Chapter 2: Welcome to Amphibia
It was a normal day in the world of Amphibia, specifically in the swamp town called Wartwood. The sun was up and the insects that inhabited the environment buzzed/crawled around. In the woods, Marcy Wu, straight-A student (except gym), master RTS player, head of the chess club, chief ranger to the ruler of Newtopia himself, King Andrias, and many more long titles, was currently studying the nearby flora that the small town had to offer. While her current quest was to find how to recharge the three gems from the music box that had brought her best friends Anne Boonchuy and Sasha Waybright to this strange new dimension but for now she was taking some time off, doing what she loved best (other than playing RPG's and Chess of course).
For about four months now after being transported to Amphibia, specifically in the kingdom of Newtopia, she had been doing quests for King Andrias. She met new faces, shared her world experiences with others, fought monsters, and had many more exciting adventures. Four months of living out her dream of being in a fantasy world with no parents to tell her what she could and couldn't do.
However, Marcy did feel some regret for dragging her friends into this mess but what choice did she have? She was going to lose her only friends if she didn't do anything. The only people who truly understood her. Stupid Dad and his stupid job.
Why did Dad have to go and try to ruin everything? Thought Marcy as she continued to observe the environment while jotting down notes in her newly made plant encyclopedia.
On the bright side, she had been recently reunited with Anne and met her new adoptive family, the Plantar's Hopediah "Hop Pop", Sprig and Polly. Anne had been staying with them ever since she landed in Wartwood. Together they had completed the first temple and had charged the first gem. However, there was no sign of her other best friend Sasha and what Anne had told her that things were not good between them since she and the Plantar's last encounter with her were at Toad Tower, home to the feared Captain Grime. Despite this, Marcy was still determined to find Sasha, charge the gems to fulfill the end of her "agreement" with King Andrias.
Marcy continued her studies, she thought about the King's proposal he had made to her several weeks ago. The promise of exploring new dimensions with her best friends. The ultimate adventure together and never be apart ever. Oh, how she dreamed of it.
But would Anne and Sasha agree to this? Would they see this as an opportunity of a lifetime or just see her as a selfish girl who couldn't let go of her friends? What if they both found out the truth as to why all of them were stuck in Amphibia? So many questions ran through Marcy's mind.
Everything will be fine Marcy. Nothing bad is going to happen. Though Marcy as she tried to relax while she continued to observe the environment and wrote down what information she saw.
Anne and Sasha will understand. Once they see I have given them everything, they will see.
As Marcy looked up to observe the butterflies flying in the sky, she saw something. Some kind of object in the sky. Marcy squinted her eyes to focus her vision on whatever it was and realized something. It had a rectangular shape and looked to be on fire on closer inspection. There was also another detail she had just picked up, it was falling right towards her!
"HOLY COW!" screamed Marcy
Quickly, she ran out of the way as fast as her legs could take her just as the rectangular object crashed into the dirt a few feet away from her (unfortunately her plant encyclopedia was not so fortunate, being blown to pieces), blowing her off her feet and into the air. Thinking quickly Marcy loaded her crossbow with a grappling hook and fired at a nearby tree, pulling her to safety. Once perched on a branch of the tree she looked back at where the object crashed. After the smoke cleared from the crash, she jumped off the tree branch and onto the ground to get a closer inspection.
(Play The War Master: Only The Good (Music Suite) 0:27 to 2:55)
When she came closer to the object she was stunned to see what it was. It was an old Grandfather clock. While these were not uncommon in Amphibia, this one seemed different. It had numbers on its face but these weren't Amphibia numbers, these were Earth numbers. This clock was from her world. Also, Grandfather clocks weren't supposed to be able to survive high drops while being on fire especially ones made of wood.
"How did this get from Earth to Amphibia?"Question Marcy out loud, still observing the Grandfather clock.
Many things ran through Marcy's head on the possibilities of what had just happened. Was there another way to get to Amphibia other than the box? Scientists on Earth are testing experimental dimensional travel by sending random objects made of new materials? Aliens like in those movies she saw? The possibilities were endless!
As Marcy continued to think about where and why this Grandfather clock was here, she began to hear a whirring sound emitted from the back. All of a sudden, the back of the clock opened with two doors on hinges being flung out as smoke escaped from inside the clock. Was the clock on fire on the inside? Was it even from Earth?
Suddenly, a figure appeared running out of the clock out of the smoke, falling to his knee's coughing out smoke. It was a man in his early eighties with white-aged hair. He was dressed very elegantly, wearing a waistcoat done in green and brown stripes while under it having a gunmetal grey tweed with a black cravat tie. He was also covered in soot most likely from the fire inside the clock.
"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?! " gasped Marcy as she ran to help the man. He began to stop coughing from the smoke and recover. "Hi, my name is Marcy. What's your name? Are you from Earth? Or are you an alien from another planet? Oh, I love the fish out of water trope! It's-
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!" shouted the man as Marcy shrunk down at his sudden outburst.
The man then slowly got to his feet, dusting his clothes from the soot. He then began to examine his surroundings. He then looked at Marcy, who had a hurt look on her face from his sudden outburst. His facial expression changed from an annoyed look to a more sympathetic one.
"Oh do excuse my earlier outburst," Apologized the man "It's just that I have had a very well… rough day as you can see." He gestured to the grandfather clock which was still pouring with smoke.
"Sorry," apologized Marcy sheepishly, twiddling her fingers "It's just so exciting to see another human here in Amphibia, well besides my BFF Anne. That is if you are a human."
"That is quite alright my dear," replied the man "Marcy is it?"
"Yep, that's me!" said Marcy in her usual happy-go-lucky attitude in a heroic pose "Marcy Wu, head of the chess club, master RTS player, straight-A student—except for gym, but only because I was reading in class and chief ranger of Newtopia."
(Play Sons of Gallifrey | Emotional Cinematic Recreation 0:48 to 3:00)
"My that is a lot of achievements for a girl your age, Ms. Wu," spoke the man with an amused tone "I bet your parents would be proud of them."
Marcy then blushed as she rubbed her arm "Aw thanks. My parents don't usually give me this much praise for anything. They don't pay attention to me, especially my Dad. Only my friends give me any sort of good feedback. "
"Really?" replied the man "Well, parents like that must be stupid not to pay attention to someone with a brilliant mind like yours."
"You think so?" said Marcy with hope in her voice
The man gave her a warm smile "I know so. Geniuses like you and I are often overlooked by others. "
"You're a scientist?" asked Marcy curiously as she took out her notebook to jot down some notes.
"Well I was a scientist," answered the man with a thoughtful look on his face "Well not a scientist from Earth of course."
Marcy's face then perked up in interest "Wait so you're not human?"
The man rolled his eyes "I thought that would be obvious due to the way I came here. Humans don't just fall out of the sky inside grandfather clocks now do they? Especially not Time Lords such as myself."
Marcy looked at him suspiciously "How do I know this is not some kind of trick and you're the real deal?"
Seeing that Marcy would need more proof he rolled up his left sleeve, exposing his arm to her.
"If you want proof that I am of alien origin, feel my pulse" answered the man "Don't worry I don't bite."
Marcy put her notebook and pencil into her right hand. She then went up to him and touched his wrist with two fingers. To her shock, she felt four pulses instead of two!
"Is this enough proof for you Ms. Wu?" said the man as Marcy let go in shock.
After that bombshell of a reveal, Marcy then dropped her notebook and pencil on the ground. Putting her mind was quick to process this information. A huge grin began to creep its way down her face. The endless possibilities!
An alien?! Here is Amphibia?! OH MY GOSH! This is so more exciting than documenting plants! Though Marcy.
"EEEEEE!" squealed Marcy in excitement as the man winced.
She began to jump up and down with a wide smile on her face as she bombarded the man with questions "Another being from another world?! That is so cool! Like are you one of those Extra-Terrestrial's that looks human but isn't? Are you responsible for the cube incident in 2012 or the ghost invasion in 2007? Is that grandfather clock a disguise for your ship? What's your home planet? What is your name?"
Surrounded by too many questions (and a hyperactive, excited thirteen-year-old girl), the man put up his hands waving them to calm Marcy down from his recent revelation. "Settle down my dear. In due time, in due time. Let's just start with my name for now."
As Marcy began to calm down from all the excitement of having a real alien right in front of her, she then picked up her notebook and pencil, ready to write down some notes "Ok then Mr. Alien. What is your name?"
"I am known as… the Doctor universally" answered the now named 'the Doctor' "Traveler of time and space, defender of countless worlds, and the former lord president of Gallifrey."
"Cool!" said Marcy with sparkles in her eyes as she then began to jot down some notes "Not only an alien but a time traveler as well! Just like in the Doctor Zone Files!"
"The Doctor Zone Files?" questioned the Doctor curiously
"Oh it's one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever to be made!" replied Marcy "It's about a man, Doctor Zone, and his companion Time Ape traveling through time, battling evil, drinking coffee-"
"Well, that does sound a lot like me," interrupted the Doctor with an amused look on his face "You mentioned earlier that humans are not native to this world?"
"Yep just me and my best friends Anne and Sasha" replied Marcy eustatically "We came here to Amphibia because of a music box but maybe you can take us home with your ship or maybe even to new undiscovered worlds?! Well, Anne and I still have to find Sasha of course. Can I travel with you across the galaxy? Ooh, I've always wanted to go in an alien spaceship!"
As Marcy spoke these words, a thought came into mind. What about King Andrias' offer? Would she risk breaking it in order to get Anne and Sasha back home? She felt ashamed for a bit but she might have to take that risk if she had any chance of leaving Amphibia. Andrias would understand, right?
"As much as I would want to do Ms. Wu, I am afraid that my TARDIS has suffered sufficient damage making it very difficult to take you and your friends back to Earth even with its self-repair active." The man said apologetically as he rolled his sleeve back down, snapping Marcy out of her thoughts. "Crossing dimensions is such a most troublesome thing to do."
"But you said it was self-repairing itself?" replied Marcy "So it will be fixed then my friends and I can go home right?"
"Yes but unfortunately that could take hundreds if not thousands of years to complete and humans don't live that long." Answered the Doctor "My apologies dear Marcy for letting your hopes up."
Marcy's face suddenly turned from excited and hopeful to disappointed. The hope of finally being able to leave with Anne and Sasha just to be taken away from her. The thought of it upset her.
Seeing that Marcy was unhappy with this news, the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder.
"Oh my dear, don't be upset" spoke the Doctor in a soothing yet fatherly voice "I'm sure you will find a way out of here with your friends. You said you mentioned a music box?"
"Um yes, the music box" replied Marcy "It brought us here via some portal it opened to-
Suddenly Marcy's stomach growled, interrupting her mid-sentence.
"Um, perhaps we should discuss this over lunch?" suggested the Doctor as his stomach growled loudly as well "It seems that we both are quite famished don't you agree?"
"Yeah, I am kind of hungry," said Marcy sheepishly
Didn't help that I skipped breakfast just so I could get a head start on documenting plants in Wartwood
Then a thought came to her mind.
"Hey, since you are new here, why don't I show you around Wartwood?" suggested Marcy "It's not very far from here. We could get a bit to eat while I introduce you to Anne and the townsfolks!"
The Doctor's eyes perked up in interest at this suggestion.
"I would be delighted Ms. Wu" replied the Doctor as he closed the doors of his TARDIS then gestured to her "Lead the way."
Marcy proceeds to walk with the Doctor right to Wartwood while both chatted to each other about their experiences but little did Marcy know that this would be unleashing an unholy terror to the entire world of Amphibia.
Author's Note: Hi everyone, it's me again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Shout out to Cylon One and The Literary Lord for the favs. Hope I wrote Marcy's character correctly. See you in the next chapter.