Fire

**"Fire"** is the ninth episode in the second season of *The Hollow*.

## Overview

Vanessa's confession upsets her friends. Determined to make it up to them, she sneaks off on her own to find the other team.

## Plot

Nisha looks through an eyepiece and sees a pig. The pig turns, notices her, and fearfully runs away. She fires the weapon and obliterates the pig's brick house. Her, Tyler, and Iris celebrate their victory.

Kai and Vanessa are flying. They see the explosion in the distance and head toward it.

Kai and Vanessa perch in a nearby tree and watch the team from above. They quickly realise the team has a clear path to victory now. They watch as Nisha hands the gun to Iris. Kai wants go and confront them, but Vanessa stops him. Iris fires the weapon and creates a large hole in a mountain. The force of the weapon pushes her back into a tree. They walk away as Kai and Vanessa leave to tell the others.

On their way back to the group, Kai tries again to convince Vanessa to tell the others. He believes they'll be understanding and that she'll feel better once she tells them.

Reeve doesn't think they'll ever find the other team in time. Mira talks about how similar their digital selves are to their real selves. Reeve is beginning to think they should just let the game end and let themselves disappear. Adam says it sounds simpler, too. Saying real selves will still keep living. Mira asks if Skeet was just code to him.

The game team comes across an older lady who offers them an apple. They turn her down and start to walk away. She starts cackling and turns into a witch. She challenges them to get the potion from her. She cracks the ground underneath them and flies into the air to get away and possibly show that she is 'superior' to the trio. They charge at her with the weapon.

Mira tells Reeve that whatever they are, they are self-aware and that's worth something. Adam agrees, but doesn't know what they'll do if Weirdy doesn't manage to get them offline. He doesn't want to live as digital shadows in a digital world. Mira's upset that they're ready to give up. Mira says the real Adam wouldn't give up. They all start to argue, but they're joined by Kai and Vanessa. They continue to argue until Vanessa finally confesses that they're stuck there because of her. She tells them what she told Kai about her cheating. That her parents had not believed in her, and she had a lot to prove. She continues to tell them that she wanted to impress Reeve and winning was all that used mattered to her, so she cheated.

As Vanessa talks about the benefits she got from cheating, we see flashbacks to her time as a player in the game with Skeet and Reeve.

Vanessa apologizes to the others. But Mira is angry that Vanessa is the reason they're trapped there. She doesn't think they can trust her anymore. Reeve gets angry and walks off, followed by Mira and Adam. Kai tries to stop them, but Vanessa tells him they're right. She decides to go off on her own to give them space. Kai tells her he thinks she did the right thing and they'll cool down eventually. He runs to catch up with them.

Vanessa sees an explosion in the distance and goes toward it.

Reeve wants to let the game team win. He says he's tired of fighting. Adam agrees. They're interrupted by a creature, who says they'll have to give him their first child if they can't solve the riddle of his first name. They quickly say Rumpelstiltskin and he leaves. Kai then defends Vanessa again to the group, saying they're not exactly working as the best team. They then realize Vanessa's not with them.

Vanessa finds the Old Lady buried underneath her house. She then hears a crackling noise above her and hides underneath the rubble. Vanessa finds out that Nisha was flying above her and follows her to her other teammates. The game team found the portal to the next level. They remove the vines blocking the way and use the Old Lady's potion to activate the portal. Nisha and Iris them jump through. But Vanessa stops Tyler before he can jump through with the weapon and tries to take it from him.

The others search for Vanessa.

Tyler uses his powers to make Vanessa let him go, then fires the weapon to keep himself from hitting the ground. He fires it again to launch himself into the portal. Vanessa is thrown back by the green flames.

The others worry about Vanessa and Kai takes off to find her.

Vanessa wakes up and jumps through the portal to follow the other team. It closes behind her. Just then, Kai and the others arrive and see where the portal was open. They notice the surrounding area is on fire and the fire is spreading. The animals run to find safety. Kai quickly realizes he can't use his powers to control the flames. Reeve and Adam combine their powers to move branches into the river to redirect the water while Mira helps lead animals to safety.

Mira frees one of the three pigs just as the area around her is covered in fire. She calls for help and Kai sees that she's trapped with the pigs. He can't get over the flames with his powers. They finally get the water flow blocked off so it flows into the woods and puts out the fire. Then they find Mira and the pigs under some fallen trees. Adam realizes they made a choice. Whether or not it's real, the world is real to them, which is why they fought so hard to save it. He sends the pigs to be free. Behind him, they meet the wolf and flee. They all agree they've found value in their world and their lives.

Suddenly, a portal opens above them and Weird Guy drops out. He tells them he's had some difficulty getting them offline. He also mentions that the game team has made it to the final level, so they must stop them from winning. He also tells them Vanessa followed the team to the final level. She's slowing them down, but will not be able to hold them off forever. Weirdy tells them that if they can buy him some time, he'll buy them their lives. He opens up a portal and they jump through.

## Characters

In order of appearance:

* Nisha, Iris, and Tyler
* Vanessa
* Kai
* Adam
* Reeve
* Mira
* Old Lady
* Skeet (flashback)
* Benjamin and Benjamini (flashback)
* Ice monster (flashback)
* Pixies
* Rumpelstiltskin
* The Weird Guy

## Cast

* Ashleigh Ball as Mira
* Connor Parnall as Kai
* Adrian Petriw as Adam
* Mark Hildreth as The Weird Guy
* Diana Kaarina as Vanessa & Pixie #2
* Alex Barima as Reeve

*Additional Voices By*

* Ian James Corlett as Benjamin
* Michael Daingerfield as Benjamini
* Kazumi Evans as Nisha
* Jesse Moss as Old Lady & Pixie #1
* Sam Vincent as Tyler & Gnarled Imp
* Khamisa Wilsher as Iris

## Trivia

* Vanessa discovers the Old Lady crushed under her house with her red stockings protruding out from the debris. This is a reference to *The Wizard of Oz*.

## External Links

 **Season 2** | "Home" • "Hollow Games" • "The Return" • "Puzzled" • "Alchemy" • "Dead End" • "Unbalanced" • "Fang" • "**Fire**" • "Race"