"Put... down..." Gurk moaned. He placed both hands in front of him, backing away as Sheila crept forward.

"I-I already told you! I can't! If I don't..." Sheila began to cry. Once the young hunter started to cry, Gurk stopped his retreat.

"Why?" he asked quietly. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the others were too focused on the Jagmaw. Eva waddled slowly towards Itzel before turning to around to look back at Gurk.

"Because! If I don't kill you... you'll kill me first!"

"I won't."

"Then your friends will!"

Gurk shook his head. "Nope."

"Just stop messing with me!" Sheila pressed the barrel of her gun onto Gurk's chest. Despite her finger being on the trigger, the crocodile remained still. "I know you're out to get me. And my father! If you don't do something... I'll have to make the first move!"

Gurk looked over his shoulder again. Eva caught up with the rest of the group and bumped into the back of Itzel's leg. She turned around and noticed the two talking.

"Gurk!" she shouted as she ran at full speed. "Freeze that brat!"

He grabbed the gun with one hand and angled it down. Sheila shrieked and pulled the trigger during the scuffle. The gun fired a short burst of bullets into the dirt. "Let me go! Now!"

"Stop!" Gurk grunted as he kept the gun steady.

Itzel caught up with the crocodile. With pure anger, she uppercut the air and sent a Serrated Gale towards Sheila. The blast of wind struck the hunter in the face, knocking her head back and her hat off.

"Sheila?" Gurk said as he still held onto the barrel of the gun. She no longer struggled to free her gun from Gurk's hold. Instead, her head angled back with her eyes shut as her fingers slipped off the trigger to her weapon. The crocodile stretched one arm around her back and stopped her from falling on her back.

"A single Serrated Gale was all it took to knock her out?" Itzel said with disdain as she reached Gurk. She waved a hand in front of Sheila's shut eyes. "She had no business being here! Let alone trying to kill you."

"What now?" Gurk said. 

"We've got leverage." Itzel reached down onto Sheila's belt and yanked off the radio fastened to it. "Hey Mag!" she shouted into the device. "Are you listening?" 

There was a short silence. Itzel and Gurk looked at each other as they waited for a response from the remaining hunter. 

"We've got your kid!" Itzel said into the radio. 

"What!?" an angry voice called back over the radio. "Sheila! Can you hear me?"

"Doubt it," Itzel replied. She took a glance at the unconscious woman resting in Gurk's arms. "I think this hunting business tuckered her out. But don't worry, she's safe with us."

"If anything... happens to her..." Mag replied, taking deep breaths between each word.

"You'll what? Kill us? I thought that was already the plan, Mag," Itzel said smugly. "Seems like you've got your daughter in a little predicament."

"Where are you?"

"Why would I tell you that? So you can get a good shot at us from your hiding spot? We're not dumb, Mag. We've got something you want. And you've got something that we want."

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?"

"Freedom."

Janus and Enidri caught up with the other two, with the physicist rushing to Itzel's side. "Everything all right?" Janus said in a low voice. His eyes drifted to Sheila. "Wait... does that mean it's just Mag that we have to deal with now?"

Itzel nodded her head while making a shushing sound as her finger touched her lips. "Trying to talk to him now."

"Tell you what," Mag said, his frustration evident in his tone. "We'll just keep doing what we've been doing. How's that sound? You think I really trust you to bring my daughter back alive?"

Itzel clenched a fist as she raised the radio to her face with her other hand. As she readied to say something, Janus stuck one hand up as he pointed to himself. "Let me talk to him," he whispered. 

Itzel took her hand off the speak button. "Huh? What did you plan on saying?"

"Just let me try to talk some sense into him. I've taken psychology classes. I might be able to convince him to put this game to an end."

"What about you, Enidri? You've got anything to say?" 

The swordswoman kept her swords held in both hands as she faced the swamp. "I already spoke my piece to him. If it were up to me, I wouldn't say a word to that guy. I'd let my Ion Blade do all the talking."

Janus shrugged. "Come on. Let me see if we can get this over with. Without anyone else having to get hurt."

"Fine, Janus." Itzel shrugged and handed the device to Janus. 

He took a deep breath and turned around to face the swamp. "Mag," he said calmly. 

There was no response.

"Mag. I know you can hear me."

The only sound was the hum of Enidri's Ion Blade.

"No one else has to get hurt. Not you. Not your wife. Or Sheila."

"You can't outsmart me, Janus," Mag replied over the radio. "I know how to survive. How do you think my family has earned this fortune? By believing every single word that comes out of some sucker's mouth? I can parse through the nonsense when I hear it!"

"I understand your hesitancy. But you have to understand, we're not hunters. We don't have that killer instinct you possess. We just want to get out of here. And I assume you want your daughter back, right?"

"Of course I do!" Mag snapped back. "If you're serious about what you're saying, let me talk to her."

Janus turned around and stood over Gurk's shoulder as he kept Sheila propped up against his shoulder. The crocodile nudged the dormant hunter with his arm, making her limp body sway slightly. "I'd like to. I really would. But she's hurt."

"What did you do to her?" Mag snapped.

Janus nervously looked at Itzel. She pouted as she pressed her hands against her hips. "Let me tell him!"

"No, I got this." The physicist pressed the button on the radio again. "It was self-defense. She's fine, believe me. I'm looking at her right now. Steady pulse. I think she... collapsed from exhaustion."

"But what about the 'self-defense' part?"

"She was getting ready to shoot us! Itzel hit her with one of her Special Techniques. Nothing too powerful."

Another long silence followed. 

"Good job," Itzel mouthed as she shook her head. 

"Janus," Mag said over the radio. "I know you wouldn't hurt someone defenseless. You don’t have it in you to kill my daughter. Especially if she couldn’t fight back."

"I know I wouldn't. But I can't make any promises about the people I'm with." Janus took a look at Enidri as she scanned the oncoming area for the Jagmaw. "I'd hate to be on the other end of this Ion Blade."

"You know there are very powerful people watching this, right?" Mag said in a low voice. "Now that the Broadcast has been compromised... they'll be coming for all of us."

"That's what I figured. But your family is still alive, Mag. Maybe you can escape with them. Find refuge somewhere. But the sooner we cooperate... the better."

"I know," Mag said somberly. "What do you want then? Trying to meet up somewhere?"

"Yeah. That was the idea. We meet somewhere safe. You get Sheila back. And you lead us out of this place."

"I think I can do that."

Itzel's eyes widened. Janus nodded his head as he paced in a small circle. "Good, good. Uh... where did you want to meet? Preferably some place without too many Essencima. Or anything else that would want to kill us."

"Can you look up? Towards the top of the dome."

Janus tilted his head back. The sun was no longer directly above; it had drifted a bit to the side of the Eco-Dome. "Keeping heading towards the sun. See where the metal bars of the fortification intersect?"

"I do."

"Meet me by the support pillar there."

"We'll be on our way."

"And Janus," Mag said in the same low tone.

"Yes?"

"If Sheila is hurt. We're all dying. Understand?"

Janus, Itzel and Gurk all looked at one another with their eyes wide open. "I understand."

"Good. See you there."

Janus put the radio on his belt. "You believe him?" he asked.

"Of course not," Itzel replied. "He's going to blast us to bits the minute we step into an open space!"

"He sounded genuinely concerned to me," Janus replied as he looked at Sheila. "Mag arranged this entire event for his daughter. I think he'd do anything for her."

"Yeah. Including killing all of us!"

"You three should go," Enidri said. "Keep an eye out. And make sure Sheila is visible. If he takes one of you out..." Enidri slashed her sword into the mud, scattering sparks across the ground. "It's the only way to make sure that he stays true to his word."

Janus huffed and pressed his hand against his forehead. "Never entertained the thought of taking another life. But..."

"But nothing, Janus," Itzel interrupted. "This is Mag's game. And we've got play it!" She then turned to Enidri. "What do you plan on doing?"

"Finishing what we started. We can't have a peaceful negotiation if this Jagmaw is going to be trailing us." The Essencima stuck its head out of the water and followed the slight movements of the Ion Blade with its eyes. "Besides, I've had a pretty bad itch to kill one of these things." With her free hand, she pointed in the direction of the sinking sun. "Go on, I'll catch up. I heard about where Mag said to meet you."

"And what about Eva?" Itzel said. She held onto the duckling's wing to stop her from wandering off further.

"Leave her," Enidri said without breaking her concentration. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I've got a better chance of dealing with this Jagmaw than you three do against Mag in his precious Eco-Dome."

"Got it," Janus said. 

Gurk stood up and carefully placed Sheila over his shoulders, letting her dangle on his back. "Stay safe," he said as he waved to the swordswoman. As they walked in the direction of the sun, Itzel nudged Eva closer to Enidri.

"Whatever you do, stay by Eni, all right?" Itzel said, her eyes staring into those of the young Neo-Sapia. Despite staying silent, the duckling obeyed and remained a few feet behind the swordswoman. As the Jagmaw emerged its body out of the water, the others ventured further into the Eco-Dome.