13. Dangerous Escape
Just as they're about to leave, Merovingian and his goons already block their exit.
"Oh, God! My God! Persephone!" Merovingian blurted, likely never expecting this to happen. "How could you do this! You betray me!" Then, he proceeds speaking French so fast, Enigma almost can't hear what's he's talking about and almost mistakes it as some nonsense ranting without words.
"Should I learn French after this?" Enigma asked her father, frowns.
"No," Neo replied. Knowing what kind of man Merovingian is, he can guess how many curse words he speaks in French. He rather Enigma never learn any of that.
Persephone just stays calm while walks closer to her husband. "Causes and effect, my love."
"What cause? There is no cause for this! What cause?"
"What cause? How about the lipstick you're still wearing?"
Merovingian wipes his mouth. "Lipstick? Lipstick? What craziness are you talking about women? There is no lipstick!"
"She wasn't kissing your face, my love," Persephone simply stated.
"Ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai! Woman, this is nothing!" Then, he starts rambling a few French. "It is only a game! A game!"
"So is this," she replied, walking into the door as nothing happen. "Have fun," she added before leaving.
Enigma never understands what on earth motivates Persephone for doing this. And she's certainly never understood what Merovingian tries to probe. Her parents never have any of that. As far as she knows, they always smile and laugh. Both always stay close and hold each other hands. They're nothing like Merovingian and Persephone.
Adults can be confusing sometimes.
But, she admits, it's rather funny to witness how the Frenchman turns from ranting like a crazy man back into his smug persona. "All right. All right. Enough. Let us find out where this goes." He looks at the Twins. "You two. Get the Keymaker."
The Twins comply, immediately phase, and walk forward, sinking under the floor.
"That's a good trick," Trinity admitted.
Enigma agrees. In a way, those two reminds Enigma of ghosts that can be transparent from stories she read in a library that Tank - and Link - kindly let her borrow. She is always curious about mystical/fantasy stories, finding them fascinating to explore. It seems Merovingian's dirty workers are just like them.
She quickly grabs the Keymaker's hand, rushes into a door she spots before.
"You two go after them," Neo said to Morpheus and Trinity. "I'll handle them."
As they both chase Enigma and the Keymaker, he looks back at the front.
"Handle us?" Merovingian repeated, sounding irritated. "You'll handle us? You know, your predecessors had much more respect."
He gestures his goons to fire him, to which Neo simply responds by raising his right hand, making those bullets they fired stop in the middle of thin air until they all out of it. When it happens, the bullets fall like marbles.
"Okay, you have some skill," the Frenchman admitted.
Neo prepares himself for a fight.
"Kill him."
▪︎1001▪︎
Enigma opens another door with force as she and the Keymaker are running into another hall.
"This way," he told her, gesturing at stairs. They walk down, stop at a large door made of woods. While the Keymaker looks for his keys, Enigma glances behind, finds the Twins already chasing them while Trinity and Morpheus follow.
"Where are you going?" Trinity asked him.
"Another way, always another way," he assured before finally finding the real key and opening it. "Close it, quick."
They all hurriedly exit the room. Morpheus, the last one, quickly closes the door... but one hand manages to hold the door. Enigma and Trinity take their gun and shot the hand, which doesn't budge at all.
Before they know it, one of the Twin phases through the wall before materialized like normal.
"Run!" The Keymaker warned.
Enigma wastes no time to fire again, but like before, he simply phases. She hurriedly runs with the Keymaker, looking around, and finding an idea. The blonde girl walks closer to a white sedan. The Keymaker immediately understands her intention by searching for the right key and opening it. She uses the key to start the engine and - knowingly never learn how to properly use a car - stomps the gas in full strength, moves the car forward, and almost crashes into another wall had she didn't stop it.
Before she can do something, the seat's door opens and Trinity says, "Step aside."
The girl doesn't argue with that as she moves into the backseat alongside the Keymaker. Trinity takes the driver's seat, moving towards Morpheus and the Twins. Morpheus slides along the hood, firing his guns at the Twins before slips into the passenger seat beside Trinity. Trinity takes no moment to stop as she moves the car away, not even flinches while one of the Twins phasing through them.
Along the way, they exit the garage and head into an open street.
Morpheus takes a call. "Get us out of here, Link," he said.
"That won't be easy, sir," Link stated.
"I know. We're inside the core network."
"Yes, sir. The only exit I got near you is the Winslow Overpass."
"Off the freeway?"
Enigma tenses. Morpheus told her, a long time ago, how dangerous it is when they're going into a freeway. Agents are easily able to appear in that area.
"Yes, sir."
"Fine, we'll make it."
"Sir, I think I should say… oh shit, look out behind you!"
Before Enigma knows it, something bumps into the car, pushing her forward with a little yelp. She looks behind and finds a black SUV. Her eyes were bewildered when one of them stood up through the sunroof, holding a machine gun.
"Down!" Morpheus warned as the firing starts. Enigma instantly covers her head, using one hand to keep the Keymaker's head below from those bullets, and the glass shatters.
"Hold on!" Trinity warned, throwing the car across an intersection, weaving through the cross-rushing traffic.
"Are you watching this, Link?" Morpheus asked Link.
"Yes, sir. There's an all-points on you, I make 8 units headed your way."
"Any suggestions?"
"Turn right."
"Right, now!" Morpheus repeated. Trinity complies. The car turns right, bounds up over the curb, and smashes through a fence.
"Now straight here, go through the next branch, you'll hit a connecting tunnel to the 101," Link advised.
"Got it."
"Sir, are you sure about this? The freeway, I mean. It's dangerous, in 14 years of operating, I've never seen..."
"Link, what did I tell you?"
A pause. "Yes, sir. I do, sir. Winslow overpass, I'll be ready for you."
"Good man," Morpheus said before hanging up.
"You always told me and Enigma to stay off the freeway," Trinity recalled.
"Yes, that's true."
"And it was suicide," Enigma added, pulling her gun, releasing the magazine, and reloading a new one while looking back, heart beating faster now.
"Then let us hope," Morpheus reloads his gun, "that I was wrong."
As they pass the second fence, Morpheus and Enigma lean outside the shattered window and fire their bullets at the Twins' SUV.
Enigma looks around, hands covering her ears from the sound of the Twins keep firing their guns at them. Trinity flawlessly avoids getting into trouble as the car moves across several lanes, ducking behind a pickup truck. The Twins just fired the truck, causing it to almost collide with their car had Enigma didn't use her power.
They continue to fire, but Trinity quickly covers it as they move to the left. It seems at a moment, they're in a good situation. Yet, not a moment later, Enigma spots the Twins already at the front, firing a car behind them. The car slowly loses its balance and hits a pile of rocks, making it turns upside down.
"On no," Enigma mumbled, realizing something. "Trinity, move!"
Too late. One of them already phasing through the car, materializes beside Enigma. The blonde girl kicks his face as soon as he's not transparent while pushing the Keymaker away from him. Unfortunately, he immediately pushes Enigma behind the car, making her flow away, and dangles outside, trying to keep herself from falling away. The man quickly takes the Keymaker, to which Morpheus responds by turning back, aims his gun at him.
He kicks the gun away, takes a knife, aims at Morpheus. Enigma watches Morpheus and the ghost man keep fighting each other using their hands. She quickly uses this moment to enter the backseat and kicks his head. Unhappy, he punches Enigma, hitting her into the glass, hard.
Trinity tries to help by finding an exit, but the SUV just keeps blocking their clear path. Until finally, she sees a chance to do so.
The ghost twin keeps slashing at Morpheus fast, which Morpheus is unable to keep up much until he grabs a seatbelt, wrapping it around the razor hand and hitting his face several times. Enigma, still hurt, tries to take the gun and shoots him. Like before, he's just phasing around.
Dang it, the girl cursed. Looking at the window, she nearly grumbles when the police car already moves beside them and an Agent already leaps into a car in the middle, destroy it, before taking another leap and landing in a three-point cat's crouch.
Trinity tries to shake him off, which fails as the Agent tears apart the car's roof. Despite being in pain, Enigma quickly shoots him. Again, he avoids those bullets without a problem. Then suddenly, the car stops, causing the Agent to fall from the car. She resumes moving the car away. Enigma moves her gun back at the ghost twin as Morpheus takes his katana. As Enigma shots the bullets and Morpheus stabs from the front, the ghost quickly phasing back.
From the left, Enigma and Trinity spot the Agent getting closer. He shots at their position, to which Enigma responds by using her telekinesis power to stops it as Neo did. She sends some soundwave at him before the police car keeps crushing them by force, causing the police car to smash at the crash drums.
As soon as they're in the freeway overpass, they all exit the damaged car. "Morpheus," Enigma pointed out at the SUV car.
He nods. "Trinity, Enigma, get him out of here."
Trinity looks out at the highway below, finding an exit. "Come on!" She urged both Enigma and the Keymaker as they jump, landing on a large rattling truck that has motorcycles chained in place.
Enigma looks back as she hears an explosion behind.
"Let's go," Trinity called as they move along. The woman leads them to the front of the truck, finding a Ducati.
"Do you have it?" Enigma asked the Keymaker, to which the man nods and gives the key to her.
"You are handy," Trinity complimented as Enigma sits first, then she sits behind her, starts the motorcycle's engine. "Jump on."
As soon as the Keymaker sits on it, Trinity leads the bike away from the truck, into the road under high speed, moving with grace as they're avoiding hitting any vehicles. The moment they're going to pass the semi, a large truck from left suddenly moves at them, going to pinning them against the far median. In a hurry, Enigma sents some soundwaves at the front so the Ducati moves backward.
Trinity manages to hold the bike before changing its direction. This time, they move opposite as they're escaping from the Agents. Enigma had to keep ducking her head while this happen, between trying not to puke and her head won't distract Trinity's focus.
From afar, Enigma can see Morpheus standing on a truck with his katana. "Trin."
"I know, Sweetie," Trinity affirmed, moving the bike between two trucks as the Keymaker raises his hand and Morpheus takes it, leaping him away onto the truck.
Enigma looks behind before setting her eyes at the front. She hopes Morpheus and the Keymaker can make it out alive.
