The Marquis and its entire crew is made up by me, as well as certain other characters. The rest of it is the property of their respective owners. So here it is.

THE
MATRIX
ACE

Prologue

The green codes were a bizarre mixture of numbers, Japanese kana, Greek symbols, and maybe the odd letter here and there. And they were everywhere. They even made up the tumblers that were part of a lock on the doorknob of a door ...

... that was suddenly knocked down as Fate charged through it. She didn't stop, didn't slow down, as she raced up the stairs as fast as her focus would speed her, pursued by bullets.

Agent Black charged after her, firing his Desert Eagle handgun. He was a ways behind her, but by the time Fate reached the roof, Agent Black had caught up.

"It is inevitable, Miss Trent," said Agent Black.

"I don't take no for an answer," said Fate, pulling out her .44 handgun and firing.

In a blur of motion that stretched the limits of the code's ability to depict visual images, Agent Black simply dodged. "That was extremely pointless, Miss Trent," he said, and raised his Desert Eagle to fire.

There was a click.

Fate smirked. "Huh. Looks like you do run out," she said, and charged forward, firing again. While Agent Black was dodging the bullet, she focused her strength ...

This is not real, this is not real, this is not real ...

... and punched him in the stomach.

Agent Black didn't flinch as he was knocked back, but simply rose to his feet and attempted to do a karate chop that would knock her off the building. She blocked it with her hands, but was thrown in the opposite direction Agent Black was going for.

Focusing all her energy, she leapt into the air, feeling the world spin around her, and kicked with all her strength.

Agent Black found himself above the middle of the street. There was no way he could dodge the bullet that Fate then fired at his face.

Fate smirked as the Agent continued to plummet, then jumped as a bullet whizzed past her head. She gave a single glance to confirm that it was another Agent, and leapt across the distance between that building and the next one.

Agent White put a hand to his earpiece. Agent Black was still operational ... and he found the perfect person to jump to.

* * * * *

Michael Klaymoore was putting on his tie when he heard the sound of glass breaking, as if someone had jumped in through a window.

Mike was about ninteen, tall, with a shock of blond hair and sharp facial features. He spent a considerable amount of his free time on the Internet, with the screen name "Ace."

He blinked at the sound, which seemed patently impossible. It sounded like it was coming from the side that faced the street.

Ten seconds later, a woman in dark glasses and a dark blue leather trench coat bared into his apartment and ran through it on her way someplace else. Mike stared in disbelief as she went by ...

... and he blacked out. There was a faint hint of green characters scrolling downwards, as well as a strange noise ...

* * * * *

Fate practically jumped down the stairwell, stopping only on the second floor to break her fall as she landed on the first floor. Agent Black landed half a second later, and by then she was out of the building.

She pulled out her cell phone, still running. "Pylon, where's the exit?"

"Hotel across the street from you, ninth floor, pay phone," said the voice on the phone. "Oh shit, the Agent's right behind you!"

Completely disregarding several traffic laws, Fate ran across the street, with Agent Black in hot pursuit. She ran inside without looking back.

Agent Black looked up at the hotel. And then he blurred.

* * * * *

Mike found himself at the bus stop in front of the hotel across the street, with no recollecion of how he'd gotten there. There was the sound of distant gunfire. That ... was ... WIERD, he thought. Oh, well ... might as well head off to work.

* * * * *

Fate ran into the building as fast as she could. She was pretty sure the Agent was right behind her, when she thought she heard him "bodyjump" somewhere else. Oh, great, he could be anywhere now.

"Quickest way to the ninth floor?" she said into her phone.

"I'd suggest the elevator, but they'd probably cut it," said Pylon's voice. "Head up the stairs to your right. I think that agent just got in your way, though ..."

"Damn," muttered Fate as she hung up, and she started running up the enormous stairwell.

When she was at the sixth floor, the door opened, and Agent Roberts stepped out. "You aren't going anywhere, Miss Trent ..."

She pulled out her handgun and shot at the Agent. This only served to cause him to not chase her, as he dodged the bullets with ease.

"That was completely pointles," said Agent Roberts. "You know as well as I do that ..."

Fate focused her energy, and jumped at the wall, then kicked away from it, swinging her other leg into a kick that knocked Agent Roberts off the stairwell. He plummeted seven stories, and Fate resumed her mad dash up the stairs.

She barged into the ninth floor and ran towards the pay phone, which was ringing. Agent White and Agent Black stepped out of a nearby side door as she grabbed the reciever, picked it up, put it to the side of her head ...

The Agents shot the phone out a split second too late. There was a pause as they stared down the now-empty hallway.

Agent Roberts walked up to them. "They interfere with everything," he intoned dispassionately.

"We were unable to find out the name of their next target," said Agent White.

"We must continue to acquire information," said Agent Black.

Then they looked down and saw the small bomb there.

"Uh-oh," said Agent Roberts.

Agent Roberts and Agent Black managed to escape the blast, but Agent White found he had to bodyjump somewhere else.