Status: Slowly updating.

Hey there. I'm DoomedNinja, and this is my first fanfiction I'm submitting to this website, so go easy on me. This story is a follow up to Gregor and the Code of Claw, and I plan on it being over 25 chapters, at least. This story is rated "T" for mild violence and certain themes. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's still in-progress, but enjoy!


Gregor, on Ares, flew straight into a dark, wide tunnel, rager sensation bubbling up inside him. There was a shadowy figure at the end of the tunnel… waiting. Tall and elegant, with that silky hair…Luxa. He flew towards her, excited. But then it happened.

A humongous white rat lunged out of a side tunnel, and grabbed Luxa, screaming unearthly cries, and taunting Gregor. The Bane. As Gregor flew towards the Bane, the Bane gripped Ares' wing and tore it in half. Ares stumbled flat onto the ground, and Gregor fell down some sort of dark pit. Falling, he opened his mouth to scream Ares and Luxa's names, but the sound wasn't coming out. As he fell, he watched the Bane viciously tear Ares apart to his death and watch him swallow Luxa whole. Then everything started fade to black. "I'm about to die any second," he thought to himself, tears streaming down his face as he fell into darkness. Then everything finally faded to darkness.

Gregor woke up, panting and sweating. "What a horrible nightmare," Gregor thought to himself, feeling like he was about to scream. He looked around. Everything was fine. His bed was there, his dresser was still in place, and everything seemed fine. He'd left the Underland 4 months ago, and has been having strange dreams about it ever since.

Oh, the Underland. The place he dreaded to enter but also the place that he had dreaded to leave. It was haunting for him to think about how many friends and enemies he had left down there…forever. Ares. Ripred. Vikus. Temp. Lapblood. Luxa. Luxa! He had missed her the most. The Queen of the Underland who he had cared for what seemed like the most. He missed Ares a lot too.

Poor Ares. He had a life of neglect and torture. His original bond, Henry, had betrayed the humans on Gregor's first adventure. Ares then bonded to Gregor. The two were great friends. Gregor always had someone to care for. Ares. The big black bat. So innocent, yet so horribly tortured. Almost no one seemed to care for the poor furry bat. He was hated and shunned by all, and was finally killed by the Bane the last time in the Underland.

Gregor wished he could someday go back there, but he had an odd feeling that he couldn't go unless he had to. Without some weird prophecy, he wouldn't go. Plus, his mother would probably just say 'no' without thinking twice. Or would she? He had never worked up the courage to ask to go back down. But how would he signal to the Underlanders for a bat to pick him up down there? It was a strange and hard process. He was always trying to forget about the Underland. But Lizzie, his 8 year old sister, was right: You can run from your fears, but they will always come after you.

Gregor looked at the clock. It was around 7:00 in the morning, and he could hear his parents' footsteps. He also could hear Lizzie turning on the TV to her Saturday morning cartoons. Gregor got up and peered out his window. It was still dark out, but then again, it was winter. There was a fresh new coat of February snow, twinkling on the ground. Gregor sighed, and started his way to Mrs. Cormaci's for breakfast. Mrs. Cormaci was his neighbor, and sort of like a loving aunt to Gregor. On his way, he grabbed Lizzie, who was on the floor, with the TV on, doing Sudoku puzzles. Boots was probably still sleeping.

On the way out, Gregor noticed the black plastic toy bat that Boots had given him, and it was sitting on top of the TV. Memories of Ares brewed inside of his head. Gregor, hungry,
started to walk over to Mrs. Cormaci's apartment faster. The door was propped open, and the hums of various kitchen instruments could be heard yards away. The juicy aroma of bacon and eggs floated out the door. "Yum," he heard Lizzie say to herself. By the time they walked in, Mrs. Cormaci was in her kitchen, and their food was already on the table, waiting for them. Lizzie let go of Gregor's hand and ran to her chair. Gregor giggled a bit, and slowly walked to his chair as well.

"Good morning, Gregor and Lizzie," said Mrs. Cormaci, in a rather unusually cheery tone. As he plopped down into his chair, his mouth was already watering. Gregor slowly ate his breakfast, savoring every single bite. Mrs. Cormaci gave her usual morning status check with them.
"So, how's your Grandma doing?" she asked thoughtfully, like she did every morning.
"She's doing fine," Gregor responded, mouth full of bacon. She proceeded to ask a few questions to Lizzie, like how school was going, and how her friend, Jedidiah, was doing. She then turned to Gregor, who was still slowly chewing on the last strip of bacon.
"So, Underland still haunts you?" she asked, reading his mind about the recent nightmares.
"Yeah," Gregor said, still chewing the strip of bacon.

"Don't worry. Give it a few months and it'll hopefully go," she said, teasing him. But he knew it wouldn't go. It was a piece of his life that he couldn't throw out; kind of like learning your ABCs, or learning how to read. Gregor and Lizzie finished breakfast. Mrs. Cormaci sent them out with the usual "Have a good day,"

Gregor and Lizzie walked back into their apartment, and resumed what they were doing. Gregor sat on the couch and started to watch some Saturday cartoons. He wasn't paying attention, though. His eyes were glued to the "Ares toy" that was propped on top of the TV. Boots ran into the room. She must have woken up while they were at Mrs. Cormaci's. Hyper, she ran up to Gregor's lap, but then quickly jumped back down and brung out the little tin of colorful plastic frogs.

Memories of the jungle flashed through his mind….those horrible jewel-like, colorful poison frogs. They had nearly killed Boots, and the whole party was frozen in fear when the frogs had come. It was a frightening scene. Boots, happy and giggling, was sitting on top of a rock that was covered with hundreds of tiny poison frogs, waiting to kill her. Gregor shook the idea out of his mind. Boots was singing some strange Underland nursery rhyme about bats and bacon as she propped the frogs on the edge of the sofa Gregor was sitting on.
"Look Gregor! Fwogs!" she exclaimed, proud. She had recently learned how to say Gregor's name. Gregor laughed a little, and went up to see if she knew the colors. She happily shouted the colors.
"Green! Blue! Yellow!" She started to say, pointing at the frogs, down the line.
After they were done, she continued to play with the frogs. Gregor's mom walked in and played a little with Boots.

Gregor, half asleep, just continued watching TV, but his eyes were still glued to the plastic bat. Lizzie was quietly doing more Sudoku puzzles, minding her own business. Gregor sighed and just sat there on the couch, staring at the little toy bat.

The day went on. Gregor was bored on Saturdays nowadays because he didn't have much to do. He spent much of the night doing math drills with Lizzie.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Gregor's dad, who had just finished doing the laundry, ran into the living room and had a note in his hand. It was rolled up and tied with a red ribbon. It could only mean one thing.

"Gregor," his dad said panting. "You have a letter."