Disclaimer: I do not own the Croods or anything within the franchise.

Grug's Big Idea

"Back to the cave, everyone, let's go!" Ugga ushered the rest of the family and Guy towards the cave that Grug had found when they first arrived at the mountain. They all started scrambling back there but then they noticed Grug wasn't moving. "Grug, we have to go. We have to get back to that cave. We'll die if we stay here."

Grug snapped out of his trance. They were almost to Tomorrow but they didn't make it. 'The End' made sure of that. "Right, let's go." Guy and the Croods ran back to the other side of the mountain and hid away in the cave just as another earthquake occurred. Grug stayed at the entrance of the cave to see the world be utterly destroyed by 'The End'. Not able to watch that anymore, he went inside and saw his family and Guy huddled up around a torch Guy had lit so the cave didn't seem so dark.

Guy was situated between Thunk and Eep with Belt sitting on his lap. "Well, this is cozy. Never hid out in a cave before." He said to attempt to lighten the mood.

"I can't believe it. We walked all the way here to get to Tomorrow and we're back where we started. Stuck in a cave." Gran grumbled.

"And Douglas is out there somewhere too." Thunk added, worried that his new pet might be stuck somewhere and afraid like they were but alone. Belt gurgled in agreement, he had not known the pet for very long but he was the only other pet around so he felt some kind of kinship to the crocodog.

Eep bit her lower lip. Of all the members in her family, she was the one that wanted to go to Tomorrow the most besides Guy. She wanted to see this world Guy told her family of. Her old life wasn't all that great but now that she's been out in the world and seen so much she wanted to get to Tomorrow, where Guy said everything was better, where the tiger flew. "We can't stay here. We have to find a way to get to Tomorrow." She said.

Gran looked her granddaughter in the eye. "Just how are we supposed to do that, Eep? The way there was destroyed and there's nothing here that can get us there!"

"Mom!" Ugga admonished her mother. Sandy, who was in her lap, didn't like the sharp tone and buried her face in Ugga's shoulder.

"Well, it's true! Just look at that out there!" Gran pointed to the cave entrance. "There's nothing there for us to use and if we set foot out there, we'll die!"

"No," Eep denied it. "There has to be a way." She looked to Guy. "Guy, your ideas have helped us all the way here. We need just one more to reach Tomorrow. Have any?" If anybody could get an idea to help them, it would be Guy.

Guy saw her plead in Eep's eyes and looked down at Belt for inspiration. When nothing came from that, he looked at the rest of the family and their scared but hopeful faces. Come on, Guy, think. Then an earthquake shook the land again and rocks started to fall and sounds of animal screams reached their ears. Eep grabbed onto Guy for safety just as Sandy did with Ugga while Gran and Thunk shielded their heads with their arms. When the ground stopped shaking, everyone lowered their guard.

Guy opened his eyes and searched his brain for an idea. Nothing came. If the earthquake hadn't made him lose his focus then he might have had one but he doesn't now. "I'm sorry but I don't have one. Not right now but maybe I'll have one soon."

The Croods lost their hope but accepted the fact that he tried. They sat there for minutes in silent wait for 'The End' to attack them in their cave. A noise made Sandy twitch, her ears alert. Belt obviously heard it too because of his animal senses because he reacted the same way Sandy did.

Ugga looked at her young daughter as the four year old became active. "Sandy, what is it?" Sandy got out of Ugga's lap and pounced forward past Eep and Guy to another part of the cave. The little cavegirl growled and stood her ground. Belt now knew what was coming but before he could warn Sandy, what made Sandy alert appeared. Chunky came out from the shadows and a growl emerged from his chest. Just as Sandy was going to attack the colorful cat, Eep reached out and grabbed her sister as she thrashed, trying to attack the cat.

Chunky advanced as the Croods and Guy huddled even closer together while Grug took the front and defended his family with the torch. The fire in front of him didn't faze Chunky and the cat creature puffed out the flame. All was dark then another earthquake started and the torch was quickly relit. Now afraid himself, Chunky stopped his attack on the Croods and huddled together with them.

"He's so soft." Thunk said about Chunky's fur as he stroked the fur along with Grug, Guy, and Eep. Grug thought while he stroke the fur. He had to figure out how to get his family away from 'The End' and soon. Something outside caught Grug's eye and he got up to go see. The Croods patriarch peered outside and saw the pirahnakeets that had attacked them the first night out of the cave nestled on the ground, waiting for the next time to move. Far away, Grug could still see the tar pits he and Guy escaped from along with some bones. A thought about the fire crossed his mind and he observed the fire that kept the family's fears at bay. Wait a minute…

Thoughts swirled around in Grug's head and they all came together to make… an idea! Grug smiled and returned to his family. When they saw the smile on his face, they seemed confused. "I've got an idea." He said to them. His earlier ideas weren't all that good, well, most of them weren't, and some of them were actually not bad but needed a few tweaks. So they were unsure if they wanted to know what he came up with next.

To Grug's joy, they approved of this one. Thunk, Gran, and Sandy broke apart a set of bones so they could use the ones Grug needed. Ugga used a broken tree to cover the bones in tar. Eep and Guy roared yelled, and thrashed, making a big racket to attract the pirahnakeets. Attracted to Eep and Guy's bait, the red birds flew up and started to chase them, who had ran in the direction of the family. The teens climbed on Chunky's back and rode him to the others, Eep grabbing a large tree branch and holding it up so the flying fire could get caught in it. Grug saw the trio coming with the pirahnakeets flying after them. It was time.

"Everyone on! Go!" Thunk, Ugga, Gran, Sandy, Belt, and Grug got in the giant rib cage, leaving room for the other three to slip in when they came. "Get ready!" Belt returned to Guy's waist and held on tight as everyone braced themselves for the oncoming birds. The birds homed in on the tar-covered rib cage.

It worked, the birds got stuck in the tar when they realized they couldn't touch the Croods because of the fire and were too close to the tar to not get caught in it. Combined with all their strength together, the birds lifted the rib cage transport off the ground. Using the fire, Grug directed the birds to go to the mountain and in the direction of Tomorrow.

Eep saw the birds at work and noticed Tomorrow getting closer. "It worked? Dad, it worked! Your idea really worked!" She told her father excitedly.

Gran was surprised as well. "Call me a warthog's grandmother."

The pirahnakeets flew the transport over the path between the parts of the mountain. The Croods were on their way. Suddenly, Thunk heard a familiar sound. He looked down at the ground and saw Douglas with the shell Thunk used. "Douglas?" As he got another look at the crocodog, he knew. "Douglas!"

Ugga looked at her son. "What is it, Thunk?"

"It's Douglas!" He said, pointing to the animal in question. "We have to save him!" Thunk prepared to get off to go get him and Grug saw that too.

"No, Thunk, stay! I'll get him." Grug jumped off the transport and ran back to grab Douglas. "Thunk! Head's up!" He threw Douglas onto the transport and into Thunk's arms. Happy to have his pet back, Thunk hugged him. With his son's need satisfied, Grug ran back to catch up to the transport when he heard a whimper and he turned around to see the white liyote that lived in the desert where the Croods lived before, was scared and frozen in place.

"The other animals! We have to save them too." Guy said upon seeing the liyote. "Grug, get him!" As much as Grug wanted to take time to think about it, there wasn't time so he grabbed the animal and tossed the animal onto the transport, accidentally at Gran. The liyote was so scared that he hung onto Gran despite her protests and telling him to get off of her.

Ugga looked up and behind Grug. "Grug!" She pointed behind him. Grug saw this and looked behind him. The ground was exploding apart and it was getting closer to them. Knowing there wasn't much time left, Grug continued to catch up to the transport and on his way he saw the same trip gerbils from the desert as well. Not needing to be told, Grug swooped them up by the conjoined tail and tossed them onto the transport where they also landed on Gran.

Looking ahead on the path, Grug saw no more animals that needed to be picked up and finally decided to get back on the transport. The transport got stuck on a rock and Grug ran up to get it unstuck. He did that and climbed back on.

"Croods!" Guy exclaimed. They looked back at 'The End' and saw it was getting closer.

Grug grabbed onto Ugga and Sandy and pulled them close since they were right next to him. "Everyone hold on!" Chunky dug his claws into the rib cage, Thunk held Douglas close, Belt wrapped around Guy's waist tighter, Gran finally gave in and gripped the liyote and the trip gerbils that were clinging to her, and both Guy and Eep held tight onto each other. 'The End' grew closer. It was getting nearer.

Boom!

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After a while, Grug finally opened his eyes. He did a quick head count and made sure to include the animals they had picked up. They were all there. The birds were still flying the rib cage but it was dark all around. "Everyone okay?"

Everyone else opened their eyes and released their firm grips on each other. Guy and Eep saw what they were doing to each other and hastily removed their contact from each other while also looking a little pink. Belt smiled mischievously and let out a little laugh.

"We're fine, Grug." Ugga stated.

"Douglas and I are good too."

"Someone get these animals off of me."

"We're good too, Dad."

A purr from Chunky and squeaks from the liyote and the trip gerbils told the father that they were okay too.

"Good." Everyone got a good look at what was around them. Guy could tell it was a kind of smoke. Then Sandy looked past Ugga and Chunky and saw something.

"Dada!" She cried out happily, pointing in the direction. Surprised by Sandy's first word, everyone else looked at her before Grug saw what she was pointing at.

"Look out!" The others turned and saw land coming closer and closer to them.

The birds finally couldn't fly anymore with the weight underneath them and the transport crashed onto the ground. A bit of the rib cage rolling caused the riders to spill out and fumble.

"Still alive!" Gran yelled out happily as she stopped rolling. The liyote and the trip gerbils pounced on her and started hugging her in relief of being safe.

Eep felt the ground beneath her. "We made it! We made it to Tomorrow!"

Guy laughed. "Yeah, I guess we did!" Belt climbed up to Guy's shoulders and hugged his neck.

Grug looked back where they came from and smiled in satisfaction. He turned to Chunky. "Okay, you can go now. Go on, you made it here. You can leave." Instead, Chunky nuzzled up to Grug and licked him. "Guess you want to stay for a while?" Chunky smiled and sat his rear end down next to Grug. "I'll take that as a yes."

Then Thunk ran up to Grug, holding Douglas. "Dad, I know you don't really like new ideas but can I keep Douglas? I promise I'll take good care of him." Douglas gave Thunk a big lick on the cheek.

The father nodded. "Yeah, you can keep him. Every boy's got to have a pet." He patted Douglas on the head, as long as his family was happy so was he.

Ugga and Sandy, who had taken her usual stance on Ugga's back, approached him next. "Way to go, Grug. You did good." Ugga told her husband while the two of them touched foreheads.

From their space, Guy and Eep watched them. Eep stopped watching them and looked up the ridge that they had landed in front of. Guy noticed her gaze and smiled and looked with her. "What do you think is up there?"

"I don't know. But that's what I'm going to see." Eep hustled forward and jumped up onto the ridge. She climbed up before Grug noticed.

"Eep! Where are you going? Get back down here!" Eep ignored her father and continued climbing up. To Grug's relent, he started climbing up after her so did the rest of the family and the animals. She reached the top and walked up over the ridge where she found something incredible and beautiful.

"You guys really need to see this." She said with wonder.