Tilting At Windmills
-
It had been a week since the incident with the bandaged Lan and the "Bugriser" people, and Rock was starting to seriously worry about the kid. The way that the other Lan had looked at her operator was a horrible setback for her - like she'd been shot right back to the raw emotions after the destruction of the Lotus Engine - and she had been shutting herself off since, brooding endlessly over how she could make things right. At the very least, she still listened to her, which let her quash some of the kid's more destructive ideas, but she was clearly bothered by the fact that her friends might leave her over the power they'd decided to claim for themselves.
Times like this were when Rock would often encourage Lan to hang out with her friends - it'd make her feel better and ensure that they didn't have to worry themselves sick over her. But Lan was unresponsive to even Triese and Iris, which was a wall Rock found difficult to get past. Rock had half a mind to message Rockman-san or something, just to see if something really unexpected would get the kid to drag herself out of her room. So when a chatroom DM came in, Rock was very quick to check on it - only for it to be the absolute last thing she would have wanted to see at that moment.
Lan, unfortunately, noticed the sound of the incoming message and hopped off her bed before Rock could even say anything, but that didn't stop the latter from puking out her initial reactions.
[MSG:
] what the hell? the fuck is 'fixed' supposed to mean? whos blabbing about this shit?
[MSG:] the kid's going through some rough shit, and that's none of your business.
[MSG:] i'd be plenty happy for you to stop thinkin' i'm some fuckin' evil virus from hell, but you're gonna have to be a little more specific as to what your proposi"Aon?! That jerk?! Why are they messaging us?!" Lan shouted, as soon as she wrestled control back of her PET screen, despite Rock's protests. "Wh- wh- they're-"
She sneered as she started typing up chatroom messages of her own, not even bothering to check if she was on the right account or not. Some news was spreading about Shadow Trance. It probably wasn't Netto-san's doing, so that meant it had to be Ellen, or that other Lan, or someone else entirely she wasn't even thinking of, but they definitely had to be seeing her as a monster like everyone else did...!!
[MSG:
] shut up shut up shut up shut up!!!
[MSG:] we're not problems!! what do you want from us??
[MSG:] what are we supposed to do to prove ourselves, huh? what? tell us. now. -
[MSG:
️] Means you’re no longer out of control or infected or whatever was going on with you? I'm not sure what else it could possibly mean.Aon may have second-guessed their ability to tolerate their childish outbursts, but they were in too deep now.
The fact that there wasn’t an immediate guess on who blabbed worked in their favour, for a moment they had almost regretted putting out what they knew. Omitting information was all a matter of pulling things along, of keeping the outcome in their control for as long as possible.
Lan must have taken over the conversation with the way the energy had changed. She was unpredictable, but they still had a hard time believing how bad Ellen was making her out to be. It was easy to lash out from behind text.
It didn’t really matter who it was, the message was the same for either of them.
[MSG:
️] I’d like to be sure of that if we are to continue working together. I said so already.
[MSG:️] Do you really have to ask? I want to see it for myself.
[MSG:️] I’m requesting a NetBattle. -
Rock winced at the response; Aon choosing to pursue this subject at this time was absolutely rubbing salt on the wound. Lan, on the other hand, looked like she was going to bite someone's head off any second now. At the very least, a battle was something she could easily agree to, which she did before Rock could say anything to the contrary.
[MSG:
] okay?! is that what you want?! then you'll get it!! where are we meeting?!
[MSG:] we're not going to kill anyone!! everything is fine!! i'll make you regret it if you want to be so high and mighty about working with perfect people!!!"Kid..." Rock interrupted exasperatedly. "The more you shout at them, the more you're eggin' them on, you know that?" She crossed her arms. "I think they're full of hot air too, but you know we're not really gonna be able to... escape 'em."
"I wish we could," Lan grumbled. Directly responding to her Navi at least forced her to restart a coherent train of thought, however. "It's always these stupid Officials that are all high-and-mighty. I know we were wrong about Mayl, but..." She kicked her feet. "I just think they're a jerk! What am I supposed to say to them, anyways?! They're just going to spout the same stupid crap about you being 'broken' that Nebula did!"
Rock twitched, averting her eyes. The kid had a point; Aon was asking them to prove something they had no desire to prove, both because they would never reach the level of perfection that someone like Aon would demand and because they knew that the "Faultroid" shit was impossible to get away from. "Then," she slowly wagered. "What are we plannin' to do? I'm not sure if we can just show up and go all-out, if." She shrugged. "We're trying to trick Aon. Or something like that."
Lan cursed herself for not thinking far enough ahead. "I guess we'll... figure it out," she mumbled.
-
[MSG:
️] Well now, ‘making me regret’ wouldn’t be very team-oriented would it? You could change my mind though.They couldn’t help pulling one final punch. These kids were insufferable, not just them, the whole chatroom really was just a bunch of jackass kids that had to be contrarian about everything.
Still, they ought to emphasize that despite it all, this wasn’t intended to be personal.
[MSG:
️] I need you to understand that I’m not rooting for you to fail.
[MSG:️] I’ll go where you tell me. It would be much easier for me if you just picked a place and invited me. I’ll make the time. -
[MSG:
] fine. i'll find somewhere private. i'll message you when i'm ready.
Lan truly did not want to hang around in a park again, not after the last time they'd sat down at one had ended so poorly. Too many Navis passed by places like that. (One or two counted as 'too many'.) So, instead, Lan convinced herself that if she truly wished to become a very smart and intelligent expert vigilante, she would need to start familiarizing herself with the criminal underworld of unused, empty comp spaces... She parked herself behind a store and jacked into their heater unit.
The heater served a nice purpose of making sure Lan didn't become a popsicle while they were waiting for Aon, but she really just wanted a place where no one would bother her. And she didn't want Aon to be anywhere near her personal belongings, lest they decide to take notes and report on all of her likes and dislikes to the secret annoying horse police or whoever they reported to.
"I don't even want to be on a team with them," Lan grumbled to Rock as they waited. "It's all stupid Alpha's fault. Why can't Meiru-san and I just solve all the problems ourselves?"
Rock raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you the one defendin' her right to be there against the exact same logic?" she couldn't help but point out. "I don't like Aon either, kid, but we're just gonna have to put up with it. No one's saying we gotta be buddy-buddy with 'em. I doubt that things'll actually end up that way, either."
"I guess," Lan sighed. "We just need to prove that we're not, like, viruses. Or something." She clenched her fists. "That we're not evil."
-
As soon as they got the message and coordinates Aon dropped what they were doing; they were getting better at coming up with neat little excuses to go traipsing off on their own.
Upon stepping through the digital rift into the Heater Comp they gave it a glance over, getting the gist of it’s nature and doing their best to hold off on commenting. Little did they consider that meeting in places like this was going to become a lot more common.
Aon wasn’t very good at small talk to begin with, usually content to be led in conversations or work off of scripts when put in public-facing situations. Their history with Rock, let alone their current inner turmoil gnawing away at them made the situation as nettlesome as it could have possibly been. Still, if they were trying to appear as normal as possible the least they could do was to offer an awkward half wave and not jump the gun.
“I appreciate you two agreeing to this.” They started, trying their best not to sound as grating as it sounded running through their processors.
“I think it’s safe to say we all want the same outcome from this."
-
Rock wasn't sure how to feel about Aon giving such a cordial wave, given that she was fairly certain there had never been any illusion of cordiality between them, but she returned the wave nonetheless. "Well," she said, a small hint of grumpiness to her tone. "Depends on what you think you want. You want to try and be pals? Or is this a doctor's appointment with extra steps?"
"We're not going to be friends," Lan insisted, annoyed at the very idea. She wasn't going to be friends with someone that was so ready to throw Rock under the bus.
Rock's lip twitched in response. "E-either way..." she said, trying her best to brush her operator's abrasiveness under the rug. "We, uh, appreciate your... appreciating. You got any ideas for how we can meet your requirements, or are we just gonna go at it?" She crossed her arms, surveying the comp around them; it only had a couple potholes, so it wasn't going to be as bad of an arena as some other places they'd had to duke it out in.
"We're going to fight," Lan interrupted flatly. "It's not like there's anything else to talk about."
-
“Both. Or well…”
Aon grimaced slightly at Lan’s voice above Rock, not that they were particularly too hurt. She did seem to be more sure of herself since the last time. Whether that was a good thing remained to be seen if what Ellen had to say held any relevance.
“I don’t need to be pals. I just need to be able to trust you if we’re going to continue working as a team.”
They had more to say, but perhaps it was better this way– to get right into the fight. Anything left could be said while fighting. Summoning a generic sword to their arm they lowered into a defensive stance.
“If she thinks there’s nothing else to say, then don’t disappoint me.”
-
Rock scoffed at Aon's quip, while Lan was quite a bit more incensed by it. "I-I'm not planning on it," she stuttered, taking a step back to make sure that Aon had a full view, through the holographic screen that was floating behind Rock, of the cool swipe she was doing with her hand. "I-I'm not going to lose out like I did at the tournament! We're way stronger now!"
Rock couldn't help but worry that Lan was not going to resist the temptation to go all-out. She gave her operator an exasperated, yet sympathetic glance. "Kid..." she began, before shaking her head and drawing her blades. "Well, just don't overdo it, 'k?"
"Wh-whatever," Lan mumbled, getting flustered and shying away from the screen. She then narrowed her eyes and declared their intent, as usual. "Blade routine! Tear them apart!"
Rock didn't really have a quip in her, so she just hummed along and dashed backwards away from Aon. She'd seen quite a bit of how they fought during the two Alpha incidents, and did not particularly feel like getting slammed in the face with a Sonic Boom. Deciding to keep her distance, she tossed both of her blades to the ground and let them roll across the arena to encircle Aon.
Lan had a similar idea. "Battle Chip, Needler! Slot in!" she called out; Rock knew damn well how the kid liked to use this chip by now, so she summoned the Needler virus and hopped on top of it as it began firing spikes to keep Aon away.
-
“‘Tear them apart’ how scary.” Aon scoffed to themselves, paying Lan’s grand gestures little mind in favour of keeping their attention on Rock.
She started things off by trying to keep her distance, that was fine. They could adapt. The roller blades though they could see– not so literally– them being a problem.
The pattern was easy now. They skipped backwards to dodge the first, to the side to narrowly avoid being clipped by the second. They were going to become a pain in the ass if they kept getting wheeled out as the battle progressed– likely to become more unpredictable and get caught up in their blind spot.
No sooner were the blades out of the way were they being assaulted by spikes. The first round of shots hit before they could react. Aon grimaced at the stupid virus and pushed forward, trying to keep themselves on a diagonal to avoid the spikes.
With their free hand they loaded in data for SwapRing, giving it an experimental toss before hurling it at Rock in an attempt to steal her place on the high ground.
-
Rock thought it was damn lucky that Lan wasn't listening to anything Aon was saying, because a comment like that absolutely would've been a brutal blow to her ego. There wasn't much time to reflect on that, though, with an unfamiliar attack coming right her way. Choosing to abandon ship, she backflipped off of the Needler and kicked it toward the Swap Ring, hoping to intercept the attack.
In the meantime, she recalled her blades, catching them as they shot across the battlefield. She could already feel Lan's unusually tense heartbeat, which wasn't a great sign, but she narrowed her eyes and stayed focused on whatever the kid had planned. Her operator was quietly wondering to herself what exactly Aon was capable of without an operator - she'd seen them fight, but she couldn't remember a lot of the specifics of when they had fought them, because she was too busy being... trapped inside of her own head...
Whatever. Aon just needed to be defeated as fast as possible. Lan could do that, Lan could make it quick without having to worry about all the Serpentine crap. "Battle Chip, Magnum! Slot in!"
Rock, intuitively sensing Lan's impulsive decision, leaped backwards as the chip loaded, throwing a round of explosives at an awkward angle toward Aon to try and cut them off. Hanging in the air from the Magnum would at least allow the Swap Ring to safely sail under them, but she was already bracing herself for Aon trying to catch her on the landing.
-
They had expected the ring to miss if anything, certainly not that they would be prematurely trading places with the Needler. The next thing they knew Aon was caught in midair, twisting in an attempt make a balanced landing.
Hooves skidding slightly on the ground, they put out a hand to steady themselves before kicking off at a run. Markers on the ground found them skidding to a near halt as the Magnum’s explosives caused them to veer into a sharp turn to avoid being hit.
She was pulling all the stops to keep them off of her– being avoidant. Not what they were here for.
“I didn’t come here to play games.” They growled. “I want you to show me what you’re capable of!”
Gritting their teeth they continued forward, closing the gap to as predicted– catch her on the landing with Step Sword.
-
Both Lan and Rock were caught off guard by Aon exchanging places with the Needler, which made the latter not quite as prepared for the incoming Step Sword as she wanted to be. Rock bent backwards to barely evade Aon's swipe, impulsively throwing one of her blades to try and knock Aon away. It was then that they made their taunt, and Rock felt Lan's heart flicker.
"Wh-what?! We're not playing games!" Lan shouted indignantly. "The fight's barely started! You want us to just blow up on you, huh?!" She grit her teeth, barely stopping herself from yelling about how badly Aon must want to lose. Aon was clearly trying to get something out of them, though - all they were doing was using their normal battle tactics, and that wasn't good enough for them!
Lan lowered her eyelids "Fine! Rock! They're asking for it, aren't they?!" she commanded, and Rock, seemingly interpreting some meaning hidden in her operator's words, suddenly leaned forward as her left hand changed out for her brass knuckles. Aon was promptly uppercut in the stomach while Lan planned out how they would continue their assault. "Battle Chip, Clock Arrow! Slot in!"
-
With their blade missing the mark they were just able to pull back in time to block off the blade Rock threw out, causing them to back off slightly.
“That’s exactly it.” Aon answered tersely. “I don’t really see you proving– or ‘making me regret’ anything when you’re stalling.
“Now I’m all for theatrics but–”
They were cut short by Rock’s swift uppercut, having fumbled their attention on Lan. They supposed that was deserved and didn’t bother to finish the thought. Hissing through their teeth they pulled a knee up to make space between them so that they could back off in light of the Clock Arrow call out.
Favouring their left, Aon tried to keep the glowing clock hands in their line of sight without being too conspicuous. They circled in a retro-jog, their blade to parry the projectiles once they got a sense of their trajectory.
-
What a stuck-up jerk...!! They weren't stalling! Them being so blatantly wrong made it all the more satisfying when Rock's uppercut had the intended effect. Aon did quite a bit better of a job defending against the Clock Arrows, however, easily parrying them as soon as Rock threw out the trio of them at an all-too-predictable angle. What a waste of a chip.
"What's gonna be good enough for you, then?" Rock couldn't help but comment snidely. "You think we're gonna fight like idiots? Not plan out a damn thing, just start punching?" She scoffed as she dismissed her brass knuckles. "You must have some low expectations, if you think that's how we're gonna fight."
Impulsively, she felt herself falling forward - and then a moment later, she was a few steps in front of where she should have been, casting a deep shadow on the spot she'd teleported from. She swiped her foot forward to try and catch Aon off-guard as Lan tossed another Battle Chip into the pile. "Poison Seed, slot in!" Intending on capitalizing on whatever opening she'd made, Rock underhand-threw the Poison Seed toward Aon's legs, hoping to coat the surrounding area with the poison they needed for their strategy to work.
-
“No, I’ve seen you fight, I know you’re not stupid.” As far as fighting went, Aon chose to omit. “I just told you what I came to see, that’s all.”
They weren’t ready to start really goading them just yet, though their patience was wearing incredibly thin. A hot commodity that was running in shorter supply as the days went on.
Rock flashed forward and Aon realized they may just be getting what they asked for sooner than expected. They Jumped to dodge her sweep, swiping out with their blade in attempt to retaliate that left them without much momentum to avoid the poison.
They growled as the too-familiar goop splashed underhoof and it was their turn to start trying to put distance between them now, leaping back to try for unsullied ground.
-
Rock couldn't help but scowl as Aon taunted them - it was slowly becoming obvious that there was no honor or honesty in their request for a duel. This was just like the crowds, wasn't it? All they wanted was to see the spectacle, to see her invoke the powers of a demon. Part of her was angered by that fact, the part of her that was all too intertwined with Lan's emotions, the part of her that hated to be underestimated and pitied. But she couldn't give into that feeling. That would only make things worse, wouldn't it?
It didn't really matter to her whether or not Aon leapt away from the poison - any HP drained by the panels was just a bonus, if anything. But Lan's growing fury reminded her that she was better off attacking as soon as possible - and so she jumped into the puddle of poison herself, just as Lan loaded the chip she was waiting for. "Battle Chip, Element Dark! Slot in!"
Rock's right arm reformed into a sprayer that sucked up the poison around her before it could damage her, which was then released as a barrage of purple flames that caught Aon in midair. The reach of the flamethrower was probably far greater than their opponent would expect, the flames being pushed forward by the constant intake of poison. As the Element Dark wore off, Rock's eyes flickered ever so slightly.
-
They were caught midair– again. They were getting sloppy, but they didn’t have time to beat themselves up over it while they were busy taking the brunt of the blast of dark fire, barely catching themselves on their damage-propelled landing.
Aon grimaced, grazing a hand over the singe-marks on their side feeling like the burn prickled a little longer than it was meant to.
“This is what I mean.” They hissed, catching the glint in Rock’s eye. Part of them did want to be proven wrong, to get to let all of this go and not have to worry about working as a team. But the part that was justified won out in the midst of the turmoil.
“Do you even know what you’re using? You can’t be just whipping out shady chips like that and claiming you’re not a danger to those around you! That wasn’t even what I was worried about. What else is there?”
Done with whatever niceties they had been attempting, and failing with, they loaded in their next chip; they were running low so they had to start making their next moves really count. Their sword arm glowed and they swiped the air once, then twice, sending an X shaped LightWave across the gap at Rock.
-
It was all too predictable that Lan would verbally lash out against Aon's accusation. "Sh-shady?! I-it's not shady! Why do people keep saying that?!" she complained. "It's the same as all the other Element chips! I don't care what people call them, it just does damage!!"
Rock's expression didn't quite convey the same amount of annoyance as her operator - instead, she gave Aon a more dejected look. With Lan too focused on complaining, she couldn't quite roll out of the way out of the LightWave in time, and was slashed through the side by it. Ow, that hurt way more than it should've. At least the smoke that leaked from the wound wasn't that kind of smoke.
Of course, Rock taking a hit made Lan wince in the real world as well. "C-come on," she muttered under her breath, grinding her teeth a little as she planned their next move. "I don't want to be a danger to people! Why does everyone keep acting like I'm doing it on purpose? I'm not!"
Rock frowned, but pushed herself to keep battling nonetheless. She didn't want to hear what Aon might have to say if she continued to play it safe, so she instead got a running start toward her opponent, leaning down and sliding as she closed in. Once she was close enough, she threw both of her blades outwards and let them spin around her, covering the area around her as she aimed to slide straight under Aon.
-
”You don’t know that! So people have warned you and you refuse to listen?” Their gaze couldn’t help straying to Rock while they argued with her operator. This wasn’t Rock’s fault, It seemed like there was some merit to Ellen’s concern about Lan herself after all.
“Why won’t you just listen then!? Your stubbornness is putting your navi at risk, not just…” Aon squinted at the smoke and trailed off. Even if it wasn’t the same, that reaction after using Lightwave was enough confirmation that there was much more to what was wrong with these two.
“Fine.”
At Rock’s running lead they took to running to meet her, veering to their left slightly to keep the blades in their field of view. They weren’t about to let her get too close though, kicking out as she slid forward while they loaded the next chip.
With a growl through grit teeth Aon’s free arm began reforming, elongating, bursting into a stream of familiar iridescent black goop that stretched forward and enveloped Rock. Sludgy tendrils constricted around her middle pushed her back and swung her into the trajectory of one of her own blades while Aon stayed in place.
