Flashback, Five Years Ago
It was a sunny day at a local park in the playground and a young, eight year old Charlie was playing at the park while there was a few other kids nearby close to his age that were playing around on the playground equipment. Charlie was wearing a silver T-shirt with the letters "DBZ" printed on the front. I "D was yellow while the "B" and "Z" were in orange. His hair was shorter at the time by about the length that was slightly below his throat.
One of the kids played a song on their phone Charlie liked as he was recognizing it instantly when he came off one of the nearby swings. He was walking over to hear the song a little bit and stopped as one of the kids sung to the words a little but sounded slightly off key.
"Do you sing to the songs on the radio, Ben?" said a boy with curly brown hair.
"I like this song." answered Ben who had medium length brown hair that was having some gel in it.
The song's music got a little louder and just when one of them started to sing some of the words was when Charlie sang the words along with the song and he had a beautifully powerful voice when he sung the words. The kids nearby turned to see him singing and they were awestruck at his singing ability.
"Said I wanna fly like an eagle... to the sea. Fly like an eagle let my spirit carry me, I wanna...fl-y-y-y-y...Fly right into the future..."
The kids were wide eyed with astonishment that Charlie had the voice of an angel.
"Wow! That kid can really sing like the singer to that song." said Ben with a grin. "You go my man! Fly like an eagle with that voice!"
Charlie stopped for a moment, blushing as he didn't expect anyone to talk to him let alone notice him.
"I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?" Charlie said sheepishly.
"Oh no, we're just a little surprised you can sing like that is all. Wanna try another one?" asked the curly brown haired boy encouragingly.
Charlie felt a little courage rising inside him when he heard them encourage him to continue as they were impressed. He was about to sing another beautiful note till he was interrupted when he suddenly felt something trip him. He tripped over something and landed on the ground to his side. The kids saw it was someone who tripped him with their foot.
There was two older females who appeared to be at least sixteen years old. One with flaming red hair in pigtails and the other with long dark hair down to her shoulders. Both of them wear laughing at the mischief they pulled as Charlie struggled to get up, dirty was on his shirt and a little on the leg length of his jeans.
"Hey look, loser sings like a girl." said the dark haired teenage girl.
"I'm a boy." said Charlie slightly annoyed.
"Not with that voice. Go home to your mama, little girl, she's waiting for ya." the red haired teenage girl teased. "Little girls like you don't belong at the park, but maybe in a babies play pen."
Charlie was offended and annoyed. They were taunting him and excluding him from the park which they had no right to do that. He cleared his throat before he spoke.
"At least I got the ability to sing. But you two probably tried to and it sounded like cat's screeching." snapped Charlie. "I just heard the name of your album. The cure for food poisoning in people. The second they listen to it is when it induces vomiting."
The kids watching were not expecting him to be able to stand up for himself. The two teenage girls looked at him annoyed and feeling their anger growing. Charlie began to mimic the sound of a cat screeching loudly and he really was good at sounding like one, than he mimicked the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball which was so realistic that even the other kids were impressed by his voice abilities.
"Oh no you didn't." growled the dark haired teenage girl.
"Oh yes I did." said Charlie defiantly.
That's when Charlie let out a madman like cackle loudly as if it sounded like he was madman who mentally snapped. That was enough to anger the dark haired teenage girl to the point where she walked over to him and pushed him down to the ground hard while he fell again with a groan. This time, he struggled to get up but fought back tears.
"How about we knock you out!" threatened one of the mean girls.
"Hey you two! Stop picking on him!" came a girl's voice.
The two teenage girls looked up and their smiles faded a little as they saw a young blonde girl around the age of eight, same height as Charlie and her hair was in a ponytail. Charlie got up enough to look up at this blonde girl. His eyes were widened by her appearance. She worn a pink shirt with blue jean shorts.
"You again!" the two teenage girls said annoyed.
"Picking on someone younger and smaller than you when it's two against one isn't really fair, is it? You have no right to tell who can or can't be allowed at the park. The park belongs to everyone. So leave him alone or else." the blonde girl threatened.
The looks on the two teenage girls started to look annoyed and defiant as if unconvinced as they knew last time this girl tried to take them down, they dodged her but left because they found her behavior weird.
"Or what?" the two teenage girls dared in unison.
The blonde girl looked towards her left and saw what looked like a slender bodied police officer nearby the entrance of the park. She was an adult woman in a blue uniform. A defiant grin on the blonde girl's face formed and she looked at the two teenage girls.
"Maybe that police officer over there would have something to say about you two assaulting a little boy and excluding him from the park like you own the place which you clearly don't. What's it gonna be girls?" she threatened calmly.
The two teenage girls turned and saw that she wasn't lying. There was a female officer nearby who turned to see the kids which the two teenage girls looked on at her with wide eyed shock. They knew that the little blonde girl could tell on them and possibly get them arrested for assault if she told the officer on them.
"Something going on over there?" the officer called out.
Sasha gave them an evil smirk which they knew she wasn't kidding around. The two teenage girls sighed in defeat as they tried to fake a smile.
"They were just leaving after their mamas called on their phones." the blonde girl subtly insulted them.
The two teenage girls wanted to react with anger but they were forced to comply with the blonde girl.
"Yeah, we were just leaving." lied the red haired teenage girl.
"Hold it! You two, get over here. I saw what you two did to that little boy. Get over here." the lady officer demanded.
"We're going to jail!" said the two teenagers in unison.
"No, going to escort you two home but I am telling your parents what you did since what you two did to him is considered assault but I'll tell your parents you'll be let off with a warning." the officer told them showing some mercy.
The two teenage girls knew they had to listen and obey the officer or risk getting arrested so they let out a sigh and walked over to the officer.
"You sure you're not going to arrest us?" asked one of the teenage girls.
"Not going to arrest you. Just giving you a ride home and having a talk with your parents what you did. That, and I know who your folks are if you run so." the officer told them.
Charlie managed to get up and the little blonde girl came over to Charlie as she placed a hand on his cheeks to wipe away the tears. Charlie stared at her blushing deeply.
"You okay, little guy?" asked the blonde girl.
Charlie was at a loss for words as he could only nod once in response. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief that someone took up for him when he was being bullied and he pulled her in his arms to hug her with a grin on his face.
"Thank you." Charlie said shakily.
"A little too tight." the blonde girl said in a pained tone.
Charlie loosened his grip. After a minute of hugging, he released his arms from her and Charlie was again blushing at the sight of her. She smiled at him as he placed her hand on his chest where his heart was located.
"Sorry." Charlie hiccuped.
"It's alright. I'm stronger than I look. Your kind of cute when you're blushing. I heard you singing and mimicking their voices and animal sounds. That's actually kind of cool." the blonde girl told him as a compliment. "Are there others that bully you?"
Charlie was relieved to see she forgiven him for hugging a bit tight but he nodded at the question.
"I normally talk to my mom, my aunt and the ladies of the house. I'm the only guy in the house." Charlie admitted.
"You got sisters?" asked the blonde girl.
Charlie shook his head.
"It's me, my mom, my aunt and six of their closest friends they grew up with. Eight adult women with me as the only boy in there." said Charlie.
She was wide eyed to hear this. Charlie being raised in a house full of eight adult women was something she didn't expect.
"You must be lucky. I'll bet you make a lot of guys jealous." said the blonde girl with a chuckle.
"N-n-n-n-no I wouldn't say that." said Charlie trying not to laugh.
"What about your dad, where is he?" asked the blonde girl curiously.
The smile quickly faded from his face and turned to stoicism with a hint of sadness. The blonde girl wondered if she asked a question she shouldn't have asked about.
"Things didn't work out for my mom and dad. He's got a job that has him on the road a lot so I don't see him very much. I'd get postcards from him. He always tries to make it to my birthday to see me and spend time with me but his job keeps him busy and he would send a postcard instead. Wishing me a happy birthday and explaining why he got held up. But with a job like his being on the road a lot. I'm sure he has a good reason." said Charlie appearing as though it didn't bother him.
She was seeing that he pretended it didn't bother him which it probably did. She had an idea on how to boost his confidence a bit since she sees he sometimes got bullied and his dad is a constant no show. There was something she knew could boost his confidence and possibly cheer him up.
"So what's your name?" asked the blonde girl.
"Charlie Matsuda." Charlie introduced himself.
"Well Charlie, I know what will up your coolness factor. You ever considered dating?" she suggested.
Charlie was speechless for a moment, his heart racing at the thought of dating. He figured he was a little young to be dating and didn't know any girls he likes. But this blonde girl placed her hands on his shoulders and smiled at him. This made him feel like his shyness was slowly overtaking him.
"Wanna have a cute blonde girl as your girl friend? It'll make you cool around school." said the blonde girl giving him a flirty look.
"Really?" said Charlie looking eager.
"Everyone's jealous of a boy with a blonde girl." she told him placing an arm around him. "I'll even make sure bullies leave you alone."
The had his heart pounding. He figured if he had a girl friend and it did something to get others to stop bullying him or has a girl friend to protect him and probably would make him popular among the school. He was easily convinced.
"Promise you'll protect me?" asked Charlie hopefully. "And I didn't get your name."
"I'm Sasha Waybright and you got nothing to worry about with me around but you should meet my friend, you might have something in common with her. Her name's Marcy, she's a little clumsy but she's harmless." the blonde girl told him. "Come on, Marcy will be a good friend to you but when your around me and if someone is bullying you or messing with you, just come to me and I'll handle them."
Sasha led him by the hand to go meet Marcy who was nearby. Charlie felt like he made a loving new friend and was thrilled to be having a girl friend who will protect him. Marcy greeted him with a hug.
Flashback Ends, Present
Anne, Charlie, Marcy, Frobo and the Plantars were flying towards the third temple with Joe Sparrow flying them towards it. The clouds in the sky where they're headed were showing to be slightly grey. Joe Sparrow was carrying Frobo with her talon like toes, Anne, Marcy and the Plantars were in the rider's seat while Charlie strapped himself to Joe's body since there was no room on the rider's seat this time.
They were flying towards a volcano but Joe got closer to the ground and when he did, he dropped Frobo when they were ten feet from the ground, Charlie quickly freed himself from the straps and he fell but landed on his feet when Joe was only seven feet from the ground and Joe landed on the ground, but he lay there panting in exhaustion as it was probably a bit more work to carry more people or possibly from the nearby temperature of the volcano. Charlie rushed to Joe's side and took the straps off his body that he rode in on. Anne took out the Calamity Box from her bag.
"Rest easy for now, Joe." Charlie advised.
"And, wha-bam!" said Anne.
The box had a blue light shining from one of the gems that had a laser pointing out in the direction of a huge rock that touched above an in-lining of the huge rock that looked like it had to be a door or possible entrance to the temple. That's when the laser stopped shining on it once Anne put the box away in her back while around the door of the rock had red arches shining around it and the ancient Amphiba text was at the top of it as it shined.
Charlie offered to help them all down which they accepted. Each one of them slid off Joe's back and Charlie caught each one of them, all safely landing on the ground. They stood near the entrance.
"The entrance to the third temple." said Anne.
"And the last temple, no doubt." said Charlie with a gulp.
Anne and Charlie were both wearing the armor that only covered their torsos. Sprig looked at the illuminated arches and text with a wide eyed face of excitement.
"What's it say, Marcy? What's it say?!" said Sprig pulling on Marcy's cape a bit.
Marcy pulled out her notebook and read what the translation of the text which left her a little confused from the look on her face.
"Well, this can't be right. Lift to enter, "brah?" said a confused Marcy.
Charlie knew he was strong but probably not strong enough to lift a door open. He saw Frobo walk forwards and grab hold of the bottom of the stone door to push it open which they saw there was an opening. The door was opened as Frobo wiped his forehead while they all applauded for him while most of them uttered an amazed "Wow!"
"Way to go, Frobo!" Hop Pop complimented.
"Alright, let's go crush this temple!" cried Anne thrilled.
They cried in a thrilled tone while Charlie was the first to go inside as he wanted to make sure that there were no surprises at the entrance. Hop Pop hung back for a bit as he informed Frobo to look after Joe Sparrow as they'll return soon which Frobo gave them a thumbs up and grin. Than they continued onward inside the temple.
Frobo turned to Joe and walked to his side. He sat down near him and gave a gentle pat on Joe's helmeted head but than decided to just give him a gentle rub to his head while Joe lay there resting. Than there was the sound of quick foot steps nearby, Frobo turned his head to look and see who it was but saw no one, leaving him to turn back to face Joe while shrugging his shoulders.
Inside the Third Temple
Anne, Charlie, Marcy and the Plantars walked through a tunnel that lead them down a walk way made of rock while there was pools of lava near it. There was two spots to the right and left side that had lava pouring down but they reached another door that had two large, muscular male toad statues that were red, looking as though they held their hands on the ceiling. Two more red, muscular male toad statues stood closer to the door with their one arm flexing their arm while the other raised their hands above the door. There was a huge stone statue of a larger toad that had the door shown at it's abdominal area.
Some bubbles in the lava pools near the rock walk way would form and pop like any other bubble but it also felt like the temperatures in there were heated enough to make Anne and Charlie slightly sweat a bit.
"Whoo! It's hot in here!" said Anne wiping sweat off her forehead.
"No joke. We might as well place some eggs and bacon on the floor and watch it cook on it's own." joked Charlie.
"All right, gang! There should be three challenges just like the two other temp-les?" said Marcy her voice trailing off.
The three human teenagers turned to the Plantars and saw that their skin was a lighter, paler shade of their skin. They were dehydrated. Hop Pop looked as though he lost a big amount of weight, his neck looking thinner. Sprig just looked pale and his skin dried out but wide eyed. Polly on the other hand was the same as Sprig but her eyes looked as though they got smaller, she looked like a ball of dehydrated fruit. They groaned as if tired while Polly let out a dry cough with steam coming out of her mouth.
"That can't be good. I knew summer heat can dry out skin, cause sunburn and even tire people out more but this escalated faster than any of the above." said Charlie looking worried.
"Whoa. Are you guys okay?" asked Anne with slight surprise.
"Just a little dehydrated from the heat. We'll be alright." said Hop Pop his voice sounding dry.
"You sure? Maybe you guys should wait outside. It's probably cooler out there than it is in here." Charlie suggested.
"Trust me, we're in this together. We're not leaving you alone to do this." said Hop Pop barely able to show too much emotion.
They could see that the Plantars were not going to be talked out of this, no matter if they're dehydrated or if they're anything of the sort or not. They continued onward even though they were worried about the three dehydrated frogs. They walked through the door which was morel like stone double doors.
They entered the room that it led to but saw it was another room like the other except it was just a rock made walk way that led to another door and just two pools of lava on the sides. That's when they heard an electronic humming sound nearby and a red light shined near them. They turned to see a stone like square shaped rock with a gem carved into it while there was red gem like rocks glowing all around it. Another ancient text glowed near it.
"Whoa, there boss. Think you're strong to get across?" Marcy read the text out loud.
"I have a distinct feeling that this temple is about strength." Anne pointed out.
Charlie remembered that during the second temple they encountered a huge bird that was only part of the trial but he suspected that there might be monsters in this temple. That's when the ancient text faded away and the stone like box opened, revealing various large hammers inside it. Charlie knew that those huge mallets were there to be used for a reason which he placed a hand on his sword as he got stoic and sensed something dangerous was near.
"Something tells me those mallets are here for a reason." said Charlie in a deep and low voice.
"Wonder what those are for." said Sprig his voice also dry.
They immediately got an answer when they saw a huge centipede like bug emerge from the lava nearby. It let out a loud, scary and hostile shriek as Sprig looked at it in horror. Charlie suspected that if the temple has rules. Than he'll have to use the huge hammers that were in the box nearby.
Both Anne and Sprig to quickly grab hold of a huge mallet and the weight of them mallets was a bit heavy. For some reason, Charlie had enough strength in him to make it seem like child's play to lift the mallet as both Anne and Charlie ran towards Sprig's side and swung the mallets at the beast, hitting it over it's chin which knocked it back into the pool of lava.
Both of them lowered the mallets down as Anne panted from the weight of the object while Charlie felt as though he was half way able to withstand it's weight.
"Man, this thing weighs a ton!" said Anne and Charlie in unison.
Wiping the sweat from their foreheads. They saw there was more than one of them centipede like monsters. There was three of them from the looks of it which caused many of them to yell in horror.
"All right, guys. It's hammer time!" said Marcy grabbing one of the mallets from the box.
"Let's nail these son's of bitches." said Charlie under his breath.
Marcy had some difficulty in pulling a hammer out of the box but managed to lift it. She gave one to Polly but she didn't have the strength to hold onto it as it fell to the floor. Anne and Charlie reassured them that they'll be protected while Anne managed to lift the huge hammer again and both her and Charlie ran to swing the hammers to hit another monster over it's head.
Marcy was walking by the Plantars side as she dragged a hammer with her but they stopped once another huge monster came out from the lava, ready to attack. They screamed in terror as Anne was looking as though he might not make it to them in time but Charlie dropped his mallet and ran towards them to use his sword, pulling out the blade.
"Not my family!" cried Charlie.
To their shock and awe. The monster was sliced in half by a sword down the middle and sliced into several pieces from Charlie's sword which he let out a powerful lion roar. But when they wondered who shown up to kill the monster alongside Charlie, they saw Sasha, she jumped into the air and landed on the stone path. The creature was slain by both Charlie and Sasha as Sasha got up on her feet and they all looked on at her shock. The Plantars gasped at her, Charlie's face was now stoic and looking as though he wasn't happy to see Sasha at all.
"It can't be." said Anne bewildered.
"Sash! Oh, my gosh! I can't believe-" Marcy started.
"There's no time! Follow me!" Sasha interrupted.
Sasha ran and picked the hammer Marcy dragged and they all followed her without argument. One of them centipede monsters roared and tried to attack them but Sasha swung one of the mallets to strike the monster and used her sword to slice off one of their heads.
There was suddenly three more but Charlie was faster on his feet this time as he roared like a lion again and ran to slice the heads off them monster like bugs.
"Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack!" Charlie repeated five times.
He landed on the rock trail and they saw the door nearby as they all ran towards it and exited the room. All but Sasha and Charlie were panting as Sasha spun the hammer around a few times as it made "Woosh" sounds. She placed it down on the floor in a loud clank. They all turned to Sasha as Anne got out her tennis racket, ready to defend herself while Charlie had his hand on his sword's handle, looking miffed at the blonde girl.
Sasha stood there for a moment till she turned around to greet them with an excited yet cheery grin.
"Hey, girlfriend! Good to see you!" greeted Sasha warmly.
"You too?" said a confused Anne.
Marcy was wide eyed with a delighted grin as she ran over to Sasha to hug her.
"Aah! Sasha! Sasha! Sasha! Sasha!" cried Marcy in delight.
After they released their arms from each other. Sasha complimented Marcy on her new look she was wearing.
"Hey, Marmar! Whoa! Check out your new threads!" complimented Sasha.
"Speak for yourself, look at that armor! How did you find us?!" said Marcy looking excited to see her.
"Simple. We heard you two were traveling together and tracked you both here." answered Sasha.
Now they were curious. Who was with Sasha when she said "We" instead of "Me" and that's when Charlie had an idea on who this person was while everyone else didn't.
"Did you say we?" said Anne surprised.
"Sasha, tell me who the hell is with you right now!" said Charlie sounding mad.
They instantly got their answer when the double doors behind them opened and there stood Captain Grime. He had a sword out with one of the beasts heads on it, he swung his sword to slide it off while he cackled.
"Even in this state, those things were no match for me." said Captain Grime in a dry voice also dehydrated like the Plantars.
They all turned to him with discontent. But Sasha chimed in to stop them.
"Cancel the red alert. Seriously, we're not here to fight." said Sasha appearing honest.
"Oh no." said Sprig giving her a cold look.
"The whole reason we were stalking you was..." Sasha paused.
They gave her a glare which Sasha's facial expression turned to remorse.
"So I could tell Anne and Charlie that everything that happened at Toad Tower was my fault." Sasha admitted.
"Really?" said Anne and Charlie confused.
"Yup. It was wrong of me to put your frog friends in danger, twice. And doubly wrong of me to push you two around. The way I pushed Anne around was bad, it was worse of me to do that to Charlie." Sasha told them apologetically.
"Oh. Huh. Wasn't expecting that." said Anne with a raised eyebrow.
Hop Pop was about to chime in but Charlie beat him to the punch of that. He shown a stoic yet slightly angry look at his ex girl friend.
"What's up your sleeve now? Any traps laid out for us? Going to manipulate us again? Gonna boss me around more out of vengeful spite? Or are you going to harm my soul sista, me and the family I'm with? I kicked Captain Slime's ass once, I've kicked his army's ass three times, I kicked your blonde ass once and I'll do it again if I have to!" ranted Charlie.
"Now Charlie, there's no tricks this time. We're not here to do any of that." Sasha said calmly.
"Than explain to us why you two have a change of heart since that's one thing you two don't have." said Charlie giving her a look of contempt.
Sasha was about to walk over to Charlie to show a trustful gesture but Charlie growled like a loud, real lion which had Sasha immediately back up to stand by Captain Grime's side.
"He appears pissed." said Captain Grime taking notice.
"No shit cyclops. Now start explaining." warned Charlie.
Sasha and Captain Grime looked at Charlie and knew he was irate with them about what happened at Toad Tower, how they've treated him when he first came to Amphibia, lying and tricking and using him, bullying him, what they tried to do with him when they tried to nab him at Wartwood, kidnapping him, especially Anne and the Plantars were skeptical of their actions since they've seen their nature the last few times they've crossed paths.
"After Toad Tower, Sasha and I lost everything." Captain Grime admitted.
"Your army abandoned you like I predicted. Guess your no longer a captain and Sasha is no longer second in command. I found out Bog is now their new leader and they'll be possibly rebuilding Toad Tower with Bog as their new leader. Me, Anne, the Plantars here, and the town whooped their asses and I scared them off with their tails between their legs when they tried to attack us. They shit a brick." said Charlie showing no restraint with his resentment towards them.
Captain Grime and Sasha were surprised. Hearing that Bog is now the new leader, having Toad Tower possibly rebuilt, Charlie, Anne, the Plantars and the residence of Wartwood taking them down once again, but more importantly. They never saw Charlie unload his anger on them like that before.
"Bog's the new leader?" said a shocked Captain Grime. "That sucks."
"We had to go into hiding and I had a lot of time to think about things. But what are you guys doing in a honkin' volcano?" said Sasha looking remorseful one moment and delighted the next.
"Oh, Sasha. It's crazy! The king of Amphibia told us the music box can transport us back home! But the stones need to be charged at three temples first! This is the third temple!" said Marcy pulling out the box.
She shown Sasha the box which she shown visible relief.
"No way! You mean we can almost go home?" said Sasha.
"Yup!" said Anne and Charlie in unison.
"Each temple has a theme. And this one appears to be strength." explained Marcy.
"Then it's a good thing I showed up." said Sasha smugly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sprig annoyed.
"It means you three are going to slow us down. Go wait outside until we're done." said Sasha coldly.
"Hey! You can't tell them what to do!" snapped Anne in their defense.
"That also includes us, blondie. You and cyclops say one more bad thing about my family, my friends or my girl or I'll bust cyclops in the chops and push you out that door." warned Charlie.
Sasha saw Charlie wasn't holding back. Anne was also showing more backbone than Sasha remembered. She shown a slight apologetic face.
"Ok, fine. It was just a suggestion. Now, come on. Let's move." Sasha said walking off.
"Stop right there!" commanded Charlie.
Both Sasha and Captain Grime stopped and looked at Charlie who popped his neck twice.
"You two pull anything funny or I'll give you the biggest headache that no pain killer can cure." warned Charlie as he growled like a lion.
Sasha and Captain Grime looked at him with visibly shaken faces and than walked off.
"Do you really think she's changed?" asked Anne in hushed tone.
"Time will tell , Anne. Time will tell." said Hop Pop his mouth sounding dry and horse. "Say, you got any of that lippy balm? Lips are feeling pretty dry."
Anne pulled out two tubes of chap stick as she had them in two flavors for chap stick which they went with cantaloupe. She hand it to Hop Pop first who used it to trace it all over his dry face. Charlie was laughing a little while Anne was visibly grossed out but kept calm.
"You can keep that." stated Anne.
"I'm trying not to laugh but the first time I experienced chapped lips was when I was four from what my mom said. I had it all over my lips and looked like a circus clown." chuckled Charlie trying to choke his laughter.
They later caught up with Sasha, Marcy and Captain Grime as they walked down another rock path walk way. There were rock made walls with lava flowing down on what looked like stone made slides. Anne, Charlie and the Plantars were showing Sasha a suspicious look with a groan. Charlie was already ahead of the group as his hand was resting on the handle of his sword, remaining on red alert for any traps, beasts and in case Sasha and Captain Grime tried to pull anything sneaky.
They made it to another door that lead them into a room that had a place to lay down and a large weight was on top of it. It was a weight bench. They stopped and an ancient text shined near the weight bench.
"Sup, bro'seph. Do you even lift?" Marcy read out loud.
"It's not even trying anymore." said Anne not amused.
"Ha! This is all me!" said Sasha cracking her knuckles.
"Hold up!" Charlie instructed. "Gonna scope the place out before we go forwards in case of any traps."
Sasha watched Charlie go forwards as he was scoping out the room for anything that might show signs of a trap or monsters hiding. He was quick but vigilant. Sasha never saw Charlie look so brave and taking on the role of a soldier.
"Sash? Marcy, Charlie and I have done these temples, and there's always some kind of catch. Let's just search the room before we try that thing." warned Anne.
"Eh, that'll take too long. Besides, this temple's been pretty direct so far." said Sasha brushing her warning off.
"If Sasha breaks anything than I blame her." said Charlie in defiance.
Anne was about to warn Sasha but she ignored her as she laid down on the weight bench, grabbed hold of the weight and with a loud groan she lifted it up which caused the door to light up with the red lights and opened up with a loud rumble. It looked like the challenge was too easy. This left everyone surprised.
"This thing's gonna be over before it starts." said Sasha with a grin wiping sweat from her forehead. "Let's get going, nerds."
As Sasha got up from the bench. Charlie looked at her with disapproval.
"Sasha, no sass mouthing and don't argue with me." snapped Charlie.
"It was only a-"
Sasha paused when Charlie shot her a cold look that made Sasha go silent immediately. Sasha never saw Charlie show this much assertiveness and intolerance towards her sassy behavior and remarks. That's when they continued and walked through the next door. They entered the next chamber which had a dark scarlet colored floor that looked like a martial arts ring with ancient Amphibia text around the corners.
"All right, this should be the final room." said Marcy.
That's when the doors behind them rumbled loudly and closed. They turned to see the doors shine a red light that shown more ancient Amphiba texts. Marcy examined it as she read it out loud.
"You've definitely got skill, no doubt. But it's time you learn what strength is all about." Marcy read.
There was a loud yet low toned rumbling sound all turned to see what looked like a stone monster. It had a massive, fearsome figure consisting of molten rocks and lava. His body made of grey stone studded with darker rocks, some forming horn like protrusions over his glowing, orange eyes that have horizontal pupils. He has a large mouth packed with sharp teeth. His legs are proportionally smaller compared to the rest of his hulking body, to which he sports a sleeveless black leotard similar to that of wrestlers.
Charlie knew that his sword wouldn't be able to damage this hulking rock monster which the monster grunted and smiled while flexing it's muscles and and striking poses to show off. He put his sword away and grabbed hold of a large hammer that he had from the second challenge but this one looked a big larger than most of the ones from that box. The creature motioned it's hand to dare them to come and fight.
"Stay back everyone. I got this." said Sasha getting her sword out.
"Fuck that! I'm going to take this asshole down. You're probably tricking us anyway." Charlie chimed in.
Sasha was about to reply but that's when everyone saw Charlie's hair and eyes turn the color gold, he let out a loud, lion like roar and his muscles got larger as a powerful gold energy flashed and glowed around him as he was showing to be ready to battle against the monster. Sasha and Captain Grime were wide eyed at this. They never seen Charlie possess such powers. Even Marcy never saw this before but she had remembered seeing Charlie run and jump faster and higher than anyone she's ever seen run and jump. But they turned their attention to the huge rock monster. It's insides appear to be glowing when it roars.
That's when they saw the floor glowing red as they all felt a big amount of pressure pushing them down as it felt like the gravity in there was pulling them down. Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly and Captain Grime were all landing on the floor and couldn't move. Anne, Marcy and Sasha were barely able to keep themselves up as it looked like they're kneeling down but they tried with everything they've got to remain up while Charlie appeared to be stronger as he was kneeling down while taking a knee but he still felt pressure pulling him down as he felt like he was being pulled down like the rest of them.
"Great grasshopper guts. It's like an elephant tick is standing on my back." said Captain Grime weakly.
"That thing has somehow increased the room's gravitational force." Marcy chimed in.
"I'm barely able to take a knee. Why does this make me think of an anime scene." groaned Charlie.
"I-I can't get up." stuttered Sprig.
"Just sit tight. Us humans will handle this." Anne instructed.
The four human teenagers managed to get up but as they approached the monster, they were slouching while Charlie was able to stand up straight but was barely slouching at all. The huge monster laughed in a deep tone and placed it's hand on the floor, digging it's fingers into it and broke off a piece of the floor to use as a rock like weapon, he used two of them and rolled them towards them like he was bowling.
They rolled towards Anne and Marcy. Charlie quickly pulled Anne out of the way and they dodged the huge rolling rocks that rolled towards them. Marcy stood there in fear, screaming, but Sasha and Charlie jumped out to push Marcy out of the way. The three girls were laying on the ground but Charlie was still up, slouching, but still on his feet.
"Thanks, Sasha and Charlie." Marcy thanked.
"No problem." said Sasha and Charlie in unison.
Both Charlie and Sasha blushed for a moment. Did they both say what the other said in unison? They quickly brushed it off while Sasha got up and Marcy struggled to get up but couldn't, the gravitational force kept her down.
"The gravity's too much. I can't move." grunted Marcy.
"Don't worry. Leave this to us." said Sasha.
"I want a piece of this motherfucker." cried Charlie.
Both Anne and Sasha saw Charlie charge at the monster in a loud, lion like roar and he pulled out his hammer as he jumped up so high into the air that he jumped as high as that monster was tall. He swung his hammer and struck the monster over it's head, making it roar in annoyance.
Charlie was jumping from wall to wall, literally, and everytime he did, he would swing his hammer to strike the monster over it's head or face which would not only roar in pain, but also left it briefly dazed and confused. Anne and Sasha were witnessing this and Sasha was in shock at what he's able to do.
"Damn, Charlie's a badass, he's gotten stronger and so much hotter!" said Sasha looking on in admiration.
"He's my boyfriend, Sash." Anne said with an annoyed face.
"Sorry." said Sasha.
The rock monster tried to grab hold of Charlie when he came flying at him like a torpedo and he used his really strong foot to give a swinging kick to the monster's head which knocked him down to the floor while Charlie jumped off his head, did a few flips before landing on his feet while the huge monster was landing on the floor in a loud thud. Everyone watching was in shock and awe.
Captain Grime was speechless at Charlie's power and abilities. Marcy wanted to take notes in her notebook about this but the gravitational pull prevented her from being able to move and grab the notebook and pen. She looked on and smiled at the sight of this. Sasha looked on wide eyed. Charlie looked at the huge rock monster who lay there motionless with a stoic face.
"What was that you were saying, big shot?" cried Charlie in defiance.
The rock monster lay there for a moment till it moved it's hands and arms to push itself up and stood back on it's feet. They were half way expecting it would take more than what Charlie did to take this beast down. The monster appeared annoyed but than both Anne, Sasha and Charlie approached the monster to take him on.
"Who would've thought us working together after everything has happened?" groaned Anne sounding sarcastic.
"Same here, even after what happened between you and me before and after I met Anne." said Charlie cracking his knuckles.
"Yeah, unbelievable. Especially since you two still don't trust me. Even after I apologized." said Sasha looking bewildered as if hurt.
"What?" said Anne as if in disbelief.
The monster jumped once and once it landed, the chamber they're in rumbled and three sharp rocks with red jewels embedded into them. They fell from the ceiling but as they dodged them, Charlie was the one who grabbed hold of the girls and gotten them out of the way along with himself. The three sharp rocks stabbed into the floor. Two of them being small while one was large.
The three got out of the way in time while Anne looked at Sasha in disbelief and Charlie was showing at least some form of compassion or at least trying to trust Sasha enough to get through this challenge alive.
"What do you mean? I trust you." Anne defended.
"I trust you enough to help us get through alive in piece and not pieces. I may not have given you a warm reception but I trust you enough to get us through this." Charlie told her.
"Oh, please. I've been watching you two the whole time." argued Sasha dodging another sharp rock that fell. "You guys don't trust me at all."
"Well can you blame us?" Anne argued while dodging another small sharp rock. "Oh! Why would we trust you? It wasn't just Toad Tower, Sasha. You've been pushing me around my whole life. It's not just me, you were a horrible girl friend to Charlie, you bossed and pushed him around, told him what he can and can't do, you were not very supportive of him when ever he needed it most, you only dated him for his looks and what he's got, not for who he is, than you dumped him, refused to tell him why and you hurt him, you even let some toad soldiers hurt him when you tried to force him to join the toad army, you weren't looking out for him, you were just controlling him, and you weren't very encouraging to him. You even made him cry."
Hearing Anne tell Sasha all the things she's been doing to her and Charlie the whole time the two first met her and all the way up till now left a blank stare on the blonde teen's face which she shown a remorseful look instantly.
"I know." Sasha acknowledged.
Seeing Sasha admit her guilt or admit what she did to Anne and Charlie left them wide eyed but their little moment was interrupted by the huge rock monster's roar and the arena floor turned a brighter shade of red, almost scarlet. The gravitational pull in the room got stronger which left Anne and Sasha pinned to the floor while Charlie was barely able to sit as he was on his hands and knees, it appeared he might be much stronger than he's shown.
"It feels like my lungs are going to explode." groaned Anne weakly.
"It's over. We can't do this." Sasha said struggling to get up.
"Not a chance!" cried Charlie.
What everyone just seen when they looked at Charlie was something they'd expected in a super hero film. Charlie summoned his strength and he stood up on his feet now as he let out his loudest, lion like roar that sounded so realistic that they golden energy waves around him swept around him stronger than before and it looked like he formed fangs in his mouth like the teeth of a lion, his nails grew and formed to become claws and his hair grew longer now that it reached below his shoulders. He was able to stand up straight while Anne had an idea in mind, she really didn't want to resort to it but she knew they had no other choice.
"You're right. We can't. But you and Charlie can. I believe in you two. But please, don't let my boy get hurt." Anne told her.
"What? How can you two believe in me after I was such a jerk to you two?" said Sasha in disbelief.
"Sasha! I may not like what you did in the past but you can try and make up for what you did in the past. I know it might not be wise but we got to put aside our feelings and work together to take down this hard head." said Charlie now speaking in a deep male adult's voice.
"Sasha, you weren't just a jerk, you also inspired us. You're fierce, you're brave, if you and Charlie can take this beast on, than do it, and most of all, you never give up." said Anne giving her a thumbs up before her hand slammed back to the floor.
Hearing Anne tell that to her had Sasha feel invigorated and she pushed herself up onto her feet with all her might. Charlie came over to her side and took Sasha by the hand to help her get completely to her feet.
"You're right!" said Sasha with a groan. "I'll never give up. Not today, not ever!"
Sasha pulled her cloak off and tossed it away which the gravitational pull made the cloak feel like a boulder and landed on the floor, creating a nearby crater nearby. Everyone gasped, the rock monster looked on in bewilderment as Sasha removed the armor from her boots and tossed them away, they crashed into a nearby wall next to Sprig and created a crater into the wall with them.
Charlie pulled out his sword and so did Sasha. Charlie's face was as stoic as possible. Than the monster looked at Charlie and it smiled as it laughed while starting to make physical and facial gestures at him while trying to make monkey like sounds as if calling Charlie a monkey which that got him so irate that he visualized Bog's face on the monster's face as if it was making fun of him.
"Hey monkey! Want a banana? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! How's about you swing from a tree, you tree rat!"
"Don't think! Kick his ass!" instructed Charlie.
"Together!" cried Sasha.
Charlie and Sasha charged after this monster which the creature was now wielding a large spike like rock as it used it for a club as a weapon of some sort. It tried to swing and hit them but it missed as Charlie took hold of Sasha's hand and with all his strength, he tossed her up at the monster which she shot up like a rocket. She landed on it's right arm while Charlie jumped up and landed on it's left arm.
It shook it's arms to get them off but as that sent them up flying, the two got their swords ready to attack as they came back down towards the now terrified monster. Both of them had determined grins.
"That samurai from the past has nothing on me!" cried Charlie and Sasha like a battle cry.
The two of them slashed their swords against the rock monster so fast that it was like the damages and attack was invisible. They landed on the floor passed him and the monster had been sliced both down the middle of it's body and around it's neck, shoulders and legs. The creature looked on at the two with a smile and gave it a thumbs up when it formed cracks all over it's body and exploded like a hand grenade.
Afterwards, the floor changed back to it's original color shade and everyone got up as the gravitational pull on everyone disappeared and they all took in a breath of fresh air without any pressure put on them. They all saw that Charlie's transformation had reversed as his muscles formed back to their original size, his hair and eyes turned back to their original color, the energy wave disappeared from him, his fangs and claws morphed back to their normal, human appearance but his hair remained long like when he transformed.
They all got up and turned to see a a bright pink light form in the center of the floor which a stone pedestal emerged from it.
"The gravity's back to normal! You did it, Sash and Char Char!" said Marcy feeling better that the gravity was back to how it should be.
Sasha was turning to Charlie as if about to hug him in triumph but stopped herself, both Charlie and Sasha blushed. They knew that they're no longer dating and Charlie is dating Anne. They felt a bit awkward about the idea of hugging one another so they settled with giving each other a handshake instead.
"How about that monster when he fell like the giant Goliath." said Charlie looking away.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." said Sasha feeling awkward.
Anne took out the last stone and gave it to Sasha to let her be the one to do the honors in charging it. She saw the top of the pedestal had a dent in the center which was for the gem to be charged into. Sasha placed the stone in the little hole and a bright pink light shined along with a pink energy beam blasting up into the air which the pink color in Sasha's eyes looked as though they disappeared and than went back to their original color.
There was more of the ancient text forming on the floor beneath their feet which the beam got so bright that it was too bright for them and they closed their eyes till the light completely disappeared. They looked up at the ceiling and there was an ancient text shining around in a circle.
"Congrats, brah. You finally know what it takes to go the distance. For what is true strength without persistence." Marcy read out loud.
They saw more of it forming and what looked like a glowing pink face of a toad was smiling at Charlie.
"And that young lad has some skills that kills." Marcy finished.
Anne and Sasha and Charlie looked at one another as Anne let Sasha place the now charged stone into the socket of the box where it was. Afterwards, she handed it back to Anne.
"I guess that's that. Should we open it?" asked Anne.
"No! No! No! If we turn that thing on, who knows what we'll end up? We should bring it to King Andrias so he can tell us how to use it correctly to get home." Marcy suggested.
"I'm with Marcy on this one." said Charlie in agreement.
"Of course! Trust Marcy to already have a plan!" said Sasha in agreement.
Anne placed the box back inside her bag and Marcy smiled while feeling like they've triumph over another big challenge. She pulled Anne and Sasha in her arms for a group hug. They all smiled but they turned to see that Charlie was looking at them in visible depression which Anne reached out to pull Charlie into the group hug as the four humans hugged each other.
"Look at this! The gang finally back together again! And we have a fourth in the gang now and he's a mighty lion! Now, come on. Let's get back to Wartwood and get these frogs some water." said Marcy feeling a raise in euphoria.
They looked to see Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly and Captain Grime were all dried out in their skin while Sprig was tracing chap stick around his face. Charlie knew something to help them with their dry skin and dehydrated bodies.
Outside the Temple
They all walked outside the temple and were outside the volcano. Charlie went over to his bag and pulled out what looked like four large bottles of water and he went over to give each one to Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly and Captain Grime. The four amphibians downed the entire bottles of water they've been given which instantly re-hydrated them, their skin instantly becoming moisturized as each one of them felt their bodies gained their water weight back, their throats clear, their mouths wet, lips soft and moisturized back to normal. Captain Grime was wide eyed at what Charlie did, even for him. Marcy tended to Joe.
"Someone doing something nice for me...it's weird." said Captain Grime feeling awkward with his voice sounding normal.
The Plantars walked over to Joe and Frobo to to sit next to them in order to rest for a bit as they needed a moment to rest their feet and their bodies. Charlie instructed them to stay there and rest as he went over to Anne, Sasha and Captain Grime as the two girls were looking as though they were about to say something. They stood there, looking as though they were embarrassed to say something after they've been through such an event, despite what they've been through months ago. Anne had her hands behind her head while she looked away from her.
"Thanks for all of that stuff back there. Believing in me and junk." Sasha said feeling weird about it.
"Oh, hey. No biggie. I'm sorry for not trusting you earlier." said Anne looking tense for a brief moment.
"No worries." said Charlie with a hiccup.
"I got to admit. The powers Charlie shown was super badass! How did he get such power?" Sasha asked looking interested.
They were silent for a moment.
"It's a long story." said Charlie talking in his normal voice. "But I think I need a trim...again."
They chuckled as they saw his hair was long like it was before he got a trim in Newtopia. Charlie blushed deeply when Sasha reached out to trace her fingers through his hair a little from the length that was reaching his upper shoulders but Sasha immediately pulled her hand away as she looked tense. Appearing as if she placed her hand on a part of him she shouldn't.
"Sasha, do you think maybe we could start over? Do things right this time?" said Anne.
"I- I'd like that." Sasha replied.
Sasha looked at Charlie and Anne for a moment, she let out a sigh.
"Since Toad Tower and after how Grimesy and I got our butts handed to us by karma. Is it weird that I started to kind of miss ya guys?" asked Sasha looking slightly depressed yet relieved. "Anne, I know me and Charlie are no longer dating and all but just promise me one thing."
"Anything." Anne replied.
Sasha sighed and had a hopeful expression in her eyes but visibly depressed on her face.
"Take care of him. At least better than I did." Sasha suggested hopefully.
Anne and Charlie shown a grin. They saw that Sasha was showing genuine guilt and remorse and they figured they could start over and do things right, this time.
"Sasha, don't take this the wrong way or anything but if you're expecting a hug from me. I'm not ready. It's not that I don't trust you. I'm just not ready to hug you yet." said Charlie showing some understanding.
"That's alright. It's a guy thing." said Sasha showing she understood.
"Now that all three of you are together again. Would it be cool if I was able to be part of the group? You know, you three girls hang out a lot back at home and it looks like you do the same in this world too. Maybe we could be a quartet?" Charlie asked showing some innocent eyes. "Maybe even you ladies understand that me and Anne like to spend time together from time to time, you know, girl friend and boyfriend thing?"
Sasha could tell that he was asking her permission but also both Anne and Marcy's permission at the same time.
"Charlie, you don't need my permission to hang out with your girl friend as couple time or to hang out with us gals. Things might be a little awkward between us right now but I know starting fresh is a start." said Sasha showing she understood.
Charlie let out a sigh of relief. He came over to Anne and hugged her feeling gleeful. Anne wrapped her arms around him as the two hugged each other, kissing each other on the lips for a moment and pulling their lips off afterwards.
"Kami o sanbi shi,-nushi o sanbi shimasu!" said Charlie shedding a happy tear.
"Translation Anne?" asked Sasha chuckling.
"He's just really happy right now." Anne translated. "Well, I'm gonna walk away before things get more awkward."
"Not possible." chuckled Sasha jokingly.
Anne and Charlie walked off towards Marcy, Joe, Frobo and the Plantars. Joe appeared to be rested and feeling better. Marcy was tending to him, the huge bird chirping in delight. Joe even nuzzled Marcy and Charlie, leaving them to laugh. Captain Grime stood by Sasha as he had that same menacing look.
"You haven't forgotten the plan, have you? We only need these jokers to get safely into Newtopia." said Captain Grime keeping his voice low.
"Of course I haven't forgotten. And I'm pretty sure they bought my act back there. Hook, line, and sinker." said Sasha appearing smug.
"Good. Because the things we've set into motion cannot be stopped." said Captain Grime with a grin. "With Charlie's powers, he appears to be someone whose proven to be much more dangerous than me, you, or my former army. Want me to take him down if he gets in the way?"
"No!" Sasha sharply replied. "Leave him alone. And don't you dare call him the M word."
The menacing male toad looked at Sasha with a curious expression. Sasha still defending Charlie? That had to be a sign.
"Are you sure you don't still harbor feelings for him?" asked Captain Grime curiously.
Sasha shook her head as she gave him a physical response.
"I've made my peace with the fact that Anne is a better choice for him. But if he gets a little too much to handle, let me take care of him. Anne calms him down and I think I can calm him too. Enough to prevent him from about to do anything that'll disrupt our plans." said Sasha showing a grin.
Captain Grime walked forwards over to them. Sasha shown a hesitant look on her face as she knew what was to come in the future. She knew that Charlie is dating Anne now, she had no desire to try and get back with Charlie which she accepted. But seeing Charlie with his newfound powers made him a formidable opponent but she had some ideas in mind to stop Charlie from going full power on any of them and the ideas in mind were probably that of manipulation.