Songs Included
[1] No Copyright Music Retro 80's Funky Jazz Hop Instrumental Copyright Free Music Sundance Remix
[2] Tense Cinematic Instrumental Ambient Music - Argsound
'Birds of a Feather' Part 6 - Go Call The Police!
With Finn following up, both he and Val chased after the flying burglar. It was clear that the Classical Troll had trouble carrying the diamond case as he dropped it a few times. However, this didn't stop him from dropping down. He kept flying away, having his mind on trying to get out of TrollsTopia as soon as he can. However, his pursuers had other thoughts.
Val was already mad at this. There had never been a robbery in Rock Hallow before. There had been crimes before, but in the eyes of Rock Trolls, they were never illegal. However, making a trick like this – blowing up somebody's apartment and running out with a very precious object – was just really sick and offensive to her and the owner of the diamond case.
Finn was already thinking of giving it up. He had some self-defense training through using his tail fins to swat away enemies. However, he never dared to go up to active criminals or start a fight. He tried to stay out of danger. But here, after feeling worried about letting the robber go off and Jazzy mysteriously disappearing, he felt that he couldn't just stay in the background this time.
The chase continued out of Rock Hallow and into Pop Village. The burglar must have known that he could lose them there because Poppy was hosting a party. [1]
Well, not exactly. It was more like a happy festival where the Pop Trolls get to share their products and creations in this newly built set of market stalls. As soon as they entered, Val had to cover her eyes from the spotlights that sit on the tall branches above everyone. While she wasn't looking at where she can going, she could quickly identify the huge market that seemed to spread out across the square. Different colorful stalls covered the ground with rainbow roofs, flag lines and smoke lines coming from delicious, cooking food. A mixture of Pop and Techno music played loudly from nearby beatboxes. Several Trolls wandered around while buying from the markets.
And there, the burglar flying in a straight line between the stalls.
Val growled and Finn panted from behind. However, they were cut off when a large pink gas surrounded them. Val immediately halted, groaning in annoyance.
"Oh crap," she said to herself. "Now I have to drag Popsqueak into this?"
On the other hand, Finn was still flying and obviously not looking at where he was going.
WHAM!
Branch groaned as something toppled him over. And he caught the sight of a midnight blue face and electric turquoise eyes. Finn quickly hovered upwards and lifted him up.
"Sorry, mate," he said.
"Better watch where you're going," grumbled Branch. "You know you can't use your light in the dark all the time."
Poppy slid in, right in front of Val. "Oh! You finally arrived! I can't wait to show you-!"
"Poppy!" shouted Val firmly. "I can't now! There's a robber on the loose and he is getting away!"
"What robber?"
Good thing that the smoke already cleared as they were presented with a sight of the Classical Troll pushing through a group of Pop Trolls. Two Country Trolls came by, carrying a large cart of apples. However, the burglar paid no attention and just flew right through, prompting the Country Trolls to drop the shiny apples.
"And he is causing a riot too," said Val.
Poppy gasped, noticing the shiny black case in his hands. "What did he steal?"
"Some guy's jewelry," said Finn. "Crikey, let's just get him already! We can't wait for long."
"Hold on," said Branch. "He is trying to exit the east side of Pop Village. That isn't where most Trolls would leave the town, right?"
Poppy nodded. "Yeah, but that is where dark things come out in the night."
"And I've already set up traps there!" said Branch with a smirk, cracking his knuckles. "I say we give him a run for his money and he will be off guard once he steps out of the east border."
"What?!" said Finn. "You've set traps all around!"
"You and Val distract him and lead him to the east side! Poppy and I will get ready! We know the traps."
Without waiting for Poppy's response, Branch grabbed her hand and ran in the opposite direction towards some bushes. Val snorted as she grabbed Finn, pulling him so that he could get some head-start speed.
"Let's go kick that guy's butt, fish boy!" said Val.
"That is not even my name!" yelped Finn, quickly soaring through the air on his own.
With the Classical robber not even above the market stalls, Val and Finn jumped over a few of the market stalls to catch up with him. This gave them a close distance to catch the thief. He was still going so fast, nearly crashing into every Troll that came in his way, but the two were able to catch up.
The burglar quickly threw the diamond case in the air and quickly snatched a box of cupcakes. He kicked it up high behind before catching his intentional target.
Val gasped as she saw the cupcakes fly towards her. While seemingly harmless – with the soft icing and the smooth dough – it could blind her and brake her run so that the criminal can get away more quickly. She quickly dodged, twisting her foot to spin in the air. She lifted one hand as a cupcake nearly hit her in the fact. Her foot kicked at one cupcake before she rolled all the ground to dodge the remaining cupcakes flying above her.
Finn panted, nearly falling behind. Growling, he placed his bandanna over his mouth and sped up. He was nearly in front of Val.
The burglar groaned at the sight of his pursuers still picking up speed. He grabbed a random crate from a Rock Troll and threw it back at them.
This time, the lid opened up to reveal a batch of cupcake à la splodes.
Val's eyes widened. Now those are more effective.
Finn didn't know that, but he didn't need to.
Reaching something inside of his vest, he grabbed out a dagger. The blade seemed to be made from a crystal that has a shiny blue and purple gradient. The handle nearly appeared to be a short and thick neon glowstick, making an orange glow. Without flinching, he swings his dagger around.
The missiles all cut into pieces and flew through him harmlessly before exploding. All the cupcakes were cut vertically like pork slices. All in one take of a dagger slash. Not even missing a beat, Finn quickly placed his dagger back inside his vest.
Val grinned, giving him the thumbs up. "Sick cutting, bro!"
The burglar was taken aback by this. That new Techno Troll must know how to fight than compared to passive and chilled Techno Trolls. He let out a huff as he went through a small narrow path between two market stalls.
Val and Finn decided to go through an opened-window stall as their own shortcut. Val had to jump over the wooden walls and run through the inside, accidentally bumping into one of the cooks, a table of bowls of brown chilis and a mini stove. The stove was currently cooking a pan of eggs, so when she crashed into it, the pan fly off and a fire bursts through the panel. Val just jumped right out of the stall, unaware of the fire that got onto her hair and skirt.
Finn simply flew through the stall without crashing into anyone. He caught up, glancing at Val as they both ran.
He looked back at her when he smelled the smoke. "Oi, Valley! Get some water. You look like a cooking barbie!"
Val is confused. "What does that even mean?"
"You are burning on fire now!"
Val was annoyed that he didn't know that Rock Trolls are fire resistant, but more on his wordings.
"Then just say that!" shouted Val.
"YOU ARE BURNING ON FIRE NOW!" screams Finn, panicking.
The burglar sniffed and smelled the burning smoke behind him. He looks behind to see Val, still on fire without burning. He yelped as he flew right around a corner. Val instead took another narrow path through the stalls and popped up on the other side. Right near the burglar.
As she jumped, her hands swung upwards in an attempt to grab him. But the burglar managed to get away, but the fire had already spread to his jacket.
He let out a scream and quickly looked around, finding a pool of water. He found what must be a large water tank with several rubber ducks. He ducked down a little, so that he could cool down the tips of his jackets that are on fire. With it extinguished, he flew right back up.
Finn smirked, having an idea. He quickly dived down into the water, using it as an advantage. Techno Trolls traveled faster when in water. Using his speeding powers – where the Techno Trolls speed in water, leaving behind particles – he swam through and jumped up. He didn't even need to use the remainder of his powers to get enough speed.
As soon as he flew right out of the water, he was about to reach the burglar.
But the Classical Troll had other plans.
He took out what looked like a golden grenade and threw it right at the Trap Techno Troll's face.
KABOOM!
Finn let out a girly scream as he was sent flying backwards. It was not for long as Val quickly caught him to break his fall.
"Wow!" said Val, still running. "You are really light!"
"Let go off me," growled Finn, flying out of her arms.
The chase continued into a wide stall that was meant to be a bumper car arena. As the burglar flew towards it, he realized he hadn't been focusing that much on where he was going or aware or where he was supposed to go through the market. He concentrated on trying to get to the secluded side of the village and he was almost close. That meant taking a shortcut through a busy and dangerous area.
Clutching onto the diamond case to his chest, he flew straight above the front gate and into the arena. However, he was able to keep a good height above the speeding bumper cars below him. They kept driving around and crashing into each other. Anyone who was not a driver or a passenger would be roadkill in this place. A fate that he would like to avoid.
Meanwhile, Val and Finn didn't have an easy way around. The bumper car stall was right between two tents and there was no short way to get to the other side. Having no choice, they jumped in.
Val managed this easy. As a danger-loving Troll, she quickly jumped upwards and started to hop over the bumper cars. She used them as platforms for her to get across, but the trouble came with trying to leap over them quickly. They sure go really fast on road. She hopped over the first half, but when she got to the second half of the ground, she nearly tripped and accidentally fell over one bumper car.
Despite this, she rolled over and pushed herself upwards, just in time before a bumper car could crash into her. This time, she jumped higher that she started hopping onto several Trolls' heads. They felt like soft mushrooms as she hopped over each one of them. They would stop for a moment to find how they were hit before being bumped into other cars, focusing back on the fun mayhem.
Finn, on the other hand, was STRUGGLING. He got every hit on the side of his body. Because he failed to fly near the ceiling, he ended up getting hit by one bumper car. Then, he got by another. He quickly kept his tail fins up so that he wouldn't get dragged under one of them, but that didn't stop him from getting hurt constantly.
He was already becoming a beachball in the arena as every bumper car kept crashing into him and throwing him all around the place. His body was already a blurry midnight blue ball as he grunted in pain. Every bang in his body would have been enough to destroy his ribs, but he didn't hear any bones cracking.
Eventually, Val quickly grabbed him and threw him out through the window on the other side of the stall. She leapt out of the bumper cars arena, landing onto her knees.
She whooped at her epic slide. "First try and I got out there alive! Not as good as riding down the volcano, but it's good enough!"
Meanwhile, Finn had his face drilled into the ground. He groaned, trying to get up. He pushed his hands onto the ground to push him up, but fell right back down.
"What are you doing?" asks Val.
"Doing the world's slowest push-up," grumbled Finn.
The Rock Ambassador rolled her eyes as she grabbed him and pulled him along. The burglar was still far from them.
The burglar huffed as he flew through the market. It was still far from his exit and he didn't know if he would be able to get out of Pop Village. He looked behind to find that his pursuers were still catching up to him. He needed to distract them for a while. Just anything nearby him or at his reach. His wings were going to collapse soon due to carrying the heavy case for too long.
He approached a small wooden hut that is opened with a small window. And right near it was a box of what must be pink powder. He looked behind to see Finn and Val catching up to him. He looked back at the pink powder.
Hopefully this would work.
He grabbed a handful and slammed the powder into the ground.
POW!
He laughed as he continued to fly straight and through the window. The powder crashed into the ground, exploding. Pink ashes flew everywhere like a bath bomb being deployed. Val had to stop because this was going to blind her again. She braked on her heels, the sound of car screeching being made. She nearly fell down on the ground, but regained her balance.
Finn gritted his teeth behind his mask, not willing to stop.
He simply zoomed through the powder. It was short, but he felt that he had time just before he reached the end of the hut. Briefly using his glowing body to guide him through the pink gas, he founded the window and flew right through it.
Unfortunately, he wasn't looking where he is going.
As soon as he came out through the window, he went flying straight towards a large wooden bookcase.
CRASH!
Head-first, he instantly fell limp like a ragdoll. Before he could even lift his head up, the shelf fell over him.
With the pink powder clear, Val chose to jump over the hut. On the roof, she looked around and spotted the burglar heading to the east side of the village. Perfect. She looked down to see Finn wiggling around, trying to extract himself from the heavy bookshelf. Not so perfect.
She chuckled to herself, jumping down. With a quick kick, she sent the wooden bookshelf flying away, freeing Finn.
"A word of advice to a Techno Troll," said Val bluntly. "Speed is good, but awareness is more important."
"Yeah," groaned Finn, hovering up and brushing on his vest. "Like being aware that the robber is about to escape."
"But we got him right where we want him to be," said Val with a smirk.
The burglar was already ahead of himself in his head. With his two chasers already behind, he was already on his way to freedom. And the diamond case in his hands will help him to earn more money than ever. Not too bad for his first heist he had to say! He should probably thank his reflexive and fast abilities he learnt a long time ago.
Those fools! Those fools! Do they really think they can outrun him? They are really trudging behind. And neither the Classical Trolls can match his high level of combat. Nothing is going to stop him now! He can do this all day and do another robbery like this again!
Unfortunately, those dreams and ideas were cut short when he entered the dark area of the Pop Village.
Or more like…Branch's darkest nightmare land for all Trolls in the world.
"NOW!" yelled Branch.
Hiding from behind a tree, Poppy pulled the rope. She squeaked as she heard the familiar creaking noise and the suddenly rustling of leaves. The burglar let out a yell as a net hidden right under autumn leaves shot out and catches him. He screamed as he was pulled up, the net catching him and leaving him hanging on a tree branch.
"Yes!" exclaims Branch's voice. "It works!"
But it wasn't over. The Classical Troll growled as he swung around. He pulled out a knife and sliced the ropes of the net. Freeing himself, he grabbed onto his diamond case and tried to fly his way out of here.
"He's out!" screams Poppy, panicking. "He's out!"
"Activate all of the traps!" yells Branch.
As they knew the functions of the traps made, they pulled every rope and pressed every button nearby. All the traps came alive. A large gun filled with tranquilizing darts popped out and fires them at the burglar. The Classical Troll yelped as he quickly dodged them, but got too close to another trap. It was a flower that opened its petals and fired a hot stream of green gas.
This was enough to blind him, sending him coughing and his eyes burning like they were on fire. He dropped the suitcase, but Poppy caught it before it broke onto the ground. With the Classical Troll distracted, Branch activated another trap; a swinging wrecking ball.
However, by the burglar snapped out from his daze, he saw the incoming metal ball. He flew out of the way and tried to scram. A metal cage appeared from the leaves and snap at him, but he stopped to avoid being caught in place. He turned the other way, only to knock his head into a tightrope that sprung out of nowhere.
The pathetic Classical Troll was sent falling down. Branch and Poppy came out of their hiding places, quickly raising out their hands to catch their target.
"I GOT HIM!" calls Branch.
"I GOT HIM!" yells Poppy loudly.
Miserably, none of them did.
The burglar crashed into the ground, bouncing up like a teddy bear. He growled as he felt pain shooting through his entire body. He slowly lifted his head to see the two Pop leaders. And oh, Finn and Val just arrived at the scene, panting from running so far.
The burglar narrowed his eyes as he dashed away again.
Branch hadn't set any good traps on the ground, so this was a good escape for him. The Classical Troll couldn't help but let out a cackle, knowing that he can still run.
Poppy let out a groan. "This can't drag on like this!"
Indeed, it couldn't. [1s]
The burglar suddenly stopped. He didn't know why, but something blocked him. He was unable to move. That was because he felt the barrel of a weapon pressing against his forehead.
In front of him was Jazzy, holding a red and purple Flashball gun that was filled with red powder bombs. This was her most used weapon the 'Cherry Bomber'.
"Where do you think you are going?" she hissed.
And it was super effective when she pressed the trigger.
KABOOM!
The burglar screamed as he was sent flying backwards through the red powder. With him near the group, Branch quickly whipped his hair and caught him around the waist. The criminal was caught and Branch lifted him high. However, the burglar was unable to accept defeat, quickly taking out four golden grenades. [2]
He threw them around wildly.
Poppy and Val quickly ducked as they were the closest to two incoming grenades. They exploded when they hit the ground, sending them falling onto the floor. Finn gasped as a grenade nearly hit him in the face, but he ducked as it crashes into a tree. It exploded, but it didn't burn the stump. Jazzy watched as the fourth grenade missed her and ended up caught in a flower. The petals immediately gulped it in, nearly swallowing it like an animal.
Branch gritted his teeth. "Tell us who you are!"
The burglar wiggled around, nearly lunging out. "None of your business."
The hair holding him tightened harder. The burglar was surprised by how strong Branch's hair is.
"Tell us now or I will squeeze the evil out of you!" snarled Branch. "You tried to steal from Rock Hallow!"
The burglar stopped squirming around. Knowing that they wouldn't hold back unless he talked, he sighed and decided to answer their questions.
"You really sympathize to those hard-stoned Rock Trolls?" the burglar, his voice deep and level. "For their tribe, it is expected that crimes would occasionally happen in Rock society and none of them do anything to change that. If you are in their shoes, there is no need to overreact."
"You stole something precious to one Troll," said Val, seething quietly. "It's like you are stealing the strings. That is actually not acceptable."
"Technically, I wasn't stealing that jewelry. I was going to trade them in the black market."
"Yeah, for getting money."
"What do you else expect from robbers?" said the burglar sarcastically. "It's what we do."
"And what do robbers do as well?" said Jazzy, pointing her weapon at him. "Spend their pathetic life in jail!"
The burglar looked back at Jazzy. "Wait a minute. So, THIS is the Chess Master the outcasts have been talking about. I'm surprised that you decided to work with the royalties here. Change of lifestyle, woman?"
"Eh, not really," said Jazzy. "It's not like I'm going to be around here for my whole life, but I'm trying to get TrollsTopia in the best shape possibly. Can't let it fall into the devil's hands and watch it burn."
"Huh," snorted the burglar. "I thought that you wouldn't be around with leaders. Stubborn Chess Master always goes on her own because nobody is too good for her, is that right?"
"Yeah, but I'm not much of a fan of someone who is trying to disrupt the peace happening in the growing established town that can bring the possibility of a reunited Trolldom."
The burglar rolled his eyes. "Well, you're not the one who is working for gullible, shrunken-brained Pop Trolls."
"Then what is your reason for stealing people's possessions?"
"I thought it is obvious already, but let me tell you this. Every Troll should be free to do whatever they want, so I'm living that freedom. There should be nothing for me to stop at what I want to do at this town."
"You can't just steal stuff from others just because you feel like it!" protests Poppy.
"Well, you can't make the other Trolls go soft just because you want to make them accept and befriend the Pop Trolls!"
Val was offended. "Look, dude! I might not like the Pop cultures that much, but I think my time here is making me a better person. And it helped me a lot with communicating with other Trolls without causing any conflict! No more fighting, no more debating and no more injuries between tribes! All right after the World Tour!"
"Hmph. Well, that is a good thing to be honest, but you are missing the point of getting all the Trolls together."
"Like what?" said Branch. "We already make amends with the other tribes. The danger is gone, isn't it?"
The burglar snickered. "You'll be surprised of what you will be inviting over here."
"I don't think that is necessary," said Jazzy, her hand gripping onto her weapon tightly. "Because you know that anyone who tries to disrupt the peace will suffer the consequences like every low-life of this planet."
This got him laughing his head off the most. "Oh, Jazzy. You know that you even try to wipe out every low-life of this planet. And you know that you are superior to most of your kind. I mean, when I first heard of you, I'm surprised of how much the Chess Master have done. How much blood did you shed to get to the top?"
This got Branch and Poppy confused.
"Buckets full, oaf," said Jazzy simply. "But those weren't pointless kills. They are meaningful and do better for this world."
"Wait," said Poppy. "Blood?"
The burglar scoffed. "Oh, right. You didn't know that Jazzy has offed some Trolls before?"
Both Pop leaders froze when he said that. Val raised an eyebrow skeptically. Finn gasped softly, glancing over at the Chess Master. What? Jazzy? A murderer? That must be ridiculous. Despite her role as a bounty hunter, they were sure that no Troll would be willing to kill each other. Creek and seemingly Barb tried to, but the only things that kill off a Troll is by natural causes, freak accidents or anything that eats Trolls on their diet.
Branch slowly turned his head to Jazzy in disbelief. "What? Jazzy, what is this?"
"What?" said Jazzy, sounding annoyed. "You never know?"
Poppy was baffled by this. "No. We didn't know that…you killed people before?"
"I thought Charleston told you everything about me!"
"But she never mentioned to us that you were an accessory to MURDER," snarled Branch, his eyes burning.
Jazzy went silent. She had the urge to roll her eyes, but she reminded herself that in society, murdering is against the law. And here, she had openly revealed to have killed Trolls in the past before. And despite nobody knowing or caring who victims were, it was still a sign that one would resort to killing another Troll. The Pop Trolls made sure (or at least Branch) Creek never forget that. This wouldn't be a thing a leader would do!
The burglar hung his head high and laughed harder. "Typical Jazzy; always expecting people to know all about her, even her most sinister crimes. No matter the type of society, you don't have the balls to face expectations as a royal leader. You're as bad as the criminals all the Trolls know."
"I'm not a criminal," growled Jazzy, one step from blasting this shortie's brains. "I'm a mercenary."
"Well, then what did you do? Sold three guys out just because they want to take most of the prize? Nearly sacrifice an entire tribe because a hater ordered you to kill them off? Leaving people to die without even dragging them to a hospital? You're a messed-up wretch, admit it."
Despite the hair wrapping him, the burglar leaned in as if to appear menacing.
"You always have to go over to scrap money to make a title for yourself and now you are hiding behind the shield of two naïve and jinxed leaders, only to still fall flat with lousy expectations and still dragging on until years later. And you are working with confused residents who could care less on what you really want for TrollsTopia or even persuade your dim-witted Swing leader to give you authority to look after your own tribe."
Finn's ears twitched when he saw Jazzy moving her eyes down. She was trying to place on her fearless expression, but it was clear that the burglar's narrative stuck with her. She was looking doubtful, shaking her heads too many times for him to count. This wasn't the Jazzy he saw. She wasn't as confident as before anymore. The fact that hearing how not many people think much of her was just heartbreaking; her name nothing more than a title in the mainland.
"Why struggle to support a leader circle when you know that you are not even good for them when you can partner up with me and create our own HARMONY in all of Trolldom?"
He slowly pointed at Poppy and Branch.
"Starting with the ones who never saw what you saw?"
Finn's eyes widened. Was he encouraging her to kill them?!
"I knew who shouldn't have trusted her already!" shouted Branch.
"Hold on!" said Poppy. "She hasn't moved her gun yet! Jazzy, please. You're going to throw us away like that? After we managed to find the other tribes with your help? Don't do this or TrollsTopia will never be complete!"
Jazzy didn't dare to move her gun, but she was shaking. She knew that this criminal had a point, but it was a stupid move to kill the leaders already.
The burglar hadn't stopped talking. "You really underestimate how much danger you are putting TrollsTopia in. Because if you open the gates, you will have uninvited guests that you don't even want. And it all comes from the Chess Master who is trying to leave that all behind."
"SHUT UP!" roared Jazzy, clicking on her trigger as a warning.
"Or what?"
"Or I will kill you."
The burglar just smirked. "Go ahead. Hope that will get everybody's respect. Still, I think it is embarrassing backing them up. You are wasting a lot of potential there. You can be either the queen of the chess board or you can be a weak, little-"
SLING!
A dagger went flying, nearly cutting the burglar's nose off. It stabbed into a tree, the blade shining dangerously.
All eyes were on Finn who was livid.
"Are you offering a crown for her throne?" he asked aggressively, his fists and ears twitching uncontrollably. "Or are you going to shove a bloody staff right through her mineshaft?"
Jazzy looked at him in shock. She was surprised that he was standing up for her. The cold Electro Ray was actually supporting her! When did he get so overprotective of her?
The burglar huffed, smirking as he finished his sentence. "…pawn."
But he was staring at Finn. He was relating to him as one.
Finn growled, gritting his teeth.
"I think we have enough for tonight," said Val. "We have plenty of time to talk when you are in prison."
"I don't think that will be possible," said the burglar.
"It's game over, man," said Poppy.
The burglar chuckled casually. "You called game way too early."
There was a soft beeping nearby. It was growing louder and nearly ringing in their ears. Jazzy slowly turned around to see the closed flower…with a glowing red dot in the stem. In fact, the dot was travelling along up to the petals. And then, the flower started to shake violent.
"EVERYBODY, GET DOWN!" she screamed, even surprised of how scared she sound.
The fourth golden grenade spat out from the flower and flying right towards Branch. Poppy quickly pulled him to the side, but that made him loses his focus and his hair extracted itself. The burglar flew upwards as the grenade went off and the explosion forced everybody to flee. He flew upwards onto a tree branch, looking over his shoulder.
Jazzy quickly got up with Finn coming to her side.
"By the way," said the burglar. "The name is Bruce Ritardando. And remember me as the start of chaos."
With this reminder set in stone, he flew away. Val took out her guitar and went onto a large hill, looking through the market of Pop Village. There was no sight of the malicious Classical Troll anyway. He had hidden too easily. [2s]
Bruce was already gone.
Val growled angrily as she marched down the hill. Once back with the group, she smashed her guitar. Her teeth bared in fury as she began to stomp onto the wrecked guitar, stomping harder and harder until it turned into bits and strings. And she continued stomping on it until they were nothing but particles.
"DANG IT!" she shouted. "He has gotten away! I swear if that Brucey guy shows his stupid face again, I'll rip it off, turn his brain inside out and outside in again!"
Branch sighed, rubbing his head. He was disappointed in losing that criminal. He thought that he got him square and fair, but Bruce had other tricks to win the game.
"Sorry that we lost him," he apologized.
"It's OK, Branch," said Poppy, rubbing his back. "We'll find him. He shouldn't be too far unless he knows how to survive out in the woods. Val, I want you to do a quick search through town. And give the black case back to the right owner."
"But I'm still freaking mad, Pops!" said Val. "I just need to bash some heads in first before I can cooperate!"
"Just go and search before it's too late."
The Rock Ambassador groaned. "Give me that black suitcase. I need to return it anyway."
Poppy nodded and tossed Val the diamond case. Catching it, the Rock Ambassador ran off.
Poppy smiled to herself for a brief time. She didn't need Val to be included in this chat she wanted to do with Jazzy. Frowning, she slowly turned around to face the Chess Master and Finn who came close to her. Jazzy was still stoned, already exhausted from the bickering and the failure of arresting the wanted criminal.
"You're alright?" the Pop Queen asks.
"Yeah," said Jazzy, nearly looking away. "I'm OK."
"You look really nervous when Bruce told us about you…killing other Trolls before. Is that true?"
Jazzy scoffed. "For the last time, it is true. The Chess Master is a bounty hunter; ruthless and never afraid."
"You really did so?" said Branch, his eyes narrowed. "I can't believe you did that in the past! We never met a Troll who is also a murderer. You got some explanation to do!"
"Heaven forbit, isn't that enough? Charleston should have told you long ago."
"There is an even bigger problem here! Bruce might be right. There are still Trolls out there. We don't exactly know what they will do when they come over here. And your reputation known outside the mainland is going to attract unwanted attention!"
"I might have a bounty on my head," protested Jazzy. "But that doesn't mean it's going to affect our work so far now."
"One thing I am shocked about is you!" said Poppy, pointing a finger at her. "You willingly killed people for your missions, according to that Classical Troll. And you never stopped to think about their life and feelings? What did they do to you?"
Jazzy groaned.. "I'm a mercenary. IT'S WHAT I DO."
"That doesn't sound like an excuse."
Jazzy was already growing inpatient and annoyed that Poppy hadn't really learnt the harsh realities outside her home. She placed her weapon back into her jacket and took out her cane. She needed it to scratch on it to control her temper. Her skin turning red was an indicator, but it was glowing.
Finn took a step back, knowing that this might not be pretty.
"Every action I did has a reason," said Jazzy, her voice quiet but stern. "Some may be petty, but leave me out of this. I don't personally have a reason, but I just had to do what I need do. I live in a world where there is no cupcakes and rainbows, and I don't step outside of safety. Unlike you two! You still have a lot to look at. There are things I have did that neither any of you will understand!"
"But aren't you killing innocent lives?" asked Poppy.
"My past targets weren't innocent. They were evil, some were criminals who were higher than me. They were just roadblocks to our world and they needed to be destroyed."
Branch was even shocked by this. "Wow."
"Trust me; if you met them before I kill them, then you would see how cruel and bad they are. And you wouldn't want to be in a room with them. More of them here in this town is going to cause a bigger ruckus than you think."
Branch thought for a while to consider it, nodding a little. However, Poppy didn't agree with this idea.
"C'mon!" said Poppy. "Here in TrollsTopia, we all share our differences and have the freedom with what we want. We need to respect each other's wishes and work together to have a strong kingdom. You can't leave everybody out of this! Don't you want to share your music with many people as you can? Show them that they can be good like all of us with everlasting happiness? To inspire them to find the same feelings that you brought here in the first place? TrollsTopia should be a place where everybody is happy with who they are and not needing to survive for themselves. I know you feel that way too. Right, Finn? You enjoy it here?"
"Uh…" Finn didn't know how to respond back. He hadn't been outgoing in TrollsTopia that much, but he like his time so far. Maybe it was because he met Jazzy. However, he cared less for Poppy's idea of making him accept everyone. But if it was him to save the situation, then...
Before he could explain, Jazzy unfortunately gave everyone a piece of her mind.
AN: And here is where things turn and show the overall tone of the story! This chase scene is probably one of the hardest to write with needing to make it long and enough to fill one chapter. It has everything needed with high-class action, amusing injuries and unexpected attacks. It is based on the chase scenes from 'Sunset Paradise' and Raya and the 'Last Dragon'.
The scene where Bruce taunts Jazzy is similar to the scene in 'Helluva Boss' from the episode 'The Harvest Moon Festival'. Here, you see that Jazzy has been struggling to make herself a worthy leader, but the known crimes she did as the Chess Master and her aloof nature to other Trolls affect her desire to make TrollsTopia safe.
The scene where Finn yells at Val is on fire is based on Aquaman.
Here, we see the effectiveness and the craziness of Branch's traps! All the different traps that sprung out from nowhere and nearly caught Bruce alive! Crazy awesome, isn't it?
Speaking of Bruce, I hope that you enjoy seeing the new character Bruce Ritardando; a Classical Troll who is starting his own criminal record. This character is made with the help of MasterClass60, so shout-out to her! Bruce would be seen as this reckless, brave, manipulative criminal who knows the insides and the outsides. A magnificent bastard we would all say. ;) Inspirations to his personality would be Striker from 'Helluva Boss' as they are both charming, street-smart and strong.
Things are going to be intense and we are going to explore more of Jazzy's personality. Can you guess how things will go down? Will she accept Poppy's ideal world of TrollsTopia? Or will the chips go down? Let me know what you think in the reviews.
Thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).
Until next time, keep on rocking!