The chase had gone on for what felt like an hour. Okay, it wasn't that extreme. No way that much time could have passed. But it did feel that way.

Rudy did his best to hang on. It was not easy holding on with just one hand. He could feel his arm aching. He found it difficult to press himself against the hippogriff; the slighest pressure against his broken arm caused him to yelp loudly in pain.

His friends weren't having much more luck than him. Even with two working arms, they still were clearly having some trouble. He could hear Snap shout at the hippogriffs to take it easy, and he could see the clenched teeth of Penny as she tried to hang on.

But nothing they did or said was going to stop the hippogriffs. They were on the hunt now. They were going to keep up the chase until they caught the critter. No matter how many flips and turns and lunges they made, no matter how much they were flipped around in the process, the hippogriffs clearly had no interest in stopping. And they were going to keep this up until they caught Althea.

They ran across the jungle foor, zipping past the plants and the other animals. They ran between trees, through bushes, jumped over fallen trees, trekked through water, whatever else came to mind. Most of the animals lef them alone, but at least a couple had given temporary chase. The hippogriffs easily lost them by taking to the air, and landing in a spot further away. All the while, they never lost track of the drakon that was trying to escape them.

At first, the movements seemed random, and Rudy couldn't fathom what they were thinking. The hippogriffs weren't listening to their commands like before. They were operating on full instinct. This caused his stomach to churn.

Hippogriffs were omnivores. They might be trying to eat Althea. What would Theron do to them if they didn't succeed in bringing Althea back safely? What would Aris do to them?

This anxiety only increased when his hippogriff lunged at Althea beside a tree. Rudy shut his eyes and tried to cope with the pain when he banged against the large animal. He heard the snapping of jaws and a loud hiss. He looked up and was relieved that his hippogriff didn't strike Althea. But he could see the panic in her eyes. He bit his lip.

He and his friends attempted again to regain control of the hippogriffs. They needed to control their predatory urges in order to capture the fleeing drakon. Theron entrusted them to bring her back safely. He was the first zoner here that had agreed to help them genuinely. They did not want to lose that support.

Their efforts were in vain. The hippogriffs ignored their pulls and their tugs and their feet against their sides. Their minds were made up, their attention full on the baby drakon. There was little that could be done to stop their pursuit. They had the stubbornness of a mule and the killing intent of a tasmanian devil.

"Whoa!" Snap cried as his hippogriff tried to slash at the drakon with its claws. The claws thankfully missed, striking against a tree instead. "How do we get them to stop?!"

"I'm not sure if there's anything we can do! It wasn't like Theron taught us how to stop these things!" Rudy hissed, clenching his teeth. He wished that Theron had been more thorough about his. He could have told them more about how to control the hippogriffs.

Penny pulled on the reigns of her hippogriff. This hadn't been the first time she tried. And just like before, it failed. She shook her head. "We will just have to keep trying. That's all we can do."

And keep on trying they did. Despite repeated failures, there was little else they could do. None of them were willing to just give up and let the hippogriffs have their way. They couldn't subject Althea to that, plus how would that reflect upon them? How would Theron and the others feel if they found out that they did nothing more to stop the hippogriffs? They coud lie, but who is to say he wouldn't find out eventually?

While they endlessly tried to regain control of the hippogriffs and stop them from trying to attack, the hipppogriffs themselves kept up the chase. Althea rarely left their sights at this point. The hippogriffs' sight allowed them to see her and they always managed to catch up to her. Many times, they got close enough to attack. At least half the time, they'd try, resulting in poor Althea to screech in fear and running off in a new direction, only to have one of the hippogriffs block her path.

The whole thing was becoming frustrating. How were they going to get the drakon back to her mother if the hippogriffs kept trying to rip her apart? They thought about dismounting, but that would only make it worse as they wouldn't be able to catch up to her anymore.

Rudy had some magic chalk, but in his present state, he was not able to use it. He glanced down at his pocket, feeling a pang of frustration as he realized that if he grabbed it, he would only cause himself to topple off the hippogriff and possibly hurt himself more.

He cursed to himself when he realized he could have just given the chalk to Penny. She still had both her hands working. She could have drawn something. Now it was too late to give her the chalk.

Soon they entered a clearing. There was a tall mountain here, covered in various patches of green foliage. It curved around, nearly making a complete closure. Only a small opening existed.

And it was through this opening that the baby drakon had ran through. She easily slipped inside, the gap being wide enough. The hippogriffs followed suit. They collided with the opening and thrashed around. The force of this was enough to break some rocks free, and the hippogriffs jumped into the opening.

To Rudy's horror, the drakon had nowhere to go this time. She looked around in desperation, calling out loudly as if to signal her mother. He and his friends exchanged nervous glances and they pulled on their reigns, trying to stop the hippogriffs.

But no matter what they did, the hippogriffs just weren't listening to them. Their bodies were hunched, heads lowered. Ther gleaming eyes stared at the drakon hungrily. They moved in slowly towards the cornered drakon, their tails thrashing from side to side. Althea's body quivered in fright, her body lowering to the ground as she stared up at them.

Making a last ditch effort to get free, she jumped into the air, whipping her tail and hitting the hippogriffs in the face. She dashed towards the exit. Rudy's hippogriff immediately took action. It twisted its body around and bolted towards the exit. It leapt into the air and landed right in front. It spread out its wings, lowered its head, and let out a screech, bringing its paws forward and spreading its wings widely.

This display frightened the critter, causing her to scramble back, letting out a few panicked chirps. She tried to find another place to exit out of. She tried to climb up the wall. Her claws, though sharp, kept slipping on the rocks and she never made it that far up. She soon hunched towards the ground, whipping her heads from side to side. All three of them began to display an expression of hopelessness and terror.

Rudy watched the critter with a sympathetic expression. He bit his lip, wishing he could do something to stop the hippogriffs. But given this situation, there was little reason to expect that he could stop them in time.

Two of the hippogriffs were quickly closing in around the young drakon while his remained put at the exit. It was clear that it was trying to block the path to make sure the drakon didn't escape. Rudy could get off the hippogriff now and draw, but with a broken arm, he'd be delayed, and the hippogriffs were moving too quickly for him to react.

"Wait!" Penny cried. "Stop! This isn't what you were ordered to do!"

Snap pulled on the reigns as hard as he could. That did little to deter his hippogriff. "Cease this at once!"

But all they could do was sit there and wait for the hippogriffs to make their move. Preparing themselves for a gruesome sight, they shut their eyes and looked away.

sss

Theron smiled as he watched the group walking back into the town. "Ah I see you succeeded."

Barney looked over and felt a sigh of relief escaping him when Rudy, Penny, and Snap were walking into the town. Their hippogriff mounts were walking in a formation. Two at the side, one in front. He could see the shadow of something walking between Penny and Snap, who rode on the side hippogriffs. He could soon make out the details of the drakon they were sent to retrieve. They were using rope to hold onto the drakon.

Rudy was on the hippogriff in the front. He held a look that showed not only relief, but a whole hidden story behind what had happened. He looked as if he had almost given up hope, or something else had happened. Barney would learn sooon enough what that was.

The trio walked forward slowly, further into the two. The zoners had gathered around and watched them carefully. None of them moved in too close, keeping their distance as they stared in awe and uncertainty. The hippogriffs held their heads up eye as if to show how proud they were of what they did. The trio looked relieved to just be done with all of this.

Theron stood with his arms folded. He smiled at they got closer, running his fingers through his brown hair. His thin frame and slightly thicker arms were soon shadowed partially by the beast that Rudy rode, which also happened to be the largest one.

Theron studied them for a moment before walking to the side of the hippogriffs. He grabbed onto the rope and began to drag the baby drakon over. He led her towards his larger drakon. The youngster immediately screeched in eagerness and bolted towards her mother. Althea cuddled up against her mother, who immediately lowered her heads down to nuzzle her. There was a collection of awes coming from the zoners around them.

Theron put his hands on his hips and watched this with a smile. He then turned to the trio. He placed a hand against his chest. "You've earned my trust." He motioned his hand towards them. "As promised, I will escort you out of the jungle."

Rudy gave a smile at this. "Thank you. We appreciate the help."

"Not a problem at all! It would be my pleasure!" Theron sounded a lot more friendly and cheerful than when they had first met him. He motioned for them to follow him. "Come along now. I do need to be somewhere later today. So the faster we do this, the better."

Barney watched as the three children got off of the hippogriffs. Rudy appeared to have the hardest time. He couldn't help but give him a sympathetic flinch when he pressed against his broken arm by mistake. Poor kid... He wished he could do something to help.

He didn't dwell on it long. He noticed that they were waiting for him, standing near the adult drakon. He immediately rushed over, not wanting to keep them waiting for long. As soon as he joined them, they were on their way, moving through the town towards another section. Instead of heading towards the pen, they instead veered off somewhere else, much to the insect's confusion.

He looked left and right as they moved through this new part. During his stay, he hadn't been back here. This was all new to him. He quickly noticed how the buildings here looked like they were in slightly better shape, and the paths looked cleaner, too. Even the plants looked more neat and orderly. It seemed like this part was more well kempt than most of the other locations.

But why was that? Why would this one location be more cleaned up than the rest? What was the significance of this location compared to the others? Luckily, he and the children didn't have to wonder for long.

Up ahead of them was a large building. Bigger than the others, though not a palace by any means. It had some large windows and open doors, stone-like steps leading up to it. They traversed up as Theron led them through. As they walked inside, they noticed that there appeared to be some decorations in this place, making it stand out from everything else. And when they entered a room with a single elderly man sitting here, a fruit hat on his head, they all had a good idea of where they were.

This must be the chief's place. Immediately, they all lowered themselves down in the presence of this man, not wanting to do anything to offend him. Even though they don't know why they were brought here, they knew better than to cause trouble with this zoner seeing them.

Theron took a few steps forward, keeping his head low, his hands fumbling agianst each other, his fingers intertwining. "Chief sir...I...I have a special request..."

The way he spoke to the chief was a bit reminiscent of Kairos to King Zander. This realization gave Barney a headache. He rubbed his head and tried his best to push back those negative feelings.

The chief stared at him intently. His eyes could hardly be seen underneath those folds. He was quite a large fellow. Not skinny by any means. His robe was opened up down the middle and spread, allowing them to see his gut. He looked as if he is the one eating all the food of this place. The fruit hat sure hinted at that.

The chief lifted up his large, heavy arm and moved it along his forehead. His eyes, though mostly hidden, still managed to pierce through their souls. He looked from Theron and then to Barney, Snap, and the two humans. He turned his head up and down as he regarded them.

"Strangers. What are they doing here?"

"They were passing through and I asked them for help catching Althea." Theron said in a soft voice. "They are not enemies."

The chief narrowed his eyes at this. "It was not their job to catch Althea. It was your job." The chief pointed a finger in his direction. "You should have done it yourself. I am very disappointed in you."

Theron lowered himself down further, pressing his body against the ground. His back was completely exposed to the chief. "Please, forgive me... I won't do it again... I promise..."

"I supose I can let it slide just this once." The chief turned his head back to Barney and the others. "Now, what do you intend on doing with them?"

Theron appeared to hesitate, as if worried that his chief would be upset with his answer. This made sense. After what they had seen of the chief, he did seem like the sort that would get upset about this.

But Theron did realize that he had to tell him, or else they weren't going anywhere.

"They need a way out of the jungle. I-I told them I would escort them."

"You did what?" The chief's voice was tinged in, not in anger, but disappointment. "I never gave you the approval."

"Yes, I know. But..I felt like I owed it to them and..."

"Silence!"

This sent jolts through everyone. Barney exchanged looks with the others, biting his lip. They looked just as nervous as he did. He could feel his own heart pounding. He could hear the heartbeats from his friends, intermingling with his own and echoing in his head.

Looking at Theron, he noticed that he had cringed down even futher. He looked more helpless than he ever did before. He wasn't even trying to get up and run away. If the chief decided to hurt him now, there would be no way he could get out of the way in time. The only way that he would look even more helpless was if he laid down completely, which Barney honestly thought was up next, if this continued on for much longer.

The chief stood up and took a few steps forward. With them so low to the ground, Barney and the children could easily feel the vibrations. Every step that this zoner took sounded heavier and heavier. It made him appear less goofy, and more intimidating. His weight appeared to compliment his power.

The chief stared at them for a few seconds. He studied them carefully, his squinted eyes looking at them up and down. He then finally turned to Theron. He said, "I am still disappointed that you had brought strangers into my village without telling me. I still believe that we do not owe them any favors."

Barney gritted his teeth at that. He worried that the chief was just going to send them away and force them to find their own way out of the jungle.

Though, as the trio would agree with him, if they had to do that, they would. They got through a few other biomes without the assistance of anyone. Just each other. They could do the same for this one.

"But... This is going against my judgment..." The chief's voice softened up a little. "I will allow this."

At this, the group raised their heads slightly. Smiles of relief spread across their faces. They were tempted to express their joy and gratitude, but they feared they would make things worse. So they kept quiet and watched.

Theron got back up to his feet. He still kept his head and front of his body low. He didn't even sound happy, as if he thought if he got too excited, the chief would change his mind. He merely kept his head down low, keeping silent as he waited for the chief to continue speaking.

The chief took a step towards him. He managed to fold his arms behind himself. "I will not be granting this every time. I trust that the next time you see strangers, you leave them be. Or chase them out if they become a problem. Do you understand me?"

Theron nodded his head. "Yes, sir..."

"All right then." The chief turned his back to them. He moved back towards his chair. He raised his hand up and waved it dismissively. "You may take them away. Just don't take long."

"Thank you..." Theron whispered softly. It looked like he was going to say something else. The chief caught onto this really quickly.

"Before you ask, yes. You may use Thaddeus."

Theron smiled at this. "I am grateful."

The chief sat back down in his chair. He motioned his hand towards them. "Now be on your way before I change my mind."

"Yes, sir." Theron bowed deeper before turning to the others. He kept his hunched shoulders, but his voice took on that liveliness from before. "All right, lets get a move on!"

"Thaddeus?" Snap said as soon as all of them stepped out of the building. "Who is Thaddeus?"

"Another animal?" Penny asked.

"Why do you want to use him?" Rudy raised his hand into the air. "I mean, the hippogriffs worked and..."

"But what of your friend?" Theron looked directly at Barney as he said this. "I don't think you want to leave him behind, now do you?"

Rudy bit his lip. He shook his head. "N-No.. We don't."

"Well that's good then." Theron raised his arm up and motioned with it. Upon this signal, Rudy, Penny, Snap, and Barney followed suit. "As for who Thaddeus is, he's Aris's mate. He's not as bit, but he is big enough to hold your friend. And he's a lot quicker. I'll have you out of this jungle in no time!"

"That's good. Because this jungle gives me the creeps." Admitted Snap.

Theron chuckled. "Which is why my people and I chose to live here." He frowned a little. "It was rough getting used to. Having some of these beasts on our side helped. But still..." He shut his eyes for a few seconds. "It's a lot better than living at that palace..."

This caused the group to exchange looks with one another. The way Theron spoke of that, it made them wonder just what it was about the palace and the king that he did not like. Curiosity ate away at them, and it was so tempting to ask. They held back, knowing it wasn't any of their business. They didn't need to know the story to know that King Zander was untrustworthy. They had seen proof of that already.

After some walking, they soon reached another pen area, this one located behind the building they had just been in. Unlike the other location, this one only held one pen, and one single animal inside: A large, black, red striped drakon that they recognized must be Thaddeus.

Theron motioned them to follow him. Slowly, they began to approach. They stared up nervously at the beast. Thaddeus's heads were all raised and he was looking down at them. His eyes appeared to glow and he had long sharp teeth that protruded out of his mouth, even with his jaws fully shut. He slowly rose up to his feet and began to make his way towards them.

Theron raised up his hand and made a quick gesture. The beast appeared to recognize this and he lowered his heads down towards him. Theron patted him on the heads gently, whispering soft words to him. It was quite a sight to see. It was almost as if Thaddeus was just one giant teddy bear. They would forget that he wasn't if it weren't for the long sharp teeth and the wicked hooked claws.

Theron climbed up on top of the drakon, his feet dangling around the base of the neck. He looked down at them and motioned for them to come. "Don't worry. He won't bite."

Looking at the creature, watching him flick his tongues, the group gulped nervously and slowly approached the drakon.

sss

"There. That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Theron asked as Rudy and the others slid off the drakon, using his wing-like frills to get off. "I told you that Thaddeus was harmless."

"Yeah, but he is also a little too loud." Thaddeus lowered one of his heads and licked Snap along his face. Snap wiped himself off. "Yuck..and he's also quite gross, too."

Penny chuckled and she walked over towards him. She reached out with her hand. "Let me help you with that..."

Rudy and Barney stood next to each other as they looked up at Theron, who remained on top of the drakon. There was a moment of silence that lasted a little while as Rudy tried to think of exactly what to say. Words couldn't fully describe his gratitude for Theron's help.

He could tell Barney felt the same way. As well as Penny and Snap. They all wanted to get out of here as quickly as they could. They all wanted to rescue King Mumbo Jumbo.

The thought of that king made Rudy's heart twist. He could only hope that nothing bad was happening to him now. The king knows they were gone. He might use this as an opportunity to punish King Mumbo Jumbo. The longer they stayed a way, the more they could not do for him. Rudy couldn't wait until they got there so they could get the tortoise out of that horrible situation.

"Well...I..." Rudy tried to think of the words to say. He rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "Thanks for the help."

"It's no trouble at all." Theron grabbed onto the reigns attached to Thaddeus. "Now, you be careful. This desert might be small, but it's the hottest biome in this whole dang unerwater cave. The good news is that parts of the cave 'fold in' here, so you will find some shade."

"Fold in?" Rudy asked, furrowing his eyes in curiosity.

"Well, cave formations, you know? Stalagmites, stalactites, the others...I don't know what they're called..."

"Oh, that." Rudy looked towards the ground. "Sometimes I forget that this place is a cave."

"It's easy to forget that. There used to be a lot more 'cavey' structures in this cave, but most of them had been cleaned out to make this place look a lot smoother. It gave us a lot more room and it became easier to navigate." Theron said.

"Yeah, that does make sense." Penny came up towards them after she had finished wiping the drool from Snap's face. "It would be hard traveling around here if you didn't do a little construction."

Snap looked left and right. "I wonder what this place was like before it was renovated."

"Crowded and cluttered, I'm sure." Barney said.

Theron stared at him in confusion. "I thought you were..."

Barney looked over at him. "The dear king had my entries messed with."

"Oh..I see. That sounds like him." Theron's voice was briefly filled with bitterness. "I don't know why anyone follows that guy." He sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, I need to head back." He raised his hand and waved at them. "Good luck!"

"Bye!" The group cried as they waved goodbye to him. They watched as Theron and Thaddeus left them alone at the edge of the desert biome.

Rudy stood there, staring out at the desert. Theron wasn't joking about it being small. Even from here, he could see the beginnings of the next biome, which appeared to be a mountain sector. They could see the tall structures from over here. Many of them appeared to jagged. Rudy gulped at the sight of them. He hoped that traversing through there won't be too much of a problem.

Knowing they couldn't waste anymore time, he turned his head to the others. He gave them each a nod. "Let's get going."

They nodded in return. They turned their attention to the desert biome. Slowly but surely, they all began to walk into the desert, preparing themselves for the worst. At least, once they get into the next biome, they would be, hopefully, one step closer to getting out of here.

sss

Hot...so hot... When were deserts this hot? Why couldn't they be a little cooler? Or at least a bit wetter? It didn't help that there were multiple light crystals in this section. The heat from them could be easily felt, making the air around them feel thicker and heavier.

It didn't help that there was no wind here. There wasn't wind anywhere in this place. It was fine when they first arrivd, as the city they had gone to wasn't that bad. It was a decent temperature. And even in the previous biomes, it wasn't too bad, though the jungle was a slightly different story. But here, in the desert, it felt like they were going to collapse and melt at any time.

Oh if only there was some water around here. Just a small glass of water would do. That's all they wanted. Just some water...

Snap could feel his tongue dry up as it hung out of his mouth. He smacked his lips a few times, feeling just how scratchy his throat had become in such a short time. He had his eyes halfway open as it was hard to open them up all the way. He was walking slowly. He needed to conserve his hydration. But it felt like the longer they took, the more water he was going to lose.

But as they kept walking along the hot sand and heated rocks, he knew that they couldn't just start running. They needed to keep themselves as hydrated as possible, and this meant conserving themselves. They had to be very careful of how much they walked and how quickly. They were already a little dehydrated from the previous biomes. They didn't need to make things worse for themselves.

Then, after a while of walking, they noticed something that was a relief to their sore eyes.

One of those cave-like structures that Theron had told them about. Some rocky thing, which somehow still looked cold despite being in a desert, jetted out of the ground and formed an arch. It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, but it did look like it offered shade. And it was at the halfway point, too, which was perfect. They could use this to relax for a few minutes and cool off.

They looked at each other and nodded their heads once. They didn't need to speak to each other to know what they all wanted to do. All of them had exhausted expressions and dried up tongues. None of them would object to going underneath the rock for some shelter.

They moved as quickly as they could without breaking into a run. Their brisk pace made them feel hotter in the desert, but with the welcome of the shade, they didn't mind it too much. They kept moving and soon they reached the shelter. They immediately moved inside, underneath the wonderful, beautiful shade.

The temperature difference in here was incredible. It was almost as if someone had jacked up an A/C here. Snap collapsed on the ground, pressing his face against the cold sand. Such a welcome feeling compared to the heat of the outside.

Rudy and Penny sat down on the ground, pressing themselves against a rock. Barney settled down as well, his many legs and feet splaying out at his sides. He let out a sigh of relief, leaning his front portion back a little as he stretched his arms upward.

"This is more like it." He said. No one could disagree with him.

"Normally I would question how this rock is keeping it this cool in here, but..." Penny closed her eyes as she pressed the back of her head against the rock. "This is just so nice.."

"After all that, yeah." Rudy agreed, a smile stretching along his face. "I say we stay in here for a few minutes before continuing out there." He looked over his shoulder, staring at the other exit on the other side. He bit his lip. "I'm not looking forward to it..."

Snap looked at him, motioning his hand towards him. "None of us are, Bucko. But...we haven't much of a choice, do we?"

Rudy shook his head. "No, we don't."

Penny turned to Rudy. "We will make it."

"Yeah, I know we will." Rudy said.

Snap and Barney exchanged quick glances with each other. They both gave the other a knowing look. Both of them knew that Rudy was lying a little. So was Penny. None of them could be sure they would get out. But they were glad that they still had the hopes that they would. They needed that positive attitude.

For now, they needed to rest. Snap settled down further, curling up on the ground and shutting his eyes to rest them. His eyes had gotten a bit too much light before. It felt good to be able to close them and let his eyes recover a little.

As he did this, he started to hear something. Some kind of vibrations. He opened his eyes and raised up his head. He stared down at the ground, moving his hand a long it, pushing away the sand. He wondered what that noise could be. It wasn't too loud, yet it was enough that he could hear it from up here. It almost sounded like...

"Snap? What's going on?" Penny stared over at the small zoner. "What do you..."

Snap lifted up his head and looked over at them. He paused for a moment as he allowed a chilling realization wash over him. "I think someone might live here..."

"What?" Barney whipped his head towards Snap. "Are you sure?"

Snap nodded his head. "I could feel some vibrations in the ground. They're getting louder. They're coming back." He looked left and right, rubbing his hands nervously. "They were coming in pretty fast..."

"That might explain why it's so cool in here. Maybe he had something to do with it..." Penny said.

Snap stared at her and spoke through clenched teeth. "Yeah, we can do with the explaining later." A louder vibration caused him to shiver. "We need to get going before..."

Before he was ble to finish that sentence, there was a loud honking sound not too far away. The group immediately jumped to their feet. They looked around quickly, trying to find a place to hide. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find any place before a military green-colored jeep drove into the place. The speed was so quick, they didn't stand a chance.

The group coughed a few times as sand was kicked up into the air. They had to shield their eyes for a few moments before they could look over at the zoner in the jeep.

Sitting there in the jeep was a green and brown grasshopper-like zoner. He looked a little short, but rounded in muscle. His huge legs easily stuck out of the car, being incredibly long and surely packed with muscle. They could only imagine the kicks this guy could deliver. His mouth, filled with sharp teeth, was partially open as his eyes stared at them in shock, looking just as shocked to see them.

As they stared at each other, the radio, which had been turned on in the jeep, started to beep a warning. That familiar screech that Rudy and Penny had to endure whenever a test happened or they report something, such as a kidnapping. It struck fear in their hearts and they immediately huddled in on themselves.

Then the announcement came.

"King Zander has just issued a state-wide emergency. The dangerous creators from the above world known as Rudy Tabootie and Penny Sanchez have escaped, along with their associates, Snap White and Barney the Encyclocentipedia. The king wants everyone to stay inside and use extreme caution. He warns they are not to be trusted and are dangerous. He will do what he can to apprehend them, but if anyone spots them, he would greatly appreciate it if they are delivered to him."

At this, the group felt their hearts freeze solid. They could barely think, barely let the consequences of what was just said pour down over them. They immediately stared to back up, their eyes never leaving the grasshopper's gaze.

The grasshopper stared at them for a few seconds. It appeared he was having a hard time registering what was said. Soon, he narrowed his eyes and growled. He recognized them, and as his eyes held nothing but contempt for them, they knew he did not have the best of plans for them.

"You...You will pay for what you did to my family!" The grasshopper shouted. Before Snap or his friends could say anything in response to that, the grasshopper pressed his foot down on the gas pedal. "Die!"

Screaming, the group turned and fled.