Hi Guys! Special thanks to IMightWriteAFanfic for and Thiazzie for writing a review for me. I'm glad you thought that chapter wasn't too bad. And thank you for the nice words! I wish everybody was like you guys and could review my work.

Thiazzie, you guessed Conrad as the traitor. That makes 2 votes for Conrad and 2 votes for Sixclaw, which puts the both of them in the front running for traitor amongst those who read my story. I hope more people can review my work and guess who the traitor is!

Anyway, here is Chapter 25. There is much more action in this chapter and I guess I'm fairly satisfied with it i comparison to the previous chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it!

SPOILER ALERT(kinda): For those who know you are sensitive, you MIGHT want to put a tissue box next to you. Things could get REALLY intense.

Chapter 25: Stingers

It was stunning. Simply stunning. Calvin had no idea how to describe the tunnels in words. By the current age's standards, massive skyscrapers and engineering marvels could be created, but that was only with advanced engineering. To find an engineering masterpiece down in the Underland where they had no such technology was beyond his wildest imagination.

What could you say? All you could do was marvel at an engineering phenomenon of the Underland. Calvin really had no idea what to say. He remembered the time when his father brought him to Rome, about a year before his father had passed away. His father wasn't Catholic, but needed some deliverance for his soul, apparently. They had visited St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican Church, and to Calvin, that had set the standard for ancient buildings.

These tunnels seemed to match that standard. The walls and ceiling weren't made of rock. Incredibly, they were made of stone, which meant that the schemers must have, against all odds, found some way to build a stone ceiling in the middle of a bunch of rocks. Calvin tried to imagine the schemers devising some plan of doing so, but he just couldn't. He wanted to know the answers though. Unable to control himself, he asked Cassandra, "Did the schemers create this without any assistance from any other animals?"

Cassandra shook her head. "I know you find us incredibly intelligent, but even we aren't capable of such feats. We had help," she said, looking at Calvin, "from Overlanders."

Calvin was shocked. Overlanders had come down to create this for them? "When did the Overlanders come down here to help you?" he asked.

"Hundreds of years ago, Overlander. Sandwich wasn't the first Overlander to come down here. There were many before him, but of different complexion. They assisted us in building these tunnels. Unlike these humans we are at war against, they were very willing and helpful," Cassandra mocked.

"You mean you threatened them to be your slaves," Ripred pointed out.

"We did no such thing," Cassandra insisted.

"Do you really expect us to believe your bullshit?" Ripred asked contemptuously.

Cassandra just kept quiet, which made Calvin feel extremely uncomfortable, precisely because she looked way too comfortable for someone who had just been taken prisoner. He honestly didn't trust her, and he was sure neither did Ripred. But if Ripred had no problem with following her, then Calvin wasn't going to complain too. Ripred probably had a back-up plan up his sleeve. Or at least Calvin hoped so.

As they journeyed through the wide, spacious tunnels, Calvin admired the intricate drawings on the both sets of walls, which seemed to run down the same path forever. The light coming from the lamp they were using cast flickering shadows, which added to the great effect of the drawings. The experience was truly nothing short of unique and incredible.

Calvin could see he wasn't the only one who was astounded by the spectacle they were witnessing. In fact, he couldn't find anyone who appeared to think badly of the architectural design. Everybody found it magnificent. Even Cassandra occasionally stopped to savour the work of her predecessors, which nobody objected to. Calvin could just keep singing praises of it all day.

It was Lapblood's sharp tone that brought everybody back to reality. "These tunnels are tremendous and impressive, but stay focussed and don't get too mesmerised. We are here on a quest, not some sightseeing adventure," she reminded everybody, "Remain on guard and vigilant."

Even Ripred had no sarcastic comment for what she had said. Lapblood was absolutely right. They were on the verge of becoming careless by being too distracted by the scenes in front of their eyes. An attack right now would throw them off balance, and cripple their ability to advance into the fox's territory. It was a good thing Lapblood was trying to keep them on their toes.

Just at that moment, as the light from the lamp continued to flash around, Calvin spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Could it be?... No, it was impossible. His eyes must have begun playing tricks on him again. The sight of that meant and made too many things too complicated, and it was an indication that… oh no. "Stop!" he called out, "Stop!"

Everybody halted immediately. "What is it boy?" Ripred asked impatiently, "Do you need to pee? If you do, we're not having any piss stops. You should have gone just now while we were still talking back in the forest."

"No," Calvin replied, choosing to ignore Ripred's comment, "I wish it was just that, but it's not. He walked over to the left side of the tunnel, and picked up a small rod-shaped object. Yes, his eyes had not lied to him. That small rod-like object in the Overland was commonly used and was generally harmless, but seeing it here…

"What is that?" Nike inquired.

"A battery," Calvin replied, "In simple words, it is an object, or rather a device, that converts stored chemical energy into electrical energy. It's used in the Overland for a variety of purposes, mainly having to do with electricity of course. It's used to power lamps, cars, phones, computers, weapons… It's used to power our world."

Everybody stared at him blankly. "Overlander, in no way is your explanation simple," Sixclaw remarked.

"We still have no idea what you're driving at," Flyfur added sheepishly.

"That's because the Overlander is very shit at explaining things," Ripred chipped in, "but using my relatively extensive knowledge of the Overlander. Let me explain what it is. It is the source of a very unique type of energy that is very powerful. What the Overlander's point is that this is a sign of-"

"-advanced technology," Luxa finished.

"Which means that…" Ripred went on hesitantly.

"... that the schemers may already have their hands on the weapon," Luxa said bleakly.

Ripred turned to Cassandra. "Has Flavius laid hands on the weapon yet?" he asked, with urgency clearly evident in his tone.

Cassandra, obviously scared he was going to give her another painful torture experience, quickly replied, "I'm not that high ranking to know these details, but based on my personal knowledge, he hasn't got the weapon yet." This time, Calvin could tell from her body language that she was not lying.

Ripred probably knew that she was telling the truth as well. Seemingly satisfied with her answer, he relaxed, and said, "Carry on, Cassandra. Don't let me interrupt your show."

Cassandra nodded and continued on her path down the straight tunnel. The group now looked extremely uneasy. Even though they believed Cassandra when she said that Flavius did not have the weapons of mass destruction, the battery was clear-cut evidence that there was the presence of advanced technology in schemer territory. It wasn't a comforting thought at all.

As they continued their long walk down the wide and straight tunnel, Hero asked Calvin, "What are these weapons of mass destruction?"

"They're missiles," Calvin answered curtly.

"Yes, what are they? You can tell me all you know about them, in terms of historical or physical details, or how much damage they can cause. I think I need some context as to what we are trying to stop the schemers from using," Hero responded

Calvin sighed. "It's going to be quite a long talk," he warned her, "but here goes. I have very limited knowledge of the history of missiles, but they are essentially projectiles that are designed to destroy many things upon impact. You do know what projectiles are, don't you?"

"I do," Hero confirmed, snorting, "our vocabulary down here in the Underland may be different from yours, but it is certainly not more limited."

"Actually, I think it is very limited compared to our vocabulary," Calvin said bluntly and brutally.

"Can we stay on the topic for a change?" Hero asked, rolling her eyes, "We were talking about missels, not our vocabulary."

"It's MISSILES, not missels. And as I was about to say, it has become a common mode of destruction in the Underland and is often used as a weapon in war," Calvin told her.

"You use weapons of mass destruction as a weapon in battle in the Overland? That's… really horrific," Hero commented.

"It is," Calvin agreed, "while you all are fighting battles using swords and claws down here, we are blowing each other to bits in the Overland. The scale of destruction is much larger there. But then again, we try not to use missiles unless we absolutely have to, which is why, to a certain extent, there is less wars back in the Overland, although that's also not to say we have few wars. There are still plenty of wars in the Overland."

"You just contradicted yourself," Hero pointed out matter-of-factly.

At that moment, everybody, including Ripred and Luxa, had stopped their conversations to listen to what Calvin had to say. Even Edward and Conrad, who had been embroiled in a heated exchange just moments ago, stopped their row and began listening intently to Calvin. Calvin even observed Cassandra's ears flicking up to listen to what he had to say.

Although he felt slightly under pressure, Calvin answered Hero, "That's not the point, Hero. The point is that missiles are supremely deadly. I estimate that about half a dozen of them would be enough to destroy Regalia for good."

"Tell us more," Hadrian asked, clearly fascinated, "how is it operated?"

"Well," Calvin began, "I believe the missiles in this case refers to guided missiles, which are mostly pre-programmed to hit a specific location. Its trajectory and movement are all determined beforehand. There are some that can be controlled, in the middle of its flight, but since they are so rare, I highly doubt that the schemers would have laid their claws on those."

"How large are they?" came a question from Flyfur.

"Pretty large. It's actually quite hard to say because there are so many different types of missiles. My estimation is that an average missile length would be five or six times the length of me, and the diameter would depend on the amount of destruction the missile is designed to cause," Calvin answered informatively.

Discussions and separate conversations began to break out amongst the quest members about the missiles that Calvin had described. "How would the schemers operate them?" Hero asked.

"That's the problem," Calvin said while frowning, "this means that the schemers would need to have possession of computers, engines and other technology. In the first place, I have no idea how they would gain control of any missiles. They may be schemers, but I'm still totally sure that they can't have built a rocket or missile on their own."

Calvin noticed Ripred's expression darken slightly, and he had a feeling that Ripred knew something that he didn't know. He kept in mind that he would need to confront Ripred about that later.

Finally, the long, straight tunnel ended and they began to descend, with the tunnels no taller than about four metres high, and its width only allowing about four quest members to walk abreast at most. The tunnels began to wind round and round, and the atmosphere began to feel denser and thicker. It was as if the weight of the quest and the danger in it had begun to tangibly weigh down on the shoulders of every single quest member.

Cassandra led them into a large cavern, that seemed to be designed as an atrium of sorts. As they entered, their conversations began to echo around the chamber, with the sound of their talking reverberating of the walls. Cassandra was about to lead them across the atrium to another tunnel on the other side when she stopped abruptly and retreated quickly. "We've got company," she growled.

Ripred sniffed the air. "Get into a simple circle formation! No type of arc will defend us here!" he barked. Everybody did exactly what he said, and they soon found themselves standing in a large circle, with everybody having one person on either side.

"What's the threat, Ripred?" Nike asked.

"You'll see in a few seconds," Ripred mumbled ominously.

Calvin began to hear scuttling noises, and those noises began to flood the chamber. There were six large doorways inside the atrium, and those scuttling noises were coming from each and every one of them. Nike sniffed the air. "Oh, THEM," she murmured.

Calvin drew out his pistols, and quickly checked that they were fully loaded with ammunition. He then trained one gun each on the two tunnels facing him, as the scuttling noises got louder and louder. And then they emerged out of the tunnels. "Stingers!" Edward exclaimed.

The foxes and rats suddenly looked diminutive compared to the creatures that had just entered the atrium. They were scorpions, and up to that point looked like the largest animals Calvin had seen in the Underland. They advanced menacingly, snapping their pincers excitedly, almost looking as if they were about to relish the battle.

But Calvin wasn't scared of the pincers. He was eyeing the horrifically large stinger that was at the end of its long tail. The scorpion sting had an unusual colour, and Calvin wasn't surprised if it contained poison.

"I wish we had Hazard here with us," Luxa growled in frustration, turning to Temp, "Temp, see if you can communicate with them. Speak in crawler."

Temp began clicking away rapidly, and the scorpions stopped advancing. "Temp, do they understand you?" Luxa asked.

"Understand me, they do, understand me," Temp answered, but his tone was still fraught with anxiousness, "Friends of Regalia, they are not, friends of Regalia."

"What do you mean? We have allied with the stingers a long time ago. They have even made peace with the gnawers who have given their home back to them!" Luxa exclaimed.

"Same stingers, these are not, same stingers," was Temp's nervous reply.

"He means that these are different stingers. They belong to schemer territory. They probably haven't seen us before. To them, we probably look like shrimp in cream sauce," Ripred said dreamily.

"Stay focused, Ripred. The shrimp comes later," Luxa snapped at him, "give us a quick breakdown of weaknesses."

"Aim for the facial area. Avoid the pincers and its sting! And stay in this circle formation so we can defend each other," Ripred ordered.

"No!" Luxa objected, "we need to split up and attack them separately. It makes us harder targets to hit with the sting!"

"This is not a time to argue with me, pup!" Ripred snarled.

The stingers had all unanimously decided to continue advancing on them.

"For your information, I'm not a pup anymore! And we're running out of time! Use your brain, Ripred! In this circle formation, many of us will die!" Luxa retorted.

Ripred shot her a glare, but then he roared, "Do as the Queen says! ATTACK THEM!"

Everybody simultaneously launched an attack on the stingers, catching them by surprise. Calvin ignored the others, who had begun to use their swords and claws against the stingers. He picked a stinger in particular, and fired off three rounds at it. Every single bullet hit the target, as the stinger was so large. However, every single one of his bullets ricocheted off the stinger's rock hard shell.

Its exoskeleton appeared to be impenetrable armour. Unconvinced, Calvin fired at it twice more, but once again, his bullets ricocheted off its shell. Cursing under his breath, he now remembered Ripred's advice. He aimed at its face, containing its small mouth and tiny, beady eyes, and fired at it. However, the stinger brought its pincers to its face, where it deflected the bullets easily.

Hadrian, Erik, Edward and Conrad all began a coordinated assault at a particular stinger, provoking it and dashing in and out of the range of its sting. They peppered it with heavy blows to its legs, frustrating it. It tried to snap them into two by using its pincers, but they were just too fast for it. It then proceeded to try impaling them with its legs, but yet again, they were moving too fast.

Calvin decided to add the distractions by firing a couple of shots at its face. Both bullets zipped over its head harmlessly, but it was enough to draw its attention away from them. It hissed at him in fury, and Hadrian made us of that distraction by jumping on its back, and began hitting the top of its head with his sword.

Just then, Calvin saw the stinger's tail rear up. "Hadrian!" he yelled in warning at the soldier. Hadrian just nodded confidently. The stinger then brought down its sting with great ferocity and speed towards Hadrian's back. In literally what must have been the last split second possible, Hadrian rolled off its back, and then the sting plunged itself into the stingers' own head. The stinger scuttled backwards in shock, before crashing to the ground.

"Let's pull that off on the rest of them, Gunner!" Hadrian said with a grin, and they moved on to fight the other stingers. Unlike Calvin and the human soldiers of the Underland, the rest of the quest members were not faring well. They were struggling to even cause the stingers any trouble. Calvin winced when he saw one stinger swat Gnasher as the gnawer was leaping midair at it, sending Gnasher slamming into the wall.

He then watched in horror as a stinger grabbed Hecate by her wing as she attempted to attack it, and the stinger smashed her against the wall. Hecate slumped to the ground and couldn't even get to her feet. Thankfully, Perseus dove down and picked her out, flying her to safety before the stinger to stab its stinger into her flesh.

Luxa and Ripred were trying to take down one stinger in particular, but they were constantly being thwarted by its quick movements and sudden attacks. Calvin ran over to help them, firing bullets at its face. Once again, the stinger deflected the bullets with its pincers, and one stray bullet in particular nearly hit Ripred, but the rat somehow reacted extremely fast by flipping over the bullet.

He gaped at Ripred's agility. Ripred cast a sidelong glance at Calvin. "I'm a rager," was all Ripred said, before launching yet another attack at the stinger. Luxa was extremely graceful in the way she fought. She teamed up with Aurora to flip, somersault and vault over the stinger, raining blow after blow on it, aggravating it.

The stinger was multitasking at that point. Not only was it trying to attack and evade Luxa's attack, but it had to resist Ripred's furious assault as well, as the old rat attacked with all his might. In all reality though, apart from being infuriated, the stinger was still relatively unharmed. Calvin continued to blast bullet after bullet at it, but to no avail. This massive scorpion's shell was just too hard.

Just then, Calvin noticed a stinger beginning to make its way towards a certain corner of the atrium. Calvin suddenly realised it was heading for the corner where Temp and Hero had huddled together to stay out of the way of the fighting.

"HERO! TEMP!" Calvin shouted at them, sprinting towards the stinger. Roaring at it, he slid underneath its body and emerged in front of it. From point blank range, he fired a stream of bullets at its face. But its reaction was even faster. It covered its face, deflecting bullets all over the place., before knocking Calvin out of the way with its pincer. Temp then flew at its face, but it knocked Temp aside with its pincer as well. It then advanced on Hero hungrily.

Calvin was completely winded by the stinger's blow. nevertheless, seeing Hero in danger, he pushed the pain to the back of his head, and forced himself to his feet. But it was too late. Calvin could only watch on in horror as the stinger reared up with its sting, and plunged it towards the screaming Hero…

But it never hit Hero. In the last second, Temp slammed into Hero, sending her skidding across the floor. The sting then impaled itself into Temp, who had put himself in Hero's earlier position. The stinger, screeching and gloating away, pulled its sting out of Temp, leaving the cockroach slumped on the floor.

"NO!" Calvin screamed, and by then, everybody had seen what had happened. He could see the horror and despair in both Luxa's and Ripred's eyes as they watched the whole scene unfold. Calvin didn't give the stinger a chance to gloat. Roaring in anger, he fired three dead accurate shots at its face. All three bullets came into contact with the face, bursting the stinger's eyes and going through its mouth. The stinger gurgled away in its own blood, before crashing down.

All around Calvin, the quest members attacked with double, even triple the ferocity they had before, reinvigorating the fight. Ripred slammed into one stinger so hard that it flew into the wall and cracked its shell. Calvin widened his eyes in surprise as Ripred slammed into it a second time, breaking its shell completely. The stinger was dead within a few seconds.

Luxa slipped her blade through the slits in another stinger's scales, causing it to scream. Erik sliced off the sting of yet another stinger in fury, before dipping his blade in its poison and stabbing the stinger in the face.

Perseus gripped hold of the sting of one stinger, and held it back with all his might, while Hecate and Nike each grabbed one pincer, preventing it from defending himself. Conrad then walked up and drove the blade through its face with so much force that its face caved inwards. All around, the stingers were being killed with ruthless efficiency. Finally, Luxa singlehandedly brought down the last stinger, leaving all the stingers incapacitated or dead.

She then quickly rushed over to Temp's side. The little cockroach was still breathing, as Calvin could see the shallow rising in his chest, but it wasn't for long. The cockroach had a massive hole in his chest, and Calvin could see his innards filled with the stinger's poison. It wasn't a pretty sight, but Calvin didn't care. He had sacrificed himself.

"Temp," Luxa said softly, cradling his body in her hands.

"Queen… Luxa," it choked out.

"Hold in there, Temp. Hold in there," Ripred called out, rushing over to him.

"It's over, Lord Ripred, it's over," Temp whispered.

"You damn crawler, just call me Ripred. And it's not over yet," Ripred insisted, "I know you well. You can hold out. You have proved me wrong before, remember? You're full of surprises."

"Served Regalia well, have I, served Regalia well?" Temp asked, struggling to breathe.

"Yes, you have," Luxa replied, with tears already beginning to flow down her cheeks.

"Then I go to peace. I wish you success. Save… Regalia… please," he gasped.

Calvin realised that was the first coherent sentence he had ever heard from Temp. The little cockroach stopped moving, and Calvin couldn't even see the shallow rising of his chest. "Temp!" Luxa said, and Calvin could hear the pain and distress in her voice as she said his name. "Temp!" she screamed again, but Temp didn't answer. He would never answer again.

Calvin found himself starting to cry, and he noticed that Nike, Erik, Conrad and every other quest member had broken into tears. Even Ripred bowed his head and didn't say anything. Luxa began to weep bitterly, as she held Temp's body close to her chest.

Done! That was a difficult chapter to write for obvious reasons. I'm sorry I decided to let Temp go, but it was part of my overall plan for the trilogy. I had gotten really close to him as a character while reading Suzanne Collin's Underland Chronicles, so it felt so painful to let him die like that, but I guess I had to. It just felt necessary to fit the story.

Please, please remember to review my work. If you didn't like the fact that Temp died, let me know in your reviews as well! If you didn't like HOW he died, let me know as well! Just remember to review my story. For those who loved Temp, I hope I didn't make you sniffle too much. If I did, let me know as well.

Anyway, I'm getting excited. I;m down to my last five chapters, and it's crunch time!

Question: How large of an influence will Temp's death have on the rest of the quest?