Nervous Science

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!"

Trouble

"Oh, come on! There's no such thing." Cheshire remarked in a sunny voice. "You're never gonna have much fun if you're so hard on yourself." As Cambiare took hold of the waterfall of silk, the ribbons suddenly stirred. They flowed up around him, gently circling his arms, legs, waist... As they began to pull, there was more silk visible than there was Cambiare. The tendrils' grip was soft, but strong, and Cambiare was lifted back to ground-level with ease.

"You got nothing to feel bad about. Pulling people out of holes... It's just what partners do, yeah?" She set him down softly in front of her, the ribbons relinquishing their grasp and quickly folding themselves back into their former shape. "So cheer up, yeah? You've been pulling your weight just fine, as far as I can tell." She punctuated the compliment with a friendly punch on the shoulder. "But hey. If you really think you're no good at busting... Why not prove yourself wrong? C'mon!" She started off down one of the roads in an energetic jog, casting a grin back at her partner to see if he was following.

[BATTLE 4, READY! 160 HP!]

Goroke

In an instant, Cambiare's body was covered in Cheshire's silk, which actually managed to surprise the navi this time around. "MMPHUMMFHMFHM." The navi yelled as his mouth was covered up, fidgeting as he was being pulled up out of the hole. "Cambi, you're lucky! That girl's all over you...Get it!"

Finally getting out of the hole, Cambiare was short of breath after the silk covers were drawn back, nodding his head at Cheshire as he was still sitting on the glass floor. "Th-thanks again. You've really been l-looking over me, haven't you." The navi wondered just how far Cheshire was going to cover for him, even if they just met today. But without saying much, the veiled navi went off the cheer him up, going off towards the next battle without a care in the world.

"...Finny?" said Cambiare as he stood up from the floor, watching Cheshire running off. "What's up?"

"I'll become stronger. E-even if it was the 100th time I said it, I'll become stronger. At least f-for others sake." Finny seemed rather confused as to why Cambiare would suddenly say those things, but shrugged as she watched the navi quickly follow behind his partner.

-BATTLE FOUR, READY!-

Frelia

[+2 FXP for helping a bro out of a hole]

Making their way through the Science Labs network, Cheshire and Cambiare trekked onwards to find an interesting construction through their path. A tall beacon stood in the middle of the network, with a most interesting-looking mystery data crystal at its top. However, surrounding the beacon were intrepid viruses, fighting amongst themselves to decide who was going to get it, all packed together like sardines. When they saw the Navis, though, the sentiment of Navi-killing overtook everything else, and they banded their efforts together in hostility!

-- ENEMIES --
PulseBulb A: 120 HP [Flying/MetalBody]
PulseBulb B: 120 HP [Flying/MetalBody]
Eleball A: 80 HP [Flying]
Eleball B: 80 HP [Flying]
Eleball C: 80 HP [Flying]
Ratty A: 60 HP
Ratty B: 60 HP
Ratty C: 60 HP
Ratty D: 60 HP
HardHead A: 60 HP [IronBody/Solar]
HardHead B: 60 HP [IronBody/Solar]
HardHead C: 60 HP [IronBody/Solar]

-- OBJECTS --
Tall Beacon: 200 HP
Green Mystery Data: 60 HP [Atop Tall Beacon]

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 160 HP
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP

-- TERRAIN --
80% Metal
20% Solar [Surrounding Beacon]

-- TEAM BATTLE 04, READY? START!! --

Trouble

"Well, now... That looks like treasure." Iris calmly noted. "What's the plan?" Cheshire folded her arms and stared up at the tip of the pillar, the faint glitter of the mystery data sparkling in her eyes. "Losing your touch, darling? We find out what's in it, of course!"

"A fine end goal, darling, but I can't help but notice that you have a couple of things to take care of first." Iris' voice was thick with amusement, almost Cheshire-like in its gentle mockery of her longtime companion. Unperturbed, the navi settled into her usual stance, eyeing the collection of viruses eagerly. "No problem there. The two of us can clean this up without a problem... Although I don't like those big-headed ones."

She'd run into the spherical viruses before, and they'd rapidly launched up the private list of her least favourite things to run into. It was the waiting that did it. You had to wait for them to open up, then launch at them in a flurry of destruction, and the former had never been her strong suit. She grimaced at the three of them, sitting so nonchalantly in their little line, and turned her attention to the more vulnerable of the group.

"When did you pick this one up, sister?" A faint click, and the chip in question surfaced in Cheshire's mind.

"Oh, I've been trading some things while you were out shopping. I thought this one would be a little more interesting than that boomerang you've been carting around the past two years." She knelt on the ground, tracing invisible symbols with one delicate finger, humming ever so faintly as artists are wont to do. "Might not be quite as powerful, but think of it like a reunion present. There!" With one last stroke, a squat wooden sculpture rose up from the tiled earth beneath her feet, turning slowly to face the floating yellow viruses. The two carved faces, one wrathful and one peaceful, appeared to have been vandalized -- a cartoonish cat's face had been scribbled over top of each, mirroring the original expressions but a great deal cutesier. Cheshire settled down on top of it, sitting cross-legged to casually survey the rest of the field.

Her slitted eyes soon found something else to her liking: four mice, milling around erratically at the pillar's base. She'd hardly be worth her namesake if she didn't take a stab at those, would she? She leapt from her perch, spinning wildly in midair, then extending her arms to slow herself. A torrent of water burst from her fingertips in a twirling arc, flooding over the tiles and, hopefully, the group of rats hanging around there. She took off again, this time in the direction of the strange LED-like creatures floating a short distance away.

"Not just yet, sister." Iris' voice stopped Cheshire in her tracks. "We just got something new, didn't we? Let's give it a try... It might give us a way to deal with the more stubborn ones lined up here." The navi replied with a tacit nod, Iris' unspoken plan unfolding before her. She turned slowly to face the Hardheads once more, this time with a wicked smile. She began a slow dance, taking precise steps toward the group in time with the gyrating movement of her shoulders and hips, her many anklets chiming faintly for a drumbeat. Her golden eyes were locked on the shining curve of one virus' head, the slits of her pupils dilated as if ot take in all the detail they could. She raised her arms, then, and with one final twist sent a whirling disc of jumbled data into the viruses' midst. She wasn't completely sure what it would do once it struck, but she was looking forward to finding out.

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High Gear - 10% Evasion Bonus

Catcher - HardHead A [Copy Ability | B]

Goroke

"Wh-what is this!" said Cambiare as he saw the viruses swarming around the beacon at the center. "There, it must be that crystal on the top! Guess we gotta take them out before we can get to it." said Finny as she grinned, pulling out a pair of chips from her folder. Cambiare seemed reluctant to follow his operator's order, rather intimidated by the large number of viruses that stood in their way, especially by the HardHeads and the PulseBulbs. "C-can't we just...Just skip this one? L-lets go find some other group of viruses to f-fight. Anything but this!" Reverting back to his cowardly self after his decisive speech, Cambiare was rather determined NOT to fight with this particular group of viruses.

However, Cheshire jumped the gun as she began her assault on the viruses, leaving little to no choice for the nervous navi. "...Arrrrgh, f-f-fine! Let's just fight t-them!" The navi changed his mood towards the battle just as easily as he did before, but at least, he seemed willing to fight when the situation called. Finny went on ahead and swapped the Program Drive to change Cambiare into his red Brio Form, and inserted the two battlechips she had prepared. "Get rid of the Ratty viruses first, okay? The others seems...A little out of the league from you." The navi had no qualms to his order, not even having a second thought when Finny was undermining his capability, and promptly prepared for the attack.

"M-machinegun, activate!"

Extending his right arm forward, Cambiare watched as various holographic parts appeared out of thin air, surrounding his arm. These parts began to stack over the arm one by one till it formed into a sizable machinegun, materializing with a bright red flash. "Now, focus..." The stripes over Cambiare's body began to glow as energy began to surge through it, giving the navi a boost in performance. "...And GO!"

Cambiare approached the viruses, despite all the fear he had before, and neared the Ratty viruses. "They look weak enough, so don't mind spraying-n-praying with that, alright?" said Finny as she was ready to load the next battlechip. The navi did just that when he began to let his machine gun fire onto the Ratty viruses with reckless abandon, but it wasn't without some sort of precision. Cambiare had place himself so that the stray bullets would at least have some chance of hitting the other Ratty beside the one he was targetting, but from seeing how wild the gun barrel was roaring, it almost seemed pointless.

"Good, now bring down the pain once more!"

This time, Finny loaded her ever-trustful TankCannon into the PET, causing more holographic parts to appear and layer over the machine gun to create the large cannon. "...H-how does that w-work? How can a m-machinegun turn into a tank-barrel?" said Cambiare as he inspected his new weapon. "Bah, who cares, Cambi. Don't slip your feet this time!" The navi readied his gun, ignoring the logical inconsistency it provided, and aimed it at the Ratty viruses once more. As the gun began to charge for the attack, Cambiare began to move in order to make the best of the weapon's explosion, not stopping till he found the perfect timing to fire his attack. "N-now!" The moment the Ratties were aligned in his sight, the navi aimed his giant cannon and fired the charged bullet, causing it to explode the moment it came into contact!

* Change: Brio Form
1. Staccato: [1st: Movement (x2) | 2nd: Take Aim (x2) | 2 TCD]
- Movement to align Ratty B / C / D
2. MachineGun [30 x 9 Shots | Spray Fire] {D} @ Ratty C
- Movement to align Ratty
3. TankCannon [80 /or/ [b]80+Blast2[/b] | Alt-Mode | Take Aim] {A / C} @ Ratty B

Cooldowns:
Staccato: USED

Frelia

Starting off with a Totem chip, Cheshire propelled herself up to a higher vantage point, and watched about for an opening. Meanwhile, the Totem blasted some fire at the Eleball group, incinerating them with impunity. The Ratty seemed to be good enough to target, and she whirled a torrent of water towards them, though she only managed to catch two of them.

Meanwhile, Cambiare put up his Brio Program Drive, and let his MachineGun do his work for him. Unfortunately, all of his work was for naught, as the MachineGun failed to catch the very last Ratty. The Ratty responded by turning red and flying all over the place as well as launching a rat-shaped missile towards him. A later TankCannon didn't manage to delete that either, as it was simply too fast!

Finally, the PulseBulbs decided to go into action, swooping about the area and opening up their fronts to release a powerful burst of electricity. Unfortunately, they didn't manage to catch any of the Navis as they bumped into each other and made their aim off. Cheshire threw a disc of jumbled data at the HardHead, and captured some data from it. [Catcher: IronBody/1 Turn] Reacting to this, the HardHeads opened their heads up all at once, readying themselves to fire upon her.

-- ENEMIES --
PulseBulb A: 120 HP [Flying]
PulseBulb B: 120 HP [Flying]
Eleball A: DELETED
Eleball B: DELETED
Eleball C: DELETED
Ratty A: 30 HP [Angered!]
Ratty B: DELETED
Ratty C: DELETED
Ratty D: DELETED
HardHead A: 60 HP [Solar]
HardHead B: 60 HP [Solar]
HardHead C: 60 HP [Solar]

-- OBJECTS --
Tall Beacon: 200 HP
Green Mystery Data: 60 HP [Atop Tall Beacon]
Totem1 [Cheshire]: 100 HP [Attack Mode / 2 Turns Left]
Ratty Missile A: 30 HP [Homing: Cambiare]

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 160 HP [on Totem1]
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP

-- TERRAIN --
80% Metal
20% Solar [Surrounding Beacon]

Trouble

Cheshire watched intently as the disc passed through the HardHead on its slow arc. She frowned; it didn't seem to have done anything, really. She reached out to catch it as it whirled back toward her. "You sure that chip was the real thing? I don't think it -- Nnh!" The disc of tattered data had passed right through her outstretched arm and slammed into her abdomen, flooding her body with unfamiliar data. Virus data, of course; she'd absorbed enough to recognize it easily. It seemed purer, somehow; like the disc had snatched away a copy of the virus' core, without any of the broken and poorly-coded nonsense that usually surrounded it. She let the data loose, the same way she would a chip, not noticing a great deal beyond a faint tingling sensation. Though she couldn't see it, the red markings had spread, tracing a rough pattern over what could be seen of her skin.

It was at this point she realized her little experiment hadn't gone unnoticed. The stubborn viruses had turned toward her, their normally stoic masks split in preparation to attack. The bulb-like viruses seemed to have chosen this time to make their move as well... Although their choreography left something to be desired. All in all, she couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to attack.

"Sorry, guys! I can't let you do that!" She teased, drawing herself to her full height as she faced the HardHeads, their smooth metal bodies reddening with... Anger? Was that something they felt? She had no idea. Didn't matter, anyway; if she moved fast enough, they'd all be dead in a second or two. She raised her arms above her head and focused her thoughts, smiling faintly as a familiar feeling of restlessness settled over her. There was something else, though...

"Nngh... Wh-what?" Cheshire fell to her knees, clutching her arms to her chest. The virus data flared up inside her, fanned by the Afterburner. Red light burst from the pattern and spread outwards over her body, tearing her silk wrappings and the cloth of her dress to shreds. The pattern itself shone a blinding white against her skin, now a gently glowing red from head to toe. Her silken arm burst from within -- inside, a normal arm of dark, burnished metal.

"Sister! What's happened!?"

The navi staggered to her feet at the sound of her operator's voice, still panting softly. "No idea..." She stared down at her new arm, a sturdy-looking appendage covered with smooth metal plating. "But this feels amazing! Exquisite!" She launched herself forward off of her perch toward the three viruses she had to thank for this transformation, long, wicked claws extending themselves from her hands and shining with a cold light. With a laugh, she swiped at their exposed mouths, a faint glow trailing behind the flashing blades.

She turned swiftly on the balls of her feet, letting the momentum carry her in a new direction -- right at the flying viruses who had just proven themselves so clumsy. Her claws flashed through their deadly arc a second time, a grin of complete ecstasy on her face as she spun through the air.

She landed softly on the ground in a crouch, surveying the field around her. Already she could feel the virus core breaking apart inside her, that wonderful sense of wholeness draining away. "No... Not yet, damnit!" She slammed her palm down on the ground, drawing up a halo of light that enveloped her completely and spread across the field, blindingly bright.

The light faded shortly, revealing Cheshire slumped at its center, the red light rapidly fading from her skin, the white-hot pattern cooling to red and large portions disappearing altogether. The metallic arm simply vanished, the stump of her arm leaking data from the point just below the shoulder where it split. "Fuck..." She simply sat there for a while, staring at the ground, completely and utterly exhausted.

░▒▓█▐└┬╢ＡＣＴＩＯＮＳ╟┬┘▌█▓▒░

High Gear - 10% Evasion Bonus
Afterburner - Five actions this turn! Three next turn!

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

Goroke

Things didn't go too well for Cambiare. Cheshire was going all over the place as she deleted nearly a half-a-dozen of viruses, but the nervous navi only managed to take down one and piss off another. "N-no problem. Thing like t-this happens!" The navi tried to cheer himself up for his failure, which was far better than his usual depression slump. "I need to do my b-best and at least take out that Ratty...W-wait, two Rattys?" Wiping his visor with the back of his hand, Cambiare took another look at the Ratty viruses to find one brown and the other red...with a fuse dangling on its back.

"It's a bo-bo-bom-bomb!"

The navi was in panic as he watched the bomb rapidly approaching towards him, looking side to side to find something to hide behind. "I think that bomb is following you, Cambi...It'll be better if you take the attack head on rather than dodging it." said Finny as she closely inspected the upcoming attack. "W-wh-what?!" As ridiculous as it sounded, Finny wasn't crazy to allow her navi to be beaten up so easily. She changed the P.D. with the defensive Tenuto, immediately swapping the navi's form. "Ooh, that's what you m-meant!"

Slamming his white gauntlets together, Cambiare formed his sound-barrier to fend off the incoming bomb. Cambiare experienced first-hand how durable the barrier was, but he wasn't as confident of how well it did in sound-proofing when the explosion would go off. "J-just come already!" The navi yelled as he blocked his ear with his hand and braced himself for the attack.

As soon as things died down, Cambiare and Finny was taking on the offensive. "Cambi, at the very least, take out that last Ratty!" The moment Finny loaded the Cannon chip into the PET, Cambiare's right gauntlet opened up to let out a gun barrel. "...I'll try my b-best." Aiming at the last Ratty, the navi found that it was extremely difficult for him to have a steady aim at the constantly moving virus. Cambiare tried everything he could in order to keep up, but things were getting out of hand. "Just...Stop...Moving...So...Fast..." Eventually, he tried to think one step ahead and began to move along with the Ratty's movement patterns, attempting to out maneuver the elusive rat. When the timing was right, Cambiare pulled the trigger and fired the Cannon at Ratty's path.

* Change: Tenuto Form
1. Andante [30 HP Barrier | 30 HP Casing | 2 TCD]
2. Follow Ratty A's movement
3. Cannon [40 | Knockback] {A} @ Ratty A

Cooldowns:
Staccato: 2 TCD
Andante: USED

Pocket

After turning metal, Cheshire attacked with a wooden sword. In a stroke of luck, all three hardheads were felled by the attack. Her lucky streak continued when both Pulsebulbs were too slow to bring their defenses back up and and were too close together to avoid the second slash. One of them managed to fire off a desperate wave that hit Cheshire and her totem but the damage was undone by a recovery DBLBeam.

Meanwhile, Cambiare erected a shield in time to repel the explosive Ratty bomb and deleted the final virus ftw.

-- ENEMIES --
PulseBulb A: DELETED
PulseBulb B: DELETED
Eleball A: DELETED
Eleball B: DELETED
Eleball C: DELETED
Ratty A: DELETED
Ratty B: DELETED
Ratty C: DELETED
Ratty D: DELETED
HardHead A: DELETED
HardHead B: DELETED
HardHead C: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
Tall Beacon: 200 HP
Green Mystery Data: 60 HP [Atop Tall Beacon]
Totem1 [Cheshire]: 70 HP [Healing Mode / 1 Turns Left]

-- ALLIES --
Cheshire.EXE: 160 HP [on Totem1] [stun]
Cambiare.EXE: 140 HP

-- TERRAIN --
80% Metal
20% Solar [Surrounding Beacon]

[Battle 4 - Victory!]
Cheshire get: 900z + 3 FXP
Cambiare get: Ratton1 Battlechip + 750z + 3 FXP

Trouble

"Nngh..." Cheshire staggered to her feet, clutching at the stump of her arm. She tensed visibly as the data streaming from the wound began to cluster together and form itself into familiar swirls of black silk. With a groan of effort, she drew them back into their usual shape, just barely managing to stay on her feet as it happened. Despite her apparent exhaustion, a tiny, satisfied grin curled the corners of her mouth. "Sister... Remind me to do that more often."

"Should I remind you to dress afterwards, as well?" Iris almost sounded as if she were stifling a laugh. Cheshire could only tilt her head incredulously.

"What do you... Oh. Oh!!" Suddenly standing bolt upright, her eyes flew wide as she realized that out of all the silk her transformation had destroyed, only her arm had reasserted itself. She threw a hurried glance at Cambiare before throwing out her left arm, the silk bursting into a tangle of strands that cocooned her completely. When they drew back, she had hurriedly wrapped herself in a manner that most resembled a simple one-piece swimsuit. "Sorry about that." She bowed deeply to Cambiare, an uncharacteristic blush on her cheeks.

"A-as for this!" She hurriedly changed the subject, seeming to regain some of her composure as she approached the beacon the viruses had been guarding. She gave its surface a friendly pat. "Let's get a closer look at that treasure, shall we?" Her claws flashed through the air, and the gently glowing material of the structure. "Might wanna stay on your toes, Cambi." She shot a grin back at her partner as the spire began to crumble, slowly stepping back in case it decided to try and take one of them with it.

She frowned, seeing the crystal at its tip slowly fall into focus. "Just a green... You want it, Cambi? There probably isn't anything too fantastic inside, but it should help with that whole 'getting stronger' thing."

░▒▓█▐└┬╢ＡＣＴＩＯＮＳ╟┬┘▌█▓▒░

BambooSword - Tall Beacon [80+10+10[b]x2[/b] | Slashing | Wide | Wood | B]

[ALSO BATTLE 5 READY]

Pocket

The tower was visibly bisected before shattering into a mist of data fragments. The mysyery data floated gently to he ground before opening to reveal... A Wind Battlechip.

Goroke

"Tha...That did it." Cambiare let out a sigh as he lowered his gun, relieved that the Ratty virus was take care of with one more shot. He turned to look over how Cheshire was doing, but instead, got a glimpse of her bare back before she hurried to cover herself up. "...Uuuh." There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Finny finally spoke up. "Oh Cambi, you perv~"

"W-wait, what?! Wh-wha-what are you talking about! Don't g-g-go assuming things!"

Cambiare even had the nerve to cut off the communication between Finny and himself for the time being, following the newly dressed navi towards the beacon. As Cheshire spoke about getting the GMD on top, Cambiare looked up while scratching his head, "How are we going to g-get it? Are we gonna cli--Wo-woah!" He stepped away when Cheshire brandished her claws, watching as she made mince meat out of the beacon.

As the data crystal slowly descended onto the ground, Cambiare reached out his hands to grab it. "Y-you sure it's alright? Y-you did most of the work..." It seemed like Cheshire insisted on giving the data due to her superstition about what was inside...And she was half true. A battlechip was inside the data, but it didn't look like it had any combat capabilities, something that Cambiare needed in his arsenals. "T-thank you, Cheshire!" Nonetheless, a "gift" was a gift, and the nervous navi accepted the chip with a smile on his face, even going far as to bow at Cheshire.

After readying himself, Cambiare continued on with their little adventure for his self-improvement...

-BOSS BATTLE, READY!-