Montgomery and Jeff circled each other warily, spears raised. Their shields held awkwardly at their sides, as they had not yet learned the corresponding skill. Blake considered having them learn Shield Mastery, but ultimately decided an extra point in Physical Power would serve them better against the tough hide of the Ursa.

Jeff’s knees bent as he thrust his spear forward to test his opponent’s response. Montgomery blocked the jab with his shield, and counterattacked. Jeff easily danced backward to avoid the stab and looked for another opening.

Blake watched as they continued to test the other’s defenses. The duel lasted until Montgomery overextended himself, eager to land a blow. Jeff punished his friend with a swipe to the legs and a spearhead to the chest.

“Okay, that’s good enough,” Blake ended the duel. “Now see if you can work together to take me out. I’m going to pretend to be an Ursa.”

Montgomery pushed himself off the ground and dusted off his hands. “That’s not fair, you’re way stronger than the Ursa,” he complained.

“I’m going to limit my strength and speed.”

“Sure you are…” Montgomery muttered.

When the two squared off against him, he said, “Remember, you can’t hurt me, so don’t hold back.”

Blake strode forward at a leisurely pace, unarmed. From his friend’s perspective, however, his languished speed was frightening. They both retreated a step in surprise before their resolve was buttressed, and stood their ground.

As Blake deftly stepped between them, they thrust forward their spears. He extended his arms to the side, slapped the spears away, and slammed his arms into their chests. Despite their braced stances, they flew backward onto their backs.

Jeff silently climbed to his feet, while Montgomery complained loudly. When his moans faded, Blake began his lecture. “Okay, first lesson. Don’t stand your ground against an Ursa, it weighs over a thousand pounds. You need to brace the butt of your spear against the ground and let it impale itself, or the tip won’t penetrate its hide.”

“Then what’s the point of the shield?” Montgomery asked.

“To protect you from its claws. It has long arms and will still swipe at you, even with a spear through its chest. Trust me, unless you pierce its heart or brain, it's going to keep attacking no matter how much damage you do to it.”

Jeff nodded in understanding, while Montgomery snorted. “You’re just trying to scare us, so we use guns.”

Blake sighed. “No, I’m not. If anything, I took it easier on you than the Ursa will. Now, let’s try it again.”

For the next thirty minutes, Jeff and Montgomery were repeatedly swept off their feet, slapped to the ground, or just gave up in exhaustion. When the tip of Jeff’s spear finally met Blake’s chest armor, they both erupted in cheer.

“Hell yeah!” Jeff shouted.

“Hell yeah!” Montgomery repeated.

They slammed their shields together with enthusiasm, and Montgomery shouted, “Take that, stupid bear!”

“Good job,” Blake praised their achievement. “Now let’s crank it up a notch.”

“Don’t bother, we’re ready,” Montgomery said confidently. “We got this!”

Jeff nodded enthusiastically.

Blake was about to correct their misconception when he received a message from his brother.

Oliver Summers: Hey bro, can you guys hurry up? I think I hear one of those Ursa thingies.

Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Stay hidden, we’re on our way.

Blake closed the chat and turned to his friends. “I hope you do, because we’re out of time. Let’s grab you some supplies and get to the car.”

----------------------------------------

“Well, shit,” Blake cursed as they neared the fire tower. “No, don’t stop. Keep going.”

Three law enforcement vehicles were parked in front of the chain link fence which surrounded the tower. Red and blue lights flashed in his vision as three sheriff's deputies stood at the base of the structure, deep in a heated conversation.

Of course, they called backup. I bet the last time they heard from their friends was when they followed Oliver up the tower. I wonder how many went through?

Montgomery complied with his orders and increased their speed. “What do we do?”

“Just pull into the trailhead. It’s the next right.”

After Montgomery pulled into the gravel lot and parked the car, he turned to Address Blake. “Why’s there so many cops?”

“I think the ones chasing Oliver told dispatch they cornered him in the tower. I bet after that, they followed him up and fell through the portal looking for him. That was over an hour ago, and they haven’t reported in again.”

“Oh shit!” Montgomery swore. “They think Oliver killed them or something!”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, probably so, which means there’s more on their way. We need to get you two in there before even more cops show up.”

“How?” Montgomery asked. “They got guns.”

When Blake did not immediately answer, Jeff spoke up. “Bait”

“That’s a great idea!” Montgomery gushed. “Blake’s even bulletproof, so they can’t do shit to him!”

Blake grimaced, but reluctantly agreed. With his current Physical Resistance, standard pistol bullets would not kill him. However, that did not mean it would be a pleasant experience.

He had wanted to keep a low profile and off the police’s radar. However, Oliver’s screw-up now made that impossible. They would begin to harass his parents all over again, and, if he presented himself before them and ran, it would escalate. Eventually, the cops would find his base and shut it down.

I can’t let that happen.

“I guess I get to be bait,” Blake smiled sardonically. “Go ahead and grab your gear, I need to contact my parents. This is bigger than we thought.”

Blake navigated his interface and placed a call to his mother and father. A moment later, his mother answered.

“Hey Blake, is everything okay?” Donna asked, seated behind her desk.

Before he could answer, his father joined the holochat from the cookhouse’s kitchen. “What’s up?”

“The cops are blocking the entrance to the fire tower. We’ve got a plan to sneak Montgomery and Jeff past them, but we’ve got problems.”

“What kind of problems?” Peter asked as he stirred the sizzling food.

“The harassment kind. They’re going to start following you two all over again, especially after I show my face. I’m pretty sure they think Oliver killed some cops, so now we’re both fugitives.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Why would they think that?” His mother asked, horrified.

“Because we’re pretty sure they fell through the portal, and it’s been over an hour since they last checked in.”

“Shit!” Peter swore and slammed down his spoon. “So much for the lawyer’s case.”

“Yeah,” Blake agreed. “I think it’s time you two moved into the bunkhouse. Permanently. You also need to get rid of your phones.”

“You think they’d track them?” his mother asked.

His father grunted. “They tracked Blake’s, and all he did was get in a fight. If they think Oliver killed their friends…” he shook his head. “It’s going to get much worse.”

“But... how do I get any work done without a phone? I need to make calls to order supplies, and use the internet for research.”

“For now, just borrow someone else’s phone. We can figure out a solution later,” Blake suggested.

Peter frowned. “Isn’t it too late already? If they look up our location history, they’ll see we spend all day, every day here.”

Blake swore and ran his hand through his hair.

“You almost done?” Montgomery called from outside the car.

“Yeah, give me a minute!” he yelled back and then addressed his parents. “I’ve got an idea. Buy a bus ticket to LA, hide your phones in one of the seats, and let it leave without you. Hopefully, they’ll think you’re running, and spend all their time chasing it.”

Peter laughed. “I LOVE it!”

Donna nodded as she typed into her laptop. A moment later, she said, “Looks like a bus leaves from Dalmart in an hour. Hopefully that’s enough time to stop by the bank and see how much they’ll let us withdraw.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Blake admitted. “They can track credit cards, too.”

She nodded. “And the Venro app.”

“How about this,” his father suggested. “You stop by the bank and handle the cash while I head home and grab everything we need. Then we can meet at the Dalmart.”

Donna smiled. “Divide and conquer.”

Peter returned her smile with a grin of his own.

“Okay, you guys handle that, I’m going to go distract the cops before more backup arrives.”

“Be careful, son,” his father advised.

Blake snorted. “Don’t you know? I’m bulletproof.”

He cut the connection and climbed out of the parked car. In the distance, he saw the red and blue lights through the trees.

Still just three cars.

“What’s the plan?” Montgomery asked.

“It’s simple, I’m going to walk up to the cops and say ‘hi’. As soon as they try to arrest me, I’ll take off. Hopefully, they follow and you guys can slip inside the tower.”

“Don’t run too fast,” His friend joked. “They look like they’ve had one too many donuts, if you know what I mean.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied sardonically.

“That’s great for getting in, but how do we get back out?” Montgomery asked. “Think they’ll fall for the same ruse twice?”

Blake shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll figure something out. You two just need to focus on saving Oliver.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed.

“Keep your distance so they don’t see you,” Blake warned, and set off toward the deputies. Contrary to Montgomery’s joke, only one of the policemen were overweight. The other two were young, lean, and sported unyielding expressions.

Eventually, one of the lean cops noticed him and broke off his impassioned conversation. “This is a crime scene. It’s off limits,” he warned.

“Oh?” Blake asked innocently. “What happened?”

“Beat it,” the original cop raised his arm and pointed toward the road.

The other two policemen, annoyed at the interruption, turned to see who dared disturb them. When the portly deputy finally took in Blake’s appearance, his eyes widened.

He reached for his sidearm and yelled, “Blake Summers! Get down on the ground, NOW!”

Blake smiled and raised his hands. “What seems to be the problem, officers?”

The portly cop drew his sidearm and aimed it at Blake, center mass. “I SAID, GET DOWN!” he reiterated.

Now aware of his identity, the other two cops released the snaps over their pistols, and hovered their hands near their weapons.

Blake maintained his friendly demeanor and asked, “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“You two detain him,” the portly officer called over his shoulder. “I’ll cover you.”

The two cops eyed him warily and approached from opposite angles. However, before they could cut him off, Blake abruptly turned and fled. He was careful to keep his pace to a slow jog, and glanced over his shoulder to ensure he did not leave them too far behind.

To his disbelief, the portly cop opened fire.

What the hell are you doing? I’m obviously unarmed!

The first three shots missed, but the fourth bullet slammed into his armored back. The impact pierced through his armor, yet failed to penetrate his skin. Regardless, the bullet hurt, and he would have a nasty bruise for the next few hours, even with his Regeneration.

He stumbled in surprise, and his temper rose.

That’s the last fucking straw!

He was pissed. Blake had tried to play nice with these corrupt cops. He had even let his parents try and solve things legally with a lawyer. However, they had just shot an unarmed teenager in the back.

Blake suddenly stopped and turned toward the three deputies. Despite the fact that he was no longer running, the portly cop continued to fire. He was hit twice more, once in the shoulder and once in the leg, before the pistol’s magazine finally emptied.

This time, Blake barely felt the impacts over his growing rage.

He pushed off the ground and raced toward the portly policeman. He was a blur. The thin cops yelled, but he ignored them. His target’s eyes widened in sudden fright, and he released his pistol’s magazine to quickly reload.

Blake did not give him a chance.

He used a Spatial Step to close the distance, and slammed his fist into the corrupt cop’s face at his full strength.

The man’s head exploded, and a notification appeared, which he immediately dismissed. A light, burning pain crept up his left forearm.

Blake whirled to see the lean cops’ reaction. Their eyes were wide, and their jaws hung low as they backpedaled and raised their sidearms.

He released two Mental Blasts, and strode toward the now disabled men. Both screamed and dropped their guns as they cradled their heads. His own head began to pound, and blood dripped from his nose. A notification again appeared in the corner of his vision, but he dismissed it to concentrate on the fight.

Blake ignored their discarded weapons. He grabbed both cops by their wrists, and pulled them after him. Their legs dragged the ground as he slowly strode toward the fire tower entrance. Montgomery and Jeff were frozen nearby, shocked at the sudden violence.

“You know,” he began in an almost conversational tone. “I tried to be nice to you guys. I really did,” he reiterated as they began to beat their hands against him in an effort to escape.

After their struggles proved useless, they reached for the batons at the belt. They extracted the clubs, extended them, and lashed out. The strikes proved equally futile.

Blake continued on in an even voice as if they had not resisted at all. “See, my parents are still a bit naive. They don’t understand the horrible things we’ll have to do to survive. I didn’t want them to see me as a monster, so I did the dumb thing, I left you all alone.”

“Dude…” Jeff muttered and shook his head in disbelief as Blake passed him. Montgomery, surprisingly, remained silent.

“But, you’re the REAL monsters. What kind of person shoots an unarmed kid in the back?” he asked rhetorically. “I was running AWAY! Not a threat!”

“That was Myers!” The cop on his left sputtered. “We didn’t do nothing!”

“Exactly!” Blake agreed and dragged the two up the metal stairs. They tried to grab onto the metal beams as they passed, but their strength was too low to resist. The cop on the right broke down in tears as he realized how futile his actions were.

“You just stood there and did nothing while your partner shot me in the back. You never tried to stop him,” Blake accused. “You didn’t even try to arrest him afterward, even though the guy clearly broke the law.”

“I’m sorry!” The man on his right pleaded. “It won’t happen again!”

Blake shook his head as he continued the climb to the top, officers in tow.

“You’re right, it won’t.” Blake shook his head. “I can’t have you going after my family anymore. I can’t have you trying to stop us from saving the world.”

“If we die, they’ll never stop coming for you!” the cop on his left tried, a waver in his voice.

Blake nodded. “That’s why they won’t find your bodies. See, I’m going to give you a chance. You’re going to see what we’re up against. You’re going to be transported to another world where you have to kill to survive.”

He released an officer’s wrist, threw open the trapdoor, and ascended into his old quarters, with two flailing bodies dragged behind. “If you somehow survive, come find me. You might actually be useful then.” After a brief pause, he said, “Good luck.”

Blake then tossed both men into the portal. As they disappeared, their screams cut off, and he was met with silence.