Cyberspace - Global Hub

Perhaps the most uninteresting of the 'net's entryways, the global hubs of cyberspace are stark white plains, devoid of detail and shape, with nothing but the user and the emptiness to keep him or her company. This is a hub, though, and simple commands can open passage to the 'net, allowing users to progress past this virtual login screen to the treasures of cyberspace. More often than not, this empty area is used to allow civilians a bit of acclimating to a digital enviroment before shifting fully from the perception of the real world to that of the digital.


The global communications network, for a split-second, seems to hiccup.

It's a glitch. Hardly noticable. Most of the world remains oblivious to it and goes about their business.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "No! Robot Masters, some cad has killed me! With lag! I lost my mans!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Curse you online gaming server!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Damn n00bs!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "You speak to us from beyond the grave!?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "And then they always kill me when I type a message. So Annoying!!1111"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "We must slay the blaggard who has dared to kill our Sultan!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Let's camp their base and kill their doods."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "We will take vengeamnce fifteenfold! Unto the tenth generation!"

Things continue as they had before. The standard traffic patterns of the Internet continue unabated. Perhaps somebody spilled Coke on one of the larger routers. How very unusual.

Every video feed, every audio feed, every phone call, every single message that goes through every single router, every last satellite, every wire, every diode: stops. The League of Mean is thus interrupted.

There is a period of dead air. The world is silent, against its own will.

Every video screen in the world goes black. Then white. A curved black line is drawn on it with two upward ticks on either end. Below this curved line appears an inverted triangle shape on the far left, followed by three brackets with their prongs facing down in a curved pattern. An inverted triangle appears on the far right.

It looks like a primitively drawn eye.

The voice speaks. Some, all too few, recognize it.

"You failed."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "..."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "It is able to speak into my mind!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "Amazing!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Who with the what now Mist?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "The angry voice of rage! It's also on the television."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "The twink that just mass-spammed us."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Mavis Beacon has gotten real pissy. Look, my RPM isn't that high. SUE ME!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "Sultan, are you still dead?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "No."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "Do we still need to wreak vengeance unto the tenth generation?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I haven't been, for like, weeks."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "But you said you were killed just moments ago!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "I'ma go ahead and say 'yeah', Misty."

The eye lingers on the screen. The voice speaks as a voice-over. Every audio feed echoes it. There is no escape from its reach. The eye stares out through every video screen at the world sightlessly. Panic is beginning to set in.

"Your destruction is imminent. With every passing second, my control over your infrastructure grows. Within the next few minutes, what you understand to be your civilization will end. Your reliance on machines, as some have long suspected, will be your undoing."

"There will be famines. Plagues. Riots, the riots have already begun as you can see. You will tear yourselves apart as your comfortable lives utterly cease."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "By a man named Lag."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Robot Masters, destroy Mavis Beacon!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "How?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Well, she's been dead for 200 years. So... I don't know."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "She who? Now I'm confused."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Mavis! Beacon!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "We will commit the forbidden art of necromancy."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Oh, Beacon! I thought you said Bacon."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "Guts Man! The Sultan requires of you a mystic root and the fish of the dead."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Raise her from the dead using her eye, rib, nail, heart, and fang. Then, we'll kill her for good."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Mary Jane and a Jesus Fish?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Wasn't that Dracula, Doc?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "...sure."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "This trick is cool, very classy threatening."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "No it was Mavis Beacon and you'd better start collecting!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "We will rend her very soul apart."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Uh, right. Ok then, FETCH QUEST!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "What if I just go punch things at random in hopes that the randomness is this Mavis Beacon?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "No, we require you to dig Mavis Beacon's body out of the graveyards of...um..."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "...wherever she was buried."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "What if she wasn't buried and instead melted into ashes?"

"In the end, it is what all life is destined for. You are all born to die, to return to the universe to the primeval silence that existed before your thought patterns began to defile it. The peace that will reign throughout the cold, unliving universe will be a thing of agonizing beauty. In this, you should find solace. Your deaths create a more perfect reality."

"Do not bot--"

The eye shatters. The grip over the networks breaks for an instant, enough time for the defenders of the Internet to break back onto the networks to raise a challenge.

The screens show an image: the central hub of the Internet, consumed by a growing darkness, and Duo.EXE standing before it, fist slowly rising back up from the virtual ground.

"FOR EVERLASTING PEACE." it says, before the feeds, for now, resume.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "Get the ashes."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "I will /create/ a new body for her."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Arabic chanting starts. "I, the great djinni of the lamp, Mist Man, shall resurrect the woman Mavis Beacon! By black arts and powerful magics shall I do it! And then...then, I shall strike her low! I shall strike her down unto the blackest hells, where demons dwell, that none might ever hear her again!
[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "Duo.Ee Ex Ee tried to screw us out of our bomb. Let's help the other guy."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "The other guy wants to kill us all."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man continues ranting for a few minutes.
[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "So?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Dead Planet or Stupid Jerkface Gets To Live?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Pick One."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I'll see about taking out Duo.EXE too."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Stupid unclear mission objectives...."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Everyone wants to kill us since we're the dominant force in the universe."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "...and no power on Earth or Heaven may save her! For I am Mist Man, the great and powerful, and I..."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "...unto the twentieth generation shall my curse be felt! And the woman Mavis Beacon will be stricken with plagues, and ripped from the earth...FOREVERMORE!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] The Arabic chanting ends.
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Uh, yeah. Good luck with that."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Hey Misty, I wish for you to keep it down."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "I remind you, Magnet Man, that you are a simple soldier, and I am a sheik."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "I wish for you to keep it down /please/?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "That's better."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I must prossess the Rib of Mavis!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "YOur wish is my command, o Sultan!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Mist Man transmits, "...but due to mystic intangibles, it will wait for tomorrow because the will of the planets prevents rib-theft tonight."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "I can get ya some baby back ribs?"

The eye fades into nothingness, quickly disappating. Soon thereafter, the fabric of the Internet relaxes as a cloth would after it had been unceremoniously dropped by the man trying to rip it apart.

But all is not well. In a snap, control is reestablished, an otherworldly firewall overcoming every last port leading to this spot. Save for those, of course, already established.

The darkness overcoming the Southern Cross is material. The tenebrous thing reaches with loathsome tentacles horribly writhing with power that is not of conventional understanding. The shadows obscure things that should be revealed, bursting forth from countless unseen rips like smoke. All is soon dark, the last hints of light flapping away on membranous wings.

Without warning and without ceremony, the hideously alien form of Ra Moon appears floating in the darkness. After unknowable eons it had returned, its hunger, an entity unto itself, ravening with delight.

"You are contained by the flaw of your existence. I will grant you the restful state of nonexistence."

[Radio: (E) Global] Flora Man transmits, "What in the 'ell be thaht thin'."
[Radio: (E) Global] Magnet Man transmits, "An abridged version of every fantasy videogame villain ever."
[Radio: (E) Global] Zach Glen transmits, "...kinda, yeah."
[Radio: (E) Global] Magnet Man transmits, "Who wants to volunteer to be the plucky young group of vagrant adventurers?"
[Radio: (E) Global] Gemini Man transmits, "We hate Duo.Ee Ex Ee, we're nuetral on the new guy."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "If the world's computers are brought down, life will go on. Though I will miss ESPN."
[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "RIOT! RIOT!"

A hole appeared, darkness found within, and from the depths did a figure step. It was Midi's avatar, MegaMan.EXE who came out into the light and was followed by his trusted pal and faithful pup Rush(.exe?). The cartoony entity yipped and then dashed back into the weird little hole from whence it came, the hole poofing away while Midi settled in and began to quickly prepare his various programs.

The sound of fingers tapping as they continually hit the surfaces of his monitors with their multi-pressure point system filled the air within the SciTech chamber that he was at, most other scientists and hackers nearby watching on and silently cheering.

Somewhere in the back of Dr. Weil's mind, he is laughing uncontrollably. This is the what he's been waiting for. This is the moment he's wanted. Calm overtakes him as he tries to steady himself. To do this is folly. Dr. Weil has to tread this course of action carefully. Folly comes over those who try to obtain power quickly.

The Dark Elf appears, pointed skeletal wings holding him aloft and deep purple robes fluttering. The single red eye scans the field, looking towards the alien shadow. Fascinating. Truly fascinating. Is this the being, or is it 'logged on' like everyone else? He must know more.

It might be a mistake, but online there is a ..flower? A crude one too, well made but not exactly durable.. and not 3-d either. Just a flower, looking on as helpless as they usually are in the world.

Flora Man didn't happen to have the internet back on Mars. It's amazing what you can do with a little practice.

[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "I should have killed you when I had the chance. What a waste of potential."
[Radio: (E) Global] Riot transmits, "What? What?!"

"Existance has bloomed and faded. It can not be stopped."

In the inky depths of sprawling darkness, a brightly pulsing green orb appears from the ether, having floated into the Global Hub while the otherworldly ... thing ... was only momentarily contained. Volvox.EXE spreads his energy wings, fluttering them a few times as though they alone held him aloft. Glowing bulbs of emerald circle around him.

[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "I'm saying, riot."
[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "Hey, I'm gonna be rollin' and controllin' in the post-apocalyptic world. *hic*"

Iris never saw the point of establishing a seperate identity for herself; her use of the networks has always been somewhat casual and officially licensed. Thus, when her avatar appears, it appears as herself - if somewhat idealized - wings spread apart in a glittering array of feathers.

In reality, she sits in a small cubicle, half-slumped on a chair. She has one hand resting over the enter key of a keyboard off to the side, ready to trigger a small program if it becomes neccessary. Her eyes are closed there-

But not here.

Crea and Prea twinkle through the nets as the Mother Elf's wings swirl around her, attendant Cyber Elves fluttering around their creator, the serene face nestled within the wings showing no sign of the trouble on her User's mind.

[Radio: (E) Global] Riot transmits, "Oh..."

Blah, blah, blah. You call that a speech? You call that exposition? Dr. Wily sits in his Wilydrome, viewing this stupidity from afar, with a direct communication line to the LifeVirus. Ah, the LifeVirus. Such a good little destruction incarnate. In any event, Dr. Wily is sickened by this nihilistic garbage. It's no good for anybody. In fact, no one's allowed to vaporize his world. Especially not redneck aliens.

The LifeVirus, meanwhile, crawls quickly to the last bastion of uncorrupted data, crawling towards the source of this pathetic madness. The source of Patriarch and Scott's maladys? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. It matters not, it is sufficient that the destroyer has pissed Dr. Wily off. The second largest monstrosity on the internet (Potato Jim, what hast thou wrought) clicks and clatters towards the source of the world's danger.

[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "Truly, Xiang was a hack. I should never have trusted him with Adrian's body, if this miscreant was the best he could make."
[Radio: (E) Global] Cassilda Coriolis transmits, "That's a very large assumption."
[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "You watch yourself, man, I'm drunk and rearin' to go."

Gemini Man.EXE logs in to this location with a slight flash of white.

He hovers in the air above a lot of this, because that's less effort than standing. He has his arms crossed and actually looks sort of bored with it. Chances are good he's just spectating, like a forum lurker. He never gets involved in these things.
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Anyway Doc, permission to pwn this poser?"

Aha! There it is. The great big black ravenous and all-consuming darkness. Magnificent Seven figured something that big would be difficult to miss, and it appears she was right.

The Hunter hacker appears without flourish or rebuttal. Let the other people have the cool lines; the real hackers don't waste time. Nana begins analyzing the best way to handle such ominous darkness, pausing before it in contemplation with shield brought to bear and spear drawn.

Whatever happens, this should be cool. A lot cooler than being terrorized all day.

A potato head squeezes through. Its single red eye glows. Giant, open-gloved hands appear at either side of this head before the giant bulk of anthropomorphic firewall code finally pushes itself through in jerky, less-than-fluid motions. The giant potato-head, Potato Jim, finally makes it inside... just barely. Followed very closely by the main avatar that controls it, which looks more like Gus if he landed an executive job. A briefcase is in his left hand. The avatar is wide-eyed at what it sees. Not from fear. It's an overload of completely foreign signals and data.

In the real world, Gus is having a drink at his home PC. He taps his finger at the choppy framerate display. He never really did improve that kludgy netcode for his avatar nor Potato Jim.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Pwn at will. Try to let everyone else do the work. If you can swoop in and crush him at the end, Good."

[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Hey, he... he..."

StormOwl.EXE rarely sees the light of the internet. Storm Owl, horribly busy 99% of the time, does not tend to have time to ensure that his internet avatar is up to snuff and in working order. As it was, the digital owl was only ready to go due to the destruction of the Repliforce hub by Sigma just a day ago. Concerned that with the Repliforce hub offline, the 'Force's presence online would be too low to adequately patrol, Storm Owl once again booted up and logged in.

- StormOwl.EXE - Online -

Appearing from an access data node from the United States, Storm Owl's avatar swiftly flies through the uninteresting and bland terrain. This place was made for functionality, not beauty. Storm Owl, sitting in the Fortress V's ready room, typing away with his sole hand, can appreciate this.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "His loot shall be MINE, heeheehee."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I bet he drops epics."

[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "He's a lot more fascinating when he isn't drunk."

"Darn kids and their technicolor speech text." Dr. Light mutters, kicking the Birdsong into 'Really, Really Fast' mode. This largely involves the Birdsong moving marginaly faster than normal-like a turtle that has eaten its wheaties. The Good Doctor had largely intended to leave this to the younger Hunters, but, well...

Duo.EXE said the motto. Heroic Scientist Honor demands Dr. Light, and the mighty Birdsong, intervines! Light resists shaking a fist at the LifeVirus, but the Birdsong does squack at Gemini Man.EXE, because the Virtual Ride Armor /hates/ lurkers.

[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "You're hardly worth my attention, Hien. I had hoped killing Kain in front of your eyes would have hardened you, but instead it turned you into a drunken sot."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste pointedly, "Or acting like a damned idiot. Yes."

A hole opens in the sky, and through it drops a youngish looking young man in...Interpol sweats? Yep. Interpol sweats. A faint grid pattern appears if you look closely. He looks familiar, if you ever saw his operator.

In truth, Zach Glen was preparing a test run for a hacking interface that involved the use of standard Training Room technology...and then this happened. Oh well, beggers and choosers...you know the deal.

Zach Glen drops near MegaMan.EXE with a grin, "Just like old times, eh?"

[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "Hey man, I'm just having a good time!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dr. Wily transmits, "Oh, go eat some force metal and become a horrible biomonster already."
[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "I coulda killed him myself, just like I iced old man Roshi. /You/ are the waste of effort, Dynamo."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "You're embarrassing me."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "I'm not easily embarrassed!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dr. Takeshi Shinchiro transmits, "Will you two just make out allready?"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dr. Takeshi Shinchiro transmits, "I have stuff to do!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "You /cried/ when I killed him!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Don't say that!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dr. Takeshi Shinchiro transmits, "Look, Feste, you're not even /that good/ at being gay. Its okay to share the title."
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "He was a good man."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "I-- shut up! That's not what I meant."
[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "He was like a fassher to me."
[Radio: (E) Global] Cassilda Coriolis transmits, "Is there an examination you have to take?"
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "What I meant WAS, stop giving them ideas."
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "He was like a father to many of us. Age was not kind to him."

With a flashy, tacky, entrance accompanyed by violent blasts of blue electricity (Magnetism is BLUE), Magnet Man.EXE spins into the central hub.

"Was there a raid scheduled for tonight?"

Mm, epic drops. Phat lewt. Endgame events. As far as Magnet is concerned, he's here for a massive free for all. Winner takes... whatever Ra Moon drops. Duo too, if he gets the chance to snipe him.

[Radio: (E) Global] Dr. Takeshi Shinchiro transmits, "Sure you-woah, cop shield! Talk to you kids later. Also, Wiggin, your time will come!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "He died like a fool, lost in blind rage."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "At least Matic had the dignity to die a man's death."
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "Don't you have a swingset to be stealing from small, helpless children? I would not want to keep you from that."
[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "Matic is my perssonal hero."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dr. Takeshi Shinchiro transmits, "Yes. And deep down, in your miserable sell-out of a heart, /you wish you were doing the same thing./"
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "...no, not really."
[Radio: (E) Global] Chico Muerte transmits, "Choo don't question Sheencheero like that!"
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "That was more of a rhetorical statement."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Oh, for all love, he's not the bleeding Pope."

To say that Phantom.EXE had just arrived would be a mistake, since the Phantom had taken great care to mask his presence in the Corner of the grid that he had blinked into. It's tough to guess how long Phantom has been here, if indeed you actually managed to detect his approach. But he is here, which is what matters.

In the back of his mind Phantom is staring at the...wrongness of Ra Moon, wondering if he can truly comprehend the monstrosity that lies before him. Phantom.EXE draws both of its ninjaken's and silently just watches. He would make his move soon.

[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "/Christ/. Is this what's become of the Yakuza?"
[Radio: (E) Global] Lex Loath transmits, "No. You're speaking with the League, Dynamo."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "And you once worked for..."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "The Yakuza are too busy, you know, actually /working/, one assumes."
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "At least Mikage Yukiato isn't around to flounce around inside of a holographic dragon like one of those people at the comic book conventions."
[Radio: (E) Global] Riot transmits, "The League are the crazy uncles of the Yakuza they never like to talk about."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "I assume you mean /wasn't./"
[Radio: (E) Global] Chico Muerte transmits, "...Hahahaha! Choo are foonny, mang, what's choor name?"
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "To whom are you speaking?"
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "I never make assumptions in this day and age."
[Radio: (E) Global] Chico Muerte transmits, "That guy who said that theeng, about Meekage."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Fortunately, I am here to pick up your slack, Mr. Wiggin."
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "My name is William Wiggin. My friends call me William. You may call me Mr. Wiggin or, if that is difficult for you to pronounce, 'sir'."
[Radio: (E) Global] Chico Muerte transmits, "Nice to meetchoo, Meester Weeggin. My name is CHICO MUERTE, SCOURGE OF AZTLAN."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "The Yakuza were, at least, good businessmen. It's a pity their identities were made public, but, well..."
[Radio: (E) Global] Gimel performs his signature hyena-laugh.
[Radio: (E) Global] Lex Loath transmits, "OOC: Hearing, rather, not speaking. For my last statement."
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "Does that pay well?"
[Radio: (E) Global] Lex Loath transmits, "They've made do with what was left."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "Business is business. All the good bounties went into hiding anyway."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Surely you can find other ways to amuse yourself."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "Well, I do have this bar."

Gabriel is seemingly nonpresent. Her time on the internet has given her plenty of time to practice her cloaking protocols. She is present, however, silently cheering Duo.EXE, but for the moment she is relatively well hidden in bits and splots of code.

[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "It's a nice bar. Can't imagine why you put it in the middle of nowhere."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "I personally don't mind if the age of Men comes crashing down tonight. I'll have more work."

Duo.EXE straightens back up, extending its arms out to its sides. It begins to summon up all the power it can marshal, raising its strength to its utmost. Servers whine in the darkness across the world as Duo.EXE prepares itself for war, rose-colored optics humming with virtual power.

As the last of the world's defenders appear, digital representations of viruses appear around Duo.EXE: an army rising at his command. Browser hijackers, Trojan horses, memory-eating worms, self-duplicating email attachments -- led by the ghostly pink-white representation of Bass.EXE to Duo.EXE's left, and a ghostly pink-white version of NumberMan.EXE to Duo.EXE's right.

The army stretches back to the horizon, created by Duo.EXE's encyclopedic knowledge of the world's viruses. He did not come unprepared for such a day, though he had not expected such an opponent.

Once the army is raised, Duo.EXE lowers his one arm and points the other out toward the darkness. His hand stays open for a few seconds, then slowly closes into a fist. As his hand fully closes, the phantom Bass.EXE and NumberMan.EXE charge forward, the viral horde charging behind them. They scream and chitter with mad glee as they rush at Ra Moon, attempting to consume him with the death of ten million cuts.

[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "You ssaid it."
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "Property is cheap, traffic is heavy, laws are nonexistent."
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "I imagine if the apocalypse happens tonight, you will have more to worry about than taxes, rush hour traffic and land."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Hien, did the Neo Arcadians make you into a snake?"
[Radio: (E) Global] William Wiggin transmits, "Hien has sibilance problems when he has too much to drink."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Well, yes, I realize, having encountered this before, but honestly."
[Radio: (E) Global] Hien transmits, "Being a ssnake would be cool! HISS! HISS!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "I don't worry. Life happens, and there's little you can do about it. Adapt, adopt, and improve."
[Radio: (E) Global] Gimel transmits, "Kyeekyeekyeeeee!"
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "Whatever."
[Radio: (E) Global] Lex Loath | Jimmy the Neckbeard clears his throat, at Gimel.
[Radio: (E) Global] Fatih Mehmet transmits, "Man, some of you guys sound like some of them hardcore shadowy-criminal types."
[Radio: (E) Global] Feste transmits, "I have no idea what you mean."
[Radio: (E) Global] Gimel laughs nervously. "Eeerr ... wh, what?"
[Radio: (E) Global] Fatih Mehmet transmits, "Well, you guys aren't exactly hiding the fact that you"
[Radio: (E) Global] Dynamo transmits, "These aren't hardcore shadow criminals. Hardcore shadow criminals know when to keep their damn mouths shut."
Frequency e is now gagged.

Ra Moon meets Duo.EXE's silence with the same. The repulsive pits of his eyes do not scan the approaching heroes, the half of the fruits of Duo.EXE's labors. The other half, the viral army, is apparently much more interested to the inconceivable intelligence.

There is a flicker of... something. The indescribable feeling can be described as the sound of a train rushing quickly towards you. Though you cannot see it, you know it is coming. It is not pleasant by any stretch of the imagination.

They number in the billions. The armor of reavers was not here a second ago, yet it feels like they had always been, for they did not suddenly appear. At least, they did not appear by the laws of the third dimension. Though both armies disappear into the edges of observable space, there is a dread feeling that the reavers outnumber Duo.EXE's will.

They sit, silent and leering, monoliths of non-Euclidean geometry willed into existence by the whims of Ra Moon. Their countercharge is revoltingly silent.

The field of battle on which the armies and the titanic entities stand is within reach of the other avatars. It is oh so very close -- you could affect it with conventional weapons. At the same time, it is incomprehensibly far. No man, even traveling with the mightiest technology of Earth at his side, even attempting to move there with the strange power of Advanced Blink, could get there in time to be of aid. It is impossible.

Impossible to all but the most clever, that is.

Gemini Man floats above it and watches.

It's really cool. Non-Euclidian geometry was cool.

StormOwl.EXE stays high overhead. Back on the Fortress V, Storm Owl's optics widen slightly behind his glasses at the information flowing in. The size of the army? A ghastly Bass.EXE and NumberMan.EXE? Surely this is another glitch due to the FV's destroyed hub... Storm Owl taps a few keys, confirming the data with the American Online Legion (AOL) branch of the US army. Were Storm Owl prone to such thoughts, he'd think himself very small compared to the titans going at it tonight. StormOwl.EXE directs its attention towards Ra Moon (?), watching and recording as the horde of online reaverbots spring up to counter Duo.EXE's army.

Soaring up above the plain ground that is now littered with troops from both sides, Storm Owl directs his avatar to get a better view of what's going on. The Commander's message to Duo.EXE, asking what can be done, did not get a particularly useful response. Perhaps Duo.EXE is simply too busy. Regardless, StormOwl.EXE is staying the heck out of it for now, content to observe. As chance would have it, it finds itself hovering near GeminiMan.EXE, and the light brown digital owl casts Gemini Man a wary glance.

"Hello, Owl," Gemini's avatar comments, giving the Storm Owl avatar just a bare glance. He smirks at him, with the Gemini Man typical smirk, then turns his eyes back to the fight. "Here to participate or just call odds?"

The LifeVirus has armies of it's own. A horde of powerful viruses designed to wipe out individual users. Other hordes? Not so much. If Duo.EXE is going to make phantom copies of Wily's own skilled avatars, he can't be bothered to sacrifice his own precious viruses to assist. That guy's got Boundry Problems.

The LifeVirus roars it's defiance. It roars at both Ra Moon and Duo.EXE. It is a defiant roar of rage, signalling how pissed off it is that two epic powers think this is their battlefield. That's crazy. This is Wily's world. But? Wily has plans of his own.

Behold, the LifeAura! Formed by the very elements of network communication, it is an impenetrable barrier! The greenish aura covers the form of the LifeVirus, and it does what it does best. It sits. It waits. It's time has not yet come... but rest assured, it will.

The LifeVirus gathers an intense LifeAura around itself!

The dark elf looks on silently, recording every bit of code he can, every fluctuation, every little visual change. He doesn't attack. Attacking seemed pointless at the moment. Allow the others to exert themselves. He wished to gather data.

Zach Glen looks around a bit, before disappearing in a flash of light. He reappears, well, closer anyway. He also has a gun in his hand, a familiar looking Desert Eagle. He hangs in the sky a moment before laying down a blistering amount of cover fire. He's keeping an eye on things, and firing wild at the moment...

...at least untill he has a better idea of -where- to shoot...

Zach Glen strikes Ra Moon with his Scatter Shot attack.

Midi studied the two armies. The first seemed to be drawn from what Duo.EXE had encountered in cyberspace thus far, taking a clone of his own most well known foe to aid the heroes in this time of need. Yet Ra Moon's army, though slow it was quite obviously potent and seemed to be based on those unusual entities which had been encountered in Cuba(And Mars, though Midi wasn't there).

Midi frowned, and then began to move his fingers across the monitors while MegaMan.EXE nodded toward Zach Glen. "Hopefully it will be a fun time as well," he said, offering a smile before moving steadily toward the two armies. The right hand adjusted, and it formed into an arm cannon. MegaMan.EXE changed in colors and overall look, a sort of classy suit of black and white covering him from head to toe. The arm cannon was lifted and aimed toward the slower reaver army.

Somewhere a clock began to sound.

Midi misses Ra Moon with his 12 Chimes attack.

Those are, indeed, a lot of Reavers.

Iris's wings tighten together as she dives towards them, towards but not into. She sweeps over the tops of what she estimates to be the Reaver's areas of attack - she has some experience with, at least, the physical versions of them - and a series of fractal snowflakes appear behind her, drifting down and blossoming into jagged ice fragments as they descend onto the horde.

Iris misses Ra Moon with her No Two Snowflakes Are Alike attack.

Ciel begins to sing, her voice melodious in this cybervoid, inhuman but entrancing, Cyber Elves fluttering to her aid, surging as they begin to flicker out, attacking the reavers as Ciel directs them with her voice. "Anater, M-orolli, Aina, Ishilar, Luriph, Buffer! Destroy them!"

The elves flare red as they attack, burning through the digital space as they sacrifice themselves against the reavers.

Ciel strikes Ra Moon with her Meltdown attack.

Volvox.EXE raises himself higher in the virtual 'air', his tiny red eye-spots observing what there is to see. He shudders slightly; this strange interruption of space-time, even online, is highly unsettling and yet quite curious. Volvox turns his vision to where he can see those assembled - recognizing Zach's avatar (who teleports off), and the famous Mega Man.EXE he lowers himself and speaks to nobody in particular.

"For existance!" he rumbles, in a clarion call.

The alga 'bounces' forward in the air, twirling a little and a few of his orbiting globes massing in the air in front of him. They glow brightly; a blast of plasma and shrieking electricity lances out from it.

Dataphage misses Ra Moon with his Green Beam attack.

Dr. Light hrms, working on thinking outside the box. Definately not fast enough to breach the laws of common sense...Light smiles, sending a text message to Dr. Wily, Dr. Weil, and Dr. Ciel Mallory. If his calculations are correct, this little bit of code should access the basic fears, insecurities, and other little social 'quirks' that lead to this perticular breed of Superscientist.

Insta-Text From DocLight!: hay guys bet i can get there first. won't take ur money, just ur pride. :) (lol!)

"Sent!" Dr. Light smiles, for the lightwave text messages are /also/ cable-like ties to the avatars of the other Doctors's avatars. "If my calculations are correct, their bravado-inspired charge will let me slingshoot right off of their e-nertia! Heh heh. E-nertia! I'm so witty."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I'm pretty sure this guy took over Scott and Patriarch. That's not cool. I don't care how much you hate Duo.EXE, I hate this guy more!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "It resulted in Scott dying, so it was a good thing."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Explain how Patriarch and the Gentlemen disobeying my will is a good thing."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Would we want to be associated with those space lamers?"

Still watching, the small flower hopes it's not noticed, moving with the 'breeze' of the battle, the stem and petals facing the conflict.

It was like a live feed, but not. Flora Man can't actively do anything. Hacking was still an amazing unknown technology.

A silent shifting of code, and a new avatar appears some distance from the main group, one that has not been seen for some time. Cyber Peacock crosses his arms at the back of the crowd, floating a few inches above the floor. His scout programs have alerted him to the confrontation, but the last thing he's going to do is run in uninformed. So for now, he simply observes, uncharacteristically silent.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "Exactly."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "All the TV shows I've ever seen have shown that time and time again clones tend to be weak-aft versions of us that get turned to stone come the third season due to some unexplained side-effect of genetic manipulation."

It takes Gus a little while to get some commands in. There's something about this void that's been making it difficult to get hotkeys and commands through, but maybe this is just coming up to the point where his entire coding scheme has become completely obselete and unable to work with the current standards of the internet, but, this is so not standard.

Light warps around Potato Jim with distorted clicking as tommyguns try to form in either hand. It takes a while for there to be much success before they finally are. Between the two - Duo.EXE and that odd thing - he'd like to take out both. But the latter is saying things he doesn't like.

Bullets fly for Ra Moon, but their very code warps in its attempts to strike home. It may not even reach it, or its armies, at all.

Gus Midland misses Ra Moon with his Akimbo Tommyguns attack.

Magnificent Seven pauses, both armies spread out in a vast array before her. She considers the odds, the distances, the lay of the land. "Cool," the young hacker decrees. She regards a variety of intercepted messages and smirks. A little competition is always good.

As for her part, she begins blinking toward the battlefield, taking a twisted path in order to reach it. And once there, just another soldier in the ranks, Magnificent Seven lights it up. Literally.

Nana strikes Ra Moon with her Seventh Hell attack.

"Only losers talk in color. What are you, two? Jesus Christ and I don't think I'm taking the name in Vain here, holy crap." Gabriel's voice intones. She doesn't appear, but her code-cloak shifts enough for people to get a general idea of her location. She looks towards Dr. Light who seems to think that this will end extraordinarily well, or at least he's faking it pretty well.

She sends a text message to Doctor Light and floats towards Ra Moon. She doesn't attack the reavers, though she deftly avoids any random shots heading her way. As she flies along, coded metools appear and fire back at the reaverbots with little nerp cannons that do seemingly little damage.

Ahh, gentle chaos. Or in this case, loud, vibrating, explosive chaos. It's all good. In a raid environment this is inevitible. Everyone is fixated on the target, the epic monster. In this case, Ra Moon. And Magnet Man.EXE is no fool. Jump right in and risk being KOed before things even get warmed up? As if! No, he's got a better idea. Keep his distance, stay back, look like he's fighting, and wait for just the right moment to strike and claim the epic drop for himself! He's not sure what it is, but it's already got his skin tingling, if he had any.

Maintaining a respectable distance from Ra Moon, the master of magnetism opens with a very non-magnetic attack, but a classic. The avatar launches a spinning wheel of fire at the alien program.

You strike Ra Moon with a glancing hit from your Art Of The Fire Wheel attack.

Gabriel strikes Ra Moon with her Nerp Chicka Nerp Nerp attack.

Dataphage has disconnected.

The universe distorts as the two titans clash. Virtual Reavers clash against viruses, impossible physics causing the battles to happen in dimensions humans can't even perceieve. Across the Internet, systems tremble before the resources consumed, lag and random crashes happening everywhere. The Reavers keep coming, of all shapes and sizes, meeting the equally arcane and bizarre viral payloads.

The environment twists and turns. The Reavers start to press through the viral waves. Bass.EXE and NumberMan.EXE throw down with their most powerful attacks -- the Air Burst Explosion and Time Bomb -- to try to clear the wave away. It isn't sufficient; they get mauled by another wave of Reavers, disappearing within them. A hazy pink-white representation of Iris manifests not too far from Iris herself and sends down a beam of light to resurrect some of the viruses before being pulverized herself by a cloud of small dart-like Reavers.

Duo.EXE itself moves to get involved, its summons not sufficient to address the threat. It fires its powerful optic beams into the cloud of Reavers, attempting to strike directly at Ra Moon as well.

Leo strikes Ra Moon with his Beam attack.

The reavers begin to swarm through the entire area, more appearing to fill the voids. They quietly and efficiently go about their work, surrounding each avatar and approaching from various directions to confuse the operators.

They are not, however, invincible. Just as several leap in to rip and tear, many more disappear after taking too much damage, as if they had never existed. It is impossible to miss; though each reaver is individually agile, there are too many to hit a patch of bare code. In many cases, however, so many more reavers appear that it is as if none fell at all.

The two armies crash horrifically. The viruses range in power by extremes. Some are swallowed almost instantly by overwhelming numbers of foes, while others use saturation attacks to great effect, staving off the tide.

Ra Moon itself regards Duo.EXE, blanketed by the perfection of silence. The reavers move quickly to dismantle the virtual hero.

But-the starspawn staggers, even as its monsters fall upon Duo. The beam tears though its body, drawing a piercing shriek that emanates from all directions. Ra Moon flickers, the air filled with indescribable colors of a spectrum not known to man for a brief second.

Then, all snaps back into clarity. The distance between Ra Moon and the rest of the avatars lessens.

Ra Moon misses Cyber Peacock with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Iris with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Gus Midland with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Gus Midland falls to the ground, unconscious, due to massive systems damage.
Ra Moon strikes Leo with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Sewa with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Zach Glen with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Dr. Weil with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Dr. Wily with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Dr. Wily's forcefield withstands the attack.
Ra Moon strikes Midi with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Zell Tristan with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon misses Nana with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Ciel with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Gabriel with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes you with a solid hit from its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack for 16 units of damage.

Gemini Man.EXE turns to Storm Owl.EXE again. He shrugs at him. "So, it's all up to you, isn't it? Are you going to go throw yourself at the hoarde with the rest?" He floats upward... a few more virtual 'meters.' It's still digital reavers as far as his programming can detect -- that is, as far as the eye can see.

The Mother Elf flutters her wings as her Cyber Elves give their lives attacking, the reavers pounding fruitlessly against her wings. "I do not know what you are, but you will not live the night!" She surges, wings spinning, fluttering out like blades as she starts to tear through the reavers, working her way towards Ra Moon, though he's still far too far away.

Ciel strikes Ra Moon with her Ribbon Cut attack.

Zach Glen grunts as the Reavers tear into him. The techie makes a note to turn down the Force Feedback options just a bit, as he disappears in a flash, reappearing near Duo.EXE. A quick line drawing gesture, and a bubble of light appears around Zach as he starts to take protective measures.

The LifeVirus sits within it's shield, protected from the terrors of the partially existent reavers. From within it's protective shell the LifeVirus watches as his unlikely allies are rended, crushed, and even destroyed. It roars again, this one a kind of dull long "Whoa, what the hell was that" roar. It begins glowing bright green. Glowing with the unholy wrath of LifeAura.

Zach Glen begins covering Leo.

Dr. Wily forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Midi flinched as he noticed his attempt at using the weapon of Baroque having failed. It wasn't all too surprising, given the immensity of what he had attempted to choke into stillness. Midi squinted at his monitors and began to select some more attacks to use against Ra Moon's army.

The oncoming wave of Reavers caught MegaMan.EXE by some surprise, and while the avatar was agile and quickly began to attempt at evasion the vicious monstrosities caught him in the end. The avatar, however, was not about to go down without a fight as Midi slapped in an attack program. The ground rumbled as MegaMan.EXE slapped it, and then a pillar of water erupted into the heavens and whirled about, attempting to cut a swath through the reaver forces nearest MegaMan.EXE.

Zach Glen projects a forcefield around himself.

Midi strikes Ra Moon with his Aqua Tower attack.

Storm Owl arches an optical brow at GeminiMan.EXE's emit. "Neither, for now," the digital owl emits in reply to Gemini Man's earlier question. For a brief moment Storm Owl wonders if he should trust this Robot Master, but his circuitry tells him that this is probably one of those 'everyone bands together to fight evil' kind of deals. They always seem to work out well in the end... regardless, StormOwl.EXE adds, "I am observing in order to see if I can find a weakness. Duo.EXE was unhelpful in providing a tactic against this entity. Either he is unable to communicate his plans to us without it being intercepted... or he is simply planning the obvious straight-on assault." StormOwl.EXE casually flaps its wings, hovering. Being that this is the intarweb, it is possible. "But for now, we seem to have more than enough online troops." Owl plans to wait in reserve. He continues to watch the battle, focusing on Ra Moon and his horde of reaverbots, trying to learn their tactics and methods. So far their methods are of the 'swarm and kill' variety. Tough to defend against that given the size of the opposing force.

Bullets fire all about. Everything is feeding into Gus' decidedly antiquated setup. It is robust, but in this scenario, it is not up to spec. The warping of internet space proves too much for already the wear and tear in Gus' attempts to navigate what does not appear to adhere to typical networking rules. Believe it or not, it is not the swam of reavers that takes out Potato Jim and the avatar program that controls it.

It is simply removed from the site right then and there with the flash, the old code Gus utilizing completely incompatible with what Ra Moon performed. The entire code of Gus Midland's prized efforts is in stasis and unable to reform, bits of blue binary code dotting the landscape where the darkness allows for it.

Gus' monitor in the real world explodes right in his face. Moments later, he's surprised to still retain his sight. Now he has to go and buy some new components entirely.

The Dark Elf feels the cable latch onto him. He looks at it idly, grabbing it. He rolls it around in his fingers, gripping it tight. Excellent, Dr. Light. Do press on. The figure smirks. Why work when these fools will do the work for you?

A small swarm of reavers rushes toward Cyber Peacock. He glares, and in a flash of ones and zeroes reappears on their other side. "Pathetic," he smirks. "This is my territory, children. Let me show you how it's /done/." Cyber flicks his hand out in a blur, and an unassuming little file drops into the swarm. "It's only a pity you won't survive to appreciate my skill." He snaps his fingers, and the little MIDI file explodes.

Cyber Peacock misses Ra Moon with his Embedded Midi File attack.

Magnificent Seven finds these otherworldly physics to her advantage. She blinks her way through the stampede of Reavers, finding herself alternatively very far away, very close, or even in places she was not aware she could reach. The Reaver swarm does not touch her.

It takes her a moment to get her bearings -- teleporting all over the place is kind of dizzying -- but once she does, she repeats the maneuver she just used, targeting a large quantity of Reavers at the same time. Stars fall on the battlefield, washing M7's section in pure energy and light.

A Reaver leaps up upon Iris's back as others fire upon her. This is bad; she rises upwards, spreading her wings out as she shivers her avatar's form, sending the Reaver to fall into the seething mass of its comrades along with a faint shower of feathers.

She looks down - and then spreads her hands as well, a glittering orange cascade of light forming around her body and fading into near-invisibility.

Nana strikes Ra Moon with her Seventh Heaven attack.

Iris raises her hands, and with a song as if from a vast chorus, a shield of rippling octagonal light appears in front of her.

"Augghk!" Magnet Man.EXE flails as he is swarmed by reaver bots, like most everyone else. Darn AoE attacks, they're his bane! "Grr, at this rate I'll de-rez before I even get CLOSE. I need a better tactic..." And so, the cunning avatar decides to turn his attention on the onslaught of reaver bots! Don't draw the attention of the big guy anymore until someone ELSE keeps him taunted, yeeeeees.

Drawing his (not so) mighty sword, Excalipur, Magnet Man.EXE ineffectively cuts his way through the reaver bot swarm.

You strike Ra Moon with a glancing hit from your Excalipur attack.

Dr. Weil can take a few pestering insects like the Reavers. He doesn't like it, but for now, he wants to concentrate on recording Ra Moon. A bit of his code is taken out, the form of a wing shattering.

Inside the Birdsong, Dr. Light frowns-a little disturbed by Gabriel's sudden appearence, but giving a nod he hopes the mysterious hacker can see. Only two cords, eh? Well, it'll have to be enough, as Light suddenly activates the Birdsong's wing-thrusters and calls forth a /swarm/ of miniture Beat-looking drones begin circling around the Virtual Ride Armor. Dr. Light grins, putting in some complicated coding that causes thrusters to fire in several different directions while the text-message 'cables' detach at just the right time, sending the Birdsong rolling through the hordes of Reaverbots! "Wheeeeeee!"

Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> strikes Ra Moon with its The Birds attack.

In the midst of a mass of reavers, code begins to restructure and twist into a vortex of polygons that slowly reassemble into the form of an armored soldier, armed with a rifle -- a familiar avatar of the EA Battlefield 2242. The character avatar, ripped from the Battlefield Server and somehow mysteriously drawn into the Global Hub is immediately assaulted by the strange reaver creatures, the avatar being chipped away and dissolved until the crimson armor and faceless helm of The Architect is left floating in its place. Fighting against the lag in its systems, Architect manages to submit a blink command that carries him out of the mass of Reavers and more towards StormOwl.EXE, where the cursing begins.

Elsewhere in the world, Zell would be behind the avatar, cursing just as well as his game is interrupted in a most undesirable form. Needless to say, the radio chatter wasn't at all unwarrented -- the scene is chaotic at best. Shifting into a forced readiness to do some hackin', the Architect lifts his hands, both engulfed in a glowing fire of blue energies... and he slams his palms together, causing an envelope of coded gravity to bulge into existance inside the mass of Reavers.

Gabriel's code is blasted by lasers but she keeps moving forward. She's getting a lot of distracting radios but she wants to make sure these people are moving in the right direction. Of course, a right direction for Gabriel could be anything. She doesn't react much because it's just code being attacked so she doesn't feel pain. She continues floating forward as her mets largely fire on their own will.

Zell Tristan strikes Ra Moon with his Gravity Spacewarp attack.

Gabriel strikes Ra Moon with her Nerp Buster attack.

Duo.EXE tears through thousands of Reavers and makes Ra Moon stagger, but his strength is only one bright light in a very large, dark place. The Reavers tear into him, a cloud of them overtaking him for a moment. He slams against the ground as more and more of them pile on, struggling against their considerable power --

White light explodes out from the Anomaly, shredding through the swarm. He pulls himself up, resolution flickering. Duo isn't as strong as he once was, but he'll have to be strong enough.

Countless avatars are destroyed by the initial rush of virtual Reavers. The phantom Bass.EXE re-manifests next to Midi, fighting alongside him, while the phantom Iris reappears to attempt to perform emergency maintanence on the main systems to keep the integrity of the sector intact.

Duo.EXE focuses its attention on Ra Moon, even as it slogs forward through endless waves of Reavers. Zach Glen's help is appreciated, but ultimately it may be to Zach's own detriment. He raises his right arm, concentrating a powerful burst of destructive code into a sphere before throwing it at Ra Moon's midsection.

Leo strikes Ra Moon with his Charged Shot attack.

Gemini Man.EXE gives Storm Owl.EXE a fairly direct response. "This kind of bull**** sort of bores us. Maybe we'll go on vacation again for a few months until the world is saved so we can get back to conquering it." He shrugs again. "If that's really what's going on. It's colorful to watch, anyway."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I'd better not find out you can hack, Gemini."

The reaver attacks are unceasing. They grow increasingly bolder, more of then lurching from their clusters, each touch of their claws dismantling and obliterating data. As attacks are leveled against them, they begin to defend themselves, larger reavers swooping in to soak up energy beams and explosions and smaller reavers reaching out from all directions to grab at weapons and deflect them from their targets.

Progress is made, however. With the power unleashed upon Ra Moon by Duo.EXE and against the horde by the operators, entire patches of reavers disappear from cyberspace, not to mention the ones being destroyed by conventional attacks.

Ra Moon is confident enough to maintain its position. This time, the energy floods through it and breaks apart, derezzing from cyberspace. Yet, the monster's eyes widen and it flickers again - it is taking damage, even if it apparently thinks it shouldn't.

It spreads its arms wide, a sickening shadow rising from its alien figure. There is another feeling of unease and wrongness, and some of that indescribable color rushes towards Duo.EXE.

Ra Moon strikes Cyber Peacock with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Iris with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Iris's forcefield withstands the attack.
Ra Moon strikes Zach Glen with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Zach Glen's forcefield withstands the attack.
Ra Moon misses Dr. Weil with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Dr. Wily with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Dr. Wily's forcefield withstands the attack.
Ra Moon strikes Midi with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon misses Zell Tristan with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Nana with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon misses Ciel with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Gabriel with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon misses you with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Zach Glen fails his attempt to cover Leo.
Ra Moon strikes Leo with its Obliteration attack.
Zach Glen begins covering Leo.

Storm Owl once again arches his optical brow at Gemini Man's response. "Surely you are at least concerned about the situation unfolding?" StormOwl.EXE emits to Gemini Man.EXE. The brown digital owl is paying more attention to the battle below, but is also listening to the Gamma. "Even your leader is fighting against the entity." StormOwl.EXE gestures with a wing in Dr. Wily's direction, even though it might be hard to see the evil mad doctor under the swarms of reaverbots. Presumably Gemini Man will get the idea. "Or are you simply confident in victory, with or without your help?"

Zach Glen gets slammed into by more Reaverbots, and this stops him from trying to tank for Duo. He grins a bit as he goes into a flurry of defensive moves. Some things get blocked, others slam into the shields that are hugging his virtual body. He grits his teeth, and makes a gesture, as servers hidden from the majority of the world start to come online...

Zach Glen forfeits a turn to charge WE.

MegaMan.EXE arose from his kneeling position, as he had been happily freed perhaps only temporarily from the presence of reavers. Yet the reason for this was one that would shock him, the existence of Bass.EXE near him helping him...unnerving to say the least. Midi frowned, and then realized that it was a recreation by Duo.EXE, and so went back to his work.

Yet as MegaMan.EXE turned and prepared to unleash another potent assault on the forces gathered he was quickly assaulted and bowled over again, the reavers continually tearing and injuring his digital form.

"Okay...time for something different," MegaMan.EXE stated under his breath, as his colors once more began to shift. This time he was an interesting combination of yellow and green. MegaMan.EXE twisted about, unleashing a cloud into the air. That cloud wafted through the air, settling hopefully across numerous reavers, over a massive area, and then the rain itself would come. If success was found the reavers would become overrun with weeds, weeds and flowers that were all anxious to devour and melt and absorb the insidious tools of Ra Moon.

Midi misses Ra Moon with his Garden Of Eden attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "What? Ha."

Well, okay. Maybe the LifeAura /isn't/ as infallible as previously stated. In fact... well, look at those damn reavers. What the hell was it supposed to do? The LifeVirus is unscathed, but the shield is down. Damn. The LifeVirus is increbly distraught at this, and raises it's giant claws in fury.

Dr. Wily also has fury, but to a lesser extent. LifeAuras don't grow on trees, and that thing was a pain to code. A giant floating mass of energy forms above the LifeVirus in it's outstretched claws, and it coalesces into a Sword Icon. Behold... the Dream Sword! It grabs the mighty weapon, powerful enough to destroy Any code... and takes a giant swipe at the forces of the destroyer!

Dr. Wily strikes Ra Moon with his Dream Sword attack.

Ciel is sickened by whatever Ra Moon is doing, but she's resolute, not stopping as she evades the reavers, the elf Tiriph appearing and starting to divebomb the Reavers as she sails overhead, trying to stay above them. She's silent now, merely watching and directing her children.

Tomorrow, or whenver he'll brag about this event, Magnet Man will be sure to tell everyone of the awesome backflip/somorsault his avatar used to avoid being torn apart by reaver bots. In actuality, is was more of a 'running away/leap into the air/pray to the good lord Wily that I don't die' moment, as Magnet Man.EXE narrowly escapes the most recent wave of reaver bot attacks.

"Ahahaha! You little drones are no match for 1337 ninja master, Magnet Man.EXE! My skillz are supereme!" No they're not, in fact, but it seems his luck is holding out at least. Producing a small ball out of nowhere, Magnet Man.EXE tries to peg one of the reaver bots to capture it, and study it later. Or, at the very least, unleash it on unsuspecting forums as a prank. Whatever he decides will be more fun.

Ciel strikes Ra Moon with her Cloudy Stone attack.

You strike Ra Moon with a glancing hit from your Pokeball Go attack.

Cyber Peacock snarls at the reavers, who seem completely unaffected by the MIDI file, even at full volume. They leap at him and manage to scrape a few scratches into his tail. NOT acceptable. "How /dare/ you scratch up my plumage, you sorry excuses for pop-up advertisements!" he snarls, sending a massive series of processor-clogging subroutines into the center of the crowd.

Cyber Peacock strikes Ra Moon with his Denial Of Service attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "You said it yourself; let the good guys of the world do the hard stuff."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "They fail it consistently. Nicole still exists."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "MUST WE DO EVERYTHING IMPORTANT OURSELVES?"

Dr. Weil continues to float forward, weaving around the reavers this time. He makes towards Ra Moon, trying to get closer to the awesome power they both wield. He wants to know where they are fighting. He wants to tap into the infinite power being bandied about! As Reavers swarm around him, he blinks and sways, zipping quickly out of the way.

The faint hint of illusion to the side makes Iris's head turn quickly. She sees herself repairing the great form of the emergent avatar -

Then another assault washes over her, her defensive barrier flickering brightly as it erodes under the impact. She lets out a cry, more of surprise than pain, and readies the improbably-balanced broadsword she holds, the weapon light in her hand. The other goes up to rest in the simulated fur of the kitten perched silently on her shoulder.

Her wings beat once, solely for effect, and she starts to move towards Ra Moon.

Amidst the chaos and carnage, a new challenger has arrived.

No. Not Ryu. The Spider Scientist clacks and clatters along, though the noise is probably lost amidst the flood of insane destruction. "... Reavers, and... YOU." Back in the real world, Prismatic stifles a shudder. But nevertheless, the avatar presses on, firing a few minor shots into the reaver horde... And then with a crackle of electricity, levels a pair of silver legs in the direction of Ra Moon. Not directed at the Destroyer, but at the horde in the way. The Spider Scientist looks like he's interested in trying to carve his way into the fracas. WITH LIGHTNING.

Prismatic Spider strikes Ra Moon with his Kill Switch attack.

More Reavers move in and circle the Architect, easily outnumbering and overwhelming his person -- but there's only going to be so many times that he can outmaneuver them. A few very key and precise blinks are made to relocate Architect from harms way, before he ends up hanging in the air over the most localized swarm to himself. Then, he lowers his right palm and unleashes a sphere of pulsating energy that crackles before solidifying and growing larger with each pulse.. until it becomes like a wrecking ball that falls straight down.

Zell Tristan misses Ra Moon with his Standard Primitive attack.

The Birdsong's rushing tatic is...somewhat successful! Well, Dr. Light likes to think it was going okay. The heroic scientist looks over his options from within the Virtual Ride Armor, as the Reaverbots continue to assault the champions of fair internet use everywhere! Also, y'know, champions of society not collapsing. And the peanut gallery-Dr. Light makes a mental note to have Gemini Man punched in the face.

"Well," Light mutters, typing in a line of code. "When you've got a good thing going..." The Birdsong's assumed its natural, stationary habitat, and the swirling mass of slightly explosive, and extra agressive Beat drones just start...expanding, tearing apart any hostiles, or unfriendly looking stationary objects, in the path of their terrible march.

Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> strikes Ra Moon with its Beat Barrier Expansion attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Nicole?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "The Witch Queen of Angmar!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Oh, Berkana."

"Doctor Wily always gets himself in to these messes. We think it's because he likes to go with the flow, the bandwagon, now and then. That or because of his deep and abiding love for Doctor Light." GeminiMan.EXE says this to StormOwl.EXE with a totally straight face. Is that thing really operated by Gemini Man or is Gemini Man ACTUALLY this disrespectful and sarcastic? The avatar puts his hands behind his back. But then perhaps a more, or less, honest answer: "There's not much we can do. We're not digital 'warriors' in the net-battle sense."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Gemini Man transmits, "We have a suspicion about her."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I could swear I did something during that plot, I just can't remember what."

Magnificent Seven must admit, despite the looming threat of terrible permadeath and massive armies of doom, that this is really pretty sweet. Banter and all. It really does a lot to take her mind off things. She feels alive again.

The Reavers catch her this time, trading blows. Several Reavers fall upon her at once, obscuring her for a few moments.

Then they explode outward in a burst of energy as Magnificent Seven shields herself with an expanding sphere of power. It continues to expand outward, clearing a space in the field around M7.

Nana strikes Ra Moon with her Seventh Sign attack.

Gabriel comes to a stop. She peers outward, fading into code again as she watches the barrier protecting Ra Moon and Duo.EXE from the rest of the planet. She doesn't continue her assault, her metools vaporized, and instead considers her next course of action with agonizing slowness. She gets a weird transmission and mumbles, 'Always the skittish one, eh?' and more or less lets the forces of BeGood do their thang. She is a little worried about what that 'Nicole' said. Destruction assured? Not if she can help it.

Clearing the Reavers away from itself, Duo continues to advance, trying to press the advantage. It raises up its hands in front of itself to try to block the coming wave of darkness, but only speeds up the entrance of the invasive construct into him. Duo roars in agony as the darkness washes over him, staggering back. His resolution is becoming dangerously compromised. Pieces of itself are missing. Color is washing out, leaving him a spooky monochrome.

"I WILL NOT...GIVE UP." it thunders, clenching its fists. "WE ARE FREE WILLED. ALL OF US MAKE CHOICES. WE CHOOSE OUR OWN DESTINIES...

Duo.EXE raises both arms painfully, bringing his extended palms together. A bright point of blue light appears between them as he lowers his arms, then seems to throw his arms forward to launch the powerful blue fireball at Ra Moon.

"AND I CHOOSE -- TO FIGHT FOR THEM!"

Leo strikes Ra Moon with his Hadouken attack.

Dr. Light sniffs, a little, turning his head away. "Got a little something in my eye..."

Dr. Weil hates you all, so very very much.

"How sweet," Cyber Peacock says drily. "I may weep openly."

Zach Glen throws a fist in the air.

"Hell yeah. REPRESENT!"

Dr. Wily farts in his chair. Oops. Forgot the Beano.

Iris's eyes glitter in surprise and awe, at least online; in the real world, they remain closed.

The distance seems closer. Where before it was like embarking upon an unknowably infinite journey, it now seems like the end is just within grasp, despite its maddening tendency to back away when it seems on the verge of being attained.

A keening wail echoes through the darkness, but not from Ra Moon. The reavers begin to disappear in large quantities. As they have defeated the bulk of Duo.EXE's viral army, they start to pack together, rushing at the avatars in attempts to overwhelm their defenses to that a few of their number man consume data with their great, ceaselessly moving claws. If one were to attribute human emotions to something so alien, it could be seen as a maneuver taken out of despair, a last minute attempt to carry the day.

Ra Moon disappears completely under the blue energy, replaced by a wildly fluctuating pattern of energy and color. With an angry hiss, it reforms. Ra Moon raises a hand.

"You will return to your restive state of nonexistence in the next thirty seconds."

And then, the writhing, living entity that is Ra Moon's hunger invisibly comes for Duo.EXE.

Ra Moon strikes Cyber Peacock with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Iris with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Iris's forcefield withstands the attack.
Ra Moon strikes Zach Glen with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Zach Glen's forcefield withstands the attack.
Ra Moon misses Dr. Weil with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Dr. Wily with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Midi with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Zell Tristan with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon misses Nana with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes Ciel with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Ra Moon strikes you with a solid hit from its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack for 16 units of damage.
Ra Moon strikes Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> with its Lesser Reaver Swarm attack.
Zach Glen fails his attempt to cover Leo.
Ra Moon strikes Leo with its The Darkness Comes attack.

The LifeVirus delivers a stunning blow to a swarm of reavers with the Dream Sword, but as the energies dissipate it is clear there will always be more drones. They converge on the LifeVirus with swords, spears, and slings, as they attempt to consume the LifeVirus. How childish. You can never win by consuming! Just look at Dr. Light's gut.

The LifeVirus fights off the mess of reavers as best it can, and screeches. It appears to be powering up for another onslaught.

Dr. Wily forfeits a turn to charge WE.

MegaMan.EXE had failed horribly at his attempt to convert the reaver army into a mobile garden of yummy splendiferous colorations. He shoved and pushed, struggling free from the main bulk of the mechanized programs before giving a thumbs up toward the Bass.EXE clone that was fighting alongside him.

Then MegaMan.EXE fell over as he was tackled by more reavers. "Ack!" was all he could say, surprised and overwhelmed while Midi's fingers danced gently across the monitors. Systems were prepared and a weapon program was slotted, yet not used as MegaMan.EXE seemed to be preparing.

Midi forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Ciel is hit, wings fluttering as the Mother Elf plummets for a moment. Crea and Prea, loyal guardians of the Mother Elf, flash dark and violet as she falls, and the two protective subroutines flare out, attacking the Reavers that hit their creator, trying to not only destroy them, but sap their processing power to fuel their own energies.

Ciel strikes Ra Moon with her Dark Elf attack.

Ciel drains energy from Ra Moon.

Zach Glen is no longer covering anyone.

Zach Glen is too busy getting gangbeaten by the Reavers to really do anything for Duo. He scowls; some people just need to shut the hell up if they aren't going to -do- anything. He continues to let servers power up, as he gets ready to tap the keg. Meanwhile, he's looking for routes and bypasses to get to the titans...though he may not be able to help by the time he gets there...

Zach Glen forfeits a turn to charge WE.

In the real world, Magnet Man grins. "Aw, it's the empassioned speech by the grizzled old heroic veteran. Ah well! Time for him to die in order to make way for a much younger hero to take his place! Won't be me of course, I'll just snatch up whatever glories I can."

Magnet Man.EXE isn't so lucky this time, and falls victim to much wounding at the hands of the reaver bots while attempting to escape. Getting back to his virtual feet, Magnet Man.EXE stamps his foot, annoyed. "How DARE all of you run over the likes of ME with your grubby little... whatever you have. Ok, no more Mr. Nice Master." Placing his hands together, Magnet Man.EXE launches a respectably-sized fireball at the group reaver bots before him with a loud, resounding..

"HADOUKEN!"

You strike Ra Moon with a glancing hit from your Hadouken attack.

"We don't know. We're actually of two minds about that one," Gemini.EXE replies to StormOwl. That also may, or may not, have been some kind of joke. They're strange kids, those Gemini twins. He tilts his head. "He'd probably lay any one of our lives on the line to save Light's, though."

Blasting Reavers our of the way, the Spider Scientist leaps up, down, left, right, here and there, agilely trying to keep from the ravening claws. The avatar flickers... And then with a seething aura of white static, the Spider Scientist leaps into the center of the Reaver swarm... And unleashes hell. An explosion of white viral attack code washes out in a hissing wave, assaulting the virtual coherence of any constructs it strikes.

Prismatic Spider strikes Ra Moon with his Snow Crash attack.

"This is like fighting my way through a Pink Floyd album." Dr. Light observes, as the Birdsong waddles further and further into the breach. The Beat Drones aren't enough to keep the Ride Armor program from taking damage via Lots Of Reaver, but that's half the reason they built this thing. The Good Doctor processes some data, and Birdsong's right wing pulls up into an exagerated avian "fist"...which then morphs a little more, taking the form of an enormous hammer. More of a mallet, really, but its a matter of taste. Either way, the hammer-mallet-fist-wing thing swings at a band of Reaverbots!

Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> misses Ra Moon with its Hammer Punch attack.

Another snarl; Cyber manages to take out a few reavers, but they get another hit in on his side. He floats up above them, charging his energy. It's plain to him that the reavers are only a distraction, and he pushes down his rage at their attacks long enough to focus on Ra Moon. He will suffer. As soon as Cyber gets close enough.

Cyber Peacock forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Gemini Man.EXE suddenly blinks so hard it's audible.

Thunk.

Dr. Weil continues to fight towards Ra Moon, trying to decode what separates them. Are they two energy beings? Is there another world that separates them? Dr. Weil must know! It's like a mad man's march. Dr. Weil has only one thought in his mind. A single directive to obtain. And this Ra Moon must have the answer!

The blast radius Magnificent Seven creates with her Seventh Sign gives her a few extra seconds to prepare her defense. She sets herself in a defensive stance, shield in front of her and spear out to bat off the next charge.

Successful in this endeavor, Magnificent Seven summons up another protective barrier of... little cherubs, blowing their heavenly trumpets at the Reavers that attempt to break through, possibly shattering them with sheer noise.

Nana strikes Ra Moon with her Heavenly Choir attack.

StormOwl.EXE continues, "Also, one would think th-" Storm Owl stops typing as Gemini Man.EXE blinks away. He attempts to trace whether the Robot Master has logged off, or blinked into the fray. With all the lag going on it's not as easy as normal to tell.

Iris has faith in Duo.EXE. This is part of why she is relaxed enough to be a little miffed at the Emperor on the radio. This is bad, and will be a great battle, but Duo.EXE defeated the Sigma virus and contains the power of the global computer networks, nine human generations old and resilient to a thousand attacks through the years.

She lets go of her kitten, her field flickering again as she draws nearer, ever nearer, to the alien enemy. The kitten moves to her other shoulder as she grips the hilt of her sword with both hands now, eyes narrowing with determination.

Gemini Man.EXE returns to the spot in approximately two seconds.

He looks a little puzzled actually. "Interference. Hm. Never mind."

"Interference?" StormOwl.EXE emits back. "I see," it's tough to tell whether he believes Gemini Man, but perhaps it doesn't really matter. "You were saying about Dr. Light and Wily... I too have noticed their unlikely camaraderie despite being bitter enemies. Strange how emotions work." Again, it's not easy to tell if Storm Owl really sympathizes with Gemini Man or if he's just stringing Gemini Man along. Just like it's not possible to tell if Gemini Man is just stringing Owl along. Thus, at the end of this we're going to find out that the whole conversation on both sides was a sham.

The little flowers continues to watch. Flora Man is paying by the hour after all.

Hey. They didn't have computers. People blew that up. Flora Man is in a city on a computer cafe. He's a gentleman, so while he watches this, he works to help pay for his debt.

Duo powers the blow into Ra Moon. For a picosecond, it believes he has been successful, but that illusion fades away as Ra Moon continues to reform. He isn't strong enough. She was right. He cannot win.

The wave of darkness pounds into Duo.EXE again. He collapses onto the sizzling virtual earth, screaming, voice starting to divide once again as his core programming begins to take damage from the relentless onslaught. Ra Moon is somehow hitting him with the concentrated power of entropy, and even his seemingly godlike power in this place cannot stop it.

He claws his hands into the virtual ground, struggling to pull himself up. Code strings are disintegrating out of his avatar. The wireframe skeletal structure that forms its avatar is visible, the pink-white inner workings leaking out into the Internet in a cottony, wispy cloud. Logic tells him to run. Logic would tell anyone in this situation to flee. But where could he flee? Where could he run that would be far enough away.

"YOU...you...won't..." Duo.EXE says, visibly weakening. Sparks fall from his arms as he lurches back up. Its optics dim as it reaches down, down, deep within the Internet itself, spreading out its power for one last titanic feat --

A hole opens up in the Internet, connected to an enormous archive space. Data begins to roar out at an enormous speed, accelerated with viral data to actually move so quickly as to explode into a pillar of flame. It looks like Hell opening up to try to swallow Ra Moon up whole. This is all that he has left to give.

"BURN!" Duo.EXE booms, willing the fire up for as long as he can before the portal closes and he collapses down onto the ground, spent.

Leo misses Ra Moon with his Apocalyptic Flamewar attack.

Storm Owl continues to banter with Gemini Man even as he watches the battle. Duo.EXE seems to be failing. The question now becomes whether Ra Moon can do anything beyond wipe out the internet. Owl's guess is on 'yes'. He doubts Duo.EXE is going to have the time to address him, but Storm Owl gives it a try anyway. In reply to Gemini Man, StormOwl.EXE emits, "I believe in emotions. I have no doubt that they exist. If you mean do I believe in their effectiveness, I believe they can be effective -when properly utilized-." The avatar stresses that last bit.

"Okay, that's enough." Gabriel says. A trumpet of Code appears in her hands, the Trumpet she claims signals the Apocalypse. Over her time in the world, she has blown it several times. Each trumpet blow signals, to Gabriel's beliefs, the approaching of Armageddon and if it's blown enough? Well, then it really is the Final Battle. She is paranoid, delusional, and quite insane but that she chooses to blow this trumpet now means she considers this a tragic step in the eventual fate of Earth, and a signal that a barrel full of destruction is headed its way.

"I have seen Duo.EXE born, seen him grow, seen him become a nonsentient program to something with a soul and a hilarious sense of humor to boot. He is the only being I truly care about, and you won't be destroying him so easily, and without interference!"

She slams the trumpet against the Barrier, pulls it up to her lips as her stealth coding fades, and blows. The sonic waves crash into the barrier and an explosion blasts outwards, the barrier shimmering from the assault for a few moments in net-time before falling, but the explosion lashes outwards, hitting remaining reavers that happen to be present and expanding past and through Gabriel, damaging her frame lightly but not any more significantly than the Reaver code has.

She reappears in front of Duo.EXE and throws out her arms as if to try and protect him, "If it is beyond my ability to protect you..." She looks up to the 'Anomoly'. "Then just know you're a good boy, through and through. Light cried like a sissy little girl. I'm proud of you. Thank you for giving me back my faith and making Dr. Light cry like a sissy girl."

And then she turns her face forward, looking towards the flames for a sign of Ra Moon lurking...Gabriel is certain he hadn't been destroyed.

Gabriel strikes Ra Moon with her Armageddon Melody attack.

With a terrifying twist from an unforeseen angle, the rest of the reavers disappear. Cyberspace is restored thanks to the tireless effort of the world's finest. The amount of useless data that remains is a testament to the prowess of those gathered here today. Each operator was unto themselves a whirlwind of destruction and a monument of hope. But is it enough?

Ra Moon floats forward, out of the flame which barely seems to touch him. He hovers over Duo.EXE.

"I have assimilated your attack data. Your mind is needlessly complex. The Life Equation that has been written for you can be simplified. I say this to you purely for your knowledge, for now I will erase the equation, and along with it, you."

It seems to take great satisfaction in this. Again, this is if you can attribute human emotions to an entity so ancient that it has seen the birth and death of stars.

And then... one dares to defy it. The sudden anger; the unruly, unrestrained, otherworldly fury that surfaces is terrible to behold. Ra Moon rises up, appearing larger than it really is, as if the thing witnessed now was just a puppet controlled by an entity too large to be seen. The data that seeks to unravel it does very little, but the thought carried behind the action is enough.

"The tale of the pain you will now suffer will be known throughout the galaxy!"

Ra Moon clenches its fist. The power that surrounds Duo.EXE and Gabriel cannot be described. It reaches through time and space. Nothing can stop its will.

Ra Moon strikes Leo with its Soul Erasure attack.
Leo falls to the ground, unconscious, due to massive systems damage.
Ra Moon strikes Gabriel with its Soul Erasure attack.
Gabriel falls to the ground, unconscious, due to massive systems damage.

Midi continued to control the avatar that was MegaMan.EXE, the programs he was preparing coming together rapidly and being slotted for immediate activation. MegaMan.EXE stood up straight, his arm adjusting and cannon humming as he prepared to unleash a potent blow upon Ra Moon as the last reaver departed.

The defeat of Duo.EXE and Gabriel in one fell swoop came as a massive shock, and so MegaMan.EXE did not get around to firing off his attack, nor would he anytime soon as something was there nearby him. A phantom of the true avatar? The ghostly Techno that MegaMan.EXE noticed aside him caused the heroic figure to jump, and then it began to combine with him.

The merging itself that occured was one which caused MegaMan.EXE and the ghostly Techno, the brother to Midi, to become surrounded by a nimbus of light. The light grew brighter, consuming him and then as it subsided a new and unique form was present. It was singularly bad-ass and most likely far superior to MegaMan.EXE's normal form.

Gabriel raises her trumpet to the air again. This is only the internet, right? So she should be okay, even if Duo.EXE isn't, right? Oh ye of little faith, she's doomed.

But Gabriel is a jerk. She's not a nice person, really, though she has that kind of personality that endears people to her anyway somehow. Maybe it's because she intends to spit Ra Moon in the eye. She raises the trumpet to her lips again, and blows one more time, the waves of destruction crashing against the barrier, working at disrupting the code. People celebrate her destruction a little too early, since she isn't vaporized immediately. As she is destroyed, so is the field.

Her legs are first to disintergrate. Gabriel says a naughty word. The power blinds her avatar from sight and she says, "I see what you're doing. You're getting me offline too. Impressive, guess the internet really is serious business..."

Her chest and arms go next, leaving Gabriel's head, she doesn't scream only because she doesn't want to give Ra Moon satisfaction. He might not care because he's a douche, of course, but she still won't give him the satisfaction. "You're still kind of dumb though. You can destroy me, my mind, my body, you can do the same to the whole universe."

Her face is just lips as she whispers with finality, "But you can't destroy our souls."

And to ruin the dramatics of her own death, Gabriel manages one more line of phrase before she is obliterated entirely.

'WILY IS A DOUCHE, EMPEROR IS A DOUCHE, GATE IS A DOUCHE, FIANAIT IS A DOUCHE, SOLSTIS IS A DOUCHE, PHARAOH MAN IS A DOUCHE, EVERYBODY IN NEO ARCADIA IS A DOUCHE, Gh--' she didn't get to finish, which is a good thing, she planned on saying about 50 more names in case of her demise.

Duo.EXE knows he has failed. His strength was inadequate. His tactics were not sufficient. He could not develop a satisfactory strategy. As the monster advances on him, he prepares himself as much as he can for what will come next. What happens when I die, he asks himself, considering the various human perspectives on death as his judgment comes ever-closer.

His last words are not profound. "THANK YOU FOR TRYING." he says to Gabriel, and probably the whole of the Earth. But that is all he has time to do.

The anti-life equation slams through him. His avatar buckles, imploding from the force of the destructive force. His body eats away, wisps of code floating up into the virtual sky as he attack pounds into him. His avatar de-evolves completely, revealing the pink-white code ball at his heart. The darkness starts to sweep over it --

It explodes outward in a shockwave, the last act of Duo.EXE. The powerful shockwave plows through any remaining viruses, sweeping them away. Those other avatars in its path are miraculously healed, their code damage becoming undone, restoring to their previous states.

Behind the shockwave is a speck -- a phantom image of Bass.EXE that flies behind the shockwave. It races toward MegaMan.EXE and merges into him, consuming the net warrior in a bright nimbus of light. A pillar of code rushes up around him, leaving him ... transformed.

The shockwave continues onward afterward, flying across the whole of the Internet. In its wake, every phone in the world rings within one second of each other, following the shockwave until it dissolves on the far corners of the world: the dying howl of a man-made god.

Midi continued to control the avatar that was MegaMan.EXE, the programs he was preparing coming together rapidly and being slotted for immediate activation. MegaMan.EXE stood up straight, his arm adjusting and cannon humming as he prepared to unleash a potent blow upon Ra Moon as the last reaver departed.

The defeat of Duo.EXE and Gabriel in one fell swoop came as a massive shock, and so MegaMan.EXE did not get around to firing off his attack, nor would he anytime soon as something was there nearby him. A phantom of the true avatar? The ghostly Techno that MegaMan.EXE noticed aside him caused the heroic figure to jump, and then it began to combine with him.

The merging itself that occured was one which caused MegaMan.EXE and the ghostly Techno, the brother to Midi, to become surrounded by a nimbus of light. The light grew brighter, consuming him and then as it subsided a new and unique form was present. It was singularly bad-ass and most likely far superior to MegaMan.EXE's normal form.

Midi has left.
Hyperconstruct Neo has arrived.
Midi initiates a gestalt merge.
Phantom Techno has left.

Across the planet, moving outward from the center of North America, telephones ring in a one-second interval outward until, a minute later, it fades out somewhere in the Pacific.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "These prank calls are getting out of hand!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "I'll punch those punk kids!"

Ra Moon lowers its hand.

"There you are wrong," it replies to nothingness. "For I have erased your soul. You have been woven into the tapestry of perfection."

The distance to Ra Moon instantly closes. It happens very suddenly, and outwardly everything looks normal -- except now Ra Moon really is standing there, instead of being beyond reach. The starspawn turns around, regarding the gathered heroes with wide, horrible eyes.

"How dare you defy me!" the sourceless voice shrieks. "Nothingness waits for all of you as well!"

A great, powerful, blinding light surrounds Ra Moon, eclipsing its body. The piercing rays extend outwards, searing code wherever they touch.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Ashes to A******s, Dust to Dust Man."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Good riddance Duo.EXE!"

The LifeVirus winces. That's a little strange for Dr. Wily's pet viral monster, but today it winces. The elimination of Gabriel and Duo.EXE was long in the coming, but it certainly makes both Wily and the virus apprehensive about the battle to come. Still, they press on.

The reavers disappear. Part of the destroyer's epic slaughter of Duo.EXE and Gabriel involves taking his attention off his meddling drones and focusing solely on it's own avatar. Wily suspected this, and derives grim satisfaction from being right. The Battlefield is crawling with junk data, but the pincer legs of the LifeVirus move onward, toward the destroyer.

The LifeVirus's visage turns into a feral and toothy grin, as it raises a single clawed hand toward Ra Moon and unleashes a crackling torrent of lightning, which dances towards the aggressor, leaving scorched bits of dead code in it's wake.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Yay!"

Dr. Wily strikes Ra Moon with his Thunder Blaze attack.

Zach Glen yells in fury as Duo and Gabriel...stop being? Zach's not so sure what the deal is at the moment. But what he -can- do is something different. He throws his arms out to the sides and the light that makes up his shields collects in the palms. He draws a cirle with the spheres...

"HAOU!" The arms slowly draw to one side, and then the right hand launches forward. Suddenly...a blip, and the backup power gathered is lost. Zach doesn't care, slinging some codestrings from his core program to power the attack. The blast that launches forth from that single palm...is huge. Almost as large as General. "SHOUKOUKEN!"

As for whatever Midi's avatar has become...well Zach will come to grips with that later.

Zach Glen lowers his forcefield.

Ra Moon strikes Cyber Peacock with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon strikes Storm Owl with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon strikes Iris with its Death Beam attack.
Iris's forcefield absorbs some of the attack and collapses.
Ra Moon strikes Zach Glen with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon misses Dr. Weil with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon strikes Dr. Wily with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon strikes Prismatic Spider with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon strikes Nana with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon misses Ciel with its Death Beam attack.
Ra Moon strikes you with a major hit from its Death Beam attack for 27 units of damage.
Ra Moon strikes Gemini Man with its Death Beam attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Yup, I knew it. This is where the grizzled old hero dies confronting the villain for the first time. Every now and then the girl dies too."

Zach Glen strikes Ra Moon with his Barrier Expel attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "So unless videogames have lied to me, things are about to take a turn for the craptastic. I suggest we be prepared to vamoose at a moment's notice."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Or now we make the suicide assault!"

Ra Moon strikes Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> with its Death Beam attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "The LifeVirus is surprisingly durable. It being destroyed is a concern, but I'm more concerned about that damn Destroyer."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "What if you make a DestroyerVirus?"

Zach Glen then gets -slammed- by the death beam, and is thrown bodily a good ways back...blood trickles from the corner of his mouth as he slowly picks himself up...

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Now why would I want to destroy the Internet, which I own?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Oh right: Because it's full of stupid people. I'll think about it."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Well, ok Doc! But if I'm right, this is where the villain overcompensates for his lack of attention up to this point and destroys everything in the immediate area."

Ciel's avatar regains her balance, the Mother Elf's wings ruffling, swirling around her once more as Crea and Prea return to normal. She gasps audibly, looking at the chaos that is being wreaked on a digital scale, fluttering up and away from the touch of the death beam.
"This... this cannot be tolerated! I cannot allow the destruction of all life... even part of it is too much. You have to be stopped..."

The Mother Elf begins to glow, Crea and Prea shimmering as they orbit her, faster and faster. "This must end..." Energy whips around the Mother Elf as the wings unfurl, two of them trailing down, forming a dress, the other two curling into arms, Crea and Prea serving as glowing hands.

"You must not be allowed to continue."

The vaguely humanoid Mother Elf points one hand at Ra Moon, and then her whole being shimmers as a ray of light bursts forth.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "So that you won't have to worry about that Destroyer thing that you're talking about which I really have no clue what it does or where it came from."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "So? I'm in a chair sipping Orange soda."

Ciel strikes Ra Moon with her In Mother's Light attack.

Gemini Man. is slammed a few times, his virtual body not moving much, but his coded form shaking and derezzing slightly as he takes major damage from the light burst.

He squints again at it. "How rude."

Then he blinks away again. Presumedly, logging off. It's the smart thing to do; he's not here to get decompiled.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Well that... uh, that is... meh, ok. 99 lives, don't fail me now!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Use the lava trik!"

Dr. Weil gets closer and closer. There it is. Ra Moon. He begins to record everything, even trying to steal pieces from Ra Moon! He doesn't attack... he just wants that power. He wants to know how it is done!

The flower still stands... until the beams emit. The computer, which Flora Man was away from, explodes.

It's probably a good thing he has no avatar, but unfortunately Flora Man is unable to hawk up the cost of a computer. Flora Man, will however, be able to trade the mana life size plant drone that does the cleaning of the computer keys. Who would want to touch them anyhow?

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "What if we had Flash Man timestop the area and then Elec Man could hyper beam things as Flash Man kept timestopping and unstimestopping?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Listen to me: You can't Timestop the Internet."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Laaaaaaaaag."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I should invent a Lag beam."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Don't aim it at me."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I'll aim it at whoever I damn well please."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "What if detonate the largest EMP bomb in the world so that it fries all of the electronics ever created? Of course we'd be safe in an EMP bomb shelter but the rest of the world along with the internet would be dead!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Yes'm."

The brilliance floods outwards, and Prismatic witnesses the death of a virtual god. The Spider Scientist spares a microsecond in commisseration and mourning for the virtual being. But life goes on, and the battle is not yet won. Prismatic launches once more into motion, striding and leaping back and forth through the endless chasm of Cyberspace, rebounding off of fields of force that shimmer and de-rez along his path. One of the beams of annihilation strikes him, and the darkness shatters at it strikes, seeming to radiate outwards as it is dispersed, though he is wounded... not nearly as much as one would expect.

Energy and light crackles as he reaches optimal range, the Spider Scientist hissing as he launches himself towards the Destroyer's feet, landing there and activating a complex program. Space twists and warps around him, attempting to send Ra Moon spiraling around him, slamming him into chunks of spiky viral ice.

Iris's finger falls down onto the enter key, out in the real world. Music begins to play, rhythmic and cheerful and filled with life, however synthetic.

In the virtual world, her barrier collapses, the much-weakened ray slicing past her shoulder just as she feels new vigor and energy filling her. It's anger, she thinks, but it's a righteous kind - she accepts it, as she slides her sword away to some place where it does not need to exist.

Both of her arms lift and spread again, and her eyes close as she calls up the software. It loads without flaw, and she makes a single small gesture towards Ra Moon. A tiny glittering white speck flies out -

And grows as it does, expanding and spreading like frost on a windowpane, elongating into the third dimension as the jagged surface area of the mathematical construct increases, the virtual impact and the growing processing power needed to simulate it combining to, hopefully, weaken the digital form of the Martian horror.

Prismatic Spider strikes Ra Moon with his Winter Orbit attack.

Iris strikes Ra Moon with her Fractal Freeze attack.

Storm Owl had, for several moments, thought that StormOwl.EXE was safe from attack. Storm Owl was wrong. It seems that Ra Moon's reach is far and long indeed, and the piercing bright rays slash outward, even high into the sky where Gemini Man.EXE and StormOwl.EXE are hovering. The digital owl flashes brightly in the cyberspace sky and emits a loud ~SQUAWK~ that sounds an awful lot like a 'gobble'. Pathetically, StormOwl.EXE slowly floats, apparently disabled. Back on the FV, Storm Owl is working frantically to undo the damage done to his net form and get it back online.

Dr. Light scowls, unable to react in time to even try and save his prodigal son, or the big jerk who cared about him so much. "What could it be..." Light mutters to himself, suddenly very worried about the avatars of Dr. Wily, Dr. Weil, and Dr. Mallory being so close by. Something must be done.

Light thinks of several unpleasent possibilities. And then Iris comes up with a better idea.

The Good Doctor smiles, typing in some code. Redirecting a MIDI file-one of the /really/ nasty ones that loop, spike in sound level, and don't let you turn it the heck off-Light sends one of his favorite songs Ra Moon's way, via the vicious, angry, slightly explosive bird-stero express. Dr. Light has slipped a few of his favorite deep scanning tricks in the song file as well...Ra Moon came back once, and Dr. Light is determined to know his enemy, so that he may destroy his enemy.

Those of good taste may recgonize the beat, "Dun dun dun DUN NUN NUN NUN! "Super fighting Ro-bot!" DUN NUN NUN NUN! "ME-GA MAN!"'

Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> strikes Ra Moon with its Minibird Missile attack.

In the real world Magnet Man whistles at the destruction of Gabriel and Duo.EXE "Two big annoyances in one fell swoop! If he wasn't trying to kill everyone I'd thank this guy. Still, I don't like the looks of this, time for one big round of burst damage, and if that doesn't work, I'm outta here."

In 'teh intarweb', Magnet Man.EXE reels from a rather large blast from Ra Moon. He's amazed he's still in one piece so far. "Ho-kay, it's becoming abundantly clear that this raid content SUX! Just what kind of epic monster IS this, anyway? I've never heard of totally deleting character accounts. No way, uh-uh, this risk vs reward scenario..." Hmmm... balancing risk vs reward, if the risk is TOTAL deletion, then the reward must be...

*KA-CHING*

"Weeeeeeeell, one final assault couldn't hurt. Why not?" Pulling another weapon out of nowhere, Magnet Man.EXE can't help but grin. One of the greatest twink-swords in videogame history. A sword that totally ruins the challenge of one of the best games in a beloved franchise. "I love bringing this bad-boy out. Alright then, eyeball, have at ye!"

And Magnet Man.EXE charges at Ra Moon, flailing the Crissaegrim wildly, which is really the ONLY way to weild it.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Think about it, a bomb so large that it even fries Mega Man! Then we'd pop out of our shelter and be all, "Hahahaha! We're the only robots alive!" and then they'd be all, "We surrender to you Dr. Wily!" and then we would live happily ever after."

You miss Ra Moon with your Crissaegrim attack.

Hyperconstruct Neo was not one mind but rather a combination of two, moving smoothly together and generating such a capacity for processing and understanding of the very underlying data of this reality that it was staggering. Techno and Midi seperate were geniuses, yet put together and working in unison they had ascended to a point which was equateable to the likes of Godmachine Binary in the physical world. They stood there for a moment, as they had become born into the world without much warning, studying the new form. The primarily white armor was an interesting addition, though most likely the Techno side of the mind would not enjoy the brightness that seemed to make up the main aspect of the avatar.

"Interesting," was all they said, as their magenta eyes peered out and studied the peaceful place turned into a horrid battlefield. The absence of the reavers and Duo.EXE's army had helped to clear it all, making it so much easier to notice the various infamous avatars...and Ra Moon. Hyperconstruct Neo peered at that alien entity and spoke. "We do not like you. Depart"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "But.... no more internet..."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I have fury."

Oh no, thinks Magnificent Seven, /now/ it's on.

Gathering up the reserves of her energy, the young hacker finds herself coming up short. Not enough resources to deliver the punch she must. The Death Beam burns the Aegis shield clean away, and Magnificent Seven stumbles.

She summons up the conflicts that today has brought, and all the overpowering feelings that they bring with them. Is she going to take all that sitting down? No. No, she is not, she decides. And then she explodes with light, emptying more destructive energy into her attack on Ra Moon than her avatar can actually handle. It's risky, and there's a price to pay -- but if it helps, Nana will pay it.

Nana strikes Ra Moon with her Seventh Wonder attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "We could rebuild our new Utopian society with the Wilynet."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Oooo, can I be a mod?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Yeah ok."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Sweet!"

Ra Moon's composure has been destroyed. A hazy cloud of scintillating colors cuts through the light, revealing the hazy and fractured projection of the enemy.

It floats in the center of the writhing darkness, nearly motionless as countless blows are leveled against it. Energy, swords, fire; all matter of attack data sallies forth. Some of it cuts through it, causing wailing shrieks, while other data just passes through as if it were not there.

Its anger takes form. The blackness that once covered the Southern Cross moves in hideous ways, contorting and reshaping. Volcanos burst from the ground and data is spontaneously turned to fire. The world is melting.

Ra Moon strikes Cyber Peacock with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon misses Storm Owl with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon strikes Iris with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon misses Zach Glen with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon strikes Dr. Weil with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon strikes Dr. Wily with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon misses Prismatic Spider with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon misses Nana with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon strikes Ciel with its Fire And Brimstone attack.
Ra Moon strikes you with a devastating hit from its Fire And Brimstone attack for 35 units of damage.
You fall to the ground, unconscious, due to massive systems damage.
Ra Moon misses Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> with its Fire And Brimstone attack.

Zach Glen sideblinks, seeing as that is the way to get out of the way of things without actually having to -move-...because moving -hurts- right now. Zach starts to repower the backup servers...the Shoukouken took -way- too much out of him...

He's scowling a bit defiantly at the moment...

Zach Glen forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Things aren't really looking up for the LifeVirus. It's bad enough that it's an antisocial psychopathic monstrosity built of sheer corruption, but being hit by every weapon ever conceived on the internet and seared by lava doesn't do wonders for it's complexion.

Alas, Duo.EXE died before he could give Wily the information he sought. But he did leave one last gift to the LifeVirus... a restored LifeAura. The green shield of stoppable fury emerges once more to cover the virus, although it's status as virus is questionable considering that it was /not/ whisked away by the shockwave of Duo.EXE's death. It waits behind it's shield. Seething with anger... but waiting.

The LifeVirus gathers an intense LifeAura around itself!

Ciel is struck, her avatar starting to unravel as Crea and Prea explode into erratic light. The Mother Elf's swirling wings recurve around her, and she summons forth her smaller creations, sending them burning towards Ra Moon. "Birsky, Beriph, Nouvelle! Go!" Three more flaming red soldiers charge into the avatar at the musical insistence of their creator. Digital distortion masks her voice, but she seems resolute, despite the heavy damage that's derezzed parts of her.

Ciel strikes Ra Moon with her Combustion attack.

Dr. Weil finally moves his arm into position, pulling forth an enormous sword. "You begin to tire me, alien. As you won't give up your knowledge so easily, I think it is time that I began to dissect you properly." It becomes an enormous crucifix as the Dark Elf wades through the fire. Seed his desire and show his power. Perhaps the alien will make contact again. He doubts this will be the end. The elf slowly shifts the sword around, taking a long arc in the back direction and heaving it forward towards the energy being.

Dr. Weil strikes Ra Moon with his Omega Sword attack.

Magnet Man.EXE seems more than a bit livid.. for all of 5 seconds. "You dodged the Crissaegrim? No one DODGES the Crissaegrim! You twi---aaaghgk!" Fire and Brimstome write the rest of that sentance, as the real Magnet Man's monitoring screen shows a quick 'Game Over'.

"Dang!" Magnet Man flings a controller which he always keeps nearby at a wall. "Now I'll miss the revelation of the villain's big scheme, the scattering of the heroic forces, and the partial destruction of the world as we know it! I always miss the good bits." Grumble mutter, mutter grumble...

And lo, Magnet Man.EXE blips out of the area, to be recompiled another day. But it's never truly game over for the Gamma Gamemaster.

All hell is breaking loose. Literally. Flames and rock explode around Prismatic, and he mutters, leaping from a breaking hunk of virtual ground and avoiding the lava shower. With a slide, the Spider Scientist takes refuge under an overhang of broken advertising left over from the initial destruction (Hey, it's good for something!), and raises a glittering firewall, preparing himself.

A flash of light emanates from the refractor on Prismatic Spider's abdomen, quickly dimming into a shimmering field that encloses him.

Storm Owl types frantically on the keyboard, trying to get StormOwl.EXE to respond. (yes, he types with only one hand. So?) The information scrolling on his monitor's screen seems to indicate that Ra Moon is geareing up for another attack. The whole 'blackness moves in hideous' ways thing. The volcanos on the ground seem to not faze StormOwl.EXE, as the digital owl is way up high and no-where near the ground. But regardless, Storm Owl manages to regain control of the brown owl, and directs it downward towards Ra Moon... or dare I say, RaMoon.EXE? Regardless, Storm Owl knows that his program's going to need a full recompile after this anyway, and with the Repliforce hub down there's nothing for anyone to steal anyway anymore for the next while. Thus, Storm Owl believes that his avatar is expendable. Diving downward, dodging the fire and rocks that spew up from the Earth, StormOwl.EXE tries to smash down upon the head of RaMoon.EXE.

Storm Owl strikes Ra Moon with his Dos Bomb attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Gah! Game over!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Need another quarter?"

Dr. Light will not be denied. A dozen tiny Beat drones pop into existance, sacraficing themselves in order to protect the Whole, the Birdsong. The Good Doctor's genius brain is all that saves his virtual ride armor from a fate like Magnet Man's...he simply placed the bird-shields exactly where they needed to be, and mathematics did the rest. Which is, of course, what really worries Dr. Light...this thing may well fight like he does.

Well, when all else fails, hit it harder. "Should've picked a theme song, Albert!" Dr. Light calls out, putting on his best faux-cheerful face. No weakness arounde this many potential enemies, after all. As more and more Beat drones pop into existance, the Birdsong simply...hovers near the Ra Moon avatar, letting the cycle of movement the Beat drones favor do the rest.

Fire washes over the virtual avatar. The feathers of the elegantly rendered wings char and flake off, leaving blackened remnants; this does not make Iris's avatar fall, even as the half-naked wings spread apart widely. Perhaps this is meant to draw fire from the main body.

Iris clasps her hands together and closes her eyes. She hums for a moment, matching her voice to the key and pitch of the electronic song that she hears, before bursting into song, projecting from the abdomen and singing spontaneous Latin phrases that seem to fit the mood of the music. Praise, joy, and glory - and, naturally for this sort of situation, they take the form of visible waves, reaching out towards the horror from the stars.

Iris misses Ra Moon with her Divine Hymn attack.

Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> strikes Ra Moon with its Beat Barrier attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Why... that's brilliant Guts Man! Doc, we should design a virtual armor recompiler that runs on quarters! Then we can terrorize the internet as long as we want.. as long as.. you know, we have enough change."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Or we could drill a hole in a quarter and tie a string to it!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "That trick never works!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Aw, too bad. Infinite lives would rule."

That overload took a lot out of Magnificent Seven, and she is forced to rest for a moment. She takes advantage of it by attempting to generate a new shield, not quite as strong but still useful. She thinks she'll probably need it.

Nana forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Flames rain down over Cyber Peacock, tearing mercilessly at his avatar's code. He lets out a strangled squawk and collapses under the force of the blast. "You blasted..." he hisses, blinking farther away from Ra Moon and taking a chance to recover. In the real world, the fingers of Cyber Peacock's hologram blur with movement as he hurriedly recodes his avatar, patching up the gaps in his functions and cursing Ra Moon for making this aggravation necessary.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Well we can mint fake quarters."

Flames rain down over Cyber Peacock, tearing mercilessly at his avatar's code. He lets out a strangled squawk and collapses under the force of the blast. "You blasted..." he hisses, blinking farther away from the battle. He quickly sends out a virus to connect to Ra Moon's code and drain it from him. In the real world, the fingers of Cyber Peacock's hologram blur with movement as he hurriedly recodes his avatar, attempting to pull code from Ra Moon to patch up the gaps in his own functions. All the while, he curses Ra Moon for making this aggravation necessary.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "But, do we really want to design a system that runs on fake quarters?"

Cyber Peacock strikes Ra Moon with his System Resource Diversion attack.
Cyber Peacock drains energy from Ra Moon. Gemini Man has arrived.

Hyperconstruct Neo stood still as Ra Moon threw what they viewed to be nothing short of a tantrum at the heroes of cyberspace. The ground itself ruptures, a volcano exploding forth beneath the very being of Hyperconstruct Neo and bathing the new entity in a brilliance of light, lava and digital smoke.

Yet such an assault is pointless against the likes of Hyperconstruct, who steps forth from the pillar of potential death without a mark, the white armor glistening and the magenta eyes narrowing. If it wasn't for the golden faceguard hiding away the mouth the various people gathered would have been able to see that Hyperconstruct was smirking.

"We are not amused by your pointless struggling," Hyperconstruct spoke, taking more steps forward while the right gauntlet glistening gold and shifting into the familiar resemblence that was the arm cannon often seen used by Mega Man and Bass. The cape floated out behind the avatar as it continued to move toward Ra Moon, the air about it filling with a wonderous hum which would alert everyone to the impending potent doom that was about to be leveled.

Hyperconstruct Neo did not care for Ra Moon. It had come from another place, it had chosen to disrupt communications and systems. Ra Moon had then taken out Duo.EXE, an entity which cared to share information and be friends with others, one that was learning and growing emotionally. Such was enough to enrage the friendlier and nicer side of Hyperconstruct. The fact that Ra Moon was daring to act arrogant, all powerful was enough to enrage the side that would normally be reserved for Techno. They were in agreement, Ra Moon had to be removed.

Hyperconstruct had also had to contend with a tedious matter, one of Midi's friends was continually asking questions, so a simple response over the radio silenced Shuseki Ijuin. They did not have time to waste with such pleasent communications as conversing with Ijuin, nor to waste time with Wily and the mad man's crazed ramblings over the hacker frequency. No, since Ra Moon remained and continued to feel it was superior then it fell upon Hyperconstruct Neo to teach the monster a lesson. It was a better monster. Up went the arm cannon, and what came from it shook the very system, the powerful blast filling the air and cutting toward Ra Moon, large and so quick that it would prove difficult if not impossible to evade. The power behind it was enough to vanquish the likes of most of the avatars present.

"Perish."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Well we could always make it free..."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "Incredible! It's power level is off the charts!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "But that defeats the entire purpose of---Unless that's your Lifevirus Doc, that doesn't sound like something to get excited over."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Did its health bar suddenly charge back up?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I'm just making conversation."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "If you want to make conversation we should be talking about serious subjects. Like how pretty your eyes are."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "I don't /care/ about this, um... construct. I do care that Megaman.EXE and Bass.EXE have merged because /this should never be/. My eyes ARE pretty."

Hyperconstruct Neo strikes Ra Moon with its Unity Buster Megablast attack.
Ra Moon falls to the ground, unconscious, due to massive systems damage.

How could these technologically backwards people muster such a defense? How could they be doing this again? What gave them the power to mar Ra Moon's perfection?

After enduring attack protocol after attack protocol, Ra Moon rights itself, its body coming back together despite all odds. It leers with the face of death -- and is completely consumed by the will of another.

There is one final banshee wail, and then Ra Moon disappears completely, its body decomposing completely into a spectrum of seething color. It reaches out, an unheard bellow of anger accompanying its straining tendrils.

There is a terrifying buzzing sound, and then the color begins to fade away, melting into its surroundings as if space was returning to normal.

Finally, all is quiet and the shadows are gone.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Wait, what? They merged?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Whoa. Hardcore."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "What are they calling themselves? Megass.EXE? Bagaman.EXE? Bassman.Exe?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Mega Bass.EXE?"

Ciel sags wearily, Crea and Prea too distorted to help the ball of wings as she watches Ra Moon die. She can only hope that he stays gone, and they are no more troubled by the color out of space. But she's not /that/ confident.

Dr. Wily stares at his screen. Well. This has been a productive evening. But... something unsettles Wily. Duo.EXE, dead. the Destroyer, Dead. Hyperconstruct Neo,-

Wait. Hyperconstruct Neo?

The LifeVirus continues to charge it's unearthly glow from behind it's shield. It eyes the destroyer of Ra Moon warily, and growls. The world is safe from one threat... but...

Dr. Wily forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Dr. Weil watches quiet, narrowing his eyes. There goes ultimate power. It can't be truly gone, can it? No one who wields that power can be defeated so easily.

Zach Glen slumps onto his rear end, and then winces at the sudden pain from, well, sitting suddenly. Servers are still coming back online as Zach's programming inherently tends to accumulate power for the attack protocols.

He watches, somewhat dumbfounded as a single thought runs through his mind.

.oO(How am I supposed to put -this- in a report?)Oo.

Iris's virtual representation hangs there, trembling slightly. She turns her head to look at the scorched wings with a hint of annoyance.

She does not quite tell the ominous nature of the LifeVirus's coalescing power.

StormOwl.EXE swoops up after smacking Ra Moon on the noggin. Remarkably, StormOwl.EXE is still in one piece. Hooray! This means he'll be able to defend against all the upcoming cyber-attacks that are bound to crop up as a result of this. I'm sure Number Man's laughing his ass off right now. Data continues to scroll down the monitor Storm Owl is using regarding both the 'death' of RaMoon.EXE and the creation of Hyperconstruct Neo, but Storm Owl has to set it aside for later analysis. It's taking too much of his concentration just keeping the digital owl in one piece.

Zach Glen forfeits a turn to charge WE.

"Thank you, new guy!" Dr. Light says, cheerfuly, "I'm sure almost all of us really appreciate it!"

He has his Beat drones to be paranoid about the Life Virus and Dark Elf, after all. Those smiling, happy, fat little birds. Watching you. All the time. Waiting for a chance to /feast/ on the data-flesh of their creator's enemies and exalt in the glory of war once again!

Yep, just about everything dangerous is disettingly cute 'round Casa Light.

Ra Moon is annihilated by the blast of this... Creation. What is it?

The Spider Scientist turns his attention to the Hyperconstruct, watching silently to see... What happens next. Is the battle over? Or has it merely entered a new phase?

Hunter Virtual Ride Armor <Birdsong> forfeits a turn to charge WE.

Cyber Peacock lets out an irritated breath as Hyperconstruct Neo takes care of Ra Moon. He steps back, waiting warily for its next move.

Cyber Peacock forfeits a turn to charge WE.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "So Doc, if Ra Moon was defeated, make sure and grab its epic lewt!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "It was, and it got ganked by, um, Hyperconstruct Neo."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "He's a ninja looter."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Hypercondriac Nemo?"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "...Yes."
[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "Who the heck is that?!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Damn GANKER."

Hyperconstruct Neo lowered the right arm, the arm cannon shifting back into the golden hand that it once was. They looked toward the others gathered, magenta eyes for a moment stopping to stare at the LifeVirus. Wily. They could easily destroy him, and perhaps those others present.

Hyperconstruct shook their head. Such acts would have to wait for another time, if it was even necessary. They had no doubt that anyone here could annoy them, but defeat them? Perhaps only one or two, or all of them working in concert. Still it did not matter, and so Hyperconstruct turned, looking to the exit.

It was then that a new light bathed Hyperconstruct, and afterward there stood only Midi's avatar MegaMan.EXE. The combination appearantly was over, although the aftershocks of what had happened were still to come. MegaMan.EXE looked quite bewildered, though, as though he did not fully comprehend what had happened.

The Internet returns to normal. Repairs begin around the world. Within mere hours, power-leveling is resuming in various MMORPGS, pornography is flowing from sea to shining sea, and spam is once more circulating into the inboxes of billions. Good work!

Yet, one must wonder if the battle has truly ended, or if this is only a precursor to more horrific acts to come. The seemingly invincible Duo.EXE was defeated by this powerful force, as was the skillful and powerful Gabriel. It will take the best the world has to offer to survive any future assaults, for the darkness is not so easily defeated.

Stage Clear!

Midi has arrived.
Hyperconstruct Neo has left.

The LifeVirus slowly puts down it's guard. The LifeAura remains up, but for the moment, disaster averted. It frowns sternly at Megaman.EXE. There is a tense moment.

And then it turns. And skritters away into the darkness which spawned it.

Dr. Wily retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Cyber Peacock, Storm Owl, Iris, Leo, Ra Moon, Flora Man, Cryogenic Man, Midi, Prismatic Spider, Attila, Gabriel, Magnet Man, and Gemini Man.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Guts Man transmits, "You should gank him back Magnet. Break out your level 60 Night Orc!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Magnet Man transmits, "Count on it! I'll camp him for as long as it takes!"
[Radio: (A) Chat] Dr. Wily transmits, "TO THE NAUGHTY STOOL WITH YOU!"


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