Chapter 76

Carl and Donut escape apartment 212 after encountering swarms of beetles, retrieve gate six at apartment 231 (a real-world apartment belonging to Marjory Williams), and face a moral crisis when Jurgen calls for help with Prepotente on the first floor—ultimately choosing to detonate a hidden explosive they'd previously planted in Team Free Love's cooler to eliminate them rather than risk coming in last place.

Carl and Donut race through apartment 212's ceiling on Pontiff, using Biscuit Packs and other explosives to fend off swarms of beetles while Imani and Elle escape in their APV. They coordinate via messaging, with Elle and Imani successfully reaching and activating a gate before dropping through a hole Donut creates. Carl casts Confuzzled to stun the remaining bugs, allowing them to escape the smoke-filled apartment. They drop into apartment 214, a youth facility that triggers Carl's recognition of institutional trauma, though they pass through quickly. After navigating the hallway and avoiding pursuing bugs, they enter apartment 231—revealed to be a real-world apartment in their actual building, not a dungeon construct. Inside, they find Marjory Williams (owner of the cat Gravy Boat) and her friend Alicia discussing a restraining order against an abusive ex named Bill who keeps calling. The apartment's details—a washer-dryer unit, the familiar décor—unsettle Carl, and he recalls police visits to the building three days in a row related to Marjory's situation. After clearing gate six, Jurgen messages for help: Prepotente's mother is in apartment 130 playing piano, creating toxic air, and Prepotente has jumped off Jurgen's vehicle. Learning that Osvaldo is near the finish line and believing they might be in second or third place, Carl faces a critical choice. Rather than help his friends, he detonates a hidden explosive he'd secretly planted in Team Free Love's cooler weeks earlier during the bomber's studio construction—killing both Jurgen and Prepotente and eliminating their team from the race. Carl immediately regrets the decision, ashamed despite rationalizing it as necessary to avoid last place.