In Her Element

"All right! Go team!" said Carbide, as she leapt off of Terra, as the latter walked over to the lava pool, and started to restore it to its original form. Carbide decided to simply stretch and wander about. There wasn't anything particularly exciting to inspect in the tunnel though, unlike earlier where they had the sparkly rock with the odd formation inside of it. Carbide's heart sank slightly as she looked back where they came from, wondering what had happened to it. Perhaps some viruses picked it up.

"Good job, you two. Let me just get this out..." said Scarlet, with the sound of some beeping in the background. It seemed like the operator was doing some work on the PET console, though neither of them could see exactly what it was.

"Where were you anyway, Scarlet? You were gone forever! Did you go out to get a snack or something?" said Carbide, looking down at the moss. Wow, such exciting... moss.

"I went out to get some upgrades for Terra from room service. Should expand her capacity for some later programs I'll be installing, as well as power up her systems a bit. The capacity should already allow for you to move around faster, by the way," explained Scarlet. "And... done."

"Really? I don't feel any different..." said Carbide, looking about her own body. Certainly, it didn't look like anything changed. Suddenly, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder, and she swiveled around quickly to meet Terra's eye. The Navi gestured deeper into the tunnel wordlessly. "Oh, you're done? Okay, let's go!" she said, leaping ahead of the Navi, not really noticing that her step was almost twice as fast now. Terra followed behind at a light jog, exploring further into the area.

[Z > 1875, BF > 198 > 78]
[Battle 9 - Ready!]
[Terra.EXE: 170 HP, Carbide.SP: 70 HP]

If either of the two explorers were at their most observant, they might have caught something slightly unsettling and odd just as Terra tagged the seemingly enraged bandcoon at the end of their previous fight; a moment before the shot struck, its angry features had dropped to a cold smirk, its one good eye glinting at Terra in the low light before oblivion met it. The fact that it was destroyed, and even yielded rewards, followed by the sudden distraction of new upgrades, and lost treasures, were probably enough to put the strange moment from mind, however, if either of them caught it at all.

Once Terra had restored the ground and the pair were ready to move on, the tunnel continued to slope downwards, steeper now. the mossy growth completely covered the tunnel floor, walls and even the ceiling now, some of it beginning to luminesce softly. They were a long way from 'natural' light, and there was barely enough glow to see clearly by. Most of the network of small side-tunnels had stopped, this far down. If the thing that had made this tunnel so recently was a living creature, then two questions presented themselves to the thoughtful mind: first of all, the shape and progression of the tunnel made it seem as though it had been travelling very determinedly up and away from somewhere, or something, stopping and levelling off only when it neared the surface... so what had it been travelling away from? Secondly, Terra herself would know that the tunnel had only just been bored; how was there already such an effusive growth of life down here, with no navis or automated controls to spawn it.

The down-turned tunnel came to a lipped edge, in almost pitch darkness now save for the glow of the moss. It was hard to see how fr the drop was, but if Terra were to reach out her own senses, she'd find it wasn't terribly far; only about the height of the tunnel again, to the next solid ground. the other thing she might sense, would be that at this depth, there were a number of other broad tunnels, or burrows perhaps, the same thickness as the one they'd been descending through. Whatever had made it apparently lived down here. There were sounds in the distance, more, deep rumblings travelling through the earth; whatever had made the tunnel they'd followed, it sounded like there might be more of them down at this level.

If they did decide to drop into the deeper space, they would notice that on the whole, it felt broader and more open, even if the floor to ceiling height was the same. The ground also felt older and firmer, more trodden and less freshly turned. The tunnel they'd been following was freshly built, but this section was well established. It was also covered completely in the same growing, glowing moss., and there were the occasional stalks and fronts of other bio-luminescent plants poking up from the floor and creeping out of the walls. They provided enough light to get a sense of the shape of the area, but little more. more pressing, right at that particular moment, however, was a trio of more brightly glowing object, hanging on strands from the ceiling a short way from where Terra and Carbide would land. They looked a bit like normal bagworms, except they glowed bright in the gloom, very much like they were trying to attract food. In this particular case, one of them swivelled on its strand and focused on Terra ,before causing a series of woody spikes to burst up from the ground in a line towards her. This first assault missed, but apparently Terra and her SP were on the list as potential prey.

Strangely, it did look like just the three worms, for now, which would be an unexpectedly light encounter, all things considered. Behind them, though, on the other side, two bright glints of dazzling blue shone in the darkness, watching. The worms weren't the only things here after all...



-=Gleams in the Gloom=-

BagwormEx A: 120Hp [In front of Terra, to the left]
BagwormEx B: 120Hp [In front of Terra, to the right]
BagwormEx C: 120Hp [In front of Terra, dead centre][This one just attacked]

??? : ??? [Something else is here too; two blue glints a little over one movement behind Terra]

-=Deep in the Dark=-

Terra.Exe: 170 HP [Moss]
Carbide.SP: 70 HP [Moss]

-=Glowing and Growing=-

100% Moss [Even the walls and ceiling]

Moss is effectively grass terrain, but is damp enough that it doesn't catch easily, and doesn't provide damage multiplication for Fire. All other grass rules as normal. This moss is also glowing faintly, and a variety of other deep-dwelling plants seem to have rapidly grown over the ground here.

-=Battle 9, Start!=-

"It's getting kind of dark in there, isn't it?" commented Scarlet, as the lighting inside the tunnel began to decline, and the glowing moss covered the entire floor. Even Carbide seemed to be able to appreciate the area's natural beauty, as she was at a loss of words from looking at the faintly bioluminescent foliage. The ground also felt damp to her bare feet, but the moss wasn't sticky enough that her toes clung to anything. Oddly enough, that kind of applied to everything, since she had discarded her boots; it almost felt like she was walking on a very thin layer of air above the ground, instead of the ground itself.

"... It's not too dark."

Terra, meanwhile, had a slightly different view of the situation, with her ground-attuned senses being much more sensitive than Carbide's. The side tunnels had all but vanished, leaving the main shaft that penetrated further in at a steeper slope. She hadn't much of a problem with getting a good foothold with her boots, and Carbide wasn't looking like she was any different either. Despite its dampness, the ground had clearly been quite recently bored through, and the odd nature of there being so much moss around was a bit weird.

"I wonder what's living down there... if there is even anything," said Scarlet.

"... Maybe some kind of burrowing-type creature."

Carbide's wandering sight led her slightly behind Terra, who halted abruptly at a ledge. Terra put her arm out to stop Carbide from falling to a nasty drop, startling her slightly. "Ow! What'd you stop for?" she complained, before looking out in front of her at the relative lack of mossy pathways directly ahead. "Oh, um, okay. Ahaha, I guess that's a dead end, then," Carbide said, starting to turn back. Terra didn't seem to have the same idea, though, as she crouched slightly in front of the dip, and placed her hand on the edge. Looking down at the very dimly lit area wouldn't give anyone much of a view, but Terra's senses informed her that it wasn't at all a dead end; there was still much more further in. As such, she took the initiative, and leapt over the edge, careening down the wall as if she was surfing down it.

"Wha-- Terra?! Hey!!" yelled Carbide, as she rushed towards the edge and leapt down after her partner. She stumbled slightly, but managed to do about the same thing as Terra did, and landed safely at the bottom with minimal scuffles. It looked like more of the same on the bottom to her, except with a little more room to move around in, and perhaps some slightly bigger glowing plants. Terra, who was already there, would notice the age of the ground being a bit more established than the tunnels they had just left, and that there were a lot more to the area than just being of a different elevation. Her eyes darted about suspiciously as she considered the inhabitants of the area that would be large enough to make the kind of tunnels that she was reading out. She hadn't been considering it earlier either, but she also wondered if they would release any kind of mind-altering agent that would be drawing her further in like this, like a moth towards a flame...

Though that would take a backseat towards some other, more pressing issues. A few hard-hatted forms hanging from pouches suspended in midair were lined up nearby, glowing in the darkness. One of them moved slightly, and a line of slow-moving wooden stakes moved towards her in a line, though she easily moved out of the way. "Terra!" said Carbide, who raised her shield up from the ground, to which Terra nodded silently, signaling that she was unharmed to her partner. With that said, however, she started up her defensive systems, and a faint green sphere of light washed over Carbide as well, protecting her from harm.

"Doesn't look like there's much to fight, but let's showcase some of your upgrades," said Scarlet, as she bypassed sending Terra her usual fare, and slotted in a chip with a one-eyed Genin's figure on its icon.

Terra crouched into a more stable position, laying her hand on the ground as she grasped some of the mossy dirt under her feet, and directed her energy into it. Right under the Bagworms, the moss started to warp and melt, before gradually changing into the bright red color of molten lava. If the three viruses had any time to be distracted by it, they would not notice that the crouching Terra in front of them was a faint afterimage, as the real article materialized behind them out of thin air in the middle of a leaping motion. Her hand was brandishing a wide gleaming blade, with a small indented line running down it. The lava underneath Terra's feet erupted under her, and the line on the blade ignited into a bright red light, coating the entire length with fire. Terra then swept the blade at a wide angle, aimed at hitting all three of the viruses. After the attack, the blade vanished, and Terra rolled into her landing to leap back towards Carbide, who was ready to protect her with her rocky shield. Even with her SP, in the middle of her roll, her body automatically attracted some of the ground to her sides, creating a pair of floating shoulder armor pieces.

// Summary
[Ca.*] Sig: Terraskill: Reflex Guard 1, to self (1(+1) Hit Shield (Reinforce))
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1, to Carbide (20 HP Planar Barrier (Moss/Wood))
[Te.1] Sig: Terraform: Violent Magma, around BagWorm EX group (Large Lava Terrain Change)
[Te.2] Sig: Terraforce: Spirit of Nature, behind BagWorm EX group (Teleport, Accuracy Enhancement, Decoy)
[Te.3] Chip: MoonBlade1Damage: 90 + Slashing + Spin Attack
Accuracy: Depends on number of targets.
Description: Executes a spin cut with a Kunai.
Duration: Once.
Element: Null
Special: Spin Attack: Strikes at all enemies in an 8-panel circle around the user. Accuracy varies depending on the number of targets designated: 1-3 targets @ B Accuracy, 4-6 targets @ C Accuracy, 7-8 targets @ D Accuracy.
Trader Rank: D: 90 + Slashing + Spin Attack (Acc: Depends on number of targets.) to BagWorm EX group (Geomancer: Lava/Fire)
[Te.4] Act: Move back towards Carbide (Movement)
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1, to self (20 HP Planar Casing (Moss/Wood))
[Ca.1] Act: Defend Terra (Redirect 1 attack)
[Ca.2] Act: Defend Terra (Redirect 1 attack)

As Terra and Carbide readied themselves to test out their new abilities, the two blue glows in the darkness behind them separated and dipped into the ground in opposite directions. They went unnoticed as the girls brought up defences and Terra replaced some of the verdant moss with boiling lava. A moment later, however, something moved out of the blackness. Two dark shadows on the ground raced across the moss at inhuman speed, gliding to positing themselves under each of Terra and Carbide's feet. No sooner had they arrived then the shadows opened into a pair of black voids, and a mass or writhing tendrils burst up from each of them, wrapping and binding ferociously.

In Terra's case, the tendrils found only the barely tangible form of her after-image, which they swiftly destroyed before seeking around for an actual target, but Carbide was not so lucky. The tentacles of shadow pressed against her barrier, crushed it, then wrapped the poor SP thoroughly, coiling around her arms, legs and waist and restricting her movements. She was still holding her shield, for all the good it did, and could likely still attack, but any movement beyond struggling was off the table. If she looked down into the inky blackness of the portal below her, Carbide might see a brief glint of blue, but nothing more.

Terra herself had avoided such a close encounter, leaping to attack the visible enemies as she set her blade aflame. From her new vantage point she'd get a better view of the sudden plight of her Sp, though it wasn't going to stop her swinging her weapon, but before she could one of the three glowing worms, the one that had fired the warning shot before, zipped up its silken strand and out of sight. Of the other two, one tried to attack Terra herself, but failed miserably, while the other sent a line of bursting wood spikes marching towards Carbide. The attack was predictable, but Carbide wasn't in a position to get out of the way, and worse, the attack didn't seem hampered by the shadowy portal or grabbing tendrils; it punched into her from below with painful force, as the attack came in underneath the small SP's shield.

A moment later, Terra's empowered Moonblade put paid to the two worms that were still at her level, burning them both up with ease, but as she landed, the dark shadow that had failed to grab her the first time whisked across the ground, and opened its portal again right beneath her feet as she touched down. This time there was no escaping the storms of grabbing, squeezing tendrils as they quickly ensnared her, and bound her limbs. Worse, stuck as she was on the normalised terrain, she was unable to bring up her protective armour, and the tendrils gripped and squeezed uncomfortably as they restrained her. They didn't feel of anything in particular; they weren't slimy, or rough. If anything they simply felt like strong muscled limbs, wreathed in impenetrable shadow.

Across the field from each other, the two would each be able to see the other's plight, but both were likely busy dealing with their own over-explorative tendrils. They weren't being... indecent, not exactly, but they were being remarkably thorough in their restraining and searching of the pair. If she was watching Carbide struggle, Terra would see the same thing as her SP: even as she was still bound, a shape slipped up from the dark portal beneath her, slinking out to reveal a long, lithe body. It might have been a furred creature, but it was hard to tell, as a perpetual cloak of dark shadows covered it. It had four legs, though, and the mass of tendrils that were holding Carbide originated from its back, with several more waving about free. When it was fully out of the portal, the void seemed to close, becoming simply the creature's own shadow beneath it. It slunk in a circle around the ensnared SP, keeping her in place with its tendrils, both giving her a good look, and getting a good look at her itself. One thing was very certain: neither Terra, nor Carbide, nor indeed Scarlet or anyone else, would have seen anything like this particular creature before.

There were two particular things to note about his specimen, that stood out from the details of its body. though it had dazzling, brightly glowing blue eyes, it was in fact simply "eye", as this one wore an obvious eyepatch over where its left eye should be. It was also, apparently, wearing a small black armband on its left forelimb, though this was harder to see. Its features were vaguely rodent in form, but that would be all the two would have time to take in, before it lowered its head and hissed, and the blue glow of its eye flashed into a blinding flare that filled the cavern for a moment. Across the field, Terra found herself thoroughly dazzled, in close, Carbide managed to get her shield between the creature's gaze and her own, but still ended up seeing spots — there was a good chance that if she hadn't gotten her shield up, after so long in dim and darkness, the flare would have been positively painful. Before either of them could clear their sight, the creature hand leapt back into its shadow-portal beneath Carbide, though it seemed loathe to release her from its grip.

All of these things were a very big distraction, all told, so it seemed unlikely that either of them would notice that the mossy growth was ,quite rapidly for moss, beginning to reclaim the lava pool that Terra had made. In particular, it was growing out again from further down the tunnel at Terra's end of the area.


-=Gleams in the Gloom=-

BagwormEx A: DELETED
BagwormEx B: DELETED
BagwormEx C: 120Hp [HA][Above Terra][Blinded!(1)]

GrabBanditEx A: 310Hp [Binding Terra][Normal]
GrabBanditEx B: 310Hp [Binding Carbide][Moss]

-=Deep in the Dark=-

Terra.Exe: 150 HP [Normal][Planar Armour Failed!][Decoy Destroyed!][Blinded!(1)][Bind!]
Carbide.SP: 30 HP [Moss][Shield (1-Hit remaining)(reinforced)][Barrier Broken!][Blinded!(1)][Bind!]

Bind: This is a virus-only form of instantly-activating Hold that does not count as a status effect (thus cannot be removed with status cure). Bind works on a per-action basis, instead of per-turn, and is maintained by physical contact with the source.

-=Glowing and Growing=-

70% Moss [Even the walls and ceiling]
20% Lava [Partial ring beneath BagWorms, around Terra]
10% Normal [Smaller ring, directly under Terra]

Moss is effectively grass terrain, but is damp enough that it doesn't catch easily, and doesn't provide damage multiplication for Fire. All other grass rules as normal. This moss is also glowing faintly, and a variety of other deep-dwelling plants seem to have rapidly grown over the ground here.

As Terra slashed at the floating BagWorms, she heard a piercing cry, and turned her head sharply towards its source. It seemed that before Carbide could leap to Terra's aid, she was abducted by a black shadow, coming from a void behind her, crushing her against the shield that she had put up. Worse, she had missed one of the BagWorms before it could launch an attack towards Carbide. The rapidly moving line of spiky tree trunks skewered the little girl, eliciting a pained reaction from her. "Carbide!!" called out Terra, as she tried to reach towards her SP to help. Unfortunately, before she could, she felt the strong grip of the same black tendrils around her feet. Though it didn't exactly feel too painful, she was definitely feeling the restraint that the vines were giving her. Looking around, the inky black creatures that had restrained them certainly looked very intimidating.

"What... What is that? I've never seen that kind of virus!" exclaimed Scarlet, sitting up on her bed. The operator pulled up her holographic observation screen and enlarged it, trying to see more of the unknown enemy they were facing. "It's definitely not a Navi, but... what kind of virus is that? Its hit count is huge!" Not only that, but the way it wreathed itself in inky shadow was definitely hindering her ability to make any sense of what it looked like. The only thing that she could kind of see at the moment was that it probably had four legs, and glowing blue eyes, one of which was hidden by an ominous eyepatch.

"I-It hurts... It hurts! It hurts!" said Carbide, her voice cracking under the pressure of the tendrils. Tears ran down her cheeks as she struggled to free herself, when she came face-to-face with a large glowing blue eye. Fortunately, the shield that had been in front of her protected her from getting her eyes singed off, but the flare still blinded her, as well as Terra. "Aaah! I-I can't see!" she winced, as she attempted to free herself, using the protruding spires that lined her limbs to attack. In addition, another shield was also starting to form from her hand.

Meanwhile, Terra was also dealing with her own problem of lack of vision, though she seemed to be taking it a little calmer than Carbide was. While she was figuring out what to do, the soles of her boots glowed a dim green, and a soft green light started to envelop Carbide. "... Carbide, calm down, I'll help you soon."

"T-Terra? Is that you? Help me!"

"... Scarlet, I'll need the non-Recover healing chips, and a sword," said Terra, as the light beneath her feet started to die down.

"Sounds like someone's in a pinch. I'm looking up the virus you're fighting now," said Scarlet, as she sent the chip data, and opened a few bulletin boards on the side to search for information on the new virus.

"Mm," the Navi nodded, closing her eyes and sensing the data lock into her queue silently. After it activated, Terra and Carbide could both hear the sound of the ground splitting, with the Candle chip emerging from it. A gentle warmth began to envelop both of them, restoring some of their wounds with it. Her feet tried to feel around the area where the tendrils had emerged from, and the heel of her boot contacted the ground. Immediately, a rapidly growing reaction started, with the cream white paneling being restored to its former brownish soil. Its color spread up from her feet to her legs, and up towards her upper body, as a light defensive armor equipped itself onto her body.

From within the tendrils, Terra then balled up her fists, materializing two lumps of earth in her palms. One quietly revolved within her palm, red and green light occasionally filtering through her fingers periodically. The other extended out into a long, straight chunk of hardened earth that covered her hand from the wrist down. The chunk thinned down into a blade, and Terra swung it at her heels, intending to attempt severing herself from the bindings that had restricted her so.

// Summary
[Ca.*] Sig: Terraskill: Reflex Guard 1, to self (1(+1) Hit Shield (Reinforce))
[Ca.1] Act: Attempt to cut through bindings with basic attack (Null 20)
[Ca.2] Act: Random attacks with basic attack (Null 20)
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1, to Carbide (20 HP Planar Barrier (Moss/Wood))
[Te.1] Chip: Candle1HP: 100
Properties: Anchored, HeatBody
Object Damage: 100 Fire + Impact
Damage Method: Telekinesis
Healing Effect: Regen 5 + To-All-Clause (Allies)
Accuracy: S
Description: Creates a healing candle in your area.
Duration: 3 turns or until destroyed.
Element: Fire
Special: HeatBody: Immune to Fire damage.
Trader Rank: D: 100HP Anchored HeatBody Object, 3-Turn: Regen5 + To-All-Ally (Acc: S), summoned to somewhere?
[Te.2] Sig: Terraform: Fertile Soil, around self (Large Soil Terrain Change)
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1, to self (20 HP Planar Casing (Soil/Wood))
[Te.3] Chip: DBLBeam1Damage: Special
Accuracy: S
Description: Summons a DoubleCube that fires either a Red Beam or a Blue Beam, then vanishes.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Randomly uses one of the below effects...
- 40 Null to all Enemies (Red Beam)
- 30 Heal to all Allies. Random (Blue Beam)
Trader Rank: D: 40 + To-All-Enemy / Recover 30 + To-All-Ally (Acc: S)
[Te.4] Chip: SwordDamage: 80 + Slashing
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a sword made of solidified energy, with a very short blade. Hits one target per slash
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 6 swings.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D: 80 + Slashing (Acc: B) around self

Amidst the sudden panic and confusion, Terra managed to keep a cool head, and tried hard to calm her hurt and panicked SP. Carbide had received the very rough end of the strange new virus' greetings, and as the hanging BagWorm dropped back in from the ceiling, it looked like it was about to continue having a go at her. fortunately for all, it had fared no better under the searing light flare from the creature's eyes, and was every bit as blind as Terra and Carbide, missing its attack on her entirely, even prone as she was.

Carbide herself struggled fiercely and even tried to cut her way free with the sharpened edge of her shield. The attacks definitely had an effect, and her efforts at cutting did slice several of the vines effectively, though not enough to force it to release her. It was definite that she was doing damage, though, even if she hadn't gotten loose. She called in a second defence, and Terra sent her a fresh ward as well, but even as the shell pushed the tendrils back from her hurt SP, they flexed, tightening and squeezing as more joined in to replace the damaged ones from the shadow portal beneath. the barrier collapsed a moment later, and carbide would feel the restraining feelers coiling about her limbs again, though her Navi's assist had certainly saved her the creature's efforts to squeeze her into submission.

Just as Terra was about to add to her stabilising efforts, a shadowy pair of paws, with nimble, searching fingers slipped out of the portal behind her and began to thoroughly frisk the navi. Spare tendrils seemed to help out, exploring her all over for anything of interest, and while these weren't uncomfortable — indeed, this search was quite gentle, if invasively thorough — when Terra tried to place her Candle, all that happened was a data error, and a quiet giggling sound rising from the inky void below her. The head of the creature binding Terra peeked up from the portal long enough to reveal that it, too, wore an eye-patch, this time over its right eye. the left eye, the same blue as the other one, glinted it he darkness, and a much smaller candle appeared on the battlefield resting on the nearby moss. Unfortunately, Terra couldn't feel any of the expected soothing energy from it now.

For her part, Terra fixed the terrain around her, converting the blank area beneath and then some into fresh soil so that her earthen armour could reassert itself. It might be a relief to have some thicker layer between herself and the wriggling, squeezing limbs now. When she tried to us the next chip in her line-up, the hands appeared again, seeking, but this time, though they gave her a good patting down, they couldn't seem to get inside her armour properly, nor find any of the loose data they were looking for. The cube appeared and spun its roulette, before sending a pulse of healing energy to both Terra and Carbide, and as the hands withdrew from their failed cavity search, Terra lashed out with her sword.

Now this had an effect on the creature. Even in her dazzled and blinded state the restraints weren't too hard to land a hit on, and her weapon sliced easily through the mass of tendrils, severing them from the portal with ease and drawing a satisfying yowl of pain in an echoing reverberation from the portal below. Terra was released, landing with a soft thump as the void closed below her, leaving only a circular shadow on the ground. The severed vines fell away, beginning to disintegrate quickly while Terra and Carbide both managed to shake off their blindness for now. Subtly, most unnoticed, the creep of the moss accelerated over the freshly converted soil, spreading over more of the tunnel.


-=Gleams in the Gloom=-

BagwormEx A: DELETED
BagwormEx B: DELETED
BagwormEx C: 120Hp [Above Terra]

GrabBanditEx A: 230Hp [Beneath Terra][Moss][Tendrils Cut!]
GrabBanditEx B: 275Hp [Binding Carbide][Moss]

-=Deep in the Dark=-

Terra.Exe: 170 HP [Moss][Planar Armour: 20Hp Earth Casing]
Carbide.SP: 60 HP [Moss][Shield (1-Hit remaining)(reinforced)][Shield (2 Hits Remaining)(Reinforced)][Barrier Broken!][Bind!]

Bind: This is a virus-only form of instantly-activating Hold that does not count as a status effect (thus cannot be removed with status cure). Bind works on a per-action basis, instead of per-turn, and is maintained by physical contact with the source.

-=Glowing and Growing=-

85% Moss [Even the walls and ceiling]
15% Soil [Crescent between Terra and Carbide, being over-grown by Moss rapidly]

Moss is effectively grass terrain, but is damp enough that it doesn't catch easily, and doesn't provide damage multiplication for Fire. All other grass rules as normal. This moss is also glowing faintly, and a variety of other deep-dwelling plants seem to have rapidly grown over the ground here.

"... Scarlet, it seems that this virus type can redirect or steal chip data somehow," said Terra, as she leapt slightly away from the portal that had been plaguing her for the last few moments. She brandished her rocky sword to her side as her barrier protected her in addition to the armor that she had brought up. Beneath her feet, the earth cracked open, splitting away the mossy earth yet again to expel a vein of magma. The smell of burning moss filled the area as the magma field extended out to under Carbide's feet where the tendrils were exiting from. From the lava pool itself, some chunks of fiery magma floated up to the little girl's feet and rapidly cooled down, forming a thin armor for her protection.

"Hmm... Stealing chip data... Like those two Bandcoons you saw earlier, huh. That just means we'll have to give them a buffer, then," said Scarlet, as she sent in some chip data, while still scouring the boards for information. It seemed that certain viruses deeper into networks would rarely fuse together into an amalgam of much stronger viruses. Looking at the rodent-faced tendril-wielding virus that Terra was currently fighting, it was certainly a possibility that she could ponder.

"This is getting-- kind of tight..." choked out Carbide, just as Scarlet's chip data arrived. Her face lit up as it did, having been given a method to fight back. "All right, about time! Here goes..." The lava armor on her body, along with the chip data fused into a heat-filled fun time, as the spires around her body began to glow red. Not long after, the spires extended out like a porcupine's quills, and erupted with a gout of fire, directed forward at the BagWorm that had just dropped in to attack them. She also just barely managed to notice a figure dash by her, along with the sound of a sword being swung at her feet.

After dashing past Carbide, Terra spun around with her sword by her side, and jammed it into the lava beneath her. The rock lit up with glowing red lines, which snaked down into the ground and spread everywhere. By then, the lightshow that would follow was a bit of a given, and the moss-filled cavern was lit up with fire.

// Summary

[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1, to self (20 HP Planar Barrier (Moss/Wood))
[Te.1] Act: Leap slightly away from portal (Dodge)
[Te.2] Sig: Terraform: Violent Magma, wide line between self and Carbide (Large Lava Terrain Change)
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1, to Carbide (20 HP Planar Casing (Lava/Fire))

[Ca.1] Act: Attempt to cut through bindings with basic attack (Null 20)
[Ca.2] Chip: ElementalRage1Damage: 60 + LineAttack3
Accuracy: A
Description: Fires a ray of energy in front of the player. If the user is standing on an elemental terrain, the blast gains that power. Can target up to three enemies.
Duration: Once
Element: Depends on Terrain
Trader Rank: D: 60 + LineAttack3 + Terrain-Element (Acc: A) at GrabBanditEX B/BagWormEX C (Lava: Fire)
[Te.3] Chip: SwordDamage: 80 + Slashing
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a sword made of solidified energy, with a very short blade. Hits one target per slash
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 6 swings.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D: 80 + Slashing (Acc: B) at GrabBanditEX B (Use 2/6)

[Te.4] Chip: RedWave1Damage: 50 + Ground Attack + To-All-Clause (Others) + Lava Terrain Boost 50
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a wave of lava to burn everything and everyone other than the user, even their allies. Can be jumped over, but requires perfect timing. More effective if there is lava in the vicinity to fuel it.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: D: 50 + Ground Attack + To-All-Clause (Others) + Lava Terrain Boost 50 (Acc: B) (+50 Lava, +100% Wood, Pathfinder: Acc+)

Learning little bits and pieces at a time, the two deep-delving programs continued to contest against the strange shadowy thieves in the dark tunnel. Free of binding tentacles now, Terra darted away from the shadow beneath her, but she wasn't quick enough to deal with a determined pursuit; the bandit pounced after her, emerging from its shadow in a full lunging leap that knocked her to the ground. Try as she might to get out of the way, the creature was more determined this time as it's eerily nimble forepaws and dexterous fingers searched her, smaller tendrils lifting and tugging as it did. there were probably moments of questionable contact, but on the whole it was an efficient and professional rifling, and by the end of it the creature had managed to wrest her sword blade away, passing it back over its shoulder to be held with a casual grace by two of the tendrils that hadn't been severed earlier. If she had the time to look, Terra would be able to see that most of the mass of writhing limbs on its back had been cut clean away by her strike, but they were beginning to regenerate even now, pushing up and out, and stretching as they began to elongate and grow back. there weren't nearly enough restored for it to attempt to hold anyone down again, yet, but it wouldn't take long.

While Terra was being searched, Carbide was still struggling with her own bandit, a short distance away. Her next attempt to cut at it also struck several vines, and while she hadn't managed to sever them cleanly, the creature nevertheless seemed to decide that she wasn't worth the effort and withdrew into its portal. This left Carbide, free at last of the groping appendages, on her own above the freshly placed lava. Despite expectations, the moss was actually creeping in on the lava, rather than the other way around, and the patch was being consumed, but it certainly lasted long enough for Carbide, now unmolested, to release her elemental rage. The shadow creature wasn't harassing her any more, but up above, the Bagworm had gotten wind of danger and raised its leaf shield. this... did not help it as Carbide's blast of fire tore through and incinerated the virus, leaving just the two unknown entities for them to deal with.

Having won its price, the GrabBandit harassing Terra looked up at her, seeking to meet her eyes with its own singular blue glow. Next came a hiss of challenge, face to face, and the tunnel was filled with another brilliant flare of dazzling blue light. Far too close to the source of the flare, even closing her eyes still left Terra seeing stars, though what might otherwise have been searing pain seemed to be mostly absorbed by her protective armour. Above her, the creature's already shadowy form blurred and became darker, it's shape even harder to determine than before; as the blast of light faded from the tunnel, it became every bit a true shadow in the darkness again, and leapt off of Terra to prowl between the navi and her SP, watching them both.

As it turned out, this might have been something of a distraction; even before she could pick herself up off the ground properly, an explosion of rapidly grabbing tentacles burst up from the ground beneath her, snaking and coiling over her limbs and restraining her tightly. they crushed through the remainder of her armour, crumbling it away as they sought proper holds on her arms and legs, and wrapping about her waist, but in doing so, Terra herself was spared any of the crushing force. The other bright side was that, even bound like this, the earth navi wasn't in any way helpless. The red wave rolled out from her in a potent, lava-fuelled wash that ate much of the growing moss with a hiss, and also burned both of the shadowy creatures badly. Carbide managed to avoid the wave, getting her shield to it in time. Likewise, the Bandit's stolen candle weathered the wave with an aggravating level of heat-proof resilience. Perhaps strangely, though the creature restraining Terra flinched and clearly took a deal of pain from her attack, the ground swell didn't pop it from its portal, or seem to interrupt it in any way. The way the shadow portals seemed to work, it didn't appear as though they were actually 'in' the ground in the traditional sense.

-=Gleams in the Gloom=-

BagwormEx A: DELETED
BagwormEx B: DELETED
BagwormEx C: DELETED

GrabBanditEx A: 130Hp [Between Terra and Carbide][Soil][Shadow][Stolen Sword! (4 Uses, at 1/3 strength)]
GrabBanditEx B: 155Hp [Binding Terra][Soil]

-=Deep in the Dark=-

Terra.Exe: 170 HP [Lava][Casing Broken!][Blind1][Bind!]
Carbide.SP: 60 HP [Lava][Shield (1-Hit remaining)(reinforced)][Blind1]

Bind: This is a virus-only form of instantly-activating Hold that does not count as a status effect (thus cannot be removed with status cure). Bind works on a per-action basis, instead of per-turn, and is maintained by physical contact with the source.

-=Glowing and Growing=-

65% Moss [Even the walls and ceiling]
15% Lava [Small patch between Terra and Carbide]
20% Soil [Crescent between Terra and Carbide, being over-grown by Moss rapidly]

Moss is effectively grass terrain, but is damp enough that it doesn't catch easily, and doesn't provide damage multiplication for Fire. All other grass rules as normal. This moss is also glowing faintly, and a variety of other deep-dwelling plants seem to have rapidly grown over the ground here.

-=Stolen Goods!!=-

(Stolen)Candle: 33Hp

"Ugh!" grunted Terra. Bound and blinded, she began to grind her teeth, as the repeated disables gnawed away at her patience. Still, while she was blinded, she figured Carbide wouldn't be exempt from it either, as her defensive measures continued to provide both of them with mitigation from the viruses' onslaught. Then, she sensed her chip queue being increased, and activated its contents. While she wasn't able to see the result with her own eyes, her senses told her all she needed to know. A small rock emerged from the ground; it protruded itself just enough to reveal itself as as a heavyset barrel-like golem, proceeding to charge down the lava strip with a deep roar.

"That frustrated look on your face doesn't suit you, Terra," mused Scarlet, in a slow, calming voice. "Don't worry about it too much, we've only got those two left. I'll send in some more help. The worst is going to pass."

"... Thanks, Scarlet." Terra smiled. "... Um, you might want to tell Carbide that too, though. I think she's panicking."

"You're not gonna get me! Just because I can't see doesn't mean you can't hit me! I'm too fast!" Carbide yelled. She had been jumping around as soon as she felt the tendrils free her from their grip, as well as throwing around a few stray chunks of rock in an attempt to hit something. The lava beneath her feet floated up in small chunks towards her hand as well, restoring a shield on her free hand.

Scarlet chuckled. "Nah, I think she'll be fine. Getting some chips in."

"... Okay," said Terra, as the chips were received into her systems. The lava beneath her feet gurgled as two more golems emerged from its depths, each with a different design. One of them rolled out of the lava as a thin, lanky golem, with electrical arcs running down some chunky arms. It started to run at the tendrils that were coming from under Terra's feet. Another one was a lot smaller, looking more like a floating sphere than anything else, with very stumpy limbs that served no purpose. This one simply hurtled down in a direction seemingly at random, though Terra had it set towards the general direction of the Candle chip she had set earlier for a waypoint.

// Summary

[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1, to self (20 HP Planar Barrier (Lava/Fire))
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1, to Carbide (20 HP Planar Casing (Lava/Fire))
[Te.1] Chip: Shake1Damage: 90 + Wide Attack + Break
Accuracy: C
Description: Throws a dumbbell that slides through enemy lines for two turns. Can hit up to three enemies twice, second time having a 50% chance of hitting.
Duration: Two turns
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D: 90 + Wide Attack + Break (Acc: C) @ GrabBanditEX B/A

[Ca.1] Act: Run around at random (Dodge)
[Ca.2] Act: Attack something at random (Null 20)
[Ca.*] Sig: Terraskill: Reflex Guard 1, to self (1(+1) Hit Shield (Reinforce))

[Te.2] Sig: Terraskill: Tough Steel: Large Metal Terrain Change @ Self
[Te.3] Chip: RemotePlug3Damage: 140 + Homing + Phasing
Accuracy: C
Description: Fires an obstacle penetrating plug that moves forward. Its path can be adjusted by the user.
Duration: Once
Element: Elec
Trader Rank: B: 140 + Homing + Phasing (Acc: C) @ GrabBanditEX B (+100% Metal)
[Te.4] Chip: CornShot1Damage: 50 + Trick-Shot Spread 1
Accuracy: A / A
Description: Fires a smart-bomb tipped bullet that explodes and fires a second shot that auto-targets the nearest enemy.
Duration: Once
Element: Wood
Special: Trick Shot Spread: Automatically aims and spreads damage at one enemy nearest the point of impact. Can shoot around corners and bank off walls, floors, etc.
Trader Rank: D: 50 + Trick-Shot Spread 1 (Acc: A / A) @ Candle1/GrabBanditEX B (+10 Wood)

The tendrils that were busily invading Terra's personal space and sneaking under her gear while they restrained her weren't showing any signs of stopping their search for data, but they didn't find anything other than the squeezable parts of Terra herself, while she restored her defences and gave more protection to Carbide. The first chip-related thing she did try to do though, went about as horribly wrong as she may have suspected. The charging golem veered suddenly and again, Terra heard the muted giggling from the void beneath her. It slammed into carbide instead, her erratic movements seemingly ill-fated to bring her into the path of the runaway construct, rather than out of it. It obliterated her freshly formed shield as it bulled past her, out of control, and slammed with alarming impact into the wall of the tunnel.

More worrying, perhaps, was the way an answering rumble and shake seemed to come from all around, just for a moment. Terra felt the tentacles holding her still for the briefest fraction of a moment, tense, even as the pace of the mossy reclamation began to pick up speed. Small stalks of more complex plants began to sprout and grow from some of the better established moss; growths of all different varieties, most of them faintly luminescent in the darkness.

Carbide, for her part, wasn't able to connect with anything of not with her wild attacks, and the GrabBandit that was out and on the prowl was mostly ignoring the little SP now as well. Its tendrils had completely regrown now, and waved searchingly from its back, but the creature was focused on Terra, moving the sword it now held from one tendril to the other with a worrisome amount of precision control. Suddenly it dashed, darting past where she was bound and striking out with the sword as it moved in deceptively fluid patterns. It snaked in, passing neatly between the tentacles binding her without cutting its ally, to cut through her barrier. It landed with grace on the far side, turning about and hissing at her from the guise of its shadowy form.

Terra was about done being restrained, and set up an efficient one-two using her terrain manipulation skills. Now surrounded by the effusively growing greenery, the patch of metal she created wasn't quite as large as she might have planned to make it, and the moss had begun to creep over it again practically before it was finished forming, but it was enough for her second golem to latch onto the tendrils binding its mistress and deliver a tremendous amount of electrical force directly through the hostile creature. there was a yowl of agony, reverberating in the tunnel space as though coming from a detached place, as the tendrils holding her attempted to disengage furiously. Terra touched down, unharmed as the creature clawed its way out of its portal beside her, managing another step before it collapsed. The shadows began to fade from its body to reveal soft fur, while it rapidly began to break down.

A second scream, perhaps of pain, perhaps of anger, followed the first as the other beast dived back towards Terra a second time — for a moment it had seemed as though it might have gone for Carbide, easy pickings while she ran about, but seeing Terra's dispatch of its companion had spurred it into a vengeful rage and it pounced onto her, paws scrabbling as the swiftly wielded sword cut and slashed all around, shredding parts of her armour and cutting at her skin. While this was going on, in an almost amusing aside, her other, smaller and generally far more accurate creation made a clever trick shot aimed at the candle, but proceeded to flub it completely, hitting absolutely nothing.


-=Gleams in the Gloom=-

BagwormEx A: DELETED
BagwormEx B: DELETED
BagwormEx C: DELETED

GrabBanditEx A: 140Hp [Grappling Terra][Metal][Stolen Sword! (2 Uses, at 1/3 strength)]
GrabBanditEx B: DELETED

-=Deep in the Dark=-

Terra.Exe: 143 HP [Metal][Barrier Broken!]
Carbide.SP: 60 HP [Moss][Shield (1-Hit remaining)(reinforced)][Shield Broken!][20Hp Planar Casing (Wood)][Shake Incoming]

Bind: This is a virus-only form of instantly-activating Hold that does not count as a status effect (thus cannot be removed with status cure). Bind works on a per-action basis, instead of per-turn, and is maintained by physical contact with the source.

-=Glowing and Growing=-

80% Moss [Even the walls and ceiling]
5% Lava [Small patch at the far end of the area, son to be reclaimed]
15% Metal [Small area directly around Terra — much has already been converted back to moss]

Moss is effectively grass terrain, but is damp enough that it doesn't catch easily, and doesn't provide damage multiplication for Fire. All other grass rules as normal. This moss is also glowing faintly, and a variety of other deep-dwelling plants seem to have rapidly grown over the ground here.

-=Stolen Goods!!=-

(Stolen)Candle: 33Hp [Expired!]

"Oof, something almost hit me..." mused Carbide, as she attempted to regain her bearings.

The world was a blur from the repeated flashbangs, but she managed to gain enough composure to take stock of what had happened. One of her shields had been completely shattered, but she was otherwise relatively unharmed. Shaking her head, she saw Terra being pounced upon by one of the shadowy rodent viruses. It really didn't seem like it wanted to give her an affectionate hug with the amount of howling and slashing it was doing. "Hey! Get away from her!" yelled Carbide, as she lifted up the shield that she had had, and tossed it towards the virus's back. She then produced another shield to replace it, and continued to try and pelt the virus with a few more attacks. As weak as the attacks were, she at least had the knowledge that they weren't entirely useless. Unfortunately, she was a bit too focused on Terra to pay any kind of attention to whatever other attacks might be headed her way.

Terra squirmed slightly under the furious virus's assault, as she built her defenses back up from the metal paneling under her. The armor that formed on her glowed a dim orange as it radiated a protective barrier. The protection wasn't exactly enough to prevent spatters of rabid saliva on her face, but any damage to her would at least be prevented in some form. Meanwhile, some more reinforcements arrived in the form of battlechips from her operator, who was watching the fight with rapt attention.

"One left. Go get 'em!" she cheered.

Terra's hand glowed under the new power, and she tried to grab a hold of the creature's paws to halt its attacks and absorb some of its energy into herself. Under her feet, another process had started, with some of the metal paneling parting at the edges to reveal rapidly growing vines. The vines shot upwards towards the virus, in an attempt to restrain it away from Terra's own body, leading into her next attack. They then held down Terra's own feet, their roots funneling energy from the ground into her core. Sparks of electrical energy snaked across her arms, and lit them up with circuit-like motifs, before being unleashed towards the virus in a powerful beam of light. Off to the side, they would also subtly funnel some restorative energy to Terra's assisting Support Program, working together in order to bring down the creature's rage.

// Summary
[Ca.1] Act: Throw weaker shield as an attack (Null 20)
[Ca.*] Sig: Terraskill: Reflex Guard 1, to self (1(+1) Hit Shield (Reinforce))
[Ca.2] Act: Random barrage of rocky chunks (Null 20)

[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1, to self (20 HP Planar Barrier (Metal/Elec))
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1, to self (20 HP Planar Casing (Metal/Elec))
[Te.1] Chip: Drain1Damage: Drain 50
Accuracy: C
Description: Summons a cloud of Skeeter viruses, and sends them flying at one enemy. They surround the target, proceed to drain HP from it, and send the stolen energy back to their summoner before vanishing. This attack has a slow travel speed.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D: Drain 50 (Acc: C) @ GrabBanditEX A
[Te.2] Chip: Rope1Damage: 50 + Hold + Ground Attack
Accuracy: A
Description: A vine sprouts from the ground to grab and damage an enemy for three turns. Can be destroyed with Slashing or Fire attacks, or other RP-based solutions. Destroying the vine instantly ends its effects.
Duration: Three turns
Element: Wood
Trader Rank: D: 50 + Hold + Ground Attack (Acc: A) @ GrabBanditEX A (+20 Wood)
[Te.3] Chip: ElementalRage2Damage: 90 + LineAttack3
Accuracy: A
Description: Fires a ray of energy in front of the player. If the user is standing on an elemental terrain, the blast gains that power. Can target up to three enemies.
Duration: Once
Element: Depends on Terrain
Trader Rank: C: 90 + LineAttack3 + Terrain-Element (Acc: A) @ GrabBanditEX A (Metal/Elec, +100% Metal)
[Te.4] Chip: Recover30Recovery: 30 HP
Accuracy: S
Description: Heals 30 HP.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D: Recover 30 HP (Acc: S) @ Carbide

As she often seemed to do when the bigger enemies disregarded her, Carbide set about pelting the last remaining foe with whatever implements she could bring to hand, shouting at it as she did. The GrabBandit itself was far too focused on trying to kill Terra to pay attention to the small SP, but it snarled and hissed as her various projectiles crashed into its side. One thing that did pay attention to the agitated support program, was the haywire charger that Terra had tried to summon before. It pulled itself out of the wall and came rushing back towards her, but missed its second pass, to slam into the opposite wall this time, where it shattered into inanimate pieces. Another heavy rumble sounded through the corridor.

As the rapidly expanding moss creep was continuing to spread beneath them, Terra did her best to fight off the beast while the many tendrils of its back vines assaulted her, and the blade was passed between the different appendages for quick cuts and slices; her defences held her safe from the assault for now, but her own attempts to drain the creature's data failed to take hold. It wasn't until she struck back with a restraint of her own that Terra began to get the upper hand.

The GrabBandit was finally distracted from its assault by the sudden eruption of vines that wrapped about it and tangled with its own tendrils. It disengaged slightly, struggling to slip free and counter the grabbing vines, but they were too fast and too numerous. It reared back with a yowl, but this only caused it to present a better Target for Terra, the vines swiftly binding it in place as it thrashed and struggled. Its stolen blade quickly began to cut the vines away with precision, but it wasn't fast enough to escape Terra's elemental blast; the moss had already edged its way past her feet, colouring the attack with natural energies instead, but it didn't matter; the blast was enough to finish the creature off. it collapsed, not far from where its partner had fallen, the extra shadows falling from its body as it, too, began to break down into data.

While Terra channelled some more healing to her SP, and collected he spoils of this unexpectedly long battle, she'd find that the two larger viruses had, amongst their remnant data, left behind something she could use as a chip. In scarlet's case, even if she had decided to spend the entire time searching for information on these creatures, nothing would have shown up; it seemed safe to guess that Terra might well have been the first one to see such things.

-=Gleams in the Gloom=-

BagwormEx A: DELETED
BagwormEx B: DELETED
BagwormEx C: DELETED

GrabBanditEx A: DELETED
GrabBanditEx B: DELETED

-=Deep in the Dark=-

Terra.Exe: 158 HP [Moss]
Carbide.SP: 70 HP [Moss]

-=Glowing and Growing=-

100% Moss [Even the walls and ceiling]

Moss is effectively grass terrain, but is damp enough that it doesn't catch easily, and doesn't provide damage multiplication for Fire. All other grass rules as normal. This moss is also glowing faintly, and a variety of other deep-dwelling plants seem to have rapidly grown over the ground here.

-=Battle 9, Victory!!=-

Spoils:

Terra gets: 1780z, PickpocketDamage: 0
Accuracy: B
Description: Summons a Bandcoon to steal from opponents before vanishing.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Success and quality of theft affected by RP quality and luck.
Trader Rank: C, 50 BugFrags

"Alright! We did it!" cheered Carbide, as the last of the GrabBandit duo breaking down into a heap of data. Terra's legs nearly gave out, but she managed to stand tall, and sighed in relief. Carbide wiped her forehead as she looked around, laughing to clear away the fatigue that had built up. Of course, the recovery data helped a bit, but the mental shock of being suddenly kidnapped like she just did was still weighing on her. Still, it looked like they could move on, Carbide thought, as she started to look about the remaining data that the odd viruses left behind. However, she didn't get too far, before she felt herself being tightly wrapped again, but this time, the warmth of the sudden entrapment didn't cause her any panic.

"H-Hey, Terra? N-Not that I mind the hug, but um, what's the occasion?"

Scarlet's video feed screen appeared next to both of them, hugely grinning. "Jeez, you two are so cute."

"Scarlet? Huh? What?" said Carbide cluelessly, as Terra's hug became tighter, and her confusion grew stronger. The hug continued for a while, with Carbide not knowing how to respond, and would have gone on for a little bit longer, if not for the sudden interruption of a rustling sound. Both of their eyes were drawn to the rapidly decomposing data "corpse" of the virus they had just fought. From the distorted junk data, a tiny figure emerged, looking like a miniature guinea pig with a black mask on it. The little rodent blinked for a little while before disappearing in a beam of light, just as the other data did when they were beamed up into the PET. Carbide was about to comment, but she then felt Terra's hug suddenly recede. The Navi walked ahead of her, smiling as she beckoned her to follow.

"Oh, we're going again? Okay, if you say so," said Carbide, as she walked along. In the dim light of the glowing moss, Carbide had missed that Terra's cheeks were still quite wet.

[Z > 3655, BF > 128, F > 27]
[Battle 10 - Ready!]
[Terra.EXE: 158 HP, Carbide.SP: 70 HP.]

After an emotional few moments in the remains of the previous battle, Terra and her SP were ready to head on, or at least, as ready as they could be. The feeling of life and growth in the land around them was growing more intense and effusive the further down this tunnel that they went, and even though the only light guiding them came from the soft glow of the different plant life that had sprung up, Terra would have no trouble navigating the way forward. The downward slope continued, and if she was taking note of the way the land felt, the strongest sense was that, amidst the rock and stone, as well as feeling fertile and full of potential life, there was also a growing sense of timelessness, and slow stillness.

The intermittent deep rumbles, and shakes also continued, though they didn't quite arrive as sounds yet, so much as sensations in the earth. A particularly deep rumble sent trails of dirt trickling down from the slightly less reinforced sections of the tunnel's ceiling. Whatever was going on, something was definitely down here. The question was, was it the same thing that made the tunnels, or something else entirely? The question would be answered for them soon enough.

It wasn't long before Terra and carbide emerged into another open space; it was hard to grasp the size of this one, but they were definitely up high. The tunnel mouth emerged near the upper dome of the chamber, which felt like a massive cylindrical space, with many other similar tunnels leading out of or into it from many other directions. The trodden paths continued down the walls of the space, though they were angled, more like they were made by creatures used to climbing on the walls of chambers as much as the floor, and most of the paths leading to higher tunnels, like Terra's, formed downward spirals around the wall of the chamber. From where she stood in the mouth of her tunnel, Terra might guess that there was easily room for about twelve levels of tunnels similar to the one she was in, between ground floor and the highest level. It was a long way down.

Under normal circumstances, the sight that might have taken immediate attention would have been the massive mound of broken and corrupted-looking data piled high in the centre of the chamber. It had large entrances bored into it in many places, and to an astute eye might look almost like a junk heap turned into a hive mound by something. The something, patently, was a swarm of long, shelled, bug-like creatures, each one of which looked about the right size to bore the tunnel Terra had been travelling through all this time. Getting a good look at one now would likely confirm to Terra herself that it had been one of these creatures that had passed beneath them, all the way back up at the surface. A further deduction might include the thought that it had been fleeing. this was because, while the junk hive mound might take all the attention under normal circumstances, Terra did not find the nest in normal circumstances. Something else was very much going to take the spotlight from it.

Exactly what that something was was hard to work out, but it was very large. The far side of the tall chamber looked to have been collapsed partially, as though the... entity... had burst through, but the being itself looked to be made entirely of animate chunks of rock, stone, wooden logs, vines, moss and earth. Its form seemed fluid; the individual pieces of its shape floated and drifted as a single entity, and in many places connected and were bound together into limbs, but beyond that determining what it looked 'like' was an exercise in futility. Several of the large pill-bug creatures were fleeing their junk mound and running for the tunnels, but the entity, which filled the chamber from floor to ceiling, was reaching out to crush them with its limbs. It moved with an implacable sedation; each action deliberate and definite, but even though they seemed slow, it didn't appear to be missing many of the bugs. Wherever it crushed one, junk data splattered on the floor and walls, corroding and eating away at things.

One major feature that seemed to confirm that what they were witnessing was a single entity destroying the nest, was that somewhere near the top of its main body was a formation that looked mostly like a head, that turned wand watched as it worked. It was made mostly of stone slabs and vines, but in the centre were a pair of very large, brilliantly green emeralds that glowed with an unnatural light. The face was turned down towards the hive as it brought one massive limb across to swipe the top half of the pile off, exposing more of the bored tunnels inside. More bugs poured out and it crushed many of them, but it seemed more focused now, digging for something. The hive itself seemed to be eating into the ground of the net, a mass of broken and corrupted data bits that were resisting the encroachment of the growing moss all around. It seemed clear that the growing terrain was spreading from the entity attacking the hive at this point. It tore open more of the hive, then reached in to pull something out, but as it did, the creature's face turned upwards, and the two glowing emeralds looked directly at Terra. The sense of timeless stillness waxed as it looked at her.

The limb it had thrust into the hive came out, pinning what looked like a massive queen bug between two flat stones. It was longer, with a thicker, more bulbous body and very large mandibles compared to the worker bugs. The creature thrust it against the wall of the chamber, holding it pinned while it writhed and struggled, gnashing its pincers and trying to sting with the large spike in its tail, but neither of these seemed to have any real effect on the earth and rocks that held it. The creature moved with the same slow, deliberate actions as it leaned across the chamber now, bringing its face uncomfortably close to Terra; the shape that made ups its head was about the size of the tunnel, the emerald eyes easily as large as Terra herself. This close, her normal senses for the land around her might feel like they were going haywire; she could feel it, sort of, as though it literally was the land and the earth, but with a sense of compacted power and strength that suggested whole mountains contained in a much smaller space.

It didn't feel hostile — it didn't feel friendly either. It felt still, calm, patient, and deeply absolute in some difficult to describe way. There was a faint scent of soil and moss. After several long seconds of simply looking at Terra, it pulled back again, stone creaking and grinding as its limbs moved. Still watching the navi, it held the queen bug away from the wall and squeezed it, damaging its body somewhat, then dropped it into the remains of the destroyed hive. At last, it stood back all the way, turning its gaze down to the injured bug, then back to Terra, before stepping back into the wall of the chamber. Earth shifted and it sunk into the surface, sliding smoothly and slowly out of sight until it was gone. The glows of its eyes were the last thing to fade.

It would be wrong to say that silence returned to the large cylindrical chamber; the queen bug was hissing and spitting as it righted itself. The stillness faded, though, and the slowness, and suddenly the injured bug was charging out of the ruined hide and up one of the spiral paths towards Terra, corrosive fluids spilling from the cracks in its shell and an enraged fury in its tiny bead-eyes.

As much as it had been a bug in the arm of the strange entity that destroyed the nest, this creature was still intimidatingly large to Terra and her SP; it had a multitude of legs supporting its form, which was long and bulbed, covered in a thick chitinous shell that was cracked and damaged in many places. It's lead four legs were not on the ground as it ran, and it kept part of its body upright, as though those limbs were better used as arms instead. Even at this partial height, though, it would be easily as tall again as Terra herself. There were jagged claws in the insides of its legs, more pronounced ones on the arms, which bore hooked ends, and the wicked-looking mandibles that clicked and drooled as it charged were about as long as Terra's leg. The larges bulb of its body was at the end, and it looked the most vulnerable, probably, but it also waved back and forth freely and bore a stinger with a razor point that tapered outwards to about the thickness of a person's arm, and was about as long. Even injured, this wasn't likely to be an easy thing to deal with, and this one seemed hostile — very hostile.

-=Long Live the Queen!=-

CorpusRegina.Stack: 600 Hp [Moss][More than 2 movements away][Charging towards Terra][???]

[???]: Things affecting this target are unknown as yet, but will be revealed as discovered, or with actions taken to learn its properties.

-=Bearing Witness=-

Terra.Exe: 170Hp [Moss][At the entrance of a tunnel at the highest level of the chamber.]
Carbide.SP: 70Hp [Moss][With Terra]

-=Destroyed Conflux=-

70% Moss [Most of the cylindrical chamber, including walls, is completely overgrown]
10% Cursed [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
10% Poison [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
5% Cracked [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
5% Broken [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]

Terrain is a large cylindrical chamber, as tall as twelve of the tunnels that Terra is standing in, from top to bottom. There are many passages spaced around the walls at different levels, and each has a path spiralling downwards along the wall to the centre ground floor. The spiral paths all go in the same direction, which is anti-clockwise. The centre ground contains the remains of a mounded nest, comprised mostly of corrupt and damaging terrain. This is jagged and uneven, and can be climbed over or taken cover behind; the right formation for what you wish to do, if you're in the area, will never be more than an action away.

Moss: Moss is effectively grass terrain, and provides all the same effects as grass terrain, will count for grass-terrain triggers and chip effects etc. The main difference is that it is damp and vivacious, and while it will still burn, it will not provide damage amplification for fire attacks that consume it.

-=Battle 10, Start!=-

"Hmm, Terra?"

"... Yes?"

"Why are we going down this tunnel anyway? Is there some kind of treasure at the end or something? It seemed like you really wanted to go down here."

"... Well, there is something at the end of this tunnel. It's not really that I'm looking for treasure... I think. It's hard to explain, but the simplest way to say how it feels to me is like being close to finding something really old."

"So, like an old artifact or something? You sure it's not any more of those black rat things?" said Scarlet, who was busy making notes of the area that Scarlet was traveling through. Even the moss by itself seemed to be very interesting, as unlike regular terrain effects in networks, the moss seemed to be very rapidly restoring itself every time it was disturbed by one of Terra's terrain changes. Her train of thought was interrupted by a rumbling sound coming from her PET, which also made Terra and Carbide's legs shake. Carbide in particular was quite perturbed by the shaking, as she grabbed onto the walls while dirt fell from the ceiling. "I-I-I'm kind of having second thoughts about this!" she stammered, as the shaking stopped, and Terra continued further in.

For some reason, Terra didn't feel any kind of fear gripping her. On the contrary, with every shift in the earth, she was drawn further and further in, as if by a siren's song. Carbide didn't have much of a choice but to follow her Navi in. Both of them came to the large opening moments later, and were immediately arrested in their approach. With the enormous behemoth spreading out before them, they stood transfixed at the sight: Terra in wonderment, and Carbide in terror. There were some other things in the chamber that would have demanded some bit of attention, but at the moment, the overwhelming presence of the unknown beast had their eyes firmly forward. Time appeared to slow down.

"Okay, that's definitely not a virus," said Scarlet, as she observed the spectacle through the screen. The visual feed was glitching out as she tried to check what the stats were saying on the entity. Unfortunately, whatever she tried to glean from the gentle giant had no effect, as it slowly lumbered around, smashing its limbs down with an almost visibly majestic impact. Scarlet's field of vision as an operator was also rather fixed, and considering Terra's current fixation had her looking upwards, she couldn't see what all was actually going on.

"Terra? Can you tell me anything about it?" she said. However, only silence was her reply, as the entity approached both of them slowly, staring at them with a pair of brilliant emerald eyes. Some kind of noise echoed out from the background, but at the moment, all three of them were held captive by the giant's gaze. Terra's body tensed up as the monster's approach drove her senses haywire, her automatic defense systems starting up quickly by themselves, while Scarlet's mind was at full speed, trying to figure out what kind of battle strategy would be effective for it. Meanwhile, Carbide simply stared in terror, unwilling to move or speak, though her automatic defenses were also starting to form by themselves. Both of the programs' instincts were running at full, screaming commands for them to oppose the monster and fight, yet they simply stayed still.

"Terra! Answer me!"

Perhaps luckily, the enormous mass of earth and flora drew back from them. It held up something within her field of view, which Terra saw to be an enormous bug. It looked kind of beat up as the entity allowed it to crash into the ground, emitting a high-pitched hiss. The noise brought Terra and Carbide to their senses, only to find that the giant entity had melted into the opposite wall. The Navi shook her head, as if she had just woken up, and groggily responded to her operator. "... Scarlet?" she mumbled. Carbide had a similar reaction, though her response was a much less coherent "Bwuh?"

Before Scarlet could speak, however, the queen bug that had been smashed up reared its head, and began to charge the up the pathway that led up to the tunnel they had just exited. Scarlet waved her hand and snapped her fingers in a hurry. "No, no, never mind! That thing's coming after you, and I don't think it's going to be friendly!" she said, as she selected a few stalling chips for her Navi to use. Terra's senses were jumpstarted as the chips came in, and she turned her attention down at the charging bug. Her eyes raced over to Carbide, who looked as if she was still somewhat disoriented. Thinking fast, Terra smacked her SP on the shoulder, earning a yelp out of her.

"Ow! What was that for?!" she cried out, though after Terra pointed out the large bug trying to charge towards them, she perked up slightly. "O-Oh! Okay! Okay, I got this," she said, as she positioned herself in front of Terra, with her already-formed shield held high, as a stalwart sentinel. Behind her, Terra began to set up the first round of attacks from the chips she had received. Her feet dug into the ground as a few sinkholes appeared in the mossy terrain in front of them, ready to trap any approaching giant bug. She then formed a small ball of earth from the ground that she had dug up with her boot, and kicked it down the path, where it grew into two relatively large-sized ones, headed straight for the injured insect. Of course, there was also still the possibility of the bug using some projectile attacks, so she set herself up to evade anything that would get past Carbide's defenses.

// Summary
[Ca.*] Sig: Terraskill: Reflex Guard 1, to self (1(+1) Hit Shield (Reinforce))
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1, to self (20 HP Planar Barrier (Moss/Wood))
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1, to self (20 HP Planar Casing (Moss/Wood))

[Ca.1] Act: Defend Terra (Redirect 1 hit towards self)
[Ca.2] Act: Defend Terra (Redirect 1 hit towards self)

[Te.1] Chip: WhiteWeb1Damage: 40 + Snare x 3 targets
Accuracy: C
Description: Casts three spider webs on the ground as a snare or a net to capture, damage, or otherwise hinder your enemies. Can be destroyed with Slashing or Fire attacks, or other RP solutions. Destroying the webbing instantly ends its effects.
Duration: One turn
Element: Wood
Special: Snare: A combination of Hold, Grapple, and Trap effects. However, in exchange for RP versatility, the chip can backfire depending upon RP. Nullify cancels Snare. Snared targets can be set on fire for an extra 1x base fire damage, though the target will be free of Snare the following turn.
Trader Rank: D: 40 + Snare x 3 targets (Acc: C) @ CorpusRegina (+20 Wood, Pathfinder: Accuracy+)
[Te.2] Chip: RollingLog1Damage: 50 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack (2) + Double Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: Rolls a log at enemies. Can hit up to two enemies at once per log.
Duration: Up to 2 uses before the end of the turn.
Element: Wood
Special: Double Attack: After spending an action to attack with this chip, you may choose to spend a second action and attack with it again before the end of the turn.
Note: This chip used to be known as RingLog1
Trader Rank: D: 50 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack (2) + Double Attack (Acc: C) @ CorpusRegina (+20 Wood, Pathfinder: Accuracy+)
[Te.3] Chip: RollingLog1Damage: 50 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack (2) + Double Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: Rolls a log at enemies. Can hit up to two enemies at once per log.
Duration: Up to 2 uses before the end of the turn.
Element: Wood
Special: Double Attack: After spending an action to attack with this chip, you may choose to spend a second action and attack with it again before the end of the turn.
Note: This chip used to be known as RingLog1
Trader Rank: D: 50 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack (2) + Double Attack (Acc: C) @ CorpusRegina (+20 Wood, Pathfinder: Accuracy+)
[Te.4] Act: Sidestep any attacks that come (Dodge)

Shaken out of the strange reverie by the more immediate threat of a large, angry, wounded bug, Terra and Carbide quickly went to battle stations, and not a moment too soon. Despite its damaged shell, the queen insect scrambled towards them, scuttling at a frightfully fast pace. It was leaving a trail of sickly purple blood behind it everywhere it went, leaving a mess of corrupting poison on the ramp, and more of the stuff was leaking from its cracked carapace. The moss withered and rotted anywhere the blood fell.

Terra's first efforts were to slow it down, setting her natural snare on the ground between herself and the violent creature, but even as the snare tried to spring, the many-legged monster scuttled and wove, darting through some of it and pulling apart the rest as it came on. The splatter of its corrosive blood everywhere seemed to further prevent the trap from gaining purchase. Already, though, there was precious little time to react; the creature was almost on top of them and Terra's first log edged too far to the side of the path as she set it off, tumbling down the side and towards the destroyed hive. Her second roll was better, but the bug was ready, swerving around it with half its legs on the wall as it closed in.

A moment later, it was on top of them both at the top of the pathway, and it reared up to stand only only about half of its back-most legs, before letting out an ear-piercing screech that filled the cavern, sending both Terra and Carbide's senses reeling again. In the deafened silence that followed, Terra and Carbide would both find their ability to process chips somehow hampered. As it reared back, a particularly direct spurt of the toxic blood sprang out, coincidentally towards the pair, but Carbide managed to cover them from the spray with her shield. Even so, the shield itself began to corrode quickly, losing some of its integrity.

As the bug dropped down to all of its limbs again, it's over-sized mandibles snapped out, pinning and grabbing Carbide, who was in front, before lifting the small girl back up again and waving her about. Fortunately for Carbide, as terrifying as it might be, a combination of how she was held, and her own armour and clothing stopped the creatures jaws from actually cutting into her, but the sense of crushing strength in the jaws was palpable to say the least.


-=Long Live the Queen!=-

CorpusRegina.Stack: 600 Hp [Moss][Right on top of Terra][Holding Carbide][Terrain-Walker(Poison)][Off-Target(2 turns)][Almost Certainly a Speed Type][???]

[???]: Things affecting this target are unknown as yet, but will be revealed as discovered, or with actions taken to learn its properties.

-=Bearing Witness=-

Terra.Exe: 170Hp [Moss][At the entrance of a tunnel at the highest level of the chamber.][20Hp Planar Casing(Earth)][20Hp Planar Barrier(Earth)][Silenced! (two turns)]
Carbide.SP: 70Hp [Moss][Being carried/restrained!][1-hit Shield (reinforced)][Silenced! (two turns)]

-=Destroyed Conflux=-

60% Moss [Most of the cylindrical chamber, including walls, is completely overgrown]
10% Cursed [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
20% Poison [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixes, as well as most of the path leading down to it from Terra's tunnel]
5% Cracked [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
5% Broken [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]

Terrain is a large cylindrical chamber, as tall as twelve of the tunnels that Terra is standing in, from top to bottom. There are many passages spaced around the walls at different levels, and each has a path spiralling downwards along the wall to the centre ground floor. The spiral paths all go in the same direction, which is anti-clockwise. The centre ground contains the remains of a mounded nest, comprised mostly of corrupt and damaging terrain. This is jagged and uneven, and can be climbed over or taken cover behind; the right formation for what you wish to do, if you're in the area, will never be more than an action away.

Moss: Moss is effectively grass terrain, and provides all the same effects as grass terrain, will count for grass-terrain triggers and chip effects etc. The main difference is that it is damp and vivacious, and while it will still burn, it will not provide damage amplification for fire attacks that consume it.

"Whoa!"
"I-It's so fast!"

Carbide jumped as their insectoid enemy rapidly scuttled towards them, smashing right through the traps and attacks that Terra had set up. The split second that followed as it reached the top of the pathway lingered in slow motion, and the stench of its sickly blood passed by the two. Then, it reared up and let out its ear-splitting screech, shaking the cavern as it did. Both Terra and Carbide immediately held up their hands to their ears as they were assaulted by the sound, loose debris falling around them from the high ceiling. The communication screen that had been by Terra's side flickered heavily, before blinking out entirely into thin air. Just as the screeching stopped, its blood sprayed out towards Carbide, who winced as the toxic liquid corroded through part of her shield.

"It's okay, I got it!" she said, before the bug suddenly reappeared above her, and caught her in its enormous teeth. "W-Waaaaah!" she screamed, as the petite girl was thrown about wildly by the creature. Panic rushed through her as she bashed her shield against the bug's mandibles, and tried to pry them apart with her hands. "H-Help me, Terra!" she pleaded.

"... Scarlet, I'll need the usual," said Terra, widening her stance as she dug her heels into the damp moss beneath her feet. The ground began to cave in and melt into itself as a pool of lava expanded from her feet. However... "... Scarlet?" she repeated. The line was silent, and a brief look of confusion crossed her face, before the giant bug before her screeched again. A pillar of rock burst forth from the gathering of molten rock, and Terra clicked her tongue in exasperation. Moving her feet, she tried to avoid anything the giant insectoid had to throw at her, at the same time trying to formulate a plan. Her passive defenses started back up again on Carbide, at least letting her survive a bit more, for the moment.

She muttered something under her breath as she looked towards the side of the wall. The area was swath with outcroppings and plants, perfect for scaling. She dashed towards one that looked particularly stable, and nimbly made her way up to a respectable height. In one quick move, she then kicked off of the wall with a grunt, hopefully being close enough to the insect to mount it, so that she could try to further her plan somewhat.

---

Meanwhile, in a hotel room in Yoka, a hoarse voice yelled out in surprise. "Graaaah!" Luke yelled, as the piercing screech that had come from a certain person's PET suddenly cut out. The man sat up quickly in the bed, his head pounding as he looked over towards an exasperated-looking Scarlet. "What in the fuck was that noise?" he grunted. He did not need this at all.

"S-Sorry, Luke. I was kind of operating the girls, and I--" explained Scarlet, before the doorbell rang, and a "room service" call came through the intercom. Grunting in further distress, Scarlet hopped off the bed, muttering curses under her own breath. The man who had been rudely woken up blearily stared at the entrance hall as his roommate disappeared into it, and stretched his limbs with a yawn.

// Summary (Operator-Absent Turns: 1/2)
[Ca.1] Act: Attack CorpusRegina (Null 20)
[Ca.2] Act: Attempt to free self (RP)
[Ca.*] Sig: Terraskill: Reflex Guard 1: 1-Hit Shield @ Terra (Reinforced/Shield Bash)
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1: 20 HP Planar Barrier (Moss/Wood) @ Carbide
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1: 20 HP Planar Casing (Moss/Wood) @ Carbide

[Te.1] Sig: Terraform: Violent Magma: Large Lava Terrain Change @ Under CorpusRegina
[Te.2] Act: Sidestep any attacks that come (Dodge)
[Te.3] Act: Scale up wall next to CorpusRegina (RP)
[Te.4] Act: Attempt to mount CorpusRegina (RP)

As the navi and her SP tried to respond to the swift assault, Terra was faced with the issue that the bug's screeching had knocked out her data feed from Scarlet... although it didn't seem like Scarlet was at the keys anyway, for now. The first step, of course, was to get everyone's defences back in place. The giant insect before her flexed and stretched itself, beady eyes shifting rapidly as it tried to watch Terra and chew on Carbide at the same time. It was quivering with fury and rage, which swiftly turned to even more angered shrieks and hisses as Terra spread a covering of magma beneath it. Its legs writhed picking up and standing down again as it tried to touch the burning surface as little as possible.

It threw its head back higher, twisting and re-biting with its jaws as more of its smaller fore limbs reached up to slash and grab at Carbide, trying to quell her struggles. Pinned as she was, it was hard enough to prevent herself getting crushed by the heavy mandibles, and fending off the extra bite attempts and slashing claws was left entirely to her freshly formed defences. Each in turn they were stripped back, but Carbide herself escaped further harm from the assault.

Amidst her struggling, Carbide managed to land a decently solid blow on a portion of the bugs head, though as it twisted away from the impact, another spray of corrosive blood gushed outwards, spraying Carbide down one side of her body. It felt hot, burning almost, like acid, and though it didn't do very much real damage tot he SP, the places where it landed on her top began to corrode. It might be best to avoid getting any more of the creature's blood on her, if she could.

While the bug was occupied trying to turn Carbide into a snack, Terra went mostly ignored, and was able to scale the rough-sided wall and make an impressive lea onto the bug's back. As much as her weight wasn't very much to the large creature, it still noticed, and reacted immediately, writhing in a circle and rolling over on itself in a flailing thrash as it tried to get the navi off its back. The large, wicked-looking stinger at the end of its tail curled up and around, trying to stab her, but Terra managed to hang on all the way through this.

Apparently, Terra's actions pushed the bug's rage too far, and it gave up on Carbide; the small SP was making herself far too much of a problem to be worth it anyway. It flailed its head to the side violently and released her, flinging the small girl off the ramp and down, to land far away in the ruined remains of the hive somewhere. As it flailed about, struggling to reach Terra, more of its noxious blood spilled out over the lava, creating a loud hiss. Toxic vapours began to rise, and though the chittering and screeching of the bug didn't seem to indicate any extra ill effect from coming into contact with its own blood, it would probably be a bad idea for Terra to breath in the fumes — it was only by virtue of the fact that she was riding the queen herself that she wasn't breathing them already.

Despite her best efforts, Terra wasn't quite able to avoid all of the bug's flailing attacks on her, and one claw lanced in from the side with a vicious thrust. Terra managed to catch it on her shield, the only defence remaining to her after the poison below sapped her other defences, but even though the shield shattered, it returned a bolt of energy back, which punched directly into the damaged carapace right in front of where she was mounted on it. Unsurprisingly, this revealed more seeping purple blood that bubbled and hissed as the creature gave an extra fierce buck and cry from the jolt of extra pain.

Down the bottom of the chamber, Carbide had landed amongst the refuse and debris of the hive. She was unhurt from the throw, but was a long way from the battle now, unless Terra steered her unruly mount back downwards too. There was a lot of extra junk here, though, most of it damaged, but there was always the potential of finding something interesting, or maybe even useful in amongst the broken code and discarded data. Of course, searching might be something saved for later, too, since there was the issue of an extremely angry giant queen insect trying to kill her navi.

-=Long Live the Queen!=-

CorpusRegina.Stack: 555 Hp [Poison][On the ramp][Mounted!][Terrain-Walker(Poison)][Off-Target][Accuracy Enhance][???]


[???]: Things affecting this target are unknown as yet, but will be revealed as discovered, or with actions taken to learn its properties.

Things Learned: Speed Type. Can Silence. Poison terrain-walking as it bleeds; Oh, the blood is poisonous and corrosive, that too. Is mad as hell. Like Really Mad.

-=Bearing Witness=-

Terra.Exe: 170Hp [Poison][Mounted on CorpusRegina][Silenced! (One Turn)][Defences Deactivated, Shield Broken!]
Carbide.SP: 65Hp [Cursed][Thrown into the middle of the ruined hive][Silenced! (One Turn)][Defences all broken]

-=Destroyed Conflux=-

45% Moss [Most of the cylindrical chamber, including walls, is completely overgrown]
10% Cursed [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
10% Lava [Section of the ramp around the boss, and melting down the side]
5% Cracked [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
5% Broken [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixed]
25% Poison [The remains of the corrupted hive, in the centre, mixes, as well as most of the path leading down to it from Terra's tunnel. A patch in the middle of the lava, underneath where the boss has bled is giving rise to poison vapours, as it covers the lava.]

Terrain is a large cylindrical chamber, as tall as twelve of the tunnels that Terra is standing in, from top to bottom. There are many passages spaced around the walls at different levels, and each has a path spiralling downwards along the wall to the centre ground floor. The spiral paths all go in the same direction, which is anti-clockwise. The centre ground contains the remains of a mounded nest, comprised mostly of corrupt and damaging terrain. This is jagged and uneven, and can be climbed over or taken cover behind; the right formation for what you wish to do, if you're in the area, will never be more than an action away.

Moss: Moss is effectively grass terrain, and provides all the same effects as grass terrain, will count for grass-terrain triggers and chip effects etc. The main difference is that it is damp and vivacious, and while it will still burn, it will not provide damage amplification for fire attacks that consume it.

The poison hissed loudly around Terra as she assessed her situation. With Carbide thrown off to the side, she figured it was a good a time as any to dismount. After all, she wasn't able to do anything at the moment, due to how her attempts at re-establishing the operator link came kind of short. Her fingers rapped quickly against the insect's hide to evaluate it. The crackling carapace, despite the overall hit to its integrity, was still pretty solid. At the very least, it was enough for Terra to crouch down, and kick off into the center, letting herself fall to join her partner at the bottom of the chamber.

"Uwaaaa," reeled Carbide, as she recovered from being thrown around like a ragdoll. Shaking her head, she looked about the place where she had landed, and leapt to her feet in surprise. "Geh! What the heck is this?" she blurted out. At least, what she was standing on was didn't look very inviting, as it released some kind of black aura to her feet. She shuddered slightly, before she looked around the area a bit more, and then upwards, towards where they had come from. "Is that... Whoa!" Her eyes went wide as she leapt to the side slightly, avoiding a highspeed collision with a certain Navigator, who landed feet-first into the busted up hive. Bits of constructed insect hive flew up as Terra made her entrance, slowly turning into dust as her terraforming powers took effect.

"Terra! Are you okay?" Carbide yelled out, before realizing that her partner didn't seem to be all that fazed, simply dusting off her shorts and flashing her a thumbs up. Carbide saw herself being enveloped in the usual green glow, and Terra suited herself up with her usual elemental armor. The SP sighed in relief, before she looked back up at the insect they had left behind. Surely it would be a bit peeved by now, and would come back down to chase after them again.

Carbide gritted her teeth. "Terra, where's Scarlet? Did something happen?"

"... The link was severed after that shriek, but I'm still trying to restore it. It should be back online shortly," replied Terra.

Her partner nodded, as the spires on her arm flared up into her usual shield. However, this one looked a bit more intimidating, with the spires leaving themselves on the shield as an offensive deterrent. Carbide then positioned herself in front of her partner, lifting the shield to face the big angry queen. "We'll hold the fort until she comes back, then." Terra nodded in agreement, and directed her attention upwards, ready to avoid anything that would come their way. However, her foot coincidentally struck upon some lump in the newly created soil underneath her. The bump took her attention as she raised an eyebrow, and tried to clear away some of the soil with her foot discreetly.

// Summary (Operator-Absent Turns: 2/2)
[Te.1] Act: Leap off of CorpusRegina into the middle of the chamber (Movement)
[Ca.1] Act: Move out of the way of falling Terra (Dodge)
[Te.2] Sig: Terraform: Fertile Soil: Large Soil Terrain Change @ Hive Remains
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Barrier 1: 20 HP Planar Barrier (Soil/Wood) @ Carbide
[Te.*] Sig: Terraskill: Earthen Armor 1: 20 HP Planar Casing (Soil/Wood) @ Self

[Ca.*] Sig: Terraskill: Reflex Guard 1: 1-Hit Shield @ Self (Reinforced/Shield Bash)
[Ca.2] Act: Defend Terra (Redirect 1 hit)
[Te.3] Act: Keep an eye out for falling insects to move out of the way (Dodge) (Soil: Evasion+)
[Te.4] Act: Search through hive remains (RP)

With Carbide tossed away like refuse, Terra was quick to jump clear and chase after her SP, skidding down the sloped wall and making for the destroyed terrain in the middle of the hive ruins. As she leapt clear an assortment of smaller limbs and larger scything pincers snapped at her, but to no avail. It hissed again, arching back and stretching its claws before giving chase.

Down in the centre of the ruined conflux, Terra and carbide had a precious couple of moments to regroup, though it wouldn't last more than an instant or two. Terra's first act was to conduct some much needed restoration on the defiled ground, spreading her life-giving energy through the soil and returning the are to its more natural state of healthy earth and green life. Somewhere, a certain primal entity would probably be satisfied with her actions. As well as restoring the land, Terra's terrain shift had an extra bonus advantage. It cleared up all the junk data strewn through the heap of refuse, and left only a few obvious patches of things that might still be functional or of use, which would make searching the space much easier, if they could grab a moment to do so.

That done, the pair restored their defences and took stance, just in time for their opponent to rush headlong into the remains of its nest, hissing and shrieking in a fervour. It loomed above them, dripping poisonous blood onto the new grass and turning patches of it sickly again, before beginning to snap and flail, twisting about the two as it tried to strike rapidly. both of them were ready, however, and despite the furious precision of its slashes, they both managed to avoid harm for now; Terra was nimble on her feet and ducked and dodged artfully. Carbide did her best to replicate this, but wasn't quite as graceful. Even so, her barrier caught the blow safely. As the bug curled around the pair, though, and extra gout of poison blood sprayed out from a gap in it's damaged shell in a thin jet, plastering Carbide's shield with its melting corrosion. A small burst of energy repelled back as it ate through the shield, but it really didn't appear to have much effect on the massive, enraged insect.

Despite this probably not being the very best time for it, Terra took a few moments to quickly search through the remaining debris, while carbide faced up to the massive monster in defence of her. Thanks to her earlier efforts at restoring the land, it was clear to see that there were four small piles left that contained something useful or functional. The first one she searched uncovered a large black cube which, as soon as her hands touched it, rose up from the pile and began to spin rapidly, cycling through six colours — Red, blue, green, yellow, purple and orange. the colours spun, then shifted to occupy a single side each, before the cube finally stopped spinning. the top most face lit up brighter, showing purple, before the cube promptly shot a solid beam of purple light at the insect. It didn't seem to hurt it, but as soon as the beam struck, all sound coming from the bug was suddenly muffled. The purple face of the cube turned black, and it settled to the ground again, thought the other five colours remained lit. There were still three other piles that could be searched, and presumably the cube could be spun again as well, but there was no time for Terra to continue right now — the bug attacked again.

This time its stinger rose up and it made a desperate stab for Terra's back, but Carbide, ever the brave defender, put herself in harm's way for the sake of her navi. The sting was razor pointed and lanced into the smaller girl's body through the shoulder. The blow didn't hurt as terribly as she might have suspected, but in less than a few seconds the real danger became clear. Her body began to lock up and she fell, paralysed and unable to move.

The queen crawled forward, stepping over Carbide's immobilised body for now, as though to attack Terra again, but it stopped suddenly, curling in on itself and shuddering. Its body convulsed and it rocked from side to side, then staggered forward and bore into Terra, before vomiting a stream of acrid, bilious poison all over her. this was clearly not very good for the bug, and nor normal for it at all, but it was equally not a good thing for Terra either. the wave tore through her remaining defences with ease and washed over her form head to foot, eating away at everything it touched. Her skin prickled and burned under the abrasive fluid, and her clothing didn't care much for it either, but the queen scuttled back a step, hunched inwards on itself, and it seemed a little less mobile, at least for a moment, while it recovered from this.


-=Long Live the Queen!=-

CorpusRegina.Stack: 547 Hp [Poison][In the middle of the ruined hive][Terrain-Walker(Poison)][Self-Slow1][Accuracy Enhance][Silenced! (1 turn) — RP, I'm saying this blocks its Screech][???]

[???]: Things affecting this target are unknown as yet, but will be revealed as discovered, or with actions taken to learn its properties.

Things Learned: Speed Type. Can Silence. Can Freeze and Hold (Paralysis). Can Stun. Poison terrain-walking as it bleeds; Oh, the blood is poisonous and corrosive, that too. Is mad as hell. Like Really Mad.

-=Bearing Witness=-

Terra.Exe: 130Hp [Grass][In the middle of the ruined hive][Defences broken][Stunned! (1)]
Carbide.SP: 45Hp [Grass][In the middle of the ruined hive][Defences broken][Freeze!][Hold!]

-=Destroyed Conflux=-

45% Moss [Most of the cylindrical chamber, including walls, is completely overgrown]
10% Lava [Section of the ramp around the boss, and melting down the side]
20% Poison [Most of the path leading down to the centre from Terra's tunnel, and a strip between the lava and the centre on a more direct line]
25% Grass [Restored ruins of the hive — no longer turning into moss]

Terrain is a large cylindrical chamber, as tall as twelve of the tunnels that Terra is standing in, from top to bottom. There are many passages spaced around the walls at different levels, and each has a path spiralling downwards along the wall to the centre ground floor. The spiral paths all go in the same direction, which is anti-clockwise. The centre ground contains the remains of a mounded nest, now restored to grass. This is mostly flat now, so no longer offers cover, but has exposed all the points of interest.]

Moss: Moss is effectively grass terrain, and provides all the same effects as grass terrain, will count for grass-terrain triggers and chip effects etc. The main difference is that it is damp and vivacious, and while it will still burn, it will not provide damage amplification for fire attacks that consume it.

-=Points of Interest=-

Refuse Pile A-C: Takes an action to search, will reveal something potentially useful or valuable (this is guaranteed now, due to Terra's actions)

Refuse Pile D: Black cube revealed!

Black Cube: Shows a colour on each face, and will spin randomly when touched. Colours are: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple and Orange. Purple has been used, and that face is now black.