Hello all, nearly there! The named Dark Ambient troll was designed by Star-Powdered-glitter on Tumblr! She's an absolute sweetie, and Lily will be a GREAT help in the next chapter! Lily is a sweet heart with an amazing design, and I'm hoping I can convince them to post the sheet, since it's so fantastic!

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As Trollex made his way back towards Volcano rock city, he hoped he had at least a day to discuss things with Barb. He didn't plan to keep the Dark Ambient trolls here, but it was the only place he could think of with plenty of space to spare and land to share. Besides, it was close enough to the ancestral home of the Dark Ambient anyway.

He just hoped that the other leaders wouldn't be too angry with him. He didn't regret his decision, or his desire to help those trolls, but even still, he had to admit he jumped the gun, and now had no idea where they'd live.

He paused as he floated past a bush, hearing a conversation from the other side. He slipped into the bush, wanting to find out what was happening.

"Barb's been going crazy Riff, you gotta do something! You're one of her closest friends!" He recognized that voice! It was Queen Poppy! He glanced through the leaves, spotting Poppy and Riff sitting on the pebbled beach. Riff was hugging his knees to his chest, tugging at and wringing his hat he held in his hands, allowing his sloppy hair to fall any which way.

Poppy looked tired, which was a shock to see. In the short time he'd known her, Trollex had never seen Poppy look so drained. Riff let out a quiet whine, biting his hat. "There's nothing I can do, Queen Poppy… She's anxious after what Beat told us. The other leaders are on their way, and thanks to her stress, she's been snapping at everyone… There's no way I can let her greet everyone, but I don't think I can do it!"

She sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "I know, Riff… I still can't believe it… a whole tribe of trolls no one ever even knew was there, and Trollex and so many Techno trolls are trapped down there, with no way out…"

Trollex decided it was time to make his presence known. "Well, not entirely." He slipped out of the bushes, grinning at Poppy as he held his arms out. "Did you miss me, guys?"

He had expected some surprise, sure, and heck, even some anger! But… dead silence and an awkward stare he was not prepared for. He deflated a little bit, his brow arching curiously. "Uhhh… guys?"

Poppy stood slowly, staring at him. "Trollex…? I thought… we'd never see you again…"

Her voice seemed to have broken the trance over Riff, and he leapt to his feet as though he'd sat on a log. "BARB!" He ran off, screaming Barb's name excitedly. Clearly he was on his way to let Barb know he was back.

Poppy, on the other hand, looked like someone had dunked her in sparkles. She leapt forward, catching him in a hug that would have popped a jellyfish. He laughed, hugging her back and spinning them both up into the air.

She laughed, shrieking excitedly as she clung to him. Once they had greeted each other in what could only be called the most Pop way ever, they sat together on the beach, looking out over the ocean as Trollex told her about his time in the Abyss.

"So wait, let me get this straight, there really IS a whole race of trolls down there, and… they've been mixing with other tribes since before the strings? Whoa… Trollex you're amazing! When you first came to Pop village, you could barely shake a troll's hand, and you just found a whole tribe! But… I thought that no one could get out of that place, that's why Beat had to come."

Trollex nodded a bit, stretching out his fins on the warm pebbles. "Yeah, but apparently there really was something I could do. I faced off against a really creepy shadow thing, punched it a few times, and ended up out here! I sent the Guardian back with my shell to help everyone get up here… I don't know how long it'll take them to be ready, but I told the Guardian to bring them to the beach here. I hope I hope I at least have time to warn Barb."

As though on que, they both heard trolls approaching. They turned and Trollex beamed when he saw Barb, Riff and Branch running towards them. "Guys! Long-time no see!"

He felt something tickling his instincts. Something about the grin Barb was flashing told him he was in for it. As she closed the distance, she suddenly leapt at him. "Trollex you dunce!" He managed to slip out of the way of her charge, just in time as she face planted into the beach.

All present flinched at the impact, even Trollex. "Oops… Sorry Barb." He held out his hand to help her up.

She lifted her head and spat out a mouthful of pebbles. She took the proffered hand and pulled herself up with his help, before dusting herself off and spitting out another pebble. "S'okay. Think I chipped a tooth though." She smiled at him, then gave his a swift punch in the arm, though it was like and amicable. "There, I feel better now."

He chuckled, rubbing lightly at his arm. "OK, yeah, I think I deserved that."

Branch stepped forward, his eyes sparkling nearly as brightly as Poppy's did when she talked about a party. "Trollex! You're back! So we were right then, there was a seventh tribe! You even got your green back! It was from them, right?"

Trollex was about to tell Branch about the Abyss, but he paused when he saw the curious looks of Poppy, Branch and Riff. After a moment, their eyes widened. They yelled at the same time. "YOU GOT YOUR GREEN BACK!"

He deadpanned, looking between the three. "You… just noticed…?" Branch face palmed, and the two boys shared a chuckle. Some trolls weren't the most perceptive.

The group shared their laughter, Trollex happy to be back. The laughter died out quickly though, as Branch stared over Trollex's shoulder. "What… what IS that…?"

He turned around, and saw a black swirling mass formed in the air. He grinned and turned back to his friends, floating upwards a bit so they could watch the gate. "Guys, meet my newest friends… The dark Ambient trolls."

Their eyes were riveted to the black swirling gate as three figures began to step out of it, shielding their eyes from the light above.

Sheo blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the light. "My… I never imagined it would be so… bright…!"

Vespa rubbed at her eyes. "Yes, I had always wanted to see the surface… seems we still must wait a while to actually see it."

Myla was looking around, wonder painted on her face, even past the watery eyes and squint. "Mum, dad… look! It's so pretty… ah!" The three jumped slightly when shade suddenly spread over them, muting the light just enough that they could see a bit more clearly. What they saw were two Pop trolls, using their hair to make an impromptu canopy over them.

Branch stepped forward a bit, looking like a troll that just discovered music. "You guys… You three must be the royal family! My name is Branch, and this is Queen Poppy, Queen Barb, and her friend Riff." He gave a small bow, which seemed to make Vespa rather happy.

Sheo gave a small bow of his own. "It's a pleasure to meet you all at long last…My name is Sheo, this is my wife, Vespa, and our daughter, Myla." He glanced towards Trollex, and smiled so brightly. "Trollex… Thank you."

Vespa nodded, stepping forward to address the young king of Techno. "Yes… thank you, truly. We had nearly lost all hope… even my father told me not to look to this day, but… I never gave up, and you came to us…" She bowed deeply to him, catching him off guard. "We are forever in your debt…"

Poppy smiled brightly. "Well, on behalf of those of us up here, welcome!"

Barb gave Poppy a light shove. "My territory, my job! Don't spoil this for me, Pop-squeak!" She cleared her throat, then set her hands on her hips and puffed her chest. "Yo! Welcome to Volcano rock city! Stay as long as you want!"

Myla smiled and ran back to the portal, sticking her head into it before pulling away again. She looked back at the group and grinned. "We might want to step back and give a bit of room." As the group moved away, Poppy, Branch, Barb and Riff were riveted on the portal, watching as troll after troll emerged, all blinking and wincing from the light. Poppy gasped sharply as a Pop troll stepped through the portal. She knew they had other tribes, but to see a Pop troll so close to her own age was still a bit shocking.

When a little green blur darted out and into the air, looking around in a panic, Trollex felt his heart jump. "BEAT!"

Beat stopped, and looked directly at Trollex. A moment later, and he took off like a shot, slamming into Trollex's chest as he sobbed wildly, crying about how he was going to kill Trollex for the heart attack.

"Wait… Crash?!" Barb and Riff sprinted forward, pulling a Rock troll that had just stepped through the portal. They pulled him to the side, looking him over in shock. Barb rested a hand on her hip "I… how?! I thought you fell in the volcano!"

The new troll, Crash, gave a little shrug. "So did I, but when I woke up, I was down in the Abyss with the other trolls down there. It was really weird." He looked up at the volcano, and grinned. "Glad to be back, but I'm not taking any more dares to walk the rim of the volcano."

Before anyone had realized it, the beach was filled with trolls, who were all trying their best to adjust to the light as they talked excitedly amongst themselves. The children were all yelling happily and pointing at just about everything they saw.

One tried to take off, which was when a new problem came to light. The young troll fumbled in the air before getting blown off course, dropping back down to the beach. This seemed to start all the Dark Ambient trolls perking their Antennae, many now seaming a bit queasy as others tried and failed to fly, getting tossed about in the small air currents.

Sheo took notice, and spread his wings. "Seems there's a bit of a problem we didn't think of…" He leapt into the air, stumbling almost immediately as he tried to straighten himself. "Whoa! Alright, that's the problem… we've never flown with air currents and winds before…"

Trollex watched the trolls from the Abyss biting his lip a bit. Maybe he could ask Trollzart to help? They had similar wings, for the most part. He certainly couldn't help. Yeah, Techno trolls could sense currents and eddies in air and water, but… "Wait…" He looked up at Sheo, and gestured over his own head to call Sheo's antenna. "Try focusing, Sheo. You all have a bit of every troll, right? Techno can sense currents, it helps us, maybe it can help you?"

The king nodded, closing his eyes as his antennae unfurled more, twitching slightly. Suddenly, he winced, looking ill. He thumped to the ground, groaning softly. "Don't… don't try that again… oh gods everything is spinning…"

Poppy ran forward, kneeling next to Sheo to help him up. Barb ran back, followed by Riff. "I think we should get them to the infirmary. They aren't looking to hot… "

Trollex looked out over the trolls, and sure enough, most had fallen to their knees, if not lying sprawled on the ground looking nauseous. Luckily, Barb had run out of Volcano rock city screaming about throttling Trollex so loudly that a huge crowd of rock trolls had followed as sneakily as they could.

Some began to come out of the bushes nearby, helping the trolls to their feet. Eventually the Rock trolls had managed to help the former residents back to Volcano rock city, the Techno trolls that had been taken after the rave helped as well, being the ones most well-adjusted to the surface.

Barb looked down towards Sheo. "Do you guys have any doctors? We don't know anything about you, but we need to, to be able to help."

The king nodded weakly, and scanned the crowd. Amongst them he spotted a soft blue Dark Ambient troll with pale golden hair, who was trying her best to aid a child that was crying and clinging to her. "There… that's Lily… head doctor…" He looked over to Barb. "She can help… she's the best we have."

Barb nodded, and sent a Rock troll to speak with her, and Lily seemed tense, but relaxed slightly when the Rock troll knelt down and began to help her and the child. Lily looked at the young troll and smiled. "You're going to be ok..." She returned her attention to the Rock troll. "I'll help how I can." She began walking the other rock trolls through what they needed, fresh water, food, a place out of the sun, and somewhere to rest with little wind.

Sheo looked back towards the portal, then at Trollex. "Go to the portal, reach in… you'll pull out your shell and my staff… after that, the Abyss will cease to exist…" He smiled. "It's time for our trolls to finally move on from the darkness…"

Trollex nodded, and made his way to the portal. Once he was in front of it, he could feel that familiar sensation of cold from when he battled the darkness. He smiled. "I ain't going to be scared… I already battled my demons." He stuck his hands in, and felt a sharp tug. He grit his teeth, resisting getting dragged in.

As he resisted the pull, he suddenly felt something enter each of his hand, one small object, and one large. He gave a powerful tug, which set him, the staff, and his shell free. He tumbled through the air a moment as the portal shut, leaving the Guardian sitting on the beach.

As Trollex stopped spinning, he looked down at the staff. When he first saw it, it seemed to have a dark wisp spiralling in the green crystal on top, but now it was a pristine, clear green. He smiled, floating back towards Volcano rock city. He could see Poppy, Branch, Riff and Barb helping the royal family towards the city. It would all end alright. They were home, even if he didn't know where their home would be.