(A/N: Everyone check out YellowCrimson on deviantart! She drew a very butterful picture depicting chapter 3! Also, I made a list of theme songs for every character here: fav . me/d6ok6np, no spaces!)


The sudden flash of light made Mitch shut his eyes tightly. He blinked rapidly as he took in his surroundings. The first things he noticed were the ropes around his wrists and ankles that bound him to a chair. Mitch tried to shake off the ropes, but they wouldn't loosen at all. He was in an old log house which stank with the musty smells of mold and fish. Mitch saw a bacca crouched on the floor facing away from him.

"Jerome?" Mitch asked in confusion. "Is that you?" The bacca slowly stood up and Mitch realized that he was much larger and older than Jerome. He turned around and Mitch squirmed uncomfortably when he saw the crazed look in the bacca's black eyes. His paws clutched a sharp diamond axe which flashed dangerously in the torchlight. "S-Sorry," Mitch stammered nervously, "I, I thought-"

"You are a strange human, Mitch." the bacca said. "Normally my guests start screaming in terror when they see who I am. Are you not afraid of baccas?"

"One of my best friends is a bacca." he replied.

Surprise flashed across the bacca's face. "A bacca? Friends with a human?" he replied. "How odd."

"How did I get here?" Mitch asked.

"I was out fishing when I saw you in the river. You almost drowned, but I'm glad I managed to save you. After all, it's no fun when my guests are dead."

"What's no fun? Why am I tied up?" Mitch swallowed nervously.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. But as your host, it is my duty to introduce myself, no?" the bacca asked. Mitch didn't reply. He was too busy wondering about Jerome. Mitch had managed to jump off the cliff into the river, but had Jerome escaped the blast? Had he been killed? "Do you like my axe?" the bacca asked, interrupting Mitch's thoughts. "I call her Helga. She's been passed down through dozens of generations in my family." he mused, tracing the green blade with a sharp claw. "Of course, she's been through several heads throughout the years."

Mitch's face turned as white as a sheet. "Several... heads?"

The bacca looked confused for a moment before cracking up. "Oh, you thought I meant-" His laughter echoed through the house. All Mitch could do was stare at the bacca apprehensively. "You are very funny, Mitch. I meant several axe heads, not human heads."

Mitch relaxed and sighed in relief. "You scared me for a moment there."

"Helga's been through far more than just several human heads." the bacca said, smiling fondly at the axe.

His breath caught in his throat as Mitch's amber eyes widened in horror. "You're crazy!" he yelled, sweat dampening his forehead.

The bacca laughed psychotically. "You're right! I am crazy! I'm as loony as a bat! But Helga here doesn't care, right Helga?

The bacca lifted up his diamond axe and said in a falsetto voice, "I will always love you, even if you're crazy and can't remember your own name! I love you and you love me! We'll always be together no matter what!"

"Aw, Helga!" the bacca replied, reverting to his normal deep voice. "That's so sweet of you to say that!"

Mitch concentrated intensely and tried to summon his powers. Nothing happened. Why weren't they working? True, he hadn't used them for several years, but that wasn't the reason why he couldn't use them now. Mitch opened his eyes and realized that his dog tag wasn't around his neck anymore. Completely powerless, Mitch panicked. "HELP ME!" he screamed, hoping that someone could hear him. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"Be quiet!" the bacca yelled as he raised a paw and struck Mitch in the face, tearing four claw marks on his cheek. Mitch's cries quieted down to mere whimpers of pain and fear. "Do you know how long it's been since the last human I ate? One month. That was one whole month with nothing to eat except fish."

"Please let me go," Mitch begged, "I'll do anything, just don't eat me..."

"Do you know what happens when a bacca eats cooked fish?" the insane bacca continued. Mitch didn't reply. He was hyperventilating and shaking in his seat. "This happens." the bacca continued, pointing at himself. "I lost my sanity, all because I was starving and desperate for something to eat." he said, shuddering at the memory. "Three of those vile creatures just lay there on the ground. Enticing me. Taunting me. And I ate those vile creatures. Every. Single. One of them." The bacca laughed under his breath. "Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday. The cramps, the vomiting, the wish for the sweet relief of death. And finally I simply lay there, too weak to move. I thought that death had come. But instead, I realized that the one thing I desired most in this world was human blood."

Somewhere in his frantic mind, Mitch remembered the dagger he kept in his back pocket. If only he could reach it... Mitch struggled desperately to loosen the ropes around his wrists until his hands were wet with sweat and blood. He managed to kick off the ropes that held his ankles down. "Get away from me!" he screamed as the bacca approached him with the diamond axe in his paws. "Leave me alone!" Mitch's heart was about to pound its way out of his chest. He was breathing so fast, he felt like passing out.

The bacca smirked and smiled even wider as he licked his lips in anticipation. "I think you'll serve as a tasty meal, Mitch. I can already smell the blood on your face. And it. Smells. Delicious." He lifted up his diamond axe above Mitch's head. Mitch's amber eyes hardened in determination as his mind suddenly cleared. He wasn't going to die. Not like this. Not right now. Mitch stood up slightly and turned around so that the axe hit the back of the chair, slicing the ropes that were tied around his midsection. The bacca yelped in surprise as Mitch took off. "What the- Hey! Get back here!" he yelled as he chased after Mitch, whose arms were still tied together.

Mitch shut the door behind him and took a moment to catch his breath. He was in what seemed like a dining room. Mitch saw a fireplace and ran towards it, hissing in pain as he held his wrists above the flames to burn the ropes off. Splinters of wood were knocked off the door as the bacca slammed his axe against it, laughing insanely. "Come on..." Mitch said urgently, willing the fire to burn faster. "Hurry up!"

The door came crashing down and the bacca ran towards him. "There's nowhere to hide, Mitch!" he yelled unstably. "There's nowhere to run either!"

Finally free to move his arms, Mitch grabbed his dagger from his back pocket and held it out in front of him. The bacca charged blindly towards Mitch, who barely managed to dodge the axe as it embedded in the wall. As he struggled to pull the axe out, Mitch ran up to the bacca and stabbed his back. It was a wound that would have killed a human, but unfortunately for Mitch, a mere dagger was not enough to kill a full-grown bacca. If anything, it just made him angrier.

The bacca howled in pain and whirled around, frothing at the mouth. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" the bacca screamed furiously as he forgot about the axe that was still stuck in the wall. Mitch grabbed a log from the fireplace and threw it at the bacca, who was knocked back from the blow. The log hit the floor and set it alight. The orange flames licked the air hungrily as they spread as quickly as blood. Mitch's eyes watered and he coughed as the smoke filled the air. His mind was a whirlwind of panic as Mitch stumbled his way to the door.

But the bacca was not going to let Mitch go so easily. He lunged at Mitch and tackled him to the floor. Mitch tried to scramble away and cried out as the bacca bit his leg and dug his claws into his back. He kicked the bacca in the face and hissed with pain as he stood up shakily. Flames danced across the bacca's cold black eyes as he bared his teeth at Mitch ferociously. Chills ran down Mitch's spine when he saw his own blood dripping from the crazed bacca's fangs. The bacca ran towards Mitch again, but the floor collapsed underneath him and he fell to his doom, screaming. Mitch tried to put as little pressure as possible on his injured leg as he limped out of the room.

It seemed like the Nether had morphed with the Overworld as Mitch made his way down the crackling stairs. Sparks flew everywhere as chaos and destruction reigned on the house. Chunks of burning wood fell from the ceiling, hellbent on trapping Mitch in the fiery house. Somehow Mitch managed to get to the bottom of the stairs, but as he approached the exit, a flaming log plunged downward. Mitch saw it coming but was too slow. Mitch screamed in pure agony as the burning plank scraped his arm. Stars filled his vision. White-hot pain sparked from his shoulder as he collapsed on the floor.

Fire. Somewhere in the back of Mitch's mind, he realized that his arm was on fire. It didn't fully register until the pain set in. Mitch waved his arm frantically in the air, yelling in terror until he came to his senses and rolled on the floor to smother out the flames. Mitch's breath came out in short gasps as he fought off unconsciousness. Passing out here meant certain death. Pure adrenaline alone kept Mitch moving as he grit his teeth, picked himself off the ground and escaped the collapsing house into the daylight.

It was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other as Mitch stumbled through the forest. His leg was bleeding a lot and it hurt to walk. His vision was blurry from his smarting eyes and Mitch crashed into several trees in his dazed stupor. It hurt to breathe. He felt like a hook was drawing out his burning lungs with each cough that was torn out of his throat.

Finally Mitch could move no longer. He leaned on a tree for support as he vomited up an acidic substance that burned his throat. Then Mitch broke into a violent coughing fit that wracked his whole body. He finally stopped and shuddered as he wiped his mouth with his hand. Mitch felt absolutely terrible. None of this would have happened if you had just joined the Sky Army. But no, you were too scared to tell them the truth. A voice in the back of his head nagged.

"Shut up." Mitch muttered to himself. "They gave me no reason to trust them."

Hah! Lies! They saved your life, didn't they?

"They would have just thrown me out once they found out that I murdered someone. Or maybe they would have taken advantage of my powers."

How do you know that?

Mitch ignored the voice in his head and sat down by the tree, exhausted. He examined the bite on his leg. It had already stopped bleeding, but he wondered why it still hurt so much. Mitch's vision swirled around him as he clutched his head, moaning. He looked up to see his mother leaning casually by a tree. "Now remember, Mitch," she said, looking at him with her piercing gray eyes, "always be careful when you hunt in the woods. Baccas live there. Some are friendly, but most are hostile. Even if you manage to avoid getting killed by their axes, their bites are poisonous. If you don't get immediate help, you get extreme hallucinations before death."

Mitch's stomach churned nauseously and he keeled over. He hyperventilated and gasped as his mother suddenly morphed into his sister, Tulip. She smiled creepily as her dark hair caught on fire and her blue eyes suddenly exploded into a million stars that giggled. One of the stars floated downwards like a snowflake and landed on his toes, dissolving into miniature versions of Team Crafted. Their happy voices echoed eerily before fading away into loud screams of horror that made Mitch cover his ears with his hands. The pungent smells of fish and blood filled the air until Mitch gagged. He vomited up purple liquid that stained the earth, up from which sprouted singing flowers.

Mitch shook his head and shivered. He tried to retain his sanity, but he couldn't do it. He just couldn't. Mitch closed his eyes and succumbed to the hallucinations, unable to block out the voices in his head.

Real or not real?