"Guy Diamond! Smidge! Legsly!"

"Oh, not us?" Bella groaned in dismay.

"Quick! Hop on!"

The six Trolls formed a chain themselves before they all jumped together and landed on top of the vehicle, taking Biggie's hand as he pulled them inside. Guy Diamond's group shook their heads, attempting to physically recover from that sudden adrenaline charge and found Biggie's group wearing the most outlandish uniforms. Guy Diamond turned to Biggie and scanned him up and down, wondering two things.

One... What on Earth is he wearing? And Two...

"Where were you? I thought... We thought..."

"I'm sorry, Guy Diamond," Biggie shook his head, "but...I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Legsly tilted her head.

"Of... Of...everything. Everything that's happened so far in this world tour. I...left Poppy. I left her after we visited Lonesome Flats."

"Why?" Gemma tilted her head as well, heartbroken over the full realization.

"It doesn't matter now," Ripley comforted her, "What does is that he realized his mistakes and came back to lead the mission to save Poppy and the others."

Even though he shouldn't have left her in the first place...

Ripley didn't like lying to young Trolls, but she also didn't like exposing the harsh realities of the world to them too soon. This lie was solely for Gemma's sake...as well as her own.

"She's right," Gia nodded, "We'll...talk about that later. What's the plan?"

"We need to sneak inside," Maddy turned to Nova, "and it helps to have disguises."

"And fortunately for us all..." Nova herself pilled a pile of neatly folded costumes from Maddy's hair, "I am the master of disguises."

Karma, after taking one good look at the "disguises", shot Nova a deadpan look, "Are you? Really?"

"Don't judge me..."


Four to five hours in, and the group's anxiety was dialed up to eleven. Poppy and Branch sheathed their swords and holstered their handguns; Queen Essence, King Quincy, and Prince D readied their hoverboards; Delta Dawn and Hickory pumped their shotguns; Meadow Spriggs and Growly Pete cocked their lever-action rifles; The Reggaeton and K-Pop Gangs checked the optics of their semi-automatic rifles; DJ Suki, King Trollex, and Trollzart readied their musical equipment; Harper and Archer made sure all the children (plus Pennywhistle and Techno Beat) were safe and secure; Moxie, Aspen, and Bliss Marina loaded the machine guns on all sides; and Satin and Chenille were navigating the path with the help of Creek and Chaz.

"Poppy. Branch."

The couple looked up after having their names called by the latter one and, after walking over to the trio, were handed a pair of binoculars. Taking a view, Volcano Rock City was visible in the far distance, catching off guard the both of them who expected it to be the opposite of Pop Village and the other tribes, just not like this.

"Is that...?"

"Barb's homeland..."

"It looks awesome."

Poppy, Branch, Chenille, Chaz, and Creek turned to Satin in surprise.

"What?"

"I will admit," Ari shrugged, "Barb's got style."

"Anyway..." Chaz took the binoculars and took a look himself, "We should be getting close, approximately another hour in."

"We'll get a head start, then," Prince D revved up his hoverboard.

"Poppy, Branch, come along," Queen Essence and King Quincy did the same as Poppy and Branch approached them.

"Poppy? Branch?"

They both turned towards Creek, who now wore an facial expression of equal parts grimness and uncertainty.

"Please be careful."

Poppy and Branch should've really counted the number of times that this new and "improved" Creek surprised them, coming a long way from the traitorous and cowardly Pop Troll Guru they once knew and loathed with a passion. Nonetheless, they both nodded in understanding.

"You too."

"All of you."

The group returning the nods, Poppy and Branch stood in front of their respective pilots (King Quincy and Queen Essence) as they were attached to them with seatbelt-like devices to prevent them from falling.

"I'm coming with you," Hickory slung one shotgun over his shoulders and holstered the other in his leg brace as he walked toward Prince D.

"Now wait just a minute, mister!" Delta Dawn frowned.

When Hickory was spun around to face her, one could imagine his surprise when Delta Dawn didn't stop him from going or yell at him more. No, she instead planted a giant kiss on his lips, much to the astonishment of everyone, especially himself...at first, anyway. He practically melted into the embrace, but it was broken before he (or she) could get carried away. Meeting the eyes of a very pissed-off Mayor/Sheriff, Delta pulled Hickory and smiled dangerously.

"You be careful out there...or I'll kill you myself."

"Y-Y-Yes, Miss Delta," Hickory was rendered a stumbling mess, amusing the younger Trolls with the exception of CJ, who exchanged an acknowledging look with her aunt. DJ herself blushed and looked away in shame as Delta's smile then softened.

"Now go get some."

"Yes, ma'am..."

Delta gave Hickory a gentle push when it was clear that he couldn't think straight, let alone walk straight. Prince D chuckled under his breath as he helped the lovestuck Troll along, attaching his seatbelt to him. He then leapt out of the balloon, followed by his parents, who took the lead as they flew toward Volcano Rock City.

As Clampers watched them fly away, her eyes widened in realization and turned toward her aunt.

"Does this mean that I have an Uncle now?"

Delta's eyes comically widened in horror as she turned toward her niece, who eagerly awaited an answer...as much as the others who looked at her expectantly.

Ugh. I brought this upon myself.


"All right, where do we put these things?"

"Put them there with the others."

"I need a circuit hookup..."

"Let's pick up the pace, folks!" Carol called out, "Barb's concert is in a few minutes!"

As Biggie's group watched from above, they waited until Carol disappeared around the corner leading a couple of Rock Trolls, taking the opportunity to sneak past them. They needed to find and set free as many Trolls they could.

"Ok, come on," Gia nodded, "Let's go, let's go, let's go..."

The group began crossing a precariously narrow bridge with nothing but the sound of chattering Rock Trolls, busy stagehands, and jingling bells echoing in their ears.

. . .

Wait, what?

Sid Fret heard the jingling bells as well and turned away from his friend Stevie, drawing a large club to confront the intruders.

"Hey. Stop right there."

The group indeed stopped dead in their tracks, holding their breaths in terror.

"Legsly, I told you not to wear your anklet," Biggie whispered.

"Now? Really?" Ripley called out to him.

"Only Rock Trolls are allowed back here," Stevie drew a switchblade.

"Well..." The group looked at Biggie, who gestured to them to jump down and follow his lead, "It's funny you should mention that, because..."

They did just that, despite knowing that this was probably not going to end well as they hoped. When the light shone upon them, their outfits were revealed to be...decidedly not hardcore to mimic the Rock Trolls' fashion, to put it mildly.

Biggie was dressed in a white studded jumpsuit; Mr. Dinkles donned a jet-black, slicked-back toupee; Karma and Maddy wore red-and-white cheerleader uniforms, complete with pom-poms; Guy Diamond and Sky Toronto wore red-and-white varsity jackets; Dr. Plum and Legsly wore tight black pants with black-and-white striped tops, giving them a jailhouse vibe; Tiny Diamond and Gemma wore black leather jacket with matching pants; Smidge and Vega Swift wore red dresses with black tortoiseshell glasses; Nova Swift wore her usual uniform, but with a black biker jacket and matching boots in place of purple and sparkling magenta that was her signature and her styled hair dyed black instead of yellow; Bella Brightly wore an all navy-blue suit with a bright blue turtleneck and black sport shades; Gia wore an all navy denim outfit (her jacket was worn above a black see-though mesh shirt that was tucked into her jeans) with black Chelsea boots with matching persol glasses; and Ripley wore a black leather jacket above a muddy blue unitard with fishnet shockings, a black spiked collar, and her two fingerless gloves with built-in brass knuckles.

"We are genuine Hard Rockers," Biggie led the group...with a rather weak electric guitar strum.

All the while, Sid Fret and Stevie stared at them blankly.


Poppy and Branch led the group downward as they landed on the upper level, the Funky Family's hoverboards being stored away in their hair. Wielding their weapons, the tension was building as were the cheers originating from presumably the Rock Trolls. Hickory offered them gumdrops to ease it, prompting Poppy to conjure up another idea as they went along. As they turned a corner, the group accidentally ran into a pair of random Trolls, proving them all not immune to fright.

The first Troll had dark blonde hair tied into a high ponytail, bluebell eyes, narrow brown eyebrows, and a golden velvet skin complexion with sprinkles of glitter and gosamer wings much like Trollzart, but it was downplayed and she had the body of a Pop Troll rather than the cherub appearance of the Classical Trolls. She had wore a red jacket with quarter-length sleeves and a popped beige collar, a long-sleeve white turtleneck with pointed sleeves and red accents, grey jeans, and a brown leather belt with a gold buckle while also wielding a medium-sized sword. The sword itself consisted of a light blue blade with a golden hilt, a turquoise-opal embedded in it.

The second Troll had more angular and feline features as a pointed chin with a straight nose; slanted, almond-shaped, heterochromatic eyes (pale yellow for the left and turquoise for the right); three freckles on both cheeks; soft-curving dark eyebrows; small fangs; large, black, cat-like ears; a long dark brown cat tail, light brown horizontal markings on her arms and three on her back that resemble a tabby cat's stripes; and wild, spiked, cedar brown hair with two lighter colored tufts behind her ears, held back behind a cat-inspired scarlet red headpiece. Her outfit consisted a red leotard with a black garment that covers her collar, a long sleeve on her right arm that had a red diamond on the right shoulder and ended in a fingerless glove, another fingerless glove on her left arm, a black belt, and burgundy-and-black leggings, which open to show the back of her legs mid-thigh. Unlike her partner, she preferred to be barefoot.

"Who are you?" Branch shielded Poppy.

"Who are you?" The gold Troll took a battle stance with her sword as the tan-skinned Troll scanned them up and down.

"I don't know, but they look dope."

"Why, thank you!" Poppy smiled as she introduced herself and her crew, "My name is Queen Poppy, and this is my group: Branch, Hickory, Prince D, Queen Essence, and King Quincy. We're here to save the world from Queen Barb. Wanna join?"

The two Trolls exchanged contemplative looks. The tan-skinned Troll shrugged and the gold Troll smiled back, "Sure. Why not? I'm Adora, and this is Catra."

"S'up?"

"S'up?" Branch smirked.

Poppy lead her group plus two more as they continued down until...

"Hey. Stop right there."

They stopped when they believed they were the ones being referred to but...

"Legsly, I told you not to wear your anklet..."

"Now? Really?"

Poppy knew those voices anywhere. Carefully rushing forward, the group glanced down from where they were to find Sid Fret and Stevie confronting a group of intruders, the latter drawing a switchblade, "Only Rock Trolls are allowed back here."

"Well, it's funny that you mention that, because...we are genuine Hard Rockers."

Biggie and his group then leapt out from the shadows, wearing...

Wearing...

Poppy, Branch, and everyone else exchanged utterly confused looks.

What are they wearing?