Shadgirl2: The court scene here is sort of inspired by the movie Cars, where Lightning McQueen was randomly assigned a lawyer at the time of his trial.
Midna: Enjoy some more chaos!
Disclaimer: We don't own Trolls. Fearsville and its inhabitants and United City and its inhabitants belong to me, Shadgirl2.
Smidge spent an unhappy night in a Pop Troll jail (which she didn't even think existed) in United City. This was by far the least friendly place she'd ever visited, and she'd been to Bergen Town! Little did she know, things could—and would—get worse come morning.
At the crack of dawn, Smidge was woken up by the same thing as the residents: a trumpet call. Several trolls (including the loud general) took her to the large pink, purple, and white pod for her trial; and Smidge could hardly believe that everyone was already hard at work at this absurdly early hour. These guys were totally insane! Who wakes up the whole town at the crack of dawn with an army trumpet!? What was wrong with these guys?
The guards took her to a courtroom with bench seating in the gallery, a low wall separating the gallery from the trial area itself, a box for the jury, and a desk at the front of the room where the judge would sit. Two tables sat before the judge, one with a light green female troll with red eyes, a dark pink nose, and red hair in a bun. She was wearing a white dress shirt and black skirt. This troll had a briefcase on her table and was looking through some papers in a file folder. The other table was empty. Smidge's guards brought her in through a door off to the side of the judge's bench and took her to stand in front of it, where she crossed her arms and waited impatiently, feeling very annoyed, on the pink carpet. Looking around, her eyes widened in shock as she saw that the gallery and juror's box were full of stoic yet angry-looking trolls, all of whom were dressed in camouflage, army helmets, and sunglasses. There were even some kids there dressed the same! The general in the white coat stood guard up near the bench.
Oh, my ga! What is wrong with these guys!? They act so fierce and serious, no matter what they do! Don't they know the meaning of the words "chill out and have some fun"? And why do they all wear that stuff everywhere they go? This is a courtroom, for crying out loud!
Even better, who would wear sunglasses inside a building? Did these guys have something to hide? It almost looked like they were trying to hide their identities, like they didn't think their town was safe after the Party Crashers invaded. Smidge figured that was probably it, remembering the chaos in her town when they first found out there was an impostor.
"Everyone, stand up! Show some respect to the president!" the general shouted suddenly. "Court is now in session! President Oak has arrived!"
Smidge covered her ears, cringing some as this guy shouted at the top of his lungs once more. He honestly didn't have a lower volume, did he? Oh, my ga! Does he ever stop screaming!? And trolls think I'm loud!
Right about then, President Oak walked in, looking as serious as ever in a long black robe and no hat. He'd combed his hair down, apparently using gel to hold it in place. It pointed up slightly in the back. He took his place at the bench, looking stoic as he sat down. The president rested his elbows on the top of his desk and cupped his hands together. "Thank you, General Storm. I'll take it from here!"
Stone saluted, "Sir!"
Smidge cringed and covered her ears again—even that had to be shouted!? Oh, my ga!
"You may be seated!" President Oak told everyone, and the other trolls all sat as if they had been ordered to be seated. "Alright! So, for our first and only case today, we have a very unusual case of intrusion! Smidge of Troll Village versus the United City! Smidge, you are hereby charged with invading our fair city and attempting to rob us blind of all our party supplies! How do you plea!?" He glared daggers at her, seemingly daring her to say she was innocent. In reality, he was analyzing her features for any signs of guilt.
Where did they get off charging her with invading their city? She never even made it through the wall before they arrested her! She hadn't even attempted to invade!
"Not guilty!" Smidge answered with a confident look. (She was, honestly, very annoyed, but she tried to keep that from showing in her eyes.) "I didn't come here to steal anything! I came to deliver some relief supplies 'cause you guys clearly were robbed!" Silently, remembering just how absurd this all was, she added, And I tried telling you this yesterday, too. This guy's got more problems than the bergens had!
Seriously, he'd asked her if she was a criminal and then cut her off when she tried to answer him by saying he'd use her words against her. She still wondered how they would use "I came here on orders from my queen to deliver some party supplies" to prove she was guilty. Talk about a guy who was off his rocker.
Oak narrowed his eyes at her, suspicious. He tapped his thumbs against his hands a bit. "...So you claim. Alright!" He looked around the courtroom. "Where's my councilor and Smidge's lawyer!?"
The troll with the briefcase rose from her seat, looking stern, and answered, "Right here, sir! Rosie Barks. Prosecuting attorney. At your service." She approached the bench.
Oak nodded approvingly, saying, "Good." He looked at Smidge and asked, "And your lawyer?"
Smidge sweat, nervous. She didn't have a lawyer. "Uh... I, uh—"
Nobody even told her she needed one. How was she supposed to have brought one!?
Smidge had raised a finger and was about to calmly point out that she hadn't been told she would need one, but she was cut off once again by the trolls who seriously loved hearing themselves talk.
"I'll do it, sir!" shouted a familiar yet unexpected voice—General Storm. He made his way toward Smidge.
Smidge gave a start, looking at the general with eyes wide from shock. "Oh, my ga!"
What business did a guy who thought she was guilty have being her lawyer? He hadn't even spoken to his supposed "client"! Did these guys even know how to hold a trial, or were they just making this up as they went along? It was looking like this could be some kind of kangaroo court—nobody believed her anyway, so why would they give her a fair trial? She hoped they'd at least let her contact someone. She needed Poppy here, stat!
Apparently satisfied with this, Oak nodded as Stone approached. "Very good. Alright, let's get this trial over with! Smidge claims she's innocent! Who cares to speak first?"
"I will, your honor," said Rosie with a stern, disciplined look in her eyes. "As we've all heard, Smidge claims innocence on account of wanting to help us here in United City. However, if that were true, then why would she feel the need to run when confronted with our army forces at the gate?" She gestured accusingly at Smidge, looking at the "invader" out of the corner of her eye.
Smidge remembered those guys. They'd accused her of being a criminal and hunted her down like a wild animal. Who wouldn't run when confronted by those guys?
"The last time I checked, running was a surefire sign of one's hidden guilt," Rosie continued. "Therefore I hold that Smidge is guilty of all charges brought against her!"
The trolls in the jury started talking among themselves quietly, apparently in agreement.
"Hey!" Smidge protested as she clenched her hands into fists and glared, insulted and annoyed that these guys wouldn't even listen to her side of things. "Wait just a—"
Oak banged a gavel on his desk, glaring firmly back at her. "Don't interrupt, young lady! You're in my court and will speak only when spoken to! Unless you'd rather find yourself in contempt!"
Smidge raised an eyebrow, baffled. "Uh...what's 'contempt'?" she asked.
She'd never heard of that in a court setting. Were these guys just new to holding court?
"It means, if you don't shut up right now, I'll be hauling you to a holding cell until you're ready to apologize for disrupting my court!" Oak answered harshly. "Are we clear?"
Smidge smacked herself in the face, exasperated. "Oh, my ga," she muttered.
Since when were the accused treated that way? That was completely unfair. The last time Smidge checked, she should have the right to defend herself or at least ask to!
"So! Back to business! Storm? Do you have a counterargument for us?"
Well, given that she'd only gotten this lawyer two seconds ago, Smidge highly doubted she'd be winning this case if he had to speak for her. She wasn't surprised when his less than helpful response was to clap his feet together like a soldier reporting to a commander and shout, "Sir! The only thing I can say on Smidge's behalf is that she told my men the same thing yesterday, sir! Said her bus was full of supplies meant to help us after the Party Crashers' attack, sir! No further evidence to report, sir!"
Ears covered to avoid some of the volume from this troll standing right beside her, Smidge really wished the guy would quiet down. Oh, my ga!
"Hmm... I see... So the case is up to hearsay, is it?" Oak mused, tapping his interlaced fingers against his hands calmly. Nobody could prove if she was innocent or guilty if it was just a case of "he said, she said." Sure, they'd checked the intruder's bus and found it was full of party supplies, but those could have been stolen from someone else. There wasn't any sort of authorization from any leader: no letter, no packing information, nothing. It really was just Smidge's word against the prosecutor's.
He was seriously considering dropping the case entirely and just sending this girl home when Smidge waved her hand frantically and stammered, "U-uh...permission to speak, sir!?"
Oak raised an eyebrow at her, seemingly debating. "...Granted. What do you have to say about all of this?" he asked, looking stoic.
Apparently, he was willing to let her talk if she asked. At least there was that.
"I've got some other witnesses out there! And I'm sure they'd be more than willing to testify if you could just get them over here! My queen, Poppy, sent out 15 other trolls to various troll groups to do the exact same thing I was doing! So all you'd have to do is contact Queen Poppy, and she can bring some of them over here for ya!" She waved her arms out to the sides with a confident smile. If she could gather enough witnesses to prove her story was true, winning this would be easy!
Oak put a hand to his chin, thinking about this proposal. It made sense. Maybe there was enough evidence to determine the truth. He just had to wait for it to get here. "Hmm... Sounds like a good idea... Alright, we'll do that, then. Therefore, I hereby put this case on hold for lack of trustworthy witnesses!" He banged his gavel on the desk, his expression firm, and added, "General! Take Smidge back to her cell until I can get in contact with this Queen Poppy! I hereby call this court session adjourned! You may go now." He banged his gavel again, closing court entirely.
Storm saluted the president as Oak and the other trolls left in an orderly fashion. "Sir, yes, sir! I'm on it!" The general moved to grab Smidge from behind, saying, "You heard the president, lil' lady! Move it!"
Smidge obeyed as he pushed her toward the exit. Oh, this is just the best time ever, she thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes. I'm on trial for something I didn't even—
Storm looked at her strangely as they made their way across town and back to the jail. He didn't say anything right away. When they reached the jail, he stopped walking and cleared his throat with a couple of coughs, startling Smidge from her thoughts. She looked back at him, wondering what the guy wanted now.
"That, uh...was pretty bold back there!" Storm shouted. "Standing up to the president like that, and, uh..."
Smidge blinked, just waiting. She had absolutely no idea where he could be going with this. Sure, she'd disrupted the court one time, but the second was just normal court custom, wasn't it?
"I love a girl who can take charge like that!" Storm continued, pounding a fist into his chest. "Shows ya got what it takes to be a leader!"
Smidge didn't know when disrupting court and yelling at a judge became signs of leadership, but okay.
"So!? How 'bout it? Dinner at the mess hall!? I may try getting' ya off with a warning this time, even though you look as guilty as sin!" He elbowed her encouragingly, smiling in a manner that seemed more fitting for a bergen than for a normally friendly and cheerful troll. He looked tough more than happy.
Smidge started, her eyes widening. Was this guy asking her on a date!? While telling her he thought she was a criminal at the same time!? He had to be nuts! She started, "Say wha!? I—"
Storm apparently missed the uncomfortable look in her eyes. It wasn't hard to, she supposed, since he was still wearing sunglasses while there was hardly any sunlight. The sun was barely over the horizon. Who could see with sunglasses on that early?
"Good choice, ma'am!" the general cut her off as he patted her on the back hard enough to make her lose balance slightly. He seemed to be laboring under the impression that Smidge was about to say yes. "Pick you up at 1900 hours! Don't be late!" Before Smidge could stop him or even fully steady herself, he tossed her back into her cell.
"Wha!? But—Oof!" Smidge's protest was cut off on impact with the back wall, which she hit face-first.
Forget the fact that she couldn't be late if he had to pick her up from jail, when did she say she'd go out with him?
Storm slammed the cell door closed, then turned to the guard and shouted, "Keep my date safe and secured until I come for her! We have some work to do as lawyer and client!"
The guard saluted him sternly. "Sir, yes, sir!"
Storm nodded and marched off.
Smidge ran to the bars of the cell, gripping them tightly, and called after him, "Hey! Wait just a—I never agreed to—" Storm was already out of earshot. Clearly, he wasn't listening. She threw back her head, exasperated, and cried, "Oh, my ga!" Smidge flopped down on the floor, sighing. "Oh, my ga. Now what'll I do? General Storm's got the way wrong idea here and won't take no for an answer!" She crossed her arms in annoyance, thinking about this. "Arah! What is this place? Opposite land? 'Cause it's starting to look like 'no' means 'yes' around here!" She started gesturing in annoyance as she continued, "I mean, come on! Both President Oak and General Storm thought my objections were confirming what they asked me! President Oak thought I'd confessed to coming to steal their stuff, and now General Storm thinks I agreed to go out with him! So does that mean if I said, 'Yes! I'm guilty as sin!' it would translate to, 'No! I'm innocent as virtue!?'" She blinked, eyes wide and stunned at how weird the wording sounded on that second sentence. Then she clenched her hands into fists and threw her arms over her head, tossing her head back in annoyance. "Oh, my ga! That better not be true! It'd be extremely weird if it was."
She sighed again, really hoping that wasn't the case around here. She looked out the barred door, watching as a message was handed over to a critter at the other end of the place. "Sure hope Poppy can get me out of this one. These guys are off their rocker, that's for sure."
With nothing better to do, Smidge sat and waited quietly, hoping Poppy would get the message and hurry over here.
Biggie yawned loudly, stretching, as he sat up. Cooper had taken the second guard shift last night, although neither of them really thought they needed to stay awake as guards. However, since neither one had figured out a better solution yet, they'd used the time sitting awake and doing nothing to think of a way out of this awkward situation. Biggie hoped to discuss a solution and come up with a way to get home today.
That's why his greeting to Cooper was, "Good morning, Cooper. So? Any thoughts on our situation?"
"Yeah!" Cooper answered, shaking his head. "We either turn into Branch and try to make these guys safe without us here, or we try to get them to stop being Branch!"
"...So, basically, exactly what I was thinking?" Biggie asked. Those were really the only thoughts he'd had last night, too.
"Yup!" Cooper answered with a nod.
Biggie looked at Cooper worriedly and asked, "But how do we do either?"
Neither of them was enough like Branch to make these guys that safe, and they had never managed to get Branch over his own paranoia. Poppy had been the one to bring Branch out of his shell, and the blue troll still harbored a lot of fear that nobody seemed able to conquer.
At that moment, a purple troll in green overalls walked up behind them, looking thoughtful with a finger to her chin. "Well, if you ask me, guys," she said, "these trolls could use some help with their safety gear and stuff. It's not nearly as secure as Branch's is, and they don't have any traps at all!" She threw her arms up in worry.
Both Biggie and Cooper looked at this orange-haired girl, completely nonplussed. Why was she acting like she knew them?
"And...who are you?" Biggie asked politely.
"Aw, come on, Biggie!" she whined, throwing her arms out to the sides. She looked hurt. "Of all trolls, I thought for sure you'd recognize me! We're the best of friends, after all!"
She seemed so upset that Biggie was suddenly troubled. Had he somehow managed to forget someone so close to him? She didn't look familiar. "...Ah...sorry."
"What are you apologizin' for?" Cooper asked Biggie, raising an eyebrow at him. "You don't know her!"
Biggie sighed, relieved, and put a hand to his chest. "Oh, thank goodness! I was afraid I'd actually forgotten a dear friend!"
"Nope!" Cooper said, shaking his head vigorously. He looked at the girl, leaning his head back a bit, and continued, "She is weird, and that's sayin' something!"
The girl jumped, startled and even more hurt than before. "Ah! But, Cooper! Don't you guys remember?" the troll girl said, looking horribly upset. "I've been running that rap battle show you attend regularly, Cooper, since I was a baby! And I asked you for help saving it from Master Control when he was taking all the fun out of it by beating everyone who went up against him!" She pointed at Biggie as she said that. "I mean, sure, you chickened out, causing the return of Big Poppy, who saved my show for me, but still! You both volunteered to at least try to save it, even if Cooper did mistake it for a present-wrapping contest! How could you forget that!?" There was a sort of desperation in her eyes by this point, as if she really needed them to remember her.
Cooper just stared at her, looking highly confused, squinting at this bizarre troll.
"That wasn't..." Biggie started, completely flummoxed.
"That was DJ," Cooper said at last. "Are you DJ?"
Her eyes widened. While stunned, she still managed to look annoyed. "Huh? Why does everyone keep mistaking me for this 'DJ' troll? No, I'm not DJ! I'm Legsly!" she answered, throwing her arms out to the sides as some concern crept into her expression.
Legsly didn't understand why everyone was making that mistake lately. Who was DJ?
Biggie and Cooper blinked, then looked at each other again. Neither of them knew a troll by that name, nor did they know why she would be claiming that she was even a part of that show in the first place.
Turning back to the obviously confused troll, Biggie said, "Right. Well, Legsly, I'm fairly certain the one who had that situation with her rap battle show was DJ. You, ah...weren't involved, if I recall."
He wanted to say "you weren't even in town," but he didn't want to be that rude. Still, he was fairly certain he'd remember a troll like this one.
"Nope! Not even!" Cooper agreed, closing his eyes and shaking his head vigorously. He opened his eyes and smiled, pointing at Legsly, and added, "But you got a point, at least! How do we make these guys as safe as Branch?" He looked curiously at Biggie, hoping his friend had an answer.
"An excellent question, Cooper!" Biggie answered with a smile. He put a finger to his chin and looked skyward, thinking. "Hmm..."
Legsly stared at the two for a moment in hurt disbelief, still struggling with the fact that even more of her friends didn't know who she was. Finally, she looked down and sighed. For now, she was giving up. "You guys just don't get it at all." She shook her hands a bit, brushing it off for now. It wasn't too important, really. "Aw, well. Guess I'll just tell you where you could start and go check up on the next one!" She threw her hands up, beaming with excitement now that she'd put her distress aside for a bit. "Well, these guys really don't have the best security in the world. So, if you know anything about how Branch sets his traps, you could start there by setting some up yourselves." She snapped her fingers, growing excited, and continued, "Oh! And maybe some of those fighting tips from his safety classes could help!" She clapped her hands together as her excitement at this brilliant idea grew. "Yeah! Then they wouldn't need you to protect them because they'd be able to defend themselves!"
"Yes! That could work!" Biggie said happily. "Thank you, Legsly!"
"Yeah, thanks!" Cooper agreed with a big smile.
"No problem! Always willing to help a friend!" She emphasized the last word to drill the point home that they were friends of hers, whether they remembered it or not. Since when was she so forgettable? They'd never forgotten about her before! Putting that aside for now, she stretched up on her long legs and danced away, waving eagerly and smiling brightly as she said, "Bye, guys! Take care! Kisses and donuts and sprinkles!"
And, just like that, the weirdest troll Biggie and Cooper had ever met was gone. They both stared after her, shocked at that last display. Slowly, they turned to look at each other.
"Did you know she could do that?" Cooper asked, stunned.
Biggie just shook his head mutely. Fearsville certainly had some strange people, didn't it?
They didn't have much time to dwell on that as Razzle came up to them about then with a smile on his face and cheerfully greeted, "Good morning, Heroes Biggie and Cooper! How'd it go!?"
"Nothing to report!" Biggie said, putting Legsly's unusual skills aside as he turned to the other troll from Fearsville. "But, ah, we do need to talk with...Mother, was it?"
"Yeah!" Cooper agreed, nodding. "Mr. Dinkles wanted us to do more than just guard you guys!"
"Really?" Razzle asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"Oh, yes. You see, there are so many trolls out there in need of help that we were sent to protect you in the short term. What we're really here for is to teach you how to protect yourselves," Biggie answered.
Should they have told Razzle the truth? Maybe, but they could just see the panic and fear that would cause, learning that their "heroes" hadn't been sent by a god to protect them. They'd be right back to the "what's a Mr. Dinkles" fear from yesterday, and Biggie didn't really want to take the chance of explanations going south. Taking advantage of the misconception that Mr. Dinkles was a god who had sent them to protect everyone was an easier and safer option, in Biggie's quickly formed opinion.
"Following the guidance of our hero, Branch!" Cooper added.
He figured that these guys would be more receptive to these lessons if they were told that even he and Biggie had been taught by someone else. After all, if Biggie could learn to protect himself, anyone could, right? Besides, they'd already been dropping that name by accident since yesterday—if they didn't tell these guys who Branch was soon, Cooper figured he and Biggie might be dealing with more misconceptions. Maybe these guys would think Branch was another god or something. At least this way, Branch stayed firmly mortal.
Razzle's face lit up at the idea of learning to protect himself from someone trained by a hero. "Really!?" He looked confused suddenly and said, "But wait. Didn't Mr. Dinkles send Branch out to help trolls, too?"
"Yes, well, he taught all of us what he knows, so we're here to help, too!" Biggie said.
"Branch is the safest guy we know!" Cooper added. "He's gonna be our king someday! Just as soon as he's done savin' everyone else, anyway."
Biggie couldn't help but think Cooper was digging his own grave right now. These guys misinterpreted everything. What would they make of that? Maybe they'd think Branch was chosen by Mr. Dinkles to lead the trolls because he was the strongest of them all, but he had to save everyone from certain death first. Either way, Biggie silently vowed never to tell Branch what happened in this village.
"Oh. Well! In that case, let's go tell Mother right away! Come on!" Razzle said, waving an arm for them to follow as he headed back into the cave system that was their town.
Biggie and Cooper followed, hoping to get these trolls feeling safe soon so they could head home...and never tell a soul of the absurd religion they seemed to be inventing that centered on Mr. Dinkles as a god and seemed to hold Branch as some sort of savior.
Angel and Clover were in a large dining hall deep in the caverns, seated at the head of a white table in the center. Angel sat on a throne that looked like the one from the throne room. The trolls of Fearsville were all in here, seated in pastel-colored chairs at several long white tables, kind of like a high school cafeteria or something. White, lavender, pink, and blue snowflakes hung from the ceiling; pastel-colored tulips were painted on the walls; and the floor was carpeted in green and tipped with white, like grass under a light dusting of snow. A secure metal door in the back led to the kitchen, painted blue with a pink tulip for a door handle. A long pink counter stood in the back, loaded with a variety of breakfast options, and this counter also had dishes stacked up for the trolls to help themselves to food.
There were two seats open at Angel's and Clover's table near the two trolls in question. Food and drink were already waiting there. Obviously, Biggie and Cooper were meant to dine with the Mother and her only real child. (At least, they assumed Clover was Angel's biological daughter and not just another of her people. It was hard to tell with the title Mother for the leader.)
When she saw them, Angel smiled and gently waved to them. "Oh! Our heroes have arrived, children! Cooper! Biggie! Come in! Have a seat! We were just about to eat our breakfasts! Right, my darling little trolls?" She looked around at the packed dining hall with a smile.
Biggie and Cooper headed over and took their seats by her and Clover while Razzle went to the counter to get his own breakfast. The breakfast that waited for Biggie and Cooper was identical to Angel's and Clover's, although it did look tasty—pancakes with strawberries on top, eggs, and orange juice.
"So? How did it go, young ones?" Angel asked them as she started cutting her pancakes, smiling sweetly at her two guests. "I assume you bring us back good news?"
"Yup!" Cooper answered enthusiastically. "There was nothing up all night!"
"Good, good," Angel said, nodding. "Glad to hear it." She took a sip of her orange juice, proud of her heroes.
"But we really do need to talk to you today," Biggie said, trying desperately to get them on the subject that would eventually free them to go home. "It's about our...mission here."
"Oh?" Angel asked, spooning some raspberry jam onto her eggs before eating them.
"Uh-huh!" Cooper agreed with a nod. "Mr. Dinkles and our hero, commander, and future king, Branch, sent us for a very specific reason."
Biggie could hardly suppress the shudder that rose up in him when Cooper assigned all of those titles to Branch. If Branch knew what they were claiming he was, Biggie wasn't sure how he'd react. Would he be glad for the appreciation? Or would he be embarrassed at being called so many things that he wasn't? Okay, "future king," maybe, given that he was still dating Poppy, but the rest was nonsense! ...Okay, he had saved them from the bergens once, with help from Poppy, but nobody called him their hero, and he certainly wasn't their commander! This was getting out of hand.
Angel's eyes widened in surprise, and she asked, "Really!?" She looked at Cooper, all attention focused on him, both stunned and curious.
"Who's Branch?" Clover asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked like she was suspicious of this unknown troll. "He sounds alright, but..."
"I do believe I mentioned Queen Poppy yesterday?" Biggie asked, hoping to reign in the possible conspiracy theories about Branch's connection to the god Mr. Dinkles before they could get too wild. "Well, Branch is her boyfriend and a great warrior. He's been defending our village since he was a teenager."
You could call it "defending" if he warned them of danger, even if it was imaginary, right? Biggie figured he'd just roll with it. For all he knew, Branch had been secretly defending them all when he was still gray.
"Or longer," Cooper added.
"And he's been teaching all of us the same skills!" Biggie added, throwing his arm up in excitement.
"Ooh... That's splendid, children! Simply splendid!" Angel said with a smile, clapping exuberantly. "So does that mean you've all come here with his blessing to do the same?"
"Yes, exactly!" Biggie answered, glad that she'd reached that conclusion. "We're here to teach all of you to be as safe as Branch!"
"And we ain't leaving until we finish!" Cooper said, shaking his head vehemently to emphasize his point.
Angel's eyes brightened with renewed hope. She clasped her hands together and said, "Oh, how wonderful! Did you hear that, little ones!?" She got to her feet and looked around at her people. "Biggie and Cooper have come to teach us all how to be safe!" She threw her head back and her arms up, overjoyed at the idea that they could all soon protect themselves from all the danger in this world.
The villagers all cheered, save one troll, who looked uncomfortable with this idea.
"Uh, Mother!" Clover protested as she got to her feet with eyes wide in worry. "Don't you think this is a bit much? I mean, one attack on Fairiesville shouldn't—"
"Now, Clover," Angel cut her daughter off, pressing her hands to her hips, as Biggie and Cooper grappled with the realization that "Fearsville" had a different name before the attack. "We've been over this many times, sweetheart. With creatures like those Party Crashers waiting just around the corner, you can—" Clover flopped back down into her seat, rolling her eyes, as she mimicked Angel, joining her mother to finish, "never be too careful."
It wasn't like Clover hadn't heard that dumb comment about a million times since the invasion.
"I know," she said, resigned. She knew she was unlikely to win, but it didn't make this any less irritating. "But I don't think there really are threats around every corner." She turned in her seat as she gestured at the others, looking concerned, as she continued, "You're scaring the living daylights out of everyone, and—"
"That's enough from you, young lady!" Angel cut her off firmly. "You know better than that!" She pointed a finger at her daughter, scolding. (Clover rolled her eyes in exasperation and tuned her mother out.) "As everyone's Big Sister, you need to set an example for all the children and do all you can to keep them safe. You can't learn to become a good mother if you're unable to properly protect everyone, now, can you?" She put her hands on her hips, waiting for her daughter to demonstrate some sense.
Clover sighed in defeat and answered, "No. Sorry, Mother. Won't happen again."
"Good." Angel turned her attention back to Biggie and Cooper as she sat back down, smiling. "Now, my dears. You were saying?" She rested her chin in her hands, smiling at the two. She was eager to hear more about this, but she maintained her composure, as a good leader must.
"Well, Branch has traps set up around Troll Village," Biggie answered. Although he sympathized with Clover and agreed with her entirely, he needed to find a way to get home, and making this village "safe" was the only way he could think of to do that. "They helped us deal with the Party Crashers when they came to our village."
"Oh! Really!? Hadn't thought about that!" Angel said, sounding excited once again. Her eyes brightened. "What are they like?"
Clover rolled her eyes. She'd had enough of Paranoia Central for the day. "Uh-huh, yeah. Mother, may I be excused? I'm done with my breakfast anyway."
"Of course, you may, my dear," Angel answered with a sweet smile. "Have a lovely day!" She waved to the younger troll.
Looking somewhat annoyed, Clover got up and started out of the dining hall, muttering, "Yeah, a 'lovely day' being way too safe. Ugh." As her mother continued going over safety tips with Biggie and Cooper, Clover left them to it. She stopped in the doorway and looked back, curious. "Hm..."
She stood there for a bit, thinking, as she watched the two with intense interest. Their story was just too convenient to be true. Were they making this up as they went along? If so, could they be more reasonable than her mother? Maybe they could help solve Fairiesville's real problem—paranoia. Heaven only knew something had to be done before things got even more out of hand, and Clover planned to prevent that, no matter what she had to do to accomplish that goal.