The new dungeon was apparently located right in the middle of Downtown Dallas. The Dallas World Aquarium was not somewhere people would normally consider going during the apocalypse. One team had found the dungeon by accident. They had been chasing down a group of goblins hiding in the building when they found it.

"So you really are forcing me to go?" Brian asked now almost sulking about the prospect of being put in danger.

"Oh, come on, Brian. This is an opportunity that most people would jump at. Getting to go into the dungeon for a first run and with the only team the guild trusts for surviving? You are gonna get so many levels." Tom tried to ease his worry.

"Fine. Let one of those people go with you." Brian countered, hoping to get to go back to the guild building.

"Oh, no. You aren't getting out that easy. You've been cooped up in that building too long. You're falling behind!" Derek shut him down.

"But I could die," Brian continued his protest.

"You could die in that building if the other guilds attack. You need to be stronger to protect yourself." Tom countered again. "Now shut up and quit whining about it."

They continued across to the entrance of the aquarium in the GS2. DeeDee and Graham were too busy with training schedules to go, so Brian filled one of the slots and Kirsten filled the other as she had insisted on coming with Kevin. Seeing no issues with having another berserker join the ranks, and picturing what might happen if they told her no and she went full she-hulk on them they had agreed.

The two were all but inseparable. It was the flames of young love. The kind that had always made Tom sick when he saw it. But he wanted his friend to be happy in a world that made it so hard to find happiness.

Arriving at the aquarium shortly after, the team exited the vehicle and looked up at the entrance. The building still had its standout boxy look, but the plants at the entrance had grown out of control with no one coming by to maintain them. Tom had to use his sword to cut through some of the vegetation to get to the doors. Many of the windows had been broken as well on the exterior of the building.

Everything around the building was quiet except for the sounds of some of the animals still alive inside. A parrot of some kind cawed a call and it was echoed by other birds replying. Suddenly all the birds went silent at the sudden roar of another animal attacking its prey.

"What the fuck was that?" Brian asked as he hid behind Tom.

"Probably one of the big cats they kept here. We have to be ready for loose animals." Tom answered and then addressed the team. "Be on guard, and if there are any predatory animals be ready to kill them."

"Can't we just let them go?" Kiera asked, looking down at Squirrel remembering he was just a wild beast before James made him his companion.

"If we do, they might kill someone else. So unless someone has a tame animal skill they want to use on any we encounter, it's best we just end the threat." Derek replied, explaining the danger of the situation.

"Actually, I do have that skill," Brian said meekly from behind Tom.

"Really? You chose Ranger as your class?" Tom asked, looking at Brian with surprise.

"Yes. I chose it because it came with the ability to not be on the front line fighting and because it had some stealth skills as well so I could slip away. I'm not a fighter, Tom. I'm an administrator." Brian explained as he stepped out from behind him to try to seem braver.

"Well, then we need to get you a companion while we are here. Where else will we get that kind of opportunity?" Tom said now excited at the prospects.

"Couldn't I just get a cat or a dog or something less murdery?" Brian pleaded.

"Oh, come on. This is an amazing opportunity. And Squirrel loves James. So this will be the same." Tom said, brushing off Brian's protests in favor of looking at the cool factor of possibly having a big cat as a companion.

"I'd rather not. I could get a bird or something. I think I could be a bird guy." Brian continued his protests to the idea, but the others weren't having it.

"Nope. You need something that can defend you. This is better. You'll see." Tom said beginning to get excited.

Entering the building, the team was hit by a wall of humidity and the air felt oppressive. Walking through the exhibits in the entrance, most of the tanks were broken, likely by goblins or some other creature looking for food. The ones that were still intact seemed to have mostly dead fish in them. Moving further into the building, Tom realized with the power out that most of the creatures in the tanks would likely be dead without filtration to keep them clean.

They passed many different exhibits, all of which were dark, making everything feel less impressive. They continued out to the outdoor exhibits where a giant net was covering the entire area. Birds had once inhabited this entire area, but now the perches and fake trees sat empty. The hairs on the back of Tom's neck suddenly stood on end and he looked around for where the feeling was coming from.

In the bushes from the right, a set of eyes watched the team. It appeared to not be moving as it sized them up to see what level of threat they posed.

"Brian, this is going to be your chance," Tom whispered to him as he lowered into a defensive stance. "Try to tame the creature before it makes a move."

Brian stepped forward gingerly, trying not to spook the creature in any way and looking back at Tom to be sure he was there to help him.

"Here kitty, kitty. Good kitty. I'm just going to try to tame you now. We can be friends, right?" Brian said softly in an attempt to show he wasn't a threat.

The creature in the bushes growled low at him.

"Try offering it a piece of meat," Tom said, remembering he had some steaks in his inventory.

Removing one, he handed it to Brian, who accepted it from him and tossed it on the ground a short distance from the bush to try to coax the beast out.

A sniffing sound came from the bush and then the leaves began rustling as the creature moved forward. What came out of the bushes was not what anyone was expecting. Apparently, the creature had been lying down because the eyes rose through the bushes as a creature standing five feet tall at the shoulder cautiously plodded out of the cover toward the piece of meat on the ground.

What stood before them was not the jaguar that Tom had expected to find in the aquarium. Instead, a set of horns came through the bushes first, protruding from the sides of its head and curving out before pointing straight in front of it. Its body was heavily muscled with the typical jaguar spots covering its body, but the coloration was a deep black and vibrant red instead of the camouflage coloration typical jaguars sported. The forelegs were that of a big cat, though much larger than the typical big cat, and the hind legs looked like that of a bull.

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A long reptilian tail extended from its backside and a large set of spines ran down its entire back with webbing connecting each of them together all the way down its tail. Finally, it sported a pair of teeth that extended out of its mouth from the canine region, giving its face the appearance of a saber-tooth tiger. Glowing eyes looked at them as it growled deep in its throat threateningly. Tom quickly cast Identify on it.

Catoblepas

Catoblepas are terrifying creatures that are an amalgamation of a big cat and a bull mixed with demonic powers from an alternate dimension. They are extremely temperamental and should never be approached unless there is no other option.

HP

2,870/2,870

MP

800/800

SP

3,150/3,150

Level

24

Attack

Bite, Claw, Stomp, Gore, Firey Rush

"Oh, shit!" Tom gasped looking up at the creature as it tossed the meat back into its mouth in one bite. "That's not a jaguar!"

"No shit, Sherlock! I knew this was a bad idea!" Brian squeaked as he shrank away from the beast.

"Just try to tame it really fast!" Tom called to Brian.

"Why so it can fail and we make it mad?!" Brain half whispered half yelled at Tom.

"It's worth a shot, what do we have to lose at this point?" Tom replied still waiting to see what the beast would do.

Brian cast his tame spell by holding out his hand palm facing the beast as a green light enveloped it. Moments later the green light winked out.

"Nope. It failed. It failed miserably." Brian said. "Good luck with that now."

The beast roared after the spell failed and charged at them.

"SCATTER!" Derek shouted at everyone and they all dove out of the way of the charging creature.

Crashing through the foliage behind where Tom and Brian had been standing the Catopblepas skidded to a stop as it hit a tree. Kirsten and Kevin jumped back in front of the beast as it turned around and both activated their rage abilities. As the beast charged again, they each grabbed one of its horns and began attempting to wrestle it to the ground.

Lashing out with its claws, the creature tried to reach the barbarians, but because they were on either side pressing against its shoulders, the Catoblepas couldn't quite reach them. It swiped across its body and managed to catch them with light scratches, but the two seemed unaffected in their enraged states. Jay leaped onto its back and stabbed his knives into its thick neck.

"Bad kitty," He said to it as he twisted the blades.

Screaming in pain and rage, the Catoblepas wrenched itself free from Kirsten and Kevin's grasp and began to buck its hind legs around like a bull in a rodeo. Jay held on for all he was worth for about four seconds before being tossed off into a set of bushes.

"Oooo, so sorry, that wasn't quite the full eight seconds," James said in an impression of a rodeo announcer and began firing rounds at the creature.

One of his rounds hit the Catoblepas in its giant testicles and the creature screamed again. Its eyes began to glow red as it turned to face James. Firing again, James aimed at its head. The bullet bounced off of its thick skull and the beast charged him. From its right, Kevin shoulder-checked the beast to knock it off course and it went sprawling. Rolling to its feet again, it stared at Kevin and roared. Kevin roared back and it leaped on him. They tumbled around in a ball of flesh and fur, each one trying to get the upper hand.

Kevin punched and kicked at it as it clawed at his exposed chest. Tom expected the beast to tear him to shreds with its claws, but Kevin's rage ability along with his high Constitution from barbarian unarmored perks meant that his skin held together about as well as leather armor would have. Grabbing both of the beast's forelegs and kicking upward at the beast's stomach, Kevin managed to perform a perfect reenactment of Nala's flipping move from the Lion King, placing the beast on its back and off of him.

Kirsten slammed her greataxe into the stomach of the Catoblepas before it recovered and cut a huge gash in its underside. It appeared its skin was like armor too, as the cut should have been deeper than it was from the force of the blow. It kicked a hooved rear foot at her and sent her rolling backward. Flailing its tail around in an attempt to right itself, it inadvertently swept Tom's feet out from under him as he was running in to help.

Now falling ass over tea kettle to the ground, Tom's head struck the ground and made him see stars. Kiera was there a moment later helping him to his feet and making sure he could move out of harm's way. The Catoblepas had gotten back to its feet and was moving toward Kirsten when Derek jumped in front of it and began banging his mace on his shield.

"That's right, pay attention to me, you big ugly shitbag," Derek said as he continued hitting the metal shield.

Shaking his head, Tom cleared his vision and pulled his arm free from Kiera's grasp. Storming back to the fight, he arrived just in time to see Jay hop on for round two. This time he dug the blades into the beast's back and used them as handles to hold onto the creature. Seeing an opportunity of distraction, Tom began to charge up his Final Flash spell.

Jay held on strong for about five seconds this time. When he was tossed off, Derek saw what Tom was doing and rushed in to hit the beast in the head with his shield. It roared in fury that Derek would dare to strike it and slashed at the shield creating a terrible high-pitched grating sound as the claws raked across the shield.

When the attack bounced off, Derek dove to the side. The Catoblepas followed his movement, puzzled at the sudden change of strategy.

"FINAL FLASH!" Tom shouted and released the built-up energy while channeling more of his mana into the spell at the same time.

The creature barely had time to turn its head to see where the shout had come from before it was struck in the side by the beam of energy. It was blasted from its feet and slammed into a wall where the beam continued to hit it until Tom finally released the attack before it used up all of his mana.

Falling to the floor, the beast mewled pathetically in pain.

"It's still alive!" Kiera cried out in shock.

"Brian! Try now!" Tom shouted as he began to feel lightheaded from the magic expense.

Brian's head popped out of a bush, and seeing that the monster was lying on its side against the wall with multiple wounds, he rushed over and began to try his skill again.

"Oh, I get it! Like Pokemon. You have to beat the shit out of them before you can capture them!" James said watching the scene unfold.

The glow of Brian's hand remained much longer this time as he worked to tame the creature. Finally, the light winked out and he turned to them.

"It's no use. The creature is too much higher level than I am for my skill to work on it." Brian admitted.

"Then put it out of its misery," Tom called.

Turning back to look at the pathetic creature Brian paused.

"I'm not sure I can do that," He said to the others.

They all walked over to be ready should the beast try to attack again.

"Just shoot it. It'll hurt people if it gets back up and gets out. We can't leave it." Tom said.

Taking out one of his guns, Brian aimed a shaky hand at the creature's head and fired off one round. It bounced off of its skull, making its head hit the ground again.

"No, you idiot. In the eye." James scolded Brian.

Firing again, aiming at its eye, the creature finally went still.

"I told you this was a stupid idea! We could have been killed by that thing!" Brian yelled at the others.

"Oh, please. We had that in the bag. We were just trying to see if you could still tame it." Tom said dismissing his fears. "It wasn't even a big monster."

"Oh, sure. It was nothing, Brian. We can kill gods, Brian. No need to fear we are here, Brian." Brian rambled in his fear.

"Now, you're getting it," James winked at him as they walked past to see if the creature had any useful parts.

"With Roland beginning to forge items, and other crafters setting up, I bet some of these parts can be used for crafting," Tom said looking over the body of the dead Catoblepas.

After they had removed its horns, skin, and taken a few of the larger bones, they continued through the outdoor area toward the next exhibit. Inside the next area, there was a door off to the right that looked to be some kind of closet. From his experience though, Tom felt this door was never here before. On a plaque on the door were the words "Dungeon of Chance".

"Alright. Time to go exploring. Maybe you can get a better pet after you level a little, Brian." Tom said as he turned the knob to open the door.