Party!

((BoomerEXD should be at... 15, right? Or 45, depending on which attack of mine missed.))

GAH! shouted Argo in alarm, seeing the damaged EX-class Boomer shake off the damage in a burst of electricity and slowly rotate on its axis toward its target. I missed? How the &%$! could I miss?! he fumed, a green streak flashing erratically across Rass' black skin, GRRRRRRAAAAGH!This is all YOUR fault, Rasshole! If you weren't such a pussy little healer-type ninny-navi, I could have had that mother$%&#er! As Argo continued to furiously dart across his body, Rass paused and looked between the shimmering blade attached to his arm and the heavily damaged virus a few meters away from him. Shuffling forward and ignoring Argo's angry ranting, he raised the sword chip above his head and brought it downward in an awkward motion. The green blade completed its swift arc, crashing heavily into the ground and generating fine, crystaline cracks in the panel. The impact shocked all three subsystems and none of them said anything as all three sped to Rass' torso to see what the fusion navi had accomplished without their help.

Then, Tem and Ishamel broke into laughter. Oh WOW shouted Tem, chuckling as she spoke, You really botched that one, Argo! Look! Even Rass can swing a sword like you can, and he can barely STAND without our help!

Wha... I can too stand without your hel... started Rass, in protest.

HA HA HA! YOUR HUMOROUS FAILURE GREATLY AMUSES ISHAMEL! laughed the targeting system in his normal mechanical voice, YOU SHOULD RETREAT AND ALLOW THE USEFUL SYSTEMS TO TAKE OVER!

Useful systems, thought Rass hopefully, You guys mean me, right?

DO NOT FLATTER YOURSELF, CORE SYSTEM.

Argo was livid. What?! You... I... USELESS?! I'll %&$#ing show you &%$#sucking mother&%$#ers USELESS! EUAAAAAARGH! Rass' normally black body turned a deep shade of emerald green as Argo overtook the fusion navi's movement systems. NOBODY &%$@ING CALLS ARGO USELESS! NOT TEM, NOT ISHAMEL, AND ESPECIALLY NOT YOU, RASSHOLE!

"B-b-but Argo, I n-never called y-you useless!" protested Rass out loud, forgetting for a moment that only he could hear the voices of his subsystems.

"Argo, calm down!" shouted Suien, glancing nervously toward the youthful Erin and cringing, "...and watch your language, there are young girls present."

Seemingly ignoring the dark-haired netOp's order and charging toward the nearest fox virus, Rass gasped in fear as his rage-driven melee system forced his body forward, traversing the field in long loping strides. The now-pink-and-green navi lunged forward, sword drawn and ready as it glowed with an uneartly green light. With a terrifying battle cry heard only in Rass' skull, Argo brought the sword across in a horizontal slice aimed to neatly slice the Ninetails' left flank. The blade whistled as it passed, giving a whine of protest as Argo drove it into the ground, attempting to halt his forward momentum and change directions quickly. Watch this, Rasshole! shouted Argo, I'll teach you to call me, Argo, the pride of the Sharo Military "worthless!" Without bothering to fully draw it out of the ground, Argo charged forward with the glowing green blade, dragging the tip on the ground and generating a shower of sparks. With a grunt of effort, Rass' arm brought the sword chip upward and skyward in a dazzling display of green light.

Recovering quickly from the vibrant maneuver, Argo laughed triumphantly, disengaging the sword and holding it high into the air. See that, fellow systems? he announced, That is what true power is! Who's useless now, Rasshole?!

Rass could only sigh and think about how ridiculous he must look, standing next to a potentially still-alive virus and holding the disengaged sword chip like some sort of offering to a diety...


1: Sword (80) BoomerEXD (point blank)
2: Sword (80) NinetailsA
3: Sword (80) NinetailsA
4: Disengage Sword chip and hold it aloft triumphantly. Argo laughs like a maniac, Rass cries and dies a little inside.
"Augh! I thought I was going to die! What was that little punk thinking?" MeleeMan ranted, smashing his fists into the ground repeatedly. "When I get my hands on him I'll rip those gems out of his-!"

"Wait, wait, MeleeMan! You grabbed his rock cube! It was obvious he was going to shoot it; that's what he did last time, remember? You just weren't thinking," Rania scolded him. "Don't take it out on Rass. Besides, the poor little guy's just scared and-"

It was Rania's turn to be interrupted as MeleeMan let out a powerful laugh. "What, scared? Look at him, ravaging the enemy like a beserker with his sword! Does it look like he's scared to you?"

"What? But... but he was over there just a minute ago!" Rania stuttered. "Alright, I concede that point," she sighed, "but that doesn't change the fact that that rock cube incident was your fault. Now, let's try to make it up to him by doing a little more damage to these viruses! It looks like he's going all out, so we want to make sure we get rid of every enemy as quickly as possible!"

"Ha! You know I don't waste time!" he laughed, heading for the opponents with his arm cricked back like a piston. "You guys may have a lot of tails, but that just means I have more to kick! Hoowah!" he grunted, attempting to plunge his claw deep into the virus' flesh, withdraw it, then plunge again. "Hmph! Now, for something with more firepower," he muttered, switching over to a shotgun. He pointed it toward the virus' side and gave a shot in its direction. "More tails just means more tail for me to kick!" he repeated, feeling exceedingly clever.

"You already said that, stupid," Rania grumbled, rubbing her forehead. The man next to her tried to ignore the bickering of her and her navi.

"It was so good I thought I'd give it another run," MeleeMan shrugged, drawing back and summoning a cannon. "If we're going all out, then hell, I'll go all out," he grunted, firing off a shot toward the already heavily assaulted opponents.

1) RageClaw to Ninetails A [40]
2) RageClaw to Ninetails A [40]
3) Shotgun to Ninetails A [50 and splash]
4) Cannon to Ninetails B [40]
"Um. What's left?" The navi asked, unsure what spells he had remaining in his repitoire left after that huge assault, he had taken a couple attacks, but nothing big enough to actually hurt the navi, but enough to shake him a bit, enough to make him forget which three spells were left. He motioned with the sword-mesh-gun toward the two remaining viruses, wincing as his companions ravaged them to pieces, but holding up the sword-mesh-gun and waiting for his operator to check his menu for the remaining spells he could cast.

"There's..." Erin picked up the NCP Programs, nodding to Marlowe as she paused, thinking of marlowes question for a short period of time, no more than five seconds before falling silent and looking away, then back at her navi. She didn't want to answer that, and she'd wait for a couple minutes for an answer to formulate in her mind.
"Look, he's holding that sword up for me!" The navi exclaimed, rushing up and interrupting Erin's thoughts.

"Wait, You shouldn't steal his sword!" Erin exclaimed, slapping her hand down on the bed, which didn't make a very satisfying sound, but she couldn't do any worse than that as she stared in horror at what her navi was doing, dashing... for Rass... as he sheathed the weapon he currently held, the sword-mesh-gun, breaking into a full run.

"Hey, he shouldn't be wielding a sword anyway, he's the Mister healy-guy! The Main character should get the cool sword!" The navi exlaimed confidently, sliding the sword-mesh-gun in a blaze of light behind him, then running up to Rass and nodding politely before snatching the sword out of Rass' hands, grinning confidently and staring at the blade for a second, looking at it curiously as his eyes suddenly blanked, and swirls of light burst forth from the sword, surrounding it with a slight aura before completely exploding apart, the shards breaking apart as well into small threads of light, which quickly surrounded the confident Seraphim, who now was floating upward in a slightly fetal position, his eyes half open, blank and unknowing as data was overwritten, his costume changed, the tiny jacket lengthening in the back, the two layers becoming pronounced as one dropped straight down, the top layer splitting out to the sides, like a demented coat-tail, as more armor extended around the upper arm, then the boots as well, a layer of light metal covering their fronts, and some of the back as the same happened to his gauntlets. His open belly was covered by a thin shirt, which runic symbols enveloped in the appearance of flames. The symbols on his cheeks changed their runic configuration, the navi opened his eyes slightly and looked around, his eyes now just as bright as before,as the threads of light burst apart, and the navi fell to the ground. He knelt on the ground for a brief moment, shaking his head slightly as he couldn't figure out just what had gone on. A moment ago he had been holding Rass' sword, and now it was... gone. He walked forward a step, and something flapped at his ankles. He looked down, his entire outfit had changed. he stared at his hands for a minute moment before raising his hands up to his shoulders to draw his weapon from empty space.

"Wait, wasn't his sword-gun-thing at his side?" Erin commented softly, shocked by the transformation invoked by grabbing onto the Sword Of Rass. The navi didn't hear her, as he pulled with both hands on empty space, the space giving, and with a burst of light, out coming an incredibly large sword, which hit the ground with a clang and a small cracking of the ground as the navi looked up at the final target with a slight smile, he seemed slightly more... mature as he hefted up the oversized blade with a bit of effort, struggling under it as he ran forward and brought it down with a smash, crying out the words to a brand-new attack:

"Shattering Blitz!" He yelled out, laying into the Ninetails with the attack, bringing the weapon down, twisting it, and slashing back out in a giant V attack, then swung the blade around, pirouetting with the sheer mass of the blade before finally bringing it overhead to cry out the name of the next attack he would demolish this thing with. The cape-like accessory he now had swirled around, teasing at tripping him up, but at the last second always floating away as if it were weightless and would flow in absolutely no wind, no matter what direction it was in.

"Rag Eclaw!" He yelled out, bringing the blade down with a smash. And so ended his attack on the ninetails as the navi brought the blade back to his side, holding it at an angle so the blade wouldn't top him in size and jumping back, the blade skidding along the ground as he smiled tiredly.

"I'm the protaganist. I've got a giant swo-" He spoke quietly as he tumbled to the ground, the blade falling with a shunk into the ground at an angle, exhausted by what he'd done.

1] Switch to Job Extension:Brandish
2] Shattering Blitz [Ninetails] [4*3]
3] Rage Claw [Ninetails] [60]
4] Rage Claw [ninetails] [60]
((Remember target indicators for multiple viruses please.))

Rass's sword cut down the Boomer in front of him easily, and his system drove him flying toward the other viruses: one Ninetails was cut clean through, but the other was at the far end of the slash. It quickly lashed out with both tails, catching the sword and wrenching it off of the Navi's arm. MeleeMan was there to save the day... or not, simply finishing deleting the one Rass had already started on. It attempted to strike back, but MeleeMan's claw overpowered it. He shotgun'd where the virus had been once for good measure. He then turned and blasted the remaining virus.
Seraphim must have been almost in tears when he knelt to pick up the shattered remnants of his heroic sword, but the transformation occured all the same. With his amazing newfound strength, the Navi tore the final virus to pieces.

BoomerEXA: Deleted
BoomerEXB: Deleted
BoomerEXC: Deleted
BoomerEXD: DELETED!
NinetailsA: DELETED!
NinetailsB: DELETED!
Tuby: Deleted

Seraphim: 130
Meleeman: 100
Rass: 100

VICTORY!

Rewards:

Seraphim: Varitail, 400 zenny.
Meleeman: Varitail, 400 zenny.
Rass: Boomerang, 400 zenny.
Seraphim panted on the ground, exhausted more from the data redesign than from anything else. He was recovering from it already though, and as he stood, he looked around one way, then another, then whistled the same tune tiredly while swaying a bit, sounding like he was severely drunk as he finished, propping himself up with the sword.
"H-heheh... L-look Argo! W-we got ourselves a n-new chip!" stammered Rass nervously as the green collected from his entire body into a concentrated patch on the fusion navi's chest, "I guess you sh-showed them who..."

THAT LITTLE BASTARD! interrupted a snarling Argo, his eyes appearing on Rass' chest and glaring at the smallish navi that had grabbed the sword chip, That sword belongs to me, and he thinks he can just take it away?! This is your fault, Rasshole! He thinks we're just a namby-pamby healing navi, doesn't he? Well I'm taking it upon myself to beat that brat's face in until...

"Argo, that's enough!" scolded Suien, transferring the boomerang data to a blank battlechip and placing it into his folder, "We finished the battle and got some decent data, so give it a rest, alright? Nobody thinks you're weak!"

The green melee system hesitated momentarily before retreating back into the peridot on Rass' back. Watch it, Rasshole he scowled, cause there'll be hell to pay if you keep making us look bad.

Rass gulped and nodded, quickly brushing himself off and putting on an uneasy smirk as he looked around the blasted network.
A bit of sweat rolled down MeleeMan's neck as the smoke cleared. He actually felt a little threatened by both navi's sudden and uncharacteristicly aggressive behavior. "Huh. Put a sword in a guy's hands and suddenly he's a barbarian, right?" he muttered, rubbing his large chin with one gauntlet as he disengaged his weapon.

"Ha ha, I guess so. They're probably just excited about the battle, like you were!" Rania explained. "Looks like we got a new chip... Oh! Varitail. That sounds unnatural!"

"Ha ha ha, I'll be kicking even more tail now that I have this chip!" MeleeMan laughed, mining his joke like a gold deposit. "Uh... so let's see... there should be more viruses showing up now, right?" he inquired, watching the strange behavior of both allies with his eyes squinted. "Damn. Wierd fellas."

"Hey, they're not so wierd. You're the one fistfighting with a steel plate covering your eyes!" she pointed out with a small chuckle.

"Heh... I'll explain that one of these days. But I'm not in a mood for talking right now," he responded, shaking his fists in the air. "I'm in a mood for punching out some more virii!"

Walking together, one drunkenly happy, one shizophrenic, and one shaking both fists in the air, each different heights and builds, they made quite a strange party indeed.
2 and a Half Navis find another population of viruses!!

FirepheonixA: 110
FirepheonixB: 110
VolgearEXA: 120
VolgearEXB: 120
VolgearEXC: 120
TubyA: 100
TubyB: 100

Seraphim: 130
Meleeman: 100
Rass: 100

Battle 3 Start!
"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?!"