Chaud can hear the ocean waves lapping at the shore as they get closer, and after spending a whole day walking next to a river - and then a huge lake - he's not thrilled about the idea of being near enough water to fill up an entire ocean.
"Why did it have to be a fishing village?" he grumbles. "It could've been any kind of village. A hunting village, maybe. A hunting village would've been nice. It wouldn't have to be near water, then."
"You do realise fishing is just another type of hunting, right?" Arcadia asks.
Chaud scowls at him. "Fishing is only okay when I get to eat the results!" he snaps. "Not when it's right next to water!"
"Your logic baffles me," Maylu tells him.
"You baffle me," Chaud retorts, puffing his cheeks out indignantly. Yes, he's perfectly aware that his retort could do with some work, but sue him - he's going to a village next to the ocean. That's the most water anyone will ever see in a lifetime. He's not very happy right now.
Despite his misgivings, they continue onwards. Up ahead are a collection of large, misshapen rocks, and the sound of the ocean is even louder behind them. It's not a pleasant sound, and Chaud wonders how to the hell Arcadia and Maylu can stand it - more so Arcadia, since he's not too fond of water either.
They climb over the rocks, and Chaud freezes in place.
The ocean is lapping gently at the bottom of the rocks, sun sparkling off the waves. A small pool has formed in a shallow, made from the spray of the ocean, and colourful little creatures and seashells are nestled inside. The rocks themselves are damp from long exposure to the ocean, and there are even more little creatures and the odd seashell or two here and there.
It's horrifying. This much water makes his skin crawl and he nearly falls off the rocks in his haste to scramble back.
"Come on," Arcadia murmurs in his ear, gently tugging him away. Chaud lets him, because he can feel his muscles locking up.
Maylu looks at the water down below almost longlingly before following them, and they head around the rocks this time. They come out onto the shore itself, and they follow at a distance, walking parallel to the ocean, close enough to keep it in sight.
It's not ideal, but it's better than being right next to it. And Arcadia shields Chaud from the view of the ocean with his wings, so there's that, too.
After barely a minute of walking along the shore, Chaud spots someone in the distance, near another set of rocks. Thankfully these are further away from the ocean than the other set was.
"There's someone up ahead," Chaud tells Maylu. He can't see her because she's walking closer to the ocean, and Arcadia is still blocking his view of it. He can't block the sound, though.
"There is?" Maylu sounds excited. "Can you see them properly yet?"
Chaud squints, and so does Arcadia, but they're only able to make out the vague shape.
"We need to get a bit closer," Chaud says.
So they do. It doesn't take long for Chaud and Arcadia to be able to make out more detail - the vague shape of a person turns out to be a kid, judging by the size, and Chaud can hear the kid's voice over the horrid sound of the ocean to his left. He - well, he thinks it's a he - seems to be talking to someone, but who that someone is doesn't become clear until a brown shape hauls itself over the rocks and drops down beside the kid.
A NetNavi. An animal-Navi, it looks like, with brown fur and thick, fuzzy gloves and boots. The Navi sounds very familiar, but the tone is too different for Chaud to place where he's heard that voice before, and they're not yet close enough for him to make out any actual words.
"I'll go on ahead and see if I can talk to them," Arcadia offers.
Chaud grabs his arm before he can fly off. "No," he says frantically. "You're the only thing stopping me from running away from that damn water! Don't go!"
Arcadia looks startled for a moment, and then he must sense the panic Chaud is feeling, because his expression softens and he pulls Chaud closer, his wings warm and soft as he tightens his grip.
"Alright," he says softly. "Alright, I won't go. I'll protect you from the water."
Coming from anyone else, that would sound almost like patronising sarcasm. But while Arcadia is one of the more sarcastic NetNavis that Chaud knows, it's easy to tell when he drops the sarcasm - and this is genuine, definitely.
"Maybe you need, like . . . help," Maylu delicately suggests. "I know you're already seeing a therapist and all, but I think you need help with this water thing of yours."
"I do not," Chaud says, offended.
"If Chaud needs help, so do ProtoMan and Mimic," Arcadia says, and yeah that's definitely sarcasm now.
They keep walking until the kid and the brown Navi are in sight for Maylu as well, and then the brown Navi pokes the kid and points in their direction. The kid glances up, head tilted like he's squinting, and then he jumps to his feet.
Chaud hears him saying something in a very excited tone to the brown Navi. He makes out the words 'could be them', but the rest is lost in the sound of the waves. That's interesting.
"Hi!" Maylu calls, as soon as they're close enough to be heard. "We're looking for a fishing village somewhere around here?"
"What're your names?" the kid demands, without prompting. He's got a cross-shaped scar on one cheek, and Chaud briefly wonders where he got that from.
"Uh," Maylu says, blinking.
"Chaud and Maylu," Chaud says, because Maylu is too startled at the kid's abrupt manner to respond properly. "And this is Arc-"
"You're the ones Lan's looking for!" the kid interrupts, too excited to let Chaud finish. The brown Navi is practically bouncing up and down on his black-clawed feet beside him. "Chaud Hikari and Maylu Sakurai, right?"
"Did you just say Lan?" Chaud gapes at the kid. "A-as in- as in Lan Hikari?"
The kid nods rapidly, grinning from ear-to-ear. "He's been waiting for you! He'll be so happy that you're finally here, trust me. He keeps asking Raika and Dingo about you."
"Raika and Dingo're here, too?" A grin spreads on Maylu's face.
"Yep!" the brown Navi answers this time, nodding just as energetically as the kid - who must be his operator, Chaud realises. "This is Mick, and I'm Fuzzball! Though that's just a nickname, actually. C'mon, we'll take you to the village, Lan and the others're gonna be super-happy to see you!"
"I just said that!" the kid - Mick - complains.
Fuzzball sticks his tongue out with a giggle, and Mick blows a raspberry back at him.
Mick returns Fuzzball to his Gate - apparently his ten-minute materialisation time was almost over anyway, though Fuzzball complains about it loudly - and turns to lead them to the village. Luckily, it appears that the fishing village is further away from the ocean, so at least Chaud won't have to deal with being too close to the ocean forever.
Chaud spots Arcadia frowning at something, and follows his gaze. He realises that Fuzzball is standing on his operator's shoulder, with a happy little grin on his face, though that grin dims a little in confusion when he glances back and sees Arcadia looking at him.
What is it? Chaud asks.
Arcadia twitches to acknowledge the question, but doesn't take his eyes off Fuzzball. "He feels . . . familiar, in a way," he murmurs, too quietly for anyone but Chaud to hear. "I can't quite pin it down, though. I'm trying to focus on him, but every time I do, my Empath Program . . . shuts down."
Shuts down? Chaud is automatically worried.
"It's okay," Arcadia tells him, obviously sensing that. "It's not the kind of shutting down that's bad. It's just the only way I can describe it. My Empath Program still works, it's just that . . . hm . . ." He frowns for a moment, trying to come up with a better way to describe it, and then evidently comes up with one. "It's like my Empath Program is refusing to let me go too deep into his mind. Kinda like how it doesn't let me look too deeply into my own mind."
That's . . . concerning, Chaud comments.
"I'll figure it out," Arcadia says. "Don't worry about it. For now, let's just focus on the others - this kid wasn't lying when he said that Lan's waiting for us."
It's still worrying that Arcadia is apparently incapable of reading Fuzzball's mind, but if he doesn't want to make a big deal of this, Chaud won't argue. Arcadia knows his Empath Program better than anyone else because he's the only Navi who has the Empath Program, after all.
They follow Mick to a village that seems to be built into the side of a gently sloping hill, and Chaud sees fish - actual, literal fish - hung up on racks. His mouth nearly waters at the sight, and the only thing that stops him from darting forward and snatching a few for himself is Arcadia's gentle hand on his shoulder, a silent warning to not eat the livelihood of the people who live in this village.
A woman with an absurd amount of knives on her person is helping to gut a huge species of fish that Chaud doesn't know the name of but very desperately wants to sink his teeth into. She glances up as they approach, spots Mick, and grins.
"Hey, Mick!" the woman calls, raising a hand. In that hand, she's holding what's quite possibly the biggest knife Chaud has ever seen in his entire life, and even though knives are kind of a Bad Thing to him and Mimic, he's in awe of the sheer size of it. Kind of helps that this knife doesn't look much like the type of knives he and Mimic tend to avoid, too.
"Ms. Fahran!" Mick exclaims, bouncing excitedly when they come to a stop near the woman. "Guess what!? I found Chaud and Maylu!"
"We found Chaud and Maylu," Fuzzball corrects him.
"We found Chaud and Maylu!" Mick doesn't even change his tone.
The woman - Ms. Fahran - blinks and lowers her huge knife, finally glancing at Chaud and then Maylu. Then she spots Arcadia, and her eyes flick down to his chest where his NaviMark is, and she freezes.
Arcadia immediately steps forward and holds out his hand, palm up. A holographic screen materialises above his palm, and Chaud sees the writing backwards, but he can read it easily enough.
'No, I am not a Zoanoroid; yes, I've been in the real world for more than ten minutes; no, I don't know why', is what the writing on the holographic screen says. Chaud still can't believe that Arcadia actually made a digital card with those exact words on it. He must really be sick of being mistaken for a Zoanoroid.
"Don't worry, I'm not a Zoanoroid," Arcadia says in a surprisingly gentle tone. "I'm a NetNavi, I promise."
" . . . Right," Ms. Fahran manages, looking faintly unsettled. She's still obviously wary of Arcadia, and Chaud is suddenly very aware of the fact that the amount of knives she has means she must know how to use them.
There's a mildly awkward pause, during which Mick and Fuzzball glance between them, looking worried. Then Ms. Fahran takes in a deep breath, closing her eyes, and when she opens them again, she's smiling. It's a very forced smile.
"So, you guys are Chaud and Maylu!" she says, almost painfully bright. "Lan, Raika, and Dingo will be pleased to see you, I bet. Hey, Mick, Fuzzball!"
The two of them stand to attention, though their grins kind of ruin the image.
"Go get 'em, will you?" Ms. Fahran jerks her head toward a large school-like building at the top of the hill. "I'll keep these guys entertained, don't worry."
"Gotcha, Ms. Fahran!" the two chorus, and Mick dashes off up the hill.
Ms. Fahran watches him go, then turns back to Chaud, Arcadia, and Maylu. "They shouldn't be long. I bet you guys have been missing your friends too, huh?"
Chaud doesn't know this woman, and he's still a bit wary of all her knives and the fact that she froze upon seeing Arcadia's NaviMark, so he just nods. Maylu is more open, though.
"Yeah!" she agrees cheerfully. "I don't even wanna know how many miles we've travelled . . ." She glances down at her dirty shoes with a faint sigh. "I think I'm gonna have to get new shoes when we get back home."
"Beyondard, right?" Ms. Fahran asks, and they look at her in surprise. "Lan told me all about it, how you all got dragged here by Zoanoroids and got scattered around the region. I'm not happy to hear that our war has been forced onto another reality, if I'm allowed to be honest. Those monsters have done enough damage to this reality as it is."
There's not a whole lot they can say to a speech like that, so they just nod their quiet agreement. Ms. Fahran gets back to gutting the fish, and that's entertaining enough to keep Chaud occupied while they wait - and apparently him being so obsessed with watching Ms. Fahran gut a giant fish is amusing for both Arcadia and Maylu, though he can't imagine why. Maybe they're just bored.
Barely a half a minute later, Chaud hears an excited and achingly-familiar voice shouting his name, and he looks up to see his brother speeding down the hill toward them.
Chaud can't help it. A grin breaks out on his face, and suddenly he's running too, a lot faster than Lan, and they collide into each other halfway down the hill.
Lan immediately wraps him into a hug so tight that Chaud can almost feel his bones grinding, but he doesn't give a damn. He hugs his brother back just as tightly, burying his face in Lan's shoulder, fighting back a sudden rush of tears as he clutches Lan's bright orange vest.
"I've missed you so much," Lan murmurs into his ear.
Chaud's too happy and too relieved to make his voice work, so he just nuzzles Lan's shoulder and lets out a faint purr. Lan strokes a hand through his hair in response, chuckling a little.
Neither of them really want to let go, but they can't stand here hugging each other forever. Lan takes his hand and doesn't let go even when they separate, though, and Chaud squeezes his brother's hand and resists the urge to just latch onto him and never let go for the rest of either of their lives.
He spots Raika and Dingo standing a few feet away, watching the scene with smiles - and Trill is there too, bouncing up and down happily. Mick and his Navi, Fuzzball, are watching them with their hands linked behind their heads, identical grins on their faces. The Navi-girl Iris is hovering nearby as well, though rather than being happy, she seems faintly puzzled. Maybe she doesn't understand the concept of missing the people you love. Ironic, considering she's made from kindness and personality data, but whatever.
"Hey, you guys!" Maylu jogs up the hill with a huge grin on her face. "I'm so happy we finally found you!"
"I'm glad you finally arrived," Raika replies, giving her a happy nod.
"Welcome back, you two!" Dingo bursts out, too excited to keep himself quiet any longer.
"What am I, an empty data package?" Arcadia huff good-naturedly, ambling up behind Maylu.
Lan blinks at him over the top of Chaud's head, then glances down at Chaud questioningly. "Uh . . . why is Arcadia materialised? The time limit is ten minutes, what if you need him to fight later or something?"
"He's been materialised for days now," Chaud informs him, and Lan stares at him. "Yeah, we're . . . not really sure how either. He made me materialise him on the first day, and then the ten-minute time limit came and went, and his HP hasn't dropped at all."
"I haven't gone back into the PET even once," Arcadia adds. "Whatever the reason, it means I can protect Chaud and Maylu at any time, without worrying about a time limit."
"That's . . . odd," Raika says, frowning. "I know Trill is able to stay materialised because he's technically an independent Navi. You used to be an independent Navi, so . . . do you think it's because of that?"
Arcadia shakes his head. "I'm a personal Navi now, so the rules that apply to other personal Navis like Roll or anyone else also apply to me. The fact that I used to be independent doesn't mean anything."
"Hm." Raika is still frowning.
"One group has arrived," Iris suddenly speaks up, making everyone glance at her. "May we go now?"
Lan sighs. "Yeah, that was the deal . . ." he says. "Alright then, we'll go."
"Go?" Chaud blinks up at him. "Go where?"
"The dimensional area research lab," his brother replies. "Iris wants to take us there - apparently Beyondard Grandpa wants to talk us, and she's supposed to take Trill back there, too."
"What?" Maylu looks horrified. "But we just got here! Can't we rest even a little bit? We've been walking since last night . . ."
"We must go as soon as possible," Iris insists in that soft voice of hers. "I'm sorry, but we've already delayed enough. I don't want to risk the Zoanoroids attacking us while we're in this village."
"But what about Mimic?" Chaud demands. "We don't know where she is!"
"We know she's safe, at least," Lan tells him gently. "Chaud . . . I know this is gonna sound a bit crazy, but Raika and Dingo met a guy called Master Feng-Tian, and he apparently knows everything that's happening in this world 'cus he listens to the 'voice of the wind'. He said that Mimic rescued herself, so she's not a prisoner anymore."
"I know that," Chaud retorts impatiently.
"You do?"
"I managed to force a sight-share with the two of them on the first day," Arcadia explains. "It didn't tell us much, but we know Mimic is safe from the Zoanoroids, and she has ProtoMan and Bass with her. We still don't know exactly where she is, though."
"Master Feng-Tian told us that she'll find her own way," Raika says.
"Which means she'll probably turn up here, right?" Chaud asks, and Raika nods. "So we can't leave! We've got to wait for Mimic!"
But Lan shakes his head. "I wanted to wait as well. Iris wanted to go as soon as she arrived, though, so we came to an agreement - as soon as one of you guys show up, we go, and leave directions for the other when they eventually come to this village."
"So . . . we're really gonna just leave?" Chaud almost can't believe he's hearing this. "We're not even gonna try waiting for her?"
"If she knows where to go, we'll meet up with her eventually," Raika reasons. "You'll be back with your sister soon, Chaud, don't worry."
Chaud lowers his head to stop himself from glaring at everyone. Lan apparently ignores that, because he gently takes ahold of Chaud's chin and tilts his head back up.
"We will see her again," Lan promises, and the intensity in his voice and his eyes is what makes Chaud actually listen. "She'll know where to go. Besides, this is Mimic we're talking about - for all we know, she could already be making her toward the research lab anyway. We could meet her there or on the way. Either way, we'll find her, I promise. Okay?"
" . . . Okay," Chaud murmurs, with a quiet sigh.
"You guys are going right now?" Ms. Fahran, who walked up while they were occupied, asks.
"That's right," Raika replies. He nods to her politely. "Thank you for everything, Ms. Fahran. You and the rest of this village have been so kind, letting us stay here . . ."
"And letting us cook here, too," Dingo adds, for some reason.
"You guys are the best," Lan says too, grinning at the woman.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" Ms. Fahran laughs. "You haven't left yet! But since you are going right now, it's a good thing I already made your lunches!"
"Lunches?"
Ms. Fahran nods, then takes out her Gate. "SlashMan, transmission!"
Chaud sees Arcadia's eyes widen, then he gives Chaud a pointed glance. It doesn't take a genius to work out what that means - and this time, Chaud can actually remember, too. SlashMan is another NetNavi that was on the list.
And Chaud's betting that Lan knows that. Does he already have Slash Cross? They've probably been here long enough to get it.
"Go get the lunches for me, would you?" Ms. Fahran asks her Navi. SlashMan nods sharply and darts off up the hill at speed.
"You made us lunches?" Lan is still staring at Ms. Fahran like she's the second coming of Duo. "R-really?"
"Of course I made you lunches," Ms. Fahran says, grinning. "You think I'm gonna let you kids run off without any food? I know you've got your supplies and all that, but still. And I've packed some extra, too." She nods to Chaud and Maylu. "For these guys, and that Mimic kid when you find her."
"Woohoo!" Dingo jumps into the air excitedly. "We get to have one last taste of Ms. Fahran's cooking!"
"Hah!" Ms. Fahran barks. "So you finally admit I'm a better cook than you, huh?"
"I didn't say that!" Dingo exclaims indignantly.
Chaud blinks and glances at Lan. "Should I understand that?"
"I'll tell you later," Lan laughs, ruffling his hair.
SlashMan darts back down the hill, carefully holding a couple of packs wrapped up in decorative blue cloths in his arms. He skids to a stop next to Ms. Fahran and offers them up to the group.
"Here you go," SlashMan says, nodding to them. "Two packs full of Pat's special lunches!"
Chaud wonders who the hell Pat is, but then he notices Ms. Fahran raising her head proudly, and realises that must be her first name. Pat Fahran, then. Does she have a counterpart in their own reality? If she does, maybe that Pat Fahran likes cooking as much as this one. Or she could be passionate about the exact opposite, though Chaud's not sure what the opposite of cooking is. Eating, maybe?
Dingo eagerly takes one pack and ties it around his neck, then promptly chokes on it until Raika steps forward with a sigh and helps him out. Lan takes the second pack and, heeding Raika's advice, ties it more carefully than Dingo and thankfully doesn't choke.
"I still wanna rest," Maylu sighs, slumping.
" . . . I could carry you, if you'd like," Raika offers, after a short pause.
Maylu perks up immediately. "Really!?"
"That's just not fair," Arcadia idly comments, as Raika hunkers down to let Maylu climb onto his back.
"What?" Lan blinks at him.
"I offered to carry her a whole bunch of times, and she refused every single time even though she was always exhausted," Arcadia explains.
"She did have a good excuse, though," Chaud points out. "You're way too hot to carry normal humans for any length of time."
"And you're too small, so it evens out," Arcadia retorts.
Chaud blows a raspberry at him, and Arcadia's mock-angry expression crumbles into a laugh.
"Alright then, you lot," Ms. Fahran says, as they finally prepare to leave. "Have a safe trip, and try not to get into trouble, alright? But if you need any help . . ." She twirls her massive knife around before catching it, and SlashMan stands a little straighter beside her. "SlashMan and I are always willing to lend a hand, don't forget that!"
"Thanks, Ms. Fahran," Lan says sincerely. "For everything."
"Ah, get going before we all start crying like little kids!" Ms. Fahran laughs.
Lan laughs and turns to leave with everyone else, but then MegaMan appears on his shoulder.
"Hold on a second," he says, and everyone pauses. "I wanted to ask Fuzzball something before we leave."
"Yeah?" Fuzzball tilts his head curiously.
"Well, it's about your name . . ." MegaMan purses his lips, looking faintly awkward. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, really, it's just . . . well, you said that 'Fuzzball' is just a nickname. But you never told us what your real name is."
Fuzzball blinks. "Oh, that's right!" he exclaims. "I didn't, did I?"
"I have to admit, I'm curious as well," Raika muses.
"Me too," Lan agrees.
MegaMan nods. "So, what's your real name, then?" he asks Fuzzball.
"My name's Arcadia!" Fuzzball replies cheerfully.
A shocked silence follows his words.
Chaud blinks slowly, then, without turning his head, glances at Arcadia - his Arcadia, that is. Just like everyone else, Arcadia looks completely shocked, but after a moment or two, comprehension slowly dawns on his expression.
"So that's why I can't read his mind properly," he says softly.
Ah, that's right. Arcadia can't read his own mind, can he? And apparently Fuzzball - or Beyondard Arcadia, as it turns out - is enough like Arcadia that the Empath Program won't work properly on him, either. Or maybe the Empath Program registers them as the same NetNavi, because for all intents and purposes, they are.
Of all the things Chaud was expecting, this . . . definitely was not one of them.
Lan still can't believe it. Fuzzball was Beyondard Arcadia this whole time? And none of them noticed?
Then again, he does look totally different to Arcadia. Their Arcadia, that is. Fuzzball is a tanuki-Navi, according to MegaMan, and his personality is totally different to their Arcadia's personality.
Although . . . Lan does recall thinking that Fuzzball reminded him of someone, and now that he knows who Fuzzball really is, suddenly it makes perfect sense - Fuzzball acts just like Arcadia used to, before he got . . . well, before he got more mature, for lack of better terms. And one thing the two Arcadias do have in common is the fact that they both have hoods that cover most of their faces and have holes for their eyes. Now that Lan's actually thinking about it, there are a lot of similarities between them; it's just that no one noticed because no one knew Fuzzball was Beyondard Arcadia.
Huh. Well, then.
"You okay?" Chaud asks, startling him.
Lan manages to avoid tripping over a tree root, but only just. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just . . . thinking about Fuzzball, actually. Or Beyondard Arcadia, I guess."
"You guys were with him that whole time and you didn't notice at all?" Chaud gives him an incredulous look.
Lan puffs his cheeks out indignantly. "Well, they're totally different, so . . . a-and besides, Fuzzball's a different type of animal-Navi. If he were an owl, I bet we would've figured out his real name right away."
"Keep telling yourself that," Chaud replies dryly.
"Hey, c'mon, it's not like you guys figured it out, either!" Lan protests.
"We met him for all of five minutes," Chaud retorts. "And Arcadia can't read his own mind, so don't try and use that against us, either."
Lan, who had been about to do exactly that, groans and lifts his face to the sky. He can barely see it through the branches of the trees, but it's still there.
"Save me from sassy cat-kids, please," he mutters.
Chaud hears him, of course, and gives him an amused smirk. Lan huffs out a laugh and shoves him gently, but Chaud - being Chaud - naturally keeps his balance and doesn't even stumble. Which is not fair at all.
"By the way, I wanted to ask . . ."
"Yeah?" Lan glances at his little brother again.
"Ms. Fahran's NetNavi," Chaud says. "SlashMan. He's one of the Navis on that list Mimic gave you, right?"
"Oh, yeah, we got a Cross from him already," Lan replies, nodding. "Slash Cross looks pretty cool. And it's really useful for cooking, actually. I bet Mom'll be happy when we get back - I can put MegaMan into that CopyBot, activate Slash Cross, and she won't even need to use knives or anything! Just ask MegaMan to cut stuff up for her!"
"I'm not a kitchen utensil," MegaMan speaks up, appearing on Lan's shoulder with an offended frown.
"SlashMan is basically a living piece of cutlery, so technically you are," Lan fires back, grinning. Then he glances back at Chaud. "SlashMan's not the only Navi we got a Cross from, actually. That guy Raika and Dingo met, Master Feng-Tian? Turns out he's the operator of TenguMan!"
"TenguMan?" Chaud looks blank for a moment, until Arcadia leans over and whispers to him. "Ah, he was another one, then."
"Yep!" Lan agrees cheerfully. "Though I didn't meet the guy personally. Apparently TenguMan gave some of his data to SearchMan just before Master Feng-Tian left, and that data was what we needed to make Tengu Cross."
Chaud perks up. "Oh, that reminds me!" He takes out his PET. "We met some other Navis who were on that list, too. I have ChargeMan and DustMan's data on my PET, and Maylu has GroundMan's data on hers, since mine didn't have the memory capacity to store three of them."
"Three!?" Lan repeats, gaping at him. "You guys seriously found three Cross Navis?"
"Yep." Chaud looks decidedly smug about it. "You want the data now?"
"Do I!" Lan eagerly takes out his own PET.
"Hold on, Lan," MegaMan says, before he can get the data off Chaud.
"Aw, what?"
"Wait until we stop for a rest before getting that data," MegaMan tells him. "I don't want to get the Cross of a Navi who's crazy-energetic like ProtoMan and end up running off or something. It'll be easier to sort out the new Crosses when we're not walking, anyway."
"None of the Navis we found were 'crazy-energetic' like ProtoMan," Arcadia says, "but MegaMan does have a point."
"Ah, fine," Lan sighs, putting his PET away. Chaud does the same. Lan looks up ahead, to where Iris is leading them through the forest path. "Hey, Iris! Can we rest soon?"
MegaMan sighs at his impatience, but Iris glances over her shoulder and blinks at him.
"I'd rather get back to the lab before nightfall," she calls back.
"Aw, c'mon!" Dingo complains, and it's only then that Lan notices how he's stumbling alongside the group. "My feet are killing me, and I'm starving . . ."
"You think you've got it bad?" Maylu huffs from her perch on Raika's back. "Try having to keep up with a cat-boy and a NetNavi for days on end!"
"Sorry," Chaud says, wincing.
"Oh, I don't blame you," Maylu quickly says. "It's just that it was really exhausting."
"I'm still sorry."
"We should be at the peak of the mountain soon," Raika speaks up. Even though he's carrying Maylu, he doesn't seem to be at all bothered by the hike. Probably because of his Sharoan Net Saver training. "Maybe we could stop there and eat some of this lunch Ms. Fahran made for us."
" . . . Very well," Iris agrees, nodding. "We'll rest there, then."
Even though Lan's nowhere near as exhausted as Dingo seems to be, he still breathes a sigh of relief. In a group consisting of three materialised NetNavis (one of whom is using a CopyBot, but same difference), a cat-boy, and a Sharoan Net Saver, he and Dingo seem to be the only ones who would even remotely be in danger of lagging behind. And Maylu, but she's being carried, so she doesn't count yet.
Besides, he can't wait to find out what these lunches Ms. Fahran made for them taste like. Anything she cooks is amazing, even the simple stuff - she's that good. His stomach nearly growls at the thought of eating her amazing food, and he's sorry he might not get to taste it again.
It's the middle of the afternoon when they finally arrive at the fishing village, and Mimic has never been more glad to see civilisation in her entire fucking life. She's not so happy to see the ocean in the distance, but whatever - can't have everything, can you? Life'd just get boring otherwise.
ProtoMan nearly bounces beside her, just as happy as she is to finally find the village, and although Bass's reaction is far more sedate than theirs, he still quirks his mouth into a half-grin. Baryl just looks insanely relieved.
"Finally," he mutters. "Maybe now I can have a conversation with someone who isn't completely insane."
"I heard that," Mimic informs him, and he jerks.
" . . . Sorry," Baryl says, after a slightly awkward pause.
"Nah, s'cool," Mimic says, shrugging. "We're all nuts, definitely."
Baryl stares at her for a moment. "Right," he eventually says. " . . . Let's get down there, then. Hopefully your brother will still be around."
Mimic would ask why her brother - Lan, that is - wouldn't be in the village, but she remembers that he's supposed to head to the dimensional area research lab at some point. That was only because they rescued Iris, though, and Mimic has no idea where Iris is since she was the one who got kidnapped instead of her.
She's hoping that Lan's still in the village, though. She wants her brother, dammit. She wants both of her brothers, actually, but she'll settle for one if that's all she can get at the moment. One is better than none, after all.
ProtoMan takes off his helmet and Mimic activates the colour change program for him, and they head down into the village, passing absolutely no one until they get close to the old building that Mimic recognises as the school from the anime. She can't remember if it was still in use or not - the anime wasn't exactly clear on that, honestly. What she does remember is that it's where Pat Fahran apparently took up residence, so hopefully the lady's there, and she'll know where Lan is if he's not with her.
They're in luck. Pat Fahran herself is outside the old school, chopping up a bunch of fish on a table with her Navi, SlashMan, materialised and helping her. There's a kid with them - it's that Mick kid, the one with the weird scar on his face, though Mimic's not really one to talk about weird facial scars - and for some reason he has a NetNavi on his shoulder, not one that Mimic recognises, though she definitely doesn't remember him having a NetNavi in the anime. He had one in the games, yeah, but it wasn't this Navi.
"Hey!" Pat Fahran calls, spotting them pretty much immediately. "You wouldn't happen to be Mimic Hikari, would you?"
Mimic doesn't feel like shouting across this distance, so she just nods. Her eyes keep drifting down to the fish that Pat Fahran is cutting up, and ProtoMan has even less self-restraint than she does - he sees the fish, practically vibrates on the spot, and then launches himself forward.
"Whoa-" Pat Fahran's eyes widen and she jerks back, SlashMan and Mick just as startled.
"Dammit, cat!" Bass tries to lunge forward and grab ProtoMan, but he's too slow and ProtoMan is on the table before anyone can stop him.
"Fish-fish-fish-fish!" ProtoMan chants eagerly, snatching up one of the fish that's still intact and opening his mouth to take a bite.
"Get off that table!" Baryl tells him sharply, marching forward. "And put that fish down, I said I'm not letting you steal anything else and I meant it."
"But fish!" ProtoMan protests.
Baryl yanks him off the table and pulls the fish out of his hands, much to his despair.
"I'm sorry about him," Baryl sighs, turning to Pat Fahran. He puts the fish back on the table, then gives ProtoMan a hard stare when he tries to sneakily grab another one. "Don't even think about it."
"You're mean," ProtoMan grumbles, shuffling away and pouting.
"Uh . . . it's alright," Pat Fahran says, though she still looks startled. She glances at Mimic as she walks over with Bass. "Hey there, Mimic. I know it's kinda weird, a stranger knowing your name and all-"
"You know my big brother," Mimic interrupts, and Pat Fahran stares at her. "Lan? He's here, right? D'you know where he is?"
" . . . How did you . . ." Pat Fahran blinks incredulously.
"I know stuff." Mimic shrugs. "So, my brother?"
"Uh . . ." Pat Fahran blinks again, finally gets her wits back, and then gives Mimic an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry, you just missed him. He left about an hour ago with your other brother - Chaud, right? - and their friends. But they left me with directions, so you can still catch up to them!"
Ah. Mimic remembers this - except it was Chaud and Maylu in this position, in the anime. They got to the village just after Lan and the others left, and had to play catch-up. At least she knows she'll find them eventually, and her twin brother is apparently with them, too, so that's even better.
Still doesn't stop her from being disappointed, though. She was hoping to at least find Lan as soon as she arrived in this fishing village, and now she finds out that she missed him? And Chaud, too? By an hour? That's not fucking fair. But it's just typical, isn't it? First she gets completely lost, and now she finds out she missed her brothers.
"Hi," ProtoMan suddenly says, startling Mimic out of her slightly depressing thoughts.
She blinks and looks up, only to see him leaning into Mick's personal space. Poor kid looks very startled, even more than Pat Fahran was a few moments ago, and the Navi on his shoulder looks like he can't decide whether he should be indignant or freaked out by ProtoMan's close proximity.
Personal space, dude, Mimic tells her Navi. Not everyone likes you being in their face like I do.
"Bleh," ProtoMan says, but he moves back anyway, though he doesn't take his eyes off Mick and the Navi. "Hi, I'm Pr-"
Bass clears his throat loudly.
"-etty happy to meet you!" ProtoMan corrects himself quickly.
" . . . Happy to meet you too?" the Navi replies uncertainly, because Mick is apparently incapable of responding.
ProtoMan tilts his head. "You sound like my brother," he says.
"I-" The Navi blinks. "Your . . . brother?"
ProtoMan nods eagerly. "His name's Arcadia-" That makes the Navi's eyes widen, and Mick looks completely shocked, as do Pat Fahran and SlashMan. "-and he's my little brother. You kinda remind me a lot of him, actually, not just 'cus of your voice. I think it's the hood. He's got a hood too. But he's an owl-Navi, see, and you're . . . I think you're a dog-Navi?"
"Tanuki," the Navi corrects him quietly, apparently stunned. "I'm . . . I'm a tanuki-Navi."
"That's cool!" ProtoMan exclaims brightly. "I've never met a tanuki-Navi before! But you still remind me a lot of my brother, even though you're a tanuki-Navi, not an owl-Navi."
"Your brother . . . wouldn't happen to be a white NetNavi, would he?" Mick asks hesitantly, finally finding his voice. "With these big, fluffy wings on his back?"
"Yeah, that's him, why?"
"Oh my god," Mick says softly, and the Navi on his shoulder lets out a quiet squeak of shock. "Oh my god. That white NetNavi was Beyondard Arcadia!"
"Beyondard Arc-" ProtoMan breaks off, takes a closer look at the Navi on Mick's shoulder, and then his mismatched eyes widen. "Wait, you're Arcadia! Another Arcadia!"
"Yeah, I guess I am," the Navi says faintly.
Mimic has completely lost track of what's going on, but from what she can understand, this brown NetNavi - who does admittedly look like a dog - is apparently the Beyondard version of her primary NetNavi?
That . . . is an insane coincidence. So not only has she met a Beyondard version of ProtoMan, she's also met a Beyondard version of Arcadia, too. Though she has no idea where the hell Beyondard Arcadia came from - he certainly wasn't in the anime, at least. Neither was her Arcadia, but still.
"Huh," Pat Fahran says, blinking. "I knew there was something familiar about that white Navi. That NaviMark of his threw me off, though . . ."
"It does look remarkably like Falzar's symbol," SlashMan agrees thoughtfully.
"What is going on, here?" Baryl asks, looking completely lost.
"I found another brother!" ProtoMan happily tells him.
That doesn't make Baryl look any less confused. "Right . . ."
"So, do you guys want directions to the dimensional area research lab?" Pat Fahran asks them, because apparently she wants to get them back on track.
"The dimensional area research lab?" Baryl repeats. "That's where they went? Are you certain?"
"That's where they said they were going," Pat Fahran agrees. "Why, do you know it?"
Baryl places a hand over his pocket, where his Gate - and Colonel - is. "I . . . do, yes. If that's where Mimic's friends have gone, then we don't need directions. I know where it is."
Pat Fahran blinks. "Oh. Then I guess there was no point in leaving directions with me, after all . . ." She frowns.
"Better safe than sorry, Pat," SlashMan tells her, carefully patting her arm with his knife-like fingers.
"Yeah, I guess so," Pat Fahran sighs.
Baryl turns to Mimic. "Are you alright to keep going today? If we head out again now, we may be able to meet your friends on the way there, or at least meet them at the lab itself."
"Not tired at all," Mimic replies. "Let's fuckin' go!" She wants to see her brothers again, dammit. And her friends, too. But mostly her brothers.
Pat Fahran watches them for a moment, and then carefully sets down her giant knife. "Actually . . . do you mind if I tag along?" she asks.
Mimic and Baryl look at her, surprised. ProtoMan even looks up from Beyondard Arcadia long enough to blink at her, and Bass just stares.
"I'm kinda worried about Lan and the others," Pat Fahran admits sheepishly. "It's only been an hour, but I can't stop thinking about them - worrying about whether they've gotten to where they need to go, about whether they'll be eating well . . ."
"But Ms. Fahran . . ." Mick trails off, looking almost betrayed.
"Sorry, kiddo," Pat Fahran says, ruffling his hair and giving him and Beyondard Arcadia an apologetic smile. "I know you want me to stick around, but I'm way too worried about those guys. Besides, I won't be gone forever! I'll be back, promise." She gives them a proper smile this time. "And I'll be counting on you two little tricksters to look after this village while I'm gone, yeah?"
Mick and Beyondard Arcadia continue to look sad for a moment or two, but then identical grins spread on their faces, and they give Pat Fahran determined nods.
"You got it, Ms. Fahran!" Mick agrees.
"You can count on us!" Beyondard Arcadia adds.
"Wait, hold on, we didn't agree to-" Baryl begins.
"Fish lady!" ProtoMan cheers, throwing his arms into the air happily. "Fish lady's coming with us, yay!"
Mimic's eyes widen, and she realises that Pat Fahran coming with them also means that they'll have someone who actually knows how to fucking cook. And, as ProtoMan said, fish lady.
Mother. Fucking. Fish.
"Fish lady!" Mimic adds in her own cheer.
"Wait-" Baryl tries.
"Fish lady, fish lady, fish lady!" Mimic and ProtoMan chant eagerly.
"I didn't-"
"Fish lady," Bass interrupts, shrugging.
Baryl gapes at him, and then buries his face in his hands with a heavy groan.
"So, am I coming with you?" Pat Fahran asks, leaning forward expectantly.
"Fish lady, fish lady, fish lady-"
"Fine!" Baryl bursts out. "Fine, she can come with us."
Mimic cheers, and then yelps and laughs when ProtoMan picks her up and happily starts spinning them both around.
"Well, at least I won't get bored," Pat Fahran laughs.
The peak of the mountain luckily has some very convenient rocks for them to sit on while they eat their lunches. There's enough in Lan's pack for all of them - including Trill, Arcadia, and Iris, actually - so they don't need to open Dingo's pack yet. Which is really good, since Lan's pretty sure that Dingo's pack has more food in it than his does.
He's already finished his own lunch, and Chaud and Maylu have now given him the Cross data they collected. Chaud sits next to him on the rock, leaning up against his side with his head resting on Lan's shoulder, and idly watches him cross out the names of ChargeMan, DustMan, and GroundMan on the Cross Navi list with a bit of charcoal that Raika managed to find for him.
There's just three Crosses left on the list, now. KillerMan, a Navi he's never met before; HeatMan, though they still don't know if there's any data of him left in FireMan; and ElecMan, who will hopefully let them take the data without a fight.
The three new Crosses that Lan and MegaMan just got are pretty interesting. Charge Cross makes MegaMan look like a train with arms and legs, Dust Cross makes him look like a living recycling machine, and Ground Cross makes him look like a living drill machine. Only the first of those changes MegaMan's personality drastically, making him somewhat of a more boisterous version of himself, while the other two only make him want to recycle things and dig holes.
At least his wide variety of abilities from all these different Crosses means they could probably get out of literally any situation they find themselves in. Though Lan's not entirely sure what situation would require MegaMan turning into a train or a recycling machine.
"Maybe to clean up the internet," Chaud says dryly, when Lan brings it up. "It's full of crap, after all."
"You spent a good several hours trawling through that 'crap' with Mimic, if I recall," Arcadia speaks up from where he's sitting against the rock below them. "And you enjoyed it."
Chaud puffs out his cheeks and nudges the back of Arcadia's head with his toes, but not too hard. Arcadia just laughs.
"God, I've missed you," Lan says, without thinking.
Chaud and Arcadia glance at him. Chaud doesn't have Arcadia's Empath Program, but it seems they both understand anyway.
"I missed you too," Chaud murmurs, snuggling into his side, and Lan wraps an arm around him.
And then his PET goes off, nearly startling him into falling off the rock, and he's pretty sure the only thing stopping Chaud from doing exactly that is the fact that Lan is holding onto him. Everyone else looks up as well - even Dingo, who's the only one still eating, jerks his head up and stares.
Lan fumbles with his PET for a moment, and manages to slot it out of the holder on his arm just as MegaMan's Navi-hologram appears on his shoulder.
"It's a transmission of some kind," he says, though he looks puzzled. "It's coming through in a very strange way, though. I can't tell who the caller is, and I can't answer it or anything."
"That's concerning," Chaud comments. "A hacker, maybe?"
"Are hackers even a thing in this reality?" Raika wonders, frowning. "There's nothing to hack, as far as I'm aware."
Lan frowns at his PET, at the static-snow on the screen. It's coming through high-pitched and noisy, and underneath that noise, he can just about hear what sounds like a voice.
"La-" The static drowns out the voice for a moment. "-ear me-" More static, and then it quietens for a second, and the voice comes through clearly. "Lan!"
"Dad!?" Lan exclaims, gripping his PET with both hands, now. Chaud sits up, staring at his PET with wide eyes. "Dad, is that you!?"
The transmission cuts off abruptly, but the sound explodes from Chaud's PET next. He doesn't bother taking it out, but instead listens intently.
"-aud- hear m- ans- plea- Chau-"
The static noise is almost unbearable for several moments, and then, like it did on Lan's PET, it cuts off.
"That was definitely Dr. Hikari," Arcadia says. "The transmission was one-way only, though. We can't call him back."
"Dad's trying to contact us," Lan breathes, grinning at Chaud, who seems almost too shocked to respond for a moment or two before a grin of his own slowly spreads on his face.
"So," Pat Fahran - or just Pat, as she insists they call her - says, "you're ProtoMan?"
"Yep," ProtoMan agrees, nodding.
"But you're not the Sunset Warrior."
"Nope." This time he shakes his head.
"You're the Beyondard version of the Sunset Warrior."
"Uh-huh."
"Same way that white Navi was the Beyondard version of the fuzzball?"
"Yea- wait, what fuzzball?"
Pat chuckles a little. "Arcadia. Beyondard Arcadia, I guess you'd call him, right?"
"Ah, then yeah," ProtoMan agrees again, with another nod.
Pat's quiet for a moment, thinking that over, and then she hums. "I can see why you'd hide your identity," she says eventually. "Everyone knows who the Sunset Warrior is - and he's terrifying."
"Good thing I've already gotten used to pretending to be Blues," ProtoMan says, with yet another nod.
Mimic undid the colour-change program just after they left the fishing village, and he'd put his helmet back on just in case they get attacked. Naturally, that made Pat freak out a little bit, which led to this conversation. She's taking it pretty well, though. Better than those CM Forces guys did, at least.
Pat's about to say something else, but then ProtoMan suddenly gets alerted to an incoming transmission on Mimic's PET - about a split second before static noise explodes into existence, making him hiss and shake his head in pain. Mimic nearly jumps ten into the air and then almost drops her PET when she takes it out.
What the hell? she wonders, too surprised to speak out loud.
The static-noise is nearly unbearable and ProtoMan presses his hands onto the audio receptors on the sides of his helmet, though it doesn't do much to help. He feels sorry for Mimic, who can only cover one ear with her free hand while trying to work out what the fuck's going on with her PET in her other.
But then they hear an achingly-familiar voice underneath that static, and ProtoMan lowers his hands, eyes widening under his visor. Mimic goes completely still, Bass stares at her PET with shocked eyes, and Baryl and Pat just look completely confused.
"-hea- ca- please ans- plea- Mi-"
"Dad," Mimic whispers, now gripping her PET with both hands. "Dad!"
ProtoMan darts forward and grips her shoulders, leaning over her to look at the screen. It's nothing but static, and he can't make a connection to the transmission, but it's there and it's happening.
The transmission cuts off all too soon, but their excitement still lingers. ProtoMan can't help himself - he wraps his arms around Mimic, purring his head off, and she grips his arms and hugs him back, laughing as his shadows coil around them joyfully. Bass doesn't join in on their happy little celebration, but the grin on his face suggests that he would if he were the type.
Dad's trying to contact them. And even if the transmission was garbled and only one-way, it's obviously working.
From the forested mountain to a dry, sandy desert. The terrain of Beyondard is something else entirely. It's unclear if Beyondard was always like this, or if the Great Change just completely destroyed this reality's ecosystem. The only people they could ask are no longer around to ask, and the only natives of Beyondard they have with them right now are Trill and Iris - both of whom were created well after the Great Change occurred.
Though Raika's never actually heard anyone give them a specific timeframe for when the Great Change happened. Obviously it wasn't recently, otherwise this reality's inhabitants would still be struggling to adjust, and clearly everyone who lives here is already used to sharing their space with beings of the cyberworld such as viruses or NetNavis. But just how long ago the Great Change occurred isn't exactly clear.
"All records of the Great Change have been erased or corrupted," Iris says, when he decides to ask the one person who might actually be able to give him an answer. "I don't know the exact timeframe of when the Great Change occurred, and the timestamps of the corrupted recordings in the dimensional area research lab have been wiped clean. Even my creator doesn't know, because he's electronic as well, and thus his memories of the event's timeline were also corrupted."
"Sounds like it was on purpose to me," Chaud muses. "Like Dr. Wily wanted to erase any hint of the Great Change from everything he could get his hands on, maybe."
"He can't erase the memories of humans and beings of data who remember the old world, though," Raika points out.
"Humans are prone to doubt," Arcadia speaks up. "Given enough time, even the humans who actually remember the old world will become so used to this new one that they might actually begin to doubt whether their memories of the old world are real. And since most beings of data are infected with the Beast Factor, any Navis or viruses who remember the old world won't care about it at all. Anyone who was born or created after the Great Change will only know this world, too."
"That's kinda sad," Lan says quietly.
"I like this world, though!" Trill puts forward his own opinion with a beaming smile, swinging Lan's hand happily. "'Cus it means I get to walk around in the real world for as long as I wanna!"
Raika refrains from pointing out that's exactly what they're talking about.
"Even if this place lets us materialise our Navis," Dingo says, "I don't think I like it that much. Seriously, there's way too much desert in this place! I keep swallowing sand, for the sacred totem's sake! Sand!"
"Have you tried not face-planting every three steps?" Raika deadpans.
"I can't help it!" Dingo whines. "How the heck do you guys keep your feet steady on this stuff!?"
"I walk on snow all the time," Raika tells him.
"I'm a cat," Chaud says.
"NetNavi," Iris replies quietly.
"Same," Arcadia agrees.
"Me too!" Trill brightly says.
"I've had a lot of practise," Lan adds.
"I'm not even walking," Maylu speaks up, shifting a little to get more comfortable on Raika's back.
"You guys suck," Dingo grumbles.
Lan lets out a nervous little laugh and glances at Iris. "So, how long until we get to the lab, anyway?"
"It's about a kilometre ahead of us," Iris answers. "We should arrive there before sunset, at least. We've made good time."
"Only 'cus you kept pushing us," Dingo mutters under his breath.
"Good thing we're so close," Chaud says, glancing at Raika with a very cat-like smile, which is fitting for him. "Otherwise you'd have to carry Dingo there."
Raika sighs. "I don't think I can carry both Maylu and Dingo."
"Dude, c'mon!" Dingo protests. "I saw your muscles, man, you could definitely carry both of us!"
"Not comfortably," Raika retorts. "Unless you enjoy being carried like a sack of potatoes, that is."
"Hm . . ." Dingo actually looks like he's considering it.
"No way!" Maylu, on the other, vocalises her displeasure very quickly. "I don't wanna be carried like a sack or whatever! Let him walk, I'm fine up here."
"Glad to know that you're willing to sacrifice for your friends," Raika dryly comments.
"My friends are crazy people," she complains, and Raika lets her have that because it's true anyway.
"Raika!" SearchMan's Navi-hologram suddenly appears on his shoulder, and Raika pauses, glancing at him. "I detect enemies up ahead! Zoanoroids!"
Raika snaps his head up, giving their immediate surroundings a quick scan with his eyes, but he sees nothing - aside from sand, that is. He doesn't question his Navi's warning, though, because SearchMan isn't the type to give out false warnings or play pranks, no matter how much sass he gives Raika nowadays.
"Get ready for battle," he tells the group, and then lets Maylu slide down off his back. He's going to need his hands free if he wants to operate his Navi properly.
"But I don't see anything," Lan protests, confused.
Arcadia is concentrating, no doubt attempting to use his Empath Program to locate the Zoanoroids, and when his eyes widen, Raika knows he's found them. His hands light up with Holy Fire and he immediately unleashes it in a twin stream of Flashfire, hitting a seemingly-random patch of sand.
A startled and pained bellow tells them that the patch of sand wasn't so random after all, and then a Zoanoroid jumps out of the sand, slightly scorched.
Raika recognises this one. YamatoMan, or Zoano YamatoMan - though the only incarnation he met was Asteroid YamatoMan, who Iriya used to steal historical weapons. That brief encounter was still seared into his memory, mostly because of how much it hurt to realise that his friend was the criminal responsible for the stolen weapons.
This YamatoMan seems to be very similar to Asteroid YamatoMan, unlike most Zoanoroids who are very different to their NetNavi or Darkloid counterparts. He has a similar colour scheme and is wielding a long golden-tipped spear, and the only real difference is the symbol of Gregar in place of his NaviMark.
"You're very perceptive," Zoano YamatoMan compliments them politely. "I congratulate you for uncovering my location. However!" He brandishes the point of his spear at them. "That does not mean you stand a chance against me! Hand over the Synchroniser or suffer the consequences!"
Behind him, plumes of sand explode upwards, revealing a small army of Zoanoroid soldiers. Unlike their leader, they hold up standard Buster weapons, but the sheer amount of them means that it'll be difficult to fight back. Especially since the group has to deal with Zoano YamatoMan at the same time.
Iris drags Trill away from Lan, but Zoano YamatoMan's eyes are fixed on Lan himself rather than the actual Synchroniser - so it seems the Zoanoroids still believe that MegaMan is the Synchroniser rather than Trill. That's good, it means that they shouldn't need to worry about protecting Trill any more than they normally would in the middle of a battle.
"If you want the Synchroniser," Arcadia says loudly, stepping forward with Holy Fire rippling along his hands and arms, "you'll have to go through me."
He unleashes his flames barely a split second after he's finished speaking, giving the Zoanoroids no time to adjust to the abrupt switch. Zoano YamatoMan spins his spear and it becomes almost like a shield, protecting him from Arcadia's Holy Fire, but the Zoanoroid soldiers behind him have no such protection and are either burnt or outright deleted by Arcadia's attack.
"SearchMan, go!" Raika snaps, whipping out his PET and materialising his Navi in the same movement.
The others do the same. Within moments, the battle is underway - and even if they have Chaud and Maylu with them, they're still almost laughably outnumbered. The Zoanoroid soldiers are easy to take down, but as Raika noted before, the sheer amount of them makes it difficult to actually fight them. And with Zoano YamatoMan, they need to have at least two of their Navis keeping him occupied, which leaves only three Navis to take on the soldiers.
This, Raika thinks, could end badly.
He forces the thought out of his head almost as soon as it enters, though. He can't afford to let himself doubt whether they'll be able to take on a literal army with just the five of them. There's no ifs or maybes about it - they have to, because this Zoanoroid and these soldiers are standing between them and the dimensional area research lab.
"Get behind me," Iris speaks up, making the humans glance at her. "The best way to defeat a NetNavi in this world is to take out its human operator. The Zoanoroids know that. I can protect you from attacks."
Raika exchanges a glance with Lan. That seems reasonable enough - and there's no point arguing, anyway. He'd rather not paint a giant target on his back and make it more difficult for SearchMan to fight.
The humans get back until they're behind Iris, and she raises her hand. Her palm shimmers with faint blue light, and then a wall of half-transparent light appears in front of her, encasing them in a shield quickly. Raika and the others still have a good view of the battle, though, both through the shield and on their PETs.
SearchMan has switched to his machine gun function to better deal with the large number of enemies. Raika watches his Navi take out an entire row of advancing Zoanoroid soldiers, only for that row to be replaced with even more soldiers, which are then peppered with blasts from MegaMan's Buster and Roll's Arrows. Arcadia and TomahawkMan are taking on Zoano YamatoMan, switching their attack patterns constantly, working together almost seamlessly even though, as far as Raika knows, the two of them have never actually fought side-by-side before.
None of this is enough, though. SearchMan, MegaMan, and Roll can only take out so many soldiers at once, and Arcadia and TomahawkMan can't compete with the sheer versatility of Zoano YamatoMan's spear.
"Thousand Spear!" Zoano YamatoMan announces, his weapon moving so fast that it's almost like he really does have a thousand spears.
Poor TomahawkMan, who was unlucky enough to be closer, is forced to take the full brunt of the attack. He's flung back, much to Dingo's dismay, and Arcadia swoops in to try and pick up the slack, hurling a Firebomb from a safe distance.
Zoano YamatoMan deflects it by spinning his spear, somehow managing to throw the attack right back at Arcadia. It does nothing to actually hurt him - unlike most Navis who use fire, Arcadia is completely impervious to his own attack - but it does surprise him, and that gives Zoano YamatoMan the opening he needs to launch his spear like a javelin.
The spear pierces straight through Arcadia's right wing, and he drops out of the sky with a shriek.
"Arcadia!" Chaud screams, starting forward, but Lan grabs him before he can dart out from behind Iris's shield and makes him stay back. An impressive feat, considering how much Chaud is struggling.
Zoano YamatoMan holds out his hand and his spear materialises back into his grip. He takes a single step forward, and then the sand explodes in front of him from sudden rapid-fire blasts.
"Arcadia, can you move?" SearchMan calls, keeping his Scope Gun fixed on Zoano YamatoMan.
Arcadia pushes himself to his hands and knees. His left wing is folded against his back, but his right trails on the sand like a dead weight, and the hole left by Zoano YamatoMan's spear is very obvious to see. It bleeds data and looks extremely painful - it's exactly where the bones would be if Arcadia were an actual flesh and blood owl rather than a humanoid owl-Navi.
TomahawkMan appears beside him, a little worse for wear, but he crouches down and gets Arcadia's arm around his shoulder, helping him up. He starts backing away and SearchMan moves to cover their retreat, but that leaves MegaMan and Roll dealing with the Zoanoroid soldiers entirely on their own.
The soldiers unleash a flurry of attacks that the two just barely manage to dodge. Raika's first instinct is to tell SearchMan to help them, but both Arcadia and TomahawkMan are injured now, and if SearchMan isn't there to keep Zoano YamatoMan off them, they could get seriously hurt - or worse.
"Iris!" Lan, still trying to hold Chaud back, glances over at the Navi-girl imploringly. "Can you transform MegaMan? We need the extra power, now!"
"I'm sorry," Iris says, concentrating on her shield. "But I can only do one thing at a time. If I use my power to control MegaMan during Beast Out, I have to drop the shield - and that will leave you all vulnerable to attack."
"That doesn't matter-"
"No, Lan!" MegaMan's voice comes out of Lan's PET, just over the sound of rapid Buster-fire. "I'm not letting you put yourself or any of the others in danger! You have to protect our brothers and everyone else!"
"But-" Lan tries to protest.
"Give me a Cross!"
Lan pauses.
"One of the new ones!" MegaMan continues. "We may as well see what they can do, right!?"
"Right," Lan agrees, with a sharp nod. He glances at Chaud, who finally stops struggling, and then looks back at his PET and brings up the holographic screen. "Alright. Cross System, activate! Charge Cross!"
MegaMan is briefly engulfed in a surge of energy, and when it dies down, his armour is red and very closely resembles an old-style train of sorts. His energetic cry sounds almost like the whistle of a train, and steam blows from the top of his head in unison.
"Crazy Locomotive!" MegaMan shouts, crouching and charging up his entire body until it's almost glowing red.
And then he actually charges, launching himself forward with the speed of, well, the speed of a train. He leaves a faint trail of flames in his wake, and slams into the wall of advancing Zoanoroid soldiers - and then keeps going, trampling and running them down, deleting most and bashing his way through the rest.
" . . . That's something you don't see every day," Raika comments.
"I like this Cross," Lan decides.
Even with MegaMan's new train powers effectively decimating the Zoanoroid soldiers, they still have to deal with Zoano YamatoMan. Roll has abandoned trying to take on the soldiers - MegaMan's got that covered anyway, and it's probably not a good idea to get in his way right now - and is now lending her assistance to SearchMan, but neither of them can do more than hold him off.
To fight up-close against Zoano YamatoMan allows him to take control of the fight, and to fight long-range gives him the opportunity to use his spear to throw their attacks back at them. Neither of them have any shields programmed as basic weapons, and Raika doesn't carry any Reflector battle chips with him - mostly because they don't fit with his and SearchMan's battle style.
"Reflector, download!" Maylu cries, quickly slotting the chip in. It appears she carries them, though, which makes sense since her battle style - much like Lan's and the twins' - is more randomised than Raika's specialised battle style.
Sometimes he wonders if life would be easier if he had a randomised battle style, but then he thinks of how ridiculous SearchMan would look with a Sword and banishes the thought from his head. Besides, SearchMan was created as a sniper-Navi, so using sword-type chips and shields would be a waste of his true potential.
Still, it would make situations like this a bit easier to deal with . . .
As it is, the Reflector shield is enough to cover both Roll herself and SearchMan, which Raika is grateful for. Their deflected attacks bounce off the shield harmlessly, and the shield vanishes, only to reveal Zoano YamatoMan right in front of them, spear raised to strike.
"SearchMan!" Raika shouts, taking an automatic step forward before he remembers he can't go outside Iris's shield.
"Roll!" Maylu looks just as scared as Raika feels.
"Thousand Spear!" Zoano YamatoMan brings his weapon down on their Navis.
SearchMan throws himself over Roll, and even though Raika would rather keep his own Navi safe, he's honestly proud that SearchMan's first thought is to protect others before himself.
"Foolish Navi," Zoano YamatoMan sneers, jabbing his spear into SearchMan again and again. Still, he doesn't get up, and he doesn't let the spear hit Roll even though he cries out with every hit. "Your sacrifice is pointless! Once my spear has torn your body apart, I will delete your friend, and then kill your human operators! As Gregar has commanded, so it shall-"
A red blur slams into him and sends him flying back several metres, landing with a heavy thud and sending a brief plume of sand exploding into the air. At first Raika thinks it's MegaMan, but then he sees MegaMan's Charge Cross form still running down the Zoanoroid soldiers, absolutely nowhere near them.
Zoano YamatoMan hauls himself to his feet, and his shadow comes to life.
Tendrils of black reach up and snake around him, constricting his body, and Zoano YamatoMan lets out a startled and confused cry. One of the tendrils slithers down his arm and coils around his wrist, then tightens and slices his hand off, and his cry changes pitch and becomes a scream as his hand - plus the spear it's holding - drops to the ground and disintegrates into pixels.
More shadows swirl out of nowhere, forming into a ball of writhing darkness, and out of that darkness explodes ProtoMan, letting out an ear-splitting screech. He lashes out with shadow-claws already formed, carving a scar deep into Zoano YamatoMan's body, deep enough that his internal data is on full display.
ProtoMan actually licks his lips. "Food!" he cheers, doing a brief happy dance, and then he launches himself at Zoano YamatoMan.
The Zoanoroid's own shadow holds him down, and ProtoMan's shadows add to the bonds, keeping his limbs completely still. The only thing the shadows don't do is keep him quiet, so when ProtoMan sinks his teeth into his internal data and starts digging in, Zoano YamatoMan's scream echoes across the impromptu battlefield, even above the sounds of Buster-fire.
Some of the Zoanoroid soldiers turn away from the train-menace that is MegaMan and try to help their leader, but before they can do anything, a green slice of crackling energy carves into the sand in front of them, forcing them to back off, only to walk straight into rapid-fire blasts of concentrated air.
Two black NetNavis run over the crest of a hill of sand nearby, one much smaller than the other, and the taller of the two wearing a flowing cape. They both activate Swords and start laying waste to the Zoanoroid soldiers. Another Navi follows them, pausing at the top of the hill to materialise small blades that rotate in the air briefly before launching themselves into the chests of multiple soldiers, and then he too darts down and starts slashing away at the soldiers with his knife-like claws.
Bass. Colonel. SlashMan.
Raika almost can't believe his eyes, but relief tempers his shock, and he finds himself grinning. Now, he thinks, now they have a chance.
He has no idea where the hell Colonel came from, or SlashMan for that matter, but even just ProtoMan and Bass would've been more than enough. With all four of them, four powerful and very skilled NetNavis, plus MegaMan still fighting in Charge Cross, they can make very quick work of the Zoanoroid soldiers.
Well, ProtoMan is still focused on eating Zoano YamatoMan, but at least that frees up everyone else to delete the remaining soldiers. Raika certainly isn't going to complain about the execution.
With the sudden arrival of the four Navis, the battle is quickly over - and won. The last of the Zoanoroid soldiers has just disintegrated into pixels when three figures appear at the top of the hill, pausing for a moment to take in the scene below them.
Raika just barely registers the fact that Baryl is there, along with Ms. Fahran, for some reason. He's mainly focused on the smallest member of the newcomers.
Mimic's grin is visible even from here. She's not the type to shout - not unless she's really worked up, anyway - so she just raises her arm and gives them an energetic wave, almost bouncing on her feet.
"Mimic!" Lan shouts, grinning from ear-to-ear. Chaud doesn't speak out loud, but Raika can bet that he's probably saying something to Mimic in their minds - they're close enough to see each other, so they're close enough to talk to each other, at least mentally.
Iris drops her shield as soon as it becomes clear that the battle is well and truly over, and Chaud immediately darts off. Lan follows him, quickly falling behind - though that's not his fault, Chaud's just a lot faster than normal humans. Mimic slips down the hill to meet them.
Chaud crashes into Mimic and they both go down, hugging each other tight enough that Raika is at least eighty-percent certain that they shouldn't be able to breathe, but they're laughing. Lan catches up to them a few moments later, drops down beside them, then pulls them onto his lap and hugs them both just as tight as they're hugging each other.
Raika can't help but smile at the sight. The Hikari siblings are finally back together.
ProtoMan finishes off the last of the Zoanoroid's internal data, slurping it up like those noodles Mimic loves so much - though he prefers chewing the internal data, actually, it's much more satisfying. He just wanted to see if he could slurp it up like noodles, honestly.
Once he's done, the Zoanoroid lets out one final choke and then breaks apart, his body finally giving in and disintegrating into deletion. A shame, really, because he actually tasted kinda nice, even if ProtoMan has no idea who the fuck he is - or was. He just saw this asshole stabbing SearchMan with that spear-thing; the urge to eat him came afterwards.
There were others, right? Other Zoanoroids? He detected them while he was eating the Zoanoroid, but their numbers were rapidly dropping thanks to Bass, Colonel, and SlashMan. And also a Navi that somehow registers as both MegaMan and some other completely random NetNavi at the same time, but he's not one to talk about NetNavis being different things at the same time, being a Virus Navi and all.
He licks his lips clean of data-blood, then hears sand shifting just behind him.
"ProtoMan?"
He goes still. His eyes widen under his visor.
Slowly, hardly daring to breathe, he gets up out of his crouch and turns around. Arcadia stands just a few feet away from him, right wing trailing on the sand, and there's a hole in it, but ProtoMan can worry about that later.
Arcadia is right in front of him. His little brother - his actual little brother, not the Beyondard one he found in that fishing village from earlier - is right there.
"You're here," Arcadia breathes, a smile slowly starting to spread on his face. It quickly morphs into a tearful grin. "ProtoMan!"
He takes a step forward, and ProtoMan launches himself at him, immediately wrapping him into a hug so tight that it would've crushed human bones to dust, probably. Arcadia just laughs and returns the hug just as tightly, burying his face in ProtoMan's chest.
"Arcadia," ProtoMan happily purrs, licking his feathered hood and nuzzling him.
Bass runs over to them, slowing to a stop, and he's smiling. The smile kinda dims a bit when he catches sight of Arcadia's wing, and ProtoMan abruptly remembers it too, so he reluctantly steps back to look at his brother, though he doesn't let go.
"What happened to your wing?" he asks.
"Ah . . ." Arcadia glances at it, then winces. "The Zoanoroid you just ate - Zoano YamatoMan? - he, uh . . . he threw his spear through my wing."
ProtoMan goes very, very still.
"I-it's okay, though!" Arcadia quickly says, holding up his hands. "You deleted him, and Chaud can easily fix the damage!"
"Should've fucking drawn out his deletion," ProtoMan growls, drawing Arcadia into a protective embrace. "Made him hurt more!"
"I think eating him alive was more than enough," Arcadia chuckles into his chest, and ProtoMan huffs, though he's smiling now.
"I'll say," Bass speaks up, raising an eyebrow. "Just about anyone would consider that the worst kind of deletion out there, I think."
A red blur of motion zooms past them suddenly, startling ProtoMan and Bass, though Arcadia only pulls out of ProtoMan's embrace to look at it as it circles them and then comes to a stop nearby.
"ProtoMan!" the red blur exclaims, revealing itself to be a NetNavi with a very familiar voice. "Bass! You're here!"
"MegaMan?" ProtoMan stares incredulously. "Why- why're you a train?"
"I'd like to ask that too," Bass adds, bewildered. "What the fuck."
"It's called Charge Cross," MegaMan explains, with a shrug of his heavy-looking train armour. "And it's really fun to use, I just ran over a whole bunch of Zoanoroid soldiers!"
"Ohh, it's a Cross." ProtoMan nods in understanding. "You look weird as hell."
"Hey!" MegaMan gives him an offended look.
Lan considers this to be one of the best days in his entire life. Sure, they got attacked by a Zoanoroid and an army of soldiers, but he got both of his siblings back, and now their group is whole again.
Whole, with the surprise additions of Beyondard Baryl and Ms. Fahran. Neither of whom he was expecting at all, honestly.
Mimic tells them that she ran into Baryl while she was trying to find the fishing village. Apparently it's a good thing she did, otherwise she, ProtoMan, and Bass would've ended up wandering further and further south, about as far away from the fishing village as they could've gotten. It turns out that ProtoMan can't use the compass program on Mimic's PET anymore, something he didn't think would ever become an issue and so didn't mention it until they actually needed to use it.
Which was . . . kind of a dumb thing to do. But Lan doesn't blame him for it - after all, who would think that a compass program would be necessary at any point? It's one of the basic programs installed into a PET pretty much as a formality, since maps and stuff can be easily downloaded and used from the internet. Not everyone gets into these insane adventures in alternate realities. And if there's someone else who does, Lan's never heard of them.
Even stranger than Baryl apparently becoming Mimic's guide - a guide who seems almost too relieved to find other people - is the fact that Ms. Fahran has tagged along, too. She did say they could ask her for help if they ever needed it, but Lan wasn't actually expecting to see her again so soon, especially not after setting out for the dimensional area research lab earlier today.
Mimic says Ms. Fahran invited herself along. Baryl tried to protest, but was overruled by majority, in the form of Mimic and ProtoMan chanting 'fish lady' over and over again until he finally gave in, as Baryl puts it. Even Bass voted to let Ms. Fahran come with them, which is somewhat of a surprise.
So, now they've got their whole group back together, plus some new additions.
The rest of the walk to the dimensional area research lab is uneventful. They don't get attacked by random Zoanoroid armies literally popping up out of the sand, though ProtoMan does zoom around constantly. He says he's checking their surroundings for enemies, but Lan just thinks he's too excited at finally having his entire family back together and needs to burn off some of that excitement before he explodes.
They pause just outside of the research lab, and Lan looks at the decrepit state it's in and wonders if it's even still functional. Evidently it is, otherwise Iris never would've been able to get instructions from her creator to find Trill and bring the Beyondard group to the lab. It just doesn't look like it's functional, is all.
Lan notices Trill staring up at the building with something like trepidation on his face. It's a little worrying, so he kneels down and gets Trill's attention.
"Hey," he says softly. "You okay, Trill?"
" . . . Not really," Trill mumbles, shuffling his feet a little. "I . . . I think I remember this place. And I didn't like it."
Ah, right. Trill mentioned this before - he was lonely in this place, wasn't he? No wonder he doesn't like it.
"We're with you, Trill," Lan reminds him, reaching out to pat his jester-helmet. "Okay?"
Trill's expression brightens up a little with a faint smile. "Okay."
Lan gets to his feet, takes Trill's hand in his own, gives it a light squeeze to reassure him, and then glances at Iris. She's watching them with an unreadable expression, but when Lan looks at her, she blinks slowly, then nods.
And she leads the group into the dimensional area research lab.
