Glitchtown

Eidolon jacked in. That was about it. She wasn't there and then she was, in Electown Net, completely skipping past the homepage that was still at the moment offline.

Of slightly more note was Icaro, who appeared as a faint wisp, then assumed her normal form with a burst of color and petals. She touched down on the floor of the net next to the floating Eidolon. She looked around, surveying the busy and noisy streets of Electown for the first time.

"Is it always this...active, mistress?" she asked.

Eidolon pondered asking the spirit not to call her 'mistress', but soon decided that it wasn't worth the effort. "Unfortunately," she said, saying no more on the subject.

((Battle 1 please))
A few roads were laid out in front of Eidolon and Icaro as they went into the network, featuring rather large crowds of Navigators. Fortunately, they had been sent to a higher transparent overpass that oversaw the busier roads, and the upper levels were usually much less populated by Navigators. Viruses found it a nice place to make an ambush towards unsuspecting entries, though; some Champu were already putting up their dukes for a fight!

-- ENEMIES --
Champu A: 60 HP [Glass]
Champu B: 60 HP [Glass]
Champu C: 60 HP [Glass]

-- ALLIES --
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP [Glass]
Icaro.SP: 40 HP [Glass]

-- TERRAIN --
50% Glass [Overpass]
50% Metal [Area underneath]

-- BATTLE 01, READY? START!! --
"Is that...corruption?" Icaro asked, seeing the viruses.

Eidolon shrugged. "You could say that, I guess," she said, shrugging. That was certainly one way to think of viruses, although one she was not particularly used to or fond of. If it helped the summoned spirit to ask less questions, though, then that's what they'd go with. She signaled Andrew for chips, then pulled her sword out of her chest in preparation for what could only end as a massacre.

Icaro, meanwhile, was more focused on the action of pulling the sword out. Was there a hole in her chest or something? How did that even fit in there. Was it safe to just rip it out like that? "H-hey, that wasn't supposed to happen, was it? Let me take a look at that, I'll patch it right up."

"No, that's normal," Eidolon said simply.

"Is it? Well, okay, if you insist. But it still doesn't look safe, so if you'll let me examine it later-"

Eidolon wasn't listening. Eidolon had already launched herself forward, vanishing into thin air for a split second before reappearing on the other side of the Champu viruses, blade held out at the end of a wide slash. She turned around, gliding away from the viruses as though nothing happened, only to then raise her other arm. The cap over what had once been a gaping hole in the back of her left hand flickered, and a powerful gust of wind issued toward it, covering a wide enough area in front of her to pull all three viruses in, if there was anything left for that.

"Um...okay, you seem to be fine," Icaro said, hanging back to monitor the situation, while preparing to move in case anything survived. ___

Eidolon:
1. StepSword: Teleport, then 120+Slashing+Wide to Champus
2. Dodge
3. Airstorm: 60+Pull to Champus

Icaro:
1. Dodge
Enh. She destroys them. End of battle.

-- ENEMIES --
Champu A: DELETED
Champu B: DELETED
Champu C: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP [Glass]
Icaro.SP: 40 HP [Glass]

-- TERRAIN --
50% Glass [Overpass]
50% Metal [Area underneath]

-- BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

420z, 9 BugFrags
"That was remarkably underwhelming," Eidolon said as she crossed the rest of the way over the bridge and beckoned for Icaro to follow. She continued forward, searching for...was she searching for anything? No, just gliding along, as far as she was concerned. Andrew wanted to test his latest fixes by putting her through relatively easy battles, but there was no real point in searching for viruses. They always came whether they were being looked for or not.

"With only minimal energy loss too. Not bad," Andrew said. "Although we should still probably work on the overkill thing."

"It's called being thorough."


((Go go battle 2))
Further into the Electown network, Eidolon and Icaro got to a less shiny area of Electown, where the roads simulated the worn asphalt of actual roadway, and the buildings around the area were of brick and mortar. The sidewalks were still shiny as ever, though; they probably wanted to emphasize the "Elec" part of Electown. A little further in, however, they were nearly fried by a stray lightning bolt, as they rounded a bend. Three Scarecrows were laughing as they blasted their electrical barrage everywhere. A few vertical ones were also being fired, which would be revealed to be the work of a couple of Twisty camping out at the very top of the buildings. Spotting Eidolon and Icaro, they propositioned among themselves to have a hunting contest.

-- ENEMIES --
Scarecrow A: 100 HP [Normal]
Scarecrow B: 100 HP [Normal]
Scarecrow C: 100 HP [Normal]
Twisty A: 80 HP [High alt, on left building/Metal]
Twisty B: 80 HP [High alt, on right building/Metal]

-- ALLIES --
Eidolon.EXE: 200 HP [Normal]
Icaro.SP: 40 HP [Normal]

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal (Roadway)
40% Metal (Sidewalks/tops of buildings)

-- BATTLE 02, READY? START!! --
Eidolon spotted the Twisty viruses quickly enough. The lightning bolts from above were a good enough clue, but her visor's HUD pointed them out and identified them seconds later, erasing any doubt. They would be troublesome to reach, but it was nothing a simple teleport couldn't handle. Leaving Icaro at the mercy of the other viruses would also be a problem, though.

"Um...mistress?" Icaro asked, drawing Eidolon's attention back to the ground. Right. Those would have to go first.

The frame of a shield appeared around Eidolon, swinging upward to protect her from more attacks from above. A more solid weapon appeared in her left hand, a mass of data that took the shape of a boomerang. Targeting the three Scarecrows, Eidolon tossed the boomerang forward, hoping to catch all three of the viruses in its path.

With those hopefully taken care of, she turned her attention back to the viruses on the buildings. Now that she thought about it, with the right chips, she could still hit them from where she was. And conveniently enough, Andrew had just sent one of them. Dropping to the ground, Eidolon slammed her left hand against the road, channeling spectral energy through the ground to bring forth a column of spectral energy on top of the left building. Standing up again, she focused on the point her visor targeted, firing an almost completely indiscernible burst of energy from it at the virus. That should be one down.
___

*Spectral Shield: 1-hit shield, facing up
1. Boomerang Scarecrows: 60x2 Wood each
2. Powerbolt TwistyA: 70+Seeking
3. Point Shot TwistyA: 20+Seeking
-splice-
Holding up a shield to protect herself from overhead attacks, Eidolon threw a boomerang at the Scarecrows. However, her aim was a bit off, and she only managed to snag one of them in her throw. Her later bursts of spectral energy also picked off one of the Twisty. The viruses immediately responded in turn, with the Scarecrows blasting a few thunderous attacks at Eidolon and Icaro. (20/20) The Twisty also sent its RemoteBit to attack Eidolon, but it was deflected by her shield.

-- ENEMIES --
Scarecrow A: 100 HP [Normal]
Scarecrow B: 100 HP [Normal]
Scarecrow C: DELETED
Twisty A: DELETED
Twisty B: 80 HP [High alt, on right building/Metal]

-- ALLIES --
Eidolon.EXE: 180 HP [Normal] [Shield Broken] [3 actions left]
Icaro.SP: 20 HP [Normal] [1 action left]

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal (Roadway)
40% Metal (Sidewalks/tops of buildings)
"Careful, Eidolon," Andrew chimed in as he sent the next batch of chips her way. "Icaro's not very durable yet, so you should take care not to let her-"

"I see that," Eidolon said, shutting Andrew's voice feed off. It was easy enough to tell he meant well, but when he was stating the obvious all the time... At least he tried to be helpful though. That was something.

"Are you hurt, mistress?"

Speaking of unnecessary.

"No. Not as bad as you, at any rate. Just keep out of trouble for now, I'll finish things here." She felt like a mother trying to discourage an over-enthusiastic child from doing anything dangerous. Where did that come from? Surprisingly, the spirit did as asked, creating a weak healing aura around herself and started moving around to make herself harder to hit.

Apparently Andrew must have figured out that she was surprised, because he reactivated the line and chimed in again. "Don't look so surprised. You're her 'mistress' after all, so she'll follow your orders even if she doesn't agree with them."

"I never asked for...oh, never mind," Eidolon sighed, turning her attention back to the remaining viruses. Re-drawing her sword, she advanced on the Scarecrows, swinging in a wide arc to catch both of the remaining viruses in one slash. That would hopefully shut them up.

Turning to the remaining virus-topped building, Eidolon vanished into thin air. She reappeared atop the building behind the Twisty, and drove the corrupted blade down at the virus.
___

Eidolon:
4. Movement: Advance on Scarecrows
5. Wideblade: 110+Wide+Slashing to Scarecrows
6. Stepsword: Teleport, 120+Wide+Slashing to TwistyB

Icaro:
*IV: 5HP per action - self
1. Dodge
Slice and dice, etc.

-- ENEMIES --
Scarecrow A: DELETED
Scarecrow B: DELETED
Scarecrow C: DELETED
Twisty A: DELETED
Twisty B: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Eidolon.EXE: 180 HP [Normal] [Shield Broken]
Icaro.SP: 25 HP [Normal]

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal (Roadway)
40% Metal (Sidewalks/tops of buildings)

-- BATTLE 02, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

600z, 19 BugFrags
"Easy enough," Eidolon said offhand, jumping off the building and gliding back to the roadway. Icaro joined her, and they continued forward.

"And here I was about to say you had so much to live for," Andrew said.

"You're hilarious," Eidolon said sarcastically.

((Battle 3))
Eidolon and Icaro came across a strange plot of land when they moved along the Electown network. These metal plates were constantly discharging sparks of electricity, but it seemed like it was the only viable path to cross over as of now. But if things wasn't getting too cumbersome to the navi, a handful of viruses appeared from the magnet panels, completely blocking Eidolon off!

-All on Magnet-
MagTectA: 90 HP
MagTectB: 90 HP
MagTectC: 90 HP
MagTectD: 90 HP
EleballA: 80 HP
EleballB: 80 HP

Terrain: 40% Magnet, 60% Normal

Eidolon.EXE: 180 HP [Normal]
Icaro.SP: 25 HP [Normal]

-BATTLE THREE, START!-
Metal plates sparking electricity were of little concern to Eidolon, who presently lacked feet to have to walk over them with. The viruses that emerged from them were slightly more worrying, in the sense that an ignorable graphical glitch was slightly more worrying than a program running flawlessly. She merely shrugged, and was fully prepared to simply ignore them and move on, except that there wasn't a particularly easy way to proceed except by cutting straight through them. And given Andrew's insistence on her using proper weapon programs when possible, that would probably be literal.

Or at least, it would be if he didn't keep sending chips that weren't compatible with them. The kid needed to invest in better wood chips or...something at least. Oh well.

The faintly glowing outline of her spectral shield appeared around her, facing forward. She glanced back at Icaro, who had set up a healing aura around herself again and had, finally, stopped trying to act overly concerned about Eidolon's well-being for the moment. "Should I just stay out of your way this time, mistress?" she asked. Eidolon simply nodded.

Then she turned back toward the viruses, and slammed her left hand on the ground. Energy bled out from the cap over Pianissimo's shattered emblem and into the ground, and a wave of wooden stakes erupted from it, traveling between Eidolon and the magnet plates, where it homed in on the magnet viruses and rose from under them to impale them.

As she stood up, excess spectral energy formed into a boomerang shape, then solidified into a proper boomerang. She took it in hand and threw it at the remaining two viruses, then lunged forward, blinking out of existence momentarily. As she reappeared, she ripped the glitched sword that was supposed to be her main weapon out of her chest, and cut through a wide arc in front of her, aiming to slice anything that might be left alive.

Meanwhile, Icaro fell back into a pattern of evasive actions to avoid any stray shots.
_____

*Spectral Shield: Passive Shield
1. WoodTower1 MagTects: 100+Wood+Ground+Group Attack (2x element bonus)
2. Boomerang1 Eleballs: 60+wood (2x element bonus)
3. Stepsword: Teleport forward, 120+wide+slashing to any three remaining enemies
-splice-

Icaro:
*IV: 5HP per action - Self
1. Dodge
Slamming her hand on the ground, Eidolon proceeded to murder a Magtect, skewering it with her WoodTower. The Boomerang she produced also sliced up a couple of Eleballs, and a later StepSword executed two more. The remaining MagTect pointed its magnetic head at her, but caught nothing as it fizzled out for some odd reason.

-All on Magnet-
MagTectA: 90 HP
MagTectB: DELETED
MagTectC: DELETED
MagTectD: DELETED
EleballA: DELETED
EleballB: DELETED

Terrain: 40% Magnet, 60% Normal

Eidolon.EXE: 180 HP [Normal] [3 actions remaining]
Icaro.SP: 30 HP [Normal] [IV]
"Thought as much," Eidolon commented as all but of the viruses were cut to pieces. One had survived, however, and was trying futilely to attack her, catching and fizzling against her shield instead. She turned toward it, staring blankly at the virus through her visor.

As if to emphasize a notion that the stare was supposed to be piercing, not blank, a faint beam shot from the visor, nearly invisible as it traveled the short distance between Eidolon and the virus.

As soon as the beam had fired, Eidolon lunged forward, swinging her sword in front of her a second time. The blade was encased in a soft blue light as it was slashed, although within microseconds of a smooth aura forming it dissolved into a scattered, dissonant glow that was stronger around the blade and varying between weaker and nonexistent everywhere else. As she reached the end of her swing and stepped back to avoid any retaliation if the virus somehow survived, the blade's aura stabilized...mostly.
___

4. Point Shot: 20+Seeking - Magtect
5. Sword: 80+slashing - Magtect
6. Dodge
how do I shot magnets work

A minute shot from Eidolon's visor softened up the Magtect enough for her to slice it in half fairly easily.

-All on Magnet-
MagTectA: DELETED
MagTectB: DELETED
MagTectC: DELETED
MagTectD: DELETED
EleballA: DELETED
EleballB: DELETED

Terrain: 40% Magnet, 60% Normal

Eidolon.EXE: 180 HP [Normal] [3 actions remaining]
Icaro.SP: 30 HP [Normal] [IV]

-- BATTLE 03, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[MagBolt1] Battlechip, 600z, 28 BugFrags
Almost as soon as the last virus went down, Andrew was back. "Good work you two. I think I'm going to call it here. Come on back."

"I can still continue," Eidolon responded. Not as a protest, but as a simple statement of fact.

"Yes, and the best way to run tests is obviously to let them continue until I have to fix you again and start the whole process over. Makes perfect sense."

"...

"Understood,"
Eidolon responded, and both her and Icaro jacked out.

((End thread.))