HoloBeta.NET VS Gunther.EXE

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 (Crumble Hill)

A ring of hard bedrock, 5 feet from side to side, encapsulates something not so hard: Crumble Hill. This precariously assembled mound of pebbles and rocks is stacked a tremendous 30 feet high with a colossal 100 foot diameter to match. Its massive size makes the hill's incline fairly shallow, around 15 degrees, but scaling it is no less daunting since the ground under your feet could give way with any step. Should you fall and be swallowed up by Crumble Hill, you'll soon be surprised to discover that the hill's core is completely hollow. Inside lies nothing but a flat plane that reaches all 100 feet from one side of Crumble Hill's walls to the other. Should the hole you fell through reassemble before you get out, you'll have to figure a way to dig yourself out.

It didn't take long for Crumble Hill's designers to realize scaling it unassisted was insane, and they remedied the situation thusly: 4 sturdy stone bridges arch up and over the sides of the hill, and come to a nexus right at its peak. There, where all 4 bridges meet, lies the crown of Crumble Hill: the Holy panel. It stands there alone in its majesty as it waits for combatants to bask in its glory, and is perhaps what allows the hollow hill it presides over to stand and regenerate so quickly. Outside Crumble Hill lies a lovely green landscape and blue, cloudless sky, but any who would try to reach for it would discover that tournament officials have placed an invisible area around Crumble Hill's circumference, making the otherwise far more appealing field mere eye candy to competitors. Entrants are initially set on the outer bedrock ring, with each fighter facing an opposite bridge.

Terrain: 38% Normal (Bridges, Arena Border, Inside Crumble Hill), 61% Cracked (Hill), 1% Holy (Bridge Nexus)
Special Effect: Re-Crumble (Cracked Terrain regenerates after only 1 turn)

Objects:

Arena Barrier (Immortal, Stationary, Invisible)
There are absolutely no signs that tell you this barrier is in place, other than the bleeding nose you might get from running into it.

Satellite Camera x3 (10 HP, Moving, Flying)
Cameras designed by SciLabs to record the events of the ONB Tournament for the entertainment of spectators. They are compact and fast, but fragile, although they were made with an expectation that some would get destroyed in the cross-fire. There are 3 cameras on-field at any one time, and a new one will be substituted if any get destroyed (at each modding).

Once the information is relayed to the Operators, they are given a few moments to strategize with their Navis before the match begins...

...Huh...

Holoß pretty much drew a blank as he appeared in the 'Net. After fighting in a (relatively) traditional arena last time, the mountain of rubble before him seemed... well, like a mountain of rubble. Turning to look behind him, he saw the wide expanse of grassy field and made a move to explore while he waited, only to find his path blocked by the invisible (and painfully solid) barrier.

"Hmm... there seems to be a Holy panel at the apex of the hill, and the hill itself looks rather unstable. Looks like the bridges are the only sure path to the top. Once you get up there, we should try and keep it, after all..." Aelieth continued to brief the Navi, reading once again from the arena specs displayed before him. Holo paid about as much attention this go around as he did last time. Casting one last wistful glance the field, he had so hoped to experience grass, he turned back to the arena. Maybe when this is all over, he would try to Aelieth to bust with him in a grassy zone of the 'Net. Turning his attention to back to the situation at hand, he just managed to make out the end of Aelieth's briefing: "Remember, the fact that we've made it to round two is impressive enough. Let's see if we can keep the ball rolling."

Holo gave an affirmative and started treading the bedrock track, silent footsteps padding along the path as he began looking for his opponent. Hopefully he could find out some more about this Gunther.exe and make a new friend at the same time.

A green tinged beam of light shot from the sky next to Holo-Beta. As it struck the ground, it pooled into an expanding sphere of light. The sphere then shrank in on itself, and formed the humanoid silhouette of a Navi. The image resolved itself into the form of a 5-foot tall green colored male Custom Navi with punishingly powerful-looking fore-arms.

The Navi looked about; first turning his head away from Holo, then back again. When he spotted Holo, he raised one of his large hands, and gave a single carefree wave of greeting. "Yo." ...the Navi began in a surprisingly normal voice... "I'll be standin' in for miss Exorcist." ...he finished as he held up his other hand, offering a friendly handshake to Holo. "Name's Gunther."

Gunther was a short but moderately stout Navi. He was clad in a simple light green bodysuit with darker green plated torso armor, plated greaves, backpack, and oversized powered gloves that entirely cover his forearms. His powered gauntlets were much larger than his hands, and featured industrial grade hydraulic drive shafts to greatly augment the power of his arms. Twin power cables and hydraulic pressure hoses ran from both of his gauntlets to the compact power unit he wears on his back as a backpack. He also wore a reinforced full Navi helmet with a lower-able face guard, left up, that was the same color as his body armor. His demeanor seemed overall laid back as he looked up at Holo's face with an unwavering brown-eyed gaze and a lazy grin on his face.

Holo clasped Gunther's outstretched hand, firmly shaking it. As he did so, a flash of light rose from his feet, quickly racing up the length of his body and disappearing at the top of his head in several motes of bright light. An almost mirror image of the large handed Navi stared back at him, blocky eyes happily meeting his doppelganger's and identical lazy grin plastered across a semi-transparent green face.

"My Navi is Holoß." Aelieth's voice projected from the real world as the handshake finished, the microphone turned on so that Holo's muteness wouldn't be misconstrued as a failure to introduce himself. He proudly pointed at his chest with his thumb, the emerald ß emblazoned on his chest glowing slightly as he did so.

They seem nice...

He experimentally firing one of his borrowed pistons as Gunther greeted Aelieth, then reverted to his usual form. Optimistic about the rapidly approaching show he and his fellow Navi were about to put on for the spectators in the Colosseum, he interlaced his fingers behind his head in a stereotypically carefree pose as pleasantries were exchanged in the real world.

((Ready when Pally is))

As Holoß assumed Gunther's likeness, the green Navi laughed. "Now that's a neat trick. A lil'rough around tha edges, but impressive all tha same."

"Let's get this show on the road, Gunther." Bruce urged over the comlink.

"Right, then." Gunther said as he stepped back, turned, and began to make his way to the other side. He walked over to the bridge, climbed his way up the steps, and then off across the top. He was almost to the Holy Panel in the center, when he turned to shout over his shoulder: "Ey! Good luck to ya!"

Gunther made his way across after that, and down to his own starting position. Once there, he did an about face, and started doing a quick limbering-up exercise in the time he had remaining, followed by a a test of his hydraulic drivers. "Tell me, why am I doin' this again?"

"Because we owe Burt a favor."

"How on Earth did ya end up owin' that bastard a favor?" Gunther asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Counterinfectualism, or summat." Bruce responded vaguely.

Gunther was at a complete loss. But after taking a moment to consider what Bruce was likely talking about, he decided silence was the better option. "......." He waited for the match to begin...


((Ready.))

With the two navis positioned at their starting points, a loud voice boomed from everywhere at once, "Welcome to round two of the tournament."

The disembodied voice spoke calmly and with an androgenous tone, "First of all, we would like to congratulate the participant, Holoß, for his victory in the first round. In addition, we also wish luck to Gunther, who will be substituting for Exorcist this round."

A camera floated down from the sky and trained itself on Holoß while another zoomed in on Gunther's face. "As you can see, your battle's progress will be transmitted via three satellite cameras hovering around the field. They are programmed to stay out of range of your attacks as not to hinder your fight. However, if they are damaged, they will be replaced quickly." The cameras floated up and away but never broke away their locks on the navis. One central camera seemed to float high above the middle of the rocky mound.

"The arena itself is a hollow hill with a crisscross of solid stone paths that intersect at a single Holy panel at the peak. The rest of the dome is a fragile shell of rapidly regenerating material and we would advise against standing on any one spot for extended periods of time if you wish to stay on the exterior of the hill. Encapsulating the arena is an energy barrier to keep the battle within relatively close quarters."

There was a short break in the voice before it continued, "That is the end of our explanation and we would like to thank you again for your participation."

The voice was suddenly replaced by a harsh and cold computerized one, "THE BATTLE WILL BEGIN IN TEN SECONDS. TEN. NINE. EIGHT. SEVEN."

Both Gunther and Holoß tensed up at the announcement and readied themselves for combat.

"SIX. FIVE. FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE." The voice finished as a resonating buzzer sounded, signalling the start of the battle,

"BEGIN!"

CameraA: 10 HP
CameraB: 10 HP
CameraC: 10 HP

Terrain: 38% Normal (Bridges, Arena Border, Inside Crumble Hill), 61% Cracked (Hill), 1% Holy (Bridge Nexus)

Gunther.EXE: 170 HP

Holoß.net: 140 HP

((SEND ME SUMMARIES. I MUST HAVE SUMMARIES. OM NOM NOM NOM NOM.))

"Alright, Holo... Let's take it slow," Aelieth's voice crackled over a private channel . "Though charging in full bore last time worked out for us, Gunther looks tougher than Big." Separating two chips from the mass before him, he slotted them in one after the other. The screen of the PET brightened momentarily as each chip was inserted, decrypted, decoded and transmitted to the readily awaiting Net Navi in the arena. Streams of data flowed into the projector Navi's data stream, visible lines of code momentarily illuminating his limbs like mystic runes. After preparing the weapons given to him, Holoß gave a thumbs up, to no one in particular, then activated his first chip...

Great arcs of energy exploded from his forearms, leaping across his "skin" and striking out at the ground, causing flecks of bedrock to fly up. Focusing his will upon the sheer amount of electricity now flowing through him, he began to force it down his arms. Little by little, the electricity gave ground and receded into his hands. As it passed the edge of his wrist projectors, the energy lashed out once more in rebellion, pinging the side of one of Holo's head projectors. Unflinching, he bent the raw elemental power to his whims until all of it as gathered within the palms of his hands. A mischievous twinkle glinted in Holo's eyes.

And now... the fun part.

Ten points of light, dazzling as lightning itself, sparked into existence along his fingertips. Holo held his hands before him, creating a domed cage between his translucent digits. Bolts of faradic energy hurled themselves through their conduits, each striking each other at a common point within the holographic navi's grasp. More and more the streams pushed against each other as the current grew stronger. Within the gap of Holo's hands, only a pin prick of light at first, but growing rapidly, a sphere of brilliant yellow began to take shape. Holo continued to feed his creation, and the ball lightning gorged itself upon the sustenance provided, ballooning until it could no longer be contained by the cage. As the last traces of the Thunder1 chip left Holo's body, took hold of orb and held it aloft. It floated a mere half inch from his palm as he marveled at his creation. He continued to gaze into its scintillating depths as, without warning, Holo's face winked out of existence. The headless body stood for a second more before collapsing back into a heap of electronics, not a trace of hologram between them.

The ball fell to the ground, rolling some way before it picked itself up and... blinked? A pair of dark green eyes looked around, seemingly searching for something, before the globe floated off with surprising speed up over Crumble Hill. Hunger pulled at it, urging it forward, as it sought something, anything, that would allow it to release, to flow, to shock, to conduct and bind it to the earth. Unfortunately, all it could find was stone, which did the Thunder no good. That is, until the shine of metal and a glimpse of dark green caught its attention. Swooping towards its newly acquired prey, and reviling in having the wish of conductivity realized, the sphere of light hurdled through the air. So great was its speed that the casual observer might note that not one, but three spheres of light were closing in on Gunther. As the moment of truth approached, the sphere of dancing lights leading the assault closed its eyes in jubilation...

Holo reconstituted himself as a trio of electrifying explosions rocked the arena. Only a few seconds had passed since Aelieth gave him the chips, but he felt as though each act were considerably longer. His face literally lit up as he dusted off his projectors. "That was a bit much, don't you think?" Aelieth commented as his Navi gave a wry smile with a mouth that wasn't his. "Well... at least that was a take on Thunder Gunther probably won't forget anytime soon. Speaking of, you should stay mobile. I get the feeling that having those gloves anywhere near you in the immediate future is a bad idea." In response, Holo activated his second chip. A simple panel, lacking all of the theatrics of his previous attack, dislodged itself from his left arm projection and expanded slightly. The green cross, its only adornment, sat resolutely in the panel's center. Taking care to keep an eye out for an ambush, Holo sprinted off along the long side of the mountain, hoping that this path would give him a decent amount of advanced notice should Gunther decide to attack.

--Summary--
1. Thunder1 (40 Elec Damage + 5 damage (type bonus) + Stun 1 + Homing)
2. VHP: MI (15 damage)
3. VhP: MII (5 damage)
4. Guard
5. Dodge

As soon as the battle began, Gunther immediately seized up and jacked out, resulting in the arena being bathed in a red light along with an alarming horn sound. Confused, Holoß waited for something to explain what was going on.

The lights quickly resumed their normal uncoloured state before the announcer's voice spoke again, "We regret to inform our viewers that Gunther has performed an illegal jack-out and has therefore been disqualified from the tournament. The winner, by default, is Holoß. Thank you."

The announcement was followed by silence and a few awkwardly timed claps from the audience, who seemed as confused as Holoß. However, as soon as the first "boo" was shouted out, the audience seemed to simultaneously erupt in an uproar of disapproval. This was certainly not the outcome anyone was expecting.



CameraA: 10 HP
CameraB: 10 HP
CameraC: 10 HP

Terrain: 38% Normal (Bridges, Arena Border, Inside Crumble Hill), 61% Cracked (Hill), 1% Holy (Bridge Nexus)

Holoß.net: 140 HP

Gunther.EXE: [Jacked-Out]

Winner: Holoß.net.EXE

Holoß GET: round 3 approval
Gunther GET: 3000z OR one of the following: FireKnife / ElecKnife / AquaKnife / BambooKnife

Holoß stood, not sure what else to do, as the announcer declared him the winner of the match. A slight buzz filled the air around him as his projectors, still running at maximum capacity in anticipation of an attack that was never coming, began to wind down.

"Come on, Holo..." Aelieth said as the crowd started getting rambunctious , "Jack out and I'll see what's going on."

The projector Navi walked back to his starting area, looking back at the arena once more before disappearing in a flash of light.