The finals will be held in the evening. They've got plenty of time to prepare - Mimic doesn't know why it's different, she's pretty sure that the finals had taken place an hour after the semi-finals in the anime, but whatever. As long as they have more time to come up with a battle plan, the 'why' doesn't matter too much.
She goes to her room, to strategise with her little group. Lan and MegaMan have gone to the training room, so they can't use that, but it's fine. Because they don't need a training room to come up with a strategy, after all. The main cast had offered to split themselves between them - half going with Lan to help him, and the other half with her. But she'd refused, in the politest way she could (it came out kind of blunt when ProtoMan translated, but, whatever), because she wants to include Chaud in this. He deserves to be included, since it was meant to be him going through the N1 with ProtoMan, not her.
Mimic leans her PET against the sliding glass door, sits down cross-legged on the floor, and looks at the trio who've gotten her this far.
Chaud, who helped come up with a way to make use of her mimicry. Arcadia, who helped them get their revenge on Count Zap and ElecMan. And ProtoMan, who's never left her side and fights with every ounce of power he has in him.
This is a good team, she thinks.
"The problem with Lan and MegaMan's battle strategy is that they simply do not have one," ProtoMan says. He has a particular matter-of-fact tone that he uses whenever he's strategising or giving her information. If he takes on that tone, it's easy to know to listen to everything he's saying, because it's definitely useful. "They are the type to react, rather than act. Lan excels in thinking on his feet - as does MegaMan. If their opponent makes a move, they counter it. We are the opposite - we come up with a strategy before the battle, and adjust it as the situation calls for it."
"Seems like they're pinning exact opposites against each other," Arcadia comments, blinking in awe. "This battle is gonna be really intense . . ."
It will be, if Mimic has anything to say about it. She knows ProtoMan wants a good showdown with MegaMan, so she's gonna do everything in her power to make that happen.
[can't counter something that counters back] Chaud signs. He tilts his head to the side, thinking for a moment. [plus they know how you fight]
"Chaud says we can't counter their countering," Mimic says to ProtoMan and Arcadia. "And that they already know how we fight."
ProtoMan straightens. "Then we make up a new strategy," he declares.
Arcadia looks as surprised as Mimic feels. "Right now?" the white Navi asks. "I mean, we've got time, sure, but . . . Would a new strategy work if you haven't even tested it?"
[has to work] Chaud signs, with a determined look in his eyes. [make it work]
"We'll make it work," Mimic agrees.
[use another game] Chaud suggests.
Mimic narrows her eye, thinking. So far they've only used a strategy based on Skyrim - the Skyrim game strategy, that is, with it's three different Styles. It's pretty broad, and it's all they've needed so far, but if they're coming up with another strategy entirely, then . . . yeah. Using a different game would be best, then.
The trouble is, she doesn't know if ProtoMan can figure out most of the moves from other games that she's played. Fighting games like Pokken Tournament or My Hero One's Justice are way too varied to work out in a few hours, even if they're more relevant because of their arena-style battles. There are others, sure, but they're all still too complicated to incorporate into a battle strategy.
But maybe . . .
There is one. It's similar to Skyrim, at least in terms of combat. There aren't any character builds, though. But it might be similar enough that they can work on it with the Skyrim strategy as a base, and different enough that it'll throw Lan and MegaMan for a loop when they fight.
"Breath of the Wild," Mimic says.
"Breath of the- oh!" ProtoMan perks up. "I see what you mean. Perfect Dodge and Perfect Guard, right?"
While Mimic nods, happy that he understood so quickly, Arcadia looks completely lost.
"Breath of the wild?" he asks. "What . . . what is that?"
"It is another game that Mimic has played," ProtoMan explains. "The player does not create their own character, nor do they have skill trees to make a character build, but they can use the game's mechanics in creative ways to defeat enemies in the game. One of those mechanics is the ability to use shields to parry an enemy attack when locking onto that enemy, and another is to dodge and then use the opening to perform what Mimic called a Flurry Rush, which . . ."
"Flurry Rush lets you slow down time temporarily to attack the enemy," Mimic says. She knows it better than ProtoMan, who's only heard about it from her, while she's played Breath of the Wild almost as much as Skyrim. "We did think about using Breath of the Wild instead of Skyrim, first, but we decided having more wiggle-room would be better for our first complete strategy."
"It sounds like you use a sword and shield in that game," Arcadia says.
"Among other weapons," Mimic agrees. "I like the swords and shields best, though."
"Ah!" Arcadia exclaims, eyes wide and bright. "I get it! A-and since ProtoMan already uses the Warrior Style, which uses a sword and shield . . ."
"We can translate Warrior Style into Breath of the Wild," ProtoMan finishes, with a nod.
[call it wild style] Chaud suggests, with an amused smirk.
Mimic huffs out a quiet laugh. "Chaud says to call it Wild Style," she tells the two Navis.
"I have no objections," ProtoMan chuckles. "Well, we settled that much. But what about your mimicry?"
Mimic stares at him blankly, briefly stunned by the sudden change in topic.
"They'll probably be expecting that, too," Arcadia points out, deflating slightly.
"Yes," ProtoMan muses. "Their teamwork is their strength, but Mimic's mimicry is meant to break up the teamwork between a Navi and their operator, as per our Skyrim strategy. It worked so well during the sixth round because absolutely no one was expecting it. But, as you said, this time they will be expecting it."
They didn't bother with mimicry during the semi-finals because it would have been pointless, with no operators on the other side. Mimic could never have copied StoneMan's digital voice, and not even BomberMan's would have worked, since Navis can easily tell the difference when a human is speaking and when another Navi is speaking.
[may not know how to counter] Chaud points out.
"Chaud says they might not know how to counter it," Mimic says for him.
"I suppose it would be difficult to come up with a counter to someone who can mimic your voice perfectly," ProtoMan says thoughtfully. "And if you use it the same way you did with Messy Hair Person, it will be too sudden for anyone to react, and MegaMan will follow your orders automatically before he even realises it was you who spoke, not Lan."
Mimic wonders who the hell Messy Hair Person is, but then she remembers their other human opponent in the sixth round, and ProtoMan's habit of basing nicknames on appearance or personality. ShiningMan's operator, right.
"It might also be worth mentioning that they're probably gonna be wary of it," Arcadia says, tapping his taloned foot contemplatively. "Maybe they'll try and come up with a way to communicate without using speech? And since they won't be able to polish it in a few hours to make full use of it, you could take advantage of that."
"He's right," ProtoMan agrees, nodding. "They may attempt something similar to what we already do."
[could be their down fall] Chaud signs.
They have ideas, more than enough. They spend the entire few hours they have to prepare for the final battle of the entire N1 Grand Prix working on the newly-dubbed Wild Style, and coming up with potential battle scenarios where they can break apart the teamwork between Lan and MegaMan.
Most people would balk at such a strategy, Mimic knows. But she isn't most people - and it's like ProtoMan said. When she plays Skyrim, she's always a little bit sadistic.
If she can't play to her strengths, what's the point?
ProtoMan keeps an eye on Mimic as she walks through the tunnel leading to the arena, but unlike the past few battles, she does not appear even the slightest bit nervous. On the contrary, she seems almost excited, in comparison to her usual subdued personality.
Masa does not meet them, this time, so it is a good thing that she is excited. That emotion will help keep her anxiety at bay, hopefully long enough for them to get through this battle, but ProtoMan is fully aware that the longer and more intense a battle, the more Mimic will be clear-headed and focused. So perhaps he will not need to hope for the excitement to last.
"And so our final challengers make their way onto the arena floor," Frog Person says, in a gravely-serious tone. "On one side, Lan Hikari and his NetNavi, MegaMan."
"And on the other, Chaud Blaze and his NetNavi, ProtoMan," Higsby says. His tone is much the same as Frog Person's.
Their tones only serve to match the atmosphere in the arena. The audience is hushed, but even ProtoMan can almost feel their exhilarated tension.
Walking up to his own side of the NetBattle console, Lan has a small, determined grin on his face. Mimic does not smile back, but her own determination is plain to see.
ProtoMan recalls her saying that she is not a good NetBattler. He thinks this proves otherwise - only a true NetBattler would feel the drive and determination from a final battle such as this. He knows, because he feels it to.
If we try the Program Advance like this, he thinks suddenly, it may just work.
And that is a thrilling concept on its own.
"Challengers," Frog Person says, "jack in your NetNavis."
ProtoMan stands straighter as his data is transferred into the NetBattle machine's battlefield. MegaMan materialises on the other side, meeting ProtoMan's eyes.
They both grin. ProtoMan, normally more reserved, cannot help it - MegaMan is the one Navi he has been hoping to fight this whole time, and he finally gets his wish. In the finals, no less.
This will be a battle to remember.
"Let the finals begin!" Frog Person and Higsby both announce, in unison.
ProtoMan moves at the same time as MegaMan.
They both rush at each other, and ProtoMan activates his Proto Sword and the smaller Proto Shield, bringing up the shield just in time to deflect a Mega Buster shot from MegaMan.
It is not time to reveal Wild Style yet, he thinks, so he simply deflects it in a random direction rather than at MegaMan. Best leave that for when they are in close quarters, so he can surprise MegaMan and take advantage of it. That is what Wild Style is meant to do, after all. It plays on the combat mechanics of Mimic's Breath of the Wild.
ProtoMan darts to the side, and ducks behind a datablock. He wonders, briefly, if MegaMan knows what is coming - and he is interested to see how he and his operator respond to it.
Lan has a better view of the battlefield than MegaMan, so of course he sees ProtoMan scrambling up the side of the datablock. He intends to launch an aerial attack, but the datablock can mask his intentions; MegaMan will be unable to tell if he is attacking from the side or the top unless his operator tells him.
"He's coming at you from the top!" Lan shouts.
"He's coming at you from the side!" Mimic says, with barely a pause.
ProtoMan gets to the top of the datablock and launches himself off it, holding his Sword high above his head. MegaMan looks up as Lan downloads a Sword and he meets ProtoMan's attack perfectly, the two Swords clashing, before ProtoMan kicks out at his opponent and uses MegaMan's stagger as an opportunity to back away several paces.
Well, that did not work. At the very least he had expected MegaMan to pause, try to figure out which voice is his operator, but he had not even hesitated.
He has a theory, but he will need to test it to be sure. He glances at Mimic and moves his hands quickly. She watches, silent as always, and gives him a subtle nod.
Now all he needs to do is set it up for her.
So he launches into an all-out attack, throwing caution to the wind as the human saying goes. He hacks at MegaMan, brings up his shield when MegaMan retaliates with strikes of his own Sword, and their clash goes back and forth for a short while.
Then MegaMan swings wide, and ProtoMan decides to see if Wild Style will work.
He backflips over the Sword strike, landing on his feet easily. When he straightens, he sees MegaMan's shock, and darts in to beat MegaMan with his Sword. It is not the same as the Flurry Rush that Mimic described - he has no power over time and cannot copy the move exactly - but MegaMan is surprised enough that he cannot react and that gives ProtoMan more than enough opportunity to attack.
And, while MegaMan reels from the bastardised Flurry Rush, ProtoMan bolts in the opposite direction, well out of MegaMan's sight but making sure to stay within Lan's - this will not work if Lan does not see him coming.
The same direction will not work twice, so ProtoMan heads for a datablock in the other direction, circles around, and streaks up behind MegaMan.
"Behind you!" Lan warns his Navi.
"Above you!" Mimic shouts.
MegaMan spins around and shoots several blasts in succession.
ProtoMan is moving too quickly to deflect them with his shield, so he skids to halt and darts to the side, behind another datablock. He is still in Lan's sight, so he moves between datablocks, dodging MegaMan's Buster shots whenever he appears within the blue Navi's sights, until he is back on his own side of the battlefield. Only Mimic can see him now.
His theory is correct - their opponents have a way to get around Mimic's mimicry. She is always a beat behind the operator, because she needs to hear what the true order is so she can counter it with the exact opposite or something different enough to confuse the NetNavi. And Lan and MegaMan have figured that out.
ProtoMan waves to get Mimic's attention - she is keeping an eye on MegaMan's progress, which he cannot see, but she glances at him.
[mimicry always second] he signs quickly. [they know so need new plan]
He sees her raising her hands to respond, but he does not get to see what she signs to him.
His senses scream at him, warning him of danger a split second before he hears the half-familiar high-pitched whine of MegaMan charging up his Buster. ProtoMan ducks just in time for the whine to stop, and abruptly his cover is blown to pieces and rapidly dissolving into pixels.
He scans the cloud of pixels quickly. A faint light is the only warning he gets to dodge as MegaMan fires off a regular shot in his direction.
Mimic sends him an Air Sword. ProtoMan does not hesitate to swing it wide, using the air element of the Sword to blow away the cloud of pixels, and then throws a Sonic Boom-boosted attack at MegaMan, who dives to the side to avoid being hit.
ProtoMan hurls his shield at MegaMan before he can get back up. MegaMan flinches back, covering his face with his arms instinctively, and ProtoMan takes advantage of his brief loss of sight to get in close.
MegaMan only uncovers his face when ProtoMan is standing over him, Air Sword raised to strike. His eyes widen almost comically. MegaMan brings up his Buster faster than ProtoMan can swing his Sword down on his head, so ProtoMan switches tactics quickly and knocks the blast away with the Air Sword.
The slash creates a blast of wind that does absolutely nothing aside from stir up whatever pixels are still left over from the datablock. Some of them get in ProtoMan's face, and he winces back automatically.
MegaMan decides to steal ProtoMan's tactics and shoots twice in quick succession. The first shot sends ProtoMan stumbling back, but the second knocks him back several feet. He trips over and almost face-plants, but he uses his free hand to push off the ground and flip back onto his feet.
His opponent gets back up.
For several moments, they face each other silently.
Then the Air Sword vanishes, and they both move at the same time. MegaMan comes at him, Mega Buster ready to fire, and ProtoMan sprints to the side, jumps on top of a smaller datablock, and pushes off that onto another, taller one.
He does not stop moving, but instead runs for the edge and hurtles over it, landing on top of the next datablock with two or three feet to spare. ProtoMan continues running and jumping across the datablocks, hardly pausing.
MegaMan runs parallel on the ground, Buster trained on him, but the few blasts he fires come nowhere near hitting ProtoMan. He is slower, too, and is beginning to fall behind.
"Mini Bombs," Lan suddenly shouts, "download!"
ProtoMan skids to a stop just in time to avoid getting a Mini Bomb to the face. MegaMan has apparently had so much practise with the Mini Bombs that his throwing aim is near-perfect, and had ProtoMan not reacted in time, that could have done some serious damage.
He considers changing his course and going for the series of datablocks on his right, but MegaMan hurls another Mini Bomb over his head and breaks the nearest one, cutting off that route. ProtoMan is fast, but even with a running start, he could not jump that far - and he does not have a running start anyway.
MegaMan bombs the datablocks in front of him, so he cannot go for that route either, and nor can he go back because that route is also bombed to pieces.
So now ProtoMan is stranded.
Lan opens his mouth to announce another chip download. Mimic speaks at the exact same time he does.
"Elec Sword, download!"
"Shock Wave, download!"
This time, MegaMan cannot distinguish between the voices. He freezes, confused by the identical voices speaking at the same time - and still saying completely different things - and looks even more confused when the Elec Sword materialises on his arm.
In ProtoMan's hands, two Single Bombs materialise.
ProtoMan jumps off the datablock, pulling his arms back, and then hurls both Single Bombs at MegaMan before he can react. The Bombs hit the ground either side of MegaMan, creating a shockwave of explosive impact that sends pixels and bits of the floor everywhere, and MegaMan's scream reaches his ears as ProtoMan lands on the ground just in front of the cloud of pixels and broken floor.
He activates his Proto Buster and starts firing randomly. When he hears a yelp, he focuses his attention on where he'd last fired, and is rewarded when each of hit shots connect.
"Tornado, download!" Lan shouts. "Blow that stuff away, quick!"
Are you serious.
He is lucky that Mimic reacts so quickly with the Barrier. Otherwise, MegaMan suddenly blasting out Tornadoes everywhere would have thrown him straight into the datablock and left him wide open for attack while he was winded. As it is, he only feel the slight pressure of air with all the Tornadoes whirling around, so he crouches inside the Barrier and rides out the storm of wind.
The wind dies down gradually, and the Barrier fades. MegaMan starts to charge up his Buster, probably thinking that ProtoMan does not realise the wind is gone, so ProtoMan decides to try another aspect of Wild Style.
Just as MegaMan fires, he activates the smaller Proto Shield, and then deflects the blast - directly back at MegaMan, this time. MegaMan has about half a second to look surprised before his own attack hits him in the face. Literally, his own attack.
This is not ProtoMan absorbing and then releasing the energy from an attack. This is Wild Style making use of the Perfect Guard that Mimic described, and parrying the opponent's attack right back at them.
MegaMan has to waste a precious few moments getting his bearings back after that. ProtoMan would take advantage of it, except-
Mimic's laughter echoes throughout the battlefield.
It is not the usual quiet huff or single bark of surprised laughter that comes out before she can stifle it. This is a full laugh, high-pitched and a little hysterical, almost similar to the laughter that had left her gasping for breath and drained of energy two days ago, but the difference now is that she laughs through her terrifying smile.
ProtoMan can only watch, stunned into inaction.
Unfortunately, this time is not like the time when they first discovered mimicry. He does not recover first, MegaMan does, and he uses the opportunity presented to him to charge up his Buster.
ProtoMan hears the sound, of course he does, but by the time he is capable of reacting, MegaMan fires - and the blast throws ProtoMan backwards into the side of the datablock, leaving him a small crater and breathless.
MegaMan jumps into his vision suddenly, with a Sword on one arm and a Wide sword on the other. ProtoMan activates two Proto Swords and blocks the Sword strike, then kicks MegaMan away before he can use the Wide Sword to attack.
He jumps after MegaMan, hopping over a low strike from the Wide Sword, and brings his own Sword down on his opponent's head, then slamming the other into MegaMan's side before his feet even touch the ground. MegaMan grunts, briefly winded, but he recovers annoyingly fast and swings his Sword around to attack.
ProtoMan blocks that with one Sword and attempts a hit with the other, but MegaMan blocks that with his Wide Sword. For several moments, they struggle, each trying to shove the other back and block the attacks at the same time.
MegaMan grits his teeth and yanks his Wide Sword away, leaving ProtoMan to stagger from the sudden loss of contact, then spins so ProtoMan's other Sword is twisted out of the lock. While ProtoMan staggers to the side, MegaMan lifts both of his own swords above his head and brings them down.
ProtoMan only manages to raise one Sword to block. It shatters upon impact, but it does the job, and he kicks MegaMan away so he can back off several paces and get his head together again.
He gets rid of both of his Proto Swords. One is useless, and the other is nearing its limit anyway.
They are replaced with a Sword and a Wide Sword of his own. ProtoMan immediately understands Mimic's intentions, and he glances up, at the screen where he sees her watching him.
She is no longer laughing, but her terrifying smile is still in place. Her one eye gleams.
They do not even need to exchange a nod.
ProtoMan turns back to MegaMan as Mimic downloads the final chip - the Long Sword - and holds out his arms as the two swords already on his arms begin to resonate and combine. He sees MegaMan's swords glowing and combining as well, so Lan must have downloaded his Long Sword while ProtoMan was distracted by Mimic.
They both grip the Beta Sword as it solidifies.
And after a frozen moment, they charge.
ProtoMan does not recall ever hearing of a battle in which two full Program Advances have been used - much less against one another. The energies of both Swords clash and streak out as they collide, breaking apart the ground around them. He hears a faint rumbling but his attention is on the battle, so he puts it down to the NetBattle machine they are fighting in being overloaded.
It should last long enough for them to determine a victor. It will last that long. It has to.
Both Navis clash back and forth. The Beta Sword is two-handed, so there is no way for their operators to give them any more battle chips they can use, and ProtoMan is not certain they would work anyway. He almost does not want battle chips to work, if only because this is quite possibly the best battle he's ever had in his entire existence.
He manages to score a hit on MegaMan's shoulder. MegaMan retaliates by slamming his Beta Sword into ProtoMan's side, but ProtoMan lets himself be carried by the attack and counters by driving his Beta Sword into the ground at MegaMan's feet.
MegaMan automatically dodges back to avoid the attack that didn't happen, and ProtoMan quickly jerks his Sword up in an upward slash. This time, MegaMan does avoid an actual attack - by sidestepping with a determined look and swinging his Beta Sword wide.
It hits ProtoMan's side, again. Not the same one, but the opposite side, and it adds to his injury. Had he been human, his ribs on both sides likely would have been shattered by both attacks to his side, but he is built like a human despite being digital data and so he goes down.
ProtoMan's Beta Sword fizzles and dies out as he lies on the floor, gasping for breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the light from MegaMan's Beta Sword fade. He is not on the floor like ProtoMan, but he is just as breathless.
If ProtoMan could just get back up . . . if he could just land one more hit-
"Time's up!" Frog Person screams, over the roaring of the audience. "We have a winner! The first Champion of the N1 Grand Prix, newly-crowned as the greatest NetBattlers in Japan, Lan Hikari and his NetNavi MegaMan!"
ProtoMan slumps to the ground, defeated in both body and spirit. He presses his forehead to the ground.
"Hey."
The soft voice has him looking up. MegaMan stands before him, holding out a hand.
In the back of his mind, ProtoMan feels amused. MegaMan has just won the N1, earning his operator the title of Champion, and yet here he is, offering a helping hand his defeated opponent lying on the floor.
He smiles as he takes the offered hand, and lets MegaMan pull him to his feet.
"Thank you," ProtoMan says.
"For what?" MegaMan looks puzzled, despite the elated gleam in his eyes.
He could thank MegaMan for the best battle he's had so far. He could thank MegaMan for his kindness in helping ProtoMan stand. He could even thank MegaMan for being the toughest opponent and greatest rival he's ever known.
Instead, what he says is, "For helping my operator laugh."
The puzzled look on MegaMan's face gives way to surprise, and he laughs. ProtoMan lets out an exhausted laugh of his own, wheezing a little - he will probably need to ask Mimic to download a lot of Recovery chips after this.
MegaMan's eyes widen, his laughter cutting off abruptly. Before ProtoMan can ask what is wrong, MegaMan shoves him out of the way, and a thin laser cuts straight through the NaviMark on his chest.
The last thing MegaMan says is his operator's name, before his body disintegrates into deletion.
ProtoMan tumbles to the floor, numb. He can only stare blankly at the space MegaMan had just been occupying mere moments ago.
Cruel laughter reverberates throughout the empty battlefield.
ProtoMan pushes himself up and spins around, but he only has enough time to catch a glimpse of a yellow body, crossed arms, and cold red eyes before he is forcefully jacked out of the battlefield and pulled back into Mimic's PET.