Shadgirl2: So the songs in this chapter are from later seasons of the show, but I wanted to bring them in anyway. The so-called new Troll Anthem sounds more like a theme song for Poppy and her friends than the anthem for the village in my opinion. I guess you can call me the Trolls Corrector. I've apparently made it my goal to point out all the flaws (so, I guess, see if you can spot them later). XD
Midna Azusa: Yeah, you have fun with that. Meanwhile, I'll just be over here, laughing at the chaos that will ensue in the coming chapters.
Shadgirl2: You really love mayhem, don't you?
Midna: They make it way too easy.
Disclaimer: We don't own Trolls.
Edit: Added details and scenes, fixed inconsistencies, changed some dialogue.
The next day, the trolls were gathered outside, along with a ton of packed-up party supplies that they were ready to load into a variety of transportation options. Poppy had even gone so far as to charter the caterbus for this occasion. Everyone but Creek had arrived, which didn't really surprise anyone. In fact, many were expecting him to change his mind rather than accompany them on this adventure. He wasn't exactly known for his bravery.
Poppy, however, took it in stride. Now dressed in her usual blue dress and no queenly attachments, she held Branch's map as she excitedly said, "Alright! So, from what I've managed to gather, the five, uh, Pop Troll villages form a tight circle around our village." Calling herself a Pop Troll was going to take some getting used to. "So! With that in mind, we should be able to drive to each one in question using the caterbus. Any takers?" She looked around at the crowd, eager to get going.
"Hold on a second, Poppy," Branch said. "If the Party Crashers have attacked these guys, I don't think they'll be all that happy to have visitors. If we're going to do this, we need to find a way to let them know we aren't going to attack them."
Poppy blinked, thinking about that. "Hmm... You may have a point on that one, Branch. So what do you propose we do?" She looked around at the others for suggestions. "Any ideas?"
"Ooh! Ooh!" DJ eagerly answered, waving a hand in the air. "How about we give them all a sandwich!? Huh!?"
"Yeah! Then they'll like us!" Cooper agreed.
"Um..." Biggie stopped himself. He wanted to tell them what he thought of that idea, but he couldn't find a polite way to say it was ridiculous.
Chenille put her hands on her hips and said, "DJ, I don't think that's going to work."
"Are we giving every troll group a sandwich or every troll?" Satin added as one possible problem with this idea. The logistics behind how this idea would play out were only one reason it seemed dumb, but she didn't think she'd need to mention all of them.
"Hmm... If you ask me, a gift of some sort isn't such a bad idea," Guy said, a hand to his chin as he thought about this. "It'd just have to be something that everyone can enjoy all at once."
"Okay! Then how about a song?" Smidge suggested, smiling with excitement at her suggestion. "Songs can be listened to by everyone all at once and tell others what's up."
Poppy beamed brightly at Smidge. Songs were meant to make you happy and could be used for encouragement, so that sounded like a perfect use for music. "That's a great idea, Smidge! And I think I've got one in mind that's bound to work!" Poppy said, growing excited herself. Then she began to sing, making a song up on the spot. "You already know, know who we are, and I think you know how we get down. It is all about spreadin' the love, and we've got a lot to go around. Give me a T." She pointed at her friends expectantly.
Her friends, getting into the song, responded, "T!" Only Branch didn't join. Smidge even held up a sign with the letter "T" painted on it.
"Give me an R," Poppy sang as she pointed again.
"R!" Guy stood next to Smidge, holding a sign with an "R" on it.
"Give me an O, double L, S now! What's that spell?" She smiled at the others, waiting for the answer.
"Trolls!" her friends cheered. They'd raised signs over their heads with each of the respective letters, spelling out the word.
Poppy closed her eyes, please, and sang, "Sing it with me now."
And everyone joined in excitedly, save Branch. Poppy opened her eyes and reached for her friends' hands, and they had shortly formed a line, swaying to the music. Again, only Branch didn't join.
"We stand hand in hand, and we're better off now than ever before. We'll be sharing our joy and spreading the love around, strong and proud."
Smidge happily lifted the entire group high above her head with her hair. Everyone but Branch smiled down at her. Branch, for his part, jumped and cried out, startled at the sudden movement. It didn't last long, though. Smidge quickly put them all back down as a bunch of random critters came from all around and got hugged by a troll as they sang on. Chenille hugged a baby cuddle pup, Satin a kitty critter, DJ a glowfly, Guy a tarantapuff, Smidge a puffalo, Fuzzbert a finders keepers critter, Cooper a growlbeast, Poppy a grossum, and Biggie a snuggle squid. All the critters smiled affectionately as the trolls sang, "And no matter what kind of creature you are, we'll be sharing our joy and spreading the love around. Ooh."
The critters retreated back into the wilderness.
Alone, Poppy finished, "And we'll be spreading that love around." Her song complete and all the critters gone, Poppy, feeling rather proud of herself, crossed her arms and said, "I call it 'Spreading the Love'! It's a new song I just came up with seconds ago. What do ya think?"
Personally, Poppy was thinking of making this new song their anthem. It told the tale of their newfound friendship with every creature, bergens included. Poppy had learned from the last Trollstice that the best course of action was to make your enemies your friends! It worked with Archer, as well, confirming her belief. No other song could describe their society these days, she was sure.
Most of the trolls thought it was great. Satin and Chenille loved that it told everyone how loving and accepting they were. Biggie thought the tune would keep everyone calm, but he could see some room for improvement. Cooper loved the group participation Poppy had incorporated. Guy was looking forward to leading a crowd of soon-to-be adoring fans in a rousing rendition of the song.
Only Branch didn't think much of it. It was a great song, don't get him wrong, but it didn't seem like the sort of thing that would really help if someone was fearful of attack... It just sounded like Poppy's biography. "Uh...sounds just like you," he said simply.
"May I add something?" Biggie asked, raising a finger into the air.
Poppy blinked before looking at him curiously. She asked, "Like what?"
Biggie held up his pet worm, Mr. Dinkles, and answered with a huge smile, "Well, I just thought that they might feel better about us if they see Mr. Dinkles. I could sing about him!"
"Ooh, ooh! Can I add something to the mix, too!?" DJ asked excitedly
"I want in on that, too!" Smidge added eagerly, pumping her fists in front of her.
"Us, too!" said the twins in unison, their eyes bright.
All four of them seemed very excited at the idea of adding to Poppy's song, as if they thought there was something wrong with it.
"Since we're dealing with trolls who've been attacked, I think I can add something that'll make them trust us more," Branch offered.
Poppy blinked and looked around at the others, concerned now. "Wait, are you all saying my song's no good?" she asked, hurt. She'd thought she had done a great job summarizing who they were.
"Oh, no, Poppy!" Satin said, waving her hands in front of her. "Nothing like that!"
"We just wanted to make it a little more fun, that's all," Chenille explained.
"Yeah! Like addin' some background lyrics!" DJ said, already thinking of what she might add if given the chance.
"Or exciting exclamations!" Smidge added, pumping her fists into the air. She, too, was looking forward to putting her own spin on this song.
"I just thought adding something in about keeping others safe might help, that's all, Treasure," Branch told Poppy, using her pet name to soften the blow some.
Poppy wasn't sure if that was good timing for that, but she chose to ignore it, assuming that he was trying to be gentle with her feelings.
Guy gave a start and looked at Branch, wide-eyed. Then he crossed his arms, giving Branch a lame look, and said, "If you say so." Silently, he added, Safety nerd.
Honestly, Branch could be too much sometimes, but they'd all learned that they needed to accept this side of him as well as the fun side. The last time they'd failed to do that was an adventure that none of them wanted to repeat.
Poppy looked around as everyone kept talking eagerly. She still didn't like the idea, but it made sense that the others would want to get involved, too. She sighed. "Oh, alright what do you guys have in mind?"
And they eagerly started writing a new song based on her original creation. She decided she could accept that. If they just thought it needed fine-tuning, then they weren't saying it was terrible.
"Okay, people!" Poppy said, beaming eagerly, after they'd finished their song. "Let's take this from the top!" She looked to Biggie as he was the one who needed to start them off.
"From the mist of Misty Meadows to the shores of the lagoon," Biggie sang, "every troll will stand united as we sing this song to you."
Biggie thought putting Mr. Dinkles on display during the song was the best way to show him off. If everyone saw the cute little worm, he just knew they'd feel calmer.
"We're the trolls!" everyone sang. "We're love and harmony!"
"Oh. My. Ga!" Smidge cried out, echoed by the others after the first two words. She popped up randomly by a different troll with each word, hands to her face.
She wanted to add her own flair to this song, and this was her way of doing it. She required that someone do it each time the song was sung, whether her or another. There was only one rule: Pop up by a different troll each time mimicking her exact body language. She hoped the added surprise would excite everyone and make them laugh. For this round, she popped up between Guy and Fuzzbert first, then beside Branch, and then right in front of Cooper, looking goofy and shocked each time. Guy grinned, amused. Fuzzbert lost focus for a second as he tried not to laugh. Cooper did start laughing. Branch jumped, then rolled his eyes.
"Sing it with me now!" Poppy sang, holding her arms out wide.
The group all gathered in a circle, holding hands, and rocked to the music. As a group, they sang, "We stand hand in hand. And no matter what kind of creature you are, we'll be sharing our joy and spreading the love around."
The twins broke out of the circle and stepped in front, miming a hug. "We got endless hugs for creatures, all types," they rapped. "Love's how we roll, friendship for life!" They crossed their arms, standing back to back, with smiles on their faces.
They figured, since they'd be visiting different troll tribes with different genres, that adding in something of a different genre would help them convince these trolls they were friendly.
"Ooh, Mr. Dinkles!" Biggie crooned at the worm. He was on his knees, reaching out for the worm dramatically. Honestly, he didn't have a reason for this. He just kinda felt like singing to Mr. Dinkles.
"Put your hair up, yeah!" DJ sang, stepping in front of Biggie and waving her hair in the air. She swayed some to the music, a microphone in hand, for some reason. Her only goal with this addition was to excite the crowd of possibly uneasy trolls they'd encounter on this adventure.
"I've got your back so you can all relax," Branch sang, getting in front of DJ in a protective stance. "I'll keep the lookout for you, and I'll never stop." He rocked a bit to the beat and spun once at the end.
A group of trolls that had been attacked, Branch assumed, would be more wary of trusting strangers. Telling them he'd keep an eye out for them seemed the best way to convey that he —and, by extension, his friends—came in peace.
The trolls all came back together as a group and sang, "We're the trolls. We're love and harmony."
"We've got love," Guy sang, hugging Biggie. He felt that emphasizing this part was crucial.
"Yeah!" Smidge said, popping up between the two hugging trolls, her fists clenched in her face. For this part, she insisted that whoever was doing it always pop up and break off a hug, when possible. If not, just pop up between two trolls.
"We've got love." Guy hugged Satin next.
"Yeah!" Smidge popped up between Guy and Satin, doing the same thing as before.
"We've got love." Guy hugged Smidge, who launched him into the air.
"And we'll be spreading that love around," Poppy finished the song, sharing a rather tender hug with Branch.
Up above, as Poppy embraced her boyfriend, Guy shot off a glitter fart in the shape of a heart over the heads of the couple. Everyone else was in the background, just hugging a random friend—Smidge and Biggie, Cooper and DJ, and Satin and Chenille with Fuzzbert between them.
This glitter heart would, according to Guy, be the final sign that they were friendly. However, he acknowledged that most of them would need fireworks for it instead.
Poppy was rather surprised at how much her song had improved when her friends added in their own ideas. Maybe it wasn't so bad to have her friends critique her songwriting.
"Well! That sounded a lot better, you guys," she said cheerily. "Great work!"
Everyone started talking excitedly about the song, happy about their creation. They could see just how the other trolls would react already. Some tried to convince Branch and Cooper to run home and get some fireworks made up. Branch protested that they didn't have time for that, but Cooper pulled out some supplies for what he called "emergency firework-making," and he and Branch started working on them.
Just then, Creek came running over with a bunch of bags. "I'm sorry I'm late, gang! What'd I miss?" he asked with a smile.
Nobody seemed to notice him, too engrossed in conversation.
"Yyeah! This song's so great, I'm thinking of making it the new Troll Anthem!" Poppy said cheerily. "What do you think?" She crossed her arms, rather pleased with this outcome. Maybe something could top her song. That group one was perfect, no doubt about it.
Creek looked around, feeling rather confused. New Troll Anthem? What did I miss?
Being late wasn't any fun.
"Uh, do we even need a new Troll Anthem?" Smidge asked with a rather lost expression on her face.
"The old one talks about bergens being our enemies!" Cooper said pointedly as he turned his attention away from the fireworks for a second.
"Then yes, I think we do," Biggie said, nodding.
Branch whirled around with a rather unhappy look about him. "The old anthem's a classic!" he complained, unwilling to change it. He looked around at the others, then crossed his arms. "...But I guess this one would be okay," he admitted reluctantly. I don't know why we need a glitter heart at the end of the song, but okay. I guess it makes sense for trolls.
That reminded him—he needed to finish with these ridiculous fireworks. He turned his attention back to helping Cooper before the giraffe troll could blow his head off or something.
"Great! So we're all in agreement!" Poppy decided, throwing her arms up in the air. "Starting today, this will be our new Troll Anthem! Just as soon as we get these things delivered to all the other trolls!"
Everyone cheered in excitement, save Branch and one very confused Creek.
"Ooh! And, speaking of, I've got some things I need to pack up first! Be right back!" DJ said before she took off running.
She'd almost forgotten her supplies and her someone special. Where was her head today? This was worse than usual for her!
Poppy watched her go, stunned and curious as to what she needed to pack...and why she'd come here unprepared. "...Huh." She brushed the bizarre, definitely normal for Suki behavior aside and turned back to the group—and the matter at hand—smiling as she said, "So! As I was saying, who's going on the bus? Any takers?"
"I'm sorry, friends, but what's all this about a new Troll Anthem?" Creek asked, stepping forward to make sure he got their attention. "Did I really miss that much from running a bit late?"
"When did you get here?" Cooper asked curiously, cocking his head.
"Huh! And here I thought you wouldn't show after all, all things considered," Guy said. He was, however, pleasantly surprised that Creek hadn't backed out on them.
"Yeah. I mean, you never do when it comes to dangerous adventures like this," Smidge added as she crossed her arms, looking slightly annoyed at the thought. Creek was their friend, sure, but he could be such a wimp.
Neither of them meant any harm when they said that. It was just one of Creek's flaws that they had decided to accept.
Branch, on the other hand, meant plenty of harm when he crossed his arms and said, his tone hostile, "Not to mention you don't exactly take your responsibilities very seriously in the first place."
"Hey, hey, hey," Creek said, offended. "I said I'd help with this one, didn't I? I mean, with all those poor, innocent trolls out there in need of our assistance, it would be horribly rude of me to back out now. Why, what kind of a troll would I be to abandon those in need? Hm?" He gave a caring smile, which most took as sincere.
As he finished the last of the fireworks, Branch rolled his eyes and answered, "Yourself."
Everyone else, however, said, "Aw..." Most put their hands over their hearts. They gathered around Creek, feeling touched by that.
Branch smacked himself in the face, wondering if his friends would ever see Creek for what he was—a lying, manipulative jerk.
"That's so nice of you, Creek," said Satin as she and her twin hugged him.
"We're glad you're coming with us for this," Chenille added sincerely.
"Riiiight!?" Guy auto-tuned in happy agreement as the twins let go of Creek. "So, anyway, to explain the new anthem to you, Branch felt the other trolls might be troubled by what the Party Crashers did. So he suggested we do something special to shooow them we mean them no harm!"
"So we wrote a song that will tell the other trolls everything they need to know about us!" Biggie added.
"And Poppy thought it sounded so good, she made it our new Troll Anthem!" Cooper said, smiling.
Smidge slapped a piece of paper into Creek's hands, startling him some. "Here! That's the lyrics to the new song in case you need it!" she said eagerly. She then pointed at the notes involving her bizarre surprise pop-ups, looking serious as she added, "Make sure you do these all correctly! They won't have the right fun-loving impact if you get a single move wrong."
Creek stuffed the paper into his hair slowly, looking uncomfortable. "Uh...thanks..." That was definitely the short version, he was sure, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why scripted dancing was so important. Copying another troll's moves just seemed wrong to him, given that trolls generally made up their own. He shook it off and got back on track, saying, "Anyway, love, to answer your question, I better go to one of those colonies." He started wringing his hands, now looking slightly nervous, and added, "I mean, who knows what lies beyond our neck of the woods... Safety first, they always say." With that established, he started loading his bags onto the caterbus.
The other trolls weren't the only ones who learned something about Creek when he betrayed them. Creek himself had learned that he wasn't as brave as the others, so he knew better than to put himself in a dangerous situation. For everyone's sake, it was better if he stayed close to home.
"Great! One down!" Poppy said excitedly. She turned to the others with a big smile and clapped her hands together as she asked, "Who's next?"
"I think I'd rather stay close to home, too, if that's alright," Biggie said nervously. He didn't really want to meet an entirely different culture right this moment.
"I'll go with Biggie!" Cooper volunteered happily, apparently planning on stopping at the same village. He gathered up five fireworks and headed for the caterbus.
"Ten places, and they want to tag-team when there's only eleven of us," Branch muttered, mildly irritated, as he added the other five fireworks to the pile of supplies everyone would be grabbing. The twins would, obviously, have to go together, but the rest of them would have to fly solo, given their limited number.
"Aw, it's fine, Branch," Poppy said with a confident smile, seemingly not noticing a problem. She waved at the caterbus and added, "The caterbus should be able to cover all five groups! So! Anyone else gonna join 'em?"
"I'll go!" Smidge answered as she raised a hand, a look of concern on her face. "Someone's gotta keep these guys safe in case Creek loses it again." She glared at him with distrust, and Branch was rather pleased that somebody else realized the potential harm Creek could cause for once.
Creek sighed in defeat and said, "Yes. I deserve that..."
Poppy was quiet for a second—she couldn't argue with that, really. Creek had nearly killed them all before. Still, the whole thing seemed a bit odd—Why would Smidge feel the need to protect them? There wouldn't be any danger on a simple trip like this! Who was she, Branch?
"Well, okay, then!" Poppy said at last, clapping her hands again as she brushed it off. "So, before we load up the caterbus any further, who's off to the Rock Trolls!?" She threw a fist into the air, her excitement such that one of her feet also left the ground.
"Uh, anybody but the twins," Branch said uneasily, thinking of those that remained. "From what I've read, the Rock Trolls are a tough bunch."
Really, he thought he should go there, but the Country Trolls didn't sound much better. If only he could be in two places at once.
Guy cringed away, uncomfortable. "Ooh... Good point. Uh, c-can I go someplace a bit less than...that, if you please?"
Fuzzbert leaped around excitedly, accepting the fun challenge. He loved hardcore rap music, so he figured rock would be closer to his speed.
"Why, Fuzzbert! That's very kind of you," Poppy said, her hands down in front of her. She gave him a sweet smile, gestured to a hot air balloon, and added, "Then you get to take Sheila Balloon here 'cause it's closer than anywhere else."
The different tribes, much like the different villages, seemed to surround Troll Village, although the location of Troll Village within Pop territory did put the Rock Trolls—living in a volcanic area to the southeast—closer than the other tribes.
"Hi, Fuzzbert!" answered Poppy's living hot air balloon, covered entirely in pink flowers. "Ready to go!?"
Fuzzbert responded to Sheila's excitement in excited tones of his own and started loading his supplies into the basket.
Smidge's eyes widened in concern, and she dropped a bag to the floor at the door of the caterbus. "Hold on!" she cried, running over with a map in hand. "No one can go anywhere without one of these first!"
The map in question only really showed Pop territory, but Smidge had taped on some extra strips of paper and drawn X's to show where everything was, using Branch's map as a reference. These homemade, rushed maps looked like they were made by a little kid, but they'd do the job. At least they had important landmarks on them.
Fuzzbert took the crude map happily and stuffed it into his hair before going back to packing. He was honestly glad that he wouldn't be flying blind.
Poppy watched for a second, then smiled slightly, crossing her arms. "Hmm... Good point. Better make sure no one gets lost out there." She turned to the others, looking eager again. "Okay, people! From now on, everyone who's going to another tribe needs to take a map from Smidge first! Better safe than sorry, as my Alpha Wolf here'd always say!" She turned to Branch with a teasing grin.
She sometimes used that pet name just to mess with him. Where was the fun in their relationship if they couldn't tease each other once in a while? She knew him well enough to know how far was too far, after all.
"Yeah, especially when we're talking about you," he responded, giving a teasing smile, his arms crossed. "We know the kinds of misadventures you can get into."
Poppy gave him a lame and annoyed look. She hadn't been talking about herself.
"Anyway," she finally said as she happily turned back to the others. She looked at the map to choose the next location. "So who's—"
"I'm back, y'all!" DJ cut in excitedly.
Poppy blinked and looked from her map to the returning troll, curious. DJ came riding over on her wooferbug with a few more all tied together trailing along behind. A young purple troll girl with blue hair and headphones sat beside her.
"What did I miss?" DJ asked with a sly grin, leaning on her wooferbug's turntable.
"This is so cool, Aunt DJ!" said the little girl, arms raised in excitement. "I can't believe my parents let me come along to help you with this! We're gonna have a killer time helping everyone."
DJ smiled at the child who was, apparently, her niece and said, "You know it, little CJ!"
"Wiki wiki what!" they both said, miming DJing at each other. They laughed.
Branch did a quick inventory. DJ had brought along a young troll, along with seven wooferbugs. Each of these bugs had bags filled with supplies strapped to them. There were several things wrong with this situation, but he just crossed his arms and smirked, leaving it up to the queen to deal with this ridiculousness.
"Aw, DJ! Who's that? She's adorable!" Satin said, her hands to her face, looking at the little girl.
"This? This here's my niece, CJ! She really looks up to me as her favorite aunt and all."
"You know it, Aunt DJ! You're the coolest!"
"You're taking her with you?" Chenille asked. That didn't seem like the best idea to Chenille, given that they knew nothing about these other tribes.
"Yep! I figured, since we're goin' to be helpin' out a bunch of other trolls, it'd be a neat idea to bring her along on a little road trip! Ya know, so she can help out and do a little sight-seein' on the side."
Yes, because that was what they planned to do.
Poppy stared at this set-up, stunned and disturbed. "...Uuuhh..." She shook her head to clear it, then got back to business. She approached DJ, looking at her with confusion, and asked, "Okay, cute little sidekick aside, what's all this about, DJ? Why do you have so many wooferbugs tied together like that?"
"Oh. Ya mean this?" she asked, gesturing at her bug caravan with a sly smile. "They're my little posse to help me deliver this stuff to the other trolls." She put a hand on her hip and added, "See, I figured there wouldn't be enough room in any of the transports we had. So I gathered up a bunch of wooferbugs to do all the heavy liftin' for me!" With this declaration, she threw her arms up in the air.
In what way did that make sense? Poppy gave her an awkward grin and said, "Uh...yeah... Well, if that's the case, you might wanna fly off to go see the Techno Trolls. Ya know, since they're the second closest." She walked over and handed DJ the map so she could see where she was going as Smidge came over to give DJ a map of her own.
Incidentally, Smidge was a bit concerned for her friend's sanity at the moment. DJ was definitely not making sense. A wooferbug caravan?
DJ took the map and found the Techno Trolls—located off the coast of the continent in a place called the Techno Reef—then said, "Got it!" She turned to her niece and said, "Come on, lil missy! We got some helpin' to do!"
And then things got a little strange. DJ handed the map back to Poppy, pulled out one of her own instead of taking one from Smidge, and drew a big circle on part of it. Nobody was quite sure where she'd gotten a map, but the fact that she'd felt the need to mark her destination told them all it probably didn't mention the other tribes at all. Then again, only Branch's map really did mention the other troll tribes.
"Okay!" CJ answered, excitement boiling over.
And, before anyone could stop them, the seven bugs all spread their wings and took off to the east.
Poppy's eyes widened. "H-hey!" she called in vain. She reached a hand out after the flying bugs. "Suki! I haven't even—"
"Later, ya guys!" DJ called, waving goodbye cheerily. "Have fun with all the other troll groups!"
"Yeah! Take care, everyone! See ya!" CJ said, waving as well.
Poppy just stared after them, dumbfounded.
Branch, on the other hand, was highly amused. "Well, guess that takes care of the Techno Trolls...in the middle of the ocean."
What a bunch of trolls were doing living in the ocean, he wasn't sure. Maybe they'd built some sort of structure that floated on the water.
"DJ and CJ... That's so adorable!" Smidge gushed, dropping her maps all over the ground and putting her hands to her cheeks with a smile. Apparently, she had forgotten about DJ's weirdness for the moment.
"I know, riiiiight?" Guy auto-tuned happily. "Why, it's as if those two were crafted from the same mold! They had so much in common, after all."
Feeling rather awkward, Poppy just kept staring after the retreating wooferbugs, stunned. "...Uuuhh... Okay, then." She whirled on everyone else, still looking awkward but grinning again now. "Next!?"
"Can I get a ride out to this lovely-looking desert?" Guy asked, pointing at the map. His eyes were sparkling, seeing the image on the map for the group known as the Funk Trolls. "Those Funk Trolls look like my kind of party."
On the map, there was what appeared to be a flying saucer with streamers trailing behind it off to the west of the Pop territory. A desert region stood between Pop and Funk lands. Guy took the flying saucer for a prop, assuming that these trolls were patrons of the arts. As an actor himself, this made him eager to meet them and compare notes. Of course, he expected that he would be the best actor of them all, but he still wanted to see these guys' skills, if possible.
"Sure, Guy," Poppy answered with a sweet smile. "You can hitch a ride with...whoever's going to this country spot way out there!" She looked at the map, seeing the long distance to that location. It was a bit north as well as west, so it would be a little out of the way, but that wasn't impossible. The problem was finding a volunteer. She didn't want to do it. Sweating, she looked at the remaining trolls and asked, "Any takers?"
Satin and Chenille immediately answered, "We'll take the Classical Trolls!"
Apparently, that was a no. Really why would they want to go out there? The Country Trolls were probably more fashion-challenged than a blind bergen (and, trust them, that was bad).
Branch sighed. Somehow, he'd known this would be the outcome. He raised a hand, a little annoyed, and said, "I'll go."
Poppy's eyes widened in shock. She turned to Branch, worried, and gasped. "Branch!"
"What? Someone has to, and the only ones left are you and me."
He didn't figure she'd want to go.
Poppy took a moment to find her voice. The very idea of letting her precious Butterfly go off to the Country Trolls alone was horrendous. She couldn't imagine a world in which she would allow that to happen. He'd turn back into a caterpillar if it did!
"...Uh...haha. No way, Branch," she countered, waving her arms through the air in front of her to emphasize her point. "Those moody Country Trolls will bring you down faster than you can say 'gray troll'." She put those two words in air quotes, a lame look on her face. "So there's no way I'm letting you go there alone." She crossed her arms, looking smug.
Branch smirked and said, "So...you're coming, too?"
She started, eyes widening. Suddenly she was uncomfortable. "Uuuuuhhh..."
"Queen Poppy! Wait up!" Harper's voice broke in before Poppy could find an answer.
Poppy blinked and turned to the new arrival, curious. As it turned out, it wasn't one new arrival. Four others had come as well. Harper was, as usual, so covered in paint that her colors were a mystery, but her white outfit was spotless. A blue troll with very elaborately-styled blue locks, Maddy was the village hairstylist, and she accompanied Harper. Karma was there as well, an orange troll with green hair (riddled with twigs and leaves, as usual). Bella Brightly, an orange troll with purple hair who often scheduled activities around the village, was also present. Aspen Heitz, the only male among this new group, was orange with blue hair. His arrival was especially surprising, given that the last time he'd helped Poppy with something, he'd nearly been attacked by Branch.
"We heard you're going off to help other trolls deal with the Party Crashers!" Bella said, smiling happily and clasping her hands in front of her face.
"That sounds so awesome!" Aspen said excitedly, pumping a fist into the air and stomping a foot in his excitement. "Can we help out somehow?"
Poppy smiled, loving the idea. Now they had more help. "Sure, you can! Bella, Harper, Karma, and Maddy, you guys load up the caterbus and head off to the troll groups around the village. And, Aspen? Fuzzbert may need some help, too. So you can go with him!"
"Okay, Queen Poppy!" the five new arrivals answered, and they went to help load up supplies.
"Uh, Poppy... How are we getting to the Classical Music Trolls?" Satin asked curiously.
"Uh... Hmm... Good question... Well, Guy's going in Air Force Fun 'cause it's a super long flight, but..."
"Hey. Why not take the Party Blimp instead?" Smidge suggested for the twins. She was, quite suddenly, standing right beside it.
That blimp hadn't been there a second ago, Poppy knew that for a fact. It wasn't one of the modes of transportation she'd gotten together for them.
Seemingly immune to the bizarre appearance of a device that hadn't been here before, Smidge continued, "Didn't that map show those guys were in the sky or something?"
Not exactly, but the Classical Music Trolls territory up north did appear to be very mountainous.
"Good idea, Smidge!" Branch said, thinking of these mountains. "That'll get the twins there."
He wasn't going to ask. Surely, there was a logical explanation, but since the "pop up randomly in front of trolls" girl was the one who had the blimp, he was just not going to ask.
Poppy decided to take the same action and ignore the blimp. Everyone was doing weird things today, so why worry about it? "Yep! Works for me! Hop to it, ladies! We got some trolls to visit!" Poppy agreed, waving them along eagerly.
"Okay!" they answered before running off to load up the blimp. Smidge handed Chenille a map.
"Okay! That leaves us with the...uuhh..." Poppy sweat, her enthusiasm fading as she realized what she'd just done.
More help had come her way, and she'd chosen to send them anywhere but the terrible place called Lonesome Flats.
Branch waited a second, smirking. His arms were crossed. Finally, he finished for her, "Country Trolls?"
She put a finger to her chin, thinking desperately. "U-uh... W-well, I-I could send us... No, that won't work. Oh! T-then maybe w-we could go to—"
"Poppy, come on. If you're going to do this, you have to do it right. I'll go to the Country Trolls, and you can just stay here."
Poppy blinked, eyes widening. "What!? No. Uh-uh." She shook her head, hands on her hips. "There is no way I'm letting you do that. So, I guess..." She slammed her eyes shut, throwing her head back, "...that means we're both..." Slowly, she brought a clenched fist to her chest, shaking, "...going to the..." Fist still shaking, she started sweating. Her voice was strained as she forced herself to accept the inevitable, terrible truth. "...Country Trolls..." She threw her head down, gasping out the final word as if she'd been holding her breath, "...together!" She took a few deep breaths to recover. Then she pouted, looking away with her arms crossed, and muttered, "How'd I get myself into this—"
Branch rolled his eyes at the drama. "Come on, Poppy, it's not that bad."
"Aaarr! Just—" She shoved him toward the boxes of supplies. "Stop talking and start loading stuff up!" she said, annoyed.
Branch smirked and did as he was told. She was cute when things didn't go exactly her way.
"You, too, Guy! We'll drop you off along the way!" Poppy said as she started loading supplies onto Air Force Fun.
"Right! I'm on it!" Guy said with determination, running to help.
Smidge ran up to him, a map in hand. "Hold up, Guy! You ain't going with those two, so you might need a map also!"
Guy smiled, taking the map from her, and said, "Thank you, Smidge. What would we ever do without you?"
Smidge blushed, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "Oh, stop. You're making me blush." She cupped her hands down in front of her, touched.
"Come on, you guys!" Poppy called from where she stood by Air Force Fun. She had two bags on each arm and was about to follow Branch up the stairs into their ride to drop her load. "Hurry up and get those things of yours all loaded up! We ain't got all day!
Guy and Smidge both saluted, Guy saying, "Right!" and Smidge calling, "Got it, boss!" Then the two of them went to load up supplies. In Smidge's case, this just meant finishing what she'd already started.
Before long, they had everything loaded up and ready to go. Poppy poked her head out the window of her ride to address the trolls one last time.
"This is it, gang! It's up to us to help everyone regain all the fun things the Party Crashers took from them! So work hard, stay focused, and remember! We're all trolls here, so make sure that everyone's having a good time before you leave! I'm counting on you all to do a good job, so let's get out there and do it!" she said, giving them the pep talk she felt they all needed. She knew she, at least, could use one. Why did she have to deal with the depressing genre?
Most of the trolls cheered. Branch, however, just rolled his eyes, thinking, This is going to end badly. I'm sure of it.
And, with that, the trolls took off in their separate directions, unaware of what lay ahead.
Shadgirl2: Frankly I think "Spreading the Love" should be the new Troll Anthem. It sounds more appropriate than the new Troll Anthem any day.