There were actually two of the bosses, and the two monsters were staring at each other. The second was blocking the other road with the other teams in our heat, about a hundred meters away. There was another hill with the other racers standing atop it, looking down at the valley.

“Carl, what are those things?” Donut demanded. “They’re like kangaroos, but even more disgusting.”

I focused on the closer of the two boss monsters. The thing was about twenty feet tall, and wide, and it did have features similar to those of a kangaroo, except it also had angry dinosaur-like spikes on its back despite being covered in fur.

The giant monster sat upon a pair of meaty legs and had a lengthy tail and two arms with long, clawed fingers. The head was the least kangaroo part of the creature. It had the tall ears, but the face was wider, reminding me of that giant demon Slit we fought all the way back on the fifth floor. Lizard-like in a way despite the hair. The thing was currently sitting in the middle of the road upon its two legs, giving the impression it was squatting.

There was a massive red notification floating over each of the two boss monsters.

Your vehicle may not pass past this point until this boss monster is dead or removed.

Around both of the creatures’ waistlines was a pouch. Poking out of the pouch of each kangaroo monster were about ten heads, all smaller versions of the boss.

At least, I thought they were smaller versions of itself, but there was something weird going on there. It appeared one of the pouch monsters was howling in pain. That one tried to pull itself out, but it was roughly pushed back down by the boss, who shouted something inaudible.

And all the other ones just dangled there. Like they were dead.

“Carl, what the heck is that thing?” Donut tensed on my shoulder as she focused on it.

A giant chunk of hail crashed next to the boss, which caused it to howl indignantly. It stretched, pulling itself to its full height, its two legs extending out, making it appear even more kangaroo-like. The second boss also howled. The razor foxes started to somersault down their hill as they approached.

“Carl, Carl, most of the baby kangaroos are dead!” Donut called just as I examined the boss right in front of us. “And the one that isn’t is a person in a kangaroo costume! It says he’s an upgrade mechanic!”

I sighed, waiting for the bullshit description to pop up.

Prison Pocket. Macropus Dominus.

Level 170 Province Boss.

This boss is a gatekeeper. Your vehicle or mount may not pass past this area until the boss is dead or defeated.

Believe it or not, marsupials are quite common out in the known galaxy, especially in lower-gravity, oxygen-rich environments, such as the one that is home to our friends here, the Macropus Dominus.

The vast, plant-covered plains these relatively nonviolent omnivores live upon are prone to flooding and driving rainstorms that might last weeks. As a result, the female adults protect their joeys in their expansive pouches, which not only shelter the occupants from the elements, but also keep them fed by providing multiple nutrient-expressing nipples. And in some of the harsher parts of the planet, all genders of marsupials have evolved pouches, though the male versions aren’t as . . . full featured. If certain environmental hazards last too long, the little ones sheltering inside can and do starve to death.

Prison Pocket—and his companion on the other side of the road there, whose name is Party Foul—are both male, and they are quite sad, as they weren’t able to save their young ones from this never-ending storm.

They yearn to refill their pouches. Unfortunately for you, you’re just about the same size as the joeys they lost.

Oh, by the way, their pouches secrete an oil that is quite caustic to the skin of creatures who aren’t of the same species.

“Level 170?” I asked, feeling a chill.

The person in the kangaroo suit popped up out of the pouch again. He screamed something before getting pushed back down. I focused on the man.

You have discovered an Upgrade Engineer! At least one engineer will appear each race. Engineers can be added to your garage.

The second boss was now being engaged by the razor foxes. The giant bear and dog mounts also started slinking down the hill toward the boss.

We stepped to the top of the hill, coming to stand next to the others.

There was a hum in the air. The magic from the Taurin’s hammer was keeping the rain and hail away, but a fine mist still fell upon us. Donut kept her shield up.

“It’s about time you got here,” Genesis the womantaur said to me, sneering. “We were just discussing how we’re going to deal with this thing. We figure since those slimes got pasted, we’re doing a temporary truce for the rest of the race.”

“Yeah, we don’t want you dead just yet,” Rapture said. Her red curls bounced as she talked.

“Don’t worry, baby,” Nico the tiger said, talking to Penelope the pig. His voice was not what I had been expecting. It was nothing like Bautista’s. This was straight from the Jersey shore. “I’ll keep them away from you.” He glared at Donut. “Especially that one.”

“Excuse me?” Donut asked.

Penelope snorted suspiciously at Donut.

“Stay away from my girl, and we won’t have any troubles.”

“Carl, what is he talking about?”

The other boss had fallen to the side as the giant dog and bear ripped into its side. The boss had one of the foxes in the black ninja suit in its hand and was shoving him face-first into his own pouch. The fox screamed.

At the top of the hill, the two bugbears and the creepy, thin Jugglers just stood there, watching. I spied Dwight, still inside his vehicle thing, which was stopped at the end of the line. I couldn’t tell from this distance where Lucienne was.

Next to us, Nico the Tigran was on a knee and rubbing the side of Penelope, whispering in the oblivious pig’s ear, still glaring daggers at Donut.

All of us, including the two womantaurs and the Taurin, watched this all, not sure what to make of the tiger man.

“Hey, hey, if Penny is in danger, you better bring her back to the truck!” a new voice called. This was Dario, the second Tigran, who hung out the side of their APV. This Tigran was noticeably thinner, and he had a massive amount of gold chains around his neck.

“She stays with me!” Nico roared back at his partner.

“Okay, whatever dude,” the second Tigran said, holding up his paws and disappearing back into the truck.

“All right, that’s it,” the mercenary Taurin said. “By the gods.” He had a deep, deep voice. “We need a plan. I might be able to knock it off its feet with my hammer, but I am not certain. Not sure I want to risk getting that close.” He turned to us. “What do you think?”

Genesis gave the Taurin mercenary a sour look. “Aren’t you the hired help? Shouldn’t you go down there and take care of it for us?”

Pontiff was looking back toward our truck. And the GTO.

“Corcunda is pretty strong,” Pontiff said. “Why is he asleep?”

The two womantaurs didn’t answer for a long moment.

“How do you know him?” Genesis finally demanded.

“We used to work together,” Pontiff said.

“Yeah, Bucket Boy told us about you,” Donut said to the bull man. “He says you slapped him.”

The bull raised an eyebrow. “Bucket Boy? The kid? He’s here?” He grunted. “Yes, I used to be an ass. If I don’t get a chance, tell him I said⁠—”

“Stop talking to her!” Nico snapped at the mercenary. “You kill her if she takes one step toward Penelope! That’s an order!”

Donut scoffed. “Carl, everyone has gone crazy!” To Nico, she said, “I don’t want anything to do with your stupid pig, you roided-out, off-brand, clown-college mascot. I mean, really. I tolerated this nonsense because Daniel is our friend, but this is just too much. You’re no better than Sister Ines, who at least had the common decency to emulate a proper cat before my friend Louis⁠—”

“Stop. Everybody stop!” I said as I continued to watch the boss fight across the way. “Everyone be quiet. Christ!”

I cringed as the black dog thing—the mount for the Jugglers—yelped and was thrown to its back. The foxes bounced all around the boss. I had missed what had happened to the one who’d been grabbed.

The boss wasn’t really fighting back so much as trying to grab the remaining ninjas to pull them into his pouch.

If we didn’t hurry this up, one of these teams was going to get zeroed out.

The bugbears had fled to their van. The two weird Jugglers started casually moving down the hill toward the monster. The two were holding hands and skipping.

Chiyome tossed something at the kangaroo, and fire flamed from the pouch. The boss cried out in pain, and the boss’s health bar went down a significant amount. He reached into his own pouch and pulled out a flaming screaming creature.

It was the missing razor fox.

The kangaroo reached up and ate the poor fox, and the boss’s health rocketed all the way up to the top. The two remaining foxes scattered back. The bear and the dog also retreated.

My fellow racers groaned.

“We’re pickled,” Genesis said.

Chiyome: I fear our efforts are futile. This monster heals quickly. Its only weak spot is inside its pouch.

Hmm.

Carl: Donut, can you zoom in on any of those dead joeys and examine them properly?

Donut: IT SAYS THEY DIED OF STARVATION.

Carl: Can you see their inventory?

Donut: IT’S JUST THEIR SKIN. WEIRD. I HAVEN’T SEE THAT IN A WHILE.

And there it is. There will always be clues.