The wretched stench of vomit Infiltrated Judys nose. With every shallow breath she fought her gag reflexes. They had scooted themselves to the other side of the vehicle, where Nick then threw up once more. This time he was unable to deflect it, spewing a nice puke-cake onto his lap. Judy had tried her best to ignore it, but the overpowering stench was too much. She decided it would be better for her to investigate. She got up while trying to hold her breath.

"I'm gonna go some fresh air. Call me on your radio if there's any trouble."

"No. We stick together," he said with a hoarse voice. He quickly cleared his throat.

"I'm just going a little ways up that wa-ghack!" she gagged. Judy quickly held her breath again. She pulled out and turned on her large police flashlight from her belt, and started walking up from where their car came careening down to investigate the incident. Once she could breathe again, she shone her flashlight on him and called out.

"Sorry! Just cant stand the vomit! Promise I'll be safe!" her words echoed across the caverns.

"Yeah, I suppose that's understandable. Be careful! And don't go too far!" his grainy voice caused displeasure to her ears.

"You got it, bud!" she reassured.

She ventured up the rocky pathway. The car had left behind tire streaks on the rocky ground for her to follow. After a short and refreshing walk she came to the end of the car tracks.

"Hmm, so this is where we entered, but how, what happened?" She shone the flashlight back and forth on the ground, examining it for anything unusual. There was nothing. No clues, no idea, no sense! This made no sense!

Carefully tucking the flashlight under her broken arm, she bent down and grabbed a rock with her good arm. She then lightly tossed it to where the tracks started. Nothing. She grabbed a larger rock and threw it further. Still Nothing. She tried one last time with the largest rock she could find that fit in her paw. She stretched her arm out and twisted her body, trying to catapult it as far as it would go.

She loudly shrieked in pain as she fell to her knees. She had over exerted herself with her broken ribs. The rock could be heard banging, bouncing, and echoing from the darkness.

"Hey carrots, you ok up there?" Nick asked over the radio. She took a moment to compose herself before speaking.

"Yeah, just had a little accident," she assured him.

"And what's with all the banging?"

"Long story, not important."

"Is there bad news? You have to tell me if its bad news."

"As a matter of fact, there is. We're stranded here!"

A moment of silence. He sighed dreadfully through radio.

"Well, if we had to go, at least...I got nothing." Judy couldn't help but giggle lightly.

"Stay with me slick. We're not dead yet." She grunted painfully while standing back up. She added scrapped knees to her ever growing list of injuries. She took the flashlight back into her good paw, hopelessly gazing into the ground. She had to hold back a sob. Helplessness started to set in. She thought of her parents she may never see again. The hundreds of siblings who'll never have the pleasure of trampling her. All the troubled youths who still need guidance.

She quickly suppressed those negative thoughts. Shot'em down with her sniper of optimism. Negativity wouldn't help her in the slightest. She had to stay focused

She stood alone in the darkness, silently contemplating any survival method they had at their disposal. They didn't have any stored food, although they could use the crashed car as shelter. Perhaps whatever took them here would send them back if they stayed? She soon determined their only chance of survival they had pivoted on leaving, maybe even finding water. She shut off and holstered the police flashlight to grab her radio. She was about to tell Nick her decision when she heard a faint humming sound. Her ears perked up, and listened for a long moment. It grew louder by the second. It was coming closer!

This could either be their salvation, or their deaths. Judy still being optimistic, hoped it was other mammals who were stuck as well that would help. Nonetheless, she was also prepared to fight her way out if necessary. She put back the radio in favor of her sidearm. Although, with total cave darkness it would be near impossible to land a shot.

The sound of the humming grew drastically in volume as it was arriving. With the echoes of the caves, it seemed like it was coming in from everywhere at once. She had to recoil and cover her ears from the deafening volume. It quickly encroached on them with a loud crash, then scraped to a halt.

Reluctantly, she uncovered her ears, holstered her gun, then brought out her flashlight. In front of her laid the wreckage of a destroyed large ship. A trail of debris formed behind it.

After she took a moment to process what just happened, she suddenly realized how close she came to being crushed. She breathed an anxious sigh of relief. "Carrots! Carrots! Come in carrots!" Shouted Nick frantically through the radio. She once again tucked her flashlight under her broken arm, and pulled out the radio.

"I'm fine. Are you ok?."

He sighed in relief. "Yeah. What happened."

"I'm not sure. Some kind of ship thing just crashed in front of me. I was almost ran over."

"But you are ok, right?"

"Yeah," she assured. "No one seems to be in the vehicle though." She lightly kicked the front of it, half expecting it to come alive and finish her. Through her quick examination, she noticed a slight red flashing light coming from the nose of the aircraft. After a closer look, she could tell it was a small camera lens installed under a plastic panel. She waved her paw at it, trying to get the attention of anyone watching.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

With no way of knowing if it was even operational, she continued shouting at it, and waving her arm. After a few quick attempts she grew weary. This was no way to spend what limited energy she had on this. Giving up she sat in front of the ships camera, and brought out her radio once again to tell Nick her plan on leaving. Just before she was about to speak a frightfully sudden voice spoke to her.

"Hello, anyone there?" Judy leapt into the air, but was quick to catch herself on her paws.

"Hello!?" she called out. "Where are you?"

"Long story. I'm talking to you through this dumpster fire of a drone."

"Can you can see me?"

"Sorta,"

"Are your the one that almost crushed me?"

"Um, I guess. I sent this junk heap to find and help stranded people like you, so I'm free of any liability if it craps out on you.

"It came exactly five inches from doing that!" she snapped. She could almost feel his shrug through the camera.

"I'm sorry, but stuff happens. I cant help it, but I can help you."

As an officer she understood more than most how 'stuff happens' and how unfortunate the circumstances can be, but never in her life has she met someone who seems to treat someones life as an inconvenient flat tire.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Thank you, that would be great. Which way do we go?"

"Yeah so, here's the first biggest problem. The cave system your in is vast and complex, and I only have your current location marked on this map. So, if you make a single wrong turn, you'll be lost forever, basically. Second biggest problem is I have no way of communication other than this wreckage."

"What was your plan on getting us out in the first place then."

"Ideally you would just follow the ship back to base. Obviously that's not gonna work. Do you have any other mean of communication? A cell phone? A radio would be ideal? "

Judys face lit up. "We have a police radio! You could navigate us out through that."

"As long as you got the frequency."

"It's twenty-seven point fifty-three."

"Alright then. Give me a minute here," said the voice.

The voice fell silent momentarily, only to reaffirm its existence on her radio.

"Hey, you there?"

"Yeah," she responded. "I have to go get my friend, I'll be right back."

"You cant exactly leave me..."

Ignoring his smart aleck response, she put the radio back into its holster and collected her flashlight. While walking back down it occurred to her she hasn't heard from Nick in a while. She began to fear what could've gone wrong. Even though vomiting is a more serious symptom of a concussion, he was still holding on strong. Perhaps his radio broke down?

She speed-walked down the path she took straight to Nick. She shone her flashlight on Nick to find him slumped over, leaning back on the tire rim.

"Nick!" she shouted. He jolted awake, frightened and confused.

"What are you screaming about?" he said drowsily.

Judy had to breathe multiple sighs of relief. "You scared me."

"Sorry carrots," he said apologetically.

"Come on, lets get you up. We may have a way out of here." The unwelcome odor of vomit returned returned, piercing her nose. She bent over grabbing his arm and wrapping it around her neck. She gently helped Nick to his feet, using herself to provide balance and stability. He still has an impaling headache and was nauseas, although most of the dizziness seems to have subsided for now.

"That's great, but...how are we getting out?"

Before answering she gave him her light, telling him to shine the light forward. She then took out her radio once again before speaking into it.

"We're here, we're ready. Which way do we go?"

"Ok, looks like the the best route to take is the route the drone used, so start by going down the way the drone came"

"Who are you talking to?" asked Nick.

"Oh, yeah. Mammal that almost killed me, meet Nick. Nick, meet the mammal that almost killed me."

"I thought I apologized already. Besides, it wasn't even my fault. Everything has fallen to shit around here."

"Actually you didn't say sorry at all," said Judy.

"Well I'm saying it now to get you off my back. I am deeply sorry for any and all distress I may have caused, even though it's not my fault."

Let me talk to him for a second," said Nick. Judy obliged and held down the button for Nick to speak.

"First off lets get one thing straight. So long as long is Judy is safe, your safe from me. So you better do everything in your power to keep her safe." said Nick.

A light chuckle could be heard over the radio. "Whatever you say, just start walking down where the drone crashed. Radio me when you get to the first intersection."

Judy and Nick grunted as they started trudging down the cave. To their right was the cave wall. To their left was vast empty darkness, above them to the ceiling was the same. Sticking to the wall was the only way they could have a sense of direction in this cold, unforgiving and rocky environment. They prayed the intersection would be a right turn, otherwise they could miss the intersection entirely. They trudged along for an hour, with no end in sight anytime soon.

"Ask him how long is road is. I cant take this much more," said Nick. Judy called to the voice on the radio.

"We're not doing so hot right now. Do we have an ETA?" asked Judy.

"I don't know. A day? Maybe a week at your pace. Why haven't you arrived at the intersection yet?"

"Because we haven't made it yet!"

"Hmm, sorry to say but your chances of survival are dropping every minute. At your current pace you'll never make it."

"Is there any way you can send us more help?" asked Nick.

"Nope. I launched all the operational drones, they all crashed and burned. Yours was the only one that made it to the destination before failing. Your the only survivors I got."

"Why don't you come for us yourself? You sound more than capable."

"No thanks. I can get lost just as easily as you two, except I won't have someone guiding me on a radio."

As much as she wished for better circumstances and help, he had a fair point. Best not to lose the only help they have. They continued their burdensome trek half an hour before the voice chimed back in.

"So tell me about yourself. Where are you from?"

"I'm not going to divulge personal information to a stranger," said Judy.

"We won't be strangers for long, might as well get to know each other, and keep yourself motivated."

"Motivated?"

"In bleak situations like this I've found that casual conversation tends to relieve stress, and give motivation to people."

"And where have you heard this?"

"Well, it worked on me once. It depends on the person really. If you don't wanna talk that's fine. I just like to know that I'm not waiting for two guys who've killed over suddenly."

Judy looked up at Nick. He nodded approvingly.

"Ok, lets talk, but you first."

"Uh, ok. What do you wanna know?"

"Lets start with your name."

"oh, I'm Vern. What about you? I know the guys name is Nick, right?"

"Yeah, he's Nick, and I'm Judy. Judy Hopps."

"I never asked for your last name, but ok. It's nice to meet you two."

"Nice to meet you too Vern. Next question, where are you from?"

"Well I-" His voice cut out to static. Judy grumbled to herself before a sudden heat wave washed over them. The heat stung their eyes, causing them to wince and stumble backward. Once they could open their eyes they could see they were standing next to a slow moving red hot glowing river of lava. The once vast wide cave narrowed to a much more defined pathway, half of which was consumed by the lava river, as well as illuminated by the red-hot glow. The hot floor was worse than asphalt cooking in the summer sun, burning their paws with every step. They tried hopping on alternating paws to minimize their pain as they sought a way out. Immediately they realized to follow the hot rushing air flow out, and hobbled down the path.

During their flight Judy tried to call out to Vern.

"Hello? Vern? Come in! This is Judy Hopps, requesting back up!" She mentally facepalmed herself for saying that.

"We have to keep moving," said Nick. They expedited their escape. The tunnel led out to a much more spacious and dark tunnel. The river of lava pooled at the lowest point in the ground, close to the exit. The blowing hot air was replaced with the stagnant cold air they grew used to before. They took a moment to find a ledge to rest, and cool their aching singed paws. She once again called out to Vern.

"Hello, Vern? Come in, do you read me?" No response. Judy sighed defeatedly.

"Don't worry fluff, I'm sure we're just out of range. We'll get out of here soon." Judy couldn't help but glare at him.

"And once we get radio communication back, then what? Last thing I need to hear from Vern is 'sorry, cant help you.' We were lost before, but now we're beyond lost, and nobody knows or cares."

Nick patted her on the back to give her some much needed comfort.

"Yeah, I know fluff. I've been thinking a lot about our disappearance too. If we don't get back no one will ever know what's happened to us. They'll likely say we were murdered by some gang, or blame it on a freak accident. What's worse is I never got to say goodbye to my mom. And after everything I put her through, I cant let her go through this again. What kind of son am I." His ears folded flat, indicative of his sadness. Judys ears also grew droopy.

"Don't start blaming yourself. All of this was beyond our control."

"Its more than that. For more than half my life I've avoided her, treated her like dirt. I was supposed to be making up for lost time, only to vanish in thin air as I did before. I'm just...heartbroken, but not nearly as much as she is."

His sadness soon turned to anger. His ears perked, fangs bared and growling. "Of course this only happens when I finally get my life on track. Once I finally get some semblance of happiness, something comes and wrecks it!" He hurled the closest stone as hard as he could throw into the wall. Loud echoes trailed down the cave system.

After a moment sitting next to Judy he calmed down. His ears folded back flat onto his head again. This time Judy patted him on the back. His breathing almost turned into a sob as Judy comforted him.

"It's ok. I know your mom will understand. Everything will be fine."

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, your right." He began to stand up, then promptly fell back down. Their aching paws were tender and sore from the burns they sustained. On top of Nicks nausea and dizziness, there was no way he was going anywhere.

"Alright, probably best we stay put," said Nick.

"Hello? Hello! Judy! You there?" Vern talked into the microphone, hoping for an answer. "Hello!?" He tried again.

He sighed while putting the palm of his hand to his forehead.

He was a rather young fellow. He had shaggy overgrown hair, and wore a long dark black open coat, with a casual t-shirt and pants, along with steel-sole custom shoes. He was raggedy and dirty, many holes and cuts plagued his pants, shirt, and coat. Most of his body's surface area was encrusted with dirt and filth. His black jacket was almost a shade of brown. He also wore a pair of glasses, afflicted by many tiny scratches in the lenses.

"Come on, you two had one job to do," he thought. He spoke into the microphone on last time. "Judy, Nick. Do you read me? Are you there? Answer me."

He sighed again while leaning back in his chair. "Of course this happened," he thought. "Of course these people messed up the simplest of simple instructions. Although its not fair of me to assume they messed it up. Any number of unexpected things could've happened."

He spun around in his chair, considering his options. He wanted nothing else than for the two to be safe with him. He had been isolated for several days, and they were the only contact he has had with other people in a while.

"Ok, so maybe I could repair another drone to guide them? No, I could barely fix a truck, plus it'll just crash so..."

He racked his brain, all he could pull up were remnants of partial plans that he knew wouldn't work. He spun around his chair faster, until he stopped and dragged his foot on the ground. He soon came to a full stop in front of the monitors. He gazed over them quickly, all it displayed was 'No Imput' from the many drones that went offline. One monitor however was flashing in bright red and bold letters, 'WARNING.'

Upon noticing the screen, his curiosity piqued. He scooted over and opened the tab. It read 'Warning: continuum fractures.' It then pinpointed hundreds oof locations on a minimized map of the cavern.

"Hmm, continuum fractures," he said aloud. Whatever they are it seems like its getting worse. He didn't know what exactly they were or what was causing them, but he knew they acted as portals within the cave. If he could accurately map or predict them he could possibly use them as a transportation system to save Nick and Judy. Problem is he'd have no idea where these fracture points would lead, and there was hundreds of them being formed and dissipating every minute. It would be impossible to reliably travel.

"That must be what happened to them," he said to himself. "They fell into a fracture."

Unfortunately that means they could be anywhere, at least far enough away to be out of range. He went back to the radio command program from the computer. He examined the settings and what resources were available to see if it was possible to increase the radio signal. He discovered there was a whole system of radio towers scattered throughout the caves. He just had to choose which tower to transmit from. He began to cycle through the radio towers calling out, "Hey Judy, you there?" then move on to the next.

"Vern, come in," said Judys voice. He quickly responded.

"Yes! Hello." Judy breathed a huge sigh of relief upon hearing his voice.

"Thank goodness! Listen, we need you to tell us where to go, you can you do that, right?"

Vern took a quick glance at the map before realizing the full gravity of their predicament.

"Um, no, I can't in the slightest."

"Is there any way you can help us at all?" asked Nick. Vern went through a few different plans in his head, all failed to check the criteria of being an actual plan.

"Uh, I'm sorry but there's just no way I can help you anymore. I really, truly am sorry. I wanted you to get through this as much as you did."

"What a load of horse spit," spat Judy. Vern was taken aback by her sudden hostility.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"You heard me! What a truckload of droppings that was! We're out here starving, dying, being cooked alive, and you want to 'say how truly sorry you are.' Ridiculous! "

"I, uh, well," he stammered, trying to defend himself. "You see-"

"You see, what?" Judy interrupted. "All I see, or rather hear, is a scared lazy weakling, unable to come to terms that he has to put some actual effort into helping us.

"I'm sorry if I sounded condescending but-"

"If you really wanted to help us you would've done so by now. I know your fully capable of retrieving us, but you choose not to. We have families you know. We have loved ones we're trying to get back to, and your our only hope at seeing them again. If all your going to do is standby and watch us struggle and do nothing our blood is on your hands."

"Oh just shut up now!" he snapped. "Just shut up. Don't you think I've had my fair share of troubles, of obstacles to overcome. Don't you think I've had my own problems, my own issues I have to face. I'm many, many things, but I'm no coward, and I'm no weakling. I can't afford to risk my own life unnecessarily. As much as I wanted to save you, its not worth risking my own life for. The problem Isn't that I won't help, its that I cant, and frankly at this point, I don't really care anymore. I am alive right now, I have water, and I am safe. I don't need to endanger myself over this, over you."

"Then that just makes you a selfish jerk."

"You know what, maybe I am, but this selfish jerk is going to live a nice long happy life. What happened to you is an unpreventable tragedy. As unfair as that is its life, life is always unfair."

"'Nice long happy life?' How are you happily living in a cold dank cave scrounging for water, you won't live long like that. Besides, what is the point of living if you have nothing to live for?"

"The point is to be alive, to not kill myself over already dying people."

"Look, I myself am a police officer, I save mammals lives day in, day out. That has always been my calling, my purpose in life since I was a kid, and it will forevermore be my purpose. It brings me such joy to see a mother reunited with her children, or resuscitating a poor kid who's choking, because I know I made a difference in their world, and kept it going for them. I saved them unconditionally, because I believe every life is precious regardless of their circumstances, and I always fight and give my hundred percent for every single mammal I fight for."

"Well that's you, not me." Judy grunted in frustration.

"So ask yourself this, what is yours? What is your calling, what is your purpose. It doesn't have to be to explicitly save mammals for you to do good, to have compassion, to have kindness. I know because I've met some of the most foul criminals on earth who still had some form of common decency.

Vern sat silently for a moment to contemplate his answer.

"My calling in life has always been to adventure, to seek new knowledge, and to..." He took a quick deep breath. "and to right any wrong I see, no matter the consequences, no matter who watches or isn't watching, to fix a problem no one else wanted to deal with. I'm not a hero, just passing by, but if anyone asked for help I'd oblige."

"Vern," she said sternly. "Us, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, are asking for your help, for you to give your hundred percent and more, for us. Regardless of the circumstances, despite the difficulty, because we believe in you, we know you can help us if you really try."

Vern took a deep breath, got up, and grabbed his lever-action rifle he propped on the wall. He walked up to the mic to talk one last time before he left.

"Alright, you win. I'm on my way." He then turned and opened the one foot thick steel door in front of him. He slung the rifle over his shoulder as he walked out the door and shut it. With nothing more than his rifle, old smart phone, canteen of water, some bullets, and little first aid supplies, he left the dilapidated outpost and set out in the vast cave tunnel system that lay before him.

Nick winced and cringed throughout their debate, expecting whenever Judy came back at him he would be finally fed up and disconnect, leaving them and sealing their fate. Nick was everlastingly thankful that was not the case. Once she was done and he agreed to come Judy thrusted her paw at Nick for a high-five. He weakly reciprocated it.

Nicks piercing headaches still haven't gone away. He tried to message his head with his paw to provide some relief. As little relief as it may have actually given him, he felt slightly better.

"So what's the plan now carrots?"

"I guess we sit tight till he finds us or we starve. We don't need to end up in anymore accidents." Two seconds later a pile of rubble came down in front of them, narrowly missing them where they sat. Nick shone the flashlight up to the ceiling, revealing the stalactites above.

"I guess one fell loose?" said Nick.

"I would say yes but...these thing don't just fall." They searched the ceiling a moment longer before Nick was suddenly flipped over backwards onto the floor. Nick smacked the back of his head causing his headache to amplify momentarily. He grabbed his head with both his paws, grunting and growling in pain. After a moment of agony his pain subsided long enough for him to take in his new surroundings.

As per usual they were enclosed in darkness, however when he shone the flashlight he uncovered a huge, deep and wide ravine to his left. They were in a completely different cave than they were in before. "How?" he wondered.

"Judy!" He called out. No sign of her. "Judy! Where are you!?" He scanned the cave floors behind him, before he faced the ravine again. Soon the realization hit him.

"JUDY!" he called out again, his voice echoed across the abyss. "No, Judy," he said softly. He fell to his knees, eyes watering, paws trembling.

"No," he said one last time, as he broke down and sobbed where he knelt. Tears streamed down his face, he could hear every teardrops 'ting' as it hit the floor. While sobbing he could hear faint pawsteps approaching from behind. Bewildered and frightened he quickly wiped his eyes and turned his head to shine the flashlight. An odd looking mammal was coming his way. He didn't bother to stand up, he was ready for this to be the end of him. He was exhausted, wounded, and lost his most beloved companion. He'd had enough of this world, and accepted his fate.

Once it got closer it asked, "Hello? are you...Nick?" Nicks heart raced. Could this really be him?

"Vern?" he said weakly. He cleared throat then asked again, "Vern, is that you?"

"Yeah," Vern sounded unsure of himself. "How the heck did I...the fractures!" Nick wiped the eyes dry as best he could, then painfully stood up.

"I can't believe it, it's you. You must've saved Judy too, right?"

"She's not with you still?" Just like that, Vern could see Nicks smile shatter into as many pieces as there were grains of sand at a beach. Vern realized he probably shouldn't have said that.

"I'm sure she's fine somewhere," he lied, "but we should probably go. Somethings not right here," said Vern

"What do you mean? Not right how," he said while holding back a sob.

A high pitched, ear piercing screech filled the cave. Vern gazed into the darkness.

"I cant see anything. Give me your flashlight." Rather than waiting for Nick to hand it over he snatched it out of his hand. "Get behind me," he ordered.

Nick obeyed, and took cover close behind him. Another screech filled the cave. Vern shone the light back and forth, seeking out the source of the screeching.

Nick tried to see as well, but with the bright light next to him his eyes were unable to adjust to the darkness.

"Cut out the light so I can see. I have night vision," Nick criticized. At first Vern was a bit confused, but then complied. He cut off the only light source he had leaving him in total cave darkness. Nick however was already adjusting to the dark, but still couldn't see.

"Remember, your my eyes," Vern said. "Do you see anything?" Nick strained and squinted his eyes, but still couldn't see a thing. "I can't see anything," said Nick. Vern had a sudden realization.

"Of course you can't, we're in total cave darkness. Night vision only works when there's enough residual light for your eye to catch."

"It worked before."

"You had a flashlight on the whole time didn't you. With any faint light source you could've seen fine!"

Vern promptly turned the flashlight back on and shone it ahead, only to be greeted by two rows of sharp pointy teeth coming down from above him. Vern threw one of his arm in the air to seemingly catch the creature mid lunge without any physical contact. The creature torqued and yanked its head, unable to pull free of this mysterious grip. Vern took a deep breath. He stood sturdily as he thrusted his open palm forward in the direction the creature was thrown. The creature whimpered and whined as it tumbled down the floor.

"What was that?" asked Nick.

"No idea. I thought something might've been living here, I just couldn't be sure." The creature charged at them once again, and once again it was thrown across the floor without being touched.

"No, I mean what was that...just, what are you?"

The creature was relentless, and was becoming more aggressive. He had to throw it away one more time before he acknowledged Nicks question.

"I'm telekinetic, alright! Now please, shut up for a moment." He unslung his lever-action rifle, cocked it, and fired at the creature. It howled in pain but had no effect. It charged him again. Nick stood and watched as he touchlessly caught it with his open palm again, then slowly formed a fist with his hand as the creature head warped and disfigured itself. It vocalized in pain like a dog with a broken leg as it whined and shrieked. The sickening sound of bones cracking could be heard as its own skull imploded, reducing the brain to a pulp.

"Is it dead?" Nick asked.

"I don't think I need to answer that," Vern responded while slinging his gun back over his shoulder. He was slightly winded, but otherwise fine. He shone the light on the corpse to maybe identify it. Every aspect of it was completely solid dark black. The skin was bricklike and jagged with no fur. It almost seemed like a mixture of a cat and dog beast, it had many characteristics of both animals. Vern stepped a little closer to better examine the creature. Nick grew apprehensive.

"I don't think you should touch that," he cautioned.

"I'm not touching it, I'm just getting a better look."

The remains of the head suddenly stirred and trembled. It was mending itself. The sound of crunching bones while it snapped itself back together was just as sickening. In mere moments it had repaired its head as if it were never wounded. The creature howled out another screech.

Vern gave a nervous chuckle. "Nope." Vern had swiftly turned to run, leaving Nick in the dust.

"Wait for me," he said weakly. Vern turned around to see Nick struggling to walk straight as the creature began to charge at him.

"For Pete sake," he mumbled under his breath. Using his telekinetic ability he swiftly pulled Nick ahead as the creature lunged for Nick. It narrowly missed him. It turned to Nick again and pounced. Vern had to yank him out of the way yet again as it pursued him. Each time he was thrown Nick landed on his face causing the pain of his headache to spike. His nauseousness also rebounded intensely, he felt as though he would throw up.

As the creature once again pounced at Nick, Vern yanked Nick one last time and pulled Nick to himself. Nick tumbled on the floor, but was quickly picked up by Vern like a small child. It hadn't occurred to him just how small Nick actually was. He sprinted fast as he could down the only tunnel he available.

The creature turned all its attention to Vern now. It chased them down the tunnel, and since Vern is now carrying Nick he was much slower now. He quickly lashed his arm to the right, slamming the creature in the wall, disorienting it slightly. It shook it off, then immediately jumped at Vern, closing any gap it had. Vern had to hastily throw it against the wall again before it could lunge.

Vern stumbled and faltered treading the rocky path, and with every time the creature bounded at them he take to avert it. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. Although he had the endurance to maintain his dominance for a while, it won't last.

The landscape shifted suddenly. After a quick gaze Vern quickly determined they were just where he left. He stood still at the cliffside of the ravine. They remained inches from the edge. Nick squirmed and pushed on Vern anxiously as he saw how close he was to the ravine.

"Will you quit it!" Vern shouted. The screech of the creature barreled down from the tunnel they took. In moments the creature caught up to them, meanwhile Vern was still dealing with a panicking Nick. It rapidly closed the distance between them catching Vern off guard. He lashed his arm to the right, trying to deflect the creature once more. It wasn't done soon enough as the tail end of the creature bumped into them, casting them off into the ravine.

The whooshing winds filled their ears, which abruptly ended when they were spit back on land in the exact same place where they fell. For some reason every portal is defaulting to the same exit. Vern tumbled onto his back with Nick still in his arms, indirectly shielding his head at least.

Vern turned his head on the ground to see the creature getting into a pouncing stance, then jumped in the air at them. Vern threw arm into the air, catching it mid pounce with only inches between them. His arm slightly quivered as he held it in the air. He grunted and huffed while the creature howled and shrieked. With one big push he threw it over to the ravine.

It gave one last piercing screech as it descended into darkness. Instead of hearing a thud a powerful explosion erupted from the ravine. The ground quaked and rumbled violently, stalactites broke off from the ceiling. Vern gripped Nick incase he rolled over while he shielded them from falling debris telekinetically. After a moment the rumbling subsided. Vern decided it was now safe to stand up, and shook his coat clean of all the dust while Nick sat, mentally exhausted and in disarray with the flashlight in hand.

Vern was currently catching his breath while he peered over the ravine. He pondered over the explosion and why it happened. Perhaps these creature don't take well to traveling by these portals. He turned and faced Nick.

"You alright?" Vern asked.

"Well I still have a splitting headache ,and I'm surprised I haven't puked my guts out yet, but yeah I'm fine." He started massaging his head again to relieve any pain he could.

"So...what do we do now?" asked Nick. Vern thought quietly for a moment.

"I guess we go looking for your friend, uh...her name was Judy right?" Nicks face became overtaken by sadness.

"There's no point," he said as his voice cracked. "She's gone. She fell down the ravine."

"How do you know?"

"How can I not know! One second I'm sitting next to her, the next I'm on the ground inches away from a cliffside and no Judy."

"You mean the same cliffside we just fell in. The one with all the portals that spit us out safely?" Nicks expression brightened as his ears perked.

"She's still alive! How do we find her?" Nick asked.

"No idea. I don't even know how I found you, but I think I know the right first step."

Vern held up his hand and telekinetically picked up Nick, holding him over the ravine. Nick incessantly protested.

"Hey! No! Put me down! Stop!" Ignoring Nicks protests he elaborated on his plan.

"So, its obvious she fell down the ravine, the problem is where did she end up. So, we just have to follow her tracks." Nick started hyperventilating. He avoided looking down at all costs.

"Your crazy. Please, just let me go. We'll find her another way."

"You think I wouldn't be doing this if there was another way. I don't plan on milling around the caves after that mess "

"At least let me jump in myself!" Nick bargained.

"I mean, I would, but I know you wont follow." Anxiousness built up inside Nicks chest as with every breath.

"Here, I'll drop down first so that wherever we land I'll catch you. You look like you hit your head a bit too much. I don't want you to end up with a concussion, or broken bones of course." Nick stuttered while trying to pitch his argument to NOT go and do this. After briefly listening to Nicks protests Vern decided it was time to go.

"Ok, great. We're ready."

"What! No no no no no!" Nick shook his head desperately. Vern grinned and nodded. He held one foot out over the cliff then dropped down. He maintained Nicks elevation for a couple seconds until he fell through a fracture, allowing Nick to fall in behind him. Nick screamed and shouted as he descended into the fracture below.

A/N: Good news, I'm not dead. I plan on updating every other week or so. Each chapter should average about 3-5 thousand words-ish, maybe. I'm pretty sure that's a good sweet spot. If I get overdue for an update you come and get onto me, alright. I'm actually trying to make a commitment here to finishing a story this time rather than vanishing for half a year.