Beachin'

Stuff went down pretty quickly, with the viruses and SplashMan continuing their assault. SplashMan took out a powerful CircleGun, firing two lethal shots towards the viruses. The Waldon reacted by shooting a steel spike at the incoming bullet, deflecting it from its initial trajectory. The Tark, meanwhile, dodged the shot by hovering over to its side. Another spike made its way towards Blub, though SplashMan managed to fend it off with his shield for the moment. After that, he left his SP by itself, going to face the Waldon on his own. Of course, it was not without sufficient protection. A massive CurseShield blocked a Tark's attack that was unfortunate enough to hit the menacing guardian. The result was a sorry virus getting trapped in the unforgiving Dominerd's jaws.

However, not all was fine and dandy, as the Waldon continued to attack, targeting both Navi and SP. SplashMan managed to take out his GutImpact, but the attack had already been launched. The Navi managed to avoid it and deliver a sound blow to the virus, but Blub could not avoid the incoming spike, and took some heavy damage. (60)

WaldonA: DELETED!
WaldonB: DELETED
TarkA: DELETED!
TarkB: DELETED

Terrain: 40% Grass, 60% Sea

SplashMan: 550 HP
Blub.SP: 10 HP

-- CHAOS BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[TwinFang3] Battlechip, 2700z, 52 BugFrags
"Well, that was pretty rough for my first battle of the day..." Ah well, he won, and he didn't have a scratch on him. Though..."Ack! Blub!" The jellyfish still had a large tusk stuck inside of it, though it was happily collecting non-crystalized fragments of the viruses, as though it hadn't happened. "Uh...Blub? You have something in you..." SplashMan pointed at the point of impalement, nothing less than stunned that his SP hadn't noticed...

The jellyfish stopped for a moment, then looked up, noticing the fang that was taking up part of his space. With a single tentacle, he pulled it out, causing it to partially disintegrate, then added it to its pile.

"...Wow...I don't think Blub even felt that..."

"Well, I could, so that evens out, at least. Go ahead and send him back, okay? I don't think he'd make it through another battle like that..."

"Yeah, no kidding..." Still, the aquatic Navi waited for it to finish gathering BugFrags before walking over and picking it up, which the SP was more than happy about. "Blub, I'm sorry, but I need to send you back. I don't want anything bad happening to you, and I don't think I can protect you in Chaos Net...sorry..." In a beam of light, the water-based organism, and the data it had gathered, was sent to its point of origin, where it crawled off into a corner and began to sleep again. "How is he, Sabrina?"

"He's not angry...just depressed. He went to a corner and curled up..."

"Oh...well, I'll make sure I spend some time with him when I get back! Speaking of time...how are we on that?"

"Lucky you, you get to keep on going!"

"I still don't think this is a great idea, you know..."

"Well, you haven't set off any security or anything. Just be careful, and they'll never know we were here!"

"I guess...oh, almost forgot!" Sheesh, how could he forget that? Wandering over to the data Navis were more attuned with, SplashMan accessed and transferred it, though taking a moment to see what it was, exactly. "Well, there's some spending money! And a BattleChip...it doesn't have a Tark's data signature, so it must be TwinFang!"

"...You know what? I think Waldon's kinda cute, with its pink body and sailor hat!" TwinFang3, in folder. YoYo1, out. "Too bad we still have to delete them!"

Yeah...sometimes he did NOT get his operator's tastes. Though to be fair, she wasn't the one the viruses just shot their teeth at. "Right. I guess I should move on, now."

"Yep. Not like I have anything else to do yet."

Something trickier than that last fight...the Navi didn't really want to think about what he'd find further in. Unfortunately, he had no choice, since he couldn't come up with anything else...in part because the dreary scenery wasn't helping. Oh well, at least he was extra wary for whatever came up next.

(Searching for Battle #2)
(Blub dismissed)
Moving further through the Chaos network, SplashMan found some more adversaries to spar with. A double pair of Shellgeek and Mariner viruses greeted him on a sandy beachfront, their hostile ways being sufficient proof that SplashMan was not liable to go easy on them.

-- ENEMIES --
Shellman A: 180 HP (IronBody) (Sand)
Shellman B: 180 HP (IronBody) (Sand)
Marinee A: 280 HP (Submerged in Sea)
Marinee B: 280 HP (Submerged in Sea)

-- NAVIGATOR --
SplashMan.EXE: 550 HP (Sand)

-- TERRAIN --
50% Sea
50% Sand

-- CHAOS BATTLE 02, READY? START!! --
And now, he didn't have to imagine something trickier anymore. SplashMan looked over the quartet of viruses, unsure of how to proceed. Then again, he often was regardless of circumstance. "...Any ideas? The ShellMen are easy enough, but the subs are something else..."

"Hang on a sec...okay, first up!" And...there was one BattleChip in the PET. The first of many. "BattleChip, PickPocket!"

A Bandcoon formed in front of the aquatic fighter, which looked over the battlefield. Two of them were underwater, and it couldn't swim, so that was out of the question. The clam things, however...a gleam could be seen from the corner of its mask, as it picked out exactly which one it wanted to swipe from. It then curled into a ball, and began rolling towards it...

...But upon realizing the sand was keeping it from properly sneaking up, the pseudovirus unfurled, and began fuming at the terrain. It took a moment to think, then reached into its fur, and pulled out what appeared to be a pair of snowshoes. Using its lengthy tail to attach them to its feet, it began running as fast as its stubby legs could manage...which, while not overly speedy, was better than the futile effort that was rolling. Before long, it approached the ShellMan, and as soon as it was within tail range, it hooked a bit of data from inside the enemy, and placed it inside a small safe before its summoner could see what it is. After setting it aside, the Bandcoon dashed back to SplashMan, and handed him a sheet of paper before vanishing. "Huh?...17-26-9..."

"The combination to that safe, I guess?" ...Problem. Despite all that time, Sabrina had zero clue what to do with the Marinee, aside from diving down and fighting them head to head. Which wasn't exactly something she wanted to do. "...Uh, you can blast one of them with your cannons, and then you can Aqua Ram the other, since that'll pierce its defenses! There, that should make it sound like she had no idea what to do.

SplashMan immediately started pumping water into his cannons, instantly preparing them for the upcoming barrage. After lowering them into firing position and aiming, he let his innate weapons go with the flow, as a pair of high density water bullets shot forth. Their sleek design would make penetrating something like a steel shell a piece of cake...assuming they hit their mark. He was pretty good at the move by now, though, so that had to be at least somewhat likely.

Now, for more fun with his cannons. The Aqua Navi refilled them, but instead of opening the nozzles for firing, he opened the rears of his twin artillery, allowing for the pressurized water to carry him forward, and deliver a crushing tackle attack. To call it ramming almost seemed like an insult...no Moloko could conjure up that sort of force, for sure.

And...uh, shoot. She still had nothing. Why did the Marinee have to be underwater, anyway? ...Wait...that was it! Maybe she had something after all. "Good job! Now let's get those subs ready for...uh..."

"...What?"

"...I kinda...forgot where I was going with that. But you get the idea!" Chips with a blue area becoming red, and one with a Weather virus were slammed in her PET. "BattleChip, AreaGrab! BattleChip, Blizzard! Double slot in!"

Fulfilling his unwritten contractual obligations, SplashMan warped to another spot on the battlefield, ending up on the half of the battlefield he was more comfortable with in the process. He also now had a new right hand, a device that resembled an old model air conditioning unit. It proved to have the same purpose, as it blasted cold air in a triangle ahead ahead of the Navi. Perhaps more importantly, however, was that the water below the attack was quickly turning to ice as an effect of the attack...

"Phew...glad I finally came up with something..."

"Huh? Did you say something, Sabrina? It's kinda hard to hear you with Blizzard going on..."

"Nope, didn't say anything! Now, let's sit back and assess the situation!...And if you could dodge an attack or two, that'd be cool, too!"

"Right! It'll be easier now that I'm off that sand!" The aquatic Navi calmly stood atop the sea, waiting for any razor sharp needles and...whatever it was Marinee used. He forgot exactly how they attacked...had he even fought something from that series? If he had, it was long enough that he completely forgot what it was...but no matter what it was, he'd find a way to avoid them. Or so he hoped.

[Order of Turn:
1-PickPocket chip on ShellmanA (steals reward data)
1a-Reserve Tank R (passive buster charge)
1b-Reserve Tank L (passive buster charge)
2-Water Splash charge attack on ShellManA (200, Aqua, Break)
3-Aqua Ram sig attack on ShellManB (150, Aqua, Break, Impact, Knockback) (5 TCD)
4-AreaGrab chip to near Marinee pair, above the surface (Teleport)
5-Blizzard chip attack on MarineeA and MarineeB (100+15, Aqua, Ice Panel Change, Cone Attack)
6-Dodge]
Sending the Pickpocket towards the Shellman, SplashMan let the little virus go on its own course, and aimed his signature cannons at it once the Bandcoon had done its job. The virus was easily blasted to pieces with several hundred pounds per square inch of pressurized water. The Marinees simply released some bubbles towards the surface that floated slowly towards the Navi. After that, a crushing tackle was sent towards the remaining Shellman, but it just so happened to open its casing at that moment to release a couple of arrows in his direction. The first whooshed past his shoulder, but SplashMan could not dodge the second, running straight into it to collide with the shellfish. (35)

Once SplashMan teleported off somewhere else, the Shellman shut itself up in its little casing again, while the Marinee continued to release them bubbles with them anchors. The Blizzard battlechip was slotted in, and thrown onto the Marinees' area with all due haste. A small area froze over, pulling the Marinees to the surface quickly, though the actual attack only hit one of them. More importantly, it also hit a couple bubbles along the way, popping them and releasing the anchors encased within. Fortunately, SplashMan barely managed to evade them. He did not manage to evade a third wave of bubbles, however, which popped in his face and dealt some pretty big damage. (160x2)

Oh yeah, the safe the Bandcoon got was filled to the brim with... sand. Nothing else. Hooray.

-- ENEMIES --
Shellman A: DELETED
Shellman B: 30 HP (IronBody) (Sand)
Marinee A: 115 HP (Ice)
Marinee B: 230 HP (Ice)

-- NAVIGATOR --
SplashMan.EXE: 195 HP (Ice)

-- TERRAIN --
35% Sea
15% Ice
50% Sand
The sheer power of the bubbles forced SplashMan to stumble back, in a combined display of force and shock. "Oww...those things hurt...a lot..."

"What happened?! How'd it do that much? I know these are supposed to be powerful viruses, but geez..."

"I don't think I've ever taken an attack that strong..." The watery Navi forced himself to his feet, though clearly reluctant to do so. After getting blasted like that, he was half tempted to stay there and play dead. Now he knew what it was like to get hit by Water Splash. "But...I can't give up! At least not yet!"

"I'll be honest, I wouldn't blame you if you did...but, if you wanna keep going, I won't stop you!" But first, to take off at least a little of the sting. Who knew bubbles with anchors in them would be so deadly? "But first...BattleChip, Recover150! Slot in!"

Pink energy appeared, and began to swirl around the Navi, managing to extract most of the pain from one of the bubbles...or maybe it was some of the pain from both of them. Either way, it still hurt. "All right, I decided! These things have gotta go! Sabrina, a little help!"

"There's two of them...so I think our newest chip is perfect!" Chip recently acquired from a Waldon, in. "BattleChip, TwinFang3! Slot in!"

Large spikes appeared on both sides of SplashMan's arm, who raised it, and tried to get to where each one would impale a different Marinee. It didn't take too long to get that down, however, thanks to previous TwinFang experience, so after only a few moments, the attack was launched. It was a simple attack, really, just the firing of a pair of teeth...even though he himself had no teeth. It was extremely ironic that way.

"And next up, something that can do a crapload of damage, even to submarines that can do the same to you!" The next chip was less purple, but somehow, had the potential to be even stronger. "BattleChip, MachineGun2! Slot in!"

The Navi's right hand changed, becoming a black, double barreled machine gun. He kept it pointed forward as it had been after TwinFang, though this time he aimed it directly at the one guaranteed to withstand the previous move. He placed his free hand over his arm, to try and steady the attack, and activated the firing mechanism, triggering a spray of bullets that hailed around the Marinee. It was actually hard to tell what was hitting the virus and what wasn't, due to the intense rapid fire of the gun. And he couldn't really do anything to help the accuracy, due to its severe recoil. All he could do was try to keep it pointed at the enemy, and hope it did the rest of the job.

With both subs hopefully out of the way, he looked over at the ShellMan in the distance, keeping his arm pointed at it. "Sabrina! Can you send over something that can hit more than once?"

"More than once? Sure!" Hmm...they just used MachineGun, and it might be a little far away for Yo-Yo...ah, this oughta work. "BattleChip, AquaNeedle2! Slot in!"

Upon hearing the selected attack, SplashMan gave his arm a well deserved break, and focused entirely on the clam virus. Chances were it was about to open up and fire again, but he just needed to wait a moment to make sure...aha, looked like it was preparing to open. He raised his left arm for a change, creating three needles in the sky above it. One by one, they fell, to try and spear the blue shelled virus before it could try and spear their summoner, or worse, start protecting itself again. He did NOT want this battle to go on and on. He'd learned his lesson about jacking into places with tight security without permission.

[Order of Turn:
1-Recover150 chip on SplashMan (150, Recovery)
2-TwinFang3 chip attack on MarineeA and MarineeB (130)
3-MachineGun2 chip attack on MarineeB (50, hits 9 times, missed shots can hit nearby enemies)
4-Wait for ShellManB to have its shell open
5-AquaNeedle2 chip attack on ShellManB (30+15, 3 attacks)
6-Dodge]
After mending his wounds, SplashMan fired his ivory missiles at the Marinees, successfully deleting one while the other was able to dodge it. Taking this open chance, the sole Marinee virus fired two of its devastating bubbles, only for it burst open by the Machinegun! Both the virus and SplashMan traded blows as only three of the sprayed bullets hit the Marinee while a single anchor crashed against the navi head on. [-160]

If things didn't get any worse, the ShellMan peeked out of its tough shell and began to open fire, pinning a single harpoon on the navi. [-30] This did, however, let SplashMan finish the annoying virus once and for all with his AquaNeedle, leaving the wounded Marinee as its sole target...

-- ENEMIES --
Shellman A: DELETED
Shellman B: DELETED
Marinee A: DELETED
Marinee B: 80 HP (Ice)

-- NAVIGATOR --
SplashMan.EXE: 155 HP (Ice)

-- TERRAIN --
35% Sea
15% Ice
50% Sand
Another round, another anchor to the head. Pain. "...If I get hit by one more anchor, I'm going to scream..."

"Yeah..." Seriously, whose brilliant idea was it to make that thing so strong? "But, we've almost got it now! We just have to avoid using moves that'll pop the bubbles, and we'll definitely probably win!"

"...That is NOT very reassuring..."

"Don't worry, this is!" The bubbles were fired forward, and floated in the air as it move. "Massive amount of BattleChips, slot in!"

One by one, methods for striking the lone virus began literally and figuratively pouring from the aquatic Navi. A pair of clouds emerged from his cannons, which rose into the sky, then traveled over to the Marinee to rain watery death down upon it. At the same time, an AquaGear formed over his right hand, while the left one received a large hammer. The former opened its mouth, creating geysers to burst from the ice, and hopefully hit nothing in the process due to its target being deleted. But if it was it, so be it. And just in case THAT failed, SplashMan brought down the hammer onto the water's surface, creating an undersea earthquake that triggered a large wave to crash upon the submarine. And if THAT didn't work...well, that's why he had legs. Though to be fair, at that point, the virus probably deserved to EJO him.

[Order of Turn:
1-MediumCloud chip attack on MarineeB (90+15, Aqua, attacks for 2 turns)
2-LilCloud chip attack on MarineeB (70+15, Aqua, attacks for 2 turns)
3-WaterLine2 chip attack on MarineeB (130+15, Aqua, Wide Attack, Ground Attack)
4-Gaia2 chip attack on MarineeB (130, Aqua, To-All Enemies, Ground Attack) (Geomancer subtype ability used)
5-Dodge
6-Dodge]
SplashMan's last attack against the Marinee was simply a close call. Though his attacks went through and deleted the virus, the bubbles that was hovering towards him popped and fired yet another nightmarish anchor at the navi.

Third time was the charm as the anchor flew pass SplashMan, leaving him as the victor of this treacherous battle!

-- ENEMIES --
Shellman A: DELETED
Shellman B: DELETED
Marinee A: DELETED
Marinee B: DELETED

-- NAVIGATOR --
SplashMan.EXE: 155 HP (Ice)

-- TERRAIN --
35% Sea
15% Ice
50% Sand

-BATTLE WON!-
3,000z + [QuadNeedle] BattlechipQuadNeedle
Damage: 50 x 4 Shots
Accuracy: B
Description: Fires four sharp spears at the same target.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
"Haaa..." As soon as it was all clear, SplashMan tumbled backward to the ground, exhausted from the battle. Never mind that it was actually water. "Anchors...hurt..."

"Yeesh, I guess if you want good security, you just send in an army of those things...so, I know you're beat from that, but what'd we get?"

The aquatic Navi struggled to get to his feet, then waved his arms to access and transfer what was left of the enemy. "We got a chip, if that's what you're asking. Has a ShellMan data signature, so whatever it gives..."

"Hmm...QuadNeedle. Cool!" That was going in the folder. "It's pretty self-explanatory...you shoot four needles in rapid succession at an enemy. Each hit isn't overly strong, but it adds up!"

"Yeah..."

"All right, all right! Feel free to come back to the PET any time! You're too banged up to keep going, and if you run into another of those things...ugh!"

"Thanks..." With very little delay, the battered Navi vanished in a stream of light...

(BACK TO THE REAL WORLD)