AMPHIBIA-BOTS
(a fan-fiction by Slogokonnor99)
Book 1: survivors
Chapter 1: Up the mountains…
Long time ago… there was a time when our race scattered after a war was lost; at the time we lied hopeless to ever reunite and try to settle things peacefully, but having experimented negative emotions like loss and betrayal, we simply scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find a safe hideout and start anew… However, destiny gave us a different fate.
We crash-landed onto a planet filled with life; their inhabitants were on the verge of beginning their own empire, but in every attempt they did, wild creatures ruined their chances of success. Having empathy for them, we decided to help and thanks to us their empire grew in size and power. But like in every thriving community, peace gave way to war, and thus their empire fell into ruins by their own hands.
Looking for someone to blame, the king's urge to find a culprit led to a rebellion against us, his allies, and a great war ensued. Having taught them about out biology and weaponry, we simply didn't stand a chance; one by one, we fell victim to their creations, to their demons, and just as their rage didn't seem like it could end, their attacks simply ceased.
The last of us, feeling heartbroken and outraged, decided to leave the planet, but to do so we had to travel across the mountains. The rocky terrain and the fauna of the region was said to deter any soldier or machine from going through, but we had no choice. We started the climb, motivated that after this everything would be easier and simpler, but as we reached the first half, I, having suffered major injuries trying to save the last few, simply couldn't continue the journey past the mountain range.
My last words as I commanded the others to leave me were:
"Keep going forwards and don't look behind, for in doing so you'll be reminded of the good and bad moments we've gone through together."
Afterwards, the others left me, while I, feeling that my fate was sealed, chose a hiding spot where no one would find my body, and simply closed my eyes and breathed slowly; resting assured that I would never be found, and so would my comrades and our ship. As for the kingdom, their king kept on sending waves of seekers year after year, hoping to find the last of us that fled his tyranny. But as time passed, the drone waves became scarce, and the tale of this tragedy turned from a real event into a legend.
-The inhabitants of the fallen kingdom say that on one night, the sounds of rust and the smell of the blood of the giants will disperse in the air, and one person with heart will answer the call and follow the trail. That person will be the salvation of that kingdom and will rebuild it with the giant's corpses- Said an old voice reading a book while the sun began to drop –Well! Given that this is supposed to be a myth among people that have died long ago… I doubt it can be real in the end, right kids?-. He turned his head to the side and waited for an answer from his children, but they had ignored him during all the long speech. With that over however they simply tried to convince the old frog to watch a soap opera with their newly made friend. -FINE!- He yelled –But expect me to ignore this as you did to me!-.
For the Plantars, particularly Hopadiah Plantar (or Hop Pop, as his friends called him), life on Wartwood had changed a lot ever since that human girl named Anne Boonchuy ended up living there. She may sometimes be a nuisance like now, but she always made it up for her mistakes; she even introduced them to new stuff that for them seemed dangerous at first but that they liked in the end. They grew up to like her and now they allow her to call their house "home", despite not knowing where she really is from.
-Aw, c'mon HP- said Anne –you're gonna love it! I know you like acting, so why not show you how we do acting where I'm from?-. Anne knew "acting" was a word that Hop Pop could not resist at all, and he grabbed the bait quickly. During the whole day, Anne and the Plantars watched episode after episode, but with the day ending, as they reached the last episodes, she saw an opportunity to have time for herself. With the family being entertained with the soap opera on her phone, she decided to head out of the house to take some fresh air. While she used to do this on the day, this time she felt like there was time for a little activity outside. Unbeknownst to her, one of the children, Sprig, noticed that she was heading out and asked if he could follow her. –Well… I only wanted to go for a little walk around the yard- said Anne –so why not?-. Sprig knew that when she said "little walk around the yard" that could only mean one thing: an adventure, so he grabbed a slingshot and followed her to the nearby forest, having been in that area plenty of times already when he was frolicking around with his friend Ivy he basically knew the place like the palm of his hand.
Anne made the first move as they reached the edge of the forest. Sprig followed behind her, checking that no one was following them and sticking very close in case something attacked. –Is everything clear?- Asked Sprig as Anne kept moving forwards, -Sprig, you don't need to always overreact when it comes to simple walks- Anne replied, -But you're always nervous when you go into the forest- Sprig replied. Anne ignored that comment as they went deeper into the forest, all she wanted was to have some time alone and Sprig was being a bit of a nuisance like her, but she refused to say it directly. Sprig however noticed her mood and decided to stand a few feet behind and cover her back. Suddenly, Anne stopped; she felt like she was being watched by something, and that something was making a weird noise. –Sprig, did you hear that?- she asked nervously, after all, it could be a creature stalking them both, -yeah- Sprig replied. Anne tried to listen carefully and noticed that the noise was low and long, as if it was a sort of frequency. -Sprig, I think I know That voice- Anne told him, -Yeah, it has a high pitch- he replied while trying to find the origin of the noise -I'm certain this sounds more like…-. -Hold up- Anne interrupted him -what do you mean by high pithed?-, -That's how I hear it- Sprig claimed -Wait, are you sure we're hearing the same things?-, -nah, I'm sure I heard a bellow- Anne replied back –It's like if it was someone calling for help-. Suddenly the bushes moved, Sprig raised his slingshot at the source of the noise, having already prepared the pebble and stretched the rubber band. Anne stopped him at the last second however when she heard the recognizable voice of the other Plantar child: Polly. –WERE YOU ABOUT TO SHOOT ME SPRIG?!- Asked Polly as she gave a threat stare at Sprig, -well… I wouldn't have tried if I DIDN'T GOT SCARED IN THE FIRST PLACE! - Sprig yelled back. The two kids started to yell at each other at the top of their lungs, but Anne was ignoring them, for some reason her mind was somewhere else. She stared directly at the foliage as if she had caught sight of a peculiar object, but as she came close Polly accidentally threw a pebble at Sprig, he dodged, and it landed on her head. -CAN YOU TWO CALM DOWN!- Anne yelled at them as she snapped out of it, she then turned her attention to Polly, as she seemed impatient and worried –Ok, can you please tell me what happened?- asked Anne -Tell me everything-.
Hop Pop and Polly had watched episode after episode of the soap opera Anne introduced them to, barely blinking to moisturize their eyes, but as the hours passed, none of them noticed that the battery of the phone was slowly draining to the point of it being at less than 5%. –Um, Hop Pop? - Asked Polly – why did the screen lose brightness?-, -Well…- Hop Pop attempted to answer –I guess it's about to… um… I actually have no idea of what is happening to it-. As soon as Hop Pop said that the phone shut down, Polly tried to turn it on as Anne had told her before but the only thing on the screen that popped up when she did so was a battery symbol with a line across it. –Uh… It's not working- Said Hop Pop. Polly looked around, trying to find Anne so she can fix it, but she was gone, -Gosh dammit! She must have gone into the forest again!- said Hop Pop. For him, it wasn't usual for Anne to head out on some nights if none at all; but now this was happening even more frequently than before and it was concerning everyone in the house. -Polly, try to see if you can find Sprig- Hop Pop suggested her -If she's gone out, so may he as well-, -you know I can get lost easily, right?- Polly replied, -That's why I'm sending you- he answered back -If they hear you, they may come to you-.
Polly just gave a sigh and left through the front door, annoyed that she had to be the one looking for her brother, but then again, she didn't know what to do with the phone, and Anne, being the only one who knew what to actually do, was with him. Meanwhile, Hop Pop tried to remember something, -I know Anne had said something about charging it- He said as he inspected the phone -But what does this actually mean?-. He inspected book after book, trying to find an answer, when he suddenly had a thought. -What if by power it means electricity?- Hop Pop asked himself -I hope I'm wrong cause that would mean one thing-. As an average bookworm, Hop Pop knew plenty of stuff that had to do with plants and animals (after all, he was a farmer), but electricity was something he never wanted to deal with, as he had stumbled into one particular creature that could kill a frog with such an element. As he pulled out a book that contained information about that beast he heard someone bust down the door. -HOP POP!- Yelled Anne -PLEASE TELL ME YOU FOUND A WAY TO CHARGE MY PHONE!-, -I did find a way- He claimed -But you're probably not gonna like it-. Hop Pop then showed her and the kids the book he had found, -There is this one creature named the "Zapapede"- he explained -This creature is capable of delivering a powerful discharge to anything it hunts down-, -So… You're saying we have to attempt to catch one and make it bite the phone?- Sprig asked nervously, -I am afraid it's the only choice- Hop Pop replied - Luckily for us, they should be hibernating at this time of the year-. -OK… But is there really any other alternative?- asked Polly, -Kids- Hop Pop replied -I'm afraid nothing else can produce electricity like before the war-. -What war?- Anne asked, -And… This is why you should've listened to the story- Hop Pop claimed.
Noticing that the clock was ticking near midnight, Hop Pop decided to call it a day and sent the kids to sleep, -We'll depart tomorrow- he claimed -to get to where the Zapapedes hibernate, we need to travel for a day and a half, so we better rest well-. As he said those words, Anne and Sprig jumped on their beds and tried to quickly fall asleep; Sprig managed to quickly do so while Hop Pop placed Polly beside him on his bed. As Anne was about to do so however, she heard the same noise she heard back in the forest. -Why is this noise so freaking annoying?!- She thought as she used the pillow to block her ears. This was the fourth time in the week she's been hearing this low frequency, and it felt like some sort of call; Anne had tried to ignore it multiple times to no avail, and with each time it had happened the noise grew in frequency. She pressed the pillow tighter to her ears, but the noise began to amplify more to the point it became pure, loud humming. -PLEASE STOP!- Anne yelled, and the noise stopped. Scared, she slowly released the pillow and placed her head on it and simply looked out of the window until she fell asleep, unaware that the phone, even without power, was now showing a message:
"We're waiting…"
The next morning, Hop Pop packed up some supplies onto a small crate and placed it in a carriage that he attached to his trusty snail Bessie; the kids soon came down and quickly jumped on the carriage, all ready for the adventure ahead. -Well kids, according to this map, the Zapapede hibernation grounds lie a day and a half away- Hop Pop stated -So we need to make the supplies last long, ALRIGHT?-. Sprig and Polly knew that the warning was directed at them. Anne however didn't catch the memo as she started drinking from one of the water barrels. -Sprig, what is Anne doing?- asked Polly, frightened by Anne's behavior, -She didn't have a good night- Sprig replied while leaning back on his seat -that's all-. The journey soon began, and along the way Anne began to act even more strange: she started to eat a lot of the grubs stored, she barely slept during the night, and to top it all off every now and then she screamed at the "noise" she was hearing. -Anne, can you please CUT IT!- Yelled Hop Pop, -How come you guys not hear this freaking noise?!- Anne replied -it's been like multiple times I've been hearing it!". Hop Pop tried to argue back, but he suddenly remembered the tale, -it can't be- He said in his mind as he turned back to the road -Anne is a good person, but the myth is among frogs, not humans. All of this could be some simple coincidence-. With the journey nearly over, Sprig was tasked by Hop Pop to see how much of the resources has Anne wasted, and unfortunately for them it was near the half. -Anne, are you going on some sort of human state or are you loosing it?- asked Hop Pop, -Can we discuss it on the way home, please?!- Anne replied, after all, this was the ninth time in the day that Hop Pop asked her this (and not to even mention the amount of times he did yesterday).
Sprig and Polly helped unpack some stuff out of the crates while Anne tried to help plan a route up the mountain. After an hour of preparation, the climb began; but the start was slower than it was supposed to: Anne got altitude sickness, Polly kept on complaining about the trek, and Sprig was annoying Hop Pop about whether they'd reached the hibernation grounds. Hours passed, and the family started to get tired from walking; Anne suggested stopping for a while to catch their breath, but just as she mentioned that the clouds began to form up in the sky. -Looks like we're in for a blizzard boys!- Hop Pop claimed -We better seek shelter before…-. He was suddenly interrupted by a loud growl. All the kids got stunned by the noise, as they did not know what it was, but Hop Pop knew that noise very well: it was a Zapapede; he immediately hurried the kids back to the way they came from, but the storm had already begun to lower down, covering their vision with a thick fog. -Sprig, you see a crevasse!- Hop Pop asked him in desperation, as he could not see anything. Sprig tried to use the lamp they had and thankfully noticed a small hole near the base of a broken cliff. -Quick, into that hole before the Zapapede notices us!- Hop Pop ordered and Sprig guided them to the hole; once inside, Polly and Anne blocked the entrance with a stone just as the Zapapede pounced out of the fog. -That really felt enervating!- said Polly, as some of the electricity from the charging insect sparkled around them. Anne, having thought of something after Polly's statement, quickly took out her phone to see that it was fully charged. -Let there be light!- she said to herself as she turned on the flashlight on her phone; now their only worry was to get out of the cave before the Zapapede found a way in. As they ventured deeper however, they noticed that the cave they were in lacked stalagmites or stalactites; it was like if this cave wasn't made by the elements, but by someone instead. -How deep is this cave?- Sprig asked nervously, after all it has been a while since they started exploring it, and so far they haven't found an exit, -I imagine it could be even deeper- Hop Pop replied -Given that this is probably a mine of some sort-. Just as he said that Anne bumped into a tall piece of metal and dropped her phone, -Anyone sees the phone?- Said Anne as she tried to look it in the dark, instead she touched the metal piece that she bumped into and tried to follow it; She noticed that the structure could be a piece of machinery and decided to climb it. -Anne, I found it!- Said Sprig as he rose the phone up to Anne, shining the surface she was standing on. As soon as he did so the Plantars stumbled backwards. Anne questioned why they did so until she realized that the metal structure she was standing on wasn't pure metal, nor a piece of machinery; it was a foot. -Anne, I'm gonna need you to slowly climb off that- said Hop Pop -we don't know if this thing could be active or not-.
Anne immediately started to slowly climb off when her phone's flashlight began to lose brightness; something was wrong. -What's happening?- she asked, -I don't know- Sprig replied -I didn't touch the screen at all-. The phone's flashlight suddenly shut off, leaving them all in darkness; Hop Pop suspected it had to do with the giant foot, but Anne looked at their direction frozen in fear, as she noticed a pair of glowing, electric lights behind the Plantars. -LOOK OUT!- She yelled as a Zapapede lunged at the Plantars; Hop Pop hurried the kids up the metal foot with the predator at toe. They climbed higher onto the metallic leg and then onto the pelvis, but the Zapapede managed to catch up to them faster than they thought; cornered, the Zapapede lunged at them only to bite a metallic chest. The resulting explosion blast launched all of them back to the floor; Anne quickly stood up and tried to take the Plantars back the way they came from, but the Zapapede cornered them to a wall. Just as the Zapapede lunged to finish them off, a metallic fist squished the Zapapede's head, splatting internal fluids all over Anne and the Plantars. Anne cleared the fluids off her face and tried to see what happened; she shined the phone flashlight all over the place until she noticed the face of a large robot staring at them. The robot looked at them with anger, and as he swapped his fist for an in-built gun he gave a threatening look and asked them a single question:
-What are you doing here?-.