The Bond

((It's interesting that you say that, because what you'll see in the post below was my plan from the outset, if the conditions were met ^.^))

In the dark, pursued and assaulted, harassed by horrible abominations of monsters, Amity struggled to bear up under the pressure of what had to seem like an unfair test by this point. As the weight of it all piled up and overwhelmed the navi briefly, the slithering, flapping skitter of the massive worm continued to curl around her, encircling her completely with its massive body. The conflicting curls of breeze caused by the many conflicting wings all around her blew her dress this way and that, its soft glow being the only point of light in the oppressive underground.

Though it seemed bad for the unready navigator, some core of strength remained deep down, and as the huge, toothy maw of the beast loomed over her, Amity found it when the need was greatest, and stood.

Her calmer gaze showed the beast above her; it had encircled her completely, cutting off an easy escape, but she still had some space to move, at least a little; its only real weapon seemed to by its huge mouth, and there was a chance that it wanted to be sure before committing to a lunge, maybe. As she thrust the chewing bat-thing off her shoulder the rageclaw's blades lifted it free and cast it aside. It squeaked once more but couldn't resist the removal. As the claws cut through it, its form began to break down but stopped part way, before a sudden explosion of data chunks scattered about the cave as it detonated violently. By luck, Amity escaped any of the flying data shrapnel, but rather than a creature core, what was left behind was a single thin wist of blue energy that swirled in the air and then zipped back to sink into the worm creature's back.

Another of the wings began to extrude itself from the creature, as she started trying to address the worm, and another malformed bat-like entity launched itself in her direction. This one fluttered across and latched around amity's midsection, trying to gnaw on her with its mostly gummy mouth. Once more, her dress was able to undo what little harm it manage. As she tried to reason with the strange viral creature, it swayed slightly, lining its jaws up with her; she could hear it breathing, and a dull moan that seemed to emanate from within its jaws somewhere. It didn't seem to be listening to her pleas, unfortunately, but something else caught Amity's eye as she spoke. Part way down the creature's back, a faint glow of light sprouted in the form of another wing, like the others but giving off a light very much like the cleansed cores she had sent off at other times. If started to pull itself out until the upper jaws of the pseudo-creature could be seen, happily gumming on the worm's hide. It didn't seem to notice.

After a moment, it inhaled a long, rasping breath that rattled through the cavern then leaned down in front of Amity's face, still swaying slightly. Suddenly, in a sharp motion to quick to follow, its jaws snapped wide open, teeth pulling apart to reveal not a tongue or throat, but a mass vaguely humanoid shapes, dark and writhing with distended fingers clasped against distorted faces, eyes bulging and mouths agape in a soul-rattling, ear-piercing shriek of discordant cries. The jaws snapped shut again a second later, but the scream echoed, assaulting the navi with a disorienting stun. As she reeled, the worm lunged at her suddenly, this time snapping with its teeth, but by whatever grace remained to her, amity was able to duck to the side, still within its thick coil but around one spike of rock and away as its bite slammed into the ground where she had been standing. It reeled back again, shaking its head from where it had impacted with the rocky ground.


-=Deep-Dweller=-
Klez.v64.832.screamer: 295Hp [Normal][Casing (10Hp)][In front Amity, its body encircling her rough vicinity][RST: 5 passive disruption per stack (1)]

Attch (Nigerean Prince Needs Your Help!): 25Hp [Light][Stunned!(1)][Equipped: Amity (passive 5 damage to attached target)]
Attch (Your Winnings!): RTS?

-=Drop-in Damsel=-
Amity.Exe: 147Hp [Normal][RageClaw (5/6)][Equipped: Attachment B][Stunned! (1)]

-=Dark Domain=-
100% Normal

• No effects.

-=Destructible Defences=-
Stalagmites: 20Hp Each, can provide some measure of cover. In most cases, one will never be more than a dodge or feint action away.

It was only a brief glimpse, but that short moment almost went for an eternity in Amity's mind. Her eyes glanced from one petrified face to another. A seemingly unending wall of entities, all frozen in place by a multitude of horrific limbs, holding them in position against their will. Like prisoners.

Her eyes locked onto one in particular; a small female navi, easily programmed to look like a 4 year old, in a muted pink dress with a ridiculously oversized bowtie ribbon on its head. Compared to the other creatures, its hue was significantly brighter than the rest of its surroundings.

Did this indicate it had only just been captured...? Was it possible it was her squeals that had led to Amity coming down here...?

This hideous display was interrupted by a soul-crushing roar, stripping Amity of all her senses and causing her to stumble towards her makeshift cover in a disoriented manner. Thankfully her legs were still able to understand the thought she had sent to them, as she only narrowly missed the mammoth of a mouth coming down upon the ground where she had been standing. Her combined disorientation and the shockwave from the head hitting the ground caused her to stumble and trip; not to her injury, but just enough to knock the wind out of her.

That fear from earlier was quickly returning. Her original assessment had been correct; it was indeed hostile, and had to be erased. But what of its prisoners? If she completed a SRVR of the batworm itself, would its prisoners be released to their normal state, or were they too far gone to be saved?

No. Surely all, if not some of the entities could still be saved. She may still have time to at least save one or more of her kind before their code was fused to... whatever this thing truly was.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Her eyes opened again, with the ringing of the roam now free from her ears.

The batworm had certainly done everything in its power to cut off most paths for retreat. In line with this, it was definitely safe to assume that it wanted to capture her inside its prison-like interior as well; something she simply couldn't allow, not as long as she still had the power to fight.

She'd been reckless in attempting peace-talks whilst being outgunned. It was just like the battle with the PulseBats; she should've been on the defensive at least until she was on an equal playing field. "I'm sorry Eric, I shouldn't have let myself get trapped," she admitted to her partner. "That was stupid of me. But if I'm going to beat this thing, I need you to do exactly as I say, as I say it. Understood?"

Eric was still shaken from the events of the minutes gone by, and the roar certainly hadn't helped to calm his nerves. "I... I'll... do my best..." he stammered.

His tone of voice was the same manner she'd heard in her own voice during... whatever she'd just heard in the conversation between herself and this still-unknown-woman.

Amity needed Eric to be ready for split-second orders. The words in her head were what he needed to hear, and although she didn't fully believe in them herself in relation to him, their strength may just be enough to pull him into line. As she swung her RageClaw at the newest addition to her body in an attempt to remove it as well, she raised her voice to match the same weightiness that she'd just been lectured in."That's quitter talk!" she retorted.

"...What?" Eric mumbled in response.

"That... is... quitter talk!" she repeated, enunciating the words for effect. "You are stronger than you think, Eric! Prove it!"

Whether the speech would have an effect or not would have to wait. The only thing that mattered right now is that she used what little space she had around her to avoid the next inevitable piledriver that was undoubtedly coming her way, courtesy of the 'batworm'. The glowing dress had been a miracle worker, but even it wasn't capable of keeping her out of harm's way if the worm made a feast of her.

----------

Actions:
[1] [---STUNNED---]
[2] [Disruptor] RageClaw [40 DMG, Slashing] >>> AttachmentB
[3] Dodge/Feint by any means necessary to avoid becoming dinner
-----
[P] THAW [6 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amity [??? >>> ??? / 150 HP]

Sigs:
None in cooldown

Party:
Amity.EXE: 147 / 150 HP [Equipped: RageClaw - 4/6 Uses Remaining]

Even though the brief moment of a horrific vision was gone, the impression of it lingered for several seconds, for Amity, and while she processed what she'd seen, another attachment bat pulled itself free and flapped towards her. This one wobbled in the air, clipped a hanging stalactite and tumbled to the ground a short distance off to her left, failing to make contact. It seemed more or less unable to move itself beyond the initial launch, however, and remained flapping and fluttering on the ground, ineffective.

Amity, meanwhile, shored up her own resolve, spoke firmly to her operator, and removed the bat still clinging to her body before it could attempt to chew on her any more. As before, her swipe pulled it away and disrupted its physical body, and as before the pseudo-entity suddenly detonated in a violent explosion of data chunks. This time neither Amity nor the worm itself seemed to manage to shield themselves from the scattering of shrapnel, though the worm's thick, rubbery carapace had regenerated its outer shell in time to weather it, and Amity's own dress continued to work to patch up the scratches she took.

As before, too, a tiny wisp of blue light energy remained, which whipped away back towards the monstrosity before her and sunk into his body. A second lightly glowing bat pulled itself up out of its form and joined the other in gnawing on its progenitor, slowly beginning to spread a stain of that same cleansing light into the thick hide around it.

The great beast itself still didn't seem to notice what was happening on its back; it shifted, its blind focus tracking Amity in the dark. It twisted about, circling as it attempted to follow her about the stalagmites within the rough circle of its body, then lunged, fast and sudden. Its mouth opened just enough to part the row of sharp teeth before snapping viciously on the stalagmite that amity ducked behind at the last moment. And explosion of forceful energy spread out from the bite like a small schock-wave, but the young navi managed to duck and cover herself from the fallout. Oddly enough, the worm itself wasn't spared from the blast wave of its biting attack, and small stone shards pitted its head area. Perhaps it normally relied on the regenerating layer to protect it from such things?

A dissatisfied hiss escaped its mouth as it drew back again, shaking its head and swaying. Its body writhed and it coiled about itself shifting away partially and turning back again, as though it was trying to get a fresh perspective on the creature it had missed twice now.

-=Deep-Dweller=-
Klez.v64.832.screamer: 265Hp [Normal][Behind Amity, its body encircling her rough vicinity][RTS: 5 passive disruption per stack (2)]

Attch (Singles in your Area!): 30Hp [Normal; flapping on the ground a short distance away]
Attch (Nigerean Prince Needs Your Help!): RTS
Attch (Your Winnings!): RTS

-=Drop-in Damsel=-
Amity.Exe: 142Hp [Normal][RageClaw (4/6)]

-=Dark Domain=-
100% Normal

• No effects.

-=Destructible Defences=-
Stalagmites: 20Hp Each, can provide some measure of cover. In most cases, one will never be more than a dodge or feint action away.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Another narrow miss as the batworm's lunge caused it to impact the stalagmite she'd been hiding behind. This method of evasion had worked twice now, but Amity doubted it was likely to have the same effect a third time.

"Shotgun!" she commanded as she lined up the new batlike creature with her right arm. The left arm would have been a better angle, but the RageClaw was still occupying that zone so she'd have to make do with what she had. Either way, she didn't need another new temporary friend.

Can't waste my shots, I need these to count. she thought to herself. Looking at her own miniature prison of sorts, she knew she was running out of ideas and defenses. Just as she was learning the tactics of her enemy, no doubt it was getting to know her moves too, and it still had the spacial advantage. Left, right, it didn't matter. It was getting faster.

As her arm took the shape of the bluish-silver barrel, a grin crossed Amity's face.

No. Wait. WAAAIT.

She was a fool. How could she have not realised? It was true, the worm had her surrounded, which was limiting her options for retreat. But by that same line of reasoning, it too was defenseless; a wall of unprotected weak points surrounded her now. Sure, it had a regenerating layer of armour, but she didn't need to focus on its head, when its entire body was only mere steps away. She'd pummel it from every direction possible, and hopefully that, combined with just a little more fancy maneouvring, would end this standoff.

Amity had precious seconds to make her move while the batworm regained its composure. Blasting her bullets towards the new deformity almost guaranteed a secondary contact with the worm's upper midsection. Unleashing her blue-tainted silver fury, she dismissed the gun from her arm as she yelled "Pulsar!" to Eric and turned in place to the other side, keeping the raging head still in her sight. As the sonic speaker took the place of the furnace, that too was quickly ejected with force, as an almost invisible array of matter-distorting airwaves flew towards another part of its midsection. She almost felt sorry for it, knowing what that attack felt like on contact, but it had taken unwilling prisoners so mercy was not an option.

Amity could feel the rumbling of the cave; was she too late?

"SkyShoes!" she almost barked out. Only a couple of seconds passed before she felt the initial thrust from her boots. She still didn't know how to properly control the trajectory, and unlike last time, there was a roof relatively close by, so there was no way that she'd be able to take to full flight, but that wasn't her intention anyway.

The boots once again washed out the cyan dress glow as she launched towards the ceiling, but in a more balanced manner this time. Practice really does make perfect, apparently, as she attempted to make contact with the roof. Let it try to strike me up here, it'll have to launch itself into the air first, she thought to herself. Based on its size, it certainly looked like it had the muscular build to do so, but would it do that? Or would it instead unleash an attack she hadn't seen yet?

----------

Actions:
[1] [Disruptor] Shotgun [50 DMG + Spread1] >>> AttachmentC ~> Batworm
[2] [Disruptor] Pulsar1 [70 DMG] >>> Batworm
[3] [Disruptor] SkyShoes (use to dodge/launch into the air - cabin not tall enough to enter High Altitude)
-----
[P] THAW [6 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amity [142 >>> 149 / 150 HP]

Sigs:
None in cooldown

Party:
Amity.EXE: 149 / 150 HP [(Semi)-High Altitude, returning to ground next turn] [Equipped: RageClaw - 4/6 Uses Remaining]



(((OOC: Not sure I can do that with the SkyShoes. Thinking outside the box. Wait and see...)))

(((EDIT: Corrected RP to match actions taken.)))

In a seemingly consistent and unending stream, another of the wings pulled away from the massive worm, separating itself into yet another bat-like creature that fluttered across the gap and managed to latch itself onto one of amity's thighs. It started to chew, but as before her own self-repairing garments negated the small amount of damage and continued to patch her up a little further as well.

Running low on ways to surprise or counter her all-encircling foe, Amity swiftly dealt with the stranded attachment, and was fortunate that the data shrapnel of its violent detonation didn't spread far enough to do her any harm. The slim blue wisp of energy joined the others along the worm's back, a small collection of cleansed partial-beings working at spreading the same pacifying blue across the beast, bit by bit. The scattering of her shot did indeed impact with the thick hide of the worm beyond, as amity had hoped for, though the damage wasn't significant at first; it seemed to have regenerated its outer armour in time to catch it.

As she turned to capitalise on the moment of exposure, the worm lunged inwards again, attempting to bite down on the navi in its coils once and for all. Amity didn't manage to get clear this time and she felt the sudden, searing sensation to dozens of thin, sharp teeth clamping over her mid-section, hip and lower body. The worm didn't seem to care that it was biting down on one of its own attachments at the same time, more interested in finally devouring its prey, but through the moment of piercing pain Amity fired her pulsar, battering the body of the worm with a disruptive sonic wave that made many of the stalagmites around the impact zone crumble and shatter as well. The teeth pulled out suddenly, releasing its hold on her as the worm reared back, thrashing and opening its mouth towards the roof of the cave in another spine-chilling shriek that made the cavern rumble.

Amity was able to block the worst of the sound out this time, keeping her focus somehow, and as the worm righted itself and lunged violently back towards her in wrath this time, the faintly glowing navigator launched herself upwards, taking unexpected refuge amongst the stalactites of the cave's ceiling. The cave rumbled again and small flecks of rocks fell as the worm's reaching maw crashed hard into the ground where amity had been a moment ago. The boost from her footwear stopped a movement later, and she would be forced to drop down to the ground again unless she grabbed something quickly.

-=Deep-Dweller=-
Klez.v64.832.screamer: 180Hp [Normal][Below Amity, its body encircling her rough vicinity][RTS: 5 passive disruption per stack (3)]

Attch (Bargain Pharmaceuticals Online!): 10Hp [Equipped to Amity (passive 5 damage)]
Attch (Singles in your Area!): RTS
Attch (Nigerean Prince Needs Your Help!): RTS
Attch (Your Winnings!): RTS

-=Drop-in Damsel=-
Amity.Exe: 124Hp [Normal][Near ceiling][RageClaw (4/6)]

-=Dark Domain=-
100% Normal

• No effects.

-=Destructible Defences=-
Stalagmites: 20Hp Each, can provide some measure of cover. In most cases, one will never be more than a dodge or feint action away.

That DEFINITELY didn't go as planned, Amity groaned as she gripped her chest with her right arm. Those teeth were definitely not for show. Can't lose my cool, gotta stay focused.

She looked down at the monster waiting down below. Running from it hadn't worked; the worm was faster. Negotiating didn't work; the only result from that action was a revealing of the fate that potentially awaited her. Fighting didn't work either; it kept shielding itself with a never-ending regenerative shield that seemed to recharge at the most inopportune moments. And if that wasn't enough, "these DAMN HALF-BATS KEEP GRABBING ME LIKE I'M FOOD!" she finished her thoughts out loud, turning her eyes to yet another deformity that this time was trying to chow down on her leg. "IT'S NOT A DRUMSTICK!" she screamed at it.

As expected, the boosters on her feet were almost depleted and showing signs that they were about to give out. Amity was running out of time, options, and patience. It was the better end of the emotion spectrum to be in, given her unusual aptitude today at swinging between extremes, but what else was there to try? It seemed to predict every move she made or counteract it with a show of force AND speed; it didn't seem to want to rest until she was its next meal.

Wait.

Wait.

What if...

No.

That's dumb.

Insane.

It would NEVER work.

But already her hands were moving in line with the thought. Using the RageClaw as a grappling claw, Amity used its sharp edge to lock onto one of the stalactites on the roof and thrust herself forward. Not out of harm's way, mind you, so that she would land outside the makeshift prison that the Batworm had made. No, she'd positioned herself directly above its mouth.

The boosters gave one final glow of light before dissipating completely. Once again a registered member of gravity, it took hold of its newest supplicant and started dragging her back down to ground. Too late to consider any other path now; this was happening and couldn't happen any other way.

Using her movement downward as a barrier of sorts, Amity quickly connected the RageClaw to her newest symbiote in an attempt to neutralise it. Every other batlike creature had exploded shortly after defeat, but with the trajectory she was following, gravity would surely push it aside and spare her from any imminent explosion. That was the theory, anyway.

With a terrified look on her face, Amity requested her only hope from Eric. "Guard!" she cried out, fully aware that the shield itself was still not big enough to protect her from an open mouth. Oddly enough, as she fell, a familiar blue mist escaped from the underside of the dress as she fell; combined with the dress' blue glow, it almost sparkled like glitter in the otherwise dark and dank cave. If she hadn't been contemplating her immediate future, she may have appreciated its beauty.

The Guard shield quickly appeared on her right arm as she drew closer and closer to either a chance for a surprise attack, or her untimely end. Her eyes closed in dread as she braced her weight behind the dome to protect her limbs. I can't beat it from the outside. That... only leaves... one option...

"Eric! Pleeease be ready!" she pleaded...

----------

Actions:
[1] Propel self along ceiling using RageClaw to move above Batworm mouth [-1 durability]
[2] [Disruptor] RageClaw [40 DMG, Slashing] >>> AttachmentD
[3] [Disruptor] Guard1 [<=60 DMG Reflecting 1 Non-Break Attack, Line1] [Equipped]
-----
[P] THAW [6 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amity [124 >>> 131 / 150 HP]

Sigs:
None in cooldown

Party:
Amity.EXE: 131 / 150 HP [Equipped: RageClaw - 2/6 Uses Remaining | Guard1]

Boosters failing and low on options, Amity latched on and manoeuvred through the rocky spikes near the cavern's ceiling while the massive monstrosity angled its maw up towards her from below. It was leaning back slightly, gathering itself and as she saw its thicker hid covering regenerating again, and another attachment bat pulling itself free, Amity sought a plan that would work.

Before she had much more time to plan, however, several things happened all at once. The bat that was sent flying up towards her missed, latching onto one of the stalactites near her instead, chewing through it, and beginning to fall back again. As it did, Amity tore the other feeder from her body, casting it off. She began to drop towards the mouth of the beast below, but the attachment near her had dropped hard as she struck it, and neither she, nor the head of her foe were quite clear of the data burst that accompanied its detonation. Luck was with Amity, and none of the exploding data chunks hit her; the same could not be said for the newer bat-attachment, or the worm itself; its outer hide layer was scoured back again in moments.

As Amity dropped, her shield was ready. The worm lunged up towards her in a snapping bite, catching both the navigator, and the falling bat creature alongside her in its toothy grip. Perhaps as she'd planned, or perhaps by chance, the shield caught like a brace as the jaws attempted to clamp around her. It buckled and cracked, but not before it returned a bolt of blue disruptive energy directly down the worm's gullet. In the slowed moment, the other bat-like creature had been tumbled past her into the worm-beast's mouth, before it, too was caught by the piercing line of light before it could be devoured. As with those before it, this bat exploded violently as well; in the tight space, neither Amity nor the giant worm had any real hope of avoiding the shrapnel, but the combination of the laser and this extra burst of force threw the monster backwards, its head rearing upwards and falling away in shock and recoil as Amity herself dropped to the ground.

A crash shook the cave; the creature had fallen back on itself, striking the ground roughly before it rolled over, legs waving and wings flapping haphazardly as it picked itself up again. Two fresh wisps of blue had returned to it, and now five small glowing bat gnawed on its back, spreading their cleansing light through the creature. It seemed to be aware of them now, and began to twist on itself, as though trying to shake them off. The spreading patch of blue was seeping through its body, taking up a large portion along its length now; little by little, the trojan cleansers were working away. Small hisses and growls came from the worm as it thrashed around, before it turned its focus back on amity; what small amount of plotting and reason it might have had before was now lost in a palpable sense of pained and hungry rage that seemed to emanate from the monstrosity.

-=Deep-Dweller=-
Klez.v64.832.screamer: 120Hp [Normal][In front/above amity][RTS: 5 passive disruption per stack (5)]

Attch (Warning: Your Blizzy Accnt is Compromised!): RTS
Attch (Bargain Pharmaceuticals Online!): RTS
Attch (Singles in your Area!): RTS
Attch (Nigerean Prince Needs Your Help!): RTS
Attch (Your Winnings!): RTS

-=Drop-in Damsel=-
Amity.Exe: 116Hp [Normal][Ground near worm][RageClaw (2/6)]

-=Dark Domain=-
100% Normal

• No effects.

-=Destructible Defences=-
Stalagmites: 20Hp Each, can provide some measure of cover. In most cases, one will never be more than a dodge or feint action away.

Once again, things hadn't gone according to plan. Amity's intention to sabotage the creature from inside, whilst having its own inherent risks, had been thwarted by its jaws catching her shield before she could enter its insides. That wasn't to say that the events the followed weren't exactly unwelcomed, even if she didn't come out of the attack completely unscathed, but Amity once again was left scratching her head as she landed on the ground.

What she didn't expect was the Batworm to start going beserk as it rolled around in the cave. It had been mostly composed up until now, unlike herself who had been on the backfoot since its entrance. As it twisted around and around, Amity noticed three things.

Firstly, the mini-bats she'd been swatting hadn't logged out of the network. Instead, it looked as if they'd somehow managed to rejoin their master's outer layer, but instead of becoming their original beings, they were using its own hitpoints to regenerate their bodies. In her head, it sort of made sense that to regenerate their outer core that they'd need to extract that energy from somewhere, but she didn't think it would come at the cost of another living creature. After all, the inner cores would normally return to a network spawning station, where most viral fragments began their life. Had any other viruses she'd dispatched in this manner done the same thing?

Secondly, she realised that although she'd originally thought her attack runs had been inadequate, viral fissures were becoming faintly visible on its outer layer. Though not exactly sure what methods had achieved this outcome, if its coding had already begun degredation of this nature, its hitpoints must have dropped over 50%. A quick scan of its core coding confirmed this to be true.

Which brought her to the final thought; as the worm tried to pick off its newest additions, she saw an opportunity. It had rolled just far away enough that she had the element of surprise should she lunge first. And by this time, Amity was sick of running, even if it was the sensible option.

Well, I never got the chance to use this in testing school, but desperate times... she thought to herself. It was the biggest risk she'd taken all day so far, because failure left her immensely vulnerable, even more so than falling into its mouth, but an excited shiver pulsed through her body at the thought. Even if it did fail, it would be a fun first regardless.

She dismissed the RageClaw from her left arm to free up its next component. It had proven invaluable in this battle and whilst Amity couldn't argue it had been a vital role in her survival thus far, she was still ecstatic to have it leave her body. "Shockwave and Cannon! Things are going to get a bit weird!" she chuckled as she started generating her favourite gel in her right arm.

The battlechips took their expected formations; the Cannon transmutating onto her left arm with the barrel sticking out ever so slightly, and the glow from her boots indicated the Shockwave too was ready to be unleashed. What changed in this particular setup from normal, however, was the white hems on both the arms and skirt began to intermittently flash; and Amity's smile couldn't have been wider. She'd failed easier battle tactics at the training facility as they only allowed a limited number of battlechips for testing purposes, so she'd never been allowed the opportunity to practise a battle routine. But she'd seen one of her comrades pull it off with amazing success, and while it was true Amity's disruptors would change the result somewhat, she'd always wanted a chance to do it herself.

"Battle routine, SET!" she yelled as she locked eyes onto the worm, swinging her arms forward in preparation of what was to follow. "Ground! Gun! Gel! ROLLIIIIIIIIIING SPLAAAAASH!!!"

As overdramatised as her unnecessary exclamation was, as she finished enunciating her last word all hell broke loose from her position. The Shockwave launched first as she stomped on the ground and caused the blue-tinted groundblazer to burst forth towards its target. Without a breath, the Cannon was fired next, quickly trying to keep up the pace with its slower-but-still-fired-first partner as it left a blue-tinted cloud in its wake. Not to be left out, the cleansing gel too was fired at maximum velocity to the same path. This 1-2-3 attack pattern tore across the arena in a blaze of white, yellow and blue, as our purple-haired friend buckled under the stress of such a move and fell to her knees, still a solitary source of light in the cavern.

----------

Actions:
[1-3] BATTLE ROUTINE ENGAGED: Ground~>Gun~>Gel = Rolling Splash >>> Batworm
~> [Disruptor] Shockwave [40 DMG, Line, Ground]
~> [Disruptor] Cannon [60 DMG, Knockback]
~> Calming Spray [40 DMG, Aqua]
-----
[P] THAW [6 {+1} HEAL] >>> Amity [116 >>> 123 / 150 HP]

Sigs:
Calming Spray [Used; 0/1 TCD; Recharging]

Party:
Amity.EXE: 123 / 150 HP

While the massive viral creature writhed and thrashed, trying to rid itself of the small line of glowing bats spreading Amity's own disruptive energy through its body, Amity took a moment to analyse her opponent and try to work out what state the battle was in. Upon realising that she hadn't been doing as poorly as she thought, the young navi opted to try something more risky and offensive, casting aside concern for her own defence as she prepared herself to attempt a stylish attack run.

As she received and prepared the chips she needed, another of the mutated bats pulled itself free of the worm and winged over to her, latching onto the top of her head like an altogether unfitting hat. The light gnawing sensation was only uncomfortable, and not really painful; it wasn't enough to distract Amity from her plans.

While she prepared, the worm rolled over, pulling itself upright again and latching its many hundreds of tiny legs onto stone and rock to right itself while it multitude of uneven wings fluttered and flapped against each other. Its head flailed around but seemed to settle at last on amity as the source of its distress. The sheen to its rubbery hide returned as it reared, then lunged towards her, jaw snapping in a swift bite. The attack closed on Amity's upper body, once again exposing her to the razor sharp, narrow teeth that filled its jaw, and she briefly felt a multitude of semi-formed hands pawing at her from within its mouth, before a sudden blast of energy above her exploded with concussive force.

A moment later, the cave came back into view as the creature reeled back again. The attachment on her head was gone, scatterings of data shrapnel scattering everywhere; it must have exploded in the creature's mouth. Unlike the previous instances that Amity herself had dispatched, there was no blue wisp of energy remaining to return to the beast, and no new addition to the line of softly glowing attachments on it, but Amity had more important things to focus on.

In the moment of recoil, the right moment to attack came and Amity attempted her combination attack with a shout and a good deal of flair. To her credit, it mostly worked out; the timed combo assault blasted towards the exposed midsection of the beast, and while it didn't seem like all of the attacks hit cleanly, certainly most of them did, and the creature was thrown back further, rolling over on itself as its tiny legs clawed at the rocks around it for support.

It wasn't down, unfortunately, though most of its body was a mass of unstable fissures and bluish patches that seemed only partially solid. It dragged itself up, undulating forward before rearing up to a more full height that saw its head cresting amongst the stalactites at the caves ceiling. Wobbling and shaky, it looked down at Amity, and its jaws snapped open wide again, exposing her to the soul-shaking screech of shrieking voices and faces inside its gullet. The sound and sight was enough to disorient the navi for a moment and then a rush of movement drew her focus back again as the beast crashed down at her with its full body weight, heedless of the ground or anything else.

With no time to dodge away, the full force and weight of the creature crashed into her, teeth clamping shut around her as it ploughed bodily into the cave floor and dug a deep groove out of it. For a few seconds there was nothing but movement, pain and the sound of crashing rock and dirt, covered over by the dull, sonorous tone of her emergency undershirt program activating... Then stillness, and the soft glowing sensation of her dress beginning the process of repair.

Nothing moved for several seconds, until the silence was broken by distant sounds of errant rocks falling. The flutter of wings had stopped, as had the shriek of voices. There was still the pressure of being pinned in its mouth, but slowly a diffuse light spread further and further through the physical mass trapping her as the now still creatures main body began to gradually break down.

-=Deep-Dweller=-
Klez.v64.832.screamer: CLEANSED

Attch (Claim your Free Gift-Card Now!): DELETED
Attch (Warning: Your Blizzy Accnt is Compromised!): RTS
Attch (Bargain Pharmaceuticals Online!): RTS
Attch (Singles in your Area!): RTS
Attch (Nigerean Prince Needs Your Help!): RTS
Attch (Your Winnings!): RTS

-=Drop-in Damsel=-
Amity.Exe: 7Hp [Stunned(1)][Sorta grappled, but the body is breaking apart, so not for long anyway]

-=Battle 5, Victory!=-
Spoils: 1000z, RollArrow1Damage: 40 + Chip Break
Accuracy: B
Description: Launches an arrow tipped with a pink heart. If a virus is hit, they lose the ability to attack once. If a Navi is hit, they lose their first selected chip for that turn.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D

[WARNING.] [WARNING.] [WARNING.]

Eric was in a state of panic. Amity's hitpoints were at a critically low level, but despite his attempts to reach out to her, she remained stationary whilst pinned by the batworm's jaw. In a desperate attempt to heal her, he tried to send her the Recovery battlechip, but an unknown error was preventing its transmission into the internet.

The batworm's gigantic body was in fact beginning to crumble apart; it had taken too much damage from Amity's repulsors, and combined with the passive draining of its would-be assistants, its body had reached unsustainable levels of degredation, forcing the inner core's separation from its outer chassis. While this was not any different to the foes she had been battling up until now, the sheer size of the outer casing meant that instead of simply dissemanating into the network in a quiet manner, the coding seemed to almost cast off into the air as a cloud of bluish dust, creating a almost eerie-like fog in the cave. The glow from both the oversized inner core and its five smaller partners only added further to this, adding a twilightish glow that reflected off all that was in the area.

As the batworm's mouth broke down, it no longer had the structural integrity to support the creature it was gripping. Slipping through the now-delicate flesh, Amity dropped a short distance to the ground. The sudden stop from the small fall was enough to jolt her awake. Lying on her back, she groaned as she remained in place; she was in no position to get up just yet.

Her eyes tracked the only movements in the cave; as the six cores hovered above her, she noticed that several more small inner cores began to levitate from the nearby area and move closer to the larger one. It made sense, really; if it was their spawn-in signature, even if its outer layer was destroyed, they would naturally gravitate towards the inner core. But the sheer number of cores exiting the decomposing code worried Amity; there was easily 40 or so now joining onto the 'mother-core', for lack of a better term.

Amity finally had the strength to get back to her feet, slipping twice as she tried to get both a foothold and a handle on her surroundings so she could rise up. The collapse of the creature had definitely made a mess of the cave, with crushed rock masses filling the area, not to mention the large crater the batworm had created by attempting to squash her as it tried to finish her off.

It was that thought that reminder her of all the trapped prisoners inside its inner mouth. Her lack of energy prevented any kind of urgent movement, but her eyes quickly scanned the area for signs of survivors. She caught sight of a leg sticking out from under a pile of stones only a few steps away. She gingerly hobbled across to it and tried to move the rocks off its chest. As she threw each rock aside she noticed that the hue of its body was heavily drained, to the point that it was almost nothing more than black and white with a few hints of brown.

It wasn't until the last rock was removed that was covering its head that Amity gasped, stifling a small scream. It wasn't just the hue that had been altered; its eyes, fully opened wide and staring out in the world, were pitch black. Soulless and dead. Amity's body became stiff at the sight, her breathing restricted as she began to feel shock.

...How? How is this possible...?

If the navi had been deleted, its body should have broken down back to basic data, or at the very least data fragments. This was a whole creature. How was this possible...?

Amity was still in no shape to be traversing such an uneven ground, but ignoring her agonising pain and torn outer garments she stumbled across the ground to another body that had landed facedown. It too was mostly monochrome in appearance, but this one had tinges of red instead of brown. As Amity turned over the navi's body, the same black eyes awaited her. It was the same picture for three more bodies only a few small steps away; a train-like creature, a lady-like navi, and a dog-like creature. All with monochrome hues and soulless black eyes.

It was only when Amity sat down on a pile of rocks across from the lady that she noticed a small foot sticking out from under a stalacmite nearby. This one had a distinct hue brighter than the bodies she'd just seen. As she pulled the leg out from under the gap, she came face-to-face with the pink litte miss from earlier. Unlike the rest of her party, she still had a vibrant shade to her skin, and no gray shades on her clothing, but her eyes were shut and she wasn't moving.

As Amity let go of the young one's leg, she noticed her own hand was shaking uncontrollably. It wasn't just her hand though; it was her whole body tremoring back and forth, she just hadn't noticed through the emotional and physical pain caused by the scene around her. Was... was this normal? Was this something she would have to get used to?

"Amity!" Eric's voice finally rang through her ears.

"Here," she replied in a defeated and flat manner, as if she was answering a roll call.

"Thank goodness!" Eric couldn't hide the distress on his face. "I couldn't reach you! Are you okay???"

"Yeah, well, I'm still here," she mumbed in response.

"I've got a lock on your position, so send your jack-out signal and I'll get you out of there!" he urged.

"Whatever. Sending sign-ARGH!"

Amity was spooked by an unexpected sensation on her right arm. Her head spun around to find the young female grabbing it as it tried to get back onto its feet. Amity's automatic recoil of fear alarmed the poor girl, as she quickly released her grip and took a few steps back from Amity in response. The little girl in a frilly pink and white dress stared at Amity, and Amity stared right back, unsure what to make of the situation. Rather unexpectedly, the girl suddenly dashed forward, her eyes wide open. Amity didn't have the strength to have a response ready, but thankfully didn't need to as it ran past her and towards the lady-like navi still lying on the ground. The girl threw herself onto its chest and started pushing its shoulders with both hands in a desperate attempt for attention.

A tear fell from Amity's eye. While she didn't have any concrete proof, it wasn't a far leap to assume, based on the similar design of the lady's dress and the little miss' dress, that the two knew each other. As it continued to try and get some sort of response, its child-like noises began to become higher pitched and desperate. It didn't seem to understand that, no matter how hard it pressed, that the navi was never going to respond.

The lone tear on the ground below Amity suddenly had company as she sat there, unable to offer any assistance.

A low moaning sound caught Amity's attention as she turned her head to face the source. The mother-core had gathered together all the mini floating cores and was now one solid creature. A terrifying thought ran through Amity's mind; what if the mother-core could respawn another outer layer using the energy of the mini-cores, in the same way they'd tried to come back using its own energy?

Fragments of rock showered from the ceiling just above the newly-formed coalescence, causing several of the smaller cores to explode in the same manner they had before. Amity was taken aback by the sudden entrance of a yet-unknown third party, but she knew the sound of that weapon. She'd fired it a few times today, and no doubt it was one of the favourite weapons of choice of another colleague of hers.

As Crony stepped into view and took another shot at the coalescence, it hovered backward to avoid the Shotgun, not escaping its blast completely and still losing a few cores in the process. It clearly got the hint, as it took the opportunity to disappear further into the tunnel before Crony could reload.

As the group flew away, Amity got back up on her feet again. Crony was teleporting after it, Shotgun still firing as he went. Amity still didn't like him, but there was no denying the smallest of smiles that crept onto her face as he pursued her former foe. It was only as the cave became almost completely dark that Amity suddenly felt something grab her from behind. She whirled around to face it with as much energy as she could muster, but whatever it was had an almost vice-like grip on her. Her arms swept behind her to grab at the unknown creature, but within seconds Amity recognised both the shape and form.

'Little Miss' was now stuck to her back. Based on the uncontrollable shivers, it was safe to assume the sudden darkness had scared the poor girl. Amity decided there and then that she couldn't leave this poor girl to defend herself. Amity's mind raced back to her meeting with 'Meep' and how she'd let him go, knowing full well the fate that might await him. Not this time.

But how to save her without detection...?

Once again, automated systems reading her thoughts decided to lend a hand. The back of her dress shimmered for a split second as it wove itself around the girl's arms and body. Amity herself shivered for a second as the girl's arms, torso and legs came into contact with her gel-reinforced upper chest and lower back. Oddly enough, the only thing sticking out from the dress itself now was the girl's head, propped out from the seam lined down Amity's back. Almost as if it was in expectation of this, Amity's hair changed composition and reshaped itself around the head and body so the otherwise unsightly bulge was now integrated into her otherwise-normally-long-flowing head of hair. From the outside, nobody would know a tiny girl was wrapped around our purple-haired navi. Little Miss yelped in surprise of the change, but rather than let go, her grip only tightened harder.

"Whatever you do, don't move and be quiet," she whispered as a warning. It was aptly timed too, for Crony was back only a few seconds later.

"Why didn't you help me finish it off?" Crony demanded.

Amity was speechless. Did he honestly think she was in any position to give chase?

Before she could reply, a sound of rocks moving behind Crony brought his Shotgun whirling around to face the source, but a moment later he dismissed the barrel and thrust his arm into the same pile of rocks. As he pulled back, a brown navi rose from the rubble, and grabbed a hold of Crony's arm as he tried to find footing stable enough to stand on.

"Get over here and hold him!" Crony ordered. "There's more survivors that need help!"

As Amity walked across and held the brown navi's back, she could faintly hear more noises coming about.

"Ladies! Lights!" Crony yelled as he tapped the emblem on his chest while walking towards another moving pile. A second later three glowing orbs appeared above him. The chamber was lit up by their appearance as each one emanated a corresponding colour of red, yellow and green. Each of the glowing orbs had small arms and legs, which didn't look to serve any real purpose other than to make them look less intimidating, given their harsh expressions. Amity couldn't help but feel their personalities probably matched their master, but upon recognising the middle one, it became obvious to her that the 'bulb' she'd been ordered to follow from the beginning was his own partner. She'd address that later.

As Amity watched more navis getting to their feet she noticed a fragment of data that hadn't disappeared with the batworm's disintegrating outer layer. It looked to be usable so she reached out to pick it up, wincing as she did so. ”I think this is battlechip data,” she advised as it entered her data stream.

The thought was correct, but as a new battlechip sequence was imprinted onto the blank chip Eric inserted into the PET, it returned another unknown name. It wasn't important so Eric simply put it into his folder; another problem for another time.

Amity watched his hesitance and confusion from an on-screen monitor. A thought had been burning in the back of her mind, and she couldn't hold it in any more.

"Eric? Can I ask you something?"

"What's wrong?" Eric replied, still a little nervous about her current state.

Amity bit her lip as she began to feel a twinge of guilt at what she was about to say. "Why are you doing this?"

Eric's voice quivered in his response. "Doing... what?"

"This. Virus busting." Amity knew she had no choice in the matter; she'd been created with opposing functions, but she still had to try and make both incentives work, even if it did cause an internal conflict inside her. But Eric, he could be anything he wanted to be. "Clearly this is not something you're good at, and I don't get the impression you want to be either. So why bother?"

Eric looked away from the PET screen. "I don't have a choice," he finally responded.

"How can you not have a choice?" Amity pressed. "You're human. You're not limited by programming."

"That's not what I meant," he mumbled in response. "If I don't try, who will?"

"Try what?" Amity questioned. Silence. "Eric? Try what?" she repeated.

"It doesn't matter," Eric mumbled again. "They all go back in the end, so everybody wins. I go back to being alone, and their fate remains unchanged. If it was meant to be, it would feel normal..."

"What does that even mean?" Amity questioned in a confused manner. But this time, Eric didn't respond.

"Th... thank you," the brown navi in front of her managed to speak. "Are... you the one who saved us?" it asked.

While it was true that she was the reason he was now free, it wasn't because she'd purposefully gone out of her way to do so. She felt she didn't deserve that kind of attention, and certainly didn't want it either. "No, I didn't," she flatly replied. "It's true my actions led to your release, but that doesn't mean I saved you. I just didn't want to share your fate." The words were harsh, but she'd had enough of this day and wanted to get back to the safety of her PET. Being polite to strangers was the last thing on her mind; Stacey and Crony had sucked up all of her tolerance for others, and Eric had not been much help either.

"Is that any way to speak to someone in his position?"

Amity recognised that voice. It had been a long day, but the tone, words, and manner lit a fire inside Amity's mind. She'd held back her hostility towards his sister up until now. Not any more.

"How DARE you tell me how to speak to someone?! I don't recall seeing your ridiculous navi trying to help me defeat that stupid batworm now, did I?!" she replied in a rather curt manner.

"That was a grade 1.0.5 Klez.v64.832.scr-" Crony began, but was cut off.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT IT'S CALLED?!" Amity screamed angrily. "WHY DID YOU SIT IN THE SHADOWS AND LET ME DEAL WITH IT ON MY OWN?!"

"You best watch that tone before I have to do something about it," Crony warned.

"DON'T YOU NEED TO CHECK WITH YOUR MASTER FIRST BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING?!" Amity screamed again in sarcasm. "ERIC, GET ME OUT OF HERE, I'M DONE!"

Eric had the lock-on signal, but Stacey's lightning-fast reflexes allowed her to snatch the PET out of his hand before he could finish the retrieval routine. She'd snuck out of her room some time ago and had waited for the right moment to rejoin the party. This definitely seemed like the right moment to her as she reappeared from behind the couch. As Eric got up to contest her actions, she threw up her hand in a HALT fashion, stopping Eric in his tracks. He knew what it meant to disobey that order.

"Now you listen here and you listen good," Stacey growled in a fierce undertone. "You are only here because I allowed you to enter into this household. The chain of command in this house falls to me first, Crony second, and Eric third. If you THINK you can come in here and undermine what I have spent YEARS trying to maintain, I won't just send you packing. I'll hit the 'Deconstruct' button myself." Stacey let that thought simmer for a moment before continuing. "Do I make myself clear?"

Amity's equally fierce gaze matched Stacey's as she clenched her teeth and fists. She'd been challenged. There was no way she was going to let it go unanswered. "Well well, you're a fighter," she responded sarcastically with an equal amount of fierce undertone to match. "Pity you didn't feel like passing on some of that training to your brother. I thought he'd been a failure, but truthfully, any failure on his part is clearly a failure of your own as well, isn't it? Crony can hold his own without you, and yet he chooses not to, true?" Amity struggled to keep her tone of voice elevated as she committed her potentially fatal final thought to words. "So who's the failure? Eric... or you? I don't see why I'm being threatened when I did all the work. Where were YOU ALL THIS TIME?!"

Stacey had already had another speech prepared as a counter-argument for the expected 'that's not fair' response. She hadn't sparred with someone equally as opinionated as herself in a long time; not only that, Amity had fought dirty, throwing a cheap blow at her relationship between her brother and herself that had caught her off-guard and unaware. The words she'd prepared quickly vanished into meaningless as she realised she didn't have the right response to defend herself without making herself look weak.

Amity, on the other hand, was done with talking. The opportunity to speak without restriction had alleviated some of her frustration and she was feeling just a little better mentally as a result. Physically, however, was another matter. As officers were appearing onsite to help deal with survivors, responding to Crony's call to action, Amity's legs buckled as she hit the ground knees-first. Litte Miss was still safe on her back, but Amity on the other hand needed some desperate respite from the day's events.

Meanwhile, Eric approached Stacey very delicately and gently reached out for the PET. Stacey didn't resist this time, and allowed him to take it back. He tapped the final protocol menu to establish the connection. "You're good to come back now, Amity," he confirmed as he sighed a breath of relief.

Amity. The pathetic navi that couldn't pass the training programs. Amity. The pathetic navi that couldn't get attention or admiration from her peers. Amity. The one who'd been given to this newbie as an offhanded gesture. No. She was not Amity. Amity was weak, incapable and alone. But she... she was someone else.

I don't know who you are, but you're right. Amy IS stronger than she thinks.

A beam of light arced from her emblem as the jack-out protocol took effect. As she began to disassemble for transmission, she was ecstatic to see the data stream also pick apart her new attachment. The PET was going to be a little cramped, but for now it would have to suffice until she could figure out what to do about her. With a renewed happiness Amity dismissed the ACDC Network, making an inappropriate gesture with her face to Crony as he watched her disappear.

"Amy, logging out!" she cried out as she disappeared into the slipstream. The only remaining sign that she'd been there was the wave of blue mist that was left in her wake.

----------

Battle #5 Complete!

Rewards:
Zenny: +1000 (2220 >>> 3220)
New Battlechip: RollArrow1Damage: 40 + Chip Break
Accuracy: B
Description: Launches an arrow tipped with a pink heart. If a virus is hit, they lose the ability to attack once. If a Navi is hit, they lose their first selected chip for that turn.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D
Battlechips: 11 >>> 12

{>>> To ACDC Town: Repetition for Emphasis >>>}