The Meaning of Fear AA/AU PG- PG-13 Chapters 3 and 4 added

[ComicX6]

Alright, I'll try not to let this one die like my old one did...

Title: The Meaning of Fear

Catagory: Action Adventure

Rating: anywhere from PG to PG-13

Disclaimer: I, ComicX6, do not own Megaman.exe, Capcom does. HOWEVER, there are fancharacters that I made up, so I own those.

Note: This fic takes place after Stream, but Beast does not exist. PET type will be Link. I will also use the english names for people and battlechips.

Without further ado...

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Chapter 1

A cold wind whipped through the air, blowing some of the snow on the ground into Raika's face. But he didn't mind, if you couldn't take a little cold air, you shouldn't be in Sharo. Besides, he had more pressing business.

''What happened here?'' the netsavior asked. The soldier that he was addressing turned to answer him.

''All evidence points to a massive virus attack. They got into the town's heating systems, overloaded them, then BOOM! no more town.''

They were at what used to be District 31, a medium sized town in northern Sharo. There was not a whole lot left. Building were blackened and burnt, a few had collasped, and there were still several fires burning. The cleanup crew had started to sift through the rubble, but they doubted anyone had survived the brutally cold night.

''I see. Are there any usable jack-in ports that we could use to investigate District 31's network?'' The soldier shrugged, ''Maybe so, maybe no. The ones in the remaining buildings are probably too damaged, but there may be some matinence ports on the street that might still be servicable.''

'' Thank you soldier.'' Raika said, and started toward the town's entrance gate.

'' If you need anything, I'll be right here.'' said the guard, snapping a brisk salute. Raika returned the salute and passed through the gate.

The streets, while clear of snow, were covered with various kinds of debris. Plastc snapped and glass crunched under his boots as he looked for a jack-in port. Eventually, he found one, on an old information board. It was a little rusty, but perfectly servicable. From here, he could access the town's network.

He pulled out his LinkPET. ''Jack in, Searchman.exe, execute!'' he shouted as he pressed the jackin button. A red laser passed from his PET to the port.

In a shower of pixels, Searchman materialized in the net. He looked around, and noticed a navi lying on the ground. Its symbol was black, and its eyes were closed. Searchman then notced that there was about a score of navis lying around the net, all in the same comatose state.

He contacted Raika, '' Sir, there are unconscious navis lying all over. They appear to be intact, but it's like they're all in a coma.''

''They aren't. Their main programs have either been shut down or destroyed.'' Raika explained. He frowned, '' But that should have deleted them. Most odd...''

''Do you have anything else to report?'' '' No, it's desolation as far as the eye can...'' Searchman trailed off.

'' Is something wrong?''

Searchman picked up a memory chip. ''Well, at least some of them were deleted, maybe this chip shows who did it.''

Raika was about to ask another question, when his navi was blasted off of his feet by an explosion. He rolled on the ground and came up to see several Beetanks about twenty feet away.

'' Search Grenade!'' he yelled, and two grenades materialized in his hands. He hurled them at the viruses, but as they neared their targets, a Domenird appeared and blocked the grenades, which fell to the ground and exploded harmlessly.

To add to his troubles, even more viruses were appearing: Marinas, Spikeys, Swordys, Draggins, Eleogres and more.

Raika cursed under his breath, '' Supervulcan, battle chip in, download!''

Searchman's right hand morphed into a golden vulcan, which he began to swing, creating a wide swath of destruction. When it ran out of ammo, he switch back to his default rifle, using it to snipe down viri, but he didn't notice the MegaLian behind him untill it slammed its rock hard head into his back.

He fell with a grunt, dropping the memory chip he had been holding. The virus horde surged foward, but several explosions held them back.

Searchman turned to see who his rescuer was, and saw a grey skinned navi with a light blue, see through visor, to horizontal white ridges on his helmet, a black body suit, grey shoulder pads, and a wide grin on his face.

'' Having a little trouble Searchman?'' he said cheerfully. '' I'm Stealth.exe!''

'' Now, let's that care of these viruses.'' Seachman nodded in agreement and went to work with his rifle, sometimes throwing a grenade to mix things up. Stealth was usins a buster that shot black energy pellets.

In several minutes, they were done.

When they were done, Searchman turned to his drab companion. '' Who are you, where did you come from?'' he asked.

'' Hm? My name is Steath.exe, my operator is a Sharo netsavior, and we were investigating a string of virus attacks in western Sharo. Our investigation led us here, just in time to save you from being virus fodder.''

'' I'm a member of the Sharo National Army! How dare you speak to us like that!'' Raika thundered. This cocky navi's casual, laid back personality was starting to annoy him.

Searchman cut in, '' What have you found in your investgation?''

Stealth's face darkened, and his cheerfullness vanished. '' My operator and I are under orders from our superiors to remain silent about it, even to members of the army.''

But I can tell you this, there is a strong possibility that the net could be in danger, but I can't go into specifics with you.'' He started to walk away, but then stopped. ''Oh yeah, I believe that this is yours?'' He flipped the memory chip over his shoulder to Searchman. ''Well, I'll be seeing you.'' He logged out.

''Hmph. That navi's operator is too lenient. That Stealth could use some discipline.'' Raika grumbled. ''Any way, log out, and bring the chip too, I want it put under analysis when we return too HQ.''

As Raika headed back towards the gate, Searhman in hologram form appeared on Raika's shoulder. '' Did you notice that the viruses appeared after I took the chip? It's almost like they were protecting it.'' '' Yes, I found that odd. Maybe it contains a secret, something the navi saw before it was deleted.'' '' I'm also worried about what Stealth said, about the net being in danger.'' Searchman added.

Raika nodded. They had a lot of work ahead of them...
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There, chap 1. Kindly critique while I go put some ice on my hand.
_________________
' I don't care if the buzz isn't real- I can roleplay being drunk!'

- Balmung, .hack vol. 1

I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/

[DjangoSP]

This Fic has a good concept! The last episode of Megaman I saw was "SpoutMan's New Hero" so I always get confused whenever someone mentions Stream. T_T But through great fics like these, my knowledge has improved! :D Great work, ComicX6! ^_^
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I am Solar Boy Django! TAIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!



Credit goes to X-Zero EXE for the uber-cool sig!!! :D

[Midnight]

Erm...

I liked this. It was a fair read, but some of it didn't seem to go down quite right. Although I understand's Stealth's function in the story as a whole so far, it seems that he is out of place at times--that him being a member of a rival faction who is sworn to secrecy is leading the protagonist nowhere. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, since it is a great focus in which to pull up other concepts about Sharo as a whole. Perhaps this lack of communication between the differing agencies is a symbol of something that is going on to Sharo as a whole. However, I leave that up to you.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[ComicX6]

Chapter 2
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Lan Hikari was not happy. Neighter was his navi, Megaman.exe. '' I still can't believe that Ms. Mari gave me a D on that algebra test!'' he complained.

Megaman rolled his eyes. They had been arguing about this all through lunch, annoying Lan's friends: Mayl, Dex, and Tory, so much that they had left his lunch table to sit by themselves.

'' Lan, you're almost in 7th grade, you should know how a coordinate plain can be used to solve equations. Your problem is that you put in no effort at all. Ms. Mari didn't give you a D, you EARNED it!''

'' Yeah, easy for you to say, all that stuff's programmed into you, you never have to study!'' Lan retorted.

Megaman's next words were drowned out by the wail of sirens. Lan quickly lept out of the street and onto the sidewalk, just in time to avoid being run over by several police cruisers. They turned the nearest corner and sped off in the direction of downtown.

'' What was that about?'' wondered Lan, all memory of the arguement gone. '' Didn't you notice? Those cars had the Net Police emblem on their sides!'' said Megaman, who had appeared on Lan's shoulder in holograph form.

'' Then they might need our help, let's go!'' shouted Lan, instantly taking off.

After tearing down the street for several minutes on his skates, Lan spotted the cruisers outside Den Bank, the largest bank in Den City.

Lan whirled to a stop and addressed an officer at the scene. '' I'm the netsavior Lan Hikari! What's going on here?''

The officer looked relieved. ''Oh good, we could use your help. Someone is trying to rob the bank through the internet. He's already broken through the security system. He's trying to hack into the bank accont data.''

'' Thanks.'' said Lan, ducking under the yellow tape. He then entered the bank.

Inside were a few more officers and many confused customers and tellers. '' Don't worry everyone! I'm a netsavior!'' Lan announced.

'' Be careful,'' an officer warned,'' whoever it is, he's deleted all of the security navis.''

'' We'll see about that! Jack in! Megaman.exe, execute!''

Megaman materialized in the cyberworld. As soon as he did, he heard Lan's voice in his ear. '' Megaman, how does everything look?'' Megaman scanned the area. Apart from a holographic zenny coin, it was pretty identical to most computer systems: large, empty, and bland.

'' Everything seems to be okay.'' He glanced toward the coin. '' The bank data appears to be okay too.''

Just then, a shadow fell over him. Instinctively,he lept out of the way, just as something large and heavy came crashing down where he had been standing.

He turned around to see what had tried to squash him flat.

It was a navi.

The navi was bronze colored, about seven feet tall, and was of a blocky shape. Apart from two yellow, deepset eyes, it had no visible facial features. Its symbol was of a jagged line, like what you would see on a richter scale. The most noticable feature he had was two two massive fists. His feet were of like proportions.

Megaman raised his buster. '' Who are you?'' he shouted.

'' I am Smashman.'' the big navi said in a deep, gravelly voice. '' I take it that you're that blue runt they call Megaman?''

'' You're trying to rob this bank aren't you?'' Shouted Megaman. '' Well, as a netsavior, I can't let you!'' He opened fire.

When he stopped shooting, he was in for a surprise. Smashman had protectively raised his huge hands in front of his face. They weren't even scratched.

Megaman lowered his buster.'' My buster didn't work!'' he exclaimed.

'' Thanks for noticing, captain obvious. That puny buster won't even tickle.'' he taunted.

'' Lan, we need a new tactic. Send me some battlechips!'' Megaman said to his op.

'' Here's one, Widesword, battle chip in! Download!''

Megaman's right hand morphed into a sword with a flared tip. He dashed up to Smashman. '' Take this! Widesword!'' But as he swung, Smashman again raised his fists. This time, the sword splintered in half.

A shock traveled up Megaman's arm, then numbness. The next thing he felt was a blow to his gut that sent him flying a good ten feet. He landed on his back, hard, but he still managed to get to his feet.

'' Lan,'' he groaned, '' that didn't work either. I need something stronger.''

'' Then use this: Spreader, battle chips in, triple download!''

Megaman raised his hands, they morphed into a buster with a ring of protrusions. '' Program Advance, HYPER BURST!''

Energy blasts flew from the buster, raining down on Smashman. This time, he couldn't block the blasts. '' AHHG!'' he yelled, recoiling.

When the explosions faded, he was still there, but he was visiblely in pain.

'' Alright kid, now you've made me REALLY angry! METEOR BLOW!'' His fists shot into the air.

The fists came down with massive force, creating a huge double explosion.

When the smoke cleared, there was a huge crater where the point of impact had been. Megaman was inside it. He was damaged, he could see pixels of his own data lazily drifting in front of him. His legs were also pinned under some debris.

At this point, Megaman saw that his symbol was starting to glow, but before he could say anything, a shadow loomed over him.

'' You're deleted.'' growled Smashman. He raised a fist...

'' LAN! ''

'' MEGAMAN!''

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That's chap. 2. Hope you like it.
_________________
' I don't care if the buzz isn't real- I can roleplay being drunk!'

- Balmung, .hack vol. 1

I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/

[Midnight]

Hmm.

Well...I don't see the purpose of this chapter yet. After all, it does seem like your everyday run-of-the-mill mission that seems to have gone wrong. Then again, it is still rather early in this plot's timeline, so I suppose you will have to tie the events of the first and second chapters together in some way.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[ComicX6]

A notice: I probably won't be able to update until next week. Just so everyone knows.

And yes, I do plan on merging the two storylines, so look out for that. I already have chapters 3, 4, and 5 written, so no, I'm not lazying around, I just don't have the time to update right now. Thank you for reading this fic.
_________________
' I don't care if the buzz isn't real- I can roleplay being drunk!'

- Balmung, .hack vol. 1

I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/

[ComicX6]

zomg double post ohnoez...

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Chapter 3
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Megaman was about to be deleted. It couldn't be happening, it just couldn't

Lan suddenly felt a strange sensation in his chest. It wasn't a cold feeling, nor a stitch, or even of pain. Rather, it was a feeling of warmth.

Smashman was unaware of this. He was bringing his fist down on Megaman's head, but his downward motion suddenly stopped.

He looked down. Megaman had somehow blocked the blow with just his bare hands! His color scheme had also changed. Blue was now light blue, red was pink, and so on. He was also glowing brightly.

Before his eyes, Megaman managed to squirm out from under the rock that had been pinning him. He slowly got to his feet.

'' Lan, something's happening to me... I feel... strange... like... someone else is giving me more power.''

''I feel funny too Megaman.'' Lan said. '' But let's worry about that later, Smashman is next!''

'' Roger, Mega Buster!'' Megaman fired his buster. Once again, Smashman tried to block it, but this time the blast blew a hole in his hand.

''Huh? That didn't work before...'' Megaman wondered.

'' Grr... I don't know how you managed to do that... But I'll delete you anyway!'' Smashman roared.

Ignoring his injured hand, he punched Megaman in the face with the other. However, it didn't seem to do much damage and he just shrugged it off. At the same time, Lan thought that he felt his nose let out a little bit of pain, but the aldrenalin was pumping and he soon forgot about it.

'' Step Cross battlechip in, download!''

Megaman's hands morphed into dual swords. He then dashed foward and made an X shaped cut on Smashman's emblem.

But instead of leaving a small X on the symbol, all that was left of it was four small 'slices'. Smashman gasped and clutched the remains of his symbol, trying to stanch the flow of data. '' D-Damn you Megaman!!''

SMASHMAN DELETED

Megaman slowly turned back to normal, the glow faded, and his proper colors returned. What was it that had happened? It wasn't like a style change, or a soul unison, and definately not like cross fusion.

'' Lan,'' he asked, '' do you know what just happened?''

But Lan felt completely drained. ''Megaman...'' he muttered. Then, his energy spent, he slipped into blissful unconciousness.

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Chapter 4
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Raika entered his little corner office and plopped himself down at his desk. The office, while small, was still bigger than the cubicle he used to occupy.

Most of it was occupied by a large file cabinet. Cardboard boxes containing additional files and papers were stacked in a corner. His desk was a relatively simple affair. It contained blank paper, memos, pens, pencils, that sort of thing. On top was a labtop, several other papers, and his empty PET. Overhead, heating pipes steamed and whistled.

He took a sip of the coffee he had brough with him and grimaced, it was already cold. His office was, due to the pipes, the warmest room in the building. Everywhere else was pretty cold by non-Sharo standards.

Putting the cold cup down, he swept the scattered papers to one side and addressed his computer. '' Searchman, have you finished decoding the memory chip?''

Searchman appeared on the moniter. '' It is decoded sir. I needed some help from the analytical navis, but we cracked it.''

Raika nodded, ''Good, can you show me what's on it?''

'' Yes sir, I'll install it one the computer now.'' There was a pause, then a new icon appeared on the desktop. '' Installation complete.'' he confirmed.

Raika clicked on the icon and a viewing screen appeared on the monitor. '' Okay, show me... oh, two minutes before the deletion.'' Searchman nodded, walked over to the viewing screen, touched it, than stepped back.

What they saw was the backs of two security navis. They were firing at an unseen enemy. Several bodies were seen lying about. Then there was an explosion in front of the two navis. They were instantly deleted, then the view went wide, the fell near the floor. Then two black boots could be seen entering the picture. They stopped, turned toward the camera, came foward, lifted a foot, brought it down... Then everything went static.

Raika sat in silent contempation for a while, gazing at the blank screen. Finally, he spoke. '' Well, now we know that it wasn't a virus attack. It was carried out by a navi or navis.''

There was a knock at the door and someone that he had never seen before walked in. He was just undert six feet, was slender, looked to be in his early to mid twenties, and had shoulder length brown hair, and blue eyes. He was carrying a parka over his shoulder and he held a bulging file folder in the other. At his belt was a gray LinkPET.

'' Hello,'' he said. '' My name is Corey Lanson, a netsavior. My superiors at West Sharo HQ told me to come here to help you with your investigation.''

Raika raised an eyebrow. '' We've never met before, how do you know that I'm investigating a virus attack?''

Corey raised a finger, ''One: information travels between the four HQs faster than you might think.'' He held up a second finger,'' Two: our navis already know each other.''

Raika slumped in his chair. '' You mean...''

Stealth.exe appeared on Corey's shoulder. '' Yeah, I saved you from deletion at the hands of marauding viruses.'' he said jovially.

'' Now now Stealth, you shouldn't brag, it's rude.'' chided Corey.

''Hmph'' went Raika. He would have to be dealing with these two. Fun.

He paused. '' Corey Lanson... That's not a Sharoan name.''

Corey shook his head, '' It isn't. My father is from Sharo but my mother is Ameroppian. She thought that the Sharo language is too gutteral, so she kept her maiden name.''

''At HQ they call him Maverick.'' added Stealth.

''Why?''

Stealth sniggered, '' Because he'll do pretty much anything short of murder to complete a mission. Including bribery, threats, and lias-''

Corey cut him off,'' That's quite enough Stealth.'' he grumbled.

'' Now, to business. As Stealth told you, we were investigating virus attacks in western Sharo. None quite as bad as yours though. Now, you already know that I can't tell you what we've discovered, we're here to help you figure out where they will strike next.''

Searchman's voice came from the computer, '' We just finished analyizing a memory chip discovered at the scene, it wasn't a virus attack, it was a navi attack.''

Corey looked mildly surprised, '' Really? Then we'd better get right to work.''

Raika nodded in consent. These two would test his patience, but with their help, he may be able to figure out what was going on.

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There's chaps 3 and 4 for ya. Hope you enjoyed seeing FS, if nothing else.
_________________
' I don't care if the buzz isn't real- I can roleplay being drunk!'

- Balmung, .hack vol. 1

I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/