FMH: Everything ~ Eight

- Luke -

Watching the portal *snap* closed right in front of him, it was all Luke could do to not fly into a rage and start smashing things. Squinting his eyes, he tried to make a plan. That made his head hurt, so he decided against it; and fell back on ‘smashing things’.

Andre hadn't left an exit, so there was no real alternative. He ran over to where he hoped the walls and dirt were weakest, twirling around and slamming Cookie into the earth at an upward angle. At least a half ton of dirt, stone, and splinters went flying at a velocity that almost touched on the speed of sound. Not quite, but certainly the blow was loud enough to alert anyone who was unaware of his presence to his exact location. With that knowledge, he took a deep breath and followed the raining debris by activating Bum Thunder. With nothing in his way, he was instantly about eight meters above the ground, an echoing *boom* canceling out any shouts of surprise or orders.

He wasn't overly worried about being captured; all he needed to do was make sure that he didn't look directly at anything anyone was holding, or let himself hear what they had to say. To make sure that happened, he let go of Cookie for an instant, and clapped his hands over his ears, bursting his eardrums. Blood trickled out of his ear canals, and he chuckled to himself, “Just like old times! Those banshees in Zone seventeen were a pain in the rear until I figured out this trick. Afterward, they were just a pain in the ear.”

Luke could tell that people were closing in on him, since the standard movement of the forest was not enough to mask the rustling of underbrush, the swaying of trees, or the half-dozen people that were sprinting toward him. He kicked off a towering oak, leaving deep indentations in the wood where his feet touched, and launched himself through the air with all the force his forty-six-point-seven points in Fitness could manage. Between that, and Giga increasing his overall physical output to seven thousand two-hundred thirty-eight kilos of force, he blasted into the air at a slight angle like a ballista bolt targeting a peasant militia while a nobleman cackled.

At the peak of his parabolic arc, he activated Feather's Fall and hummed gently to himself as he drifted through the forest at high speed. He couldn't hear the sounds he was making, but as much as he hated to admit it, Zed's song had really stuck in his head. “In battle you're fierce, a force to behold. Now it's time to let your muscles unfold. Feel the peace, of the night around you, let your spirit rest and renew.”

The second verse of the annoying lullaby that the Bard had slipped into his brain was far less soothing to the people around him that were shouting for his attention. Particularly when his eyes were closed, and someone jumped directly in his way as he was saying ‘feel the peace of the night’. Just as those words left his mouth, Cookie sliced directly through the Ascender that had gotten in his way. Luke didn’t even notice thanks to the passive effect of Feather's Fall, which converted his momentum into a penetrating damage.

“Huh.” Luke wiped his face as he continued soaring through the air, Cookie dragging him down faster than he wanted to drop. “Must be raining tonight.”

He kept his eyes closed as much as possible, as Zed's warning about written documents was fresh in his mind. As he slowly plowed into the ground, Luke rolled and opened his eyes for a bare fraction of a moment to get his bearings, then shot forward hoping that he wouldn't run into a tree that he couldn’t plow through. To make doubly sure, he materialized a long spear in front of him, using Source-cerer’s Armory to create it. His reasoning was simple; if the spear could go through whatever was in front of him, so could he.

That put a small frown on his face, as he recalled that he had been unable to absorb the void-tipped needles that had been shot at him by the as-of-yet unnamed monsters of Zone twenty. Even though they were considered a weapon when they were being held by the creatures using them, the needles were not considered as such by his Skill when they were separated. The silver lining of the situation was that since his Skill did consider them weapons, he hoped that when he was able to walk into that Zone, he would be able to consider the entirety of the felled creature as a weapon instead.

The Murderhobo wasn't certain if that was going to let him summon something to fight beside him, or if it was going to turn into a stationary, useless weapon. Either way, it would be an exciting addition to his repertoire. If it worked.

Unbeknownst to him, his smiling, blood-coated face was striking terror in the hearts of those coming after him. After the first utter failure, no one had been foolish enough to get directly in Luke's path, and for some reason he was able to ignore their shouted orders even though they knew they were in audible range of the Murderhobo. Their only hope was that they’d be able to take him down before he breached the containment, as they had been warned that he would be nearly impossible to capture if he escaped.

The inevitable happened, unfortunately for Luke. He was in a forest, in one of the deepest areas, which meant there were several extremely thick and durable trees. He ran into one, feeling the resistance thanks to the spear, and opened his eyes for a brief moment to scout a new path. That was when one of the Ascender teams that had been sent after them came up with a brilliant idea: they cast a taunting spell on the large parchment they were holding, forcing him to focus on it for a long instant.

Certainly long enough for the Murderhobo to read the words that were on it, but not enough time to stop him from lashing out and destroying the offending item—as well as the person holding it. “Whoops.”

In a moment, Luke was surrounded by dozens, then scores, then hundreds of people. As they arrived, he was unable to move, having read the order of the king. “I should have known that reading was going to be my greatest enemy. Books are printed on paper, paper comes from trees. Unnatural trees that have words on them, that can tell me what to do. Ugh.”

No matter how high of a rank the people around him had, he didn't comply with their shouted orders, instead merely remaining in his current position as the written order had commanded. Eventually, one of the Ascenders around him realized that blood was trickling from his ears, and connected the dots. After pulling over a Healer, Luke's ears were repaired in a matter of moments. Then a high-ranking government official ordered the Murderhobo to sit down, and he plopped to the ground like a puppet with cut strings. Everyone in the area, except the Murderhobo himself, breathed a sigh of relief at that sight.

“Finally, things are going how I expect them to go.” The ranking Ascender stepped closer to Luke, looking him up and down. “I didn't know what to expect from you, but deafening yourself and running with your eyes closed until you face-planted into a tree was not it. Where are your companions? I order you to tell me.”

“They skipped out on this world.” Luke informed the Ascender shortly.

“Abyss!” The man slapped his side as he brought a hand up to hold against his forehead. “Which one opened the path out? Was it Taylor, the prospective Archmage? Or was it the Druid? I order you to answer my questions.”

“The Druid.”

“Abyss!” Now the man was shouting in rage. “If it was the Mage, at least we could have gone after her! We only have one Druid, and he was just released back to his country after they recalled him for mandatory service! Spread the word, we need to find someone that can go after them. Does anyone know a roaming Druid, some mercenary that could open the way? Anyone? Someone, please? Does anyone have any idea how we could go after them? Give me answers, people!”

“Yes.” Luke was forced to begrudgingly answer, though he kept his voice as quiet as possible, since the Ascender was not addressing him directly. Even so, the man had incredibly heightened senses, and whipped his head around to look at Luke.

“What did you say?”

“I said ‘yes’.” Luke responded in a deadpan tone. “Before that I said ‘The Druid’. Before that I said ‘They skipped’-”

The man waved his hand to cut Luke off, “What do you mean, ‘yes’? Do you have an idea of how to go after them?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.” Luke explained carefully, getting a look of confusion in return.

“Why did you just say that?” the Ascender quizzed him cautiously. “Answer.”

“You asked me what ‘an idea’ was.”

Letting out a long *hiss* of air, the Ascender attempted to control his temper. “You think you can get away with malicious compliance? You're going to take everything literally?”

“Yes. No.”

“Explain those answers!”

Luke shook his head. “I can't take everything literally. I cannot hold that much weight.”

“I order you to inform me of how we can go after the others on your team, if they have gone into a world that no one else has a way to enter.” The Ascender ordered with a smile on his face that promised violence later.

Luke attempted to keep his mouth shut, and the coloration of his Sigil became brighter, and brighter, as it attempted to force him to follow the command of the ranking Ascender. Finally, his mouth moved seemingly of its own accord, “I can open the way.”

“Can you, now?” The man spoke in a considering tone, not sure how such a feat would be possible. Even so, Luke had been ordered to answer his questions, and so he knew that Luke at least believed he could do so. “Then I order you to go and open the way, and retrieve the other members of your team as rapidly as can be done… safely! As rapidly as can be done safely!”

That last part had been added on as Luke turned and started sprinting through the ranks of people around him. He let out a gentle snort of derision as he looked down at the rank of men in front of him, some of whom had large wet stains traveling down their pant legs. “At least it seems I made an impression.”