The team waits in the lobby for Mira and James to finish their “business” while chatting with Cateto. The cat, clearly concerned for their safety, expresses strong opposition to the idea of fighting the goosebumps.

  “It likes to play with its victims...but you could also argue that is its weakness.”

  “We’ll make it back. We promise!” Yu says, patting Cateto on the head.

  As they make their way to the current goosebumps' location – the very park where Wyn and Anish once strolled together – Wyn is flooded with emotions. Flashing images of Anish race through his mind, but he’s quickly snapped back to reality as a demon cat approaches the team.

  “This area is currently restricted. There is a champion here!” it announces. “Wait, two stickers. Are you...?”

  The demon calls over other demons and contacts the nerds. While they wait, a group of familiar faces approaches from behind.

  “It’s you guys from the metro station!” Janine exclaims.

  “Oh hey!” Mira replies, waving.

  “What happened to your team? Where is that girl, Amélie?” Wyn asks.

  “She’s no longer with us…”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  "Oh, not like that. She left for another party. Luckily, we have Miles as a new member." Janine then surveys Wyn’s team. "Seems like your team has grown! Oh? Where’s the older gentleman?" she asks.

  Wyn quickly avoids eye contact, feeling a pang of discomfort for both losing Anish and having once declined their invitation to form a team with him, Yu, and Mira. A part of him wants to explain the situation, but the other just wants it to slip away, knowing it would be a difficult story to tell.

  “Are you guys here to challenge the champion?” Yu interjects.

  “Yes! Our first, actually!”

  “Wanna join us to fight this creature?” Lucas asks eagerly.

  “...Is that allowed?” Wyn wonders aloud.

  It turns out that souls can form parties of any size to tackle champions, but they must remain on the same team from their first encounter unless they lose members and retreat from the battle. Since Wyn and his team have already defeated two champions, joining forces with others is no longer an option.

  “What makes you want to fight the goosebumps?” Wyn asks.

  Janine, seemingly taking on the leadership role, admits they have no real reason to fight the goosebumps other than its proximity to their current location. Their conversation is interrupted when the nerds arrive. Although Janine and her team are disallowed from participating, they plead with the nerds to observe the battle, which the nerds reluctantly agree to.

  Wyn and team reach a pond, where a solitary goose-like creature waddles about, gobbling water.

  “You can’t be serious, eh. This thing is really a champion?” James remarks.

  Before them stands a peculiar white goose, its head seamlessly connected to its body and shaped like a pinball bumper. Its beak resembles a pair of glowing neon pinball flippers, and its body, though white and feathered, takes the form of a bigger pinball flipper, angled upward at the end.

  “It looks almost like a regular goose! We should kill it now!” Mira suggests.

  “Define ‘almost’, sis,” Lisa cuts in.

  “Wait! There must be a good reason for Cateto to warn us, not to mention why the nerds are gathering here to watch us,” Wyn points out.

  Their chatter draws the goose’s attention. In an instant, its eyes turn a furious blood red, dripping with lava as sword blades emerge from them. With its beak wide open, another sword blade extends from its mouth, held between the beak. Its color shifts to a fiery red while its wide goose-like feet remain a vibrant orange. Slowly, clouds gather around the area, limiting the team’s vision. That’s also when they notice their hair is pointing upward, reacting to the electricity filled within the air.

  “Now, I get the name…,” Wyn says.

  The clouds thicken around the pond, making it nearly impossible for the team to see one another, save for the shadowy figures of their friends. Fortunately, the electrical currents in the air seem to have little effect on them beyond making their hair and body hair stand on end, a testament to how strong they’ve become. Wyn attempts to blow away the clouds, but his efforts prove futile.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Gather in a circle! Backs against each other!” Wyn commands.

  Then, a “honk honk” reverberates through the mist.

  “Ouch! I’m cut!” Lisa exclaims.

  “Are you okay? Where are you?” Mira asks.

  From where she is, Mira can only barely see Yu and James next to her.

  “Can you still fight or do you need to escape?” Wyn asks Lisa, who’s standing next to him.

  “It really hurts, but I’ll be fine.”

  And with another “honk honk,” another member, this time, James suffers slice wounds.

  “Fuck! It burns!”

  “You okay?” Wyn asks.

  “For now!”

  As their backs finally press against each other, timing the next “honk honk” perfectly, Wyn constructs a wall around the team, causing the goose’s blades to “clink” against the rock surface.

  “If you think it’s in front of you, attack, but don’t break the wall!” Wyn instructs.

  Yu unleashes a water stream beyond the wall, trying to gauge the goose’s position. He curves the stream downward, crashing into whatever lies in its path. A loud, startled “honk” confirms the hit.

  “Nice! We’ll have to keep doing this for now!”

  Yet, the next attack never comes, and the mist remains as dense as ever. Wyn leaps onto the rock wall and fires multiple cyclones, hoping one will strike the goose. Silence follows until an exhausted “honk” breaks it – repeating twice more.

  “What’s going on?” Mira asks, her voice tinged with worry.

  Suddenly, a loud “HISS” echoes, followed by a trembling in the ground. The shaking intensifies, and the team senses something approaching. James reinforces the wall while Wyn sends more cyclones toward the unseen threat. One of his attacks seems to connect, as a sharp, echoing crack of ice resonates in response. Despite this, the ground continues to tremble.

  As Wyn jumps back inside the wall, Lisa spots a massive shadowy figure rolling toward her. It collides with the wall, shattering into pieces, and the impact completely destroys their barricade. The team, still reeling from the scattered ice chunks, barely has time to react as another massive figure rolls straight for Lisa. With a quick shout, Wyn instructs everyone to jump out of the way. The figure halts abruptly in the center of the group before shattering, sending ice fragments flying in all directions, striking each member of the team. Yet, they're all still standing.

  “Shit! Where are you guys now?” Wyn shouts.

  The team members are scattered, and fear grips Wyn. He frantically navigates through the mist, searching for his friends. After another “honk honk,” he hears a “thud” on the ground. As he focuses, he makes out a figure rolling toward him – it’s James’ head. Wyn’s eyes widen, his body trembling at the sight. Without hesitation, he reaches for the head, just as he notices a goose-like figure dashing toward him, seemingly trying to claim the part.

  With James’ head in his arm, Wyn spars with the goose using just one blade. Though protected by rock, the searing blades quickly melt the protected arms. Then, he catches a glimpse of light – Mira’s fire – followed by something sparkling in front of it.

  “Get away, Mister Wyn!” Lisa shouts.

  Wyn propels himself off a slanted rock, as the sparkling light turns out to be Lisa’s electrifying laser beams, striking the goose directly in the side.

  “Catch!” Wyn throws James’ head into the girls’ direction, which they scream in reaction.

  By this point, the mist has vanished. Wyn swiftly erects multiple rock pillars in the path where the goose is sent flying. The goose crashes through several of them before coming to a complete stop against the penultimate pillar. Dazed, its head swirls in confusion. Wasting no time, Wyn dashes forward with his chakrams in hand, propelled by a cyclone.

  What unfolds next is a fierce sparring match between Wyn and the goose. The tide shifts when the goose infuses its blades with electricity, paralyzing Wyn, who was caught off guard. Reacting quickly, Mira summons a pillar of fire beneath the creature, but the goose flaps its wings and escapes, scampering away from the flames. Yu follows up by unleashing his dragon water to chase the goose, but instead of evading, the goose fires a lava stream from its mouth. The clash between the two elements creates a hardened lava stream that falls to the ground. Behind it, the goose lays an enormous egg-like form.

  The dazed goose sits atop it, but the egg soon reveals itself to be another creature. It resembles a blue egg but has eyes and wings, though featherless – essentially, a baby gosling shaped like an egg. As the goose hisses, the gosling creature begins rolling toward Yu, Mira, and Lisa.

  The goose spreads its wings to land safely, but just as it prepares to summon the clouds again, its head is forcefully pressed. Wyn positions himself, spinning his chakram blades in the same stance he used against the crackaroo, trying to keep the goose pinned. Despite his efforts, the goose’s head resists, held up by the blades protruding from its eyes and mouth.

  Lisa takes out the gosling with concentrated laser shots from her gun, while Mira burns away the ice chunks. The three of them, with Yu clutching James’ head, run toward Wyn’s position. At Mira’s well-timed shout, Wyn pulls back, giving her the opportunity to wrap her whip around the base of the goose’s head. With the first wrap, there's a massive explosion, but the goose remains alive.

  The goose reacts swiftly, using its blades to fling Mira off balance. Yu comes to her aid, extending his blade and executing a jump-slash at the metal tip, causing another explosion. In a sudden move, the goose lays another egg, lifting Mira up and dangling her from the side of the gosling. Without hesitation, Lisa fires at close range, obliterating the gosling in an instant. Though ice chunks rain down on the team, they stay focused on defeating the goose.

  Mira lands on Wyn’s mini cyclone, maintaining her grip on the whip wrapped around the goose. As it crashes to the ground, she retracts the whip, adjusting its length and flinging the tied creature into the air toward her as she jumps off the cyclone. With Yu’s curved water stream propelling the whip back down, she extends it again to slam the goose, creating a powerful explosion. Meanwhile, Wyn and Lisa, already airborne, coordinate their efforts, combining a fully-charged electrifying laser beam enveloped by a rocky cyclone. As Mira dematerializes the whip, Yu extends his blade, positioning it against the base of the goose’s head. The combined force of their attack slices through, bringing the battle to a triumphant end.