It was a sunny morning at the Plantar's home and as Hop Pop was reading a newspaper, both Sprig and Polly were eating breakfast.
"Slow down, Polly. You might choke." said Hop Pop.
Polly was wolfing down her breakfast which looked like she was having a liquid breakfast out of a bowl. She stopped for a moment and burped loudly.
"Polly, you wild animal you." chuckled Sprig.
"Do you two know what's got Anne and Charlie so preoccupied at the moment? They haven't come down yet." asked Hop Pop.
Sprig stopped for a moment and blushed a bit, chuckling from the question as if he knew something that Hop Pop did not.
"I think they're just in the other room. They got so tired from yesterday that they fell asleep on the couch. It kind of looked like they were snuggling." chuckled Sprig.
Polly looked up and blushed for a moment.
"We're they decent?" chuckled Polly.
"Yes, but I don't think they're the type to sleep in one's underwear." Sprig stated.
They suddenly heard what sounded like an evil and demonic chuckle coming from nearby and it caused them both to jump a bit from being startled.
"Over here!" came the voice.
The Plantars looked over towards the entrance of the kitchen and they saw Charlie laughing in his normal voice. They realized he was just pulling a small joke on them.
"Heeeere's Charlie." said Charlie in a deep and crazy voice for a moment. "Sorry, I had to get it out of my system."
Polly and Sprig laughed as they knew the joke he pulled was quite realistic. Hop Pop was breathing a sigh of relief as he almost dropped the newspaper.
"Sometimes I wonder how many voices can you mimic that sound so realistic." said Hop Pop looking worried.
"You'd be surprised at many voices, sounds and animal sounds I can mimic. I've even mimicked the voice of a woman." said Charlie. "But we got some news."
Before anyone could ask. That's when Anne ran into the kitchen with an eager grin. A fly the size of a golf ball flew in which it looked like it was wearing a blue mailman's uniform. It was carrying an envelope with a purple stamp.
"Yo guys! Check it out! I got a Mail-Fly message!" said Anne. "Look how cute he is."
The mail-fly greeted them with a grin and buzzed a few times as it appeared to be a friendly little bug. Polly blew a brief raspberry in annoyance.
"Jealous, I never get mail." groaned Polly.
"Do you mail anyone?" asked Charlie.
"Oh, now I hear it." said Polly realizing it.
"Open it, open it!" said Sprig eagerly.
Sprig jumped high into the air and landed on top of Anne's head while Hop Pop and Polly came closer to see who it was from. Charlie stood next to her and saw that Anne ripped the top of the envelope open and pulled out the message that it contained inside it. The two humans saw that it was from Marcy when they saw her name on there.
"It's from Marcy! She says we're ready to travel to the first temple." said Anne with a smile.
The Plantars let out a cheer in excitement. Than Anne pulled another part of the letter down and saw there was a check list of what Marcy told them to bring along with them when they go to the first temple.
"Oh. Marcy seems to know what's next to prepare for the trip to the first temple." said Charlie noticing.
"The letter doesn't lie. She even included a checklist of things to bring. Let's see here. "Food. Weapons." said Anne reading aloud some of the things on the check list.
Sprig jumped off Anne's head and landed on the table as he knew that they were good on food. Polly pulled out a flail and swung it once as it hit the table, leaving a dent which Sprig jumped and was startled by the fact that it almost hit him.
"Jumpy little fella." said Polly.
"Make that a triple check because any danger we come across. They'll be more chopped up Nanbanzuke." said Charlie.
"What's that?" asked Sprig.
"Japanese fish dish." answered Charlie.
"Cool, what else? "Armor." Armor?" questioned Anne looking at the check list again.
The kids were suddenly at a loss as they remembered they didn't have any armor on them at the ready. The only armor they remember seeing was in the Newtopian castle.
"Sprig, do you happen to remember if Hop Pop had any form of armor lying around the house?" asked Charlie.
"We don't know. We never asked him before and it's never come up." answered Sprig.
"Got it covered! Believe it or not, I made each of you your very own suit of armor." answered Hop Pop.
The kids turned to him and were not expecting Hop Pop to actually have battle armor on him. They were thrilled to find out how the armor would look on them.
"This I got to see." said Charlie.
An hour later, the kids excitement was extinguished faster than a pool of water that put out a fire to a car. They were in inflated fabric that made them look like overweight sumo wrestlers.
"This is not what I had in mind." said Charlie blushing.
Anne suddenly lost her balance and fell on the couch. She tried getting up but couldn't.
"I'm down! Anne's down!" cried Anne.
"You okay, Anne?" asked Hop Pop.
"I don't know. What do you think." said Anne sarcastically.
Charlie tried to walk over to Anne but he fell forwards with a thud. He was laying on his side.
"I look like I should be working in a chocolate factory. Look at us, we look like a doctor's worst nightmare. Seriously, how do those sumo dudes do it." Charlie complained.
"Hop Pop! This is the opposite of a suit of armor." said Polly finding it hard to move.
Sprig fell forwards and he too found it hard to move but managed to look up to show his face.
"Exactly. Less mobility means less trouble." said Hop Pop.
Charlie managed to move enough to finally be able to face Hop Pop. He was giving him a sour look.
"Kore wa hontōni suimasu." said Charlie with a groan.
"Khuṇ bxk ẁā mạn." replied Anne.
"Yeah, yeah, Hop Pop. Hey Anne, anything else on that list?" asked Polly.
Anne reached out to grab hold of the check list that was nearby. She took a look at the fourth item that was on the list.
"Oh yeah, just one more thing. "The Music Box!" said Anne.
Upon hearing this, Hop Pop was struck with dread and panic as he shook his head and let out a little nervous chuckle.
"Uh, right, the music box. No problem. My contacts will have it ready by tomorrow." said Hop Pop looking panicked with a thumbs up.
"Great! You're the best." said Anne giving him a thumbs up.
"Hop Pop, could you please get us out of this? Before one of us has to pee or poop." said Charlie.
Hop Pop walked over to the kids and managed to unzip them out of the inflated fabric which they were relieved to be out of. They all breathed a sigh of relief once they were out of it.
"Hop Pop, maybe we should ask Marcy about the armor situation?" Anne suggested. "If we can't move in those suits than we wouldn't be able to run from danger."
"Maybe your right, Anne." said Hop Pop realizing that his form of armor might be flawed.
"Not to mention they make me look like I out rival that rapper from the nineties." said Charlie.
Both Anne and Charlie suddenly just burst out loud laughing as if one of them told a very hilarious joke. That's when Charlie came to Anne's side and hugged her. She hugged him back and as Hop Pop saw this. He may have looked optimistic on the outside but on the inside, he was panicking like passengers on a sinking cruise ship in the Atlantic.
"If they find out. One of them is probably going to mad and other is probably going to cry his eyes out." said Hop Pop to himself in a panic.
Later That Night
Everyone was asleep but Hop Pop. He was panicking inside his bedroom as he sat on his bed. The panic on his face made him look like he developed more wrinkles on his face out of stress.
"This is bad. If they find out I lied. Anne's probably gonna freak out and be angry. Charlie will be heart broken for sure. And they're practically grandchildren to me. And one of them has just gotten over his dad issues." said Hop Pop to himself in a worried panic.
He looked up and started to think. He knew where he buried the Calamity Box at. He buried it near a tree and he remembered why he buried it. He knew that he had to check and see if it's still there.
"If they're all asleep. Than I should be alright to check the music box again and possibly place it somewhere inside the house." Hop Pop decided.
Anne and Charlie were sleeping in the basement trying to fall asleep and they woke up as they couldn't sleep.
"Ah! Too excited to sleep!" said Anne.
"You too, huh?" chuckled Charlie.
Their conversation was cut short when they heard footsteps up above them. Even the door to the basement shook a bit with a slight metallic clank. Charlie put a finger to his lips and jabbed his head to the right as if pointing.
"Sounds like someone else can't sleep either." said Anne.
"Let's go topside." Charlie suggested.
They walked up the steps that led to the basement door. Anne pushed the door up slightly and the two saw two legs and feet walking towards the exit. They definitely knew who it was. They lifted the door up higher and saw Hop Pop sneaking out of the house and they followed him to the door as they caught him running towards a nearby tree.
They saw him digging into the dirt with his hands like a dog digging a hole in the yard. The two human teenagers tried to contain their laughter as a stroke of mischief was suddenly overcoming them.
"Classic old Hop Pop bein' a freak. I'm gonna give that nerd a little scare." said Anne with a sly grin.
"I'll mimic the voice of a demon that it'll make him think one of us needs an exorcist." chuckled Charlie.
The two chuckled and walked forwards to sneak up behind Hop Pop by walking slowly up to him, careful to make their footsteps as silent as possible. Without them knowing, Hop Pop looked like he tried getting deeper into the hole he dug up and he appeared to be panicking as if someone stolen a family heirloom.
"I-it can't be. The music box. It's gone!" said Hop Pop out loud.
The two human teenagers stopped and their laughter and mischievous streak vanished. They looked at him in bewilderment.
"What?" the two said in shocked unison.
Hop Pop froze in terror. He heard them both and turned around, looking ready to have a panic attack from the look.
"Anne, Charlie, what are you doin' here?" shouted Hop Pop.
"Did you just say...the music box is gone?" asked Anne raising an eyebrow.
"Otōsan, didn't you keep the music box with your contacts? I expected your contacts to be Mrs. Croaker." said Charlie looking confused.
Hop Pop was nervously sweating, looking as though his heart could beat right out of his chest from panic. He knew that there was no way he could lie to them since he let it slip that the Calamity Box has now gone missing.
"I can't lie anymore! I buried the box here. And now it's missing!" Hop Pop blurted out.
He pointed to the hole that he dug up and they looked right at it. They saw there was nothing there in the hole.
"Wait, what!? But you said your contacts were gonna-" Anne started.
"There were no contacts! I read the box was dangerous. I didn't know what to do! I panicked! You gotta understand. I was just trying to protect Sprig and Polly!" Hop Pop ranted with a look of fear.
Anne and Charlie took a step back. The look on his face was starting to scare Charlie. Anne looked bewildered and now she felt a mix of shock and anger.
"So you've been lying to us? This whole time?" said Anne not looking amused.
"But...but Hop Pop. You're the last person to lie to us. I mean I expected Captain Grime and his army to be lying to me when I learned they were lying and using me but you!" said Charlie looking as though he was about to panic. "Trying to protect Sprig and Polly from...from us? Or something else? Anne, I'm scared right now."
"No! Well, yes, but...it's complicated!" said Hop Pop finding it hard to explain it in words.
"No, it isn't!" snapped Anne. "We need the music box to get home, and you buried it under a tree! What're you trying to do, keep us here forever?"
Anne ranted but gasped afterwards and Charlie was seeing her rant and rave in anger as he didn't know what to do. He was starting to feel afraid of Hop Pop and a little afraid of Anne right now. But he also felt like he was reliving some painful events in his past from how his biological father was never there for him and lied to him a lot and from how Captain Grime and the toad army lied to him and used him the whole time he knew them.
"That's it, isn't it? You sicko." Anne snapped.
"You...you lied to us? You...you lied to me?" said Charlie his voice breaking. "My dad back at home lied to me everytime, Captain Grime and the toad army lied to me about everything, but Hop Pop."
Charlie looked as though he was about to breakdown in tears like a little baby and Anne went to him to pull him in for a hug. She tried to console him but it didn't help this time. Charlie was ether in shock, afraid to react, he was probably afraid of whose side to take on this, part of him wanted to know why Hop Pop lied to them but he was feeling his fear overtake him along with his shock.
"Oh look, now you broke Charlie and you know he just got over his dad issues and sees you as father to him. And now look what happened. Happy!" said Anne sharply.
"No, no! I-it's not like that. I-it's just...I've lost so much already and-" Hop Pop feebly tried to explain but was cut off.
"Stop. Look, we can't be here right now." said Anne with a sniffle as tears welled up in her eyes.
Charlie looked up in horror and didn't whose side to choose. Anne or Hop Pop.
"Wait! Anne, please wait!" said Charlie tears leaking out of his eyes.
"Charlie, it's not good for us to stay here right now. We have to go." said Anne holding her hand out for Charlie to take hold of.
"Charlie, wait a minute! There's a reason why I lied!" said Hop Pop trying to talk some sense into him.
Charlie was feeling like he was at a crossroads from this. Hop Pop lied for reasons unknown or unexplained. He saw him as a better father figure to him than his real father ever was, he had built up a bond with him but seeing that he lied to Anne and him about something made him feel like he was reopening old wounds that he thought were healed up.
He was even finding it hard to figure out who to go with. Anne or Hop Pop. He didn't want to leave Hop Pop but he felt like he had made him relive past pain but didn't want to leave Anne or Anne leaving him since she's been the best girl friend to him and was a better choice for him than Sasha was. He walked up to Hop Pop looking like he was ready to start yelling at him but couldn't bring himself to do it as more tears trickled out of his eyes as he shook his head and walked over to Anne, taking her hand as he made a difficult choice.
"Anne, Charlie!" cried Hop Pop.
"Don't follow us." warned Anne.
Anne was really angry with Hop Pop while Charlie was ether just upset, angry, or afraid of Hop Pop all over again. It was hard for him to tell which he should feel about Hop Pop. The old male frog would try to follow them but Anne told him not to, twice. He saw both Anne and Charlie run off into the woods. Hop Pop let out a sigh and knew that what he did has hurt both Anne and Charlie.
Morning
As the morning came. Sprig and Polly woke up in excitement as the burst out of their bedrooms and raced down the stairs chanting the word "Quest!" as they did so. But Sprig stopped both himself and Polly when they reached the entrance of the kitchen and saw that Hop Pop was sitting at the table, drinking ether tea or coffee with a dreadful frown on his face.
"Uh, Hop Pop, are you okay?" asked Sprig almost afraid of ask.
Hop Pop turned to them and they saw the saddened, dreadful expression he shown. They could feel and sense he made a mistake that he wished he didn't make.
"I really mucked it up this time, kids." said Hop Pop with a deep breath. "I lied to Anne and Charlie about the music box, and I buried it under the tree out front."
"What?" said Sprig and Polly shocked.
"Oh, it gets worse. When I went to dig it up last night, it was gone! Anne and Charlie saw the whole thing and ran off. I've been waiting all night for them to come back. Anne was angry and upset but Charlie, his reaction was way worse. Now Anne is angry with me and Charlie is ether broken hearted or afraid of me again. I think I broke Charlie in the process. I don't know whose hurting worse." Hop Pop confessed.
Both Sprig and Polly couldn't believe their eyes or what they just heard but they could see that Hop Pop was kicking himself for what he did and they knew he wanted to fix the situation that has now driven a rift between him and Anne and Charlie. Sprig picked up Polly and hopped over to the table as he landed on the seat.
"Look, Hop Pop, I don't know why you did what you did, but you gotta fix it." Sprig advised.
Polly bounced over to him and placed her hands on Hop Pop's face with a stern expression.
"Yeah! You gotta get out there and bring Anne and Charlie back! Last time we saw them two have an emotional meltdown like this, Anne cried and we had to hug her to comfort her while we did the same for Charlie. And we nearly thought he resorted to drinking." Polly advised. "Thank frog that it was just grape juice."
Hop Pop knew they were right and he now felt a determination rising inside him. He chugged down the rest of his coffee and got up from where he sat.
"You're right. I caused this mess, so dang it, I'm gonna clean it up!" cried Hop Pop.
He finished his coffee and tossed the mug on the floor as it shattered to pieces.
"And then I'm gonna clean that up." said Hop Pop running off.
Hop Pop ran off and ran out of the house to go find Anne and Charlie. As he did so. Both Sprig and Polly sighed as they knew what they had to do or at least they knew what they had to do to help the situation.
"Well, this is a bummer." said Polly.
"We gotta find that music box or Anne and Charlie never forgive him." said Sprig.
"Right on! Let's motor, bro-bro!" said Polly looking ready to take action.
Polly hopped off the table and landed on the floor. She began to roll around at super quick speed which caused an audible whirring sound to be heard. Sprig jumped forwards on top of her and he was running as he didn't fall off her, they charged forwards to go look for the Calamity Box.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest
Hop Pop was out in the forest and it looked like he was searching for Anne and Charlie which he had no luck at the moment. It was probably more than ten minutes since he started looking for the two. He was wondering if he was going the wrong way till he stepped on something that poked his foot.
He looked down and saw what was some A bobby pins, a hairbrush, what appeared to be some of Anne's mascara, a pair of her sunglasses, a teen magazine and what looked like a dent trail into the ground that was probably Charlie dragging his sword along the path.
"I think I'm on the right track." said Hop Pop.
Hop Pop would collect the items that Anne had left a trail of but he also felt his heart was still emotionally hurting from lying to Anne and Charlie, especially how he unintentionally made the two cry.
"I'm coming Anne and Charlie. I sure hope you'll listen to me when I make things right." said Hop Pop under his breath. "But if I catch those two doing the...doing the humpity bump, than it's probably time to have the talk with them about puberty."
Somewhere in the woods. Anne and Charlie were sleeping in the cave that Anne had remembered sleeping in before she met the Plantars. Anne woke up with a yawn and she saw Charlie was already awake. He was next to her and pulled her in to hug her while she saw he needed a hug and hugged him back.
"Never thought I'd be sleepin' in this cave again. Not since the Plantars took us in." said Anne. "Charlie, did you happen to stay in a cave when you were out in there in the forest or jungle?"
"I slept high up in the trees and every morning I kept being on the move." Charlie answered in a low tone.
"That bad, huh?" Anne replied.
Charlie's eyes were widened and looked as though he witnessed something horrifyingly traumatizing. He let out a chuckle.
"I was driven half crazy out here." said Charlie shedding a tear.
"Well, I actually made a friend out of a rock that I talked to like that volleyball Wilson." said Anne.
Anne pointed at a rock nearby and the two looked at a rock that stood on a small tree stump. It looked like Anne had once drawn a face on it with lipstick and placed seaweed on it to make it look like it had hair.
"Now I know how Tommy felt when he talked to Wilson." said Charlie shedding a more few tears.
Anne could see that Charlie was trying hard not to breakdown emotionally and she puled him in closer to hug him. He hugged her back and she placed a hand on his chest as if to console him. She kissed him on his forehead and started to rock him back and forth.
Back at Wartwood
Sprig and Polly started to search around Wartwood as they stood near the town's entrance and they looked on to see that there was something had done some damages to parts of the town. A shop nearby that was selling used wagons had it's fence broken in a few places, a nearby wagon was halfway into the ground like a car that sunk into a sinkhole which had spilled vegetables on the ground as a blue male frog was looking at it with shock and dismay.
"My veggies!" the blue male frog cried.
There was also a series of holes around the town. There was a hole that was in place where the statue was once at while Toadstool and Toadie stood there in surprise.
"Well, there goes the school money, Toadie." said Toadstool wide eyed.
"This kind of sucks, sir. We were using that money to help others get an education around here." Toadie said looking at the hole.
"I'll admit. This situation is kind of alarming but yes, it does feel suckish like my junior prom date." said Toadstool.
Toadie looked at Toadstool with surprise and Toadstool sighed.
"You don't wanna know." Toadstool stated.
Mrs. Croaker was looking down a hole and calling out to her pet spider Archie as she was suspecting that her pet was digging a hole in the ground and got lost somewhere inside it. Sprig looked to the right and saw Maddie nearby. She was looking in a hole and was looking for something that she too possibly lost last night. Sprig ran to her side to see if she knew anything.
"Hey Maddie, what's going on?" asked Sprig.
"Someone dug a bunch of holes and stole stuff from everyone in town." said Maddie. "What about you? Anything got stolen from you?"
Sprig and Polly looked at one another and knew that they may have been affected. If Hop Pop buried the Calamity Box near a tree out front of their home. Than it was stolen from them by someone and they were not the only ones affected by this situation.
"We sort of been affected." answered Sprig.
"I even lost a talisman that, if it fell into the wrong hands, would bring an end to all...living-" Maddie paused as she fell silent. "I've said too much."
"Do we wanna know?" asked Sprig curiously.
"You're probably much happier if you don't ask, sorry." said Maddie running off.
As they watched Maddie run off to search for this talisman of hers. They started to see they were not the only ones who got hit last night. So it wasn't Hop Pop's fault that the Calamity Box went missing. It was his fault for lying to Anne and Charlie for so long for reasons unknown but he never meant for the Calamity Box to go missing. He only meant to hide it for safe keeping in case someone was to steal it if he hidden it inside his house.
"Who would dig a bunch of holes in the ground?" said Polly.
"Holes in the ground, eh?" came a loud yet raspy male voice.
They ended up getting their answer when some rustling near some bushes were loudly heard and the two jumped with a startled scream as they saw a muscular dull green male amphibian with several colored tattoos of insects, snakes, bones, and several other objects on his skin. He has bones of an unknown animal in his large, green beard. He wore a hat similar to an Australian Outback Hat with a flipped side. His brownish-green shorts were ripped and his shirt is probably similar to a hunting vest, also being axe-proof. It was Soggy Joe as he walked out from the bushes.
"And missing valuables too? Sounds like the work of the Magpie beetle." said Joe.
"Never heard of it." said Sprig clueless.
"You gotta stop popping out of bushes, Soggy Joe." advised Polly.
Soggy Joe pulled out a stick and drew what looked like a crab like beetle in the ground.
"The Magpie beetle is a rare breed of insect that lives underground. Every twenty years it burrows to the surface and steals junk to make its shell. It presents that shell to prospective mates in a ritual called the "love-nado dance." Joe explained.
"Ew." said Polly disgusted.
"A spectacle much too dangerous to observe-" said Joe being cut off.
Sprig and Polly run off as they suddenly gotten an idea from Soggy Joe. Creatures coming out of the ground and steals random objects to make their shells and does something with them that is considered a mating dance. They figured that the Calamity Box was stolen by the Magpie beetle.
"You really should hear the rest of this!" called Joe advising them.
"On a mission!" called Polly.
"Thanks, Joe!" called Sprig.
Sprig carried Polly as they headed back to the house as there was a clap of thunder. The clouds started to turn dark grey and that's when rain started to fall. They made it to the spot where Hop Pop buried the Calamity Box and they saw the hole had water from the rain going into the hole but it wasn't filling up or flooding. It looked like the water was flowing through a burrow but to where the burrow led to was the big mystery.
"Sprig, look! Soggy Joe was right. There's a burrow off to the side. Come on!" said Polly hopping down.
The two jumped down into the hole and Sprig saw there was a burrow like tunnel that was leading somewhere.
"Think this'll lead us to the box?" asked Sprig rhetorically.
"There's only one way to find out." said Polly.
The two started to crawl down the burrow. It was like climbing and crawling through the tunnels of a mine that mine workers explored but with the water from the rain pouring through, it made trying to stand a little hard but as they kept going deeper, they slipped and fell right through the tunnel like a water slide at a water park.
They even went through a loop de loop in the tunnel but when the slid down further was went they saw the end of the tunnel and that's when they fell out but Sprig grabbed hold of Polly with his left arm and hand while he hung onto a branch from the side of a cliff with his right hand.
It wasn't until Polly pointed out what she saw. There, she saw a whirlpool of what looked like all of the stolen objects that were missing that others in Wartwood were searching for. They saw the Magpie beetles that looked like hermit crabs. The walls around the big hole from all around it were having a series of small hole all over the walls of the giant hole. They finally saw what Soggy Joe talked about and realized they should've listen to the rest of Soggy Joe.
That was until another Magpie beetle dug it's way through another newly made tunnel that it popped out of from above them and it had a jar above it's body. It bumped into them from above and both Sprig and Polly fell into the huge hole screaming. But when they fell, they landed on a huge wooden box that acted like a raft for them to float around in. They jumped onto another object as they found it a little difficult to stand on any of the objects for too long.
Sprig put his goggles on as he couldn't see where the Calamity Box was with the rain getting in his eyes, even if the rain didn't bother his eyes at all. The rain felt like it caused no discomfort to his eyes as it was like washing his eyes out with clean water. He placed his goggles on to see through the rain and that's when he saw the Calamity Box from a distance. Sprig attempted to go get it but that's when Sprig encountered some difficulty and screamed loudly. He fell right into the love-nado while more of the beetles started to go for Polly as well. She screamed loudly.
Back at the cave
Anne and Charlie were still in the cave as it shielded them from the rain while Anne was snuggling Charlie as he snuggled with her. Anne's left arm was wrapped around him while her right arm was around him, her right hand was slowly rubbing Charlie's chest and belly up and down in circular motion. She would kiss him on his cheeks from time to time, even his forehead. Charlie felt safe and comforted in her arms while Anne slowly rocking him back and forth.
"Anne, please don't ever leave me." said Charlie sadly.
"I'll never leave you, bubby. So far, it looks like I'm one of the people who hasn't lied to you. Hop Pop lied to me and you, and he knew you see him as a father since your real dad was never there for you. I thought we knew him, you know? But he was lying to us the whole time." said Anne trying to comfort Charlie.
"At least you were with me to dry my tears last night." said Charlie.
"You were there for me for the same thing." Anne replied.
Charlie looked up and saw a silhouette of something at the entrance of the cave. He froze and he was filled with alarm as his face became stoic and grim.
"Anne, we got company." said Charlie in a deep and low voice.
Anne saw his face and knew that the tone in his voice meant he was sensing danger. She looked in the direction that Charlie stared in and just when Charlie was about to grab hold of his machete. They saw lightning flash and the silhouette had glowing white eyes. They both screamed in terror.
"What ever monster you are. I'm not in the mood for this shit!" screamed Charlie.
The silhouette stepped forwards and it turned out to only be Hop Pop. He was wet from the rainfall as the hair from the sides of his head were hanging low, he was drenched in rain water. He looked like he just came out of a swimming pool but he had a saddened and guilty expression. The two human teenagers breathed a sigh of relief.
"Damn it, Hop Pop! I thought you were a monster coming to attack us. I almost got out my blade on you! I could've stabbed you!" said Charlie sounding enraged.
"After what I did that hurt the both of ya. I'd probably say that would be karma giving me the boot." said Hop Pop admitting his guilt.
"That would be letting him off easy, don't you think?" said Anne sarcastically. "Go away."
"Please, kids. Let me explain." said Hop Pop coming over to them.
Anne and Charlie got up on their feet and Anne walked away from him a few feet with her back facing him. Charlie joined her and had his back to him as well.
"Lying to me may have bad enough but lying to Charlie as well, that is just low. Who do you think was there to dry his tears and comfort him as he cried last night? He cried his eyes out because of the fact that you lied to him just like the toad army did when they lied to him and used him and just like his real dad lied to him all the time who was never there for him. I may have been hurt and furious with you but Charlie felt hurt more than ever." said Anne giving Hop Pop the riot act.
"And believe me, I couldn't sleep at all last night after what I did to you two. I lied to you two, and hurt the both of you." Hop Pop admitted.
"Me and Charlie are not talking to you right now, Hop Pop. If that's even your real name." said Anne angrily.
"Anne, Hop Pop's a nickname." Charlie corrected.
"Oh yeah, you're right." said Anne understanding.
"I need you to know why I hid the music box. It's dangerous. I was just trying to protect the family." said Hop Pop trying to get through to them.
"Then why did you lie?" asked Anne sharply.
Charlie started to feel his anger for Hop Pop start to fade. What was dangerous about the Calamity Box that had him hide it and lie to them about it. He was angry and heart broken about what Hop Pop lying to him and Anne but he was slightly curious.
"Give me one good reason why we should listen." said Charlie trying not to show his anger weakening.
"Well, because...there's something I've never told you. Something hard to talk about. It's something that happened in the past that I felt guilty about and it's left me terrified of such a thing happening again to those I love." said Hop Pop sighing.
Charlie suddenly felt his anger disappear and curiosity overcame him. Charlie was the first person to turn and face Hop Pop. Anne's anger started to also subside and turn to curiosity and slight guilt.
"Otōsan?" asked Charlie.
"The truth is..." Hop Pop began.
Their conversation was interrupted by screams. They heard two screams and they immediately knew who was screaming. The first to take off running was Charlie.
"Nai watashi no ani to imōto!" cried Charlie.
Anne and Hop Pop ran forwards to follow him but with how fast Charlie could run. They could barely catch up to him. When they finally caught up to Charlie, he stopped them from running forwards.
"Yameru!" Charlie told them sharply.
Anne and Hop Pop finally saw the huge sinkhole that had all the missing items that was reported stolen or missing in Wartwood along with the Magpie beetles that were causing everything in the hole to roll around in a circle like a whirlpool.
"What the heck is this?!" said Anne wide eyed.
"It's some kind of love monsoon." said Hop Pop.
"This is so fucked up!" cried Charlie.
They spotted Sprig and Polly in the whirlpool of stolen objects and Magpie beetles. They were in the center of the whirlpool as they screamed for help. Charlie a surge of powerful rage grip him and his eyes and hair turned gold as he popped his neck and cracked his knuckles.
"Oyogu jikan." said Charlie.
"Anne, Charlie, we have to work together." Hop Pop advised.
They suddenly saw Charlie jump into the sinkhole and attempted to save Sprig and Polly as he was jumping from one object to the other like he had perfect balance from jumping around on bamboo.
"Work with you? Not gonna happen. We'll save them ourselves!" cried Anne.
Anne jumped into the sinkhole with Charlie who stood upon a big box and held his hand out for Anne to grab onto.
"Janpu!" shouted Charlie.
"Khŵā t̄hụ̄x!" cried Anne.
Anne jumped from one object to another as she was making her way towards Charlie but she slipped on what looked like a painting.
"Hang onto something!" shouted Charlie.
As Anne slipped and fell, she grabbed onto a what looked like a wooden horn that was on a wooden statue. That's when Hop Pop reached his hand out for Anne to grab onto.
"Please, Anne. I know I lied to you and Charlie, but trust me. At least long enough to save the kids." Hop Pop begged.
Sprig and Polly's screams were heard and Anne knew that Hop Pop was right and knew that she shouldn't hold her anger against him while both of them were attempting to save Sprig and Polly along with Charlie assisting them.
"Do it, Anne!" cried Charlie desperately.
Anne let out a grunt and let go of her anger as she took hold of Hop Pop's hand. Hop Pop pulled her up as they stood on top of a bookcase. Charlie jumped forwards as he was getting closer to Sprig and Polly. He landed on what looked like large and round table with a white clothe over it.
As Charlie reached out to grab hold of Sprig and Polly, that's when Anne and Hop Pop jumped from object to object as Anne held out her arm, causing Hop Pop to use his long, thick and wide, huge frog like tongue to wrap around her arm. Charlie managed to grab hold of Sprig's arm, Polly grabbed hold of Sprig's arm and Charlie pulled them out of the whirlpool of beetles and objects as he was now carrying them.
"I got them!" cried Charlie.
Anne was now standing on another wooden box and she flung Hop Pop forwards as the old male frog extended his huge tongue forwards. It was like watching someone go fishing at the lake and cast their fishing line out. Hop Pop landed on the wooden table that Charlie stood on.
"Pull!" instructed Charlie.
Hop Pop obeyed and he retracted his huge tongue to pull Anne forwards. Anne came at them like a cannon ball being launched. Once she landed on the table. That's when Charlie placed Sprig into Anne's arms and placed Polly into Hop Pop's arms.
"Where's the music box?" asked Charlie.
"Got it!" said Polly showing she had it.
"Brace yourselves!" cried Charlie.
Before any of them could ask what was about to be done. Charlie grabbed hold of Hop Pop who held onto Polly closely.
"Heads up!" cried Charlie.
Charlie used as much of his strength as possible and tossed Hop Pop and Polly forwards really hard. This sent them both flying so far that they made it to the ground, outside of the pit.
"You're next, honey!" cried Charlie.
Sprig held onto Anne so he wouldn't fall or slip off her. Charlie grabbed hold of Anne's hands as he gave her a stoic expression.
"Do you trust me?!" said Charlie.
"I do!" answered Anne.
"So do I!" replied Sprig.
"Than pretend your flying like an eagle." instructed Charlie.
That's when Charlie began to swing Anne around in a circle a few times with Sprig hanging onto her and when Charlie believed they had plenty of momentum, he let go and both Anne and Sprig were sent flying forwards at full force that they landed on the ground that was out of the huge pit. Anne and Sprig were now with Hop Pop and Polly.
"Kradod!" cried Anne.
Charlie summoned as much of his strength as possible and raised one of his hands to go up, than had it go down and from side to side. He jumped forwards and just when it looked like he wasn't going to make it, a gold energy like shield flashed when his foot landed and he started to flip his way forwards and with every other time his hands and feet were about to touch the top of the whirlpool, a gold energy like shield would flash there as if to prevent him from falling in. He rapidly flipped his way over like a gymnastic champion and once he got close enough to them. He pushed off with one foot and did an aerial flip so high that he jumped clean over Anne, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop, going right passed them. He landed on the ground out of the pit and was unharmed.
Sprig and Polly suddenly cheered when they made it while Anne got up and took hold of the Calamity Box, holding it like it was a baby that she was returning to it's mother. Charlie came over to help Hop Pop and Anne on their feet along with Sprig and Polly.
"That was amazing!" cheered Polly.
"I can't believe we did it! And that jump Charlie did was so cool." said Sprig excitedly.
Charlie's hair and eyes started to change back to their normal color as he went over to Anne as she placed the Calamity Box inside her pink backpack, zipping it closed. The Plantars looked back at the two human teenagers.
"Yeah, we did. And now...we're through here." said Anne marching off.
Charlie ran towards her and was going to join her.
"I'm with her." said Charlie looking saddened.
"Anne, Charlie, no!" said Sprig.
"Where will you two go?" said Polly looking saddened.
"We'll go stay with someone who isn't a liar. I don't know, maybe Loggle? He seems like a straight shooter." said Anne making a good guess.
"Or Felicia." said Charlie shedding a tear.
Hop Pop walked forwards to them.
"Anne, Charlie, wait. Let me at least explain. What I did wasn't right. But I didn't do it to trick ya." Hop Pop started off.
Anne and Charlie continued to walk off while Charlie took hold of Anne's hand. Hop Pop sighed and knew that what he was going to tell them would probably be a shocker for them all.
"Sprig and Polly's parents." Hop Pop finally said.
Hearing Hop Pop mentioned Sprig and Polly's parents was enough to make Anne and Charlie stop. The two remembered when Sprig mentioned about his mother back in Newtopia when he told them his mother had been deceased for a long time since him and Polly were little babies. Upon hearing Hop Pop mention them, it sent an impulse to their brains and the two turned to face Hop Pop. Sprig and Polly looked up at the old male frog and walked to his side.
"Hop Pop." Polly uttered.
"That wasn't your fault." said Sprig trying to be sympathetic.
Hop Pop raised a hand up to silence them as he sighed. The guilty look on his face was now looking as grim as Charlie's face when ever he sensed imminent danger.
"It was a few years ago. I was on a journey when the herons attacked Wartwood. Sprig and Polly survived. But their parents...weren't so lucky." said Hop Pop finally explaining.
This left them all wide eyed. Anne, Charlie, Sprig and Polly were seeing that Hop Pop was having tears trickling out of his eyes as he explained what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents. Anne and Charlie looked at the two frog children with visibly shaken expressions and back at Hop Pop.
Charlie felt like upon hearing what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents made him feel as though he was hearing something out of a scary horror film that had monsters involved. He remembered a while back that they've shown him a picture or more of a heron and he remembered what they told him about the herons as he learned they're just as dangerous as bringing extinct predators back from extinction, especially when the creatures are from long before humans became relevant and the dominant species of Earth.
"Ā, ī kamiyo." Charlie muttered.
"If I just had been there...I know things would've been different! Ever since then, I swore I'd never let my family down again. That I'd do anything to protect them. So when I found out the box was dangerous, I lied to you and hid it away. I thought I was protecting my family. But now I realize how foolish it was. You're both my family too. And I've let you two down. I let us all down." said Hop Pop starting to sob. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I'm just so sorry!"
Anne and Charlie started to feel as though now they understood why Hop Pop lied to them. Hearing how Hop Pop was on a journey while herons attacked Wartwood and that Sprig and Polly's parents weren't so lucky while they survived. Hop Pop had survivors guilt and he blamed himself for what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents. Charlie knew that his biological father was probably still alive out there back home but he hasn't seen him since he was two and the last time he heard from him was when he was eleven years old. But seeing Hop Pop admitting his guilt and explaining why he lied had both Anne and Charlie feel as though they couldn't hold their anger against him but understood why he lied to them.
Tears began to well up in the two human teenagers eyes as they walked over to the sobbing old frog and got on their knees to pull him in for a hug. Hop Pop didn't expect this as he probably expected one of them to be yelling at him but none of them yelled at him at all.
"Hop Pop, I forgive you." said Anne kindly.
"Same here, Otōsan." said Charlie. "There's something I need to confess that's off topic."
They all looked at Charlie as if wondering what he was about to confess.
"Hop Pop, while me and Anne were away after we stormed off. I may have cursed you out in anger. Don't ask what words I used. I can't repeat them around children." Charlie confessed.
"Well, people do tend to say things they don't mean in anger and I know you were just angry. So I know you probably were under a lot of trauma and ya needed to let it out." said Hop Pop showing he understood.
Charlie felt glad that Hop Pop wasn't mad at him when he confessed he cursed him out when he wasn't around. As the three hugged each other. That's when Sprig and Polly rushed over to them in excitement to hug them.
"Reconciliation!" cried Sprig.
"Frog pile!" cried Polly.
Polly bumped into them and caused them all to fall over as they laid down on the ground on their backs which they all were laughing along with each other.
"Can we get out of this rain?" asked Anne.
"Way ahead of you." said Charlie getting up. "But first things first."
As they all got up on their feet. They saw Charlie walks over to the pit and he stood at the edge of the pit and they wondered what he was about to do. He pulled out what looked like a grenade and the grenade was black but it had a white skull with cross bones on it.
"Suck on this, assholes." said Charlie in a deep and low tone.
"Charlie, what are you about to do?" asked Anne.
"Someone called for an exterminator to squash a pest problem and I'm making house calls." cried Charlie.
Charlie pulled the ring of the grenade with his teeth and tossed the the grenade into the pit where the Magpie beetles were in and as he spat the grenade ring out of his mouth, he walked off towards Anne and the Plantars with a stoic expression. That's when they heard the grenade explode with a very loud bang. The sound of the grenade exploding had made so many loud bangs that there was a loud series of high pitched shrieks coming from the pit as Charlie made it to their side once again.
"What did you just do?" asked Hop Pop wide eyed.
"I got rid of a pest problem that won't be coming back." said Charlie in a deep and low voice.
They wanted to go look but Charlie got in front of them and shook his head. He advised them to stay there as he walked over to the pit's edge once more and he looked at what he saw. The Magpie beetles were no longer moving. The whirlpool of them has stopped moving and the dangerous beetles didn't move an inch. The entire whirlpool of them beetles were no longer moving while the dangerous beetles were looking like they've been killed by a poison as their bodies were a sickly grey and green color.
"Are they?" began Sprig.
"Don't look at this!" warned Charlie.
He walked away from the pit and as he rejoined Anne and the Plantars, the five of them walked away from the pit as the rain started to die down and the clouds were clearing to show the sun shining and the blue skies.
"I'm almost afraid to ask but what did you just do and where did you get that grenade?" asked Hop Pop hesitantly.
"Like I said. I got rid of the pest problem. And the grenade was a bug killer grenade. I asked Marcy if I could take a weapon with me from the Newtopian armory. I figured I'd save it for any sort of trouble along the trip back to Wartwood like if we encountered any dangerous insects." Charlie explained.
They were surprised to hear that he was doing this when they possibly weren't looking but wondered when did he do this while in Newtopia with them.
"I'm not sure if I should be afraid of your boyfriend or to have respect for him more than ever, Anne." said Polly with a blushing grin.
"Oh Polly!" said Anne and Charlie chuckling.
Charlie smiled and he suddenly scooped up Hop Pop and carried him into his arms as he hugged him. He felt an overwhelming relief as after everything that happened last night and today. Now that him and Anne understand why Hop Pop lied and after he explained everything. He felt good that Hop Pop wasn't a liar on purpose like Captain Grime and his army. Sure, Hop Pop lied but both him and Anne now understand why he lied which wasn't on purpose and it wasn't to hurt them or trick them ether. Charlie shed a tear as he uttered the word "Otōsan" which Hop Pop felt relieved to hear him refer to him by that name.
Back at the Plantars home
As everything back in Wartwood was going back to normal and order had been restored and everyone's fears have been calmed. Hop Pop took them all to his study room and he placed a book on the desk of his study which had a golden letter "P" that stood for the Plantar family name.
"Hop Pop, what does this book have to do with the music box?" asked Anne curiously.
"This book has been in our family for as long as I can remember. And look." Hop Pop answered.
He opened the book and flipped the pages to what looked like the pages that shown the Calamity Box. It was having the words "Calamity Box" in there which revealed the real name of the box. It also read "Danger!" and "Beware!" and the word "Destroyed!" was in red lettering over what looked like a frog's skull.
It shown a picture of the box with a picture of the three stones and the three colors they each shown. They looked right at it as Hop Pop was showing and explaining the dangers of the Calamity Box.
"Calamity Box"? Eesh. That does sound bad." said Anne.
"And they say whistling at night is bad luck in Japanese culture." said Charlie.
"Yeah. Not exactly comforting." replied Hop Pop.
"I guess all we can do now is wait for Marcy." said Sprig grimly.
"Yeah. Guys, I hate to say it, but this temple quest may be more dangerous than we thought." said Anne realizing a possible reality.
Charlie suddenly came to Anne and embraced her. They all looked right at Charlie and saw he was visibly afraid while Anne pulled him in her arms while she hugged him to console him.
"It's alright, Char Char. It's not like any of us will be taking on this quest alone. We'll have each other." said Anne reassuring him.
"The closest thing to a temple I've been to was...a place in the local mall that was called "Pizza Temple" and it was no temple. But the appearance of it outside of it's building sure looked like one." Charlie admitted.
Hop Pop thought for a moment and knew that since all of them were going to be taking on this temple quest together with Marcy. He knew that if they take this on, they'll do it together.
"Well, Anne, and Charlie, think this gang can handle it?" asked Hop Pop rhetorically.
There was a pause and both Anne and Charlie gave a smile to the question. Anne and Charlie pulled Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly into their arms for a hug as they were all embracing each other in a group hug.
"After today, I'm pretty sure this gang can handle anything." reassured Anne.
"Awww." said Polly in an adored tone.
"You kids sure you don't wanna wear the puffy suits?" asked Hop Pop.
"Hop Pop!" chuckled the kids shaking their heads.
"Okay, okay, just had to ask." said Hop Pop softly.
"I should probably tell ya. After being in that puffy suit. I looked like a pregnant sumo wrestler." joked Anne chuckling.
They all started to laugh a bit at her joke.
"I looked worse. I looked like I spent twenty-five years eating nothing but cheese, french fries, pizza and bacon cheese burgers and puffed up like a blimp with a sign flashing the words "Wide Load" for anyone to see." joked Charlie.
They all suddenly laughed louder and harder as Charlie's joke made them all laugh and he was laughing with them.
"We looked like we let ourselves go for thirty years." laughed Anne.
They were laughing about the joked Anne and Charlie told which almost had them fall on the floor laughing.