Party!

"Baddies everywhere!' Seraphim exclaimed, pulling the massive blade from the ground. Was it just him, or did it feel lighter? He shrugged, the massive blade making a tiny movement as he did so, then he dashed at the first foe, dragging the blade behind him, where it made sparks along the ground as he ran, toward the phoenixes, raising up the blade and smashing the twin phoenixes into each other, dragging the blade through to the other side with a yell of, "Rag Eclaw!" He swung the blade past the FirePhoenixes and straight into the ground, where it stuck.

"Ohcrap, ohcrap!" The navi said as he tugged mightily on the blade, which came loose with a grinding roar, the blade slamming into the twin Phoenixes yet again as the navi grinned at his mistake, then felt so confident after the slash, he decided to pose as if he had already won, quite the arrogance, one might say, but then collapse into laughter at the result of his pose, as he lifted up the blade, and placed it on his shoulder, letting go with one hand, holding it and propping up on his shoulder, and for a moment he looked supremely cool, and noone could tell him different until there was a giant crack, and the navi's expression crossed with pain, and the sword slipped, falling over his back and back away into nothingness while the goofy navi clutched at his shoulder in pain, nearly falling over as he swayed, seeing the viruses in front of him, he pulled out the other weapon, the gun-sword-mesh, and tossed it to the other hand, the right one too filled with pain.

"Um, Um.... Ow, this really hurts! Maybe I'm supposed to kneel! Shot... Gun!" The navi yelled out, blasting the viruses with it nearly point blank, then rapidly beginning to back away, blasting the twin viruses with another spell, namely "B-Ba-ar-" The navi stopped as the pain in his arm overtook him, and he collapsed to one knee.

1] Rageclaw [30] Phoenix A, B.
2] Rageclaw [30] Phoenix A, B.
3] Switch Weapon: Gunner
4] Shotgun [60] Phoenix A, B.
"Ah, now here are some opponents with some spine! Look at their passionate flames, rising through the air! They crave for battle, just as I do!" MeleeMan uttered quietly, fire beginning to shine under the metal plate that covered his eyes. "I'm going to enjoy this fight... If those stinking trumpets in the back don't start up!"

"Hmm... It looks like Rass is planning to attack those tube viruses, so don't worry about them. Seraphim is going for the bird viruses... How about we go for those metal guys with the fire and smoke spewing everywhere?" she giggled. "They look a little like you, with their grumpy faces!"

"Wh-what? They're spirited, that's certain, Rania," he stuttered, "but they lack my powerful soul and my dashing jawline!"

"Dashing jawline? Where'd you get that from?" she asked, feeling suddenly awkward. It was a bit strange to hear MeleeMan talking about vain topics like his personal appearance. "Uh, let's just hurry up and knock those guys out, alright?"

"Fine by me. Magbolt! Let's give it a shot!" he roared, drawing one Volgear in. "I don't have to come to you guys; you'll come straight to me!" he laughed, smiling menacingly as the Volgear came towards him. He reared back, delivering a powerful electric punch to the virus with his right. Swinging again, he formed a cannon for a new attack. He brought his arm back around, attempting to end the virus with another powerful shot in the face. "Hwuah ha ha! You may have fire, my friend, but you lack the fists to focus it!" In case the virus was not finished off, he dashed to the side, clenching his teeth.

"Good riddance! Hm... can you get another of them now? Or is that too much to bite off?" she asked, arching her eyebrows with excitement. Her eyes began to glow amber as she slotted in a new chip. "I'm sending you a RageClaw, okay MeleeMan?" she informed him as the chip went through.

"No," he answered honestly, "but I'll still put a dent in him." With that, he ducked in next to another Volgear, thrusting the claw hard toward its side.

1) Magbolt1 to VolgearEXA [90]
2) Cannon to VolgearEXA [40]
3) Dodge
4) RageClaw to VolgearEXB [40]
Suien's fingers flew over the PET keyboard as he ran the pre-battle diagnostics on the newest viral threat. "Stay sharp Rass, it looks like we've got a new set of viruses," he said with a frown, "Can you confirm seven viruses, three EX-class, and three total types?"

Rass gulped and stepped back uneasily. "Y-yeah, Suien," he said nervously, his breathing becoming shorter and more panicked, "W-what's the plan? D-do you h-have a strategy to d-defeat them?"

You disgust me sometimes, Rass, said Tem, swirling from Rass' back to his front in a smooth motion, You can't always rely on your netOp to provide you with everything, you know. Sometimes you have to think for yourself to survive. Her eyes appeared on his chest and emitted a pale blue light, flooding the entire battlefield in an unearthly glow. As the data processed itself and relayed critical information to Rass' central computing unit, Tem yawned tiredly and retreated back into her gemstone. Of course, you can always do what you've been doing and rely on us to do the thinking for you, she said coldly, It seems to have worked pretty well in the past.

Rass actually growled slightly at the statement, but said nothing while assuming a defensive stance. Tilting his helmeted head upward, he contacted his netOp. "Suien, I th-think we s-should take down th-the trumpet viruses first s-since the others seem to have already s-started attacking!" he said, "Send me s-some long-range ch-chips - Ishamel c-can take care of it!"

Suien blinked in surprise, but complied with his navi's request. It was, after all, no different than his original intention, but the fact that his navi had actually stood and given a tactical overview of the situation was... surprising to say the least. "You got it Rass, two shotguns, a boomerang, and a rockcube for cover," he said, shrugging as he slid the four chips into the PET tray, "Now the boomerang's a bit tricky, and I don't think any of the subsystems cover thrown long-range chips, so you're going to have to be a bit creative with that. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Rass nodded fervently as Ishamel streaked from the garnet and materialized himself in two patches of red on the palms of his fluidlike hands. "Y-yeah, Suien. I th-think I've g-got it under control!" The pink-and-black navi feinted to one side, then spun around, lining up a shot toward the pair of tuby viruses. Rass hesitated for a moment, his arms shaking slightly until Ishamel took control and held them rigid. CONCENTRATE, CORE SYSTEM! shouted the targeting subsystem as he adjusted Rass aim and steadied his arms. The shotgun energy burned as it charged itself to full power within the palmbuster units, but Rass gritted his teeth and bore the pain, determined to showcase his own abilities. With a grunt of effort, he loosed both blasts simultaniously, sending a pair of piercing shotgun rounds barreling toward the target. The brilliant white beams lanced toward the tubys, exploding on impact and obscuring any chance of confirming the hit. Unpertuerbed, Rass materialized the large green boomerang in his right hand, waking up Tem and Argo in the process.

What the heck do you think you're doing with that? demanded Argo, Come on, let me take a crack at it. I won't botch it up like you will!

Hold on Argo, whispered Tem, Let's see what Rass does in this situation...

Wait? Hah, that's just inviting problems into the...

"M-Melee subsystem 4RG0, initialize in r-right arm!" shouted Rass.

What the HELL?! screamed Argo as he was forced into Rass' arm.

"Targeting s-system, initialize c-calculations for t-trajectory!"

AFFIRMATIVE, CORE SYSTEM! shouted Ishamel as he scanned the curvature of the boomerang lined up an arc that would catch the maximum number of viruses.

Bringing his arm back in an almost comically overdone fashion, Rass hurled the green weapon with all of Argo's borrowed strength, sending the weapon slicing down the battlefield in a long clean arc. Without wasting any time to confirm the hits, he pounded the ground, once again summoning a monumental cube and taking cover behind it.


0: Tem Scanner (+5 to all attacks, boosted accuracy, any kills made increase chance for chip and RP reward factor by 1 rank)
1: Shotgun (50+5, Splash) TubyA and TubyB
2: Shotgun (50+5, Splash) TubyA and TubyB
3: Boomerang (60+5, hits up to three) TubyA, TubyB, and VolgearEXC
4: Rockcube (200) for cover

Seraphim and Rass unleash incredibly destructive combo attacks, leaving Meleeman feeling kind of out of his league. To Meleeman's credit, he does crush a Volgear to pieces.

The Volgears engage in a glorious final stand, torching the entire area in flames! The flames crash against the RockCube, but Seraphim's left out in the open!

FirepheonixA: !DELETED!
FirepheonixB: !DELETED!
VolgearEXA: !DELETED!
VolgearEXB: 80
VolgearEXC: 55
TubyA: !DELETED! (TEMSCAN'D)
TubyB: !DELETED! (TEMSCAN'D)

Seraphim: 80
Meleeman: 100
Rass: 100
"Ow." Seraphim spoke as he crumpled to the ground, blackened all over. His arm didn't hurt any more, or maybe it was the pain he felt all over that kind of nulled it out. He waved at his friends with one hand, then his eyes rolled up into his head and he crumpled into the ground, prone. Blackened all over, it was a horrendous sight, with only the eyes and teeth left untouched.

"Seraph? Seraph? Seraphim!" His operator yelled out, trying to get her navi awake as the prone navi mumbled something. Erin frantically turned up the volume on her PET as best she could, trying to hear what she thought would be her navi's final words as she was close to tears, looking at the PET like her life had ended.

"Tell... the... female lead that... I couldn't make ii-" His voice cut off as his eyes closed. The blackened navi's hair was amazingly intact, apparently it was the pain of the attack that had made him blank out as the navi began to snore slightly, his snores interspaced with brief mumbles involving strange words, such as "Triangle, Square, Ecks, Ey, Be, Up, Down, Right, Right, Left."

"You Idiot!" Erin tried to yell, but it came out a loud whisper as she almost lost it, wanting to throw her PET against the wall. Instead, she regained control, holding the PET and turning back down the volume as she sighed, most of the anger she held against her navi gone. After all, it was her fault he had a sensitive pain system. At least he wasn't in any more pain.

1-4] Unconcious.
Rania chuckled, brushing air out of the way of her eyes, which glew brightly with the heat of battle. "Good work there; I'm amazed at the kind of destructive power those other two navis possess! It really is quite impressive."

MeleeMan suddenly cast her a hateful glance, curling his lip in spite. "What!?" he roared, bringing his arm back with his teeth clenched tightly. "You think they're better than me, don't you? That's what you're saying?!" he scowled, driving his fist hard towards the Volgear he'd been pounding earlier. His expression grew more irritable and his voice more harsh as he repeated, "Is it?!"

"MeleeMan," Rania sighed, "I'm not saying anything like that. You're fighting well, but you know, you just don't have the sort of chips and attacks that your allies do yet." Although she was making light of the deal, it seemed very serious to MeleeMan.

"So I should just accept my weakness and be a pathetic bystander in this battle, taking only the measly scraps that are left for me? Watch and wait doesn't work, Rania, that's just what they say to hold a fighter down!" MeleeMan bellowed, getting up from his hunched position.

"No, that's not it," Rania responded calmly with a shake of her head. She tightened the glove on one hand; it helped her to think straight. "You see, we simply haven't spent any of our funds from the previous battle; Seraphim, on the other hand, has. We'll be able to buy something very impressive when we next go to the shop, just you wait."

"Oh? Are you serious? Why didn't you say so before?" he asked, dropping his expression to a stupid frown. He locked up his jaw into a firm scowl once again and rose up his fists. "Well, so long as you're saying I'm not doomed to any kind of permanent standing under my peers, I guess I'm fine."

"Good. I'm sending you a shotgun now. The Volgears are almost dead, so you don't have to concentrate so much on dodging and weaving right now," she explained as she glided the chip through the reader.

"Ah, that's refreshing. I'm at my happiest when I'm free to just..." he trailed off, forming a cylindrical shotgun on one of his gauntlets, "smash! Smash anything that I please!" With a roar he ran for another of the Volgears, skidding to a stop with a heavy upraisal of dust and smoke and pointing forward his shotgun. "Here we go! Shotgun!" he called out, attempting to blast through his opponent with the powerful armament. "Now, the finish! Soul Fist Uppercut! Hyaaah!" he cried, rocketing into the air with a burst of exhaust with the intent of dragging his enemy with him.

As he landed, he turned to see his ally lying upon the ground, seemingly unconcious. "Wh-what? Wait, what happened to Seraphim? Rania, did you see?" he gasped, his jaw caught open with surprise.

"I don't know! I didn't see! He just kind of fell down when the fires hit him!" Rania exclaimed. "Maybe it was heat exhaustion?" she theorized, trying to reclaim her nerve. "Whatever it was, you'd better go take a look."

MeleeMan nodded, turning his back from where his opponents had stood to walk over to Seraphim.

1) RageClaw to VolgearEXB [40]
2) RageClaw to VolgearEXB [40]
3) Shotgun to VolgearEXC [50]
4) Soul Fist Uppercut to VolgearEXC [40]
((Rockcube HP?))

How DARE you! snarled Argo, How the HELL did you do that?

Rass sniffed as the boomerang sailed into the distance. "My s-system administrator status enables m-me to override any of the s-subystems when g-given a chip th-that none of you s-specialize in. Y-your s-specialties are w-written into your c-coding, you know."

W...WHAT?! screamed Argo, ignoring Tem's laughter behind him, You mean you get to just... B-B-B-BOSS us around?!

Before Rass could respond, several jets of flame erupted from the ground, splashing against the rockcube and causing it to glow a brilliant shade of red. Argo and Rass screamed in unison as the melee subsystem took control of the fusion navi's body and pressed it flat against the rockcube, roaring flames licking angrily over the sides. The very air appeared to waver and distort as the temperature rose and Rass found himself wondering what had possessed his netOp to send him to such a dangerous area prematurely.

As the Volgears stopped their firey onslaught, Rass cautiously stepped out and surveyed the blackened and charred battlefield. The rockcube had somehow managed to hold, protecting both himself and MeleeMan, but the other navi was nowhere to be seen. Rass took a shaky step forward, clearly confused as to where his partner had gone...

...and nearly stepped on Seraph's charred and blasted form. The smallish hero had weathered the full force of the Volgears' attacks, and was, at the moment, laying motionless on the glassy ground. "N...No!" shouted Rass, moving up alongside the fallen navi and attempting to tug him behind the rockcube. Try as he might, however, he was unable to move the body by virtue of his own strength. As he persisted, however, he felt the work becoming... easier, somehow. Looking down at his arms in surprise, he saw a patch of green flowing through the inky blackness of his fluidlike form, reinforcing the digital muscles and assisting him in his task. Argo... thanks. thought Rass as he lifted up Seraphim as best he could and propped him up against the damaged rockcube.

Argo said nothing at first, retreating back from Rass' hands. As he returned to his peridot, he whispered to Rass, Don't be thinkin' that this means we're friends, Rasshole. Just... do what you need to do.

Rass nodded and placed both hands forward. His long orange scarf billowed backward as the energies that sustained the R.A.S.S. fusion swirled in front of him, collecting into a brilliant orb of pink light. Rass gritted his teeth and steeled his legs against the blasted landscape as golden sparkles began to appear within the light. When the restoration energies had reached full power, he plunged the orb into Seraphim's inert body, allowing the fusion systems to rebuild the navi's damaged core data.

Outside, Suien had noted the distraught look on Erin's face. He gulped, turned back to his PET and brought the screens close to his face.

Please be okay...

1: Carry Seraphim behind Rockcube
2-4: Heal (16 HP) Seraphim
While Meleeman lays the beatdown on the Volgears (desperately trying to be useful), Rass uses his magic touch on Seraphim in a secluded place.

FirepheonixA: !DELETED!
FirepheonixB: !DELETED!
VolgearEXA: !DELETED!
VolgearEXB: !DELETED!
VolgearEXC: !DELETED!
TubyA: !DELETED! (TEMSCAN'D)
TubyB: !DELETED! (TEMSCAN'D)

Seraphim: 96
Meleeman: 100
Rass: 100

VICTORY!
GET:
Seraphim: 400 zenny
Meleeman: 600 zenny
Rass: Discord, 200 zenny
"Hhng... Circle circle-Wha?" The navi jolted upright, shaking his head and looking frantically from side to scout the area, hitting Rass as he jolted upright, ash shedding from his body as he swayed woozily for a second, then righted himself.

"Oh, Hi Mister Support Man! You saved my life?" The navi asked, completely serious as he considered what he thought was fact as his operator breathed a sigh of relief.

"You have my thanks! Now... Where to... To Scilabs!" The navi spoke, accessing map data and beginning to run in the general direction of scilabs, forcing his companions to follow him.
Rass frowned and narrowed his eyes as he pressed the orb of healing energies deeper into his comrade's chest. Golden sparkles streaked across Seraphim's inert body as the pink fusion reserves slowly diminished into nothingness. Just as the light faded, Rass concentrated, breathed in, and leaned in closer to Seraphim's face as the heroic navi...

...leaped up, perfectly fine?

The fusion navi tumbled backward in surprise as Seraphim cheerfully woke up and shook the ash off of himself. With a friendly smile and an air of self-indulgant determination he started off on a new pathway, toward new horizons, new adventures and new... wait a minute, that pathway led to...

"Wait!" called Rass, hurrying to keep up with the angelic netNavi, "We're going to... Scilabs? What?!"