Pianissimo.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 (The Greenhouse)

Sweltering heat and oppressive humidity awaits those who step foot in The Greenhouse. An expansive dome spreading out an impressive one hundred-forty feet and standing seven stories high, the Green house was designed to keep its exotic inhabitants nice and comfortable. Within its lush environs one can expect to find any number of plants, from the near tame Netfrican Tangle Root to the carnivorous Tree-hanging Cage Plant. In the center of the glass-domed building is a circular area, about 70 feet across, which has been cleared of a great deal of vegetation, resulting in an ideal location for the fighters to duke it out. Broken stumps and trunks lie scattered across the battlefield, as well as a smattering of still healthy trees, all of which allows for moderate cover as well as improvised weapons. While the use of fire in a green house might seem a bad idea, the outright saturation these plants have undergone while gorging themselves on water, sun and soil rich with flame retardants have made these hardy plants near impervious to burning, allowing for unfettered use of fire attacks while battling.

Within the center of the arena is The Greenhouse's crown jewel, the rare and rather entertaining Electopian Whiplash Lily. This plant's petals are known for their extraordinary elasticity and are more than capable of propelling contestants upward 40 feet into the Skyvine Exhibit. While the higher vantage point may give an advantage, the Skyvines are thick and unruly, making movement difficult. Of course, should contestants wish to return to the ground, a healthy supply of Propeller Fruit awaits at the edges of the Exhibit.

Please note: While the flora surrounding the arena may look beautiful, they are in fact quite dangerous and can cause quite a hindrance to Navis unfortunate enough to enter their reach.

(==Terrain==)
Soil Terrain: 54% (Main Arena Area. Neither bonus giving nor penalizing terrain. Just dirt.)
Skyvine Exhibit: 38% (Above Center of Arena. Navis can attack through the vines, but take a one rank penalty to accuracy due to the vines' unstable nature. Vines inflict slow on any Navi in the exhibit, flying or otherwise. )
Propeller Fruit Tree Branches: 8% (Overhangs Soil Terrain and surrounds Skyvine Exhibit. No bonuses. Ending a turn in this terrain without grabbing a Propeller Fruit will result in a sudden, if predictable, meeting with the ground.)
Thick Vegetation: While not accessible terrain, the arena is surrounded by a staggering amount of plants, most of which are dangerous. Ending a turn on the edge of the arena, either by choice or otherwise, will result in a "Trapped!" status. Navis that are "Trapped!" must spend one action to break free, after which they will be on soil terrain far enough away to avoid another tangle.

(==Objects==)
Boulderbark Stumps: 300 HP, Immobile, Grounded, Immune to Microburst, Extremely Heavy, Damage Reduction 50. As if the point wasn't already clear, these things aren't moving, no matter how hard you try. Provides minor cover, whether through ducking behind or taking advantage of a hollow stump. Six Boulderbark Stumps are evenly staggered throughout the arena.
Glitchfruit Trees: 50 HP. Bears fruit, which when eaten will produce one instance of the Glitch effect. Those who eat a Glitchfruit cannot eat another, forced or otherwise, for the rest of the fight. USE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!!! Also, tree provides minor cover, but will not appreciate it. Three of these trees grace the battlefield, their locations as random as their effects.

Wall-in-Log's-Clothing: 75 HP, Damage Reduction 25, Heavy. Physical contact will cause this seemingly normal log to spring up into a four foot wall. Moving away will cause the wall to revert to its natural shape. Using the Wall-In-Log's-Clothing as a weapon will result in a one rank accuracy penalty. Four of this deceptive plant can be found within The Greenhouse, two to each side of the arena.
Propeller Fruit: 10 HP, Immune to outside sources. Allows non-damaging movement from Skyvine Exhibit to the Main Arena. Can also be used as an Improvised weapon, in which case it gains the Homing attribute, cannot gain any more abilities, deals no more than 10 damage and explodes upon contact into a pulpy mess. A disgraceful way to receive a final blow. Eight fruit are equidistant around the upper level. Should one become destroyed, another will appear to take its place after one turn.

Electopian Whiplash Lily: 100 HP, requires direct attacks to overcome the elastic nature of the plant and damage it. This gigantic flower, its diameter easily reaching five feet, has the power to launch Navis into the Skyvine Exhibit. Should the Whiplash Lily be destroyed, it is replaced with Soil Terrain, any Navis in the Skyvine Exhibit are forcibly ejected as the vines retreat to the ceiling, and the one who delivered the fatal blow will have earned the scorn of botanists and nature lovers the world over. Navis who are kicked out of the Skyvine Exhibit take falling damage at the moderator's discretion. Only one Whiplash Lily is on the field, claiming the center of the arena as its domain.


Once the information is relayed to the Operators, they are given a few moments to strategize with their Navis before the match begins...
Seriously, that guy's been acting more out of it and stupid today than I've ever seen him, Pianissimo thought as he appeared in the arena. As he fully materialized on the soil in the center, he was immediately blasted by the heat and humidity of the arena.

He did a quick look around, mentally mapping out the soil arena area on the ground in the center, the elevated platform covered in vines, the flower in the center directly below a hole in the exhibit, trees surrounding the raised platform with...propeller...fruit...dense vegetation surrounding the arena, and several rather strange plants scattered around.

This will certainly make for a strange fight, he thought, waiting for his opponent.
A slim metal door materialized, opening slightly and allowing Traceur to slip through as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck once to the right and again to the left. Flexing his knuckles and allowing popping noises to ripple through the digital bones as he looked around the arena for this time.

"Awfully humid, isn't it, Jo?" He commented off-hand as he braced his feet against the somewhat spongy soil. The door slowly dematerialized behind the navi as he continued to stare around at the exotic arena.

"Looks like a jungle area. There's some data about the plants. Most of them don't look exactly ah- friendly. To say the least. Avoid making a summer home here is my best guess. Somewhere like Sharo Net would probably be more hospitable." Joanne commented, looking at the data she'd received and cringing. The humidity of the place was really bad for electricity. She supposed it would conduct better in short ranges to some degree, but she remembered that static electricity lost its charge extremely quickly on humid days rather than dry, cool days. If her navi was being drained of his power in this sort of environment constantly...

"Eh, not going to be staying here for any length of time, so I should be just fine." Traceur let a surge of power flow to his left hand, watching small arcs of energy flow back and forth just above his skin. Clenching his fist and exuding the power in a single burst of quick light, the navi walked forward to greet his opponent. "Hey. I'm named Traceur, file extension CMD. Nice to meet you. I'd wish you good luck, but I think I'm going to need all I can get against you." He extended a friendly hand, grinning slightly.
"I'm Pianissimo," the assassin answered simply, not taking his opponent's hand. "You'll forgive me if I don't shake your hand." It wasn't rudeness. It wasn't even a rejection. It was simply a statement of a fact: Pianissimo didn't do handshakes.

Closing his eyes, the assassin continued his mental mapping of the unusual environment, trying to make sure he had memorized the locations of every possible terrain advantage in sight. The upper level would be more difficult, as he had no way of seeing what lie above from the ground, but it was a necessary setback. With his opponent already here, he couldn't just go exploring the arena.

Opening his eyes again, he saw everything within visible range where he had mentally placed them. Perfect.

((Ready.))
"Well, that was rude of him!" Joanne exclaimed, looking at her navi expectantly for him to agree with her. She glared at Duke from across the room, giving him her best scowl.

Traceur didn't respond, simply flexing the hand he had proffered, clenching it into a fist and then relaxing it. He shrugged, looking around the arena once again. What was here wouldn't matter, but the place itself was annoying. He gave a noncommittal grin as he looked at his foe.

"Well, I suppose that's his decision." He spoke, withdrawing his hand and retreating to his assigned place.

(Ready.)
With the two combatants in position, it seemed as if the match was ready to begin. Shortly after Traceur had returned to his starting position a quiet noise, the kind caused by leafy friction, could be heard. It came from above, but before anyone would have been able to locate it, another noise was heard. This one the springy reverberation of a chord pulled to sudden tension.

The chord in question was a vine which had suddenly dropped from the ceiling. At then end of the vine was some manner of earthy thing resembling a racetrack countdown light. With four lights in sequence on each side, one facing each combatant, the thing was obviously there to signal the start of the match.

Suddenly, the top red light was lit, and a voice bellowed a strikingly loud "THREE!"
The remaining two red lights would be lit, from top to bottom, in sequence, each accompanied with the next number in the countdown. "TWO!" said the voice, before a short pause. "ONE!"

Finally, the bottom light began to glow green, and the voice let out an echoing "FIGHT!" as the traffic signal at center stage began to quickly retract into the ceiling, where it would soon disappear from all view.

And so the match between Traceur and Pianissimo began.

Battle Summary:
Pianissimo.EXE: 200 HP
Traceur.CMD: 100 HP

Field: [Same as stated in description except as noted here]
[No changes]

((Send me your turn summaries before the end of July 21st, preferably by midnight my time. (In approximately 11 hours and 40 minutes it'll be midnight here, so use your clocks and count it out.)))
Traceur reached both hands outward, interlacing his fingers and flexing outward as he yawned. Rolling his shoulders, he breathed in and out. His eyes were closed as he put one leg out, then let the other come down as he quickly stretched. "One chip is all I'll need for now. Let's feel this out. Barrier, please. It'd be nice if we could duke this out on my home ground as well. Here's to hoping I can stabilize this place." Traceur muttered under his breath as Jo looked for the chip her navi had wanted.

"Well, he's probably more powerful than us. That alone won't make us lose instantly, I hope..." Glancing through the folder she had been given, Joanne finally plucked out a single chip from the folder and slotted it in. Her eyebrows furrowed in consternation as she glanced across the battlefield, looking for any sort of way for her navi to respond or even counterattack if possible. What was he planning to do? She hadn't upgraded Traceur's buster attack capabilities, so the only other thing he could do without chips was dodge or utilize one of the process upgrades she had given him.

"Hmm. Didn't look the bulky fighter, at least." Traceur muttered as he let the barrier chip activate itself within his system, infusing it with the latent energy within his subsystems as energy overflowed to meet its demands. Electricity crackled about him at random as the chip manifested itself in- well, virtual reality. The navi kept his eyes closed as he felt out the entirety of the field around him- then began to expand his area of control and sensory perception with the electricity. Akin to current flowing into water, his influence expanded. He breathed in.

Stabilize.

He breathed out, and opened his eyes.

The ground within an incredible radius of him suddenly shifted to complete and total magnetic terrain. His domain. There was no more problem with the humidity. There was no problem whatsoever. All he needed to worry about was the terrain. Perhaps his foe would try to snipe him. Perhaps he would attempt to accelerate his movement to get to him directly. Feeling the magnetized domain return his pings as he glanced around with quick glances. Almost all the plant life was fortunately gone. The bits on the edges of his radius looked slightly wilted.

"Well, I guess that would work. His opponent isn't electricity based, right? I don't know what element he seemed, actually..." Joanne spoke, glancing at her opponent.

"I suppose he might be you know, null element. Doesn't really matter. Unless he was aqua or wood based. We haven't seen much of his folder, but you could multitask and check the forums. We had to post our folder choices on there. His choice should be there as well, along with his elemental inclination. Subroutine type as well, I think." The navi settled into a crouch of a stance, ready to roll away or simply leap out of the way of any attack thrown at him. Reaching for his armpit holster, he drew his autorevolver. His field would simply inform him of any attack headed his way and allow him to dodge it with an electrically boosted reaction, thus expending the field. however, he was looking to dodge anything before he had to deal with losing his first line of defense. "A good offense is a good defense, I'm all for that. But having both can't be bad either..." Traceur held the pistol out in a triangle stance while in his crouch.

Joanne simply gulped, hoping this weird plan of Traceur's would work. There wasn't much she could do besides reread the chiplist she had been given and hope.

1] Barrier [Elec Imbue]
2] Ferroelectric Field [terrain change:Large, magnet panels]
3] Prepped Dodge
4] Prepped Dodge
In the real world arena, Duke glanced back over at Joanne, returning her scowl with a tired face that still managed to convey a feeling of "meh, not my problem."

In the net, however, Pianissimo did not have such a scowl to contend with, or ignore as the case may be, and simply stood there, silent, as the countdown light descended from the skyvine exhibit and counting down with, as usual, irritatingly loud volume.

Well... he had to admit to himself, It's still better than that announcer from the last round.

As he heard the signal to fight, he immediately unsheathed his katana and dashed forward at a slight left angle to Traceur, rushing past the Electopian Whiplash Lily on one side and positioning his weapon in his hand in a drawback for a wide horizontal swipe aimed at the side where he would pass Traceur, as though planning to hit him from behind as he moved past. It was a predictable movement, and though he knew nothing of the other navi's reaction times, but the assassin figured with the distance, he would at least see it coming. Possibly even get a free shot once they drew level.

Only, he stopped just past the Lily and veered left, swinging his katana at nothing but air. The sound of a loud crack issued from the air where the blade cut through, echoing across the entire greenhouse. A rushing sound followed, during which Pianissimo called "Chips. Now." over a private line. Duke complied, uttering a short "Go for the logs, they'll become walls when you get close," as he loaded them. The rush of sound leaving the area then faded, leaving behind only absolute silence.

As soon as the silence fell, Pianissimo began to slow his run, sheathed his weapon, then vanished completely.

On the end of his Areagrab teleport, he reappeared directly behind Traceur, both arms now yielding before the wrist to dual gun chips. On the left, a compressed air gun that the assassin was beginning to like, despite his aversion to gun chips. On the right, an oversized green cannon that he only used out of necessity for his strategy.

He fired the airshot first, releasing the contained burst of compressed air at Traceur's back as he aimed to send him into one of the four seemingly innocent logs scattered along the ground floor. If he was right, and hit Traceur right, the other navi would be sent flying into a wall. Second came the cannon shot, an explosive round that would've been louder than the countdown if not for the silence effect, which muffled it completely as it chased after the airshot round, hopefully knocking Traceur a second time against the wall.

Both rounds spent, Pianissimo rushed toward Traceur, drawing his katana just as he did at the start of the match. This time, however, he put on more speed than the simple misleading run of before. His weapon also pulsed blue with chip data, and he held it pointed toward his opponent. As he reached Traceur, he thrust forward with the sword, intending to impale him.
____

1. Feint/dodge
2. Enjoy The Silence: Gain 5 instances of +30 Strengthen
3. Areagrab behind Traceur
4. Airshot Traceur against Wall-In-Logs-Clothing (20+30+microburst, 4 instances of +30 Strengthen remain)
5. Cannon shot to keep Traceur against Wall-In-Logs-Clothing (40+30+knockback, 3 instances of +30 Strengthen remain)
*Tac Movement: Advance toward Traceur
6. Sword: Attempt to impale Traceur, pin against Wall-In-Logs-Clothing if he somehow survives (80+slashing)
Pianissimo, being the faster navi, made his start sooner. He began running across the arena, towards his opponent. He had made it as far as the Electopian Whipping Lily before Traceur managed to get his Barrier up.

The assassin then sliced through the air and created an unnatural silence which imbued him with strength, as he darted to the left. Only moments later, he disappeared into the air.

It was at this point that Traceur spread his magnetic influence across the field. He managed to cover his half of the field in the panels, which even added a strange metallic glare to the Wall-in-Log's-Clothing and Boulderbarks on his side of the stage. The soil was totally replaced.

Pianissimo appeared behind the electric Navi as he knelt to the ground and prepared to dodge. He fired two rounds in rapid succession with the aim of forcing his opponent up against a wall. His opponent, though, had something else in mind. Traceur rolled quickly to the side upon hearing the shots, easily avoiding the airshot and coming within a hair of being hit by the cannon shot.

Pianissimo descended to the ground, and, though it may have been partially due to the Magnetic Panels beneath him messing with his movement, has his sword swipe easily avoided by Traceur, who rolled out of the way once more. However, after his last narrow avoidance, this roll wasn't as smooth and landed him in sub-par firing position.

Pianissimo now found himself standing on hostile terrain, while Traceur would find himself improperly positioned. The fight woudl continue from here.


Battle Summary:
Pianissimo.EXE: 200 HP [3 instances of +30 strenthen remaining] [Standing on Magnets, -1 action next turn]
Traceur.CMD: 100 HP [10 HP Elec Barrier]

Field: [Same as stated in description except as noted here]
26% Magnet Terrain [Half the soil part of the Exhibit] [Both combatants standing here]

((Send me your turn summaries before the end of July 28st, by midnight my time. (In approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes it'll be midnight here, so use your clocks and count it out.)))
Not bad for a low-level, Pianissimo thought as Traceur managed to avoid all of his blows. Indeed the navi had to have abnormally good reflexes to avoid an airshot with the feeling of air on his back from its firing as the sole indication it was there at all. Or perhaps he had just anticipated his reappearance. The assassin made a note that teleporting behind opponents was starting to get a bit too predictable. He would have to...Hm...there's an idea.

He tried to take a step, pulling against the magnets caused by Traceur's ability. Instead of forcing it to carry him forward, though, he found himself being pulled back, then to the side, the magnetic field tugging at his metal armor for several seconds before he managed to find a point where they converged, offering less resistance as he managed to kick off the ground and jump off the magnets and back to the soil of the other side.

He raised an arm as a wire frame materialized on it, then filled itself in to take the shape of another cannon. The assassin really hated these things, but at this point it became necessary. That barrier needed to go, now, and preferably without wasting any chips he'd rather have for later. So, he leveled the cannon at his opponent, dimming his eyepieces to the point that the metallic glare of the magnets over the stumps and logs couldn't affect him too much, then fired.

This was the hard part...for now. For his plan to work, all he would have to do was stall for a little longer. This in mind, he dashed to his right, letting his body carry him with the speed to avoid almost any incoming attacks while he examined his systems for anything presenting his next move. What he found surprised and confused him.

Somewhere while he had been attempting to get away from the magnetic surface, his Enjoy the Silence ability had glitched, causing the silence effect to continue around him but fade from the rest of the arena, essentially creating a small field around him in which all was silent. Knowing this, his strategy changed in an instant as he chose another direction, back and to the left using the same directional orientation as before, and examined the application of this.

Suddenly, he realized he wouldn't have to get close again yet at all.

Returning to what was more or less his starting position, he raised his right arm, wielding his katana again, and focused on the aura of silence surrounding him. Readouts on his eyepieces displayed various levels and concentrations, telling him just how much he would have to use to affect Traceur without losing his own remaining effectiveness with the ability. While this would normally be impossible, as silence was simply the absence of sound and could not be quantified, the assassin knew, several steps before Duke had figured out what he was doing, that this was a computer and thus measuring the intensity of a field that had been altered to negate sound. It would work.

He released.

Other than a soft breath of air, neither combatant had any physical indication that it had worked, until the opponent would find himself unable to use chips. Pianissimo, however, watched as several of the silence field readings decreased on his eyepieces, indicating that a portion of the field had indeed fired off.

Now he could only wait and see the results.

Duke sent a second chip as his PET showed the readings too. The assassin gave a slight not and brought his left arm around, creating another wire frame pattern that would fill itself in, this time a large shield. Though originally bright yellow in color, in Pianissimo's hands the color appeared to have washed out, leaving a very dark, less than appealing dull variation on it.
___

1. Some magnet crap
*Tac Movement: Move off magnets onto soil
2. Cannon: 40 damage+knockback to Traceur
3. Dodge
4. Dodge
5. Deep Silent Complete: Inflict Silence to Traceur
6. Guard1: 1-hit shield, reflect up to 60 damage
Landing flat on his back as he dodged the sword blow, Traceur's body coruscated with the electrical energy as he flexed his legs. He flipped back into a crouch on the balls of his toes, grimacing as he held out his weapon. That wouldn't have been pleasant at all if he had been hit. The airshot was easily dodged.The connection with the magnet panels had alerted him to Pianissimo's presence. The slight change as the panels flexed to allow his weight. The variables were in constant flux, but with the magnet panels, he had been able to roll out of the way of one shot. Another shot. Then he had thrown himself out and back from the sword swipe, landing somewhat roughly onto the small of his back. He had dodged the cannon by the theoretical hair of his virtual teeth. The sword was easier to predict, but this wasn't simple feeling out of an opponent. This assault had meant to be a combination. Traceur glanced at where he would have gone as quickly as he-... That place, from the information he had been granted, was an exotic 'plant' program that would trigger once hit. Something like a venus fly trap in reality. "Guess there's not much subtleness going on with this opponent, Jo. He's trying to kill straight off the bat."

"Well, let's give him a bit of a shock and show him up," Joanne muttered as she quipped, slotting in a quick two chips. These wouldn't require much effort on the part of her navi. Indeed, she thought even her brother could use them. A magbomb- although she didn't quite know what it would do, she assumed it would be a sort of 'magnet bomb'. As long as it exploded. Joanne thought to herself as she slapped the chip in. One of those thunder chips would also do nicely. They had served admirably in shutting down their previous foe, Koumori the half-bat navi thing. Either way, the bomb device was in itself a good way to make sure the somewhat quicker opponent wouldn't be able to dodge it as easily as it might have seemed. After all, its explosion radius would quite reduce those chances. Although it was easily seen, the other navi was still decently close enough for it to hit with reasonable accuracy. The Thunder1 chip was similar in that it would follow the opponent. So even if her navi fired it in a completely different direction, as long as Pianissimo was the designated target- it would come back with a vengeance for him.

"Alright, since you seem to like taking potshots at me, let me show you how to aim, hotshot." Traceur glanced at his opponent while staying in his crouch. Continuing to hold out the pistol with his left hand, his right hand wrapped around the left to support it, the navi brought the weapon up. His right arm was slightly bent to help with the recoil with the weapon as Traceur brought Pianissimo into his sights. "You can shoot all you like while firing at the hit, but a fairly quick shot that hits-" At this point, electricity surged up from the magnet panels, up Traceur's body, and into his weapon.

He pulled the trigger, With a crack-zap and the scent of lingering ozone lightning left after it seared through the air, the weapon spat out a single shot. Just once.

"Is far better than any number of- well, shall we say 'lightning quick' that miss. Especially at point blank." Traceur let derision seep into his tone as he removed his right hand from the weapon, plunging it into one of the pouches on his belt and drawing out a flash grenade. "Just saying that in proper procedure for later purposes, yanking out a pin with your teeth will most likely cause damage to them. It's far better to do it with say- even a thumb." Plucking out the pin, Traceur tossed the flash grenade in Pianissimo's direction, the magnet panels hitting the small bomb with bits of arcing electricity as it flew through the air. Letting the pin fall as its data dissolved, Traceur turned aside from the explosion as a burst of wide light soundlessly effected everything within the radius. Even with that indirect glance, Traceur's eyes were watering slightly as multicolored spots went across his vision. Remembering his blindness from the fight with Coronaman, Traceur rapidly backed up. Spotting a particularly active magnet panel, he knelt by it for a second.

"Why didn't the terrain change extend further..?" Joanne asked questioningly as she pursed her lips, looking slightly puzzled as she looked at the data for the arena. She wondered if the strangeness Traceur had 'added' artificially to the arena would make any difference to the boulderbarks and walls-in-logs clothing as she viewed the data for these strange glitchfruit things. "Maybe it's the arena's stranger qualities..?"

"Maybe." The navi echoed as the electrical data collected in his hand and he imprinted the chip data onto it. The newly created elec-based will-o-wisp carted around on the ground, crackling slightly before it went off in the direction of Pianissimo. "But I'll be able to use it again shortly. The field has localized, and I don't need to maintain it anymore. Either way, as long as I can keep a portion of this as my domain, it'll be much harder to get to me through the means of hand-to-hand."

"But, of course, he can still shoot you." Joanne stated the obvious, eliciting a somewhat drawn out sigh from her navi.


"Yes, Jo. He can still shoot at me."

1] Galvanic Charge [60 Damage Electric+2 Movements]
*] Use Movement to get into a better firing/dodging position on the magnet panels away from Pianissimo.
*] Watch Pianimissimo for sudden movements.
*] Fire 60 Elec damage at Pianissimo
2] Hurl Magbomb1 at Pianissimo [30+Blast2+stun1]
3] Thunder1 [40+Homing+Stun1]
4] Prepped Dodge
As Pianissimo struggled with the Magnet Panneling, and then made a somewhat delayed start off the bothersome panels, Traceur quickly pulled out his pistol and rolled into firing position. He watched as Pianissimo made his way off the magnet panels and fired a shot, successfully hitting the assassin.

Pianissimo then fired off his own attack, which was a smashing success. It came out in a humongous burst of energy, containing much more power than most people see in a cannon chip. The awesome blast bathed its immediate area in light and just gave off a frightening vibe for some targets. In addition to decimating Traceur's Barrier, it managed to send him flying way back, right on the edge of the dangerous, untamed part of the stage.

Traceur then chucked a grenade at Pianissimo as the latter navi checked the silence levels in the area. He managed to avoid being hit, as the attack wasn't quite properly aimed. The follow up blast that Traceur placed on the ground also failed to hit his opponent, though it didn't disappear, and would swing back around next turn.

After Pianissimo dodged the ball of thunder, however, he had finally finished his analysis and fired off a blast at the elec-type navi downfield from him. Traceur hadn't had time to react properly yet, and got hit by the attack, though only barely. The attack didn't do much, as far as appearances went. However, Traceur would find himself unable to speak or use chips at the start of his next turn, which would likely be rather distressing.

Even more distressing was the fact that his failed dodge had brought him, apparently, within reach of the plants, and vines shot out and latched onto him. They began to pull him into the wild vegetation, and he'd have to act quickly or find himself in very hostile territory.

Pianissimo then pulled up a muted Guard, but as Traceur really wasn't in much of a position to attack at the moment, he didn't get much use out of it.

Battle Summary:
Pianissimo.EXE: 140 HP [3 instances of +30 strengthen remaining] [Standing on Soil]
Traceur.CMD: 100 HP [Standing on Magnets] [Caught by Plants! 1 action to escape] [Silenced-Can't use chips or speak]

Field: [Same as stated in description except as noted here]
26% Magnet Terrain [Half the soil part of the Exhibit]

((Send me your turn summaries before the end of August 9th, by midnight my time. (In approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes it'll be midnight here, so use your clocks and count it out.)))

((Harbin, please include elemental modifications on damage in your summary, if you want to take advantage of them))
Pianissimo took the electrically charged shot standing, or rather, sliding. The others, however, went wide as he escaped the magnets and started moving again, then succeeded in retaliating well enough to silence the opponent and get him caught in the vegetation at the edge of the arena. That'll shut him up at least, he thought, turning towards Traceur. Why, he thought, tapping the side of his helmet and tweaking the settings of its eyepieces, does everyone insist on trying to taunt me? The act had bothered him from the beginning of his existence, but this guy's taunting had to win a prize for the most uselessly wordy. Trying to give him advice on how to fight? Could he waste any more time talking? Why not explain why you entered the tournament in the first place while you're at it, the assassin mentally added.

But fine, if you want to demonstrate how to fight effectively, I'll play your game. The eyepieces of his helmet flared, glowing brightly for half a second. Around Traceur, the plants that had already erupted from their wall and bound him became more violent. More of the vegetation rose from the ground, breaking through the magnetic covering that had been spread across his half of the field. More vines lashed out, their intentions surpassing merely holding him but actually whipping at him, but never quite hitting him...yet. Thorns and serrated edges on many of the vines formed a violent wall, blocking him off from the rest of the stage but also threatening to pull him in deeper and rip his program apart, taking revenge for the magnetic assault against their greenhouse. The existing vegetation wasn't safe either, as more of it reached toward him, trying to steal him away from the vines that currently held him and pull him deeper into the lethal grove. Even if when he broke free he ran straight into the wall in front of him, he would only find more and more and more of the plant hell. There was a hole, however, a single space in the deathtrap where nothing would be able to reach him just yet...a space right where Traceur would be as soon as he escaped from the vines. A safe zone just in reach as long as he acted fast to break from his bindings, though that window slowly began to fade as the darkness closed in.

Wait, darkness?

To the outside, the plants had done nothing except bind Traceur at the end of an attempt to dodge the unseen silence attack, but the darkness was very real, spreading outward across the arena from another slash to the air dealt by Pianissimo's blade. It reached into all ends of the greenhouse, coating in a surreal shade that, while leaving the entire scene visible, blackened it in its entirety, except for one spot — the spot Traceur would perceive as momentarily safe from the flora prison surrounding him. Pianissimo, meanwhile, had vanished entirely into the darkness, blending in as though it had been made for him.

Which, technically, it was.

Still, the assassin's eyes shined through the darkness one more time, eyepiece lights piercing through the illusion of the plant prison. Almost as soon as they made themselves known, however, they faded again, as Pianissimo himself split apart and dispersed into the darkness he had created, leaving nothing but imprints in the soil where he had stood before. For a second, he existed in almost all places at once, wherever the darkness touched, before the pieces congregated again, pushing out of the artificial shadow above Traceur, katana drawn back. The assassin fell, driving the blade down toward Traceur as he did so in a great cleaving blow until both navi and weapon hit the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground beneath him, he kicked away, jumping back through the air and disappearing back into the darkness and, to Traceur, the vegetation that had grown in front of him to close him off.

As the darkness consumed him, the only remaining trace of his presence became a flicker of a projected screen and a couple of blips, all but muted by the aura of silence that had formed around him when the initial silent effect from the beginning of the battle had broken. Both disappeared after a few seconds, but in the real world Duke responded by sending two chips.

After all, two would be all he needed.

The sound of a blade being sheathed rang across part of the greenhouse before being muted as well. Within the cloak, the assassin held out his hand as a whip began to materialize in it. It was of a familiar design, black in color and splitting into nine tails past the handle, each ending in a barb. This time was different, however. A dimmed crimson glow pulsed through Pianissimo's hand, and then spread through the weapon until reaching and transforming the barbed into short but powerful curved blades.

Pianissimo flicked his hand in a motion that would have made the whip crack, or at least form some sort of clanging sound as the blades knocked together, but rather than being muted it failed to make any form of sound at all.

Let me show you how to aim, hotshot, he thought mockingly, but chose not to say it. After all, there was no point. The inside of his eyepieces lit up, producing an admittedly meaningless targeting reticule over Traceur's form, as well as arrows and small lines of text suggesting how and where to swing the weapon. Following one, he drew back and whipped the weapon toward his opponent.

From Traceur's perspective, the ends of the whip would appear out of one side of the growth surrounding him, emerging from the black and ripping through the plant prison one by one but in rapid succession, cutting through the darkness to reach him and tear him wide open, much like the plants themselves. Only the whip tails were no mere illusion. They were much faster and could easily reach him, would really cut through him as they did, only to disappear into the darkness as soon as they came, as though that itself had lashed out at him with the lethal tendrils.

This image wasn't far from the truth, either, as the whip followed through with Pianissimo's swing, one end after the other, piercing through his surreal, constructed darkness to attack Traceur. And just as soon as they did, they pulled back again, hitting the end of their flight behind Pianissimo before falling limp until such time as he chose to swing again. All that was missing between the illusion and reality was the extra plant growth.
___

1. Nightmares: Illusions of plant hell around Traceur, small-area Lava terrain directly under him.
2. Call of Darkness: Invis, surreal darkness Illusion, 20HP barrier
3. Cloak and Dagger: Teleport above and in front of Traceur, 100 Slashing
*Tac Movement: distance self enough from Traceur to avoid vegetation/lava
4. Equip Atk+10 to Varitails
5. Take Aim
6. Varitails Traceur: (10+10) x9, plus +30 on first three hits from EtS
As Pianissimo glared at Traceur for his 'taunt', Traceur remained motionless. In fact, the electric type navi was entirely still.

Pianissimo brought up his blade to swipe through the air and spread darkness, but before he could do that, his opponent disappeared from the arena.

"We apologize for the inconvenience," said an official over the loudspeaker quickly. "This match is over, with Duke Rigel and his Navi Pianissimo declared winners. It appears Joanne Dacker and Traceur have encountered some manner of technical difficulty, and have been removed from the match."

There were assorted boos heard in the audience due to the lame method of victory and to the fans who had pegged Traceur as a victor. On the other hand, there was a distinct cheering to be heard for the assassin Navi.

Multicolored leaves fell from the roof of the exhibit as the lights were dimmed and a spotlight shown down on the winning Navi. It was fairly nice looking.

An official offered her condolences to Joanne for her loss, in addition to her choice of consolation prize; 6,000 zenny or one Battlechip from the tournament folder she had been using.

Battle over.

Victor: Pianissimo.EXE

Pianissimo continues to the next round.
Tracuer gets either 6000 zenny or One Battle chip from his tournament folder.
(6000 Zenny)
"Hm. That would've finished him anyway," Pianissimo said, appearing not to care that another victory had been won by doings other than his.

He jacked out without another word.