Chapter 8

Chapter 8 "Take that!" Princess Pulverizer shouted as she lunged at the Cheese Monster. But before the tip of her sword could puncture even an inch of the monster's cheesy body, he swung his massive arm into a thick-trunked pine tree. Thwack. Uh-oh. The monster had cut the trunk clear through. Crack. The giant tree began to teeter toward the ground. Princess Pulverizer leaped backward and out of the way to keep from getting smooshed. Clunk. The tree slammed to the ground, separating the princess from her pals.

AAARRGGG! The monster let out a bloodcurdling cry. "I wish he'd stop doing that," the princess heard Lucas whimper nervously. Princess Pulverizer wasn't frightened by the monster's shout. (Okay, maybe she was. But there was no way she was letting her fear keep her from fighting!) Immediately, she tried climbing over the tree trunk. It wasn't easy, seeing as the thick trunk was as high as her shoulders. No matter how she tried, the princess just couldn't pull herself up.

Well, if I can't go over it, I'll just go around it, Princess Pulverizer thought. Quickly she darted over to the tip of the fallen tree. "Ow!" Princess Pulverizer exclaimed as she ran right into a thick bush full of thorns. The fallen tree was surrounded on either end by the prickly bushes. There was no getting through them. She would come out the other side looking like grated cheese. Just then Princess Pulverizer heard Dribble cry out, "I've had enough!" AAAARRRG! the monster growled. He sounded furious. "WHOA!" Dribble yelped. This time his voice was coming from high in the sky. Princess Pulverizer looked up to see the monster's huge havarti hand holding Dribble by the tail. He started spinning Dribble around and around in midair. "I'm getting dizzy!" Dribble shouted.

The Cheese Monster whirled Dribble harder and harder. And then... THUD! Princess Pulverizer stood on her tiptoes and peered over the fallen tree trunk just in time to see the monster drop Dribble right on his bright green dragon bottom.

"Everything's spinning." Dribble groaned, gripping his stomach. "I don't feel so good... blech." Well, that was a surprise! Who knew dragon puke was purple? "Nobody makes my friend throw up!" Princess Pulverizer heard Lucas shout. "Not even a big, scary, smelly cheese monster." Princess Pulverizer craned her neck to see what was happening. She watched in amazement as Lucas leaped out from his hiding place, grabbed his sword from Dribble, and charged at the monster. Princess Pulverizer stared at Lucas. All of a sudden, the timid guy looked like a knight. A real live, very brave knight. But only for a moment. CLANK. Lucas's visor slammed shut. "Hey!" he shouted. "Who turned out the lights?" Aarrghhh hee hee. The monster roared again. Only this time, it sounded like he was laughing. He scooped Lucas up in his giant hand and held him high in the air.

Aarrghhh hee hee. "Stop laughing at me," Lucas grumbled. His feelings were hurt. But the monster didn't care about Lucas's feelings. Aarrghhh hee hee. He laughed again. Then he yanked a few long, thick strands of string- cheese hair from his head and used them to tie Lucas to a tree. Lucas twisted right. He twisted left. But he could not break free. "That's some strong string cheese," Dribble said with surprise. "Must be made with heavy cream!" Princess Pulverizer frowned. It was clear Dribble and Lucas weren't going to be any help at this point. It would be up to her to defeat the giant monster. And there was no way she was letting a little thing like a huge fallen tree trunk get in her way.