((I have a period of inactivity approaching, so I'm gonna try to bail and jack Feint out. Sorry for the huge delay on this post too, btw))

"We're almost out of chips, Cherish..."

"..."

Two more fiery dogs remained, and a RageClaw chip wouldn't prove too useful at the moment. Looks like she'd grant Faith's wish for once and let them get away this time.

"Guess we're out of options then. Despite how eager I am to kill time trying to scratch at these pooches, I'll let them be for now."


A Spikey on each side at least meant nothing hindered her escape route straight ahead. Electricity traced her footprints as she sprinted down the empty road to retreat from the remaining two enemies.


------------------------------


Action #1 - Escape

Action #2 - Escape

Action #3 - Escape

(Gotcha -- my mistake there.))


Well that turned out as best it possibly could. Feint almost cracked a smile at their success, but she wasn't out of the danger zone just yet.

"Cherish, delete the last knight!"

No hesitation came in executing those orders as a Cannon Chip appeared in Feint's hand. She was a bit more cooperative now that there was just a tad less stress in the equation. But odds were still against her at this point, so it was no time to get comfortable.

A second chip came in: Zap Ring.

"Maybe you can finish off the weakened wolf too?"

"..."

Well there was no harm in trying. If she'd miss though, Faith only had the Rage Claw chip left, so it'd be a daunting fight to finish with only that.

Feint loaded both chips into her weapon and fired first at the nearby Swordy -- the kickback from the cannon blast nearly knocked her off balance, one could only imagine how hard it'd hit from the other side of the barrel.

Before the dust cleared from the shot, her weapon sparked with electricity as she turned to fire it at the Spikey she'd shot before with her ShotGun Chip. That same electricity trailed behind the green disk-shaped projectile in the air as she attempted to finish off the hound before it had the chance to attack.


Now she was nearly out of resources and still in the opening, vulnerable to attacks. She hated making habits while in combat, but it was a pretty solid strategy to go early on the defensive -- ready to evade incoming attacks -- than to strike again and leave herself exposed. Sometimes, though, she really didn't have a better option.


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Action #1 - Cannon (DMG: 60 ~ ACC: A ~ Knockback) @ Swordy-N B

Action #2 - ZapRing1 (DMG:40 ~ ACC: A ~ Stun 1) @ Spikey A

Action #3 - Dodge (Ready to Evade)

"Ngh!"

Feint gave a rough grunt as two of the three sword strikes rung true.

"Cherish, you're surrounded!"

"No kidding!"

Frustration was speaking now. Outnumbered was one thing, but there was no way for her to evade six sources of damage when she could on realistically respond to three at a time -- and even then it was entirely left to chance.

It didn't really matter how evasive she chose to be; it was certain that she would get struck at a blind angle no matter which way she cut it. The most sound option was to eliminate as many potential attackers as quickly as possible. She'd take some hits in the mean time, but hopefully her firepower output would be able to catch up before they were able to put her down for good.


Electrical energy surged around her body and into her weapon just as before while she swiftly moved positions to break out of the inner-circle formed by the three swordies. Lining herself up to the side of the two in the front, she loaded in the Vulcan Chip data she had just received from Faith and fired away at point-blank range to the two that chose to attack her face on.


She felt defenseless now, only able to brace for more blows that would inevitably come. But she didn't think twice about declining Faith's recent command to retreat -- hopeless or not, she didn't shy away from a fight. Failure was more honorable than forfeit, even if it'd end up costing her more in the end.


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Action #1 - Dodge (Re-angling again to line up Swordy-N A and Swordy-N C for Vulcan's Spread)

Action #2 - Overdrive ([Take Aim + Imbue Elec + Strengthen 30 ] ~ 2 CD)

Action #3 - Vulcan 1 (DMG: 25 x 3 Hits Elec ~ ACC: A+ ~ Spread 1) @ Swordy-N A and Swordy-N C
------ Base Damage was 10 * 3
------ Overdrive increased the total damage by 30 (added +10 per hit)
------ Elec Affinity added +5 per hit

"You think these are friendly too?"

"Cherish, run!"

Well, they finally see eye to eye about an enemy being an enemy, and then Faith goes and tells her to retreat. How cowardly.

"Run? Oh no Nymphra, they're just playing around. Having fun and all, you know."

Faith furrowed her eye brows at Feint's sarcasm (and mocking, no less) as she slammed a chip into her PET -- nearly breaking the device in her anger.

Giving up the act, Cherish accepted the chip data and loaded it into her weapon. Their arsenal was pretty limited. If she missed a shot, it'd put her in a fatal disadvantage against these rather oppressive-looking enemies. Maybe she'd take a few hits for attempting to wipe out the front line first, but the less enemies she left alive, the less retaliation she'd have to deal with.

Feint quickly stepped to the side, lining herself up so that when she fired the Shotgun blast at one of the charging Spikeys, the second explosion would attempt to catch another one. Hopefully these pups were as addicted to playing "catch" as the last dog she'd shot at was.


Sadly there was no time for further action by the time the pack would have reached her, so she crouched down, ready to dive through the ranks of the approaching hounds as they drew close, intending to end up behind them and then just keep on tumbling for a few yards because what else could she do while under attack. If she'd end up surrounded, then maybe she could play that to her advantage -- if the Spikey's missed with their fireballs, maybe they'd hit a Swordy by accident.

That was thinking a bit further ahead than where she was at the moment though; for now, it was best to tackle this obstacle one step at a time.


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Action #1 - Feint (Re-angling position to line up SpikeyA and SpikeyB, preferably without stepping on Grass)

Action #2 - Shotgun (DMG: 50 ~ ACC: A+ ~ Spread 1) @ SpikeyA and SpikeyB

Action #3 - Dodge (Dodge-roll past the Spikey's, aiming to end up between them and the Swordies. Then over-exaggeration the Dodge-Roll so she'll hopefully be a harder target to hit. Still avoiding the Grass.)

 
"It sounded so sad..."

"How tragic."

Well, what was done was done. But Feint wasn't done. She continued wandering around for more viruses to beat up on, and Faith continue wondering why she allowed this to continue for as long as it did.

But who knew? Maybe Feint would actually decide not to savagely attack anything that appeared before her. It wasn't too much to hope for, right?


REQUESTING BATTLE #3

"Ugh, over-estimated myself."

Disappointing, really. Feint fired off several more rounds of her empty chamber, peppering the field as best she could to finish off the tenacious musical note.


------------------------------


Action #1 - Buster Shot (DMG: 10 Null ~ ACC: A+) @ MelodyC

Action #2 - Buster Shot (DMG: 10 Null ~ ACC: A+) @ MelodyC

Action #3 - Buster Shot (DMG: 10 Null ~ ACC: A+) @ MelodyC

"I'd tell you to leave the last one alone because it's not doing any harm, but I know you'd just ignore me and attack it anyway."

"Now you're learning."

*Sigh*

Faith loaded up her last two chips, unwillingly assisting Feint in a brutal murder of something she believed to be totally innocent.

And just as before, Feint popped the chips into her gun's ammo slots and took advantage of the virus' obliviousness.

*POW-PO-PO-PO-POW*

The first bullet transfigured itself into what could best be described as a green ring of electricity as it shot across the air, attempting to strike the Melody's blindside and immobilize it. The next three shots fired off more rapidly than expected, like a burst of a semi-automatic machine gun. And the final shot was just a blank round from Feint's gun; a ball of air intending to finish off the unsuspecting creature if the rest of her barrage failed to.

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Action #1 - ZapRing1 (DMG:45 Elec ~ ACC: A+ ~ Stun 1) @ MelodyC

Action #2 - Vulcan1 (DMG: 10 x 3 Hits ~ ACC: A+ ~ Spread 1) @MelodyC

Action #3 - Buster Shot (DMG: 10 Null ~ ACC: A+) @ MelodyC

"Why you little..."

Feint grew more and more agitated with each hit she took, and right about now she was starting to feel soreness in her body from the consecutive blows. Electrical energy began to gather around her body again just as it had earlier; simultaneously, she zipped around to the other side of the Melody as her claws burst into shards of data to be replaced by the Shotgun Chip Faith had loaded up.

*Click*!

Ammo went into the chamber of the gun, along with the stored electrical charges, and then out came an exploding blast of energy, intending to catch the Fishy in the aftermath assuming she had lined up properly with her initial target, the Melody.

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Action #1 - Feint (Tactical Movement around MelodyA, lining it up with Fishy)

Action #2 - Overdrive (Take Aim + Imbue Elec + Strengthen 30 ~ 2 CD)

Action #3 - Shotgun (DMG: 85 Elec ~ ACC: A+ ~ Spread 1) @ MelodyA & Fishy

 

*Tch!*

Feint made a clicking noise with her tongue as the second Melody drew near.

"They're just eager to die."

"No, they're just defending themselves because you're picking on them!"

Feint ignored her operator and stepped toward the second Melody, quickly lunging at it with her claws in attempts to turn this one to ribbons as well. First a wide-slash with the left claw then another wide cut from the right.

The Fishy looked like it had given up, but she'd still pursue that one before all was said and done.

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Action #1 - Dodge (Evasive Movement toward MelodyA)

Action #2 - RageClaw1 (DMG: 40 ~ ACC: B ~ Slashing ~ 3/6 Uses) @ MelodyA

Action #3 - RageClaw1 (DMG: 40 ~ ACC: B ~ Slashing ~ 4/6 Uses) @ MelodyA

 
"Mmm..."

A concerned moan came from Faith as she watched "her sister" get squashed by the clumsy virus. She felt kind of bad now.

Feint held back the urge to grunt at the pain of her body being crushed beneath the Melody, but that pain turned to fuel for her rage at being blindsided by a sentient musical note of all things.

"Still enjoying the show?"

"... I sent you a Rage Claw."

Just like any other Chip Data that Feint received, it appeared in her hand as an actual Battle Chip for her to utilize, but this particular brand obviously wouldn't be loaded into her gun and fired.

Instead, Feint tore the chip data in two pieces, holding one half in each hand. Her fists glowed for a moment before fading back to their regular tone; when she opened her hands, the chip data was gone, but her nails had become sharp as claws (though more like the claws of a tiger than those of a bear).

She spread her arms apart, slashing at the Melody in an X-Pattern while it was still close by, angrily intending to rend it apart with both of the claws before it had time to reconsider its accidental assault.

*Sigh*

Faith still seemed pretty unhappy. There she went again, lashing out at another poor virus that just accidentally bumped into her the wrong way (quite literally, but a bit more forcefully than the saying implied). Faith convinced herself in believing that the Melody had a sorry look in its eyes; that it regretted bouncing into Cherish -- that it was truly an accident and that it would apologize if it were able to speak.

But the big-bad-Feint held no forgiveness toward anybody, much less overlook even the smallest offense. Now she had her eyes set on all of the Melody's friends as well.


She'd leave this place in ruin before she left without getting her revenge.

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Action #1 - RageClaw1 (DMG: 40 ~ ACC: B ~ Slashing ~ 1/6 Uses) @ MelodyB

Action #2 - RageClaw1 (DMG: 40 ~ ACC: B ~ Slashing ~ 2/6 Uses) @ MelodyB

Action #3 - Dodge (Ready to evade, as per usual)