Final chapter!

'Zeek or Lalna… Lalna or Zeek… Notch damn it!' Haywire thought, wishing she would've just stayed under the bush, or let the guards catch her. Just something… anything… so shouldn't have gotten into this mess. The green-eyed woman got up and walked to the shed and leaned against it. She wanted to talk to someone, but she couldn't think of who. She spotted Xephos and she walked over to him. "Hey Xeph" she said, stopping beside him.

"Mm..? Oh, hey" he said, rubbing his eyes. "Why don't you talk with Lalna?" He asked, lifting up a crate of something.

"Well… I have a problem. Could you, maybe help me with it?" She asked, following him as he walked to the factory.

"Sure, what's the problem?" He asked, his voice straining as if the parcel were heavy.

"Two people like someone… and that someone likes both of them, but doesn't know who to pick to love… what should-" she started, but was interrupted near the end.

"Follow your heart. Zoeya had the same problem with Lalna and Rythian" he said, setting the crate down at the entrance to the factory.

"Okay… thanks, I guess" she said, then walked away. Xephos smiled as he watched her walk away.

Lalna sighed as he put a screw into a machine. All he could think about was Haywire. Every time he tried to get her out of his head, he thought of the time he had kissed her. He had wanted to kiss her again, but she pulled away too quickly. He wished he had her here with him, watching him work…

Lalna got up and dusted his hands off. "Repairing is so easy" he said, smiling. He flew down to the bottom level and walked out of the building.

"Lalna, gimme a hand with this?" Xephos said, trying to hold a crate of something.

"Yeah" the scientist said, walking to the spaceman. He grabbed the other end of the crate and helped Xephos carry it into the factory. "Damn, what's in this thing, rocks and machine blocks?" Lalna commented, putting the crate down in the building.

"No, Ravs gave us some stuff. I think it's beer or something like that" Xephos said. "Hey, could I borrow that crowbar?" He asked. Lalna nodded and got out the crowbar, handing it to the brown haired man. "He said- it would be- strong stuff" he continued talking as he grunted, making an effort with the crowbar. Lalna nodded.

"Ah" he said, starting to think about Haywire again.

"Something bothering you?" Xephos asked, lifting off the top of the crate.

"No" Lalna simply said, looking at the ground.

"Something is, I can tell. What's up?" The spaceman asked, looking at his friend.

"Notch, I can't stop thinking about her!" Lalna said, putting his hands on his head.

"Who? Haywire? You like her or something?" Xephos asked, his dark blue eyes unblinking.

"Kinda…" Lalna said, kicking at thin air. Xephos smiled.

"Ikkle Lalniekins has a crush!" He said in a sweet voice. Lalna rolled his eyes.

"I've had a crush before… she just chose someone else…" he said. Xephos nodded.

"Ah. But I'll make sure of it you get her this time" he said, smiling. Lalna smiled back.

"Thanks, Xeph. I can do it myself, I'm not a babby" he said. Xephos nodded, hauling out a barrel. Lalna sighed and walked out. He looked at the sky to see the sun dipping below the horizon.

Haywire sighed, looking around. She felt comfortable in the dark, like she belonged there. She picked up a rock, throwing it up and down in her hand before throwing it into the woods. It bounced off something, something that rose out of the bushes, looking at her with unmistakeable silver hair and black eyes. Her eyes widened as she started backing away.

"Oh, no you don't!" Said one of them, lunging forward and grabbing her by the waist. She let out an earsplitting scream that could be heard from a mile away.

Lalna bolted awake, woken up by a scream. He looked out the window. What he saw scared him to death. He saw two men, both about the same size, but bigger than him, had Haywire by the waist. He jumped out of bed and ran out of the shed, speeding towards them. "Let go of her!" He yelled, tackling the nearest one, the one that had her mouth covered.

"Lalna!" She screamed, struggling against the one that had her waist. That's when Zeek ran out of the trees, punching the one that had her in the face. It growled, hissing and flashing slightly. Zeek got out his bow while Lalna tussled with one on the ground. He pulled back his bow after he got an arrow on it and, careful not to shoot the girl, shot an arrow that headshot the guard.

"Headshot" he said, getting out another arrow. Lalna, on the other hand, was bleeding and starting to get the lower hand in his fight. That's when the four others ran out of the shed.

"What the shit?!" Xephos yelled, looking at the fighting going on and Haywire struggling against the guard. Sips and Sjin were too tired to say anything, and Honeydew didn't say anything at all, just widened his eyes. The guard holding Haywire tried to make a break for the woods, but Zeek stopped him.

"Why do you want her?" He asked, readying his bow.

"She's a fugitive! We've been searching for her" the guard said, tears streaking down her face. Lalna and the guard stopped fighting to listen.

"I know someone better than her you can have" he said, his voice not cracking at a single word. He put his bow down and walked to him. "I'm the skeleton king. I was granted a body like this because I'm the king. Now, me or her?" Zeek asked, his eyes unblinking. Haywire shook her head rapidly, but when the guard dropped her, he grabbed Zeek's arm roughly.

"No!" She screamed, reaching out her hand and trying to grab his wrist, but Zeek shook his head glumly. Lalna and the other guard stopped fighting by now, and the guard made his way to the other. He grabbed Zeek's other arm just as roughly as his friend did as Lalna got up, his blood leaving red stains on the ground. The blonde crouched beside the shaken-up woman, putting his arm around her. Haywire threw her arms around Lalna, not wanting to watch the guards drag her friend away.

Lalna hugged her tightly, putting her head in the crook of his neck. Before the guards dragged him away, Lalna saw that Zeek was mouthing something to him. It looked like: 'Take care of her'. Lalna nodded to show him he had saw. He felt his shoulder slowly getting wet. He watched the guards pull the skeleton king into the forest, Zeek not fighting, but not cooperating, either.

"C'mon. Lets get back to the shed" Lalna said, getting up.

"Can you carry me?" She asked, looking up at him with sad green eyes. Lalna gave her a comforting smile and lifted her up bridal style.

"Sure" he said, carrying her back to the shed, and away from the forest.