Anne and Leo both decide to help Hop Pop in his quest to impress Sylvia at Wartwood's very own Dance Fever, where he has to put his dancing skills to the test.

...

...


Only a few days had gone by since the incident with the toads, with that came a new found respect from the frogs of Wartwood's. Well, at least Anne had earned that much, Leo may not have been seen as a total abomination anymore, but not much had changed with the residents.

It made sense; he'd been there a significant less amount of time than her and, apart from his run in with Bog and the other toads he hadn't done anything to earn their trust or their respect.

That didn't matter that much now though, Leo had come to terms with it and was just happy to be able to help. Whether it be with his bruised arm, or on the farm he'd make sure to do what he could.

Although...Leo was exactly sure how he was going to help stood in an alleyway, a small dingy wheelbarrow accompanying him and the Plantar family. He'd learnt that this was due to Hop Pop losing the stand a few weeks prior and they were now forced to sell their produce as hidden as possible.

"Now kids," Hop Pop said with as much shamelessness as he could, gesturing to a dinky wheelbarrow with 'Inquire Within' written on the front in what Leo hoped was red paint, "We might have lost the family stand but that doesn't mean we can't see our produce like this."

"Can we? Pretty sure this is illegal.." Leo murmured, trying to recall back to the law book he'd been reading, per Hop Pop's demands.

"Not to mention sad...like really sad," Anne put in, twisting her face inwards a little.

"Agreed," Polly said with almost no emotion whatsoever.

Sprig handed Leo a black ski-mask whilst putting on his own, "Yes! Criminal activity, I love it!" He grinned, before Hop Pop snatched it from atop his head.

"Take that off boy, this is perfectly legal. No matter what Leo might say!"

Leo attempted to object, reaching for the book inside of his satchel, "But in the book it says-"

"It doesn't matter what yah say! You're from another world, you couldn't hope to understand our way of life!" Hop Pop argued, now pulling Leo to his eye level, glaring with utter despair. Leo decided to drop it for now, watching the older frog hastily step out of the alley.

The three kids hugged the wall as they watched Hop Pop approach the first frog he saw, "Pssst, hey lady do you wanna buy an eggplant?" The female frog turned around, both of them staring starstruck at one another.

"Hoppy!" The frog exclaimed, she had sharp pink nails that matched her lipstick along with silky grey hair.

"Sylvia!?" Hop Pop let out an outburst, staggering back.

"Oh, come here you sweet potato!" She smiled warmly, pulling him into a gentle hug. Leo watched with a large amount of skepticism; he wasn't quite sure as to what was happening between the two of them but judging by Anne's pure joy at the scene, it was probably something he just didn't understand.

Hop Pop awkwardly hugged her back, "Wah...but I thought you moved away?" He was still too shocked to say anything else.

"I did, but I'm back in town now," Sylvia replied, raising an eyebrow to the frog, "Now~ let's take a look at your veggies.

All Hop Pop could do was stand there as a blushing mess, watching Slyvia wander into the alley and start observing the produce. Leo carted the wheelbarrow over to her, as expected he got a frightened look from the frog, "I think I'll take this one."

The vegetable noticeably had an appearance close to Hop Pop's, "I've always had a soft spot for the weird ones."

Whilst Hop Pop reacted with a splutter of words that he wasn't properly able to get out, Leo couldn't help but feel a little bit of disgust at that sight. It wasn't the obvious affection that was creeping him out, it was more that he wasn't able to have the same positive reaction that Anne was having.

He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with him.

Sylvia was gone as quickly as she'd arrived, slyly dropping a copper coin into his pocket, "See you around, Hoppy."

"U-Um, goodbye Sylvia," Hop Pop struggled to get the words out watching the frog disappear back out into the streets.

"What was that?" Leo was the first to speak, giving the orange frog a suspicious look only getting him stammer even more.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He argued, trying to chance the subject.

Anne wouldn't allow it however, crouching down to his level, wrapping her arms around his body, "Hop Pop, you dog!"

Sprig and Polly rushed over, just as clueless as Leo, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Yeah, what's going on? Polly added.

"Well, Hop Pop is clearly in love," Anne explained to the two Plantars siblings, both of them smacking their cheeks in shock.

"No way!?" Sprig gasped.

"I didn't even think that was possible," said Polly.

"Am not!" Hop Pop denied, before replying just a second afterwards, "Ok maybe a little.."

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel, it's obvious that she likes you as well," Leo added, tossing a lumpy radish up into the air.

"I don't know...I'm not sure I could ever have the courage to tell Sylvia how I feel," Hop Pop explained, looking as downtrodden as ever, walking out of the alley over to the crowd forming in the center.

As he left, Anne smacked Leo lightly, "Nice going dude! I get you were trying to be nice but you could've worded that a little differently!"

"Have you heard how I speak; I literally couldn't have worded that differently!" Leo bit back, only raising his voice by the smallest margin.

Hop Pop sheepishly approached the giant message board to see Toadie hammering a large poster that read 'Dance Fever' across it, slightly intriguing him as he read it.

"Oh, it'll be nice, to finally feel the embrace of a man!" Sylvia joked to her mother, getting a grim look in response.

Freezing up at her words, Hop Pop glanced back between the bulletin board and Sylvia. Before he could do anything, he felt something push on his back and then a hand slap his head, once again getting him to turn around right into a finger.

"Ha! Classic, gullible Hopediah!" The frog insulted Hop Pop was relatively the same size as him, only they were a blue hue and wore much snappier clothes, being a tight-fitting brown jacket as well as pants.

Recognizing them, Hop Pop's demeanor shifted into a much sourer one, "Oh hey...Monroe," He spoke, not bothering to hide his disappointment to see him.

"Who's that?" Anne questioned from around the corner.

"That's Monroe, him and Hop Pop are rivals...although it isn't like Hop Pop's ever beaten him," Sprig answered quickly.

"At what?" Leo quizzed once more, attempting to bargain off one the vegetables only to no avail, "I doubt Hop Pop couldn't win at something."

"Well, it was basically just a bunch of shuffleboard, Flipwart and other old man activities...trust me, Hop Pop can do a lot of other things but games like that are not it!" Polly explained, somewhat pitying her grandfather.

Thinking back on it, Leo did remember the one game of Toads and Towers that he'd played with him, "...That was a living nightmare."

"You're not seriously considering participating in this thing are you Hopediah, you wouldn't want to make a fool of yourself like you did last year!" Monroe mocked the frog, tricking him into falling backwards.

"We'll see about that Monroe!"

"HOP POP ITS THE FUZZ!" Sprig bellowed as all four of them emerged from out of the alley, wheelbarrow in tow.

"Scatter, they can't catch all of us!" Leo raised his voice slightly, diverting down the other side of the street, getting the sheriff off his back.


A little while later, after everyone had returned home. Hop Pop had tried to learn how to dance himself, only to end up flying forward off his broom, snapping it in the process.

That was until a loud string of music echoed throughout the entire Plantar household, bringing Hop Pop down to the hatch of the basement, there he stared at Anne, who dancing with more rhythm and skill that he'd ever seen.

"Anne can dance!"

As she continued Anne eventually caught sight of the old frog staring at her with a serious intensity, "AHHHH!" In a moment of fear, she flicked her foot outwards her shoe slipping out in the process and whacking him straight in the face, sending him tumbling into the basement.

"Hop Pop, what the heck dude!" She questioned, brushing her hand through her brown, bushy hair.

"Anne! Teach me how to dance, it's the only way that I can win over Sylvia!" Hop Pop announced, a depressive frown on his face, "If I can't tell her I feel then I can at least show her!"

"Never figured for a hopeless romantic Hop Pop, but I'm in. I'll help you in your quest for love!"

"Thanks Anne. But could you keep this between us?"

"Don't worry my lips are sealed," She agreed with almost no reluctance.


Now outside, Leo, Sprig and Polly were all watching Hop Pop stand beside Anne. Who was now dressed in a short pink top alongside a green undershirt, with her hair tied into a ponytail due to scrunchie keeping it together.

Leo had originally wanted to call her out how she would have such a variety of clothes in one singular backpack, and if it had somehow managed to all fit in there than why did she have so much crammed into it.

"Get it Hop Pop!" Sprig and Polly chanted.

Turned to Anne, he was currently performing stretching. Hop Pop growled lowly, "What happened to sealed lips?" He raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry couldn't help it, this is just too juicy!" Anne retorted, moonwalking over to her phone.

"I'm just here because I had actual field work to do, I don't care about dancing. If I can't do it now then what's the point?" Leo spoke albeit a little bitterly, he wouldn't admit that he was little jealous of how good Anne's footwork was.

Anne gave the white-haired boy a smug look, one that Leo wasn't quite sure he trusted.

As the lesson began, Leo found himself continuously slowing down on work, watching as Anne placed her phone beside a bucket, reverberating the music out of it.

"Lesson 1. Footwork!" Everyone then watched as Anne immediately moved into an array of dance moves, effortlessly swaying her legs back and forth whilst twirling her body in the process, making the entire process look almost easy.

Glancing to his own feet, Leo attempted to repeat the process, tripping over his footwork and almost collapsing straight onto the vegetables below, catching himself with the scythe he'd been using to farm, "Harder than it looks..." He murmured to himself, hoping that no one had seen him.

Hop Pop wasn't having much luck either, only taking a single step forward tumbling into a giant ant hill, "My eyes! Get them out!"

Anne cringed at the calamity that had been caused from a single movement...this was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

"Lesson two. Rhythm."

She then proceeded to tap a wooden bucket on beat with her music, Hop Pop tried it before slamming the hammer down out of frustration, breaking his foot in the process. Leo secretly kept to himself banging the bucket with a nod of his head – the beat may have had absolutely no semblance to it but it was at least in rhythm.

"Lesson three. Freestyle," Gathering Sprig and Polly. All of them began dancing in their own way, with Anne performing a typical yet impressive dance, "Freestyle is a way of expressing yourself through dance."

Sprig took a shot at it, flipping himself off with his tongue. Polly hopped up and down, which was pretty much all she could do with no legs, and finished her dance off with a twirl, helped by Anne.

"I don't want to. Don't make me, please," Leo pleaded with his usual distant voice, he was currently being strung along by Anne.

"C'mon Leo, stop focusing on farming for now, not even Hop Pop is. Just because you can't dance, doesn't mean you can't at least try," Anne suggested finally pulling him to where the others had danced, "It's all you, just dance how you feel."

"I feel nothing. So can I not dance?" Leo replied sarcastically getting a not so pleasant reaction from Anne.

Sighing in hesitant agreement, Leo awkwardly shuffled on his feet. Showing off more of a fight choreography instead of a dance, he ended with a final punch forward, meagerly awaiting the others response.

"Meh, not that bad, you were making a big deal out of nothing," Polly said unresponsively. Not really that bothered by the performance.

"Yeah dude, wouldn't really call it dance but it at least looked somewhat passable," Anne complimented him, patting Leo on the back.

"I'll take that.."

Hop Pop, now feeling a little more confident stepped onto the dance floor. He then showed off the most disgusting display of dancing that both Anne and Leo had ever seen, granted for his memory it wasn't much, but still bad.

"I gotta say Anne that might actually be the first one of your lessons that I-"

"Hop Pop..." Taking in a deep breath and crouching down to his level, Anne firmly placed both of her hands on the frogs' shoulders, "If you ever want to win over Sylvia...NEVER DO FREESTYLE AGAIN!"

The rest of the day was full of constant work to get Hop Pop in his best form to dance with Sylvia, learning how to keep up his rhythm alongside his footwork. It was a slow and tedious process but eventually, as the sun began to set over the horizon they felt as if he was ready.

With one final performance to show off everything that he'd learnt, Hop Pop left all four of them impressed with his progress.

"Miracles can happen!" Polly gasped.

"Nice work Hop Pop, or should I call you...Hi-"

Leo smacked his hand over Anne's mouth, glaring daggers straight through her, "No one on this or any other world needs to hear that joke.."

"Spoilsport," Anne pouted crossing her arms, somewhat annoyed that she couldn't finish her joke. It might have been tasteless but it was her vision.

Suddenly, Sprig leaped onto Anne's head pulling back at her hair, "Guys! We have to hurry, the dance is in ten minutes!"

"Shoot," Anne cried spurring back into the house to change.


Not to long later, once the sun had finally set and it was now nighttime. Sprig wore an oversized suit that was obviously a hand me down from some Plantars that had passed, Polly wore a snazzy top hot that Leo greatly appreciated.

Speaking of which, he wore a somewhat nicely fitting grey suit. It was a tad too tight around the neck but other than that he thought he looked nice, there was also the condition that he'd been forced to wear it.

Anne didn't look that bad either, wearing a sparkling blue dress that; yet again, Leo was utterly confused as to how she'd brought with her, she also had her hair neatly tied up in a side ponytail.

"You wanna stop staring?" Anne teased the boy, watching his brows sag in annoyance, "..Mm, you look better than I expected in a suit."

"Really? I thought my cold, dead eyes would've made me look stunning," Leo joked actually smiling as he did, still speaking his usual deadpan tone. Anne giggled in response handing him a glass of punch as she did.

"Well, it doesn't really matter how we look right now," Anne started, pushing Hop Pop forward a little, "It's all about you now Hop Pop, now go over to that lovely lady and ask her to dance."

"Good luck," Leo spoke as a gargled down the glass of punch, surprised by the flavor, "This is...no this is pretty bad."

Wiping the sweat of his brow and breathing in and out, Hop Pop approached Sylvia. Before he could speak up however, Monroe intervened taking the female frog by the hand.

"Why, Monroe I'd love to dance."

"No!" Sprig and Anne exclaimed in unison; all Leo did was further sip on his drink, trying to make out the foul flavor inside of it.

"Sylvia wait! Dance with me instead!" Hop Pop insisted getting in the way of the two of them.

Sylvia gasped a little, surprised at his forwardness, "Hopediah!"

Monroe laughed at Hop Pop more than anything, his cocky ego not even thinking that the orange frog could have a chance of outclassing him, "C'mon Hopediah we both know you can't dance!"

"Hah! Wouldn't you like to know, I've been trained by the best," Hop Pop declared, not realizing that a circle had formed around the two.

As the two stood of against one another, Sprig couldn't help but gasp, "The drama!"

"Let's go, Hop Pop's gonna need some backup!" Anne insisted sliding over to the dance floor, Polly and Sprig in tow.

And just like that, the dance off began. Hop Pop was the first to start, moving in total fluidity with the music, looking starkly different to how he did earlier in the day. Spinning his legs backwards along with his body, ending it off with a final pose.

Toadstool, who had begun commentating the dance battle, "A solid effort from Hopediah Plantar, but how will Monroe respond?"

Whatever hope Anne and the Plantars had was shattered as Monroe through his cap away and began dancing far better than not only Hop Pop but Anne. Leaping up into the air with a fluent flurry, twirling about on his feet.

It was clear to everyone who was winning.

"What do we do?" Polly questioned.

"I honestly don't know, Monroe's just a better dancer," Anne responded a little sad at the outcome, Leo stood in front of them all, giving Hop Pop a single glance, knowing what he was going to do.

"Then I guess I'll just have to express myself in my own unique way!" Hop Pop declared, walking over with a newly found confidence.

All of them had looks of utter fear on their faces, Anne tried to ward him off but to no avail. The frog was already dead set on what he wanted to do.

"Sylvia...I'm not sure I'll ever be able to tell you how I feel, but I can at least show you. Hit it boys!"

The frog playing the trombone gave the older frog a bitter look, "I mean we've been hitting it."

As the music flared up once again. And Hop Pop put all of his energy left into his final dance, letting out noises akin to a crow cawing out loudly into the night. He then swung his tongue about, as if it were a ferocious whip the frog was trying to tame.

Anne and Leo both knew what it was, and the sight only filled them with an impending shame, both veering their eyes away from the actions, not wanting even catch a glimpse of it.

He finished it off by pouring an entire anthill over himself and using the burning pricks they poked into his body to liven up his footwork, actually sparking up the floor itself. Ending it all with a pose.

"Is it safe to look yet?" Anne questioned anxiously, her head in her knees.

Leo, who had glanced back for a single second denied it, his eyes bloodshot and on the verge of tears, "I looked back and...I just couldn't look away."

Almost every frog there was horrified by what they've seen, Monroe looked especially proud of himself. Wrapping his arm around Sylvia preparing to bring her elsewhere.

Hop Pop trudged away, sagging his shoulders as he did, "Oh Hopediah!"

Reacting to his name, Hop Pop glanced back to his own shock to see Sylvia performing a dance that was just as, if not more horrifying then his own.

That was to everyone else present though, to Hop Pop it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, "She's as freaky as he is! The horror!" Monroe howled, leaving the party to no one's dismay.

The dancing continued for a little while longer before Toadstool couldn't handle what he was witnessing, "That's it! Dance is over everybody, wrap it up!"

On his command, all of the frogs dispersed in an instant leaving nobody but Hop Pop, Sylvia and the rest of the Plantar kids, "I don't get it Sylvia, why?"

"I told you Hoppy, I have a soft spot for the weird ones.."

"Awwww," Anne commented, her disgust now shifting into admiration.

"This is disgusting...but good for Hop Pop," Leo added.

Sprig suddenly pulled his violin from his suit and stood up on a single stump, beginning to play the instrument, giving his grandfather a chance to officially dance with the frog he loved.

Coughing into his hand nervously, Hop Pop held his arm out as he leaned in front of her, "Sylvia Sundew, may I have this dance?"

"Why yes you may, Hopediah Plantar," Sylvia accepted, taking his hand as the two of them began dancing.

Leo watched it, still with the same confusion he'd had earlier in the day. He didn't really understand romance, probably because he either had no memory or meeting someone like that or just hadn't done it yet.

But he saw the lengths the Hop Pop was willing to go just to get the women he loved. So, at least to same degree, he could understand why someone would, if there's a person that makes you happy and you can both make up each other's flaws, then maybe he could get behind love.

For now, though, he was still a long ways away.

"Hey, hey Leo! Care to have this dance!" Anne asked, more inviting him over to the dance floor.

He did think about denying her request for a second, but shook off his own reluctance and confidently walked over, much to Anne's own shock.

"What's the matter Boonchuy? Scared I might be better than you?"

"Are you seriously trying to challenge me, I've seen how you dance and I know for a fact that I'm better than you," Anne clicked her neck and raced over beside him.

There, everyone danced late into the night. Where Leo couldn't help but make a note on how he was starting to enjoy himself.

It was only a little, and he still had a long way to go. But he would do his best to be better in this froggy world.

...

Hope you enjoyed; this is a short but still long chapter so I hope you don't mind. The next chapter will be an original one focusing on Sprig and Leo's relationship, I've got something fun planned for that chapter so I'll see yah in the next one.