The five rushed down the dirt road with Alfred, still shocked and confused by what they just saw. "This is bad! This is bad! This is bad! This is bad!" Quint panted breathlessly as they ran.
The Tree of Entry ate the zombies.
"This is insane! The bad kind of insane!" June yelled with wide eyes.
"When I enter, I must feed," Rezzoch told her servant, Thrull.
They continued running through the forest, Dirk hanging onto Alfred. He eventually slipped from Dirk's grip, who stopped immediately to look down at him. "Get up! No zombie left behind!" He grabbed Alfred's arm, but it snapped off, to his surprise. He grabbed Alfred's upper body and ran off, zipping past the group.
"This is just...beyond words!" May panted next to Quint.
The tree spat out the zombies, revealing them to have holes in their heads.
June glanced back at Jack, who hadn't said a word. "Jack! Are you okay?" However, he didn't answer, starting to concern her. "Jack? Jack?"
He just kept running with this horrified look on his face.
They stumbled into the treehouse, all of them catching their breath. Quint held up a finger but then fell on his back, Jack walking past them. "I'm going...to be...so mad...when I catch my breath!" He said between panting as Dirk looked out the window.
"I don't see Thrull," He reported to the others. "Don't see anything."
"Considering everything that's happened...that's a good thing," May coughed a bit while panting.
"I can't believe this!" June stood up angrily. "Was Thrull actually sacrificing zombies to a tree? To summon a monster? With a tree?! To bring Rezzoch into our world! Though a tree! I don't know why, but I'm really stuck on the whole tree thing. Is Thrull gonna make me hate trees?"
May slapped her across the face to snap her out of it. "Ow! ...Thanks, May. I needed that."
"No problem," She crossed her arms angrily. "Although I'm saving my next one for Thrull. I knew we couldn't fully trust him!"
"That dude is evil on a platter with toast," Dirk spoke up, hanging Alfred on a coat hanger so that he didn't start eating their brains.
"I thought Thrull was one of the good guys," Quint lamented as he realized that if they hadn't completed the bestiary, almost none of this would be happening. "I mean, we were helping him! We filled that bestiary for him!" He crawled over to Jack. "He was sitting at the cool table!"
Jack just frowned, looking upset and they noticed this. "Hey...are you okay?" June asked hesitantly since Jack was the closest to Thrull.
"...No." Dirk joined them and May frowned sadly. They all stared at him sympathetically. "He used me."
"Jack...I know. I'm so sorry."
"I am too. I hate being right," May added in with a solemn look on her face.
Jack sighed slowly as he was still trying to process it. "No, you didn't do anything, May. I'm angry, and...and sad, and empty. I've been abandoned again."
"I hear ya," Dirk pressed his hands together. "Now, just do what I do. For each emotion, you just need to find somethin' to punch! Sympathy!" He punched at a wall to put a hole in it, giving a thumbs up. May pinched her nose with a sigh.
"You still do that, huh?" She murmured knowingly since they... 'dated', so she was used to see him do that.
"I-I can't...I can't trust anyone."
"You can trust us," June placed a hand on his shoulder as they smiled at him. However, Jack just backed away from her, hugging his knees and staring at nothing.
"Uh-"
"Uh, give him a minute," Dirk interrupted Quint before he could do anything. "Or...19."
"I can't stand seeing him this way!" Quint suddenly exclaimed angrily. "I can't! I-I can't!" The others glanced at each other sadly. "I'm so furious with Thrull right now! I haven't felt this way since we found out about May's dad! All Jack ever did was help Thrull! And then Thrull turns around and does this to him? AAH!" He punched the same hole that Dirk made. He panted heavily in anger as they stared at him.
"Why did he punch the same place?"
"Hey, he's angry, but he still has tender hands," Dirk reminded her.
"Be glad that he didn't attempt to do the same thing when he found out about my home life," May whispered to them.
"This is unacceptable," He stormed up to a helmet. "Nobody-I don't care how big and monstrous and deadly they are—nobody does this to my friend!" He started arming himself with various things around the treehouse. "I'm gonna kick his hairy monster butt!"
"Hold on there, Cranky Hank," Dirk stopped him before he could throw a bowling pin, snatching it away. He held up a hand in front of Quint.
"Hey! Give that back!" He protested up at Dirk.
"Quint," May placed her hands on his shoulders from behind and he froze, immediately calming down for now. "We can't rush Thrull, right now we're not any match for him. You'll get your moment."
"Guys, May's got a point. We can't just get upset. We have to stop this."
"But how?" Dirk asked her since Thrull was much stronger than them. Quint took the bowling pin from him.
"We get the other monsters and we surround Thrull and we all pile on and we go! We go! Go! We go! We go! Go!" He started hitting the air and floor with the bowling pin, the others just staring at him.
"Wow, he's so mad that not even May can calm him down," Dirk murmured loud enough for her to hear.
"What? Oh," She then remembered Quint saying that seeing her always made him feel better and she blushed while clearing her throat. "Well, because of the circumstances, even I can't snap him out of it I guess?"
"We don't know which monsters might be part of this. We can't risk it," June shot down Quint's idea.
"Well, we can't fight Thrull on our own, so...what do we do?" Dirk wondered, Quint still going at the floor.
"Go! Go! We go!"
Jack looked at the picture of him, Thrull, and May.
He held out the bestiary with a smile, Thrull taking it. Jaxk went over to give him a hug, which Thrull returned...until he suddenly hit Jack from behind. The boy gave a look of shock as he fell backwards. He looked at the knife that Thrull stabbed him in the back with as the monster laughed evilly. He looked up in horror as someone he thought was a friend had Rezzoch right behind him. He screamed in terror, Rezzoch in his eyes.
The four stared at him in worry. "We need Jack," Quint stated sadly, and Jack didn't respond to this.
"Well, we don't have Jack right now," June told them, walking off.
"There's gotta be a way to stop Thrull from bringing Rezzoch over," Dirk spoke up.
"How? We don't have much to go on about Rezzoch," May frowned a little.
"Thrull said the bestiary is the key, right?" She brought up, looking back at them. "Then..." They all glanced over to the box where Jack put the bestiary in. She opened it up and they stared down at it. "We have to destroy the bestiary."
Quint knocked over all of his papers and put the book on the table. He screamed in anger and flipped it open. He tried to rip open a page, but it wasn't budging. "Is this what you want, Thrull? Huh?!" He then stood on the table, grabbing two pages and pulling as hard as he could. However, it was like the pages were super-glued. "Well, good luck using it now! You like mindless destruction, Thrull? I'll show you mindless destruction! And then May's dad is gonna be next!" He threw down the bestiary, panting heavily. The three glanced at each other, a bit concerned now. "It's tougher than it looks."
"Maybe my shovel claws could rip into it," May suggested as she walked over, helping him down. He stepped aside as she held up her hands, her claws appearing. She then swung at the pages, but nothing happened at all. "Aw, what?"
"Okay, guys, step aside," Dirk walked up to the table. "Let the big boy handle it."
May just rolled her eyes at him. Dirk slammed down his fists on the book, attempting to punch through it. He tried again and then threw the book at the TV...which fell onto the table. "Great, now we're gonna have to fix that," May mumbled to Quint. June sighed a bit while sagging her shoulders.
"We're gonna need more firepower."
"On it!" Quint smiled widely.
They threw the book onto a grill, but nothing. They tried a drill, and nothing. They threw the book into a pot of boiling water on the grill, and still nothing. Quint tried using his hammer fist thing, Dirk used an axe, but the book just took half of it off. They ran over it with Big Mama, and then just start attacking it with anything they could find, really. They panted in exhaustion as nothing had worked on it. Not even a scratch! Dirk put some salt over the bestiary.
They grabbed some fireworks, putting it over the book. They braced themselves as they set off all of the fireworks they had, looking up at the light show. When the smoke cleared, the bestiary was still intact. "Curse you, Thrull!" Quint shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing.
Jack continued looking at the photo inside the treehouse, specifically looking at Thrull. How could someone fake happiness like that to be evil...?
"If we can't destroy the book, Thrull's gonna use it to bring Rezzoch through that tree!" Dirk exclaimed in a panic.
"He doesn't even know it's completed, remember?" May crossed her arms. "There's gotta be something to prevent this."
"Then we find a way to destroy the tree!" June narrowed her eyes and then realized something. "Oh man, he did it! Thrull made me hate trees."
"I'm sure you'll get over it," May patted her back.
"Hmm," The three watched Quint pace. "Okay. We could pull it up by its roots. Um, don't water it. I-Insult it." June threw a ball for Rover to chase after. "Belittle it with harsh language." May shook her head, as none of those would be enough to destroy it. Especially pulling it, it might be a dead tree, but there was nothing stopping Thrull from just using another one. Rover jumped over the fence and then came back, trampling over Dirk's garden.
"Hey, can you please stop throwing the ball over my garden?" He exclaimed in annoyance to June. "He's destroying my parsnips!"
"More like your weeds pretending to be food," Quint dropped a piece of parsnip, baffling Dirk. June threw the ball again and got an idea. "Weeds! Weeds are just unwanted plants," She pulled out a parsnip, grinning. "That tree thing is just a big weed!"
"Oh! Okay," Dirk started digging in a box, the others staring at him. "Where is it, where is it, where is it?" He then pulled out a green bottle with a smile. "Weed killer! Ha! Let's get 'em!"
"Wait!" Quint stopped him from leaving. "We might need a touch more."
"One bottle of weed killer isn't gonna stop Rezzoch from hosting that tree," May pointed out.
"We're talking like an industrial size metric mass load!"
"That...we don't have," June reminded him and he frowned.
"The mall!" Dirk reminded them with a chuckle. "En Garden! They have very reasonably priced gardening supplies."
"Of course," May shook her head knowingly, Quint and June staring at her. "Oh, sometimes I took him there instead of going out on actual dates. It was actually kinda informative," She shrugged a little. Rover came up and when June threw the ball, he made more of a mess of the garden, to Dirk's dismay. He grumbled as he looked at June.
"But, if we go to the mall, we'll have to deal with Wormungulous," June stated cautiously as they re-entered the treehouse.
"Oh, right."
"Then we just have to find a way around big, long and wormy," Dirk told the five.
"We need a distraction to keep him occupied long enough for us to get there," May rubbed her chin. Jack looked at the photo and then of the dummy of June that they used to capture Albert...which for some reason Quint kept.
"...Bait," He finally spoke up, but his voice sounded on edge. They all looked at him in surprise.
"Hey, buddy!" Quint smiled at him. "You're back!"
"Are you okay?" June asked the boy and he glared.
"No!" He crumbled up the photo in his hand, standing up. "We set bait for a zombie, we can set bait for Wormungulous," He walked up to the dummy.
"Good idea!" June smiled happily. "Lure the worm away so we can slip into En Garden and get the weed killer!"
"What's bait for a worm?" Dirk wondered as they stumbled onto the giant worm by chance, so they didn't know what would make him distracted long enough. "The worm usually is the bait!"
"Same thing it went after last time. Us," Jack narrowed his eyes.
"Not it!" Quint shouted immediately in fear.
"Quint! We're not gonna use one of us as worm bait," June argued to him.
"I'll do it," Jack offered, surprising them again.
"Jack?" Dirk asked him slowly.
"You're honestly starting to creep me out a little," May recoiled back a bit.
"These things, these monsters, I thought the stench was what separated the evil ones from the good ones, but...they're all evil. Every one of them."
"You gonna talk like that the whole time, or..." June winced a little as they watched him walk off, knowing now that he was definitely not okay. In fact, they had never seen him like this at all.
"Rezzoch, Blarg, they all want to destroy us," He stood in front of a cage. "So if I go to the mall and get in Quint's cage, that evil, stinking evil worm...is gonna come for me. And I'll be ready for it."
"Okay, now you're creeping me out a bit, friend. Actually, more like two or three bits."
"Mine is like at four now..." May murmured to him as she hid behind Quint.
"Jack, no!" June put her foot down as she wasn't willing to sacrifice her friends' lives just for weed killer. Not to mention, they knew that the worm wasn't going to welcome them with open arms considering what they did to it... "The whole point is for us to work as a team."
"Anyone got a better idea?" He turned around to them, expecting one of them to come up with something else.
"No..." They all murmured in unison reluctantly.
"Then we don't have a choice."
They locked up the bestiary, put the cage in the back of Big Mama, and then set off towards the mall. They made it within minutes, setting up the cage in the middle of the mall. "Okay, so, I get in the cage, you guys hide a safe distance away. The Wormungulous will smell me or sense me or—whatever giant worm monsters do and come for me. Uh, the fact that I haven't showered in a week should help." He turned around to the others, who glanced at each other hesitantly. "You with me so far?"
"Yes, we're with you!" June assured as she stepped forward, sniffing the air. "And yes, you do need to shower," She stepped back immediately.
"As soon as he comes for me, you get your butts into En Garden, and load up Big Mama with weed killer."
"What if the Wormungulous simply swallows the cage whole?" Quint pointed out in worry.
"Thanks for putting that image in my head," He walked up to the cage, opening up the door. "Alright, get goin'," He then closed it and June glanced back at him.
"Jack. We'll see you soon, alright?" However, he didn't respond, and before they could leave, Quint stopped May far away for Jack to not hear them.
"Maybe you could talk to him, May?" He suggested quietly to her.
"Umm, aren't you his best friend, though? Wouldn't it make more sense for you to talk to him?" She rubbed her arm awkwardly and he winced.
"Well...yeah, but you've been through traumatizing experiences as well. Maybe if he sees that you relate to it, he'll feel a little bit better," Quint explained to May.
She glanced back at Jack, feeling a bit responsible since she had a feeling Thrull was evil, and now Jack was like this because he didn't want to believe it. She then sighed in defeat. "I'll try...go ahead without me, I'll catch up with you guys," She waved as she turned around and walked back to the boy.
"Are we crazy to let him do this?" June asked the others as she looked back, who glanced at each other.
"Undoubtedly," Quint stated without hesitation.
"Okay. As long as we're on the same page," June muttered, looking worried as she stared at the two. Quint clenched his fists in hope.
"He'll be okay. He'll be okay..." He tried to convince himself, placing a comforting hand on June's shoulder.
Jack stared at May as she stood in front of him and then looked away. "What do you want? I told you to go."
She pinched her nose at his response and gripped the bars, staring into his eyes. "Look, Jack...I get it. I know it's hard to think that you failed. That you'll mess up again by putting trust into a monster. And that whatever happened, it was your fault. But it's not, Jack," His eyes hardened as she gestured to herself. "I spent years of my life thinking all of these negative emotions. Thinking that just because I didn't achieve at something, that I wasn't good enough. That I had to keep up this perfect image, and to be bound by someone who was supposed to be family to me," She clenched her fists in anger and then took a deep breath, giving a weak smile. "But then, I found you guys, and I couldn't be more free. Just like how you believe that you can't trust others."
"May, that's not the same," He dismissed and turned around so that his back was facing her.
"Alright, so you say, but we both know that I trusted my father, and he broke it. Just like Thrull broke yours," She pointed out softly and he softened up just a little from her words. "You don't have to swear off all monsters. There are good ones out there, like our friends from Joe's Pizza. You just need to trust yourself to make the right choice on which ones you can confide in."
She turned around and then glanced back at him. "Just...remember what I said, okay?"
He didn't respond, telling her that it was time to leave. She sighed and turned around, running off as he narrowed his eyes.
Jack stood in silence as he waited for the Wormungulous. He heard a noise and opened his eyes, glancing to his left. He heard it again and looked to the other side. He gripped the bars of the cage, taking out his slicer. He looked angry as he remembered the last time he used it in the mall.
Jack faced the Wormungulous, which screeched at him before charging forward. He flipped out of the way and Thrull saved his friends. He stared at the monster wide-eyed. "A thousand thoughts go through my head."
He was pulled backwards as the sea monster threw a car at him and May. They looked up to see that Thrull had saved them. He looked up as Jack thrusted forward to attack. "Fear, bravery, trust," Thrull and Jack smiled at each other. "Betrayal."
The group walked up to the cool kids table, Thrull placing down the bestiary. "But, in the end, this is my fault." Thrull smirked and May gave him a suspicious look.
Jack and Thrull trained together, May just looking on, though she had her arms crossed.
The Tree of Entry roared in the forest. "I caused this by trusting Thrull." Thrull smirked up at the tree.
Jack winced in pain as he felt stabbed in the back, his heart falling out in front of Thrull. "I'll take that," He picked it up and squeezed it until he popped, seemingly to enjoy doing so.
"That's really messed up!" Jack cried out, letting his head fall. "Never again! I will never trust a monster again!"
His eyes went wide as he snapped out of it, turning around. "Where are you?!" He smacked his slicer against the cage to get the monster's attention. May slid to a stop in front of the doorway, crouching down next to Dirk. "How'd it go?" Quint asked the girl, who shook her head silently.
"Nothing changed. Sorry guys..."
They heard the clanging from Jack as it echoed. The ground shook and Jack let out a gasp. The Wormungulous destroyed a hallway as he gulped, gripping his weapon close. The others hid as the giant worm went right past them.
"Alright, let's go!" June ordered and they ran off. Quint glanced back at his best friend, May grabbing his arm and pulling him away.
"Like you said, he'll be fine, right?" She smiled a bit and he returned it.
The worm broke some display windows just passing by them, Jack gritting his teeth. The worm circled around him and then seemingly disappeared, to his disappointment. "What? No! Where'd you go?" He kept hitting the slicer against the cage. "Over here! Over here! Ah, crud!" He slowly got out of the cage, thinking that would work. "Hey! Worm butt! Soup's on! I taste amazing!" He licked his arm and then gave a sound of disgust. "Ugh! I really need to shower more. Mm! Wow! A worm would be a fool to not chow down on this guy! A fool!"
The ground shook again and Wormungulous burst out of the floor in front of him. "Lesson learned! Never call a worm a fool!" He cried out as he ran back towards the cage. However, the Wormungulous shot up from right underneath him to knock him into the air. He screamed as the worm roared up at him and he slid down the worm's back, grabbing one of the spikes from it. He grabbed another one and held on for dear life, putting away his slicer and jumping, landing roughly into the cage. The worm circled around him again and he looked up in fear as the worm hugged the cage with its body, starting to crush it. Jack stood up, attempting to stop it. "It's gonna crush me. And I hate being crushed! It's my least favorite squishing sensation!"
The others arrived at En Garden, but the entrance was blocked off by a bunch of vines. "Oh, come on!" Dirk exclaimed at this. "These weren't here last time!"
"Less yackin', more weed whackin'!" June pulled out her spear, May summoning her shovel claws. Quint chuckled while spinning some scalpels in his hands.
"Oh, yeah!"
They started chopping off vines, or pulling them off. "We don't have time for this...you stupid plant!" Quint yelled as one of them spurted out some blue liquid. "Stupid plants that remind me of stupid Thrull! And now he hurts my stupid friend!"
"Okay, okay," May stepped forward, patting his back. "We agree Thrull is stupid, but there's no reason to take it out onto the plants."
"Okay...but he's still stupid," He pouted, crossing his arms and she let out a little chuckle as she found this adorable. Her cheeks flushed as she realized what she was thinking and coughed awkwardly, looking away from him.
June stepped out and heard some sounds, turning around to see Dirk moving away all the vines. May exited next and Quint was the last one to pass through as he kept fighting against the vines. "Oh, you want some, you overgrown inter-dimensional poison ivy wannabe?" The three stared at him in concern as he was getting wrapped up in the vines. The trio ran over to help him out. "Yhou wanna get tight?" They got him out, with Dirk carrying the boy over his shoulder. "Let's get tight!"
June cut the vines holding his legs, Quint struggling against Dirk. "Let me at him! Let me at him!"
"Yeah, you do not want to mess with this dude today," Dirk commented as he put Quint down, but he still persisted, pointing a knife at the vines.
"I'll cut you, man! I'll prune you into next week!" He grumbled as Dirk escorted him away, May leaning in towards June.
"Where was this side of him when he kept getting bullied by Dirk?" She whispered as June just shrugged at her.
"Are you gonna stop him?"
"At this point, he'll get mad at anything that reminds him of Thrull. Not that it helps that Jack is still sour over it," She pinched her nose. "I just think he needs to tone it down a notch before he does something he'll regret."
Quint swiped the air with the knife as they walked through the aisles. Dirk came to a stop as they took a look around, pointing to his right. "There it is! And it's on sale!" He gushed as they found all the bottles of weed killer. Quint took one and turned to the others with a smirk.
"Arm yourselves."
They walked down the aisle, May, Quint, and June all having weed killer in their hands and on their bodies. Dirk carried a wheelbarrow full of the stuff, Quint narrowing their eyes as they headed for the exit. He pointed the bottles and sprayed them. The vines withered away as they died, clearing the exit. Quint sighed in satisfaction, blowing the tips of the bottles in his hands. "Weed be gone, and stay gone!"
June laughed as she fist-bumped him. He held out his hand to Dirk for a high-five and May walked past him. She turned and kissed his cheek, smiling as he put a cheek to his face, grinning widely. June and Dirk glanced at each other in surprise.
Wormungulous continued crushing the cage and Jack took it in with panic of course. "So this is how it ends! Not with a bang! With a big bad squishing sound!" He held his head and the worm suddenly stopped, whimpering. He let go, to the surprised of Jack. He turned to the giant worm, who slithered away from him. "What?" He murmured in confusion as he stood up; no monster had ever done that before. "Why would it let go?"
He stared at the Wormungulous, seeing the giant scar that he left behind on it. The worm whimpered in pain and Jack stood there in sadness.
He flipped past the worm and stabbed it with his slicer.
That was when he realized...monsters had feelings, like pain. And that he had caused that pain. Now he felt bad for what he did... "Oh, man," He looked away; that scar had been there for weeks, and without it being treated, the Wormungulous had to deal with it for that long. The worm groaned in pain, letting itself fall.
Wounded creature. No stench of evil like Blarg. Plucked out of its home and dropped here. Probably scared and alone. He took out his slicer, holding it in his hands. "And the first human he meets cuts him like a punk." He then narrowed his eyes suspiciously; if Thrull could get another leg, there was nothing stopping the worm from possibly healing itself and then tricking him. "Or is this just another fake-out?"
The worm groaned in pain, seeming to not care about killing Jack anymore. "Can I trust it? I swore I'd never..." He looked up to see the worm crying out from the wound, and he then remembered what May said earlier.
You just need to trust yourself to make the right choice on which ones you can trust.
He bit his lip, realizing that attacker or not, he couldn't just let the worm be in pain anymore. "Okay, big guy," Jack put his slicer behind him. "I'm taking a big risk here that you won't instantly devour me," He opened up the cage, approaching carefully. The worm groaned again, not moving towards Jack if he did notice him. "Okay, please don't eat me, please don't eat me!" Jack pleaded with himself and the worm shrieked out in terror. "Okay, buddy, take it easy," He held up his hands, signaling that he wouldn't hurt the Wormungulous. "I'm trusting you not to annihilate me," He put down his slicer as he kneeled, approaching the worm slowly. "I won't hurt you—again. I know it's confusing."
The worm let out another whimper, Jack groaning a little as he reached out his hand. The worm accepted his touch and he sighed. "Monsters, humans...I guess we all lash out when we've been hurt," He smiled a little. He heard an engine and turned out, seeing Big Mama arrive. The worm shrieked again and Jack stood in front of it, waving his hands. "Wait, wait! You're scaring him!"
June looked out the window as the others stared in concern. "Jack! What are you doing? Get away from the monster!"
"No! It's okay," He assured her. "I wanna help it!"
She sat back down as the three stared at her. "He...wants to help it."
"This is not how I thought this day was gonna turn out," Quint couldn't help but comment.
"Well, it's better than not trusting them," May suggested with a smile. She then opened her car door and jumped out.
"Thanks for your advice, May. I understand now," Jack told her gratefully.
"Good. Because I was gonna resort to acting like my dad if you didn't wise up," She suggested and he flinched, holding up his hands.
"No, no, no! No need to ever use that, I'm good."
"I'm kidding, I'd never act like him. Glad that you recognize that you can trust monsters again," She said with a small grin. As they approached the worm, it cried out in pain. Quint then noticed the wound on its side.
"That is one nasty looking cut," He noted as he lightly touched it.
"Anyone know how to sew?" Jack asked with a shrug.
"Uh, I do," Dirk spoke up. "But we're gonna need a big needle," He shoved Jack a little to get his slicer.
"Hey!" The boy protested to him.
"Don't be a baby!"
"To be fair, you were the one who caused that injury in the first place," May murmured while looking away and he pouted. Dirk plucked off a piece of the slicer. June looked in the supply closet to get a sponge, while Jack and Quint got a bunch of shoes. May found some bandages from Big Mama, and they tie the shoelaces from all the shoes together.
"You see, I realized something when I was in that cage, looking out at this wounded creature," Jack stated to his friends while they cleaned the cut. "I'm the worm!"
"Ah, I can see that," June remarked while raising a brow.
"No! See, I'm wounded like the worm. Emotionally," He touched his heart. "Like he has the physical scar and I-I have an emotional scar. Like May's emotional scar, just like she told me!"
She leaned back while raising a brow at him. "That wasn't exactly what I said."
"We get it, Jack," Dirk dismissed him quickly, Quint kissing the pillow he patched over the worm. He blushed in embarrassment as May giggled at him a bit.
"No, see, we're all one. Not monsters over here and people over there. I am the worm!" He continued insisting to him.
"We get it, Jack!" They all told him in unison.
The worm roared a bit as the cut was all patched up. Jack stepped away to look up at him. "You'll be better now. That'll heal. I'm sorry I cut you, worm dude." The worm let out a groan as they all got into Big Mama, waving to him. "Bye, worm buddy! Stay safe!"
They drove off, the worm groaning thankfully. The Wormungulous then sank into the floor, disappearing.
Big Mama crashed through the fence and Jack slammed open the door to the treehouse. "Hey, Alfred," He greeted their zombie as he ran. He then looked up and gasped...as Thrull was standing in front of him.
"Hello, Jack," He smiled evilly, seeming to know something that Jack didn't.
"Oh! Uh, hey, Thrull! Your leg's grown back! Cool, cool, fun, fun. So, uh, you just let yourself right in, huh? I didn't even realize you knew where I lived," He murmured that last sentence to himself.
"I know many things," Thrull spoke up mysteriously, stepping forward. "Have you finished the bestiary?"
"Oh, pfff," Jack waved it off with a scoff. "That old thing? We sorta lost interest in that." Thrull narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Yeah, it kinda felt like homework. We've been super into, uh...video games!" He rolled over the couch. "Do you play? You should play. I'll teach you!" He offered, as long as it distracted Thrull away from the bestiary. "As long as you have opposable thumbs, we can-"
Thrull growled as he slammed down his fists on the couch. "Where is the key?" He growled in rage.
"Uh, key? Uh, what key?" Jack faked confusion to him.
"The bestiary! I know you were at the Tree of Entry. Rezzoch the Ancient saw you! She sees all."
"Yeah, of course she does," Jack grumbled while looking away. "Look, Thrull, I-I'm sorry, but the book is...gone," He stepped away from Thrull, going over to Quint's lab table. "I forgot to tell you, we destroyed it."
Thrull just laughed at his statement, looking down at him. He was right next to the box where the bestiary was hidden. "No human can destroy an enchanted bestiary," He informed the boy, reaching out his hand to the shelf. "Lie to me again, boy," He took an action figure. "And you'll see my wrath," He squished it to dust, Jack looking at him in fear.
"...You're gonna destroy my action figures?" He wondered since he could care less about them right about now.
"No! You! You are the toy!" Thrull pointed down at him.
"Actually I'm the worm. See, back at the mall-" Thrull grabbed him and lifted him up.
"Jack, let's go!" June called out from down below. They were actually waiting for him to grab the bestiary.
"Call your friends up here!" Thrull demanded Jack.
"No!" He denied, getting roared in his face. "Blah! Now I know why you wore so much cologne! You stink bad. Like Blarg and the Wretches!" He gasped and then glared up at him. "Like evil!"
Thrull put him down, but still hung onto the back of his shirt. "Call them!"
"Fine!" He shoved the monster off of him, going up to the window. "...The eagle naps at noon! Ha ha! Checkmate! That's our secret code. And by now, my friends have taken the bestiary and are long gone, so-"
"Jack! What the heck are you talking about?" June shouted from the bottom and he flinched as they never actually had a secret code to begin with. Thrull just laughed at him.
"Run! Thrull is here! Ruuuun!" He screamed and Rover jumped over the fence.
"Fool!" Thrull grabbed him from behind, throwing him into Alfred and out the window. Thankfully, the two landed in a pile of leaves. He spit some out and Alfred stood up, hobbling away.
"Ah, thanks for breaking my fall."
Thrull jumped and landed in front of him. He grabbed Jack and lifted him up. "Hey! Step away from the dork!" Dirk screamed at him as the others stepped up, ready to fight.
"Aw, come on, guys. I told you to run," Jack complained at them.
"We're not going anywhere!" June told him bravely.
"You are fools!" Thrull dropped Jack onto the ground. "You do not understand the power I wield!"
"I understand you're a big jerk!" Quint retorted back, screaming as he ran froward to attack with all of his rage. Thrull held out a hand, stopping him in place. He attempted to attack, but the monster kept holding him back. He growled in annoyance at Quint, lifting him off the ground.
"Quint!" Jack and May exclaimed, the former attempting to attack, but Thrull held him against the pile of leaves.
"Tell me where the bestiary is, Jack, or your friend dies."
"Let him go now!" May snarled in anger as he turned around, seeing her with her weapons ready.
"You stand down, weakling," He growled at her. She was about to lunge forward to attack when he held Quint up in front of him like a shield. She gasped sharply and stopped in place. May glared at him as she didn't drop her defensive position or move again. Everyone stared at her as they couldn't figure out what she was thinking. She glanced at Quint and then realized...there was nothing she could do to prevent him from getting hurt if she didn't surrender.
"May, don't do it! I'm not worth it."
She didn't respond to him and watched Thrull. Her hands shook as she didn't want to, but she had no choice. "...I'm sorry, Quint," She fell to her knees, covering her eyes with her hands as she didn't wanna look at his shocked face. Her shovel claws fell to the ground as some tears escaped her eyes.
"Now!" Thrull demanded Jack, looking down at him.
"The lock-box in the tree house!" Jack exclaimed quickly as he didn't want to find out what would happen if he didn't give up the location.
"No!" Quint lamented at the both of them and he couldn't tell the look of May's face right now, but he could tell that she looked devastated. Thrull just laughed as she looked up, making her hands into fists as she looked really angry. He turned to the trio and pointed at June specifically.
"You! Go! Bring it to me!"
She sighed in defeat as May and Dirk both glared at him. Quint struggled and May's fists turned white as she clenched them hard.
"At least release him while she gets your stupid book," She demanded to him. "He's not a noodle."
He just laughed, June not looking pleased with what she had to do. "I would rather not. I need an incentive, so that you don't play any tricks," He denied May, who growled at Quint being used as a bargaining chip. Dirk placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. It wasn't easy for everyone else, but May was clearly taking it the hardest right about now. In fact, he hadn't seen her this emotional ever since they found out about her father.
Jack stood up from the leaf pile. "You're never gonna get away with this!"
"Oh? And why is that?" Thrull turned around to him with an evil grin.
"I don't know! It's just something heroes say," Jack said sheepishly, earning a scoff.
"You are no hero, boy."
Jack's eyes widened and now he was just as mad as May. "He's still better than you are, you jerk," May grunted at him. June came back with the box, holding it out reluctantly to Thrull. He took it and she glared up at the monster.
"I hope you choke on it," She growled, going over to May, both of them sharing a secret high-five behind their backs for her comment. Thrull squeezed open the lock-box, dropping it to the ground as the bestiary was revealed.
"I had hoped you would make progress while my leg regrew," He picked up and flipped through the pages. "But I never thought you'd complete the book," He placed it down to see all four glaring at him intensely. "Impressive...into the cage, all of you!" However, they didn't listen and he held his cuffed arm with the thorns to Quint's face. "Now!"
They all gasped, May shaking in fear. She was the first one to step forward, glancing at Quint regrettably. He stared into her eyes briefly as he could see that she didn't want to do this, but she had to. They all stepped inside as Thrull slammed the door shut. He then broke the lock with his pure strength so that they wouldn't follow him. May gripped the bars in worry as she stared at Quint.
"Now put Quint down!" Jack ordered Thrull, narrowing his eyes.
"I think not," Thrull reached forward and grabbed June's staff. "Hand over the shovel claws," He turned to May. She looked away briefly, looking up at Quint in concern. "Unless you don't care about your friend?" He held up Quint above his head, threatening to hurt him. May squeezed her eyes shut as she slipped off her gloves, tossing them to the ground.
"Satisfied?" She asked with an edge to her voice.
"Your fondness for the weakling may prove useful, yet," He looked at May intensely. "Especially yours. I suppose his feeble attempts to impress you were successful."
"Would you shut up? As if you have any right to talk," May bit back defensively, shocking all of them. Thrull just chuckled lightly and tossed June's spear, leaving with Quint.
"Hey! Who you calling feeble?" He protested while struggling against Thrull's hold. The others stared after them.
"How can you do this? I thought we were friends. I saved your life!" Jack called out to him.
"Ah, yes, I thank you for that. And Rezzoch thanks you as well. You are a great ally to our cause." Jack's eyes glistened at his statement, looking at the ground.
"You tricked me. And you're gonna feed your friends to Rezzoch!"
Thrull jumped into the back of Big Mama. "Without hesitation!" He said without regret, pulling open the roof. He threw Quint into the driver's seat, May letting her head drop as she didn't want to see this...see her failed attempt of rescuing him. "Go!"
Quint put on his seatbelt, frowning as he glanced between Thrull and his friends. He drove Big Mama away from them, Jack growling in anger. "Thrull has Quint and the bestiary!" He tried to break out and failed. "Now Rezzoch will come and destroy the world!" He slid to the ground.
"Not to add to the list, but I'm really claustrophobic!" Dirk stated in fear. May placed a hand on her forehead.
"We gotta focus on getting Quint back!" She glanced at him. "So can you do that?"
"Well, at least it can't get any worse," June commented and it wasn't until Dirk whimpered that she realized she was making it worse. "Oh, I probably shouldn't have said that." A crash was heard, making Jack stand up and look behind him. A rustle came from the bushes and he turned around hopefully.
"It's Alfred! He's come back to save us!"
"Uhh, that's not Alfred," Dirk shook his head and they looked up ahead...to see Bardle. He held a sword and glared at them, their eyes widening as he loomed over them...
