Chapter 98

The Pain Pin, Atlanta - 12:31 PM

The smalls that weren’t stopping the pinsetters charged in my direction while the mediums hesitated, but eventually came barreling towards me. I dropped the heavier of the balls and, once it was half a foot off of the ground, made it Orbit me.

It gained speed quickly, and I felt it lose that speed just as fast as some of the Filbins collided with it. The ball continued on its path, accelerating again until it hit the next one, and the next.

By the time the third collision occurred, I had already tossed the other ball down lane six and Pulled another for lane seven. Small Filbins were getting battered at each rotation and the mediums were taking pause as their tiny brethren were pushed away. With one ball in Orbit and another in my hand, I glanced towards the Golden Bowling Ball. It collided with the pins and I Pulled it back before focusing on the seventh lane.

I paused for just a moment as I let my Orbiting ball pass me by and I rolled the one I had in my hand. Reaching out, I grabbed the Golden Bowling Ball but kept my eye on this one. The seventh lane might have been the most trashed out of all of them with dents, dings, and one spot that looked like a medium had punched through the wood boards.

Smalls began to jump onto me, beating me with their small hands and biting with sharp teeth. Even through the clothes, it felt like being bitten by cats. I ignored them for now as I gave the bowling ball I had sent down the seventh lane an extra Spin.

Just before it reached the broken boards, the bowling ball Spun towards the gutter. I heard Boss Anchor yell triumphantly - a ball hitting the gutter was an automatic miss - but his celebration was too early. Almost as soon as I Spun the ball, I reversed the direction of the Spin. It flew between the gutter and the splintered hole without going into either before hooking around and striking the headpin.

I dropped the Golden Bowling Ball close to my body and caused it to Orbit with the other. Standing still with my arms at my side, the new projectile knocked off all of the smalls that had latched onto me. I could feel myself bleeding, and I winced as I realized I was doing it again. I was taking damage just because it was more expedient to do so.

“Sorry, Sara,” I whispered.

[[Patron Message]]

Stop letting them beat you up and I won’t make you tell Kayla and Jeff.

Watch out for the medium sized ones.

With concern,

Sara

I glanced through the message, skimming it for less than a second before I looked at the eighth lane. Pushing the regular bowling ball I had Orbiting me, I sent it off towards the pins. This time, I wasn’t stationary. I could hear the medium sized Filbins coming despite the Golden Bowling Ball protecting me, so I moved in front of the last lane.

The angle the Pushed ball flew at was all wrong, but I was in a position to fix it. I Dropped it near the end of the lane, so close to the pins that I nearly didn’t make it in time. Once it had stopped, I had to step closer to a medium, knocking him in the chest with the Orbiting bowling ball before stepping back. I Pulled the thrown ball so I could build up momentum before Pushing it into the pins. All ten knocked over, and that made eight frames down.

The first five lanes had small Filbins crawling all over the pinsetters. They were stealing the pins straight out of the machines, making it impossible for me to bowl on them. Per the crew battle rules, there only needed to be one lane open for it to be considered “fair,” and that’s exactly what they were doing. The sixth lane was about to be overtaken and others were already heading towards the seventh.

I ducked as I saw a pin held in a meaty furred fist coming right at me, and I leaned into my assailant. The medium tried going for the head, but the Orbiting Golden Bowling Ball knocked the wind out of him as he went sprawling. Now that it had slowed down, I grabbed the ball and began swinging.

While the medium Filbins were a lot stronger than the smalls, they weren’t stronger than I was. Once I began fending them off in earnest, swinging the ball in wide arcs, they started acting more defensively. Despite the danger the mediums could be, they weren’t as zealous about fighting me as the smalls were. Some did, but nearly half were only trying to keep up appearances. Even though the crew would take a hit, Boss Anchor losing would be big for those who had ambitions of being the new boss.

With only some of my enemies actually attacking me, I was able to keep an eye out for the last of the lanes. The speed and efficiency of my strikes meant that I got the smalls and the mediums coming after me at the same time, but Boss Anchor wouldn’t be able to jump in until after my ninth frame. That’s when I would have to be most worried.

Pulling a regular bowling ball towards me, I grabbed and rolled it straight down the eighth lane. The smalls standing in the adjacent lane growled and threatened the ball with pins in their hands, but none of them attempted to stop it. I gave it a Push to get over a rough patch before it struck the headpin and knocked them all down, causing me to wait for the reset.

Before I could turn around, I felt heat and activated my Shield. A split second later it shattered, causing me to fly against the wall of the bowling alley with a nearly broken arm as a Golden Bowling Ball similar to mine fell to the ground. Even with my Heat Resistance passive active, my skin felt like it was bubbling. Not as bad as it was against the ghost of Mathias Gray, but still gruesome.

Boss Anchor roared as he shoved his way through the mediums, but instead of looking at him I glanced at his bowling ball and Lifted it as fast as I could. The surprised look on Boss Anchor’s face was priceless as he reached up in an attempt to snatch the bowling ball.

It evaded his grip by mere inches before slamming into the metal roof and staying there where it was safely out of reach. The Golden Bowling Ball was the ultimate weapon of all boss Filbins, but more often than not they had to be thrown in order to be used. Removing it from the fight was the right call.

Instead of waiting for Boss Anchor to decide what to do, I held Boss Steener’s Golden Bowling Ball in hand and wound up, taking a step forward and slamming it into the Filbin’s chin just as he started looking down. I struck him with enough force to lift his feet off the floor, but that wouldn’t be enough to knock him out.

Spinning, I kicked out just before he hit the ground, sending him backwards. During that time I saw the pinsetter start loading the pins. I didn’t have to fight him for very long. His oversized feet squeaked against the wooden floor, drawing my attention back. Without his Golden Bowling Ball, Boss Anchor swiped at me with his thick, trunk-like arms. He kept his fingers extended, and I knew he could grab my bowling ball with one hand and have room to spare.

So I didn’t try to block with the defense-oriented ball, and dodged instead. My right arm was still busted up so punching him with it was out of the question, but there were so many other methods of attack. I glanced behind him and began Pulling the regular bowling balls out of the ball return to hit the Filbin in the back. One of the mediums tossed him a pin that had been carved into a stake as he powered through the painful blows.

Now that he had a weapon, I began blocking when I could. Boss Anchor would try to pummel me only to get blocked, then try to grab my Golden Bowling Ball, and I would dance away again. In his anger, he never noticed that I was keeping him in a very specific spot.

The pinsetter started coming back down, seeming to be agonizingly slow, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they had somehow sabotaged it to make the process longer. Whatever happened, it was fine. Now was the time for victory. I danced around Boss Anchor one more time, getting us both into position.

“This is the end,” I said as I Dropped Boss Anchor’s Golden Bowling Ball.

It fell on his head, causing him to go stiff before falling over backwards. I Pushed the ball as it bounced, taking a long shot towards the eighth lane pins. It struck the wooden floor on its way to the seventh pin, and I adjusted its trajectory with Orbit.

Boss Anchor’s Golden Bowling Ball slammed into the headpin. I looked down at the kneeling Filbin as I Pulled the ball back. It didn’t look like he was going to work through that daze any time soon. The others didn’t look like they wanted to fight me at all any more.

Catching my foe’s bowling ball, I calmly walked to the eighth lane and waited. I used that ball twice more to finish the game out with a perfect score of 300, and raised my hands in victory as I let the return claim Boss Anchor’s ball.

The Filbins all began to scream and shout in disbelief at this adopted stranger, the last of his crew, who randomly showed up and whooped them in a bowling battle that was, too them, both fair and honest.

[[Quest Complete!]]

Despite what the Iron Anchor crew might think of the Seven-Tenners, you showed them today that you are a one-man crew to be reckoned with. Boss Anchor’s position may be under the critical eye of the medium-sized Filbins, but you have solidified yourself as one of the Filbin Elites.

Congratulations on your victory, Boss Anthony Franklin.

Reward: Boss Anchor’s Blessing, Iron Anchor patch, Adopted Filbin Elite passive, +100 points.

I began looking through my loot starting with the Golden Bowling Ball, which came with a new name change.

[[Item]]

Boss Anthony Franklin’s Golden Bowling Ball

When used as a shield, this bowling ball allows the bearer to block blows as if their Strength were three times higher than it actually is. (Seven-Tenners Blessing)

When used as a thrown weapon, you can choose to envelop this bowling ball in fire. This adds fire damage equal to your Dexterity stat on top of the bludgeoning damage it would already deal. You may use this skill up to twelve times per day (Iron Anchor Blessing)

Once per day, the spirit of Boss Steener will inhabit the bowling ball in order to block a fatal blow against the wielder. Every time this ability is used, there is a small, stacking chance that Boss Anthony Franklin’s Golden Bowling Ball may shatter completely. This ability may be activated when the item is in your inventory, but this will cause the bowling ball to shatter immediately after use.

More abilities may unlock as certain conditions are met.

Win 2 more crew battles against gold ranked crews to upgrade this item.

Authorized wielder: Anthony “Perfect Game” Franklin (Adopted Filbin Elite)

Nodding to myself as the blessings were noted in the description, I placed My Golden Bowling Ball back into my inventory before pulling out the Iron Anchor Patch. It was the size of my fist and looked like an anchor that was made out of bowling pins rather than metal, with a red pin making up the center. Two golden bowling balls featured at the end of each of its arms.

[[Item]]

Iron Anchor Patch

When sewn onto a Filbin Bowling Shirt, increase Strength by 2 and Constitution by 1. Add the Anchored passive. Removing this patch destroys it forever.

[[Passive]]

Anchored

Treat your Constitution as 1.5 times higher when resisting forced movement.

Simple and effective. I placed it back into my inventory and brought up my menu to check out the Adopted Filbin Elite passive.

[[Passive]]

Adopted Filbin Elite

Filbins will recognize you no matter the circumstances. You can understand the Filbin language as your native tongue, and Filbins will understand your native language as their own. Your name has been spread to each remaining crew, and you may recruit new members to the Seven-Tenners as Boss Anthony Franklin.

Boss Perfect Game has noted the name you have chosen for yourself.

“And that will do,” I said, swapping out my Belt of Overflowing Constitution for my Writhing Belt Whip to help myself heal.

Boss Anchor had only got in one really good hit, but it was a damn doozy with an overpowered version of the blessing I had received. The Filbin’s ball came through the ball return, clacking loudly against the rest, and I Pulled it over to me.

When I had used it last, the ball had been gold. Now that the Iron Anchors had been defeated, it had lost its polished, golden surface and became a gleaming silver instead. I walked around to squat in front of Boss Anchor and set it down in front of him. He twitched slightly, coming out of his daze, and I rolled it towards his hands. They clamped down on either side, and he looked up at me with defeated eyes.

“Sorry about your Filbins, but GG,” I said, and I meant it. His was a small crew and not everyone did their part to participate, but it had been fun. As I stood up, I looked back at the other members of the Iron Anchor crew. The smalls looked concerned, and rightfully so, because the mediums looked ready to pounce.

“Go easy on him, fellas,” I told them. My words fell on deaf ears.

The crowd parted for me as I walked towards the exit, and left the building.

I didn't start heading back just yet, though. Instead, I leaned against the door and waited for my wounds to heal.

"Boss Anchor's terrible leadership skills aside, I like most of the Filbins. I really do," I confessed to the sky. "When they're being civil, I mean. I'd like it better if they didn't go on rampages after all the bowling alleys in their area get destroyed."

Sara didn't respond to me, but I wasn't expecting it. We had used a lot of messages earlier, after all. A few minutes passed, and the notification I had been waiting for finally popped up.

[[Victory!]]

You have defeated the Roaming Boss, [Boss Anchor]; +400 points.

Filbin bosses only dropped two items on death: the Golden Bowling Ball and their bowling shirt. Both of which were claimed by the new leader, so I didn't bother opening the door to steal them.

After swapping out the belts, I activated Broken Boundary to return to the Georgia World Congress Center and its Artist Alley.