Ranger Rotten's den was a lot more lively than the last time I was in it. Used to be just a big dark abandoned factory, full of roadkill shuffling around and Ranger Rotten sitting on his throne made of bones, cackling away with his rictus grin in the gloom.

But Dr. Greenjeans had gotten all the factory equipment hooked up again and there were cables and generators and consoles with flashing lights and big glass tanks full of bubbling green goo.

Poor @Clade didn't get the reception he was hoping for. I saw that coming but didn't have the heart to tell him. Ranger Rotten doesn't forgive anybody. Or pay them back. Least not in the way you expect. They had Clade set up in a dunk-a-bum chair right over the biggest tank of green goo, and Ranger Rotten's roadkill minions were throwing garbage at the target.

Me, I knew better than to announce myself, and passed myself off as one of Clade's crew of losers with a hoodie up over my head. I wandered around the edges of the big room, discretely dumping out the backpack filled with inoculated wood chips that the Weasel Creek Kids gave me.

"Yooooooo therrrrrrrrrre!" Ranger Rotten hissed from his throne. "In the hooooodie!"

I looked around to see if he meant anybody else.

"Yoooooo sssssssmellllll freshhhhhhhly familarrrrrrr..... let'ssssssseeeee your faccccccce..."

I shook out the rest of the wood chips and bolted for the door.

KERSPLASH!!!!

Down went Clade on my way out.

Yeah @Scaramouche one of my oldest friends joined the Weasel Creek Kids. We grew up together under the bridge, but even when we were little kids those Timberjacks rubbed me the wrong way. Guess I thought they figured they were better than everybody else.

So @Samantha Spruce and I took different paths. She was the goody goody and I was the bad girl, but we stayed super close. Till I made one too many bad decisions and now I'm paying for it.

Which is why when she asked if I could help the Weasel Creek Kids get into Ranger Rotten's den, well, I'd still do anything for Sam.

It's the Weasel Creek Kids who they really should be talking to. They're not affiliated with any side -- not Ranger Rotten, not Dr. Greejeans. The Weasel Creek Kids look out for their own, and they know EVERYTHING that goes down in the woods. Stuff nobody else knows...

Dr. Greenjeans used to run with Ranger Rotten. Shakedown rackets on the forest folk. I know because I was an "associate" back then, and hung out at Ranger Rotten's den with all the other forest lowlifes. Dr. Greenjeans used to come over all the time, and they'd stay up all night planning schemes.

I've let the psycops know I'm willing to testify. Maybe put me in a psychic relocation program.

If it hadn't been for Ranger Rotten, I never would have ended up at this crummy school. He set me up to take the fall on one of his schemes that went bad.

I'm not looking to make friends. Just here to do my time.