Writing The Nightmare Bridge

[Alexander]

This is the revised prologue for a fanfiction I'm writing, 'The Nightmare Bridge', which I'm posting at Fanfiction.net. Only the un-revised version is up at Fanfiction.net, however.

It's a Megaman.EXE fanfiction, but it has traces of influence from shows like .hack, Lain, and a few other sources, *and* it was written with the intention of being understandable by both fans of the series and other people alike. (So if anyone whom is unfamiliar with the series reads this, and would like to tell me if I succeeded or not, I'd be really grateful!)

you can check out the un-revised (currently at chapter 6) version at:

[url]http://www.fanfiction.net/Alexander2/[/url]

-- The Nightmare Bridge --

-- Prologue - The Search --

Yuzori grinned as he logged onto the Internet. Typing in the resquisite security codes and seeing his computer's confirmation on-screen, he picked up the virtual reality headset and placed it on his head, a small smile on his face. With a twist of his gloved wrist, the headset began to lightly hum in activation. Data flew over his eyes, rushing by almost too fast for Yuzori to keep track.

The text ended seconds later, fading away and revealing the illusionary marvel of the Internet. Beside him, his Navi guardian program 'Mule' stood ready, glancing around the area to make sure it was corruption-free and clear.

"The home server looks great," Mule reported with a satisfied nod. "What are today's plans, sir?"

"We've got some investigating to do," Yuzori replied. "There are more rumors about Navi-Hunters afoot. Map!"

At Yuzori's keyword, Mule nodded and a huge graphical map of the Internet appeared. It was anything but conclusive - it was slimmed down to detail only major servers directly accessable from thier location - but it was a good start for any journey. Yuzori quickly picked out his server-of-choice, whic caused the map to re-draw itself around the new location. This repeated itsef several times as Yuzori's choises narrowed down location after location, until at last the final destination was chosen.

"That's it." Yuzori said, pointing his finger at that spot on the map. "That's where the strange attacks began." With a confident nod, Yuzori signaled Mule to dispel the map. "Take me there. Prepare for anything."

Mule nodded, and the two of them vanished. Moving through the intermeshed web of hard servers and the invisible links between them all, it took only a few short seconds before Mule landed them both at the target server and a new world appeared around them.

Yuzori's first impression was that the place had seen better days. It was a basic data storage server and one that took on the appearance of a dark, gloomy field of metal. Hundreds upon hundreds of black spires shot into the air in regular intervals, creating a landscape forever lit up by electricity and light. Each spire was a storage spot, where information sat, waiting to be accessed by those who needed it, and those who could retreive it. While enormous and still mostly intact, Yuzori couldn't help but notice the debris floating around him. Bits of loose data flowed freely from over a hundred cracked spires, little chimneys of smoke filling the sky.

"What on earth hit this place?" Yuzori wondered aloud, trying to assess the damage. "It looks like a tornado went through this place..."

"Accessing...." Mule's self slumped for a second as he tried accessing the server's own records. When he straightened out again, Mule's expression was far from jovial.

"The server control system is down. The entire place is unmonitored." Mule reported. A suit of combat armor formed around Mule. "Entering combat mode due to high-risk zone. Arm or Steady?"

"Steady." Yuzori replied, not wanting his guardian to arm himself just yet. Such an action might provoke an attack if someone was watching....It was common knowledge that if someone expected you to jump them, it was likely they'd try to jump you first. And the last thing he wanted to be jumped by whatever...or whomever...that caused the mess here in the first place. 'He who stikes first, rarely end last' was a cautionary saying amung his group of friends. "Can you scan the area yourself for viruses?"

"Yes...." Yuzori looked around, trying to see past the useless data floating about. "The area is actually very quiet. I can only find a few viruses nearby, though some of the random data appears to be the remnants of several different virus types....and some Navis, too." Mule shook his head. "Whatever hit this place looks like it hit the virus population, too. I only can find some minor things like Mettool viruses amung the debris. I think the random data might be preventing me from making accurate scans, though."

"Lovely. I can see how so many Navis can go missing in an area like this...huge, obstructed vision, and to top it off, it can't even be scanned properly." Yuzori made a sound of disgust. "Let's get out of here, Mule. We need to alert the Officials about this. Map!"

Mule nodded and brought up the map again. Yuzori gave a few more cursory glances around the area.

A sudden gust of wind blew past the two. Spooked, Yuzori brought his attention back to Mule just in time to hear him cry out. "What's wrong?" Yuzori asked, only to see it for himself as the arm Mule had been using to project the Map fell to the ground and vanished in a burst of light. "Oh, no..."

Another gust of wind blew by, this time accompanied by a brown blur of movement and the ripping sound of Mule going to pieces before his Yuzori's very eyes. At third and final gust of wind shredded the remains reducing Mule to bit data, just like the junk that now floated through the server.

"One..."

Following the voice, Yuzori turned to find Mule's killer rushing straight at him, brown cloak billowing around as it charged in, sword ready.

"Two..."

Yuzori swore as the assailant's blade cut through him, logging him out of the net and shutting down the VR system. Pulling the gear off of his head, he turned to the screen to check the damage. He frowned, errores popping up left and right on his computer screen. As he tried to quell the chaos, his VR gear burst to life again, drawing Yuzori's confused attention.

"Three..." The assailant spoke from the headset.

Seconds later, every system Yuzori had cooling the computer stopped, even as the computer itself lurched into overdrive, trapped in stasis and refusing even to turn off. Only by ripping the power cable from the power socket did he manage to save the computer from a complete meltdown.

"Who...was that?"

*****

One last note: Yuzori himself is a minor character in the story. The real focus of the story is on Yuzori's *assailant*, and on whom he shall soon meet. =)