The bomb smashes into the wall of an already-crumbling building and sends the entire structure collapsing, and Chaud curses as he blasts apart the debris with a few well-placed Firebombs, trying to lessen any further damage to the remains of the street.
He's lucky that building was empty. His Empath Program told him as much - though he's trying to focus on the two Asteroid Navis currently wrecking the street. Asteroid BomberMan and Asteroid BurnerMan make for a dangerous combo, since BomberMan will not stop kicking bombs everywhere, and BurnerMan's extreme heat means that the bombs go off the moment they so much as brush against anything.
These two Asteroids have already been fought before, but from what Mimic's told him, Chaud knows these Asteroids are just basically powered-up copies of the real things, so he's not surprised that he's facing these two. Lan already beat an Asteroid BomberMan before, with some help from Ms. Yuri, and Chaud and Mimic took down an Asteroid BurnerMan as well - so at least he knows they can be defeated.
Unfortunately, his Holy Fire seems to just be making things worse. Arcadia's not Heat-element, but his Holy Fire is, and Chaud is quickly running out of battle chips trying to find ways to counter these two blast-happy Asteroids. He's having to use his Holy Fire more and more, which only serves to make BomberMan's bombs more likely to explode, and BurnerMan's Heat-element gives him a natural resistance to Holy Fire.
Basically, Chaud is not doing well.
He's frustrated that he can't do much to stop the Asteroids from destroying the street, but at least a little bit grateful that they're contained within the dimensional area - if they only destroy part of the area within the barrier, it's better than the entire city.
He's worried that he'll run out of battle chips and have to resort to exclusively using Holy Fire, which would only make things worse, or whatever hand-to-hand combat he's able to use against two explosion-happy lunatics like this. Which isn't much, honestly.
He's scared that the building he's hiding in will collapse, and the white angel won't be able to stop the two bad Navis from destroying what's left of his home.
Wait. What was that last one?
"That wasn't us!" Arcadia exclaims.
"What?" Chaud dodges a blast of fire from BurnerMan, twisting in mid-air. He's lucky the feathers on his wings are resistant to fire attacks, otherwise he'd have been grounded a long time ago. "What do you mean, that wasn't us?"
"Our Empath Program!" Arcadia reminds him. "You're kinda panicking, so you're unable to distinguish emotions between us and others, but that wasn't us - it was someone else!"
"Dammit," Chaud mutters. He quickly downloads a Side Bubble and shoots it at BurnerMan, then at BomberMan, and uses their distraction to focus on his Empath Program for a moment.
Arcadia's right - that fear he felt, and the thoughts that came with it, aren't his or Arcadia's. He focuses on the fear and locates the source, in a nearby building that's almost ready to collapse. Now that he knows the fear isn't his, it's not so confusing, and he can tell the owner is younger than him, alone, and completely terrified.
Well, that won't do. He can't have a civilian in the line of fire, especially with literal fire being flung around like this. A civilian who also happens to be a child, no less.
Chaud drops out of the air and downloads a Paralyse Bomb, then hurls it over his shoulder toward BomberMan and BurnerMan. He uses his Empath Program to aim between them, and the Bomb explodes on the ground, catching both Asteroids in the blast and paralysing them for the moment.
With both Asteroids incapacitated, however briefly, Chaud can focus his attention on the scared child hiding in the nearby building. She - it's definitely a she, he can sense that much - is on the third floor, hiding in what seems to be the remains of . . . a bedroom? He's not sure, the Empath Program only lets him sense emotions and thoughts, not images. Not unless he's touching the person he's focusing it on, anyway.
Arcadia helps him pinpoint the little girl's exact location, and Chaud once again takes to the air and heads around the side of the building until he comes across the window he needs. There's not much point in trying to be gentle, here, so he smashes the window open with his fist - the building is just about ready to collapse anyway, so one more broken window won't matter, and aside from that, he can't afford to waste time trying to work out how to open the damn window.
The Empath Program lets him zero in on the little girl quickly. She's hiding under a bed, so Chaud slips inside the room, brushing away the bits of glass with his wings, and crouches down to look under the bed.
The little girl's breath hitches and she huddles closer to the wall when she sees him, clutching a teddy bear like a lifeline. It takes a moment for her fear to give way to recognition as she realises he's the 'white angel' who's trying to stop the two Asteroids, and Chaud senses relief flooding through the little girl's mind.
"C'mon," Chaud says, holding out his hand. The claws on his fingertips aren't retractable like ProtoMan's are, but the little girl puts her hand on his palm, so he doesn't need to worry about accidentally scratching her.
He helps her crawl out from under the bed, and then picks her up - again being careful of his claws - and climbs back out of the window. The girl's fear spikes again when he jumps, but he senses a faint trace of wonder when he snaps his wings out and starts flying again.
Huh. So even while she's terrified out of her mind, the little girl can spare enough thought to be fascinated by flight. That's kind of impressive, given that she's, what, maybe six or something? An adult probably would've just been petrified.
He intends to take the little girl to the evacuation zone near the edge of the barrier, where Hunter and Raoul are trying to protect the people who got trapped inside the dimensional area. They can't really take it down to let the people escape, because that might give the Asteroids the opportunity to escape as well, so Chaud's mostly been trying to keep the Asteroids away from the humans.
Unfortunately, nothing works out how he wants it to. The Paralyse Bomb's effects don't last forever, this BurnerMan is just as trigger-happy as the other one, and BomberMan is an unexpectedly good shot with his bomb-kicks.
Chaud feels the heat on his feathers a moment before Arcadia shouts at him to dodge, and he tucks in his wings and allows himself to fall, tightening his grip on the little girl as much as he dares. A blast of blue fire roars overhead and cuts off after a moment, and then something hits Chaud on the back and explodes, and he goes flying through the air - not on his own power, though.
He manages to twist in mid-air just before he hits a building. He senses no pain from the little girl in his arms, only fear and worry - worry for him, which doesn't make sense, because he's protecting her, not the other way around. There's just enough room left in his mind to spare a moment to worry about Mimic, because she definitely felt that impact as well, and he's worried that she's fighting a battle of her own right now.
That's a constant worry, whenever he gets hit. But he's been hit more times in this battle than he has in the past several weeks, because for all his speed in the air and the boosted power of Cross Fusion, he can't fight two Asteroids who are able to resist his only basic attack. Close combat will only make matters worse, which is why he's been avoiding it as much as possible - getting hit by long-range attacks is honestly preferable to being smashed by the fist of an overpowered Asteroid Navi, or getting hit point-blank by a blast of fire or a bomb.
Chaud peels himself out of the small crater he'd made upon impact with the building, spreads his wings, and is almost paralysed by sudden stabbing pain in his right wing.
Broken, Arcadia tells him, before he can look and see what's wrong.
Great. Absolutely fucking perfect.
Oddly enough, the only thing Chaud can think is, can Mimic feel pain in limbs she doesn't have? That's not really a question he or Arcadia have an answer to. Maybe it'd be like phantom pain, like when the scar over Mimic's cybernetic eye throbs, or the bite-mark scar on her hand aches. He should probably call her later and apologise, and maybe ask if she felt the pain from a wing she doesn't have getting broken.
He looks down over the edge of the crater, and sees the ground. It's several stories down - at least six, though the pain from his wing is making it difficult to concentrate enough to actually count - and he doesn't know how to get down.
You should be able to survive just dropping down, Arcadia tells him. Keep the girl above the impact, though.
Thank god for Arcadia. He's in just as much pain as Chaud, but he's able to ignore that and keep a clear head - though Chaud's worried that the pain will flood in, worse than it already is, as soon as they Cross Out. As long as they can last through this battle, pain can be fixed. A broken wing can be fixed.
He lifts a taloned foot, and the little girl's fear spikes once again as she clutches at him, at her teddy bear, too scared to even speak.
"It's okay," Chaud whispers. He can't keep his pain out of his voice, but he can at least try to reassure her.
He steps forward, and they drop.
The little girl's terrified scream is sharp and hurts his ears, but it's nowhere near as bad as the stabbing pain from his broken wing, which flaps around uselessly as he tumbles through the air. He manages to correct his fall and lets go of the little girl a moment before landing on the ground, bending his knees to absorb the impact, and then reaches out and gently catches the little girl in his arms.
"See?" Chaud tries to smile, even though she won't be able to see it through his beak-like mouthguard. "Told you it'd be okay."
His vision swims, he hears Arcadia calling out in worry, senses the little girl's fear and worry, and only just stops himself from collapsing by dropping to one knee.
" . . . Ow," Chaud mutters.
His right wing is on the ground, bent at the wrong angle. He can only just barely feel it beyond the break, so he guesses that it was almost snapped clean in half. His other wing is a little battered, aching and bruised a bit, but is otherwise fine - he can't fly with one wing, though. He can barely stand up.
"I'm sorry," Chaud tells the little girl, carefully setting her down on the ground. "You're gonna have to try and run on your own, okay? You'll be fine. If the bad Navis come, I'll stop them. Just run. Do you know where- where-"
He can't remember the name of the street where Hunter and Raoul are.
"Head for Kayna Road," Arcadia says. "Do you know where that is?"
The little girl nods numbly. She's trembling, even more terrified than before, but more than that, she can see Chaud's broken wing and she's worried for him.
"I'm fine," Chaud tells her, even though he clearly isn't and he's not doing a very good job of lying right now. "Go, okay? Head f-for . . . for Kayna. Go, now, hurry!"
He can sense the Asteroids coming. He can hear them coming, too. Footsteps are meaningless when his opponents are destroying everything in their path.
The little girl hears the urgency in his tone, and she backs away a few steps, hesitates for a moment, then takes off running at Chaud's encouraging nod. Only when she's out of sight and her mind is far enough away that he knows she won't get caught in the cross-fire does Chaud relax, but only for a brief moment.
The Asteroid Navis blast through a half-fallen building, making it collapse completely, and see him kneeling on the ground just a few metres away. Chaud draws in a sharp breath and tries to will himself to stand up, but as soon as he gets his feet under him, his vision blacks out for a split second and he suddenly finds himself on his hands and knees.
Arcadia's shouting, trying to get him to stand up. Chaud wants to, desperately, but he's so damn tired, and dizzy - not to mention he's in so much pain. Too much. Too much pain to think, to move.
Too much pain to fight.
Chaud manages to raise his head, but that's about all he can do. He has just enough strength left to watch the Asteroids coming at him - they're taking their time, simply walking, revelling in the thrill of cornered prey - and no strength left to do anything about it.
And then a blast of black light shoots overhead and disintegrates the two Asteroid Navis.
He gapes at the rapidly-vanishing data remains of the Asteroids, but is quickly distracted when a familiar Navi drops down in front of him. The tattered cloak is something he hasn't seen since they tried to fight Duo before this mess truly began - it vanished sometime during the incident with the island - but he'd have to be completely stupid to not recognise the face that looks at him now.
"You're not doing very well," Bass says, "are you?"
Chaud calls Mimic and ProtoMan, and Bass tells them what he's been doing since the island incident.
"It took longer than I thought it would to get Nebula Grey's power under control," Bass says. "Without that bastard Dr. Regal controlling it, the thing was just a mindless beast, and it nearly deleted me more than once."
"But you have it now?" Arcadia guesses. His broken wing has been carefully splinted while the repair program does its work, and he says he's not in pain anymore - though Chaud suspects he's lying, just so he doesn't make anyone worry.
Bass nods in response to Arcadia's question. "I do," he says. He pulls his lips back in an oddly-accurate imitation of Mimic's creepy smile. "And I'm gonna use that power to destroy that bitch Slur. She's the reason I was in the UnderNet in the first place - she deserves deletion!"
"No arguments here," Mimic says dryly.
"So you've got full access to Nebula Grey's power now?" ProtoMan looks impressed, and a little too eager. Chaud has no doubts that he wants to try and fight Bass, just to see how strong he is now. That'd probably be a terrible idea, but ProtoMan isn't exactly known for being cautious.
"Not properly," Bass replies, dropping the creepy smile. "Like I said, that thing was a mindless beast - and it took me this long just to get it under control. From what I can tell, its power mainly came from Dr. Regal's control, so when he left, he took most of that with him, and what was left over was barely a shadow of what it once was." He clenches his fist in front of himself, glaring at it. "It's just a one-time deal. I use it once, and the power is gone, for good. So I'm saving it for Slur, because I want my fucking revenge."
"A one-hit-KO," Mimic says thoughtfully. "It should work. It did in the anime, anyway."
"I don't want to rely on whatever knowledge of the future you have," Bass tells her. "The future isn't something that's set in stone - I'll use this power to break it if I have to. To break her."
"Hey, like I said, no arguments here." Mimic shrugs. "You should get your chance soon enough anyway. F'you don't mind stickin' around, that is."
Bass is quiet for a moment. When he opens his mouth, the words that come out aren't ones that Chaud ever expected to hear him actually admit out loud.
"You four are just about some of the few people I actually give a shit about," Bass says. "So I don't mind hanging around. Getting a shot at that bitch Slur is a bonus."
They can't help but gape at him. Bass starts to look uncomfortable and then annoyed after a few seconds of this, and his oddly-calm expression shifts into an angry scowl.
"Stop staring at me," he snaps.
"Didn't think we'd ever see you admit you gave a shit about anyone," ProtoMan comments.
"Shut up, cat!"
Arcadia surreptitiously gets Chaud's attention, and then signs. [he's really embarrassed]
"I saw that, owl," Bass barks, glaring at him. "I'm not fucking embarrassed, so shut your non-existent beak!"
Arcadia raises his hands in a placating manner, though as soon as Bass looks away from him, a little, knowing smile appears on his lips.
"What the hell even were those things, anyway?" Bass demands. "I remember one of those Navis from PharoahMan's memories - that one who was kicking all those bombs around. Last I checked, he was deleted. And that other guy was a fucking Darkloid, and I'm pretty sure those guys are all gone, too."
"Do you know what an Asteroid Navi is?" Chaud asks.
"The fuck is that?"
Well, that's one way to answer.
"Slur gives them out," Chaud explains. "They're basically powerful copies of NetNavis or Darkloids we've fought in the past, created from Duo's power. We've been fighting them for weeks, now. Though usually we only have to deal with one at a time."
Bass pauses. "So . . . two at once isn't normal?"
Chaud lets out an exhausted sigh. "No, it's not," he says. "Dealing with one is bad enough, but if we're gonna have to deal with two or more at the same time, I'm not sure we can handle it. Not without help, anyway, so thanks for saving me earlier."
"Whatever," Bass mutters. Chaud can tell he's pleased, though, despite trying to hide it.
"Actually," Chaud continues, glancing at Mimic, "I've noticed something. Usually these Asteroid attacks happen infrequently - one is given to an operator who uses it to do something, usually commit a crime of some sort, and then we have to fight it in the real world after finding the operator and confronting them. But lately, they've started to show up in the real world with no warning whatsoever, and the attacks are starting to become more frequent. It's been happening ever since we found those ruins."
"I remember the attacks got so bad that you guys were fighting them one after the other," Mimic muses. "Dunno if it's 'cus of them ruins, but like I said before, it's nearly the endgame. Slur's stepping it up, and I bet Duo's doing some legwork of his own."
"If that's the case, will we be able to keep up?" Arcadia wonders, worried. "There's only fourteen of you - thirteen, since Baryl's in the past. And the Asteroids are showing up all over the planet."
"Not to mention, you're still at the crater," Chaud adds, nodding to Mimic. "Those Darkloids are still attacking you, right?"
"Yeah," Mimic sighs, slumping a little in annoyance. "Not as much as usual, and it's just Dark MegaMan and CosmoMan now, but they still show up every now and then. S'not fun."
"We can get rid of them easily enough, though," ProtoMan says. One of his shadows waves as he gestures to it. "We just get my shadows to break one of the dimensional converters and force the Darkloids out."
"Dark MegaMan?" Bass looks completely bewildered, and it's only then that Chaud remembers he vanished before the incident with ShadeMan and the Past Tunnel.
"MegaMan's Darkloid counterpart," Chaud tells him. He pauses. "Well, sort-of-Darkloid. No one's sure if he's an actual Darkloid or just an independent Navi who can use the Dark Aura, or maybe half-and-half."
"Oh, great." Bass's bewildered look turns into a bitter scowl. "Does that mean we gotta save him the same way we saved the cat?"
Chaud blinks at him, thrown for a moment, and then realises what Bass is saying.
"Oh, no, MegaMan wasn't turned into a Darkloid," he says. "He was infected with the Dark Aura by ShadeMan-"
"Wasn't he deleted?" Bass interrupts.
"Well, yeah, but the Past Tunnel brought him back-"
"What the fuck."
"Can I finish?" Chaud asks, somewhat irritably. Bass grumbles wordlessly and makes a 'go ahead' gesture. "Thank you. Dark MegaMan was only created from the Dark Aura that MegaMan was infected by. He's almost the same NetNavi because of that, but he uses the Dark Aura as easily as any Darkloid."
"Huh." Bass looks thoughtful. He glances at ProtoMan. "So he's kinda like you, being half something he's not supposed to be."
ProtoMan looks a little puzzled at that, and Bass sighs, rolling his eyes.
"You're part-virus, cat," he says, in a tone that suggests he's under the impression that ProtoMan somehow forgot that.
"I know?" If anything, ProtoMan doesn't look any less puzzled.
"So this Dark MegaMan is like you," Bass says again.
"He's . . . really not. I'm a Virus Navi, and he's either an independent Navi or a Darkloid."
" . . . You're a what-now."
"A Virus Navi," ProtoMan says. He's sporting a proud little grin now, and Chaud's pleased to see that he's actually happy to talk about this - it looks like regular visits to the Secret Village and making friends with other Virus Navis is helping him be more comfortable with his own virus data. "That's what we call ourselves, anyway. NetNavis with virus data that can't be cured or gotten rid of."
Bass looks stunned. "Wait, you mean you're not the only NetNavi like that?"
ProtoMan's little grin turns into a full sharp-toothed beam. "Nope!" he replies cheerfully. "There's lots of us!" He beam dims a little, though. "But . . . well, I'm the only one who's still a personal Navi. Everyone else got disconnected as soon as their operators learnt that their virus data couldn't be cured."
"Hmph," Bass grunts. "That just proves I'm right - humans are selfish assholes." He glances at Chaud, and then Mimic. "Though there are a few exceptions. Very few."
Chaud raises an eyebrow and exchanges a mildly-amused glance with Mimic, but neither of them say a word.
"Where'd you find these other . . . Virus Navis, anyway?" Bass asks.
"There's a place called the Secret Village, in the Secret Area," Arcadia replies. "It was created to be a safe haven for NetNavis who were disconnected by their operators - a lot of the residents are Virus Navis, but there's plenty of regular NetNavis too. Me and ProtoMan visit as often as we can, though I haven't been able to go much lately, since the Asteroid attacks are happening almost daily, now."
"That reminds me, actually," ProtoMan begins, glancing at his little brother, "Thirteen says 'hi', and she hopes you can visit soon. The Cliff Racers said they're holding off their next race for when you can come back, too."
"Ah-" Arcadia blinks, looking startled. "They really don't have to, they can keep the races going without me."
ProtoMan laughs. "Yeah, but they don't wanna! Mythic said it's more fun when you're there, mainly 'cus of your Holy Fire I guess, and Peako said you're the only one who's fast enough to give him a proper challenge."
Arcadia laughs nervously. "Well, honesty is never a problem with them, at least."
"Lot of weird shit's happened since I've been gone," Bass grumbles.
"Weird, but fun," ProtoMan says happily.
Chaud is suddenly reminded of something, and he looks at Mimic. "Speaking of weird things happening," he says, "I was testing a new IPC product, and it did something odd. It flashed while it scanning my palm - and my half-Crest appeared, though it faded pretty quickly. I was gonna ask if you knew anything about that, but then the Asteroid Navis started attacking, and I forgot about it . . . "
"Scanning your palm?" Mimic narrows her eyes and leans back in her chair, thinking for a few moments. Chaud waits patiently, and is rewarded when his twin sister jerks forward with a triumphant expression. "Ah, I remember! Dr. Regal was going around copying all the Crests from everyone. He got yours, Raika's, and Pride's first, and then tricked everyone else into giving him theirs, too. Aside from Ms. Yuri, but he stole that right after anyway."
Chaud closes his gaping mouth and tries to get his thoughts back together. "Wha- why is Dr. Regal stealing our Crests?"
"He gives them to Dark MegaMan so he can try and control Duo's comet," Mimic replies. "It doesn't work, of course. I think I said it before - these Crests are basically just identification marks, nothing more. That I know of, anyway. I mean-" She shrugs. "-the stuff that anyone tried with 'em never worked, so . . . yeah. Doesn't matter much."
"That's . . . worrying," Chaud says slowly. "Duo said we have to pass his test, so . . . " He raises his hand and looks at his palm. "If these Crests can't do anything, what's the point in having them?"
"Like I said, identification," Mimic says, with another shrug.
"And what about Dark MegaMan?"
"Doesn't work. There's a bunch'a complicated stuff involved, but the basic thing is, he tries to take Duo's power for himself and fails, then gets deleted for his efforts." Mimic blinks, and then her expression lights up with realisation. "Wait, if your Crest has already been copied, that means the others've rescued Tesla. That might be why only Dark MegaMan and CosmoMan have been attackin', recently."
"What do you mean?" Arcadia asks.
"CloudMan and SwallowMan got deleted during the rescue," Mimic explains. "And then CosmoMan got deleted - gets deleted - when Ms. Yuri's Crest gets stolen."
"Are you in danger of having your Crest stolen, too?" Chaud asks, even more worried than before. "If it happened to all of us . . . "
"I know what to avoid," Mimic says. "Stuff that scans your palm, and whatever."
"If Dr. Regal's after all your Crests, how is he gonna get Baryl's?" ProtoMan wonders. "I mean, he's dead in this time, so . . . "
"He already got it. He stole it and a bunch of other data when he and Ms. Yuri escaped from Dr. Wily's . . . lab? Island? I dunno, whatever it was."
"Great, so we've got twelve Crests, but the enemy has all thirteen Crests," Chaud says dryly.
"Twelve and a half," Mimic says.
"Huh?"
Mimic holds up her hand, and her half-Crest fades into view on her palm. "Dr. Regal ain't got my half-Crest. And I plan on keepin' it that way."
"Right . . . " Arcadia puts a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe Dr. Regal doesn't know he needs both of your half-Crests to complete the image. He might assume that your Crests are the same, and he won't bother trying to get Mimic's half-Crest."
"Won't stop him from trying to take her for her knowledge, though," ProtoMan points out. His shadows turn into jagged, sharp edges as he bares his teeth. "And he'll have to go through me to get to her!"
"Well said," Arcadia agrees, nodding.
"I dunno what this bullshit about crests is," Bass begins, "but I know enough to understand that Dr. Regal is being an asshole again. I'm still after Slur, but in the meantime, I can settle for messing up that half-human bastard's plans as much as possible. You two want some help dealing with those Darkloids?"
Mimic and ProtoMan look surprised to hear such an offer. Chaud and Arcadia aren't much better - and for good reason, really. Bass had to be blackmailed and even threatened to help them in the past, so hearing him freely offering his assistance - for nothing in return, no less - is more than a little bit startling.
"Well . . . as awesome as that would be," Mimic says, sounding apologetic, "I don't think you need to help us out. CosmoMan's gonna get deleted soon anyway, and I don't think Dr. Regal will risk the same happening to Dark MegaMan 'cus he needs to give the copied Crests to him."
"So these attacks should stop soon," ProtoMan realises, straightening up.
"Hopefully," Mimic agrees.
"Hm." Bass's eyes are narrow, and for a few moments, Chaud is afraid that he'll get angry and leave - or snap at them for being ungrateful or something. But then he speaks, and once again, he says something that no one expected to hear. "Fine. Then I'll help Chaud, instead. He would've been deleted if I hadn't shown up, so he definitely needs an extra set of hands."
"Ah- of course," Chaud agrees, blinking. "Th-thank you."
"What're you looking so surprised for?" Bass demands.
"W-well, it's just . . . we weren't really expecting this . . . from you?"
Bass huffs and rolls his eyes. "Just 'cus I'm an asshole doesn't mean I don't give a shit about you. I don't want you deleted. If those two chaotic dumbasses can deal with their own shit, then I'm helping you."
"Chaotic dumbasses?" ProtoMan repeats. He looks torn between being amused and being offended.
"Thank you, Bass," Arcadia says, bowing gratefully. "Really. We'll be able to deal with these constant attacks much better with your help."
"Yeah, that's the fucking point," Bass mutters.
"Actually, since I probably won't get attacked again any time soon, me and ProtoMan might be able to leave the crater and help out, too," Mimic puts in. "I mean, I gotta get it cleared with Dad and maybe Hunter, but the other Net Savers here can deal with the viruses from the Past Tunnel easily enough anyway."
"I'll write Dad an email!" ProtoMan immediately vanishes from the screen to do that.
"That'd be awesome," Chaud gratefully says to Mimic. "With both of us plus Bass, we'll be able to cover a wider area and deal with multiple threats at the same time."
"Not to mention we can try making actual use of Switch Fusion," Mimic adds, grinning. "Haven't done it much aside from the tests. Should be fun usin' it, right?"
"What the fuck is Switch Fusion?" Bass asks.
"Do you remember during the island incident, when me and Mimic somehow switched Cross Fusions?" Chaud begins. Bass nods, so he continues. "That's Switch Fusion. Only Mimic and I can do it - we're able to Cross Fuse with both ProtoMan and Arcadia, and we can Switch by slapping our palms together. Dr. Hikari says that might have something to do with our half-Crests."
"Think I remember Dr. Amano sayin' that we're basically clones of each other, just with different genders," Mimic says. "So that's why we can Cross Fuse with each other's Navis."
"We swap PETs and synchro chips a lot, or we used to before the Darkloids started attacking Mimic," Chaud picks up the explanation. "Then we had to stop swapping, because she wouldn't be able to fight back with Arcadia as her NetNavi."
"Why the fuck not?" Bass demands, gesturing at Arcadia incredulously. "He's her actual Navi, right? And you said you two can Cross Fuse with both of them."
"Arcadia's my primary Navi, ProtoMan's my secondary Navi," Mimic replies.
"I'll explain that later," Chaud adds, upon seeing Bass's bewildered expression.
"And yeah, I can Cross Fuse with both of them," Mimic goes on. "But Arcadia's ultimate program ability activates automatically in the presence of darkness, and that includes Darkloids."
"In the final battle with Dr. Regal during the Nebula incident," Arcadia says, "Mimic used ProtoMan's ultimate program ability to become the Poltergeist. You'll remember that, of course - you were there. But humans aren't capable of handling ultimate program abilities under normal circumstances, so the effort nearly killed her. The same would happen if my Dark Immunity activated during Cross Fusion - except Dr. Hikari thinks it might be worse than becoming the Poltergeist, because Cross Fusion already boosts power to the same level as my Dark Immunity."
"So the already-boosted power would get an even bigger boost," Bass murmurs. "Right. You guys don't wanna risk what might happen if Darkloids showed up in a dimensional area that Cross Fusion Arcadia is fighting in. Could delete the human or make 'em go nuts."
"That's it exactly," Chaud agrees, nodding. "So right now, ProtoMan is Mimic's NetNavi permanently - or at least until this whole thing is over. But if Dr. Regal really isn't going to try sending any more Darkloids after Mimic, we can go back to switching NetNavis again."
That idea seems to appeal very much to Arcadia, and to Mimic. That's not to say they don't enjoy being with their secondary partners - Chaud knows that Arcadia loves him just as much as he loves Mimic, and ProtoMan is the same with Mimic. But being unable to switch to their primary partners for an undetermined amount of time hasn't been entirely fun, and they'll all be happier if they can finally start doing primary-secondary operations again.
Dad replies quickly to the email that ProtoMan sends him, and so does Hunter. Both of them agree that it should be safe enough for Mimic to be able to leave the crater and begin actively taking part in the battle against the Asteroid Navis, especially since Dad confirms that CosmoMan was recently deleted after Dr. Regal stole Ms. Yuri's Crest.
Unfortunately, now that ProtoMan and Mimic are able to help fight the Asteroids, ProtoMan won't be able to visit the Secret Village for a while. He usually comes here every other day, but like Arcadia, he won't be able to do that anymore because he'll be too busy trying to fight Asteroid Navis.
So he's visiting one last time, while Mimic heads to Heaven's City. He'll come back to the Village at some point, obviously, but that doesn't stop him from feeling like he's turning his back on one of the best things that's ever happened to him.
Poor little Thirteen, the blind child-Navi who calls him Mr. Kitty (and Arcadia Mr. Birdy), is distraught at the news that he won't be coming back for a while. He's wandering around the Village with Thirteen in his arms, and if he were human, he'd probably be suffocating with how tightly she's clutching at him.
Crescendo is with him, too. ProtoMan's made a few close friends with the other Virus Navis, and Crescendo is one of them. Probably his best friend in the entire Village, actually, despite them not really having much in common. But if ProtoMan has learnt anything from his relationship with his family, it's that you don't need to have things in common with someone else to get along with them. It's nice to have stuff in common, of course, but it's not required.
"How long will you be away for?" Crescendo asks, as he and ProtoMan slowly make their way through the Village square.
"Dunno," ProtoMan murmurs. He adjusts his grip on Thirteen and she somehow manages to tighten her arms around his neck even more. It doesn't hurt, and she's not really that strong, so he doesn't complain. "A while, I think. Me and Mimic need to help Arcadia, Chaud, and Bass - and we don't know when things will end between us and Duo."
"Duo's mean," Thirteen whimpers into his shoulder. "He's taking away you and Mr. Birdy . . . "
"Not forever," ProtoMan tells her. Dark Shadow raises one of its arms and unravels it into tendrils, which gently brush against Thirteen. She shivers, but welcomes the cold touch. "It's just until we're done. Then me and Arcadia can come back and visit as much as we want."
Thirteen lifts her head and looks up at him, even though she can't see him. "When you come back, will you and Mr. Birdy play with me?"
ProtoMan leans forward and gently butts his forehead against hers. "Sure. We'll play as much as you wanna!"
"I'll keep her entertained while you two are gone," Crescendo promises, reaching out to brush a gloved hand through Thirteen's pale hair. "We can see if Splinter and Cell are finished with that mine of theirs. And if they're not, we can help them. How's that sound, Thirteen?"
Thirteen gives him a tiny smile. "That sounds fun."
They continue wandering through the Village for a while. Other Navis - some of them Virus Navis, others normal NetNavis - come up to wish ProtoMan luck, and more than a few ask him to pass on messages to Arcadia when he gets the chance. Peako even shows up to tell ProtoMan that he'd better make sure both he and Arcadia come back in one piece, otherwise the Cliff Racers will be after his ass - which is Peako's way of saying 'make sure you both come back alive'.
This visit is pretty bittersweet, really, because he and Arcadia love this place - and yet they have to stop visiting, at least for a while, so they can deal with the Asteroid Navi threat, along with Duo and Slur. Knowing that they'll get to come back at some point isn't much of a comfort, especially since the Village is so kind and full of love.
But they will come back. Just not for a while. Not yet.
They're walking through one of the larger streets in the Village when a shadow passes overhead, and ProtoMan and Crescendo look up to see a huge wyvern-like dragon-Navi above them in the air. It circles for a moment, beating its wings steadily, and then comes down to land in front of them with all the grace that a giant dragon-Navi is capable of. Which is a lot, surprisingly.
"Hi, Mythic!" Thirteen says, turning her head toward the dragon-Navi.
There's no need to wonder how Thirteen knows who it is, despite being blind. Mythic is the only dragon-Navi in the entire Village, and she leaks coldness the same way the Poltergeist is able to leak fear.
That's not really Mythic's fault, though. She's a Virus Navi - her virus data is called the Frostbite virus, and it makes her horribly cold all the time, to the point where she's in constant danger of being frozen to deletion. There's a Heat-element gem embedded in her chest that keeps her warm enough to ward off the constant threat of freeze-deletion. Serenade created the gem when Mythic first arrived in the Village.
But that's not really the only thing the Frostbite virus did to Mythic. If you ask ProtoMan, he'd say she looks a lot like one of the frost dragons from Skyrim - except bigger, of course. Icy blue scales cover her body, and the ends of her limbs are black as a result of the Frostbite virus. No one knows what Mythic's original programming was, and she delights in keeping everyone in the dark, but her Frostbite virus gives her the ability to blast out a breath of air so cold that it instantly freezes anything in its path.
ProtoMan's fought her a few times, and more than once, he lost because he couldn't escape from Mythic's freezing breath. Other times, they just fought each other to a standstill because most of ProtoMan's attacks require physical contact, and Mythic can up the intensity of her cold-effect at will, to the point where simply touching her is enough to freeze you. She's an interesting NetNavi to fight.
And she's also completely obsessed with shiny things, which is why she likes Arcadia so much. His Holy Fire is pure-white and as bright as anything, and it's warm to boot.
"Hello, little one," Mythic rumbles. Aside from being the only dragon-Navi in the entire Village, she's also the biggest NetNavi here. "ProtoCat. Is Arcadia not here again?"
"No, sorry," ProtoMan replies. Despite him insisting that his name is ProtoMan, Mythic still calls him ProtoCat - she says it suits him better because he's a cat-Navi, and while he does understand the logic behind that, his name's always been ProtoMan and he has no desire to change it.
"Bah," Mythic huffs, lowering her long neck until her head is brushing the ground. On anyone else, that expression would look like a scowl - but on Mythic, it's a pout. "And what is this I hear, too? You leave as well? I thought you like this place."
"We do, we love it!" ProtoMan exclaims. "But we've gotta fight to keep the world safe. You remember those Asteroid Navis I was telling you about, last time? We have to stop them from wrecking everything. We're the only ones who can."
Mythic huffs again. "Find others who can, then. Lots is better than few."
"Few is better than none," ProtoMan replies. "And we're the only few there is."
"Fate of our world rests in the hands of few," Mythic grumbles. She raises her head and tosses it, looking at ProtoMan out of the corner of her eye. "This is not good."
"It . . . " ProtoMan sighs, slumping a little. "It really isn't. That's why Mimic and I are leaving - we need to do our part, too."
" . . . Fine," Mythic mutters. "You come back. Cat and owl together, and we all celebrate. Yes?"
"Sure," ProtoMan replies. "I'll tell Arcadia."
Mythic jerks her head in a nod, and then looks at Crescendo. "Where is Serenade today? Not seen since yesterday."
"They received word of another Virus Navi wandering the cyberworld," Crescendo tells her. "They went off to find the Navi and invite it to the Village. They should be back tomorrow, at the latest. Why, did you need them for something?"
"Cave gone cold, need to fix heating system," Mythic says. She taps the gem on her chest with her claws. "This is fine, but want a check anyway. Cold is bad, bad, bad."
The cold leaking out of Mythic sharpens, frost begins to grow on nearby surfaces, and ProtoMan flinches away from it. Thirteen whimpers in his arms and he tightens his grip on her, wishing he had actual fur to keep her warm, but the closest thing to fur he has is his hair, and that's not much help right now.
"Mythic," Crescendo says.
He doesn't shout - ProtoMan's never heard him shout, not even once - but Mythic stops all the same, and the cold-effect drops to normal levels once again. She trembles where she stands, but it's impossible to tell whether it's from her Frostbite virus or her fear. Maybe it's both.
"Go and find Echo," Crescendo murmurs to ProtoMan. "Aside from Serenade, he's one of the few Navis here who can fix Mythic's heating systems and check her Heat-gem."
"Right," ProtoMan agrees, nodding.
He carefully hands Thirteen over to Crescendo, and then drops to all fours and speeds off in search of Echo.
It takes longer than he'd like, honestly. He asks High-End to help him out, since she's one of the best trackers in the Village, but she can only tell him that Echo isn't in the Village at the moment. She says to check the Jungle Wilds, because that's apparently where Echo's scent trail leads, so that's what ProtoMan does.
He shadow-teleports his way to the Gate leading out into the Jungle Wilds, and then drops out of his shadows and heads into the jungle. His shadows split off from him, each tendril going in a different direction to help him search.
One of them comes back just as he reaches the edge of a cliff, and tugs on him until he follows it. The other tendrils come back and form up into Dark Shadow, who darts off through the jungle, easier to follow than a single tendril of shadow.
A few miles out from the Village, in the middle of the Jungle Wilds, is a pristine lake. ProtoMan doesn't like coming here since it's literally a giant puddle of water and he absolutely hates water, but this is an emergency, so he darts out of the thick trees and skids to a halt near the edge of the shore.
"Echo!" ProtoMan shouts, looking around. Dark Shadow helpfully tugs on him and points to a boat out near the centre of the lake, where a single figure is sitting with a fishing rod. "Echo, hey! Can you hear me?"
A screen appears beside him, showing Echo's faintly-bewildered face. He tucks his fishing rod between his knees and raises his hands.
[what is it] Echo asks.
"Mythic says her cave has gone cold," ProtoMan tells him. Echo's eyes widen. "She needs the heating system fixed, and she also wants her Heat-gem checked, just in case. Crescendo said you could fix the system and check the gem?"
[I can] Echo confirms. [wait there]
ProtoMan nods and sits back to wait. The screen vanishes, and a moment later, the boat starts chugging toward the shore. It doesn't take long for it to arrive - it's the same kind of boat that BoatMan uses, and the lake isn't massive like the Dark River, so within a minute or two, Echo is climbing out of the boat and onto the shore.
[where is she now] Echo asks.
"In the Village, last I saw her," ProtoMan replies.
Echo nods and takes a step in the direction of the Village, but then he pauses. ProtoMan turns to look at whatever made Echo pause, and sees a small group of viruses huddled near the edge of the treeline.
Fuck, ProtoMan mutters. We don't have time for this!
Echo glances at him, and then looks at Dark Shadow. [take him in] he signs.
"What-" ProtoMan begins, puzzled, but then Dark Shadow bursts into tendrils and swirls around him.
The last thing he sees before darkness becomes his entire world is Echo taking in a deep breath, and suddenly he understands. There's a split second between normal hearing and the total silence of his shadows, and in that split second, ProtoMan hears the beginning of the loudest scream he's ever heard that isn't coming from the Poltergeist or himself.
Then everything is silent, and dark. He waits somewhat impatiently, knowing that each second he spends motionless is another second wasted - another second that could lead to Mythic having a breakdown and freezing the entire Village by accident. It's happened before, according to Serenade, but ProtoMan and Arcadia have never personally witnessed it, and the Navis who live in the Village say they're lucky not to.
Mythic having a breakdown and freezing the entire Village is on par with ProtoMan giving in to rage and going on a rampage as the Poltergeist, from the sounds of it. So, yeah, ProtoMan kinda agrees that he and Arcadia are lucky to have never witnessed Mythic having a breakdown. But if they don't hurry and fix the heating system in Mythic's cave, he might see it for himself.
Several moments after his shadows took him in, ProtoMan is deposited back on the sandy shore of the pristine lake. He blinks as his eyes adjust to the sudden light, and looks over at where the viruses were.
His mouth drops open.
The viruses are gone, certainly, but so are most of the trees - blasted into pixels and data by Echo's scream, carving a wide and long scar into the jungle. The destruction ends nearly half a mile away, most of it collateral damage from the sheer force of Echo's scream, but it's still impressive and awe-inspiring to see.
" . . . Remind me never to startle you," ProtoMan comments, glancing at Echo.
Echo gives him a half-sarcastic bow, and then gestures in the direction of the Village.
"Maybe it'd be better if we went directly to Mythic's cave, actually," ProtoMan says. "That's the main problem, after all."
Echo thinks about that for a moment, and then nods. He points at ProtoMan's shadows, raising an eyebrow.
"If you're fine with the cold, then sure," ProtoMan replies.
Another nod from Echo. ProtoMan gestures to his shadows, and they carefully wrap around Echo, lifting him off the ground. ProtoMan drops to all fours and immediately takes off toward the cliffs surrounding the east side of the Village - those cliffs are where Serenade took him and Arcadia when they first came to the Village, and the cliff caves also happen to be the home of some of the Village residents, such as Mythic.
More than a few of the Cliff Racers live in caves along the cliffs, actually. It's not just the Cliff Racers, though - a few animal-Navis who're based on mountain-dwelling or cave-dwelling animals live in the caves, too, and there's a few human-Navis who prefer the cliff caves to the Village down below. That's not to say they're cut off from the Village; all Navis are free to wander wherever they please in the Secret Area, it's just that some of them prefer living in different places.
If ProtoMan was a permanent resident in the Village (and while he loves this place, he shudders at the thought, because that would mean Mimic and Chaud wouldn't want him anymore), he'd probably live in the cliff caves, honestly. For one thing, he's pretty sure Arcadia would live there, being a Cliff Racer and all, and for another, the cliff caves are surprisingly comfortable. And there's lots of space to run around or climb.
Mythic's cave is near the top of the cliffs, so ProtoMan takes the most direct path - he climbs up, digging his claws into the rock, moving quickly enough that the gravity system Serenade programmed doesn't make him fall to the bottom. His shadows keep a firm grip on Echo, who's careful not to touch them in case he accidentally causes them to phase through him, and help him up to Mythic's cave quicker than ProtoMan can climb.
By the time ProtoMan climbs over the ledge outside Mythic's cave, his shadows are already setting Echo down, and he barely waits for his feet to touch the ledge before heading into the cave. ProtoMan follows him, but pauses outside the entrance.
It's cold. Almost as cold as the coldness Mythic was leaking out earlier, when she almost freaked out.
ProtoMan shivers, and his hair stands on end. It's warm against his back, and again he wishes he had actual fur - this time to keep himself warm, rather than someone else. His shadows stay close to him, but are careful not to touch him, because they'll just make him colder if they do.
He stays on all fours and creeps inside Mythic's cave. Like this, he's kind of curled up, and that means he's at least able to try and salvage whatever warmth he can from his own body heat.
Inside the cave, it's even colder. He can't stop himself from shivering, and his breath comes out in white clouds. Halfway into Mythic's cave and he has to stop, because any further and he might end up freezing over.
Echo isn't as affected by the cold as ProtoMan is. For one thing, he's not a cat-Navi - and for another, his natural element is Heat, though the Screaming virus he's infected with overrode whatever basic attacks he had before and replaced them with a voice so powerful that he can't speak for fear of causing destruction every time he opens his mouth and tries to use his voice.
ProtoMan's shadows form into Dark Shadow, and it looks at him for a moment, clearly concerned. ProtoMan waves it forward - it'll be more help to Echo than to him, anyway.
Dark Shadow heads over to Echo, who glances at it, and then looks over his shoulder at ProtoMan. His concern is much more obvious than Dark Shadow's, since he has an actual expression.
[maybe go outside] Echo suggests.
ProtoMan shakes his head, though it's difficult to move with the amount of shivering he's doing. "I'm f-f-fine," he chatters. "Ju-just f-fix th-the s-s-sys-stem."
Echo's concerned look doesn't go away, but he does turn back to the heating system and bring up the coding for it. Dark Shadow helps where it can, keeping an eye on Echo's hands for signed instructions, and ProtoMan huddles on the floor in a miserable, shivering ball.
Mimic's currently on her way to the city, which means she'll probably be with Chaud by the time he gets back. So ProtoMan will be able to go straight to Arcadia and cuddle him until this wretched coldness is gone - because Arcadia is warm the same way ProtoMan's shadows are cold, and even better, he can use his Holy Fire to make ProtoMan even warmer.
Maybe if he's really lucky, he can even convince Bass to give up his cloak for a little while. He's not sure why Bass wears it, but it looks warm. If he makes himself look pathetic enough (which won't be too difficult, honestly), maybe Bass will get annoyed and just give him the cloak to shut him up or something.
I fucking hate the cold, ProtoMan hisses, trying to huddle tighter in on himself. It doesn't work. Almost as much as I hate the fucking water!
Dark Shadow glances over at him. Go outside, it tells him.
Absolutely not. Die.
Dark Shadow's eyes are blank white, but the way it moves its head suggests that it's rolling them. ProtoMan would stick his tongue out in response, but that would expose more of him to the cold, and he doesn't want to find out if NetNavis can get frozen tongues.
Eventually, after an entire fucking eternity (it's only a few minutes in reality, but it feels like an eternity to ProtoMan), Echo and Dark Shadow finally manage to fix the heating system in Mythic's cave. It starts to warm up gradually, and ProtoMan has never been more grateful in his entire eight years of being alive.
[myth still in village] Echo asks, stepping away from the heating system.
"Think so," ProtoMan murmurs. He's not shivering anymore, but it's not yet warm enough for him to stop huddling on the floor with his limbs tucked under him like a real world cat. "Haven't heard her anywhere else, at least."
Echo purses his lips, tilting his head at ProtoMan, and then looks at Dark Shadow. [go find please]
Dark Shadow nods and bursts into tendrils, which then dart out of the cave. Echo waits until the tendrils of shadows are gone before coming over to ProtoMan, and he settles down beside him, reaching out to carefully run a hand through ProtoMan's bushed-up hair.
"Fucking cold," ProtoMan mutters, sullenly laying his chin on the floor of the cave. He's not pouting, definitely not. "No wonder Mythic was freaking out."
[could have left] Echo points out, signing with one hand.
"Didn't wanna," ProtoMan replies. "I hate the cold, but I'm not letting it defeat me."
The look that Echo gives him is nothing short of long-suffering exasperation.
"What was wrong with the heating system, anyway?" ProtoMan asks, eager to change the subject. "I thought Serenade made it to be unbreakable, or something."
[everything can be broken] Echo signs. [just need right force]
"So something did break it?"
[little virus] Echo nods. [not like jungle virus just little one made system stop working properly]
"But you fixed it, right? It's getting warmer again." Warm enough that he can stop huddling now, but he doesn't get up, because he's enjoying Echo petting him.
[fixed] Echo agrees. [warm now]
ProtoMan hums and closes his eyes.
NetNavis can't doze the same way humans can, but they can get lethargic - and ProtoMan ends up in that state thanks to the warmth of the heating system combined with the soothing motion of Echo running his hand through ProtoMan's hair. It's nice, really, and the fact that he's being petted is a massive bonus.
He's startled out of his lethargic state when he hears a loud crash, and springs to his feet, looking around wildly, before he sees Mythic on the ledge outside. She looks considerably happier than she was the last time ProtoMan saw her, and she comes into her cave, closing her eyes to revel in the warmth.
Crescendo slides off her neck, and reaches out to help Thirteen down. Dark Shadow forms itself out of the tendrils of shadows that follows them in and immediately heads over to ProtoMan, settling down beside him comfortably.
"Warmth," Mythic rumbles, brushing against the walls of her cave. She's a dragon-Navi, but the sound she's making is very similar to a cat's purr.
She completes a circuit of her cave before heading over to Echo and giving him a hard nudge with her muzzle - it nearly knocks him over, but the gesture is clearly intended as an affectionate one, and Echo has a mildly embarrassed smile on his face as he picks himself up.
"Check gem now?" Mythic asks, plopping down beside Echo.
Echo nods and reaches out to her gem, checking its coding the same way he did the heating system. Thirteen, with some assistance from Crescendo, makes her way over to ProtoMan and sits with her back leaning against his side. He starts purring and she giggles.
Crescendo, on the other hand, wanders around Mythic's cave. Mythic is one of the more private Navis in the Village and everyone is perfectly fine with giving her space, which mainly just translates to not barging into her cave, so not many Navis have actually seen the inside of Mythic's cave.
But there's not much to see, honestly. Some of the other caves that ProtoMan has seen are so homely and cosy that they can hardly be called caves at all - the only actual indication of them being caves are the rock walls, really, and quite a few of them even have front doors. Mythic's cave is mostly bare, has no doors to speak of, and the only real decorations that ProtoMan can see is the glittering pile of bug frags and crystal data in one corner of the cave.
There's a few smaller piles scattered here and there, along with some bug frags and crystal data carefully stacked in small alcoves along the walls, but the biggest pile is that one in the corner. ProtoMan has been in Mythic's cave exactly once before, and she nearly bit his head off when he tried to pick up one of the bug frags from the biggest pile. She's almost ridiculously protective of her hoard of shiny things.
Unlike ProtoMan, whose endless curiosity and recklessness often gets him into trouble, Crescendo doesn't try to pick up any of the shiny things that Mythic has in her cave. He simply looks, inspecting them with vague curiosity, and then moves on. Mythic keeps an eye on him as he wanders, but he doesn't look at any single thing in her cave long enough to raise her ire, so she eventually turns her full attention to Echo and waits for him to finish checking her Heat-gem.
[done] Echo signs, after a few minutes. [gem is good nothing wrong]
"Good," Mythic murmurs, laying her head down on the floor of her cave. "Cold is bad, warm is good."
Dark Shadow tilts its head at her.
"Shadow-Cat is good," Mythic corrects herself. "Other cold is bad. Deletion-cold is very bad. But Shadow-Cat's cold is good."
"Serenade will probably want to take a look at the heating system themself when they get back," Crescendo says. "And your Heat-gem, too. Just to make sure everything's actually okay."
[make heat system stronger] Echo agrees, jerking his head toward the heating system near the back of the cave. [I can't do that only fix it]
"Maybe Chaud could take a look at it, too," ProtoMan murmurs, stretching out. He's careful not to dislodge Thirteen, who's still sitting against him. "He's really good with computers and coding and shi- stuff like that."
"Primary human is intelligent," Mythic says. "Tell him that, when you go back."
"Mm-hm," ProtoMan murmurs.
"Speaking of, when do you need to go back?" Crescendo asks.
"What time is it?"
[three eleven] Echo signs.
ProtoMan thinks for a moment, and then shrugs. "I can stay a little longer, I think. Mimic should be in the city by now, but she needs to go and get her new orders from Hunter before doing anything else, so I've got some time."
"Yay!" Thirteen cheers, half-falling over him. She barely weighs a thing, at least compared to most Navis that ProtoMan knows, but he still grunts in surprise. "Mr. Kitty can stay a bit more!"
Another purr rumbles in ProtoMan's throat and he doesn't bother to mask it. Damn, he's gonna miss coming here every other day - but at least he can comfort himself with the knowledge that he will come back at some point.
Both him and Arcadia. And maybe, if Serenade will allow it, they can bring MegaMan next time - maybe even Bass, too. And SearchMan.
Anyone else might be pushing it, though. ProtoMan's not really sure if the others have enough sense to be tactful - especially when it concerns the Secret Village Navis. Roll has been somewhat careless with her words in the past, GutsMan is the literal worst when it comes to this kind of stuff, and Glide is just about as tactless as his operator sometimes.
But IceMan and AquaMan might be okay. They're both child-Navis, so they should get along with Thirteen well enough. TomahawkMan might be okay too, since he knows about ProtoMan's virus data and, aside from being surprised and a little worried when he was first told, has never really been that bothered by it.
As for their other friends, well . . . ProtoMan will just have to ask Serenade. It'd definitely be fun to show everyone the Village, so he hopes Serenade says it's okay.
