Astral continued at top speed, leaving the others breathless as they tried to keep up. Yuma had to stop twice before Shark ended up just grabbing him and running off with him on his back. Ever since Astral had thought he'd felt another presence, he'd been racing off in whatever direction he thought felt right, basically forcing the others to follow him. Now they were lost, tired and beyond worried for Kat.

"GAHHHH!" Hart yelled it, tripping over something and smacking onto the floor. He gritted his teeth and stood up, holding his arm in pain and staring in awe at what he'd tripped over. A deep crack. Cathy raised an eyebrow, obviously curious of how the obstacle got there. Just like with the one that had brought them all down here, it appeared out of nowhere.

Shark let out a growl of annoyance. Everyone stared as it got a bit larger, seemingly by the second. Finally, Astral shook himself and ran off again. Cathy rolled her eyes and tailed after him, followed by Hart, Shark and Yuma. They wound themselves around more corners, spiraled up and down places, and eventually came crashing into one another when Cathy came to a sudden stop. (She'd forgotten she would go right through Astral.)

"Oww...oh geez. Cathy, warn us before you stop like that next time," Hart moaned and sat up, rubbing his head and trying to force his eyes to stop spinning.

More cracks could be seen in the distance from where they stood. Astral apparently could see something that was even farther away from them, so he'd stopped. And that was when Cathy had stopped, causing the others to smack into each other. They watched as the blue spirit continued cautiously, following the semi-deep cracks. Not one word was spoken as everyone else followed.

Soon, groaning could be heard. It wasn't from anybody in the group, that much was obvious. Where was is coming from then?

The only way to find out was to follow it.

"This way." Astral motioned with his hand and sped off. The others followed right behind. Hart wasn't sure why, but he felt like soon, they'd find Kat and bring her home safely.

He just knew it.

XxXxXxXx

The cracks continued to get larger. It was almost as if every step her friends took as they searched for her, the bigger and deeper they got. Kat shuddered. She was seriously creeped out by all this. No earthquake was occurring, nor were there any machines that could do such a thing. How was it happening?

That was a question Kat wasn't sure she wanted to find out the answer to.

The blue and brown-haired girl shuddered again and stared around at everything. The lights which continued to grow brighter, the cracks that continued to get larger, the cuffs that continued to squeeze her wrists. Kat snarled and attempted to escape again. It was no use.

She was stuck.

"That's just great. Absolutely fantastic." -She looked up at the ceiling now- "I hope they get here soon. Otherwise, there may be nothing left to save."

Now silence swayed over the area. Kat felt awkward, not only being alone, but being so close to death without her memories. She swayed back and forth nervously, hanging her head when she stopped and staring at the swirling, cracking floor.

Even the cracks looked like they were swirling. Kat was hallucinating. She couldn't believe it. Swirling cracks? Next thing she knew she'd be seeing a dragon.

Boy, couldn't she have been more right.

A shadow swooped over Kat. She stared up at the ceiling as everything began to distort. The dragon landed right in front of her. Kat squinted, attempting to remember. She recognized the dragon very easily, but she just couldn't figure out from where exactly. Of course, that would be a challenge until she got her memories back.

IF she got her memories back.

The dragon snarled and dropped down next to Kat. It was silent as it slashed the cuffs around her wrists, and seemed to be smiling at her when she looked up.

"You...saved me?" Kat asked, standing up and stretching herself from the scrunched position she'd been in for such a long time. The dragon put a clawed paw on her shoulder, causing the blue and brown-haired girl to flinch upon contact.

Of course I saved you, Kat.

Kat just about screamed. This thing could talk! What the crap?

"A talking dragon? Now I know I'm hallucinating."

You're not hallucinating. Oh that's right, you can't remember. Well back when you were a great duelist, I was your ace card. Maybe I can still help you escape.

"How?"

I can lead you to the others.

Kat felt a smile crossing her lips. She nodded, then froze as she heard footsteps rapidly coming in their direction. Heartearth turned its massive head towards the noise, but did not get in any battle stance.

Never before in their either of their lives had they been so happy.

Astral, Cathy, Hart, Shark, and Yuma came running around the corner, almost blinding themselves by the light but running in anyway. Kat let out a startled, happy shriek as Hart jumped on her. Cathy screamed in joy, but soon shut up as she heard cackling.

All of them jerked up in shock. There floated Black Mist, only he was not alone. Caswell, Flip, Kite, and Tori were wrapped in his tentacles, as we're Kat's memories. The black being let out an insane laugh and smirked.

"I may not be able to destroy Kat, but it doesn't matter! I can destroy these guys and her memories instead and still succeed!" Black Mist called from where he floated, cackled, then flew off at top speed. Kat felt her eye twitch, then snarled.

"Black Mist! Get back here you coward!" The blue and brown-haired girl shrieked in anger and raced after him, before anyone could react. They followed, however, and gasped in shock when they stopped suddenly at a cliff.

There floated Black Mist, right over the gap of swirling floor, holding Kat's memories right over. The others were unconscious an on the floor. Kat shook her head in a threatening fashion and made direct eye contact with Black Mist. "Don't do it," she growled.

"Too late!"

Her memories tumbled right on into the swirls. Kat screamed in shock. "NO!" She lunged at them, but was jerked backwards by Heartearth, who shook its head. Kat looked up with teary eyes before she began to cry. Black Mist, on the other hand, smirked.

"You're useless now Kat." The black being simply laughed, then vanished. That just left Kat to continue crying. It was official.

Kat's memories no longer existed.