Clay watched Omi circle him until he was dizzy. Then he picked him up and covered his mouth, effectively silencing him. "Easy there, little buddy. We don't have time to worry about that now. We've got work to do."

They split up to look for any sign of Raimundo. While Omi was walking, he couldn't help but worry about everything that was wrong. Who knew what damage Wuya was doing to the world while they were here and they didn't have a clue on how to beat her now. And how were they going to get home? Well, they would cross that road when they came to it.

Cross that bridge when you come to it

Ah. That made more sense. Where did he remember it from? Oh well.

Omi had been walking for about ten minutes when the dirt, leaves, and branches underneath him gave way. "AAAAAAAH! A TRAP!" But after he picked himself up and brushed off the dirt and leaves, he found it was actually some sort of underground tunnel.

Using the Star of Hanabi to guide him, he went to see where it led. After five minutes, he heard faraway voices ahead and quickly put out the Star of Hanabi. When he did, he saw there was also daylight ahead. As Omi silently edged closer, the walls, floor, and ceiling seemed to close in on him until he had to crawl. The voices grew louder. Omi finally came to the end of the tunnel, which led into the bottom of a deep trench. The end was partly covered by the branches and leaves of a young tree. It helped so he could see out and, if he was still and quiet, no one outside would see him. Omi saw seven angry looking goblins. The one at the very center was talking. Omi found it difficult to make out the words because it was speaking so thickly. He saw by how differently the goblin was dressed from the others that it was the leader. He shifted his head to the left to see who the goblin was talking to. Omi struggled to keep himself from gasping.

Slouching in a bored manner with his arms folded across his stomach, was Raimundo. He was looking down at the goblin in a will-you-just-shut-up way, but stayed quiet and listened. Then a sudden movement caught Omi's eye. He noticed that near Raimundo, three kids exactly Rai's height and age were leaning against the other side of the trench. They were all wearing hoods.

But Kimiko said there were only two others. Perhaps one was hiding somewhere else during that event.

Omi couldn't see their faces very well due to their hoods, but he did his best to take in the other details of their appearance. They were each wearing jeans and sneakers, but their shirts were different. The one on the left had on a dark blue hooded jacket and a pair of black sunglasses. The sunglasses confused Omi because it wasn't very bright. The one in the middle had on a brown hooded sweatshirt. This one looked a lot like Raimundo. Same tan skin and mischievous smile. The one on the right had on a hoodie like Raimundo's, only black. The color made the wearer's ashen skin stand out.

Finally the goblin leader stopped talking and Raimundo spoke. "I understand you're upset. Look, the nymphs are your problem. The girl isn't. Here's the deal. She'll be gone if she believes you're gone. Let me just suggest something here. I know you're not too thrilled about 'hiding like rats', but suppose you do it just for a few days. The girl has no reason to stay, she leaves to kick butt somewhere else. Then you can drive out the nymphs."

The goblin began talking again and when it finished, Raimundo replied "No, we can't attack the colony ourselves. We've received some disturbing news that makes things more complicated for us and things need to be handled smoothly right now or this could blow out of proportion."

Omi was dumbfounded. This didn't sound like Raimundo. He was usually ready to jump right into things. That was one of the reasons he didn't get promoted. Kimiko was right. He must have been here awhile to have matured.

"But we can get the girl out of there in a hurry." Raimundo continued. "I've tangled with this girl before. Where trouble goes, she follows. All we need to do is stir some trouble up somewhere away from here. She checks the surface, everything's okay, she leaves. Then you can resurface and fight. It should only take three days tops."

Omi noticed how the follower in the middle's smile broadened when Raimundo said the 'stir some trouble up' part. The goblin said something in a suspicious way. Raimundo grinned darkly. "She won't. We'll make sure of that."

Raimundo spat on his hand and held it out to the goblin. The goblin eyed it warily, then spat on its hand, grasped Raimundo's, and gave it a quick shake. Then all the goblins bowed, turned, and shuffled away. Raimundo wiped his hand off on his pants once they left. There was a few minutes of silence before the follower at the left spoke. "So, we're hitting three birds with one stone?" Omi could tell that the voice belonged to a girl.

"That's how it appears." Raimundo leaned on the opposite wall of the followers, out of Omi's view. "So, what should our third bird be?"

"Let's go to the elves." The middle follower said eagerly. This one was a boy. "They could definitely use some hell."

"No." Raimundo answered. "They're down past the summit. That'll be too far."

The follower on the right started to say something, but Raimundo cut him or her off. "Not the phoenix town. That's too close. The monks could go there, hear about the goblins' attack on the nymphs, and come back."

Omi's eyes widened. He knew they were here? Of course, Rai knew Kimiko was here so he probably figured that he and Clay came with her.

"How about the Dwellers?" The girl asked.

The other followers nodded in approval and looked expectantly at Raimundo for his judgment. After a moment, Raimundo got off the wall and stood in the center. "That's perfect. Great idea." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's get going."

The followers stood up straight. Raimundo clapped his hands. Suddenly a huge wind came up, sweeping the group into the air. The young tree was blown aside and Omi was sucked out of the tunnel and pushed up into plain sight.