The Underground

Story Form By Panda (altered)

Originally by Nate Docken

Chapter 5: The Meddler

"Hm..." Robinson thought for a moment. The two were walking though a fairly empty area of town.

"What is the matter?" Norton asked, turning his head stiffly towards him.

"I am curious to what would happen if the Underground should fail..." he replied, murmuring. "What if they are obliterated?"

"It is not a good idea, and they pose no immediate threat..." Norton paused, thinking. "If they can assist in eliminating the rouges, then it will only benefit us in the end. Even if they should fail, we shall prevail eventually."

"I am also intrigued by the one known as Phoenix..."

"Why is that?"

"I killed him..." Robinson thought back to that moment. "...I watched him die ad the bullet tore though his body. You saw his body as well as I did... and yet, he still walks."

"Hmm... that is intriguing. One with a mind so powerful he can escape death..." Norton had a pleasing look, as if he was a scientist making a great new discovery. "...He may compare with the one who defeated Smith."

"He may prove to be a very powerful ally..." Robinson turned to Norton, grinning meaninglessly.

"He indeed may... and if he should die once more..."

"Let us report this."

Sinis sat in his large office at a crummy desk in the back corner, his feet resting on the desk. He held a cane in one hand and a play book in the other. He smiled cheerfully, enjoying play literature like one of the finest things in life. He was so into the book he hadn't notice Kazna had walked in.

"Sinis..." he said. "Am I wrong?"

"Oh?" Sinis turned his head to the side, looking past the book. "Myes... you presume correctly, but you may be wrong about other things. No one really knows."

"I can already tell you're going to ramble on..." he growled.

"To ramble causes intelligent conversation, but only when the rambler ceases to ramble."

"Then try not to ramble!" Kazna scowled.

"I haven't finished yet." Sinis shot him a mocking look.

"Sorry for interrupting."

"We interrupt because we are impatient in our search."

"You know more than you show."

Sinis chuckled. "I may show many things, especially my unmatched masculinity, but that's a story for another time."

"Where is he?" Kazna demanded to know.

"I know not such informatio-"

"Bullshit."

"No, an utter lie, not excrement from a male cow." Sinis grinned.

"Do you know how much you annoy me?"

"I believe I have the freedom to, as you came in un-welcomed into my humble abode." he looked around his office, indicating it was his.

"Tell me where he is, or you will die."

"You seek revenge on Phoenix... Why?"

"He killed my master in cold blood." Kazna growled.

"Then your vengeance is well founded, though vengeance is never the act of a decent human being."

"No human being exists in the Matrix."

"True, true..." Sinis chuckled again. "However, we live by the same conducts of morality and ethics that we would have in the real world."

"Then I am not a decent human being. Where is he?" he demanded to know. His patience was wearing thin quickly with this man who's mission was to touch every nerve of him. His hands began to twitch restlessly.

"Have you ever read this play?" Sinis held up the book he was reading. "It's a fascinating story, and quite humorous."

"I have no love for literature."

"Oh, of course not, how silly of me. You focus your time for seeking vengeance on an old cliché of a reason." he smiled innocently. "It is quite surprising how similar in comparison you are to Apollo."

"Don't compare me with that monster!" he snarled.

"Usually, the reasons that we hate someone are usually linked to bits and pieces of our own personalities in that person." Sinis pointed out. "This was pointed out by an author named Hermann Hesse, although it is almost certain that he was not the only one to discover this."

"He is nothing like me."

"Yes," he sighed. "And no, but I digress. You wish to know his whereabouts?"

"Of course."

Sinis closed his book and pulled out a sheet of paper from his desk. He wrote something on it, folded it nicely and slipped it into his pocket. "Come then." he stood, smiling. He was well assured about the outcome of that battle. "Kill me, and find out where he may be lurking."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. It's very simple, is it not?"

"It seems too good to be true." Kazna grinned, slipping off his jacket and throwing it aside.

"Of course, that is if you beat me." Sinis pulled his cane before him, leaning on it lightly.

"You're just throwing away your men, aren't ya'?"

"No, but you may be able to fulfill what you came for." he shrugged.

"You tell only facts, how amusing..." Kazna reached back and grasped the hilt of his sword. "Shall we begin?"

Sinis lifted his cane and spun it around several times. He ended by pointing the handle at his opponent. "After you."

Kazna swiftly drew his sword, running after him with pleasure. He would finally kill the man who prodded at every nerve in him, and he would torture Sinis as he did to him.

He attacked horizontally, lugging around the sword to catch this tall scrawny man. It made him quick to dodge, jumping back until he was pressed against his own desk. He jumped up on his desk before Kazna's vertical attack could slice him in half. His sword caught onto the wooden desk for a moment, but that moment was essential to Sinis's move. He front flipped, using Kazna's shoulder to guide him.

"Damn it-" Kazna roared in frustration. He howled as something sharp shot through his shoulder. He winced and his face scrunched but peeked at his shoulder. A thin blade. He was puzzled at where the blade had come from. It was yanked out and he spun around before he was poked again.

Sinis had thrown aside the sheath of his cane. He stood up strait with one hand behind him and the other pointing his cane sword. Kazna pulled his sword out, and in the same movement he knocked aside the blade and swung horizontally once again. Sinis jumped back, but it had torn his pink shirt.

"Oh no! My favorite shirt..." he gasped. "Ohh... why did I wear this today!" he continued to jump back from Kazna's horizontal and vertical attacks. When he reached the wall, Kazna thrusted his sword forward. Sinis moved quickly aside, dodging it but his long jacket had gotten caught to the wall with the sword.

"Oh dear... my jacket..." he pulled, but when it wouldn't budge, he spun out of it. He revealed his fluffy pink shirt. It was frilly in the front with puffy sleeves and long flowy cuffs.

"Why don't you stop running?" his lips twisted upward at the corners, revealing a deadly grin.

"Perhaps I may." Sinis charged after him, swiftly swinging the light weight sword around. Kazna had a hard time dodging and just as it seemed too late to move, his reflex saved him by blocking it with his sword.

He knocked the sword away again and swung up, then vertically after missing. He missed again, furiously swinging his sword vertically again. Sinis dodged by bending back and got up again with a cartwheel. There was a distance between them now.

Kazna breathed hard, taking that moment to rest but kept alert. Sinis continued being relaxed. He suddenly bolted after him. Kazna prepared to block the frontal attack with his sword. When Sinis suddenly moved into the corner of his eye, he didn't have time to think. His leg collapsed at his calf was stabbed.

He held back from screaming and winced. Right after the blade was pulled out, he clutched it with his free hand. Blood seeped through his fingers.

"Painful isn't it?" Sinis looked at him sympathetically. "I know I've had a few accidents with this thing. It's almost like being cut by a razor, but more painful."

"You bastard." Kazna breathed, and unexpectedly jumped up and thrusted his sword forward. It was half aimless, but he had gotten his thigh.

"AAH!" he shrieked and backed away, pulling the sword out. He too, clutched his thigh. He backed up and leaned on his desk, both resting momentarily.

Sinis made the first move, slashing vertically. When Kazna dodged, he continued to swing in random directions. He was too quick for him to notice that he had bumped into the wall. With no time to move, Sinis thrusted the blade at his head. Kazna moved aside it stabbed dead center of his ear.

"Fuck!" he stilled his head, but continued to squeak out in pain. He had dropped his sword.

Sinis sighed relaxingly. "Ah, well, I got you to hold still." he grinned, but was tired from losing blood, and moving quickly didn't help either.

"Fuck you." Kazna hissed.

"Life cannot go the way you always want it to." Sinis was beginning to tire quickly, but he kept his hold onto the cane.

Kazna continued to squirm in his spot, trying to figure a way out of it, but the pain almost blocked out his thoughts. He continued to growl. Sinis sighed and tried to relax.

Kazna suddenly bend down and held back from screaming as the blade tore through his ear. In the same motion, he picked up his sword and on his knees, he thrusted it forward, foolishly his eyes shut tight from the pain. When he didn't hear anything, he feared opening them.

He felt something trickle down his knuckles. It was cold...

"But things do happen, do they not?" Sinis said almost whispering. He opened his eyes to the sight of Sinis stabbed through his lung. Blood spilled almost non-stop, already pooling.

Sinis stepped back, wincing as the sword was pulled out, and fell onto his back. Kazna quickly snapped out of his shock that he actually hadn't missed and stood over him. He reached down to his pocket, but he stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Give up, you are defeated." Kazna scowled at his persistence.

"Not until death has completely consumed me." he breathed.

"Then it shall be done." Kazna lifted his sword over his chest, then thrusted it down. Sinis did not let out a single cry of pain, but with his last remaining bit of strength, he lightly slapped Kazna's forehead. He died with a grin stretched across his face.

For reasons he didn't understand, he didn't feel satisfied killing him. Perhaps it was his thin patience to claim Phoenix's life...

Kazna reached into his pocket and unfolded the piece of paper. Disappointingly enough, it was a stick figure drawing with it's tongue sticking out. He shredded it quickly and threw the bits at Sinis's lifeless body. He then walked over to his desk and tore it apart for some clue to where Phoenix was.

He pulled out a small crumpled post-it note, issued by Sinis to go to the warehouse where Prometheus was killed. A deadly grin stretched across his face, baring all his front teeth.

"You're mine." he snarled.

TBC