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Months have passed since Gregor first fell into the strange Underland beneath New York City, and he swears he will never go back. But he is destined to be a key player in another prophecy, this one about and ominous white rat called the Bane. The Underlanders know there is only one way to lure Gregor back to their world: by kidnapping his little sister, Boots.
Now Gregor's quest reunites him with his bondmate, Ares, and the rebellious princess, Luxa. They descend into the dangerous Waterway in search of the Bane, and Gregor knows what is at stake. If he does not fulfill the prophecy, his life, and the Underland will never be the same.

The Prophecy of Bane

If Under Fell, If Over Leaped,

If Life Was Death, If Death Life Reaped,

Something Rises From the Gloom.

To Make The Underland A Tomb.


Hear It Scratching Down Below,

Rat Of Long-Forgotten Snow,

Evil Cloaked In Coat Of White

Will The Warrior Drain Your Light?


What Could Turn The Warrior Weak?

What Do Burning Gnawer's Seek?

Just A Barely Speaking Pup

Who Holds The Land Of Under Up.


Die The Baby, Die His Heart,

Die His Most Essential Part.

Die The Peace That Rules The Hour.

Gnawer's Have Their Key To Power.

If Under Fell, If Over Leaped,: It refers to Henry who is the Underlander, and he fell to his death. Gregor is the Overlander, who leaped and lived.

If Life Was Death, If Death Life Reaped: King Gorger, who was the king of the gnawers also fell to his death. So, his death reaped or saved many lives in the Underland.

Something Rises From the Gloom/ To Make The Underland A Tomb.: Something terrible (The Bane) is coming to make the
Underland a tomb, by causing the death of many.

Hear It Scratching Down Below,/Rat Of Long Forgotten Snow, Evil Cloaked In Coat Of White/ Will The Warrior Drain Your Light?: Many mice and bats are white, but only one rat was supposed to be white. Long-Forgotten snow is the fact that there is no snow in the Underland. When Gregor went to kill the Bane, he heard scratching. It also asks if
Gregor will kill it.

What Could Turn The Warrior Weak?/ What Do Burning Gnawer's Seek?/ Just A Barely Speaking Pup/ Who Holds The Land Of Under Up.: Sandwich wrote that Gregor had a vulnerability. It was what gnawer's burning for war were seeking. The pup is the Bane. He holds the land of under up as the rats will not attack until the Bane orders.

Die The Baby, Die His Heart,/ Die His Most Essential Part./ Die The Peace That Rules The Hour,/ Gnawer's Have Their Key To Power.: If Gregor killed the Bane, his heart would be destroyed, which is his most essential part. The Bane is the peace that rules the hour as the Gnawers would not attack, and killing the Bane would wage open war. Gregor took the Bane to Ripred, and the Gnawers did not have the key to power.In the beginning they think the "baby" is Boots.

Confusion on the Baby

Much of the book and the prophecy is of the baby. This is the Bane, but was thought to be Boots. So, the Gnawers saw it as a race, either they kill Boots or Gregor kills the Bane. That was the reason Gregor went on his quest. They believed that killing Boots would destroy him somehow. When Gregor believes that Boots is dead, he decides to kill the Bane anyway.

He learns that the Bane is a baby, and refuses to kill it. This is because its mother, Goldshard (see below), had said,"Don't-" and died. Ares and Gregor realize she meant, "Don't kill my baby". Gregor then gives the rat pup to Ripred. He is held on trial, but is saved by Nerissa since she knew that the baby was the Bane and Gregor was saved.

Plot summary

Gregor and his family, though reunited, are still struggling. It is almost Christmas but food is scarce, so Gregor decides to start doing chores for Mrs. Cormaci to earn money. His dad is still sick with fevers and nightmares and the family can barely afford his medicine. Gregor also notices that many cockroaches are acting strangely around him. While sledding in the park, his 3 year old sister Boots disappears. Nearby, Gregor finds a giant cockroach leg and realizes that the Underland crawlers have taken Boots into the Underland though a secret tunnel in Central Park. Gregor has no choice but to descend into the Underland again.

In the tunnel, two rats attack him, but he is saved by Ares and is flown to Regalia. He is shown the Prophecy of Bane (see above) and decides to kill the Bane to save Boots. The next day, he is taken to training and does some basic drills. He meets Luxa's cousins from the Fount, and almost all of them are spiteful except Howard. He then does the blood balls training, in which three cannons are loaded with balls filled with red liquid that then are shot at a person who tries to break as many balls as possible in order to train agility and accuracy. Luxa's cousin Stellovet wants Gregor to try it hoping that Gregor will make a fool out of himself, but when the cannons start firing, Gregor enters a trance-like state. When he comes to his senses, Gregor can't remember what happened, but he notices that he hit all the balls that were shot at him. He is sickened by the fake blood and flies with Ares to a hideout.

Soon, a horns blows, meaning that rats are attacking, but it turns out that it is Ripred with another rat called Twitchtip who has an incredibly exaggerated sense of smell, so acute that she can smell color. Ripred tries to teach Gregor echolocation, but Gregor, traumatized by the events of the past few days, is reluctant to learn.

It turns out that Gregor, Ares, Boots, Temp, Twitchtip, Mareth and his bat Andromeda, and Howard and his bat Pandora are the only ones going on the quest to kill the Bane due to limited space. They are joined by two fireflies (Shiners), Photos Glow-Glow and Zap. While they travel along the Waterway they are attacked by a giant squid. When Gregor fights the squid he undergoes the same trance that he was under when he hit the blood balls and severs many of the squid's tentacles. However, Gregor was caught unawares by the first attack and the squid's poison knocks Gregor out for two days. When Gregor awakes, he discovers that Luxa and Aurora have followed the group against the counsel's wishes. Soon after Luxa and Aurora's arrival, the group encounter a whirlpool that destroys one of their ships and almost drowns Twitchtip. Because the other members of the group are reluctant to save Twitchtip, since she is a rat, Gregor is sickened by their actions and forces the others to save her. Later, Twitchtip tells Gregor that he is a Rager, a natural-born killer with an uncanny knack for battle- a fact that Gregor denies but realizes is true. Twitchtip then smells a newly-formed island, inhabited by mites. The bats fly in to snatch a quick meal, but a swarm of mites eat Pandora alive and almost eat Ares as well.

The shiners, who are unsatisfied by their meager amounts of food, betray the group and they meet with the rats. The group approach the Labyrinth and are attacked by dinosaur-like serpents. The group is separated and Temp, Boots, Luxa, and Aurora are presumed to have drowned, while Mareth's leg is bitten off and requires medical attention. Gregor is overcome with grief over the death of Boots and is determined to kill the Bane. Gregor forces Howard and Andromeda to fly Mareth back to Regalia, while going deeper into the maze with Ares and Twitchtip. Twitchtip, who suffered a broken nose and a severed tail in the serpent attack, eventually collapses from weakness and fatigue, but tells Gregor and Ares to continue on without her. When Gregor and Ares explore the caverns, they witness a bloody duel between two rats, Goldshard and Snare. They continue and locate the Bane, but are baffled to find out that the Bane is only baby. Gregor refuses to kill it, and they bring the Bane to Ripred, who agrees look after the Bane while it grows up.

When Gregor and Ares return to Regalia, they discover that Nerissa is being crowned queen due to Luxa's presumed death, and they are charged with treason for not killing the Bane. Gregor tells his story before the judges and exaggerates the bravery of the team. Nerissa comes into the court and when Gregor mentions the Bane is a baby, she says that the baby in the prophecy was the Bane, not Boots. Had the Bane been killed, the rats would have banded together and attacked the humans. Gregor and Ares are released and Vikus encourages Gregor to leave the Underland as soon as possible. However, the night before Gregor leaves, Boots is brought back to the palace by a group of crawlers. Gregor and Vikus gather from Boots's story that there is a chance that Luxa, Aurora, and Temp are still alive, though in great danger. Before Gregor leaves, Vikus gives Gregor some medicine for his father and an antique clock, which Gregor asked for as a gift to Mrs. Cormaci.

Gregor returns home with Boots on December 23, just in time for Christmas. When Gregor opens the package containing the antique clock, he discovers that Vikus also packed in thousands of dollars for the family. Gregor and his family spend Christmas Eve preparing for Christmas. However, before Gregor left, Nerissa had given him a scroll, which he thought was a copy of the Prophecy of Bane, but is actually the Prophecy of Blood. Gregor hides the scroll and joins his family in their celebrations.

Contribution to the Story Arc

1. The Bane is introduced and is given to Ripred.

2. Luxa and Aurora go missing.

3. Nerissa is crowned queen.

4. From this book onwards, many people still think that Gregor and Ares are guilty for not killing the Bane.

5. Mareth loses a leg.

6. Twitchtip is introduced and so is Howard, and may other of Luxa's cousins from the Fount as well. Shiners (fireflies) are also introduced.

7. It is explained that Gregor is a Rager, and that Ripred is one too.

8. Mrs. Cormaci begins being suspicious of Gregor's family and Gregor starts helping her for money.