The backyard fell into silence as the tour group stared at the tunnel. Veronica’s screams still echoed in Jacob’s mind as he looked, replaying again and again. Like clockwork the tour had taken another one of the invite card holders, feeling more and more like it was planned. Rama had said that Jacob would make it to the end of the tour because he had earned the faith of the cards. Despite this however, he couldn’t help but not have faith in her. He hadn’t seen her make any promises to the other tour group members, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t. It would be madness to continue on through everything they had if she hadn’t. Since the beginning the tour had felt like one giant test; like Rama was the teacher, and the group was her pupils. She refused to tell them what she was teaching, leaving them as pawns in her larger game.

  Manical laughter filled the air, breaking the silence. It started quietly, almost a light chuckle, before slowly building to an uncontrollable insanity. Jacob looked over to the source of the sound with concern, and saw Veronica’s father doubled over, his face wrenched up, tears flowing down his face as he continued to laugh.

  “The man’s cracked.” Jacob’s grandfather muttered, taking a step away from him. Jacob nodded lightly, slowly moving his hand to his deck box.

  “Alright Rama.” Veronica’s father giggled uncontrollably between words “Bring her back.”

  “I can’t” Rama lowered her voice to speak with a neutral tone, wiping all signs of bemusement from her face.

  “BULLSHIT!” Veronica’s father’s face reddened as he suddenly screamed at the factory owner, his face twisting from insanity to rage “I’ve seen the strange magic you do, and the control over the factory. You unleashed dinosaurs on the North Koreans, don’t you dare tell me you can’t bring her back.”

  “I can’t.” Rama repeated herself, speaking with a tone of non-chalance “The Tokens are outside of my control.”

  “Nothing is outside your control here, don’t give me that crap.” Veronica’s father took a step towards the woman, his voice adopting a dangerous tone. Jacob’s grandfather was right; the man had passed his breaking point. “You’ve toyed with us, treating us like playthings in your little dollhouse. This isn’t a factory, it’s a funhouse. A carnival of absolute insanity, that you dragged us into for your sick and twisted kicks. You didn’t plan for any of us to survive this, and I’m through. I’m on to you and see what you’re doing. And God damnit, I’m putting a stop to it.”

  “Oh really.” Rama gave the man a critical look “You’re going to stop this. A man who couldn’t stop his own daughter from breaking the rules, and angering the tokens.”

  “She did no such thing.”

  “What were her words?” Rama feigned deep thought for a moment, before looking straight into the man’s eyes “I don’t give a damn about the contract? Tokens don’t like those who break their promises, they’re quite particular about it.”

  “Where does that tunnel lead.” Veronica’s Father’s rage began to spill into a terrified panic the more the interaction continued, dragging him further into his mind’s death spiral “Where did the tokens take her?”

  “The tunnel leads to a variety of places.” Rama shrugged “Though they probably took her down to the furnace. They quite like it there, they’re fireproof you know.”

  “T-t-t-to the f-f-f-f-furnace?” Veronica’s Father stuttered as his eyes lost focus, staring blankly at the tunnel

  “Of course.” Rama replied “The King Token lives down there.”

  “The King Toke-” Veronica’s Father stopped speaking suddenly, a look of raw fear filling his face.

  “I’M COMING VERONICA!” Veronica’s Father suddenly ran forward, jumping into the tunnel before anyone could stop him. He dove down into the place where the tokens had disappeared, and the room fell into a brief silence again.

  “I’m going to have to have that furnace cleaned tomorrow.” Rama said dryly, shaking her head “There’s going to be a lot of soot in there.”

  Rama began to walk off towards the other end of the backyard, where Jacob could see the faint outline of a door painted the same color as the wall.

  “Hold on.” Stan stood up and looked at Rama with an expression of concern “You’re not just going to leave them there to die, are you?”

  “She did break the rules.” Rama paused and turned to look at Stan “Plus, that Furnace is only turned on on Thursdays, so she has a few days to get out.”

  “Why don’t you sent one of your robots down?”

  “Oh no I couldn’t do that, the Tokens hate the EvBots. They rip them to shreds the moment they see them.”

  Stan stared at Rama with defiance, then began to walk over to the tunnel with determination. Jacob moved quickly to join him.

  “Stan you can’t possibly be thinking of going after them.” Jacob placed a hand on Stan’s shoulder, making the man pause.

  “Someone has to.” Stan looked at Jacob with determination “You’ve handled pretty much everything the group has been through. I got this one.”

  “Stan, you learned how to cast yesterday.”

  Stan’s wife moved to join them, and he grabbed the trophy out of her hands.

  “This trophy says winner.” Stan shoved the small trophy in Jacob’s face “You calling it a liar?”

  “Winning a match is a lot different than facing a King Token” Jacob sighed, putting a hand on his temples “Whatever that is.”

  “It’s a massive Token that controls the others.” Rama offered helpfully “It was the first one we cast. Turns out Tokens never stop growing. Who knew?”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “That woman is going to be the death of us.” Jacob grumbled under his breath, before removing his hand to stare down the actor. “Stan, you’re a movie star. Not a caster. Not a cop. I’m going down to get her.”

  “Oh so you have experience fighting King Tokens?” Stan looked at Jacob critically.

  “I went to the Card Academy and work in Card Enforcement.”

  “And I got an award from the Academy, and have a six pack.” Stan smirked at Jacob “Suck it up, buttercup. No matter what you say, I’m tagging along. No way in whatever version of hell exists in this madhouse that I’m letting you go down there by yourself.”

  Jacob sighed again “Are all actors this stubborn?”

  “We like to think of ourselves as dramatic.”

  “Another dad joke and I’m gonna freeze you in a block of Ice, just like Rama did to that guy from Paraguay.” Jacob frowned, then turned to look at Rama. “All right Rama, since it seems we have to do all the rescuing in this insane asylum, how do we get to the furnace.”

  “To be honest, I don’t know.” Rama shrugged again, a gesture Jacob was quickly tiring of “The tunnels like to move about and change. It’s a little bit of a maze. Best bet is to follow the Tokens.”

  “Great.” Jacob turned and gave his Grandfather an exacerbated look. The old man pursed his lips.

  “There’s really no way you’re going down there?” Jacob’s grandfather looked at Rama severly.

  “Never have, never will.” rama shook her head “That part was generated by card for the Tokens specifically. I go in, I violate their territory.”

  “So you’re having them violate it instead?”

  “They’re guests. They operate on hospitality rules.”

  “There’s really no way to talk him out of this.” Jacob looked over at Stan’s wife, who shook her head with concern.

  “When he gets that look? No.” She reached out and grabbed her husband’s hand squeezing it tightly.

  “I’ll be fine.” Stan looked at her re-assuringly, before flashing a grin at Jacob “Shall we get this buddy cop film moving?”

  “It’s not a buddy cop film.” Jacob grumbled.

  “Yes, we all know.” Stan teased back “You’re the serious cop, and I’m the plucky comedic relief. Let’s go find a missing rich girl.”

  “Absolutely insufferable.” Jacob muttered. He pointed at Stan, giving him a serious look “Do not leave my side for anything. Last thing we need is three lost people down there.”

  “Same goes for you.” Stan gave him a look of genuine concern “We’re allies in this one. No wandering off.”

  Jacob stared at Stan for a moment, then nodded. The man had made up his mind to go in, with or without Jacob. It was a trial by fire to put someone so inexperienced in the cards into the situation, by even if he had forbidden him Jacob knew Stan would have followed him inside. The only way to prevent him coming would be to restrain him, something Jacob didn’t want to do.

  Besides, Jacob didn’t want to go down there alone.

  “Alright, lets get whatever this is moving.” Jacob said sarcastically “Any more touchy feely nonsense and this buddy cop film will turn into a rom-com.”

  Jacob turned and moved towards the playground tunnel, walking the short distance that remained between them and the group. He stopped in front of it and squatted down, looking through it. Stan knelt down to join him, the two men peering into the dark plastic tube. It seemed like a standard playground tunnel, with entrances on both sides that led to the backyard. Where the tunnel differed was the sheer drop in the middle, which led into a deep pit of darkness below them. The drop appeared to be lined with plastic tunnel walls, and Jacob shuddered.

  “You two aren’t back in an hour, and I’m going in to find you.” Jacob’s grandfather said seriously.

  “Rama if that old man puts even a toe inside this tunnel you freeze him in a block of ice.” Jacob said wryly, before looking at his uncle. “Stay here. Make sure nothing happens to them.”

  The old man nodded grimly, looking at Rama suspiciously.

  “Please.” Stan’s wife suddenly gripped Jacob’s hand. He looked up at her, seeing slight panic in her eyes “Bring him back.”

  “No one gets left behind.” Jacob nodded. She let go of his hand, and he returned to looking down the tunnel.

  “Ladies first.” Stan gestured at the tunnel, grinning again. The man was entirely too excited to jump into the maze of hyper cuddly monstrosities.

  Jacob rolled his eyes, and crawled into the tunnel until he reached the gaping maw that led underground. He glanced down it and saw a dimly lit tunnel below them, roughly 10 feet underground. It was a bit of a jump down, but they would make it fine. Nothing moved in his line of sight, and tunnel below was largely silent.

  “This is absolute insanity.” Jacob grumbled, rotating so that his legs faced the tunnel. He placed his hands on the edge and slowly lowered himself until he was hanging from it. He glanced down at the tunnel - which continued to seem lifeless - then dropped to the bottom. He crouched as he landed, letting his legs absorb the blow, and grimaced as his knees lightly creaked. He stood up and looked around the tunnel cautiously, regretting the life choices that had led him to this point. The tunnel extended forward in a single direction, with the wall of the tube blocking the way behind him. The tunnel had no signs of movement whatsoever, and no Tokens or other creatures were in view.

  “Tunnel seems clear.” Jacob continued to stare down the corridor as he called upwards “You’re probably good-”

  A loud thumping sound behind him cut him off, and Jacob looked back to see Stan crouching in a dramatic pose where he had landed. Jacob shook his head. “-to come down.”

  “I’m going to give a strong guess that’s the way forward.” Stan nodded at the tunnel directly ahead of him seriously.

  “I’m going to guess you’re right.” Jacob replied sarcastically, before gesturing at the tube ahead of them. “Ladies first.”

  “Funny.” Stan frowned at Jacob lightly as he began walking forward slowly. “Very funny.”

  Jacob joined him, and for a moment the two walked down the tunnel in silence. It had largely the same appearance as the playground tunnel above them but was easily three times the diameter; it was large enough that both of them cold walk side by side without feeling cramped, and seemed to be filled with a directionless dim light. Jacob’s eyes quickly adjusted, though the light with no source was more disconcerting than if the tunnel had just been dark. Neither he nor Stan gave off any shadows in the space, and the light seemed to simply exist. It surrounded and dimly illuminated everything, but had no one that it originated from. It left Jacob incredibly unsettled, giving the entire corridor a slight Uncanny Valley effect. The tubes didn’t feel real - seeming far less realistic than the environmental spaces created by cards on the Ceasarion.

  “Not going to lie.” Stan said quietly as they walked “The weird lighting here is creeping me out.”

  “And you were so excited to be down here earlier.” Jacob replied sarcastically

  “Yeah that was all an act.” Stan replied frankly “There’s a reason they gave me an Oscar.”

  “Two, according to your file.” Jacob said back “And an Emmy.”

  “Oh yeah, almost forgot about that.” Stan muttered.

  The two men stopped as they reached a T junction, the tunnel in front of them suddenly splitting in two. Jacob frowned as they reached the junction; a second before, it hadn’t existed. They had been walking down a seemingly neverending tunnel, when it had miraculously appeared.

  “I guess that’s what Rama meant when she said the tunnels like to change.” Stan took a deep breath “Alright fearless leader, left or right.”

  Jacob’s frown deepened as he peered down the path that led to the right. The tube in that direction was identical to the one they had just travelled down, also appearing to be neverending as it stretched past what Jacob could see. Just like the tube they had walked through the passage was empty, devoid of creature, EvBot, or human. Jacob shook his head and glanced over at the left. He froze in place, staring down the tunnel.

  “Left.” Jacob sharply inhaled, all of his senses on alert. He neither moved nor blinked as he spoke, staring forward in surprise. All the hairs on his body seemed to stand up at once, as goosebumps covered his flesh. The air around him seemed to grow cold, and he lowered his voice to being almost inaudible. “Definitely left.”

  Stan stepped out into the tunnel and immediately froze, his eyes widening as he looked down the left tunnel. Just like Jacob he didn’t dare move nor blink, staring incredulously at what he saw.

  “Dear God.”

  extra dramatic dialogue. Sometimes our characters surprise us as writers, and this chapter was one of those moments. Originally the plan was for Jacob to go into the maze of tunnels alone; to find Veronica quickly within a single chapter, leading us into a moment of character growth and backstory revelation. That isn’t what ended up happening. The decision to have Stan step up was a sudden one, but it’s not one I regret. I like the dynamic between the two of them, and Stan’s character has evolved a lot since I first come up with him in brainstorming. The more the story continues, the more every character truly comes into their own. What was meant to be another heroic main character moment for Jacob has grown into an opportunity to really get to know one of the side characters; it was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

  Dungeon Crawler Carl. I read the first book a few weeks ago in one rapid binge, and it’s definitely had a strong inspiration as I’ve written this section of the story. A dungeon isn’t all that different than a creepy hamster maze of playground tubes, and the humor and dry wit of Dungeon Crawler Carl is one of its most endearing traits. I don’t have a purebred show cat named Princess Donut to prance around the cameras, but I do have a Hollywood Himbo high off of the success of winning his first match. For those who are desperately hoping for more matches don’t worry, they will definitely be having another creature battle soon that is in the same style as the fight against the crystal creature. If I’m gonna make my characters crawl a dungeon, then I’m going to make them face a Dungeon Boss whether they like it or not.

  replace a Lore Drop, but would come in addition to the currently scheduled ones.

  trust in the cards…

  What do you think Jacob and Stan saw?