This is my first fanfiction. I started by writing a character story for a
Matrix role-playing game my friend was running. The game flopped, but the
character was so interesting that I had to write it out. I've written a
little bit of fiction before, but never for anyone else to see, so there
will be revisions as I realize what I wrote sounds worse than I intended it
too. :')
Some would say that this sounds a lot like the Matrix itself, but it seems to me that anyone who finds out about the matrix and is eventually removed would follow some basic events. For example, there is first contact, weird stuff, what is the matrix, oh that's the matrix, and finally running from agents and removal. Its what you put in to flesh out your character and make the story unique and not another NEO clone that is important! Thanks Draconious
Awakening - Chapter 7- Nightshade rides again
Turning the corner, the black Cadillac pulled into the parking lot of the South Arms hotel. The door to a room on the upper level opened and a man came down the stairs. The driver's door opened up and a tall man with long brown hair stepped out. He was wearing a long green army surplus trench coat with several holes ripped in it, black ragged jeans, and army boots.
He turned to open the driver's back side door, and with the assistance of the man, lifted the limp body of his wife from the car. Her hair, which was once long and red, was now bleached blonde, resulting in a strawberry blonde appearance. Her angelic face was in a peaceful repose, which he wished he could leave her in. She was in danger, however, for as long as she remained plugged into the Matrix.
Nero grunted as the weight load shifted to his shoulders, then shifted it back as Ace took her, shifting her into a fireman's carry. (Body over the shoulder, head down for those who don't know) Nero grabbed the door after racing up the stairs ahead of Ace, who took her into the Honeymoon suite and sat her on the bed.
Phoenix turned to him and said, "We need to remove her as quickly as possible. The Agents will be here shortly."
Ace looked at him. "I know, but we have to wake her up first. We need to make sure she has her memories back. If she wakes up thinking that she is Jennifer Tranton and has been abducted, she may go permanently insane waking in the real world." Phoenix just grunted.
Ace sat on the bed next to her and placed her head in his lap, gently stroking her hair. Phoenix assisted Nero and Cray as they set up the equipment used to remove her from the Matrix. After the equipment was set up, Nero went to stand guard while Cray monitored Shelley's condition.
Checking her vitals, Cray said, "Her heart rate and blood pressure are rising. I'd say she'll be coming around soon."
"Com'on Shelley. You can do it, come back to me baby."
She started to move, tossing a little bit. Her eyelids started to flutter, then she looked up at him.
"James?. What happened?" Ace looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose, as Shelley evidently didn't remember about the Matrix yet, didn't remember being Nightshade.
"James? Who are all these people? Where are we?"
Phoenix walked over towards her. "Ma'am, My name is Phoenix. I believe you have heard of me."
Her eyes went wide and she began scrambling towards Ace, almost crawling into his lap. "James, they asked me questions about this guy, they said he was dangerous! James, we have to get out of here!"
Ace was confused about her behavior. Even when she thought she was Shelley, she was never this flighty.
Phoenix nodded to Cray, and he injected her with a sedative quickly.
"It is as I feared. The implant is still having an effect, even after the false history of Jennifer Tranton was destroyed. We'll have to get it out and see if she remembers," he said. He opened his cell phone.
"Operator."
"Hex, I need the extraction device we designed."
"She doesn't remember, does she?" she asked, concerned.
"No."
"Who's going to retrieve it?" she asked.
"I will."
"Okay. Disconnect the chair.'' With that, she hung up.
Phoenix proceeded to disconnect the chair, and waited for the phone to ring. When it did, he picked it up and disappeared in a flash of green code.
Rather than waking in his 'dentist chair' he found himself in the Construct. Sitting on a rack next to some weapons and body armor was the extraction device. It resembled a portable vacuum cleaner, with a drill bit recessed inside the vacuum tube, and a small screen attached to the side. It was a nasty looking machine, but it should do the job. He picked it up and slung on the shoulder strap.
He opened his phone.
"Hex, send me back in."
He disappeared in a flash of light.
*****
Ace was comforting an unconscious Nightshade as she was prepped on the Dining room table of the Honeymoon Suite. Cray had managed to strap her head still with some small cushions and some duct tape. Her hair had been shaved off, so that it would not be in the way. She had also been heavily anesthetized.
Phoenix reappeared after the phone rang, which he acknowledged and hung up. Slung over his shoulder was the extraction device. It resembled a medieval torture device gone mad, but it should do the job.
Cray took the extractor from Phoenix and approached Nightshade. Lining the machine up with the marks he had made on her head, he activated it.
The screen lit up, showing a scan of her head. Inside, one could clearly see the implant wrapped around parts of her brain. Cray hit a red button on the side of the device and an electrical charge ran down the barrel and shocked Nightshade. Ace flinched in sympathy. The implant squirmed like crazy, then went still.
Flipping 3 switches, the drill began spinning and slowly lowered towards her head. Ace looked away, unable to watch. He heard the fleshy sounds it made as it entered his love, and could smell a faint smell of burning flesh.
The charge shocked again, and then the vacuum was engaged, which sucked the implant out of her head. It smacked into a containment bottle. Flipping several more switches, the drill began backing out. It was coated with red gore.
Flipping another switch and pressing a blue button, an intense blue light shone from the end of the extractor. It illuminated the wound in Nightshade's head and began to heal the hole that had been drilled. In 30 seconds or so it was healed, a patch of smooth unblemished skin left where the hole had been previously.
Cray set the extractor to the side, and removed the containment bottle. Inside, the implant was squirming. Phoenix took it to the open window and threw it, making a perfect shot. It landed in runoff drain on the road, where it fell into the water and shorted out.
Ace held Nightshade's head, soothing her. The drugs would wear off soon, and they would see how the procedure went.
*****
Twenty five minutes later, she began to come around. Ace was holding her, trying to keep her calm. Cray had already hooked up the chair again, and now had a sedative on standby in case she should panic.
"Ace, what's going on.. Ow, I have such a headache."
He broke into a grin as he hugged her to his chest and kissed the top of her head.
"What happened? Last thing I remember we were getting Nero out of the Matrix." She looked over and saw him standing guard by the window, full head of hair and an automatic weapon in his hands. "That must have been a while ago."
"Is that all you can remember?" Ace asked.
"Well, I also had a dream about being in an office building, and also being a reporter. Not a dream?" She asked at the look on Ace's face.
"It's been five years. We were captured by the Nurse bots while trying to get Nero out. They put us back into the Matrix with fake memories. Phoenix managed to get me out about a month ago, and we've finally got you. Now we have to unplug you."
She nodded in understanding as Phoenix walked over, handing her a red pill. She swallowed it with some water, and then was assisted to the chair.
They were just getting her hooked up when Nero called out. "We have some police cars. Three of them headed this way. We need to hurry this up!"
Several officers got out of the cars and began to approach the building. Armed with shotguns and their 9mm, they were clearly expecting a fight.
The water had spread across her body when she heard the words "Their breaking in!" Then a chatter of gunfire followed, but by then she was fading from the Matrix.
*****
Warmth. Opening her eyes, she sighed as she knew what was coming up. She busted the skin of her cocoon and sat up, awaiting the inevitable.
The hovering nurse bot appeared, grabbing her by the neck. It detached her neck cable, followed by the other cables popping off, and she was flushed from her pod. She slid down the tubes, hoping not to get stuck like Nero did, and finally splashed down in the nasty water, careful not to open her mouth.
The claw cranked down and pulled her from the drainage. Pulling her up, she could only hope everyone escaped from the Matrix all right, especially Ace.
*****
Ace continued to fire on the incoming officers, hoping against hope that no Agents appeared. No one could fight off agents, the only thing you could do was run, and run quickly.
Phoenix sent Cray home first. As a medic and hacker, he wasn't the most skilled with weapons. He disappeared and Phoenix set the phone back down. When the phone rang again, he told Nero to take it. While Ace was covering, he replaced the handset. It rang and he yelled for Ace to pick it up and go. Ace was busy with several officers, however, so Phoenix took the phone and placed it next to his ear, disappearing.
Ace was reloading when three of the SWAT members broke into the room. He dropped his jammed weapon and attacked the first one. He rabbit punched him in the throat, then grabbed him to use as a shield when the other two SWAT opened fire. As the bullets impacted his body, Ace held the man's right arm out, which held his automatic. The nerve reaction made him pull the trigger, which shot the man on the right three times in the chest.
Ace dropped the shield and rushed the last SWAT man. Running up towards him, he did a backflip, kicking out at him with both feet. He continued the flip and landed on his feet. The man bounced off the wall and came at him, just in time to catch a side kick to the neck, dropping him.
A single shot rang out, and the phone on the desk shattered into so many pieces. Ace turned from his unconscious opponent to see who it was.
It was an Agent.
*****
Sitting at the console, reading the code, Hex started cursing.
"What is it?" Phoenix asked, coming over.
"An Agent. Came out of nowhere and destroyed the hardline," She replied.
"Send me back. He'll need my help," Nero said.
"No. That's final." Phoenix knew that if Agents were involved, every member of the team in the Matrix was at risk. Nightshade trembled at the thought of loosing Ace.
"Find him another exit. He'll need it."
*****
At the sight of the Agent, Ace did the only thing he could do.
He ran.
Bolting to the back room of the suite, he cursed the design of these rooms. The Agent blocked the only exit. His phone rang.
"Yeah." He said, being ironically calm in the face of certain death.
"To the right, bathroom. Left wall is thin plasterboard."
He ran to the laundry, sure that the Agent was right behind him. Trusting that the information that Hex had given him was accurate, He threw himself at the wall with all his strength and broke through it.
Coming out in the next room, he saw an older man making love to a girl young enough to be is daughter. Running past them, he ran into that room's bath, trusting the design to be the same.
As he ducked into the room, gunfire hit the wall behind him. The young woman had turned into an Agent, firing at him. The man beneath him screamed in horror until he too turned into an Agent. They both got off the bed and scrambled after the rebel.
Punching through another wall, Ace came out in what appeared to be a manager's office. He pushed through the screen door and ran down the flight of stairs faster than he's ever run before. He jumped the railing at the end and landed on the parking lot.
Before him was a motorcycle, a high performance machine.
Opening his phone, he was about to request hotwiring instructions for a motorcycle, but he already felt it flood into his synapses.
"I already took care of it." Hex said, with a smirk in her voice.
Jumping on the cycle, he hot-wired it in under 4 seconds, and off he went. Behind him, an Agent walked out of the screen door. Taking a look at the fleeing rebel, he abandoned his body. A teenaged punk was standing at the door, confused, when the manager came up behind him with a baseball bat.
*****
She looked over the code, trying to find the best way for him to get out of there. A motorcycle in the parking lot seemed the most likely prospect, and Ace apparently agreed with her as he was heading towards it. Anticipating his need, she quickly began to load a hotwiring program for him just as he began to ask for it. He was racing off on the motorcycle when she saw the most likely exit.
"Ace, turn left at the next intersection. There's a drycleaners there on the right. The desk phone is the exit."
He swerved the motorcycle and headed towards the street.
*****
Ace raced across 3 lanes of traffic and took a quick left, cars careening to avoid him at all costs. He swerved to avoid one car that was racing towards him, an Agent behind the wheel. Racing onto the street, he veered onto the sidewalk and jumped off the bike while it was still going, running into the drycleaners.
*****
The motorcycle continued to race down the sidewalk, people jumping out of the way. It crashed into a car that had pulled to a stop, an Agent about to get out. The tank of the cycle ruptured, exploding and taking the car and agent with it.
*****
The phone on the desk rang and the bored attendant reached for it just as a madman raced into the front door, ripping the phone from her hand. He placed it to his ear just as she began to feel dizzy, quickly turning into an Agent. Raising his gun, he fired, hitting only empty air.
*****
Sitting up as the plug was pulled from his skull, Ace turned and headed towards the medical bay. Inside, Nightshade was wrapped in a blanket, her pale skin shivering. Her muscles were not quite as bad off as Aces had been, and with a little work she would be fine. He sat beside her and she wrapped her arms around him in relief.
*****
Epilogue:
"We're in." Nightshade hung up the phone. Dressed in a tight leather top and a black miniskirt, two small Israeli made Uzi's in her hands, she turned towards her team.
Ace in his tattered army trench coat, his two handguns at the ready. He smiled at her reassuringly.
Phoenix in a leather trench, black dress shirt with dress pants, a shotgun in his hands. He was nothing but cool confidence.
Nero in a leather bomber jacket, elbows faded with wear. He was carrying a large automatic rifle with an extended clip. His eyes scanned for any dangers.
Twip, wearing a dress coat with a white dress shirt and black pants. He was carrying a weapon he dreamed up in the construct. It had two barrels and a large central ammo drum. It looked as though it belonged on a helicopter.
"Let's go kick some ass." Nero said, hefting his rifle. As a team, they walked out.
*****
Authors note: Well, there it is. I assume if you are reading this, you've read the whole story and hopefully liked it. It is my first posted fanfiction, and most of the Feedback I've received from it has been glowing. I am planning on doing a sequel, concerning the further adventures of the Crew of the Chimera, tentatively called "Otherworlds." I will begin it shortly, possibly even tomorrow if the Audience clamors for more.
Some claimed that this story originally seemed to follow the plot of the matrix, a so-called "Mary sue". I hope that this has proven not to be the case as the overall plot involved a rescue mission to reclaim a lost love, which has been my intent from the very start. I enjoyed writing this story, and feedback is the fuel for creative fire, so keep the fires burning!
Draconious
Some would say that this sounds a lot like the Matrix itself, but it seems to me that anyone who finds out about the matrix and is eventually removed would follow some basic events. For example, there is first contact, weird stuff, what is the matrix, oh that's the matrix, and finally running from agents and removal. Its what you put in to flesh out your character and make the story unique and not another NEO clone that is important! Thanks Draconious
Awakening - Chapter 7- Nightshade rides again
Turning the corner, the black Cadillac pulled into the parking lot of the South Arms hotel. The door to a room on the upper level opened and a man came down the stairs. The driver's door opened up and a tall man with long brown hair stepped out. He was wearing a long green army surplus trench coat with several holes ripped in it, black ragged jeans, and army boots.
He turned to open the driver's back side door, and with the assistance of the man, lifted the limp body of his wife from the car. Her hair, which was once long and red, was now bleached blonde, resulting in a strawberry blonde appearance. Her angelic face was in a peaceful repose, which he wished he could leave her in. She was in danger, however, for as long as she remained plugged into the Matrix.
Nero grunted as the weight load shifted to his shoulders, then shifted it back as Ace took her, shifting her into a fireman's carry. (Body over the shoulder, head down for those who don't know) Nero grabbed the door after racing up the stairs ahead of Ace, who took her into the Honeymoon suite and sat her on the bed.
Phoenix turned to him and said, "We need to remove her as quickly as possible. The Agents will be here shortly."
Ace looked at him. "I know, but we have to wake her up first. We need to make sure she has her memories back. If she wakes up thinking that she is Jennifer Tranton and has been abducted, she may go permanently insane waking in the real world." Phoenix just grunted.
Ace sat on the bed next to her and placed her head in his lap, gently stroking her hair. Phoenix assisted Nero and Cray as they set up the equipment used to remove her from the Matrix. After the equipment was set up, Nero went to stand guard while Cray monitored Shelley's condition.
Checking her vitals, Cray said, "Her heart rate and blood pressure are rising. I'd say she'll be coming around soon."
"Com'on Shelley. You can do it, come back to me baby."
She started to move, tossing a little bit. Her eyelids started to flutter, then she looked up at him.
"James?. What happened?" Ace looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose, as Shelley evidently didn't remember about the Matrix yet, didn't remember being Nightshade.
"James? Who are all these people? Where are we?"
Phoenix walked over towards her. "Ma'am, My name is Phoenix. I believe you have heard of me."
Her eyes went wide and she began scrambling towards Ace, almost crawling into his lap. "James, they asked me questions about this guy, they said he was dangerous! James, we have to get out of here!"
Ace was confused about her behavior. Even when she thought she was Shelley, she was never this flighty.
Phoenix nodded to Cray, and he injected her with a sedative quickly.
"It is as I feared. The implant is still having an effect, even after the false history of Jennifer Tranton was destroyed. We'll have to get it out and see if she remembers," he said. He opened his cell phone.
"Operator."
"Hex, I need the extraction device we designed."
"She doesn't remember, does she?" she asked, concerned.
"No."
"Who's going to retrieve it?" she asked.
"I will."
"Okay. Disconnect the chair.'' With that, she hung up.
Phoenix proceeded to disconnect the chair, and waited for the phone to ring. When it did, he picked it up and disappeared in a flash of green code.
Rather than waking in his 'dentist chair' he found himself in the Construct. Sitting on a rack next to some weapons and body armor was the extraction device. It resembled a portable vacuum cleaner, with a drill bit recessed inside the vacuum tube, and a small screen attached to the side. It was a nasty looking machine, but it should do the job. He picked it up and slung on the shoulder strap.
He opened his phone.
"Hex, send me back in."
He disappeared in a flash of light.
*****
Ace was comforting an unconscious Nightshade as she was prepped on the Dining room table of the Honeymoon Suite. Cray had managed to strap her head still with some small cushions and some duct tape. Her hair had been shaved off, so that it would not be in the way. She had also been heavily anesthetized.
Phoenix reappeared after the phone rang, which he acknowledged and hung up. Slung over his shoulder was the extraction device. It resembled a medieval torture device gone mad, but it should do the job.
Cray took the extractor from Phoenix and approached Nightshade. Lining the machine up with the marks he had made on her head, he activated it.
The screen lit up, showing a scan of her head. Inside, one could clearly see the implant wrapped around parts of her brain. Cray hit a red button on the side of the device and an electrical charge ran down the barrel and shocked Nightshade. Ace flinched in sympathy. The implant squirmed like crazy, then went still.
Flipping 3 switches, the drill began spinning and slowly lowered towards her head. Ace looked away, unable to watch. He heard the fleshy sounds it made as it entered his love, and could smell a faint smell of burning flesh.
The charge shocked again, and then the vacuum was engaged, which sucked the implant out of her head. It smacked into a containment bottle. Flipping several more switches, the drill began backing out. It was coated with red gore.
Flipping another switch and pressing a blue button, an intense blue light shone from the end of the extractor. It illuminated the wound in Nightshade's head and began to heal the hole that had been drilled. In 30 seconds or so it was healed, a patch of smooth unblemished skin left where the hole had been previously.
Cray set the extractor to the side, and removed the containment bottle. Inside, the implant was squirming. Phoenix took it to the open window and threw it, making a perfect shot. It landed in runoff drain on the road, where it fell into the water and shorted out.
Ace held Nightshade's head, soothing her. The drugs would wear off soon, and they would see how the procedure went.
*****
Twenty five minutes later, she began to come around. Ace was holding her, trying to keep her calm. Cray had already hooked up the chair again, and now had a sedative on standby in case she should panic.
"Ace, what's going on.. Ow, I have such a headache."
He broke into a grin as he hugged her to his chest and kissed the top of her head.
"What happened? Last thing I remember we were getting Nero out of the Matrix." She looked over and saw him standing guard by the window, full head of hair and an automatic weapon in his hands. "That must have been a while ago."
"Is that all you can remember?" Ace asked.
"Well, I also had a dream about being in an office building, and also being a reporter. Not a dream?" She asked at the look on Ace's face.
"It's been five years. We were captured by the Nurse bots while trying to get Nero out. They put us back into the Matrix with fake memories. Phoenix managed to get me out about a month ago, and we've finally got you. Now we have to unplug you."
She nodded in understanding as Phoenix walked over, handing her a red pill. She swallowed it with some water, and then was assisted to the chair.
They were just getting her hooked up when Nero called out. "We have some police cars. Three of them headed this way. We need to hurry this up!"
Several officers got out of the cars and began to approach the building. Armed with shotguns and their 9mm, they were clearly expecting a fight.
The water had spread across her body when she heard the words "Their breaking in!" Then a chatter of gunfire followed, but by then she was fading from the Matrix.
*****
Warmth. Opening her eyes, she sighed as she knew what was coming up. She busted the skin of her cocoon and sat up, awaiting the inevitable.
The hovering nurse bot appeared, grabbing her by the neck. It detached her neck cable, followed by the other cables popping off, and she was flushed from her pod. She slid down the tubes, hoping not to get stuck like Nero did, and finally splashed down in the nasty water, careful not to open her mouth.
The claw cranked down and pulled her from the drainage. Pulling her up, she could only hope everyone escaped from the Matrix all right, especially Ace.
*****
Ace continued to fire on the incoming officers, hoping against hope that no Agents appeared. No one could fight off agents, the only thing you could do was run, and run quickly.
Phoenix sent Cray home first. As a medic and hacker, he wasn't the most skilled with weapons. He disappeared and Phoenix set the phone back down. When the phone rang again, he told Nero to take it. While Ace was covering, he replaced the handset. It rang and he yelled for Ace to pick it up and go. Ace was busy with several officers, however, so Phoenix took the phone and placed it next to his ear, disappearing.
Ace was reloading when three of the SWAT members broke into the room. He dropped his jammed weapon and attacked the first one. He rabbit punched him in the throat, then grabbed him to use as a shield when the other two SWAT opened fire. As the bullets impacted his body, Ace held the man's right arm out, which held his automatic. The nerve reaction made him pull the trigger, which shot the man on the right three times in the chest.
Ace dropped the shield and rushed the last SWAT man. Running up towards him, he did a backflip, kicking out at him with both feet. He continued the flip and landed on his feet. The man bounced off the wall and came at him, just in time to catch a side kick to the neck, dropping him.
A single shot rang out, and the phone on the desk shattered into so many pieces. Ace turned from his unconscious opponent to see who it was.
It was an Agent.
*****
Sitting at the console, reading the code, Hex started cursing.
"What is it?" Phoenix asked, coming over.
"An Agent. Came out of nowhere and destroyed the hardline," She replied.
"Send me back. He'll need my help," Nero said.
"No. That's final." Phoenix knew that if Agents were involved, every member of the team in the Matrix was at risk. Nightshade trembled at the thought of loosing Ace.
"Find him another exit. He'll need it."
*****
At the sight of the Agent, Ace did the only thing he could do.
He ran.
Bolting to the back room of the suite, he cursed the design of these rooms. The Agent blocked the only exit. His phone rang.
"Yeah." He said, being ironically calm in the face of certain death.
"To the right, bathroom. Left wall is thin plasterboard."
He ran to the laundry, sure that the Agent was right behind him. Trusting that the information that Hex had given him was accurate, He threw himself at the wall with all his strength and broke through it.
Coming out in the next room, he saw an older man making love to a girl young enough to be is daughter. Running past them, he ran into that room's bath, trusting the design to be the same.
As he ducked into the room, gunfire hit the wall behind him. The young woman had turned into an Agent, firing at him. The man beneath him screamed in horror until he too turned into an Agent. They both got off the bed and scrambled after the rebel.
Punching through another wall, Ace came out in what appeared to be a manager's office. He pushed through the screen door and ran down the flight of stairs faster than he's ever run before. He jumped the railing at the end and landed on the parking lot.
Before him was a motorcycle, a high performance machine.
Opening his phone, he was about to request hotwiring instructions for a motorcycle, but he already felt it flood into his synapses.
"I already took care of it." Hex said, with a smirk in her voice.
Jumping on the cycle, he hot-wired it in under 4 seconds, and off he went. Behind him, an Agent walked out of the screen door. Taking a look at the fleeing rebel, he abandoned his body. A teenaged punk was standing at the door, confused, when the manager came up behind him with a baseball bat.
*****
She looked over the code, trying to find the best way for him to get out of there. A motorcycle in the parking lot seemed the most likely prospect, and Ace apparently agreed with her as he was heading towards it. Anticipating his need, she quickly began to load a hotwiring program for him just as he began to ask for it. He was racing off on the motorcycle when she saw the most likely exit.
"Ace, turn left at the next intersection. There's a drycleaners there on the right. The desk phone is the exit."
He swerved the motorcycle and headed towards the street.
*****
Ace raced across 3 lanes of traffic and took a quick left, cars careening to avoid him at all costs. He swerved to avoid one car that was racing towards him, an Agent behind the wheel. Racing onto the street, he veered onto the sidewalk and jumped off the bike while it was still going, running into the drycleaners.
*****
The motorcycle continued to race down the sidewalk, people jumping out of the way. It crashed into a car that had pulled to a stop, an Agent about to get out. The tank of the cycle ruptured, exploding and taking the car and agent with it.
*****
The phone on the desk rang and the bored attendant reached for it just as a madman raced into the front door, ripping the phone from her hand. He placed it to his ear just as she began to feel dizzy, quickly turning into an Agent. Raising his gun, he fired, hitting only empty air.
*****
Sitting up as the plug was pulled from his skull, Ace turned and headed towards the medical bay. Inside, Nightshade was wrapped in a blanket, her pale skin shivering. Her muscles were not quite as bad off as Aces had been, and with a little work she would be fine. He sat beside her and she wrapped her arms around him in relief.
*****
Epilogue:
"We're in." Nightshade hung up the phone. Dressed in a tight leather top and a black miniskirt, two small Israeli made Uzi's in her hands, she turned towards her team.
Ace in his tattered army trench coat, his two handguns at the ready. He smiled at her reassuringly.
Phoenix in a leather trench, black dress shirt with dress pants, a shotgun in his hands. He was nothing but cool confidence.
Nero in a leather bomber jacket, elbows faded with wear. He was carrying a large automatic rifle with an extended clip. His eyes scanned for any dangers.
Twip, wearing a dress coat with a white dress shirt and black pants. He was carrying a weapon he dreamed up in the construct. It had two barrels and a large central ammo drum. It looked as though it belonged on a helicopter.
"Let's go kick some ass." Nero said, hefting his rifle. As a team, they walked out.
*****
Authors note: Well, there it is. I assume if you are reading this, you've read the whole story and hopefully liked it. It is my first posted fanfiction, and most of the Feedback I've received from it has been glowing. I am planning on doing a sequel, concerning the further adventures of the Crew of the Chimera, tentatively called "Otherworlds." I will begin it shortly, possibly even tomorrow if the Audience clamors for more.
Some claimed that this story originally seemed to follow the plot of the matrix, a so-called "Mary sue". I hope that this has proven not to be the case as the overall plot involved a rescue mission to reclaim a lost love, which has been my intent from the very start. I enjoyed writing this story, and feedback is the fuel for creative fire, so keep the fires burning!
Draconious