Well, the last week had been…harrowing, to say the least. They almost lost Polly and nearly got eaten by a Roc. And since the incident, the Plantar Family has traveled through the Dry Swamp. They linked up with an Acting Troupe that provided them protection and allowed Hop Pop to live out his dream of being an actor. That week and a half of performances was nice, since Anne hadn't been attacked by anymore Fallen since then, but unfortunately, the whole thing was a scam to rob every town they visited blind. It worked, up until Hop Pop found out the truth and decided to listen to his conscience. They stopped the robbers and almost got wrangled up themselves.
They were still traveling through the Dry Swamp, but thankfully their time in this region was almost over as they were going to head to a greener pasture soon. Literally, not metaphorically. This time of relative peace had allowed Anne to contemplate more about what was going on with her. She definitely felt different since awakening the power up called Poison Form, she didn't even know she knew what it was called, but after the fight was over, it just popped into her head.
The power inside of her felt as if it was evolving, as if going through a metamorphosis of sort the more she fought and used it. Anne started to think that perhaps she should train with her power, actually try and will a transform to occur. Until now she had only been reactionary, letting the power take over and guide her through the battle. While she was kind of relieved that herself in Kamen Rider form could fight extremely well, she knew that only stemmed from how strong she was to begin with.
When she was little, her mother took her to learn Muay Thai, which it seemed to translate into her current fighting style when she was Amp but dialed up to eleven. If she got stronger as she was untransformed, would that mean that when she became Amp, she would be even stronger? It was a possibility; it would help more if she could control her transformation so she could see if any training she decided to do was worth it or not. Was she capped at a certain level, or could she get stronger?
The idea of becoming stronger than she was now both thrilled and frightened her. Becoming stronger would ensure that the Fallen wouldn't be able to defeat her and she could easily protect the Plantars, but would becoming stronger also make her less able to recognize friend from foe? Her mind and body were on autopilot when she fought, and anything that came near or attacked her could be perceived as a threat.
Maybe she needed to be more proactive in her heroics outside of being a Kamen Rider to get a better handle on her power? Well, one thing was for sure, she wasn't about to get any thinking done…
"You know, despite all the Fallen stuff, my powers, and the occasional misadventure, things have gone pretty well so far," said Anne.
"Sure have, a little excitement is good for the soul once in a while," said Hop Pop in agreement.
"But the one thing I'd change…"
"The only thing I'd change…"
"YOU STOP PUSHING!"
"NO, YOU STOP PUSHING ME!"
"…IIIIIIIs that."
Sprig and Polly had been bickering for days now, and it was wearing on both Anne and Hop Pop. Normally their little sibling quarrels would last a few hours and that was is it, aside from that Hunter and Alastair incident, but that was when they were back in Wartwood. If they wanted to cool down, Sprig could go into town, or into the woods, and Polly could hop around the house, or go for a little swim in her swimming hole. That was not possible out here. They only had the fwagon, and due to this unfortunate fact, neither of them could get space from one another, so their bickering and arguing would only escalate, getting louder, and getting more grading on the nerves.
"Two weeks of none stop arguing, reeeallly starting to wear on me," said Anne. "I just might Rider Kick them off the cliff!"
"Least they're keepin' it in the fwagon this time," Hop Pop remarked.
Oh, how wrong he was.
Polly burst through the roof latch wearing Sprig's hat, took a deep breath and then spoke in Sprig's voice, "Look everyone I'm Sprig! Look at all this dumb moss I found!" Polly then threw said moss in Hop Pop's face. "Wow! Wooooooowwwww!"
Sprig came around to Anne's side and glared at his younger sister. "Oh yeah?!" Sprig took a deep breath and then began to mimic, perfectly I might add, Polly's voice. "Well, I'm Polly, and I've decided we're all playing Punch Bug!" Sprig then began repeatedly punching Anne's right arm.
"WOOOOW! WOOOOW!"
"PUNCH BUG! PUNCH BUG!"
Anne's left eye twitched as she said, "Okay, this is incredibly annoying, but I gotta say, their impressions of each other are spot on."
"Yep, always had a knack for that," said Hop Pop.
"Uuuuggggh! I don't know if I can take two more weeks of this, Hop Pop! There's gotta be something we can do?!"
Hop Pop squinted his eyes as he looked into the distance, suddenly he pulled on Bessie's reins and brought the fwagon to an abrupt stop, throwing Polly and Sprig off the fwagon and jostling Anne about.
"What the heck, dude, I almost bit my tongue," said Anne.
"Shh! Look!" Hop Pop pointed to a sign at the edge of the cliff which diverged into two separate paths.
"'Quarreler's Pass: A road to reconciliation for weary travel mates'," Polly read. "Okay, so what?"
Sprig quickly understood what Hop Pop might be getting at and asked, "Polly you don't think they're gonna–?!"
"Yeet!" Anne proclaimed as she grabbed both of the Plantar siblings and tossed them onto Quarreler's Pass."
After recovering from the landing, Sprig turned to Anne and Hop Pop and said, "WHAT?!"
"You're seriously leaving us here?!" Polly asked in shock.
"Ah quit yer belly achin'." Hop Pop inspected the sign and then turned it around, on the back was a map that showed both diverging paths eventually converged. "It says here that the paths meet up eventually."
Anne looked down at her adopted siblings and said, "You two, and your fighting, is driving us nuts! You brought this upon yourselves!"
Polly shook her head at what they said and declared as she shoves Sprig, "This is all Sprig's fault! For being so sappy and obnoxious all the time!"
"ME?!" Sprig pushed back and said, "You're the one who's punching everyone!"
"No, you are!"
"No, you are!"
"No, you are!"
"No, you are!"
"No, you are!"
"Mmm-hmm, well, see you two on the other side," said Hop Pop happily. "Good luck."
Anne smiled and reached into her skirt pocket, took out her phone and tossed it to Sprig. "Here if you guys get into any trouble, just call me."
Hop Pop snapped Bessie's reins and the snail took off, leaving Sprig and Polly at the start of Quarrler's Pass.
Anne and Hop Pop made it around the bend, happily laughing at their deed when Anne realized her mistake.
"CALL ME?! UGH! THERE'S ONLY ONE PHONE!" Anne cried.
"I don't get it."
Of course, he didn't get it, Hop Pop didn't know that her phone wasn't just something to watch movies and look at pictures, it's primary function was to serve as a communication device, and hers was the only one in all of Amphibia, it wasn't like she was carrying around two of those things, how could have done that?
Whatever, what's done is done, thought Anne.
Anne and Hop Pop enjoyed the rest of their ride in peaceful silence, the first bout of real silence they've had in almost two whole weeks. It was very relaxing, even without her phone. For some reason, though, Hop Pop was looking a little antsy.
"Finally, peace and quiet."
Anne nodded in agreement.
"Almost a little too quiet."
Anne shrugged.
"Heh-ha, almost a little awkward," said Hop Pop as he bit his bottom lip.
Anne slowly opened her eyes and realized that this might've been a mistake.
"So do you have a boyfriend back home?"
Anne's immediate response to was kick the old frog off the fwagon. Hop Pop fell onto the road and lied there for a minute. Anne sighed and stopped Bessie, allowing Hop Pop to catch up and climb back on.
"Okay, I deserved that," Hop Pop admitted.
"I'm glad you understand that," said Anne.
The old frog nodded, and then asked, "Then do you have a girlfriend?"
"YEET!"
"Yeet? AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Hop Pop cried as he was tossed off the fwagon for the second time.
About three minutes after that incident, Hop Pop decided that he wasn't going to stop asking. The silence needed to be filled.
"Ain't nothin' wrong with a girl likin' another girl, Anne."
Anne's face went beet red as she groaned loud enough to cause an echo in the chasm. "Hop Pop, pleeeeasse stop!"
"Ya don't need to feel ashamed, Anne, we're all different, but so long as it's from the heart, then that's all that matters."
"I will seriously transform and Rider Kick you off this fwagon!"
Ignoring the empty threat, Hop Pop continued. "So, you've known yer friends for a long time, do any of them strike yer fancy?"
That threw Anne for a loop, she really didn't know how to respond to that to be honest. "I – wha – you – just – I don't –!'
"Ah mean, Ah don't know Sasha as long as you have Anne, but it seems that she's really…controllin'. While it can be good to trust yer partner and let them control the reins of the relationship, that don't mean you always gotta go and do whatever they tell ya to," said Hop Pop.
Was this hell? It had to be hell. The Cobra Fallen actually killed her, she succumbed to the venom, and now she was in her own personal hell that looked exactly like Amphibia, with a demon that looked and sounded just like Hop Pop. That's the only reason why this conversation was happening, and the only reason why it was making her feel weird. Although Anne did feel the need to speak up about that.
"I-I didn't always follow Sasha's orders! Sometimes…maybe not as much as I should…but I did…"
That was a lie, she only ever did what Sasha ordered. When the three of them were together, Sasha was the designated leader of their little trio, clique? She wasn't sure what she would call them.
"It's just, Sasha was always so headstrong, sure of herself, that girl had no fear. When she knew what she wanted, she went and got it, be damned whoever stood in her way! And yet, despite that attitude, she would always make sure me, and Marcy were right there with her, like she wanted us to share in her 'glory'."
"Sounds to me like she might've been showin' off to impress ya," said Hop Pop.
Anne blushed harder. "Why?! There's nothing to impress! I know…knew…that Sasha was an awesome person. If she could just get over herself she'd be the best. I'm just, Anne. A Thai American girl who works at her family's restaurant, watch's trash TV, YouTube, and anime. There's nothing exciting about me. Even IF she liked me like that."
"Well, Anne, that's a toxic relationship. Not sure how or if Sasha has changed since Toad Tower, but perhaps she will change. You've certainly grown while here in our world, who's to say she can't either?"
Anne had to admit that Hop Pop had a point, before she came to Amphibia, she would've never been able to stand up to Sasha, or just stand up for herself in general. She always hid behind Sasha, despite knowing how to fight, she never raised her fist to defend herself, or Marcy, but really, when you had someone like Sasha around, there was hardly a need to fight. Sometimes Sasha didn't need to fight with fists, she just knew how to get in people's heads and mess with them, she once saw her bring down a jock who was trying to intimidate Marcy into doing all his homework for him. She stared him down, said some things, a minute later the big guy was blubbering on the floor and vowing to never come near Marcy again.
Anne admitted it, she admired that kind of strength. She could win a fight without throwing a punch, and even if she needed to, Anne knew Sasha had the strength to physically back up her words. She may look thin, but she has lean muscle. Now that she thought about, she did catch a glimpse of some of that muscle back at Toad Tower when–
"NOPE! Not going down that road! Nope, nope!"
"Now, Anne that's not to say a relationship still can't happen, ya just need to–"
Hop Pop began to blather on about relationships this, and relationships that, in a long lecture that didn't seem to have a real end. Please for the love of, God, let something happen to kill this silence!
A sudden rumble caught their attention, effectively killing the silence and Hop Pop's lecture.
"What was that?!" Hop Pop asked.
"Thank frog," Anne whispered. "I mean, I don't know?!"
The rumbling sound continued to get louder, which was making them worry. This area didn't seem prone to rockslides, but that's what it sounded like. Anne and Hop Pop looked up and watched as a huge, spiked boulder came rolling down the side of the cliff.
"WHOA NELLY!" Hop Pop snapped the reins and Bessie sped up.
The snail hurriedly sped down the path, just in time to miss the huge boulder that slammed on the road behind them. However, where logic dictates that the boulder should fall down into the chasm below, it instead bounced, then stopped, reoriented itself, and then rolled right after them.
"What in the name of frog is goin' on?! A boulder that chases ya?!"
The sensation of Anne's power told her that that wasn't the case, as the boulder spun, Anne looked at it closely. The more she looked at it, the more she noticed that the boulder's surface looked more segmented, armor-like even. During one of its rotations, Anne glimpsed a gap in the boulder and saw a pair of glowing eyes that locked onto her for a moment before continuing its pursuit.
"Hop Pop, that's no boulder! It's a Fallen," said Anne.
"What?! Ya sure?!" Hop Pop looked to his right and saw that Anne's eyes were glowing once again, and her Driver was now present on her waist. "Okay, yeah, yer sure."
"Henshin."
Anne's body flashed with lightning, when the flash dimmed, Anne had become Kamen Rider Amp. The hero of lightning jumped onto the fwagon's roof, and swiftly pressed on the right hip device. The crystal at the center of the Driver changed to a split of pink and blue, the blue coloring of Amp's armor shifted to pink as well as she entered Poison Form. Amp waved her hands in the air as they coated themselves in the plasma-like liquid energy. The hero of lightning shifted the composition of her poison, turning it into a corrosive substance. She jumped off the fwagon and began running along the canyon walls, when she got close, Amp slammed her palm against the rotating ball. Unfortunately, this was having no effect as the rolling was preventing the poison from sitting long enough to erode the shell of this monster. Amp disengaged and landed back on the fwagon, assessing her next move.
Amp looked down at the road and thought about destroying it so that the Fallen could fall to the chasm below. NO! We need the road intact for the journey back! The conscious thought of Anne broke through. Amp decided against that tactic and decided to try another one, she saw a stalagmite rock formation up top on the wall. Amp jumped at an angle and latched onto the stalagmite, using her corrosive poison, she cut through the rock and jumped back down with the piece that she broke off.
The hero of lightning coated the tip of the makeshift weapon with some of her energy and took aim. She had to time it right, she was waiting for the gap, the dark spot where she saw the Fallen's eyes. When Amp spotted it, she chucked the rock like a spear. The spear rock flew straight for the rolling Fallen, but just before it reached, the ball suddenly burst open and showed that it was a creature after all. It was big, with muscular arms and legs that were covered in thick, gray armor plates, its head was angular, and also covered in armor plating, the only spot that was lightly armored was the chest that sported the iconic black chest plate. Unlike that piece of armor, the rest of it seemed natural as if it was part of the Fallen's body. It wasn't quite an armadillo, no, it was a pangolin.
The Pangolin Fallen caught the flying rock in its clawed hands and threw it back at Amp. Amp quickly created a wall of corrosive poison that dissolved the rock on contact before it could do any damage.
"HOW'S IT GOIN' BACK THERE?!" Hop Pop asked.
Amp did not reply, but kept her gaze focused on the Fallen.
"FORGOT, NOT A BIG TALKER WHEN YER LIKE THIS!" Despite the rolling death ball monster that was on their tail, Hop Pop still felt awkward in the – relative – silence of the situation. As they started to turn the corner, Hop Pop noticed something. "ANNE, THERE'S A WIDE AREA UP AHEAD, YOU CAN FIGHT 'EM THERE."
Amp turned her head and to see what Hop Pop was speaking of, as they rounded the corner, she indeed saw a large stretch of the road jutted out into a plateau, which would allow Amp enough room to fight the Pangolin Fallen freely and without the narrow path to give it the advantage.
"HANG ON!"
Hop Pop took the corner hard, in hopes of tripping up the Pangolin Fallen. Unfortunately, it didn't work as the Fallen, in ball form, could turn on a dime. Once they were at the specified area, Amp jumped off the fwagon and landed just as Hop Pop and Bessie cleared the plateau and were back on the narrow path. Now with a good platform to fight on, Amp readied herself to do battle with the monster. The Pangolin Fallen stopped on the opposite side and came out of its ball form. Both squared off, assessing the other. Amp already knew that her poisons weren't going to eat through that armor, and the Pangolin Fallen wasn't going to give her an opening to get her poison onto its body.
Amp pressed on the right hip device, disengaging her Poison Form to better utilize the power of the Lightning Form. The Pangolin Fallen ran towards her, but it was clear to Amp that his speed out of his ball form was severely lacking. She dashed straight for him and easily got close to him, afterwards she unleashed a flurry of punches to his chest plate. The Pangolin Fallen raised both of its arms and brought them down in a dual chop straight onto Amp's shoulders. The heavy blow stunned Amp, allowing the Pangolin Fallen to grab her and toss her straight into the cliffside.
Amp recovered, flipped around, landed feet first against the wall, and used it as a platform to vault herself right back at the Fallen. She landed an elbow strike to his face, but the Pangolin Fallen didn't even flinch. Amp decided to keep moving, there had to be a weak spot somewhere on this monster's body. She began attacking from different angles, at his back, arms, legs, chest, head, trying to find a spot where his armor or defense in general was weakest. Unfortunately, it seemed that the black metal chest plate was most likely protecting the only soft spot on this walking tank.
The Pangolin Fallen decided it had had enough of this and went into ball form. It spun around and charged, making Amp have to dash around the area, which wasn't very large. She could've run up the side of the wall, but that led to nowhere, and the edge only led to a several story drop to the canyon below. The Pangolin Fallen feinted like it was going to turn around to intercept her as they could only run-in circles, when Amp turned to do the same, the Pangolin Fallen sped up and struck Amp full on.
The blow sent Amp flying into the air, but before she could hit the ground, the Pangolin Fallen came in again and struck her. She was bounced into the air at least eight times, the Fallen was practically juggling her at this point. The Fallen bounced her up for the ninth time, but this time it bounced upwards as well, it came out of its ball form and struck Amp with its armored tail, sending her flying right back to the side where she started from.
Hop Pop watched on in fear and anger, he felt so helpless in this situation, as much as he wanted to go in there and help Anne, he knew that he'd only succeed in getting himself killed, and there was a high likelihood that it would be by both Anne and the Fallen. So, all he could do was watch, and pray that Anne's powers would come through for her.
Amp got up, her body shaking from the many heavy blows she had taken. There was no way to poison it, there was no chink in its armor, her only option was to break through that armor.
As if sensing her plan, the left hip device began to glow. Amp pressed on it and engaged a new transformation. The armor shifted to a lime-green color, but with this shift, her armor grew spikes on the pauldrons, bracers, kneepads, and helmet. Amp held out her right fist and a stream of green lightning poured out from both ends of her fist, materializing her weapon. It was a dual sided spear weapon, with two green spikes, and a golden colored middle shaft. The weapon that could pierce all, the Sting Striker, and the power of her new form, Spike Form, would fall this new foe.
Amp twirled the Sting Striker around and took a ready stance. The Pangolin Fallen revved itself up as it transformed into its ball form, spinning in place, and building up speed as it charged directly for Amp. Unlike last time, Amp was going to stand her ground. Amp thrust out her left hand and palm struck the monster's hard shell. The impact was like thunder, causing a gust of wind to come blowing Amp and caused her scarf to flutter behind her. The Pangolin Fallen continued to roll, but Amp wasn't budging from her spot as she dug her heels in. Amp bent her left arm and then gave a mighty push that threw the Pangolin Fallen into the side of the cliff, making a big bowl-shaped indention into it.
The Pangolin Fallen came out of its ball form and shook its head, the creature growled angrily at this sudden increase in power from Amp, but like its brethren before it, nothing would stop it from killing Amp. Purple energy coalesced into its hands and two mace weapons formed, with them he charged once again at Amp. The Fallen struck with the right mace, but Amp used the Sting Striker to parry the blow, a small shockwave resounded in the air from the impact. The Pangolin Fallen recovered and attacked with the left mace, but it only yielded the same results as Amp twirled the Sting Striker around and blocked the mace, this time throwing the monster off balance.
Amp pressed her advantage and took several swipes at the monster's chest plate, sending sparks flying in every direction from each successful hit. The Pangolin Fallen used its armored arm to block the following strike, and came down with its mace, hitting Amp in the head and making her head turn to the left. However, it seemed that the transformation not only came with an increase in strength, but also defense. Amp turned her head back up to look at the Fallen, as if saying "I didn't feel a thing".
The Pangolin Fallen retreated into its ball form, deciding that a good defense was the best offense. Wearing out Amp was better than attacking head on in this case. Amp wasn't going to let the Fallen think it was safe. The hero of lightning started to twirl her Sting Striker around, at the same time, the crest fanned out and glowed, along with the rest of the armor's lines. The Sting Striker's spikes started to glow bright green as they charged up, with continuous twirling kicked up a whirlwind that sent dust flying everywhere. Hop Pop had to duck his head as soon the whirlwind blew for fear of getting blown away.
Once the spikes were charged up, Amp widened her stance and thrust with the Sting Striker. A beam of pure lime-green light shot forth from the spear and pierced right through the Pangolin Fallen's armor and out the other end, completely skewering the monster in one blow. After a moment, the green light spear faded. Amp twirled her Sting Striker once more before hitting the ground with the bottom of her weapon. The moment she did this, the Pangolin Fallen exploded, its armored body disintegrating into ashes.
Amp settled for a moment before turning around and walking towards the fwagon. As she did, the transformation undid itself and Anne was returned. The Thai American girl fell to one knee, exhaustion washing over her quickly now that the battle was over.
"Oh, man, my everything hurts. That Fallen was a real bruiser," said Anne.
Hop Pop came down from the fwagon and rushed to his adopted granddaughter's side. "You gonna be okay, Anne?"
"Sore as all heck, but I think I'm good, HP."
"Seems like you got a new power, and you used a weapon, that was different," Hop Pop commented.
"Yeah, the Sting Striker, and my Spike Form, glad I figured it out before – whoa…"
"What's wrong?" Hop Pop asked.
"I…I remember the fight," said Anne.
Hop Pop looked up at Anne in confusion. "Well, what's odd about that? You usually do."
"No, no, I usually remember the fight after an hour or so, but this time I remember it clearly!" Anne looked at her hands and said, "Am I getting the hang of this power? Tch, yeah, if I was, I'd have better control over myself."
Hop Pop smiled, "Well, any progress is good, even if its small. Today, you can remember stuff immediately after a battle, maybe this is just a first step towards you being able to control this thing of your own free will."
Anne decided to go with what Hop Pop said, he was right, any progress, even small, was good. Perhaps this was the first step in getting control? Either way, it was a new power that she could use to protect the Plantars and herself, so she wasn't going to complain.
"Now, let's get back on the road. Don't want to worry Sprig and Polly when we're not there to pick 'em up."
"Sounds good to me."
Anne and Hop Pop got back into the driver's seat and headed on their way to pick up Sprig and Polly. The teenage girl was looking forward to a little peace and quiet after that fight, she was a bit tired after all.
…
…
…
…
"So then, about this other friend of yours. Marcy, right? Would you say you have a good relationship with her? 'Cause Ah think–"
I should've let the Fallen kill me…
Sprig and Polly were at the end of Quarreler's Pass, having just narrowly escaped getting eaten by a giant, conjoined Olm. After hearing those two squabble, they decided to tone down their fighting, considering that they were all occupying the same space, it wasn't like Anne or Hop Pop could just go into another room or take a walk into town. They had to be respectful of the space they shared and of the other's feelings.
"Promise me we'll never end up like that," said Polly.
"Us? Are you kidding? We're way too good of a team," Sprig replied.
"Bring it in buddy." Sprig and Polly hugged each other, cementing their familial bond. They broke their embrace and Polly noticed, "Hmm, looks like we're back on the road, but shouldn't Hop Pop and Anne be here already?"
"Yeah, they should. I wonder what held…wait, do you hear something?" Sprig asked.
The Plantar siblings turned to see Bessie and the fwagon rounding the corner, but judging from the looks on Bessie and Anne's faces, they weren't having such a good time, and it seemed as if Hop Pop was still talking.
"Now, as I was sayin', a relationship is like a farm. Ya plant a seed of trust and it grows into a better relationship. It's kinda like–"
"Anne, over here! Anne!" Sprig called out.
Anne practically jumped out of her seat when she saw Sprig and Polly. "You two! Thank frog!"
"And you'll be pleased to know we've decided to stop–!"
Anne quickly grabbed both of them and hauled them back up onto the fwagon as she said, "I don't care! I need you to fill the silences! Hop Pop can't deal with them! HE CAN'T DEAL WITH THEM!"
Hop Pop finally stopped and looked to his right to see his grandchildren had returned from their journey. "Well, hey kids, didn't see ya there. How the trials go?"
"It was great, except for the giant bloodthirsty Olms," said Polly.
"And you'll be glad to know we've decided to stop our–!"
"That's great, Sprig!" Hop Pop interrupted. "Anyway, we were just gettin' into to the nitty gritty. Now that you two are back, we can finally talk about Anne's boyfriend and/or girlfriends!"
"YEET!"
With that only warning given, Anne kicked Hop Pop right out of the driver's seat and off the side of the cliff.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Sprig and Polly looked down and saw that Hop Pop had landed in a thick, grassy patch and gave the thumbs up to them.
"Uh…what was Hop Pop talking about boyfriends and girlfriends for?" Polly asked.
"HEY, I FOUGHT ANOTHER FALLEN! WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT MY NEW POWER!"