"Hey," Lan says.
Mimic glances up from her PET. They've all gotten into a high-tech van that Yai had . . . somehow acquired - Mimic isn't going to ask because the laws of physics apparently don't apply to rich people - and she's sitting on the end of one of the benches. The others are spread out around her, with Yai in the front passenger seat, but Lan's been standing behind his dad and watching him type rapidly away at the keys on the supercomputer.
Now he stands in front of her, and then sits next to her when he sees she's paying attention.
"I don't know if I thanked you for coming," Lan says, smiling. It's not his usual brighter-than-the-sun smile, losing MegaMan has dimmed that considerably, but hopefully with this rescue mission they can bring that back along with MegaMan. "You didn't have to - you could've stayed away, or just called. So, thank you."
Mimic has absolutely no clue why he thinks she'd want to stay away. Or why he apparently thinks just calling would be enough. She needs to help him - not just because that's what had happened in the anime, but because he's her friend, and he's hurting. And also because ProtoMan's hurting and she wants to help him, too.
The point is, two of her friends are in pain and she doesn't like that. So she's doing something about it.
It also helps that she'll get to throw two insanely-powerful NetNavis at one of the most overpowered independent Navis in the entire series. Revenge is probably gonna be a driving force for most of why she does things, to be honest.
But helping her friends is the main reason, this time.
She gets ProtoMan's attention and starts signing. If Lan notices that her hands are still shaking a little, he doesn't comment.
"You did say thank you," ProtoMan says for her. "But do not tell me I could have stayed away. You have helped me so much, and MegaMan has helped ProtoMan and Arcadia so much, there is no way I could have possibly stayed away. It would have eaten me alive if I had. So, I am here." ProtoMan's voice just barely trembles when she mentions MegaMan helping him and Arcadia. Wisely, no one mentions it.
Lan seems to understand her reasoning. He nods, and she knows why he understands, because he's the kind of person who likes helping people so much it's probably a physical need.
"I getcha," Lan murmurs. He blinks, and shakes his head a little, like he's clearing his mind or something. "Hey, when this is all over, you should . . . probably go to sleep. And maybe eat something, aside from my mom's cakes."
Is that what Haruka had given her? Mimic hadn't even noticed. All she'd cared about was just getting something into her empty pit of a stomach.
"I'm not gonna ask why you didn't," Lan tells her. "'Cus I promised I wouldn't ask personal stuff. But, maybe, when you're not half-dead on your feet . . . maybe you can come over for real? To my house, I mean. If- if you wanna. Just to hang out."
"He cannot," ProtoMan says, before Mimic can move her hands. "He has surgery in two days."
"And . . . and he's confined to his room for two weeks, after that," Arcadia speaks up quietly.
"What?" Lan looks shocked as he turns back to Mimic. "You're grounded? Why?"
Because I lost the N1 Championship, Mimic thinks.
"I did something stupid," ProtoMan translates, when she signs an excuse that's almost the truth. "So now I am being punished."
"Oh," Lan says, deflating a little. Then he perks up. "But! After that? When you're not grounded anymore?"
"Chaud will likely have to go back to work after that," ProtoMan informs him. Lan blinks at him owlishly. "He is the vice president of IPC. Did . . . did you not know that?"
"I remember Tory saying something about Chaud being the son of a guy who owns a hardware company," Lan says faintly. "But I didn't think that guy was the owner of IPC itself. That company makes all the newest technology and PETs and NetNavis and everything! And- and you're the vice president? Wow, your dad must trust you a lot if he gave you a job while you're still so young . . ."
Lan's last words hit her like a slap in the face. It's all she can do to keep from physically flinching and recoiling. She tenses her body, just to stop herself from moving, and twitches her fingers.
Shuseki doesn't trust her. He doesn't trust Chaud.
That bastard hates them.
"Chaud?" Lan asks, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"
Mimic nods. She feels ProtoMan's eyes on her but resolutely ignores him, because if she looks at him she doesn't know how she'd react to whatever expression he has on his face. She can't look at Arcadia, either, because now he knows what really goes on in the Blaze mansion.
Don't let anyone else find out, a small voice in the back of her mind whispers.
She's not sure if that's her own anxiety or some leftover bit of Chaud speaking. His fear of his own father has already bled into her interactions with the man, though of course she has her own reasons to fear Shuseki now, so she wouldn't be surprised if that thought did come from Chaud.
He sees and hears everything she does, after all. He might not be able to hear what she's thinking, but maybe she can catch little waves of thought from him.
Dr. Hikari - Lan's father, and an oddly-reasonable man despite his profession of being a scientist (who ProtoMan thinks are stereotyped as being somewhat crazy) - gives the NetNavi group a small dog-like virus he names Rush. The virus is not the same as other viruses; it does not mess with systems and does not appear to have any function aside from being a dog, but then Dr. Hikari explains that Rush is equipped with an advanced sensor that will lead them straight to MegaMan's frame when they infiltrate SciLab.
Well, ProtoMan thinks, not every virus is a bad one. Sometimes they are useful.
He is happy that it stays away from him and seems to be attached to Roll, though. He has the urge to delete it immediately whenever it so much as looks at him, which . . . possibly will not help the situation in any way, given that the virus is the only thing that can take them to MegaMan.
The humans arrive at SciLab in the real world soon after Rush is given to them, and the operators line up outside the van next to a six-way jack-in port. From what ProtoMan knows, it is connected to the supercomputer inside the van, and will allow Dr. Hikari to open up the firewalls and network doors within SciLab to allow the Navi group to get inside.
PharaohMan should not notice them. A small part of ProtoMan wishes he would, just so he would have an excuse to attack the Navi who had deleted MegaMan. Maybe delete him in return.
ProtoMan is . . . angry. It is not the kind of anger that Master Blaze exhibits towards his son - or the person he thinks is his son - but rather this kind of anger just bubbles and boils quietly under the surface, ever-present and waiting patiently for a reason, just one tiny little excuse, to explode.
He is not sure he can contain it if he comes face-to-face with the one who deleted MegaMan.
Arcadia notices. It is not difficult for him, the same way it is not difficult for Chaud or Mimic, to notice when anger is consuming another. They have been conditioned to watch for the signs of anger and try to head them off at the earliest opportunity, or they risk inviting punishment and harm on themselves.
Yet Arcadia says nothing. He only stays by ProtoMan's side, the faintest trembling of his wing-feathers being the only sign of his nervousness. ProtoMan is uncertain if it is his usual nervousness, or if it is from the upcoming rescue mission, or from standing so close to ProtoMan while he is angry. He does not ask. It is better, he has discovered, to leave these kind of things alone. Arcadia will talk if he needs to.
Then, quite abruptly, they have no more time to think about it - they are jacked into SciLab's network along with the other four Navis, and Dr. Hikari is opening doors and firewalls for them. They go through what feels like a hundred doors (considering how important SciLab is to Japan as a whole, it probably is), before finally coming to one final door which opens as they approach it.
The six NetNavis and one dog-virus land in a desert.
"This is SciLab?" IceMan asks, wide-eyed as he stares around.
"PharaohMan's changed it," Dr. Hikari informs them, through the link connecting them with the supercomputer. "I'm not sure how, but he's taken over the servers and everything connected to a network inside of SciLab. Be careful in there."
"PharaohMan seems absurdly powerful," ProtoMan mutters, as he begins moving with the others. Rush leads the way, walking in a mostly-straight line. "What moron created a NetNavi with the ability to completely take over a network and then use it to cause chaos in the real world for no reason other than spite?"
"My father did, actually," Dr. Hikari replies lightly.
ProtoMan chokes on his words.
"I can understand your feelings, though," Lan's father goes on, sighing. "PharaohMan is far too powerful. He was meant to be a network admin - there to make sure things run smoothly, and fix any problems that may have come up. But, according to my father, there was a virus in his systems that caused him to . . . well, be like this. So my father sealed him away. Until that battle between you and MegaMan managed to break apart the seal and release him."
Is Dr. Hikari accusing him of releasing this absurdly-powerful Navi into the network to wreak havoc?
He almost expects the anger bubbling inside him to burst out then and there, but to his surprise, he only feels shame. Perhaps this is his fault. He and MegaMan had attacked each other with the double Program Advance, and had continued fighting even when they had gone past whatever limits they had.
So this is his fault.
"No, it's not," Dr. Hikari says sternly, and ProtoMan realises he has spoken out loud. "I'm saying you and MegaMan made it possible, but you didn't make it happen. Besides, you couldn't have known that your battle would have released an insane NetNavi. No one blames you. Or your operators."
Mere words are not nearly enough to beat back the shame and guilt he feels, but Dr. Hikari's words calm him slightly. He wonders if the man's words have the same effect on Mimic and Lan as they do on him - Lan he does not know well enough to guess what he feels, but Mimic he does. Or he believes he does, anyway.
The reason why she wants to help Lan and MegaMan so much may not just be because they are her friends. She could also be driven by her own shame and guilt, the knowledge that she is responsible for setting a monster free just as much as ProtoMan is.
The Navi group continues walking in silence after that, until they come across a sandstorm so violent and powerful that it sends all of them to their knees, crouching to avoid getting blown away.
Arcadia covers himself in one of his wings and drapes the other over ProtoMan, shielding them both from the sand, but it clearly pains him to have the little grains of sand pelting off his wings at high speeds like this.
ProtoMan is grateful on his behalf when Rush wriggles out Roll's arms, vanishes into a hole, and then pops up on the other side of the viruses causing the sandstorm and soundly destroys them with a small army of Mettaurs. The urge to delete the dog-virus is lessening with each passing second.
They come across a canyon. It is difficult to get through, and the path sometimes gets far too narrow for them to cross together - it is almost impossible for GutsMan, who easily takes up enough space for three NetNavis standing side-by-side. He dithers when he has to jump across gaps that he cannot simply walk over, and ProtoMan allows him frustration to get the better of him so he grabs GutsMan and throws him across.
He ignores the wide-eyed looks the other Navis give him. Arcadia, still saying nothing, walks beside him with his wings hunched against his shoulders, even when the others learn to avoid getting too close to ProtoMan.
They eventually come to a door, which Rush barks at until Glide figures out the passcode and opens it. Inside is a wide room, completely different to the outside canyon they have been trekking through, and on the far side stands an odd glass pod with data flitting around inside.
"That's MegaMan's frame data," Dr. Hikari tells them, and ProtoMan is almost overwhelmed with an emotion he has no words for.
It makes him dizzy, though. Lighter. He could call it 'relief', but it is too powerful, and the anger bubbling in him gives way to it gladly.
"Lan, it's your turn now," Dr. Hikari tells his son.
Lan attaches his empty PET to the same device that Mimic and the other humans have jacked the Navis into. MegaMan's NaviMark appears before the pod for a moment, before dissolving into data and streaming into the pod to mix with the flitting data inside.
The pod glows, too bright for anyone to make out what happens, and then suddenly the glow is gone and MegaMan stands inside the pod.
A moment passes, and then the yellow marks on his helmet flash, his NaviMarks turn from blank-black to his NaviMark, and MegaMan opens his eyes.
He steps down from the pod as the glass vanishes around him, blinking. He does not seem alarmed, or even surprised, and there is a smile on his face as looks at each of the Navis in turn.
"Hey, guys," MegaMan says, the smile widening.
"MegaMan!" Roll practically shrieks, throwing herself forward.
An odd sound echoes through the room, almost like laughter, and it sends chills down ProtoMan's spine. It sounds like-
A holographic image of PharaohMan's head shimmers into existence above them. He stares down at them with his cold eyes, and laughs.
"I was wondering why you had come here," the monster says. "So I allowed you to pass through. But, alas, this is the end for-"
ProtoMan launches his shield at him.
It goes through the hologram, of course, but the image flickers and vanishes as the shield buries itself into the wall behind where the hologram had just been. Bits of rock crumble down and hit the ground with quiet thuds as every single eye in the room turns to stare at ProtoMan.
"Sorry," he grits out, struggling to speak through the sheer rage that consumed him so suddenly.
The other Navis have no time to respond, as another image of PharaohMan appears - this time, directly in front of ProtoMan.
Arcadia yelps and clutches at ProtoMan, who tenses into a fighting stance on instinct. PharaohMan looks extremely annoyed now, and his cold eyes burn with a rage that rivals ProtoMan's own rage.
"You will regret that," PharaohMan hisses.
His eyes flash, and suddenly light circles ProtoMan and Arcadia. He hears the other Navis cry out, shock and surprise and fear in their voices, but then they are no longer there - or rather, ProtoMan and Arcadia are no longer there.
They are not inside the wide room. Instead, they stand inside a massive, golden room similar to the ancient tombs of human kings and queens, with no visible exit or even entrance.
PharaohMan floats at the end of the room, near a pedestal. The throne, if this had been a human's place, but it is PharaohMan's and he has no need for a physical throne.
There is no one else here. They are alone with a monster.
Arcadia tightens his grip until ProtoMan is certain that, if he were human, his ribs would have crushed. He does not protest, because the anger that almost consumed him is giving way to a colder, more suffocating feeling - fear.
Nothing stands between them and the monster who deleted MegaMan.
PharaohMan's eyes light up, and a thin laser shoots out and hits the ground just in front of ProtoMan's feet. He flinches back, taking Arcadia with him. That was clearly a warning shot, a showing of what is to come.
"ProtoMan!"
He feels nothing short of relief when he hears Mimic's voice, hoarse and cracked from lack of use for two days. They have only been transported to a new location - they are still connected to Mimic's PET. She can still see them. She can still find them.
PharaohMan's eyes flick upwards and light up again.
"We're in the centre!" ProtoMan shouts. "Hurry!"
The laser beam shoots out again, and ProtoMan feels his connection to Mimic cut off abruptly. He can only hope Mimic heard him before PharaohMan severed their connection.
PharaohMan turns his burning eyes back to ProtoMan and Arcadia, who huddle together. ProtoMan tries to shield his smaller friend with his body, but Arcadia brings up his wings and half-covers ProtoMan's own body with them. Fine. They will protect each other.
"I will deal with you later," PharaohMan tells them coldly, a contrast to the burning hatred in his eyes. "For now, I have intruders to delete."
He vanishes in a wave of pixels, leaving the two of them alone in the golden room.
ProtoMan goes limp and does not stop himself from sliding to the floor. Arcadia follows, curling into his side, trembling in terror and letting out quiet whimpers.
"It will be okay," ProtoMan whispers, taking his friend into his arms. He does not know if he speaks to reassure Arcadia, or himself. "Mimic will find us again. We will be fine."
Is this crushing fear what Mimic feels every time she encounters Master Blaze? Is this what Arcadia felt when he was still Amano's NetNavi?
It chokes him, leaves him gasping for air that isn't there. His limbs are weak and he does not know if he can fight in this state.
ProtoMan is afraid. And he hates it.
He has no way of knowing how long they sit there, huddled together and trying to keep each other from falling apart. Arcadia has stopped whimpering, but he still trembles, and ProtoMan thinks maybe he is also trembling, but fear still clouds his mind so he cannot tell for sure.
PharaohMan appears in a whirl of pixels, and they shrink away. PharaohMan seems amused.
"I can sense your fear," he says, in a soft and sickly-sweet tone.
It makes ProtoMan want to throw up, even though he is fairly certain NetNavis are physically incapable of vomiting like humans are. If a Navi is hit hard enough in the stomach, then they expel some internal data, yes, but . . . he does not think it is possible for that to happen from just fear alone.
"Good," PharaohMan continues. "Perhaps, then, I will change my mind. I had considered turning you into statues like your friends, or simply deleting you. But your fear amuses me. You, red one, were so angry before - and now you are reduced to cowering on the floor with your equally-pathetic friend. You lower NetNavis are so amusing."
Arcadia makes a small, scared sound. ProtoMan tightens his grip on him and winces as PharaohMan lets out a harsh laugh.
"I have decided," PharaohMan announces, gleefully. "You will be my pets. You will sit at the foot of my throne, and amuse me. Perhaps I will strike you every now and then, just to watch you writhe in pain and fear."
A familiar, high-pitched whine is the only warning they get before a purple blast rockets over their heads and smashes into PharaohMan, blowing him back.
While PharaohMan reels from the surprise attack, MegaMan jumps in from nowhere, and lands next to ProtoMan and Arcadia. His Buster is raised, aimed steadily at PharaohMan, but he only has eyes for them.
"You guys okay?" MegaMan asks.
Fear makes ProtoMan stupid, so the first thing that comes out of his mouth is, "I'm scared."
MegaMan expression softens. "It's okay," he says, and his gentle voice calms the crushing fear in ProtoMan just a little bit. "I'm here now. And Lan and Dad are helping Chaud get his PET working again - just hold on a little longer. I'll hold PharaohMan off."
With that, he snaps his head upwards and faces PharaohMan. By now, PharaohMan has recovered from MegaMan's Charged Shot, and he looks even angrier than he had been when ProtoMan threw his shield at him.
It does not phase MegaMan in the slightest. He fires another blast, hits his mark, and then charges at PharaohMan as a Sword materialises on his arm, sent by Lan.
As MegaMan fights, ProtoMan feels the fear that has been crushing him for the past however-long-it-has-been start to recede. It does not vanish entirely, but it is simply pushed aside by a new feeling.
ProtoMan has no word for it. It is similar to the nameless emotion he had felt when they had discovered MegaMan's frame data, just as powerful, but it is not exactly the same.
He watches MegaMan fight, and the urge to fight alongside him wells up until it threatens to explode. He glances down at Arcadia and sees the same in his eyes.
They stand together. ProtoMan's limbs are not weak anymore, he does not tremble. Seeing MegaMan fighting PharaohMan - not fighting, he is stalling, he is stalling for them, giving the humans enough time to fix whatever PharaohMan had done to Mimic's PET - gives ProtoMan strength he had almost feared was gone. The same is true for Arcadia.
ProtoMan steps away from Arcadia as his friend creates a fiery bow with Holy Fire, and then aims the Avenger's Arrow toward the battle raging in front of them. ProtoMan activates his Proto Buster.
They fire at the same time, when PharaohMan has his back to them and MegaMan is not in their line of fire.
PharaohMan goes down, but only briefly. When he comes back up, he whirls around, and turns his eyes on ProtoMan and Arcadia.
Those eyes had scared them, before. Now, they meet his eyes and ready their weapons again.
"You," PharaohMan hisses, his rage so great that his body lets out visible sparks. "You!"
"Shut up," ProtoMan tells him, before he fires another blast - this time, directly at PharaohMan's face.
Arcadia's arrow hits his chest at the same time, and PharaohMan screams.
The ground shakes with his enraged screaming. ProtoMan, Arcadia, and MegaMan tumble over, losing their footing in the wake of PharaohMan's rage. This is nothing like when ProtoMan had thrown his shield, or even when MegaMan had showed up to save them.
When the shaking stops, PharaohMan vanishes, and then re-appears in front of ProtoMan. One of his arms move and his hands shoots out, curling around ProtoMan's throat, and PharaohMan lifts him off his feet, eyes burning pure red.
"I will delete you!" PharaohMan rages, clenching his hand. ProtoMan lets out a choked cry and tries to struggle, in vain. "Lowly, arrogant Navi, you think you can match me? You are NOTHING!"
Arcadia gouges PharaohMan in the side with flame-encased claws, forcing PharaohMan to drop ProtoMan. As soon as PharaohMan turns his attention to Arcadia, ProtoMan quickly activates a Proto Sword and thrusts it at their enemy, ripping another enraged scream from PharaohMan.
MegaMan adds his own attack into the mix, shooting PharaohMan from where he still kneels halfway across the room.
PharaohMan's anger is making him unstable. His body flickers and sparks, like he cannot hold his data together, and he briefly vanishes before appearing again near the pedestal, screeching incoherently. Bits of the ceiling start to collapse, but none of the bits hit the trio of Navis fighting him.
MegaMan rushes over to stand at ProtoMan's side.
"This isn't working," MegaMan says, breathless. "He's too powerful. We're not even scratching him."
"What if-" Arcadia breaks off and flinches as PharaohMan's rage brings down more of the ceiling around them. "What if I let him hit me?"
ProtoMan and MegaMan immediately protest, but Arcadia speaks over them.
"If I can store up enough energy, I can throw it back at him with Avenger's Arrow," Arcadia reminds them. "And- and ProtoMan, don't suggest using Proto Shield. You saw what happened when you tried deflecting energy that was too powerful for the shield to handle. You can't control it. I can."
"The answer is still no," ProtoMan snaps. "Even letting him hit you once will be enough to delete you."
"He's right," MegaMan says, much calmer than ProtoMan but still just as opposed to the idea. "We're not letting you sacrifice yourself on the chance that maybe you can survive long enough to fire that energy back at him. No, we need another plan."
"Beta Sword," ProtoMan immediately says. Both of them look at him. "The power of a double Program Advance is what released him - perhaps it will be powerful enough to defeat him."
"That's a good idea," MegaMan says, "except your operator can't send you any battle chips right now."
"Then we hold PharaohMan until that is possible," ProtoMan says firmly. "That is what you were doing before, anyway. What difference does it make?"
MegaMan blinks at him, and the nods. Arcadia hesitates, but he nods as well, eventually.
Rumbling above them is the only warning they get before the ceiling comes crashing down, but they dive out of the way and mercifully are not buried under the rubble. PharaohMan is bringing down his own castle around him, blinded by rage.
Whatever virus infected him must have been extremely powerful. Or just extremely insane.
Something clicks in his mind - a connection, fuzzy but almost there, and ProtoMan reaches out with his systems to help it along.
Connection made.
He immediately hears Lan's voice.
"We got it!" he says triumphantly through the connection. "ProtoMan, can you hear me? We fixed Chaud's PET!"
"I hear you," ProtoMan calls, smiling. "Chaud! I am glad you're back, but the reunion will need to wait. We have an idea for how we can take down PharaohMan."
"You do?" That is Dr. Hikari's voice. He sounds surprised.
"We plan to use Beta Sword against him," ProtoMan informs them. He is uncertain how much they heard from MegaMan's connection - apparently not enough, as this appears to be news to them. Perhaps the constant rumbling blocked their voices from reaching their operators, or maybe it was PharaohMan's enraged screaming.
"Okay," Mimic says. Her voice is shaky, unsteady and faint compared to Lan and Dr. Hikari's, but he can hear the resolve in her tone.
They can do this. They have done it before, twice - once by accident, and the other on purpose. ProtoMan has felt the fear that chokes his current operator on a regular basis. He understands her better now. If they use Beta Sword, it will work, he knows it will. And he knows it will work for Lan and MegaMan, because they are Lan and MegaMan.
A Sword materialises on his arm, followed by a Wide Sword on his other. He dashes around the side of the rubble until he sees PharaohMan's screeching form again, and MegaMan skids to a halt beside him, a Sword and Wide Sword ready on his own arms.
They exchange a glance at their operators download the Long Sword in unison, and then raise their arms.
PharaohMan's screeching grows to a fever pitch when he sees what they are trying to do, but before he can even move, Arcadia begins throwing Firebombs at him from the air. Each time he tries to move, Arcadia hurls more Firebombs, keeping him back while ProtoMan and MegaMan wait for their Swords to combine.
They glow, resonating, and finally become the Beta Sword. Arcadia glances over his shoulder and darts away, wings beating rapidly to get him away faster.
PharaohMan sees their fully-formed Beta Swords and lets out a bone-rattling roar.
ProtoMan and MegaMan unleash Beta Sword at the same time. The energy flies toward PharaohMan, too fast for him to dodge, and hits him dead-on.
They have no time to check if the Beta Sword worked, because the rest of the castle - pyramid, ProtoMan thinks, that is the actual word for this place - is beginning to come down around them. Arcadia swoops down, talons outstretched, and ProtoMan and MegaMan allow him to grab their arms and fly them outside just in time for the rest of the pyramid to collapse into rubble and bits of decaying data.
Arcadia deposits them outside the ruins and lands between them, eyes on the rubble.
"Is . . . is it over?" he asks.
The rubble starts shaking. Of course it does.
The trio tense, ready to fight once again as PharaohMan rises from the rubble of his pyramid, but then StoneMan and BomberMan appear out of quite literally nowhere and snatch him away.
It's so sudden that ProtoMan is too slow to react, and cannot stop MegaMan from jumping into the hole in the air that PharaohMan had been dragged through. By the time he gets his head together enough to think clearly, the hole is gone and he and Arcadia are left alone standing in front of the rubble of PharaohMan's pyramid.
" . . . What," ProtoMan says, mind and voice blank.