Author's Notes: As promised, here is Chapter 3. You all can expect Chapter 4 to be released May 23.

I currently have no plans to add Lan and co. to the fic, because I've messed with the 'history of the universe'. I can't say what entirely, of course. =) That would spoil the suprise.

However, I'm thinking of possibly re-writing it, switching some details around and working the other characters into this. It'll retain much of the unique-ness and storyline, but it'llopen up some interesting posibilities. It all depends on how far I get...and how often I recieve motivation. No feedback = few updates.

This chapter is the longest to date!

--- The Nightmare Bridge ---

-- Chapter 3 --

-- Truths within Deception --

"No freakin' way!" Forte growled to his companion as the two of them walked towards the Server's primary entrance. "The whole idea is stupid."

"It is not." Momoko shook her head. "Look, big guy. You said we needed to get some information, and we need to get it without anybody chasing after you. This is the best way to deter people away."

"It's still stupid. I am NOT going to act as anybody's Navi! Besides, we're still going to attract attention because of that arm of yours."

"That's exactly why you should try to act like a normal Navi. If you act like you normally do, what will people do if they were to see my arm bandaged like this, with a known troublemaker following me around?"

Forte groaned. "They'd freak and figure I could 'injure' other people, too. We'd be up to our knees in Hunters."

Momoko nodded. "Yep."

"Listen, girl, I was a normal Navi for only one year. Just one. Moreover, that one year was even more of a hell than this situation is. I'm not going back to that."

"Forte, this is totally different!" Momoko insisted.

Forte scoffed. "Like you know anything about that. You're acting more like my creator every time you open your fat mouth. Always forcing me to see his way, making me do his dirty work day after day...never treated me like the masterpiece I am..."

"Egotist." Momoko grumbled.

"Say that again?" Forte said, glaring.

"I am treating you like the masterpiece you claim to be, Forte! I'm not ordering you to do anything. I'm asking if you'll act like a Navi. Being a Navi and acting like a Navi are two very different things, right? Think about it. When did your creator...whoever he was...ask you to do something, instead of order you to? I'm betting never, and that's why you don't want to be someone's Navi."

"Bingo. I'm not going back to that."

"You're not going back! Why don't you get it?"

Forte harumphed. "I get it, I get it! I just don't like it. How would YOU react if someone asked you to act like a slave?"

"Is being a Navi really comparable to slavery?"

"Hard work, no control over what you do, no respect from your creators, etcetera, etcetera. Most Navis aren't even given the capability for free will!" Forte scoffed. "I got lucky. Everyone else is created, and from day one ordered around endlessly, doing whatever their owners tell them to do. Most are too stupid to realize or care!" Forte groaned in frustration. "Can you see now why I don't like your idea?"

"Yes..." Momoko nodded slowly. Could computer programs really be considered slaves?

"I'll act like your Navi. But don't you DARE think I'm lowering myself to actually being one, got it?" Forte's voice was edged with steel.

"I understand." Momoko said, nodding.

Momoko sighed as they walked out of the forest-like maze of black pillars into a somewhat open clearing. In the center, a circular blue ring signified the server entrance. "So that's the way out of here?"

"Yep." Forte took a quick look around. "Ordinarily I wouldn't have to use this, but with you around I can't just jump around wherever like I'm used to."

"So, where are we going?" Momoko asked quizzically.

"Your home country's primary server, obviously. We need to look up information on your family."

"My family..."

"What IS your family name, by the way? You sound Japanese, so..."

"M-my family name? Well, um..."

"Don't tell me you don't remember!"

"Umm...okay...I won't..."

Forte stared at Momoko in disbelief. "You mean we're not only searching for your family, but we're doing it BLIND?!"

"I'm sorry! I-I don't even remember where I was when this stupid dream started! All I remember is some rythmic clattering and a lot of people talking nearby!"

Forte groaned. "Fine, fine. Whatever. It'll just make things take a little longer. I just hope your stomach helps your remember what we need before things get out of hand." He whirled around, lifting one clenched hand high.

"Server jump, Execute!"

Momoko's stomach leapt to her throat as the world around her vanished. Suddenly, everything was wavy and insubstantial, as if Momoko had been thrust into one a giant oil painting, blurry and unfinished. The air itself tore Momoko off her feet, hurtling her headfirst through the shadowy existence, Forte following closely behind.

The headlong journey didn't last long, however. A few seconds later, Momoko, and everything around her, lurched to a dead stop. Before she could even comprehend what happened, Forte was on one knee, shaking her. "Hey, you. Are you all right? Momoko!"

Momoko shook her head. Her body ached, shivering in pain and heat. "My eyes...won't focus... What's going on?" Her voice came out as a croak.

'Oh, this can't be good.' Forte swore inwardly as he peeked around him. A few confused bystander were watching nearby, whispering amongst themselves. 'Oh, man! I should have realized that a Server jump would affect Momoko somehow! I've got to get us out of here!'

"The jump's over, Momoko, but we're drawing a crowd." Forte whispered to Momoko. Quietly enough, he hoped, for those nearby to not hear.

"Right." Momoko swallowed and staggered to her feet. She wobbled a few times, before finally finding a solid foothold. "It's so hard to see...C'mon, Forte. Let's go find my family."

'Not so loud!' Forte groaned inwardly. "Okay. To a library." He cringed at the confused bystanders.

Slowly, the two made their way through the server. Unlike the harsh black edges and right angles of Forte's secluded hideaway, this server was a replica of a enormous garden and park. Colors abounded everywhere, and Forte found himself sifting through small crowds of Users and Navis, out and about on their daily business. Slowly, he lead Momoko through the crowd, who felt remarkably light-headed.

Momoko sneezed. "So many flowers...so many people...the smells..."

"Excuse me? Smells?" Forte asked.

"The scent of flowers...it's all over this place..."

Forte gave the flowers a cursory glance then tried sniffing the air himself. Nothing. "Are you telling me that you can smell the things here?"

"Yeah...though usually I'm not allergic to them..."

'Unbelievable. Momoko has a sense of smell, here? I...I wonder what it'd be like, to smell things...'

'Come to think of it, I wonder just how many experiences humans have that I am unable to grasp...'

'Taste? Pain? Love? Hah! Love, that's a good one.'

Forte resisted laughing at the impossibility of it all. Momoko noticed his suppressed chuckle as the two kept walking along.

'But...wasn't love supposed to be impossible to describe? How then could I know I'm feeling it...or not feeling it already?'

Forte shook those thoughts aside. Philosophy was useless to him, right? No need to go in depth on something as pointless as 'what ifs'.

"I think I'm getting some of my sight back..." Momoko commented. "Thing's are a little less blurry now!"

Forte grinned. "Good. We're almost to the central library. We're going to need your eyes to help find your family."

Momoko nodded. "Okay."

"Marduk-spawn! It's him!" Forte's eyes bulged as he heard an astonished voice cry to his left. He snapped his head in the direction of the speaker, letting his eyes scan the crowd before finding the source of the disturbance. His eyes locked with those of the offender, freezing them both in place. 'Oh, come on, it's that idiot Yuzori again! Why'd I have to run into this loser?'

Yuzori was the quickest to react. "Double! Battle Mode, Set, Execute! Delete the Outcast, quick!" Yuzori screamed to his Navi.

It took Forte a few seconds to realize just WHO Yuzori was talking to. Mule was nowhere in sight, so exactly who was this 'Double'?

Forte's search ended as the ground beneath him erupted into a geyser of stone and rock. Showers of tiny stones flew everywhere, striking Momoko and several nearby travelers, who started yelling in protest. Forte himself rode the explosion's shockwave into the air, where he activated his hover program, and turned to face the now-revealed assailant.

"That could have damaged someone, you know." Forte remarked, pointing at the bystanders.

"Like you care!" Double said with a sneer. Double appeared like a golden-armored human, but his chest and limbs had been replaced with a strange violet gel. A golden hand lanced out, the goo stretching out like a string to grapple the floating Outcast. The blows never hit, their striking force deflected a few feet away from Forte by a sheen of crackling black energy.

Both Yuzori and Momoko blinked. Double's attack just bounced off of him?

Forte winced. 'This 'Double' is more advanced than he looks. The Void Aura is only becomes visible when I wish it or when it's deflecting a exceptionally intense force...and it sure wasn't the former. Interesting form of attack, however...'

"Momoko! Battle commands!" He stared at Double, holding out his hands wide. 'If I'm gonna act like a Navi, I can't take initiative here. I must wait for Momoko's order.'

"Ahem! Battle commands, please!" Forte emphasized again.

"Um...uh...right..." Momoko stuttered. "Battle Mode, Set!"

"What?! I thought The Outcast didn't have a User!" Yuzori complained. "This ain't right. Double! Don't let her finish the command!" Double crouched down, and hurled himself towards Momoko.

Momoko screamed and jumped back. Double smashed into the ground headfirst, golden armor and violet goo flying everywhere from the impulsive attack. "Execute! Execute already! Forte, now!"

Forte's steel blade was out in an instant, charging in towards Double, whose body was already re-forming. Forte saw the smug grin on Double's face as he charged in, prepared to strike.

"Forte!" Momoko screamed in horror at seeing the mad look of each combatant's face. She watched as Double pulled back his hand, preparing to splatter Forte with a single overwhelming strike. Forte's sword-arm likewise was cocked and ready. His arm thrust forward, the deadly blade aimed for Double's head. Double's expression turned to that of disbelief when the incoming sword simply vanished, leaving a single bloodied hand behind.

"Wh-what?" Yuzori protested. In the course of a second, Forte grasped Double's forehead firmly and froze the doppelganger Navi in place.

"Goodbye, Double. You were better than most." Forte begrudgingly commented. Black motes of force streamed from Forte's palm into Double's entrapped head. Double screamed as his form began to flicker.

"Forte! What are you doing?!" Momoko yelled.

"Evolution," Forte curtly replied, before Double's body shattered into light, leaving behind a black mist that floated around for a second or two before Forte's hand absorbed it.

Yuzori stood blankly. "That...wasn't fair..." He frowned and turned to Forte. "I'll get you back for this!"

"Oh, whatever." Forte grabbed Momoko under his arm and, cloak swirling about him, took to the air. "Just shut up."

A thin ray of white light lanced out from Forte's palm as they flew away, skewering Yuzori in the neck. He choked for a second, his eyes huge, before his body shattered into light and vanished.

Forte gave a small sigh of relief. He hovered down to the library entrance, setting Momoko down, who took a few seconds to calm down and catch her breath.

"N-next time warn me before picking me up like that, alright? That hurt..."

"What? Oh...right." Forte looked thoughtful "Well, it bought us some time, anyway. Without Double, Yuzori can't communicate via the Internet. It won't be long before he repairs the damage and we have more company, though."

"What did you do to them?" Momoko intoned. "Both Yuzori and the Navi looked like there were in an awful lot of pain..."

"Nonsense. Navis don't feel pain. We have a sense of touch, but it's too dull to actually be considered pain. isn't one of them. I should know, remember?"

"I don't know..."

"Whatever! We don't have time to argue about that."

The two of them walked into the large, cathedral-like building. People walked up and down the halls, talk of school reports and fiction tales wafting through the air. Hurriedly, Forte walked Momoko past the public terminals and down a side corridor. They walked a short ways into the maze of corridors and passed several door before finally arriving at a door that Forte deemed safe. It was one of the library's secure rooms, normally reserved for official records and government use. He tried opening the door. No luck.

"Go figure." Forte said. "I'm going to have to hack our way in." Looking around for any potential witnesses, he ducked into the doorway, held out his hand, and placed it on the door.

"Don't talk to anyone." He said, before his eyes went blank and lifeless. Forte's body slumped over, his outstretched hand still firmly in place.

* * *

Back in the real world, infinitely far away from the chaos of the Internet, Trevor stared across the table to his employer. Dressed in a dark shirt and pants, with an overly large lab coat, Mr. Bates looked like the spitting image of a mad scientist. Well, not really. The clothing fit the stereotype, but Mr. Bates himself didn't look all that crazy. Trevor resisted the urge to laugh, anyway. This WAS his employer, after all, and a surprisingly rich one.

"You've found the Outcast? Are you certain of this, Trevor?" Mr. Bates asked, picking up a burger and taking a bite.

"Not entirely. Both Fenrir and I saw him, and the appearance matched Forte's description, but the Navi we found had no I.D. signature and couldn't be picked up by a Server Scan. Really, there was no whay for us to learn more, aside from asking him."

"That sounds about right. Forte is like a shadow - you know he's there but aside from intuition and visual contact, it's impossible to track him down. I take it you didn't have any sort of interaction with him?"

"No. The circumstances were...unusual. Besides, I know full well Forte's opinion about us humans and his defensive capabilities. Unless Forte's Void Aura is weaker than I suspected, any attack we could make would be pointless against him."

"Well...the Void Aura certainly isn't invincible, you know. It can be overpowered, or shut off, or negated if you know how to."

"Really? How do you know this?"

"I've done a lot of research into the Void Aura. It's an amazing piece of programming, the was it always changes and adapts. But anyway, I'm sure you're not here to discuss something as complicated as how a Aura-class shield program 'really' works."

Mr. Bates reached into his pocket and handed Trevor a small disk.

"What's this?" Trevor asked, taking a bite into a piece of chicken.

"I've done some research on the Outcast, to go along with his Aura." Mr Bates spoke seriously. "THAT, Trevor, is the counter-program for Forte's specific Void Aura."

Trevor jumped. It was a tiny jump, for one cannot jump very well while sitting, but a jump nonetheless.

"You seriously found a way to counter it? Th-that's amazing! How long did it take you to find this?!"

"Never mind that. I trust you will put that program to good use?" Mr Bates eyed Trevor seriously.

"Of course. I'll need some time to make sure it works, though."

"Take as much time as you need." Mr. Bates spoke. "Just don't delay too long. Forte's different from other Navis. He gets smarter everyday. I've even heard rumors that he's smart enough to program things himself."

"Do you know how he does it?"

"Of course not! It is only a rumor. Who knows if it's actually real?"

"Marduk would know." Trevor said with a frown.

"True enough." Mr. Bates nodded.

"For not wholly believing them, you seem to like keeping track of these rumors."

"Forte is my obsession, Trevor Keese. Surely some speculation can be allowed."

Trevor chuckled. "Yes, I suppose so. Oh, yeah! When we found Forte, it looked like he was with someone else. Navi, User, Program, we couldn't tell what, exactly."

Mr. Bates frowned. "What? That's...unusual, to say the least. What did the I.D. code say?"

"There was none, Mr. Bates. She didn't show up when I ran a scan of the area, either."

Mr. Bates stiffened. "Now we may really have a problem. Did it look like a girl?"

"Yes, actually." 'Hmm? What's with Mr. Bates? It looks like he's seen a ghost or something...'

"East Indian robes? Long hair?"

"What? No, no. It looked like she was wearing a uniform, actually. I'm not sure, but it looked like it came from some sort of private school." Trevor fought down the urge to ask exactly what he meant. 'The plot thickens...I wonder who's this mystery girl he seems so worried about...'

Mr. Bates sighed, though it seemed forced. "Wonderful. More trouble." He stood up, his meal finished. "Trevor, I'm going to up the pay for Forte's deletion to $4,500 if you can get some more information on that mystery girl from him. I think we may have another Rogue on our hands."

"I see..."

"And if it is a rogue Navi, I'll throw in another $1500 for her deletion. If you can prove she is a Rogue, of course. If she's a normal Navi, then there's no point in it."

Trevor whistled. 'An extra thousand just for asking some questions and deleting her? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. Where does he get all of this cash to throw around?'

"That, I can do. It didn't seem like the girl was very powerful anyway. Heck, she even looked injured..." Trevor remarked off-handedly. "As odd as that is..."

"Yes." Mr. Bates said. "Very odd indeed..." The two shook hands. "I'll continue my research and contact you if I find anything of importance."

"Okay."

"Good-bye, Trevor." Mr. Bates walked out of the restaurant, leaving Trevor to think in solitude.

-- End Chapter 3 --