Sharo Research (EVENT!)

As the enemy data rolled in, Junior's glasses darkened. He placed a hand on his now black glasses, nudging them down just a bit so that he could get a good look at his opponents,"Wow.... some weird looking spirit type things and also some nasty looking fish. But it seems it looks like we have a big advantage. Mainly be able to do this." He removed the shades from his face and smiled at the enemies suggestively. Then he blinked one eye, sending waves of charismatic energy rippling through the air. That should give them time to look over the enemies more carefully.

"So its begun. Junior, I don't like the looks of those small fries. If they're that weak, then what are they doing in this advanced an area? Let's try a weak attack, one that should take them all out. If they're really that weak, they'll die. If not and it backfires or something, we won't lose much. Now for the fish, don't get too close. Ranged attacks right now." Wes instructed, "Sending Bubblestar, Markcannon."

"Ah yes, one of our more stunning chips. These certainly are lovely." commented Junior. He held his hand forward, clasping at an imaginary bubble wand. As he gently waved his arm in front of him, three thin glossy membranes generated before him. He took a moment to admire their beauty before sighing in contentment and blowing them away with a light breathe. The glimmered as they gently floated through the air, a light breeze helping them along. Junior now glanced at the larks. They would be a problem. He held up his palm, from which a small laser shown from. It cast a cursor mark, which he pointed between the larks eyes. He tried to steady his aim. With this kind of accuracy, he didn't want something stupid like his arm slipping to mess up his shot. When he was sastifies, he released the blast from his hand, but he blinked quickly, which made him miss whether it actually landed or not. He backed up a bit, the sight of the larks still making him nervous. He watched Stryder from the corner of his eyes, wanting to see her fighting style.

((1.) Sexy Wink, stun or lowers accuracy to each
2.) Bubblestar, 20 aqua+trap, one to each wisp
3.) Markcannon, 70+lock-on, LarkA
4.) Dodge))
Nachahmen coughed a bit, taking a gander at the newly-arrived foes, as well a giving his allies a second look over.
Hm..Some fish, a couple of balls... He thought, then looking over to stryder. ....A female.. Finally, his gaze came upon Junior and Pianissimo. And two other males, one of which seems to have an effect on others.

Nachahmen, satisfied with his observations of his allies went back to priorities and began examining the virii.
The balls seem to be fairly normal, although there seems to be some deception to their HP...I can't put my finger on it. Ah well..
He then glanced at the larks, and was suddenly struck by a strange data, causing him to take a few steps back, as well as restoring his former coughs.
Wha?! What the hell was that? So fierce...
He took in as much as he could: the fierce, almost beastial form, scaly. Sharp teeth, vicious stare...the rest was an anomaly that he just didn't seem to be able to solve.

Well, we have our targets, then. Zanzo....
He stopped mid-breath with a couple of coughs.
...I have a plan. I'll need the following chips: Thunder, Energybomb, and Heatshot. Got it? He asked gruffly.

"Gotcha'. Sending chips now..." Replied Zanzo, slotting in the requested chips.

Upon receiving the chips, Nachamen took a gaze at the lark as it was being attacked by Junior. Though it was likely difficult to notice, crosshairs became apparent in his eyes as he did so. His right hand then began to glow with energy, so he reeled his arm back, the threw the thunderball off with a curve. Next, taking sight of the next lark, Nachahmen clasped the newly formed energybomb in his right hand as his left turned into a red buster. He pulled his arm up high, the tilted his body back a bit, creeking and snapping sounds coming from him as he did. Damn my authritis... he said almost apathetically, more annoyed than in pain. Upon hitting about a 45-degree angle, Nac then pulled foward, body first, then arm, and launched the sphere flying toward the fish.

Next, he tucked down and rolled to the left, lining up better with the wisps. Landing into a psuedo-crouch, Nac took aim at his targets and rose his buster. Taking a moment to gather perspective, he moved the buster with faint movements, trying to get just the right aim, then fired, sending forth the inferno toward the deceitful spirits.

Finally, his part of the assault done, Nachahmen paused for a moment. Coughing a bit, something odd becomes apparent to those noticing him: his body begins to bulge at various places. Eventually, fingers, then hands, and futher arms began to sprout from him. Toes, feet and legs shortly followed, and even heads began to pop out. Within seconds from this, multiple Nachahmen left the original's body and began to waltz about. As they shuffled about, it becomes harder and harder to discern any one particular Nac from the other...

Summary

0: Sig: Nature's Embrace: +Accuracy to attacks and +Chip drop to fallen virii this turn; +mimicry ability of virii. Can be used with other sigs, but its CD raises by 1 when doing so.

0: Snipe: +Accuracy to one atk.
1: Sniping Thunder-40Elecdmg(80 due to weakness)+ stun, increased accuracy-LarkA

2: Energybomb-40x3-LarkB
3: Heatshot-40dmg, chance of splash-WispB
4: Sig: Elmer's Grace: -Accuracy to atks against Nac. Lasts until either: Hit twice, or three turns pass. CD begins when effect ends.


Cooldowns/Durations

Nature's Embrace: 3(2+1)
Elmer's Grace: 1st turn
Something was seriously wrong with the viruses that floated before the group. They were like normal viruses...but somehow different. Pianissimo activated his scanners and focused them first on the balls of mist.

Closest Match: Will-o-the-Wisp
WARNING: Data taken from old VABCA records. May be several years out of date.
Will O'-The-Wisp
10 HP
All attacks do only 1 damage to the Will O' The Wisp, except in exceptional situations.
At its first opportunity, it dives into a Navi's chest. During this time, the Navi takes half damage but can take no action except attempting to shake it off. If the Navi succeeds in expelling the Will O'-The-Wisp from its body, or it takes a total of 50 damage (excluding that dealt by this virus,) then the virus appears as an amorphous ball of light or a blue glow around a stationary object, and is temporarily open to attack.


This is probably the biggest threat right now, thought Pianissimo. There was no way he could land ten hits fast enough to defeat the wisp before it could possess a navi, but he had to try. "Duke," he said to Rigel, "Don't send any chips yet. They'll only be wasted. Do you have those new attack programs ready?"

"I installed them shortly before this lot showed up," Rigel responded, indicating the viruses. "They turned out better than I expected, to tell the truth. Go ahead and try them out."

As if having known how to do it all his life, Pianissimo slashed at the ground. In the heavily damaged netscape, the toxic data he was searching for wasn't too difficult to draw to the surface. The data clung to Pianissimo's blade like a cloud of smoke. He pointed the blade at the group of wisps with a flicking motion, forcing the cloud of poison off of it and toward the wisps. If everything went well, one of the strange larks would be caught in the cloud as well.

His katana free of toxic data, Pianissimo, careful not to breathe any remnants of the cloud, dashed through the fading remains of it, blade held behind him. He singled out one of the wisps. Holding the katana at arm's length and hitting the wisp with the edge of it to keep from getting too close, Pianissimo disturbed the ball of mist three times, leaving ripples across it's surface. Whether it had affected the virus itself, though, he couldn't tell. Not wanting to get posessed, which would inevitably leave him open for a considerable beating from the larks, Pianissimo himself vanished into the mist the wisps had appeared from, sincerely hoping that there weren't more waiting for him in there.
____________________

1. Shadow Slay Wisps and Carnivorous LarkB - 80 total (20 each, or 1 to each wisp and 77 to the lark if I can get away with it) and poison effect (-5 to affected for two turns following)
2-4. Normal attack WispB - 9 damage each (will probably only do 1 each attack since it's a wisp)
Ability: Swordplay (free dodge after two consecutive melee attacks)
The Wisps and Larks suddenly appeared, seemlingly from out of nowhere, startling Alexia and catching Stryder off guard. "Whaa? Stryder, heads up. We've got company." Stryder takes a few steps forward and whips out Zieghart in front of her, while quickly glances at all the enemies,only to finding herself staring straight into the fierce, deadly eyes of the Larks. "Those Larks look pretty tough. Better focus on the small fries first, for now." "Agreed. Sending a few chips your way. Shotgun, heatshot.....download!"

Stryder strafes to her right, trying to get out of Wisp C's sight. "Looks like I better take care of this one first." Zieghart then begins to vibrate in Stryders hands. So heavily, that she's forced to stop running at full speed and slow down a bit. The pickups and effects switches were rattling like an earthquake. She knew that all this 'rumbling' was Zieghart's spirit, bursting at the seems with with power and rage. "Let's show 'em Zieg. Show 'em how to really rock." Stryder falls to one knee in a sliding motion, fully extending her right leg and sliding on her left, as she quickly and furiosly strummed the first three strings in quick succession. While one soundwave went toward WispC, the second made its way towards LarkA.

Just as the shotgun chip was used, Zieghart stopped the fierce vibrating, and was now engulfed in a bright red aura. Stryder could tell by the aura, that this had to be the heatshot. "Stryder! Your too close. Get some distance between yourself and those virii." Completely unaware of just how far she slid and how hard she threw herself to the ground, Stryder was only a few feet away from the Larks. As she stood herself up, a brief gust of wind whipped its way up her spine and through her hair. The bitter cold wind caused Stryders' back muscles to lock up for a second, as she let out small grunt of pain. Using her legs and feet, Stryder thrusts herself backwards as hard as she can. It looked almost as if she were about to fall flat on her back. "Damned wind...gusts....Nyaaa!!" There was no way Stryder could tell if she managed to leap away from the Larks, or only make herself bait for them, for another gust a wind was furiously blowing, sending quite a few peices of ice dancing in the wind. "Mmph, I've gotta do something."

Feeling what Stryder assumes is the ground, she quickly aims Zieghart towards LarkA, and plucks all six strings. As the fiery mass energy left her sight, the ice pieces in the air were melted away almost instantly.

Overview:
1. Shotgun to WispC/LarkA-50dmg each
2. *Snipe* Heatshot to LarkA-40 Splash to larkB?
3. dodge
For the second time since he arrived in Sharo, a cocoon of white light enveloped Voltman. The small form on the ice dissappeared, and a larger form took its place. The light dispersed, and the GMO change was complete, along with the mental control. MiniVolt was safely stored away in Sleep Mode, and Voltman was ready for battle. The little guy needed his rest, because he HAD been awake for a full 10 minutes, hadn't he?
He surveyed the battle. The change had left him out of the battle for several seconds, but that had been enough for the others to beging their attacks. He took a moment to consult (if it could be called that) with his operator.
Shigeru! I'm sending you scans of the viruses! Try to identify them, and I'll watch our allies' attack patterns.
Right!
Shigeru started to run a search in the virus picture database with these viruses, and ran his own descriptions of them through the VABCA, as those viruses were not pictured.

Meanwhile, Voltman ran a scan on his allies' attacks. His new friend, pp, was unleashing some sort of toxic blade on the enemies, and seemed to have a particular distaste for the small enemies. Voltman made suure to analyze the path of the poisonous cloud, so he could avoid it at all costs. It looked like even coming into contact with that thing would corrupt a navi's data.
How ironic, then, that he seemed to have pulled it directly from the net they had polluted themselves.
Meanwhile, the navi that Voltman had met briefly at the Onsen had blasted the enemies with a cleverly disguised stun program, hidden in a wink. He took a less agressive route of attack towards the small enemies, merely trapping them in what, at first glance, appeared to be bubbles. Voltman noted from a quick scan that the attack seemed to be programmed to enhance electric attacks. He stored that information for later reference. He also noticed that this navi seemed to use his fingers to launch attacks. Interesting.
And then there was his doppleganger. It would appear that it still maintained its basic OS, as it seemed much more precise with gun chips than Voltman had ever been. AND he seemed to be able to not only duplicate the appearance of others, but create clones of himself! Would the surprises never end?
And the female. She seemed to manifest her attacks in the area around her before she attacked, focusing the blasts through her guitar. Strange. One thing was for certain, though: she seemed to be extremely at home with gun chips. Just like his doppleganger. Good to know, if he was to plan an attack that played to everyone's strengths...

Shigeru pulled up the new window as the scans were completed. The image search had come up with one reference, and the VABCA search the same. The large viruses were similar to Larks, as Shigeru had guessed, but the feral side of them was definitely different from those of normal Larks. And the other ones were, if Shigeru's description was accurate, Will 'O Wisps. He resolved to call them Wisps. They seemed to be strange viruses... attacks would only do one damage a hit.
Like a sun rising over the horizon, an idea dawned on Shigeru. He quickly opened a channel with Voltman.

Voltman was already jumping from ice floe to ice floe to get to the main part of the battle, when Shigeru opened up a channel.
Voltman!
One of his feet suddenly slid out from under him, and he was forced to compensate with a backwards jump.
What? Did you identify the viruses?
You bet. And I found out something that may help. You'll need these chips.
Shigeru quickly slotted in the cactiball, flameline, and wideshot.
Voltman downloaded the data, and opened up a secure channel to Shigeru for his plans. They were quickly relayed, and he closed the channel with a determined look on his face. His spear raised, he charged into the fray.
The attack begins. Spirit of Earth, dispel the demon!
His first move was to charge at the wisps, the tip of his spear glowing green. He jumped into the air, whipping it around at the first wisp. The tip detatched, and inflated like a balloon, growing spikes as it flew. The cactiball finally hit the ground, and bounced up at the wisp, rebounding like a rubber ball off of the floor.
Spirit of Flame, consume them!
Then, wasting no time. Voltman activated the flameline. His eyes glowed red, and small flames shot from his fingertips into the ground at his feet. After roughly two seconds, he gripped the flames in his hands, doing no damage to himself as it was his own chip, and pulled as if he were pulling on a particularly stubborn weed. The ground cracked, and flames erupted from the ground, following the path along the strings of flame and into Voltman's hands, where they stayed. The ball of flame was white hot, but Voltman took no notice, simply pointing his hands at his foes, palms out. The flames leaped from his hands at the strange larks, great serpents of fire that would swallow the enemies whole if (or when) they hit.
Spirit of Water, purge the unclean from our sight!
Then, he pointed his hand at a nearby pool. The water spiraled out of the pool, wrapping itself around his arm. But it didn't stop there. It swerved across his chest, and to his other arm, surrounding it as well. The red glow faded from his eyes, to be replaced by a deep blue. He whirled around, and lashed out with his arms. The water detached, flying at the enemies as it did so. The water on his chest siphoned off to the thrown waves, and then eventually fused back together to form a third. The three waves rushed at the two Larks, and Voltman redirected one of the waves towards a wisp with a fluent, open palmed leftward movement of his arms. Now, it was aimed at the third Wisp.
Then, his current resources of ingenuity and battlechips exhausted, he jumped back. Shigeru decided to open a quick channel for a chat with his navi.
Dramatic much, Volt?
Voltman shrugged, keeping a close eye on the viruses.
It's all about style. Where's the fun in battling if you can never be a little overdramatic? Don't you ever watch the anime shows you download? I was trying to emulate their attacks. Just be glad I didn't go on some rant about the powers of love and friendship.
Shigeru shook his head. His navi was certainly a character. His shoulders shaking from barely supressed laughter, he closed the channel.
Voltman grinned. It wasn't as if he made it his mission to screw with Shigeru, but it was certainly one of the fun things to do when battles became too monotonous.
But he shook his head, and focused on the battle. There were still chances that the viruses would be up and about after the attacks had finished, and Voltman wasn't going to be hit by being careless and not paying attention.

Overview:
1. Cactiball to WispA (20x3, Wood)
2. Flameline to Carnivorous LarkA/B (70 each, Fire)
3. Wideshot to Carnivorous LarkA/B, and WispC (80 each, Aqua)
4. Dodge
Pianissimo and his comrades lay into the Wisps, and manage to take a large chunk out of one of them. It appears to slightly shrink under the onslaught, taking a few extra points of damage, before diving into Pianissimo's chest in desperation. A second Wisp, seizing the opportunity, tries to dive into Pianissimo, but is hit by Stryder--- so it dives into him instead.

The Larks almost appear to smile as they bare their teeth and charge at the helpless Navis, looking for an easy kill, launching waves of destructive data as they come. However, a veritable wall of attacks lays waste to them, and as one is deleted, the other dives into a pool of water and seems to vanish.

WispA: 9 (Chunk of Ice)
WispB: 3 (Pianissimo)
WispC: 8 (Stryder)
Carnivorous LarkA: 120 (Submerged)
Carnivorous LarkB: Deleted

Junior: 110
Nachamen: 140
Pianissimo: 100 (WispB)
Voltman: 150
Stryder: 125 (WispC)
"Ouch." Junior brought back the hand that the lark had nicked. It wasn't very damaging, but it still stung like hell. He put the wounded area in his mouth, trying to sooth the pain and then surveyed his allies, "Pianoman's looking bad. Stryder's in trouble too. What should I do?"

"To help them? Nothing. The enemies are inside of them, so right now they're the only ones that can defeat them. Your goal is finishing off the other enemies. The lark hid in that puddle, so you can only attack the frozen Wisp. Its right where you want it, so split up the lasers from your Finger Shot and finish it off." Wes instruected.

"Okay..." Junior focused his energy into the tips of his fingers, feeling each digit get warm. He spread each finger apart so that the lasers wouldn't combine and pointed each at the Wisp, "He goes, Soul Finger Shot! Ten Tiny Lasers!" Each individual beam arced off in the genereal direction of the chunk of ice holding the wisp. With any luck they would pierce the center and eliminate the spector. Junior then fired off one small blast from his palm, almost as an after thought before stepping back and taking in his surroundings, "I may not be able to help directly, but at least I can try and comfort her..." He jogged over to Stryder, "Come on, Stryder-san. You can beat this thing. Its just a virus and you're a navi. Force it out of you so that I can finish off and we can move on together."

"Not exactly on par with motivational speakers, but maybe it will work..." Wes muttered. He pulled out a chip and inserted it into his PET with a click, "She can't really defend herself, so if things look bad, use this. Sending Areagrab."

"Thanks." Junior moved a bit closer to Stryder, "You just concentrate on recovering. If anything attacks, I'll move us both out of the way."

"Now then..... ehy, Elec navi." Wes addressed Voltman, "That other fish is in a puddle. Use some elec attack to fry it and its little hidey hole, got it? You can handle that, right?"

((1.) Soul Finger Shot, 8 hits of 10 to WispA, 2 hits of 20 to WispA
2.) Palm Blast, 9, WispA
3.) Encourage Stryder
4.) Prep Areagrab, will use to dodge with Stryder if attacked))
Voltman's plan worked fairly well, but there was a slight complication.
Okay, a MAJOR complication. Those wisps had just dived into his allies, and they (his allies) were now writhing in pain, looking as if a great battle was taking place in their mind. HE knew the looks. It was the same look that he had when he was having a particularly wild fight with MiniVolt. He also knew that there was nothing that he could do to help... but wait. The strange navi was thorougly taking care of the exposed and frozen wisp, which left only one target.
That Lark was going DOWN.
Shigeru! Send me the Areagrab and the Markcannon!
You aren't planning to warp underwater, are you? That would be suicide!
Just trust me!
Shigeru grabbed the areagrab chip, but hesitated. Voltman had been acting rasher and rasher lately, and he could possibly do something he would regret. But there were times when Voltman concieved strategys Shigeru wouldn't have though of in YEARS. But what to do?
Areagrab, Markcannon, double slot-in!!
Voltman loaded the chips, but only activated the markcannon at first. He discarded the cannon form of the chip, and rerouted the reticule system to his visor. The crosshairs shot out, searching through the water for a target. A small map of the battle appeared on his visor, the searched areas showing up as green on the map, the unsearched as blue. The visible allies were already showing up as red marks on the map, but there was one more he was looking for. The green area quickly grew, the blue dissappearing as it searched more and more. There were only two places left to sweep.
The circle of blue shrunk and shrunk. Voltman wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead, and waited for the results.
In the center of the circle, a birdlike red blip appeared.
Gotcha.
He started pulling electric energy out of the net. Thunderclouds appeared over his head, from the massive electric pull, and Voltman threw a small bolt of lightining into the sky. The sky glowed yellow for a second, before a second bolt shot downwards, connecting with Voltman. The power was immense, and the enemy was moving. It was going to get away, if he didn't do anything.
Not on my watch. Sayonara, bastard!
Voltman fired the blast into the sky again, activating the areagrab as it did. A purple hexagon appeared in front of the blast, and it flew through like a kid sucking up a piece of spaghetti.
Meanwhile, a second hexagon appeared behind the Lark...

1. Markcannon lock on
2,3. Electric blaze areagrabbed to the Lark (50x2[x2 again because of sea panel?], stun)
4. Dodge.
"Stryder....Stryder!!! Can you hear me? STRYDER?!?!?"Alexia yelled as loud as she could into her com-link, but it was no use. Through her PET, she could only watch as Styrder's eyes, vibrant and full of hope and asperation. quietly faded and changed into a cold, icey blue, mindless stare. She slowly rose from the ground, as ice and water trickled off her chin. She was no longer in control of her body. "Stryder, listen. If you can hear me, you've got to fight this thing. Its just a virus. Show that thing whos boss. All of us, navis and ops, are behind you all the way."

Stryder kept fighting the mental battle with the wisp, as she tried with all her might to reject the wisp from her body and control her body. ".......Mmm....Who...what are...you doing...inside me?.....Please.....leave....now.... Alexia broke down into tears as she listened. She knew Stryder wouldn't give up. Not ever. She just couldn't stand the thought of losing her. "Stryder....STRYDER!!!!!....." Suddenly, Alexia heard a glass shattering shriek. She peered into her PET, and found Stryder on her knees staring up into the sky. There was a sudden surge of energy, flowing through Zieghart, completely covering Stryder in a faint white aura. Alexia could tell that Stryder was winning the fight. Stryder wasn't going to quit without a fight. Come on, Stryder. Myself, Zieghart, Wes, Voltman, Pianissimo, Junior, we're all behind you. You can do this!" "......Grrrr.....Junior.....Alexia......Voltman......Pianissimo........Zieghart.....I won't....leave them. Damned....ughh...wisp....LEAVE!!!!"

Overview:
1-3: Mentally fights the Wisp
((Inner mind idea courtesy of Planet Zebeth))

It's weakening. Only a little more and it'll fall, Pianissimo said to himself, his attacks evidently working. Evidently, the wisp realized this as well. Before Pianissimo could jump into the mist and hide, the wisp seized the opportunity and dove right through Pianissimo's armor and into his chest. His movements froze up as the wisp took complete control of his body and prevented him from moving. This can't be good. This can't be good at all, he thought, watching another wisp as it prepared to possess him as well. Suddenly, Stryder attacked the wisp, causing it to go after her instead. Though it meant that one of his allies would have frozen up as well, Pianissimo was still relieved. He wasn't sure he would be able to shake off two of those things.

Get out, you stupid puff thing. You're not welcome here. Pianissimo didn't think this would shake off the wisp, but it was worth a shot. No success. It was time to see if an old cliche held true...that so many quiet type people have a chaotic mind. It certainly would be expected from one who has tried to shut out all feelings of fear and anger. Pianissimo closed his eyes...and left the physical world.

An eerie mist was clouding his inner mind. This had to be the wisp's presence. Nonetheless, Pianissimo could still make out a desolate landscape, with a lone tree standing at the far end. Suddenly the mist congregated in one spot right in front of Pianissimo, revealing a form similar to the wisp he had been fighting, only much larger. Pianissimo simply laughed. "Do you honestly believe that you can beat me, puffball? Take a look around. This is MY inner mind, and you are an unwelcome visitor. You may have taken control of my body and forcefully prevented it from doing anything, but you have no control here. You can only hang in the air as mist. I...on the other hand..." Pianissimo drew his katana, which vibrated dangerously with an energy it had never known in reality. One time he leapt forward, shooting straight through the giant wisp and leaving a gap in the mist that it was composed of. As the mist returned to cover the hole, Pianissimo attacked again...and again...and again. "It hurts, doesn't it. Get out. NOW!" Rather than attack again, Pianissimo shouted the last word, and the mindscape around them exploded with a brilliant light. A second later, Pianissimo was once again looking out Sharo net. The wisp seemed to have fled his mind. What remained to be seen was whether it would flee his body as well.
___________________________

1-4. Epic shaking off of the wisp
Nachahmen looked onward as he saw the wisps befall their targets.

Hm...They should be alright; they're being supported as is...
He coughed, then looked around at where the lark was before he dived into the apparent depths of the net. Crosshairs formed in the eyes of his militia once more, and they began to scout about for any signs of the objective. While doing so, he called on Zanzo for aid.
Zanzo, I need the shotgun and cannon, quickly...

Got'cha. Sending now...
He then slotted the two chips in. As Nac received the data, the militia donned upon them cannons on their left, and shotguns on their right. They continued in their surveillance, until they began to notice a blur 'swimming' about.
...Found you. The crowd said in unison, though not before a small fit of coughs. Damn lungs, I swear.
They tracked it for a bit, trying to catch a bead. Eventually, getting enough of a bead to strike, they took aim with their shotguns. Upon taking the shot, small bursts fell out of the busters, with only one launching a real hit, aimed toward the blur. Next, the group began to close together and shuffle before separating again, trying to maintain the bead as they went. Finally, they took aim with their cannons, charged, and launched out the large shells toward the target. The shells gathered some distance before disappearing, revealing the true shell as it flew on toward it's target...

Summary

0: Snipe
1: Scout for LarkA
2: Sniping Shotgun-50dmg, increased accuracy-LarkA
3: Shuffle group(dodge)
4: Cannon-40dmg-LarkA

Cooldowns/Durations

Nature's Embrace: 2
Elmer's Grace: 2nd Turn
(Geezer...*cough*...Bump.))
The first Wisp is ejected from the chunk of ice by the first shot. It weaves crazily through the air, taking hit after hit, then finally dives in a straight line at Junior's chest.

Soulman Jr. runs to Stryder's aid, and teleports her away, giving her just enough emotional support to drive off the Wisp just before the severly weakened one pursuing him merges with his arm, then spreads to the rest of his body.

Voltman blasts the pool of water that the Lark was in. To his surprise, ALL of the pools of water around are eletrified!

Pianissimo successfully shakes off his Wisp. It retreats from his body and drifts away, looking a little dazed.

The Lark explodes out of the water, launching rapid-fire waves of water once more. It tries to take a bite out of Votman but is forced to dive back into the water by Nachamen's weapon fire.

WispA: 1 [Junior]
WispB: 3 [exposed]
WispC: 8 [exposed]
Carnivorous LarkA: 20
Carnivorous LarkB: Deleted

Junior: 100 [WispA]
Nachamen: 130
Pianissimo: 90
Voltman: 120
Stryder: 110
As Nachahmen and his brigade looked around for the fish, two of them spot a wisp getting the boot out of Pianissimo's body, while another watched on as Junior made his move. Taking a look at the attack he launched, the nac began to absorb information on it. Before taking any further action, one calls for Zanzo.
Zan, we could use some recov after taking that hit.

I'm on it.... He responded, slotting the recov30 chip into his PET. Suddenly, the group feels a tingling sensation. Odd, yet soothing, revitalizing them.

A few more begin to take notice, and quickly realize something: it appears rather fatigued. They relay this information to the rest, and before you know it, they begin to advance toward the wisp, wheezing a bit as they moved.
We'll show that punk...scrap of data...what we're capable of! They exclaimed.

Suddenly, the Nachahmen militia began to glow. At first, it was faint, subtle even, but quickly, it grew to an impressive looking light, all their auras culminating into a brilliant flash. Some of them began to cough a bit, but remain unhindered in their determination.
Now....FEEL.....the power....of VOLT!! They exclaimed.

The light dimmed a bit, only to reveal electricity surrounding roughly the area around them. It began to surge faster, more furiously. Taking off from the knowledge obtained from Junior, they slowly rose their hands, until they were all but flawlessly perpendicular to their heads. They then pulled foward, their hands touching at the thumbs. The collective electricity focused into the Nacs in the center. Tightening his fingers, The Nachahmen reeled back his stance a bit....Then pulled foward with all his might, sending a total of twelve small, yet condense beams of electricity toward the wisp; one from each finger, one from each thumb, and one from each palm, firing from its center.

THIS IS OUR VIGOR! OUR STRENGTH!! THIS IS OUR POWERRRR!!!

Summary

0: Snipe
1: Recov30-heals 30HP to self
2: Sniping Emulation Check: Sig: When used on navi: mimics one of navi's lv1-2 sigs at a +1 CD.-Used from Junior: Soul Finger Shot-3 hits of 10 to WispB, 5 shots of 10, 2 shots of 20 to WispC
3: Atk-11dmg-WispC
4: Atk-11dmg-WispC


Cooldowns/Durations

Nature's Embrace: 1
Elmer's Grace: Last turn
Emulation Check: 4(3+1)

Added Note: So, if unharmed, I should be at 160 next round. Assuming I'm unharmed, of course...
Junior sighed as the Wisp took over his body, "At full health, this might have been bad, but when its already practically dead, what's the point? All its doing its prolonging the battle. If it really wanted to live that much, it shouldn't have attacked our group. Now then, let's see if I can expell this thing." His eyes closed and he began shifting the flow of energy within his body with his mind. All he needed to do was to fire off the Wisp like it was a regular attack. He found the Wisp's presence and began wrapping his own molecules of light around it. Its grip was feeble. The only thing holding it in place was desparation. A little tug should be all he needed to route it from its perch.

"You're just standing there. You can get it out, can't you?" Wes raised an eyebrow, "I mean, you are Soulman. Getting rid of a ghost should be no problem with a name like that. Besides, this one's weaker than the two your allies exorcised. This shouldn't even be a challenge at this point."

Junior's eye twitch slightly at the interuption. The bubble he had formed faltered a little, "Shut it. It's easy enough, but its preferrable to do this in silence." His netop merely shrugged and was quiet. Junior began solidifying the energy once again. His eyes fluttered open for a second before closing once more. To the side, he noticed that Stryder had escaped the spirit's grip as Wes had said. He had told her that she could do it, that she had the strength to overcome. He'd look pretty foolish if he couldn't ditch one himself after saying all that. Why, it'd be downright pathetic if he couldn't follow his own counsel. Then how stupid would he look in front of the girl? "So that's it. You're not just attacking my body, you're attacking my manliness and pride. Well, if you're going to try something that dispicable, you better have the strength to deal with the consequences, baka." The energy being stored inside him began to strengthen and caused his frame to glow. Junior gritted his teeth as he readied for the enemy's expulsion, "I won't take this sitting down. This is the arm you entered, this is the arm you'll leave from." He pushed the sphere containing the wisp through his right arm, raising it as the orb travels along. Junior's eyes opened and he looked for a target. He saw the fish, grinning with its fang-filled mouth. Snack time, "Better luck next time, baka!" Junior fired the ball from his arm, its energy racing ahead.

The navi/netop was quiet for a few seconds, before Wes ventured, "Well, is it gone?"

"Probably." Junior closed his eyes and stood erect. There was always a chance that the virus had slipped from his grip and was still lurking within him. He began searching his body, looking for the foe that had taken shelter in him. If it was still there, he would be ready to grab it once again, this time being sure that it left him with the greatest velocity possible.

((1-4.) try to expell Wisp and fire it at LarkA))
The barren wasteland of Pianissimo's inner mind exploded in a flash of brilliant light...and Pianissimo was left looking back out over the equally ruined netscape of Sharo net. Pianissimo looked around, expelling the wisp would mean nothing if he hadn't also released its control on his body. Then he saw it, looking dazed. A strange blue glow was coming from it...it must be ripe for attacking. Evidently the wisp must have realized this as well, it was slowly drifting away from him. "I'm not done with you just yet!" said Pianissimo. Despite the perpetual quiet of his voice, the ferocity in it was still evident.

Grateful that he could move again, Pianissimo drew his katana, pointing it at the lark. Not even a second later, Pianissimo had gone from standing a few feet away to right up next to it, his blade disturbing the mist three times once again. Though in this state the wisp probably wouldn't require so much attacking to fall, Pianissimo didn't take any chances.

And now for the finishing touch Pianissimo said to himself, drawing his katana back behind his head, then lashing out at the wisp that had posessed him one more time.

Survive THAT, you little...
_____________________________

1-4: Normal attack (9) WispB
Voltman grinned as his shot flew into the water and spread. The electricity arced and flew from ice chunk to virus to unfortunate programs standing nearby. It did his heart good to see electricity trump a water virus. It was nature's little way of just saying, "No, everything isn't f***ed up beyond all repair."
Then again, there was also stuff like that monster Lark.
Weak is it may have been, that thing had been IN THE WATER when an Electric Blaze hit it at practically no distance! And it didn't even appear to be stunned!
Shigeru, there's something messed up with this Lark. I'm going to get in for a closer look...
At a virus?
It's not just a normal virus. There's something abnormal going on here, and I think that this Lark is a part of it.
So, what are you going to do? Give him the 'ol, "good cop/bad cop" routine?
Actually, I was going to kick his ass and get some data.
Ah, good! Shigeru's face beamed. I almost thought you had gone soft on me!
Voltman dashed up to the waters edge, pointing his spear toward the surface in what he hoped was a threatening manner.
In all honesty, the water thought that he looked more like an idiot who happened to pull a spear out of thin air and was waving it around before he impaled himself accidentally. Then it realized Hey, I'm water! Doesn't that mean that I can't think? and promptly stopped. Thinking, that is.
This is one of the reasons nature needs to say that everything isn't f***ed up beyond all repair.
But Voltman had no idea that any of this had happened, and he promptly began charging electricity in his spear for one final destructive blow on the Lark. He was sure that this would kill it.
This was, of course, before it jumped out of the water, began hovering a few feet in the air, and shot two blasts that cut an "X" shape into Voltman's torso with a sound that was generally associated with a meat cleaver, not water. Voltman started swearing, and jabbing at it halfheartedly with his spear, trying to regain control of his mouth, which was still running on automatic as Voltman's brain tried to realize that no, it couldn't quit this job.
Hey, you! Larky thing! Hey, why are the viruses that look like birds with green wings called Fishies but the viruses that look like fish with a propeller from one of those beanies that you get from cereal box giveaways called Larks?
Now, the Lark was confused. And any being with an IQ greater that that of, say, yeast would be. Still, ancient tradition won out.
When in doubt, kill the source of doubt. It had worked for thousands of years, so why wouldn't it work now? The Lark jumped forward, mouth open for a killer bite...
Oh. That's right. It wouldn't work now because there were other navis. And now one of them was sniping him...
Voltman rolled out of the way as the Lark lunged at him once more before diving. He turned to the Nachamens.
Thanks for the assist. Now, if we all just...
But the Nacs was too distracted. They were taking careful aim at the two wisps and...
Wait, hadn't there been three wisps?
Voltman shook his head. This was just too damn confusing.
Now....FEEL.....the power....of VOLT!!
Voltman nodded approvingly, before turning to the water. He gripped his spear tightly, commended his soul to any god that would take it, and dove into the water.
He swam quickly, and activated the Widesword.
BRING IT ON!!! He yelled to the Lark, which actually came out as a small amount of bubbles. Speech was more difficult in the water.
But then, he began to execute a strange attack pattern. A completely bizarre attack pattern.
A completely VOLTMAN attack pattern.
He began to twirl the spear in front of him, and pumped small amounts of electricity into it. He waited for a few seconds, and then aimed the tip behind him, and the sword in front of him. He floated there for a moment, before sending out a giant blast from the spear and flying through the water at the Lark. He was about to slash, but the water turned it into a strange pirouetting move, with about the attack power of the common housefly.
He changed his idea, and simply resolved to stab at the nearby Lark. Repeatedly.
His first slash actually left bubbles in its wake, from the simulated atoms of the cyberwater being split into hydrogen and oxygen. The sword, being a widesword, left a trail of itself behind where it had slashed, and that trail was right en-route to the monstrous Lark.
All right, you stupid bastard! Here's repayment for this cross in my chest!
Voltman's second slash was nothing special... apart from the bloodcurdling yell that he let out for effect.
But his exit from the water was SPECTACULAR. He burst through the ice, using his spear's energy to break through. He collapsed on the ground, panting, before getting up and looking at what was left.

Not much, by the looks of it.

Overview: (Because that unintelligible mess can't be read without loss of sanity)
1. Dive into water, get near Lark
2,3. Widesword to Lark (80x2)
4. Dodge/GTFO of the water
((Sorry for the delay, but Im back now. Thanks for waiting you guys. @.@))

As Stryder ejected the wisp from her body, her vision is cleared once more and the fiery passion in her eyes returned to normal, feeling a little light headed from the mental struggle with the wisp. She is suddenly grabbed around the waist and is warped backwards a bit. Mmm...huh?!? What the? Let go of-" Stryder twists herself out of the strangers arms, only to find out that it was Junior. "*gasp* Junior!! How did you....never mind that, I owe you one."

Looking up into Juniors eyes, Stryder noticed something about them. They were sort of closed as if he were falling asleep, delivering a piercing stare, enough to scare even the boldest man/woman. "Junior!! That damned wisp. First it controls me, now its seized you. I won't stand for this!!! As Stryder grips Zieghart, readjusting and holding it like a rifle, she inches closer to Junior untill they're standing back to back. "You didn't quit on me, Junior.....Now I'll return the favor."

"Vulcan2....download!!" Zieghart begins to glow with a bright green aura, as Stryder runs her fingers acorss her effects panel, flipping on the reverb settings. "Junior, you're strong. I know you can beat that thing. Just don't give up. I'm right here with you." Stryder drops to one knee, and furiously strums all 6 strings five times repeatedly. As the barrage of soundwaves were sent hurling towards LarkA, Stryder unstraps Zieghart from her shoulder, and holds it in mid air, signaling Alexia to send her a tune.

"Its that time again, huh? My player is on shuffle, so not even I know what song you'll get." "Thats fine. Anything will do right now." As Zeighart finishes uploading the song, Stryder starts to vaguley hear a familiar song. While tapping her foot, Stryder repositions Zieghart so that it is pointing straight up. "Hmm, you've got some J-Rock I see. The Final, by Dir En Grey.....awesome!" Kneeling once more, Stryder runs her fingers over the effects panel again, turning all of her effects on and to the max, constantly alternating between strumming a series of three notes, a few octaves, and riffs. "I've just about had it up to HERE with these virii. You wisps dont just dont know when to quit do you? Well today, you've posessed one ally too many and now you'll all pay. When you anger my allies, you anger me. You possess my comrades, you possess me. And when you hurt my closest friends...you just flat out tick me off. Especially those who'd go out of their way to save someone. This....is....My ANTHEM!!!!!!!!!"

Overview:
1. Vulcan2 to LarkA-15dmg x 5hits*splash to anything if destroyed?*
2. SigAtk-The Anthem to WispB and C-30dmg each??
3.dodge

((Been away for quite a while. Isnt there some sort of dmg reduction for the wisps?....I think...))
OOC: I'll be lenient this time.

Junior's Wisp is expelled easily, and as Soulman shakes the last bit of blue smoke away from his body, it disintegrates.

The second Wisp, still dazed, dissolves into the cold air like so much water vapor under Pianissimo's blade.

Voltman easily slices through the Lark as it leaps up for another attack run.

Nachamen massacres the remaining Wisp with Soulman's technique!

In short, the viruses are wtfpwned.

Junior: 200z, Powershot
Nachamen: 100z, Wideshot
Pianissimo: 200z, Powerbolt
Voltman: 100z, Powerblast
Stryder: 500z

But wait, there's more! A lonesome Wisp rising out of the ground uses the opening to posess Stryder, and soon, an entire cloud of mist identical to the Wisp's rises around her feet.

WispA: 100 [Stryder]
WispB: 100 [Stryder]
WispC: 100 [Stryder]
WispD: 100
WispE: 100
WispF: 100

OOC: Note that Eon requested that Wisps be modified, and these Wisps are a preview of what we decided on.
"Well that was fast...." Junior muttered, eyeing the opponents, "And three have already taken advantage of Stryder. You three! These Wisps seem different. Each of us must take one and keep it at bay until Stryder is able to recover! The odd man out can just do his best to wrap things up."

"This aint good. You can tell these aren't the same looking at their life count but... are these as hard to damage as the other ones?" Wes bit his thumb, "With higher life and the same resistance to damage, we'd be screwed, "He fingered his Escape Sub chip, but quickly shoved it away again, "For now, we better just try to scatter them and study their stats while Stryder's fighting them off. We'll make a retreat if things look bad, but only after everyone is able to make a run for it. Use Soul Flash, follow it up with Shotgun and Heatshot, then defend your defenseless ally with a Rageclaw." Wes picked out the chips and inserted them one by one into the PET, "Sending the before mentioned chips."

"Right....." Junior glanced back at Stryder hesitently, then looked at his opponents once again, "Hurry and fight them off, Stryder. You're going to miss my most magnificent attack," He muttered, mostly to himself. Right now, the beauty of his attacks was not the most important ascpect of the battle. A worried smile passed accross Junior's face as he tried to lighten his mood with his lame joke. Trying to relax a bit, he then began gathering the energy at his body's center. He took a deep breath, then released it as the flow of energy reached its peak. His eyes shot open and he stared down each of his opponents. Which would be his opponent? There, the one in the middle! Hopefully it would make the other two break off from the group and his teammates could engage them individually. However, if they stayed in a tight formation, it'd make his next few moves all the more successful, "Soul Flash!" A beautiful beam blasted off towards the white wisp wavering in front of him. Such a spectacular sig surely should strike the enemy blind. Now that his special was used up, it was time for the chips Wes had sent. Shotgun came first. Closing his left eye, he lined up a shot with his right. With a satisfied nod, he released the attack data from his palm, a muffled bang resounding through the air. He closed his hand, gathering the data for the next strike. This time, warm energy filled his arm. Letting the heat run through his body, Junior sighed happily. It was a nice change from the cold that the network of Sharo that surrounded him. He opened his palm, the energy flowing out of him into a small, firey orb. He hesistated a moment, getting one last feeling of warmth before shooting off the ball. The red-hot attack melted a bit of ice that speckled the battle field and its glow reflected beautifully off the small patches of frozen water. Now that his offense was done, there were those requireing a defense. He backed up a bit more, a little over a foot now separating him and the lovely maiden behind him. He held up his hand, which soon gained sharp, deadly claws. He wasn't sure if she would be able to hear him with three of those things inside her, but he'd offer what little support he could, "Just take your time shaking them off, but try to hurry." He said with a reassuring smile. He held his arm in front of him defensively, preparing to fling away any opponents that dared to try to take advantage of his friend's defenseless condition.

((1.) Soul Flash, 90+lowers accuracy, WispE
2.) Shotgun, 50+Splash, WispE
3.) Heatshot, 40 Heat+splash, WispE
4.) Rageclaw, 40, attack anything that gets close

Also, Kazu, are our chips and sigs from last battle refreshed?))