"Incoooommmmiiinnngggg!" Batty's voice screeched across the sky. Lily looked up sharply. She saw Zak hanging limp in Batty's grasp.

"Down here!" she cried. Batty landed awkwardly, trying not to hurt Zak any further. Lily gasped at his wound. She had never seen anything like that before. Mother was there in an instant.

"We can do this together I think," she said, examining it closely. "Yes, Lily, we can. Let's hurry!" She and Lily set to work.

"Hang on, Zak," Lily whispered.

Sandy's home...

"Sandy!" Fern's voice echoed in his ears. He heard the urgency in her tone or else he might have ignored her.

"What?" he asked. She was heaving her breaths hard.

"Crys missing...Pips need you...Wil...boys..." she doubled over.

"Whoa whoa, slow down," he said, taking her arm. "Sit." She sat.

"Crysta missing. My fault. Roman lied. Pips trying to find her. Asked for you, Wil, and the boys," she said all at once.

"I'm on my way. Did he say where?" Sandy asked her.

"No."

"Awesome," Sandy muttered. He grabbed his gear and headed out.

"I'm coming too!" she followed.

"No."

"Just try and stop me," she glared at him. They did a stare down.

"Fearless," he said. "That's what I love about you."

"What did you say?" she asked. They were cut off by the boys.

"We heard. We're here. Let's go," they said together. Wil was there next with his ride.

"Wait..." Fern started.

"Later," Sandy finished. They all hurried away. Fern was on their heels. There was no way she was not going to be a part of this, especially when it seemed she was the one who started it all.

The forgotten tree...

Crysta was feeling very scared. She knew what lay beneath the layers of this tree, and she was terrified her captor had something to do with it. He was sitting beside her patiently, waiting for something. He noticed her staring at him.

"Just one last thing to take care of. Then we can get started," he told her. Her fear was making him feel more powerful than ever. The human had been very easy to take down. The redhead couldn't be that much harder. He knew it would have been figured out by now, and he would be coming very soon. He stood up, anticipating the fight. He could sense the anger coming at the speed of light. The streak of green came at him a little quicker than he had thought, but he still managed to grab a hold of the bow around Pips' shoulders and yank him down with it. Pips let out a yelp but was able to slip out from under the string before Roman could strangle him with it. He did not manage to dodge the blow that came towards his face at the same time, however. Stunned, Pips fell to his hands and knees. Roman struck another blow to his chest, winding him and making him collapse. Crysta was desperately trying to free herself, crying because she was so useless watching the love of her life being tortured so.

"Not so tough are you?" Roman asked Pips, standing over him.

"Tougher than you think," Pips managed to croak out, bringing his legs around to hit Roman's knees and cause him to lose balance. Roman caught himself but allowed himself to fall, dragging Pips down with him. They crashed onto a lower branch. Roman had his fist around Pips' throat and a knee on his chest to hold him down.

"Ever seen someone die, Pips?" he asked. "It's very...liberating." Pips choked, using his own hands to try to relieve some of the pressure. His mind flashed back to a scene from when he was a child. A scene of panic and screaming. Their faces.

"Thinking about it aren't you?" Roman whispered. Pips kneed him in return, getting a few seconds of air while Roman readjusted himself.

"As much as I'm enjoying this," Roman told him. "I have better things to be doing. I have something planned for you, though, so don't feel left out." He gave his famous blow, and for Pips, everything went black.

Somewhere in the forest...

"This is going to take too long!" Sandy cried. "Are you positive you don't know where they were going?"

"I don't!" Fern said angrily. "I would have told you if I did!"

"All right!" Wil cut in. "No use us fighting about it. Think. Who would want to hurt Crysta?" They all took a moment. Then they looked at each other.

"Aw no," Sandy said, having a sinking feeling.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. We have to go there," Wil said. They hurried along until Fern spotted something.

"Wait!" she shouted. "There!" They all looked.

"What the hell?" Wil asked. Pips was hanging by his arms from a lower branch of a tree. Sandy and Wil looked at each other.

"It's like something's coming," Fern whispered. As soon as she said it, they heard it.

"Oohh geez," Sandy exclaimed, "that is one big ass snake."

"I've got an idea," Wil said suddenly.

"Tell us!"

"What gets rid of snakes? We obviously can't it's too big," Wil added. Sandy thought hard.

"I give up," he said.

"Hurry up it's getting closer!" Fern yelled at them. They both shushed her.

"Think real hard, Sand," Wil said, looking at him. Sandy was confused. Then it hit him.

"No. Oh no. No, no, NO!" he shouted. "You're crazy!"

"It has to be done. Go get it," Wil commanded. He positioned himself. "I'll cut him down while you do that. The timing has to be right. Hurry your ass up!"

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Sandy muttered to himself. He flew up, and much to Fern's horror, out from the canopy.

"What is he getting?" she asked Wil, terrified.

"A hawk," Wil said simply, ignoring the horror on her face and the boys'. "Move. I need the space." He pulled his bow taught, righting his aim. He was waiting for Sandy to bring it down. First, he had to get it so Pips could escape. Pips had woken to see just what Roman had in store for him, and he was visibly losing his cool.

Above the canopy...

"Where is a damn hawk when you need one?" Sandy asked no one. He looked around frantically. "Here hawkey hawkey!" he called, feeling like an ass. He flew around a little more.

"Come on you big stupid bird!" he yelled. Then he saw one. It was coming directly at him.

"Perfect," he smiled to himself. Then he dove.

Under the canopy...

Pips was freaking out. This could not be the end. It just couldn't be. Not after things were finally the way he wanted it. The snake was very close now, eying him. Pips closed his eyes. He sensed it was about to strike, but just as it did, he fell. Wil's arrow had sliced his vine clean, and he hit the dirt. The snake had gotten it's fangs stuck in the tree, so while it was pulling them out, Pips was trying to hide. Suddenly, he heard shouting and watched as Sandy came streaking toward him, with a big hawk hot on his tail. Sandy grabbed Pips on his way by, and the hawk snatched up the snake, settling for the bigger prize. They watched as it flew away with the snake in it's grasp.

"What the hell was that?" Pips asked.

"It was Wil's idea certainly not mine!" Sandy said. "And yet, I was the one who had to go get it. He is going to get it when this is over." The others had reached them. Fern hugged Pips hard.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "This isn't over. Look, I need to do this alone. You all stay in the background unless something goes wrong. This is personal."

"You're crazy," Wil said. "But I respect that. We'll hang back." Pips took off, and before anyone could stop her, Fern followed in pursuit.

"Let her go," Wil said, pulling Sandy back.

"She's gonna get hurt," Sandy argued.

"She'll be just fine," Wil reassured him. "Come on, hang back but stay close." They all followed the direction Pips and Fern had gone.

At the tree...

"I bet you never thought you'd be here again," Roman said to her. Crysta was more angry at what he had done to Pips than scared. Roman could sense this. He needed to move this forward. He grabbed her by the arm and wrenched her up. Then he hauled her over to the wall of the tree. When he pulled out his knife, Crysta started feeling scared again. He came close to her face.

"This is where is ends, mage," he said. He put the tip on her cheek and sliced, flicking the blood towards the tree. It made a hissing sound. Crysta was terrified at what was going to come out of there. She found out soon enough. Hexxus was different than she expected. He was only a little taller than her, surrounded by smoke as usual, but less of a skeleton than before. She could still see his orange-red heart beating in his chest though. She watched in fear as he emerged and took in his surroundings. She even felt that Roman was a little nervous himself. This interested her.

"Well, well," Hexxus hissed. "What have we here?"

"The mage, Master," Roman bowed. "I thought you'd like to do the honors."

"You know me too well," Hexxus agreed. He gestured for the knife. Before Roman could hand it over, a streak of green slammed into him, making him drop it to the ground below. Both he and Pips fell over the side and disappeared. Crysta screamed. Hexxus leaned over to watch for a moment. Then he turned back to Crysta.

"Thought you had rid of me for good didn't you?" he asked her. "I'm not easily killed, sweetheart. You'll have to try harder than locking me into a tree!" Crysta glared at him. She was fearful of what happened to Pips, but she was trying not to be afraid of this monster. He came closer and put his fist around her throat. She immediately panicked. There seemed to be no one to help her, and she was unable to free herself. He started laughing while staring her in the eyes.

"Let me do it," a voice said from behind him. Hexxus stopped and turned. Fern was standing there, holding Roman's knife.

"What did you say?" he hissed.

"I want to kill her," Fern repeated. Hexxus laughed again.

"May I ask why?" he smiled cruelly.

"She has taken everything from me," Fern said simply. "My boyfriends. My life. My chance at doing anything besides what boys do. I hate her. I want to kill her."

"Well, well," he hissed again. "Who am I to stop a cold blooded murderer?" He stepped back and gestured for Fern to come forward. Crysta was staring at her sister in terror. Did she really mean what she said? Did she really hate her after all? Fern's eyes were dead and cold when she looked back at Crysta. She came closer, knife poised.