“Hey, Kara. You’re looking like you feel better,” Jimmy smiled as she joined him in the security booth. “Cool robe by the way. Aren’t you a little old to be going to magic school?” he joked.

“Yeah, Rick made me maybe the best omelet I’ve ever had,” she said, closing her eyes and thinking about how good it was. “Also, magic school is probably going to become a thing in the future, don’t you think?”

Jimmy scratched his chin, “Maybe, but the System does a pretty good job of helping you figure shit out.”

She shrugged and looked around. There was a veritable mountain of trash and debris that scavengers had brought to the area. It blocked off the once busy street completely and was nearly as tall as the shop.

On the other side of the garbage pile, there were groups of people. Some were scavengers, but many were Cartel members, tending to their wounds from the recent battle. Lazaro could be seen bandaging people up. By the many empty vials scattered on the ground, it was obvious that while they had spent a good amount on healing potions. It hadn’t been enough.

“Why haven’t you let any in to see Penny?” Kara asked.

“Lazaro thought it was important that his people learn to use the System Shop and their abilities to heal themselves rather than relying on a dog,” Jimmy said with a shrug. “I told him that if anyone is having a harder time or they run out of potions to bring them in and he said he would.”

Before Kara could respond, the small satellite dish in the booth hummed to life with a noise that sounded similar to the static on a walkie-talkie.

“Oh, we got another one. I love this thing. It’s like a bug zapper for dickheads,” Jimmy said, looking fondly at the array.

“Uh, what happened?” Kara asked.

Jimmy explained how the array worked and said, “So, I programmed people that I recognized from the battle into the array and marked some of them as enemies. As soon as they step in, they’re fried,” he said proudly. “Speaking of which, Lazaro!” he called out.

Instead of tending to the injured, Lazaro had struck up a conversation with the Spell & Sword group which had a crowd around them. Lazaro broke off from the group and came over to Jimmy.

“Another?” he asked.

Jimmy smirked, “Yep. Cleanup on aisle five.”

Lazaro didn’t joke back and simply nodded at Jimmy before calling out to some of his soldiers in a rapid string of Spanish. The Cartel had made a list of all of the higher powered members of the Eagle Empire. When the array zapped one, they would go identify the body and cross them off the list.

“Let’s hope more of those pinche puto cabrones are stupid enough to get too close to here,” He said and went to go with his soldiers to identify the body.

“By the way, did you watch the broadcast?” Jimmy asked Kara.

“Yeah, that was pretty wild. It felt like I was there with them. I just wanted to scream at them the whole time. They made a lot of mistakes, but they certainly have a lot of potential. Shame about their friend,” Kara said.

“Well, not everyone can survive. Otherwise, Rick wouldn’t grow. I think it turned out pretty well for us. It showed everyone that the dungeon is dangerous but survivable. It was also neat that they got System Credits in those little loot sacks.”

Kara and Jimmy eyed the group. The members of Spell & Sword were basically celebrities now, fielding all kinds of questions. They hadn’t had time to grieve their friend or plan their next steps.

“They might be the most famous people in the world now, don’t you think?” Kara asked.

Jimmy raised his eyebrows, “Yeah — shit. I should ask them if they need a manager. I could work with this.” Jimmy stared at the Challengers as the wheels in his head began to turn.

Kara put her hand on his arm, “Jimmy, you’re taking on too much. Let someone else have this. Tell me about what your little gizmos have found.”

Jimmy frowned, but nodded, “You’re right. Something to think about in the future though.” His eyes went distant for a moment, “You can’t repeat what I’m about to tell you. Especially in the dungeon. Ok?”

It was Kara’s turn to frown, “What is it?”

“I found Rick’s parents,” he whispered and licked his lips nervously.

Kara narrowed her eyes, “Why don’t you sound very happy about that?”

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“They’re making their way here. I have one of the hummingbird drones following them. It transmits their audio if I choose to listen in and — I just don’t think it’s going to go well. Hopefully, I’m wrong.”

The Spell & Sword group pushed their way toward the security booth through the crowd of scavengers, many of them children, and cartel members all vying for their attention. Diane walked slower than the rest, relishing in the attention.

Alex stumbled forward and pressed his face against the glass booth. “Help. Please,” he wheezed.

The booth wasn’t big enough for their whole group. It barely fit both Jimmy and Kara in it comfortably. “The hell d‘ya want me to do?” Jimmy asked.

“I don’t know, let us back in!” Alex pleaded.

Jimmy’s eyes glazed over and he nodded. “Alright, right this way,” he said, motioning them toward the door.

They piled through, followed by Jimmy and Kara, finding themselves in an entirely different room from what they knew. Penny quickly got to her feet and stood between them and the Kaiju Egg.

“Rick, just give me a moment,” Jimmy called out and turned his attention to the group. “You can stay here for the night for only 200 Credits. You touch the dog or the egg, and good ‘ol Rick here will absorb you like he did to your friend. Got it?”

The Spell & Sword all looked around wide-eyed at the still plain looking floor with a couple of hobbit houses. Alex was the first to speak, “What is this place? Is it safe?”

“Yep. No combat zone. The only people that can get in are the ones I approve of. So, if you cause any trouble, then — I’m not sure, but it’ll end poorly for you.”

“Can you give us a second?” Alex asked.

Jimmy agreed and the group huddled together to talk. He was ignoring Rick who was yammering at him telepathically.

The Spell & Sword seemed to come to an agreement and Alex said, “Ok, we’ll do it. 200 you said? For one night?”

“Yep. Take it or leave it. This is a bargain,” Jimmy said, pulling out a toothpick and sticking it in his mouth, trying to look bored.

“Ok, thank you,” Alex said. Everyone in the Spell & Sword’s eyes glazed over as they transferred 50 credits each to Jimmy.

He smiled and held out his hand and shook Alex’s, “Pleasure doing business. And remember — don’t touch Penny or the egg.”

They all nodded in agreement and made for the hobbit houses.

“Say hello to the first hotel in the new world,” Jimmy said telepathically to the still ranting Rick and exited the dungeon with Kara.

The pair squeezed back into the security booth with a disappointed crowd surrounding the door.

“If any of you want to Challenge the dungeon, you can stay up here. If not, scram!” Jimmy shouted. “Oh, and start tossing in the trash bags, it’s starting to smell worse than Lazaro’s tattooed ass!”

Many of the recovering Cartel members laughed and people scrambled to get back to work. Jimmy shouted out orders like a maestro to the meandering crowd.

Kara smiled, watching him restore some order. “So what was that all about in there? Where the hell are we going to sleep tonight?” she asked.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but we can make a fortune off these Challengers. Not just Rick. Whether or not he agrees, I’m going to build the best fuckin hotel this world has ever seen,” he said, eyes sparkling with greed.

She laughed, “Oh, are you an engineer now? How are you going to build that?”

Jimmy’s eyes narrowed, “I’ll hire some! In time, Kara. In time.”

Kara poked him in the rib, “It is a good idea. I just want to help and I’ll get cranky if those people are sleeping in my bed. What can I do?”

Jimmy scratched his head, “I’ll lose my last remaining strands of hair if you go back out there right now. You could give Rick those cute puppy dog eyes and ask him to help us start building the hotel or at least some more of those huts to rent out.”

She ruffled his hair. His hair had been growing more and more every day, “I don’t think you’re in any danger of losing this anytime soon, but I know what you mean. I’ll go talk to Rick,” she said and went back inside, leaving Jimmy alone in the booth to keep barking orders.

Jimmy sighed as he watched her go in, thinking about how far out of his league she was.

Lazaro, done with his mission of identifying the body, approached the booth. “Hey gabacho, when can I start sending in some of my guys for training?”

“The battle just ended man, don’t you guys want to rest and recoup?” Jimmy asked.

“While the rest of the world gets stronger? Those days are terminado,” Lazaro shook his head.

Jimmy grimaced, “Honestly, I’m not sure. With the whole broadcast thing, we’ll have to figure something out.”

Lazaro’s face clouded over, “Don’t fuck with me, pendejo. We had a deal.”

Jimmy held up his hands, “I know, I know. Just let me think for a second.”

The Cartel officer waited impatiently. The tattoos on his body seemed to move once in a while as if they wanted to get out.

“I got it. Just tell your guys to act as if they were Challengers. Kick ass, and get out fast if they’re hurt. It will make you guys look strong and make Rick look weak enough to attract more Challengers,” Jimmy said, snapping his fingers.

"Yeah, I’ll spread the word,” Lazaro said, visibly calming down.

“Thanks. You gotta relax, man. I’m not out here to fuck you over, ok?”

Lazaro nodded and left. Jimmy thought about how the man looked ready to snap at any moment and promised himself to tread more carefully around him.

Checking in on Rick’s parents, he saw that they found an empty building and hunkered down, likely just to rest and stay out of sight for a while.