Triple Trouble in a Foreign Land

Ante beamed down onto Yumland Net in a stack of red and black poker chips, which deposited her and then drifted back off into the sky. She looked around and sighed peacefully, enjoying the scenery. "I do love traveling to foreign lands. I didn't get the chance to do a lot of traveling in my past life, but it's always been a great pleasure," she mentioned, giving Teruko a brief window into the mysterious world of her life before the glitch.

Unfortunately, Teruko was in no position to pay heed to her navi at the moment. She was more worried about Ariel making them look like floozies in front of everyone and as such was trying to pull away from Ariel. Humans have limiters, however, imposed by their judgment and rationality that keep them from being overly forceful with their actions. Ariel's were off, much like her shirt, so she was applying her full force to hugging around Teruko's now exposed midriff and pushing their boobs together.

"Aaaah!" Teruko groaned with frustration, blushing as John got another eye-full of her racy bra. "Alright, alright!" she sobbed, just to get Ariel to calm down. She figured the attention they'd draw from hugging up together half naked would be even worse than just being half naked. "Darn... geez..." she muttered, pressing her fingers together beneath the table and shifting uncomfortably.

"W-Well... I suppose at least this way I won't feel so unfortunate myself. It's not all bad," Ante chuckled, trying to cheer her operator up.

Teruko just sobbed at her own situation. "Aaah! If I knew everyone was going to be looking at my belly today I would have worked out harder!" she cried out, hanging her head in regret.

((Waiting for Grim and Cereal))

A tear started to form on the network floor, the chasm got wider and wider as one could see lava bubbling up from underneath. Several spines emerged from the lava, followed by KaijuMan's head, and the rest of his body. He lurched out of the lava, almost as if ascending a flight of stairs, before he stood on the grassy terrain next to Ante.

He looked around, and noted the area did have a lot of grass, just like John said. However, he wanted to test the second part of his NetOp's comment. He looked down at the ground, and seemingly spat a little flaming ember at the ground below him. The grass almost immediately caught fire, and started to spread quickly. However, his resulting snort of satisfaction blew the flames out, leaving a nice little charred circle around him. It almost sounded like he was chuckling, from the rhythmic grumbling coming from his mouth.

John continued to grin as Ariel hugged Teruko tightly in protest of her attempting to put her dress back on. What resulted was a very cute gesture, and... well... an epic squishing of boobs. So epic that John found himself with his mouth agape for a few moments, only to be snapped back into reality when he felt his glass almost slip from his fingers. He scrambled to keep the drink from falling, and luckily for the three of them, the glass remained in his grasp. In places like these, one broken glass can bring a 1-way ticket out, enforced by the suited bouncers out front.

John sort of felt he should help Teruko, but he honestly was just enjoying the show. He did notice Teruko lamenting about not working out enough, and people are able to look at her belly. He honestly couldn't see why she was lamenting over her toned figure, then he just chalked it up to self-consciousness.
What? You look in a lot better shape than me, hahaha!

"Yay!" Ariel happily returned to her seat, glad that she wouldn't be alone in being scantily clad above the waist. Speaking of which, Teruko seemed to be saying something about hers. "What're you talking about? You look great! I'd be happy with a belly like that!" Well, hers was probably thinner, and unbeknownst to her, much more agreeable when it came to metabolic processes, but there was nothing wrong with it that she could see. "Hey ZephyrMan, are ya in yet?"

The winds began to pick up, as a large vortex descended onto the Net...and promptly died, leaving the wind Navi next to his two busting partners. "I've just arrived!" And phew, Ariel was back in her seat, so no further excessive awkwardness would happen...probably. He'd been wrong about that before. "I would like to apologize for that...display. I assure you, she's only like that when she's drunk!"

"I'm drunk? Hooray!"

"...And like that..." ZephyrMan shook his head, noting that no club personnel had said a word about the two ladies'...current situations. Maybe they thought it was good for business or something? Oh well, as long as they didn't interfere, there was nothing he could do about it. And unlike the other two Navis, he did have the ulterior motives to be fine with it.

Teruko sniffled, then took another swig of her drink for courage and exhaled. "Thanks guys, that's sweet," she managed, giving a smile. She was always happy to take compliments on her physique, no matter how much she seemed willing to insult it herself. All of that exercising wasn't just for her health, after all. "And yes, Ariel, you're very very drunk."

In the mean time, Ante raised her eyebrows at KaijuMan burning up the scenery she'd just complimented moments ago, but simply laughed awkwardly and dismissed it. It occurred to her as she pondered her situation more deeply that all three of them seemed very ill-fitted to their operators. ZephyrMan's honorable and serious personality didn't match Ariel's airheadedness at all, nor did KaijuMan's single-minded pursuit of destruction exactly seem to go along with the casual and upbeat John. Indeed, even she seemed strange along with Teruko, but Ante chalked her own situation up to the abandonment and adoption of her PET earlier. She wondered what the circumstances of the others were to herself, but didn't broadcast her concern.

"Don't worry, ZephyrMan. If the establishment where they're drinking doesn't mind the antics, I suppose I don't have any reason to complain either. Just be sure not to pick a fight with bouncers if they happen to come over to speak with you two," she finished, turning from ZephyrMan to Teruko.

"But it was Ariel's idea..." Teruko pouted, pressing her fingers together childishly and pouting.

"Yes, I recall, but..." Ante continued, then grasped at her head. Although her injuries had already healed, she found that all of the drinking from earlier had left her with a headache. "Er, that is, heed the words of the establishment."

"Fine, fine! L-Like I'm going to argue with any big guys while I'm in my underwear," Teruko agreed, folding her hands in her lap awkwardly.

((Ready for battle 1))

Haha, indeed you are, Ariel!

John laughed with Ariel and smiled towards Teruko, happy that she started to calm down and wasn't focusing so much on her looks, as perfectly fine as they were. John started to order another drink, this time going for a Vodka and Crimson Bovine mixed drink, to help stave off some of the drowsiness he often gets from drinking beer.

As John was waiting for his drink, KaijuMan eyed his allies, noting both were still with him for this new rampage through the delightfully flammable area. He started to stretch his body out a bit, warming up and appreciating the replenished energy in his body. As he did so, he kept an eye out on the horizon, his reptilian eyes fine-tuned to sense movement.

John got his drink, and took a fairly good swig of it while Teruko showed how uncomfortable she was, not surprising considering her chest was covered only by her bra. The bartenders didn't seem to mind, they have probably seen much rowdier and worse behavior before.
I'm sort of surprised no one has said anything, but hey, works for me!

John smiled, giving two thumbs up towards both of the women sitting next to him.

((Ready for Battle #1))

Oddly, even though she had nothing more up top than Teruko, Ariel appeared to be very comfortable with the current circumstances. Granted, part of it was because of alcohol consumption...but given her usual near-skintight flight suit, chances were she was simply more comfortable with the prospect of getting stares, due to having some experience in the matter. "Right! Whatever we do, they'll see worse! Even if it's each other!" And at long last, she managed to say something that embarassed herself. "Um, but don't get me wrong! I'm not like that! ...Okay, there was that one time, but that was several years ago! ...Uh, and I guess there was that other time...but that was because I was totally wasted and blacked out next to some chick that was into me! Honest!"

In the Net, her Navi chuckled a bit as he wasn't the one turning red for a change. "Hoho! Well, I suppose we'd better find some action here before she digs herself an even deeper hole, eh, Ante and KaijuMan?"

(Ready for Battle #1)

[+2 FXP to all!]

As the Operators started to socialize with each other, the Navigators went into the Yumland network in search of more viruses to stomp around. And of course, viruses did they find; a group of Boomers hovered about a large grassy field, with some Mushy dancing about them. Along the sides, some Totems made a loose triangle formation about the viruses.

-- ENEMIES --
Boomer A: 60 HP
Boomer B: 60 HP
Boomer C: 60 HP
Mushy A: 80 HP
Mushy B: 80 HP
Mushy C: 80 HP
Totem A: 80 HP
Totem B: 80 HP
Totem C: 80 HP

-- ALLIES --
Ante.EXE: 150 HP
KaijuMan.EXE: 170 HP
ZephyrMan.EXE: 150 HP

-- TERRAIN --
100% Grass

-- TEAM BATTLE 01, READY? START!! --

Teruko laughed awkwardly at John's cheesy expression, trying to decide if she was fine with the eye-full he was getting or not. She supposed it wasn't hurting anything.

"Indeed, ZephyrMan. I think Ariel may be better off if she has something new to focus on," Ante agreed, then suddenly stumbled backwards as nearly all of her accessories exploded off of her in a rain of poker chips, giving the odd impression for a moment that she herself had exploded. Regaining her composure, pressed one hand to her cheek and sighed. "This glitch is unmerciful..."

It may have just been because of the amount they'd all drank, but Teruko found herself having a very difficult time understanding what Ariel was getting at and missed the meaning of "even if it's each other" entirely. "Huh? I can't make heads or tails of her any more," Teruko muttered, scratching her head with a confused look. "Oh look! Viruses!"

Ante nodded, then smiled and raised one eyebrow. "My my, even the viruses have a sort of regional appearance, don't they? Some of these look a little foreign to me," she chuckled. Noting that the totems were spread out and rooted to the ground, she tried to come up with a strategy to effectively take care of them. "Teruko, please slot me through a Wideshot and a Quake battlechip, if you would."

"Gotcha, buddy," Teruko replied, putting through the chips as her navi had asked. "I guess it's lucky that those things can't really move, huh? Aim that bomb well!"

Nodding again as she accepted the chips, Ante attempted to clear her head of the mild hangover that was already on-setting. An important thought came to her early: if she used her quake attack, all of the grass that would fuel KaijuMan's fiery attacks would be lost. Realizing this, she waited for him to get some good attacks in before acting.

She focused on the Totems, waving her scepter in a wide arc to release a wave of water from its spade-shaped head. Once that was through, she transformed the head into its club shape, then rose it into the air. A tremendous king hologram appeared midair above another of the totems, then flipped his club scepter and smashed it head-first into the ground, creating a massive tremor.

In anticipation of enemy attacks, she swung her scepter again, attempting to mark the three Mushies with her signature Queen of Spades cards, known for dampening the enemy's attack strength. As a final thought, she turned back to Teruko. "Let's go for broke. I'd like my Wrecker as well, please." Once she'd received it, Ante grunted and lifted her scepter into the air, then flung its steel club head violently towards one of the Boomers. "That ought to discourage them from closing up to shield themselves."

"Oh, by the way... Try to er... you know, slow up on that glitch thing," Teruko encouraged her navi in a discreet whisper.

Ante raised one eyebrow and looked back with a frown. "I apologize, but that's not within my control. I assure you it's highly uncomfortable for me and I don't do it by choice."

"I know, I know, but I have a feeling that if you keep losing clothes something bad is going to happen to me," she sobbed, turning her squinty eyes anxiously to Ariel and shivering.

*)Wait for KaijuMan to act
1) Wideshot @ TotemA and any nearby viruses [60 aqua shot, A accuracy + wide]
2) Quake1 @ TotemC [100 damage bomb, C accuracy + impact + medium cracked terrain]
*) Draw Hand debuff to MushyA [15 (strengthen) debuff]
*) Swap Two debuff to MushyB [10 (strengthen) debuff]
*) Variable debuff to MushyC [12 (buff) debuff]
3) Wrecker @ BoomerA [80 damage bomb, C accuracy + break + panel break]

KaijuMan eyed the viruses ahead of him as his internal body temperature started to rise very rapidly. He was rather happy to have so many targets ahead of him, especially when the very battlefield under his feet boosts his own combat power. He glared towards the center of the group of viruses, mainly the boomers and and shroomys, and lowered his head as an orange glow started to emanate from his throat.

He spread his stance slightly and the glow became more and more intense as he glared at his targets. His mouth opened slightly larger as he fired a glowing, burning projectile made of semi-molten rock, which arced through the air with a black smoke trail. The projectile exploded on impact with a small fireball, but with a much larger spray of molten rock and embers. He kept his head down, but shifted his weight slightly to aim a bit more to the side to aim towards the totems.

Another projectile surged up from his gullet, and he reconfirmed his aim. A glowing orange orb of energy fired from his mouth and blasted towards the totems and a mushy before it exploded with a spray of shrapnel, hopefully peppering the viruses with sharpened slivers of metal and volatile data.

With both attacks away, John decided to take over and activated the RemoteBit battlechip behind the hulking navi. The puck-shaped transmitter materialized behind him, and a floating bit also appeared before it moved overhead and stopped over one of the Totem viruses before it charged up and sent down a powerful bolt of electricity.




ACTIONS:
1. LavaMortar: BoomerB,C, MushyA,B (30dmg Fire + Blast2 + 2TCD)
2. Shotgun: MushyC, TotemA,B (50dmg + Spread2)
3. RemoteBit1: Summon 100HP RemoteBit
--RemoteBit: Attack TotemB (80dmg Elec + Panel Break)

With an explosion of poker chips, it appeared that Ariel had something new to draw her attention towards. "Holy cow! Ante just exploded!"

The sudden noise of hundreds of poker chips hitting the ground drew the wind Navi's glance as well, noticing that while Ante herself was there, a good portion of her clothes wasn't. "Er, I don't think she herself exploded, but I believe her clothes did..." He was going to have to ask about that after the battle. But not before, as they had a battle to tend to. "At any rate, let us focus on the battle!"

"Okay!...But, what if my clothes explode like that? Or Teruko's? I...I don't think we can lose any more..."

"I'm...reasonably sure that it won't happen in the real world. Set your mind at ease, Ariel, and focus on approving my chip requests!" Immediately, one was wordlessly sent, as ZephyrMan began to move, taking a very unstationary approach by floating over to what appeared to be moving clothespins. With his selection approved, his right forearm became a large drill, several feet in length, which was promptly thrust forward with a punch-like motion to bore a fair sized hole into the viruses. "...There's no mistaking it. The bodies of these Boomers is quite hard...it'll take quite some power to get through them!"

"Um...it'll be okay! You might not be strong enough to do that, but I'm sure Ante and KaijuMan are! We can worry about the other ones, okay?"

"Indeed!" Hmm...for someone as drunk as she was, Ariel was making quite a bit of sense. She must be in the eye of the drunken storm, as it were. "Ah, I see one I should focus on!" It seemed one of the mushroom viruses was being largely, but unintentionally, avoided, which meant he should probably fill in that particular gap. With the construction grade drill gone, a new weapon emerged on his hand; this one was the standard blue buster-like gun with black striping, that any new Navi knew was Shotgun. And like many Navis before him, he engaged in the time honored tradition of trying to aim his weapon as best he could, before activating its firing mechanism, and launching an energy bullet that exploded to hit anything directly behind what it hit. Though, KaijuMan appeared to be able to make that spreading explosion do different things...exactly how he had that ability was unclear, though...maybe he could ask for pointers after this virus batch was gone. For now, however, he decided to focus on the enemy, so that he could swiftly avoid attacks headed his way. Or unswiftly, for that matter. As long as he didn't get hit, he'd be satisfied with the effort.

[Order of Turn:
1-DrillArm1 chip attack on BoomerA and BoomerB (60, Break, Knockback)
2-Shotgun chip attack on MushyC (50, Spread 1)
3-Dodge]

Explosives abound! A mortar of lava found its way towards the viruses, exploding in a sphere of death, melting the faces of four very unlucky viruses. Ante went for the Totems, using a WideShot to wipe two unlucky statues from the face of the network. Meanwhile, ZephyrMan summoned some drilling power to his aid, and busted right through one of the Boomers. By now, the viruses were pretty taken back by this sudden barrage, and tried to retaliate, but it was simply too fast of an assault. The Totems by now were completely taken out, courtesy of Ante's Quake chip, and everything began to pile on one lonely Mushy. After it took a hit from Kaiju's Shotgun attack, it teleported over to the group of Navis, and released a cloud of spores! Unfortunately, Ante had it covered, with her Queen of Spades reducing the Mushy's effective threat level to zero. After that, it was a matter of blowing its head off with some more attacks until it died horribly.

-- ENEMIES --
Boomer A: DELETED
Boomer B: DELETED
Boomer C: DELETED
Mushy A: DELETED
Mushy B: DELETED
Mushy C: DELETED
Totem A: DELETED
Totem B: DELETED
Totem C: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Ante.EXE: 150 HP
KaijuMan.EXE: 170 HP
ZephyrMan.EXE: 150 HP

-- TERRAIN --
100% Grass

-- BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --
Kaiju: [Totem1] Battlechip
All: 500z, 4 FXP

KaijuMan let out a very satisfied huff, sending two small puffs of smoke out of his nostrils as he looked over the destroyed hulks of the former viruses confidently. John was impressed by the speed of the trio in dispatching the enemies, and in the end he ended up with a fairly useful chip that was quickly uploaded to his PET.
Haha, nice! Letzkeep goin'!

It was only a bit later that he realized what Ariel meant with her "Ante exploded!" comment, as he saw the Navi's clothing had indeed fell away in a spray of poker chips rather quickly.
That's certainly an interesting quirk.

He smiled towards Teruko as he spoke, before taking a swig of his drink. KaijuMan had continued to lurch forward, making his way deeper into the network, hopefully with allies in tow.

((Ready for Battle #2))

"That went quite well. Excellent work, my comrades," Ante congratulated the others, pleased at the outcome of their attacks. "Resistance will certainly grow as viruses become more aware to our presence here. Let us not become sloppy."

In the mean time, Teruko realized that the time had certainly come to explain her navi's situation. "Hey, it isn't what it looks like. I didn't program that feature in myself," she mumbled. "Ante was already doing that when I found her, I don't know why!"

Ante raised one eyebrow, hoping for Teruko to elaborate further. When her operator failed to do so, she stepped in to clarify. "It's not of my will either. Invasive modifications turned me into a program designed to satisfy operators wishing for a built-in, infinitely repeatable strip poker operation. I was modified to perform two primary functions: hosting strip poker and stripping automatically throughout battle routines. I regret to say that thus far, there seems to be no way to remove the modification."

"So Ante really can't help but strip as we bust. Even if you change to a .GMO, it just keeps happening and er..."

"Changes rate proportionally," Ante explained, pressing one hand to her breast. "That is, if I try to coat myself in layers of coats and padding, the program will simply accelerate its rate of decay to accommodate. Furthermore, even as I recover the power I lost when the change occurred, I find that the program automatically peels away layers of security and the problem worsens in various ways."

"It's all pretty confusing, but the point is, Ante's got a bug that takes off her clothes," Teruko finished, feeling relieved after getting all of that off of her chest.

"The best thing to do is simply ignore it and continue on in a very professional, composed manner. There's no particular reason it needs to influence our behavior in any way as we continue to hunt viruses," Ante finished with a calm smile.

((Ready for Battle 2))

Well, well, well. It seemed that they'd managed to completely eradicate the group of viruses before they could even blink. Nicely done. "Indeed! Nicely done, everyone! They were but grains of sand railing against the hurricane of our collective might! Ho ho!"

"And we're richer! Woo!"

"True, though I wouldn't say that's an overly high priority for us..." He might've gone on, but instead ZephyrMan listened to the story of Ante's 'condition'. "...Dreadful! Who would do such a thing to a Navi against their will?"

"Um...so, the rate she loses clothes is set, no matter how much she wears? So, wouldn't it be better for her to wear less, so she wouldn't lose them as fast?"

"Perhaps, but based on what we've seen, it's still variable. If she wore less, one unfortunate break would be potentially catastrophic!" ...Admittedly, it'd be mostly catastrophic for her, but as her friend, that was still of concern. "Worry not, Ante! I shall ignore it to the very best of my ability!" As they could all see, he could certainly put such a thing out of his mind for a while, thanks to several years of practice with his operator. "Now, shall we proceed?"

"Proceed? But I don't wanna go yet!"

"Erm, I wasn't referring to you...oh, never mind!"

(Ready for Battle #2)

The grassy terrain slowly became more sparse as the three Navis continued on. Verdant fields gave way to patches of mud and dirt that the Navis avoided as they needed to. Nestled in the middle of a large ring of mud, they saw several plant viruses and Beetanks minding their own business while two Spikeys outside the ring of mud watched a third try to extricate itself from the stuff. Also nearby was a pair of BombCorns that had been gaining interest in the Spikey's predicament until Ante, KaijuMan and ZephyrMan showed up. When they did, the BombCorns turned to them with apparent hostility along with every virus but the third Spikey, which was still busy trying to get out of the mud without any help from the other viruses. It didn't look too pleased with its so-called friends.

KillPlantA: 100 HP (Grass inside ring)
KillPlantB: 100 HP (Grass inside ring)
KillPlantC: 100 HP (Grass inside ring)
BeetankA: 80 HP (Grass inside ring)
BeetankB: 80 HP (Grass inside ring)
SpikeyA: 90 HP (Grass outside ring)
SpikeyB: 90 HP (Grass outside ring)
SpikeyC: 90 HP (Mud, unable to get out)
BombCornA: 70 HP (Grass)
BombCornB: 70 HP (Soil)

Terrain:
20% Mud (Large ring)
50% Grass (Inside ring and around outside)
30% Soil (Further away from ring)

Allies:
Ante.EXE: 150 HP (Soil)
KaijuMan.EXE: 170 HP (Soil)
ZephyrMan.EXE: 150 HP (Soil)

TEAM BATTLE 2 START!

There, another batch of viruses, all ready to be utterly destroyed by the power of teamwo-wait, what was with that Spikey? It looked...stuck. And the others weren't even lifting a paw to help. How terrible. "Unbelievable! Attacking Navis with reckless abandon is bad enough...but to not even assist one of your own? Indefensible! Ante! KaijuMan! Refrain from attacking the Spikey until I give word otherwise, if you would be so kind! The KillPlant, Beetank, and BombCorn are fair game, "

A strong tailwind blew at the Navi's back, who quickly took advantage of it to speed into the depths of the virus formation. Though a bit cautious, he took a good look at exactly how the Spikey was stuck, to try and figure out how to extricate it. "Worry not, Spikey! If you'll not attack us, I shall assist you, and ensure your survival!" Though, a quick glance at the giant flame reptile made him question his ability to do so..."...Well, as best as I can, anyway. But so long as I stay near you, you should be fine!" With that, he reached down to one of the dog virus's legs, and began the process of removing it from the mud, then repeating the process for the other three. "There! See if you can move!...But be careful not to get caught in any crossfire!"

"Aww, that's so sweet of you, ZephyrMan! I dunno if it's smart, but it's really nice of you to help it like that!"

"I suppose some would verify me as an idiot for assisting a virus like that. But alas, the deed is done. Now, for those that certainly threaten us!"

"Okay!...Uh, wait. You just helped the Spikey, and now you're going to kill it?"

"Of course not! I'm referring to the viruses that are more plant and insect-like in appearance! I sense open hostility from them!" With his good deed for the day complete, he turned his focus towards one of the rooted viruses, his arm instictively straighting forward towards it. After a moment of glowing and PET messages, it became some sort of automatic blue bow, never seen before by the wind Navi. He could ooh and ahh at his recent purchase later, however, and instead made sure it pointed towards the KillPlant, before activating the internal firing mechanism, as many chip based weapons had. A razor sharp metal arrow shot from the device, followed almost immediately by a second arrow. That would certainly explain the chip's name, at any rate.

Another wordless signal was sent, and a second BattleChip entered his processes. This one, however, was not intended for direct offense, which was good, considering it would've made for a terrible weapon. A shield made of the material used for Mettaur helmets formed in front of ZephyrMan, who began eyeing the various enemies for potential attack reflection. Unfortunately, this also included glances at the Spikey trio: he wasn't entirely sure if they would trust him, even after freeing their trapped comrade...

[Order of Turn:
0a-Gust subtype ability on ZephyrMan (Knockback propel towards SpikeyC)
1-Assist SpikeyC in getting out of the mud
2-DoubleNeedle chip attack on KillPlantA (50, hits twice)
3-Guard1 chip on ZephyrMan (60-, reflects one attack back at user)]

Quote (AWARD)

Ten of Clubs
Queen of Diamonds
Ten of Spades
Four of Clubs
Two of Clubs

Queen of Diamonds --> Seven of Hearts
Four of Clubs --> Six of Hearts

1 POINT AWARDED
TOTAL POINTS: 1
RANDOM SELECT: Hat
NO PRIZE

Ante was grateful that ZephyrMan was sympathetic to the situation of her glitch, but skeptical of his combat plan. "I believe you are in error. While it is true that the other viruses are hostile and there is no excusing such a lack of decency from our enemies, there is no proof that the other virus deserves mercy. I'm fairly certain that if it were not held down, it would be attacking us," she pointed out.

"Just humor him, Ante. It's not like there's any lack of other guys for you to focus on," Teruko advised her navi.

"True. Besides, it may be poor sportsmanship on our part to attack an unready opponent," she concluded. "We will give that one time to recover; if he then offers us combat, we shall promptly retaliate and eliminate him. Still, ZephyrMan, do not be so easy on viruses in the future. Chivalry is one thing, but I doubt this virus will have any sense of reciprocation."

"Right, right. Now let's focus on beating the others. I'll send you a wideshot and a firehit. Use the firehit to try to beat up the rest of those plants. I hope ZephyrMan won't mind you using the wideshot to attack those other fire guys, but we don't have a choice; it's not smart at all to leave them there while you're all on this kind of land. If I remember correctly, they hurt a lot compared to other guys," Teruko gulped.

"Certainly," Ante replied, accepting the chips and forming a club head at the end of her scepter. The scepter soon glowed red with heat and she promptly released two lobbed projectiles, slinging two gleaming metallic clubs towards the enemy KillPlants. Forming back the spade-head, she gave a wide swipe and release her wideshot towards the remaining Spikies, thinking it would be be best to utilize her powerful water chip where it would be most effective. As per ZephyrMan's request, she tried to avoid hitting the Spikey who hadn't managed to free himself yet.

Ante anticipated that KaijuMan would probably use a fire attack to help defeat the BombCorn or Beetanks. There was little he could do that wouldn't be effective, what with all of the fire and wood-elemental enemies.

1) Firehit1 @ KillPlantB [60 fire melee, A accuracy + impact]
2) Firehit1 @ KillPlantC [60 fire melee, A accuracy + impact]
3) Wideshot @ Spikey A and B [60 aqua shot, A accuracy + wide]
*) Draw Hand debuff to BombCornA [15 (strengthen) debuff]
*) Swap Two debuff to BeetankB [10 (strengthen) debuff]
*) Variable debuff to BombCornB [12 (buff) debuff]

KaijuMan watched curiously as ZephyrMan actually seemed to be helping a virus. This struck the reptilian Navi as very, very odd; especially due to his rather violent and single-minded nature. In his mind, everything around him, especially viruses, are there purely for him to destroy. Actually assisting one seemed like entirely backwards thinking.

However, KaijuMan didn't seem to protest to the wind Navi's actions. It may have been due to the lingering effects of the alcohol, the others' words of caution in regards to helping a possible enemy, or a bit of both. There were also plenty of viruses for him to destroy. While the others engaged their targets, KaijuMan had a very good target of opportunity: the circle of grass surrounded by mud terrain. With his flame based attacks, it was essentially a "fish in a barrel" opportunity for him, so he very quickly took advantage of it.

KaijuMan lowered his head as a crimson glow started to emerge from his gullet. He aimed his head carefully to face directly towards the center of the circle, where the highest concentration of viruses are, and tilted his head slightly upward to give the molten projectile in his mouth the proper angle to hit dead-center. His nostrils were glowing as well while the projectile was held back only by the Navi's sharpened teeth, then he opened his jaws and launched the chunk of molten rock with a sizzling FOOM sound. The burning projectile torched through the sky, leaving a trail of black smoke before it exploded on impact with a shower of sparks, flames, and lava. The explosion was so large, hopefully the entire circle of grass was torched by the flames.

However, if the viruses inside the ring weren't completely destroyed, KaijuMan still had a plan to pour on the heat. After launching his lava projectile, the hulking Navi dug his claws in before breaking out into a run, making a beeline towards the center of the circle. He noted the ring of mud surrounding the grass, and though he would have probably had no problem just trudging through it, he decided it was best to simply leap over it, and crash down onto the grass behind it. He continued to take a few more steps before he slid to a halt in the middle of the circle.

Unseen until now, the claws on his feet were now glowing white hot, and the grass beneath his feet as he ran and slid in was already blackened and glowing with small embers. KaijuMan raised his foot before he stomped it down, actually throwing sparks and embers from the burnt grass beneath his feet, and caused the entire area around him to ignite in a flash. After the quick burn, KaijuMan was then surrounded by a sea of glowing embers and coals, giving off intense heat, and only making the reptilian Navi even stronger. His eyes were aglow, and he quickly started to search for yet another target.



ACTIONS:
1. Lava Mortar: KillPlantA,B,C, BeetankA,B (30dmg Fire Blast2 + 2TCD) [+Break]
2. Strategic Movement: Dash/Leap into the Grass inside the ring
3. Scorched Earth: KaijuMan.EXE (Medium Coal Terrain + 1TCD)

As Ante and KaijuMan prepared to fight, ZephyrMan immediately charged forward with a gust of wind and attempted to help the trapped Spikey out of the mud. It was a relatively quick and easy job with two... beings, and the Spikey was mobile in about ten seconds. It proceeded to sprint toward one of the other Spikeys and give it a full-body tackle to the ground before whirling around and spitting fire at the other one. Having got its revenge, the virus stared at ZephyrMan for a moment then began barreling off away from the battleground. The two Spikeys recovered fairly quickly, but instead of attacking looked off at the retreating Spikey. They looked somewhat surprised.

The battle truly began when two metallic projectiles flew at the KillPlants on the grass island. One hit its mark and incinerated the virus instantly, but the other flew by harmlessly. A wave of water passed through afterward, ramming into one of the fire viruses. The projectile storm continued with a pair of arrows, but they sailed past their target without making contact.

Deciding to get a little more physical, KaijuMan launched a lava missile and soon followed after it, the initial attack leaving several viruses in very bad shape. Not content with this, KaijuMan ignited the island and left it smouldering in the process. Finally, Ante hit the unaffected viruses with various debuffs. This was good, because several of those viruses attacked after. KaijuMan took a bit of damage from a bomb, but the ears of corn exploding around Ante did absolutely no damage. Over by the ring of mud, ZephyrMan raised a Guard to protect himself.

KillPlantA: 10 HP (Coal)
KillPlantB: 10 HP (Coal)
KillPlantC: DELETED
BeetankA: 20 HP (Coal)
BeetankB: 80 HP (Coal)
SpikeyA: DELETED
SpikeyB: 60 HP (Grass outside ring)
SpikeyC: GONE
BombCornA: 70 HP (Grass)
BombCornB: 70 HP (Soil) [Debuff 2]

Terrain:
20% Mud (Large ring)
30% Coal (Inside ring)
20% Grass (Around outside)
30% Soil (Further away from ring)

Allies:
Ante.EXE: 150 HP (Soil)
KaijuMan.EXE: 160 HP (Coal)
ZephyrMan.EXE: 150 HP (Grass) [Guard1]

The hulking Navi was far too distracted to see the Spikey virus attack its own comrades and flee without attacking its savior. He was nice and warm in his battlefield of coals, and surrounded by viruses just ripe for destruction. He had the Beetanks in one direction, and two KillPlants to a different side. He had already taken fire from them, and with him now dead center, he was somewhat vulnerable; he needed to strike quickly.

John instinctively slotted in a trio of chips into the PET, one for melee attacks, one for multiple targets, and the third to take down heavy armor. The blades covering the bracer at the tip of his tail sharpened quickly, and the sharpened edges started to darken slightly from the embers surrounding them. He looked over at the Beetanks, then the KillPlants before he widened his stance. He quickly rotated his body as he lifted his left leg to allow him to rotate on a point. As he whipped his body around, his tail followed, the blades kicking up coals before swiping over the position of the most damaged Beetank, hopefully tearing the virus to shreds, or even knocking it into the one next to it.

His tail continued to swing across the battlefield a bit even after he planted both feet and halted his movement. His head was facing directly towards the KillPlants, and he opened his mouth before firing a spray of sharpened metal shards, hopefully acting like a daisy-cutter to the plant viruses. He tried to make the widest spread he could, pointing his mouth towards the ground slightly to effectively spread the blast enough to hit both viruses.

After firing, he turned back to the final Beetank. He spat a couple shards from his mouth and his eyes started to glow and spark yellow. He tried to fix his gaze on the quadrupedal virus, and send a magnetic beam towards its metal hull. It would hopefully drag the virus close enough to discharge a very powerful bolt of electricity, strong enough to melt a hole in the virus's armor and overload its programming.



ACTIONS:
1. RageClaw1: BeetankA to BeetankB (20dmg + Impact)
2. Shotgun: KillPlantA,B (50dmg + Spread2)
3. MagBolt1: BeetankB (90dmg Elec + Stun + Magnet Pull)