Darkness. That was the home of the night witch. To some, they were like ghosts that haunted the dark skies after the sun had set, patrolling the skies.

Regardless. Darkness was the Night Witch's best friend. They thrived in it and in return, the darkness was their ally.

But how far did this friendship go when faced with this sort of creature? A creature that had been born in the dark... raised by it... molded by it... that hadn't seen the light until it had already been grown? That when it had seen the light, the light was nothing... just nothing save for blindness.

Regardless... the Diamond Dog bared it's fangs as it saw Sanya, alone as she approached. Even without the perfect ability to seen within the darkness, the magical antennas that gleamed bright green within the ill-lighten cave would have given her away to practically anything along with the glow of the flashlight. The dog perched atop a small mound, fangs and claws at the ready. The first meal it would have in a long time.

Something wasn't right. Why was it's prey towards him? Why was it that every time he inched off a little bit, his prey would change her direction, as though it knew he was there?

Terrible realization would be had when a light was shone straight into his face, causing him to cry out and cover his eyes from the blinding light before being able to look at his potential meal.

"Hello?" Sanya asked as she examined the creature. It was canine-like though a thin... and had these sharp teeth which wasn't very appealing to her. In addition, the claws would cause any sensible person to step back. To this end, Sanya kept her gun raised. "Can you speak?"

"Yeeesssss..." The dog hissed. It's dinner was speaking to him. Amusing. "Speeaaaakkkk...."

It's prey was alert. Ready for trouble. From the way the tail and the ears were tense, rigid, like an alert cat that had found signs of danger. If he struck now, he could end up with nothing... or worse.

"Is there a way out?" Sanya asked with her normal air of quiet politeness. The creature... looked... well... pitiful almost. It was terribly thin, not in the same sense one would describe it as a compliment, but almost of a sickly thin. Realization and a closer scrutiny would reveal this creature hadn't eaten for maybe days now.

"Yesss... I can show you..." The dog replied as it grinned inwardly. "Come... with meeeeee..."

"I will... but I need to tell my friends... there's a way out..."

"No... come with meeeeeee...."

"Are you alright?" Sanya asked, her uneasiness beginning to show. The last part sounded a bit... demented even. "Are you sick? Do you need help? One of my friends is a doctor... he can..."

"No... I jusssstt...neeeeed..... YOU!"

She let out a small yelp of surprise as the dog lunged straight for her, fangs and claws barred at the ready. It could have gone badly for Sanya, easily could have, but her initial shock and instincts ended up saving her as she practically jumped back, the cat tail tucked under and her ears back. The dog was growling like an animal with a seriously bad case of rabies of is it lunged and scratched, missing every time until the last one, giving her a few small scars and a rather long tear in her sleeves.

See... it didn't hurt. Save for the fact that the shirt she was wearing... was a gift from Eila. And that... really pissed her off.

LIKE REALLY PISSED HER OFF.

Slade burst into hearty laughter when he heard the sounds of wet meat splat against rock as the blow sent the dog flying, in an almost cartoon-like fashion as it hit the rock, somehow still being alive.

"Very good... very good... I see you can handle yourself kid. They teach that in the military?"

She practically jumped when she heard his voice... the only thing stopping her from leaping straight out of her skin was that Slade had a tendency to pull this on everyone. Turning around, she saw the masked mercenary approach her with a blade out. Had this been their first time meeting, she probably would have been pretty scared at the fact that a guy wearing a painted hockey mask A REALLY BADASS MASK THAT NO ONE WILL EVER MAKE FUN OF was approaching her... or rather... the semi-conscious... thing.

"Please tell me you haven't been following me this whole time..."

"I was.. I mean wasn't. Tactical vision told me your heart rate sky-rocketed. Told me that something was wrong so I went to take a look. I see you can take care of yourself just fine though. But let's find our way out now... okay?"

It was a good thing he caught himself... or rather turned an accident around. He had almost just said the words "I was worried".

"So... where's the way out?" Slade asked firmly.

"You can all die hereeee with mee... AUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..."

The blade was thrust straight into one the dog's paws causing the red, slippery liquid to spill out.

"I am not going to ask again." Slade replied. "Tell me where's the way..."

"Hey Slade!" Steve's voice called out from behind them. "Armin's got a way out!"

The dog practically sighed with relief. He actually didn't know the way out and ha...

"Well... you ran out of time." Slade said as his two hands grabbed the dog's head.

"Wait... wait... wait!"

SNAP*

"So... whatcha guys got here?" Slade asked as he approached the group, seeing how the stream flowed outside... only problem was, unless you were able five inches tall, you weren't going to be able to go out.

"I need a demo charge on that wall." Raynor said. "From what I know, we blow it up, and we're home free!"

"Than stand back." Slade said as he grabbed his proximity bombs and placed them against the wall. "Hey Armin..."

"What?" The boy asked, a bit nervous that it was Slade.

"You found the exit, son. I think you deserve the honors." Slade said as he tossed him the trigger. Maybe he wasn't totally useless after all.

"More walking now?" Medic grumbled as he grabbed the map. At least the warm afternoon was pleasant, the weather was nice and the birds were singing. Almost worth frolicking in if it wasn't for the journey ahead.

"Unfortunately, doc." Raynor replied as he took a look. "But the sun's shining and we're alive and it's nice to be out! You know... I am so happy... I can just start singing... except I am terrible at it... so I won't."

"Hmm... we used to sing on marches." Cap replied. "I think I got one."

"Lemee guess... US army related?" Slade asked.

"Of course. Now then... what was that song again? Oh right. Here's the one."

Clearing his throat, the Captain began his song. All those stage performances in his early days as "Captain America" was now beginning to pay off.

"How unexpected." Slade mumbled sarcastically.

"It's a good song." Sanya commented. "Wait... Slade... didn't you say you used to be in Lib... I mean America's army?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"SING ALONG MERCENARY!" Raynor laughed.

Groaning for a moment... he joined in the song with Captain America. The second most humiliating thing that would happen to him today.