Big.EXE VS HoloBeta.NET

As the Navis jack in, their Net Operators are shown a 3-D model of the arena their Navis will be fighting in with various features labeled and highlighted as the presentation runs. At the end of the presentation, the environmental statistics for this arena are displayed for reference.

Quote (The Underworld)

The center of the arena itself is a flat, circular plane, with a few small walls and columns to use as cover, or as vantage points. The columns are simple rounded rectangles, standing up lengthwise about 8 feet in height. They are not secured to the floor and can be knocked over, unlike the few small walls. At the walls of the arena are four pits. The walls of the upper arena are covered in a large netting that allows it to be grabbed onto and clung to, but is otherwise un-noteworthy.

The pits surrounding the center of the arena drop down into a second, lower half of the arena that is exactly as wide as the first, but is much taller than the upper arena. Close to the edges of this 'underground' arena are four small, circular platforms; these send a navi flying directly upward to ground-level, and are placed below the four pits. They must be specifically triggered, however, and do not trigger when navis enter the lower arena by dropping from above.

At the far walls of the underground arena are four additional, angled boosters which catapult a navi up to one of four horizontal platforms on the walls of the lower arena; these four small platforms each have two hand grips on the wall next to them that will pull a navi to the next platform over, either to the left or right.

---Terrain---
Upper Level: Normal (96%), Hole (4%)

Lower Level: Normal (88%), Spring Panel (4%), Booster Pad (8%)

Note: Hole Terrain means you can fall through it to reach the lower level. Hole Terrain cannot be changed.

Note 2: Breaking the panels of the upper level means creating holes Navis can fall to the lower level through. These are Broken Panels, and can either regenerate in a couple of tuyrns or be repaired/changed into something else, unlike Hole Terrain.

---Objects---

Hematite Column (300 HP) [4 ea. on upper level]
-- Can be knocked over, and rolled.
-- Can be stood upon.
-- Can be used for cover.
-- Too heavy to lift, throw, or send flying with microburst.

Hematite Barricade (150 HP) [4 ea. on upper level]
-- Can be used for cover.
-- Immovable

Hematite Cube (300 HP, extremely heavy) [4 ea. on lower level]
-- Tethered to the ceiling by ropes, which can be cut with a single slashing attack.
-- Can be stood upon, even while tethered.
-- Cannot be moved other than cutting them loose.
-- Immovable once on the ground, and may be used for cover.
-- Deal 100 Null Damage if they fall upon a Navi, and break instantly.

For Reference: The upper area is approximately 15 feet high. The lower area is approximately 45 feet high. The platforms on the lower level are 25 feet from the ground, as are the hanging cubes.


The Navis, on the other hand, appear on the upper level of the arena, a moderate distance from each other, and are not given any of the data their Operators received. The Navis would be given a few moments to themselves before the match actually began....
As Big materialized in the arena, Jay took quick notice of the barriers, blockades, and holes in the area. He noted every panel, every block, every piece of data that could mean an advantage.

"Doesn't look like too shabby of a stage, Big..." Jay said quietly. "You can prolly break through most of the objects, anyways."

"That's good." Big replied. "I wanna see this HoloBeta guy, though. Sounds pretty tough." Big placed his hand on one of the walls and leaned on it, only to find it very unstable. He removed his hand instantly, and Jay noted the unstable-ness.

"Awright... I guess we'll just wait around for your opponent for now." Jay said in an extremely bored tone.
"Alright, Holo. Here we go."

A flurry of data appeared in the arena, opposite of Big, dissipating moments later to reveal a wary Holoß. He glanced around the battlefield, only half paying attention as Aelieth started listing off some of the information on it he'd just received.

As 8-bit eyes fell upon the Navi across the way, Holo reflexively triggered a transformation. As the bar crested the top of his head, disappearing in several motes of light, a near perfect replication of Big stared back at himself. The instinctive reaction to meeting new Navis, originally programmed to aid in his acceptance, was today going to serve as the holographic Navi's mind game.

"Wow... he looks like he packs a punch..." Aelieth chuckled quietly, noting Big's namesake. "Hello." he said, raising his voice to an audible level and greeting Jay. "Good luck. I hope this will be an enjoyable fight for the four of us."

Holo waved over to Big, then absently clanged the back of his hands together as he awaited the start buzzer.
((I'm not sure if I'm supposed to use my own account or not.))

Suddenly, a loud roar echoes over the P.A. System, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS, I PRESENT ROUND ONE COMPETITORS FOR ONB TOURNAMENT: BIG.EXE AND HOLOBETA.NET! More roars of a crowd.

YOUR CHIP FOLDERS ARE NOW LOCKED TO THE SPECIAL TOURNAMENT FOLDER YOU SIGNED UP FOR, AND WILL REMAIN LOCKED UNTIL THE BATTLE IS OVER. I WANT A GOOD CLEAN FIGHT, ONE THAT PEOPLE WILL REALLY GET EXCITED OVER! LET'S GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT FOR YEARS TO COME!

BEGIN!!!

ONB Tournament Round One

Big.EXE: 100 Hit Points

Holoß.NET: 140 Hit Points

((Okay, PM your turn action summaries ONLY to me, and when I PM you the go ahead, then you can post using that summary here.))
Aelieth scrambled to open his tournament folder, which, in all of his self pity, he had forgotten to open before the match started. "Come on... open!" were the quiet pleadings that sounded from the Net Op as nervous fingers combated a stubborn fastener. Realizing that Jay and Big were probably about to unload chip fueled hell upon the projection Navi, he brought the case up to his mouth and tore at it with teeth and desperation.

Down in the arena, Holoß wasted no time waiting has his operator struggled to best an inanimate object. Hefting Big's rather sizable bulk forward, he started on a mad dash to the center of the ring; or, more precisely, the gaping hole that dominated it. I'm not liking it up here... it's too confined... too close. This and other such thoughts flitted lightly through his head as he ducked from pillar to pillar, making his way ever closer to the pit's welcoming maw.

"Oh... you've got to turn it left..." Aelieth whispered in sudden, if belated, realization. The fastener twisted with a faint "CLICK!", revealing the folder's store of assorted battle chips. The tiny victory was short lived, however, as the Net Op looked up to see HoloBig hurl his arms forward with a great effort and throw himself out and over the pit. Regardless of Holo's natural light weight, gravity still ruled in this arena and he began to plummet to the lower level with alarming speed.

In a frantic attempt to find something, anything, that could stop his Navi from becoming a digital sidewalk pancake, Aelieth reached into the folder and grabbed a handful of chips at random. Without looking, he slotted in the first of them he could detach from the jumble, a small note scratched into the chip catching his eye as he moved to slot it in. "Careful: Users may experience recoil" scrolled by his eyes as the chip slid smoothly into the slot. A small air cannon materialized in the digital world, replacing one of HoloBig's now flailing arms. Noting that his idea probably not the brightest one he could've came up with, also that the ground seemed to be getting bigger really freaking fast, he swung his arm down and activated the chip mere feet from the ground. The resulting concussion blast not only knocked him back into his normal shape, but also sent him rocketing up in a dizzying spiral, straight towards the ceiling of the lower level.

"Ah, crap!" Aelieth cried, slamming the remainder of his chips into the side of the PET. He succeeded in jamming his fingers painfully between his PET and the rest of his arm, thought it appeared that at least one chip managed to make its way into the slot, a faint click signaling that it was ready to activate. Faint spirals of air spinning lazily around him as his meteoric ascent was about to meet an abrupt stop, Holo felt the chip data be assimilated into his data and activated it. A faint glow emanated from his hands as they were snapped into the forward position, locking at the elbows and taking the brunt of the impact has he crashed into the ceiling and burst through the floor. The panel he crashed through rested heavily in his upthrust palms, slowing his fight against gravity until he almost seemed to be floating. Spotting Big, he let the glow burn brighter, an emerald radiance haloing his hands as he brought them down and sent the panel careening at his opponent. Unable to stay aloft any longer, he silently prayed that he'd be able to catch onto something as gravity took hold once again, eager to unite hologram with ground.

"[FFFFFFFFFFFF-- Bwuh?]" scrawled its way across a black canvas as the textbox sprang into existence over Holo. The screen proved slightly larger than the hole he had just made as the two started back through it. Grasping on to the little program for dear life, txtbox.exe let out an audible warble as it became wedged across the gap. Pulling himself up through the hole, Holo managed to scramble back onto solid ground before the program, receiving no further messages, disappeared behind his head once again.

--Summary--
1. Dodge through Hole Terrain
2. Air Shot up
3. PanelShot (60 x 1 damage + 10 Untapped Power)
On the announcer's cue Jay whipped open his new tourny folder and scanned for any suitable chips. His eyes quickly set on a simple combination- a Cannon and a Vulcan2.

"Two chips, in coming!" Jay said, slotting in both chips, first the Cannon, then the Vulcan2. Big, already on the move, followed Holoß's pattern, not wanting to let his doppelganger out of his sights. Running as fast as he could, Big attempted to keep up with the relatively lightweight navi, only to watch as ß jumped towards the hole to the second floor.

Big skidded to a halt, and cried out, "Come back here you coward!" He whipped out the Cannon chip, taking aim with the simple green cannon and letting loose with a yellow burst of energy. Big immediately drew fourth his next weapon- but it seemed that Holoß was already gone.

"Now where'd that weirdo go?" Big sneered. Almost right after he said that, a slight rumble shook the top floor. Big looked up into the sky to see a huge chunk of arena flying right for him. Jay shouted "SHOOT, BIG, SHOOT!" Aiming for the chunk, and the navi that that threw it, Big unleashed a volley of five high-power shots at his targets.

Directly after his attack, Big ducked to the right, hoping to dodge the incoming panel and get ready for the next set of chips.

__________
1. Cannon(40) > Holoß
2. Vulcan2(5x10, Spread1) > Holoß
3. Dodge
Big's Cannon shot completely missed: Holo was already gone.

As Holo bounced around all over the place like one of those bouncy ball sing a long things, he effectively dodged a few of the shots from Big's vulcan, but was struck by a few, and their paths intersected.

Big, however, was not as effective at dodging the chunk of ground, and was promptly hit in the face with it, knocking him down.


ONB Tournament Round One

Big.EXE: 30 Hit Points

Holoß.NET: 110 Hit Points
Flecks of translucent green fluttered behind Holo as the holes the Vulcan opened up began to reseal, their glittering light fading to nothingness as the Navi shook off the attack. "Hey Beta, you all right?" A voice from the real world apprehensively asked as Aelieth set his folder and fistful of chips on the terminal in front of him. The holographic Navi signaled the thumbs-up as he eyed his opponent, trying to gauge what Big was going to do next. He wasn't looking that well at the moment...

Once Holo had given the green light, Aelieth's mind started reeling for the next course of action. Well, the surprise tactic seems to be working alright for the moment, he mused, blocking out all thoughts about the situation he was in, or all of the people watching his every move... The back of his neck felt warm as a bead of sweat lazily ran down it. "Alright, Holo," the operator whispered, barely loud enough for Holo to hear, "Time for some active misdirection." Three chips were lifted from the terminal counter. Three chips were slotted into the side of the PET, each clicking happily as they slid into place. Three chips burned within Holoß's temporary memory as received his data and a quick blurb of what Aelieth was planning for him to do.

Holo grinned inwardly as the complex, almost-sure-to-fail one-two punch Aelieth was expecting from him became appearant. Ah well, he loved to play pretend...

The projector Navi turned to face Big, still some ways out of his opponent's fisty reach. A beam of light once more flashed up his height as HoloBig made his miraculous return. Crouching in a combat pose, he sprang forward, fist raised, turbines spinning, pistons pumping, laser sights ... targeting, buzz saws... buzzing? A horrific amalgam of machinery, teeth and steam-punk influences materialized, compounding upon each other as they vied for space on doppelganger's now twice larger than normal fist. In the second before he approached melee range with the monstrosity, a blinding light roared into life from the center of the fist, momentarily engulfing Holo in radiance. A split second later, the Navi was gone, a blue sphere innocuously rolling to a stop a panel or two from Big.

FOOM! went the Cannon as Holo sprang into existence behind Big, slow-motion falling in a dramatic pose. A bolt of energy carrying within it a concussive force strong enough to shove even the biggest Navi back jumped the gap across the foot of space between the Holo and his big fisted opponent.

The blue spheroid, which until now had been sitting quietly, it's small red dot flashing occasionally, suddenly screamed bloody murder. The flashing light solidified, then proceeded to engulf the entire orb as a decent detonation filled the area where Holo attempted to knock his opponent into with fiery death.

Landing with a thump on his rump, Holo stood and brushed himself off as he admired the Minibomb's handiwork.

--Summary--
1. Minibomb (60 damage + blast 1.)
2. AeraGrab to other side of Big (Accuracy Up + Free Dodge)
3. Cannon (40 damage + knockback + 10 Untapped Power. Targeting Big)
((Sorry ZS, but your 72 hours are up.))

With a fluid display of lightning quickness, HoloBeta flings the minibomb into Big's lap, where it lies and does...

Nothing! Is it a dud?

Holo pops up behind Big and blasts him in the back with the cannon, which would have beat him, if not for his undershirt.

Sadly, however, the force of the shot knocked Big down, headfirst, onto the idle Minibomb, which, now jostled, went off a half an inch away from Big's face.

As big was launched upwards at an incredibly fast rate, tumbling head over heels, he could hear: "BIG.EXE IS NO LONGER ABLE TO BATTLE! HOLOBETA.NET IS THE WINNER!"

Big suddenly slammed into the wall of the arena, up near the ceiling, where he dropped like a stone back to the ground, landing with a sickening crunch. A tiny Prog floated up next to his mangled and charred face. "You Lose!" he sang happily. "You get either 1000Z or a Recov30 chip for participating, though! What'chu want?" he said, bouncing up and down.

A second, similar Prog floated to HoloBeta. "Congrats! You're the winner! You'll be able to advance to the next round!" he said with a bow.

ONB Tournament Round One

Big.EXE: 0 Hit Points Lose! Get 1000Z or Recov30!

Holoß.NET: 110 Hit Points Win! Advance to Round 2!
Big managed to raise his crumpled head, looking wearily at the little prog. He groaned slightly, attempting to heft himself on to his feet. It was to no avail, however. He simple sank back down onto his knees, his armor crush, his mind devastated.

"Damn..." Big grumbled. "... The first freakin' round, an' I get bounced out. Right when it matters most... I freeze up."

"Aw, Big, don't think much of it..." Jay whispered, just as upset, but not letting it show. "We had the least experience of ANYONE in this tourny. S'alright."

"No, Jay, it AIN'T alright. We're always gettin' beat. First by that Met Hero, then by that Scarf freak, and now by HoloBeta. I'm gettin' really tired of havin' my nose rubbed in the dirt over an' over again."

"Shucks, Big. You never struck me as the worry'n type. Tell ya what- you an' me go on a huge bustin' spree right after the round's over! We'll kick ass!" Big's gaze strayed downwards, avoiding Jay's eyes.

"Alright." Big said, accepting defeat. "Let's take the zenny." He tried once again to get up, barely managing to get both feet on the ground. Swiping the zenny from the innocent prog, Big dragged his feet over to the superior navi. Finally reaching his opponent, Big stretched out his hand, and said with a smirk, "Good match, Holo. Sorry I didn't put up much of a fight."
"W-we won?" Aelieth stammered, surprise written across his face. Confirmation of the duo's victory came from the Mr. Prog now speaking with Holo. "We won..." the Net Op once more told himself, excitement, with a splash of childlike delight, welling up inside of him.

Inside the arena, Holoß noted Big's outstretched hand. Tentatively reaching out to it, he shook it once, then did something neither his operator nor the other pair probably expected. Ducking through the gap between Big's arm and body, he threw the Navi's arm over his shoulders and supported him has he tried to lead him to a place where Big could comfortably sit. A message popped up on Aelieth's PET: "[Please transmit Recover50 battle chip]"

Smiling, Aelieth slid the chip into his PET before looking across the terminal to Jay. "The two of you fought well. Good match." he said, extending his now empty hand to his opponent. Holoß, meanwhile, materialized the recovery data in a crystal of raw energy. He snapped it in half, the restorative data rushing over Big and repairing a good deal of damage. He jovially slapped Big's shoulder, giving the thumbs up. Though he lacked a mouth, the look in eyes showed that Holoß was smiling.
Big looked back up at HoloBeta as he was being healed, and chuckled a little bit.

"Ya shouldn't 'ave..." he said jokingly. "Either way, what's done is done. Thanks fer the heal, an' I guess I'll seeya around, Beta."

Jay turned to Aelieth and smiled. "We may as well head over to tha spec lounge now. Prolly a buncha people there now. C'mon Big, let's go." He jacked out, disappearing from Netspace, and reappearing back in the PET.
"Right." Aelieth nodded, retrieving Holoß from the Net as the Navi waved goodbye to Big. "We'll meet up with the two of you over there shortly. Need to get something to drink." He said, waving farewell to the pair as he edged past the other contestants and out of the room.

He made a quick stop at one of the many concession stands and ordered a coffee; his stomach was still unsettled from the fight. Gingerly sipping the scalding liquid, he slipped through the rope separating the lobby from the contestant area and entered the spectator's lounge.