Luther: An Underworld Odyssey

Jack's apartment was almost the exact opposite of his partner's. It's brightly lit with natural lighting from the windows. The furniture is dusted weekly, and the floors are smooth to the touch from their sweeping and waxing. The closet is organized with neatly folded clothing and a plethora of suits on hangars. His bed is made with extra pillows for decoration and comfort. In the kitchen, there are dishes set on a drying rack next to the sink, and the fridge is full of healthy ingredients, bottled water, and meals that are contained and prepped in advance for the week.

Jack stumbled into his apartment. He was exhausted from finishing his most recent job. He stripped out of his suit and tossed it into the trash.

"No idea why I decided to wear light colors to a job," He muttered to himself, almost laughing.

In nothing but his boxers, he took a seat and leaned back into his rocking chair. On the side table were his lighter and pack of cigarettes. He reaches over for them but then changed his mind. A nap began to take priority over a quick smoke. He exhaled out into the silence of his apartment before his eyes slowly begin to drift away to a peaceful slumber.

A few moments of temporary bliss pass, but then the phone rang out. Jack opened his eyes and glanced over at the phone. He'd never wanted to shoot something so badly.

"If it's that important, they can leave a message." Jack said to himself as he made an attempt to fall asleep.

His eyes closed again as gravity weighed down his eyelids. The phone stopped ringing, but no messages were left behind. A few more moments of temporary bliss occurred, but they are interrupted once again by the phone ringing.

Annoyed, Jack grunts and stands up from his chair. He journeys to his bed and lifts the phone off of its switch hook.

"Whatever it is, it better be good," Jack says into the phone.

"It is," Luther replies.

"You always know when to call me – you know that?"

"I do," Luther states.

"And you know one day I'm going to say no."

"One day."

"But I suppose it won't be today…"

"I suppose it won't," said Luther.

Jack let's out an elongated sigh.

"How were the provisions?" asked Luther.

"They're paid off," answered Jack.

There is a momentary pause between the two partners on the phone. Jack rests the phone on his forehead. Now that he is fully awake, his body has decided it wants to prioritize that quick smoke. He returns the phone to his ear.

"You got the kid—" asked Jack.

"—You read the file?" Luther interrupted.

"You know Anderson always approaches me first. I told him he should hand the job over to you. Thought it would be a good fit."

"That's why I like Hernandez."

"Among other reasons," said Jack.

"Yeah, well, I have the kid. Anderson wasn't as jagged as usual when I met with him."

"That's good."

"If you say so," said Luther

"So, partner, what's the plan?"

On the other end of the line, Luther smiled. They appreciated how Jack was always willing to jump into a plan with little resistance. Through good and bad, they were each other's ride or die.

"I have a rental to return. Need a ride back to the dealership," informed Luther.

Jack stood up and grabbed the base of the phone station. He carried it as far as it would go so he could reach for his smokes on the coffee table without leaving the phone.

"Is that it?" asked Jack as he reached for the pack of smokes and lighter.

"Might need someone to go in with me. Make sure there aren't any scratches and that there are no issues with the paperwork."

"Seems easy enough. Are there already any scratches or issues that I should be aware of?" inquired Jack as he sat back on the bed and gave a light to his nicotine bliss.

"No, there aren't any scratches at the moment; but you know how quickly things can change."

"That I do," said Jack as he let out a puff of smoke.

"Don't suppose you can meet me this evening before that Mussolini broadcast?"

"That won't be a problem. Let's get it done."

The two simultaneously hung up. Jack rose back up from his bed and returned to his rocking chair. He knew that there were a few hours to spare before he would have to go back into work; so he wanted to enjoy the little moments and recharge. He set his cigarette in an ash tray and lowered his eyes for a quick nap.

Meanwhile, Luther turned back to Ezio. "Sounds like we're in" they said.

"That's great. I knew I could count on you," he responded reaching out for a handshake.

As the two solidified their deal, a knock rang out from the door to the office. A NLC soldier opened it.

"Sorry to interrupt sir," he said.

"Don't be. What is it?" asked Ezio.

"It's the kid. He's awake and trying to make a fuss. How do you want to handle it?"

Ezio's mask seemed to crack for just a moment. A slight agitation peeked through before he could reseal it shut. Both Ezio and Luther exited the office and entered the waiting room area of the building. Luca was tied up to a chair with his mouth gagged. He wiggled and fought to try and break free; but when he saw Luther and Ezio enter the room, he froze for a moment.

"The boy wants to talk. Come on fellas, who are we to silence him."

Ezio bent down on one knee to become eye level with Luca. He carefully removed the tape from his mouth to allow him to speak. Once the gag was removed, Luca stayed silent and observed the room of people.

"It's alright little Balero. What did you want to say?" Ezio said to Luca, trying to play nice.

Before he could get another word out, Luca quickly let out a spit that flung right into the face of Ezio. In the back of the room, Luther cracked a flash of a grin.

Ezio didn't respond quickly to the hostility and remained somewhat calm. He removed the knife from his boot and lifted it up to Luca's throat. His eyes were the only hint of rage in his body.

"Keep this up and we'll return you as a corpse." Ezio said calmly, but with conviction.

Luca looked back at Luther to see if he was going to do anything, but they just responded with a shrug.

"My arms hurt," said Luca.

"Well that's too bad," Ezio replied.

"It's also hard to breath with that tape over my mouth."

"As long as you behave yourself, I'll make sure my men don't place it back on. Is there anything else?"

"I'm hungry…"

Ezio lowered the knife and placed it back in his boot.

"Luther, would you mind going into my office and grabbing a snack for this young lad. I have some in the second drawer of my desk."

Luther gave a slight nod and went back to Ezio's office. They closed the door and approached the desk. Opening the second drawer, they saw an assortment of snacks. They grabbed a piece of slightly stale bread and a package of peanuts. As they closed the drawer, they took notice that the bottom drawer was slightly open.

Luther, not being one to turn down an opportunity of information, gave it a quick peek. Inside there were some pieces of paper and what seemed like a random assortment of junk, but a smoke bomb and small journal caught their eye. They pocketed the smoke bomb, and gave a quick peek through the journal. It was full of information on different NLC hideouts across Italy. As they wrote down and copied the intel, Luca let out a scream from the other room. Luther tossed everything back to place and slammed the drawer shut. They rushed back into the room to see what caused the commotion. In the other room, Ezio was reattaching the mouth gag to Luca.

"What happened?" asked Luther.

"We had a bit of a spat. Kid was trying to start an ideological argument with us. And then tried to yell out for help when we wouldn't take the bait. So he lost his speaking privileges," Ezio informed.

Luther tossed the snack down in the chair next to Luca. Well, when you want to feed him, here's some food. In the meantime, I'm going to rest up before we have to go.

Ezio gave a small hand signal of approval and Luther entered another one of the offices. They sat in a chair and began to rest their eyes.

Luther awoke in a pool of shallow water. They sat up and glanced around at their surroundings. There was nothing in any direction outside of the setting sun. An empty void of light. As the sun set. Luther felt gravity begin to get heavier. They couldn't tell if the ground was sinking in, or if the water was rising, but it slowly began to rise to their shoulders.

A slight panic began to set in. They stood to their feet, but the water rose with them. Soon, they were standing with the water almost completely washed over them. The sun continued to lower until it was nearly set.

They felt a slight tap from the back of their head. As they turned, they saw Jack. He was standing on top of the water, able to walk on top of it. Luther attempted to reach their arm out for help, thinking that perhaps Jack could lift them up; but the gravity had grown too heavy. They were locked in place, and they could feel their knees beginning to buckle under the pressure.

"Don't suppose you can help me out here?" Luther asked letting out a grunt of stress from their body.

Jack didn't respond. They just continued to stare at the sun as it finished setting.

"Jack?" said Luther.

Darkness started to engulf the void. As it came closer, Jack finally turned to Luther. They didn't smile, or reach out to help their partner, but instead remained stone-faced.

Slowly, Jack raised his foot above Luther and used it to push them below the water. Unable to move or fight back, Luther felt helpless as the water began to break its way into their body. What was only a few moments felt like hours as Luther drowned and began to black out. In those last few moments of consciousness, Jack turned his back to Luther and walked away.

Luther regained sentience from the temporary death. This time, they were on the outskirts of a battlefield. They felt a quick shot of pain in their legs, unable to do nothing but crawl. Beside them was a burning vehicle and a couple of dead soldiers. They crawled away from the wreckage and reached for a nearby pistol. There was something in the distance, but Luther couldn't get a clear view of it. Their vision was blurry from pain previously felt.

This creature took notice of Luther. As it approached, Luther took notice of the blade in its hand and blood splattered across its torn clothing. Luther lifted the gun and attempted to shoot the looming threat, but the gun was jammed.

The creature kicked Luther onto their back and mounted on top of them. The red eyes of the threat pierced into Luther's soul. It terrified them. They lifted their hands to try and protect themselves, but the knife came down and stabbed into their abdomen. As Luther flinched, they blinked and swapped consciousness with the creature. Now they were the one mounted on top, hurling the blade into the threat. But instead of the monster being beneath them, it was just another soldier. A man no older than early twenties. Their green eyes strained as the last remnants of a soul left.

Luther lifted the knife up and rose to their feet. They looked around at the nearby battlefield, but there weren't any signs of life. A haze began to wash over the landscape and they tossed the knife aside and walked further in. The haze became thicker and thicker until Luther was unable to see beyond a few feet. The fog felt dense and humid; almost suffocating.

Suddenly, Luther awoke again. This time they were back in the office chair. A knock rang out from the door. Jack's voice broke through.

"Luther, it's time to wake up. Mussolini is about to give his address and everyone is crowding around the television."

Luther, snapping to their senses, stood up from the chair and walked out of the office. Their body still acclimating to reality.