Chapter 8

"In Hiding of the Enemy"

Without a warning from anything, almost every single Gummi Bear that was in Ursalia were now captured in nets and webbings by Duke Igthorn and his band of cronies. The once shamed and ridiculed knight of Dunwyn was now moments away from his ultimate conquest. In addition, Lady Bane dispatched her Troggels to retrieve the Great Book of Gummi, but, when they couldn't find it, the two villains turned their attention over to Zummi, who was in a net with Grammi, Gruffi and Tummi. Two Aerials dragged the purple bear into Ursalia's throne room where Duke Igthorn and Lady Bane sat.

"Well," smiled Igthorn evilly. "It's good to see you again, Gummi Bear."

"Naturally," added Lady Bane. "Once we are through with you and all the other Gummi Bears, all of your secrets and powers will be ours."

"You won't get away with this, you two," said Zummi. "Once we figure a way out of this mess you made, you will regret ever coming back."

"Oh, I doubt that," chuckled Lady Bane. "Isn't that right, dear?"

"Indeed," replied Duke Igthorn. "So, where is it?"

"If you are looking for what you want," said Zummi, defiantly. "I will not give it to you. You had the Great Book once and you are not getting another chance at it."

"What?!" cried Lady Bane angrily. "How dare you speak to your future rulers in that manner?!" And to show how defiant she was, she used her Gummi Medallion to lift Zummi into the air. Knowing of his fear of heights, the two villains made Zummi go from defiant to being scared. In their minds, making Zummi look down would talk some sense into him to telling where the Great Book of Gummi was.

"All right," whimpered Zummi, who was now scared to death. "I'll tell you where it is, just put me down!"

So, Lady Bane lowered him back onto the ground and a scruffed and scared Zummi told them where it was.

"It's in the library," he cried. "You can have it! Just don't make me do that again."

"All right, you two," said Igthorn to the two Aerials. "Go and fetch us the Great Book, then."

"But, we don't know where the library is," said the first Aerial.

"Yeah," added the second. "It's not like we know where the place is, this is our first time here."

"Take the Gummi Bear with you then," replied Igthorn. "After all, he knows this place better than any of us."

So, the Aerials led Zummi out of the hall and forced him to find the Great Book of Gummi. Once he was gone, Igthorn turned to Lady Bane and smiled at her.

"Soon, my love," he said. "We will have unlimited power and not even King Gregor and the rest of the Gummi Bears will be able to stop us."

"Naturally," replied Lady Bane. "I have waited a long time for this moment, Igthorn and now, nothing will stand between us and true greatness."

The two villains chuckled evilly at their supposed future as rulers of Ursalia with great power. Meanwhile, the other villains were guarding the large group of captured Gummi Bears and the trolls were forcing all of the others to hand over their jewelry and other valued possessions. Any Gummi Bears that refused were tortured into doing so when Clutch would use his pea shooter on them and hitting them with walnuts that were shot out of it.

In a nearby net, Gruffi, Grammi and several others including Foxglove, could not take any more of the ongoing torture and wanted it to stop, but they couldn't do anything about it.

"I can't take any more of this, Gruffi," whimpered Grammi. "I just want it to stop."

"Me too," replied Gruffi. "If only we had a sign of what was to come, we would've been prepared to deal with Igthorn and all these clowns that decided to pay us an unexpected visit."

"Yeah, well we didn't know about that," said Gritty. "If I could only get my paws on those two villains that led the charge into Ursalia."

"If only we could, Gritty," groaned Ursa. "If only we had the horn that we used against that human the last time he was here."

"Are you crazy, Ursa?!" groaned Gruffi. "You saw what happened the last time we used that horn, it nearly damaged Ursalia."

"And nearly got me and Cubbi killed," added Gritty.

"Well, once we get out of this," said Ursa. "We will find that horn and use it to blow these baddies out of Ursalia for good! I just hope that Buddi and the others are all right."

"Thank Gum that they are safe, Gruffi," said Grammi. "Hiding from all of this madness that Igthorn and Lady Bane have caused."

"I just hope that they all stay out of Igthorn's way until we figure out a way out of this," said Gruffi to himself as the trolls made their way over to them.

Meanwhile, in the bunker, the younger Gummies and Cavin and Calla were hiding underneath, listening to the screaming and agony that was going on right above them. As of this moment, they were all helpless to do anything to stop the carnage that the villains had caused.

"If only we could do something," moaned Buddi. "There is way too many of them to take on all by ourselves."

"I know how you feel, Buddi," said Cavin. "Not even drinking a glass of Gummiberry Juice would be able to send every single one of those villains out of here. Igthorn and Lady Bane must have brought some of the baddest villains here to take over Ursalia and they succeeded."

"Well, as long as we are here, Cavin," said Calla. "We will find a way to rescue the rest of the Gummies and save Ursalia."

"That's coming from someone who had a sword pointed at her," remarked Buddi. "You know how dangerous those villains are."

"I know," replied Calla. "I have dealt with Duke Igthorn many times in the past and I know how he plans and strategizes. We must find a way to stop him and the others once and for all and put an end to his reign of terror."

"But, how can we Calla?" asked Sunni. "We are wearing our best clothes, hiding in a bunker and we are hopelessly outmatched by Igthorn, Lady Bane and all the other villains we have defeated in the past."

"I have to agree with Sunni," said Cubbi. "A great and powerful Gummi Knight like me would be hopelessly outmatched by a hoard of villains like this. Not even The Crimson Avenger would have a chance."

"I can see your point, Cubbi," said Cavin. "If only we could come up with something to drive them all out of Ursalia without killing anyone."

"Why do you want to do that, Cavin?" asked Calla. "Given the fact that there are so many of them, it's hard to be sure that we would not kill anyone."

"I know, I know," replied Cavin sheepishly. "It's just that I don't want Sir Tuxford to know that I killed anyone and if I did kill anyone, it would be a disgrace to his memory. I'm sorry, but we have to do it without killing anyone."

"Not everyone is going to listen to us like that, Cavin," added Buddi. "These are villains who want to conquer Ursalia and we need to realize that there are going to be some casualties to boot. Ursa taught me that and even though I am a good natured Barbic, there are times that I will need to step out of my comfort zone and carry out ways that would only meant to protect the ones I love the most and if that means killing someone who stand in my way of protecting the ones I love then so be it."

"Buddi's right, Cavin," said Cubbi. "We really don't have a choice anymore. This is the worst thing that Igthorn has ever done to us right now and it's even worse than when he destroyed Gummi Glen and conquered Dunwyn."

"You're right, Cubbi, everyone," replied Cavin. "I suppose we may have to cross the line to rescue the ones we love and that sometimes we have to fight for the right to live freely among Gummi Bears and humans and if Sir Tuxford were here right now, he would probably say the same thing."

"So, do we have a plan to rescue the others or not?" asked Calla.

"No, but I think we will do eventually," said Buddi who looked at Calla who was still wearing her blue and white dress and gold tiara. "But, shouldn't you change out of that dress, Calla?"

"I can always have it repaired back in Dunwyn," replied Calla. "I wore it when Igthorn put everyone to sleep and even though it was damaged pretty badly, I had it repaired in time for my first grand ball."

"I see," replied Buddi, who then looked at Sunni who was wearing her dark green dress. "Shouldn't you change out of your dress too,Sunni?"

"Nah," she replied. "I'll just leave it on. Besides, Grammi has been thinking about giving me some new clothes anyway. I wouldn't mind ruining it."

"If you say so, then," said Buddi, so the five friends put their heads together to come with a plan to rescue the others.

Meanwhile, Zummi had brought the Great Book of Gummi to Duke Igthorn and Lady Bane and although he was hesitant too, he knew that the two villains would order the other villains to harm the rest of the Gummies if he refused to give them the Great Book. In his mind, Zummi knew that he had to protect the rest of the Gummies that had come far and wide to Ursalia to start a new life, but deep down, he wished that he didn't have to surrender the Great Book again, but this time, he didn't have much of a choice.

"Well," said Igthorn impatiently. "Use your medallion and open it up, Gummi Bear."

"As you wish, Igthorn," sighed Zummi sadly and using his medallion, he opened up the Great Book of Gummi and Duke Igthorn and Lady Bane gazed down happily at the words and secrets that they were now seeing before their very eyes. Everything that they had ever dreamed of was in this book and they immediately began to think of what spells that they could use to conquer the Gummi Bears, Dunwyn and soon the world.

"Don't you see this, my dear Lady Bane?" smiled Igthorn. "With all these secrets in our possession, we could finally conquer everything we always wanted together."

"So you say, Duke Igthorn," said Lady Bane sarcastically. "But, just remember that I will conquer the Gummi Bears if you help me do so and then, once we do so, I'll help you conquer Dunwyn."

"Hey, what about me?" groaned Zorlock who was now in the throne room. "I deserve some of the credit too, you know."

"Who asked you, lowly wizard?" snarled Lady Bane, who then used her magic again on Zorlock's neck much like she did when they first attacked Ursalia.

"Remember," she said evilly. "I am the one who decides who gets who. So, if I were you, I am going to tell you once and that I am not going to tell you again, that I get the book and secrets and you get nothing!"

"But, I thought we agreed that I-," groaned Zorlock but was silenced by Lady Bane again.

"You heard the lady, mush for brains," replied Igthorn. "We get everything and you get nothing and Zorlock was thrown out of the throne room and back into the streets with the villains and Gummi hostages.

"Looks like things are going to get better from here on in, Lady Bane," said Igthorn.

"Indeed, they are," remarked Lady Bane. "Indeed they are."

With that, the two villains let out evil laughs knowing that they are the victors, at least, for now.