Week Five: Mythic Scene

I chose to write a scene from The Matrix that falls into the “Supreme Ordeal” portion of the mythic adventure; the scene where Neo falls, fighting Agent Smith. I thought this was a good scene to write as it was a very fast moving, action-filled scene that would be hard to translate into text well, and I like a challenge…

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“You’re close to an old exit, 4th and Wabasha, Room 303!”

Neo bolted down the street, trying to put as much space as possible between him and the Agent. He moved with such speed that those on the street around him recoiled as he passed, as if a semi truck had just barreled by at high speed.

He blazed through the front door of the hotel, two Agents right behind him. Smith stopped on the street outside, remembering his building-top pursuit of Trinity that began on this very fire escape.

Agent Smith smiled.

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Neo raced up the stairs. He sound of the Agents behind him pushed him ever faster.

303, he thought, 303.

As he reached the 3rd floor, he could hear the bullets cutting through the air behind him. He sidestepped through the door, as the bullets lazily arced past. He glanced at the first door as he rocketed by. He could hear the phone ringing somewhere down the hall.

301. Neo ran faster.

The old, cracked linoleum in the hotel hallway splintered and flew behind him with every footstep.

302. Neo ran faster.

The walls in the hallway reverberated as he careened past. Old, dusty artwork leapt off the wall and fluttered through the air in his wake.

303. Neo grabbed the door and flung it open.

He stopped for less than a nanosecond to notice Agent Smith standing on the other side of the threshold, pulling the trigger on his gun.

The bullet ripped through Neo’s chest, burying itself in the wall behind him.

“Hello, Mr. Anderson.”

Neo looked behind Agent Smith. The room was rather small; the window on the other side of the room stood open, leading to the fire escape outside. The phone sat on a small table on the other side of the room, continuing to plaintively ring.

Smith fired again. Another bullet tore through Neo, this time carrying him back out into the hallway. Blood poured freely from the wounds.

The phone rang again. Neo leaned forward again.

Smith’s nostrils flared as he rapidly pulled the trigger, emptying his clip into Neo’s chest. Neo was flung against the wall like a ragdoll with each shot.

He slowly slid down the wall, trailing a wide swath of blood behind him.

Neo died.

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