Kromaxx is a haven for smugglers, marauders, and the unscrupulous, where fortunes are made and ambitions shattered in the blink of an eye.

But for those fleeing justice, debt, or persecution, it is a city of new beginnings. No one on the twisted, rundown streets of Kromaxx cares about your past. It’s a melting pot of cultures, races, and creeds, alive with activity at all hours.

...or it would be, if not for the group of young people currently running for their lives.

“You get a bullet! And you get a bullet! Everyone gets a bullet!” A sultry female robot squeals, laughing with excitement. She sees a door slam shut and hears a lock click from a doorway just ahead of her group. “Aw, don’t run now. Get your butts back here! You’re gonna miss all the fun!” Glynda squeals. “Sarge~ You got runners this time!”

“Holy shit!” A new female voice panics. “I’ve got to get out of her—”

Other voices yell, cutting each other off in her fearful panic.

“Watch out! Look where you’re going, you s—”

“Bitch! Move your shit the fuck out of my w—!”

“Holy fuck, Mika! You do this on your own, ok?” says a tall, dark-skinned girl with bright golden hair that fades to pale gold at the tips with a cowlick sticking out at the top, greatly resembling her mother and a distinctive shark-like appearance, small, round, white eyes, and three sets of curved facial markings under her eyes. Gills flutter open and closed at her shoulders, and her sharp, triangular teeth are mildly serrated.

Joan looks at boobs. No, udders more like it and question how can something so big be on something that tall.

The sliver-haired girl turns in the direction of the voice that has just insulted her. Seeing nothing ahead, she looks down. The angry voice continues.

“You watch out! And watch your language, fish face!” a small girl sporting silver hair with blue streaks yells back at her, pointing her finger up at the bigger one. A small lock of hair that can only be described as adorable bounces atop her head as she positions herself in a way that would normally look menacing. She holds the tall, dark-skinned blonde’s gaze with her light blue eyes.

“Listen here, you little—”

“Ahem! Remember what mom would say!” The blonde shark girl reminds her sister. The one with dark hair winces. She grips her nails into her fists so tightly that Joe thinks she may bleed.

“Osh, Joe! I am just trying to tell small tits that I was watching where I was going, and I would like it if you would not be so pretentious towards me, ok?” Joan replies.

“Excuse me!? I do not know who you are, but my name is Ruby Rose, and I do not get out of the way for people. They get out of the way for me!” Ruby says, pouting and stomping with her delicate, spike-heeled shoe, glaring at the black-haired girl.

“Ok, Joe, I fucking tried. Now I’m going to deck her!” Joan growls.

“Oh, god... do what you want! If you get caught. Don’t mention our relationship to the police!” Joe shouts.

“What!? You are going to let her attack a beautiful and talented girl!? Get back here, you blonde bimbo, and help me!” Ruby calls out, her eyes wide.

Suddenly, Ruby hears a rustling sound from the cargo stacked behind her.

“Oh, you are going down!” The black hair girl yells, knocking down one of the massive metal boxes behind Ruby. A cloud of thick red dust flies out. She takes a majestic bow, proclaiming, “My name is Mika, and I’m go—”

“You idiot! That is fire dust! What are you thinking!?” Ruby shouts as the other girl takes a deep breath.

“I don’t give a fuck what it is.. because like I said... I’m... achoo!” She sneezes, and the world around them suddenly becomes a massive ball of fire. Both girls vanish into it, with Joe along the way.

. “That bitch had better be dead if those flames ruin my hair.” Seeing her sister get blown away, Joan examines herself to ensure she isn’t also dead.

“I... I don’t think that they liked that.” Joan sighs as she sees the girls vanish in flames. “I hope they are ok,” Joan says as she grabs hold of her cross and walks to the flames.

###

“Ow... why me?” Mika groans, her head aching and reminding her of her first hangover many years ago.

She blinks once. And that annoying bitch Ruby? Was that the girl’s name? She sees that the one previously yelling at her is still on top of the crater.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Mika asks as Ruby growls. She plants her foot on the ground, almost spitting on her.

“You fool! Idiot! Bastard! You almost hurt me!”

“Like I giv-” Mika starts her outrage.

Joe and Joan walk over to ask if they are alright, but a new voice interrupts them.

“Quiet, Maggots!” A male drill sergeant made from rock and stone yells toward the rookies from the port.

Meet Sarge. A no-nonsense, tough-talking Rangrok with a personality as hard as his skin. He aims to kick ass, drink beer, and get paid.

“Congrats, rookies! Y’all didn’t die from my ex-wife.”

“Your wha-” A random person starts to ask but is cut off by the sheer force of the Sarge’s breath and is knocked fifteen feet away from the force of his shout.

“DID I SAY YOU CAN SPEAK?” Sarge bellows at the group, creating the windblast that sent them flying.

The rookies all groan in pain. “What—”

“Answer the damn question! Sarge doesn’t repeat himself!”

“N—”

“SPEAK! YOU DAMN WORMS IN THE GROUND!!!”

“SIR! NO! SIR!” The rookies shout, standing at attention.

“Now listen up! You have all come to train at my Nexus compound until you learn not to die like stupid, useless chickens. But since I don’t give a shit, I’m leaving you in the capable hands of Mr. Joestar.”

Sarge begins to walk to a nearby bar, then pauses and calls over his shoulder.

“Mr. Joestar, you know what to do.” Sarge finished.

“Yeah, boss.” The voice comes from a green-skinned man with numerous injuries on his body. His left arm is in a sling, and he has two black eyes, several cuts, a head wrapped in bandages, and multiple missing teeth. His right leg is in a cast.

“Alright, here.” Joestar begins talking, and everyone winces at his tone. His pain is obvious. “Alright, maggots, listen up! This pirate is about to teach you the pecking order! It goes you, the dirt, the worms inside of the dirt, the rock on top of that dirt, Sarge’s dog Rex, then Sarge. Any questions?”

Everyone glances around with the same question in their eyes. What about him?

“Before you ask something pointless, let me tell you a story.” Joestar coughs up some blood, spitting it onto the ground.

“Shouldn’t you rest?” A woman asks.

“’ Come to Kromaxx,’ they said. ‘The humans found The outlands,’ they said. ‘Towns ready for raiding, looting, and pillaging.’” The disgust in Joestar’s voice is evident, and he hocks another bloody loogie. “For a simple pirate warlord like myself and my bloody business, it was a dream come true.”

The injured man ignores the lady’s concern. Mika suddenly recognizes the man.

“You’re John the Scourge! Captain of the Nassau pirates, also known as the Pirate Armada. They consist of a fleet of two hundred and fifty dreadnought pirate ships and five hundred thousand pirates.”

“What?!” The rookies shout.

“Consisted. They’re all dead, missy.”

The area goes quiet—so quiet you can hear grasshoppers fart.

“Now, where was I? Ah. Yes. This place is full of psychopathic killers and homicidal maniacs! “The man grunts in pain after yelling himself hoarse. “Ohhh... Pick your preferred classes as I describe them to you.”

The screen lights up, showing the different classes they can pick on this strange planet.

“Warriors! Armed to the bloody teeth. Unstoppable juggernauts on the battlefield, using a combination of heavy weaponry, powerful armor, and advanced technology to take care of business. If they ain’t chopping you to bits, then they are blowing you to hell with their arm cannons.”

The crowd sees his armada enter the Kromaxx airspace, and most of the ships get cut down by a lone warrior.

Joestar grumbles at seeing his ships destroyed again.

“And people call me a bloodthirsty bastard.” He mumbles. Then, Joestar laughs at some of the rookies trying to leave the place.

The screen shows a sickly-looking man taking on the rest of Joestar’s ships in the air.

“Being gutted by a blade is one thing. But... Warlocks and Witches conjure entities from other realms and access powers from unknown dimensions.”

The man grins and summons a portal. A tentacle with fangs protruding from its suction cups grabs three ships out of the air.

“And don’t get me started on Rangers... hopping around like goddamned space demons. Deadly and dangerous pistoleers, often found beyond the Dreadwater working as bounty hunters, bodyguards, and guns-for-hire.” The screen shows Joestar’s flagship riddled with holes by a single ranger. He dodges the machine gunfire from the flagship with ease. “I got my more holes than a leaky drainpipe.”

Next, the screen shows a man and woman together.

“Priests. Don’t let the name fool you.” The screen shows a male and female priest incinerating the remaining members of the Nassau pirates. “Their healing light will burn your skin and liquify your innards!”

“Now for the Mech Summoners. They can summon robots from the—” Joestar didn’t finish, dropping to his knees from his increasing pain instead.

Sarge walks in and sees the weakling they captured on his knees again.

“Now that I see you’re all done talking, Mr. Joestar, do you have any last comments for them?”

Joestar looks at the crowd and bluntly growls, “You’re all going to die.”

“Ready to go, maggots?” Sarge scoffs, then continues, wasting no time to hear their opinions. “Try not to die. Or don’t... Ah, who cares? I get paid either way.”

###

~Kuzco~ Day 2

A whole new world of information revealed itself to me after choosing to accept that window. That is, the window grew more extensive and filled with big, fancy words and numbers that I know pretty well.

Words like avatar, bank, crafting, creatures, evolution, magic, party, rooms, and traps.

Dungeon Information

Dungeon Name: [None]

Achievements: 1

Name: Kuzco Adam

Sex: Male

Core Rank: Basic

Power Level: 75

Core Type: Demon/Dragon (Human Soul)

Traits: 0

Mana Pool: 50 / 50

Total Constructions: 0

Mana Generation: 10 / Per Hour

Upkeep: 0

Total Creatures: 0 Total Plants: 0

Dungeon Points: 0

Total Dungeon Points: 0

| Avatar | Bank | Crafting | Creatures | Evolution | Magic | Party | Rooms | Traps |

I carefully read through all of the information in the overlays. There was a menu I could use to design each tunnel and room of my new cave-turned-dungeon. I had the option to change the floors, walls, ceiling—everything.

There was another window floating underneath that bigger one.

New Achievement

Basic Dungeon

You have successfully evolved into a Basic-Rank Dungeon Core.

Reward: +100 DP

About time dumbass...

Trust me. You don’t want to have text that can sass you. Unable to punch the motherfucker, I closed the window to see what else I had received.

All the times I played Defender and RTS were paying off. But, God, I missed the gamers club in high school. We played so many games on those mac computers—Rise of Nations, Counter-Strike, WOWIII, DOTA, and Guitar Hero.

I checked the options section.

Dungeon Options

[Settle Core Room]

I knew I should have played those tabletop games as well.

Dungeon Core Room Settled

The current room you are in will serve as the Core Room for your Dungeon Core. This room has been encased in your mana for over two centuries. Therefore, your current surroundings will be shaped to finish forming a Core Room.

Well, time to make—

“Hey! Are you really going to ignore me? Do you want to die again?” a strange voice shouted, catching my attention.

“It’s coarse to ignore us, master.”

I looked around the room to see who was speaking, but two basketball-sized orbs were all I could find.

“The heck?” I exclaimed.