With no way to get back rather than where they came from before, the group set out to explore the forest a little. They even thought it best to try and find their way towards the mountain. But that seemed to have taken forever, as the forest just seemed to stretched on. Very soon they were tired and Persephone paced from left to righr, looking around to forest to see the path where they went to. However, the only thing she seemed to have found was a bird flying close by, which was enough to startle her.

Persephone:"Ah! ...Okay, I think it's safe to say that we're lost."

Stacey:"Yeah, I might have to agree with you there."

Haiku:"Now what do we do?"

Stacey:"For now, I think we should catch our breath."

And with that, they took the moment to chill. Nigel and Jane brought out their phones, Lucy and Haiku began to write in their books, Persephone continued to pace from left to right, Stacey played with her whip a little, Georgia took a piece of wood from a tree and started to carve it with her blades and Ken laid down on the grass while Lily sat on top of him. He didn't mind, but when his stomach started to growl a little, it made him feel queasy. The rest of his friends couldn't stand the sounds that his stomach was making.

Georgia:"Oh gosh, Ken. You really have to do something about that stomach of your."

Ken:"Uh-huh."

Stacey:"Seriously. You're big enough as it is. At this rate, you won't make it to 31.x

Ken:"Will you guys shut up? Okay, I've heard you already and frankly, I'm just as annoyed as you are. Okay? We've been over this already. Get over it."

The rest of the group was surprised at Ken's statement, but even they knew that their constant complaining would get annoying sooner or later. They went back to walking a little while later, heading for the mountain, and the only one who was really not happy about this was Nigel, who's feet were starting to hurt...

Nigel:"Ugh, why do we have to walk so far again?"

Lucy:"Get over it, Nigel."

Nigel:"Oh? And how are you so used to it?"

Lucy:"I'm not. But if my brother can handle being in the woods, so can I."

Nigel:"Alright, I'll give you that."

Georgia:"Remind me again why we're heading over to the mountain?"

Stacey:"We need a place to camp out and hide from the Guardian."

Georgia:"Right."

Stacey:"And so far, that mountain is our best chance."

Georgia:"I could name seven other best chances."

Stacey:"Later. We're almost there."

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, they saw something out of the ordinary. A cave with smoothed out walls, looking to have been man-made...and made a long time ago...

Stacey:"Perhaps we can camp out here for tonight."

Nigel:"Seriously?"

Stacey:"Seriously."

Georgia:"Again. I can think of seven better choices."

Lucy:"Well, it wouldn't kill us to check it out."

Ken:"But, what if this cave is just like the place we were just at?"

Stacey:"Well, we don't really have much a choice."

Georgia:"Yeah, we do!"

Stacey:"Like?"

Georgia:"...Okay, you got me there. Here goes nothing."

Stacey:"That's what I thought."

And with that, they head inside the cave. Inside, they treated carefully as they didn't know what to expect inside. Only Lucy seemed to be the most calm, like she's had experience in a cave before. For all they knew, she probably did. But as Stacey did took another step, something flew by her head and scared her...

Stacey:"Ah!"

Falling to the ground, whatever flew by her head landed and perched itself on Lucy's arm. It was just another bat that took a liking to Lucy. She didn't mind though.

Lucy:"Sigh. I'm like a Bat Magnet...and I like it."

Georgia:"(takes Stacey's arm) You okay, boss?"

Stacey:"...Let's just keep going."

Moving forward, the cave seem to have lead downward, with a rope leading down a hole. The each went one by one, with Lucy going first, then Haiku, Persephone, Georgia, Nigel, Jane, Stacey, then Ken, who was holding Lily. Unfortunately, Ken couldn't get a good grip on the latter with how far he is, and this caused him to have lose whatever grip he has. It was even more unfortunate for Stacey, since Ken landed on her face and she was desperately trying to get him to move back up...

Stacey:"Get your butt off of me!"

Ken:"I'm trying, but I can't reach the latter!"

Stacey:"Grr! Why didn't we let Ken go first?!"

Beginning to lose her grip, Stacey and Ken started to fall, landing on all the others, making them all fall down. Upon reaching the stone bottom, they groaned in pain as they were all piled up on each other. From top to bottom, Ken, Stacey, Jane, Nigel, Georgia, Persephone, Haiku and Lucy were being crushed against each other. Except for Lily, who managed to land safely on Ken.

Georgia:"Oh, Ken..."

Ken:"My bad.

Lily:"Ey! Wool there!"

Ken:"What's she saying?"

Lucy:"(sticks her head out) I'm guessing she found something.

Stacey:"I would like to see what she found...as soon as Ken gets OFF OF US!"

With that, Ken lifts himself up, no longer crush the group as they get back up on their feet and recover from all that. Now that they done all that, they turn their heads to Lily 'found'. And what they saw was rather beautiful. The underground cave they stumbled upon was covered from head to toe in minerals, and there was even a river flowing through it from and underground water fall. Everyone was caught by surprise by the beauty for the cavern...except for Stacey, who seemed to have spotted something else.

Stacey:"What's that?"

Going over to see what she found caught the others attention. What could possibly stand out in a beautiful place such as this. It caught them by surprise to see that Stacey was holding up a stick of dynamite...

Nigel:"Woah! Where the heck did you get that?!"

Stacey:"It was...right here on the floor."

Jane:"...Here's another one. (Finds a stick of dynamite)"

Georgia:"(looks around) This whole place is filled with them?"

Looking around, the group could see that the entire cavern was rigged with explosives. One bad move and the whole place can blow sky high.

Lucy:"Seems like whoever was mining here was gonna blow it up to get the minerals easier."

Ken:"What could've stopped them from doing it?"

Haiku:"I think...(points to the left) could answer your question."

The group was paralyzed to see that there was a skeleton of a miner who had his hands on the detonator...and a sharp rock impaled in his chest...

Georgia:"Doesn't look like an accident. Something did that to stop them from blowing up the place."

Nigel:"You don't think...?"

Stacey:"...The Guardian's been here before."

Examining the dynamite in her hands and looking around the cavern, Stacey narrows her eyes as she puts the stick down...

Stacey:"I have a dumb idea."

Meanwhile, a giant behemoth of a human was slowly making his way to the cave, leaving a trail dripping from his mutated arm that still felt like it was growing. It was the Guardian, and he wasn't looking too good...

Guardian:"Critical damage...sustainable...mutation...imminent."

He stopped for a second, as he felt his arm growing a little bit more, with a little more blood dripping out as he continued on..

Guardian:"...Obey directive...must obey directive...must...kill them all."

Back in the cavern, Stacey stood near it's entrance while her friends hid behind a few stalagmites. Whip in hand, she took a stance, ready for anything that was coming her way...

Stacey:"Is everything set?"

Jane:"Yeah."

Stacey:"Are the explosives in place?"

Nigel:"Yes, but Stacey. Please don't do this."

Lucy:"You're gonna get yourself killed of you continue on with this."

Stacey:"This is going to end, one way or another. And I'll be the one to end it."

Ken:"Stacey, if you die, who will help me eat or make sure I stay in good shape?"

Stacey:"You can do that by yourself!"

Georgia:"He already has been doing it by his self."

Stacey:"Then what's the point of asking?"

Ken:"Well...I..."

Stacey:"Well, the point is...that this ends now."

With that said, they could feel the area around the begin to vibrate. The walls were shaking, the ceiling cracking, what sounded like very heavy footsteps were coming by real close. Stacey gripped her whip as she knew who was coming...

Stacey:"...Everybody in position now."

Everyone but Stacey headed back up and his behind a few rocks. Lucy, Haiku and Persephone on one side, Georgia, Jane and Nigel on the other side. Ken had his own rocks to hide behind because he was too big. Either way, they all his as they heard someone coming their way. They peaked through the cracks in the rocks and we're terrified to see the Guardian's giant mutated arm.

Nigel:"How the heck did he even find us?!"

Jane:"Shut it, Nigel!"

Nigel:"Why?"

Haiku:"Don't draw any attention! We can't have him spot us!"

Thankfully, the Guardian pays no attention to what they're saying and moves to the entrance to the caverns.

Georgia:"...Good luck, Stacey."

Seeing the small hole entrance to the caverns, the Guardian takes its mutated arm and smashed the floor to pieces, allowing bigger space for it to jump through. Inside, the only thing it saw in front of him was Stacey, who clenched her whip in her hand...

Stacey:"It's just about time we settle this one and for all."

Instead of speaking, the Guardian had let out an unholy roar that made the caverns quake. Stacey reacted to this angrily whipping the Guardian in the face, which caused part of its lower jaw to be ripped off...

Stacey:"That one was just for my hair...let's do this!"

And with that, the battle of the ages had begun. The Guardian charges at Stacey with its giant mutated arm, swinging it's claws, trying to cut her in half. Stacey had the agility of a acrobat, being able to dodge as quickly and flexibly as she could, soon continuing her attacks against the monster.

Stacey:"I can do this all day!"

The Guardian merely let another roar as it went for a punch with it's normal hand, which made contact with Stacey's stomach, pushing her back against the cavern walls. She fell face first into the river, which was enough to wake her up and see the Guardian coming at her yet again. Getting up as quickly as she could, she rolls out of way just as she saw the huge claw coming. She then uses her whip and grabs hold of a stalactites...

Stacey:"Take this!"

Ripping it out of the ground, she flings the stalactite towards the Guardian, who gets it launched just below his rip cage. It was enough to get him into his knees, but he then simply pulls it out and stands back up. Stacey couldn't believe it as she saw the wound, not only heal, but look like they were growing stronger...

Stacey:"There's gotta be a way to beat him!"

She then looks behind her and saw that she was right near the explosives. A new idea popped in her head as she retracts her whip and spreads her arms out...

Stacey:"Alright, your monster! Come and get me!"

Seeing her trying to lure him in, the guardian quickly starts to run towards the girl, his giant mutant claw ready to impale her. Little did he know what Stacey had planned as she quickly dodged the incoming claws and moved away as the Guardian made contact with the dynamite...

Stacey:"Kaboom."

The explosives were set off and managed to get the Guardian along with. The caverns were barely holding together as Stacey went for the exit. Unfortunately, a cave in occurred and cut off Stacey's escape. But as the ceiling was giving in, she could see daylight and her friends just above her...

Jane:"STACEY!"

Her attentions were then turned back towards the Guardian, who's protection coat was starting to burn off, and she could see something looking to be beating on chest...

Georgia:"Stacey! Use this!"

She tosses something over to her friend, which shows to be VP70 handgun equipped with a gunstock. Taking it in hand, Stacey aims it at the Guardian and fires at it five times. The gunstock allows for three bullets to be fired rapidly, and Stacey was aiming all of them at the head...

Stacey:"You like that?! Goodbye, a-hole!"

Firing one last time, this time at the "thing" on his chest, the Guardian let out a painfully inhuman roar and went down for the count. Now heading to escape, Stacey quickly clumped up some rocks as stairs and grabbed hold of Georgia's hand as they pulled her to safety...

Stacey:"It's done."

As they all got back, they could see that all remained of the caverns were a pile of rubble, no doubt with the Guardian buried underneath.

Georgia:"About time that sucker died."

Jane:"I'd knew you'd make it, Stacey."

Ken:"You're okay! I can't believe you're okay!"

And suddenly, Ken pulls Stacey into a bones crushing hug with her being squashed against his stomach. For a fat guy, he's got plenty of strength...

Stacey:"Glad...to see...you happy...Ken."

Lucy:"You know, this whole thing reminds me so much about that one video game my brother played before."

Nigel:"What was the game?"

Lucy:"It had something to do with zombies."

Haiku:"Either way, what Stacey just did was incredible."

Persephone:"Yeah...don't ever do that again, please?"

Stacey:"I'm not planning too. Let's get out of here, at least one pain in the neck is gone forever."

Stacey didn't realize yet that she just jinxed it. For as they began to walk away, a giant mutated clawed hand came out of the rubble.

Jane:"So, any ideas on what we're gonna do now?"

Stacey:"After all this, I'm thinking of going back home and resting."

Ken:"Yeah, that sounds to good to me too."

Georgia:"It would. I'm just glad this whole nightmare is finally over."

But as she said that, soon after, what sounded like an explosion came from behind them and they turned around to see, coming out of the rubble was the guardian, looking more horrid than ever. For now, both of his arms have become huge and clawed, as the mutation had spread all across his body, making him bigger and seeming to be ripping his flesh apart. On top of all that, he now had a huge mutant heart exposed onto his chest.

Once more did he let out a monstrous roar as the kids took a stance against him...

Stacey:"Not yet, it isn't. One. Last. Time."