A Web Friendly Pesticide?

After recovering from the initial shock of being pinned, Sylk quickly worked to recover, first by setting a swarm of bugs on her assailant then with a draining bite of her own. Flames spread from her fangs, igniting the grass underneath her and adding to the power of her attack, but going out before her second strike hit. In the short span between the attack of her bugs and bite, the Scuttzer retaliated with a small laser bolt that broke through Sylk's armor, allowing an echo of the attack to hit her directly. It then dug into her with its forelegs, just in time to be knocked away and back onto the holy panel.

Arachne, meanwhile, was having slightly more luck than before, successfully webbing the Scuttler just as it broke out of the bindings that had previously kept it from attacking. It did, however, manage to get off another laser attack before being completely ensnared. With the modified virus pinned down, Arachne dug her legs into the wood of the roots and climbed around the sides to position the Scuttler between herself and the flames. She slashed at it with her forelegs, pushing it back toward the burning wood but at the same time freeing it from its web trap in time to avoid the second slash.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the center pit, the Scutz began taking in heat energy from the surrounding furnace panels once more, charging up what could only be another FireTower attack.
___

Sylk rose back up on her feet after successfully accomplishing her goal. Unfortunately for her the virus took to reoccupying the same square she had wanted to dash to herself. In an attempt to reassess her situation and formulate a better plan, Sylk briefly looked around the field of battle to try and absorb as much information as she could. There wasn't a whole lot to note really but the main thing which had caught her eyes was the red hued virus which seemed to be gathering energy. She had witnessed its attack once before and even though it hadn't landed she knew to be wary of it.

Her focus then returned once more to her current enemy. The spider had an idea or two on how to deal with this pest, but in her current condition she wouldn't be fast enough to pull it off. There was only one way she could make this work. Sylk closed her eyes as bits of her memory were recalled. As her thoughts cycled through imagines and times spent with Machman, Aera and Vector , the spiders internal systems began to activate a certain program.

Initiating Mach Cross

The navi's body was engulfed in a blue light as the changes to her apparel and statistics were changes. It took only a few moments for the blue light to fade, revealing what was now a lightly armored Sylk, its design carrying a small resemblance to the dragonfly programs they had dealt with earlier. Sylks crimson eyes peered through the visor now resting upon her face, ready to strike at the skuttzer once more.

The arachnid made her move quickly, as she took off towards her target. As she burst forth, the gauntlets she wore installed themselves with data from a rageclaw chip, changing their properties to that of a sharper and more claw like form. Her 6 arms extended towards the Skuttzer from multiple angles, grasping at it's body trying to get a hold of it. Sylk pivoted her back foot quickly, leaning back a little as she attempted to lift the virus up and into the air. Her body twisted as she tried to swing the virus to her opposite side, her eyes locking on to the skutz upon the other end of the field. With as much strength as she could muster Sylk made one final struggle to launch the skuttzer forth towards its red counterpart, praying for it to intercept with the wave of fire which was immanently coming at this rate.

Standing still however was not a good move at this point. Sylk knew she needed to get out of there quickly. The thruster upon her back suddenly kicked in as she leaned back once more and pushed off the ground. She used its force to make a dash back, trying to dodge out of the way of any retaliations, as well as making a move for the holy panel which was hopefully now vacant.

As Sylk shifted to the armored frame of MachCross, the Scuttzer that she had been fighting drew its body back, then lunged at her again. She met it halfway, charging with claws extended toward the insectoid virus and catching it in midair. Its progress stopped, the Scuttzer struggled against Sylk's grip, only breaking free by way of being flung bodily toward the center of the battlefield. On the far side, the Scutz unleashed its gathered heat energy once again, which traveled as an advancing tower of fire down the other wooden bridge and overwhelmed the already badly damaged Scuttzer.

The firetower continued bearing down on Sylk after incinerating its unintended victim, however, and struck her as well. Fortunately, most of the damage was absorbed by the glowing panel that she had dashed onto at the last second, greatly reducing the impact of the attack.

Meanwhile, Arachne continued to try to push her own target into the fire. She swung her forelegs in a scissor-chop motion that would have caught the Scuttler, had it not teleported away before the sharpened and rageclaw-enhanced edges hit. It reappeared across the pit, in the center of the solar panels lining it. Sighing, Arachne lowered herself off of the roots and back to the ground.

Sylk was more than happy as the protective force from the panel she was occupying subdued the damage from the fiery assault. She did note however that the flames seemed much more fierce and unpleasant. It was more than likely a side effect from the transformation, while it didnt change her injuries, she used to cope with and even enjoy the flames much more in her normal form. It was a bit saddening. As her silken defence rewrapped itself around her body, that too had seemed to change; a feeling of cold steel encasing her unarmored flesh.

As she put the unnecesary thoughts aside, it was becoming evident that she still needed more defensive strategies. Dispite trying to repair herself it had all been wiped away with a few attacks. Atleast there was one less target now. Prioritizing the healing of arachne and herself, the spider summoned a giant candle which was fixated the the holy panel. Hopefully this works... She muttered to herself, before directing her gaze towards the enemies in the distance.

As far as she could tell, it was quite a ways to travel in order to get within range of the other virii. She might not be able to get there in time to help arachne, and the one which controlled flames had no trouble attacking from this distance either. It was proving to be a bit of a dilema. For lack of a better idea Sylk just dashed forth.

Her artificial wings beat behind her in unison as she made her way across the battlefield. A small flame could be seen from her thrusters as she propelled herself faster, all the while trying to stay focused on her surroundings. She began weaving back and forth, changing the pattern of her movements as she got closer. If she was to linear all that would be waiting for her was a face full of pain. In preperation for the battle, her gauntlets began to glow as her body became encased in various blue lights.

Activating her defense systems, not only was Sylk more protected from in coming attacks but she even recovered some of the damage from earlier. She may not have been at her best condition, but she was more than ready to pick a fight.

Sylk patched up her defenses and erected the healing candle on the holy panel, then began advancing toward the burning bridges. The yellow modified virus, though it remained stationary, fired off a series of laser bolts at her and Arachne, destroying the hastily woven silken armor of both navis. Sylk managed to dodge the third, however, and activated more defense systems as she moved.

Arachne, having lost her own silken armor mere seconds after weaving it, took the moment after the Scuttler's attacks to heal herself, and then began making her way across the soil terrain to meet Sylk next to the right bridge. Before either one could get there, however, the red Scutz vanished from atop the blazing furnace on the other side and reappeared directly in front of Sylk, slashing through most of her defenses. Arachne caught up and attacked it from behind, slashing as well with her forelegs to cut the Scutz across the raised abdomen of its body. She followed up with a second attack, but the modified virus evaded the attack with a quick teleport, nonetheless covering significantly less distance than its move from the other side of the field.

It continued in a second short jump after clearing the range of Arachne's forelegs, settling in the center of the lava pool. A burning reaper vine, up until this point remaining dormant, rose up behind the Scutz and swiped at it, dealing a minor amount of damage in its own right.

The opponents erratic movements and attacks were beginning to grate on Sylk's nerves, with her defenses being blown away time after time. It wasn't about to stop her though. She had been through many tough situations, and this wasn't about to be her last. Sylk viewed her options over and over in her head, trying to figure out the best method of attack. With enemies able to shift their location instantly, it became a game of target practice. It wasn't long before a glint of inspiration dawned on the spider, the weaving of her plan was in progress.

Arachne~ I'm going to try and take care of this red one, or at the very least distract it. Hopefully this will take some heat off of you. Sylk paused for a moment, reviewing the probability of success in this matter, before continuing with her statement. I'm not sure i can defeat it in one go, however. Think you can provide some support fire if i fail? Sylk wasn't exactly pleased to think of messing up this chance, but these enemies were strong enough that caution was her main priority. The fire attack from earlier burned it right into her mind.

Rei, be a dear and link me up with those markcannons we have laying around, would you? I think they'll be just the thing to help me capture my prey, heehee. Attempting to convey her thoughts through her request, she figured Rei would understand her intent.

Sure enough, after a few moments the data was loaded into the PET. As the weapons took form, the guns hovered and revolved around Sylk's armor. There color and even their style seemed to have adapted the visuals from the mach cross, something which Sylk noticed almost immediately. The visor upon her face suddenly began to display what could only be described as a targeting system, measuring the distance from the objects within the vicinity and marking potential threats as she looked on. As her eyes focused upon the Skutz the guns seemed to pick up on it. Of their own accord they shifted and pointed their barrels at the virus, as the visor seemed to "lock on" to it. Sylk was rather impressed, as she hadn't truly played around with the functions of the cross before, and certainly didn't know all of its capabilities off hand.

The spider tried to keep herself moving of course, throughout the whole operation. Though she had a defensive wrap of sorts already in effect, she new it wouldn't be more than a slight deterrent to damage.

Another thought occurred to her, as she recalled the attack system which was also built into the armor. She had used the defensive protocols numerous times but had never really gone on the attack with her new forms power. hmm... let's see here. Should be simple enough to activate. Let's try... Carapace Assault System, activate! Almost instantaneously, the visual grid before her eyes seemed to change as the armor acknowledged the shift of procedures. A third symbol manifested itself over the virus' image, a tiny icon of a dragonfly no less, as the text next to it read "Anax bomber". Well now, this seems interesting, doesn't it? Lets give this thing a test drive~

As Sylk worked out the final preparations, her armor did a quick check and run of its self repairing program. While her regular silken cover had already been destroyed, a new one had already replaced it. If it sustained any damage however, the threads could just as easily work their way in once more to keep her safe.

A small signal could be heard as all of the weapons systems seemed to be at the ready, all targeting icons a blaring red as they surrounded the location of the Skutz which had been causing more then enough trouble to the arachnid team. Sylk slowly raised her upper right arm as her fanged grin made its entrance. This should be fun... C.A.S., FIRE~

Upon command each cannon fired a searing blue laser in tandem. As the flash of the shots dimmed down, a compartment opened up upon the dragonfly thrusters mounted on Sylks back. A high speed buzzing could be heard as a tiny little missile, resembling the same insect the armor was modeled for emerged. It wasted little time as it seemed to home in onto the virii's located; The little green weapon streaked across the sky towards its destination.

Before she saw the outcome of her attacks, Sylk was already on the move again. This time however, the thruster upon her back began to activate. A white flame emitted from the end as she prepared to make one final strike, keeping herself hopefully safe as she did. The gauntlets she wore let off a light glow as both of the enemies came into her view. The gem on each hand seemed to be charging up something within, as the faint blue shine grew intensely. Pointing one arm at each of the virii, a small whine could be heard before two bolts of energy shot forth. The attack crackled as it burst out, hoping to strike the targets dead on.

"You got it," Arachne said as Sylk refreshed her armor and prepared to try and take down the Scutz. It lunged forward out of the lava pool and attempted to pounce on top of her like the green one had before. Sylk evaded the attack, and retaliated with two MarkCannon blasts and a homing insectoid missile. Before the latter could hit the target, however, the Scutz retaliated with another laser bolt, which shattered the silken casing surrounding her.

Spurred by its success, the virus lunged forward again, but once again missed as Sylk evaded. As she dodged, however, a large crackling sphere of electricity gathered above the Scuttler, and launched itself toward the two spider navis. Arachne dodged, leaving it to hit Sylk right as she finished evading the Scutz's attack, sending a powerful surge of electricity through her body.

Before her systems could lock up, Sylk managed to fire a pair of energy bolts at each of the remaining modified viruses, stunning both of them. The Scutz managed to retreat back into its lava pool before being it, but Arachne took that as her cue to throw an AquaKnife in after it. The lava under the Scutz exploded as the knife hit, vaporizing the virus along with it.
___

Sylks body tingled from the electrical blast. The strong surge of energy shorted out her systems, rendering her helpless for a moment, but she wasn't the only one. It seemed that she had hit her mark with her last maneuver, and her foe was surely feeling a similar sensation. The only difference was their physical conditions really.

Sylk was filled with the essence of pain, as her body wanted to just give out. The lightning had singed her body, her arms heavy as she looked toward the skuttler. All eight of her eyes were focused on the enemy. The suit of armor she wore crackled and shorted out from the damage. Her targeting systems were fried, and her defenses were broken. The suit repaired itself to a minor degree, her steeled webbing weaving its way into the fabric to offer a little more protection. Slowly raising an arm up the the crimson visor, she slid it off from her face. It was only in the way. Sylk wanted to stare down the prey unhindered, one last look before she aimed to finish it off.

My precious minions. I beckon to you now. Do my bidding, and destroy my enemy. Her voice was as cold as her stare, as she extended a finger towards the virus. A black mist appeared, as her call was heard. As the mechanical virii appeared from the shadows, it showed little hesitation before slashing out twice at the prey of the spider navi.

Though she tried to show little fear, her actions spoke otherwise. Sylk was quick to call forth a wall of webbing, in the chance a counter attack was launched against her. Of course that was not all for the young arachnid. Mustering up the last bit of strength, she even tried to move around behind her guard. If it were to be pierce, at least she hoped for the assault to miss its intended target.

Hopefully this is the end of our pest problem, wouldn't you agree Arachne?

Sylk recovered from the electrical blast long before her opponent regained mobility, giving her enough time to summon the mechanical assassins and finish it off. The virus, cut into pieces by the MachineSword, slowly dissolved, leaving nothing left of the three modified viruses.

"Mm," Arachne nodded in agreement. "Isn't that right, Tavi? You're not going to do anything stupid like this again in the future now, are you?" With a hesitant nod and agreement from Tavi, Arachne gave a fanged smile and said "Give it a couple weeks. She can't resist screwing things up."

Arachne paused, looking around at what was left of the battlefield. A large section of it had burned away by the Scutz's attacks, but from the looks of it the entire root structure wasn't supposed to have been there in the first place. "This'll take some cleaning up, but I think we're done here for now," she said, turning to Sylk. "I hope to work with you again sometime. I'd offer you a handshake, but I'm not quite equipped for that." Instead, she smiled, then added "I'll be seeing you," before being jacked out of the net.
_____

All enemies defeated.

Sylk GET: 1500z, Rope2, +6 FXP with Arachne
Arachne GET: 1500z, Firetower1 +6 FXP with Sylk

Bye~e! Take care of yourself till we meet again! The spider retorted, waving towards Arachne as she began to vanish from sight. It was a little sad, as she had grown quite fond of having another arachnid around. Even if they seemed quite different in schematics. A heavy sigh left Sylks lips as she looked around the battlefield. For something that had been filled with so much aggression only moments ago, it felt eerie to look on at its now peaceful existence. It may have its own battle scars now, but the landscape was still something to behold.

Rei was silent as he pondered to himself. There were a few pressing matters he wanted to discuss with his navi, and frankly he wasn't too sure just how to put it to words. His hands fidgeted with the PET, as he slowly began to formulate a sentence, making a first attempt with how he should start.

"Sylk, i'm going to request a different reward for this mission."

The Spider blinked for a moment as the words seemed to go in one ear, and out the other, not quite understanding what was just said. I'm sorry... I don't think i heard you right. Could you say that again?

"I don't think we are ready for another addition to our group yet. Looking at this battle, and our previous fights... Its not something I'm ready to bring a new program into." Rei had a nervous tone to his words, as he prayed he was making sense. " All we've been doing is fighting. We've been on some crazy power run, majority of it with me to blame. Your still young yourself after all. I'm just worried that its too soon for you to look after someone else, while still struggling to look after yourself."

The Spider stood speechless, both surprised at her OP's sudden backbone and annoyed at what she could only read as an insult. What?! Are you saying im too weak? Just watch, i'll show you how strong i am. I'm definitely strong enough to- Her words fell short as she was abruptly cut off by a sudden shoat.

"SYLK! This is exactly what i'm talking about... This hunger and obsession for power goes to show your still Immature. We both are, and i think i need to apologize. I'm sorry for not being there for you when it matters... Sorry that I've filled your head with these thoughts that only strength matters." The more he reflected on it, the more Rei remembered what had happened the last time he used power as an ideal objective. The reality of the matter was quite cruel, both to him and to Curseman. Being strong was far from the only thing that mattered and it was that pursuit that led them to separation. Rei couldn't bare for that to happen again.

" Lets start over from here. Re-evaluate our lifestyle. We should find something that... I dont know, gives us a purpose maybe? We've been doing things for ourselves all this time. Maybe we are do for a change of pace." He was still a little uncertain as he began to ramble on. Still he help a tiny hope that this was a step in the right path for a better life for the two of them.

Sylks head hung low with her 6 arms crossed along her body as she took in the lecture; Her eyes hidden behind a cascade of blue. She was in complete silence, her body refusing to move even an inch as she mulled it all over in her head. It was a bit hard to swallow, but somewhere deep down she knew Rei had a point.

A-alright. The dead air was shattered, as Sylk pieced together her thoughts. I'll trust you on this... just this one time though. If i think your wrong at any point, I'm going back to doing things how i want though. Got That? Her voice seemed more timid than usual as she spoke, still trying to act tough while accepting what she had been told. She slowly turned away, as a blue light began to surround her body.

Let's get out of here, Rei.

"...Alright"

*jack out*