Shadgirl2: Get ready to meet a couple of the Pop Troll villages! One of them is based on a combination of stereotypes about a certain country and ideas from country songs.

Midna: We'll give you three guesses what country it is. Either way, let's meet some of the other Pop Trolls! We'll also spend some time with one of my favorite new tribes, the Funk Trolls! (I'm a rocker myself, so you can figure out which tribe is my ultimate favorite.)

Shadgirl2: Let's see how everyone makes out today! Will there be more trouble, or will somebody actually be in luck?

Midna: Keep reading to find out!

Disclaimer: We don't own Trolls. The OCs in this chapter belong to Shadgirl2.

Edit: Fixed inconsistencies, altered some scenes, added details.

Smidge drove the caterbus up to the edge of the final Pop Troll village, but something about it just didn't seem right. Looking out the window, Smidge saw a very unusual structure before her. It didn't look like a town—it looked like a fort.

The only town Smidge had ever seen with a wall around it was Bergen Town, and the set-up here was similar. A wooden fort-like wall surrounded the area that should have been the town, and the only way in was through a large, barred metal door. Watchtowers sat atop the wall at intervals of about 30 feet, and each tower had a flag on top. The flags all showed the same image: a troll in army clothes with a stern and stoic expression standing with one foot on the back of a creature that greatly resembled Bash of the Party Crashers. The Party Crasher had X's for eyes, indicating his defeat. The entirety of the flag was shades of purple with a pink background, and every pole surrounding the fortress was white.

If that wasn't bad enough, each tower had at least two trolls dressed the same as the one on the flag. They all wore camouflage jackets, pants, and helmets. No one was smiling—each face held the same stoic expression. Other than their colors, it was impossible to tell them apart.

And these trolls were all currently glaring down at Smidge, looking very fierce.

Smidge got off the bus slowly, cautiously, looking up at these menacing trolls. "Oh...my ga..."

What kind of place had she visited!?

"Halt! And just what do you think you're doing, girl!? Come to cause some more trouble!?" one of the trolls bellowed down at her.

Smidge's eyes widened in shock. "What!? No way!" She gestured toward the bus with both hands, looking a bit anxious now, and started, "I came here to deliver some support supplies 'cause—"

"A likely story, intruder! If you're carrying around someone else's stuff, you must have stolen it from them!" the troll cut her off. "You're just like those no-good Party Crashers, and we will not tolerate it!" He turned to another couple of trolls, his expression serious. "Boys!?"

The two trolls nodded in agreement and pushed a lever. The gate opened, and Smidge watched in horror as nine colorful tanks came rolling out, accompanied by at least 100 army-clad trolls with long and colorful paintball guns. Some flew out on flyer bugs.

One of the trolls who came out was dressed differently from the others. He wore a lavender coat with tails and pink trim down the front and on the cuffs of the sleeves, a white shirt, gold shoulder pads, and a dark purple tricorn hat. A gold, winged heart was on the hat, and a smaller version of the same was on the left side of the troll's jacket. The troll himself was red with dark blue hair and matching eyes and a white nose. He pointed fiercely at Smidge, standing front and center.

"Go get her, trolls!" the red troll commanded fiercely, pointing at Smidge. "Show that thief what we do to her kind!"

All the trolls roared angrily in agreement and rapidly charged Smidge, tanks and all.

Smidge leaped a foot in the air, her eyes wide in panic. "Oh my ga, oh my ga, oh my gaaaaa!" Quickly, she hopped back into the bus and sped off.

What did these guys want to do, kill her for parking outside their town unannounced? It certainly looked like that was their intention!

The red troll pointed fiercely at her, glaring, and commanded, "Don't let her get away, troops! Think of what happened the last time!"

The angry trolls waved their weapons over their heads and roared again, glaring slightly themselves, before they stampeded after Smidge. She drove as swiftly as she could, trying to lose this insane band of army trolls behind her, but those in tanks and on flyer bugs weren't having any trouble keeping up.

"Oh my ga, oh my ga, oh my ga! W-what's these guys' problem!? They're trying to kill me, and I didn't even do anything!" Smidge panicked as she swerved through the forest.

This was definitely not what she'd expected out of this trip. How was this a crime? They couldn't even call her an invader since she hadn't gotten inside! Talk about insane!

A golden yellow troll with orange hair and a dark green nose poked out of a purple tank, black sunglasses hiding his eyes. He wore a white army coat with yellow frills on the shoulders and yellow strings fastened across the front. His general's helmet and his jacket had winged hearts. He had a telescope in one hand. He raised his other hand, yelling, "Ready, trolls!? Aim...and FIRE!"

The tanks started shooting out glitter bombs then, aiming for the caterbus. Smidge screamed in panic, trying to dodge the sparkly projectiles, as the trolls on flyer bugs started shooting something sticky and pink everywhere, trying to gum up the caterbus and stop it from moving.

"Should've listened to Branch and stayed home!" Smidge cried. "These guys are off their rocker!"

Maybe she wouldn't be saying "I told you so" when she saw Branch again...assuming, of course, that she ever saw Branch again.

Due to all the glitter, Smidge couldn't see where she was going. To make matters worse, it wasn't long before the caterbus stopped moving, too covered in the sticky pink substance to continue. On closer observation, she was being hit with gum. At least that explained why it was so sticky. With the bus halted, the army trolls surrounded it, tanks, foot soldiers, and all.

The troll in the white jacket pulled out a megaphone and said, "End of the line, intruder! We have you surrounded! Now come out with your hands up!"

Smidge held up her hands in defeat. "Oh, my ga!"

No doubt about it. These guys were terrifying, and that was bad, coming from Smidge. She wasn't easy to scare, but she'd rather be facing off against the Greygon than these guys. If Branch were here, she could probably take them, but she couldn't tackle the whole army single-handed!

While Smidge was arrested for the terrible crime of being seen, elsewhere in Pop Territory, Biggie and Cooper made their way to the cliff, seeing no signs of troll life. The only thing that even indicated anyone had ever lived here was the hundreds of holes dug into the cliff-face, holes that looked too well-constructed to just be natural.

"I don't see anyone," Biggie said worriedly. "Where could they all be?"

"Maybe they're playin' hide and seek! Hey!" Cooper called out. "We give up! You can come out now!"

Only silence answered him.

"Hmm... I don't think that's it," Biggie said, looking around. He held Mr. Dinkles closer, feeling uncomfortable, and added, "But I feel like we're being watched. Don't you, Mr. Dinkles?"

"Meep!" he agreed.

Suddenly something blue-green shifted slightly in a patch of tall grass.

"There! I think I saw somebody!" Cooper said excitedly, pointing at the grass.

He started toward whoever it was, but they yelped, and the blue-green color vanished, turning fully green instead. Cooper stopped walking, and he and Biggie just stared for a moment.

"...Dang. What'd I do?" Cooper finally asked, cocking his head to the side.

Biggie's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Cooper, I think they're afraid of us!"

"Of us? But we're harmless!"

"Yes, but, if they've been attacked by the Party Crashers, they might be afraid of everyone. We need to show them we mean no harm!" Biggie said. It suddenly made so much sense that he could hardly believe he hadn't realized this was the problem before.

"Ohhh... But how do we do that?" Cooper asked, looking confused and concerned.

Biggie thought about it for a moment then answered, "Why don't we sing them the Troll Anthem? That is what it's for!"

"Oh, yeah!" said Cooper, growing excited. He bounced around a bit. "That'll show 'em we're friendly for sure!"

It was a good thing they'd written a song to tell everyone they weren't enemies. They'd have to thank Branch later for suggesting they find a way to show they came in peace.

"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."

As if responding to this gentle gesture, several blades of grass changed colors as trolls peaked out of their hiding places nervously. A few rocks shifted aside, and trolls peered out from holes under them. Colorful troll heads started poking out of the holes in the cliff. Every single face held the same nervous expression as they cautiously watched the intruders.

"We're the trolls, we're love and harmony," Biggie and Cooper sang together. "Yeah!"

The locals started emerging from their hiding places and carefully made their way over.

"Oh!" Cooper cried, randomly popping up next to one of the shifting blades of grass as Biggie echoed the line.

Someone cried out, and the troll hiding there hid once more.

"My!" Looking startled, Cooper popped up beside a troll who'd been hiding behind a rock. The troll in question ducked back behind the rock, whimpering.

"Ga!" Cooper chose a nearby tree as his final random location, popping out from the branches...and startling several trolls below, all of whom ducked back into their hiding places, trembling.

The surrounding trolls stopped, startled, and cried out. They all ran back to their hiding places.

Biggie and Cooper stopped singing, looking around in concern. "Oh, no! Did we do something wrong?" Biggie asked.

"Maybe we should watch what we say?" Cooper suggested, an eyebrow raised, as he walked back over to stand with Biggie. "And do?"

These guys were easy to scare, which was definitely not a good thing. Now they were both rather unsure about dancing at all.

Biggie nodded, and they continued the song, certain that nothing else would bother the locals. They held hands and rocked back and forth but otherwise chose to stay still for now. "We stand hand in hand. And no matter what kind of creature you are, we'll be sharing that joy and spreading the love around."

The local trolls peaked out again nervously, looking at each other with uncertainty.

Cooper cut loose with some crazy dance moves and rapped, "We got endless hugs for creatures, all types. Love's how we roll, friendship for life!"

The trolls' eyes widened. One girl stuttered, "C-c-creatures a-all t-types..."

"D-does that i-i-include th-th-the P-Par-ty C-Crashers...?" He looked around nervously, half expecting the creatures in question to reappear.

The trolls started trembling nervously then.

Unfortunately for the locals, their words were too quiet for the visitors to hear. Oblivious to their fears, Biggie held the worm aloft and sang, "Ooh, Mr. Dinkles!"

The trolls all screamed and hid again quickly.

"YAAAH! Th-they w-worship s-some s-s-sort of g-g-g-god m-monster!" one troll cried, running away with his hands above his head.

"W-what's a M-M-Mr. D-D-D-DINKLES!? D-does it e-e-e-eat trolls a-as s-s-s-sacrifices!?" cried a girl as she looked around, her hands clenched against her chest.

They screamed again, and those who weren't already hiding hurriedly did so.

Interrupted once more, Biggie and Cooper both blinked, stunned that anyone would reach that conclusion from their song. The two looked at each other, completely nonplussed.

"...Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cooper asked.

"If you're thinking Branch's lines couldn't possibly set us any further behind than we are, then yes," Biggie answered with a nod. He was also thinking that dancing was a definite bad idea and he wouldn't be doing any more of that. "Do you want them, or should I take them?"

"I'll do it!" Cooper answered with a smile.

"On second thought, I think you should do DJ's part," Biggie amended. Cooper would likely keep dancing, so Biggie figured the main lines should be sang by a troll standing still.

"Ooh, yeah, that makes way more sense!" Cooper laughed. Going back to the song, he sang, "Put your hair up, yeah!"

"I've got your back so you can all relax," Biggie sang, feeling rather ridiculous since this was certainly not true for him. He was more of the "run and hide and let somebody else handle the dangerous stuff" kind of troll.

Eyes poked out from hiding places, filled with fear, but the trolls didn't reveal themselves a third time.

"I'll keep the lookout for you, and I'll never stop."

Nervous chatter started up around the two.

"We're the trolls, we're love and harmony," Biggie and Cooper sang together.

"We got love," Biggie sang.

"Yeah!" said Cooper.

"We got love."

"Yeah!"

"We got love."

"And we'll be spreading that love around," the two finished. Cooper launched a firework into the sky that exploded in a heart shape above them.

A mint-colored troll with lavender hair and eyes and a pink nose came out from under a rock and approached timidly, looking unsure. She wore a pink and sky blue dress, the colors blending together. The dress was covered in a light coat of glitter, making it shine. She had a blue tiara covered in pink flowers on her head and a pink heart-shaped jewel on a silver chain around her neck.

"D-did you r-really m-mean w-what you s-said...?" she asked with an angelic voice. "T-that you've come to p-protect us...?" She held her hands nervously in front of her, fiddling with them slightly, as she trembled.

Biggie and Cooper looked at each other, a growing sense of dread rising up in Biggie. They both looked back at the troll as Biggie said, "Well, Queen Poppy did send us to offer our assistance..."

"Yup!" Cooper answered cheerily. "We're here to help!"

The troll's eyes brightened with hope. She gasped in excitement and turned to the others, her arms spread wide, and called, "It's alright, little ones! These two have come to save us from the clutches of our enemies! Their god must have sent them his blessing, so they told us about it!" She turned in a slow circle, hands raised, with a reassuring smile on her face.

Biggie and Cooper exchanged quizzical looks. Clearly, something they said had been misunderstood if these trolls thought Mr. Dinkles was a god. This clearly needed sorted out before things went too far.

"Ah," Biggie started, "that's not—"

He was cut off by the villagers as they ran over, cheering with evident joy.

"Is that true, Mother!?" an older troll woman asked the one in the tiara, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Did the great Mr. Dinkles really send help!?" another asked with an excited smile.

"It's been so long since we've had any hope!" said another, hands clasped in front of him as he teared up.

They all sounded so excited that Biggie wasn't sure he wanted to crush that hope. How do you correct someone when that comes out of their mouth?

Mr. Dinkles felt rather honored to be called a god. He posed proudly, trying his best to look divine. "Meep!"

Biggie sweat and looked at his pet worm. Of course, he would let this go to his head. Why wouldn't he?

Oblivious, Cooper said, "Well, we got hope! We got a lot of hope!"

The crowd of trolls cheered louder and picked up Biggie and Cooper, carrying them into one of the holes in the cliff.

"Our heroes! We've waited so long for you!" one of them said, beaming.

"I knew sending out those prayers to our ancestors would work!" came the excited cheer from another happy troll.

"Now, now, children," said the troll called Mother as she gave a calming gesture, a sweet smile on her face. She clasped her hands in front of her again and continued, "We mustn't rush into this. Let us first adorn our brave heroes in the finest attire of our greatest warriors from the past!" She threw her arms up, closing her eyes and smiling proudly.

The villagers cheered excitedly as they carried Biggie and Cooper even deeper into the cave.

It soon became apparent that Cooper's initial theory that they lived in the caves was actually true. This cave they were currently in was looking more like Branch's bunker. In fact, it wasn't a cave—it was a tunnel system. Many other pathways branched off of this one, and doors in the walls hid some parts of the place from view.

As the crowd carried Biggie and Cooper past a pair of large, elaborate lavender doors, a teenage girl poked out curiously. Like the woman with the tiara, this girl was mint in color, but her eyes were lavender, her hair yellow, and her nose pink.

Biggie leaned toward Cooper and quietly asked, "Cooper, do you get the feeling we came to the wrong place?"

Voice low, Cooper answered, "Yeah! These guys are actin' a lot like Branch!"

Misinterpreting their quiet discussion, the leader gave a reassuring smile and said, "Oh, don't you worry about a thing, oh brave heroes! We'll be sure that you're properly prepared! My name's Angel, by the way. But you can call me Mother."

The teenager walked over, her curiosity getting the better of her. She wore a light blue skirt and a yellow tank top. Silver sparkles decorated the skirt, and a white heart made of glitter decorated her shirt. She had a yellow anklet on her right leg and a blue tiara with a single pink flower on her head.

"Mother?" Cooper asked, excitement growing. "Wait, are you my mom?"

Angel gave a playful giggle as she put a hand to her face. "Oh, no! Certainly not! That's just what everyone calls me! You see, young one, I'm in charge around here, so it's my job to assure the safety of all my little trolls. You know, sort of like how a mother watches over her children? Anyway, my children will happily take you to prepare anything you need for battle. We'll be counting on you from now on to keep us all safe." She gave them a gentle smile.

"Uh, Mother?" the teen girl asked curiously. "Who are these strangers? They look real...bizarre..."

Angel turned her smile to the teen and answered, "Well, Clover, these two are the brave heroes we've all been waiting for! They've come to protect us!"

Clover's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really!?"

Did that mean things could finally go back to normal? Clover was looking forward to that!

As the crowd carried Cooper and Biggie down another tunnel, Angel and Clover stayed behind, discussing their new guests (or, as they seemed to view the two, new residents).

Growing rather anxious now, Biggie said, "Oh, dear. I think there's been a misunderstanding here."

"I don't think they're listening," Cooper said, shaking his head, as the crowd continued walking.

Biggie sighed. He hadn't been planning to move into the village he helped. "We really should have sent Branch here, shouldn't we?"

Cooper nodded. They weren't qualified for this, and he knew it. "Definitely! He's the fighter, not us!"

As nobody was listening to them, there was little that they could do to correct this. The happy crowd of cowards carried the two deeper into their underground home, occasionally opening doors with security codes.

As Smidge got acquainted with the justice system and Biggie and Cooper found a new home, Guy Diamond wandered peacefully through the desert, seeing no signs of any life at all. "Huh. That's odd. Where is everybody? Did Branch screw up again?" he wondered, putting his hands on his hips as he looked around, rather annoyed.

Really, it wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. Branch tended to make a mess of things. Guy recalled the time all of Troll Village was brainwashed into safety nerds themselves, the day Sky Toronto was driven from town, the pillow fight that ended in the destruction of everyone's pillows when King Gristle had joined, and the fact that he'd forgotten to install ventilation shafts in the broken rainbow. And that was just a few times. If this was Branch messing up again, he'd be getting an earful from Guy later. Supporting him was one thing, but correcting his mistakes civilly could help him improve. Accepting Branch's flaws didn't mean they couldn't help him try to fix any of them.

Suddenly something blocked the sun. Guy's eyes widened, and he looked up, startled. What he saw made him cringe and widen his eyes even more—a flying saucer was hovering directly above him, like something out of a science fiction movie.

"W-w-w-what the!? Oh, noooo! I-I gotta get oooouuut of here faaaaaaast!" he screamed as he started to run.

What were the odds of running into something like that out here? Apparently, the mark on the map was a sign to be wary of flying saucers.

Suddenly a giant bubble beam appeared around him and a large bubble shot down from the UFO, picking him up and carrying him toward the ship. Guy screamed in a panic as he tried to run out of the bubble. "AAAHH! S-SOMEBODY! HEEEEEELLP MEEEEEE!"

Of course, there was no one around to hear him. The bubble was pulled into the ship, and it sped off.

Guy's panic quickly turned to shock as he looked around. His eyes widened. He was traveling in a bubble through a very futuristic-looking town. But that wasn't the shocking part. No, the shocking part was the inhabitants of this town.

Everywhere Guy looked, he saw furry creatures, some with four legs and some with two legs and arms. Each of them, regardless of the number of legs, had a long neck and striped fur. Each of them was what the Pop Trolls called animal trolls. He could also hear music, music with a funkier beat than he was used to. It sounded like he might have stumbled upon his target.

"No...way..." Guy said, amazed. They look just like Cooper! A-are these the Funk Trolls?

Well, that explained the UFO, at least. It appeared that they weren't masters of the arts as much as they were aliens. At least Branch hadn't gotten him lost or something.

Guy's bubble floated him into a room with three little bumps that were seemingly landing pads as his bubble dropped him onto one.

"Oof! Well, that's one way to do it..." he said, a bit irritated, as he landed on his bottom.

Find the Funk Trolls, get found by the Funk Trolls... Either way, it worked.

The floor was reflective and apparently transparent. Under the floor, Guy saw purple fluid moving, like a lava lamp.

"Welcome to Vibe City," someone said in a very friendly manner. "Is there anything you need?"

Guy looked at the speaker, and his eyes widened as a gasp escaped him. "C-C-Cooper...? W-what?"

The troll standing before him looked almost exactly like Cooper...if Cooper had decided to change his look. Other than the hairstyle, the earring, and the tinsel, he was the spitting image of Guy's dopey friend.

The troll raised his eyebrow and asked, "Cooper?"

Guy got up, looking a bit annoyed. He clenched his fists in exasperation. "Argh! What do you think you're doing!? Poppy sent you with Biggie to help that one Pop group! So what are you doing here, of all places!? Argh!" He crossed his arms and turned away, muttering, "Honestly! Some trolls just never—"

"I'm sorry. I think you got me mixed up with someone else. I'm Prince D of the Funk Trolls. Who's Cooper?" the troll asked, looking highly interested.

Guy's eyes widened in surprise. He whirled on the other troll, shocked. "W-w-what!? Prince D!? But—you look just like—" He cut himself off, too shocked to finish that.

A foreign tribe's prince was the spitting image of Cooper? What was this, The Prince and the Pauper?

Prince D looked at him curiously for a moment before smiling. He said, "I think it's time I introduce you to the king and queen." He turned to leave, looking back at Guy as he did. "Come with me."

As the Funk prince walked out, Guy blinked, watching. He followed, still absorbing the fact that Cooper looked so much like the prince of the Funk Trolls. They could be twins.

Prince D took Guy into another room, where a blue troll woman and a purple troll man, both elaborately dressed, were apparently having a great time. The two were older than either Prince D or Guy and were laughing when the two boys walked in.

D walked right up to these two, saying, "Pop Troll, allow me to introduce King Quincy and Queen Essence."

The king and queen turned their attention to Guy, smiling curiously.

"Welcome, friend!" said the king, Quincy, with a smile. "It's nice to meet ya! We don't get your kind around these parts often! What's going down?"

"U-uh, well, sire, my name's Guy Diamond. And let me start by saying it's an honor to be here," he said with a smile, feeling the need to be polite in front of foreign royalty. "But, wait!" He jumped slightly, eyes widening in surprise. "Are you the Funk Trolls Poppy—uh, the queen of the Pop Trolls—told us about? I didn't think you'd actually live in a space ship like that! What's the deal?"

The king laughed in amusement. "Aw, man. Are you out of the loop, son! Yeah, we're the Funk Trolls, so congratulations! You've come to the right place! So, care to tell us what you came out here for?"

Guy wrung his hands together, feeling a bit awkward in front of alien royalty. "Uh, well, that's simple. See, my queen sent me to—" Guy looked around as he realized something important. His eyes widened and he slapped his hands to his face in horror. He gasped. "Oh, no!"

"Something wrong?" D asked him.

"W-where are my suppliiiiies!? I-I must have left them in the desert! Oh, of all the stupid things to do..." Guy draped an arm over his face dramatically.

He'd known where he'd left them wasn't too far, but he'd forgotten exactly where after being abducted. Lattitude and longitude weren't his strong points, and he'd only known how to find it on foot. Trying to direct these guys to his supplies was beyond his ability. Maybe Branch was right. He wasn't prepared to handle everything. He hadn't even seen this coming, so how could he be prepared for it?

The king and queen looked at each other curiously.

"Sorry, hon? Did you say you lost something in the desert?" Queen Essence asked.

Guy waved his arms in front of him for emphasis as he glared and said, "Well, duh! Poppy only told me to bring you guys some Party Crasher relief supplies, but I left them down there somewhere, and I don't have a clue where!" Guy answered, annoyed at his own idiocy.

Quincy raised an eyebrow, curious. "Party Crashers? What's that?" he asked.

Guy blinked and gave a start, his eyes widening once again. "I'm sorry, what?"

"We've never heard of the Party Crashers. Is everything cool down there?" D asked, looking concerned.

Guy stared at the three for a moment, certain that they had to be joking. "You...haven't heard of them? Why, they're only the most notorious bunch of rascals this side of trolldom! They roam from place to place, crashing everyone's parties and using up all their supplies before leaving for the next town, leaving their victims with nothing. How could you not know?"

The king raised an eyebrow, looking concerned himself now. "Well. That don't sound good. How long has this been going down?"

"Hair if I know," Guy answered with a shrug. "We only heard about 'em when a spy from their group infiltrated our village disguised as a red glitter troll and told us about them. Then, several months later, they attacked us! Luckily we were able to drive them out, but they're still out there somewhere."

"Hmm... I see," Quincy said, looking a bit concerned. He smiled confidently then and continued, "Well, thanks for the heads-up, but I highly doubt these Party Crashers will be able to find us. Unless they're able to fly." He laughed, amused at his own joke.

"See, hon, we almost never land," Essence explained with a smile. "Vibe City's one big airborne community And we're always on the move, so the odds of anyone coming up here from down there are really slim to none."

"Oh..." Guy said, awe-struck.

That would definitely explain it. They wouldn't really know much about issues on the mainland if they were almost always airborne.

"Yeah, we good," D agreed. He then turned to his dad and added, "But our guest here mistook me for a friend of his. You think it could be him?"

The king and queen gasped, excited. They looked at each other, hope shining in their eyes, then turned back to Guy.

"Is that true?" Quincy asked.

Guy blinked, confused. "Uh...yeah. His name's Cooper, and he's off helping some of the Crasher's victims right now, so..."

"You don't say?" Essence asked. She turned to her husband with a hopeful smile. "Do you think it could be?"

Quincy held one foot up, smiling excitedly. "Well, there's only one way to find out!" The funk royals all turned to their guest with hopeful smiles, and the king asked, "Guy Diamond, was it? Do you know what Pop colony your friend went to?"

"Uh, not really. Poppy left that up to them to decide. See, she sort of sent our friends off in a caterbus to visit all five colonies surrounding our village. From there, it's hard to say who went where."

"Well, do you know when he planned to be back?" Essence asked.

"Well, since the plan was to drop off some party supplies, he'll hopefully be back by tonight. I mean, how hard can it be to drop off some packages, huh?"

"Ah... I see..." Quincy said. He turned to his family, and the three struck up a whispered conversation.

Guy raised an eyebrow, baffled. What could be so interesting about Cooper that these three were so intent on finding him?

Finally, the Funky family turned back to their guest, and the king said, a smile upon his face once again, "Guy, Diamond, would it be alright with you if we headed over to your village and waited for him there?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, I don't see why not, but...why are you three so interested in my friend Cooper? Is there something I'm missing here?" He looked at them in confusion. This was coming out of nowhere, as far as he could tell.

The three exchanged a look, debating how much to say.

"Tell ya what, child," said Queen Essence. "We'll tell ya once we make sure for ourselves. But, for now, why don't you go with D here for a bit while we make our way over to your village? It's still in the Troll Tree, right?"

Guy looked at them awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable. How out of touch with the rest of the world could these guys be? "Uh, no. No, we moved out of there 21 years ago to escape from the bergens." He gave a sheepish grin and waved his arms in front of him frantically, realizing what he'd just said. No need to cause mass panic over a problem that was already resolved. "B-but it's all good now! Poppy made friends with them, so they don't eat trolls anymore!" Guy grinned awkwardly, trying to make that last part sound reassuring.

The funk king and queen looked at each other, curious. D's eyes widened in shock.

"We have got to pay more attention to what's happenin' below, gang. We're clearly out of the loop about many things goin' down down there!" Quincy finally said.

The three laughed, all in agreement about that one and amused by the fact. This reaction made Guy sweat. They were reminding him an awful lot of a certain friend of his. However, he had to agree with the king on the paying more attention point.

"Alright, then," Guy said, disturbed. He shook that off and got back on track, calmly continuing, "Anyway the new location of Troll Village is right..." He pulled out his map and pointed at the location, saying, "Here. That's where the Pop Trolls all fled to to escape from the bergens, former troll-eating giant ogres who thought the only way to be happy was by eating trolls. Poppy taught them how to be happy, however, so now we're all friends with each other instead."

"Awright. Then that's where we're headed," Quincy said. "D, show our guest around while we make our way over. Be sure to show him a good time!"

"You got it! Come on, Guy Diamond, let me show you around," D said, heading out as his dad pulled out a map of his own and marked the location Guy claimed was Troll Village.

Guy's map was not only outdated, but it also had five additional strips of paper stuck to the professionally made portion, each of which looked to have been drawn up by a child. They'd need a real map to find the Pop Trolls' new home, not a child's drawing.

"Uh, right. And Guy will do," Guy answered, following. "But, uh...what is the big deal with Cooper around here? Do you all know him somehow?"

"Don't know, but, if you mistook me for him, he might be a Funk Troll. We just want to make sure we're looking out for our own," D responded.

"Guy gave a start, eyes wide. "...Really?"

If Cooper was a Funk Troll, then how could he have wound up in their village? Suddenly an aura of great mystery surrounded his usually unassuming friend, and Guy, being the drama-lover that he was, was highly engrossed. What other secrets could that troll be hiding? Could Cooper be the lost heir to the funk throne? Was this guy his younger brother? Prince D did bear a great resemblance to him, after all. But, if that were true, how did Cooper end up in Troll Village? Some said he'd been with them since the final days in the Troll Tree, and Biggie swore he'd known Cooper his entire life! So how did he wind up in Pop Troll territory if he was born all the way out here? This was nowhere near Bergen Town.

There was no doubt about it. Guy just had to find out what the secret was here.