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The Cave was not terribly impressionable; the light from the crystals illuminated the area just enough for them to see a single pathway. The rocks on the ground seemed unnaturally smooth, unmarred by passage. It was easy to lose your footing if you weren't careful.

There was no sign of the crystal Metallia had requested, but of course the task wouldn’t be so easy. There were some shiny rocks that reflected the glow of the crystals; it didn't help immensely in revealing the secrets of the Cave, but it was enough to give them an idea of what their environment was.

The rocky walls were strange; many seemed to have a strange, callous fungus growing over them, and beneath that there were many loose rocks and cracks.

The foundation left much to be desired, and great stalactites hovered precariously over their heads. The air in the cave was cool, and acrid, but not wholly unpleasant. The passageway itself was wide enough that four or five agents could have comfortably fit through at one time, but even the slightest bit of jostling meant that they might wind up nudging a rock loose.

Walking might take a while, but if you take it slow and are careful, so far this path doesn't seem so dangerous.

Hopefully someone doesn't jinx it.

Sometimes, out of the corner of your eye and in the distance, much further down the path, you might see something glisten—but only for a second and then it disappears. It's unclear if you're alone down here or not, but it's certainly spooky enough to be a little unnerving.

Thankfully, it is almost impossible to get lost; while there are small pathways, they all seem to lead to dead ends promptly, so it is fairly easy to determine where you should be heading.

The Heart of the Cave is only a short walk away, and it's almost guaranteed that the crystal you're seeking will be there.

You just have to hope there's no trouble getting there—or out.

Makemake - Corrupt Senshi

However she obtained one of the glowing crystals was unimportant, what mattered was when she got one, she followed the others into the cave. There was wide-eyed wonder, and the spookier things got, the more excited the corrupt senshi became. She did love spooky things. And she may have been a bit distracted by this, as the chatter of the others was just a comforting rumble. She was far more caught up in her awe musings.

General Aurostibite


Bloodstone had been the first to descend into the cave, followed by Reinerite and the others. Both lieutenants were given an approving nod as Aurostibite accepted some of the offered crystals himself, tucking a few into his pocket and holding one in a gloved hand to help light the way.

"It would be wise to tread carefully," he said as he descended. Blue eyes flickered momentarily to Obsidian; he was lurking beside Hydra, saying something to her that Aurostibite could not hear. A part of him was slightly wary of the general; but he could not - and did not want to - control all of the actions of his recruits. There was little point in even attempting; learning did not come by constantly being told what to do and how to do it, after all, and Hydra was smart, even if she was young.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Domeykite, walking alongside an unfamiliar agent. It had been quite some time since his and Xenotime's less-than-successful attempts at bringing the young man back to the Negaverse, but he hadn't forgotten him. He gave him a brief look now, turning away to follow after his agents.

It was a straightforward path. Aurostibite let his gaze roam across the walls, ducking to avoid being hit by a stalactite.

"We are not," he said, with a dark eyed, pointed look at Kainite, "going to sing. That would be foolhardy; we don't know what's down here, and alerting anything to our presence more than necessary would be reckless, not to mention useless."

He had yet to summon Behellagh or even his blades - in such a confined space, it could be difficult - but Aurostibite remained cautious nonetheless.

To all of them he said, "Keep your eyes open for anything that could look useful, or any possible creatures or obstacles; none of us know what's down here, after all."

Lt. Raite

When they arrived at the dark cave, Captain Raite was already wondering if he made the wrong choice. He didn't have a particular like for dark caves.. rarely, did wholesome things dwell in dark caves. Giant spiders, scorpions.. were one of the few things that came to mind. Though with the negaverse, it could be anything close to a T-Rex. Or worse. Similar to Lt. Angelite, the captain did not entertain any illusions of an easy task. Lt. Raite followed the crowd easily, keeping sight of those he knew in the crowd. Picking up one of the glowing crystals, he tossed it easily, testing the light as it came closer to the stalactites and the fungus. A watchful eye was kept on the foundations of the cave.. looking unconcerned for now, but even for the strongest of their ranks -- a cave-in would be very troublesome.

He overheard Lt. Kainite's silly words, but didn't answer. When he was younger, he would have rolled his eyes. But as he had grown older, a little bit of levity didn't hurt the situation.. as long as he wasn't involved.

Lieutenant Domeykite

A small, lopsided smile pulled Domeykite's lips up slightly as the older man spoke.

"Probably not," he agreed.

His bright eyes narrowed as they were easily swallowed up within the tunnel with darkness closing in around them save for the dull glow of the crystals in their hand. The long skinny fingers of his left hand curled tightly around the prism almost defensively, clinging to the cool wash of light it provided. He was glad to have been lingering behind the chattering group, content with the silence in his companion.

But ahead.. was there something?

With a wary glance overhead to judge the distance of the hanging spikes, he pushed himself up slowly onto the tips of his toes, giving him just enough space to see over most of the crowd ahead. Even still, he couldn't quite seem to see anything at all and, worse - tripped over the jutting edge of a rock beneath him while he was distracted. He tipped forward on unsure feet but caught himself before he fell, cursing under his breath.

As he straightened back up and tossed a nervous look in Aluminite's direction, he could hear his blood pounding in his ears.

Okay. Pay attention.

His breath released in a sigh and he continued forward.

Lieutenant Paracelsian

Paracelsian had been quiet for most of the trek so far, partly out of being a bit wary of what speaking here might do and partly out of reflecting on what he had been tasked with. True, he hadn't specifically been tasked with finding the crystal, but Metallia herself had deigned to speak with every Negaverse agent present, and that included him. Even if he was a lowly Lieutenant armed with nothing more than a tube of toothpaste, he was still a part of this mission, and so he carried himself carefully. Nonetheless, every once in a while he would check the map on his communicator to see if there was somehow information on the inside of the cave. There wasn't, really. He sighed and mumbled to no one in particular, "Would anyone like to take a guess as to how far we are from the crystal?" It was a meaningless statement; any guess could easily be right or wrong. Surely they'd find out soon, though.

The deeper they traveled, the more dangerous and unstable the cave seemed to get. Some of the rocks looked more like they had fallen rather than settled naturally; it would not be surprising to hear that at one point in time the Cave had been above ground, but now it had settled into an unstable cavern.

Sometimes, strange whispers echoed. Sometimes the shadows seemed to move. Sometimes it felt like there was a pulse in the Chaotic energy in the area.

But the group never met anyone else on their way to the crystals.

Eventually, the Cave began to produce its own glow, and it seemed like the naturally forming crystals began to point them in the right direction. The glow was soft at first—a few specks on the wall, glowing green or orange or pink. The deeper into the cave, the larger the crystals seemed to grow.

But there was nothing unique about them. Nothing amazing.

So they had to travel deeper—and they did. They walked, right what seemed to be a dead end. Their maps indicated that there should have been a path to the right, but it seemed to have caved in.

The good news was, it seemed like only a few large boulders blocking the path—and if you peer through the cracks between them, you can see something bright, and feel something powerful, just beyond this barrier.

You're almost where you need to be—what are you going to do to get there?

Moving the rocks, slowly, and carefully, seems like the best idea—but some of them are large and will require teamwork—and it's undoubtedly going to put you in danger if you make too large of a hole.

Lieutenant Angelite

The setting was turning into what she could only assume would have been a scene from The Descent, had she even bothered to watch such a horror film in the first place. Maybe that was her mistake; maybe she should have focused on thrillers, fantasies and science fiction instead of devouring romance novels in her free time. Surely one of them could have explained the shadows darting in the corner of her vision or the whispers that occasionally teased in the distance, daring to allow her to wonder if they were truly there in the first place.

Knowing Chaos - or rather not knowing it terribly well - she could only cautiously presume the whispers and shadows were real, an unnerving thought.

The glowing crystals were simple, but beautiful in any another atmosphere than their current predicament. Something to find in a Disney World ride, not deep into the unknown bowels of Chaos itself. Sadly, there wasn't enough time to study them, not when their path apparently took them straight into a pile of rocks.

A young blue haired Lieutenant seemed intent on trying to move one of the larger boulders. She had gumption, for certain - perhaps her idea had substance? There really didn't seem to be any other route to get to their mapped path, it seemed.

"If you two are finished, I think our blue companion over there could use some assistance." Her comment was directed towards Hydra and Obsidian but her gaze and steps were headed for the heavy rock the girl was attempting to move. "If you're not above manual labor, of course."

Her gloves gripped one of the many edges of the boulder and she tossed the younger Lieutenant a smile, cheerfully responding to her request for a hand. "How about two?"