Hours have passed and it was dark out as the toad soldiers had Charlie in their custody. The toad soldiers were moving around the entire remaining of toad tower's building as they had been keeping themselves alert since they kidnapped poor Charlie. Captain Grime was walking through the halls of the tower as he was accompanied by Bog and Fens.
"You captured the boy, correct?" asked Captain Grime.
"Yes sir, we used knock out gas grenades to knock out the town. Than we dragged him away like a weak rag doll." replied Bog.
"But on our way back, be warned. The carriage ride might smell a bit because someone farted on the way back and stunk up the whole carriage. We had to open a window." Fens said with her hand waving in front of her face.
"Probably the boy." said Captain Grime.
"That wasn't the boy, sir." Bog said blushing with a nervous grin.
Captain Grime was surprised as he gave Bog an annoyed expression and shook his head.
"Bring me to the captive." said Captain Grime changing the subject.
They walked through the double doors and many of the toads in the army was inside the dining hall. The soldiers turned to see Captain Grime as they all gave him a salute.
"Where's the boy?" called Captain Grime.
One of the soldiers shuffled his way through the crowd as they let him through and the large male toad brought in the unconscious body that is Charlie. The toad soldier had laid him down on the long seats that were attached to the long dining tables. Charlie was shown to have been bound with rope that had his hands tied together while his feet were tied together as well.
"How are we suppose to wake him up?" asked Captain Grime.
"Why don't we have Fens fart on him in his face." joked Bog laughing.
"Why don't you smooch him with your big fat tongue in his mouth." joked Fens.
"You two, that's enough." Captain Grime demanded. "Brunton, bring in something for him to eat. The smell will wake him up."
A large male toad came in who had a chef's hat walked over towards Charlie and had a small table with wheels on it brought over to him.
"Oui, Captain. But lets be gentle with him, he is just a child after all." said Brunton advising them.
The french male toad had reached out to pull the metal lid off a metal tray that had pepperoni pizza on the plate. Steam rose from the pizza after the lid was removed from the tray like plate. One of the toads grabbed Charlie to sit him up straight and leaned him forwards to smell the pizza as the tangy scent hit his nostrils. They waited for a minute and his nose twitch. He slowly opened his eyes and his vision was clearing up.
"Isshu no Rokodenakereba naranai." said Charlie slowly.
"I take it no one can translate?" asked Bog curiously.
"No." said every toad in the room.
Charlie smelled the food and suddenly his vision was clear as day. He jerked away with a startling wake up call.
"Annie!" called Charlie.
Charlie looked around the room and he remembered toad tower. He saw the toad army in the room and it came to his mind what all just happened.
"Is this a dream or a hallucination?" said Charlie shocked.
"Welcome back, you little brat." said Bog maliciously.
Fens came over to Charlie and moved the table cart away for a bit as she placed her hand on his cheeks, pinching them as if to tease or taunt him.
"Welcome back to your home, you sexy piece of man. Miss me?" said Fens laughing.
In an act of defiance. Charlie opened his mouth and bit down on Fens' hand really hard, causing her to scream in pain as she felt the human male's jaws bite into her hand painfully.
"Ow! Let go of my hand!" screamed Fens in pain.
Charlie let out an annoyed groan and he let go of her hand as she attempted to pull her hand out of his mouth. Fens looked at her now freed hand and she saw bite marks on her hand, the skin didn't break as there was no blood but it had her hand throbbing in pain. Charlie spat out the horrible taste of her hand.
"That little monster bit me!" cried Fens.
"He best check himself before he wrecks himself." taunted Charlie.
"I'm a lady!" said Fens annoyed.
"That was my fourth guess." Charlie said annoyed.
Fens looked towards Charlie with rage and she formed a fist as she stomped her way over to him, she shoved the cart away, sending it crashing into the wall with the pizza falling to the floor, leaving some of the pizza's toppings to smear the floor. Fens grabbed hold of Charlie by the front of his shirt which left a look of fear on his face.
"If I wasn't given orders that told me not to kill you, I'd kill you right now, you little!" Fens began.
"Fens!" came a female's voice.
Fens turned to see someone coming into the room and it was Sasha. She had a strict expression upon her face as she had her hands on her hips.
"Fens, drop him." Sasha told her.
"But this little brat bit me on my hand. There's teeth marks, you all saw it." argued Fens.
"Now! Let me handle him, human to human, you're all given orders not to harm him. So let me be the one to handle him, end of discussion." Sasha warned.
A look of confusion was painted upon everyone's face. Fens looked at Sasha, than at Charlie. Even Charlie was confused. The large female toad let out a sigh of disappointment.
"Okay." sighed Fens.
Fens placed Charlie back on the seat and removed her hands from him.
"Untie him." Sasha demanded.
Now everyone was going from confused to shocked. Sasha was demanding them to untie the ropes from him? What was she planning?
"But he's our prisoner?" said Bog.
Sasha cracked her knuckles and shot Bog a strict look that almost terrified him. Bog and anyone else let out another sigh.
"Anyone got a dagger?" asked Bog.
One of the toads ended up pulling a dagger out from the sheath that it was strapped to one of their legs and handed it to Bog. That's when Bog began to cut the rope that had Charlie tied and bound.
"Hold still." grumbled Bog.
It took Bog a minute or more to cut the rope off and Charlie was freed.
"Let me be the one to talk to him." Sasha suggested.
"Is this going to be a private conversation?" asked Captain Grime.
"I'm wanting to talk to him alone in the sleeping quarters I'm in. Anyone eavesdropping will be tossed out the window." Sasha threatened.
The toad soldiers saw that Sasha was serious from the stern, strict expression she shot at them. This left them feeling a sense of fear of her since she is second in command. Everyone, even Charlie was all left confused as Sasha came over to Charlie, took hold of his hand and pulled him out of his seat. She lead him out of the dining hall and down the hallway. Sasha took the chance to pull Charlie in her grasp to hold onto him in a armed hug. Charlie was now feeling more awkward than confused.
"Charlie, when the toad soldiers nabbed you. I know you're probably really angry but to be honest. I never meant for them to take you by force, I told them to bring you peacefully like welcoming you home." said Sasha.
They made it to Sasha's room and as she lead him inside, she closed the double doors and locked them after they entered the room. Sasha turned to Charlie who had been blushing and feeling like everything wasn't what he expected out of Sasha's reaction to him being in the same place with her as it's been months since they last saw each other.
"Charlie honey, you've been silent the whole time you saw or heard me. No hello, no long time, no see." said Sasha trying to get Charlie to speak.
Charlie was silent as he just couldn't figure out what to say or what he should say at this moment. Since it's been hours since he confessed his feelings towards Anne and when he felt like he was getting over Sasha, he was right there with Sasha and he felt that same awkward feeling as if like a man who ran into three previous ex-girl friends. Sasha couldn't get him to speak verbally nor any other way. So she walked over to him and pulled him in her arms to hug him, his face pressed against her chest while she used one hand to reach out to gently scratch his back, sending a relaxing feeling through out his body as if every itch in his body was being scratched.
"Charlie sweety, tell mama Sasha where you've been this whole time. We actually didn't expect you to survive out there." asked Sasha kindly.
"Wartwood." Charlie finally spoke.
She wasn't expecting him to answer nor did she expect him to mention that Wartwood was where he was. She heard the soldiers mention that's where he was but she was thinking they were lying or just not right in the head when Charlie gave them a beat down. She didn't know that he was in the same place where Anne and the Plantars were living in.
"I see, and was anyone there mean to my Charlie boy?" asked Sasha in a motherly tone.
"No, they were nice to me. Anne's been so nice to me, Hop Pop has been like a dad to me, Sprig and Polly were like a brother and sister to me. The town have been nice to me." said Charlie in a relaxed tone.
Sasha kept gently scratching Charlie's back not only to relax him but to get information out of him. She knew that in order to pull Charlie away from them, she had to say or do something to convince him to join the toad army.
"Charlie baby, are you sure they've been truly nice to you?" asked Sasha.
Charlie nodded.
"Charlie, it's obvious they're only being nice to you because they pity you." said Sasha.
Charlie's relaxed feeling was suddenly derailed. He looked up at Sasha who now placed a hand on his cheek as she gave him a sympathetic look.
"Honey, it's obvious they just feel sorry for you and they're only being nice to you out of pity. They don't really care about you like I do." said Sasha starting to sound condescending.
"No, they love me for who I am. Anne and the Plantars have allowed me to be me, they've allowed me to have the freedom of making my own choices and decisions, they've been there for me." Charlie softly argued.
Sasha placed both her hands on his cheeks as she shook her head.
"Oh Charlie baby, it's obvious they've filled your impressional little head with lies. They're probably laughing at you behind your back everytime you're not around. You belong here with me and being part of the toad army. Maybe I could kiss those emotional boo boos away that they've inflicted on you." said Sasha now talking to him like he was some easily fooled four year old.
As Sasha was about to pull Charlie in for a kiss, that's when Charlie used his strength to pull himself out of her arms, avoided the kiss, and took a few steps back as he shot Sasha a look of disgust.
"You still don't get it, do you?" said Charlie annoyed.
"Charlie, now lets calm down before we do something we'll regret." said Sasha kindly warning him.
As she was about to step forwards towards him, that's when he held up a hand to stop her. Sasha stopped, looking shocked.
"The only person that's been lying to me and using me is those toads and you. Since I've been out there in Wartwood, people have been nice to me, they treated me like someone whose part of the family, if I cried, they hugged me to hug the pain away, when I was bullied, they've defended me, when I needed them, they were there for me. Anne and the Plantars let me be me, they never made me feel bad about being myself, they love me for me. Anne's been the nicest girl to me the whole time I've been with her, the Plantars have been like family to me, they've never said or did anything to hurt me. The people out there have been nice to me. Anne and the Plantars have let me do what I want to do, and I let them do what they wanted to do, we had no problem with it. Anne has encouraged me to be myself, everytime I felt nervous, ashamed, saddened, angry or when I didn't know how to do something, she's been supportive of me the whole time, so has the Plantars. They've been everything you haven't been." said Charlie ranting at her.
Sasha was left wide eyed with shock. Charlie was attempting to stand up to her and that they've been letting him do what he wanted to do. She felt like she was losing control over him. A look of anger showed on her face and she walked up to him as she raised her hand up and grabbed the front of Charlie's shirt with a firm grip.
"So you've been frolicking about in Wartwood with those frogs, Anne, and the Plantars. Doing everything I told you not to do because it's ether too dangerous for someone delicate as you, eating what I tell you not to eat because it'll make you fat, slow and lazy, and they just let you run wild like some little child?" Sasha snapped.
Charlie looked up at her with an expression of shock. It felt like he was being bullied like Sasha usually does to him from the past.
"Even when those toad soldiers failed to bring you here the first time, you actually did some damage to them!" Sasha continued.
Charlie was about to say something but Sasha was nearly shaking him at this point. Charlie fought to keep his spirit from breaking.
"And now you let them fill your head with ideas to defy me, a lady and the toads! Bad Charlie! Bad boy!" screamed Sasha.
Charlie couldn't hold back no more. He looked away from Sasha as if trying not to let her see him cry or so she didn't see him as weak. Tears leaked out of his eyes and his chest was heaving from the fact he tried not to break down too hard. Sasha felt as though she was gaining control over him and tried to show some mercy.
"Awwww Charlie, don't be sad, I never meant to yell at you. I'm just trying to keep you protected from those out there that are trying to hurt you." said Sasha starting to sound condescending. "I know you want to go home, and so do I, but we'll be able to do so once it's over."
Charlie was feeling a sense of curiosity fill his head as he turned to face Sasha with his face wet with tears. Sasha could see that he didn't know what she meant.
"Oh? You don't know. There's a rebellion going on. Let mama put this in words you can understand." Sasha started off.
Sasha walked over to what looked like an entire map of Amphibia and she pointed her finger at it for Charlie to look at.
"So you've probably already noticed that the toads in this valley have one job: To rule over the frogs. And lately, those frogs have been stepping outta line. It turns out these rebels have been inspired by a certain frog. You might just know him. Stood up to some tax collectors, even ran for mayor against the local toad." explained Sasha.
She pulled out what looked like a scroll and she pulled the paper out of it that showed a picture of Hop Pop. Charlie was now wide eyed with shock.
"What? Hop Pop's not a revolutionary." said Charlie shocked.
"Doesn't matter." continued Sasha. "Word has traveled like wildfire, and we tried to make an example out of him but our attempts last time had failed. Which is why most of this tower is destroyed. Anne and the rest of them frogs are the reason why our plans failed."
Sasha reached out to pull out what looked like newspapers. She showed them to him and they were of Hop Pop's heroic deeds that Charlie remembers Anne and the Plantars spoke to him about. He looked up at Sasha with what looked like curiosity but also anger. Charlie started to feel like his anger was coming back as he clenched his fists.
"What did you try doing before?" asked Charlie through gritted teeth.
"Try not to freak out but we tried to feed Hop Pop to a giant Venus flytrap. But thanks to Anne, the Plantars and the rest of Wartwood, it was crushed to death. I fought against Anne but...lets just say she got the upper hand on me." said Sasha showing the first sign of shame.
Charlie let out what sounded like a lion like growl and it sounded so realistic that Sasha looked right at him with a wide eyed expression of surprise.
"Try to remain calm but that was when I struck a deal with Captain Grime so crush the rebellion and both him and his army would help us find a way home. But that plan last time failed. Now, there's something new going on through out the valley and please don't freak out but it involves you." said Sasha trying to keep Charlie from losing his temper.
The angry look on Charlie's face vanished and was now curious again. What did this have to do with him he had no idea.
"Nani?" said Charlie confused.
"Well, now new word has spread across the valley that even humans like you and me, or anyone from another world other than this one are having the same affect like last time. Now the strange people are being seen as equals to the frogs and they too are stepping out of line." Sasha explained.
Sasha went to get out more newspapers and she showed them to Charlie. The articles this time were showing of Charlie and his heroic acts. There was one newspaper article that read "New Human, New Hope" another that read "Human Take Down Toad At Tournament" and other that read "New Human Changes Things For Better" and the last one read "Human Gentlemen, Big Heart"
Charlie remembered those times as the times he helped so many people in Wartwood. He looked right back up at Sasha with confusion.
"What does this got to do with me?" said Charlie.
"Well, with what you've been doing. More frogs, even those who are different from frogs, they're making the rebellion even go about as crazy as a football team when they win the championship. The toads are thinking you need to be taught a lesson, they're thinking you might have to be killed or imprisoned. I don't want any of that and that's why nabbed you before anyone else could. If you join our army, I can keep you protected from those who want to harm you. I've managed to convince Captain Grime and his army to not hurt you or anything if you join the toad army. I can even make you third in command and I can make sure that I can keep an eye on you. Charlie baby, please. Don't make this harder than it already is." Sasha explained as she was now sounding delusional.
Charlie looked at her with shock but he felt disgusted. Everything that Sasha told him not only had him nervous and afraid of what could happen to him but he also felt like he was angry at her for what he was told. He felt like she was ether trying to control him or that he felt like she was still treating him like he was some dumb kid. His expression turned to annoyance.
"Charlie, what do you say? Be a good boy and join the toads and no one will harm you ever again. Don't you wanna be a good boy?" said Sasha with a grin.
Sasha started to come closer to him and she made an attempt to kiss him again but Charlie placed a hand up and pressed his hand to her face, pushing her forwards. Sasha was taken aback a bit.
"You are a sick girl. After everything you've done to me over the years, you really think I'm that stupid? Why should I believe you? I don't wanna join this army of toad slimey bastards. They'll just use me like they're using you. I want to go home just as bad as you, but Captain Grime and his army don't know how to get you, me, Anne or Marcy home any better than you and me. I want nothing to do with them or you." said Charlie crossing his arms.
Charlie turned around and turned his back towards Sasha. He felt angry that Sasha was still treating him badly like the toads.
"You mean, you don't want to be with us or me?" said Sasha.
"Captain Slime, his army, tell them that they can kiss my ass after I fart on them. Anne and others will come to rescue me and there's nothing you can do to stop them." said Charlie in defiance.
Now Sasha was curious to how Charlie was showing a new side of himself but she tossed that thought aside and had a cold expression on her face.
"I'm warning you Charlie." threatened Sasha.
"I'm done listening to you, bossy boots." Charlie insulted.
"If that's the way you want it. Than we have ways in convincing you." Sasha threatened.
Sasha walked towards the door as she unlocked it. As Charlie turned around, he heard her scream for the guards or for some of the toads. It didn't take long for at least four toads to show up.
"You two guard the doors outside this room. You two, rough him up a bit to give him a reason to join this army, or at least till he looks like he's had enough." Sasha ordered.
Sasha left the room and the doors closed. Two large male guards were outside the room but the two other toads were Bog and Fens, they looked right at Charlie with devious smiles.
"Oh shit." Charlie uttered.
Meanwhile, on the way to Toad Tower
Anne, the Plantars and the rest of Wartwood were being lead on what looked like two parade floats that were connected together to hold the people with them. It was being lead by a huge spider that served as a steed.
"Anne, are you sure this plan will work?" asked Hop Pop feeling nervous.
"What else are we suppose do? I know it's gonna work. If they hurt Charlie, than some toads are going to end up six feet under." said Anne cracking her knuckles.
They looked forwards and saw that they arrived at their destination. At toad tower, they were at the front gates. There were guards on top of the gate and they looked towards Anne, the Plantars and everyone there with them.
"Halt! State your name." called a toad.
"I am Anne Boonchuy, we're here for Charlie. Release him to me, right now!" cried Anne.
The toads looked at one another as if they half expected them to arrive. They looked back at them with a look of no emotion.
"Charlie Matsuda is our custody. The only way you'll get him is if you bail him out. Bail comes out in one million copper coins." said one of the toads.
The frogs were murmuring to this as they knew none of them had that money. Anne raised a hand to calm them.
"You got two choices, let us in and free Charlie, no one gets hurt. Or the bomb that's been planted somewhere in your tower will go off and taking all the toads with it." said Anne threatening them.
The toads looked towards them with curiosity but were sensing a bluff.
"You're bluffing." said another toad.
"Last time one of us was here, we planted a bomb when you left. Would you rather find out if I'm bluffing or not after I blow this place sky high. Than go ahead, make my day." Anne dared. "And I got the detonator on me. If I die, than the bomb goes off."
The toad guards were now wide eyed with shock as Anne crossed her arms and gave them the stare down, showing them she wasn't bluffing.
"Open the gates! Now!" cried the toad guards.
The double doors of the tower opened and they walked inside. As they entered the tower's gates, that's when the entire toad army was shown to be waiting for them. Captain Grime, Sasha, Bog, Fens, the rest of the toad army as present.
"I knew you'd be here." said Captain Grime.
"I still see your other eye is trying to escape." insulted Anne.
Some of the frogs giggled at Anne's joke. Captain Grime wasn't amused as he let out a growl.
"Still a sassy loud mouth like before." said Captain Grime.
"Where's Charlie!" said Anne.
"Haven't you heard? Fens had a little fun with him." giggled Bog.
"So did Bog." Fens chimed in.
Both Bog and Fens flopped out their huge tongues and wagged them a bit before pulling them back in their mouths. Anne gasped and started to feel irate with them as she popped her neck at the fact that they were joking they did something very horrible to her boyfriend.
"If you two harmed him, you'll be dead from where you stand." threatened Hop Pop.
"Oh relax, we just roughed him up a bit. Even if he does have a nice ass." said Bog jokingly.
"He cried so much like a little baby. I want my Annie." mocked Fens.
"I want my Annie." taunted Fens and Bog in a sing song voice.
The two toads laughed at their own jokes and their twisted sense of humor. Anne pulled out her sword and pointed it right at them, wiping the smiles off their smug faces.
"If you don't hand over my boy right now, than this whole place will be blown sky high. I got a bomb planted somewhere here and if you kill me, than the bomb will level this entire area." threatened Anne.
The toads all looked shocked. Sasha was nearly feeling shocked but sensed that it was a bluff as well.
"Anne, why on earth would you like such a cry baby. Charlie is practically a weakling, a spineless wimp who won't stop crying." said Sasha not amused.
"Charlie is not a cry baby or any of those things. You obviously don't know him. He's been through a really hard time." said Anne defending Charlie.
"Oh, than maybe there's something about him you don't know. Has he told you everything you needed to know?" said Sasha smugly.
Anne was looking at her with confusion and grew curious.
"What are you talking about? He's not a liar." said Anne.
"Really? Than maybe there's something you should know about him that involved me." said Sasha.
Everyone fell silent as Sasha had their attention. Sasha had a smug grin on her face.
"Charlie and I actually-" Sasha started.
"Anne!" cried Charlie's voice.
The toads, even Sasha showed shocked expressions as they looked behind them and saw Charlie running towards them faster than he ever ran in his life. They were about to grab him but Charlie leaped forwards into the air and jumped at least twelve feet over them. He managed to land on his feet without feeling any pain and without injury. Charlie got up and ran towards Anne in tears.
"Charlie!" Anne cried.
Anne greeted him with open arms and both Anne and the Plantars hugged Charlie as they saw he was alive. The toads and Sasha were surprised to see he escaped and that he ran so fast and jumped clean over them.
"Charlie, I'm so glad you're still alive." said Sprig.
Anne, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop looked at Charlie and they saw he had red marks on his face, bruises on his arms, they even looked underneath his shirt and saw he had bruises all over his torso. They gasped with horror and Anne was placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Charlie, who did this! Who?" Anne demanded.
Charlie let out a sigh and pointed at Bog and Fens. Anne, the Plantars and the rest of them looked towards them and the two toads waved at them with grins. Anne was so angry that she felt like she was going to kill them.
"You two hurt my boy?" growled Anne.
"We only gave him a beat down and a spanking for being such a bad little boy." said Fens in a mocking tone.
Fens and Bog were laughing at Charlie's expense. Anne and Hop Pop looked at Charlie's saddened face as he nodded, confirming they did beat him up and spank him. But he did confirm that they didn't molest him. They were filled with anger about what them toads were doing to him.
"We knew that if he escaped our custody. Than he'd join the rebellion or the very least join our enemies. We didn't want that but once he found out what we're up to, he wanted nothing to do with us. We would've just kept him in the prison cell if we prevented him from escaping but he got away." Captain Grime told them. "Our way of life is at stake, I wouldn't expect even that bad little boy to understand when he can barely remember his own name."
Charlie kept hearing them toads talking to him like he was some dumb little child and his anger was starting to rise from within him. Anne, the Plantars and everyone from Wartwood were starting to hate how they were talking to Charlie and how they've treated him so badly.
"Don't you dare talk to my boy like that!" called Hop Pop.
Charlie could see that Hop Pop was defending him and his anger was turning to joy.
"Yeah! You stop talking to our Charlie like that, cyclops!" said Polly.
"Charlie's been nothing but good to us." said Felicia chiming in.
"He's help the elderly, he's helped so many of us when it came to heavy lifting, he's been a gentlemen." Sylvia told them.
"He's healed my eye." said Mrs. Croaker.
"He's healed my voice box and I can speak perfectly fine." chimed in Loggle.
"He's healed me of all my injuries and I got me limbs back because of the lad." Stumpy chimed in afterwards.
"He's put the safety of others first, especially the children, the sick, the injured and even the elderly." said Mr. Flour.
"And he's been the nicest person we've ever known. He's defended even those who had it hardest and convinced others to be nicer to them." Wally chimed in.
The toads and Sasha were wide eyed at how many people were defending Charlie. Even Charlie was surprised but feeling a sense of pride from this.
"You don't know our Charlie!" said everyone from Wartwood.
Sasha was feeling like she had only one ace up her sleeve as she crossed her arms with a smug grin.
"Oh really, why don't know you ask him about the fact that we used to date each other." said Sasha finally.
Anne felt her heart skip a beat, the Plantars jaws had dropped and the whole group of frogs from Wartwood were shocked. Charlie and Sasha used to date. Charlie's joy turned to shame as they looked right at him.
"Charlie, was Sasha the one you wanted to tell me you used to date when you were about to confess to me that you've dated before you met me?" asked Anne curiously.
Charlie nodded but he felt like something inside him was wanting to defend himself in this situation as he looked up at Anne.
"We dated for about a year but..." Charlie paused.
"I can't believe I dated that loser." Sasha insulted.
Charlie heard Sasha's remark and felt his anger return as he looked at Sasha with a huff.
"But Sasha was the worst girl friend!" Charlie snapped back.
Sasha's smug expression faded into surprise but turned to anger.
"Charlie, you shut up, right now!" Sasha demanded.
"Sasha was always telling me what to do. All she was towards me was a bossy boots! Don't go swimming in the lake because you'll get hurt, even though everyone else was having fun. Don't eat that, don't eat this or you'll get fat, slow and lazy, only if you have it too much when it was just every once in a while. Don't go bike riding or you'll land on your head, everyone else was wearing a helmet but you still said no. No looking at other girls even though you dumped me long afterwards. You eat too much this or that, you'll get fat and people will bully you more for it, you say you know what's best for me but you don't, you never let me do anything, you guilt trip me every chance you got and if I ever say what I want to do, you just say no and give me nothing but crap on why I shouldn't, the only bully I see is you. Always telling me what to do, telling me you're trying to look out for me when you say I'm too delicate. No flirting with other girls at the party or they'll bully you when that was never true. Why would you be such a control freak!" screamed Charlie.
Anne, the Plantars and everyone from Wartwood were wide eyed from this. And they looked at Sasha. From what Charlie told them or said out loud, it was proving to be true that Sasha was a horrible girl friend.
"What happened between you and me is no one's business." said Sasha with crossed arms.
"Was that before or after you dumped me out of nowhere and when I tried to talk about it with you. That's when you beat me up afterwards." said Charlie ranting on.
Anne, the Plantars and the other Wartwood residents placed a hand on their mouths in shock, gasping. After they've removed their hands from their mouths, that's when Sasha showed an angry look towards Charlie.
"You dumped him and beat him up for no reason?" said Anne shocked.
"That is just cruel!" said Ivy.
"He gave me no other choice. I couldn't be seen dating some boy whose such a cry baby all the time." said Sasha defending her words.
"Do you think it's easy to be in my position of life? Do you have any idea what it's like to have little to no friends at all? My dad disappointed me every chance he got and he was never there for me. A constant no show to my birthday every year when he said he'd be there but never was at the last second, being traumatized at a young age by an old man back at home who was an alcoholic and got beaten up just because I was trying to retrieve a ball that other kids accident tossed in his yard." said Charlie listing off reasons why he had it hard.
"Oh get over it, you cry baby. You need to grow up and get over it and stop whining." snapped Sasha.
"You don't know what it's like to be him! He needs to be loved, comforted, supported and nurtured. We've been doing all sorts of good positive reinforcement for him and he responds better to that." Anne defended.
"He needs to grow up and stop being such a cry baby who sucks his thumb everytime something hurts his precious feelings." Sasha argued.
"He's not going to learn anything like that if you do nothing but bully him for being himself. Just let him be himself and stop making him feel horrible for it." Anne argued back.
"You need to stop babying him." Sasha continued.
"There's a difference between tough love and abuse. What I'm doing for him is called unconditional love. When you were dating him, when was the last time you told him that you loved him, huh?" said Anne.
Sasha fell silent as she tried thinking of a time when she did say she "Loved Him" but she couldn't think of one.
"When was the last time you encouraged him?" asked Anne.
"Uhhhhh..." Sasha uttered.
"When it comes to a healthy relationship, both the boy and the girl should be allowed to do what they want to do. A girl should be allowed to do what she wants to do, and the boy in the relationship should be allowed to do what he wants to do too." Anne stated.
"You think you'd make a better girl for him?" said Sasha.
"You haven't set the bar pretty high, that's for sure." said Polly.
"Well, if you frogs haven't noticed. He belongs to us since he's now causing the rebellion to get way outta line than it was before. You think you can keep him protected if harm comes to him?" argued Sasha.
"Why don't we let Charlie decide who he wants to be with." suggested Hop Pop.
Sasha sighed and knew that if she was to get Charlie back into their custody, she had to kick things up a notch. Charlie was nervous about this as Anne was there to be by his side. Sasha was trying to be nice to lure Charlie over to her.
"Charlie, come on back home, you want to come back home, do you?" Sasha kindly said.
"Charlie, don't listen to her. She's only lying to you and using you like she did before." Anne advised.
"Charlie, a person can change. If you come back me, you'll be able to do anything you want, I can even make sure no one bothers you. That includes Fens and Bog." Sasha argued.
"Charlie, she hurt you for years, she tried to control you for so long, she's filled your head up with lies and she never let you be you and she never let you do what you wanted. She dumped you for reasons that is not cool and she beat you up after you tried to talk it out with her. She's not the girl you want to be with." Anne told him.
"Oh fuck this. Let me at that dumb monkey and I'll make him come over here!" said Fens getting impatient.
Fens pulled out her kanabō and Charlie heard that word again, that word that always makes him so angry. He shot a cold look at Fens.
"Hey man-bitch, are you suppose to look like a lady or are you a cross dresser!" Charlie insulted.
The residents of Wartwood laughed at the joke that Charlie used towards Fens when he called her a "man-bitch" which that made Fens really annoyed.
"How many times do I have to say it? I'm a lady!" snapped Fens.
"That's not what Captain cyclops said last night." Charlie joked.
Both Fens and Captain Grime blushed as the Wartwood residents let out a taunting toned "Ohhh!" as if this was a session of "Yo Mama" jokes.
"I did not such thing!" said Fens blushing.
"Oh yeah? By the way, you know that accident that happened in the armory and the wooden mantel that had the swords on them. When that got damaged, it was me but I told Captain Grime Bog did it." said Charlie showing defiance.
Captain Grime, Fens and Bog showed confusion at first as if they didn't believe his words.
"But Fens told me that. She told me she was changing in there and told me Bog did it." said Captain Grime confused.
"Hey Captain Grime, the sword mantel is broken. Bog did it." said Charlie mimicking Fens voice really good.
Everyone was impressed that Charlie had an knack for mimicking voices. He sounded just like Fens. Very few of them knew how good Charlie is at mimicking others voices but for those who didn't know, they were astonished. Fens and Bog showed a very angry look towards him.
"You brat!" growled Bog.
Bog pulled out his giant hammer and charged at Charlie with a scream of anger. Anne quickly gave Charlie his sword and Charlie charged towards Bog. Bog swung his hammer at Charlie but he dodged it and used his sword to make at least eight slashes and it stopped the large male toad in his tracks while Charlie jumped backwards. Bog checked his body and he felt no damages and he looked at his hammer.
"Looks like your sword can't cut through this hammer. It's made of stronger material than my last one." said Bog smugly.
The large male toad was proven wrong as his hammer was showing cracks and it fell out of Bog's hands. It was sliced up into eight pieces, rendering it useless. Bog was about to panic but than Fens charged at Charlie with a battle cry.
"Kiss me, big boy!" cried Fens.
Fens was about to use her weapon to harm Charlie but he used his sword to make at least seven slashes, making her weapon literally fall to seven pieces, making it useless.
"Sorry, I'm only into girls. The only girl for me is Anne Boonchuy." said Charlie with a grin.
Fens looked at him with shock as Anne smiled at Charlie's words. Anne felt like Charlie was showing all the signs that he truly is the one for her and that Anne is truly the one for him.
"You mean you'd rather be with her and not me?" said Fens showing some shocking grief.
"I'd rather be with my soul sister than to be with you." said Charlie in defiance.
Charlie raised his hand in the air and pointed his middle finger at Fens as he was flipping her off. The residents of Wartwood gave a sassy toned "Ohhh!" and both Fens, Bog, Captain Grime and other toad soldiers showed a great amount of rage. Charlie placed his sword back in it's sheath.
"Fens, Bog, Mire, attack that sassy loud mouth boy! Take that monkey down!" Captain Grime commanded.
Hearing Captain Grime call him that word only sent a very powerful grip of rage into Charlie. Fens was the first to charge after Charlie as she tried to kick or punch him but Charlie dodged her every move like he was a grandmaster. Everytime she tried to land a move on him, it was quickly dodged.
"If I can't have you, no one will!" cried Fens.
"Sorry sir, I'm not gay." Charlie insulted.
Charlie blocked her next punch but that's when Charlie had punched Fens in her face once, than a second time in her stomach. This caused her to have the breath knocked out of her while she tried to fight back.
"No fair!" choked Fens.
"Smile for the picture." said Charlie.
Charlie landed one more punch in Fens face and it left her a bit dizzy. Fens had walked backwards in a dizzy state and fell over to the ground. Bog charged at him next as he didn't have a weapon but he was using hand and hand combat as he was fast with his moves when he tried to land a punch of kick but Charlie was faster as he was showing to be toying with Bog.
"I'm going to make you regret what you did and for placing the blame on me." growled Bog.
"And if you were a genius. You would regret this." said Charlie giggling.
In one swift kick, he kicked Bog in his crotch really hard, causing him to gasp from pain. Bog's legs quivered as a loud crack was heard. Charlie nearly stopped but Bog grabbed hold of his crotch in pain.
"He broke the athletic cup." groaned Bog.
"And I'm gonna break something else." said Charlie.
Charlie raised his leg up and swung his foot in Bog's face, kicking him in his face and sending him flying a few feet away, landing on the ground and looking dizzy.
"But Captain Grime, I don't want to get out of bed today." Bog said dizzily.
Mire was the next one to charge at Charlie with a vicious animal like growl but Charlie managed to scare Mire with a loud, ferocious, velociraptor like roar that sounded so loud, so scary and so realistic that Mire stopped in his tracks. This caused Mire to shake with fear at such a scary roar. Mire backed away and cowarded in fear behind some of the toad soldiers.
"Some army you have, cyclops! I'm about to lay the biggest smackdown on your candy-ass!" shouted Charlie thrilled.
Charlie suddenly let out an evil cackling laugh like he did before. That raspy, scratchy, high, madman like evil laugh. That laugh even put a sense of fear in the army of toads. There was only one thing that cut Charlie's confidence short. Sasha pulled her sword out and walked towards Charlie.
"Enough!" Sasha interrupted.
Charlie's laugh came to an abrupt halt. Sasha was now standing at least six feet away from Charlie as she tried to appear sympathetic.
"Charlie sweety, are you really going to risk your life for these talking frogs like Anne? We don't even belong here. Don't you wanna get back home? See your family? Be at home to that house full of women?" asked Sasha appearing sympathetic.
Charlie would think for a minute. His mother, his aunt and them six other young and beautiful women that he lives with back the world him, Sasha, Marcy and Anne live in. He missed their hugs and kisses and their loving nature. His rage turned to sentimental feelings.
"I do, but." said Charlie at first.
"Then put your sword down now. Before you hurt yourself or anyone else. If you actually lay a hand on me, you'll be seen as a brute and no one will love a brute. If you obey me now, maybe we can get back together. End of discussion." said Sasha with a cold expression.
Charlie saw that he still had the samurai sword in his hand and he looked right at Sasha. He never knew Sasha would try to get back with him but he also felt like he didn't want to leave Anne. Even Anne knew that Sasha was lying.
"But." Charlie said feebly.
"Put your sword down now or you'll be so sorry!" Sasha yelled.
Sasha had yelled harshly in Charlie's face, causing him to feel his heart shatter along with his spirit. He looked down at his feet, tried hard not to burst into tears as he lowered his sword down. Sasha smiled.
"There we go. That's a good boy. There. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" said Sasha sounding condescending.
Sasha's smug behavior was short lived when a big ball of mud was launced at Sasha's face. She wiped her face clean of the mud and appeared irate.
"Oh come on!" said Sasha annoyed.
Everyone has gasped and saw the person who launched the mud ball at Sasha was Sprig as he had his sling shot at the ready. Charlie saw that even Anne tossed a mud ball at her and it hit Sasha's face, causing her to wipe her face clean.
"For someone who thinks she knows what's best for Charlie and wanting to show him love after how you treat him. You sure don't know him very well. Charlie's smart, brave, strong, he's better with the ladies, he doesn't respond very well to your cruel, vicious cycle of abuse. He responds better with the positive support we've been giving him, did he ask for anything in return? No, he only wanted to be loved. Anne certainly is a better girl friend to Charlie than you'll ever be. And most of all, he's not gonna be pushed around by a bully like you. You're just a bossy boots! A mean girl." Sprig defended.
Charlie felt a relief and smiled. Anne came to Charlie's side and had a devious idea to show Sasha what for.
"Hey Sasha, check this out." said Anne.
Anne had pulled Charlie in her arms and she planted her soft lips to his in a passionate kiss. Charlie felt his heart and mind race from the kiss and he kissed her back. Seeing them kiss only enraged Sasha. Anne eventually pulled her lips off him and hugged him, gently rocking him back and forth.
"Ā akachan, anata wa watashi no tamashī no imōtodesu." said Charlie feeling better in knowing how much Anne, the Plantars and the Wartwood residents love him.
"And you are my soul brother." said Anne kindly.
"Take that blondie!" said Polly taunting Sasha.
"I had enough of you and them frogs." said Sasha.
Sasha raised her sword and looked like she was about to strike Sprig and Polly but as the two kids closed their eyes. They heard a sword like clink and opened their eyes. They saw that Charlie's sword had blocked Sasha's sword. Charlie turned to face Sasha with a look of rage.
"Charlie, what are you doing?" said Sasha wide eyed.
"I should've done this long ago. Standing up to you. Last chance, leave the toad army and come to the good side." warned Charlie.
"I'll take the other option." said Sasha.
Charlie's eyes suddenly turned into a glowing gold color which Charlie pushed Sasha forwards, sending her three feet away.
"Charlie, what about your dad, maybe I could find him and get him to see you again." Sasha attempted to calm him.
"I got a father, and his name is Hopediah Plantar." said Charlie raising his sword.
Hop Pop felt an overwhelming sense of pride when he heard such sweet words. Charlie looked back at Anne and the Plantars. They saw his gold eyes glowing were surprised by this but they still showed their support to him.
"Thanks for believing in me guys." said Charlie kindly.
"Channe against the world." said Anne proudly.
Captain Grime chuckled with a grin. Sasha shot Captain Grime a dirty look.
"What are you laughing at?" snapped Sasha.
"Looks like you've got a rebellious seed of your own. You've given me plenty of advice. Now let me give you some. Stamp this out. Make him yield and make him cry like the way you used to. Fail, and nothing will ever be the same." Captain Grime advised.
Sasha turned to face Charlie who looked right back at her with his glowing gold eyes.
"Not gonna happen." Sasha said looking determined.
Sasha faced Charlie with her determined expression while Captain Grime had an idea in mind.
"This should be fun." said Captain Grime to himself at first. "My friends! Instead of a messy free-for-all with a one creature army. I have a splendid idea. How about we settle this the toad-fashioned way?" said Captain Grime snapping his fingers.
The toad soldiers with a shield all gathered around Charlie and Sasha as if to form a fighting ring.
"Oh no. This won't be a fair fight for him." said Hop Pop. "My parental instincts are freaking out, Anne."
"Have faith in our boy, Hop Pop." said Anne looking hopeful but she felt worried.
"Trial by combat! If your champion wins, you all go home, no harm, no foul. And the boy goes home with you! But if our champion wins, than he's ours." Captain Grime continued with a chuckle.
"Charlie, you don't have to do this." said Hop Pop looking worried.
"Yes, I do, Hop Pop." said Charlie showing a stoic face.
"Begin!" called Captain Grime.
Charlie and Sasha would circle around as they were about to battle it out with a sword fight.
"Sensō ga shōri suru made watashi wa heishi no mamadesu." said Charlie in a deep Japanese accented male voice.
Sasha charged at Charlie with an enraged scream and she swung her sword at Charlie but the young boy deflected and blocked her sword with his own. Sasha tried striking Charlie down but Charlie proved to be faster than Sasha somehow as Sasha and Charlie's swords kept clanking everytime their swords would collide.
"You're such a brat! Even when I beat you up, I can't believe you told on me. I was grounded for so long." growled Sasha.
"Hurts, doesn't it. I'm about to lay the biggest smackdown on your candy-ass." Charlie insulted.
Sasha groaned and tried to slash at Charlie but Charlie was too fast and he dodged her moves. They swung their swords at each other but it only got their swords to struggle in pressing against the others swords. They got into each others faces.
"What's gotten into you, Charlie? You were never like this back home. You were such a sweet boy." grunted Sasha.
"Do you ever stop talking? Back than, you just wanted a yes man to push around." grunted Charlie.
Charlie used his sword to connect with Sasha's sword and in one swift swing, he pulled Sasha's sword out of her hands and knocked her sword a few feet away from her reach.
"I will remain a soldier till the war is won, what!" said Charlie mimicking a male African-American's voice.
Sasha reached behind her and pulled out a dagger.
"Charlie, heads up!" warned Mrs. Croaker.
Charlie turned and blocked Sasha's move with his sword deflecting her dagger which Sasha ran to get her sword and in a roll and tumble, she grabbed her sword and charged at Charlie again. They swing their swords at one another, deflecting their moves in loud, metalic clanks. Sasha pulled her cape off her and tossed it at Charlie. It landed on his face, blinding him. Sasha spun her leg out in a circle and tripped Charlie, knocking him to the ground.
"Hey, that's not fair!" said Toadstool.
Charlie pulled the cape off him and saw Sasha bearing her sword at him.
"They're just slimy little frogs, Charlie. They don't matter! Do as your told!" shouted Sasha.
Charlie looked at Sasha with anger and she saw his eyes glowing brighter with a gold color and what everyone else saw next was unbelievable. Charlie's dark hair suddenly turned gold and his body formed to shape up to become more muscular as if he was shape shifting.
"They're not just frogs. They're my friends! And I got the most beautiful lady in the world as my girl, and she isn't you." said Charlie defiantly.
Charlie swung his sword up and knocked the sword and dagger out of Sasha's hands. Charlie got up on his feet and both Sasha's weapons went up into the air and fell to the stoned covered ground. They sung into the ground like a shovel in the dirt. Charlie pointed his sword in her direction.
"It's over, Sash. You're not gonna push me around anymore. I'm with Anne now, you're just a mean popular girl that everyone hates. I hate you, Sasha! End of discussion." said Charlie throwing her words in her face.
Many of the frogs and Anne were whooping it up and cheering for Charlie.
"Go Charlie go!" cheered Anne and the Plantars.
Charlie's gold glowing eyes disappeared and his real eye color returned. He smiled and looked at Captain Grime.
"It's over cyclops. I predict that you're going to be seen as a traitor to this land, your army will abandon you, you'll be all alone with no one to blame but yourself. That'll be my biggest fuck you I can give you. Suck on that, mother fucker!" said Charlie triumphant.
Captain Grime showed a wide eyed shocked expression with his jaw dropping open. This was the first time he showed shock on his face.
"So how about it, cyclops? We're free, right? I beat you, your army and your champion fair and square." said Charlie placing his sword back in it's sheath.
Captain Grime suddenly smiled wickedly. Charlie's smile faded a bit as he knew this wasn't a good sign.
"Yeah, I don't think so." said Captain Grime.
Captain Grime sucked in a big amount of air and looked like he was about to attack but Charlie was quick on his feet.
"Anne, toss me my bag!" said Charlie.
Anne reached out to grab Charlie's bag and she tossed it at him, having him catch it in his hands. Charlie saw Captain Grime shoot his huge tongue out towards him like a whip about to hit it's target. Charlie dodged that toad's huge tongue by jumping upwards into the air and he jumped at least twenty feet into the air, shocking everyone. Many people gasped.
"I missed again?" Captain Grime said shocked.
As Captain Grime's tongue retracted, that's when Charlie landed on his feet without pain or injury, but he did make the ground rumble a bit from the landing. Charlie stood up as he had something in his hands, it looked like a grenade with a red mark on it. Everyone had seen the weapon in his hands and the toads were showing visible fear.
"Oh shit, no!" said Bog coming out of his dizzy haze.
"Young man, put that down!" Captain Grime panicked.
"If that grenade goes off here, we'll all die!" Sasha said also panicking.
The grenade was the size of Charlie's shoes. An evil grin spread across the young boy's face.
"What are you, fucking nuts?" said Charlie deviously.
Charlie let out his evil cackling laugh like he was a crazy person. Sasha got up and looked like she was ready to beg and plead with Charlie to not pull the ring off that grenade. During Charlie's evil laughter, his grenade got pulled out of his hands and he saw that a huge blue tongue was what tugged it out of his hands. Bog suddenly had the weapon in his hands.
"I got it!" cried Bog.
Their victory was short lived when Bog saw the grenade's ring wasn't connected to the weapon and he looked at Charlie, seeing the grenade's ring was hanging on his index finger. Charlie's smile turned to a mix of panic and anger.
"Uh oh." said Bog looking stupid.
"Bog, you dumbass! That grenade can take down the entire tower!" shouted Captain Grime.
Bog was wide eyed with fear but out of panic, he tossed the grenade but it went into the direction of the tower. Charlie had one idea in mind now to get the innocent lives out of the line of fire that was coming.
"Residents of Wartwood! Run for it! Don't argue with me, just run as far away from here as you can, now!" shouted Charlie.
"But what about you!" Toadie said looking shocked.
"It's life or death! Run!" Charlie commanded.
The grenade that got tossed at the tower suddenly exploded and it caused a lot of fire to erupt from it. The tower was starting to shake like an earthquake.
"Toadstool, take the residents back, that's an order!" Charlie demanded.
"Yes sir! Run for it, citizens!" said Toadstool.
Toadstool and the residents of Wartwood took off but the only ones that stayed behind were Anne, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop. The tower was falling down like a building of cards. The toad army also took off. The stone ground was caving in and the spot where Sasha stood was crumbling as the ground was caving in from other sides.
"Charlie!" screamed Sasha.
The spot Sasha stood in had caved in and as she was about to fall, Charlie jumped forwards and grabbed hold of Sasha's hand while Charlie kept a foot of his on a stone that acted like a hook.
"Don't let go!" Charlie cried.
Charlie had a strong grip and with his strength, he was able to hold onto Sasha like it was child's play. The part of the ground they were on crumbled a bit more, nearly having them slip. Sasha let out a scream while Charlie looked down at how far the drop was, he was filled with fear as he tried thinking of an idea to save them both.
"Anne!" called Charlie.
Sasha saw that Charlie was panicking from fear as tears streaked down his face. Sasha felt fear as well as she didn't want to fall nor die. The flooring was nearly crumbling more while they screamed a bit, but Charlie kept his feet grounded to prevent them from falling, his grip with his feet was weakening.
"Can't hold on much longer. Mommy! I want my mommy!" cried Charlie.
The stone that Charlie had his grip on with his feet suddenly gave in and just as soon as they were about to fall, someone grabbed hold of Charlie's feet. Charlie's fear had surrendered and he looked up to see that the one who got his feet is Anne while Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly grabbed hold of each other as they struggled to try and pull them up.
"Sasha, it's alright. Just don't let go! I want you to live!" cried Charlie.
"We got you, Charlie." grunted Anne.
"Hop Poppy's got you, boy!" called Hop Pop.
Charlie looked back at Sasha as the part of the ground beneath them was slowly weakening as cracks would form. Charlie felt like his courage was rising up out of him slowly like slow running water through a stream. His fear on his face turned to stoicism.
"Sasha, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If we get out of this, please come with us and leave the toads, they're just using you. We'd never use you! Everything will be fine if you just come with us. Let me take you home!" said Charlie begging Sasha to change.
Sasha could see that Charlie was trying to show her compassion as if he suspected no one ever showed her that. The part of the ground was forming bigger cracks and Polly could see it from her view.
"We got you, Charlie!" cried Anne.
"No matter what, we got you." said Sprig and Hop Pop in unison.
"Uh, guys? I think we have a situation." Polly warned.
Sasha felt a deep dreading feeling overcome her, she knew that Charlie was with Anne and he no longer is with her, she felt like that Charlie could no longer be kept under her thumb. Tears formed out of the corners of her eyes as she had a guilty look on her face.
"Maybe you're better off without me, baby!" said Sasha sadly.
Charlie didn't know what she meant but he got his answer when Sasha let go of Charlie's hand as she fell. Charlie was wide eyed.
"No! Help her Jesus! Help her Jesus!" Charlie begged.
Before Sasha could fall deeper, a very huge purple tongue shot out from nowhere and it reached for Sasha, wrapped around her like a rope and pulled her up like a bungee cord used when people go bungee jumping. Anne and the Plantars managed to pull Charlie up and they got him on the ground that remained. The tower was completely destroyed. They looked on to see that the huge tongue that grabbed Sasha was Captain Grime. Charlie was wide eyed with shock as he saw that Sasha was unconscious. Captain Grime was carrying her in his arms and looked at her for a moment, than back at Charlie, looking genuinely distraught at Sasha's injuries.
"Bangō." Charlie uttered heavily.
Captain Grime glared at Charlie as he looked vengeful. Captain Grime heard Charlie's words in his head that sounded like insult to injury to him.
"I predict that you're going to be seen as a traitor to this land, your army will abandon you, you'll be all alone with no one to blame but yourself. That'll be my biggest fuck you I can give you. Suck on that, mother fucker!"
Captain Grime and his toad army all left as they disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Charlie's face turned from stoic to a mix or stoic, anger and emotionally upset. Sprig came over to Charlie's side, he could see the look on Charlie's face and he could sense his heart was broken.
"Charlie, are you... okay?" said Sprig with a sympathetic look.
Charlie was silent as he tried hard not to break down this time but the battle against that emotional war had him beat. Big amount of tears formed out of his eyes as he tried not to cry out so loud. Sprig quickly pulled Charlie in his arms to hug him, than Anne joined in to hug him, so did Hop Pop and Polly.
"Go on, big guy, let it out. There's no shame in boys letting it out." said Polly showing compassion.
As they hugged a grieving Charlie, even Anne silently grieved with him. It was already sunrise and both Anne, Hop Pop, Polly, Sprig and Charlie walked away from the destroyed tower. They caught up with the residents of Wartwood as they waited for them at the spider drawn floats. The Wartwood residents saw that Charlie wasn't looking too good. Without warning, Charlie looked down at his feet and he took off running.
"Charlie!" cried Anne.
Charlie ran passed the Wartwood residents who looked on in concern towards him.
"Charlie wait!" called Toadstool.
Charlie didn't respond as he headed for Wartwood while everyone else followed him. They knew that this is the first time anyone had seen Charlie so emotionally broken.