Wut?

Melee whuffed as he hit the ground hard, tumbling to the side for a moment. He rose to his knees, bruised and scratched. He had taken that hit hard. He stood up slowly, then brushed his pants off. He wasn't worried. His ribs were wrapped tight enough to ensure if they were broken, they'd remain in place, after all. Going down the same wrong line of logic, he looked at the cliff. He had to get up there. He would have to do it at a running jump- climb. He began making the run. He hit the first bit of the slope as a scrabble for friction took place- but then he remembered just who he was, and the rules of the 'net.

"Selective gravity should help you in your attempts to climb this high-scale cliff. Use it well, or else you may fall upon spikes." The voice spoke, but Melee muttered something along the lines of 'Shaddup' under his breath as he jumped from rock to rock, using a hand or leg to push off to the next rock, then the next. He finally grasped the high top, then pulled himself over. He panted lightly, then moved forward. He'd remain and use the strategic si-

"Agh... Gaaaah!" He screamed, as something tore apart inside of him.

"I- I know."

"What?! He's- Awake..." Melee exclaimed, whirling and staring into the air. "Shit, this- aint't good." The voice spoke rather bluntly, and for good reason. Seraphim was up and about.

"Oh, gods above, my head hurts... What- who are you? Where- am I?"

"And just when I was starting to get comfortable. Sorry, but you weren't supposed to be awake during this. Dammit. I don't think we can hold this together much longer." Melee's voice certainly didn't answer any questions for the confused navi, as the poor fellow tried to pull things together.

"It even brought me out. You know he's not ready for this." The other voice was the one who held the personalities in check, or more so than Melee could. Its voice was urgent and desperate.

"What- What's not supposed to happen?"

"PROCESSOR RUNNING AT 390%. OVERCLOCKING. OVERCLOCKING..." The loud and 'informative voice' erupted, sending out a warning signal to the other two personas. Seraphim was confused. In his white space, he shook his head, not understanding.

"He still doesn't understand. You, explain it to him. We don't have much time, so make it quick for once, dammit." The voice rapped out a tattoo with its beat, commanding in tone, and one of the others obeyed.

"What is happening to your body is an overload, due to several personas- Multiple Powers residing in your body at one time. I apparently take up 90%, seeing the figures, and you take up 100%, along with Melee and our friend. You cannot continue running all these processes at once. You will cease to function if you remain doing so, perhaps- permanently." The voice emphasized the last word, and Seraphim winced. He didn't really understand, the voice had used weird words that he couldn't comprehend. What he did understand was that unless things got back to normal, quick- It might be Game Over for the hero. It wasn't too bad... 'cept- He hadn't saved. Not for a long, long while.

"O-okay- What do I have to do, then?"

"Hahah! I'm not only a voice, I'm nearly equal to you, Fool! I'm 90%!" The voice yelled out its triumph as it made a dramatic pause, "Obviously, we've got to beat the crap out of that thing!" The voice exclaimed its exulting enthusiasm for violence as a sound like fists pounding together rang in Seraphim's mind.

"Sh- shut up! I don't- I don't know what to do!"

"Understandable. You're not meant to control us yet. You can barely keep one of us up. I have no idea why you're able to do all of this without a mental and physical breakdown. There isn't much hope to this, so you'll have to listen closely. You have to-" The voice was cut off by a frantic cry.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about! I don't know how to do any of this! I- I know I can't give up... but... Why does that metool have to suffer? Why do any of us have to suffer?"

"Shaddup! Do you want to die, 'foo? You might 'come back', but it'll hurt like hell! You sure you want to DIE" Melee roared at Seraphim, causing the poor navi to become even furtherly unsure of himself.

"I- I want to meet... I want to meet my friends again! I want to live! I want to defeat the crap that would dare hurt my party! No matter what enemy wants to kill one of my friends through a cutscene- I won't let them! Never again!"

"Then you must summon all you can in order to crush the dark wraith your once-friend has become. You have to take all you can and throw it at that monstrosity- that perversion. You must destroy it. In order to set your friend's heart at rest. The speech was well-said, and had a profound effect on our favorite wannabe-RPG character.

"My friend... All of my friends... are right here. With me. I can still remember all of them. All those precious moments I will forever hold dear.

Meleeman...

Quote ()

"Rania... you look like somethings bugging you. Spill it," MeleeMan demanded, holding out one hand and arching his fingers impatiently.

"Look at your friend there. His hair's been..." she trailed off, coughing into her fist.

"What? I missed it entirely! But you're right!" MeleeMan gasped in shock, noticing Seraphim's missing locks. "My warrior's blood boils! No beast has the right to touch a proud fighter's hair with some kind of cheap boomerang trick! It's a personal insult!" he roared. "Not only to my comrade, but to me!"

"Well the sooner you take out those barbers, uh, boomers, the better. Go at them with your special techniques; the power of fire makes them easier to defeat," Rania encouraged him. She ran her hand across the top of her hair with a frown, thinking about how bad it must feel to suddenly be deprived of it.

"Huraah! This is an all new technique, made especially for you! Tear...!" he growled, building flames around him and lurching forward with both hands out. With a mighty raor, he cried, "Asunder!" grabbing out at the Boomer's mouth and attempting to rip it in two like a broken clothespin. "Ha ha ha! You guys don't stand a chance!" he laughed, spinning his arm and gathering the flames billowing from his gauntlets so that they accumulated on his fists. He went under another Boomer, swiping at it across the jaw with a punch, leaving a fire trail as it swooped across the air. "And lastly, have a taste of this!" he shouted, plunging his a rageclaw through the air towards the backmost boomer. With a tight-lipped frown, he retracted the claw, then mercilessly thrust it back in, attempting to skewer his opponent and throw him into the Kabutank crowd. "This will teach you punks to mess with the beauty that is... a true warrior!"

"Wow... either you really care for your friends, or you really just love Seraphim's hair," Rania remarked, gulping with anticipation for the end of the battle.

"Friends don't let boomers cut other friends' hair!" MeleeMan responded, crossing his arms and nodding as if he'd just made a remarkably sagastic comment.

Rass...

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Rass took a shaky step forward, clearly confused as to where his partner had gone...

...and nearly stepped on Seraph's charred and blasted form.  The smallish hero had weathered the full force of the Volgears' attacks, and was, at the moment, laying motionless on the glassy ground.  "N...No!" shouted Rass, moving up alongside the fallen navi and attempting to tug him behind the rockcube.  Try as he might, however, he was unable to move the body by virtue of his own strength.  As he persisted, however, he felt the work becoming... easier, somehow.  Looking down at his arms in surprise, he saw a patch of green flowing through the inky blackness of his fluidlike form, reinforcing the digital muscles and assisting him in his task.    Argo... thanks. thought Rass as he lifted up Seraphim as best he could and propped him up against the damaged rockcube.

Argo said nothing at first, retreating back from Rass' hands.  As he returned to his peridot, he whispered to Rass, Don't be thinkin' that this means we're friends, Rasshole.  Just... do what you need to do.

Rass nodded and placed both hands forward.  His long orange scarf billowed backward as the energies that sustained the R.A.S.S. fusion swirled in front of him, collecting into a brilliant orb of pink light.  Rass gritted his teeth and steeled his legs against the blasted landscape as golden sparkles began to appear within the light.  When the restoration energies had reached full power, he plunged the orb into Seraphim's inert body, allowing the fusion systems to rebuild the navi's damaged core data.

Outside, Suien had noted the distraught look on Erin's face.  He gulped, turned back to his PET and brought the screens close to his face. 

Please be okay...

Mister Broom...

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Broomdude cheered. "Yeah, we got 'em dude! That was awesome, the way you killed three at once back there!" Broomdude paused in his ecstatic rambling for a moment to pat Seraphim on the back a little too hard, then ran after the Metool that had allied itself with them. "A-ah! Wait for us, little dude!"

Even... Metool. The Hero.

Quote ()

The Metool meeped a few times, cheerfully, then waddled it's way over to Seraphim's side. It gave a sort of 'meep-meep' and slammed it's pickaxe into the ground a few times, indicating some sort of readiness.

...Apparently, recruiting random mets can work sometimes.

Broomdude, meanwhile, sniffled, teary-eyed. "That was the best speech ever, dude! I'll follow you to the ends of the earth!" he choked, smiling even as he cried.

"I'll- I'll turn these memories into power! My bonds of friendship will become my power! I'll set your heart to rest, Metool Hero!"

Within the white space, the darkness that had clutched at its edges fled, not to return any time soon as the hero roared forth his determination, to the approval of all the personas, every single one.

"Roight! Let's get a moveon!"

"There may still yet be hope residing in the souls of many. Let us go forth!"

The atmosphere was somewhat more cheerful, as the darkened, data-bloody face of Melee looked up with new resolve in his eyes. He licked the blood off his lips, cricked his neck, and stared around him. Not Melee. No, he wasn't in control. Everyone was. The navi realized he was passively steaming, and grimaced. Even with everyone working together... their union would not last for long. And if they held it together for too long... Everything would fall apart.

"If you won't fall to My Fists, I'll cut you down with Our Blade!" The navi yelled, kneeling, then clapped his gauntlets together, the open palms meeting and warping the gauntlets into a blade. It was a large one, oversized for Seraphim. In looks, it seemed mostly ornamental, having interlacing runes etched across its worn surface. Only the grip revealed its purpose. Well, the blazing white fire rushing along the etchings might have ticked someone off as to its true purpose as well.

"These are our dreams!"
"These are our courage!"
"These are our faith!"

"That we can defeat the impossible! Their voices were in perfect sync, all coming from one mouth, one sentence after another, the final voice somehow fusing all three of the voices into one piece. The navi grasped the sword, holding it in front of his face for a moment before flipping it over, pointed at the ground. The ground of the cliff, to be exact.

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MeleeMan nodded, maintaining a smug smile. "Rass, I'll look forward to fighting alongside you again soon," he nodded to Rass. "Seraphim, take care. Never lose the fire that burns deep within you... because one day, it shall build to become a grand nova, as mine is!" he informed Seraphim, his voice quivering with emotion as he drawled off another concieted line. "Until our paths cross once more..."

"It... already is."

"This. Is it!" The navi slammed the weapon into the ground, where it lodged itself. Small cracks emanated from the point he had jabbed it in. For a moment, there was silence, as if the supposedly massive attack had failed.

With a tiny sound, like someone had taken the crack of a twig and made it musical, the flames burning in the runes surged downward. They coiled into the cracks and disappeared, leaving the ground under Seraphim's feet faintly glowing. The sword itself dissolved into dust, trailing away from Seraphim's hands in a suddenly blowing wind.

With a handful of the dust, Seraphim reached to the choker, which still flashed '12:00" constantly. He pressed the dust to the choker, pulling down the goggles as well. He needed something else. Not this. This didn't fit. Not right now. And as the thoughts were left unspoken, nay, before they were even thought, suitable wear began to appear.

The cape would be said to have appeared first. It fluttered in the steadily growing wind, furling around the hero and concealing him from view for a second or two. That was enough. When it peeled back, Seraphim was clad in plate mail, but it was no ordinary plate mail. It was made from metool armor. It was golden and had black marks marking lines across it, several making symbols and crosses. The helmet was not a full one, but was visored. Even as the metool armor covered his arms, his Gauntlets, creating curved blades at the beginning of the lower arm protectors, strangely like the pointy end of a pickaxe.

A cloth wrapped around the armor, more precisely, the navi's lower face. It was part of the new cape-cloak, but the navi's voice was not even muffled. The only real thing that could be seen was the antennae that streamed from the back of the helmet like a ponytail, and the navi's formerly green eyes, now a fierce red like the metool hero. Clanking sounded as the slightly oversized armor strapped itself together, folding in on itself until it was near-skintight. With a last 'chink', the final piece slipped into place as the visor slammed down, and Seraphim now saw through the senses of the armor itself, as a black + emblazoned itself in the middle of the lowered visor.

Seraphim orated from his high perch with passion, a requiem for the lost, "The only words he ever spoke were 'meep'. He died for his cause. It may have been noble- But none of us... want to die!" He raised both hands, channeling the bursts of energy that kept swelling up within him. Slowly, a wooden handle appeared, data gathering together to form a metal piece held in place by the tension of the hardwood. The metal sharpened, reformed, and made a scythelike protrusion that was meant for both slashing and piercing as the other end made a long and sharp chisel-like wedge. This end was aimed toward the ground.

"What's he need a hoe for? Is he playing that dumb moon game or something?" The voice spoke, not interested at all in the subtle art of farming, that fortunately not being what Seraphim was trying to accomplish.

"Please. Break." The two simple words echoed forth, expressing Seraphim's emotions, but containing them into a single possible epithet for Seraphim, ready to be released to resume imbuing others with that emotion, that drive. He swung the hoe at the center of the slightly glowing cracks, where it sunk deep into the rock and literally caused the ground to explode.

Molten pieces of rock blasted past Seraphim as the cliff itself shook. He had channeled quite a bit of power into there, and then touched off the giant bomb with an augment to expand the effect in two directions. Up- and down.

The cliff tottered from side to side, and then Seraphim added a metal boot to the situation, kicking the other edge of the cliff, and causing the extremely unstable and large chunk of cliff to simply topple over. Possibly even more than half the upper cliff was now toppling over, and if Seraphim had 'aimed' right... it would land directly on The Corrupted Hero. Wind blew past Seraphim, and he was glad it was on his side. The simplest of changes in the wind could make this hit into a miss... and he wouldn't let it. He was also aware of the giant sword the metool wielded. If that thing broke through this, all might be lost... Seraphim raised the mighty scythe-ax he held, then did something that wasn't really supposed to be done with a pickax, let alone a scythe-ax.

He threw it.

It hurled, end over end at not the Metool, but at the Metool's blade. He would have to knock it out of the way. The weapon fell as Seraphim fell, but the weapon went on its arc faster than Seraphim's 'ride' fell. The very soles of Seraphim's new boots were clamped onto the cliff.

I have to win.

"We have to win! The navi said, watching his hopes, his weapons, all fall into a gamble. Would it pay off? He-

He couldn't know.

But he knew anyway.

He would win.

He wasn't sure how he knew, how the collective of all of them knew-

But they... would win.

[Seraphim's Actions]
1] Climb cliff
2] Rageclaw [40 +[b]Break[/b] Cliff]
3] RageClaw [Cliff] ['The Corrupted Hero']
4] Release M.E.L.E.E. Synthesis, Take on H.E.R.O. Synthesis
5] Kick off cliff at ['The Corrupted Hero' +[i]Snipe[/i]]
6] Varitails [9*10 at 'The Corrupted Hero's Sword' in an attempt to disarm]

[Support Unit's Actions]
1] Help to boost Seraphim up cliff
*] Help to direct cliff at 'The Corrupted Hero'

[Passives]
1] Parry [20 HP barrier, Knockback if attacked]
2] Cure [Regen 5*6 Heal, Targeting Self ]

[Cooldowns]
1] 'MachSpeed!' [0 TCD]
2] (MP Rage) [0 TCD]

The cliff literally LANDED on the Corrupted Hero with a loud, earth-shaking crash, damaging the pint-sized villain considerably. (200) He broke out from underneath it moments later, and tackled Seraphim to the ground with a snarl. He sliced at Seraphim once, holding on tight enough to not be dislodged off his chest as he pierced straight through and past, then sliced him twice more-- leaving our protagonist nearly dead.

Seraphim attempts to disarm the Corrupted Hero with his scythe-ax just before the third strike, but his arm locks up when the Corrupted Hero stabs him, causing him to drop the scythe-ax.

The Corrupted Hero raised his sword up into the air, ready to strike the final blow.

Silence fell over the battlefield, Seraphim's eyes digging into the Corrupted Hero's, as the two of them glared daggers at each other for that one moment that seemed far too long to be normal...

...And then the Corrupted Hero stabbed downward-

-and Seraphim.exe burst into little, pulsating blue flecks of data.

Flecks of data which suddenly rushed to another point on the battlefield and reassembled in front of...

...Broomdude?!

The broom-wielding navi grinned at Seraphim's shocked face, and smacked something Seraphim couldn't quite identify into his chest. Seraphim felt a sudden rush of cold, and his eyes closed out of pure reflex as it rushed through every part of his body.

When Seraphim opened his eyes, Broomdude was gone, and a phrase hovered in the air in front of his face for just a moment, before it disappeared...

All Chips Refreshed.

--Metools--
#!@$ A: DELETED
$(*# B: DELETED
?"4\ C: DELETED
%+9 D: DELETED
&6!< E: DELETED

--Boomers--

$(^! A: DELETED
!#_} B: DELETED
6:,/ C: DELETED
^#@0 D: DELETED
_+)! E: DELETED

--Starfish--

)&() A: DELETED
O{;' B: DELETED
X\/?l C: DELETED
@%$& D: DELETED
_%$! E: DELETED

The Corrupted Hero: 1076

Broomdude: Escaped!
Seraphim: 31
Support Program: 60

Terrain: There's a cliff with a huge chunk of it missing. Otherwise it's just flat, normal terrain. <WARNING, AREA IS 25% CORRUPTED. EXERCISE CAUTION TO AVOID GLITCHES.>

"He didn't die. Not even from that? What- can we do?"

"That thing is truly a monster. We'll have to do something, just keep it held under that rock until we can try to do something else about it. Wait, cracks... Dammit! Get away from-" The last words of the panicked sentence were cut off as the rock exploded, the enraged Met hitting Seraphim's chest full on. The Scythe-Axe flew from the navi's hands, hitting the ground tip first with a thuk straight into it. Seraphim, on the other hand, hit the ground trying to fend off attacks with one arm protector while reaching for his weapon of choice with the other hand futilely, the Corrupted denizen heavier than it looked, and he couldn't try moving himself without it-

The sword of the enemy arced up, the HUD flashing warning signs as it labeled the sword with all sorts of blatant red marks. It was obviously trying to tell him something. Seraphim shut his eyes tight and flung his arms forward. The blade was barely stopped by one of the blades on the arm protectors- and the navi sighed in relief... Only to notice his other arm, brutally mangled by the blade.

"Seraphim!" Erin broke in, uselessly as she stared at her navi in horror. His arm looked like a shrapnel bomb decided to attach itself there and do what it did best. It was like a piece of meat. She couldn't do anything to help him. Her navi had to do something!

"Y'know, guys, that kinda hurt." The navi spoke out loud, his voice wavering as his form flickered for a moment, back to the old Seraphim, and steam poured from the joints of the armor as it flickered back in. Seraphim looked at his arm, the heads up display painting it with marks as it directed several resources to the arm to try and heal it. Seraphim's visor rotated with his head as he looked back at the darkened metool, and the blade was raised high. The navi tried to knock it aside, but his arm was simply stepped upon. He tried to whisper something, and grasped frantically for his main weapon. He was too late. The blade went straight through Seraphim's golden armor, and shoved directly through the navi's chest. It felt like it had gone through the back of the armor as well.

"...Seraph?" She knew her navi didn't like that nickname, but Erin was past that point. She stared in horror at the blade protruding from Seraphim's chest, no hands gripping the blade, just telekinetically wielded- to kill. Kill, Kill, Kill.

"Ow." The voice seemed to wince sympathetically as Seraphim's eyes, unseen under the opaque visor widened. He couldn't say anything, the blade had stabbed straight through a lung, possibly blasting through one or two virtual arteries. The navi crumpled to his knees and hacked out blood, trying with nerveless fingers to grasp onto the sword. He had to get this thing out. The alien, cold thing that was pressing deep into his body, sawing away at his internal pieces of data with a serrated edge. He hacked and coughed, reaching further for his weapon. He could almost reach it. Almost!

The weapon came out of his body with a shluck and the terrible noise of rending of dataflesh. Seraphim could feel it throughout his body. Pain? That couldn't describe it. He felt slightly detached now, the pain was like a deep ache, but each new blow made him focus more on the metool. The one that was causing this pain to so many others.

"Get... of-kkk-guah!" Seraphim couldn't finish the word, coughing out more blood, then managed to let forth a shriek of pain as the blade came down once more. The hand that wasn't mangled reached out a final time and grabbed the Scythe-Axe. It brought it forth as the viral foe brought the blade down again. He tried to block it, but it just clattered from his useless fingers as he was disarmed himself. And then the blade jagged down again, he couldn't even tell anymore. The once beautiful armor was now filled with crushing slashes and massive holes, the blade jabbing and piercing where need be. He gazed up, glaring at The Corrupted Hero. He could barely see. The HUD flashed warning signals all around, glowing red urgently around the edges as his vision began to blacken.

"NO! No, no, no, no, no!" Erin rocked back in her bed, back and forth. This had to be a bad dream. She couldn't be experiencing the death of her navi, unable to help him in any way, shape or form. She was useless without the chips, there was nothing that could help him! Nothing!

"I'm sorry- I'm so sorry! I couldn't do it!" The inner voice exclaimed. He was going to fail. He wasn't going to be able to do it. He was going to die. It would be game over.

"Never give up hope, weakling! Get your fight on and git yerself ready! Stare death in the face and spit in it!" The arrogant voice had a tone of desperation, but didn't sound ready to give up quite yet.

And then- There was a new voice. It sounded filled with courage, nobility, and hope. And all it said was a nonsense word that didn't even make sense.

"Meep!"

"Whuh? Wha-" And then the blade stabbed down for the final blow. Seraphim tried to stare it in the face, but his visor shut down, and... he couldn't see anything. He screwed up his eyes tight, and didn't want to open them anyway.

"I- I'm dead? Is this how it like? It still hurts... I can feel it. But- it's going away. Will this make it all better now? "

"Meep!"

"...Am I in hell, then? Is it my hell to be tormented by the voices of those I couldn't save?"

"Meep!"

"...You want me to open my-" The inner talking stopped there. Seraphim was confronted by Broomdude. The navi he had forcefully ejected in order to save.

"B-broomdude! What are you doing here? Why- why are you smiling? Quick, run away, it's not safe here, I'll hold the Metool Hero off while you- hurk" The other navi slammed him in the navi-symbol, almost toppling him over. That had been where he had just been stabbed. Had Broomdude fallen as well? The cold tingling feeling that spread through his body seemed to confirm that as he collapsed to his knees, his eyes closed again. When he opened them... Broomdude was gone.

"'All- spells... refreshed?" Seraphim sank to his knees once more, the armor clanking as it hit the ground. The Axe-Scythe was nowhere to be seen. He held out his hand and with a snap, it was there. He closed both hands on it. Its polish glowed. The navi's armor looked as if it had never been touched. His wounds may have been still there, but he could endure those. Endurance would be the key in this battle. His foe just kept on coming. He had nothing left... but Broomdude had changed that.

Chips came falling out of the PET like some demented slot machine was on the loose. The chips made a small pile, the last one clicking out and landing there, slowly rotating on the pile before slipping into the mix. She laughed. She had been on the edge of insanity, helpless and useless, falling into a deadly trap of depression... when this had happened. She could help her navi! Seraphim wasn't dead!

"Seraphim! I'm sending you a stun-elec combo, make good use of it!" It was like old times. She didn't have to worry. Her knight in shining armor would take care of the problem.

"Right!" The navi grinned, clenching his hands tighter as he felt the spells channel into him. He gripped the handle. He hadn't used this in far too long.

"I'll keep on going. Let's go together!" Brandishing the weapon he held, the navi charged at his foe. They were now like polar opposites, seeming foils to each other. One was a shining templar of light, the other seemed to slink through the darkness. He flipped the blade over and held it opposing to himself so that this particular effect wouldn't touch him. It was deadly, even to himself. He'd just have to be a bit more- precise this time.

"This is the power of a man's burning Soul!" The navi yelled out, the effects being simultaneously focused into the metal portion of the now extremely dangerous weapon. The navi stepped back slightly, raising the metal portion up toward the skies of the 'net. Lightning crashed down from a cloudless 'sky' as the navi swung the blade to his side.

"Electric Hell!" The navi exclaimed, dashing at the metool before the attack had finished, clomping on the burning ground with booted feet before lashing out once with the first sequence of attacks, the attack leaving its own aftertrail. He brought the blade to a halt, then brought it overhead, slashing diagonally down. He still wasn't done, the weapon still blazed with that same crackling energy.

"One hit! Two hit!" The navi rapped out, roaring out as he brought the weapon back another time, brutally smashing the chisel into what he could see of the enemy, and then held it tight, bringing it back for a final smash.

"Three hit! Four hit! Five hit chained combo!" The voice yelled out, 'electrically' pleased the hellish attack had been launched.

"I- I can barely think... I feel sick..." The navi panted inside the armor. He could barely breathe, too. His armor was venting more steam. He wondered- why?

He fell to his knees.

He let his weapon clatter to the ground.

He wanted to tear the helmet off. He couldn't think straight.

"Shit! Quick, turn more memories into power! Turn those bonds of friendship into determination! You can't hold out if you keep faltering!" The voice screamed in his mind, and Seraphim's thoughts sluggishly turned to more of his friends. Or at least, friends in his mind. To be friends, acquaintances, it didn't really matter. He was taking his memories of them and doing his best with them, to help everyone.

Divinity...

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Almost out of instincts Divinity grabbed the back of Seraphim's collar to keep him from going anywhere on his own. "Hold on, pretty boy," she muttered and then turned her head towards the other two Navis. "Good to sense you again, Druidman. Yes, it is me. And... You must be..." Still trying to stop Seraphim by holding his collar, she looked at Kenji and kept her empty eyes closed for a half to sense his looks a bit better. "I guess you're Capuchin... I suggest you refrain from giving me any insulting nicknames. I'm sure my Operator would hate to hear those... And she's one to be feared," Divinity said as Area softly groaned at the comments and at the exercising tasks she had gotten from Marco the fitness instructor. "Oh, and..." She glared at Seraphim and grinned a bit before speaking to him again, "Call me optional again and I'll do unpleasant things. I have a name and you shall call me by it, got it? My name is Divinity.EXE. It might be useful to give me your name as well..."

Broadside...

Quote ()

A portal appeared in the ground off to one side of the area... A moment later, Broadside popped up out of it, and landed shakily on his feet, more than a bit disoriented. The last thing he knew, he was being charged by a weirdo in strange clothes and... And what is this strange pink cloth on my head...? Broadside, totally clueless, had no idea that the cloth on his head was, in all actuality, a pair of pink panties. Broadside simply pulled them up and away from his eyes, just far enough to let him survey the area, and left them where they were, non-plussed by their presence...

A quick glance at the area told him two very important things... One, he was in an area of the net he did not recognize. It was a fairly large, nondescript warehouse-like place, but lacking entrances. And two, that there was a major battle-in-progress about 50 meters ahead of him....

....And just about all of the combatants were Navis.

My orders are to find that distress signal, and lend aid to that Navi... But this can't be ignored.

"I can keep doing this! It's for the sake of all my friends! It's to keep everyone from dying! It's to save myself, and save everyone! It's my way! It's my justice!" The navi slammed his fist down, grabbing his weapon off the floor with the other. He had to stand up. He had to. The fluctuating energy stabilized slightly, and Seraphim's body felt fine again. He stood up slowly, wielding the blade cautiously. He swished blood around in his mouth and swallowed it rather than stain his scarf. He prepared for his foe's attack, no matter what it might be.

He would do his best.

It was the thing he had to do, after all. It was the thing they all had to do.

The things that were precious to him.

He'd protect them.

"Meep!"

That voice again. It reminded him of something... It was on the edge of his mind, but he couldn't remember.

[Seraphim's Actions]
1] Elecreel [80 Elec] ['The Corrupted Hero']
2] Zapring [40 Elec + Stun + Snipe] ['The Corrupted Hero']
3] Magbolt1 [90 Elec +Stun] ['The Corrupted Hero']
4] Magbolt1 [90 Elec +Stun] ['The Corrupted Hero']
5] Magbolt1 [90 Elec +Stun] ['The Corrupted Hero']
6] Prepped dodge

[Support Unit's Actions]
1] Defend
*] Boost dodge

[Passives]
1] Parry [20 HP barrier, Knockback if attacked]
2] Cure [Regen 5*6 Heal, Targeting Self ]

[Cooldowns]
None

Seraphim's 'Electric Hell' is quite effective, actually; his constant flurry of attacks tears into the Corrupted Hero, who's helpless to defend against the unexpected assault. He raises his weapon to attempt a parry, but Seraphim merely knocks it away, some sort of power in those eyes...

The Corrupted Hero kicked off of Seraphim with a snarl, and rather than picking up his weapon, he bum-rushed him, corruption building in his helmet just before he impacted with Seraphim's chest. The corruption ate straight through Seraphim's barrier, and past his Support Program's defense, rendering both useless to shield the blow, and dug it's way into his systems when the pint-sized villain's attack connected. Seraphim was blown back by this attack, and the Corrupted Hero wasn't ready to give up just yet; it's sword appeared back in it's grasp, and it charged again...

...Only for Seraphim to deftly dodge both of the strikes it attempted afterwards.

--Metools--
#!@$ A: DELETED
$(*# B: DELETED
?"4\ C: DELETED
%+9 D: DELETED
&6!< E: DELETED

--Boomers--

$(^! A: DELETED
!#_} B: DELETED
6:,/ C: DELETED
^#@0 D: DELETED
_+)! E: DELETED

--Starfish--

)&() A: DELETED
O{;' B: DELETED
X\/?l C: DELETED
@%$& D: DELETED
_%$! E: DELETED

The Corrupted Hero: 726

Broomdude: Escaped!
Seraphim: 51 (ERROR: Minus one action!)
Support Program: 60

Terrain: There's a cliff with a huge chunk of it missing. Otherwise it's just flat, normal terrain. <WARNING, AREA IS 35% CORRUPTED. EXERCISE CAUTION TO AVOID GLITCHES.>

"Take this, and that, and-" Seraphim roared, slashing again and again, and as the Metool raised a weapon to block the blow- it happened far too slow this time. Not like last time. He could see it. He could...

Clang

"Too slow!" snarled Seraphim, and bashed the weapon away with the axe before returning downward for another blow on the 'boss'. The deadly weapon of the corrupted Metool flew sideways for a moment, but the heavy blade didn't go far, clattering to the ground... and leaving Seraphim to wonder for a moment why the Met didn't remain in control of the weapon. Although, when he saw the glitches hovering over the Metool's helmet, he didn't wonder for much longer. He readied his weapon, raising it to block the attack, but- The attack simply slipped through the weapon and hit Seraphim in the armor. The armor upheld the attack, and Seraphim grinned under his scarf-cloak for a moment, then flinched. The impact had sent energy throughout his armor, permeating it and... The attack had worked, weakening the navi.

"What you are dealing with is an interference effect, cutting off your subsystems and piercing through both your pitiable defenses. It scales on a dangerously high ranking, dealing enough to harm you slightly, but —kssh" The voice cut off into static, typically removing the part Seraphim needed to hear most.

"How dare it headbutt you!!! Go after it! Piledrive it with another 6 hit combo! Destroy it! Get rid of it- Na-oooooooOO!?" The voice cut off, fading as Seraphim listened to the last transmission of the final voice, cursing whatever that had been.

"SLEEPY- FEeouhLINNNnnnGAUSGOSN... The other voice seemed to go into a fit, its voice warping for a couple split seconds before it crashed to a halt, suddenly cutting off. Seraphim tched. He was without those voices anymore. It was a kind of relief, but he regretted their leaving, they were useful... at.... times... He spat out the word in his mind with disgust. Their condescending behavior was what they did best, but even their loss hurt him most.

"You... Dammit..." Seraphim groaned slightly, putting one hand to his chest as the metool landed a couple feet away, its sword disappearing from the ground. Seraphim's eyes fled across the HUD, looking on it as it painted the weapon where it had reappeared. Directly in the hands of the enemy. Seraphim stepped back and to the side, the metool's first strike missing his armor barely. He paused as the foe attempted another strike and jumped up and over the blade.

"What the hell did you do?" He clutched at his armor. He couldn't move as well as he had before. The armor seemed slightly heavier on his thin frame. Grasping at his Scythe-axe, the navi slid it to his side before panting into his scarf-cloak. He raised it up with two hands, spinning it before smashing it into the ground, on its chisel-like hoe side, creating three spiderwebbing cracks in the ground. They streaked out, forming around his foe on all sides. Blasts of fire rained up, three pillars of fire throwing themselves into the air, simply to fall on their opponent... The Corrupted Hero.

"What do you think I'm fighting for?" Seraphim yelled, he seemed intent on a monologue this battle as the pillars of flame hopefully kept The Corrupted Hero busy. He brought the scythe to his side and planted it in the ground, glaring at his foe through the opaque visor. His red eyes burned with an unnamable fury. This foe had stolen his friend's very identity. It had sacrificed his friend to face him in this one last battle. He would make sure his sacrifice was not for naught. He would end it here! The navi slashed the air with an open hand, bringing it to his side in a clenched fist.

"Meep?" The small voice called out, sending Seraphim for a loop. He had finally remembered what else- said 'Meep'. And this exact same tone, as well. It was- it was--!! The Metool Hero? But- The Metool hero, he was dead. He couldn't be... alive within him? No. That was exactly it. The Metool Hero was indeed alive within him, and that was exactly it. He remained within his soul, within his very body. He lived on within him. The words, even spoken silently to himself, gave him a warm feeling. He sighed and smiled. It was hidden under the scarf-cloak that concealed his face, but still... It was a gesture. A gesture to show his gratitude to the Metool hero. But that was not enough. Wielding the axe-scythe with both hands, he raised it and pounded the end into the ground. It was not enough to make a single gesture. It was not enough that this form was a memorial to the fallen hero.

He would- He would! He would eliminate this impostor, this corruption of the Metool Hero's dream! Clenching his fist even tighter, he nearly dented the gauntlet permanently as the hand flipped the wooden handle of the axe-scythe sideways. He removed one hand, smashing it into the bottom and taking hold. He whipped sideways as a single motion, the cross symbol fluttering on the cloak for a full second before it whirled around, temporarily guarding Seraphim from view.

"The Hero's burning soul... lives on within me!" He roared, moving the cloak with a sweep of his arm and revealing the now-blazing tip of the weapon. He lashed out with the pickaxe, transformed to reflect his desires, his beliefs- no, their beliefs into a series of blows. He drove forth with the blow, running forward and lashing out while still about 10 meters from the putrid thing, but the blow let forth blazing flames from the weapon. They lashed forth in the style that- the Metool hero probably would have wanted. A shockwave. Of pure flames. It looked like someone had crashed to a halt by slamming on the car breaks and lighting up the rubber, to Erin, but that was minor. He was making his sign that he acknowledged and honored the Metool's death. He was beginning to move on from the rage that had previously gripped him, consuming him in wrath.

"We'll never give up to your vile tactics!" The navi exclaimed, still racing forward, his still-flaming weapon well in hand.

"Even if you should destroy us!" The first voice yelled out, emboldening Seraphim's spirits further as the navi threw a hand out, cutting the air in half before it met his scythe-axe tip, then pointed at the darkened metool hero.

"Especially if our souls are pushed to their very limits!" At this, the navi leapt high into the air, bringing the weapon up and at the ready to slash down with the strike of his power, the strike of his energy.

"We shall endure!" The navi finished with an encouraging roar, proclaiming his resolve to his foe, as he finished his short speech with a final rejoinder. He brought the weapon down.

"And that- is our resolve!" The world exploded at the awesome of that statement. Well, no, it only seemed to explode for Seraphim as the fire rushed forth from the blade, encompassing with its light.

"Meep!" The voice rang forth once again, encouraging and heroic, or that's how Seraphim heard it as he followed the bash with yet another strike, slashing down with his weapon in one large boom, then letting the recoil of the explosion throw the weapon to the side as his gauntlet blazed.

"Taste- The fist of a fool that goes forth with the spirit of justice!" Seraphim slammed the fist down at the metool, and... fell back, stumbling. His joints would barely move, they hurt badly, and he- collapsed backward, landing on his elbows, barely making sure the spikes didn't grind into the ground. He tried to move his fingers-

"You fool! Remember something! Bring forth memories to power your actions!" The voice cried out desperately, trying to force Seraphim into action.

"Mem- Memories?" The navi questioned yet again, then tried.

Quote ()

[size0] The Metool jumped high above the last remaining opponent, then brought his sword down in what could only be called a great cleave. The strike managed to wound the corrupted creature, but failed to destroy it; the Metool readied his sword again, and brought it down in a second, swift strike, sundering it into oblivion.

"Look out, little dude!"

The Metool spun around quickly, but it was too late: A massive wave of black goo washed over him, encasing him entirely and separating him from Seraphim and Broomdude's line of view, the latter of which began to frantically fire upon the blob with a buster, screeching various cries about letting him go.

Then, with a sickening groan and a rumble, the blob seemingly imploded.

...But what remained was not the Metool that had accompanied Seraphim so far.

It's normally yellow boots and helmet had been dyed blacker than the darkest pitch, and the construction tape that lined it's hard hat had been dyed a startlingly sick yellow. The plus sign that normally stood in the center of the center of the helmet was now a weird X, it's tips pointed as opposed to the usual flat end of tape. The Metool's sword was now wholly sinister, as well; whereas before it had a single, straight edge and was a shimmering silver, it now appeared a dark, murky gray that held no shine whatsoever, and it's straight edge had become serrated. The Metool's cape and eyes had been twisted also... his eyes, normally a ferocious, passionate red, were now something... dark. And his cape, normally a flowing, azure blue, had been ripped and torn, and stained, now a muddled blue that would be barely worthy to be worn by even the dirtiest of homeless.

There was only one name for this wholly changed being that came to Seraphim's mind;

The Corrupted Hero.[/size]

"Shit. That wasn't a good i-" The voice cut off, and then something like a sputter happened in Seraphim. It wasn't as much of a sound as a feeling like a tap of power was being turned off.

"What? Where-d youu..." Seraphim stumbled, his arm faltering and dropping him roughly a couple inches, then his other arm doing the same thing. He wondered if he was about to die, his strength literally draining from his limbs. It seemed to gather in parts of his body, and Seraphim tried to speak. He couldn't. Not even one last monologue for the hero. This time, the hero was Seraphim. Seraphim blinked, and the HUD shut down, giving him what seemed to be his last look at life. He closed his eyes... and Seraphim.exe shut down. Light burst forth from Seraphim's joints, pure energy and- it- it-

Didn't leave him drained of energy, as the light literally hovered in midair. By some titantic effort, it drew back a notch. Then another. Then another. Then it touched Seraphim's body.

"Meep!" A voice rang in the now hollowed shell of Seraphim, now absent of everyone except the tiny voice. The body slammed a foot into the ground, then another, as it clumsily raised itself up. It wasn't used to a humanoid body, apparently. It called the scythe-axe back to hands that klutzily held it inexperiencedly, not the weapon, but the gauntlets that clutched it. It brandished the weapon in the completely wrong direction, the suit still not functioning. Then, it seemed to sense the other's presence, spinning around and brandishing the scythe-axe in its... general direction, at least.

"Meep!" It roared forth in Seraphim's body, as a simple incoherent yell was brandished from Seraphim's throat. The Metool Hero was ready for battle.

[Seraphim's Actions]
1] Phoenixshot [70 Fire] ['The Corrupted Hero']
2] Phoenixshot [70 Fire+Snipe] ['The Corrupted Hero']
3] Firesword [80 Fire] ['The Corrupted Hero']
4] Firesword [80 Fire] ['The Corrupted Hero']
5] Firehit1 [60 Fire] ['The Corrupted Hero']
6] -1 Action

[Support Unit's Actions]
1] Defend
*] Boost dodge

[Passives]
1] Parry [20 HP barrier, Knockback if attacked]
2] Cure [Regen 5*6 Heal, Targeting Self ]

[Cooldowns]
None

Seraphim rains fire down upon the Corrupted Hero as he's monologuing- but a glitch pops up right where he's standing and seeps into his systems! He feels something odd happen... as if the Glitch doesn't effect him directly. (Pet Crash! Your Pet is disabled for the entirety of the next turn.)

The flame-shockwave towards the end of Seraphim's monologue also bashes straight into the Corrupted Hero, who wasn't expecting an attack like that-

-Or the attack that directly followed it, knocking the Corrupted Hero back.

The Corrupted Hero snarled one last time at Seraphim, but then turned it's back to him- it was-

Oh no. It was getting ready to flee! Kill it, quick!

--Metools--
#!@$ A: DELETED
$(*# B: DELETED
?"4\ C: DELETED
%+9 D: DELETED
&6!< E: DELETED

--Boomers--

$(^! A: DELETED
!#_} B: DELETED
6:,/ C: DELETED
^#@0 D: DELETED
_+)! E: DELETED

--Starfish--

)&() A: DELETED
O{;' B: DELETED
X\/?l C: DELETED
@%$& D: DELETED
_%$! E: DELETED

The Corrupted Hero: 366

Broomdude: Escaped!
Seraphim: 81 (ERROR: Minus one action!)
Support Program: 60 (ERROR: Incapacitated! All actions unavailable!)

Terrain: There's a cliff with a huge chunk of it missing. Otherwise it's just flat, normal terrain. <WARNING, AREA IS 25% CORRUPTED. EXERCISE CAUTION TO AVOID GLITCHES.>

The Metool Hero.

The Corrupted Hero.

They stood apart, but one turned to flee in the face of the true one shining out. But- The Metool Hero- Would not allow that to happen! He'd take this hand, this weapon- That represented him... It represented all the Metools who would stand up for themselves- not some parasite that stole bodies and corrupted intentions, corrupted minds! He'd make sure it wouldn't get away- it wouldn't corrupt this very world, He'd go after it, he'd make sure the corruption didn't spread any further than this! He-d- he'd- it was time to stop dreaming, to stop perceiving his dream as reality. He'd make it reality. After he destroyed the glitched metool, he didn't care what might happen to him. He could fade away into Seraphim after this. For all he cared, Seraphim could kill him himself. It didn't really matter, as long as he took out this corruption of justice, this corruption of the very way he lived. Had lived. Whatever.

The armor- it wasn't 'alive' anymore. Only the faintest stirrings of wind curled around the edges of the cloak as the clanking of armor stirred the blind hero forward. He brought the scythe to his side, preventing himself from tripping by swirling and making a pirouette accidentally. He steadied himself. The armor that had helped him now blinded and made him even more clumsier than before... Would he be able to catch up to the corruption if it started running? Hiding in order to recover, to inflict its inimical existence upon others. He couldn't allow that, even if they were less kind than the navi named Seraphim. He would defend them from this, because not even the lowest scum deserved such a thing to happen to them.

The Hero slammed the weapon into the ground impatiently. It couldn't spare any more time. This would not happen! He used the energy he had dragged back liberally, applying it to all the limbs in a desperate attempt to get them to move. And move they did, though not in the way the Met Hero had expected. They did what Seraphim might have done, leaping up, higher than any normalnavi could, leading the Met Hero to the doubtful conclusion of what Seraphim was, really. That didn't truly matter, so he shoved it to the side as he landed with a thud and several clanks. In front of The Corrupted Hero.

Su- supplying energy made them do something Seraphim might. That Fool's actions would be the result of the power of his own. Did he trust Seraphim? Could he? Seraphim at this point- what would he have done?

"I don't know why you did this- but it's not right! The Hero of the story will never let this by! As the main character... I will wield the blade for good and stop you!" Something like that. Yeah, but he wasn't the 'main character'. He was a side character, the fragment of the true hero decided. But- Seraphim had supported him where there had been trouble.

He would continue to support the navi.

He wanted to laugh at himself. He was being converted to Seraphim's way of thinking. But if that was what let him defeat this very threat, it didn't matter.

"Meep!"

Energy flowed through the navi's limbs, and the weapon lashed out, flowing forth with an easy blow which blazed with inner fire, only bursting forth into its dramatic flame as it blew by the Corrupted Hero, the tongues of consuming fire reaching out with explosive might. The blade was filled with another charge of energy before the Hero could even blink his fiercely glaring eyes once.

The blade didn't need to blast forth, a blast of spiraling fire curling forth from the tip, one from the chisel-like axe, another from the scythe itself. Seraphim's body recoiled as the blast tore forth from the weapon, then it spun, using the recoil to slash at the Corrupted Hero once more. The Hero-

He asked himself that one very important question.

Did he trust Seraphim, completely?

Would he let Seraphim guide his actions... for the final strike against himself?

Or would he rely only upon himself, as he had all along?

Something precious to everyone in the party had been lost that day. Why was it- that everyone needed to pay? Should he have relied upon himself?

"No, that's what friends- That's what friends are for!"

That one fragmented voice that urgently called out- cemented the Metool Hero's beliefs. He wouldn't trust only in his friends- He'd trust in them, and himself. They'd get through this together. They were at his back, supporting him. Even that idiotic Broom Navi had tried his best in order to defeat the odds, to defeat what he could Seraphim had taken on his fair share. It was none of their faults this had happened to him... It was his own. For underestimating the foe, like all of them had. It was his fault, and his enemy. Evil would be destroyed in its purest form from the world, or it would be taken by Seraphim.

The Metool Hero uttered his first words in Seraphim's body.

"Trust!"

And then, he supplied all the energy that was left to the body of Seraphim. The scythe-axe was raised, and it swung down. A thuk as it hit the ground, through whatever target he had tried to take down. The Metool Hero was drained of all energy. The body was drained of all energy. Though- in the heart he now had... He had a feeling that he had done something right.

With that, the Metool drifted off, Seraphim's armor bursting into fragments of data to show his former armor underneath. As the navi's one lone spike of hair stood up, the wind blew in the area, creating some rustic presence as the navi lay motionless, with only shallow breaths showing he was still alive. Erin may have called out just then, but Seraphim was beyond hearing. He was in a peaceful sleep, which would not be interrupted... Not even by death, if it came to that.



[Seraphim's Actions]
1] Firesword [80 Fire] ['The Corrupted Hero']
2] Firesword [80 Fire] ['The Corrupted Hero']
3] Markcannon1 [70+lockon, Null] ['The Corrupted Hero']
4] Markcannon1 [70 +Lockon, Null] ['The Corrupted Hero']
5] Widesword [80 Null]['The Corrupted Hero']
6] -1 Action

[Support Unit's Actions]
1] -1 Action
*] Dramatic wind.

[Passives]
1] Parry [20 HP barrier, Knockback if attacked]
2] Cure [Regen 5*6 Heal, Targeting Self ]

[Cooldowns]
None

Justice is blind.


















































The Corrupted Hero: Purged

Broomdude: Escaped!
Seraphim: 111 (ERROR: Minus one action!)
Support Program: 60

'Seraphim' manages to conquer the Corrupted Hero- and some small, white light shoots out from it and connects with something inside him.

Victory!

----Rewards----

30,000z.

50 Bugfrags

H.E.R.O. Synthesis fully empowered! Metool Hero Cross level 1 gained!

Metool Hero Cross acts as a normal-element navi cross with two exceptions:

1: Most Metools that see Seraphim while he's crossed will treat him as an ally. Most of them, anyway. There will be exceptions.

2: It does not take up one of your normal cross slots.

((Modlock Disengaged.))

Seraphim woke up. It wasn't a long process of Erin yelling at him, or being shook awoken and stumbling about sleepy- He just woke up. The strange thing was that he couldn't remember... What had happened to his allies? He stared around, cracking his neck, then drawing his-

"What-?" He looked at his weapon. It seemed sleeker, more- No, far more powerful. It was on a completely different level than before. How many levels had he gained from that battle? Wait, what battle? He remembered something, but that something seemed... Faint. Ephemeral. He couldn't remember exactly, but there had been an epic battle. He had gained an incredible amount of levels in one go.

"It must have been long and hard. And cutscene-worthy." The navi spoke, nodding his head confidently.

Erin, noticing the snoring from her PET had stopped, looked over at her navi, a slight smile on her face. She was sad that the battle had been so chaotic, so draining for both herself and her navi- but Seraphim seemed to have made a full recovery. She laughed, slightly. She could expect nothing less of the navi, these days.

"Erin, Miss NPC woman, I've leveled up! What should I do with my skill points, you think? Put them into what stats and skills?" The navi questioned the girl, his face in a wide grin as he looked at his operator with glee.

"I think you can decide, Seraphim." Erin said, having already picked for the navi. The illusion of free choice for him... But watching him, was it really a false choice?

Nah.

It was a good a choice as any.

[Battle 16!]

((Because I think so, and I made THREE of them.))
Seraphim trudges on into the net, and hears feudal age Electopian music start to play. He stops, taking a deep breath, possibly enjoying the music.
"You there!" a voice calls out as a strange looking Metool came up to our hero.

"Yes you," the Swordsmet said as Seraph possibly shot a confused look at the Metool, like he hadn't had his fill of Metool related things for a while. "You look like a strong warrior, I pursue the 'Way of the Swordy,' so, as to test my development so far, I challenge thee! What say you?" the Swordsmet inquired, pointing his katana at Seraphim.
So, will you accept his challenge?

"I-" Seraphim looked to the side, sadly. He sighed. He couldn't. His conscience wouldn't let him touch the swordmet. He couldn't battle with the swordmet, even if he wanted to. He smiled slightly, trying to take a slightly optimistic approach.

"I can't fight with you. I apologize. I must refuse your duel." Seraphim spoke, his voice tinged with something like regret as he bent down to the swordmet.

"Honorable foe, I cannot engage you in combat." He said dramatically, waiting for Erin's inevitable rebuttal.

Surprisingly, Erin simply smiled. She knew the events had happened... and was happy her navi had grown from it. Even if it meant not killing some puny little arrogant data miner. She sighed.

"Yeah, I approve."

"Hm, this is also the 'Way of the Swordy,'" the Metool mused, pulling out a book, indeed titled "The Way of the Swordy."
"Ah yes, Chapter 10, Section 3, Page 221, 'Thou canst choose to duel or not to duel. Sometimes it is merely cowardice. But possibly there has already been a traumatic event that the opponent has experienced that does not allow him to fight you,'" the swordsmet closed the book and sighed, closing his eyes.
He then threw a copy of the book at Seraphim's face.
"Pursue the 'Way of the Swordy' young grasshopper! It will continually lead you to victory!" the Swordsmet yelled from the top of a hill, how'd he get there so fast. And then in a rush of cherry blossoms, he was gone.

Well, that was a total waste of time.

-UNENGAGED-
Get: Key Item "The Way of the Swordy" by Bladia8.

Seraphim blinked, covered partially in cherry blossom petals. He brushed some of them off, looking slightly strange with bits of pinkish white. He spat out a sodden petal, it left an icky bitter taste in his mouth. He held the book in one hand, looking at the strange lettering. He supposed he would have to go on a sidequest to find out how to read it properly.

He really didn't understand electopian.

Especially not ancient electopian.

[Battle 16]

Seraphim walks on and hears a familiar scream of panic.
A VERY familiar scream.
Hurrying to what he hopes is what he thinks is there, he finds the source of the screaming...
But it's just a couple of navis... no one familiar...
But they're surrounded by five Heelnavis, who are oddly shaped, upon closer inspection, their lower bodies are... motorcycles?
The navis looks up from his cowering and spots Seraphim.
"Help! Help us please!"
"More targets, eh?" one of the modified heelnavis commented, smirking as he readied his machine gun. "And a custom design too, I'll go first!" the motorcycle navi yelled as he revved up his bike and dashed at Seraphim. The other navis were promptly shot at and EJO'D by the other Heelnavis as they watched their leader charge toward our hero.

Quote (The Way of the Swordy)

"To be a true Swordy, one must first help others of their kind, so as to bond ideas and vanquish foes together.

MotocycleNaviA: 200 HP
MotocycleNaviB: 200 HP
MotocycleNaviC: 200 HP
MotocycleNaviD: 200 HP
MotocycleNaviE: 200 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Seraphim.exe: 111 HP
Support Program: 60 HP

-BATTLE 16, GO!-

Seraphim stared at the opposition. He couldn't bring himself to kill them. He knew he couldn't manage to see the pieces of data flying everywhere and still feel- like a navi. He couldn't bear to see those navis be killed, either. He couldn't figure out to do for the longest time, somewhere around 3 seconds. He wouldn't kill them. He'd bring them down to critical levels. That would be the best thing to do. And- wait, what was this? Oh, right. He'd always had that skill. Yeah. Why- couldn't he remember it properly, though? He shrugged. He seemed to remember having other skills, though. He shook his head. He couldn't dwell on all that stuff now. He had a heroic monologue to make.

The navi clenched a hand. He had left his weapon in the distance... Wait, what had it been... He remembered... It had sharp edges, and- he needed two hands to wield it. Yeah. It had to be his sword. Right? He flipped the chamber of the gun-mesh-sword open, staring at the slots. It—seemed... Bigger. Like he would be able to fit much larger bullets in there. Or more damaging ones. Looking once again at the design, it seemed sleeker, much more destructive. Even more... accurate. Perfect for this job. He laughed under his breath. He would make sure to end this in one fell swoop.

"Okay, bunkies. What you guys are going to do is apologize to those poor people you killed. I don't know all this talk about 'custom model', but you made a mistake attacking a fellow navi. They're intelligent beings. They live like we live. It's like killing a piece of yourself." Seraphim threw his free arm to the side to demonstrate his point. He chopped it down at the end, emphasizing those words. He couldn't bring to light exactly how much the Metool Hero had taught him. His friend had even given him this book.

"The Swordy had beginning! 190x written in!" He reached into his inventory, relying on the text that it had given to him, obviously more than slightly jumbled into a form of which a nerd would have called 'Electoplish'. He flipped to a random page, and rambled from 'it', obviously not understanding it- and quite possibly making it all up on the spot.

"What's happening now, Seraphim?" Erin asked, Her navi seemed to be reading from a book written in- ancient Electopian? She sighed. She hadn't programmed him with modules for either Electopian or ancient Electopian. He'd have to be making it all up. Which meant- She sighed.

"Some person are bombing set up, what do?" Seraphim asked, coming from him, it seemed like a deep philosophical reference as he held the book in one hand, gesturing with the gun-mesh sword holding hand.

"Ugh, hold on, Seraphim, I'm getting a call from my parents. Just a sec." Erin spoke. She would have translated it, it was more of a puzzle to translate, and she' probably pull up the text later, but right now, her parents- were more important. No matter how much they irritated her. They had even used a signal call this time, it cut off all the other functions of her PET until she answered. She wondered how she could disable the function. Maybe she could get that Suitachi guy to help out with it. Send her PET to him along with the goods. Eh, he'd probably charge for it.

"What do you want, Mom?" Erin asked, her eyes rolling slightly sarcastically as she answered. She fingered the chips by her PET, picking up a couple of the best and sliding them in around the viewscreen.

"Honey? Honeeey, the main screen isn't turning on. Can you come and look at it?" The voice came from the black screen, the audio seemed to be working fine, the actual visual wasn't really working, though. Erin sighed. She really hoped she could get this over with. As- they couldn't see her, she slotted more chips in, grinning slightly.

"All right, let's see..." A loud 'thuk' emanated from the audio. Erin rather thought her father had punched the screen, and the visual flickered into clarity, "It's you, Erin, we've missed you!" Erin's father hovered around the screen, his face seeming disproportionate to Erin's mother.

"How are you, Mom and Dad? I'm virus busting with Seraphim right now, could you call back later?" Erin asked, grimacing slightly at her parents. She hoped they would get the message. She didn't want to see them.

Meanwhile, in Seraphimland, Seraphim proceeded about his speech unaided.

"All your souls are belong to demon if path of destruction do proceed!" Seraphim announced, preaching to the crowd of killer navis. He loaded his gun-mesh with one sword, looking down at the text, continuing his announcements.

"Destruction this leads you to on way of!" Seraphim shouted, raising his weapon and pulling the hammer back. His finger rested lightly on the trigger, hoping he was doing the right thing. He pulled it. Once. Bring down the hammer. Again. Bring down the hammer. Again. He fired a trio of shots, each one blazing with its own inner light.

"What did you say?! You're coming back home soon? How soon?" Erin's eyes would have bugged out if she hadn't been paying attention at that line. She looked around for her planner, it wasn't on the bed anywhere. She must have thrown it away.

"If continue upon path survival no only way make your time." Seraphim nodded seriously, continuing with the strange speech. He seemed to seriously want to convert and cause the navis to leave poor other beings alone, but would they listen to the speech? Erin didn't know, but she wasn't really listening anymore, so- That wasn't really the best example to go by.

"Hahahaha, Erin, We'll be home in about three months, this cruise has a long way to get home. During that, we have- plans to execute." Erin's father smiled in what he apparently thought was a mysterious manner, but to Erin, it just looked utterly stupid.

"Leader!! Stop killing, take off violence! You must know you what are doing!" Seraphim finished his speech, and slammed the book shut, bringing up a dusty cloud into the poor navi's face, causing him to cough quite a bit before storing the book in his inventory. He raised his free hand, bringing it down with the crack of thunder and blowing up the surrounding area with a sudden stream of lightning from the heavens of the net.

"For great justice!" Seraphim roared, and brought up his weapon, fanning the trigger as he blasted again and again at the enemy. Finally, he raised the weapon up- He had to do this careful-

BOOM

-chk

Seraphim shook off his hand, the weapon had fired such a blast that-

"Oh wow. Cool." The blast was multiple lasers, each firing- in the completely wrong direction. But as he watched, each arced in midair, curving to hit their foes. He grinned at their growing approach, then noticed one was left out. He'd have to fix that.

"Arc-" No... that wasn't good enough, he'd have to make this a- "Arc Vulcan!" He exclaimed, firing out a dual shot of energy bursts which seemed to bounce off each other in midair, homing in on their foe and creating a burst effect as it went for its target.

"I'll let you escape with your lives, but never attack another sentient being, someone that can think, you should never attack!" Seraphim yelled, bringing his arms to his sides and letting them stay there. They couldn't come after him after that, right? He grimaced, waiting.

[Seraphim's Actions]
1] Phoenixshot [70 Fire] [MotocycleNaviA, B, C]
2] Phoenixshot [70 Fire] [MotocycleNaviC, D, E]
3] Elecreel [80 Elec] [MotocycleNavi A, B, D, E]
4] Flux Burst [40*4 + Knockback (each shot) Homing] [40 to MotocycleNaviA, B, C, D]
5] Arc Shot [40 + Piercing + Microburst + Northwind] [MotocyclenaviE]
6] Vulcan [10*3] [Single shot (10 Dmg) to Motocyclenavi C]

[S.P.'s Actions]

1] Make Seraphim look convincing.
*] Dramatic Wind.

[Passives]
1] Cure [Regen 6*6 Heal, Targeting Self ]

[Cooldowns]
Arc Shot [3 TCD]
Flux Burst [6 TCD]

((lol Zero Wing.))

The attacks hit, fatally damaging Seraphim's opponents.
"Dammit! I won't lose to the likes of you!" the lead Heelnavi growled, firing 3 shots from his machine-gun at Seraphim, only to poorly miss due to DRAMATIC WIND.
"I-I-I don't know boss! This guy's strong!" one MotocycleNavi whimpered.
"I hate to admit it, but retreat is the best option." another spoke.
"YOU IDJITS! CHARGE HIM AT THE SAME TIME!" the leader roared furiously at his gang.
"Y-y-yes sir!" the Heelnavis saluted, revving up their engines and charging at Seraphim, probably toward their next EJO time.

MotocycleNaviA: 10 HP
MotocycleNaviB: 10 HP
MotocycleNaviC: 10 HP
MotocycleNaviD: 10 HP
MotocycleNaviE: 10 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Seraphim.exe: 140 HP
Support Program: 60 HP

Seraphim clenched his teeth, grinding them. Why the hell did they listen to that stupid guy? Why couldn't they just be smart and run away? They weren't just dumb regular monsters, they were people. They had minds of their own. He clenched his free hand, the fingernails on the inside of his gauntlets nearly digging in. He raised up his weapon. No.

No.

"No!" Seraphim roared, then threw his weapon to the side, throwing his arms out. He wouldn't let them do this. He wouldn't bring himself to kill them. If he killed them- he was like them. He was as bad as they were. He wouldn't lower himself down to their leader's level. He raised a hand.

"No. Justice- A true hero never kills the villains!" He flung his hands out, and drew in power. He didn't have a damaging attack low enough for these villains, but he'd just have to improvise. That display of power hadn't been enough. He channeled his energy, deep within himself, and drove it outward as fast as he could, sending flares of energy out from his back as-

shfuff

It was a wing. Blazing with a golden fire, it was hovering by itself near Seraphim's shoulderblades, as the navi closed his eyes. He needed more. More power, making more of an image. Something boiled within him, struggling to break locks that bound it, but he ignored it. He had to do it himself. His mind, his mansion... It seemed he was strolling around in its hallways, encountering the random monster and opening doors, looking for the power he needed. There were so many locked doors, all banging and interrupting the pristine silence of his mansion. He walked toward one with more chains than the others and raised a hand. It had-

He counted.

20 Locks? No, as soon as he counted, they rearranged. He couldn't keep counting without them changing. He moved on, the door's dull thudding growing smaller as he walked further into the distance. He opened another door. There wasn't as much inside there. He closed it. It was taking too much time, searching his mind for more power. Couldn't he call on something? Justice...

Honor...

"Grrgah!" And another wing brandished itself. This one was blazing as the last one had, the two wings together lending a sort of halo to Seraphim's hair, not an angelic one, but stark shadows and light intermixing harshly. He wouldn't step down. But... There was still too much power that he couldn't handle if he tried to push even farther.

"Come on, decimate those guys with a triple hitter!" A voice called out. What-? Why - how-? Seraphim didn't quite understand what was happening. What was this strange voice? It sounded somewhat like him... except with far more arrogance in its voice.

"What's happening?" Seraphim asked, as another voice swirled into being. Something told him that there was... something missing, for lack of a better word. He looked around for the source of the voice. He shrugged. He could handle inner voices. It was a common trait for a hero, after all. Right? He had to resist the pull of the inner voices and accomplish his fate on his own, right?

"WHERE IS HE? HE'S NOT HERE. HE SHOULD BE HERE." The other voice grated on Seraphim's ears, and the navi grimaced. What-? Most heroes didn't have more than 4 voices, right? They usually had a childlike voice too, where was that? He-

He...

The world blurred. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't handle the power properly. It was too much. It felt like an overload. Too much, too soon. His body had felt tired before, and he was already expending it by doing this. He fell to one knee before catching himself and raising himself up once more.

Erin was busy talking with her NPC parent units. He hoped she would be done soon. He needed her healing things...

"Run and don't kill other- o-other navis!" The navi struggled to say, his mouth did not work properly, nearly fumbling simple words as his motions grew continually more and more jerky. He had to release the power.

"You sure you're prepared for thiii-" The voice disappeared. Slowly, so did the other. It was right. He needed to rest. Badly. He couldn't keep going like this. He needed the help of his friends. He made it a note to stop solo-grinding and go find his party after this sidequest.

It was all he could do to keep standing up, making his best effort to look imposing.

[Seraphim's Actions]
1] Magbolt [Make a wing]
2] Magbolt [Make another wing.]
3] Debate with self.
4] Look imposing.
5] Look imposing.
6] Look imposing.

[S.P.'s Actions]

1] Make Seraphim look imposing.
*] Dramatic Wind.

[Passives]
1] Cure [Regen 6*6 Heal, Targeting Self ]

[Cooldowns]
Arc Shot [2 TCD]
Flux Burst [5 TCD]

"I see... you won't attack, huh?" the lead navi inquired gruffly, it was more of a rhetorical question than anything though. "Fine, I'll come back for you when you actually regain some killing intent. This net isn't filled with understanding people all the time, consider yourself... yourself." the navi said, revving up his engine and riding off into the distance.
"W-w-wait for us, b-boss!" the other motorcycle navis called as they rode off with him. Two of them collided with one another, dropping something, and then got up and followed their boss.

MotocycleNaviA: FLED
MotocycleNaviB: FLED
MotocycleNaviC: FLED
MotocycleNaviD: FLED
MotocycleNaviE: FLED

Terrain: 100% Normal

Seraphim.exe: 140 HP
Support Program: 60 HP

-VICTORY-
Get: 2500z

FXP Get! Metool Hero Cross: +5 FXP!

((You didn't kill anything so no Bugfrags))

Seraphim blinked. He was glad it worked. He- he had to finish the subplot- sidequest-thingie. He couldn't stop until it was done. He wanted the extra character in his party, of course. Absolutely.

His vision wasn't quite clear as the navi staggered forward, attempting to move in a straight line, but seeming slightly drunk.

[Battle 17]

[Bump]