the same joke twice, both here and at MMM. Deal with it!))

"..."

Warrior's face went from super-happy to super-confused in a fraction of seconds.

At first his heart skipped at Megami's compliment, but then he stopped to think... what had she just called him? "Warrior-kun"? Up until now it had been "Warrior-san".

Wait... was her Operator's name even "Xenkun"?! Or did she just tag "-kun" onto the end of his name as well?

... So it was "Xen"? And all this time he'd been saying "Xenkun"?! He was so lost!

"It's been our pleasure, Megami."

Jake chimed in just before Warrior's silence became awkward. Now it just looked like he was shy to respond or something, but he dropped the creepy confused stare and smiled back as he chuckled and continued walking with her.

"Yup. You're quite an interesting character yourself, Megami-kun."


He was clearly quite uneducated in these honorifics, but he smiled as if he knew exactly what he was saying.

- -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -- -

Cooldown Tracker:
-- Jewel Cross (2/3)
-- Teleport Juke (0/3)

Equipment Tracker:
-- Topaz Cross (10 HP)

READY FOR BATTLE # 9

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((Sorry for the delay: Magami, I'm very sorry but I've missed your battle-ready a few times now, because your sign-off, with the line break, just looks like more of your signature, rather than part of the active post. I'm sorry to ask, but could you try to be a bit more overt about giving your battle-ready? Just going to note, since you've been recording it Remnant, that summoned equips dispel between battles and need to be resummoned, if you wish to, so you don't actually have the cross on going into this one))


While the pair continued, discussing there friendship at varying levels of discomfort and confusion, they wandered haplessly into a broad, flat area that was occupied by some distinctly less than friendly viruses. Some of them were pretty big, and they all looked mean.

The scene was actually a large clearing, with some rocky-looking uprisings around the edges, giving the space an vaguely circular shape. There looked to be a scattering of crumbled ruins dotted about, with more in the centre than around the outsides. Mostly they were broken pillars or the occasional archway that was still intact. Unfortunately the broken down structures offered only a couple of actual walls, so there was little to obscure the view that Megami and Warrior got of the face off taking place ahead of them.

To one side of the area, there was a truly massive bear, easily six metres tall as he reared up on his hind legs and let out a reverberating bellow that shook through the whole clearing. The shudders of it were enough to send a dazing start through both of them. The creature bore mostly white fur, and its breath frosted the air as it dropped down again, then pulled a massive cube of ice out of the ground and hurled if forcefully across the way while the two much smaller Teddy bears either side of it waved their claws threateningly. They weren't quite as intimidating as the large, murderously strong, claws of the massive Kodiak bear, but scary all the same.

The cube was apparently directed at an equally over-sized Spikey, which looked to be covered in flames and breathing continuous licks of fire from its mouth. The Alpha Spikey barked a sound, then curled into spined, flaming ball and shredded nimbly out of the way. The two normal Spikeys with it barked in response, and also darted away to either side, avoiding the projectile, before continuing to bark and growl at the bears.

In the area between the two navis, and this violent confrontation. Came the sound of... metools? There was some frustrated sounding 'meep'ing, then all of a sudden one of the few remaining walls crashed inwards towards Warrior and Megami, sending rubble and debris everywhere. Between the clouds of dust looked at first to be a giant metool helmet, but almost as soon as it had stopped moving, and destroying masonry, he helmet lifted and shrank rapidly, revealing a peculiar virus underneath. The helmet shrank until it fit neatly onto the head of what seemed like a normal metool, except that he was perched gleefully in the driver's seat of a shrunk-down Catack and wasn't carrying its normal weapon.

The tank body itself, though smaller than a normal Catack, was painted up in metool colours; bright yellow, with green trimming, and had in place of the usual triangular tank treads, four comically over-sized monster-truck tyres that were heavily armoured, and looked a little bit like curled up armadils. The cannon turret was also modified to bear two large tines, vertically, making it look like a metool's pick, and the housing had a slot that let it swing up and down, as the tank's driver quickly demonstrated with another pleased sound. The muzzle lifted up, then slammed its lower tine down to the ground, creating a wide shock-wave that thundered off to the two navi's right, crumbling more of the ruins.

From behind some of the still-standing masonry, a little back from where the tank had crashed through, a trio of yellow helmets peeked around cautiously. After a moment of assessing, one of them hid under its helmet, another bounced on its toes with glee, while the third simply seemed vaguely annoyed that it wasn't the one getting to drive the tank. The driver, however, had focused on Megami and Warrior, and decided that this was a great way to test itself out.

Up to their left, perched on the broken end of on of the tall pillars, a small squeak announced the presence of a final unwelcome guest. A bunny looked at the tank, at the fighting viruses, and then at Megami and Warrior, and then, with another squeak, opted to launch a stunning ring of electricity at the navis. It shot over their heads, thankfully, and the bunny hopped away to perch on a different pillar, still watching them and squeaking while it charged its ears again.

No-one here seemed friendly, or inclined to reason, and chances were it was going to be quite a fight, no matter how the duo spliced it.


-=Viral Heavy-Weights=-

Kodiak V1: 380Hp [Meta-Virus] [Left-back of area]
TeddyA: 100Hp [Left-back of area]
TeddyB: 100Hp [Left-back of area]

Alpha Spikey V1: 310Hp [Meta-Virus] [Improved Pack Tactics Active] [Right-back of area]
SpikeyA: 90Hp [Pack Tactics Active] [Right-back of area]
SpikeyB: 90Hp [Pack Tactics Active] [Right-back of area]

Mettank V1: 260Hp [Meta-Virus] [In front of Megami and Warrior]
MetoolA: 40Hp [Slightly behind Mettank][Guarding]
MetoolB: 40Hp [Slightly behind Mettank]
MetoolC: 40Hp [Slightly behind Mettank]

Bunny-EX: 60Hp [On PillarC]

-=Allies=-

Megami: 90Hp
Warrior: 120Hp

-=Terrain=-

All Normal for now.

-=Objects=-

Scattered Pillars A-E: 10Hp Each
Intact Arches A-C: 15Hp [evenly placed around an imaginary circle about the centre]
Crumbling Wall A: 20Hp [Back Right of centre]
Crumbling Wall B: 20Hp [Near Left of centre]
Crumbling Wall C: DELETED [Underneath Mettank]
IceCube: 30Hp [AquaBody][Ice-Type][Right-Back of Area]

-=Battle 9, Start!=-

-

"Hmm..."

Surrounded, but fortunately two groups of viruses seemed to be too pre-occupied with each other to notice Warrior, Megami, and the rest of the viruses.

"Alright Megami, let's take out the Metools first, then we'll go for the bears and the wolves afterward. Hopefully they'll have worn each other down by the time we deal with the tank."

Jake chuckled. Warrior made it sound like success was guaranteed -- like this mettank couldn't possibly be the largest, strongest enemy he's stood up against up until this point.

"And the Bunny?"

"He's just a lonely little guy. If he doesn't run away or even just assist us, then we'll just pop him with a Cannon or something and be done with it."

"Flawless logic."

Warrior grinned as he made his approach toward the Mettool pack, clearly missing the sarcasm in Jake's voice.

"Not attacking yet?"

"Not yet. Just getting into a better position."

A better position indeed. Warrior ran to the right flank of the Mettool-gang, intentionally opposite of the Bunny. Hopefully its electric ring would end up hitting one of the Metools instead of himself if it decided to attack again. Studying the viruses' formation, Warrior continued moving carefully to the back side of the group so that in his new position, he could see the Bears and Wolves fighting in the background without needing to turn his head (or even break line of sight with the Metools). Having total vision of the area was advantageous, and hopefully he'd have the added benefit of drawing the Metools away from the two previously spoke of factions so that they wouldn't be distracted from weakening each others forces.


Now came dealing with the Metools, but it was too dangerous to just charge in headfirst (a very important lesson he'd learned earlier today). He hesitated a little while longer both to prepare an attack pattern and to evade their follow-up attacks. He kept enough distance from the group so that he wouldn't be in the radius of any of Megami's wide-spreading attacks if she decided to strike them while they were (hopefully) side-tracked.

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Action 1 - Tactical Movement (Move toward the rear of the Metools by circling around from the East, positioning Metools between Warrior and the Bunny)

Action 2 - Dodge (Ready to Evade)

Action 3 - Set: Follow Up ([Trigger (Trap: Warrior uses a Slashing Attack)] - [Multi-Stage] First [Feint] Then [Buster Shot] Then [Buster Shot] Then [Buster Lock] ~ 3 CD)

Cooldown Tracker:
-- Jewel Cross (3/3) (READY)
-- Teleport Juke (1/3)
-- Follow Up (0/3)

Equipment Tracker:
-- Follow Up (Trap Set || Standing By)

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