An Introduction to Counterinfectionalism

Traceur and Exorcist heal up and head out.

Forward, they find a formidable amount of viruses. Five Piranha's lead the way with three augmented Ironshields behind them. Further behind those were the bouncing Trumpy and the mysterious Brushman. The terrain doesn't look so hazardous, but this would be a tough group to deal with.

Let's get started.

-Forward-
PiranhaA: 60 HP
PiranhaB: 60 HP
PiranhaC: 60 HP
PiranhaD: 60 HP
PiranhaE: 60 HP

-More Forward- [2 Actions Away]
IronshieldEXA: 160 HP
IronshieldEXB: 160 HP
IronshieldEXC: 160 HP

-Really Forward- [3 Actions Away]
Brushman: 100 HP
Trumpy: 90 HP

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Teachers-
Exorcist.exe: 85 HP
Traceur.CMD: 95 HP

-READY?-
-BATTLE 9-
-LET'S ROCK-
Burt pulled out his collar, laughing awkwardly. "Ah ha ha! Well, I can always lower my standards," he laughed, seemingly jokingly but with an eerie pinch of lingering hope still hidden behind his smile.

"Hmm, more enemies and again in formation. They must be stepping up the scale of their attacks, realizing the threat that we pose to their dwindling numbers. That's a sign of positive progress, right, Traceur?" Exorcist asked her ally, clapping her hands together once excitedly and smiling. "Well, I know they're not at high altitude, but facing all of those fish is going to be difficult without a weapon that has a tremendous range of attack. I'd like the doll thunder to try to take out as many at once as I can manage, if you would, Burt."

"Well aren't you being a go-getter this time around, my lovely navi?" Burt laughed, slotting through the chip. Along with the dollthunder, he pulled out a rageclaw, and slotted it through. "On the other hand, Traceur's being kind of lazy, riiight? Let's toss him into the action so that he can be a little more active in this fight."

Exorcist lifted her hat momentarily, scratching her head as she considered the idea of her picking up her ally and tossing him behind enemy lines into dangerous and unpredictable evil spirits. "Um, okay, I guess. I'll be gentle," she laughed shyly, readying the doll thunder chip into her repertoire. The piranhas were at the front of the group and, although she'd never fought their type before, she wasn't eager to learn what they would do if given the opportunity. Focusing, she raised her hands to the sky and attempted to call down lightning to smite them. "Dieties of the stars! Lend me your power to purify this world of the evil that contaminates it! Destroy my foes with righteous lightning!"

"Overdone," Burt coughed quietly, taking another swig of his cola.

Not hearing Burt's comment, Exorcist readied the claw weapon, trying to think of how to tackle the plan's execution. "Pardon me, Traceur, I'll try to make this as comfortable as I can manage." The navi's hands glew with a yellow aura as she focused her chi, then hooked her arms beneath Traceur's from behind. "Alley-oop!" she cried, flinging him through the air and hopefully behind the lines of the enemy. Burt slapped his knee, laughing hysterically at his navi's antics. "Burt, that was your idea! You're not making fun of me, are you?" she asked, tensing her eyebrows angrily as an embarrassed shade of red crept across her face.

"No, no Exxy! That was just pretty priceless, the expression on his face," the operator laughed, removing his glasses and wiping his eyes, then replacing them unsteadily.

Pouting, Exorcist hoped decided to hope for the best. She quickly scanned the ranks of piranha for any survivors, determining to stop any opposition that remained at the front. At the same time, she kept her eyes open for any enemy attacks, especially from the imposing, mechanical figures that sat motionless upon the battlefield.

1) Dollthunder1 to Piranha group [60 x 2 for elec vs. aqua]
2) Rageclaw to Traceur to throw past enemy group [20?]
3) Rageclaw to surviving Piranha [40]
*) Swordplay for free dodge
"Alright, there's trumpies back there, so I should run ba- Throwing me sounds like a decent idea, but how are you going to do it? Boost me?" Traceur felt Exorcist grasp him, then was surprised by the surge of strength as he went catapulting into the air. "Whoaaaa-?!" He let out in in a gasp of air as he made impact with the ground around the area of the trumpy and brushman. "A bit unorthodox, but a good plan, Exorcist!" He yelled out to his ally, giving her a thumbs up as he turned to the viruses.

"Ow, my back." He muttered, wincing a little while rotating his shoulder blades. Traceur's fall hadn't been the nicest one, and he still felt the effects of him tearing the wisp out in a rather- forceful manner. "Alright, I'm going to need some high-class chips to take these two viruses out and still aid Exorcist. They aren't that mobile, so I should be able to web them in place and follow up with a sensor chip. That would probably work to execute both of them."

"Alright, let's get this show on the road then, Traceur." Travis grinned, eager to show Burt up for his comment toward Traceur's landing and whatever his surprised expression, he was sure it was pretty damn justified what with Exorcist literally hurling his navi through the air. "Anything else in particular you'll be needing?"

"Well, Ironshield's designation presumes that it's at least somewhat impermeable to attack, so I'll be using a quick Ironshell on them, I think. It looks like it's got a shield, too, so that makes this much, much easier. It can only point one way at once, I hope." The navi gave a quick thumbs up to his operator as he prepared to assault the viruses.

"Here's the chips then, Traceur, just let me---" Travis rummaged through the chips once again, picking out the riskyhoney and looking at it, somewhat interested. He decided to take a closer look when the navis weren't trying to fight for their lives, and he could actually test it out. The chips were slotted in without further ado, and Traceur's grin grew wider.

"Here we go, let's make this quick!" The navi's hand darted for the never-ending supply of tiny grenades, popping each of them open, and throwing them out with a slight growl. He had one remaining, so he hurled it at a random one of the ironshields, shrugging slightly. Using the fact that he could line two viruses up without too much trouble, he flicked his arm upward, summoning the gridwork that quickly formed a miniaturized beam cannon with a laser sensor. It blinked, once, twice, and Traceur was satisfied. He turned his attention toward the Ironshields, which seemed far more formidable of a foe, albeit the urgency of taking out a virus that would cause all their foes to become invincible.

"Alright, seems I'm summoning quite a few things today," Traceur muttered as he snapped his fingers, walking closer to the Ironshields so he could get a lineup on them, and summoning the ball. It popped open to get a good look, then closed to swerve off at the foes. Traceur sighed as he shrugged.

"That's all I can do for now, Exorcist!" The navi called out, positioning himself in a crouch to hide behind what cover the ironshell could give him.

"I want to get out of here soon, Traceur, Burt is really creeping me out... Dunno why I signed up for his class..." Travis muttered to his navi under his breath.

1] Whiteweb: 40 to Trumpy, Brushman, IronshieldEXA, Hold/Trap/Grapple all.
2] Sensor1: position so it targets Trumpy and Brushman in a line. [100+beam+stun1]
3] Position self to line up the ironshields.
4] Ironshell [70+Break to IronshieldEXA,B, C 70*2+break to any pirahna left] [Block frontal attacks]
4]
Bolts of Dollthunder cackled overhead and struck down on the Piranha group, popping two of them like water balloons. The rest hovered safely between the lightning and were unaffected. Traceur was then thrown well over the fish and shield virii, in front of the Brushman and Trumpy. He launched his trademark Whiteweb but as none of his targets were that close, only one was bound by the adhesive substance. His Sensor punched a hole through the trapped Trumpy but the Brushman slipped out of the way in time.

Meanwhile Exorcist raged against the Piranha group with her claw and slashed one across the face. The group tried to get a lock on her but none were successful in tracking her graceful movements. Traceur rolled an Ironshell at the Ironshields but again, they were not in a perfect line and only two were hit by the attack. The Brushman picked up the slack of his apparently useless brethren and painted two shining portraits of paradise below the Ironshields.

The Ironshields, confused with which way to face, spun around and arbitrarily put their guards up in different directions. One launched some bombs at Traceur and managed to injure him slightly.


-Forward-
PiranhaA: 60 HP
PiranhaB: DELETED
PiranhaC: 20 HP
PiranhaD: DELETED
PiranhaE: 60 HP

-More Forward- [2 Actions Away]
IronshieldEXA: 20 HP [Facing Exorcist]
IronshieldEXB: 20 HP [Holy Panel] [Facing Traceur]
Brushman: 100 HP
IronshieldEXC: 160 HP [Holy Panel] [Facing Exorcist]

-Really Forward- [3 Actions Away]
Trumpy: DELETED

-Terrain-
100% Normal 10% Holy

-Teachers-
Exorcist.exe: 85 HP
Traceur.CMD: 75 HP
Traceur groaned that he had missed so completely on near to completely stationary targets. Especially since he had missed that damn brushman with not one but two attacks. Shaking his head, Traceur glanced around. What could he do... It had made holy panels. Not good.

"Ugh. Exorcist, I'm making use of my panel alteration signature. It should disable those panels, and hopefully slow down those near stationary viruses some more.

"Alright, what chips do you want this turn, Traceur?" Travis asked, his expression grim. These viruses didn't look good at all, and this situation reminded him more than somewhat slightly of a drunk fighting a bunch of other people. Near to nothing was hitting, and all he had was a broken glass bottle to try hit them with. The guy had gotten the crap beaten out of him, but Traceur just seemed to be supernaturally missing most of his targets.

"I don't know, let's wait and see what Exorcist does..." Traceur muttered, glancing from side to side as he sighed slightly, viewing the competition with no drive. His most powerful bits of arsenal had been almost completely spent, and he wanted to make sure he was targeting the right things. After all, he didn't want to miss something like the broad side of a barn in size, multiple targets not-withstanding.

"Well, if we wait that long, she might get all of them herself. Then where would we be?" Travis half-joked, trying to lighten the mood as Traceur glowered.

"I sincerely doubt she can handle all these herself if I managed to spectacularly miss about half of the targets... Maybe they're illusions or something." Traceur was more than reasonably suspicious about these supposedly stationary viruses that had dodged his attack. He shrugged, then let Exorcist do her work, but not before slamming his foot down, causing a wave of magnet panels to appear and radiate out from his foot near-instantly.

1] Ferroelectric Field [Large area magnet]

--Turn Split--
"Well okay, that could have gone worse. I should be thankful for what I did manage to get. Thank the deities who exist in a realm outside of our own comprehension for this wonderful bounty of good fortune," she prayed, summoning a small incense candle in one hand and holding it at her chest respectfully.

"Uh, maybe do this later, Exxy. You're not out of the woods yet. You see that brush looking guy? I'm not quite sure, but I think he's using some kind of power to strengthen those large, immobile cannons. That glowing light beneath them... It looks like something I've seen in a manual, but I can't remember what," he sighed, adjusting his glasses and staring hard into his PET. "At any rate, it looks like Traceur has a plan to cover it, so all you need to do is let him take care of the Brushman's ability and focus on destroying the enemies. First, let's sweep up those piranhas with your boomerang."

Exorcist nodded in compliance, preparing to receive the data from her operator. She couldn't help but regret throwing her ally in behind the viruses, since she felt a little unsafe fighting alone at this point after having come so far with him. "Could you get me the katana? I'll flank the ironshields from this side, and if our plan works like I think it will, Traceur will attack them from behind. That way, there will be no way that they can guard against both of our attacks and our victory will be certain!"

"I like the way you're thinking! Brains and looks, that's my navi!" Burt laughed, slotting through the chips. "Just be careful, you don't want to end up sucking on a cannonball through carelessness. Don't let those guys get a shot in on you."

Bobbing her head again to affirm she'd be cautious, Exorcist readied the giant sheet of tough, green paper into an arced shape. Directing her attention to the piranhas, she wasted no time in running forward and releasing her projectile through their ranks. Barreling on through without pausing to see the results, she readied her katana, holding it out horizontally as she glided across the ground towards her enemies. Her feet, covered in black cloth stockings, skid to a stop in front of her opponents as she brought her katana into position. In a furious display, she swiped twice, once horizontal, then again vertical. She rolled to the right, being careful not to injure herself with her own weapon, then initiated her assault against another one of the formidable iron viruses.

"Don't get hit in the face by a cannoball! Don't think about tasting steel mixed with your own blood and broken teeth! Don't think about having your head taken off by a fast moving projectile! Whatever you do, don't think about having your skull burst open by a-!" Burt warned his navi, pumping his fists up and down, then suddenly became distracted. "Oh look, your match for the tourney is up. At least it's not Traceur, nya ha ha." Exorcist gulped, trying her best not to think of the awful things that Burt had put into her mind.

1) Boomerang to Piranha group [65]
2) Katana to IronshieldEXA [60] and Ironshield group [60]
3) Katana to IronshieldEXC [60] and Ironshield group [60]
*) Swordplay
"Well, 'Exxy' has done her portion of the deal, and it's time for you to get yours done,
'Kaysey'." Travis mockingly referred to his navi as he took out the chips they had remaining.

"Just give me the chips, Travis." Traceur was irritated with the smalltalk as it took a more insulting turn. lifting his weapon, he aimed it one of the ironshields. This time, he hopefully wouldn't miss a still object while decently taking a shot at it.

"What chip, then?" Travis asked, looking around slightly. He had several damaging chips left but none that were really an 'area of effect' type that could take out multiple viruses at once. Traceur would probably have to single-target his way through his foes unless he could think up another solution.

"Urgh, let's see. What's available? Cannonball... Zapring... Ringlog. We've still got the ringlog, so we'll have to use that thing. It's the only area of effect thing we have left besides the shotgun, but that's not quite reliable in a situation like this. We'll have to use the ringlog for maximum coverage while not sacrificing damage potential." Traceur shook his head, not really wanting to use another of those damned logs, but it seemed he'd have to in order to finish this particular battle off.

"Alright, getting those two chips in. Just a moment..." Travis quickly selected the chips, having decently memorized them by now (it had been about eight tries, after all.) He let them slide in with that now familiar click. It was now up to his navi to hit the rest of the viruses in a single go.

"Yeah, yeah." Traceur fired a single shot at the ironshield that he had apparently completely missed, the shot exploding on impact as the navi spun, then pointed over-dramatically outward. He did it to make the mundane appearance of the log to be even more of a stupefyingly idiotic moment.

With a sigh, he kicked the log, then waved a dismissive hand as another appeared. He kicked that one as well, rolling his eyes about the entire issue. If that didn't end the battle, it'd quickly become an annoying war of attrition, that was the least to say.

"Travis, the tourney is actually coming up very soon. I'd like to get to Joanne, because as much as I know you love this class, it's almost over." Traceur gave a brief roll of his eyes before giving his ally a wink. "At least we won't be fighting each other straight off. I daresay I'll lose to some of the competition, so we probably won't even see each other. If I do happen to lose, I hope you'll avenge me." Traceur gave the other navi what he hoped was a somewhat roguish wink as he smiled, then looked for the results of their dual onslaught.

2] Cannonball: 150+Break to IronshieldEXC
3] Ringlog: 50 to IronshieldEXA, Brushman, IronshieldEXC
4] Ringlog: 50 to IronshieldEXA, Brushman, IronshieldEXC
The Magnetic field eradicated any benefits the Holy panels once granted leaving the Ironshields disoriented and vulnerable. One spun around in a circle while the other two were pushed off the panels entirely and closer to Exoricst with their backs turned.

The Piranhas shifted and attempted to get a lock on anyone. Their sights fell on the completely stationary Traceur and all three stopped and prepared to fire. It was the perfect opening for Exorcist who launched a Boomerang to take them out in one attack. However she was just a bit too late for the last Piranha, who managed to fire a single spear before it was deleted.

The Ironshields then attacked with several bombs at the completely stationary Traceur. Thinking that the bombs were probably an illusion, Traceur stood his ground and endured an explosive bath knocking him into critical health. Exorcist picked up the pace and slashed at their unprotected backsides while Traceur's ringlogs crashed harmlessly against their guards. The Brushman was not as lucky and was rolled over before he could finish his next painting.

-Forward-
PiranhaA: DELETED
PiranhaB: DELETED
PiranhaC: DELETED
PiranhaD: DELETED
PiranhaE: DELETED

-More Forward- [2 Actions Away]
IronshieldEXA: DELETED
IronshieldEXB: DELETED
Brushman: DELETED
IronshieldEXC: DELETED

-Really Forward- [3 Actions Away]
Trumpy: DELETED

-Terrain-
35% Normal 60% Magnet 5% Cracked

-Teachers-
Exorcist.exe: 85 HP
Traceur.CMD: 1 HP

[Battle 9 - Victory!]
Traceur get: 600z + 4 FXP
Exorcist get: 1200z + 4 FXP + Ironshield1 chip
"Ha ha ha! Looks like Traceur ate some cannonball just now! He should have listened to me!" Burt snorted, laughing ridiculously. He laughed a little bit more slowly as Traceur disappeared in a cloud of smoke, completely shrouded by the effects for the iron-guarded viruses' attacks. "Uh, Tracy's okay, right?"

Exorcist wasted no time in running over and flying into a panicked frenzy. "Throwing you behind the enemy lines was an awful idea!" she exclaimed, helping Traceur up as quickly as she could. Despite her operator's joking attitude, she was nearly in tears over having caused her ally so much harm due to her strategy. "If I'd never followed that awful plan, the enemies wouldn't have focused their attacks on you like that and you wouldn't have had to endure so much pain. Are you alright?" she asked with beads of moisture forming in her eyes, clenching her teeth in bitter hatred of herself.

"Woah, Exorcist, calm down! I'm sure he's fine. Anyways, Travis, let's log out for now," he laughed, finally remembering his partner's name. "Come on Exxy, let's get to the upgrade shop. We don't have a lot of time at all until the tournament starts. I'd suggest you do the same, buddy."

"Wait, Burt! How can we just leave Traceur like this?!" Exorcist cried, setting him down gently with her eyebrows tensed in worry. "He got injured because of your plan, you know!"

Burt sighed, disconnecting her from the internet without her permission. "I'll see you at the tournament, Travis. I hope Traceur looks better by that time, ha ha ha!" Grabbing up his scarf and coke, he quickly headed for the door, then exited the room. At the last second, he poked his head back in, frowning at the tedious task of keeping up with his class. "Uh, class is canceled for today guys. Go watch the tournament," he told them all, batting his hand to tell them to shoo. The class cheered uproariously as he left.

((Exiting))
"Nnnngh..." Traceur groaned as he slowly rose from the ground. "Ugh, what hit me?"

"An illusionary train." Travis said disgustedly as he glanced at the back of Burt. "Damn stupid professor." He plugged his navi out, letting the repair systems embedded into the PET get to work.

"Well, uh, what're we doing for the tournament, Travis?" Traceur asked, trying to shake the influence of the viruses off.

"It looks like you're not first up. Joanne is probably waiting in the cafe, so we can just head there to there and have her jack you in, hopefully somewhere else. Sick and tired of the viruses around here...

[Jacking out]