Days have passed since Anne, Marcy and the Plantars had both succeeded in charging the second stone at the second temple. They took a few days to rest from the events since it was arduous for them all. Anne and Charlie felt as though Valeriana was kind of motherly towards them when ever she was showing Charlie such affections while even after Anne proved her worth to her, she apologized to Anne for her cruelty towards her and started showing a motherly affectionate side towards her too.
This left the two human teenagers to confirm that Valeriana loves children but wants them to stay out of trouble or at the very least make sure they don't get hurt. Anne did feel like a child when Valeriana hugged and kissed her like she did with Charlie in a motherly way while she blushed from the playful tickling.
"Do you guys think Valeriana has a crush on Charlie and Anne?" asked Marcy.
"No!" Anne and Charlie said in blushing unison.
"She told me she was being that way towards me because knowing of my hardships. She felt it would be a nice idea for me to be pampered and spoiled for a change. She's confirmed she doesn't steal another lady's man." said Charlie blushing.
"Valeriana may have been cold with me at first but she said everything we went through was a trial to prove my worth, testing me if you will. But she did apologize to me afterwards." Anne blushed admitting the truth.
"Makes me wonder why she was kissing, hugging and tickling you two." chuckled Polly.
The two teenage humans blushed a deeper shade while Polly gave out a laugh and was grinning mischievously.
"She knew we are good kids the whole time and she probably wanted to show the love." said Charlie with a hiccup.
"Hahaha, ya know I'm poking fun at you two." teased Polly showing mercy.
The two teenagers let out a sigh of relief as they know Polly was only pulling a little humor on them.
"We saw her with her right arm back and her left eye was completely okay. Charlie, did you?" Sprig began.
"I gave her one of them golden apples." Charlie answered for him. "After she shown us how we proven our worth, apologized to us, especially apologizing to my girl, and told us all the good we've done, and after she explained the origins of my abilities from what she knows of. I figured she probably wanted her right arm back and her left eye to be at full capacity like her other eye. I did the same for those in Wartwood and other places in Amphibia so I did the same for Valeriana. I knew it would make life easier for her. That, and I knew she was on our side."
After Charlie told them this. They knew that he used the golden apple to regrow Valeriana's right arm and heal her left eye because he knew that it was the kind thing to do for her. Even if things were a bit rocky at first. Anne kissed him on his cheeks which left him with a wide, blushing grin.
"Your heart is big as mine." said Anne kissing him again.
"I actually thought she'd try to steal Charlie from ya." said Marcy.
"Valeriana confirmed that she doesn't steal another lady's man." said Anne confirming.
"She told me the same thing too." Charlie confirmed.
This left Marcy, Sprig and Polly silent for a moment and seeing that they were told the truth about Valeriana. They agreed that it was surprising and a little weird Valeriana treated them like they were her kids she spoils but now know Valeriana has good intentions.
When Charlie told Marcy and the Plantars what Valeriana told them about the origins of Charlie's developing powers. They were a bit baffled. Charlie managed to explain it to the Plantars in words they understood without talking down to them while Marcy felt as though something about this was familiar to her.
"So she told you that someone from a now extinct race of people possibly poured their power into you when you were probably a little baby but wouldn't be able to develop such abilities till you've reached puberty?" Hop Pop stated.
"That's what she told us." said Anne.
Hop Pop let out a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead as if wiping off sweat.
"That's some good news and it means one thing." said Hop Pop.
"Like what?" asked Sprig.
"That I might not have to give Charlie the talk about puberty since he's already going through it and was probably given that talk already." said Hop Pop.
There was a silence but both Hop Pop and Charlie blushed about the very mention of talking about puberty when someone enters that part of their life.
"But if I had to give you the talk. I already know I can answer any questions you have in mind." said Hop Pop.
"Sounds like a father and son conversation." said Charlie with a smile.
Charlie and Hop Pop embraced each other for a hug as the two were having a father and son moment. Marcy seeing this for the first time felt her heart grow a few sizes at the sight of the father and son moment the two experienced.
"Doesn't that mean one day me and Polly will be given the talk about puberty?" Spring chimed in.
Hop Pop let out a hiccup and loud frog like croak as he blushed.
"I worry about the time that day comes." said Hop Pop looking nervous at the thought.
"Because you know you'll be giving the talk to a girl?" said Marcy blushing.
Hop Pop hiccuped twice at the mention of that. He knew that when it came to talking about such things. The dad should talk to the son about it while the mother talked about it with the daughter. But he knew that since he's the parental figure to Sprig and Polly, he knew there was two options if it came to talking to Polly about it.
"Well, ether me or Sylvia would give Polly the talk, well, only if I feel a little too awkward about it. But hopefully, I'll have the guts to talk to Polly about puberty one day." said Hop Pop hopefully.
"I am not looking forward to puberty." said Polly looking annoyed.
"I'm pretty sure no one is, Polly." Anne pointed out.
"She's got a point." Polly agreed.
During the days that passed in Wartwood was when Anne, Charlie, Marcy and the Plantars were packing up for their journey to the third temple which Marcy has researched about. Anne, Marcy. Charlie and Sprig were placing boxes into the caravan but Charlie somehow handled the heavy lifting for them which he insisted that he do so.
"Charlie, I wonder if your getting stronger." Sprig said in amazement.
"I'll let you know if I ever can lifted a building up off the ground and can pump iron with it like bodybuilders in a gym." said Charlie jokingly.
Polly had rolled along in a golden bucket with a small pink snail pulling her along. She looked like she was relaxing and enjoying herself like a family going on a car drive to take in the sights.
"Good work everyone. Wish I could help but no legs, you know." said Polly appearing to look awkward she mentioned the problem she faces.
Anne sarcastically let out a "Uh Huh" while Charlie placed another box into the caravan.
"Maybe Polly can roll over like a can of pinto beans down a hill." joked Charlie chuckling.
The kids burst out laughing a little while Polly looked annoyed.
"That's not funny." said Polly disagreeing.
"Don't worry, Polly. I'm just messing with ya. I'll stop directing the jokes at you." chuckled Charlie as he shown mercy. "I think karma will get me for that one."
"I doubt it. Telling jokes sounds like something karma wouldn't rain down on anyone for." said Polly.
Charlie shrugged his shoulders and Polly had the small snail pull her along towards the barn where Hop Pop was giving Bessie a bath. Anne, Marcy and Sprig giggled at the joke that Charlie told.
"Rolling over like a can of pinto beans down a hill." chuckled Sprig. "That was funny."
Charlie tried not to laugh again but he let out a chuckle. Polly made it to the barn and Hop Pop instructed Polly to leave the small snail with him and go finish packing as he knew that the trip to the third temple had to be much more arduous than the first and second temples.
Polly asked if she needed to grab some weapons from the hidden armory underneath the house which Hop Pop agreed, much to the delightful thrill to Polly as she hopped away to do so. Hop Pop turned his attention to Bessie whom he informed that she'll be looking after MicroAngelo, the small pink snail that had big blue eyes. Hop Pop did unintentionally point out Bessie's age when he was mentioning how much experience she's got, much to her annoyance with her letting out a grumble.
Hop Pop told her that MicroAngelo will be her responsibility as they're packing up for the trip. Which Bessie used one of her eyes to give a salute to him which the older male frog gave her a gentle scratching underneath her chin with her letting out a relaxed purring sound. That's when Hop Pop left to help out in the packing.
Bessie was there to see the little snail fall over after getting dizzy going around in circles which she helped him up by using her big lips to grab him and set him back up. The two looked at each other as if looking each other over to remember what the other looks like but were interrupted by MicroAngelo's stomach growling. Bessie let out a couple of chirps and used her big lips to rip open a nearby bag of snail feed which she poured into the nearby bowl, slightly overfilling it.
Once she looked up, she saw MicroAngelo was gone but when she turned to see where he was. She heard the little snail making an excited "Meep" and saw that he was hopping around in a bucket that was being held by a rope that hung above a well nearby, she saw the rope starting to break which Bessie let out an alarmed, guttural shriek with wide eyes of alarm as she ran towards the little snail at top speed like she was a horse at a race track. She managed to get there in time to rescue MicroAngelo when the rope snapped, she caught the rope with her mouth and placed the bucket on the ground nearby, letting out a loud, flappy sound sigh of relief.
Bessie was about to give the little male snail a disapproving look but her face turned to compassion when MicroAngelo was rubbing his head against her body, making little purring sounds like a cat. That's when MicroAngelo crawled up Bessie's body while leaving a trail of slime. He let out a "Meep" and yawned, curling up on top of her shell and falling asleep. Bessie's annoyance subsided and she felt like the near dangerous situation was only an accident so she curled up and fell asleep with him.
Back at the house
Hop Pop was packing up numerous maps while Polly pushed a box of boomshrooms along which she left to get more deadly weapons in a crazed laugh. Marcy walked over to the caravan as she turned her attention to Anne and Charlie.
"So, Anne, I think we can both agree that everything is riding on this last temple." said Marcy scratching her head.
"Yep." said Anne.
"And can we also agree that you need some near gear already?" said Marcy with a tense face.
"What gear?" asked Charlie.
"You know, armor, shields, that sort of thing." Marcy detailed to them.
The two teenagers thought for a moment as they saw they had no armor or shields on them. Hop Pop's puffy suits were not even good choices for armor or shields.
"Fair." said Anne and Charlie in unison.
"Good, because I already fly mailed Newtopia's best armorer and he's on his way right now to give you two a whole new look." said Marcy looking wide eyed with excitement as if she was eager for this.
After Marcy left to tend to something. Anne was about to grab hold of a box Sprig handed to her but she didn't catch it as it fell to the ground and burst open, ninja star knives plopped out onto the ground. Anne was wide eyed at the mentioning of this while Charlie quickly noticed this. Charlie also knew since this involved him too, he was feeling a little nervous.
"Oh shit." Charlie said looking a little surprised.
"Hold up, did she just say a new look?" said Anne alarmed.
"Yep. What's the problem?" asked Sprig curiously.
Anne looked alarmed with wide eyes.
"Oh no, not again, I can not tell you how many times Sasha and Marcy tried to give me a makeover!" said Anne placing her hands to her face in horror.
Anne remembered that the times Sasha and Marcy tried to give her a makeover and it involved crazy to ridiculous or bizarre hairdos. Anne shuddered in horror.
"This is not gonna go well." said Anne sounding dreadful.
"What about Charlie? Didn't Sasha or Marcy try to give him a makeover before?" asked Sprig.
The two turned to look at Charlie who appeared slightly unfazed by this.
"I'm a guy. Guys don't get makeovers. But I do remember Marcy tried to hook me up with other girls when she found out me and Sasha were no longer dating which Sasha probably didn't tell her that she dumped me and hurt me. Marcy tried to hook me up with at least three girls and..." Charlie paused.
Anne and Sprig looked at a now blushing yet awkward faced Charlie as he remembered the three girls that Marcy tried to hook him up with.
Flashback
Charlie remembered the first girl that Marcy tried to hook him up with was a chubby black teenage girl whom he tried to get to know but he fell short on his words on what to say as the black teenager was seeing something was wearing on his grief-stricken mind as it was during the first week after Sasha dumped him.
"Sugar, you alright? You haven't said a word since I started. What's on your mind, sugar?" asked the black girl appearing concerned.
Charlie was silent and hung his head in sadness as he shook his head sadly and tears formed out of his eyes. The black girl was seeing that he was deeply depressed and immediately hugged him to comfort him. Marcy came over to see how things were going but she saw the attempts to play matchmaker turned into a bust.
"Marcy honey, maybe he's just not ready to look for a girl yet. Poor sugar needs to go home and possibly get his mom and the ladies of the house to give him some support." the black girl kindly advised.
The second girl that Charlie remembered Marcy tried to set him up with turned out be a Hispanic teenager girl and it was probably another two weeks after the first girl didn't work out. Charlie still looked depressed about Sasha while this second girl Marcy tried to set him up with was looking concerned.
"You okay honey?" asked the Hispanic teenage girl.
Charlie was shedding a tear in front of her which caused her to grow worried about him which she suspected that he went through ether a horrible break up or wasn't ready to look for another girl at the time being.
"What is it, little man?" she asked worried.
"I wanna go home." said Charlie slowly in a sad tone.
This teenage girl figured that he could use a hug as she pulled him in her arms to hug him and rubbed his back while Marcy saw this was probably not working out as well when she saw Charlie silently weeping as she wondered if this was probably not a good day to set him up with another girl.
"Marcy, maybe he's just not feeling like dating anyone right now. I think he had a bad day." the Hispanic teenage girl said showing compassion.
The last girl Charlie remembered that Marcy tried to set him out with was a blonde girl and she was keeping her hair down but she looked really pretty and beautiful as she appeared to be a cheery girl who admitted she was one of the cheerleaders at school.
Charlie looked at her but even though it had been the fifth week that passed since Sasha dumped him and hurt him. He was remembering the next girl he fell in love with when he saw her. He was imagining Anne in his mind as he imagined her pulling him over to dance with her as if imagining they're dancing to dance hip hop music. But than he was brought out of this daydream once he saw the blonde girl in front of him appearing worried.
"Everything okay, honey?" asked the blonde teenage girl with a grin.
Charlie blushed and looked at her with a grim face as he knew that he didn't want to hurt her feelings but he just couldn't date her because Anne was the only girl on his mind.
"I'm sorry but you're a really nice girl and all but Marcy's been trying to set me up with girls for over a month now but there's some other girl on my mind. I know you're a sweet girl and all but some other girl caught my attention before you and I met just now." said Charlie looking saddened to admit.
The blonde girl appeared to be understanding when she placed her hand on his left shoulder to reassure him.
"To be honest? I kind of knew that Marcy playing matchmaker was probably not the best idea in mind but I didn't want to disappoint her. And I can tell when a guy is in love with a girl and they don't want to be set up with another girl but the one they like. So I get it, I'm not offended by it." said the blonde girl showing understanding. "So who is this lucky lady?"
Charlie looked up at her and sighed as he blushed deeper.
"She's this beautiful cocoa goddess of a lady but I've been working on trying to talk to her but I'm working on finding the right time to go up to her and talk to her and possibly admit my feelings to her. But could you please not say a word to anyone about this? I kind of want to try this on my own." said Charlie hopefully.
The blonde girl smiled and pulled him in for a hug.
"Your secret is safe with me. Also, I know about what that bitch Sasha did to you. You're too good for that cold-blooded witch. She's such a control freak." she said showing her sympathies.
Charlie suddenly burst into tears at the very mentioning of Sasha which this blonde girl just found out it was probably a bad idea to mention Sasha's name or anything about her. Marcy came over and saw this attempt at playing matchmaker was another failure.
"Didn't work out?" said Marcy appearing awkward.
"Marcy, maybe playing matchmaker for him isn't a good idea. I don't think he's ready. If he does find a girl he likes and needs help with winning her over, than let him come to you. Also, lets take him home, I think he needs his mother right now." the blonde girl suggested.
Marcy helped with getting Charlie home that day while the blonde girl told Charlie's mom, aunt and the ladies of the house to try not to mention Sasha around him as she knew he was still feeling emotionally vulnerable about what Sasha did to him.
Flashback Ends
Charlie looked at Anne and Sprig blushing as they were curious.
"How did it go when Marcy played matchmaker for you?" asked Anne curiously.
"The first two were a bust as I was grieving over Sasha dumping me, the last one, she understood that I was interested in Anne and still getting over Sasha at the time but it didn't work out with the three. They were nice girls but they were not Anne." Charlie answered kindly.
Anne smiled as she came over to hug him and kiss him on his cheeks which she was glad that Charlie only wanted her and no one else. Charlie hugged her back which they got back to helping out with packing afterwards.
Back with Bessie
Bessie woke up from her nap, smacking her large lips and saw that MicroAngelo was missing again. She remembered that the little snail was napping on top of her shell but heard the little snails "Meeps" from nearby. She turned to see Frobo chopping up wood nearby but much to Bessie's alarm, that's when she saw MicroAngelo crawl on one of the wooden logs that Frobo grabbed hold of, and placed it on the trunk nearby, getting ready to chop it while the little snail was next to it.
Bessie let out an alarmed guttural shriek and raced over to rescue MicroAngelo which she made it in time to grab the little snail and pull him away from the wood which Frobo chopped the next log of wood, rolling away from the spot while Frobo looked over there to see what was going on but question marks rolled up into the frog like robots eyes.
The huge female snail rolled down the nearby hill and once she stopped, she came out of her shell and set the little male snail down on the ground. She looked at Frobo who waved at her with a grin but turned to see MicroAngelo wandered off to follow a butterfly towards the nearby dirt road which a carriage was being pulled by a very huge crab that was big as Bessie. The huge female snail was wide eyed and raced over to the smaller snail, she jumped and did a flip to grab hold of the little male snail and got him out of the way in time and once she landed somewhere safe nearby. She came out of her shell and wasn't looking happy. She stomped her tail and began chirping at MicroAngelo like she was a parent telling him what he's doing could've gotten him hurt.
But when she looked at MicroAngelo, she stopped as she saw the little male snail was showing tears leaking out of his eyes as if upset that he made her mad and upset with him and from the yelling. Bessie tried to remain tough and turned her head away as if trying not to be swayed by the tears, but for a moment, she opened one of her eyes and saw MicroAngelo slowly sliding away with his head hanging in sadness, than stopped to look at her with his tearful blue eyes. Bessie tried not to break but let out a sigh as she slides over to him and uses her eye to gently tap the little snail's shell to get his attention who turned to face her, she gently pushed him forwards to walk with him which MicroAngelo nuzzled his face to her which Bessie shown a sympathetic face as the two began to whistle a beautifully musical tune towards the barn.
Back at the Plantars house
Everyone packing took a moment to rest as they saw the huge crab drawn carriage pull up nearby. The carriage stopped and the door opened, a red carpet with the Newtopian symbols on the carpet. A male newt walked out of the carriage and he wore white heeled boots, very light green pants, a flashy looking white jacket with gold epaulettes, a Sap green shirt underneath the jacket while a pale green ascot. He had on sunglasses with red lenses and his emerald green hair was looking like he had some gel in there as his hair stood up like spikes but there was a little ponytail in the back. His skin was Baker-Miller Pink with a pale pink underbelly. He was an adult for sure.
"My name is Bernardo." the newt introduced. "Who are the two that are in need of my services?"
He turned to see Anne and Charlie nearby but when looking at Anne, he saw she was one of them but he didn't look at Charlie all that much. He walked up to the two teenage humans as he had a flamboyant way of walking.
"Nevermind, it is clearly you, honey." Bernardo guessed.
"Is it really that bad?" asked Anne looking at herself for a moment.
Bernardo took off his sunglasses and had a serious look in his eyes.
"It's worse." Bernardo said in a husky tone.
The flamboyant newt turned to see Charlie and looked at him with an interested expression but gave a little smile and his eyes nearly bugged out in adoration.
"Oh my! And who is tall, muscular and fabulicious?" Bernardo said giving a flirtatious growl. "Them chiseled facial features, those hunky muscles, that long, flowing hair and that cutie booty! I don't know who you are, sugar, but are you single?"
He was clearly flirting with Charlie and complimenting his body and appearance. But Charlie blushed and tried to appear mature.
"I'm already dating a girl and she's standing next to you." Charlie told him with a hiccup. "Sir, are you, well, you know?"
"Preferring the company of other men? Guilty as charged, lock me up and throw away the key, handsome." Bernardo chuckled. "Don't worry though, I only go for men who are single and ready to mingle as my momma taught me better than that. Lets get cracking, shall we."
As they walked inside the house. Charlie could tell that something about Bernardo that told him he was one of them flamboyant type of men and he remembered knowing someone like that back at home when he was around ten years old but he remembered the said man was a really nice, sweet guy who was good with the kids. But Bernardo, he knew that this person seemed to be a different case like one of them fussy fashion designers.
As they walked inside, Charlie volunteered to assist with Bernardo's bags as he saw a small blue male newt was pushing it along but seeing Charlie push three big suitcases into the houses. Bernardo seemed to admire his strength.
"I don't know, Mar Mar. These old duds have been good to me, you know. Same can be said for Char Char." Anne told her feeling hesitant.
"I agree. These threads I've been sporting along with anything else I've worn that's in my bag. They've done a whole lot of good for me." said Charlie joining Anne's side.
"Guys, we're probably going home soon. Don't you two want to live the fantasy a little? Try a new identity? Role play?" Marcy asked looking excited.
"I've already lived the fantasy a little with the developing abilities. But I like my identity yet I don't really role play." said Charlie chiming in.
"Enough chitty chatty!" Bernardo interrupted.
He was carrying a wooden step stool and placed it in front of Anne and Charlie. He walked up the small flight of stairs so he could be face and eye level with them.
"Love birds, who do you want to be?" asked Bernardo.
Anne and Charlie were at a loss for words and ideas as they really didn't seem to thrilled about this. Marcy came up with some suggestions when she picked up a couple of outfits for the two. She was excited for this but informed them she was going to mix some potions for tomorrow but she also told Bernardo something to keep him informed about.
"Bernardo, be nice to them." Marcy advised.
As Marcy walked outside, that's when Bernardo turned to Anne and Charlie. He could see Charlie was slightly nervous.
"I take it your white wolf hunk is nervous?" guessed Bernardo.
"About as nervous as my cocoa goddess is." said Charlie with a nervous hiccup.
"Not to worry, you two, if you get hurt, I'll make sure to nurse those boo boos. In Newtopia this season. It is all about barbarian." said Bernardo.
Bernardo shown some outfits and weapons that people used for the look of a barbarian which Anne was showing some slight dread but possibly afraid as she looked at Sprig for a sign of support. Charlie on the other hand was trying to remain stoic.
"Bernardo, when it comes to weapons, I prefer my katana." said Charlie letting out a lion like growl.
"Oh! We have a wild one here. Someone likes to be more of a samurai? That I can work with." said Bernardo showing delight.
"Barbarian sounds pretty cool. Why don't you two just wear a few and see how you feel? It won't hurt to try." Sprig kindly advised.
They turned to see the first outfit that Bernardo had for Anne which was looking like black armor that he's stated was covered in painful, poison barbs. Charlie shown alarm for his girl friend's safety.
"Nevermind, that looks like it'll hurt." said Sprig looking guilty.
"Sprig!" said Anne annoyed.
"Hell no! Bernardo, you are not putting that on my girl! If it's got poison involved, a big freaking no to that!" Charlie advised against.
"Calm down, big and handsome. Reggie, going with no poisonous weapons." Bernardo told one of his associates.
Back at the barn
Bessie yawned as she was going to try and take a nap near the barn door while during her nap was when MicroAngelo again got distracted by another flying bug nearby. He followed it but when Bessie sensed something was up. She woken up and spotted the little snail chasing the flying bug that was following towards the house which Bessie saw that Marcy was mixing potions in a cauldron with a skull and cross bones symbol on it while Frobo watched her like he was giving her supervision.
Polly was carrying around some sharp weapons to pack up and she took off running after MicroAngelo with her guttural shrieks. She crashed through the wooden fence that lead to the crops and ran through the spot where the crops were planted and grown, she ran into and knocked over some big wooden boxes, ran passed Polly, leaving Polly to spin around and stop, looking dizzy as she dropped what she was carrying.
MicroAngelo sped by Marcy and Frobo who was assisting with the boxes but stopped and lost his balance as he fell butt first into the cauldron that Marcy used for the potion she was mixing. A lot of the green liquid fell out of the cauldron while the sharp weapons that Polly dropped landed around them, missing Marcy and Frobo which they were not harmed. Bessie kept racing for the snail but slipped on the green liquid and uttered an alarmed shriek.
MicroAngelo sped passed Hop Pop who was looking at a various map and when he turned to see Bessie racing over, he let out a loud scream as he was wide eyed at Bessie running towards them like a motorcycle going at full speed limit on the road. Bessie tried to stop but too late. She crashed into Hop Pop and a few boxes along with leaving a trail of the green potion liquid behind her. Bessie and Hop Pop were on the ground as Bessie was laying on her side while Hop Pop regained his vision and saw that the maps he had ready were scattered all over the place in front of him.
"Holy hornets! My maps!" cried Hop Pop.
The door to the house burst open and Charlie came outside while he was seen wearing what looked like an armored kimono.
"Whose hurt! Anyone hurt!" cried Charlie.
Hop Pop got up on his feet and snapped at Bessie which the large female snail gave him the big, sad, puppy dog eyes as Hop Pop was lecturing Bessie.
"Bessie! What's gotten into you. You're suppose to be looking after MicroAngelo! Not causing a frog dang ruckus!" yelled Hop Pop sharply.
Charlie saw the amount of damages that were done around the area as the spot where the crops were being harvested were mashed, the fence to it broken in a few places, some boxes torn open and the cauldron that Marcy was using was knocked over by it's side with all of the potion liquid spilled out. There was a little bit of fire but Charlie used some dirt to put the fires out. Hop Pop turned to Bessie with a now disappointed expression.
"The the heck happened? I thought you were my good girl? This was obviously too much responsibility for ya." said Hop Pop looking steamed. "Come on, Bessie."
Bessie blushed in shame and let out a saddened rumbling in her throat. Charlie could see that Hop Pop was being too harsh on Bessie.
"Hop Pop, come on, she's just a big girl, lets not get so harsh on here!" called Charlie trying to inject some compassion into the situation.
"I got this from here, Charlie!" called Hop Pop.
Charlie knew that Hop Pop was being harsh on Bessie but he knew that Hop Pop had that feeling that told him if he was to talk to him, he should talk to him when he's not steamed. He than walked back inside the house while Hop Pop walked Bessie back to the barn. MicroAngelo looked on in confusion as he looked as though he just noticed what's been going on.
Hop Pop placed Bessie into the barn and placed a collar around her neck which she was chained into one of the stalls while Hop Pop gave the saddened large snail a hug as if to try and show some compassion and mercy.
"Sorry ol' girl. Today's preparations are just too important right now. Lot's of packing up to do and some of them involve packing deadly weapons." said Hop Pop sadly.
He walked out of the barn as if sad he was being so hard on her and closed the barn door behind him. Bessie turned to see there was an opening to where she stood and she placed her eyes through it like it was a peephole for her. She looked outside with a depressed expression in her eyes, she remembered Charlie tried to help her or at least tried to get Hop Pop to not say anything he'd regret which was barely able to comfort her. Than she heard the little "Meep" and looked down to see MicroAngelo standing outside the barn nearby.
Bessie shown a look of annoyance in her eyes and rolled up into her shell. Seeing this broke MicroAngelo's heart as he hung his head in sadness while letting out a little guttural rumbling of sorrow. His eyes drooping down in depression.
Back at the house
Anne was wearing what looked like armor with fluffy fur on it with a skull like helmet and snow boots while Charlie was wearing what looked like an armored kimono that was silver with matching boots which he had a bit of difficulty trying to move around in it.
"Uhhh, guys. Not really sure this is my style." said a hesitant Anne.
"I can't move my body. Seriously, I look like one of them mannequins at the mall that models suits. At least the mannequins don't have discomfort." said Charlie trying not to fall over.
"I think you look neat. Loving that loincloth. And Charlie, you look like a warrior whose about to throw down." compliment Sprig.
"It is a bit loud. Kind of like my two cousins when they're at a Bugball game. Charlie, can you move a muscle?" asked Bernardo seeing the outfits they're trying wasn't a good choice.
Charlie suddenly tried to move but lost his balance and fell over onto the floor in a loud thud. Anne looked at Charlie with worry.
"You okay, Char Char?" Anne asked hopefully.
"Tasukete." cried Charlie.
"Translation sweetie?" asked Bernardo.
"He needs help." Anne translated.
Anne managed to reach down and pull Charlie up onto his feet while one of the blue male newts helped Charlie out of the armored outfit so he'd be able to stand and move around which he looked like he was in a pair of pajamas after the armor was removed.
"Let's try a few other options." Bernardo suggested while clapping his hands.
Bernardo called for his assistant and that's when the small male newt started to place Anne and Charlie into a few other armored outfits. The next outfits they tried was Anne wearing a black hooded sorceress mage outfit with a staff that had an unknown skull on top of it. Charlie was in an armored outfit that looked like he was made to look like a komodo dragon but that one made him feel itchy.
"Too magical." said Anne.
"Too itchy." groaned Charlie.
Bernardo's assistant quickly got them into a different outfit of armor which Anne was now looking like a commando from the french revolution while Charlie was in a non itchy armored outfit that made him look like a wooly mammoth which he was sweating a little as his armored outfit wasn't itchy but it was a bit warm.
"Too formal." said Anne.
"Too hot. I need to feel comfortable. Not feel like the inside of an oven. Bernardo, can we try something else, please?" said Charlie.
"Of course, honey-cups." said Bernardo.
The little blue male newt had them go into another outfit which Anne was in one that made her look like a crane like bird with feathers and large fedora like hat that also had a feather in it with her hair in pigtails. Charlie was in an outfit of armor that made him look like some kind of robot. He felt comfortable, not sweating, not itching, was able to move but it made him look like he gained one hundred pounds.
The outfits than went from Anne looking like a mantis, a moth, but she did snap by telling them "no more bugs!" while Charlie was going through various outfits where one made him look like a camouflaged lizard, to a lion, and a soldier ant. But neither of the outfits were of their liking at all.
"Your friends are, how do you say, hard to please?" said Bernardo.
"Tell me about it." said Sprig while they sipped tea.
Sprig and Bernardo jumped in a startle when they heard a loud, realistic lion like growl coming from Charlie. Charlie than cleared his throat while giving the two a stern expression which was enough to make Sprig and even Bernardo have nervous yet guilty looks.
"Sorry." Sprig apologized.
"I apologize. I'm a little scared of this one but at the same time, his animal like sounds are kind of turning me on." said Bernardo not sure if he should feel fear or admiration towards Charlie.
"Guys, this stuff is cool and all but it's too much. Charlie sweated through one of them, felt itchy in another, couldn't move another, and I think one of them gave him a rash." said Anne finally speaking. "I mean who really needs these giant metal hands only to give the enemy a hard punch."
"Technically speaking, those are siege gauntlets with built in fire launchers." said Bernardo being more specific.
"Fire launchers?" said Charlie looking tense.
That's when Anne held up one of her armored hands and a compartment from the right armored hand opened up and a catapult came out of it while a ball of fire was looking like it was ready to launch from the left side of it. It was a small trebuchet. Sprig came over to get a closer look at it and was impressed by the looks of it.
Sprig saw what it was and even looked so excited to see it that he was about to reach out to touch it. Anne warned him not to touch it but Sprig's fingers brushed against it, triggering the weapon as it launched a fire ball towards a window and crashed through the glass.
"Bernardo, that's it! When we put that fire out, we're having a serious talk and Sprig, we got to put that fire ball out!" cried Charlie.
"Oops." said Sprig and Bernardo realizing their folly.
"Sprig!" cried Anne.
Outside the house, the ball of fire was seen by MicroAngelo from a distance. He saw the ball of fire stopped at one of the scattered maps on the ground and started to catch on fire which there was a trail of maps leading to the caravan and a box of boomshrooms and Hop Pop and Polly were placing another box inside it. MicroAngelo tried to get Bessie's attention by shrieking for her, scratching at the wooden wall of the barn outside but Bessie was still pretty steamed at him after unintentionally causing her trouble today.
Bessie figured it would be worth a little of her time to see what the panicked little snail was trying to tell her as she came out of her shell, poked her eyes out of the peephole and was wide eyed with shocked terror. If Bessie could speak like a human, she'd possibly say something that Charlie would say when he's exasperated, angry or terrified.
That's when Bessie tried to go over to stop the fire but the chain she was on kept from from escaping while MicroAngelo came inside the barn to see if he could help Bessie. Bessie knew the best thing they could do for now was a forced decision, she grabbed a small bucket nearby, filled it with water from a nearby pool and placed the bucket handle over MicroAngelo's neck. Bessie chirped a few times and pointed with her left eye as if instructing the little snail to go help put out the fire. MicroAngelo used one of his eyes to give a salute and rushed outside through a hole in the door to race towards the fire but gets grabbed by a flying beast that looked like huge bat with a bird like beak with fangs, a lion's tail and lion's body.
Bessie shrieked in horror while MicroAngelo shrieked helplessly. Bessie felt trapped, she couldn't get out but than looked at a picture of the family nearby inside the stall. The picture shown both Bessie, Hop Pop, Polly, Sprig, and a picture of Anne and Charlie. She knew that she loves the family. Hop Pop raised her, she bonded with Sprig and Polly, she loves Anne as she's a sweet girl, she loves Charlie as she knows he's a sensitive boy whose got a big heart. Tears almost welled up in her eyes but she summoned all of her strength as she let out a few chirps like a motorcycle revving up to go.
She tried to speed on out of there as fast as possible with all her might but the chain had her stuck in there. She kept going till the chain broke and she sped off, breaking the barn doors down. Everyone came outside to see Bessie come barreling towards them. Anne nearly fell on her way out the door as he was wearing a suit of armor which Charlie came out while it looked like was in a pair of shorts and wearing sandals. Charlie helped Anne up by taking the helmet off her and she saw what was going on.
Charlie stood where Anne was for the time being but that's when they all saw the barn door in Bessie's mouth, she spat it out, it landed on part of the undamaged fence and she sped off towards it like a motorcycle ramp and was sent flying into the air. She was so high up that everyone could see and the huge snail crashed into the huge bat like creature by swinging her tail to slap at it, making the bat like monster drop MicroAngelo but Bessie caught the little snail with her mouth, curled up inside her shell as they fell to the ground and both were inside Bessie's shell, she rolled her way over towards the caravan and once she stopped, she came out while carrying MicroAngelo who used the bucket of water to put out the fire. The danger of the fire was over while they saw the bat like creature crash land somewhere and a huge mushroom cloud of fire burst in the spot the bat monster landed in.
Everyone was wide eyed at what they just saw while Charlie was looking like he just saw an action scene from a car chase film. Bessie set MicroAngelo down on the ground next to her. The two snails gave each other a tap to each others eyes like a high five. Hop Pop came over to Bessie as he just realized what Bessie was trying to do this whole time.
"Oh my frog Bessie. Not only did you save MicroAngelo. You saved us from nearly being obliterated. Who put these boomshrooms here?" said Hop Pop.
"Ha! Guilty." said Polly with a raised hand.
"Help! Please! Charlie got the helmet off but I can't get the rest off." called Anne.
"Anne!" cried Marcy.
"You okay?" cried Sprig.
Marcy and Sprig came running over to Anne as they help Charlie get the armor off Anne's body which was surprisingly easy for them. Anne sat up as she was able to move her body. Charlie, Marcy and Sprig helped Anne up to her feet as they all saw she only had the armor that was on her chest and going down to her belly area.
"Anne, I'm sorry you and Charlie were forced into an uncomfortable situation with those outfits." apologized Marcy.
"I'm sorry too. I also shouldn't have touched that function that one of them oversized hands wielded." Sprig apologized.
Anne hugged them for a bit and so did Charlie. That's when Anne saw what she was wearing and she felt like it was something that she liked. It was comfortable, she could move her body around easily, she didn't feel itchy or sweaty.
'I think this will work." said Anne with a grin.
Marcy than placed her hands on Anne's face as if to feel her temperature or to check for any head trauma. She was even looking at Charlie and was looking them both over.
"You two okay? Did you two hit your head? Are you two crazy now from a possible bump? Do you two need hugs?" asked Marcy going into mother bear mode.
"We're okay." said Anne and Charlie in unison.
"I think the reason why I don't want a new look is because." Anne paused.
She walked over to Frobo and looked at a reflection of herself on Frobo's shiny belly area as she saw how she looked with her armor plate.
"I'm finally happy with who I see in the mirror right now. So what ever I put on. I just wanna be able to see the same me looking back." Anne finished with a smile at her reflection.
Frobo smiled at her words as he gave Anne a gentle pat to her head while he would give her a wink and grin at her new look. Anne patted the frog like robot on his head as well and turned to look at everyone.
"So what do you guys think?" said Anne.
Bernardo took a look at Anne as if scanning her appearance and he smiled. They all looked at her with a grin.
"Minimalist. Bernardo like." said Bernardo.
"Your right. It is perfect." said Marcy in agreement.
Sprig let out an excited "Woo Hoo" while he jumped into the air once. Marcy came over to Anne to get a closer look at her outfit. She looked at Anne's hair as if getting an idea.
"But a summer cut might be cute." Marcy suggested in a low tone while making two fingers to form as scissors.
"Marcy, don't you dare come near Anne with scissors. I like her hair that way. If she wants to keep her hair that way than can you please leave her hair alone?" Charlie warned.
"Okay." said Marcy.
"Also, get a load of what I'm going for." called Charlie.
They turned to see Charlie who was fully dressed now but he was sporting an armor look like Anne but the armor he chose had the engraving of a lion on the front. Charlie let out a loud lion like growl and roar which Bernardo was probably wide eyed at the sight of it, even if he had his sunglasses on him. Their mouths fell open.
"This white boy is the knight in shining armor to a cocoa goddess with messy brown hair." said Charlie thrilled while mimicking a deep, Italian accent.
"And I'm that cocoa goddess, baby!" cried Anne happily.
As the two love struck teenagers came to each other, they hugged each other and kissed on the lips. This was enough to bring Bernardo to tears, happy tears.
"Such sweetness in young love. It's beautiful." said Bernardo almost breaking down.
Hop Pop turned to Bessie and shown a sympathetic yet compassionate face. Bessie looked back at him.
"Looks like I owe you an apology." said Hop Pop as he came to hug Bessie. "I knew you were my good girl."
Hearing Hop Pop tell Bessie that had Bessie feel the emotional pain lift from her. Seeing the old male frog apologizing to her made her feel so much better. Charlie and Anne could see this from a distance.
"I knew you two reconcile!" called Charlie.
Bessie leaned her head to nuzzle Hop Pop for a minute, letting out a couple of soft purrs and the two faced each other afterwards.
"And you know? Maybe it was all too much to put on your shoulders. Tell you what. After today, you'll never have to look after MicroAngelo again. How's that...sound?" said Hop Pop.
Bessie ignored Hop Pop and slid her way over towards the little male snail which Hop Pop looked to see that both Bessie and MicroAngelo were making their way over towards the barn, whistling a cheery, musical tune. Hop Pop figured that maybe Bessie would like to look after the little male snail after all.
"Okay, what ever you guys want. I mean you know better." said Hop Pop. "Wish I was a cute little snail."
Hop Pop went over to the kids and Bernardo as he saw Charlie was talking to Bernardo about something while the flamboyant male newt gave Anne and Charlie a hug and a kiss to their cheeks.
"I know I can be a fussy newt and I apologize for how cold I was to you two fabulous children. I'll admit, I like the looks you two sport. I know, I may be prefer men when I'm looking to date, but I have been known to support women in anything they do, especially when it comes to lovey dovey. Oooh, score one for you two!" said Bernardo with a squeal of delight at the end. "I know, I'm as flamboyant as fire! But I can be soft as a pillow."
"If you prefer men in a relationship. Than be proud of who you are and don't let anyone tell you different." Charlie encouraged.
"We can forgive you for being cold at first. But just some advice. When you're working with kids, sometimes the best thing there is for working with kids is to be gentle, compassionate, and try to be more patient with them. From our experience, they respond better that way. But that is if you want to try that." Anne kindly advised.
"I think I can try that. But I can't promise things will work out. This bubblegum hottie can't predict the future." said Bernardo in agreement. "But I'll see how it turns out."
"Fabulous!" cried Anne, Charlie and Bernardo in powerful unison.
Later on, nightfall came and everyone went to bed. Marcy did go to sleep on the couch inside the Plantar's home for the night while Charlie slept with Anne in the bed in the basement, both of them made sure they were sleeping with their bed clothes on. Bessie and MicroAngelo slept peacefully in the barn together, both having apologized to each other in their own ways. Bessie kissed the little snail while the snail snuggled with her. Everyone slept peacefully that night. They even let Bernardo and his associates sleep in their carriage at Wartwood that night because they figured it would be best to head back to Newtopia in the morning.
"That gorgeous white wolf and his cocoa goddess are fabulous together." said Bernardo with a smile.
Somewhere in Amphibia
The windmill that Sasha and Captain Grime were inside. Both of them looked as though they were getting ready for bed that night while Sasha was looking visibly annoyed or saddened. She hadn't spoken a word all day that day.
"Sasha, you've been silent all day. Literally." said Captain Grime taking notice.
Sasha looked up at the male toad with a stoic yet visibly saddened face and just uttered a sigh. Captain Grime knew that something was wearing on the blonde girl's mind.
"Are you feeling sleepy?" asked Captain Grime.
"No." said Sasha finally.
The large male toad scooted over to Sasha as if to look at her in her eyes, he used his good eye to look at each one of Sasha's eyes as if looking to see if there was any signs of infections.
"Could you not do that. It's creepy." said Sasha annoyed.
Captain Grime immediately pulled his face away from hers and the two were sitting on a big pile of hay with a huge blanket over it.
"It's about Percy and Braddock, isn't it?" asked Captain Grime guessing the truth. "As I've said, it may hurt, but everyone has a limit and they reached theirs. Every dream has it's price and not everyone is willing to pay it."
Sasha sat up and sighed. Captain Grime could tell that Sasha was visibly saddened for losing Percy and Braddock as friends for her actions when the friendly toad couple left their group, leaving Captain Grime and Sasha as the remaining.
"I will admit. I wonder how word got to the toad lords about how Charlie kicked our asses twice. They weren't even there to see that." Captain Grime mentioned.
"I'll give you one word: Newspapers." answered Sasha.
That's when Sasha pulled out a newspaper from a nearby bag as she tossed it over to Captain Grime and he saw the headline on it that read "Human Male Defeats Toads, Twice" which this left the captain to briefly look embarrassed by the readings of it.
"Damn you newspapers. No wonder my sister and the toad lords were making jokes at us about how a child defeated us during the beginning of the meeting. Damn that monkey bastard." groaned Captain Grime.
Sasha felt a surge of anger burning inside her as she looked at Captain Grime, appearing miffed.
"Don't call him that!" snapped Sasha.
Captain Grime was left bewildered at her reaction. Was Sasha appearing to still harbor feelings for Charlie?
"Even though Charlie and Anne are dating, hopefully, they'll wait till they're eighteen to fuck like animals during mating season. Disgusting! Are you harboring feelings for that boy?" said Captain Grime as if guessing the truth.
Sasha's anger turned to bewilderment. She didn't know how to answer that. She was irate that Anne stood up to her and defeated her in battle, she was irate when Charlie stood up to her, and ended up officially dating Anne which that felt like a blow to her ego but she was also shocked that Anne, Charlie and Marcy were working together with King Andrias. But as for harboring feelings for Charlie after all this time? She had no answer for that.
"Perhaps that's a question I shouldn't ask." guessed Captain Grime.
They decided to drop the subject as the question was a bit personal and Sasha really didn't have an answer to it. They both laid down in the pile of hay as their beds.
"We'll press on for the third temple soon. If Percy and Braddock choose not to join us. Well, than that's their choice. But it's possible we'll find Anne, Charlie, the Plantars and even that other gal pal of yours there. We'll need a full night's rest for that big day." said Captain Grime.
"Grimesy." Sasha interrupted.
Before Captain Grime could react. He turned to see Sasha rush over to him and she embraced him in her arms without warning. This left the huge male toad confused, he wasn't the type to be affectionate or to hug anyone. He was a cold-hearted, ruthless type who was heartless but seeing Sasha hugging him was making him feel weird.
"Lieutenant, your hugging me. This feels weird." said Captain Grime flabbergasted.
"Just shut up and let me do this for tonight." Sasha commanded. "Tell anyone about this and your dead."
Captain Grime wanted to say something, he wanted to react, he felt like he wanted to stop her but he didn't. He had no idea why but he suspected that Sasha was having a reason for embracing him without warning. He figured it was best not to argue and he begrudgingly allowed it. Sasha shed a tear, she didn't know if she still harbored feelings for Charlie, was saddened about Percy and Braddock leaving, was feeling a form of guilt or she didn't know why she felt this way.