AN: Yes, I procrastinated again. But I don't care ... screw you! *laughs madly* You'll never catch me alive!!! *Hops onto a small rusty trycicle and starts wheeling away* Er ... Phibby ... What happened to the getaway car?

PHIBRIZO--*falls over*

EVE--"Oh well ... only one more chappy to go, people! One pathetic, pathetic excuse for a chapter." *smiles contentedly* "Well, should be up within a week or so ... or today; whichever comes first. Ja ne!!!"

PHIBRIZO--"I want another iced cappuccino."

Zelgadis hurt. His legs hurt, his eyes hurt, his neck hurt. He felt extremely dizzy and ill from loss of blood, and he had an odd craving for a Camel cigarette.

He had tried to heal himself of course, but he had been preoccupied with other things at the time (like running away from a torture session with two people who clearly needed to seek mental help), and he hadn't done a very job of it. What's more, he had actually managed to acquire some new injuries since then; he had broken out of the chamber only to wind up in a series of cramped, Aladdin-meets-Harry Potter caverns full of nasty little creatures that kept popping up when he least expected them and attacking him unprovoked.

The gremlins weren't so bad, but that dragon back there had nearly taken an arm off. And the unicorns had been displaying some distinctly un-unicorn-like behavior. (At least, he thought it was un-unicorn-like; weren't unicorns supposed to be shy little horse people that inhabit enchanted forests and only come out of hiding to visit virgins in meadows or have their horns cut off by frantic peasants?)

Either way, it was bad … really bad. He was going as fast as he could (which is pretty fast even considering all of his injuries and the unexpected delays) but there were still no signs of a pathway to the outside world. Plus, he was a Chimera again! In conclusion, he was getting pretty pissed off.

"Fuck Phibrizo, FUCK Eve, fuck Xellos, fuck fanfiction, fuck life … God … L-sama … Shabranigdo, Rezo, Ceified, whoever … please, just kill me now. Put me out of my misery, I'm begging you." He paused. "Damnit, why can't I ever get a break?!"

In response a fat, rather unusual looking elf-like creature he was passing offered him a bite of pizza that appeared to be sprinkled with rat poison. Zel decided to ignore it and focus at the task at hand.

He continued his mad race through the Underground for another three hours, only stopping once to drink from a puddle and even then it was because he was becoming dangerously dehydrated and would accept even the … er … questionable water-like liquid that was available.

Finally, Zelgadis decided he'd better stop before he passed out or re-opened his wounds or something. He stood there for a few seconds, panting, before realizing that there was someone beside him.

And knowing this place, it probably wasn't friendly.

"Hullo there. Do ya fancy a newspaper, guv'nor, or some coffee? Only $3.50 each … that's in dollars, mind you; if you have to exchange currency there's a Cash Converter right around the corner."

Zelgadis blinked. "Um … could you just tell me where I am?"

"Well you're in the Underground, of course; where did you think you was?"

"I dunno … just … where in the Underground?"

"Stop #37 … the ticket booth's right over there, if that's what you're looking for."

He slowly turned to look where the was pointing; sure enough there was a ticket booth there, right beside some sort of large metallic vehicle.

Interesting.

"Bloody hell, what 'appened to your face?!"

Five minutes and one uncharacteristically sadistic beating later, a considerably calmer Zelgadis bought a ticket and got onto the train.