Before we get started, to clarify something in the last chapter, the heartless did die just offscreen. I needed an excuse to get rid of the water in the basement and I couldn't find anything else. Sorry if I confused some of you.

HOP LUCK

It was another sunny day in Wartwood as the frog that was about to kiss his beloved from before is still being carried away while Anne and Sora showed off their pets on their phones. On Sora's phone was a video of a Labrador Retriever playing with a chew toy; on Anne's phone was a video of a black and white cat licking herself.

"This is my dog Sumo, he's very playful and he loves meeting new people. I think you guys would like him." Sora said.

"And this bad boy is my kitty Domino. You guys would like her too. She's got fire." Anne said.

"Ooh!" Sprig said while taking their phones.

"Aww, they're so tiny. I feel HUGE!" Polly said.

"Hmm, I will...set them free!" Sprig said.

He pulled out a hammer and tried to smash their phones, but the two quickly grabbed them before he could.

"Please stop doing that." Anne said.

"I thought I told you to talk to him about this." Sora said.

"I will now." Anne said.

Just then, a horrible smell filled their nostrils making them cover their noses.

"Ugh! It smells like rotten eggs." Sora gagged.

"What is that? Did something crawl under the house and die?" Anne questioned.

Sprig sniffed the air.

"Worst guys, much worse. Hop Pop is cooking!" he said with wide eyes.

Back home

Sprig put his hand on the door handle.

"Brace yourselves."

Anne/Sora: "Brace ourselves for wh-"

They were immediately cut off when Sprig opened the door and a HUGE gust of toxic fumes blasted towards them flinging him away.

Inside the kitchen, Hop Pop was chopping up critters and putting them in a pot which he stirred. After a while he took the spoon out and tasted the food just as Sprig came in.

"What's the plan this year, Hop Pop? Poison the competition?" Sprig questioned.

This caused him to get hit on the head with the spoon.

"The plan is to win."

"Win?" Anne questioned just as her and the others came in as well.

"The annual village potluck. Every year we frogs gather for a great contest. The family who brings the best tasting dish is showered with love and copper coins. The family with the worst tasting dish spends the night in...The SHAME CAGE!" Hop Pop explained.

As he was explaining, he showed pictures of what the contest actually looked like, including the shame cage they saw being pulled up outside.

"Brutal." Sora said.

"And guess which family ends up there every year." Sprig said.

The three frogs then sighed sadly while the young teens looked at the situation sadly as well, until they made determined faces while slamming their fists on the table.

"If you think we're letting our favorite frog family end up in a cage, you got another thing coming." Anne said.

"Anne's right. We know we're not technically Plantars, but maybe we can help somehow." Sora said.

The frogs nodded their heads in approval.

"Guys, we'd sure appreciate it." Sprig said.

"Alright, so whatcha makin' Hop Pop? Sock gumbo?" Sora asked as he and Anne examined the pot.

"No silly. It's a traditional recipe from my family's cookbook. We've been using this baby since I was a pollywog." Hop Pop said while holding the book up.

Anne grabbed the book and looked through it with Sora while both made sounds of approval.

"I think we found your problem guys." Anne said.

The frogs gasped in anticipation.

"Yep...this book is bunk. Old things are dumb." Sora said.

They then dropped the book which Hop Pop caught with his tongue.

"Oh that makes sense." Polly said.

"It's all so clear now." Sprig said.

"But we Plantars have always cooked these recipes. What would my great gam gam say?" Hop Pop said.

The two then looked at a photo of an old frog in a wheelchair knitting a blanket with the words, "tradition means everything."

"I think your gam gam would say-"

"She'd say "move on."" Anne finished.

"*sigh* She was a fierce woman." Hop Pop said.

"Look, if we're gonna win this thing, we need something new. Something revolutionary, something no one in this swamp has ever seen before." Anne said while scrolling through her phone until finding a picture.

"Something like...pizza." Sora finished.

The frogs looked at the picture in amazement and deliciousness.

"Whoa." Sprig said in awe

"I don't know what it is but I love it." Polly said.

"Pizza is the ultimate dish." Anne said.

"I swear to you on this youngling and elder frogs, you have not lived until you've tried pizza at the mall with friends." Sora said while licking his lips.

"Now-now hold on, before we get carried away, what about this tried and true recipe? Swamp mold pot pie." Hop Pop said while showing them the picture.

To say it was grotesque would be an understatement and trying to describe it...would be hard (kinda).

Sprig/Polly: "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!"

"Ok ok, sheesh!" Hop Pop said while closing the book.

"We'll win for sure with this, Hop Pop. Now all we gotta do is-" Sprig said while holding a hammer over the phone.

"All we have to do is get four ingredients: dough, cheese, basil, and tomatoes." Anne said while grabbing it.

"Are you guys ready to make our pizza dreams a pizza reality?" Sora asked.

Sprig/Polly: "yeah! Pizza dreams!"

"oh oh! Maybe we should put pineapple on it. Seems like a natural fit-"

However, Sprig was grabbed by Sora and thrown against the wall.

"You ain't putting that on my pizza." Sora said menacingly.

"Sora?" Sprig questioned, fearfully.

"I'm not gonna let pineapple ruin my pizza again, and I'm not gonna compromise just because SHE'S the one who bought it and it's the pizza SHE wanted. IT'S NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY KATIE, IT'S MINE!" Sora ranted while getting in his face.

Everyone looked at him in shock except Anne, because she knew what he was upset about.

"Okay, let's go get the ingredients. Pizza dreams!" Sora said while letting him go.

"Pizza Dreams!" Anne said.

"Pizza...dreams." Sprig weakly said.

"Pizza Dreams!" Polly shouted while shaking him.

Later

The gang made it to the dough shop being run by a guy named Mr Flour who had just put dough in the oven. Flour wore a white apron and cape black pants and a beige shirt. He had light blue skin and violet hair with markings on his head.

"If you want the dough, the boy has to marry my daughter." he said.

"Wait what?" Sora questioned.

They all turned to see a frog girl with light blue skin in the corner. Her hair was light pink with dark pink spots and was bulbous in appearance with a small knot on her head, making it look like a mushroom cap. Her hair covered one of her eyes, but the one that was visible was big and yellow with black, slit pupils similar to that of a snake. She wore very little for clothing, just a black sack dress with a brown rope tied around it and no shoes.

She turned towards them with a Sprig doll in hand as well as a small pike.

"Hi, Sprig." she said creepily as she plunged the pike into the doll.

The group looked at her in concern.

"Ain't she adorable?" Flour said.

"Uh, you could say that." Sora said, nervously.

"Done." Anne said.

"What?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Y'know, if we used a traditional recipe, we wouldn't have to sell Sprig." Hop Pop said.

"No! That old book is old." Anne said.

"Y-yeah, Anne's right. If it means selling Sprig's eternal happiness to get pizza, then it's a small price to pay." Sora said.

"No cap." Anne said.

(NOTE: I'm not sorry for this.)

"Agreed." Polly said.

"Aw, it's not so bad. Maybe we'll learn to love each other-"

"Aah!" Sprig exclaimed when he saw she was next to him.

"I've seen your death in my mind." she said.

"I was kinda hoping it would be a surprise." Sprig said, nervously.

"It will be." she whispered as he looked at her in despair.

"Congrats on your new son in law, now cough up the dough." Anne said.

"Yay!" Flour said while handing them the dough.

"Pleasure doing business with ya." Sora said as they left.

"Well, looks like we gotta go. *chuckle* see ya." Sprig said.

"I wanna be the maid of honor!" Polly said.

"See you soon, hubby."

At Mrs Croaker's Dairy farm.

{Insert song: rowdy rumble KH 2.5}

The gang were being chased by a cow bug creature.

"Thanks again for helping me out! I know Brutus can be a handful." Mrs. Croaker said.

"What are we here for again?" Sprig asked.

Anne/Sora: "cheese!"

"Y'know, there's a recipe in here that doesn't need cheese." Hop Pop said.

"Enough! With the recipes! We're not using that book!" Sora said.

As they were talking, Anne noticed a plant with red leaves and went over to it then pulled off one and went to Brutus's pen.

"Hey Brutus! Over here! Toro! Toro!" she shouted.

Brutus stopped chasing Sora and the others and instead went for Anne. She moved outta the way just in time as he barged in (albeit she landed in compost).

{song ends}

"Oh come on!" she shouted.

Sprig and Sora then closed the gate as Anne moved over the railing to get out of the pen. The three then fistbumped each other before backing away when Brutus roared at them.

"Here you go dearies. A hunk of cheese." Mrs Croaker said as she gave them the cheese.

"Made fresh from the milk of those ca-"

"Please don't tell us where it came from." Sora said.

Later elsewhere

The gang looked bruised as Anne walked over with Basil while Sora cracked his back. She placed it next to the other ingredients as Sprig picked it up and put it in the bag.

"Hey, be careful with the basil. We just had to fight ten giant aphids to get it." Sora said.

"Who knew ultimate flavor could be so painful?" Sprig said with broken teeth.

"Yet so worth it." Sora said.

"Almost lost my behind to those things." Hop Pop said as he showed the bitten off part of his pants.

"This is the price of progress, Hop Pop." Sprig said.

"Exactly! And we've only got one ingredient left, tomatoes. According to this, they should be up ahead." Anne said while showing off the map.

"Still can't believe I traded my favorite dentures for that map." Hop Pop said.

"You know, I've never actually tasted a tomato. No one in town really sells them." Sprig said.

"There's a reason for that. They're in the dangerous vegetable section. It suggests we go for prunes instead, can't go wrong with prunes." Hop Pop said while showing the book.

"Woah, woah. Dangerous vegetables? Come on." Anne said.

"Yeah, it can't be that bad right?" Sora said.

Hop Pop looked to the side nervously.

"Right?" Sora asked again.

Later (again)

The gang were standing in front of a monstrous tomato plant that looked like a three-headed Piranha Plant enemy from Mario, which proceeded to eat a giant dragonfly.

"Ho…" Sprig started.

"Ly…" Polly continued.

Anne/Sora: "tomato."

The plant then roared in front of them.

"You know, this baby's got some great substitutes, all of which are delightfully harmless." Hop Pop said while backing away.

"Couldn't hurt to hear a few options." Sprig said.

Before they could turn and leave, Anne and Sora stood in their path.

"Hold on! Guys, the shame cage isn't just in the town square, it's up here." Anne while pointing to her head.

"We can't change the world unless we take some risks and take said world head on. I'm scared, but I'll face this no matter what and you guys should too! So who's with us?" Sora said.

As they were talking, one of the plant vines was sneaking up to them.

"Kids, there's a big difference between courage and stupidi-TY!" Hop Pop shouted.

The plant monster dragged Hop Pop away and threw him in his mouth.

Anne/Sprig/Sora/Polly: "HOP POP!"

{insert song: Desire for all that is lost KH 2.5}

The plant then attacked causing them to run. The monster managed to grab Anne, Sprig, and Polly and dragged them away as Sora stopped and looked on in horror.

"Guys!" he shouted.

The plant monster then dropped them in his mouth.

"My fiancee was right!" Sprig shouted before he was eaten.

Sora's look of horror was replaced with anger as he summoned his weapon.

"Let. them. GO!" he shouted as charged towards him.

The plant monster sent its vines after him but Sora cut through them with ease then started attacking the base of the plant hoping to do some damage. Before it could attack him again, Sora dodged out of the way and pointed his weapon at him.

"Hope you like your tomatoes fried!" he said as he shot a fire spell at it.

He then facepalmed himself for the bad pun.

"Dang it! I should've said, "hope you like fried tomatoes!" that would've been much cooler." he said to himself.

After the fires died down, the plant prepared to attack again.

"Ready for round two man? I got all day!" Sora shouted.

After cutting through the vines again, he jumped up and tried to attack the head...this plan failed however as it grabbed him with a vine he didn't cut.

{song stops abruptly}

"Aw crap." Sora said.

It then lifted him up and dropped him in its mouth like the others. Sora then traveled down its esophagus until landing on something.

"What the? Hey! I'm not dead! Ha! Ha!" Sora said.

"No, but we will be in a few minutes."

"Who said that?" Sora asked.

"Down here!"

Sora looked down and saw Anne, Polly, Sprig, and Hop Pop.

"Guy! You're okay!" Sora said happily.

"But the ingredients aren't. They fell into the acid." Anne said sadly.

"Wait what? All our work, gone? Can this get any worse?!" Sora questioned.

"Hey look on the bright side, at least it'll be a quick and painless death." Sprig said.

"Why would this be painless?" Polly questioned.

"Just let me have this lie!" Sprig said.

"*sigh* we're sorry we got you guys into this, we just wanted to help." Sora said.

"Our revolutionary ideas were supposed to save you guys, not get you killed. I shouldn't have been so stubborn. I should've been more like Sora." Anne said.

Sora noted what she said and widened his eyes a bit.

"I just really wanted to share pizza with you guys." she said.

"Ah, I didn't care about that pizza stuff anyway, but you two were really trying to help this family out, and that's worth something in my book." Hop Pop said.

"Wait a minute...that's it! The book! Is there anything in there that can help us?" Sora said.

"Well I don't know." Hop Pop said whilst pulling the book out.

"Nothing especially useful. Just that the throat of this giant tomato plant is absolutely delicious eaten raw."

Upon hearing this, they all smiled evilly.

Outside, the plant burped thinking it ate them. It then suddenly felt a gurgle in his stomach and from it burst out the gang who were chomping on its outer layer while covered in fluids until they landed on the ground. The plant then roared in agony until finally falling to the ground, dead.

"*spit* know your place plant!" Polly shouted as Anne picked her up.

"That tasted oddly fried." Sprig said.

"It's probably because I used a fire spell on it." Sora said.

This caused all eyes to fall on him.

"While we were still in there?" Anne questioned.

"I didn't know!" Sora said.

They then heard a bell tolling in the distance.

"Oh boy." Sora said.

"There isn't much time. Let's go home and make one of your old recipes Hop Pop." Anne said.

"Yup! But maybe we can spruce it up with something a little dangerous." Hop Pop said.

They then looked at the fallen tomato plant monster and hatched an idea.

Back in Wartwood (Sunset).

Dragonflies were STILL carrying the same frog from before, who's now pleading for help while on the ground the villagers, including the gang, were preparing for the potluck. The gang had made one of Hop Pop's Swamp Mold Pies, with a fried tomato on top to add a dash of danger.

Anne/Sora/Hop Pop: "Perfect."

*fanfare*

"Alright! Let the annual potluck begin!" Mayor Toadstool said.

He then proceeded to taste all of the villagers' food and found them quite delectable, until he got to the Plantars who all had strained smiles.

"And last, but not least-*sigh* the plantars. What filth have you cooked up this ti- Hmm? Tomato? That's awfully dangerous *chuckle*" he said.

He then tasted their food as the drums rolled and they looked on with anticipation.

"Why, I do declare, this is the best dish the Plantar family has ever brought to a Potluck!" he said.

"WHAT?!" Hop Pop exclaimed.

The village gasped in disbelief.

"What?! Did we do it? Did we actually win?!" Sprig questioned.

"Win? No. no, no, no, no, no. Oh it's better than usual, but it's still terrible. Last place, as usual." Toadstool said.

*wah wah wah theme plays*

"You folks should know your way to the shame cage by now. Hurry along. All right, boys, light it up." Toadstool said as a frog came over with a fire torch.

The gang then sighed in sadness at their loss.

"Cheer up guys. Sure we came in last, again. But thanks to Anne and Sora's new ideas and Hop Pop's old ones we've done the best we've ever done." Sprig said.

The others agreed to this as the Plantars got in the cage while Sora and Anne stood to the side for a moment.

"Hey, this is a little weird but, is there a chance we can squeeze in there?" Sora asked.

"How bout it Carl?" Hop Pop asked the frog.

"The more the merrier." Carl said in a grovely voice.

"Hear that?" Hop Pop said.

"Get in here you crazy kids." Sprig said.

"Whoo hoo!" Anne said.

"Yes!" Sora said.

The two then got inside the cage and sat down as Carl lifted it up.

"Well, we can't share a pizza, but we can at least share this." Anne said.

"Yeah, honestly, this isn't so-"

Sora was cut off when something hit his face.

"What the heck?! What was that?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Ooh, I forgot to mention the shame nuggets." Sprig said.

The crowd down below started throwing nuggets at them while jeering.

"Hey, that's my son in law!" Flour said while pointing towards the cage.

Sprig nervously waved back at Maddie.

"Is that the best you've got?!" Polly shouted.

"*sigh* traditions is such a beautiful-"

*splat*

"SON OF A SLUG!" Hop Pop shouted.

Sora then turned to Anne and asked, "hey, what did you mean by you should've been more like me?"

This made Anne surprised for a moment.

"Well, you're stubborn at times like me, but mostly you keep a cool head and you always take a step back before rushing into things. That's what I admire about you." Anne said while blushing a bit.

Sora smiled at what she said.

"I appreciate that, Anne. Y'know, I feel like this is the first step for us to gro-"

*splat*

"MOTHER-"

*Cut to Sprig with a wrench with the words, "We'll be right back after these messages."*

STAKEOUT

Plantar Home

It was an ordinary day at the Owl- I mean, Plantar house where Sprig and Polly were cleaning dishes while Anne and Sora were on the couch talking to Hop Pop.

"Look dude, all I'm saying is back where we're from you could get arrested for having a couch this firm." Anne said.

"That feels like over exaggeration but she is right, that couch is hard as a rock." Sora said.

"Well back in my day we didn't have furniture. We sat on rocks, sharp ones." Hop Pop said.

"Okay. but if we get butt blisters, I'm blaming you." Anne said.

"Yup." Sora said.

"Back in my day we called those, "character." Hop Pop said while moving his leg over with his hands, making Sora cringe when he heard bones.

Later, Sora was helping Anne carry a box of turnips while Sprig raked the grass.

"Why is this...so heavy?" Sora questioned breathlessly.

"Mind the flagstone." Hop Pop said.

"The what?" Anne said.

Sora then got the back of his foot caught on said stone and fell backwards causing Anne to fall as well, making them drop the crate.

"Back in my day, kids spent less time complaining' and more time watching their step." Hop Pop said.

"Oh boy, here we go again." Sora said.

"Yeah? Well where we're from people fixed their crummy houses." Anne said while rubbing her knee.

"*gasp* This house is like family! You apologize!" Hop Pop said.

"To a house?" Anne said.

"That seems like a bit much, it's just a house." Sora said.

"You apologize as well!" Hop Pop said while pointing at him.

"wh-I didn't even do anything!" Sora said.

After

Sprig was reading a book while Polly was playing cards in the living room until there was a thud upstairs.

"Where we're from, we didn't rush people in the BATHROOM!" Anne shouted.

*THUD*

"Well back in my day, we didn't have a bathroom!" Hop Pop shouted.

*THUD*

"STOP HITTING THE DOOR WITH A BATTERING RAM!" Anne shouted.

"IT'S BEEN TWO HOURS!" Hop Pop shouted.

"Anne just let me in! I have to pee!" Sora shouted.

"Who's side are you on?!"

"I'm not trying to be on anyone's side, I just wanna use the bathroom!"

This was the final straw for Sprig who yelled in frustration.

"I can't take this anymore!" he shouted.

"They're just getting used to each other. It's not a big deal." Polly said.

"Not a big deal? Do you remember the Hendersons next door? They used to argue all the time, and look what happened to them." Sprig said.

He then pointed out the window to an abandoned hollow stump with a moat and boarded up windows with a sign, "for sale" in front of it. Wally then walked out with plates and loaded them into his cart.

"Nothing like scavenging the remains of a broken frog family." he said while carting away.

"If we don't do anything now, it won't be long before their bickering tears this family apart." Sprig said.

"I still think we should give them time. Not like we have a lot of options. You can't force people to get along." Polly said, sparking an idea in Sprig.

"Of course not Polly." Sprig said while grabbing his book and walking backwards.

"Of course not." he whispered from around the corner while she looked at him.

"Of course-"

"Just go already!" she shouted

The next day.

Sora, Anne, Hop Pop, and Polly were outside on the porch. Sora and Anne were reading with Polly next to them and Hop Pop sitting and doing nothing...until…

"WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!" Sprig shouted as he showed up in front of them.

"SAY WHHHAAATT?!" Hop Pop exclaimed.

This caused Sora and Anne to laugh.

"We're sorry. It's just..."

"Hop Pop delivered the perfect sitcom catchphrase." Anne said.

"Must be painful to make so little sense all the time." Hop Pop said.

At the cornfield.

Sprig directed the four to where the burglary happened, showing a bunch of missing corn stalks.

"*gasp* my prize winning corn!" Hop Pop said.

"You won prizes with this?" Sora questioned.

"It's an expression, Sora. What are you, the fact police?" Hop Pop said.

"The injustice! The outrage! We've gotta catch this thief!" Sprig said.

"Agreed. And it's nice to see you so passionate about produce Sprig." Hop Pop said.

"Yes. Very odd." Polly said while narrowing her eyes.

"Do you think it was heartless?" Sora asked.

"Maybe, but why would those guys need corn?" Anne said.

"You never know." Sora said.

"It doesn't matter. If the thief stole once, it'll steal again. The only way to catch this monster is a stakeout." Sprig said as he climbed on a plow.

"I like steak." Polly said.

"Let's do it." Sora said.

"Okay." Anne said.

"Good idea." Hop Pop said.

"And the only ones who can do it are…"

"Anne, Sora, and Hop Pop!" Sprig finished.

"Huh?" Hop Pop said in confusion.

"Say wha?" Anne said.

"Excuse me?" Sora questioned.

"Well I obviously can't because I have the attention span of a uh…oh look at that." Sprig said as he looked at a butterfly.

"Why not Hop Pop and Polly? Seems like a winning combo to me." Anne said.

"Or better yet, why not just me and Anne in general? We'd make a good team." Sora said.

"First of all, Polly's a baby. Second of all, you two don't know the first thing about stakeouts." Hop Pop aid.

"We're just asking, jeez." Sora said.

"*sigh* very well. Let's be honest though, they'll probably fall asleep and it'll just be me." Hop said while walking away.

"Why would I fall asleep first, aren't you like a hundred years old? Sora would fall asleep before me." Anne said while leaving too.

"Hey! I resent that!" Sora said as he walked away as well.

"And I'm a crisp 68!" Hop Pop shouted.

Soon after it was just Polly and Sprig.

"You stole the corn didn't you?" Polly asked.

"Oh absolutely. But now those three will have to spend the whole night together and bond!" Sprig said.

"Sprig, you can't manipulate people like this!" Polly said.

"I can and I did. And it's going to save this family." he said.

That night

Sora, Anne, and Hop Pop were sitting on the hill with a stone wall waiting for the thief. Anne read, while Sora and Hop Pop kept watch with the former summoning his key just in case it was heartless.

"For goodness sakes Anne, put that lamp out. We're trying to catch the thief, not scare it away." Hop Pop said.

Anne then blew out the candle letting the night take over. Soon enough she started yawning as well as Sora who dismissed his key, causing Hop Pop to chuckle.

"Had a feeling you two wouldn't last," Hop Pop said.

"Worry about yourself, Hop Pop." Sora said.

"Yeah. we just need a boost is all." Anne said as she took out an energy drink.

""Blam Berry Blitz. The drink that punches you in the face and doesn't stop." Ha! That silly drink won't keep you two up!" Hop Pop said as he went to his bag.

"Now, this will keep you up." he said as showed them a gourd with a seemingly distorted face.

The gourd opened and fumes came out along with a mysterious groan. The two then sniffed it and covered their noses.

"Oh my g- that smells awful." Sora said.

"What is this poison?" Anne questioned.

"Mama's old gourd tea recipe. I'm not surprised y'all don't like the smell, it's way too strong for you." Hop Pop said.

"You're kidding." Sora said.

"No way this is stronger than my berry blitz." Anne said.

Anne and Hop Pop looked at each other's respective drinks and then narrowed their eyes at each other.

Anne/Hop Pop: "give me that!"

Hop Pop grabbed the berry blitz and guzzled it while Anne drank the gourd tea and groaned at the taste afterwards while Hop Pop gasped. The two then coughed, disgusted with what they just tasted while Sora laughed.

"You guys are wimps." Sora said with a smile.

The two then looked at him with a glare.

"Oh really?" Hop Pop said.

"Why don't you try it then?" Anne said while handing him the gourd tea.

Sora looked at the gourd tea in dismay.

"uh...Sure, but just to show you guys how it's done." Sora said.

He then grabbed the berry blast and poured it into the gourd tea then shook it up to mix them together. Finally he drank the mixture until it was gone. His face afterwards...was one of contorted disgust.

"S-see? *gulp* nothing to it." he said while holding in a breath.

The two looked at him until he finally couldn't take it anymore and coughed with tears in his eyes while they laughed.

"You should see the look on your face. You were dying!" Anne said.

"*laughs* and what about you? I didn't know you could turn that color. What, you got chameleon in your blood? *laugh*" Hop Pop said.

"What about you, Hop Pop? You weren't looking so well either! *laugh*" Sora said while holding his stomach.

After that, Hop Pop laid on the ground while the teens kept watch, looking up at the starry night sky.

"*sigh* Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever get home." Anne said.

"Me too. I wonder how my sisters are doing sometimes and how they'll be now that their big brother will be gone for a while." Sora said.

"I know what it's like to miss something, kids. I find myself pinning after the good old days way too much." Hop Pop said.

"Yeah. we're kinda similar that way. You're always going on about the old days, I'm always going on about back home, yet what's weird is you don't talk like that Sora." Anne said.

"Well...I guess it's because I don't have much to talk about. I miss my life back home, but I guess I'm just not as vocal about it as you guys are." Sora said.

"Yeah, deep down we're all just a couple of softies ain't we?" Hop Pop said.

"Yeah. Yeah I guess so." Sora said.

After that, there was a brief silence between the three, until…

"Of course, our situation is way worse than yours." Anne said, making Hop Pop frown.

"Oh no." Sora muttered.

"Always got to make it about you don't you? "I'm Anne and my life is worse than everyone else's."" Hop Pop mocked.

"Oh come on guys, we were connecting." Sora said.

"She's the one who started it." Hop Pop said.

"Well then I'm gonna be the one who ends it." Sora said.

"Oh, and of course, you come in with your so-called mature attitude. "I'm Sora, and I think I know better, when really I'm insecure about my feelings."" Hop Pop mocked, making Sora flush.

"T-That's extremely personal! At least my head doesn't look like a freakin' tea kettle! Wait. What?" Sora said.

He then rubbed his eyes to do a double take at what he's seeing as well as Anne. From their perspective, Hop Pop's head was indeed a tea kettle.

"Oh yeah? Well at least my hair isn't rainbow stardust, and my face isn't...some sort of...black and white drawing." Hop Pop said, noticing tea pouring out of him.

Sora and Anne looked at Anne's hair and were surprised that it was glowing different colors.

"What the?" Anne questioned while touching it

"What's going with your hair?!" Sora exclaimed.

"I don't know! What's wrong with your face?!" Anne exclaimed.

Sora looked at his hands and saw they had big white gloves over them he then took out his phone and saw his face and was shocked. He had Pac-man eyes and his entire face and body looked black and white.

"Oh my-I'm a cartoon from THE 1920's!" he shouted with a radio like voice while gripping his hair.

"You sound like one too!"

They noticed bubbles floating around them and suddenly the scene changed and looked a lot more colorful and psychedelic.

"What's happening to us?" Hop Pop questioned.

"How should I know-oh." Anne said in realization as the drinks floated next to them.

"It was the drinks!" Sora said.

"Our body chemistry must be so different that we're all having crazy reactions to each other's extreme beverage." Anne explained, surprising Sora and herself.

"That had to have been the smartest you've ever sounded, ever." Sora said.

"I know. Weird." Anne said, in surprise.

Hop Pop then whistled like a tea kettle.

"THIS IS TERRIBLE! I never should've let you trick me into trying something new!" Hop Pop shouted.

"Oh yeah? Well your gross old mama's tea did to me!" Anne shouted.

*exaggerated gasp*

"Let's not forget both your drinks turned me into a cartoon!" Sora said.

"Again, who's side are you on?!" Anne asked.

"NEITHER! Because you both did this to me!" Sora shouted.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Sprig was watching everything unfold from his telescope and became worried.

"No! No! This can't be! They're fighting again!" Sprig said.

"Oh no. what a surprise." Polly said sarcastically.

Sprig then threw the scope in anger.

"Okay, okay. No problem. We'll just have to take matters into our own hands." Sprig said.

Sprig then opened a closet while Polly watched.

"Wait. you don't mean…"

"Oh that's right Polly." Sprig said as he donned a witches hat and cape.

"I'm going to steal more corn right under their noses. They'll have to do this again tomorrow, and then the next night, and the next night, until they're all the bestest friends who were ever friends and then the family will be saved!" Sprig explained as he maniacally laughed.

"You're mad!" Polly shouted.

"Try and stop me! Ha Ha!" Sprig said as he jumped out the window.

Polly looked at this in worry and said, "oh boy."

Back on the hill

"I didn't make you drink my berry blitz." Anne said.

"Well you grabbed my tea first." Hop Pop said.

"You guys made me drink your drinks!" Sora said.

"Only because you called us wimps!" Anne said.

"It was a joke!" Sora said.

"This wasn't my fault!" Anne said.

"Well it sure wasn't mine." Hop Pop said.

"Mine either." Sora said.

The three then heard rustling causing them to turn and see a shadowy figure head for the corn field.

Sora/Anne/Hop Pop: "*GASP* The corn thief!"

A burst of steam then hit Anne and Sora in the face.

"Ahh!" Sora exclaimed.

"Watch where you're pointing that thing." Anne said.

"Sorry." Hop Pop said.

With Sprig, just as he was about to cut down more corn, Polly tackled him.

"Stop this madness!" she shouted while hitting him.

"Let go!" Sprig said.

"You've lost your mind!" Polly said.

"A small price for saving this family!" Sprig shouted.

Hop Pop, Anne, and Sora then showed up in front of the two, looking extremely tired with bags under their eyes.

"Hey!" Hop Pop said.

"Hold it!" Sora said.

"Stop right there, you...you...thief?" Anne questioned.

Anne rubbed her eyes while Sora shook his head and Hop Pop squinted. The shadowy figure (who was actually Sprig) from their perspective transformed.

Anne/Sora/Hop Pop: "woah."

The figure continued to transform and turned into a dark corn creature with sharp nails, yellow eyes, black flames in its mouth, a second head, and a heartless symbol on its chest.

{insert song: Extreme Encounters Kh BBS}

The three all screamed as it roared, then it blew out black flames at them, making them hold onto each other as the flames made a circle.

"The corn thief! It's the scariest thing I've ever seen!" Hop Pop shouted.

"Finally something we agree on!" Anne said.

"I knew it was a heartless!" Sora shouted as he summoned his key.

"We've got to take this thing down. You two with me?" Hop Pop said.

Anne/Sora: "til the end!"

"Then let's do this!" Hop Pop said.

The three then jumped out of the way of the monster's next attack then prepared attacks of their own.

"Tea kettle beam, FIRE!" Hop Pop shouted, shooting out a blue beam.

"Rainbow MAGIC!" Anne shouted with her hands out, shooting a purple beam.

"RETRO BLAST!" Sora shouted with his key pointed outwards, shooting out a gray beam.

Their attacks combined together and hit the creature dead on, yet it was still standing.

"Our attacks had no effect?!" Sora exclaimed.

"We can't give up so easily!" Hop Pop said.

"Right!" Anne said.

The three then charged up another attack and launched it.

{music ends}

Back in the real world, they were merely holding their hands out and doing nothing while Sprig and Polly watched. They almost made weird sounds while doing so.

"Well, they're broken." Polly said.

The three then started imitating lasers being fired.

"It must be immune to magic." Hop Pop said.

"Of course! It must be a special heartless then." Sora said.

"Quick! Grab those power ups!" Anne said.

"Power ups?" Sprig questioned.

Hop Pop grabbed a pitchfork while Anne grabbed a sickle and Sora summoned his key. The three then charged after Sprig and Polly who ran into the cornfield. While running Sprig accidentally tripped on a stalk of corn, causing him to roll, hit a door and drop Polly.

Afterwards, Sora, Anne, and Hop Pop caught up and tried to attack.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Sprig shouted.

The pitchfork hit his hat while the sickle landed between his legs. Sora then raised his key to attack.

"Anne, Sora, Hop Pop, it's me! I learned my lesson. I promise." Sprig said.

The three heard the heartless's distorted voice

"I'll never manipulate people again-"

"Uh, does the heartless kinda sound like Sprig to you guys?" Anne asked.

"Actually…" Sora said

"Now that you mention it…" Hop Pop said.

The creature then transformed back into Sprig who was crying.

"Don't kill me please!" Sprig sobbed.

Anne/Sora/Hop Pop: "huh?"

The world around them then dissipated and the three transformed back into their normal selves as they looked on in confusion.

"None of it was real?" Hop Pop questioned.

"We must've been on a psychic trip." Sora said.

"But it was so terrifying! I thought we were goners." Hop Pop said.

"Me too. And you defended us." Anne said.

"Yeah, you did." Sora said.

"And you two stood by my side, like true warriors." Hop Pop said.

"Y'know Hop Pop, back home, we call that having a friend's back." Anne said as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Ain't that the truth." Sora said while doing the same.

"Well back in my day we called it "pulling a stinky mcguyer," but if you don't know stinky the sayin' doesn't mean much, so let's just stick with yours." Hop Pop said.

The three then laughed before falling to the ground and falling asleep.

Sprig had a shocked look on his face as Polly hopped to him.

"Wow, Sprig, I owe you an apology. Your dumb ol' plan kinda worked." Polly said.

"Thanks Polly, but maybe next time, we'll do it your way." Sprig said before falling unconscious as well.

Polly looked at the situation annoyed.

"*sigh* guess I should drag them inside, but first I'm parched." she said.

She then rolled over to the berry blast and drank the rest sending her to the dream world.

"All right Boulder-tron, you ready to roll?" she asked.

A giant rock monster then emerged from the ground.

"Always my queen." it said.

"Good man Boulder-tron, good man." she said.

Next Chapter: The Domino Effect/Taking Charge

AN: so, on the subject of Sora's pet, I'm debating whether or not I want it to be a Jack Russell or keep it a Labrador Retriever, you guys let me know.

Glad I was able to get this done. The next chapter is when Sora learns a new spell and I'm pretty sure you all know what it might be. I know the fight with the tomato monster wasn't long, but that's the point; Sora doesn't have much experience with combat like his OG self so it makes sense that he can't fight a big boss yet.

Also when we get to the next season and part 3, I'm gonna be delving into more mature themes for our AU characters; not so much to where I change the rating, but more so where they deal with personal issues going on in their lives, which is essential to the arcs they go through in the story. You'll see what I'm talking about when we get to the last episode of this season.

Have a good day y'all and I'll see you real soon. Be good.