[Thunder]

Kuro was faster than the Orne, though the monster was still dangerously close behind. Adey was trying her best to keep up with him, though she was not the most physically fit person ever. Her lungs were burning, her heart racing. "Are you sure we can't kill it?" she cried, though it hurt her throat to do so.

"I'm sure!" Kuro panted. "That thing can kill you with just one touch! It's probably better to lose it."

When they came to a fork, Kuro dashed left. He kept up his pace, though he was starting to tire out. He and Adey skidded to a halt, though, when they came upon a dead end. "Damn!" he hissed. "Now what?"

"Ugh, I never should've done this stupid treasure hunt!" Adey snarled, turning around to see the Orne approaching them. It let loose another mighty roar. "I don't want to die a second time!"

"A second time?" Kuro echoed, giving her a strange look. Adey just shook her head.

"Don't question it!" she hissed. As she watched the Orne get closer, a look of grim determination crossed her face. Suddenly, she raised her scythe and charged straight at the creature. "Raaaaghhh!" Kuro's eyes widened and he raised an arm to grab her, but she had already dashed out of his reach.

"What are you doing?" he shouted. There was no stopping the girl though. Once Adey got close enough to the Orne, she let out a loud battle cry and swung her scythe at the creature, just as it was about to make contact with her...

[Thunder]

...and the scythe ripped straight through the Orne. The terrible creature let out a great hiss, and the ominous purple-green flames dissolved into darkness.

Adey stood there, panting hard. "Did...did I...?" she gasped, not quite believing that her on-the-spot attack had worked so well. She heard the angel step up beside her.

"Well, well. I wasn't expecting that. Looks like your scythe actually has some use, eh?" Adey snorted and swiveled around to glare at him.

"And you said it was impossible to kill these things! Who's the chicken now, huh?" Kuro simply shrugged the insult off.

"Heh. Normally they don't get obliterated in one stroke. Ornes are carriers of lost souls, and some say they get their strength from those souls. I'm guessing your scythe is used for reaping souls, so you took the Orne's power away when you slashed it." The girl gave him a strange look.

"How did you know?" she questioned, her voice dripping with suspicion. "Are you sure you're not from the Parallel World?"

"Oh, so is that where you're from? I've never heard anything about it. I just know what the Reapers are like in my world, that's all. They're part of the Underworld army and look nothing like humans, but they're in charge of gathering souls. So I'd presume that you have a similar job." Suddenly, he extended his hand to her. "The name's Kuro, by the way." Adey blinked at the hand and hesitantly shook it.

"Um, nice to meet you, I guess. I'm Adey." She let go of the angel's hand and took a look around the dead end. "Now what do we do?" Adey was interrupted, however, by the sound of a boy's voice echoing in the passage.

"Man, I could've sworn I heard a scream somewhere here. How long is this fucking tunnel?"

[Thunder]

Adey, still jumpy from the Orne attack, let out an "ack!" and twirled around, gripping her scythe tightly. There was a blonde kid standing at the other end of the tunnel, wearing sunglasses for God-knows-what reason. He had on a red and white baseball tee with a broken record design in the center, and he was carrying a sword in his hand. Right behind him was another guy, who looked older and significantly scarier. He had glowing, reptile-like, orange eyes and big metal dragon wings. "W-who are you guys?" Adey stammered.

"I'm Dave," the blonde kid replied. "And the dude behind me is Ryuu. Are you two in trouble or something? We heard screaming."

"No, we're perfectly fine now," Kuro replied, stepping up to the other duo. "We ran into a monster, but we took care of it." Both Dave and Ryuu began staring at his wings.

"Whoa, shit," Dave exclaimed, blinking at the dark, feathery masses. "What are you, some kind of video game character?"

"And what are you?" Kuro snorted. "Some cool kid from a webcomic?"

"That would have to be a pretty badass webcomic to handle a guy like me. But whatever, you guys ran into a monster two? We had to deal with a fucking huge heart-shaped thing that popped out of some random-ass skull on the ground. Thing nearly killed me until Ryuu jumped in." Kuro seemed surprised at the description.

"That sounds like a Clubberskull. It's a monster from the Underworld."

"Haha, what? The Underworld? Are you saying all that Greek shit I learned in English class is real?"

"...I have no idea what you're saying, but if there's so many dangerous creatures roaming around, it's probably best to get out of here. Why are you here anyways?"

"I don't know why Ryuu was here, but I'm on a treasure hunt."

"Wait, you're doing this stupid treasure hunt too?" Adey asked. "That's exactly why I'm here. And I didn't find a single darn treasure anywhere. It's probably all a scam."

"Heh, are humans always this idiotic?" Kuro snorted. "I would have recognized a trick like that in a minute." Dave and Adey both cast him irritated looks.

"Who's this douchebag?" Dave asked Adey.

"Uh, his name is Kuro. And I'm Adey. Maybe we should just travel as a group, seeing how we're all here. So if any more monsters come, we can whup their sorry asses together." She gazed at the bizarre assortment of people around her. "Would that be ok with everyone?"

"Sure, why not," Dave replied, shrugging.

"As long as you guys don't get in my way," Kuro responded.

Ryuu simply nodded.

"Guess we're set, then," Dave sighed. "Does anyone know the way out?"

"...I do," Ryuu said. Everyone turned at the sound of his grating voice.

"All right then, guess we're following him." And with that, the four began retracing their steps through the caverns.

[Thunder]

The four of them really did look strange together- an angel, a man with metal dragon wings, a girl carrying a scythe, and a guy with a sword who wore shades even in the dark. Ryuu led them through the caves silently, while the other three were talking amongst themselves.

"So why's a girl like you running around with a weapon like that?" Dave asked, pointing at Adey's scythe.

"Um, for protection, why else?" Adey retorted. "You're walking around with a sword, and Kuro has a bow. I don't see how my scythe is so strange compared to your weapons. Secretly, Adey thought that this Dave fellow was pretty insufferable, perhaps almost as bad as Kuro.

"But why a scythe? I mean, I've seen some pretty damn weird stuff used as weapons. My bro John uses these giant hammers the size of planet fucking Jupiter, and my other buddy Rose likes gouging ogre eyes out with sewing needles. That somehow double as wands. But don't ask me how they work."

"Just...just forget about it," Adey sighed, exasperated. She thought she could see Kuro smirking at the two of them, likely laughing inwardly.

[Thunder]

After a while, Dave and Adey got tired of bickering between each other and turned their attentions to Ryuu, who hadn't said a single word throughout the journey.

"Yo Ryuu," Dave called, "Why were you in these stupid caves anyways?"

"...resting," came the short reply.

"Resting? Why would anyone wanna lie down in the middle of underground nowhere?"

"...because it's safer here," Ryuu answered.

"Safer?" Kuro laughed. "Even with all these Underworld monsters running around? Usually people would avoid a place that's infested with monsters."

"It's better than what's...up there." Kuro, Adey, and Dave all looked at each other, unable to grasp what could be worse than being stuck in a cave with a skull that could kill you with one touch and a hulking, heart shaped beast.

"Uh, then what's 'up there'?" Adey questioned. But Ryuu did not answer, nor did it seem like he wanted to answer, so they left it at that.

[Thunder]

The group had been walking for about thirty minutes now. Adey was getting antsy, Kuro was concerned that Ryuu didn't actually know where they were headed, and Dave just really had to fucking pee, a fact that he declared out loud every so often, making Adey and Kuro feel somewhat awkward. After a while, however, it seemed like the caves were getting progressively brighter and brighter, as if they were nearing a light source.

"Are we there yet?" Adey groaned. "My feet are killing me!"

"Nearly..." Ryuu told her. He and Kuro hadn't complained at all and seemed to still have lots of energy. Adey had no idea how they did it.

Suddenly, Ryuu stopped moving, throwing out an arm as if to shield the group. Everyone tensed up, unsure why the dragon boy stopped. His orange eyes were darting around, scanning the darkness.

"...there's something here," Ryuu murmured quietly. Adey's heart was pounding, and she looked around nervously. Dave's teeth were gritted, though it was hard to tell exactly how anxious he was behind those shades, and Kuro just looked agitated that they had to potentially deal with something again.

There were torches on the cavern walls, some lit and some unlit, casting certain parts of the cave into shadow. Ryuu slowly moved towards one torch and lit it, filling the cave with more light. Adey, Dave, and Kuro all collectively gasped. There, in a corner of the chamber, was a treasure chest.

"It's real!" Adey cried in disbelief.

"Someone get it!" Dave ordered. Adey began to run over to the treasure, but Kuro yelled at her to stop.

"Shit, stay back!" he hollered, tackling her to the ground. Adey screamed as she fell rather roughly onto the solid rock floor and got smothered by a bunch of dark feathers.

"What the HELL are you doing?" she snarled, trying to wrestle Kuro off. But she didn't hear his reply, because-

"Holy shit!!!" Dave exclaimed, this time clearly shocked. "It has fucking lady legs!"

[Thunder]

Adey glanced up, confused by Dave's statement. Her green eyes widened in terror. The treasure chest in front of her...just sprouted legs with spiked boots!

"It's a Mimicutie!" Kuro snarled, getting off Adey so she could stand back up. Before she could register what was happening, the legged treasure chest was lunging towards them at an alarmingly fast speed. Adey scrambled to her feet and backed away quickly, watching as Dave ran towards it.

"No you idiot!" Kuro barked at Dave. "Stay back, or-" But it was too late. The Mimicutie gave Dave a firm kick in the chest that sent him flying back and his shades flying off. He crashed into the floor, momentarily stunned. Adey ran over to see if he was ok.

"Dude, are you alright?!" she gasped. Dave groaned weakly, slowly opening his eyes. Adey blinked in surprise. His irises were a bright red hue.

Kuro shot what appeared to be arrows of light at the Mimicutie, slowing it but not stopping its assault. Ryuu joined with him, spewing flames so the monster chest couldn't approach easily. As Adey checked Dave over for injuries, wincing at some bruises he received from the Clubberskull earlier, Kuro and Ryuu kept up their tag team attack, and eventually the Mimicutie fell to its knees and vanished in a purple burst.

[Thunder]

"So," Kuro spat, walking over to Dave, who had managed to raise himself into a sitting position. "What did we learn about recklessly attacking?"

"Shut up," Dave growled, trying to hid his red eyes behind his arm. "Where are my fucking shades? John gave those to me. I need them."

Ryuu glanced around and walked towards a still shadowy part of the cavern, picking up Dave's shades gently. Miraculously, they didn't seem to sustain any damage. He handed them back to the boy, who replaced them without letting anyone else catch a glimpse of his eyes. Using his sword for support, he struggled back onto his feet.

"Shit, Bro would have a field day if he saw me," he groaned. "That was so goddamn stupid of me."

"I guess you didn't learn anything from the Clubbersomething," Adey snorted, rolling her eyes. Dave wasn't really bleeding anywhere, but his bruises were pretty bad to look at. "But wow, whoever put that Mimicutie there is a douchebag, making us think there was actually treasure."

"You humans are pretty gullible," Kuro sighed. "But whatever. Take it like a man."

As soon as everyone was recovered from the surprise attack, Ryuu continued leading them out of the caves.

[Thunder]

True to Ryuu's word, the group soon found the exit to the caves. None of them had much idea how Ryuu memorized the the way out, considering how vast the caves were. Yet he successfully led them out into the daylight. Kuro and Adey both shielded their eyes from the sun, as did Dave- though Dave did not have to do so as long because of his slick shades. Ryuu seemed completely unaffected by the sudden change in light.

"We're here," he declared simply.

"Well finally," Adey groaned, rubbing her stomach. "I was getting hungry...shouldn't it be around lunch time now?"

Ryuu glanced up at the sky, locating the position of the sun. "It is roughly one PM..." he determined. Adey raised an eyebrow at him, surprised that he discerned the time so fast, but she didn't question his methods.

"You know," Dave yawned, "I could use some pizza. Or nachos. If anyone knows a place nearby that sells that shit."

"What about your injuries?" Kuro snorted. "I can image you'd be pretty sore after running at the Mimicutie so foolishly." Dave frowned at the dark angel.

"Fuck that, I've been through worse shit. You ever seen my Bro fight? He always beats me up pretty bad. This is nothing."

"Well whatever you want, cool kid," Kuro sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

[Thunder]

With that, Dave began to set off. Adey, who hoped that Dave could find a restaurant or somewhere to eat at, began chasing after him. "Well, thanks you two," she said, looking at Ryuu and Kuro over her shoulder. Even though you were pretty agitating, Kuro, she added mentally. Kuro simply shrugged and did not respond, while Ryuu gave her a small nod. With her gratitude stated, Adey finally caught up with Dave, and the sound of them talking about food got quieter and quieter as they vanished behind some trees.

Kuro sighed, stretched out his limbs and wings, and turned to Ryuu. "Well...there's nothing for me to do here," he grunted. "I'm not in the mood to deal with more Underworld troops." He turned to leave, but froze for a second and looked back at the dragon boy, who stared at him questioningly. "Hmph. For a second I swore you looked like someone I met before..."

"...who?" Ryuu asked. Some sort of emotion flickered in his eyes, but it died out quickly.

"I had the feeling I met some girl who also had metal wings. But I don't recall when, who, or where."

"...do you really not remember?" There was something like desperation in his tone.

"Nope. Sorry."

Kuro's wings glowed purple and extended. He crouched down and leaped into the air, shooting straight up into the sky. Ryuu watched him fly away, and soon he was gone. The dragon boy thought about the angel's words. Could it be...?

He stood there for a while and then trudged off into the woods.