"We've finished his repairs, scanned his systems, and he's completely fine," Dr. Hikari reports. He grins at Mimic and holds out her PET. "Congratulations. ProtoMan is perfectly healthy again - or as healthy as a Navi who's part-virus and part-Poltergeist can be, anyway."
Mimic leans forward in her wheelchair and takes her PET out of Dr. Hikari's hand. As she settles back into the wheelchair, she looks at the screen anxiously - it's blank, but as she watches, the home screen comes up and ProtoMan looks out at her with a massive grin, showing off his sharp teeth and fangs.
"Welcome back," Mimic whispers, smiling.
"Thank you," ProtoMan replies. His grin softens, and he almost sounds like he's about to cry as he adds, "You never once gave up on me. You have no idea how much that means to me."
I think I do, Mimic thinks, too overcome with emotion to say the words out loud. She settles for hugging her PET to her chest.
She feels a hand on her shoulder, and glances up at Lan. He's standing next to her - he'd been the one to push her wheelchair into the repair lab at SciLab, and he hasn't left her side since she got out of the hospital yesterday - and he's grinning like he's never going to stop.
"By the way," Dr. Hikari suddenly says, making Mimic look over at him, "Arcadia has something he'd like to say."
Mimic blinks, and it's only then that she realises Arcadia wasn't in her PET with ProtoMan. She feels a flicker of guilt for not noticing sooner, but he'd probably understand - she was focused on ProtoMan's return, his true return this time, not just his return to help in the fight against Dr. Regal.
Then she registers Dr. Hikari's words, and wonders what it is that Arcadia wants to say. It must be important, if Dr. Hikari is announcing it like this.
Dr. Hikari takes out the white PET from his pocket and holds it up. Arcadia is on the screen, looking slightly nervous, but he seems like he's made up his mind about something. Mimic, though completely mystified, keeps quiet and lets him speak.
"I've decided . . ." Arcadia's voice trembles and he trails off. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and when he opens his eyes, his voice is steady. "I've decided to become your second NetNavi. For real."
Mimic's mouth drops open, and she feels a strong pulse of shock from Chaud. Beside her, Lan draws in a faint gasp, as does MegaMan. ProtoMan is the only one who's capable of reacting.
"That's great!" he exclaims joyfully. Mimic turns her PET around so the screen is facing outwards, so he can see Arcadia in the white PET. "Does that mean you're connected to that PET, now?"
"Um, w-well . . ." Arcadia trails off and glances at Dr. Hikari uncertainly.
Dr. Hikari evidently decides to take pity on him. "He's still independent for the time being," he explains. "He's given this a lot of thought, and he asked for my advice. We've decided to wait until the new PET model has been released to connect him - after all, there's not much point in connecting him to a PET that's only going to be replaced in a few days."
A few days? Mimic repeats, blinking. A pang of nervous anticipation runs through her body. I didn't realise there was so little time between Axess and Stream . . .
Wait, you mean this isn't over yet? Chaud asks, his shock turning to a faint sense of exasperation.
Stream isn't as bad as Axess was, Mimic tells him, but the battles do get harder from here on. Not as hard as Dr. Regal, but . . . yeah. I'll explain later, let's focus on this for now.
Right . . . Chaud sighs.
"Famous and I are currently trying to see if there's any way we can connect the two of you to the same PET," Dr. Hikari goes on, glancing at ProtoMan. "We'll have to figure out what that will mean for Cross Fusion and NetBattling, but it would be a hassle for Chaud to have to carry around two PETs all the time."
As much as Mimic is elated at the thought of Arcadia finally being ready to become her second Navi for real, she does see the point that Dr. Hikari is making. She remembers one episode in Stream when Lan had to operate both MegaMan and GutsMan, and he was struggling to help both of them and was literally juggling the PETs at one point. That doesn't really seems sustainable, so having a single PET for both ProtoMan and Arcadia would definitely be a better idea than having two entirely different PETs.
And if they're both connected to the same PET, Chaud says thoughtfully, they won't have to be separated from each other.
They'd love that. Arcadia has hardly left ProtoMan's side since they got him back - except to talk to Dr. Hikari about becoming Mimic's second Navi, that is - and they never liked to be separated from each other before ProtoMan was lost to them anyway. Having them both connected to the same PET would solve that issue before it even becomes a problem.
"We're going to be keeping this PET at SciLab for now," Dr. Hikari says. Arcadia vanishes from the screen and then reappears next to ProtoMan in Mimic's PET as Dr. Hikari pockets the white PET. "Arcadia doesn't need to use it anymore, but the tracker program we installed onto it was developed exclusively for you - and we think if we can figure out how to mass-produce it, we may be able to revolutionise how PETs keep track of Navis." He looks at Mimic and raises his eyebrows. "Do you remember that case you did with Famous? Where all those Navis were being kidnapped?"
How could she forget? That case had led to her and Arcadia kind-of-not-really befriending Bass. Mimic's not going to forget that in a hurry.
"If all PETs had a tracker system like this one installed, that wouldn't become an issue anymore," Dr. Hikari explains. His expression darkens a little. "Though we also have to consider the ethics of such a program . . . Hatsuko Amano isn't the only operator out there who abused her NetNavi. With a tracker program as advanced as this, we may end up accidentally giving Navi-abusers another way to hurt their Navis, by keeping them prisoner or something."
"Maybe there's some way you could make it so the Navi can disable it in an emergency?" Lan suggests.
Dr. Hikari looks thoughtful. "That might work," he says. "We'd have to refine the idea, of course, but as a starting point, it's pretty good."
Lan beams at the praise, and Mimic reaches up to gently punch his arm. "Don't get full of yourself again," she warns him teasingly.
"Oh, no!" Lan quickly shakes his head, eyes widening. "Nope, you've already proven why that's a bad idea twice before, I'm not getting attacked or pranked again, no thank you."
"Good," Mimic replies.
"Pranked?" ProtoMan murmurs to Arcadia, sounding puzzled.
"I'll explain later," Arcadia replies, giggling a little. "It was great, trust me."
"Oh, and . . ." Dr. Hikari gets their attention again. "Commissioner Kifune and Superintendent Manabe want to see you, Chaud. They're waiting in the main room."
Immediately, Mimic's good mood vanishes and her heart drops deep into the pit of her stomach reserved exclusively for dread.
She's been given a brief rest because she was in hospital for a few days, but now it looks like she's finally going to have to face the consequences of breaking out of the prison-cottage. And she'll probably get punished for fighting Dr. Regal even after he made it clear he was after her.
Not to mention her connection with Bass, whatever the hell that connection may be. She never said a word about it to anyone - not even the Hikaris - for fear that she'd be forced to stop letting him into her computer. He helped out during the final battle, sure, and although he was apparently doing it of his own free will, the only reason he was even there in the first place was because of Mimic. Arcadia said he'd told MegaMan and SearchMan about Bass, but Mimic doesn't know if they told anyone else, so she has no idea what she's going to be walking into.
Well, she thinks, not walking exactly. More like rolling. She's wheelchair-bound at the moment - maybe that'll make Kifune and Manabe go easier on her? It's extremely difficult to get angry at someone who's still recovering, after all. Or maybe they'll just go easy on her now, and then, when she's finally out of the wheelchair, they'll give her the full punishment.
"Don't worry," Dr. Hikari says gently, crouching in front of her and breaking her out of her worried thoughts. "You won't have to face them alone, Chaud. I'm going with you, alright?"
"Me too," Lan quickly adds, leaning over so he's in Mimic's sight again.
"'kay," Mimic mumbles faintly. She's grateful for their support, but the dread she feels at the very thought of seeing Kifune and Manabe is so overwhelming she can barely focus on anything else.
Lan pushes her wheelchair and Dr. Hikari walks alongside her. She's clutching her PET like a lifeline, but all of those things doesn't stop her from trembling.
Mimic disobeys orders constantly. What if this time was too much? What if she's not allowed to be a Net Saver anymore?
I don't think they can do that, Chaud tries to reason. You helped Lan save the world, after all. They'd be stupid to fire you, after a performance like that.
Despite his encouraging words, she can still feel his doubt through their connection. They both want to believe that she won't get fired, but there's always the possibility - the very strong possibility - that Mimic's actions have finally crossed the line and Kifune and Manabe have had enough of her.
They arrive at the main room, and Mimic almost can't bring herself to look at them. But when Lan stops, Mimic has to force herself to look up, and she braces herself for any signs of disappointment or anger.
She's stunned when, instead of either of those things, she instead finds something entirely different. Kifune and Manabe look a little awkward, but they're not angry or disappointed or anything Mimic dreaded they'd be. It's the complete opposite of what she was expecting and it catches her off-guard.
"Congratulations, you two," Kifune says, nodding to Mimic and Lan. "You've saved the world from Dr. Regal's tyranny, and successfully taken down the criminal organisation Nebula. You're both excellent Net Savers."
"We'd give you medals, but that would require a ceremony, and we're not entirely sure such a public event would be a good idea, given recent events," Manabe adds, with a faintly awkward chuckle. "Though we're not sure just giving you medals would be enough to express our gratitude for your deeds."
Kifune nods. "Instead, we'd like to ask that you both carry on as Net Savers - we'd certainly feel a lot safer with the two of you helping to protect our city."
"So I'm not being punished?" Mimic blurts out.
Kifune and Manabe exchange an uncomfortable glance, and Mimic shrinks into her wheelchair, suddenly wishing she'd kept her mouth shut. She and Lan were being praised, and maybe she wouldn't have had to deal with the punishment if she'd just shut up and let them talk, but no, she had to open her mouth, didn't she? Fucking idiot.
"We did consider a punishment," Kifune eventually says, turning back to Mimic. "You've ignored orders again and again - and breaking out of that safe house was just about the worst violation you could have made of them." Mimic cringes away, but looks up again when Kifune sighs and continues. "But it would be wrong to punish you, given your part in taking down Dr. Regal and Nebula. You've already suffered enough as a direct result of your actions, anyway."
He eyes Mimic's wheelchair, and she shuffles nervously.
"Instead, we think we may have a solution to your habit of disobeying orders," Kifune goes on. "You don't seem to listen to me, or Manabe - especially if we give you any orders you don't like. It would be pointless to continue like that."
They're gonna fire me, Mimic whimpers, pressing herself into the back of the wheelchair. She's almost too worked up to notice Lan putting his hand on her shoulder again, but even his silent support does nothing to calm her down.
"You don't listen to us, but you do listen to Famous," Kifune says. "So, instead of working for the Net Police as a Net Saver, you're going to be working under him as one of his personal Net Savers."
Mimic blinks and stares at him blankly.
"Personal Net Saver?" Lan repeats. He sounds just as confused as Mimic feels. "Is . . . is that even a thing?"
"It wasn't, until yesterday," Manabe admits. "Chaud will be the first Net Saver to work exclusively for Famous. He'll receive his missions and assignments from Famous."
"But . . . we already get our missions from Famous," Lan points out. Mimic, after a brief moment of hesitation, nods her agreement.
"You've both received missions from myself and the commissioner in the past," Manabe reminds them. "And you often make your reports for bigger cases directly to Commissioner Kifune and I, or just one of us. Famous is your commanding officer, but ultimately you report to us. What we're proposing is to have Chaud report only to Famous, and work for him exclusively, not the Net Police as a whole."
"Of course, we may have to make exceptions sometimes," Kifune adds. "We'll deal with those situations as they come, but otherwise, he'll work directly under Famous."
"Does Famous know about this?" Dr. Hikari asks, before Mimic can respond. She's not sure she can respond, honestly - this is very much not what she was expecting at all.
"He's the one who proposed this idea, actually," Kifune replies. "We've been going over the details and logistics of such a change for the past few days. But we decided that we would go forward with this plan only if Chaud agreed." He looks at Mimic. "Well? What do you say, Chaud?"
So . . . they're not punishing me, Mimic thinks slowly, just shoving me off onto Famous?
Would you rather work under them and get into trouble constantly because you don't like their orders? Chaud points out.
No, not really, Mimic has to admit.
And besides, he continues, they're not really shoving you off onto anyone. Commissioner Kifune said it was Famous who suggested this in the first place, so I guess it's more like Famous is snatching you away from them to keep you out of trouble.
I'm not sure if that's better or worse, Mimic says.
Go with better, Chaud suggests. You get along with Famous better than you ever did with Kifune and Manabe anyway. You'd be more willing to take his orders because of that, right?
I . . . Well, I guess so, yeah, Mimic agrees. At least they're not firing me. Though I guess only Famous would have the authority to do that, now. She brightens at that. Hey, since I actually do get along with him, that means he's never gonna fire me!
Okay, maybe tone it down a little, Chaud quickly advises her. You don't want to start getting on Famous's nerves, too. He's pretty easy-going, but even he has limits.
Yeah, okay, Mimic agrees, successfully abashed.
Out loud, she says, "I agree."
Kifune nods. "Then it's settled," he says. "We'll handle the paperwork, and from tomorrow, you'll be working directly under Famous."
Or, in other words, from tomorrow she'll be Famous's problem. Well, if this is the best solution they could come up with to dealing with her habit of disobeying almost every order they give her, she's not going to complain.
"We do have one more thing to discuss with you," Manabe says.
Mimic's first reaction to that is instant dread, and it must show on her face, because Manabe quickly rushes to reassure her.
"It's not anything bad, I promise," Manabe tells her. "It's actually good news. We need to talk about your orders."
" . . . My orders?" Mimic blinks. She'd expected this to be about Bass, but she's being caught off-guard yet again.
"Nebula disbanded the moment Dr. Regal was defeated," Kifune says. "We're currently tracking down the remaining agents, humans and NetNavis alike, but they're hardly a threat to anyone - and there's little danger of any of them coming out of hiding to seek revenge on you or Lan, or your Navis. Under these circumstances, your orders are now void. You're free to do as you please . . . within reason . . . and are no longer required to live under any restrictions."
"I won't be monitoring your messages anymore," Manabe explains. "You won't need to have a human with you at all times, and Arcadia no longer needs to act as your bodyguard." She gives Mimic a good-natured smile. "Though I'm fairly certain he and ProtoMan won't stop protecting you no matter what anyone tells them, anyway."
"Damn right we won't!" ProtoMan exclaims emphatically.
"If anyone wants to hurt our operator," Arcadia adds, "they're gonna have to go through us."
"Guys, c'mon," MegaMan sighs, though there's laughter in his tone. "I know you love Chaud, but you're being a bit overenthusiastic."
"Eat me," ProtoMan retorts.
Mimic grins at the exchange between the trio of Navis, but her mood dampens when she abruptly remembers the wheelchair she's currently confined to.
It's just typical, isn't it? She's finally free to run around on her own, to explore the city at night like she used to, but she can't because she's physically incapable of doing so. It was the exact opposite before, where she was physically capable of doing all that, but wasn't allowed to. Sometimes it feels like she never gets what she wants; the universe just seems to relish taking away whatever she loves doing, either because someone tells her she can't, or her own body won't let her.
Her drop in mood must be obvious, because now everyone's looking at her. They all look fairly worried, especially ProtoMan and Arcadia. Everyone probably knows exactly why her mood has dropped, because they glance at her wheelchair and seem to realise what's wrong instantly.
"The doctors said it's only for a few days," Dr. Hikari says, kneeling beside her and patting one of the arms of her wheelchair. "Just until you get your strength back. You'll be running around and going on night-time wanderings again soon, Chaud." He puts a gentle hand on her knee and gives her an encouraging smile. "Alright?"
" . . . Alright," Mimic murmurs.
"Hey, at least you can take Ragdoll with you again," Lan says brightly, leaning over her so she can see his face. "I know you missed having him with you."
Mimic can tell his cheer is slightly forced, but she appreciates the effort he's making to try and make her feel better about this. She gives him a weak smile in response, and his grin gets a little more genuine, and little less worried.
He is right, though - she has missed being able to take Ragdoll with her. And Ragdoll will probably love that she's sitting down all the time for now; he'll get to ride around in her lap and purr to his heart's content. And Mimic will get to have a giant ball of fluff curled up on her pretty much all the time.
Her smile gets a bit stronger at that thought. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.
Only a few scant days after the meeting at SciLab, Mimic gets a message from Yai on her PET. Her first reaction is to check whether or not it's been approved by Manabe, before ProtoMan reminds her that Manabe isn't monitoring her messages anymore. With that in mind, Mimic feels pretty light-hearted as ProtoMan opens the email for her.
They discover that the email is an invitation to watch a star shower at Yai's summer villa. Looking at the addresses the email was sent to reveals that almost everyone received an invitation as well - and Lan bursts into her room barely a minute after the email was received, confirming that. He's pretty excited to watch the star shower and even more excited to go to Yai's summer villa, and even though Mimic knows the star shower is the prelude to the next crisis, Lan's excitement is contagious and she can't help but get excited with him.
Apparently Yai even sent an email to Anetta - though as far as Mimic knows, they've only met once. They didn't exactly get along in the anime, but since Mimic was unconscious at the time, she has no idea how the interaction between Anetta and Yai went this time. It must have been good, otherwise Anetta wouldn't have gotten an invitation as well, right?
Yai sends a limo to pick up her and Lan, and it stops at Anetta's house to pick her up as well. She's bringing Plush the grey parrot with her - she's in her harness and riding on Anetta's shoulder, though as soon as Anetta gets into the limo, Plush immediately hops off and heads over to Ragdoll. They greet each other happily; they haven't seen each other for ages, and they'd started getting pretty close whenever Mimic went to visit Anetta, at least before she had to stop visiting because of her orders.
Though now Mimic is free to go wherever she pleases, so she can start visiting Anetta again. And they can continue their efforts to burn down Anetta's house while cooking - though Mimic suspects that ProtoMan won't be entirely happy about that.
"It was really nice of Yai to send us a ride," Anetta comments, when they arrive at the summer villa. She looks somewhat intimidated when she sees the size of the villa. "I never would've found this place on my own."
Anetta climbs out of the limo first, Plush once again resting on her shoulder, and the driver heads around the back to get Mimic's wheelchair. Anetta takes it from him with a thank you and unfolds it while Lan helps Mimic out of the limo.
"I was actually kinda surprised she invited you, honestly," Lan admits, glancing at Anetta. "Maylu told me she doesn't like you at all."
Mimic looks at him, puzzled, as he helps her into the wheelchair. "Why not?"
Lan kind of freezes for a split second. "No reason," he says quickly, in an oddly high tone.
Ragdoll jumps onto Mimic's lap and she lets him get settled, then looks up and gives Lan a flat look. "I can tell when I'm being lied to," she reminds him.
"I- that's not- I'm not lying!" Lan squeaks. He's trying to look offended, but it's coming across as more panicked than anything else.
Mimic continues to stare at him. Lan sweats under her gaze for several moments, and then he grunts and turns on his heel, marching straight for Yai's villa.
"C'mon!" he calls over his shoulder. "We're wasting daylight!"
"It's night," Mimic calls back, exasperated. Lan waves carelessly and continues walking up the path.
Anetta chuckles nervously as she starts pushing Mimic toward the villa. Suddenly suspicious, Mimic glances up at her, and her suspicion only grows when Anetta avoids her gaze.
"What's going on?" Mimic asks her.
"Absolutely nothing," Anetta replies promptly.
They catch up to Lan, who's lingering near the front steps of the villa. He looks troubled, and at first Mimic thinks it's because of whatever the hell he and Anetta are failing to lie about, but then she realises it's something else entirely. She doesn't realise what it is until Anetta hesitates, looks at Mimic's wheelchair, and then winces as she glances at the front steps.
" . . . I can walk," Mimic offers, even though she couldn't even get out of the limo without help.
"Maybe there's a ramp we can use somewhere," Anetta suggests.
"But I bet everyone else is already waiting for us inside," Lan says. He paces back and forth for a few moments, frowning to himself. Then he suddenly stops and looks at Mimic, a grin brightening his expression. "We can carry the wheelchair up the steps!"
Mimic understands what he means immediately. "No," she protests, shaking her head emphatically. "No way, you're not carrying me up there in this thing. M'gonna walk."
"Oh, come on!" Lan grins at her, and her heart sinks as she realises he's already made up his mind. "It'll be faster this way, and we won't need to wait around for anyone to find a ramp or something. And this way, you won't need to get out of your wheelchair!"
"Don't you dare," Mimic hisses, but he ignores her and hunkers down to grab the front of her wheelchair. "Lan!"
"Chaud, c'mon," Lan laughs, pulling on the wheelchair. "Don't you trust me?"
"Not right now I don't!" she exclaims frantically. The wheelchair lurches and she yelps, gripping the arms. Ragdoll's digging his claws into her legs, but the faint pricking of his claws is nothing compared to the panic she feels as Lan tries to lift the entire wheelchair up with her still sitting in it.
"Anetta, help me out," Lan puffs.
"Oh, man," Anetta mutters. The back of Mimic's wheelchair lifts now, and then she's fully off the ground. "I am so sorry about this, Lostie."
"I hate both of you!" Mimic wails.
Lan's only response is an infuriatingly cheerful laugh, and even Anetta giggles, the fucking traitor.
She's still feeling resentful even after Lan and Anetta manage to carry her up the steps and set her down on the front porch. Lan is still laughing - he only gets louder when Mimic glares at him - although Anetta is at least attempting to stifle her giggling now. Mimic still glares at her as well, though, because she's not going to forget this in a hurry.
"You're dead to me," Mimic informs them.
"Aw." Anetta pouts. "But I was gonna make some of my sandwiches for you later . . ."
Mimic narrows her eyes for a moment as she thinks that over.
" . . . Fine," she eventually says. "But you're on thin ice." As Anetta pumps her fist, Mimic turns her glare back to Lan. "You're still dead, though."
"I feel fine," he points out cheerfully.
Mimic hardens her glare, but Lan remains completely unbothered.
He'd better fucking watch out, Mimic mutters, as they head inside the villa. I might put a spider in his bed while he's sleeping tonight.
Why not two? Chaud suggests.
Even better, Mimic says.
While the humans are watching the star shower, the NetNavis have their own party inside the villa's network. ProtoMan stands to one side, watching them but not exactly participating. He doesn't yet feel . . . entirely comfortable with them.
His memories of being Dark ProtoMan are odd. Hazy, almost like how humans would describe a dream - though NetNavis can't dream, as far as he knows. He has flashes of memories at random times, and his body shakes and he has to retreat away from the sight of others to try to deal with the rising panic, repeating it's not me, it's not me, it's not me over and over.
And that's why he stays to one side. That's why he's uncomfortable with his friends. He . . . he doesn't feel he has the right to celebrate with them, not yet, not while he's still suffering like this.
But there is one Navi he doesn't mind being with, no matter how afraid he is.
Arcadia stands next to him, not saying anything about ProtoMan's fear, although he must sense it with his Empath Program. His silent support means far more to ProtoMan than he can put into words, and when he starts to tremble from hazy memories, Arcadia says nothing, only spreads a wing and wraps it around ProtoMan until the shaking stops.
His shadows drift around both of them aimlessly, occasionally brushing against ProtoMan's skin or trailing across Arcadia's wings, a show of their own support. Dark Shadow doesn't form itself, but it doesn't need to - the shadows are enough on their own, and if it wishes to speak, it will form itself. For now, ProtoMan's shadows offer their own silent support, like Arcadia is.
It's enough to help, he feels. He suspects he'll never truly get over this, and Dark ProtoMan will likely always haunt him, but with Arcadia and his shadows, he can at least deal with the fallout.
His systems spark with fear when Arcadia's feathers suddenly begin to flare up. His first reaction is to think that, somehow, the Dark Aura is still within him - that Dr. Hikari had somehow been wrong when he said ProtoMan was fully cured. But Arcadia glances up at him, sensing his fear, and shakes his head; the activation of his Dark Immunity ability isn't because of ProtoMan.
That doesn't stop him from being afraid, though he does wonder why Arcadia's ability is suddenly activating. Dr. Regal has been defeated, all of the Darkloids deleted, and Nebula is gone. There's no reason for Arcadia's ability to activate like this.
"Hey, BubbleMan!" MegaMan suddenly exclaims.
ProtoMan blinks under his visor and looks around. The Darkloid BubbleMan is half-hiding behind a pillar of data fairly close by - ProtoMan wonders why he didn't hear the Darkloid approaching, but perhaps he was too focused on his fears to notice anything around him that isn't Arcadia or his shadows.
At least this provides a suitable explanation for why Arcadia's ability has suddenly activated. It's not ProtoMan at all - it's BubbleMan.
"Quit hiding, come over here!" MegaMan goes on happily, gesturing for BubbleMan to join them.
ProtoMan watches the scene with a vague sense of interest. BubbleMan offers up the fragmented raw data of the dog-virus Rush, and then runs away again before any of the Navis can invite him to stay with them. It appears the others are rather fond of him, despite him being an enemy for so long - though ProtoMan did overhear Roll telling MegaMan that BubbleMan assisted them while they were trying to help SearchMan get through the network of Regal Tower.
Perhaps that means no one will mind him joining in, either. He was their enemy for so long, too - he hurt so many people, his operators and his brother especially, and he did so many bad things. But if they're happy to accept BubbleMan as a friend, even if he seems to have no desire to actually stay with them, maybe ProtoMan will be able to at least pluck up the courage to talk to them.
"They won't mind," Arcadia says to him, quietly enough that only ProtoMan's sensitive hearing can pick up his words. "They know you need some space, but if you approach them, they'll be happy to welcome you."
Fear still makes him hesitate, but Arcadia's words give him some strength. "M-maybe . . . maybe in a while," ProtoMan mumbles, threading his fingers together. "I don't . . . think I'm ready. Not at the moment, anyway."
He's fine with MegaMan, that much he knows. But the others? He doesn't know why he hesitates to go near them, honestly. But he is hesitant, despite not knowing why, and like he just told Arcadia, he's not ready to speak to them yet. Maybe in a while, when he's confident enough.
But not right now. He's happy to stay out of the way for now.
MegaMan and the others attempt to put Rush back together. They're successful - mainly, ProtoMan suspects, because they know Rush well enough to work out how his systems work, despite being a virus. ProtoMan himself is part-virus, but he has no idea how to put an actual virus back together. He's usually the one taking them apart.
A few minutes after Rush has been put back together, ProtoMan is surprised again by the sudden appearance of another friend-who-used-to-be-an-enemy. Or, as Mimic and Arcadia told him, someone who just tolerates them because they let him play Skyrim.
Bass materialises next to him, looking at him with an unreadable expression. ProtoMan peers back at him curiously. He has never actually had the chance to study Bass properly, since it had been MegaMan who interacted with him the most, at least before Mimic told Bass about independent Navis being able to materialise in dimensional areas.
"So." Bass leans back and studies him. ProtoMan is more confused than uncomfortable, so he doesn't feel awkward at being the subject of such a close scrutiny. "You're better now."
" . . . Um, yes?" ProtoMan replies hesitantly.
The others begin to notice Bass's presence one by one, and they gradually fall silence in favour of watching him. Bass doesn't seem to notice or even care about their stares - his only focus is apparently ProtoMan.
Bass grunts. "Where's your dumb human gonna be tomorrow?" he asks abruptly.
"He'll be at home," Arcadia replies, stepping around ProtoMan to peer at Bass. "Why? Do you wanna play Skyrim again?"
"Yes," Bass replies. "Tell your human I'll be coming by at the usual time. He'd better have the game up and running, or-"
"Yeah, sure, we'll let him know," Arcadia interrupts cheerfully, unconcerned by the attempted threat - though ProtoMan suspects Bass wouldn't really mean any threats he says, given his actions during the final battle.
He saved Mimic's life. Literally. If he hadn't been there, there would have been nothing ProtoMan or Arcadia could have done to prevent Dr. Regal from taking her again - and ProtoMan doesn't want to even think about what that madman would have done to her this time. But because of Bass, Mimic is safe.
"Good," Bass grunts. He turns to leave, but pauses, and glances over his shoulder to give ProtoMan a look through narrowed eyes. "Your dumb human was sad while you were gone, and it was really annoying. So don't do it again."
"I won't," ProtoMan replies, somewhat bewildered. He sees Arcadia's faint smile and realises that this is actually Bass's way of saying welcome back. Why he can't just say it like a normal person is beyond him, but perhaps this is just how Bass works.
Bass grunts again, and is about to leave when a memory suddenly comes back to ProtoMan - not a memory of Dark ProtoMan, but of the final battle, when Bass saved Mimic. More specifically, what he said when he saved Mimic.
"What did you mean, back then?" ProtoMan asks, before Bass can leave. Bass gives him an odd look, so ProtoMan clarifies, realising he was too vague. "When you saved Chaud, you said something-"
"I said nothing," Bass interrupts sharply.
ProtoMan tilts his head. "But I heard you say-"
"I. Said. Nothing." Bass glares at him.
"You said get the hell away from my dumb human," ProtoMan quickly says, before Bass can tell him to shut up. "What did you mean by-"
"Shut up, you dumb cat!" Bass snaps. "I said absolutely nothing of the sort, and you will never speak of this again - unless you want me to chop off that birds' nest you call hair!"
"But you did say it," ProtoMan points out.
Bass's glare intensifies. "Zip it, cat."
" . . . Alright," ProtoMan says. He shrugs. "I'll drop it, if you want." He can't help but grin. "But you did say it."
Bass scowls at him and vanishes without so much as a goodbye. Mimic and Arcadia say that's normal for him anyway, though ProtoMan may have accidentally contributed to this abrupt departure by annoying him so much.
He did say it, though. And while ProtoMan wants to find out what he meant by that, he likely won't get an answer. Arcadia was too far away to have heard it, and Mimic can barely remember what happened aside from Bass shooting Dr. Regal and then picking her up and running to SciLab. So ProtoMan is the only one who actually heard it, and remembers it.
But even if ProtoMan was the only who heard Bass say get the hell away from my dumb human, there are other ways to confirm it. Arcadia may not have heard it, but he definitely sensed Bass's emotions while ProtoMan was attempting to get an answer out of him.
ProtoMan turns to Arcadia, intending to ask if he sensed anything from Bass, but he pauses when he sees Arcadia staring at him. A quick glance further away tells ProtoMan that MegaMan is also staring at him, along with everyone else.
" . . . What?" ProtoMan asks, feeling vaguely uncomfortable under the numerous stares.
"He called you a cat," Arcadia says.
"Yes . . . ?" ProtoMan wonders what this is about. "I mean, that is what I am, so . . ." He pauses when he sees their shocked gapes. "Um. Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"You never say you're a cat!" MegaMan exclaims, coming closer to stare at him. "You always say I'm not a cat or something, no matter who's calling you a cat. You've . . . you've never said you're a cat yourself." He turns to Arcadia. "Quick, check his soul. There must be something wrong with him."
ProtoMan feels a flash of irritation. "I'm fine," he says. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"
"Because you never say you're a cat!"
ProtoMan rolls his eyes. "Have you considered that I've decided I am a cat?" he points out wearily. "I'm tired of being teased about it, so I'm embracing it. I'm a cat. There, I said it. Are you happy?"
"No!" Arcadia looks almost indignant. "What're we supposed to tease you about now?"
ProtoMan buries his face in his hands and sighs heavily.
Mimic's never seen a star shower before - not even in her old reality - so she's extremely fascinated by this one. Stars shoot across the night sky sporadically, in bright flashes that only last a single moment, and Mimic's attention is captured by almost every single flash of movement she sees. It's amazing, and she loves it.
Though when she sees the biggest shooting star, the blazing comet that she knows is Duo, she's reminded about the coming events of Stream. She can't help but think about it - and what will happen, given all the changes she's made to . . . well, to everything.
A lot of the things that happened with Chaud in Stream only happened because he was the vice president of IPC. Mimic doesn't think much about that these days, mainly because she has other things to worry about most of the time, but she worries now about how much the fact that she's not vice president will affect the upcoming events. She can't predict what will happen if it's completely different to what happened in the anime, after all.
We'll just deal with things as they come, Chaud tells her. That's what we've always done, right?
He sounds so certain that it's hard not to believe his words. And he's right anyway - they always deal with things when they happen.
Maybe worrying about things in the future isn't a good idea. Sometimes it works, but in Mimic's experience, trying to keep track of future events never really works out for her. She'll forget important details, like telling the Net Police about Dr. Regal being in space, or she'll skip ahead and cause trouble, like when she tried to take on VideoMan on her own.
But dealing with things as they happen always seems to work.
As her friends admire the stars shooting across the night sky, Mimic focuses her attention on Duo's comet. Let him come, then. Let him try to destroy this world.
We'll be ready for you, Duo, Mimic promises. She runs her hand through Ragdoll's long fur, pulls back her lips, and smiles with her sharp teeth. If you want to destroy this world, you're gonna have to go through us.
Continued in Mimic: Stream