WHOOM!

A torrid heat poured over the underground chamber. Sweat tried to pour down Ted's forehead, but it evaporated almost the very instant it left his pores.

In a flash, the mist dissipated, and in the center of it all was Nugget. With her wings outstretched and her entire body coated in an intensely hot flame she stood with her head tilted back and pointed straight up.

Guys! Cheered Death. There you are!

Everyone who had been hidden in the mist was now clearly visible. Death atop his horse, whose name was still in dispute. The robot, the wolf, Ted, Sentenza, Bakade, and even Lulu were all unveiled.

The wolf was still covered in his thin icicle hairs, but they were dripping water which pooled beneath him. The wolf looked down at the water and grit his teeth. He took in a deep breath and turned his visage towards Nugget. His desire for blood was so intense, even Ted could feel it from off to the side. The ice around the wolf's body suddenly stopped dripping, and stretched back to where it had been before. Even the pool just beneath him turned into solid ice.

"That's not good," understated Ted.

"Get back as best as you can boss," Sentenza groaned as he got up on a knee. The blood on his face had dried, but he still looked very worn down. "This mess is far from over."

Ted scrambled to his feet. His body ached, and his side stung, but he wasn't actually doing too bad. Which genuinely surprised him. Although he guessed he hadn't done too much outside of running for his life, and whatever the strangr pain in his side had been. He figured it was just the stressful situation that amplified all of that.

The robot shifted its body towards Ted as soon as he began to move. It froze in place as Ted turned to look at it. Then, it held up its arms towards Ted.

Ted gulped, but Sentenza quickly raised his gun towards the machine.

BANG!

Sentenza fired, but before the bullet could reach the machine, a portal opened up around it, and the robot disappeared inside of it. The portal opened and closed before the bullet even reached it.

Bakade had turned towards the commotion, and started to sprint towards Ted. She scooped him up in her hand and he was jerked away.

A moment later, a portal appeared where Ted was and the robot leaped through and stabbed with a mentality spear where Ted had just been.

Sentenza frowned at the display.

"Thanks," Ted wheezed as he tried to recover from having the wind knocked out of him when she grabbed ahold of him. "I owe you one."

"Lllaaaattteeerrr," she whispered like the wind whipping through saplings. "Wwweee nnnneeeeedddd tttooo fffooocccuuusss rriiiigggghhhhtttt nnnnoooowwww."

And she was right. A spike of ice flew into her antlers and shattered on impact. But, the force knocked her head to the side, and made her stumble before she managed to regain her footing. Through it all, she managed to keep ahold of Ted, which he was rather grateful for considering how fast she was running, and how awful it would be to slam into the ground while going this fast.

Nugget stayed in her position I'm the center of the underground room. Slowly, the fire around her began to increase in intensity and spread out from her. The blue Phoenix encompassing her grew larger and larger. The giant bird loomed over everyone else as the heat began to pick up so much, even the air itself began to waver in her presence.

SCHWING!

Don't forget about me, Death howled as he swung his scythe towards the robot. Or I'll make sure you regret it, bro!

The robot quickly created another portal and disappeared through it. But, not before Death's scythe cut a large gash across its chest.

The fleshy box popped down next to Sentenza. Narissa popped out of it and commanded, "Hey! Get in you idiot. No more of these insane stunts. Unless you're trying to kill yourself."

"Yeah man!" Og'drimun piped in. "Things are way too wild out there. It's time to cut our losses."

Sentenza leaped inside. "Still just the two."

Narissa raised her eyebrow. "Two?"

"Trizel and Sid." Sentenza replied.

"Might want to be careful yourself." He added.

"Is that a threat?" Narissa asked in a cold voice.

"Nope. It was Ted, Trizel, Me, Sid, Bakade, then you." Sentenza explained. "Might be nothing, but a pattern like that you don't want to ignore."

Narissa sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "The hen."

"Hmm?"

"You forgot the dang chicken!" She snapped.

Sentenza scratched his neck, and some dried blood from his head wound got scraped off by his fingers as he muttered. "Oh yeah."

"Not planning to leave without me are ya?"

Lulu popped into the room with a smile as she positioned herself away from the door.

"Perfect, just three more and we can split." Narissa said.

"Five," Og'drimun corrected her. "You forgot Nugget and Doomslayer."

"Doomslayer?" Lulu asked.

"It's the name for the awesome horse I made." Og'drimun said as he puffed out his tiny chest. "I know, I know. I'm great."

The four of them continued sorting out names and who they were picking up when, as the wolf turned to face the steadily growing flame that was Nugget. He curled up his lips in a snarl as a frigid aura surrounded him. His eye searched the enflamed bird up and down.

After struggling to focus on anything, he shook his head and turned to face the dead center of the fire.

He leaped forward.

There was a slash of his might paw.

The air hissed and crackled.

Then, it happened.

BOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the chamber. The shockwave alone was enough to send a few fresh cracks through the room of flesh.

Bakade was knocked off of her feet, but pulled Ted in close to her body and tucked herself around him as they were flung from their feet.

Nugget was ripped from her central area, and arched up through the air with a multitude of fresh wounds as she struggled to stay conscious.

The wolf spun down towards the ground without a single shard of ice left on his mangled body.

Death was blown apart. Each of his bones flew out and away from where he had been sitting. His horse on the other hand seemed completely unphased by the explosion and the shockwave it sent out. Almost like he was nothing more than a projection as something physical tried to hit him.

"What the heck was that?" Og'drimun asked in a slight panic.

"Trouble," Narissa hissed. "If I hadn't reinforced everything, that would've blown this place to pieces and stranded us here."

"Yeah, I'd rather not have that happen," Lulu chimed in.

A portal opened up inside the small room, and the robot came out with his spear as he lunged for Lulu's throat.

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