A.N. — I saw one Amphibia season two finale spoiler and had to go seek it out to watch before it all was ruined. And, man, it wrecked me. So, if you haven't watched it yet, please don't read this. If you have, come mourn with me. Title was from the song I had on loop while writing this, by Haken (from their album The Mountain).

Falling Back to Earth

1. Marcy

There's a plasma blade neatly skewering her, back to front, and all Marcy can think in the moment is, "lightsabers look cool, but hurt like hell."

The never-ending quests with Anne and Sasha had, in Marcy's mind, at some point involved lightsabers. They were three badass, independent teens, and they were due some cool plasma weaponry! Nowhere in her calculations was the crippling sense of betrayal and loss that her decision to involve the calamity box eventually engendered. And now, Marcy was paying for her folly in blood.

As surely as the King's weapon had pierced her abdomen, it had also forever shattered her last preconceptions of this fantasy world they'd found themselves in. Even moments before, Marcy had still been treating this whole endeavour as a grand campaign, a great chance to level up and have a team-building adventure with her besties. She didn't know whether it was Sprig's silhouette disappearing through a tower window or Anne putting Super Saiyans to shame that did it, but the stakes were frighteningly real to Marcy. The backstabbing, really, just drove the point home.

Before the burning agony of the blade buried in her flesh could render her insensate, Marcy had to try to make this right with her friends. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sasha's crumpled form at the base of a dented stone wall. Marcy did not want to think of the forces required for a spongy human body to be able to crater masonry like Sasha apparently had, but her ever-racing mind betrayed her.

Seeing the blonde worryingly unresponsive, Marcy focused on Anne in front of her. The Plantars, good frog folk they were, had stuck by Anne, even though this harrowing ordeal. And now they were staring at her wounded form with the same horror held in Anne's gaze. Half in, half out of the portal, torn between the nascent promise of home and the bonds forged in Amphibia.

Well, Marcy might very well be dying, but she could make the choice easier on them.

"I'm sorry...for everything."

There were no tears in their eyes this time. Not like when Sprig was released into the twilit sky and everyone feared the worst. No, this time the assembled group knew the worst was already a foregone conclusion and were simply waiting to see it played out. There was no peace made with the situation, just a finality accepted. The portal was open now, and they wouldn't get another chance. Once the blade was removed, the blood loss would kill her quickly. Marcy catalogued this alongside the knowledge that Anne would still keep on hoping, even after all hope was gone.

But there was no time for any more sentimentality. The box snapped shut, and the whiteness saturated the room. And, as her consciousness dimmed, Marcy didn't know if she was coming to meet her maker or simply imagining a best-case scenario for her friends in her final moments. In the space between seconds, Marcy's torso squelched as it slid off the sword, and she fell bonelessly to the cold cobbled floor. The King was leering down at her, and Marcy was thankful at least he missed Anne and company slipping into the human realm.

Now only if that Play Again? prompt would pop up...