Red sighed, and looked back. There was nothing left of the changeling swarm. "So, what're you gonna do now?" Red asked, hefting Chrysalis up.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, didn't I just kill the rest of the hive?"

"This was only one of eight."

"Wait, there's seven more?" Chrysalis nodded. Red sighed again, and snapped his fingers. Slowly, both Red and Chrysalis began to turn into smoke. The smoke traversed the hive, and out through an opening in the Everfree. After the smoke had made it's way back to the camp, it rematerialized to the two. "Do the other hives know about this?" Chrysalis nodded again. "Well, shit..."

Red set Chrysalis down by the fire that was put out. The bushes behind the two rustled, and Pinkamena emerged. "Oh, hey you two! Where have you been? When I woke up, I saw that Red was in his own head, so I went out to do some things. But when I came back, both of you were gone! I went out to look for you, but I couldn't find either of you."

"Pinkie, how long have we been gone?"

"About an hour or two." Red sighed.

"Alright, Pinkie, help me pack up. We're going deeper into the forest. Hopefully, away from any more hives."

"You got it!"

Half an hour later, Red was sitting down, leaning on one of the many trees in the forest. "You know, instead of just sitting there, you could be doing something productive." Like what? "I don't know, anything!" Red sighed, and got up. Fine, it's been a while since I saw Jeff and the others... "Oh no..." Hey, you told me to do something productive. Red snapped his fingers, and a portal opened up in front of him. Wait, I should get Pinkamena, she isn't even supposed to be here... Red snapped his fingers again, an the portal in front of him closed. Red snapped his fingers a third time, and he began to turn into black smoke.

Five minutes later, Red and Pinkamena were standing in front of a portal. "Alright Pinks, time to head back."

"Oh, can't I stay here for a little while longer?"

"No." As soon as the word left his mouth, Red pushed Pinkamena into the portal. "Okay, that's cold. Even for you." You know she would have tried something if I didn't push her. Red stepped through the portal, and was on the other side in a matter of seconds. As soon as Red had both feet on the ground, he snapped his fingers, and the portal behind him closed.

Red looked up at the mansion in front of him. So far it's not in flames... "Well, let's see what it's like on the inside." Red walked to the entrance of the mansion, and knocked. Soon after, the door opened slightly, just enough that a single eye was seen through the opening in the door. Then, the door opened entirely, and Red was pulled into the mansion. Turning, Red saw Jane closing the door, and locking it.

Red sighed, then asked, "Okay, what the fuck is going on?"

Jane opened her mouth about to speak, but then someone behind Red beat her to it. "It's about Jeff." Red turned, and raised a brow.

"Zalgo? This is certainly a surprise. What is it that Jeff's done that's so bad that you had to come down here?"

Zalgo sighed. "Well, since you asked politely, Jeff has run off, on account of his brother."

Red raised a brow again, and asked, "Wait, what do you mean? Didn't he kill his entire family, including his younger brother?"

Zalgo shrugged. "That's what we thought as well, until Jeff brought this back." Zalgo picked up a newspaper from a blood-stained couch, and tossed it to Red. Red looked at the front which had a photo of a burning building. Red looked at the photo, then back to Zalgo.

"I don't see anything necessarily out of the ordinary."

Zalgo grabbed the newspaper, and flipped it, then handed it to Red. "Check again."

"Hm, 'unexplained string of murders.' Sounds like Jeff's work."

"An understandable conclusion, but he's been on 'vacation' since you left."

"Wait, he's been on vacation? Why?" Zalgo just shrugged. "Well, if Jeff isn't the one who's been on a murder spree, then who could it be? I mean, it's not like anyone else would be careless enough for the authorities to find the bodies."

"That's not the only thing strange about this murders. They all bled to death, after being stabbed."

"So, someone's copying Jeff?"

"Possibly, but Jeff doesn't think so. He went out some time ago, to see if he could track down whoever is the one killing people."

"With no leads? Yeah, that's something only Jeff would do. I'll see if I can't find him. Oh, and by the way, has Pinkamena gotten here yet?"

Zalgo shook his head, "Not to our knowledge."

Red sighed, "Great. Anyway, when you see her, fill her in on what's happening, and tell her that I went looking for Jeff." Red snapped his fingers, and a portal opened in front of him.

"I'll be going as well, we would have a better chance of finding him." Red opened his mouth, but Zalgo held up an open hand, "You don't have any say in the matter."

"Fine. If you find anything, let me know." Red turned to face Jane. "Jane, when you see Pinkamena, fill her in on everything." As soon as the words left Red's mouth, he stepped through the portal. Once he was on the other side, Red looked around. He was in an alley. Seconds later, Zalgo emerged from the portal, in his human form. "Okay, first things first, where was Jeff last seen?"

"Somewhere near the construction site."

"Then that's where we're heading. Come on." Red began walking, not looking to see if Zalgo was following him or not. Red sighed. Dammit, what the hell has gotten into Jeff? Could he really think that his brother's alive somehow? "You know how he is. Once he has his mind set on something, nothing is going to keep him from completing his goal." And that's what worries me. He's too stubborn for his own good. Zalgo had to move at a slow jog to keep up with Red.

"Uh, Reed, if you could slow down a bit, I would appreciate that."

Red's left eye twitched, and he stopped walking. "First off, never call me that again, or I will gut you like a fish. Second, this is Jeff we're looking for, we have to find him as fast as possible, or something could happen."

"I suppose you're right, but you could at least slow down, just a tad."

"No." As soon as Red said this, he resumed walking.

Zalgo sighed. "I swear, he's going to get himself killed one day..." Five minutes later, Red was looking at the construction site. It had been abandoned for years, and was dangerous to be near. Red looked up, and the remains of what was supposed to be a tower. Red closed his eyes, and sighed. This is going to take a while... Next Chapter: Reunion Estimated time remaining: 30 Minutes