Chapter 2

"The Recluse of Duke Igthorn"

With the Great Gummies no more than two days away from Ursalia, both the Glen Gummies and the Barbics were out in full force getting the city ready for their arrival. Every square inch was covered both high and low, with the high portion covered by Zummi, of course. As they all worked, the Glens were filled with nothing but excitement over the arrival of the Great Gummies. Despite the loss of Gummi Glen, they tried to think about anything besides that and sprucing up Ursalia was good enough to take the minds off of that fateful night.

Each of the Glens had goals they wanted to accomplish and they each wanted to do it individually over the course of the return. No Gummi perhaps looked more forward than Zummi, who for years, had tried to contact them, only to have his plans thwarted thanks to Duke Igthorn, but with him out of the picture for now, he could finally do what needed to be done to bring the Great Gummies back home where they belong.

Meanwhile, in the great kitchen, Tummi was assisting Grubbi, the Barbic cook in preparing foods for the Great Gummies. He'd always had been a great gardener back home, but for a bear who likes food, you might say that he was very much the cook, an honor that belongs to Grammi if you ask me.

"What is that, Tummi?" asked Grubbi sharply. "Is that how I told you to make our barbic recipe for stinkweed stew?"

"I'm sorry, Grubbi," said the blue bear. "It's just that I am still getting used to cooking and that I am nervous about the Great Gummies."

"Son," replied Grubbi. "We are all nervous about the Great Gummies and I know you are as well, but, that doesn't excuse for messing up something I have told you time and time again to make. You are with us now, and now is the time for you to learn how to prepare food both the Glen way and the Barbic way. Now, try again and this time, if you have any problems, ask me to help you."

So the Barbic cook left and Tummi, not wanting to mess up an umpteenth time, starting over on making the Barbic rendition of Stinkweed Stew. Just then, Grammi walked in after working on one of the kitchens.

"Tummi, sweetheart," she said. "How is the Stinkweed Stew coming along?"

"Well, I am still getting used to it, Grammi," he replied. "In fact, I am trying how to learn to be a better cook like you."

"I know, dear," said the matriarch bear. "Every time I tried to teach you how to cook, you'd always eat up the ingredients."

"But, I have gotten over that, Grammi," chuckled Tummi. "Remember the time you all taught me how to have willpower?"

"Yes, I did, dear," laughed Grammi. "You certainly have learned to have something like that. I just hope when the Great Gummies arrive, that they see the bear that I have raised has molded into the respectable bear that he has become."

With Grammi's reassurance, Tummi now felt confident in getting what he needed to get done and now began to remember what Grubbi had taught him in how to make the Stinkweed Stew, barbic style. Of course, there were more Glen and Barbic recipes to create and Tummi had a short time to get it done.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned hut just outside of where his former kingdom was, a man with a long gray beard and ragged clothes named Duke Igthorn, sat inside lamenting over the loss of his greatest ambition to rule the kingdom of Dunwyn. He sat in the corner of the hut sulking and contemplating whether or not he should continue his ultimate goal of conquering Dunwyn and overthrowing its leader, King Gregor.

"Faithful Toadie wishes Dukie would be happy," said a small green ogre who was the only company for the Duke. "Ogres may be gone, but, Faithful Toadie is still here."

"That's all you have been saying since we retreated to this dump," said Duke Igthorn. "I want to crush those Dummi Bears and make Gregor bow to me, Toadwart, and what did I end up getting? Well, I will tell you what I ended up getting, the loss of my castle, the loss of my troops and the loss of my endless supply of Gummiberry Juice, as well, as the ultimate weapon turning against me. How am I supposed to achieve my ultimate goal when we are stuck in this lowly hut, Toadwart?"

Toadwart knew how his master was feeling. After all, he had stood by him through thick and thin and it seemed that he knew that Duke Igthorn could at least try again in conquering Dunwyn, but that was just a stop gap measure at this point.

"Maybe all that Dukie needs is some help," said Toadwart. "Forget Ultimate Weapon and Ogres, Dukie has many friends who could help him."

"What are you talking about mush for brains?" snapped Duke Igthorn, shaking his sidekick violently like he always did. "Are you telling that I should work with someone we have hired in the past and that they had failed miserably?"

"No, Dukie," said Toadie, in a shaky voice. "Gummi Bears have plenty of enemies that have dealt with them on more than one occasion."

Duke Igthorn gasped at what his lackey had just said. He had forgotten that the Gummi Bears had more than one enemy other than himself and maybe that if he joined forces with them, he could finally conquer the Gummi Bears and use their secrets to conquer Dunwyn once and for all.

"Where can I find these enemies of the Gummi Bears, Toadie?" asked Duke Igthorn with a hint of lust in his voice. "If I join forces with them, my conquest of Dunwyn will be nearly completed! This is better than any scheme I have come up with in the past."

Toadie was both excited and nervous that his master was back to his old self. He was nervous to answer him, but he knew that Igthorn was not a very patient person and had no choice but to answer him. In Igthorn's mind, an army of the Gummies' enemies was something he could only dream of and with them behind him, he could do away with the Glens and Barbics and use their secrets as well as his army to conquer Dunwyn once and for all and do away with his archenemy, King Gregor.

"Well, Dukie," replied the timid ogre. "What faithful Toadie and Dukie should do is place wanted ads and that way, past enemies of Gummi Bears will come forward and join forces with us."

"An advertisement, you say, Toadwart?" asked Duke Igthorn. "Even better, we'll go out and find who is an enemy of the Gummi Bears and convince them to join us in our quest of undying glory and power."

Toadie looked happy at his master's return to his former self, a self that he had not seen in a very long time and especially since Duke Igthorn was still recovering over the greatest defeat of his career and his life.

"Faithful Toadie likes this idea, Dukie," said the small ogre. "Let's get started." Toadie was about to leave the shack when his master stopped him.

"Wait, Toadie," called Duke Igthorn. "There is always one who I think would be a brilliant ally in our quest."

"Who is that, Dukie?" said Toadwart, who suddenly and quickly realized who his master was talking about.

"You know who I am talking about, Toadwart," replied Duke Igthorn. "She is someone who has been after the Gummies' secrets longer than me and someone who I think is the most beautiful creature in the whole world."

"You don't mean…" asked Toadwart nervously, knowing what Duke Igthorn was talking about.

"Yes, Toadwart," cried Duke Igthorn. "We shall recruit the very lovely Lady Bane into our plans of ultimate glory and then together, we will make the Gummi Bears and King Gregor bow to us and only then, we will finally achieve the goal that we have started out since the day we began our quest of glory."

Toadwart had very unnerving feelings towards Lady Bane. After all, she was the one who fell in love with him and Tummi at the same time when a plan by Duke Igthorn to make Lady Bane fall in love with him backfired and instead of Lady Bane falling in love with Duke Igthorn, Lady Bane ended up going the opposite route.

"Besides," continued Duke Igthorn. "I wonder how my sweet is doing after all this time. Pack your bags, Toadwart! We are going to leave this old shack and give our dear Lady Bane a little visit from her Dukie."

Duke Igthorn was just about to leave when he suddenly stopped and looked back at his lackey.

"Wait a minute, Toadwart," he cried. "I need to do one more thing to before we go out into the world."

"What's that, Dukie?" asked Toadwart. "What did Dukie forget to do that made him stop in his tracks?"

"I need to clean myself up, Toadwart," cried Duke Igthorn. "I can't see the love of my life looking like this and I need to change my clothes, Toadwart and get rid of this bothersome beard. Where is my brother, Sir Victor, when I need him?"

"But, Dukie," said Toadwart. "Lady Bane would not care for Dukie in messed up predicament."

Apparently, Toadwart's lack of respect for his appearance in front of Lady Bane was not something that Duke Igthorn had in mind and decided to remind his sidekick why he needed to look presentable.

"Listen here, throw rug," he said sternly. "Lady Bane is someone that I would rather spend the rest of my life with than with someone like you and a good first impression is a great first impression, so, shut your ogre hole and help me find a place where I can bathe and change clothes before I use you as a ball for the next group of ogres that join us."

Toadie nodded his head in nervous reassurance and Duke Igthorn threw him back down on the ground. Grabbing whatever necessities he needed, Duke Igthorn opened the door to the shack and he and Toadwart left it behind and headed out for a location to clean themselves up for Lady Bane.

Back in Ursalia, Sunni and Cubbi were in the main courtyard with Gruffi, who was trying to repair the traps that he and Cubbi had used when they first came to Ursalia. Getting them ready for the Great Gummies was of major importance to him at this time. But, what he heard next was something that he was not thinking of.

"Hey, Gruffi," asked Cubbi. "I was wondering that since the Great Gummies were coming, could we maybe introduce Cavin and Calla to them?"

This made the workaholic bear stop dead in his tracks and he gave the two cubs a deep dark stare. He and the others may have been friends with them, but introducing them to the Great Gummies was something that was not on his mind.

"Are you out of your minds?" Gruffi cried. "Introducing Cavin and Calla to the Great Gummies? That would make them go back to where they came from. Do you both want something like that?"

"Well, we were thinking that since we are now friends with humans," said Sunni. "Shouldn't it be fitting to spread our friendship towards humans to the Great Gummies?"

"We could change their minds," added Cubbi. "It's worth a try."

"I'm sorry, you two," said Gruffi, standing his ground. "But the answer is 'no.' We have always lived each and every day the Gummi way and we are keeping it so. So, no more talk about inviting Cavin and Calla here. Besides, Castle Dunwyn is still recovering from Igthorn's attack and near conquest. They would be busy in doing clean up duty."

This caused Cubbi and Sunni to moan and groan. They wanted to introduce their human friends to other Gummi Bears that were their age and it seemed like that they would never get the chance to do so.

"Gruffi Gummi," called a voice. "I have always said that you have the manners of a Billy goat."

The voice had come from Grammi who was making her way back towards them from the kitchen that Tummi was working in.

"Of course we'll invite Cavin and Calla," she said. "We need to show the Great Gummies that being friends with humans that we can trust is crucial if we are to expand our race into the very near future. Think of the cubs, Gruffi and remember that Cavin has been here before, so Ursa and the other Barbics are already familiar with humans being friendly."

"But, Grammi," added Sunni. "This would be Calla's first time here, you know. The Barbics have never met a human princess and that if they meet Calla, then maybe she could convince them to meet King Gregor and by joining forces, we could keep Duke Igthorn and the other enemies out."

"It's worth a try," finished Cubbi.

"Well, all right," said Gruffi. "But if anything happens while they are here when we welcome the Great Gummies, the blame will be on the both of you."

So, Cubbi and Sunni ran down to the quick tunnels and boarded a Quick Car that would take them to Dunwyn castle. Grammi and Gruffi looked at each other making their comical facial expressions towards one another, knowing that inviting their human friends would be for the best of everyone.