Tests of Skill and Luck

Eternalis wasted no time, using his new found strength to lift one of the statuesque viruses and hurl it toward the gaping chasm. However, the virus was a tad heavier than expected and splashed down into the gurgling swamp, quickly sinking down to the murky depths. The aqua Navi then drained the energy from part of the rotating terrain, freezing it in a rather d-icy position.

With thinking as fast as a raging river, Eternalis ripped one of the steel spires out of the ice. The spires metallic roots cracked the ice as the Navi hefted the improvised weapon. He aimed toward the visible Dominerd and struck out; however, the virus' invisible compatriot intercepted the attack. The virus was confident in its armored hide, but it underestimated the force of Eternalis' desperation. The steel spire smashed down with the force of a Gaia's hammer, slamming the virus against the ice and cracking its iron jaws. However, the force of the blow was too much for the steel spire to take and the improvised implement of intimidation was warped beyond usefulness.

The other Gaia pushed itself out of the swamp, using its submerged companion as a foothold to pull free of the muck. It hefted its hammer and barreled down on Rhea. The virus attacked with a devastating hammer blow. Rhea, taking a cue from her companion, countered with a blow from a second of the steel spires. With her RageClaw imbued strength, the female Navi easily toppled the massive statue. The Gaia's armored exterior was shattered and the virus crumbled to dust. However, the second spire was also reduced to warped steel.

Its companion's dealt with, the second Dominerd worked up the nerve to attack. It flew down toward Eternalis and snapped its large jaws on the arm of the aquatic Navi. The pain was too much to bear, at least...It would have been if the Navi's waters didn't restore its lost health. Freakin' cheater...

Oh, and the terrain changed again. This time the non-frozen terrain transformed to match the ice in a rather Sharo-y display.

Surrounding Navi group:
DominerdA: 93 [StoneBody]
DominerdB: 8 [StoneBody]
DarkMech: DELETED! [R]
GaiaA: DELETED! [Z]
GaiaB: DELETED! [R]
GaiaC: DELETED! [E]
CirkillA: DELETED! [R]
CirkillB: DELETED! [R]
CirkillC: DELETED! [R]
CirkillD: DELETED! [E]
EarthDragonA: DELETED! [E]
EarthDragonB: DELETED! [E]

Eternalis: 140hp
Aurora: EJO!
Rhea: 100hp
IceCube: MELTED!

Dotted around battlefield:
Steel SpireA: SMASHED!
Steel SpireB: SMASHED!
Steel SpireC: 50hp [Hardbody]
Steel SpireD: 50hp [Hardbody]

Terrain: 40% Ice, 30% Sea, 30% Snow
Rhea gave a quick jump at the connect of the attack, eyeing the two remaining steel spires-- and knew what she needed to do next. "I am counting on you for the finishing blows," Rhea shouted to her companion, finally seeing the end of the line for this heck of a battle. Something told her that she didn't want to step into NetVegas after this ever again...

Willing RageClaw's data to boost her strength again, she lifted the next metal spire to throw it at the strong-looking Dominerd. Considering how it was looking unscathed so far, it needed to suffer for all the damage it had done for the two Navis. For one, it needed to disappear.

Rhea intend to be the factor for the virii's disappearance.

At that thought, she threw the spire, watching it sail through the air and as it approached towards it's target, Rhea sped with her charge, the guards once again active and giving her a speed boost she needed towards the next, and the last waiting spire.

Upon reaching the final spire, she unceremoniously ripped it from it's roots and sent it flying at the same Dominerd, her eyes following the spire as it approached it's destination.



Summary of actions:-
1) Throwing Steel SpireC with RageClaw1 - 20 Impact + ??? DMG - DominerdA
2) Parried Charge - 2-hit shield; Tactical movement to Steel SpireD
3) Throwing Steel SpireD with RageClaw1 - 20 Impact + ??? DMG - DominerdA
Looking at what remained of the virus group, Eternalis gave a small chuckle, satisfied that his and Rhea's efforts were not about to be wasted. The attack from the Dominerd earlier confirmed his thoughts: that the black grim-faced stone blocks attacked by use of their enormous jaws of death. He was about to speak to Rhea, when he saw that his companion was too busy ripping up enormous spires of death to listen.

"I suggest standing by Rhea for any possible Dominerd attacks," Harke suddenly chimed in, sensing Eternalis' discomfort with being left out of the action.

"Was thinking the same. Will do," Eternalis replied, keeping his twin weapons at the ready. Standing tall as a sentinel, he stood guard beside the swordswoman as he twisted his body into a defensive position, all primed to deliver gratuitous amounts of pain and hurt to anyone who approached him or his companion.

Meanwhile, Harke's PET beeped in an attempt to get his attention, which he gave it promptly. The screen displayed Aurora's body, along with some statistics on her general state. Curious, the operator began to delve into the settings, tweaking things here and there as he waited for the battle to end.

= Eternalis.EXE =
(1) Protect Rhea with Sword/RageClaw2 to retaliate any attack (80/70 Slashing)
(*) Influx Aegis: Any if necessary (Heal 15 x5)
- Priority: Rhea, Self
And that was that, I suppose. The injured Dominerd struggled feebly, managing to somehow get between Rhea and its companion. It was smashed flat for its efforts, its body fading into a digital mist. The battle happy Navi ripped the final steel spire from the ground and prepared to launch it at the last Dominerd as the terrain began to fluctuate once more. She took a step forward and plummeted into a massive hole. The entire field had turned to missing terrain, dropping the two Navis to their deaths and leaving the floating virus the lone survivor. Damn...

Nah, just kidding. That would have been awesome though. Oddly enough, the field turned to complete grass. That's far lamer though. Anyway, the thrown spire pierced the Dominerd's hide and sent it spiraling down to ts death.

Victory...Too bad Aurora wasn't around to see this. Hahahahaha.

Surrounding Navi group:
DominerdA: DELETED! [R]
DominerdB: DELETED! [R]
DarkMech: DELETED! [R]
GaiaA: DELETED! [Z]
GaiaB: DELETED! [R]
GaiaC: DELETED! [E]
CirkillA: DELETED! [R]
CirkillB: DELETED! [R]
CirkillC: DELETED! [R]
CirkillD: DELETED! [E]
EarthDragonA: DELETED! [E]
EarthDragonB: DELETED! [E]

Eternalis: 140hp
Aurora: EJO!
Rhea: 100hp
IceCube: MELTED!

Dotted around battlefield:
Steel SpireA: SMASHED!
Steel SpireB: SMASHED!
Steel SpireC: SMASHED!
Steel SpireD: SMASHED!

Terrain: 100% grass

Rewards -
Rhea: 800z, Curseshield1
Eternalis: 500z, Heatdragon

FXP: 6 + 2 = 8

Also, massive passive healing is hax as hell.

Enjoy your battle 5, beyotches.
The battle was finally over.

"Uh, um, do you see or feel anything different happening, Rhea?" Camillia mumbled, as if confused. It wasn't something that Rhea realized, so she just shook her head. She quietly picked up the rewards, sending them to Camillia for organizing. Rhea turned to Eternalis at last, giving two thumbs-up and a satisfied smile.

"That was fun. Do you wish to continue?"

... This must be a real big joke to her, seeing how she was enthusiastic as if she was playing an arcade game.

[Bring it on, Battle 5!]
Eternalis turned to pick up his part of the spoils, analyzing the contents. A much more paltry zenny amount than what he would've expected, but the battlechip data left over intrigued the eye of his operator. He whistled without reserve at the results of the data analysis. "HeatDragon, Fire, 150. Creates lava terrain. Eternalis, we have officially struck the jackpot."

Eternalis would've beamed in satisfaction, if not for his physical limitations. He turned to Rhea in response to her comment, and returned her thumbs-up with suppressed vigor and enthusiasm. Replying, he started to survey around. "Alright, glad you're doing fine, Rhea. Yeah, we'll go on, lemme just go call Aurora... wait, where is she?" He grew puzzled as he looked around for his SP, who was nowhere in sight. He turned alarmed when he saw what was left of Aurora's summoned ice cube: nothing.

Harke noticed his Navi's frantic searching, and assured him of his companion. "It's all right, Et. Aurora's back in the PET, she got a little too much damage in the battle, but she's resting comfortably in the recovery program modules. Don't worry about it, I'll keep you posted on her." Eternalis heaved relief, but he also felt guilt over his inability to protect her. Perhaps he could strengthen her somehow in future.

"Thanks, Harke. That means a lot to me," Eternalis replied as he began to walk further into NetVegas, motioning for Rhea to follow suit.

[Battle 5 - Ready]
Deeper and deeper Eternalis and Rhea delved, eventually coming across two slot machines; one in front of them, one a bit to the left. Oh, and there were rocks in front of the center machine. Yep, rocks. Plain, ordinary rocks.

Above the rocks, however, lurked a familiar sight. Four translucent Momogra remained suspended in the air, all of which eyed the Navis with severe rage. They all pointed their shovels angrily, then...retreated? They all went backwards into the machine, resulting in a momentary silence. Emphasis on momentary, as the slot machine began to WHIRR, as it shrunk. ...Wait, shrunk? As it lost mass, it began to float in the air, as a giant purple blob overtook it. After there was nothing but purple left, it began to take shape...of an enormous Momogra, with an even larger, curlier mustache, and glowing, angry red eyes. It also possessed two giant shovels instead of the smallish one. With a single whack, it used those shovels the rocks were sent flying towards the other slot machine, causing it to spin.

...Recovery sign.

...Recovery sign!

...RECOVERY SIGN! VICTORY IS-hold on a sec. While it was true that it looked like the icon on the back of recovery chips, this was blue with a black outline, instead of red with a black outline. There also seemed to be a purple fog surrounding the icons. Perhaps appropriately, an indigo fog began to permeate the atmosphere, eventually blanketing the entire area. And based on how it was churning it out, and how it took some serious damage from those rocks, it wasn't going away anytime soon. On the plus side, it wasn't exactly obscuring the gigantic mole ghost in front of them.

Oh, right, there was still the gigantic mole ghost in front of them. For seemingly no reason, slot machine reels appeared on its chest, and with a single smack of its shovel, it began to spin.

...Flashy.

...Flashy.

...Flashy.

The entire area began to glow, and the panels in the vicinity all became solar powered. Oh, this was gonna be a blast.

Eternalis: 140 HP
Rhea: 100 HP

Momograve: 800 HP

Slot Machine: OUT OF ORDER
Fog: In effect for 20 turns

Terrain: 100% Solar

-----BATTLE 5, READY-----
=====HOLY MOLY!=====
+++++BEGIN!!!+++++
Slots again.. why did it have to be slots? Oh, right, they were in NetVegas. It would've been idiotic not to expect something of this manner. He looked at the two machines of chance and- wait, were those the mole viruses from before? Close scrutiny revealed that they were indeed, and to they were a bit mad would be a slight understatement. Rage was written all over their impressively-decked faces as they disappeared into the slot machine, initiating the strange transformation. Fear and awe mixed into his emotion processes as he watched the massive Momograve tower over his position. He grimaced for a second, taking in the massive size of the behemoth.

Before Eternalis assumed his battle position, he looked at Rhea, whom he hadn't known all that much yet. Still, he felt somewhat... closer to the robotic swordswoman, if you could call it that, and felt compelled to protect her. Perhaps it was her relatively... smaller stature that conceived the tendency. Maybe it was her child-like appearance, always obscured by the placid, emotionless facade-for-a-face. Still, it could be her personality, playfulness and innocence, that he glimpsed more than a few times, probably more than anyone else in the entire expanse of the networks. Staring at her for a bit, he found that the purple fog the slot machine emitted gave Rhea a mystical kind of look, maybe even kind of creepy.

"Rhea..." he began, as he tapped his busting partner on the shoulder.

"Please, I have to have a word with you," Eternalis said, in a grave tone. "This virus... it is far more powerful than anything we have faced up until now. Remember that in this, we are not comrades." He emphasized on the negative as he gripped the shoulder he was holding with even tighter force. A soft wind began to blow around him, though he ignored the little breeze. He paused for a bit, then repeated his earlier statement. "We aren't comrades, only friends. I'd be devastated if anything would happen to you, and you, I." His clear blue countenance began to shift, deepening its dark color. His armor began to recede, thicken in some places, disappear in others. Soon, the armor that covered his chest was reinforced, and heavy gauntlets replaced his old arm-outputs. The leg-outputs, turned into powerful greaves.

"I'd like for you to be strong, so we can be strong together. So we can survive this." Flowing, soft hair began to grow from his formerly-faceless head, flapping around in the soft breeze that was. His eyes, from the simple yellow things that they were, transformed in complexity and design, into clear and focused humanoid eyes, its iris a stark all-purple, nary a white or black in sight. He stared at Rhea for what seemed like ages, then released his grip on the shoulder. His right eye gave a small wink as he raised a sign of confidence: the thumbs-up Rhea had shown him more than once. "Stay safe," Eternalis finished simply, after which he lowered his hand and turned his attention to the beast that lay before them. Calm washed over him as he felt Rhea's very soul permeate into his processes, completing the cross formation.

The light emitted from the ground gave him a small comfort, maybe a bit of warmth, as he dug the heels of his greaves into the paneling. His fists, now solidified into muscular form, were clenched to his sides as battlechip data infused his systems with energy and vigor. His left hand began to glow, the energy generator from his transformation receiving the data into its folds. Holding it in front of him, the spheres of light began to gather in his outstretched fist, gathering into an initial indefinite shape. The shape began to become more defined as it turned a shade of green. It spiked outwards in its formation, and two red eyes opened suddenly on the front. Eternalis raised the Fishy formed on his left hand high into the air, before throwing it in a small arc directed for the gigantic Momogra.

The pseudo-Fishy complied without question, lifting the aquatic Navi off the ground in a mad dash. The network's simulation of gravitational forces began to kick in, deforming his watery features slightly as the Fishy cut through the air without reserve. As he struggled to keep himself in line, the right hand's generator glowed purple, indicating its reception of battlechip data as well. The minus sign beeped twice before Eternalis' confirmation reached it, silencing the temporary noise. It whirred to life as a beam of light began to protrude from Eternalis' balled fist, growing larger by the moment. Soon, he had in his hand, an energy manifestation of a sword, weightless in its swings, perfectly capable of its purpose for clean, unrestricted slice n' dice.

Still speeding away, Eternalis drew his sword in front of him, cutting edge first. The blade in his hand went into a wide arc as he arrived at his destination of the mole ghost, bringing his body into a clockwise turn. He let the momentum carry him before executing yet another horizontal slash, and stopping his clockwise motion turned back at his previous position. He deactivated the DashAttack as he used the friction of his greaves to increase his deceleration with the ground. As he did so, he activated a small portion of his recovery processes towards himself. The purple fog was worrying him, as its source (the slots) had shown him a strange version of the symbolic recovery sign, and he had a hunch that it was linked to his healing powers. As such, he tested himself with a dash of healing as he surveyed his surroundings for any Momograve attacks.

= Eternalis.EXE =
(1) Level 1 Soul Cross: Rhea (Normal/Sword, +10 Null chips)
(2) DashAttack: Momograve (90+10 Impact)
-- Equip Sword: Right Arm
(3) Sword: Momograve (80+10 Slashing) [5/6]
(4) Sword: Momograve (80+10 Slashing) [4/6]
-- Sword Mastery Accuracy
(*) Swordplay: Self (Dodge)
(*) Influx Aegis: Self (Heal 15)
"... I'm pretty sure that looks familiar," Camillia muttered, already thinking of what chips to slot. Then she eyed the panels, knowing what to slot next. "Anyway, new chip coming your way-- utilize it as you see fit, Rhea!" she said, slotting it in quickly with enough grace.

Rhea gladly loaded the data, seeing a giant crafted, almost right-angled piece of wood in her hand. "... What is this object?" Rhea inquired, wondering if it was a joke. There were no projectiles-like ammunition, nor sharp edges. "Just throw it, Rhea." So Rhea did that, aiming straight for the gigantic ghost Momogra thing. She hoped it didn't have the power to burrow like it's living counterparts-- though she wondered if a piece of wood can really hit it...

Then there was a sword chip uploaded from her operator.

Of course, knowing what she really have to do next with this, she gladly loaded her arm generator, hearing it whiz and whir in the purple fog and generating a bright-green energy blade. And as per usual, Rhea swung her arm a few times gently to check for mechanical errors-- and found none.

With a few quick steps on the bright panels, she sped off, letting her measured, trained steps bringing her closer to the enemy. Closer. Two steps closer. Within a few quick seconds that passed by in the digital world, a flash of purple could be seen, energy blade reflecting even more of the light from the shining panels below. However, like Eternalis, she had a bad feeling about the fog-- not that she knew the definition of breathing. It would only serve as much as a hindrance to her movements, or perhaps to lower her vision accuracy.

That wasn't on the top of her priority list, however. Extermination of target came first.

In her hurry, she had forgotten to contemplate on the sudden changes that had occured to her teammate, even as he sped off towards the enemy before her. Did he just change his colors...? was what Rhea would think, if she did.

Summary of actions:-
1) Boomerang1 - Wood, 60DMG + Bonus from Solar panels? - Momograve
2) Sword [6/6] - 80DMG, Slashing - Momograve
3) Sword [5/6] - 80DMG, Slashing - Momograve
Passive) Swordplay - Dodge
As Eternalis began to change form, the very Navi he was using the power of tossed her boomerang towards the gigantic mole ghost, who was unable to so much as blink before the wooden object smacked it on the chest, amplified in power by the panels beneath it. However, it recovered, and performed an action so horrible, minds could be blown by it...it opened a hole beneath itself, and ducked under it with deceptive speed. Safely underground, the DashAttack and sword strokes were unable to slice the purple spirit. It then instantly vanished, reappearing behind Eternalis, and tried to smack him with its twin shovels. Fortunately, the former Aqua Navi's new found sword proficiency, doubled by the heavy weight of the digging tools, kept either attack from even having a chance of hitting. As it warped back to its original spot, the healing Navi tried to heal himself...but strangely, this caused a reaction with the fog, causing the recovery energy to cause harm instead.

With the immediate perceived threat gone, Momograve rose to visible levels once again, and slammed a shovel on its chest, causing the slot reel to do its thing...Spikey, Spikey, Spikey. The panels began to turn red, now superheated into magma...

Eternalis (RheaCross): 125 HP
Rhea: 100 HP

Momograve: 680 HP

Fog: In effect for 19 turns

Terrain: 100% Lava
"Tch," Rhea muttered, eyeing how the normally fine healing water was having an adverse effect-- possibly due to the fog in the battlefield. "Here, try this one-- it'll be useful, I think," Camillia chipped in, slotting in the newfound chip. "Says here it's a shield or some sort. Try it out?" "Understood." Rhea's response came, loading a gigantic shield before her. The tower shield was almost two times her height, and you could see Rhea struggle with the weight as she lowered it onto the lava-panel ground-- and Rhea took a moment to wipe imaginary sweat from her brows. So this is a curseshield... ? Didn't look entirely useful.

Then she looked below the shield-- it had wheels.

"Oh, I see..." she muttered, then bracing herself annoyingly in front of the gigantic ghost Momograve, as if tempting for him to come over and get a shot in at the petite Navi.

[[TURNSPLICE]]
1. Curseshield1 - Blocks 1 attack, charges attacking opponent. 160DMG - Momograve
[[//TURNSPLICE]]
Eternalis watched as the Momograve simply ducked under his powerful bum rush. Seeing a massive shovel lifted into the air, he did a double take and leapt away gracefully from the point of impact, where the glowing solar panels gave way under very large impulsive forces. The aquatic warrior only watched as bits of cyberfloor flew up into the air and were immediately pounded into dust as another digging implement came crashing down onto the ground. The winds carried over from the powerful strike blew away his hair slightly and brought dust into his eyes, which he clamped moments before they could enter. He felt the rubble hurl their tiny collective masses against his exposed skin as he surveyed the battlefield.

"So the mole can burrow underground... let's solve that, shall we?" Harke said, slotting in a few chips.

Eternalis complied silently, his eyes now open fully and focused on the massive target practice in front of him. He waited out for Rhea to execute her graceful movements of the sword, then raised his own. The purple energy sword glowed with rampant power, urging its master to unleash its terror upon the purple ghostly being. It began to pulse with blue light, light azure overtaking the deep purple. Eternalis turned the blade downwards, and stabbed it into the ground. His eyes stared forward, serenity and determination mixed harmoniously in their unfaltering gaze.

"I call upon thee, Dragon of the Seas. Bring thine enemies to their knees!" he called, a fierce tone in his voice, yet calm.

The ground began to rumble, energy from Eternalis' sword flowing madly into it. The lava burst out in a whirling spiral, entryway for the serpentine Dragon of the Seas. The sapphire-scaled beast slithered through the air gracefully, stopping in front of the aquatic warrior. Its flowing body rolled and pulsed, akin to the vicious waves of oceans. Its long, majestic whiskers floated in the air, glaring blue eyes piercing into Eternalis' own. He simply stared it down. Then, a wordless command entered the dragon's consciousness, causing it to turn in the Momograve's direction. The command was understood and executed without question or hesitation as it lunged powerfully, straight for the purple ghost. In its wake, the bubbling, boiling sea of molten rock parted away, as if out of reverence for the majestic being.

Eternalis still stood, unmoving, unperturbed. His eyes simply stared ahead determinedly as he prepared the next summoning. Focused on the space directly in front of him, he gripped the beam of energy in his hand ever more tightly. Sparks flew from the blade in defiance and protest to the act, searing his hand slightly.

"I call upon thee, Dragon of the Skies. Ensure thine enemies' demise!" went his voice, strong, booming, confident. The second call.

The blue blade transformed starkly, suddenly, into red. Fueling its power into the ground, the lava pool he had created once again rippled and trembled as he summoned another being, this time, however, with claws that swiped and a roar that shook. The Dragon of the Skies, with its brilliant ruby scales and leathery wings depicting its power, stood valiantly in front of Eternalis. Its head and tail was turned down, a sign that the mythical animal held subservience to him.

As he did with the first, Eternalis simply stared into the dragon's glassy, crystalline eyes, and the command was given. No gestures, no sound. Simple eye contact was enough. The dragon dug its claws into the lava, and turned at the enemy its master was fighting. A snort escaped its large nostrils, equal to a powerful gust of wind. Its scale-encrusted tail swished around, sizing up its opponent. Its reflective eyes shone brilliantly as it reared its head and let out a earth-shaking roar, a display of its sheer power. The snout came down onto the purple Momogra and from its depths, a simple breath let loose a gout of searing flames. The intense heat cracked the earth underneath, and brought out a free-flowing stream of lava flowing back, renewing the places where its earlier aquatic counterpart had left its mark with magma.

Behind the scary beast, Eternalis simply watched, calm, unblinking. After the dragon finished the last of its energy, it turned around and gave the aquatic swordsman a nod of the head, acknowledgement of its duty done. Eternalis returned the gesture, and the dragon disintegrated into residual data and returned to its battlechip, ready to use for another day. Its duty almost done, Eternalis' blood-red sword reverted its appearance back into the serene blue as he ripped it out of its place in the ground. Grasping it with both hands, he felt the cool aura of the aquatic battlechip data infused into it. Bringing it to a horizontal position, he closed his eyes, and focused. Silence reigned as he tuned his auditory sensors to sense his surroundings. His stance widened, and his breathing slowed.

"Death awaits few... Strike of Morning Dew."

The words left his vocal processes quietly, but it had its effect. The sound of rushing water filled his senses, and the sword in his hand sliced the air in a wide arc. The blue sword elongated and traced the path with a stream of unflowing ice, floating in the air. Weightless. Then, on command, the arc of frozen water defrosted as it was hurtled across the battlefield on a collision course with the Momograve. The sword stood by Eternalis' side, his feet still far apart from each other, anxious to leap from any sign of danger.

= Eternalis.EXE =
(1) WaterLine1: Momograve (Aqua 80, Ground, Line) (x2 Terrain)
-- 50 Null if Burrowed (Lava to Normal)
(2) HeatDragon: Momograve (Fire 150, Ground, Lava Terrain to 25%)
-- 50 Null if Burrowed (Normal to Lava)
(3) WideShot1: Momograve (Aqua 60, Wide) (x2 Terrain)
(4) Dodge
As Rhea put up a Dominerd for the sake of defense, Eternalis began to summon water to erupt from the ground, anticipating another submerge. It was a sound strategy...but unfortunately, the ghostly mole could do more than just go into the ground. The spirit foe moved backwards, like anything else, allowing the geysers to rise into thin air, as it simply watched. On the plus side, this allowed the EarthDragon that suddenly appeared to do its thing, ramming straight into Momograve with reckless abandon. The WideShot, as well, managed to connect, causing a reaction to the lava to create an explosion and inflict extra damage.

As Momograve tried to recover from the onslaught, Rhea appeared to have time to launch an attack of her own...or maybe not. Who knew? Certainly not the Lava, because it was too busy burning the Navis' feet. The mole ghost, however, seemed unaffected...

Eternalis (RheaCross): 105 HP
Rhea: 95 HP (CurseShield1 up) (2 actions left)

Momograve: 410 HP

Fog: In effect for 19 turns

Terrain: 85% Lava, 15% Normal
"Not taking the bait..." Rhea muttered. Perhaps an attack was on the way-- she needed to do something to actually lure the Momograve towards her. Eternalis had better firepower up his sleeves, so she had to count on him to deal actual damage. Settling on that thought, the petite Navi brought her attention back to the battleground once more, her feet and boots sizzling from the lava panel beneath.

Wielding the towershield with her left arm, she called for the sword chip from her operator, who was in agreement of battlechip choice. Taking masterful steps towards the Momograve, the shield ready to defend even as she threw the momentum onto her bladed arm, attempting to cut the gigantic ghost of a mole apart with two quick strokes.

When she was done, she just quickly took a few steps away, not wanting to be close to the moustached mole at all-- not with the shovels. However, she hoped that she had gained it's attention.

[/turnsplice]
Active) Curseshield1 - left arm - Blocks 1 attack, charges opponent for 160DMG
2&3) Sword - 80DMG, Slashing - right arm - Momograve
Passive) Swordplay - Dodge after 2 slashing
Despite having a hot foot (or two), Rhea's swordsmanship was on full display, easily cleaving the mole ghost despite an attempt to evade them. However, instead of the obvious retaliation route, it instead pointed angry shovels at the Navi pair, its very color began to change from the inexplicable purple to a more sense making reddish-brown.. The fog strangely began to thicken as a result of this, though any boost to its evasion from it was negated by the fact that, well, it was reddish-brown, and not exactly blending in with the scenery.

Unfortunately, however, the color change might not have been for show, as it began twirling its digging tools as if they were nothing. It stabbed the red hot earth with them, creating a pair of lava waves that rushed Eternalis and Rhea; again, the latter's swift movements saved her day as she sidestepped, but the normally watery Navi was unable to avoid the lava burst.

And since it was contractually obligated to do, it banged a shovel on its stomach, causing its slot machine belly to spin once more...Mushy times three. The area glowed, as the ground became much more pleasant to walk on, becoming lush green grass.

Eternalis (RheaCross): 65 HP
Rhea: 85 HP (CurseShield1 up)

Momograve: 250 HP

Fog: In effect for 28 turns

Terrain: 100% Grass
Eternalis' silvery hair blew slightly in an unbidden wind, partly covering up his eyes in the breeze. His energy blade was held with slight apprehension, since the attack the Momograve used was completely unexpected. From its deep purple saturation to a more-familiar red-hued brown. His eyes grew wide as he saw the striking similarity: the mustachioed moles from earlier. They then narrowed down, as he saw the change in the ground around him. Scalding lava burned his outer skin, as the terrain around him exploded by the sudden shift. Grassy mounds began to pop up rapidly around his burnt feet (though how the lava burnt his watery exterior, he'd ignored) and cover the field with lush greenery. It was a stark change, but he wasn't perturbed in the slightest. A silent request to the operator through private channels, and he was ready once more.

Harke had noticed the rather strange changes in Eternalis' character, but it wasn't like his insanity episodes (which have lately become more frequent), rather, he seemed to have a more calm and collected attitude. Seeing the similarity to Rhea, whom he had seen enough to gather enough observations, he wondered if there was something in it. Scrambling around PET settings, he continued his search for the answer to his question as he slotted in a single chip to Eternalis. His eyes grew wide when the words from the screen stared back at his face, and a single eyebrow was raised in questioning.

Meanwhile, back in the NetVegas network, Eternalis briefed Rhea on his plans. "Rhea, I shall move forward to defeat the Momograve. Stay back and raise defenses, and I shall return posthaste." Then, he steeled himself for one last push. His sparkling purple eyes focused with silent fervor as both of his hands gripped his blade, trying to steady it. After a while, he had calmed himself down to a slow-consciousness state, and he started a small incantation. The blade of his creation pulsed in its blue state, before slowly shifting its colors. Emerald sheen glowed and reflected off of Eternalis' purple face as his eyes closed, his mind in a deep otherworldly fugue. This being was particularly hard to summon. Fortunately, however, his efforts were to be repaid, as the power of a being was proportional to its rank of difficulty.

"I call upon thee, Bird of Birth and Life. Bring back order, destroy all strife."

The bright green blade was thrust to the sky, and from its top, a small entity began to emerge. Unfurling itself outwards, quite similar to a flower in preparation to bloom. Small feathery wings, weak and crumpled, appeared first, and the tiny little head, with its beak came second. The green-feathered baby bird opened its eyes rather hesitantly, and blinked a few times. The last of the bird to appear was a large feather pointing up from its head, perhaps a symbol of something. The bird jumped off the tip of the blade, and fluttered down to an offered hand. Its head cocked to the side, its small field of vision focused on Eternalis' face. Again, the only thing that was required was the exchange of glances, and the bird understood its orders.

Its scrawny little legs hopped around to face the Momograve, and it gave a little tweet of determination. Crouching slightly, it took off as Eternalis watched on. Fluttering its tiny little wings, the bird looked as innocent as can be, but it would soon shatter everyone's expectations. After it reached the apex of its small flight, it gave a screech most unexpected of it. The screech was incredibly loud, and highly-pitched. Then, the bird started to grow. Its size increased at an accelerated rate, its presence expanded rapidly. Flapping its great wings, it created a low breeze that felt pleasantly cooling to those on the ground. After a few moments, when it was as large as the dragons called before it, it stopped its rampant growth, and suddenly executed a dive towards the ground.

Harke read the information spread across his screen, a smorgasbord of interesting knowledge unknown to him before. His mouth was about to read it aloud, but he realized his current setting wasn't exactly accommodating, so he opted for simple comprehension instead. "A Soul Cross is a state of being where a Navi is capable of drawing upon friendly experiences with another Navi, along with combat data, if applicable. Exactly how this state is achieved is currently unknown, but it has been shown to strengthen greatly with the application of further repeated experiences of the same Navi pair," his mind read aloud to itself.

The magnificent bird's dive towards the ground was displayed as if the creature was headed for a completely intentional collision course with terra firma. As the bird came within an inch of solid ground, it transformed its body into green data packets, which rammed themselves into the ground with such powerful force that small tremors were felt on Eternalis' greaves. At first, there seemed to be no consequences of the bird's sudden action, but to the keenest observer, small cracks began to form in the ground. These cracks began to glow with a hidden emerald gleam, the same as the sword Eternalis now held. His eyes refocused on the Momograve as his vocal processes announced another utterance.

"Death is furthest- but for the believer, Inescapable Night Reaver."

The Navi wasn't going to stick around too long to see his little avian fellow's intent, as he leapt into the air towards the Momograve. Suddenly, his image flickered, and he disappeared off to nowhere. Shortly after, Eternalis rematerialized smack in front of the gigantic Momogra, and brandished his now-black blade to his right. The wind blew again. Lifting his head so that his eyes met the Momograve's, he gave the brown ghost a piercing glare before his eyelids shut themselves. Then, his hand flew around in a frenzy of arcing slashes, most of them feints of deception, with only two real blows. Behind him, the Bird of Birth and Life's attack started, pillars of green light emerging from the ground to deliver powerful retribution to all in their way. As it did so, Eternalis leapt back to meet Rhea, where he stood with a defensive posture, ready to evade any sudden attacks.

= Eternalis.EXE =
(1) Spice1: Momograve (Wood 80, Ground, Confusion, To-All-Grass)
(2) Vapor Reassimilation: Front of Momograve (Teleport, Dodge, Acc+)
(3) Sword: Momograve (Null 80+10, Slashing) [Acc+] [3/6]
(4) Sword: Momograve (Null 80+10, Slashing) [2/6]
-- Sword Mastery Accuracy+
(*) Swordplay (Dodge) back to Rhea
Rhea briefly nodded at the busting partner, suddenly feeling as if he had understood her intentions from the beginning. They were synchronizing so well that it was starting to seem abnormal. "Something the matter, Rhea? What do you need?" Camillia noted, realizing that Rhea wasn't acting normally. "Eternalis is acting strangely. Do you know why?" Rhea murmured, adjusting the position of the curseshield as she proceeded to move towards the now-purple Aqua? Navi. "Um, lemme check." as the audio transmission reached that point, Rhea had positioned herself between the busting partner and the Momograve.

The petite Navi had observed how familiar the moves were, but she did not question until now. Could it be possible that Eternalis was copying her... ? "Uh, hey Rhea. Looks like he's turned into you!" Camillia said cheerfully, almost wanting to laugh. The purple headed swordswoman was not amused. "Well, er, I think maybe your friendship's messing something with your data, or something. It's quite possible that you can copy Eternalis too."

Rhea suddenly got a weird mental image, and shoved it out of her head.

Moving in to defend Eternalis from Momograve, the curseshield raised high after the busting partner's swordplaying display. Regardless of the results, she verbally complimented Eternalis on his effort. "You do well with those moveset, Eternalis," Rhea said in her normal, deadpan tone, before looking at the gigantic ghostly mole straight in the eye.

Then the purple Navi visibly slumped behind the curseshield, looking exhausted and out of commission; was the network too tough for the greenhorn navi after all? "...Rhea?" Camillia said, her tone getting slightly worried and urgent. "Run for it Rhea, run if you can't handle this," she added again, after only a brief pause with no response from Rhea.

Rhea knew better than to respond, however. Her aim was still to get the Momograve to take a whack at her. At least to make the shield work. Feigning weakness was a good way to lure an opponent-- and she made full use of it at the moment (even adding a few staggers for it to be realistic.)

Her next action if the plan works, however, was obvious. The feint gave her enough time to add extra strength into her next battlechip, though she didn't know what that might be on Camillia's mind at the moment. Rhea generated an energy blade, looking ready to parry any attacks coming at her way while moving to keep herself between Eternalis and the giant mole virus.


Summary of actions:
1) Tactical Movement - Guard-up defending Eternalis - Curseshield1 (Blocks 1 attack, charges opponent 160DMG)
2) Lull of battle - Gravity, Strengthen 20 - Momograve
3) Parried Charge - 2-hit shield, 1 movement action - Move with Eternalis to defend

RESERVED: Strengthen 20
As Eternalis began to summon birds to execute an attack normally performed by a different kingdom, the mole that was the likely target of it suddenly moved back underground, allowing it to avoid a majority of attacks. However, hazardous, ground-based powder wasn't the majority of attacks, moving directly into the hole in order to inflict speecy, spicy damage. As the grass assault did its thing, the crossed Navi delivered the finishing blows...had the Momograve been at the surface. But when it's underground, it's much harder to hit with a sword.

Both Navis then teamed up, with Rhea prepared to block whatever came their way as she lured in their mutual foe. And something did come their way, as the mole ghost surfaced, dug into the surface, and creating a gigantic wave of grass that moved their way. Unfortunately, the attack seemed to ignore the Sword Navi's various defenses, hammering both with a Wood-element assault, like...some kind of gigantic wooden hammer. With grass.

And since no one could forget it, Momograve smacked itself to trigger a new reel spin. This time, three Weathers. The ground suddenly became colder, as in a flash, the entire field of grass became a plain of snow...

Eternalis (RheaCross): 25 HP
Rhea: 45 HP (Strengthen 20)

Momograve: 170 HP

Fog: In effect for 27 turns

Terrain: 100% Snow
Receiving the brunt of the Momograve's attack, Eternalis did not manage to make his life any easier on himself. The massive wave of green crashed down to meet his body, and he was flung a good way across the floor. His armored back grazed the floor, friction slowing him to a pain-filled stop. His face was now grazed with a dirt smudge here and a bruise there. His left eye was squinted as he bore the pain with determination. This wasn't going down very well. Worse, his recovery processes seem to have locked themselves up, causing him to feel pain that he hadn't felt before. This is what it's like.... he thought, before being interrupted by a fit of coughing. The sounds came from a newly-formed hole in his head, where a normal person's mouth cavity would be.

....to stare Death in the eye.

The coughing subsided for a bit, but the gaping cavity remained, sitting there and generally looking very unpleasant, somewhat like a slack jaw that refused to close. He jammed his energy blade into the ground to hoist himself up, his shoulders sagging beside him in protest. It took him a while to compose himself from the disorientation that the Momograve's latest attack brought him. Hatred for the monster clouded his vision for a second as he attempted to restrain himself from breaking out in another fit. He failed, doubling over with sword in hand as a torrent of purple ooze flowed freely from his mouth, his body shivering in spasms from the sudden expulsion. It ended quickly, but not without a few coughs to punctuate its end. The coughs were accompanied by white clouds of frosty breath, the battlefield now a vast expanse of fluffy white snow.

"Harke..." Eternalis began, still weak from the vomiting.

By now, Harke's face was in alarm. His PET was the same, showing signs of critical integrity from Eternalis' systems, a rare sight, since before, the Navi's recovery processes ensured his health stayed well above this level. "Et! You all right?"

"....Windracket."

Harke gawked in disbelief. A situation like this was not conducive to fighting at all. "No! I'm jacking you out!" he barked, his hand reaching for the escape routine. The finger stabbed at the touchscreen multiple times, each attempt foiled by the button's denial. Red light. Red light. Red light.

"....no...Rhea. Still... standing."

Harke's eyes scanned the battlefield, and sure enough, there was Eternalis' partner, Rhea. He hadn't got a good look at her before, and now was a good time. Short (scratch that, dwarf) of a girl, flowing silvery purple hair, clad in full-body purple armor. Kind of a weird choice for a partner, but he brushed that off to the side. His mind deliberated. By the effects of the Soul Cross he had observed, this Rhea was obviously a close enough friend of Eternalis's. Enough to make him sacrifice himself for her. A wry smile crossed his face as he reached for a chip, and slotted it in. He figured that the Emergency Jack-Out procedure would kick in anyhow, and that Eternalis would be able to handle it.

"Windracket... slot in."

Back in the network, Eternalis had recovered somewhat, having patched up most of the damage he'd taken externally. His internals were still wrecked, but the patch job was enough to keep him going at a steady rate. Mind focused, he held the sword at ready, and shot off towards the Momograve. His movements were erratic, off from side to side, a few staggering feints added to match, with some intentional, some not. Reaching the Momograve, he dug his greaves into the soft slush. Sword held horizontally, he muttered a small incantation as it turned a hazy grey. A cloudy gale began to encircle it, throwing up the wielder's hair in its blows. His slack jaw lifted itself up to close the open mouth and form a rather wide, maybe even creepy, grin.

"Now feel my pain, no shards of you shall remain..." he whispered, the mouth unmoving, as the whisper did not come from it.

The sword was thrown in a large arc, left to right, throwing up a small whirlwind of snow, slush and frost. The large winds that resulted from the attack blew him back, possibly avoiding any further attacks by the Momograve. A small backflip later, and he was back on solid ground, perhaps a flawless landing if not for the stagger afterwards. His sword was still standing at the ready, prepared to deliver a sound blow to any giant mole monster that happened to cross its path.

= Eternalis.EXE =
(1) Evasive Movement to Momograve
(2) WindRacket: Momograve (Null 100+10, Gust, Microburst)
-- One-Turn Small/Medium Ice Terrain Change (50 Null to Momograve if Burrowed)
-- Use Microburst to kick back self to Rhea, impromptu dodge
(3) [Prepared] Sword: Momograve (Null 80+10, Slashing) [1/6]
(4) [Prepared] Sword: Momograve (Null 80+10, Slashing) [0/6]
-- Swords readied for retaliation if in range, Swordplay revoked if Sword is unused
(*) Swordplay (Dodge)
"!!" Rhea gave a yelp of surprise when the shockwave bypassed her thick defenses, sending her skidding across the grass-- just before it turned into a field of snow. Rhea slowly got up from the mess, then immediately standing and steadied herself for the next plan of attack. Then she saw Eternalis.

Her comrade was in trouble.

Almost as if fueled by rage that she should not possess, her expression turned slightly sour as she debated on what to do next. She was entirely powerless against the Momograve, but even if she lost and was defeated, she would give it her all. Perhaps it was an attempt to preserve this brief friendship she held with her busting partner.

Friendship?

"Rhea!" Camillia choked, not knowing what to do. "Calm down. I am fine." Rhea whispered, checking her sword data. It was still existent. Seeing the snow on the ground, she knew that it would prove to be disadvantageous if she tried dodging with all the snow... Unless she turned into an aqua-based Navi, like Eternalis.

Wait. Like him?

Rhea stared briefly at the struggling partner, seeing how he had taken form a similar base-- sort of like a replica of herself. She wondered if she could do the same... And at that thought, her wishes seem to came true.

The flash came and went in the speed of light, revealing Rhea-- but not Rhea. Her skin seemed to pale (even more so than before), and in her place stood an aquatic-based humanoid. Camillia blinked, staring at the form, before pushing random buttons to identify the change. "Rhea EternalisCross. Activate." the now blue, petite Navi announced, almost as if as an introductory speech to the people on the battlefield.

"I would love to get a shot at you, o' Gigantic Mole," Rhea muttered, the sword-- now glowing blue-ish white from an unknown substance flowing from her arm generators. It seemed as if the generators were liquid-cooled now, by a glowing blue substance, which seemed to also bathe the sword in it's brightness as well.

It made the energy blade looks like it was buffed with watery-elements.

"Round two to meet Death for you, Momograve," Rhea announced, charging towards the enemy with all her might, her aqua-imbued senses now letting her practically glide through the snow like it was normal terrain for her. She turned gracefully in front of the ghostly gigantic figure, delivering a quick stroke of her blade before tumbling sideways in an attempt to dodge any potential dangers coming at her way.

Summary of actions:
1) Rhea EternalisCross (Aqua/Recover)
Passive) Endow: H2O - Imbue Aqua to Sword
2) Sword [4/6]- 80DMG, Slashing - Momograve
3) Dodge (No penalty from snow terrain - Aqua)