A/N: Yes, it's been a while. I've been busy with school and stuff. But school's out now, so I can update more often! :) Anyway, enjoy the story, and don't forget to comment and vote!

"Boots!" Gregor shouted, running up to her and wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her forehead and stroked her curly hair. "What... what happened?"

"I taken in the night by the rats," Boots replied. "They make me sit in jail."

Howard was at Temp's side, worriedly examining his body for wounds. "He's barely breathing."

"Temp come visit me!" Boots said. "We pway together and he fight rats! We go for ride!"

Gregor held her closer. "Are you okay?"

Boots nodded. "Me like Temp! We fwiends!"

"I know, I know." Gregor walked over to Nike and placed Boots gently on her back.

"We both pincesses!" Boots exclaimed as she held on tightly to Nike. Nike nodded and smiled, but she was obviously worried about everything.

"I'll be right back. Don't let her out of your sight," Gregor said before rushing over to Howard and Temp. Temp's legs twitched, but he was barely alive.

"He's hurt," Howard told Gregor. He rolled Temp onto his back and examined the large slashes of rat claws on his stomach. He was bleeding, but the blood wasn't red. It was colorless.

"What happened, Temp?" Howard whispered. Temp weakly clicked out a message, too tired to speak in English. Howard listened carefully. He must have learned how to speak Cockroach while Gregor was in the Overland.

"As soon as he found out Boots was missing, he ran to this place with another cockroach called Notus. They traveled together to rescue Boots because she's their princess. Once they came here, Notus sacrificed herself so Temp could get in. The rats were coming after Boots, so Temp put her on his back and fought as best as he could. He managed to fend off a few of the rats, and that's when we got here," Howard explained. "Temp needs medical attention. We have to get him back right now."

"Yeah, let's go," Gregor agreed.

"What about him?" Howard asked as he looked down into the pit, where Ratriff was desperately trying to get out.

Ripred scoffed. "We'll leave him, of course."

"But he helped us find..." Gregor started to say, but was interrupted by Ripred.

"Don't even start with that, boy," he sneered. "He's the Bane's son. Twirltongue's son. We can't let him go!"

"But..."

"No buts," Ripred said firmly. "Let's go."

Without another word, Howard, who held Boots, and Temp got onto Nike's back. Gregor decided he would be fine on foot as he watched Nike struggle under the weight of Howard, Boots, and Temp. And there was no way Ripred would let him ride on his back.

So Ripred and Gregor walked on foot while Howard, the sleeping Boots, and Temp silently flew on Nike's back. Nike offered, on multiple occasions, to let Gregor on her back, but Gregor said no. He didn't want Nike to suffer any more than she already was, both emotionally and physically. She had just lost her best friend, too.

At one point, some rats attacked the group, but Ripred easily stopped them. He was clearly the best fighter that Gregor had ever seen. He admired Ripred, but would never tell him that. He wondered if Ripred admired him. Probably not.

When Gregor had left the Underland, he thought he'd saved it. But he was wrong. And he was still the Warrior.

It drove him crazy.

And then, there was the matter of Luxa.

Luxa was strong. She was an amazingly loyal friend and a great leader. Why did she have to get hit by the bomb? Better yet, how were there bombs in the Underland?

"How did the rats get bombs?" Gregor asked curiously and out of nowhere.

"From the museum," Ripred responded. "An Overlander has been supplying the museum with all kinds of Overland technology."

"What?" Gregor gasped. "How? Who else knows about the Underland?"

"To make a long story short, she brought down materials to build a bomb with," Ripred explained, purposefully avoiding the question. "One of our engineers built the bomb. Clawsin stole it and bombed Regalia."

Gregor was in shock. "Wow, I can't believe that!" He narrowed his eyes. "I also can't believe you didn't tell me that another Overlander is helping the Underland. What if I know her?"

"There are over seven billion people in the Overland, Gregor," Howard replied. "I doubt you know her."

"Just tell me her name," Gregor suggested. "Just in case."

"Her name is Ophelia. Are you happy now?" Ripred's voice was dripping with his usual sarcasm.

"Ophelia?" Gregor asked. He thought there had been a girl in his third grade class named Ophelia, but that was all he could attach the name to. "How old is she?"

"About your age, I would assume," Howard responded. "She has been very helpful."

"How did she find out about the Underland?" Gregor wanted to know. "Nobody in the Overland knows about this place."

Howard exchanged a glance with Ripred. Gregor rolled his eyes. Everybody in the Underland was keeping things from him lately. It annoyed him.

"That's not important," Ripred finally said.

"It obviously is," Gregor argued.

"No, it's really not," Ripred replied, "and it's not your business, either."

"You know, it's not very nice to talk about people behind their backs," a voice said from the right.

Gregor whirled around as a girl stepped out of the shadows. He was shocked at her appearance. For someone who traveled between the Overland and the Underland a lot, she sure was beautiful. Her long, brown hair was neatly combed and shiny. She was wearing some sort of makeup around her eyes, and lipstick. She looked like a model. Gregor couldn't take his eyes off of her and immediately felt guilty, thinking of Luxa lying in the hospital.

"Ah, Ophelia," Ripred said in disgust. "What a breath of foul air."

"Ripred." She crossed her arms. "That explains the smell. I thought it was rotten eggs at first, but clearly, it's coming from you."

"Oh, is that the best you can do?" Ripred taunted.

She rolled her eyes. "If you're going to be a smart-ass, Ripred, you have to be smart. Otherwise, you're just an ass."

"Keep rolling your eyes, Ophelia," Ripred shot back. "Maybe you'll find a brain somewhere back there."

"Hey, calm down, guys," Howard intervened. "Let us all just take a minute."

"Yeah, Ripred, calm down," Ophelia agreed. "Take a deep breath. Hold it for twenty minutes."

"Oh, Ophie," Ripred sighed. "When karma comes back to punch you in the face, let me know so I can be there in case it needs any help."

"Too bad you can't count running your mouth as an exercise. If you could, you might actually be in good shape," Ophelia responded.

"Are you always such an idiot? Or do you just show off in front of me?"

"Jeez, will you two just stop?" Howard shouted. "We get it. You hate each other. Can we just move on?"

"Sorry, Howard," Ophelia said. "I can't help it that Ripred is so jealous of me."

"There's nothing to be jealous of!" Ripred exclaimed.

"Let it go," Howard sighed. "Do you two always have to fight so much?"

"She started it," Ripred said. "She's so argumentative. And immature."

"Immature is a word boring people use to describe fun people," Ophelia replied. "Besides, my level of maturity depends on who I'm with."

"It's hilarious to watch you try and squeeze all of your vocabulary words into one sentence," Ripred responded. He turned to Gregor. "This is the Warrior, by the way."

"Are you sure?" she said, walking straight up to Gregor until she was only a couple feet away from him. "He's the Warrior?"

"Yeah, I'm Gregor," Gregor responded, backing up slightly. She was making him a little uncomfortable.

"You mean you're gorgeous?" Ophelia whispered in his ear before gently kissing his cheek. "Great to meet you, Gregor. I'm Ophelia, as I'm sure you know, since your pet rat has introduced me."

Gregor took a step back, surprised at her forwardness. He couldn't help the blush that was coming across his face. He quickly wiped his cheek, afraid that there might be lipstick on it. He doubted Ripred would ever let him live this down. Then again, he really seemed to hate this girl.

"What are you doing here?" Howard asked as Ophelia played with her hair.

"Meeting the brave, strong, fierce, raging and extremely handsome Warrior, I suppose," Ophelia giggled, grabbing Gregor's hand. He quickly shook her off and walked away from her as she began to speak again. "No, I'm headed back up. What about you guys?" She noticed Boots on Nike's back. "Aw, who's this little one?"

Boots woke up with a smile. "Hi, you! I Boots!" she exclaimed.

"I'm Ophelia," the girl greeted her with a smile, "and your future sister-in-law." She ruffled Boot's curls, making her giggle. She tickled Boots on her stomach. Boots squealed and giggled even more. Gregor tilted his head in confusion. Who did this girl think she was?

"We should probably get moving," Howard said. "Always a pleasure to see you, though."

"You too," Ophelia replied with a legitimate smile. She turned to Gregor. "But it was the biggest pleasure I've had in a long time to see you." She turned to Ripred and rolled her eyes. "Even if that jerk had to be here. You know, you should really spend less time with him and more time with me."

"Are you kidding, Ophelia?" Ripred interjected. "He's not interested. He has a girlfriend. And how desperate can you possibly be to go after the Warrior?"

Gregor glared at the rat but said nothing. After all, he didn't want to make things worse for himself.

"Let's get out of here, guys," Howard said, trying to keep the peace. But just the way Ophelia and Ripred looked at each other made that nearly impossible.

Gregor grabbed Boots and climbed onto Nike's back silently. She didn't object. Gregor needed to rest - he'd been walking for hours. Howard got on behind him, with Temp in the back. Without another word, they left to continue their journey.

"Why do you hate her so much?" Gregor asked Ripred. "Is it because the rats got the bomb?"

"There's not enough evidence to prove that was her fault," Ripred admitted. "But she has done unforgettable things. You would not believe it if I told you."

"You sure about that?" Gregor questioned. "A couple years ago, I didn't believe in a place miles under the Earth that had large, talking animals."

Ripred looked at him expectantly. "Exactly."

The rest of the journey was mostly silent, except for Boots. She was talking to Temp the whole time. She knew he was hurt, but deep down, Gregor thought she also knew there was nothing they could do until they got to the Regalian hospital.

Eventually, they reached Regalia. Gregor flashed back to the first time he'd arrived. It looked so different from back then. The city was practically destroyed. Nearly all that they'd rebuilt since the Prophecy of Time was gone. Parts of buildings had been blown off. It was clear that the city had little to no security.

"I will take Temp straight to the hospital," Howard said. "You should go check up on your other sister."

The thought hit Gregor like a ton of bricks. Lizzie! She was probably worried sick. She might be having a panic attack right now.

Gregor hopped off Nike and grabbed Boots. He suddenly wished Ripred had just told Lizzie the truth, but she probably would have panicked even more if she'd known. There was no good solution.

"Gregor! There you are!" Hazard shouted as he ran up to him. Hazard was a young boy, about Lizzie's age, and the son of Hamnet, the once-famous warrior that had run off into the jungle due to his guilt. Hamnet has died, and his last wish was for Hazard to never become a warrior like himself. Hazard was a Halflander, meaning that his mother was an Overlander and his father was an Underlander. He was always a sweet, caring boy, but right now, he looked exhausted and worried.

"Hey, Hazard," Gregor greeted him, ruffling his hair. "What's going on?"

"It's Lizzie," Hazard said immediately. "Boots was bait so they could take the code-breaker."

Gregor gasped. "What? What do you mean?" Fear rushed through him at the thought of his other sister being the rats' target.

"They didn't care about Boots," Hazard explained. "All she could do was get the cockroaches on their side. They wanted Lizzie."

The little boy grabbed Gregor's arm. "Gregor, they... they broke into Regalia! Lizzie's gone!"