CoronaMan.EXE VS Traceur.CMD

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." Was Traceur's single word for the time being as he stepped through the metal door, closing it behind him and watching it fade away with a slight grumble. This was very strange. And very haphazard. Not exactly the best place to be running about like crazy.

"Well, maybe we'll be able to use those airshots and the areagrab for good things around here. Perhaps punting people off the point..?"

"I guess." Was Traceur's answer as he continued glancing about, staying at the point he had 'spawned' at.
A miniature sun dropped from the sky, like a bomb. Five feet from the peak of Crumble Hill, it slowed to an abrupt halt, and went through every phase of a star's lifetime in the space of ten seconds. The remnants of the supernova cleared away and revealed Coronaman within.

"Round two!" he declared, clasping his hands above his head and stretching himself out. His hook-ended polearm sketched itself out in the air next to him with lines of fire. He absently took hold of it before it could fall to the ground.

"Hey there!" Coronaman called down the side of the hill, seeing Traceur for the first time. He slid down the gravel slope to the other Navi.

"Don't you start getting friendly with them again," Sonia warned. "You embarrassed the heck outta me last round."

"Aw, lighten up." The huge, glowing Navi put out his hand for a shake. "How's it going? I'm Coronaman."
"Well, nice to see there's something else different, looks like a second sun addition. Interesti- Oh. Is that my opponent?" Traceur looked, blinking at the discolored spots now prevalent on his eyes.

"I guess he's bright, at least." Joanne made a horrible pun, causing Traceur to let out a groan as he held out his hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Coronaman. Perhaps we should back up so we don't immediately clash blades?" Traceur relayed some private information to his op after speaking, unsure about this.

I wasn't aware that I had an opponent this round, I was under the impression that we would show up, take our time and go. The navi glanced to the side as the text scrolled across Jo's screen.

"Well, I guess we have one now. Never run out of surprises, right?" Joanne replied, grinning.

I guess.

[Ready]
((The battle will start when EN posts "Ready"))
"Poor kid," Coronaman remarked over the private connection as he made his way aroudn to the far side of the hill. "I'm going to smash him flat."

"That's the spirit, Cor."

"No, I mean..." He held his fingers perhaps an inch apart. "He's a weenie. If he can't even look at me without his visual feeds crossing up, this is going to be a cinch."

"So smash him flat."

[Ready up.]
As Coronaman and Traceur walk down their respective bridges to the opposite sides of the stage, the ceiling opens as a large orb is lowered down to the hill below. The darkened quickly turns on with a bright flash. A large black pupil, surrounded by a fiery green iris, stares out from the center of the orb.

Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your-*cough* *ahem* ...Both combatants, remain in your positions until the match begins. The bout between Coronaman.EXE and Traceur.CMD of the 2nd round of the Netbattle Tournament will begin on my mark. Ready... Begin!


ROUND BEGIN!

Coronaman.EXE: 200HP

Traceur.CMD: 100HP

Terrain: Unchanged

((PM your turn summaries by 10PM EST, June 6th.))
[Family problems...may require an extension.]
((Understood. If you wish to elaborate the situation with me, please feel free to talk to me in chat or through a PM.))
(I'm completely okay with this, seeing as how I got knocked out by the flu pretty bad and don't exactly feel like posting is an option.)
"Remember what we did wrong last time, Cor?"

"Yeah, sure. But this time we've got a hill between us." Coronaman jerked his head toward the rise and grinned. "He's not going to be able to do anything until one of us gets to the top."

"I guess. You want to stop talking and start beating him up?"

Coronaman hoisted his hook onto his shoulder and started running. His heavy footsteps shook the hillside. As he stomped up the slope, a tiny sun materialized inside the curve of the hook. It expanded and brightened until it became a blindingly hot sphere of white. As the hilltop came into sight, Coronaman swung the polearm above his head, shut his eyes, and unloaded the attack.

For a fraction of a second, everything went white. The floating camera-bots momentarily lost visual contact with the arena. The picture filtered back, first in black and white, with colour bleeding in shortly after.

Coronaman was nearing the top of the hill. His glowing armour started to shimmer and ripple, as if behind a wall of heat. One Coronaman broke into three — one red, one blue, and one white. There were now three Coronamen, and they were all storming toward the top of the hill to meet their opponent.

1. Don't Look Directly (1-turn blind)
2. Redshift/Blueshift (creates 2 decoys for 1 turns)
3. Run up the hill / dodge
"You know, I think that Coronaman is a weird name. Just saying." Joanne spoke as Traceur rolled his eyes, looking at the hand Coronaman had shook. "I have a funny feeling this match isn't going to be as easy as the last one though, Traceur. Let's get a move on, I guess." The words slowly trickled from Joanne's mouth as she tried to find a good chip to slap in. Searching through the organized folder she had been given, she noted one chip that would be extremely useful provided it could be used to deflect a numerous amount of attacks. One of those attacks, at least. It would have to actually hurt her navi to get through.

Traceur felt the barrier come online in a slight sheen of bluish-white as he started his trek up the mountain.

"King of the hill." He stated, running up the provided bridge as he pulled out miniature grenade, flinging it before him. As it left his hand, he felt an unnecessary surge of energy flow out of his arm, hitting the minibomb and knocking it forward, crackling as it modified the device. The minibomb exploded in a display of arcing blue-white as electricity surged forth and made a display of distractory fireworks as Traceur averted his eyes, closing them as he charged straight through it.

He looked around for Coronaman instantly, drawing and firing his pistol in one smooth motion as he made for an accurate shot. The next chip would decide the next step in this on-the-fly planning, so he hoped it was a good one.

Joanne was sifting through the folder, acutely aware that she had a very short time window to get her navi a simple chip as she looked for a good one. Finding one seemed impossible until she saw that one chip. They had given her only one copy, apparently. The folder was in complete and total order (unlike her bag o' chips,) and each copy was listed next to the first chip. This one had none.

"Panelshot, coming in." She slid in the chip, and Traceur took it in stride. The navi snatched at the panel at the top, and electricity flowed over it. He ripped it from its base, lifting it a few feet off the ground before quite literally twirling and throwing it like a discus.

"Catch!" Were the only words from his mouth then as the chip-imbued panel flew at his foe. Traceur looked down at the hole he had made. "Did your mother ever tell you not to get into internal politics?" He quipped at Jo.

"No, but she did tell me a hollow victory is better than none." Joanne lamely retorted, that being the fastest she could think up on the spot as her navi leapt into the hole.

1] Barrier
2] Minibomb to conceal movements [Imbue Null with Elec for special effects and blast of electricity/light (flashbang)]
3] Galvanic Charge: 60 [elec], 2 tactical movements
*] Run up to top of hill
4] Panelshot holy panel at coronaman
*] Drop inside hill
((Just got some internet access, and I've been so busy that I haven't been able to mod. Instead of keeping this match at a slow pace, I'm handing this off to Bomber))
(Aye aye, captain.)

Both combatants come out of the gate very methodically, with both CoronaMan and Traceur opting to set up defenses than to run in with guns blazing. Traceur's Barrier envelops him without a hitch, while CoronaMan readies his painfully bright white orb. "Great minds think alike" holds true shortly after as Traceur modifies a Minibomb into an impromptu flash grenade and sets it off to conceal his movements... while CoronaMan lets loose an insanely bright flash of like that completely overwhelms the entire arena, leaving even the cameras to see nothing but white. Having closed his eyes to prevent his own flash from blinding him, Traceur manages to stave off immediate blindness, although his eyelids prove too weak a defense against such an intense light for long.

Amidst the blinding rays, CoronaMan capitalizes on the situation to only further disorient his opponent by splitting into three different monochrome bodies, all of which immediately began a charge up the hill. Traceur, meanwhile, doing all he can while his vision still lasts, fires a hail-mary shot up the hill in hopes of catching CoronaMan just as he capped the peak. While the timing was good, the luck was not, as the CoronaMen, not Man, were all forcing their way up the narrow bridge at the same time, and the resulting traffic slowed them down just enough to send the bullet flying a few feet over their heads.

Traceur isn't done yet, although the corners of his vision were starting to turn white already. With the residual energy left from his shot attack, Traceur dashes his way up the hill to meet with the CoronaMen, armed with a new chip courtesy of Joanne. Before CoronaBlue, CoronaRed, or even CoronaWhite could figure out what he was doing, Traceur tears the Holy panel right out of the bridge and flings it at the nearest target, successfully nailing CoronaBlue right in the chest and making him disappear in an instant.

In an effort to escape a counterattack, Traceur dives straight into the hole he had just created, slipping through the stones of Crumble Hill and landing inside it just as his vision gives out to the blinding effect of CoronaMan's attack. His other senses perk up to compensate, and his ears quickly pick up a sound that wasn't there a few moments ago... Unfortunately, that sound is crumbling.

Up above, CoronaRed and CoronaWhite are seeing the horror Traceur is hearing, watching as the bridge they stand on is collapsing in on itself. Perhaps removing the bridge's structural nexus was a bit more dangerous than anticipated? Yes or no, one thing is for sure: Crumble Bridge is coming down.

CoronaRed.exe: 200 HP? (On the crumbling bridge! Run!)
CoronaWhite.exe: 200 HP? (On the crumbling bridge! Run!)
CoronaBlue.exe: COMPEL'D

Traceur.CMD: 100 HP (10 HP Barrier; Blind; Inside Crumble Hill, under the crumbling bridge! Run!)

Terrain: 18% Normal (Arena Border, Inside Crumble Hill), 81% Cracked (Hill, Crumbling Bridge - Will collapse next turn), 1% Broken (Bridge Nexus)
Traceur grinned as he dropped into the rubble. Who cared about his sight for now? It was dark as all heck in here anyway. If Coronaman came into this particular pit, he'd be blind as well. Bringing up Coronaman, well- At least he knew somewhat to expect. "That wasn't a very strong attack, but he'll have it ready to use very quickly. I'd rather not be blinded again, so let's make sure we go on the offensive. Let's not give him a chance to." He spoke quietly as he raised himself up from a crouched position. The navi closed his eyes. He didn't need them anymore, and he'd rather not get a burst of light in them again courtesy of his foe.

Then a piece of rock hit him on the upper shoulder. Not enough to damage, but he certainly felt it, spinning to the side and landing in a crouch. "What-- Is he above me, then? Can you see, Jo?"

Joanne, on the other hand was mouthing out string of expletives at what was happening. Noticing her navi's pleas, she immediately stopped and answered. "Uh, no. The ah- the arena is falling apart. If you don't get out of there, it'll be falling apart on you."

"...Well, that certainly changes things." Traceur spoke, blinking. He tried to figure out how he could get out of this mess, but nothing came immediately to mind. Instead, a chip popped up into the queue. "Guard..? Ah. Thanks, Jo." Traceur allowed it to come into existence, electricity collecting rubble off the ground into a cohesive shield that crackled and crawled with electric blazes of its own free will. "This'll do for now, I guess." Traceur wasn't really happy with it, but since he couldn't see it other than how he designed it in his mind's eye, he couldn't refine it. "Wait- I could..." Drawing within himself, Traceur flipped on the switch for a subroutine. He would have to adapt it on the fly but with the world falling apart on him, this seemed the easier of things to do than run for cover with nowhere to go.

Electricity popped and sizzled around him as the navi breathed in- then out. Currents flowed around him, tendrils of energy reaching out to rubble and halting their fall. Slowly, the terrain around him became attuned to Traceur as he continued his exercise of breathing. He needed to be as stable as the terrain he was trying to create. Extending his personal field even further, he continued to convert panels to that of the element closest to him. Magnetizing them was the easiest way to go about things. It would both cause them to come together and he could manipulate the said panels far more easily. As it would open up Crumble Hill, (by effectively removing it) he would have a clear vantage point on Coronaman.

"If only I could actually aim..." Traceur grumbled.

"I think I can solve that one," Joanne spoke as she slapped in two chips, part of a crazy combo she had come up with on the spot.

"Magbolt... And Airshot?" Traceur spoke. "So I use the Magbolt's pull to guide me... and fire the Airshot at him?"

"No, you use the Airshot to get to him and you ram him with that Guard and the Magbolt." Joanne said, a smirk firmly on her face as she glared at Coronaman.

"Uh." Traceur blinked again, then sighed. "If this doesn't work, I don't know what I'm going to do to you, but it won't be pleasant."

"Yeah, yeah. Stop complaining and do it already." Joanne replied, her smirk still in place.

The navi sighed, taking out his autorevolver and pointing it downward as his shield sizzled with the energy of the Magbolt. He swiveled to point the airshot in the exact opposite direction, firing exactly once. With a 'woomph', he took off. His arm felt near to torn off from the strain of the blast as he flexed his arm. The Airshot had a kick that he wouldn't forget- and he hoped that he could deliver straight to his opponent's face.

1] Guard pointed up to deflect the worst of the rubble
2] Ferroelectric Field: Assert control over terrain, stabilizing it with the electric field and changing it to Magnet. (Large area terrain change, Magnet)
3] Magbolt1 [Use Magnetic Pull to determine what direction Coronaman is]
4] Airshot1 [Use Airshot's microburst in the opposite direction Coronaman is in a bullrush with the Magbolt1+Guard1]
(EN DQ'd by request)

Well, that was... interesting. While Traceur was deflecting and magnetizing debris to his heart's content, the CoronaDuo was a bit too slow on the reaction to escape the collapsing bridge. Down they fell with the rubble, crashing against rocks and bricks all the way down, which destroyed the last decoy fairly quickly and revereted the real CoronaMan back to his original colors. Rather than crash to the ground with a thud like expected, though, CoronaMan found himself... floating? Suspended by Traceur's mass-magnetization of the ground, in fact. While being saved from the impact of falling was all well and good, but the lack of contact with the ground and the inability to propel himself put CoronaMan into a very awkward situation...

A situation that Traceur would only make worse. With most of the collapse over (Traceur managed to even deflect a large chunk of the bridge off a few feet to his left, although it used up his Guard and Barrier in the process), the practitioner of parkour began a relentless assault. He used the MagBolt to determine CoronaMan's location, or would have rather, if CoronaMan wasn't floating in the air just ahead. With that being as good a go-ahead as any, Traceur bum-rushed CoronaMan with his magnetic bludgeon, striking the blazing Navi square in the chest. Normally, that wouldn't have been enough to defeat CoronaMan, but a convenient intervention of physics would have the gods smiling on Traceur today:

Opposites attract. It's a fundamental rule of magnetics, and one that would give CoronaMan one hell of a headache. With his body already polarized by the magnetic terrain holdim him afloat, there was nothing but trouble ahead for him when Traceur beaned him with the MagBolt, which, interestly, was oppositely polarized to the magnetic terrain. So, to review, there were two conflicting magnetic polarizations, one from the MagBolt strike on CoronaMan, and the magnetic terrain suspending him...

... And the untold amount of rubble surrounding him. All those rocks, pebbles, and chunks shared a common polarization thanks to the terrain, and an introduction of an opposite force from the MagBolt made them go wild. Every single piece of debris caught in Traceur's field flew into CoronaMan's chest, clinging desperately to the opposite polar charge on him. It was just pebbles at first, which were not much more than an annoyance, but then the rocks started coming... and then the blocks... and then OH GOD THE BRIDG-

*slam*

And just like that, the second round of the ONB Tournament came to a close.

CoronaMan.exe: POLARIZED

Traceur.CMD: 100 HP

Terrain: 18% Normal (Arena Border, Inside Crumble Hill - Covered in debris), 82% Broken (Hill, Crumbled Bridge, Bridge Nexus)

MATCH OVER
WINNER: TRACEUR.CMD


Traceur GET: Round 3 Pass
CoronaMan GET: 3000z or 1 ElementKnife of choice
"...Well, I didn't expect that." Traceur blinked as he fell to the ground. An outline behind him formed into a large rectangle, which patterned itself with green lines as it created a simple metal door. Traceur stood, opening the door, and walked into the empty space beyond it, vanishing into his PET.

Joanne shrugged, plugging her PET into a nearby outlet.