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Time seemed frozen as we drove down the silent, abandoned highway.

The air was still and stuffy, and as we drove on, I could feel as the warmth drained out of the air and steadily got cooler and cooler.

Roy sat in the passenger seat, twiddling his fingers, and playing with the hilt of his sword, while Fox sat in the middle of the back seat with his blaster on his lap.

He looked from side to side anxiously.

I knew exactly how he felt.

I stopped looking at him from the driver's mirror, and focused on the road up ahead as we pulled into the city.

Even in the city things were deathly quiet. It was as if the whole world had fallen asleep, with only us treading the dangerous paths of dreams.

That was how it felt. It was all a dream, and, we were all alone in that dream.

Only, of course, it wasn't a dream at all.

The pavement felt very real as I stepped out of the parked car. I slapped my car door shut, as did Roy and Fox when they got out.

We were parked in a parking lot near intersection four, where we all could smell that faint smell. It was fainter than before, because the scent first appeared earlier this very same morning.

"…So, where do we go now?" Roy asked. "I don't see any toxic sludge footprints." He joked.

"I think it's coming from that deserted parking complex." Fox said as he sniffed the air carefully. "…Yeah, it's coming from SOMEWHERE that direction."

"I see." I commented. "…Are you two sure you want to go there with me? You can stay here by the car if you like."

"No, we've made up our mind." Fox said. "We want to see what's causing the stench as much as you do."

"Yeah!" Roy piped up. "You'll have to knock us out if you want us to stay behind."

"Heh, no need, no need." I laughed. "I just wanted to ask one last time is all. Now, if we want to be back home in time to get some sleep, we better get started, now."

"Hiking, hiking, I love hiking." Roy sang idly.

"Stop being a squash brain." Fox sighed.

"I like squash!" Roy said. "I don't like skunks, though."

"Ok, skunk brain, let's go."

"Hey!" Roy said. "I'm not a skunk brain!"

"You're not a skunk brain, if you go in there with us and help find the stinky." Fox said.

"Yay!" Roy chirped.

"Alright, that's enough, you two crazies." I said. "We have a…uh, scary place to investigate."

"Ooh, scaryyyyyyy…." Roy moaned like a ghost.

Ignoring Roy, I tapped Fox on the shoulder and walked towards the parking complex.

"Hey! Don't leave me behind. I don't LIKE the dark!" Roy cried.

"Oh! I forgot! You LOVE the dark, don't you?" Fox asked mockingly.

"NO! I HATE it!" Roy whined.

By now, we were in front of the cement tower, looking inside.

There was a dilapidated ticket booth, and an old metal pole that stretched across the road going inside. It was really dark inside the building, so I pulled out a handy flashlight I had in my pocket for the occasion. Fox also had a flashlight, and Roy, well, lit his sword on fire.

"Pretty colors." Roy said, awed.

"That's enough." I slapped him on the shoulder to make him come to his senses.

"Ow."

"Pay attention." I said.

"Fine."

I flashed the light around the gray interior as I walked, but I didn't find anything interesting.

"Yeah, it's definitely coming from here." Fox commented.

"…Here's proof." I said. Fox and Roy ran up, and I flashed my light across a streak on the floor. It was a dark sort of puddle, like water, but upon closer inspection, it was hard like plastic, and it was purple.

I turned my nose away in disgust, as it smelled like a pile of rotting flesh, mixed in with…other stuff of similar disgusting nature.

"What IS that?" Fox asked in a nasal voice. I looked over at him, and had to stifle a laugh as he pinched his rather long nose.

"No clue, Fox." I said. I pulled out a test tube out of my pocket, which had a stopper in it. The stopper had a small brush stuck in it.

I pulled the stopper out, and brushed some of the substance. It clung to the brush like goo, and I stuck the brush back into the tube, and stopped it up.

I then placed the tube in my right pants pocket.

"You going to run some tests on it, or something?" Fox asked.

"Might as well." I said. "I get bored easy."

CLACK!

I jumped in shock at the sudden clatter. I looked about wildly for the cause of the noise, but I failed to see anything.

"Over there." Fox said. "I think I saw some rocks fall."

"Let's go look." I said. We stood up from our crouching positions, and walked towards the disturbance, when I noticed Roy wasn't with us.

Fearing the worst, I looked around the room carefully with my flashlight, when, back near the puddle of ooze, I spotted Roy, still in the crouched position.

I ran over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder, but he seemed to be frozen.

"…Roy?"

"…s-s-scared." He moaned. "I think I want to go home now."

"It'll be fine." Fox said. "Besides, what could possibly happen?"

"Lotsa stuff." Roy argued.

"Ok, I think we've had enough for a night." I sighed. "Let's go back home and go to sleep. I don't think Roy can take anymore tonight."

"I agree." Roy said.

"…But…Fine." Fox said. "I really want to explore more, though."

"Tomorrow's another day." I said.

"Ok, promise you'll see me here at noon tomorrow." Fox said.

"Deal." I said.

"…Let's go now." Roy insisted quietly. "…I'll be braver in the daylight, after I get some food and stuff. I promise."

"Ok, ok." I said.

We walked back across the street to our car, which was still in the same spot we left it.

Unbeknownst to the trio, a pair of purple eyes watched them as the left the building and crossed the street.

Without making a noise, the big figure crawled into the hole where it had been watching them, and went down where the sound of rushing water met its ears.

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