“—OOoOoo!”
Frog woke with such a start that he hopped to his feet. He was in the blue house, the smell of Nigel’s freshly brewed pot of tea filling his nostrils. Princess Rainbow was making her shrunken parents ride Sheriff Explosion around the front room.
“Morning, sunshine!” said Nigel, pouring him a cup of tea. “You’ve been asleep for hours, by gosh – that marvellous speech must have taken it out of you.”
“I… Kryl!” Frog began, scrambling to his feet. He raced to the other side of the room, where Kryl still slept, and lifted her into his arms. Her head fell limply to one side, her eyes rolling back.
“Wake up, Kryl!” he shouted, shaking her. “Please wake up…”
“Baa?” bleated Sheriff Explosion.
“What happened?” asked Princess Rainbow, returning her parents to her pocket. “Why is she so sleepy?”
“He did something to her brain in the UnSlumber,” Frog replied. “He hurt her there and stunk up her brain in real life.”
“‘He’? Who’s ‘he’?” asked Nigel.
Frog didn’t answer. He lay Kryl gently on the floor and stood up, his fists tightly clenched. “Tell the bragons to start boasting – we’ve got a long journey ahead of us. We’re going back to the Inbetween.”
Twenty minutes (and a lot of boasting) later, the Omnium Gatherum led the bragon army up through the clouds. While Nigel piloted the house, Princess Rainbow and Man-Lor sat with Kryl. Frog, meanwhile, stared out of the smashed front window, the wind whistling around his head. The bragons soared alongside the house, filled to bursting with air, flying higher than they had ever flown.
“Baa,” said Sheriff Explosion, nuzzling Frog’s leg.
Frog ruffled the sheep’s wool. “Don’t worry, it’ll be all right,” said Frog, sounding less than convinced. His dream buzzed in his head like spiderflies. Did he really want to be a conqueror, deep down? Was there any point in being good, if he was destined to be evil? He was more confused than ever.
Frog took out his diary and chalk.
“Frog, if you don’t mind me asking,” said Nigel, “what is the plan to save the world from the titanic, world-destroying spaceship?”
The question shook Frog out of his musing. Nigel was right – he needed to focus on the matter in hand.
“The Inbetween is the plan,” he replied. “The Inbetween is one hundred per cent magic, and Kroakan scanners can’t see magic gubbins. That’s why the rarewolf hid me there in the first place. So we wait on the island for the spaceship to arrive and then – ka-trap! – we attack before they spot us and exploom them all over the shop.”
“Seems pretty watertight, by gosh,” said Nigel, trying to sound positive. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Frog glanced over at the unmoving Kryl. Then he buried his doubts deep in the pit of his stomach.
The journey to the Inbetween was long, even by bragon standards. Some had to rest mid-flight, landing on the roof of the Omnium Gatherum and boasting themselves back to a sufficiently swollen state. By the time the flight of bragons passed over the top of the Inbetween and caught sight of the island, none of them had the energy to brag, even if they’d wanted to.
The blue house landed on the shore and Frog, Princess Rainbow, Man-Lor and Sheriff Explosion stepped out, carrying armfuls of sunder-guns. They proceeded to distribute them among the bragons.
“How come they all get a sundy-gun and I don’t?” asked Princess Rainbow, adding, “I want a pink one with sparkles on it.”
“And that’s why you don’t get one,” tutted Frog. “Defeating is serious business, not fluffy princess—”
A shadow fell across the island. There came a rumble in the air – a deep, grating hum that made every bone in Frog’s body ache. He looked up. It was King Kroak’s Farthership. And it was huge.
Frog’s jaw fell open, and he felt his stomach turn.
