Chapter 2
Failed Redemption
Boom. I could feel my heart beating. My breath came fast. I felt pure hate rise up in my throat and stick there. How could I let this happen...?
Boom. Was this my fault? Should I have not come here? I watched as the young boys friends shook him, called for him to get back up, to play with them only minutes before.... Before I came and ruined everything....
Boom. I turned back to the three agents who now stood side by side in the middle of the street. Guns loaded, they were waiting for me. With every heartbeat the air around my pulsed with hate, sending ripples through the air. It was time...time for them to pay for what they had done.
"I'm going to feel you scream." I said. And with that, I was out in the street in an instant.
Invincible. They couldn't touch me. I ducked under their punches. Hit them in the ribs. Kicked them in the face. They couldn't touch me. My hate fueled me. I thought over and over of the happy face of the boy that now lay behind me in a pool of his own blood. He would never smile, never laugh again. And it was all because of me...
I leaped high over their heads, flipping forward. One reached out for me, I scissored my legs and sent him backwards onto the ground. I landed and turned fast with one fist out, striking one across the face into a parked car. The remaining one punched at me. He punched high, toward my face. I ducked low, reaching into his jacket. He stopped when he saw what he was faced with.
For a moment I paused. I held his own gun straight to his face. My resolve flicked for an instant. Is this right? I wondered. I saw the look of fear in his face. The understanding of what was going to happen to him. But, I looked over his shoulder at the child on the ground...and pulled the trigger. He flew backwards onto the asphalt, leaving only the body of his host behind. A Postal carrier. Then I realized something. I wasn't hurting them; I was hurting their hosts. But they would hurt. They would feel pain.
I walked across the road to one of the two remaining that lie on the ground. The one that was shooting. Yes, he would feel pain. He would pay for what he had done. I reared back my hand, a drove it into his chest. I reached for his programming, reached for his sense of pain. He began to scream. He screamed louder and more painful than anything I had ever heard. He screamed like a man on fire, in pure and unreachable pain. His began to fade. His eyes turned chalk white. I felt him die right in my hands. I felt him come apart. Felt him unravel. And as quickly as the screaming started, it stopped. He lay flat on the ground.
I stood and turned toward the remaining one. He looked at me, and broke into a run in the opposite direction. But he would pay for his crimes too. He would not live to kill again.
I extended my arms and pulled energy from the Matrix. From the ground. From the air. From the cars in the streets and the clouds in the sky. My entire body became hot. I felt a great pulsating energy coming from within. That energy was for him, and I released it toward his retreating figure.
Like water, the world around me rippled. The great ball of fire rolled down the empty streets toward him. Glass shattered from windows, from cars, and streetlights were ripped from the ground in its wake. It struck its target. And there was no trace left of him except the chaos that was left in the city streets. And for just a moment, the world stopped. Everything was perfectly still. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my shades, fitting them around my head. I had won.
I turned back to the courts. I felt my stomach drop. Every child was now looking at me. Right at me. At my very soul. They had mixed expressions on their faces. Some of fright, some of sadness, some of hate. And I felt as if every good thing that had ever happened to me was unimportant...this was my fault, and they knew that.
"For what its worth...I'm sorry." I said, and bolted into the sky.
A/N: R&R Please. And THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the great reviews! They were a great self-esteem boost that helped me spit this one out right now.
Boom. I could feel my heart beating. My breath came fast. I felt pure hate rise up in my throat and stick there. How could I let this happen...?
Boom. Was this my fault? Should I have not come here? I watched as the young boys friends shook him, called for him to get back up, to play with them only minutes before.... Before I came and ruined everything....
Boom. I turned back to the three agents who now stood side by side in the middle of the street. Guns loaded, they were waiting for me. With every heartbeat the air around my pulsed with hate, sending ripples through the air. It was time...time for them to pay for what they had done.
"I'm going to feel you scream." I said. And with that, I was out in the street in an instant.
Invincible. They couldn't touch me. I ducked under their punches. Hit them in the ribs. Kicked them in the face. They couldn't touch me. My hate fueled me. I thought over and over of the happy face of the boy that now lay behind me in a pool of his own blood. He would never smile, never laugh again. And it was all because of me...
I leaped high over their heads, flipping forward. One reached out for me, I scissored my legs and sent him backwards onto the ground. I landed and turned fast with one fist out, striking one across the face into a parked car. The remaining one punched at me. He punched high, toward my face. I ducked low, reaching into his jacket. He stopped when he saw what he was faced with.
For a moment I paused. I held his own gun straight to his face. My resolve flicked for an instant. Is this right? I wondered. I saw the look of fear in his face. The understanding of what was going to happen to him. But, I looked over his shoulder at the child on the ground...and pulled the trigger. He flew backwards onto the asphalt, leaving only the body of his host behind. A Postal carrier. Then I realized something. I wasn't hurting them; I was hurting their hosts. But they would hurt. They would feel pain.
I walked across the road to one of the two remaining that lie on the ground. The one that was shooting. Yes, he would feel pain. He would pay for what he had done. I reared back my hand, a drove it into his chest. I reached for his programming, reached for his sense of pain. He began to scream. He screamed louder and more painful than anything I had ever heard. He screamed like a man on fire, in pure and unreachable pain. His began to fade. His eyes turned chalk white. I felt him die right in my hands. I felt him come apart. Felt him unravel. And as quickly as the screaming started, it stopped. He lay flat on the ground.
I stood and turned toward the remaining one. He looked at me, and broke into a run in the opposite direction. But he would pay for his crimes too. He would not live to kill again.
I extended my arms and pulled energy from the Matrix. From the ground. From the air. From the cars in the streets and the clouds in the sky. My entire body became hot. I felt a great pulsating energy coming from within. That energy was for him, and I released it toward his retreating figure.
Like water, the world around me rippled. The great ball of fire rolled down the empty streets toward him. Glass shattered from windows, from cars, and streetlights were ripped from the ground in its wake. It struck its target. And there was no trace left of him except the chaos that was left in the city streets. And for just a moment, the world stopped. Everything was perfectly still. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my shades, fitting them around my head. I had won.
I turned back to the courts. I felt my stomach drop. Every child was now looking at me. Right at me. At my very soul. They had mixed expressions on their faces. Some of fright, some of sadness, some of hate. And I felt as if every good thing that had ever happened to me was unimportant...this was my fault, and they knew that.
"For what its worth...I'm sorry." I said, and bolted into the sky.
A/N: R&R Please. And THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the great reviews! They were a great self-esteem boost that helped me spit this one out right now.