Kotobuki Theater

In a blue and white beam of light, ZephyrMan arrived in Kotobuki Area. The first Net he had ever seen. "So, you remembered that specific tree was a camouflaged weather observation system..."

"Yep! For some reason, I never forgot that. Weird, huh?"

"A bit. But, in this case, it's all for the best!" The windy Navi took a look around. The bright colors, the warm atmosphere...the Net area hadn't changed a bit since he was last here. "I suppose there's no reason to dilly dally. I'll get to traveling immediately!"

"You can dilly dally a little if you want..." Ariel took the chance to peacefully lay back on the bench, soaking in the nearby sights. If only because she hadn't seen them lately.

But, her Navi wasn't content with just looking. He was in the mood for a fight, so he was going to find one. He couldn't help but wonder if the viruses had changed...the area felt slightly warmer than he recalled.

(Searching for Battle #1)

ZephyrMan blew into a large empty field of tall, dry grass. Unfortunately it was the perfect deathtrap as three red-faced Fishy started descending from the sky in a Flying-V formation. Intent on burning the land and the Navi with their searing flames.

-Viruses-
BlazerA: 80HP [OmniShoes] [High Altitude]
BlazerB: 80HP [OmniShoes] [High Altitude]
BlazerC: 80HP [OmniShoes] [High Altitude]

-Terrain-
100% Grass

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 150HP

~Battle 1: Start!!~

Unfortunately for the Blazer, ZephyrMan knew exactly how the sky looked in Kotobuki Area, and their presence did not mesh particularly well with it. As such, he calmly looked them over, soon realizing that they had no intentions of staying high in the air. "Seems I'll get my battle sooner rather than later...Ariel! Send something that can defeat them all in a single blow! I know we have some of those!"

Uh...shoot. She knew he was right, but what was there...aha, 110 damage, and it could hit up to three things. That'd do. "This'll do! BattleChip, SideGun! Slot in!"

The wind Navi's right hand transformed into a blue buster, with a black tip and black stripe down the middle of it. Almost instantly, he realized that there were two problems with the chip selection. One could be settled by simply letting them get closer, and drop to a more suitable altitude. As for the other...he was uniquely qualified to fix on his own. Once they weren't quite so high up, he raised his weaponless arm, and summoned a small gust of wind to blow right in the face of the lead virus. It wouldn't hurt, nor would it blow it particularly far back...but it would leave the three foes in a straight line.

And that was exactly what his attack needed. Raising his gunned hand, he pointed it towards the center Blazer, and activated the mechanism. A single yellow bullet of energy shot forward, and if it hit...it had the unique property of splitting up and creating an exploding shot at 90 degree intervals. Perfect if the enemy was in a nice straight line.

Of course, there was always the real chance of something going wrong. And, Ariel managed to find something else that fit her Navi's original request. Time to make double sure. "Here's some flight insurance! BattleChip, WindRacket! Slot in!"

The gun vanished, allowing for a strange fan-like apparatus to appear on ZephyrMan's arm instead. He didn't need any fancy prep work for this one...he just needed any remaining enemies to get close, rear back...and WHAM! Death from the air. His favorite form of deletion, of course. Though, ideally, it wouldn't come to that...but if it did, he was more than prepared. This was his part of the Net, after all. He wasn't about to allow himself to fail in it if he could help it.

[Order of Turn:
1-Wait for Blazers to leave High Altitude
1a-Gust subtype ability on BlazerB (Knockback into a straight line with the other Blazers)
2-SideGun chip attack on BlazerB (110, A, Spread 2) (Spread Targets: BlazerA, BlazerC
3-Wait for remaining Blazers to enter Melee range
4-WindRacket chip attack on BlazerA, BlazerB, and BlazerC (100, A, Wind Type, Gust, Microburst and NorthWind on-hit) (Gust: Blow enemies out of attack range)]

ZephyrMan's so-called 'unique qualifications', better known as Wind-subtype, nonetheless works splendidly in evening out his array of opponents, knocking the lead Blazer in line with its cohorts. As they advance on him as a group, his SideGun fires, shredding the leader and one cohort just as they're about to start their spins. One, however, survives, and just before ZephyrMan readies his WindRacket, flares up with a gout of flames from its heat-vent, torching the Navi and a fair portion of the dry grass surrounding him.

On the plus-side, this close proximity means there's really no need for ZephyrMan to wait on the virus getting into melee range, and the Blazer's flames gutter out from the WindRacket's vicious bite.

-Viruses-
BlazerA: DELETED
BlazerB: DELETED
BlazerC: DELETED

-Terrain-
80% Grass
20% Soil

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP

-BATTLE #1: VICTORIOUS!-
Rewards: Burner1, 400z

While the Blazer moved faster than he had expected, ZephyrMan's plan had gone mostly without a hitch, and the combination of long and short range weaponry proved to be too much for the viruses to handle. The reward data pooled where the last one had fallen to the power of wind, so he had little problem in accessing it. "Mm-hmm...well, I have good news! It seems they were kind enough to leave behind chip data!"

Ariel lazily inserted a blank chip into her PET, and a few moments later, removed it as a Burner. "Burner, huh? Too bad it's not wind based."

"No, but I believe it shall be useful nonetheless! Besides, if nothing else, it's nice that one of our chips comes from Kotobuki Town!"

"Yep! ...I wonder if Kotobuki has wind-based chips now? I don't think there were any the last time we were here."

"A fine question...but, one that shall only be answered with further searching! Shall I?"

"Don't let me stop you!"

"Then I'm off!" And so, having acquired useful things, ZephyrMan delved deeper, on the lookout for...well, just about anything, really. He knew the network's layout well, but the contents of said network? Not so much.

(Searching for Battle #2)

Continuing onward, ZephyrMan came out of the tall, dry grass to find a landscape of burning coals. Peering through the steamy haze, the Navi saw a Metool and Miner shoveling coal into two large OldStoves. The two OldStoves rumbled to life as they spotted ZephyrMan, warning the other two viruses of the dangerous Navi.

-Viruses-
Metool: 40HP [Furnace]
Miner: 100HP [Immobile] [Furnace]
OldStoveA: 50HP [Furnace]
OldStoveB: 50HP [Furnace]

-Terrain-
90% Furnace
10% Grass

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP [Grass]

~Battle 2: Start!!~

The scene unfolding before ZephyrMan puzzled him slightly. Not that the OldStoves were consuming coal, that made sense. And it made sense that the Mettaur was producing some of it. But why was a Miney digging? And wasn't digging with a mine kinda dangerous? "I think it may be wise to delete them before the Miney blows itself up..."

"You know, when you put it like that, I feel kinda sorry for it..." Of course, that raised the obvious question. "So, what do you want?"

Hmm...four enemies. None of them were overly great at endurance...it was time to test out that certain chip. "I believe this would be a superb chance to use that AquaBlade we got!"

"Sounds like a plan!" One sword chip with a Navi's frame swing a long sword coming up! "BattleChip, AquaBlade! Slot in!"

Much like the chip's picture, the windy navi's hand became a blue sword base, with two long metal blades extending from it...wait, two? That wasn't on the chip. But, there was no denying it; it consisted of two parallel blades. In between them, a glowing, watery aura shone forth, putting the aqua in the AquaBlade. With this strange, but definitely strong weapon, he used his tornado bottom to speed ahead, focusing at first on the viruses that had been gorging themselves on rocks. He reared back, and with a mighty swing, tried to slice and douse the OldStoves into nothingness. It would be spectacular overkill, of course, but...in a way, that was sort of the appeal of busting it out in a minor battle such as thing.

Of course, the blades' limits would be tested with his next attack. He sped over to the fire suppliers, and horizontally sliced at them, to try and finish things before they had a chance to counterattack. It'd be just strong enough to take out even the Miney in one shot, but regardless of whether it succeeded, it faded away with that second slash, leaving ZephyrMan his usual hand.

Seeing it vanish after that made Ariel frown a bit. "You know, I'm a little disappointed that only worked twice. It looked so cool and everything!"

"Perhaps, but any single chip can only do so much. We're fortunate that it can even be used more than once, like most chip!" Of course, unless he had perfect accuracy, there'd be something left to try and attack. The Navi looked around for anything lingering, so he could try and avoid whatever attack they launched. But he wasn't going to exert too much energy on it...he could always go for a counter-counterattack if he had to.

[Order of Turn:
1-AquaBlade chip attack on OldStoveA and OldStoveB (100, Aqua, B, Slashing, Long Attack)
2-AquaBlade chip attack on Mettaur and Miner (100, Aqua, B, Slashing, Long Attack)
3-Dodge
---TURN SPLICE---

ZephyrMan dashes forward, mighty AquaBlade in hand...or more accurately, in place of hand; little droplets of water drip off the twin blades, hissing into steam behind the Navi. He reaches the coal-crunching viruses, the both of them with mouths open either in shock or preparation to spit fire, but he gets there first, lashing out to slice cleanly through the both of them. As he does, an explosion of hot steam rushes from the terrain as the aptly-named AquaBlades dump water everywhere, cooling a patch of the furnace-like terrain down to simple metal and creating a dense fog.

The fog severely inhibits ZephyrMan's ability to see much of anything, and his assumption of the other two virus' location goes awry, slashing out into empty space and sending up more steam for his troubles. From somewhere out in the thick haze, a clang of mattock-on-metal rings out, but the attack is so inaccurate that the wind Navi doesn't even so much as see a shockwave.

-Viruses-
Metool: 40HP [Furnace] (In steam cloud! Accuracy -20%)
Miner: 100HP [Immobile] [Furnace] (In steam cloud! Accuracy -20%)
OldStoveA: DELETED
OldStoveB: DELETED

-Terrain-
70% Furnace
20% Metal
10% Grass

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP [Furnace] (In steam cloud! Accuracy -20%)

Well, that was unexpected. As his fancy sword dissipated, ZephyrMan made a mental note: water + furnace = bad. But at least he didn't have to worry about fire + furnace, whatever that did. He imagined it did something not good for him, though. "Well, this is certainly different. I don't think my wind will blow away this steam, either."

"Well, that sucks! How are you supposed to beat them if you can barely even see them?"

"I don't think the steam will last, at least. But, in the meantime, I have an idea! Since there's not much to do right now while we wait for it to dissipate, why not take a gamble with...erm, I forget the name. It's a cube, and it randomly either attacks every virus, or heals me!"

"Hmm..." Let's see if she could figure it out. DoubleNeedle, nope. Typhoon, nope. Ah, there was something that looked cubish. That had to be it. Let's just slot it in, and...there was the name. "Here it is! BattleChip, DoubleCube! Slot in!"

A DBLCube formed in front of the Navi, and began to spin. Question was, would it select red, and try to damage everything with a flash? Or would it select blue, and heal up his previous burning? Neither was a particularly bad result to him, so deep down, he didn't really care. Either color was fine. And with that...he elected to hang around and do nothing. Sure, he COULD do something, but as long as this steam hung over the area, it was probably best not to.

---TURN SPLICE---
3-DBLCube1 chip attack (Produces one of the following effects: 40, A, To-All Enemies; 30, S, Recovery)
4-Wait for turn to end]

The DBLCube spins like a d6 with all the deciding power of a coin-flip; it may have six sides, but only two results. And the result turns out to be...a bright, shiny red, as a flurry of bolts fire from the cube's surface. The Metool squeaks as it's deleted, all attempts at hiding in the steam cloud futile, and the Miner takes a solid blow from the storm of laser blasts before ducking under the surface of the Net, coming back up minus one from its nigh-infinite supply of mines.

While ZephyrMan waits, an ominous beeping echoes through the thick steam cloud, adding to the disorientation and a not-inconsiderable sense of impending danger.

-Viruses-
Metool: DELETED
Miner: 60HP [Immobile] [Furnace] (In steam cloud! Accuracy -20%)
OldStoveA: DELETED
OldStoveB: DELETED

-Terrain-
65% Furnace
20% Metal
10% Grass
5% Mine

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP [Furnace] (In steam cloud! Accuracy -20%)

On the plus side, the Mettaur was out of the picture. On the down side, the picture was still obscured due to steam. And, since Miner was entirely incapable of harming him as long as he didn't move, it was time for the most radical plan of all...to do absolutely nothing. ZephyrMan hovered in place, not moving, not attacking, doing absolutely nothing until the steam was gone.

"Um...I don't think looking at the virus is going to defeat it."

"For now, it's all I'm doing. Once the steam's gone, I'll press on!...Rhyme unintentional." But, rhyme or not, he still had to wait. It felt...strange, somehow, deliberately doing nothing in the middle of a battlefield. But sure enough, there he was, doing just that...

[Order of Turn:
1-Waiting
2-Still waiting
3-So the waiting
4-Even more waiting]

The cloud parted quickly as ZephyrMan waited. Revealing a single virus carrying a mine, and more beeping from underground.

-Viruses-
Metool: DELETED
Miner: 60HP [Immobile] [Furnace]
OldStoveA: DELETED
OldStoveB: DELETED

-Terrain-
60% Furnace
20% Metal
10% Grass
10% Mine

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP [Furnace]

ZephyrMan's patience paid off, as now he had a clear view of everything around him...including the Miner. And so long as he didn't move until it was defeated, it was completely incapable of harming. Which left only the matter of the method he wanted to use to dispatch it. Hmm. "Perhaps it's time that the winds succeed where other attacks have failed! Ariel, let us use the Hurricane chip, and its lesser relative!"

Lesser relative? Oh, duh, the one that looked exactly like Hurricane aside from the color. And since she knew what SideGun and Shotgun looked like, there were literally nothing else she could confuse it with. "Roger! BattleChip, Hurricane! BattleChip, Typhoon! Double slot in!" Phew, good thing she remembered the name before putting it in. That would've looked bad.

Upon receiving the chip data, the wind Navi's innate whirlwinds began to spin more furiously than usual. He raised his hands high above his head, and began to focus on the air in front of him. It began to spin...and spin...and spin...sucking more and more of the surrounding air into it, boosting its size. It was hardly going to alter the landscape like a giant tornado, but that wasn't his goal. He leaned forward, and made a pushing motion, causing the created vortex to spin forward. Its goal: the mine laying virus before him. If it managed to come across it, its forward motion would immediately halt, and begin the process of using its winds to try and shred it into bits. Since he had combined both chips into the one, larger storm, it probably had about 8 hits worth of power...more than enough for this particular job. Of course, since this was the Net, that didn't always mean it was a guaranteed victory...so he waited for it to dissipate, before trying anything else.


[Order of Turn:
1-Hurricane chip attack on Miner (30, ?, Wind Type, hits 5 times, accuracy depends on RP/battlefield conditions)
2-Typhoon chip attack on Miner (30, ?, Wind Type, hits 3 times, accuracy depends on RP/battlefield conditions)
---TURN SPLICE---

The battle, to summarize, was won quite succinctly.

-Viruses-
Metool: DELETED
Miner: OH GOD WHY
OldStoveA: DELETED
OldStoveB: DELETED

-Terrain-
60% Furnace
20% Metal
10% Grass
10% Mine

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP [Furnace]

-BATTLE #2: VICTORIOUS!-
Rewards: FireBurn1, 600z

The dust cleared, and there was no more Miney. Which meant the mines were gone, and he could move freely again. Excellent. ZephyrMan hovered over to where the reward data was floating, and extended an arm to access it. "Hmm...looks like we got fortunate with chip data again! I'm sending it over with the money!"

Let's see...FireBurner? Didn't seem all that great to her. "Doesn't look too hot to me. Well, whatevs!"

"On the contrary. I think it looks like it's on fire! Hohoho!"

"...Wow, ZephyrMan. Just, wow."

"Couldn't help myself! Now, shall I continue?"

"Please do. Anything to get away from that awful joke!"

And so, to flee the realm of defeated foes and questionable humor, the windy Navi delved deeper into the net.

(Searching for Battle #3)

Moving out of the furnace, the Navi did not walk into the fire. In fact it was a paved section of the Kotobuki NET. Three Needler platforms were looping. Taking off and landing in an unchanging pattern. Riding on the platforms were Gunner viruses. They seemed to be having a good time.

That is, until a Navi walks up to them and they have to fight!

-Viruses-
NeedlerA: 70HP
GunnerA: 60HP [Riding NeedlerA]
NeedlerB: 70HP
GunnerB: 60HP [Riding NeedlerB]
NeedlerC: 70HP
GunnerC: 60HP [Riding NeedlerC]

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP

~Battle 3: Start!!~

While he didn't have feet at the moment, ZephyrMan nevertheless appreciated the lack of heat coming up from the road as he continued traveling. Soon enough, he bumped into some viruses that probably had a similar opinion...though, what was it they were doing? It kinda looked like some sort of amusement park ride, only with viruses. Hmm. Looked benign enough to him.

"That kinda looks like fun! Maybe I should head for an amusement park sometime!"

"...Indeed. They're not exactly hurting anything. Just having a bit of fun. Why delete them for such non-malicious acts?" The windy Navi moved a bit forward, though he made sure it was slow and deliberate, so they wouldn't get the wrong idea. "Worry not, I can see you're just trying to have some fun, and that's truly nothing to fight over! Instead, I have a different idea. Since there's probably some Navis out there that would disregard your attempts to amuse yourselves and remove you from existence, why not let me transfer you all to the virus zoo? There's no threat of deletion, and they would be more than accommodating if you wished to get together and do things!" Based on what he'd heard recently, that last part was definitely true. Something about Mettaur and a Cactikill being allowed to go to each other's cages, despite being in different sections of the zoo. There was no reason to think they wouldn't do the same with these, if they agreed to go.

<(Rolled RNGs for each pair of viruses' decision; you're in luck!)>

The viruses come to a halt, Needlers' wheels screeching as they face off ZephyrMan. One Gunner cocks its...turret to the side, listening as though confused. [ajdkqkq7whw?] it warbles in its curious virus-speech; it seems to understand the Navi perfectly, but goodness help ZephyrMan if he could figure out what the sentient machine gun was trying to say.

[niwf4afew!] A Needler burbles what vaguely sounds like a call to order, and as one the three Needlers drive into a three-way huddle, Gunners swiveling between one another, the lot of them chattering without mouths or, indeed, any visible sensory means. The virus pow-wow lasts no more than a minute, with the sextet turning to face ZephyrMan as one.

One Needler heads the group, rolling just a little farther than its cohorts. Its Gunner-rider bleeps out more gibberish, but punctuates it by rapidly tilting its turret up and down: the universal nod. The other Gunners share the same sentiment, all jerking their turrets into identical nods.

The encounter is rapidly becoming one of the outright strangest Navi-to-virus exchanges ZephyrMan has likely ever experienced, but the viruses seem quite okay with his suggestion regardless. They drive close to him, lack of faces not stopping them from conveying to the Navi a feeling of surprisingly sincere trust. It looks like he can port them off to the Zoo without any problems!

-Viruses- [All non-violent!]
NeedlerA: 70HP
GunnerA: 60HP [Riding NeedlerA]
NeedlerB: 70HP
GunnerB: 60HP [Riding NeedlerB]
NeedlerC: 70HP
GunnerC: 60HP [Riding NeedlerC]

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP

Indeed, it was one of the stranger encounters ZephyrMan had encountered...but only because they actually agreed to his proposal. Other than that, it didn't feel too out of the ordinary after some of things he'd seen. "Well, I'm glad that you all agree! No need to delay it, so I'll begin at once!" A screen came up in front of the Navi, who started to type something on it. Before long, beams of light would fall from the heavens, and warp them off.

"Oh wow, they actually said yes! That's a first! Wonder when that zoo will open, anyway? It sounds neat!"

"I don't think it's ever been announced...but I'm sure this will speed things up a little!" His role, however, was done. Just had to wait for the viruses to be transferred.

The link goes off without a hitch. Just as they're about to break down into their component data for data transportation, one of the Gunners babbles another line of virus-speech, as though they'd almost forgotten something. The others turn towards their companion, and as one they all rustle in place. ZephyrMan isn't quite sure what they were doing, until the six viruses turn to him, and simultaneously fire their various weapons. Rather than needles and bullets, however, they appear to be firing...Zenny, into a pile that gathers at the bottom of his tornado-tail; apparently even viruses can rummage for loose change. They babble words of (probably) goodbye and farewell as they finally disappear, off to their new home.

-Viruses- [All non-violent!]
NeedlerA: TRANSFERRED
GunnerA: TRANSFERRED
NeedlerB: TRANSFERRED
GunnerB: TRANSFERRED
NeedlerC: TRANSFERRED
GunnerC: TRANSFERRED

-Terrain-
100% Normal

-Navi-
ZephyrMan: 120HP

-BATTLE #3: VICTORY THROUGH FRIENDSHIP!!-
Rewards: 900z