Ghostly Girls' Games

"The Mother Unit is the Mother Unit. Program hierarchy dictates as much. Unit Eidolon is the Mother Unit to your Unit Icaro, Unit Icaro." explained Magna while Anyis just covered her face with a hand wearily. By his own definition, Djinni was a Mother Unit too, as well as Mel... No no no. That will not be brought up.

What was brought up was Eidolon's lack of a visible hand, as she took off her gauntlet to show Anyis. "... Wait wait wait wait wait. You don't have hands either?!" gasped Anyis, skipping any check to see if Eidolon's other hand was the same way and the matter of Eidolon actually touching her neck with her not-hand. Anyis tried to hop off Magna's shoulder to investigate, but one large orange finger blocked her like the safety bar on a roller coaster. "Oh come on! Do you want me to fight from your shoulder too?!"

"You will not be causing additional damage to your ankle, Mother Unit." informed Magna, leaving no room for dissent.

Frustrated, Anyis looked back at Eidolon as the latter put her black gauntlet back on. Anyis's eyes softened into a look of... Hrm. Amazement? If she had to describe it, Anyis would probably have to say it was a feeling akin to a kid at the zoo.

... She probably shouldn't say that aloud. "Fine, whatever... I can just do that again next fight, and this time I'll watch." grumbled Anyis, referring to her use of Channel Surf on Eidolon.
"But Mistress Eidolon is my summoner, not my mother," Icaro said, confused.

Sensing that that particular line of conversation was about to go in circles until viruses found them, Andrew stepped in. "Just let it go," he said.

"Right." Icaro quickly changed the subject. "I can probably do something about that ankle. Do you want me to look at it?"

"Hm? I have hands," Eidolon said once she brought her attention back to the fact that other people were trying to talk to her. "They're just...broken," she said as though the damage to them was an unpleasant, but completely natural thing. She remained confused by the continual surprise expressed by both Icaro and Anyis over her condition. It was something she had resigned herself to live with, and at least was better than no longer existing. The continual shock and alarm expressed by others wasn't helping matters, though.

((Battle 3))
It seemed that somehow, Anyis and Eidolon had wandered into some kind of sports complex area, as a short walk after the hockey field led them to what seemed to be an equestrian racetrack. Rather than stands, however, the area had Holy paneling, slanted into a stair-like pattern that was pretty easy to sit on. On the track, some Twin viruses were riding fleeced Moloko, driving them onwards to victory. The middle of the circular track was empty, save for a floating platform, which housed some commentating UFOs and Kettles. Of course, neither the Navis nor the SPs could really understand what they were saying.

Suddenly, just as they neared the finish line, one of the Moloko spotted the Navis on the edge of the track, and charged at them, leading the others in as well!

-- ENEMIES --
BlueUFO A: 160 HP (Flying/Normal)
BlueUFO B: 160 HP (Flying/Normal)
Twinner A: 150 HP [1] [Riding Milko A]
Twinner B: 150 HP [1] [Riding Milko B]
Twinner C: 150 HP [2] [Riding Milko C]
Twinner D: 150 HP [2] [Riding Milko D]
Milko A: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
Milko B: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
Milko C: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
Milko D: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
SuperKettle A: 0/140 °C (Normal)
SuperKettle B: 0/140 °C (Normal)

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 195 HP (Holy)
Magna.SP: 100 HP (Holy)
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP (Holy)
Icaro.SP: 60 HP (Holy)

-- TERRAIN --
30% Holy (Ring around the track)
50% Racetrack (Track itself, counts as Normal, +1 rank to all movement)
20% Normal (Separate piece of terrain high above in the middle of track)

-- ROGUE TEAM BATTLE 03, READY? START!! --
"God, Netopians are weird... The hockey doesn't have ice, the race tracks have sheep..." sighed Anyis as she looked over the field from atop Magna's shoulder. She didn't even have a clue what kind of virus was riding those sheep, but one thing she could figure right away was that they were ugly. Not long after that thought, those ugly things turned their Milko mounts around and charged at the four of them, making Anyis wonder for a moment if she was telepathic. "Hm... Nah, it's probably that weird chatter from up on the platform." she said aloud to dismiss that theory, before looking up to what was making that noise. "Oh damnit, not those things again..."

"What things?" questioned Mill.

"Those chip-stealing UFO things! They're so obnoxious!" groaned Anyis, fidgeting where she sat much to Magna's distress.

"Oh yeah, I remember them now... I dunno that any of you can really worry about that right now, though, what with all the other viruses racing at you. Lemme grab some chips to send real quick..." suggested Mill as he reached into his pocket.

Anyis observed the SuperKettles sitting up on the commentator's platform along with the UFOs before saying, "Hold on... Just send me the PhoenixShot when I tell you to. I think I can get rid of the UFOs fast as long as this is the first chip we use."

"Well, if you say so." shrugged Mill, only digging out the one aforementioned chip. "Just tell me when to slot it in."

"On 3, then. Stay still for me, Magna." declared Anyis as she twisted herself around to face towards the platform. She triggered her right hand gauntlet before wrapping that arm around her body. "1... 2... 3!" Mill slotted the chip in, Anyis's gauntlet glowed red for just an instant, and she flung her arm forward, chopping at the air to create a wave of fire hurtling towards the SuperKettles.

Anyis's Actions:
1) PhoenixShot1 (70 Fire damage [A], Wide Attack) @ SuperKettleA/B

--TURN SPLICE (Solo, please mod this)--
An explosive start by Anyis made quick work of four viruses at once, as the Kettles reacted immediately to the PhoenixShot, taking down the UFOs with them! Unfortunately, the virus riders and their rides were too far away from the high platform to be caught in the explosion, and were relatively unharmed.

-- ENEMIES --
BlueUFO A: DELETED
BlueUFO B: DELETED
Twinner A: 150 HP [1] [Riding Milko A]
Twinner B: 150 HP [1] [Riding Milko B]
Twinner C: 150 HP [2] [Riding Milko C]
Twinner D: 150 HP [2] [Riding Milko D]
Milko A: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
Milko B: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
Milko C: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
Milko D: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece Barrier) (Racetrack)
SuperKettle A: DELETED
SuperKettle B: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 195 HP (Holy) (5 actions left)
Magna.SP: 100 HP (Holy)
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP (Holy)
Icaro.SP: 60 HP (Holy)

-- TERRAIN --
30% Holy (Ring around the track)
50% Racetrack (Track itself, counts as Normal, +1 rank to all movement)
20% Normal (Separate piece of terrain high above in the middle of track)
That worked...surprisingly well. Why couldn't things always go that smoothly?

Well, that just left the sheep racers and the strange viruses riding them. Eidolon tried to reach into her chest to retrieve the sword that had broken in the aftermath of the sudden surge of ghost data the battle before, but failed. The sword had still yet to reform. "Not back yet," she muttered to herself. She had gotten used to it by this point, but it still meant that she would have to either improvise or do things that Andrew kept berating her for. Not that those two never overlapped.

"That's what you get for carelessly using that ability," Andrew said.

Speaking of berating. Eidolon shrugged. "Don't look at me. I figured it was there for me to use it."

"What did you even do?" Icaro asked.

"No idea."

"What? Do you have any idea how you even work?"

"Well maybe if Andrew would stop changing how I work every other month..."

Andrew stayed silent for several seconds before sighing. "Okay, I'm not entirely blameless. That doesn't mean it's all on me. I certainly didn't tell you what to do back there. And I...don't have any idea what happened back there either. It must have been because of something Anyis did." Uploading several chips for Eidolon to occupy herself with until her blade re-formed, he added, "Just try not to delete yourself out there. And Icaro, don't give her a hard time. At least not unless I'm doing it too."

"Thanks," Eidolon said sarcastically.

"Right. Sorry," Icaro said, focusing on what she had offered to do earlier instead. Her body, or at least what was actually there of it, shifted from its natural green state to a vibrant pink. Rose petals swirled around her, then blew on the wind to reach Anyis and carry their healing energy to her.

Eidolon, meanwhile, called on ghost data and sheer telekinetic force to create a powerful gust of wind leading toward her, aimed to hopefully catch three of the riders and blow them off their sheep mounts. She followed it up with a smaller and non-damaging pull to take the fourth one as well, ideally putting them in the path of the sheep's charge. As she pulled at the fourth Twinner, her visor and her face immediately around it distorted into pixels briefly, then restored itself as she attempted to corrupt it with junk data as well as dragging it around. In a similar process of distorted pixels resolving into something coherent, fire erupted from the ground beneath the sheep as a hazy cloud that resolved into proper flames that would hopefully catch them before they charged past it, and burn off their fleece.

With the defenses of at least three of them down if all went well, Eidolon raised her hands to her face and lifted her visor from the glowing white lights that shone in place of eyes. Core data flowed from them to coat her body, crackling like electricity at first as it coated her hands and shot forth toward one of the Twinners, where it would then spread out in three directions toward adjacent targets. The continually leaking energy then coalesced into something solid, forming a boomerang in her hands. Eidolon drew it back behind her, then threw it at the Milkos she had targeted earlier.

Eidolon replaced her visor over her eyes, but no sooner did she do so that a blast of raw energy issued from it, seeking a target of its own accord and firing straight from the eyepiece at one of the Milkos. Acting like she didn't notice it happening at all, Eidolon braced herself to dodge in case she or Anyis failed to stop the sheep's charge.
___

1. Airstorm2: 60+Pull to Twinners A, B, and C - attempt to pull off milkos and into path of trampling
*Toward: Twinner D - same
*Hack: Glitch Twinner D
2. WhiteWeb1: 40+Snare to Milkos A, B, and C
3. ElecReel1: 80 Elec to Twinner B, spread to Twinner A and C and Milko B
4. Boomerang1: 60 wood to Milkos A, B, and C
5. Markcannon2: 100+Seeking+LockOn to Milko A
6. Dodge

Icaro:
1. Song of Healing: 30 heal to Anyis
"Haha, take that!" laughed Anyis brashly as the UFOs went up in an steamy, SuperKettle-induced explosion. It's almost like the viruses didn't know what was coming, like perhaps they were busy commentating on the Milko racing... Oh wait, they were doing that. With that in mind, Anyis's ambush was probably rather cruel towards a quartet of viruses that didn't even show signs of aggression. Did that concern her at all? Of course not. She was damn proud of that shot, given that she was affixed to her SP's shoulder with a bum ankle.

Luckily, said ankle wasn't going to persist as an issue for long, as Icaro unveiled to Anyis her healing abilities, wrapping the joint in a cast of wind-swept rose petals and fixing it right up. "Huh... Guess that's better than me punching my own ankle back in place." said Anyis as she twisted her foot back and forth to test. Satisfied with the result, Anyis added, "Looks good. Thanks, Icaro." as she hopped off of Magna's shoulder finally.

"And I bet you want some chips to keep up with Eidolon, now that you're back on your own two feet." stated Mill as a halfway between a matter of fact and a question.

"Damn right I do." nodded Anyis. "And Magna, go cover Icaro for me. I owe her, so by extension so do you."

"Understood, Mother Unit." replied Magna, who assembled his shield without so much as a mutter of complaint and parked his metallic bum in front of his significantly less visible fellow SP. Yep, that's about how this fight was going for Magna. Promoted from chair to wall.

Mill just shook his head at the submissiveness of the golem, then began slotting in several chips for Anyis to use. "The first is for shearing the Milkos, do what you want with the rest." was all Mill had to say on the matter.

"Oh, I'm in control? A good prize for my perfect attack earlier. Smart thinking, Mill." praised Anyis of her Operator, which was a rarity outside of situations like this where she was given free reign. To be polite, though, she did at least adhere to Mill's lone instruction, which was to use the AquaNeedle he sent to make sure whatever wool Eidolon didn't remove was a non-issue. Three ice-coated spikes materialized in front of Anyis for probably the one millionth time, allowing her to wave them off towards their targets without many complications.

With Eidolon already launching an assault of wind, lightning, and wood at the Twinners and their mounts, Anyis was thus left with just water and fire to complete the set. Conveniently, Mill provided on both counts. With the Milkos stampeding closer, Anyis slapped the ground in front of her and caused pillars of water to gush out in an effort to sweep the viruses away entirely. She then changed her angle just slightly to target most of the other Twinners, and slapped the ground again, this time causing fire pillars to erupt around the ugly cyclops-things.

With the elemental rainbow complete, Anyis was left with just one chip chip to use. Having never used it before, Anyis was surprised to see a Totem statue appear in front of her. Objects really weren't her thing, since they were so... hands-off. "Well that's boring..." sighed Anyis as she glanced around to get an idea of who was where. "Eh, whatever, just do your thing to those sheep jockeys."

The Totem obliged its summoner's command with as much resolution as Magna usually demonstrated, which irked the golem as a seemingly new rival appeared. An extremely intense flame breath bellowed out of the Totem onto two of the Twinners and one of their Milko mounts, with easily twice the strength that Anyis's earlier FlameLine had offered. "Wow..." was all Anyis had to say, not expecting that kind of power from the lifeless object. Having enough sense to not gawk mid-battle, though, Anyis quickly turned back and readied to try and dodge anything that might've survived the assault.

Anyis's Actions:
2) AquaNeedle2 (45 Aqua damage [b]) @ MilkoB/C/D
3) WaterLine2 (145 Aqua damage [b], Ground Attack, Wide Attack) @ MilkoC/D/TwinnerD
4) FlameLine1 (70 Fire damage , Ground Attack, Wide Attack) @ TwinnerA/B/C
5) Totem2 (100 HP Object)
--Totem Fire Breath (140 Fire damage [A], Spread 2) @ TwinnerC/D/MilkoC
6) Dodge


Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Buckler (Passive 3-Hit Shield)
1) Protect Unit Icaro
2) Protect Unit Icaro
3) Dodge
Eidolon began by sucking in some Twinners, who apparently weren't quite gripping their rides tightly, and were all brought in to be hit by wind attacks. Unfortunately, the gust wasn't quite enough to get them properly positioned, and so they were spared the embarrassment of being run over by their own allies. She then forcefully installed some erroneous data into the undamaged one, but it seemed to not mind it. In fact, its eye was looking a bit shiny...(Glitch: Refracting Lens - Its attack now has the Beam Attack property)

Speaking of living dangerously, the sheep viruses sure loved to run. So much so that they completely ignored the dangerous fire in front of them. It was summoned a bit to the side, though, allowing one of the Milko to avoid it by dumb luck, but the other found themselves a bit chillier. Anyis's aim continued to be flawless, as all of her needles hit their marks.

Unamused, the Twinner took action, as one of each pair began to move as the other launched bizarre orbs from their eyes at each Navi, right as the ladies unleashed their next attacks. Eidolon could basically just stand there and watch the sphere intended for her sail wide, but instead just used her ElecReel, which zapped the linked pair. Anyis was less than lucky, as she was smacked right in the face by the enemy attack, though the holy grounds she stood on softened the blow, so it fell more like a baseball hit her, as opposed to being shot or something (30). It was just enough to end her immaculate accuracy, as one of her geysers missed its mark by a wide margin. On the bright side, it ended a Milko, and brought the glitched Twinner to the brink.

With that, however, the other sheep arrived, choosing Eidolon and the SPs to strike, possibly on the grounds that a giant purple golem would be easier to ram. Their plan ended in miserable failure, as Magna's shield held up fine against not just his own, but Icaro's assailant as well. And again, all Eidolon had to do was stand there and watch the attack intended for her miss by a comical margin. But instead, she flung a boomerang, which hit its mark well...but she threw it before the targets left the glowing terrain, allowing them to take reduced damage, as well. Oops.

The icy Navi's next move proved a bit...un-icy, as she attempted to give Twinner the hot foot. Her eagle eye appeared to returned, as one pair was unceremoniously burned to ashes. The other also took some heavy damage. She then set up a single tiered totem pole to continue the heated exchange, and managed to nail the remaining cyclopian viruses. The glitched one tried to fire an optic blast before being fried, but was too slow.

Now all driverless, the now infuriated wild and (partially) wooly viruses again charged, this time focused on the Navis...and Magna, of course. That train of thought hadn't changed. The bugging Navi appeared to have an aura at this point that prevented anything virus related from coming within 10 feet of her, and thus watched the exact same Milk go speeding by with equally terrible accuracy. The icy Navi didn't have that same protection, but managed to avoid her intended strike anyway. Magna simply blocked his attack, causing his shield to shatter. Not that it mattered at this point...and again, Eidolon counterattacked, but this time she knew enough to wait until they were off the holy terrain before doing so. Oddly, her attack ended up hitting a Milko besides the targeted one, but that probably wasn't a bad thing.

Oh, and at some point, Icaro healed Anyis up a bit. When, no one saw. It was a mystery whose answer was known only by the SP...

And the recovery extended to the enemies as well, as their fleece was restored to its fluffy peak...

-- ENEMIES --
BlueUFO A: DELETED
BlueUFO B: DELETED
Twinner A: DELETED
Twinner B: DELETED
Twinner C: DELETED
Twinner D: DELETED
Milko A: 140 HP (40 HP Fleece) (Racetrack)
Milko B: 65 HP (40 HP Fleece) (Racetrack)
Milko C: DELETED
Milko D: 40 HP (40 HP Fleece) (Racetrack)
SuperKettle A: DELETED
SuperKettle B: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 195 HP (Holy)
Magna.SP: 100 HP (Holy)
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP (Holy)
Icaro.SP: 60 HP (Holy)

-- OBJECTS --
Totem2: 100 HP (Attack Mode) (Holy)

-- TERRAIN --
30% Holy (Ring around the track)
50% Racetrack (Track itself, counts as Normal, +1 rank to all movement)
20% Normal (Separate piece of terrain high above in the middle of track)
"Someone needs to tell these things that I'm over here," Eidolon remarked after, three times in a row, watching the charging sheep viruses run past her without any apparent idea that they weren't actually getting anywhere near her.

"Why?" Andrew asked. "Do you want to get hit?"

Eidolon shrugged. "No."

"Then what are you complaining about?"

"Easier targets when they're running at me."

Andrew sighed, sending a few more chips. "Just try looking bigger, then. They certainly had no problem going after Magna with his size."

Eidolon nodded. The outlines of her body distorted, pushing data outward into a much wider frame. The outlines of a shield formed as they did, then stretched and molded to fit the design of the new navi she was adapting the form of. Static filled the void, expanding to fit the mass of a mechanical juggernaut that outstripped even even Magna in size. A tower shield nearly the size of the machine itself attached itself to one arm, while an equally large cannon formed on the other. The static then faded into a fine haze over a detailed and mostly solid image of a fifteen foot mecha navi, with the real Eidolon at the heart.

The illusion raised its navi-sized cannon and emitted a spectral blast, which was followed by a real shot of spectral energy from Eidolon which erupted into flames in front of her, in the path of the Milkos. She then charged forward, guiding the mecha illusion as though it were going to simply ram into the viruses with its sheer body mass. The real Eidolon, meanwhile, surrounded herself in an aura of raw energy, which would have the same effect in a much narrower line.

Then as she started into her dash, she felt the broken sword re-form and pulled it out of her chest, cutting in a wide enough arc to cover the width of her illusion and, hopefully, all three viruses.

The illusion pivoted on the spot at the end of Eidolon's dash, in what she thought was a much cleaner motion than the real thing would have been able to manage. Her follow-up attack was also not quite spot-on, as the illusion fired a short burst from its cannon, while the real Eidolon followed it up with a set of daggers made from ghost energy, flying at the Milkos from an obviously lower height than the illusion's gun.

With any luck though, sheep viruses weren't smart enough to tell the difference.

"What is that?" Andrew asked as Eidolon prepared to take evasive action.

The real Eidolon shrugged. "Found it in corrupted memory data."

"From where?"

"Don't know."

Icaro, meanwhile, sat back and blew rose petals at Anyis again. Unlike before, these petals were designed to linger rather than take effect all at once, but could easily be blown away by a stiff breeze. Or any attack that managed to hit her, for that matter.
___

*Spectral Shield: 1-hit shield
1. Apparition: Illusion - appear as something very big and very easy to ram to "taunt" Milkos
2. Flameline1: 70 Fire to Milkos
3. DashAttack: 90+Impact+Movement to Milkos
4. WideSword: 80+Wide+Slashing to Milkos - executed during DashAttack as Eidolon passes
5. Kunai1: 30x3+Slashing to Milko A
6. Dodge

Icaro:
*IV: Heal 5 per action to Anyis
1. Dodge
"For god's sake, this is a horse track! How did I get hit with a ball?!" groaned Anyis as she rubbed her shoulder, which was victim to the Twinner's ocular attack. In a bit of an awkward situation, she actually couldn't vent her anger at the Twinners since they were all... well, dead. So, Anyis picked on the first one to come to mind. "Magna, why don't you use that shield once in a while to cover for me, huh?!"

"... My apologies, Mother Unit." said Magna slowly, as he let the shattered fragments of his shield fall out of his hand, having bounced away the charging Milkos like they were rubber.

"... Oi. What's with that pause?" pressed Anyis, sensing some hesitation in Magna's regret.

"Repelling the Milko Units was... satisfying." thought Magna aloud, perhaps giving insight into what a wall would find enjoyable. "Unit Icaro was spared from significant damage, as well. I just... was compelled to slam my shield against the Milko Units. I lack further data, I am sorry." What he either was unwilling to admit or unaware of was that he was just a defense nut, and applying a shield to a charging enemy's face was awesome.

Anyis just looked at her SP with a blank expression, meeting his own ever-static face for a very uninspired exchange of body language. "Well whatever, I'm not going to stop you from satiating your... blocking fetish, or whatever that is." she said finally, in less than graceful terms. Ready to just defer the menial labor to her Totem object, Anyis raised a hand to snap her fingers... Right, gauntlet. It always irked Anyis that she kept trying this, as she's been wearing gloves her entire life. "Ugh... Totem, fire thingy again." ordered Anyis in an unmotivated manner. The Totem complied, and exhaled a breath of flames onto the surviving Milkos.

"Did I... do something incorrect, Operator?" queried Magna, having been confused by the Mother Unit's response. Thankfully, he did not choose to ask for an elaboration on "fetish".

"No, no, don't worry about it. She's just venting, like usual." explained Mill, dismissing the importance of Anyis's attitude. "I think Icaro will be fine now, so why don't I send you the GutPunch and let you take some swings?"

"Understood, Operator." replied Magna with a nod, before watching his right hand become encased in the chip's usual yellow armor. Magna being Magna, of course, that also came with a fresh shield in his left hand. Maybe Anyis was right and "blocking fetish" actually was a proper term for this.

"Wait, only Magna gets a chip? Fine, be that way." grumbled Anyis, who raised a hand into the air as she complained. A surge of ghost data flowed into her palm from the sky-bound River above, allowing Anyis to reconstruct it within her body before shooting it back out. The whole procedure was pretty routine for her at this point, so without much commotion she thrust her hands forward, launching the partial ghost of the Titan forward... right as Eidolon also charged forward with her crazy giant phantom mech. Was this really reasonable for just 3 sheep? No, not even remotely. Eidolon and her machine illusion did not care, however, and neither did the patched-together ghost of the already ghostly Titan. With his two hands clenched together, the Titan let out a bellowing roar as he hammered his arms down on one of the Milkos, blowing himself back out of existence with the sheer force of the strike.

"... I was about to send you the AquaKnife, Anyis." mentioned Mill after the fact, not wanting to disrupt Anyis's summoning process.

"... Oh. Well, go ahead and send it then." answered Anyis, scratching the side of her head awkwardly as she heard this.

While the Operator and Mother Unit took care of that transfer, Magna observed Eidolon's fighting, finding himself... bothered by the giant imaginary mech. He wasn't the largest thing on the battlefield anymore. That was a very strange and rare occurrence, and Magna quite frankly did not like it. So, as it would have it, the unintended form of Eidolon's illusion lit a competitive fire under Magna's grill, sending the golem leaping forward at one of the Milkos. His first punch came as a packaged deal with his landing, driving the GutPunch armor down into the racetrack as he tried to crush the Milko. Magna then lifted his heavy metal fist, pulled it back for a moment, and subsequently unleashed a vicious right hook would clock a lot of tougher things than a sheep.

"Well isn't he having fun..." sighed Anyis, who felt like this entire proceeding just got completely off her own pace. "Meh, let's just get this one over with." she resolved, while playing with the ice-coated AquaKnife between her armored fingers. Anyis just made a straight rush at the one Milko neither she nor Magna had already targeted, slicing at it in a quick one-two fashion allowed only by the weapon's short blade. Anyis then backed off to take her evasive stance, but not before having to tug at Magna's shield-bearing arm to get him to stop pounding on his own Milko and do the same.

Anyis's Actions:
--Totem Fire Breath (140 Fire damage [A], Spread 2) @ MilkoA/B/D
1) Titan Revival (140 Aqua damage [A], Phasing, 4TCD) @ MilkoA
2) AquaKnife (85 Aqua damage [b], Slashing) @ MilkoB
3) AquaKnife (85 Aqua damage , Slashing) @ MilkoB
4) Dodge
5) Dodge
6) Dodge


Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Buckler (Passive 3-Hit Shield)
1) GutPunch (70 damage [A], Impact, Knockback) @ MilkoD
2) GutPunch (70 damage [A], Impact, Knockback) @ MilkoD
3) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Titan Revival - 4 turns
As fluffy as the Milkos' wools were, it really didn't do much about the fact that they were pretty much killed in an instant...

-- ENEMIES --
BlueUFO A: DELETED
BlueUFO B: DELETED
Twinner A: DELETED
Twinner B: DELETED
Twinner C: DELETED
Twinner D: DELETED
Milko A: DELETED
Milko B: DELETED
Milko C: DELETED
Milko D: DELETED
SuperKettle A: DELETED
SuperKettle B: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 195 HP (Holy)
Magna.SP: 100 HP (Holy)
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP (Holy)
Icaro.SP: 60 HP (Holy)

-- OBJECTS --
Totem2: 100 HP (Attack Mode) (Holy)

-- TERRAIN --
30% Holy (Ring around the track)
50% Racetrack (Track itself, counts as Normal, +1 rank to all movement)
20% Normal (Separate piece of terrain high above in the middle of track)

-BATTLE WON!-
Anyis: 3,500z
Eidolon: 3,350z
Static: 44 Bugfrags + 8 FXP
"That was so quick, I'm not actually sure who did what..." noted Anyis after staring at the smoldering patch of death on the race track. "Oh well, what's done is done... and I forgot to give the ghost data to Eidolon again. Damnit!"

"Would you have even been able to tell with that mech illusion smashing its way around?" asked Mill honestly.

"... Of course I could, some illusion isn't going to trick me-"

"Mother Unit, Unit Eidolon's illusion produced the full array of optic signals necessary to produce a perceivable image." interjected Magna, before Anyis could say too much.

"No one asked you!" snapped Anyis frustratedly, turning her eyes away from both Mill and Magna. "Ergh... Come on, we're going. Find some more viruses, and that stuff." she decided quickly, retreating from this matter.

"... Pfft." snickered Mill, covering his mouth as he enjoyed the moment.

Eidolon didn't seem to notice anything confusing about how the battle ended. Everything died and they were no longer being attacked by sheep. That was all she cared about.

And...Anyis was shouting at her operator and support program again. Eidolon simply shook her head at this point. At least it was keeping Anyis from bothering her or Icaro with strange questions.

"Um..." Icaro started, apparently a little more concerned about it.

"Don't bother. Probably good for her," Eidolon said.

"You are...probably not a good judge of what is good for anybody," Icaro said back.

Eidolon simply shrugged.

((Battle 4))
Continuing through the deserted expanse of the network, Anyis, Eidolon and co. soon came across an interesting sight. A miniature model of the Colosseum, about ten feet tall, twenty feet wide and topped by a few hostile looking Beetanks on its walls. An aggressive trio of Swordy viruses stood at the foot of the construct, several Hellodies bouncing eagerly behind them. Finally, inside the Colosseum was a hulking MetalCragger, joined by a pair of Brushmen on either side. Most of the thing was filled with poison as well, possibly a result of the hazardous nature of the network. The viruses were doing their best to avoid it while the Brushmen slowly cleared the panels away, but that endeavor was abandoned when the Beetanks spotted a new target.

-- FRONT --
Swordy-N2A: 120 HP
Swordy-N2B: 120 HP
Swordy-N2C: 120 HP
HellodyA: 140 HP
HellodyB: 140 HP
HellodyC: 140 HP

-- ON WALL --
Beetank2A: 160 HP
Beetank2B: 160 HP
Beetank2C: 160 HP

-- INSIDE --
MetalCragger: 200 HP [Hardbody]
Brushman2A: 150 HP
Brushman2B: 150 HP

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal (Wide path leading through closest entrance to center of Colosseum)
40% Poison (Surrounding the exterior/ringing the interior)
(All combatants on Normal unless otherwise specified)

-- OBJECTS --
Colosseum Model: 400 HP

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 195 HP
Magna.SP: 100 HP
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP
Icaro.SP: 60 HP

-- TEAM BATTLE 4 START! --
"... Seriously?" queried a genuinely surprised Anyis as she and the others approach the Colosseum Model. "God, this place is just mocking me now. I just so happen to be fighting viruses with the girl who absorbed the remains of the one Navi to beat me in a fight, and we have to come across a replica of where he defeated me?! Just... come on!" Her surprise quickly turned into exasperation, as their new venue seemed to be mocking her.

"The one Navi to beat you while you've been my Navi, you mean?" corrected Mill, finding it hard to believe Pianissimo was her first loss ever.

"... That's not important. There are a bunch of annoying viruses here, so we don't have time to count pointless things like that." digressed Anyis skillfully.

"Mm hm... It's true those Hellodies gave you a lot of trouble last time. Let's try focusing on the other types for now. Maybe Eidolon has a better matchup against all that bouncing than you." Not forcing the issue, Mill turned his attention to the current battle and started slotting a few Battlechips in to counter the Swordies and Beetanks. "Magna, could you protect Icaro again for now? I'm worried about how this initial wave might play out... given Anyis's luck with coliseums." He had to get just one last jab in, of course.

"Hey, I made it all the way to the semifinals! And how the heck are you acting like you didn't lose that fight too?" barked Anyis in her defense.

"... Understood, Operator, I will protect Unit Icaro to the best of my ability." responded Magna in a much more cordial manner. Having been... well, dead for the duration of that whole tournament, Magna really didn't have much of a clue what the Operator and Mother Unit were talking about. Poor guy.

Anyis just watched Magna shuffle over towards Icaro, unaware of how their Operator was teasing her, as he put together a fresh shield, and somehow... that made her chill a bit. She'd still mess up some of Mill's computer files later as revenge, of course, but at least for now she could maul some viruses instead. "Mm... First thing's first, though." thought Anyis aloud as she looked over to Eidolon and immediately made her the target point for a fresh downward current of ghost data channeled from the sky above. If Eidolon did in fact have feet, Anyis was going to see them this time. Maybe Eidolon could do some proper damage to the Hellodies with the power boost, too.

With that matter out of the way finally, Anyis went straight at the Swordies, giving a wide berth to those danged bouncing things. Being smart enough to not run straight into a sword point, Anyis stopped a bit short of the knightly viruses and punched the immediate ground with her gauntlet-clad fist. The WaterLine chip Mill sent erupted in front of Anyis, sending powerful columns of water right at the Swordies in a quick attempt to just wipe them off the battlefield in one shot. In the wake of the high-pressure water attack, Anyis backed away from her targets and then turned her attention upwards towards the Colosseum rafters.

"... How the heck did those fat bomb bugs climb all the way up there...?" muttered Anyis rhetorically as she observed the perched Beetanks. Not expecting a good answer to that, Anyis didn't wait long to throw the black cloud of her LilRain way, way up there. The piercing rain started falling almost immediately, and the cloud producing it began its march back and forth across the line of bomb-launching viruses. Not content to just leave that be, especially with one more chip still to use, Anyis triggered her last weapon. "Make it a thunderstorm!" she shouted suddenly, pointing the ElecReel's launcher up to the rainy top of the Colosseum. Anyis pulled the trigger then, sending bolts of lightning arcing up towards the Beetanks to create some rather nasty weather up at that height.

With no chips left to use after that display, Anyis created some distance between herself and the viruses to take an evasive stance and watch Eidolon's fighting.

Anyis's Actions:
1) Channel Surf (200 Strengthen, 5TCD) @ Eidolon
2) WaterLine2 (145 Aqua damage [b], Ground Attack, Wide Attack) @ Swordy-N2A/B/C
3) LilRain (85 Aqua damage [c], Wide Attack, 2 Turn Duration) @ Beetank2A/B/C
4) ElecReel (80 Elec damage , Spread 3 (Side + Behind)) @ Beetank2A/B/C/Colosseum Model
5) Dodge
6) Dodge


Magna's Actions:
--Reinforced Golem's Buckler (Passive 3-Hit Shield)
1) Protect Unit Icaro
2) Dodge
3) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Channel Surf - 5 turns
Eidolon noted that Anyis was bothered by their newest destination, as though the net itself was mocking them. She didn't have much idea of the details of what Anyis was complaining about this time other than that it apparently involved her tangentially, so she chose not to dwell on it beyond the fact that it bothered the ice navi. She didn't quite blame her, as there were some memories of her own associated with the colosseum. Well, not her own, but they were a part of her now, winking in and out of existence behind a mass of broken data with taunting hints about what was and what could have been. Eidolon normally ignored those thoughts and memories, but occasionally they were brought to her attention against her will. Like right now. Letting out a heavy sigh, she turned her attention back to more immediate matters. Viruses. Viruses that were distracted from what could have been constructive work because a couple of navis happened to pass by.

"Really now?" she asked no one in particular.

"You should probably do something about the bouncing ones, or this battle is going to be hell," Andrew remarked.

"You're hilarious. How long did you spend thinking that up," Eidolon remarked sarcastically. "Send me the web thing, I have an idea."

"The web thing has a name, you know," Andrew said, though he got the hint and sent it along with a few more chips. "What if I had more than one 'web thing'? What would you do then?"

"Expect you to know what I'm talking about," Eidolon answered. She looked over the field in front of her, searching for a good spot. And as it happened there was one, right in the entrance. The bouncing...things would have to bunch up to try to get at her there.

In an instant she was gone, reappearing just as suddenly in the entrance of the colosseum model. Poisonous terrain had pooled around the base, but that was of little consequence to her. The faintly glowing outline of a shield formed around her, swinging around her body to protect her from behind while she focused on the viruses still on the outside of the model.

Then she had a large amount of ghost data dumped on her. This time her body had a better idea of how to process it, immediately redirecting it to the gaps in her programming. Her legs below the knees filled in, leaving her walking atop the hazardous mire with a barrier of foreign data protecting her from its effects. Her gauntlets and scarf vanished, allowing the large tears in her body that they covered to be patched over with shifting television static. With some semblance of a solid, complete body again the rest of the ghost data ran out of holes in her program to cling to, and the rest hovered around her body as a floating cloud.

Once in this state Eidolon laid out her web trap in the poison moat in front of her, then added in a little extra 'incentive' for the Hellodies to fall for it in the form of a sudden windstorm. Sharp wind currents combined with telekinetic force flowed toward her and, by extension, the webbing, stirring up the data cloud into a small storm of its own in the process. Once the storm died down, the ghost data formed into a set of large data spikes of its own accord, hovering in the air around Eidolon.

Eidolon propelled herself away from the traps, kicking off of the surface of the poison to float briefly in the air inside the colosseum, only to fall back to the ground after the needles shot out from under her toward the traps.

"That should do it," she said, turning her attention inward toward the cleaning crew. So long as they were going to attack as well on the word of the tank viruses, they were targets too, and she would deal with them as such. And so she did, focusing the remaining ghost data out of her body and into her hands, where it burst into flames. The spectral fire quickly spread, engulfing a solid line in front of her, in line with the brush viruses and the golem. The remaining ghost data quickly burned itself out in the flames, leaving Eidolon's body damaged and only partially whole once more. The gloves and gauntlets quickly began to re-form to cover the damage, but her feet were left just as nonexistent as they had always been.

Back outside, Icaro stood on watch for any stray attacks that would get past Magna's shield, and for anyone to get damaged enough to need healing.
___

1. Reappear: Teleport to Colosseum Model entrance
*Spectral Shield: 1-hit shield, facing behind
2. WhiteWeb1: 40+Snare to three, laid as trap in front of entrance
3. AirStorm2: 60+Pull to Hellodies, attempt to pull onto WhiteWeb trap
4. Dodge
5. AquaNeedle1: 20 each to Hellodies, +20 Strengthen to A and C
6. FlameLine1 70 Fire each to Brushman2s and MetalCragger, +80 Strengthen to each Brushman hit

Icaro:
1. Dodge
Anyis' blast of water had cleaned off the Swordy viruses even before they had a proper chance to evade, while Eidolon began to prepare her little traps near the front of the gate. As this was going on, the Beetanks began to line their barrels on the two navis who were in close proximity with one another at this point, but Anyis had begun her attack on them.

By some ungodly luck, one of the tank had evaded two attacks in a row without a ding on its metal body, continuing its attack despite the loss of its comrade. Firing two rapid shots, the large blast caught the two navis by a surprise! [-45/-45]

Moving on, Eidolon began to drag the Hellodys towards herself and the trap, wounding the viruses with the small whirlwinds in the process. The plan didn't go as the navi hoped it would, as only two of the viruses was trapped by the web while one was free to jump around, and ultimately, attack Eidolon at a dangerously close range. Though the navi was able to quickly jump away from the Hellody's first attack, and even managing to fire three shots that deleted one of the trapped virus, the Hellody's second attack had crushed Eidolon with its soft body. [-60]

Eidolon was quick to recover from the attack as she continued her attack towards the three, inner viruses, turning the Colosseum into a temporary furnace with her powerful flames. All but the sturdy Cragger survived the attack, and it tried to swing its mighty fist against the pale navi...But it was just too too slow to even reach Eidolon!

-- FRONT --
Swordy-N2A: DELETED
Swordy-N2B: DELETED
Swordy-N2C: DELETED
HellodyA: DELETED
HellodyB: 20 HP [Trapped]
HellodyC: 40 HP

-- ON WALL --
Beetank2A: 160 HP
Beetank2B: DELETED
Beetank2C: DELETED

-- INSIDE --
MetalCragger: 165 HP [Hardbody]
Brushman2A: DELETED
Brushman2B: DELETED

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal (Wide path leading through closest entrance to center of Colosseum)
40% Poison (Surrounding the exterior/ringing the interior)
(All combatants on Normal unless otherwise specified)

-- OBJECTS --
Colosseum Model: 320 HP

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 150 HP
Magna.SP: 100 HP [3-hit Shield]
Eidolon.EXE: 95 HP [Within the Colosseum]
Icaro.SP: 60 HP
"You gotta be kidding me..." groaned Anyis as she wafted away residual smoke from the bomb blast, "How the heck can that thing dodge up there?! I am so going to... Ow...!" She started stomping towards the Colosseum model, far from any plan on how to actually climb it, but perhaps as a favor to her, Anyis's shoulder suddenly gave out after having taken the brunt of the blast. After some unintelligible grumbling to vent her frustration, Anyis gathered some ghost data into her still-functioning hand and jammed the fist into her bum shoulder, fixing the whole issue quickly.

"Hey Anyis, I was thinking- Wait, wait, you're really going to try and climb that?!" exclaimed Mill as Anyis paid little heed to her Operator talking, favoring instead to start approaching the Colosseum.

"Well, yeah, the hotshot up there thinks he's so good at dodging that I might as well go see how he handles the personal treatment." said Anyis with what sounded like little emotion, but the venom in her words could be figured all the same.

"And you're really going to climb up there one step at a time when I can just give you wings?" queried Mill, waving the DropDown chip in front of the PET screen exaggeratedly.

"..." Anyis came to a halt at this proposition, but found herself grating her teeth and unwilling to respond. "... Fine, okay, I wasn't thinking about that. Just give it to me, and something to smash the virus's face in with."

"Is that all? Eidolon got hit pretty hard, so I was thinking you might go support her." suggested Mill while fishing out an attack chip as requested. "She almost got clocked by that MetalCragger, too."

"She's capable, and I finally saw her feet. We can probably clean this up separately." explained Anyis, surely weighing the latter reason far more than the former in her lack of desire to help her ally.

"... Metal... Cragger...?" piped up Magna all of a sudden.

"Oh boy..." sighed Anyis, sensing where this was going.

Mill shook his head and sighed much the same as his Navi, but then admitted, "Yes, Magna, there is a Cragger here. And it's made of metal."

"... It is imperative that I be directed to the location of the MetalCragger Unit, Operator." informed Magna very formally.

"Inside the Colosseum..." answered Mill reluctantly, before going aside to Anyis. "Hey, could you transfer this to Magna before you take off? He's going to go fight that thing no matter what, and I don't think he can win on his own..."

"Alright, alright... Last thing I need is my servant losing to a lone virus." replied Anyis, waving Mill off quickly as she accepted the task.

"Is that what he is to you...?" asked Mill quietly to himself as he slotted in the chip for Magna ahead of what Anyis had already ordered.

After the first chip in question arrived to Magna, the golem wasted absolutely no time in charging the Colosseum's front entrance, potentially way-laying a few of the bricks with his hulking frame in the process. Next thing anyone knew, Magna was between Eidolon and the MetalCragger. How the heck did he move that fast...? With his shield in one hand and the power of a GolemHit in the other, Magna did not attack with the same speed he moved at, instead staring at the virus... silently. This was... golem communication? Maybe. Magna then punched the MetalCragger with its own chip. Now THAT was golem communication.

"Well, hopefully that's out of his system for a while now..." muttered Anyis as she now finally had an opportunity to fight for herself. She triggered the DropDown and, as a result, her icy wings, which quickly assisted her in taking flight off the ground. Now, given her violent history, any time Anyis flew at something, that something probably ought to be scared. However, as she ascended up the side of the Colosseum, the hefty bludgeon that was the BigHammer materialized in her gauntlet-clad hands. So now she was flying right towards that Beetank, armed with a hammer that could smash its face into the back of its head... body... thing. If the theory of that wasn't scary enough, Anyis wasted little time in taking that to practice, as she rose to level with the virus and swung the hammer right at it. Both of the fighters took to evasion from then on, with Magna within the Colosseum and Anyis from the air.

Anyis's Actions:
1) Soul Riser (90 Heal, 3TCD) @ Self
2) Transfer GolemHit2 to Magna
3) DropDown (High-Altitude Flight, 3 turns) @ Self
4) BigHammer1 (160 damage [A], Impact, Break) @ Beetank2A
5) Dodge
6) Dodge


Magna's Actions:
1) Advance on MetalCragger (Movement)
2) GolemHit2 (190 damage [c], Break, Panel Break, Wide Attack) @ MetalCragger
3) Dodge

Cooldowns:
Channel Surf - 4 turns
Soul Riser - 3 turns
"You're annoying," Eidolon muttered at the Hellody that had escaped her trap, giving it what might have been a sour look if she had eyes that could convey proper expressions. Stupid bouncing thing hit pretty hard for being so squishy. "Andrew, get Icaro to do her healing thing now that I actually need it."

"What, you can't tell her yourself?" Andrew asked. "Communication with people other than me is good for you, you know."

"Do I look like the shouting type?" Eidolon asked, indicating the distance she had put between them to set up her trap where she did. While it was certainly not so far that it prevented communicating, Eidolon could not remember a time in her new life when she had raised her voice beyond the soft, dull tone she always used. She wasn't even sure she was capable of doing so anymore.

And as it happened, neither was Andrew. "...fair point," he said, conceding. "Icaro, Eidolon needs healing."

"On it," the plant spirit said. Her body turned from green outlines to pink outlines as she began her ethereal song, and rose petals carried healing energy along the wind and across the battlefield to Eidolon. Icaro added a little more to it as well. An extra verse, a little extra, lingering power, just for insurance.

"Much better," Eidolon said as she felt the song of healing take hold. Then she vanished entirely.

But not for long, as a pair of flashes issued from thin air nearby, just far enough away from her starting point for Eidolon to have preemptively dodged to avoid any attacks aimed at where she had been floating seconds before. The first was followed up by a nearly invisible beam, traceable only by the way it distorted the air around it as it targeted the trapped Hellody. The second was a more sustained light, resting on Eidolon's visor for the half second it took to lock onto the remaining bouncing virus. A brighter beam then shot forth at its targets.

Then Eidolon was silent again, gliding around to throw off any remaining viruses aiming at where she was before.
___

1. Vanish: 1-turn Invis
2. Dodge
3. Point Shot: 20+Seeking to HellodyB
4. MarkCannon2: 100+LockOn to HellodyC
5. Dodge
6. Dodge

Icaro:
1. Song of Healing: 30 Heal to Eidolon
*IV: 5 Heal per action to Eidolon (before Eidolon's first action)
With only few viruses left, Anyis and Eidolon (and Magna, can't forget him) put in one final effort to snuff them out, leaving nothing but piles of zennies, bugfrags, and friendship within the colosseum. What a find!

-- FRONT --
Swordy-N2A: DELETED
Swordy-N2B: DELETED
Swordy-N2C: DELETED
HellodyA: DELETED
HellodyB: DELETED
HellodyC: DELETED

-- ON WALL --
Beetank2A: DELETED
Beetank2B: DELETED
Beetank2C: DELETED

-- INSIDE --
MetalCragger: DELETED
Brushman2A: DELETED
Brushman2B: DELETED

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal (Wide path leading through closest entrance to center of Colosseum)
40% Poison (Surrounding the exterior/ringing the interior)
(All combatants on Normal unless otherwise specified)

-- OBJECTS --
Colosseum Model: 320 HP

-- ALLIES --
Anyis.EXE: 220 HP
Magna.SP: 100 HP [3-hit Shield]
Eidolon.EXE: 155 HP [Within the Colosseum]
Icaro.SP: 60 HP

-BATTLE WON!-
Anyis: 3,600z + [CrossBomb] Battlechip
Eidolon: 3,500z
Static: 44 Bugfrags + 9 FXP + 1 Bonus FXP [Strength Coordination]
CrossBomb
Damage: 50 + Blast 3
Accuracy: C
Description: Lob a bomb that blast the enemy area in a cross shape.
Duration: Once
Element: Null