Cleaning the Bath

Magna landed square in the middle of the water filter's terminal, and noticed that it seemed rather vacant. Maybe this was an older model. Another thing that he noticed was that... he looked different. The differences were subtle, but they were there.

"Oh, I made that from the GMO file the NetPolice gave us. Your armor is a bit weaker like that, but you should be more mobile. The rustic colors I just added on a whim." explained Mill after catching Magna's confusion.

"I see." answered Magna plainly. "I don't see any programs in the immediate area, Operator."

"Do a scan, then." ordered Mill as he worked on organizing the tools in the box.

Magna complied, sending his protocols over a wide distance before drawing them back. "No programs, but viruses have been detected."

"Of course..." grumbled Mill. "I guess that explains why the water filter stopped working. Well, you know what to do, Magna."

(Battle 1 Start, Reaver.GMO active)
Magna finds himself on a broad pathway between two enormous pools of water. Every so often the path intersects another walkway, and so on.

A lone Shrimpy strafes into view as a trio of Piranha blink into existence as their kind generally do. The Piranha all vanish only to re-appear again a split second later in different places, with each of them sending a floating crosshair forth....

-----------
Summary
-----------

---Allies---
Magna: 120HP [On Normal Terrain]

---Enemies--- [Ahead, on Normal Terrain]
Piranha A: 60HP (Scanning)
Piranha B: 60HP (Scanning)
Piranha C: 60HP (Scanning)
Shrimpy: 100HP

---Terrain---
50% Normal
25% Sea (Large pool on the right)
25% Sea (Large pool on the left)
"And, of course... The broken water filter is filled with water." Mill sighed as he saw the battlefield in front of Magna. He really should've expected it, but somehow, it still caught him off guard. Maybe the Net just does that to you sometimes. "I'd stay away from the water if I were you, Magna. Somehow... I doubt you can swim."

"It is unlikely." confirmed Magna with no shame whatsoever. "Orders, Operator?"

Mill dug through his chip folder in response, looking for some inspiration. Not finding any, he pulled out the next chip he grabbed. "Huh... I don't think we've used this one yet." muttered Mill as he eyed the Boomerang1 between his fingers. He vaguely remembered trading for it not too long ago, but that was about it. Shrugging, he slotted in the chip to see what it could do.

The aptly named chip materialized in Magna's hand, growing to abnormal proportions to fit his equally abnormal hand. Some might say that an ill-proportioned boomerang isn't a boomerang at all, but Magna didn't care. So long as things got destroyed, it worked well enough. He shifted the weapon around in his hand for a moment to get a feel for the new chip's weight, and after remembering that the chip would auto-compensate for any lack of talent he himself had for tossing boomerangs, he threw it in a wide arc, trying to spin it around the Shrimpy and nail the trio of Piranhas hopping around.

While Magna was doing that, Mill kept digging through his chip folder, now running on a "rarely-used chips" line of motivation. Going by that, he found two of his oldest chips: Cannon and RageClaw. They had really fallen by the wayside as he picked up newer, stronger chips. Maybe it was time to show them a little love. Mill slotted the chips in, but not before blowing out the accumulated dust on them...

With the Boomerang gone, Magna's hands morphed into the next two chips, the left holding the Cannon while the right became the RageClaw. Not wasting any more time, Magna charged, firing the Cannon while closing the distance with the Shrimpy. Once he got up close, Magna thrusted with his melee weapon, carrying his own momentum into the attack as he tried to pierce straight through the virus. Managing to pull of one last move, Magna pulled his arm back, trying to dig into the Shrimpy and tear it apart with his claws.

Actions:
1. Boomerang1 @ Pirahna group (60 damage, Wood)
2. Cannon @ Shrimpy (40 damage)
3. RageClaw @ Shrimpy (40 damage, Slashing)
4. RageClaw @ Shrimpy (40 damage, Slashing)
The boomerang whips through the Piranha formation, slashing through and deleting all 3 of them. The Shrimpy and Magna exchange fire, each shooting the other. However, the Shrimpy is then turned into chopped sushi by Magna's RageClaw attacks.

-----------
Summary
-----------

Victory!!

---Allies---
Magna: 90HP [On Normal Terrain]
Get: 600z

---Enemies---
Piranha A: Deleted
Piranha B: Deleted
Piranha C: Deleted
Shrimpy: Deleted

---Terrain---
50% Normal
25% Sea (Large pool on the right)
25% Sea (Large pool on the left)
"Targets deleted, Operator." reported Magna after his successful assault. It was at that point that he noticed that the Shrimpy managed to hit him in the fight. Adding to the report, Magna continued, "Minor damage incurred."

Mill sighed, but dismissed it, "Well, at least it was water this time. I'm really tired of cleaning scorch marks off of you." In fact, Magna actually looked a little cleaner now than before, Mill noticed. That might be good to remember next time he didn't have a recovery chip on hand. "Anyway," Mill digressed, "are there any more viruses around?"

"It's likely." confirmed Magna.

"Alright, keep going then..." sighed Mill again. Nothing's been easy ever since he took this job...

(Battle 2 Start)
(Bump.)
Magna noted a thing pathway branching off of the one he was one. It was precariously thin, with the water on either side forming a fierce looking whirlpool. At the end of the pathway was another path more similar to the one he was on.

On the other pathway, he could see two Canodumbs, which seemed to be acing the thin pathway. There was a Walla sitting on the path, leaning up against a currently closed Shellgeek.

Looks dangerous. With a one panel wide path across, Magan would have to be careful, or risk falling into the whirlpools.

BATTLE SUMMARY
Enemies:

ShellGeekA: 100 HP [closed] [In front of WallaA, on thin path]
WallaA: 100 HP [On thin path path, behind ShellGeekA]
CanodumbA: 50 HP [On far pathway, to left]
CanoDumbB: 50 HP [On far pathway, to right]

Allies:
Magna: 90 HP

Terrain:
10% Normal (Edge of current pathway)
10% Normal (Edge of far pathway)
10% Normal (Long, thin pathway between)
35% Sea (To left of pathway) WHIRLPOOL
35% Sea (To right of pathway) WHIRLPOOL

((OOC: Note: In case you're wondering how I justify this, should Magna fall into the water, he'll be sucked into a battle with a couple fans, whose power makes the water whirl. After defeating them he could escape to the surface, if he can manage that.))

--BATTLE 2, START--
"These paths sure got narrow fast..." groaned Mill. If there was one thing Magna wasn't built for... it was small paths. There was no way Magna could navigate this without falling in the water... Which he would sink in, anyway. Just perfect. "Magna... Just don't move. You won't be able to get through this at all. Lemme just send you some chips, and we'll see how good your aim is." said Mill, warning his Navi to not drown himself as he uploaded some chips.

Soon enough, Magna's hands transformed, the right into an ElecRell, and the left into a Cannon. With his new armaments in hand, Magna looked up at his potential targets. The Canodumbs were routine enough, but the clam and the walrus looked new. Possibly Aqua element. The clam looked pretty hard too, but Magna was made to destroy things. Not a problem. He raised up his ElecReel to face the viruses on the thin path, and supercharged it with his own spare energy. With the weapon now crackling with energy, Magna fired, sending a bolt of electricity hurtling towards the ShellGeek and Walla. Not one to let up, Magna fired his Cannon right behind that, hoping to wipe out anything that survived the ElecReel.

With his Navi now out of shots, Mill grabbed one more chip and slammed it into his PET. Upon activation, a wall of data materialized in front of Magna, hardening into an IronShield1. With his defenses now solidified, Magna took it upon himself to continue the attack, activating one of his signature programs to strike the Canodumbs. The shutter on his left hand spun open as he pointed it towards the viruses, and soon started sucking air in at a powerful rate. While keeping himself behind the IronShield, Magna continued this windy assault on the first Canodumb, trying to suck its energy right out of its body.

Actions:
--Smash (Add Break to the following):
1. ElecReel1 (80 damage, Elec, Break) @ ShellGeek, Walla
2. Cannon (40 damage) @ Walla
3. IronShield1 (2 Hit Shield) in front of Magna
4. Shutter Tornado (50 Drain) @ CanodumbA

Cooldowns:
Shutter Tornado - 3 turns
(3-day bump.)
Magna fires at the two so far stationary enemies, sitting on the path. He successfully blew straight through the ShellGeek's Hardshell, but the attack veered slightly of course and unfortunately failed to hit its second target. The ShellGeek, being weak to the shocking grounded assault, was deleted instantly.

The cannon shot managed to blast the now solo Walla, who had no shell to lean on now, and seemed angrier at Magna. It fired its tusk-like projectiles at the large Gollum, who hastily pulled up a shield, blocking the attack.

Magna then used his power of sucking energy to drain one poor Canodumb of all its health, while the other shot at the assailant, bringing down his IronShield.

Half the viruses were gone; would Magna be able to take the other half?

BATTLE SUMMARY

Enemies:
ShellGeekA: -DELETED-
WallaA: 60 HP [On thin path path, behind ShellGeekA]
CanodumbA: -DELETED-
CanoDumbB: 50 HP [On far pathway, to right]

Allies:
Magna: 120 HP

Terrain:
10% Normal (Edge of current pathway)
10% Normal (Edge of far pathway)
10% Normal (Long, thin pathway between)
35% Sea (To left of pathway) WHIRLPOOL
35% Sea (To right of pathway) WHIRLPOOL
Mill had expected the electric attack to basically decimate both the ShellGeek and Walla, but it looked like the clam virus's she was just a bit too much for the ElecReel to pierce. No matter, though, he thought, since the rest of the attacks hit their mark, and the IronShield he laid performed its job nicely. Overall, a pretty successful strike, Mill thought. This was going well.

"Orders, Operator?" queried Magna.

... Oh, right. He wasn't the one fighting. For one reason or another, Mill had spaced out for a while and forgot about his Navi fighting and all that. Weird. In any case, Mill answered Magna, saying, "Uh... Just the Walla and Canodumb left, right? That shouldn't be too hard. You'll just get one chip this time, alright?".

"Understood." responded Magna, knowing that he probably didn't need too much firepower to end this fight. As if their thoughts were in sync, Mill slotted in a single chip, delivering to his Navi... a Minibomb. It certainly doesn't get much more low-powered than that. Oh well. Magna noticed that the Walla looked a little injured from the Cannon blast, so this might be enough. Rather than worry about "might be"s, "maybe"s, and "what if"s, though, Magna just lobbed the explosive at the Walla, figuring that he'd get his answer quickest this way.

Now, one left... Hmm... "Operator, are Canodumbs buoyant?" asked Magna somewhat off the cuff.

"What? Well... I guess not. I don't see how they could float or swim, at least." answered Mill cautiously, having never really thought about it before.

"Understood. Testing theory." With that, Magna lifted his left hand and pointed it at the hapless Canodumb. He stretched out his mechanical fingers, exposing the shutter on his palm, which quickly opened up and began radiating energy. It started off as a subtle glow, but with a little time, the light's intensity increased, steadily growing brighter and brighter until it was near blinding. Magna held onto it up to the point that it looked like his hand would melt off, then finally let the energy loose, sending a large laser beam hurtling across the water and bridges towards its target. Despite its destructive appearance, though, its power was pretty limited, so all Magna was trying to do was use the impact to push the virus into the whirlpool.

Actions:
1. Minibomb (60 damage, Blast 1) @ Walla
2. Charge
3. Charge
4. Charged Shot (32 damage, Break) @ CanodumbB (Push it into the water)

Cooldowns:
Shutter Tornado - 2 turns
Magna decides to end the battle with a little bit of supieriority.

Chucking off one of the Net's least valuable chips, he managed to pin his enemy successfully. The resulting explosion sent a charred looking corpse missing a good chunk of data falling into the left whirlpool.

Magna then stared down the remaining Canodumb. After gathering sufficient energy, he fired the gigantic beam of energy at the remaining target.

The Canodumb also seemed to think it was a good idea to shoot, but it was a step too late. Before being able to fire, it was engulfed in light. Unfortunately, the distance travelled over the water had had a more dampening effect on the knockback of the attack than Magna had hoped.

When the light passed by, the Canodumb could be seen laying on the ground, facing the sky. It was certainly still alive, though, and fired the shot meant for Magna into the sky.

Now Magna was left on the opposite side of a dangerous set of whirling seas from his remaining target, which seemed unlikely to be able to return fire, since it struggling didn't seem to be helping it up. It did seem to be a slightly more annoying target, depending on the kind of attack, as it was now laying flat on the ground.

Whatever would the golem do?

BATTLE SUMMARY

Enemies:
ShellGeekA: -DELETED-
WallaA: -DELETED-
CanodumbA: -DELETED-
CanoDumbB: 18 HP [Opposite path, lying flat on ground]

Allies:
Magna: 120 HP

Terrain:
10% Normal (Edge of current pathway)
10% Normal (Edge of far pathway)
10% Normal (Long, thin pathway between)
35% Sea (To left of pathway) WHIRLPOOL
35% Sea (To right of pathway) WHIRLPOOL
"The water... dampens your laser beam? That's strange... Glad we didn't find out in a more dangerous situation." said Mill with a sigh. At least there weren't any other viruses left to hit Magna when he was open. "Can you finish it off on your own, Magna? You really need to get moving if we plan on finishing today..." asked the Operator as he glanced at the time.

"I'll try." answered Magna reluctantly. This was almost like kicking someone when they were down, the Navi thought as he looked at the Canodumb. But... Like Mill said, they did have a job to do. Besides, it's pretty much a mercy killing at this point, justified Magna. So, with conscience cleaned, Magna raised his right hand forward and unleashed a quick series of buster shots from his palm, aiming to end the battle swiftly.

Actions:
1-4. Buster shot x4 (8x4 damage) @ CanodumbB

Cooldowns:
Shutter Tornado - 1 turn
Magna, taking pity for the remaining virus' "corpse," blasts a couple of lasers into its nearly-dead body, and finishes the job. May it rest in pieces.

Enemies:
ShellGeekA: -DELETED-
WallaA: -DELETED-
CanodumbA: -DELETED-
CanoDumbB: MERCY'D

Allies:
Magna: 120 HP

Terrain:
10% Normal (Edge of current pathway)
10% Normal (Edge of far pathway)
10% Normal (Long, thin pathway between)
35% Sea (To left of pathway) WHIRLPOOL
35% Sea (To right of pathway) WHIRLPOOL

-VICTORY-
Get: TwinFang1, 300z
With the immediate viruses gone, some zenny and new chip data flowed through Magna and into his PET. "Wow, this is pretty good..." noted Mill of the latest spoils of battle. "I'm sure I can keep this as overtime pay." he nodded, not really wanting to convince himself otherwise.

"More viruses are nearby, Operator." announced Magna, having done a quick scan of the general area.

"Alright, get to it then. Just be careful crossing those small bridges. I don't really want to find out what happens to you in water..." muttered Mill, imagining his Navi sinking like a rock.

(Battle 3 start)
Magna continued on to a relatively normal battlefield, only skirted on the very edges, to his left and right, by any water.

He encountered a trio of Spooky Viruses, sitting and staring through him, seemingly surprised. Apparently they weren't expecting to be deleted by such a mountain of a Navi today.

This battle could only be too easy.

There was the matter, though, of that inescapable feeling that he was being followed...

BATTLE SUMMARY:
ENEMY GROUP 1:
SpookyA: 30 HP
SpookyB: 30 HP
SpookyC: 30 HP

ENEMY GROUP 2:(Behind Magna, They're Sneaking up on you. better watch out)
MistyA: 100 HP
MistyB: 100 HP
MistyC: 100 HP

Mill's Little Gollum Buddy:
Magna.EXE: 120 HP

Terrain:
5% Water [Left Edge]
90% Normal


5% Water [Right Edge]

BATTLE 3 START.

"That can't be right..." grumbled Mill, forcing his PET to recount the number of viruses nearby. He saw 3. The PET said 6. The recount finished, and it still said 6. "Magna, do you have any explanation for this?" sighed Mill, obviously frustrated.

"The air around here is unnaturally humid, even for Yoka Net. I find it unlikely that the Spookys are the source of this." answered the Navi tentatively, being not entirely sure himself. It was definitely humid, though, especially for how little water was around. Magna could tell that he'd be sweating buckets if he had pores. And the humidity seemed to be coming from... behind? He'd turn around and check, but showing your back to Spookys probably wasn't the best idea.

"Well, let's assume the PET's right, and there are 3 more viruses we can't see. Chances are good that you're surrounded. Solution?" queried Mill.

"Would I still be surrounded if the Spookys were destroyed?" responded the Navi with his own question.

"Well... yeah." answered Mill, taken aback by how blunt his Navi's train of thought was.

"Understood." With that in mind, Magna charged straight towards the trio of Spookys.

"Wait, wait, wait! Jeez..." grumbled Mill as he fumbled to arm the impatient Navi with a chip. Mill grabbed the first chip he could find, the new TwinFang1 that he hadn't put away yet, and slammed it into the PET as fast as he could.

The new weapon assembled itself on Magna's hand, which he wasted no time in firing, sending a pair of needles flying out towards the two Spookys on the sides. While he did that, Mill finally managed to get into his folder and rummage for another chip, which he promptly sent to his Navi. With the TwinFang launcher expired, it was quickly replaced by the ever-familiar RageClaw. With blades now in hand, Magna lunged towards the center Spooky, trying to pierce it in a single blow.

"Keep moving, Magna!" ordered Mill, concerned that the TwinFang, which he knew next to nothing about, might miss.

Magna heard this and carried himself through his lunge, pushing himself past the ranks of the Spookys. Not satisfied with that, he moved forward a bit more before turning around, wanting to get all his enemies facing him from a single side.

Actions:
1. TwinFang1 (70 damage x2 targets) @ SpookyA/SpookyC
2. RageClaw (40 damage, Slashing) @ SpookyB
3. Movement (Push through the Spooky line)
4. Movement (Create more distance)
The Spookys were caught off guard with Magna's first assault, two of them deleted instantly. Charging up to the final Spooky, the Golem slashed down with might, but the Spooky quickly flipped over Magna's head, landing behind him. It tried turning around to retaliate, but a Misty accidentally crashed into it, rendering both stunned for the moment.

The other two Mistys gave chase, but Magna had put quite the bit of distance between him and his enemies, and now turned around.

He was surrounded no longer.

ENEMIES:
SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: 30 HP (Stun!) [2 Actions away]
SpookyC: DELETED
MistyA: 100 HP
MistyB: 100 HP (Stun!) [2 Actions away]
MistyC: 100 HP

Mill's Little Gollum Buddy:
Magna.EXE: 120 HP [Rageclaw]

Terrain:
5% Water [Left Edge]
90% Normal


5% Water [Right Edge]

Now that he could get a good, clear view of what he was up against, Magna was kinda wishing he didn't. That last Spooky was no big deal, but the others... those big, steamy hands. They looked pretty tough. Considering that they were pretty much made of water, electricity should do a pretty good number on them, but still... There were 3 of them, and he had 2 Elec chips. This one would probably take some strategy.

Mill, too, was thinking that. These were all grounded enemies, so the ElecReel was the obvious choice. However... One shot. That's all Magna would have. Screw that up and it'd be a long, messy fight, which Mill really didn't want to deal with. Luckily, though, there was something that worked to his and Magna's advantage: the stunned viruses a little ways back. They won't be going anywhere for a while, so if Magna could draw the other Mistys back to them... Yeah, this was probably the best bet, Mill decided. He relayed the plan to his Navi and asked, "Think you can do it?"

"I can try." answered Magna, not long before he leapt back the way he came, towards the pair of Mistys following him. With as much speed as he could muster, Magna hurried past the two viruses, then promptly slowed back down to try and draw them towards him, all the while inching back to the stunned Spooky and Misty. Just a little more... Just a little more... thought Magna as he drew the viruses closer to their stunned allies. The danger here was that he was currently unarmed, since the Mistys probably wouldn't want to follow him if he was armed with a high-power Elec chip. But, suddenly... a chance! Mill slammed the ElecReel into the PET, making the weapon appear in the Navi's hand. Not wasting another second, Magna fired, trying to encompass as many targets as possible.

Actions:
1-2. Movement (Draw MistyA/MistyC close to SpookyB/MistyB)
3. ElecReel1 @ Spooky (80 damage, Elec)/Misty Group (80 x2 damage, Elec, Elemental Bonus)
4. Dodge
With a Crack, Snap, Pop, the viruses are zapped into their singulars of datum. They slowly disperse into the net, leaving behind some fragments of reward data behind.

Reward: 750z, MistConv