Inside both gardens, Lord Redbrick and Lady Bluebury heard a terrible sound.

“What was that?” Lord Redbrick asked.

“What’s happened?” asked Lady Bluebury.

They rushed through their back gates. A crowd of Reds and Blues poured into the alley to see what the commotion was about.

Fawn and the goons had circled Gnomeo. Gnomeo had destroyed their leader, and now they were going to crush him. “Smash him back!” one of the goons yelled.

Juliet ran in front of Gnomeo, protecting him. “No!” she cried.

Lord Redbrick held up his arms to quiet the crowd. “What is the meaning of all this constipation?” he asked.

“Gnomeo smashed Tybalt—” the goons began.

“No! He didn’t do it!” Juliet interrupted. She wasn’t going to let Gnomeo take the blame for something he hadn’t done.

Lord Redbrick looked confused. Why was Juliet protecting a Blue? He turned to his daughter. “Juliet?” he asked.

Lady Bluebury cocked her head. “Gnomeo?” she questioned.

But the goons didn’t care about explanations. They were hungry for revenge. “A gnome for a gnome!” they shouted, pelting Gnomeo with pebbles and rubble.

“Run, Gnomeo, run!” Juliet called.

Gnomeo took off down the alley, toward the street. A gang of angry Reds followed him.

Lady Bluebury ran after the mob. “Stop! Stop that!” she shouted.

A crowd of Blues burst into the alleyway and chased after the Reds. This was all-out war!

Gnomeo reached the end of the alley. The street beyond only led to the dangerous outside world. He was trapped. The angry mob closed in on him. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited.

Then someone came jogging down the street. The gnomes were forced to freeze. The human jogger turned down the alley, but when she saw all the gnomes, she slowed down. “Creepy,” she muttered as she took a different route—but not before she had accidentally knocked Gnomeo into the road.

A speeding car raced down the street. Its tire clipped Gnomeo, sending him flying into the intersection.

Juliet ran toward him, but Lord Redbrick grabbed her. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

“I love him!” cried Juliet.

The crowd gasped.

Lord Redbrick looked stunned. “What?” he asked in disbelief.

Suddenly, a delivery truck appeared. It was headed straight for Gnomeo. After it had passed by, Gnomeo was gone! And in his place was nothing but a blue pile of crushed ceramic.

“No!” Juliet screamed, tying to rush out into the street.

“There has been enough smashing for one day. Get back on your pedestal!” Lord Redbrick shouted.

Juliet struggled to break free, but the Reds dragged her away.

“My poor boy,” Lady Bluebury sobbed as the Blues led her back into their garden.

Only Shroom remained in the alley. He hopped into the middle of the street. The little mushroom nudged the pile of ceramic pieces and discovered that they were only the remains of a blue teapot. Shroom looked down the street and saw that Gnomeo was alive and hanging on to the grille of the truck. When it came to a stop, Gnomeo hopped off—only to be swept up in the slobbering jaws of a bulldog!

Shroom watched as the bulldog disappeared around the corner with Gnomeo.