Sleepy Acer - Conclusion - Animations - http://phatbowling.com/andraiafanfic/IV

Matrix paced their room angrily, his gun attached to his belt. Now and again he glanced up at AndrAIa. She sat on the bed, looking thoughtful.

“But why would you think the inhabitants here are webcreatures? Why would they do that then? Why can’t they just attack us, instead of using some poor binome’s body? Sprite, whatever.”

“To scare us,” Matrix replied, even though he wasn’t too sure. It was a good theory. “I don’t know. All I know is, the next game cube coming down I’m hitching that ride. Until then, I am going to wipe out all the webcreatures in this town.”

“But that’s the whole town! We’ll wipe out Sleepy Acer!”

He shook his head and stopped pacing. “No. Not all the inhabitants are webcreatures. Just the original families that still existed back when the portal to the web opened up.”

AndrAIa was beginning to catch on. “So…that’s what happened! Where are the books?” she scrambled around until she found them. “I understand what you’re saying. Let’s see, we have family history…” she ran her finger down the pages.

“But the Command.com…” Matrix trailed off and looked at her. “What did he mean in his journal? He thought the Headless Binome- Sprite really existed. That’s what he thought was after him.”

“I don’t know,” she shook her head. “Well, this book isn’t accurate up to today’s date, but there are a few families that go way back then. Including Mrs. Sheperd. But she can’t be one. She’s too nice.”

Matrix didn’t answer. He didn’t really know the answer either.

“Yeah,” he said, “well that’s something we’re going to find out anyway.” He unhooked his gun. “We should lay low for awhile. Don’t let anyone know what we know. I think Jo-Bob is okay, but Franny I’m worried about, including the baby. And Billy-Bo has enough on his mind, so we won’t clue him on it either.”

“Wait a minute.” AndrAIa held up a hand. “Where did Jo-Bob and his friends come from, anyway?”

“They came in through a wrong portal,” Matrix replied. “They’re stuck here until the next game cube hits. Just like us.”

AndrAIa put her head in her hands. “This is torture.”

Matrix looked at her sympathetically and sat down beside her. “Hey, don’t worry, okay? We’ll get through this. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She looked up at him. “Yeah? But who’s going to protect you?”

The second generally went by slowly. AndrAIa could’ve sworn they were going by User time since everything just seemed to drag on.

For the longest time she sat at the bench while Matrix walked around outside. He wanted to thoroughly explore the town with Frisket, thinking his nose and Matrix’s eyes would be the best tracking sources. She volunteered to stay behind.

Mrs. Sheperd walked in, a smile on her face. “Hello AndrAIa,” she said, rummaging through the kitchen. “How are you today?”

“Fine, thank you,” AndrAIa replied. She tried to keep the conversation short, remembering what Matrix had said before up in their room.

“Where’s your strong lad?”

“Huh?” AndrAIa didn’t understand at first. “Oh, Matrix. He’s out.”

“And your dog?”

“With him.”

“That’s good. I don’t think women like ourselves should be outside all the time. You never know with that ghost anymore. He comes around when you least expect it.”

AndrAIa narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “Well, I can take care of myself, thank you. I don’t need to be protected.”

The binome didn’t even give her a second look. “Well I don’t want you going out there.”

“And why not?” she was beginning to feel impatient.

Mrs. Sheperd turned around suddenly, eyes flashing. AndrAIa’s own eyes widened in surprise.

“Because,” the binome snarled, “I want you right here where I can see you!”

Matrix stood outside the Principle Office, watching Frisket sniff around the dirt and rubble. He didn’t seem to be coming up with anything important. So far all they found were rubber balls and an old tennis racket.

“Anything, boy?” he called.

The dog looked up and gave him a sad look.

Guess not.

A noise from behind him caused him to turn around. Jo-Bob had kicked a piece of wood angrily.

“You know, I’m just sick of it,” the binome said, “I’m sick of this place, I want to go home! I don’t want to be scared anymore! Already I’ve felt like dying twice! Maybe if this town were back online, maybe we’d have more transportation. Maybe not a link to the net, but at least games would be dropping down.”

“You know, you’re right,” Matrix admitted. He looked around. “This is one forgotten system, that’s all I can say. But if you’re so sick of being scared, then why do you keep coming with me? That’s usually when it’s the scariest.”

Jo-Bob shook his head. “When I’m with you, I feel braver. Maybe it’s because of your flashy gun and the dog, I don’t know. But when I’m not here doing something, I’m more afraid back at the inn. And I want so much for Billy-Bo and Franny and the baby. I feel like I am the only one that can really help out since they’re a family and have Charm and each other to worry about.”

Frisket nudged Matrix suddenly and the sprite turned to see what was the matter. He noticed the dog’s ears were lowered and a scared look was on his face.

“What is it boy?”

That’s when he noticed a wind had picked up and the sky had gotten darker. Jo-Bob noticed it too. The binome started shaking in the knees, eyes wide with fear.

Horse hooves sounded in the distance.

A heavy feeling began in Matrix’s stomach.

“Oh no,” he said. “AndrAIa.”

AndrAIa had inched backwards when she saw Mrs. Sheperd’s face slowly change to something slightly hideous. The binome was smiling a creepy smile that sent chills up the sprite’s back.

“Get away from me, you webcreature!” AndrAIa threatened, reaching for her trident. Matrix had been correct all along.

To her surprise, with lightening quick reflexes Mrs. Sheperd had the trident in her hand.

She wasn’t dealing with a binome anymore. This was definitely a webcreature.

AndrAIa tried fighting back, but Mrs. Sheperd was stronger, quicker. Before she knew it, she was backed into a corner.

“Hm,” Mrs. Sheperd said, toying with the weapon. It snapped open suddenly, fully extended. She smiled. “Nice trident.”

AndrAIa didn’t answer. She was afraid that if she said anything, the creature would gut her with her own weapon.

Instead, she tried running for it.

Mrs. Sheperd extended a hand, and weird slime flew out, pinning her wrists to the wall. Immediately the slime hardened.

She was trapped.

“I would like you to meet someone,” Mrs. Sheperd said, closing the trident and setting it down. Reaching under the bench, she drew out a sprite skull.

AndrAIa was horrified. “The Headless Binome!”

“Or maybe you should say the Bodiless Binome,” Mrs. Sheperd smiled.

“Matrix, what’s wrong?” Jo-Bob called, racing after the green sprite. They were on the outskirts of town and it would still take time for them to reach the inn. Frisket ran ahead, scouting the area.

“Something’s wrong,” Matrix said, “I could feel it! AndrAIa’s alone back there with Mrs. Sheperd. If the headless binome is coming, that means something has happened.”

“Well what do we do?”

All of a sudden, a dozen binomes leapt out of the nearby houses, blocking the road. Matrix and Jo-Bob came to a stop and Frisket ran back to them, snarling at the newcomers. They were binomes, but something was different about them. Something creature-ish.

Webcreatures, Matrix realized.

“Who are you!” AndrAIa shouted, hoping to stall whatever fate was prepared for her.

Mrs. Sheperd smiled. “Come on, I thought you knew. I was listening outside your door. I heard you and Matrix talking. You know what I am. I’m a…” her smile got even wider and her eyes flashed again. “Webcreature.”

AndrAIa struggled at her bonds, but they wouldn’t even budge.

“I control the Headless Binome,” Mrs. Sheperd said, “Ever since the newcomers came, my fellow creatures and I didn’t like it. We couldn’t attack as webcreatures because we were sure there were guardians around. So…we raised the dead. It scared them so badly. I’m sure you know about that portal that opened from the net and many sprites came through? Well we didn’t like that one bit. We became overpopulated. So we fixed all that. And we’re still going.”

The sprite didn’t reply. She remained quiet, listening.”

“We may have gone a long way,” Mrs. Sheperd continued, “but we still had a ways to go. We kept going. We won’t stop until only us webcreatures remain.”

Crazy, AndrAIa thought. Of course, they were webcreatures. They had to be.

“I know that you and Matrix are trying to get out, we understand that,” the binome said. “That’s why we weren’t going to do anything to you. But when you started disobeying my orders and going against me, that’s when I got angry. And…since I’ll have to kill you, I’ll have to kill your boyfriend and the dog too.”

AndrAIa sneered at her and with her long legs kicked at the table. It flipped over, giving her a little more room. Mrs. Sheperd wasn’t alarmed though. She stood there and calmly watched.

“You let me go right now!” she shouted, struggling at the hardened slime on her wrists. It was stronger than anything she had seen before. It didn’t bend, didn’t crack, didn’t do anything.

“Oh, you’ll be free of all this soon enough,” Mrs. Sheperd said. “The headless binome is coming. For you. In fact, he’s on his way here right now.”

Matrix fired his gun constantly, hoping to get all the webcreatures at once. He was sure he had wiped out most of the creature population, but he could never know. Frisket tore at them and Jo-Bob did what he could with a pipe and a piece of wood.

They weren’t winning, though. More and more deformed binomes came running up.

Jo-Bob was actually getting the hang of it. His knees stopped knocking, at least. And Frisket held his back.

Finally Matrix had had enough. He was about to let loose when he heard a horse whinny. Turning around, he saw the Headless Binome ride right past.

Toward the inn.

No!

Matrix set his gun to multiple targeting, sending red dots on every creature’s forehead. They tried to move away, but the dot stayed where it was.

“Gun,” Matrix said sternly. “Full Blossom Mode!”

The gun started spinning. He was getting to get every one of those creatures even if he died trying.

“Fire!”

The gun let loose, shooting in every possible direction. The web creatures were blown away until not one was left behind.

The gun finally stopped and Matrix caught it, putting it back against his belt. He glanced aside to see Jo-Bob standing there, eyes wide in amazement.

“Come on,” he said, running top speed toward the inn.

AndrAIa her hardest to stall until Matrix got back. If he could somehow get to her, he’d save her and get them all out of this mess.

Mrs. Sheperd was still standing there, watching her. She seemed to enjoy seeing her worry.

“Hey, let me tell you one thing,” the binome spoke up. “I’ll do you a favor. I’ll make it quick and easy so you don’t suffer.”

AndrAIa gave her a look.

The door banged open suddenly and she looked up, hopeful. Instead, the Headless Binome walked in.

He looked hideous. He definitely had a sprite body, she could see that now, but he was headless. Totally decapitated. Not a pretty site.

“Get away from me!” AndrAIa warned. She couldn’t reach any weapons and he was too far away to kick.

“Finally you’re here!” Mrs. Sheperd said, standing up. She continued to hold the skull in her hand. “Took you long enough! Now kill her! Slowly, so it’s painful.”

AndrAIa’s eyes widened. Mrs. Sheperd laughed.

The headless sprite hesitated as he seemingly glanced at AndrAIa. Slowly he drew his sword and pointed it directly at her.

Reacting, she kicked up a leg and kicked the sword farther away from her. Mrs. Sheperd looked at her surprised. AndrAIa smiled in spite of herself.

“That can be solved,” the web creature said. She shot out two more globs of slime, gluing AndrAIa’s ankles to the wall. It hardened immediately.

“Now hurry up!” Mrs. Sheperd ordered.

The Headless Sprite held up his sword again, this time closer to AndrAIa. She felt even more helpless now. She couldn’t move at all.

“Stop!” Someone yelled.

Everyone turned to see Billy-Bo standing there in the doorway, a hand in front of AndrAIa. She couldn’t believe it!

“Billy-Bo!” she cried.

“Leave her alone!” he yelled, his voice shaking. She could sense his hesitation against the ‘ghost.’

The Headless Sprite didn’t even seem to worry about this new threat. Using his foot, he gutted Billy-Bo. The binome fell back, his head hitting the wall. He slid down, unconscious.

“No!” AndrAIa yelled. That was her last hope.

The Headless Sprite turned around again, only to greet Matrix’s gun aimed at him from the doorway. Matrix stood there, a mean expression on his face.

“Enzo!” AndrAIa cried, relieved.

“You can’t kill him!” Mrs. Sheperd said gleefully. “No one kill a ghost!”

“True,” Matrix said, “but they could always kill you.” He shifted his arm at the last moment and fired, hitting Mrs. Sheperd. She screamed in pain and let go of the skull. Frisket ran forward and grabbed it in his mouth.

“Enzo!” AndrAIa cried again. Matrix ran over to her. The Headless Sprite now stood motionless in the room, not knowing what to do. His ‘owner’ was dead now and a dog now carried his head.

“Don’t move,” Matrix ordered, firing a tiny beam against the hardened slime. They each gave way and she struggled her way from the wall. The minute she was free she threw her arms around him and kissed him hard.

“I love you so much,” she whispered.

“I love you too,” he said.

It was over. Finally. Matrix, AndrAIa, Frisket, Jo-Bob, Billy-Bo, Franny, and the baby stood around the new grave that belonged to the headless sprite. His head was returned to him, and now he could rest.

AndrAIa turned to Matrix. “I’m so glad that’s over,” she said.

“Yeah,” he replied. But he still didn’t sound happy. “Now all we have to do is wait eternity for another game cube to drop down.”

“Yeah.” She looked down at her feet. He had a point.

Suddenly the sky turned purple. Her face lit up and she looked up to see a cube descending.

“Hey, Sparky,” she said, “there’s our ride.”

He looked up, eyes wide. “I don’t believe it!”

“WARNING, INCOMING GAME. WARNING, INCOMING GAME.”

“This is great!” He cried, “Let’s go AndrAIa, come on!”

They started to head for it, then stopped and turned around. Jo-Bob, Billy-Bo and Franny still stood there.

“You can come along,” AndrAIa offered.

“No, it’s okay,” Jo-Bob said. We discussed it already and…we’ve decided to stay. Now that everything’s at peace and the web creature’s are gone, we can get this system back on the net in no time! Besides, the system needs a Command.com, right?”

Matrix nodded. “Right.”

They each quickly said good-byes since they really didn’t have anytime. Then the threesome ran for the game cube, ready to leave the system of Sleepy Acer behind. AndrAIa was relieved to get away, but Matrix felt a little strange. He was going to miss Jo-Bob. The binome wasn’t such a bad sprite after all.

Who knows. Maybe they’ll come back to visit some day. When Sleepy Acer was back online.

THE END.

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Page Updated Thu Nov 23, 2000 12:47pm EST