"Have you ever heard of the deep web?" Mimic asks.
"I have heard rumours about it," ProtoMan replies, wondering why she has suddenly brought it up. "It is similar to the normal internet, but darker and full of criminals. Apparently it cannot be accessed through ordinary search engines. Otherwise, I know nothing of it."
Mimic makes a small sound of interest, but does not offer any further comments.
ProtoMan looks to Arcadia, to see if he has any insight to offer on why Mimic is suddenly asking about the deep web, but Arcadia is busy creating fire rabbits with Holy Fire. He has only created larger creatures up until this point, and only ever one at a time, so he wishes to see if making smaller creatures will allow him to make larger numbers of them. It seems to be working so far.
ProtoMan leaves him to it and turns back to Mimic.
"Is there any particular reason you want to know about it?" he asks her.
"Got distracted," Mimic says, shrugging. "Saw a thing online - it mentioned the deep web."
" . . . You are meant to be doing homework."
Mimic gives him half a smirk. "I know," she replies, in an amused tone. "But there's a deep web in my world too. Was wondering if it's, y'know, if it's the same."
"Considering NetNavis do not exist in your world, it may be safe to assume that it is different," ProtoMan points out.
Mimic shrugs again. "Deep web in my world could be accessed by downloading certain browsers," she tells him. "Like Tor, or something."
"Then, perhaps it is similar to this one," ProtoMan concedes. "But why are you interested in it?"
"I went on it a few times."
ProtoMan jerks back, unable to hide his surprise. Mimic does not seem concerned that she has just freely admitted to going onto the deep web itself.
"Kinda wanna see this one," Mimic murmurs, and that is where ProtoMan decides this conversation must end.
"Absolutely not," he says sternly. Mimic blinks at him, surprise flickering in her eyes. "No, Mimic. The deep web is full of criminals and dark websites. I may not know much about it, but I know enough to stay away."
"I just want to look," Mimic says.
"Just looking would still require you to access it!"
"Access what?" Arcadia wanders over, abandoning his fire rabbits for the moment. They flicker where he leaves them like odd shifting statues.
"Mimic wants to see the deep web," ProtoMan explains.
Arcadia tilts his head. "What's the deep web?" he asks curiously.
"Something you will not go near, if I can help it," ProtoMan tells him. He turns to Mimic, folding his arms. "I am standing firm on this, Mimic. If you ask Chaud, he will tell you the same thing I am - the deep web is not something to be treated lightly. I do not care if you have been on it in your own world, we are not going anywhere near it now. Is that clear?"
Something about the way Mimic looks at him after he finishes speaking sets him on edge. Suspicious, he unfolds his arms.
"What have you done?" he asks.
Arcadia looks utterly bewildered, glancing between the two of them. ProtoMan feels a flicker of guilt at ignoring him, but this is far too serious. If Mimic has done what he thinks she has done-
"I downloaded a deep web browser," Mimic tells him, shamelessly.
"Mimic!"
"I already know how to open it, you can't really stop me," Mimic points out.
"I'll close every tab you open!"
"Chaud taught me how to block you from doing that."
"Why would you do that!?" ProtoMan exclaims, burying his face in his hands.
A moment passes, and then Mimic speaks.
"He says he didn't think I'd use it for this," she says. ProtoMan looks up and sees her trademark puppy-eating smile. Unlike other times he has witnessed it, he only feels mild irritation at the sight, rather than an unsettling shiver. "I just want to look. I won't be doing anything else."
"The deep web sounds kinda interesting," Arcadia speaks up, and ProtoMan whirls on him, gaping. Arcadia just blinks at him. "It does! You're talking like it's a bad place, but if Mimic's been there before, she'll know what to avoid, right? We're only going to look."
Mimic is nodding, but ProtoMan is still vehemently opposed to the idea.
"She has been on it in her world," he says. "For all we know, the deep web of our world is completely different to her own."
"Not like I'm asking to go on the UnderNet," Mimic mutters under her breath.
ProtoMan hears it anyway, and whips around to scowl at her. "I should hope not! The UnderNet is rumoured to be even worse than the deep web! I would rather go to the deep web than explore the UnderNet!"
He should not have said that. Mimic has an unsettling gleam in her eyes, and she raises an eyebrow triumphantly.
"Then let's go," she says. "Unless you want me to figure out how to get onto the UnderNet."
"Are you blackmailing me?" he demands, incredulous.
"Yes."
ProtoMan is beginning to regret helping her nurture her sadistic nature for the sake of NetBattling. Clearly it has made her far too much of a- what was is that the former World Three man from the curry shop had called her? A trickster? Yes, a trickster.
He sighs, shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Very well," he says. "But on one condition - the moment I say we leave, we leave. No questions. No protests. No complaints. Is that understood?" He looks at Mimic, and then Arcadia. "Both of you?"
They both nod, much to his relief. It does nothing to ease the apprehensive feeling deep in his systems, however.
Mimic was not lying - she does know how to open the deep web, and very easily at that. ProtoMan had been half-tempted to assist her and maybe quietly direct her onto a completely different part of the internet, to try and trick her into thinking she is on the deep web when she is not, but that option is quickly made void when she opens the deep web on her own.
Clearly she has explored her own world's deep web more than 'a few times'. He hopes she has not actually used it for anything.
The deep web is . . . dark.
It is the exact opposite to the internet he is used to - where there is light in the normal internet, there is darkness in the deep web, and it is muted and unsettling. He sees some parts of it that appear to be melting, which is both odd and extremely worrying. There is no sound whatsoever, and aside from wandering, wretched-looking programs, he and Arcadia are the only ones here.
He feels Arcadia pressing against him, and glances down. Arcadia is not looking at him, just staring ahead, but he looks to be regretting being so eager to come here now.
On the other hand, Mimic looks far too interested. He sees her curious expression on the screen, and hopes that she will not try to load up any websites without his permission.
"I can almost hear the ominous music," she comments eagerly, and it is at that point that ProtoMan begins to question the sanity of his current operator.
It is far too quiet, so ProtoMan starts moving, hoping that will keep the agitated feeling at bay. Arcadia keeps as close to him as physically possible, though as they continue inwards, he becomes less unsettled and more curious, though it is a guarded sort of curiosity. ProtoMan does not lose his apprehension, because to lose that would mean letting his guard down and that could be disastrous, but he begins to feel curious as well.
Looking past the unsettling atmosphere, the deep web is . . . interesting. Morbid, yes, but interesting in a way that he has no words to describe. He is surprised how similar the deep web looks to the internet, aside from how dark it is.
But that does not mean he wishes to actually go on any of the websites he detects, and he hopes that Mimic will not direct them toward any.
Unfortunately, it is not Mimic who gets them onto a website - it is Arcadia, whose curiosity builds too much for him to ignore. ProtoMan sees it coming, but cannot stop his friend from wandering off the moment he spots a bright-looking website. In all the gloom, Arcadia likely feels that a bright website would possibly be something mild. That is not the case here.
Arcadia opens the website, and immediately freezes in place.
"Don't look!" ProtoMan hisses, leaping forward and covering Arcadia's eyes. He cannot stop Arcadia from listening, though. He drags Arcadia away, and then remembers Mimic, who is still watching. He turns to her. "Look away, right now," he tells her sternly.
Mimic does not look away. "I'm an adult," she points out flatly. "I've seen this stuff before. Wasn't impressed, didn't really care."
"You may be an adult," ProtoMan says, "but Chaud is not."
She looks at him blankly for a moment, and then swears fluently and covers her eyes.
He knows Chaud has already seen, though, and hopes that he is not too traumatised by it. ProtoMan gently pushes Arcadia away from the website and closes it, then leads Arcadia away from it. He does not allow Arcadia to open his eyes until they are well out of the way, nor he does allow Mimic to look again until several minutes after that. It is a little petty, but he feels some satisfaction by preventing her from looking for so long.
They do not come across any more of those websites, but ProtoMan is still on high alert, and Arcadia seems to have learnt his lesson and is staying away from anything that looks too bright to be on the deep web.
Eventually, they come across an access point. There is nothing to indicate what the access point leads to, nor are there any signs that might even give them the slightest clue.
"I propose we avoid that," ProtoMan says. Arcadia nods, and they move to step around the access point.
He hears something coming up behind them at high speed and whirls around, only to see one of the wretched programs careering toward them. It crashes into them before ProtoMan can even think about dodging, and shoves him and Arcadia into the access point.
They are spat out of the access point and into what looks like a dark and twisted version of Internet City. ProtoMan stumbles to a halt, and staggers when Arcadia crashes into him from behind with a startled squeak.
Their noisy entrance gets the attention of a few scattered NetNavis. There are not many - unlike the Internet City they are familiar with, this one is not very populated, and what few Navis there are do not appear to be friendly. They look at ProtoMan and Arcadia, eyes gleaming in the darkness, hostile and suspicious.
"The access point's gone." Arcadia's voice is barely a whisper.
ProtoMan glances over his shoulder at him, and then looks past him.
The access point they had been shoved into is indeed gone, as if it had never been there in the first place. Not a trace of it lingers, not even a shred of data that would be used to transport two NetNavis from one place to another.
"Mimic," ProtoMan says, "get us out of here."
The screen appears nearby like it always does, but it flickers and looks unstable. Mimic no longer looks interested, or even amused - she has an all-too-familiar look of fear on her expression, and as ProtoMan watches, she holds up the end of the jack-in cord.
ProtoMan may be a NetNavi, but he still gets cold. And the chill that passes through his body now is nothing short of terrifying.
"Hey, Othersiders."
Arcadia lets out a muffled yelp and hides behind ProtoMan. ProtoMan turns to face the newcomer, a Navi twice his size with a baleful smirk on his face, and glittering cruel eyes.
"You two shouldn't be here," the Navi says. He speaks casually, but ProtoMan can easily detect the threat behind his words. "How'd you end up in Deep City?"
"Deep City?" ProtoMan repeats cautiously. "What is that?"
The Navi chuckles. It is not a pleasant sound.
"Yeah, definitely Othersiders. You guys don't have a clue where you are, do you?"
We would if you bothered to explain, ProtoMan thinks. But he does not say that, because he senses that being defiant is a terrible idea at the moment, when they are in an unfamiliar place - Deep City, whatever that is - and surrounded by what are obviously hostile Navis.
"Why are you calling us Othersiders?" he asks instead.
The Navi gives him a bland look. "Because you're from the Otherside."
That makes no sense.
He feels Arcadia's claws digging into his side. "ProtoMan," Arcadia whispers, high and terrified.
ProtoMan spares him a glance and notices that he is looking around. He follows Arcadia's gaze, and sees that the other hostile Navis are slowly closing in on them. There is something unsettling about the way they slink over, almost predatory in nature.
He feels fear creeping up on him, the same kind of fear he feels every time he sees Proxy.
But this time it does not leave him frozen in place.
"Run," he hisses to Arcadia, and then immediately takes off.
Arcadia follows him on foot, too terrified to fly. The hostile Navis do not chase them, but their laughter echoes and follows them as they run through the dark city's streets, dodging around buildings and other Navis when they come across them. It is not often, but every time they find another Navi, they are either met with hostile silence or mocking laughter.
They slow to a stop in an alley devoid of any other digital life. Arcadia huddles against a wall, trembling, and ProtoMan checks that no one is following them before turning to Mimic.
"Was there ever anything like this, in the deep web in your world?" he asks.
Mimic shakes her head mutely.
"We need to get out," ProtoMan says, glancing at Arcadia. "Now."
"I tried." Mimic's voice is quiet, and shaking. Any irritation that ProtoMan felt with her is gone, replaced with pained sympathy as he watches the flickering screen showing his current operator, close to tears. "It didn't work- it didn't- I'm sorry I made you-"
"You didn't know," ProtoMan says gently. "But, Mimic, we need help. The Navis in this place are hostile and may attack us, so we cannot ask for their assistance."
"Net Agents," Mimic says quickly, eyes widening. "They can- m-might be able to . . . They can he-help."
"Do you know how to contact them?"
Mimic shakes her head again. "Chaud- Chaud doesn't either," she says, after glancing to her side. "Wh- how do I-"
"Email Lan," ProtoMan tells her. Mimic stares at him incomprehensibly. "He said he knew the identity of one of the Net Agents, did he not? Back at the N1. He may be able to contact them for us. And, once you send the email, go to the Hikari household and wait there."
"W-why?"
"Master Blaze will not be pleased if he finds out we were on the deep web," ProtoMan says quietly, feeling a pang of regret when he sees her flinch. But Master Blaze's anger is not the only reason he wants her to go there. "It will be better if you head to the Hikari residence. And Lan may send MegaMan after us, so if he does, you can assist him - you know how to access the deep web, and you can lead him here if that becomes necessary, though I hope it will not be. Go, Mimic!"
She nods, still looking frightened, and the flickering screen vanishes.
"Now what do we do?" Arcadia squeaks, from where he huddles against the wall.
"We wait," ProtoMan says. "And hope that Mimic can get help quickly."
They wait, and wait, but there is no further contact from Mimic, nor does anyone come to get them. In Mimic's case, the silence is not particularly worrying - it has been long enough for her to send an email to Lan and then get to his house, but he doubts that she can connect her PET again, given that they accessed the deep web (and this Deep City place) from her computer in the Blaze mansion.
The silence from any help or rescuers who may be on their way is far more worrisome.
He looks up at the sky, but it does not give any indicators of the time, and he has no access to the PET's functions at the moment. The sky is dark, like the night sky in the real world, and ProtoMan finds himself piecing together their location bit by bit.
"This is the deep web version of Internet City," he says. Arcadia, now huddling into his side, glances up at him questioningly. "That is why this place is called Deep City. And why it looks so . . . twisted."
"I don't like it here," Arcadia mumbles, pressing closer.
ProtoMan puts an arm around him. "Neither do I," he breathes.
Several minutes pass, and still there is nothing. He does not know how long they have been here and feels nothing but pity for Mimic, who has no way of knowing whether they are still safe or even alive. It was a mistake to come here, and she surely regrets pushing him into it. The fear she no doubt feels will be punishment enough, but even if ProtoMan were still irritated with her, he does not think he could bring himself to scold her.
He hears pounding footsteps, suddenly, and judging by Arcadia tensing up beside him, so does his friend. They push off the wall and turn toward the far end of the alley, where it becomes a shadowed bend, and three hostile Navis rush out from around the corner and skid to a halt when they spot ProtoMan and Arcadia.
For a moment, they all stare at each other, silent and tense.
Then ProtoMan slowly takes a step back, keeping Arcadia behind him, and the trio of Navis explode into action.
"Go!" ProtoMan shoves Arcadia - silently apologising for the rough treatment - and they make a break for open ground with the three Navis hot on their heels.
The thought to turn and fight briefly flashes across his mind as they run, but he dismisses it quickly. They are outnumbered - not that it has ever actually mattered before - and these Navis could be more powerful than their appearance suggests. Not to mention they could easily call for backup, which could bring the entire city of hostile Navis to their location, so defeating them would be absolutely pointless.
They manage to lose the three Navis in a maze of streets. Hiding is the only option they have, so they wait out of sight until they are certain the Navis are gone, and slowly creep out again.
"MegaMan," Arcadia yelps suddenly, pulling away from ProtoMan.
ProtoMan feels hope spark in his systems. "Where?"
"There!" Arcadia rushes toward what looks like a glass wall.
It looks too bright and out of place to be in this gloomy city, so ProtoMan is instantly suspicious of it, but then he recognises it - on the other side of the glass is the Internet City they know, with friendly Navis and a bright sky. And, in the crowd, he spots MegaMan.
He is with two of the Net Agent Navis. One is SharkMan - the other, ProtoMan remembers, is called SkullMan. They seem to be discussing something, but ProtoMan hears nothing and can only see them.
Arcadia pounds on the glass. "MegaMan!" he cries. "MegaMan, we're over here! Help!"
MegaMan does not even twitch at the call. He seems completely oblivious to them, and as ProtoMan watches, he nods to the two Net Agent Navis and all three of them split up, with MegaMan taking off in the opposite direction to he and Arcadia.
"Come back!" Arcadia sounds desperate. "Please, come back . . . !"
"They can't hear you. Or see you."
ProtoMan immediately whirls around and pulls Arcadia behind him, pressing them both against the glass. The Navi who had 'greeted' them when they had first set foot into Deep City looks at them from several feet away, with that same baleful smirk. There are several other Navis spread out nearby, all of them with their eyes fixed on ProtoMan and Arcadia.
"It's a one-way mirror, y'see," the baleful Navi explains. "We see them, but they can't see us. Don't try breaking it, either, the firewall's too strong for a couple of Othersiders like yourselves. Us, on the other hand? We might be able to break it down for you."
Arcadia whimpers behind him, and ProtoMan scowls at the baleful Navi.
"But not for free," the baleful Navi adds. That comes as no surprise. "You'll have to give us something in return."
"Like what," ProtoMan bites out. "Money?"
"Not money," one of the other Navis says, with a scornful look. "Nothing's that easy, kid. We don't deal in zennys anyway."
"How about a little service?" another one suggests, and the group of Navis laugh.
"The little bird-boy looks cute enough."
"Nah, the long-haired kid's better."
"Yeah, I like pulling hair, s'more fun."
"Aw, come on, the little bird-boy's cuter!"
"We're NetNavis," ProtoMan snaps, speaking over them. "We do not have those kind of functions, and even if we did, we would never debase ourselves like that!" He feels disgusted at the thought of it, and the feeling only grows worse when the Navis just laugh again.
"What, you think we don't have ways around that? This is the deep web, not your child-friendly Internet City," the baleful Navi sneers. "C'mon, kid, it's just one little service. What's that, in comparison to us letting you out of here? You can't leave anyway, and there's no point in waiting for help. You either stay here forever, running and hiding, or you can give us what we want and we'll help you get out."
"No," ProtoMan snaps.
One of the Navis gets impatient, and takes a step forward. He activates what looks like a Buster, but it seems too jagged and evil to be natural - an illegal modification, most likely. He points it at ProtoMan and Arcadia.
"How about we just delete you here and now?" the Navi spits.
ProtoMan's first instinct is to fight, and his second is to run, so that is what he does. He activates a Proto Sword and throws a Sonic Boom at the Navis, startling them into backing off, and then grabs Arcadia and runs.
He hears the Navis yelling behind them, shouting jeering insults and inappropriate comments, but he ignores them and keeps going, following the glass wall.
It is so tantalisingly close, their Internet City. There has to be a weak point in this wall somewhere, a place where they can break through and escape this twisted place. He hits his Sword off it as they run, testing it for anywhere that might be breakable, but he gets nothing in return for his efforts.
"They're catching up!" Arcadia warns him.
ProtoMan grits his teeth. "We have to get away from the wall."
He feels Arcadia stumble. "Wh- no! We can't, what if there's-"
"We're too exposed here, we need to leave! We can come back later, when they're gone, but for now we need to get away!"
Arcadia has no more protests when he veers away from the glass wall sharply. They duck into another alley, but the group of Navis are too close already and they obviously see where they go, so the two of them continue running.
With every step taken and every corner turned, ProtoMan imagines the glass wall getting further and further away. With it, their chance of escape also gets further away. But if they stay there, they risk being deleted - or worse, he thinks, inwardly shuddering at the Navis' suggestions of a service - so they have to keep moving.
They burst out onto a large, open street. There are no Navis here, which should be a cause for concern, but it only brings relief to him as it means there is no one who could potentially join the chase. But the street is uneven, the ground broken as if some sort of mass-battle has taken place recently, and some of seems to be recent.
Arcadia stumbles over a loose piece of data as they run, and falls to his knees. ProtoMan loses his grip on him and skids to halt, turning around. Luckily, their pursuers are not here yet, but they must be quick.
"Are you alright?" he asks quickly. "Can you still move?"
"Y-yeah, I-" Arcadia glances up, and his eyes widen when he looks over ProtoMan's shoulder. "Look out!"
ProtoMan whips around. He sees a giant mass of shadows, glowing white eyes, and a melting mouth, before it converges on him.
He hears Arcadia scream his name, and then he knows nothing but fear.