"There had better be an amazing explanation for this!" Willow demanded. Mr. Snowman had introduced the six freezing children to his icy lair, which was filled with gingerbread cookies and milk, and both Willow and Witchy had immediately turned hostile.
"What explanation do you need?" Mr. Snowman asked. "Why are you helping us?!" Witchy shouted. One moment you try to snap us up in your giant mouth, and now you're offering us gingerbread cookies?"
"I made them myself," Mr. Snowman boasted. "Never mind that!" Witchy interrupted. "Something funny is going on here, and I doubt it doesn't just concern you!"
"I never noticed something funny was going on," Mr. Snowman admitted.
Witchy's left eye twitched. "But you must!" She cried. "Wynter clearly seemed to know you before, until you attacked him. Then you act all friendly to us? It doesn't make sense."
"I attacked him?" Mr. Snowman questioned, and for the first time he almost sounded angry. "I never attacked anybody, and you can't prove otherwise."
"Well look at the claw marks on Rancis," Taffyta inquired and pointed in Rancis' direction. Mr. Snowman turned, unconvinced, towards Rancis' direction, only for his eyes to pop open in shock to see that Rancis indeed had several giant claw marks on his jacket and arm, courtesy of the earlier thrashing the Yeti had delivered to him earlier.
"I...didn't do that," Mr. Snowman denied, flabbergasted. "Then who did?" Taffyta pressed on. "You're telling me somebody dressed up as you and attacked us, instead?'
"You know, that is a plausible theory," Licorice admitted. "Shut up, Liqued!" Willow shouted. Licorice raised her hands in defence and backed off. Everybody stared at Willow, shocked.
"I just need to think about things," Willow said, breathing heavily. "Now, if you excuse me and Wynter, we are leaving to think things over for a while. Goodbye." She took Wynter by the hand and skipped off outside.
"I don't like those two," Witchy sneered to moment they left. "They've been acting like a bunch a sourpusses since they've been guiding us throughout the region."
"Really?" Mr. Snowman asked, intrigued. Witchy nodded in response. "That's odd," He muttered under his breath, but unfortunately for him, everybody heard him.
"What's odd?" Witchy asked. "Those two are worse people than Taffyta."
"Hey, I take offense to that," Taffyta shot back. "But anyways, what's odd?"
Mr. Snowman sat down on a chair made of ice. "Willow and Wynter are nothing like you say they are," He confessed. "They may not be as nice as Mr. Artie, but they are still some of the kindest children I have ever seen, and that's surprising for two people who have been orphaned."
"WHAT?!" Everybody shouted in unison. "W-What's wrong?" Mr. Snowman asked. "Were the gingerbread cookies too hot?"
"Oh no, they're delicious," Witchy stated. "But, with all due respect, Willow is a sack of sh-"
"Hey, there are children here," Licorice interfered. Witchy turned her purple eyes to glare at her for a moment.
"...Anyways," She continued after a cold silence, "Willow, with all due respect, is a bad person. Wynter hasn't done anything particularly rude, but I don't trust a person who never speaks."
"He wasn't speaking?" Mr. Snowman muttered. "Wynter's one of the most talkative people I've ever had a conversation with."
"I have a hard time believing that," Witchy grumbled. "However, Licorice did catch those two talking to each other about you're little rampage earlier."
"For the last time, I did not attack you," Mr. Snowman disclaimed. "And when did you find them talking to each other?"
"When they thought nobody was watching them," Licorice explained before her eyes widened in shock as a realization set in. "Like they think nobody is watching them now."
Before anybody could stop her, Licorice bolted down the cave in the same direction the two twins had left.
"Licorice, wait!" Witchy shouted, but Licorice was long gone. "Oh bed knobs and broomsticks, now I have to get her out of trouble again."
Straightening her hat, Witchy darted towards the exit of the cave, with the other children following her, leaving Mr. Snowman alone in the cave.
"Don't take long!" He shouted after them. "These gingerbread cookies are getting cold!"
(Scene Transition)
Vanellope, the elves, the reindeer, and Santa Claus were all hiding down in the basement, shivering. Ever since the blizzard had struck and the snowstorm had entered the workshop, it had been pure mayhem.
The presents and the machines used to build them had all been damaged in the blowout. Dolls had been scattered on the floor in pieces. There was a large hole in the ground where the picture of the moon should be, allowing snow to pour into the basement. One of the female elves was clutching onto the sled chandelier, which had shattered after being bombarded with icicles. And only a few dozen elves had been able to reach the safety of the basement; most of the elves, including Mr. Short, had been overcome by the snowstorm and were trapped in ice all around the workshop, along with several reindeer.
"What have we done to deserve this?" Tom sobbed. "The workshop is in ruins and countless of our friends are all frozen in ice upstairs."
"What are we going to do?" Pointy panicked. Instantly, all of the elves that had made it into the basement started scurrying around the basement, screaming and shouting and banging on the walls.
"Let me out of here!" One cried.
"I want my mommy!" Another cried.
"We're doomed!" A third hollered.
"ENOUGH!" Santa shouted at the top of his lungs. Everybody quieted down.
"Look, if it makes you all feel better, I'll go out and confront Fannar and demand that he stop all of this nonsense," He said. All the elves nodded gratefully.
"But, how are you going to get out there?" Tom asked. "The blizzard may have subsided for the moment, but who's to say it won't start up again?"
Not wanting another ruckus, Santa came up with an idea fast. "I'll go get Rudolph," He suggested. "His bright red nose can guide me anywhere."
"YES!" All the elves shouted joyfully. Everybody started clapping and nodding their heads, until Pointy made the mistake of bringing up a most unfortunate occurrence.
"Rudolph isn't here," He admitted. Everybody instantly stopped cheering. "He went off looking for Willow and Wynter when they disappeared and nobody's seen him since."
Santa's eye twitched.
"WE'RE DOOMED!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. All of the elves started scattering around the place, screaming and complaining whining once more.
"Oh, brother," Vanellope muttered as she sat down and watched everybody panic with annoyance.
(Scene Transition)
Licorice was sprinting towards the exit of the cave. She could already here talking coming from Willow and Wynter. Smiling a bit, Licorice scooted behind a rock lying behind the opening of the cave.
Peaking out from behind the rock, Licorice could clearly see Willow and Wynter standing outside of the cave. Willow was talking to Wynter, and just as Licorice suspected, he was talking back.
"I just don't get it, Willow," Wynter admitted. "First Mr. Snowman acted friendly to me when I was out looking for you, then he attacks us during the blizzard, and now he's offering us gingerbread cookies. It just doesn't add up."
"I don't know, Wynter," Willow confessed. "It's just, things have been strange lately, and I'm so confused. The wolves were good animals but now they attack us, and then Mr. Snowman goes on a rampage, and even Mr. Artie tried to kill you."
"Mr. Artie?" Licorice whispered quietly. "That's the second time I've heard that name."
"Something odd is going on here, and I don't like it," Wynter continued to Willow. "If Fannar is corrupting everybody here, we're in terrible danger."
"What if everybody is getting frost bites?" Willow suggested.
"Frost bites?" Licorice mumbled under her breath, when suddenly she felt a hand grip her shoulder. Spinning around, she saw a furious Witchy.
"Licorice L. Liqued, you had better have a good reason for this!" She shouted. "Not so loud," Licorice whispered, but it was too late. Willow and Wynter turned around and saw the two just as the other children reached them.
"Why do keep on spying on us?" Willow shouted, piqued.
"Sorry about this, I just have a terribly nosy kid," Witchy apologized, holding Licorice's arm. "Hey, Wynter was talking again," Licorice revealed. Wynter froze in fear.
"What are you talking about?" Rancis asked. "Wynter is mute, he doesn't speak."
"Oh yeah, well I'll just prove he talks," Licorice vowed. Witchy crossed her arms, unconvinced. "Well, do it," She challenged.
"Um, Wynter, speak!" Licorice ordered. However. Wynter didn't say a thing. Licorice turned around to stare at Witchy, who rolled her eyes.
Edging over to Wynter, Licorice, whispered in his ear, "Look kid, if you don't open your mouth and say something, I'm probably going to win the award for craziest Sugar Rush racer ever. Please don't embarrass me in front of everybody." However, Wynter just shrugged as if he didn't know what to do.
After a tense silence from everybody, Licorice finally went with the next idea that popped into her head: She stomped on Wynter's foot hard.
Wynter opened his mouth in pain, but still nothing came out.
Licorice felt more humiliated them she had ever felt in her life.
"Clearly, this is a waste of time," Willow sneered. "Come on Wynter, let's hope those gingerbread cookies are still hot." Grabbing Wynter's hand, she dragged him towards the entrance of the cave when a roar pierced everybody's ears.
Everybody spun around in shock. It was a large, white polar bear, identical to the one that had attacked them earlier.
"Mr. Artie?" Willow asked, fear rising in her voice. The bear roared again, causing everybody to yelp in fear.
"Please don't eat us," Taffyta begged. The bear's eyes widened in shock and his jaw hung open.
"Eat you?" He asked. "I just wanted to give the liquorice girl a Christmas present from Santa Claus."
"...What?" Licorice asked. Mr. Artie pulled out a Christmas present and handed it to Licorice.
Licorice hesitantly took the present and read the card attacked to it. It read, 'From Santa, To Licorice.' Shrugging, Licorice opened the present to reveal a miniature toy kart, identical to her own kart at Sugar Rush.
"I'm...honoured," Licorice mumbled. "Well, goodbye you six," Mr. Artie said and turned around to leave.
"That was...weird," Licorice whispered when Taffyta screamed.
"Look, it's those wolves!" She shouted. Everybody turned around to see a pack of giant wolves standing in front of them.
The biggest wolf opened his mouth, causing everybody to scream. Rancis, however, took out a stick and whacked the wolf upside the head.
"Don't even think of eating us, fuzzy!" He threatened. The wolf then got on his hind legs and rubbed his sore head.
"What was that for?" The wolf asked. Rancis froze at the sight of the wolf talking, but he managed to get out a few obscene words.
"You see, uh, you were going to attack us, and..."
"We were just going to tell you to keep indoors," A second wolf revealed as he too got on his hind legs.
"What?" Rancis shouted in disbelief. "Yeah, a mighty blizzard has been wreaking havoc throughout this game, and we just wanted to warn you," The second wolf continued.
"But, you're feral wild animals," Taffyta butted in. The wolves gasped in shock.
"I will have you know, missy, that we wolves are more civilized than the likes of those elves and reindeer," The first wolf defended.
The children stood there, unsure of what to say.
"However," The wolf continued, "If you're just going to be a bunch of brats with no regard for our feelings, than we're off." The wolf turned to the rest of the pack and said, "Come on, guys, we don't have to put up with their crap."
The wolves mumbled in agreement and darted away from the children, shouting insults towards the six. The moment the wolves were gone, Licorice turned to the rest of the children and spoke four very clear, audible words:
"Guys, what's going on?"