I look forward to these updates, it means I get to tell all you spiffy
people how much I appreciate your reviews! And get those dragons out of my
back garden... *leans out window* Mesan! Raven! I'm updating!
DRAGONS: *wave and fly away*
So anyway, as ever, enjoy, and I don't own the Matrix or any of the characters. And I'm sorry if some of this stuff doesn't make sense, but I'm just trying to make a good story. And there's fighting in this chapter, for all you kung-fu fans. And I know that this chapter is long, but I won't be able to update for a while, because I'm going on holiday. So see you in a couple of weeks!
Chapter 14 - The tide turns
David heard the fighting from below in the grounds and smiled. Asha closed her eyes, wishing that she could block her ears as well. With her eyes closed, she could feel Jon down there. She knew that he was in trouble.
"You see, Asha?" said David, "Its hopeless. Morpheus will die, Trinity will die, your friend Jon will die. And you will as well, unless you join us."
Asha's mind started working. What were her options? Fighting and escape weren't beyond her reach, but how could she help down there? She wasn't as powerful as Neo. Now Neo... She slumped in her chair, in feigned defeat.
"What's in it for me, if I should do that?"
Asha could sense David's sudden confusion. Up till now, Asha had been refusing point blank to even consider joining. Maybe the gunshots were bringing everything home to her. "Well, what would you want?"
"Only one thing," said Asha, "For you to wake Neo up."
David got to his feet. "No."
"What's the problem?" said Asha, "Even if Neo did come here, you'd be able to defeat him, wouldn't you? I mean, you're not saying that in spite of you joining the Matrix, he's more powerful than you, are you?"
David fought to control the rage rising inside him. "Of course I'm more powerful."
"Then what's the problem?" Asha was enjoying this. She taunted boys at school like this, and was very good at getting them into trouble. Which was precisely what she was planning with David. "You're not AFRAID of him, are you?"
"No," said David.
"Prove it," said Asha, "Wake him up. Go on, I dare ya!"
She had him, and they both knew it. On the one hand, David had the security of the mission. On the other, his pride. He found himself hating this little girl handcuffed to the chair in front of him.
"It's not difficult, is it?" David glared at Asha. She met it with a big sunny smile. But he closed his eyes. Asha felt into his mind. She could feel him racing through the green code of the Matrix, turning, searching, wheeling...
* * * * *
Neo opened his eyes. What had happened? He'd been fighting, and had managed to get away. He'd just been phoning Tank, when he saw... that boy... he couldn't have been more than seventeen. He'd felt his strength leave him, and just managed to ask Tank for an exit. As he'd lifted the ringing phone, he'd felt a bullet enter his side. Then he'd been falling... the venomous green symbols of the Matrix had been whirling around him... and suddenly he'd felt something grip him, and now he was here.
He sat up. He was amazed to see that he was in the medical bay instead of in the moth-eaten chairs in which they usually sat in when they entered the Matrix. He got to his feet, and looked at the bed next to him. "Oh, no." He saw Asha lying there, completely oblivious to the outside world. Seeing it jolted something to his memory. Where was everyone?
He walked down to the main deck, his strength returning with every step. Tank was sitting at the computers, concentrating very hard. Trinity and Morpheus were plugged in. He looked at Trinity for a moment. If possible, she looked more beautiful than before. But he often felt that way when he saw her.
"What's going on?" he asked. Tank jumped out his chair. He blinked, gasped, and suddenly his face broke into a look of amazement, disbelief and joy.
"Neo! You're... I mean... Are you OK?"
"I'm fine," said Neo, "What's happening?"
"What happened to you, man?" said Tank, "You've just been lying like that for ages!"
"How long?"
"A week."
"A WEEK?"
"Yeah. Wow, are you OK?"
"I'm fine," said Neo, "But please, what's going on?"
Tank sat back down in his chair. "Bad shit," he said, shaking his head, "Asha's been kidnapped by Agent Smith and a guy named David who joined them."
"David," said Neo, feeling like ice had slipped down his throat. Morpheus had told him about David.
"Yeah. And Trinity and Morpheus went to rescue her, but..."
"It was a trap," said Neo.
"How did you know?" said Tank in disbelief.
"I can't explain it entirely," said Neo, "But I was asleep because I was locked in the cyberspace of the Matrix. I've just been wandering there for ages. But I found some information; I found the plans for this entire ambush. They've got enough people in there to stop an invasion." Neo looked at Trinity, who had her eyes closed, and looked very peaceful. Neo couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her. "I'm going in."
"What?" said Tank, "Neo, you've only been up for five minutes!"
"I don't care. I've got to help them."
* * * * *
Jon dove behind a statue when the fighting began. There wasn't all that much he could do to help, except fire the gun at agents who looked like a specific threat to Trinity and Morpheus; it forced to stop while they dodged the bullets, and alerted them to the danger. There were about five agents there, but it may as well have been five hundred to show just how trained at fighting they were.
He looked at the fight and wished that there were something he could do to help. But he hadn't had the weird kung fu training program, and had never been much good at fighting. But when he saw several agents tackling Trinity at once, he knew that he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Closing his eyes, he threw himself at the nearest agent, catching him off guard in that split second, and knocking him to the ground. The other agents blinked; they had not been expecting a teenage human to come flying out of nowhere; but then again, who does?
* * * * *
Neo flew as fast as he could towards Big Ben. It was an easy enough landmark to spot. He ignored the stares and points of people down on the ground; if they said anything they would be branded as liars, or worse, insane. No, no-one would say anything.
He steered towards Big Ben and hovered over the grounds. He could see Trinity, Morpheus and - was that a teenage boy? A strange ally against agents. What had he missed when he'd been asleep? He almost smiled when he saw the boy throwing himself at various agents. But then he saw something which made his blood run cold, and he shot towards the ground.
* * * * *
Jon hurled himself at another agent who was threatening Morpheus. It was the least he could do. When he felt that he could do no more, he stood back to regain his breath. This didn't look so tiring in the film.
Trinity was fighting with three agents. She seemed to be the main target; others would be fighting her, but Morpheus was keeping two of them off. Trinity was also getting tired - she knew that they couldn't keep fighting forever. She had no idea as to how many agents there were in the building, and more could come out at any second. She didn't know why the full force didn't come out at once. Morpheus had guessed why; it would be a greater insult to be defeated by few agents than by an army.
Trinity glanced skywards, as if asking for help, when she saw a tiny black spot get larger and larger. She couldn't believe it - could it be? Her heart leapt, and she cried "Neo!"
Her slight lapse in concentration was all the agents needed. They quickly overcame her, and fell to the ground. Two agents held her down. Morpheus glanced at her, and saw another agent raising his gun. He felt anger rising inside him. He was very fond of Trinity; she had been on his crew for years, and he had begun to look on her as the daughter he had never had. Now someone was threatening her. He tried to rush and help her, but an agent blocked him.
Jon had looked up when he saw Neo coming, and cheered. But he'd heard Trinity shout when the agents knocked her over. The sight of an agent pointing a big gun at Trinity's head had registered in a second. Neo would be landing in a few seconds, but by then it could be too late. Not pausing to think about how this was an insane thing to do, he grabbed onto the hockey stick and swung it at the agent's head. The bullet went wide, and hit the shoulder of another agent. The agent was distracted, and he knocked Jon away. Those couple of seconds were all Neo needed. He landed, and pulled Trinity to her feet.
The agents looked slightly surprised at his arrival. Agent Smith's face was contorted with anger, and Jon, raising his head from the ground, saw him glance upwards to the room where, undoubtedly, Asha was being held.
"Jon!" called Trinity, "Get behind Neo!"
Neo had pulled out several guns and was firing at the agents; he had paid a quick visit to the Construct before coming to help. Jon leapt behind him, and took the guns that Trinity held out. While agents can dodge bullets, it's slightly more difficult for them to dodge eight streams of bullets at once. One or two were hit; there would be a great flash of light, and someone else would appear in their place. Jon felt a pang of guilt when he saw them, knowing that they were just innocent people.
Suddenly more agents came running out of the door. Jon's heart sank. He'd almost been hoping that they would win. But when about twenty more agents lined up in front of Neo, all holding big guns, Jon remembered Morpheus' words: 'Everyone who has tried to fight an agent has died.' He glanced at Neo and hoped that he was as good at stopping bullets as he was in the film. He was; he held out one hand and all the bullets froze in midair. Agent Smith gestured with one hand, and some agents ran behind, still firing. Neo held up the other hand, which stopped those bullets as well.
Agent Smith watched all this calmly. He then walked around the circle, and pointed his gun exactly halfway between Neo's outstretched hands. He then fired his gun. Trinity cried out, and fell over, clutching her shoulder.
"Trinity!" said Neo. Two agents ran forward and grabbed onto Jon and Morpheus, pulling them away from Neo. Morpheus tried to fight them off, but more came and they restrained him. Jon watched the scene in horror. The agents standing around were still firing - Agent Smith had stepped forward and was pointing the gun at Trinity's head. Neo was keeping off the bullets from the other agents, but Agent Smith was standing so that to block that bullet, Neo would be forced to prevent fire from another direction. If he moved his hands, he would be shot; but if he didn't, then Trinity would.
"Shit," said Jon.
"Let her go," said Neo, "You don't need her."
"Yes, but you do," said Agent Smith. He fired.
* * * * *
Asha felt behind her with her mind. She was handcuffed to the chair; but she feel the lock. Painstakingly, she held it with her mind, and tried to force it to move. David was looking out the window at the fight.
"Ah," he said, "Your knight in shining armour."
Asha glanced up. She saw Neo swoop down towards the courtyard. She wished she could see what was happening. Then she heard the gunshots starting. David watched her.
"Do you want to know what's happening?" he said, "Your hero Neo is firing at agents. Behind him are Trinity and Morpheus, and your little friend, Jon."
"Jon?" said Asha in alarm, "What's he doing here?"
"Hiding behind the system anomaly, apparently," said David, "Oh look- more agents are coming out. Neo's blocking bullets. I really should go down and join the party." He smirked at the look of horror on Asha's face.
Keep him talking, thought Asha. If he goes down there, they haven't got a chance. But chance do I have even if I escape?
'You have a chance because you are the second hope.'
Ashs shook her head. There was that voice again. Where was it coming from? She didn't understand it.
'Just get free' said the voice, with a bit more urgency, 'And everything will become clear.'
Honestly, thought Asha, it's like having a little Morpheus in my head. But she shrugged. It was her only chance; there was no way she was going to join David, and if she didn't she would die - if she escaped, she had a slight chance. She continued to work on the lock. It was halfway open - just a bit more and she would be free. David walked over to Asha's chair.
"So, Ash," said David, "Now that we're alone, without Smithy-boy, what shall we talk about?"
"Hmm," said Asha, "How about how it's not very smart to call a pissed off teenager by a nickname she hates?"
"Really?" said David, "I see no reason why I shouldn't call you Ash."
"Well, for the first reason," said Asha, trying to look nonchalant but at the same time working on the lock, "Ash is the name of a Japanese anime character with a little yellow rodent that always seems to save the day. He bugs me. And second of all..." She wriggled the catch in the lock a tiny bit to the left. "You never know when they'll fight back."
The lock clicked open. Asha leapt to her feet and hit David with as much strength as she could muster. David reeled back, in shock. Asha reached out a hand, and a sword flew off the wall to her hand. She held it out in front of her, the point hovering steadily about an inch away from David's face. He blinked.
"Hey, guess what?" said Asha, "Turns out I know how to fight a bit myself."
* * * * *
I know, I'm an evil rat child to leave you on such a cliffhanger, but at least Neo's awake! So, um, don't send too many dragons, attack chickens or frickin' mad hobbits after me... Please?
Tanuki Yasha - Yes, yet more cliffhangers, I'm sorry... No, I haven't tried vanilla pepsi yet. I'll have to tell my friend about it, she gets hyper enough on vanilla coke...
Cirfia - Oh, sorry that you didn't get an alert. Wow, your kitten sounds evil... don't send it after me! Please!
EVIL KITTEN: *glare*
Damn, too late... And I will update the ring story, probably update it today as well. Glad you like it!
Kit19 - Oh yes, she does more than just pinch him... hehehe...
Im a Brandybuck - Yup, he rocks! Hey, when I went to see the Matrix Reloaded, I recognised his SHOES! At the very beginning, you just see his shoes, and I nearly screamed 'Oh no, its AGENT SMITH!!!' I didn't though, people would think I was incredibly strange if I did. And they'd be right...
Stormhawk - OK, OK, more coming!
Pandamoanium - Really? It's original? That's so sweet, I was worried it wasn't. Cool name, too!
Megami no Inazumi - I love writing Agent Smith, he's just so cool, but I was worried I wasn't getting his character. It's great that you like it, and your name is also cool! Yeah, David is a bit of a jerk... I was thinking about writing a story about what happened to him to make him join the agents, but I'm not sure. What do you think?
Nurvilyawen of Imladris - Ha ha ha. Of course you'll think she's nifty. Which she is. Of course. Sugarplum fairy? There's a new one... Hey, I wanna frolic! *also frolics insanely and sings along to all the Grease songs* Summer lovin' happened so fa-ast!!!!
EVIL KITTEN: *glares threateningly*
OK, I'll stop...
Alexia and Gwen - Whoa, that is a lot of capital letters... Um, calm down?
Mako - Aw, thanks Mako! And I know you want a break, but I love your story, so please update as soon as you can! Or I'll take a leaf out of my reviewers book and send dragons after you!
Fairy-of-the-Lost - Am I a fan of LOTR? YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it as much as the Matrix, if not MORE!!!!! A month before ROTK comes out, I'm going start trawling magazines for competitions to win tickets to the premiere... Ditto the Matrix Revolutions....
Littlefurryscrubcreature - Um, it's a muffin, right? Either that or a face. Personally I'd prefer a muffin, but faces are just as good... especially certain anomalies and elves' faces...
Jack Cole - I dunno. I don't think so, I mean, he'd have to know the moves and everything. The muffin's eating me? *looks at muffin, which transforms into a massive man-eating muffin*
MASSIVE MAN-EATING MUFFIN: Raaaargh!
Aaaaah!!! Alliterated carniverous baked goods!! *runs for the hills*
Yilantri - Yes, PotC is ABSOLUTELY FABBY!!!!!! By the way, keep an eye out for a PotC fic from me at some point, I've got an idea, I just need to write it.
MASSIVE MAN-EATING MUFFIN: Raaaargh!!
Oh damn, not again....
DRAGONS: *wave and fly away*
So anyway, as ever, enjoy, and I don't own the Matrix or any of the characters. And I'm sorry if some of this stuff doesn't make sense, but I'm just trying to make a good story. And there's fighting in this chapter, for all you kung-fu fans. And I know that this chapter is long, but I won't be able to update for a while, because I'm going on holiday. So see you in a couple of weeks!
Chapter 14 - The tide turns
David heard the fighting from below in the grounds and smiled. Asha closed her eyes, wishing that she could block her ears as well. With her eyes closed, she could feel Jon down there. She knew that he was in trouble.
"You see, Asha?" said David, "Its hopeless. Morpheus will die, Trinity will die, your friend Jon will die. And you will as well, unless you join us."
Asha's mind started working. What were her options? Fighting and escape weren't beyond her reach, but how could she help down there? She wasn't as powerful as Neo. Now Neo... She slumped in her chair, in feigned defeat.
"What's in it for me, if I should do that?"
Asha could sense David's sudden confusion. Up till now, Asha had been refusing point blank to even consider joining. Maybe the gunshots were bringing everything home to her. "Well, what would you want?"
"Only one thing," said Asha, "For you to wake Neo up."
David got to his feet. "No."
"What's the problem?" said Asha, "Even if Neo did come here, you'd be able to defeat him, wouldn't you? I mean, you're not saying that in spite of you joining the Matrix, he's more powerful than you, are you?"
David fought to control the rage rising inside him. "Of course I'm more powerful."
"Then what's the problem?" Asha was enjoying this. She taunted boys at school like this, and was very good at getting them into trouble. Which was precisely what she was planning with David. "You're not AFRAID of him, are you?"
"No," said David.
"Prove it," said Asha, "Wake him up. Go on, I dare ya!"
She had him, and they both knew it. On the one hand, David had the security of the mission. On the other, his pride. He found himself hating this little girl handcuffed to the chair in front of him.
"It's not difficult, is it?" David glared at Asha. She met it with a big sunny smile. But he closed his eyes. Asha felt into his mind. She could feel him racing through the green code of the Matrix, turning, searching, wheeling...
* * * * *
Neo opened his eyes. What had happened? He'd been fighting, and had managed to get away. He'd just been phoning Tank, when he saw... that boy... he couldn't have been more than seventeen. He'd felt his strength leave him, and just managed to ask Tank for an exit. As he'd lifted the ringing phone, he'd felt a bullet enter his side. Then he'd been falling... the venomous green symbols of the Matrix had been whirling around him... and suddenly he'd felt something grip him, and now he was here.
He sat up. He was amazed to see that he was in the medical bay instead of in the moth-eaten chairs in which they usually sat in when they entered the Matrix. He got to his feet, and looked at the bed next to him. "Oh, no." He saw Asha lying there, completely oblivious to the outside world. Seeing it jolted something to his memory. Where was everyone?
He walked down to the main deck, his strength returning with every step. Tank was sitting at the computers, concentrating very hard. Trinity and Morpheus were plugged in. He looked at Trinity for a moment. If possible, she looked more beautiful than before. But he often felt that way when he saw her.
"What's going on?" he asked. Tank jumped out his chair. He blinked, gasped, and suddenly his face broke into a look of amazement, disbelief and joy.
"Neo! You're... I mean... Are you OK?"
"I'm fine," said Neo, "What's happening?"
"What happened to you, man?" said Tank, "You've just been lying like that for ages!"
"How long?"
"A week."
"A WEEK?"
"Yeah. Wow, are you OK?"
"I'm fine," said Neo, "But please, what's going on?"
Tank sat back down in his chair. "Bad shit," he said, shaking his head, "Asha's been kidnapped by Agent Smith and a guy named David who joined them."
"David," said Neo, feeling like ice had slipped down his throat. Morpheus had told him about David.
"Yeah. And Trinity and Morpheus went to rescue her, but..."
"It was a trap," said Neo.
"How did you know?" said Tank in disbelief.
"I can't explain it entirely," said Neo, "But I was asleep because I was locked in the cyberspace of the Matrix. I've just been wandering there for ages. But I found some information; I found the plans for this entire ambush. They've got enough people in there to stop an invasion." Neo looked at Trinity, who had her eyes closed, and looked very peaceful. Neo couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her. "I'm going in."
"What?" said Tank, "Neo, you've only been up for five minutes!"
"I don't care. I've got to help them."
* * * * *
Jon dove behind a statue when the fighting began. There wasn't all that much he could do to help, except fire the gun at agents who looked like a specific threat to Trinity and Morpheus; it forced to stop while they dodged the bullets, and alerted them to the danger. There were about five agents there, but it may as well have been five hundred to show just how trained at fighting they were.
He looked at the fight and wished that there were something he could do to help. But he hadn't had the weird kung fu training program, and had never been much good at fighting. But when he saw several agents tackling Trinity at once, he knew that he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Closing his eyes, he threw himself at the nearest agent, catching him off guard in that split second, and knocking him to the ground. The other agents blinked; they had not been expecting a teenage human to come flying out of nowhere; but then again, who does?
* * * * *
Neo flew as fast as he could towards Big Ben. It was an easy enough landmark to spot. He ignored the stares and points of people down on the ground; if they said anything they would be branded as liars, or worse, insane. No, no-one would say anything.
He steered towards Big Ben and hovered over the grounds. He could see Trinity, Morpheus and - was that a teenage boy? A strange ally against agents. What had he missed when he'd been asleep? He almost smiled when he saw the boy throwing himself at various agents. But then he saw something which made his blood run cold, and he shot towards the ground.
* * * * *
Jon hurled himself at another agent who was threatening Morpheus. It was the least he could do. When he felt that he could do no more, he stood back to regain his breath. This didn't look so tiring in the film.
Trinity was fighting with three agents. She seemed to be the main target; others would be fighting her, but Morpheus was keeping two of them off. Trinity was also getting tired - she knew that they couldn't keep fighting forever. She had no idea as to how many agents there were in the building, and more could come out at any second. She didn't know why the full force didn't come out at once. Morpheus had guessed why; it would be a greater insult to be defeated by few agents than by an army.
Trinity glanced skywards, as if asking for help, when she saw a tiny black spot get larger and larger. She couldn't believe it - could it be? Her heart leapt, and she cried "Neo!"
Her slight lapse in concentration was all the agents needed. They quickly overcame her, and fell to the ground. Two agents held her down. Morpheus glanced at her, and saw another agent raising his gun. He felt anger rising inside him. He was very fond of Trinity; she had been on his crew for years, and he had begun to look on her as the daughter he had never had. Now someone was threatening her. He tried to rush and help her, but an agent blocked him.
Jon had looked up when he saw Neo coming, and cheered. But he'd heard Trinity shout when the agents knocked her over. The sight of an agent pointing a big gun at Trinity's head had registered in a second. Neo would be landing in a few seconds, but by then it could be too late. Not pausing to think about how this was an insane thing to do, he grabbed onto the hockey stick and swung it at the agent's head. The bullet went wide, and hit the shoulder of another agent. The agent was distracted, and he knocked Jon away. Those couple of seconds were all Neo needed. He landed, and pulled Trinity to her feet.
The agents looked slightly surprised at his arrival. Agent Smith's face was contorted with anger, and Jon, raising his head from the ground, saw him glance upwards to the room where, undoubtedly, Asha was being held.
"Jon!" called Trinity, "Get behind Neo!"
Neo had pulled out several guns and was firing at the agents; he had paid a quick visit to the Construct before coming to help. Jon leapt behind him, and took the guns that Trinity held out. While agents can dodge bullets, it's slightly more difficult for them to dodge eight streams of bullets at once. One or two were hit; there would be a great flash of light, and someone else would appear in their place. Jon felt a pang of guilt when he saw them, knowing that they were just innocent people.
Suddenly more agents came running out of the door. Jon's heart sank. He'd almost been hoping that they would win. But when about twenty more agents lined up in front of Neo, all holding big guns, Jon remembered Morpheus' words: 'Everyone who has tried to fight an agent has died.' He glanced at Neo and hoped that he was as good at stopping bullets as he was in the film. He was; he held out one hand and all the bullets froze in midair. Agent Smith gestured with one hand, and some agents ran behind, still firing. Neo held up the other hand, which stopped those bullets as well.
Agent Smith watched all this calmly. He then walked around the circle, and pointed his gun exactly halfway between Neo's outstretched hands. He then fired his gun. Trinity cried out, and fell over, clutching her shoulder.
"Trinity!" said Neo. Two agents ran forward and grabbed onto Jon and Morpheus, pulling them away from Neo. Morpheus tried to fight them off, but more came and they restrained him. Jon watched the scene in horror. The agents standing around were still firing - Agent Smith had stepped forward and was pointing the gun at Trinity's head. Neo was keeping off the bullets from the other agents, but Agent Smith was standing so that to block that bullet, Neo would be forced to prevent fire from another direction. If he moved his hands, he would be shot; but if he didn't, then Trinity would.
"Shit," said Jon.
"Let her go," said Neo, "You don't need her."
"Yes, but you do," said Agent Smith. He fired.
* * * * *
Asha felt behind her with her mind. She was handcuffed to the chair; but she feel the lock. Painstakingly, she held it with her mind, and tried to force it to move. David was looking out the window at the fight.
"Ah," he said, "Your knight in shining armour."
Asha glanced up. She saw Neo swoop down towards the courtyard. She wished she could see what was happening. Then she heard the gunshots starting. David watched her.
"Do you want to know what's happening?" he said, "Your hero Neo is firing at agents. Behind him are Trinity and Morpheus, and your little friend, Jon."
"Jon?" said Asha in alarm, "What's he doing here?"
"Hiding behind the system anomaly, apparently," said David, "Oh look- more agents are coming out. Neo's blocking bullets. I really should go down and join the party." He smirked at the look of horror on Asha's face.
Keep him talking, thought Asha. If he goes down there, they haven't got a chance. But chance do I have even if I escape?
'You have a chance because you are the second hope.'
Ashs shook her head. There was that voice again. Where was it coming from? She didn't understand it.
'Just get free' said the voice, with a bit more urgency, 'And everything will become clear.'
Honestly, thought Asha, it's like having a little Morpheus in my head. But she shrugged. It was her only chance; there was no way she was going to join David, and if she didn't she would die - if she escaped, she had a slight chance. She continued to work on the lock. It was halfway open - just a bit more and she would be free. David walked over to Asha's chair.
"So, Ash," said David, "Now that we're alone, without Smithy-boy, what shall we talk about?"
"Hmm," said Asha, "How about how it's not very smart to call a pissed off teenager by a nickname she hates?"
"Really?" said David, "I see no reason why I shouldn't call you Ash."
"Well, for the first reason," said Asha, trying to look nonchalant but at the same time working on the lock, "Ash is the name of a Japanese anime character with a little yellow rodent that always seems to save the day. He bugs me. And second of all..." She wriggled the catch in the lock a tiny bit to the left. "You never know when they'll fight back."
The lock clicked open. Asha leapt to her feet and hit David with as much strength as she could muster. David reeled back, in shock. Asha reached out a hand, and a sword flew off the wall to her hand. She held it out in front of her, the point hovering steadily about an inch away from David's face. He blinked.
"Hey, guess what?" said Asha, "Turns out I know how to fight a bit myself."
* * * * *
I know, I'm an evil rat child to leave you on such a cliffhanger, but at least Neo's awake! So, um, don't send too many dragons, attack chickens or frickin' mad hobbits after me... Please?
Tanuki Yasha - Yes, yet more cliffhangers, I'm sorry... No, I haven't tried vanilla pepsi yet. I'll have to tell my friend about it, she gets hyper enough on vanilla coke...
Cirfia - Oh, sorry that you didn't get an alert. Wow, your kitten sounds evil... don't send it after me! Please!
EVIL KITTEN: *glare*
Damn, too late... And I will update the ring story, probably update it today as well. Glad you like it!
Kit19 - Oh yes, she does more than just pinch him... hehehe...
Im a Brandybuck - Yup, he rocks! Hey, when I went to see the Matrix Reloaded, I recognised his SHOES! At the very beginning, you just see his shoes, and I nearly screamed 'Oh no, its AGENT SMITH!!!' I didn't though, people would think I was incredibly strange if I did. And they'd be right...
Stormhawk - OK, OK, more coming!
Pandamoanium - Really? It's original? That's so sweet, I was worried it wasn't. Cool name, too!
Megami no Inazumi - I love writing Agent Smith, he's just so cool, but I was worried I wasn't getting his character. It's great that you like it, and your name is also cool! Yeah, David is a bit of a jerk... I was thinking about writing a story about what happened to him to make him join the agents, but I'm not sure. What do you think?
Nurvilyawen of Imladris - Ha ha ha. Of course you'll think she's nifty. Which she is. Of course. Sugarplum fairy? There's a new one... Hey, I wanna frolic! *also frolics insanely and sings along to all the Grease songs* Summer lovin' happened so fa-ast!!!!
EVIL KITTEN: *glares threateningly*
OK, I'll stop...
Alexia and Gwen - Whoa, that is a lot of capital letters... Um, calm down?
Mako - Aw, thanks Mako! And I know you want a break, but I love your story, so please update as soon as you can! Or I'll take a leaf out of my reviewers book and send dragons after you!
Fairy-of-the-Lost - Am I a fan of LOTR? YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it as much as the Matrix, if not MORE!!!!! A month before ROTK comes out, I'm going start trawling magazines for competitions to win tickets to the premiere... Ditto the Matrix Revolutions....
Littlefurryscrubcreature - Um, it's a muffin, right? Either that or a face. Personally I'd prefer a muffin, but faces are just as good... especially certain anomalies and elves' faces...
Jack Cole - I dunno. I don't think so, I mean, he'd have to know the moves and everything. The muffin's eating me? *looks at muffin, which transforms into a massive man-eating muffin*
MASSIVE MAN-EATING MUFFIN: Raaaargh!
Aaaaah!!! Alliterated carniverous baked goods!! *runs for the hills*
Yilantri - Yes, PotC is ABSOLUTELY FABBY!!!!!! By the way, keep an eye out for a PotC fic from me at some point, I've got an idea, I just need to write it.
MASSIVE MAN-EATING MUFFIN: Raaaargh!!
Oh damn, not again....