The Plantar Sisters

by jawmax

When beings outside of time change the past the Calamity Trio are sent to Amphibia as babies. Raised by the Planter family the girls grow up not knowing what they are or where they come from. The adventure begins again with the stakes raised as time itself in the balance.

12. By Hook or by Cook & If You Dare

Chapter 12: By Hook or by Cook/ If You Dare

AN: By Hook or by Cook replaces Lily Pad Tai. If You Dare replaces Plantar's Last Stand.

By Hook or by Cook

The Plantars were waiting in the living room. The girls eager for their guest paced in circles. "You're going to wear a hole in the floor!" Polly said.

"Sorry, we just really want this to work." Sasha said.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Could be risky." Hop Pop asked.

"If this works then we can know more about our past." Marcy explained as someone knocked on their door.

"It's her!" Anne gasped.

"I got it." Sprig opened the door.

"Hey Sprig." Maddie said.

"Hi, Maddie." Sprig gulped. He wasn't sure how to talk around his unofficial ex-fiancé. "So did you bring them?"

"Three memory potions right here." Maddie opened her bag showing three vials of blue liquid.

"So, I'm still a little unclear on the plan here."

"Maddie suggested it to us." Anne said.

"Normally this stuff is only used on old folks who have trouble remembering something from a long time ago." Maddie explained. "But I figured if your sisters drank it, they could remember stuff from before you guys found them."

"But they were newborns." Hop Pop said. "Would they really remember anything useful?"

"Any clue could helpful." Marcy said.

"At the very least we might our birth parents faces." Sasha added. "We could recognize them if we run into them when we leave the valley."

"But remember, the effects will only last a few minutes and they will only work on you guys once." Maddie warned. "So, we only get one shot. So, who's going first?"

"We already draw lots, so Marcy is going first." Anne said.

"Okay, Marcy you should sit down and relax. Once you drink, you'll be in a trance. I'll try to guide you." Maddie handed her a vial.

"Alright here goes." Marcy said as she drank the potion. "It's sweet." Her eyelids felt heavy as she leaned back.

"Marcy, can you hear me?" Maddie asked.

"Yes."

"Good, now relax and think back. Think back as far as you can remember."

"I, I see…"

Marcy saw her house. She toddled into the study. Hop Pop turned and saw her. "Marcy? What are you doing up from your nap?" Hop Pop asked the two-year-old.

"Tummy icky." She pointed to her stomach.

"Oh, let's have look now." Hop Pop leaned in close but then she felt worse. Marcy then threw up. "Oh, my Frog! It's in my eyes! It's in my eyes!"

The next thing Marcy knew she was back in the present. She saw Polly was rolling around laughing. Marcy then looked at Hop Pop. "To be honest I kind of blocked that from my own memory." Hop Pop moaned.

"Sorry." Marcy said.

"Well, that was bust." Sasha sighed. "Okay my turn." Sasha drank the potion and laid back.

"Alright Sasha, now think back as far as you can." Maddie said.

"I feel…"

Sasha felt cold and wet. The thunder scared her. She was crying. Others were crying. But there was a light. The light kept the dark away. A man was in the light with pointy yellow hair and a white coat. The man spoke. "Help us! Someone please!" Something was coming from the dark. The man spoke to the things in the dark. "Please help us. They are all alone in this world."

When Sasha opened her eyes, she said. "I saw him! The man in the golden light. It was so beautiful."

"Great but we haven't learned anything new." Sprig sighed.

"There's only one potion left." Maddie sighed.

"Then I'm our last shot." Anne said as she took the bottle. "Down the hatch."

"Okay Anne. Relax and think back. As far back as you can remember. Where are you?"

"I'm, I'm…"

Anne was laying back in a room. She saw a woman with her back turned to her. She was cutting something very fast. Anne then heard something make a loud sizzling sound. She turned her head. The sound was coming from a big pan. It was too noisy, and a flame shot up from under the pan! She was scared so she started to cry. She heard the woman speak. "Anne! Honey could you please bring table three their order? Anne needs me."

Anne then heard a man's voice. "No problem!"

Big hands reached for Anne. "Don't cry Anne. Mommy's here."

"Shoot! I was so close!" Anne said as she came out of the trance. "I almost saw…our mother's face." Sasha and Marcy looked very disappointed.

"The possibility that they aren't blood relatives has never crossed their minds." Ghost Sasha said. "Their naivety keeps surprising me."

"Is it really that important?" Ghost Anne asked. "Living with the Plantars taught me that there is more to family than blood."

"Anne, I know child psychology. Yes, they like us know there are more important things then being blood relatives but still when they learn the truth it can be devastating for them to hear."

"Did you learn anything at all?" Maddie asked.

"Well, I was in a kitchen that's for sure. Our mother was chopping vegetables, something was cooking in a pan. I think she was talking to our father. She used the pet name honey."

"Well at least it sounds like our people do get married." Sasha breathed a sigh of relief.

"What did she say to him? Did he say anything back?" Marcy asked.

"She asked him to bring an order to table three… wait! That sounds like something you'd hear in…" Anne gasped. "I think our parents owned a restaurant!"

"Well how about that, a restaurant." Hop Pop said.

"Thanks Maddie, it's not much but we know something."

"Hey, I'm just glad my idea worked, and you didn't go into shock remembering being in your eggs."

"What? Never mind." Marcy said. "How about you join us for lunch?"

Sasha smiled. "And since we just learned cooking is in our blood let's celebrate by finally making our original Sasmarann."

"Neat." Maddie said.

A few minutes later the Plantars were at work in the kitchen. "So, you settled on a round shape for the dough?" Sprig asked as he helped Marcy shape it.

"Yeah, we figured that we could cut it into slices like a pie." Marcy answered.

"Alright, I got the sauce." Sasha said. "We got to start thinking like were serving this to customers. So, if this would be for a whole table then we want an even coating."

"Well, I for one am glad you three agreed to try some of my suggestions, so Anne would you chop up some veggies?" Hop Pop asked.

"Got it got Hop Pop." Anne took a turnip and a clever but then stopped. "Think our mother held it like this and…" Anne began chopping and quickly made the turnip into discs and put them in a bowl. Everyone but Sprig gathered around at the sight. "I think they could be thinner."

"Still, that's not bad for using something you saw as a baby." Maddie said.

"Pretty impressive Anne." Polly added.

"You have got to teach us how to do that." Sasha gasped.

"Please?" Marcy begged.

Then there was an explosion. And everyone turned to see Sprig was on the floor blacked. "Yeah, I blew up the sasmarann."

"Oh, dang it Sprig!" Hop Pop fumed. "Well, this meal's a bust. Who wants to eat out?"

Then something flashed in Maddie bag. She then pulled out a glowing talisman. "Darn, my caldron is almost at the right temperature! If I don't get back to it now, then the spell I'm working on will be ruined and the town will overrun with ghosts! See you Sprig!" Maddie ran out.

"Uh, okay. Just the six of us then." Hop Pop said.

The Plantars went to Stumpy's Diner. On entering Sasha was disgusted by what she saw. "Anne please tell me our parents wasn't like this."

"No, it wasn't, thank Frog." Anne said. Wally was passed out on a barstool, a possum ate out of a frog's bowl, there was even a skeleton at one of the tables.

The Frogs of the family sat at one table and the girls sat in the one next to it. As they looked over the menus Marcy squinted. "This font is really small. How do they expect us to read this?"

The owner Stumpy came up. "Here ya are. Six bowls of slop. Enjoy or don't, makes no difference to me."

"Thanks, Stumpy." Sprig said.

"Excuse me, hello. Over here! Yoo hoo!" Duckweed called.

"There be a problem sir?" Stumpy asked.

"Um yes, there is only one fly in my soup. There should be dozens! I mean how hard is it to run a restaurant anyway? You just put food on tables! A tadpole could do it!"

"Who's that jerk? And why won't he shut up?" Anne asked Sprig.

"Didn't we see him at the Firefly Formal?" Sasha added.

"That is Albus Duckweed. He writes reviews for the paper." Sprig explained.

"Oh yes. I saw the name in the paper, but I never knew face behind it." Marcy said.

"Blah! He thinks he's better than everyone else because he talk good." Polly grumbled.

"It's true." Hop Pop said.

"Hearing him complain is driving me crazy!" Anne snapped. "And the way he says running a restaurant is easy reminds me of how some people say farming in just sticking seeds in the ground and pouring water on them! I can't take this anymore!" Anne slammed the table.

"Anne, just ignore it and enjoy your slug gruel." Hop Pop sighed.

Sasha got up. "She's already walking toward him." Marcy followed.

"I mean seriously, look at this place!" Duckweed said mid rant.

"Hey! Lay of buddy. Running a restaurant is hard!" Anne said as her sister came up behind her.

"Kid, what are you doing?" Stumpy asked.

"Ha!" Duckweed laughed. "And what do creatures like you know about running a restaurant?"

"Well, what does a little lizard like you know about anything?" Anne retorted.

"Anne cut it out!" Sasha whispered.

Anne ignored Sasha. "Besides, our birthparents ran a restaurant. I don't remember much, but with what I can, I could feel that our mother put a lot of love and care into what she was doing."

"Well, if your parents are anything like you three then I bet their restaurant was terrible!" Duckweed said. Sasha and Marcy gasped.

"What did you just say?!" Sasha snapped.

"How dare you!" Marcy fumed.

Anne had enough. "Oh yeah? Why don't you come back in… I don't know two days or something, and we'll have completely turned this place around."

"I, uh, I beg your pardon? What?" Stumpy asked wondering how he got dragged into this.

"Oh, a wager, is it? Fine." Duckweed smirked. "I'll be back in two days. Looking forward to writing my review and shutting this place down!" Duckweed then went out the door.

"Kid what have you done?!" Stumpy panicked. "That was the most popular critic in town! One bad review from him and we're finished!"

Marcy looked worried. "Uh, Anne I think we bit off more than we can chew here. We don't know the first thing about running a restaurant!"

"You just put another man's lively hood on the line!" Sasha scolded.

Anne sat down. "Girls, Stumpy, I know I got carried away, but we can do this! Our family pride is at stake! What do you say guys?" Anne held out her hand.

"Like with everything else, if we work together, we can do this!" Marcy put her hand on top of Anne's.

"I'm still mad, but that pompous newt insulted our birth parents, people he doesn't even know! We need to deflate that ego of his." Sasha put her hand on Marcy's.

"I say… you kids just put me out of business." Stumpy said as he began to walk away. "Bound to happen eventually I suppose."

"Not the kind of moment we were hoping for." Anne said.

"Girls, did you just promise to save this restaurant?" Hop Pop asked.

"In two days?" Sprig added.

"By yourselves?" Polly finished.

"Yep, that uh… pretty much what just happened. Ug me and my big mouth!" Anne moaned.

The next morning Stumpy dragged a blue crocamander into his diner, the kitchen was dark, and the mushroom light wouldn't stay on. "Dang mushroom needs replacing. Not that it matters anymore." But when the light stayed on, he saw creepy smiling Anne and her barely awake sisters. "Mother of Pearl!"

"Hey Stumpy!" Anne said excitedly.

"How long you been here?"

"All night. Couldn't sleep. Too excited!"

"And she dragged us here too." Sasha yawned.

"We slept in the booths." Marcy stretched to get a kink out of her back.

"So, you ready to beat that critic?" Anne asked.

"Eh, creepy kid." Stumpy grumbled.

"What do you want to start with? Change the menu?"

"Redecorate?" Marcy asked as part of the ceiling broke open and dumped some slime.

"Burn this place to the ground and start over?" Sasha asked disgusted.

"Look kids, you're on your own." Stumpy said. "Do whatever you want! It's not going to make a difference in the end anyway."

"Oh, that is where you are wrong!"

First the girls started with mopping the floors. They even had some fun with fake sword fights where Sasha accidently hit a sleeping Wally. "Oh! What day is it?" Stumpy groaned at the antics.

Next, they took out the trash each carrying a third of it. When Anne threw the first bag into the dumpster into stood on two legs and began to chase her. Marcy jumped on trying to stop it and Sasha chased it with knives from the kitchen. "Heh, heh. I knew about that garbage lizard." Stumpy laughed.

When the sisters did the dishes, they decided to split up the work like at home. This time Anne would dry, Sasha would put them away and Marcy would rinse. But she never used a squirt eel before so she sprayed the top dishes by accident, and they would have fell on her if Stumpy didn't catch them. He then started tossing them like targets for the girl to hit. "Nice shot. Direct hit! You got it."

By the end of the day the place was clean and sparkling. Stumpy smiled. "I got to hand it to you girls, this place looks great! We even scrubbed the Wally out."

"That's what you think!" Wally said from the kitchen.

"The critic is going to be blown away!"

"Blown away? As if." Sasha said.

"All we did was mop the floors and clean the dishes." Marcy agreed.

"They're right! This place is still a house of broken dreams!" Anne looked outside at the diner's dilapidated exterior as the sign fell off.

"Harsh but on point." Stumpy admitted.

If we're going to impress that critic, then we got a lot more work to do! We need a complete and total transformation!"

"Wait a minute. That version of me doesn't know Thai culture exists much less Thai food!" Ghost Anne said. "So that can't be the kind of restaurant they're going to make."

"What do you mean? Like place mats?" Stumpy asked.

"Bigger." Sasha said.

Marcy held a blueprint in her hand. "Let me ask you something. What do you believe people think when they hear "Stumpy" that isn't food?"

"I don't know, dismemberment?" Stumpy asked.

"Uh, not that either." Marcy opened the blueprints.

"Oh, I'm going to need me hammer hand for this."

"Hey they have something." Ghost Marcy cheered. "Anne what's wrong?"

"Teen Anne… she is disconnected from her heritage." Ghost Anne sighed. "I used to complain but I'm proud to be Thai. I can't help but wonder if she's going to embrace her heritage or not."

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Stumpy and the Plantar sisters worked through the night. The next day a crowd gathered. "What are you all looking at?" Mrs. Croaker asked.

"Stumpy's changed overnight." one woman said. To the side was a miniature lighthouse, the entrance's overhang now looked like the bow of a ship with the restaurant's name on either side.

The frogs entered and Anne greeted who like her sisters was dressed like a pirate. "Ahoy, and welcome to Stumpy's. Wartwood's finest seafood restaurant. Now setting sail with napkins."

The towns people did like this new kind of experience, especially the service. "Have a refill of your fly iced tea on the house." Sasha said.

"Order up! Enjoy!" Anne said as she severed three frogs who like the food.

"I think I'll have the surf and turf." Mrs. Croker said to Marcy. "But first deary can you tell me what this string attached to this block is doing on the table?"

"Oh, while you wait for your meal you use the attached card's instructions to tie some of the knots that are used on ships." Marcy explained.

Sadie looked at the card. "Hmm. I heard of a sheepshank knot, but I never saw one before. One foot in the grave and still learning new things."

Stumpy rang a bell and Anne came to pick up an order. "I've never seen this place so packed. What is this strange feeling in me chest?"

"That is called hope. I think we might actually pull this off dude!"

At the entrance the rest of the Plantars had arrived and Sprig kept ringing the service bell. "Sprig please stop that." Marcy requested.

"Marcy, this place is amazing!" Sprig said drawing Anne and Sasha over.

"Guess you were right when you said this restaurant stuff was in your blood." Hop Pop admitted.

"Aw yeah! Score one for Anne!" Anne cheered.

"Table for three."

"Oh, sorry. All the tables are full." Marcy said.

"It got way more crowded than we expected." Sasha added.

Coughing was heard as Duckweed took off his frog costume. "They can have my table. I am done here."

The girls gasped. "It's…"

"Duckweed! He's here!" Stumpy finished.

"I have another question…." Mrs. Croaker asked as the cook and waitresses rushed to Duckweed's table.

"Thanks for coming!" Stumpy said.

"Okay." Marcy rushed by.

"Great." Sasha muttered.

"See ya." Anne said. "Duckweed… What's with the disguise?"

"Oh, this? It's kind of a critic thing." Duckweed explained.

"Really?"

"It to guarantee we get a genuine experience you know?"

"Oh, interesting." Marcy said.

"If you knew it was me, you'd probably zhuzh it a bit, make it a bit better. But in a disguise, you're just gonna serve me like everyone else."

"Oh, that actually real clever." Sasha complimented.

"Thank you."

"So did you like the food?" Anne asked.

"Oh right… No!" Duckweed slammed the table. "I found the food like the pirate theme predictable and passe! And when I publish my review, your restaurant will be ruined." He began laughing. "I love my job."

"Will you give us a moment? Stay right there!" the four dashed into the kitchen.

"That's it! It's over! We're finished!" Stumpy said. "The moment that review goes up, this restaurant gowns down."

Anne slapped Stumpy. "Pull yourself together man! We can do this!"

"Marcy, you find any special dishes that can turn this thing around?" Sasha asked.

Marcy was using her powers to speed read. "This one! Squid Surprise! It says here in is the pinnacle of fine seafood."

"Okay." Stunpy agreed. Anne slapped him again. "I already said okay!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just pumped!" Anne apologized. They rant to the front door. "Hey, we've got a special dinner just for you!"

"Don't go anywhere." Stumpy added.

"Amusing. Alright, I'll play your little game." Duckweed said.

"Does this mean we can't get your table?" Hop Pop asked.

"Man, who knew squid were so big!" Sasha said as they dragged the main ingredient for their dish.

"It's not a squid, it's a kraken." Stumpy corrected.

"Eh, tomato, potato." Anne said as they got to work.

"Out of the of the please! Hot dish!" Marcy said pushing a trolly

The three sisters put the dish on the table. "Get ready to be blown away by our squid surprise!" Anne lifted the lid.

"Oh my!" Duckweed said. "What an exotic selection!" when Duckweed was about to stick his fork in the kraken opened its eye. Apparently, they are sound sleepers, but it still felt the pain of being cook and was cheesed off.

"That really is a surprise. Assassinating your critics, I love it!" Polly said before the kraken got a hold of the Plantar frogs.

Sasha tried to use her strength to save her family, but she was caught in a loop of being wrapped in a tentacle and breaking out while Marcy guided the customers to safety. "Okay this is a disaster!" Anne said. "I never should have made this dumb wager!"

"Anne calm down." Stumpy reassured. "Maybe we can't save the restaurant, but we sure can save those people's lives. What do you say?"

"I say… let's crush this calamari!" Anne looked up and saw a slice of lemon. "I have an idea!" But before she got grab it the kraken smashed the counter and Anne had to jump out of the way.

Stumpy switched his pan hand for a giant meat tenderizer and leapt to attack. The kraken spat ink on him and when he landed Stumpy lick the ink. "Mmm. Oh, that's good."

"Stumpy the lemon!"

"Coming right up!" Stumpy tossed it to Anne.

"Have some lemon with your meal!" Anne quipped as she squirted lemon juice into the kraken's eye. Blinding it and forcing it to release its victims. The last thing it saw was Stumpy swinging his tenderizer at it.

"I don't think this thing is getting back up." Sprig said poking the monster corpse. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is everyone okay?" Sasha asked.

"The customers are fine!" Marcy answered.

Anne turned to Duckweed. "So, Duckweed…. I guess you got a bad review to write huh?"

"Bad? Bad?! That was incredible!" Duckweed said. "A food that tries to eat you?! The irony! The ecstasy! I simply must tell everyone! Too the message board!"

"Way to go guys!" Sprig said.

"That's my big sisters!" Polly cheered.

"They live in my basement." Hop Pop boasted.

While the customers applauded the three teens looked at each other confused. "What' s a message board?" they asked.

"Oh, I forget how sheltered you three are." Sprig pointed out the window. "Like the name says, it's a literal board you put messages on."

"We better clean this place up." Marcy said looking around.

"Again." Sasha moaned.

Anne sighed. "Stumpy, Sasha, Marcy, I'm sorry. I took things way too far over something I barely know about. I was just so excited learning something about our birth family."

"No way Anne!" Stumpy said. "This whole thing was a big success. You even convinced this old grump to care. If you three's parents could see this, I'm sure they'd be proud."

"I agree." Hop Pop chimed in. "Both your birth parents and Birch and Willow."

"Thanks Stumpy." Anne said. "Put her there." Anne shook Stumpy's spatula hand. "Oh, this feels nice. What is it? Oak? Mahogony?"

"It's carved from the bones of me missing hand." Stumpy answered.

"Oh, come on!"

If You Dare

"Ah, the Wartwood farmers Market." Sprig said looking over the market. "Where salt of the earth frogs come to sell stuff and fill up on free samples." Sprig ate some jelly.

"That wasn't a sample." Gentle Jon the jelly stand owner said.

Sprig spat the jelly back into the jar. "Now it's like nothing happened. Jon pulled out a mace. "I, I can pay for that."

"Morning Mrs. Croaker." Polly said as the old woman approached the Plantar's vegetable stand.

Sadie looked over the produce. "Hm. I take this here gangly gourd Hopediadh."

"Oh, I sense a batch of Croaker stew coming on." Hop Pop said. "Hang on Sadie, you don't want that one." Hop Pop took the gourd and split it open. A bug was inside. "Ah ha! It's a gourd maggot! These guys taste terrible! Here take this one instead. It's maggot free!"

"Classic Plantar honesty." Mrs. Croaker said. "Speaking of Plantars where are your three oldest?"

Hop Pop sighed. "The girls have been on this kick where they dare each other for the past couple of days." Hop Pop pointed to Polly. "This one got them on one where they race here while… well see for yourself, here they come."

Polly and a lot of the townspeople laughed as Anne came in doing cartwheels, Sasha was walking on her hands, and Marcy held up a mirror while walking backwards. "Is the circus in town?" One frog asked.

"If it is, then what are we looking at? The clowns or the freak show?" another said.

Anne paid them no mind as she got to the stand first. "Woo hoo! I win! Woah, I'm really dizzy." Anne fell.

"I hope it was worth the humiliation Anne!" Sasha snapped.

"You wouldn't say that if you won Sasha." Marcy said.

"You girls shouldn't be wasting your time with such foolishness!" Hop Pop scolded.

"Oh, lay off Hopediah." Mrs. Croker said. "Doing foolish things is part of being young. Why I remember a young orange frog who took on all kinds of crazy dares from his buddies back in the day." Hop Pop laughed nervously. "But he grew into a fine man who just kept me from making a bad deal even if it didn't gain him anything. You girls should be proud, I've been buying from this stand since your great grandfather was running it! And y'all have never steered me wrong."

"That was noble of you Hop Pop." Marcy said.

"That is the Plantar family difference girls." Hop Pop said. "You can't taste honesty. But if you could…"

"…it'd taste like a Plantar's stand vegetable." The kids said along.

Hop Pop continued. "This stand is the heart and soul of our family! I don't know what I'd do if we lost it."

"Bad new everyone! Bad news!" Toadie came running by and handed Hop Pop a scroll. "Gotta run away before you read it!" Toadie left as fast as he arrived.

Hop Pop read the scroll. "Say Whaaat? Mayor Toadstool is quadrupling the rent! And he wants it in three days!" Frogs all around were furious. "At this rate we'll lose the stand! What are we gonna do?"

Anne thought for a moment, but Sasha stopped her. "Oh no Anne! That's your scheming face! We're not doing one of you hairbrained ideas!"

"Why don't we just confront the mayor?" Marcy asked. "This isn't just bad for us, but the other farmers too!"

"You're right Marcy! We need to tackle the root of the problem!" Anne stood up. "Woah! Still dizzy!" Marcy and Sasha helped their sister stay on her feet.

"We got you sis." Sasha said.

"Easy does it." Marcy added.

"Do you really think they can change Toadstool's mind?" Polly asked.

"I hope so Polly. I really do." Hop Pop moaned.

Sprig had a worried look on his face. "I don't know guys. For some reason I have a bad feeling about this."

"This is another event that going radically different then I remember." Ghost Anne said. "Hop Pop losing the stand was the catalyst for a lot of things in the valley."

"We could be seeing a major butterfly effect here." Ghost Marcy noted.

The doors of Toadstool's office flung open. "You really did it this time Mayor!" Anne yelled.

"I should have expected that you Plantar sister would be the first to complain about the new rent." Toadstool grumbled looking up from a book.

"Four times the rent in just three days?" Marcy fumed. "How do you expect anyone to be able to pay that?"

Sasha cracked her knuckles. "You're asking to get worse than rotten produce this time!"

"Well how else do you expect me to recover the town's emergency fund that I lost in that bet?" Toadstool asked.

"Wait, you lost the town's money gambling? Who has it now?" Anne asked.

"The mayor of Swamp Shire. My cousin Wartbert." Toadstool held up the book which was an album. It showed a picture of Mayor Toadstool on a golf course next to his victorious cousin who looked just like him. Except he was thinner, and more muscular, and he had a luxurious pompadour on his head. "He's been beating me at everything since we were kids!" Toadstool turned the pages showing Wartbert beating him in a flipwart tournament as teenagers, then again at a spelling bee as kids, and they even somehow competed on who would be born first with Wartbert as a tadpole with a winner banner above him next to Toadstool's egg. "The people in his town even love Wartbert! Just once I want to win against him in something! A game! A contest! A dare!"

Anne made her scheming face. "A dare huh? Mayor if you can get him to bet the money that he won then we can win any dare he gives on your behalf! All we ask is that you return the rent back to what it was."

"Anne, can we speak in private for a minute?" Sasha asked. The three huddled in a corner. "Are you crazy? Even if Toadstool agrees, we don't know what kind of dare his cousin will give us, or even if he'll accept the bet!"

"With what we've seen this Wartbert guy loves wining and he's a Toadstool. So, if the mayor puts money on the line, I'm sure he'll take the bet. As for the dare remember we have our powers! If it's a mental challenge Marcy is sure to figure it out. A race? I can win in no time flat! And if it a test of strength. Sasha, you crush it win it no sweat!"

"She's right…" Marcy whispered. "…besides we're doing this for Hop Pop, to save our family stand."

Sasha sighed. "Alright. We'll do it for Hop Pop."

Anne smiled. "So, Mayor Toadstool, do we have a deal?"

"I don't know, you lot tend to cause more problems than you solve…" Toadstool said.

"When we win you can hold over Wartbert's head for the rest of his life."

"I'm in! I'll make the arrangements."

"I just hope Hop Pop will be okay with this." Sasha said.

"I am not okay with this!" Hop Pop said back at the market. "You're betting the future of the stand on a dare?!"

"We can't raise the money in time so getting Toadstool to lower the rent back is the only way we can save the stand." Anne explained.

"And they're going up against the mayor of Swamp Shire!" Sprig added.

"Swamp Shire!" Loggle yelled over hearing. "That town has been looking down on Wartwood for a hundred years!"

"Think they're all special with their paved streets and working plumbing." Polly sniped as a local fountain squirted out mud.

"So, if the Plantar sisters win not only will our rent be lower, but we get to beat Swamp Shire?" a frog asked. Then the towns people began to cheer. "Plantars! Plantars! Plantars!"

"I still don't know about this." Hop Pop said.

"I don't like it either Hop Pop, but we don't have choice if we want to save the stand." Sasha argued.

"I think the odds are in our favor." Marcy agreed.

"Everyone!" Toadstool said. "Looks like word of our little competition has spread. I just got a response from my cousin; he'll be here tomorrow to set up the challenge."

The crowd cheered again. "Guys there is more than just our stand riding on this now." Sprig said. "Wartwoods honor is at stake. You sure you're up for it?"

"Please Sprig." Anne patted his head. "We got this. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Did she really just say that?" Ghost Anne facepalmed.

"Look at it this way Anne." Ghost Sasha said. "She's not repeating your mistakes, she's making new ones that are all her own."

That night at Toad Tower another search party came back. "It has been weeks since Bubban had made his report and not one of you sorry excuses for toads have found a single trance of these creatures?!" Grime shouted.

"Uh maybe they already left the valley?" Percy suggested.

"The mountain passes are still covered in ice you fool!"

"Well, they might have been eaten and our problem solved itself." Braddock said.

"No, those creatures are alive. I can feel it in my bones!" Grime punched a wall cracking it. "But with tax season starting I can't spare you cowards to look for them! I even already sent out Bog and his squad. So here is what's going to happen. I will personally be leading tomorrow night's search party and if we don't find any clues to where these creatures are then the rest of the party will spend a week in the pain room!"

Morning came to Wartwood and crowd gathered at an open field. "So, in his letter, your cousin said he was arriving here?" Hop Pop asked.

"Uh huh." Toadstool said. "Wartbert loves to show off. Here he comes." The mayor pointed to the sky a giant purple butterfly whose flapping wings sounded like a helicopter was coming in.

"Yee haw!" Wartbert hollered as he came in for a landing. "Frogdrick! Good to see you again so soon!" he sounded exactly like his cousin as he stepped off. "Of course, you remember my assistant Marilyn."

A blue female newt with long blonde hair and a white dress stepped of the butterfly. Toadie came up to great her. "Hello Marilyn."

"Oh hi!" she thought for a moment. "Flunky, right?"

"Uh Toadie, my name is Toadie."

"So, Frogdrick let's see these "champions" that want to compete on your behalf." Wartbert said.

"Champions?" Sprig whispered.

"I think "Frogdrick" talked us up when wrote that letter." Sasha muttered.

"Right, the here they are, Wartwoods secret pride and joy, the Planter sisters." Frogdrick boasted. "Taken in by a local family when they were just tiny things these girls have the strength, speed, and brains, to take on any challenge you can dish up. All you have to do is pick one and put up the money you won in our little golf game."

The girls stood in a row while Wartbert inspected them. "Well to be sporting I won't ask them to win a beauty contest." Wartbert said laughing.

"Good one Warty-kins!" Marilyn laughed. The sisters turned away blushing and tried to cover their faces.

"So, you accept my wager?" Frodrick asked.

"Not exactly cousin, I don't your money." Wartbert said. These led to gasps from the crowd. "You see that money I won was the last bit I needed to retire to my own little tropical island early. The citizens of Swamp Shire want to show their gratitude for my years of service by throwing a parade in my honor. So, when… oh sorry, if win then Frogdrick you will agree to be the grand marshal of my parade and you'll have to wear this loser sash and admit my town is better than yours. Haha!" Marilyn held a white sash with the word loser on it.

"Yep, he's a Toadstool alright." Polly said.

"So even if they lose, which they won't, I won't lose any money?" Frogdrick asked. "Then I accept! Now go on and choose what kind of dare you want then to do."

"I have just the thing in mind." Wartbert chuckled. "It will time sometime to set up though. Tonight, the three of you will have until dawn to go across three separate paths from here to Swamp Shire."

"Wait you're splitting us up?" Marcy asked.

"If you don't think you can handle that then any of you can feel free forfeit now."

"No way!" Anne said. "Our town's pride and family's lively hood is on the line! We accept your dare!" The crowd cheered.

"Good I'll have the details set up by sundown. The challenge will start then at the town gate. Come along Marilyn." The pair got back on the butterfly.

Sasha sighed. "You better be right about this Anne. Who knows what we can run into out there tonight."

Anne stretched. "I already told you, with our powers we can handle anything. Now let's take a nap. We need to be rested up for tonight."

As the sun got low Marilyn and Toadie were up a small stage by the town entrance. "Ladies and gentlefrogs, welcome to the Wartwood to Swamp Shire Midnight Challenge!" Marilyn said.

"Plantars! Plantars! Plantars!" The crowd chanted.

Toadie then said. "Our contestants will start as soon as the sun goes down. They are only allowed to bring a lantern and a map with their own routes."

"That's right Flunky…" Marilyn cheered.

"Toadie." Toadie muttered.

Marilyn continued. "Along the way each sister must collect one of these Wartbert Totems of Triumph at a location on their maps!" she held up a small wooden statue of Wartbert winking and giving a thumbs up. "They have until dawn to reach Swamp Shire where both Mayors are waiting. If all three sisters succeed Swamp Shire will shoot off a flare."

"The sun has almost set, let's give our contestants a count down."

As the sun went down the crowd began. "3, 2, 1, go!" And the girls ran off.

Two hours later Marcy checked her map as she came up to a marsh with a sign. "Danger, poisonous algae." A mantis came out and charged on for it to fall over and as soon as its foot touched the marsh it fell over and sank beneath the algae. Okay can't go in that. But then see saw the totem was on raft floating in the marsh. "That is a problem."

Anne found herself outside a cave. "Let's see the totem should be in the cave. Says here it's called Crash Cavern." Anne saw it on a rock halfway down the tunnel. As soon as she set foot inside several rocks fell. "Are you kidding me?"

Sasha saw the totem was hanging from a tree standing in the middle of a clearing of knee tall grass. "It can't be this easy."

As she walked through the grass hidden in the tree line toad warriors watched. "It's one the creatures!" one warrior said drawing his sword.

"Wait you idiot!" Grime whispered holding the toad back. "We mustn't underestimate it's strength."

When Sasha got close to the totem, she heard a hiss as a creature that had the body of centipede and the head of a cobra uncoiled itself from around the tree and rose to strike. "Of course." Sasha said.

"A cobrapede! This could be our chance." Grime said.

Marcy's eyes glowed green, she saw angles and velocities. She backed up and ran with her boosted speed. She leapt from tree to tree soaring over the poison mash and grabbed the totem. She kept the course until she was at the other side. "Score! Now to get this thing to Swamp Shire."

Anne took a breath. "I can do this." Her eyes glowed blue and she ran at full speed taking the totem out of the cave and she kept running. "Alright! The stand is good as saved!"

The cobrapede lunged forward and Sasha dodged to the side, her hair ribbon caught in one of its legs pulling it off. "Hey!" Sasha yelled as her eyes glowing red, her hair flowing freely. The cobrapede spat venom at the teen who ducked and took hold of the monster's fangs, dropping her lantern causing in to break open. Sasha threw the beast against the tree making it flee. Sasha then climbed up an untied the totem. "One of the Mayor's own me a new ribbon." Sasha said as her eyes dimmed and began to breath hard.

"This is our chance! Capture it!" Grimes yelled.

"Grime?!" Ghost Sasha gasped.

A half dozen toads hopped and tried to restrain Sasha. Even in her exhausted state she fought them off, punching and throwing them into each other. "What, why are…?" However, when she saw one glowing green eye in the dark Sasha was silenced when Grime let his tongue fly struck her in the face.

"Load it onto the wagon!" Grime yelled. "We must get into a cell before it wakes up!"

"Grime, I… I wondered if they'd met him." Ghost Sasha said.

"Sasha, you have to remember this is Grime how you first met him." Ghost Anne warned.

Ghost Sasha remembered what Grime called himself once. "The bully in the tower." Now Sasha feared for her younger self and how her adopted family would react.

In front of Swamp Shire both the mayors Toadstool waited. "Well, this is the most boring victory I have ever had." Wartbert yawned.

"Oh, I think my victory is about to more exciting cousin, here comes the first Plantar." Frogdrick said as Anne came running in.

"Alright I'm the first one here!" Anne said holding her totem high.

Marcy arrived soon after. "Woo! Anne! We just need to wait for Sasha and the stand is saved!"

And so, they waited, and waited. And as they waited Anne and Marcy grew more and more worried. For hours until the first rays of the sun broke over the mountains. "Well, I have to admit I was nervous when these two showed up so close to each other, but as usual I win cousin." Warbert said placing the loser sash on him.

"Where is that sister of yours!?" Frogdrick asked.

"I…I don't know!" Anne said.

"Well, you can forget about me lowering the rent! And since it is due today I almost certain your family's stand is now shut down!"

"Oh no! We got to get back home, maybe Hop Pop will know what to do." Marcy said.

"I need the route she was taking!" Anne demanded to Wartbert.

"Huh?" Wartbert was confused but handed Anne a copy of sister's map. Anne took of toward her sister's route. "What are you doing? She obviously has been eaten!"

"Anne! Come back! We need to get others to help!" Marcy called out.

Back in Wartwood sunrise was greeted with moans. "Why did they have to build our hopes up like that?" Wally asked.

"Aw man, I wonder what held them up?" Polly said.

"I don't know." Hop Pop sighed. "I'm sure your sisters will tell us all about it when they get back. We just have to wait."

"Well, you can wait while you clean out your stand." Toadie said handing Hop Pop an eviction notice. "No coin, no stand."

"So sad." Marilyn said. "Well time to go home! See you Flunky!"

"Toadie! My name is Toadie!" Toadie firmly said.

"It is? Well, why didn't you say so?" Marilyn said as she left.

"Come on kids we better get our things." Hop Pop sighed.

"Don't worry Hop Pop, we'll help you get the stand back." Sprig said.

"Do you want me to off Toadie?" Polly asked. "I'll do it, you know I will."

Hop Pop had a sad smile. "No let's just go to the market and get to work. I just hope none of the girls got hurt."

Anne ran through the forest like a girl possessed. "Sasha! Sasha!" Anne looked high and low but there was no sign of her sister.

As Anne looked many of their arguments echoed in her head. "Anne do you ever think of how your plans could go wrong?!"

"Why did I think our powers could handle everything?"

"As always, when you get into trouble you got to drag the two of us along with you!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Why do you always have to act so irresponsibly Anne? Why?!"

"Oh no!" Anne came to the clearing and saw the broken lantern near the totem. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Please no… Sashaaaaaaaa!"

Sasha awoke inside a cell, her leg chained to the floor. "Where am I?"

"Finally awake I see." Grime said two other toads behind him.

"You! Why'd you jump me? Did Wartbert put you up to this? That cheater!"

"Warbert Toadstool, the mayor of Swamp Shire? We don't work for that pompous wind bag!"

"Then why…?"

"You will be answering my questions creature! Now what are you? Who do you work for?"

Sasha ignored his questions. "My family is going to be worried sick! Let me go! I did nothing wrong!"

"Answer my questions creature! How many of you are there in the valley? What are your plans?"

"My name is Sasha, and I am going home!" Sasha's eye glowed as she broke her chain. The next thing she knew the other toads shot darts at her and she fell to the floor.

"Those darts are tipped with hornet venom which causes paralysis. My guards are under strict orders to shoot you when you show any sign of using your power. You will only be leaving Toad Tower when I feel you have given me the information I seek, and your kind are no longer a threat. So… Sasha, was it? Let's start over."