I usually don't start posting a story until I've finished to assure that I won't leave my readers hanging for months at a time in the middle of the action in the case of writer's block, but I felt like I owed it to you all after being gone for so long.  So I give you the prologue to my current project.

It's something of a rewrite of The Matrix (a fascinating movie, though not my favorite) with the casting done from Shaman King.  Minor characters from the Matrix may remain the same, but all the major ones are Mankin.  The beginning will sound like almost a carbon copy of the movie, but then it will branch off into something rather different. 

This is especially for da*mouse, who is a devoted fan of both SK and The Matrix.

The One…the Two… Prologue

            The night was dark, the clouds yielding little to the tired, dingy moon.  Outside a rundown hotel building, a large number of police cars had gathered, many of the men still milling about in the street, unsure and apprehensive.  They were waiting for the two units of heavily armed men inside, heading toward the target door several stories up.

            In the street below, several new cars arrived, their pale gray-uniformed occupants stepping smoothly out as they stopped.

            "Oh great," muttered the policeman before turning to the leader of the newcomers, a girl with long pale hair and abundant metal adding to her outfit.

            "You were instructed to wait, lieutenant," she said frostily.

            "Yeah, well…"

            "It was for your own safety."

            He suppressed a scoff.  "I sent in two units.  I think that should be enough to arrest one little girl."

            "Lieutenant," said the long-haired girl, walking toward the building, her followers striding after her, drawing firearms as they went, "your men are already dead."

            Inside, the squads had burst in the door to find a lone girl sitting in front of a computer.  Doesn't look too dangerous, thought the leader.  "Stop!" he called, mustering all the authority he could into his voice.  "Put your hands on your head!  Do it!  Now!"

            Slowly, the girl in black obeyed, her fingers gradually rising to the level of her blond hair.  Not bad, he thought, pulling out a pair of handcuffs, I don't see what the big deal's about…

            He didn't get any farther.  The girl whipped around suddenly, the beads about her neck hitting him hard on the face.  She took out another two with just her hands as weapons and then vaulted halfway across the room, downing another one with a well-placed kick.  Sprinting up the wall to avoid a spray of bullets from the comrades, she landed again in a completely different spot, taking the men by surprise.

            In very little time, she was the only one left standing.  Picking up her cell phone, she put it to her ear.  "Manta?"

            "Get out of there," said the voice on the other end.  "Anna-san, there are more coming."

            "Any Agents?"

            "Yes.  Run.  Do you need an exit?"

            "I already know the closest one.  Wells and Lake."  She flipped the phone into off position and stepped out of the room just as the elevator doors at the end of the hall opened.  The girl in the metal uniform stepped out, a large pistol at ready.

            Anna cursed under her breath and turned down another passage.  "Holy Agent Jeanne!" she muttered, sparks of white light bursting around her as the bullets ricocheted off the walls on either side.  "This isn't my day."

            Anna made it up to the roof and took off at full speed, knowing Jeanne would be close behind.  Leaping a meter across, she landed on top of another building, hoping to put significant distance behind her and her pursuers.  The Agent and the accompanying police, of course, made it across too, but she wasn't done yet.

            Up ahead, a busy street ran between her building and another; the gap between was several meters across and at least five stories high.  Unflinchingly, Anna leapt, her black skirt rippling in the wind.  She rolled as she landed, breaking the impact.  A moment later, Jeanne crossed the gap (alone, as none of the policemen knew how), but Anna was already out of sight. 

            Hiding behind a large block of concrete jutting from the roof of the building, Anna caught her breath.  She was close to her exit, but that blasted Agent was something of a problem.  Her eyes swept over the scene before her.  Another building not far away…  A sketchy plan formed itself in her mind, and she decided to risk it. 

            Taking a deep breath, she made a break for it, sprinting across the roof and diving into thin air.  Controlling her fall carefully, she crashed headfirst through the window she had aimed at and tumbled down the staircase inside.  Two pistols were ready in her hands as she landed at the bottom, aimed toward the window through which she had come, ready for any follower. 

            But no one came.  She was shaking, the adrenaline battling the increasing amounts of lactic acid within her, the sudden stillness unnerving.  Then she leapt to her feet and headed down the stairs to the street outside.  It was empty except for a lone truck as she turned a corner, her goal in sight.  It was a dingy telephone booth, and the phone had just begun to ring.  The truck turned as it did, and she raced desperately toward the booth.  Just get to the receiver… 

            The truck revved its engine and headed toward her.  It would reach the phone before she did…  She made it, bolting inside and grabbing the receiver, even as the truck's headlights blinded her.  Then everything was over in a crash as the fender plowed through the phone booth and into the wall behind it. 

            The door on the driver's side opened, and a tall blond man with glasses stepped out.  He surveyed the damage, frowning. 

            Anna was gone.

            Jeanne walked up behind him.

            "Did we get anything from the room, Agent-sama?" he asked him, his eyes not leaving the wreckage.

            "The name of their next target: Asakura Yoh, sometimes referred to by the codename Neo."

            "We must get a search running."

            "It's already begun."

            They didn't see the figure disappear just around the corner with a smirk.  The figure, a blue-haired girl in a black tube top and jean shorts, glided through the shadows toward another telephone booth.  She looked back with a smug grin as the phone began to ring.  "Always so good at making a diversion," she muttered, and picked up the receiver.

To be continued…