Illusions Away

Illusionist appeared in the middle of Scilab net, the gleaming pillars of the internet community in this area surrounding him. He walked forward calmly, but took in as much of the sights as he could. First time in a new net, after all.

After a minute or two of walking, he came to the open space at the end of the netsquare portal mini-city. Going into the net, he spotted a few navis in the distance engaged in fights. Viruses, after all, were plentiful just about anywhere you looked. And Illusionist was looking as best he could.

(Battle 1, 100 HP, First Battle)

As Illusionist walked forward boldly in search of new adventures in the Science Labs network, he happened upon a small group of cannon turret viruses, simply called Canodumbs. They were clustered together quite tightly. Noticing Illusionist's approach, they swiveled their turret heads in his direction, ready to fire!

-- ENEMIES --
Canodumb A: 50 HP
Canodumb B: 50 HP
Canodumb C: 50 HP

-- NAVIGATOR --
Illusionist.EXE: 100 HP

-- TERRAIN --
100% Metal

-- BATTLE 01, READY? START!! --

Illusionist spotted the Canodumbs early, changing his path to walk towards them. A few moments later, they swiveled towards him. Energy glowed ominously in the barrels, reflecting slightly off of the gleaming floor.
Morning, boys... you look a bit thirsty, you know that? Illusionist snapped his fingers, and a mirror materialized in the air. It reflected the battlefield fairly accurately, but a slight mist seemed to fill the reflection. Illusionist grinned, and the world exploded.
The ground tore apart, chunks of metal flying into the air with the force of the geysers that erupted, showering the entire area with water and beginning to flood the area with the Canodumbs. The metal soon could only be seen by its gleam through the water covering the area, and the canodumbs were halfway submerged in an instant. Water flowed to the edges of the battle routine and sloshed around, and within moments the tens of geysers had filled the entire arena.
Seemingly unhindered by the water around him, Illusionist ran forward.
No, scratch that, he ran sideways.

Illusionist... was now Illusionists. On one side of the canodumbs, the Illusionist Decoy charged forward with a Rageclaw with a yell, swinging furiously. Meanwhile, the real illusionist was taking aim along the length of a translucent blue shotgun, aimed directly at the cluster of enemies. A shot, and the shotgun fired its deadly payload straight towards the group.

Moments later, the shotgun seemed to shatter and hold itself in midair, before the pieces reformed into the mirror that had summoned the first illusion. An image of a cannon flashed briefly, before the reflective glass shattered again and formed into the second weapon. Illusionist took aim once more, this time at the canodumb virus that he hadn't aimed for with the shotgun, and let fly his shot.

Overview:
1. Illusory Wave (Illusion, Small Terrain Change [Sea] around Illusionist)
[Passive: Decoy (Runs towards the viruses, image of a Rageclaw)]
2. Shotgun to Canodumb A/B (50 Damage, Splash1)
3. Cannon to Canodumb C (40, Knockback)

After making some Sea terrain and cloning himself in a flashy yet watery manner, Illusionist got to attacking. Shotgun hit its main mark, though the spread failed to hit its mark; it wasn't even close. Cannon, as well, managed to somehow miss. Apparently, illusions didn't make you a master marksman.

Speaking of which, two of the cannon viruses elected to divide and conquer, each firing at an Illusionist. The decoy was smashed into oblivion, but the actual Navi didn't even have to move to not get hit. Exactly how something specifically designed to aim and shoot things could miss like that wasn't clear, but he probably wasn't complaining.

-- ENEMIES --
Canodumb A: DELETED
Canodumb B: 50 HP
Canodumb C: 50 HP

-- NAVIGATOR --
Illusionist.EXE: 100 HP

-- TERRAIN --
80% Metal, 20% Sea (around Illusionist)
(looks like 100% Sea to Canodumbs)

Max sighed, dragging his hand across his face. Illusionist paused a moment as his shots missed entirely, pinching the bridge of his nose and avoiding his operator's look through the small mirror next to his face.
I'm sending the Rageclaw. There are only two of them left, after all. I'm thinking you should feint with a decoy, and th- A shot streaked past Illusionist's head, clipping the mirror displaying Max and making it fall to the ground, mute. He snapped out of his reverie and flipped the broken op-mirror off of the ground with a well placed stomp of his foot. The gleaming surface spread over his hand, forming reflective claws at the end of his fingers. Slashing twice, Illusionist quickly familiarized himself with the new weapon. And then, spinning once and throwing up a splash of water, he charged.

Rageclaw in hand and ready to make hell for his enemies, Illusionist weaved forward to avoid whatever shots were thrown his way. Leaping past the viruses as he reached them, Illusionist turned and let loose a flurry of blows on the Canodumb viruses. Punching and kicking as much as he used the claws, he relentlessly beat on the two opponents.

And, his distraction in place, rose out of the edge of the sea terrain he'd created when he put his illusion in place. Running as silently as he could, Illusionist used his decoy's distraction tactics to approach the Canodumb viruses from behind and, when he was close enough, he leapt forwards. Grabbing at the thinner part of the virus in between the base and the cannon head, Illusionist prepared to heave the virus at its nearby ally.

Overview:
1. Submerge in Sea terrain
-Decoy Illusionist charges towards the viruses, draws their attention in the opposite direction-
2. Tactical Movement to behind Canodumb viruses while they're distracted
3. Rageclaw throw CanodumbB at CanodumbC (20 each, Impact)

The Canodumbs were dumbfounded as it watched its enemy disappear into the endless water below, spinning their head round and around to pinpoint their enemy's location. At the first sight of the decoy, the two viruses immediately open fired, quickly dispersing the decoy along with the makeshift illusion they were caught in. But it was already too late as Illusionist swung its claw against the viruses and caused minor damage to the two.

-- ENEMIES --
Canodumb A: DELETED
Canodumb B: 30 HP
Canodumb C: 30 HP

-- NAVIGATOR --
Illusionist.EXE: 100 HP [RageClaw 5/6]

-- TERRAIN --
80% Metal, 20% Sea (around Illusionist)
(looks like 100% Sea to Canodumbs)

Illusionist's pupils widened as he abandoned critical thought, stepping to the right as his decoy stepped to the left. And Max quickly lost sight of what Illusionist did as his limbs began to blur in a quick series of attacks.

Decoy!Illusionist lunged forward, striking at the thrown canodumb by slashing at its base. He then quickly rolled sideways to the second cannon, bringing the claw around in a ground level swipe as he finished his dodge. Claw extended to his side, his other two feet and his hand making three points of contact with the ground, the clone froze in place.

For the real Illusionist, the moment before his decoy attacked crystallized before him like the claw around his hand. In his mind's eye he saw the path of his decoy in the next few moments, its movements a solid block of his own armor in a curved line around the opponents. He blinked, and his own personal frozen moment disappeared as quickly as any illusion.
Illusionist slid where his decoy lunged, closing the gap between his throw location and where the enemies now stood. Slashing upwards in a diagonal cut, Illusionist started a quick 360 degree spin on his back, his legs tucked to avoid catching the opponents. Just as he reached the correct point, Illusionist rolled sideways and sprung upwards, leaping over his decoy's sideways roll and bringing the rageclaw down along the height of the canodumb. There, mirrored on the opposite side of the opponents from his Decoy, Illusionist froze as well.

Overview:
-Decoy (Attack the opposite canodumb from Illusionist, simultaneous actions otherwise)-
1. Rageclaw to Canodumb B (40, Slashing)
2. Dodge
3. Rageclaw to Canodumb C (40, Slashing)

Cleave and slash went Illusionist, as the two remaining Canodumbs were rent in half by him and his alter copy (or whatever it was supposed to be) One of the Canodumbs managed to retaliate but it locked on to the wrong Illusionist, and fired on thin air.

-- ENEMIES --
Canodumb A: DELETED
Canodumb B: DELETED
Canodumb C: DELETED

-- NAVIGATOR --
Illusionist.EXE: 100 HP [RageClaw 5/6]

-- TERRAIN --
80% Metal, 20% Sea (around Illusionist)

-- BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --
[Cannon] Battlechip, 180z

Illusionist knelt down, grabbing the chip and the zennies. Our selection is now up to four, for chips. He smiled, turning to his operator. See? No problems whatsoever.
Max pulled up a list of known viruses in the Scilab area. That might be the case for three canodumb viruses, but that's just the tip of an iceberg with a lot more HP than we're used to so far. He paused and inserted the new chip data into his meager folder. But, good work.
Illusionist nodded once, and continued into the net.

Illusionist's trek through SciLab eventually took him to an area with what looked like the remains of... something. Numerous metal panels were scattered in chunks around the netscape, and the Navi also noticed several viruses milling about. He approached unobtrusively, but the viruses still looked entirely hostile as he stopped not far from them.

Billy: 80HP (Normal)
Champu A: 60HP (Metal)
Champu B: 60HP (Metal)

Terrain:
60% Metal (Large rectangular sections)
40% Normal (Everywhere else)

Illusionist.EXE: 100HP (Metal)

Battle 2 Start!

Illusionist almost missed the next group of viruses. Looking at the ground, he stared at the fallen pieces of metal with some confusion. Where had they come from, or were they just constructs written into the net? He looked around in every direction, before a small teleporting burst of red caught his eye. Focusing in that direction, he spotted the group of viruses tramping around. The metal on the ground started to smoke and spark as it superheated and became charged.
Database suggests Champy and Billy viruses. Fire and Elec, respectively, and they attack by teleporting to you and throwing fiery punches, and summoning homing balls of lightning. Max paused. That last bit was respectively too.
Illusionist shook his head. Just attacking will do nothing but get me injured, then? He turned to look at Max, who gave a noncommittal shrug and shook his head. Illusionist sighed, before taking a deep breath and sitting down with his legs crossed. Leaning backward with one hand on the ground to steady himself, Illusionist tilted his head as he looked at the viruses and snapped his fingers with his off hand.

As he snapped, a drop of water lifted from where his fingers connected and floated in the air. The droplet flattened out, turning into a line of water, and splitting until it was a halo of water a yard across. The halo suddenly erupted with water, forming a curtain around where Illusionist sat. The curtain spun, turning into a cyclone of water, and then a wave tore across the rest of the battlefield. A small line of uncovered normal tiles appeared to be safe, about large enough for the three viruses to stay on, and Illusionist remained standing where he had been before the display, normal terrain beneath his feet.

The real Illusionist was, of course, somewhere else. Directly behind his decoy for a moment after the illusion completed its display, he sunk into the sea terrain beneath him that he had disguised as normal panels. Gleaming metal claws coated his hand, and he waited below the decoy for one of the Champus to take the bait.

Overview:
1. Illusory Wave (Illusion of Sea terrain with a small patch of normal under Illusionist and another a bit further away, Small Terrain Change [Sea] disguised as the normal panels under the Decoy)
-Decoy (Take Illusionist's place directly after the illusion finishes summoning-
2. Submerge in Sea terrain
3. Rageclaw to attacking Champu (Drag Champu under water, ??? Damage)

Using a tactical decoy to his advantage, Illusionist sank into the sea paneling he disguised, and waited for the Champu to take the bait. The Billy released a ball of lightning at the decoy, while one of the Champu teleported up to it. It was then that the Champu realized its folly, and was dragged downwards into the real water! (30)

Billy: 80HP (Normal)
Champu A: 30HP (Submerged, Sea)
Champu B: 60HP (Metal)

Terrain:
60% Metal (Large rectangular sections)
40% Normal (Everywhere else)

Illusionist.EXE: 100HP (Submerged, Sea) (RageClaw 5/6)

(You didn't change the terrain description.)

The illusion surrounding the enemies disappeared as Illusionist lost his focus, pulling the Champu into the real Sea water. Winding up as the virus struggled in the water, Illusionist slashed savagely through the froth of boiling water around his target.
Spinning in the water, Illusionist propelled himself toward the far edge of the sea terrain where he had pulled the Champu in a moment before. As he shot through the water, Illusionist gestured towards where he was moving. Out of the water, a small portion stopped moving and morphed into a nearly transparent mirror. Illusionist swam towards the mirror, and passed directly through. The rageclaw he had been using was now on his left hand instead of his right, but he was otherwise unaffected.
Nice trick, but a bit much for a simple switch of which hand you used the rageclaw on. Max commented, slotting in a Cannon chip for his navi to use. Illusionist's now-free right hand morphed into the overlarge green buster so recognized by newcomers to the virus busting profession.
That's where you're wrong. Showmanship is everything! As Illusionist finished his sentence, his decoy burst from the water where he had dragged in the first Champu, rolling forward with the rageclaw towards the second Champu virus. Illusionist fired his own Cannon towards the Billy virus, staying underwater to attract less attention to himself.

Overview:
1. Rageclaw to ChampuA (40, Slashing)
2. Tactical Movement to edge of Sea Terrain
-Decoy at previous location-
3. Cannon to Billy (40, Knockback)

Like a terror from the deep, Illusionist mowed down the first Champu with great finesse before moving away from his opponents, leaving a mirror in his place.

The decoy was quite effective in confusing the Champu while Illusionist fired upon the Billy. Nothing else of note occurred.

Oh well, I guess Illusionist needed to get out of the water to ACTUALLY SEE THE BILLY, but other than that, nothing much.

Billy: 30HP (Metal)
Champu A: DELETED
Champu B: 60HP (Metal)

Terrain:
60% Metal (Large rectangular sections)
40% Normal (Everywhere else)

Illusionist.EXE: 100HP (Sea) (RageClaw 4/6)