Killing a bit of Time

"Weren't we supposed to be virus busting?" Wes asked, "The sooner you win or lose, the sooner we finish what the poo we were doing. I say go for it. Besides, we all know that in games like this, the computer players always get the questions right. Your only chance to win is to overwhelm them with smartness."

"Okay... then I suppose we accept. Empress-san's netop seems to want this over too, so we better just go all out." Junior said, "We accept, I think."

"Alright then. The question is..."

There was a long, long pause.

"WHAT... is my favorite color?"

"What color does he like...? How are we supposed to know?" Junior said.

"Well, you're the one who apparently watches day time TV. you tell us." Wes responded.

"It isn't like I ever saw a documentary on the guy..." Junior looked the host over. He was wearing a black suit, but since black was the most common color for a tux. It could always be one of the team colors, but that would promote bias, so chances are it wasn't red or blue. He might have to take a stab in the dark on this one. His father had always told him that purple was the sexiest color, especially when complimented with green. He'd go with purple then, "Is it... purple?"

"Actually that was a trick question. I'm an artificial construct so I don't actually prefer any colors, it's just my CPU sending out output to create the illusion that I have emotions based on the input it was given when I was created." Hostman explained. "Also, said CPU is telling me that I should be crying right now to maintain the illusion, but I'm too busy hosting a TV show to do so."

Hostman spun to face the front of the stage, then continued. "TEN POINTS TO THE RED TEAM!"

Hostman turned to the Blue team and then pulled up another card. "BLUE TEAM! This is a Cruel and Sadistically Hard question that I have here, worth 20 points. Do you want it?"

"Well, I'm a navi and I have a favorite color..." Junior mumbled.

Wes's eye twiched. This was just stupid, "Of course they'll take it if they want to frickin' catch up! Now just get on with it so we can get out of here!"

"Um... what he said, Host-san, only I'd like to add a please in there." Junior said, wanting their request to be at least a bit polite.

"Whatever...just get it over with..." Empress had said folding her arms as she had looked towards the game show host. Keera on the other hand was pissed beyond belief as she watched the NetOp from afar, so she could pretty much make out what he was saying while glaring back to her own PET.

"We're not here to play games Empress! I don't like this!" Keera had said getting impatient as she had looked to her PET. "Get this over with!" She had said as Empress sighed clinching a fist resisting the urge to use any attack since she knew Keera wasn't all for fun and games and this was a waste of time.

"Either you two are smarter than you look, or lucky. This is a reversi question; the difficulty is backwards, but the point value remains the same." Hostman opened up the card, and then spoke. "How much HP does a Metool have?"

Empress had smirked as she had heard the question. Her eyes closed as her lips had pared slightly to show one lip sliding under the other to pronounce what the number. "forty..." she had said simply as she had stared towards the game show host while tapping her fingers across her arm as if the question was nothing. Things that were nothing but a waste of time in Keera's eyes who stood staring at the screen on her PET and giving that blank stare. "Simple...as always." she had commented simply on the question.

"ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!" Hostman snapped his fingers, and a number appeared above Junior and Empress. It read '25'. Hostman walked over to the Red bench, and then offered them a question. "This is another Cruel and Sadistically Hard question here, but unlike the last I can safely say this is NOT a reversi. Would you like to try it, or pass it to the Blue team?"

The two normalnavis discussed for a bit, then muttered something Empress and Junior couldn't quite make out. Hostman walked back over to the daring duo, then held up the card. "The Red team has passed you this question. It is..."

There was a short pause while Hostman cleared his throat, "What are the first 50 digits of Pi?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?" Junior asked.

"Hmmm..." Wes thought to himself. His PET would probably have that data somewhere, since it had a calculator, after all. He quickly looked up the answer and then passed it onto Junior, "Here you go." He didn't mention where the answer came from, since the Host would probably penalize them for it.


3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751

".............................. I'd ask how you knew that but..." Junior said, surprised by the number. He passed the number forward.

Empress had her arms folded as she had watched Junior pass it on a bit suspicious of his answer. Her expression was a bit skeptical as she had looked on with Keera who was most likely trying to use the PET functions to pull up a calculator at best. She paused seeing them make their move though a bit stunned. "Has he really gotten that answer that fast?" Keera asked as she looked on with Empress who kept her eyes narrowed and giving a suspense filled glare.

"3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751, you say?" Hostman recited another number, seemingly from memory, and compared it to the number he was given as he went along. "Well, you probably cheated, but okay! TWENTY POINTS TO THE BLUE TEAM! That brings them up to a total of 45 points, and makes them today's WINNERS!" The applause that followed nearly knocked Junior out, and a cursory glance over at the red bench revealed their opponents were gone.

"Now," Hostman started, "follow me!" He lead them over to the set of rainbow doors, and held up the blank chip. "Now, I'll color this chip for you. It can only be used once to open ONE of these doors, so choose wisely. Each door contains something different, so no matter which door you pick you won't get something another door has. Also, one door has absolutely nothing at all. This will be a GROUP decision, so none of that 'one of you picks' shenanigans."

Wes tensed up at the cheating comment. Of course being able to come up with that answer would be suspicious, but if they didn't they would no doubt lose. He tried to keep his sigh of relief silent as the host said it didn't matter.

"We win? Well that seemed a bit close..." Junior said. That last question almost sunk them, "Good job, Empress-san." Junior then followed the navi in charge.

"Pick a door? How cliched..." Wes commented, "I'd suggest you pick the door that is the host's favorite color, if he actually had one."

"Its a game... its supposed to be fun. Please try to refrain from any nasty sarcasm." Junior requested of his netop. He then turned back to the doors, "Now which one to choose? Any color you fancy, Empress-san?"

Empress had tilted her head slightly as she thought about the question. Whichever color wasn't all happy and smiley and bright was the door of her color. Why did the design had to be of a rainbow? She had thought of one color that came to mind as she had motioned her head and looked towards the violet door that would usually be on the end of the rainbow's inner arch. "That one..." she had uttered.

"She's going with purple? After it already failed us?" Wes said, though he was quiet enough that no one should have been able to hear.

"Purple, huh? Well, I guess I'll agree with that. Afterall, that is the color I went with earlier." Junior said.

"Purple, you say?" Hostman grinned. "OPEN THE PURPLE DOOR!" The Purple door swung open, revealing... nothing?! "Ha HA! The reward behind the purple door... is a fight with me! I lied earlier! Purple really is my favorite color!" Hostman pulled a Microphone out of nowhere, then spoke (Loudly) into it. "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

Hostman: 2400

Soulman_Junior.exe: 150 (Disoriented! -1 action!)
Empress.exe: 130 (Disoriented! -1 action!)

"I thought this was a quiz show, not a physical challenge show..." Junior said, "Host-san, you really suck. Selling out to the action genre to raise ratings, no doubt, and using your microphone to mess with us. We'll teach you a lesson." Junior calmly raised a hand and fingered his glasses. He looked around him, seeing the audience. He would now stop the boss in his tracks and give the ladies in the crowd some fanservice. Who knew, maybe if he go the girls swooning, then would nail the host in the head with a chair or something? He pulled of his shades and with a big smile and a hand placed thoughtfully under his chin, he released a wink filled with paralyzing charisma. He then fixed his facegear and thought of what to do next. This was on TV, so he should make things as fun for the viewers as possible. What to use? "Wes, send me a Countbomb, Sidebamboo, and Bubbelstar!"

"Got it. Sending requested chips. This is your show now, dude." Wes said, complying without much thought. It was obvious his navi was up to something, so he better just go with it.

"Okay, here goes! Empress-san, let's really play this up!" Junior pointed at the floor, materializing a large metalic box with a clock on the front, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen! This here will be Host-san's time limit! If he can't beat us before it reaches zero, he will recieve a serious penalty! Can he do it?" Junior yelled out excitedly, pressing a button to start the countdown. He then gestured beside himself, causing a bundle of bamboo to sprout up, "And for his next challenge, my lovely assistant will engage him in short bout of combat! Who will triumph, chip or navi?" He sent the data off, dashing forward and drawing out a long pole with which to skewer the host with. Then, with a step back and final wave of his hand, three bubbles appeared before Junior, "Now, I'm hiding behind one of these. Can you guess which one? Careful, because if you can't figure it out in time, these babies will engulf you and then you'll be in a real pickle!" Junior blew them forward, slowing rolling through the air at the host. Junior prepared for the enemy's counter, knowing his ruse would work for only a second. As he kept one eye ahead, he also looked at Empress. Would she go along with the idiocy or just find this whole situation beneath her and leave? He was really counting on at least a bit of help on this one.

((1.) Stun
2.) Sexy Wink, stunx4, Hostman
3.) Countbomb1, 100 in two turns
4.) SideBamboo, 80 Wood+15+piercing, Hostman(untapped power used)
5.) Bubblestar, 20 Aqua+trap, Hostman
6.) Dodge))

Empress was shaking off the daze as she had her right gloved hand pressed against her forehead like she was having a pounding headache. "Whatever...just stop showing off." she said as she removed her hand and reached out aiming to turn up the vacuum of space around her so she could drain away some of the cruddy game show host's energy. She had brought her arm down after the attempt as she breathed heavily while looking towards him with that lack of happiness expression that always seemed so ticked.

"By the way...my NetOp thinks shows like this have crappy ratings..." Empress had said before lifting her right arm pointing up towards the stage highlights to reveal eclipsed in the blinding spotlights was a Ringlog as it had fallen onto the stage and rolled towards the game show host looking to give that classical slip and fall like some weird television sitcom that made the live audience in the studio laugh.

"Argh! This guy is a clown, but he looks tough!" The Netop said as she had fixated her glare from Empress, to the host, and then towards Junior. "Move quickly Empress...we'll need help taking care of him if we plan on leaving quickly." Keera's words that were advised to her navi were pretty obvious as Empress's glare had focused on the dodging Junior. "....Great!" was all the navi could say after a moment of silence as she loathed to the hint thrown by Keera. Empress didn't complain. She almost hesitated at that was it as she broke into a quick lunge and lifted her right palm as she had made a ball of distorted energy in the palm and thrust it outward making a compressed bomb fly towards the game show host as her static blast set on hitting him with a microburst to knock him out of far range if it made contact. Empress had tilted her attack trying to have it so that the burst would send the host behind the stage back and give him the curtains while she prepared for her next move.

"This should keep him out of trouble." Empress had said as Keera sent the data of the chip wind as it generated a large box on the field. She had heard the hum as the box started up and pretty soon the stage was becoming like the set of the movie Tornado. If she was lucky, she might've even seen a stage prop cow to re-enact the farm scene.
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Passive Sig - Drain 10 HP @ Hostman

Action 1: Shake off disorient feeling!

Action 2: Ringlog1 - 50 Damage @ Hostman

Action 3: Static Blast - 40 Damage (+ Microburst) @ Hostman

Action 4: Wind - 100 HP Obstacle (+ Distort Enemy Accuracy)

"Why Junior, I'm shocked! I'm a man of Show Business! Of course I have to steel my resolve to the point where nothing fazes me anymore!" Hostman half-ranted in reaction to Junior's 'Sexy Wink'. Apparently Hostman can't be stunned. Interesting.

When Junior laid down the Countbomb, Hostman chuckled. "Well I guess I'll just have to do my best then, won't I?" He pulled the microphone up to his lips, gave his best grin-

And then shouted loudly into it. "YARGLE!" (30)

Junior managed to stab Hostman with the bamboo, but the three bubbles he shot off afterwards were easily dodged when Hostman disappeared.

Hostman reappeared behind Junior a moment later, tapped him on the shoulder, then disappeared as the Ringlog1 Empress had shot went rolling their way. Junior manages to jump over it, however.

Hostman reappeared again just in time for Empress to zap him and throw down a Wind chip, sending him flying right into a bubble.

Hostman: 2245 (Trapped!)

Soulman_Junior.exe: 120 (Disoriented! -1 action!)
Empress.exe: 100 (Disoriented! -1 action!)
Countbomb: Two turns remaining!
Wind: 100

"No stun? What a jip." Junior muttered as the host shook off his move. He then barely managed to leap over a hunk of wood his ally had hurled his way, "Whoa! Empress-san, please try to be careful." He requested. He wasn't sure whether she had tried it or not, since she did seem to have some dislike for him. Maybe he could try to find a way to win a bit of fondness from her. For now, though, he better just attack as normal, "Hey Wes, he's trapped in a bubble. Send me an Elec chip to fry him and then also send two random attacks and a defense."

"Got it. Sending Zapring1, MistConv, Markcannon1, RiskyHoney1." Wes said, "Its a shame your mother's attack splits up its blows. Then we really could have nailed this guy."

"Yeah, but it's still a very useful technique. I'm just glad there's something there that helps me remember she's still with us..." Junior said, with a mix of happiness and sadness. He then brought back his focus and raised a hand, materializing a ring of electricity. He aimed it at the baddie and called out, "Okay, now for a bonus shot! Points will be doubled!" He fired off the shot, the crackling circle wizzing through the air, "Now let's give Host-san a big hand!" A large, open-palm hand shot up behind the host and lunged forward, fingers opening wide. As it got to the end of its stretch, it closed itself into a fist, creating a forceful embrace that would smash the host if he hadn't moved quick enough. He then paused for a second, "Hmmm.... how can a Markcannon be gameshow related? Ah ha! I got it!"

He projected out a cursor. He ran it over the boss, then swung it over Empress. He repeated this, going faster and faster, "We have a Markcannon in play! Who will it choose? Who will be blasted?" He then suddenly stopped it over towards Hostman and snuck some extra energy into the shot, "Opps! You lose." He then fired the attack, hopefully quick enough to prevent dodging. He figured that with the automatic targetting on the attack, his aim would at least be a sure thing, though the enemy did move pretty quickly earlier. Even such an accurate attack wouldn't be a sure thing.

Junior now locked his gaze on the Host again and began to power up his hands. It was time to use his most powerful attack. He needed to be sure to fully focus on landing this attack, since it was the big one. Bringing both hands together, he brought the pair back and then reached them forward, releasing a ginormous laser that blasted through the air, all big and bright. Then, in a final action, Junior brought up his arm, summoning up a shield of honeycomb which buzzed inside. This should keep him safe from whatever the Host would throw at him.

((1.) Stun
2.) Zapring1, 40 Elec+stun, Hostman
3.) Mistconv, 100 Aqua, Hostman
4.) Markcannon1, 70+15+lock on, Hostman (untapped power used)
5.) Soul Finger Shot, 120, Hostman
6.) RiskyHoney1, 5x50 Wood Counter))