Chapter 16: Boulder strikes again Part 3.

A little ways up the line, Duck was resting in a siding. Suddenly, he saw Ryan approaching pushing 3 red 7-plank trucks loaded with quarry stone into the siding. Once he stopped, Gru climbed down from Ryan's cab followed by some more of the minions before walking over to Duck.

Duck: "Top of the morning Mr. Gru, how are you doing today?"

Gru: "Pretty good, thank you. I heard Agnes was hanging out over at the quarry today, so I thought I'd bring over her track cycle just in case."

The minions gestured over to the crate that 2 other minions were caring, and they knew that Agnes's track cycle was packed inside. Gru stepped closer to the crate, then he spoke to the minions that were holding it.

Gru: "Tim, Mark, Phil, you 3 be careful with this crate. Agnes loves this cycle, and she'd hate to see what you guys end up doing with it."

The minions spoke off in agreement, and Duck just chuckled.

Duck: "Boy you sure do take care of your daughters well, but doesn't it sometimes make other parents jealous?"

Gru: "Well, yeah…...for some people."(chuckles quietly)

Duck and Ryan shared confused looks with each other, suddenly they all heard a faint rumbling noise that started making the ground shake.

Ryan: "Uhh, what's that?"

Just then, the minions dropped the crate with slack-jawed looks on their faces. Once they recovered, they panickedly pointed down the line behind Duck.

Gru: "Aagh guys, I told you to be careful with that-

But when Gru looked where the minions were pointing, he was completely horrified by what he saw. Thundering down the tracks was Boulder, and he was coming in really fast.

Gru: "WHAAAAAAA!?"

Almost without thinking, Ryan quickly moved forward a little bit so he was fully off the main line. At the next second, Boulder thundered past.

After Boulder went by, the whole group watched in shock as Boulder started rolling out of sight.

Duck: "Uh-oh, Boulder's on the loose again!"

Ryan: "No kidding, it nearly knocked off my coal bunker!"

Gru: "...Say what now?"

Suddenly, Rosie quickly puffed past next while blowing her whistle. But as Rosie sped by, Agnes waved at Gru from Rosie's cab while Lucy, Margo, and Edith rode in it as well but staying focused on Boulder.

Agnes: "Hey Gru!"

After Rosie went by, Gru started getting the feeling that they would need his help.

Gru: "Minions, Load up that crate and let's go!"

Meanwhile, Boulder kept thundering down the canyon tracks. Rosie managed to keep pace with Boulder as they raced along.

Rosie:(Panting) "Alright, I'm on Boulder's tail!"

Edith: "Boulders don't have tails."

The others just facepalmed at that.

Margo: "Now how are we supposed to stop this Boulder?"

Lucy: "I don't know sweetie, we've never failed at saving the world."

Suddenly, they heard someone whistle at them. On their left side there was a higher ledge that went all the way along Rosie's track, and there was another stretch of track that went along the top of it. As Rosie, Lucy, and the girls looked up in that direction, they saw Gru and the minions riding on a small flatbed that was being pushed by a couple more minions driving a pump trolley. The flatbed was also holding the crate that had Agnes's track cycle in it, and Gru looked like he was holding some sort of magnetic detonator in his right hand.

Gru: "Lucy, is Agnes in there!?"

Lucy: "Yes, she's here!"

And then Agnes poked herself out of Rosie's cab and waved at Gru again.

Gru: "Okay, I need to bring her up with me for a second!"

Lucy: "Okay!(to Agnes) Sweetie, your father needs you up with him for a minute."

Agnes: "Okay."

With that, 1 of the minions came up with a large fishing rod. It's hook lowered down by Rosie's cab, and it hooked up Agnes by the back of her overalls. She got hoisted up, then she was brought down onto the flatbed where Gru was.

Gru: "Alright I've brought you your track cycle just in case, but I've got a job for you."

Agnes: "What is it?"

Then Gru showed her the magnetic detonator.

Gru: "You see, Dr. Nefario made this detonator to freeze certain targets in place. If we get this on that giant boulder, he'll be…..stuck like glue."

Agnes: "Oooh, good idea."

Gru: "So, you up for it?"

Agnes: "Wait, you want me to do it!?"

Gru: "Don't worry Agnes, I know you can do it."

Agnes was hesitant for the moment, but she soon smiled and gave in.

Agnes: "Alright, let's do it."

With that, the minions pulled out a long wooden plank and pointed it out towards Boulder. Agnes looked towards Boulder thundering along the track, and she swallowed nervously before walking up the plank with the detonator. The flatbed being quickly pushed down the track made the plank wobble a little bit, but Agnes managed to keep her balance. She soon walked up to the very end of the plank, and she started reaching the detonator out towards the boulder. As she reached, she thought through how the detonator was supposed to work.

Agnes: "Okay, so this detonator gets magnetically clamped to Boulder. Once this red button gets pressed, it'll burst into ice and freeze Boulder in place."

While memorizing what she said, she reached even further. Inch by inch she tried moving closer and closer to Boulder, but then there was trouble. Agnes had reached a little too far, and she suddenly fell off the plank towards Boulder.

Agnes:(screams in fear)

Everyone gasped in horror, and some of the minions covered their eyes not daring to even look. Agnes fell on top of Boulder, then Boulder rolled over her 3 times. The others winced from seeing this, but now she was running along the top of Boulder as if it was some giant circus ball. But she ended up dropping the detonator, and it got crushed within the rolling boulder.

Gru: "Oh come on, Dr. Nefario worked weeks on that thing!"

Meanwhile, Molly was calmly puffing down the line towards Boulder quarry. She felt cheerful at first, but then she started feeling the ground shaking. She slowed to a stop, and the rumbling started echoing around the gorge.

Molly: "What's that?"

Suddenly, she saw Boulder thundering straight towards her. Along with that, she could've sworn she saw Agnes running along the top of it. Agnes looked over her shoulder while running, and she could see Molly sitting right in Boulder's path.

Agnes: "Molly, watch out!"

Molly jumped in shock, then she quickly reversed into a nearby siding. Once she was in far enough, Boulder thundered past followed by Rosie and the others. Once they were gone, Molly looked on in complete shock.

Gru: "Lucy honey, the detonator just got busted!"

Lucy: "Oh shoot, now what!?"

Margo: "Shouldn't we find a way of helping Agnes first?"

Lucy looked up to Agnes still running along the top of Boulder, but she was starting to look very tired. Aside from that, they puffed out of the canyon and Gru and his minions were now riding on the same level as Rosie as they followed her in the chase.

Suddenly they started going up the side of a small hill, and Boulder started to slow down as it neared the top. When Boulder did reach the top, Agnes was able to stop and catch her breath by standing slightly hunched over and resting her hands on her knees.

Agnes: "Phew, glad that's over."

But it wasn't over. Before she knew it, she felt Boulder starting to roll down the other side. As Rosie and the others had just caught up with Boulder, they gasped as they watched Boulder start rolling away again.

Agnes: "Oh come on!"

Boulder soon sped down the hill at its previous high speed with Agnes running along it again, and the others were starting to get rather annoyed with this chase.

Gru: "Aaagh!"

With that, they just continued with the chase. But then Lucy put up a small holo-map that was being projected from her watch, then she looked very carefully at it before giving a concerned look.

Lucy: "Uhh Gru, the Boulder is heading for the turn before High farm!"

Gru: "What!?"

Up ahead, there was a rather sharp turn over by a cliff. And to make matters worse, right below that cliff was High farm. Everyone already knew this, and they all became more worried than ever. Luckily Gru started getting an idea, but he had to get Agnes off of Boulder first. So he ordered the minions on the pump trolley to go faster, and they quickly switched onto the other track. They pulled ahead of Rosie, and soon they had gotten close enough to help Agnes.

Gru: "Agnes, you're going to have to jump!"

Agnes: "This again!?"

Gru: "Yes, and I will catch you just like I did last time!"

Agnes suddenly remembered how this situation went back when she, Margo, and Edith had been captured by Vector, and now she hoped it would go as well as last time. So she started finding the right moment (while still running), and she jumped towards the flatbed Gru was on with Gru safely catching her.

Gru: "I got ya kitten."

After giving each other a quick hug, Gru set her down on the flatbed.

Agnes: "So what do we do now, we have to stop Boulder from crashing into High farm."

Gru: "Don't worry, I've got an idea."

With that, Gru pulled something out of a small box 1 of the minions brought over. He softly tossed that something in the air, and it quickly converted into a black hoverboard with silver edges. Gru jumped on top of it, and he quickly hovered higher into the air leaving Agnes and the minions staring up at him in awe.

Gru flew his hoverboard as close as he could to Boulder until he was flying somewhere above it, and then he pulled his freeze ray out from his jacket. He blasted a jet of ice around the curve before the cliff, and it created a jagged wall of ice that went all the way around that sharp curve. Boulder soon made contact with that wall and luckily, Boulder rolled safely along the wall and continued rolling down the track to everyone's relief.

Gru: "Freeze ray!"

Lucy softly laughed knowing he learned to say it that way by her.

Rosie and the minions stopped at a set of switches somewhere before the curve, and Gru flew his hoverboard down beside them.

Rosie: "Wow Mr. Gru, that was marvelous."

Gru: "I know."(quietly chuckles)

Just then, Rusty and Bertram raced up on a nearby stretch of narrow gauge tracks while Lucy, Margo, and Edith climbed down from Rosie's cab.

Rusty: "Hey guys, what did I miss?"

Edith: "Dude, you just missed Gru save High farm with just a wall of ice!"

Bertram: "My word, some technique your dear father has."

Lucy: "Uhh guys, can we focus on the task at hand here!?"

Suddenly, everyone once again remembered that they had a giant boulder on the loose. They looked down the track it went on, and they could barely see Boulder still rolling down the line until it disappeared around the bend.

Gru: "Oh, right."(nervous chuckle)

Margo: "Oh man, is there anything we can do to actually stop that Boulder this time?"

Rusty: "Well last time it went loose, it just crashed into the quarry yard sheds."

Lucy: "No way, we're not just gonna let that boulder destroy anything important this time."

Agnes: "Well we gotta do something."

Rusty thought for a moment, then he started getting an idea.

Rusty: "Hey guys, how about we make a pit for Boulder to stay in so he won't roll away?"

Bertram: "Not a bad idea Rusty old boy."

Edith: "Uhh, guys? If you haven't seen the issue yet, that boulder is way too far ahead to secure."

They took another quick glance at where Boulder went, and they knew what she meant. Luckily, Gru had the solution to that.

Gru: "Agnes, I packed your track cycle if you think you need it."

Agnes: "Oh yeah, I can actually use it to catch up with Boulder!"

Rusty: "Uhh I don't know guys, Boulder seems way too far ahead by now."

Agnes thought for a moment, then she took a look at the tracks Rusty was on. There was a set of points a few feet ahead of him, and the left track went down an overgrown track that went deeper through the canyon. After taking a closer look down the track, she suddenly got an idea.

Agnes: "Hey Rusty, isn't that track shorter than the one Boulder went down?"

Rusty looked down the overgrown track, and he suddenly realized what Agnes was getting onto.

Rusty: "Yeah, I think we might be able to use that to get to the end of the canyon before Boulder does."

Lucy: "Excellent, but can her cycle actually run on narrow gauge tracks?"

Gru: "Yes honey, Dr. Nefario recently had it programmed to run like that."

Rosie: "Wow, your professor really knows how to handle machines."

So Gru brought out a large drone with a grabber on a cable hooked underneath it, and it clenched Agnes's track cycle from the crate lifting it onto Rusty's track. Agnes hopped aboard, then she reversed the cycle in front of Rusty. A rear coupler appeared behind the track cycle, and 1 of the minions used a shunters pole to hook Rusty to the cycle.

Rusty: "Agnes, are you sure you know what you're doing."

Agnes: "It's okay, I saved Sheffield from being scrapped this way if you haven't heard already."

The minions found a narrow gauge flatbed parked nearby, then they pushed it up behind Rusty and coupled it up before hopping aboard.

Rusty: "Good point guys,(to Agnes) we'll need their help too just in case."

Agnes: "Aren't we gonna meet…..nevermind."

Then, Agnes activated her boosters. Rusty was nervously surprised at this, but he just hoped Agnes knew what she was doing. Agnes revved her engine (if it has an engine), then she sped down the left track towing Rusty and some of the minions behind her. The others watched in shock as they disappeared, but also rather impressed.

Gru: "Yep, our little kitten is growing up."

Lucy: "Yep, but we gotta get ahead of Boulder too."

Margo: "But how?"

Rosie: "Hey, don't worry guys. I made a little birthday delivery up around these parts one time, and I think I know a shortcut around here somewhere. Hop aboard!"

So once the remaining people climbed into Rosie's cab, Rosie quickly puffed down the line to find that shortcut she mentioned. As they were leaving, Bertram watched as they raced to the rescue like heroes.

Bertram: "Let me know how it goes when you come back!"

Meanwhile, Agnes quickly drove her track cycle down their shortcut with Rusty and the minions in tow (literally). As they sped along, they could already see Boulder rolling down the tracks through the trees in between them.

Rusty: "Alright Agnes, I can see Boulder just beyond those trees."

Agnes: "Wow, that shortcut worked better than I thought it would!"

The minions tried looking through the trees as well, but it was hard due to more and more trees getting in the way. They tried shoving each other aside to get a better look, but that only led to them angrily swatting their hands at each other.

Rusty: "Guys, cut it out back there!"

Agnes: "No worries Rusty, they're often like that."

Rusty shook it off, then he looked ahead. But the moment he did, he suddenly grew rather horrified.

Rusty: "Uhh Agnes, you should see what's up ahead."

When Agnes looked up ahead as their surroundings started to get cleared up, she gasped in horror. Up ahead, they could see Percy with a line of empty 7-plank trucks…...but they were right in the middle of Boulder's track.

Agnes: "Oh my gosh, Percy!"

Rusty: "Do you think we can make it?"

Agnes looked ahead, and she could see the track they were on went straight around a slightly sharp curve. If she uncoupled from Rusty and went fast enough, she would be able to jump right onto Percy's track. If she went fast enough, she actually would make it.

Agnes: "Oh, we will make it."

With that, Agnes floored it and they sped faster towards the junction ahead of Boulder.

Up ahead, Percy was parked on the tracks beside a dirt clearing. Alfie, Oliver, Byron, and Kelly were working on the foundations for a new public camping site, and Percy had stopped by to pick up any loose dirt and roots they dug up.

The machines were just starting to take a quick break, and Alfie was able to talk with his good friend Percy.

Percy: "Oh, it's going to be a magnificent camping site!"

Alfie: "Totally, we're also making sure to make the whole grounds look as nice as possible."

Oliver and Kelly then pulled up near Alfie.

Kelly: "Indeed, mostly because they said there was also gonna be a swimming lake here too."

Percy's jaw just slacked at this.

Percy: "No way!"

Oliver: "Yes Percy, you seem pretty excited about this."

Just then, Byron pulled up between Alfie and Oliver.

Byron: "Didn't you have a major incident with water over at Tidmouth harbor?"

Percy just blushed with embarrassment, he didn't like being reminded of the time he fell into the sea while trying to prove that "water is nothing to an engine with determination."

Percy: "Yeah, but I learned my lesson after that."

Oliver: "I see, well we better start getting back to work and-

But suddenly, they heard Rusty repeatedly honking his horn from a good distance. They all looked ahead, the machines could see Agnes, Rusty, and some of the minions heading towards them on a stretch of narrow gauge track.

Agnes: "Percy, guys, heads up!"

Rusty: "Runaway boulder on the loose!"

The minions:(panicking minionese) (Translation: "Runaway boulder!")

Percy looked ahead, and he saw Boulder rolling straight towards him on the same track.

Percy: "Yikes, not again!"

But before Boulder even got close to Percy and the machines, Agnes pressed a square button on her cycle that made a 4-missile rocket launcher appear at the back of her cycle. She shot all 4 missiles towards the front of Boulder, and 2 missiles each hit a tree on either side of the track, the trees toppled and collided with each other, then Boulder thumped right into them coming to a complete stop.

Agnes uncoupled Rusty from her cycle, then she jumped onto Percy's track while Rusty and the minions continued along their current track. Agnes went straight at Percy, then she brought out her cycle's front buffers and quickly pushed Percy down the line. Percy opened his eyes and looked down towards Agnes, he was surprised at the fact that Agnes was pushing him and his trucks with just her track cycle.

Percy: "Agnes!?"

Agnes: "I'll explain later!"

Agnes turned off her boosters, then she carefully pushed Percy and his train into a siding. Rusty and the minions steadily caught up with them, they were glad to see that Percy was okay.

At that exact moment, Rosie pulled up with Gru, Lucy, Margo, and Edith in her cab. The other minions were still aboard the flatbed she was pulling, and they were each holding a drilling rifle for some reason.

Agnes: "Uhh, why are those minions holding drilling rifles?"

Lucy: "They think they're gonna drill up the boulder into a million pieces, but I keep telling them it's too destructive of a plan."

Rosie: "Focus guys, we gotta find a way to stop the boulder before it does anymore damage."

Agnes thought really hard, then she remembered that she saw Alfie, Oliver, Byron, and Kelly over by Percy. She had a plan, and it would involve a lot of digging.

Agnes: "Hey guys, I just saw some of the construction machines nearby. Maybe with their help, we can dig a trench for Boulder to sit in."

Rusty: "Agnes, I'm loving the way you think today!"

At that moment, Alfie, Oliver, Byron, and Kelly rolled up by the group.

Oliver: "Somebody call for us?"

Agnes: "Well, kinda. Listen guys, we need your help."

Margo: "Wait, do we even have enough time to dig a trench before that boulder gets here?"

Agnes: "Sure we do Margo, I blasted a couple trees in front of Boulder to slow him down for a bit."

Everyone looked where Agnes was jabbing her finger, and they did indeed see 2 tall trees straining to hold Boulder in place. Now understanding the theory, they agreed to go with Agnes's plan.

A few minutes later, the team got to work with Agnes's plan. Alfie and Oliver were quickly digging up the trench to have it go further downward, so Boulder would roll deeper into it. The minions each used a shovel to help as well, but they never bothered to realize that they didn't do that much.

Percy, Rosie, and Gru's family were watching this, but Percy wasn't entirely sure about this.

Percy: "Uhh Agnes, are you sure this is gonna work?"

Agnes: "Percy, this plan has to work. If this doesn't stop Boulder, I don't think anything will."

Rusty overheard what Agnes said, then he started thinking something over to himself.

Once the main digging was done, Byron plowed through the gap to make it as smooth as possible. But suddenly he was jerked to a stop, then he saw that there were a few large rocks in his path.

Byron: "Hey guys, I need some help with moving these rocks!"

Lucy: "On it B-boy!"

Gru: "Minions, get to work!"

The minions quickly jumped down into the pit, then they started prying the rocks out of Byron's way. Suddenly, the Gru family started hearing the distant sound of branches snapping. They looked down the track, and they could see Boulder starting to break through the trees.

Edith: "Uhh guys, that boulder is starting to break free."

Gru: "Hang on, I'm gonna try and slow it down again!"

Lucy: "How!?"

Gru: "With ice!"

While Gru started pulling out his freeze ray again, Boulder finally broke free from it's branchy barricade. Gru ran onto the tracks, then he pointed his freeze ray and started blasting a tall and jagged wall of ice across the track. Gru finished spraying, he felt very pleased with his work.

Gru: "Freeze ray!"

Suddenly, Boulder crashed right through the wall of ice as if it was just a giant glass window.

Percy: "Boulder!"

Thinking quickly, Lucy got an idea of her own.

Lucy: "Gru, use 1 of your mines!"

Realizing what Lucy was getting at, Gru pulled an explosive mine out of his jacket. He aimed very carefully, and then he tossed it onto the track.

Rusty: "Everyone clear the area!"

With that, everyone moved away from the pit to watch the magic happen. Boulder rolled right into the mine, and it exploded sending Boulder now rolling over towards the pit. Boulder rolled into the deepest end, and he stayed put where he was.

Everyone stared for a few minutes, they wanted to make sure they had finally stopped Boulder.

Edith: "I think it worked, we did it!"

Everyone started cheering for their victory, but the celebrating didn't last for very long.

Rosie: "Wait, look!"

Everyone looked towards Boulder, and it looked like he was starting to roll towards them again. It started rolling up the other segment of the pit, and everyone's hearts sank. All except Rusty, he was starting to get an idea.

Agnes: "Then we failed!"

Rusty: "Not yet we haven't, I have an idea!"

As Boulder was rolling closer, Rusty started whispering something to Agnes. The others were a little confused at this, but they had a feeling Rusty was on to something.

Agnes: "Oh my gosh that's brilliant!"

Rusty: "Sure is, now come on!"

With that, Agnes quickly started running towards her track cycle.

Edith: "Wait, what's brilliant!?"

Agnes hopped onto her track cycle, then she drove it over a 3-way junction to turn it around. But just as she finished, Boulder thumped away from the pit and onto her track. Everyone gasped in horror, but Agnes and Rusty were determined to put an end to this.

Rusty: "Come on!"

With that, Rusty and Agnes quickly reversed down the tracks. Boulder rolled after them, and everyone else watched in horror as they thought Agnes and Rusty were being chased to their doom.

Lucy: "Agnes, be careful!"

Rusty and Agnes soon reversed up to an old steel bridge that was going over a large trench, and they stopped a little bit past halfway. They waited for Boulder to show up until it did, then it stopped once it appeared around the corner.

Agnes: "Come get some ya giant ball of rubble!"

Boulder then quickly rolled towards them again, and Rusty and Agnes started getting on with their plan. They reversed a little more until they were now off the bridge, then they waited until Boulder was on it. The moment Boulder started rolling onto the bridge, it just couldn't take the enormous rock's weight. Once Boulder was almost halfway across, the bridge finally collapsed with Boulder falling into the chasm with it.

After the dust cleared away, Agnes and Rusty looked down into the chasm. They could see that Boulder had landed amongst a thick patch of shrubbery, and some debris from the bridge laying around it as well. But on the bright side, it was finally over.

Rusty: "We did it Agnes."

Agnes: "Yeah, I guess we did."

Suddenly, they saw Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and the minions appear on the other side of the chasm. They looked down at Boulder, then they looked towards Agnes and Rusty feeling pretty impressed.

Rusty: "We'll meet you on the other side!"

With that, Agnes and Rusty started finding their way back to the others. Once they did, Agnes ended up getting brought into a tight hug by the rest of her family. Percy and Rosie were already nearby, and they just smiled warmly at the scene.

Lucy: "Agnes, that was amazing!"

Margo: "Yeah, I never knew you had it in ya."

Agnes: "What can I say, I can be full of surprises sometimes."

After they broke the hug, Edward and Boco arrived. They could see that everyone looked happy for some reason, and Boulder was nowhere to be seen.

Edward: "Hey guys, where's Boulder?"

Lucy: "It's okay Boco, Agnes and Rusty took care of Boulder already."

Edith: "Yeah, they sent it over to that canyon over there. Then BOOM, it fell right in!"

Rusty: "I just remembered that bridge being over here, and I just knew it would never be able to hold its weight. So to be safe, we'll keep Boulder in that chasm."

Boco: "Interesting story, but I'm curious to know how that boulder came loose in the first place."

Everyone soon became rather confused, then they started thinking really hard on how to solve this mystery. Edith started feeling a little nervous, then she looked over at Agnes who put her hands on her hips and gave Edith a stern glare with a raised eyebrow. Letting out a defeated sigh, Edith knew she would just have to tell the truth.

Edith: "Uhh guys, it's my fault."

That's when everyone turned towards Edith.

Rosie: "What are you talking about?"

Edith: "Me and Agnes went over to take a look at the boulder, but I kinda removed the pointy rock that was holding it in place. I just wanted to add it to my rock collection, I never found any rocks that were so pointy."

Agnes: "I warned her, but she just wouldn't listen to me."

Everyone was surprised to hear this, but then they started to feel rather cross.

Edward: "Darn it Edith, you could've killed a lot of people for the stunt you pulled! Trying to find a rock for your collection, how can you be so daft and know what may entail for all of us!?"

Percy: "Yeah, you almost got me flattened. Again!"

Edith: "Guys, I'm sorry!"

Gru: "Oh no no no no no, this is about as far away from "sorry" as you could possibly get! I thought you would learn better after you and Duncan played that trick on Luke, but it looks like I was wrong."

Edith: "Come on guys, it was just a simple mistake.(turns to Margo) Right Margo, you get that this was all just a mistake. Right?"

Margo just gave a grumpy look towards Edith, then she turned her back at her with her arms crossed. Edith felt betrayed, but she just stuck her tongue out at her when she still wasn't watching.

Lucy: "Seriously Edith, you have no idea how much trouble you're in right now!"

Gru: "Because of this Edith, you are seriously gonna be grounded indently!"

Edith was horrified, grounded for an unlimited amount of time. One thing was for sure, she was in way more trouble than ever now.

Edward: "Alright everyone, how about we just call it a day?"

Boco: "I agree, we've had enough Boulder damage for a while."

Lucy: "Agnes, let's go."

Agnes: "Just a second Lucy, I gotta quickly do something."

While everyone else got ready to leave, Agnes suddenly started walking over to the edge of the chasm. She looked down into the chasm, and she could see Boulder still sitting silently at the bottom. Thinking carefully, she decided to try talking with Boulder again.

Agnes: "Hey, I'm sorry I called you a giant ball of rubble. But listen, you caused quite a bit of damage out there today."

Boulder said nothing.

Agnes: "This might sound crazy, but I think it's because you were just angry. Yes Edith removed the pointy rock that set you loose, but still."

Boulder still says nothing.

Agnes: "Look, don't take it out on her. Ya see, she's often like that. She may not care about you that much, but I do."

Boulder still says nothing.

Agnes: "Well, I better be going now. But if this doesn't suit you that much, I have something that'll make you feel better."

At first, Agnes walked away from the ledge. But when she came back, she showed a purple sweet rocket flower gripped tightly in her right hand. She raised it above the chasm, then she opened her palm and let the flower flutter down below. Agnes watched the flower fall for a few more seconds, then she started making her way to rejoin the others.

The flower slowly fell down a little further, then it plopped right on the top corner of Boulder. To be honest, it actually looked pretty nice on him. And with that, Boulder let out a happy sigh which sounded like a whisper in the wind.

And So Edith was grounded indently, and she didn't like it one bit. To make sure to keep her grounded, they hid a couple security cameras in the girls room so they could keep an eye on Edith. Even though Boulder came loose again, they decided to just keep the quarry open. So since Boulder was now in a safe and secure place, everything at the quarry once again ran like clockwork. They thought about rebuilding the bridge that Boulder had destroyed, but that wasn't gonna be for a good while for now. Rusty knew that for sure because as everyone knows, he knows more about Boulder than anyone.

Back at the chasm, Boulder was still sitting silently with that purple flower sitting on top of him. At the far end of the chasm, a rather large and shadowy figure moved up further within the opening of a tunnel and took a good look towards Boulder.

?: "Hmm, what do we have here?"

As we can tell, something big was coming.

But that is a story for another day.

To be continued.