Leaving the Altar

"Ah fuck, my legs hurt..." Ray complained. The others agreed.

"This is much longer of a walk than I remembered..." Ruby replied in agreement.

"Man, what a waste of time coming here... now we've got this bullshit promise on our hands..." Yang thought aloud. She had been burdened with carrying a torch.

No one wanted to say it, but they all knew it was her fault in the first place.

Suddenly Michael stopped walking.

"I feel drowsy, guys..." He blurted.

He did look drowsy, walking like a drunk with his eyes half-closed.

He slowly began to fall...

But he caught himself, stopping the fall with two hands. Michael stayed there for a moment, but popped right back up.

"Whew! Close!" Replacing those drowsy eyes were now wide open, rejuvenated ones. "What a time to be alive!" He continued. Everybody stared at him. What was happening...?

Michael jumped towards Gavin, pulling his shoulders under his arms.

"Hey, Gavy-Wavy!" He exclaimed. "What should be our team name, huh, buddy? OH! How about Team Nice Dynamite, eh? Eh? Eh?" As Michael said team nice dynamite, he pointed his hands out to the sky, as if showing Gavin how wondrous the name was. Gavin merely nodded.

"Let's get a drink after we get out of here, huh buddy? Just you and me, none of those losers." Michael continued.

"Hey!" All the other Achieve Men shouted in unison. Michael ignored them.

"Whaddya say buddy?" He asked Gavin.

"I don't know Michael..." Gavin replied, slipping from Michael's grip. "I think you're drugged or something."

Michael stopped for a moment.

"Hmmm... I do feel tired..."

Suddenly he fainted, the sound of his head hitting the floor echoing. Everyone rushed to him.

"Fucking Grimm... Must be playing tricks..." Ryan murmured under his breath, hoisting Michael over his shoulder. "The fucking devil..."

With Michael bouncing on his shoulders, Ryan led the way through the tunnel for a little while.

Scuttlescuttlescuttle...

A faint noise, like claws on a floor, was heard throughout the Altar. Almost immediately after the sound, a pair of red eyes glowed in the dark. Ruby quickly jumped for cover behind her sister.

"W-what is that?" She stuttered.

Almost as if answering her foolish question, a large, black rat came from the darkness and hissed. Everyone jumped back. Especially Ruby. She screamed. Very loudly.

"A RAT?!" She exclaimed. Yang held her back.

"Calm down..." She said in a soothing voice. "It's only a rat."

The rat had now begun to inspect the group, eyeing them closely. It showed no fear of them. Its eyes glowed menacingly as it looked straight into the eyes of Ruby.

"Ehhhh..." Ruby moaned, cowering behind Yang.

Those scary red eyes still stared.

"Ahhhh..."

Still staring.

"Yang?!"

The rat blinked. Ruby jumped.

"AH! Did you see that? It-it blinked!"

The rat hissed, and took a couple steps forward, a little bit away from Ryan. It stuck its nose out, and proceeded to smell Ryan, who nearly dropped Michael. He couldn't take it anymore. Watching the stupid rat, being brave and all...

"Damn you!" Ryan suddenly snapped, and kicked the rat away from the light of Yang's torch and into the darkness. Skidding could be heard as the helpless rat ran away. Ryan took a moment to breath, but sighed afterwards.

"Let's go." He blurted. The others looked at each other, and continued, Ruby a bit precariously.

For a while silence filled the entire Altar as the odd group walked through its corridors. The only sound heard by their ears was the torch's crackling. It seemed the straight path would never end.

Crackle.

The torch suddenly flickered.

Crackle.

Again.

Crack.

Oh no.

Ksssssh.

The group had been enveloped in complete darkness. An audible sigh could be heard coming from someone's mouth.

"It's just one bad thing after another, huh? It can't get worse." Jack groaned. But Ryan had an objection.

"Wah?!" He shouted, looking around frantically in the dark. "W-where's Michael?!"

For a moment, everyone remained silent ,then they all screamed.

"Ah!"

"It's so dark! Where could he be!"

Everyone began to frantically grope around, trying to find Michael. Ray, in panic, clumsily pulled out his rose. It was dangerous to use it when he couldn't see the flame, but he would risk it.

Blaze.

He whispered into the rose. Jack shot around.

"Wait, Ray, no...!"

But it was too late. The rose had combusted, and exploded in Ray's face violently, sending him flying. He hit the wall, and slid down.

"...remember last time..." Jack sighed.

Ray's rose was burning on the floor, and the flame gave off enough light to see Michael's body in a heap on the floor. Ryan quickly picked him up, and gestured for Jack to grab Ray.

"Goodness..." Blake moaned, shaking her head as she looked at Jack grab Ray.

"Come on, I just wanna go. Let's hurry." Weiss beckoned.

"Yeah, come on. I'm getting pretty spooked in here." Geoff agreed. Ryan sighed, and grabbed the burning rose.

"This'll only last for about half an hour, but by then, I'm hoping we'll be out." Ryan informed them, pointing to the rose. They all nodded.

And so they began to walk the endless corridors again. Nothing else happened. It seemed Grimm had had his fair share of fun. And before long, the group had begun to see light. It was the exit! Everyone began to run, wanting to be the first to step out of the Altar.

But the light didn't come from the sky.

It came from the dozens of government vehicles parked outside of the Altar.

And before anyone knew it, the group were faced with the whole country against them.

"Put your hands in the air! You are being held on accounts of trespassing, the unlocking of a citizen's aura, attempted theft, and upsetting peace! You are being arrested, and will get a fair trial!" A booming voice came from a megaphone. The group went on their hands on knees. All of them felt an anger. They felt an anger very strong. They were all angry at Ryan, who had placed them in this situation for the selfish reasons only known to himself and Michael. No one wanted to know why Ryan had done this, for if they had they might just want to kill him.