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Boggles stood stunned. "Prince Ungle, you say?'
"Yes, Prince Ungle, I say. Now, your father needs you. Come along, boy." The guard grabbed his arm and began to pull him.
"Wait!" Ben shouted, running to Boggles' side. "There's some mistake. This isn't Oogle, or whoever, his name is Boggles."
"Boggles, eh?" Laughed the guard. "So, that's the alias you've been using?"
Boggles hung his head. "Yes, sir." He then turned to Ben and the others. "My name isn't Boggles, it's Ungle. I'm really the Grendel King's son. When I was little, My dad started to make plans for this attack. I tried my hardest to stop him - honest, I did. But my dad got really mad at me. He didn't want any thing - nothing at all - to get in his way. I was sentenced to death."
"Death?" The question rose among everyone.
"Look, if he'd declare war on an entire race, he'd be so cruel to sentence me to death." Continued Boggles. "Anyway, I excaped, and hid in the Ettin Caves. That's why I was so eager to come with you - I knew it'd be my last chance to stop Dad before he did any real damage.
The guard smiled. "While I'm here," he grabbed Ben. "You're coming with me." He then tool them both off -- to their execution.
"I suppose we should try to get them back." Katherine shrugged. Heads turned toward her. "Why is everyone staring at me?" She asked, puzzled.
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Boggles - or, should I say Ungle, was standing on the port overlooking the Blue Ocean. Behind him was a line of Ettins - including Ben. Standing with him was the Grendel King and Gregory, the prophet. Gregory was holding a needle filled with cyanide, ready to end Ungle's life.
The Grendel King turned to Ungle and looked deep into his steady eyes. "Any last words?"
Ungle stared him down, before replying, "I'm sorry I never succeeded in taking you down. But, mark my words, Katherine will get you. She'll complete my dream."
Gregory then walked to Ungle's side. He stuck the needle in Ungle's arm, and injected cyanide into his bloodstream.
A few minutes passed, and Ungle showed absolutely no signs of dying, or even passing out.
"Gregory?" asked the King.
"Yessir?"
"Let me see that needle."
Gregory shyly handed over the needle, and the Grendel King took a sniff of the end part. "Gregory," he began, "This smells a lot more like sugar water then cyanide.
Gregory pointed at the King. "Can't prove anything!"
A small devil icon appeared by the Grendel King's tail.
"The Hand!" The king shouted, pulling off 'Gregory's' tail. The tail came off, pulling the rest of the skin with it. All that was left was Katherine, who had provided the movement and voice, and Blip, who had provided the hunchback.
They all stood there, for a moment, before Katherine grabbed Ungle and Ben and ran, Blip doing his best to keep up.
They ran past the treehouse, through the desert, and took the elevator up to the second treehouse. Katherine didn't notice the Grendel King on her heels.
Upon reaching the treehouse, Katherine started trying to herd everyone on the teleporter.
"We're going home, as soon as I figure out what button takes us to the HoloDeck." Katherine insisted.
"Katherine, no!" Ungle began to protest. "What about --"
"Look," snarled Katherine, "chances are, if they find us, they'll kill the lot of --" Katherine was immediately stopped short by everyone's favorite Albian bad guy. The Grendel King grabbed her from behind.
"You TWIT!" he snarled. "Navenous little..." He walked over to the teleporter. "You'll never see this kid again!" He pressed the teleporter button, and, just before being teleported, struck his foot through the base, preventing anyone from following him.
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The Norn Reaper's ears perked as he peeked over the cloud. If Susan had been able to see his face, she would have guessed that he was smiling. "Guess who you get to see soon?" he smirked.
Susan peeked over the same edge the Reaper was at. "Katherine? Oh! Do I get to live again?"
"Other way around."
Susan paused for a moment. "She's gonna..."
"Die? Yess'm, she's a goner." He paused for a minute. "Unless... nah, that'll never happen." He peered over the cloud again, waiting for the main event.
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The teleporter took Katherine and the Grendel King to the splicer room. The dark room had a heavy, evil air to it. A low light highlighted the silvery splicing machine, as it called gently out to any poor body who cared to enter its death-clutch. But Katherine royally didn't care what the room looked like. She bit the King's arm, forcing him to drop her. Starting to run, she felt something turn her around, forcing her to look at the Grendel King. His deep, sickening lime skin, accented with dark spots, was highlighted in the same way the machinery was. Sharp, jagged teeth hung out of his mouth, which was curled into a snarl. Above that was a turned up nose, and above those were fearsome cat eyes, which gleamed red and seemed to reflect his evil heart. He seemed to tower above Katherine, creating a fearsome and formidable image.
"You..." he grimly snarled, glaring harshly at a quivering Katherine. "You've been causing me far too much trouble. First, you show up, signifying my apocalypse, then you replace the Arlington Stone (thank Shee you forgot that last element) and now you fowl up Ungle's execution!" He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in and intimidate Katherine more so than they already did. "Now," he raised his claw high. "prepare ... to... DIE..."
Katherine felt a surge of fear as the claw swung toward her. She quickly dove to the side, nearly missing his wide swipe, and skittered toward his back. The King tried to turn around, but he was so big, it took a while to turn. Katherine, seeing her chance, jumped on to his back, and climbed to his neck. However, Katherine wasn't able to keep her balance, as usual, and promptly fell off, being forced once more to face him. This time, she decided it was best to run, and delay any pain coming her way. Whipping around, she sped to a dash, the King at her heels, until -- they reached the end of the room. The Grendel King, once more, began to lift his claw in an effort to end Katherine's life. Looking around quickly, Katherine couldn't help but notice the large piece of machinery next to her, beckoning with an icy call. Without a second thought, she turned toward the towering wall of electronics and began to scale the tower of metal. Up she went, franticly climbing, to get away for just a brief moment. It seemed to last forever. Finally, she gave one final push, and reached a small plateau that would provide relief for one fleeting moment. Katherine sat for a moment, panting a little. Below, the Grendel King started shouting at something. Katherine was so shaken and stirred inside, she couldn't understand what he was saying. Something about getting down? Something about the fact that he couldn't climb? She didn't care. One thing just kept ringing in her ears over and over.
"Then evil shall fall
but take with it,
The life of the warrior's leader."
The warning in Susan's poem. Those last lines foretold her own death. Katherine sat back and reflected on her own situation. It was true, and she believed it. She was officially going to die.
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Laughter rung out in the deep halls of the Sheeian temple. Rokoko materialized at the base of the Sheeian statue, with a small, clear stone in his hand. "She believes!" He happily cheered. "I'd never believe it if I didn't see it." He floated up to the place where Lydia had replaced the Arlington Stone, and affixed his little clear rock in with the other three. "Light!" He called, to no one. "Water, earth, air, and now.. Light!" He cackled as he returned to his own planet. The room lit up, now fueled by the power of all four elements.
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Katherine's mind raced as she looked about the room. So, this was her end? She was just to sit by and be killed here? No, that couldn't be right. The poem flashed through her mind again. "Then evil shall fall.." Suddenly, she felt a new kind of bravery. So, she was going to die. That part was certain. But if she was about to die, she was taking the Grendel King with her.
Katherine leaped off the plateau, and unto the ground, facing the gruesome king as well as her fate. Stretching her arms out wide, she called to the King, "OK, fine. You want me? Come get me!"
The King grinned at this, and started to step forward. One, two, three.. Katherine carefully counted his steps. Then, she quickly bent over, snatched up a rock, and threw it. It wasn't aimed at the King, however. It was aimed at the small button on the electric cage of the splicing machine. When the rock hit the button, bars of electricity shot up around the King. He was trapped in the splicer! "Come back here!" he roared. "Get me out, so I can kill you!"
Katherine ran toward the splicing lever. If she could just get there, she'd be home free. All of a sudden, however, bars of electricity sprung up around her, trapping her. Taking a quick survey of the area, she realized that the Grendel King had picked up the same rock and used her same trick against her. She was now trapped in an electric cage, just as he was.
A small lightning bug came flying through the room. He looked around, and, paying no nevermind to Katherine and the Grendel King, landed on the splicer lever. Katherine and the King both watched, horrified, as the splicer's main pump began to move, and the tubes above them began carrying liquid, preparing to splice them.
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"A little to the left, yes.. yes.. YES!"
Blip was directing Ben in the fixing of the transporter.
"OK, everyone," Blip called, "It's fixed. Let's see if we can't find them. "
There was a rush to the teleporter, to get on. A tiny paw reached out and pushed the button, teleporting all seven of them to the splicer room. When they got there, everyone was treated to seeing Katherine, reaching out of her electric cage.
"Katherine!" Blip shouted, as he raced toward her hand.
Katherine stretched out her arm, eager to touch Blip one last time. "Help mee.." She pleaded desperately, as a tube of light swallowed up the whole image of her body, all except her arm. Her arm fell as the light cleared. The Grendel King's body had been removed, but for some reason, Katherine's body hadn't. But, that made no difference. Katherine was dead.