"Yes, yes!" the queen cried as she struggled to free herself. "He's the one you want! Not me! There's no need to kill me!"
The Jabberwocky gnashed its fangs and dropped the Queen of Hearts. It stomped across the room toward the Grimms, tossing tables and chairs out of its way
"Uncle Jake? It's coming," Sabrina cried impatiently.
"Working on it, kid," Uncle Jake said. He searched his many pockets for something that he could use against the monster. Pennies, buttons, half a candy bar, and dozens of trinkets and necklaces were tossed aside. "I have just the thing in here. Where on earth did I put it?" But whatever he was searching for he didn't find. The monster backhanded him so hard he crashed through the men's room door.
The Jabberwocky beat on its chest and flapped its leathery wings. It shrieked and spit and then chaos ensued. The monster stomped its colossal foot down on the floor, causing a shock-wave that rolled through the diner. Chairs flew through the ceiling and walls, and exploded into the dessert case right above the still-unconscious Nottingham. Several cups of butterscotch pudding tipped over and dribbled down onto his head.
Sabrina scrambled across the room toward her wand. Just as she snatched it, the Jabberwocky leaped forward and set a heavy paw on Sabrina's chest, pinning her arms at her side. She couldn't move an inch. The monster craned its neck so that its nose was touching Sabrina's and it sprayed its hot, pungent breath into her face.
"I want my grandmother and my doggy," Red Riding Hood said as she crossed the room and stood over Sabrina. "And I want them right now."
"You're crazy!" Sabrina cried. "Your family is dead!"
"You're making me mad and you're making kitty mad, too!"
The Jabberwocky growled and gnashed its teeth.
"Fine! I give up," a voice said. Sabrina recognized the voice as Puck's but couldn't see its owner. She heard a whizzing sound above her. It infuriated the Jabberwocky, which turned to face the boy, freeing Sabrina. She crawled back to her hiding sister and together they got to their feet. There was Puck, hovering in the hole in the diner, with his beautiful pink-streaked wings flapping in the sun. He held a slingshot that was loaded with a broken brick from the diner's crumbling wall. He loaded the slingshot, pulled the brick back, and let it fly. It smacked into one of the Jabberwocky's eyes and the beast shrieked. "You've beaten me, Grimms. Are you happy? You dragged me into this hero business against my will and now every time I turn around, I'm saving the day. Well, I hope you're happy. I'm a hero now."
Red Riding Hood screamed. "I don't want to play this game!"
"Hey, let's play the quiet game," Puck shouted at the little girl. "Your crazy talk is distracting from my heroics. If I'm going to be a good guy, then people are going to notice."
Instantly, the Jabberwocky lunged at Puck, using its long claws to knock the boy out of the sky. Puck fell hard to the ground, unable to defend himself as the monster reached down and grabbed hold of him with one hand. It lifted Puck up to its face and examined him closely.
"Don't worry, girls," Puck shouted, almost laughing. "I've got all this under control!"
With one lightning-fast motion, the Jabberwocky reached over, grabbed hold of Puck's magical pink fairy wings, and ripped them off his back. The sound was excruciating.
"Puck!" the girls shouted.
The fairy boy cried out in agony and the Jabberwocky tossed him hard against a wall. He didn't get up again.
Sabrina gazed around the room, feeling as if the world were in slow motion. She had a terrifying sense of helplessness, the way she felt in so many of her recent nightmares, and she was tired of it. She squeezed the wand in her hand, and aimed it at the monster. Storm clouds suddenly filled the air. Lightning crackled and a bolt shot out of the sky and hit the Jabberwocky in the chest. There was an enormous explosion and the monster fell onto its back. A smoldering black burn remained where the lightning had struck the beast.
An electrifying sensation raced through Sabrina. She felt like she had plugged into a light socket and replaced her blood with its current. She could have sworn at that moment that her eyes were on fire and she was a hundred feet tall. The amount of raw energy she had at her disposal was incredible. She was shocked when the Jabberwocky stirred and crawled to its feet.
"You want some more? Fine!" she shouted. Another lightning blast caught the monster on the top of its head. It fell to the ground again. This time Sabrina took a step closer, only to have the beast's head curl toward her. She was nearly bitten. Now, she was shaking, not from fear, but anger at the monster's defiance of her power.
How dare this thing continue to live!