A/N: Nope, ain't over yet. :B

Cortes opened his eyes just in time to see the world stop as his body slammed into muddy grounds. On his back, Cortes gagged and coughed. That hurt like hell…

Wayan had his arms around Cheng to protect the young boy. He landed close by, slightly thankful that the mud help cushioned their fall.

Soon after her landing, Lena sat up and spat the muck out of her mouth. "Uhg, gross," she moaned. She looked up just before being crashed into by a falling Dahlia. "Ow…"

"Get off me!" shouted Cortes. He pushed Oslo's limp body off him and stood up.

Oslo got up to his feet and tripped as he took a step forward. He sat up again and looked to what had caused him to fall. It was just a root. Diwan landed in the mud not to far from him.

Cortes knotted his hair to squeeze the muddy water. He took a step forward toward Wayan and Cheng, but stopped. He felt a lump in the ground. Cortes looked down and decided to reach down to see what it might be.

"Hey, Dahlia," said Cortes. Dahlia turned around and faced her captain. "Catch."

Dahlia opened her hands just in time to grasp the energy bow. She shook the mud off it and clicked it on. "Thanks," Dahlia said with a smile.

Oslo had finally got up to a stand. His foot sunk into the soft muck and caused him to fall over once again. He laid there and groaned.

"Ah!" Oslo suddenly shouted. Cortes bolted around to see what caused his yell.

Diwan ran after her commander and offered him her hand. He grabbed hold and was pulled up to a stand. Right behind him, a mud-covered thing fell back into the muck. "What is that?" said Diwan.

Dahlia readied her energy bow and Cortes slowly moved toward it. He moved the thing up from the mud and wiped what should be the face. Dahlia's eyes widened. She lowered the energy bow down and ran next to the body.

"Is he okay?" She asked instantly.

"He has a pulse," Announced Cortes. He lifted Mahad's body off the ground and walked as fast as he could to solid terrain.

Wayan raced to his side and attempted to pull the dismembered Montogue claw off his head. Once off, Cortes carefully eased Mahad on the ground. Puddles of water surrounded them which, in a way, was a good thing.

Lena scurried to her big brother's side. She knelt down, careful not to get in anyone's way in helping him. She was upset with what she was seeing.

Mahad's expression was nothing more then pure agony. Blood and mud covered his body and sleeves were torn off his shirt and even his pants. He had lost his left shoe and a sharp stone had lodged itself in Mahad's side. His right leg was swollen and purple.

"Mahad, can you hear me?" Cortes asked. He lightly smacked Mahad on the side of his face. He looked up to his fellow Rebels. "Quick, get me some water."

Dahlia had to improvise on how to transport water from a puddle to Cortes and the injured Mahad. She cupped her hands together to fill them with the water and, very cautiously, she walked it to her captain.

"Pour it on his face."

Dahlia blinked her eyes twice before doing so. Mahad's eyes twitched and he made a groan. Cortes lightly smacked him on the side of the face again and said, "Mahad, wake up."

"Cortes?" said Mahad with badly hoarse voice. He opened his eyes and focused up at him. "What…"

"Relax, Mahad," instructed Cortes. He had to push Mahad back on the ground when he made an attempt to sit up. "You fell really far down. You're lucky to be alive."

Mahad murmured something to himself but not even he could understand what he said. He noticed a blurry yet familiar figure near him. Mahad forced his head to turn toward it. "Hey, little sister."

Lena couldn't hold back her tears anymore and allowed them to stream down her face. Though she held back her urge to give her brother a hug in fear it might cause him more pain.

Lena swallowed the knot in her throat and managed to say, "How're you feeling?"

"Sore."

Oslo shifted his attention away from the rebels. Not only to ignore what he believed to be a sappy reunion with someone who should be dead, but also because he had a bad feeling.

Diwan was helping Oslo to stand since he had twisted his ankle when he fell back into the mud. She wasn't paying much mind to anything. Just pondered to herself; mostly wondering how they'll get back to the Monolith.

Their thoughts blanked out the fact that a bubble rose from the muck they stood in and a large one at that. The bubble popped, but its sound didn't deter the two Sphere agents.

Where the bubble had been, a tentacle-like thing snaked its way around Oslo's leg. It was careful not to touch him— at least, not yet.

It kept going up: two times around Oslo's left leg, one time around his body alone, two times around his chest and left arm, and one time around his neck. When he saw it going around his neck Oslo realized he was pretty much doomed.

Before he had a chance to let out a yell the limb tightened itself on the chosen parts. The end- around his neck- cut off his ability to cry for help. Oslo flailed as much as he could, but with only one arm and an injured leg, there was not much he could do.

"Commander Oslo!" Diwan screamed. She went to help, but something more was wrong.

She had stood in one place for too long and now her leg was stuck in the mud. Diwan struggled to get free, but the pulling on that one leg brought a throbbing pain to her knee as the joints dislocated. Diwan watched in awe as her commanding officer disappeared under the muck where he once stood.

"What just happen?" Wayan shouted. He only got a glimpse just at the near end.

"I don't know!" snapped Diwan.

"The ground ate Oslo," mumbled Mahad. He was still in a daze.

Cortes looked over to the spiral pattern left in the muck where Oslo was pulled under. He groaned, "What are we in for this time?" He paused as though he expected an answer.

Almost on cue the puddles around them made a sudden ripple. In the centre of each one a droplet of water would bounce strait out of the water then back where it came from. Cortes looked down at on of the puddles and watched it.

It happened again. Then again. Then they could hear it. One low beat after another. They knew pretty much what it was. Cortes looked up and seen its shadow slowly darkening in the fog.

Its figure broke out of the fog. It was a Montogue demon, alright. But it looked different.

The demon's arms where much longer and the knuckles brushed on the ground. Its eyes emitted a glowing mist that dripped like water off the demon's cheeks. Its skin was loose and wrinkled. The Montogue demon's antennae-like horns were as long as its body and left to dangle the claws at the ends of the flexible horns over its shoulders.

The demon's mouth was shut, but it had six long fangs—the master fangs—sticking from its mouth. The dark blue stripe that went down its back to the tip of its tail was blood red instead. The crimson stripe branched out here and there giving the demon's black skin a bit of a tiger pattern.

Its legs were longer making it taller. There was a bit of a limp; probably because of its appearance of an old age. Its tail looked longer than the body. Mostly because, that wrapped multiple times and held over the demon's head, was Oslo's limp frame. His scarlet blood dripped from his wounds and traveled down the coiled tail like little kids going down a slide. It was hard to tell if he was alive or dead.

Cortes gulped down his fear. To him it felt like swallowing a golf ball or a sharp rock. Or maybe even a knife. He wanted to take off as fast as he could.

But to where? The fog itself made the block into a maze. And the Montogue demons most likely knew its labyrinth inside out making any attempts for escape a free pass to get their heads bitten off.

A minute passed. Felt like it took an hour just for those sixty seconds to drag by. Still no sound was made. They knew the demons couldn't speak English. And even if they did, what would they say?

Finally the silence snapped in two. The older demon opened its mouth and made a wailing howl. It sounded like a pissed off cat that had been rudely wakened.

"Ahg!" yelled Mahad. What used to be too-weak-to-move arms shot up and clutched his ears. "Get out of my head!"

"Mahad?" Lena moved a hand slowly to her brother who squirmed almost like he was having a seizure. The second her hand touched his shoulder, Lena was pulled up off the ground.

"Stand back," Cortes demanded. He kept and eye on Mahad while Dahlia and Wayan watched the Montogue demon continue to yowl. Cheng hid himself behind Wayan. He was indeed scared.

Mahad's body went limp. His arms flopped back on the ground and his expression relaxed into a blank yet agonizing face. Cortes kneeled next to him and lifted his wrist off the ground to test his pulse.

Cortes felt a weak beat. Then the pounding thump in his own chest when Mahad's eyes snapped open and he grabbed hold of Cortes' wrist.

Mahad's eyes glowed bright yellow and mist bellowed out of his mouth. It was enough to cause Lena to scream. Wayan and Dahlia spun on their heels just in time to see their captain be shoved to the ground.

"Greetings to you all, wretched humans," said Mahad in a voice that sounded ever so fiendish. He side walked to the left until he was between them and the Montogue demon. "I am the Elder."