Sea and Sand

A thin gray beam of light saw ViralMan into the network. He took a few steps into the area before really looking around. Sand and water, just like you'd expect from a beach. It was a little underwhelming. "Hm, it doesn't look like much," said ViralMan, voicing his disapproval.

A window popped up beside the Navi's half obscured face. "It's a beach. What were you expecting?" Zeo asked. "It's not like there would be anything out of the ordinary right at the entrance. Maybe you'll even find some new viruses."

"Hopefully not any more Shadows," ViralMan grumbled. It hadn't been fun trying to defeat those things. Pushing that out of his mind, the Navi searched for a path to take. As he did, a strong wind blew a wall of sand into his face and his unconsciously open mouth. "Ack!" ViralMan reacted, coughing. "This is a beach, not a desert!" he shouted at nothing, exasperated. He then grabbed the face mask at his neck and stretched it up to cover his mouth and nose.

"You get going," Zeo ordered. "I'm going to find some place with shade to avoid getting heatstroke or something." The window near ViralMan's face disappeared. Peace and quiet, I guess... He shrugged and started off in a random direction.

((Battle 1))
Coming into the Beach network, ViralMan found why he had sand in his face, he was standing in a patch of it, and the wind was blowing rather steadily. However, it died down after a bit, and all was well, until, that is, he found a swarm of blood-sucker Skeeters, eager to drain all the data out of the Navi.

SkeeterA: 30HP
SkeeterB: 30HP
SkeeterC: 30HP
SkeeterD: 30HP

Terrain: 70% Grass, 30% Sand (patches)

ViralMan.EXE: 120HP (sand)

-BATTLE ONE, FIGHT!!-
Stepping through another cloud of dust, ViralMan happened upon some...mosquitoes? "You have got to be kidding me. Who programs these things, a third grader?" he said with disbelief, covering his helmeted face with a hand.

"I think you've asked something like that before." Zeo's voice echoed slightly as a window appeared beside the Navi. "Small targets, so what do you need?" The op produced a handful of battlechips. "Something explosive? Or maybe the MarkCannon?" He held up the cannon chip. ViralMan shook his head. "Explosive's fine. Get one while I get out of this sand trap," the Navi ordered.

Doing as he'd said, ViralMan sprinted-with some difficulty- out of the patch of sand and onto some grass. The field of grass with sandy patches actually made for a decent view in ViralMan's opinion, but he didn't have time to admire it. He raised a hand and waited for the inevitable MagBomb to drop. When nothing happened, he glanced upward quizzically. Zeo chuckled. "I was considering sending you something other than what you were expecting, but I think I'll save it for a better time. MagBomb inbound." The boy inserted the chip.

Making a mental note to watch what he was being sent, ViralMan caught the MagBomb in midair and ran forward while trying to avoid the patches of sand. After gaining some ground, he planted one foot and drew back his bomb arm. A second later he hurled the small sphere directly at the swarm of hostile insects. The blast radius would probably be enough to at least hit one, and that would leave it open for other attacks. "Now, let's make use of the grassy terrain!" ViralMan called out to his operator. "And if the next thing on my arm isn't a Heatshot, I'm going to be ticked!" the Navi threatened.

Zeo tried to keep from laughing as he complied with ViralMan's demand.

ViralMan held out his arm as usual, waiting for the few seconds it took the data to rearrange his arm into a lethal flame cannon. This gun wasn't packing quite as much boom as the MagBomb, but if he was lucky it would accomplish something. The Skeeter viruses had likely scattered by this point, so ViralMan hunted down what he saw as the easiest target and aimed carefully. The hovering viruses made aiming difficult though, so in the end the Navi growled in frustration and fired the shot along with a prayer. The explosive fire burst rocketed straight for the target, but whether it would hit was another story.

Just as ViralMan was contemplating retreating back a bit, Zeo began to speak again. "Hold on a sec. We got a chip from those Shadows in NetVegas, and I'd like to think it'll help you out right now." Not in the mood to test new chips against new viruses, ViralMan adopted a stern look and began to protest just as his body darkened. More surprised than anything, the Navi examined himself. "What was that supposed to do? It changed the hue of my body!" Zeo had a curious look on his face. "No idea. I guess we'll find out when you get hit." ViralMan grunted in response.

"Wait, when I get hit?!"

1. Tactical movement: move off of Sand terrain
2. MagBomb1 to SkeeterB (30, Blast 2)
3. Heatshot to SkeeterC (40, Spread 1)
4. Shadow1 (Shadow status for one turn)
-Passive: Data Absorption (+15HP heal)
Moving off the sandy patch, ViralMan chucked a small bomb at the Skeeters, which saw the sphere as trouble and whizzed away frantically in every direction, causing the explosive to do nothing but be pretty. However, he did manage to roast one with his Heatshot, but no more afterwards. Suddenly, all the Skeeters came after him, but they did naught except bounce off his dark-hued armor harmlessly!

SkeeterA: 30HP
SkeeterB: 30HP
SkeeterC: DELETED
SkeeterD: 30HP

Terrain: 70% Grass, 30% Sand (patches)

ViralMan.EXE: 120HP (grass) (Shadow)
As he witnessed his one explosive wasted on being pretty, ViralMan groaned. A few moments later, he managed to burn one of the insect viruses to deletion and then stand in one spot while testing a new chip. As the Skeeters drew close to attack, ViralMan braced himself... and came out completely unscathed. "The chip just... prevented me from taking any damage? I like that," the Navi said happily.

"Yeah, it looks pretty cool," Zeo added in. "But now we've got the problem of dealing with small targets using precise weapons." He shuffled through his battlechips. "I'm not seeing anything particularly good here," he concluded. While he continued to look, ViralMan decided not to bank on his invincibility and moved away from the viruses. "For the time being, anything will work. I don't think we have any more explosives," he shouted.

In a light bulb moment, Zeo remembered the chip he'd acquired through the promotion at the chip store. He hadn't mentioned it to his Navi yet, and now seemed like a pretty good time. "Uh, I may have something for us to use, ViralMan," he said. "I need you to prepare yourself for a bit of weight." The op placed his new chip in the PET. ViralMan was understandably worried. "Zeo? What do you mean, 'a bit of weight'?" That question was answered by the large black orb that landed in ViralMan's arms. He barely managed to catch it. "What the hell is this?" he asked.

Zeo wasn't worried about explanations at the moment. "Talk later. Throw it down near the viruses and I'll send you something to set it off." He flipped a second Heatshot chip over in his free hand. ViralMan shifted his weight to continue bearing the bomb and stepped forward. "This had better be worth it," he said. After making sure he was throwing the bomb to a good spot, ViralMan bent his knees and half-lifted, half-threw the BlackBomb at the enemy viruses. A large sigh escaped him as he freed himself of the weight. "That's much better, now hurry up with the-" ViralMan broke off as he noticed the Heatshot on his arm.

Rushing to detonate the bomb before anything got out of range, ViralMan pointed the weapon at the stationary target and fired the Heatshot like the fuse on a cannon. "That thing was heavy. Let's not do that too often, hm?" ViralMan said hopefully. "Wait... is that bomb powerful enough to hit me as well?" Zeo's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, maybe. Though you should be fine with that Shadow effect, I'll send you some protection."

The protection came in the form of a Guard that ViralMan held in front of himself like a blast shield. He wondered just how destructive a bomb that size would be. Come to think of it, I wonder if the "fuse" even reached the bomb...

1. Throw BlackBomb1 towards viruses (120, S accuracy, Object: 50HP [Heavy, Stonebody])
2. Heatshot to bomb to set it off (40, Spread 1)
3. Guard1 blast shield (Reflects 60 damage)
4. Dodge
-Passive: Data Absorption (+15HP heal)
'Splosions and stuff. People aren't happy with explosions. They want explosions and stuff. They're not satisfied anymore with plain ol' C4. They want them pretty colors, too. Well, ya ain't gettin' em from me, ya hear? Yer all bitches n' whores, I tells ya.

SkeeterA: DELETED
SkeeterB: DELETED
SkeeterC: DELETED
SkeeterD: DELETED

Terrain: 70% Grass, 30% Sand (patches)

ViralMan.EXE: 120HP (grass)

-BATTLE ONE, VICTORY!!-

Rewards: 660z
When the Guard disappeared, ViralMan was revealed to have both arms covering his ears over his helmet. "That was really loud," he said, lowering his arms and shaking his head. "I think we should avoid using that one too often."

Zeo agreed. "You're right, it makes things too easy," he said. ViralMan didn't reply for a second. "...not what I was getting at, but fine. Sending the money data the viruses dropped and moving on." The Navi collected the decent amount of zenny and sent it like he said he would. Once he was finished with that, he continued walking in the direction he'd been heading while avoiding the few patches of sand that were there.

((Battle 2))
As ViralMan came nearer to the seaside, he found himself more and more surrounded by sand, until the grass was nonexistent, and he was looking at a vast beach of sorts. However, there were dangers at bay. There, in front of ViralMan, was a patch of murky brown, presumably some kind of quicksand. In the middle of it dwelt three shells, which were closed tight at the moment, but eyes could be seen through the small cracks in the shells which they peeked through.

ShellgeekA: 100HP (sea)
ShellgeekB: 100HP (sea)
ShellgeekC: 100HP (sea)

Terrain:
50% Sand (everywhere else)
20% Mud (surrounding patch of sea)
20% Sea (patch in very middle)

ViralMan.EXE: 120HP (sand)

-BATTLE TWO, FIGHT!!-
ViralMan climbed over a sand dune and arrived at a patch of dark brown ringing water. In the water lay several shelled viruses. They looked a little like oysters. ViralMan neared the darkened patch and stopped just short of it. "I'm not too eager to go jumping into that," he said. "Then again, I may not have to." He finished the sentence while staring at the water underneath the enemies.

Following the Navi's line of sight, Zeo laid eyes on the water and smiled. "That may just be our ticket to victory. Kind of obvious what to do, no?" the boy asked. He didn't need to; ViralMan already had a plan ready, if simply shocking the viruses to deletion could be considered a plan. "Yeah, it's obvious. But send me BubbleStar first."

Zeo was puzzled. "It's not really necessary. The water should be more than enough," he argued. ViralMan decided to lay out his reasoning."If those shells somehow block attacks, this would probably create an insanely powerful electrical attack. It won't hurt to try." Zeo agreed, sending the chip shortly after. It manifested in the form of a pale colored starfish in front of the Navi. With only three targets to attack, ViralMan cast an arm forward at them. The starfish released three slow moving bubbles in rapid succession before fragmenting and disappearing. While the bubbles approached their targets, ViralMan tried to distract the shelled viruses by circling the muddy terrain in a counter-clockwise fashion.

While in transit, ViralMan's right arm lost its form and became an orange conductor crackling with electricity. The Navi took it in stride, supporting the extra weight with his free hand. Once he had given the bubbles ample time to reach their targets, he dove to the side and rolled to his knees. Pointing the ElecReel straight at the Shellgeeks, ViralMan grinned. "And here's what you get for sitting on water," he remarked, launching a powerful chain of electricity at the viruses that could potentially fry all three of them to Hades Net and back. The only way it wouldn't was if they were able to block the attack, but ViralMan was hoping that wasn't the case. Either way, after his little spectacle, he rose from his knees and backpedaled further onto the sand.

He wasn't sure whether it had worked or not yet. One thing I do know: if that attack worked bubble and all, I feel sorry for those things...

1. BubbleStar1 to ShellgeekA, B, C (20, trapped for one turn)
2. Tactical movement: circlestrafe around on sand to distract Shellgeeks and allow the bubbles to hit
3. ElecReel1 to ShellgeekA, B, C (80, +100% due to terrain, +100% due to possible bubbles, +100% due to element (?))
4. Dodge
-Passive: Data Absorption (+15HP heal)
As ViralMan set to work with his bubbles, the three mollusk-like malwares popped right open.

The center one, apparently quicker on the draw, set straight to firing at him. Quick as he was on the draw, it wasn't a very precise draw. While the second of the two needles would drill square through ViralMan's center, the other one went flying way off over the horizon, missing by miles.

The Navi's distraction gambit seemed to work, too. Both of the viruses that had yet to attack him, still following him carefully as they prepared for attacks that wouldn't miss so terribly, would be shocked to find themselves wrapped in bubbles.

After this incredible strike of luck, ViralMan was quick to fire off his cruel lightning bolt, which struck the ShellGeeks, all of them, in turn. Their anguish could be very easily seen, felt, and heard, as the shocked looks on their faces were roasted into oblivion by the blast.

ViralMan would be relieved to feel his wound heal up a bit, as the viruses fragmented into data, leaving him alone with his rewards.

Victory!

Vanquisher:
ViralMan.EXE: 110 HP

Losers:
ShellGeekA: -FRIED-
ShellGeekB: -COOKED-
ShellGeekC: -FRIED-

RewardData: 550 zenny
"...ow," ViralMan uttered quietly after being pierced through by a needle. "Being impaled isn't a fun a experience." He examined the wound with a gentle hand just as it began to fill in.

Zeo smirked. "You say it like there was a chance that it was." Looking at the patch of water where the viruses had been, the boy knew the battle was over. "Are you alright?" he asked his Navi. ViralMan rubbed the filled-in hole in his chest gingerly. "Yeah, just a flesh wound," he replied, removing the hand. The Navi took a step back before vaulting as far as he could over the mud to reach the money left by the viruses. "Not much, but worth a minor hit, I suppose."

ViralMan traversed the ring of mud again to reach the sand. "Moving on now. Hopefully the next viruses won't impale me."

((Battle 3))
ViralMan continued on, only to find himself once again entangled in another fight.

Shortly ahead there appeared to be some Metools, just hopping around in the sand. As soon as he was within range, however, ViralMan saw them both turn to him, ready to fight.

Over to his side there appeared to be Walla that had been basking in the sun, until ViralMan came along. Now it seemed about ready to fire its tusks at him.

On his other side, out of a fairly unassuming patch of beach grass, a KillPlant shot up, staring down ViralMan with a frightful look.

Last, but certainly not least, the sand began to shake. Something could be felt moving under there. It shot out from ahead of him, travelled under him, and then flew into the air for a moment, as if to make itself known, before flying back under the sand somewhere behind him. It appeared he'd have to deal with a SnakeArm, too.

To make matters worse, this beach sand wasn't much of a surface to fight on.

Oh well, what can you do?

Battle Summary:

Allies:
ViralMan.EXE: 110 HP

Enemies:
MetoolA: 40 HP
MetoolB: 40 HP
WallaA: 100 HP
KillPlantA: 100 HP
SnakeArmA: 130 HP

Terrain:
5% Grass [Around KillPlant, ahead and left]
5% Grass [Patch back and to the left]
90% Sand [Everywhere Else]

Battle 3,

Begin!

"And the hits just keep on coming," ViralMan said dryly as the next batch of victims revealed themselves. This was quite a spread; three new viruses and two weak ones he'd seen time and time again. The Navi would be hard pressed to end the battle in just a few moves, so he decided to focus a little less on causing havoc and a little more on tactics.

The increased emphasis on tactics came in the form of the largest weapon ViralMan had. "Zeo, send that BigHammer we got from the mission. Time to try it out." Zeo had almost forgotten about the chip, but that didn't stop him from quickly finding it and sending it to his Navi. "What will you be smashing?" he asked. ViralMan merely pointed with his left hand while the huge maul formed in his right. "The walrus," he said after a moment. "It seems to be the least likely to dodge this."

The BigHammer amounted to being about as heavy as the BlackBomb. In one hand. ViralMan struggled to grip the long handle with his other hand when the weight caused his right arm to almost buckle. Firmly gripped with both hands, the hammer still felt extremely heavy. "What's with all the heavy chips we've been getting lately?" he asked rhetorically, using the weapon's weight to start off towards the Walla. Once he was close, ViralMan shifted the hammer to his side to execute a half dodge. As he moved, he planted a foot on the ground and began to spin the BigHammer around, using its own weight to increase the swinging power. The hammer was set to smash straight into the Walla's side. After the one swing, the hammer disappeared. ViralMan wasn't sure whether the chip was multi-use, but he'd had enough of the weight for now.

"Hey, I'm sending a FireHit," Zeo told the Navi. "Get ready to go after that plant." ViralMan nodded and whirled around in the other direction, his sights set on the grassy patch with the KillPlant virus. Zeo smiled with satisfaction; it was nice to have commands obeyed once in a while. With that, he slid the promised chip into the PET.

ViralMan took no notice of his hand bursting into flame, he was used to it by now. Full on sprinting back across the battlefield, he kept a watchful eye on the KillPlant. With no idea what it would try, he knew he would have to be careful. ViralMan reached the virus without much trouble and launched into the air a few yards from it. Pulling back his flaming fist in midair, the Navi then brought it forward with as much force as he could muster straight into the virus'... head? If it can be called that, he thought. ViralMan saw no way for his attack to miss a plant rooted to the ground, but he'd seen crazier things and retreated quickly to avoid getting hit.

He hadn't been paying any real attention to the Metools. ViralMan was hoping they would be reluctant to attack after his BigHammer show. He decided to continue practically ignoring them as his eyes darted around in search of the sand snake. Zeo attempted to contribute to his Navi's pursuit by preparing one of the Navi's attacks. "Ready to hold that snake down when you find it," he said to ViralMan, poised to initiate the attack program. Waiting until he had caught sight of the SnakeArm, ViralMan instantly jumped closer and directed an outstretched hand at it. Despite the inhibited movement due to the sand, the frayed wires of his attack managed to emerge speedily from the sand. They made straight for the virus in an attempt to latch onto it and tie it down before it could escape underground again.

ViralMan knew that his Data Siphon could heal any damage he'd taken, but if the attack had failed his automatic healing program could easily make up the lost health. He turned to check on the Metools again before trying to ascertain the results of his numerous attacks.

1. BigHammer1 to WallaA (160)
2. FireHit1 to KillPlantA (60, +100% due to element)
3. Data Siphon to SnakeArmA (25HP drain, Hold for one turn)
4. Dodge
-Passive: Data Absorption (+15HP heal)
Viralman started off strong, his hammer impacted against the side of the walrus virus and sending it barreling into oblivion. The Navi then turned to the KillPlant, unleashing a barrage of flaming fists that singed the grass and burnt the virus to a crisp. It was looking to be quite the upset as Viralman focused his attention on the last "powerful" virus.

Viralman trudged through the sand, sending out his wiry band sin an attempt to capture the snakelike virus. However, the Navi's foot slipped in the sand, throwing off his aim and allowing the virus to burrow back under the sand. A rumble under Viralman's feet alerted him to the Snakearm's attack and the Navi managed to roll away just as the virus broke to the surface.

However, the metools weren't quite as cowed as he had hoped. The twin viruses slammed their pickaxes down into the sand, sending shockwaves that ripped across the Navi's body. Viralman managed to repai some of the damage by absorbing the stray data floating around him.

Viralman had managed to even the odds a bit, but he still had a ways to go.

Battle Summary:

Allies:
ViralMan.EXE: 100 HP

Enemies:
MetoolA: 40 HP
MetoolB: 40 HP
WallaA: DELETED!
KillPlantA: DELETED!
SnakeArmA: 130 HP

Terrain:
5% Grass [Patch back and to the left]
95% Sand [Everywhere Else]
ViralMan winced as his body automatically absorbed stray data from the air to fix his shockwave wounds. "So much for the Mets staying docile..." He stood up as the healing process finished. This sand is dangerous. I should probably look into ways to get rid of terrain like this, he thought. The desert-like battlefield was indeed a hazard in the way of victory, but ViralMan would just have to endure it for now.

Showing minor outward concern for his Navi's injuries, Zeo spoke up to discuss tactics. "Now that you're patched up about, how are we proceeding? I think those Mets are going to wish they'd stayed back, hm?" With that not so subtle hint, Zeo began shuffling through his chips for one to silence the diminutive viruses. "You just burned away most of the grass, so... Shotgun?" ViralMan nodded his assent and held out an arm. The boy responded by sending the chip with a mini salute visible in the view screen beside the Navi.

The chip slowly transformed ViralMan's right forearm into his usual buster. Straight and to the point. He gripped the buster with his free hand and jogged through the unstable sand towards the Metools, taking care not to fall like he had the last time. When the viruses were at a suitable range, ViralMan secured his footing in the dunes and knelt down. The two Mets seemed relatively close, so he counted on them both being caught in the shot's spread. With his targets in sight, ViralMan fired the Shotgun at one of the viruses to take out both. He hoped it worked, since otherwise he could probably expect more shockwaves to the back.

"...please, delete them both," he mumbled at the thought. The SnakeArm he'd missed before was seeming to present the greatest threat, being able to conceal itself and attack from below. To circumvent its agility and burrowing, ViralMan called for one of his more accurate battlechips. "Zeo, send me MarkCannon. It'll be good for that snake." Exactly why it would be was clear to Zeo, so he fished the chip out of his pocket and slotted it into his PET. ViralMan received it by holding out his arm, like with the Shotgun. This time though, a more detailed looking Cannon adorned the Navi's arm. He laid a hand on it before slowly turning around. Fast movements might cause him to fall again. The weapon's targeting reticule pulsed in the sand as ViralMan searched for his target. When he finally managed to lock on, the MarkCannon fired and would potentially keep the SnakeArm out long enough for his next move.

Not moving from where he had used the last two chips, ViralMan found and felt the weight of an orange device on his arm. The ElecReel crackled with energy while he eyed the virus, wherever it had ended up. If the MarkCannon had hit, it would only take the one hit to finish the SnakeArm. ViralMan was confident that the electricity would hit if the cannon had. Pointing the lethal weapon at the virus, he let fly with a bolt of powerful electricity that could delete the enemy. The Navi didn't let up until the weapon had stopped firing and disappeared, at which point he took a step back and looked around warily. ViralMan's automatic healing system gathered ambient data around him to heal more shockwave wounds while he kept watch for any survivors.

1. Shotgun to MetoolA (50, Spread1)
2. MarkCannon1 to SnakeArmA (70, Lock-On, Seeking)
3. ElecReel1 to SnakeArmA (80)
4. Dodge
-Passive: Data Absorption (+15HP heal)
The Metools were both disintegrated by the Shotgun blast as they somehow lined up in Viralman's range. Only the Snakearm was left, allowing the navi to focus his full attention to it. Partially stunned by a quick MarkCannon round, The virus attempted to dive back into the ground to flee but found that to be a fatal mistake. Tendrils of electricity coursed through the ground and shocked it to deletion. On closer inspection, the Metools had yielded some battlechip data for him.

Also, he healed.

MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED
Walla: DELETED
KillPlant: DELETED
SnakeArm: DELETED

Terrain: 5% Grass [Patch back and to the left], 95% Sand [Everywhere Else]

ViralMan.EXE: 115 HP

[Battle 3 - Victory!]

Get: 480z + Shockwave
ViralMan was relieved to see that the Shotgun had prevented him from being hit by any more shockwaves. It had even left him with a Shockwave of his own. He collected the chip data warily. "I don't know how much I'll use this one, but for what it's worth..." He sent the data to Zeo's PET along with the zenny data. "This network has some interesting viruses. It certainly hasn't been boring."

"I'm glad you're satisfied, your highness," Zeo joked. "Now, onward to more annoying viruses?"

"I'd love to say no, but it's bound to happen eventually," ViralMan responded pessimistically, setting off again.

((Battle 4, 115HP))
Coming across a long stretch of grassy land parting a large body of water, Viralman debated whether or not to cross, sensing some kind of trap. With no other path available to him, he made his way over the natural bridge warily and wasn't too surprised when three separate virus groups popped out of the water to ambush him. He was caught in the middle of triangle they formed, and was approximately 15 paces from each of the groups.
((Bonus question: How far apart is each group from each other?))

PiranhaA: 60 HP [sea]
SenbonA: 80 HP [sea]

PiranhaB: 60 HP [sea]
SenbonB: 80 HP [sea]

PiranhaC: 60 HP [sea]
SenbonC: 80 HP [sea]

Terrain: 25% Grass, 75% Sea

Viralman.EXE: 115 HP [grass]

[Battle 4 - Begin!]
((Um, around 35 paces?))

"Well, that happened as expected," ViralMan said as the viruses emerged from the water. He was tempted to try to fry them all then and there, but using ElecReel was getting somewhat redundant by now. "What other than a high powered electric shock is good for disabling fish?" he asked rhetorically.

Zeo looked at his Navi quizzically. "That sounded pretty stupid coming out, since we have a high powered electric shock." He held up ElecReel for the third time. "Why not?" ViralMan responded with his reasoning. "Fried fish is fine with me, but we've already done it once. I'll settle for some smaller scale shocking, thanks."

"Nice alliteration," Zeo commented, sending his Navi a MagBomb chip. ViralMan acknowledged it without thinking and did a double take. "Wait, I wasn't... never mind." The bomb dropped into the Navi's right hand, and he gripped it tightly. First order of business: become less of a blatant target. Running closer to one of the natural bridge's edges, ViralMan prepared to throw the MagBomb. "Here's what you get for trying to ambush a guy with electric bombs," he called out, tossing the bomb into the closest group's midst before doubling back across the bridge. "Now, the other minor shocker!" he ordered, nearing another group.

Guessing that the Navi meant Thunder, Zeo pulled it out. "Haven't used this one in a while. Good luck," he said to both Navi and battlechip, slotting it into the PET.

Inserting the chip caused it to manifest as a crackling ball of electricity alongside ViralMan's base buster. The ball floated into his arm cannon and began to emit intense light. The Navi knew the attack was less than accurate, but trying wouldn't hurt him. Who am I kidding? Of course it'll hurt me, he thought, bending his knees and aiming the projectile at another virus group. ViralMan braced himself for the unfamiliar recoil and watched as the ball of powerful electricity... slowly traveled out of the buster and began to coast slowly towards the virus group. He was speechless. "If that thing hits, it will be one of the luckiest shots in the world," ViralMan remarked negatively.

"ViralMan? How about actually making use of FireHit's ranged capabilities?" Zeo asked from nowhere. The Navi looked up with a hidden confused look before remembering that yes, the chip was potentially ranged. "Right. Send it my way," he replied, sights set on the same pair of viruses as last time. "Sending," the op said, following through. As ViralMan's clenched first burst into flame, he focused on the weaker virus in the pair. The less odd looking fish. Unsure of how to trigger the chip's ranged ability, he decided to focus as hard as possible on the virus and punch. So he did, taking a good distanced swing at it and following through completely. ViralMan felt the fire disappear from his hand, but was too busy spinning to face one side of the natural bridge to make sure he had gotten the chip to work. He sprinted towards the end a bit more before taking up a position on the bridge to watch for attacks from the many viruses.

1. MagBomb1 to PiranhaA (30, Stun, Blast 2, +100% due to element)
2. Thunder1 to SenbonB (40, Stun, +100% due to element)
3. FireHit1 to PiranhaB (60)
4. Dodge
-Passive: Data Absorption (+15HP heal)
((INCORRECT. The answer is around 26 paces. Also, if you don't actually RP your healing, I'm not supposed to give it to you. Consider yourself warned.))

The Magbomb arced high and dropped near one of the viral pairs. Sadly, the Piranha was too fast and slipped out of the way, but the Senbon couldn't escape. The terrain and type advantage made Viralman's weak bomb a smashing success, deleting the pufferfish in a single strike. His Thunder ball rolled slowly towards another Senbon as he threw a fiery punch to the virus beside it. Neither dodged well enough and both were deleted. However, the counter attack came swiftly as a crosshair locked itself onto Viralman's position, prompting the two remaining Piranhas to attack simultaneously with six spears. Three more sharp spines were launched from the last Senbon leaving Viralman little space to dodge. With some graceful movements, he only sustained one hit from each virus but it added up to a lot of hurt (20, 20, 10). He then repaired some of the damage, but not nearly all of it.

PiranhaA: 60 HP [sea]
SenbonA: DELETED

PiranhaB: DELETED
SenbonB: DELETED

PiranhaC: 60 HP [sea]
SenbonC: 80 HP [sea]

Terrain: 25% Grass, 75% Sea

Viralman.EXE: 80 HP [grass]