With the first wolf dead, and after giving Danny a moment to steel himself. James took the opportunity to teach Danny how to collect the body using the satchel item bag over his shoulder. “It really is magic,” Danny said with awe and a sparkle in his eye.

  “Now that that's done, we better hurry,” James said.

  “Why?” Danny asked warily.

  “These mushrooms only st for 30 minutes.” With that said the two made haste to the open door that sat towards the far side of an old colpsing house. Inside was a familiar stone stairway down into the unknown; familiar yet different. Small specs of some unknown material sat here and there within the stone walls of the stairway. That seemingly gives off a strange luminescence. "Well, that's different," James commented.

  "What is?" Danny had to ask.

  "Well, the one in my apartment was completely pitch-bck inside." There was a reason why James had prepared helmets with headmps. Regardless James still entered into the stone stairway and was soon followed by Danny. As the two began making their way down the winding stairway the strange luminescence, while somewhat confusing was appreciated. “This is also a bit different,” James commented only for Danny to raise a metallic eyebrow. “The one in my apartment spiraled, it wasn’t winding like this.” With the observations of the odd structure out of the way the two began making a good pace down the stairway. Their metal soles cnking against each stone stair as they went. With James running in front he soon spotted a strange illuminated spot in the stairway, like there was sunlight shining in through a hole. When the pair got closer James came to an abrupt stop. Only for Danny to almost hit him as he followed behind, James looked outside into a small hole in the wall that mysteriously seemed to let in sunshine.

  "Look," James said as he moved aside letting Danny see the other side.

  "Holy!” On the other side of the opening, there was a a awe-striking verdant green forest with rge deep green foliage. Trees stretched towards a stone ceiling or dome that covered the entire area. The stone dome that encompassed the entire area also seemed to be giving off stronger light then the small specks within the stairway. The forest below was lit as brightly as the midday sky with an approximate size of about 2-3 football fields. Some of the trees were tall enough to touch the ceiling looking like giant pilrs, only a sparing few were that tall but it was still quite a sight.

  As they continued down the meandering stairway they found that every so often the holes in the wall would appear, growing rger as they went, and quickly there was one rge enough for them to fit through. They stopped and took in a different angle than they had seen previously.

  “That should be our target,” James said pointing to a tree that looked rger than the rest.

  “Because”?

  (My gamer sense is tingling) “It looks like the only point of interest. Danny, bag your gun were takin the quick way down.” With the opening in the stairway, James thought of a faster way down than to keep following the winding stairs; jump. There wouldn’t even be any damage given the effects of the Metal Mushrooms. But it would be loud.

  When he suggested this idea to his brother, Danny wasn't exactly on board with the idea. "No-" Regardless of his reluctance, they had to get down somehow and the fastest route was straight down. After James finished storing his gun He grabbed his brother and started pulling towards the edge. “Wait! Wait! When did you get so- Can't we discuss this?!” Danny pleaded.

  “Nope, the timers ticking”. Danny tried to resist the best he could with his rge build and added weight, but he was unable to counter James’ Ki-enhanced strength that was simirly enhanced through the effect of the Metal Mushroom. All of his struggles were useless once he was close enough to the edge. Using his position against him James pulled Danny over the edge.

  “Haaaa!! Fu- you!!..” Danny screamed out as they fell. During the chaos, James had also taken Danny’s gun pocketing it inside his Item bag for safekeeping. After that was done, James in contrast to his brother was enjoying the moment; “Hahahhahahah!!”

  They hit the ground in a crash. *GYUTOOON* Rock and stone were unched as they made impact.

  James was the first to rip his way out of his human-shaped impact crater. He looked up towards the twisted and winding staircase that looked more like a tree root as it reached into the ceiling. Counting the levels, from his vantage inside the crater they had fallen more than 30 floors. If the holes on the side were an adequate measure. When he had finished counting he spent some time searching around inside the bag for the guns before he started searching around for his brother.

  Danny y in his crater, looking up at the luminescent ceiling thinking about the life decisions that led him here. Why was he even here? Sure, he wanted to see monsters, real-life monsters! but why was it that he was here? Danny was attempting to cope with the situation. He had been scared of heights when he was young, getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he looked down a ledge a little too steep. Through the years it seems even he forgot he was scared of heights. That was until James brought them down the easy way.

  “Hey! Hurry up and crawl out of your hole already!” Danny heard James’ call. (I don’t want to get up. Let me stay in my hole. I’m safe in my hole.) “And we made a lot of noise”.

  “And whose fault is that?!” Danny shouted tearing himself from his earthy home.

  “You were the one screaming,” James said as he appeared next to Danny holding two shotguns in his arms.

  “The only reason-“

  While the two were in the midst of an argument, a singur bck-furred figure emerged at the edge of the newfound crater. Its piercing gaze scanned over the newfound formation. Spotting the two strange shiny figures. With its rge stature, intimidating sharp teeth and cws, it would have been terrifying to a normal person. However, the brothers hadn’t even noticed it giving their full attention to each other, neither were paying it any attention. “Alright, alright, I didn’t know you were scared of heights. I’m sorry.” James was trying to apologize. But the two’s attention was quickly grabbed as the wolf howled.

  *Garoooooow!!!* The call echoed into the forest. Alerting the others nearby. “Shit” both brothers uttered looking over at the lone wolf.

  James wasted no time getting in front of the beast's charge throwing the guns towards his brother before the wolf charged him releasing a flurry of cwed swipes. However, instead of blocking the sharp cws, he allowed them to make contact with his metal-coated skin. With the amount of force within each arm, it might have been enough to tear someone limb from limb, instead as the cws made contact they broke off. Flying off in different directions. The beast didn't seem too bothered losing its cws as the flurry of strikes continues. James soon ended its vain struggle grabbing hold of the creature’s arm before, “Can. You. Understand. What. I. Am. Saying?” James spoke slowly as he held its arm tightly. “Nothing huh?” The Dogeman seemed to have no response to his words only attempting to free itself and growl while baring its teeth. Danny stared at his brother before James turned to him, “What? You killed the first one. I had to at least check if they were intelligent.” It was quite shocking to see his brother so unbothered while the creature aggressively struggled within his grasp. Thrashing about, biting, and even smashing its fingers against him until they broke. "We don't have all day," James said having Danny pick up the guns before -

  *Crack*

  delivering a heavy metal strike to its neck with his free hand, ending the beast's struggle, the body slumped over him as James gave the beast a few seconds to die over his shoulder before pcing one of its padded fingers into his satchel and it was quickly sucked inside. After that was done James received his gun from Danny as they left the hole they found themselves in. Though, walking out of the impact crater was a process far easier said than done as their metal bodies put more pressure on the already disrupted ground as they moved. Having to put in some time and effort finding the best route up and out, while the path colpsed as they went.

  When the two were finally out of the hole they were once again able to see the strange verdant green foliage that filled the dungeon up close. Both approached a different pnt to see it up close, rger than normal ferns and grasses, strange and completely alien flora were everywhere. But they didn’t have the time to look *Grooowww* the howls of the others approaching echoed through the forest.

  END