With a grimace Wraith pictured he and the rest of the Freemind Commandoes being torn limb from limb by these gigantic monsters. As he glanced around at the rest of the team, he assumed they had derived approximately similar impressions of them.

The very first of the beasts lunged up into the air before he would come down to attack Webb, who had his staff forward at the ready. Wraith took this opportunity to kill the bastardized being before he had time to kill them.

"Fire!" he roared, and within seconds bullets pierced every nook and cranny in the insanely huge body of the Human 2.0. The monster had tried to harness the Matrix and roll through the air to avoid the lead bolts targeting his immense body, but was overwhelmed. Wraith knew he had even first scored the killing hit by firing a series of bullets which strafed across the beasts neck, severing his head.

The 2.0's head lolled off its ruined and riddled body to fall on the ground, bouncing twice before rolling to a stop on the stump of it's wide neck, resting at an odd angle in which its right ear nearly touched the already bloody battlefield. The body then collapsed nearby, with the bloodied area where the neck had previously been landing a few feet from the head, with the arms, one of which's hand had been dissipated, formed a diamond-shape as the seemed to reach longingly towards the head…towards life.

Wraith then turned back to the oncoming army of hell to see a close-quarters battle ensuing between Webb and two of titanic beings. He tried to sweep the monster off its feet, but it jumped up amazingly lightly over the pole and delivered a swift kick straight to Webb, sending him soaring into the air to crash against the wall, temporarily unconscious.

More rushed forward and literally flew through the air, knocking Freeminds back left and right. Wraith saw Pike was one of the few who had managed to dodge this attack. He had jumped up and splayed his limbs horizontally as Wraith had done earlier, and brought both his swords forward to roll midair, whilst slicing open the monster's back. It wasn't dead, but injured.

Wraith then had to utilize the Matrix himself to manage to twist and lean insanely to the side to dodge a monstrous kick. He brought his gun forward and fired, but the bullets harmlessly grazed the giant's arm. Wraith again dodged, left, right, left, and he jumped over a sweeping blow, and twirled through the air to remove himself from the path of a few punches. He landed, and was hit right in the chest from a single punch.

His breath escaped his lungs, and the gigantic fist of the beast sent him flying back before falling and sliding on the ground. He took an opportunity to hastily reload his gun then fired off a few rounds at the monster, who likewise shifted his massive arms and torso around, missing every bullet. The beast tramped forward across the bloodied courtyard, making quakes as he ran towards Wraith.

Wraith inhaled a deep breath, and tensed his fists beyond imagination with harnessed powers. He slammed each on the ground on their respective sides, sending his upper body flying up to bring him to a standing position. He dropped to a low defensive stance, deciding to try another form of attack. After latching his M4A1 onto his back, he squared his legs low, creating a pentagon with his body and the ground.

Bringing his fists forward, but still near his body, he dared risk a quick glance to see how the others were doing, and what a sight it was.

Webb, Pike, and Ice Fox were all back to back, triangulating careful attacks on the ring of 2.0's which surrounded them. They managed to fare pretty well, with only some cuts and small wounds on them. The six beasts around them would jump forward, be either shot back or knocked back, and then they'd circle again. At least they'd killed two already.

Lost Hope, RAM, and Flash were each squaring off against their own monster, firing at them, then either jumping away or getting hit by a huge punch or kick. Wraith saw Flash get knocked down by an axe-handle, and stomped on a couple of times before he managed to roll away from the gigantic boot of the titan.

Wraith turned back to his own challenge, and ducked a huge roundhouse punch, then focused in on his being and beliefs, and tripped the monster in slow motion. He quickly brought up a knee to belt the thing up into the air, then charged in with a drop kick at chest height to boot the beast far away. Wraith backflipped off the kick and landed back a few feet on the ground, then turned around for a minute, to see another of the identical human-monsters charging him. He once again focused in, this time running forward unexpectedly, and catching the beast off-guard.

It was going to fast and uncontrolled from it's sprint to manage to have time to strike at Wraith, so Wraith took this opportunity to bat the abomination of the Matrix with his foot, spinning it around, then unleashing his other leg on the back of it's neck, sending it onto the ground face first.

Wraith landed, and with amazing speed he brought his weapon forward and shot the monster, who's head promptly exploded in a shower of blood and gore. Wraith's green attire was now stained a pale maroon, and he stopped to eye his clothing with a cunning smile. He then turned around to see the beast he had knocked away before returning for round two.

And give it to him he did.

Wraith confidently unleashed some of his best moves on the thing. It had to throw it's arms and legs around like a hummingbird's wings to stop the attack. His blocks began to come later and later, and Wraith knew he had almost reached the point where he could kill it. He brought his gun out after twirling a few feet off the ground in a helicopter kick, then slammed the M4A1's barrel into it's gut deeply, and fired off several rounds.

The 2.0 beast bellowed, and clutched at it's gut, bending over. Wraith shattered it's chin with another harsh attack from the assault rifle, and as the mammoth being brought it's head up in a rush of pain, Wraith ended that sense by blasting the brute's neck and chest open with his firearm, staining his clothing even more as the demonic being slumped to the ground in a heap of blood and body.

Just as he relished in his kill, Wraith was nearly knocked out from a kick to the back of his head. He fell forwards, and caught himself with his hand, using the force of the blow as momentum, and went down, and then pushed out with his hand to flip forward. The leader of the Freemind Commandoes quickly landed and turned, attempting to catch this other marvel of the Matrix off guard with a punch. He roared in agony as it caught his fist easily and squeezed, beginning to crush his bones.

It did just that, as Wraith screamed out. His bones crunched sickeningly and Wraith had to use all his strength and focus to not black out. He jumped up and kicked the massive arm that held his ruined hand, releasing it from the giant's grip. It was like mold, and wobbled freely in the air. Wraith followed up his first kick with another deadly one, which was stopped by the beast's forearm as it brought it up to stifle the blow.

It quickly reacted, grabbing his ankle with one hand, and turning to grab his knee with his far hand, then twisted Wraith around in the air. He stopped spinning and was hung in the air by his leg, which was near completely shadowed by the demon's arms. It brought up it's knee, and brought down it's arms, breaking Wraith's right leg neatly in the middle of his shin.

Wraith again bellowed in pain. His left leg and right hand were now both broken, and he was doomed to die at the hands of this fell beast. It grabbed his chest with a massive hand and lifted him by the collar of his camouflage jacket, which was stained with blood both Wraith's and others. It brought it's left hand back, and prepared to deliver the killing blow, smiling to reveal pearly white teeth.

It's smile suddenly vanished, and it's face became strangely non-chalant. It showed no emotion at all, and then slowly but steadily its head bloodily slid off the beast's neck on an angle, and fell to the ground. The body then also fell forward, dropping Wraith on his hindquarters on the bloody ground. He looked confused until he saw what was behind the monster.

It was Pike. He stood with one of his swords extended out, as if frozen after an attack. Fresh blood dripped from the tip, and after a moment Pike moved, and leant down to wipe his sword off on a dry location on the Human 2.0's clothing.

"There, you go, bro, now you owe me one," Wraith's brother cockily said. Wraith stood, and hobbled on his good leg, wordlessly tromping past his younger brother to assess the situation.

It was a bad one. Most of the things were dead. Webb and RAM were finishing off the final one near the cave entrance. Lost Hope was favouring his left shoulder, which was clearly broken. He converged with Pike and Wraith, who noticed that Pike was nearly completely unhurt. He was supporting a few cuts and a hefty gash on his chest, but was the least injured of the team.

Flash was another story. He was being carried like a baby in the arms of Ice Fox as he approached Wraith. Nearing the Freemind Commandoes leader, Flash was revealed to Wraith to be completely knocked out, sporting broken bones everywhere. His gut had bullet holes in it, and part of his skull appeared to be collapsed.

Ice Fox, who was covered with some heavy cuts and gashes,  answered Wraith's question before he had a chance to ask it. "He was up against three of those bastards. They knocked him out, and we killed two before the last could grab his gun and blast him a few times."

"Is he going to make it?" Pike asked, clearly worried.

Wraith turned to his brother, nearly in anger for a reason his didn't know. "No, he's not."

This blatant point forced Pike to tears. He turned from his brother, and grabbed the gun that was previously held by Flash. He looked up at Wraith, and he saw the anger and pain in Pike's eyes. He silently handed Wraith the gun, and turned to take a few steps towards the cave, and stopped stock still, facing away from his dying comrade.

"Kill him," came the disheartening voice of Pike. His shoulders began to bounce up and down as weeps escaped his chest. He lowered his head and quietly sobbed.

Webb and RAM were on their way towards the group where Ice Fox began to tear, and one dropped from his large head to fall on Flash's unconscious form. He lowered his body to the ground, and then stood, looking down at his friend.

Lost Hope put his head in his hand and managed not to cry, though Wraith could tell he too was torn up inside. Webb and RAM neared the group, sporting bad injuries, and both stopped in horror, seeing the nearly dead Flash on the ground, with Wraith pointing a gun to his head.

Wraith slipped his thumb over a switch on the M4A1, changing it to single fire. He leaned closer to Flash and placed the crosshairs directly over his forehead. "Goodbye…friend."

Wraith spoke these words, and then fired a bullet into Flash's head, ending his life.

Pike roared, still facing away from them. "The Agent…I'm gonna kill that fucker!" He charged off, sprinting fast towards and through the entrance to the cave, charging towards the glitched Agent.

Wraith stood again, and wiped away a tear from his face with a bloody hand. "C'mon, we have to go stop Pike from taking on the Agent himself." He dropped the gun onto Flash's dead body, and turned to walk away. He stopped his hobbling after a few steps, and turned to the team. "Dammit! C'mon! How many of us do you wan to die today?"

This brought them to their senses, and they all hurried as fast as they could towards the cave with their wounds, leaving real life behind.

Malcolm stopped his splicing into the depths of the Matrix, and reached out with his mind, sensing approaching Freeminds. "No. Not yet. The time is not come for you…"

Agent Malcolm knew he needed to leave. He was physically much too drained to fight the Freeminds, even though he was an Agent. He would be demolished…and he knew it, because he had a hard time even walking around.

He hurriedly focused on his strongest emotion, worry, and at that point found a way of escape. He smiled deeply, experiencing his strongest happiness ever at the knowledge of his newfound ability. He was soon crushed emotionally by the realization that all of his 2.0 Humans were killed.

Damning the Freeminds, he left a note for them, and an object they'd find useful. He would have to continue his creation later, and deliver his vengeance on the Freeminds.

For now though, he had to escape this cave. He focused on his new ability, using his increasing worry to intensify his efficiency with it, and then his body began to ripple in to the center of his torso on the surface, much like a pool of water would if a rock was dropped into it. He rippled faster and faster, and then his body began to spin and conform through the air, like a vortex, and then was consumed by the central point in his torso. It eventually collapsed into nothingness, and Agent Malcolm was gone.

Wraith limped down the cave. He reached into his vest with his good hand, and was relieved to find the cell phone still intact. He flipped it open and placed it to his ear as he continued to walk, to hear a crying, though still beautiful voice in the background.

"C'mon, Cosine…please stop." Wraith was crushed when he heard his sister crying, for such a beautiful voice and mind to be wasted on tears and sorrow was to him the most sour of fruits.

"I-I'm sorry, Wraith…" she trailed off in return, beginning to control herself. "It's just…just…"

"I know," he said, reassuring her regret. "He loved you as much as you loved him."

"How…how'd you know?" she said, with sudden surprise.

"I just did." At that point Wraith realized how much a single death hit the Freemind Commandoes. It would take a long time to heal the moral wound they had taken. Wraith was segregated from his brother again, too. His brother was rushing angrily with emotion, and Wraith was strangely detached from the situation. The differences in mere thought made Wraith realize even more why he shunned his sibling.

"Wraith…" Cosine asked him.

"Yes?"

"The Agent…he's gone." She said.

"What?" retorted Wraith, in surprise. "Did Pike actually manage to kill him?"

"No, no, nothing like that. He just...disappeared."

"What?"

"You heard me. Disappeared. Gone. And…he's left you a note, and a hardline out of here."

Wraith was stricken with wonder. Why would that bastard give us a free way out? Is it a trap? "Are you sure he's not there?" he asked.

"Positive."

"Alright, then…see you in a while, I guess." He then pocketed the cell phone back into his vest. They began to near the back of the cave, where they would surely find Pike.

Why? Wraith asked himself. Why would he leave us a way out of the Matrix? That means he wants us back in again…and that he can't fight us, or he would have. He must get drained a lot from creating these beasts. Theories and plans entered Wraith's mind, and then they reached the back cave.

Pike was kneeling on the floor, crying more in anger than sadness now and holding a tear-stained paper. A phone was sitting in a nook in the back of the wall, which began ringing. Lost Hope immediately picked it up with his good arm and was pulled out of the Matrix. RAM and Webb followed as Wraith took the paper wordlessly from Pike.

Dear Assholes,

            Thanks for destroying my creations. I hope you'll enjoy 3.0. I'll see you soon…and there's no need to thank me for the hardline.

Agent Malcolm

P.S. Best of wishes to your dead friend by the way.

Wraith's fist enclosed around the paper, crushing it in anger. His face reddened and he threw the paper to the floor as Ice Fox exited the Matrix via the hardline. Not only did he kill Flash…he taunted us about it.

Pike stood and walked towards the hardline, and placed his hand on the receiver. He did not pick it up. "I'm going to kill that bastard."

Wraith walked to him and in the best compassion he could show, he put his hand on Pike's shoulder. "We will."

Pike glared at him through his red eyes as he shucked Wraith's hand off his shoulder, and evilly spoke. "We better." He then picked up the line, and still glaring at Wraith, passed back into the real world.

Wraith hung up the line again, and waited for it to ring. He didn't appreciate Pike's harsh words…and by it he imposed he no longer appreciated Wraith as the leader. Wraith had let Flash die. He let the team down. He let Cosine down.

He let himself down.

The phone rang, and Wraith picked it up, passing into the real world.