Five days have passed since the dinner party that Anne, Charlie, Marcy, Sasha, the Plantars, and Captain Grime had together that night. Even when there was damage to the Plantar's roof, they all slept in the caravan that night and in the morning, both Marcy and Chuck rebuilt the Plantar's roof and any other damages to their house and property as they were able to rebuild any damaged part of the house and property. They were impressed by it.
"See there, Hop Pop. You had nothing to worry about." said Marcy being optimistic.
"Wow Marcy. You're just as fast as Chuck when you two rebuilt the roof." said Hop Pop impressed.
"I told ya it would take no time at all." replied Marcy.
"Seeing you two rebuild the roof that fast is something I've never seen before. I will admit. I thought I was hallucinating or dreaming when I saw this or when I heard that both...uhhhh." said Captain Grime having a mental lapse.
"Chuck and Marcy!" everyone said in unison.
"Right. But still, I can't believe my eyes." said Captain Grime.
"When you said Marcy and Chuck could rebuild or repair anything that fast, you weren't kidding. Are they able to do this with anything?" said Sasha in shocked disbelief.
"Does Chuck grow tulips?" said Anne and Charlie in unison.
"I grow tulips." said Chuck.
Anne pulled Chuck in her arms to hug him as he blushed with a grin and chuckled a bit.
"Oh tulips." chuckled Chuck.
"Question asked and answered." said Captain Grime and Sasha in unison.
During the five days. Things were tense and awkward for both Sasha and Captain Grime when they were seen anywhere in town. The residence felt like they were only safe or considered safe when ever Anne, Charlie, Marcy and the Plantars were present around Sasha and Captain Grime but the feeling intensified when the two were around when ever they were alone anywhere near anyone.
For Sasha, when she was around the adults, she would try to say something but at times she would go silent or she'd say something awkwardly along the lines like "Uhhhh hi people" or "Why are you all looking at me like that?" and when things got too weird and awkward. That's when Anne or Charlie would come along to reassure everyone, even Sasha.
Even when Sasha was anywhere near the children of Wartwood. She wouldn't say a word or she would barely attempt to say a word when any of them acknowledged her or she'd give a nervous grin and wave. Some would wave back nervously or struggled to look at her. When ever they'd walk away, she'd whisper "They're probably taking time to get used to me being here" or "I think I made things weird" and she'd walk back to Captain Grime, Anne or Charlie.
Captain Grime on the other hand was a different case. When he was anywhere near or around the adults of Wartwood, they'd feel tense and a dead silence was met. He didn't know if he should say something or if he should remain silent. He didn't interact with the children of the town as he knew that they found him intimidating or menacing from the looks of him. He didn't have much experience with children as he only had experience with children when it came to Sasha or Charlie, not so much with Anne but was still getting to know Marcy as he felt like he still just met her. But when it came to the children of Wartwood, he ether didn't interact with them because he knew they found him menacing, intimidating or felt it was weird he was residing in town like Sasha or any other times he was near them or times when he crossed paths with any of them, he would be silent and walk away, advise them to "Go back to your parents" or he'd feel funny being around children in general and felt it wasn't such a good idea to interact with them as he knew how they felt about him and it wasn't a good feeling ether.
The town's residence was still getting used to Captain Grime and Sasha residing in Wartwood with them since they remembered the past actions that Captain Grime and Sasha have committed which were when they lured them all into a trap the first time, nearly tried to kill Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly, had Sasha and Anne fight each other nearly to the death. Than the second time when Captain Grime and his former toad soldiers lied and used Charlie, tried to kidnap Charlie, treated him like an unintelligent creature who couldn't understand English, saw Charlie stand up to them and fought them which he defeated them, than kidnapped him when Charlie finally confessed his feelings towards Anne and when they all rescued him, they found out that Charlie used to date Sasha and Sasha was a horrible girl friend to him while finding out how Sasha brutally dumped him, he battled Sasha nearly to the death as well, and both times, they demolished Toad Tower, first time was just half of it being destroyed and the second time demolished it completely.
They remembered how they had consoled the devastated Anne and the despondent Charlie after the two incidents that took place at Toad Tower. They couldn't tell who was more heart broken afterwards, Anne or Charlie.
When ever Sasha would be watching Anne, Charlie or Marcy assisting any of the people in Wartwood, she'd feel a bit left out and attempted to help but at times she would ether find herself messing up and ether Charlie or Anne or Marcy would come to help or even if she did mess up, she'd stop and uttered "I think I should find Anne, Charlie or Marcy" and would walk off to find ether one of them and they'd help out. Anne or Charlie would reassure the people she attempted to assist and reassure Sasha that everything is alright.
At the farmer's market or anywhere in Wartwood, others would be at times staring at Sasha or Captain Grime when they were around and others would whisper things to each other that were about them. The adults would whisper things such as "Isn't it weird they're residing here in Wartwood now?" or "I wonder if they've turned over a new leaf like Anne and Charlie said they are?" while others would whisper "I'll be alright with them if they behave"
Even the children would whisper things to each other as they would whisper things like "It feels weird they're living in Wartwood" or "It's weird that they're said to be turning over a new leaf. Sasha used to date Charlie and was really mean to him and now she's changed and trying to be nice to Charlie or anyone, it's weird" other times, when ever Sasha or Captain Grime would be anywhere near the adults, there was very little any of them said to Sasha or she said very little back, they said ether one word responses or one sentence responses towards Captain Grime which he ether said nothing or gave one word responses. The children didn't really talk to the older male toad at all or they didn't say a word to the blonde teenage girl.
The town's residence only would feel less tense around them if Anne, Charlie, Marcy and the Plantars were around to monitor them or to make sure there was no conflict.
"It's alright everyone. Sasha and Captain Grime are on our side now." reassured Anne.
"Nothing to worry about, folks. Sasha and Captain Grime may of had their faults but they're on our side now." Charlie reassured.
Anne, Charlie, Marcy and the Plantars turned to see that Sasha and Captain Grime were about to try some peppers and that sent an alarm off in their minds as they knew that the peppers were red.
"Sasha, Grime, I wouldn't." Anne began.
Too late, Sasha and Captain Grime stuffed the pepper into their mouths whole and as they chewed on it, they swallowed it down and this only further alarmed them.
"What? It's just peppers." said Sasha calmly.
"It's not like they're prunes that make you instantly have to poop." said Captain Grime brushing things off.
"Those are hot red dead peppers. Mr. Pottz makes some of the spiciest peppers around here. Eating one whole will feel like your mouth is on fire." warned Charlie.
Both Sasha and Captain Grime were wide eyed with alarm and they felt their mouths beginning to feel hot enough to the point that the peppers seeds and spiciness started to kick in. Their eyes began to water, faces turning red, and started to sweat as Charlie quickly advised Mr. Pottz, a slender bodied male frog with orange skin and medium length, red curly hair to give Sasha and Captain Grime some cold water which he did as Sasha and Captain Grime screamed and fire blew out their mouths which Mr. Pottz gave them both a large bottle of water which the two downed them immediately. They felt the stinging pain instantly dissipate and their bodies cooling off.
"Sorry about that. I always make sure there's cold water at hand for who ever tries my hot and spicy recipes. I do plenty of hot and cold recipes for my peppers or anything else I plant and grow." said Mr. Pottz in his deep and raspy voice.
"Didn't you make a sign?" panted Sasha.
"I did." answered Mr. Pottz.
They turned to see that Mr. Pottz stand at the farmer's market had a sign that read "Mr. Pottz Peppers" and underneath that was reading "Warning: Peppers may be too hot. Always ask for water before trying some recipes" which that left Sasha to blush and feel like she made an honest mistake while Captain Grime sighed.
"Oops!" said Sasha and Captain Grime in unison.
Around the time the fifth day came along was when there was something going on in Wartwood that had Anne, Charlie, Marcy, Sasha, the Plantars, Captain Grime and the entire town all gathered together. There was a stage nearby that they all stood near the front of while many others were contemplating on what was coming since Toadstool was standing at the podium. Charlie chuckled as a joke popped into his mind.
"Heeeere's Toadstool." joked Charlie under his breath.
This caused Anne and Marcy to chuckle at Charlie's little humorous reference he innocently poked fun about Toadstool.
Anne, Charlie, Marcy and the Plantars stood nearby the town statue while Sasha and Captain Grime sat down on the edge of the fountain that surrounded the town founder's statue. Many of the people nearby were muttering and whispering to each other about what they believe was going on while many others were keeping their distance from Sasha and Captain Grime.
"Hey Sash." greeted Marcy with a wave.
"Hey." said Sasha waving back with a lack of enthusiasm.
"Simmer down, everyone. Simmer down." instructed Toadstool clearing his throat. "Now I know we've all been a little on edge since Sasha and Captain Grime came to Wartwood."
Sasha and Captain Grime responded with annoyance as their faces appeared to be showing annoyance and possible defensiveness. Sasha got up from where she sat.
"What? Why? 'Cause we invaded the town, twice? Captain Grime sending his toad soldiers to stir up a ruckus with the tax collecting and tried to apprehend Charlie by framing him for something he didn't do and for kidnapping him along with how we didn't treat him right?" said Sasha getting defensive.
"Yeah, it was just those two times." said Captain Grime also getting defensive.
There was a dead silence as both Sasha and Captain Grime both noticed that what they said probably wasn't helping their case but both Anne and Charlie managed to calm everyone.
"Point is, we could all use some levity. So let's consult the Wheel of Fun." announced Toadstool.
All were cheering as Toadie pushed a carnival wheel onto the center of the stage next to Toadstool which was easy for the small frog male to push since it had wheels on the bottom for him to stroll it on over. The wheel looked like one of them wheels people used on a game show that had eight different colored wheel slots that made it look like a pie chart. There was a sign above it that read the word "Fun" on it but each letter had a different color.
The "F" was the color shade of purple. The letter "U" was the color shade red and the letter "N" was the color shade gold. Charlie chuckled as one more humorous yet innocent joke came to his mind.
"And a brand new car." joked Charlie under his breath while mimicking an elderly male's voice.
"Oh Charlie, you." laughed Anne and Marcy in unison.
That's when Toadstool reached out to spin the wheel and as he gave it a firm spin. That's when everyone started to cheer for this "Wheel of Fun" and the needle to the wheel made a rapid clicking sound as it spun. It took a short amount of time for it start slowing which the needle of the wheel was just barely about to stop on the option that was labeled "Massage Train" which Soggy Joe looked on in wide eyed excitement and a twinkle in his eyes.
"Come on, Massage Train." said Soggy Joe hopefully.
The needle was about to stop but with one last click, it landed on an option that read "Battle of the Bands" Soggy Joe felt his hopes for the massage train was met with a door slamming shut in his face but did see some people were hoping for something else and were met with some disappointment so it made him feel better that he wasn't the only one.
"Alright, everyone. Get your teams together and start rehearsing. Wartwood is having a Battle of the Bands." Toadstool announced.
Everyone cheered in excitement and took off running to look for others to recruit to ether join in their own band, some were going for a solo performance while others were deciding on what sort of band they should be or which instruments they should use.
In Charlie's case, an idea instantly formed into his mind. He felt like the gears in his head were turning like cogs in a clock tower. He instantly knew what he wanted to do or more than likely, he knew what he'd be doing as a performance for battle of the bands.
"You guys think Wartwood is ready for a Sasha and the Sharps reunion?" said an excited Anne.
"The what and the who?" asked Sprig appearing to not follow.
"It was a garage band the three of us had back home." Marcy revealed.
"You three had a band?" said Charlie with raised eyebrows.
"Oh yeah. We had a garage band." Anne replied.
"We used to slay at talent shows." said Sasha looking aggressively proud.
There was a pause and both Charlie and the Plantars looked on in wide eyed surprise but they all figured that this wasn't anything new to them by now about Sasha since she's been known to be aggressive and take on challenges without hesitation.
"Why is everything you say so aggro?" said Hop Pop with a worried face.
"Too much?" Sasha replied.
"Sukoshi." answered Charlie.
"Hopidiah, Sprig, wanna join me and Loggle's jug band?" came Wally's voice.
They all turned to see that Wally approached them while he was carrying Loggle. Wally had what looked like accordions strapped to his legs so they make a music turn when ever he makes any form of movement with his legs and feet while Loggle was carrying a jug instrument. He blown into the jug to make a music tune. Both Hop Pop and Sprig smiled and liked the idea immediately.
As Hop Pop and Sprig ran over to join Wally and Loggle. That's when both Anne, Charlie, Marcy, Sasha and Captain Grime were left at the town founder's statue. The girls already knew what they're planning since they wanted to try showing the town a musical performance of their own with their old band.
"Come on, ladies. We can practice in my room." Anne told them.
As Anne and Marcy took off towards the Plantar's home. That's when Charlie looked on at Anne as his heart was beating faster for her. What he had in mind for a musical performance was something he knew was brilliant but seeing Anne walk off with Marcy had him feeling as though he wanted to tell Anne something but she took off with Marcy before he could tell her. But at the same time, he was staring at Anne's noticeably thick butt. Sasha immediately noticed something.
"Charlie, were you staring at Anne's butt?" joked Sasha.
"No I was not." Charlie lied.
"Charlie, were you thinking of doing some kind of musical performance?" asked Sasha.
Charlie went stoic in the face at the question and was silent for a moment.
"I got something in mind." said Charlie.
"Is it a duet with Anne?" asked Sasha giggling.
"I never said what I was going to do, did I?" said Charlie being secretive.
"True." said Sasha in agreement. "Hey Grime-sy. I'm gonna go rehearse with the girls while Charlie probably practices his performance. You all right going solo?"
"Oh yes. All shall tremble at my performance." said Captain Grime showing a seriously grim yet stoic expression.
Both Charlie and Sasha knew by now that this was something normal for the older male toad in general. But what happened next left the two wide eyed. Captain Grime apparently changed his intimidating facial expression to a happy grin, he skipped away happily while giggling like he was truly happy like how someone has that feeling when they're falling in love. After he disappeared to go practice for his own music performance. That's when Sasha and Charlie stood there, a bit shocked to see that someone like Captain Grime was showing a happy side to him which no one has ever seen this in him.
"You saw that right?" asked Charlie. "Captain Grime skipping away happily while giggling with a real smile?"
"Just like Zip a Dee Doo Dah." replied Sasha.
There was a silence for a moment and both of them shrugged their shoulders. They brushed off the feeling as they figured that Captain Grime is at least behaving himself so they suspected they had nothing to worry about with Captain Grime. Charlie and Sasha walked off towards the Plantar's house to join Anne and Marcy.
"If Captain Grime starts falling in love with someone in town than that'll throw us all for a loop." Charlie thought to himself.
Toadie stood next to Toadstool which the small little male amphibian had a drum strapped to his body which had a horn to go with it and two drum sticks. He appeared to of had his idea in mind set for the events tonight.
"Alright sir, I'm ready for rehearsal." said Toadie banging the drums three times.
"Are you kidding me, Toadie? I just bought myself a twelve-hour nap. Why don't you take a little time for yourself?" suggested Toadstool as he walked off the stage.
As Toadstool walked off. Toadie was met with a shock to his system for someone like himself. Toadstool advised him to take a little time to himself which is something he probably hasn't done in who knows how long. Did he ever take time for himself at all? The wide eyed look of shock on his face apparently implied something along those lines.
"T-t-time for myself?" Toadie stuttered in shock.
Back at the Plantar's House
Anne, Charlie, Marcy and Sasha were in Anne's room as Anne would strum on the guitar strings. The instruments the girls were using were of each to their own. Marcy was playing the drums that had the cymbals. Anne was playing the guitar as she would strum on the strings, even adjust the strings by rotating the course that would change the guitar's tune for the music. Sasha had a guitar case with her as she was going to open it but the three girls looked up to see Charlie as they were curious.
"Maybe Charlie would like to be part of the band." Marcy suggested.
"That would be a great idea." said Anne.
Charlie blushed deeply with a grin.
"I appreciate the offer but I kind of got my own idea in mind for a musical performance." Charlie kindly declined.
"You sure?" asked Anne.
"If that's alright with you ladies? I don't mean to decline on a cool offer but ever since Toadstool announced we're all going to be taking part in battle of the bands. An idea of my own popped into my head like popcorn." said Charlie kindly explaining things.
"Cool, cool, cool. Would you like to practice your vocals for a bit though?" Anne suggested.
Charlie smiled, popped his neck, cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat.
"Hit it." said Charlie feeling confident.
That's when Anne and Marcy began to play their instruments as they began to play beautiful pop rock music while the musical tune was powerful and that's when Charlie began to sing beautifully but powerfully. He had the voice of a powerfully beautiful angel. Even Sasha was blown away at Charlie's singing ability.
"Don't stop, Don't stop, we're in luck now. Don't stop, there's so much to be found. We can find paradise. All we have to do is go, go! Free your so-o-oul!"
Anne kept up with her guitar while Marcy kept up with her drums and the song that Charlie was singing and the music all perfectly in sync.
"Mysteries abound, made up a deep energy, energy. Foes all around, but I will go fearless and fre-e-e. I'll give you strength, you give me love, that's how we'll live. That's how we'll live. My courage won't fade, if you're with me my enemies can never win. We will fight for love and glory. We will live to tell the story. There is nothing we can't live through. Nothing ever dies, we will rise aga-a-ain!"
As Anne and Marcy kept the music going with their instruments. Charlie started to show that his hair was turning gold along with his eyes, his entire body was glowing a gold light all around him as he began to float three feet off the floor which they all noticed but didn't stop.
"Don't stop, Don't stop, we're in luck now. Don't stop, keep your spirit proud, and ride upon the wind. All we have to do is go! Don't stop, Don't stop, we're in luck now. Don't stop, there's so much to be found. We can find paradise. All we have to do is go, go! Free your soul! Dragon So-o-o-o-o-o-o-oul!"
As Anne and Marcy kept playing their instruments to a powerful tune and Charlie's singing was as powerful as it ever sounded. Anne went in for a guitar solo while Marcy was using her drum sticks to beat the drums and bang on the cymbals and once they all stopped, that's when the music from the instruments and Charlie's singing faded till it went silent. Charlie floated back down onto his feet to the floor and the gold energy around him faded away as well as his hair and eyes turned back to their original color.
"Whoa!" said the girls in wide eyed surprise.
"Anne, it's official. Charlie's perfect for you." said Sasha.
"That's my soul brotha." said Anne with a proud smile.
"And that's my soul sista." said Charlie proudly.
That's when Sasha opened the guitar case she had with her and that's when she pulled out a pink guitar that looked like an electric guitar. She stood up on her feet as she shown them the instrument.
"What you got there, Sash?" said Anne looking interested.
"Is that an axe-beetle guitar?" asked Charlie looking excited.
They turned to look right at him as if they didn't expect him to know what sort of guitar Sasha was wielding.
"How do you know what kind of guitar that is?" asked Marcy curiously.
"When we were in Newtopia. Some teenagers were playing one of them guitars. They were playing around with their music." answered Charlie.
"This isn't just an axe-beetle guitar. It's a dope axe-beetle from Toad Tower. Check this out." said Sasha with a grin.
Sasha pulled out the guitar from it's case and placed the strap over her left shoulder and got out a pink gem that was shaped like the capitalized letter "Y" and once she inserted it into a slot that was located on the guitar, that's when she strummed the guitar strings and it sent out pink waves of energy.
Invigorated, that's when Marcy started to bang on her drums. Anne strummed the guitar strings on her guitar and Charlie was doing a little dance to the rock music. They were playing such beautiful rock music that as they kept going but their little thrill was cut short when Marcy lost her grip on the drum sticks as both of them ricocheted across the room against the walls, floor and ceiling which Sasha was about to duck down when one of them nearly flew straight towards her but Charlie raised a hand in the air and the drum stick stopped once a gold force field rose up in front of Sasha.
The drum stick fell to the floor once it collided with the force field and the force field disappeared instantly. Anne and Polly were familiar with Charlie's ability to create force fields while Marcy and Sasha were just now discovering Charlie's powers and more about them. Charlie went to pick up the drum sticks and gave them back to Marcy as she grabbed hold of them.
"You guys saw that too, right?" said Sasha.
There was a silence and Charlie laughed his madman like cackle while the rest of them laughed along with him. Their laughter lasted for about a minute.
"Them teenagers with mutant powers at that school they go to have nothing on me!" said Charlie triumphantly.
"Sasha and the Sharps are back, baby!" said Anne proudly.
"So, what song should we play at the battle?" asked Marcy banging her hands on the drum.
"We should definitely play my song "Heart Stomper." It was always a hit back home." suggested Sasha.
"Oh! I'm into that. Anne?" said Marcy looking towards Anne who didn't respond. "Anne?"
Anne looked hesitant about something. Charlie could sense this feeling of nervousness and hesitancy. Anne cleared her throat for a moment.
"Actually I wrote a song about Amphibia and I was hoping we could play it together." Anne suggested with hesitation.
"You wrote a song about Amphibia?" said Charlie surprised.
"Yeah, I did." replied Anne.
"You didn't tell me you were writing a song. Let's do it." said Marcy looking excited with a smile but than her smile faded instantly when she turned to look at Sasha. "I mean, if that's okay with you, Sasha?"
The three looked at Sasha with a mixture of nervousness and hope as they were nervous about how Sasha would react and hopeful that she'll give Anne's song a chance. Sasha had a stoic yet annoyed expression that instantly turned into a smile.
"For sure. Teach it to us, Anne." said Sasha giving them the okay.
"Thanks, Sash." said Anne looking relieved.
"Rock this baby out!" cried Charlie in excitement.
For the next hour. Anne was teaching Sasha and Marcy how the song would go by teaching them the lyrics, who would sing a certain part of the lyrics with them, who would chime in the next, how the musical beat would go by the notes they'd play out and during the entire session. Charlie would be doing a little dance. Frobo was doing a little dance of his own till he retracted his arms and legs and extended his head up to let pink smoke that flowed out like a smoke machine at a rock concert. Polly was waving around pink glowing mushroom lights. Eventually, they stopped playing their instruments, they stopped singing and anyone dancing stopped as well.
"Yeah! Boom baby!" cried Charlie in excitement.
"You know it." replied Marcy.
"And here's where Sasha plays a killer guitar solo. We sing the refrain one more time, and then we're done." instructed Anne while pulling out a notebook.
"Nice work, Anna-Banana. Fun to play too." said Marcy as she twirled her drum sticks rapidly.
But when Marcy again lost her grip on the drum sticks, that's when Charlie grabbed hold of them and handed them back to her, this time, without using one of his powers which was just as Valeriana has said. His powers are still developing.
"Sasha, what do you think?" asked Anne looking for Sasha's honest words.
"It's good. I just have a few tiny notes that I think could make it even better." said Sasha.
Hearing those words had Anne and Charlie feeling a bit hesitant or they weren't getting a good feeling from what Sasha was telling them. Sasha was informing them on how the lyrics to the song were good but that they had to change. She took hold of Anne's notebook to take a look at what else she has written which once she flipped to another page, she saw what looked like a crayon drawing of Anne, Marcy and Sasha herself in bug suits. Anne was shown to be wearing a blue bug suit, Marcy in green and Sasha in pink. She crossed them out with a red marker.
Sasha gave her opinions on them and her opinions on them wearing bug suits from what the drawings shown were not good opinions. Charlie wanted to say something but he felt he should listen to Sasha till she was done giving her input on everything. Sasha started to walk over towards Marcy and informed her on how her drumming appeared to be which her words on that wasn't promising as she pushed the drums and one of the cymbals aside till it was nothing but one cymbal.
As she continued, she went over to Polly and piled on more pink mushroom lights as she suggested they needed more lights as she piled them on top of the young polliwog. She informed Frobo about how they were using too much fog and not using enough fog for that matter. This left the frog like robot confused as question marks formed in it's eyes.
"Boom! Fix it." Sasha finished.
Everyone in the room looked as though they tried to be supportive towards Sasha's input on what should be added, left out and what should be changed but on the inside, they felt it wasn't what they've envisioned at all.
"Are you kidding me, Sasha?" Charlie thought to himself.
"It does seem simpler." said Marcy lightly banging one of her drum sticks on the cymbal with a hesitant look.
"Yeah these are solid ideas. But, it's just not my song anymore. The lyrics are different, the melody is different. It's just different." said Anne being honest.
"I'm with Anne on this one." Charlie chimed in. "This feels like Hollywood is taking creative control and that's usually when two artists differ or clash."
"That's called collaboration, guys." said Sasha trying to make it sound better.
"This isn't collaboration, it's a hostile takeover. Why do things always have to be your way?" said Anne as she didn't like what Sasha was going for.
That's when both Anne and Sasha gave each other a glare of annoyance which Charlie sensed that one of them was about to start yelling or flip the table on things. Sasha let out a sigh and to Charlie's surprise, no one was yelling, no one got physical or verbal for that matter.
"So now, once again, I'm forcing you to do things my way." said Sasha looking annoyed and bent down to grab hold of her guitar case and was about to leave the room. "You know what, maybe I should just leave and join a different band."
"What?" said a surprised Marcy wide eyed.
"No, Sasha! it'll be more fun if you're here with us." said Anne trying to convince her not to leave.
Sasha stopped when she was at the middle of the flight of stairs that led to the exit of the basement. She turned to face the three teenagers and tried to show a reassuring face.
"Listen if I leave, you guys can have all the fun you want. I can have all the control I want. And we can all get what we want." said Sasha trying to sound reassuring.
"Well, I guess that makes sense." said Anne subtly yet hesitantly agreeing.
"Yeah and don't worry. I'll still be rooting for you guys. This is just how I go sometimes. I'll see you tonight." said Sasha now about to leave with a look of guilt.
"Sasha." Charlie called out.
Sasha turned to see a stoic Charlie giving her the stare down and that sent some intimidation and worrisome fear down her spine. She was expecting him to yell or get verbal in an aggressive manner but he let out a sigh.
"Sasha, I know you want what you want and being part of a band and working with one another is hard but for one, do not start to get condescending with me, Anne or Marcy. As for what you're doing, this is like the typical Hollywood thing. They always want to take creative control over talented artists and their work which is why many of them end up writing their own songs. But you're nothing like Hollywood or any of it's typical actions. You're better than that. Don't do like what Hollywood typically does. I may not like you going on a take control over something trip but this is your chance to break that habit and become a better person for it. Please, don't do the typical Hollywood thing, you're nothing like that and you're better than that." said Charlie at first warning Sasha but also trying to convince her not to fall back into hold habits.
"Charlie, I know you mean well and you don't wanna hurt anyone you love or anyone you care about. But I think it would be best if I just tried joining a different band and see where it goes. Having said that, I need to cool of some steam." said Sasha still trying to sound and look reassuring.
That's when Sasha turned and walked up the stairs and left the room. She had a guilty look on her face as well as feeling regret.
"I'm sorry guys." Sasha thought to herself.
After Sasha left. Anne walked over towards her bed and plopped down on it. She looked disappointed along with Marcy and Charlie, placing her guitar on the left to where she sat.
"So much for Sasha and the Sharps. Who's gonna do the guitar solo now?" said Anne.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. Probably." said Marcy feeling unsure by her own words.
"You guys done moping? 'Cause Frobes and I charge by the hour." said Polly chiming in.
"Not the time, Polly." said Anne.
That's when they gotten an idea in mind and Anne looked around the room and only saw Marcy, Polly and Frobo in the room but Charlie wasn't.
"Guys, I was just about to ask Charlie if he wanted to step in for Sasha but now he's not in here. Did you guys see where he went?" asked Anne.
They all looked around and saw no sign of Charlie in the room till Frobo pointed at a small sheet of paper that was suddenly taped to Anne's left shoulder. She took hold of it and read it out loud.
"Dear Anne
Gonna check to see if Sasha is okay. I'm worried about her. I'll be back once I know she's alright.
Charlie"
After hearing what the note read. They figured that Charlie was only going to make sure that Sasha is alright for the sake of Sasha and for their sake.
"Do you guys think Charlie will be alright going off alone?" asked Marcy with worry.
"Charlie's went off to do things on his own before and he was okay afterwards, well, he mainly had someone with him at the time but if he ends up in hot water. We'll be there for him." reassured Anne.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Wartwood
Charlie would follow Sasha into Wartwood as he was really good at sneaking around without making any sounds and without being found out. He followed her to Felicia's Tea Shoppe and when she went inside, he wasn't able to get in since the door closed before he could get in there in time.
So Charlie gotten an idea in mind as he jumped up into the air and made it to one of the windows as he placed his hands and feet on the walls of the outside while he was listening into the conversation that Sasha was having with Captain Grime.
"Wow! I can crawl on the walls." whispered Charlie in amazement.
The conversation Charlie was listening in on sounded like Sasha wanted to recruit the older male toad to be part of her band as she was asking him sweetly at first but Captain Grime denied the offer by saying he was a "Solo act"
He attempted to close the door but Sasha was preventing him from doing so while Sasha was getting frustrated and annoyed with him by now as she informed that this battle of the bands wasn't a real battle like how armies battle each other in combat. But Captain Grime would inform Sasha how despite that it's not a real battle, he still intends to win but than he instructed Sasha to look behind her as if sounding alarmed and just when Sasha sounded distracted, he heard Captain Grime push her away from the door, laugh and slammed the door shut.
"Well that was rude." Charlie thought to himself.
That's when he heard the door to the building open and close which he spotted Sasha leaving the building and walking off towards the statue of the town founder. Charlie jumped down from where he was on the wall and landed on his feet.
That's when Charlie followed her but hidden somewhere that Sasha couldn't see or hear him from. He heard her muttering to herself about how she detested being a solo act unless she could find someone who wants to obey her, she strummed a couple of guitar strings which made a couple of soft musical notes.
That's when he heard someone else sighing in depressed disappointment and he could hear it was Toadie who was feeling dejected about how Toadstool has left him to take time for himself which is something he's probably never been given the chance to do until now.
"Toadie's never been given the chance to take time for himself? Now that he's got the opportunity, he doesn't know what to do? That's surprising." Charlie thought to himself.
Toadie continued to wonder verbally out loud about how everyone else has already joined a band but he hasn't. He was wondering out loud who he could play music with that would also boss him around? Charlie was feeling a bit stumped at that last thing he said. Toadie wanted to play music with someone who would boss him around? He felt that was a bit confusing as he at first didn't think Toadie was a nice guy back when him and Toadstool didn't get along but now that him and Toadstool have become better friends and Toadstool changed for the better, he actually saw Toadie as a nice guy who at times felt he needed a vacation but now sees the little amphibian is feeling a bit lost and directionless.
Just as soon as Toadie was blowing into the horn that was part of the instrument he was playing. He was stopped the second he started by Sasha.
"You! Tiny sad frog. You're coming with me." Sasha informed.
Toadie got up and followed Sasha somewhere into the woods while Charlie followed.
"Sasha, what are you doing? Let's hope she's nice to him." Charlie thought to himself.
Somewhere in the forest near town
Charlie saw that Sasha was playing her guitar while the pink energy waves were being made as she played her instrument. He heard her singing and she turned out to be a surprisingly singer.
"Whoa! If Anne and Marcy can sing like I do. I had no idea that Sasha was this good." Charlie whispered to himself.
"I'm a heart stomper. Stompin' on hearts. If you want to get awa-a-ay. You're gonna need a head sta-a-art"
Charlie was blown away at Sasha's singing ability. That's when Sasha instructed Toadie to do his part which he immediately obeyed as he got up on his feet, twirled the drum sticks in his hands and began banging the drums like he was rocking out at a rock music concert. Sasha kept instructing Toadie to play his best, even to blow the horn which he did so.
Than Sasha cried out for them to strike a final pose which Toadie jumped up into the air and did a back flip, landing on his feet while the poses they made were showing Sasha with a grin but one leg was pulled up with her knee bent, both her right and left arms pointed diagonally up her right while Toadie's pose was of him doing the same as Sasha but he used his drum sticks to point up diagonally up to his left.
The music faded but Toadie fell to the ground on his back, panting with his drum laying on his stomach. His drum sticks lay beside him.
"Not bad. What if the bridge was an F sharp instead of C sharp." Sasha suggested looking thrilled.
"Love it." said Toadie in agreement.
"Oh! And maybe at the end. We can do the splits." Sasha said suggesting another idea.
"No problem." Toadie agreed.
Sasha started to look at Toadie with a slightly annoyed expression. She felt as though Toadie was acting like a yes man. She was slightly annoyed by such a behavioral trait.
"And how about we shoot you out of a cannon?" Sasha suggested not really meaning it.
"Totally here for it." said Toadie blindly agreeing with her.
"Come on. Don't just agree with everything I'm saying. What's your actual opinion?" said a slightly annoyed Sasha.
Toadie got up on his feet while Charlie didn't like the idea of Toadie being blasted out of a cannon. He felt his protective instincts kicking in.
"Oh I stopped having opinions years ago. I'm just one hundred percent here to support you." said Toadie pointing one of his drum sticks at Sasha.
"You are not blasting the little guy out of a cannon!" cried Charlie's voice.
The two stopped and turned to see Charlie walk out from his hiding spot which was up a tree as he dropped down onto the ground and landed on his feet. He came over to Toadie and stood be his side as if to take up for him. Sasha was surprised to see him or the fact that he was watching them.
"Charlie, how long have you been watching us?" said a surprised Sasha.
"I've been following you since you left. I wanted to make sure you were alright because you looked so down after the disagreement earlier. Also, you are not blasting Toadie out of a cannon or so help me..." Charlie began.
"Relax dude! When I suggested that, I didn't mean it. I was never going to blast him out of a cannon. I was being sarcastic about it." reassured Sasha.
Charlie let out a sigh of relief knowing that. Toadie wasn't all that surprised that Charlie was taking up for him since he's seen Charlie looking out for others children, helping out the elderly and assisting others with heavy lifting before. But he didn't expect Charlie to follow them. Sasha was slightly blushing briefly.
"So you were following me to make sure I was alright?" said an admired Sasha.
"I know your a strong girl who can mostly handle your own but I didn't want you to feel as though you were hurting over what we've said earlier." Charlie admitted.
Sasha wasn't expecting such a response. She knew that Charlie and Anne would be agreeing with each other on many things and some things they disagreed on but worked things out afterwards. This meant that Charlie still shows that he cares about Sasha, despite the fact that their relationship wasn't a good one and later on till now, their relationship was slowly repairing itself yet Sasha still knew that Charlie and Anne are boyfriend and girl friend and that she couldn't steal another girl's man. She had no desire to do that since she knew Anne would be a better girl friend to Charlie than she was which she was fine by that. She saw this was a sign that Charlie still cares about her.
"So you saw and heard me singing?" said Sasha breaking the silence.
"My first thoughts were that you weren't into singing or dancing. But seeing you sing, well, it's surprising. I mean I found out Anne is a good singer months ago but seeing you or Marcy sing. It's no wonder you became a band." said Charlie admitting the truth.
This had Sasha feeling as though she was calming herself from her angry emotions a bit but was somewhat expecting Charlie and herself to try and get along after burying the hatchet at the dinner party. She felt it was a nice change of pace since in the past their relationship was horrible thanks to Sasha.
"Toadie, you stopped having opinions years ago?" said Charlie now looking confused.
"Is that bad?" said a confused Toadie not understanding what they meant.
The two human teenagers looked on in surprised confusion and slight bewilderment. In Charlie's reaction, he was feeling as though Toadie needed to have his own opinions, free will and his own personality. To Sasha, she wasn't expecting this at all. She expected everyone to have opinions on everything or mostly everything.
"What? How do you even live like that? I have opinions about everything. And if I'm not in control at all times. I'll go crazy." said Sasha appearing as though she was about to have a fit but she didn't. "It's actually kind of exhausting."
Charlie heard every word that Sasha just uttered and he felt as though this explained everything about Sasha. He remembered back when him and Sasha dated, that she was in control of everything or the majority of the time she was. Both before and after they no longer dated. But he snapped back to reality when Sasha looked right at him.
"I'm not saying a word." said Charlie not stoic.
"Is that bad?" asked Sasha.
"To be honest, Sasha. Out of every person or every girl I knew. Not one of them ever had the need to be in control of everything like you. Sure, they'd be in control of some things but they were going overboard with it, no. They did things normally. Kind of like our P.E. coach. Coach Crichton." Charlie explained.
Sasha smiled as if about to laugh about a funny memory but she fought the urge to laugh.
"I'll admit, he wasn't wanting to be in control of everything like I do but he was a bit of a klutz." Sasha said trying not to laugh. "He at least made us laugh."
Charlie smiled and cleared his voice as if about to mimic a humorous voice.
"Whose the misguided demon that hit Coach Crichton in the head with a basketed-a-ball?" screamed Charlie mimicking a raspy, loud, male adult voice. "When I said toss me a ball. I didn't say everyone throw a ball at me. You misguided hippies!"
Sasha burst out loud laughing as Charlie mimicked the voice of one of their former P.E. coaches. It took her a minute to stop laughing as she had fond memories of their former P.E. coach as she remembered many times this coach of theirs made everyone laugh.
"But seriously, do any of you two know what I should do about my current issue?" asked Sasha hopefully.
"Well, maybe you should try letting go a little. Let someone else take the reigns, pass the baton, hand over the keys to.." Toadie advised providing some examples.
"Thanks, I get it." said Sasha getting impatient.
"Sasha." Charlie chimed in.
She looked at Charlie who was giving her a stoically warning look which had her annoyed expression fade away. She could tell that he didn't want her being rude to Toadie who was helping her out with the advice he provided.
"My point is. Most people don't realize just how fun it can be to support someone you really care about." said Toadie blushing with a grin.
The little frog male reached inside his right pocket and pulled out what looked like a green button that had Toadstool's picture on it with the worlds "Vote Toadstool" in light yellow lettering with two light yellow stars on the sides. Charlie could tell what Toadie was talking about and what he meant as he saw him looking at the button with Toadstool's face on it. He knew what it meant and he could tell that Toadie had feelings for Toadstool, romantic feelings of some sort.
Sasha was starting to see that what Toadie told her meant that letting go a little and letting someone else take the reigns might not be a bad thing at all.
"Huh? Well, thanks for that perspective. You weird little butler frog." said Sasha kindly with a grin. "Hey Charlie, could you give us some time to practice? You could even practice for what you're going to do for battle of the bands."
"Understood. And I don't need to practice. I already got everything planned out." said Charlie. "Toadie, you watch out for Sasha and Sasha, you watch out for Toadie."
As Charlie walked back to Wartwood, that's when Sasha turned her attention to Toadie.
"Now come on, we got a lot of practice to do if we're gonna win." said Sasha getting her guitar ready. "And a one, and a two, and a twenty times through."
"This is gonna hurt." said Toadie looking excited with a grin as he twirled his drum sticks.
The two practiced which the music was a bit loud but they were practicing for tonight's events while it was going to be a while till it got dark.
Later That Night
Everyone was at tonight's events of battle of the bands. They had lights on the stage while the stage was decorated in pink with a gold axe and gold guitar on the stage floor, the curtains and the top of the stage stage where the lights were. The majority of the stage had pink flowers all over it.
Charlie had a chat with Toadie about something he realized and he could tell that Toadie may actually be in love with Toadstool judging by what he saw when he last saw Toadie and saw how he blushed when he was looking at a picture of Toadstool on the button he had with him.
"Toadie, do you have feelings for Toadstool?" asked Charlie.
Toadie let out a hiccup and blushed with a giggling grin.
"Does it show?" said Toadie bashfully.
"When you were looking at that button that had Toadstool's picture on it. You were blushing the whole time and you felt dejected that Toadstool was giving you time for yourself when you wanted to join him in an actual band consisting of you and him." said Charlie pointing out the obvious signs.
Toadie sighed and felt as though he was found out about his feelings.
"In the beginning, I didn't think anything of it when it came to Toadstool. But at the time, I didn't know if I was preferring girls, boys or both. The thought of me being in love, finding the one for me didn't cross my mind because the thought never occurred to me at the time. But I've been with Toadstool for so long that once I stopped having opinions, I was there to support Toadstool, no matter what. But seeing that he gave me time to myself for a bit. I felt as though something in me cracked. I wanted to be in a band with him but the need to be with him in anything. We've been through so much together and I can't imagine being without him." explained Toadie.
Hearing this had confirmed Charlie's suspicions of Toadie's feelings towards Toadstool.
"Charlie, ever since you helped Toadstool realize his sexuality as bisexual. Well, do you think that my feelings may reveal that I'm, you know, gay?" asked Toadie curiously.
"Toadie, I've known a few people that turned out to be gay and they were some of the nicest people anyone ever met. It wasn't easy for them to come out and realize it nor was it easy for them to reveal it to their folks. But they all had one outcome. They all had a positive outcome when they decided to no longer be in the closet. The pressure was off, their parents were a little surprised at first but they came to accept and support that their offspring preferred to be in a relationship with the same gender as they are. They lived relatively good lives and there's no shame in being gay. Toadstool has accepted his sexuality and he's doing just fine with it." Charlie kindly explained to Toadie as he gave him his support.
"But if I'm to admit my feelings to him. What should I do?" asked Toadie looking lost.
"Just be honest with him and tell him the truth. That's what my mom, my aunt and the ladies of the house told me when it came to many events through out my life. If it worked for me, than it can work out for you too." Charlie reassured.
Toadie felt his spirits were at a positive form with Charlie's kind and advising words. Charlie's words were full of compassion, peace and love. That had Toadie feel like he could do it.
"I'll give it a shot." said Toadie now filled with hope.
He hopped up into the air and landed on Charlie's chest who hugged him, than Charlie gently hugged him back. After a minute of them hugging. That's when Toadie hopped down and went to look for Sasha to get ready for the event that both him and Sasha practiced for.
"Go get your man, you little courageous lion." said Charlie with a grin.
Toadstool and Albus Duckweed were the judges at the event which Toadstool was the first to speak in the microphone at the table that both him and Albus sat at.
"Welcome everyone to the battle of the bands. Goose Lilly and I will be your judges for this evening so what do ya say we get things started?" Toadstool spoke.
"My name is Duckweed." corrected Albus.
"Don't sass me, Goose Lilly." said Toadstool slightly annoyed.
"Toadstool, lets try to get along with your judge." Charlie advised.
"Yes sir!" said Toadstool giving a salute. "Hit the lights!"
Polly was up on the top where the stage lights were set and she swung her rolling pin at the lights and with one hit to them, the lights were turned on like a light switch. The first to come on stage to perform was Chuck who pushed a huge flower pot on wheels to the stage and it had two giant tulips. One being pink and the other being gold. He used a conductor's baton to conduct their musical performance as the two giant tulips were singing but their words weren't English but sounded more like gibberish.
"I grow singing tulips." said Chuck.
Toadstool and Albus looked on in annoyance but they didn't boo him at all. They held up a sign that read the score they gave Chuck. Toadstool gave Chuck a four while Albus gave him a five as people gave him a round of applause.
The next to perform was Mrs. Croaker. She was appeared to of had her pet spider Archie on a table which she used a web string of his to connect to a tuning fork of some sort. She would stroke her hand on the string which Archie was making a high humming sound that was emitting from the tuning fork she used. It blew everyone's minds but Toadstool. Toadstool gave Mrs. Croaker a two while an excited Albus gave her a ten. Everyone had applauded for her.
The next performance was the jug band that consisted of Hop Pop, Sprig, Loggle and Wally. Loggle sat on a wooden seat that was on top of two square barrels of hay as the instruments they played were Sprig and his fiddle, Hop Pop and the jug, Wally and his accordion and Loggle playing the wooden spoons. Their performance was light hearted and positively cute if a little humorous which Charlie shown to like as it seemed relaxing to him.
But their performance was cut short when Loggle fell backwards in his wooden seat but before he hit the stage floor was when Charlie actually teleported in a puff of gold smoke and quickly reappeared on stage to catch Loggle which he succeeded. He held Loggle in his strong and powerful arms and let him safely onto his feet.
"You alright?" asked Charlie.
"I've had worse falls but I appreciate you catching me." thanked Loggle.
Charlie breathed a sigh of relief as he left the stage and Toadstool gave their performance a six while Albus gave them a five point five while plenty of people applauded for their performance. Than both Sprig, Hop Pop, Wally and Loggle walked backstage as they felt they had done a really good performance.
While backstage. Sasha was watching others come and go while Toadie was applying eyeliner as he looked in a mirror. Toadie was wearing a red shirt and black pants which the sleeves to his shirt and the leg length to his pants were ripped, he wore a spiked collar, he had his hair slicked back to look like a punk rocker.
Sasha was wearing a red jacket and also had eyeliner on like Toadie but she wore some sort of brown kelt while her hair was looking as though she had it slicked back as well while she wore black boots.
"Hey Sasha." came Anne's voice.
Sasha and Toadie turned to see Anne and Marcy who were wearing sparkly looking outfits that. Anne was wearing blue and looked as though she was in a butterfly outfit with blue sparkly eye shadow to match, a yellow hair piece that was shaped like a dragon fly of some sort that was on her left side of her hair with blue sparkly paint on her cheeks in the same shape, sparkly blue gloves with wings on her back that had a transparent cover on them. Her hair was in double dutch pigtails while Marcy was wearing green which her outfit looked like she could've been a praying mantis with fake green antennaes, dark green gloves, sparkly pink blush on her cheeks and their shoes matched the color of their outfits. Sasha wanted to gush in excitement but she was holding back.
"Oh, hey guys. Those costumes are...something else." said Sasha trying hard to be nice.
"I'm a drag-Anne-fly." said Sasha.
"And I'm the personification of metamorphosis." said Marcy with a big, wide, sparkle in her eyes.
Sasha looked around and saw that Charlie was missing.
"Guys, where's Charlie?" asked Sasha.
They all looked at one another and shook their heads. They remembered seeing him earlier when he was helping Loggle but they didn't see him anywhere at this moment. But they got their answer when they heard a low, vocal rumbling sound that sounded like a lion's low yet loud guttural rumbling that made it seem like a lion was making peaceful sounds.
They turned to see Charlie and the outfit he was wearing was having them in wide eyed shock. Charlie had what looked like press on nail on his fingernails that made it look like he had lion like claws, his hair looked like it was having much more volume, thickness, fullness and looked like it was styled to have the appearance of an actual lion, it looked like he wore a furred outfit that was light brown and it covered his torso, his legs, arms, he even worn furred boots.
"Whoa!" the girls said in surprise.
"This mighty lion is one mighty beast." said Charlie with a wink and grin.
Charlie looked on at Anne, Marcy and Sasha as their outfits surprised him but his attention was on Anne. He blushed deeply at how beautiful she looked.
"Anne...you're...you're so beautiful." Charlie said nearly tripping over his words.
"You're looking handsome. If I'm beauty." Anne started.
"Than I'm the beast." Charlie finished for her.
They walked up to each other and hugged one another. That's when they both gave each other a kiss on each others lips which they held the kiss for a moment till they pulled their lips off each other.
"Charlie, are you sure you're not performing in the band?" asked Sasha.
"I got my own performance and I want to surprise everyone with it." chuckled Charlie blushing. "I'll be going on after you guys."
"Cool, well, have fun out there." said Sasha.
"Thanks Sash." said Anne grabbing her guitar.
"You too." said Marcy getting out her drum.
Anne and Marcy went out to the stage with their instruments. Charlie was going to hang back somewhere nearby to watch them as he was sitting somewhere on a seat near the front. Toadie was showing some worry.
"Hey, should we be worried about them?" asked a concerned Toadie.
Sasha looked out to the stage as Anne was tuning her guitar and Marcy was setting up her drums and cymbals.
"Nah, I've seen their performance and it's aight but nowhere near as good as it could've been with me in control. I just wanted all of us to succeed. I was just being a good friend. Why couldn't they see that?" said Sasha looking as though she was feeling some regret.
"I know the feeling. But no matter how badly you want someone to succeed. You can't force it." said Toadie.
Toadie was looking on in the distance at Toadstool who was scratching himself around the nose and wiped his finger off on Albus hat who took his hat off and replaced it with another as he gave Toadstool an annoyed expression.
"Because sometimes being a good friend means being their for them when they need it the most." finished Toadie.
Sasha felt that Toadie's wisdom was reaching her and she now felt like she really wanted to do what Toadie has advised. She knew that he was right. She turned to see Anne and Marcy getting ready as Toadstool spoke out loud.
"Ladies and gentle-frogs. I give you the sharps." announced Toadstool.
Everyone gave a round of applause to welcome Anne and Marcy and the lights turned on to show them in a clearer view. Frobo was using using his hands to turn into vents as he was emitting smoke out of them like a smoke machine. Anne began to play her guitar while Marcy would begin to play her drums and cymbals as they were playing rock music. That's when they started to sing as they both were quite the singers much to everyone's joyful surprise.
"Took a leap through a box super weird to a swamp where frogs talk. Ooh. Now I'm stuck, got no plans just my luck I'll do the best that I can. Woah-Oh. Making friends and enemies, it's weird but hey it's grown on me!"
Polly moved the stage lights on the two in order to give them all a better view on them like a spotlight view.
"Bugs, Frogs, Newts, and Toads! Gonna' be a bumpy road! Flies for snacks, worms for lunch. I think I actually love this swamp! It's no big deal, yeah no big deal!"
The audience began to clap along and move left and right to the music in a form of a dance while both Hop Pop and Sprig looked on with smiles and almost felt like crying in joy.
"Find a way to start again, brush off the dirt and make some friends! It's no big deal, yeah no big deal! I feel at home in a place that shouldn't be real. Crazy strange but it's no big deal."
"Yaaahoooo! That's my girl friend!" cheered Charlie.
"Well, it's certainly charming, I just hope there's a very cool guitar solo about to drop." said Toadstool hopefully.
"Here goes..." said Anne nervously under her breath.
Just when Anne was about to perform a guitar solo, that's when she heard a guitar playing but she wasn't the one playing it. She turned to see that Sasha was the one doing the guitar riff. Sasha came to the stage and joined Anne and Marcy while Charlie let out a powerful lion like roar as Sasha's guitar playing emitted them pink energy waves as they continued to sing but now with Sasha joining them.
"Oooooh! It's no big deal, yeah no big deal! I feel at home in a place that shouldn't be real. Killer birds...But it's no big deal! Riding snails...But it's no big deal! Eating flies...But it's no big deal! Finally me and it's no big deal."
As they strummed their instruments once more, the music stopped and the entire crowd had all cheered for them as they were blown away by their performance. Toadstool and Albus gave them an eight out of eight in their performance with impressed grins.
"Sasha, that was awesome." said Anne giving Sasha a high five. "I'm so psyched you joined us."
"Me too. Sorry I took so long." said Sasha looking like she felt better after performing with them.
After the audience cheering had died down. That's when Anne, Marcy and Sasha walked off to the side of the stage and moved their instruments with them. They went to sit down as Charlie was the next person to perform.
"Next, we have a beautiful performance by the rather dashing Charlie Matsuda." announced Toadstool.
Everyone cheered as Charlie made it to the stage and he was standing on the stage as he took in a deep breath and let it out.
"Ladies and gentle-frogs. Hope you're having a good time. I know a lot has happened here since me, Anne, Marcy and Sasha have been here in this world you call home. We went from not knowing our way in this world to being able to take on anything. We've grown so much in our time here. Even me. I went from a shy and nervous kid who didn't feel comfortable about talking about his problems to anyone who had major dad issues and was still recovering from what happened between me and Sasha, even though we've reconciled and buried the hatchet." Charlie spoke out. "I went from that shy, nervous little boy to a confident young man. I've fell in love with the most beautiful girl in the world that turned out to be my soul mate, became part of a loving family, made friends, even found a father figure whose been more of a father to me than my real dad ever was. Yet even though I've grown so much in my time here like Anne, Marcy and Sasha. I know so many of you helped me along the way as much as you've helped Anne, Marcy and even Sasha. Still, this performance isn't a solo one."
They all looked on and knew that Charlie was touching on plenty of memorable events and memories but they also wondered what he meant by his performance not being a solo one. Anne smiled as she somehow knew what he meant instantly.
"This performance is a duet and I'm wondering if my girl friend is willing to take up on the offer of performing with me." said Charlie.
Anne smiled and ran up on the stage to Charlie's side, hugging him firmly while he groaned in a little bit of pain.
"Anne baby, too tight! A little too tight." said Charlie in a pained tone.
Anne loosened her grip and blushed.
"My bad." said Anne chuckling.
"I'm actually not bothered by it." said Charlie with a grin.
The audience chuckled a bit while both Anne and Charlie chuckled as well. Charlie than pulled out his portable radio as he placed it nearby on the stage. He turned it on and it started to play beautiful pop music that sounded so beautiful that it could fill people with hope. That's when Charlie was the first to start singing which Anne seem to know when she will sing as Charlie was singing so beautifully.
"Just before the dawn, when the light's still gone. Shine, shine your way. And you may not know, where to go. Shine, shine your way"
That's when Anne joined in on singing with Charlie and even she too sounded like she was singing just as beautifully as Charlie. Everyone was ether blown away at how beautiful their singing and the song sounded or they felt as though this was filling them up with hope.
"Open road but it's still dark, build a fire from a spark, and shine, shine your way. Feed the feeling in your heart, don't conceal it then you'll start, to find, find your way"
Than Anne was singing and leading this time.
"No one can stop, what has begun. You must believe when I sa-a-ay"
Than both of them sang together as they were in perfect sync.
"All of your tears will dry faster in the sun. Starting today, shine, shine, shine. Shine your wa-a-ay"
As the music continued. The tempo of the music went up and it only started to sound a bit louder and much more beautiful by the sound of it's tune. Some of the audience shed a tear at how beautiful the song and their singing sounded. Anne started to lead this time.
"There's an open sky, and a reason why. You shine, shine your way. There's so much to learn, and now it's your turn to shine, shine your way"
That's when they both sang in perfect unison and their voices only sounded much more beautifully heard as they sang together.
"There's a feeling deep inside, you can let it be your guide to find, find your way. And there's no time for us to waste, got to take a leap of faith and fly, fly away"
Anne was the next to lead once again as she sang out to the song.
"Don't have to walk, now you can run, nothing can get in your wa-a-ay"
Than as the two sang together again. Charlie started to show that his appearance was changing. His eyes and hair were turning gold again, his body was starting to glow a gold light which as everyone saw this, they all figured it was part of the performance but they had no idea that it was something to do with Charlie's powers or his emotions that probably affect the control of his powers or that with his spirits being so high that it was another part of how his powers work or all of the above. But they liked what they saw.
"All of your tears will dry faster in the sun. Starting today, shine, shine, shine. Shine your wa-a-ay"
As the song, the music and their singing were of perfect harmony. Anne and Charlie faced each other as they felt like their love for each other was strengthened by the performance which Anne felt as though that no matter what Charlie's powers do or how he's used them, she was perfectly accepting of them.
"Morning is breaking, darkness is fading. We found a way to the light, it's such a beautiful si-i-i-ight"
As the song's musical beat was heightened and at it's most beautiful tempo. The way both Anne and Charlie looked at one another had them looking like they were so in love that the sight of them and their love appeared to everyone as if they saw beautifully true, romantic love story being witnessed. Than Charlie took the lead next.
"Any time, anywhere, turn around and I'll be there to shine, shine your way"
Anne took the lead next as she sang.
"Like a star burning bright, lighting up the darkest night, I'll shine, shine your way"
Than they both started to sing together once again and this time. Charlie took hold of Anne's hand as they continued to sing as they knew that this was pulling off quite the show.
"Now I can see, you are the one, sent here to show me the way. All of our tears will dry faster in the sun. Starting today, shine, shine, shine. We're on our way, shine, shine, shine. That's what we say, shine, shine, shine. Shine your wa-a-ay. There's a reason why you shine, shine your wa-a-ay. All of our tears will dry faster in the sun. Shine your wa-a-ay"
As the music came to an abrupt end. Anne could tell that Charlie wanted to roar like a lion which she subtly gave him permission to by giving him a wink and smile which Charlie picked up on that immediately. Charlie faced the audience and he sucked in his biggest amount of air and when he let it out, he let out his loudest, longest and most powerfully realistic, pure sounding lion like roar of his life.
The audience let out an impressed and amazed "Whoa" as they saw and heard how mighty Charlie could mimic a lion's roar. This even touched the hearts of Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly.
"That's my son." said a proud Hop Pop with a twinkle in his eyes.
Charlie let out one more roar but this time he faced the sky and as he roared like a lion, he breathed fire out of his mouth like a dragon. Seeing this only had everyone feeling like they saw something magical from that of a circus act. After Charlie's roar faded, he stopped breathing fire and his hair and eyes turned back to their original colors, the gold light around him faded and that's when everyone was cheering, applauding for the performance.
Toadstool and Albus both gave Charlie and Anne a ten which was a perfect score there. Charlie ran towards Anne and pulled her in his arms to hug her and this time, he planted his soft lips to hers which the two shared a romantic kiss. Seeing this had everyone let out an adored "Awww" which after Charlie pulled his lips off Anne's in a loud pop. Anne and Charlie both blushed and grinned as they let out an eager squeal that was a delighted chuckle.
"Jack and Rose Dawson have nothing on us!" said Anne and Charlie in unison.
As Anne and Charlie walked off the stage and were standing next to Sasha and Marcy. That's when Toadie made his way to Toadstool to whisper something to him which the large male toad listened and after Toadie finished telling him what he needed to tell them. That's when Toadstool had an announcement.
"I've just been informed that the next act has been cancelled. So, give it up for your final contestant. Grime Time!" Toadstool announced.
They all saw Captain Grime take the stage as he had a wide smile that shown his fang like teeth and he was uttering a maniacal laugh that left everyone to fall silent and the looks on their faces was a hint of fear or nervousness or both. He had what looked like a big case for his instrument. The big case looked like a ten foot tall toad with two sharp blades made of stone in each hand.
"If he tries anything funny to cause chaos?" said Marcy.
"One of us will stop him and Charlie kicks his..." Anne began.
"His big toad butt." Charlie finished for her.
"Only if he harms people." advised Anne.
But when Captain Grime grabbed hold of the case, that's when he opened it and to everyone's surprise and relief. They saw there was a large golden harp in the case. Everyone gasped in surprise.
"Crisis averted!" said Anne, Charlie and the Plantars in unison.
"This piece is dedicated to the serenity of nature. Also, to everyone here that thought I was up to something. You can breathe a sigh of relief. Calm yourselves, there's nothing to worry about." Captain Grime reassured.
Captain Grime began to play the harp as he would stroke his fingers on the harp strings which as he did so, the instrument played a calm, tranquil tune. Everyone was wide eyed at how beautiful the sound of the instrument made but were shocked at the sight of Captain Grime knowing how to play the harp or let alone knowing how to play an instrument that was calming and comforting to hear.
"I wonder if Sasha knew about this?" said Charlie.
"Grimesy told me nothing about this." Sasha admitted truthfully.
Three Hours Later
The performance brought tears to the eyes of everyone as they felt serenaded by the beautiful tune that the harp made and Captain Grime eventually stopped and the sound of the instrument came to an abrupt halt. Everyone had applauded and cheered for Captain Grime's performance. Toadstool wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled.
"Well, I've seen enough." said Toadstool.
Both Toadstool and Albus held up two signs and they were both ten.
"Grime and Charlie win!" said Toadstool.
Captain Grime laughed victoriously and he looked at Charlie as he gave him a wink and smile and gave him a thumbs up which this was a surprise for even Charlie to see. Charlie and Captain Grime won? Charlie didn't expect this. He expected one person would win but him and Captain Grime? Even the human teenage girls were surprised.
"So Charlie and Grimesy won? That's unexpected." said a surprised Sasha.
"Sorry we lost Sash." said Marcy apologetically.
"You know, as much as it pains me to lose. It was worth it to have so much fun with you guys up there. Yet Anne and Charlie pulled off quite the performance. It's like you two were something out of a true, romantic love story." said Sasha while complimenting on Anne and Charlie's performance as she took the loss surprisingly well.
Charlie let out a nervous hiccup as he knew that Sasha being nice to them was at first something he was still getting used to but now seems to be accepting of it.
"Alright folks. Gather around. I got one more announcement." came Toadstool's voice.
Everyone turned to Toadstool as he had one last announcement to make. The four human teenagers walked over to Toadstool's side as he was standing near the edge of the stage.
"Now as I understand it. You four kids will be leaving us soon." said Toadstool looking at the four humans with a visibly saddened expression.
"Yep! With the box charged. We'll be heading to Newtopia tomorrow for the king to send us home." Anne confirmed.
Hearing that had Charlie take hold of Anne's left hand which she grasped Charlie's hand as she knew that this was going to be an emotional moment for not just her, Charlie, Marcy, Sasha and the Plantars but for everyone there as well. Anne felt tears welling up in her eyes. Everyone else was showing an emotional expression as well.
"Everyone! You've all done so much for me and Charlie. And we'll miss you more than you could ever know." said Anne looking as though she was shedding a tear or two.
"Same can be said about me. You've all done so much for me and Anne. We'll miss you all more than you could ever imagine. You've all become like family to us all. To the children, always listen to your parents and talk to them about your problems when something is bothering you. It'll take so much weight off the back. To the elders, them golden all miracle healing apples are to be put to good use for both people younger and older, you can name the tree any name you want. And to everyone else. Take care of yourselves and take care of others. And especially help each other out when someone needs it." Charlie advised as he started to shed a tear as well.
"That we will!" many of them said in unison.
"Awww shucks." said Mrs. Croaker.
Loggle had a handkerchief that he used to wipe away a few tears and blew in it as it sounded like a fake farting sound. That's when Anne had an idea as she pulled out her phone.
"Hey, before we go. Can we take a group photo?" Anne suggested.
"Heck yeah! Everyone line up!" said Toadstool with a grin.
They all gathered around the town founder statue and Sprig gotten some sticks and rope as he used the rope to hold up the sticks to have them standing straight up as it served as a camera stick. Anne set the camera to a time to take a picture once everyone got into the spot where the picture would be taken. Sprig quickly placed the phone on the standing sticks and hurried his way back to the crowd.
As Sprig got into the picture in time. And everyone was in the photo. Everyone got ready and the camera made a loud camera flash like snap which in the photo was showing everyone. It shown Anne, Charlie, Marcy, Sasha, Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly, Frobo, Bessie, Toadstool, Toadie, Captain Grime, Wally, Loggle, Mrs. Croaker, her pet spider Archie, Albus, Soggy Joe, Chuck, Gunther, Tuti, Sheriff Buck Leatherleaf, Mr. Flour, Maddie, Rosemary, Lavender, Ginger, Stumpy, Ivy, Felicia, Sylvia, MicroAngelo and everyone else in the town of Wartwood.
Meanwhile, In Newtopia
General Yunan was confessing something to Lady Olivia which she was showing a wide eyed expression at what General Yunan told her.
"You're telling me you did what!" said a wide eyed Lady Olivia.
General Yunan shown a guilty yet remorseful expression.
"I am guilty of my actions towards that male human. Everything I told you is the truth." said General Yunan sadly. "I know I deserve to be punished for my actions but have mercy on me, even though I don't deserve mercy. Than punish me if you must. Yet he could've finished me off but after he knocked me out and kicked my booty. He let me live, left me food and water and a golden, all miracle healing apple. I've been trying to rationalize why he shown me mercy and let me live and healed me but I couldn't figure it out."
Lady Olivia thought for a moment on everything that General Yunan told her about what she's confessed about what she said and done to sweet Charlie, she felt the urge to slap General Yunan and tell her off but she fought the urge because of the fact that she learned that Charlie shown General Yunan mercy by letting her live and healing her. She knew that the tall and slender female newt didn't deserve to be given mercy but she knew that from the depressed, hopeless and guilty expression that General Yunan shown meant that if Charlie shown her mercy and that she came to her to confess her actions meant that the tall and slender female newt should be shown some mercy since she confessed her actions and shown to be taking full responsibility for her actions. Lady Olivia knew that this meant that General Yunan should be given mercy. She looked at General Yunan with a stoic expression.
"Would you promise never to do that to him or any other innocent person ever again?" asked Lady Olivia.
"Yes." answered General Yunan.
"I may be the royal advisor to our king but if sweet Charlie has shown you mercy, even though you don't deserve mercy. Still, if he let you live, than it must mean something...it must be a sign." said Lady Olivia as her expression changed to curiosity.
General Yunan looked up at her and she was visibly curious to what she meant.
"What do you think it means?" asked General Yunan.
"For one, if you promise to never repeat your actions against Charlie or any innocent person, than I can assure you that you'll be shown mercy. As for what this sign could mean. I think I know what it means." Lady Olivia told her.
Lady Olivia looked around the room they were in and she would go to lock the windows and draw the blinds to the windows, made sure that no one else was listening in anywhere near the door and than came back to where General Yunan was. She pulled the tall, female newt aside and whispered something to her which what she whispered to her left General Yunan wide eyed and Lady Olivia faced her with a concerned expression as if she knew that what she told her was going to shock anyone, even the two of them.