Chapter 1
Stanza 1
The end? Or perhaps just the beginning
"I'm not dead?"
Looking around with visible confusion Neo found that he was no longer behind enemy lines, but standing in the middle of a large, dimly lit hall filled with countless other humans, most of whom looked to be in sorry states. Some had visible gunshot wounds, and half-smashed bodies and some had small malnourished frames. Perhaps they hadn't eaten a proper meal in months or years.
Neo suddenly realized-- it was a hallway of the dead. He frantically looked down and touched himself all over, only to find that there was a huge cavity in his chest.
He finally realized what had happened. He and his men had been under enemy fire when a grenade had suddenly made its way into his corps' position. Without hesitation, he'd lept onto the grenade and bear-hugged it to save his troops.
He remembered hearing a blood-curdling cry, a female voice in his final moments it'd belonged to the sniper of the team, a girl who had been ridiculed by everyone but Neo for joining what has been deemed a male-only occupation. She'd quickly proved everyone wrong as she'd gradually racked up her achievements through their many missions. Over the months and years, the two had spent many lonely nights together behind enemy lines and had gradually developed feelings for each other. The two had finally decided to give it a try after they returned to Valka Land from deployment.
Her name was Ren Dream.
...
"Come on Neo, you can't die like this, not like this!!" She screamed as she reached Neo's body, tears pouring down her cheeks.
"Ha..." Neo weakly replied. "Looks like the heavens have other plans for...Us..."
Ren sniffed as she wiped away her tears.
"Stop talking...Medic! I need a medic!" She urgently called out.
She looked hack at Neo. "Come on, you can't die like this! You're amongst the best and brightest of the newest generation! You can't die like this!"
"Don't be angry, my love. If there is a God then I will fight an army of angels to return to you. So... Wait for me..." He coughed and wheezed, then slumped never to move again.
"No!" Ren roared towards the heavens as a demented expression plastered itself upon her face. After letting go of her lover, she threw down her sniper, dove atop an AK-47, and bolted out of the safety of their position towards the enemy camp.
----
Looking around Neo deduced that his current place was some sort of afterlife processing chamber for the dead souls.
There was an endless sea of people in front and behind him and he realized that there wasn't anything else in his vision.
The only thing he could think of to do at this moment was to just go with the flow of the crowd.
After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity he finally managed to get to the front of the line and hastily approached the person working one of an endless row of counters.
"Hello there, I just want to know..." Neo started but was startled when he saw who it was.
"R-Ren?"
....
Experience of an After-life-time
"Ren, how are you here?" Neo cried in disbelief.
"Oh, hi. I'm not Ren. I'm in this form because people tend to not argue with the person they care for most, and that makes all the difference when you work for one-year, nonstop shifts. Please sit down and place your hands on this Crystal ball. Please hurry, you're the last person I need to process until my shift is finally over."
The worker said ecstatically.
"Yes, uh. Ok. " Neo snapped out of his daydream, sat down, then placed his hands on the Crystal ball. The ball glowed a bright blue for a split second then died down to reveal a blood-red 'four' on its glassy surface. "Four? Is that good or bad?"
"Oh, dear. In a nutshell, there are over fifty thousand planes that can be assigned. Generally speaking, the lower its number, the more competitive the planes. You've been assigned to plane four, the planes of military strategists. The people there are those who lived on the battlefield, experienced troop Commanders. It's hard to prosper in any of the first twenty worlds, but plane four is especially, what should I say...
Manipulative?"
Neo thought for a bit, then responded.
"Is it possible for me to return to Earth, now that I've died?"
The counter worker looked through their documents."Is that what you want? Well, you are fairly lucky, then. Only the first five planes are allowed to send people back to Earth. Furthermore, you are Valka Land, yeah? The Valka Land community on these planes is quite powerful, already. But, it will be difficult for you to convince them to provide you with enough resources to win the Death Match Tournament. Of course, if you win, you can choose to return to Earth.
"Very few choose to, though, since winning the tournament means winning the recognition and admiration of all others in your world. If you return to Earth, you'd lose all of that."
Neo nodded. "As long as it's possible. Could we get started then, please?"He looked at her.
"That's as much as I'm allowed to show you, unfortunately." The worker said to the Neo as he blankly stared at the equally blank screen.
"No, no. you have done more than enough. Thank you very much, ma'am."
"Aww, I can see why your lady friend misses you so much. I bet you appreciated her well, heh? " She smirked.
"Please don't say that with this face." He solemnly requested.
"Haha, alright, alright. Whatever you say. Now that's out of the way, it's finally time for you to continue to plane four. Follow me."
She led Neo to another large hall. This one housed five large portal-like constructs, each with a sign overhead.
"Wow!" Neo exclaimed he had never seen such things before.
"Since you are heading to plane four, step into the portal to the left. Before you go in, though, make sure to talk to the portal master." She pointed to a figure standing in front of the portal.
"Is it possible for me to request something else before I leave?" He asked the Ren lookalike. "That depends, what is your request?"
"Can I hug you? I was never able to hold the real Ren in my embrace, and I feel that I'll need the motivation to take on my future challenges." He said slowly.
"Hmm, well, It's certainly out of the norm, but I am in a good mood, so why not." She smiled at Neo and went in for a hug. Neo received her embrace and after a few seconds, he reluctantly let go and moved toward the portal.
"Thank you for everything." He affectionately said. "Truly, thank you."
" I'll wait for you to go into the portal before I leave." She said while waving him off.
Neo continued to the portal until he stopped before the man standing in front of the portal.
"Name?"
"Neo Natwick."
"I see, plane four eh?"
"Yes, That's what I have been told."
"Good luck, then. This plane is amongst the most savage. The few who climb to the top are absolute overload on this plane." He warned.
"I'll do my best." He said, heeding the other's warning.
"Good, now give me your left hand and the portal worker grabbed it and stamped a large " 4" onto it.
"Alright, off you go."
Neo stared into the depths of the portal."Wait for me, Ren." He silently said to himself as he slowly stepped into the portal and disappeared into the light.
" God save his soul." The counter worker's smile disappeared as soon as Neo was out of sight. She muttered under her breath as she left the hall.
"A bad man will be born from the death of a good man."