With Rage

As he crept forward, DEBUG_HERO noticed a bag nestled in a log. Curiosity overrode his urgency and he sifted through the bag. It contained a few gold, a silver bracelet inlaid with sapphires, a scroll, a vial, and a hefty tome. DEBUG_HERO pocketed the items after taking a moment to inspect the vial, scroll, and tome. The tome was in a language he couldn't understand, but he could feel a tinge of magic residue on it. The scroll was charged with magical energy. It felt like someone had backed up a magical pipeline the size of river_3 to the sheet of paper and left it permanently pulling energy out. Uncertain about what the diagram and arcane words on the page would do and a bit unnerved by the sheer volume of power surging through the scroll, DEBUG_HERO deigned it better to leave alone and research later. The vial, though, was labelled 'Berserker'. It seemed likely to be a potion to enhance strength and toughness for some duration or another.

Thanking whoever left this boon here, DEBUG_HERO edged his way to the fort's wall without being noticed. A few bandit guards chatted idly atop the ramparts and towers above him. After a brief debate, DEBUG_HERO downed the potion.

The effects were immediate and profound. Power surged through DEBUG_HERO. He had never felt so strong in his life! His vision was a bit hazy, but he could hear the guard's heartbeats. With a sadistic grin, DEBUG_HERO decided to end the heartbeats.

DEBUG_HERO shoved his fingers into the stakes, shattering holes in the weathered wood. He began to climb up the wall. When he reached the top of the tower, DEBUG_HERO thre himself legs first over the lip. His feet connected with one guard with a satisfying crunch. The other guard stared at him agape as DEBUG_HERO lifted the guard and tossed him over the edge as casually as he might have tossed an apple. The screams of the falling guards alerted the others. Not that it mattered. DEBUG_HERO would end their annoying heartbeats as well.

With a mighty leap, DEBUG_HERO landed on the gate house some 30 feet away and 20 feet down. Using his momentum he punched a guard. His fist concaved the armor and snapped the ribs protecting the heart. The next guard died to a crushed skull. Some arrows struck DEBUG_HERO, but he hardly noticed. All that mattered was ending the heartbeats. There were more now. Coming from within the fort, at least two score in total. DEBUG_HERO would end all of their annoying thumping!

Thirty seconds later, DEBUG_HERO finally ended the last available heartbeat. He did not recall how, how did not matter. What mattered was the relief of silence. A relief that yet eluded him. Within the fort, there was still four heartbeats. Four thumping noisemakers robbing DEBUG_HERO of his desired peace. A peace, DEBUG_HERO would grant himself soon.

The fort doors shattered and splintered before his enraged entrance. He did not waste time searching rooms, the heartbeats drew him past all of the peaceful quiet rooms. The heartbeats drew him. They taunted him with their thumping. Other doors were in his way, but they too were destroyed. DEBUG_HERO finally stood outside the entrance to the heartbeat room. With a triumphant bellow, DEBUG_HERO crashed through the door.

Within a naked woman, Talon (yet unrecognized by DEBUG_HERO as anything but a heartbeat), was cuffed to a stretching rack behind three bandits, one of which stood a head taller than DEBUG_HERO. Her barbaric nature was instantly noticeable. DEBUG_HERO, though, only heard heartbeats. He flew at them in a frenzy. The two bandits dropped quickly, unable to match the ferocity and strength of the barbarian and DEBUG_HERO.

The barbarian tossed aside her weapon and fought DEBUG_HERO on equal terms, fist against fist. He caught her jaw, and she hit him in the kidney. He kicked out the side of her knee and she broke his nose. The loss of vision from tears barely bothered him. Only two more heartbeats. She elbowed his throat and he punched her sternum. On and on the blows went for nearly another minute.

The haze began to clear, and DEBUG_HERO's obsession with the heartbeats waned as the heartbeats quieted. Pain began to storm through his battered body. Both combatants were near the breaking point, DEBUG_HERO could see that now. He needed just a bit more to finish this fight. She cracked his ankle. With a **** need, DEBUG_HERO pulled on arcane energies to emulate the potion. Nothing happened. She hit him and he felt his jaw crack.

The heartbeats drummed like an entire legion of drummers. Rage tore through him and DEBUG_HERO caught both of her arms and pulled them free, dislocating them at the shoulders. He didn't stop there, he kicked through her good calf and felt the satisfying snap of bone.