Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

Oliver struggled not to laugh as he watched the group split up. It almost felt too easy, but he knew it could have just as easily gone differently... Especially if any of them actually had the sense to listen to the bodyguard, Rodney. His entire analysis of the situation was spot on. He honestly wasn't sure he had a way to deal with the ex-soldier. Though, Oliver's respect for the man would have been a touch higher if he hadn't just broken one of the cardinal rules in both gaming and horror movies(which, considering they were in some spooky woods, in the middle of nowhere, on Halloween, was extra amusing).

Never split the party.

He watched as the group gradually marched further and further away, his ears easily picking up Carl's furious mutters and Jess's attempts to placate her boyfriend. The unfortunate recipient of his trap sat quietly on the ground, a damp cloth pressed to his eyes. Oliver was honestly surprised the trap had worked so well, and could only imagine the chaos the few other traps he made further along the path would cause.

Once the larger group was too far away to see, he carefully sneaked closer to within just a few yards of the antagonizing duo. Watching from behind a nearby tree, he soon saw his opportunity. Carl brushed off his girlfriend and began angrily pacing, staring deeper into the woods the entire time. Jess, pouting at being ignored, stomped away from him to lean against a tree- the very tree Oliver hid behind.

He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when she failed to notice him. The moment Carl's back was turned, Oliver struck. Reaching out, he clamped a hand over Jess's mouth and yanked her behind the tree. Before she even realized what was happening, he had already applied a simple choke hold. Remembering what Poli had taught him, he carefully applied pressure to both sides of Jess's neck, limiting the blood flow to the brain. What felt like and eternity, but was really less than 30 seconds, passed before Jess slumped unconscious. With a thought, he tossed her unceremoniously into the system warehouse.

Peeking out from behind the tree again, he was relieved to see that neither of the two men had noticed anything. His mind raced through ideas and plans for how to deal with Carl without further involving his injured companion. As angry as he was about the group coming to attack him, he knew that Carl and Jess were the real problem. The rest were just idiots who got pulled into their grudge.

A small smile cross Oliver's face when he settled on a plan. Why go and attack Carl when it would be so much easier to bait the hot-headed fool into attacking him? Silently circling the pair, Oliver moved a good distance to the side to put himself on the same line Carl was pacing. Holding the small rock he picked up, he took aim and threw it as hard as he could. It had been some time since Oliver last played baseball, but with his target directly in front of him and his increased attributes he felt confident.

And when Oliver saw the result, he immediately thanked his improved Luck.

Just as Carl turned in his pacing, the rock struck his hand holding the flashlight. With a loud curse, Carl dropped the flashlight, his head snapping up to look in the direction the rock had come from. Seeing Oliver wave casually before disappearing behind a tree, he charged over directly, waving a baseball bat while shouting. “You fucking chicken shit! When I catch you I'm going to kill you!”

Oliver darted away, moving at an angle back toward the road. Every time he started to lose his pursuer, he paused to throw another rock and wave, stoking Carl's anger to near berserk levels. Once he was sure he had led him far enough, Oliver ducked around several trees in rapid succession before dropping quietly behind some dense bushes. Taking slow, deep breaths, he listened as the stomping and shouted curses drew closer and closer. Reaching into the system warehouse once more, he pulled out one of the emergency preparations he made just for dealing with Carl: a stun gun. Simple, non-lethal, but effective.

Oliver stuck a foot out just as Carl went charging past, sending the man face first into the dirt and grass. Before his opponent could recover, he slammed the stun gun into his back and triggered it, sending electricity coursing through his body. Carl grunted as his whole body locked up from the shock, and Oliver didn't hesitate to trigger it again.

Putting away the stun gun, Oliver watched him writhe in pain for a moment before dropping his full weight onto the center of Carl's back. Wrapping an arm around Carl's throat, he slowly applied pressure as he leaned in and spoke in a patronizing tone. “You know Carl, I never really messed with you. Jess cheated on me with you, then dumped me for you. It sucked, but that's life.”

“But me letting go of it and moving on wasn't good enough for you two. You wanted me to be hurt and miserable. For some reason, you wanted me to suffer. I never understood that.” A swift punch to the side of Carl's head stopped his struggles, and Oliver carried on as if nothing happened. “So, the two of you have spent months harassing me, spreading rumors, and just generally being shitty people. I tried to warn you. I told you to leave me alone. But you didn't listen.”

“Now, what do I do with you?”

Oliver voice turned cold and venomous. “I could just kill you. It would be pretty easy at this point, and would definitely stop your bullshit. But if you die here, I'm the obvious suspect. Yeah, I could probably get a good lawyer and plead self defense. But that's not guaranteed to work. To many variables. And honestly, you aren't worth that much of a headache.”

Oliver suddenly clamped down with his arm around Carl's neck, cutting off the flow of blood to his brain. “It's better if you just quietly disappear, lost in the woods and never to be found. I'm sure it will still cause me problems, but with no body and no evidence...”

Oliver suppressed a sigh of relief when he threw Carl into the warehouse. He knew there was still too much to do, and the danger was far from over. With almost a dozen people still hunting for him, he needed to get moving. And that meant more running. He hadn't run so much in years. But, with his improved Vitality, it didn't feel nearly as strenuous as it once did.

It was almost fun.

Jogging along the side of the road, Oliver nearly dove into the woods again when headlights rounded the corner ahead of him. When the car suddenly braked and flashed its lights, he hesitated just long enough for it to pull up beside him. As the window rolled down, he nearly laughed out loud in relief when he saw who was driving.

“Yo, Oli!” Concern was written clearly on Tyrone's face as he spoke from behind the wheel. “You okay man? Your truck break down or something?”

Oliver leaned on the passenger road to catch his breath. The running may have started out fun, but he quickly realized that his body still had its limits. After a moment to collect himself, he shook his head and spoke quickly. “Shit, am I glad to see you man. Think you can drive me somewhere with cell signal? I need to call the cops... and my girlfriend, so she doesn't kill me.”

Tyrone didn't hesitate to unlock the door and wave Oliver in. Spinning the car around quickly, he started driving even as he spoke. “Bro, what the hell happened that you need the cops?”

Oliver sank into the seat gratefully, keeping an eye on the mirrors to watch behind them. “Fucking Carl. Him and his goons spiked my tires, then chased me into the woods. With bats and tire irons and stuff.” He grimaced slightly. “Carl's bodyguard even had a pistol. That asshole Carl was yelling shit about breaking my legs and killing me.”

Tyrone's eyes widened in alarm as they darted up to check the mirrors as well. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and carefully sped up just a little more. “Holy shit Oli! He really went off the deep end like that?” One glance at Oliver's grim expression answered the question better than words ever could. “Fucking hell man! Seriously, are you okay? How did you get away from them?”

Oliver's cold chuckle sent shivers down his friend's back. For a moment, Tyrone wondered if he really knew Oliver as well as he thought he did. Those thoughts quickly disappeared when Oliver spoke calmly. “I just used a few small tricks to distract them and sent them chasing after a false trail. Then I doubled back to the road and started running.” He shrugged slightly, a touch of humor entering his voice. “It's possible they could get lost in the woods for a while though. Maybe long enough for the cops to show up and deal with them. At least, I hope they do.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes, Oliver watching his phone for even a single bar of signal. The moment he had it, he made the call.

“I've already explained this several time, Officer.” Oliver barely restrained the boiling fury in his tone as he glared at the look of condescension and disbelief on the officer's face. “This isn't just some good ol' boys getting rowdy after a few drinks. They chased me. Into the woods. With weapons.”

He threw up his hands in disgust, resisting the urge to tear out his own hair at this stupidity. “One of them had a gun for fucks sake! They were yelling about killing me! And you're acting like its just some harmless mischief? That is the dumbest fucking-”

“Oli!”

The fire of Oliver's anger was snuffed out in an instant at the sound of the familiar voice filled with love and concern. A bright smile lit up his face as he turned to see Polina jogging his way from the police car that had just pulled up. He couldn't help glancing at her uniform, appreciating the way it fit her. And equally appreciating the blush his look caused. When she stopped a few feet from him, he resisted the urge to hug her, knowing she wanted to maintain at least a semblance of professionalism.

“I'm so glad you're here Poli. Can you please help me explain to Officer Mayberry here-”

“Its Officer Mayfield. And I-”

Oliver spoke over him without hesitating, a tinge of anger returning to his voice. “-that a dozen men, armed with baseball bats and a gun and chasing me into the woods, is not just some rowdy boys getting up to a little mischief. It's a lethal fucking threat! Especially when they are yelling about killing me!”

Polina's hand on his shoulder stopped him cold. He could practically feel both fear and anger radiating from her when her hand trembled slightly, though not a scrap of it was heard in her voice. “We already have officers down at the vehicles, checking everything out. Franklin is handling it, and he's already seen where someone tampered with your tires.” Turning to face Officer Mayfield, she quickly tried to smooth things over. “I get why you would lean towards college kids just getting into a little trouble, but we still need to approach this without any sort assumptions. If what Mr. Silk has said is the truth, the investigation will reflect that.”

Pulling Oliver away from the other officer before another argument could start, she leaned closer to him, clearly struggling not to hug him. “Are you okay Oli? I've only heard bits about whats going on.” She grimaced slightly, shaking her head in frustration. “I had to excused myself from being part of the investigation as soon as I heard you were involved.”

“I'm okay, hon. I lost them in the woods pretty quick, so they didn't really get a chance to do anything to me.”

She shook her head with a smile. “I can see you're fine, at least physically. But something like this... It can mess with you in other ways. You know I'm here for you if it does, right?” Seeing the gratitude and affection in Oliver's eyes, she knew he understood. They simply shared a look for a moment before she spoke again. “So, what happened?”

“Carl.”

His one word answer was enough to elicit a frustrated groan from her. “Of course it was him.” She stared at the ground, hands planted on her hips. “I did some looking after you told me about him. The reason he got off so easy before, even though he put you in the hospital... His family has connections in the state government. A few phone calls, and all he got was a slap on the wrist.”

Oliver could hear the disgust and anger in her tone. As someone wholeheartedly dedicated to helping people, Polina hated this kind of corruption. Letting someone so violent go just because of family connections went completely counter to what she believed.

Oliver's hand on her shoulder stopped her spiraling thoughts, and his reassuring smile calmed her easily. “It's okay Poli. I have faith that the system will deal with him soon enough.”