High Intensity Stress Relief

The Shotgun punched through one Cirkill to hit the other, ending the battle quickly with a single shot. Some zenny was left over but no battlechip. What a shame.

CirkillA: DELETED
CirkillB: DELETED
FlameyA: DELETED
FlameyB: DELETED
FlameyC: DELETED
VolgearA: DELETED
VolgearB: DELETED
VolgearC: DELETED

Terrain:
55% Sand [Middle]
30% Metal [Between Sand/Lava]
10% Lava [Outer Rim]
5% Normal



Anyis.exe: 140 HP [Normal]
Rockcube: 30 HP

[Battle 2 - Victory!]

Get: 1600z

"Well, Mill? Think we have time for one more round?" asked Anyis as she gathered up the loot.

"Hmm... Lemme check." said Mill as he looked up to the screens in the spectator lounge. "There still seems to be a match going on, and it doesn't look like much has happened yet. I think you can manage one more fight."

"Alright. I'll make it quick just in case." Anyis laughed in response as she began a new search for viruses.

(Battle 3 Start)
Coming across a strange field of sandy and plain tiles, Anyis spotted a pair of skeletal torsos hunched over and facing each other. When she went in for a closer look, she found that the pair of viruses were engaged in a game of Knucklebones...

How appropriate.

Though deeply engrossed in their game, they still spotted her and clacked their bones together in some kind of alarm. Five Quaker viruses answered the call, descending from above and landing perfectly on some sand panels. The sand seemed to have cushioned their fall and prevented them from attacking normally. What luck!

QuakerA: 80 HP [sand]
QuakerB: 80 HP [sand]
QuakerC: 80 HP [sand]
QuakerD: 80 HP [sand]
QuakerE: 80 HP [sand]
SkarabA: 120 HP
SkarabB: 120 HP [sand]

Terrain: 50% Sand, 50% Normal (checkerboard)

Anyis: 140 HP

[Battle 3 - Begin!]
It's amazing how viruses always seem to have reinforcements... thought Anyis as the quintuplet group of Quakers crashed into the small sand dunes littered across the area. Indeed, all it took was a few clicks and clacks from the Skarabs to bring these heavy masses in from who knows where. In fact... If that was all it took, who's to say they wouldn't do it again? If she didn't take out those skeletons while she could, there was a fair chance that Anyis would be dealing with far too many Quakers for her own good. However... There were already enough enemies here that they could mob her if she didn't cover her defenses well enough. Anyis needed to stall the Skarabs long enough for her to deal with the Quakers, and conveniently enough, she had a technique for just such a situation.

As per the Hades standard, the River was totally bloated with the ghosts of weak Navis pushed their luck a little too far in this hellhole. With as many of them as there were, Anyis just connected to the first ghost she could get ahold of and dragged down to the earth where she was. Rather than use it to improve her own attacks like before, though, she gathered the woeful spirit in her hands and threw it out towards one of the Skarabs, aiming to possess the virus with the Navi's ghost and send it into a state of confusion. With that, though, it clicked in Anyis's mind that she had just run out of things she could do on her own. "Uh, Mill? Could I get some chips?" she pleaded with her Operator, not wanting to feel the brunt of a 5-way Quaker attack.

"Yeah... I'm beginning to notice how Battlechip-dependant your combat style is, Anyis." commented Mill as he began fishing through his folder for some useful tools. "Next time I buy some upgrades, we should really look into expanding your offense. There could be a time when I couldn't send you chips, and you'd be in a lot of trouble." Mill continued to list out the flaws in Anyis's design until he finally picked out a trio of chips and slotted them in.

"Hey, what I have now has worked so far!" shouted Anyis in her defense as her new arsenal arrived. She quickly stumbled, though, as she checked the contents. "Cannon?! How is that going to help here?!" groaned Anyis at the chip she typically only used for evasive purposes.

"Just use it to push that other skeleton onto a sand dune. It might bog it down enough that it won't be able to make that reinforcement call again." explained Mill matter-of-factly.

"... Fine..." grumbled Anyis, finding it hard to swallow the fact that the strategy totally flew over her head. Her right gauntlet morphed itself into the same silver gun as last battle, only this time with a much wider barrel. The Cannon's slug loaded itself into place, and Anyis's coding quickly took itself to the round, freezing it over into a hefty ice ball regardless of the fact that Anyis didn't really want that to happen. Either way, the ammo was ready to go, so the armed spirit medium pulled the trigger and sent the frozen projectile flying towards the Skarab, targetting it just so the virus would be pushed back onto a pile of sand behind it.

What came next prompted Anyis's gun to revert back to its gauntlet form, as a raggy-looking doll appeared in her palm. This DollThunder was good against airborne targets, so why did Mill... "Ah." breathed Anyis lightly as she realized the plan. As they saw earlier when the battle started, Quakers could jump, and high at that. If she waited until they launched an attack, she could fry them with the DollThunder like it was nothing. Now it was just a matter of waiting and getting the quick draw...

While she waited, though, there was still one thing Anyis could do. She activated her last, and newest, chip, sending the command for the Shadow to overtake her body. Her data loosened up just shy of the degree her ghosts's were while her whole body took on a shadier hue. Anyis couldn't call herself completely intangible, but perhaps this could still be a solid defense anyway.

Actions:

1. Channel Static (1 Turn Confusion, 2TCD) @ SkarabB
--Ice Bleeding (Imbue Aqua to:)
2. Cannon (40 Aqua damage, Knockback) @ SkarabA, push onto Sand panel
3. DollThunder1 (80 Elec damage, Multiple Targets, Better against airborne enemies) @ Quaker Group, wait until they jump to fire
4. Shadow1 (Shadow, 1 Turn) @ Self
--Ectopatcher (Heal 15 HP) @ Self

Cooldowns:
Channel Static - 2 turns
One of the Skarabs got confused by Anyis's ghosts while the other was blasted in the head with a water Cannon, promptly falling apart. The confused Skarab giggled to itself incessantly as the three of the Quakers leapt up in unison only to be taken down by the Dollthunder. The other two seemed comfortable not moving at all for now while the other Skarab finally decided to attack with a twirling bone.

...That twirled back and hit it in the face. It too fell apart after being struck.

QuakerA: DELETED
QuakerB: 80 HP [sand]
QuakerC: DELETED
QuakerD: 80 HP [sand]
QuakerE: DELETED
SkarabA: 80 HP [sand] [invulnerable]
SkarabB: 100 HP [sand] [invulnerable]

Terrain: 50% Sand, 50% Normal (checkerboard)

Anyis: 140 HP [shadow]
"What the... Are they supposed to do that?" asked a confused Anyis, who pointed a finger at the pile of bones formerly known as the Skarabs. Normally, when a virus was defeated, it'd break apart into bits of data during the deletion process. But, uh... Breaking into bones probably wasn't the same.

Mill did a scan to check, and the results just made him scratch his head. "Well, they aren't dead... But they don't seem like they'll do anything soon, good or bad. I guess this is a defense mechanism that was preprogrammed into these viruses." Mill rattled his mind for what to do, all the while observing the unmoving Skarabs. "Alright, just leave them alone for now and clean up the other Quakers. I'm a little suspicious of those skeletons too, but you'll just get attacked if we don't do anything."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out." nodded Anyis before taking a moment to glance once more at the Skarabs. Still not moving... Well, this was Hades Net, so a few surprises here and there were only to be expected. "Anyway, send me some chips. Just punching them over and over could take a while."

"I'd like to see you try that sometime." responded Mill with a snicker as he picked 2 chips out of his folder. "AquaNeedle and IceWave incoming."

"Don't start getting any weird ideas, Mill..." grumbled Anyis as the chip data was uploaded to her. Both chips she was familiar with from the tournament, and luck would have it that Mill had them too, so Anyis had a pretty good idea of what to do. First up was the IceWave, which condensed itself into a single crystal of ice in Anyis's palm. She bounced it in her hand once or twice before throwing it straight at the nearest Quaker, only to have it crash into the ground a few feet short and erupt into a wave of ice. Just stopping with that wouldn't do her any good, though, so Anyis loaded up her other chip and attacked. The AquaNeedle materialized itself over her head as a trio of spikes, none which wasted any time in rocketing through the air towards their target.

As the AquaNeedle fired, something in the back of Anyis's head clicked, and she began thinking. "Hmm... 3 needles, the Quaker... Wait a minute... Damnit Mill, you short-changed me!" shouted Anyis in frustration before chasing after her needles and towards the Quaker. As she ran, hoping from one normal panel to the next, Anyis raised her right gauntlet above her head... before thrusting the silver fist straight at the virus's face. "Mill, that chip wasn't strong enough! Pay attention!" yelled Anyis at her Operator.

"Oh, right... My bad, sorry." admitted Mill. "At least you followed up on it, though."

"I shoudn't have to follow up on it in the first place." snapped Anyis, now in a bad mood due to Mill's oversight.

"Hey, I said I was sorry." repeated Mill. Seeing that Anyis wasn't budging for the moment, he sighed and pulled his IronShield1 out of his folder. "Here, take cover behind this. We're not sure what those Skarabs will do." he said as he slotted the chip in.

"... Hmph." grunted Anyis as she placed herself behind the large metal shield that had just formed.

Actions:
1. IceWave1 (90 Aqua damage) @ QuakerB
2. AquaNeedle1 (25 Aqua damage x 3) @ QuakerD
3. Melee Buster Punch (8 damage) @ QuakerD
4. IronShield1 (2 Hit Shield) between self and Skarabs

Cooldowns:
Channel Static - 1 turn
The first Icewave did its job deleting the Quaker in a single shot. The Aquaneedle was also equally successful in damaging the other Quaker but as Anyis moved in to finish it off, the Quaker quickly leapt up and out of range. Anyis watched it soar overhead and land behind her, but since it was unable to change directions in the air, its shockwave rumbled away in the opposite direction. Rather than try and finish it off, her operator slotted in a defensive IronShield which arrived just in time as the effect from her Shadow chip seemed to fade away. Meanwhile, the Skarabs reassembled themselves and prepared for another round of combat.

QuakerA: DELETED
QuakerB: DELETED
QuakerC: DELETED
QuakerD: 5 HP [normal]
QuakerE: DELETED
SkarabA: 80 HP [sand]
SkarabB: 100 HP [sand]

Terrain: 50% Sand, 50% Normal (checkerboard)

Anyis: 140 HP [2-hit shield]
Bad moods have always had a habit of hanging around like a dark cloud over people's heads, and Anyis's was ready to shoot lightning when her punch sliced through the air after the Quaker she was targetting jumped straight over her head. As evidence of how annoyed Anyis was... A fairly large laser beam was chasing after the Quaker within seconds of its landing, direct from the frustrated Navi's palm as she appeared out from behind the shield covering her.

Mill had slotted in the Powershot as soon as he caught a glimpse of the scowl on Anyis's face, and knew full well that if he didn't give her a chip to fight with, she'd be chasing down those viruses barehanded and getting into god knows how much trouble. The fact that she did use it right away gave Mill a slight sense of relief as he learned that she wasn't so mad that she wasn't going to listen to him. She was probably still a little ticked about that miscalculation, though... "Hauhhh..." sighed Mill deeply as he set free a good chuck of pent-up stress that had been brewing over the last few minutes. Anyis was willing to use the chips he sent, so perhaps this battle could still be finished safely. All Mill had to do was give her some good enough chips... So, to satiate her temper, Mill went ahead and picked his two chips with the most raw power to them.

In one hand, water vapor. In the other, a hammer. Together, pain. Anyis was armed with her MistConv and BigHammer, the two chips in Mill's folder that could claim to deal the most absolute damage from point A to face B. And... They were just what she needed to vent all this frustration clouding her mind. Plus, packing this much heat was actually needed to utterly vaporize the Skarabs, else they just fall apart into an invincible piles of bones again. So, there was logic in wielding this power, but Anyis would've been perfectly fine just crushing these guys into the ground like bugs, regardless of the situation at hand.

At this point, she let loose. Anyis dashed forward, bypassing any and all forms of evasion to charge straight at the Skarab pair. First up on the chopping block was the one she had hit with a Cannon earlier, and the weapon of choice for it was the MistConv. The water vapor that had been floating around her gauntlet suddenly condensed into a high-pressure liquid fist molded around her own, and it wasted no time in leaping off Anyis's hand and make its own arching path towards the skeletal virus, where it would hope to slam its aquatic knuckles into the bones and snap them into pieces. The assault didn't stop there, though, since there was still one Skarab to target, and one BigHammer left unused. What little water vapor the MistConv left behind immediatly latched onto the hammer and froze after coming in contact with Anyis's icy coding, leaving her with a cold, blue bludgeon of pain. Letting such a device go to waste would have been a real shame, so Anyis ran at her target with weapon wielded in both hands. She swung her arms back, raising the frozen hammer up above her head, and released, sending the mallet crashing down towards the Skarab's skull. Once that was all said and done, Anyis made her way back behind the IronShield to catch her breath.

Actions:
1. Powershot (50 damage, Impact) @ QuakerD
2. MistConv (110 Aqua damage, Impact) @ SkarabA
--Ice Bleeding (Imbue Aqua to:)
3. BigHammer1 (160 Aquadamage, Impact, Break) @ SkarabB
4. Resume position behind IronShield (Movement)
--Ectopatcher (Heal 15 HP)

Cooldowns:
Channel Static - Ready
Anyis was able to shoot the last Quaker in the back and delete it before it could turn around in time. Armed with a MistConv, she crushed one of the Skarabs with a watery fist before turning her rage towards the other. A spinning bone smashed into her shield but she ignored it and went in for the kill with a devastating BigHammer attack that pulverized the last Skarab's bones into a fine digital dust. The viruses left behind some zenny but the bone that one of the Skarabs had thrown had changed into something else entirely: Battlechip data.

QuakerA: DELETED
QuakerB: DELETED
QuakerC: DELETED
QuakerD: DELETED
QuakerE: DELETED
SkarabA: DELETED
SkarabB: DELETED

Terrain: 50% Sand, 50% Normal (checkerboard)

Anyis: 140 HP [1-hit shield]

[Battle 3 - Victory!]

Get: 1200z + Skully1 battlechip
"God, that was such a hassle..." groaned Anyis as she gathered up the rewards left by the viruses. "I'm getting more stressed from this than I would in the next match."

"So you're done here, then?" asked Mill in response. "We went here for you to loosen up and get ready, but if you're just getting tense against these viruses, we're better off just cooling our heels in the lounge." With that thought, Mill looked up from his PET to check what had changed in the lounge since he jacked it. "Looks like a few more people have shown up, too."

"Alright, lemme just..." muttered Anyis as she collected the last few zennies and the Battlechip data from the ground. "Okay, done. Get me out of here, Mill."

(Jack Out)