"I shouldn't have let Balthazar take the Jade Scarab.
Now look! The Stone Grarrl is revived!" Garo cried out angrily.
The Stone Grarrl was a monstrous beast, standing
over two hundred feet tall. It's entire body was made of impenetrable stone.
It seemed the beast was mindless, bent on destruction over the city. It towered
over it's grave for a few minutes, gaining back it's memories.
"THEY DESTROYED THE ONE THAT BROUGHT ME LIFE,"
the Grarrl roared, "NOW I SHALL DESTROY THEM,." it roared, slowly dragging it's
huge body towards the city.
Karen held on tightly to Garo. "Brother, please
tell me, tell me this isn't true... tell me this isn't happening..." She started
to cry, burying her face into her brother's chest. Garo wrapped an arm around
her in attempts to comfort her. Bunny stood a few feet from them, taking long,
deep breaths. Slowly she unsheathed her sword and ran after the Grarrl.
"You guys, stay here and look for the Jade Scarab!
I don't think we can stop that monster unless we find it!" Bunny yelled at them
as she latched onto the Stone Grarrl's foot and started to climb up it's body.
Garo nodded and stood up. "Let's give it our
best shot, Karen!"
"DESTROY... DESTROY..." the monster repeated
over and over.
By now Bunny had climbed up to it's shoulder.
She pulled herself up and took a deep breath. "Stone Grarrl! I don't know your
name, but please listen to me!!" she yelled over his mindless chatter, "Please,
whoever you are, leave the cities in peace, or I'll have to destroy you!" she
cried out, wielding her sword.
There was no response from the Grarrl.
Bunny sighed,. "I didn't want to destroy you...
but I gave you a chance." She stood on the shoulder of the massive beast, taking
a few deep breaths before letting out a war cry and charging towards the creature's
head, her sword back and ready to slice. At the last second she swung her sword
towards the Grarrl's neck, the sword slashing through the heavy stone. It seemed
to work at first, but then the sword stopped. The stone started to form around
it. Bunny gasped and withdrew her sword, watching in horror as the hole she
had made started to close up. "It... just regenerated..." she cried, jumping
back as the Grarrl stopped. It's huge jade eyes fell onto Bunny, dust falling
from underneath it's eyelids. "Oh... no..." Bunny cried.
The Grarrl's head turned, it's jaws opening wide.
"DESTROYYYYYY!!!!!" it roared, the sheer force of the sound wave knocking Bunny
from her stance. Bunny screamed as she fell towards her death, wondering why
it had to end that way.
Karen gasped as she saw Bunny fall. "BUNNY!!"
she cried out, thrusting her paws into the air. Her tiara started to glow as
Bunny fell closer to her doom. Fifty feet. Forty feet. Thirty feet. Twenty.
Ten. Two feet from the ground, and suddenly Bunny stopped.
A gust of wind had blown up from the sand, holding
her above the ground. Bunny gasped for air as she looked around. It seemed like
she was never falling at all. Bunny looked beneath her at the miniature whirlwind.
It had soft black eyes, and it had cool water running through it. Bunny smiled
and jumped to the ground, turning to the creature. "Thank you, Desert Spirit,"
she smiled to the whirlwind. The spirit smiled and disappeared as Bunny ran
back towards the Stone Grarrl. Where could it's weakness be? Bunny thought
to herself as she followed the beast.
Her eyes met with the city. They were only a
mile from the city! She could hear the wails of the people in the city as evacuation
orders were screamed from the streets. People were running out of the city like
mad, some even leaving their Neopets behind. Bunny breathed in deeply as she
thought of home. Everyone had told her that she would never amount to anything.
Everyone said she couldn't do what she wanted to do. But all the voices from
her hometown were silenced as one voice echoed into her head. "Those who say
it can't be done, should get out of the way of those who are doing it."
"Mom..." Bunny remembered her mom in jail. "You
and the Blacksmiths were the only people that believed I could do anything I
wanted to... today... I'll prove you right..." She held the sword tightly in
her hands. In a split-second decision, her feet took off, propelling her towards
the beast. Her arms held the sword back and her eyes were set on the Grarrl.
Her body was already a thousand steps ahead of her mind as she came closer and
closer to the monstrous creature.
Bunny's jaw dropped open and her lips curled
back, bearing her long, sharp teeth. A war cry screeched from her throat as
she came within striking range. In the blink of an eye, her feet pushed against
the earth, and a gust of wind carried her to the top of the Grarrl. The beast
didn't have time to react as Bunny slammed the sword down on it's shoulder,
slashing off the living statue's left arm. The Stone Grarrl roared in pain as
his arm fell to the ground, shattering into millions of pieces. Bunny caught
onto the Grarrl's back as she fell, holding the blade in her teeth and climbing
up. The Grarrl went mad, thrashing it's body everywhere, trying to shake Bunny
off. Karen and Garo were still looking for the Jade Scarab.
***
"AAAAAGHHHHH!!!!!" Tron let out a screech as
her body was slammed into the wall again. The floor was tilting and sliding
them everywhere. The boulder had already crashed into them several times and
Balthazar was tiring out. More and more boulders tumbled down, landing randomly
around the floor. Tron was wedged between Balthazar and the wall as the Grarrl
kept trying to catch Bunny. "D-darnit Bunny Ketsotsu! Hurry up and kill this
thing!!! I can't stand much more of thissss.." She could feel her bones cracking
as her body was being crushed. Balthazar wheezed heavily, ready to pass out
at any minute. Another boulder tumbled towards them. Tron raised her left arm
and fired a fireball at the huge stone, blasting it to smithereens. Neither
of them could stand much more of this.
Suddenly, the boulders disappeared and the floor
leveled out. Everything was silent for a minute. Tron's elf-like ears flickered
as she heard something hit the ground. The silence was cracked as a roar broke
through the air, forcing the room to tilt upside-down. Tron screamed as Balthazar
slammed into her, causing him to fall unconscious. Rocks and debris fell on
top of them, closing up the cracks in the floor. Tron cursed under her breath.
"Hurry up..." she cried. Her wings were torn and tattered and she felt as if
all the bones in her body were crushed. Her face was covered in blood from sliding
against the sharp stones. Sweat dripped from her forehead as her energy seeped
from her body.
"Please hurry Bunny... you have the power to
do it... why can't you do it?!" Tron yelled through the roars of the Grarrl.
Outside, Bunny was doing all she could to stop the Grarrl from thrashing. Chunks
of stone fell from the Grarrl's body as she was slashing away at the monster.
She seemed to hear Tron's cries as she fought the Stone Grarrl.
"Tron, give me a few minutes... just a few more
minutes..." she whispered as she clung for dear life. The streets of Kashi-Tara
were crowded as people tried to grab what they could and get out. The King stood
at the balcony of his castle, watching Bunny fight. He sighed in deep thought,
stroking his fluffy white beard.
"How could this be happening..." he mumbled
to himself. "Karen must be out there, too..." he sighed again, closing his eyes.
"Whoever you are, young warrior, I put my faith in you..."
***
"Haven't you found it yet, Garo?!"
By now, Karen's clothes were dirty and dripping
with sweat. They had been digging around in the sand for what seemed like eternity.
Garo was digging a hole in the middle of the mess they had made, panting heavily.
Then, his eye caught something underneath the sand. His paw reached out and
he grabbed the small object. It started to glisten in the rays of the desert
sun as Garo wiped the sand from it.
"I found it... I found it!" Garo laughed, his
once tired feet finding enough energy to take off towards the Stone Grarrl.
"Karen! C'mon! We have to get this to Bunny!" he yelled at his sister. Karen
followed him obediently. Garo called out to Bunny as they came near the Stone
Grarrl. "Bunny!! We have the Jade Scarab!" Bunny turned her head, panting heavily
from fighting the beast.
The Stone Grarrl apparently heard Garo's call,
and turned it's entire body towards the Aisha siblings. It's massive stone tail
whipped at the Aishas, tearing through the earth like a knife through butter.
"Put this back where it was and bury it!!" Garo shouted, bringing his arm back
as he ran. Without hesitation, his arm snapped forward, releasing the scarab
as the tail slammed into them. The Jade Scarab flew into Bunny's hands, as if
it was being guided. Bunny climbed up the Stone Grarrl's chest while he was
distracted with Karen and Garo, heading towards the hole where the Scarab fell
through. Garo and Karen laid sprawled on the desert sands, both of them unconscious.
"Where... is... ha!" Bunny crawled through the
small hole and into the Confusion Room. Tron was lying against the stone wall,
trying to catch her breath. "Oh my gosh, Tron?!" Bunny ran over to the Dark
Faerie in shock. Tron tilted her head forwards slightly, barely making out Bunny's
face.
"Ugn... put it back..." Tron lifted her bloody
arm, pointing towards the hole in the wall. Bunny's eyes narrowed.
"It's over, Stone Grarrl!" she growled as she
placed the scarab into the nook, covering it up with the debris on the floor.
As the last rock was placed, the scarab started to glow. The room stopped turning.
Outside, the Stone Grarrl had stopped moving. Garo and Karen awakened as the
Grarrl's jade eyes stopped glowing. It's body became lifeless, his jaw still
hanging open. They had done it! Both of the Aishas broke into laughter as they
realized what Bunny had done.
"She did it! She did it! We're saved!" Karen
laughed. Garo smiled, staring up at what was once a threat to the entire city.
"Something doesn't feel right..." he thought
to himself. His smile slowly dropped as he stood up, glaring at the creature.
"What's wrong, big brother?" Karen stood up as
well, wiping the sweat from her face. Garo's eyes narrowed for a minute, searching
his mind for something he might have missed.
"Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk... shhhhaooooooooo!"
Garo gasped as he heard those noises. He turned
and started to run, grabbing Karen by the paw. "It's collapsing! The Stone Grarrl
is falling apart!"
To be continued...
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