The dungeon quaked just as Jimmy stepped onto Luca’s floor. He could hear the Snatchers wailing and Luca buzzing incessantly.

“The fuck is going on? Rick? You okay?”

There was no response.

“Rick!” Jimmy shouted in a panic.

—ALERT—

Dungeon Core has sustained damage. Repair.

“Oh, what the fuck,” Jimmy mumbled. He had no idea how to repair the Core. It wasn’t in any of his lore. “That’s a goddamn important piece of information.”

Racing to the door, Jimmy opened it to the treasure room and bolted to the safe.

His fingers shook as he entered in the wrong combination twice before getting it right the third time. Inside, he was surprised to see how Rick’s core had grown. It was now twice as large as it had been, but the colors had muted.

The thought of touching it made him nervous, almost as if he would be touching his friend’s vital organs in the Emergency Room.

I can’t do this on my own, Jimmy thought.

Leaving the safe door open, he ran to the Auxiliary Room and started shouting for Atrono and Penny.

Penny was the first to hear his call, bounding out of the clinic. Atrono galloped from his large home a moment later. Jimmy didn’t have time to express his surprise at the new buildings within.

“Rick’s hurt. I need your help!” he shouted.

“That explains the rumbling. I thought someone had angered him. Show me to his core,” Atrono’s voice was calm, but panic was written on his face.

“Can you fix him?” Jimmy asked as he led them to the treasure room.

“I don’t know.”

Penny raced over to the safe and sniffed Rick’s core. Atrono shoved past Jimmy to get a look and gently nudged Penny to the side. The centaur inspected the core for a moment and nodded. “There’s a very small fracture. I believe it’s due to Energy depletion. Really, Jimmy – you should know this.”

Jimmy clenched his fists and jaw, “Right. And how do we fix it?”

Atrono shook his head, “Lock it up for now. We might need to leave too. The dungeon is dangerous even to us when an Energy depletion happens.”

“You’ve seen this before?”

“No but I have studied it. It’s not entirely uncommon with new dungeons. Even older dungeons do it once in a while if they get complacent. Really, we should go.”

“I’m not fuckin’ leaving, Pony Boy. What happens? Will he be okay?”

Atrono huffed at the insult, “Yes, but it depends on Rick himself. Only he can fix this. In the meantime, the dungeon is unstable. The minions can fall into madness or even break the rules of the dungeon.”

“What the hell do you mean, ‘break the rules’?”

Penny snuck past the two men arguing and laid her head on the shelf next to Rick’s core with a soft whimper.

“They can travel to other floors, or attack each other. I’m not sure that your Dungeon Attendant immunity even works anymore.”

Jimmy froze. He was not prepared for any kind of combat. Based on the broadcasts, he’d be ground beef in minutes. “I see. I’m still not leaving. And Atrono?”

The centaur gave him a quizzical look.

“If you leave, the people outside have never seen a centaur before. Not everyone is like Rick and I or even the Spell & Sword. People might hurt you. Or worse, Gus might want you.”

Atrono huffed, “That’s absurd. Centaurs are known to have high status on every planet. Why would Gus want me?”

“That’s just what Gus does. He takes. And centaurs don’t have shit for status here. You’d probably scare some jagoffs outside and cause a panic, likely ending in them attacking you.”

“I would rather take my chances out there,” Atrono insisted.

“Look, Pony Boy, that’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. Let’s evacuate the people in the Auxiliary Room and you and I can hole up in that big ‘ol mansion I saw you prance out of.”

Atrono tapped the floor with a hoof, “Fine.”

“Wait, can the minions get outside the dungeon?” Jimmy asked.

“Your lack of dungeon knowledge is disturbing,” Atrono jabbed. “Of course not… I think. Rick’s version of a dungeon doesn’t allow for that, even if his core is broken.”

“You just told me they could break the rules,” Jimmy said, rubbing his temples.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Give me a moment,” Atrono said, pulling the broadcast globe out of his satchel and putting it on. “Oh dear.”

“What?”

“The Snatchers. They’re gone. Is it night outside?”

“Yes. Are you telling me those creepy little furballs are roaming the streets?”

“Yes, this is a rare occurrence. The laws of this dungeon have been compromised, and unless Rick finds a way to fix himself, this whole place could implode,” Atrono explained. “However, there is one silver lining, I think.”

Jimmy wanted a sliver of hope, “Yes?”

“The Snatchers. It’s in their nature to bring their master a gift or prize. They should be back once they’ve secured one.”

“Atrono… What kind of gift are we talking about?”

“A meal,” The centaur said, finding the ceiling more interesting than meeting Jimmy’s eyes.

“Christ. Let’s send the Spell & Sword to go after them. Come on!”

Penny stayed with Rick, despite the egg being unguarded and unsafe, going unnoticed by the two men.

“Uh oh,” Atrono mumbled as they made their way back into the Auxiliary Room.

“What is it?”

“The wolf, Finn, and Yosk. They’re eating Elza.”

Jimmy wanted to puke at the thought. “Both of them are cursed, yeah?”

Atrono nodded, “And perhaps Elza is now too.”

“Fuck.”

The Spell & Sword were standing outside of the tavern. They hadn’t seen Atrono in the flesh yet and nearly attacked.

“Monster!” Diane shouted and unsheathed her sword.

Jimmy held up his hands and shouted, “Wait! No. This is the person behind the voice you all heard on the broadcast.”

The group exchanged looks, still in their fighting stances.

“What’s going on here?” Alex questioned, breaking the silence.

“It’s Rick. It was an accident, but he hurt himself,” Jimmy explained. He went on to explain everything else he and Atrono had just gone over.

“So now, we need your help. Bring the Snatchers back,” Atrono said after Jimmy filled them in.

The group silently communicated through their eyes with each other. Alex nodded and looked back to Jimmy, “You’ve done enough for us, I think it’s time to help you.”

Jimmy sighed in relief, “Great. Next month’s rent is free.”

Diane smiled at that and slammed the flat of her sword against her shield, “Let’s go, pussies.”

With that, the group left on their mission. Even Grady left to join them.

“Okay, what’s next?” Jimmy asked.

Atrono nodded toward the clinic. Danny and Dane were peeking out of the front door.

“Shit, I forgot about them.”

“We should get them outside to safety,” Atrono suggested.

“Agreed,” Jimmy said and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting at the boys, “Don’t be afraid! You remember me, right? The one at the front door!”

The boys nodded and walked slowly toward Jimmy and Atrono. Danny was the first to speak, “We heard what you said to the other people. We can’t leave here, though.”

“You must,” Atrono said.

Dane shook his head violently. His body was trembling. “Marv. The man that came in last with the curse. He — he did this to me. I know he’ll find us if we leave.”

The two older men exchanged a glance, “You’re sure? Why would he be after you?”

“He tried to kidnap Danny for his healing abilities. He and his men had shackles they tried to get on him. His stupid ball hit me with the curse, but I shot him and we escaped.”

“Yeah, right in the nuts!” Danny added with a smile.

“Ah, that would do it,” Jimmy said and even Atrono winced. “Wait, he tried to put shackles on you?”

“Yep. We were with a big group coming from up north. A lot of people split off going to different places before we got to Phoenix. Once everyone was splintered, most of the people were Marv’s men. They seemed to have it all planned out for a while,” Dane said.

“What was planned out?” Jimmy asked.

“He chained a lot of people up. Experimented on them. We thought we were safe ‘cause they promised not to hurt kids. That… changed,” Danny said. His eyes hollow.

Atrono looked deeply troubled, “This would only happen on human planets.”

“Of course he’s Gus’ brother,” Jimmy mumbled. “I’ll see what I can do when I go back out there. We can’t have people like that running around unchecked. In the meantime, you boys can stay here as long as you want.”

“Thank you. He is certainly stronger than when I first met him,” Dane said.

“I’ll be careful,” Jimmy assured. “Okay, well we’re going to hole up in Atrono’s place. Do you need to get anything from the clinic?”

“The clinic is far safer. Atrono’s house is too big. We can just wait it out in our building. Plus, we have healing supplies.”

“What about food?” Jimmy asked.

Atrono held up a hand, “I have plenty. The boy is right. I’ll grab some food and we’ll hunker down in the clinic.”

“Sounds like a Plan,” Jimmy said and tried to lock the door to the Auxiliary Room. “Damn. I can still bar it from people on the outside, but I don’t even have an option for the minions. Should we barricade it?”

“A not-so-terrible idea from our wonderful Dungeon Attendant,” Atrono poked. “Unfortunately, without Rick’s help, I’m not sure where we’d even begin.”

“Well I –” Jimmy began before Danny interrupted him.

“Where’s Penny?” the boy asked.

“Aw, shit. She’s in the treasure room,” Jimmy said. “Atrono, you’re probably the fastest. Would you go fetch her?”

The centaur looked as if he wanted to argue, but as he looked at the two young faces, he knew he’d need to act brave. “Okay. Hang tight and don’t open the door unless you hear my voice.”

They nodded in agreement and let Atrono back out. He galloped back to the treasure room. Penny was now sitting in front of the safe looking stoic.

“Hi girl, come back with me. We’re going to wait this out at your clinic,” Atrono cooed. “I’m just going to close the door to the safe and we’ll be off, okay?”

Penny growled and bared her teeth at Atrono.

He froze, “It’s dangerous in here alone.”

Penny’s hackles rose and she barked at Atrono.

The centaur sighed, “Fine, suit yourself. Please try to be careful.” Atrono turned back, ready to leave the dog. He opened the door to the Auxiliary Room and saw the backs of Finn and the tall form of Yosk. The lizardman held a sledgehammer resting on his shoulder and the pair was heading to the clinic.

Atrono stifled a yelp and slammed the door.