[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190412/e4dbf397d85ea4a514a02d2553a44c17.png[/img]
[b][color=burlywood]Level 3 - (4/30) + 3 = (7/30)
Difficulty Level 1[/color][/b]

And
[color=lightblue][h3]Donnie[/h3][/color]
[color=lightblue][b]Level 3[/b][/color] - (20/30) + 3 = (23/30)
[color=lightblue][b]Location:[/b][/color] Charnel Lane, Dead Zone
[color=lightblue][b]Word Count:[/b][/color] 1,264[/center]

[hider=Donnie Loots:]
[img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/0/03/Purging_Stone_%28DSIII%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20160614012224 [/img]

[b]Purging Stone[/b]

[i]Humans are helpless against curses, and can only redirect their influence. The Purging Stone does not dispel curses, but receives them as a surrogate. The stone itself was once a person or some other being.[/i]

And also acquired from the earlier zombie:

[img] https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/thumb/0/0e/RED_Unarmed_Combat.png/250px-RED_Unarmed_Combat.png [/img]

[b]Unarmed Combat[/b]

[i]The limp right arm of some suit-wearing sucker. A stronger melee weapon than it might seem; it has no durability, instead regenerating from damage done to it, and kills with it cause a disembodied voice to shout 'Arm kill!' in celebration.[/i]

[/hider]

Donnie had opted not to use the Disc this time around, instead choosing to stay in the back of the van, where he examined the item he had obtained from the Tank. It was a bizarre little thing. At first glance, he had assumed it was some kind of cursed trinket, [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/0/03/Purging_Stone_%28DSIII%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20160614012224]what with the creepy black skull in the middle[/url] and what felt like the spirit of a [i]human being[/i] inside it.

But as he analyzed it with his enchanting equipment, he soon came to realize it was quite the opposite. It was an ingenious yet disgusting device. This little stone was once a man, and it still held that metaphysical status even in its current state, which meant it could be affected by curses. When the enchantment inside was activated, it redirected a curse onto the soul of the person inside. He shouldn't have expected much better, frankly, from the Spirit of a twisted monstrosity like the Tank.

All of his adventuring instincts told him to throw this abomination into a deep dark hole where it could never be found, or better yet, find a way to free the poor bastard inside.

But as he analyzed it further, he registered that the soul inside was no longer conscious or aware, and there was no way in hell he was going to be able to free the hapless man any time soon.

He thought back to Gene, completely unaware that he had likely been infected by whatever plague was powering those ghouls. He had known that some of them were still alive. The tongue of the zombie that had grabbed him was still warm. Possibly some kind of insanity-causing curse?

He had no idea if what Gene was infected with was biological or magical. Zombies in his world were animated by magic, but the Plague of Undeath spread like an illness.

He was no doctor, but he had to try. Better than letting Gene succumb to homicidal insanity. So, full of trepidation, he packed up his enchanting equipment, palmed the black stone, and walked back over to the seating area, sitting down next to the brawler.

“Hey Gene? I’ve got something to show you,” he said. Something in his voice probably gave away that this wasn’t the “happy” kind of showing.

Gene was a bit busy scratching his skin at the moment. It'd started getting really itchy for some strange reason. What's up with that? It was starting to really freak him out. Despite his circumstances in his own world, he was usually really healthy, so why would that change now?

Did it have anything to do with that fat zombie that barfed on him? He really should've dodged when he heard that noise. Now he was getting screwed for it. And he had just washed it off! By now the goop was in the van's plumbing. Nero was gonna kill him for that.

His thoughts were interrupted by Donnie's voice. Gene perked up, looking at Donnie curiously. [color=burlywood][b]"Uh, what's up?"[/b][/color] he asked.

“First, have you been feeling okay lately?” It was patently obvious what Donnie was referring to.

Gene blinked. Jeez, it was like Donnie read his mind. [color=burlywood][b]"Uh... Yeah, actually. My skin's been really irritated and itchy..."[/b][/color] He moved his hand from his unarmored forearm, revealing that his skin had become ghostly pale. [color=burlywood][b]"... Oh shit. It wasn't like that before."[/b][/color]\

“Yep, you’re infected. I don’t know if this will work, but I might have a cure. I got this from the big zombie.” He shoved the black stone into Gene’s hands. “Hold this in your hand and try to concentrate on the illness going away. I know it sounds like hocus-pocus, but trust me, I figured out what this stone does.”

Taking the stone that was shoved into his hands, Gene looked it over. It looked... Pretty damn spooky. But hey, it'd cure him! So that had to mean it wasn't [i]that[/i] bad.

[color=burlywood][b]"Alright, thanks Donnie."[/b][/color] With those words, Gene took the stone in hand, closed his eyes, and attempted to focus on the illness. To help him along, he imagined himself beating the crap out of it so it'd leave him alone.

A almost draining like effect appeared all over Gene's body. After a few moments, Gene felt... A lot better! The itching was gone. Opening his eyes, Gene looked at his forearm and saw that his skin's pigment had returned to normal. However, the Purging Stone was destroyed in the process. [color=burlywood][b]"Wow! It's a good thing we got that thing, or I'd have been a goner. Thanks, Donnie."[/b][/color]

“You’re welcome.”

[i]Holy fuck that actually worked.[/i] Donnie couldn’t believe his eyes. Either these zombies really [i]were[/i] cursed, or the weird physics of this world let it go through anyway. Either way, Gene was cured.

Suddenly, the van flipped over. Donnie’s world hadn’t developed seatbelts yet, however, so he was not secured enough to avoid tumbling all over the place. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

And unluckily for Gene, he hadn't even been in a car until today. Just like Donnie, he went tumbling to the floor of the van. [color=burlywood][b]"What the hell was that?!"[/b][/color]

Donnie peeled himself off of Gene and looked out the windows. Yep, everything had gone to the Twisting Nether. Nero was holding the van off the edge of a cliff with one arm, the zombies were glowing green, and there were two nasty demons outside. The monk acted quickly. Fiddling with the locked car door, he managed to get it open.

Donnie summoned the Disc and flew around to the van’s front, pushing against it. He was in peak physical condition, but he didn’t actually have to do much here: Nero was holding the van in place, and the Disc could move freely in the air. So he could just command the Disc to move forwards and up, digging its lip under the van and helping him push the vehicle up.

“Let me help you out!” he got out, grunting with exertion as he pushed against the van’s grille with all of his strength.

Gene, for his part, managed to get himself steady enough that he could start climbing to the door Donnie had just opened. He looked around, seeing it was [i]just[/i] over the edge of the cliff, enough for him to jump right over to safety, which he did.

The only problem? There was now a shitload of pissed off zombies and two [i]really[/i] pissed off demons to account for. Gene looked around, wondering what the hell to do, when he remembered the God Hand. It had recharged by now, and it could help keep the infected off of the van!

Grabbing the Deistic Brace, Gene ripped it off, and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEpGs3STXMY]felt the power of a God flow through him[/url]. Grinning, he rushed forward, delivering a leaping kick that tore through multiple infected.

[color=burlywood][b]"KEEP WORKING![/b][/color] Gene shouted to Donnie and Nero, while he began to clear out the various zombies. He only hoped the two demons would be attracted to him, somehow. Maybe...

Right! He could try and piss them off deliberately! During a lull in the combat, Gene focused on the two demons, sticking his arm out in a thumbs down and yelling, [color=burlywood][b]"Bo-ring!"[/b][/color] As if on cue, the two demons started to look a [i]lot[/i] more pissed off than they did before.

... So much so that they started running right to him. Screw it, he was invincible! For a little while, at least. He continued to attack the infected, and the demons if they got close enough. He could only hope it was enough.