One thing Eugene learned after he tackled Rapunzel to the ground: she had very sharp elbows. And knees. And...wrists. (How could a human being have wrists that pointy? How?) Her struggle to extricate herself was far, far more painful than the gashes on his calf. He would have bruises to show for it in the morning.

Thankfully, the bird did not contribute to his hurts. As soon as his body was covering Rapunzel's, it almost seemed to lose interest. It changed course abruptly, talons tearing a little at his puffy vest but otherwise missing him entirely.

It only wants Rapunzel.

Which couldn't be right. It must have been something else.

Once again, Eugene had great cause to be grateful for Rapunzel's magic hair. Even while he was still kind of on top of her--ow very very pointy elbow to the solar plexus--she managed to lasso the bird-thing and get it on the ground. Kratos had already taken the initiative and was doing his best to make sure that it would never bother any really long-haired girls again. Eugene finally let Rapunzel up the rest of the way and went to join him.

There was no shortage of good-sized rocks around with which he could bash Birdie's brains in. Scrambling around in the dark, Eugene found one that seemed heavy enough and then started pounding. And pounding. And pounding. The blood covering his hand was foul and black, but he didn't care.

Because soon the bird wouldn't be moving very much anymore.