Oh, blubbity blub blub...

A second Lark goes down with a final roar, crashing to the seabed. The small tremor it's massive body makes upon impact makes the crater a little more unstable, making the spiderwebbing lines on it spread a little more.

Undeterred, Splashman sends his souped-up Wideshots the way of another Lark. One connects, and the Lark growls at him. The growl quickly becomes another bellow as it releases a Wideshot of it's own just as Splashman unleashes his second. The more powerful wave of water overpowers Splashman's, but when it finally reaches him he barely feels it. Good timing, neh?

That is, until the Lark copies Splashman and fires yet another Wideshot. Even so, this one is reflected by the Guard, but the weaker shield yeilds to the blow much more quickly, and flies out of Splashman's hands to reflect the Wideshot somewhere above them.

The last Lark, seeing it as his chance as he was currently being ignored by Splashman, fires off a Wideshot at the massive boulder that was also being ignored. Being, well, a boulder, the wave hits and creates a spiderweb of cracks where it had hit. The thing would not last long.

RogueLarkEXA: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXB: 155
RogueLarkEXC: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXD: 225

Boulder: 25
"Father": 80

Splashman: 105

Terrain: 75% Aqua, 30% Cracked (crater in front of Splashman)
"Ack!" Needless to say, blasting that boulder was not good at all from SplashMan's perspective. If he didn't draw its attention soon...he'd rather not think of that right now..."No...! I've gotta do something to get closer and take the heat..."

"Yeah, but I don't want anything breaking down under you. But swimming leaves you wide open, and you'd really have to jet to make sure you get through that thing..." Sabrina suddenly let out a gasp as she realized what probably should've been more obvious. "That's it! Got it!" Instead of remedying the situation with a chip, she brought up the screen for her Navi's own attacks. "Get ready to fly, SplashMan!"

"Fly?" Suddenly, the Aqua Navi could feel the bottom of his back cannons opening, and letting out a tremendous amount of force...and probably water, but who could tell? "Oh!" He positioned himself so that he was directly facing the weakened RogueLarkEX, then gently leaned forward...causing him to be propelled forward at an incredible speed. The tips of his feet were still touching the ground, and he could feel them break, but there was no way the holes would catch up to him. Continuing forward, he lowered his head as he approached his target...then felt something...odd. It very well may have been the virus, but it might've just been underwater turbulance. Either way, he was now up close and personal. "...Help!"

"It's on the way!" A chip featuring a Mettaur and the area being blasted behind it was inserted into the PET. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Slot in!"

The staple blue blaster formed right as the back cannons closed, in a surprising display of synchronosity. Aiming wasn't a problem; if anything, he'd probably have to aim in order to miss his target. He let out a single Shotgun blast, which hopefully wrapped that up. "...Sabrina, can we beat that last one really quick?"

"Uhh..." She looked over her chips, unable to find a way to beat a RogueLarkEX with two attacks...and then it hit her again. They could do it, but it'd take something other than a chip. "Yep! You've got water cannons, use 'em!"

Not one to hesitate when taking damage was an issue, SplashMan leaned forward towards the sole virus that he knew was still at it, and shot a mighty blast of water at it. After all, when you could tell it was a blast of water when it was underwater, it wasn't exactly going to tickle. "That oughta put a dent in it! But...how are we gonna finish it?"

"Leave it to me!" Sabrina's latest move involved inserting a chip featuring a Puffy...the pink, spiky edition. "Battlechip, AquaNeedle! Slot in!" Despite the size of the target, she took some care in making sure they would hit their target.

Back in the Net, the Navi could feel his Aqua power being tapped into, as three needles appeared above him, and shot forward towards the mega Lark. For a moment he felt relief, but a wave of dread suddenly began spreading through his body. "...Er, what if something messed up, and I get attacked?"

The young woman took a few moments, trying to come up with a good way to say what she was about to say. However, she had nothing. "Well...you're on your own with that. We've got Recover80 if that happens, but you're kinda a sitting duck for now..."

SplashMan shuddered, yet didn't try to hide, or even beg the viruses not to attack him. Surprisingly, he stood his ground. "...Well, if it helps that nice big Lark, I'll flow with it!" He puffed out his chest, and yelled, "Yeah!!! Do your worst, stupid giant Lark things!" Of course, as he said this, a sense of 'What the heck am I doing?!' creeped into his mind...

[Order of Turn:
1-Aqua Ram sig attack on RogueLarkEXB (110, Aqua, Impact + Knockback)
2-Shotgun chip attack on RogueLarkEXB (50, may hit another virus)
3-Water Splash attack on RogueLarkEXD (140, Aqua)
4-AquaNeedle1 chip attack on RogueLarkEXD (20+10 x 3, Aqua)]
Splashman wastes absolutely no time in attacking. He shoots across the crater's floor, leaving a perfectly straight line down the center, and rams a RogueLark. A familiar Shotgun later, the Lark is lying down on the seabed with two others.

The last Lark, now feeling very protective of itself, eyes Splashman carefully. True, the Water Splash it could not dodge, but in the end it whipped itself around and with surprising agility, manouvred itself in a fashion that it managed to evade one of the needles, leaving itself alive, and Splashman helpless. Taking complete advantage, the Lark sends a Wideshot barreling at Splashman; the Navi eats the souped-up blow full force and is sent flying. That must have hurt.

RogueLarkEXA: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXB: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXC: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXD: 25

Boulder: 25
"Father": 80

Splashman: 30

Terrain: 75% Aqua, 30% Cracked (crater in front of Splashman)


It took several moments after the painful, facedown landing for SplashMan to even partly recover from eating a full-force WideShot. Now he knew how viruses felt when he used it on them. "...Ow..." He managed to somewhat pick himself up off the floor, and raised to a kneel. "I hurt all over..."

Even Sabrina cringed at that blast. She had never seen a move that powerful come from something other than a Navi. "Hang in there! You're really close to winning!"

Winning? Oh yeah, he was protecting a virus village from that thing. He had kinda gotten that fact knocked out of him when he took that hit. "I gotta protect that boulder...!" While not exactly the fastest he had ever run, the Navi managed to reach a spot right in between the last virus and the home of the friendly Lark. "Now he's gotta get through me to get to here..."

"...Don't be so melodramatic! You've got UnderShirt if you get hit again, and I don't think that'll happen!" Three chips were simultaneously inserted into the PET at this point; all were a chip highly familiar to the eventual user. "Battlechip, Shotgun! Triple slot in!"

Once more, SplashMan's arm became prepared to fire blasts of energy, and he raised it to aim...a little on the shaky side, but it was still aiming. "How many times do I have to hit it, Sabrina?"

"Just once. So let him have it!"

That question, while relevant to the Navi, was more a stall for time due to the fact the shaking was making him take slightly longer to get a good shot. But eventually, he managed to get as good a bead on the RogueLarkEX as he would under non-stressed situations...not that hitting something that huge was especially challenging.

Boosh! Boosh! Boosh!

Three Shotgun blasts were fired in fairly rapid succession, all aimed at the sole remaining virus.

[Order of Turn:
1-Get between the boulder and RogueLarkEXD
2-Shotgun chip attack on RogueLarkEXD (50)
3-Shotgun chip attack on RogueLarkEXD (50)
4-Shotgun chip attack on RogueLarkEXD (50)]
Splashman unloads a blazing hail of Shotgun at the final Lark, who collapses and scatters into particles with a final roar.

But hang on, something wasn't right. It didn't take long to figure out the cause of the uneasy feeling; battle routine hadn't ended. What was blocking it?

RogueLarkEXA: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXB: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXC: DOWNED
RogueLarkEXD: DOWNED

Boulder: 25
"Father": 80

Splashman: 30

Terrain: 75% Aqua, 20% Cracked (crater behind Splashman), 5% Broken (line through middle of crater)
(OOC: You know, the Terrain adds up to 105%...)

"Phew...I did it!" SplashMan sunk in, glad it was finally over...or was it? For some reason, his connection with Sabrina's PET was still at battle levels. Which meant that all battle routines were still active. "Sabrina?"

"Yeah?" She was just as confused. "I don't get it...we beat all the giant Larks. The battle should be over..." She quickly rummaged through her folder for a pink chip, and took it out. "I've got a bad feeling about this...Battlechip, Recover80! Slot in!"

The Aqua Navi's body glowed as healing energy restored him to pre-massive WideShot levels. "That's better! Thanks! ...Um, I think I'm gonna go check on that Father Lark, okay?"

"Okay. Might be smart to see how he's doing."

SplashMan made his way towards the crack in the boulder, and took exactly one step in it. "Hey, are you okay, Mr. Father Lark? Sorry about the boulder getting hit, we got a little careless and let them get a hit in on the boulder...but they're all gone now!" A thought suddenly popped in his head; why not see if he knew about why the battle wasn't over? "Oh, I beat the four Larks, but my battle routines are still activated. Do you have any idea why?"

[Order of Turn:
1-Recover80 chip on SplashMan (80, recovers HP)
2-Head in the boulder and check on "Father"
3-If nothing's wrong, go back out and keep an eye out
4-More keeping an eye out]
<(Behold, my arseholeness at it's best.)>

Splashman heals up, then hustles into the boulder. The Father's eyes light up as he sees the Navi alive and well. "I am alive and well, thanks to you," the massive Lark rumbles. "The boulder is of no concern to me; it was merely created to protect me from the rogues, if only for a while," he adds, seeing the spiderweb of cracks on the walls.

"As for your question, I know not why. The ways and routines of Navis are unfamiliar to me, and the rogues had created their new bodies to suit their preferences. They may have installed a program of some sort that can save one from death, but my guesses do not do beyond that," the Father then replies. He did not know how right his guess was.

Suddenly, a massive bellowing sound could be heard outside; not a good sign. A second after, the boulder just ... exploded, sending rubble everywhere and leaving Splashman and the Father completely exposed to the threat. Three of the Larks; the last one's viral Undershirt having been pierced by the uneeded Shotguns, were still alive and kicking, if only just. One of them had it's mouth open, as if it had just launched something.

The other two launch their rounds as well. One plows into the stunned Father, making him groan in pain as he struggled to remain alive. Another one smashes into Splashman, sending him flying from the site of the rubble. The three Larks roared, their crazed eyes locked onto the Father.

RogueLarkEXA: 1
RogueLarkEXB: 1
RogueLarkEXC: 1
RogueLarkEXD: DELETED

Boulder: DESTROYED
"Father": 5

Splashman: 35

Terrain: 75% Aqua, 20% Cracked (crater behind Splashman), 5% Broken (line through middle of crater)
(...I was THIS close to attacking the fallen Larks, but nooo...I had to assume that them being down meant they were down for good. The saying about assuming strikes again!)

Good idea: checking on the friendly Lark. Bad idea: leaving the battlefield to check on said Lark. Despite his new-found injuries, SplashMan managed to make his way back towards the not-so-dead RogueLarkEX, though he wasn't quite able to get in front of the Father to defend him. "I won't reach him in time...I gotta take them out now!"

Luckily, there was one chip well-designed for taking out several weakened viruses at once. And so, Sabrina inserted this chip into her PET. "Well, here you go! Battlechip, Spreader! Slot in!"

An odd gun with a similar color scheme to Shotgun formed on the Navi's arm, and wasted no time in aiming it towards the remaining opposition. A single shot was fired, which soon spread into several, and peppered the area around the RogueLarkEX...some of which hopefully blasted them into oblivion. But what if it didn't? He didn't want to waste any time with chips...so instead of waiting, the Spreader faded, and was replaced with a generic looking gun, which surprisingly had never been seen.

"Splash Buster!" Three ordinary buster shots were quickly fired, each aimed towards where an enemy virus had been spotted immediately before the previous blast. SplashMan looked over the field of battle one more time; sure, he had two chances to hit each virus, but if even one was still around, a certain other Lark was toast...

[Order of Turn:
1-Spreader1 chip attack on RogueLarkEXA, RogueLarkEXB, and RogueLarkEXC (30)
2-Uncharged buster shot on RogueLarkEXA (2)
3-Uncharged buster shot on RogueLarkEXB (2)
4-Uncharged buster shot on RogueLarkEXC (2)]
The hailstorm of the Spreader shots and the generic buster shots ensure the deletion of the RogueLarks, ending both the battle routines, and the safety of the virus village.

The Father groans as he gets off his side to lie on his belly facing Splashman. "I am ... forever in your debt ... Splashman," he gasps between breaths. A few viruses rush from their hiding places to try and help the Father, but he patiently waves them away with a fin. After explaining that the rogues were gone and weren't coming back to the few that had come to him, he turned his attention back to Splashman. "I will ensure that you are remembered here. If by chance you stumble across our village in the future, you will be greeted with open arms," he rumbled.

Beyond the mass of viruses come to thank, hug, touch, or anything else that would make him feel like a celebrity, Splashman could just see a glint of data where the Larks used to be.

"Father": 5

Splashman: 30

-OUTCOME DETERMINED! SURVIVOR: SPLASHMAN.EXE!-
Rewards: 1000z, Wideshot1

<(MODLOCK DISENGAGED.)>
...And now it was finally REALLY over. All RogueLarkEX had been deleted, and neither he nor that Father Lark had been. All SplashMan could do is let out his equivalent of a sigh of relief. "Phew...I'm glad that's over..." He had little time to relax, due to lots of viruses wanting to get a look at the Navi that saved them all. "Er...you're welcome! But all I did was what was right! I shouldn't have to be thanked for that!"

"Oh come on, don't give them that! You saved them all from those giant Larks! Good job, SplashMan!" Sabrina gave her Navi a V sign through her PET.

"Ha ha...I guess! I appreciate your thanks, everyone! It makes that tough battle worth it!" ...Which reminded him, there should probably be victory data somewhere. ...Aha, there it was. "Sabrina, I'm sending reward data over! See what's in it!"

"Okay, and you can enjoy the celebration a little longer!" The young woman had her PET scan the data, which turned out to be a fair amount of cash...and chip data for WideShot. Awesome. "Ooh, WideShot! Now that's what we came to Yoka for!" A blank chip was inserted, and came out featuring a picture of a Lark. "Goodbye, Cannon!" Her final Cannon chip joined the rest in the wasteland of the reserve chip pocket, and was replaced with her latest (and arguably greatest) WideShot. "It's all analyzed, SplashMan! So I think it's time for us to say goodbye!"

"All right..." The Aqua Navi looked over the group one more time, then at the Father Lark. "Well, I guess it's time for me to head out...hope you all do well! Goodbye!"

Using that as a cue, Sabrina pressed a button on the side of her PET, causing her Navi to dematerialize, and leave the Yoka Net, in order to return to her handheld device.

(jackin' out back to Yoka's real world)