About Time

Time, as we mentioned earlier, is circular in design, and thus good at rolling.
It is so good at rolling, in fact, that generally we think of time rolling by.
Of course, it can also fly, as in the the phrase "Time flies", and often it tries to travel with its companion "On" who, being rather obese, can neither fly nor roll, which accounts for the phrase "Time drags on".
"Time's up" simply means that time has woken from its nap, while "a stitch in time" is when time has become winded from dragging on too much.
However, the phrase we are most interested in presently is "the nick of time", which is, of course, what help for Krulnor was going to arrive just in.
"Nick" in this instance does not refer to the name of an individual, nor a theft, but rather, a small indentation, cut or groove in an object, in this case, time.
To "time travel" is simply to climb into the "nick of time" and travel with it as it either rolls or flies to its next destination.

And thus it was, as the battle between Hugh and Krulnor continued, that time passed by.
And as it did, it became apparent that someone or someones were arriving in the nick of time. And Krulnor, behold, was out of time, but the help, behold, was arriving in time.

And, as the time travellers stepped out of time, behold, it was Leonard and the Sweet Cuddly Baby Guinea Pigs (who had been rescued from the sinking of the Kittens ship in time, who, although rolling by the scene slightly earlier, had been near enough to hear Leonard's cries for help). And, behold, Leonard and the Sweet Cuddly Baby Guinea Pigs were slightly dizzy, as time had been rolling by rather than flying, and therefore they needed a sit-down and a slight breather.

But then they leapt to their feet, and approached the battlefield with weapons ready.

And Krulnor didn't know whether to be happy to see them (as Leonard was an old family friend, who used to come around for dinner and to watch the mammoth races), or horrified (as the last time he had seen them, Leonard had tried to sell him into slavery). The conflicting emotions led him to have a bizzare half-smiling half-alarmed expression on his face, and this made Hugh quite uneasy.

"Hey, quit staring at me like that. You are a inferior parody of Conan the barbarian!
"Like what? You look like something the cat dragged in."
"Like that! Uh... you... smell like a.. um.. smelly sock!"
This was Hugh's first uneffective insult, as Krulnor knew he smelled like old socks, and in fact, barbarians everywhere were envious of his potency. Hugh was struggling, and Krulnor knew it.
"Haha! You're not significant enough to be the final boss hedgehog, and you know it."
Hugh winced as the verbal cut sliced through him like a literal cut.
"Oh yeah? Well, you... don't... uh... you can't read! Uh... unless the plot... um.. requires it, like when you read that armour fine-print, and.. uh... "
But Krulnor didn't care. He had just thought of the best insult yet, and he knew it would be effective.

Krulnor used Super Insult.
It was super effective.
Hugh Mungus fainted.
Krulnor gained 251 XP and reached level 42.

Krulnor 11 - Hedgehogs 0.

But this was no time to celebrate, for time had in fact run out (to the dairy, for some milk). Krulnor quickly retrieved the shield of Georgina the defensive from Hugh's inert body, and turned to face the hedgehogs.
And then turned to face Leonard and the the Sweet Cuddly Baby Guinea Pigs.
And then turned to face the hedgehogs again.
And so on.

Previous Chapter **** Next Chapter