Judy
*Not on my watch!*
Kohm's world slowed as he ran through his options.
Firestorm. Strong and hard to beat, but the attack radius is too large
Snapping Vine. Quiet, but slow.
Clawed Chain. Loud, but fast, and will knock people off balance.
A split second passed
Kohm's arms move, through motions that remained familiar despite muscle memory forever lost, and the clinking sounds of a metal chain soon followed, as an iron claw shot straight at the Highwayman's back.

```155/170 mana. Clawed Chain (15)```
Cora
Oh.
Fog is still up but clearing, and the Craven is still knocked down from the kick.

```The Highwayman was about to deal a killing blow, but he senses an abnormally rapid approach from behind - because somebody is running at high speed, towards him, through a dense fog. He realises Kohm is unaffected by the spell.
He turns around and assesses the situations then noticing the clawed chain coming towards him. The Highwayman brings up his Ono axe and blocks the clawed chain with the flat side of the two-headed weapon. He then brings it down into a two-handed stance with the weapon held to his right, and just stares at Kohm.
Before one could even consider what the Highwayman was doing, the fog starts twisting and moving abnormally towards him and slowly enveloping the body... Becoming extremely dense. Because of this, the fog that has filled the maze is clearing up, allowing the other officers to see and they quickly find their way to Kohm, to find that the Highwayman is fleeing with the dense cloud.
"We can't let him get away," The scared one says with spirit. He tries to stand, but the kick that knocked the wind out of him is keeping him grounded. The last officer, the unnamed one with the same weapon as Harold, rushes over to aid him.
"I'll help him recover and we'll go outside with the other hostage," She says. "Go kick his ass."
Lee, Harold, Manfred, and Kohm are all that's left of the ground, but these two are definitely safe. The Highwayman is 'fog running' back to that first area. Time for a chase.```
Judy
Kohm nods solemnly, and quickly makes off, waving the rest to follow his footsteps.
He doesn't know if the Highwayman was earnestly trying to make his getaway or lure them into a trap, but regardless of what he was up to, the only way to stop him was to follow.
Cora
```The three officers follow with Kohm back towards the first area. The Highwayman happens to run faster than all of them, and manages to escape sight for a short time, but not nearly long enough for them to lose him.
When the group rounds the corner and enters the machine area again, they see that the fog is only just now starting to head down... Into the machine. The Highwayman appears to have the ability to dematerialise and travel through non-opaque substances and gaps, given some obvious conditions. Judging by how long it took before when Kohm confronted him, the Highwayman likely does not have the ability to use this spell during combat, so they shouldn't concern themselves with being 'nothing personal kid'd when they're fighting.
So this leaves the final path - down the trapdoor, which Kohm earlier discovered leads into the area below the machine, and he and Lee realised leads to an illegal underground area.
Lee heads to the trapdoor and leads the group to it, then pulls it open. "Manfred, you first with the shield, Harold last." She says. Clever idea - the two best defensive options take the lead and the rear to protect the herd. Kohm can go in before or after Lee, it's his decision, but Harold is always in the back.```
Judy
Kohm looks at Lee and shrugs, before moving behind her. Not much to think about in this case, she was the leader of this little operation, after all. He was more concerned about the machine itself- again, no one knew would be waiting down there. The uncanny abilities displayed by the Highwayman only worry more, but Kohm shoves any worry to the back of his head, focusing on the task on hand.
Cora
```Manfred leads the flock with his shield high in the lead, with sword-and-dagger Lee behind him, Kohm after, and lawbringing Harold at the back of the group. The man of action keeps watch backwards as they move, with his halberd horizontal, or as much as possible, in the passage.
That this is not just an underside to the machine and actually leads somewhere was known due to the blueprints, but still concerning. What are they supposed to expect?
In fact, Lee takes out that sheet of blueprints and tries to analyse that secret floor level... See if there's any markings that could indicate what if's for. She tries her best to not clog up the way with the paper, only having what she needs of the blueprints folded out.```
Judy
"What do you see?" Kohm whispers, as he uses his tremorsense to scope out the place. They were well and truly on the Highwayman's own playing field now, the illegal construction only making it more uneasy for him.