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The man put his fingers in the bowling ball’s holes and kissed it before throwing it in the air with an underhanded motion. The ball spun and stopped 10 feet in front of him, suspended in the air, spinning. Black tendrils snaked out of the ball before dissipating into the air.

“Jesus, Marv. A little warning next time,” One of the other men groaned. The bags under his eyes darkened.

The other men all grimaced at the ball floating in the air.

“Don’t be a bunch of pussies,” Marv sneered.

His teammates shook their heads and pulled gas masks out of their bags, visibly relaxing once the masks were on.

Marv unsheathed two daggers that had been hiding under his loose-fitting polo shirt. The blades had the same dark property about them.

“It appears our Challenger, Marv, dabbles in Curse magic,” Atrono whispered in over two billion minds. “A dangerous undertaking for anyone under Level 90. You can see that it has already caused a strain on the team’s chemistry.”

Curse magic. Rick pondered what that meant for Dane. Could Penny dispel the curse?

The boys and Penny had glazed-over eyes, watching and listening to every word Atrono said. Danny and Dane had strained expressions, hoping to find answers.

Rick put his attention back on the Challengers. The one who had complained to Marv pulled out a pair of handguns from his bag. The others also pulled out pre-System weapons, that didn’t appear special in any way.

“Erik, Mark, and Eddy appear to have a pair of high-quality Earth weaponry. Let’s see what they can do,” The names appeared over the Challengers’ heads in the broadcast.

“Neat trick,” Rick said quietly.

The centaur’s back straightened a fraction more, “The last Challenger, Walt, seems to have some sort of container. I wonder what’s inside.”

The man named Walt revealed a red gas can, equipped with a nozzle. Rick stopped spoiling anything for Atrono. It would be better for the broadcast for him to discover it with the other creatures in the multiverse. Of course, the people of Earth would be rolling their eyes at his ignorance.

“Walt, go ahead and light up the entrance tunnels. The mutts are probably hiding in there,” Marv ordered.

Walt carried the gas can away from his group. He walked with a limp, proving that the spandex knee brace wasn’t for show. Once he got to a tunnel entrance, he labored down to one knee and peeked inside before breathing a sigh of relief.

“Lucky for Walt, there were no monsters waiting for him. If he hopes to survive, he’ll need to be able to move faster than that.”

Rick had to stop himself from ridiculing Atrono. Instead, he did his best to tune out his commentary and watch the events unfold for himself.

Walt ripped off his gas mask, squinted his eyes, and tried to see further down the tunnel. With a shrug, he then took a sip out of the gas can nozzle like it was a big straw. He swished the liquid around in his mouth before spitting a portion of it. The moment it landed, the liquid erupted into flame, covering the tunnel five feet deep.

The fire was contained and didn’t spread. It was far too dense for a simple gasoline fire that Walt spit from his mouth.

Despite trying to ignore the commentary – Atrono’s voice rang out in Rick’s mind, “It seems that Walt is using a catalyst for his under-leveled fire affinity. It’s smart in this case, but it could slow his mastery of fire.”

Walt played tunnel roulette as he went from entrance to entrance spitting dense fire. His legs shook, straining to get to a knee. A quick probe from Rick showed that the man had no cartilage, making the motion grind bone on bone in his knees.

His luck ran out as Stella lunged from a tunnel, grabbing his ankle and yanking him back. Walt fell flat on his back, inadvertently spraying the gasoline straight up, igniting in the air. The dense flames fell back down on his face, causing Walt to let out a scream that would haunt the dreams of people across the multiverse.

“Let’s hope the wolves end it quickly,” Atrono whispered.

His words cut into Rick’s core. Rick wanted to scream at his minions to end it. The wolves obliged without needing interference from their dungeon. Finn clambered across Walt’s chest while Stella held the man’s ankle and quickly tore out the screaming throat, burning his snout in the process.

The moment Walt’s screaming stopped, the emotion fled Rick’s core. Atrono had said that he had a skill to manipulate emotions, but Rick never suspected they would work on him. He’d need to be more careful around the centaur in the future. Was this what the mind manipulators did, or was this different? All he knew for sure was that it was a dangerous trick.

Marv chuckled, “There they are! Come here, mutts. I’ve got a treat for you.”

The other men glanced at each other behind their gas masks and took a step back, brandishing their guns. Black tendrils from the bowling ball danced in the air. Marv’s grin took on a strained appearance as the tendrils danced faster. The darkness that only Rick could see pulsed within the ball.

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The tendrils danced too close to the men in masks, making them leap back further. Marv pushed his hands forward and the curse shot toward Finn and Stella.

Stella retreated into the tunnel. Yet, Finn didn’t back down. The wolf was undergoing a change of his own. Finn’s entire body grew, doubling his size in seconds. Even if he wanted to retreat, he’d struggle to fit inside the tunnels. The fur thickened and a streak of yellow ran down his spine. The tendrils recoiled back to Marv who had called them back to see what was happening with the wolf.

Rick quickly used Identify

Finn - Level 10 Alpha Wolf

Rick gasped. Finn had shot up in levels from the kill. Had the man been that high level? He had seemed weak. Rick absorbed his body to confirm.

Walt - Level 25 Firemancer (Cursed Thrall)

It was hard to believe the man was level 25, but Rick knew that the curse had something to do with his weakened state. The word “Thrall” also indicated that he was some sort of slave to Marv.

Atrono’s voice interrupted Rick’s musings, “Oh, how exciting. We just witnessed an evolution. Finn now appears to be an Alpha. Let’s see if he can fend off Marv’s curse and goons.”

Steam spouted out from Finn’s mouth as he breathed. The now yellow hackles rose and embers glittered into the air off of the fur.

“Finn was lucky enough to take on some of Walt’s fire affinity. It’s not completely uncommon for a minion to take on a trait from whoever helped push it toward evolution, but it is rare to witness the evolution in real-time.”

Atrono’s excited voice filled Rick’s core with excitement as well. He had to force himself to shake off the emotional manipulation.

Finn bared his teeth and Rick could see the air ripple with heat. The wolf’s fangs were hotter than branding irons.

Marv scoffed and shot the tendrils of his curse back at Finn. They snaked through the air faster than before.

Finn darted forward, moving faster than before despite his bulkier frame.

“Shoot it, you idiots,” Marv grumbled. The masked goons aimed their guns and started blasting.

The bullets melted in the hot air but kept traveling, pelting Finn’s fur with liquid metal. The liquid didn’t even slow him as it rolled off his fur. The tendrils reached Finn and wiggled into his eyes, nose, and mouth, undeterred by the heat. It flooded in with incredible force.

Finn’s front legs buckled, causing him to stumble in a heap. The impressive evolution seemed to regress as the wolf grew skinnier. His fur turned gray and the fight went out of his eyes.

The bowling ball returned from the air to Marv’s hand. He threw it at Finn like it were a baseball, crushing the wolf’s head. The ball flew back to Marv once again like a mythical hammer.

“Mark, go through the archway and find any traps the reptilian slut may have set. If the other wolf comes out again, shoot it,” Marv calmly marched to the next entrance, not bothering to pick up Finn’s loot sack. Eddy scrambled forward to pluck it up and put it in his bag.

Mark’s legs trembled as he stepped near the arch. He looked back at Marv who grinned and shooed him forward with the flick of his wrist. Mark tossed his bowling ball bag in an underhanded motion through the arch. Dozens of poisoned darts pelted it as it flew through the air. More pummeled the bag when it landed.

Marv sighed, bored with the wait.

Mark licked his lips and took a shaky step through the arch, closing his eyes tight as he put his foot down. Nothing happened, allowing him to relax. Another step and a green figure, covered in grass jumped up from a prone position and sliced through the air with two machetes. Mark’s head rolled off his shoulders and thumped to the ground.

“Ha! I got one!” Yosk yelled in delight.

Immediately, Eddy and Erik began unloading their bullets at Yosk from the other side of the archway.

Yosk danced out of the line of sight too late. Bullets were embedded in his scales. Yosk’s scales seemed to be stronger than before, although Rick had never seen him hit by pre-System weaponry.

Yosk growled and charged back out, machetes raised, high on battle lust. “For Ri-i-i-ck!”

Thunk. The bowling ball shot through the entrance, hitting Yosk in the chest. The full force of the curse siphoned off Yosk’s lifeforce as it did to Finn on a much faster scale, turning him into an old husk. The lizardman collapsed, bones clattering to the ground.

Marv stepped through chuckling and shaking his head, “I fucking love that guy.” He stepped over Mark’s corpse, not paying it any attention. Erik and Eddy slowly stepped through, looking to either side for another ambush.

“Our Challenger, Marv, is ruthless. It’s men like this that can go far, but he might have trouble cobbling together another team.”

Marv leaned down and grabbed the loot sack, putting it in his bag. “Eddy, toss me the other loot sack you picked up and go to the other entrance. We’ll skip the poison lizard and go straight for the boss.”

Eddy did as he was told and threw the bag at Marv with a solemn expression. He must have known that he was being sent to his death.

“Why are these guys just waltzing into what will obviously be their last moments cause this jackoff tells them to?” Rick blurted out.

Atrono used Rick’s question to speak to the audience, “Curse magic has many powerful, yet dangerous uses. Marv has one that speeds up the aging process, draining its target of life itself. The process is much worse than a quick death. Many curses can also bind a target to the master of the curse.”

Eddy stalled at the archway leading to Billy. The floor boss hadn’t even fired at him, perhaps evaluating the situation. The ceaseless wolves had hunkered down as well, waiting. Eddy trembled like a leaf. The grips of his handguns slick from his sweaty hands. Steeling his resolve, he grit his teeth and in one swift motion he spun -- pulling the triggers.

Marv shook his head and snapped his fingers. The curse that had been coursing through Eddy’s veins erupted in activity. His bullets missed Marv by a wide margin, but the curse drained him in moments. He dropped the guns and fell, twitching.

Marv sauntered over to Eddy who was breathing raggedly and appeared to be nearly 100 years old. “Well, now me and little ‘ol Erik need to stop for the day. I hope you’re happy, kid.”

With that, he and Erik left the dungeon the way they came. Stella charged them before they reached the door, but was swiftly killed by Marv’s bowling ball.

Elza left her hiding spot behind a hill and killed Eddy, ending his suffering.

“Despite Marv’s powerful curse magic, the Bowlers didn’t advance very far. Perhaps next time, they can implement better teamwork!” Atrono announced happily before tearing off the broadcast globe.

Rick focused on Dane’s reaction.

The boy was clutching his chest. “He found us.”

Danny hugged Dane tightly.