Chapter 10 of 35 · Book 3, The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Chapter 10 — Landmines on the ochre line
Book: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook · Previous: Chapter 9 — The wheel of fortune · Next: Chapter 11 — Gore-Gore · Floor: Floor 4 — The Iron Tangle · Series: the series
Opening
We returned to find Hekla sitting on the couch in our base drinking an Arby’s milkshake.
Summary
Hekla is on the couch drinking a milkshake — except the name over her head says Katia, and it is a 65% likeness: Walk in Their Shoes needs 90% to change the name. She has bought a Makeup Table and spent both upgrade coupons taking it to level three (Mordecai will be furious) and taken the assassin's armour for its mass. Donut, airily: 'A poor crawler thought he could keep up with me, and I accidentally had to rip his throat out.' Carl trains Bare Knuckles to 9, Donut Dodge to 7; the Demolition Workshop tab lets him take bombs apart at the sapper's table without decay, and he consults the Cookbook twice in the bathroom. Donut's first ride: a magic strap holds her to the saddle until Mongo throws her onto the alchemy table. 'Mongo and I have a psychic bond, Carl. You've never been a mother.'
On an ochre-line platform Carl tests the third rail with fused metal rods and two Clockwork Mongos (one explodes on contact, one is run over), spray-paints an X on the last train through as a warning to Meadow Lark and Bautista, and lowers two Jelly Bombs — naval-mine plungers around hob-lobbers and a hobgoblin stick, an idea from the Cookbook disguised as his own — onto the track with a fishing pole. Club Vanquisher's entrance here is a church; a ram-headed cleric watches. Elle reports from a fifth station: three neighbourhood bosses, and a borough boss Imani says is an old friend — a Krakaren. 'I'm moderately excited about this, Carl.'
Characters
- Carl — Bare Knuckles 9; the Demolition Workshop; two landmines set by fishing pole.
- Katia Grim — Wears Hekla's face; a Makeup Table at level three with both upgrade coupons.
- Princess Donut — Dodge 7; thrown from the saddle; blasts two skunks while Carl paints the X.
- Mongo — Refuses the rider; two clockwork copies sacrificed to the rail.
- Elle McGibbons — Three bosses at a fifth station; the Krakaren borough boss.
Locations
- The Iron Tangle — A platform with a pho restaurant, a general store, and Club Vanquisher.
- Club Vanquisher — A church-like building; a ram-headed cleric at the door.
Motifs
- The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook — The plunger idea, changed just enough to look original; the Jelly Bomb.
- Explosives — Landmines on a subway track.
- The Krakaren — A second Krakaren, a borough boss, at a fifth station.