Therapeutic Violence

Finding himself hemmed in by the two aerial foes, Mach quickly executed a fierce burn intended to scorch both of them. As he did, though, The hornet zipped low and away from him, its eyes blind, while the massive hawk attempted to ram through Mach and put some distance between them again. The fiery blast wave clipped the Hawk as it shot by, and its impaired vision left its actual attack badly off course.

From the explosion, Mach's decoys shot down to harass and distract the Mimic, but thought the crystal twisted in place, tracking with them, its attention didn't appear to leave Mach either. It looked like it was still considering them both as foes, or potentially as the real Mach, but it was beginning to get wise to his tactic. for his part, still high up, Mach launched the much more tangible weapon attack. It was a weapon he'd not used in a while, and though that shouldn't have made any difference to a professional like Mach, the arc nevertheless went slightly wide of the much smaller hornet virus, and while it was on track to catch the Hawk on the curve, the larger flier rolled away from it, then flipped over in the air and began raking its talons in the direction it guessed to be the source of the attack. It still couldn't see clearly, but it sent a barrage of air blades slicing in Mach's direction, and though the vast majority of them missed or were easy for Mach to avoid, the volume of them saw one single slice make contact. Compared to other dangers, one tiny nick didn't hurt much, at least.

Down below, the Mimic watched this exchange, while keeping its eyes on the two clones assaulting it, and it waited... Rather than attack right away, it rotated its panels and expelled another mist p into the air, letting it solidify around the TinHawk in the form of another barrier. It looked back to the two Machs near it, who, for all their aggressive behaviour had not actually done it any harm yet.

Mach teleported to a more advantageous position just as the hornet virus dived at his former location, sting extended, but with the positions of his foes, the best he could manage to line up were the two tougher targets — the hornet was just too far out of line, now. As he was about to blast downwards, the Mimic in his sights opened up its geometric panels and unleashed another thick bar of white-hot fire towards him. It scorched one of the decoys in the process, but its aim was clearly Mach. the beam attack was brutally strong and fast, but Mach was quicker, dodging out of the way and completing his line up in the same motion, before charging back down the line of the beam at it. He bashed through the TinHawk, leaving a metallic screeching sound behind him, but didn't quite manage to connect with the mimic before he had to prevent himself from ploughing into the ground.

As he climbed rapidly again from the attack, the Hawk meta-virus drew back, righting itself and turning its head in sharp motions as it tried to clear its vision. Without proper sight, it hovered in place, beginning to flap more fiercely and kick up a series of twisting gales that curled out and away from its body. the effect was obviously less precision accurate than its other attacks, but the bundles of rapidly spinning wind tracked towards Mach without guidance from the hawk and though two missed, and Mach deftly dodged the third, all three continued to loop around, still locked onto him.

Moving amongst the wind bursts, Mach felt, more than saw, a second blistering bar of white fire lance up past his position, missing him by the narrowest of margins. His response was to do his best to remove the unusual Mimic's source of extra power, and he released a large scale, ground-breaking attack that impacted with a satisfying crash. The mimic itself seemed to shrug off the damage with only a small spider crack lacing its way across one panel, quickly flipped over and rotted out of sight, but the ground beneath it cracked, with most of the heated coals falling into gaps and leaving the deceptive virus on rapidly cooling terrain.

The hawk continued to beat its wings, raising a storm of circling air currents and filling the sky with them, and Though Mach continued to avoid the localised cyclone gales, it left six of them twisting about in the air now, and all locked onto him. Somewhere in the mix, the hornet attempted to sting Mach a third time, but it failed to find him amidst the air currents and its own impaired sight. Just as the vision of his foes recovered, Mach himself disappeared instead, determined to confound their efforts to strike him as much as possible.

-=The Birds and the Bears=-
TinHawk V6TinHawk V6 (TinHawk)

TinHawk is a combination of the Fishy, Genin, and Typhoon viruses. It appears to be a large, dark brown bird, with razor sharp wings and short but thick legs and feet. As one might expect, it prefers to attack by swooping in and overwhelming foes with its size, repeatedly tearing foes with its claws, and by creating mighty gusts of wind with its wings. But it does have yet another trick for the unwary...

Area: All

HP: 800
Element: Null

Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Null + Impact + Piercing + Line Attack(5)
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Swoops down and through a straight path.

Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (35 Null x 3 Hits) + Homing + NorthWind + Wind Type
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Creates a small whirlwind that hunts down its target. Blows away barriers and auras on contact.

Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: 10 Null x 13 hits + Slashing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Flies down to a target, and repeatedly claws the foe with its powerful talons.

Special: OmniShoes
Special: SuperArmor: Immunity to Knockback, Microburst, Pull, Gravity, and similar effects.
Special: Once per turn, this virus can counter a BattleChip with a ranged version of its Tertiary Attack as a free action.

Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DashAttack3, Kunai3, Cyclone, HawkCut3, NorthWind, Zenny: 440Hp [Flying][Behind and right of Mach]
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. A: DELETED
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. B: DELETED
Elehornet EXElehornet EX (Elebee)

Elebee viruses move and dodge at a high rate of speed, and they are fully flight capable. Elebee viruses attack by flying at their target at high speed, and delivering an electric sting. This type of virus may opt to stop short of the target, and veer sharply in a new direction to avoid an attack. This requires the expenditure of a second action, but occurs very rapidly regardless. Movement and attacking are one and the same with regards to this virus, thus physical contact with them causes damage. Elebees can see through Invis.

Area: Electown, NAXA

HP: 210
Attack Damage/Effect: 70 Elec + Seeking
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Charges toward enemy to electrocute
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Arrow3, Zenny
Special: Flying.: 180Hp [Flying][Short way directly below Mach]
Purple MimicPurple Mimic (Mimic)

A Mystery Data bisected horizontally, with a shadowy core binding the halves together. Two menacing red eyes leer out from the shadows in the crack between them, and a swirl of dark energy of the same color as the data whirls around the entire virus constantly. A Mimic only spawns if an MD is present, and the roll to check contents comes up as a Trap. The MD then becomes a single Mimic. Mimics do not ever appear otherwise. Once triggered, a Mimic either mass summons Viruses, Navis, or other Battle Programs for the next battle number, or mass teleports all allies to the location of the next battle (which is always within the same network area), and the battle begins immediately. These mass summon and mass teleport abilities are unique to Mimics, and cannot be emulated. When a Mimic is defeated, it reverts to MD form. At this point, it becomes ethereal, and cannot be damaged in any way.

Area: All

HP: 600
Primary Attack Description: Gathers the energy around it into a ball, then fires it all outward in a beam of purple light.
Primary Attack Effect: 90 + Beam Attack
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Swirls the energy surrounding it around an ally.
Secondary Attack Effect: 120 HP barrier to ally (Cannot be used on self)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: S
Tertiary Description: Spits a ball of glitchy data out from the crack in the Mystery Data, then sends it flying inside a guided shell of energy.
Tertiary Attack Effect: 45 + Glitch + Homing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: C
Element: Null
Special: Omnishoes. Immobile.
Special: Gains a 60 HP barrier every turn it is not attacking. Does not stack.: 460Hp [LavaBody][Cracked]

-=Unrepentant Gambler=-
MachMan.exe: 212Hp [High Altitude][Invisible: 2 turns remaining][6 Attacks Homing!]

-=Ruined Retreat=-
35% Onsen

• Aqua Elementals gain 3 HP/action partially or fully submerged, Non-Aqua Elementals only when partially submerged.
• If any Sea Terrain exists in an adjacent panel, Onsen panels will change to Sea Terrain, except in Yoka (Sea will convert to Onsen).
• Terrain changes between Sea and Onsen do not inflict damage upon submerged entities, nor do they eject submerged entities to the surface.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Blast1 Blind.

[Large pool, which Mach is at the edge of]
35% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

[Surrounding edges of the area, and most of the former coal mound]
10% Broken

• Not bottomless.
• Reverts to Normal after a time, if no one is inside.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• 1-4 Movements actions to climb back out depending on method.

[Fallen in sections amongst the cracked]
10% Missing

• Permanent bottomless hole.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• EJO if you fall in.

[Several dark pits on the left and right of the pool]
10% Coal

• Fire Elementals gain +20 Strengthen/turn, but must be allocated to Fire Element attacks only. Any Coal Strengthen vanishes after moving off of it.
• Non-Fire Elementals get Burn (5 Fire/action for 1 turn or until cured) the turn after they come into contact with Coal Terrain.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Soil.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to to Lava.
• PanelShot: Imbue Fire.

[Small amount of coal left at the edge of the mound]

-=Objects=-
Broken Fountain Chunks C-F: 80Hp [Hardbody][Onsen]
Broken Fountain Chunks A and B: Thrown and shattered

Fountain chunks are scattered about the onsen pool in a fairly even spread, though more are towards the centre, where the fountain presumably once stood.

-=Mach has 2 Movements as Scramble Free Actions this turn=-

((Turn Splice))

The Elehornet was annoyingly resistant to deletion, and thanks to its high speed and apparent ability to see past his visual camouflage, it continued to be Mach's primary target. He suddenly saw the ElementTrapDamage: Trap(240 Trigger Element): Elemental Damage
Accuracy: S
Description: Upon activation, remains dormant until opponent uses an elemental attack that is capable of dealing damage, at which time it deals them damage of the same element as the attack used. Does not stun nor negate the attack or ability. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Variable
Special: (Trap(Effect): Trigger): Trap effects are sprung when Trigger conditions are met. Traps do not trigger and cannot be triggered by other Traps. Traps are negated on contact by the Nullify effect, and do not trigger against attacks that include the Nullify effect. Traps do not trigger against Allies. Only one Trap may be set by an individual at a time, and setting a second will overwrite the first regardless of type. Traps remain in place until triggered, overwritten, or destroyed.
- Does not trigger on enemy Passives.
- Cannot trigger on sigs that do not affect you, objects you have created, or your allies.
- Cannot trigger on Null Elemental attacks.
Trader Rank: A chip appear in his queue of uploaded battlechips. He activated it immediately, it might be wasted on the Mimic, but maybe he'll get lucky and the Hornet would attack before the Mimic would start blind-firing. In case his luck continued on its current downward trend, he requested more chips. [[color=blue]" Magnum1Damage: 120 + Break + Panel Break x 3 Targets
Accuracy: A
Description: A triple barreled gun that blasts through defenses and terrain alike. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: C and DashAttack2Damage: 120 + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement
Accuracy: C
Description: The user charges forward at a great speed to ram a line of enemies. Hits a maximum of 5 enemies before the momentum is lost.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Direction of travel may be altered with chip, terrain, and sig use.
Trader Rank: C,"[/color]] he "spoke" via their direct line, he didn't want the sound of his own voice to help clue the other foes to his position, even as he tumbled downwards to avoid not only the Elehornet, but also the several small "twisters" that continued to glide towards him.

After using mostly gravity to reposition, and hopefully avoid enemy fire, he turned to face the Elehornet (if the Trap didn't snuff it out) and the TinHawk. He was briefly left open to fire, but he planned to shoot first. His entire right forearm and hand had reformatted into his trusty three-barreled cannon, but with only two of the three barrels loaded. The Hornet was likely still moving rapidly, so he tried to lead it by adjusting his crosshairs slightly in the direction where the Elehornet was going, as opposed to where it was right at that moment; it would be easier if it was heading straight towards him. Once he quickly got his firing solution, he proverbially pulled the trigger, and the massive weapon went off with an air-rumbling *BOOM*. The heavy incendiary shell shot towards the Elehornet, and if his aim was true, resulted in a fiery explosion.

Regardless, as soon as the first shot was off, he swung the weapon towards his next target: the TinHawk. His position was definitely compromised by now thanks to the noise, so he made a point to take his second shot quickly. The cannon went off again before the echoes of the first gunshot faded, and sent another high explosive round towards the massive bird.

It was then his quick volley stopped, but he moved to follow up with a much larger "projectile." He took off like a shot towards the Elehornet, using his vectoring paddles, ruddervators, and even his own limbs to steer himself out of the path of any beams or swirling torrents of air in an attempt to chase and run down the insectoid virus. With his sonic bow-wake acting like a transparent battering ram, he aimed to cause the impact between the Elehornet and him to be akin to a bug hitting a windshield. After blasting through the Elehornet's position, he continued to charge towards the Tinhawk.

If he had to chase down that virus as well, he had more than enough airspeed to do so in short order, and enough kinetic energy to rocket through the metavirus's position. While bashing the virus was his goal, he didn't want it to turn into an easy opportunity for the viral bird of prey to retaliate with a flurry of swipes from its talons. He didn't slow down until he got well beyond melee range, and even as the chip's power expired, he pitched up and to the right before executing a quick spiraling barrel roll in an attempt to avoid what vengeful counterattacks were likely nipping at his heels.

Despite the cover if his invisibility, Mach could tell that the hornet, at least, still appeared to have a clean sight on him — something about its eyes was simply not being fooled — but the experienced combatant had another trick ready and waiting this time as he dodged away. The hornet came on, and just as it dived at him, stinger extended, Mach unleashed his waiting trap, obliterating the insect it an overwhelming burst of electricity. Less fortunate was the way that the virus disintegrated under the attack, its various parts continuing forward to pierce deeply into him like shrapnel and cover Mach in oily, gooey residue besides, all before he could get out of the way. The threat was eliminated, but his defencive cloaking was also largely ruined.

Nevertheless, Mach had other targets to neutralise, though he was down to two remaining foes now. His magnum shot resounded as the hawk tried to roll out of the way, but Mach was quicker; the shot singed the creature's other wing this time, and it gave a loud metallic shriek as it flailed its talons and sent another retaliatory swarm of air blades back in his direction. The swarm of rapid attacks was becoming familiar to Mach now, and he was ready to evade, though even as prepared as he was, the volume and precision of the assault still saw him clipped by a few of them.

Just as he finished his evasive manoeuvres, Mach caught sight of a fresh purple mist coalescing around the TinHawk just before it dived directly at him, following up its smaller attacks with a full-body rush. Fortunately, its aim was less than perfect, and the large virus missed him, but Mach wasn't about to let the pass and went after it with a high-powered dash of his own. By contrast, Mach's aim was far superior and just as the hawk reached the end of its dive, he burst past it, crashing through in a blow that collapsed its new barrier and drove a pained screech from the creature as well. The protracted skirmish was almost done with, one way or another, with both Mach and the meta-virus severely beaten by now.

The odds remained stacked against Mach, though, and no sooner had he caught himself from the inertia of his dash than he was forced into rapid evasion again, from the first wave of homing cyclones bearing down on him. He managed to avoid the first three, barely, as well as something that looked like a crackling, distorted ball of energy coming up from below, but more were on the way, and the glitchy ball looked to be homing back towards him as well. The TinHawk screeched and flapped, glaring at Mach from further off as it gathered itself.

-=The Birds and the Bears=-
TinHawk V6TinHawk V6 (TinHawk)

TinHawk is a combination of the Fishy, Genin, and Typhoon viruses. It appears to be a large, dark brown bird, with razor sharp wings and short but thick legs and feet. As one might expect, it prefers to attack by swooping in and overwhelming foes with its size, repeatedly tearing foes with its claws, and by creating mighty gusts of wind with its wings. But it does have yet another trick for the unwary...

Area: All

HP: 800
Element: Null

Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Null + Impact + Piercing + Line Attack(5)
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Swoops down and through a straight path.

Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (35 Null x 3 Hits) + Homing + NorthWind + Wind Type
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Creates a small whirlwind that hunts down its target. Blows away barriers and auras on contact.

Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: 10 Null x 13 hits + Slashing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Flies down to a target, and repeatedly claws the foe with its powerful talons.

Special: OmniShoes
Special: SuperArmor: Immunity to Knockback, Microburst, Pull, Gravity, and similar effects.
Special: Once per turn, this virus can counter a BattleChip with a ranged version of its Tertiary Attack as a free action.

Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DashAttack3, Kunai3, Cyclone, HawkCut3, NorthWind, Zenny: 280Hp [Flying][Opposite Mach and a little above]
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. A: DELETED
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. B: DELETED
Elehornet EXElehornet EX (Elebee)

Elebee viruses move and dodge at a high rate of speed, and they are fully flight capable. Elebee viruses attack by flying at their target at high speed, and delivering an electric sting. This type of virus may opt to stop short of the target, and veer sharply in a new direction to avoid an attack. This requires the expenditure of a second action, but occurs very rapidly regardless. Movement and attacking are one and the same with regards to this virus, thus physical contact with them causes damage. Elebees can see through Invis.

Area: Electown, NAXA

HP: 210
Attack Damage/Effect: 70 Elec + Seeking
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Charges toward enemy to electrocute
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Arrow3, Zenny
Special: Flying.: DELETED
Purple MimicPurple Mimic (Mimic)

A Mystery Data bisected horizontally, with a shadowy core binding the halves together. Two menacing red eyes leer out from the shadows in the crack between them, and a swirl of dark energy of the same color as the data whirls around the entire virus constantly. A Mimic only spawns if an MD is present, and the roll to check contents comes up as a Trap. The MD then becomes a single Mimic. Mimics do not ever appear otherwise. Once triggered, a Mimic either mass summons Viruses, Navis, or other Battle Programs for the next battle number, or mass teleports all allies to the location of the next battle (which is always within the same network area), and the battle begins immediately. These mass summon and mass teleport abilities are unique to Mimics, and cannot be emulated. When a Mimic is defeated, it reverts to MD form. At this point, it becomes ethereal, and cannot be damaged in any way.

Area: All

HP: 600
Primary Attack Description: Gathers the energy around it into a ball, then fires it all outward in a beam of purple light.
Primary Attack Effect: 90 + Beam Attack
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Swirls the energy surrounding it around an ally.
Secondary Attack Effect: 120 HP barrier to ally (Cannot be used on self)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: S
Tertiary Description: Spits a ball of glitchy data out from the crack in the Mystery Data, then sends it flying inside a guided shell of energy.
Tertiary Attack Effect: 45 + Glitch + Homing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: C
Element: Null
Special: Omnishoes. Immobile.
Special: Gains a 60 HP barrier every turn it is not attacking. Does not stack.: 460Hp [LavaBody][Cracked]

-=Unrepentant Gambler=-
MachMan.exe: 112Hp [High Altitude][Invisible: Negated!][3 TinHawk Attacks Homing!][1 Mimic Attack Homing!]

-=Ruined Retreat=-
35% Onsen

• Aqua Elementals gain 3 HP/action partially or fully submerged, Non-Aqua Elementals only when partially submerged.
• If any Sea Terrain exists in an adjacent panel, Onsen panels will change to Sea Terrain, except in Yoka (Sea will convert to Onsen).
• Terrain changes between Sea and Onsen do not inflict damage upon submerged entities, nor do they eject submerged entities to the surface.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Blast1 Blind.

[Large pool, which Mach is at the edge of]
35% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

[Surrounding edges of the area, and most of the former coal mound]
10% Broken

• Not bottomless.
• Reverts to Normal after a time, if no one is inside.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• 1-4 Movements actions to climb back out depending on method.

[Fallen in sections amongst the cracked]
10% Missing

• Permanent bottomless hole.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• EJO if you fall in.

[Several dark pits on the left and right of the pool]
10% Coal

• Fire Elementals gain +20 Strengthen/turn, but must be allocated to Fire Element attacks only. Any Coal Strengthen vanishes after moving off of it.
• Non-Fire Elementals get Burn (5 Fire/action for 1 turn or until cured) the turn after they come into contact with Coal Terrain.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Soil.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to to Lava.
• PanelShot: Imbue Fire.

[Small amount of coal left at the edge of the mound]

-=Objects=-
Broken Fountain Chunks C-F: 80Hp [Hardbody][Onsen]
Broken Fountain Chunks A and B: Thrown and shattered

Fountain chunks are scattered about the onsen pool in a fairly even spread, though more are towards the centre, where the fountain presumably once stood.

-=Mach has 3 Actions Remaining=-
-=Mach has 2 Movements as Scramble Free Actions this turn=-
-=Mach has 1 Movement and 1 Feint as Scramble Free Actions next turn=

His cloak was destroyed along with the Elehornet, forcing Mach to keep up speed. He tried to dive towards the ground as the myriad of attacks continued to follow hot on his trail, then pull up at the last second before racing across the netscape. He was attempting to get the attacks to possibly turn wide and hit the ground, while also providing himself a bit of "cover," at least he wouldn't have to worry about attacks coming up from below. The tips of his strut-like feet brushed against he surface of the onsen as he zig-zagged across, leaving a pair of misty white "rooster tails" in his wake

Meanwhile, Mazer scrambled to get his navi any sort of defenses; he couldn't keep dodging forever, and wasn't even that successful in avoiding the deluge of enemy attacks. He uploaded the Counter1Damage: (1-Hit I-Field) + (Counter(70 + Impact + Break): On-Hit)
Accuracy: S Block, A Return
Description: Defends against one attack, teleports to enemy, and strikes with Gutpunch. Impacting. Breaking.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: I-Field is pierced by Impact, Counter is negated by Impact.
Special: Status Guard: This chip blocks debuffs.
Trader Rank: D and AirRaid2HP: 100
Properties: Normal, Omnishoes, Mobile
Object Damage: 50 + Impact
Damage Method: Telekinesis
Gun Attack Damage: 10 x 15 Shots
Accuracy: A
Description: Summons a fighter plane to strafe your enemies.
Duration: 3 turns or Until destroyed
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C chips, in the hopes of providing Mach at least a spare hit of defense, and something else for the viruses to shoot at.

Mach activated the Counter first, which prompted his right arm to briefly become surrounded in swirling bits of data, which rapidly settled on his arm in the form of armored plating. A second later, he closed the fingers of his now massive right hand, forming a large, heavy fist. He was still moving rapidly, and the additional bulk and weight of his arm required his control surfaces to adjust and compensate. That realization gave Mach an idea...

Once he reached the other side of the onsen and was over some more solid terrain, he wanted to change direction rapidly and in an unpredictable manner. If his counter wasn't already used, he opened his armored hand and reached to the ground as he banked his body to the right, in an attempt to drive his fingers into the ground. He hoped the sudden increase in drag would allow him to maneuver with his dragging arm as a pivot point, allowing him to "power slide" and rapidly change direction. Using his thrust vectoring paddles and the rest of his control surfaces regardless, he tried to make a nearly 120degree turn on a dime, then shot off again and kicked up into a climb.

As he did so, he deployed his twin holo-decoys like flares from an aircraft. They rapidly produced their holo-projected disguises, but instead of drawing away enemy fire, Mach commanded them to intercept the TinHawk. One arced in from above while the other cruised up from below with their armored fists clenched and seemingly ready to strike. At the moment he wasn't concerned with having them stick around for long, mainly because he had something much more solid on the way. With a burst of rapidly configuring data fragments, a MachMan-themed FighterPlane materialized in the air just behind and to the right of its commander. The aircraft itself looked like a slightly smaller version of Mach's upper torso armor, but with the arms replaced with twin guns. The FighterPlane peeled off and set up a strafing run towards the Mimic, while Mach continued to trace a twisting, curving path in the air in an attempt to shake off enemy fire. Beneath the opaque dark teal canopy, Mach's neck strained as he tried to keep an eye on both targets and whatever attacks were coming from them, to better plan and anticipate their fire as opposed to blind defensive maneuvering.

Once the FighterPlane got a bead on the Mimic, it opened up with its twin guns with a short burst of gunfire. Each shot didn't produce any visible muzzle flash due to its high speed, but it still left behind two trails of smoke from the 15 rounds it fired in that single burst. After completing the gun run, the FighterPlane banked hard to the right and began an arcing climb as it moved to set up another strafing run.

There were onyl two foes left, but that hadn't stopped them filling the air around Mach with live fire, and the sky-dominant navi had to work hard to keep clear of everything coming in his direction. Quick movements sent him down to the water surface, rapidly out-manoeuvring the trailing wind bursts, but as he screeched down and kicked up the water, and sent his two clones skyward to harry the Hawk, above, the meta-virus gave chase, shrieking with an angry metallic sound as it dived. It crashed right through both of Mach's decoys as it tried to hit all three figures, but by the time it reached the water's surface and pulled up, Mach was already elsewhere.

A new ally appeared and made an attack run on the crystal that had inspired this battle, while Mach made to some space for himself and readied himself ot respond to threats. The mimic twisted, spinning in place once as it clocked the incoming plane, then flipped each of its panels in a symmetrical, drawing-in display that created a fresh barrier around it, jsut as the fighter's guns opened fire. Most of the shots struck cleanly but a great many of them simply hammered against the new barrier that the creature had defended itself with. The fighter was persistent, though, and towards the end of its attack run, the ethereal field collapsed and several of the bullet racked into the crystalline surfaces of the virus directly. Small sounds like wire scraping on glass edges escaped the virus as it took damage.

Not far away, the hawk virus found Mach again and lunged towards him, talons raking in rapid slices and cuts. Mach was ready this time and evaded quickly. As before the rapid barrage was initially too much for him to keep away from completely, but as the one of the swipes managed to clip his field, Mach was able to shift with an extra boost of nimbleness that pulled him out of the rest of the creature's attack and pay it back with a heavy countering blow. The TinHawk squawked in surprise, a far more startled sound than other noises it made while they exchanged blows so far

-=The Birds and the Bears=-
TinHawk V6TinHawk V6 (TinHawk)

TinHawk is a combination of the Fishy, Genin, and Typhoon viruses. It appears to be a large, dark brown bird, with razor sharp wings and short but thick legs and feet. As one might expect, it prefers to attack by swooping in and overwhelming foes with its size, repeatedly tearing foes with its claws, and by creating mighty gusts of wind with its wings. But it does have yet another trick for the unwary...

Area: All

HP: 800
Element: Null

Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Null + Impact + Piercing + Line Attack(5)
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Swoops down and through a straight path.

Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (35 Null x 3 Hits) + Homing + NorthWind + Wind Type
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Creates a small whirlwind that hunts down its target. Blows away barriers and auras on contact.

Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: 10 Null x 13 hits + Slashing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Flies down to a target, and repeatedly claws the foe with its powerful talons.

Special: OmniShoes
Special: SuperArmor: Immunity to Knockback, Microburst, Pull, Gravity, and similar effects.
Special: Once per turn, this virus can counter a BattleChip with a ranged version of its Tertiary Attack as a free action.

Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DashAttack3, Kunai3, Cyclone, HawkCut3, NorthWind, Zenny: 210Hp [Flying][Alongside Mach, not far above Onsen]
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. A: DELETED
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. B: DELETED
Elehornet EXElehornet EX (Elebee)

Elebee viruses move and dodge at a high rate of speed, and they are fully flight capable. Elebee viruses attack by flying at their target at high speed, and delivering an electric sting. This type of virus may opt to stop short of the target, and veer sharply in a new direction to avoid an attack. This requires the expenditure of a second action, but occurs very rapidly regardless. Movement and attacking are one and the same with regards to this virus, thus physical contact with them causes damage. Elebees can see through Invis.

Area: Electown, NAXA

HP: 210
Attack Damage/Effect: 70 Elec + Seeking
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Charges toward enemy to electrocute
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Arrow3, Zenny
Special: Flying.: DELETED
Purple MimicPurple Mimic (Mimic)

A Mystery Data bisected horizontally, with a shadowy core binding the halves together. Two menacing red eyes leer out from the shadows in the crack between them, and a swirl of dark energy of the same color as the data whirls around the entire virus constantly. A Mimic only spawns if an MD is present, and the roll to check contents comes up as a Trap. The MD then becomes a single Mimic. Mimics do not ever appear otherwise. Once triggered, a Mimic either mass summons Viruses, Navis, or other Battle Programs for the next battle number, or mass teleports all allies to the location of the next battle (which is always within the same network area), and the battle begins immediately. These mass summon and mass teleport abilities are unique to Mimics, and cannot be emulated. When a Mimic is defeated, it reverts to MD form. At this point, it becomes ethereal, and cannot be damaged in any way.

Area: All

HP: 600
Primary Attack Description: Gathers the energy around it into a ball, then fires it all outward in a beam of purple light.
Primary Attack Effect: 90 + Beam Attack
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Swirls the energy surrounding it around an ally.
Secondary Attack Effect: 120 HP barrier to ally (Cannot be used on self)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: S
Tertiary Description: Spits a ball of glitchy data out from the crack in the Mystery Data, then sends it flying inside a guided shell of energy.
Tertiary Attack Effect: 45 + Glitch + Homing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: C
Element: Null
Special: Omnishoes. Immobile.
Special: Gains a 60 HP barrier every turn it is not attacking. Does not stack.: 410Hp [LavaBody][Barrier Broken!][Cracked]

-=Unrepentant Gambler=-
MachMan.exe: 115Hp [High Altitude][1 Mimic Attack Homing!]

-=Ruined Retreat=-
35% Onsen

• Aqua Elementals gain 3 HP/action partially or fully submerged, Non-Aqua Elementals only when partially submerged.
• If any Sea Terrain exists in an adjacent panel, Onsen panels will change to Sea Terrain, except in Yoka (Sea will convert to Onsen).
• Terrain changes between Sea and Onsen do not inflict damage upon submerged entities, nor do they eject submerged entities to the surface.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Blast1 Blind.

[Large pool, which Mach is at the edge of]
35% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

[Surrounding edges of the area, and most of the former coal mound]
10% Broken

• Not bottomless.
• Reverts to Normal after a time, if no one is inside.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• 1-4 Movements actions to climb back out depending on method.

[Fallen in sections amongst the cracked]
10% Missing

• Permanent bottomless hole.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• EJO if you fall in.

[Several dark pits on the left and right of the pool]
10% Coal

• Fire Elementals gain +20 Strengthen/turn, but must be allocated to Fire Element attacks only. Any Coal Strengthen vanishes after moving off of it.
• Non-Fire Elementals get Burn (5 Fire/action for 1 turn or until cured) the turn after they come into contact with Coal Terrain.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Soil.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to to Lava.
• PanelShot: Imbue Fire.

[Small amount of coal left at the edge of the mound]

-=Objects=-
Broken Fountain Chunks C-F: 80Hp [Hardbody][Onsen]
Broken Fountain Chunks A and B: Thrown and shattered

AirRaid: 100hp [Flying][2 Turns]

Fountain chunks are scattered about the onsen pool in a fairly even spread, though more are towards the centre, where the fountain presumably once stood.

-=Mach has 2 Movement and 1 Feint as Scramble Free Actions next turn=

((Turn Splice))

" WaterLine3Damage: 180 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: A wall of water gushes from the ground, drowning up to 3 targets.
Duration: Once
Element: Aqua
Trader Rank: B, ElecAura2Protection: Any Non-Wood attack lower than 80 HP
Accuracy: S
Description: Negates any Non-Wood attack less than 80HP
Duration: Three turns, or until destroyed
Element: Elec
Special: Status Guard: This chip blocks debuffs.
Trader Rank: B, TankCannon3Damage: 160 / 160 + Blast 2
Accuracy: A / C
Description: An enormous cannon whose ammunition can be altered to either a single high accuracy shot, or a low accuracy shot that can explode to hit several enemies.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Dual Mode: This chip has two separate modes of operation. The user may pick which one they wish to use at the time of activation.
Trader Rank: B, DashAttack1Damage: 90 + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement
Accuracy: C
Description: The user charges forward at a great speed to ram a line of enemies. Hits a maximum of 5 enemies before the momentum is lost.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Direction of travel may be altered with chip, terrain, and sig use.
Trader Rank: D, BigHammer2Damage: 220 + Impact + Break
Accuracy: B
Description: Summons a giant metal hammer to utterly crush one enemy that stands before you.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C!" Mach ordered as he tried to peel away from TinHawk after delivering his five-fingered counter attack. He maneuvered out from the virus and spiraled away, causing wispy white trails of vapor to trace lines in the sky from the tips of his ruddervators, hands, and feet. There was at least one attack still heading his way, and he was barely holding together, another hit could end it all. Mazer immediately moved to slot in the requested chips, even from his "distance" from the battlefield, he knew this was down to the wire. Either the viruses would fall, or his Navi; he had to give Mach every edge he could get, and any hesitation could hold him back. Mach's twin decoy drones seemed to have been thrown from his rapidly twisting body as they materialized in the air, and immediately projected the mirror copies of their master before rocketing off to their assignments: the first banked away and posted up around ~15 feet to his right then mirrored his spiraling movements, while the second peeled off to harass the TinHawk.

Meanwhile, the angular FighterPlane screamed into another strafing run on the Mimic. It snapped wings level and used its rudder and elevators to further refine its aim and put its targeting "pipper" on the virus. With no other warning, it fired another 15-round burst from its twin cannons. Each round seemed to glow as they shot towards the Mimic like blaster bolts. If the Mimic tried to defend itself again, the little jet would still try to keep its burst center-mass on the target; it would just leave one less shield for Mach to deal with later on.

As the FighterPlane pulled up and banked away having finished its gun run, Mach received his first and second chip uploads. With the first, he shifted his attention back down to the Mimic. As he did so, a cyan ellipse appeared in his vision, and slid over the floor as his mental aimpoint moved. He shifted the ellipse so the Mimic hovered at its center, the ellipse changed from cyan to red as soon as the Mimic's position crossed into the ellipse's border. Once he deemed his aim to be suitable, he activated the chip. Suddenly, the parts of the floor covered by the ellipse exploded with a massive vertical torrent of water, which briefly seemed to form a wall-like stationary wave and sprayed the surrounding area with a fine mist.

He anticipated the Mimic would retaliate and/or the TinHawk would keep up the attack, so he didn't pause or slow down, and watched for any attacks being directed towards him or his decoy. Though Mazer's reaction times weren't nearly as fast as Mach's, he had an unique point of view, and watched the battle intently. If he saw any attacks coming towards Mach, especially if it didn't appear the Navi could see it coming, Mazer would call out some simple one to two-word commands: "Break right/left!" "Dive!" or "Climb!" Which Mach would follow, if it didn't appear it would maneuver him out of one attack but into another. The decoy mirrored its master's movements perfectly, making it difficult to tell which one was the real Mach.

The decoys even reflected the new (and last) defensive chip Mach had left in his inventory as it was activated. All three of the angular, jet themed figures exploded with electrical energy, which seemed to glow and "burn" around them like flame while providing (the real) Mach a solid, but not impervious defense. He didn't expect it to last long, since both the TinHawk and the Mimic had attacks that could simply blast through the aura like paper, but if it could keep the TinHawk's claws off him for just long enough for him to turn the tables, it would have to do.

With that knowledge of his defense's vulnerabilities, Mach continued to lean heavily on evasion. He tried to keep his eye on both the Mimic and the TinHawk so he could at least see the attacks coming and maneuver out of the way, but at least at that point he had all three axis of movement at his disposal, and more than enough thrust to get him moving in a hurry. Mazer's eyes remained glued to the screen, and tried to provide overwatch and threat warning for his Navi; tt would be a waste for Mach's aura to get destroyed so quickly.

After maneuvering out of enemy fire, both Mach and his wingman decoy faced the Mimic and pointed their left arms down towards the multi-faceted foe. In a flurry of data, their left forearms and hands were replaced with a large single-barreled cannon, which if stood upright rivaled their own height. A tank turret-like chamber and counterweight extended from where their elbows would be, which contained a single high-accuracy shell, as opposed to the alternate high-explosive round. A green crosshair appeared in Mach's vision, with a small square in its center, and followed the boresight of the gun. He angled the cannon's barrel towards the Mimic, so the crosshair lay directly at the target's center. A split second later, both Mach and his wingman fired their cannons. While both cannons erupted with a donut-shaped plume of fire and smoke as the barrels slammed back about half a foot into their housings for recoil reduction, only Mach's rocked the area with a loud boom and sent the heavy round streaking towards the Mimic.

With a loud clunk, the entire cannon jettisoned from his upper arm and tumbled towards the ground below, still trailing smoke from its barrel. The decoy did the same, but obviously wasn't able to replicate the sound. A second later, the battlefield was awash with jet noise as his engines howled and spewed massive cones of purple and indigo flame. Mach and his decoy wingman hurtled towards the TinHawk with rapidly increasing speed; a large white vapor cone briefly appeared around their bodies as they rocketed through the sound barrier. Even at that speed, his control surfaces were still effective, and his thrust vectoring paddles were strong enough to not get torn or melted off by the afterburners. As he quickly closed in on his target, he utilized both aforementioned equipment to maneuver past the mini tornadoes, heat beams, or any other attacks heading his way and/or blocking the path to his target, even if the extreme aerodynamic forces caused catastrophic damage to his legs.

He tried to punch a hole through the TinHawk's body, but would've easily settled for a wing or two. Regardless, he kept up the speed before both he and his decoy snap-rolled 90 degrees to the right and pulled up hard as his vectoring nozzles redirected the afterburners upwards, causing him to make a brutally sharp right turn, even if it meant damaging or snapping off some of his control surfaces and limbs. If he had an anatomically accurate human body, the strain would've caused his vision to briefly fade at best, rupture his organs at worst. As long as he had one functioning arm left and enough thrust to keep flying, it was enough. The upper surfaces of his torso armor flickered with condensation in the turn until he leveled out and began to chase down the TinHawk.

Mach's right hand snapped open as he activated the BigHammer2 chip, then clamped back down on the large handle that rapidly formed, which supported the hammer's column-like head. His entire arm strained against the weapon's weight, but he maneuvered the weapon as he drew his arm back. His ruddervators and vectoring paddles adjusted their angles to compensate for the slight twist of his upper torso from drawing the hammer back, to keep him on an intercept course with the colossal bird. Once he got within range, he swung the hammer up and over with all the strength he had left, in an attempt to bring the hammer down squarely on the virus's head and/or torso to either swat it out of the sky, or even shatter the virus into cloud of data and feathers.

Still doing hard to stay agile and mislead his opponents, Mach had nevertheless run through a worryingly large portion of his available arsenal dealing with the troublesome threats. As he moved away from the hawk and deployed his doubles once more, the new trick seemed to work for a little while. Sending one decoy away while keeping close to the other made it look like the navi had adopted his previous tactic, and for a precious few moments, the attention of the TinHawk and the mimic seemed to focus one the lone clone, rather than Mach and his double down below.

It wouldn't last long, though, and Mach capitalised with a surprise strike from below, even as his allied fighter made another pass at the mimic. The spray of shots hammered into the crystal panels, eliciting more annoyed sounds of scratching glass, before an unexpected harmonic shriek filled the air as Mach's water pulse blasted up through the dangerous foe. Irksome as it was, the Mimic remained after the water cleared — it was badly hurt, many of its panels cracked and broken, and sometimes sections of it collided or crunched awkwardly as its parts moved around... but it didn't appear to have taken any further amplified damage from the water, and thus had endured the blast.

The Hawk, up above, fixed its eyes on the Mach nearest it, thinking it had the real one in its sights, and dove into begin clawing furiously in a flurry of metal talons. The decoy faltered, of course, but it had served its purpose well this time and the meta-virus cried in frustration, adding harsh metallic sounds to the grating-glass crystal of the injured mimic. It turned and looked down at the remaining Machs, putting up their barriers.

The Mimic, for its part, reconfigured its facets towards the retreating form of the summoned fighter plane; it had taken some heavy punishment form the jet and as the summon banked, the Mimic unleashed another scorching energy beam that ripped through one Mach, but more pointedly charred the smaller ally from the net. The crystal facets cycled down again and turned their attention back to the remaining Mach: unfortunately for the mimic, the one it had caught with the beam had not been the correct target.

At about that moment, a rent-metal screech from above announced the massive TinHawk diving down. It came on in a rush, talons out in an effort to slam into Mach and grab him, like the bird of prey it was, but the determined navi was too nimble for it to catch and he avoided the first rush. He was readying his cannon shot to finish off the Mimic, but the momentary distraction of dodging the larger virus gave the smaller one enough time to through up a fairly weak, panicked wall of energy around itself. The shot splashed against the barrier and dissipated it, and the Mimic seemed to cringe, letting out a sound something like glass wind chimes. As it recoiled, as much as a floating crystal could, the glitchy ball of energy darted in from the side, chasing after Mach and trying to catch him with his back turned, but between his speed and quick reactions, the ploy failed and Mach darted away from this attack as well.

He turned his attention next on the wounded TinHawk, while it recovered from its failed dash. Mach's own slamming move didn't fare any better, however, and the avian virus twisted over and around him, flipping back in the air to send a volley or air-slashes after him in retaliation. Mach dodged away from most of them, but even so a number found their mark... only to scatter across his aura with no effect. A gust of air continued to disturb the onsen below, though not nearly as much as Mach's manoeuvres had, but the meta-virus wasn't giving up; the beating of its wings released three more whirlwinds that chased right after Mach, quick on the tails of its counter-attack. Mach dodged one, and a second wavered wide by a margin, but the third managed to connect at the last, and though it certainly didn't have enough power to penetrate his aura, the fierce winds contained in the small cyclone scoured the protective barrier away just as surely, leaving Mach exposed.

It was the window that he needed, however, and in a sudden rush, Mach brushed his way through this flurry of assaults unflinching to make a decisive attack that the large hawk virus clearly hadn't anticipated; with a last defeated cry like warping steel, the bird crashed down under Mach's hammer blow, landing in the onsen, stretched out and unmoving. A quick glance would confirm to Mach that the target had gone silent at last. Just as he witnessed this, however, a sudden lance of pain lit through him, a back-stabbing blast of fire energy ripping through him and bursting out the far side as the Mimic attempted a final sneak attack to try and deal with Mach before he destroyed it.

It was a bad hit, but Mach was still alive, and in the instant that followed, he could guess that that may have been the creatures last ditch effort — as experienced as he was, Mach would know that he had the drop and the response speed on this virus by now, while it was spent and defenceless. The next few seconds would decide things.

-=The Birds and the Bears=-
TinHawk V6TinHawk V6 (TinHawk)

TinHawk is a combination of the Fishy, Genin, and Typhoon viruses. It appears to be a large, dark brown bird, with razor sharp wings and short but thick legs and feet. As one might expect, it prefers to attack by swooping in and overwhelming foes with its size, repeatedly tearing foes with its claws, and by creating mighty gusts of wind with its wings. But it does have yet another trick for the unwary...

Area: All

HP: 800
Element: Null

Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Null + Impact + Piercing + Line Attack(5)
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Swoops down and through a straight path.

Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (35 Null x 3 Hits) + Homing + NorthWind + Wind Type
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Creates a small whirlwind that hunts down its target. Blows away barriers and auras on contact.

Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: 10 Null x 13 hits + Slashing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Flies down to a target, and repeatedly claws the foe with its powerful talons.

Special: OmniShoes
Special: SuperArmor: Immunity to Knockback, Microburst, Pull, Gravity, and similar effects.
Special: Once per turn, this virus can counter a BattleChip with a ranged version of its Tertiary Attack as a free action.

Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DashAttack3, Kunai3, Cyclone, HawkCut3, NorthWind, Zenny: DELETED
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. A: DELETED
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. B: DELETED
Elehornet EXElehornet EX (Elebee)

Elebee viruses move and dodge at a high rate of speed, and they are fully flight capable. Elebee viruses attack by flying at their target at high speed, and delivering an electric sting. This type of virus may opt to stop short of the target, and veer sharply in a new direction to avoid an attack. This requires the expenditure of a second action, but occurs very rapidly regardless. Movement and attacking are one and the same with regards to this virus, thus physical contact with them causes damage. Elebees can see through Invis.

Area: Electown, NAXA

HP: 210
Attack Damage/Effect: 70 Elec + Seeking
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Charges toward enemy to electrocute
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Arrow3, Zenny
Special: Flying.: DELETED
Purple MimicPurple Mimic (Mimic)

A Mystery Data bisected horizontally, with a shadowy core binding the halves together. Two menacing red eyes leer out from the shadows in the crack between them, and a swirl of dark energy of the same color as the data whirls around the entire virus constantly. A Mimic only spawns if an MD is present, and the roll to check contents comes up as a Trap. The MD then becomes a single Mimic. Mimics do not ever appear otherwise. Once triggered, a Mimic either mass summons Viruses, Navis, or other Battle Programs for the next battle number, or mass teleports all allies to the location of the next battle (which is always within the same network area), and the battle begins immediately. These mass summon and mass teleport abilities are unique to Mimics, and cannot be emulated. When a Mimic is defeated, it reverts to MD form. At this point, it becomes ethereal, and cannot be damaged in any way.

Area: All

HP: 600
Primary Attack Description: Gathers the energy around it into a ball, then fires it all outward in a beam of purple light.
Primary Attack Effect: 90 + Beam Attack
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Swirls the energy surrounding it around an ally.
Secondary Attack Effect: 120 HP barrier to ally (Cannot be used on self)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: S
Tertiary Description: Spits a ball of glitchy data out from the crack in the Mystery Data, then sends it flying inside a guided shell of energy.
Tertiary Attack Effect: 45 + Glitch + Homing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: C
Element: Null
Special: Omnishoes. Immobile.
Special: Gains a 60 HP barrier every turn it is not attacking. Does not stack.: 120Hp [LavaBody][Cracked]

-=Unrepentant Gambler=-
MachMan.exe: 25Hp [High Altitude]

-=Ruined Retreat=-
35% Onsen

• Aqua Elementals gain 3 HP/action partially or fully submerged, Non-Aqua Elementals only when partially submerged.
• If any Sea Terrain exists in an adjacent panel, Onsen panels will change to Sea Terrain, except in Yoka (Sea will convert to Onsen).
• Terrain changes between Sea and Onsen do not inflict damage upon submerged entities, nor do they eject submerged entities to the surface.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Blast1 Blind.

[Large pool, which Mach is at the edge of]
35% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

[Surrounding edges of the area, and most of the former coal mound]
10% Broken

• Not bottomless.
• Reverts to Normal after a time, if no one is inside.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• 1-4 Movements actions to climb back out depending on method.

[Fallen in sections amongst the cracked]
10% Missing

• Permanent bottomless hole.
• Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
• EJO if you fall in.

[Several dark pits on the left and right of the pool]
10% Coal

• Fire Elementals gain +20 Strengthen/turn, but must be allocated to Fire Element attacks only. Any Coal Strengthen vanishes after moving off of it.
• Non-Fire Elementals get Burn (5 Fire/action for 1 turn or until cured) the turn after they come into contact with Coal Terrain.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Soil.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to to Lava.
• PanelShot: Imbue Fire.

[Small amount of coal left at the edge of the mound]

-=Objects=-
Broken Fountain Chunks C-F: 80Hp [Hardbody][Onsen]
Broken Fountain Chunks A and B: Thrown and shattered

AirRaid: DELETED

Fountain chunks are scattered about the onsen pool in a fairly even spread, though more are towards the centre, where the fountain presumably once stood.

-=Mach has 1 Action Remaining=-
-=Mach has 2 Movements as Scramble Free Actions next turn=

Mach hissed as he felt the all-too-familiar burn of the Mimic's beam cut through his body in retaliation for downing its avian comrade. He maintained control as he dropped the hammer maintained his altitude. A quick check of his systems showed his control surfaces seared and battered, with his engines beleaguered and strained, but overall still usable.

That said, his body was battered, his energy was below 5%, and everything hurt. He had enough energy to turn and run, but he'd found his place to die. He could finally be with Aera again, for eternity. Defeat briefly seemed sweeter than victory; he honestly couldn't "lose." he had to press on. A moment later, his SonicBoom chip appeared in his arsenal queue, followed by his NetOp's voice over his private line. ["Let's finish this!"] He could plainly hear the emotion in his NetOp's voice, his fired-up attitude bolstered the Navi's fortitude., for he couldn't lose. Even if he faced deletion, he'd greet it with open arms.

He twisted in the air and went inverted before he pulled "up" to dive down to the deck. He banked away from his vertical path to angle towards the Mimic then went wings-level about a dozen feet from the ground. He got his vector, and put his target smack-dab in its center. He slammed his throttles, prompting his heavily damaged engines to belt out fire-spewing roars as they rocketed the Navi forward. Mach grunted against the strain as he felt the warmth of bleeding data flowing over and back from the ruined crater where his right eye used to be. His other eye glared with murderous intent towards his target. One of them was going to die.

He kept an eye on the airspeed indicator on the left side of his HUD, for he had something special in store for his lone enemy. Just prior to rocketing over the Mimic, he broke the sound barrier with an ear-shattering double boom. Though the sound alone would cause any normal program, viral or not, to be in awe or fright, the sheer force of the barrier being rent apart sent a percussive shockwave outwards from Mach's body towards the Mimic. It also technically angled outwards in every direction, but Mach's proximity to the ground and the resulting "echo" from ground effect amped up the kinetic power of the shockwave.

Regardless of the shockwave's physical power, Mach blasted overhead with a howling roar and continued to streak over the net floor at supersonic speeds.

Worn down as he was, Mach had enough stamina left to take advantage of the moment's opportunity and struck back before the Mimic could recover. He was rewarded, at last, by a final ear-splitting harmonic shriek and the sound of shattering glass, which scattered purple crystal shards across back across the spring area and sent a brief cloud of smoke to dissipate into the net. In its place, a notably more ethereal purple crystal remained, safe to examine. The last strike marked an end to the gruelling surprise encounter, and left a very beaten up Mach to claim his well-earned rewards.

A large haul of valuable materials and Zenny comprised most of what he was able to recover from the scene, though the remains of the massive meta-virus yielded some moderately unique chip data as well. The purple crystal, once Mach accessed it, opened up and decompiled into a very sizable stash of currency, likely hoarded by some long-forgotten individual with no more use for it now.

-=The Birds and the Bears=-
TinHawk V6TinHawk V6 (TinHawk)

TinHawk is a combination of the Fishy, Genin, and Typhoon viruses. It appears to be a large, dark brown bird, with razor sharp wings and short but thick legs and feet. As one might expect, it prefers to attack by swooping in and overwhelming foes with its size, repeatedly tearing foes with its claws, and by creating mighty gusts of wind with its wings. But it does have yet another trick for the unwary...

Area: All

HP: 800
Element: Null

Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 Null + Impact + Piercing + Line Attack(5)
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Swoops down and through a straight path.

Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: (35 Null x 3 Hits) + Homing + NorthWind + Wind Type
Secondary Attack Accuracy: C
Secondary Attack Description: Creates a small whirlwind that hunts down its target. Blows away barriers and auras on contact.

Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: 10 Null x 13 hits + Slashing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Flies down to a target, and repeatedly claws the foe with its powerful talons.

Special: OmniShoes
Special: SuperArmor: Immunity to Knockback, Microburst, Pull, Gravity, and similar effects.
Special: Once per turn, this virus can counter a BattleChip with a ranged version of its Tertiary Attack as a free action.

Possible Rewards (Per Virus): DashAttack3, Kunai3, Cyclone, HawkCut3, NorthWind, Zenny: DELETED
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. A: DELETED
Teddy3 EXTeddy3 EX (Teddy)

Area: ACDC, Yoka, Okuden Valley, Yumland

HP: 300
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 90 + Slashing
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Tears at an enemy with its claws.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 45 + Impact x 2 targets
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Picks up and throws one enemy at another.
Tertiary Attack Damage/Effect: (Varies) + Impact
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: B
Tertiary Attack Description: Picks up and throws an object at an enemy.
Element: Null
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): RageClaw3, Zenny
Special: Will only use its secondary attack if there is more than one enemy. Will only use its tertiary attack if there is an object capable of being thrown.
Special: Can use RockCube once. B: DELETED
Elehornet EXElehornet EX (Elebee)

Elebee viruses move and dodge at a high rate of speed, and they are fully flight capable. Elebee viruses attack by flying at their target at high speed, and delivering an electric sting. This type of virus may opt to stop short of the target, and veer sharply in a new direction to avoid an attack. This requires the expenditure of a second action, but occurs very rapidly regardless. Movement and attacking are one and the same with regards to this virus, thus physical contact with them causes damage. Elebees can see through Invis.

Area: Electown, NAXA

HP: 210
Attack Damage/Effect: 70 Elec + Seeking
Attack Accuracy: B
Attack Description: Charges toward enemy to electrocute
Element: Elec
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): Arrow3, Zenny
Special: Flying.: DELETED
Purple MimicPurple Mimic (Mimic)

A Mystery Data bisected horizontally, with a shadowy core binding the halves together. Two menacing red eyes leer out from the shadows in the crack between them, and a swirl of dark energy of the same color as the data whirls around the entire virus constantly. A Mimic only spawns if an MD is present, and the roll to check contents comes up as a Trap. The MD then becomes a single Mimic. Mimics do not ever appear otherwise. Once triggered, a Mimic either mass summons Viruses, Navis, or other Battle Programs for the next battle number, or mass teleports all allies to the location of the next battle (which is always within the same network area), and the battle begins immediately. These mass summon and mass teleport abilities are unique to Mimics, and cannot be emulated. When a Mimic is defeated, it reverts to MD form. At this point, it becomes ethereal, and cannot be damaged in any way.

Area: All

HP: 600
Primary Attack Description: Gathers the energy around it into a ball, then fires it all outward in a beam of purple light.
Primary Attack Effect: 90 + Beam Attack
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Swirls the energy surrounding it around an ally.
Secondary Attack Effect: 120 HP barrier to ally (Cannot be used on self)
Secondary Attack Accuracy: S
Tertiary Description: Spits a ball of glitchy data out from the crack in the Mystery Data, then sends it flying inside a guided shell of energy.
Tertiary Attack Effect: 45 + Glitch + Homing
Tertiary Attack Accuracy: C
Element: Null
Special: Omnishoes. Immobile.
Special: Gains a 60 HP barrier every turn it is not attacking. Does not stack.: DELETED

-=Unrepentant Gambler=-
MachMan.exe: 25Hp [High Altitude]

-=Battle 7, Victory!=
Spoils: 8400z, 111 BugFrags, HawkCut3Damage: 50 + Consecutive Strike + Slashing x 3 hits
Accuracy: B
Description: Performs a flashy 3-hit sword strike. Gets stronger with each hit, but it's very easy for the timing to be thrown off and fail.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Consecutive Strike: This attack's power increases by 10 with each consecutive successful hit. This stacks with other HawkCut series chips, including DeltaRayEdge. This chip immediately ends upon missing, and the power boost is reset to 0.
Trader Rank: B
PMD: 13600z

Shortly after Mach rocketed over the Mimic, its signature disappeared from his "scope." He eased his throttles back and banked to the left, to give him the ability to look "over his shoulder" to see what remained, and was relieved to see just an ordinary-looking PMD floating above the debris field that used to be the Mimic.

He gradually banked back to return to the middle of the battlefield, and touched down gingerly; he wasn't sure his legs were still intact enough to keep himself upright. Though there were a few mildly worring grinding and popping noises from the beleaguered limbs, he managed to land without incident, and started to gather up the spoils. ["Good work Mach, that was one helluva battle,"] Mazer congratulated, with a noticeable tone of relief in his voice. To the man's credit, he uploaded several critical chips before Mach even needed to request them, and gave him overwatch at least for the latter half of the battle, he didn't just sit there and be an on-demand chip dispenser. "Agreed," the Navi replied simply before accessing the PMD.

The data finally yielded its reward, a vast sum of zenny. The numbers continued to tick upwards as he moved on to gather up the miscellaneous bugfrags and zenny data littering the field, along with the chip data that floated above the TinHawk's waterlogged corpse. ["Wow, at least the effort has been paid back in spades... Ready to call it for a day, Mach? We have more than enough to get you some significant upgrades while you rest up,"] Mazer commented as he worked to store the new data arrivals. Mach looked in the distance, deeper into the network. There wasn't anything calling to him, and even if there was, his body was in too rough a shape to answer. "Yes... this is good enough for now," the Navi replied, prompting Mazer to log him out. In a flash of cyan, the Navi beamed up and out of the network.

((Logged Out))