Nervous Science

The battle wasn't leaning towards Cambiare and Cheshire's favor. The mafia navis were able to shrug off most of the attacks, thanks to their defenses, and retaliated heavily upon Cheshire...Leaving Cambiare almost without a scratch. "W-why does it feel like they're pu-purposely ignoring me??" said Cambiare with a worried face, turning towards his wounded partner. "Can't say for sure. If you ask me, I think they're going for the strong one first and leaving the small fry for last." The nervous navi nodded his head to Finny's explanation, but was a bit late to figure out the insult behind the words. "I thought mafias usually t-take out the weak ones first...And what do you mean sm-sm-small fry?!

Even though the mafias were shifting their attention at Cambiare, the nervous navi was almost trembling in anger (with a bit of fear), clenching his fists as he looked over to the three mafias. "I-I'll show you who's a small fry! Finny, lets d-d-do this!" Finny sighed, almost regretting that she had indirectly angered her own navi, and went on to help Cambiare's anger-fueled rampage. "Even though your last attack kinda sucked, lets make sure theirs start to suck as well...That didn't make much sense, BUT WHATEVER! WIND, SLOT IT!" As soon as the battlechip slipped into the PET, streaks of orange lines began to curve and shape into a giant box before it materialized into the Wind. The summoned object immediately began to blow powerful wind against the mafias in hopes that it would throw off their aim, protecting Cheshire and Cambiare from anymore gun fires.

Speaking of gun fires, Finny had another chip ready, waving it back and forth as she inspected the two mafia navis. "Cambi, I think its time to show them that you're not a small fry after all. In fact, I think you need to show them that you have the bigger guns." When the battlechip was loaded, Cambiare's right arm was covered by more of the holographic parts that formed into the not-so-trusty Machinegun, causing Cambiare to look down at the weapon with a sour expression. It was true that this chip would have more firepower than a Vulcan, but its unreliable accuracy made it almost like a gamble. "W-wait, I don't think this is a good choice, Fi-...F-Finny?" The operator immediately cut off all form of communications, leaving Cambiare in the dark and almost forcing the navi to use the Machinegun. "Don't do this to m-me, Finny! C-come on!"

With no choice, except for using his powerless buster, Cambiare had to make best with what he had. He aimed the machinegun at Capo's general direction, steadying it as he placed the gun on top of the Wind box, and took a deep breath in. "...Please hit, please hit, please hit..." With the pull of the trigger, the first recoil had already sent Cambiare's arm off aim, but the navi tried his best to keep it in place. The machinegun repeatedly thudded against the metal hull of the Wind as the bullets were flying all over the place, but when the magazine was almost out, Cambiare made the last effort to pour in his strength into the last bullet as it flew off.

The machinegun disappeared as it broke down into pieces and left Cambiare with no weapon at all. "Ahh...G-good luck, Cheshire!" The navi began to run off to find a safe spot from the mafias, once again relying on his partner to do the dirty job...like any small fry would.

* Buff: +14 Damage
1. Wind [Push | Reduce Accuracy | To-All-Clause | 100 HP] {S}
2. MachineGun [30 x 9 Shots ([b]+14 @ 9th shot[/b]) | Spray Fire] {D} @ Capo
3. Dodge

Cooldown:
Crescendo: 2 TCD
Cambiare summoned a large fan and made the battlefield very blustery. The goons trying to kill them didn't take much notice of it, although the effect on their attacks was considerably more pronounced. In particular, although the newly arrived thug managed to shoot the totem in retaliation for melting away the remainder of Capo's metal plate shield but leaving both mafia men unharmed, he missed spectacularly after Cheshire's follow-up attack.

Those, however, were significantly better aimed, as Cheshire healed herself then zapped Capo and burned all three of them. The goon in the shadow of the under construction building managed to get off one more lucky shot on Cheshire (10) before being dropped through a newly opened hole in the floor. Cheshire then advanced on the remaining mafia men and attacked with her arm. Capo and Impiegato were a little more prepared for this follow up attack, however, with Capo employing his own emergency healing and Impiegato blocking it with his arm. He still showed obvious signs of being cut with it, but also managed to return Cheshire's arm to 'normal' in the process.

"Whack her, boys," Capo commanded. Impiegato prepared a clip of incendiary rounds, while the other goon took a shot from his hole that was easily blown off course by the wind. Once the new clip was loaded, Impiegato fired a devastating shot that burst into flame mid-flight and would have dropped Cheshire into critical condition instantly were it not for the combined effects of glitches, large fans, and Cheshire somersaulting away allowing her to narrowly avoid it.

Cambiare responded with an equally large gun, if a less accurate one that shot more or less at random. Had he not made the battlefield so windy he might have had more luck, but as it was only three of the nine shots fired hit Capo. Capo managed to use his coat as a makeshift shield to block one of them, but two more cut right through to hit him. The goon in the hole responded in turn as two more rounds hit him, but only one shot hit Cambiare while the other two missed or were dodged as he tried to run off.

The battle looked like it had turned decisively in their favor, but the fact that Capo's expression still remained unchanged suggested that he either still had a few tricks up his sleeve, or was incapable of changing expressions. As the gunfire from Cambiare and the mafia goon subsided, he calmly readied his revolver again and fired at Cheshire's knees. Despite the wind, he hit with both shots, stunning her.
___

---Mafia Wannabes---
Capo.EXE: 45 HP (Normal) [Shield: 0/2] [Shield: 0/1] [Stun1]
-Goon 1 (Team1): 40 HP (Broken)
Impiegato.EXE: 1 HP (Cracked) (Shadow Shoes) [Glitch: Random target] [Glitch: Variable Attack (All attacks gain or lose 10 damage at random)] [Glitch: Hat is stuck in place over eyes (Accuracy -1)]


---Other Guys---
Cheshire.EXE: 90 HP (Normal) [Stun x2] [Bamboo Sword broken] [Glitch: Acrobatics (Dodges are accompanied by a free move action and vice versa)]
-Totem1: 90 HP (Normal) (Green side)
Cambiare.EXE: 130 HP (Normal)
-Wind: 100 HP (Normal)


---Terrain---
70% Normal (Most places)
10% Cracked (Scattered)
18% Glass (Inside building)
2% Broken (Under Goon1)

---Locations---
Under Construction Building: Behind Capo and Impiegata (Three levels inside, treated as glass terrain)
Cheshire gleefully twisted away from the light hail of bullets, scarcely noticing as the hired goon's own shot glanced off her shoulder. "Ooh, nice try! But you'll have to do better than that!" Her breath caught as one last shell sped past her cheek, the heat it left in its wake nearly unbearable against her skin. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest. She could feel the corruption burning away inside her, but something seemed different about it this time. It was as if everything had lined up perfectly for just a second... While she should have been exhausted, she felt as if she could outrun almost anything.

"Hmm? Done already?" She paused a second to survey her opponents, her eyes narrowing in amusement as they passed over the large hole she had opened beneath Capo's nondescript toadie. "Figures. It's like none of you have even killed anybody before." She raised her arms in mock disappointment. "I'll have to show you guys how it's done!" She leapt forward with a crazy light in her eyes, so focused on her impending onslaught that Capo's two pistol shots caught her without any trouble -- one in each knee. She fell to the ground and tumbled to a painful stop. Slowly raising herself up on her arms, she struggled to get to her feet only to find that she couldn't move her legs.

"Bastard. I guess you're not completely useless." All the joy was gone from her face. Her sharp, pointed teeth were bared, her pretty face contorted in a mask of fury. She drew herself up as best she could, her legs still folded beneath her in an awkward crouch. "Still... I've seen more people like you come and go than you'd be able to count. I can handle you. And you know what? I'm pretty sure my friend over there can handle you, too." She laid her hand down on the smooth tiles ever so gently, tracing a tiny circle with one finger. "So just shut up and die, okay!?" Her lips curled into the vague semblance of a grin, but her eyes remained anything but cheerful. Even exhausted and kneeling at the feet of her opponent, she wasn't about to let anyone get the best of her. In the space of a half-second she twisted her torso away, bracing herself on the tiles with one arm while the other flew up toward the mafioso. A faint light flickered at the center of her gently cupped palm, then burst into a solid bar of fire, the backdraft whipping her hair back in a silvery mane.

"I can't keep this up... Finish 'em off, Cambi!" Her voice was strained, coming out in a harsh cry rather than her usual smooth cadence. Still -- Cambiare could do it. She hadn't made a hunter of him just yet, but she could read him easily enough, and for all his trembling he didn't strike her as the kind of navi to give up at that critical point. She held on to the flame as long as she could, sweat beginning to bead on her tanned skin. One way or another, it came down to him.

░▒▓█▐└┬╢ACTIONS╟┬┘▌█▓▒░
High Gear - 10% Evasion Bonus!
    Totem1 - Cheshire [Heal 50 | S]
    [li]Fall down! [Ouch!]
    [li]Bare teeth at Capo! [Scary!]
  • Fireburn1 - Capo, Impiegata [50 Fire | Line | A]
((I'm waaaaaaay too tired right now. Expect crap-ton of grammatical errors...Like always OTL))

"C-Chesire!"

Cambiare watched as his partner fell to the ground after being shot by Capo's revolver, immediately fearing for the worse as he tried to run towards her. "Wait wait, stop stop!" A holoscreen appeared between Cambiare and Cheshire, showing a live feed of Finny with her arms crossed over her chest. "Focus on the battle, Cambi. Look, we can win this!" As the operator pointed her finger at the two mafia navis, Cambiare only then realized how much damage they inflicted on their enemies. Though the most logical thing to do was to take care of the enemies before they do any more harm, the navi was still worried about Cheshire's well being and became hesitant of his actions.

"O-okay, so they're almost defeated, but Cheshire is still seriously...hurt?" Looking down, the nervous navi found that most of Cheshire's wounds were "magically" healed, leaving her much healthier than the two mafias combined. "Oh jeez! Cheshire already had that Totem prepared to heal her, so you didn't have to worry about her. C'mon, think a step ahead, Cambi!" Even though Finny was going on with her criticism, Cambiare ignored it all together as he was relieved that Cheshire was still alive and well, even if she was currently crippled by the attack.

The nervous navi turned towards mafias, biting his lip and clenching his fists, and tried to think through the situation. Cheshire is in no condition to fight right now...T-that leaves us in a 2 against 1, even if they're badly wounded! I-I've relied on Cheshire all this time, and now I can't fall back on her...W-what should I do, what should I do! As more thoughts crossed his mind, more Cambiare became doubtful of his success in the battle. However, such doubt was no where to be seen in Cheshire when she suddenly began to blurt out about how Cambiare would take care of the mafias all by himself, putting the nervous navi on the spotlight unwillingly.

"...L-leave it to me!" Unlike any other time, the nervous navi was willing to take the lead after hearing how much confidence Cheshire had on him. Though doubts still lingered in his mind, Cambiare decided to lead on with the attacks!

The navi's body began to glow in a warm, orange light as a burst of energy surged through his entire body. His feet felt lighter, his sight was sharper, and, most importantly, he became more confident. Cambiare's first target was the heavily wounded Impiegato. Even the simplest of bustershots would be enough to finish him off, but the navi didn't really want to take any chances against dangerous mafias. "Finny, the chips!" yelled Cambiare as he tried to make his way towards his target.

"I'm gonna send you two chips...I know you might now like these, but just deal with it for now, kay?" Finny slipped in two chips into the PET that first caused a big, red mouse to appear on Cambiare's hand. The navi gulped as he looked down at the mouse, nervously eying the tail...A bomb fuse tail. "I-It's for Cheshire. W-wh-why worry about the big noise when so-someone is in danger! Just ig-ig-ig-ignore the fact that it's a bomb, Cambiare, just ignores it and....HA!" After getting close enough to Impiegato, Cambiare lobbed the Ratton bomb at the mafia, only to find that it barely got half way to the navi. "Gah, Cambi! That was such a wussy throw!" Finny criticized, waving her arms up in frustration. "Ahha...M-my hand is still trembling, I-I'm sorry!"

Though the two thought that the attack was a failure, the Ratton bomb safely landed on the ground and began to scurry towards Impiegato at an alarming rate. The moment Cambiare realized that the mouse-bomb was gone from where it landed, a giant explosion erupted around the mafia's general area, putting a blank face on the nervous navi before he finally processed what exactly happened. "I-I think it worked! I did good!"

"Okay...I'm loading the second chip, so keep it up, I guess."

In a blink of an eye, a gigantic tank-barrel replaced Cambiare's right arm and the navi struggled to keep his balance. "Argh, a-another loud one..." As soon as he got good footings, Cambiare moved to align both Impiegato and Capo in his sights as he carried the hulking metal gun, short of breath when he finally found the optimal location. "*Hah hah*...Get ready!" Despite his dislike against the chip, Cambiare had used it enough times to get a good feel of how it works. He spread his legs and held the gun up with his other arm for stability, lining up the mafias within the gun's crossfire as the navi prepared his own body for the attack. "T-this hurts me more than it hurts you...S-seriously!" Cambiare clenched his teeth, honestly hoping that this would be the last nail to this fight, and fired at Impiegato and Capo. The gunshot was let out with a loud, explosive noise and it had also thrown Cambiare back for few inches from the recoil, kicking up the dusts from the ground.

The navi immediately dismantled the gun off his arm after the attack was finished, exhausted and tired after pushing his body to the limit. "T-thats...That's what happens when you mess with Chessy!" Cambiare screamed as he struggled to even stand straight. "Chessy?...Really? That doesn't sound like its gonna stick at all!"

* Buff: +14 Damage
* Wind [Push | Reduce Accuracy | To-All-Clause (Enemies) | 100 HP] {S}
1. Staccato [1st: Movement (x2) | 2nd: Take Aim (x2) | 2 TCD]
* Movement towards Impiegato
2. Ratton [40 | Blast 1 | Homing | Ground | [b]Take Aim[/b]] {C} @ Impiegato
* Movement to align Capo / Impiegato
3. TankCannon [80 /or/ [b]80+ 7 (Each Navis) + Blast2[/b] | Alt-Mode | Take Aim] {A / C} @ Capo

Cooldowns:
Crescendo: 1 TCD
Staccato: USED
((Hey hey! Bump!))
Cheshire blew fire at Capo, bringing him as well to critical condition. The goon in the hole fired again, but was just about as effective as he had been so far from that position. Capo, meanwhile, decided that enough was enough and targeted the currently more capable navi, Cambiare. He locked on, and hit him with a Markcannon chip. (70)

Cambiare quickly recovered though and threw a rat bomb, which scurried over to Impiegato and blew up, taking the hulking goon with him.

Realizing and acknowledging what was coming, Capo spoke again. "You two best get used to sleepin' with one eye open. We's gonna remember your faces." He then took a cannon blast to the face, forcing him to EJO.
___

---Mafia Wannabes---
Capo.EXE: EJO
-Goon 1 (Team1): poofed
Impiegato.EXE: EJO


---Other Guys---
Cheshire.EXE: 140 HP (Normal)
-Totem1: 90 HP (Normal) (Green side)
Cambiare.EXE: 60 HP (Normal)
-Wind: 100 HP (Normal)


---Terrain---
70% Normal (Most places)
10% Cracked (Scattered)
18% Glass (Inside building)
2% Broken (Under Goon1)

---Locations---
Under Construction Building: Behind Capo and Impiegata (Three levels inside, treated as glass terrain)

BATTLE WON

GET:
-Cheshire: 900z, Team1
-Cambiare: 1000z, MarkCannon1
5 FXP each
Cambiare was exhausted with the combination of his performance boost and the cannon shot to the chest, but had a small grin on his face as he watched the two mafia navis disappear. "Woohoo! That's what I wanted to see, good work!" praised Finny as she crossed her arms with confidence. "You're on the fast track of becoming stronger, aren't you proud?!...Cambi?"

The navi fell on the floor with his head buried into the panels, letting out a relieved sign as he turned his head towards Cheshire. "W-we did it, right?" Cambiare whispered, barely making out the words so that Cheshire could hear. Though it didn't look like the navi suffered any serious damages, compare to his partner, it seemed like it was mostly mental anguish that finally got to him. The sudden fight against mafias and all the crazy things he had to do were stressing enough, any more would have possibly made Cambiare unstable.

Nonetheless, the nervous navi seemed happy with all that he has done, having no big regrets...Except for the fact that he made himself an enemy to a crime family, but he couldn't care less as of now. "C-Chess-...Cheshire, I'm s-sorry, but I'm at my limit..." said Cambiare with a content smile. "What do you s-say?"
Cheshire staggered to her feet, feeling slowly returning to her legs. She watched the disappearing form of the mafia navi, the cruel rictus on her face slowly softening into a self-satisfied smile. "Already do, asshole. You're nothing special." With a short stretch to ease the stiffness in her legs, she began to make her way toward Cambiare, raising an eyebrow at his position. "Mm... Yeah, I'd say you look pretty spent. I didn't think I'd have you passed out on the floor just yet." She seated herself at his side, staring down at her exhausted partner with a curious tilt to her head.

"Still, though... You helped take down a couple of hardened Netmafia goons. That's not the kind of thing navis usually do at your level. So..." She looked off for a second, looking pensive. "... That's it! I'm proud to say that I'm prepared to take you on as an apprentice." She punctuated the offer with a content nod, removing a plain silver band from the many different pieces encircling her ankle and laying it next to Cambiare's prone figure.

"You don't have to make up your mind just yet..." A small black card appeared in her left hand, twirling idly between her deft fingers. "But we have to do this again sometime, alright? It's been fun." She slipped the card into his open palm, along with her anklet. It was simply printed in bright ink: "TONGLEN BATHHOUSE AND RESTAURANT", with an email address and the location of a business somewhere in Beach Street. "Stop by sometime! I'll get you and your op a discount." She gave a magnanimous nod.

"... I guess that's it, huh? Well, get some rest! You've earned it." She sealed the discussion with a friendly punch to the fallen navi's shoulder. "Oh, uhh... don't get assassinated, okay? I'm not sure how serious those guys are, but..." She shrugged, slipping to her feet. "Nah, you'll be fine."
Cambiare took the business card and inspected it, disappearing from his hand as it was stored into his PET. "Th-thanks." Reluctant to send off his partner at an awkward beat, the navi stood up from the floor and gave a proper farewell with a bow. "And thank you for a-all that you've done for me! I don't think I could've m-made it this far without your help in some w-way." As cheesy as it might have sounded, Cambiare was quiet sincere with his words as he tried to convey his gratitude.

"L-let's meet again!"

Cambiare left the network in a beam of gray light, finally leaving to get his well-deserved rest...

-JACK OUT-
"So." Iris finally broke her silence, the faint murmur of Scilab's foot traffic audible in the background."Now that that's done with... Mind telling me what all that was about?"

"Mm? Nothing, really." Cheshire gave a noncommittal shrug as she started off toward some spot in the distance, her hands folded behind her head. "The kid has potential, though. He just needs to believe in himself a little more, you know?"

"If you say so. You ready to head back? You'll probably want your dress back over whatever that's supposed to be... And I need to talk something over with Jacob, too." There it was -- the faintest edge of something in her voice. Panic? Cheshire raised her eyebrow, but decided not to comment.

"Not juuust yet. I'm still sort of hungry... There must be one or two other navis around here who can help with that."

"You're... Not planning to eat them, are you?" It wasn't so much a question as an admonition -- not that there was much Iris could do to stop her. Cheshire responded simply with a smirk, cutting communications and breaking into a quick jog toward something on the horizon.

[WANDER OUT]