Jason looked around before nodding respectfully to his fellow hedgehogs, Gyser and Alexia.
"You be careful, Gyser. We don't need to be rescuing you as well."
At this, Gyser laughed whilst playfully tossing his explosive around in his hands. "No way in hell they're going to catch up with me. Isn't that right, Alexia?"
Alexia rolled her eyes. "We should get going now."
As the two shot off in one direction, Jason turned around to look at Kayla and Dead End. "Going our way?"
The Minicon beeped again. "That's right. Anyone got a clue which way to go?"
Jason turned to Ari, who felt the weight of an expected decision on her shoulders again. Though not especially fond of the feeling, she was not about to let everyone else down. She began walking forward, uncertain if she were headed in the right direction, but maybe there would be a clue somewhere around the area.
For his part, Jason had his ears standing on end. Something was tugging at his intuition. The scarlet hedgehog kept his sword at the ready as they trekked through the labyrinthine corridors of the Mobile Glacier. Occasionally, he would swear he saw shadows moving behind the icy walls, but he shook it off as his nerves winding him up. Still, the nagging sense that they were not alone pestered his thoughts.
***
Gyser squinted, peering into the middle distance. Chilly vapours were beginning to build up all around, impeding vision. The corridor he was in seemed to go on forever. Alexia looked up at her uncle.
"Should we ask for help?"
Gyser removed his communicator from his pocket. "Why not? Hey, can we get a little hand here?"
Marcus's voice sang out. "It looks like you're going the right way toward the core. Keep going straight."
The two hedgehogs continued proceeding down the corridor until they came to a T-intersection. Gyser snorted. "Now what?"
"You have some more ground to cover before you get to the core," Marcus radioed. "It is still straight ahead of you."
The two hedgehogs looked in opposite directions. Neither of the two branching paths seemed to present any particular incentive or disincentive to be followed.














