Gregor ran down the dark cave. Rats chased him from all angles and he knew that soon he would have to fight. But he had no weapon, no light. His echolocation skills were rusty, so he could barely make out the low ceiling. The stone floor cracked beneath him and suddenly gave way, revealing thousands of sharp rocks ready to pierce his skin. As he fell he screamed for Ares, but the big black bat was nowhere to be found. As the rocks made contact with him, he let out a terrible scream of agony: "AHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"AHHHHHHHHH!", Gregor screamed, shooting straight up in bed. His sister, Lizzie, who looked on the verge of one of her panic attacks, was rousing him slowly.

"Are you-ok Gregor?", she choked out. Gregor rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, Liz. Just another falling nightmare." Lizzie looked shocked.

"But those were supposed to stop!" she replied. "Gregor, we left months ago!" He knew she was right. In the past six months, Gregor had become a different person. He had been to three psychiatrists, but none could explain the reoccurring pattern in his sleep. He started picking fights at school, and had been suspended 3 times. He had gotten into working out, however this was only a temporary distraction from the outside world. And as his muscles grew, so did the grief and anger that had been sitting inside his stomach since the day the rock closed sealing Gregor from the Underland.

Once Lizzie had already left, Gregor closed the door and slammed his hand into the wall, leaving a decent sized dent. He would never say it to Lizzie, but every night the rats, the fear, the falling, and screaming haunted his dreams, he became more and more sick with missing his friends. It wasn't that he missed fighting, but more the people that had changed his life forever. He couldn't just run away from his parents "problems". He needed to go back.

When he walked into the kitchen he noticed that his parents had left for work. Their decision to stay in New York had given them a chance to get their jobs back - barely. Boots and Lizzie were sitting at the table eating eggs and toast. "Hey Gregor!", Boots said from the table. Gregor couldn't help but give a sad smile. Boy, she had matured. She stopped talking about the Underland, no, that was in private chats with Lizzie at night. Gregor wondered if he should take Lizzie with him. She missed Ripred so much. He figured he would ask later.

They finished breakfast and got Boots ready for pre-school, before Gregor took the girls on a walk to Boots class. Once he had assured her teacher, a young blonde-haired woman, that their parents would come to pick her up at 3:00, he pulled Lizzie into a nearby coffee shop and they sat down at a table for two. She looked up at him questioningly.

"I want to go back to the Underland. I was thinking about tonight because I can't stand these damn dreams anymore." Gregor blurted out. Lizzie raised her eyebrows.

"I'd be lying if I didn't think the same thing." Lizzie said sadly. "I miss Ripred and the others. The only thing is mom and dad and Boots." Gregor told her his plan about this. They would leave money, all of Gregor's savings, and leave it to them, along with a note explaining their absence. It took a minute, but finally Lizzie gave in. They walked home to begin preparations.

Gregor began assembling a bag, with a flashlight, a crowbar, some snacks, extra batteries, and a small kitchen knife. When the clock struck 2:00, Lizzie finally walked out of her room with a pink backpack. He sat down at the counter and wrote a note.

Hey Mom and Dad,

Me and Lizzie went back today. I guess we just couldn't take it.

We hope you understand, and we left some money. Please visit.

We love you so much.

Gregor

Gregor stared at the note for a minute before leaving an envelope full of cash and turning to Lizzie.

"You ready?"

Lizzie sighed and said, "Yes." They locked the door and waved down a taxi. The driver didn't question why they weren't in school. He just took the money and wordlessly drove them to the rock in central park. They got out of the car and approached the stone.

"Help me out Liz." Gregor said, as he started to push the boulder out of the way. It turns out no help was needed, as Gregor's new-found strength allowed him to overturn the rock on his own. Lizzie turned on her flashlight and they stepped in, before rolling the stone back into place. The light shined onto the staircase and Gregor and Lizzie hurried down. Where the stairs ended was a familiar cliff with a gust of wind.

"The currents are on today so we should be able to ride down." Lizzie said happily. Gregor nodded, but he wasn't focused on that. He was focused on a distant sound to his left. Like footsteps, but also clicking. He called out, "Hello?"

He expected it to be Luxa, Mareth, Howard, maybe even Vikus, but what he did not expect was the sight of a 12 foot ant emerging out of the shadows.