Shade was waiting for her when she arrived at the Pixie dust tree. But instead of immediately attacking her as she had been expecting, he simply watched as she landed before him, water-talent already surging around her form. He raised an eyebrow but did not move to engage, folding his hands neatly behind his back and waiting.

"So," he remarked. "I see you didn't stay trapped for long." He smirked. "I really can't say I'm surprised. Actually, I'm quite impressed. Tinkers are amazingly talented fairies. I knew you could do it. And it seems you found the folly of Scarab's plan. All you needed was the right..." He eyed the powers surrounding her for a moment, the faintest smile curling onto his lips, "push."

"That's enough, Shade!" Tink yelled, not falling for any of his smooth words. She knew how this game was played already and she wasn't going to give him a chance to start down that rabbit hole again. It had already cost them too much. "You need to stop this right now before someone gets hurt!"

"I can't!" Shade fired back, but still, he made no move to attack. The calm serenity of his sickly sweet words fell away to reveal the true anger and pain underneath. "You don't understand what it was like for us! No one wanted us! We were outcasts! We were hated because of what we could do! You never had to doubt who you were! You don't have any idea how I feel!"

'I', not 'we', she noted. So, this was all about him then. All of this, all of the hatred and destruction...it had all been to make Shade feel accepted. Of course! That made sense! If Scarab was in love with him, she would do whatever it took to make him happy. It was all for love and Tink understood that...in a kind of sick and twisted way.

But there was one thing she did know...she couldn't let this keep dragging on. She had to tell him the truth; show him that there were other ways, that this path of evil was not going to gain him the loyalty he desired.

"I do understand!" she argued. Why wasn't he attacking? Why was he hesitating? "When I first got here, I didn't want to be a tinker! I hated it! I hated everything about it! I even tried changing my talents, but that didn't work! And you know why that was?"

Shade didn't say anything. He actually seemed to be waiting for her to explain.

"It was because a tinker was exactly who I was supposed to be!" she barreled on. "The Hollow knew that it would need a fairy like me to help balance the seasons, to bridge the gap between winter and summer, to bring a little girl the chance of a lifetime, but I could never have done any of that as a light-talent or an art-talent or even a fast-flying talent! I was only able to do those things because of who I am! There are no mistakes at the arrival ceremonies, Shade! I was not a mistake, and neither are you!"

"But everything was so perfect before!" he cried. "I just wanted to make the Hollow a better place! Those things you said...I wanted to do the same thing! But everyone thought I was mad for trying to make a difference! They cast me out and after the...the accident, I...no one would believe that it wasn't my fault! They called me a freak! Scarab...Scarab saw something different in me. She...she believed in me when nobody else did! She helped me! She taught me to control my curse! Without her, hundreds of fairies would have gotten hurt because of me!"

"Yes, but now they are in danger again!" Tink protested. "Don't you see? You aren't helping anyone this way!"

"It's the only way!" Shade said. "The only way to get them to see me!"

"Who?" Tink demanded. "Who do you want to accept you, Shade? Us or Scarab?" Okay, so that was way off in left field, but for some reason, she had a suspicion...

"Stop," Shade snapped. "You don't understand."

So, that got a rise out of him. That meant she was on the right track. Whatever that right track was.

"Tinker Bell!" a yell interrupted her advances. She spun, turning her back on the evil Protector as a shower of pixie dust rained over their heads and Clarion's brother appeared from the shadows, magic of his own already alive and ready to be unleashed.

"Hello, Spurn," Shade said cooly, watching as the older tinker landed in front of Tink, shielding her with an arm. "Good to see you again."

"Yeah, well, I wish the feeling was mutual, Shade," Spurn growled. "What are you doing, man? You're going to destroy the Hollow if you don't stop this madness! Call off your fire and we can talk about this like adults."

"Like humans?" Shade snapped. "No thanks. I'd rather-"

"'Rather' what?" the older sparrowman cut him off. "Ravage and destroy? Hurt fairies? Exact your revenge? Come on, Shade, we both know that's not you talking. You don't do this."

"How do you know what I do?" Shade huffed, sounding very childish, stomping a foot against the trunk of the tree, letting odd angry sparks of light. "You're just like the rest of them! You're siding with them!"

"No, I'm not," Spurn retorted. "I am your friend, Shade. You may have forgotten what that means, but I haven't. None of us have. Stand down, call off this insanity. Come home. Please."

"Please," Tink added and Shade's gaze flicked from her to the Protector defending her and back again. "This isn't the way it has to be! You are not a bad fairy, you just made bad choices! But you can still change, Shade! I know you can."

"So do I," Spurn added.

"Me as well."

They didn't even need to turn around this time, the golden light already confirming the identity of the last arrival.

"Clarion," Shade breathed, staring up at her, awestruck, as she materialized and came to hover beside her brother, looking concerned but not nearly as angry as she possibly should have been. "Whoa...you look different."

She smiled faintly. "It's been a long time since you saw me in full strength, my old friend."

"So, queen, huh?" he went on as if they were just only good friends who hadn't seen each other in years, as if they hadn't been at odds for the past decade and Shade hadn't imprisoned her with the intent of destroying her kingdom.

"Yeah," she replied. "It was quite a surprise for me as well. I'm sorry you missed the ceremony, it was quite fantastic. Fireworks, music, and a lot of rabbits. Right up your alley."

"Rabbits?" Tink echoed. "What?"

"Well, no one deserves it more than you," he said. "And I mean that."

"Oh, please," Spurn groaned, rolling his eyes. "Here we go again."

"How do you do it?" he marveled, ignoring her brother's words. "You're...one of us, and yet, so many fairies look up to and respect you. They aren't afraid of your talents. They want to be like you. Why?" He didn't sound angry, he actually sounded...genuinely curious.

"It's not your powers that they fear, Shade," Clarion replied calmly. "It's you. You pushed them away when you tried to be who you weren't. You didn't want their advice or their help." She glanced meaningfully in Tink's direction and the blond stiffed indignantly at the memory. "You wanted to be like them, but you were never destined to be the same. You had a greater purpose, but you were too afraid of it and Scarab used that weakness to her advantage."

"What are you saying?" Tink demanded, trying to push her way back into the conversation even as the three older fairies went on without her.

"Isn't it obvious?" Spurn sighed, not looking back at her, but his words just as impactful as if he had. "Shade isn't the villain here, no more than your guildmate was. He never has been. He's been played, just like we all have."

"No!" Shade argued, once again defensive. Why had he lowered his guard for the Queen and how could they find that reasonable side of him again? "That's a lie! She wouldn't! She couldn't!"

"Are you saying..."

"This isn't you, Shade," Clarion prompted, taking a step toward the sparrowman who looked as though he might be sick. "We know that. Don't let her control you any longer. You can still do the right thing. Call off your magic and help us restore the Hollow. It's not too late."

He stared up at her for a long moment, and then over to Spurn and Tink. He paused on the blond for yet another minute, his wings drooping as the realization of his actions washed over him. "She'll hate me forever," he whispered.

"No, she won't," Clarion countered. "If she's really the fairy you think she is, then she will be proud of you for doing what you know is right."

He looked down at his hands. "It doesn't matter anyway," he mumbled. "I can't stop it."

"What do you mean?" Spurn demanded. "You're the one who started all of this! You can just wish it all away and everything will go poof! Is that really so difficult?"

"No," he said, shaking his head frantically, his gaze now darting to the forest below them as it burned. "You don't understand! The fire, the anger, the Dragonstouch...none of that was ever my power! It was always hers!"


"No," he snapped, staggering back to his feet as she readied to strike with yet another crippling blow. How much power did she have, seriously? She was one fairy! This shouldn't have been possible! "This isn't my fault! Ye did this! Ye and Shade are the ones to blame!"

"My fault?" Scarab sneered. "How is any of this my fault!" She lashed the light at him once again and this time he easily dodged. The fire was licking at his heels now. He was really running out of time. Could he fly? Did he have anything left? One quick glance toward his wings settled that answer of no. Not a single sparkle of dust remained and there would be no way for him to get the Dust Depot in one piece. He was actually grounded now. "It was always you! You and your stupid fantasies of peace and harmony. You and your stupid friends!"

"Why?" Bobble cried again. "Why are ye doin' this, Scarab? Is it because of Shade? Ye can't keep hurtin' fairies for him! It's not right!"

"Does it look like I care what is right?" the animal-talent seethed. "The Hollow is going to pay for what it did and you keep getting in my way!"

Yeah, so he had a knack for that. Sue him.

"This isn't the way!" he protested. "Yer goin' down a path that is very hard to come back on! If ye want the Hollow to apologize then ye need to earn it! Show them that yer not a threat, that it was all a misunderstandin'! Not this!" He pointed furiously to the fire. "This isn't what ye wanted, Scarab!"

"You don't know that!" Scarab roared. "You still don't know anything about me! Now, stay out of this before I have to kill you again!"

"Ye know I can't do that!"

She scoffed, drawing the magic back to her. "And how exactly do you plan on stopping me, then? You've lost your powers. Your friends are gone." She held up the bracelets hauntingly. "I hold all of the cards now, Phin. I've called your bluff. What could you possibly do to stop me?"

"Don't call me that," he growled.

"Why not?" she retorted. "Does it make you feel weak? Me knowing who you really are? Or is it possible that you've lived under the lie so long that you've come to believe it? Perhaps Bobble was the correct name for you after all. For a tinker, you are extraordinarily good at ruining everything."

"Aye, but at least I'm tryin' to fix it! Yer just makin' it worse for everyone else!"

"They deserve it!" she screamed. "They destroyed our world! They hurt him! All he wanted was to make Neverland a better place and they rejected him! They didn't want a safer Hollow, and now, neither do I!" The magic whizzed back into her hands and Bobble threw up his arms with a cry of alarm.

"No, wait! Don't-"

His pleas were cut short by a second sharp strike from the fire-whip, this time exploding at his feet and sending him tumbling back to the grass. She was upon him in moments and he scrabbled back across the dirt, scrambling for a chance to get back up, but she was giving him no opportunity. His back hit some large boulders and Scarab sneered down at him. "And if you won't stand with us, then you are against us. You're just as bad as they are. Shade was right about you. You'll never see it from our point of view. But you will. Oh, you will."

Don't count on it, beetle-brain, came Scorpion's sharp tone from somewhere in the back of his subconscious.

Phineas, get up! Willow warned. She's about to do something drastic!

But Scarab didn't move to end him for good. Instead, she snorted and drew away from him, setting her eyes on the sky instead. The flames were at his wings now. He needed to move or he would become part of the forest forever.

"Enjoy the show, Bobble," Scarab snapped, "it'll be your last."

And then she took off, leaving him lying there, stunned. The evil Protector was gone in moments, nothing more than the golden sparkle of her wings visible against the ever-darkening sky. But she was no longer interested in him. Something else had caught her eye instead.

"FAIRIES OF PIXIE HOLLOW!" she screamed and everything around her seemed to jump into slow motion. The fire came to a raging halt, lingering upon the trees just outside of the season's ring...far too close to the Pixie dust tree for comfort. All across Neverland, the fairies who had been combating the flames looked up at the sole female hovering above it all, encased in fire and fury.

Bobble heaved himself back to his feet, testing his arms and wings. He was okay. He was alive.

But why? Why had she let him go? It didn't make sense. He frowned, trying to pick out the glows of fear from the hundreds of fairies now waiting to hear what this new threat was about to say. Where were his friends? Were they okay? Had they managed to stop Shade? He noticed that lightning wasn't sparking from the innermost parts of the tree anymore, so he took it to mean that they must have, right?

"YOU THINK YOUR WORLD IS SAFE!" Scarab bellowed. "BUT THAT'S ALL A LIE! THERE ARE THOSE WHO HIDE AMONGST YOU PRETENDING TO BE WHO THEY ARE NOT! THEY WERE ONCE TASKED WITH PROTECTING THE HOLLOW, BUT NO LONGER! YOUR HEROES HAVE FALLEN! AND NOW WE WILL SHOW YOU WHAT REAL POWER LOOKS LIKE!"

"Bobble!"

He spun around, finding the group of fairies upon him in moments, the girls embracing him quicker but Clank not far behind.

"Are you okay?" Rosetta demanded, looking him up and down. "What happened? Is that Scarab? Oh, my posies, she's evil, ain't she? Where's Tink? What happened to the bracelets?"

Bobble just stared at her, having no idea where to begin. Every question bore deeper and deeper into his wounded pride. He had been the one to trust Scarab. He had believed she wanted to help him. It was his fault they were here in this predicament now.

He really was a bobble after all.

"Oh, oh, I don't like that face," Silvermist remarked.

"Now, honey," the garden-talent went on quickly, catching on to his heartbreak. "Don't you go thinkin' that any of this is your fault! Scarab's not a good fairy, we can see that now, but you had no way of knowin' that before! We didn't know either! She tricked all of us!"

"But she's gotten so powerful!" Clank moaned. "How are we supposed to stop her now?"

"I..." Bobble whispered. "I don't know."

"Well, I don't wanna say 'I told you so'," Vidia remarked. "But I totally did." Even she seemed concerned, though, never taking her attention off of Scarab.

"Okay, so you were right," Iridessa said. "Congratulations; now what?"

"Now, we come up with a plan."

Bobble had opened his mouth, but the words that echoed through the trees were not his. However, he recognized that voice, and he, along with the others, screamed, as they all turned to the multitude of fairies zipping from the woods behind them.

And leading the way was...

"Shade?" Vidia barked.

Instantly, half of the group was in front of Bobble, shielding him the best that they could. Even Silvermist looked ready to fight if it came down to it.

"What are you doing here?" Fawn snapped. "Aren't you supposed to be helping your girlfriend take over the Hollow?"

"Fiance," Shade answered softly, not meeting her gaze. "And no, actually. I'm here to help you stop her."

"What?" Rosetta remarked.

"It's true!" Tink interrupted, zooming up beside him and blocking Vidia from full-out going angry-flying-talent and blowing him halfway across the continent. "He's here to help! I'm sure of it!"

"And what makes you so sure that he knows that?" Dessa whispered.

"I wanted the Hollow to accept us," Shade spoke up again, drawing their eyes back to him. Still, none of them moved, still ready to defend their friend no matter what. "But I made a mistake and now...everyone is suffering because of it. I didn't want this," he pleaded. "I just wanted to show the world that I could do something special too, that I could be a good guy as well! But they were afraid of me. And it seems they had good right to be as well. All I've done is make a mess out of everything. And then, when Scarab came to me and offered me the chance to get even, I said yes. I didn't realize she would go this far. Perhaps I should have." He looked down shamefully. "What is happening to you and your friends is my fault. I want to help you fix it if I can."

"I believe him," Tink went on.

"Well, yeah, but we believed Scarab too," Rosetta protested. "And we can all see how well that went." She waved a hand pointedly toward the sky.

"He's telling the truth," Queen Clarion assured them and everyone gasped at the sight of her. She hadn't bothered to go back to the sparks of light that she could typically use to disguise herself. Instead, she stood before them just like any other fairy-if any other fairy could have light-talent swirling around one hand and frost around the other and look absolutely calm while doing it.

"This was all Scarab's plan from the beginning," Spurn put in, making himself visible now, pushing his way in beside his sister. "She tricked every one of us into believing she was too scared of Shade's 'evil plans' to fight, while she was really biding her time, waiting for us to make a mistake."

"And when we started snooping around for the bracelets..." Fawn realized.

Spurn nodded. "It gave her just the opportunity she had been waiting for...a chance to get rid of the Hollow and take the ultimate power for herself."

"Which is why we have to stop her now," Shade cut back in. "Before anyone else gets hurt. We have to get the bracelets back from her...and then we have to destroy them."

Bobble felt his heart lurch. "D-destroy them?" he echoed. But...then what would happen to Scorpion and the others? The five bands were the only thing keeping them connected to the world of the living. He needed them. He didn't think he could do this without them.

"We have no choice," Queen Clarion said gravely. "They've already proven to be much too dangerous for any of us to wield. They corrupt whomever tries to use their powers. Scarab has already fallen to their snare. We can't let anyone else make the same mistake."

"So we end this right here and now," Tink agreed. "We put out this fire, we stop Scarab, and we save Neverland!"

"Yeah!" the girls cheered.

Shade jumped, startled at their loud exclamations, but quickly saved face by ducking back closer to Clarion and scowling at the lot of them.

Clank grinned and Bobble smiled weakly, both well accustomed to such a reaction from the others.

"We need to split up," Iridessa said. "So we can tackle both threats at once. Some of us need to take on Scarab while the others try to put out the fire and get fairies out of harm's way."

"I can help with the fire," Spurn volunteered. "Since I have the strongest water-talent here." He gave his sister a significant look.

"I can come too," Shade added. "I have dust-talent. I can get the alchemist to assist me in temporarily assigning more water-talents to help combat these flames."

"I'll take on Scarab," Tink volunteered. "I can hold her off long enough for the rest of you to stop the fire."

"What?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Not by yerself!"

"Look," the tinker huffed. "There's no time to argue about this! We have to split up and I'm the one with the strongest powers, right?"

No one objected.

"That's what I thought," the blond went on. "It has to be me now. I can do this. Terrence," she added, spinning to face her panic-stricken boyfriend. "How much dust do you have left?"

"A...little," he confessed, fishing for the pouch, tossing it to her. "But are you sure? This is going to be dangerous, Tink."

"Really dangerous," Sil added.

"I have no choice," she replied, moving to catch the dust-

But Bobble intercepted the throw, snatching the bag before his guildmate, leaping back away from the group before one of them could realize what he'd done and lunge for him to take it back and sentence his crush to her death.

"Wait!" Tink cried, whirling to face him. "Bobble, no! You can't! Your wings!"

"I can't let ye do this!" he retorted, already unsinching the bag and pouring the last of the dust over his wings. "She'll hurt ye, Tink! And I promised that I would never let ye get hurt again!" He took a step back as the others seemed to realize the implications of what he was saying.

"But, it's not safe for you either!" Clank argued.

"And your wings are so close to shattering!" Rosetta added. "You won't survive a fight like this! You'll fall to your death!"

"I don't have a choice," he said, repeating Tink's words, grabbing the needle-point spear from Terrence's hands and twirling it behind his back with a precision he knew he had never had before.

"Scout-talent," Shade breathed. "Incredible."

"No," Clarion corrected solemnly. "That is the real power of a Protector, Shade; determination."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tink pleaded, coming closer to him now. There was no talking him out of it. He had to do this. He had to keep her safe. "Bobble, if something goes wrong up there...it won't matter anymore. Your secret will be out. Everyone will know who you are."

"And if I don't?" he asked. "The Hollow will die, Miss Bell. I know the risks but I have to take them. It's my choice now."

She froze. "You mean it," she gasped, grabbing his hands and trying to pull him back to the others. She was afraid. "You're actually going to-"

He smiled grimly and squeezed her hands reassuringly. "Be careful, Tink."

"Wait!" the others cried, but he didn't heed them any mind. He had to go and he had to go now.

Drawing a sharp breath, he turned and took off into the storm. Immediately the roots of his wings began to sting again, but he pushed the throbbing away, forcing himself to focus on the faint glow of the evil Protector's wings as he drew nearer.

"SCARAB!" he yelled over her villian-y speech. "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"

She turned, but he was already upon her, sword brandished and ready to duel as lightning crackled across the heavens. But instead of being angry or furious that he was back again, she simply smiled. "Hello again, Phineas. How nice of you to join me here. So, what do you think?" she gestured to the burning forests with an arm, her free hand already moving toward her own weapon. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"No!" he screamed. "Nothin' about this is beautiful! But ye already know that! Ye don't care about the Hollow! Ye can't care about anythin' because the bracelets are controlin' ye! Ye need to get rid of them before they take ye over!"

"It's far too late for that," Scarab hissed. "Just like it's far too late for you!"

And then she swung her sword at his head.

He yelped, arching his blade up to meet the blow and the resounding clang of metal striking metal resonated through the trees.

"You think you can protect them?" Scarab seethed, retracting her blow and diverting to a secondary tactic, pointing to the heart of the Hollow where all eyes were still on the two of them. "You would give your life for them, but now that they've seen the truth, seen who you really are, no one will care about you when you're gone. You were just another failed experiment. No one cared about the others either. No one even knew they existed. No one except for me. And now, I will have the chance to rewrite history, the way it was supposed to be!"

"Not if I stop ye first!" he shot back.

Scarab laughed. "Yeah, good luck with that."

He hadn't been paying attention to her empty hand.

He should have been.

The fire came so quickly that no one had time to warn him. He saw it at the last moment, but by then it was far too late. The flames encompassed him, blistering across his skin and swirling around his wings.

Excruciating pain rippled through his entire body...

...and then something on his back snapped and he plummeted from the air.

"NO!"

Something hot and fast whizzed past his head as the world spun and flipped all around him, the wind whipping him in every direction, and something else above him shattered.

"YOU FOOLS!" Scarab shrieked.

"BOBBLE!"

He hit something-or rather, something hit him.

Someone...someone had caught him.

"Are you okay there, Bobble?"

"Clank," he gasped, the wind sufficiently knocked from his lungs. "Excellent catch, buddy."

But the pain was still there. Why? Why was he still hurting?

"Quick!" Spurn yelled from somewhere around him. "The bracelets are breaking! Scarab! Someone help her!"

Bobble forced himself to look over his friend's shoulder, catching sight of Scarab as she too dropped from the air, unconscious.

Shade wasted no time, winging past the two tinkers to swoop in and catch the fairy, pulling her close and bringing her back to the grass where he lay her limp form, yanking the bracelets from her wrists and backing away as the fire immediately evaporated from around her body...and the rest of the Hollow as well.

"Clank!" Bobble snapped and his guildmate understood immediately.

"Right!" Clank agreed, racing back down and letting Bobble stand. Immediately, the tinker lowered his wings and raced to Scarab and Shade, pushing his way through the gathering crowd to the front.

"Is everyone okay?" he demanded.

Shade was kneeling before his counterpart and he didn't look up as Bobble approached. Scarab wasn't moving.

"Phineas," Spurn intervened, moving into the ring as well. "Stay back. It's not safe."

Shade shuddered. "Scarab," he whispered, taking the Protector's hands and clinging to her tightly. "Please, wake up. I...I can't do this without you. Please."

She remained still, the coldness of her heart finally catching up to her in the end.

"Bobble," Tink hissed, materializing beside him. At first, he didn't turn to face her, but then her fist came hard and fast into his shoulder and he leaped away, looking at her, wounded. "That's for being stupid!" she explained. "You almost got yourself killed again! If Clank hadn't been there to catch you..." she trailed off, tears in her eyes. "Why are you like this?" she went on, wiping the liquid away and trying to put on a brave smile.

Because I am in love with you, Tinker Bell, he thought, I would sacrifice everything to keep you safe. But he bit his tongue and did not reply, fixing his gaze on Scarab as Shade cautiously reached down and scooped her into his arms.

"One last time," he promised her quietly. "And this time, we'll do it right."

A faint glow surrounded their bodies and Tink and Bobble backed away quickly, Tink recognizing what was happening.

"A Duality Spell," Clarion gasped.

"Can he do that?" Vidia demanded.

"Looks that way," Dessa answered. "He's definitely trying."

Phineas.

Bobble recoiled, hearing Scorpion's urgent voice in his head. "What?" he hissed, drawing the concerned gazes of his friends. "Scorpion, what is it?"

The bracelets, the animal-talent sparrowman explained. They're broken. The Hollow is safe. You no longer need us here to help you.

His breath caught in his throat. "Wait, what are ye sayin'?"

I'm saying goodbye, Phineas. You did it. You don't need us anymore. You are the Protector of Pixie Hollow now. And you're the best there has ever been.

Wait, no, don't go-!

The light faded and Shade fell back with a gasp. Immediately, Clarion and Spurn were there to help him up, helping him stand and bracing him as his legs went weak.

"Did it...did it work?" he whispered.

There was silence for a moment...

...and then Scarab began to stir.

"Ow," she moaned and everyone leaped back in surprise. "What...what happened?" She brought a hand to her head and opened her eyes, finding them all gathered around her. "Wait...where am I? Who are all of you?" And then she saw the others and her gaze softened. "Shade? Spurn? Clarion? What...what's going on? Who..." she frowned at Tink and her friends. "Who are they?" And then back to Clarion. "And why are you suddenly so sparkly, Clare?"

"It's a long story, Scarab," Clarion answered. "But there will be time for that later." She smiled as Shade helped the fairy to her feet and embraced her in a tight squeeze. "But for now...welcome home."