This chapter may make you dizzy, I will switch back and forth from different points of view. I hadn't realized I did it until I started typing it. Sorry for any problems, but I do hope you enjoy.

Chapter 13

Battle

Faith awoke feeling refreshed; she was ready. Actually she was itching for the fight; she knew what would have to do. Not to prove herself, either, for once it would not be about her and for that she was grateful.

Neo sat staring at the opposite wall. He had tried to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes her saw Faith's fist. He heard Trinity walk in, but made no move to acknowledge her.

"Neo?" She asked quietly. He didn't move. "Are you okay?" Then it hit her, "about today you'll win."

"And if I don't?"

"Then we'll go back out there and keep fighting this war."

Neo realized that no matter what Trinity wouldn't leave him. He stood and turned to look at her. "I still have some time, I'm going to take a nap." He took her hand and pulled her into the bedroom with him. She smiled as he had her lay down with him.

"I know what you can do. Just remember I believe in you."

"I know," he kissed her.

Frost awoke alone again. All week El had avoided him. 'Teenager', he thought. He walked into the font room. The dining table was pushed against the wall, and Faith was in the middle of the room. He watched as she went through a series of kicks and punches. He slowly stepped up behind her. Justas he got a few inches behind her, she reached back, grabbed him, and flipped him over her. He landed on his back so hard that the room shook. He gasped. "So I guess you have all your slayer strength."

"I guess so, that's the first time I did that out here." She held out her hand. "Thanks."

He took her hand and let her pull him up. "Sure, anytime. You do know you won't physically have to fight him?"

"Yeah, I know."

Oz ran into the room just as someone knocked on the door. Faith ignored Oz and answered the door. There was a group of people staring at her.

"Yeah, oh, I'm sorry, this jerk," points back at Frost with her thumb, "startled me while I was exercising. It won't happen again, I promise."

With that the crowd in front of the door dissipated. She closed the door and turned back to Oz. "Sorry."

"Just don't let it happen again." He said as he trudged back to bed.

Frost smiled, "can we take a walk, maybe avoid waking anyone else."

"Sure," Faith replied.

As they walked from cavern to cavern they were silent. As they entered the docking bay, Faith spoke. "Do you ever wonder if this is all a dream?"

"Nightmare, actually."

"Like I feel like I should be out slaying. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night and start getting changed when I realize where I am and vampires don't need to be slayed."

"Do you ever wonder about that? I know a Chaos demon has antlers and slime, but here…"

"The only Chaos demon we know looks very human."

He nodded his head.

"Makes you wonder," he watched her as she spoke and looked up at all the docked ships. All these people had come to watch the challenge. She reached up at touched the hull of the ship next to her, "where all the actual demons disappeared to."

He nodded his head. "I met a pure vampire two weeks ago."

Her head turned toward him.

He continued, "he was pale and had actual fucking fangs."

"Wow."

"What's even worse is what he said." Frost paused to inhale and exhale deeply. "He said he knew about my past."

"You have one?" She asked with a smile.

"Apparently, but weird part is Ra knows about it." Frost watched Faith's eyes widen for a second.

"Why does everything come back to him?" Faith asked, as she touched her right cheek absently.

"Was he in your dream?"

She nodded her head as she spoke. "His eyes, in his eyes."
"He definitely knows stuff."

"Stuff that could help us," she added.
"Oz, says he waiting for the right people to spill his secrets to."

"Figures doesn't it."

"Yeah," he sighed. "He said with meditation he could help me remember."

"Killjoy," she said, her hand dropping from the ship. They continued walking.

"You don't seem nervous."

"No, I guess I've been itching for so long that it's just not bothering me."

"But it's not like it will be a real fight, no sweat, cuts, tears…"

"You don't like it either, I get."

He shook his head. "Face in the dirt, blood on your face, textures, it's not there in a computer, especially after you know that it's all fake."

"Maybe you enjoyed your pre-matrix life too much." She said with a smile.

"So what's your excuse?"

"Old soul, she remembers the earth at the beginning."

"The first slayer?"

"Yup."

"Good excuse."

"Yup."

As they lay back, Faith finally felt her nerves kick in. She glanced over at El the only crewmember allowed into the control room with them.

"This program better be good." Faith jokingly warned.

El smiled, as Neo was jacked in she spoke, "think erotic dance club."

As they moved to plug Faith in, she replied, "love you, girl."

White.

Oz, Frost, Ra, Trans, and the rest of the of Oz's crew had frost row seats in front of the large screens set up in the mess hall. Morpheus' crew was there as well, both crews wanting to watch each other's emotions.

Frost placed a hand on Oz's shoulder. "Don't worry," he whispered, "she'll do the right thing."

They were told that they would be loaded into the jump program first. Afterward they would get two minutes in the construct to compose themselves, weapons would be selected, and then they would be sent into the combat zone. Neo watched as the white bled away into reds and blues. They were in a desert standing on a pyramid. They were to leap from pyramid to pyramid and then end up on a blue column. This all seemed corny to Faith by the look on her face, but Neo figured it was necessary.

"What are you waiting for?" Faith asked.

"Oh, ladies first."

She narrowed her eyes into slits at him, "typical. Bye," she waved and then leaped. She landed onto the pyramid and then turned back to look at him. "You coming?"

He leaped and landed next to her. To their right was a sphinx, which she then jumped to. As they continued leap-frogging the scenery began to change from a desert with pyramids to a city with tall buildings to ancient Rome. After leaping from one side of the coliseum to the other, they saw the large blue column ahead.

Once Faith got the hang of it the first test was easy. As the program melted away, she sighed.

"Tired already?" Neo mocked.

"Barely," she remembered what el said about the next program. She hoped she could get this to work.

Neo watched quietly as she changed her outfit. Her red shirt shrunk into a shimmering halter top. Her pants moved as liquid into black leather pants. She grew slightly with the boots she now wore. A studded belt around her waist as her lips reddened slightly and glossed over. As she stood looking satisfied in her clubbing outfit, she spoke, "come on, Neo, join the fun."

"Is she doing that or is it him?" A Zionian next to Frost spoke.

"That's her," Ra replied in awe.

Neo's skin tight shirt faded from black to a dark royal blue. The sleeves melted away, so the shirt was sleeveless. His trench coat changed into slick, new leather. His pants also changed to tight leather. His boot remained the same, as a belt matching Faith's snaked around his waist. Frost looked over to see Trinity with an icy glare in her eyes. He turned back to the screen as a silver chain snaked around Neo's neck. For a finishing touch blue streaks appeared in his hair.

"Ready!" Faith yelled out.

Two metal tables rushed up behind them. They both turned to see two hand guns with four extra clips, throwing stars, a whip, two daggers, and a sword.

Faith picked up the whip. "Wicked," she smiled as she wrapped it around her waist. Neo remained silent as he loaded up. Once they were both armed everything went dark.

Neo waited as a blue light turned on. Then a red, pink, yellow, after enough lights were on he could see his surroundings. It looked like a strip club. There was a stage to his right and smaller platforms with poles placed sporadically around them. Faith smiled, he could tell she was enjoying his discomfort. He never liked places like this, he hated crowds, well, Thomas Anderson hated crowds. Thomas Anderson is real, Neo is.

"Ready?" The voice of El echoed through a speaker. Neo was surprised that the council had chosen the program of the young girl on Faith's ship. Morpheus exclaimed that it was unfair.

"It would unfair if Neo or Faith submitted the program. One of your programmers could have submitted a program."

"Mouse" Neo had whispered.

"Our programmer died," Morpheus replied.

"Have you chosen a new one?"

"No."

"Then you have no argument."

"NEO!"

Neo jumped at Faith sudden yell. "What?"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

A large neon pink 5 appeared in between them and began counting down.

Faith held up her fists as Neo got into some karate stance. Faith never really cared about form or structure, just about surviving. Faith stepped to her right and they began to circle. Neo's eyes narrowed as he waited for her to strike. 'Why should I go first?' she thought to herself. She stopped moving, forgot that she was being watched by all of Zion, and sat on a table. Neo froze.

"What are you doing?" He asked coldly.

"Waiting for the game to begin."

"What is she doing?" Ivy heard Tank ask.

"Baiting him," Ra replied.

"Why?"

"She doesn't want to make the first move. So she's trying to force him to do it." Frost said realization dripping from his mouth.

Faith watched Neo, she knew it would take him forever to catch on. "So you think you're ready?"

"I just told you I was ready."

"Are you ready to lose?"

"Sure."

"Lose friends, lovers, your sanity?" She picked up three shots glasses and began to juggle them. "Cause I've lived through it all. I've been through all the tragic emotions: suicidal, murderous, insane, regretful; the list goes on and on. Are you ready for it?"

"Why don't we just fight?"

"Hard way, it is." She collected the glasses and chucked one at the dancer's pole behind him. It shattered and glass rained down on his shoulders. "Are you ready?" She repeated. "Forget about them, they can see you, but they can't hear you."

"No."

"Good answer," she replied with a smile.

He couldn't believe she was mocking him. He pulled out the throwing stars and watched her smile wickedly. She jumped off the table as he threw two. The stars stuck in the wall behind her.

"There's my boy."

He looked up to see her hanging from one hand from the catwalk. He growled as she swung down and landed on the same table.

"That's it. That's all you have for me?"

He glared at her, as he pulled out his gun. She threw the second glass and hit him in the forehead. He was stunned for a minute and raised the gun again, she was gone. He spun around just in time to be punched in the face.

"Ooo," their audience winced.

Trinity glared at the screen as Ra smirked. Faith flipped back and landed on another table as Neo drew his sword. He swung at her legs, but she flipped over him. He turned and thrust the sword at her throat. Oz watched Morpheus smile, but Oz knew better. Faith kicked Neo's sword and punched him in the stomach. As he backed up, she spun and slapped him hard in the side with her leg. As he started to fall, he gripped his sword and cart wheeled to the side. He swung his sword at her shoulder, which she blocked easily enough with her own sword.

"This is all you've got?" She mocked.

Again he swung at her, she blocked. They dueled back and forth for several minutes, but Oz could see that she was growing bored. He smiled as she back flipped Neo chasing her. As she moved she tucked her sword away. She flipped up and grabbed the stripper's pole. Neo slid to a stop to late and got brutally kicked in the face as Faith swung around. Oz watched Trinity cringe as Ra and Trans slapped a high five. Faith swung again, but Neo was ready and threw a chair at her. It hit her and she fell to the floor hard. She stood and smiled. Neo's eyes widen when he saw what she held in her hand. She smirked as she twirled the whip.

"Very good, let your emotions out."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You know I've never actually used one of these things before, but…" She snapped the whip on a table.

Trinity didn't like how this fight was going. She silently prayed that Neo would be alright. Then she saw the whip in Faith's hand. Faith swung it around her head and snapped it on a pole. Neo backed into a table. He backed up and reached for his sword. "SNAP!" The whip cracked against his left shoulder. He pulled the sword out and held it before him. As she swung at him again he ducked under her reach and swipped at her right arm. The sword only made a small cut, but enough for her to lose control of the whip. She swung it upward, caught a beam and swung up onto the catwalk above.

Sure Neo had weapons training, but there had only been a few bytes on the whip. Morpheus kicked himself for not thinking of giving him more. He glanced down at Oz and saw pure confidence. "What program did you use?"

"Basic, but she learned most of what you're watch in the matrix. A slayer needs to be an expert in all types of weapons." He paused to smile. "Good thing they didn't give them axes. She's deadly with a battle axe."

"You're running now?" He yelled out. "The fun has just begun.

"Who said I was running?" He voice whispered into his ear. He spun and found her hanging upside down from her whip. She reminded him of Spiderman hanging like that.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Baiting you."

"Why?"

"You're not learning."

He whipped out his sword and sliced the whip. As she fell she twisted around and landed on all fours. She pushed off the floor and kicked Neo in the face. He took the hit, grabbed her leg, and threw her.