Kento slouched lazily in his seat, paying little attention as science teacher droned on about the gel electrophoresis. He sighed and looked out the window at the parking lot where his van sat. He glanced at the clock above the blackboard.

Ten minutes?! Aww…

"Mr. Rei Faun."

Kento's head snapped up.

"Yes, sir?"

"Would you like to answer a few questions for us, seeing as how you were paying such close attention to the lesson?"

"No, sir," he said, leaning back in his seat, "I'd rather give the other students a chance."

There were muffled chuckles from the class.

"They'll all get their turns," Sensei Nakago assured him. "But tell me, are you even capable of explaining something as simple as what gel electrophoresis does?"

Kento clenched his fists angrily. He hated the way this guy treated him. He'd always gone out of his way to pick on him, and laughed in his face when he did something wrong.

"Gel electrophoresis," the Ronin growled, biting out the words, "is the process of separating DNA into bands based on their length, sir." He spat the last word out as if it tasted disgusting.

Sensei Nakago narrowed his eyes for a moment, then turned and smiled at the rest of the class.

"Well, it would seem all the television Mr. Rei Faun watches has paid off." The class chuckled at that. "Now, Mr. Mouri, would you please read page 420 out loud?"

* * *

Ryo was jerked out of his sleep by the sharp ring of the final bell.

"Hmmm?"

He looked around the history classroom, only to discover that there was no one else left.

"Oh crap!" He jumped out of his seat, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and bolted out of the room and down the hall for his bus. If he missed it, he would have to walk home, and he definitely did not feel like doing that. Especially today. He tore across the parking lot, hopping onto the bus just as the door closed.

* * *

Amber sat in the back of the bus, for once having a seat to herself. She was surprised that it was this empty. It was probably because of the big football game. Everyone seemed to be going.

She didn't pay attention as the bus driver had to wait so one late student could climb aboard. However, she was forced to look up when that student came to a stop beside her seat.

"H-hey, Amber," Ryo said almost sheepishly. "Um, since you're not sharing a seat yet, can I, uh, sit here?"

Sighing, the blonde girl reluctantly nodded her head and moved her backpack.

Ryo grinned. "Thanks."

* * *

Shaking his head wearily, Kento shuffled his way tiredly through the masses of jocks, cheerleaders, and school-spirited people that were heading over to the game and walked across the vast expanse of blacktop towards his van. Not even bothering to look where he tossed it, he threw his backpack in the backseat and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a yelp of pain.

Cautiously, he peered over the seat— and everything went abruptly black.

* * *

Kayura winced. She'd overreacted. Grunting and rubbing her sore head, she peered over the back of the seat to see Hardrock sprawled out, unconscious.

"Oops."

Not sure what to do, she turned to the sack that had hit her head in the first place. She rummaged through it uncertainly, looking for something to revive her victim. With an unsure look, she pulled out a fairly short, soft, almost sponge-like log of sorts. It was wrapped in a clear, almost papery substance that made an irritating crinkling noise. She pulled the covering off, and scent of cake, cream, and sugar filled her nose. It apparently also reached Hardrock, for almost the instant the wrapper was off his eyes fluttered open and sat up, sniffing.

"Twinkie?"

She blinked in shock for a moment, then laughed.

"I see you haven't changed much, Hardrock."

* * *

"Wait, so you found what in this tomb?"

"Catacomb. No dead bodies. Yet."

"Whatever."

Kayura sighed. "We're not entirely sure. They're big cylindrical columns. They're frosted over, so we can't tell what's inside them. But we know there's something; the silhouettes look almost like bodies."

"Tomb!" Kento shouted triumphantly.

"Bodies?" the rest of the Ronins chorused at the same time.

Kayura nodded.

"Dead bodies?" Sai asked quietly.

She shrugged. "We can't really see much of anything. We're not even sure they are bodies yet."

"Who couldn't tell if what were bodies?" came a voice from the kitchen door. They all turned to see Ryo in the doorway.

"Why are you home so late?" Rowen asked suspiciously. "I saw your bus leave with you on it."

"Ah, but did you see who he was sitting next to? It was—"

Sage's comment was cut short as Ryo's math book connected with his hair and bounced harmlessly off and into poor Rowen's lap.

"Watch it," the blue-haired Ronin winced, hefting the heavy textbook up and over into Sage's lap.

"Hey, this isn't mine, you know."

"So? It's not mine. It was intended for your skull."

Sage smirked and shook his head.

Sai spoke up, sounding amused. "What were you saying, Sage?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, before Ryo interrupted."

"Oh." Sage glanced over at the group's leader, who gave him a pleading look. He sighed and said, "It's nothing. Forget it."

Ryo looked extremely relieved. He gave the blonde a thankful look and moved to sit down on the couch.

"So, what were you guys talking about?"

"You mean, before you interrupted?"

"Shut up, Rowen."

Kayura shook her head.

"Are they always like this?" she asked Kento quietly. He laughed and nodded. Then he winced and rubbed his sore jaw and neck.

"Are you still sore?"

He nodded.

"I really am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just reacted—"

"It's alright," Kento cut her off. "I'll be fine."

"Is there any thing I can do?"

Kento just shrugged.

Seeing that he didn't really care, Kayura dropped the subject and turned to answer Ryo's question just as the brawl that had erupted died down. As the Ronins picked themselves up and regained their composure, Kayura continued her explanation.

"We also found one cylinder that had been cracked open. It's impossible to tell whether it was from the inside or the outside."

"Why?" Ryo suddenly became more interested.

"It was almost completely shattered. Only a few pieces were left."

"Did it have any kind of base?" Kento asked.

Kayura shook her head. "It's set too far down in the ground to have been damaged easily. It looks intact."

"Does it look like a piece of equipment? Something that we can use to try and figure out what those things are?" Sage asked.

"I'm not sure. We aren't very familiar with technology."

"Technology in the Nether Realm? Why does this sound very bad?" Sai asked nervously.

"So," Rowen spoke up eagerly, "would you like us to come check it out?"

"Check what out?" came a voice from upstairs. They all looked up to see Kento's sister peeking over the railing.

Ryo shook his head. "Not again…"

"Oh, look who's talkin'," Rowen piped up. "That was you five minutes ago."

"Aaaagh!" Katie cried from above in fake horror. "Are you comparing me to him?!"

She pounded down the stairs and launched herself at the blue-haired Ronin, tackling him.

"Evil!!!"

"Aack!" Rowen squealed. "Kento! Get your insane sister offa me! She's gonna rip out my throat!"

"Nah," Kento told him, "I think she's just gonna constrict the air passin' through it."

"Hah *gasp* hah…"

From the staircase, there came a jeering catcall.

"Whoa, havin' fun down there? I'm surprised Kento's not doin' anything to try and stop you two."

Blushing slightly, Katie scowled and released her blue-haired victim. He sank, gasping, into the carpeting and she bounded merrily over to an empty spot on the couch.

Sage turned and smiled as Rachel came down the stairs, making space beside himself on the couch for her to sit.

"You guys hold a meeting without telling us? How rude…"

Kayura resumed her explanation.

"Now where were we?"

"Um, Rowen groaned from the carpet, "I believe you were about to answer my question as to whether or not you want us to come and investigate."

"Oh, right. The problem is getting you there."

"You guys can summon gates, right?"

"Well, yes, but considering the size they are and the amount of energy it would take, it's not worth it. We do have portal capabilities, but they're never very stable. We wouldn't be able to fit all of you."

"Not even one at a time?"

Kayura shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. These kind of portals are meant as round-trip tickets for just one person. There and back. One could probably safely transport one, maybe two people with. Any more than that and you'd more than run the risk of collapsing while you're inside."

"I don't suppose we can open more than one of these portals, huh?"

"Possibly, with the Warlords' help. But most likely only one more.

"Why?"

"Ro, do we all have to suffer through your insatiable curiosity?"

"Well, Kento, it can't hurt to know all you can about what you're getting into," Sage defended.

"Hal— I mean, Sage is right. It won't kill you.

"Well, there are basically two reasons why we can only have two portals. The first is that there are only two of us who can maintain them well enough. Myself and, of course, Anubis. Each of us can only hold one at a time and doing more than one in succession, opening and closing, opening and closing, would be too much."

"And the other reason?"

"The other reason," Kayura sighed, "is that we can't risk anyone who's not supposed to go through going through."

They all became quiet.

"What do you mean?"

"We have no idea what we'll run into. If there is something alive down there, they probably won't be on our side. We can't risk them reaching the Mortal Realm. With just two portals, we can easily close them down at the first sign of danger and not have to worry about leaving any unattended."

"Makes sense," Rowen nodded. "So, let's see… how many of us can go? Does Anubis have to be there for us to go through the portal he opens?"

Kayura nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"No problem. So, at most, four of us can go, right?"

"Correct. I'll leave it up to you to decide who will go, but try to keep in mind the nature of this venture and the environment.

"We are deep underground. It will be cold wet, and dark. It would also be wise to take someone who would be good at figuring out any technology we run across."

"Alright."

*note* Ok, so that's the end of chapter 1. What do you think? Please review! This is my first real fic being posted on the web, and I want to know what my fellow authors think. Be honest!