263 A Challenging Fight
I quickly got my radio, and dialed the number. I quickly connected to Nikki, and my heart slowed a bit after hearing her voice through the chaos.
“Hey, what’s going on? Are you guys with me?” she asked us, but I could only just pant in exhaustion. “No, not really. However, we are met by a bunch of TSA vehicles speeding in your direction, and driving in oncoming traffic.”
“I’m sorry what?”
“We are met—”
“No, no, no, the last two words you just said.”
“Oncoming traffic?” All of a sudden, her voice skyrocketed in volume. “Why are you guys driving in the oncoming lane? Do you guys really want to die?!”
“Would you prefer us behind them?” I asked, seeing two bolts pass by me, although only inches from my face.
“Oh, Lord,” she muttered, before returning back to the radio. “Alright, on your left, there should be an exit. Matthew Lock is driving this Jeep, which Lord only knows why that’s a good idea. It’s a black jeep so once you see that, immediately get on him.”
“Alright,” I said. “Tisiah, did you hear that?”
.....
“What?”
“On the left is an exit, make that turn and try to search for a black jeep.”
“Alright,” Tisiah said. Suddenly, the vehicle veered towards the left and onto the exit, which was closer than I thought.
We went down to the main road, where all the cars were stopped by street lights and intersections were present in every block.
But no black Jeep.
“Oh, boy,” I muttered to myself, looking around, trying to see a Jeep that could be parked at some diner, or behind some big 18-wheeler or something. All I know is that citizens will be concerned about seeing a kid with a machine gun in a Humvee.
Hopefully we’re not put in the news.
“Got any sight of him Tisiah?” I asked, trying to look down at the windshield. I could see a reflection of Tisiah shaking his head.
“Nikki, are you behind him by any chance?” I asked, putting the radio right beside my ear. “Is there any chance at all that you’re behind him, because that will make life—considerably easier.”
“I can slightly see him, but he’s pulling away. I’m waiting for him to go into an alleyway to not cause much attention.”
“I’m pretty sure bringing a big military vehicle is not gonna cause much attention. Totally.”
“Just do what I tell you to do, because stopping him will pretty much save the world, and we don’t have time to be playing around.”
“Alright.”
We continued to search, as I glanced left and right, trying to catch sight of a black jeep. We needed to find him, unless those TSA vehicles behind us were going to catch up.
“Come on,” I muttered, getting out my binoculars and looking ahead. Figures that was the answer, because I saw a black Jeep, speeding through the road.
“Over there!” I shouted, hoping Tisiah could hear me. “Follow him!”
“Alright,” Tisiah said, as the vehicle sped forward after the other transport. The Jeep was moving, not gonna lie, but we were catching up to it.
The black Jeep—which Matthew Lock was driving—all of a sudden, drifted to the left through all the intersecting traffic in which we followed, and received the brunt of the angry honks.
Matthew Lock cut into another lane, dodging a car in his way. His engine roared and growled, as he sped up through the streets.
Quickly, we dashed after him, cutting the corner and trying to keep a tail on him. His wheels produced smoke that blasted against our car, which luckily I was too high in elevation to not avoid.
“Get by the side of him,” I said, in which Tisiah was on it. He began to advance on the side of the Jeep, in which I could see the face I’ve been waiting to see since Saudi Arabia.
Matthew Lock.
Quickly, Tisiah veered into him, but Matthew Lock then escaped by veering the same direction as Tisiah.
A car abruptly separated us for a moment, before we closed back in on each other. Tisiah revved towards him, but Matthew Lock moved to the right, before cutting to another lane at the left.
Tisiah followed closely, before drifting to the right side—and then blasting forward towards Matthew Lock like a rocket.
The engine roared as a warning, and Matthew Lock took wisdom in that. He moved once again, this time to the right lane, but Tisiah cut to the left because of the two cars that were almost barricading our way.
Two lanes separated us, but not for long. Suddenly, the sound of a screeching motorcycle revved in our ears. I turned quickly, to see someone on a motorcycle, hot on Matthew Lock’s tail.
Nikki.
“Nikki!” I shouted, catching her attention. She turned to look at me, and an expression of relief was drawn on her face, but then she looked back at the Jeep, with her eye on the prize.
Matthew Lock then turned to the right, drifting as he did so, which we inevitably followed. The tail of his car leaned to the left side, before he straightened out the car back to its natural position, as if it was some fish tail.
“We need to somehow stall him, or get him somewhere secret? Any ideas?” Nikki said loudly.
“No, not really to be honest with you,” I said. “Where’s Malachi and September, I thought they were in the helicopter—”
I looked up slowly, seeing a black police helicopter in the air, soaring through the sky while keeping pace on Matthew Lock.
“That’s where they are,” I muttered to myself. I turned back to the radio, my mouth closer to the speaker. “They’re in the helicopter above us. It’s a police helicopter for the murder scene, correct?”
“I can only assume so,” Nikki said. “They must be livid at us, aren’t they?”
“I’m quite positive,” I said with a soft chuckle, before returning my gaze at Matthew Lock. I looked ahead, and an idea blinked inside my puzzled brain.
“There’s a dead end, or some construction barricade that’s blocking the road ahead of us. If we crash him there, then we can basically hide him, and make our secret spot.”
“Are you sure this will work?” Nikki asked.
“To be honest, I’m not sure,” I said. “But that’s why you try—right?”
“Okay,” Nikki muttered. I lowered down back inside of the Humvee, to scream the message to him.
“Make Matthew Lock crash at that construction site right there. Crash him, pile-maneuver him, trick him or something, just make sure he crashes.”
“Got it,” Tisiah said, as the engine revved louder, and the sudden thrust of the Humvee climbed, and we dashed forward towards the Jeep.
The Humvee, getting ready to ram, shot forward towards the side of his vehicle, and it was not stopping any time soon.
Tisiah—I believe—pushed the pedal even harder, as the wind shot against me, the air slapping my face, before I felt the hard collision between us and Matthew Lock.
I could see the Jeep leap into the air, do three barrel rolls, then land and puke out glass, and in doing so, do five more barrel rolls than before, before crashing into a pillar.
I turned to see Nikki’s stunned face. “Dang…” she muttered, and I could only help but to agree with her.
But then, I saw Matthew Lock crawl out of his shattered windshield, and scramble onto his feet. All of a sudden, a wand was in his hand, and he pointed it right at Nikki.
“No!” I shouted, getting ready to blast a bunch of bullets from the stationed machine gun.
But it was too late.
He shot the bolt, and the bolt dissolved once it crashed into Nikki’s front tire. She ejected off the seat and into the air, doing a frontflip before dropping to the ground.
“Nikki!” Tisiah shouted, in which he immediately stopped the Humvee. I contracted my legs from the little hole, and released them out into the air, before I jumped down to Nikki’s side.
“Hah, isn’t this funny!” Matthew Lock chuckled. “You guys never learn do you, kids?”
I tried not to listen to him, but to only focus attention on Nikki, who was unconscious, I hope, right now.
“My goal is very clear, in case you didn’t know,” he said with a chuckle. “You YMPA fools think you guys are going to stop what I’ve sacrificed for years?”
“You betrayed us!” Tisiah screamed at him, his voice trembling in sorrow.
“For my greater good,” Matthew Lock said with a chuckle. “Let me educate you guys. When it comes to self-welfare, or safety, it’s every man for himself.”
“So you’ll put the whole world at risk because of you?” I hissed, extending my posture to the full stance.
“Please, don’t make it so dramatic,” Lock hissed back quickly. “You’re getting a bit annoying. I ought to deal with you right now.”
“I dare you,” I grumbled, walking slowly to him. His hands balled into fists, and so did mine. We slowly began to approach one another, his face filled with cleverness, whereas mine was filled with rage.
“You used to be one of us,” I said. “What happened?”
“Opportunity happened,” he said, chuckling afterwards. “Opportunity knocked at my door, and I let him in, and trust me, it was a good choice too.”
“I think you’ll be second-guessing that very soon.”
“Humor me.”
Quickly, we dashed towards each other, as he made the first swing. I dodged to the lower left, and returned back to my first posture. But suddenly, two more punches came, in which I weaved left and right, before adding a quick jab to his stomach.
He didn’t even stumble from the hit, but instead came with more.
He gave a hard right to my cheek, which in my dazed condition, he clocked me with a left. He was too quick, and too smart.
How in the world was I going to beat him?
He always knew what to do next, and which attacks would affect me most. It was impossible to even lay a hand on him.
But I needed to do this for Nikki. I need to read my enemy, as Master Tophe would always say. You guys remember her, right?
I looked at him, trying to analyze his past moves and attacks, and trying to come up with a conclusion.
He’s fast, meaning that he isn’t strong. If I hit him somewhere where it hurts: ribs, gut, shoulders, jaw, and head, maybe it might work.
Quickly, I took a few steps away, and we were about a few feet from each other. I looked at him, ready to put my attack into use. I’m not sure about him though, he seemed more as if he was trying to catch his breath.
.....
His eyes were red, although I don’t think they were with fury. His hands were still balled up into fists, and I could see his knuckles almost popping out of his skin.
“I never realized how annoying you guys were. I kind of respect that,” he said with a chuckle. “Not gonna lie.”
“I’m diligent, not annoying,” I quickly defended.
“Well, you can really decide if you’re annoying or not. That’s not necessarily your choice,” he said, as we moved in this circle formation as if we were in some colosseum.
“However, the choice you do have is whether to leave me alone with my own problems, or to end up like your little friend over there,” he said, referencing Nikki. “Your choice, kid.”