Chapter 23

Tyrone, Garret and the giant Mothman were entering a portal. This one was located in a very carefully hidden pathway into the forest. In fact, the path led to a series of different pathways and different clearings. To Tyrone, the whole forest looked the same and it was very surprising to find the large blue portal behind a tree of all places. The portal was glowing and Garret shook his head.

"This portal should not be here. The Germ must have opened it." said Garret.
"Once we save your brother, and hopefully Natalie, we shall close it for good." said the Mothman.

The three of them entered the portal and Tyrone could not believe his eyes. Beyond the horizon was a whole new world. There were floating platforms with flowers growing at the top, and the sky was purple with glowing shooting stars.

"This place is so beautiful." exclaimed Tyrone.

"Don't get too excited. This place is actually a prison." said Garret.

"How can it be if it's so…. Otherworldly?" asked Tyrone.

"Imagine being stuck here with no Wi-Fi. No video games. No TV. Just an endless meadow of flowers, crickets, and shooting stars. All day, every day. Twenty four seven." said Garret.

Tyrone nodded. "That sounds bad."
"The only person ever banished here to this place was Viscount Brion. The one locked behind the doors." said the Mothman.

"The bad man you guys talk about? Does the Germ know he's behind the door?" asked Tyrone.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps not." said the Mothman.

"Viscount Brion has a ton of enemies. Even enemies of Rood Bridge Park detest him." said Garret.

"That's because he's the master of the Dark Impulse." said the Mothman.

"You don't think Natalie is there with that bad man?" asked Tyrone worriedly.

"Brion wouldn't care if another person was with him behind the doors. Let alone a human." said the Mothman.

"We better hurry. I'm very worried for Gannon." said Garret.

"I can sense Bubbles. He's signaling me through the impulse. He's telling us all to stop." said the Mothman.

"Stop? What for?" asked Tyrone.

"The Germ knows we are coming." said the Mothman.

"Great." said Garret, rolling his eyes.

"How did he figure it out?" asked Tyrone.

"The Dark Impulse allowed him to know we were coming." said the Mothman.

"That's not fair." said Tyrone, folding his arms.

Just then, the ground everywhere began to move. Everyone, even the Mothman, were surprised. The flowers on the ground then began to lose their petals and they flew all around them. Everyone stood in silence as the petals formed some sort of barrier. And then, a small orb of light appeared in the large circle and it formed into a beautiful young woman. She was wearing a very long white dress, and she wore a crown decorated with flowers.

"Natalie? Is that you milady?" asked the Mothman.

The young woman smiled, yet very weakly. "Yes. I am." said the young woman.

"You all have come to break the curse I'm in." she said with a hint of hope in her voice.

"Curse? What curse?" asked Garret.

"The moment the Germ brought me here, I vanished. You see, the ruler of this dimension, the Goddess of Spring, hated my presence. She then locked me here and commanded that I use the flowers to block anyone who arrives here while she's away." said Natalie.

"Lady Primavera did this? I'm very sorry." said the Mothman.

"Natalie, consider yourself free. We've come to rescue you!" said Tyrone.

"Sam is waiting for you back home." said Garret.

"Sam? My Sammy? Is he alright? What happened to him?!" cried Natalie.

"The Germ is responsible. He's the one who hurt your Sam. But we must stop him! He's taken one of our own and he's about to open the door to the Treasures of Oregon, where Brion is." said the Mothman.

"You mean the Dark Master?" asked Natalie.

"What?" asked the Mothman in surprise.

"That is what Lady Primavera called him." said Natalie.

"He is no master. He is a demon." said the Mothman.

"My powers will guard you from the Dark Impulse that senses you. I can lead you to the Germ." said Natalie.

She turned around and led the others quickly into the dimension.

As they walked, Tyrone couldn't help but ask. "Natalie, the portal to the outside world was open. If the owner of this garden could go through, why didn't you escape the moment you had the chance?" asked Tyrone.

"I've tried to leave many times, but the flowers here keep me from leaving. They pull out these vines and they bind me here." said Natalie sadly.

"You said it was a curse. Anyway we can break it?" asked Garret.

"There is. Someone with a pure heart can unbind the chains keeping me here." said Natalie.

"And that is an impossible task. No heart in this world is pure." said The Mothman.

"That's surprising coming from you." said Tyrone.

"I try to see the bright side of certain things, yet it is very difficult." replied the Mothman.

"Sam was good. But when he became the BogeyMan, he was a different person altogether." said Garret.

Natalie turned to Garret. "What did you say?" she asked.

"You don't know what happened to Sam?" asked Garret, surprised.

"I was locked up in this place for a long time! I know nothing of what is going on out there! What happened to my Sam?" cried Natalie.

Just then, a dark aura hit the force that was protecting everyone, sending the petals flying all over the place.

Natalie fell to the ground, as if she was hurt by it. The Mothman helped her up and Tyrone pointed his rifle at the silhouette of the Germ, arriving to greet them.

"Good! Company! Welcome to the Treasures of Oregon!" declared the Germ. Next to him, on the ground and in chains was Gannon. He looked really pale and on top of him was Bubbles the Hermit Crab, frozen in place.

"This was a trap. You sent the impulse to guide us here." said the Mothman.

"Don't act too surprised bug. You should have had a vision of this first. Surprising you didn't see this coming." said the Germ.

"Let my brother go!" cried Garret.

"Or what? Do you wish to get sick as well?" asked the Germ.

Natalie stood up and shot a force of flowers against the Germ, binding him with vines.

"The flowers may keep me here as a prisoner, but I can still command them to do my bidding! You get the boy and run!" cried Natalie.

"And leave you here and face the wrath of Sam? No thank you. Your husband was bothering me and my friends for too long. I won't have him in my case again!" cried Tyrone.

He ran up to the Germ and shot his rifle at him multiple times.

"You should have stayed home human!" cried the Germ. He then put his hands on the ground and a green and ugly looking moss appeared.

"Don't touch that! That's poison!" cried Natalie.

Tyrone ran back and the Mothman flew into the air to strike the Germ.

"You will pay for this foolishness!" cried the Mothman.

"Stay out of this you self righteous animal!" cried the Germ. He put his hand and and expected to place a sickness on the Mothman, until Natalie pushed him away with her floral force.

The Germ found his back against the doors. He tried to stay out of the way, until the Mothman slashed at his body.

The Germ's eyes went wild with hatred and anger, yet there was nothing he could do. He was frozen by the Mothman's strong attack. "You can't do anything now! The doors will never open!" declared the Mothman.

"True. The doors will stay closed for now, but there is something you probably forgot. Germs can multiply whenever they wish." said the Germ. The blue drops of what appeared to be blood that was dripping on the ground, rose up. And they formed into the Germ! Copies of the maniac were now standing around and the Mothman was taken aback by surprise.

"You didn't see that coming? What kind of Mothman are you?" asked the Germs in unison.

Gannon stood up and shook his head. "You have got to be "kidding" me." Only he didn't say kidding.

"What have I done?" cried the Mothman. The germs then held him down with their long newly formed tentacles and they all pinned him to the ground. It was a terrifying sight! All of those Germs were now becoming like octopuses, all except the main Germ himself, who was clearly dying.

"My copies will finish what I started. You have all lost since the beginning. Vive la princepai!" declared the wicked Germ with his last breath. He then fell to the ground and died.

The copies on the other hand were now trapping everyone with their tentacles and Gannon and Garret were both placed on two pedestals by the Germs.

The doors themselves had two altar- like places on both sides, and it was intended for two purehearted people to open it. And of course, Gannon and Garret could not open the doors. Nothing was happening.

"Now what?" asked Tyrone, who was tied up by the horrible blue and slimy tentacles.

"We will fight our way out. At least the doors will remain closed." said the Mothman.

"You're more worried about the doors than us, your grace!" cried Garret.

"It's okay. I'm sure we can think of something." said Gannon.

Just then, the Mothman's eyes began to glow red. After a few minutes, he chuckled.

"What is up with you?" asked Tyrone.

"We will be saved in about seven, six, five, four…." the Mothman was saying as he began to make a countdown.

In a matter of minutes, the tentacles went loose on everyone. A red liquid was sprayed on the tentacles and they all began to lose their grip. Then there was screaming.

Tyrone turned to see Matt spraying with a Nerf water gun, shooting red water to the Germ's copies. They all screamed in pain and behind Matt was Sam, using orbs of the same red liquid at the Germs.

Natalie gasped as Sam came rushing in, throwing the red orbs. He turned to see her and he stopped in his tracks. Both Sam and Natalie stood there, staring at each other in disbelief.

"Na-Natalie?" Sam said slowly.

"Sammy." Natalie said, with her eyes swelling with tears. They both then ran towards each other and they embraced.

"I thought I lost you forever." said Sam, crying. Natalie then kissed Sam on the lips and they both stood there in their embrace.

The Mothman then threw slashes at the Germ's remaining copies and Matt kept on firing with his Nerf gun.

Gannon was held up by Garret and Bubbles the hermit crab jumped out of Gannon's hair.

"Oh boy, here we go." said Gannon.

Bubbles then turned large in a puff of red smoke. Yes literally. In that moment, he became a giant hermit crab and he was NOT happy. He charged against the Germ's copies, sending them flying all over the place.

Garret smiled. "Thanks Bubbles. It's been a while since we get to ride on your back." said Garret.

"You two should go ahead. Give Gannon some medicine." said the Mothman.

"Affirmative!" cried Garret. He then called for Tyrone. "You coming?" he asked.

Tyrone shook his head. "I'm staying here. I can't leave Matt here." said Tyrone.

"Suit yourself. We're going to your house, if that's okay." said Garret.

"Help yourself to some Nyquil or something,'' said Tyrone with a nod of approval.

"Take this." said Matt, walking up to Garret. He handed him a vial of Nyquil.

"Sam used his power to make copies of this. We used it on the Germs." said Matt.

"No wonder they melted. Good job." saluted Gannon slowly with a smile. He looked seriously tired and Garret signaled Bubbles to keep going.

The Hermit Crab then made a clicking sound and he ran across the flower fields and back to the portal.

Matt looked up at Tyrone with a smile afterwards. "I'm sorry we got here too late."

"You came just in time to save my butt. Thanks." said Tyrone as he patted Matt's head.

Sam and Natalie were still in their embrace and soon they let go. "We need to get you out of here." he said.

"I can't. I'm under some curse. If I try to leave, the vines and the flowers will just keep me here." said Natalie.

"How can we break it?" asked Sam.

"I'm not sure." replied Natalie.

"I know a way. I can slash at the vines to let you escape." said the Mothman.

"Do you think medicine in a Nerf Gun would work?" asked Matt.

"It might. The plants here are alive." said Natalie.

"Then we don't have time to lose. Let's see what we can do." said Tyrone.

The five of them quickly departed, leaving the door to the Treasures of Oregon behind, along with the corpse of the Germ.

However once everyone was gone, the corpse began to rise. The Germ never really died at all! He was still alive. He looked at everyone from where he stood and smiled. He turned to face the door to the Treasures of Oregon.

"My lord Brion, the fools are going to do it. Everything is going according to your plan." said the Germ.

From beyond the power of the Dark Impulse, Viscount Brion's voice came to the Germ's ear holes.

"Follow them, and make sure they do precisely what I'm hoping for."