Max had spent two days in Wartwood now and had to admit he liked it.
Maybe it was the fact that no one suspected him of his pranks or the fact that the novelty of being in a different world, but he couldn't deny there was something about this place that felt wonderful.
It was different from LA obviously, there was a lack of concrete, the air was clearer, and there was a lack of cars, (Though the amount of various insect species replacing them were still something that amazed him.)
He noticed a lot of the inhabitants looked at him oddly, which made sense, they hadn't seen a human in a decade and now six had appeared at once, It didn't help that he had a habit of looking at some Amphibians awkwardly for a few minutes himself.
On his ninth birthday he had been given a book on Amphibians by Anne, he read it cover to cover, and remembered almost all of it, looking around he saw countless varieties of frogs, Toads, Newts, it was like the exhibit back on earth, Yesterday he had seen an Amazon milk frog, the day before, a Titicaca Water Frog, on earth they only existed in the Andes, here they seemed to just be accepted as normal.
He couldn't fight off the smile, Anne exhibit back on earth didn't do this place justice.
Why would anyone leave this place.
"Enjoying yourself?" Said Mr Plantar with a smile.
Max nodded, "Yeah, This is amazing."
Mr Plantar laughed, "Well glad you are, I remember Anne's first days here, It wasn't a great."
"What do you mean?" asked Max.
"In case you haven't noticed you don't really fit in, Anne had it worse."
Max realized what the old frog meant, he was only ten, but he knew what it felt like being an alien in another world would have made it ten times worse, but at least the Amphibians had a slight reason to fear Anne.
"Really? How bad did they treat her?"
"Pretty bad," said Mr Plantar, his voice took on a sadder tone, "Heck I wasn't exactly the friendliest towards her."
"Oh" said Max, He was surprised over how disappointed he was in the old frog.
Mr Plantar seemed to pick up on this, "In all fairness she wasn't exactly the friendliest person around either, but in time we all came to see her as one of our own, and she became the pride of the town."
"So how did she do it?" Max asked, hearing this might help him understand how he could fit in here.
"By breaking her arm in a fight with some toads."
Okay, maybe Max could find an easier way to do it.
Micro-Angelo pulled into a parking space surrounded by other snails.
Max jumped off and walked towards the front, Micro-Angelo bent his neck expecting to be stroked, Max obliged him, he had been here he had grown to love the snail, he was like a big horse, just slimier
"He's taken to you fast." said Mr Plantar thoughtfully.
"Yeah, he's cool," said Max.
Mr. Plantar was quiet for a second before smiling, "Do you want to try driving him on the way back?"
Max stopped petting Micro Angelo in surprise and turned to the old frog, "What?"
Mr Plantar just laughed, "Yeah, Anne was only slightly older than you when she learned how to drive Bessie and…" The orange frog just shuddered, "Let's not talk about Polly and Sprig attempts, I'd think you'd be good."
Max thought about it for a second, learning to drive a snail in the future might be helpful, He could probably take him when he left the Plantars.
"Sure, Mr. Plantar," he said with a smile on his face.
"Call me Hop-Pop," said Mr Plantar.
"Okay, Hop-Pop, I'm going to find Lucian and Nicole are hanging about, see you later."
Mr. Plantar nodded, and turned away from the snail, Max walked in the other direction.
All of a sudden there was a loud snapping noise from behind the boy.
Max thought back to earlier and became terrified that Mr. Plantar had hurt himself again, turning around he saw that Hop-Pop was standing on a now broken twig.
"Huh, that was loud," said Mr. Plantar who continued to walk towards the market.
Max stood there looking worried, it was stupid but well Hopediah was going to pay him money and was going to teach him how to drive a snail later, the idea of him getting hurt was something that should be avoided.
If something bad happened to him well he'd lose the money and the chance to drive.
It also didn't help that he saw the old woman collapsing in his head again.
Max turned around and started to follow the frog from a distance.
…
The town was a lot quieter than it had been over the last few days, with the festival over many of the tourists had left, there were a few who wanted to vacation in Wartwood and a few hangers one who wanted to see the visiting human.
Most of the business owners had taken in all the money they would for now, only selling to those who lived in or around the town.
Wartwood was normal even more than usual.
None of this really affected Max's sneaking plan, even if the crowds were here, he would have stuck out, instead he was forced to hide round the corners of building and behind stalls to avoid being seen by Mr. Plantar.
He had been following the old frog for ten minutes so far and everything seemed fine with the old frog, he didn't seem to have any more of those attacks, which was fine, but he did worry, the last attack had been so sudden.
Now he was getting a little bored with following him, this morning might have actually been a one-off.
He was about to turn around and move on when he noticed three Amphibians standing near an alley. Two of them were large frogs, one was green, the other brown, their clothes stood out, with their overalls and caps they looked like dockworkers, standing in front of them was a smaller green newt, she was wearing a cap, a red scarf and glasses with red lenses, with a Grey shirt and pants, finally she had Black leather boots, he watched as one of the bigger toads pointed at Mr. Plantar and the three ducked down an alley.
Max dashed toward the alley and hid behind a convenient crate to the side.
"Listen up fellas, Hopediah just passed now you remember what he did to us ten years ago right?"
The two frogs grunted in acknowledgement.
"Well guess what,' it's time for us to give him what he deserves, We're going to follow him and then Kapow, we give him what he deserves."
Max froze, these guys were planning to hurt Mr. Plantar, he was right to follow the old man, though the danger not where he originally thought.
He backed away only to bump into someone.
"HEY WATCH IT."
Max turned around to see a frog girl standing there wearing a dress, He sighed, Marcy Yunan, He had only known her for a day, and he had pegged her for being a whiny little narc.
"Marcy." he said in the most faux polite voice possible, "Don't you have a "little miss goodie two shoes" contest to be in?"
"Ha" laughed Marcy, "they don't let anyone over eight enter that contest."
Before Max could respond a voice came out from the alley.
"Hey did you hear something?"
Max grabbed Marcy and ducked behind the crate again.
Marcy was about to protest when she saw The newt and the two frogs step out and look around.
"Hmm, I'm getting paranoid, Come on fella's we gotta get Hopediah."
The boy and frog girl watched at the three left.
"Who are they?" asked Marcy concerned.
"I don't know, but they're after Mr Plantar."
"What?" said Marcy worried.
"MAX! MARCY!" cried a voice from behind them. Rushing towards them was a toad in what appeared to be armor, running alongside him was a small ball with legs and frills on its face.
The toad was Lucian, Max liked him mostly because of how weird he was, he seemed to be willing to do anything for him, Max thought it was because he seemed to really be interested in Anne, Doctor Waybright and Marcy.
Max could swear he got weird looks from Lucian, looks that were waiting for something from him.
Nicole was kind of different, she was nice, but she seemed to just be hanging out with him just to hang out, well he didn't mind, she seemed cool.
It was kind of funny hearing her mention how many jobs she had in just five years, funnier knowing that her legs had come in a year before.
Before Max could say anything Marcy jumped in, "Hop-Pop's in danger."
Max looked at her annoyed while the other two Amphibians gasped in shock.
"You call him Hop-Pop?" he said.
Marcy nodded "Yeah, I've known him forever, he's basically my fifth grandparent."
"Same," said Lucian.
Max decided to move on from that, "Okay so what should we do?"
"We?" said Marcy annoyed.
"Yeah, We have to do something."
"No, We-" said Marcy pointing to her, Lucian and Nicole, "Have to do something, You can go away and cause problems for someone else."
Max was a little offended at this rejection, She had no right to turn him away from this, he calmed down and looked at her softly.
"Marcy, I have to help Hop-Pop, I've only known him for a few days, but he's already become like family to me." he widened his eyes a little to make it appear like he was genuine.
Marcy stood there for a second before turning around, "Just don't cause any problems," She said gruffly.
He was a little surprised that she was convinced like that but just nodded, "Okay so where would Mr. Plantar go?" he asked.
"Felicia's Tea Shoppe," said Nicole bluntly.
"How did you know that," Said Max looking at her oddly.
"His girlfriend lives there, all old folks drink there at this time of the day and lastly, I worked there a few months back, He loves beetle bark tea."
"Well let's go," said Max.
Nicole looked a little annoyed at Max taking charge like that, but nodded nonetheless.
"Okay fine, Lucian, Nicole, follow those guys and keep them away from the café, I'll go with-" Marcy rolled her eyes, "Max and keep an eye on Hop-Pop."
The other two Amphibians nodded and ran off to keep an eye on the suspicious trio.
"We just need to tell Hop-Pop's what happening," Said Marcy.
"We can't," Max said.
"Why not?" said Marcy looking at him suspiciously.
"He… He had a fall, Earlier, I don't know what exactly happened, but We shouldn't upset him, it could make his condition worse."
Nicole suspicious was replaced with shock, but then acceptance.
"Okay, we do it secretly then," said Marcy.
"How are we going to be able to keep an eye on Hop-Pop without him becoming worried?"
…
Felicia Sundew looked at the two confused.
"So you want to help out serving the older customers?"
Marcy nodded, "Yeah, we were reading about how hard it can be to get old, and we wanted to help."
Max put on his biggest friendliest smile, "From the goodness of our hearts."
Felicia looked at the two of them, Max had received this look before, when adults were suspicious of him (It was usually deserved.), However he noticed that Felicia was looking at Marcy.
"Okay then," she handed them both floral aprons, Max fought back the desire to gag, "Just come an ask me if you need help."
She started to walk way before looking back at them, "I don't want any trouble, Marcy."
Max was confused, Why would Marcy be trouble? She was one of those dorks who did everything right.
"What was that about?" Max asked as Felicia walked away.
"My Mom's are banned from here." said Marcy plainly.
"Really?" said Max.
"Oh yeah, one threw a punch the other criticized Felicia for using the wrong teaspoon."
"Ouch."
Marcy picked up a tea tray, "Come on, we need to get to work."
…
Nicole and Lucian were following the trio interested in Hop-Pop, they kept back from the three, ducking into the occasional alley to hide.
After a while the newt of the three stopped, "How about some food boys, that place seems good," she pointed to Stumpy's Diner.
The two frogs nodded, all three changed direction, the two spies followed them.
Stumpy's Diner was had changed in the ten years since a human had last visited it, there were several paper lanterns on various tables, the atmosphere was now, "Welcome", instead of "Get your food and shut up." (the latter being a potential name for the restaurant.)
The place would have usually been inhabited by various Amphibians discussing matters of the day, the market prices and monster attacks.
Today however all eyes were drawn to the two tall creatures standing next to the kitchen door.
"Honey? We should probably go," Said the human male.
"I just want to see inside the kitchen, you know, to see what Stumpy's doing wrong… I mean different."
The man groaned, he knew his wife was going to be fixated on this for a while.
All of a sudden there was the noise of pleading coming from the kitchen and a terrified tall red frog was pushed out of the kitchen door, she turned around and started to pound on the door.
"No please I beg you Stumpy mot me…"
She stopped and turned to see the two humans standing there, She tried to put on a brave face, She failed, but the effort was valiant.
"Um Mrs Boonchuy," She said like one was addressing the devil, "Um my boss is busy at the moment."
"I just want to have a word with him about how he cooks, just a friendly discussion between chefs." Oum Boonchuy was smiling, however despite its friendly appearance it was one that held something sinister behind it.
If the frog could sweat, She'd be sweating bullets right now.
She looked around the diner and saw three oddly dressed Amphibians sitting there.
"OH customers, thank goodness," she said like seeing the cavalry charging to the rescue, "I need to serve them, goodbye."
With that the frog rushed towards her salvation.
"Hello, can I help you?" said the Frog somewhat terrified.
The director newt looked at her, "Yes get us something small and quick to eat."
"Actually I wanted the Tom Yum," said one of the frogs.
"And Pad Thai for me," said the other frog.
The newt sighed, "I'll take a pad see ew."
The frog took their menus and move to the next table.
"Hello can I…" she started to say before noticing the fact that the menu obscuring one of the Amphibians sitting there, "Hello?"
The menu dropped revealing Nicole sitting there, "Nicole? Are you working here today?"
"Hi Ruby." she said whispering, "We're playing spy."
Ruby just stood there for a second her confusion turned to a smile, "Ahh that's cute, You want water or something?"
"Yes please," said Lucian lowering his menu.
Ruby walked off to the kitchen, Nicole and Lucian looked at each other beaming.
"So we're just going to keep following these three?" said Lucian.
"Yeah, but we need a plan, we wait for them to get near the sheriffs' office, and then we get him to hold them back," She looked hopefully at the ceiling," I wonder if he'll let me put cuffs on them?"
"Yeah," said Lucian, "And if they go that way, They'll pass through Grime's house, He'll be willing to stand up to them, I might see Sasha fight alongside him."
"Great Idea we're the best spies," said Nicole.
"I disagree" said a voice to the spying duo's left.
The two froze and turned to the left, standing there was the newt, with two frogs behind her.
"I guess we're going to have to keep an eye on you two." said the newt sinisterly.
Lucian was worried about this, He had failed his friends and couldn't stop this newt
In contrast, Nicole was as calm as a cucumber
"Can I get something to eat?" asked Nicole.
"What?" said the Director Newt.
"I mean if you guys are eating can I get something?"
"No," said the Newt.
"Sure." said the frogs.
The newt turned to look at them, "What?"
The toad on the left shrugged, "I mean we gotta eat, so why not just let the kid join in."
In response the newt pinched her eyes and nose, "Fine."
She turned to the two annoyed, "Just get something small."
…
Max and Marcy had been working for an hour waiting for Mr. Plantar to show up, in that time they had been doing a decent job of serving the elderly, but they still didn't have the frog that they wanted to see yet, though Max had to be honest the steam from the Gourd tea made him see some interesting new colors.
After an hour business slowed down slightly, meaning the two of them had a few moments to rest, Max was standing near the door, while Nicole was sitting on one of the waiting chairs.
"Where is he?" said Max.
"I don't know," said Nicole bored.
The two stayed where they were for a few more seconds.
"So…" started Max, "Did your mom really punch out a guy here. "
Marcy nodded, "Yeah, He was being a jerk about my mom's."
"Eh, Older folks have problems with that stuff, messed up, but I don't see how two women dating is that bad."
Marcy shook her head, "No it's…he was a frog, and they're newts and…" She drifted off.
Max was surprised to feel worried about her, "What did he say?"
"He said Newts shouldn't be raising frog children."
"Oh, I'm sorry." said Max.
"It's fine," said Marcy speaking in a quiet voice, "At least it wasn't from a family member this time."
"This time?"
"An aunt on Olivia's side… She said that my moms would have been better off with a newt kid."
Somehow despite already being taller than her, Max finally noticed how small Marcy looked, she might have been a narc but now…
He sat next to her, "I know how it feels."
"Do you?" Marcy said defensively.
"I'm adopted as well, they say the same about my skin color, I know it can hurt."
"Oh." Said Marcy embarrassed.
They were quiet for a second hoping for something to interrupt the awkwardness, Max was glad that he tried to help her.
Even if he had to lie about the people who had adopted him.
"So, what do you think about being a server?"
"It's alright, kind of tiring."
"Honestly, I don't think I want to see tea again." Said Max with a laugh.
"All those complaints, from Mrs Croaker." said Marcy with a shudder.
"Is that the lady who smells like off-milk?" replied Max.
"That's the smell thank you, It has been bugging me all day," said Marcy smiling and trying to hold back her laughter, Max tried to fight it unsuccessfully, eventually they were both laughing.
After a minute they both stopped, Marcy looked at Max with a slight smile, "Hey about how I acted Earlier, Well…" Marcy tailed off, Max had a hunch of what she was about to say, an apology for how she had acted earlier, Max had to admit to himself, he could understand why she had disliked him, He had been a bit of a jerk for earlier, He should apologize to her.
However, before he could say anything the door to the café opened.
"Max, There you are, Hi Marcy," said Mr. Plantar with a smile.
"Hop-Pop." said Marcy with a smile.
" … Hop-Pop," said Max, "Listen, there's-"
"Oh, Before I forget," Hop-Pop reached inside his pocket and pulled out a medium-sized bag, "Here's your money for keeping our secret."
Max's eyes widened, "Oh, um thanks Hop-Pop, Listen there's…"
"Sorry, money for what?" asked Marcy, suspicion in her voice.
"Um… Well,"
"Max did me a favor earlier," said Mr. Plantar smiling, "It's nothing really."
"Really?" said Marcy the suspicion replaced with disdain.
"Hoppy?" came a voice from behind the three of them.
Standing behind them was an older frog woman, she looked attractive despite her age, Somehow she seemed to have a natural beauty about her.
"Sylvia," said Mr. Plantar Smiling, he passed the two and walked towards her, they kissed, and went to a table.
Max turned to Marcy with a smile he hoped would be considered playful.
"Old people kissing, gross right?
If Marcy could glare at him any harder Max might spontaneously combust.
"Well, Looks like I was right," said Marcy bitterly, "You were only looking out for Hop-Pop because he was going to give you money."
"No, Said Max shaking his head, "I only took money because he promised to pay me money to keep him falling down earlier secret… also he was going to teach me to drive and-"
"So you knew he had almost got hurt and still wanted to take money from him?" Said Marcy looking more disgusted than before.
"Well, When you put it like that-"
Marcy turned around, "You know what, Yesterday I discovered how wrong I was about someone I hated for years, I thought today might be the same, But I guess I was right the first time."
Max Reached out to grab her, "Marcy wait-"
She slapped away his hand, "Just stick to the left side of the room." said Marcy bitterly, walking to the right, "I don't want to see you again after today."
Max was surprised just how much that hurt, he tried to shrug off the feeling of guilt but the more he thought about it, he couldn't, Maybe she was right.
He didn't hear the door open behind him.
"Excuse me" said a familiar voice behind him.
Max turned to see five Amphibians standing there, The two toads from earlier, The Director Newt, Lucian and Nicole.
"I want to see Hopediah Plantar, I have matters to discuss with him," said the newt with a smile.
