An Attempt in Schadenfreude

On one hand, the scientist navi seemed to more or less accept most of what he had to say, but at the same time, the bluff of strength hadn't exactly put the researcher off. That was a pity. CourseMan weighed his options as he listened. More pressing was the fact that he couldn't keep his second clone active indefinitely, and if they chatted for much longer, he'd have to slip down to two again. That was a tell he didn't want to give unless he absolutely had to.

The clone standing directly in front of ResearchMan stopped and dropped his arms from behind his back, to fold them instead, doing its best to seem put out.

"Just like that, huh? What if I'm rogue, eh? Someone's failed glamour project who got throw away into the net because I was more interested in books and science, than being a pretty boy for her to ogle, hmm? No PET or emergency to protect me? You'd just go ahead and delete me, without even checking? What kind of police-affiliate are you then?" Courser himself had allowed his own behaviour to go listless and passive, as the second clone dissolved. With any luck, it would look like the 'real' navi had stopped concentrated on his decoy game to get to the nitty-gritty of their argument. The clone glowered, tilting his head down so he could glare at the scientist more harshly.

"Not that I'm worried about the likes of you. Only reason I mentioned the viruses was because you seemed ever so precious about one little friendly navi interrupting your work... so I wondered what exactly you were planning on doing when more of the blighters showed up again while you were busy." The clone growled his throat, visibly becoming more agitated, then crossed his arms higher, raisings his fists and clenching them, before flexing them downwards again in a motion that brought his wave whips out with a dramatic flourish.

While the decoy spoke, Courser sent Jenny a silent message, letting her know that he didn't intend to speak aloud to her if he could avoid it, for now, but to make her best choice for chips. The clone wasn't done just yet, lowering its stance and causing a swirl of 'water' to visibly rise about its feet.
"But if I have to beat the tar out of you first, before you'll share notes with me, then whatever, fine." Its voice rose to a shout. "Your move, old man. Let's do this..."

Courser himself was, by virtue of his listless 'forgotten about' pose, also more or less combat ready, and he was prepared to dash and split again if any unexpected attacks came his way; the first thing that did would see him dodge aside in both directions, rolling then retaliating with a tiny pulse of water each from himself, and his fresh decoy. More important than that, though, he could feel Jenny sending him chip data.

By the time his decoy said the word 'tar', Courser had formed the tight vertices of water darts within both of his wave whips, hanging limp though they were. Each shard rushed and circled tighter and faster within the greater flow of water, until, as his decoy reached the word 'notes', Courser lashed both his arms upwards at once, releasing the salvo of projectiles towards the back of his target. They'd reach him just as he decoy began to shout; the scientist wanted to throw down, but Courser didn't feel the need to fight fair, since the other navi was the one who had picked it in the first place.

He also didn't wait around. The second chip Jen had sent was the new one, and if there was anything on the net hat a single navi could use to get a handle on this strange terrain material, it would have to be this one. Fighting aside, there was a part of him that was genuinely eager to see what happened. He thrust one hand to the ground, infusing the wash of water about the limb with the data from the chip, and pressure-forcing the currents down into the glowing stone. It was bound to resist him, he knew that, but this chip could tear up a chunk of anything on the net, and he used it to seek a seam, a fault, anything that might give to the force of liquid pressure driving in at every point.

He grit his teeth, so long as even one tiny fault gave, he could use the pressure to pry up a chunk of the peculiar rock and fling it with all the force he could muster at his opponent. If he could get that far, a part of him was fixated to see what effect the unknown terrain would have on the chip. a second part of him struggled very hard to bite back a positively gleeful shout of "For Science!" as he threw. He managed to hold it in, but it was a near thing.

Summary

C*) Decoy is carrying on the actual conversation, right in front of ResearchMan, while the original is behind looking like a listless, 'forgotten' decoy.
C1) Forked Streams: (Trap(Incoming attack against CourseMan): Multi-Stage: First (Dodge + Decoy(2 Rounds)), Then (5Aqua, Shot x 2 hits), Then (Self-Slow1))
C2) AquaNeedle1: (20(25)x3Aqua, Variable, Drop-type, B) @ ResearchMan
C3) PanelShot: (100, PanelEffect, B) @ ResearchMan
((Please either put your re-registered Forked Streams description in your signature, or update it on your Navi's page. I had to track down the latest description of the attack in the original registration thread here. Thanks!))

"A rogue, you say! Well, my goodness, if I were to accidentally assault a brave rogue Navi that made it all the way down here in such a dangerous Netspace, with no operator to direct him and no chips to use along the way, I'd feel truly villainous. I suppose they'd have my badge for that one," ResearchMan retorted with another good-natured chortle. "I'd be out on the streets, cut off from the... generous funding the department sends my way," the Navi added, following it up with a short cough. "Anyway, yes, let's get to it, shall we?"

CourseMan would be pleased to see that (so far, at least) ResearchMan had been directing all of his comments to CourseMan's bait decoy. However, he might be less pleased to see that the Navi was apparently on his toes, and with defense in mind. Realizing that he was, at least, surrounded on two sides, the Navi's first course of action was to make a duck to the right. ResearchMan did so even before CourseMan finished talking, having evidently judged that his challenge had been picked up. The movement didn't put him out of CourseMan's reach at all, but did at least allow him to face both CourseMen at once.

That put him just in time to see the attack from the real CourseMan coming, but not enough to evade it. In a haste, the Navi reached into his sleeve and whipped out a length of green datasheet. The sheet fizzled and then dissipated as one dart hit it, and another well-aimed dart actually hit the Navi, causing him to let out a grunt. "Kids these days!" he muttered under his breath.

It was hard to tell whether the Navi was irritated or simply defending himself as ResearchMan began to raise his arm, which had transformed into a standard silver-colored buster, but it was easy to tell what he was doing after. The Navi dropped his arms slowly in an expression of disbelief, before raising them in front of himself in an expression of defense. "Wait, wait young man! What do you think you're doing? I'm sure you must have realized, but this floor is a very dense, very unusual, and potentially dangerous source of-"

CourseMan's scientific curiosity and aggression were certainly not going to wait on ResearchMan's lecture, and without another thought, the Navi finally managed to get a piece of the floor to come loose. Cracks radiated from the ground as a single chunk of it shot out towards the NetPolice Navi.

"Shi-" he began to cry, holding his hands in front of his face before...

Anticlimactically, CourseMan didn't seem to have been able to properly control where the thing flew, and so he witnessed it zipping into the cave beyond ResearchMan... evidently, it eventually hit something, and CourseMan could see it erupt into a huge mushroom cloud of pure white energy. ResearchMan himself was helpless to avoid looking back over his shoulder at it.

"M-my goodness! I might owe you one for running that test, after all! If that was indeed the equipment you found here, I would very much like to have gotten it after all... Unfortunate." The Navi raised his buster to bear on the CourseMan who had been attacking him once again, but couldn't seem to get the arm steady. He fired a shot of green energy, which CourseMan could witness looked like a snake, or a chain. Regardless, it simply disappeared harmlessly into the space behind its intended target.

Regardless, a threat was a threat, and CourseMan performed his split to successfully dodge. Both CourseMen then fired off their darts: again, ResearchMan seemed to have the presence of mind to avoid one by moving slightly into the other. He didn't recoil much from the force of such a small attack. "Well, this certainly is challenging. I'm not making a quick breakthrough on this particular query... however, I'd say I've still got a full day of work in me. That said, we have made some progress. I've learned that the goading strategy spills over from the conversation into the actual combat tactics. I'm not the aggressive sort, but your pokes and prods, and this... cup-switching game, of sorts, that you're now performing, beg the opponent to play at your speed. Since you seem to be playing dangerously, how about I go on the offensive now? I'm eager to get a better look at your movements..."

=Enemies=
ResearchMan.EXE: 190/220 HP

=Terrain=
94% Unknown Terrain
4% ??? (Hole, plugged by Shell A)
2% Cracked

=Friendlies=
CourseMan: 100HP
(Real version is right in front of ResearchMan: the new one CourseMan generated on his right will last for the upcoming turn, but the one to CourseMan's left will disappear if not refreshed)

=Objects=
Shell A (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall, plugging the hole): 120 HP
Shell B (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall, just beside CourseMan and ResearchMan): 150 HP

=Special=
Unknown Terrain: A luminescent, glowing white stone, taking up the entirety of the cavern floor, but not the walls.
(CourseMan and ResearchMan are less than a movement from each other.)
As much as he'd only managed to crack loose a small chunk of material, and left a cracked pit of fragmented rubble behind, rather than a clean gap, the effect certainly looked impressive. Pity he hadn't manage to keep it straight. Oh well. Before the patch of cracked ground could recover fully, Courser had the presence of mind to dart one hand down and grab a small handful of the tiny pebbled fragments, pocketing them into one of the deep recesses of his coat. It wasn't much exactly but it was something he could take back, at least. Provided it didn't explode while he as fighting or something else equally unfortunate. the brief distraction led him to over-estimate the swift retaliation of his opponent a moment later, and he had split to the side again almost without thought, before realising that the attack probably wouldn't have connected anyway.

Regardless, he rolled to his feet and retook his stance as his new clone did the same to the other side. the fresh clone would last for a little while, but not forever. Maybe it would be long enough to draw a little bit more attention though if he played his cards right. The way ResearchMan was looking, it was clear he knew for certain that the older clone, at least, was a decoy; any use of chips would clearly show him up, against a thinking opponent, but only if he actually saw it. Courser smirked as he felt Jenny feed him more chips. the girl was apparently panicking over the high figure of Hp the other navi was scanning as, because the first one he identified was the chip that was becoming an explosive favourite for this outing.

He managed a casual shrug and a wink towards the older navi, but, still wary, he took the time to give a slightly more articulate response to the man's chatter. This time he actually spoke himself, rather than through one of his clones; the older faded away, while the newer one moved gradually to fall in behind the real courser; it was a subtle, smooth movement, aimed not to draw attention, though if he was actively watching, there was little chance ResearchMan wouldn't see it.

"If it's too quick for you old man, we can always notch it back a rank! There's no shame if you can't keep up!" Just as he called this, a new instance of his shadow clone formed this time from a pool of darkness right before ResearchMan's feet. It formed up to full height and appearance in an instant, leaning close enough to almost brush noses with the other navi.

"If you'd rather, we can always just call it in and have a chat instead. Maybe a cup of tea? I'd be just as happy sharing notes as fighting, after all. Your choice..." The decoy wore a broad, toothy grin as it spoke, eye to eye and less than a couple of inches away. There could be no question that it was simply a clone, of course, but what it did accomplish was to completely obscure ResearchMan's field of view for as long as it remained to taunt him.

While it did this, CourseMan himself took a quick step back, extending one hand behind him to set the CountBomb chip down. This time it took shape in his personal style again, rather than the default, and it looked like a heavy-duty sea mine, spherical and made of black metal, with pressure spikes set all around it, save the display front which showed the counting clock. No sooner was the chip down, than his newer decoy slipped in front of it, taking a defensive stance, and appearing to call up Courser's water shield on a raised hand, though of course it was no more effective as a defence than any other part of the shadowy decoy.

Courser himself darter around to the left, wheeling outwards to put the nearer half of the broken pod between himself and the other navi. Like his decoy, his own shield swirled into sight on his right arm, the high-pressure disc of outward-cycling water rising off his wave-whip in away that let it move freely with whatever movement his arm took. For now it simply sat on his arm, like a forgotten affectation - he was wagering on ResearchMan being perceptive about such things, and hopefully reading the apparently forgotten shield as being part of a decoy, and a consequence of the 'real' Courser using the shield properly, over by the bomb... but even so, he was ready to snap the shield between himself and the scientist at the first hint that he was actually going to attack him anyway.

On the off chance that the older navi didn't act to disperse the harassing decoy that was busy getting in his face, it would continue to do so, trying to move and track with him and block his vision, even going to the extend of slipping hands over the researcher's eyes if need be; the clones had a certain level of tactile tangibility, after all, and it wouldn't be a risk to it, unless ResearchMan actually took a properly offensive action towards it.

Summary

C*) Subtype Decoy: Reformed in front of ResearchMan, going out of its way to harass him, but more importantly, with the goal of obscuring his field of vision for as long as he lets it remain close.
C1) CountBomb1: (100Hp object, 100 To-All(enemies) after 2 turns, S)
C*) Signature Decoy: Falling in line with Courser, and taking a defensive pose, appearing to protect CourseMan's CountBomb with a decoy version of Courser's shield.
C2) Feint to put Shell B between ResearchMan and Courser (Movement if feint doesn't cover that, of course.)
C3) NCP Shield: (1-hit shield, on self, ready to position between ResearchMan and Courser.)



ResearchMan seemed to be taking a cautious stance, backing off even as he threatened to be preparing attacks. Of course, that wasn't really an issue for CourseMan's strategy: the clone he summoned to get in ResearchMan's face was able to keep speed with the NetPolice Navi and remain obstructive. It was hard to tell if ResearchMan was annoyed or not if he didn't gesture to indicate it. Regardless of the opponent's state of mind, though, CourseMan would be pleased to see that he wasn't doing anything like stepping forward or poking the air in front of him, which might dispel the illusion. Chances are, the Navi thought he didn't have any such time to spare.

"When you get to be my age, you'll learn some things are better handled slowly but methodically," ResearchMan responded. "I do want to compare notes, but I can wait..." Matching his actions to his words, the scientific Navi drew another data-sheet from his cloak and started looking it over, occasionally casting his eyes upward.

The Navi sighed, getting the sense that CourseMan's double really wasn't getting out of his face. He put two fingers to where his forehead should be and chuckled. "That's cute, kid. I'm not going to be getting much research done like this..." The Navi pointed his buster at the clone ahead of him and fired another scratchy line of energy, this time red. The wave instantly vaporized the double, but only in time for ResearchMan to see two basically similar CourseMen standing off in the distance.

"These aren't the results I've been looking for at all. Then again, if science only ever proved your hypotheses, where'd be the fun? I'm afraid the first trial will be a shot in the dark... but, then again, I've got nothing but time." The Navi's words might be too ironic to just be a coincidence. Was he aware of CourseMan's bomb or not? He didn't seem to be paying it any special attention, his possibly unintentional pun notwithstanding... Mostly, he appeared to be focused on the sheet of data in front of him.

=Enemies=
ResearchMan.EXE: 190/220 HP (EQUIP 1: 1 Hit Shield)

=Terrain=
96% Unknown Terrain
3% ??? (Hole, plugged by Shell A)
1% Cracked

=Friendlies=
CourseMan: 100HP (EQUIP 1: 1 Hit Shield)
CourseMan's Countbomb: 100 HP (2 turns remaining!)
(CourseMan is positioned behind Shell B. CourseMan's decoy is positioned in front of his Countbomb, to CourseMan's right. Decoy must be refreshed to remain.)

=Objects=
Shell A (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall, plugging the hole): 120 HP
Shell B (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall, just beside CourseMan and ResearchMan): 150 HP

=Special=
Unknown Terrain: A luminescent, glowing white stone, taking up the entirety of the cavern floor, but not the walls.
(CourseMan and ResearchMan are a movement from each other.)
As much as saying one thing and doing another were second nature to Courser himself, he didn't generally expect to see it in others, most of the time, and found himself hesitating, mistrustful of the situation. If the navi had said he was going on the offensive, then the odds were on that he really did mean it in some sense. The fact that nothing dramatically dangerous had been forthcoming over the next few seconds gave him pause. Enough of him was feeling daring, though, that there was still only one sensible option. He sent a text-only message back to Jenny.

"Keep the offence coming for now, Jenny. Hold off on the best ones, but I want to keep him pressed. He's probably got something nasty up his sleeve, but I can't knock him down if I sit here being afraid of it."

While he did this, the clone from over by his bomb called out, still holding its shield up defensively.
"If you're trying to study while we do this, I've got a couple more interesting things to show you, old man... You've seen how the stuff acts around normal terrain mods, haven't you?" Behind him, the count bomb's timer clicked down, and the decoy cast a quick glance back to it before returning his focus to ResearchMan and his somewhat inappropriately timed academia.

The real Courser was shifting the first chip Jenny had sent him to his free hand,, and was letting it bulk up his wave-whip, forming a heavy cushion of water that occupied most of his arm and added what felt like an inordinate amount of weight to that side of his body. It shaped into a large bore muzzle as the core data from the chip formed into solid mass in his palm, which formed the base of the watery barrel. When his decoy finished asking the question, Courser fired the round, feeling it blast back his arm with enough force to collapse the column of water cushioning it with a splash.

He was expecting something unheralded to follow the attack, but wasn't about to stop the onslaught, either. Holding his shield to the ready more deliberately now, the same hand that had fired the wrecking shot regenerated its wave whip into a series of slimmer, grasping water tendrils, covering his hand and splitting into one for each finger. Still with his eyes locked on the scientist, Courser brought the recoiled arm forward and reached out with the snaking water feelers to wrap them over the half shell in front of him, heaving it up and forward with all the strength the chip would allow to send it hurtling at the other navi.

The shell piece flipped end over end as it flew, and while it blocked sight, whether the attack landed or not, courser darted left, circling further around the researcher, until the older navi was directly between him and the count bomb. As he moved, though, an image of him was left behind in the same spot, kneeling down and with one arm extended towards ResearchMan. the clone looked like it was charging a large mass of water in front of his extended arm, apparently using the flung shell as cover to prepare the next attack in his arsenal.

The strain of keeping up both decoys for such a series of complex and independent activities was taking its toll on CourseMan himself, and by the time he was sliding around to his new position, eddy of water rippling beneath his feet, the was forced to relinquish control of the older clone, letting it fade into shadows again.

Summary

C*) Signature Decoy posing academic questions while defending the count bomb, until time out at end of turn.
C1) Wrecker: (80, Break, Panel Break, C) @ ResearchMan (Assassin Adds 16 bonus damage if applicable)
C*) Courser is more visibly keeping his shield readied and towards ResearchMan at this point.
C2) RageClaw: (As Throw: Throwing Shell B (150hp), B) @ ResearchMan (Assassin would add 30, though I think it's unlikely to apply here. Just in case.)
C*) Sub-Type Decoy In CourseMan's place, kneeling and using the throw as cover, to look like it's preparing another attack.
C3) Feint, Circle around further, to put ResearchMan directly between Courser and the bomb. (Movement if Feint isn't sufficient for this)

-Note: The only times I've seen RageClaw's 'Throw' damage applied is when it's used to throw an actual enemy (usually into another enemy...), and it's my current understanding that when using it to throw a normal object, it simply follows the normal object rules, as defined in the effect list. In the SAE list, 'Throw' is listed in the same category as Tk and Micro, which deal max hp damage if successful and destroy the object, while only Knockback remains in the category that deals attack damage. This is how I've modded it for others in the past, but if I'm definitely wrong on this, please let me know...

((Per our PM conversation, you correctly interpreted that it was CourseMan's sig decoy that got destroyed last turn. CourseMan still has access to both. Not fixing the mod info retroactively, but it's acknowledged.))

ResearchMan continued fiddling with the digital keyboard ahead of him, but also looked up at the CourseMan who was addressing him. "Hm? Why, yes... I've brought down a colleague before with rudimentary terrain changing abilities. Seeing as the resource itself was abundant, I had previously attempted to try breaking some of it-"

It seemed as though CourseMan had successfully lured his opponent into a scholastic spiel, and his Wrecker shot was lined up perfectly, in spite of its wild tendencies. However, at exactly the right moment (or exactly the wrong moment, depending on who you were asking), ResearchMan paused mid-sentence to hit a button with distinct intent. The keyboard went red and a bubble barrier shot out from around the Navi. The wrecker appeared to get caught in the material as though it were viscous, but CourseMan could see the impact pushing against the bubble.

Ordinarily, one would expect to see the ground crater from that type of force, but the luminescent stone proved to be resilient once again. ResearchMan's barrier did not, and both that line of defense and the attack that had hit it vanished. "Ahah! You're a thinking Navi, I see, CourseMan. If I hadn't thought one step ahead, you'd have brought the perfect tool for the job. Maybe I'm as sharp as I think I am after all?"

The Navi's gloating was, perhaps, premature, for two reasons: the first was that it was hardly that bold or clever of a move to combine two types of defenses, and the second was that CourseMan certainly wasn't done with his offensive yet. Judging from the fact that ResearchMan took a few seconds to register a gasp at his opponent's next line of offense. As cocky as he was, it seemed the only reason ResearchMan wasn't already a stain on the Net was the defenses he'd brought along. CourseMan's shell toss had, once again, been an expert throw: unfortunately, ResearchMan had brought his shield to bear. The entire shell splintered into fragments as it collided with his datasheet, causing the digital document to fizzle again. "Hey, now, that's all NetPolice property! Don't go damaging it... Eheh, that was a joke, young man," the Navi finished, coughing into his fist.

"I can't very well let you keep launching shots, but, ah... I'll be perfectly honest! I haven't collected nearly enough data to determine the patterns that govern your tricks yet. Let's try this instead, shall we? Eenie, meanie, miny..." he began, moving his buster back and forth between potential targets. "Moe!" he finished, his buster transforming into a standard (but silver-colored) Cannon as he fired a shot at the crouching CourseMan double, eviscerating it.

"No? Well, then, perhaps I should be thankful... I haven't taken my best shot!" The Navi's voice rose in a bit of excitement with this line, as he brought his gun around to CourseMan's other double and let another blast fly. This green shot seemed to come from his standard buster, but felt a bit too large and menacing to be an ordinary shot. That said, sinister or not, he'd picked wrong again. The shot dispelled yet another of CourseMan's clones and revealed the trump card behind. Unluckily for ResearchMan, the shot sailed over the top of the bomb (reasonably enough, since he hadn't been aiming that low).

"Ahah... Oh, dear," the Navi commented, raising a hand to where his chin should be, thoughtfully. "Well that doesn't look laboratory-safe..." CourseMan had managed to get behind him in the interim, and now ResearchMan was looking a bit hapless, glancing back and forth between CourseMan and his menacing bomb.


=Enemies=
ResearchMan.EXE: 190/220 HP

=Terrain=
98% Unknown Terrain
2% ??? (Hole, plugged by Shell A)

=Friendlies=
CourseMan: 100HP (EQUIP 1: 1 Hit Shield)
CourseMan's Countbomb: 100 HP (1 turn remaining!)
(CourseMan is positioned behind ResearchMan. ResearchMan is between CourseMan and CourseMan's Countbomb. CourseMan and ResearchMan are a movement from each other.)

=Objects=
Shell A (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall, plugging the hole): 120 HP
Shell B: DESTROYED

=Special=
Unknown Terrain: A luminescent, glowing white stone, taking up the entirety of the cavern floor, but not the walls.
[-=Splice Incoming=-]

Even if the science-navi was acting flustered, CourseMan couldn't help but feel his focus revolving around the fact that scoring any sort of hit on him at all was proving monstrously difficult. As the splits in his awareness winked out each in turn, he found himself struggling not to wince from the sensory relay each caused. It was a pity it wasn't enough to teach him anything about what exactly his opponent was assaulting him with, but he didn't have the luxury of time for thought; the clock was ticking and if he hoped to actually attempt his one-man pincer, the time was right now.

"Shall I leave you to reason out why it doesn't, friend? Or maybe you'd like a hint..." Up until now, Courser had spent most of his time talking through his decoys, so chanced speaking directly for once. He grinned along with the words and winked towards the researcher, then let the watery tendrils on his free hand fall away so he could raise the tips of his foremost two fingers to his lips, kissing them quickly and flicking the gesture out towards the other navi.
"From me to you, old man!"

His body split again, with another replica of his handsome self gliding further left around the arc circling ResearchMan, faux-shield readied on its arm. For all the scientist's talk about gathering data, CourseMan was testing something of his own, and inverted his previous behaviour. Unlike his earlier deceptions, this time it was indeed the clone that continued the circle. Along with the replica shield, the decoy looked like it was still sporting the griping tendrils he'd used previously, though as it strafed, it looked towards the bomb, then changed hands, swapping arms for its pretend weapon and shield, as though to put the defence as much towards the blast as towards his opponent.

Courser himself kept talking while he felt Jenny send another pair of chips his way, though he kept his shield readied as well.

"What you really might want to wonder about, handsome, is whether I'm really playing with you here at all, or just watching from off the sides somewhere, flicking pot-shots at you whenever you're distracted, huh?" He casually raised his free hand, pointing it towards ResearchMan as his wave-whip reformed. Again it built into the narrow, precision bore of a cannon barrel, as he fed it the TankCannon chip data. He kept the water as fully transparent as he could, this time, and grinned towards the scientist again while he made a lazy, borderline cutesy, finger-gun with the hand, as the shot built within the chamber. He extended his first two finger, curled the other two, raised his thumb, then 'clicked' it down again, even mocking 'recoil' by jumping his wrist up as he spoke the traditional word.
"Bang..." His voice was relaxed, but it actually came with the release of the entirely genuine cannon shot, aimed directly for his target. The shots actual recoil was surprisingly less than he'd been expecting from the new chip; they heavy Wrecker's kick had him anticipating something similar from this one, but by contrast this shot fired smoothly and without any fuss. The water sheathing his arm still splashed back as it absorbed the shock, but that was all.

Any shot he took ultimately revealed him as soon as it proved genuine, of course, but Courser was committed now, and there wasn't time to hesitate. The motion of his first attack flowed through his body and he let it guide him in taking one step back and dropping to a knee while he shook out his arm once and raised it again, giving it a more familiar set of data this time. The part of him that was growing addicted to mass destruction was almost sorry that he wasn't aiming it at something that would cause reverberations, but that was hardly the point right now.

The wave-whip reformer, curling back around itself on his arm and bulking until it spread out into a broad dome; it looked almost like a second shield around his closed fist, though it was smaller than the other one and more rounded. The shape helped the sonic nature of the chip spread through the water and guide the focus of the chip's energy. In this case that focus was still ResearchMan, and as much as Courser knew he was taking a gamble making himself the sitting duck this time, it was one worth taking, in order to coincide his attacks with the countdown of his bomb, over the other side.

[-=Turn Splice=-]

Summary

C*) Decoy: continuing the circle around ResearchMan, but else-wise being fairly innocuous. It still looks to bear Courser's Shield and Claw, though they are, of course, insubstantial.
C*) Dispelling RageClaw to taunt/flirt(?) at ResearchMan, shield still directed towards him.
C1) TankCannon1: (As Primary Mode, 80, A) @ ResearchMan (Assassin bonus of 16, if applicable)
C2) Pulsar1: (70, Object Triggered Blast2, A) @ ResearchMan (Assassin bonus of 14, if applicable)

[-=Splice with 1 Action remaining=-]
It was hard to tell if CourseMan's taunts were having any effect due to the expressionless nature of ResearchMan's face. His concern over the bomb was apparent from his body language, though, as his head was constantly darting back and forth between the Navi addressing him and his weapon on the ground. "Your weapons aren't the only thing that aren't laboratory safe about you, young man. Yes, with you around, I don't think Crystal would be getting any work done, so fixated is she on the youthful, male form." The Navi chuckled, then stopped to put one hand to his ear. "No, dear Crystal, I'm quite serious! Don't you think I'd be done with this already if I was receiving proper operation? Instead, you've been salivating over the young man as though he was a particularly expensive steak. Haha!"

The Navi adopted his fighting pose again, drawing a datasheet from his coat sleeve once more. "However, I think you'll find me significantly more difficult to distract." Alarmingly, he was paying the clone practically no heed whatsoever as it circled around. He had turned to face the real Navi. It wasn't clear if he'd figured out the game, or was simply having better luck guessing than he had in the past. Whatever the case, it meant that despite CourseMan's clear aim, he dodged the first shot with a quick shift to the right. "Ohoh! This sheet's actually rather important to me, you see! I think I will be needing it in the near future. Yes, I can see you think the same-"

Unfortunately for him, what ResearchMan had been interpreting as CourseMan expanding his shield for added defense was actually the Navi readying another attack. This one managed to peg his datasheet, causing it to scatter. "Shoot. Ah... I have a bad feeling about this," the Navi said to himself, staying in his fighting pose and looking tense. In spite of his statement about being difficult to distract, it was pretty clear his head was now turned to the bomb behind him.

=Enemies=
ResearchMan.EXE: 190/220 HP

=Terrain=
98% Unknown Terrain
2% ??? (Hole, plugged by Shell A)

=Friendlies=
CourseMan: 100HP (EQUIP 1: 1 Hit Shield)
CourseMan's Countbomb: 100 HP (Exploding this turn!)
(CourseMan is positioned in front of ResearchMan. ResearchMan is between CourseMan and CourseMan's Countbomb and Decoy. CourseMan and ResearchMan are a movement from each other.)

=Objects=
Shell A (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall, plugging the hole): 120 HP
Shell B: DESTROYED

=Special=
Unknown Terrain: A luminescent, glowing white stone, taking up the entirety of the cavern floor, but not the walls.
It wasn't the first time Courser had needed to deal with the idea of an operator getting warm in embarrassing places over him, though this time he wasn't entirely sure he believed the pitch. It wasn't enough to throw off his continued assault, at least, and with any luck his extra attacks were enough to get through the remainder of the other navi's defences in time. He didn't have long left, but there was time at least for one last play before the clock hit zero; he grinned and stretched his arms for a moment, then buffed his knuckles on the front of his shirt with a casual air. The gesture just happened to accidentally pull an extra button open. Complete coincidence, of course.

"I wouldn't worry... I do tend to have that effect most ladies, you know..." He leaned in, still grinning towards the scientists. "And a surprising number of men... Sure you're not even a little tempted, hmm?" He added a wink to his grin as he spoke. It didn't matter what sort of a reaction his boldness got him, positive or negative, as long as it was something; the man had claimed to be hard to distract, after all. "I should warn you... I shoot from the hip..."

For once, no shadow of a fib from the rogue; he flicked his wrist forward without changing stance and unloaded the full force of the shotgun blast Jenny had just slotted to him. There was very little warning, build up, or fanfare, this time; no careful condensing of tight-focused shrapnel, or artfully crafted replica gun barrel. Rather, this shot was a reflex play, sending its volley of chip-powered water darts direct from his hand without even giving his wave-whip time to form properly. As much as it was worrisome to use up so much of his arsenal on the researcher's persistent defences, this was the play where he had to make them count; the part of his mind that was focused on more sensible matters was quite aware that his options were running thin, and if he couldn't connect something substantial this time, it was going to get very hairy indeed. A moment later the red display clicked down to nothing, and while CourseMan braced himself, his decoy made a last moment dash in towards his opponent from the side; even if he knew it was fake, there was the small hope that the sudden peripheral motion might draw at least some of his attention.

Summary

C3) Shotgun (50, A) @ ReasearchMan (Assassin adds 10, if applicable)
C*) Shield still presented forward, since we didn't actually close the To-All thread <.< >.>
"Hah," ResearchMan responded, a brief noise between a chuckle and a grunt. Other than that, he didn't give any response to CourseMan's banter. His expression couldn't be read, but the tense pose of his body could. It was clear that he was putting all of his concentration into the fight.

CourseMan readied his Shotgun. It wasn't an especially powerful weapon, but he was using a simple tool for a simple purpose. The Navi could probably see the hit in his mind's eye. However, it seemed that ResearchMan had nothing on the brain but defense at the moment, and with the total application of his focus, he managed to get out of the way.

Suspended in mid-air from his jump out of the way, ReserachMan seemed to have abnormal hang-time as CourseMan's not-so-secret weapon finished its countdown. ResearchMan heard it going off, and turned around not nearly quickly enough to brace himself against the blast. He let out a startled cry as the blast knocked him out of the sky and flat onto his back.

When the smoke cleared, the Navi was groaning, but making his way back to his feet. "Ugh... you're not going to take it easy on an old man? Good. I've got a good idea of how this ends, now, friend." The navi readied his pose and buster again. Again, his expression couldn't be read, but he was emitting an air of intensity now. "You probably think you've got all the momentum now, but I think you'll be surprised how quickly one error can take it away."

=Enemies=
ResearchMan.EXE: 90/220 HP

=Terrain=
99% Unknown Terrain
1% ??? (Hole, plugged by Shell A)

=Friendlies=
CourseMan: 100HP (EQUIP 1: 1 Hit Shield)
CourseMan's Countbomb: DETONATED
(CourseMan and ResearchMan are a movement from each other.)

=Objects=
Shell A (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall, plugging the hole): 20 HP
Shell B: DESTROYED

=Special=
Unknown Terrain: A luminescent, glowing white stone, taking up the entirety of the cavern floor, but not the walls.
Braced safely behind his shield, CourseMan looked up as the explosion faded, relieved to find that, at last, something of substance had stuck. In the brief aftermath, he realised he'd been half expecting the other navi to pull another emergency defence from somewhere, so it was almost a pleasant surprise to note the slower pace with which his opponent picked himself up.

Even so, successful or not, it didn't change the fact that he was almost out of tools to continue the fight with. He sent a quick message to Jenny prompting her to hold off on chips for the moment, and instead turned his focus towards the researcher more directly. Time for a different approach.

"Your the one that wanted to play rough, old man. I'm not the one who asked for a fight..." the wave-whip on his free hand reformed to its full length and waved lazily back and forth while courser watched the other navi. "This tussle can be over whenever you want it to, you just got to say the word, and it stops." His decoy reformed directly behind the other man, almost creeperishly close behind his shoulder.

"Boss isn't kidding, you know. He's a lover, not a fighter." It murmured the words close by the scientist's ear, standing casually with its hands folded behind its back without concern. "Bit unstable at times, maybe... not really got the best regard for his own well being... but on the whole, he's a real teddy bear, if you play nice..." Provided ResearchMan hadn't yet taking a swipe at it, the decoy chuckled then shifted to speak into his other ear to add a last, more uncomfortable line. "Oh and the things he can do with his hands, let me tell you..."

Courser himself took his chances and moved in closer, weaving cautiously as his water current let him glide. He wasn't rushing in, exactly, and he was more than prepared to make his weaving as evasive as he needed in case the other navi decided to make an offence that his shield couldn't handle, but he also didn't intend to stop until he had closed the distance between them to uncomfortably close levels. Mindful of its place, his clone was equally ready to back off, if the scientist tried to back away; he still had an important part to play in forming the implicitly amorous Courser sandwich, after all. Regardless of his target's reaction so far, Courser was grinning by the time he manage to press in to close range.

"I can soothe your hurts and kiss it better, if you want it to stop." In for a penny, in for a pound; he made his voice a soft rumbling purr as he delivered this last line. the less playful part of his mind was still keeping at least one thought for his won defences, and he called on his shield program again while he chatted; if his first had been destroyed by now, it would be a simple matter to reform it. If not, he'd send the program activation to his free hand, for now, and would simply relinquish one of them when he next needed a hand.

Summary

C*) Decoy: Reformed behind ResearchMan, being something between gossipy and creepy.
C1) Dodge
C2) Movement: up close and personal, near enough to bite.
C3) NC Shield: Reforming if the current one is broken by this point, else forming a second on the other hand.
"Now, how can I back out when you still haven't learned your lesson?" ResearchMan responded matter-of-factly, chuckling lightly as he held his stance. Assuming ResearchMan had reasoned out that only one CourseMan was real in the first place, CourseMan was giving him a pretty straight road map to figure out who he should be focusing on. As such, the Navi didn't show too much of a reaction to the taunting decoy. He was, however, helpless to prevent another peel of small, quieted laughter escape him at the notion of CourseMan doing something with his hands. "You don't say?" he asked the decoy without turning to address it.

The Navi remained still as his opponent closed in, seeming unwilling to abandon his tight fighting stance. "While I do appreciate the offer, young man, the thing I want to stop... is you!" Quite suddenly, the older man raised his buster, firing off a stream of green energy links.

CourseMan was determined to close in, but not so determined that he didn't allow himself the bit of movement it took to duck that shot. Having done so, he continued closing in and making his taunts (or offers, as the case may be).

"Well, since you've made it all the way over here, is there something you'd like to share with me? Or is there something I should share with you? Until you've defeated me, I can't tell you what I've discovered about this area... but maybe that's not what you're interested in, after all?" The Navi chuckled, a deep laugh that turned a bit coughy at the end. "Maybe... something like this?" he continued, placing his sheet in front of himself again while holding the other hand behind himself. That other hand began to glow with red energy. Links of code swirled around that hand, moving too fast for CourseMan to interpret. If he were to get a good look at it, CourseMan would notice similar fast-moving text was all over the data sheet shield ResearchMan had frequently been referring to.

"You might recall me talking about errors that can shift the momentum of a fight in an instant? My young friend... I'm afraid you've made one such error," ResearchMan stated in a patient but lecturing voice.

Mostly ignored by the two, a small pop could be heard as the miniscule remains of ResearchMan's original pod popped up from the floor. It was clear that whatever hole they had been wedged in had entirely disappeared, swallowed up by the floor below.

=Enemies=
ResearchMan.EXE: 90/220 HP (EQUIP: 1-Hit Shield)

=Terrain=
100% Unknown Terrain
(The hole has disappeared.)

=Friendlies=
CourseMan: 100HP (EQUIP 1: 1 Hit Shield) (EQUIP 2: 1 Hit Shield)
CourseMan's Countbomb: DETONATED
(CourseMan and ResearchMan are right next to each other.)

=Objects=
Shell A (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall): 20 HP
Shell B: DESTROYED

=Special=
Unknown Terrain: A luminescent, glowing white stone, taking up the entirety of the cavern floor, but not the walls.
Getting in close proved to be neither as simple as he had hoped, not as difficult as he had feared, but ducking by another shot did eventually leave CourseMan pressed up almost nose to nose with his fellow spelunking enthusiast. He wasn't really expecting a surrender, though one could hope... what really mattered though was that the pretence of talk had let him get this close in the first place. He had spent enough time away from the more complex clone work that his head was clear enough to try some more, if he needed, but with luck it wouldn't come to that; he had another plan to try before that.

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't... It's not really a mistake if one thinks the price is worth the cost, is it? Maybe I think it's worth it to be up here all nice and close, hmmm?" Behind his adversary, Courser's clone ran his fingers over the scientist's shoulders, and pressed in close with his chest. It couldn't push particularly hard, of course, but it was enough to create something of a tactile sense at least. Meanwhile, Courser himself pressed closer still, grinning as he brought his face close to the older navi.

"It's kinda romantic, don't you think..." He winked. "Here we are, all alone down in the middle of nowhere... chest to chest... our shields rubbing together in the gloom... What might we share indeed?" True to words, as Courser kept one shield between his chest and the scientist, it would be difficult to prevent the watery cover from backing up against the reverse side of ResearchMan's data sheet, provided the other navi didn't pull it out of the way just to spite his flirtations. As he purred at the other navi, and his decoy worked the shoulders, Courser slipped his arms about the researcher's waist instead, seeking to hold tight. Even if the scientist made moves to pull away now, Courser had every intention of holding on and holding close as tightly as he could. He pressed one leg forward, hooking it in between his opponent's stable combat stance, and then looping his heel back out in an effort to make a leg lock, along with his main hold.

"There's so many things I can show you, like this..." A part of CourseMan was a little relieved that the older navi wasn't actually showing any interest in responding to his flirts; he could talk the talk all day, but really wasn't sure how he'd handle it if the old chap actually wanted to dance the dance as well. Still there was always the possibility that what he'd said about his operator was true, and she was highly distractable, in which case... 'any weapon that worked' was his policy. Jenny was probably laughing herself silly at this tactic, but if so that was a win in itself.

The other shield glided around the outside of both of them, tracking with his other arm as he made his subtle grapple, but ultimately it eclipsed his opponent as well; it would be of little help there, unfortunately. Provided he could get a good grip on the other navi, though, he didn't plan to keep it around much longer anyway. He finished sending his silent request to Jenny for the next chips, and felt them arrive. The second shield faded away as the waters from it condensed back into his hand and compacted down into a miniature seed of spreading water. He already knew that, on this unusual terrain, he wouldn't get much effect from the terrain mod but even a small patch of water would be enough, in this case.

"You know... you've got your net police funding backing you up, I've got a college friend who's just plain curious... You've got all that fancy energy weaponry, and I've got... well, actually, truth be told, I'm just about out of tricks." Behind the other navi's back, he opened his palm and released the seed; it wasn't directed at his opponent, but rather dropped directly to the ground, where it would split with a crack right beneath both of their feet. Past experience told him that it wouldn't manage to convert nearly as much terrain as it normally did, but he only needed a small pool for this, and he was more than ready for the solid ground beneath them turning to liquid, when it did. "But I do have this..." He timed his words for just when the seed hit the ground, and winked at the other navi, even as gravity took hold.

If things went as he hoped, even if he couldn't grab a hold of the other navi properly, his target's pronounced reluctance to move or give up ground would hopefully still mean they were taking the plunge into the newly formed water together. Courser was already processing the second chip that Jenny had sent for him, and the same hand that he had released the seed with grew rapidly cold and frosty, the water around his closed fist freezing solid half way up to his elbow. He extricated it from his continued attempts to hold close to the scientist, feeling small shards of ice flake off as he pulled the rough-edged spikes free, then brought it up and over into an arcing helm-breaker punch, seeking to slam the concussive blow onto ResearchMan's crown even as they dropped.

He was still expecting the other navi to have a defence prepared; even when surprised he seemed to have an extra trick up his sleeve... but whether he hit a defence or not, he was aiming for the impact of the blow to push the science navi to the bottom of the pool, then follow through himself to where he could pin him down and maybe talk some reason into the old man. Or drown him. Whichever came first.


Summary

C*) Decoy: Creepy back rubs?
C1) Contextual: Grapple ReseachMan and hold him still, or at least hold onto him.
C*) Second shield dispensed to allow for chip use; first shield placed between Courser and ResearchMan, at chest and torso height.
C2) SeaSeed: (Med Sea Terrain), Dropped directly to ground at feet.
C3) ColdPunch: (70(75)Aqua, Impact, Knockback, 6 Uses, B) @ ResearchMan (Overhand, thus with the knockback directed vertically downwards). Assassin would add 15 if he attacked something that wasn't Courser beforehand... but that seems highly unlikely.

"Oh? Well, if being close to me is worth that much to you, then by all means! Far be it from me to judge another Navi's system of values. Cozy up, hm?" ResearchMan was playing along, but the comfortable drone of his voice implied he wasn't concentrating on what he was saying.

Cool and composed as CourseMan's opponent was, if CourseMan was receiving any tactile sensation from his double, he'd notice a bit of an uncomfortable shift as his decoy pressed against ResearchMan's back. For what it was worth, while the Navi's labcoat normally hid his figure, ResearchMan's back would feel relatively lean and muscular, rather than bony. That was one mystery out of the way.

Although temporarily shaken, ResearchMan didn't seem to be losing his focus. "In fact, my friend, I think you'll want to... listen closely. For a stubborn young man like you... sometimes, this is the only way to get a message through!"

The Navi quickly suddenly revealed why he had been keeping his fighting stance: it was, in fact, to be prepared to fight. In a fluid motion, even as CourseMan was winding his way around, ResearchMan's held-back hand rocketed forward in a fist. Of course, his opponent had already been prepared for such an attack, having located his shield to the front and being in a perfect position to react.

What CourseMan probably hadn't been prepared for, though, was the way ResearchMan's fist dissipated the shield and kept right on moving. The water scattered from the red energy the NetPolice Navi was clenching as though he'd made his hand hydrophobic. On that course, ResearchMan's fist had no issue connecting with CourseMan's unprotected stomach, knocking wind from him.

CourseMan already had a plan in motion, though, and ResearchMan's actions didn't stop him from setting them in motion. However, to what would certainly be the Navi's horror, for a few painful seconds it looked like the seed wasn't even going to take root. After those frightening first moments, though, the tiles around the two Navis began to shimmer. With minimal warning (and just as CourseMan had planned), the two of them had fallen into the water.

Upon splashing down, ResearchMan temporarily lost his bearing. In a desparate bid, the Navi tried to raise his shield...

... But was just a moment too late! CourseMan's fist came clobbering down on his hooded head, braining the brainy Navi. Furthermore, while CourseMan had most likely expected that ResearchMan would sink into the bottom of the sea, there was an unexpected side effect to the attack. The water had begun to grow frigid. Before CourseMan could react, the two of them were painfully prying themselves out of loose ice. ResearchMan, in particular, looked completely iced over.

"E-e-enough! Enough. You win, I c-can't fight. Truce?" the NetPolice Navi offered, clutching at his chest and holding one hand out in defense. It was true that the NetPolice Navi was in no shape to continue fighting, but if CourseMan was going to finish him off, he probably needed to consider that ResearchMan hadn't actually dropped his datasheet shield. There was also the interesting terrain around them to take note of: they were on a small, personal berg of ice in the midst of a small ring of water, which was quickly being lapped up by the stones of the surrounding floor, as usual.

=Enemies=
ResearchMan.EXE: 1/220 HP (EQUIP: 1-Hit Shield) (FROZEN!)

=Terrain=
95% Unknown Terrain
1% Ice Terrain
4% Sea Terrain
(The hole has disappeared.)

=Friendlies=
CourseMan: 1 HP
CourseMan's Countbomb: DETONATED
(CourseMan and ResearchMan are right next to each other.)

=Objects=
Shell A (half-shell of ResearchMan's pod, slightly larger both ways than a Navi is tall): 20 HP
Shell B: DESTROYED

=Special=
Unknown Terrain: A luminescent, glowing white stone, taking up the entirety of the cavern floor, but not the walls.
He had been curious whether the other navi would opt for a more offensive approach at close range, and to a certain extent he'd been expecting the cost of his grapple to be a body blow of some sort, but by the time he realised that his opponent was far more physically built than his appearance seemed it was far too late to do anything about it. Try as he might, he wasn't able to completely stifle the winded gasp that escaped him from the unexpectedly forceful blow. As a result, it was more instinct that made his fingers spring open to drop the seed, than a deliberate release, though the eventual result was the same.

The drop into the water was a welcome relief for the aqua navi and he managed to continue the execution of his last trick smoothly, but as his ice-crusted fist found its mark, the sudden spread of frost through the water caught him every bit as off guard as his opponent. It was no effort to shatter himself free as the space of water directly around them froze solid, but did it ever hurt! The result left him on his back on the broken and uneven surface of the ice, while ResearchMan struggled to free himself as well, alongside. Courser panted for a moment, and his emergency state snapped open all his normal communication lines. It was another surprise to him, but it was drowned out by Jenny freaking out vocally in his ear. She was already slotting him the other new chip she'd recently bought, whether he asked her to or now, so instead courser just let out a laugh, chuckling up towards the blackness above.

"Whooo-eee... that one stung!" He called out, trying to keep his voice light, as though they both weren't on the threshold of an emergency exit. "Nothing like living dangerously, huh?" Jenny's chip reached him a moment later, and he reached one hand out, drawing up a sheet of water from the shrinking pool and washing it over himself in a refreshing wave. As part of the same action, he rolled over and kicked to his feet on the floating ice block. ResearchMan was still a bit frozen, but Courser reached out a hand to help free him from the ice, and then, if the scientist allowed it, would shoulder enough of his weight to glide them both over the surface of the remaining water, back to solid ground before the glowing stones could cause even more trouble with their aggressive reclamation. If he'd been allowed to assist him, Courser set the other navi down again once they were both on stable ground.

"I accept." He kept it short at first, standing and stretching out for a moment, then drawing another sheet of water over himself, from his own hands this time. The wave whips dissipated once he was done, and his outfit returned to a state that looked quite dry again within seconds.

"I'm out of tricks and I'm done fighting." He kept his voice calm, but there was no keeping the edge of exhaustion out of it as well. He'd been down here a long time now, it felt like, and he was, for want of a better word, thoroughly spent. In his ear, Jenny was still fretting quit audibly about how damaged he'd gotten, but the wash of fresh water had also filled in and repaired all of the visible tears and rends on his clothing, and aside from the bone-deep exhaustion he was feeling, he was more or less fine.

"It's fine, Jen. I'm sure ResearchMan is a man of his word. He is NetPolice, after all. We're just going to have a chat now, nothing more dangerous than that." He spoke slightly to the side, and lowered his voice; the other navi would be well able to hear him communicate with his operator, but it was a polite courtesy to make the fact that he was talking to her, and not him, obvious.

Despite his words, CourseMan wasn't exactly off his guard. The Scientist had proudly proclaimed his full intention to jack him out, and hadn't given him enough reason to be completely certain he wouldn't try something. If he did try anything sneaky, Courser was more than ready to split and retaliate again, but for now, he would much rather rest, and talk.
"So... Before I let you get back to the rest of your studies unmolested, how about you pony up and share?" He managed a grin, and a soft tilt of his head towards the other navi.


Summary

C1) Recover50: (Heal 50, Self)
C2) Help ResearchMan up, and away from the water.
C3) Preparing Forked Streams: Trap(Incoming Attack against CourseMan): Multi-Stage: First (Dodge + Decoy(2 rounds)), Then (5Aqua, Shot x2 Hits), Then (Self-Slow)

Truce Offer: Accepted.

ResearchMan accepted CourseMan's aid without protest, leaning on his former opponent's shoulder as the two crossed the water. Once on the other side, ResearchMan climbed out of the water himself, waving off CourseMan's assistance. It seemed like his pride demanded at least that much. Once he'd emerged from the pool, the Navi rose slowly to his feet and coughed into his fist. "Yes, yes! I must confess, it's been too long since I let myself live this dangerously. I tend to do most of my work behind a desk, nowadays... I have nothing against field work, but frankly, there's other, younger guys more suited to the task. Still, the constraints of this particular project demand my personal attention..."

The Navi put a hand to his neck and rotated it, as if checking as if everything still worked right. "I don't think I fought too shabby... In fact, I think you might have been closer to a loss than you realize. However, I must admit I got ahead of myself poking and prodding so much. Truthfully, it gets rather boring down here, investigating this area with only my operator for company. I thought a little sparring match might be a good way to get a feel for what other type of man would be down here investigating this phenomenon. I hope you'll forgive me, and please, take this for your trouble.

The Navi drew his datasheet out again and punched some numbers, causing a green data packet to appear floating ahead of him. He punched another button, and that sent the packet floating over to CourseMan's air space. "It's just some zenny to make up for the fact that you aren't sending me to an EJO, and in respect for your fighting abilities. You're taking it from me personally and not the NetPolice, so don't feel nervous! Nobody's coming after you or me for misappropriation of funds, aheh."

[2500z attached]

"Unfortunately, it's also offered as an advanced apology. I'll admit that, along with my earlier jeers, my offer of information was mostly to feel you out. To be honest, I didn't have much notion that you could beat me, so I didn't put much thought as to what happened if we ended up here. That's not to say I'm empty-handed... just that, if you were expecting a full report to either satisfy your curiosity or carry off to the NetMafia, I'm afraid you're going to have to be disappointed. Still, let me give you what I can."

The Navi turned in place, folding his arms behind his back and casting his eyes to the receding water before him. Already, the stones of this Net had retaken the ice patch, leaving a gradually shrinking moat. "Our resources to explore this phenomenon have been limited, but I'm sure you've noticed that there isn't exactly a red carpet leading down here. What we're seeing is a deep portion of Hades Net. As I'm sure you're aware, in general, the deeper one delves into a given Net, the more intense the viral activity tends to become. My suspicion is that very few viruses are even able to reach this place... however, it may be that in the even deeper regions, the viral activity picks up. As for us, we made our way here after a single citizen reported accidentally finding himself among these caverns."

ResearchMan coughed briefly, beating his chest once before he continued. "Really, the value in this project for NetPolice interests is limited. As I'm sure you've noticed, the terrain here behaves similar to living tissue: surprisingly durable, and capable of regeneration. Our research into why this is the case has been, largely, fruitless: the material is incredibly difficult to harvest in large enough quantities to subject to proper scientific testing, and furthermore, once removed from this space, appears to leave behind the remarkable properties it demonstrates in-situ. In case I trumped up your excitement with the comparison, you should keep your expectations in check. The material's qualities, under material analysis, show only tenuous relationship to known code strings of traditional 'living' denizens of the Net: say, viruses or Navis."

ResearchMan turned back to CourseMan, shrugging. "Unfortunately, that's about as far as our confirmation goes. I will make you aware of a couple of our current lines of investigation as well: the first is the large funnel construct I imagine you saw earlier. Now, I don't know if its destruction was due to your or viruses, and I'd advise you not to worry about it. The material cost of that equipment is miniscule. Don't ask me about the labor cost, heh, but the material is miniscule, so don't worry about paying for it. Anyway, the purpose of that funnel was to try and concentrate a continuous, natural source of alternative terrain on the floor of the Net below it. The test was inconclusive. The rock formations above us shift such that maintaining a concentrated, powerful stream of lava to attempt and alter the terrain is a fool's errand. Furthermore, you've already seen how the terrain reacts: depending on the rate, the rocks easily lap up whatever other base one attempts to supplant it with."

"The second is simply a spelunking adventure, which is what I was here for... I was going to attempt to see how deep I could delve in this space. I suspect that whatever the cause of this is... the heart of it must be much, much deeper in the Net. However, I believe I'm going to discuss the prospect of reallocating alternative staff to that venture. If I couldn't even beat a youngster like yourself, the viruses in the deep Net here would probably be eating me alive before I got much farther."

ResearchMan rubbed the back of his neck again, groaning lightly. "So there you have it. I'm afraid that's more or less all I have to share. Of course, it's your right to ask any questions, but know that a certain amount beyond what I told you... in fact, frankly, a certain amount of what I have told you, is technically classified."

BATTLE 5 END
Once they were both back on safe ground and sorting themselves out, Courser found himself nodding politely to ResearchMan's explanations. Chances were, if the other navi knew exactly how fresh-made and green CourseMan really was, he'd be more angry at himself for even being driven to a draw, let alone surrender. He elected not to mention the fact, though he did accept the recompense with a grin.

"Oh aye, not shabby at all, really. First time I've tousled with anyone using one of my own favourite tricks," For a moment he called up his shield to one arm, then let it dissipate again quickly. "And now I think I know how the viruses feel against it. Trying to land a square one on you felt a lot like trying to punch water, for a bit there. Had to get sneaky." Over his shoulder one of his clones popped up, draping an arm about the real Courser and hanging out of him with a smirk.

"Boss is sorry for calling you old, too. He can be a right prat when he thinks he's being witty, you know..." Courser glared at his decoy.
"Hush you, that's enough..." Chastising himself for insulting himself aside, they were actually able to get down to hearing some of the interesting research notes. In truth, Couser himself wasn't too interested at all; it had mostly been an initial cover story to try and prevent a fight, but at the same time, it hadn't been a lie that Rachel would be fascinated, so he was a little bit disappointed to hear that even the small sample he'd gathered would likely revert to more generic rubble if he jacked out with it. Damn.

The rest of the information was a slightly more empirical explanation of most of the features he'd already observed, but he found himself able to engage a little bit at least.

"When I asked for your notes, I was offering to share mine too, so, share and share alike as they say. Don't have much more to offer than you've got either, but I can say that while it might not have much link to proper live tissue, it's definitely growth, at least. It's not just keeping to itself and eating up anything that tries to change it; from what I've been able to tell, it's downright spreading to any extension you give it, too. Don't have the mod to show you, but I wager you ten to one, you bring someone down here who can create fresh extension with new terrain structure, and this stuff will creep. There's got to be a limit, though; if it can't travel, like you say, then if you find that limit, you'll be able to extrapolate to wherever the most central core of the stuff is. That ought to be enlightening, you think?" He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"I will say there were a few viruses when I first got here and encountered the stuff, and they were nastier than I expected... but not a one showing up while we had our tussle. Given all the space above, and the difficulty punching through, might be that this is a clear space; something of a dead-zone save those that end up unlucky enough to wind up here by accident. So then... if it's a great big old shell of protected space... what's it a shell about, eh? That's a money question." A thought occurred to him and he folded his arms, buffing his knuckles against the centre of his chest thoughtfully.

"You better want to hope it's not some kind of cocoon, because that, my friend, would be terrifying." He shook his head, then laughed the idea off. "Anyhow, if you want to keep looking around down here, you're welcome to it, of course. I think I'm about done for one day, myself." Over his other shoulder, a second clone slipped out of his shadow, grinning to the scientists.

"Oi, and you needn't worry about the whole mafia thing none. Boss might fly a pirate flag, true enough, but they're all his own colours, you know? No pigeons here. Who'd be crazy enough to take him anyhow?" The clone glanced up at the real Courser. "No offence, boss, but you've got a screw loose... you know that, right?"
"Hush you!" Again, CourseMan had to chastise his fully self-controlled decoy with a frown. the clone just smirked and looked back to ResearchMan. It made a helpless gesture, then faded from sight again. Courser himself was feeling as though he was just about ready to call it in and jack out, but he waited around a little longer to see if his former opponent had anything more to say or add.

"Yes, well, the shield is an excellent tool for one such as myself who is more interested in personal protection than seeking combat," ResearchMan commented, putting away his own data sheet temporarily. "Of course, that probably sounds pretty rich coming from me, seeing as I instigated our fight out of boredom and frustration! Hahaha..." the Navi laughed, rubbing the back of his head again. "You'll have to take my word on the fact that I'm not normally like that."

"Regarding terrain creep... I'll tell you this much: this layer isn't solid all the way through. Just like layers of the earth, there are caverns, systems of pores, and the like. I presume we're in one such layer now, although... quite strange! I can't believe I hadn't thought of this, but this area is open almost as far as the eye can see. You'll eventually encounter a wall, of course, but I haven't seen any indication that there are any immediate support columns for the system above us. Ah, well. Theorizing over geology in the Net, where any Tom, Dick, or Harry can make a patch of ocean at their feet is a waste of time, wouldn't you say? I'm sure there's something behind it, but that's low on my list of priorities."

"The idea of it being a shell of protected space... now that's an interesting thought, to be sure. Unfortunately, I only get two questions from it. If we ask 'what is it protecting,' the true 'money question,' as you put it... well, there's nothing for that but for someone much better equipped than myself to go find out! If we ask 'who made it,' well, trying to trace the source of creation of anything on Hades Island Net is, again, a wild goose chase."

"A cocoon..." ResearchMan continued, seeming to finally wind down and become contemplative. "Hah. Thinking about that, I think I'm about ready to clock out, as well. A pleasure to have met you, young man," the Navi finished, reaching out one arm for a handshake. "If we don't meet again, you try to take better care of yourself, understand?"

The Navi drew his datasheet from the sleeve of his coat once again, rubbing the back of his neck. It was becoming more than a little obvious that CourseMan had probably done a number on it with his last strike, but that was probably something ResearchMan could fix with a little time off in his PET. After hitting a few buttons, a swift beam of light enveloped him and carried him from the Net, leaving CourseMan alone...

... But for how long? CourseMan had probably been pushing his luck for a long time now, having seen no viruses throughout that entire altercation.
Nodding and shaking hands one last time, CourseMan waited until the other navi had disappeared, then let out a long, slow breath. He rolled his shoulders, stretched, and cracked his neck.

"Ok, Jen... You win, that's enough excitement." He tapped a toe point on the strange glowing terrain again, shaking his head at it. It was a mystery, perhaps, but he was only playing at scientist, for the sake of keeping up appearances. It was a puzzle that he was just going to have to let go. In his ear, he heard the faint sounds of the household, then the crumpling noises of Jenny getting back under her quilt and snuggling up. She must have darted away while he was talking.

"I'm back. You ready to come out, now Courser? Please, you don't have to keep going just to distract me, I'm feeling better, really, and I nearly freaked out there when you got hurt." she did sound more perked up, but pain-killers probably helped with that rather a lot. He flexed his arms wide the rubbed at his chest again for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm beat, Jenny. That's enough for now. I've got a sample of the stone, but if what that researcher said is true, it'll just be normal rubble by the time I get it back to the PET. I did manage to save some shots of the stuff, though, so maybe Rach will be able to get something from that. Whenever you're ready, Jen."

It was a little bit harder to find a shadow to slip into, in the flat, luminescent environment, but as his operator pulled him out, Courser's form dulled, then faded to a silhouette, before disappearing completely and leaving the odd and unfriendly depths of Hades behind.

((CourseMan Jacking Out, back to -> Jenny's Home))