In Scilab Net

A stream of blackness broiled out of the ground a bit aways from Voltman, seeming like a fountain of oil in the 'net before slowly stopping and the hole in the ground sealing up. The black liquid on the ground quivered and coalesced, coming together in a sudden burst and solidifying into a single form.

It was a black Metool. The air about it shimmered, slow glitchings and the black surface having small jolts of the data coming out in quick tendrils, lashing around and sinking back into it, creating a small dimple before fixing itself.

He's not here.

The voice seemed to ring out for a second in the net, before Voltman realized the Metool wasn't looking at him. It slowly sent out jagged tendrils, laced on the ground and forming a small web before it noticed Voltman.

...Delete.

At that-

(10) Battle Start!

[CORRUPT]:14900

Voltman:170

Voltman continued carefully through the network, after beating the color cleaner weirdos. The first strange thing he noticed was the cracks in the floor. The strange foes he had encountered not moments previously had wiped up every crack in sight, and yet here more were appearing. The second was an unusual reading from beneath the ground. It had the vague reading of a virus, but almost infinitely more powerful. And the thing that disturbed Voltman most was that this thing was not only unarguably present, it was surfacing. Black ooze, like oil or tar, was seeping up through the cracks in the ground, forming into a shape that was all too familiar, even if not from this particular enemy.
A metool? A massive metool? Voltman asked incredulously, glancing uncertainly at the black pool formed around his foe's feet. It... doesn't SEEM like a regular metool. Not even just a giant one. Something's odd about it. No sooner had Voltman made this observation, than the creature began to... speak? It's voice echoed throughout the net, even as streams of data flew about its spherical center.
He's not here.
Voltman was confused. Not here? He WAS standing right there, after all. Either this thing was practically blind, or...
We're not the ones it's looking for! Shigeru cried out in relief, only to draw the massive enemy's attention. The echoing voice called out once more, with a single word.
Delete.
Voltman slapped his face, pulling his visor down as his hand slid off his face.
Well, it is NOW! No choice. We have to fight! Voltman cried, engaging battle routine. The field sealed off, not only preparing to stop any attack, but hopefully containing the spreading corruption put out by the strange entity as well. The battle had started. Voltman was about to launch into an attack when a crackling sound began to come from near his feet. He looked down, just in time to see rolling waves of sparks cascade up his legs and all over his body, drawn from the net, to form a barrier that fit him like a second coat of armor.
Eh? Voltman asked, confused, looking at the coating of electricity that now covered him.
It's part of the new upgrade. Draws extra power from the net to form a protective barrier. Shigeru replied to his navi's indeterminate question, a note of pride in his voice.
So... I can use this energy like my old Electric Drain shield, to power up my attacks, right? He asked, watching sparks fly off of the secondary armor.
Um... no. Actually, I've had to deactivate the old Drain program entirely. Too complicated. Shigeru replied, watching Voltman deflate like a punctured balloon with this new information.
You know what? Fine. Just send me a combo that might deal enough damage to put a dent in this monster's HP count. Voltman replied, and Shigeru nodded, sending a combo of new programs and two battlechips that just might damage this monster as severely as Voltman wanted.
Activating the chips sent to him, Voltman's arms transformed, turning into an electrical plug with curved prongs and a blue buster with a larger than normal barrel. Taking careful aim, though it shouldn't have been necessary, Voltman raised the pronged weapon at his side to point under the massive helmet of the beast facing him. A ring of electricity began to form in between the prongs, sparking and crackling with the massive charges being pushed into it. When it was fully formed, Voltman fired it off, and watched it speed through the air with a slightly luminescent trail behind it, before exploding as it reached the enemy and showering the area in paralyzing electricity. A stun should have been the result, but he wasn't about to take any chances. Raising his hand into the air, palm flat, he began to collect electricity in his hand from the air, small bolts of lightning striking his fingertips and a yellow glow originating from his palm. As soon as he had enough energy, he lowered his hand again, firing a bolt of white lightning at the nemy.
Stun again.
It should be enough to distract the beast, if nothing else, but for how long? No time to waste, then. thought Voltman grimly, watching the monstrous met's every twitch with suspicion. Pulling up the large buster on his arm, he fired off three bubbles, which proceeded at a rapid clip towards the corrupted behemoth, ready to ensnare their target. Dismissing the BubbleStar1 chip, and the buster that went with it, Voltman conjured a spear and charged it with electricity, watching the tip as an indicator to when it was fully charged. When the tip began shooting out small bolts of lightning, he decided it was ready, charging at the hopefully stunned and trapped enemy with the spear. He wound up to throw it as he approached, eventually releasing it with as much force as he could muster. The weapon flew like a bolt of lightning at its massive target, closely following the bubbles. The bubbles would hit first, if at all, followed by the spear. Plenty of shock, with or without the bubbles, to almost delete most viruses.
The bubbles focus the shock, dealing extra damage. Nice. Shigeru commented.
Voltman looked up at his operator's face, a confused look on his. Wait, you mean that you didn't know what I was going to do with it in the first place?
Not a clue. Shigeru replied, grinning.
Voltman groaned in a mixture of embarassment and incredulousness, before turning once more to his oversized foe. Checking his processes, he was surprised to discover that he still had 20% of his energy for this attack run. The new upgrade! He realized with a start, laughing from the last surge of energy uploaded to his systems for a final strike. Or, in Voltman's plan, making sure the enemy didn't land a FIRST strike. Zipping around at high speed, he couldn't help but wonder what had created this monstrosity in the first place. It was glitched, corrupted almost beyond recognition, but something had to have been behind it. Viruses just didn't... MUTATE on their own.
...Did they?

Overview:
0. Siphon Excess (1-Hit barrier)
1. Zapring1 to [CORRUPT] (40+15 ElementBoost= 55 Damage, Stun, Elec)
2. StunBlast to [CORRUPT] (90, Stun, Elec)
3. BubbleStar1 to [CORRUPT] (20, Trap, Aqua)
4. Electric Blaze to [CORRUPT] (120, x2 if BubbleStar1 hit= 240 Damage, Elec)
5. Dodge

(Post finished. Took me less time than against the Derptools, at least. Two weeks was a bit of a long time.
...Eh, a question, though... that isn't its REAL amount of HP, is it? Becuase if it is, I'm kind of... really screwed. XD)

The [CORRUPT] lashed out with a tendril, knocking away the barrier first, then being lashed away by the Zapring (40), but was simply pelted by attacks, (90, 20, 240) absorbing them all in and quivering before sending a jolt of corrupted data through Voltman, straight through his virtual 'bones'. (siglock:3 Turns!) (20)

[CORRUPT]:12110

Voltman:150 [SIGNATURES LOCKED:3]

No sooner had his barrier formed than the enemy struck with one of its many dark tentacles. The barrier protected Voltman from the damage, but he was still sent sliding quite a few feet, coming to a slow stop. Undeterred, Voltman fired bolt after bolt of electricity at the strange corrupted virus, with no response. The enemy was still as the Zapring connected, along with the bolt. Either the stun had worked... or something was about to go terribly wrong. Firing the Bubblestar at the enemy, before firing off a bolt of electricity, Voltman was glad to see the entity become surrounded by a liquid prison before being released when his electric blast connected, conducting the massive charge to double its power, showering the area with lightningbolts and creating a massive smokescreen. Voltman jumped into the air, cheering.
Alright! We beat it! No WAY it survived that! He declared, turning his back to the scene of the attack.
Shigeru was doubtful. They had made the same assumption about that miniature metool, and it had survived. What was to say that this giant metool wasn't going to pull the same trick?
I'm not so su... WATCH OUT! He cried, too late, as a black tendril shot out from the smoke to connect with Voltman's back. Direct hit. He let out a scream, black sparks flying around him as a corrupted energy flew through his programming. Shigeru gasped, trying to lock onto the spreading corruption, and found it within the Signature Attack systems.
Shigeru... Voltman cried weakly, Do something... anythAAAAAAAAAAAGH! He yelled out as the corruption took hold once more. Shigeru tried quickly to reboot the corrupted software, to no avail. Any moment now, the corruption would take complete hold, and the signature attack system would be damaged beyond all repair. As a last resort, he disabled the Signature Attack system completely, putting it on standby and setting a program to work on manually rebooting the system. Voltman, finally, stopped yelling, settling for resting on one knee with a small groan.
Thanks for the save. I really owe you one. Voltman said at long last, giving Shigeru a weak thumbs up, before pushing himself up, and shaking off the last remnants of the painful corruption. Trying to draw in energy from the net once more, Voltman yelped and stopped almost immideately, looking to Shigeru for an explanation.
Why won't the barrier program work?
Unfortunately, I've had to disable all the signature attack programs, to stop the corruption from spreading. You're going to have to rely on battlechips and your buster for a while. Sorry. Shigeru replied, shrugging, and sending Voltman a few select chips from his pack.
Downloading the data, Voltman knew immideately what Shigeru intended him to do. First, he activated the areagrab, dissappearing in a blur of motion and reappearing a short distance behind the corrupted virus. Activating the next chip that had been sent to him, Voltman watched a circle of light encircle himself and the virus, with his feet at the center of the expanding area. From both the outside edge and the edges of Voltman's feet, silver flooring began to replace the normal and corrupted tiling. Before long, a sheet of silver metal covered half of the battle routine area.
Now, activate the Firesword! Shigeru cried out, and Voltman nodded. Beneath Voltman's feet, the floor began to glow red hot, before strands of molten metal began to flow from where he stood to Voltman's hand, forming a hilt of reddened steel first, and a blade of the same material as the floor encircling the electric navi, which promptly burst into flame. Grinning and holding up the crimson blade so it caught the light, Voltman charged at the huge enemy, slashing with an uppercut of red and blue fire first and then running to the side of the massive enemy, and slashing horizontally. Black data from the corrupted virus was spreading, turning the air a darkened hue and giving the impression of twilight. Voltman didn't want to see the effects of the black data on his system further, so as he finished his slash encircling the virus, he used his momentum to roll aside. Finishing his roll, he turned to the enemy, and looked at the enemy's HP count for the first time in the fight.
Immideately, his eyes widened and he gasped, as Shigeru double checked the numbers. There could be no doubt: this virus had HP more than double that of one of the legendary Cybeasts.
Do... do we stand a chance? Any at all? Voltman asked, a rare note of uncertainty entering his tone.
Are you kidding? Together, we can beat anything and anyone! No corrupted freak is going to take us down! Shigeru responded, punching his fist into the air.
Yeah! Voltman replied. His resolve strengthened, he turned to the virus, as if daring it to attack. If it did, he'd be ready.

Overview:
<Signature Attack Systems Disabled. Turn 1/3>
1. Areagrab to a range where Metalzone would affect the [CORRUPT]
2. Metalzone, with [CORRUPT] in range.
3. Firesword to [CORRUPT] (80, x2 due to Metal Panels=160 Damage, Fire)
4. Firesword to [CORRUPT] (80, x2 due to Metal Panels=160 Damage, Fire)
<Skill: Swordplay (Dodge)>
5. Dodge

The metool jerks back from the first strike, but takes the second directly in the helmet before tendrils wrap around the sword, embedding it within itself before simply absorbing the weapon. The tendrils snaked up what was left of the chip, grasping onto Voltman's hand, absorbing patches of it before being knocked away. The metool leaped back, its tendrils snaking into the ground, sending surges of data before the entire area, as far as Voltman could see- was poisoned panels. As if that wasn't enough to ruin Voltman's day, the tendrils linked together into a quite large minigun with a tracer laser upon it, trailing on Voltman- only for him to find it was quite burning. Apparently it was not just a tracer laser. (50) It began to fire, and it was all Voltman could do to stay away from the bullets as fast as he could.

Terrain: 100% POISON

[CORRUPT]:9950

Voltman:100 [SIGNATURES LOCKED:2]

Voltman grinned as the firesword ripped through the enemy, black data spilling out of the enemy's core like oil from the force of the blow, and the metal terrain smoking underneath the black material. Emboldened by the success of his attack, Voltman swung the firesword at the enemy once more, trying this time to cleave its helmet in two. As he felt the corrupted data give way beneath the sword, he truly thought that severe, crippling damage had been dealt to the [CORRUPT], being able to see the rolling masses of mangled data in the core of the enemy. But before he could even begin to think he had won, the helmet began to close over the wound, and Voltman's sword with it. Tugging at the blade uselessly, it took all of Voltman's energy to wrench his hand away from the pull of the damaged data, but not soon enough. A tendril of material with the same feel as tar had brushed his hand, and from the spot had spread a dead feeling through his arm, as if the blackness of the enemy was a black hole to life, sucking it away at any opportunity given.
Gah! Voltman remarked, without Shigeru noticing, before carrying on a motivational conversation with his netop as if nothing had happened. If nothing else, the talk distracted Voltman from his arm for a few brief moments, before both netop and navi's attention were dragged back to the battle with a sharp tug, as an unidentifiable sound began to emanate from the tiles of metal at Voltman's feet.
Shigeru, what's going on?! He asked unsteadily, as the ground beneath him began to waver, expanding pulses of energy spreading from the [CORRUPT]. His question was answered then, but not by Shigeru. From where the [CORRUPT] stood, the ground began to turn purple, just like when Voltman had used the Metalzone only moments previous. Trying to run from the changing panels, Voltman was soon overtaken by the rapid pace at which the ground was changing, and found his strength to keep running completely gone. Gasping, and going down on one knee, Voltman could feel the tug at the soles of his feet, and knew exactly what was happening. Just like he had done with the Metalzone, the [CORRUPT] had changed the field of battle. Unlike the metalzone... this change had affected everything. Lacking the strength to move fast enough for melee attacks to be effective, Voltman called to his operator with a simple request.
Gun chips. And quickly!
Right! How about a little lock-on and breaking combo, to start? Shigeru replied, slotting in the Powerblast and Markcannon quickly. Voltman stood unsteadily, his right arm morphing into a green cannon with shutters above and below it, his left arm morphing into a buster with the back of the barrel enlarged to hold the massive breaking blast. Shaking his left arm, the buster disengaged, leaving Voltman holding only a pulsing blue ball of energy in his hand, and a cannon on his right. Pulling open the firing mechanism of the markcannon with a grunt, Voltman pushed the extra energy into the cannon, which began to glow unsteadily, sparks crackling over its surface. For a moment, Voltman thought his signature systems were back online, but it was only the power of the combined weapons that was causing the powerful electric energy to be released. Taking aim at the massive enemy, Voltman waited a moment for the targeting reticule to center on the [CORRUPT] and turn red, before pulling the trigger and firing the combo weapon. The energy gathered at the end of the barrel, turning into a sphere of energy, before shooting off as a laser of energy at the deadly foe.
Shigeru, status report on the Signature Attack system! Voltman demanded, starting to download a Guard2 to protect himself.
Corruption levels at 67% and dropping fast. The programs are doing the best they can, but it still might be another round or two before you'll be able to use them again.
Gah. Fine. Came the surly reply, as a shield grew to a size where it could protect Voltman and attached itself to his arm. Only giving it a glance, he kept his attention on the [CORRUPT]. It wasn't going to catch him off guard with an attack like last time. Of that, he could only desperately hope that he was right.

Overview:
1,2. Markcannon/Powerblast to [CORRUPT] (160 damage, Lock-On, Breaking)
3. Dodge
4. Guard2 (Reflect up to 120)
5. Dodge.

The metool lashes out with tendrils as the markcannon-powerblast combo was fired, as the blast seems to crackle on a barrier for a minute before breaking through, blasting the metool backward and knocking the tendrils away. With a harsh and grating tone that sounds something like a laugh, the tendrils are encircled with electric fires which surge forward, all lashing at Voltman, mocking the guard as one is rebounded, but the remainder simply blast their way through, heedless of any attempt to avoid them, but some shooting past and lodging into the ground. (5*10 [Elec])

Terrain: 100% POISON

[CORRUPT]:8200

Voltman:26 [SIGNATURES LOCKED:1]

Voltman felt his energy continue to fade away through the poisonous floor as he fired off the cannon combination. Oddly enough, the shot seemed to slow as it neared the enemy, before breaking through some unseen barrier and flying the final few feet to tear apart even more of the corrupted metool's data. Suddenly, an even larger surge of weakness tore through his systems, bringing him to his knees and robbing him of his breath.
Shigeru pulled up his navi's HP count, gasping as he saw it dropping rapidly. Voltman! Voltman, what's wrong?! Your HP...!
Voltman let out several struggling gasps, before standing once more. It's nothing. I'll be fine. He replied, giving Shigeru a thumbs up.
Voltman! Shigeru cried, pointing at his screen.
I know, I know. I'm at just above 12.5% health... The nonchalant reply came, before being cut off by Shigeru once more.
No! Voltman! BEHIND YOU! Shigeru cried out again, but he was already too late. Voltman jumped to the side, a guard floating between him and the incoming electric missiles, and for a moment he believed himself safe while an explosion rocked the guard, but as the smoke cleared and five more missiles penetrated the guard, Voltman's hope was snuffed out as easily as his guard had been. The missiles all landed around him, and the sound of explosions rang about the arena. Data and smoke flew through the air, obscuring Shigeru's view of the battle until it cleared. When it did, what he saw was Voltman lying on the ground, shocked and blasted to near deletion. Groaning, he rolled onto his side, pushing himself to his knees, and then his feet.
Voltman! That's it, I'm using an escape subchip, slot... Shigeru cried, preparing to upload the subchip.
No. Voltman replied simply, leaving the data dormant in the PET. There's only one thing I need: my signature attacks. And since there's only 33% corruption in them, I just need to wait a single round of attacks.
Shigeru's eyes practically popped out of his head. Are you INSANE?! Your HP count is dropping like a stone! If you take so much as a single hit, you'll have to Emergency Jack Out, or if there's a barrier we don't know about, you might even be deleted! I can't allow that to happen!
You have no choice. Send me the DoubleBeam. Voltman replied to his netop defiantly. We've fought this far. Am I supposed to believe that we're just supposed to give up? I refuse to believe that! As Voltman finished his speech, he waited for a response. Nothing came, however. Voltman turned to his operator's screen, where Shigeru's face was completely impassive. Had he been too forceful? Shigeru?
His operator looked up, Voltman's determination reflected in his eyes.
You're right! We've tried way too hard to just give up now! One turn... and then the fight will be a little bit more even! Survive for that long, and we're golden! DoubleBeam, slot-in! He yelled out, sending the chip.
Voltman raised his hands slowly as blue and red pulsing energy gathered above his palms, alternating in beams of light between the orbs. The glowing balls increasing in size by the second, Voltman waited until they were fully formed before pressing them together in front of his torso and throwing it high into the air. The effort of the attack threw Voltman backwards on the energy draining ground, as he looked at the red and blue energy alternating in the air, willing it to become blue, to give him more time to destroy this foe that fate had pitted him against.

Overview:
1. DBLBEAM (30 heal to Voltman, or 40 damage to [CORRUPT]
2-5. Dodge

(I HOPEZ I HOPEZ I HOPEZ)

The blue light shines forth, and heals the heavy wounds of- The hell? The cube, floating in the air is suddenly filled with spiked tendrils, blasting the cube into oblivion. The navi stumbles back, shocked, as the tendrils lash forth, bursting through the defenses just emerging- and sinking deep into Voltman's chest. The navi coughs out blackened data as corruption spreads on his chest, and then- blacks out.

When he wakes up, he seems fine.

And the Metool is gone.


Reward: 1500z, Full Recovery

Voltman groaned weakly, sitting up. He felt like a porcupine was in his skull, poking the inner tissue of his head, but other than that everything seemed normal. Except he was disconnected from Shigeru, the netop's screen covered in static. A weak sound began coming through, as the snow settled.
...olt...! V...tman! Voltman! Shigeru cried out as the connection finally reestablished itself. Voltman! What happened?
Nothing... I guess. The DBLBEAM exploded, but after that... I can't remember. Sorry.
Well, whatever happened, it might have supercharged the DBLBEAM, considering you're at full health. Want to keep going?
Voltman looked around, grabbing a small pile of zenny and sending it to Shigeru.
You can bet on it.

(Battle 11, 200 HP, [CORRUPT]?)

(No longah locked, people. Bump?)

(Yo! 3 day bumpzor!)

Voltman comes across... a boat?
WHOA! There's a sea of blackness that looks not so cool to Voltman. It seems that there are oars in the boat you can use.
Shall Voltman ride the boat?

[Y]/[N]?

((ALSO! MODLOCKED FOR THIS BATTLE!))

A black... sea? In Scilabs? Voltman mused aloud, confused.
Eh... why not? Internet, remember? Shigeru replied.
I... guess... Voltman ended the conversation with, climbing into the boat and beginning to paddle away from shore.

(Y, dangit.)

Voltman comes across a fork in the road, will he take the right path, which looks full of rocks and difficult to navigate paths, or will he take the left path, which looks fine and peaceable, a good looking area for a battle may I add?

[L]/[R]?

Paddling on, Voltman watched the inky surface of the "water" in an attempt to discern what it was. So focused on its black depths, he almost didn't notice as a fork in the river/lake/pond/??? approached quickly. Spotting it at the last second, he backpaddled frantically until he was almost at a stop.
Voltman, which way? Any thoughts? Shigeru asked, trying to scan the areas for viruses.
Well, considering I only have this boat, melee attacks wouldn't be that convenient to use. The rocks over there would only obscure my aim, if worst came to worst and I had to battle. Plus, it's almost reverse-reverse psychology. Voltman replied, pointing to the open area.
Reverse... reverse psychology? What? Shigeru answered, confused.
Well, reverse psychology would be that since the clear area is so... clear... it would have to be a trap. So, logically, the person would take the rocky path, where a trap would be set by the person who knew about the thinking it would be a trap! So, we take the original path, and nothing happens! He finished with a triumphant note.
Ah, but what if the trap setter knew of this logic, and set a trap in the place where you went because you expected a trap in the place you went to because you suspected a trap? Shigeru replied wordily.
Well then... wait, what? Voltman asked, confused.
Just go in the clear area, already... Shigeru finished with a sigh.
Eh... fine. Sure thing. Voltman replied, paddling into the wide open expanse of black water on the left.

(L. God help me, but I pick L. Does it have any land? OR is it just a big area of water, but without obstructions?)

Voltman paddles on and comes across two interesting features.
He first sees an lone island with a tree in the middle, nothing strange there. It's to his right.
Then to his horror, the electric navi sees a brooding six headed monster to his right, prowling about a cliff.
Should he take to the island? Or should he go through the path of the monster?

[Island?]/[Monster?]

Voltman grinned, seeing the six headed monster, and headed off towards it. This was going to be one HECK of a battle.

(Monster)

The monster growled as it saw Voltman paddle by. In a scream of rage, she turned the entire field back to a normal netscape. It does seem like Voltman's battle rountines are up and running.
Foolish child! I, Scylla, shall devour thee! the hydra roared as she planted herself in front of Voltman.
Come! Scylla bellowed.

Scylla: 3000 HP

Terrain: Normal

Voltman.exe: 200 HP

-WILD GREEK ODYSSEY MONSTER APPEARED!-
-GO VOLTMAN!-
-BATTLE 11-
-WHAT SHALL VOLTMAN DO?-
-Fight, Items, Pokemon (WTF?), Run?-