FicWad

Tory: Hey there! Sorry for not updating in a while. I've just sort of lost my spark for writing this story... I guess. It's kinda hard to explain. But now I've been re-inspired and am ready to jump back into this story. Thanks for being patient. Oh and Happy New Year to everyone! Well I'll shut up now and let you get on with the story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Just my stories.

Great big thanks go out to iheartyou07 for beta reading this! You undeniably rock Anolez!
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The last thing that Archie remembered after stepping into the portal was laughter. Loud, cruel laughter. Then his world slowly faded to black.

Archie awoke to water dripping onto his cheek. He rubbed his head as he sat up. Slowly he opened his eyes and found himself in a forest. The ground was damp so he figured that it must've been raining. He looked around some more before hauling himself off the ground.

" What is this place?" he asked aloud.

When he didn't get any sort of reply he wasn't surprised. After being on that last island he had sort of grown accustomed to not getting an answer and being alone.

" Jay? Atlanta? Theresa? Herry? Odie?... Neil? Anyone?" he called, hoping that one of his friends was nearby.

Much to his dismay, Archie received no answer. He just shrugged and began to walk. He figured that sooner or later he'd run into someone.

" Jay? Atlanta? Theresa? Herry? Odie? Neil? Is anyone out there?" Archie called again when he reached a small hill.

He went to take another step but slipped on the wet, muddy ground. This sent him sliding down the hill into more trees. He got up and brushed some dirt off of him.

" Perfect." he muttered sarcastically.

And to make matters worse he heard the low rumble of a wild animal's growl behind him. He turned just in time to see something lunge at him, razor sharp teeth and claws drawn.

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Herry was expecting to see the gods, goddesses and his friends when he exited the portal that Hermes had sent for him. But that isn't what he saw. What he saw was so.... unbelievable.

" What the...? Where am I?" he questioned aloud, knowing that no one was there to answer him.

He wasn't really sure how to describe it. All he knew was that everything was so... big. He knew that he definitely wasn't on 'Illusion Island' anymore.

He took a few hesitant steps, trying to decide what to make of this new island. He stopped when he saw the shadow of someone in the trees.

" Hello?" he called to the unknown figure.

The figure didn't reply. They just took off without any sign of acknowledgment towards Herry. Herry wanted answers so he took off after the mystery person.

He hadn't run too far when he met his first obstacle; a river. Though, it seemed more like a lake on this island. There was seemingly no way to cross it. There was no boats, no bridge and the current was much too strong for even him to swim across.

" Man this sucks!" he proclaimed aloud.

He slumped down to the ground and thought for a moment. But he was immediately snapped out of his thoughts when he heard laughter. His head shot up and he looked around. The laughter had faded away by then.

Herry just shrugged it off and went back to his thoughts. That's when he heard it again. This time it was louder. It seemed as though the laughter was coming from the island itself. It grew so loud that Herry had to cover his ears. Then he realized that the laughing had turned into a very loud and indistinguishable sound.

Herry stood up from his spot near the river bank and searched for the source of the ear splitting sound. Then things got a whole lot worse. The ground started to shake. And it wasn't just a little quake. It was huge.

Herry was thrown off balance and hit his head on a nearby rock. The last thing that he remembered was seeing very familiar feet walking towards him.

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Jay was expecting to be greeted by Theresa when he exited the portal, but that is definitely not what greeted him.

He found himself greeted by darkness. Not a comforting darkness either. This was the kind of darkness that crept up on you and consumed you, making you feel as though your world were coming to an end.

Jay jumped up off the freezing ground. He looked around and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark. When they did he saw a very small, very faint light ahead of him. He started to walk towards it.

Just as he neared the exit, just as he could feel the cool air of the outside rushing into his lungs, he was stopped. Held in place by some unseen force.

Jay shuddered as his body fell cold in the grip of the dark. Slowly he became numb. If not for the sound of a nearby tree cracking and falling, snapping him back to reality, he doubts that he would've made it out of there alive.

He ran out of the cave and into the welcoming open space of the wild. Only it wasn't as welcoming as he had thought or hoped for. The sky was dark grey and the clouds swirled in menacing circles above him. The ground and trees were dark and grey with lifelessness.

Jay shuddered again. This place gave him the creeps... big time. He couldn't wait to get home. 'Home.' he thought dreamily of the brownstone; it's warmth, its comfort. But these dreamy thoughts were cut short by the sound of a howling animal. It didn't sound as if it was in pain. It sounded as if it was angry and blood thirsty.

Jay's eyes darted around as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Closer and closer they came. His eyes then rested on the trees in front of him.

Seconds later a beast came charging out of them, and straight at him. Jay turned to run but it was too late. Much too late.

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Theresa found herself staring up at dark clouds brewing in the sky. She rubbed her shoulder as she painfully sat up.

" Uhhh," she moaned, " What happened?"

She looked around at her surroundings. Everything was so dark and creepy. It almost seemed as though it was night but Theresa had looked at her watch and it was only noon.

" What is this place?" she questioned, knowing that she wouldn't get an answer.

Much to her surprise, and soon to be regret, she did get an answer.

" This is where souls come to die." the harsh voice said painfully.

A shiver crawled down Theresa's spine as she stood up.

" W-who said that?" she asked not really wanting to find out.

But the voice seemed to have vanished. Theresa wondered if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, or if there really was a voice. Either way she wasn't sticking around there to find out.

She began to walk in a direction, which way she wasn't really sure. But anywhere was better then where she was. Theresa had walked only a few steps before she found herself atop a hill looking down at a graveyard. Well it wasn't really a yard but there were graves everywhere.

She shuddered and closed her eyes, trying to block out that horrible image. But it was no use. The image was now burned into her memory. She knew that it would haunt her for a very, very long time.

She opened her eyes and looked down on the graves once more. Then, unable to bear it any longer, she turned and ran. She didn't care where, just as long as it wasn't there.

Theresa had been blindly running for an hour when she came to a halt. She panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath, but it seemed as though each time she breathed out her throat would close. Soon she found herself not being able to breathe at all. Her hands flew to her throat as her lungs begged for air.

To her it felt as though someone's icy hands were clasped around her neck. Then, just as her vision began to blur, she thought she saw someone. Then everything turned black.

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Neil's excitement to finally go home was cut short by the sight he saw when he exited the portal. But like always he thought his luck would be enough to keep him going. This was one island where his luck couldn't help him no matter what.

He found himself on what seemed like a very inviting, very nice and peaceful beach. The white sand stretched on as far as the eye could see and the water was a pleasant greenish-blue. Neil sighed at this sight. It was just so... perfect.

He walked along the beach and let the warm wind blow through his hair. He stopped by a rock that was at the water's edge and let the ocean spray wash over him like a blanket.

" Now this is more like it!" he said happily as he relaxed in this newly found paradise.

Neil closed his eyes and laid back on the rock. He just let the sounds of the beach take him away. But all that was interrupted by the loud, and very unwelcoming, snapping of twigs and branches in the trees.

Neil sat up quickly and his eyes scanned the edge of the forest. He was expecting to see someone, something, anything come out into the open. But nothing did.

" Hello? Anyone there?" he called cautiously.

No answer. He just shrugged, closed his eyes and lay back down again. He was just about back to his relaxed state when he heard the twigs and branches snap again... only this time it was closer, much closer.

Neil sat up again and his eyes fell to the trees before him. He saw a shadow that was barely visible, but definitely there. He slid off the rock and took a step towards the trees.

" Hello?" he called, trying to make out who, or what, was out there.

Again he got no reply. The shadow seemed to shrink away with every step forward he took. He noticed this and stopped about five feet away from the trees.

" Hello?" he called again when the shadow came a little closer.

Neil soon regretted stopping there and calling to the shadow for it wasn't the shadow of a friendly creature. It was quite the opposite.

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Atlanta remembered everything going dark. That and the sound of a very familiar scream that she just couldn't put a name on. Her eyes fluttered open to a pale blue sky with scattered grey clouds. She rubbed the back of her head and stood up; bad idea. She fell back down and rested her head on her hands.

Her thoughts were screaming at her, and she had a headache that was pounding against her skull. Slowly, very slowly, she tried to get up again. This time she didn't fall back down but she had to grip her head because of the headache.

" This sucks." she muttered as the headache momentarily subsided.

She took this opportunity to look around. She saw... trees. Lots and lots of trees... tall, wet trees. She decided to start walking and hopefully meet up with one of her friends.

She saw a river in the not-to-far distance and ran over to it. The air was muggy and warm so she needed to cool down. After splashing some very refreshing water on to her face, Atlanta sat down by the water's edge. She looked around at her surroundings a little more and noticed that everything looked the same. No matter which direction she looked in, it all looked the same.

" Well, that'll make things fun." she said sarcastically.

The echo of a branch snapping made Atlanta stand up. It sounded pretty close. Atlanta decided that she had better go see if anyone needed help.

So she ran through the ankle deep water of the river and towards the source of the sound. She almost thought that she heard someone call for help.

She had made it to the top of a hill, which led to a cliff, and found no one. She got down onto her stomach and looked down the cliff side. Again, no one.

She stood up and scratched her head.

" I could have sworn..." she started.

Atlanta didn't get to finish her sentence because the ground had disappeared from beneath her. The cliff's edge had given way and she was falling.

She landed on the soggy ground beneath and the air was pushed from her lungs. She pushed herself painfully off the ground and sat up. When she did this she rustled the reddish-pink flowers and sent some pollen flying into the air. She sneezed when she breathed in this pollen.

Atlanta felt her eyes grow heavy and her mind grow fuzzy. Soon she slid in unconsciousness.

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Before Archie even had a chance to react he was pinned to the ground by the creature, its teeth threatening to sink themselves into him, its claws digging into his arms. He flipped the creature off him and scrambled to his feet. He turned to face the creature.

The creature shook its head and glared at Archie, its eyes boring holes into him. It seemed to grin at Archie, standing there ready to take on whatever it would throw at him.

The creature lunged at him again. But Archie dodged out of the way and took off, leaving the creature to pull its head out from between two trees.

He ran as fast and hard as he could. Whatever that creature was, he didn't want to have to find out. He slowed down and stopped at a small cluster of trees to catch his breath. He heard the bounding footsteps of the creature nearing him and he broke into another run. But the creature was a much faster runner and caught up to him in no time.

Archie looked back briefly to see how far behind him the creature was... not too far. He turned around just in time to have to skid to a stop at a cliff on top of a hill. He turned to face the creature once more. The creature appeared to be grinning at him again, it's piercing eyes studying Archie.

Archie was pushed back against the edge by the creature's advancement. He took a second to see how far down the fall would be. That was what the creature was waiting for. It dove at Archie and sunk it's long, sharp fangs into his right shoulder. Archie pushed the creature back and stumbled over the side of the cliff.

He grabbed onto a branch with his left hand and held on. He looked at his right shoulder and saw two holes that were bleeding badly. Not to mention the searing pain that shot through his body. He felt his fingers slipping off the branch but that was the least of his worries. The branch was starting to break.

Before Archie had time to grab onto anything else the branch broke and he let out a short cry as he fell to the soggy ground below.

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Odie had walked through the portal and found himself on a nice beach, not with Jay and the others. It seemed nice enough, but he had learned that looks can be very deceiving.

He walked along the sandy beach and came to a clump of trees. He decided to go and look for his friends, seeing as how they weren't on the beach. Well... not as far as Odie could tell.

He slowly made his way through the thick underbrush of the forest and came to a clearing. There was a river that ran through the middle so he decided to stop for a few minutes. He found a nice, shady patch of lush grass and sat down there. It was actually rather relaxing.

That's when he heard it; the oh-so-familiar laugh of a certain twisted, demonic god. Odie jumped to his feet and looked around, but Cronus was no where in sight.

He thought that he was just hearing things so he splashed some water from the river on his face and rubbed his eyes. Then he opened them and saw the reflection of Cronus in the water. He jumped up and glared at the god.

" What do you want Cronus?" Odie asked.

" Now, now Odie. Can't I just drop in and say hi?" Cronus asked with a fake smile.

" No. Now what do you want?" Odie replied coldly.

Cronus' fake smile fell back into the scowl that normally was on his face. He stared down at Odie with a glare that could kill. But then a sly grin spread across his face. He summoned a scythe and glanced at it thoughtfully. Then he drove it into the ground and opened up a cavern.

Odie, not having time to get out of the way, fell into the cavern and then Cronus closed the ground up, sealing Odie underground.

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Jay felt as though he was being crushed underneath the beast. Pain shot through his body as he felt claws dig into his back and drag along his skin. He desperately tried to gain the advantage and get the beast off of him but it was no use.

Just as things seemed hopeless... they got much worse. Jay felt the beast sink its teeth into his right shoulder. He cried out in pain as the dagger like teeth sliced through his skin. Then the beast pulled it's fangs out of Jay's shoulder and left. Just like that, as if it had done its job.

Jay was left there, bleeding and in pain. He struggled to push himself off the ground but it was no use. He felt his end coming closer. He knew that there was no hope. He lost in the game called life.

" No. I won't give up. I can't..." he said as he felt a renewed strength growing in him.

He slowly pushed himself off the ground and just barely managed to keep his balance. Then he headed into the trees, in the opposite direction that the beast went. He didn't want another run in with it.

He stumbled over some roots that were sticking up out of the ground and fell into a tree. He stood back up and began to walk again. He saw a clearing up ahead and someone lying in the middle of it.

As he got closer he recognized the person in the clearing. ' Theresa.' he thought as he started to run towards her.

He reached the clearing in minutes but collapsed about ten feet away from Theresa's body. Jay lifted his head and looked at her. He started to pull himself towards her. It didn't matter how much pain he was in right then, all that mattered to him was getting to her.

He finally reached her body and noticed how pale she looked. But before he could do anything he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. But before he did he took Theresa's hand into his own and held on. He wasn't going to let go of her no matter what.

Then he fell unconscious. This truly was where souls went to die.

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Neil had only seconds to get out of the way when the creature lunged out of the shadows of the trees. And he barely made it out of the way. The creature's claws had cut Neil's left arm when he dove out of the way.

He got up and faced the creature. It was much bigger than he was. He looked up into the creature's eyes and fear washed over him. Slowly he began to back away. But this creature was too smart for that.

It went down onto all fours and let out an earth shattering roar. Neil's hands flew to his ears as he tried to block out the sound. The creature took a step towards Neil and then another. With each step one of them took the other copied, keeping the gap between them the same distance.

Soon Neil found himself stuck between a rock and a monster. Never the best place to be. He desperately looked for a way, any way, to get out of it. But it seemed as though his luck had run out. The creature lunged at him again and Neil, once again, just made it out of the way. He started to run away from the creature and that was a huge mistake.

The creature bounded after him and it didn't take much for it to catch up to him. Soon Neil found himself pinned to the ground by the creature with its teeth and claws sinking into him. He cried out in pain as the creature pushed him like a rag doll. Then after it appeared to be bored by Neil, it went away.

Neil was back on the beach with the tide coming in. The salty ocean water washed over his wounds causing him to yelp in pain. He slowly dragged himself to him feet and off the beach, into the trees. He found a nice high tree and climbed into it. Not the smartest idea but he didn't want to 'play' with that creature again.

Once he was sure he was safe, Neil began to relax. Which was pretty easy considering the peace and quiet that surrounded him at this moment. It wasn't too long before he had nodded off to sleep... another mistake on his part.
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What will happen to Jay, Archie and Neil? Will Odie escape from the depths of the earth? Is Theresa dead? What is Atlanta's fate? Read on to find out.

A/N: Wow. This has got to be my longest chapter ever! It's like 7 pages on my writing program. Hopefully it makes up for not updating in a while. Thanks again to iheartyou07 for beta reading this. You undoubtedly rock Anolez! This is one of the more cruel chapters that'll be in this story. There are a few others that will come later. I really enjoyed writing this one though, not because I got to be mean to the characters, but because there was just so much that I could write about it. Well I hope that you liked it. Send a review my way and let me know your thoughts. I'll try to update soon. Until then, Cheers!:D