CHAPTER NINE

Rupert had quickly run back, but he hadn't out-run the explosion that had sent him flying and burst his nice tuxedo into tatters. Garguiem sighed and walked closer. "Why are you running? I want to fight, remember?"

"Have…to…get…ship on course!" Rupert gasped out, standing up. "I do not have TIME for a stupid little fi-"

BA-BOOOM!

He was sent flying into the wall and groaned as his soot-covered face poked up.

"Don't say stupid things while I'm here." The gargoyle-like being snapped. "It would take you at least a full day on the hyper drive to get back to Kauai now, and I don't think my ship has enough energy..." He raised his hands and snapped both fingers again.

BOOM-BOOM!

Two minor explosions erupted over Rupert's head, cracking the ceiling. He rolled away just in time, gasping.

"Wait…this is YOUR ship? Your crew? Everything belongs to you?"

"My captain, my apple juice in the fridge, the whole she-bang." Garguiem said. "It's really a nice piece of work, took-"

"But your crew has been slaughtered, I saw their corpses! The captain is dead as well!"

Garguiem's eyes narrowed. "…what…are you saying?"

"They were sliced and diced up. Parkston is responsibly responsible."

Garguiem slowly walked over to Rupert and lifted him up. He held a pointed fingernail to Rupert's nose. "Now you listen. Tell me the truth right now. If you don't, I force an explosion inside of your body. Did you really see the captain and the crew dead?! Sliced up?"

Rupert was quiet at first, but then he spoke.

"You wouldn't believe me if I spoke. I mean, I'm good at lying, I'm your enemy, and I'm weaker than you. So it doesn't matter what I say, because you'll slay me anyhow, won't you?"

The gargoyle alien blinked. "Aren't you afraid of death?"

"No. Many of my kind aren't. I mean, we're alien rodents, we could die at any time! What comes after is far more frightening to us."

"…I believe you." Garguiem said suddenly. "So Parkston decided to do some target practice on my crew while I was taking a nap, huh?!"

He let go of Rupert and clenched his fists. "Alright, rat…the ships control's are yours. You're free to take you and the others back home. Parkston and I are going to have a little…CHAT…"

…Grey awoke with the memory of his father's death, his own tears and the approaching blue planet in the window of the escape pod.

"Daddy…" He whimpered as he rubbed his head. And then he smelled…

Smelled HER!

He turned his head and saw Grendella was lying on her back in the teleportation room, on the big pad that the chute emptied onto, taking a little nap. But she'd woken up upon hearing him and now looked at him.

"…so?" He asked. "What now?"

She just blinked at him, turned herself away and said "whatever", her sore red ears flopping down.

"…you don't want to fight me?"

"No." She said. "I'm tired and I want to get some sleep before I try and find my parents." She growled. "Leave me alone, whoever the hell you are. Or else."

"…uh…"

"WHAT!?" She growled angrily, turning her head and baring her teeth.

"I know where they are." Grey said.

Grendella blinked stupidly. Then her eyes went wide. "R-Really?"

"She's safely inside the church with Clyde, they claimed sanctuary."

Grendella blinked. Then she said "Oh. Good. I'll go visit them-"

"Wait…" Grey asked, standing up and holding his hands up. "Just let me say one more thing?"

Grendella rolled her eyes. "Fine. What?"

"Wait until the adults come back. The younger generation is…afraid of you. They want to kill you. Slaughter you. If you go to see Bonnie and Clyde, they'll kill you. Wait until the adults come back and things will return to normal…or as normal as life gets around here."

Grendella was puzzled. "…why are you helping me? Do you want something from me?"

"Well, maybe I want to help you because I'm nice and I want to be your friend."

"…what's a "friend"?"

"Fine, I'll put it in a way you can understand: seeing other people happy makes ME happy, and I know your mom and dad would be unhappy to see you hurt. So I want to make sure that you can meet them safely…"

BEEP! BEEP!

He turned around and looked at the teleporter console. There was a message on the display screen: it said "Press Accept Button".

Grey pressed the blue "Accept" button on the console and a holographic image of a very frazzled, soot-covered Rupert appeared.

"Grey, how are things?" He asked. "The trip was a trap. Some freakish child named Parkston began slicing people up with some satanic art that involved striking his own body…"

Grey shivered. "Oh, I know that kind of magic…it's horrible…is everyone alright?"

"A lot of people were wounded, but when the owner of the ship found out that Parkston had practiced his technique on HIS hand-picked crew, he went bonkers and…"

There were loud screams that went "AAA, I yelled. NO, NO, NO I began to beg" in the background followed by "KILL MY CREW WILL YOU?!" and even louder explosions. Grendella slammed her head into the wall and muffled the noise, letting out a satisfied "ahh".

"Garguiem said that once Parkston's been knocked around enough he'll teleport the two of them out and we can return to Kauai. We should be there by the end of the day-oh…is that Grendella?"

Grendella turned around and blinked at the image of Rupert. "Who are you?"

"Rupert Jacques von Hamsterviel. I'm a doctor." Rupert said proudly.

"You're a rat."

Rupert immediately stiffened. "HAMSTER, jolly green!" He growled.

Grey gave Rupert a look. "Not the time. So you'll be coming back in a day?"

"Yes, we've got some power-emitting experiments here. We'll be just fine. Say, are Bonnie and Clyde…"

"They're at the church." Grey immediately said. "They're safe."

Rupert breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew! That's one less thing to worry about-"

At that moment, Ariel tugged on Rupert's arm, coming into view. He turned red in the cheeks. "Well, er, Ariel and I had better get going back to my room. Bye!" The holographic image vanished, and Grey blinked. Then he got it.

"HIS room?! Why am I not surprised?"

Grendella scratched her stomach. "So…will I be safe here?"

"Yeah. If you just stay here you'll be alright. And I'll keep anyone from coming down here if need be." Grey said.

"Because you want my mom and dad to be happy?" Grendella asked.

"Yeah." Grey said. "We're all cousins!"

…Barty thought back to that first day once again, realizing he was smiling as he recounted the memory.

"Alright…now here's the plan." Barty said, looking up in his rat form at Vee, who held him in one hand. "I'll spook the teacher and make her run for the janitor's closet. Bill's always in there when he's not cleaning up stuff around the school. He's really something, one time he spilled wax outside the cafeteria…"

Barty grinned. "Ahh, Christmas memories…"

"Wish I coulda seen it." Vee remarked.

"When she runs inside to tell her story to Bill, we lock the door from the outside. Or rather, I will. You go run in and get your soda. Simple, no?"

"Right, right."

"Get me a "Fanta". Orange, if you don't mind."

Nodding, Vee let Barty down onto the ground, and he quickly whizzed down the hallway whilst Vee hid behind a large trash can. She counted off the seconds.

"Three…two…one…"

"EEEEEK! A RAT!"

Running footsteps…the slam of a door, followed by hysterical begging and a cry of "Nancy, stop your honking!"…and then, a moment later, a "ca-click".

Vee looked around to see that Barty had transformed himself into a lock. He still had eyes, though, and winked at Vee as she gave him a thumbs up before running into the teacher's lounge.

While Vee put a few dollars into the machine, Barty held fast to the door, but the pounding was becoming very fierce, so much that it was like a back massage from Hell. Hurry, Vee! He thought…

She was out. She nodded, then bolted away and past a corner. Barty grinned, then re-transformed into a bird, going after her just as Bill and Ms. Layman fell out in a tumbling heap.

A few minutes later, he and Vee were sipping a "Fanta" and a "Mountain Dew, Code Red" respectively as they laid their backs against the wall, clinking their soda cans together.

"This could be the start of something very good." Barty said.

"You'd better not rat me out, though." Vee insisted. "I'll stick you in a pillowcase and throw you in a closet."

"Course not…"He was tempted to. But this was one of those times when he didn't.

Barty bit his lip and sighed.

"I miss those times." He said. "I miss what I used to have."

"Me too." Vee admitted.

"…not that I think you're my friend or anything."

"Not that I care."

"…what happened to us? To everything?" Barty finally asked as they stood back up.

"We grew up." Vee muttered bitterly.

"Silly rabbit. Idealism is for kids." Barty said.

They were quiet for a while. Then Vee spoke.

"I wanna soda."

…it had taken almost an entire day to get set up what Sandy ordered them to set up. But it was necessary.

The plan was cool.

Daveigh and Ashton had protested, but they'd been jeered and shouted down. Sandy's plan was going to take place whether they liked it or not. And Stitch and Angel, in a way, would have been proud of Sandy.

The plan was clever.

Sandy and Jay were carefully waiting in an alleyway as the moon shone in the sky, barely reflecting light down. Some buildings were blazing, burnt up by vandals. The roads had become cracked, windows were broken into, and few people were wearing clothing that wasn't tattered, and some weren't wearing any clothes at all. A large group of humans were carefully positioned by the door of the church, and Evan and Hyena were at the door, about to give it a knock to alert Bonnie, Clyde and Jude.

Specter took his place, a guilty look briefly passing over his face before he focused and transformed.

The plan was complex.

Sandy gave the signal, nodding, his golden war paint striped across his muscles making him look like some God of War. Jay grinned as Hyena and Evan banged on the doors and demanded that Bonnie and Clyde come out or they would kill Grendella where she stood.

Bonnie and Clyde opened the doors and gasped as Jude approached them from behind. They saw a bloodied and bruised Grendella lying on her side, with Frank and Victoria holding a spear to her neck. Bonnie immediately ran out and batted the two aside, going to her daughter and rocking her back and forth.

The plan…was cruel.

Right then, "Grendella" transformed into Specter, who placed a pair of handcuffs on Bonnie's wrists as she gasped in surprise. She was then swarmed and surrounded quickly by the mob and carried off. Jude and Clyde gasped in horror and looked at each other. What could they do NOW?

Sandy snapped his fingers and people set up the stereo systems around the town. He clapped his hands and Bonnie was strapped to a chair with microphones attached to her so that her cries could be heard. He grinned as they forced her to scream, knowing full well Grendella would hear, and ignored her shrieks that he was a "monster". He didn't care one bit.

The plan was perfect.

…Grendella awoke, hearing the cries of her mother. Her eyes went wider than ever before, and she growled furiously before she tore up the chute she'd used to climb down into the teleporter area in the hidden basement beneath Ariel's Aerie, snarling and spitting all the way. Grendella ran out of the bar and bolted through the street at top speed, but was suddenly surprised when a large group of humans popped up from the tops of the buildings around her, with Jolie raising one of the many dangerous-looking bombs that they had in their hands.

"BOMBARDMENT!" She screamed, and they all tossed the bombs at her. Grendella ducked and dove and even whacked one back that struck Jolie clear in the chest and reduced her to fleshy slag, but the experiment was suddenly struck across the face and momentarily blinded. She did the only thing she could do: run, following the sound of her mother's cries, tearing through the town.

Pitt, forever singing soprano from now on, looked down at the twisted remains of his former owner and began to shiver in fear. Then he gulped and activated his walkie-talkie.

"She's headed your way. It's working!"

Meanwhile, Grey, who had been sleeping heavily, didn't notice Grendella was gone until ten minutes later when he awoke suddenly. This was a bad habit that ran in the family: waking up for little or no reason in the middle or late time of sleep. He looked around and saw Grendella wasn't there, and blinked in confusion. Why on Earth-

Then he heard it.

Bonnie's cries.

He understood instantly.

"It's a trap." He gasped. "It's a trap!"

…Grendella's body had healed from the attack from before, one benefit to her horrible, mutated form. But now as she opened her un-blinded eyes she saw her mother untied but held back by Legion and Belle, with the adults and the younger generation surrounding her…and Sandy was facing her down.

He grinned and tossed all of his clothing off. "It's time, monster." He growled, pointing at her. "Time for you to pay the piper!"

"If you think I'm just going to become another pelt on your wall, you're wrong…" She said, sneering. "Now let Mom go and MAYBE I only beat you to a pulp…"

He snapped his fingers. "Not happening. Warm her up for me, guys!" He commanded.

Jay, Hyena, Evan and Specter nodded. Specter faced down Grendella, grinning evilly as he began to transform into a-

WOOMPA! He was sent flying into a trash can. Evan, Hyena and Jay leapt on top of her and proceeded to pummel her…

But she just grabbed Jay off, spun around and around, flinging Hyena and Evan away, and then flung Jay through the air. He went straight through a window, through a bedroom door, down a flight of stairs and out the front door to land on the porch, groaning and covered in glass.

Hyena meanwhile, had hit a car windshield and was groaning, unconscious. Evan had hit a motorcycle and was now struggling to get up…then Grendella walked over, grabbed him, and threw him at Hyena. The two went straight through the windshield into the car, while Grendella turned to take care of Jay…

Then, suddenly, a rock hit her over the head. She looked up to see Sandy grinning at her. "Your fight's with ME…" He whispered.

BGM: Investigation: Overtaked, as performed by Magical Trick Society

Grey felt shivers rack his body. They were gonna kill her, they were gonna KILL her!

"Please God, please…" He begged, clenching one fist and holding it to his chest, to his heart. "Please…don't let me be too late!"

Then he raced up the chute and to the bar, bounding over to the nearest fridge and ripping it open, grabbing a bottle of water and chugging it down as he raced out the door and headed down the street, following the sound of war cries.

Grendella howled with a terrible cry and rushed forward, actually grabbing Sandy and throttling him as she rammed him into the ground, making it crack over and over…but then he spat an acidic loogie at her face, making her howl and step back, allowing him to get back up. Growling furiously, she barreled at him, but Sandy quickly side-stepped out of the way, grabbed her by the arm and flung her through the air. She hit a wall and slid down it, but then Sandy delivered a harsh kick to her back, hitting the area that was the base of her spine.

Grendella snarled and jumped back up as Sandy jumped away, then slammed her fists into the ground, tearing up concrete and throwing it at him. One of them struck him over the head and he went down, making everyone gasp…but then he stood back up, licking the blood from off of his chin with his tongue and making the "come on" gesture with his hand at Grendella, who obliged and continued to throw chunks of ground at him.

Sandy punched, kicked and head-butted every single chunk of concrete that was flung at him, then finally grabbed one chunk and flung it back at Grendella, launching himself through the air as he did so. Grendella shattered the chunk of concrete with a single punch, but didn't react fast enough to stop Sandy from flying through the air and punching her clear across the face twice over. She went down, groaning in pain.

Sandy however, was just getting started. He grabbed her by the leg, twirling her around and around, then flinging her through the air. She sailed into a billboard and hit it with a "SPLAT", then slid down it to the street below…where Sandy jumped up and delivered a rapid series of punches to her backs before uppercutting her into a trashcan.

Grey raced down the street as fast as his legs would carry him, trying to save his aura for later. He suddenly saw Rupert running at him and came to a stop.

"Rupert, what's going on?" He demanded to know. "Where is everyone?"

"The parking lot at the park." Rupert said. "Sandy's going to kill Grendella there!"

Grey gasped and then nodded. "Jump on my back." He insisted. Rupert nodded and did so, holding on tight as Grey tore down the road.

"PLEASE, STOP!" Bonnie begged. "She's suffered enough!"

"No, not YET!" Sandy snarled, kicking Grendella in the face. She wasn't NEARLY as big as she'd seemed earlier before, how could he have EVER have feared this freak? He grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the ground over and over. Finally he got a look of pure and utter adrenaline-fueled power in his eyes as the rest of the crowd cheered and cheered, demanding he "Kill the beast, drink it's blood, bash it's head", with Stitch pounding his chest and Angel screaming "that's my boy, that's my boy"!

Kuko and Peleka were watching from the side with Makani and Senkoukura. Senkoukura was looking rather disgusted, Makani said nothing, but Kuko and Peleka were looking at Sandy like was a hero of legend, eyes wide, mouth gaping…DROOLING even!

"You! What…what…are…you?" Grendella gasped out, now shrinking before Sandy's cruel gaze. Her fur was no longer mottle colored, now it was light green, her body smaller…

"I AM STRENGTH!" He howled. "I AM LUST, I AM POWER, I AM SANDY, SON OF 626! AND ONE DAY I WILL RULE!" And with that, his claws unsheathed to a level they'd never reached before as he dug harshly into her hand and pulled her arm up, up. The squelching and popping of bones filled everyone's ears and then finally…with a last, terrible, gushing "pop", her arm was ripped off and blood gushed out all over Sandy's body as he held his prize high and kicked Grendella away.

The cheers around him erupted into the loudest howls of victory ever heard in the island. It was impossible to tell trog and human apart, both were screaming and jumping up and down and all covered with war paint, half naked or unclothed completely, and Sandy's eyes had a gleam of pure, bestial joy in them as Grendella ran for her life with Bonnie following right behind.

Then they heard something.

"You know, Sandy…"

They all stopped cheering as they saw a familiar, tie-dye panted form walking towards Sandy, who had tossed the arm to the side and was licking the blood from his face. Rupert had hopped off of Grey and was vomiting into a sewer, the smell of blood and muscle overpowering him.

"I'm ashamed to say this…but what Pitt said was true early. I WAS happy to finally see a monster that was worse than I was." Grey said softly, brushing his hair back a little. He looked down at the ground. "I was happy to see I wasn't the biggest freak in town. That I wasn't some horrid beast."

He clenched his fist. "I'm angry with you adults, I had expected you to put a stop to this, and instead you're encouraging it…you're horrible. But Sandy…you may think you've slain an evil monster, but you know…now that I've seen what you did to her…I know, I KNOW…"

He looked up and for the first time in his life, all of them felt a collective twinge of fear looking at Grey. As he looked up at Sandy, the green tint at the bottom of his eyes had turned red, and his fur was bristling, and a bloody aura had surrounded him, twinkling like a dark afterglow.

"YOU'RE the monster here today!"

And before anyone could stop him, he'd rushed forward and his taloned feet had struck the side of Sandy's face. Sandy fell to the ground, tumbling around, but Grey was upon him in an instant, grabbing him and throwing him into the air. As he came back down, Grey leapt up and delivered a spinning tornado kick, striking once, twice, thrice!

Sandy hit a wall from the force, sliding down to the ground. He growled at Grey.

"I'm going to make you pay, twinkle toes! The punishment for disloyalty's DEATH!"

"That's why I'll kill you." Grey said stonily, grabbing Sandy by the arm and threw him into the ground, then leapt on him and delivered a harsh kick straight to his back. Sandy leapt back up and spun around on his head, delivering a series of quick kicks to Grey's midsection, but Grey suddenly slammed his hands together and shouted, and Sandy's movements slowed…the element of time!

Grey then leapt on Sandy, grounding and pounding him, punching away at his face as the blood splattered up over and over and over…Sandy then kicked him off, leaping through the air and clawing Grey across the face. Grey howled with pain, holding his wound for a moment, then rushed forward at Sandy, and the two interlocked their claws as they tumbled around on the ground, snarling, biting and clawing at each other.

A black form watched eagerly as Grey's fur began to darken, turning blacker and blacker with each passing moment. Yes…a little more, a little-

And then…suddenly…

It happened.

(Music ends.)

"Guys?"

Everyone stopped moving. Everyone stopped cheering or talking. Everyone stopped fighting. Everyone turned their heads to look at Charlie and Heartwing, who stood there, looking at them stupidly.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Heartwing asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

Charlie's clothes weren't tattered or torn at all. He rubbed his head, looking puzzled. "Why's everyone fighting?"

Grey looked down at Sandy. Sandy looked up at Grey. Everyone looked around at each other.

And then Grey suddenly began to cry, his lip quivering and tucked in slightly, tears falling from his eyes to land on Sandy. He bolted off and away, covering his eyes with one arm, while the watching form from before disappeared, disgusted and disappointed. Then, soon after, people began to feel the same sense of shame and sorrow fill them, and one by one they all began to weep.

…Grendella whimpered softly as the blood flowed freely from her wound onto the cold cave ground. Clyde and Jude had left the church and had gone to see the right, and had followed Bonnie as she ran after Grendella. Now all four were inside of Grendella's favorite cave at the park, and Bonnie was trying desperately to stop the bleeding…but it was useless. For the past ten minutes they'd been trying to help her…and nothing had worked. No creams, no potions, NOTHING. Clyde crushed the latest useless potion in his hand and bit his fist in nervousness.

It was ironic in a way. Their daughter no longer looked like the monster she was named for. Her light green body was so much smaller, her eyes filled with tears…she was frail and her paws were delicate, and she had a rounded jaw with small blue eyes that twinkled like gemstones…her antennae were hanging low and she was whimpering softly, sweat pouring from her forehead as she felt herself get hotter and hotter, her vision swimming in and out.

"Jude, please, can'tcha do NOTHIN'?" Bonnie asked, begging.

"I ain't got nothin' in my arm that'll help our kid!" Clyde said tearfully as he and his wife held Grendella in their arms. Bonnie was delicately kissing her daughter on the forehead.

Jude shook his head, looking heartbrokenly at Grendella's dying form. "I…I cannot help her." He said. "I do not have any healing techniques. I'm sorry." He said, bowing his head. "All I can do is perform last rites…"

The mother and father looked at each other, then at their daughter, then embraced her even more passionately, crying into her. All their daughter could do was cry softly and try to hold them right back. Jude held some rosaries in his hands, biting his lip. My Lord, he thought, how can you be so cruel? She is finally cured…why NOW?

"It…hurts." Grendella managed to sniffle out.

"Guys?"

They all looked up to see the sniffling form of Grey walking forward towards Grendella. Bonnie hugged her daughter tight, then stepped back as Grey knelt down to her.

"Give us some time alone." Grey said softly. "I wanna help her."

Bonnie and Clyde looked at each other, then nodded, holding each other's hands. Jude led them outside of the cave as Grey looked at the oh-so-slowly rising-and-falling chest Grendella had. The choir boy tossed a final look back at Grey and Grendella, then led the parents back in the direction of town…

They hadn't even gone a quarter of a mile when they saw Sandy there…holding something wrapped in a blanket. He approached them and slowly unwrapped the package, revealing Grendella's arm.

"You…deserve this." He said, looking down, biting his lip before he went on. "I deserve…I deserve a beating like the one I gave her."

Bonnie and Clyde took the arm, looked at Sandy, then walked back towards the cave, while Jude looked at Sandy. He slapped Sandy across the face with his furry paw, and the son of Stitch and Angel saw the choir boy was crying.

"You-you…" He gasped out in righteous fury. "You MONSTER." Jude sobbed, before he ran off, covering his face with both paws and crying into his palms.

"…I'm sorry." Grey said softly as he stroked the top of Grendella's head while her parents laid the arm down onto the cave floor before leaving it again. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there in time to stop it."

He gently lifted Grendella up and placed her on the ground. He cradled her head in his lap before he lifted her up to hold her gently from behind.

"You don't deserve to suffer like this." He whispered in her ear. "You deserve better, cousin. This might hurt a little and I'm sorry for that…really, I am…"

He pulled her into a tighter and tighter hold. She felt her breath escape quickly as she began to swim in and out of consciousness. His eyes had a firm resolve in them…

"But this…is mercy…" His soft voice said before she moved no more and all became black save for a tiny speck of light that drifted lazily towards her…

…Sitting closely together, Bonnie and Clyde watched as the long, dragon-helmed wooden ship was sent out to sea. Jude, Charlie and Heartwing sat next to Grey, who had folded his arms and was watching the burning ship with an expression of genuine sorrow in his eyes. Grey had willingly volunteered himself to put the body in the ship and had personally set the ship ablaze. He'd had Rupert helping him since he'd been so upset that his hand had been shaking as he held the torch.

Sandy had been eagerly hugged by Kuko and Peleka, who had been proud of him for showing such strength. Angel and Stitch ruffled his hair while Victoria, Evan, Hyena, Frank and Specter beat war drums to the side. Daveigh and Ashton refused to look at Sandy, but instead stared out into the sea at the burning, floating, funeral pyre.

The drums beat louder and louder as a song drifted out over Hanalei Bay and the ship went out further and further. Kuko and Peleka, glancing proudly at their brother, led the others as they all sang together.

Ko, Ya, roar together,

For the mightiest giant who roamed

Her name was Grendella, the slayer the Prince,

She killed with a bloodthirsty groan,

There have been giants and dragons, phoenixes who caw in their nests,

There have been vampires who soared through the night,

Grendella was the best, she put her enemies to rest,

She gave a whole new definition to 'fright',

Ko, Ya, roar together,

For the giant who's legend scales high,

Her name was Grendella, the slayer the Prince

And her story shall never die,

Her claws like serrated knives,

Much blood stained on her arms,

She would slay your children and wives,

Be you in towns, halls, villages or farms,

Ko, Ya, roar together,

For the giant that but groans and screams,

Her name was Grendella, the slayer the Prince,

May her voice echo through the streams,

But now she lays, in her watery grave,

Due to a Prince who's muscles are made of gold,

May you cry at her name, you lowly knave,

The anniverary of her death, will make your blood run cold,

Ko, Ya, roar together,

For the mightiest giant who roamed,

Her name was Grendella, the slayer the Prince,

She killed with a bloodthirsty groan.

Finally the ship was completely alit. It sparkled like a shooting star upon the water for a brief moment, then sank into the sea, turned to ash.

"I hope you never leave again!" Frank and Victoria said, hugging onto their parents, who eagerly hugged them back.

"So many have died. A waste…a waste." Eclipse remarked. "I wonder...was this all a test? One that we failed miserably? Perhaps our forefathers are watching and laughing their heads off at us." The dark dragon mused out loud, rubbing his chin.

Sandy turned to look at his godfather, and Rupert, who stood holding onto Ariel's hand, sitting between the two groups, saw worry.

"…Grey...could we still be friends? I didn't mean to act so wildly, I'm-"

"Sandy…you hurt me." Grey said. "As terribly as if you'd ripped my own arm off. I'm disappointed in myself…I acted horribly. But you, you…you set her up and then you…what you did…you and I both forgot an important lesson Lilo once told me, only you took it further than I."

"What's the lesson?" Sandy asked.

"You cannot, you CANNOT become a worse monster than the evil you're trying to defeat. You just can't." Grey sighed. "Sandy, I want to believe I can trust you again, I know that you thought you were doing the right thing, but you went about it the wrong way and you broke my trust. You need to give me time to heal before I can accept any apology."

Sandy nodded and looked away.

Then, suddenly, he could feel a change in the wind. He turned his head and saw Grey was smiling at him.

"Alright. You can apologize now." The mutt said gently.

Author's Note:

Wa-WOW. Part "Beowulf", part "Lord of the Flies", and now we know more than ever before about the dark potential the residents of Hawaii have. I've revealed what happened to Grey's father, how he was transformed, and unveiled a new, dangerous villain…as well as destroying one.

Or have I? If there's one thing that's for certain, it's that dead hardly ever means dead around here.

For those of you who are wondering how I came up with the lyrics, that's all Wormtail96's idea, folks. And if you haven't read his story yet, shame on you!

Now then, the story's going on. But don't worry if you think it's getting awfully dark. Because there's always lights at the end of my tunnels, and more lights to guide you through said tunnel. In the next arc, which I call "Great Southern Land", our heroes get a chance to go to Australia, personally invited by the fabled Lord of the Dreamtime and his co-ruler, Anzac. The Lord of the Dreamtime's powers are amazing, he may even be capable of…

No, I dare not speak it now! That would spoil EVERYTHING! So accept this preview instead!

"You should say you're sorry."

Leroy snickered, then fell off the chair, laughing. "Say I'm SORRY!? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA! No, I don't think so, I don't think so!"

Ariel folded her arms, tilting her head to the side, as if to ask "why".

"Feel sorry for WHAT?" He asked, mockingly.

Ariel sighed, turning away.

"Now, now, don't be like THAT, baby." He said softly.

"Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me!" Leroy mumbled happily.

Leroy was lying on his backs in Chops's "herb garden". The two trogs were both completely high, with Chopsuey playing a tambourine, whacking it over and over on his palms as he weaved around like he was a flowing river. Leroy stood up, and pointed at Chopsuey.

"Cast your dancing spell my way…I promise…to go under it…"

He then giggled and fell on his back, laughing madly.

Once she was out of sight, Rupert turned to look at the envelope she'd handed him and opened it up, reading the contents of the letter, which was folded at the bottom.

"Rupert…please be careful and come back to me. It's very important."

And then something fell out of the folded end of the bottom…Rupert picked it up, examining the long white capsule that had a big blue spot on the center of it.

"What is it?" Daveigh asked.

Rupert's voice broke as he spoke…