The Matrix: Legacy
Thirty-Three
Rescue


She followed behind Morpheus and the Italian harpy, wishing that looks could kill. How dare she ask to kiss him! She wasn't mad at him for complying, of course - they needed the Keymaker. No, her fury was solely with her, with that mockery of a woman. In her jealous anger, she didn't even pause to marvel at the sudden transition from restaurant kitchen to elegant manor, though as they passed the weaponry mounted on the wall her anger began to cool as she pictured using them on the woman leading them.

They wound up in a library where two men were slacking off, watching a movie. The pair shot to their feet as they walked in, but the program Persephone raised her arms and said, "It's all right, boys, they're with me." Both relaxed a little, and she tried to figure out what was bothering her about those two. "These fellas work for my husband," Persephone explained as the two men looked at each other. "They do his dirty work. They're very good; very loyal. Aren't you, boys?"

"Yes, mistress," both replied obediently, looking somewhat amused. She wondered who held their loyalty more: the Frenchman, or this woman?

"They come from a much older version of the Matrix," Persephone went on, "but like so many back then, they caused more problems than they solved." Again the men traded looks, this time smirking in what was most likely some amusing memory of general mayhem. She wondered if they had been a version of Agents as the woman began to dig in her purse, saying, "My husband saved them because they're notoriously difficult to terminate." Her hand withdrew from the purse holding a pistol - more precisely, a COP .357. She eyed it speculatively, musing, "How many people keep silver bullets in their gun?" She smirked and aimed it at the smaller of the two men.

He had enough time to look surprised before the COP fired. The shot caught him in the forehead, spattering the side of a book case with his blood and things she did not wish to think about. She was shocked; why had she shot him? What point was she trying to make? There was movement from the other man; Persephone pointed the small pistol at him, and he froze. "You can either run to the restaurant and tell my husband what I have done, or you can stay there and die."

Unsurprisingly, the man chose the first option, fleeing the library and his companion's dead body. "He's in the ladies' room!" Persephone called after him, then put the gun away. She strode to another bookcase and pulled one of the books down. A door opened in the wall, and she told them, "Hurry."

Morgain's eyes snapped open.

She matched faces to names, and realised that she had just dreamed about Abel dying. Her stomach lurched, but she concentrated hard on not throwing up. What the hell had that dream been? She hadn't recognised anyone but Persephone, Cain, and Abel; she hadn't even recognised herself, or that jealous anger.

But... was that dream prophetic? Or just a dream?

Whatever it was, she needed to make sure Abel was okay. She grabbed at an outfit, deciding to dress to startle. She would need the shock that sprang from her identical appearance to her lost older sister.

---------

Krsna was in full invisible mode, and he was running as fast as he could through the corridors of the château. Asmodeus had found him a hard-line a mile from the Merovingian's place and Krsna had run all the way to where the rest of his crew was, thankful that he could run nearly all day without tiring much. He had to save them.

As he ran, he managed to collide with a young woman with short, black hair, dressed in black vinyl. Quickly, he made himself visible so as not to freak her out entirely. His eyes widened as he looked at her. "T-trinity!?" he exclaimed in shock.

Morgain glared icy blue daggers at the young man, conveniently forgetting that she had dressed this way specifically to get that sort of reaction, then her eyes widened as she saw the strange aura surrounding him. It was blue... but intertwined with it were threads of gold. She'd seen an aura somewhat like that before... on Davis. Only his had been green intertwined with silver... until the last time she had seen him, when the green had changed to blue. What did it mean? She didn't understand these auras.

She didn't have much time to ponder this as a frightened cry sounded down the halls, and the man paled. "Danaë," he whispered, then ran off after the noise. Morgain followed, intrigued. He wasn't one of the Merovingian's goons, that was for sure.

Danaë cried out, partly in fear, partly in pain as one of the Twins ran his razor along her neck, cutting a thin, shallow line near her jugular vein. She didn't move, for fear he'd slip and kill her accidentally. It wasn't her life she feared for - they'd made it fairly obvious that they didn't want her dead.

They wanted to play.

Unfortunately for her, their idea of playing involved pain on her part. They liked her, though Danaë didn't know if that was good or bad...

The razor was yanked away from her neck, then one of the Twins was pulled away. "What?" the other Twin asked before something clad in black crashed into him, tearing him away from Danaë.

She sprang into action, diving for her knife, but the fight was over. Something grabbed onto the twin's dreadlocked hair and slammed their heads together with enough strength to knock them unconscious. Then, before Dana's startled eyes, Krsna shimmered into view.

"Danaë, you okay?" he asked, his eyes wide with concern. She nodded. "Good. He's keeping Ghost in the dungeon. I'll get Niobe if you get Ghost."

"Right," Danaë answered. Krsna hugged her close and ruffled her hair, then ran off, leaving Danaë with a woman - with Trinity!?

Trinity, if that was who she was, motioned for Danaë to follow her, and they moved along the halls away from Krsna. Eventually, they came to a library, where Trinity pulled on a book, triggering a hidden door. Danaë blinked, looking at her. Trinity motioned for Danaë to precede her.

Cujo's ears perked. Two people were coming. He grinned darkly. More people to torment, how fun! It was his lucky day. They were trying to be silent, but he could hear their footsteps. But what to do? Continue his torture of the Ghost, or lie in wait? Cujo was hard-pressed to make a decision.

He looked down at the half-conscious human, and decided to ambush the newcomers instead. He was strong enough to handle two at once.

Danaë didn't see it coming. She was so worried about Ghost, she forgot to make sure the way was clear and wound up being thrown across the room with a shriek when a large hand struck her across the chest. She hit the wall hard and fell to the floor with a moan.

Alerted by Danaë 's cry and sudden flight, the other girl was able to duck under Cujo's next strike and dive forward, away from him and near Danaë, whom she helped to her feet.

"What do we do?" Danaë asked. Trinity said nothing, watching Cujo warily. She made a hand motion, then attacked Cujo, drawing a single Beretta Cheetah and firing at him. He simply took the shots and punched her hard in the gut, dropping the other woman like a rock.

Danaë realised that he had to be a werewolf or a vampire and fumbled for Ghost's gun, but Cujo was faster. By the time she had it in hand he was there, massive hand on her wrist and pointing the gun down. He grinned at her and squeezed. Hard.

Danaë clenched her teeth and kept hold of the gun, so he shrugged and made a quick motion with his hand. She screamed and let go as her wrist was broken, then his hand was around her neck, pinning her to the wall. "His scent is all over you," Cujo said with a dark grin as a knife appeared seemingly out of nowhere in his hand. "I think I'm going to enjoy this..."

With a flick of the knife, he'd sliced up her green shirt, revealing the pale skin between her breasts. He made sure that Ghost had a good view of his actions, as mental torment was almost as fun as physical.

There was a sudden slam as the Ghost tried to pull free of his restraints. Cujo could see his fury, his rage at what was being done to his woman, which made Cujo grin all the more. Physical and mental torture simultaneously, how fun!

Ghost growled as he fought his restraints. He knew the werewolf was only doing this to torture him in another form, but that only made him angrier.

There was a gentle touch on his arm, and he turned his head to see...

"Avalon," he said, surprised. There was gratitude in her eyes at his correct identification of her, then she ducked her head to focus on the shackle binding his arm to the table, where she was picking the lock.

Dana's frightened whimpers were driving logic from his mind. Ghost fought the primal instinct; he would need his head clear to fight when he was this injured. His arm was free. "Give me my gun," he told Avalon softly. She blinked, then crept to where his gun had landed, pressing it into his hand. As she worked on the other bindings, he tried to aim. His emotion and his weakened body were making it hard, and he had to be careful with this shot.

As Cujo ran the knife along her arm, he found his shot and took it. The bullet hit him in the back of the head, dropping the werewolf. Danaë slumped to the ground, her eyes wide, her arms holding her shirt together to preserve her modesty.

Avalon finished with the locks and helped Ghost to Dana's side, where she latched onto him and buried her face in his shoulder. He winced a bit as the cloth of her jacket and ruined shirt rubbed against his wounds, but he wrapped his arms around her regardless. Then he pulled back to look at her altered appearance and smiled.

"You look like yourself."

She nodded, then said, "We have to hurry. Kris is going to get Niobe."

Ghost blinked as Danaë helped him upright. "Krsna's in the Matrix? How?"

"I don't know. He didn't explain."

Ghost frowned. "Something is going on here. I get the feeling that someone is playing games with us." Avalon signed something, and he nodded. "I agree. We must hurry and leave this place."

Danaë looked at her curiously, realising at last that the vinyl-clad young woman was not Trinity and therefore had to be Trinity's younger sister. "Let's go, then."

---------

Seth paused with his hand on the knob of the room Gabriel had found O'Malley in. "Something's wrong," he said quietly. "I can feel it."

Tiger, more serious now that the sugar from the pint of Moose Tracks ice cream had worn off, looked up at his partner. "What is it?"

"Like we're being watched...." Seth's eyes widened as he read the code. "Tiger, run! Now!" He pushed the startled vampire, who automatically got his feet moving. He didn't get far.

A door opened behind him, and Tiger yelled in surprise as an arrow slammed into his back. A wooden arrow. He went down hard. "Tiger!" Seth yelled, running to the younger program. No answer, the vampire was dead.

Seth turned again in time to see the bat swinging for his head -