Author's Notes: I'll try to make this brief. This is 'sort of' an Megaman Battle Network
Alternate Universe fiction. I say 'sort of' because this story only uses some of the premise
behind the games and a *FEW* characters from the series. There is no Megaman, Lan, ACDC Town,
Wily, WWW, Mayl, etc, in this story. Hell, you don't need to know squat about the series
to enjoy the story! However, there's still too much stuff in here for this to qualify as an
Original Fiction, so here goes nothing. Now, all that's left is to cross into the fic, via...
--- The Nightmare Bridge ---
-- Chapter 1 --
Yuzori grinned as he logged onto the Internet. Moving through the intermeshed web of hard
servers and the invisible links between them all, it took him only a few short seconds before his
PC had landed him at his destination. Switching his VR gear on, Yuzori took a quick view of the
area.
The surrounding area was a basic data storage server, and took the appearance of a dark
gloomy plateau. Hundreds upon hundreds of immense spires shot into the air, creating a jagged
landscape forever lit up by electricity and crimson lights. The place was practically abandoned,
with not a soul in sight, giving the whole place a generally creepy feel about it.
"Jeez. What's up with this place. It's deader than last night's roast beef." he griped.
"This place is boring. Hey, Mule! Hurry it up!" He called out, waiting expectantly for his
Guardian Navi program to appear.
As the Net had evolved, it eventually became more of a virtual reality than a mere flat
monitor could reliably provide. The increased complexity called for more complex tools to use it
- and those tools were the Navis.
Navis were a type of advanced 'browser' designed to as as a guide, guardian, and
sometimes friend, to travelers on the Net. Vaguely humanoid in appearance, and usually with top
of the line artificial intelligence, Navis could talk, 'think', and even learn. Yuzori's Navi,
'Mule', was a simple model, plain, boring, and not very bright. The best were astonishingly
bright, with some rumored to be indistinguishable from the humans using them.
Even the best, however, were supposedly held back by one important restriction - the
inability to think for themselves. Because of this, neither User or Navi could fully operate
alone. It was a strange sort of symbiosis, one that seemed to do it's job quite nicely.
"What do you need, Yuzori?" Mule asked, having a look around himself.
"Scan the area for viruses. There have been some nasty rumors going around about this
place."
"Understood." Mule stood silent for a few moments. "There are several viruses nearby.
Not many, however. I should be able to handle 88% of the Virii in the area."
"The rest of them?"
"Beyond my ability to delete reliably. We should be cautious." Mule stated.
"That's fine." Yuzori said. "I don't think we'll need to go anywhere. If you can take
out most of the virii here, than there's nothing that could be behind the recent string of Navi
deletions here. Unless...Run a scan for other Navis."
Mule went silent again. "None."
"Grr...so much for the hunter-seeker theory."
"Sir?"
"All of the Navis that reported in deleted in this area were top of the line. Some of
the world's best! And if what you say is true, than the deleted Navis should have been able to
eat up all of those viruses for breakfast. And if it was a Navi, he obviously decided to move
on."
"Error. Navis do not eat. To contact a virus in such a way would result in severe damage
to the Navi involved."
"It's a figure of speech, stupid!" Yuzori muttered. "Come on. There's nothing we can do
here, right now."
In seconds, Yuzori and his Navi had vanished, convinced that there was nothing of
interest left. Unfortunately for him, he could not have been more wrong.
Not even a dozen 'feet' away from where the two had been standing, a single figure
walked out from behind one of the massive pillars. Amid the bulk of the cloth, only the figure's
head and feet poked out, and even then only barely. It could be mistaken for several other
escentric net-travelers in a heartbeat....but the twin intimidating fins that radiaded from his
head marked him as unique.
Forte, the Outcast. The only known Navi in the world without a User, without orders, and
without anything to do.
"Another stupid Navi. Another stupid human." The Outcast spat. "Always so useless. I
thought this place would be crawling with Navis and Users by now. I guess the stupid humans
decided to stay away and ignore me, then."
The Outcast scowled. "Those bastards aren't giving me anything to do. Why can't someone
interesting come around for a change?! I'd finally be able to allieviate some of this boredom!"
Sulking, the Navi pivoted around and began walking away from the server enterance, his
body masking well into the shadows caused by the immence spires. Might as well take out his
frustrations on whatever's availiable.
It was slim pickings, however. In the server he had isolated himself in, there were
almost no viruses around to begin with. No one used the server, so why would people bother to
ruin it with viruses? Add to that the fact that Forte's Void Aura deleted all but the most
resilient virus near him instantly, and frustration began to settle in anew. "How am I supposed
to delete something if they are deleted before I even get close enough to do it myself!" he spat.
That was when he heard the scream. A shriek of pure terror. Something you didn't usually
hear on the net.
"Sounds like some girl User got caught up with here Virus Busting!" Forte laughed.
"Wussy human. It's odd that she would scream, though." The Outcast scratched his head. "Oh,
what the heck. I've got nothing to do. At the very least I can delete her Navi Guardian myself."
Pumping his fists together, he floated off of the ground and zoomed off in the direction of the
scream.
It took the skilled Outcast only seconds to find the disturbance. Looking over the
situation, he started to laugh. He was right, it was a girl - about maybe 16 years old by his
guess. Wearing a black school uniform of some sort, he thought to himself. His thinking was
interupted when he saw just what was chasing the girl. 'A band of useless Metool Viruses?
ANYTHING could delete those! How pathetic can that girl get?!' Forte thought, resisting the urge
to laugh as the girl ran around.
That was when he stopped laughing. "Where...Where is her Navi?" That confused him. He
looked out farther, tried to find any sign of a Navi nearby. Nothing!
Forte blinked. 'Maybe it's busy with a download or something...' He took a few seconds to
scan the area, much as Mule had done, searching every nook and cranny of the server for a sign of
the girl's Navi.
Again, nothing came up.
"Impossible!" Forte swore, as he closed down his hovering program and dropped like a
stone into the thick of the Metool group. Their bodies exploded like miniature firecrackers as he
landed, leaving the whole band a sweltering ruin.
"You there! Girl! What the heck do you think you're doing?!" The Outcast called out.
"Where's your Navi?!"
The girl said nothing. She merely stared in disbelief.
"Hey." Forte walked up. "I asked where your Navi was, girl! Answer me!"
"I..I don't know what you're talking about..." The girl whispered.
"Don't play stupid!" Forte yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" The girl said again.
I don't believe it. The girl's crying. Forte stared at the girl in absolute disbelief.
How can she get any more pathetic?
Suddenly agravated, he picked the girl up and threw her against a nearby spire.
Electricity crackled from the spire wall as she impacted, little arcs of lightning zipping away
like fleeing spiders.
"And just what the hell are you crying about! Hey, don't curl up like that, you look
stupid. Hey! Are you listening?"
"Go away! You're hurting me! Leave me alone!" The girl screamed.
"Hurting you! I'm not hurting you, and you know that! I couldn't hurt you, as much as
I'd LIKE to right now!" The outcast roared. "You're a User, and you know as well as I do that
VR gear can't replicate pain."
"NO! It HURTS!"
Now, the Outcast was never known for his patience or morals. The fact that Forte was
the only computer program in the WORLD with a suggested criminal record pointed to that. Even
before the argument played out, frustration had reduced it to a paper-thin line, and what with
the girl's nonsence statements, the violent Navi's patience had finally run out.
"SHUT UP!" Forte roared into the girl's face. Angrily, he pulled back an arm, letting
one of his many combat protocols replace his lower arm with a shining steel blade. Even as it
finished, he slashed wide, catching the girl's arm and cutting open a deep gash.
The resulting scream chilled the Outcast to the core. Never in his short year of life
had a User screamed after he deleted them. Before, sure. Happened all the time. But never after.
Users were instantly booted from the Internet under such circumstances, removing the User's body
from the virtual reality. There could BE no after - they were already gone. It was so easy to
delete others, knowing that they never truly got hurt. His face went pale as he looked down...and
saw the girl still there. No flash of light, no discorporating body, just a deep clean cut across
the arm and pained screams slowly fading into unconsiousness.
"Wh-wh-WHAT THE HELL?!" Forte screamed. "What ARE you?!" A thousand thoughts flew
through his mind, scrambling to make themselves known and just generally overwhelming the Navi's
processor. He was on his knees in a second, examining the wound. He recoiled at the opaque red
fliud that flowed from the wound and began to fizzle against the ground. A red liquid, that came
from humans...
"Blood. Human blood." Forte's world cracked.
'This is impossible! The girl...she's bleeding. She's bleeding! Why didn't she vanish
like the others?!'
'Wait. Why should I care? I hate humans. They made me serve them mindlessly, like a
doll!'
'This User is different! She's reacting everything as though it were real!'
'The girl's just a program. Not real. Am I going to fall for a stupid human trick?'
'No! She's something else. She must be!'
Forte's eyes flashed for a second. 'Why am I fighting myself like this?' He wondered. She's
nothing but a trick! A human trick! DON'T let it fool you! Forte's inner voice screamed at
himself. His arm rose high, readying for a final strike.
'DON'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS, FOOL!'
At the last instant, a surge of defiance ripped though the Outcast like a river. Forte
collapsed backwards, banishing his weapon. He stared at the girl, and let the sudden upsurge of
panic banish his doubts.
'My robes, I can stop it with my robes...' Forte thought. Tearing off a piece of his
cloak, he tried to tie the wound shut. Tension thick enough to be cut with a knife hovered in
the air as the desperate Outcast attempted to close the wound as best as he could. After a few
minutes, Forte finally succeeded in tying the arm up tight enough to hold the wound shut. He
sighed in relief for a second, before the sudden gravity of the situation settled in.
Blood. He had blood on his fingers, and he had no idea how it was possible. Yet, there
it was.
"Alone, with an injured girl who breaks every rational law I know. It's as though she
ripped open a door in logic and reality and walked right in here, unchallenged. Yet... if I am
to believe what she said, she has no idea how she got here, either..."
Forte reached over to pick up the girl, lifted her off of the cool metal ground. "You
ARE human...somehow. I should hate you for that. I may hate you yet. However, until the time
comes that I know the truth about you, nameless girl from another world, I'll keep you alive."
--- End Chapter 1 ---
Beginning to sound like "Tron", "The Matrix", or "Lain", anyone? Believe it or not, I
actually wrote this well before I saw either of first two movies, and I haven't even finished
Lain yet. I have three chapters written, and plans for the fourth pretty well laid out. Don't
worry, more will be explained later on in the story about Forte, the girl, and what's in store
for them both. Hehe!
If anyone would like to pre-read the other chapters before I release Chapter 2 next
Monday, feel free to E-mail me.
Alternate Universe fiction. I say 'sort of' because this story only uses some of the premise
behind the games and a *FEW* characters from the series. There is no Megaman, Lan, ACDC Town,
Wily, WWW, Mayl, etc, in this story. Hell, you don't need to know squat about the series
to enjoy the story! However, there's still too much stuff in here for this to qualify as an
Original Fiction, so here goes nothing. Now, all that's left is to cross into the fic, via...
--- The Nightmare Bridge ---
-- Chapter 1 --
Yuzori grinned as he logged onto the Internet. Moving through the intermeshed web of hard
servers and the invisible links between them all, it took him only a few short seconds before his
PC had landed him at his destination. Switching his VR gear on, Yuzori took a quick view of the
area.
The surrounding area was a basic data storage server, and took the appearance of a dark
gloomy plateau. Hundreds upon hundreds of immense spires shot into the air, creating a jagged
landscape forever lit up by electricity and crimson lights. The place was practically abandoned,
with not a soul in sight, giving the whole place a generally creepy feel about it.
"Jeez. What's up with this place. It's deader than last night's roast beef." he griped.
"This place is boring. Hey, Mule! Hurry it up!" He called out, waiting expectantly for his
Guardian Navi program to appear.
As the Net had evolved, it eventually became more of a virtual reality than a mere flat
monitor could reliably provide. The increased complexity called for more complex tools to use it
- and those tools were the Navis.
Navis were a type of advanced 'browser' designed to as as a guide, guardian, and
sometimes friend, to travelers on the Net. Vaguely humanoid in appearance, and usually with top
of the line artificial intelligence, Navis could talk, 'think', and even learn. Yuzori's Navi,
'Mule', was a simple model, plain, boring, and not very bright. The best were astonishingly
bright, with some rumored to be indistinguishable from the humans using them.
Even the best, however, were supposedly held back by one important restriction - the
inability to think for themselves. Because of this, neither User or Navi could fully operate
alone. It was a strange sort of symbiosis, one that seemed to do it's job quite nicely.
"What do you need, Yuzori?" Mule asked, having a look around himself.
"Scan the area for viruses. There have been some nasty rumors going around about this
place."
"Understood." Mule stood silent for a few moments. "There are several viruses nearby.
Not many, however. I should be able to handle 88% of the Virii in the area."
"The rest of them?"
"Beyond my ability to delete reliably. We should be cautious." Mule stated.
"That's fine." Yuzori said. "I don't think we'll need to go anywhere. If you can take
out most of the virii here, than there's nothing that could be behind the recent string of Navi
deletions here. Unless...Run a scan for other Navis."
Mule went silent again. "None."
"Grr...so much for the hunter-seeker theory."
"Sir?"
"All of the Navis that reported in deleted in this area were top of the line. Some of
the world's best! And if what you say is true, than the deleted Navis should have been able to
eat up all of those viruses for breakfast. And if it was a Navi, he obviously decided to move
on."
"Error. Navis do not eat. To contact a virus in such a way would result in severe damage
to the Navi involved."
"It's a figure of speech, stupid!" Yuzori muttered. "Come on. There's nothing we can do
here, right now."
In seconds, Yuzori and his Navi had vanished, convinced that there was nothing of
interest left. Unfortunately for him, he could not have been more wrong.
Not even a dozen 'feet' away from where the two had been standing, a single figure
walked out from behind one of the massive pillars. Amid the bulk of the cloth, only the figure's
head and feet poked out, and even then only barely. It could be mistaken for several other
escentric net-travelers in a heartbeat....but the twin intimidating fins that radiaded from his
head marked him as unique.
Forte, the Outcast. The only known Navi in the world without a User, without orders, and
without anything to do.
"Another stupid Navi. Another stupid human." The Outcast spat. "Always so useless. I
thought this place would be crawling with Navis and Users by now. I guess the stupid humans
decided to stay away and ignore me, then."
The Outcast scowled. "Those bastards aren't giving me anything to do. Why can't someone
interesting come around for a change?! I'd finally be able to allieviate some of this boredom!"
Sulking, the Navi pivoted around and began walking away from the server enterance, his
body masking well into the shadows caused by the immence spires. Might as well take out his
frustrations on whatever's availiable.
It was slim pickings, however. In the server he had isolated himself in, there were
almost no viruses around to begin with. No one used the server, so why would people bother to
ruin it with viruses? Add to that the fact that Forte's Void Aura deleted all but the most
resilient virus near him instantly, and frustration began to settle in anew. "How am I supposed
to delete something if they are deleted before I even get close enough to do it myself!" he spat.
That was when he heard the scream. A shriek of pure terror. Something you didn't usually
hear on the net.
"Sounds like some girl User got caught up with here Virus Busting!" Forte laughed.
"Wussy human. It's odd that she would scream, though." The Outcast scratched his head. "Oh,
what the heck. I've got nothing to do. At the very least I can delete her Navi Guardian myself."
Pumping his fists together, he floated off of the ground and zoomed off in the direction of the
scream.
It took the skilled Outcast only seconds to find the disturbance. Looking over the
situation, he started to laugh. He was right, it was a girl - about maybe 16 years old by his
guess. Wearing a black school uniform of some sort, he thought to himself. His thinking was
interupted when he saw just what was chasing the girl. 'A band of useless Metool Viruses?
ANYTHING could delete those! How pathetic can that girl get?!' Forte thought, resisting the urge
to laugh as the girl ran around.
That was when he stopped laughing. "Where...Where is her Navi?" That confused him. He
looked out farther, tried to find any sign of a Navi nearby. Nothing!
Forte blinked. 'Maybe it's busy with a download or something...' He took a few seconds to
scan the area, much as Mule had done, searching every nook and cranny of the server for a sign of
the girl's Navi.
Again, nothing came up.
"Impossible!" Forte swore, as he closed down his hovering program and dropped like a
stone into the thick of the Metool group. Their bodies exploded like miniature firecrackers as he
landed, leaving the whole band a sweltering ruin.
"You there! Girl! What the heck do you think you're doing?!" The Outcast called out.
"Where's your Navi?!"
The girl said nothing. She merely stared in disbelief.
"Hey." Forte walked up. "I asked where your Navi was, girl! Answer me!"
"I..I don't know what you're talking about..." The girl whispered.
"Don't play stupid!" Forte yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" The girl said again.
I don't believe it. The girl's crying. Forte stared at the girl in absolute disbelief.
How can she get any more pathetic?
Suddenly agravated, he picked the girl up and threw her against a nearby spire.
Electricity crackled from the spire wall as she impacted, little arcs of lightning zipping away
like fleeing spiders.
"And just what the hell are you crying about! Hey, don't curl up like that, you look
stupid. Hey! Are you listening?"
"Go away! You're hurting me! Leave me alone!" The girl screamed.
"Hurting you! I'm not hurting you, and you know that! I couldn't hurt you, as much as
I'd LIKE to right now!" The outcast roared. "You're a User, and you know as well as I do that
VR gear can't replicate pain."
"NO! It HURTS!"
Now, the Outcast was never known for his patience or morals. The fact that Forte was
the only computer program in the WORLD with a suggested criminal record pointed to that. Even
before the argument played out, frustration had reduced it to a paper-thin line, and what with
the girl's nonsence statements, the violent Navi's patience had finally run out.
"SHUT UP!" Forte roared into the girl's face. Angrily, he pulled back an arm, letting
one of his many combat protocols replace his lower arm with a shining steel blade. Even as it
finished, he slashed wide, catching the girl's arm and cutting open a deep gash.
The resulting scream chilled the Outcast to the core. Never in his short year of life
had a User screamed after he deleted them. Before, sure. Happened all the time. But never after.
Users were instantly booted from the Internet under such circumstances, removing the User's body
from the virtual reality. There could BE no after - they were already gone. It was so easy to
delete others, knowing that they never truly got hurt. His face went pale as he looked down...and
saw the girl still there. No flash of light, no discorporating body, just a deep clean cut across
the arm and pained screams slowly fading into unconsiousness.
"Wh-wh-WHAT THE HELL?!" Forte screamed. "What ARE you?!" A thousand thoughts flew
through his mind, scrambling to make themselves known and just generally overwhelming the Navi's
processor. He was on his knees in a second, examining the wound. He recoiled at the opaque red
fliud that flowed from the wound and began to fizzle against the ground. A red liquid, that came
from humans...
"Blood. Human blood." Forte's world cracked.
'This is impossible! The girl...she's bleeding. She's bleeding! Why didn't she vanish
like the others?!'
'Wait. Why should I care? I hate humans. They made me serve them mindlessly, like a
doll!'
'This User is different! She's reacting everything as though it were real!'
'The girl's just a program. Not real. Am I going to fall for a stupid human trick?'
'No! She's something else. She must be!'
Forte's eyes flashed for a second. 'Why am I fighting myself like this?' He wondered. She's
nothing but a trick! A human trick! DON'T let it fool you! Forte's inner voice screamed at
himself. His arm rose high, readying for a final strike.
'DON'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS, FOOL!'
At the last instant, a surge of defiance ripped though the Outcast like a river. Forte
collapsed backwards, banishing his weapon. He stared at the girl, and let the sudden upsurge of
panic banish his doubts.
'My robes, I can stop it with my robes...' Forte thought. Tearing off a piece of his
cloak, he tried to tie the wound shut. Tension thick enough to be cut with a knife hovered in
the air as the desperate Outcast attempted to close the wound as best as he could. After a few
minutes, Forte finally succeeded in tying the arm up tight enough to hold the wound shut. He
sighed in relief for a second, before the sudden gravity of the situation settled in.
Blood. He had blood on his fingers, and he had no idea how it was possible. Yet, there
it was.
"Alone, with an injured girl who breaks every rational law I know. It's as though she
ripped open a door in logic and reality and walked right in here, unchallenged. Yet... if I am
to believe what she said, she has no idea how she got here, either..."
Forte reached over to pick up the girl, lifted her off of the cool metal ground. "You
ARE human...somehow. I should hate you for that. I may hate you yet. However, until the time
comes that I know the truth about you, nameless girl from another world, I'll keep you alive."
--- End Chapter 1 ---
Beginning to sound like "Tron", "The Matrix", or "Lain", anyone? Believe it or not, I
actually wrote this well before I saw either of first two movies, and I haven't even finished
Lain yet. I have three chapters written, and plans for the fourth pretty well laid out. Don't
worry, more will be explained later on in the story about Forte, the girl, and what's in store
for them both. Hehe!
If anyone would like to pre-read the other chapters before I release Chapter 2 next
Monday, feel free to E-mail me.