CANE CRAZY
It was a normal day in Wartwood at the Plantar family home where we see Sora outside swinging his weapon like a training sword at a dummy. He decided that after the heartless and mantis encounter (plus their secret lake escapade), he had to train more with this weapon in case something bad happened again. Also because he knew little to nothing on how to truly use it; so much like how his mother signed him up for karate, he signed himself up to sword training, in addition he'd learn more about the weapon and what it can do (besides unlocking doors of course).
"That other version of me did say I have yet to use the power of this thing, but what could he have meant by that?" he said to himself
As he swung, he thought back to what Anne said in the cave when they first came here.
"It's like one of those video games where the MC is granted certain weapons"
"If that's true then that could also mean...I can do magic!" Sora said while jumping excitedly.
"Okay calm down. We talked about this. You practiced this, now let's put it into action." Sora said.
He then got into a stance and held his weapon in front of him
{Insert song: Explosion from Konosuba}
"Darkness blacker than black, darker than dark, merge with my deep crimson I beseech thee! The time of awakening hath come, from the boundaries of righteousness come o' justice as an intangible distortion! Dance, dance, dance! Transform my torrest of power into a destructive force, one without equal! Return all of creation into cinders and rise from the abyss! Grant your humble servant the most humble servant the ultimate attack spell! EXPLOSION!" Sora shouted.
He pointed his weapon forward at the dummy with his eyes closed, hoping an explosion would destroy it...until nothing happened.
{Music stops abruptly}
"Huh?" he questioned.
"EXPLOSION!" he shouted again while continuing to point his weapon.
Again, nothing happened.
This caused him to slump over in sadness.
"Aww." he said disappointingly
Just then, Anne and Sprig came outside and walked over to him.
"Hey Sora, it's time to eat." Sprig said.
"Okay." Sora said sadly with a hung head.
"What's wrong?" Anne asked.
"Well I was trying to train with this, and I thought I could do a magic spell but it didn't work." Sora said.
"You were trying to use an explosion spell from that one anime weren't you?" Anne questioned.
"...Maybe." Sora said while looking to the side.
"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see. If what you said about not using it to its full extent is true, then we can figure it out later." Anne said.
"Alright." Sora said, a little more optimistic
"On another note, Anne showed me a bunch of cool stuff from your world, including this." Sprig said as he held up a pen.
He then started rapidly clicking the pen top while looking at it in amazement.
"I love this." he said while continuing to press the pen.
"Let's go inside." Sora said as he walked ahead of them.
"By the way, what's an anime?" Sprig asked.
"We have much to discuss little one." Anne said while putting a hand on his shoulder.
At the kitchen table.
Hop Pop was preparing food from a pot for the kids.
"Time to eat! Time to eat! Time to eat!" they chanted while slamming their fists on the table.
"Hold on kids, hold on." Hop Pop said.
He then pushed two bowls in Anne and Sora direction. When they looked at the food, they looked at them in disgust as something crawled out.
"Yeeeaaaah, no. I think we're gonna pass." Sora said while pushing the bowls away.
This made Hop Pop frown.
"Why? Is my food not good enough for the prince and princess?" he questioned.
This made Anne narrow her eyes while Sora frowned.
"Well if I'm the prince…" Sora started.
"And I'm the princess…" Anne continued.
"Then that means you're the king of….BAD cooking. Up top." Sora said as he high fived Anne.
Sprig and Polly gaped their mouths, then started to "ohh" at the burn Sora delivered.
"Oh yeah well you...I…" Hop Pop stuttered.
"What's the matter Hop Pop? Frog in your throat? Up top." Anne said as she high fived Sora this time.
This caused the other two to again, "ohh" at the burn.
"Oh dang it! You know what, I'm gonna take a nap." Hop Pop said in anger while walking away.
"'I don't believe this. I feed you, I house you, and this is how you two repay me? If y'all don't shape up soon, I'm throwing you out!" Hop Pop said in anger before slamming the door to his bedroom.
"Yeesh, what's his problem?" Anne questioned.
"I'm Hop Pop and I cook bad and have a temper problem!" Anne said as she started imitating Hop Pop, making them laugh.
"That's so Hop Pop!" Sprig said.
"Oh my gosh ha ha!" Sora said as he covered his mouth to try and stop laughing.
Anne then grabbed a cane from a hollow stump
"Eat your aphids, don't play with them. Elbows off the table!" Anne continued while using her cane to act like an old man.
The kids were laughing hard now with Sora and Sprig slamming their fists on the table.
"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother putting up with you at all!" Anne shouted before accidentally breaking the cane on the table.
This caused the kids to gasp while Sora sucked in a breath.
"Anne what did you do?" Sora said as he stood up and grabbed the cane pieces from her.
"Aww no, you broke it!" Sora said.
"Oopsies. I guess I don't know my own strength, right guys?" Anne asked the two frogs whose mouths were still gaped.
"Uh guys? Are you good? It's just a cane." Sora said.
"That wasn't just any cane, it was Hop Pop's special cane. Passed on from his father Hop Poppity Pop, all the way from his father (insert name here)." Sprig explained, making the two gasp.
"Oh no, you guys gotta help us. He's gonna kick us out of the house if he finds out about this!" Sora said.
"Sora's right, I am not going back to living in a cave!" Anne said.
This caused the two to think back to their first nights here when they were living in a cave and how even though they were protected from the heartless, the bugs in there were the real challenge.
Sora's eyes were wide as he remembered this while Anne shivered.
"It was the nights that were the hardest." Sora whispered.
"And when we tried to leave…" Anne said
Flashback
Sora and Anne were running through the rain.
"Get to the bridge, it's our only hope!" Sora shouted.
"What about Wilson?!" Anne shouted while pointing to a downed large ladybug.
"He's with the forest now!" Sora said.
Flashback ends
"*sniff* Wilson why?" Sora said with a tear in his eye.
"Hey, focus on the now, not before." Anne said.
However she too rubbed a tear away from her eye without him looking to hide her sadness.
"Don't worry guys, we'll do whatever it takes to help you." Sprig said.
"Uh, count me out." Polly said.
"Polly!" Sprig exclaimed.
"What?! I hardly know them." Polly stated.
"Watch this, this works on my sisters all the time." Sora said to Anne.
"Hey Polly, would you help if I gave you this?" Sora asked as he held up a candy bar.
"*gasp* candy from another world?! Sir, you've got yourself a deal." Polly said.
"I'm glad to hear it. Now let's save our butts!" Sora said while holding up part of the cane in the air.
Anne held up the bottom part while Sprig added some green paste to it, then Sora put the top part on the paste while Polly tied it with her bow, seemingly fixing it.
"YEAH!" they all shouted in glee.
However, the cane came undone.
"Okay, tried it that way, now let's try it my way." Sora said.
"What are you talking about?" Anne said.
"Remember earlier when I said I was trying to learn magic? Well this might be the perfect chance to see if this thing can fix stuff." Sora said as he summoned the key weapon.
"How are you so sure?" Anne said.
"Do you guys remember how I was able to unlock the door?" Sora said.
"Yeah." Sprig and Anne said.
"No." Polly said.
"Doesn't matter. Point is, if it can do that, then let's see if it can fix the cane." Sora said.
Anne, Sprig, and Polly shared a look.
"Alright, we trust you." Anne said.
"Good, stand back." Sora said.
The three stood a few steps away as Sora aimed at the broken cane hoping something would happen. He looked deep within himself and pointed harder at the cane...until nothing happened.
"Dang it! Still nothing." Sora said.
"You tried your best...even though it didn't work." Sprig said.
"Gee, thanks." Sora said sarcastically.
"Ok so maybe we can't fix it, but someone else can? Someone good with wood?" Anne questioned.
"You mean like a whittler?" asked Sora.
"Yeah, or something like that." Anne said.
"Guys, you're geniuses! We'll just take it to Leopold Loggle, the woodsmith. He loves wood, almost a little bit too much." Sprig explained.
At Leopold's wood shop.
The kids stood in front of the shop that had a sign with his name, "chairs", "tables", and "limbs" underneath as well as some logs and axes to the side. Inside, they showed Loggle the broken cane. Loggle was a blue frog with a cowboy mustache and a bald head with white hair around it. He had two antennas and he wore blacksmith-esque attire, along with goggles that had three lenses in one of them.
Loggle thoroughly examined the cane while switching the lenses to check it while whispering to himself.
"So can you fix it?" Sora asked.
"In fact I can….not." he said as he put the broken cane down.
This made them dejected.
"Well can you make a new one?" Sprig asked.
"Absolutely…..no way." Loggle said.
This now made the group agitated with him, (mainly because he draws out his sentences.)
"Do you have one we could buy?" Polly asked.
"Of course I do...n't. I don't." Loggle said.
"Why do you keep doing that?!" Anne exclaimed.
"Old smithing accident, you don't wanna know." Loggle said with a shadow over his face.
"Oh lord, I know he's just gonna start-"
"Tripped on an anvil. Landed neck first on a metal pipe. Pierced my voice box clean through!" Loggle explained as he showed them the injury on his neck.
"Aww sick!" Sora said in disgust.
"Dude, come on!" Anne exclaimed.
"Cool." Sprig said in awe.
"Switched over to wood after that. Anyhow, I'm afraid I can't do much for you." Loggle said while removing his goggles.
"That cane was made with wood from the incredibly rare, extremely dangerous, Doom Tree!" Loggle explained.
He brought out an ancient book and turned to a page about an old tree that looked old and wilted making them gasp.
"Few have made it to the Doom Tree alive, fewer yet return, it holds many secrets that mortals dare not-"
"Dude, it's a tree. Just tell us where it is." Anne said.
"What's the big deal?" Sora questioned.
"Yeah Loggle, cut the chit-chat!" Sprig said.
"You're bald!" Polly said.
"Ok, ok. I've got a map to the Doom Tree right here." Loggle said as turned to the map, "But it'll cost ya." He then said while holding his hand out.
"Click." Anne said as she snapped a picture of the map on her phone.
"Or you could do that...for free." Leo said.
"C'mon let's go. Hop Pop could wake up at any second." Sora said
In Hop Pop's bedroom
Hop Pop was still sleeping in bed when suddenly…
"I might wake up at any moment!" he said while flailing his arms and legs around.
"Nah, going back to sleep. Zzzz." Hop Pop muttered.
Back at the shop
"Right!" the other three said.
"Be careful you kids! It's cursed I tell ya! CURSSSED!" Leo said.
"To the Doom Tree everyone!" Anne said.
"Yeah!" Sora and the others shouted.
And out the door they went to find the Doom Tree; however, Sprig went back inside for a moment.
"Whoa Loggle, we gotta talk about this man." Sprig said while gesturing to the wood statue of himself.
"We're coming back, we're gonna talk about this. Alright g'bye." Sprig said.
Later
The gang traveled through many different places such as: Death Ridge, Mushroom Forest, Swamp Lake (albeit Sora and Anne had to go around while Sprig and Polly swam through.) until finally, they made it to a deep part of a forest with many spiked vines and leaves that Sora cut through.
"Hold up." Anne said as she pulled out her phone.
"We're here." she said.
She moved her phone out of the way to reveal the same tree from the map.
"It's even uglier than I imagined." Sora said.
"Just one of Mother Nature's horrible mistakes." Sprig said.
They approached the tree while ignoring the very obvious omens that this place was evil. Once at the base of the tree, Anne noticed one of the branches that looked like Hop Pop's cane.
"Look, that one's perfect." Anne said while pointing.
Anne and Sprig climbed up while Sora and Polly stayed back for a second.
"You people and your legs." Polly said.
She then yelped as Sora picked her up.
"What are you-"
Sora then put her on his back as he started climbing the tree.
"Hold on tight." Sora said.
This made Polly surprised, but she wasn't gonna pass up on a free ride.
Anne grabbed the branch and struggled to pull it off until Sprig and Sora came in to help.
"Careful, this tree is cursed." she chuckled, making them laugh too.
"Ok seriously though, on three." Anne said.
"'One, two…" Anne said.
They then tore the branch off the tree and immediately after, they heard a loud screech come from it.
"Uh, did the tree just scream?" Anne asked.
"Yes, yes it did." Sora answered, only to widen his eyes in realization.
The tree then shook, throwing them off and back down to the ground. It then revealed itself before them to not be a tree, but a giant insect like monster with clawed upper limbs and sharp legs. It's eyes were blood red and it's mouth resembled a Stag Beetle's.
"I can see why it's called a Doom Tree." Sora said.
It then roared and splashed tree syrup on them, which Sprig licked.
"Oh hey it's maple." he said.
Anne/Sora: "RUN!"
{insert song: Dance to the Death}
They then got up and ran as fast as they could away from the demon tree bug as it gave chase.
"That thing's not a tree! It's some kind of grody bug!" Anne said.
"A bug that wants to kill us!" Sprig said.
"Less talky-talky, more runny-runny!" Polly shouted from Sora's back.
The monster bug tried to attack Sprig but he managed to dodge all of it's attacks.
The gang managed to hide behind a log, however, bugs from inside started crawling on Anne's face. Before she could scream, Sora put his hand over her mouth and put his finger to his lips while shaking his head. He then resummoned his weapon, but before he could do anything, he felt the critters crawling on his hand, freaking him out. He tried to keep his composure but one of them bit his hand making him scream instead, blowing their cover.
They ran away again with the beast close behind them.
Back at Leopold's shop.
"*sigh* well Loggle, another day, another step closer to bankruptcy." he said to himself.
The gang at that moment ran into him and into his shop with the beast outside the door.
"What the?! What's going on?!" he exclaimed
"Don't ask questions!" Anne shouted.
"Just stay quiet! Maybe it'll leave us alone." Sora said.
The bug then put one of it's claws through the door making them duck, until it LITERALLY pulled the door and wall away to get inside. Once again, the gang ran from it to different corners of the shop while Loggle hid in a chest.
"What's it gonna take to get rid of this thing?!" Anne exclaimed.
She then started throwing stuff at it including an extravagant clock, which took Loggle 20 years to make. As the beast continued toward Anne, Polly then stepped up to the beast with wooden limbs in an attempt to fight it until one of the legs came off and it knocked her back, angering Sora.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" he shouted as he ran to it.
The bug tried to attack, but before it could, Sora aimed his weapon at it and surprisingly fire came out from the tip and ignited the bug making everyone surprised, even himself.
"Holy…" Anne said.
Sora stepped back for a second and looked at his weapon
"My first spell. My first spell! YES!" Sora shouted.
"Don't burn down my shop!" Loggle shouted from the chest.
"Oops, sorry!" Sora said.
He then did battle with the bug, blocking it's attacks after it managed to quell the flames inflicted on him. Meanwhile, Anne was looking for something else to throw at it when she saw (weirdly) a jar of termites.
"Termites! Why would a woodsmith have termites?" Anne questioned.
"I'm a complicated man!" Loggle said from the chest.
Anne shrugged this off and opened the jar and threw it at the bug, causing Sora to dodge roll out of the way. The termites ate all the wood from it, revealing it to be a weird, green four-legged bug creature.
{music ends}
"Uh…" Polly said.
"Cool." Sprig said in awe.
"I have no words." Sora said.
"This world is messed up." Anne said.
The bug then left the shop out of the hole in the wall.
"Up top!" Anne said while high-fiving Sprig and Sora.
"We did it!" Sprig said.
"Alright!" Sora said.
"That was awesome you guys! Especially when spikes here did that fire spell." Polly said.
"I know right? I finally learned magic!" Sora said in glee.
"Proud of you dude. Now let's get this cane back to Hop Pop." Anne said.
However, Loggle rose from the chest and snatched the cane from Anne.
"Give me that!" he said.
"What the H dude?!" Sora exclaimed.
Sprig/Anne: "hey!"
"What gives Loggle?" Polly questioned.
"Oh I'll tell you what gives. This doesn't even begin to cover the damage done to my shop!" Loggle explained while gesturing to the broken windows, items, and furniture.
"Not to mention the pyromaniac right there!" Loggle said while gesturing to Sora who had a surprised look.
"I said I was sorry." Sora said.
"Sorry?! Just look at what you did to my roof!" Loggle said.
Sora and the gang then looked up and saw the roof was covered in small flames.
"I legit did not even notice that. How'd that even happen?" Sora said.
"Does it matter?! You're gonna have to give me something else to pay for all this. Come on, pony up." Loggle said while holding out his hand.
Sprig then pulled out the pen Anne gave him and sighed.
"Will this work?'' he asked while giving the pen to him.
"What? What is this, uh..." Loggle said in confusion.
Sprig then clicked the pen top multiple times to show him what it could do, making him intrigued. He then started clicking and became addicted to the object.
"Oh I like this." he said as he continued clicking.
"You can go." he then said.
The gang then left the shop with nothing in hand.
"Sorry guys. And after all we worked for too." Sprig said.
"It's ok Sprig." Sora said.
"Sora's right. Let's just get home. Hop Pop's probably already awake and furious." Anne said.
"Probably a bad time to bring this up but I still get the candy right?" Polly asked.
"*sigh* might as well, this might be the last time you get candy from us." Sora said.
He then gave her the bar, but before she grabbed it, she remembered how he helped her climb the tree and protected her from the bug monster, making her feel guilty.
"Ya know what? Just keep it." she said.
"Really?" Sora questioned.
"Really?" Sprig questioned.
"Yeah. I'm not hungry." she said.
"Uh, ok." Sora said.
Back at the Plantar home
Hop Pop awoke from his nap and looked more relaxed and happy.
"*sigh* oh boy. I needed that. Hope nothing bad happened while I was asleep to make me mad again." he said.
"Oh no." he then said.
He saw the kids were now dirty and beat up with Sora and Anne wearing their backpacks.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"What's up with canes? Who even needs them these days, amiright?" Sprig said.
This got him hit by Polly.
"Hop Pop, we have to tell you something." Sora said.
"I'm really sorry Hop Pop. I was goofing around and I broke your favorite cane." Anne said while giving him the pieces.
"WE broke your favorite cane." Sora corrected.
"You WHAT?!" Hop Pop exclaimed.
"We know, we know." Anne said.
"we'll...We'll show ourselves out now." Sora said.
The two then walked to the door as Sprig and Polly followed behind them and hugged them.
"We'll come visit you guys, we promise." Sprig said.
"And just when I was starting to like you two!" Polly said, tearfully.
"Me too Polly. Me tooo!" Sora said with tears in his eyes.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be!" Anne said, tearfully.
They all then started crying while Hop Pop looked to the sides perplexed.
"What uh...what's going on?" he asked.
"You're throwing us out. Just like you said you would." Sora said.
"*sigh* Anne, Sora, truth be told, I was never gonna throw y'all out. I was just talking tough so you two would show me more respect." Hop Pop said.
"That's kinda messed up man." Anne said.
"But I guess it worked." Sora said.
"Heh heh. Yeah, I probably was a little bit too harsh, but I only did it because you two remind me of myself at your age. Rough around the edges. Now put those bags down kids, y'all aren't going anywhere." Hop Pop said.
"Yeah!" Sprig and Polly said.
"Thanks Hop Pop." Anne said.
"Yeah, thanks. So...you're not mad about the cane?" Sora asked.
"Oh, I'm furious about the cane. You two are on dish duty for a month!" he said.
"Aww." Sora said.
"Ugh." Anne said
Anne/Sora: "Yes, sir!"
The two looked at each other with smiles, then dropped their bags on the floor.
"Now that that's settled, I wrote a long list of comebacks to get you two back for this morning." Hop Pop said as he brought out a list.
"*clears throat* Hey Sora, is that your hair, or a Porcupine? Ha" Hop Pop (supposedly) roasted.
The group stayed quiet, unamused by it.
"Are those long, lanky limbs, Anne, or are those uh twigs?" Hop Pop chuckled.
Again, they stayed quiet only this time, Sprig coughed.
"The moment has passed hasn't it?" Hop Pop questioned.
"Yup." Sora said.
Later
Polly saw Sora sitting outside and decided to talk to him. She opened the door to the house then hopped next to him.
"Oh, hey Polly," he said.
"Sup' Spikes?" Polly said.
"Eh heheheh. That's your nickname for me now isn't it?" Sora questioned.
"Yup. Whatcha doin out here?" Polly asked.
"Well back home I'd always used to watch the stars with my friends. Sasha always said It was dumb, but fun." Sora said.
"Yeah that does sound dumb but fun." Polly said.
After that they laughed and there was a brief moment of silence between them before Polly broke it.
"So uh...why'd you help me today?" she asked.
"Hmm?" Sora questioned.
"Why did you help me out? You barely know me and yet you gave me a ride up the tree and protected me from that bug thing. It's like Hop Pop says, "never trust a stranger."" Polly asked.
This made Sora surprised and he looked away from her for a second while rubbing the back of his head.
"I'll tell you, but you gotta promise not to laugh." Sora said.
"I make no promises." she said.
"Right, stupid of me to ask." he said.
There was another brief silence until Sora spoke.
"It's because you remind me of my little sister Katie." he said with a hand over his face.
Upon hearing this, Polly was surprised, but she still laughed all the same, making him blush and look away.
"Y'know..." Sora was about to say.
"I told you no promises, ha ha ha!" Polly said while laughing.
After that she stopped laughing.
"Why though?" she asked.
"I don't know. Maybe you're blunt, headstrong, tomboyish or something. It just reminds me of how my sister usually acts around me and the twins, but deep down, she cares in her own special way. Kinda like you I guess." Sora explained.
"Pfft, you're so cheesy." Polly said.
"I know." Sora said.
"Welp, goodnight." Polly said as she hopped away.
"Goodnight." Sora said.
As she hopped away, she looked back for a second and smiled at what he said, before going back in the house.
FLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS
Anne, Sora, and Sprig were outside where they examined the garden that now had many vegetables eaten and holes dug in the ground. Sora also had his weapon summoned while Anne had her tennis racket.
"You guys ready?" Sprig asked.
"You set em' up…" Anne started.
"And we'll knock them down!" Sora said.
"Okay!" Sprig said.
He then jumped into one of the holes and burrowed down below while Anne and Sora kept watch.
"Come on, come on!" Anne said.
"Here critter, critter, critter, critters." Sora said while clicking his tongue.
Out of one of the holes, Sprig pushed out a large bug.
"Heads up!" he shouted.
The bug then made its way towards them.
"Backhand!" Anne shouted.
She hit the bug with her racket and launched it away.
"Nice one!" Sora said while fist bumping.
"Thanks dude." Anne said while reciprocating.
"Here comes another one!" Sprig shouted while pushing another out.
Once again it made its way towards them.
"Forehand!" Sora shouted.
This time he hit like a baseball and launched it away.
"Nice swing guys." Sprig said as he popped out of a hole.
"I was on varsity." Anne said.
"And I used to play softball." Sora said.
"I have idea what that means or what that is." Sprig said.
The three of them then did a very complicated handshake and laughed right after. Just then, Wally walked up to them while playing his concertina.
"A frog child and monsters from the woods getting along? So unnatural." he said.
"Says the one-eyed weirdo." Sora said.
"Of course we get along! We're Sprig, Sora, and Anne." Anne said.
"Anne, Sora, and Sprig!" Sprig continued.
"Sora, Sprig, and Anne!" Sora finished.
Anne/Sora/Sprig: "Sporanne against the world!"
"Disgusting!" Wally said as he walked away.
"Don't worry about him guys, he's just a hater." Sora said.
Suddenly, they all heard a loud scream from the house.
"Was that Hop Pop?" Anne questioned.
"That's not good." Sora said.
"He must be in trouble! We're coming Hop Pop!" Sprig shouted as they ran into the house.
They then made their way to the basement.
"Hop Pop! Hop Pop!" Sprig shouted as he went to check on him.
"Woah!" Anne said in surprise.
"No way!" Sora exclaimed.
The basement was revealed to be flooded with Hop Pop nowhere to be seen.
"What happened down here?" Anne questioned.
"Hop Pop?" Sprig said in worry.
He flicked the water to check for signs of life, but got nothing...until Hop Pop BURST out of the water with a scream, scaring them.
"Stay back! Dang burrow bugs must've chewed the water pipes!" he said.
"Our room!" Anne said in disbelief
"Our stuff was down here!" Sora exclaimed.
"Don't worry kids, I saved your stuff." Hop Pop said as he put their backpacks on the steps.
However, the bedwear and others could not be saved as he listed the stuff floating in the water.
"Just tell us how long until it's fixed." Anne said.
"Well, gotta find the leak, then patch it up good." Hop Pop explained.
"Ooh! Let me help!" Sprig said.
He then tried to jump into the water but Hop Pop caught him.
"Oh no you don't!" he said.
"This here's river water, no telling what creepy critters are crawling around." Hop Pop said.
Just as he said that, from behind one of the beds, yellow eyes rose from the water and looked around before going back under.
"So...where are we gonna sleep?" Sora asked.
"Well, the living room ain't no palace but the couch and sofa chair are comfy." Hop Pop said.
"Uh, HELLO!" Sprig said before launching himself next to Sora and Anne.
"Anne and Sora can bunk with me in my room. How fun will that be?" Sprig said while wrapping his arms around their legs.
"Heck yeah! Roommates!" Sora shouted as the three bumped sides.
Hop Pop was apprehensive though.
"eh...I don't know. Bein' friends is one thing, but roommates? You think you know someone until they're in your space, and you're in theirs, and you can't stand how they whistle all the time, and they complain whenever you clean your web crusties out. YES I HAVE TO DO IT IN OUR ROOM, IT HAS THE BEST LIGHTING!" Hop Pop said, eventually ranting.
"*clears throat* "the point is, aaannnd they're gone." he said, noticing they had left.
"Mark my words though, no good will come of this." he said while sinking into the water.
"No good at all." he gurgled.
Sprig's room
Sprig opened the door to his room for the young teens.
"Here we have it." Sprig said.
Anne/Sora: "Wow"
The two marveled at his room and saw it was similar to a room built for a ten year old (I'm not good at describing places so I'm not gonna try). While marvelling, Sprig got their beds ready.
"Awesome digs Sprig." Anne said.
"Yeah, it's almost similar to my room." Sora said.
"Thanks guys. I'll give you the grand tour." Sprig said.
"Let's start with the crown jewels." he said.
He then pointed to three small figurines on a shelf.
"Oh, cool. A doll collection." Anne said.
This got a chuckle out of both Sora and Sprig.
"Doll collection? You are a girl." Sora said.
"Yeah, no. these are my action figures of the Great Battle of-"
"Incoming!" Anne said while hitting Sprig with a pillow.
"'Oops, sorry dude." Anne said.
"What was that?" Sprig questioned.
"You seriously have not been in a pillow fight before-" Sora questioned.
"Heads up!" Sprig said as he hit Sora with a pillow.
Sora sighed, picked up his pillow, and raised in the air seemingly about to attack Sprig, until he did a 180 and hit Anne in the face.
"Oh, it's on now!" Anne said.
The three then started hitting each other with pillows while laughing.
"It's fun because it doesn't hurt." Sprig said.
He then got hit by Sora, giving him a bruise over his eye.
"Ow." he said.
As they continued, they almost hit one of Sprig's figurines.
"Oops! Just gonna move General Bogbreath safely over here." Sprig said, as he moved said figurine up higher.
"Yeah, gotta keep that doll out of harm's way-ooh!" Anne said, until she got hit.
"Time in!" Sora said.
The three then continued their fun until they got tired.
NIGHT 1
The three were sleeping soundly in separate beds.
"So guys, would you rather sweat melted cheese, or always smell like skunk?" Anne asked.
"Ooh that's a tough one." Sora said
"Sweat melted cheese. Frogs don't sweat so I'd be cheese free." Sprig said.
"Wait really? Frogs don't sweat? You're so lucky. Alright my turn. Sprig?" Sora questioned.
The frog was now asleep.
"Psst! Sprig? Sprig?" Anne said.
"Sprig? Sprig, Sprig, Sprig. Hey, Sprig!" Anne shouted while throwing a pillow his way.
"You awake?" Sora asked.
"Yeah totally." Sprig said.
"Ok, so next question…" Sora said.
Later in the night, Anne was burning up so she opened the window to let some air in; however Sprig closed it back when he started to feel cold, when Anne saw, she narrowed her eyes at him. Meanwhile, Sora just slept normally.
Morning.
Hop Pop and Polly burst into Sprig's room.
"Rise and shine, sleepyheads! You missed breakfast!" Hop Pop said.
Anne was sleeping face down while Sprig was sleeping with blue skin and Sora...just kept sleeping until he woke up.
"Wait what?" Sora questioned tiredly.
"Go away." Anne groaned.
Polly then jumped on Sprig, waking him up.
"First time I've ever seen you sleep in so late. What gives?" Polly questioned.
"I froze solid in the night and finally just thawed." he said as the ice fell off of him.
"What? It was like a swamp sauna in here. Maybe Sprig just needs more blankets." Anne said.
"Or maybe Anne needs fewer blankets." Sprig said.
"Or maybe…" Anne started.
"Maybe no one gets blankets. How bout' that?" Sora said, annoyed.
Anne/Sprig: "Who gives you the right to decide?"
"Y'know the couch and chair are still free in case there's trouble in paradise." Hop Pop said.
"Now way pssh. It's no trouble." Sprig said.
"Yeah, we're the best roommates in the history of roommates." Anne said.
"There's nothing the three of us can't handle!" Sora said.
Anne/Sora/Sprig: "Sporanne against the world!"
The three then walked to the door.
"After you best roomies." Sprig said.
Anne/Sora: "Why thank you also best roomie."
As the three walked out, Hop Pop looked at the three concerned as Polly rolled next to him.
"They're gonna eat each other alive." Polly said.
"Oh absolutely." Hop Pop said.
NIGHT 2
Anne had turned on a night light so she could read her cat vogue magazine while Sora read his manga. This annoyed Sprig who turned away from the light to get some sleep; however, his annoyance only grew when he heard Anne and Sora loudly crunching on some snacks causing him to put a pillow over his head.
NIGHT 3
The three were sleeping soundly until Sora and Anne were awakened by Sprig's croaking, making them annoyed. When they turned to look at him, he turned in their direction and his tongue launched out and laid on them.
"Aah!" Sora exclaimed.
NIGHT 4
Anne and Sprig once again fought against having the window open vs it being closed, which started to annoy Sora who had one eye open and sighed in annoyance.
NIGHT 5
Once again, the two teens turned on the night light and were loudly crunching, which again annoyed Sprig as he opened his now red tired eyes and looked to the side with a grunt.
NIGHT 6
Anne and Sora were watching something on her phone when suddenly a wet towel hit Sora. he pulled it off and they looked to the side to see Sprig cleaning his web crusties.
Anne/Sora: "Eww."
NIGHT 10
Sora and Anne were walking in with fresh clothes until Anne slipped on slipped on a skate causing Sora to catch her as it lurched forward and hit the wall, knocking down, "General Bogbreath" from his shelf spot which Sprig caught.
After which Sora helped Anne pick up her clothes and the three looked at each other before chuckling nervously and looking to the side, a little bit discontent.
"Is that my shirt?" Anne asked.
Later in the day
Hop Pop was still searching for the leak but found nothing until Sprig came in.
"Hey Hop Pop, how much longer, you think? Tonight?" Sprig questioned.
"Not a chance." he said.
"Ooh, let me help! Let me help! You know my underwater sight is better than yours." Sprig begged while closing his eyes sideways.
"That's a bunch of malarkey! My eyesight's fine!" Hop Pop said before narrowing his eyes.
"Who's that, Sprig? Anyway, don't you have chores to do?" Hop Pop asked.
Sprig then walked away with a groan. After that, Anne and Sora came in.
"Hey Hop Pop, what's the sitch on things down here?" Sora asked.
"Not that we're in a hurry to move back in or whatever." Anne then said.
Hop Pop then looked at the two.
"WHAT? We're just curious." Sora said.
"Yeah, kids can't ask about their flooded makeshift bedroom without getting grilled? Sheesh!" Anne said while leaving.
Sora was about to leave too until Hop Pop called him back.
"Are you sure everything's okay?" he asked.
"Yeah everything's…" Sora was about to say.
Hop Pop then looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Not fine." Sora then answered.
"Look I'll be honest, this isn't the first time I had a roommate. Last time I had to share a room with someone was with Katie when the twins were just babies, and it was horrible." Sora said.
"So then, why'd you decide to do this?" Hop Pop asked.
"Because I thought that things would be different. It's easier bunking with Anne because I know what she likes to do, and it is different with Sprig but it's practically the same as before, but like on a worse scale." Sora explained.
"Does that make sense?" he asked.
"Well of course it does. Unlike those two you're the only one who seems honest with his feelings about this situation." Hop Pop said.
"Yeah I guess." Sora said while looking down sadly.
"I'm just trying to make the best out of a bad situation. It's what I usually do when things go awry." Sora said.
"Well, that can only get you so far y'know?" Hop Pop said.
Sora nodded his head and left the basement.
That night
The three entered Sprig's bedroom with Sprig and Anne bumping into each other with a grunt while Sora looked a little more relaxed than them before walking to their beds.
"Wow, what a long day. Going straight to bed, if I, uh, can get there without tripping over all these dirty clothes." Sprig said while lifting his foot that had Anne's training bra.
"I think it's your wet towels on the ground that will get in your way." Anne said.
"I can leave MY towels on the floor of MY room." Sprig muttered.
"What was that?" Anne asked.
"Oh, *nervous chuckle* nothing, best roomie. Anyway, goodnight." Sprig said.
"Hmm. Sora can you-" Anne was about to say.
However, the boy was already fast asleep with a peaceful look on his face.
"Well at least one of us is able to get to sleep." Anne said.
She then checked her phone and looked through the photos of her, Sora, and Sprig making her laugh.
"Hey Sprig, would you rather have a splinter you could never get out, or get bit by a giant mosquito once a day forever?" she asked.
His response was a grunt.
Anne felt saddened by this, but then she picked up her pillow and smiled.
"Hey Sprig." Anne said.
"What Anne?" he tiredly asked.
"Pillow fight!" she shouted.
"No, wait, stop!" Sprig shouted.
Sprig jumped out of the pillow's way but accidentally hit the shelf that had his figurine "General Bogbreath" causing it to fall and shatter to the ground.
"Oh no! Your doll! I-I mean, action figure." Anne said.
Sprig said nothing and looked to the ground then at her.
"Sporanne against the world, right?" Anne said.
"I have to go to the bathroom." Sprig said in a monotone voice.
He then walked backwards while still looking at her and out of the room.
"*sigh* how is it still so hot in here?! And how come you're not affected by it?!" Anne questioned herself and Sora.
She then left the room leaving a sleeping Sora by himself, who surprisingly awoke from the commotion and saw the destroyed figurine on the floor.
"Oh no." he said.
In the basement
Sprig entered and dove into the water.
"Where's that darn leak?" he questioned.
He then dove back in just as Anne had arrived and jumped in. They both then rose and spat out water, unknowing of each other's presence.
"That leak has got to be around here somewhere." Anne said.
"I know right?" Sprig said.
Anne/Sprig: *gasp*
"What are you doing here?" questioned Sprig.
"I was uh...uh...feeling like a nighttime swim." she lied.
"What are you doing here?" Anne asked.
"Nighttime swim, as well." Sprig lied.
Anne/Sprig: "you came down here to fix the leak! Yeah well so did you!"
"I knew it! You two just couldn't wait to move out!" Sprig said.
"And you just couldn't wait to get rid of us!" Anne said.
"AHA!" someone shouted.
The two turned towards the entrance and saw Sora there with an angry look on his face.
"I knew you guys were trying to fix the leak!" Sora said as he entered the water.
"Please, don't act like you wouldn't have done the same thing." Anne said.
"You would've come down here too if Anne didn't!" Sprig said.
"Oh yeah? Well at least I'm grown enough to admit that this roommate thing wasn't working!" Sora said.
This made the two downcast.
"We're supposed to be friends. We're supposed to talk to each other when things are bad, not bury our feelings. I'll admit I did that too when this thing started, but only because I wanted to believe that the roommate thing could be different from the last time I had one." Sora explained.
As he was talking, something wrapped around Anne's leg.
"*sigh* look Sora it's not that simple. If Sprig really wanted us gone, he could've just said so-AAH!"
Sora/Sprig: "Anne!"
"Anne, Anne, Anne!" Sprig shouted as he and Sora searched the water.
"Something's got my leg!" Anne shouted.
"Hang on! We're coming!" Sprig said.
However, he too got caught and dragged under.
Sora/Anne: "Sprig!"
{insert song: The Encounter KH 2.5}
Suddenly the attacker rose from the water and revealed itself to be a river lamprey but much different. It had dark scaly skin and yellow eyes; it's back fin was spiked and well as it's tail fin and there was a symbol on its chest. The symbol was a heart with lines across it.
The beast then attacked Anne and dragged her under the water, much to Sora's shock.
"ANNE!" he shouted.
He summoned his weapon and dived in. He saw that Anne and Sprig were being held by those creatures. He charged at the one holding Anne and hit him on the head while Sprig used his tongue to get free from his captor.
The three then rose from the water and took in a breath.
"What the heck are those?!" Anne exclaimed.
"River Lampreys!" Sprig said.
"There's something different about them though. I think they're heartless! Look at the symbols on their chests!" Sora said.
When the Lampreys jumped up, Sprig and Anne got a good look and saw the symbol Sora saw.
"He's right! They are heartless!" Anne said.
"What are we gonna do?!" Sprig exclaimed.
"We can't fight them underwater, they're too fast." Sora said.
They then noticed the bedwear floating towards them and they got an idea.
"Hey Sprig…" Anne said while grabbing two pillows.
"You set 'em up…" Sora started while Anne tossed Sprig a pillow.
"And you knock them down!" Sprig finished.
"Try and see how much damage you guys can do so I can try to destroy them." Sora said.
Anne/Sprig: "Right!"
Sprig dove back in and one of the lamprey's came to attack him, only to get hit upwards with Sprig's pillow. When it came up, Anne knocked it away with her pillow as it sank back down.
The lampreys then came together and did a spin attack as Sprig readied himself.
"Come on. Come on." Anne said.
"Come here critters." Sora said.
At that moment, the lampreys came up and Sora used one of the beds to bounce up to them.
"Backhand!" he shouted.
He then hit them like a baseball and they slammed against the wall.
"Had enough?" Sora said.
"Yeah, river losers." Anne said.
"There's more where that came from." Sprig said.
The heartless fell back into the water then drilled a hole at the bottom, removing all the water in the basement leaving the three drenched.
{song ends}
After that, Hop Pop and Polly came into the basement.
"What the heck's going on down here?" Hop Pop asked.
"Some of us are trying to sleep!" Polly shouted.
This put the three on the offensive until they saw who it was.
"Oh hey Hop Pop." Anne said.
Hop Pop looked at the three for a moment as he realized what was going on.
"So the whole roommate thing didn't work out huh?" Hop Pop asked.
Anne/Sora/Sprig: "not really."
"We just couldn't live with him! The wet towels, the heat, the humidity. The web crusties *shudder*" Anne said.
"It was just like living with Katie all over again like I told you. It was stressing me out. I tried my best to hide it, but it was getting bad." Sora said.
"The loud snacking, the freezing cold, lights on at all hours. Guess Sporanne really is a bust huh?" Sprig said.
Anne/Sora: "yeah."
"Why? Because you're finally talking? Sharing a room with each other doesn't make you friends, being honest with each other does." Hop Pop said.
"That's actually what I was about to tell them earlier. We shouldn't be burying our feelings, we should talk things out if things go wrong." Sora said.
"Exactly. If you ask me, you three are better friends now than you were before." Hop Pop said.
The three looked at each other and smiled, realizing he was right.
"Of course we are!" Sprig said.
"Yes! Sporanne is back and better than before!" Anne said.
"Heck yeah baby!" Sora said.
The three then did their handshake and laughed.
"Aww how sweet. So where are they gonna sleep? Not with me my bucket's for one." Polly said.
Later
Sora and Anne were now comfy in the living room. Anne opened a window and sat down on the couch with her book in hand while Sora laid in a sofa chair with his manga as they both sighed in content.
"Here you go. Some super loud snacks y'all can much on." Sprig said as he held a bowl full of snacks.
"Aww thanks Sprig." Anne said while taking them.
"No problem. Anything else I can get ya guys?" Sprig said.
"Nope. all good." Sora said.
"See you in the A.M." Anne said.
"Okay. goodnight guys!" Sprig said as he walked up the stairs.
After that it was just Sora and Anne who read their respective pieces until quickly realizing how quiet and boring it was.
"*sigh* well...this sucks." Sora said.
Anne nodded her head. From the open window, an empty can of worm with a line in it dropped in front of Anne who picked it up while Sora walked over and sat down.
"So, guys, would you rather smell like rotten eggs, or have hiccups for the rest of your life?" Sprig asked, making them smile.
"Oh that's a nice one. I'd go with the hiccups." Sora said
"Well, I'd go with-"
Their conversation was cut short when water started rising in the living room.
"Oh come on!" Sora complained.
Anne/Sora: "Didn't anyone fix the leak?!"
Next chapter: Hop Luck/Stakeout
Author's note: not much to say here other than I'm glad I got this done before school starts on Wednesday. Btw, when school starts it might take longer for chapters of stories to come out because, y'know.
Other than that I hope you guys like this (including the Konosuba reference). There was actually a deleted scene in this chapter that I'll probably use later down the line for this story, I'll tell you what it is when we get to it.
I'll see you guys soon, bye!