Attempt to reach her phone

Velvet Vixen twists at the waist, groaning as the blood rushes to her head. Her eyes flick around desperately—

—and then she sees it.

Her phone. Lying in the brush, just a few feet away. Flashlight beside it, still dimly glowing.

“Okay,” she mutters through gritted teeth. “Physics, don’t fail me now.”

She begins to swing.

Back and forth. Back and forth.

Her cape flutters. Her ropes creak. Leaves rustle beneath her as she picks up momentum.

Just a little more—

“Almost… there…”

Her fingers brush the edge of the leaves near her phone.

Closer.

Further.

Just—

SNATCH.

A gnarled branch shoots from the ground like a snake, curling around her phone and flashlight with unsettling precision.

“HEY! No, no—bad tree!”

The branch lifts them both high above her, presenting them to the others.

“UNDECLARED TECHNOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS,” the monocled maple announces, as if reading a court verdict.

“SUSPICIOUSLY SHINY!”

“LOOKS LIKE IT STORES SPELLS!”

“That’s a flashlight!”

The items are passed from limb to limb, tree to tree, disappearing into the canopy like a bizarre game of arborist keep-away.

Velvet Vixen thrashes harder in her ropes, swinging uselessly as her lifeline vanishes.

“I need those! That’s evidence!”

“Too late,” says the mossy-bearded one with a deep sigh. “They’ve entered the Vault of Hollowed Bark. We only open it for full moons, peace treaties, or dramatic plot twists.”

“NOW BACK TO THE INSPECTION!”

A dozen pairs of bark-carved eyes fix on her.

Branches begin circling again—lower this time. One pokes her glove. Another tests the seam of her corset.

Velvet Vixen gasps, squirming.

“You better not touch the—HEY!”

“IT’S FOR SECURITY PURPOSES.”

“IN CASE OF SMUGGLED MYSTIC EMBELLISHMENTS!”

The trees close in.