They stood across the door once more. That huge heavy door, with that mist wolf beyond it. Spike swallowed hard. Last time they approached this door, they were unprepared but apparently 100% confident.

Spike couldn’t help a little nervousness this time. Last time they were unprepared… but it had barely been a week. He worried they couldn’t possibly have gotten better enough in one week to do this, could they? They could have gathered more gear, more training, more time in the field.. They could have--

“What are we waiting for?!” Garble roared, stepping ahead of Spike, shoving the door. “We’re wasting time here, let’s go!”

The door opened into the same misty room, and the rest of the party looked at each other, and followed Garble into the doors. The thin mist wafted patiently, and after they got past the walls, the wolf, the mist streaming off of it, remained.

There was no pause, as soon as the wolf could see them, it started running across the room, and the party brandished their weapons, waiting for him to approach.

But Garble couldn’t wait. He walked out front, discarding his sheath.

“Wait, Gar--” Spike started, but almost as soon as he started talking, Garble began to walk faster.

“Last time you made me run--” His electric blade sparked twice. “Lame” Another spark. “--Shame--” A brighter spark, and two sparkst that ran across his blade, with lower noises. “--My name defamed.”

He bobbed his blade to the beat the sparks were making. “But I won’t be outdone.” The sparks intensified in rhythm. “I am second to none. And when this is done--” He brought the blade up high, the lightning crackling from a rhythm to a constant thrum, as the wolf was galloping at a full run, snarling and . “--You’ll see I have won!”

The battle was begun with a crackling slash, a blast of lightning not just from the blade but brought down from some unseen place above him slamming directly into the wolf and causing it to be blasted off course, rolling off to the side.

Smolder caught up with her brother. “That one was a lot bigger than the one last time, Gar-Gar.”

Garble cracked a manic grin. “My rhyme was way more awesome, too.”

"Aiden, time to light up a foggy morning." With a great cry, her bird flared into being and took off like a bolt, flames washing out in hungry consumption of the mist to turn it back, even if for a moment. "I'll keep it from calling for help."

"Roger." Spike twirled his staff as he raised his shield on his other arm. "We're ready for you, this time."

The wolf was not impressed by their words or deeds, scrambling upright and lunging for Garble, great jaws gnashing with the force to sever steel, or take a chunk out of Garble's left leg before he could get out of the way.

Both he and Spike hissed in pain, but Spike was already speaking words of healing, and Garble refused to let the pain, or the blood, slow him down, turning with the great strike to bring his sword back in, the crack of lightning echoing off the sheets of flames in a curious display of elemental fury.

"Transfusion!" shouted Spike, thrusting his staff forward, great waves of energy drawing from the wolf, dispersing out across himself and Garble. "No bleeding on my watch."

"Bleeding?!" suddenly cut in Twilight. "Spike, what are you doing?"

The question would go unanswered as Smolder dashed along the wolf's exposed flank, drawing a red line with her extended knife. "You're going to make a fine meal for us to celebrate."

With a howl, the canine snapped at Smolder, but instead of delectable dragon flesh, its jaws closed down painfully on a stout staff, Spike having jumped in the way and blocked it. "Not today."

Fire rained on all of them, burning away at the wolf's wispy nature and warming the dragons pleasantly, at least from their point of view. Garble was laughing as he circled around the other way from his sister. "Is this what scared? We weren't prepared. Now we have it all. So if you please, Victory we'll seize--" He brought his great blade in a two handed swing, the sharp elementally charged metal biting into the dog's leg, knocking it down and almost cleaving it off. "You'll be taking the fall."

Spike bounced back, no longer holding his staff. It was rolling away, yanked free by the wolf's sudden thrashing, but he didn't look overly worried about it. With a sudden motion as if tossing a ball violently, he hurled a ball of angry white light at the downed wolf, pelting it with attacks without his staff. "Kinda busy."

"Spike?" Twilight sounded concerned, clearly not seeing what was going on. "Are you alright?"

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Even as Spike lunged to get his staff back in his hands, the wolf brought down a great paw, catching Smolder in the shockwave and sending her flying with a yelp. It was trying to get back on its feet when a great column of rock jut up beside it, quickly taking a humanoid form as it grabbed it by the back of the neck and shoved it back down. About ten feet away, Sandra had a look of concentration, her hand in a similar pose as the golem, focusing on the action.

Garble hopped up, wings flapping as he ascended the back of the wolf. "Served up like a sacrifice, not gonna ask the selling price, one cut, two cut, four cuts? Nah. Just one final shot, dealt raw." He brought down his great blade just where past where the rocky fist was holding it, digging wetly into the dog's flesh, electricity arcing, almost splashing around as he dug deep.

He had envisioned lopping its head clean off. That would have been so great. He only made it halfway, alas. On the plus side, the canine's fight faded in spastic twitches, life fleeing it almost instantly. "Huh, good enough." He ran his blade through the air, cleaning it before he thrust it back into its sheath. "Hey, Sis, you up for--"

His question was interrupted by sudden bright light. The fog was gone, replaced with pure white light and a soft choir from nowhere in particular. The tower had recognized their victory. "Yoink." Smolder had returned from where she had been flung, grabbing the great body of the wolf and smashing into an equally large cauldron, sized to fit her intended target. "Is this even the same dog that sent us running?"

Sandra clapped her hands. "Great job. Gather everything up." Her golem was fading away, its need concluded. Aiden was nowhere to be seen. "Wow, we did great!"

"Every--" Spike looked around wildly, but there it was, at the far end of the room where the mists had concealed it. "Oh, yeah." A great collection of strange materials and a deceptively simple door. "Guess it's time to go on to the next floor. Hey, will we have to fight--"

"--You're fighting? What are you fighting?" came Twilight's voice for only Spike to hear.

"--it again? I mean, if we recall and come back." He hiked a thumb back at the column they had teleported to. "That sounds annoying."

Garble huffed. "Sure sounds like we need to get up to 20 then. Whatever, that puppy wasn't so bad the second time around."

"It'll make a great lunch," assured Smolder as she stirred her pot. "I'll be busy a little while, plan to cook this up proper. Why don't you gather up the stuff?"

"Spike!"

He jumped at the loud voice. "Oh! Hey, Twilight."

"Hey yourself." Twilight sighed softly. "Everything's alright then?"

"Better than alright." He gave a thumbs up she surely couldn't see as he began a soft jog towards their loot. "We just beat up the level ten boss."

"Level ten boss?" she echoed with confusion. "This isn't a game of O&O, Spike."

"But it kinda is," he argued, reaching for the various bits and bobs, stuffing them away. "We're basically living a big game of O&O. Minus the scary parts, it's pretty interesting. We get stronger, fight stronger things, you know how that goes."

"Spike... I... You could get hurt," she got out in almost a whimper. "For real hurt..."

"And I couldn't with you?" he retorted with a frown that eased almost as quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap, but I've been in danger more of my life than not, it feels like. The only difference is, this time, it's my adventure, not yours. You didn't run away from yours. I'm not running from mine."

"Is that your pony princess?" asked Garble as he joined in the looting fun. "Tell her I said whatever."

Spike snickered at that. "Garble says whatever. Which I'm pretty sure is his way of saying hi."

"Hello, Garble," Twilight replied. "I... am glad you're all together, at least. Spike... I don't mean to... I'm just worried, as a friend. As a big sister."

Spike smiled a little, though his eyes were on a hat. He grabbed up the conical thing that looked made for a wizard. "Hey, Sandra?"

"What is--Oh! What do you have there?" She closed distance and accepted the hat as given, examining it intently. "Nice! This time the prime pick is caster gear instead of a big sword." She popped it on her head, turning left and right. "Doesn't quite fit the robes, but we're not in here to look good."

Smolder reached into the cauldron, not coming back covered in goop but instead drawing a pile of plates, each with a metal cap. The cauldron vanished as she started sauntering over with a victorious grin. "Looks like Garble gets to look forward to being eligible for something good again."

"About time!" He slung his sword properly on his back as he approached Sandra. "It isn't as cool looking as the sword."

"It really isn't," she easily agreed. "But the stats'll help us get through the next set of floors, so I'm not complaining." She reached up and tilted it a little. "Not everyone can get cool swords like you, Garble."

"Darn tootin'." He crossed his arms, looking quite smugly satisfied. "So what's for lunch?"

"Grilled doggy flank!" She set a plate before each of her party members, the plate floating in air patiently. "Don't ask how I grill something by boiling it. Probably the same way Sandra makes rocks dance." She gave a soft shrug, holding the final place. "Bon appetit and all that." She raised one hand to make a popping sound against her lips, chuckling softly.

Spike held the plate in one hand, the other by his head. "Twilight? We're gonna have some lunch, then push on. We have a tower to beat to get home. Oh, hey." He was looking at the others again. "Do we have to fight that each time we hop back up?"

Sandra pointed past them all to the door. "There should be another column on the other side, so we can hop up past the boss in the future. Now, I know we're all feeling good, and we should! We did good, everyone, but it's going to get harder." She pulled the metal cap off her plate, steam and fragrance teasing her nose. "Oh, this smells good. Smolder, you outdid yourself."

"The chef accepts your compliment," she got out between her own eager chomps of her food, clearly enjoying her own creation. "More eating, less talking."

Twilight could hear Spike's delighted laughter, and his kind words with his friends. Whatever danger he was in, he seemed to be enjoying himself despite it all. He was having an adventure, his adventure.

And she wasn't part of it. She sagged softly in place, wings wilting on her back. With a wave of a hoof, she dispelled the connection for the moment. "Spike..."

She turned back to a heavy tome, willing it to the next page, covered in heavy runic scrawls and her quill dancing just beside it.