The Lost Highway

“Alright my boy, I need you to get up on the roof. You’re lucky my usual partner isn’t here today!” Robert explained, handing John a pair of metal soles. “These will go right on your shoes - by the way, please put some clothes on - and allow you to magnetically attach yourself to the roof. From there I’ll pull up next to that Nightsister, and you will steal her motorcycle. I’ll work with your lady friend on taking out the Firebirds. That hawk of yours would be useful,” Robert finished as John finished putting the metal soles on the bottom of his sneakers. They clamped on and adjusted to fit, and he felt a slight pressure at the bottom of his feet. He heard the unpleasant melody of Discordance and tried to identify the danger immediately, aside from the entire situation.

John felt a spike of pain in his heel as he climbed out onto the roof and saw that the Nightsister they pulled up next to had already started stabbing at him. “Dosst khel mumbaroe saph natha s'ilnesa's niar!” she exclaimed, and John intercepted it with another Mana Construct shield. The rapier shattered the shield on the first hit, and he realized that he had no chance in combat against her. Especially with his quickly dwindling mana and health.

I’ve gotta try! John thought. Pulling the same trick he had used on her ally, he wrapped a Magic Rope around her and yanked her off the motorbike. The magnetic soles made the difference between this time and the last. Instead of toppling over and nearly losing his ride, he stood tall as she fell over. He flipped off the Mustang, landing hard on his feet next to the Nightsister’s ride.

“Z'lonzic de' dosst tonaik nibeless! F'sarn elggin dos nin!” Her voice cut through the night air of the city streets.

“Our remaining racers are approaching the third obstacle! That is, except for our exhibitionist mystery racer and the last remaining Nightsister! Unfortunately for you ladies out there, he put some clothes on. Now they’re duking it out while everybody else heads into the third obstacle! THE REALITY BENDING MAZE!”

Just want to recharge a little more, John thought as he used a sturdy rod created by Mana Construct to parry as many of the Nightsister’s blows as he could. Her superior Agility and Strength led to her heavily outclassing him. About half her thrusts slipped through, and John watched as his health was reduced to about a quarter.

He was about to use Move and push her back as far as he could when the tattoos on her face and arms started glowing, the light racing from her face to her fingertips. A spell-circle appeared in front of her hand, and John’s body started to freeze over, starting with his legs. He used Disrupting Blast as fast as he could, using the rest of his mana in a burst of Move to knock her back several meters.

Wait a minute John thought as he the ice dissipated, I never used my stat points from that last level-up! I was so concerned with getting back to the apartment and getting my guns that I totally forgot!

I can get my Strength, Agility, AND Endurance up to fifty with these points! I should have done this way earlier! John thought upping his Strength and Endurance to fifty and his Agility to fifty-one. This prompted a flood of pop-ups, just as he thawed out.

Achievement Unlocked: All Fired Up
You’ve achieved a Strength score of fifty or higher! The weak nerd you once were is totally gone. Now you’re just a regular nerd.

• Your muscle mass will now minimally (if at all) increase as a result of Strength
• You have learned “Supreme Lifting”

New Skill, Supreme Lifting, Passive, Level 1
Gain the ability to superhumanly carry objects, such as cars. Has no effect on your striking ****.

Achievement Unlocked: Unbreakable
You’ve achieved an Endurance score of fifty or higher! You’re no glass cannon!

• Your physical body will no longer be affected by increasing your Endurance
• You have learned “Fire Away”

New Skill, Fire Away, Passive, Level 1
Your skin reflexively toughens in retaliation when hit by blunt, slashing, or piercing damage to gain [skill level x 3] Damage Tolerance. May cause recoil damage to those hitting you.

Achievement Unlocked: Don’t Stop Me Now
You’ve achieved an Agility score of fifty or higher! Don’t enter the Olympics. That would be cheating.

• Seriously, don’t use your powers in any mundane competitions
• You have learned “Jump”

New Skill, Jump, Active, Cost: Variable MP (Base: 5), Level 1
Move near-instantaneously to any unobstructed place by spending (Distance in Meters*5) MP. Alternatively, you can spend 5 MP to travel (Skill Level) meters away. Can be used once every (10/Skill Level) seconds, or earlier at double the usual cost. You must have at least one foot against a surface to be able to Jump. Orientation remains the same after using Jump.

John immediately activated Jump, moving next to the motorcycle which happened to be just under three feet away.

Synergy discovered! When you use Jump, an Afterimage will be left behind.

I’ve got him now! His back is turned! The milk skinned fool has breathed his last. Houndiira thrust her sword victoriously through the head of her opponent. His back was turned, and he stood motionless. She gasped as the image faded away… and as he rode away on her motorcycle. She screamed her rage to the city night… and John counted his lucky stars that he couldn’t understand her.

Hopefully that’s the last I see of her. I wonder what’s been counted as me eliminating other racers, because I haven’t actually slain any of these creatures yet. More and more I find myself wondering if they existed before I created these barriers, and more and more I’m glad that I’ve not killed any humanoids I’ve come across. Those goblins totally don’t count, they were like two feet tall, John mused to himself as he saw Jenny and Robert waiting for him at the entrance to a giant portal.

“So this is it?” he called out, pulling up next to them. Jenny took off her helmet, her red hair waving down as she cracked her neck.

“Surely so! With the Firebirds and Nightsisters eliminated, that only leaves The Blur and Doc Brown against us. The Blur will wait at the finish line for anyone with a vehicle, as he always does. He’s made a sport of dismantling cars at the finish line and preventing us from finishing. I’d enter on foot if I wasn’t afraid of him dismantling me.” Robert ranted, revving his engine.

“All we have to do is follow Rob over here to the end of the maze. Says he’s been through it a thousand times before. There’s gonna be monsters in there. It’s not gonna be pretty, Johnny,” Jenny explained, putting her helmet back on. She stuck out a thumbs up as she said, “I can’t wait!”

“Should I get on the roof and fight off any who come?” John asked, looking at the android. His fake cigar puffed a few times as if he were mulling it over.

“That’s a fine idea! With those magnetic soles you should have no problem. Just make sure not to remove both your feet from the vehicle at any time, or you’ll take quite a nasty spill,” a sharp, robotic laugh issued from the android, and he and Jenny readied themselves to drive as John hopped up onto the roof of the Mustang. “Alright, follow my lead!”

The moon disappeared under the cover of the faint glow of portals, and the announcer couldn’t be heard at all through the tears in reality. Luckily, speakers had been installed in each portaled path. “Every racer has entered the final obstacle! Even Doc Brown, whose flux capacitor seems to be on the fritz again! The Blur awaits the other racers at the finish line. Who will be the first to greet him?”

Driving through portals felt strange. All at once his body was distorted, rended a billion pieces, erased from existence, written as pure fantasy, made whole again, and undistorted. John had become abstract and real in a moment. After the first two portals, he got used to the sensation. “Ah, you two take portal sickness quite well! Took me much longer to get used to it myself. Still gives me the willies.”

Sour notes rang in his head, and before John could think about whether or not a machine could even have the willies, an imp dropped onto the car. Its sharp claws dug into the hood and prevented Robert from shaking it off. With a roundhouse kick, it was behind them as they entered another portal. John glanced over to see how Jenny was doing.

A pixie laid on her windshield, smashed to bits like a bug. Behind the three of them, an animal that had the head of a bear, the tail of a lion, and the body of a tiger chased them. Cleaning the pixie off her windshield, John stepped to the back of the car to get the chimera off their tail.

It reared its head back and blew a fireball at John, though the Midnight Duster reduced the damage nearly to zero. John used Sip the Mana to restore a chunk of his mana before using Move to push the heavy creature into a portal to its side. Everything was going smoothly until they drove through the portal ahead.

It deposited them vertically against a road that ran on a wall, gradually curving until they were horizontal again. Overhead, a familiar leather-clad elf dropped onto the roof of the car. “For fuck’s sake!” John exclaimed, and for a moment she was stunned at the venom in the human’s voice. “How did you even catch up to us?” John questioned, conjuring a Mana Construct baseball bat and winding up before slamming her in the torso.

She recovered just in time to parry his blow and retreated to the hood of the car. Knowing that Robert wouldn’t be able to maneuver if both of them obstructed his view, he stayed on the trunk. She appeared to be getting ready to pounce at him, her rapier elongating into a spear and a magic circle appearing over her forehead. Her tattoos lit their brilliant glow once more, and she lunged toward him.

Reflex Mode recharged and ready for use!

Feeling the return of his favorite ability, he immediately activated Reflex Mode, sidestepped her, and hit her in the back with a Fist charged with all his mana… all seventy of it. He heard a sickening crunch as he finally connected a solid hit and watched as she lay in a heap on the road. David fluttered out of him and collected her rapier and helmet, and John wondered if he had just killed an intelligent being. A quick Advanced Spy confirmed she was at the very least still alive for now. He also noticed that her sheet had changed from that of his enemies to the sheets he normally got from people.

I really shouldn’t do this. This whole barrier will go away once I collapse it, but… one potion is an inexpensive resource, and I’ll feel guilty if I don’t. John leapt off the car as Jenny and Robert drove through the last portal. Walking slowly toward the **** drow, he tilted a vial of one of the minor health potions down her throat. Immediately, her fingers flexed and she started showing signs of life. Leaving the empty vial beside her, John sprinted after his teammate and his girlfriend.

Emerging into a stretch of only a few dozen meters at most from the portal to the finish line, he saw that the tires had all been taken off the Mustang a few feet at most from the finish line. Beside it the DeLorean lay in a similar state, an old man with crazy, white hair **** in the driver’s seat. Now that’s a little too familiar, John thought as he scanned the area for Jenny and Robert. He was knocked off his feet by a white and red blur and looked up to see a darkly tanned - or hispanic - young man staring back down at him, displaying a shit-eating grin.