Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

AN: And here's the fourth part. After this short part, there's gonna be a fifth part which will hopefully explain everything about the asylum and who's behind it.

Thanks to IceAge Mutant for reviewing!

Chapter 1:
"If you're happy and you know it-" Sidney "Sid" Weiver sang. He and his other friends were currently in a van, transferring to another asylum. Ellie Middleton and her two twin brothers, Crash and Eddie Middleton, were currently sitting across them, looking terrified at the prospect of moving away from there they had stayed for years.

"Sid, if you don't shut up, I'm going to get Diego to kill you." Manfred "Manny" Peterson growled at his friend. Sid gulped and looked at the side. Diego Azorr was shuffling a deck of cards, playing with them. His green gold-flecked eyes narrowed at Sid.

Then he smiled.

Sid instantly stopped singing, leaning back. All had learnt that it was never good news when Diego smiled. Diego sat up. "We're here." On cue, the door opened, and the six were let out. They looked at the building. No title. Just 'Asylum'.

Diego grinned in a feral way. They walked to the door, where a tough looking man answered. "These are the new patients?"

"Yes." The man escorting them nodded.

"Good. Get in." he barked at the six. The twins and Ellie, not used to being shouted at and scared of the man, quickly walked in. Manny followed, out of concern for his friends and girlfriend. Diego, however, walked leisurely inside, ignoring the man's glare, as if he had all the time in the world.

After the tough-looking man finished speaking, he walked in. The six were sitting on the sofas scattered around. Diego was slouched on the one closest to the door.

"Get up." The man growled. "I'm in charge here. Get inside the recreation room. I'll tell you your rooms later tonight. Miss the dinner bell and you don't get food till breakfast. Earthquakes are quite common here, so there's always a whole tunnel system underneath each room. Stay in the rec room unless instructed otherwise."

"Where's the toilet?" Eddie asked, jumping up wildly.

"Go in the rec room and turn left. The first door there is the toilet."

"Got it." Eddie noted.

Once they were led into the rec room, Eddie and Crash disappeared behind the door. There was a group there already. The man called for attention. "This is Gutt, Shira, Gupta, Raz, Squint, and Flynn." He turned to the group. "Crew, the twins are Crash and Eddie. This is Manny, Ellie, Sid, and Diego."

The 'crew' looked at them carefully. The man turned and left. "Behave."

Gutt stalked forward. He peered at Manny closely - Manny refused to flinch. He held out a hand. "Name's Gutt, my friend."

"I know. And I'm not your friend."

"Too bad." Gutt shrugged. He looked at Diego. "And what do we have here?"

"Piss off." Diego spat. He had continued playing with his cards, staring up at Gutt with narrowed eyes. Gutt looked back, amused.

"He has spunk!"

The crew laughed.

Gutt paused suddenly in his laughter as he felt the tip of a sharp card against his throat. "How much force do you think it'll take for the card to slit your throat?" Diego murmured.

The clear leader of the crew turned around slowly. "You're good." he noted mildly before changing the subject. "Why were you sent here?"

"What's it to you?"

The twins reentered, but no one paid them any mind.

"I want to know what I'm dealing with."

"Then what makes you think I'll tell you?" Diego grinned predatorily. Suddenly, he frowned. Diego looked down at the ground. He swore he could feel…shaking? He looked up. Dust was starting to fall from the ceiling, and cracks were appearing on the wall.

"Diego?" Manny asked, recognising the face that had always signalled trouble. The sociopathic boy walked to the window, not too far from where Shira was. "What is it?"

Diego's eyes widened as the ground began to shake. "Earthquake!"

The building began collapsing. Around them, pieces of debris fell around them. There was a yell from inside, but none of them paid any mind. The crew instantly tried to get out, pulling open the bunker door, but Shira tripped as the floor cracked open, separating Shira and Diego from everyone else.

"Diego!" Ellie called out.

"Get out!" Diego snapped. Manny reluctantly pulled his girlfriend down under the door. Diego turned back to the window. They were only a few feet away from it. He dragged Shira along, ignoring her indignant shout, and ducking as another piece of debris fell in front of them. Diego continued to drag her out, before seemingly hugging her.

Shira's eyes widened, but it last for long as Diego tackled the window, sending them both outside. Diego groaned as he felt himself land on several shards. He stood up, ignoring Shira, who he left on the ground.

If he calculated correctly, the others must still be at the building or somewhere under them. The earthquake suddenly stopped, which Diego found strange, but he didn't allow himself time to ponder about it. He looked at the asylum.

It had all but collapsed, with the large 'Asylum' sign a few feet away from the rubble and debris. The debris was still moving, and Diego highly doubted that he should be going into the building while it was still settling, but if he stopped how, he wouldn't be able to get in. He looked around. No one was anywhere near them. The van was long gone already, and the driver sure as anything wasn't going to come back even if he had survived.

Growling, he walked forward. Shira growled as she got up and followed him. "Where're you going?"

Diego didn't deign to answer the question as he examined the rubble and pulled out his cards from his pocket. He shuffled them casually while trying to determine where was the best angle to get back into the building.

Shira frowned at the cards. Didn't he drop them when he was facing Gutt? But he had only taken out one card and the deck had been gone.

"Hey!" Shira called after him. "I asked you a question."

"One that seems quite obvious." Diego drawled. "I'm finding a way back in."

His eyes narrowed before he put the deck away and approached the ruined metal window frame. He gave it several experimental tugs. It was surprisingly strong, but Diego spotted an opening through the glass, and snuck in.

He turned back to Shira. "Coming or not?"

Shira crossed her arms. "Why should I follow you?"

"Because chances are more likely that your little 'crew' would be with them." And without another word, Diego snuck in through the opening. He ignored the glass on the ground, climbing in. It was pretty dark compared to the outside, but he knew that it was going to be dark soon. He continued on, carefully shifting debris away. The recreation room had been at the side, and the bunker not too far from the wall outside, which meant that he would find the door soon.

But…

He suddenly popped back up, startling Shira, who had been planning to go in after him.

"Those bunkers. Is there a way through that from the outside?"

Shira frowned. "I'm pretty sure that there was an entrance near the gates, but I couldn't find it."

"Lead the way."

Scowling, the grey-haired girl lead him over to the gate, which was still standing. Diego looked around. He suddenly fell to the floor, hands moving about. Shira raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"

Diego didn't reply once more, before feeling a difference from the solid ground. He smirked, stood up and kicked there. The grass pebbles shifted. He got to his knees and started to push away all the pebbles, finding the beginning of a metal door.

"Found it."