((REALLY, REALLY sorry))

Loki snapped to attention, attempting to focus on the remaining enemies. He watched as Eternalis and Koumori dashed forward, their targets obvious. He looked at his remaining targets--err, target--in the eyes. Without a word, he dashed forward. Fluidly moving this way and that, maneuvering his was across the battlefield, he quickly spoke to Jack. "Okay, we should be able to end this quickly. Send me a Shotgun chip, then Guard. I should be fine after that."

"Gotcha!" Jack said as he complied. Loki felt the data flow throughout his system as he put all of his concentration on his one Swordy target. Silently, he skidded to a halt, took aim, and fired. Without skipping a beat, he put up his Guard and waited for the dust to settle.

Summary:
Tactical Movement
Shotgun: (50 Damage + Spread 1) (Swordy-N E, spread to D if applicable)
Guard1: Loki (Reflect, Max 60)

Loki stared at the new enemies, examining them before taking any action. Eternalis then spoke up.

Rodger, Loki! You two can work together to eliminate the Spikey, or weaken them sufficiently so that we can deal with them later.

"Gotcha!" Loki answered and instantly ran toward his enemies. Noticing that Rodger was focusing on one side, Loki headed for the opposite end. "Alright, Jack. Here's what I'm thinking: Shotgun on two of them, then Cannon and Flaming Shuriken to each to finish two of them off. That's probably the best we can do right now."

"Yeah, it looks that way. Okay, sending data!"

Loki continued moving forward, carefully lining up two Spikeys. He slowed his run as he got closer, still trying to line them up. As he came to a stop, his finalized his aim and fired from his shotgun. The familiar cannon then took its place on his arm, and he fired again quickly, aiming for the first Spikey. He then looked around, making sure he wasn't about to get ambushed, then began to surge his own power throughout himself. The data welled up inside, taking the form of a fire-based shuriken. Without hesitation, he fired the shuriken at the second Spikey, having faith that it would fly true.

Summary:
Shotgun: (50 Damage + Spread 1) (Spikey D, spread to Spikey E)
Cannon: (40 Damage) (Spikey D)
Flaming Shuriken: (Shot type, Fire Element, Phasing, 40 damage) (Spikey E)

Loki smiles but shakes his head at Rodger. "No worries, Jack and I have this taken care of. Hey Jack, can I get a MiniEnergy?"

"Sure thing, 1 sec..." the young voice answred. A few moments passed, and Loki began to feel much better, his health returning after a strenuous battle. "There, that should do it. Feeling better?"

"Much better. Okay, let's continue!" he said, following the others.

(Using a MiniEnergy)

Loki froze in his spot, still trying to shake off that explosion. "Wow, that was powerful..." he said in a tired tone. "Jack, keep sending ranged chips. I don't think I can afford to risk another hit from those mines. Send Shotgun and Cannon, then probably one of those guard chips just in case," he said, obvious concern in his voice. The battles were getting interesting now; that was a good thing, but he still had to keep his head, otherwise he'd be out before he knew it.

Staying quiet like he did before against the Spookies, he carefully aimed as his hand formed into a Shotgun. Finding one of the Spookies that had just attacked one of his new teammates, he carefully aimed, standing still as to not trip any mines. He adjusted the barrel to provide as much accuracy as possible as he lined the shot up with the Spooky and its companion Spooky behind it. Without a word, he fired.

The shotgun upgrade then disappeared as Cannon took its place. He lugged the weapon up into position, aiming his sights on one of the rabbit-looking virii, one that looked pretty worse for wear compared to its remaining companion. Gently aiming as before, he squinted with one eye in full concentration. When the shot seemed lined up enough to be satisfactory, he let the shot fly. He then quickly kneeled down in his spot as the Guard chip data began to meld with his. He took his ground, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

Summary:
Shotgun (50 Damage +Spread 1) (Spooky B, spread to Spooky C)
Cannon (40 Damage +Knockback) (BunnyA)
Guard1 (Reflect 1 non-break attack, Max 60 Damage)

"Wow, we're really attracting the virii," Loki said to no one in particular. "Jack, I don't think I recognize any of these. Care to send me some info?"

"I'm on it!" Jack quickly replied. "Okay... seems that you're up against some Spookies, Bunnies, and Miners. Spookies have 30 HP, but they're rather quick. Try not to make eye contact with them. Bunnies have 50 HP and I [i]think[i/] they're Elec type. I really don't know much about the Miners, so you should probably leave them to someone else."

"Got it. Well, let's-" Loki was quickly interrupted by the plain looking Navi, Rodger. "Yo, Loki, help me take out these Spooky virii if you can!" the Navi requested. "Sounds good to me. I bet those ghost-looking virii have some interesting chips." Loki then fell into his stealthy crouch and ran off to the side, trying not to be noticed so that he could take full advantage of the Spookies.

As he traveled in his customary arc, attempting to avoid any mines, Jack came over the comm. "Okay, I'm sending you a Shotgun chip. You should be able to take the third with your Flaming Shuriken. Rodger should have the rest taken care of."

"Gotcha," Loki replied, nodding his head in understanding. His pace slowed as the familiar Shotgun appeared where his normal hand would be. Taking careful aim and adjusting for movement, he lined up two Spookies and fired. Without a second thought, he quickly fired his Flaming Shuriken as the shotgun faded and his normal arm returned. The shuriken soared at its target with a black, ghostly glow. How appropriate.

Summary:
Tactical Movement (To the left? Lining up with Spookies)
Shotgun: (50 Damage +Spread 1) (Spooky F, spread to Spooky E)
Flaming Shuriken: (Shot type, Fire Element, Phasing, 40 damage) (Spooky D, using phasing if necessary)

23. International Negotiations.

Loki's tension faded as the smoke cleared on the battlefield and he saw that their ragtag group had managed to take out the entire virus force in one go-around. "Now that's what I'm talking about," his voice momentarily betraying his excitement. Some zenny popped up as his reward, and his felt the bond between him and his allies strengthen, somehow."Check it, Jack. We got 200z! Not bad for a bunch of Metools."

"Aww... no new chips?" Jack said with minor disappointment.

"It doesn't look so, but I'm not hurt. I don't really want any Cannons, and the Metools don't really give great chips either, last time I checked."

"Oh, by the way, they did a Navi update while we were taking a break. You're still fire type, obviously, but you've been listed as... shadow? subtype. Looks like you're on a lower priority when it comes to enemy attacks, and every now and then your attacks can phase through certain enemies. That's pretty neat!"

"I agree, I guess that may explain why the virii didn't crowd after me that time. That, or they had bigger problems to take care of. These other Navis are quite powerful... I'm going to have to play catch up," the Navi said with a serious tone in his voice. "Well, enough jabbering! Let's find some more virii!" Loki then continued on with the group.

(Ready for Battle 2 whenever everyone else is)

Loki nodded, half to himself and half to his teammates, as Eternalis and Koumori led the charge. "Good. Keep them distracted while I take advantage of their formation. If they keep distracted, hopefully they won't notice me," he said to himself as crouched and quiet ran in a straight line to his left.

"Hey, Loki. Do you remember what those virii are?"

Loki looked at the two new virus types, concentrated. "The ones in the back are Canodumbs. The don't move and fire in a straight line. If I stay out of their line of sight, I should be fine. The others, though... it's kinda fuzzy. They're obviously fire type though."

"Yeah, says here that they're called Champu. If you get in their line of sight, they teleport right in front of you and punch you."

"Well, we certainly wouldn't want that."

Halfway into the run, he arced slightly, bringing him into line with the 4 hopefully unsuspecting Metools. "Okay, Jack. Send me... Shotgun and, bleh, Cannon I guess. It'll have to do until I can get some chips that better suit me."

"Alright, happy to oblige!" Jack answered almost immediately.

As Loki began to feel the data transfer into him, he suddenly remembered. "Hey, have you started your homework yet??" The shadowy Navi asked, half in concern and half apathetic.

"Uh... let's just concentrate on the virii!" Jack said quickly, and Loki thought he could hear papers shuffling on the other end. Finally, his hand transformed into the familiar shotgun shape. Taking careful aim as he stood in line with the Metools, he fired a blast at the one on the end, hoping to take both it and its partner out. The shotgun then faded, being replaced with a huge Cannon. It was rather heavy, so Loki squinted a bit to straighten his shot. He then fired a huge blast down the line, hoping for it to strike the third virus away from him. The cannon faded, and Loki relaxed, waiting for the dust to clear.

Summary:
Tactical Movement (to the left, lining up with the line of Metools)
Shotgun: Metool A, spread to B? (50 + Spread 1)
Cannon: Metool C (40 + Knockback)

Loki nodded in satisfaction as the rest of the party appeared through the portal. He then turned back to Eternalis. "Really? No idea, although my netop does like to play pranks and jokes all the time... I'm usually his voice of reason."

"Hey!"

"It's true. Anyway, here come our new partners," he said, watching the group approach. He never really did get a chance to examine them much before Eternalis had dashed off, so he took his chance now. The first seemed ordinary enough, a normal Navi with slight modifications. Judging from his appearances he must have been an Elec type. The second one, though, was a mystery. She just looked... odd, unsettling. The entire body looked like a bat except for the head, and whatever that thing was clinging to her had quite the odd personality. Something just didn't feel right about them. 'I'll have to keep an eye on them.' he thought to himself. He then turned towards the group. 'Well then, let's begin!' he said, hiding the thrill in his voice. He then started to casually walk into the open Netspace.

(Battle 1)

The familiar light flash as Loki slowly stepped back into ADCD net. Calmly looking around, he quickly found his newfound watery partner. "Wow, you're ready aren't you? You've got spunk though, I like that. So, it's been a while since I've been around. Has anything new happened?"

Loki then stretched, once again looking around, examing his surrounds for anything out of place. Can't wait to bust some more virii... man, it feels good to be in action again." After slowly pacing back and forth for a few minutes, he crouched down, waiting the arrival of the other Navis he had briefly met on the other side. "So, Eternalis, is it? Tell me about yourself. I'd hate to go into battle with an ally I didn't even know." He then brought his gaze back to the portal, waiting for a response or an arrival, whichever would come first.