The Grouping

Jamal loaded into the truck as the only mercenary added to the heat, and Hedy refused Carl's goodbye on the grounds that if he actually won she would be stuck with him on the next floor too. Elle relayed that the Bleak Congregation had left the realm and would be replaced for the final heat, wrecking the crew's matchup math; Donut chose to read it as the Minister of Blood-Letting finally being accepted into the Unholy Choir. Donut scouted Osvaldo's build — 285 dexterity with buffs, a Deflector ability, Jump 15, Launch 14, Super Speedster and Puddle Jump at only 8 — while Dwight rolled up with a missile launcher on a cart and a GPS avatar built to look and sound like the late Lucienne. From the casino, Pontiff named the new croupier and relayed scroll numbers that let Rosetta design the test that mattered: if he stepped into the portal, survived, and was dropped from Carl's employ, the original exit plan still worked. Driving into the starting blocks tripled the crew's size and, unusually, left their own street and garage visible behind them; then the grouping became readable — a heat of three NPC-only teams including Team Yokai's yellow AMC Pacer, Chris's red semitruck drawn against Imani and Elle, and Florin and Lucia's moped against Louis and Britney's flying gecko.

First appearances (4)

• Mitch (Character) — Croupier at the top-floor casino · formerly a wall rat
• Golden-Tier Cloaking Upgrade (Item) — The best of Dr. Metcalf's three final-heat upgrades
• Hole-Punch Gun (Item) — Vehicle weapon · three shots per race
• The Final Heat Grouping (Event) — The draw that put friends in the same heat

Browse

• Back to A Parade of Horribles — all chapters