Sheriff Andrews finally stops to confront a hitchhiker on the highway, while Swamp Thing washes from the brush. The sheriff says that hitchhiking is against the law, handcuffs him, and shoves in the back of the cruiser. He takes the hitchhiker to Arcane's lab and locks him up with other prisoners, while Jim watches from the shadows. Arcane is mass-producing mutants and says that they're going to a work camp in Mozambique. Jim slips and makes a noise, and then runs. Arcane sends Andrews after him before he brings Swamp Thing.
Jim runs into the swamp and calls to his friend. A truck drives through with a shipment of mutants, and Swamp Thing stops the driver, tosses him out, and frees the prisoners.
Andrews drives to the Kipp house and waits for Jim. When the boy arrives, he sees Andrews and runs to a nearby construction site . The sheriff drives after him, and Jim finds a pay phone and makes a collect call to his half-brother Will. Will figures that Jim is making things up again, and Jim tells him that Tressa is out of town. Andrews takes the phone and hangs it up.
At the lab, Andrews tells Arcane that he has Jim. Arcane refuses to mutate Jim or kill him, and figures that he'll need the boy as insurance. They'll put Jim in the South American shipment that leaves at midnight the next night, and Arcane's people will take care of him from there. As for Tressa, Arcane tells Andrews not to tell Tressa anything yet.
The next afternoon, Will arrives at the Kipp house and the housekeeper, Mrs. Blake, greets him. She explains that she reached Tressa and she's on her way back, and Will goes out to the swamp to look for Jim. Once Will leaves, Mrs. Blake calls Andrews. As night falls, Andrews arrives at the house and Mrs. Blake tells him everything she knows. Once she goes inside, Andrews tears up his notes and drives off.
Swamp Thing confronts Will, who easily disarms him when the teenager grabs a stick and swings it. The creature then asks if Will is all right and helps him up. Will realizes that Swamp Thing is the "friend" that Jim has described to him, and Jim has told Swamp Thing that Will doesn't get along well with Tressa. The teenager says that Tressa doesn't get along well with him, but figures that they should focus on Jim. He explains about the phone call and Swamp Thing tells Will to stay out of it. Will refuses to abandon his brother, but Swamp Thing tells him that he doesn't have a choice and leaves.
At the trucking company, Arcane tells the driver to make sure that Jim makes it to South America. Arcane then tells Andrews to handle the rest of it. Andrews says that he'll use Toad Boy's body.
Will follows Swamp Thing, who finally explains that Jim learned of a transformation factory in the swamp. He agrees to let Will help him find Jim and continues on.
Andrew dumps Toad Boy's body underneath an abandoned car in the swamp. He pours gasoline on the car and sets it on fire, and once he drives away the car blows up.
Swamp Thing and Will approach the factory and Swamp Thing breaks down the door. Arcane's guard throws Swamp Thing through an office window, and Will jumps on the guard's back. Recovering, Swamp Thing braces himself and easily defeats the guard, Will points out that there's nothing that shows them that Jim was there, and Swamp Thing destroys the equipment.
The next morning, Will returns to the house and finds Tressa there with Arcane, Obo, Andrews, and Mrs. Blake. Andrews has told Tressa that Jim died in a car accident, and Tressa says that her husband will be there. Will explains that he's been out looking for Jim, and Tressa thanks Will for coming.
Later, Will goes out into the swamp and joins Swamp Thing. He tells Will that Tressa needs him to be there for her, and Will promises that he'll be there to help Swamp Thing and figure out what happened to Jim. Swamp Thing says that he's been fighting the battle for a long time and plans to get his revenge.
In the truck, Jim peers out of his cage.
Written by Gadfly on Jul 5, 2017