After disappearing into the darkness, D-4917 turned around a corner. He didn't light any more matches. He knew the way well enough without having to see. 

He let out a small sigh, resting his back on the cold wall when he heard the sound of quick movement.

D-4913 tensed up slightly, biting his lip beneath his facemask. 

"Am I in trouble?" 

"Depends," a powerful voice breathed. 

D-4913 let out a small sigh, then lit a match, holding it up in front of him and illuminating the Queen of the Underwhere's face. She looked slightly displeased.

"Ah, your majesty. What a pleasant surprise," D-4913 smiled. 

"Hello, D-21221," Queen Jaydes breathed.

D-4913 didn't correct her. 

"I've been keeping watch on this maze, I hope you know," The queen explained. "I have a D-man on the job, and he's taken notice that you've been, how do I put this... HELPING the test subject more than I have ordered you to."

D-4913 shrugged his shoulders slightly, trying to put on a calm mask over his slightly nervous state. 

"Helping? Oh, no no. I was leading him back towards the beginning to throw him off, your majesty. That way he'd lose hope."

The queen nodded, then took a step closer to the dark soul.

"Mhm, D-21221-"

"4913," The soul quietly corrected this time.

"Yes, yes, if I thought for even ONE SECOND that you were betraying me, I would be forced to throw you to the river of Twygz." Jaydes coldly explained.

The dark soul's breath hitched. He could feel a chill run throughout his body.

He stilled for a moment before answering, though his words didn't sound nearly as confident as they were. 

"You've nothing to worry about," the soul breathed.

Jaydes nodded, then turned away. 

"Good."

. . .

Mr. L limped through the maze, leaning on the wall and trying to use it to support himself as much as he possibly could. 

This ankle injury was a real problem. He was beginning to worry about making it out on time. His pace had drastically slowed, and he seemed no closer to the door. There was no way to tell if he had even made any progress at all!!

He had no true way to determine how much time had passed since the dark souls weren't talking to him, but it felt like he had been wandering around for at least twelve hours. Possibly more. Time was running out much faster than he would have liked. He expected himself to be done with the maze already. 

This felt unfair. Even so, it was the unfair feeling that made him feel like he was almost alive again. 

This section of the maze was filled with more traps that made the area seem less like a maze and more like some sort of minefield. He had to watch where he was stepping, making sure the ground was sturdy before fully putting his weight on it. There were ropes, trip wires, pit traps, and more. It seemed a little excessive, to be honest. Even so, Mr. L wasn't in a place to judge. His goal wasn't to make notes on the maze. It was just to escape through the dimensional door. It was just to get his life back-

"OW- Gosh darn it-" an unfamiliar voice hissed from around the corner, making the man in green jump a little, which in turn triggered a stinging sensation in his injured foot and made him hiss in pain.

The man in green clenched his fists slightly, his shoulders tensing up slightly. That wasn't D-4913's voice. It sounded more youthful and lively. It was like there was more energy backing the vocal cords.

Mr. L took a shaky breath, then looked around the corner to see a teenager being hung upside down, rope tied around his right ankle. He clearly had gotten caught in one of the traps.

The man in green frowned slightly. He wasn't dressed like the rest of the dark souls working on the maze. He didn't wear a face mask or anything. He didn't look like the average D-man either, though he did have a black spear attacked to his belt. Was he perhaps a fellow neutral soul trying to escape?

The kid squirmed around, his hat falling to the ground, revealing messy brown hair. The held a notebook and pen in one of his hands and was desperately trying to reach up and untie the rope that had ensnared him with the other. 

"Welp, I'm fired," the kid breathed, giving up and letting his arms relax in defeat. "I'm gonna get fired. I'm totally fired."

"Fired?" Mr. L asked.

"GAH!" The kid cried out, flinching and looking at Mr. L, a terrified expression on the teen's face. He brought the notebook to his chest, breathing heavily. "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!!"

"Sorry, sorry," Mr. L breathed, tilting his head at the teenager in a curious manner. "Would you like some help?"

"I would very much appreciate that, sir," the kid breathed shakily.

Mr. L nodded, then carefully limped over to the kid, wincing every time he put pressure on his bad foot. Once he made it over to the kid, he reached up for the rope around his ankle, untying it and causing the teenager to fall onto the ground, landing on his head.

"Ouch," the teenager muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Sorry," Mr. L chuckled, kneeling down by the teen, silently grateful for the opportunity to take pressure off of his ankle. "What are you, exactly? You don't look like the dark souls..."

"I'm just a D-man," The kid breathed, rubbing his head. "This is gonna leave a bruise..." 

Mr. L couldn't help but draw back slightly, shocked. "A D-man?! But you look nothing like the D-men I've seen! You look human!"

"That's because I AM human," the teenager explained, pocketing his notebook and bringing both hands to his head. "The demand for D-men increased, so the queen started offering jobs to humans. I'm a rookie, which is why I'm wearing a different uniform. Where's my cap?"

Mr. L reached for the kid's cap, briefly looking at the label before handing it back.

"R-17?" Mr. L asked.

"Yep," the kid breathed, taking the cap and putting it back on. "That's me."

"Does anyone here have ACTUAL names?!" Mr. L asked, laughing to himself.

"We do... but the Queen doesn't use them. It's easier to just use numbers. The dark souls don't even remember their names. Nor do they remember anything about themselves... it's kinda sad," the D-man explained.

"Hmm," Mr. L hummed. "Well, what's YOUR name?"

The D-man stilled, his expression softening slightly, though his face was already fairly soft. His features were more round and gentle, making him appear the way one would expect a soft, kindhearted person to appear. Though looks could often be deceiving. 

"Y-you want to know my actual name?" The teen asked.

"Well obviously. Why else would I ask?" Mr. L pointed out.

The kid lightly laughed, scratching the back of his neck and smiling.

"Uhh, it's Alex," he breathed. 

Mr. L nodded, smiling slightly. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Alex! Do you happen to know the way out of-"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! I don't know anything, and even if I did, I'm not technically supposed to help you escape. I'm just a notetaker! See?" The kid asked, pulling out his notebook and holding it up. "The queen would DEFINITELY fire me if I tried to help."

"Oh? Are you saying you're scared of her?" Mr. L asked with a slightly teasing tone, hoping that he could manipulate the D-man into helping him out. 

"YES!" Alex exclaimed honestly, which shocked Mr. L slightly. It was rather bold for him to admit to being afraid so quickly. One of the only things worse than being afraid was admitting it.

Mr. L took a moment to think. He was clearly going to have to say something to get this kid to help. Luckily, this was a child. He'd likely be much easier to convince than Queen Jaydes herself. 

"Ah, I see," Mr. L trailed off, letting out a sad sigh. "Well, I wouldn't want you getting in trouble with her. I suppose I'll just be on my way. I wish you the best..."

The man in green shakily stood up, only to immediately collapse upon putting pressure on his bad ankle. He made sure to really work to sell the, 'I'm injured and in desperate need of help,' act.

Alex flinched slightly as Mr. L fell to the ground, then rifled through his pockets

"H-here... I guess she didn't say anything about me not being able to offer you some healing items..." Alex muttered, pulling out a small shroom shake and holding it out to the man in green.

Mr. L briefly smiled to himself, then plastered on a sympathetic expression as he took the shroom shake and quickly downed it, feeling the pain slowly vanish from his foot.

"That's a very good point," Mr. L breathed, wiping his mouth. "Say... the queen told you that you were forbidden from helping me escape, right?"

Alex nodded, returning his notebook to his pocket and holding his hands behind his back.

"Exactly! You can't help me escape, but she never said you couldn't just stay by me and help me with small things like traps and injuries. You don't even know where the exit is, right? So you wouldn't be helping me escape. You'd just be helping me survive!!" Mr. L exclaimed. "Alex, you're a genius!!"

A confused expression swept over the kid's face. He looked down slightly, bringing his hand to a chin. 

"I don't know about that..." he trailed off. "It sounds like you're trying to manipulate me into helping you."

Darn. This kid wasn't as stupid as Mr. L hoped. 

"MANIPULATE YOU?!" Mr. L exclaimed. "ME?! Never! I'm just looking out for the both of us. If you stick with me, you'll be able to take more accurate notes as well, right? It's a win-win-win! You're happy, the queen's happy, and I'm happy!"

Alex paused, looking down. He had a very focused expression on his face as if he was silently weighing the pros and cons. Mr. L secretly wondered why someone so young was working in a place like the Underwhere. Someone Alex's age should have been back in high school, doing homework or something. Not working amongst literal dead people. 

"Say, why ARE you a D-man?" Mr. L asked, interrupting Alex's decision-making process. 

Alex looked up at him, slightly startled. 

"Oh, s-simple. I've got four younger siblings, and my parents don't make enough money to support us all, so I'm helping! All the money I make gets sent to my family back in Flipside!" He explained quickly.

Mr. L nodded, then softly smiled.

"Well, if you help me, maybe I can help them out once I get back to the living world. I don't like to brag, but I'm BASICALLY a genius," the man in green explained proudly.  

This seemed to catch the D-man's interest. Alex perked up slightly, his eyes seeming to light up at the thought. 

"Really?" He asked.