Lance staggered forwards, spat out of a twisting swirl of psychedelic energy. His fellow teammates followed soon after, the group wobbling away from one another to throw up. Only Sarah, with her reinforced constitution and healing managed to keep her lunch down and it was a close thing.

Wiping his mouth clear of the acidic, bitter taste on his lips; Lance looked around him. Nearby, a group of Adventurers were finishing the last of a group of centipede-dogs and goblins, the single hobgoblin that had exited disappearing too.

The reinforcement group waved to the quartet, Pamela the older woman ambling over to wave at Lance. “I guess you cleared it, eh?”

“How’d you know?” Lance asked, curiously. Well, beyond the swirl of energy that spat them out.

She pointed over his shoulder and he looked around, blinking as he saw the wound in reality that had been the dungeon exit closing up, as though a zipper was closing. Seconds later, nothing existed but normal space.

“Huh. Well, that happened,” Lance said, amusedly. His head was clearing up pretty fast, and he found himself straightening as the woman looked the quartet over with a considering eye. “Anything happen while we were gone? And what time is it?”

The sky was darkening so it seemed that they had been gone for at least a few hours. Time within the dungeon had seemed to go on forever, though in truth, looking at his own watch; it seemed only a few hours had passed.

Moments later, Pamela confirmed his guess. No time distortion in the dungeon at least. Good to know.

“Not much going on. Had some weird jackal-man thing come running out from a sidestreet with a few pig-dog monsters. We killed it pretty well, but I figure that must be another breach thataway,” a gesture in the direction. “Was quiet for a bit, till the creatures started pouring out after an hour or so of you guys going in. Thought you were dead.

“Some others came by. Even the police. Fat lot they did, they wanted us to put our weapons down and when we told them no, got all kinds of huffy. We had to dissuade them from trying to take our weapons by force, and they left.”

“To where?” Neil asked with a frown.

“Not here.”

“Ah, right.” Neil grinned nervously and stepped back.

“Anyway, that’s about it. Phone lines are still giving bugger all, too many calls I guess. We did get a buzz that there’s a State of Emergency,” Pamela said, amusement in her voice. “But that’s about it. We been keeping the monsters busy, otherwise. Even rotated in a few civilians.” She nodded back to her group which, come to think about it, was both larger and more varied than before.

“Thanks for the information,” Lance said, slowly forcing himself to stretch. He was exhausted, as was Yanesh. The only one who wasn’t was Sarah, with Neil a short way behind her. Even so, from the smell of fire in the air and the occasional scream that filtered in, the emergency wasn’t over just yet.

“So, did you get anything good?” Pamela said, impatiently. “We’ve been wondering, for the last little while. Even considered going in, what with you being presumed dead.”

“Not dead. But…” Lance grinned a little. “We did get something. Points – they double inside the Dungeon itself.”

“Dungeon?”

“That’s what they call it.”

“Right, right. Double points. That’s it?”

“More varied monster types. Though you fought the hob I see. The Boss was a bigger, better armoured version. Had a second stage.” At her puzzled look, he quickly explained before continuing. “And finally, if you clear; you get a Title.”

“Title?”

“Yup. Dungeon Clearer – Level 1.”

“What’s it do?”

This time, it was Yanesh who broke in. “We can sense where incursions are, when we’re near it. It also gets you access to a special part of the Shop.”

“Good stuff?” Pamela said, archly.

“Good stuff – but bonded. That means no one else can use it,” Yanesh explained. “For the equipment that is. Also a bunch of other upgrades, all exclusive. They look to be better than the ones you can get otherwise.”

“Huh.” Pamela turned her head slightly, taking in her group who were lounging on the ground and resting, looking exhausted after their holding battle. Then she looked at Lance and his group, her eyes narrowing. “You’re mighty nice, telling us all about this.”

“Why wouldn’t we share it?” Yanesh said, confused.

“To get a head start of course.” Lance smiled a little, answering for Pamela. “But seems to me, there’s a lot of dungeons out there. You’re welcome to go take your people to the one you heard of. I’m sure we can follow the sounds of battle to find another, if we wanted to.”

“If?” An eyebrow rose.

“Not making calls for my team, you know,” Lance replied.

Another short nod, then the woman pointed a short distance away to where a convenience store had its doors broken open. “Water and food in there, if you want it. It’s been raided, but I’m sure you can find something.”

“I’m not sure I could eat…” Yanesh said, making a face as he touched the insides of his mouth with his tongue.

“Toothbrush and toothpaste too. Or chewing gum. But take it from me, son. You’ll want to eat to keep your strength up.” So saying, the woman turned around and stomped back to her people, waving for them to get off their asses.

Lance watched her for a second, before chuckling and slapping Yanesh on the shoulder. “Come on. Food now. You can browse the shop later.”

Following along his friend, Yanesh frowned, looking about him. “Hey. Where’s Matt and Keeley?”

“No idea. I’m sure he’s fine. He was out here initially. Maybe they decided to find their family?” Lance muttered, shrugging unconcernedly. Reaching the group, he got the group moving for the grocery store. Time to stock up, replenish some energy, figure out if they were disbanding the party and most of all…

Shop!