Getting Schooled

Martia set her hands on her hips, as she looked on, confused, and tried to make sense of what just happened. She thought she was prepared for anything...but, as it turned out, that left her completely unprepared for nothing. "...Um..."

"Well, look on the bright side. If nothing else, they sensed you weren't openly hostile. So it's a safe bet they're at least somewhat sentient."

"Yeah, but you'd think they'd do something. And I'm starting to wonder if any virus would willingly let me send them over to the zoo, even if it does let them live in peace. I guess I'm not surprised...if I was a virus, I don't think I'd trust a Navi that told me that, either. It's kinda disheartening, though..."

"Yeah...though, I gotta ask. That one thing...uh, Scarecrow? Isn't that kinda bad for the DataPillar?"

"...No, I don't think it's leeching enough electricity to do any damage. As long as it doesn't get greedy, I don't think it'll have any negative effects."

"Oh. Well...if they're not causing any trouble, there's not really any reason to stay here, now is there?"

"I guess not...I just wish that, just once, a virus I said all that to would let me transfer them...oh well. At least they're not causing any trouble." The virtual martial artist sighed, then slowly made her way around the group of viruses so she could move on. She was usually quicker than that, but she didn't want any sudden movements making the viruses overreact and attack her. Those katanas looked like they hurt, after all.

(Barring a virus grabbing her attention for whatever reason, moving along)
~Battle 4: Ended!!~

Martia got maybe a block or two away from the data pillars before she heard a viral chirp behind her. The two sword viruses had followed behind her. They clanged their swords together in challenge. Apparently they wanted a good fight after all.

Then she heard more chirps as another group of four more of them came up behind the first two. Now there were six of them.

-Viruses-
ZemonA: 100HP
ZemonB: 100HP
ZemonC: 100HP
ZemonD: 100HP
ZemonE: 100HP
ZemonF: 100HP

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Navi-
Martia.EXE: 230HP

~Battle 4: Start!!~
Fortunately, Martia didn't really have any time to mope over her latest failure to permanently save any sentient viruses, as a sound behind her made her turn...only to notice that it was the Zomon from before. "You guys again? ...Oh, I see. You're challenging me." The additional numbers seemed to confirm this, since two viruses did seem a bit low a number. "I don't really want to delete you, though, since you've got sentience and you're not hurting anything and all that. ...OH, I've got it! How about we just not fight to the death? We'll take juuust enough edge off our attacks to make them non-lethal, though that doesn't mean it won't hurt if anyone gets hit! This way, we can all get some practice in without worrying about surviving! And I can sense that you all look pretty skilled with blades, so that shouldn't be much of a problem on your end! Agree to that, and I'd be happy to go a few rounds!" She raised her arms in front her in self-defense, her hands in a rare non-clenched position, like she was going to try chopping instead of punching.

"First time I've ever heard of just sparring with viruses instead of deleting them...well, what can I say, we're mold breakers!" Shrugging to herself, Leslie looked over her selection of chips, to see what they had that might fare well against virus samurai. Hmm...well, a little protection never hurt. Though, the idea of protecting her Navi, who was nice and curvy, against non-lethal sword strikes, wasn't quite as appealing as it'd be otherwise..."All right, Barrier chip, slot in, yada yada yada, you know that drill."

Indeed, the fighter Navi did know that drill, as she became enveloped in a protective blue sphere. It was pretty nondescript...though thankfully it only applied to incoming attacks; outgoing ones would phase through it without incident. "Um...thanks, but...let's just say I don't think it's going to do much good."

"What? Why not?!"

"...It's just a gut feeling, really. But anyway, thinning the number of able fighters is always a good way to avoid getting hit, so let's hit 'em hard!"

"All right, now you're making sense!" All right, for getting rid of a bunch of tough viruses, one chip they had stood above all the others. As in, it'd probably take some effort to make it less deadly. But Martia could handle it, since that'd take great technique, and that was something she was basically perfect at. "I bet they're expecting a direct attack from someone like you, so hitting them from above oughta be a surprise! BattleChip, GolemHit! Slot in!"

The Navi clenched her right hand into a fist, which suddenly became hard as stone. She took a moment to configure it such that the blow wouldn't kill any Zomon outright...though it would sting something fierce. She then raised her rock hard arm high into the air, only to slam it into the ground in front of her. For a moment, nothing happened, but soon a larger, fist-shaped boulder dropped from the sky, to try and land right on a samurai virus. Upon impact, the shock wave it created would spread and hopefully rock the worlds of a couple others around it. Either way, if nothing else, it certainly LOOKED really powerful, enough to leave an impact in an enemy that witnessed it.

"Well, even if that doesn't delete them, it left one hell of a mark...anyway, here's something else that can knock 'em out in one shot. BattleChip, MistConvergence! Slot in!"

Martia's fist immediately lost its hardness, becoming comparable to a gloved human hand once again. It soon became much warmer than one, however, giving off a steamy aura. After straightening her hand once more, she performed a powerful thrust in front of her, causing a powerful, steamy extension of her attack to project itself from it. It proceeded to fly over towards a Zomon farthest away from her initial death from above. Sometimes, it wasn't a good idea to just go down the line. Sometimes, it was better to mix up one's targets. Of course, while it still packed a wallop, it wouldn't straight up kill the virus if it hit. But depending on where it hit, it might, ironically enough, knock it out cold.

And that was plenty for her initial assault. She still needed to worry about those remaining blades, so she prepared herself for evasive maneuvers, since she still had a feeling her bubble of protection wasn't well-suited for protecting against the likes of these foes.

[Order of Turn:
0-Make special request: both sides only fight to KO, not deletion; battle proceeds only if they accept this
1-Barrier chip on Martia (S, 10 HP Barrier)
2-GolemHit1 chip attack on ZemonA, ZemonB, and ZemonC (140, C, Panel Crack, Wide Attack)
3-MistConvergence1 chip attack on ZemonF (100, Aqua, B, Impact)
4-Dodge]
The lead Zemon reached out with one of its swords and tapped the air in front of it. A vid-window appeared. It tapped something on the vid-window and a second vid-window appeared in front of Martia.

Quote ()

{NON-LETHAL CHALLENGE! IF YOU ACCEPT THIS CHALLENGE THE AREA WILL BE ENCAPSULATED BY A JACK-OUT BARRIER. NO CHALLENGER WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE THE BARRIER UNTIL THE BATTLE IS FINISHED. THE BATTLE CONTINUES UNTIL ONE OR BOTH SIDES ARE ELIMINATED. NORMAL BATTLE RULES APPLY. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO RISK OF DELETION. IF YOU WOULD BE DELETED, INSTEAD YOU ARE SUSPENDED. THE VICTOR RECEIVES ONLY MONETARY REWARDS AS PER NORMAL RULES. YOU WILL NOT LOSE RESOURCES IF YOU ARE DEFEATED. DO YOU ACCEPT THE TERMS OF THIS BATTLE?}


Big buttons that were blinking YES and NO appeared at the bottom.

[Mod Note: Battle is currently suspended until choice is made. Then battle continues as normal. This is not a mod-locked battle.]
"Wait a sec, Leslie!"

"Wha? Why, what happened?" The martial artist suddenly froze, keeping her Barrier chip just outside of the insertion slot.

"It just brought up a window. Let's see......" Mm-hmm...uh-huh..."In a nutshell, it's just formalizing what I asked. So, of course I'm going to accept!" In a single smooth motion, Martia let down one of her arms, and struck the YES prompt. There'd be no escape, but she had absolutely no plans of doing so. She'd found opponents up for a friendly spar. Not only was that rare on the Net, but retreating from such a fight would be flat out rude. "All right, may the best side win!" She reassumed her position, ready for battle. "Okay, now you can start sending me chips!"

"All right, let's do this!" And in went the first chip.

(Agreeing to the terms; turn order and chip selection is completely unchanged)
[Note: GolemHit1 and MistConvergence1 are both Melee Chips and should get a one-rank accuracy increase due to Martia being Melee Subtype.]

Having accepted the terms of the Non-Lethal Battle, a Jack-Out Barrier formed over the field, locking everyone inside. Martia produced a Barrier around herself and got into a defensive stance as the first two Zemons charged her. Each Zemon thrust one of their swords forward then slashed to the side, then repeated the attack again with the second sword. Martia managed to dodge all but one of the sword strikes, which took out her Barrier.

Martia retaliated by making a stone-hard fist and smashed it into the ground in front of her. The shock wave passed over the two Zemons and knocked them both out. The second pair teleported to either side of her, flanking her from the left and right. They both unleashed their four sword swipes. But Martia managed to dodge all eight strikes.

Martia threw a steamy fist at the last pair. She hit and knocked out the virus, its body steaming as it crumpled to the ground. The last one teleported behind her and attempted to strike her multiple times. It managed to strike her twice out of four times. Martia managed to dodge the second pair of strikes.

-Viruses-
ZemonA: KO
ZemonB: KO
ZemonC: 100HP
ZemonD: 100HP
ZemonE: 100HP
ZemonF: KO

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Special-
Non-Lethal Barrier [Cannot Jack-Out!]

-Navi-
Martia.EXE: 210HP [Barrier Broken!]
(OOC: I KNOW I KNOW I JUST FORGOT SINCE I WAS TOWARDS THE END OF A MASSIVE POST BINGE OKAY D:)

Ugh...that was...a lot of slashes. She'd actually lost track of all the blades she had to avoid, to the point where she got caught and actually took the brunt of one in the back. Luckily, an advantage of being a Navi was that she showed no marks of getting slashed, not even an inpromptu haircut. She managed to shake it off easily enough, and readied herself for Round 2.

"So, uh, that was a lot of attacks. You okay?"

"More than okay! I've having a blast!"

"Just checkin'. So, what kind of chips do you want now? We kinda blew our load on the heavy hitters..."

"For the moment, don't send me anything! Now's a great time to try something out!" Martia's hands suddenly began to give off a crimson red aura, as she raised her arms to be parallel with the ground. It only took a moment before the intense heat began to distort the area around her hands, but apparently this wasn't enough, as both aura and distortion expanded. Once it reached the proper temperature, she cupped her hands together, and shot out a wave of incredibly hot fiery air at one of her remaining foes. For all the theatrics, it wasn't a very strong attack...but it also injured simply by virtue of being insanely hot. Hot enough to melt metal with relative ease. Metal such as a Zomon's katana...it could probably just make itself a new one pretty quickly, but it'd buy her some time and (ironically) take off some of the heat off the repeated attacks.

"Huh...that's your move from the, uh...whatever it was you ran into in SciLab, isn't it? Not really a standard martial arts move..."

"Well, it does utilize ki energy, and you know how that ties to martial arts. Plus, he had that fire breath attack, and I guess it really stuck with me...we can talk about it more later, I've got more fighting to do! Hit me with something that can disable one or more!"

"...Really? Most of our stuff is just direct punches and crap, do we even have anything that-" Cue finding a chip that does just that. "...Yeah, knew that was coming. All right, this'll work. BattleChip, Thunder! Slot in!"

The aura around the fighting Navi's hands cooled immediately after the attack, but it never went away. As the chip data flowed through her, it shifted to a bright yellow, and caused electricity to build up. A large spherical spark materialized in front of her, which hovered as it slowly began to move forward. ...Yeah, that was slow. But, it still had special magnetic properties that would let it keep tracking the Zomon, even if it didn't initially hit. Though, she really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Meanwhile, Leslie continued going through her chips, searching for anything that could stop a virus in its tracks, and not just deal damage. Wait, didn't that one have a chance of freezing things solid? Not a very big chance, granted, but it was still something. Plus, it'd weaken the leftover viruses into more managable numbers. Not like her Navi was giving her better ideas. "If we're really lucky, this'll keep the theme going. Well, I'm usually not, but sometimes you are, so you never know...BattleChip, Avalanche! Slot in!"

The aura around Martia's hands completed their trip around the color wheel, as the non-Thunder related electricity dissipated, and acquired a blue tint. She quickly slammed her hands as fists down on the ground, causing snow and ice to spontaneously form above the battlefield, and fall down at her still able foes. And it suddenly hit her...unless she did another attack, her plan didn't involve the defeat of a single virus with that volley. But it'd help keep them off her back, figuratively and literally, and if everything went down perfectly, she could pick them off before they could really regroup. But for now, she was keeping an eye on them, and try to avoid whatever sword-based pain came her way.

[Order of Turn:
1-Melting Flame sig attack on ZemonE (20, Fire, Break, Disarm)
2-Thunder1 chip attack on ZemonD (40, Elec, C, Stun 1, Homing)
3-Avalanche1 chip attack on ZemonC, ZemonD, and ZemonE (50, Aqua, Ice Type, C, Drop Attack, 10% Freeze chance)
4-Dodge]
[Note: DO NOT WORRY I AM MAKING THE ADJUSTMENTS WHEN YOUR SUMMARY ISN'T ACCURATE.]

The fiery blast melts the katanas of the Zemon, who looks shocked but is unable to counterattack. So it runs away for the moment.

The thunder misses the other Zemon as it rushes in to attack, but homes in on it next turn. The Zemon lets loose a pair of sword strikes, one wide, then one long. The last Zemon follows on the heels of the other and also slashes twice. Martia manages to dodge three out of four well-aimed strikes, taking a little cut of damage.

Then she unleashes an AVALANCHE!!!

... But fails to hit anything. Bummer.

-Viruses-
ZemonA: KO
ZemonB: KO
ZemonC: 100HP
ZemonD: 100HP [Thunder1 Homing!]
ZemonE: 80HP [Disarmed for the Turn!] [1 Move Away]
ZemonF: KO

-Objects-
Thunder1: ??? [Homing on ZemonD]

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Special-
Non-Lethal Barrier [Cannot Jack-Out!]

-Navi-
Martia.EXE: 200HP
(OOC: Shouldn't ZemonE have taken 20 damage if it was hit by Melting Flame?)

Martia couldn't help but be a tad frustrated at just how little she was connecting with her attacks. After all, she was more of a technique fighter than raw power...what good was that if she couldn't even land her moves? But, she had to stay patient. Soon enough, she'd find that opening where she could really let them have it. Besides, it was pretty awesome that the move she picked up from SIX completely melted that katana. That was definitely a keeper.

"Hey, Martia!"

The Navi snapped back to reality, and away from her thoughts, looking over her opponents once more. "Thanks Leslie, I was kinda zoning out."

"Yeah...again. You all right? It's not like you to do that."

"I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Yeah, once we find that library, we're done for the day. Just hold out until then! And, here's something to hold out with!" And, chip in! Just the one, though, since with that acknowledgement from her Navi, Leslie kinda wanted to take it easy on her for a bit. "Just take a couple of pot shots, then focus on evading and catch your breath a little! BattleChip, FireHit! Slot in!"

Martia's hands clenched into fists, which in turn became encased in orange-red flames. Not wanting to waste any time, she quickly did a straight punch with her right arm, causing the fire on that hand to be launched as a fist-shaped fireball towards the Zomon. Sure, it wouldn't exactly knock the virus down for the count, but right now, what she wanted to do most was land a couple of quick shots, and with her natural aptitude for such moves, ranged punches were the perfect way to achieve that. With that in mind, she turned to the over opponent that was properly armed, and performed a hook motion with her left arm. That fireball seemed to go veering off to the side a bit, but, following the Navi's motions, it curved mid-flight, and seemed to go towards the intended target in the end.

With that, she could take it easy, and just try to focus on dodging those inevitable incoming swords...but something didn't sit right with her about that course of action. She had another idea, and so she took action...by standing in place. Sparks soon began to fly from her boots, and her feet crackled with electricity. It took a few moments, but once she was producing a good, stable charge, she ran over to a Zomon, and without slowing down, leaped into the air, and performed a roundhouse kick. Her momentum was too great for a single kick, however, and before landing, managed to get in a second attack with her other leg. As she landed, the last of her electrical power faded into the ground. Her feet felt kinda tingly...did Lyn always feel like this after attacking?

Either way, if everything went perfectly, she wouldn't feel the wrath of any blades, even though she was too drained to try evading them at this point. She'd just have to hope that this was one of the few times things went as well as they could be.

[Order of Turn:
1-FireHit1 chip attack on ZemonC (60, Fire, A+, Impact)
2-FireHit1 chip attack on ZemonD (60, Fire, A+, Impact)
3-Charging! (preparing Shock Kick)
4-Shock Kick sig attack on ZemonC (40, Elec, Impact, hits twice)]
[Note: Yes, ZemonE should have taken 20 damage. I have made that correction.]

Martia lets out a pair of flaming punches, which strike the Zemons square on. Burning their face and chest.

The disarmed Zemon reforms its swords and the three of them teleport to Martia as she charges her next attack. The returning thunder attack misses as the Zemon it was targeting disappears where it would have been struck. Then the ball of electricity peters out and dissipates.

The three viruses unleash dual slashes at Martia, striking the unmoving Navi a whopping five out of six times. But then Martia delivers a one-two electric kick to one of the burnt and weakened Zemon, knocking it out and causing it to spasm on the ground as electricity runs through it. As if tasered.

-Viruses-
ZemonA: KO
ZemonB: KO
ZemonC: KO
ZemonD: 40HP
ZemonE: 80HP
ZemonF: KO

-Objects-
Thunder1: [Dissipated]

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Special-
Non-Lethal Barrier [Cannot Jack-Out!]

-Navi-
Martia.EXE: 150HP
Sure enough, Martia had found that opening she had wanted for just a moment ago, and she found herself nearing the delightful feeling of another victory. She just needed to land a few more blows, and it'd be over. "Phew, looks like I'm finally ahead in the judge's scoring!"

"Yeah, you've got this. Just have to get that one down a little more, then you can just go to town!"

"Yep, nice and simple! And...I think I'll let you decide what chips to send! It's good practice to send over chips without me asking for them!"

"Gee, thanks..." This would be a more interesting proposition if they hadn't already used half the chips they owned...but, whatever. It didn't take very long for Leslie to whip up a few to send over, and began putting the first one into her PET. "First, we're patching you up. You've taken some hits, after all. BattleChip, Recover80! Slot in!"

Some pink energy surrounded the Navi, and she soon could feel most of her injuries melt away from the healing force. A twinge or two remained, but to her, that was nothing. "All right, now for the attack!"

"That's the plan. First up..." ...Actually, now that she thought about it, it felt like there was some sort of aura coming from the chip she was about to slam in. It almost seemed...holy or something. But she had to just be imagining things or something. Meh. In it went. "BattleChip, MeteorKnuckle! Slot in!"

A white aura surrounded Martia's hands, but it quickly began to rise above her. There, each part of it merged into a single, pearl-like sphere, then split into three smaller parts. Each one changed shape into fists, though they seemed more construct-like compared to the Navi's realistically rendered hands, even disregarding the fact they were, in fact, a type of energy construct. Each fist quickly began to rush forward, each one targeting the same Zomon; the one that somehow managed to avoid the previous thunder ball. It could avoid slower attacks, but how would it fare against a triple rocket punch? With any luck, not nearly as well.

"All right, I really hope this is the last chip I have to send, because...well, if you can't finish things with it, I give up."

"Yeah, no pressure on me, right?"

"I don't mean like, you have to do it in the next two seconds. Just, you'll have lots of chances." And now, to give her Navi lots of chances. "BattleChip, GutsPunch! Slot in!"

The fighter Navi's gloves suddenly changed color, as much of it turned yellow...except the fingers, which oddly turned black. Clenching them into fists, she rushed the virus she hadn't just tried to wallop, and after quickly unfolding her hand, tried to deliver a side chop right into its side. If all went well, it'd go down, and she could build some momentum for the other one. Which she did, and as she drew near the other Zomon, she tried to pull off an uppercut in its gut, and bring things to a close. If they weren't already closed, anyway.

Of course, by focusing so much thought and energy into her attacks, she was leaving herself exposed to attacks. But if she struck true, that wouldn't be much of a worry at this point.

[Order of Turn:
1-Recover80 chip on Martia (80, S, Recovery)
2-MeteorKnuckle1 chip attack on ZemonE (30, A, Break, Impact, Knockback)
3-GutsPunch chip attack on ZemonD (70, A+, Impact, Knockback)
4-GutsPunch chip attack on ZemonE (70, A+, Impact, Knockback)]
Martia recovers some health and then goes on the offensive as the last pair of Zemons rush up to her, swords bare. Martia threw a triple rocket-punch at the stronger virus. The first punch missed as the Zemon teleported up to her, but is then struck by the second and third punch, heavily beating up the target. It retaliates with a pair of blade attacks. The first misses by a hair, but the second strike hits Martia, cutting her a little.

The second Zemon trades blows with Martia. Fists and blades flying. The Navi is struck twice for minor damage, but her chop knocks the consciousness out of the virus. It falls backward and Martia leaps over the snoozing virus to deliver a finishing blow to the last Zemon. Knocking the wounded virus out with a sock to the stomach.

A victory vid-window appears in front of Martia as her prize is transfered. The barrier slowly comes down and the viruses reawaken, also slowly.

-Viruses-
ZemonA: KO
ZemonB: KO
ZemonC: KO
ZemonD: KO
ZemonE: 20HP
ZemonF: KO

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Special-
Non-Lethal Barrier [Coming Down!]

-Navi-
Martia.EXE: 220HP

~Battle 4: Victory!!~
Rewards: 1200z
Martia's response to bringing down the final Zomon was to wordlessly lean back, and do a slow, relaxed back handspring. A nice way to cool down after an intense, if not super difficult, battle. "Whew, that was kinda hard! You guys are better at dodging than you look!"

"Yeah, I thought they'd be all about offense, with those katana, but they're actually pretty well balanced. They may be viruses, but they're true martial artists!"

"They really are..." For once, the fighter Navi let the PET automatically transfer the battle's spoils, and walked over to the not-so-fallen enemies. If anyone knew her at all, they probably knew what she was about to say. "Listen, I know I'm probably going to sound like a broken record, but...well, I have to ask again. Are you sure you won't reconsider being transferred to the zoo? But honestly, this time, it's not just because you don't have ill will towards Navis. It's more...a request, from a fellow martial artist. The way you move your blades, the way you can get out of the path of my blows...that's not just reflex, that's true technique. And, well, I don't want some careless NetBattler that doesn't know any better from removing that technique from the world. If you let me transfer you, you guys could continue honing your skills, without fear of being deleted. Please...I don't want anything to happen to you!" A lot of Navis would probably give her a weird look for caring about viruses, but she could care less about that. Right now, she simply had an earnest wish in ensuring the safety of those that traveled a similar path to hers.

==============================

Martia's travels continued; whatever the Zomon had responded with, she let it go at that, so it was impossible to tell from body language alone what they had chosen. Exactly how she was inside, however, was probably completely different based on it. Joy or anguish at the recent event? Only she and Leslie could really know for sure one way or the other.

"Are we there yet? I mean, holy crap, this place is huge! I think I'm bookmarking the data library once we get there, just so we don't have to go through all this again..."

"We're getting close. Though, we're still far enough away that anything could happen between now and then, so we can't let our guard down!"

"Uh, no crap? That's the basic of the basics. I wouldn't mind if we caught a break and didn't actually have to fight again, though."

"Yeah, but the Net's not always that kind..." Still, inwardly, the Navi agreed wholeheartedly. It'd be nice if they could reach that library and call it a day...but if there was one last battle between it and her, she wouldn't back down, and give it all she had.

(Searching for Battle #5)
The Zemon disappeared after Martia had her say, appearing to teleport out. Would it ever be seen again? Who knew?


After awhile, Martia came to something that most definitely should not have been in this area of the net. A large river had split the netscape, cutting straight through existing panels as though they were simple obstacles to be brushed aside. The river was wide, far too wide to simply jump across, and extended as far as Martia could see in either direction. There was no sign of any bridges or watercraft in sight for crossing. Swimming also seemed to be out of the option, as the remains of broken panels and high-speed currents combined to create torrential rapids.

Another female navi beamed in as Martia approached the river. She appeared to be another martial artist, sporting a pale white gi and an equally pale headband, both appearing as though they had not originally been white, but the color had long since washed out. The navi didn't seem to be wearing anything else (nothing visible, at least), including a distinct lack of footwear. As for the navi herself, she had somewhat dark skin, dark brown hair just long enough to fall over the bottom edge of her headband, and a lithe figure. She sported a bored and unpleasant expression, as though she would much rather be somewhere else.

"Hey, sorry, you can't come through here," she said, only glancing in Martia's direction and not meeting her eyes. "Hopefully I don't need to explain why. It'll be clear in a few hours, so come back then."
(OOC: :/) (Also there was more than one Zomon, SO YOUR ONE LINER IS STILL WRONG. >:0)

------------------------

"Huh?" The sound of rushing water instantly drew Martia's attention, mainly because it was about the last thing anyone would expect from DenTech Area. Maybe an Aqua Navi sprung a leak? Well, she was about to find out.

After some traveling, she found the source: a river that, in addition to existing, was pretty big. Hmm. "I'm pretty sure this isn't supposed to be here..."

"Great, now the Net's going out of its way to slow us down. Just our luck. ...Think you can get across?"

"I don't think so. I can't jump quite that far, and the current's too strong to safely try swimming. And..." Nope, nothing that way. Or that way. "There's no bridge or anything...I have a feeling this was made recently. It just doesn't fit this part of the Net at all."

"Well, in that case, whoever's responsible might be nearby. Dunno if it'll do any good to see if they can get rid of it, or at least let us cross, but it's a starting point, at least."

"Yeah, but how are-?" Another Navi appeared, interrupting Martia's train of thought. Turned out to be another female martial artist, which would probably make Leslie happy in more than one way. It sounded like she knew something about the whole thing, so she should probably ask. "Hey, do you know what happened, exactly? This isn't the kind of thing that should pop up in DenTech, of all places..." Maybe if she knew what happened, she'd get an idea? She wasn't really sure, but it couldn't hurt to try and learn more.
A trace of annoyance appeared on the female navi's face as Martia asked her question. But it was gone in a second, and she turned to face her. "Someone fucked up," she answered, rather bluntly. "No one actually told me what happened though. Said they didn't know and it was my job to figure that out." She sighed, then turned away again. Kneeling next to the water's edge, she started examining the parts where the panels and river met.

If Martia were to observe it, she would notice that the water wasn't flowing over the panels, not was it aligned to them. Most of the panels at the edge had been cut straight through by the river. At the navi's touch, the remains of one of them broke off and were carried downstream.

"You all really did a number on this place, didn't you," the navi said to no one in particular. "Can't believe I got dragged out of retirement for something this stupid." If she was aware that Martia was still present, she gave no indication of it.
Someone...yeah. That qualified as a screw up, if someone pulled this off accidentally. Martia crouched, to take a closer look. Not that she didn't already notice, but it definitely wasn't just a case of turning the panels watery. This was beyond a simple terrain change. "...Any ideas, Leslie?"

"Yeah. Someone seriously fucked up! At this rate, it's gonna be morning before I can get to bed!"

"Yeah, I'm getting that impression..." The pink fighter Navi let out a small sigh, as she continued to scour the water, hoping to find some sort of clue in the rapids. She wasn't so far, but she kept making the effort. "I wonder if this was done on purpose...it's just really hard to believe you could mess things up that badly unless you tried."

"Well, if that's the case, who did it? I don't think there are too many Navis that could pull something like this off, on purpose or not."

"That's true...but I know I don't know any of them, so I guess knowing that doesn't really help us." Well, so much for that. Martia hopped up, and took one more look over the impromptu river...then over at the other Navi. If she was sent to investigate...hmm, maybe she could assist somehow? "Um, excuse me, but...is there anything I can do to help you with this? The faster this problem gets solved, the better."
As Martia had her talk with Leslie, trying to puzzle everything out, the navi in white continued to pay no mind to her continued presence. She proceeded to do a number of actions that didn't seem like they would actually help in finding the source, such as examining the rapidly filling space where the broken off panel had been, and sticking one hand in the water and holding it there for several seconds. All the while, she mumbled to herself, and while Martia would be unable to make out exactly what was said, the navi sounded none too pleased. Finally, she stood up again and raised a hand to the side of her head.

Just in time for another question to come her way.

"Hell if I know," the navi answered. "I got a pretty good idea where the source is now, but I won't know what needs to be done until I get there. If it's something you can't help with, it'll just be a wasted trip on your part." She lowered her hand and turned back to Martia, looking her over. "That said, if it was done on purpose like you said, I expect there may be someone or something causing trouble up there. You look like you'd be a decent hand in a fight, and it sounds like you've got an operator calling the shots behind you, so you'd probably get farther than me."

The navi stopped and thought for a second. "Alright, I'll let you come along. But if there's nothing you can do to help, you need to leave and just come back tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"
What stuck out to Martia in the other Navi's remarks, was the part about having an operator 'calling the shots'. Which meant that either she didn't have an operator at all, or had one that just didn't care. Either way, it was a little sad. "Well, even if there isn't anything I can do, it's better than standing around here waiting! Let's go!" She technically hadn't answered the question, but that was less not agreeing to the terms, and more being able to do something about the problem. "My name's Martia, by the way. Yours?"

With that, she awaited the chance to move along. She was half-tempted to just go ahead and start walking upstream, but there was always that small, bizarre chance that wasn't the case here...
"It's Kaveri," the navi in white answered. That was all the introduction Martia was going to get, though, as a moment later she brought her hand back up to her ear and addressed someone who clearly wasn't present. "Sorry about that, ENA. I need a link to the nearest server control panel. For two," she said. She then gestured for Martia to approach her. "I'd tell you to hold on, but there's not much of anything to hold onto." Kaveri smirked, just in time for a deep green portal to open under their feet and whisk them away.

Martia would briefly be treated to a scene of hurtling through a tunnel, with walls looking like circuit boards and a brilliant light up ahead. Then, the light expanded to engulf them, and the two navis found themselves back in the Dentech Network, next to a facility of some sort. A few buildings stood up ahead, most of them with semi-transparent walls that would reveal a number of control consoles within. Of the non-see-through buildings, one in particular would be likely to draw Martia's attention. Namely, a cylindrical building with a massive hole in the side and water gushing out of it. The water flowed out and away from the facility, forming a river that got rougher the farther away from the facility it flowed. Just like where they had just came from, the flowing water cut straight through panels with no regard for their boundaries.

Closer to their source, a shelled figure darted in and out of the water. Its appearance was remarkably similar to a Nautilus virus, but smoke and steam were pouring out of its shell. And no Nautilus virus ever got that large. Or fast. Either way, it seemed to be deliberately hanging around the source of the torrential spill.

"Aw shit," Kaveri said as she caught sight of it. "Well, looks like you're going to get to help after all. Even if that thing didn't cause this, we're going to have to get past it to get close to there."

As if on cue, the Nautilus thing stopped flying around and turned to face the two navis. Yep, it looked like a fight was imminent.


---Angry Virus Thing---
Aggronaut: 500 HP

---Punchy Navis---
Martia: 220 HP
Kaveri: 250 HP

---Terrain---
Sea: 50% (Fast-flowing river: Each turn, anyone in the river will be pushed two moves downstream.)
Normal: 50% (Everywhere else)