Crunch… Crunch… Crunch… Crunch… Crunch… Crunch…

There was a faint sound of heavy footsteps on the cold gravel. They came to a halt suddenly, and the crunching of gravel was replaced by the hiss of heavy, slow breathing.

Drip… Drip… Drip… Drip… Drip… Drip… Drip… Drip…

Water lay in shallow pools on the small pebbles, gathering under the leaking cracks hidden on the shadowy ceiling. The light was nearly non-existent; the walls were black with dirt and darkness. It was painfully cold, and there was a thin, wispy fog coating the damp, uneven ground.

Crunch… Crunch… Crunch… Crunch… Crunch… Crunch…

The footsteps started again, and then slowly faded down the hallway into the pure darkness.

* * *

"You sure these are safe?" Rachel asked warily, eyeing the portals.

"Yes," Anubis sighed. "For the tenth time," he added under his breath.

"Actually," Katie piped up counting on her fingers, "only the ninth."

"Are we ready to leave?" Kayura asked the little group.

"Ready!" came the chorus of voices, some more enthusiastic than others.

"So, what do we do, exactly?" Rowen, of course, was fascinated, and eager to be on his way. "Just hop in?"

"Normally, yes."

"Normally?" Everyone turned to look at Anubis.

"I would suggest, only as a precautionary measure, that we hold on to on another. We don't want anyone getting separated."

Looking over at the sidelines, Katie could tell Kento didn't look too happy about that statement. She gave him a thumbs up.

"Whatever," Rachel shrugged, taking Sage's hand.

"Let's go already!" Katie whined, gagging at the blonde couple.

"Very well." Kayura held out her hand to Rowen, who in turn held his out to Katie. Anubis had taken Rachel's hand, and the trio stepped into the swirling maw, disappearing from sight.

"Here we go," Kayura told them, and the next thing they knew, they were gone.

* * *

With a whoosh, the Nether Realm flew into view, and the six travelers found themselves standing in Talpa's palace.

"That was a rush. They should have rides like that at Disneyland!"

Rowen and Sage looked around. It had been a while since their last "visit" to the Nether Realm. Their moods darkened visibly.

"So," Rachel said, looking around, "this is where it all happened, huh?"

"It's… big," Katie observed, craning her neck to look up. "And dark."

"Not to mention cold."

"Doesn't bother me," said a voice behind them. The four Ronins turned in surprise to see a vague silhouette against the darkness.

"Hello, Kale," Kayura addressed the figure pleasantly. "I'm glad you decided to show up."

"Well, I figured, where would you be without me? Lost, that's where."

"Hey, cold doesn't bother me," Katie informed him. "And we've got Sage, the human flashlight, thank you very much."

"Sage isn't a flashlight," Rachel protested.

Kale chuckled, "Well, follow at your own discretion, if you don't trust me. But I think I know where we're goin' a bit better than you. I spent a few hundred years here, whereas some of you," he looked over at the girls, particularly Katie, "have never been here before."

"Great, it's Tour Guide Kale!"

"Watch it, woman, or I'm gonna purposely lose you down there. You'll be lucky to ever come within a hundred meters of the exit."

"Jeez, how far are we gonna be walking?" Rowen asked.

"You'll certainly be getting your exercise," Kayura assured them. There was a collective groan.

"Aw man…"

"Grr…"

"Hey, can I cheat?"

"What do you mean, cheat?"

"Well, you know about the powers Rachel's 'n my armor have, right?"

"Not particularly, no." Anubis looked curious.

"Ah. Care for a demonstration?"

"Not now, Kate."

She turned to Rowen. He gave her a warning look.

"It's better that we save that for later."

She sighed. "Fine. Can I get a piggyback, then?"

"No."

"Aww… But I don' wanna walk all the way…"

Sage chuckled to himself. "You need a lift, Rachel?" he joked.

She blushed. "No, I'll walk."

"Then let's be off!" Kale announced, taking the lead. With great effort, he pushed open the large doors, revealing a dark hallway. "This way, please."

Once everyone was through, he let the doors go, and they slid slowly back into place with an ominous thud, leaving them in pure pitch black darkness.

"Mommy…" Katie whimpered, only half joking.

"Just a second."

There was a snap-hiss, and Kale was suddenly illuminated by a faint, sickening greenish light. In his hand was a torch. He held it out to Kayura, who passed it to Anubis.

"That ought to help you people," Kale grinned at the others. "Now, just follow me."

Feeling a little more uneasy than they had when the left, the group did as they were told and followed Kale in silence, the sound of their footsteps echoing loudly off the empty stone walls.

* * *

Back in the Mortal Realm, the other Ronins were playing Bomberman. Kento threw down his controller in disgust.

"I can't believe this is happening. I am the master of this game."

"I think your mind's just elsewhere, Kento," Sai reassured him. He gave a mall maniacal laugh as he cornered Ryo between one of his own bombs and a freshly laid one. After watching the little red character blow up, he turned back to his friend. "You don't have to worry. They're all going to be fine."

"Yeah," Ryo agreed. "It's just a simple check it out mission. They'll be back before dinner."

"But what about the broken one? What if whatever was inside is dangerous and it—"

"Kento," Sai sounded exasperated. "For all we know, those things have been sitting there for a hundred years and that one broke two days after they were put in. We don't even know what's in them. It could be something stupid.

And if something is running around and it is dangerous, they'll still be fine. All the Warlords are there, Kayura's got the Ancient's staff, and they've all got their armors. They'll be fine."

Just then, the doorbell rang. All three fell silent and looked from each other, to the door, to the portals.

It was Ryo who voiced what was running through everyone's mind.

"Crap."

Rant:

*flops over, dead* Whew! Chapter 3 is DONE! I know it's probably a bit shorter than the other two so far, but I'm editing as I go. The original is in a notebook, and as I go along typing it up, I end up changing quite a bit. And hacking out quite a bit. This chapter just suffered more hacking and less fill than the first two.

Anywho, a GREAT BIG THANK YOU goes out to those of you who have bothered to review. *bows* I hope you continue to read, and tell me what you think!

NEXT CHAPTER: Touma gets hurt?! (Well, ok, everybody does… But Touma counts most in my book)