With the Serpopards temporarily vanquished, the group knew that they had to keep going before any of the other failed experiments came to eat them. They had to find a way out of the caverns, the compound, and the woods. They had to escape.

They carried their injured through the tunnels, only stopping occasionally to allow Westley to heal as much as he could before he passed out again. The Serpopards' attack had taken a toll on his body, made it unable to handle his power as it usually did. At least, that's what they assumed. No one wanted to voice the possibility that perhaps their own experiments were failing as well.

Their next rest was in a chamber with only two tunnels, an option which Jonah claimed would allow them to defend themselves without worrying about being completely surrounded on all sides. Arcadia had complained that being surrounded didn't matter when their opponents included homicidal maniacs and monstrous experiments, but they had all known that Westley couldn't take much more of the traveling. They had to rest.

Another part of the cavern that had excited everyone was the small circle of sunlight streaming in through the ceiling. Jonah bathed under it, absorbing its energy and regaining his strength. Many of them were just glad to be able to tell what time it was. But it didn't make everyone feel better.

"Who do you think is going to be next?" Arcadia whispered to Aria, from their spot in a corner. Aria glanced at the worn group, trying to spot the weakest link.

"Not Kat. She's too strong. If someone attacks her, she can turn into a lioness. Same with A. They can just freeze whoever attacks them. Camber can block attacks," she thought out loud. Her eyes made their way over to Toby, who was carefully making Westley and Jonathan drink water. "Jonathan or Westley. They're too weak, and they can't fight. Jonathan just predicts things, and Westley can only heal."

Skylar made her way out of the shadows, glaring at the two girls. Aria noticed the furious look on her face, and shrunk back. "Maybe you should stop betting on which of us will die, because you two aren't exactly the strongest either," she warned. Then, she froze, and looked up. Her entire body was stiff and alert. Then, she ran to the rest of the group, shouting.

"Jaxon is here! I can sense his darkness! It's an ambush!" The girl shouted, waving her arms to get everyone up and ready to defend themselves. Kat immediately shifted into her lioness form, while Nathan readied his earth, and Jonah's hand began to glow.

Aria shook her head, and began to back up, eyes glancing up to the small circle of light in the ceiling, then back to Arcadia. Finally, she seemed to make a decision.

"I'm sorry Arcadia. I'll get help, I swear," she promised. Arcadia looked at her with fear, then, as if she realized what Aria was about to do, reached to grab the other girl's arm.

"Aria, no! Don't leave us!"

Aria dodged, and pushed off into the ground. Everyone in the group watched as she flew toward the hole in the ceiling, effectively ditching all of them to save her own skin. Nathan swore, called her a coward and a traitor. Others cried out to her, while even more just watched in shock. Then, a crack rang through the cavern.

Aria fell from the sky as a burst of blood left her head. Arcadia screamed, and A was forced to jump out of the way to avoid Aria's body as it hit the ground. Another crack sounded, but the bullet from Jaxon's rifle was absorbed by the force field Camber summoned in less than a second. With their presence revealed, the traitors came out of the shadows.

Emily leapt out of a portal and went directly for Westley and Jonathan, but was blocked by a growling Kat. The two began to circle each other in preparation for their standoff.

A fireball hurled toward Skylar's head, but was extinguished by a whip of water controlled by Toby. Maya walked out of the tunnel on the right, eyes dark. Tiger stood next to her, smirking. Camber moved to stand next to Toby, ready to summon a force field at any moment.

Jared strode out of the left tunnel, electricity crackling at his fingers. Kamari was close behind him. With a roar at the sight of Jared, Nathan charged, speed aided by the ground beneath his feet. A swore, and ran after him to help.

Finally, Jaxon appeared from one of the darkened corners of the chamber. With a sense of dread, Jonah realized that the man had been with them the entire time. He motioned to Skylar and Arcadia, then back to Westley and Jonathan.

"Keep an eye on those two! Skylar, you especially. If someone is in dire need of help, send Arcadia. I've got Jaxon," he ordered. Then, his eyes met the dark ones of his opponent, and his entire body began to glow. Light and Dark moved into the middle of the chamber to begin their battle, leaving Arcadia and Skylar to defend the two injured boys. No matter what.

Hey guys! I know that I haven't updated this recently, and I'm really sorry. I've been rather busy recently, as my friends and I decided to do NaNoWriMo together. Also, college applications are a pain (MIT waits for no one). But this roleplay, and any others I run, are back up now that it's December! I hope you guys are all still here!
- Mack