"We have to get him out of here." Natsuki knelt down to look at Benzo, who was groaning in pain.

Taki stared at the barrier that the minotaur had thrown up between them, cutting them off from the way they had entered the room. There was no guarantee there was a way out.

"Can you move?" Sakura was examining the leg. "It looks like your leg is broken, but it's still here at least," she said brightly.

"Oh good. Great. Wonderful." Benzo groaned. "I think I can move if I have some help."

Taki removed his backpack and dug through. "First Aid kit - we can make a splint." It was apparent that the break was bad, but there was no bone protruding from the leg. "It's not a compound fracture. That's good." He quickly secured the splint and wrapped the leg. Sakura snagged a thermos and some painkillers from the kit and fed them to the downed adventurer, allowing him to drink deeply.

"Okay, we're going to help you stand. Just don't put any pressure on that leg." Taki and Natsuki supported him under his shoulders and lifted.

Sakura handed him his quarterstaff. "Will this help you walk?" He tried to take a step with his good leg and support with the staff, but it just didn't work.

"That's okay, I can help." Taki slung an arm under Benzo's arm and around his back. "Let's move."

Now that the Minotaur had closed off the way they had come, the team had no choice but to move forward into the unknown. The way was more winding and labyrinthine, as if punishing them now that one of their members was injured. Progress through the tunnels was greatly slowed as Taki and Benzo limped along.

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Occasionally they encountered lone enemies, but Sakura and Natsuki easily picked those stragglers off with a quick arrow or a well-aimed slash. Flanked by his teammates

The had reached a point marked as a tunnel up to the next level when suddenly Sakura gasped. Twenty red dots, converging on their area.

"Oh shit." Natsuki drew her sword.

"This is not good," Sakura exclaimed, her eyes fixed on the map.

"Great. It's a party," Benzo chuckled. Taki couldn't tell if he was loopy from the painkillers or just in so much pain he didn't care.

Within seconds, the ambush was upon them. Sub-creatures from the surrounding chambers flooded in. Sakura frantically shot as many arrows as she physically could, downing several monsters before they got too close and she could no longer aim without endangering herself. Taki set Benzo down against the wall and stood back-to-back with her, attempting to stave off the attack and protect Benzo, who was in no shape to fight. Natsuki swept back and forth down the tunnel, slashing and striking down the creatures as they came.

Despite the numbers, they were doing pretty well. This was not to last. An unusual looking monster, with spindly legs and a bulbous abdomen belched and then spat something at them from across the room. Taki panicked - was this some kind of acid or something?

The reality wasn't much better. As they tried to fling the stuff off of them, still defending against the onslaught, they felt the sticky fluid begin to harden. Within seconds, the group was prone on the ground, surrounded by alien assailants. Benzo swung his quarterstaff weakly from a sitting position, staving off one of the menacing creatures.

Immobile, the others could only struggle as the monsters closed in.

Taki felt the hot breath of his assailant, its jaws snapping in his face. Before the inevitable bite, the creature's expression froze - a parody of laughter - and a shower of blood sprayed directly into his face. In his periphery, he could see multiple glinting objects flying through the air, hitting the looming enemies with sickeningly precise squelches.

After all of the creatures around them had been felled, Taki felt himself being freed, though he wasn't sure how. When he was able to sit up and look around, he gave an audible groan. "Not you."

Daisuke smirked down at him. "Sup loser." He offered Taki a hand.