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Quick note: I don't own any of these characters except for Nemesis, Nike, Jade, Chaos, and Hawk. Everything else belongs to Warner Bros. and the Wachowskis. I'm not making money off of this, so please don't sue me!

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Trials & Tribulations:

Innocence Shattered

Chaos is falling apart. What happens when he finally cracks?

Chapter 1- The Downward Slope

Chaos didn't say anything as he slumped into the galley behind the others. He took his bowl of runny eggs without a word, and sat down at the edge of the table. Again, nothing. He just sat there and ate. It was as if the rest of the world didn't exist.

"Chaos?" Nemesis called softly from across the table. Chaos shuddered at the sound of someone saying his name. "Chaos," she repeated.

"What?" he asked, finally looking up.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to train a bit after we're done."

Chaos said nothing. He only nodded. And continued eating.

*****

Chaos stood atop the skyscraper with Nemesis. He peered down. Down.....it's so far away......

"You see that other scraper over there?"

Chaos looked in the direction that Nemesis was pointing. "Yeah, I do."

"Watch this."

Nemesis leaped over without any hesitation. Chaos stared into space, wondering what she expected him to do. Then it hit him. She wants you to follow her, Chaos. Jump. You've done this before...remember? Remember.....what... Enigma...taught you?

Chaos jumped, trying to remember his previous training. But he couldn't. All he could remember was....what had happened to his crewmates. The horrors he had seen. And he fell. The ground rushed up at him, coming ever closer. Chaos offered no resistance. He embraced the seemingly impending doom.

Impact.

Pain. It corsed through his body, making every inch of him hurt. But it feels so good......my mind and my body are suffering at the same time, so I feel balanced....

Chaos found himself on some street he didn't remember, in a city he didn't know. Nemesis stood in front of him. Surrounding them were people....a crowd of people...strangers. He shivered. He didn't like it.

The kept walking. Nemesis was talking, but her words were lost on Chaos. He stared fearfully around at the people who passed them by, not hearing a word. All of a sudden, a man appeared with a gun in his face.

"NO!!!!"

He ran. He screamed. No one turned to help him. They weren't aware of him at all. He tripped. He fell down, again embracing the ground.

When Chaos was unplugged from the construct, he was unconscious. Jade picked him up and took him to his room. Nemesis just sat there, staring off into space.

"Nemesis?" Tank's voice brought her back to reality.

"Yeah?"

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Nemesis stood up and walked over to where Tank was usually seated while he ran the simulations. "I think...there is something wrong with Chaos. He's beginning to creep me out. The way he reacted to the Agent...I handled it better than that."

Tank leaned back. "I think we should give him some more time. He's had it real rough lately. Remember, he said he saw most of his crewmates die in front of him." I nearly went crazy when Dozer, Mouse, Switch and Apoc died.

Nemesis nodded. "You're right. I'll take it easy on the kid."

*****

"Chaos...will you tell me a story?"

No answer. Hawk stuck his head into his older brother's room. "Chaos?"

"Shut it!" Chaos yelled. He leaped up from his bed and slammed his door. Then the lights flickered off for the night. Chaos was cloaked in darkness. And he cried.

"I can't live through this anymore."