Bri found Di leaning on the railing on the ramp near the waterfall outside of Julius' lab. She had held her tears in long enough and was sobbing uncontrollably. Bri walked up to her and hugged her; he started crying a bit as well. After a few minutes, Di stopped crying. Bri looked at her.

"You know he'll be ok, right?"

"I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean? He handled his own with Cass's henchmen-"

"-While he was on their side, Brian." She rarely called him by his full first name, only when she was distressed or extremely upset. "Who knows what'll happen to him now? You know not everyone survives in prison, especially with Cass's henchmen."

Bri understood her fear. He sighed thoughtfully, "I know. But he is strong, Di. I mean you heard him tell us how he fought that thorny-devil lizard when he found out about Ty."

"I guess you have a point…"

He kissed her forehead. "He'll be fine, sweetie, I promise."

Di smiled, "You haven't called me that in a while."

Bri smiled back. "I know it makes you happy. You needed a ray of sunshine right now."

Di continued smiling. Then she hugged and kissed her husband. "Thanks, Bri. I love you, Honey."

"I love you, too, Dear. We'll get through this. And Sly'll be fine."

"Okay." Di turned away for a bit; she wasn't ready to leave just yet. Bri knew that she needed a moment. "I'll come back in a few minutes, alright? Think I should let the kids know what's going on."

"Okay."

Bri then turned and walked down the ramp. He found Betty, Ty, and Shazza waiting for him at the lab entrance.

Betty was the first to speak up. "Well, what's going on, Dad?"

Bri glanced at them all. "We don't know exactly what the verdict will be. He'll more than likely go to prison, but we don't know for how long or to even which one. We're gonna have to wait until his trail to find out."

The three hung their heads in sad understanding. Betty nodded slightly. "Ok. Where's mom?"

"She's on the ramp by the waterfall."

"May I go see her?"

"Sure, sweetheart."

Betty then walked inside Julius' lab. She saw Ken putting handcuffs on her brother; her heart sank, and she felt numb. Sly turned around when he heard the footsteps stop. He acknowledged that his sister was there with a solemn expression on his face. Betty walked over and hugged him; Sly put his chin on her shoulder. She tried to speak but couldn't; her voice was choked by tears. She tried to force a smile and at least say that she loved him. He knew she couldn't speak. He grabbed her left wrist and looked her in the eyes. She knew he understood. Betty then turned and walked to find her mother.

Sly watched her until she was out of sight. He hung his head, then turned back towards Ranger Ken. Ken looked at him and spoke, "I called the Outback Law Enforcement. They'll meet us at the top of the cliffs. There's a cave in Bli Bli Station that leads to the top. We'll be taking that way up."

Sly nodded with the same facial expression he had when Betty was in the room, then turned and walked out. Ken followed. He hated arresting Sly. Even if he did used to work for Cass, Ken could tell that Sly was different. He didn't deserve to be treated like one of those thugs.

….

Cass's henchmen- what was left of them- had already starting evacuating the half-destroyed robot. They neared the waterfall on the other end of Rainbow Cliffs. (Luckily for them, the robot came down near the rock pillar housing the talismans, otherwise they would have been seen marching out.) The blue tongues were at the front, entering the cave behind the waterfall. They planned on tunneling upwards from inside. The frill lizards followed; they could help the blue tongues tunnel to the top of the cliffs. The skinks and lil' neddies followed the frills and surrounded Fluffy and Denozo. The red kangaroos followed them with firearms. The ninja geckos came out last, covering them.

The blue tongues and frills had tunneled enough so that Fluffy and Denozo were able to enter the cave. Fluffy, cringing in pain, hobbled to the side and collapsed against the wall. Denozo saw and told some of the lil neddies to cover them.

"Really think this is a good time to be lying down on the job, Fluff?" he said.

This infuriated her, but she was in too much pain to fully show it. Breathless, she replied, "Just keep them moving." She was clutching her side, which aggravated her the most. Her leg was still charred from when Sly electrocuted her, but that pain didn't bother her as much. Regardless, she was still in no condition to leave Rainbow Cliffs (let alone march through a tunnel to the top) to find a safe location to work on getting Cass back as well as taking care of the tigers responsible for their current predicament.

Denozo smiled evilly at her, then turned to see how many henchmen still needed to enter the cave; the redkangaroos were still a few feet away. He was sadistic, not caring about anyone but himself. The only reason he was working for Cass was because they both had similar goals: destroy the other marsupials and conquer Southern Rivers. Denozo, however, really only wanted to see the land in ruins. He didn't care about ruling; he only wanted chaos. As far as he could see, Cass was the best option to make this happen a lot faster than he could do on his own.

…

Sly had made his way outside. His head was hanging down as it had been before. Ken followed, keeping an occasional eye on him. Ken signaled Ty's cousins to bring Boss Cass out from where they were keeping him. He told Noah that they were to take him up to Bli Bli Station; from there, they were to take him up to the tops of Rainbow Cliffs where the police would be waiting. Noah nodded in understanding and led Boss Cass and the others holding him to Bli Bli Station. Sly watched, feeling rage boil up inside him again. He now hated Boss Cass for what he had done to him and his family. He and Ken followed once the others were starting to climb up.

Bri, Ty, and Shazza watched Sly and Ken soberly. This was particularly hard for Ty. He had just found his long-lost brother; now, he felt that he was about to lose him again.

Ranger Ken and Sly were nearing the rock formation that they needed to climb back up to Bli Bli Station. Ty couldn't take it anymore; he jogged after them to catch up to them.

Shazza and Bri were left standing there. Bri spoke up, "This must be hard on him. When they were cubs, Sly was always there, looking out for him, protecting him. He didn't have that when they were separated, and now Sly's leaving again."

Shazza nodded gravely, "Yea. Before Ty and I started dating, he told me that he didn't know where his family was. He said his brother- Sly- left to find them, but never came back. It looked like he really missed y'all. He seemed lonely."

Bri also nodded gravely. He knew that the mission to fight Cass was hard on him and his family, but he never imagined these consequences.

Ranger Ken was beginning to climb up the rock formation. Sly was already handcuffed and would more than likely need help climbing, at least, that's what Ken thought. Sly reached up his hands to begin climbing, but stopped when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned around wondering who would be trying to catch up. He was somewhat surprised to see Ty jogging up.

"Ty? What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"I had to catch up to you," Ty responded.

"Why?" Sly asked, puzzled.

Ty looked at Ranger Ken. "Can we get a few minutes, Ken?"

Ranger Ken nodded and continued climbing up. Sly watched him, then looked back at Ty. He saw that Ty had that look in his eyes again, that look begging him not to leave him. He exhaled and hung his head. After a moment, he looked at Ty and said, "It's for the best, bro. You knew that once everyone else found out that this would happen."

"I know…" Ty said. "I just…"

"Just what?"

"…I don't want to lose you again, Sly…"

Now Sly had a flashback to the night that he left Ty twelve years ago.

….

It was almost midnight. Their parents had left them with the biblies about a few days earlier. Neither he nor Ty knew what was going on; their parents said that they were too young to understand. Sly hated not knowing where his family was. That night, he couldn't take it anymore; he was going to look for them and not stop until he found them.

Sly crawled out of his bed quietly. He dressed himself in a pair of brown pants, some black boots, a belt, a grey vest, and brown gloves. He also put on the shark-tooth necklace that Bri had given him when he was five. He paused after he put it on and held it by the tooth. "I'll find you, Dad. And Mum, and Betty."

He then turned and walked towards the window. He unlocked and raised it and was getting ready to climb out.

"Sy?" said a quiet, scared voice behind him. Sly turned, startled that his baby brother was awake. Ty slept in a crib in the middle of the room. (Ty was a runt as a cub and had a habit of leaving the room during the night. To keep him in bed, the bilbies had gotten a crib for him.) He had crawled to the side nearest Sly and was holding on to the bars with a worried look on his face. Sly had thought that he was asleep.

"Sy?" Ty repeated. He three at this time, but still had trouble saying "Sly." "Where you goin?" Sly's heart melted; he didn't want to leave his brother, but he wanted his family to be reunited more than anything.

"It's ok, Ty," he whispered. "I'll be back soon. I gotta go find Mum and Dad and Betty and bring them back."

"Go?! No! No leave, Sy…" Ty had started tearing up at this point.

Sly walked towards the crib, picked up Ty, and hugged him. He fought back the tears because he didn't want Ty to see him cry. He felt that he had to be strong for them both. "It'll be ok, bro," Sly whispered. "I promise. I'll be back soon." He then set Ty back down. He walked back to the window and crawled out. When he was halfway out, he turned back to Ty and said, "I love you, bro." Then he left without closing the window.

….

Sly hated leaving his brother again. Only this time, he didn't have a choice. Again, he refused to let Ty see him break down.

Sly sighed, "We don't really have a choice, bro. We both knew this was coming anyway."

"I know, but still. I waited for twelve years for our family to be back together."

"It is now, thanks to you."

"Not fully. It's not complete without everyone, not without you, Sly"

Sly thought for a moment of what he could say to cheer his brother up. "Our family was always together, Ty. If not physically, we carried each other in spirit. You're gonna have to do it again with me this time."

"I guess…"

"Hey, at least you'll know where I am this time. And you can come see me if you'd like."

"That's one thing I'm afraid of…"

"…You're afraid of seeing me?"

"No, that I won't be able to, not for much longer anyway…"

"Whatdya you mean, Ty?"

Ty hesitated. "What if your charges aren't waved or something like that? What if they charge you for treason and murder?"

"What are you getting at, Ty?" Sly was trying to be gentle in his tone, but he knew Ty was worried about something.

"…..What if your sentence makes it impossible for me to see you again?"

Sly was confused for a second, but then he realized what Ty was talking about. He was worried that Sly would receive the death penalty. He had never even considered that that would even be his sentence, but now the possibility was very real to him.

Anxiety filled Ty's eyes. Sly tried to remain calm in front of his brother, but it was very hard for him to do so. Inside, he just wanted to break down. He was depressed and on the verge of feeling empty. Being separated from his family again was a consequence he wasn't sure he could live with, or, at least, not for very long.

"I see…" Sly said after a moment. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"Sorry or thinking of the worst, but I can't lose you again, Bro. I just can't…" Ty was finally about to break down.

Sly put a hand on his shoulder. Ty looked up at him. "You'll never lose me, Ty, even if you can't see me. I'll always be here, alright?"

Ty nodded sadly.

"I know it's hard, bro. But you gotta be strong. Neither one of us can stay depressed for too long. Besides, we don't know what'll happen for sure. For now, we just gotta wait and see."

"It's the waiting that I hate. I just wish I knew what would happen to you now."

"I do, too, Bro…" Sly didn't know what else to say, but he knew that sometimes it was best to be silent then ruin a moment further with too many words. He hung his head along with his brother.

After a moment Ty spoke up, "Mind if I go up with you?"

Sly looked up, then shook his head with a half-smile, "Sure, bro."

Ty smiled weakly in return, then followed Sly up the cliff. "Want me to go in front so I can help you climb up?"

"Nah, I got it. Handcuffs won't slow me down."

"They won't?"

Sly chuckled a bit. "Nope. Not at all."

"Wow…"

"Yea, turns out I actually did learn a few when I was…" he stopped and stared at the rocks, then sighed heavily.

Ty put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him reassuringly. Sly looked at him, nodded, then continued climbing. Ty followed. They went up silently, not knowing exactly what to say to each other.

Ranger Ken was waiting with the law enforcement at the top of Rainbow Cliffs. There were about five koala officers there with Ken. Their cousins had just dropped Cass off, then left to check on everyone else. Sly's depression finally hit him, and he went numb. Ty's heart sank. They walked up to the police van where their cousins had Boss Cass. Sly stopped abruptly.

"What is it?" Ken asked him.

"I can't ride with him," Sly said firmly, not taking his eyes off of Cass.

"There's no other way, Sly," Ken replied apologetically. "You have to ride with him."

"Then you'll have to chain me to the wall or something. I can't guarantee he'll stay alive if you don't."

Ken saw that he was serious. He nodded and signaled one of the officers to do as Sly said. Ty watched and heard everything. He saw that Sly seemed different now: cold, distant, hollow even. He started worrying about him. He looked at Boss Cass and grew angry himself. He was mad about what he did to Sly, to his family. His anger wasn't nearly as bad as Sly's, though.

Sly sat there, staring blankly at the ground. The other officers got in the front. Ken got in the back, between Sly and Cass. He figured that if Cass said something to rile Sly, he'd be the best person to come between them to stop a fight.

He gave Ty a nod before closing the door. Ty returned the nod. An officer started the van, then drove off. Sly was gone, again.

Ty watched the van until he couldn't see it anymore. He then sighed and turned to go back to Julius' lab. Unbeknown to him, however, a ninja gecko had been spying on him. When Ty started to walk off, the gecko turned and ran in the opposite direction, back towards where Fluffy and Denozo were hiding on the opposite side of the cliff. They had found a rocky spot about ten miles west of where they surfaced and were hiding there. Denozo had to have two red kangaroos carry Fluffy through the tunnel. She was sitting and leaning against a boulder; Denozo was standing beside her. The spy returned to the camp about twenty minutes after he was sent out.

"What did you find?" Denozo asked when he returned.

"They just took Cass and Sly away. They got arrested. That orange rat just walked away when I left. Looked like he was going back down in the cliffs."

Denozo looked down at Fluffy. "So what do we do?"

Fluffy sighed. "Nothing."

Denozo was irritated by her response. "We could just take them out now and get it over with."

"No. It's too easy. Revenge shouldn't be rushed. You of all people should know that, Denozo."

He knew she was right, but didn't publicly admit it.

"In time, we'll get them, and get pass back. Soon as our army's strong enough again. Then that little orange rat won't be so lucky."