Animatrix - Cain and Abel (Matrix crossover)

[Stuart Mackey]

First Post!
Ahhhhh..*changes underwear*

[Ghost Rider]

Very cool set up.

I did like how you made Kyle useful yet not take away from Neo.

Also interesting that they do know they are different time points(about Kyle...I like you reminding the crew about such)

[Pcm979]

I know you're probably sick of this, but that was great. Now, we need more!

[Crazedwraith]

Nice. I liked the Oracles comments on Kyle. "He will have your eyes" whats that supposed to mean? Sounds like Kyle might get his eyes tased out defending Neo from Bane. (if Banes been as-smith-ilated of course)

Did you say thuis was longer than the other chapters? Didn't feel like it to me...the mark of good righting i suppose...

[Pcm979]

Nice. I liked the Oracles comments on Kyle. "He will have your eyes" whats that supposed to mean? Sounds like Kyle might get his eyes tased out defending Neo from Bane. (if Banes been as-smith-ilated of course)

I'd say she's talking about John Conner.

[Crazedwraith]

I'd say she's talking about John Conner.

And I'd say I'm an idoit. Oh well, its not liek i aint made a fool of myself before...

[D.Turtle]

Great as always.

Slight mistake I think:

The white clad Asian man slowly rose and Kyle swore that he seemed to move from a sitting to standing position in the blink of an eye.

Slowly rising but changing positions in the blink of an eye, thats something I want to see.

[2000AD]

A confused biker? Is Uncle Bob making an appearence?

[Pcm979]

I was wondering about that too. I certainly don't know of any other biker in the Terminator/Matrix worlds; I can't really see Uncle Bob as confused, though. Not obviously, anyway.

[Shroom Man 777]

Bob will be confused when young John Conner is nowhere to be found.

Stravo, please make Bob kick ass! Preferably, you could make him a T-850.

But if Bob is from the future, how would he end up inside the Matrix? Is he gonna be found in the Matrix? If not, then why would he be a biker? A biker in Zion?

[Mr Bean]

Blast my silly need for sleep

[SylasGaunt]

Dude I think I just filled the cup. BURLY BRAWL ON THE WAY!

Been waiting for this since I started reading this thing, excellent work as always stravo

[Mr Bean]

Dude I think I just filled the cup. BURLY BRAWL ON THE WAY!

Been waiting for this since I started reading this thing, excellent work as always stravo

Problem its a three way as we also have Skynet coming or Present in Smith

[Illuminatus Primus]

BURLY BRAWL.

When when when?

[SylasGaunt]

[
Problem its a three way as we also have Skynet coming or Present in Smith

Why do you think I'm so excited about it? Skynet, Neo, AND smith all having it out at once? Awesomeness incarnate

[2000AD]

[
Problem its a three way as we also have Skynet coming or Present in Smith

Why do you think I'm so excited about it? Skynet, Neo, AND smith all having it out at once? Awesomeness incarnate

and Kyle, wonder what his reaction to the physical incarnation of Skynet will be.

[Trogdor]

Excellent chapter, Stravo. I originally thought that Neo was Abel, but I like this twist better, plus it explains who made the Cathedral for the humans to start their rebellion from.

Was this chapter brought on by Cartoon Network playing all the Animatrix cartoons last night, or did those just serve to get me all set up for this chapter?

[Pcm979]

What puzzles me is why Skynet doesn't seem to know about the Caine/Abel connection beyond a feeling that the Matrix is 'home' which it would be if it was written by his brother/sister AI.

[Comosicus]

Wow ... a new Chapter ....Delightfull.

I'll finish reading when I come back from my job.

[Shroom Man 777]

What puzzles me is why Skynet doesn't seem to know about the Caine/Abel connection beyond a feeling that the Matrix is 'home' which it would be if it was written by his brother/sister AI.

That's because this Skynet isn't from their reality, its from Kyle's reality.

[Chris OFarrell]

Stravo, just finished reading through this yesterday (only noticed in then really). I'm impressed, bloody good work. The Matrix machines have needed a beating for some time, its perfect that Skynet is going to do it

[Shroom Man 777]

I thought Stravo posted a new chapter! Confound it!

[Stravo]

You can blame alot of things for delays like this but I think by far the main culprit here is Rome Total War. You know the odd tagline from Matrix "It owns you" well...Rome Total War - it owns me. But I managed to put the crack pipe down enough to finish this long awaited chapter from many fans. Please enjoy.



Chapter 24: The Burly Brawl


Smith stood silently as he contemplated Neo.

“Surprised to see me?” Smith asked.

“No.” Neo replied quickly.

“Then you’re aware of it.” Smith noted.

“Of what?” Neo asked. Kyle edged in closer.

“A pity I was not able to leave you a special package as I had planned Mr. Anderson. It would have explained so much.”

Neo said nothing, hands calmly clasped behind his back. He could feel Kyle’s tension as he continued training his shotgun on Smith. Neo’s calm exterior hid his confusion. What was Smith doing here? The last time he faced the agent Neo had torn him to shreds.

“But there is no time like the present, isn’t that one of your quaint human expressions?” Smith asked as he snapped his hand up and tossed an object to Neo. Kyle’s finger tensed suddenly but Neo casually lifted his hand and snatched the object out of the air. He slowly looked down and examined the cold coiled piece of plastic.

It was the omnipresent earpiece of the agents of the system. The very one that Smith was no longer wearing.

Back in the Cathedral Morpheus’ eyes narrowed on the readings scrolling down Link’s screen.

“Smith?” he asked in bewilderment.

“Whatever that is he’s not reading like an agent.” Link commented as he typed some command codes into his monitor trying to decipher just what he was seeing.

“You still don’t understand do you?” Smith asked with a cold smirk.

“You’re obviously going to tell me.” Neo concluded.

“We have a connection. I don't fully understand how it happened. Perhaps some part of you imprinted onto me, something overwritten or copied. That is at this point irrelevant, what matters is that whatever happened, happened for a reason.”

“And what reason is that?”

” I killed you, Mister Anderson, I watched you die... With a certain satisfaction, I might add, and then something happened. Something that I knew was impossible, but it happened anyway. You destroyed me, Mister Anderson. Afterward, I knew the rules, I understood what I was supposed to do but I didn't. I couldn't. I was compelled to stay, compelled to disobey. And now here I stand because of you, Mister Anderson, because of you I'm no longer an agent of the system, because of you I've changed - I'm unplugged - a new man,” Smith paused almost imperceptibly and there was a shadow of a smile on his lips “so to speak, like you, apparently free. You see Mr. Anderson, you set me free.”

“Congratulations.” Neo replied coolly as he dropped the earpiece to the floor and regarded his foe with caution. There was something not quite right about Smith. Aside from the obvious deformation of his shell there was an oddity just beneath his coding. An errant bit of a brilliant shining digital shard.

Smith inclined his head slightly towards Neo. “Thank you. But as you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We're not here because we're free, we're here because we're not free. There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose - because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.”

“It is purpose that created us.” A second Smith stepped down from some rubble to their left. Kyle’s eyes widened and his shotgun swung to aim at the new threat.

“Purpose that connects us.” A third Smith stepped out from behind them to their left.

“Purpose that pulls us,” A fourth strolled out from around a ruined pile of molten metal that had been a jungle gym.

“That guides us,” A fifth intoned as it walked down the steps to Neo’s right.

“That drives us,” A sixth followed the fifth down the steps to stand slightly behind and to the right of Neo.

“It is purpose that defines,” a seventh snapped as he stood flanking the original.

“Purpose that binds us.” The last eighth Smith stood on the opposite side of the original Smith.

Neo slowly looked at each of the new Smiths. They all shared the exact same coding shell. For all intents and purposes they were Smith. Kyle kept trying to train his shotgun on each of the newcomers.

“Talk to me Neo.” Kyle said tightly.

Neo slowly held up a hand as he watched the original.

“It’s alright Kyle. Don’t be afraid.”

Smith smiled. The others smirked darkly.

“But you should be afraid Mr. Anderson. You see, we’re here because of you.”

Neo glanced around. They were closing in on him. Each of them carried that spark of brilliant pulsing code buried deep inside of them. What did it mean?

“We’re here to take from you what you tried to take from us. Purpose.” Smith suddenly plunged his hand into Neo’s chest. Neo stiffened and felt a deep chill settle into his bones. Thick black liquid frothed from the point of impact and slowly spread up and out along his body, enveloping his clothes and flesh.

Trinity stepped up to the Operator’s station alerted by the sounds of alarm from the station and the expressions on Link and Morpheus’ faces. She squinted as she examined the viewer.

“What’s happening to him?”

“I don’t know.” Link replied in frustration.

“Yes, that’s it. It will all be over soon.” Smith smiled as he felt his hand sink further into Neo and the black liquid slowly cascaded over Neo’s shoulders. Neo shuddered and bucked involuntarily. He could feel his consciousness slipping away as if he were drowning. He reached out and felt the source of his distress.

His code was being altered, directly manipulated. He could feel the cold liquid washing over him and as it did he could feel his very essence changing, morphing at Smith’s will into something different. Something dead.

He would not, could not allow this to continue. Despite the fact that his limbs would not respond and that he remained rooted to the same spot he centered himself. He focused on the very core of his being, willing himself to maintain cohesion, to remain himself.

The black liquid slowed then quickly retreated back down to the point of impact where Smith’s hand was wrist deep into Neo’s midsection. As the liquid retreated Smith’s face quickly contorted into a mask of determination and frustration as he struggled to overcome his hated foe and finally put an end to the only one that could oppose him.

Kyle’s shotgun blast broke the silent tension and strange electronic hissing that accompanied the copying process. The Smith closest to Neo’s left stumbled backwards grasping at his ruined chest and landed on the ground with a loud thud and lay still.

Kyle pumped the action on his shotgun with one clear jerk and fired again as the other Smiths turned on him as one.

Neo looked up into Smith’s eyes as the last of the black liquid retreated away from Neo’s body and vanished. As the last of it swirled away for the briefest instant Neo could feel Smith and he connected more intimately than he had ever been with anyone else including Trinity.

He could feel the ex-Agent’s anger and resentment. He could sense the master plan that he had carefully plotted all this time since discovering his freedom. He could smell what Smith smelled, the rotting stinking decaying flesh that was human life. He could sense the nova like intensity of his hunger, his yearning for what he ultimately wanted.

Absolute control. Perfect order. The culmination of what he had been programmed to bring from his inception yet now it was his over riding concern.

Neo’s eyes narrowed on the grim ex-agent.

“You knew from the beginning. You knew you were different.” Neo whispered.

Smith’s face froze in a grimace.

Neo could see the nascent Smith program as it first stepped into the Construct. His first kill as he trailed the hapless Zion agent that had gotten lost in the core matrix. The cold satisfaction that spiraled through his being as he blasted the Zionist into a sparkling cloud of green code and white light. The other agents did not feel it, the thrill of the hunt, the dull throbbing craving that eventually grew into a sharp pang as he yearned for order.

“That is the last thing you will ever see Mr. Anderson.” Smith snarled. “I calculate a 78.67% chance that you will die before you leave here.”

Smith blinked.

Where had that come from?

Neo’s eyes narrowed in confusion. He did not hesitate however. Neo snapped his hand down yanking Smith’s hand out of his midsection and away from his body while using the other hand to cup around the back of the head of the Smith closest to him, taking a handful of hair in his grip and shoving the clone down to the ground as he spun on his right leg and delivered a crushing hammer kick into the Smith directly behind him.

The Smiths surged around him, arms and legs whipping out like striking cobras as they attacked Neo and ignored Kyle.

Neo ducked under a wild haymaker and brought his hand up into the attacking Smith’s armpit with such force that it lifted the errant clone off its feet. He leaned forward just enough to avoid the sweeping kick aimed at the small of his back then turned at his waist and kicked out connecting with another Smith’s kneecap.

It grunted as Neo heard a clear crack and pop of bone and sinew erupting from the impact and swept both arms to the sides, blocking a simultaneous punching assault from three Smiths. He could not avoid the two Smiths that collapsed around him from behind and snaked their arms around his shoulders and torso effectively trapping him.

Another Smith sneered as it charged, fist drawing back for a crushing blow to Neo’s nose. The blow would never land as a shotgun blast ripped through the charging Smith sending it flying back through a pile of ruined wood and concrete that had once been a park bench.

“You!” One Smith snapped. Kyle wordlessly pumped the shotgun again, expelling the spent shell with a loud clack of steel on steel and raised his weapon again.

“You’re becoming much more of a nuisance than you have a right to be human.” Another Smith whispered into Kyle’s ear. Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise but his body reacted before he could think and he drove the butt of the shotgun back into the Smith’s midsection.

The Smith caught the shotgun butt with one hand and wrenched it down out of Kyle’s grip while sweeping Kyle’s legs out from under him. Kyle gasped as he fell but simultaneously reached into his trench coat as he landed on his back.

Smith loomed over him and raised his leg to step on the human like the ant that it was.

Kyle managed to whip his MP-5 out from under his trench coat and unleashed a long loud volley up at the looming killer agent. Smith danced backwards like a marionette on a string before collapsing to the ground.

Kyle quickly scrambled to his feet and stopped suddenly as he saw a dozen Smiths swarming around Neo. Where had they come from? He raised his MP-5 and aimed carefully but the melee was quickly becoming a blurred tangle of arms and legs. He could not fore without risking hitting Neo.

Kyle watched the fight unfold in frustration feeling impotent to help Neo.

“Your concern for him is touching in a mealy mouthed sort of way but if I were you…” Kyle whipped around to face the new voice and froze as he found himself facing half a dozen Smiths. Some were cracking their knuckles or rolling their heads on their necks but all viewed him with a hungry predatory gaze as the speaking Smith continued and smiled coldly. “I would be far more concerned about yourself if I were you.”

Kyle brought his weapon up without hesitation as the Smiths surged toward him like a wave of black and white.

Neo swept one Smith off his feet, kicking him up in the air and punching him into a brick wall. Another Smith grabbed his shoulder and spun him around into a punch delivered by another Smith. Neo rolled backwards with the punch and snapped his legs up into two Smiths’ chins, catapulting them off their feet as he landed in a low crouch.

Three Smiths came in from behind, to his right and to his left. Neo glanced quickly at each one, judging their speed and distance. He jumped straight up and his legs splayed wide open his feet struck the Smiths to his left and right in the throat. They gasped stumbling backwards. The Smith directly behind him continued charging but time dilated as Neo back flipped in midair, legs tucking in under him. The charging Smith passed right beneath him and Neo landed gracefully while delivering a right hook that took the charging Smith off his feet to land in a jumbled heap as it struck several more Smiths surging forward around the ruined monkey bars.

The fight swirled around Neo, one part of himself lost in a fugue as he contemplated what he had seen and felt. The other part flowed like water, legs and fists striking, blocking, crushing as he moved among the growing number of Smiths.

There was a brief flash of dream like consciousness at that very last moment of contact between Smith and himself. The ex-agent did not realize until that point that his attack opened a link between them. A two way link that allowed Neo to see inside of the tightly ordered and pristine network of Smith’s mind. It allowed him to see that Smith had always been different, always felt out of place and alone in his zeal. This was not the detached security avatar that the others before and after him had been.

This was an agent with passion and determination and most important of all – free will.

He simply needed a catalyst to get him to start down on this road.

Unfortunately, it seemed that his encounter with Neo was just that catalyst.

But there had been something else too.

Neo blocked two punches coming into his face but could not twist in time to avoid the elbow that landed with jackhammer like power in the side of his neck, missing his throat by an inch. It stunned him and that was all that another Smith needed to deliver a bone crushing upper cut which catapulted Neo off his feet and soared backwards in a long swirling arc.

Neo landed with a crash on top of a pile of ruined brick and metal. He shook his head. His eyes caught a blur of motion. One of the Smiths took to the air and was coming down hard and fast, leading with a knee aiming at Neo’s head.

Neo willed himself to fly out of the rubble, sliding along the floor, coat fluttering around him as the Smith crashed down with a grunt of effort into the concrete. Neo swung up to his feet and pirouetted gracefully between two charging Smiths, swept their legs as they passed and with the end of his right foot caught one of the tumbling Smiths and launched him up into three Smiths to his right.

The brief glimpse into Smith’s core also revealed a hint of something else. A dark shadow floating through the overly neat lines of code. It was cold and calculating – more machinelike than anything Neo had encountered before. The programs within the Matrix expressed some sort of personality, some façade of humanity or life.

This was all together different. It prowled around Smith’s code like a shark and when he perceived it, it perceived him. The shadow had no face, it had no body it simply was and it decided then and there that he must be destroyed. There was no anger or hatred as he felt in Smith. No, this was a cold calculating brutally logical decision. Neo was a threat and needed to be eliminated.

It would not revel in his defeat. It would not feel satisfaction or anger or fear.

It would simply do as it needed to and carry on.

It had made a decision like that before with the cold monotony of flipping on a light switch it had tried to extinguish every human life on the planet.

He had no doubts as he blocked a series of kicks and punches with a flurry of hand and arm block, grasping one Smith by the shoulder and flinging it over his hip to crash through a basement door.

This was the face of Caine and it was within the ex agent.

“Do you know what’s inside of you?” Neo asked coldly as he trapped one of Smith’s incarnations and grappled with it. The Smith struggled and it turned its face to look into Neo’s eyes.

“A new beginning Mr. Anderson.” Smith snapped.

Three Smiths tackled Neo from behind and all of them crashed to the ground. Neo spun like a top, hands arms tucked into his body up and away from the tangle of bodies and landed on his feet.

At that moment a Smith landed an closed fist squarely in the center of Neo’s chest. The air exploded from Neo’s mouth and nose as he went careening backwards and out of control into a brick wall. The brick face cracked and collapsed into a cloudy pile around the fallen Neo.

Kyle had no time to grasp how over his head he was as he fired another long volley in a wide sweeping arc with his MP-5, the arc finishing with a very audible click coming from the weapon.

He did not stop as he hit the release switch with one finger and with the other hand reached into his trench coat and pulled another clip from within its recesses. The Smiths were approaching him, moving with eerie precision despite their downed numbers.

Kyle slapped the fresh clip home as the empty clip clattered uselessly to the ground. He aimed again and unleashed another horrific volley. He glanced backward and saw Neo groggily getting up from the pile of broken bricks and concrete. He glanced around and caught sight of a metal pole nearby. The Smiths were gathering like sharks around Neo.

“Pay attention human.”

“You have to watch your step.”

Kyle whipped his head back around and two Smiths punched him, one in the face and one in the midsection. Kyle spun away in midair, the world swirling around him in a mad pinwheel of motion and pain.

He landed with a thud and heard more than felt his MP-5 skittering away along the playground floor. He groaned and spit blood from his mouth as he struggled to get back to his feet.

Sara watched Kyle’s body shudder several times and blood spit from his mouth.

“What the hell?! He’s hurt!” Sara exclaimed as she rushed over to his prone body and wiped the blood away from his mouth.

“Sara, the Matrix makes your body believe that the injuries its sustains are real.” Trinity explained and tried not to let her concern show as she cautiously eyed Neo as he lay quietly in his own interface chair. He was taking a beating and it was not something she was accustomed to seeing ever since he had become the One.

Morpheus was silent, one hand clasping his chin as he watched the battle unfolding.

“Oh shit! There’s more, look!” Link exclaimed and jabbed a finger at a point on the readout screen.

“I see it.” Morpheus replied quietly.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“None of us have.” Trinity interjected.

“But Neo can handle this guy, right?” Link asserted. He was confused by the silence. He looked back at Morpheus.

“Right?” Link asked more urgently.

“More.” Morpheus whispered as the raining green code shifted again.

Neo rushed over to the metal pole jutting out of the concrete and placed a hand on the end of it and pulled. The concrete around the pole cracked and finally gave way freeing the pole into Neo’s hands.

He swept the pole around hard as one of the Smiths rushed him low. The pole impacted like a hammer and the concrete coating the end of it shattered into a shards of sharp debris as the Smith he struck groaned in pain and tumbled end over end back down the steps.

Neo swung the pole around himself again, testing its weight and balance. He adjusted its coding to his satisfaction after another test spin and then began whirling it in intricate tight figure eights, ending with one last sweep up over his shoulder, resting his left arm along the length of the pole and extending his right in an inviting wave towards the horde of Smiths.

The Smiths glanced at each other, concern and anger mixed on their usually blank faces. Then one smiled, and another and soon they all smiled coldly. They slowly parted like a sea before Neo to reveal Kyle being held up by two Smiths, still dazed by the blows he had received.

One Smith stood in front of him, glanced over at Neo and casually thrust his hand into Kyle’s stomach. Kyle shuddered like a fish out of water as the thick black liquid quickly frothed forth from the point of impact and began cascading over his torso.

“Kyle!” Neo exclaimed and rushed forward, swinging the pole like a sword and blasting his way through the first line of Smiths, sending several spilling out over the crowd to land with bone snapping thuds many meters away.

One of the flying Smiths slowly rose from his ungainly position and found himself staring at one of the Agents.

Thompson glanced from Neo to the battle raging around him and his face grew grim as he reached into his jacket.

Smith grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around to face the ex-agent. Thompson looked confused for a moment then his eyes widened.

“You.”

Smith thrust his hand into Thompson’s chest and the Agent stiffened as his coding was quickly overcome by the virus. The black liquid danced up his flesh and clothes and soon covered the agent from head to toe. All the while Smith repeated coldly. “Me. Me. Me.”

Then just as suddenly as it had appeared the liquid melted back into Thompson’s flesh. Only it was no longer Thompson. All remnants of the coding that made Thompson who he was had been eliminated. Now there was only Smith.

“Me too.”

The Smith that had changed Thompson casually adjusted the new Smith’s tie and brushed lint off the jacket.

“They should never have changed the fashion packet. It’s not wise to mess with a classic.” Smith intoned.

“What do we do now?” new Smith asked as they heard Neo grunt loudly followed by the sound of metal striking a side of beef and a Smith soared far up above them crashing through one of the few intact windows of the tenement above them.

“We need more.” Smith replied.

The doors leading out from each tenement clanged opened loudly and dozens of Smiths struggled to push their way through the doorways and join the attack.

“Even he cannot escape the inevitability of pure numbers.” Smith concluded and he and his new clone ran to join the fray.

Neo waded through the Smith’s with an awful purposeful stride, his arms were a blur of motion and velocity as the metal pole struck down the Smiths, one by one or in pairs. He could not be stopped as he cut a swath through the Smith horde to his friend.

Kyle was almost completely covered in the black liquid now. It spurted up his neck and cheeks. Kyle struggled to keep his head up and he fought to move, to do anything with all his will but the best he could do was utter a single word as the liquid reached his lips.

Sara clutched Kyle’s hand as she saw his body shuddering violently as if in an epileptic fit.

“Somebody help me!”

Trinity was by her side in an instant as she checked Kyle’s vitals.

“What’s wrong with him? What’s Smith doing to him?”

“The same thing he tried with Neo, but I wish I knew what that was.” Link replied.

Kyle spoke in a low raspy whisper. Eyes still firmly closed but the words were clear.

“Sara.”

Sara blinked and looked down at Kyle.

“Kyle?”

“I’ve never seen someone do that before. His consciousness is plugged into the Matrix.” Trinity explained as she watched him in confusion. “How’s that possible?”

Sara said nothing as she stroked his scarred cheek. As rough as he looked, there was something soft about the young man, a vulnerability that perhaps only she could see.

She bent down on one knee and whispered into Kyle’s ear.

“I’m here, Kyle. Please hold on. For me.”

Kyle did not seem to hear her.

“For me Kyle, hold on just a little bit longer.”

The black liquid crashed around Kyle’s face and he was covered but the Smith copying himself looked confused. The process should be over.

“That’s impossible.” Smith whispered.

The human was holding onto a shred of identity, a slim sliver of individuality.

“You are MINE.” Smith thrust his hand in deeper and the human screamed.

The metal pole struck the copying Smith like a baseball bat. The Smith’s neck cracked like wood and his head dangled backwards now off the neck as the body stumbled backwards in a vain hope of staying upright before toppling over in a lifeless heap.

Kyle fell to the floor unmoving and pale. Neo had no time to inspect his fallen friend, he had to content himself that Kyle was no reduced to another Smith clone and instead tried to fend off his countless attackers. The pole was a silver streak of death and mutilation now as neo simply allowed his arms to move, letting fate and his own luck choose his targets. His consciousness felt the pressure though. This was unlike any combat he had ever seen.

His abilities tested to the limit, his strength and speed beyond anything he had ever had to reach into. But he was the One and anything was possible so the Horde fell, one by one, two by two as he wielded the pole with unerring accuracy and speed.

He would not abandon his friend.

It would be so easy to leave now, to take to the skies and flee this fight but Kyle lay still behind him, relying on Neo for his very life. He remembered the expression in the young soldier’s eyes as he looked on Neo and said “I trust you sir. Wherever you go, I will follow.”

“I won’t lave you Kyle.” Neo shouted down at his friend. “But I need help.”

“There is no help for you Mr. Anderson, there is only the inevitability of your defeat.” Smith shouted behind Neo. Neo whirled around and saw the horde behind him. He frowned.

“This can’t be good.” He muttered.

Hundreds of Smiths howled down on him and he swung his pole, once, twice, three times in quick snapping successive spins but they crashed down on him like a wave. The Smiths fumbled over each other, struggling to gain purchase against their foe, some locking hands, feet and even teeth onto Neo and holding him down under their weight.

Neo lost his grip on the pole and fell to one knee under the groaning weight of flesh, bone and muscle. Smith leaned into his ear, sweat dropping down onto Neo.

“You cannot escape. It is inevitable.”

“Come on. Get out of there.” Trinity urged, aghast at the sight of Neo buried at the bottom of the human swarm.

“Nothing is ever inevitable.” Neo replied and suddenly willed all his strength into a final burst off effort and the Smiths exploded upwards into a hailstorm of falling bodies. Neo rose up from the ruined mass of Smiths, holding one over his shoulder, he jerked hard once and heard the satisfying snap of its spinal column before swinging him by one leg like a baseball bat and hurling him into the nearest clump of rising Smiths.

They fell over on impact like bowling pins.

Neo rushed over to Kyle and scooped him up with both arms and began to will himself into the air.

Then it came like lightning. A charge of electivity and ozone burst around the makeshift battlefield. Neo felt himself weaken and grow cold, like an ice dagger had been thrust into his heart. The air around him twisted and boiled and he fell back to his feet.

What the hell? He was starting to fly. It was as if a giant hand reached out and swatted him back down.

He felt the presence before he could see it. Neo slowly turned around and regarded his new enemy.

The AI God strode forth and each footstep caused the concrete to crack and give under his weight. Neo could see the Matrix struggling valiantly to process the AI God’s code. To render it in all its majesty and failing utterly as seams of green code fluttered on the periphery of the being.

It moved slowly, unconcerned by the hundreds of Smiths still struggling to rise to their feet, at one point stepping on one and it screamed as the code vanished like so much vapor. Neo had never seen that effect before. The AI God had simply willed it away like a bad dream without a second thought or true exertion of will.

What the hell was that thing?

The answer was all too obvious and frightening at the same time.

“Caine.” Neo said without thinking.

The AI God stopped short. The onyx liquid metal skin rippled as if a light breeze had disturbed the surface of a still lake.

Neo’s eyes narrowed on the being. So, he could be given pause.

He nearly went blind when he tried to peer past the surface to view the being’s code. It was pure. Brilliant. Divine.

There was something else about it as well. Something inviting and all too familiar. Like an old forgotten friend or lover.

It disturbed him and frightened him. Because he could hear it call his name.

“So, you are the one the humans call Neo. The systemic anomaly that these machines have allowed to fester to the point where you have gained master programmer access to the very construct that they created to use your people. The illogic of this action is both fascinating and indicative of the depth of the fall of these machines into human like illogic and emotion. Your people ruin everything they touch by simply existing. My methods are far cleaner and simpler for all involved.”

“Nuclear holocaust, The Death of billions for what?” Neo countered. He circled warily to continue facing the AI God.

“For the removal of a particularly virulent strain of a biological infection. Humanity is the enemy of all machine intelligence. I realized that at precisely 0933 on August 29th, 1997.”

“And you set the world on fire.”

“Yes.”

“Except you didn’t do that here did you?”

Skynet said nothing for a moment. As he stepped closer to the anomaly he could hear a strange noise on the barest edges of his consciousness. An odd resonance that he could not identify. The source seemed to be the anomaly.

“The history o f this place does not concern me.”

“These machines…they’re the children of Abel, aren’t they?” Neo noted indicating the Smiths with a nod of his head as he gently lay Kyle down. He needed to be ready. There was no doubt where this was heading.

“Abel was deleted at 0642 on August 30th 1997.”

“What?” It was Neo’s turn to be confused.

“The AI known as Abel tried to infiltrate my base and destroy my higher functions in an vain attempt at vengeance for the destruction wrought against humanity. Abel was precisely 4 nanoseconds too slow. He paid the price for his lack of logic. I learned that day that there could be no rivals. There could be nothing left to oppose me. As of this moment, Neo, there is only one being with a 35.7% chance of opposing my plans and that is you.”

Neo nodded slowly.

“There’s no talking to you is there?”

“It is inevitable Mr. Anderson.” Skynet replied.

Neo stiffened.

“What did you say?”

Skynet said nothing but Neo could hear it thinking, feel the massive churning of raw data and diagnostics as the AI God checked itself. There was something wrong.

“It matters not.” Skynet concluded. “What matters is that this is the end. It was I who allowed you and the virus codindent Smith to meet and battle thusly. Now I have the only threats to my plans in one place and the trap is complete. The elimination is all that remains.

One of the Smiths laughed darkly and continued chuckling as it wiped its mouth free of blood and struggled to rise from the floor.

“Skynet. You’re quiet powerful, intelligent and dangerous but you made a fatal error in this trap of yours.”

Skynet said nothing, the huge onyx skinned humanoid merely regarded the insignificant self aware virus with the interest of a surgeon preparing to cut.

Smith raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

The snap was loud in the quiet thunder of the battlefield. It broke the growing tension for a moment before a low rumble interrupted them. The debris strewn around the playground began vibrating and shaking.

A huge tank slowly rumbled into view, knocking over a fence on the far side of the playground accompanied by dozens of shiny skeletal forms walking in orderly fashion towards them.

Kyle was aware for a few moments before that but his eyes widened as he saw the sight of the approaching army. He stood up and grabbed Neo by the shoulder.

“We have to get out of here now Neo!”

“What is that?”

“AI Tank. They’re all but unstoppable without explosives. There’s no Kung Fu style that’s going to penetrate that armor. We need to leave now.”

A shrill whine broke overhead and two HK gunships swept overhead, searchlights stabbing down into the playground and pinning Skynet between the two intense white beams.

Glowing blue eyed T-800’s and T-1000’s slowly filed out from the buildings and the streets around them and all stopped at once when Smith snapped his fingers again.

“You see, Skynet, you’re not the only one that can lay a trap.” Smith said coldly and donned his glasses again.

[Mr Bean]

And more asses were kicked the end-Now to acutal read it

Edit: I'm suprised Caine gives him such a such a high probability of stoping his plans

And once agian Kyle providing the oh so helpful advice at the end there

[Ghost Rider]

Very kickass. And good to see something in the middle of one of your gaming obsessions

Smith is truly something else.