Meanwhile, Amy, Tommy, Riku, and Larry continued their search for the underground mines. Larry walked on two feet despite being tied up as the others followed him on the tracks. They soon came across a crooked tree with no leaves and a black bark on it. It seemed like they were on the right path this time. Now, if only they could find that gray cave, surely it had to be around here somewhere.

Just then, Tommy heard a roaring sound, almost like it was a cry for help. Thinking the noise sounded familiar, he and Riku rushed off to find the source. As Amy tried to warn them not to split up in a time like this, Larry mentioned how he found the caves. Amy glanced over as some other Miletis walked out with purple crystals in their hands.

No way, those guys are already coming out? She bit her lip, We better hurry and hide.

She rushed over (while dragging Larry with her) to try and catch up to where Tommy ran off to, only to find him standing beside Riku and some tar pit. “What do you think you’re doing?” She asked.

Tommy had a sturdy stick in his hand and lifted it over the edge of the tar pit.

“Saving Riley, that’s what!” He exclaimed. Amy and Larry looked over and noticed the pink Thescelotitan stuck in the tar pit, roaring in despair. “I knew I didn't hear things...” He murmured.

“Hang on; I’m going to—”

Without warning, the tar pit rose above and forcefully attached itself to the stick Tommy had grabbed. The tar yanked him up and above the hole. Tommy stood up on the small end of the stick as it slowly descended into the black asphalt. He noticed that the distance between him and the land was pretty big. He soon lost balance and fell into the pit, slowly descending into madness as he struggled to get out alongside Riley.

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“No, don’t! You'll only make it worse!” Amy warned him.

“What am I supposed to do!?” Tommy questioned, flailing his body around the tar.

“Just relax and calm down; it’ll all be over soon enough...”

“But...” Tommy muttered as he ended up getting crushed by the black goop.

Amy watched over and sighed. “Come on, let’s go, we got some scores to settle.”

“But wait, what about...?” Larry started.

“He’ll be fine; we just got to get there before he doesn’t end up fine anymore...”

.-.-.-.

Darkness, Tommy felt helpless, trapped inside, surrounded by nothing. Almost like there was no way to get out, as if he’d be stuck there forever. How did it come like this?

But before he knew it, Tommy could see a shred of light at the end of the path. He still struggled to move out, as he got stuck, entangled by some vines or webs as if he were merely an insect.

But wait, didn’t Amy say that struggling would make things worse? Would he get further stuck or stay just there? Tommy inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm down and reason. Before he knew it, his body slowly moved and sank out of the dark.

The next thing Tommy knew, he realized he slowly got out of the tar pit, along with Riley, who did the same thing. Much to his surprise, they appeared to be hanging from the ceiling where black goop dripped and hit the floor. While descending, he overheard a conversation by some men passing by.

“It should be around here somewhere. Let’s check over here next.” Someone said, pointing in a direction opposite of Tommy.

As the guys headed out, Tommy sighed in relief. However, he soon realized that his body was slipping out of the tar and was about to fall off. Before he could injure himself and scream, Riley extended its neck to reach out to grab him by the shirt, carefully placing him on her back. Tommy looked over and found that the pink dinosaur got out of the tar pit just fine.

“Phew, that was a close call. Thanks for the save.” Tommy said to the dinosaur. He then looked around the area and became conflicted. “Where are we, though? Are these the underground mines? Is this what Amy meant by—?” He stopped for a moment to dart his eyes around the caverns they got themselves in. “Wait, a second. Where is Amy? Is she ok up there?”

Riley didn’t know how to respond, but regardless, the two got a move on, since standing around too long might get them caught.