“Never, young master!” Linnaeus cried. “Your selfless heroism even for one not of your kind cannot be easily found again in another. I won’t let you die!”

“Well, it’s either I die, or you die, and if you die, I’m dying anyway, so just use my body as a shield. I’m going down either way,” Lucas said. “This is an order from your ‘young master.’”

Linnaeus let out a loud ca-caw. “So short was my service! I shall not forget you!” the primate shouted, simultaneously letting go of Lucas. Without the added task of trying to make sure Lucas didn’t get hit, or perhaps just without the burden of Lucas’s additional weight, Linnaeus was clearly fast enough to get away from the Multi-Shot; and, as Lucas dropped toward the ground, he was able to see how Linnaeus easily tore through the skies and escaped from danger. Assured of his own death and preparing to respawn, Lucas thankfully appreciated how fast Linnaeus was. Lucas sighed and closed his eyes.

“Don’t freaking think about it!” Viola shouted. A giant Force Shield caught him after only ten to twenty-five feet of freefall.

Lucas slammed down on the shield on the flat of his back, dropping his precious 109 health down to 16 in a second. All of the air was forced out of his lungs, leaving him gasping for breath and writhing in agony, and it felt like his spine had snapped underneath the pressure.

“Yo— b-b—” Lucas gasped out the monosyllabic curses as he sucked in massive breaths. Dying wouldn't have even felt this bad! Why the heck did you keep me alive?! Lucas wanted to yell down to Viola, and it was then that he realized that she was taking this game a lot more seriously than he was. At the moment, only his objective mattered. Yet, as he heard Viola yelling encouragements and forbidding him from crossing over, he felt a little touched.

He stared up at the clouds above him, trying to relax and ignore the sensations wracking his body as his Hit Points continued to fall roughly 1 every two seconds from internal bleeding. There wasn’t anything he could do, so he just lay there and tried to enjoy the breeze across his face as much as he could. He got as low as 7 health before the first heal landed, accompanied by a reproach.

“Stop making me pull out this damn scepter, will you?” Bonnie griped. “How can you give me the best class and still make me use this thing?”

“Sorry,” Lucas apologized half-heartedly. A second Force Shield materialized right on top of the last one, holding Lucas in place and letting him rest a moment longer as he gazed into the expanse. Liu? What the hell? He didn’t know why her face came up or what had been going through his mind when he was trying to stop that feedback from Meddling Minds.