Chapter 15: To the Last Battle

When the group entered the room, they saw a large crowd of robots. Not nearly as many as outside though, so they knew they could handle it.

"Everyone split up! Take them out in smaller groups!" Sasha shouted as she and Grime went after a group of robots.

Everyone complied, with Anne and Luz sticking with their girlfriends and the Plantars sticking together.

Sticking with that strategy, they managed to destroy all of the robots in the room…

That being said, a bunch more flooded into the room shortly after.

"Ugh, this is going no-where!" Sasha said.

"We have to get through this, and quick!" Anne shouted back.

Then… Sasha got an idea.

Quickly getting in front of Anne and the others, she put her arm up.

"Go."

"Huh?"

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up." Sasha commanded.

"No way! We are not..."

"This isn't up for discussion Anne!" Sasha shouted.

"Anne…" Hop Pop said. "Sasha… might be trying to make up for what she's done in the past…"

"Plus… it makes sense. She can handle this on her own, no reason for all of us to stay here." Amity tried to reason.

"I know… but…"

"Have faith in me Anne… I'll be fine." Sasha said as she looked back and smiled.

"… Alright… stay safe Sasha." Anne said as she turned around and began running, the rest of the group following suit…

At least, everyone but Grime.

"You're not going to follow them?" Sasha asked.

"Sorry lieutenant, but you're stuck with me!" Grime said as he got his war-hammer fired up.

"… Stop with that lieutenant crud already." Sasha said. "I'm stuck here with a friend."

Grime smiled at this.

"Very well… friend."

And with that, the two charged forward.

"I don't like that we left them behind like that…" Anne said as the group continued running.

"Have faith in Sash, she's tougher than anyone we know!" Marcy said. "She'll probably make some dramatic entrance later and end up saving our bacon!"

"I know I know… doesn't make me worry less though." Anne said.

"So, do you guys have a plan for how to fight Andrias?" Amity asked.

"Well, we're hoping that Anne and Luz will be able to use the power of the gems." Luz explained, before the two girls in question pulled out the gems. "If they can, then Andrias really shouldn't be too tough…"

"And if we can't?" Anne asked.

"Well… we'll just have to wing it." Luz said. "Between the four of us, we should be fine, and we have the Plantars here to help too!"

"That's… not really reassuring Luz." Amity said.

"… Alright fine, I do have a backup plan." Luz said to everyone's surprise. "But it is an absolute last resort."

"Wait really? What is it?" Anne asked.

"… I do what I did to defeat Emperor Belos."

Everyone stopped running at that.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on!" Anne said. "I thought you said you REALLY didn't like that!"

"Wait, you told her what you did?" Amity asked.

"No, just that it was something desperate." Marcy explained.

"Like I said, it is an absolute last resort." Luz explained. "I won't be doing it unless it is the only way I think we can win."

"But…"

"It'll be fine Amity, it won't come to that, I'm sure." Luz said with a smile.

"… Alright…" Amity said. "Sorry I just… I worry about you…"

Luz smiled at this, before giving Amity a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Amity… but it'll be fine."

"… Wait what?" Marcy suddenly asked.

"What's up?" Anne asked.

"Uh… did she just kiss Amity on the cheek?" Marcy asked.

"Yeah… they are a couple after all." Anne said.

Marcy's jaw just dropped, and her eyes went wide.

"Is it really that surprising?" Amity asked.

"No… it's not that uh… I just… feel really dumb right about now." Marcy explained.

"Really? Why?" Luz asked.

"Well… remember when we were fighting, and I accused you of replacing me?" Marcy asked Luz.

"Wait, you were fighting?" Amity asked.

"She was possessed by a god." Anne explained.

"Gotcha."

"Yeah, I remember that." Luz said.

"Well… what do you think 'replacing me' meant in that context?" Marcy asked.

"… Oh…"

"So… they made you think that I was dating Luz?!" Anne asked.

Marcy just shyly looked away.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Amity said as she went over to Marcy and put her hands on her shoulders. "We've all made mistakes."

"Please… like you almost got your girlfriend killed…"

"… About that…"

Before Amity could continue that thought though, something caught Marcy's eye.

"Look out!" Marcy said as she tackled Amity to the ground as a laser barely missed them.

When they looked at their attacker, they saw several cloak bots approaching.

"Oh great, these things!" Anne said as she got ready to fight.

At that moment though, a barrier was suddenly erected directly in the middle of the group, separating Marcy and Amity from the others.

"Marcy!"

"Amity!"

Looking around, they saw a few eyes on the walls, looking as though they were the ones creating the barrier.

Unfortunately, they looked to be on the same side as Marcy and Amity, and the cloak bots were not about to let them be destroyed.

"Anne, Luz, you two are going to have to go on ahead." Amity said.

"No! I am not leaving you!" Luz said.

"She's right Luz, just go." Marcy said. "We'll be fine, hurry up and go before more come!"

"But… Marcy…" Anne said as she put her hands on the barrier.

"Anne… you have done so much for me, not just during the time that we've been in Amphibia, but back home too…" Marcy said as she put her hands on the barrier. "I'll never be able to repay you… but I want to try. So please, go on ahead… we'll be fine."

"… You will never have to repay me Marcy…" Anne said.

"Anne…"

"Promise me you'll be ok… please…"

"… I promise. And this time, I am going to keep my promise." Marcy said with a smile.

"… Alright… see you soon." Anne said. "Come on Luz."

"… See you soon?" Luz asked Amity.

"See you soon." Amity said with a smile.

Luz smiled back before turning around.

And with that, the two girls and the Plantars all went on ahead.

"I really hope that they'll be alright…" Anne said.

"Hey… they are our awesome girlfriends." Luz said as she looked back and saw Amity and Marcy ready to fight. "They'll be just fine."

Back with Marcy and Amity…

"So… this is probably going to be a bit tough." Marcy said as she loaded her crossbow. "We are trapped in here with a bunch of tough ones…"

"Psh… is that what you're thinking?" Amity said as abomination goo began to cover her. "No… we aren't trapped in here with a bunch of robots…

A bunch of robots are trapped in here with Amity Blight and Marcy Wu."

Before long, Anne and the others reached a very large, familiar looking door. The door that lead straight to the throne room.

"Alright… this is it." Anne said. "There's no turning back now… you guys ready?"

"Born ready." Polly said from Frobo's shoulder as she pulled out a bunch of explosive vials.

"We're with you Anne!" Sprig said.

"Til the end." Hop Pop added.

Anne then turned to Luz.

"Let's save the world." Luz said with a determined smile.

Anne nodded before turning around and opening the door.

"Well well well! Look at what that Kill-a-pillar dragged in!" Andrias said from his throne. "A girl with some anger issues, a group of frogs, and a witch who REALLY wanted to tick me off!"

"Aww, he noticed!" Luz said with a smirk.

"It's over Andrias! Your plans failed, and we are here to bring you to justice!" Anne said, pointing her sword at him.

"Oh, quite the opposite actually!" Andrias said. "After I defeat you, I'll have everything I need once more, then, nothing shall get in my way."

"Yeah, well we aren't about to let that happen!" Luz said as she got ready to fight.

Sprig got his slingshot ready, Hop Pop took out a couple of explosive vials of his own and Polly… well, she was already ready.

"Very well then…" Andrias said as he pulled out his sword. "Let's finish this."

Anne started by charging forward, Polly and Frobo took to the skies, and Sprig and Hop Pop were attacking from a distance.

Andrias swung his sword vertically at Anne, who managed to dodge the attack effortlessly, before getting closer and slashing her sword at his leg. However, due to his armor, the attack simply bounced off his leg.

"What, did you think it would be that easy?" Andrias asked before using his tail to send Anne flying away.

At that moment, an exploding vial hit him in the back, causing Andrias to look towards the sky to see Polly and Frobo flying around.

He quickly slashed his sword at them, and cut Frobo clean in half.

"Polly! Frobo!" Anne shouted as the two of them began falling to the ground…

However, the goo then reattached where it had been cut, and Frobo was back to flying just like that.

"Oh wow… that's neat." Andrias said. "When I invade the witches world, an upgrade might be in order!"

"Like we'll let that happen!" Luz shouted as she suddenly appeared in front of him and activated a glyph, causing a blinding light to shine.

Andrias, who was temporarily blinded, stumbled back, giving the ranged fighters a good chance to launch a deluge of attacks.

Exploding vials, flaming abomination goo and a few fireballs all exploded against his armor, causing him to stumble back even more.

Before Anne could get in close to launch another attack though, Andrias managed to regain his bearings, and simply used his tail on her again…

However, she was prepared this time!

Anne hopped onto Andrias' tail, and lunged her sword into it, causing the newt king to yell out in pain.

"Hey! That hurt you know!" Andrias shouted.

"Yeah! Well good!" Anne shouted. "I'm going to pay you back a hundredfold for what you did to Marcy!"

"Oh great, she's still on about that…" Andrias groaned out.

"YOU IMPALED MY GIRLFRIEND AND HAD YOUR STUPID ROBOT THING POSESS HER! OF COURSE I AM!" Anne shouted.

"It was ONE TIME!" Andrias shouted.

"AND IT'S GONNA BE THE LAST!"

The rest of the group just watched the banter go on.

"Should we uh… say something?" Sprig asked.

"I think she needs to get it all out…" Luz said.

Andrias however wasn't about to let this continue as he suddenly flung Anne off of him.

"ENOUGH!" Andrias shouted as he lunged his sword into the ground, sending a large shockwave out around him.

Anne was sent flying into a nearby pillar, and Luz had to use a barrier to protect herself and the Plantars.

That being said, the attack proved to be too much, as the barrier couldn't hold together, resulting in her falling to her knees and Sprig and Polly flying backwards.

"Ugh…" Anne groaned out as she rubbed her head.

Andrias however, wasn't going to give her time to rest.

He walked over and put his sword away.

"Well Anne, it's been fun… but it's all over." Andrias said.

He then pulled his arm back, and was ready to launch a huge punch at her.

If she got hit by this, she would at the very least be knocked out cold.

And if that happened, then she would not be able to defend herself.

However, she didn't have the time to get up and out of the way, that much was obvious.

So, she closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable…

Then, she felt something push her.

Opening her eyes, she saw…

"HOP POP!" Sprig screamed when he saw what the old frog was doing.

Anne was barely pushed out of the way of the punch, getting out of that with only a couple of scrapes and bruises.

Hop Pop however, wasn't nearly as lucky.

The fist collided with his old body, and he was sent flying behind Luz, Polly and Sprig, before he landed in a heap.

The two younger frogs quickly ran over to him, and were kneeling beside him.

"Come on… wake up… please wake up!" Sprig pleaded.

"Come on Hop Pop… please…" Polly added.

However, no answer came.

And so… the two of them began sobbing… grieving their loss.

Anne however… just stared at them.

All at once, memories of her time with Hop Pop flashed in her mind.

Then… her eyes turned blue.

The gem in her pocket began to glow, as he entire body began to become enveloped in the light.

Then, her hair began to change color.

Everyone just stared on as Anne once again powered up, as tears began to evaporate on her skin.

"And here we go again…" Andrias said as he got ready to fight.

"Give… Him… BACK!" Anne screamed as she suddenly charged at him in a blue blur…

However, what caught everyone off guard, were the two other blurs that charged into Andrias.

End of Chapter 15

I can't believe Hop Pop is freaking dead.

It had quickly come to my attention that I misgendered Raine in the last chapter. They are non-binary, and as such use the They/Them pronouns. I apologize for this immensely and will do my best to not make the same mistake again. I have since fixed it in the previous chapter.

Thanks to the guest who brought this to my attention!

NGL, really excited to post next week's chapters. Let's just say the ending for the next chapter is probably gonna be a huge surprise, but we've been building up for that moment for quite a while, and the other answers a lot of questions, and even gives some more. Be excited for it, cause I guarantee you at least thought about what this is at least once while reading this story.

BTW, the title is actually a reference to my favorite song from my favorite video game: Xenoblade Chronicles. I was listening to that song when I was writing this chapter :)

So, see you all next week!