Sylk and Mach's adventures in Yumland

Desperado flipped his gun around, dangled the weapon by the trigger and clapped his hands together, "Hot dawg! Thasa spirit!"

Lau gave an approving nod of his head in silence.

"Now as much as it'd be ideal to pair off, I think it's just not right to change up whatever style you got going on so we'll keep it all simple-like so the womenfolk can get it." Desperado explained, spinning his gun back into its proper position, "I'm thinkin... Survival battle, so whichever one of us falls first is in the wrong."

"Of course, that does not mean you should focus all your efforts on only one of us." warned Lau, "The first of us to fall merely determines the outcome of our dispute. You will still need to defeat us both in order to claim your prize."

Desperado was quick to chime back in, "So now that that's all settled, we should give this a fair start."

He plucked a coin from beneath his poncho and made a show to display it for everyone to see.

"Nothing fancy. I'm just gonna toss it and when it hits the ground, we start. Sound fair?" He asked rhetorically, "...Good."

Lowering his arm, he flipped the shimmering coin high into the air with a whip of of his wrist. Neither he nor Lau made any sort of movements afterwards to indicate they were setting their battle routines, so at least it wasn't a cheap trick to divert attention. The flickering zenny soon reached its apex and began to descend. It was now that the duo began to make their move. Desperado's carefree smile drooped into a more somber expression while Lau altered his breathing pattern to a more audible level. A small but sharp "clink" marked the start of the battle.

Lau.EXE: 350 HP
Desperado.EXE: 400 HP

Terrain: 100% Normal

Machman: 120 HP
Aera: 70 HP
Vector: 100 HP
Sylk: 130 HP

[Battle 10 - Begin!]
Simple? That... was the last straw...

Sylk's tongue ran along her fangs as she glared intently at desperado, thinking of what kind of feeling she would get from ripping the cowboy apart limb from limb. The air around her body seemed as though it was rippling, created by a heat distortion, as her body's temperature began to peak. Slowly, flames began to sprout upong her hands, then her chest and back, upon her legs and finally her hair. The fires raged in a variety of colors as her own emotions went crazy, the insults driving her mad. The fires began to be accompanied by various bits of data as they flickered back and forth, almost like they were trying to create something, all around sylk's body.

Over on Rei's end, the PET began to give off various signs of sylk's reactions to the comments, upon it's screen. Through all the analysis and pop ups about her condition, could be seen a small symbol slowly beginning to form on the center of the screen. it wasn't a clear picture, but more fragments of data that seemed to be growing as sylk's thoughts ran amuck. rei could only see this development as interesting, and thus he had no real reason not to mess with the button. Without hesitation, he activated the mystery program, and with all other messages on the PET closing on final message stood in their place.

Cross mode: Activated

The flames upon sylk's body began to swirl all around her, caoting various parts of her physique in what looked like a fiery armor. Green flames coated her arms in a gauntlet like figure, whilst the same began to occur upon her chest. Her former clothing attire was slowly turning into the data and adding to the flames as more of the fire coated her body in it's place. The green blaze coated her lower half of her body as well, upon her thighs and lower legs in the form of armor, as a bright white flame extended from her back into 4 large areas. Even her face was surrounded with a mix of red and green as even her hair began to change colors. Her whole attire had been completely changed.

As the commotion died down, only an armored sylk remained. Her new look was similar to machman's in many forms, though it had taken a bit of a twist with an outlook similar to that of a dragon fly in many areas, such as the large tail-like jet upon her back. This, was Mach-cross Sylk's form.

The crimson colored jewels upon the back of Sylk's gauntlets began to glow as various forms of energy began to swirl around the arachnids body. She began to produce a thin layer of silk around herself, almost see through as it mixed with the powers that the new armor was providing. Following the clear armor, was a transparent orb which surrounded sylk , and then finally a barely visable wall which took shape infront of that.

Defense mode, activated... her eyes were zoned out as she spoke, her words almost monotone as her body had seemingly performed everything automatically. Soon after, her head hung down as her body went somewhat limp, as her senses began to return.

Upon sylk's return to the land of the concious, her expression changed quite considerably. It was a calm, almost serene look as she gazed outward towards her opponent, her whole body at ease. It wasn't that she was no longer angry, but that she had gone over the edge, and her emotions were no longer in control.

Won't you walk onto my web... said the spider to the fly... The arachnid chanted, her voice sounding a little more soft and alluring, as she began to move closer towards desperado.

With the newly developed wings on sylk's back beginning to flutter, first for just a moment before fully kicking into gear, the navi took off towards the cowboy. Her hands began to glow as she summoned three kunai into her right hands. With her current movement speed, and a quick flick her her wrists, she let the blades fly fast towards Desperado, aiming to strike him.

Summary:

1) activate Mach-cross Lvl 1 [+0 Hp, +0 Actions, +10 dmg normal element chips.](Normal/Speed)


2) activate cocoon shield ( 20 hp casing + 20 hp barrier + 1 hit shield + 2 tcd )

3) Kunai1: (30 dmg + Slashing x 3 Kunai )(+ 10 cross damage) @ desperado.EXE
Mach and company watched as Desperado revealed the coin and flipped it into the air. Mach's pupils tightened, so much that they started to collapse down into an oblong, animal-like sliver shape as red started to 'bleed' into his irises. He felt a heat growing in his body similar to that of his XIIICross, but it felt... wild, untamed. He knew this was different, but had a good idea as to what was in the processing of happening.

Let's rock.

Aera felt a heat growing inside her as well, and looked over to Machman. Her eyes widened as she saw Mach's hair start to change to a pale cyan. He turned his head to look back at her, his normally blue eyes were completely changed to a deep violet color, and his pupils were barely visible, for they changed color as well. He extended his hand towards her, and she noticed his hands were also changing color. She placed her also changing hand into his, and he gripped tightly. His eyes darted back to the pair of Navis, and saw the coin finally reach the ground.

SylkCross MachFighter: Activated. Transformation Initiated.

As soon as he saw the edge of the coin reach the ground, even before the sound of the coin's impact reached his acoustic sensors, he leaped up and over Aera as his left arm wrapped around her waist and swept her off her feet. They rolled in the air as Mach's body started to sprout large, dark blue armored plates. They organized themselves around Mach and Aera as they formed into an angular, diamond shaped piece of metal, as well as two large, flattened wing-like structures. They rolled three times in the air during the transformation, but by the end of the third roll, Mach's body was not even close to his normal appearance, even compared to his MachFighter form.



He had a central cockpit with a dark violet slit-like viewing port, and two small structures that attached the cockpit to the large, fang-shaped wing/engine structures on either side. Cyan channels of energy coursed over the dark blue surface of the wings, and a increasingly bright ruby glow emerged from the back of the aircraft, where two massive engine exhausts primed. The engines seemed to make a growling noise as the aircraft briefly hovered in the air.

[[i]Vector, engage active armor junction[/i]]

Vector looked up at the alien-like craft above him and replied.
Yes sire!

Vector's body plates floated up to the craft and secured themselves over the fang-like wings and the angular cockpit. Several pieces remained separate from the craft's hull, and floated as an extra buffer for the nearly invisible energy shield facing forward. Aera, seated inside, saw her arms and legs change to a dark gray with purple stripes, while her under armor changed to a pale gray. She looked around the full display cockpit, and noticed though the control layout was the same, the indicators looked different, and had a whole different "theme" behind it. She was in a surprisingly comfortable seat, suspended by a brace that attached to the back of the cockpit. Several spider-like arms emerged from the sides of the seat and curled around her thighs, stomach and shoulders, and secured her there with a firm, but comfortable embrace.

The sinister looking MachFighter's engines opened up with a loud roar, and a pressure wave was sent careening towards the pair of Navis in front of them. The wave spread as it surged from Mach's position, and with enough force to shatter defenses and possibly knock targets off their feet. The engines burned a bright crimson as the craft lurched forward before it quickly and abruptly boosted to the right, the twin pointed 'fangs' of the aircraft's leading edge continued to point towards their opponents. The two weapon blisters housed underneath Mach's cockpit opened up to reveal a pair of triple-tubed rocket launchers. A full compliment of rockets were already loaded, and charged with high-explosive incendiary warheads.

Just before he fired, several small circular hatches opened on the leading edge of the curved wings and revealed two neat rows of shining optical sensor lenses, which quickly scanned the entire area in front of them like dozens of eyes. To prevent completely disorienting Aera with feeds from each sensor, one window showed the Navi's locations on a 3D space, even as they moved around, they were being tracked. Mach used this information to hone in his aim, and fired a full salvo of rockets. The rockets fired from their respective launch tubes with loud hissing sounds and spread out as they streaked towards the pair of Navis.

However, instead of exploding on impact, Mach used his targeting data to set a distance-triggered charge on the rockets, which caused them to adopt an "air burst" property and explode midair. The entire 'screen' of missiles exploded at once, which caused a powerful heat blast and changed the easily dodgeable dumb-fire rockets into a cascading wave of fire.

Aera decided to use the opportunity to send some fire down range as well, and focused on the gunslinger Navi with respect issues. She sent an electrical pulse through her body that was conducted through the restraining arms and down through the two large, curved wings. The electrical energy congregated on the two points as she directed an electromagnetic "targeting beam" towards Desperado. This beam was made entirely of magnetism, and would basically act as a channel through which the electricity would flow, and hopefully give Desperado a shocking realization that he insulted the wrong Navi and SP. She discharged the electricity towards the Navi in a flash of light; Mach allowed the attack to be fully discharged before a large, metal shield materialized in front of them. The front of the shield had an even more intimidating face than before, this one was sporting additional eyes, and long, dripping fangs.

Mach assumed the pair of Navis wouldn't be too intimidated by a mere shield, and prepared to strafe and roll away from his position if attacks started to pierce his shield, or if they managed to stage an attack from above, or from his flanks.



ACTIONS:
1. Activate SylkCross (+0HP, +0Actions, +10dmg to Fire chips) Fire/Melee]
-[Activate MachFighter.GMO]-
Aera: Mobility Junction
2. Dodge
Vector: Armor Junction
-[Plasma Shield: Facing Forward]-
Vector: Reinforce Plasma Shield (+1 Hit)
3. ShockWave: Desperado.EXE, Lau.EXE (40dmg +Piercing + Ground Attack + Group Attack)
4. PhoenixShot: Desperado.EXE, Lau.EXE (70dmg Fire + 10dmg + Wide Attack) [+Impact] [+Take Aim]
Aera: Attack Desperado.EXE (35dmg Elec)
Aera: Attack Desperado.EXE (35dmg Elec)
5. PoisonMask: Machman.EXE, Aera.SP, Vector.SP (Block 1 non-break attack for 50 poison damage)
6. Dodge
Machman lived up to his name, being the first to act. A radical transformation took place as he activated his cross right off the bat and converted into a sleek jet. Aera and Vector were quick to adapt. They integrated themselves into his form, combining the three of them into a single entity.

"Well don't that beat all..." Desperado claimed as he witnessed the spectacle. However, he wasn't so distracted as to forget about the fight and was quick to pull out peculiar grenade from underneath his cloak. He gave a light toss as if to test its heft before pitching it between Machman and Sylk. Both of them tried to evade but the resulting explosion had a much greater area of affect than they had anticipated. They were both caught in the fringes of the blast radius and were propelled away in a wave of force. Surprisingly, it was completely painless.

"So how bout that?" Desperado addressed Lau, "What good's yer fist gonna do ya if ya can't even reach em?"

Lau ignored the taunt and had meanwhile begun to take precautionary measures and began to walk with a specialized evasive technique that duplicated his image. "Tiger's Shadow..." He echoed, splitting into two hazy versions of himself. Following that, he raised his arms in a defensive manner and gently weaved his palms through the air, adding, "...Turtle's Shell."

Sylk was the last to act. She made a showy demonstration of her new cross abilities, being reborn from a wreath of green flames. A various series of defenses coated her new form as she prepared to attack Desperado. Machman beat her to the punch and recovered with with a reinforced shield and retaliated with a Shockwave. With the added distance, Desperado was able to see the attack coming and sidestepped away in time. He countered with a simple gaze that caught Machman's sensors. He didn't even realize it was an attack until it was too late.

"Gotcha," the gunslinger chuckled, "Right between the eyes..."

Machman could feel his movement systems failing as his engines began to stall. It wouldn't be long until he was completely immobile, but until then he would try his best to evade the next attack. Desperado balanced his revolver over his forearm to give it some stability and locked onto the the fighter's cockpit. A large red reticle characteristic of a MarkCannon appeared over Aera's eyes. Machman tried to weave out of the way but the lock followed his movements perfectly.

Desperado pulled the trigger whispering, "...Bang."

The shot resounded off the plasma shield but failed to break it. Machman immediately counterattacked with a cluster of explosive missiles and electric bolts. All the attacks hit their mark but seemed to have a reduced impact as a result of his braced stance (75). He waved away the smoke obscuring his face and coughed, "Not bad... Not bad..."

On the other front, Lau moved in to close the distance between himself and his target, Sylk. Reaching her in no time at all, a wave of his hand grazed the outer wall of the cocoon to probe its durability. The open palm that made contact shifted to an agressive narrow shape as he cried, "Your defense is weak!"

The barrier crumbled under his first stabbing lunge (10 impact) as he called out "Snake!"

Desperado grimaced, "Uh oh..."

Lau continued to chant, "Horse! Ram! Monkey!" His hands changed again, mimicing a hoof as he delivered another blow that disabled her shield (10). An open palmed impact softened her casing (10) allowing an underhanded claw to tear it apart like paper (10). Now, rendered completely defenseless, Sylk was subject to the real barrage of attacks. "Rooster! Dog! Pig! Rat! Ox! Tiger! Rabbit!" He chained together the words in a single breath while attacking with a flurry of specific attacks. It was nearly impossible to see his hands as they pummeled her body from several different angles (7 x 10). Finally, he withdrew both arms to his side to deliver the final attack. He launched forward, stabbing Sylk with all his fingers shouting, "DRAGON! ZODIAC COMBO!" (30). The blow set her back but she was still able to launch her two of her daggers at Desperado (35). He shrugged off the blow, plucking the blades from his arm and chest.

"I don't much care for hittin a lady," Desperado sighed and lobbed an grainy auburn grenade that purposely missed her and spilled out in a wave of sand, "...So I'll just let this one slide."

Lau looked disgusted at Sylk, "Truly despicable... Viper Fang!"

His index fingers darted out, stabbing two points on Sylk's neck and chest.

"I have disrupted your chi," he said, "You will be unable to fight properly for a time."

The attack had somehow caused her programs to become rerouted and altered. Her Spider's Hell signature attack had been reversed and flowed uncontrollably, flooding the floor beneath her with a layer of frost. In addition, it seemed as if her navicustomizer had suffered a malfunction, taking her undershirt offline. On top of that, her hair had taken on a plaid pattern and she started to smell like rubber. These problems would correct themselves over time but that was something she seemed to be running out of. Sylk slipped and found herself staring at Lau's towering form, ready to finish her off.

Lau.EXE: 350 HP [decoy] [20 HP barrier] [sand]
Desperado.EXE: 290 HP

Terrain: 80% Normal, 15% Sand, 5% Ice (middle of sand)

Machman: 120 HP [sylk cross: 10 to fire chips, fire/melee] [1-hit shield] [Poisonmask] [hold]
((Your 'arm slots' are currently both being used by shields. if you choose to attack, you will have to discard one))
Aera: 70 HP [mobility junction]
Vector: 100 HP [armor junction]
Sylk: 30 HP [mach cross: 10 to normal chips, normal/speed] [Icefoot: Creates ice underneath self (9 turns)] [Standardize I: Uninstalls Undershirt (2 turns)] [ice]
((Temporarily disabled Plasma Shield to keep PoisonMask))

Mach felt as his propulsion systems started to fail, and several warning windows opened up in the cockpit display, causing Aera to gasp in alarm. Luckily his shield protected him from Desperado's weapon and went offline, but he struggled to remain airborne and had to activate the metallic leg-like struts and gently set himself to the ground.

[[i]Mazer, I'm experiencing full engine failure. What's going on?[/i]]

Mazer looked over Mach's programming, and noticed something was wrong.

[I don't know, it seems as if your programming's being... jammed! Desperado's stare must have sent a code to disable your movement programs! I'm going to try and isolate it and delete it, hang on.]

[[i]Just because I can't move, doesn't mean I can't fight![/i]]

Mach scanned the battlefield, and noticed Sylk was pummeled by Lau, who seemed to be ready to deal a killing blow.

[[i]Aera, provide support for Sylk and try to distract Lau long enough for me to blast him.[/i]]

Aera nodded, and seemed to know what Mach was going to do next.

Okay. Ready when you are!

The armored cockpit of the MachFighter seemed to open up like pedals of a flower, leaving nothing between Aera and the battlefield but air. Her protective shield activated in front of her, and several of Vector's armored plates dove into the opening and hovered over top of her nearly see-through orange energy shield. She heard a quiet "hang on tight." in her earpiece, and instinctively tensed up. She heard a slight click, which was quickly drowned out by a piercing roar as several rockets under her seat fired, and launched her out of the cockpit in a wide arc towards Sylk's position. As soon as she reached the apex of the launch, the arm-like restraints released her, and the seat fell away as it dissolved into data. Her wings kicked on to control her descent before she touched down in the sand near Lau and Sylk. She hit the ground with a decent amount of force, and crouched down to absorb the impact. Her body was already crackling with electricity, and her fuchsia eyes darted to where Lau was standing.

She then flipped to her side and pushed her lower torso up with her leg as electricity flowed down her other leg to the bottom of her metal-plated heel. She then swung her leg up and extended quickly to drive her heel towards Lau's chest. With any luck, she would have kicked him with enough force or caused him to jump into... the direct path of two ruby red beams that screamed overhead. Two leg-like protrusions had folded out of the MachFighter's wing pylons, and channeled energy directly from his energy core and blasted it towards Lau's position. With two large red beams moving at nearly the speed of light, dodging that would be a challenge, at least. The ruby glow caused the open sensor eyes to shine like little jewels lining the sides of the craft. Mach had made sure to take careful aim, because he was not only trying to hit a distant, agile target, but he also had two allies possibly in the direct line of fire.

Aera watched in awe as the beams streaked overhead, and struggled to not get lifted off the ground by the sheer force of the plasma streaking across the field. Mazer had upgraded the output of this attack, and allowed Mach to use more concentrated, dense plasma, which provides a significant increase in knockback power, enough so to send targets flying. She looked over to Sylk, as she summoned a regenerative "IV Pack" and placed it between Sylk's new set of dragonfly wings.

Are you alright?

Though Mach wanted to just sit and provide covering fire for Aera and Sylk, he had his own problem: Desperado. He managed to completely disable Mach's movement programs, and would more than likely take advantage of the opportunity to deal some serious damage to a now immobile Machman. Without the ability to close the distance on his foe, Mach had to change his strategy. Mach still had his PoisonMask chip activated, but he couldn't just turtle up and expect to not get blown to bits; he had to keep up the pressure.

[[i]Mazer, requesting CornShot, Catcher, RiskyHoney, and BubbleStar chips![/i]]

[Changing up from the usual plan of attack? Battlechips uploaded! I'm still working on repairing your movement functions.]

He slid the PoisonMask slightly away from the path of a single missile secured under his left wing pylon. Mach targeted the gunslinger before he released the missile and had it launch away like a rocket, thanks to it's solid-fuel engine. The missile's fins angled it towards its intended target. The missile exploded on impact, but amidst the explosion, a smaller micromissile launched from behind the initial warhead, and angled towards the nearest target and eventually exploded.

Mach slid the PoisonMask back to protect his entire front as an odd, flying saucer-shaped object materialized next to him. A small face stared back at him as two comically large hands popped out from the saucer's sides. The face spun over to Desperado's position, and the saucer spun up before it hopped over the PoisonMask and zipped towards Desperado in a zig-zag pattern. As it attempted to steal one of Desperado's battlechips, an odd, honeycomb-like structure materialized on Mach's hull. The hive was literally buzzing with small, stinger-armed bees, seemingly ready to launch a full attack on anything that disturbed the hive.

Another missile materialized under Mach's wing, this one contained a warhead filled with sticky, highly conductive fluid. He kept it on standby and waited for the opportunity to arise. Vector's red eye darted amongst the armored plates covering Mach's frame, and kept a watchful eye out for any attacks coming in from above or from his flanks, and was ready to parry or deflect an incoming attack with a series of floating armored plates.


ACTIONS:
Aera: Unjunction
-[[color=ff6600]Repulsion Shield:[/color] Facing Forward]-
Vector: Reinforce Repulsion Shield (+1 Hit)
1. Strategic Action: Eject Aera towards Sylk's position
Aera: Attack Lau.EXE (35dmg Elec)
2. Superior Thrust Laser: Lau.EXE (40dmg x2 + MultiHit + Microburst + 3TCD)[+Impact] [+Take Aim]
Aera: IV to Sylk.EXE (Recover 5HP per action)
3. CornShot1: Desperado.EXE + Lau.EXE? (50dmg Wood + TrickSpread1)
4. Catcher: Desperado.EXE (Steal a Navi's Chip for use next turn)
5. RiskyHoney: Machman.EXE, Vector.SP (Block 1 attack for 10dmg Wood x5 + Homing)
6. Prepare BubbleStar1 chip
Vector: Defend
Sylk winced as she stared upward at lau, her expression full of both anger and fear. Not only had he completely damaged her body in a matter of seconds, he reduced her new abilities to nothing and messed with her programming rendering her in a very dangerous situation. As she quickly scanned her own systems, she noticed various errors, her navicust crashing and her sig malfunctioning were going to make things rediculously more tough. First and foremost however, she had to do something about Lau and his relentless assault.


Chip data flowed through the navi's body as she gazed upon the lau that had just injured her. Though he had made a copy of himself earlier, this one the one which had hurt her greatly, and with such skill she figured her best chance was to pick this lau as her target. As she placed her hands to the ground she initiated the chip she hfor use. Her attack couldn't be seen, atleast not yet as it worked it's way through the ground below them. Suddenly the vines of sylk's rope1 burst forth aiming to bind lau within the sandy terrain, hopefully allowing her to get away without chase.

It was shortly after this sylk noticed aera's arrival onto the scene. Upon the Sp's attack, she darted over to sylk to apply medical aid. The spider was quite grateful, and ment to thank her, but her train of thought was interrupted by the lasers passing overhead.

Thanks. I-i'm fine... but i need to do something quickly about this. She spoke softly to aera as she put a small plan she had thought up into action.

Quickly following up, Sylk's eyes looked around the battle field, taking note of the locations of desperado, lau and his clone. Taking a deep breath and staying low to the ground as not to slip up from the icy terrain she began to charge up her next attack. As her whole body began to create a build up of energy, the chilling feel of the panel she was upon slowly filled her body as it mixed with the power that was being formed. Concentrating on her attack, the form began to disperse into three seperate areas upon sylks body as it began to manifest. Sylk's left arms, right arms and within her mouth began to produce a cyan light before letting loose beams towards her three opponents.

Weary of a counter attack mind you, sylk activated the powers of her mach cross and aimed to increase her over all performance capabilities and prepared to evade. The spider kept her body low, keeping all 8 of her limbs down on the ground and attempted to use her wings and jet to escape. As she moved, her processing speed began to increase allowing her more time to act. As the ice continued to form beneath her body as she moved, she used her claws to scrape along the ice to help her with her movement and turning. Her wings helped with regulatiing the turning and slowing as the jet on the back opened and closed to assist in the over all movement of the navi. Hoping that the lowered stance would keep her from slipping, she kept moving in hopes that she could keep from having herself deleted.

Summary:

1) rope1: (50 wood dmg + Hold per turn, 3 turn duration) @ Lau.exe

2) Elementalrage 2: ( 90 dmg + ice element based on terrain + up to three targets) @ desperado.EXE, Lau.EXE, Lau.EXE decoy

Speed subtype ability: Afterburner (sacrifice one action next turn to gain an addition action this turn)

3) Dodge

4) Dodge

Lau tightened both his hands into fists as he prepared for a finishing blow against Sylk's crumpled form. His body shifted sideways and he readied himself to lunge but before he could finish, a volley of electric pulses interrupted his attack and pierced through his illusionary copy. He was forced to divert his attention to Aera, giving an opportunity for Sylk to launch a sneak attack against the real Lau. The mound of sand below his feet shifted as vines crept up to ensnare the martial artist. However, the slippery floor ruined Sylk's aim. The ropey attack was spread far too thin to function properly and what few plants were on target were swatted away like minor annoyances. Fortunately this diversion gave Aera enough time to apply the IV pack to Sylk (+15).

"I see now," Lau noted, "You have only come so far relying on others. Pathetic."

He reached out his arm to remove the IV pack but was caught off guard by a pair of powerful beams that blasted him away. Somehow, his reflexes allowed him to partially brace against the lasers, but it wasn't good enough (40+30).

While the focal point of the fight shifted to Lau's side, Desperado seemed content to watch everyone gang up on his 'teammate'. He whistled cheerfully and summoned an old barrel, a card table with a deck of cards and a chair. Taking a seat, he opened up the pack and shuffled through them. He smiled and called out to Lau, "Hey! Hang in there! Help is comin! Probably! Haha!"

Across the field, Lau got back up to his feet and groaned clutching his side. He had been blown back quite a distance and had a lot of ground to cover. He sprinted back to Sylk's position while she unleashed an icy beam at Desperado. The attack struck his wooden barrel and caused it to explode in a splash of liquid. Desperado tilted up his hat up again and gave Sylk an angry look.

"...I was gon drink that," He growled, "Missy, you done pushed your luck too far."

He reached behind his back and retrieved a long double-barreled shotgun. Cracking it open he loaded in two shells and prepared to fire. Right before then, Machman launched a missile across at Desperado that was just barely blocked in time by him kicking over the table as a makeshift shield.

"Guess I can't go playin around then." He surmised and fired the twin shots from his weapon. Part of the widespread blast struck against the Poisonmask Machman had set up, causing it to spray a condensed jet of purple mist in retaliation (50). Vector caught in the splash of Desperado's attack (40) but Sylk managed to avoid the blast by virtue of her slipping and sliding.

Desperado coughed wildly in reaction to the poisonous haze and barked, "...Really!? Come on now! You fellas be tougher than an armadill's hide."

Discarding his personalized shotgun, he reached out his hand and summoned an antique looking gatling gun onto the field. Suspended by two large wheels, it dwarfed his previous weapons in size. He wasted no time in giving it a good crank, revving the ring of gun barrels a bit before firing. It peppered the field in an indiscriminatory spray of bullets. A shower of empty cartridges rang along the floor like bells as he mowed the cascading shots across. Machman took most of the damage (2 x 30), with Vector (30) and Aera only being grazed. Sylk had once again fumbled her way safely between the shots, making it apparent that the ice was actually more beneficial to her than anything else. Dumbfounded by her sheer luck, Desperado dismissed his horribly innacruate weapon and opted for something else.

Lau smirked at his lack of success, "You call yourself a marksman?"

"...Shadap." snapped Desperado as he prepared his next attack.

Machman saw an opportunity and prepared to counter, sending a pair of large mechanical hands that reached for whatever Desperado was readying. However, it was all too easy to avoid them and the Catcher failed to catch anything.

While she was focussed on dodging Desperado's attacks, Sylk was suddenly caught from behind by Lau. Grabbing a hold of the IV pack, he crushed it with one hand and twisted her arm behind her back with the other. Sylk could feelt his hands were adorned with a set of razor gauntlets as they dug into her. What happened next was a blur to her, but everyone else could see that she was flipped around over Lau's shoulder in an instant and thrown into Machman. Her body cracked against the RiskyHoney shield (20) and rattled a swarm of bees loose that assailed the martial artist (5 x 10).

Lau.EXE: 230 HP [Rageclaw: 5 uses]
Desperado.EXE: 240 HP [20 HP Barrier] [Trainarrow1]

Terrain: 75% Normal, 10% Sand, 15% Ice (middle of sand)

Machman: 60 HP [sylk cross: 10 to fire chips, fire/melee]
Aera: 70 HP [1-hit shield]
Vector: 30 HP [armor junction]
Sylk: 25 HP [mach cross: 10 to normal chips, normal/speed] [Icefoot: Creates ice underneath self (8 turns)] [Standardize I: Uninstalls Undershirt (1 turns)] [IV destroyed] [Afterburner: -1 action] [ice]
Sylk slowly pulled herself back up after being throw effortlessly by lau, her body acking from the impact with mach. Though she had gotten lucky with her escapes up until then, she was still getting trounced out here in this battle. With her systems stills crewed up, she was at an even higher disadvantage, then just the difference in skill level between herself and the opponents. If the spider couldn't pull out a plan of action soon, she could end up squashed. Her body went into a slight drain after the afterburners began to wear off, the over use of power giving her less energy to strike. She didnt want to take a breather, but it was the best idea for now.

We need to figure out some kind of strategy... otherwise my first day alive might be my last. the navi groaned as she held her side, looking outward over the field. her eye's scanned the field, taking a note of the terrain as well as the location of desperado and lau. There was a chance she could use the land to her advantage, like how she dodged the assault on her previously, but she would have to work much harder for it. First and foremost however, she had to get some kind of medical assistance. Since the IV failed, she had to try something different.

Acting quickly, the spider began to piece together clumps of white which began to emminate from her hands, moving in a motion akin to a spider creating it's web. As she added more and more substance to the object, it's form was clearly visable. Quickly slamming it into the nearest normal panel by her, the candle ignited with a refreshing light, hopefully in time to help.

Without wasting any more time, the spider began to take off once more upon the ice, trying to use it's slippery surface as a built in defense once more as she glided back and forth, stumbling and the like included.The could chills she had been feeling ever since the bug took effect were beginning to become less frequent, slightly adapting to the feel dispite originally being a fire navi. Still you could tell the young arachnid was cold, pressing her hands and claws against the ice as she tried to move while balancing. The wind coming from her wings as she tried to guide herself a bit more not helping the situation.

The way she moved however was a bit different from before, as she tried to surround herself with the icey tarrain as much as possible. She would hopefully be able to pull out it's full potential soon enough as she kept her eyes on her targets, and tried to dodge out of the way of in coming strikes. If this worked, it could be extremely beneficial in the future.

I'm sorry mach... this is the best ic an do right now. I'll leave the offense to you, ok?

Summary:

1) candle1 (regen5 to-all-clause allies)

2) dodge
Bullets pinged off Mach's hull and Vector's armor, but the pair seemed to shrug off the damage and kept up the fire. Though several of their attacks failed, Mach's engines started to roar back to life once more.

[There we go! I've restored your mobility functions. Take them down!]

[[i]Thanks, Mazer. Vector, I'm deactivating MachFighter, hold tight.[/i]]

Yes sire.

Mach's hull made one loud click before it started to collapse in on itself in a flurry of metal, before it left Mach in his default, humanoid form. As he changed, several dark, angular chunks of metal skittered across the floor in several different directions. His full bodily changes from the cross were completely seen, his blue armor had darkened to a very dark navy blue, while his undershirt was nearly black, but had a slightly maroon hue. His armor was trimmed in indigo, while the tips of his fingers and bottom of his boots were trimmed in red. Vector formed over his body and augmented his existing armor while covering more vulnerable gaps in his standard armor. His eyes were not concealed by Vector's armored plating. Mach's protective Plasma Shield rose over his body, and some of Vector's metal plates floated within the orbit of the shield and provided an extra layer of protection. Mach's eyes looked over towards his shoulder as one of his four segmented spider arms moved forward; it's three-pronged claw snapped open and shut like a spring-loaded trap. His upper arms and his lower left paused in front of him, while his lower right arm held the relatively small missile that he had previously prepared under his wing.

Aera, who was surprisingly the only one who remained unharmed, saw Mach's transformation and quickly constructed a magnetic IV patch before she gripped it in her hand and called out to Mach.

Mach! Catch!

She threw the flat, disk-shaped patch towards Mach like a frisbee, which didn't have to travel far before it was caught by one of Mach's 3 open spider arms, and quickly fastened to his back.

Thanks, Aera!

As the arm lifted the missile towards Mach's gloved hand, he whispered commands to Vector. The spider arm that gripped the missile held it just below the warhead, and started to clench tightly.

Alright Vector, listen carefully. I am going to charge towards Desperado, as if I was going to attack him head-on. However, I am going to quickly warp behind him to execute my attack. As soon as I warp away, I want you to drop to the floor like a pile of blades. I want to distract him long enough to catch him off guard, but I don't want you to get blown away in the process.

I understand, sire.

The spider claw shut abruptly and sliced the missile cleanly in two, and the warhead rested in his hand while the booster to the missile dropped to the ground with a clang before it started to dissolve into data. The warhead was filled with an incredibly sticky and conductive fluid, and he had a plan to use it. He tossed the warhead in the air at eye level, where one of the arms caught it and whisked it behind his back, where the rest moved as well, and dissected the warhead like a quartet of razor blades, and became covered in the sticky fluid.

Mach's gaze solidified on Desperado, and his right foot dug in as he launched himself forward and skimmed just above the surface of the ground at a very high speed. He careened towards Desperado as he zipped from side to side in a zig-zag pattern before he kicked off and leaped towards him. He drew his right arm back, as if he was going to deliver a flying punch.

Take this!

He yelled out as he appeared to send his fist directly towards Desperado's face, but as soon as he started to thrust his fist forward, he blurred out of sight and disappeared, leaving Vector in his place like an empty suit of armor. Vector immediately noticed Mach's departure, and followed his orders and released all control of his body plates. His body instantly fell to the ground in a shower of metal plates that tumbled to the ground and bounced with metal clangs in front of Desperado, while others stuck out of the ground like shards of glass a few feet in front of him. As the plates lay on the ground, their surfaces started to repair themselves, and removed some of the scars of battle sustained from Desperado's attacks

Over here, Kemosabe

Mach had re-materialized behind Desperado, and was perched in the air less than 3 feet from his back. Mach spoke through a glowing, dripping energy web that his four arachnid arms had spun during his faux attack and his burst of incredible speed. The magnetized, plasma-filled web was coated in the sticky fluid from the missile warhead, and looked like a wet fishing net. His four arms thrust forward and released the web from close range, and sent it flying towards Desperado. With any luck, it would hold Desperado long enough for him to deliver his next flurry of attacks. Some of the leftover webbing that remained on Mach's arachnid arms were strung over his armor to make a makeshift protective shroud to add another layer of defense.

Hopefully with his prey hogtied like a bull, or at least distracted by the blast of webbing, he opened his right hand towards Desperado and revealed an array of electrical discharges leaping from his palm and between his fingers, then he angled his fingertips towards Desperado like a claw, and caused the large amount of electricity stored in his hand to burst forth in a blast of lightning. Multiple bolts streamed from his fingers, and blanketed the immediate area with powerful bolts of electricity. Mach had to be careful not to accidentally expose his arachnid arms to the electricity, because the amount of energy behind the blast is so powerful that it destabilizes programming, and causes wide-spread glitches.

Meanwhile, Aera had prepared an electrical blast of her own, and fired a blast of electricity towards Lau in an attempt to cover Sylk's retreat, and she quickly fell back as well and followed Sylk in an attempt to avoid Lau's strikes, and to get out of the way of Mach's next attack.

Machs upper two arachnid arms pointed rigidly skywards, like a pair of antennae. Oddly enough, they were being used for just that, and fed information through to Mach's eyes, and several screens showing different angles of the battlefield appeared in his vision. Off in the distance, several spider-like drones had set themselves up in different areas on the battlefield, each armed with a powerful camera. Some of the spider drones were actually suspended from the ceiling by nearly invisible threads of spider silk-like material. Mach was looking for one thing: Lau. He located him quickly, and plotted his position relative to Desperado's and Mach's own position. He then drew a straight line between the two in his mind, and knew exactly where he needed to go. His DashAttack chip gives him a burst of incredible speed and allows him to cover great distances quickly, but at such speeds turning is difficult. By following the line drawn between Desperado and Lau, he would pass through both of them, hopefully without having to turn much at all.

Mach corrected his position by taking a small, jumping step to the side before he crouched down into a runners stance and quickly bolted forward in an unnaturally powerful burst of speed. His arachnid arms swung in front of him and created a wedge-like cage in front of him, like a razor-tipped battering ram. He careened over Desperado's position as he rapidly approached the speed of sound. He was not at fast in this state, but quick enough to streak over to Lau's position in less than a couple seconds. He adjusted his body positioning slightly to cause him to try and pass directly through Lau's position, and at least shift his focus away from the injured and rapidly retreating Slyk, who was followed close behind by Aera as she tried to run/slide/skate over the ice panels Sylk created.


ACTIONS:
-[Disengage MachFighter.GMO]-
-[Plasma Shield: Facing Forward]-
Vector: Reinforce Plasma Shield (+1 Hit)
Aera: IV to Machman (5HP recovery per action equipped)
1. Dodge
2. Strategic Action: Appear to deliver a flying punch towards Desperado
3. SCRAM Boost: Teleport behind Desperado (Teleport + 2TCD) [Forcibly Unjunctions Vector]
Vector: Dodge
-[[color=006666]Reconfigure:[/color] (Passive 15HP heal)]-
4. Plasma Web: Desperado.EXE (Hold + Small Terrain Change{Grass} + 20HP casing + 2TCD)
--BubbleStar1: Desperado.EXE (20dmg Aqua + Bubbletrap x3) [+Impact] [Combine with Plasma Web for added damage + effects]
5. ElecPulse1: Desperado.EXE (100dmg Elec x2? + Seeking + Glitch + Cone Attack)
Aera: Attack Lau.EXE (35dmg Elec)
Aera: Dodge
6. DashAttack: Desperado.EXE, Lau.EXE (90dmg + Impact) [+Take Aim]
Sylk was quick to made the first move, summoning a healing Candle to help her allies recover. Considering how almost everyone was injured, it was greatly appreciated by all. However, while her own systems were slowed by the negative effects of her afterburner, she received the least benefit and only healed a minute amount (+5). Aera worked quickly to pass a Medkit to Machman, who hastily applied it to himself, doubling his regenerative abilities.

Desperado loaded a single mysterious round into his revolver and took aim, pausing only to add, "Right between the eyes..." before he fired. His boast was warranted as the shot pierced right through Machman's plasma shield like it wasn't even there and struck him square in the face. He was a bit taken back, but for some reason he didn't suffer any damage and there seemed to be nothing wrong with him. Ignoring it, he chose to follow through with his strategy and performed a charging punch at Desperado.

Lau didn't seem at all concerned with any of that and just calmly focussed himself on something. As he walked away, another decoy trailed behind him, mimicing his movements. He looked at Machman and lowered himself to the ground before announcing, "Leopard's Dash."

A cloud of dust marked his brief disappearance. He flashed back into visibility behind Machman with his hands focussed into points. For some reason, Desperado had also taken the opportunity to Areagrab to the same location, resulting in them both executing an entirely coincidental tandem attack.

"Viper Fang!" Lau snapped.

"What the- Get outta my way!" Desperado growled, bumping up against Lau's shoulder and firing off a RollArrow.

Machman was quick to react to the two's bumbling and teleported behind them, leaving Vector to take the fall. Desperado's small nudge caused the Viper Fang to go off target, merely tapping the support program twice at inert points. However, Desperado's heart-tipped projectile struck the SP (50), sending him into critical health. Fortunately, he was able to Reconfigure himself and along with the Candle's help, was able to bring himself back to working order (+25). Machman couldn't waste this opportunity and ejected an energy web at the cursor navi. It splattered across Desperado's feet, binding him in place.

"Dagnabbit! Mah boots!" He groaned.

The attack wasn't as effective as Machman thought it'd be and he quickly realized that Desperado's earlier attack had stripped him of his BubbleStar data. He couldn't worry about that now as both his opponents were now in range and he could hit both of them. He quickly deployed his Elecpulse and bombarded the duo with magnetic radiation. Desperado responded by spraying a cluster of cards to block off the attack while Lau simply fanned the waves away with his hand. On the bright side, his decoy had been washed away in the process. Aera joined in and attempted to at least deal some damage to Lau with an electric bolt, but that proved to be a near fatal mistake. The oriental navi evaded the attack and rushed straight towards Aera's position with a devastating Counter (70), breaking past her shield and jabbing straight into her abdomen with a low elbow. A failsafe program kicked in and prevented her from being jacked out as well, leaving her with just enough strength to escape. The flame on Sylk's Candle seemed to blaze extra bright at the attack and helped her recuperate further (+5).

Desperado called out, "Lil help?"

"This is a contest." Lau answered and set his sights on Sylk.

"...Ya stingy baga rice." Desperado spat under his breath.

Charging up to Sylk, Lau was finally able to recognize and adapt to her evasive movements and attacked with a sweep of his foot while calling out, "Mantis Wave!"

The blow was weak (20) but unexpectedly sudden and caused Sylk to flip completely head over heels. She smashed her head against the floor with more than enough force to severely stun her. Once again, Lau was poised to finish of Sylk when he was assaulted by Machman's DashAttack (90), knocking him away from her yet again.

"HAH!" Desperado laughed and summoned a RedFruit. Without looking, he fired a shot at the apple flawlessly and recovered a large chunk of his health in the process. Machman had managed to survive another round without so much as a scratch and had fully healed (+60) while sporting several layers of defense.

Lau.EXE: 140 HP [Rageclaw: 5 uses]
Desperado.EXE: 320 HP [hold] [grass]

Terrain: 65% Normal, 10% Sand, 15% Ice (middle of sand), 5% Ice (lone patch), 5% Grass

Machman: 120 HP [sylk cross: 10 to fire chips, fire/melee] [IV] [20 HP casing] [2-hit shield]
Aera: 6 HP
Vector: 26 HP
Sylk: 10 HP [mach cross: 10 to normal chips, normal/speed] [Icefoot: Creates ice underneath self (7 turns)] [IV destroyed] [2 x stun] [ice]
Candle1: 100 HP [Regen 5 (2 turns)]
hwoah!

Aera doubled over as the wind was knocked out of her by Lau's blow, and she fell to her knees as she gasped out for breath. She was completely disoriented for a few seconds before she was able to draw in a large gasp of air. With her wits returned, she created a regenerative energy pack in her hands before she quickly placed it on the small of her back. She could feel the regenerative energies slowly trickle into her body. Her protective energy shield raised over her body as she started to generate electricity in her body.

Vector was also pummeled by attacks, but his body plates rapidly regenerated and shifted the damaged areas under more reinforced plating as the data realigned and strengthened it's physical structure. He saw that Mach stood strong, and was essentially untouched, and felt an overwhelming sense of relief that he stood in long enough to take the hit and grant Mach a successful escape. His protective plates continued to reconfigure as his body reformed and he dashed off towards Aera's position. As he ran towards her, several of his body plates flew from his body and moved into a protective layer over Aera's protective energy shield. Aera watched as the plates floated over her shield, and she smiled as she called out to him.

Thanks, Vector!

Meanwhile, Machman had already seen Aera drop to her knees from the attack, and though his heart was telling him to rush over to her aid, his mind took over and convinced him she could take care of herself, and moving to her location would only endanger her more. He had to focus his attention on the enemy, and brought his weapons to bear. Two of his spider-like arms stretched and twisted into a pair of large-bore cannons; one swung towards the disabled Desperado, and the other slowly tracked Lau's position. His spider drones started to track Lau with their cameras, and quickly uploaded the data to Machman. As he gathered the video feeds, he fired the first cannon at the immobile Desperado. The shot made a loud rumbling boom as a large armor-piercing shell erupted from the barrel in a flash of fire.

Mach confirmed Lau's position with his targeting data and adjusted his aim before he fired a second shot towards the martial art-savvy Navi. As soon as the second shot was away, he pointed his right arm towards Desperado as a large bulbous growth emerged from under his arm, and three rifled barrels emerged from the area and connected to each other before all three started to rotate around a center point with a high-pitched whine. It was only a moment before the barrels roared to life and started to spew a stream of armor-piercing rounds towards the western-themed Navi. As Mach expended his ammunition, his spider-like arms lifted him from the ground and quickly swept him backwards and to the right in an attempt to shake off any incoming attacks.

Aera took off after Lau as the internal charge in her body continued to rise and filled her internal capacitors with electrical power. She tried to avoid the ice panels as she attempted to close the distance on Lau and put him into her sights. Her body was almost humming with electrical power, her internal capacitors were red-lined and completely maxed out with energy. As soon as she got into range, she pointed her chest towards the Navi and unleashed the stored electrical power in one blast. Electrical bolts erupted from her body in a brilliant flash, but the actual attack was in the form of an invisible pulse of electro-magnetic energy that surged towards the Navi.

As Machman quickly moved back as his vulcan ran out of ammunition, the vulcan started to shrink back into his arm. He started to turn away from Desperado, but as he did, he tossed a dynamo-crusted Magbomb towards Desperado with his left hand. He turned away and rapidly accelerated before he rocketed towards Lau's position, with hopes of colliding into him after Aera's attack. The bomb hit the ground and exploded as it coated the immediate area with a wire-laced gelatinous fluid, which was quickly electrified by it's internal capacitor and delivered a stunning shock throughout the area. He continued to accelerate as he tried to run over the Navi, protected by a web-like veil that stretched over his body.

He tried his best to knock into the Navi before his DashAttack battlechip's power was depleted, and he touched down and slid on the floor before his four spider arms dug into the ground and brought him to an abrupt stop. His bottom two arms lifted from the ground and joined together before they slammed down to the ground again and sent a shockwave towards Lau. The shockwave wasn't strong, but anything to knock Lau out of his deadly rhythm of attacks would help Mach and company catch a break from his strong melee combinations.




ACTIONS:
-[[color=ff6600]Repulsion Shield[/color]: Facing Forward]-
-[[color=006666]Reconfigure[/color] (Passive 15HP Heal)]-
Aera: IV to self (Recover 5HP per action)
Vector: Reinforce Repulsion Shield (+1 Hit)
1. Charge Magnum
2. Magnum: Desperado.EXE, Lau.EXE (120dmg Fire + 10dmg Cross Bonus + Break + Panel Break)[+Impact to Desperado] [+ Take Aim to Lau]
3. Rising Barrage: Desperado.EXE (25dmg x4 + Break + Multi-Hit + Strategic Action)
-[Strategic Action: Move back and to the Right]-
Vector: Strategic Action: Follow Aera
Aera: Strategic Action: Move within attack range of Lau.EXE
Aera: Tesla Pulse: Lau.EXE (Confusion + 2TCD)
4. Magbomb1: Desperado.EXE (30dmg Elec + Blast2 + Stun)
5. DashAttack: Lau.EXE (90dmg + Impact)
6. Shockwave: Lau.EXE (40dmg + Piercing + Ground Attack + Line Attack)
Sylk rolled over, rubbing her head as she tried to get up from Lau's attack. Looking around she seemed to have been saved by Mach again, as she saw lau knocked away from her at this point. Her vision was a bit blurry from the impact on her skull, and the spiders head was throbbing as she aimed to continue the fight. It took her a while to figure out everything that was going on around her, her whole body seeming to be having trouble acting after the sudden shock. She tried to move her limbs normally, but her systems seemed a little out of whack. As her eyes began to come into clear focus, she knew she wouldnt be able to do much on her own right now.

I just have to hang on... a little longer...

She groaned as she began to move yet again, trying to keep herself from staying in the same spot. The ice cold touch upon her feet was begining to drive her nuts, as she longed for the warmth of her usual fiery body. As her feet slid along it's hard surface she tried to keep her balance while keeping away from her targets. Any chance of survival ment she had to be as cautious as ever, which was something her wreckless newborn self had trouble thinking about, let alone pulling it off. All the while, her eye's kept a watch on the two navi's before sylk, a bit challenging to devide her attention but trying her best none the less. the crimson orbs refused to let desperado and lau out of their sight, for fear of attacks, for fear of death. As her body continued to skid around the panels, her desperation was clear. Though she wasn't about to just hide, this time.

I may be useless.... I may need help from others... Sylk began to talk to no one in perticular as she strengthened her resolved, a burning fire raging within her soul. Figuratively of course.

Her processors began to kick into high gear, as the jewels on her gloves lit up, her wings beginning to flutter behind her as she invoked the power of her cross. She needed to extra speed to try and keep up after the fall she had taken earlier, and at this point she only had this method to work with. As her whole body began to quicken Sylk prepared for a counter attack. Her two middle hands began to draw together, as a chips energy took on a reaction between the palms. only a ball of light at first, it began to spread outward into a pole, and then further into 9. As the shape became more clear, her machinegun1 began to revolve rapidly as her fangs began to show themselves, the arachnid looking outward at her foes. As the whir of the barrel wistled in the air, Sylk tried to brace herself before opening fire upon the icy surface, knowing that with the wrong step she could end up downed easily once more. Her arm's tried to keep steady, her eye's reflecting the image of lau and desperado, as the bullets began to leave the chamber one after the other.

In rapid succession, 9 shots rang out towards her enemies, hoping to find a home in their data.

I may be weak... BUT I'M NOT GIVING UP! Even a newly created navi can be strong in battle!

Summary:

1&2) stunx2

3) dodge

passive subtype ability: afterburn

4) Machinegun1 (30 dmg x 9 shots, 10 dmg x 1 cross bonus) @ Lau.EXE, Desperado.EXE
((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