Jesse had been waiting on the platform for about thirty minutes now.

They could see Gill waving at them and yelling; but he was far enough away that Jesse just flat-out couldn't hear him, and Maya had yanked him down a few times now to avoid attracting every demon's attention.

Abruptly, there was a yell, and the other contestant (?) shrieked and fell into the mud below. There was another series of groans, but people paying up, and Magnus stepped out onto the platform.

"Uh... so, as you can see, the challenges were so effective that we eliminated everyone except for one person prior to the actual third event," he announced.

(Part of him seemed irritated. Maybe because both of the griefers, who were probably from Boom Town, had failed the intellectual challenge.

Maybe he was in a rivalry with Ellegaard, then, rather than just being friends with her?)

"However, this doesn't mean the Death Bowl is over!"

Jesse could've sworn they heard Mevia loudly go "oh, COME ON!" in the crowd, but when they looked over at the little smear of blue and purple that was Mevia and Hadrian, both of them were scuffling slightly- though it could easily be Hadrian's attempt to try to shut her up.

"Rather than a conventional challenge, like last year where we had the remaining contestants dangled over a volcano and had to make their way out without falling in- which neither of them actually succeeded at, so maybe we should change that one a little bit next year-"

Jesse made a note that they were very glad that the other contestants had failed this challenge so that they did not have to be dangled over a volcano.

"- what would be more conventional than a fight to the death? We are demons, after all," and now a huge roar came from the crowd, making Jesse wince a little as Magnus had to raise his voice to be heard over the swell of the crowd, "what would make this more fun than a little bloodshed?"

Okay, never mind, Jesse kinda wanted to take the volcano challenge now.

Magnus turned to Jesse and gave them a grin. "So, Tiny. You get twenty minutes to prepare, pick your weapon, make sure it's all fair on your end. I'm gonna pick three different contestants that you're going to have to fight."

He slapped them on the back. "You win, you win the Death Bowl this year. You fail..."

He shrugged. "Well, I don't really gotta explain it to you, do I?"


Twenty minutes went by faster than Jesse wanted it to.

They felt like they were studying (cramming) for a test, scanning the book for good spells. Most of them were not combat spells (there were more spells for summoning fire to cook than summoning fire for defense, especially in the beginner section, which made sense because you could probably easily burn someone), but Jesse managed to at least memorize a weak light spell and some remotely stronger spells.

Nothing like the light spell they'd used with Aiden, because they'd promptly pass right out after that.

Magnus came in to see Jesse hunched over the book. "You got your weapon, Tiny?"

Jesse held it up a little. "Um, magic... is that allowed?"

"Well, kiddo, the only rule is-"

"I know, I know, no eye-poking," Jesse said, smiling weakly at him.

He grinned back at them widely. "You ready?"

"Am I allowed to say no?"

He grinned, sitting down on a nearby chair. His grin softened a little. "Don't worry, kid, I'm not gonna let you die. First off, I think Ivor would kill me..."

Jesse paused, then blinked up at Magnus. "You know Ivor?"

"I mean... duh. He's my lord. Or, at least, right now he's the only lord I can answer to. Since... well, Jupin's empty." For a moment, Magnus's smile became more grim, before he ruffled Jesse's hair and made them squeak. "And if Ivor doesn't kill me, Mevia will, and let me tell you now, I do not want her to kill me."

"But... you said... a battle to the death..." Jesse murmured this.

He gave a lopsided grin. "Hey. The only rule's 'no eye poking'. There's nothing stopping me from changing the rule to get you out of there at the last second if things go really shit for you."

There was a small rush of relief. Then concern. "Won't the griefers get mad?"

Magnus shrugged. "Hell yeah, they will, but if I promise next year's Death Bowl will be more exciting and death-defying, they'll forget about it in two days. Plus, the Death Bowl this year is more to handle the negative energy problem."

Jesse paused.

Then looked up at him.

"If I fail this last challenge... what happens with the negative energy problem?"

Magnus frowned. "Not gonna lie, not sure. But I won't just be throwing you into deep water so you can drown. So you definitely won't be allowed to handle it. Maybe wait around until Ivor comes around..."

Jesse frowned at that.

Waiting might not be a good idea, was it? If it was really bad...

Well, they supposed that settled it.

They would have to try their best to beat whatever challenger they had to face.

No matter what it was.


The arena had been set up like a typical arena now, Magnus's voice booming. There were three competitors standing there- 'volunteers', apparently. One was that girl Nohr that they'd met back on their first time coming to Boom Town. Another was a green-haired demon with goggles and almost unhealthy gray skin, hands in their pockets and watching silently. And another was a buff guy- "Slab" was his name. He was reading his own book.

"The possible challengers have been selected!" Magnus boomed. "The final challenger will have to pick any of the contestants standing on this platform. The two will then either fight until the other challenger concedes. Once one party gives up, the winner gets to decide their fate."

"DEATH!" Nohr yelled.

Jesse decided not to pick her.

Magnus turned to Jesse, giving them a grin from where he was standing on the platform, gesturing at the three contestants. "So. Who do you pick, Tiny?"

"I can pick whoever I want, right?" Jesse asked, an idea abruptly surfacing.

Magnus shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, whoever's on the platform."

Jesse looked.

Slab looked invested in his book and like he'd rather finish it than beat them to a pulp. Nohr- well, Nohr had just yelled death, and the green person...

Jesse paused.

Then lifted their finger and pointed at Magnus.

"I choose you."


A/N: "Pikachu! I choose you!"

Lol. This is gonna go "great" for Jesse.

I really really want Night in the Woods all of a sudden. but there's also a dating sim where u can take care of dogs coming out in may HHHHH what do I do

To clarify: last chapter's puzzle, the clicker moved a slot out of the way that let slightly weighted tiles start sliding into place to form squares on the floor, since the floor was tilted to one side. After fifteen minutes, the tiles would have fully moved into place, making them all squares. The reason it was hard to notice was due to the bright colors.

Responses to new reviewers!

Bright: Tysm! I honestly don't know what I'm doing that much when it comes to writing so I'm glad people like it haha / Thank you! You stay safe too :D

That's all for now. See ya, so long, and g'bye!