Quest Fetch

"So... remind me, WHERE THE HELL DID YOU JACK IN?!" screamed Anyis up at her Operator's view window.

"Just the squirrel statue in the park, I swear! It's always had a Net connection for some weird reason." barked Mill as he returned verbal fire.

"Maybe the fact that it's WEIRD is why I'm sitting on Magna as we slide down this seemingly bottomless pit to nowhere?!" yelled Anyis, now clearly atop her SP to all those whom it may concern.

"It is no trouble, Mother Unit. This slope's gradient is shallow enough that my balance is not compromised." noted Magna, to alleviate the one concern Anyis didn't care about in the first place. "Additionally, my scanners recognize that we are still in registered ACDC Net, though seemingly we are descending to a lower level of it. By my calculations, if we just follow the original pharmacy coordinates, we will arrive directly under it and merely must climb back up to it." See, that was more helpful, Magna. Thank you.

If it wasn't clear enough as is, Anyis had been jacked in directly on top of a gaping pit, which she and Magna promptly fell into. After some tumbling and scrambling, Anyis had established her seat upon Magna, whose sturdy body pummeled the jagged and rocky slope as they slid down. And now, they have just now arrived at the bottom.

"It's..." said Anyis with a long pause, "... the damn same as above. That's stupid. Mill, just give me the damn coordinates so I can stop wasting my damn time." She was clearly disappointed, and not just visibly so because of the swearing. This crazy underground Net was the picture perfect copy of the regular ACDC Net above. If she had to go sliding down that obnoxious pit slope regardless, there should have at least been something exciting at the bottom.

"Why would you be wasting your time in the first place? You're ordering cold medicine for Lilia, remember? Shouldn't that be done quickly anyway?" responded Mill, dissecting Anyis's complaint with an irritating amount of logic.

"Don't... *sniff* worry about it, Anyis. It'll take some time to walk... *sniff* home, let alone for Mill to get to the pharmacy afterwards. Take as much... *sniff* time as you need." Oh come on, Lilia. Anyis was trying to be her grumpy, irritable self. How was she supposed to respond to your selfless kindness?

"... Y-yeah, right. Come on Magna, let's go." announced Anyis with a shaky voice. Apparently, she was going to respond very awkwardly. This was very interesting to Mill. Very interesting, indeed.

(Battle 1 Start)
Not long after they'd set out, Anyis and Magna were stopped at the sight of a Metool. Normally this would not merit much concern, but the Metool in question was red. Anyis and the virus stared at each other for a minute before two more Metools approached from behind the current Met. Anyis took this as a signal to back up and dragged Magna with her as the viruses decided to get hostile, brandishing their picks and looking as threatening as Metools could.

Metool2 A: 100HP
Metool2 B: 100HP
Metool2 C: 100HP

Terrain:
100% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 220HP
Magna.SP: 80HP

Rogue Battle 1 Start!
"Um... *sniff* Are my eyes starting to act up too, or are those Metools... *sniff* red?" asked Lilia through some nasal difficulties as she leaned over Mill's shoulder to spy on his PET.

"They're red." confirmed Mill.

"They're red, alright." agreed Anyis.

"Metool Units are confirmed red." reported Magna.

"Red Met at morning, Navi's warning~ Red Met at night, that's a long fight~" hummed Euthenia to a little tune.

Anyis had already triggered her gauntlets, as usually done on sight of any viruses, but the spirit medium went out of her way to manually transform her right gauntlet back into its glove form for the sole purpose of slamming her palm against her face. Yes, three strange Metools were ready and staged for battle, but by god, Anyis just couldn't stomach how airheaded her sister could be.

Mill could sense Anyis's mental suffering, but there was really nothing he could do. Anyis and Euthenia's relationship as sisters was older than him and Lilia were combined... maybe times two. Nothing he could say would be something Anyis hadn't heard before. "So, uh... It's good that your cold isn't making your eyesight foggy, Lilia. And those Metools are pretty packed together, too. That's great. That AuraHead chip I have could do some big damage there. Magna, could you put your barrier around Anyis to help power up the chip?" Way to step up, Mill. Took things into your own hands and pushed them towards the positive.

"I can perform that task, Operator. Please hold." answered Magna as he turned to face the Mother Unit. The orange light behind Magna's face radiated outwards like a lighthouse in overdrive, shrouding the Mother Unit in its glow until she was enveloped in a partial barrier of the light. What energy was there raced around Anyis in a spherical pattern, ready to defend any incoming attack. The reason it wasn't a full barrier? Well... Ever since Magna forcibly troubleshooted the thing himself, Mill hasn't been able to figure out how to rewrite into a full, one-way barrier. He'd never admit that, though.

"Alright Anyis, chip incoming. Make a good shot; I'm not sure I want to see what's different about these red Metools..." cautioned Mill as he popped the AuraHead into his PET with a click.

"Shoot first, ask questions later? I can work with that." grinned Anyis. This was her kind of battle plan. As soon as she was sure the chip was uploaded and ready for activation, Anyis broke out into a run to strafe around the Metool trio. As she did that, Anyis snapped her still-gloved fingers and summoned Boogeyman in front of the third helmeted virus. After grinding to a halt at the side of the viruses, Anyis used her new perspective to have Boogeyman push the redheaded Metool towards a line formation with its brethren... and in line with Anyis's attack. As satisfied as she was going to be with the positioning, Anyis triggered the AuraHead, re-equipping her right gauntlet and materializing the spooky head launcher in her grip. Not wanting to give the three viruses a chance to react, Anyis pulled the trigger, sending the viral replica out on its journey of destruction as it unleashed a ghastly wail.

"You think... *sniff* that'll be enough, Mill?" asked Lilia as she watched the fight ensue. "It's a really good... *sniff* plan, but..."

"But you can't pick every petal on a flower all at once, right~?" added Euthenia, finishing up her Operator's sentence with some oddly fitting floral-based logic.

"That's true... I think... Anyway, I guess this is as good a time as any to test out the last chip I got." said Mill as he lifted his new Katana out of his jacket pocket. "Hack away Anyis, this one's all yours."

"Best news I've heard all day." responded Anyis, who was really starting to enjoy this aggressive strategy Mill was taking and, as a result, was agreeing to it quite readily. For the first time in... possibly ever, a sword that wasn't Anyis's AquaKnife materialized in the palm of her gauntlet. And unlike the frozen dagger that had taken up permanent residence in her hand, the new Katana was actually long enough to seem properly scaled in contrast to Anyis's hulking hand armor. The hilt still wasn't large enough for Anyis to grip with both gauntlets, but oh well. With a quick hop and sidestep, Anyis arrived in front of the red-topped viruses and swung her single-bladed sword, carrying the momentum from her position shift into the horizontal cut across all 3 of the Metools. Despite it being against her normal habits, Anyis felt the compelling need to swing the Katana again once more, which she happily obliged by dropping a vertical slice straight down on the middle of the three red Metools. After the attack, Anyis took just a second to look at her blade... and smile. Any weapon that was full-willing to do extra damage was a friend to her.

"One more thing..." muttered Mill under his breath, rattling his brain for another attack idea. "Oh! Magna! I changed your preset chip while you were sliding down the pit. And it looks like I was right to do so, if these new Metools are any sign of what's ahead... I'll send the chip now, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting used to it, I think."

"Understood, Operator." nodded Magna as the Operator uploaded... oh god. GolemHit. It was by far Mill's strongest chip. And it was now in the golem's hands. Rather, it was Magna's hands, and the Net was a more dangerous place for it.

Having gotten wind of her SP's newfound destructive power from the prior conversation, Anyis opted to do the charitable thing and make Magna's job easier. "Hey, stupid viruses! Why are your helmets so red?! Did your brains bleed out trying to figure out how to beat me?! Huh?!" shouted Anyis, belting out a ferocious insult and taunt on the topic of, of course, the red helmets.

Magna watched the Mother Unit bark obscenities at the viruses with a curiosity about him until he realized she was playing distraction for him. Such an idea left Magna very conflicted, because the Mother Unit should never be endangering herself for his sake. However, he could never possibly refuse a kindness the Mother Unit offered him, so at the first moment he thought good, Magna struck his piston hard into the ground and launched himself skyward, soaring up to a height that should've been fully beyond his size and weight. As gravity took ahold of the SP and sent him plummeting downwards, Magna activated the Battlechip he was given, sending the power of the GolemHit coursing through his fists. A shadow on the ground had been cast over the Metools for a while, but it would not be unless one of them turned away from Anyis's sick burns against them to see the big golem come crashing down, slamming both body and fists against the solid terrain and, hopefully, whatever would remain of the viruses.

Mill, Lilia, and Euthenia all watched from their spectator positions in awe of the crushing blow, so powerful that the rubble it produced left its results a complete mystery until the dust settled. Even Anyis had to be impressed by the strike Magna had delivered. She instinctively took a step back as the attack hit, and though it served the greater purposed of avoiding a possible Metool counterattack, at the time she was merely feeling nervous of potential fallout from what Magna had unleashed.

Anyis's Actions:
1) Run to the side of Metool2s (Movement)
--Boogeyman (Knockback): Push Metool2C behind A and B
2) AuraHead1 (90 + 20 damage, Break, Aura Boost) @ Metool2A/B/C
3) Katana1 (60 damage, Slashing, Wide Attack) @ Metool2B/A/C
--Katana1 (60 damage, Slashing, Long Attack) @ Metool2B
4) Draw attention of viruses
5) Dodge

Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Buckler (2 Hit Shield)
1) Core Field (80 HP Barrier) @ Mother Unit
2) GolemHit2 (190 damage, Break, Panel Break, Wide Attack) @ Metool2C/B

Cooldowns:
Core Field - 2 turns
With Magna protecting his Mother Unit in a barrier, Anyis had the Metools down for some bruteforce beatdown. The ghost-head launcher was sent forth after that, though it only hit one of the Metools before they started to lay on the offense. Both of the hits were absorbed by the barrier, as Anyis started to hack at them with some sword swipes, which were dodged deftly. Unfortunately, Anyis' full-on assault on the Metools served only as a petty distraction for the real show: Magna's smackdown laid waste to the hard-hatted viruses before they realized what was going on.

Metool2 A: DELETED
Metool2 B: DELETED
Metool2 C: DELETED

Terrain:
100% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 220HP
Magna.SP: 80HP

-- ROGUE BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[Guard2] Battlechip, 750z, 15 BugFrags
"... I know a quick victory is good, but now we still don't know anything about how different these viruses are from normal." said Mill, who was scratching his head as he tried to contemplate the idea of a victory that was too good.

"They've got more fight than normal, I can tell you that much." responded Anyis as she waved her hand in front of her, trying to dispel the lingering dust lifted by Magna's attack. "And I dunno if normal viruses could wail on Magna's barrier so hard. That thing isn't made of glass."

"My barrier is capable of resisting 80 measured units of damage. Previous data on Metool units conflicts with this new observation." announced Magna with a slew of analytics in tow.

"So the viruses are... *sniff* stronger down there?" asked Lilia through a bout of congestion.

"Guess so. Anyis, Magna, be careful. I doubt it'll get any easier as you move on." warned Mill as he and his sister turned a corner onto the next street on their way home.

"Uh huh." nodded Anyis, shrugging off the prospect of impending danger as she usually did.

"Understood." responded Magna with his usual generic response.

(Battle 2 Start)
Moving along, Anyis and Magna did not find much out of the ordinary until they came across a somewhat familiar bunny virus. It didn't seem too threatening, even when a second one hopped up, but when they got closer it became clear that once again the viruses were a different color. An off-color Spikey virus came bounding up behind the current duo, soon followed more slowly by a similar Beetank. It was almost as if whoever had made the viruses had just decided to palette-swap them all according to difficulty.

How lazy.

TuffBunny A: 100HP
TuffBunny B: 100HP
Spikey2: 190HP
Beetank2: 140HP

Terrain:
10% Cracked (Line spanning battlefield between combatants)
90% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 220HP
Magna.SP: 80HP

Rogue Battle 2 Start!

"Nothing we haven't seen before, but the colors are different again..." muttered Mill with a hint of trepidation in his voice. By this point he had figured that if this new group of viruses was also of the palette-shifted, stronger variant, then just about everything in this new Net level was the same. Needless to say, Mill wasn't particularly thrilled with this revelation.

"Y-yeah... But the last ones weren't so bad! Haha..." replied Anyis, though rather with slight apprehension, her voice had a clear nervous quiver as she never took her eyes off the pair of TuffBunniess.

"What's... *sniff* the matter, Anyis?" queried Lilia of her brother's Navi's nervousness. She asked out of genuine compassion and concern, unlike the silent Mill, who by this point had learned to not indulge Anyis on her personal issues, since she usually just ended up yelling at him regardless of the action taken.

"It's... nothing! It's nothing! Really! Really..." Anyis answered, still very nervous and locked in on the TuffBunnies.

"The Mother Unit is distressed by the presence of the Elec-designated Bunny units. Being Aqua-designated herself, the Mother Unit has a logical aversion to electricity." explained Magna, doing so quite thoroughly.

"Okay, fine! I don't like Bunnies! Humans don't like bees, right?! They buzz around, sting you... It's the same here! Bunnies are always hopping around for whatever reason, and that shock... Agh! I hate it!" confessed Anyis angrily, finally breaking her attention from the TuffBunnies long enough to turn and shout at Mill's PET window, despite him not having involved himself in this.

"What are you yelling at me for?!" retorted Mill indignantly. "I know it's not your style, but if they bother you that much, then try actually using some defense for... Wait..." Mill's train of thought came to a complete halt as the slightest hunch scratched at the back of his mind. As he quickly surveyed the enemy viruses, he realized it: not one knife, blade, or sword among any of them. "... Well, you have one less thing to worry about for now, Anyis. I'm thinking of one chip that will solve your electricity problem..."

After Mill withdrew said chip from his folder and popped it into his PET, Anyis quickly found herself much less... material. She had a bit more substance that the ghosts she so often dealt with, but the dark shroud enveloping her was so... Shadow? "Ahh... Hahahaha! I get it, I get it! Sorry Mill, but I'm going to need more than this! Lots more if I'm going to go all out!" laughed Anyis hysterically, with her nerves and fear purged by the absolute defense of her Shadow veil against these bladeless enemies.

"Uh oh, Anyis has nothing to restrain her~! I think Mister Magna should stay away from all this for now~!" warned Euthenia from her own PET, vaguely hinting at her knowledge of dangerous an unchained Anyis was in front of her fears.

"... Well, you heard her, Magna. Aside from the possibility of you ending up as collateral damage, with Anyis untouchable for the time being, you're the only solid object for the viruses to key onto. Just keep both your defense and distance, and we'll let her thrash around for a while." explained Mill, albeit a bit reluctantly, as he hadn't really grasped how wild Anyis could get now that he had turned her completely loose against one of her rare phobias. Of course, he was the one supplying this madness in the first place, so Mill wasn't going to think too hard on any of that as he slotted several weapon-grade chips into his PET.

"Haha! Now we're talking!" laughed Anyis as she immediately began equipping the chips sent to her. The first chip, a Boomerang, didn't last for all but a few seconds in her hand, as Anyis quickly ran forward a few steps before flinging the arcing projectile out with all her might. It was the only countermeasure she had at her disposal for the longest time, but either way it was a Wood chip, and she wanted to beat up on some Elec viruses.

Of course, Anyis wasn't so "disrespectful" that she'd ignore all her other company. In fact, there was a red Spikey just over yonder begging for her attention. It was her god-given duty to snuff out Fire viruses, and there was a nice big one right here. "Come here doggy, let's play for a bit! Fetch this!" shouted Anyis, still laughing a bit, as she created an IceWave crystal in her hand and flung it right back out in about the span of a second, with the throw itself directed square between the Spikey's eyes.

While the Mother Unit was off having her slightly deranged fun, Magna heeded the Operator's suggestion and slowly backed away from the battle as created a fresh shield to hold in his massive hand. With the Mother Unit requiring no protection at the current time, Magna really couldn't think of much else to do but add on to his own defenses and bide his time. As such, to go along with his shield, Magna projected the shifting orange energy barrier that was usually reserved for the Mother Unit onto himself, making for a rather sturdy spectator to this wild fight.

Anyis paid no attention to any of that, though, because she still had viruses to attack, and chips to attack them with. Having just pitched an IceWave fastball at the Spikey, Anyis continued her hand's forward motion, letting it wave over and past the dog virus to the two TuffBunnies. Right at the beginning of the trail she had just established formed a dark raincloud, which wasted no time in dumping a deluge of water onto the ground as it began its trek across the trio of viruses.

Unfortunately for her targets, Anyis wasn't content to just leave that LilCloud to its own devices. She still had one chip left, and promptly summoned the ever-familiar trio of spikes belonging to her AquaNeedle. With a flick of her wrist, all three of the spikes dived out of the air above her head, each one taking its own target among the three viruses Anyis had been focusing on this whole time. As for the fourth? That Kabutank was likely to survive, because for whatever reason (or no reason at all, possibly), it had not incurred the wrath of Anyis's fear-induced frenzy. Lucky.

Anyis's Actions:
1) Shadow1 (1 Turn Shadow)
2) Boomerang1 (60 Wood damage, Group Attack (Arc)) @ TuffBunnyA/B
3) IceWave1 (105 Aqua damage, Freeze) @ Spikey2
4) LilCloud1 (85 Aqua damage, Wide Attack, 2 Turn Duration) @ TuffBunnyA/B/Spikey2
5) AquaNeedle1 (35 Aqua damage) @ TuffBunnyA/B/Spikey2

Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Buckler (Passive 2 Hit Shield)
1) Core Field (80 HP Barrier, 2TCD) @ Self
2) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Core Field - 2 turns
Provided with a get-out-of-pain-free card against her Elec-oriented enemies, Anyis charged forward and whipped a Boomerang at the TuffBunnies. The projectile tore through one of the viruses as it launched an attack, but failed to hit the other on its return as the virus hopped out of the way. Unfortunately for the deleted virus, the lightning fast shot ended up passing through the Aqua Navi like her followup IceWave nearly did with the Spikey. Thankfully for the Spikey, it managed to desperately lunge out of the way and even return (literal) fire at Anyis. Again, it passed through harmlessly.

By now the viruses were keying in on the impossibility of hitting Anyis and instead turned to her friend with the much more hittable shield. The Beetank launched a double-volley of bombs at Magna and his shield, but it only managed to shatter the thing and leave the SP completely unharmed as his attempted dodge carried him out of the blast radius. Before any of the viruses could lament their complete and utter failure to achieve anything that round, the pitter-patter of rain caused them to look up and almost get painfully soaked, though the TuffBunny hopped out of the way before really getting drenched and the Beetank was spared the wrath of Anyis. Finally, the remaining two viruses were assailed with a rain of needles that landed a hit on the Bunny and somewhat luckily also hit the tank.

TuffBunny A: DELETED
TuffBunny B: 65HP
Spikey2: DELETED
Beetank2: 105HP

Terrain:
10% Cracked (Line spanning battlefield between combatants)
90% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 220HP
Magna.SP: 80HP
"Ha... ha... ha..." panted Anyis as her shadowy veil dissipated, feeling somewhat out of breath after her anti-Bunny extinction campaign. That exhaustion was quickly overridden by a second spike of adrenaline, however, as Anyis saw that her war was not over, and that a TuffBunny still exuded pure menace just by existing. "Damnit...! Cloud, full reverse!" shouted Anyis as she immediately began another attack. The black raincloud heeded the command, turning back onto the direction it came from and chasing after the TuffBunny. In the meantime of that, Anyis was completely what was likely her quickest ghost channeling ever. Fueled by her fear-induced adrenaline, Anyis ripped a chunk of data clear off the River above, absorbed into her body, and faster than you could blink...

"GROOOOOOARRR!!!" rumbled the Titan as its foggy and incomplete body emerged above Anyis. Powered further by the hatred Anyis had for her target, the Titan's eyes lit up pure red as it launched itself forward, raising both its giant fists high into the air as it went. A colossal shadow would've eclipse the poor rabbit were the Titan not completely ethereal, but even with light passing through the monster's translucent body, the intimidation factor was not in short supply. Nor was the potential pain hard to come by, as the Titan slammed both its clenched fists into the ground, ready to catch the TuffBunny in its crushing force and make virus pancakes.

"Stupid stupid stupid rabbit..." grumbled Anyis as the Titan's form broke apart into nothing.

"Anyis! There's still one more virus left! He's gonna get lonely if you keep ignoring him~" noted Euthenia on her sister's behalf.

"Yeah yeah, you wouldn't just be sitting their talking if Lilia wasn't sick... Mill, give me a chip." the spirit medium grunted in return.

"I'll have to remember to never send you to ElecTown if only 2 electric viruses can do this..." sighed Mill as he obliged Anyis's demand, strategically choosing one of her favorite chips to make her relax a little... hopefully.

With the upload of the chip, Anyis's right gauntlet rapidly chilled, much in contrast to her burning mood, until a solid sheet of ice had formed into her staple ColdPunch. "Hmph... Well, I know what to do with this." said Anyis, expressing as much satisfaction as she was going to this battle. True to her word, though, she did know what to do with the ColdPunch. She ran straight up to the Beetank, and ripped an uppercut right under the Beetank's horn. She then opted for the more traditional approach and just threw a jab at the bomb-launching virus's face. At that point, Anyis hopped away from the Beetank, declaring, "I'm done here. Magna, take whatever shots you want."

"Understood, Mother Unit." responded Magna, who had remained attentive despite having done nothing up to this point other than assemble a new shield, which was so habitual to him by now it was almost like breathing. Taking the Mother Unit's lazy comment as an order, Magna lifted his free arm and stuck his hand out, opening the shutter on his palm. And just like that, Magna fired a round of orange energy out of his palm unceremoniously at the Beetank. He then closed his palm shutter, lowered his hand, and awaited further instruction. Nice and straightforward.

Anyis's Actions:
--LilCloud1 (85 Aqua damage, Wide Attack) @ TuffBunnyB/Beetank2
1) Titan Revival (100 Aqua damage, Phasing, 3TCD) @ TuffBunnyB
2) ColdPunch (95 Aqua damage, Impact, Knockback) @ Beetank2
3) ColdPunch (95 Aqua damage, Impact, Knockback) @ Beetank2
4) Dodge
5) Dodge

Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Buckler (Passive 2 Hit Shield)
1) Cheap shot (10 damage) @ Beetank2
2) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Core Field - 1 turn
Titan Revival - 3 turns
The various formed of watery DOOM proved too much for the viruses, who fell before even being able to try counterattacking. Now that's efficiency.

TuffBunnyA: DELETED
TuffBunnyB: DELETED
Spikey2: DELETED
Beetank2: DELETED

Terrain:
10% Cracked (Line spanning battlefield between combatants)
90% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 220 HP
Magna.SP: 80 HP

=== BATTLE TWO, OVER ===

Rewards: CrossBomb BattleChip data, 960z, 27 BugFrags
"All better, Anyis?" asked Mill in the most sarcastic tone he could muster.

"Unless ACDC has been suddenly overrun with electric viruses, then yes." answered Anyis bluntly as she unequipped her gauntlets.

"If you need help with those sparky things, just tell me, Anyis~" hummed Euthenia, parading her dominance of electricity as the Wood Navi she was.

"Yeah yeah, keep your half-dead flowers to yourself..." grumbled Anyis as she continued her trek towards the coordinates Mill gave her.

(Battle 3 Start)
Anyis was only able to take a few moment of rest before facing another group of viruses. This time, however, they seemed to be much more organized than before. The three Canodumbs was set in a V-formation while the chivalrous Swordy was ready to lead up and front.

The number of enemies looked the same as last battle, but that wasn't until an unsuspected guest came out of the blue. Two ghostly viruses appeared out of thin air before the Swordy, ousting the virus from its commanding position.

Now the viruses formed a X-formation...If that would matter in some ways.

Spooky2A: 80 HP
Spooky2B: 80 HP
Canodumb2A: 130 HP
Canodumb2B: 130 HP
Canodumb2C: 130 HP
Swordy-N2: 130 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 220 HP
Magna.SP: 80 HP

-ROGUE BATTLE 3, START!-
With thoughts of the last battle still in the back of her mind, Anyis quickly surveyed the new viruses for any sign of electrical doom. "Whew, good..." sighed Anyis with the purest sense of relief. Among the enemy platoon, though, it was the sight of the front lines that restored Anyis's normal boundless confidence in an instant.

"Ha ha, look at those cute little Spookies. They ever put on red sheets to seem more ghostly." chuckled Anyis at the faux-ghosts in front of her. "The rest of the viruses even lined up for me. How sweet of them. Mill, give me some chips to 'reward' their efforts."

"Wait, what's your issue with the Spookies? I thought ghosts were... like, your thing." asked Mill confusedly.

"Spookies are live viruses just like Metools or Swordies, unlike the real broken-up ghosts. Anyis sees them as cheap impostors, and I don't really like them either~" answered Euthenia quickly, though with an unnatural venom in her otherwise cheery voice. Anyis was nodding all the way through her sister's explanation, so Mill just had to take the issue as it was.

"Uh... right then. As long as you're motivated, I shouldn't really care where it comes from." shrugged Mill before popping a pair of Battlechips into his PET.

"That's right Mill, just roll with it." agreed Anyis as she examined her new weaponry and the viruses's X formation. Then she thought back on what she just said. "Hmm... Actually, that'll work fine. Boogeyman!" shouted Anyis, summoning her phantom servant for the first time into Rogue Net. Floating at his master's side, Boogeyman stared at the virus pack with his one blank eye for just a moment, before giving Anyis a hard shove on the shoulder. Having expected the push to come, Anyis curled up into a roll to make use of the force imparted on her. Next thing anyone knew, Anyis was no longer facing the virus group head-on, but rather from alongside the left line of the formation.

From one knee, Anyis raised her hand and quickly materialized her DollThunder. "Eat this!" she shouted loudly as bolts of lightning erupted from the scarecrow doll's mouth and streaked their way towards the first Spooky2 and everything behind it. Anyis then activated the second chip, sending the LilCloud out to do its business for the second time in as many battles. The dark raincloud formed atop the second Spooky2, then began its drenching trek across the second virus line.

"Mill, I need more chips! Magna, you get ready to go too! This is a good chance to attack!" shouted Anyis, having found herself out of ammo after using the only 2 Battlechips sent to her at this point.

"Yeah, sure, just hold on a... " responded Mill, though whatever he was going to say or do was immediately discarded to the realm of nothing as he looked over his shoulder just long enough to see his sister stumbling haphazardly along the sidewalk, buckle at the knees, and fall over. Rather than thinking or acting quickly, Mill moved on sheer reflex alone, dropping to his knees to catch Lilia before she hit the pavement. "... Hey! Lilia! What's wrong?!"

"... Ah... *sniff* Sorry Mill... I just got a little dizzy for a second..." mumbled Lilia. Her cold was clearly bothering her more now than she would let on, otherwise she'd have been complaining about the embarrassing scene they were making like she did earlier. "I'm fine now, really... We're almost home anyway..." promised Lilia as she weakly tried to pry herself off her brother.

"Hey, Mill! Hurry up! We can't just stand here all day!" interjected Anyis, growing impatient and worried over her and Magna's unarmed state against the viruses.

"Oh would you shut up for one moment!" roared Mill at his PET. Frustrated with being thrown this bother on top of Lilia's collapse, Mill took one arm off his sister's shoulder, grabbed a random chip out of his pocket, and slammed it hard into the PET. "There, figure something out!" And with that, Mill had nothing left to say to his Navi at the moment.

"..." For once, Anyis was speechless. All she could really do at this point was activate the chip thrown at her, which caused a round, red shield to form in her hand. "Guard2... Well, I guess we're defending for now. At least that's something you can handle on your own, Magna." sighed Anyis. She was kind of disappointed her attack got cut short, but... Ugh. This was really awkward.

"That is correct, Mother Unit." answered Magna flatly, not knowing awkward even if it punched him in the face. Having done this procedure so many times as of late, Magna assembled his shield and cast his barrier over himself, doing so in one seamless motion after all the practice he had been getting. "We well defend until Operator is once more able to provide Battlechip assistance. That is the primary directive."

"Yeah..." agreed Anyis halfheartedly as she raised her shield and cast her gaze over the virus formation.

--BOOGEYROLL (Passive Knockback): Push Anyis into line with viruses
1) DollThunder1 (80 Elec Damage, Line Attack 5) @ Spooky2A/Swordy-N2/Canodumb2B/Canodumb2C
2) LilCloud1 (85 Aqua damage, Wide Attack, 2 Turn Duration) @ Spooky2B/Swordy-N2/Canodumb2B/Canodumb2A
3) Guard2 (1 Hit Shield, Reflect Max 120+Piercing+Line Attack)
4) Dodge
5) Dodge

Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Buckler (Passive 2 Hit Shield)
1) Core Field (80 HP Barrier, 2TCD) @ Self
2) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Core Field - 2 turns
The viruses were certainly taken by a surprise when Anyis' own ghost smacked her forward, not seeing the tactical reason why the navi was doing this. Anyis was able to get a perfect alignment of the viruses as she unleashed the DollThunder onto them, but the Spooky, who should have been the first to hit, managed to escape while everyone else behind felt a shock through their body.

With a creepy laughter, the lucky Spooky came up to Anyis and showed its "affection" towards her with a quick lash of its tongue [-30]. The navi's attack continued on with the Lilcloud which swept through the viruses except the ever vigilant Swordy who was able to maneuver away from the rain cloud.

Now it was the viruses' turn to take on the offense. The two remaining Canodumb was the first to fire, but both were simply shrugged off as the first shot was evaded and the next was reflected by the Guard, shooting the bullet back to its owner and deleting the virus. The Swordy had other thing in mind as it teleported right besides the giant golem and swung its sword. Despite its gargantuan size, Magna was able to dodge the attack, but it still didn't shrug off the Swordy's full attention!

Spooky2A: 80 HP
Spooky2B: DELETED
Canodumb2A: 45 HP
Canodumb2B: DELETED
Canodumb2C: DELETED
Swordy-N2: 50 HP [Next to Magna]

LilCloud2: 1 TURN

Terrain: 100% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 190 HP [Guard Broken]
Magna.SP: 80 HP [80 HP Barrier] [2-hit Shield]
"You don't look fine to me." said Mill to his sister as she tried push herself upright off of his shoulder, albeit with little success. To stop Lilia's silly struggling with her own weakened body, Mill pushed her back just a little so she'd sit on the back of her legs. "So lemme guess, the only reason the nurse let you walk home was because you said you lived just down the street or something?"

"... Maybe... *sniff*" admitted Lilia as she fought with her runny nose yet again. "The apartment building... *sniff* isn't that far away..."

"You just collapsed. If that's not too far away, what is?" sighed Mill, shaking his head at his sister and the whole situation. Lilia clearly wasn't walking any further for the moment, and just sitting out in the open all day certainly wasn't going to help anything. That just left... Ugh. "Well... here's how we're going to do this. Don't fall off, I guess." said Mill with a dry laugh as he turned on his heels to present his back to Lilia.

"Wha... *sniff* Are you serious?" gasped Lilia at the sight. She'd have been more aghast if she wasn't so drained of energy in the first place... In which case, she wouldn't need a piggyback ride. Crap.

"Hauling around my 15 year old sister on my back through ACDC Town isn't exactly my idea of a good day either, you know. Just hop on so we can get home..." grumbled Mill as he waved one of his hands behind his back to motion Lilia up.

"... This is so embarrassing..." muttered Lilia as she climbed up her brother's back and buried her face in his jacket hood as if to hide herself from the world. With the little sister now on board, Mill had to ponder how he was going to make the rest of this work. Lilia's schoolbag was already slung over his shoulder, and Euthenia's PET was inside that, so that wasn't an issue. Lilia was on his back, but surely he'd need to use his hands as a seat for her. So... what was he supposed to do with his own PET?

"Uh... Hey, Anyis?" asked Mill cautiously as he leaned over his PET lying on the ground in front of him.

"Yuck...! Argh, hold on a second..." whined Anyis over the Spooky slobber now running down her face. To remedy the nasty situation, Anyis gathered some ghost data in her palm, and... slapped herself in the face? Well, it worked. The repair-function ghost data dissolved the slobber in an instant, and Anyis was clean and good as new. "There. Now, finally, what on earth were you... have your sister on your back. Why do you have your sister on your back?" groaned Anyis after turning around to see Lilia draped over her Operator's back.

"She can't walk, so this is how it is." grumbled Mill. "Since my hands are going to be totally tied up, you're going to have to get creative against the viruses, and you're going to have to talk to me."

"Talk?" questioned Anyis. "Why do I need to talk? Can't you just watch me?"

"Nope... My PET is..." answered Mill, who then took a deep breath, leaned down, and chomped down on his PET's rubber handle. "... Ouh ah mih hns." Even if he could tilt his eyes down at such a bizarre angle to see the screen, his PET was bobbing up and down with every garbled world that squeezed its way out of Mill's occupied mouth.

"... What? I don't... You stuck the PET in your mouth. I bet you look ridiculous right now, ha ha..." declared Anyis with a very, very dry laugh attached. Indeed, with a girl's schoolbag on his shoulder, an actual girl on his back, and his purple PET in his mouth, Mill was quite an oddity out on the sidewalks of his ACDC neighborhood.

"Mm hm." grunted Mill with a tone of agreement. No point in trying to downplay this nonsense, Mill figured as he lifted all his cargo up, stumbled around for a moment, then began walking forward.

"Well, whatever. You just keep walking, Magna and I will figure something out." sighed Anyis as she scratched her head a little. How was she supposed to do this without chips... Well, there was still one chip floating around, literally. "Whoops, almost forgot about that. Rain's still in the forecast! LilCloud, turn around!" she shouted at the rainmaker, which immediately obeyed and made an about-face, marching its way back towards the Spooky that had attacked Anyis and the last remaining Canodumb. Dorky one-liners wasn't particularly her style, but sadly her fists couldn't talk loud enough for Mill to get the gist of the battle without visuals.

Anyis wasn't going to leave the Spooky with just that, though. Oh no. "Don't think that's all you'll get for licking me, you stupid fake ghost!" barked Anyis as she channeled a huge amount of ghost data into her body. "Go Titan, show it what a real ghost is like!" She vented all her frustration towards the virus in one big blast, releasing the Titan's spirit above her, which belted out a roar for the ages before launching its ethereal body at the Spooky. Rather than raise one or both of its colossal fists like usual, though, the Titan made a straight line for the other ghost, raised its head, and then slung it straight back down, wanting to pound the Spooky into dust with its strong horns.

While all that was going on, Magna patiently bided his time, even with irritable Swordy trying to loom over him, though the significant size difference there prevented much progress. "Mother Unit, I seem to be the target of a Swordy Unit, and lack appropriate countermeasures. What is my directive?" reported Magna after Anyis unleashed her strongest ghost upon the Spooky.

"What? Oh, damn, I forgot about that Swordy... I'm all out of attacks too..." muttered Anyis as she realized that the Titan was the last real source of offense she had. "Hey Mill, I know it'll be tricky, but we really need a chip! Any will do!" she shouted up to her Operator.

"Mm..." grunted Mill as he came to a stop just short of a crosswalk at a busy intersection. Well, Mill had nothing he could do, but maybe his sister could give it a try. "Ey Riria... Riria!" babbled Mill as he tried to say his sister's name, only to ultimately compromise to shaking her a little by moving his hands, which she was sitting on. "Han ou geh a chif ouh ah mih hoceh?"

Lilia, who had been half dozing-off on her brother's back up to this point, didn't even try to comprehend the garbage Mill just said. Instead, she just reached over his shoulder and plucked the PET out of his mouth for a moment. "Want to... *sniff* try that again...?"

"Ah, thanks. Could you reach into my jacket pocket and pull a chip out? It doesn't matter which, just about any will do." implored Mill.

"Yeah, sure..." sighed Lilia, figuring she could focus enough if it didn't matter which chip she got. Mill stumbled around while Lilia shifted about, twisting her arm back up, over, and then under Mill's shoulder to dig her hand into his pocket and produce a Battlechip. "Here you... *sniff" go, Anyis..." said Lilia as she took the liberty to slot the chip in, although her arms were a little wobbly and it took 2 or 3 tries. "All done, here you go Mill..." The exhaustion in her voice was quite apparent as she stuffed the PET handle back in her brother's mouth.

"Ranks, Riria." Maybe Mill just shouldn't bother trying to talk for a while.

"Yeah, thanks Lilia, you're a livesaver..." agreed Anyis as she awaited the chip's upload. "... Huh? What's wrong? Where's the chip?" questioned Anyis confusedly as the Battlechip never came to her. "Where did it go... Wait... Don't tell me it was... Oh jeez, it was." After a moment, Anyis figured out a theory as to why she didn't get the chip, and one glance over to Magna confirmed it for her. Of all of Mill's remaining chips to pull, Lilia managed to find Magna's preset chip. Which just so happened to be the strongest chip Mill had. Uh oh. Anyis quickly opted to just watch the following, half due to caution and half for the amusement.

The metal golem, who already easily loomed over the Swordy, only seemed to become more intimidating as the GolemHit data was infused into his arm. The resonance of a golem's weapon for a golem created a huge surge of the orange energy that fueled Magna, up to the point where it was leaking out of his fingers and blaster palm. The Swordy could try whatever it wanted, but Magna had his barrier around him, his trusty shield in one hand, and in the other hand, the power to sink ships and destroy cities. Magna calmly raised his all-powerful hand, and as he brought down the hammer of righteous golem justice, there was only one thing to be said: Oh yeah.

Anyis's Actions:
1) Soul Riser (60 Heal, 2TCD) @ Self
--LilCloud1 (85 Aqua damage, Wide Attack) @ Canodumb2A/Spooky2A
2) Titan Revival (100 Aqua damage, Phasing, 3TCD) @ Spooky2A
3) Dodge
4) Dodge
5) Dodge

Magna's Actions:
1) GolemHit2 (190 damage, Break, Panel Break, Wide Attack) @ Swordy-N2
2) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Core Field - 1 turn
Soul Riser - 2 turns
Titan Revival - 3 turns
It was a bit of a bad day for Anyis' operator, with him having to play temporary porcine-unrelated ride for a weak sister. Nevertheless, Mill's Navi pressed on, with her licked face remedied by... a slap to the face. Well, it worked, so it was fine. In any case, the Little Cloud battlechip rained down on both of the viruses not currently standing next to Magna, and the ghastly Titan only served to rub the Spooky's ghost data in its own face. Finally, Lilia managed to contribute to the battle by transforming Magna into a fearsome shadow of what he was, with the golem bringing down stoic retribution to the Swordy in front of him.

Spooky2A: DELETED
Spooky2B: DELETED
Canodumb2A: DELETED
Canodumb2B: DELETED
Canodumb2C: DELETED
Swordy-N2: DELETED

Terrain: 100% Normal

Anyis.EXE: 220 HP
Magna.SP: 80 HP [80 HP Barrier] [2-hit Shield]

-- BATTLE 03, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[Recover50] Battlechip, 2000z, 36 BugFrags
With victory in hand, Anyis and Magna gathered up the various spoils of war, and... Err... "Hey Mill, how are we supposed to transfer chip data to you?" queried Anyis through the PET hanging from the Operator's mouth.

"Iunno." grunted Mill without any of the hard syllables that would demand that he bite through his PET's handle and close his mouth. "Mehhi ih'll ust-"

"Okay, enough, just stop. I'm just going to transfer it and you can deal with it later." interrupted Anyis, unable to stand any more of Mill's garbled speech. At her beckon, Magna moved over and handed what he had gathered to Anyis, and with a single clap of her hands, everything was uploaded off the Net. "And that's that. We're moving on, feel free to not respond to that." announced Anyis, who promptly began walking off towards the target coordinates.

"Mm." responded Mill anyway, seeing a prime opportunity to get under Anyis's skin without even really saying anything. And, sure enough, Anyis's fingers clenched together into a fist as she moved along.

(Battle 4 Start)
Moving further into the ACDC Rogue network areas with confidence, Anyis strolled along, with allies in tow, to search for more things to be deleted. In the course of time, they found said things to be deleted, in the form of a troupe of upgraded Melody, whose ID tags identified them as "Hellody". In addition to that, a Miner shuffled along behind the bouncing menaces, holding its signature mines close, ready to plant.

However, just as they were about to engage, a screech was emitted from the skies, which made them look up to find two red Fishy dashing towards them at top speed from the back!

-- ENEMIES --
Hellody A: 140 HP (Front)
Hellody B: 140 HP (Front)
Hellody C: 140 HP (Front)
Miner2: 200 HP (Front)

Fishy2 A: 150 HP (Behind)
Fishy2 B: 150 HP (Behind)

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 220 HP
Magna.SP: 80 HP

-- TERRAIN --
100% Normal

-- ROGUE BATTLE 04, READY? START!! --
"Uh oh..." muttered Anyis as she watched the pair of red Fishies divebombing ever closer to her. She hadn't been all that concerned with the viruses in front of her initially, but being victim to a pincer attack was always so troublesome. "Mill! I need ch... Damnit, nevermind." Anyis slapped her palm against her forehead as she sighed, remembering that Mill was largely incapacitated as an Operator right now. At the very least, there was no way he could deliver chips fast enough to counter the incoming Fishy duo. "Magna, do you have ANY way to hide that massive body of yours?" asked Anyis, pleading with the fates for some sort of escape.

"... Since the date of the last search, a new Graphic Model Override has been appended to my systems. It... seems to be optimized for digging." reported Magna after an instantaneous search.

"New GMO...? When was the last time you looked... Ahh, nevermind, that's lucky. Brace for snowfall Magna, we're about to go under!" shouted Anyis to her SP as she raised her arm up into the air. It what was an extreme overreaction to her very subtle movement, the entire battlefield was suddenly inundated with snowfall. Blizzard wasn't even the word. It was far too fierce... and far too short-lived. Next thing anyone knew, everything was coated with a solid layer of snow. Had anyone with Anyis's vision looked up, they'd see a huge gash in the River above from what Anyis hastily ripped out to fuel the snowstorm, but there was no time for that. "Okay Magna, get digging and get digging fast!" ordered the weather witch as she hopped up on her big SP's shoulder.

"Understood Mother Unit, I shall commence subterranean snow traversal." responded Magna as he refreshed his data with the new GMO set, and... his bum was replaced by a giant drill. The end. Wow, Magna's GMO's were always such spectacular changes. For whatever was lacking in flash and style, though, it was made up with function, as Magna's new drill base whirred to life and immediately dropped both him and the Mother Unit beneath the snow pack. The gaping hole created by the golem was a bit lacking in structural integrity, and quickly collapsed behind the digging tandem. With Anyis and Magna moving underground, it was up to the Fishies to see if they could pull up from their dive before they hit the ground, or, god willing, the other viruses...

1) Spirit Duster (Stage Change Snow Terrain, 3TCD)
2) Hop on Magna (Movement)

Magna's Actions:
--Drill.GMO
1) GOLEMVATOR, GOING DOWN (Burrow Self and Anyis)
--COLLISION COURSE? (???)

Cooldowns:
Spirit Duster - 3 turns

---TURN SPLICE---
Noticing the dire implications of the situation, Anyis turned the field into a giant snowfall, confusing the viruses a great deal before both Magna and Anyis burrowed deep into the ground. The Fishies diverged from the path since snow had gotten into their eyes.

One of them crashed into a Miner. The Hellodys decided this was amusing and bounced around. The snow melted a bit and the Miner grumbled, rolling around in the snow to ease his burn. The other Fishy decided to do the same.

-- ENEMIES --
Hellody A: 140 HP
Hellody B: 140 HP
Hellody C: 140 HP
Miner2: 155 HP (Rolling around on Ice)(Thick Mist)
Fishy2 A: 105 HP (Rolling around on Ice)(Thick Mist)
Fishy2 B: 150 HP

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 220 HP (Burrowed)[3 actions]
Magna.SP: 80 HP [Drill.GMO](Burrowed)[1 action]

-- TERRAIN --
10% Ice
90% Snow