Furious, Varian draws his sword and charges at Hector. But one of the binturongs slaps it out of his hands, and the other knocks him down to the ground and stands over him.
"You guys couldn't take a hint, now I gotta finish you," Hector says with irritation.
"Let her go, Hector!" Adira says, appearing on the scene.
"Heh," Hector says with a smirk. He throws Cassandra down and she slides across the ground, unconscious.
"Cassandra!" Varian shouts. With the binturongs having turned their attention to Adira, he rushes to her side and cradles her head in his hands.
Adira and Hector stare at each other intensely, and begin to circle. Varian watches them nervously, unsure whether he should attempt to get Cassandra out of here to safety or stay and try to help Adira. But he realizes he won't be much help at all once he sees the deadly sword that Hector reveals and points at Adira.
In the distance, Rapunzel awakens and notices the faceoff. "Adira!" She shouts worriedly.
"And just so we won't be interrupted..." Hector slices a large tree root, and it falls down with a heavy thud! in between him and Adira, and the campsite. His binturongs climb on top of the root to keep watch and make sure no one from the camp tries to come help. "Now then..." He charges at Adira, but she simply steps out of the way like she did when Rapunzel and Cassandra first met her. He continues to attack her, but she easily evades every blow.
Finally, Hector manages to land a punch in Adira's face. But instead of falling to the ground, she does a backflip and lands on her feet unharmed. She kicks at Hector, sending him backwards. But he does the same and laughs. She finally draws her sword as he runs up a root, and leaps down towards her. Their swords clash and clank together as they continue to fight.
"It's sad to see the once mighty Adira waste her life on a fool's dream," Hector says.
"Talk about wasting lives, you and the Brothers spent yours hiding something no one was even looking for!" Adira shouts.
"The moonstone has the power to destroy the world. Keeping its existence secret was the king's wish, and to do anything otherwise is treason!"
Their fight continues, and at one point Adira manages to toss Hector over her shoulder and knock him to the ground. "I've seen the Sundrop's power firsthand, Hector," she tells him. "And so will you when we return to the Dark Kingdom." She offers him a hand to help him up, but he doesn't accept her help.
"That'll never happen!" He shouts, grabbing her hand with both of his and throwing her with all his might against a tree root. She slumps to the ground in a heap, unconscious. "I'm sorry it came to this, sister."
Having dealt with Adira, Hector turns Varian's way. "Now to make sure you don't get in the way." He draws his sword.
"W-Wait, no!" Varian pleads, standing in front of Cassandra protectively as Hector stomps closer. "You can't do this!"
"And why not?" Hector says, smirking as he aims his sword at Varian.
"You're... you're a member of the Brotherhood, right?" Varian asks. "Well, so was my father... Quirin."
To Varian's relief, this actually causes Hector to pause in surprise. "You're Quirin's kid?"
"Yes! And right now, he's in trouble. I need to get back to him so I can help him!"
For a moment, Hector seems conflicted. He lowers his sword, and stares at Varian for a long moment. Finally, without saying another word, he spins around and begins to head toward the camp instead.
Varian watches Hector walk away, and then turns his attention back to Cassandra. "Come on Cass, please! You've gotta wake up!" He shakes her gently, until her eyes finally flutter open. He sighs with relief, stroking her face as she groans.
"Varian? Wha... What happened?" She asks. He realizes his hand is still on her face, and he jerks it back embarrassedly
"No time to explain," Varian replies as he helps her stand and picks up his sword. "Hector is about to attack the others!"
Cassandra glances around, noticing the still-unconscious Adira. She stares in the direction of the campsite determinedly and says, "Come on! I think I know another way around."
"And now, for the so-called Sundrop..." Hector says, dropping down from the root and landing in front of the rest of the group. Eugene holds Rapunzel close to him protectively as Hector raises his sword.
"Leave her alone!" Cassandra shouts. Everyone turns to see her and Varian standing courageously, their swords at the ready.
"Brave children," Hector says. "Stupid, but brave."
"You want the Sundrop? You gotta go through us first!" Cassandra shouts at Hector.
"'Kay," he replies with a smile, not worried.
The two of them rush at Hector with every bit of their strength, Cassandra aiming high and Varian aiming low. But Hector ducks Cassandra's attack, and leaps over Varian's. Cass attempts to double back, but with a well-placed kick Hector sends Varian crashing into Cass, causing them both to drop their swords.
"You wanna try that again?" Hector taunts. "Well, come on!"
Both of them reach for their swords at the same time, but Hector kicks the weapons away with an amused chuckle. His sword still aimed in their direction, all they can do is lie on the ground and stare up at him.
"No!" Rapunzel begins to rush forward in defense of her friends, but Hector's protective binturongs growl out a warning. Even Ruddiger repeatedly attempts to leap past them to reach Varian, but the binturongs block his path every time.
"Why are you doing this?" Varian shouts at Hector, fury burning in his eyes. "I told you who I am! I thought that meant something to you."
Once again, Hector pauses. Varying emotions cloud his eyes, until he squeezes them shut. But once he reopens them, there is a rage behind them unlike anything Varian has ever witnessed. "Quirin betrayed the Brotherhood! He means nothing to me, and neither do you!"
"He obviously means something to you, otherwise you would've already hurt him," Cassandra remarks.
Hector fiercely stomps on Cassandra's hand, causing her to yelp. "I will not allow some irascible lady-in-waiting to tell me how I feel!"
"Hey, we're co-ladies-in-waiting!" Varian says defensively.
"Not the time, kid!" Cassandra groans.
Hector sneers. "Alright then, co-ladies-in-waiting..." He digs his heel farther into Cassandra's hand, and leans down to look her directly in the eyes. "What are you waiting for?"
"Funny you should ask," Cassandra replies angrily, doing her best to ignore the pain in her hand. Using her other hand, she grabs a handful of dirt and flings it into Hector's eyes. He jumps back, his vision obscured, and while he's distracted Cassandra charges. She shoves him, and keeps shoving him, until he falls over the cliff.
Having seen what she did to their master, the binturongs rush at her. "Cassandra!" Rapunzel warns.
Remembering the way Adira fought Hector, an idea comes to Varian's mind. "Backflip!" He yells out, the time being too short for him to explain further.
But Cassandra seems to understand. She sees the binturongs coming at her, and reacts quickly. She does a backflip, and the binturongs tumble over the cliff just like Hector. Cassandra stands at the edge and stares down after them, breathing heavily, as everyone else watch on in amazement.
"You... You did it," Varian says in awe.
"We did it," Cassandra corrects him with a grin. She places a grateful hand on his shoulder, but almost immediately retracts it uncomfortably. Recalling their earlier conversation, he rubs his arm awkwardly as she glances away.
Rapunzel and Adira join Varian and Cass at the edge of the cliff, when they all hear a low rumbling sound.
"You hear that?" Rapunzel asks worriedly as the sound gets louder.
"Yeah, in my experience, growing rumbles never lead to good things," Eugene says.
The canyon below begins to glow an eerie green as a huge tangle of glowing green vines rises in front of them and opens to reveal Hector tied up amongst them, holding a strange spear. He lets out an enraged growl, his eyes glowing white. "All who enter the Great Tree of Zhan Tiri shall be destroyed!" He shouts, his voice distorted. The vines around him reach out like tentacles, and everyone begins to run as they attack. But before long, the vines have circled around them.
"What is happening?!" Varian yells fearfully.
"The tree! It's alive!" Rapunzel shouts in horror.
"Do you remember when being chased by a rhino was the weirdest thing we had to do this weekend?!" Eugene says.
One of the vines reaches out for Eugene, but Lance cuts it with his sword. Both of them chop at the vines, but the more they slice off the more seem to attack.
As Cassandra faces off with a vine, another one is about to sneak up behind her. "Cass, watch out!" Varian shouts, unable to do anything more as a vine rushes at him.
Rapunzel hears his warning and reacts. She lets down her hair, lassos it around Cassandra, and pulls her out of danger. "Gotta watch that flank," Rapunzel says with a smirk.
Adira runs through the group, and slices through the vine that is attacking Varian. She then rushes up to the center of the vines where Hector is, and kicks the spear out of his hand. It stabs into one of the vines, decaying it into black dust, and Cassandra takes notice.
Hector knocks Adira backward, and she falls back to the ground and lands on her feet. She watches as more vines rise and attempt to rush at her, but Rapunzel wraps her hair around them and forces them to stay back. But more and more vines keep coming, and eventually wrap up all of Rapunzel's friends. Exhausted, she leans against a tree stump and glances around at her friends helplessly.
Then she realizes she isn't helpless. There is one thing, one dangerous thing, she still can do. She wraps her hair around the large mass of vines in the center, and Varian understands what she is about to do.
"Rapunzel, no!" Varian shouts, unable to reach the princess as the vines hold him and the others upside-down.
"Raps, wait!" Cassandra yells, also recognizing what the princess is doing. "You can't do that incantation again!"
Rapunzel faces her, full of determination. "I don't have a choice, guys."
"Please, Raps. That spear can kill it!" Cassandra tells her. "Let me try and grab it. Trust me!"
Varian wants so badly to agree with Cassandra and convince Rapunzel to use the spear instead, but... there is still a part of him that believes this incantation may be the answer to freeing his father. The scientist in him wants to see Rapunzel do it again, just so he can know for sure. But he still fears for her life if she does say it again, so he doesn't say a word.
Rapunzel glances back and forth between Cassandra, and the mess of vines that are holding her friends hostage. The vines tighten, causing them to scream out.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel shouts worriedly. She turns back to Cassandra and says, "I have to do this."
"No!" Cassandra shouts, still attempting to reach the spear.
But Rapunzel takes in a deep breath. She closes her eyes tightly, and after a moment's hesitation she begins to recite:
"Wither and decay
End this destiny
Break these earthly chains
And set the spirit free."