Sylk and Mach's adventures in Yumland

((Edited Post, ready to go))
Aera and Vector supported themselves, one gaining a shield (1-hit shield) while the other healed (+15). Aera then applied another IV pack to herself to begin her own recovery post-haste (+10) while Vector reinforced her defences (+1 hit).

The Candle caught Lau's attention and his ire as he snarled, "Infernal device..." and wreathed his other hand in a glowing blue aura. He snatched his palm out and extinguished the Candle's flame by smothering it (60 aqua x 2). The entire waxy structure fell into rapid ruin after the flame died, rendering it useless.

"Quite a fight y'all are puttin up," quipped Desperado as he brought out another antique chaingun, "...For a coupla rookies."

He revved up the barrel and began to mow down the field with another spray of bullets. As with before, the shots were spread thinly among his targets, chipping Aera and Machman's shields (shield hit / shield hit) but striking Vector twice, undoing all of his recovery efforts (2 x 30).

Machman's charged Magnum hit Desperado head on and had its power amplified by the ensnaring web (250), but Lau somehow managed to deflect the bullet with another swat of his hand (barrier hit). The heavy round flew off course and exploded somewhere else on the field, fracturing a small patch of terrain. Seeing Desperado shrouded in smoke and assuming the worst, Lau laughed, "Hah. I claim this victory for the honour of martial arts."

"The hell you do!" coughed a voice from the thick cloud.

Several shots from Machman's Rising Barrage pierced through the haze only to find that Desperado had escaped his trappings, leaving behind only a boot still bound to the cracked floor.

Realizing the fight was still on, Lau groaned and added "Tiger's Shadow."

He proceeded to speed up his footwork and tripled his afterimages (decoy) before quickly lunging at Machman with a stabbing strike. The blow landed cleanly and easily disabled his plasma shield (shield hit). Aera's attempted to assist with her Tesla Pulse but aimed at the wrong target and her attack passed through an illusionary copy (decoy hit). By the time Machman spotted his intended target on the horizon, he had already taken a full volley of revolver bullets, one of which had cracked his armour and the rest blowing apart the IV and dealing a critical amount of damage (5 x 20). Desperate to retaliate, Machman lobbed his Magbomb, but Desperado was practically a mile away, sniping from the relative safety of his distanced vantage point. The bomb landed harmlessly, far away from everyone.

Lau crossed his arms and sighed, "And to think I truly believed you had bested him... Lizard's Tail."

Lau breathed in deeply and manifested a regenerative aura around his body (+15). The sullied marks on his robes began to fade slowly while he walked around in a contemplative manner. Machman wasn't about to let him heal freely and attempted to DashAttack again but this time he was ready for it. He drew away Machman's attack like a matador, wielding his copy like a cape (decoy hit). The follow up Shockwave was just as unsuccessful as Lau was able to cleave the wave with a chopping motion as it approached him (barrier hit).

Practically ignored by everyone and finally overcoming her paralysis, Sylk invoked her cross to speed up and unleashed a Machinegun. However, her ineptitude at handling the weapon was obvious proving that she was not nearly as skilled as Desperado. The recoil forced her to slide around the ice wildly like an unmanned garden hose, sending shots everywhere. Aera's IV narrowly avoided being hit while Machman had to duck for cover to avoid being shot. Lau was the only one unlucky enough to be caught in the nondiscriminatory burst of bullets (30).

Too far away from audible range, Desperado seemed to shout something and laugh before adapting his gun with a flash of light (Trainarrow1).

Lau.EXE: 125 HP [Rageclaw: 5 uses] [Aquaknife: 4 uses]
Desperado.EXE: 40 HP [Trainarrow1] [far]

Terrain: 55% Normal, 10% Sand, 15% Ice (middle of sand), 10% Ice (lone patch), 5% Cracked, 5% Cracked

Machman: 20 HP [sylk cross: 10 to fire chips, fire/melee] [IV destroyed]
Aera: 16 HP [1-hit shield] [IV]
Vector: 1 HP
Sylk: 10 HP [mach cross: 10 to normal chips, normal/speed] [Icefoot: Creates ice underneath self (6 turns)] [IV destroyed] [afterburner: -1 action] [ice]
Candle1: DELETED
Machman winced as his defenses were ripped away by bullets, and left him in near critical health. He continued his attacks, but they were largely ineffective. His frustration could be seen on his face, even through the pain wracking his body. He did notice Desperado wasn't in a favorable position either, and knew he should take the opportunity to take him down, but he didn't want to leave Sylk alone with against the deadly Lau. His maroon eyes darted towards Desperado in the distance, and then to Aera and Vector; who were near Sylk at the time.


Aera! Vector! Provide covering fire for Sylk and keep Lau at bay for now!

Aera nodded as her IV pack continued to recover her energy, and Vector's armored body plates began to shift around his body as he shifted his stance slightly in front of Sylk; putting himself between her and Lau. His right "arm" plates began to shift position and slid together into a long, sharpened blade. His blade swung forward and pointed towards Lau as his single red eye glared towards him.

I shall defend Miss Sylk with my life, sire.

Aera's hands started to crackle with electricity as she stood next to Vector. She struck a ready pose and positioned her hands and arms in a position not too different from Lau's own. Her form certainly wasn't as refined as Lau's, more of a parody than imitation.

I'll try to lend a hand as well, Sylk.

Mach saw that his SPs were ready to provide Sylk some backup, and then shifted his focus on Desperado. He crouched down for a split second before he leaped into the air in a burst of inhuman speed. He flipped backwards several times in the air before his entire body was wrapped in a protective web cacoon, which quickly burst open as Mach's alien, fighter form emerged from the protective shell. Two large engines on the wing pylons glowed bright crimson as he was rocketed into the air in a high arc towards Desperado's position. Several thrusters came online and fired off in sequence, which caused the craft to violently lurch from side to side as he reached the apex of his flight and rolled before he dove towards Desperado and continued to zig-zag in the air.


[[i]Break under the force of my burning fury![/i]]

Mach's body started to fold down into his arachnid form as he continued to roll in the air, and his four spider-like arms pointed back and away from his body as small thrusters emerged over their sharpened claws and caused him to continue picking up speed as he surged towards Desperado. His protective shield raised over his body as he raised his fists in the air. His body arched backwards as he descended from overhead and his clenched fists exploded into flames.


FALL!!!

He drove his fists down towards desperado and created bright paths of flames as two fiery fists rocketed down towards Desperado.

As Machman engaged the western Navi, Aera watched Lau closely before she fired a bolt of electricity towards him, followed by a flying blade sent hurtling from Vector's body and on a collision course with Lau's chest. Aera and Vector both knew they had to keep Lau at bay, at least just long enough to buy Mach and Sylk some time to bring him down. Her hands remained electrically charged, and waited for Lau's attack, and attempted to charge her arms with enough power to possibly cause damage if she tried to block some of Lau's attacks. If she was ignored completely, she would quickly use this stored energy to fire an assault from a distance. Vector stood his ground, ready to act as a buffer between Lau and Sylk. Several plates flew from his body and reinforced Aera's already active energy shield.

Machman's fists were extinguished as he floated a few feet in the air, before he turned and darted towards Lau's position. His arm-borne rockets sent him careening towards Lau's position and within attack range for the boomerang that rapidly formed in his hand. Once he got within range, he slowed his pace to keep steady, and drew his arm back before he skillfully threw the boomerang on a bee-line course towards Lau. The green, curved blade blurred into a buzzing disk from the dizzying speed of it's rotation, and the force of the throw (bolstered by the tiny, but strong, fibrous muscles that lined his arms and legs) made the blade tear through the air as it zipped toward's Lau. With any luck, the spinning blade would either deal some serious damage to the martial-artist's programming, or at least distract him enough to halt his attack. Mach was prepared to catch the boomerang on it's return run, but wouldn't have been surprised if it had been stopped completely, or simply destroyed.


ACTIONS:
-[[color=006666]Reconfigure:[/color] (Passive 15HP Heal)]-
-[Plasma Shield: Facing Forward]-
1. Strategic Action: Leap Towards Desperado
2. Dodge
3. Firehit1: Desperado.EXE (50dmg Fire + Impact + Double Hit)[+ Take Aim]
4. Firehit1: Desperado.EXE (50dmg Fire + Impact)
Aera: Attack Lau.EXE (35dmg Elec)
Vector: Attack Lau.EXE (10dmg Aqua)
Aera: Attack Lau.EXE (35dmg Elec)
Aera: Attack Lau.EXE (35dmg Elec)
5. Strategic Action: Move towards Lau's Position
6. Boomerang1: Lau.EXE (60dmg Wood)[+ Impact]
As sylk's body went into a cooldown mode from her afterburn, her movements slowed for a moment as she watched over the battlefield taking a gander at the current situation. She was lucky she hadn't been struck yet again, but even luckier her nearly failed attempt to attack didn't hurt her allies. She had hoped the gun wouldn't have delivered such a kickback on the ice, but the learning experience was definitely needed. As the spider went into battle mode once more, she noticed aera and vectors actions before her.

Sylk blinked for a moment, staring at the blocking bodies, confused for a moment as to why they would put themselves infront of any oncoming attacks towards her. Sure, they were friends but is this what it ment to be as such? She pondered this as a slight smile came to her face, nodding her head slightly as she decided what to do. She wasn't just going to run and hide while these two gave themselves to protect her, she was going to fight back with everything she could, hopefully overcoming this cursed icey terrain beneath her feet.

Thank you... The navi uttered as she made up her mind for her next course of action.

trying to keep her balance, the arachnid prepared herself by lowering her body lightly, bending her knees while using her arms to keep standing while on the ice. She was using every bit of power and concentration she had to keep herself from falling, as she began to put her plan into motion. Sylk tried as hard as she could to leap up into the air, above the frozen curse which had been both aiding and hindering her all battle, doing everything she possibly could to prevent herself from slipping and falling on her ass again as well as allowing her a better view of her target.

As her body rose up, her wings flapped furiously as the dark colored body began to be engulfed in flames. the crimson fire surrounded sylk like a cloak as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the chips power which had been sent to her. the blaze began to shape itself, the form of a pheonix wrapped around her body, it's wings flapping in unison with her own as she pulled back all 6 of her arms. Her body poised for striking out, her muscles tensed as she re-opened all 8 of her eyes to focus on lau. Her fists fiercely struck forward into the air simultaniously, all directed at her opponent as the flames gathered and traveled along the path of her arms only to burst forth flying towards the enemy. She prayed the pheonixshot2 would be effective.

Summary:

1) tactical movement - jump into the air while attempting to avoid ice panels

2) pheonixshot2 (90 fire dmg, wide ) @ Lau.Exe
Lau continued to recover slowly (+15) as he set his sights on Machman. He raced after the aerial fighter while his hands resumed neutral positions (lose Rageclaw/Aquaknife). While he ran, he was forced to block Aera's first attack, rendering his decoy useless (barrier hit). Vector's steel shard could not be blocked in time and hit right on target (10). Lau powered through and avoided another one of Aera's static bolts but took the third as he rushed by the group (35), seemingly unconcerned with Sylk or the support programs.

Desperado had more than enough time to set up another array of defences while he prepared to snipe from a distance. A wooden barrel and a table with a deck of cards appeared in front of him while he leaned back lazily in a simple wooden chair. Machman closed the distance considerably as he raced towards Desperado in his fighter form but was hindered by a sudden spray of Vulcan bullets. His evasion saved him from all but one shot that rang against his plasma shield (shield hit). His first Firehit smashed the barrel of liquid and promptly caused it to erupt in a fireball; apparently having been filled with some kind of flammable liquid (object hit, 70).

Desperado shook his head, muttering, "...Second time."

The following Firehit missed altogether as Desperado tapped the table out of the way with a light kick and slid his chair to the side accordingly.

Machman then turned his attention to Lau with a Boomerang prepared but was unexpectedly caught in the chest with a double-fisted lunge (2 x 40).

"Rhino's Horn!" were the last words that rang in his ears before he was forced to perform an EJO. Without a navi present to maintain their continued existence, Aera and Vector were forced to follow Machman out of the network as well. Lau was relentless, pounding the air with two more blazing punches before realizing his target was already gone. He stood upright and dusted himself off before complimenting his opponent, "A powerful adversary."

Desperado raised his drawn crossbow into the air and fired it off randomly, disappointed that his target had vanished from the field.

"...Ruined a perfectly good shot o' mine." The gunslinger sighed, switching back to his revolver.

Lau looked away and scoffed, "You surely would have missed."

"Oh, you best be takin that back." Desperado growled.

It was then that Sylk's Phoenixshot slammed into Lau's back, reminding him and his acquaintance the fight was still not over (90).

"So, we still wrappin this up?" Desperado asked, "I do not, and I mean I really do not enjoy strikin a lady."

Lau groaned, "Argh... Even the smallest ant can sting."

"...So, was that a yes?" Desperado quipped, amused by his partner's pain.

Lau shook his head and said, "No, I no longer see a challenge in this," calmly walking back to Sylk.

Lau.EXE: 5 HP
Desperado.EXE: 40 HP [far] [1-hit shield] [20 HP barrier]

Terrain: 55% Normal, 10% Sand, 15% Ice (middle of sand), 10% Ice (lone patch), 5% Cracked, 5% Cracked

Machman: EJO [Battle 10 - Defeat...] Lose: Boomerang
Aera: EJO
Vector: EJO
Sylk: 10 HP [mach cross: 10 to normal chips, normal/speed] [Icefoot: Creates ice underneath self (5 turns)] [IV destroyed] [ice]
Candle1: DELETED
((Logged Out))
Sylk's body fell to her knee's as she witnessed something that after all this time, she never would have expected to happen. As mach and the group slowly faded from her sight, her body began to tremble as the situation began to go from bad to worse. She was now all alone within the battle and seeing as how things had gone up until this point, feelings of doubt and being utterly useless filled her head as she looked on from the ground. Her head began to hang low as she began to mutter.

So.... that's it... huh... The arachnids voice was shakey as her eyes began to water. Why they were beaten so quickly is something she couldnt figure out, and began to start putting the blame on herself.

This is my fault, huh.... i'm to weak. I was worthless... As a tear rolled down her cheek, she gritted her teeth in anger, both at herself at about what had happened. She wished she had the power to defend herself. She needed the power to help her comrads. The spider didn't want to hide behind the excuse of her recent creation. Insxtead of admitting it, she wanted to surpass it. Her fists clentched together tightly as her eyes became hidden behind her hair, placing a fist against the cold frozen panel beneath her as she wavered trying to stand up.

As she barely managed to get to ehr feet, her body felt heavy, as she leaned forward with her hea ddownward. Her arms hung at her sides as she spoke outward towards lau and desperado.

Now then... how would you like to finish this... Her words were filled with regret and anger, but not towards them.

Yes she was furious that they had beaten mach, but it was her fault as she looked at it. She agreed to the match. There were no real rules to what would happen. Sylk wondered if there were anyway she could be strong enough to finish this fight and survive, her hatred at the current situation edged her to go on, while the fear deep within her heart called for her to stop. If mach didnt have a chance, she couldn't think of a logical reason as to why she would.

Sorry we wern't as useful as you hoped..." She muttered, as she could almost feel the dissapointment directed towards her, like daggers piercing her body.

*turn splice - 0 actions used*
Lau approached Sylk and glared at her angrily as a parent would a misbehaving child. That look only served to worsen all the feelings that were building up inside of her. As he stretched out his hand, she somewhat flinched in fear of what he was about to do to her. Instead, he revealed a small cache of data that Machman had apparently left behind as he was forced to jack out.

"Your ally dropped this." said Lau, "Return it to him."

Desperado was quick to catch up with a bit of a hobble as he passed a parting note to Sylk as well, pointing a finger at her, "...And you tell'm he owes me a boot."

Lau wasn't finished and continued, "If you feel weak, then continue to fight and learn from your failures. Grow. Know your limits, but never stop testing them."

"You old fortune cookie." Desperado chuckled.

The duo walked away together, bickering about the fight's results, and leaving Sylk to stew in her thoughts.

Lau.EXE: [Withdraw]
Desperado.EXE: [Withdraw]

Terrain: 55% Normal, 10% Sand, 15% Ice (middle of sand), 10% Ice (lone patch), 5% Cracked, 5% Cracked

Machman: EJO [Battle 10 - Defeat...] Lose: Boomerang
Aera: EJO
Vector: EJO
Sylk: 10 HP [Battle 10 - Survived] Get: Boomerang
Candle1: DELETED
Sylk held the data close, nodding at lau's words. She slowly came to realize they wern't so bad after all. Battles had a way of changing people, for the good and for the bad. I guess two people who could normally be friendly toward eachother, could become the worst of enemies given the right reasons. it was definitely an interesting lesson to be had.

lets have a rematch in the future!

The spider called out but she was unsure if they heard her, their distance was quite far by time she had mustered the words.

With the remains of mach and the gangs presence within her hands, she smiled softly as she new she would have to meet up with them again someday. That was enough to ease her mind for now. the flurry of emotions and regret seemed to dissipate like clouds as she turned to walk away.

Rei, lets call it a day.

*jack out*
((Machman gets 8 FXP and Sylk gets 7. Mach gets more for doing more work and contributing more to the team effort and letting Sylk keep the Boomerang.))