"He's right!"  Mina shouted, but she gripped Tia and pulled her back when the crossbow-toting girl made as though to move forward.  "Not<span style="font-style: italic">you</span>, babe, you're important."  She hurried forward, stomping at the ground as she did so.  With one hand she was pulling free the breathing tube at her waist; with the other she was gesturing at Lucille.  "Come on, Janessa's got him.  You wanna be a Retriever or not?  Prove it!"  She stuffed her breathing tube into her mouth and bit down on it, then focused on the Gulper Flower and started stomping even harder.<br/><br/>Lucille nodded, reaching for her own breathing tube and moving forward, her face suddenly flushed with excitement.  Not only was she not hurt by Zeref's actions, but she seemed to have completely missed his regretful looks.  This was what she had been waiting for... a chance to show she was a good Retriever.  All she had to do was get herself eaten alive.<br/><br/>Marie was still struggling frantically, and was still making muffled sounds as she slid into the plant more and more.  By now only her jerking feet remained unswallowed, but she wasn't out of air or weakening yet.  That would come later... if the others didn't succeed in rescuing her.  As it was, her small, shapely form was bulging out the slim, stretchy stem of the plant, everything from her head to her knees easily visible.  Her arms were crushed to her sides, and her breasts were squashed downward toward her belly from the downward pressure.  She had managed to tilt her head back at least, allowing her to breathe what air was inside the stem and digestion pod below... but that would only last for so long...<br/><br/>Onyx and Zeena were taking turns stabbing and slashing at the plant's stem, drawing their blades down the base of the stem and over the top of the pod to form a vertical cut.  Despite the plant's toughness and stretchiness, they seemed to be making progress with their bone and stone knives.  The plant was jerking as though it could feel pain from the attacks, but it couldn't do anything more than try to dodge in place.  Marie might be okay... might.<br/><br/>Janessa finally did let go of Zeref's arm, though she did so only after pushing down his arm with the bow.  "No point, Cad, no point, really... don't you waste your arrows.  Just stay back as you're supposed to... hey!"  Janessa hurried to block Ted's advance as he dragged Rachel forward in his effort to get involved.  "Stay back, breeder... let us girls handle it."<br/><br/>Ted glared at her, but he did stop moving forward, if only because now both of them were pushing and pulling him away from the plant.  His hand, clutching his club, was shaking.  He really wanted to help... he had his flaws, and probably just wanted to help so he could beat something, but he did want to help...<br/><br/>Marie had slid completely into the stem now, and her tightly-squeezed form was squirming inside it... not exactly in an unpleasant way to watch, but surely now wasn't a time for Zeref to get excited... though as Ted watched, his sudden stupid grin and his nude body's reaction suggested he had no such restraint.  Mina and Lucille were jumping and hopping in place, also a rather interesting sight, each of them biting down on breathing tubes and staring intently at the predatory plant.<br/><br/>"Got a hole," Onyx hissed.<br/><br/>Everyone glanced at her.  Everyone was distracted for a moment as they saw she was right... that it would probably be easy enough to extricate Marie safely soon enough.<br/><br/>In that moment, Zeref felt eyes on him... staring at the back of his head...