Hey! Sorry I didn't update sooner! I was having a lot of fun this week - and I didn't even go on vacation for break LOL! Plus I wanted to get the DVD first in order to be accurate with the dialogue and events. And guess what? I GOT IT! TODAY! I'm super happy! ^-^ And I was able to watch the scene I needed for this chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own this movie. Obviously.

P.S. This is a Max-centric chapter, so no Bella (but there is some Bella the Vampire...)

P.P.S. This chapter's extra-long, since I haven't updated in forever.

Enjoy!

...

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Dirt Clod War

"Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna have a war!" Max exclaimed. "And we're gonna completely clobber each other!"

He had gathered the group in the middle of the woods to explain his brilliant plan. The only ones absent were KW and Bella. KW had gone off to bring Bob and Terry home, while Bella had mysteriously disappeared somewhere. Max hoped KW got back in time to play with him and the others, but his feelings for his sister's alter ego weren't completely mended, and he hoped she stayed away from him for the time being.

"Clobber each other?" Ira repeated, interested.

"Yeah, with these dirt clods," Max held up a ball of dirt so everyone could see. "I used to do it a ton when I was a little kid."

Of course, I'd always do it with Bella and Claire…

"We…we haven't had a dirt clod fight in a long time," Douglas remarked.

"It's the best way to have fun together," Max went on.

"Life was simpler back then with the dirt clods…" Ira said fondly.

"So who wants to be a Bad Guy?" Max asked.

The wild things looked at each other, no one saying anything. Typical response. No one ever wanted to be a Bad Guy.

"Okay, then. I'll pick one." He looked around the group. Who would be best at being bad?

His eyes fell on Judith. She didn't like him much, and she irritated him a lot, so that automatically made her his opponent.

"Um…okay, you're a Bad Guy," he said, pointing at her.

"Yeah, saw that coming," she said sarcastically.

Max ignored her and continued to look. Alexander went into consideration. He was always underfoot, saying random stuff no one cared about. He got on Max's nerves almost as much as Judith, and suddenly Max wanted Alexander to be a Bad Guy.

"You're definitely a Bad Guy," Max told him.

"What?" Alexander looked disappointed. "Aw, man."

"And you can pick one other," Max said, trying to make the playing field even.

"I'll be a Bad Guy," Ira said, raising his hand. "I wanna be bad."

Judith looked at Max. "Okay, we pick you."

Max saw what she was trying to do, and was ready to refute it. "No, I can't be a Bad Guy," he said, laughing. "I'm the king. I'm a Good Guy."

"I'm a Bad Guy!" Ira chanted, his hand rising higher. "I'm a Bad Guy!"

"Okay, you can be a Bad Guy," Max agreed. He didn't care where he placed Ira, and if Ira wanted to be on the Bad Guy team, then Max would let him be on it.

"Judy! I'm on your team!" Ira said excitedly.

"Yeah, I heard," she said, still upset about being a Bad Guy.

"And you…" Max looked to where the Bull sat behind everyone else. "He's…he's with you." Max didn't know the Bull very well, and was still a bit scared of him.

"Am I a Good Guy, then?" Douglas asked Carol.

"Of course! You've got the best arm!" Carol answered proudly.

Max smiled. He had the sensible people on his team. Douglas was smart (and he had a good arm, from the sound of it), and Carol was really aggressive.

Now that only left one more person to be on their team…

"Hey!" Judith called sharply. "Where were you?"

Everyone turned to see KW coming towards them, an indifferent look on her face. "Just making sure Bob and Terry still have their brains." She gave a pointed look at Carol. "They do."

"KW!" Max called, running to where she was. This was perfect. She could be on their team.

"Hey, KW!" Alexander said. "You wanna be on my team? We're the Bad Guys!" He almost sang the last sentence, trying to make it sound cool.

"No, no, no! No! You're with us!" Max said, taking her paw in his hand. "You're a Good Guy."

"Yeah, come on, KW," Carol mumbled, almost incoherently. "Be a Good Guy."

"Okay, so you're on my team," Max explained as they approached Carol and Douglas. "You and me and Carol and Douglas."

"Hi, KW," Carol said awkwardly.

She looked sideways at him before turning back to Max.

"Okay, so what we're gonna try to do is kill the Bad Guys," Max told his team, "by beating them in the head with these dirt clods."

KW and Carol looked at each other, a bit wary. Douglas nodded, seeming to understand.

"And we're gonna try to find the biggest pieces so—"

A big dirt clod hit him in the head. Carol caught him before he could fall over.

The war had officially begun.

"You didn't see that coming!" called Alexander. Judith and Ira followed his lead and threw dirt clods towards them.

"Run for cover!" Max yelled.

"You'd better run!" Judith shouted.

Off they went. Max ran right behind KW, Carol and Douglas leading as dirt clods landed and exploded all around them.

They made it to the desert part of the island. The Bad Guys had run off Carol and KW; Max was alone with Douglas. But they were still being pursued, Max knew they were. And with this knowledge, Max started to laugh. This was how things were supposed to be.

"Look out for the Bad Guys!" came Ira's voice. A shower of dirt clods and tree branches rained down. A huge boulder was hurtling towards them. Max was frightened for a moment. What if—

He reappeared ten feet away as the boulder landed where he'd just been. What had just happened? He was about to be crushed by a boulder…and now he had magically been put out of harm's way. He could have sworn he heard someone call jokingly, "Get your head out of the clouds, Max!"

He found Carol and KW behind a huge log. "We've got them pinned down!" Carol informed them as Douglas ran up. "They can't even move!"

About thirty feet away were the Bad Guys hiding behind another huge log, cowering from the dirt clods being hurled by the Good Guys.

"Fire on three!" Max commanded.

"Okay!" Douglas said.

"One…two…THREE!"

Dirt clods went shooting over, showering Judith and Ira with dirt and rocks. Max giggled with giddiness.

"Wait…wait," he said through his laughter, holding off an attack from his team. "I have an idea."

They stopped to watch him.

"Come out!" Max called.

"No!" Judith answered, peeking out from behind the log.

"Why not?"

"Uh, cause you're gonna hit us in the head with dirt!" Judith said, as if it were obvious.

"Max, how is this helping?" Carol's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Hang on, okay?" He turned back to the log. "Come out!" he called again.

"No!" was the response from Judith.

"Why not?"

"Because when I said you're gonna hit us in the head with dirt, you didn't say anything! That means you're gonna hit us in the head with dirt!"

Max's face fell. "Man…they really got us figured out." It only took him a moment to come up with a new plan.

"Okay, let's go!" he called to his teammates. "CHAAAARRRGE!"

They hurled dirt clods at Judith and Ira, who retreated quickly. Explosions and screaming started up again instantly.

"Good shot!" Ira called. "I'm gonna get you!"

Huge dirt clods fell dangerously close to where Max was. Strangely, he wasn't hit with the bigger ones. But he didn't have time to puzzle how this was so.

He and Douglas slid into a ravine, closely followed by Carol and KW. They threw more balls of dirt at the opposing team, hitting them almost every single time. Max let out a new fit of giggles.

A raccoon appeared on the ground, hissing viciously.

"Hey! Who threw Richard?" Carol asked, picking the animal up. "He's on our team now!" He threw the raccoon, and he landed on Ira's huge nose, clawing wildly.

"No throwing animals!" Ira cried. "Get it off! It hurts! It really hurts!"

Max saw Alexander sneaking his way to where his team was staked out. Now was the time to rack up a few more points for the Good Guys.

"Hey, Douglas," Max said. "Get the goat."

"Okay," Douglas said.

"Knock his legs over," Max said.

"Got it." Douglas grunted as he hurled a dirt clod at Alexander's legs. The small wild thing did a back flip and landed hard on the rocks.

"Ow, you guys! That hurt!"

Max tried to stifle a giggle. Seeing Alexander this angry was making him happy all over again.

"I'm not playing anymore!" Alexander exclaimed, walking away.

"Come on!" Judith yelled. "Fight with us!"

"No!"

"Do it again!" Max said to Douglas. No sooner had he said this, another dirt clod hit Alexander square in the back, knocking him down.

"That's not fair! That's cheating! Are your crazy?" Alexander screamed, clearly upset.

"You're supposed to get hit!" Judith said. "It's a war!"

"That wasn't fair!" Alexander existed. "Douglas hit me when I was hurt! You're not supposed to hit someone when they're hurt!" He turned around. "I quit!"

"Get back here!" Judith barked, growing angry.

Max slid further into the ravine, a bit embarrassed that he'd caused a fight among the Bad Guys.

"Alexander, don't you cry!" Judith shouted.

"Alex, count to ten! Everything'll be fine!" Ira suggested.

"If I count to ten, will you be gone, Ira?" Alexander spat.

"Don't you dare talk to him like that!" Judith yelled.

"Knock it off!" Max shouted. He couldn't take this anymore. He threw a dirt clod willy-nilly.

"Ow!" Judith cried. "That's my eye!"

The war quickly forgot about Alexander, and Max wanted it to stay that way. Judith flew through the air, letting loose a legion of smaller dirt clods. The Bull was hit a few times, but that was sufficient enough to make him fall over.

The Good Guys migrated out of the ravine. Carol tripped and fell on his back, while Max tripped over Carol's body. Douglas was right behind them, and he tripped over the side of Carol's head.

"Oh, Carol!" he said. "I'm sorry!"

KW came by, jumping on Carol's face and knocking into Douglas.

"What's the matter?" she asked Carol playfully. "Someone step on your head?"

Carol got up, but instead of laughing like KW, he looked irritated and angry.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

Max realized suddenly that Carol wasn't pleased with being stepped on. He froze where he was, not knowing what to do.

"What?" KW asked.

"Don't step on my head!"

KW looked at him funny. "What do you mean? It's a war. Douglas just did it."

"Yeah, but he did it on accident! You did it on purpose!" he said, pointing at her accusingly. "And he didn't step on the face part of my head!"

Max hid behind a few tree roots, clinging to them, fearful of what would happen if this fight spiraled out of control. He felt the pressure of reassuring hands on his shoulders, but he was sure no one else was there.

"It was a joke," KW said quietly, becoming angry as well. "I was just joking."

"Like you aren't always looking for the opportunity to step on my head," Carol growled. "Cause that's what you do."

Max held his breath, almost wanting someone to throw a punch or…something. Anything to end this tension. Although he did admit the invisible hands on his shoulders were a bit comforting.

"Fine," KW said. "Fine. You know what? This is exactly why I don't wanna do anything with you anymore." She laid down on her back and pointed to her head. "Go ahead. Step on my head."

Carol considered it for a moment before restraining himself. "Forget it. I'm not gonna step on your head just to make you feel better."

Explosions were heard, but they seemed far away now. Carol turned to where Douglas hid behind a pile of rocks.

"Come on, Douglas, let's go," he said.

"Carol, I thought you did the right thing," Douglas said weakly as the two friends walked away.

Max noticed that the coast was clear. Before going over to KW, he turned around. He was sure someone had to have been there. But he saw no one. It made him confused, but he couldn't think about that right now.

He slowly walked to where KW lay. He carefully put his right foot on her forehead, hoping that it would make her feel better.

"Thanks Max," she said sadly. "But…I'm done. I don't know why I came back here. Glad I met you, I guess."

Max didn't know what to say. He didn't want KW to leave, but at the same time he understood why she wanted to. He decided not to tell her how he felt about the situation for fear of worsening it.

"Where's your sister?" she asked. "She leave, too?"

Max nodded numbly. "She's angry with me. She needs time by herself."

"That's what I need," KW said. "You get that, right, Max?"

He did, but he wasn't about to say so. Right then he wanted to rewind the day and pretend none of this ever happened.

...

Unfortunately, the others weren't about to let Max forget what he'd done. They were in the spot where they'd picked teams for the war, sitting in a circle and grumbling to each other as the sky grew dark.

Max hugged his knees and tried not to make eye contact. He knew that everyone was upset with him, but he didn't want to look at their faces. It would just make him feel worse.

"So, King, what's goin' on?" Judith asked, breaking the silence with her aggravating voice. "This is how you rule your kingdom? Everyone fighting? The Bad Guys feel bad…heck, everyone feels bad."

Don't you think I realize that? he wanted to scream. He kept quiet and tried to hide beneath his matted brown bangs.

"I still feel dizzy," Ira complained quietly. "My eyeballs feel loose."

"Oh, can it, Ira," Judith snapped. "Everyone's eyeballs feel loose."

Max wanted to do something. But what? He was just a pathetic little boy, unable to do anything. Why couldn't he have powers like Max the Super Wolf?

"No," Carol said. "Max can rule his kingdom. He'll keep us all together. He has powers. He told us." He turned his hopeful gaze to Max. "Right, Max? Show us. Please."

Max had run out of ideas. He was scared out of his wits. He was in a circle of huge beasts who were prepared to eat him. What was he going to do?

There had to be something. A trick of some sorts, maybe? Or…yes! Yes, it had to work! It always made people feel happy back in his old home. Why couldn't it work here?

Max got up and promptly started to execute his robot dance.

They all stared in awe. Max thought it was because they were impressed. But he would soon learn the reason for their intent looks.

"Uh, oh," Ira said. "Somebody broke the king."

He slowed down a bit, but didn't stop. This had to work.

"I don't get it," Judith said.

This made him cease his movements. Maybe it wouldn't work.

"Oh, wait. I do," Judith stated. "It's stupid."

Max looked around the circle. Alexander sighed and turned away. Ira and Judith were still fixed on him. Douglas was drawing in the dirt. The Bull was staring at a nearby tree, oblivious. Carol gave him a look worthy of making Max's heart crack further.

"That's what we waited for?" Judith asked.

Max didn't know how to answer. He was stuck where he was, unable to move.

The temperature dropped, and snow began to fall. The group looked up at the sky, taking this as their sign to ditch the meeting and leave Max alone with his thoughts.

Before they disappeared, Carol looked back. Max pleaded with him silently, begging him not to leave. Carol shook his head and turned away, following the others as they made their way back to the fort.

They couldn't leave him out here all alone. He wanted to follow, but wasn't sure if he should.

"CAROL?" he called, his voice echoing off the nearby trees. He got no answer. Or rather, he did get an answer to whether or not he should return to the fort that night.

It was as clear as if he'd asked a magic eight ball:

No.

He started to shiver, and the snow continued to fall. He made his way to a tree with huge roots and snuggled into them, trying to keep warm. His dirty wolf suit wasn't going to be enough to shut out the cold.

He was drowsy and wasn't concerned if he was freezing or not. He just wanted to go to sleep and escape all the mistakes he'd made, the trouble he'd caused for these creatures. It was all his fault…

The feeling of arms came over him, and he was sure that the same hands who had comforted him earlier during the war were with him now. He didn't mind; they were familiar, and made him feel safe.

"It's okay, Max…" someone whispered. "Everything's okay."

He wanted to say something back, but was too tired to answer.

And Max Carson finally fell asleep on that cold, snowy night, on the island where the Wild Things are, with Bella the Vampire watching over him.