It had been two months since Xephos, Honeydew and Lalna had returned to the Jaffa Factory. Every day Xephos was losing his sanity more and more. At first nobody noticed, since it was only little changes. But, after these two months, Xephos was no longer who he used to be. The three had been planning to continue their space adventures by building a machine that could mine from space. Xephos had been primarily working on this, but soon Lalna had to intervene and take over before he did something stupid. Honeydew told Xephos to take a break, or something, but the spaceman wouldn't listen. He craved...something. Chaos? Maybe. Neither Honeydew nor Lalna had figured it out yet. But something had to be done. Xephos had already started destroying things, and soon he'd move on to killing people, Lalna predicted. Lalna and Honeydew sat in the revamped penthouse, trying to think of a way to help Xephos.

"You know magic, don't you? Surely you could undo what that bitch did?" Honeydew pointed out. Lalna sighed, shaking his head. Even though he did know magic, he was not as strong as that witch. Honeydew drummed his fingers lightly on the table beside him. Neither of them knew what to do. They could hear Xephos shouting and laughing maniacally in a lower level. Lalna then had a thought, adjusting his goggles slightly.

"Why don't I go see Sjin?" He suggested. He noticed Honeydew was about to retort, but he continued quickly. "I mean, he can help me find a cure for the curse. We work together on magic from time to time anyway." Lalna explained. Honeydew thought about this for a moment. It WOULD make sense to get help of any kind, and Sjin happened to be at Sipsco right now. It wasn't that far to go, and it could save Xephos.

"...That sounds like it could work." Honeydew agreed. "Right, so you go and find Sjin at Sipsco while I keep Xephos busy. I mean, we can't let him figure out what we're doing." He explained. Lalna nodded, standing up from his chair. He turned to walk away when he felt the dwarf's hand around his wrist. "Be careful, Lalna. I might not be able to keep Xephos away." Honeydew murmured. Lalna blinked behind his goggles.

"Sure thing. I won't let him down, Honeydew. I can't."

Lalna trudged along the grassland, which was muddy and wet from rain. He had forgotten that even though it seemed close, the Sipsco compound was actually quite a walk away. It also didn't help that it was windy and raining at the same time. Of course Lalna would decide to visit Sipsco IN A STORM. At least he could see through his goggles, since he had modified them for occasions like this. He was definitely more scientist than wizard. He could see the large, newly rebuilt buildings ahead, smiling. Finally, he was here.

"Lalna? What're you doing here?" The familiar voice surprised Lalna, as he turned to his left. There stood the farmer, Sjin, in his Sipsco attire. "Are you lost?" The scientist shook his head.

"No, Sjin. I came here to find you." Lalna replied. "Let's go inside. It's too cold and windy to talk properly!" He had to raise his voice to be heard. Sjin quickly lead Lalna inside, taking him to Sips' office. He helped Lalna dry off, before the three of them sat down to talk. Lalna explained the situation from the beginning, starting with the day the curse was placed on Xephos. "We think the witch has somehow tampered with his mind. Ever since that they he's been becoming less and less sane." He finished. Sjin nodded, thinking.

"So why did you come here, goggles?" Sips asked, leaning back in his chair. "Do you want our sympathy?" Lalna rolled his eyes, beginning to think that this was a bad idea. Like these two would take him seriously!

"Be serious for once, Sips!" Sjin glanced at his boss. This shocked both Lalna and Sips. Sjin never usually just outright told Sips what to do. "This is a serious matter. If we're not careful, he could kill all of us." He pointed out. Lalna smiled on the inside - he remembered that Sjin wasn't like Sips. He was compassionate, caring, while his boss saw everything as a joke. Sips cleared his throat, nodding

"Y-Yes, of course." He murmured. "So, why did you actually come here, Lalna?" He turned to the scientist. The two sets of eyes were on Lalna, but it didn't make him feel any different. He was used to two sets of eyes on him anyway. He paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.

"Well, Honeydew and I realised we need to stop him. I had the idea that maybe Sjin could help me with breaking the curse." Lalna suggested. "I don't really know if our combined power will be strong enough, though." He added. Sjin thought to himself, closing his eyes. They weren't really the best wizards around. The one to go to would be Rythian, but he had disappeared somewhere so they had no clue where he was.

"If magic doesn't work, why not a try good old fashioned trap?" Sips suggested. Lalna shifted his gaze to Sips. "I mean, traps are fun." Sjin then glared at his boss. "A-And it'll definitely work! We'll be able to keep Xephos somewhere safe. It'll give you two more time to try figure out how to save him, or find someone who will." Sips continued quickly. Lalna thought about this for a moment. He guessed it would make sense.

"...Sure. We might as well try."

Meanwhile, back at the Jaffa Factory, Honeydew was keeping a close eye on his deranged friend. He didn't seem to be that dangerous at the moment, as he was just talking to himself. He remembered hearing him once comparing redstone to blood. Xephos seemed to be obsessed with redstone. Honeydew sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Are you just going to stand there all day?" Xephos suddenly turned to face Honeydew. "Why are you watching me?" He towered over the dwarf, more so than usual. Honeydew flinched, his gaze meeting with Xephos' eyes. They were fully red now – blood red. The smoky effect was still there, but with just a darker shade of red instead of blue. If Honeydew could just see his friend's eyes, he would not recognise him. "Huh?! Answer me!" The spaceman forced Honeydew back against the wall, the tip of his new sword against the dwarf's neck.

"I uh...I-I'm your boss! I can watch you whenever I want!" Honeydew somehow managed to build up the courage to face his friend. He had to some time. "Now, get back to work!" Xephos slowly let go of Honeydew, taking one step back. 'Finally. He has SOME sense.' Honeydew thought, before Xephos started chuckling. "W-What are you laughing at?"

"...I can hear your fear, Honeydew." The soft whisper replied. The sudden change made Honeydew flinch. Xephos could be loud in his insanity, but it was when he was quiet that terrified Honeydew the most. "You try to hide it, but you just can't." Xephos licked his lips, smirking. "I know how I make you feel. Especially when I'm like this." He then turned back to the various chests that he was searching through. Honeydew let out a silent sigh. He felt like he wanted to cry, but that would just make him worse. He watched Xephos search through the chests, noticing his smirk fade into a frown. "...Huh. No redstone." The spaceman muttered. He turned to Honeydew, piercing him with his blood red eyes. He then tiled his head, smiling slightly. "Sipsco...they should have plenty." Xephos whispered. Honeydew's eyes grew wide. 'Shit! That's where Lalna is!' He thought.

"A-Are you sure there isn't any in the chests? Maybe y-you should check again?" He suggested quickly. "M-Maybe in the chest downstairs. Why don't you go check there?" He asked. Xephos looked at Honeydew with dull eyes. He slowly walked towards his friend, kneeling down so they were at eye level.

"...What are you hiding?" He whispered. He then glanced around. "...Lalna?!" Xephos called. 'SHIT! He's realised it!' Honeydew thought. His hands were visibly shaking now. When there was no reply, Xephos looked back at Honeydew. "Ah. THAT'S what you're hiding. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm going to Sipsco to get redstone, and you're not stopping me. Whether Lalna tries to stop me or not won't matter." He stood up, jumping down the hole that they all used to fly to the different levels. Honeydew quickly ran after the spaceman, scrambling out of the door. He stood in front of the taller man, trying to hold him back.

"You have to stay here!" The dwarf shouted. Even though he was smaller, he had amazing strength. He could stop Xephos from advancing further. Unfortunately, it was not enough. Xephos slapped Honeydew's face with the back of his hand, causing him to fall on the ground. The spaceman didn't even notice when his flying ring slipped off his wrist, falling on the ground near Honeydew.

"Tch! How were we ever friends?!" He shouted. "You're just an annoyance, a nuisance!" He kicked Honeydew so he curled up. "I don't have to listen to you! Not anymore!" Xephos smirked. "I...I will destroy you. One day..." He kicked the dwarf's face, causing blood to run from his nose. He knelt down beside Honeydew, wiping the blood on his face. Xephos looked at his blood stained fingers, licking the blood from them. He smirked as he stood up. "But, for now, I need that redstone." He then continued walking towards the Sipsco facility, leaving Honeydew writhing on the ground. Honeydew noticed the flying ring with his hazy vision, slowly reaching out to it. 'At least he can't fly...' He thought, before he blacked out.