Chilling in Yoka

Yuki scrambled onto the shore and executed her desperate plan to short out the bombs. One of the Larks attacked with a wideshot after she had resurfaced but only managed to set off her Guard. She took aim and took a precise shot and successfully managed to hit the enormous lake. However, the electricity fizzled out and didn't affect anything. The other Lark slowly glided off the water and onto the shore before firing another Wideshot at the navi. The final submerged Lark also rose out of the water, finding nothing of interest under the sea.

Meanwhile, the two bombs continued to tick down.



LarkA: 100HP (Normal)
LarkB: 80HP (Sea)
LarkC: 100HP (Sea)
HandyA: DELETED
HandyB: DELETED

Terrain: 70% Sea, 30% Normal (Shore)

Yuki-Onna.EXE: 120HP (Normal)
A = Real B = Dud
BombA: 100HP [[1]] (sea)
BombB: 100HP [[1]] (sea)
(Erm, please don't mod my posts at the moment Pocket. I want things sorted out.)

Yuki grimaced as the wave shots seemed to hit her effectively. They had a rather large area of cover and a much easier time. Once again, her plan seemed to back fire, but this was getting to be a rather common occurrence at the moment. The sea wasn't to handy when it came to reliably holding a charge. Still the pressing matter was the 2 count bombs.

Diving would likely not work, and chancy tactics were not going to be helpful. Still, while the wide shot was effective, it stopped at the first object it hit. With the way the lark positioned itself, it looked like it had some friendly fire potential and not very maneuverable. "Aoi, when that wave hit me, how much damage did it do?" Aoi thought it over and used a calculator. "It comes at around 20 damage. Why?" "I may need a sword."

With no time wasted, the sword appeared on her arm and Yuki quickly began her run. She had to keep moving. Her first target was the closest time bomb. She delivered one slash at it and moved right at the second one and delivered a slash right to the side of the device. She just needed to get pass them and on the other side. If the larks decide to do the viral thing and follow her movements then shoot, hopefully one or two wide shots deal with the count bombs. Otherwise she was going to look like the after effects of one of those saturday morning cartoons.

<<Action>>
1: Sword strike CountbombA(80 slashing)(5 uses left)
*passive aim
2: Sword slash CountbombB(80 slashing + aim)(4 uses left)
3: Use tactical move to position self so the count bombs are between her and the Larks to try and get them to destroy their own bombs with their wide shots.
Going up to the bombs, Yuki sliced up the bombs with her sword. Her blade cut through the first one, but just before she could lift it again to cut the second, one of the Lark fired on her. The wideshot fortunately hit the bombs instead, with both exploding, one normally, the other damaging the Lark that hit it! Apparently the second was a dud. So she just stayed cool, got hit by another Wideshot, and still stayed cool. (20)

LarkA: 100HP (Normal)
LarkB: 30HP (Sea)
LarkC: 100HP (Sea)
HandyA: DELETED
HandyB: DELETED

Terrain: 70% Sea, 30% Normal (Shore)

Yuki-Onna.EXE: 100HP (Sea) (Sword 5/6)

BombA: Exploded
BombB: Exploded
"..Wow." Yuki nodded at the response as the one bomb blew up at the lark's face. She looked at her sword and the badly burned Lark. "So... I gather these can explode due to touching them?" Aoi gulped and nodded. Both of them were a bit stunned until another wave hit her. This was going to be one of THOSE sort of battles.

Still, it seemed that the truth of the wide shot stopping after hitting one object WAS very handy. There were still three of them, but their attacks were rather 2-Dimensional. She was standing on top of the sea. If attacking them in a standard linear battle won't work, she would attack them from all side.

Wasting no time, Yuki readied her sword as she dived head first into the middle of the group of larks at sea... and right into the sea itself. As the splash of water follwed her sudden dive, she quietly waited for the bubbles to thin a bit before doing anything. It would be a plus if the shore bound lark hit the two sea bound larks, or even if the sea bond larks somehow hit each other. But that wasn't her main goal.

As the bubbles began to drift up, she could see the forms of the two larks as her Goggles began to analyze the data. One sword blow can deal with the already weaken lark, but for her main goal to work, she needed to aim for the healthy one. As the last of the bubbles reach the top, she quickly thrusted her sword through the sea and aimed it right at LarkC's underbelly before withdrawing it again.

Hit or miss, at the best it's distracting and engaging enough for the Larks to not look above them. Running the estimated areas of her Goggles, Yuki quietly waited and readied herself as Aoi slotted in the new chip she got: Aquaneedle. She never tried it out, but the principals were the same for Snowman down. Aim at where the enemy will likely be, adjust for size, and make sure they won't move alot. As the three javelins of water formed above the battle field, she quietly called them down at their targets. This was her plan. If all goes well, she could weaken them just enough for one single sword strike to work on any of them. With no countdowns to worry about, she had time and flexibility to work with.

Maybe she will get some Lark skewers and sashimi this time?

<<ACTIONS!>>
1: Dive near Lark B & C. Hope that Lark A wideshots them for some friendly fire damage.(submerged)
2: Stab the underside of Lark C with SWORD.(80 slash damage 4 uses left.)
*passive aim*
3: Use AquaNeedle1 on all 3 larks with passive aim. 1 hit each.(each hit does 20 aqua damage plus 5 due to elemental bonus.). If a Lark was deleted before this, use the extra hit to finish off Lark B.

OOC: Fera said as long as I stab my sword upward through the top of the water, I remain submerged. So talk to him about this before auto emerging me.
Diving into the sea, Yuki managed to overcome the main problem of the Larks firing constantly at her as she simply watched the water shots fly over her head, with one shot becoming friendly fire. Then, she surprised one of her attackers with a direct stab upwards, catching the manta ray in its path. Then, she fired three needles towards the Lark, deleting two of the viruses in an instant.

LarkA: 75HP (Normal)
LarkB: DELETED
LarkC: DELETED
HandyA: DELETED
HandyB: DELETED

Terrain: 70% Sea, 30% Normal (Shore)

Yuki-Onna.EXE: 100HP (Sea) (Sword 4/6) (Submerge)
As Yuki watched quietly from the water, she could here the *SHHHNNK* of the aqua needles impaling the two Lark above her as their bodies feel as they were deleted. Two rather troublesome foes at once was a rather big deal. With the ones at sea dealt with, the only real trouble was the land bound virus.

The options were simple to weigh. Use her remaining long rang chip and Snowman down to take it down without fully emerging, or wait for it to come to her and finish it off with her sword. Both were rather safe methods of fighting, but it relied solely on them coming for her or staying there. Still, safety was better than rushing in and getting blown up like that Lark. Tapping his foot, Aoi sipped his drink. "Come on Yuki, there's one enemy left. You can take them like the other 4."

Yuki shook her head. "The Lark is probably waiting and having a shot ready. By the time we emerge and get a shot off, it would probably hit us too. We don't have a lot of options." Aoi sipped his drink and looked at the positions.

"Why not stab it from above?"

A sign clicked in Yuki's head as she thought it over. "Mind explaining?" Aoi nodded and gave another sip. "Wide shot is a two dimensional attack. It will always fire straight in the direction given to it. So why not build up speed from underwater and come at it in a arc? It's alot slower than a straight on charge, but it should make it harder for it to hit you. Hang on, let me download the cannon. You can use it to give yourself some more push."

As the cannon formed on her arm, Yuki nodded as she was given her commands. Diving deep to get herself some maneuverability, she quickly picked up speed as she headed towards the surface and the Lark. Just before she breached the surface, she fired the cannon at a downward angle to give herself one last push as she breached the surface. Making sure to to angle herself so she didn't hit the ground face first, she readied her sword arm for some stabbing fun.

Both of them did their best to resist saying "DEATH FROM ABOVE."

<<Actions>>

1 & 2: Use the Cannon's knockback and tactical movement to jump out of the sea panel in a arc at LarkA to.
3: Use Sword plus passive aim to finish off Lark A.(80 slashing 3 uses left and take aim used.)
Yuki breaches the water in a FLYING LEAP of epic proportions, twisting straight over a wideshot fired by the Lark, then lands sword-first upon the thing, finishing it off.

LarkA: DELETED
LarkB: DELETED
LarkC: DELETED
HandyA: DELETED
HandyB: DELETED

Terrain: 70% Sea, 30% Normal (Shore)

Yuki-Onna.EXE: 100HP (On shore)

VICTOLY!

Rewards: 520z, Wideshot.
As the final lark made a sickening squish as it was impailed and deleted, Yuki smiled as she picked up the beautiful Wideshot data. "What, no one liner?" Yuki raised an eyebrow to Aoi's voice. "Explosions, stealth killing, and a acrobatic execution. You should have one one liner from all that." Yuki adjusted her goggles a bit from the odd command. "Aoi, I thought we went over this before. I am not good at this."

Aoi rolled his eyes at Yuki shaking off the chance to have a little fun. "Come on, if you don't, I will." Sighing and rubbing her forehead, she decided to humor Aoi. He deserved something after massaging some old man's wrinkly back. "Alright... ummm.. that Blue Ray went out with a bang?" Aoi remained silent and slotted in his last minisub energy into Yuki.

"I think we both need practice."

"Ummm yeah. Let's move on, shall we?"

"Yes. Lets."

(Sub energy used to heal 50 damage to raise yuki-onna to 150 hp. READY FOR ROUND FOUR!)
[Modlocked]

Yuki continues on, moving away from the sea...

Walking, walking, walking along, the air seems to get more and more steamy the farther in she goes...

She hears a loud sound-- rushing water, and through the mists she can see a few massive geysers spouting off far in the distance. She continues on.

The mists clear a bit as she nears a large, steamy pool of water; it's fairly shallow, about thigh-deep, and appears to be 'naturally' formed-- although that much is just an illusion. A geyser, shooting a small distance out of a nearby empty panel, feeds into the pool, and a large, wooden, Electopian-style building sits just off to the side of it; it seems to be an inn, with a sign out front, hanging just to the side of the door...

Yuki notices a sign near the pool. It reads: "Property of the Azure Stream Inn. Please inquire inside if you wish to enjoy the hot-springs."

Yuki-Onna.EXE: 150
As Yuki walked away from the sea, she listened to the sound of running water and was rather surprised at what she saw. To say the least, it was odd to see a actual hot spring inn INSIDE the net. "Huh. Well, isn't this a treat? What do you think Aoi?" Aoi hummed for a minute. "It's probably related to a inn around here. Makes sense since there are so many here in the real world, why not some on the net?"

Yuki nodded as she looked at the onsen. She never experienced one before. Most of the water she saw was frozen in the AC system. "I won't stop you Yuki. That last fight was probably a bit stressful and it wouldn't hurt to try something new." Yuki was rather surprised at the offer for her to relax while Aoi was on break. Giving a nod, she looked at the sign. "Well, I guess it would only be polite to go to the front desk before I do anything." Heading to the large building that would likely be the inn, she made sure to open the door gently to see who was there.

"Hello? I would like to try out the hot springs. Anyone there?"
The door opens into a relatively modest entry room; a single door on the far side leads to the inn proper, and some chairs placed around a table are on the left half of the room. To the right is, indeed, a front desk, staffed by a bored-looking navi in a kimono, who is currently reading a magazine... "Studmen Navis"...?

The navi perks up when the door opens, her wavy brown hair swishing through the air as she quickly hides the magazine. "H- um. Hi- no, uh- Hello there!" she says flusteredly.

There is a slight pause as the navi remembers that she is, in fact, on the clock.

"Erm, welcome to the Azure Stream Inn & Hot-springs!" She says, bowing slightly from behind the desk. "Please, do come in!" the navi waves Yuki over...
As Yuki looked inside the rather oriental building, she was surprised to see that there wasn't any visitors along side her. Watching the nervous navi usher Yuki in, Aoi could somehow feel kinship in the fact that she seemed to be nervous at the front desk. It was one of those customer service things. Oh the sorrows and torments of being minimum wage and dealing with customers who don't know what they want.

Coming to the front desk, Yuki looked around and focused on what she wanted. "Yes, I would like to try out the hot springs I noticed earlier. How much does it cost for a dip?" She smiled and tried to frame the question politely. It would be disrespectful to be rude to the receptionist. After all, she was pretty sure she would be spat out by Aoi for doing so.

Still, it seemed awfully quiet. Where were the spa goers? The inn guests? The obligatory old guy who complains about how his pillow isn't soft enough and talks about the old days? It seemed so quiet. Almost ghost like.
"For the basic course, which is just a dip in our luxurious hot springs, where we let you borrow one of our Onsen GMOs, it is 200z. If you would like to receive a customizable onsen GMO with your dip, the price is 700z. If you would like the full course where you also receive a snazzy chip with your luxurious, relaxing bath in the hot springs, in addition to the GMO, it is 1200z." The navi rattles off quickly, emphasizing how luxurious the hot-springs are every time she mentions them. You get the feeling she's had to practice saying this a lot. "So which will it be? Basic, Advanced, or Premium?"
Listening closely to what the navi said, Aoi and Yuki thought it over for a bit and spoke on the private chat. "What do you think Aoi? What should we get? They all sound good." Aoi scratched his side as he took another sip. GMOs were hard to find these days and rather expensive to get. Getting one for an extra 500 zenny was a good deal. Not only that, but an extra 500 got them a chip. It would leave them broke again, but at the least they would have a new GMO and Chip for their efforts. Besides, they didn't have to worry about cash for now thanks to his job.

"Well, I don't see why not. Here's 1200 for the Premium. Go have some fun." Yuki was surprised at Aoi's willingness to spend all the cash they earned. Giving a happy smile at the chance for a break, she placed the 1200 zenny on the desk. "I would like the Premium service please. Here's all 1200 zenny."
The navi smiles, taking the zenny. She reaches behind the desk, then pops back up with two things: the first is a small glowing square, the GMO, and the second would appear to be a small blue box with a yellow question mark emblazoned on the top.

"You should go ahead and format the GMO before you go out," the navi at the desk informs you, "but save opening the box until you get out there. It's a better surprise that way." She tilts her head ever-so-slightly to the side and then smiles at Yuki.
As the navi handed her the two small objects, Yuki smiled back at her as she picked up the .GMO and 'mystery data'. As she began to format the data with Aoi's help, Aoi began to voice his concerns on private chat. "A mystery box that we have to open in a hot spring area containing chip data. Either this is a trap, or it's a something that you don't want indoors." Yuki nodded at the comment as the form of the GMO takes place and responds. "Either way, it would be better to follow along. At least we know something is up and not following through would likely do more damage."

As the final bits of formating go through, Yuki admired their handiwork. Sure enough, it was practical compared to other swim suits. Instead of the popular bikinis, this one was a nice one piece. Her handy goggles have been turned into swim goggles as opposed to snow goggles. "You know, it wouldn't hurt to go full out with a bikini. Maybe some towels instead." Yuki rolled her eyes and chuckled at the obvious response. "It would be wise to be practical if this is a trap. We don't need anything that messes with my programs or give us a disadvantage. Besides, I thought you couldn't get a rise down there?"

Stunned by the comment, Aoi paused for a moment as Yuki headed to hot springs outside. "That was... cold." Yuki gave a happy chuckle at the come back. "Well, that fits us doesn't it? Now then, let's see what's inside this little box?" As she stepped into the hot spring, she opened up the small blue box with a question mark and readied herself.

<<HotSpring.GMO online and Mystery Box opened inside Hotspring!>>
Yuki opens the box... and a beam of light shoots into her chest, sending data rocketing upward through her link to the PET. Aoi sees a message pop up; 'chip data downloaded. Please insert blank chip.'

...Apparently it wasn't a trap, mister paranoid.

The box disappears in a small cartoon-y explosion, complete with the word 'boom' overlaid upon it.
As Yuki opened the container, she opened her eyes wide as the data beamed right into her body. As the heat from the moment surprised her as she relaxed in the hot springs, Aoi saw the data signal come in as he placed a blank chip in the PET. "Well, that was a surprise. We really did get what we asked for."

Yuki gave a smirk as she stretched in the spring. "You say that as a bad thing Aoi. I think this is the first situation that didn't get overly complicated for either of us in a long time." Aoi nodded his head as he gave a sigh that Yuki could easily hear. "...Do you want to go back home?" Aoi gave a surprised look and almost choked on his drink. "W-what?! Hell no! What makes you think that?"

Yuki gave a shrug as she squirted some water with her hands. "You left your home in a real huff Aoi. You brought just enough cash to get by, and haven't had a lot of luck job searching. Even though you don't get along with them, you would at least have a stable place to live and plenty of food." Aoi mumbled a bit under his breath and took a small sip. "Going back there would be a bad idea. They'd keep me in the house 'for my own good' and likely get rid of you for 'giving me ideas'. I may not be living the high life, but it is my life... could use less of the girly clothes though."

Yuki gave a laugh at Aoi's comment. "I don't know, you look rather cute in it! Maybe you should dress like that more often and things might turn better!" Aoi gagged again on his drink as his face turned bright red. "Ummm.. well, let's see what chip this is, shall we?
Aoi sticks a blank chip into the PET, which gives off a small chirp and downloads...

...A Vulcan1!

----

Meanwhile, Yuki relaxes in the hot springs. Surprisingly, she can feel the hot waters repairing her systems as she soaks-- fixing a broken subroutine here, repairing damage there, emptying out any junk cache data...

All in all, she feels quite a lot better once she gets out.

Yuki-Onna: 170
As Aoi finally saw the data transfer to his card, he was rather surprised to find a Vulcan1. While not the best chip around, it had a lot of versatility compared to the cannon. Not an expensive chip, but worth more than the price given to it. Besides, he got a swimsuit mod for Yuki. That's not so bad. After waiting a bit, he checked up on Yuki. "Well? How was it? Did you enjoy yourself?"

Giving a relaxed breath, Yuki exited the hot spring and gave a good stretch. "Ahhhh, I can understand why people like hot springs so much. Feels like I'm good as new. I think I may have lost that excess junk data from that spam mail a while ago." Aoi smiled and nodded as Yuki seemed a lot better now. A little break was all they needed.

However, before they headed back on the road, Yuki decided to head back to the Inn. At the very least she should thank the receptionist for the deal and all the stuff. Making sure she was dry before entering, she walked in with her swimsuit and gave a polite bow to the receptionist. "Thank you for the lovely hot spring miss. I would come here again when I get the funds and time." Giving a polite smile she headed on her way out.