Chapter Five: Extraction
The door slowly slid open. The Trainman turned, wild hair flying, to stare directly into the cold, hard glasses of freedom fighter Trinity.
"Freeze."
The Trainman froze.
"What do you want?"
"Take us to Neo."
The Trainman threw his head back and laughed.
"No deal. The Merovingian would delete me for sure."
Trinity glared at him. "I'll delete you here and now if you don't."
"I don't think so," he said. "You see, to do that, you'd have to beat me."
Lynx checked left and right before slamming the door open. She hit the back of someone and sent that person flying. He rolled around and stood up, growling.
A Doberman…one of the Merovingian's minions. Lynx raised her sword and charged forward, slashing diagonally. The Doberman fell backwards, growling, and slammed into another door, knocking it open. Lynx looked into the face of three more minions.
"Sorry, wrong car."
They got up and charged.
"Can't we make a deal?" the Trainman asked. "I don't want to hurt you."
Trinity was silent.
"No, huh? Well…"
The Trainman turned slowly, hands raised. He hit a button next to his head, and the train screeched to a stop. Trinity stumbled, and he jumped forward, hitting her gun away. It fell out the window. Trinity steadied herself on the wall and kicked the Trainman in the stomach with both feet. He groaned and fell backwards.
Trinity pressed her attack, dropping back to the floor and kicking out. The Trainman caught her attack and pushed back, forcing Trinity to jump to avoid falling.
She grabbed onto the ceiling hatch and pulled it open, revealing the blue sky. She hung from the hatch and slammed both feet into the Trainman face, sending him tumbling back into the train lever. It slowly began to move again, building up speed.
Lynx ducked under a slashing claw and stabbed the sword through the first Doberman's belly. She kicked his body off her blade and brought the sword up in time to block another attack, kicking the attacker and sending him sprawling. She raised the sword above her head and brought it spiraling down, slicing through an upraised arm and continuing to sheer off the creature's head.
The third Doberman ran for the edge of the car. Lynx grabbed the dagger from her boot and threw it, hitting the Doberman's back. He hit the ground with a thud two inches from the door.
The Trainman swung the metal bar and hit Trinity in the chest, forcing the air from her body in one quick gasp. She collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath, her vision swimming. She heard two steps and saw his legs fill her vision.
She grabbed hold of his leg and pulled hard, bringing him down level with her. She leapt to her feet in one smooth motion and slammed her foot down, hitting the space where he had been only seconds before. He rose up and grabbed a ladder, disappearing out the top hatch. Trinity pursued.
Fang looked up from his hand of cards. He clearly heard someone pounding on the door. With a growl, he heaved himself from the chair and walked to the door, sliding it open.
Ripper lay on the ground, dead. Fang suddenly knew he had been tricked, and that it was too late. He turned around to see a bright balde descending.
Lynx pulled the blade from the head of the Doberman and slammed the hilt backwards, hitting the face of another. The wounded fighter stumbled backwards, clutching his nose, and Lynx turned, bringing her sword into his neck. He fell.
The other two split up and flanked Lynx. One darted in, slamming a foot into Lynx's hand and making her drop the sword. She leapt into the air and kicked both feet out, hitting them both in the head. Then she dropped, grabbed her sword, and stabbed the first one.
The last Doberman waded in, swinging his heavy arms. Lynx drove the sword home, slaughtering him.
Almost there…
As Trinity pulled herself up, the Trainman roared and charged at her. She rolled out of the way, jumping to her feet as he rushed in. He slammed his fist into her shoulder and pushed her sideways. She teetered on the edge for a moment, then pulled herself upright and kicked out. The Trainman caught her blow on his chin and went spinning in the air, landing facedown on another car. Trinity leapt after him.
One more car…
Lynx kicked down the door of another car, shoving her blade into the chest of a Doberman. The other fighters scrambled to their feet.
"Let me pass," Lynx warned. "I've already killed many of you today."
"Silly human," one hissed, their leader. He was taller and stronger then the other two. "We cannot die."
And they came forward.
Trinity landed where the Trainman's head had been. He rolled to the side and kicked the inside of her knee, making her fall forward. She rolled and pushed herself to her feet with her arms. The Trainman slammed into her as she regained her balance, and she teetered on the edge of the car.
Lynx slashed out viciously, tracing a line of red blood across the throat of one of the attackers. The leader slammed his shoulder into Lynx's chest, knocking her back into the wall. He took her hand and beat it against the doorframe, causing her to lose her grip on the weapon.
She brought her knee into the leader's stomach and pushed out with both arms, sending him flying into the opposite wall. The Doberman drew a gun, and she kicked him in the stomach, grabbing the gun with her hand and twisting it until it broke loose.
The leader stood back up and sent a glass flying Lynx's way. She fired, shattering the makeshift missile. The Doberman sunk his teeth into her hand. She slammed the Exile's head into the window, shattering glass. He sunk his teeth in harder, and she dropped the gun outside.
The Trainman slammed into Trinity again. She lost her balance and fell towards the ground below. Trinity quickly cleared her mind, and time slowed to a crawl. She saw a gun come flying towards her and grabbed it with one hand. With the other, she reached out and grabbed part of the train flashing past her and landed on a connecter between two cars.
Time returned to normal speed. Trinity pulled herself back onto the roof of the train. The Trainman had already returned to the front car and was climbing looking down. He pulled out his own gun and aimed down, shooting the connecters between the two cars.
"No," Trinity said. She glanced behind her, and a rare smile crept onto her face.
Lynx saw the connecters separate as her car began to lose speed. She knocked the Exile off her and ran for the front car, grabbing a tray on the way out. She jumped as far as she could, catching the edge of the front car and falling. She grimaced as her injured hand hit the metal, but forced the pain away. She landed on the tray and was suddenly being dragged along the tracks.
The leader jumped after her, grabbing onto her feet. She kicked him in the face twice and watched him fall away. Then she pulled herself up into the front car.
Trinity revved the engine and the motorcycle shot along the roof of the train. She saw the Trainman's eyes grow wide with fear as the motorcycle easily leaped the gap. Trinity jumped off, and the motorcycle hit the ceiling and slammed into the Trainman, crushing him.
Trinity landed and climbed back inside. She spotted Lynx, looking tired and sweaty.
"Trouble?" she asked.
"Piece of cake," Lynx said.
The Merovingian tapped his foot impatiently, glancing at his watch.
"Late," he grumbled. As he spoke, he saw the train appear in the distance.
"Excellent."
He turned to Neo. "They'll be here soon, to take you to your new home, where no one will ever be able to find you."
Neo just smiled slightly. The train continued to come in, not slowing slightly. As it got closer, everyone could see that it was missing most of the cars.
"Shit," someone said. "Everyone off the platform!"
Everyone began to scramble. Alpha grabbed Neo roughly and pulled him inside. The door slammed, cutting off Neo's sight. He heard a loud, screeching noise and a huge crashing sound. The door opened again.
The train had slammed headfirst into a wall, stopping. The Merovingian stepped into the tracks, looking inside.
"Trainman?"
A click sounded, and suddenly Trinity was standing there, gun pressed against the head of the Exile leader. He gulped.
"Neo," she said. "Right now. Or we all die."
He nodded slowly, backing away. With a wave, he motioned Alpha forward. Alpha pushed Neo roughly, and he stumbled onto the tracks.
"There," the Merovingian said.
"Trinity," Neo said. "Do you have a plan for getting out of here?"
She nodded, slightly.
"Take us to your hard line," she ordered the Merovingian. He nodded and led the three rebels off through his house to the one hard line nearby. The phone rang, and the Merovingian picked it up and handed it to Lynx.
"Thank you," she said, placing it to her ear. She vanished.
"Um, Trinity…" Neo began. "I don't have a body anymore."
She handed him the phone. "I know."
He placed it to his ear and was yanked from the Matrix, feeling the senses of the real world assault him. He opened his eyes and glanced down at his body.
It was Phoenix's.
Smith took a step, and the five clones stepped out with him. He quickly crossed the street into the large hole left by Mister Anderson's departure.
A Doberman tried to stop him and was quickly assimilated. Soon, Smith found himself in the upper levels of the Chateau. He opened the door to a large bedroom, where the Merovingian slept with a woman that was not Persephone.
"Wake up," Smith said. The Merovingian opened his eyes. He tried to scream, but Smith shoved his hand into the Exile's stomach. The new programming spread through him, and the man's struggles stopped.