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With a blue beam of light, SplashMan arrived on ACDC territory for the first time in a while. But, something was off. Very, very off. "Sabrina? Is it just me, or does this look even creepier than usual...?"

"Yeah...something's definitely weird. I guess we should investigate and see what's up..." If it wasn't for the fact she had an audience, she would've jacked him out right then and there. But they definitely couldn't look like chickens in front of other people.

"I-I guess..." Yeah, that definitely felt like a rock in the pit of his Reserve Tanks. Something was off, but he wasn't terribly keen on finding out what. He had a really bad feeling about it..."Well, guess I'll get looking." And by 'looking', he meant pretending to look carefully as he desperately hoped he didn't find any viruses. Not that the Net would cooperate. But then again, he wouldn't know if he didn't try.

(Searching for Battle #1...of 1. Seriously, you think I'm getting deeper than one battle?)
SplashMan walked through the abnormal ACDC Net with some apprehension. He could have sworn there was a red tinge to the sky, but it may have just been his imagination. A minute later, the Navi finally found signs of digital life in the form of a familiar trio.

But why were they blue?

Metool3A: 160
Metool3B: 160
Metool3C: 160

Terrain: 100% Normal

SplashMan.EXE: 400HP

CHAOS NET
BATTLE 1
START
Three Mettaur. Nothing to get worked up about...normally. But there was something...off about them. "Is it just me, or is there something odd with those Mettaur?"

"Uh...I don't remember them ever being blue before." And then she noticed. Mettaur3.

3.

Sabrina suddenly went pale as she discovered that she had made yet another serious prompt related booboo. "...Um...SplashMan..."

"Yeah, Sabrina?"

"I think I did it again..."

"Did what again?"

"...Remember the first time we went into Rogue Net?"

"Oh, sure! You were with some people, and you were so distracted that you didn't even notice the Rogue Net prompt!" No...NO..."...Sabrina...tell me you didn't do that again..."

"..." As much as she really wanted to lie at that moment, it was pretty obvious from the blue helmets that they weren't in Rogue Net anymore. Why did they have to be so awesome to get access to a whole new layer of the Net she'd never heard of? "Ugh, unreal...well, I think we both know what to do."

Please let it be jack out, please let it be jack out...

"We do what we do best...trash some viruses!"

...It wasn't jack out. Crud. But they were still just Mettaur...maybe he'd stand a chance? At any rate, if Sabrina wasn't removing him from the battle, he didn't have much choice but to suck it up. Who knows, maybe he'd surprise himself. Not to mention Zeo and ViralMan. "I dunno if that's what we do best...but let's give it a shot!"

A shot? Not exactly the super confident answer she was hoping for...but since this was SplashMan, it was probably about as good as she was going to get. "All right...I have a feeling that these Mettaur aren't going to just roll over and self-delete for us. But we can still try, right?" And they did happen to have a chip that could wipe them off the face of the Net by itself. They just had to hope that they were as stupid as their lesser forms. "Battlechip, AquaDragon! Slot in!"

SplashMan continued to stand around, staring down the viruses. This time, however, a small amount of his water was drained to supply something...something that at first made absolutely no attempt to be seen, or even confirm its existence. But soon enough, a panel began to become covered with water. It seemed innoculous enough, but a moment later, a rather large serpentine figure rose from it, appearing to be some sort of Eastern dragon. With a shriek, it rushed forward, in an attempt to slither over whatever unlucky Mettaur dared not hide beneath their helmets. Surely, even a Level 3 version couldn't withstand an attack of that magnitude. They'd get the chance to find out soon, as the summoned WaterDragon vanished after creating its requisite amount of oceanic area.

Or at least, SplashMan could find out soon. His operator was too focused on a backup plan. "SplashMan, think you can get all those Mettaur in a straight line?"

Upon hearing the request, the aquatic Navi sprang into action, racing from where he stood, over to the side. Sure, it wasn't exactly the speedfest some Navis could provide, but by his standards it was actually quite blazing. Though the idea of V3 virus attacks' potential damage most likely assisted in his setting personal speed records.

"Now quick, before they can react! Battlechip, AuraHead2! Slot in!"

SplashMan's right arm transformed into its buster shape, as a Megalian head quickly formed over the tip. Raising it close to eye level, he tried to position it so that it'd go perfectly straight, without trying to stray from its path much. Easier said than done, considering the projectile was a large, heavy head. Once he felt he had a decent shot, he let loose a buster shot into the back of the weapon, causing it to suddenly fly forward with surprising speed, and giving whatever was in its way a severe headache with an equally severe headbutt.

Not that they'd have long to suffer from the blunt trauma. "That should weaken at least one enough...now let's try this! Battlechip, Vortex! Slot in!"

A blue ball appeared in the hand of the Aqua battler, which he promptly threw as hard as he could...into the ground between him and his enemies. Water began to form and swirl in a circle, but it was strange...it looked pink in color. A tremendous force could be felt throughout the immediate area, as it began to suck even the air above it. Clearly, it was no ordinary whirlpool. Even with their likely power, a weakened Mettaur would be no match for the artificial shift in gravity it was causing.

And that...was probably plenty of attacking. After all, who knew what this higher form of virus might be capable of? But, Sabrina couldn't resist one last shot..."That's enough for now. Put this up and start moving those feet again! Battlechip, CurseShield! Slot in!"

A Dominerd appeared on the Navi's left arm, which he promptly and understandably moved it to be between him and the Mettaur. But, something suddenly popped into his head. V2 viruses were quite powerful, and were capable of doling out considerable damage. What kind of horrors could V3s inflict on him? Fueled by that thought, SplashMan readied himself for the evasion of whatever insanity their pickaxes could deliver. He had absolutely no desire to find out the answer to his question, and was willing to do whatever it took to not learn. Or at least, experience massive pain trying.

[Order of Turn:
1-AquaDragon chip on Metool3 group (150+15, Aqua, attacks until it creates 25% Sea terrain)
2-Get SplashMan, Metool3A, Metool3B, and Metool3C all in a straight line
3-AuraHead2 chip attack on Metool3A, Metool3B, and Metool3C (120, Break, accuracy decreases 1 rank for each successful hit)
4-Vortex chip attack between SplashMan and Metool3 group (10, Aqua, instantly deletes viruses with =<100 HP)
5-CurseShield1 chip on SplashMan (160, blocks and counters an attack)
6-Dodge with total disregard for soiling self]
The first attack by SplashMan caught the three Metools by a surprise and it was able to wipe the floor off one Metool while the other two remained safe for the time being. The ones who survived the attack immediately split away from one another and wailed their pickaxe on the ground, causing a destructive explosion to channel directly towards SplashMan. While he was able to save himself from one attack, he wasn't able to see the other attack from behind and felt the full taste of what the Chaos Net had to offer.

A good chunk of the terrains riddles with poison from the viruses' attack, but that didn't matter too much when SplashMan used the AuraHead to smash through the hiding Metool's helmet and sucked it away into a unknown dimension with the Vortex. However, his focus towards one virus proved to be fatal when another attack smacked him on the back.

With Splash nearing the edge of deletion AND with the poison corroding his feet, the last Metool thought he got an easy prey with one more attack left to finish it off. But it didn't see the last line of defense created and the last thing it saw was the terrifying, metal face that almost swallowed it whole...

Metool3A: DELETED
Metool3B: DELETED
Metool3C: DELETED

Terrain: 40% Normal, 25% Sea, 35% Poison

SplashMan.EXE: 40HP [Shield Broken]

-BATTLE WON!-
1,200z + [Guard3] BattlechipGuard3
Effect: (1 Hit Shield) + (Reflect up to 200 + Piercing + Line Attack)
Accuracy: S
Description: Generates a 1-Hit Shield upon activation. When this shield blocks one hit from a non-Break attack, it responds with a hyper-fast damage ray.
Duration: Until broken or overridden.
Element: Null
Special: Negated by Break. Ignores Impact.
Special: Reflect: Damage returned is equal to the damage of the attack blocked or the damage cap listed, whichever comes first. Reflect is not subject to negation by Impact.
...That was...fun...SplashMan somehow managed to find the energy to stumble over to where the three blue Mettaur had nearly pickaxed him to a pulp, and accessed three chunks of data where they had stood. "Cash...chip data...PAIN..."

"...I can see that. Come on, back to the PET!" And with those words, the Chaos Net adventures came to a screeching halt.

(TO REAL ACDC)