Nervous Science

Trouble

Cheshire turned to Cambiare as the last DBLCUBE began to dissolve, tilting her head as if intending to say something. Her cocky smile suddenly vanished, however, as she caught sight of the boomerang arcing toward the two of them. "Nngh!" She gripped her side, feeling the relatively shallow cut through the tear in the fabric of her dress. She glanced at Cambiare, and then the trio of Boomers floating smugly a short distance away. "Sorry about that, Cambi..." She murmured, wiping the small smear of dark blood on the hip of her leggings.

"It isn't like you to apologize like that," Iris remarked coolly. "What brings this on?"

"Well, I'm his guide, yeah?" Cheshire started toward the three Boomers, her brow set with determination. "Not much of a guide if I get him cut up like this, am I?"

"I would just say you were living up to your name." Iris' voice was uncharacteristically warm as she teased her.

With a roar, Cheshire broke into a run, the black blade of her sword-arm scraping a furrow into the metal tiles. Nearing the group of impudent viruses, she swung the sword forward, burying the tip and vaulting at her opponents. Fire wreathed her legs as she launched a fearsome dropkick at one, hitting the ground in a roll as she completed her pass.

She smoothly climbed to her feet in the same motion, spinning to face another of the viruses. "You coulda just run off, you know that? I wouldnt've chased you or anything!" She lashed out with a powerful side kick, flames licking at the cold, sterile SciLab air. "But now, guess what!? You're food! I'm gonna kill you, and then I'm gonna fucking eat you!" She fixed the final virus with her blazing stare. She stepped forward, throwing her entire body into a mighty overhand swing with her sword-arm. The metal tiles shrieked as the blade buried itself in the floor.

She slumped onto the tiles, grabbing her sword-arm to keep herself sitting upright. "Did I... Haah... Get them this time?" She panted, looking wearily up toward her companion.

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BambooSword - BoomerA, BoomerB, BoomerC [80+10+10 + Slashing + Wide Attack, Wood, B]

Goroke

The DBLCUBEs were successfully deleted without causing any harm, but the Boomers had nicked Cambiare on his stomach and Cheshire with their boomerangs, ending the battle phase with a sour note. "Ouch, my sides..." The cut wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other injuries the navi had faced before, but it was still a cut nonetheless. "N-no, don't be sorry, Cheshire. I-it happens." said the navi as he clenched his hand over the wound.

Finny had drawn out two chips out from her pocket and quickly inserted it into the PET. "Does little Cambi have a booboo? Well, this will fix it up." A pink light appeared out of nowhere and enveloped Cambiare's body entirely, completely curing the cut and all his fatigues in an instant. "Thanks, Finny. That r-really he-ARRRGH!" The navi looked down to find that his wound was indeed healed...and his entire right fist lit up in flames. He began to swing his arm haphazardly in order to put out the fire, but it was simply no use as it continued to burn vigorously. "O-o-off! Get it off! I m-mean, put it off! Ahhhhh!" It was only after the unnecessary panic that Cambiare realized that the fire wasn't burning nor hurting him at all, instead, it had a gentle warm glow despite how fiercely it was burning.

"Oh right. This is the new chip we got a few battles ago. Thought this was the best time to try it ourselves...And stop freaking out, geez."

Cambiare continued to inspect the fire on his hand, but quickly snapped out of it when Cheshire suddenly moved in for her own attack. "R-right...N-nothing wrong with your h-hand bu-bu-burning." He approached the Boomers from behind the data stream and hoped to catch one with its back revealed. But the fact that his hand was on fire really got to Cambiare's head, unable to focus correctly as he swung his burning fist without caring which ever direction it hit the viruses. "One more, o-one more!" Cambiare drew his fist back and swung it at the other Boomer virus nearby, successfully dispelling the flame and putting the poor navi at rest...

1. Recovery30 [Heals 30 HP] {S} @ Self
2. FireHit [60 ([b]x3 Terrain Advantage / Elemental Weakness[/b]) | Impact | Double] {A} @ BoomerC
3. FireHit [60 ([b]x3 Terrain Advantage / Elemental Weakness[/b]) | Impact | Double] {A} @ BoomerB

Cooldowns:
Staccato: 2 TCD

Frelia

Fiery fists were always fun to play around with. Gleaming green swords, too. Ooooh, profanity.

-- ENEMIES --
DBLCUBE A: DELETED
DBLCUBE B: DELETED
DBLCUBE C: DELETED
Dynamite A: DELETED
Dynamite B: DELETED
Boomer A: DELETED
Boomer B: DELETED
Boomer C: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
Datastream A: 20 HP (Broken)
Datastream B: 20 HP (Broken)
Datastream C: 100 HP (Broken)

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 145 HP
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP

-- TERRAIN --
85% Metal
15% Broken

-- TEAM BATTLE 02, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --
Cheshire: [DBLBEAM1] Battlechip, 560z, 2 FXP
Cambiare: 640z, 2 FXP

Trouble

"Hahaha... Well, that was embarrassing." Cheshire remarked a little hoarsely, propping herself up on her buried sword. "Still... We did pretty good, huh?" She yanked the blade out of the ground with a grunt. Her free hand gently cupped one of the broken strands of virus data as they floated up around her. The black silk that composed the blade unwound itself, the separate ribbons snaking out and snatching the bright shapes before they could dissipate, drawing them into the confusion of bandages as they reformed into the shape of an arm.

"Told you so." Cheshire purred to no one in particular, her small pink tongue darting smoothly over her lips. She tilted her head to Cambiare, a inscrutable smile on her face. "Ready for some more? I'm not sure if we can catch up to that Mr. Prog now, but we might as well have fun while we're here." She set off again with a friendly wink, her stride a great deal more energetic than it had been a short while ago.

[BATTLE 3 READY! 145 HP!]

Goroke

"Oohh, it burns, it b-burns..."

Cambiare was blowing at his right fist, cooling it down since it was aflame just a few moment ago. The battle as already over, and Cheshire was already looking his way with her usual smile on her face. "Right...F-fun..." Though Cambiare admit that the two of them were pretty good in taking down viruses, there was no way that he could ever see virus busting as an enjoyable activity.

Nonetheless, he did enjoy his time with the Cheshire as he followed behind the stranger he met few minutes ago on the trail of catching up with the mysterious Mr. Prog...

-BATTLE THREE, READY!-

Frelia

The road they went through after the battle became wider and wider, and its shine became more pronounced until it became a beautiful glow. The road led them to a four-way intersection, where a few viruses seemed to be waiting to ambush anyone who walked by. A couple of towering IronShields were lurking around some UFO viruses, as well as some Handy. In front of the 'Shields were some electric Swordy, which swung about their swords threateningly at Cheshire and Cambiare!

-- ENEMIES --
IronShield A: 120 HP (Protecting UFO) (Glass)
IronShield B: 120 HP (Protecting Handy) (Glass)
RedUFO A: 80 HP (Flying/Glass)
RedUFO B: 80 HP (Flying/Glass)
Handy A: 80 HP (Solar)
Handy B: 80 HP (Solar)
Handy C: 80 HP (Glass)
Swordy-E A: 80 HP (Solar)
Swordy-E B: 80 HP (Solar)
Swordy-E C: 80 HP (Solar)

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 145 HP (Solar)
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP (Solar)

-- TERRAIN --
50% Solar (Four roads leading into main area)
50% Glass (Circular area where roads converge)

-- TEAM BATTLE 03, READY? START!! --

Trouble

"By the way, Cambi..." Cheshire began as the two of them travelled along the gently glowing path, her face suddenly pensive. "You've been acting like you're about to shake yourself to pieces. I didn't scare you that badly, did I?" Again that sharp-toothed grin, suggesting that she might not quite mind if it was a result of her attention. "You should just relax! I mean, the two of us are... Oh!" The cluster of viruses finally caught her eye, the prospect of more prey pulling her attention away from the conversation. "Hmhmhm... They're so cute when they try to organize~!"

Her unhurried steps brought her toward the sword-bearers first. The girl seemed strangely unalert, even stretching her arms above her head leisurely. The illusion only lasted for a second, though. Her right hand suddenly gripped her left wrist and pulled with a twist, the ribbons that made up her hand and fingers unfurling and forming the pommel of the long, thin sword of brilliant green she extracted from her wrapped arm. The rest of the arm followed suit, now a billowing sleeve as she spun, bringing the sword around at the first line of viruses in a wide arc once, and then again, her red-stained fingers tight around the hilt.

"As for you..." She briefly pondered the viruses with the huge shields. They seemed intent on protecting the ones behind them -- and if she remembered correctly, those were some viruses they were better off destroying as quickly as possible. Her eyes brightened as she noticed the planes of fragile glass on which they had chosen to make their stand, however. She crouched, the tips of her wrappings slithering against the glowing ground and then burying themselves inside it, a wide pillar of fire shortly blooming a little ways away.

She stood then, and watched, rapt, waiting to see what the situation would be when the curtain of fire cleared.

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FlameLine1 - IronShield A, IronShield B [70 | Ground | Wide | Fire | B]
*Mainly attempting to shatter the glass panels beneath them.

-- TURN SPLICE --

Goroke

Cambiare and Cheshire continued on the glowing road, moving along as he checked his right hand once more. "Oh come on. It's all in your head, it didn't even give you a singe!" said Finny, trying in her own way to comfort her navi. "Y-yeah? Well, try telling me that when you have your e-entire hand is bu-bu-burning" Cheshire was worried about Cambiare's strange actions, but he shook his hands to reassure the navi. "No, no. You weren't s-scary at all. No, n-not one bit." said Cambiare as he smiled back at Cheshire's menacing grin.

The smile on the nervous navi was quickly turned into a frown when a horde of viruses stood in their way. Intimidated by their numbers, Cambiare began to step away from his enemies. "F-F-Finny. Tenut-to form!" With the quick swap of the program drive, the navi's body changed to his green form and immediately bashed his gauntlet against one another to form the sound-barrier around him.

"Man, what's going on?" said Finny as she closely inspected the viruses through her PET's holoscreen. "It looks like they're continuously growing in numbers...At this rate, we might fight a hundred of them!" Cambiare gulped as he heard the potential enemies he would have to fight if he continued, but he watched as Cheshire fearlessly jumped into the battle. The navi eyed the Ironshield that was defending some of the viruses and decided to wait it out before he made his own move...Taking steps further away.

Change: Tenuto Form
1. Andante [30 HP Barrier / 30 HP Casing / 2TCD]
-Turn Splice-

Cooldowns:
Andante: USED

Frelia

Cheshire's all-out attack on the Swordy was met with great success as her BambooSword cleaved through their armor like butter. The curtain of fire raised itself on the battlefield, causing mass mayhem on the IronShields' side as they fell into the floor, dealing quite a bit of damage to them. The UFO viruses got to work, flying up to the Navis. Red beams were fired from their undersides, hitting both Cheshire and Cambiare and disrupting their chip systems! [Totem1 Blocked / MachineGun1 Blocked] The Handy, meanwhile, got to laying around some bombs for the benefit of their (mostly dead) teammates.

From the holes of the fallen IronShields, some bombs were fired haphazardly around, but didn't land on anything important. One of them did catch Cambiare's sound barrier some, but that was it.

-- ENEMIES --
IronShield A: 30 HP (Fallen/Broken)
IronShield B: 30 HP (Fallen/Broken)
RedUFO A: 80 HP (Flying/Glass)
RedUFO B: 80 HP (Flying/Glass)
Handy A: 80 HP (Solar)
Handy B: 80 HP (Solar)
Handy C: 80 HP (Glass)
Swordy-E A: DELETED
Swordy-E B: DELETED
Swordy-E C: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
TimeBomb A: 50 HP
TimeBomb B: 50 HP
DudBomb: 1 HP [Near Handy group]

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 145 HP (Solar) [Action: 1/4]
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP (Solar) [Barrier 20 / Casing 30] [Action: 2/3]

-- TERRAIN --
35% Solar (Four roads leading into main area)
35% Glass (Circular area where roads converge)
15% Cracked (Swordy-E area)
15% Broken (IronShields' area)

Trouble

Cheshire peered into the hole she had created, watching the shapes of the two viruses recede into the distance before coming to a sudden stop a long way down. Well, that went better than I expected. Now what the hell are these things they were guarding?

Her question was answered shortly, as the exposed viruses hurried into action. The red beam took her by surprise, but there didn't seem to be any harm done, besides making her skin tingle a little. The giant hand-shaped viruses, though -- those looked a little more dangerous. She spun to face one as it laid a bomb nearby, a predatory smile slashes across her face. Wordlessly, she cast her left arm forward, the tendrils of silk lashing out toward the Handy and curling around its form.

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Taste Test - Handy A [Drain 25 | Pull 1 | Glitch 3 | Null | 2 TCD]

Taste Test - USED

Goroke

Cambiare raised his arms up when the IronShield's bomb exploded, but not to block the attack, but to cover his ear. The attack was safely fended off thanks to his barrier, but it still looked like it made an impression on the navi. "U-urrgh. I can never get use to those l-loud explosions..." said the navi as he lowered his arm. "...Well, then I guess you'll hate for this one then." Inserting the TankCannon chip, Finny watched as Cambiare's right gauntlet let out a large gun barrel, making the navi let out an exhausted sigh.

"Y-you know. As powerful as this ch-chip is. Don't you t-think it's time to use s-something else?" said Cambiare as he readied the gun, despite his complain. "Pfft, whatever, don't fix what's not broken. You take that gun and shoot it at those tank-like viruses down in that hole!" The navi lifted his gigantic gun and tried to make his way towards the gaping hole Cheshire had made. Though he was uneasy about moving straight through the viruses, Cambiare was able to relax just a bit as the dangerous Swordy viruses were taken care of, thanks to Cheshire once more.

When the nervous navi finally reached to the edge of the broken hole, he peered down to see the two IronShields below. Cambiare firmly planted his foots on the precarious floor, making sure the he himself wouldn't fall below, and lowered the TankCannon into the hole. "L-like shooting a fish in a barrel...T-that's the right s-saying, right?" After bracing his body for the recoil, Cambiare fired the gun straight down at the two entrapped viruses as the explosion sent tiny glass fragments to shoot up into the sky...

-TURN SPLICE END-
2. Movement to Broken terrain
3. TankCannon [80 /or/ [b]80+Blast2[/b] | Alt-Mode | Take Aim] {A / C} @ IronShield B

Cooldowns:
Andante: 2 TCD

Frelia

With an evil-looking smile on her face, Cheshire let her tendrils out towards a nearby Handy, and sucked some life out of it. A host of bugs flowed from her body into the virus, infesting it with harmful glitches. Corrosion started to eat away at its body, and it was unable to move! In addition to that, the bomb it had just laid down puffed out with a small trail of smoke.

Meanwhile, Cambiare went over to the broken terrain, standing near the glass where the IronShields had been. Finny sent the Navi their staple battlechip, and the Navi aimed down at the viruses, which would surely have been sitting ducks with their position. However, luck smiled on them yet, as the glass made Cambiare's aim unstable, and he fired off to the side!

-- ENEMIES --
IronShield A: 30 HP (Fallen/Broken)
IronShield B: 30 HP (Fallen/Broken)
RedUFO A: 80 HP (Flying/Glass)
RedUFO B: 80 HP (Flying/Glass)
Handy A: 55 HP (Solar) (Rooted / Poison5)
Handy B: 80 HP (Solar)
Handy C: 80 HP (Glass)
Swordy-E A: DELETED
Swordy-E B: DELETED
Swordy-E C: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
TimeBomb A: FAILED
TimeBomb B: 50 HP [2 turns]
DudBomb: 1 HP [Near Handy group] [X]

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 160 HP (Solar)
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP (Glass) [Barrier 20 / Casing 30]

-- TERRAIN --
35% Solar (Four roads leading into main area)
35% Glass (Circular area where roads converge)
15% Cracked (Swordy-E area)
15% Broken (IronShields' area)

Trouble

Cheshire tightened her grip around the virus, swaying gently in place. She simply enjoyed the sensation of the virus' broken data being leached into her own body, her grip on the green sword beginning to loosen ever so slightly. A ceramic clatter suddenly sounded out over the private band, the girl's half-lidded eyes flying open with surprise. She reluctantly released the tortured virus, violent red marks covering its metal skin and haemorrhaging more data into the surrounding air. "Sis. Everything alright?"

"Cheshire!" Iris' voice was harsh, a stark contrast to her usual detached tone. "Just now... What did you do!?" Cheshire only offered a shrug, now truly back to her enigmatic self.

"Thought I'd have a taste. Just... Got a little too into it, y'know? Hasn't that ever happened to you?" She drew the tendrils of silk back in and reformed her left arm. "Don't worry about it, okay? I've seen you get the same way yourself, and I never called you out on it." Iris coughed softly. "It isn't anything like that... We'll talk about this later."

Cheshire gave a thumbs-up to the thin air before returning her attention to the remaining viruses, drving the sword into the ground nearby for the time being. She felt the chip data rising to the surface, just as expected. Her and Iris had been together for long enough that they hardly needed to speak about strategy -- Iris knew her capabilities, and had managed to temper Cheshire's own shrewdness with her own over time. This time, there was only one chip... But for now, it was perfect.

"Let's see here..." Her arms were raised, palms-up, two fairly nondescript wooden logs suddenly flashing into existence in her grasp. The first, she dropped to the ground unceremoniously at her feet, while she tossed the second in a lazy arc toward the two Handies who had escaped her earlier attentions. "Catch this!" She followed its path with her eyes, finally drawing her foot back and giving the log on the ground a mighty kick just as the first neared the end of its trajectory. Giant hands were pretty much notorious for being tricky; she wasn't going to give them anything too simple to deal with.

She turned to face Cambiare, standing bashfully on the edge of the pit that had trapped the two Ironshields. "Hey, Cambi! Don't worry about that hand, alright? It's waaay too messed up to do anything right now." She shot a grin over toward her victim, still bleeding data at an alarming rate. "I think I know what to do about those guys chilling out in the hole, too. For now, we just need to fuck up the ones that haven't been fucked up." The harsh statement left her lips sweetly, matter-of-factly, the girl seeming not to take any notice of her choice of words. "Knock 'em dead, yeah?" she finished, grabbing her sword out of its impromptu hilt in the ground and springing into motion.

Her wild run brought her across the field in almost no time at all. Without losing any of her momentum, she smoothly dropped into a crouch and leapt for the floating red discs that had been left to their own devices for so long. Her powerful legs launched her into the air in a bizarre pirouette, the now-ragged sword trailing glowing strands of its own data along the whirling path it traveled. She brought it around in a mighty swing, the force at its peak finally driving the weapon beyond its limits. The blade shattered into tiny emerald sparks, the hilt soon disintegrating to follow suit.

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BambooSword [80+10 | Slashing | Wide 3 | Wood | B]

Taste Test - 2 TCD

Goroke

"..." Camiare looked up to see his TankCannon's bullet fly off into the horizon, and took a look back down to see that the IronShields were still alive and well, unharmed from any of his attack. "...Wow. Just wow. Shooting a fish in a barrel, you say? Well, Cambi, you just set yourself a new record." said Finny, burying her face into her hands as it muffled her sigh. "How...How did you slip in the first place!? There isn't a single TRACE of water nearby and...How can you slip?!!" The navi felt terrible about his attack mishap, but all of Finny's complaints only made things worse for the nervous navi. As soon as the gun barrel retracted back into the gauntlet, Cambiare was on his knees as he covered his head with both his hands. "I-...I-I'm a failure..."

With his morale and confidence gone and utterly destroyed, Cambiare was devastated from merely missing his attack...even if it was horrible, complete miss. However, when he looked up to take a peek at Cheshire, he saw the perky navi going full on with her attacks as she never seemed to stop. Even as she comforted Cambiare, saying that she was handling all of the Handy viruses her self, the nervous navi felt like he was holding her back instead. "...No! I w-won't be down this easily!" The navi finally stood up and looked down onto the Ironshields with conviction in his eyes (which was covered by his black visor). He didn't want to feel useless at all, he wanted change in himself, and he had to start somewhere...

"Cambi? What are you- Wait, are you serious!?"

As if all of his nervousness and cowardliness simply vanished, Cambiare leaped into the broken hole fearlessly. And, as expected, his action was on the spur of moment and began to regret what he had committed on his way down the hole. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The drop was relatively shorter than what Cambiare expected as he barely landed on his legs, but it was still quiet a distance away from the surface as he felt shock coursing up from his leg and all the way to his body. "Sw-sword! Finny, the sword! I-I need to finish wha-wha...what I started!"

Finny was surprised by all these sudden, rash actions Cambiare was doing, but it couldn't help but to put a smile on her face as she followed the request. "Of course, now you're on the path of manhood! Man's got to do what a man's got to do! Sword, slot in!" A neon green sword stuck out from within the navi's left gauntlet as it lit the dim hole in a green hue, and Cambiare sought out his first target. Taking a stab at the first IronShield, Cambiare swung his gauntlet-sword against the tank virus in hopes of cleaving it in half. Though he could've thought ahead about the shield that could've protected the virus, the navi just wanted to get things over and get out of the hole as soon as possible...He then approached the other virus, though there weren't much space to cover between them, and swung the sword once more!

1. Drop down into Broken.
2. Sword [80 | Slash | 6 Uses] {B} @ Ironshield A
3. Sword [80 | Slash | 6 Uses] {B} @ Ironshield B

Cooldowns:
Andante: 2 TCD

Frelia

To compensate for his lack of manlitude with the earlier attack, Cambiare dropped into the chasm created earlier by Cheshire, landing with a solid twang on his barrier and attacking the IronShields. The first attack caught the virus off guard, deleting it immediately. Unfortunately, however, the second one had the foresight to lower its shield just as he attacked, causing him to rebound back with his sword! Some bombs flew up into the air and down onto Cambiare, but that only served to dissipate some of his defense.

Meanwhile, Cheshire had her work cut out for her, as she attacked the Handy with some rollin' loggin'. One was immediately deleted, while the other received less lethal, though still painful, damage. It teleported away while the second log rolled, avoiding it in the nick of time. Placing yet another bomb on the field, it added to the number already in. Cheshire then leapt at the vulnerable UFO viruses, and sliced them up easily with the last use of her sword.

-- ENEMIES --
IronShield A: DELETED
IronShield B: 30 HP (Fallen/Broken)
RedUFO A: DELETED
RedUFO B: DELETED
Handy A: 50 HP (Solar) (Rooted / Poison5)
Handy B: DELETED
Handy C: 20 HP (Glass)
Swordy-E A: DELETED
Swordy-E B: DELETED
Swordy-E C: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
TimeBomb A: 50 HP [2 turns]
TimeBomb B: 50 HP [1 turn]

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 160 HP (Glass)
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP (Fallen/Broken) [Barrier Shatter / Casing 30] [Sword 4/6]

-- TERRAIN --
35% Solar (Four roads leading into main area)
35% Glass (Circular area where roads converge)
20% Cracked (Swordy-E area)
15% Broken (IronShields' area)

Trouble

"Ahaha... Nicely done!" She cheered the virus earnestly as it blinked back into the spot where a log would have bowled it over scant seconds earlier. Her eyes flickered over the bombs it had laid, one of them flashing red and beeping urgently. It was this one she approached in her easy, untroubled stride, a dark smile playing over her features. "As a reward, you get to become a part of me... How does that sound?" Her black arm struck out suddenly toward the timebomb and the virus that had placed it earlier, the motion obscenely fluid for something that at least pretended to be a regular arm. A solid column of fire erupted from her open palm in the Handy's direction. As the stream sputtered and died she brought her other hand around in a great arc, a loud clap ringing through the air as silk and skin met, a great wave of boiling water gushing out from between her palms and screaming toward the two bombs.

Though her eyes were set on her prey, a sudden determined shout jerked her attention away. She turned just in time to see her partner disappear into the hole after his own quarry. "What!? You..." she cried, her mouth agape but her eyes sparkling. "Cambi, you're insane!" There was a definite note of fondness in her voice now, the girl staring over at the hole with a goofy smile on her face. That had taken guts.

"I'll be right over once I've finished up here... Don't go anywhere, alright?" She teased, approaching the virus she had corrupted, malice leaking into her smile. Her footsteps drew her near to where it lay helpless on the ground. She almost felt bad for it... almost. In a situation like this, she might take the opportunity to play with her food a little, but she did have her friend in the hole to consider. She pounced, hands extended, the sharp claws on each finger slipping from their sheaths and flashing with a fiery light.

She hit the ground a little harder than she'd anticipated, the cold floor knocking the wind out of her lungs as the tumbled to a stop. She climbed to her feet slowly, physically unharmed but with her pride a little bit bruised. As she dusted off the front of her dress, she tried to give forth the impression that she'd meant to do it. Not that anyone but Iris was there to see, and she'd long since grown familiar with Cheshire's tricks.

"If you're done with the acrobatics... Let's give this a try." There was a faint click before the transmission cut out, and Cheshire felt unfamiliar data welling up inside her. That thing they'd got from the cubes...? Despite her efforts to channel it into her arm, the energy remained defiantly within her core... Slowly building, it felt like. She clutched her shoulders with a faint cry as her body began to glow, the light blinding and white before it burst forth in a bright halo that expanded over the battlefield. "Haah... Weird..."

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DBLBeam1 [40 | All | Null | S] / [Heal 30 | All ]

Taste Test - 1 TCD

Goroke

"What gives! They just don't want to DIE!" Finny yelled in frustration, slamming her fist into the couch pillow. Cambiare felt equally frustrated with his results, almost feeling like the viruses had some divine protection that made them nearly invincible...against Cambiare exclusively. "I-I'm not going to give up! N-nothing will stop me!"

With his barrier still in tact and his sword still...glowing bright, Cambiare tried to approach the back of the Ironshield as he quickly moved around the edge of the tight space. "N-nothing...Nothing!" As he drew his hand back for a stab after reaching his destination, Cambiare clenched his teeth, earnestly hoping that this would be the last attack he needed to finish the IronShield. "Hiyaaa!!" With a well placed stab with his neon green sword, Cambiare let out a sigh of relief as he fell on his knees from all the "exciting" things he has done so far.

"I'll be right over once I've finished up here... Don't go anywhere, alright?" said Cheshire as her voice echoed down to the hole.

"Hah...Y-yea. I won't be doing a-anywhere..."

1. Movement behind IronShieldB
2. Take Aim
3. Sword [80 | Slash | 6 Uses] {B} @ Ironshield B

Cooldowns:
Andante: 1 TCD

Frelia

The IronShield in the hole gets fricasseed by Cambiare's slicing actions, and the Handy viruses get a nice flambé treatment.

-- ENEMIES --
IronShield A: DELETED
IronShield B: DELETED
RedUFO A: DELETED
RedUFO B: DELETED
Handy A: DELETED
Handy B: DELETED
Handy C: DELETED
Swordy-E A: DELETED
Swordy-E B: DELETED
Swordy-E C: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 160 HP (Glass)
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP (Fallen/Broken) [Barrier Shatter / Casing 30] [Sword 4/6]

-- TERRAIN --
35% Solar (Four roads leading into main area)
35% Glass (Circular area where roads converge)
20% Cracked (Swordy-E area)
15% Broken (IronShields' area)

-- TEAM BATTLE 03, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --
Cheshire: [Catcher] Battlechip, 675z, 3 FXP
Cambiare: 750z, 3 FXP

Trouble

Cheshire shook it off as she made her way to the pit in her unhurried stride. "How is it down there?" she called, slipping onto the ground and peering down after her partner, her chin resting on her folded arms. "That was really something, jumping in after those viruses. You're really something when you decide to be, you know?" She lazily extended her left arm over the gap, the ribbons slowly unfurling and falling down toward Cambiare in a torrent of black silk. The distance seemed impossible, but finally the bandages brushed the floor of the pit. "Grab on! I won't eat you, I promise." she teased. The many ribbons hung within Cambiare's reach, twisting and flowing softly in some faint breeze.

Goroke

Watching the Ironshield virus finally defeated put a smile on Cambiare's face. A weary smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Awesome job, Cambi." Finny complimented the navi. "That was pretty sweet n' all...But how are you gonna get out of there." The navi's smile quickly turned into a frown, slumping down against the edge of the hole as he let out a sigh. "A..Ahaha...I-I guess I was to-too rash."

Suddenly, the light in the hole was obstructed, prompting Cambiare to look to find Cheshire looking down. "W-well, I guess it isn't too b-bad." Cambiare replied as he looked across the tight, dark space. "No, I was b-being too...hot headed. S-sorry." Not able to catch a break, the navi continued to bash on his own actions as he sulked, staring down to the ground. It wasn't till Cambiare heard the ribbon hit on the floor that the navi finally looked up, finding Cheshire "lending hand." Though all of this would've freaked Cambiare, but by now, he was already use to the strangeness of his partner.

"...Th-thanks."

Grabbing onto Cheshire's extended arm, Cambiare quietly waited to be pulled back up again. But in the back of his head, Cambiare felt that he was holding Cheshire back even more. Not only did he take forever to take care of two viruses, but he had made Cheshire go out of her way to help him out. "Wait, stop. I know what you're thinking right now, and you gotta snap out of it!" said Finny, commenting about Cambiare's inner though as if she was a psychic. "You did fine. So what if she's stronger than you. That's what you're here for, to be stronger than you are right now!...Stronger than your pathe-H-hey! No need to go th-that far!"