Soon, I roused myself back to consciousness. My head was still spinning from the impact of the fall, but I was at least grateful to be on solid ground again. I groaned as I blinked my eyes open, a small flickering of orange crossing through my vision. Soon, my sight cleared and I found myself lying on my back in the middle of a stone corridor, a few torches lighting the area around me.

I moaned as I pulled myself back onto my hooves, and then I took a closer look around at my surroundings. The corridor I was standing in was made of stone, colored orange by the torches that were mounted on the walls, but I noticed that there were also several black vines weaving themselves in and out of the walls and ceiling.

I rubbed the back of my head, where a bruise now protruded from, Where am I? I glanced at my health bar to see that I hadn't lost any health from the fall. I stared at my health bar, confused as ever, I didn't lose any health? I was sure that a fall like that would have killed all of us.

I gasped, Wait, where's everyone else? I quickly opened up my player menu and looked at my team list. Every player had a team list to keep track of anyone they're teaming with. There, you could see their stats, their levels, and their health bars. I looked at my team list and I felt a sigh of relief escape from my mouth. I saw the health bars for Sky, Lexus, Cross, and Cloud, and they were all still full like mine. That meant that they had survived as well.

But then, something else occurred to me, Wait, where's Violet Runner and his team? At that moment, I heard a deep groan come from behind me. I turned around to see Violet Runner, rubbing his face as he sat up. I glanced at his health bar, which floated just above his head. It was still completely full, so that most likely meant that the rest of Team Calvary was okay as well.

Once up, Violet blinked a few times, a questioning look crossed his face, "Shadow? What happened?"

His eyes widened as he remembered, "Oh yeah! We fell through the ground of the maze, didn't we?"

I nodded, "Yeah. It was a pretty long fall, but luckily, none of us lost any health. Although, I haven't seen any of the others, yet."

Violet glanced around at the corridor we were in, taking in our surroundings with a bit of surprise. But then, he glanced up and his eyes widened, "Wait, if we fell... Then where's the hole we fell through?"

My eyes widened as well, as I then looked up, too. Sure enough, there was no sign of the hole that we came through. The ceiling was completely smooth stone, not even a hole or dent in it. I rubbed the back of my head, "I don't know... Maybe this is some trap that Discord rigged?"

Violet paused for a minute, lost in thought, "Maybe. But if that's the case, then he would have most likely put some monsters down here to finish us off." He paused again, "Although, come to think of it, maybe that's the reason why we didn't see any monsters before, back in the labyrinth."

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess that would make sense." We stood silent for a moment, but then I remembered, "Oh, yeah. Violet, what about the rest of your team? Are they all right?"

Immediately, Violet opened up his player menu and looked at his team list. Once he looked at it, he let out a sigh of relief, "Yeah, they're okay. They still have all of their health. "

I sighed, relieved as well. Nobody had died... yet. "Good, at least they're safe. But the problem is that we don't know where they are." I paused, but then I opened my player menu and began to compose an instant message. Violet gave me a curious look as he watched me write out the message, "So, I'm guessing your sending a message to your team members, right?"

I nodded, "Right. Even down here, they should be able to get the message. If they respond, then they should be able to tell us where they are." Within a minute, the message was finished. I read it over again, just make sure that it was good:

Hey, guys. I know you're not dead yet because I can see your health bars in my team list, so that's good. From what I can tell, we've all been separated by the fall. I'm here with Violet Runner, and we've concluded that this was a trap set by Discord. Right now, we're both in some kind of corridor, made of smooth stone and ingrown by hundreds of thorns. Where are you guys right now? See if you can find anybody else from our team or Team Calvary.

-Shadowflame

After reading through the message, I felt satisfied with it and I tapped the send button with a hoof. The message instantly disappeared and was replaced by a small box, saying: Message Sent.

I looked to Violet Runner, "Okay, now we just need to wait for a response."

Sky awoke to the sound of the message 'ping'. Groggily, Sky opened his eyes to see a small banner in his vision, reading New Message From Shadowflame. Sky quickly stood on all fours as he glanced around at his surroundings, "What... What happened?" He was now standing in a stone hallway, thorns running in and out of the stone like vines. The entire hallway was lit with torches hung by the walls.

Suddenly, Sky heard a small groan coming from his side, "Sky?"

Sky quickly turned to see Dylan next to him, "Dylan." He extended a hoof to help his younger brother up, "Are you okay?"

Dylan nodded as he took Sky's hoof and pulled himself up, "Yeah, I'm fine. Where are we?"

Sky shrugged as they both looked around at the hallway, "I don't know. I'm guessing we're probably somewhere below the Labyrinth." He turned back to the message from Shadow and opened it.

The message opened itself up into a box of text and Sky read it to himself. As he read, he was grateful to know that everyone was fine. Although, Shadow's position pretty much matched his and Dylan's. Once he had finished reading, he hit the "reply" button and began to type a return message,

I'm here with Dylan. We're both fine, but we're pretty much in the same position. The place we're in matches the description of where you and Violet are. What do we do now?

-Darkened5ky

Once it was finished, Sky hit the send button and his message disappeared. He looked back to Dylan and began to explain what he'd learned from Shadow's message.

Within a few minutes of each other, I soon received three messages from Sky, Cross, and Lexus. I read them all and I was able to put together quite a bit of information. I knew that we had all been separated into four different groups: Violet and myself, Sky and Dylan, Cross and Soul, and Lexus, Neon, and Cloud.

Each of our groups were in a similar place as me and Violet. So, I assumed that we were all underneath the Labyrinth. But if that was the case, knowing Discord, then I figured that we could be in another entirely different maze; A maze below the labyrinth. With the added information, I quickly composed another message to everybody:

Okay, listen up. It's safe to say that we're also in another maze, below the labyrinth. Right now, our top priority is to find another way out of here. Stick together in your own groups and make sure that you have each other's backs. Since we didn't see any monsters in the labyrinth, then I suspect that all of Discord's monsters will be down here. I don't want anybody to die down here. So, keep your eyes peeled and get going!

-Shadowflame

I sent the message and turned to Violet, "Okay, we should start making our way out of here."

Violet nodded as he hefted his hammer onto his back, and we began to trot down through the maze. We said nothing as we made our way through the dim corridors. It was either because we were to busy watching our surroundings, or we didn't really have anything to say at the moment.

Although, I could tell that the silence was making both of us uneasy. So, I sighed and turned to Violet, "Look, I'm sorry."

Violet raised an eyebrow at me, "What?

"I'm sorry for snapping at you back up in the labyrinth. That was wrong of me and I shouldn't have said that."

Violet shook his head, "No, I should apologize. Jupiter did put you in charge, and I was just frustrated by how long it was taking to get through the Labyrinth. Just because I started to argue with you, we ended up down here." He sighed, "I supposed it's my fault that we're down here."

I smirked, "No, it's as much your fault as it is mine. We were both frustrated and it led to this."

Violet chuckled, "Yeah, I guess that's true." He paused for a moment, "Look, Shadow. I'm sorry for saying all of those things about you and your team. You really are a good leader, and your team is amazing. After all, you were the first one to obtain an element."

I smiled, "It's fine. You don't need to apologize about that. You were actually right about one thing." I sighed, "I actually was a bit jealous of your team, and how you were treated when you guys arrived in Canterlot. Everyone was giving praise to the you guys who brought back two of the elements, but on the other hand, they gave me hardly any recognition when I brought back the Element of Courage. So, I should really be apologizing to you. I suppose it was only natural for me to snap at you. I'm sorry."

Violet smiled, "Apology accepted. Friends?"

I nodded, "Friends."

Cross and Soul walked through the corridors of the maze, weapons held at the ready. As they walked, Soul glanced at Cross, "So, what monsters do you think we should be expecting down here?"

Cross shrugged, "I dunno. I'd imagine something plant-like, considering that this place is lined with these thorns."

Soul nodded, "Yeah, I suppose your right." A long pause passed between the two of them, until Soul continued, "Although, it'd be interesting to see how well I'd fare in a fight with a living plant."

Cross smirked at him, "Well, normal plants *are* already alive. They just don't move around like an animal would." He let out a small chuckle.

Soul rolled his eyes, "Whatever. You know what I mean." Another pause passed between them. But then, Soul glanced at Cross, "Although, I do have a question."

Cross raised an eyebrow while Soul continued, "That little dragon in your group, you and him used to be your own team before you joined Team Equitum, right?"

Cross nodded, "Yeah, Cloud and I were our own team. We used to travel across Equestria to search for boss battles, but Team Equitum fought just as hard as we did, so we didn't mind joining them when Shadow asked us to."

Soul nodded, "Right, but my question is, how come both you and Cloud wear sunglasses all of the time?"

Cross paused for a moment, thinking to himself. But soon, he shrugged as he replied, "Because they look cool."

Soul raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't get to say anything. Because right then, out of nowhere, a long green vine suddenly lashed out between Soul and Cross, crashing into the wall behind them in an explosion of stone and dust. Startled, the two of them looked to see that the vine had grown out of the wall in front of them, and several others had grown out of the same wall and they were preparing to lash out at the two players like before.

Suddenly, another vine lashed out at Soul. The unicorn quickly brought up his swords and sliced the vine apart just before it hit him. Soul glanced at the walls around them to see that vines were growing everywhere around them. Another vine lashed out, and Soul quickly cut it to pieces. He turned to Cross, "RUN!"

Not needing to be told to do so, Cross began to gallop forward, avoiding the hundreds of vines as they stuck out in front of his path. Soul followed from behind, hacking off the vines that came too close to either of them.

Lexus, Neon, and Cloud all traveled through the maze, weapons at the ready. Lexus and Cloud walked on foot, seeing as they still couldn't use their wings, yet.

But then, a sudden rumbling began to shake the entire corridor, knocking everyone off balance. Small bits of rock and dirt began to fall from the walls and ceiling. Lexus cringed as the shaking continued, "Are there earthquakes in this game?"

Neon shook her head as she tried to regain her balance, "I don't think so. It must be something else."

Suddenly, the shaking stopped and out of the ceiling three, armored diamond dogs dropped down around them, claws outstretched as they prepared to attack. Cloud narrowed his eyes as he readied a bomb, "I guess we know what that quake was."

Without a moment of hesitation, Cloud hurled his bomb at the first diamond dog. The projectile exploded, the force of the bomb sending the burrowing canine back from the group. The other two leaped at Lexus and Neon, who both held their spears ready.

Lexus stabbed one of the dogs in the chest. The diamond dog let a howl of pain, and at the same time, Lexus quickly pulled out his spear from his opponent's chest. And then, whirling about, Lexus then quickly kicked the diamond dog with his rear legs, sending the dog staggering back.

Neon stabbed the point of her spear into her diamond dog. While the dog was momentarily distracted, her horn came alight with neon green flames. The flames extended into a flaming whip, which Neon then lashed out at the diamond dog with her horn. The flames cracked through the air as they collided with the diamond dog, sending it flying back against its two companions.

The three dogs laid in a crumpled heap, struggling to get up quickly. But Neon quickly flared her horn and a geyser of green flames erupted out of the ground below them. The diamond dogs howled in pain as they were burned by the flames, but their howling came to an end as their health bars dropped to zero, and they disappeared in a burst of blue code.

Lexus, Neon, and Cloud all grinned at their success. But their success was short lived, as a green vine suddenly lashed out from behind and wrapped itself around Neon's rear leg. Neon let out a startled yelp as the vine's thorns stabbed into her leg. And then, just as quickly as it came, the vine retracted, carrying Neon through the air with it.

Neon screamed as she flew through the air, almost losing her grip on her spear as the vine carried her through the corridor, "HELP!"

Instantly, Cloud and Lexus ran after their comrade who was being carried away, "NEON!"

Sky and Dylan galloped through the corridors at breakneck speed, weapons drawn for battle.

Dylan huffed as he sprinted, "What the heck was that shaking?!"

Sky kept a wary eye out in front of them as he navigated them both through the maze, "I don't know. It could have been an earthquake, which means this place could cave in... Or it was either some monster, which means it could be coming after us."

Suddenly, a shriek pierced through the air, echoeing through the halls of the maze, "HELP!" Both Sky and Dylan stopped dead in their tracks from the scream.

Dylan's eyes instantly went wide as he recognized the voice, "That was Neon! Let's go!"

But before they could move, the corridor around them began to shake violently, harder than it had before. The force of the shaking knocked both Dylan and Sky off balance, and they both struggled to find their footing.

Sky cringed as the shaking continued, "What the heck is this?!" But then, the shaking stopped as gigantic boulder of pure iron crashed down through the ceiling and into the corridor. The iron boulder, or rather sphere, landed with a deafening crash that sent Sky and Dylan staggering back from the shockwave of the impact.

Sky glanced quickly at the iron sphere to see that it took up most of the space of the hallway. There was no way anything could get around it. But then, the outside of the iron boulder rolled back shifting the shape of the sphere into one of a giant creature. Sky and Dylan gasped as they found themselves looking at a giant, iron plated, black armadillo.

Dylan's eyes widened at the sight of the creature, "Holy crap! That thing is huge!" He was suddenly cut off as the aramdillo let loose a deafening roar. Sky and Dylan both clapsed their ears with their hooves to prevent from going deaf as the wave of sound echoed through the halls of the maze.

Once the armadillo's roar had come to a halt, Sky quickly grabbed Dylan's front leg, "Run!"

Dylan nodded, and once again, the duo of brothers were sprinting down the corridors. But not far behind them, the armadillo was intent on finishing its targets, and it suddenly rolled back into its spherical form. Instantly, it began to roll through the maze with horrifying speed after Sky and Dylan.

I sprinted through the maze, Violet running right behind me. I breathed hard as I glanced at Violet, "Are you sure that was Neon's scream?"

Violet nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure. But if that was Neon screaming, then that means that she's seriously in trouble."

I nodded, "Right." We both ran forward, but then the corridor we were in ended and turned off to the left. I quickly turned the corner, but I suddenly had to stop myself at the sight that I saw. I quickly barred the way before Violet could run past me.

Having been suddenly stopped, Violet looked at me with a confused expression. But then I pointed out the path in front of us with a hoof. Violet's eyes widened as he saw that we had almost run into a pit of lava.

The lava pit extended out for about fifty feet, far too long for anypony to jump. The pit was shaped to match the walls of the corridor, making it impossible to go around it.

Violet glanced at me and then back to the lava, "What do we do now?"

I grimaced, "I'm not sure. I'll think of something." I paused as I continued to observe the lava pit in front of us. In my mind, I sighed, Lava, of course there's lava. Why does every game have to have lava in it?

But then, Violet cut off my train of thought, "Hey, look up there." He pointed a hoof towards the ceiling. I looked up to see several steel platforms high above the lava pit, suspended by metal chains on all four corners.

I nodded, "That could work... But how do we get them down?"

Violet paused until his eyes caught something on the other side of the pit. I followed his gaze to see a wooden lever hanging on the wall on the other side of the pit. Violet nodded, "That lever should be able to lower those platforms. If we can pull that lever, then we can cross." Violet glanced warily at the lever, "Although, how are we going to do that?"

I paused for a moment, but then, an idea struck my mind, "Oh, I got it." I quickly slung my sword and shield back onto my back. I took position directly in the middle of the corridor and faced towards the lava pit. I glanced back at Violet, "Hey, you might want to step back, unless you want to get burned by flying lava."

Violet quickly stepped back, "What are you doing?"

I grinned, "Magic, of course." I concentrated on my magic, activating my Blaze ability in the process. My horn glowed with its familiar red aura, but as I concentrated on the spell, the aura descended until it completely surrounded the rest of my body. With the spell ready, I reared back onto my hind legs and then charged into the pit of lava.

Right as I placed my hoof onto the surface of the lava, the lava instantly solidified into hard, volcanic rock. I continued to gallop across the lava, my spell both protecting me from the intense heat and from falling into the lava as I ran on it. With each step I took, a new patch of rock formed just below my hooves, but whenever I stepped off of one, the intense heat would instantly melt it back into lava.

Soon, I reached the end of the lava pit and stepped back onto solid ground. Gasping for breath and sweating excessively from the heat, I ended my hold on my spell and turned back to Violet on the other side of the pit.

Violet's face was spread out in a wide grin, "Dude, that was awesome! How did you know that would work?"

I shrugged as I pulled the lever on my side, "I didn't."

Violet's expression turned into one of shock, "Wow, you are crazy." Just then, the platforms lowered themselves down, coming to a halt just above the lava pit.

I grinned at Violet, "Element of Courage, remember?" I glanced at the hanging platforms, "Now hurry up and come across. The sooner we reach everybody else, the better."

Violet nodded and leaped onto the hanging platforms. As the unicorn hopped between each platform, the chains holding them above the lava would creak slightly, as if they were threatening to break free of their supports. I watched as Violet neared the end of the lava pit, patiently waiting for him to reach me. But then i noticed something suddenly jump out of the lava behind Violet.

My eyes widened to see that it was a giant skull, almost as large as me, completely covered in orange flames. Its eye sockets were filled with red lights, making the monster's appearance even more intimidating. And I also noticed where ears would usually be on a skull, the monster had a pair of white bat wings to keep it aloft in the air.

But then, as quickly as it had appeared, the skull flew through the air, straight towards the unaware Violet Runner.

I quickly shouted out to Violet, "Behind you! On your left side!" Violet's eyes widened as he quickly jumped to the edge of his platform. The skull barely missed him, flying harmlessly back into the lava pit. Suddenly, right as the first skull flew back into the lava pit, two more similar skulls flew out of the same pit heading straight for Violet.

I shouted as I drew my weapons, "Violet! Get off of there!"

Violet quickly picked up his hammer and faced the first of the two skulls. As soon as the skull came near him, Violet swung his hammer with his magic, striking the monster off to the side. But as the second skull came close, Violet quickly turned around and began to gallop across the platforms, heading towards my direction.

With one of the skulls right on Violet's heels, I glanced over to see the other two skulls come out of the lava and fly towards us. Finally, Violet stepped off of the platforms and back onto solid ground, right beside me with the flying skull in tow. I was ready, because right at the moment the skull came close, I swung my sword at the monster, cutting deep through its jaw. The monster staggered back from the blow, only to be rejoined by the other two skulls.

Violet glanced towards me, "Hey, once I fire this spell off, start running in the opposite direction." that his horn was glowing with a light blue aura.

I nodded, "Right."

Immediately, Violet's horn began to crackle with small sparks of blue electricity. A small scent of Ozone surrounded the unicorn as the sparks began to grow bigger. And then, Violet cast the spell, firing a stream of blue lightning at the three approaching skulls. The lightning exploded against the three monsters, making a small cloud of smoke.

Instantly, Violet and I turned around and galloped the heck out of there.

Sky and Dylan raced for their lives as the giant, iron, wrecking-ball of an armadillo tried to run them down. They were both getting winded from the long run. And with the fear of taking a wrong turn in the maze and ending up in a dead end, they were both on the verge of panicking.

Dylan glanced towards Sky, "What are we supposed to do about this thing?"

Sky grimaced, "From what I can tell, we won't be able to lose it in here. We could turn around and fight, but we'd either be crushed from being run over or we wouldn't be able to get through that thick shell of iron. We could possibly defeat it if we found some way to get that armadillo out of its shell, but I can't think of any way to do that." Sky glanced back at the pursuing armadillo, "Crap! It's gaining on us!"

But then, Dylan looked ahead at the path to see, not more than fifty feet ahead of them, there was a drop-off that resulted as a giant cliff. The drop-off extende for about ten feet, but then the path continued through the corridor after that. But then, Dylan noticed an outlet in their corridor, just before the cliff. Suddenly, the young earth pony got an idea.

Dylan glanced over to his brother, "Sky, turn down through that outlet." He nodded over to the outlet in front of the cliff, "I'm going to take care of this armadillo, and I don't want you in the way when I do."

Sky's eyes narrowed towards his little brother, "What-... No, you aren't taking on this monster alone."

Dylan narrowed his eyes pleadingly at Sky, "Please, trust me on this one."

Sky paused for a moment. Behind him, he could hear the armadillo nearing them, inch by inch. But then, Sky sighed, "All right, fine. But you better not get hurt. I don't want to lose you again; not after I just found you in this game."

Dylan nodded and readied his staff, eyes concentrating on the cliff before him. Next to him, Sky turned off of the path and into the outlet. Just then, the armadillo passed by him, still intent on pursuing Dylan. Dylan took a few deep breaths as he came within a few feet of the cliff, "Here goes nothing."

Instantly, Dylan planted the tip of his staff onto the ground just before the cliff. Using the natural strength of an earth pony, Dylan push down against the top of his staff and vaulted himself over the cliff. Right as he vaulted himself over the edge, Dylan shouted at the top of his lungs, "LEROOOOYYY JENKINS!"

Sky watched in both amazement and amusement as Dylan landed safely on the other side of the drop-off. The armadillo, on the other hand, wasn't as fortunate. Apparantly, armadillos aren't designed to jump over long distances, and the monster rolled off of the edge and plunged down into the dark pit below.

Sky quickly ran to the edge to meet with Dylan, a small smile across his face, "Nice one. I didn't think you could do that."

Dylan smirked at Sky, "Well, my player ability helps with that. My ability is called 'Iron Veins'. It gives me a bit more physical strength, as well as a larger amount of endurance."

Sky shook his head, "No, I'm not talking about that. I'm saying that I don't think you ever learned how to do that in your parkour classes back home. Actually, didn't you quit your parkour classes early?" The unicorn chuckled teasingly.

Dylan just rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Let's get going and find the others."

Lexus and Cloud ran as quickly as they could through the maze, chasing after the rogue vine carrying Neon.

Lexus shouted out to Neon, "Neon, you need to cut yourself loose!"

Neon cringed as she tried to speak, "I-I'm trying. But I c-can't move!"

Lexus glanced at Neon's health bar to see that it was slowly dropping in health. It was as if the vine was actually draining her of her health. But something caught Lexus' eye. It was a small, yellow symbol, shaped like a lightning bolt, right next to Neon's health bar.

Lexus cursed under his breath, "Paralysis. She can't move or use magic."

Cloud ran next to Lexus, sprinting as fast as his small legs could carry him, "How long does this vine last? It's got to end somewhere." Just then, his question was answered as the vine led the three players into a giant room, completely different than any place in the maze. All three players gasped at what they saw in the middle of the room.

It was a giant, venus fly trap. It was like an ordinary fly trap, except it had thousands of vines and thorns growing out of its base.

The vine carrying Neon pulled her through the air, stopping just above the gaping mouth of the venus fly trap. The vine dangled Neon slightly as it prepared to drop her.

Lexus' eyes widened at the sight, and quickly turned to Cloud, "Cloud!"

The dragon nodded as he pulled out two bombs, "All ready on it." Cloud quickly ran forward and threw both of the bombs into the mess of vines at the fly trap's base. The projectiles exploded in a wide radius, lighting several of the vines on fire.

The fly trap let out a piercing shriek as the explosions burned its vines. With several vines, the fly trap swatted Lexus and Cloud away. Both of them landed hard against the back wall of the room, grunting in pain as their health meters were decreased somewhat. Lexus quickly recovered from the hit to see Neon once again dangling above the open mouth of the fly trap. But then, the vine suddenly let go of Neon, dropping her down towards her death.

Lexus gasped, and without even thinking, as if it were pure instinct, his wings quickly propelled himself into the air. Flying straight as an arrow, Lexus flew through the jaw of the fly trap, grabbing Neon in mid air and pulling her to safety. Immediately after Lexus flew clear, the fly trap's mouth slammed shut, narrowly missing both players.

Neon stared with wide eyes at Lexus, still struggling to speak due to her paralysis, "Y-You're wings... You can use them here?"

Lexus smirked, "I guess so." He quickly lighted down next to Cloud, who had also caught on that he could use his wings as well. Lexus carefully put Neon on the ground and turned to Cloud, "Finish him off."

Cloud grinned through his sunglasses, "I've got the perfect thing in mind." Out of his inventory, the dragon pulled out a small, red stone, shaped to look like fire. Instantly, the dragon took off towards the mouth of the fly trap, leaving Lexus to remedy Neon's paralysis.

Once above the fly trap's open mouth, Cloud prepared to throw his fire-bomb, "Eat this!" Like a baseball pitcher, Cloud threw the fire-bomb down the fly trap's throat. Immediately, the bomb exploded in a firey inferno, catching the whole plant monster on fire. The fly trap shrieked in pain as its health bar dropped to zero, and then burst into bits of blue code.

Neon, now recovered from her paralysis, grinned as she watched the fly trap disappear into bits of code, "Ha, serves him right." She turned to Lexus, "Thanks for saving me." Immediately, she grabbed Lexus in a tight hug, saying nonchalantly, "Love ya."

Lexus was left silent for a moment as Neon let go of him. Neon smirked, "Well, let's go."

Lexus nodded, a bit unsure of how to react to Neon's hug, "Um... yeah, let's go."

Neon started back through the maze, but then Lexus noticed Cloud standing next to him. The little dragon had see the whole scene of Neon hugging Lexus, and now he held a small smirk on his face.

Lexus raised an eyebrow at the small dragon, "What?"

Cloud chuckled teasingly, "You like her, don't you?"

Lexus sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Come on, let's go... Before Neon gets abducted by another monster."

Neon called out from ahead, "I heard that!"

Cloud simply chuckled, and both he and Lexus galloped to catch up with Neon.

Cross and Soul barreled down through the maze, the vines were gaining in on them. As they ran, Soul slashed through the mess of underbrush, both vines and thorns, that barred their way. They were both tiring out, and they wouldn't last long if they couldn't get away.

Suddenly, they turned a corner, and Cross saw a way out of the vines. It was a large pair of double doors. It was made out of wood, but if they could both get through it, then they could stop the vines from coming after them.

Cross motioned Soul's gaze towards the door, "Hey, look. There's our way out. Let's go."

Instantly, the two of them made a bee line for the door. With the vines following close behind them, Soul and Cross pulled open the two doors. Once they ran through the opening, they both closed the doors as fast as they could.

Just in the nick of time, the doors slammed shut in front of the on coming wave of vines. The vines slammed constantly against the door, but it held shut, protecting Cross and Soul inside.

Cross and Soul let out a sigh of relief as they sunk down to the ground from exhaustion. Soul groaned, "Ah, man. Vines and plants. Of all of the monsters that we had to run into, why did they have to be vines and plants?"

Cross sighed, "I don't know. But at least, it could have been worse."

Soul nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm just glad that we found this door. We're lucky that we ran into it."

Soul paused as he looked at the door that protected them from the vines outside. Now that he looked at it, he noticed that the door was intricately designed with wood carvings. Soul couldn't put a hoof on it, but these doors seemed familiar. But then, his eyes widened as he recognized them.

"Uh, oh. Things just got a whole lot worse."

Cross glanced at Soul, "What is it?"

"I've seen these doors before. In an entirely different place, but these are the same doors. These are the same doors that I passed through when my team retrieved the elements of Spirit and Loyalty."

Cross' eyes widened in realization, "Wait, you don't mean..."

Soul bit his lip as he nodded, "Yes... We're in the next boss room."