Billy wants to figure out a way to defeat the Gruncher, but Don Mini explains that the only way to kill the Gruncher is to submerge him in water to extinguish the fire in his belly. The fire, which causes the Gruncher to belch and produce the red smoke, is his life force. There is a lake on the edge of the forest, but Don Mini does not believe that Billy or the Minpins can lure the Gruncher there without getting killed themselves. Billy remembers that the Gruncher uses his sense of smell to chase his prey, but Don Mini doesn’t think that the monster would accidentally fall into the lake because he never ventures out of the forest.

Billy devises a plan and resolves to ride on the back of a swan and fly just in front of the Gruncher so that the monster will chase Billy but won’t be able to see anything. They will lure the Gruncher to the lake, but the swan will fly over it while the Gruncher falls in. Don Mini asks a robin to summon the swan and explains the plan to the swan in a twittering birdlike language.