This is it. Life as you know it will cease to exit the moment you move you eyes below the picture of the magic egg. That's right, today is Easter! And not just any Easter, it's an Easter Bunny Apocalypse! I pity you, because you will be bunny dust by the time you're done reading Chapter 20, the final chapter of the tale 20 writers have spun for you, risking their furry lives. (Read how it started here.)
Please welcome our 20th and final author, Kevin Nielsen, (aka @Elevensink). Born to different cultures in the frigid arctic snowland of Canada, Kevin has always had a very vivid imagination. Playtime would often start with lego houses and soon finish with full wars between the yellow people and either some form of invincible enemy or the ever-popular Bathlands. He likes to write fan fiction and has a fascination for zombies and Lana Del Rey.
Photo by Roderique "Dracorubio" Arisiaman
EASTER BUNNY APOCALYPSE
Chapter 20 by Kevin Nielsen
Easter woke with a single, searing shot of pain in his abdomen. It emanated from his stomach and he could feel it travelling throughout his rabbit body. The purple war paint on his face glowed a crimson hue, and soon all of the warren was fixated on him. Even Gorse couldn’t look away, his attention solely focused on Easter’s apparent troubles.
“Easter, is everything—” Gorse was cut off by a strange female’s voice. Stranger still was that the voice was coming from Easter.
“I have failed you all,” began the female voice, using Easter as a vessel. His punishment. “I gave such life and such innocence to your kind. But most of all, I placed my trust in you.”
An air of tranquility swept the warren as if the voice had command over them. A subtle power strong enough to calm the fiercest of warrior rabbits. They'd done terrible deeds and now they had to listen. The entire warren was still, not even a peep from the Peeps. All eyes were glued to Easter.
“I placed my eggs in one basket and it seems you have toppled it over and poisoned them. You have used my kindness and my trust to wage war against the humans. But I am here to stop you, once and for all. I am here to restore balance to the earth.”
There were some strange clicks coming from Easter; light began beaming from his eyes and his open mouth, as the angel, Astarte, channeled her energy throughout his frail body. His tail twitched and his ears lowered as the light grew brighter and stronger. Soon the entire warren was blinded by the light. When it was over, when the light was gone, there was not one rabbit left in the warren.
All had been transformed into Peeps.
*****
“I want that Donnegan guy in my office, Chip. I want him in, now.”
“Yes,” Chip Carpenter fumbled with his words, unable to say any more than that. How could he disobey the new acting president?
“And escort those two kids back home. Oh, and Chip,” the president said, before going into the press conference, “You better not fuck this up.”
“I…I won’t, Madame President.” Chip nodded in agreement, then made his way toward the main lobby.
Malcolm and Leslie were waiting for him on an oversized sofa, guarded by two White House officials. They looked so small and fragile next to those men. Chip felt a certain responsibility for this. He'd been the one to suggest Bruce Donnegan in the first place.
“I’ll take it from here,” Chip informed the armed men. Malcolm held his sister's hand so tightly, that sweat had began to bead down his palm.
“What happened to Peter?” Malcolm asked as soon as they were alone. Leslie couldn’t let go of Malcolm's hand, fear forcing her to remain clenched to her brother. This…event, had brought them even closer together.
“Peter is fine. You guys did well by saving him. He will be rewarded for his actions.”
“What…what actions?” Leslie asked, looking from her brother to Chip, confusion distorting her normally cute features.
“Well, Leslie, Peter's the only bunny to ever have escaped the Peeps King. By doing so, he served as a distraction between Easter and the Peeps King. Had he not, and had you and Malcolm not brought him in to us in time, we wouldn't have known about Easter's ultimate egg-nuke plan. Peter saved us all from extinction, Leslie. What Easter had done, well, it brought some consequences to his warren. So, Peter's now the new rabbit in charge,” Chip answered, matter-of-factly.
*****
The newly-appointed, acting president took to the stage for her first, official press conference; a series of flashes lighting up the entire room. The White House logo shone brightly behind President Hillary Clinton. She smiled and then summoned the press to quiet down. This was important.
“As you all know, a terrific tragedy has swept the United States of America. Thousands, upon thousands, of people have perished...including our previous First Family.”
As expected, a hushed whisper fell over the room and another thirty seconds was needed to calm down the growing hysteria.
“Something new to our land has erupted and declared war against humankind. Some here are probably shocked to hear that…bunnies…were seemingly taking over our schools and destroying entire cities. But rest assured, nobody was more shocked than Bill and I.
“The bunnies’ revolution has opened the eyes of our new administration to the ever growing threat of inter-species warfare. We have tracked down and arrested Bruce Donnegan, whom we will question after I hold the very first inter-species negotiations with the newly appointed Chief of Warrens, Peter Braveheart.
"As you know, the toxin that Bruce unleashed against the rabbits as a counter attack measure was supposed to be minimally harmful against humans. We've now learned that he went off-grid after stepping onto the battlefield and suffering from previous post-traumatic stress syndrome. He...well, he started seeing everyone as a rabbit and began unleashing his toxin onto innocent civilians. In addition to the thousands of deaths he's caused, we fear we'll have agricultural repercussions from this for years to come. But, I can assure you, our new administration is prepared to handle all of this...”
President Clinton paused as a man dressed all in black came up to the podium and whispered something into her ear, then he hurried off the stage.
“Speaking of the new rabbit in charge, it seems that Peter Braveheart has just arrived. If you have any questions, please forward them to the chief of our newly expanded Inter-species Agency, Chip Carpenter.
*****
Peter was hopping back to the warren, his conversation with President Clinton still fresh in his mind. The war had indeed brought changes to America, changes Peter had not expected. He never would have thought he would be the new Chief of Warrens, that he would meet and discuss strategies with the president, or that he would ever see Malcolm again.
You see, Malcolm was a child the last time Peter had seen him. Once an adult, Malcolm shouldn’t have been able to understand Peter. That was child’s play, surely not common among adults. But there he'd been, with his sister, able to understand every word Peter had spoken.
Easter’s betrayal of the harmony pact with the pagan gods had cost them a lot. There was no more magic protecting humans from understanding animals, and there was no more alliances between endangered species. All had become one and one had become all.
When Peter entered the warren for the first time since hearing the devastating news, he half-expected to see the room full of Peeps. But instead he was greeted by loud cheers and chants from bunnies across the land. Brown bunnies, white bunnies, and those pesky red-orange ones too—they were all cheering for him. He barely had time to take in the panoramic view when a cheerful, little, girl bunny hopped up to him.
“Peter Braveheart, you saved us from the wrath of Ostara. We are forever grateful.”
“What…what happened to all the Peeps? I was told that my warren had…”
“He took them, sir. He took them and promised no vengeance to you or our warren,” the girl bunny said, thumping her back paw with excitement.
“Who? Who took them?” Peter asked, a single tear streaming down his left cheek. His whiskers twitched as he realized the impact of it all.
“The Peeps King, sir! The Peeps King said all was fair, now.”
Ostara had spoken the truth. Humans and bunnies could go back to their daily routines. She had saved them all—she had restored balance to our earth.
P.S.: It's the end of EASTER BUNNY APOCALYPSE! The last and 20th Chapter. Here are other Chapters for your furry reading pleasure: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, and Chapter 19.