At Stumpy's, Wally was still there telling the weary traveller the tales of the main players of the Frogvasion. He had recently brought his 4th cup of bog grog and finished it one gulp.
"Okay, now that we're done with those Boonchuys, how about we move on to Sasha?" The traveller shook their head. "What?! You don't wish to hear about Sasha and the kid she is giving therapy to?" The traveller shook their head. "What about Marcy?" The traveller shook their head. "Don't you wish to know the author that Marcy is about to see?" The traveller shook their head. "You'll go crazy." The traveller started to walk away, but Wally got in front of them before they could get far. "Wait! Wait! I see what's going on. You're sick and tired of Earth stuff, ain't ya? Well, how about I tell the tale of a frog who I've known since she was a little pollywog, Polly Plantar."
"Oooooooooooh, after Anne left Polly grew hair as orange as her brother's. Then she got a bit tall not just on her legs but her arms and neck as well that she had to wear clothes because she was now a frog! She started a business that had her build some bots and helped fix some mechanical jargons. But as soon as she got to the age of discovery, that mischievous little frog got more mischievous. She started littering, vandalising, minor property damage, playing pranks and throwing house parties. It was then one night she didn't do something right and got caught by Sheriff Leatherleaf who I just realised I barley saw ten years ago. What will her punishment be? What will she have to do? Get locked up? Or perhaps a little service?"
In Sheriff Leatherleaf's office, Polly was on a seat waiting to be bailed out while Leatherleaf was picking flys from his moustache.
She had grown in the last ten years. She was starting to look a bit like Sprig, if he was purple of course. She still had her orange-ish hair, still in that style and she still had her little bow she had when she was a tadpole.
"You know, I can just get him." Polly said. "His legs aren't as strong as they were before."
"Sorry Polly, but I might come to the conclusion that you just ran off." Leatherleaf said.
"Uh! But he is going to take forever!" Polly argued.
"Who is going to take forever?" It was then, Polly's grandfather, Hopediah Plantar AKA Hop Pop walked in to the office. Since ten years have passed, he was looking older than he did before. He had become more wrinkly and he was now using a walking stick. "Because it better not have been me."
"Please Hopediah, have a seat." The sheriff said.
Hop Pop took a seat next to his granddaughter. "What did she do this time? Please tell me she didn't commit murder."
"She did…." Leatherleaf said.
Hop Pop gasped. "Why Polly why?!"
"You didn't let him finish." Polly said.
"Huh? Who did you kill? Who did she kill?" Hop Pop asked.
"Wartwood's pride." He replied. "Around 2 hours ago, she and a few accomplices were caught vandalising our greatest treasure, our statue of Wartwood's beloved hero. Anne Boonchuy."
Hop Pop was shocked but then it turned to heartbreak as he narrowed his eyes at Polly. "Polly! How could you?!"
"I didn't want to do it!" Polly argued. "Rosemary, Lavender and Ginger made me do it!"
"I don't care who made you do it!" Hop Pop argued. "You haven't seen Anne in ten years and this is how you show how much you miss her?!"
"Hopediah." Sheriff Leatherleaf interjected. "Listen Polly, you get to decide your punishment. Do you wish to be put in the barrel of shame for all the town to see?" He then pointed to the barrel of shame, which Wally was stuck in. Or bathing in, since he was scrubbing himself.
"Thanks for letting me use the Barrel of Shame Sheriff Leatherleaf." Wally yelled.
"Anytime Wally." The Sheriff replied. "Or, you could go and do some good old fashioned community service. Specifically, you'd be coaching the first pollywog ice skating muggy team for Wartwood."
"Aww what?!" Polly exclaimed.
"The Wartwood Wonders are in need of a coach if they are to win or lose." He said.
"But, I know nothing about muggy!" Polly screamed.
"Hey, it's either that or the Barrel of Shame." Leatherleaf pointed to Wally again.
"It's not that bad Polly!" Wally yelled. "Imagine it as a public bath!"
Polly cringed. "Community service it is."
"Excellent." Leatherleaf said. "You're starting this Saturday, so be awake when the driver arrives tomorrow. You'll be going to Cold Island for three weeks. You'd have your rent-a-home booked out along with an expert muggy coach so you won't feel lost. And I won't care if you win or lose, but the town will if you want to make up for your mistake."
Just then, Wally, wrapped in a towel, approached the window and knocked on it. "Leatherleaf, you got anymore soap?"
"Sure Wally."
Later at the Plantar farm, Polly was sitting on the couch getting an earful from her disappointed grandfather. "Vandalising town property! I let those other things pass Polly because I did those things when I was your age. But I didn't take it that far and vandalise the statue of an honorary Plantar like Anne! Anne! Your adopted sister!"
"That's because them three told me to!" Polly exclaimed. "Do I need to repeat myself?!"
"For frog sake Polly, you're 16 years old. You should be setting a better example for the younger pollywogs!"
Polly blew a raspberry. "I am! I'm a great role model!"
"Then explain why those three frogs are vandalising Frobo?" Hop Pop pointed to three frogs around 11 years old, painting Frobo, whom was gardening.
Polly blew another raspberry. "Those frogs could be inspired by another frog."
"Hey Polly, thanks for helping us live our life!" Yelled one of the frogs before him and the rest of friends ran away.
Hop Pop narrowed his eyes at his granddaughter. "Last I checked there weren't another frog named Polly or looked like Polly."
Polly sighed in defeat. "Yeah. Believe me, I had Frobo 2 check."
A robot who looked like Frobo but only painted blue, walked in. "I knew there was something suspicious when you asked me to search up all the Pollys in town."
"Hop Pop, you have to find a way to let me off the hook." Polly pleaded. "Use your money to bail me out!"
"Polly, you decided to do community service and you're going to do community service." Hop Pop said strictly. "Besides, community service will teach you responsibility. Perhaps might teach you parenting. Shame I won't be able to see you do all that."
"I will never be a parent!" Polly yelled.
Hop Pop chuckled. "I never wanted to be one as well. But then I accidentally became one and decided, 'I'll give it a go.' Then your parents were born and now I have you and Sprig as my grandchildren."
"Uh." Polly groaned. "I did not need to picture that."
"Get some sleep Polly, you got a full three weeks of community service to begin." Hop Pop said. "Get to bed."
"I'll get to bed when I feel like it!" Polly exclaimed.
Frobo 2 got in front of Polly and sprayed her in the face with some gas, causing her to be knocked out. "How about now?"
"Well, I knew she weren't going to bed, no matter how hard I tried." Hop Pop said. "Thanks Frobo 2."
"Now, I have to clean Frobo 1." He sighed. "Some days, I wish Polly functioned me to be a killing machine."
The next day, Polly had packed her bags which included a lot of warm clothing due to the cold climate she will have to endure along with a few of her tools and a book titled 'How to dominate your peers.' She and Hop Pop said their goodbyes before she had to depart on a snail cart carriage.
About a two hour ride later, Polly got out and got onto a boat for her to get to the island. She put on her boots, coat, gloves, scarf and woolly hat to prepare for the intense cold.
During the journey, she stared at the sea watching the waves flow and a few giant fish eating each other. She sighed before a ship started sailing right next to them with a familiar pink frog on board.
"Hey Polly!" Sprig yelled out to his sister.
"Yo Sprig, what's going on?!" Polly yelled out.
"Oh hey Polly!" Sprig yelled. "What you doing out here?"
"Coaching a pollywog ice muggy team." Polly replied. "Community service reasons. You?"
"I'm investigating a strange light that sailors have seen." Sprig replied. "Apparently it took them to strange new worlds. Including a world where birds have beastly bodies and can breathe spiders. Well, they were claims from sailors who have drank a little too much bog grog. Wait, what did you get community service for?"
"Oh, vandalism." Polly replied. "Ya know, the use."
"She vandalised the statue of the Wartwood hero in paint." The captain of the boat yelled.
"Hey!" Polly yelled.
"What? It's true."
Sprig was shocked by his sister's actions. "You vandalised Anne?!"
"Sprig! I'm sorry! Lavender, Ginger and Rosemary made me do it!" Polly yelled.
"Yeah, but you still had the right to stop!" Sprig angrily responded.
"No! Sprig!"
"Look, I'd love to hear what excuse you have, but I have a quest I want to finish." Sprig said.
"Sprig! I'm sorry!" Polly yelled.
"Just, don't Polly!" Sprig yelled before walking to another side of the ship.
"Sprig!" Polly then pulled a saddened look. She felt a strong hint of guilt over what she did to poor Anne. It had been ten years since Anne arrived to their beloved world and yesterday was how she repaid her? She began to reminisce something she and her did one time when Sprig was out with Ivy.
The two were in the living area watching a sports movie on Anne's phone. It was a movie called The Almighty Geese. A movie about a hockey team being managed by a cynical defence attorney who was arrested for cycling his bike on the wrong side of the road. And for his crime, he had to perform community service. Which was to coach a little league hockey team called the Almighty Geese. A bunch of kids with very distinguishable personalities.
Anne laid on the couch with her hands behind her head with Polly resting on her chest as they watched the movie which was carefully balanced on a pillow that was balancing on Anne.
"So, this usually happens in sports movies?" Polly asked.
"Yup." Anne replied as she reached for a crispy bug on the floor.
"So, this is what sports are like in your world?" Polly asked. "Are they like this movie?"
"I thought they were." Anne replied. "But there were no wacky situations. Just a bunch of kids putting too much pressure on themselves to be the best. And worst of all, the coach was not the best. He was like a cruel drumming instructor from an R rated movie I caught my mom and Dad watching one time."
"What's an R rating?" Polly asked.
"An R rating is a rating system we have." Anne replied. "It's specifically made for adults or teens of 15 or 18 years old. It's essentially a way for people to experience movies that have all the swearing and strong violence."
Polly's eyes lit up. "Play it, Anne!"
"I don't have any R rated movies."
"Awwwwww!"
"Hey, just imagine these guys swearing." Anne said. "I'll start you off. Just don't tell Hop Pop I've been cursing or my parents if you meet them." Anne coughed. "You dirty mother…"
"Anne! You better not be swearing in there!" Hop Pop screamed from the kitchen.
"No I wasn't Hop Pop!" Anne replied. "I was going to say fudger!"
"You better be!" Hop Pop yelled. "Even though I have no idea what fudge is."
The two girls continued to watch their movie with Polly laughing at something. "Ha! That random fat kid got hurt."
"Yeah." Anne laughed. "Although, it is hurtful that his only character trait is being overweight."
"Man, it'd be awesome if I was living a sports movie." Polly remarked.
"Yeah, I think it would." Anne agreed. "I think it would."
Polly smiled and shedded a few tears as she reminisced that moment until she was yanked to the floor by the boat aggressively stopping.
"Land ho!" The Captain yelled.
Later, Polly got off the boat and on to the dock where she stopped to look at the town in front of her. The town looked a lot like some kind of Swedish village. Houses scattered about, bars, convenient stores and museums. The kind of stuff you'd see on a postcard, but there was snow all over. Luckily, Polly was all warmed up in her winter gear.
"Well, time to find my room." Polly declared. "Tomorrow is a big day. Shame it's something I know little about. But how do I find my room?"
She began walking until she came across a toad with long blonde hair wearing a ginormous fur coat made out of herons holding a sign saying her name. He took a big gulp of what appeared to be bog grog before noticing Polly approaching him.
"Hi, I'm Polly Plantar."
"And I'm Hamish." The toad spoke in a strong southern accent. "I'm apparently meant to tutor you on how the sport works."
"Oh, great." Polly replied.
"But I ain't the right guy." Hamish replied. "Follow me." He motioned Polly to follow him to the location they were staying in.
While following the man, she noticed how vibrant the town was. She saw many frogs, toads and newts having snowball fights. She saw an old frog yelling at bunch of toad kids for messing up his face. She also saw newt getting their tongue stuck on a pole while their toad friend laughed.
"Yeah, suck it all in because I doubt you're going to see this in a while." Hamish replied. "Or better, look for someone who might grab your attention."
"Ha! Like that's ever going to happeeeeeeennnnnnn." Polly looked to her right and saw a sight she won't forget. She saw a buff looking frog wearing winter clothing and lifting a bunch of barrels with one hand. "Ooooookay, this might not be so bad." She then noticed the birthday badge on his coat that said, 30. "Awwwww! He's thirty!"
A green frog wearing a black hat walked past. "Plus, he's married."
"Awwww! Even worst!" Polly yelled.
"He would have been too rough for you to handle!" The green frog yelled.
"Oh frog you!" Polly yelled.
"Hey!" Hamish interjected. "You could have gone louder."
Later, the two arrived at a wooden cabin, leaving Polly to be disappointed a bit. "Awwww! A cabin?!"
"You wanna be warm don't you?" Hamish asked.
"Yeah, you have a good point." Polly said.
When they entered the cabin, she saw it didn't looked bad. There was a one person bed in the centre of the house while there was a ginormous fireplace in-between a couple of doors. "Ahhhh! Cozy!"
"Yup." He took off his coat to reveal he had a massive bog grog belly due to all the bog grog he had been drinking.
"Eww!" Polly groaned.
"Trust me, it gets comfortable." He then began to pick at his belly button, causing Polly more disgust.
"Do you want me to eat tonight?!" Polly asked angrily.
"Relax, you probably do it." Hamish retorted as he began walking.
"I pick my nose!" Polly yelled.
"Alright, I'm going to the bathroom to get your true teacher." Hamish declared. "Make yourself comfortable."
Once Hamish walked into the bathroom, Polly jumped on the bed and took off her winter clothing and exhaled. "Ah, out of the cold. This is the way I like it! Well, I'd like it more but, hey who."
Then Hamish walked out of the bathroom with a book in hand. "Muggy handbook, meet Polly. Polly, meet muggy handbook, your teacher."
Polly was confused. "Where's the actual teacher?"
"I said, the muggy handbook is your teacher." He replied before throwing it at the teen.
"What are you even here for?!" Polly exclaimed.
"I was meant to teach ya." He replied. "But unfortunately, I don't wish to."
"So, you're just going to stay in the bathroom and pick at your belly button?!" Polly exclaimed.
The toad laughed. "That's at 8PM. I'm going to pick my nose." He then walked into the bathroom to do his disgusting habits.
Polly shuddered as she thought of all the disgusting atrocities he would do. She picked up the muggy handbook and noticed something about the cover. The cover looked like a newt with what appeared a hockey stick, putting a red disk. "Wait a minute…" Polly opened the book and began to read it. When she read through about 4 pages, her eyes lit up. These rules weren't some random sport she knew nothing about, these were sports she was familiar with. The rules of muggy were eerily similar to muggy. "Oookay, can't wait for tomorrow!"
"Aww man, how did my hair get in my ear?" Hamish asked.
The next day, Polly was walking around the cabin, writing a list on a piece of paper while Hamish drank some bog grog on his rocking chair. "Okay, I know how muggy works." Polly declared.
"From reading a book?" Hamish asked before chugging bog grog and doing a massive burp.
"Nah, from watching a movie." Polly replied.
"I'm sorry, what?" Hamish asked.
"Sports movie cliches." Polly replied.
"That's not what I wanted to know." Hamish said.
"Okay, before I left Earth, Frobo managed to hack into government tech and downloaded every movie made by humans, even the banned ones." Polly replied. "And some of the movies, were sports movies. My favourites were always The Almighty Geese trilogy."
"Meaning?"
"Muggy is essentially like hockey!" Polly replied. "They're practically the same."
"But have you played it?"
"No."
"Then, do you really know it?"
Polly scoffed. "Uh, yay yuh!"
"Oookay." Hamish responded as he ate a handful of nuts. "So, what do you have to do?"
"Uh duh, the list of cliches." Polly replied as she handed Hamish the list. "Well, some of them. Like, the team has very distinct wacky traits which makes it easy to tell apart, the montages, the antagonistic rivals who mock and belittle the other team, strong bond with the weakest player, antagonistic team provokes the female member just because they're a girl, the old and wise mentor."
"I'm old but I ain't wise nor your mentor." He then spat in a bucket.
"Okay, might need to cross that out." Polly said. "Then, during the third act we have a petty misunderstanding that leads to about twenty minutes of moping and hopelessness which are the parts I hate and hope to not get into, I give motivational speech and we win the trophy! And maybe I find a love interest. More preferably, hunky, meaty and chunky!"
The toad laughed. "Yeah, like this is ever going to happen." Hamish laughed. "Plus you do realise that chunky means fat, right?"
"Well, I'm prepared!" Polly yelled. "Lucky enough, the cliche of the coach not wanting to be there will not be in affect. Because I now want to be here, teaching these kids to obliterate their enemies!"
Hamish ate another nut. "Hmmmm, sounds like you'll be the one who is provoking the rival team."
Later that day, Polly, dressed in her winter gear, arrived at the muggy centre, which was wooden stadium. She walked inside where she saw a tanned newt with emerald hair, a pair of glasses, a white shirt, a black vest with belt on their midriff area, red pants and black shoes.
"Polly Plantar." The newt said.
"The one and only!" Polly replied.
"Actually, there is a Polly Plantar in Newtopia." The newt said. "A distant cousin of mine."
"Uh! Can't I have this?!" Polly asked.
"Uh…..I'll let you off on that." They said. "By the way, my name is Rayna."
"Rayna?!" Polly exclaimed. "That is the coolest name, ever! What are you here for?!"
"I'm here to monitor you." Rayna replied. "I am aware you were supplied with Hamish who let's be honest would just be sitting on the sidelines drinking bog grog and picking whatever body part he feels picking. Okay, let me introduce you to the team."
They lead Polly to the rink where they showed her the team she'll be coaching. There were ten pollywogs. One red, one brown, one green, two orange, one yellow, one purple, one pink, one white and the other black. The pollywogs were playing muggy with each other. The orange one with the bow hit the puck which looked like a tadpole egg, over to the other players, causing it to bounce off the wall and hitting the black one.
"Kids, this is Polly, she'll be your coach." Rayna said. "Please be gentle with this one. I don't want to be chipping someone out of a block of ice."
"Huh, what do you mean?" Polly asked.
"Oh, I should have mentioned something about these kids." Rayna said. "The last coach they had, they froze in a block of ice."
"Why?" Polly asked.
"They're just, irresponsible." Rayna replied. "They want to be here, yet they act like they don't want to. I tried coaching them, but I have no coaching experience."
"Okay, give me a rundown of the players." Polly requested.
"Okay, the red one is Spot; Named after the distinct spot on their tongue." Spot stuck their tongue out to reveal their spot. "The brown one is Horace." Horace then burped. "You can figure him out. The green one is Meadow; She is the more compromising members of the group. The twins, Betsy and Lefty. The yellow one is Summer; She is rather upbeat. The purple one is Indigo; She is the youngest of the group. The pink one is Hilary; She tends to like people. The black one is Rufus." Rufus spat on the floor and cracked their arms. "Again, figure him out. And the white one is Owen; He is usually quiet."
"Hi nice to meet you." Polly said. "Yes, sport cliche! Children with a diverse set of character."
"Who are you calling diverse?!" Rufus asked angrily.
"All of you, not just you Rufus." Polly replied.
"Okay kids, be nice to Polly." Rayna requested. "And good luck with muggy." Rayna then ran away and sat on a bench far from the rink.
"Okay kids you know my name and I know yours, so the first thing I want you to do is-"
"Attack!" Rufus commanded and he, Lefty, Betsy, Horace, Spot, Owen and Summer jumped on Polly and began beating her with their sticks. While the other tadpoles just covered their eyes or looked away, while Rayna sat on their seat, eating some popcorn.
"Oh, things are getting good." Rayna said.
The pollywogs stopped beating on Polly and bounced away. Horace then bounced back and burped in Polly's ear and giggled. "I ate boom shrooms."
The three remaining pollywogs, Indigo, Meadow and Hilary approached their coach. "Hey, I'm sorry this happened to you." Meadow said.
"Hey kid, don't apologise." Polly said. "I get used to people who don't like me much."
"I like you." Hilary said.
"Hilary, you barley know her." Meadow pointed out.
"I usually say it to make people feel good about themselves." Hilary said before noting a random janitor toad. "I like you Mr Janitor."
"Finally, someone appreciates me." The toad said happily.
"Listen, between you and me, you have no chance with those 7." Meadow said. "They will tear you to shreds."
"It's true!" Spot declared.
"We will haunt your nightmares." Lefty and Betsy said simultaneously.
"I'm positive you will be hanging from your tail once you're done." Summer declared.
"Are these guys even good?" Polly asked.
"We are." Hilary replied. "Except for Indigo. But I have faith in her."
"But no one else does." Indigo said sadly.
"Are you saying that because you like everyone?" Polly asked.
"No, we are good." Meadow replied. "We were chosen for ice muggy due to how good we were at regular muggy back in Wartwood and when we began practicing, we were better at ice muggy than regular muggy."
"Wait, if you're good, then why do you need a coach?" Polly asked.
"Because they aren't good at following authority." Indigo said.
"Really?" Polly asked. "So, I'm not training you to be better, I'm teaching you to be more authoritative?"
"Well, more them." Meadow pointed to Owen, whom made a slitting throat gesture to Polly.
"Alright." Polly said as she stood up. "Time to teach you to be better at being authoritative. This will be easy. Cue the montage!"
"Wait, what?" Meadow asked.
"Montage?" Indigo reacted.
"I like the sound of it." Hilary declared.
During the montage, Polly was trying to give out commands to the pollywogs, who were skating around the rink.
"Horace! Hit the winning puck!" Horace made a burping sound before hitting the puck towards Polly's face. "Ow!"
"Sorry, you said hit the winning puck." Horace said. "But you never said where."
"Lefty, Betsy, give Indigo plenty of room!" Lefty and Betsy, instead, squeezed too close to Indigo, causing her to sigh.
"Ah, as per usual." Indigo said.
"No! You're not giving her room!" Polly screamed.
"We think we're giving her plenty of room." Lefty and Betsy said simultaneously.
"Summer, stop the puck from getting in the net!" Polly screamed. "Hit it back."
Meadow hit the puck from a far length and close to Summer, whom hit the puck, causing it to bounce off of Meadow and to hit Polly in the face.
"Am I a puck magnet?!" Polly exclaimed.
Then, Polly was walking around the outskirts of the rink, rubbing her eye with an ice pack before noticing something. "Owen! Stop choking Hilary!"
Owen was holding Hilary in a neck-hold, causing her to choke. "I…still like you, Owen….you have an amazing grip."
Then, Rufus was playing around with his muggy stick like a sword. "Hey Rufus! Put down the stick it's not a sword!" Polly then ducked just as Rufus threw their stick at her. "Ha!" But then, the stick came back like a boomerang, hitting Polly in the back of the head. "Ow!"
Then Polly was trying to motivate Spot by convincing him to hit the puck with his stick. "Okay Spot, you got this one."
Spot grinned. "Which one? The puck or my tongue action."
"Um, phrasing." Polly retorted before Spot hit Polly in the face by shooting his tongue out.
As the montage continued, Polly continued being hit by pucks while Rayna continued to eat their popcorn and the pollywogs continued to be disobedient.
The montage ended with Polly with two black eyes and a clipboard in hand. "Okay, let's see. You're great at shooting as evident by the fact that the majority of you hit me in the face, perfectly.
"Thanks coach!" Spot said before hitting the puck to Polly's face again.
"You're welcome." Polly said. "Look, be there tomorrow so we can work on listening and not bullying Indigo. Owen!" Owen was busy choking Indigo for no reason, until they let go. "Well, let me just say, even though this is my first time being a muggy coach and I already hate it! You are evil! You have pissed me off!"
Rayna gasped. "Wait, is that a swear?"
"I have many more swears where that came from, pal!" Polly retorted. "Back to you kids, I am here because of community service and if I don't succeed then I might never get the respect I need from my town!"
"Okay." Rufus shrugged his shoulder. "Like we care."
"You ten live in Wartwood!" Polly exclaimed.
"Yeah, but we don't care about you." Spot said.
"I care about everyone here, except you." Summer said.
"Uhhhhhhhh!" Polly groaned. "Is there anything that could motivate you?"
Lefty and Betsy looked to their right and went wide eyed. "Uh oh! The Champs are here." They said simultaneously.
Poly and the pollywog team looked and saw a bunch of Pollywogs, all green, bouncing into the rink looking determined. A green frog followed them, wearing a black hat. It came to Polly's attention to the green frog was the same one from yesterday. The one that said they'd have no chance with that buff frog.
"Hey guys, we're here to practice." The green frog said.
"Why don't you rub your achievements in someone else's faces, champs?" Horace asked before burping.
"Who are these guys?" Polly asked.
"They're the Cold Highlanders." Meadow replied. "The team and their coach, Jeremiah Huddox have won every year ever since he was a pollywog himself."
"So, you're the new coach?" Jeremiah asked.
"Uh, what are you going to do?" Polly asked. "Make fun of me for being terrible? I mean, you did make fun of me yesterday saying that I won't have a chance with that buff frog."
"That was you?" Jeremiah reacted. "Oh. Sorry, but it was true. My sister was married to him and let's just say, he was too strong for her if you catch my drift.l
"Well, you're gross." Polly retorted.
"Got no shame about it." Jeremiah retorted. "So, I see you're doing well as their new coach. Judging by the number of bruises."
"Ha! I'm doing better than you mr Provoker!" Polly retorted.
"Nor a good retort." Spot said before hitting Polly with a puck.
"Well, at least you weren't locked in an ice box." Jeremiah said. "Hey, good luck with your crew. Even though judging by their lack of sportsmanship, my team will win."
Polly narrowed her eyes at him. "Uh, I already hate you."
"Hey guys, we don't mean offence, but we need you to get off the rink." One of the green pollywogs said.
"Why?!" Rufus asked. "You think you're better than us."
The other pollywogs laughed. "We don't think that. We think you're great."
"Yeah! We're better!" Spot exclaimed. "We will beat you!"
"Love the confidence!" The other green pollywog said.
"It's not confidence, it's fact!" Summer said. "You are dumb!" The seven out of ten Wartwood pollywogs cheered while the green pollywogs smiled.
"I like how confident they are." The green pollywog said.
"Me too." The other one said.
"We're going, now!" Rufus declared. "Later losers!"
"Yeah! And you girls are going to suck because you're girls!" Spot declared.
"Ha! Good one, Spot." Rufus and Spot gave each other a high five while Summer laughed before realising something.
"Wait, I'm a girl." Summer said with realisation.
Just as the pollywogs left along with the decent ones, Polly gasped in horror as she realised something. "Oh no, this can't be. The fact they're mean for no reason, the provoking of the other team and the fact they provoked the female members of the rival team even though they have female of their own! Oh no! I am not coaching the protagonists, I'm coaching the antagonists!" Polly dropped to her knees. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Jeremiah gave an apologetic stare to Polly at first but then turned to his team. "Alright everyone, ignore the screaming coach, let's get into gear."
Back at the cabin, Polly was on the bed eating fly pizza, a recipe that Marcy helped perfected during her time in Newtopia, crying her eyes out while Hamish was pouring bog grog all over himself.
"They are horrible!" Polly screamed. "They're horrible!"
"I know, you've been saying that for the last few minutes." Hamish said.
"Plus, don't get me started on Jeremiah!" Polly yelled as she bit into her pizza. "What a egotistical frog!"
"How do you know he is egotistical?" Hamish asked.
"Uh, the words and his looks!" Polly yelled. "What should I do Hamish?"
"I suggest give up and continue being a disgrace to your community." Hamish replied.
"Uh! I'd rather die than grow up to be a fat, gross, bog grog drinking, belly button picker." Polly said.
"You'll love it." Hamish said just as snot ran down his nose.
Just then, a knock was heard on the cabin door, causing Polly to groan. "That better be room service."
"Nah."
"Don't let me give up hope, Hamish!" Polly yelled.
When Polly answered the door, she saw three of the Wartwood Wonders, Hilary, Meadow and Indigo standing at the front.
"Hi Polly." Meadow said.
"Girls, what are you doing here?" Polly asked. "And could you come in before I turn into a block of ice?" The pollywogs bounced in just as Polly quickly closed the door.
"We came to see how you're doing." Meadow replied.
"And are you okay?" Hilary asked.
"Do I look okay?" Polly asked.
"Well, we're okay in our own special way." Hilary replied.
"I may not look okay, but I am." Hamish said before eating a booger.
Indigo shivered at the sight of what Hamish did. "Eww! Eww! I don't like it here already."
"Look kids, unless you have great advice, then leave." Polly requested.
"Oh no, we're only here to motivate you." Hilary responded.
"Yeah well, he is really motivating me to start picking from my body." Polly retorted. "Even the stuff I shouldn't mention to you girls."
"Eww." The girls said.
"Come on Polly, you can do it." Meadow said, rather encouragingly.
"Please Polly, I don't want to lose a coach." Indigo pleaded.
"Well kid, since you won't listen, I won't go home coming home as a champ." Polly said. "I'll come home as a loser."
Then Hilary started jumping up and down on Polly's bed. "No you won't! No you won't! No you won't!" Hilary chanted.
"Come on Hilary, get down." Polly requested. "Get down."
"No I won't! No I won't! No I won't! No I won't!"
"Hey! Hey!" Hamish stood up. "Get off the bed, you're going to break it!"
"No I won't! No I won't! No I won't!" Hilary chanted.
"You won't, eh?!" Hamish chuckled. "Well, continue bouncing and break it! Yeah! If you do break it and get impaled through the eye, I'll not do anything and just for fun, I might shove the piece of wood deeper into whatever body part it impales!"
Hilary stopped jumped of the bed, feeling intimidated. "Sorry sir."
"That's fine." Hamish said.
It was at this moment, Polly was amazed by what she had saw her so-called mentor do. "Wait, what did you do?"
"What does it look like?" Hamish asked. "I was being assertive. Just add a threat and it will make them listen."
"Really?" Polly asked. "Hilary, be loud and obnoxious."
"Okay!" Hilary walked towards the wall and started bashing her head against it and began screaming.
Hamish shot up from his chair and stomped towards her. "Stop bashing your head against the wall!"
"Make me!" Hilary demanded.
"If you don't stop I'll toss you out of the wall and leave you outside in the cold to pick every last splinter from your skin!" Hamish yelled. "Even the ones that are lodged skin deep!"
Hilary stopped and bounced back away from the wall. "Wow, he is scary. I wonder why he isn't coach."
"Because I'm too lazy." Hamish replied as he used Indigo as a back scratcher. "Wait, this ain't my back scratcher."
"Because I'm not a back scratcher." Indigo said.
"Well, you're doing the job well."
Polly snatched Indigo out of his hand and placed her on the floor. "Girls, I think I know how I'm going to get those kids to respect me."
The next day at the rink, the tadpoles, besides Meadow and Hilary were busy playing targets. Rufus was up next as he prepared his stick and cracked his arm.
"You got this Rufus!" Spot declared while Owen gave out a thumbs up.
"I know I got this." Rufus said.
"Woo hoo! Rufus!" Summer cheered.
Rufus hit the puck with his stick towards Indigo, whom was tied to the front part of the net. The young tadpole sighed in sadness. "This sucks."
"Come on you guys, can you stop harassing her?" Meadow asked.
"Yeah. Why can't you like her like me?" Hilary asked.
"Because she sucks." Lefty and Betsy replied simultaneously.
"Rayna! Are you going to sit there and allow it?!" Meadow asked.
Rayna looked up from their newspaper. "Do I look like I want to? It's a suicide mission. Now, I'm going to continue reading about the bright lights."
Then Polly walked in aggressively, looking authoritative and wearing some shades. "Hello rugrats!" Polly exclaimed.
"Hey coach, why are you wearing shades?" Meadow asked.
"Oh, it was too bright outside." Polly replied as she took them off. "Okay, listen up! I am your coach! Whether you like it or not!"
Rufus blew a raspberry. "Yeah, one of the last coaches we had was a drill sergeant and we scared him away."
"I liked him." Hilary said. "Even though I had to be trained again."
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Rufus! Big all mighty strong Rufus!" Polly exclaimed as she stomped towards him. "Do you think your tough?"
"Yeah." Rufus responded.
"Too bad kid!" Polly exclaimed as she stomped her foot down. "I have been eaten a record of 14 times and it was something I sort of looked forward to! I also survived a world where snails are nothing more than metallic beasts with wheels of rubber! And you think you're tough?!"
Rufus blew a raspberry. "Yeah."
"We will still haunt your nightmares no matter how hard you try." Lefty and Betsy said simultaneously.
Polly stomped over to them two and got face close to them. "Alright! You two want to be my worst nightmare? Well, I know a monster who ate newts for breakfast! Especially the ones that cut through lines."
"But they aren't newts." Spot pointed out.
"No one likes a smart ass, Spot!" Polly yelled.
"Yes coach." Spot said.
"If you two don't start respecting me, then I will show you a nightmare worst than death!" Polly yelled. "And his name is Hamish!"
"He eats his ear wax." Hilary said.
"Summer! Wipe that stupid grin and free Indigo or I will tie you to Rayna's tail!"
Rayna raised their head from the newspaper. "Wait, what?"
"You heard me!" Polly yelled. "Owen! If you don't stop hitting my leg with the stick, I will snap it!" Owen just stared at Polly with an unflinching expression before hitting her again. Polly snatched the stick and then snapped it in two. "Now find another stick!" Then when she blinked Owen, somehow had another stick in his hand, surprising her. "Oh. How did you find it?" Owen just shrugged his shoulders.
Horace burped and smelt his breath. "Ha. I ate bug soup."
Polly then got in front of him. "As much as I admire the art of burping, I do think it would be disrespectful towards me when I'm in coach mode! So, either you stop burping or I will cut your drinking and eating privileges for life!"
Horace gulped his burp and shuddered. "Okay, coach."
"Come on gang!" Rufus declared. "She is just trying to scare us with intimidation tactics. And they're not working on me. Besides, do you think that yelling is going to help? It's just going to make us afraid of you. Look around, do these faces look like enthusiastic students?" The players besides Meadow, Hilary and Indigo, looked terrified by what they had seen.
Jeremiah then walked in to the rink. "Hi coach, hi kids, just to let you know I have the rink in 3 hours so…."
"Shut it Greenie!" Rufus yelled. "We're teaching the coach a lesson in how we're not going to listen to her words! She is just trying to scare us!" Polly took a deep breath as she walked around the rink trying to think of the right things to say.
Rayna sighed. "Another day, another coach."
Jeremiah sighed. "There goes the coach."
And all of a sudden, Polly stopped and turned to the players. "You're right, in a way I am trying to scare you. I want you to listen, I want you to show respect and I want you to have a better life. Look, I don't want you to do that to just me, everyone else as well. Look, here's something I should have told you a while ago. I am like all of you. Well, not all of you but the majority of you. I act tough like you Rufus, I act violent like you Owen, I act gross like you Horace and I act scary like you two twins. But, in life, I learnt a lot about listening and responsibility and respect. Yes, sometimes I screw up and don't do those things, but I try and find ways to continue being that way. What I'm trying to get at is, I'm not trying to change you, if this is your personality then don't change it. But Owen, if you want to be violent then I suggest boxing or wrestling." Owen nodded his head. "You see, you don't have to change who you are, you just got to learn respect. Respect to your teachers, respect to your rivals and respect to Rayna even though they have been completely useless." Rayna raised their head from their paper. "Because if you don't do those things, listen and respect, then your life won't go anywhere and you won't win the muggy tournament. Think on that for a moment." Polly began walking away just as the pollywogs began to think what their coach was saying. Could she be right?
"Wait, coach." Rufus said. "Are you saying that because of the way we treated you and the other coaches, we couldn't have won?"
Polly turned to the team. "Are you willing to listen?"
The tadpoles raised their sticks high in the air simultaneously with determined smiles on their faces. "We're with you coach, we're with you." Rufus said.
Polly smiled at her team. "Alright kids, we have a few hours for this rink so let's begin." She walked out the rink and started to watch her team with Jeremiah.
"Nice job, coach." Jeremiah said.
"Thanks."
"For someone who has terrible taste in people, romantically."
Polly scoffed and elbowed him. "Loser."
"Ow! What was that speech about respect and listening about then?" Jeremiah asked, annoyed.
"But did I say they shouldn't change." Polly retorted.
"What?"
"Cue training montage!"
During the montage, Polly was yelling at her players to do the right move. "Rufus, hit the winning puck!" Rufus hit the winning puck to the net, instead of hitting her.
When Lefty and Betsy were getting close to Indigo, Polly began waving her hands. "Lefty, Betsy, don't get so close to Indigo!" The twins did as they were told and gave Indigo plenty of room where she hit the puck, but somehow missed. "Okay, keep trying Indigo!"
Owen was gripping on his stick a little too hard which was causing some cracks to show. "Owen, be gentle!" Owen loosened his grip.
"Summer! Defend the net." Meadow hit the puck towards Summer's net with Summee hitting it back but it didn't hit anyone, it instead just hit the opponent's net.
Then, Polly notes Spot and Horace passing the pucks to each other. "Great teamwork, guys!" Polly cheered. "Okay, stop the montage!" The players stopped playing and turned to their coach. "Okay kids, I'm glad we're making improvement but unfortunately we're almost out of time for the rink."
"Awww." The kids groaned.
"Come on kids, what did I say about respect?" Polly asked. "But fortunately, that don't mean we have to stop. We're going to build up some strength. You kids are strong, but if you want to win, you gotta have some of these." Polly then flexed her arm, showing off some muscle, a sight that made the kids gasp in awe. Then she flexed her other arm, causing Rayna to be wowed by what they saw. Then Polly flexed both of her arms, causing Jeremiah to blush.
"Oh my." Jeremiah said. "Guess I'm a muscle person."
"So, now we begin the exercise montage!" Polly declared.
During the exercise montage, Polly was trying to get the tadpoles to do push ups inside her cabin, but she realised that they didn't have legs. But luckily, they could do sit ups.
They then began lifting some dumbbells that were their size while Owen somehow got one that was around Hamish's size and lifted it over his head. Polly was amazed by what she witnessed and so was Hamish.
She then got them to punch some punching bags. But their punching was actually more jump punches.
Then she got the tadpoles to dunk themselves into a bucket filled with ice. Betsy jumped out, shivering while Rufus looked confident in what he was about to do. He jumped in, but instantly jumped out screaming.
Then, she and the pollywogs were carrying bags of sand up a mountain. They were so heavy that one of the tadpoles rolled down the hill.
Then, they were running/bouncing all over the city with Polly leading them. She lead them up some stairs of an art museum which had like a ton of steps. They made it to the top where they began jumping up and down in celebration and doing a little dance.
But either they didn't notice or just didn't care, the museum goers watch them with confused expressions.
"Uh, some people." One of them groaned.
Later, at the rink, Polly was checking the clipboard. "Okay, we have been doing this for weeks." Polly said. "And we have seen a lot of improvement. You're listening well and showing a lot of respect and I'm glad you haven't changed your personality one bit."
Horace then burped causing everyone to narrow their eyes at him. "That came out on accident, I swear!"
"Great." Polly said. "And we have a day until the match and the best part is, we didn't have a third act breakup."
"Yeah and your community service will be over." Summer declared.
"I know!" Polly yelled.
"But will you still continue coaching when you go back?" Rufus asked.
Polly shrugged her shoulders. "Actually, I'm an inventor but maybe on weekends I'll coach you. I mean, I've already lived some of the sports cliches which includes an old mentor and the motivational speech. Why can't I relieve these moments again?"
"Great, you might teach Indigo how to do better." Spot said, leering his eyes at the youngest.
"I'm trying." Indigo said as tears fell from her eyes.
"Well, try harder!" Rufus demanded.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Polly interjected. "Indigo is a vital player, show her some respect."
Indigo sighed. "But I am terrible Polly. I'm not good at muggy like the other players."
"Hey, I'm pretty sure you are." Polly assured her. "You might have not had a lot of practice."
"But what if I fail the team?" Indigo asked.
"Then keep trying Indigo." Polly said. "Keep trying and try hard to motivate yourself that you can do this, then you will get it."
"Please don't use that cliche." Indigo pleaded. "I've heard it a million times from my moms and sister, but I still can't do it!"
"Indigo, even if you can't do it, you have to believe that you can try." Polly said. "Besides, I think these pollywogs are the reason. You feel the lack of confidence because you are remembering what these guys have said. Their words don't matter, the words that matter are the people that believe in you and you. Block out what they're saying is what I'm trying to say." Indigo gave Polly a small smile which the frog returned. "Now, get home before your parents worry. Even if tomorrow doesn't go well team, I want you to know that you've been great and I'm deeply proud of you. Even the rival team because they have been great as well." She smiled at Jeremiah, who smiled back. "Except for you Rayna, you have been no help whatsoever."
"Hey! I introduced you to the players!" Rayna yelled.
"Yeah. You were more of the one who delivered exposition than anything else." Owen said. "I mean, you literally had no other purpose than explaining who we are and our personality trait."
All the pollywogs, frogs and newt were all surprised. Owen could talk all this time?
"You could talk?!" The surprised Rufus exclaimed. Owen just said nothing and bounced away. "Is no one going to say anything?!" Rufus sighed as he bounced away with the remaining tadpoles.
Polly walked out of the rink and crossing off her piece of paper. "Okay, that is another sports cliche done. Motivating the weakest who is somehow the most important."
"Excuse me." Jeremiah interjected. "What's going on?"
"Oh, I'm crossing off sport movie cliches." Polly replied. "Luckily, I avoided some of them like the forced love interest and third act breakup."
"Hmm, interesting." Jeremiah remarked. "I have no idea what it is, though."
"Hey, maybe after the match is done and if one of us wins, maybe I could show you some of those sports movies." Polly offered.
"Sounds good to me." Jeremiah replied. "I'll see you tomorrow. My squad is here. Or, do you want to watch and see how we could possibly beat you?"
Polly blew a raspberry. "As if you can beat me." Polly then flexed her muscles. "You know you can't take me!"
Jeremiah was intimidated while Polly was pulling an intimidating look. But then, the both of them began to laugh their heads off.
"Hey coach, can you stop talking to your girlfriend?" One of the opposing pollywogs asked. "We need you to coach us."
"Yeah, sorry." Jeremiah then turned to Polly. "So, you going to stand there and watch or just leave to deal with whatever your mentor is doing?"
Polly pondered. "You know what, I'd rather stay here then watch Hamish pick more belly button hair."
"Eww!" Jeremiah exclaimed.
Polly laughed like she was being sarcastic but she then turned serious. "But seriously, he does do that. It sort of haunts my nightmares."
The next day, the stadium that the muggy tournament was taking place, was jammed pack with a lot of amphibians. Frogs, toads, newts, axolotls and a bunch of salamanders taking seats and cheering for the respective teams. The Wartwood Wonders had many residents of Wartwood holding up flags and banners. Wally was even there, playing his accordion and trying to write a terrible song.
While the Champ supporters are all wearing green face paint and green clothing and holding green flags and banners.
Polly looked to her opposing team and saw Jeremiah pumping up his team. She smiled at them and waved at Jeremiah, who waved back.
"You're going to lose." Jeremiah said in a mocking tone.
"So are you." Polly replied in a mocking tone.
"Polly!" Yelled a voice Polly didn't expect to hear. She turned around and saw Sprig and Hop Pop approaching her. Hop Pop, being aided by Sprig due to his age.
"Guys!" Polly happily exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"
"Oh what?" Hop Pop responded. "Did ya really think I wouldn't show up for my granddaughter's big day?"
"After what I did at Wartwood, I thought you wouldn't." Polly replied.
"Oh, that's in the past." Hop Pop assured her.
"And Polly, I'm sorry for overreacting." Sprig said. "I should have listened to you. I was on a mission that could have-"
"Save it for later Sprig!" Polly interjected. "I don't have time."
"Okay Polly, I'm going to wish you luck." Hop Pop said. "Win or lose, you will always be a winner in mine and Sprig's hearts. But if you lose, Wartwood will disgrace you so for the sake of your reputation, win."
Polly was surprised by what her grandfather said, that she began sweating. "Well, that is making me worried."
"Hey coach, we're ready for you." Rufus said.
"Okay, I'm coming Rufus." Polly responded. "I'll see you two later."
"See ya later Polly." Hop Pop said.
"Likewise." Sprig said.
Polly walked towards her team. "Okay team, are we ready?!"
"Ready!" All the pollywogs besides Owen replied.
"Alright! Let's win!" Polly declared.
"And so they won!" Wally declared to the weary traveler, who sighed. "Oh what?! You thought there was going to be a detailed match of them winning?! I always hate that in sports movies! They win!" Wally sighed. "Look, if it makes you any better, how about I let you decide who I should tell the tale of next?"
