Chapter 22

Our heroes finally reached Mt. Hood! Well almost. About a few hours before they even arrived at the Snow Bunny, everyone left the McDonalds and Bubbles took them straight to Mt. Hood, avoiding traffic and passing Portland and all that nitty gritty. The ride there took about an hour from where they were. When they arrived, the mountain was covered in snow all over. It was like entering a majestic and beautiful new land. The trees were covered in snow, the road was covered in snow, everything was snow! Everything! Everything!

But despite the long journey there, no one said a word. Matt and Destiny were still feeling nauseous and very down. Hillsboro left them nothing but pain in their hearts and Tyrone knew it. He didn't bother them with conversations or anything else. Not even Morso, who was also quiet. When they arrived at the Snow Bunny, Destiny got off first and pulled out her phone.

"Let's take a picture everyone." she said aloud. Tyrone was surprised to hear her say that, especially since she was very quiet throughout the journey.

"Y-yeah! Good idea!" said Tyrone, pulling Matt to his side. Destiny pulled the boys close and Morso and Bubbles joined in. Destiny took about three photos on her phone.

"We look good!" said Destiny, smiling. Or at least trying to. Matt did the effort as well, but he was also kinda a downer. Tyrone patted his head and looked up at the hill in front of them.

"People would use tires to slide down this slope for fun. You guys want to do it?" asked Tyrone.

"After we find the Groke and fix this curse." said Morso, waving a finger up in the air.

"Right, so where is she?" asked Tyrone.

"She? Oh right! You told us she was a lady." said Matt.

"Not a lady. Well, she is, but is so not human!" said Morso, sounding a little defensive.

Destiny observed Morso closely as he walked around the snow nervously. She then picked him up, almost like holding up a stuffed toy, and looked at him face to face.

"You're hiding something. What is it? And why are you so nervous?" she asked frankly.

"Put me down! I've got nothing to hide!" he cried.

Tyrone ran up to them. "Woah, woah! Chill guys." said Tyrone.

"Morso, come clean." said Destiny, almost squeezing Morso's ribs.

"Fine! You want the truth! I used to date the wench okay!" he cried out.

"Used to date? Oh boy." said Matt.

"Yeah. We were both kinda tight, until she gave me the cold shoulder." said Morso.

"I see. That's good. Because if you used to date her, then you know where she lives." said Destiny, as she put Morso on the ground gently.

"Like she wants to see me after what had happened between us." said Morso.

"What happened?" asked Tyrone.

"I don't want to talk about it." said Morso in a humph.

Matt walked about the area and felt something cold on his neck. He looked up and saw snow coming down.

"We'd better hurry. Time is running out." said Matt.

"Well said little man. Morso, lead us to her. Please. The fate of Rood Bridge Park and perhaps all of Oregon rests in your paws." said Tyrone.

Just then, everyone heard noises. Noises as if people were whispering.

"Fluffies?" asked Matt hopefully.

"Oh no." said Morso, sniffing the air.

"What do you mean "oh no"." said Destiny.

"I forgot to mention this to you guys. I'm kinda a wanted man here in Mt. Hood. Long story. I forgot I still have a warrant for my arrest and such." said Morso.

"Arrest? For what?" cried Matt.

"You see, the Groke is like a princess in these parts. And she has an army. An army of snow bunnies. Literal snow bunnies." said Morso.

"And why did you forgot to tell us back in Tillamook, before we left?" asked Destiny.

"I forgot! That, or perhaps this is a last minute plot line." said Morso.

SQUEAK!

Everyone turned around to see small white bunnies appear from the snow and march towards them. They were bunnies alright. Small white bunnies wearing small British soldier uniforms and carrying small slingshots with rocks in their pockets. The captain of this funny little brigade, a bunny with a scar on his face made squeaky noises and everyone repeated what he said.

Morso quickly spoke. "Please Captain Fuzzylumpkins. This is all a huge misunderstanding. My breaking up of the Groke was a private thing. I don't know what she said to make you all wanting to kill me, but I assure you….

The captain interrupted him with more squeaks and Morso was taken aback.

"That is not true! I didn't do that! Lies! All lies! I would never….

The rabbit interrupted him again and kept on saying more things. Morso spoke again. "She and I agreed… No. That's a lie. She said yes! Please! No, we did not do the… Matt cover your ears for this!" said Morso.

They kept on exchanging words and Morso finally lost it. "You little piece of unicorn crap! How DARE you say those things to me! I trained your skinny ass!" cried Morso.

The bunny captain gasped and squeaked a loud squeak and the bunnies began their assault to attack Morso and only Morso.

"What the hell did you DO?!" cried Tyrone.

"Grown up stuff! You wouldn't understand!" cried Morso.

The bunnies chased Morso across the snow and the fuzzy creature ran up the mountain. Tyrone, Matt and Destiny had no choice but to follow. They got on Bubbles who had to grow back in size and he took them all the way up to where Morso was running to.

"What did that idiot do?" asked Tyrone.

"I don't know. We hardly know the guy." said Matt.

"I'm starting to get the feeling he was in Tillamook because someone back home kicked him there." said Destiny.

"Conspiracy!" said Matt, slowly coming back to himself.

"Yeah little man. Conspiracy." said Tyrone.

As they chased the bunnies, the captain finally got Morso in chains. He squeaked a loud victory cheer and the bunnies applauded.

"What are they saying?" asked Destiny.

"They want to take me to her." said Morso.

"The Groke? Good. Can we come?" asked Matt.

"Yes. Save my fuzzy butt." said Morso.

"We'll save you, after we meet the Groke." said Tyrone.

Everyone followed the bunnies while they held Morso on a flat wooden platform and they tied him up with chains. He looked comical on that thing as the bunnies were holding him.

Tyrone, Matt and Destiny exchanged looks. They were not sure if they were to take this comical scene seriously or be worried for their unfortunate friend. Indeed, were these bunnies living in the same universe as the dreaded Grim Reapers? It was hard to imagine such fuzzy things came from a world hidden with so much secrecy and wickedness.

The bunnies put Morso in front of a statue, made of stone. A statue of a boy. The boy was shirtless, but he wore pants that looked like jeans. The most impressive feature of this statue were the wings. Wings that looked like those of a bat. His face was warm and very kind. Tyrone, Matt and Destiny were taken aback by the beauty of this statue.

The bunnies made squeaky noises and they bowed their heads down in respect. Morso rolled his eyes. "Please…" he whispered.

"Morso, who is that?" asked Matt.

The bunnies squeaked and they continued onward, taking Morso. "You guys are hypocrites! You pay respect to the most peaceful creature in all of Rood Bridge Park and you dare take me like a slave!?" cried Morso.

The bunny captain then whacked Morso with his cane and Morso was knocked out cold.

"Brilliant." said Destiny, folding her arms.

"I wonder what the Groke is like?" said Matt.

"Someone friendly I hope." said Tyrone.

Just then, the ground they stood on froze. It was cold, yes, but the ground literally became frozen as stone! Tyrone and Matt held on tight to each other while Destiny stood her ground. The three of them then heard a rumbling noise and then a large dark figure emerged from the trees. They were all surrounded by a deep forest in the mountain, and it was difficult to tell what was coming up to them.

The large dark figure walked closer to them, and that was when the friends were able to see a face. The creature had two beady eyes that didn't look menacing at all. There was a sudden warmth to them. It was also holding a little rock shaped like a heart on her small hands that looked like bear claws. In fact, the whole creature was furry, from head to toe and it looked like a large black fuzzy blanket.

"Morso?"

Everyone stood there in shock, while Morso opened both his eyes and smiled. "Hey. What's up?"

The creature stiffened and placed her heart rock on the ground. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't tell the bunnies not to throw you over the top of the mountain." she said.

"Grokey, please. Listen to reason. I was kidnapped by your lackeys. They were making those terrible assumptions of me. You know, the usual crap about me being a loser, a gambler, a cheat, a sneak…." Morso was saying.

"Why are you here? And with humans!" cried the Groke, finally looking up at Tyrone, Matt and Destiny.

Tyrone was about to speak, but Destiny spoke first.

"Please. No need for alarm. We come to ask for your help! We are in the middle of a curse!" she cried.

"Yeah! The Eternal Winter curse!" cried Matt.

"Our parents, they are from Rood Bridge Park. Because of this snow, they are unable to leave and come back home to us. On top of all that, this curse was cast by that bad man you're all so afraid of." said Tyrone.

The Groke looked up at the sky and then at Morso. "The Eternal Winter curse? You mean it's out there?!" she cried.

"You can't tell because you live up in the mountains. Yes, we are in the middle of a curse." said Morso.

"Oh my gosh! This is terrible! Okay, then there isn't a moment to lose." cried the Groke. She walked really fast towards a tree and cut off it's bark. She then whispered a few words to the bark and then leaves started to grow.

"Thy power of spring, thy beauty. Please destroy the evil of our realm and save Rood Bridge!" cried the Groke. She then stabbed the ground with the twig and walked around it.

"By the songs and ballad of her royal majesty, Imani, by the gentle heart of the good Gargola, and by the Earth's songs of Earthio the good, destroy the Eternal Winter curse!" cried the Groke.

The twig then started to glow and leaves sprouted from the ground. The rabbits began to cheer while Morso was still tied up. Matt ran up to help him while Tyrone and Destiny stood by each other's side.

"I can't believe it was that easy." said Destiny.

"It was. But still… this was way too easy." said Tyrone.

"Yes. Where is she? No doubt she's watching our every move." said Destiny.

The Groke moved her hands theatrically while a green aura appeared and spread all over the mountain.

"We may lose snow in the mountains, but I can make it snow again here, and only here. Your family will return safe and sound." said Groke.

"VIVA LA PRINCEPAI!" cried out a horrific shriek, stopping everyone where they were.

Everyone looked up at the sky to see Violet herself, floating and stark naked.

"Cover your eyes Matt! Don't look at this!" cried Morso.

"Oh dude. I think I already did." said Matt, looking the other way, feeling corrupted.

"Mateo!" cried Tyrone. He ran up to him and covered his eyes. Destiny stood her ground.

"Matt, what did she scream out?" asked Destiny.

"That was not Spanish." said Matt.

"It was latin. It means long live the prince." said Morso.

"Prince being Viscount Brion." said the Groke.

"Your power to destroy curses won't work. You see, I created yet another curse, under your nose Groke. Up here, I created the Refletaga curse. Meaning that all your curse breaking powers will only affect this land." said Violet. She then clapped her hands together and soon, large black objects began to float up in the air. Black boxes that looked a lot like coffins.

"No!" cried Destiny.

"You didn't." said Tyrone.

"What? What did she do?" asked Matt, with his eyes still covered.

"The missing kids?!" cried Morso.

"You didn't!" cried the Groke in shock.

"Heavens. I did not kill any children here. No. I only put these little humans to sleep. Their youths will give me battery power and I will be unstoppable. Once I become a Goddess, then Viscount Brion will fall and kiss my feet, for he will be my slave." said Violet.

"Blizzaga!" cried the Groke, unleashing a powerful snow spell from her hands. The spell struck Violet and froze her naked body.

"Please tell me you are Sword Warriors." begged the Groke to the kids.

"We are not," said Destiny sadly.

"If you untie me, I can train them in a matter of seconds then they will smash the bitch to bits!" cried Morso.

Violet then released her self from the spell and shot particles of ice towards the party.

"Blizzaga shield!" cried the Groke, summoning a large shield of ice, blocking the dark particles.

"Get behind me!" she cried. Destiny, Matt, Tyrone, and even the bunnies went, taking Morso with them.

"We're dead! We're so dead!" cried Matt.

"No we're not! Untie me!" cried Morso.

The Groke then shouted. "Blizzaga Stream!"

In a matter of seconds, a stream of water appeared and so did large chunks of ice. The Groke then commanded everyone to get on one and so they did.

Tyrone, Destiny and Matt got to one while the Groke, Morso and the bunnies got on another. As they were floating away, the Groke shot more particles of Ice against Violet.

Suddenly, Matt realized the stream was actually going to take them down to the mountain and there was also a fork up ahead.

"We've got trouble!" cried Matt.

"Great! A fork on the road and who knows if we'll be in a waterfall up ahead." said Tyrone.

"You know, the big mistake here was getting on one of these without the others." said Destiny, pointing to the Groke, Morso and the bunnies, who were going to the other side.

"We'll catch up to you guys!" cried Morso.

Just then, a large explosion occurred and Morso screamed like a little girl. Tyrone, Destiny and Matt screamed in terror as Morso, the Groke and the bunnies vanished!

"What happened?" cried Matt.

"S-she couldn't have." said Tyrone.

"She did." cried Destiny. Just then, Violet appeared from the sky slowly floated towards them.

"You people are very insignificant. I don't know why you bother to meddle into such cosmic affairs." said Violet.

"Shut up! What are you going to do with those children!?" cried Destiny.

"I told you. I'm taking away their youth. They will give me power and I will be reborn as an entity. Rood Bridge Park won't stand a chance." said Violet.

"Is this something Brion told you?! Did he tell you about this?" asked Matt.

Violet stood silent for a moment and everyone realized that was the case.

"Brion told you about how to get young. And you did what HE suggested." said Destiny.

"And if you do that…. He will kill you!" said Tyrone.

"Nonsense!" cried Violet.

"It's true! He killed the germ that worked for him! When he was released from his prison way back when! He'll do the same to you too! It's all a trap! He plans to get rid of you!" cried Tyrone.

"This means that the children are nothing more but sacrificial lambs at Brion's expense." said Destiny.

"They already were, even before we found out." said Matt.

Violet then began to pant. "No! I refuse to be screwed over! I will be a Goddess and you will all bow before me! Even if Brion betrays me, that bastard will face my wrath either way!" cried Violet. She then lifted her arms and dark clouds of smoke appeared.

"You will all die!" she cried.

"Oh snap!" cried Matt.

Tyrone then felt his neck a little itchy all of a sudden out jumped Bubbles. He grew into size and everyone got on him. He then jumped off from the ice block and ran towards the trees to safety, leaving Violet enraged.