That Lucky Jerk (On Hold)

Chapter 5: The Escape

"Mama, I'm comin' home!" Eric called out when the executioner's ax was directly above the man's head. However, as soon as it started coming down, a flock of doves suddenly flocked to the balcony, blinding the man at the last moment before the ax that was already falling went to the side and instead hit the shackle around Eric's left ankle.

"Alright, one more and we're good to go!" Eric called out cheerfully, punching the executioner in the stomach with all of the strength of a newborn child before he quickly hid behind Fiva.

"He's free! Stop him!" One of the guards called out, and Bear seemed to want to trap him as well as she and Sera withdrew their swords and May withdrew a staff. Though as they moved, the executioner raised his ax to attack again, this time no longer blinded as he attempted to kill both of the prisoners with a downward strike, only to instead hit the shackle around Fiva's ankle now as she dodged the majority of the blow.

"What now?" Fiva asked as she looked frantically between Eric and the approaching guards.

"Now we run, of course." Eric stated before he leaned down and grunted as he picked the small yet extremely heavy Fiva up in his arms. "You know, you weigh a lot for looking like you're made of sticks."

"Shut up and run!" Fiva replied, though Eric could only run to the side of the balcony as there were guards everywhere else.

"Give it up! There's no where for you to run!" Bear declared.

"Ha, that's cute how you think that!" Eric laughed as he backed towards the railing. "Ladies and gentlemen, you may have been excited, but all of your efforts will be fruitless! And you will always remember today as the day that you almost caught-"

His speech ending as he finally tripped over the side of the balcony and fell backwards, Fiva let out a scream as they fell before he wrapped his arms around her and angled his back downwards. Though rather than dying, he felt a sharp pain on his back as their fall was eventually interpreted by wooden roof before they fell a large and surprisingly deep pool filled with water and lobsters that had been on sale in the central square's market.

"Fiva, are you alive?" Eric asked as soon as he made sure that he was alive too.

"Yes, but what now?" Fiva asked as she climbed out of the lobster tank, and while Eric did the same, he couldn't help but yelp as several of the lobsters specifically aimed for his backside with their claws as he left them. Though thankfully he was able to remove them once he was out of the pool.

"Now-" Eric started before he jumped onto Fiva's tiny back. "-carry me senpai!"

"Wha-?! Why are you-?!" Fiva asked in surprise, though she hesitated to finish her question. "Why are you so light?!"

"Because reasons!" Eric shouted excitedly. "Now onward, to the main gate and to freedom!"

"The main gate?! Are you serious?!" Fiva asked in shock.

"Just go and don't stop for anything!" Eric insisted, and she thankfully seemed to either resign herself to trust him or resign herself to death as she grabbed his legs so that he didn't fall off and began to run through the startled crowds that were all yelling at them. And despite all of the food being thrown at them, Eric couldn't help but smile as Fiva did her heritage of being a cat girl proud by demonstrating remarkable agility in evading the projectiles. Though he would've appreciated it if she'd remembered that she had a passenger, seeing as she didn't bother to dodge any of the fruit and vegetables that normally would have flew over her head which ended up pelting him.

"Stop right there!" A girl shouted from somewhere, and Eric turned his head to see that Bear and her friends were somehow already down from the balcony and running after them through the crowds.

"Must go faster! Must go faster!" Eric urgently patted Fiva's shoulder as he realized the the hero was gaining on them.

"There are guards in front of us!" Fiva replied, and Eric looked forward to see that they weren't quite in their way yet, though the guards were mobilizing to stop them.

"Please please please!" Eric asked to no one in particular while holding both of his hands above him, eventually receiving an answer from someone as one of the many pieces of produce that were being thrown at them landed in his palm and he managed to catch it. Though now came the difficult part as he threw the tomato that he'd caught forward towards where the guards were running. And while he missed his targets terribly, the guards didn't appear to be watching their footing as the first slipped on the now still tomato and tripped, causing a domino effect for those behind him as all of the guards piled on top of each other.

"Score!" Eric shouted excitedly before he heard something hiss over his head and he reached up and grabbed his hair to realize that he'd had an unexpected haircut.

"Hey, what the heck, Bear!? My looks and my hair are the only things that I have!" Eric cried as the hero attempted to cut him again but missed as Fiva evaded her.

"Shut up! And my name isn't Bear!" Bear cried behind him with a look of absolute embarrassment on her face. Though she wasn't the only one embarrassed as even he knew that he most likely looked ridiculous while being carried by a child half his size through the crowded streets of Baleford.

"The gate is closing ahead!" Fiva warned, and Eric's attention was once again drawn to the front as an iron portcullis was slowly closing in front of them.

"What are you doing?! Get that portcullis closed!" Eric heard the guards shout to each other even from nearly a block away.

"It's stuck on something!" The other guard replied, though this was perfect for them as Eric and Fiva made their way to the gates with the few guards that were attempting to block them suddenly tripping on seemingly nothing before the cat girl jumped over them and eventually ran beneath the portcullis. Though as soon as they'd made it through, the gate finally fixed itself and the portcullis shut instantly, blocking Bear as she and her friends attempted to get through.

"Good job Fiva! We made it!" Eric laughed as the little girl focused on her breathing beneath him.

"Not yet!" She replied soon, making him curious as to what she meant before several arrows that that had been fired from the guards at the walls soon fell around them.

"Oh, don't worry about those." Eric waved the problem away before a few landed just a few feet away from them.

"How can I not worry?!" Fiva yelled in reply, and Eric smirked as two arrows that were headed directly towards them suddenly hit each other and ended up missing by a wide margin.

"Because I'm amazing, that's why." Eric answered. "Now head towards the forest! We'll lose them there!"

"Hai!" Fiva yelled in acknowledgement before the two ran though the first of the woods and disappeared from the sight of all of those that had been watching them.