Malachus's attack was swift and brutal. Although the group has no way of knowing for sure how much damage Hiwaka suffered, they are certain that there is nothing they can contribute. Their only hope is to put as much ground between them and Malachus, and hope that Amber and Raye survived the attack.

Darien opened the exit passage of the escape tunnel, and held it open for the girls. Amy, Lita and Mina jumped out, and Serena dawdled so that Darien had to take her hand and pull her out of the tunnel.

"So where is this?" Darien asked.

"Not entirely sure…" Lita said.

"We've been following you blind?" Darien asked.

"Why not? Any where's better than Hiwaka at the moment," Lita said. Darien nodded, conceding her point. Amy looked around, mumbling numbers under her breath.

"I'm scared…" Mina said.

"Don't worry, Mina! We've got Darien to keep us safe!" Serena said. Darien looked away uncomfortably.

"Amy, what have you come up with?" he asked.

"Don't have a clue. I lost track underground… quite a few too many turns and cave-ins here and there. We could be anywhere…" Amy asked. She turned around, and spotted a Shinx.

"Hello there, Shinx! Do you know where we are?" Amy asked.

"Certainly! You are in the Sherwood Grounds," the Shinx said, moving along.

"Amy?" Darien asked.

"Never heard of it… no, wait a minute, it's coming back to me… I know of it," Amy said.

"Well, then, that answer was completely useless," Darien said.

"I want to go home…" Mina said.

"So do we… but that's not going to happen… not for a long time…" Lita said.

"I'm scared…" Serena said. She jumped into Darien's arms, shivering all the while.

"Amy, with the limited knowledge that we have, what do you propose we do?" Darien asked, stroking Serena's back.

"…Choose a direction and then walk. Sooner or later, the odds of us finding someplace of significance will reach one, and then we can have a place to rest until such time that we can learn more about where we are. Even if the Dark-types don't know about the tunnel, it would be unwise to linger here, lest they eventually discover it," Amy said.

"All right. Then that way it is," Lita said, choosing a direction, and walking that way. The group followed her, wondering what it would be they would discover first.

Mina found herself lagging behind the rest of the group. While she trusted Darien, she couldn't deny the fear she held at the sight of her home completely razed. She was, to put it bluntly, scared out of her mind. So the sight of glowing pairs of yellow eyes surrounding her were enough to send her seeds sprouting.

"Girls!" Mina cried out in fear. Amy and Lita came charging back, and looked at the yellow eyes. Amy pulled out her twig, and waved it. Fire trailed from it in an awesome, if not entirely practical, fashion. The light did, at least, reveal the fact that the eyes belonged to Shinx, Luxio and Luxray.

"There they are…" one of the Luxray said. Amy pointed her twig at Luxray, and fired a blast of flames.

"That wasn't very nice of her…" a Luxio said.

"It wasn't, wasn't it?" the Luxray responded. The Luxray all fired a Charge Beam, which Amy dodged. Lita and Mina resisted the blow, but not by much. Amy roared, and sprayed her flames about towards the Luxray. Lita splashed her goop, and Mina danced around with her petals.

"This went badly…" Amy said.

"Wait a minute, where are Darien and Serena?" Lita asked, looking around.

"They're not this way…" Serena said. Darien looked around, and nodded in agreement. He closed his eyes, and reached out for an aura. He could detect faint auras from the left.

"Darien… do you mind…" Serena asked, looking down.

"Serena, now is not the time, really," Darien said, sensing the auras further, and detecting the path he would need to take.

"No… can you protect me…" Serena asked, looking up behind Darien. Darien looked up, sensing nothing. Almost as if on cue, a gang of Doublade appeared behind them.

"What the… what did you just do?" Darien asked.

"I… I don't know… sometimes, I just get this… this feeling…" Serena said, clutching at her chest. Darien reached over, and took Serena's hand. Serena smiled lightly, but was still terrified.

"Can you please… please protect me?" Serena asked.

"…I can't, Serena… I can't hurt Ghosts…" Darien remarked. Serena looked down, and started to cry. Darien turned, and started stroking Serena's back.

"Please don't hurt my Serena…" Darien said, looking at the Doublade.

"No promises…" one of the Doublade said. Darien clutched Serena even more tightly, to Serena's delight.

Amy, Lita and Mina's fight against the Luxray was ended as suddenly as it began, with the Luxray suddenly bowing respectfully from the battle.

"That's right… run away," Amy said, growling like Raye would. Mina looked at her, until the Doublades appeared. Amy's twig lit alight again, and she raised the twig.

"Hold your fire…" the Doublade said. Amy looked at them curiously, before noticing Darien and Serena. The pair's arms were bound, and Serena was bawling her eyes out.

"Resist, and they die," the Doublades said.

"…That escalated quickly…" Amy said.

"We'll stop our offense. We'll hear them out," Lita said.

"Is that…" Amy asked.

"Are you really going to let Serena down?" Lita asked. Amy looked down in guilt.

"You win…" Amy said. The Doublades bowed, and various cords appeared to bind the three. Amy was the only one with arms, so they got a tad creative for Lita and Mina.