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Everything is dark. There's a terrible pain in your head. Then, you wake up, and you're in a place you didn't think you'd ever be: the edge of a labyrinth. The room you are in is dimly lit, and as your eyes adjust, you realize that you're not alone. The first people to catch your eye are a teenage girl with a freckled face, a tall man with long black hair and intensive green eyes, and a tiny creature made of dark goo. But then you see the others...Suddenly, a voice speaks out of nowhere. It's a girl's voice, giggling and high-pitched. "Welcome, one and all, to the Labyrinth!"

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Mehul woke up with a start. Something... didn't feel right. It was too dark- and last he knew, he was in his bed in the apartment in New York. This was- too gloomy and cave like to be his room. The floor was rock underneath him. Yeah, it was definitely not his room. He noticed other people around him, and tensed right away. Was he kidnapped? Who were the others? Then he heard the noise..."What the hell? This is the labyrinth? You mean, the living maze underneath all of the Earth?" He asked to no one in particular.

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Vricollei woke sluggishly, sitting up at looking around. Had he been knocked unconscious? Last he could remember Aten had gotten himself in some big trouble and of course the whole crew had to help him out. Maybe he had taken a hit? This place didn't look very good for healing however, and he didn't feel any pains. He stood on his feet and finally noticed the others in the strange cave with him. The horned sentient cast a gaze to the others. All humans he noted -a result that did not shock him much, they were the most abundant and far traveled of species- but there was a bizarre goopy thing. A pet perhaps? The devaronian's eyes quickly flitted towards the freckled girl as a feminine spoke, but he couldn't quite confirm if it was her.

Then the dark haired human closest to him said some weird thing about the labyrinth. Vricollei scoffed, rolling his eyes. He may not be the brightest star in the galaxy but he knew that the voice had already told them they were in a labyrinth. Then there was Earth. He hadn't heard of that planet before but there were an increasing number of planets being discovered -though not as much as in the days of the Republic, and boy didn't the thought that old government make his heart ache. "Dank farrick!" The merlot devaronian cursed. "I don't have time for this, where is the exit. I want off this crikking planet. I got things to do and money to make."

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He glared at the... humanoid figure who just spoke. Was he a monster? An alien? Whatever, he guessed, he seemed as confused and trapped as he himself was. "If this place is what the voice said to be, it's not gonna be any quick. God knows how to escape from the labyrinth. Its a living maze. It can think and change it's tunnels to trap someone within forever- but if this is just a normal maze named after it, we could be a bit more lucky."

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The voice, which now sounded more like a woman, though it remained high pitched and giggling, said, "This is my Labyrinth, silly! It's not moving, I move it!" She paused, then said with a laugh, "Silly, the only exit is on the other side of the labryinth! Or, being dead. That's one two."

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Gin woke up from under a piece of cloth."Where am I?"Gin thought.He looked around and noticed that the others had no clue he was there under a thick black blanket.Then Gin remembered,This wasn't a blanket,well it was but it was built by him to assist him in any situation he found himself in.A quick look over and he confirmed the camera foil(makes him look like his surroundings) setting was on.Then he heard the voice.Labryinth as in the moving maze under the earth Gin summarized.That he was ment to try to go through it and survive.He new that wouldn't be easy based off the scriptures.

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Vricollei scowled at the answer he recieved, pulsing his fists once, then twice. Who even made mazes anymore? It seemed like such an old pastime, one requiring more brainpower than the devaronian would ever even dream of using. The horned sentient had always been more of a shoot first, think later kind of guy. This labyrinth was certainly not going to work out in his favor. Couldn't he just fight something instead, or maybe anything else not requiring him to use logic? That was more of Vex's thing. "How do you move this labyrinth thingy. No offense but I doubt you can just take it apart and rearrange it with your bare hands." Vricollei questioned, though his voice was interlaced with annoyance.

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"Normally I would say that's none of your beeswax," the voice said, an icy edge growing, but it quickly returned to the same simpering sweetness, "But I'll make an exception this time. It's all magic! You probably don't know much about that, but I'm sure your new friends can teach you. Now, I suggest you start running."

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Everything hurt. Mahogany fought every instinct to bolt upwards and look around. Something didn't seem right and it was clear he was no longer in his comfortable bed in the giant tree he and his closest friends called home; he would gain more by remaining calm and moving slowly than by panicking. Thanks to his long exposure to Caly and her dictionary-like knowledge, the precise definition of "labyrinth" played in his head like a radio, complete with his best friend's voice; "a complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is difficult to find one's way; a maze." "Alternatively a complex structure in the inner ear..." he recalled her having added. Well, he guessed he likely wasn't laying on his back inside someone's inner ear alongside what sounded like multiple other people, so he was willing to go with that first definition.

Opening his eyes just a sliver, wide enough only to see the blurry outlines of something like five or six other people, he registered a female voice's message, and the situation became immediately more dire. While he tried to hope for the best, that perhaps he wasn't about to be thrown into what sounded like a death trap, Mahogany had never been a particularly optimistic person. If death was what was on the line here, he may as well risk becoming more alert.

Opening his eyes fully and sitting up, he glanced around at the others in the room with him. A mix of desperation and gratitude pricked at his chest. None of the other Protectors were there. He just hoped they were still safely back home. Would they wake up and find him missing? He didn't get the sense this was some twisted dream; it somehow felt like the type of haze brought by heatstroke and yet too vivid and stark to be anything other than reality. There didn't even seem to be much use in attempting to pinch himself at this point.

The longer Mahogany listened to whomever had been speaking, the more something seemed off about her. When she responded to the strange-looking person, if the horned purple thing could be called a person, a chill ran down Mahogany's spine. It took him a moment to process her words, but once he did, he quickly yet rather silently slipped into a standing position, back pressed against the wall. He wasn't sure whether to heed her words or not, but his instinct was to shepherd the other people there on ahead of him if he did do as she laughingly proposed. With the exception of her, a strangely silent man, and an odd black thing that almost looked like a Valoi of some sort, he got the sense that the others there were in the same position as he.

Fear bubbling in his chest, he determined two things. Firstly, he would run. He would help the others if he had to, but his first priority had to be to survive, to get home. Crescent had come back to him; it was his turn to come back to her. Secondly, he wouldn't reveal his abilities unless he absolutely had to, if he still had access them, that was. It hadn't taken long at all for enemies to develop ways to negate and nullify the Protectors' powers; these people may have similar technology. Even if he still could wield them, he knew it would likely be for the best to conceal them. He didn't get the sense these people meant him well.

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"And why's that?" the teenage girl with the curling hair shouted. Her eyes burned with something beyond anger. "Because one of my monster friends is coming to get you, that's why!" Bursting out of the shadows was a huge monster, covered in slimy green scales, with burning blue fire coming from its mouth.

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Beeswax, he'd have to add that to his vocabulary. He didn't quite understand the word, but it didn't matter too much to the devaronian. The rest of the girl's words seemed to register in Vricollei's mind. Was she calling him dull? He was just about to shout out a string of curses the devaronian called a typical sentence when the monster emerged. "Karrabast!" The horned sentient cursed, taking quick steps backwards. His gaze swept the room as he decided whether or not he should actually try and take the thing. He noticed another human had awoken, and cast a look at them as if to ask, 'Need help?'

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The man beside the teenager growled, "This isn't good." Something slid out of his sleeve, but the girl stopped him. "No, Vlad," she snapped. "Get the rest of them out of here." He hesitated and nodded. "Let her handle it!" he shouted, running off. The tiny black creature scrambled after him, squeaking. The teenage girl closed her eyes, breathing in as the monster ran torwads them. She opened them again, and this time, they were a dark red. Her hands lit up with fire, and she sent a huge orb of it spinning torwads the monster, which fell back, roaring.

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Gin took out some new prototype skates.When he tried to use them,Gin fell he screamed "Help".Gin tried to get up but a rock fell on his head knocking him out.Gin used one last invention before he got knocked out.He aimed it at the monster and a blast of ice flew out freezing the monster.

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Vricollei heard a cry for help, his eyes zeroing in on a small human on the ground. He blinked, as if trying to chase a phantom image out of his mind. There were several differences, obviously, but dang it. All he could see was the same hurt and confused kid from all those years back. The devaronian ran towards Gin, though he didn't know the kid's name. The merlot being easily picked the kid up in his arms darting for safety.

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Mehul's hand whipped towards his watch right as the monster thingy appeared, but looking at the others take care of it, he held back from the fighting, observing everyone carefully. When he saw Gin fall, he rushed to help him, but he saw the alien figure best him to it. He figured now was a good time to join the action, so he whipped out his bow, and waited for the perfect moment to shoot.

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The monster surged torwads the girl, the burns festering on its skin as it tried to grab her. The fire rushed back to her, reforming to block its attack. She pushed forward, and the strain on her was evident. One of the beast's claws struck out from the blocking, sending her flying. She landed hard with a roll, and looked up, seeing Mehul. "Get out of here!" she shouted. Scrambling to her feet, she drew back the fire once more, this time to strike right through it, blowing the monster apart. She seemed exhausted, and about to drop, but the girl said to Mehul, "Seriously, run, now. We don't know what else she'll send."

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Mehul chuckled at the girl's words, though it really wasn't the moment to. "I'm trained to kill monsters. They are the bane of my existence- and I'm theirs. I'm ready for whatever she sends over!" This was the moment when he realised he didn't have his quiver over with him- "Ah shit- well, I can only do much with a bow if I have no arrows- okay, I'ma pray to dad for some-"

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"I'd suggest you do your praying sometime else, because he's heading right for us!" She grunted, her legs unsteady. She lifted her hands, the red in her eyes flickering. "This time, I'm not asking. Because it's about to get really, really hot in here." She drew the fire in completley, and suddenly, flames began filling the room. She dropped to her knees.

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Mehul took a step backwards but didn't run. Heat didn't affect him much. He could withstand high temperatures mostly- partly due to his powers from his dad. "Uhh-ohh- HEY DAD! COULD I GET A QUIVER FULL OF BOWS PLEASE I COULD REALLY USE ONE RIGHT NOW!" He kinda shouted, just in desperation. It would be comedic to look at, him shouting to his dad for a quiver out of no where, but if Apollo was in a good mood, they would all get a good shocker.

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Mahogany's eyes widened in horror. What sort of Valoi did they have here? He couldn't even begin to imagine which classification this one would fall into. Perhaps Flame, as that was all he could think of as the fire roared forth from its maw. Fleeing into what he could only assume was a convoluted myriad of torturous and tortuous passageways didn't seem like the best idea, however, and despite his earlier decision, he was still reluctant.

Shaking himself, he noticed the peculiar alien-like creature's glance, then its dart towards a very young boy. Despite its odd looks, Mahogany determined he was willing to risk allying himself with him. He then noticed a black haired boy who looked about his own age; he couldn't help but think he looked somewhat like Tempest, and already the longing for home set in. Mahogany wasn't a particularly skilled fighter without his abilities, which he still wished to avoid utilizing. Lark and Reed, despite being 4 years his junior and not even Protectors, both were able to best him in combat training when he gave himself that handicap. Reconnaissance, stealth missions, and the occasional good-natured spying at the behests of the ever-mischievous Breeze and Tundra were his fortitude. He doubted he'd be much use in this environment unless he used them, but he wasn't willing to put that level of trust in these people yet.

However, Mahogany reckoned he was in agreement with the girl who had battled the monster. He hurried to where the group had collected, having mostly watched events without even moving or attempting to help, a wallflower habit he'd picked up due to just how often he did use his powers. He had a ton of questions regarding how she'd seemingly used the ability of a Scrablame, but those didn't quite seem logical to pursue in the moment. "Is this everyone here?" he asked, half not even expecting an answer as he glanced around the room, preparing for whatever struggles for life they all might face ahead. There seemed to be a relatively small number of people trapped alongside him; he guessed that was a good thing for those enigmatic someones who now didn't have to be there, but a smaller number of people meant they'd have a harder time in fights, and one of those people was a child who didn't even look to be 10 and was currently unconscious.

Even if anyone had intended to respond to him, that wouldn't have been able to occur due to the girl's rapid superheating of the room. He flinched away from the sweltering heat but didn't move away; despite his attempt to convince himself that he couldn't put anything between himself and getting home, he still wasn't able to deal with the notion of leaving others behind. Mahogany had had enough experience with Tye spontaneously bursting into flames to know not to attempt to touch the girl to help her up, though he wasn't sure if the abilities she was displaying worked the same as his friend's. However, as the heat continued to increase, he reckoned he would need to move soon. "Hey, let's go!" he called, raising his hand to his brow in an attempt to guard his face.

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