Attack of the Giant Maddie

by birby6

Maddie never wanted to experience something like that day again. When a painful migraine leads to a full on bodily surge, she immediately finds herself back in a stature she desired to forget...but on a grander scale. Now it's a mad scramble to find a cure for her titanic growth before she has to live as a colossal giant forever, but something doesn't seem right...

6. Chapter 6

Anne couldn't look back. The reminders burned into her head like hot iron and the resonating booms of Maddie's actions and voice served as enough to scar her beyond normal emotions. A majority of her time as she ran further away from the behemoth girl ended up spent with her eyes halfway open as tears poured down her face. All that time she completely forgot that she carried a shrunken Sprig in her hands, but even then she wouldn't have the ability to hear him. Nothing but Marcy's dead eyes and Maddie's massive tongue across her chest spiked her brain and preserved it into a never ending torment of pain and the fiery depths. She didn't have to hear Maddie's threatening tone all around to understand the magnitude of what happened just a few moments ago. She watched one of her friends as she fell to Maddie's voracious tendencies while another suffered a crippling hex that rendered him neutered beyond how she knew him since they initially met.

Her train of thought derailed completely off course, but for now she required a decent hiding spot. No doubt Maddie understood that she still lived and kept the reminder in the back of her mind for later, and if she every managed to catch her again she most likely would join Marcy inside the giant girl's gut. Out of every single place within the confines of Maddie's barrier, since her booming voice made it impossible to not hear and listen in, only one place stood out to possibly call a safe haven. If any ounce of Maddie's normal sanity remained she most likely wouldn't dare to touch upon the town's local tea shop, especially after Felicia made sure that anyone who disturbed Flint during his stay there basically spelled their demise. When she asked about her temper from her daughter Ivy she already wanted to divert the topic in another direction, and from the expression across her face she got the message instantly. She usually maintained a rather settled mood, but once she heard of the foreboding signs she never thought about it much ever again to remain on the safe side. A normal Felicia remained as the better Felicia, and her abode stayed as the best spot for Anne to lay low until she could put her mind back on track.

She never bothered to ring the doorbell or anything else fancy, and after what she experienced Maddie go through flattery became null to her. The door opened nicely and even rang a few times from bell overhead, which set the tone for Felicia's perception of fine dining and tea work. If Anne didn't have buckets of sorrow stored up in her she probably would have taken the notions with glitter in her eyes, as the establishment always maintained an atmosphere that made anyone feel like they just walked into their own house. Out of everything that went on with Maddie and her status as the biggest frog witch around it seemed impossible that anything remained intact, either by accident or some other factor, but Wartwood's local tea shop stood out as the oddball of the group. It got out completely unscathed beyond what the chaos outside lead everyone to believe. Even as a titanic tyrant bent on making Wartwood her playground Felicia's insistence to hoard Flint to herself with dire consequences if disturbed possibly proved too much, although after Maddie's actions earlier it could easily change at any point.

In terms of such a pristine and cleansed shop, the Sundew family sure kept certain standards that enticed others to stop inside. Dozens of round tables fitted with clean white cloth exemplified such high class etiquette not seen much outside of the royal halls of Newtopia's castle. In many ways it almost provided the feeling that someone just won a type of "King for a Day" reward if it even existed. Ivy infamously lacked the experience to perfectly place the tablecloth beyond ninety nine percent, but the longer she kept at it the less folds stood up across the surface. She understood the chairs and their positioning, which were crafted from some of the purest of trees by the town's wood smith, and somewhere down the line she might finally have the chance to work with the dishes in the clear cabinets. They sat along the walls in spotless conditions and even came with two small clear doors that displayed all of the clean wares in eye catching first impressions. For the most part Felicia performed most of the heavy duty work to make sure everything remained in tip top shape, and due to her celebrity guest she definitely upheld such a tradition, especially when it came to the dishes. A short distance away from the entrance to the building opened up a pathway to the kitchen where most of the preparation and cleaning work stationed within the premises. For the most part not too many managed to get a good glance inside, and for the most part they didn't need to since most of them became paying customers and focused on their enjoyments more than anything. A long stairway set alongside near the kitchen, which lead to the upstairs bedrooms where Felicia and Ivy called their own private quarters. Because of the building's unique shape they had a couple of spare bedrooms just in case, and one came in handy when Flint arrived in town, especially to Felicia's delight. From all of the time spent with him she probably felt like she sat on a gold mine that she never wanted to leave, which possibly drove Ivy nuts under certain circumstances. Even so, no other place in town could claim to own a wealthy amount to the level the Sundew establishment displayed on a daily basis, and it helped sell their collection of teas from around the entire land.

The fact that she finally got Maddie off her tail gave her a brief moment of relief. Her legs shook all over until she finally slumped to the ground to let loose a bit of relaxation time. Maddie's voice still resonated in her head with immense power behind it, but for now she gave her the slip.

"Dear frogs on high, she finally snapped…" Anne said to herself. "I almost turned into a cricket crape in one fell-"

A series of high pitched sounds interrupted her train of thought, and for once a certain walking potato creature remained out of it.

"Oh shoot, I almost forgot about Sprig!"

Upon the large slap of realization across her face, Anne immediately glanced down at one of her hands and opened it up. Her shrunken cold blooded friend sat right in the middle of her palm, and from the looks of it he took quite a ride in her enclosed fist. At a size comparable to ant foot any distinct details about him became next to impossible to see, but from his motions alone she guessed that she more than likely shook him a bit too much as she made her escape. He sat flat across her skin while his head tilted all over the place from sheer dizziness. The poor frog suffered a lot the moment Maddie went crazy with power, from succumbing to a shrinking curse to Anne's accidental motions while escaping, and now he appeared as nothing more than a common frog from Anne's world at her perspective.

She continued to keep her eyes on him as she tried to communicate.

"I'm terribly sorry about that Sprig. If I acted any slower I probably wouldn't have gotten away in time. At least we survived, right? …Sprig?"

For the one she encapsulated in her hands Anne appeared almost like a colossus compared to him. Every word she uttered from her mouth echoed through him like a million sirens and her face equaled entire galaxies. Her rest of her face took up his entire sight and meant he needed to turn his face in multiple directions just to see its entirety. It almost intimidated him as her two white planets gazed down at him and her black hole spoke words. Millions and millions of colonies could populate her face and even take refuge in the caverns of her nose from such a scope, even if she desired to have small creatures off of her body. Of course the sprawling landscapes of her hands provided vast plains to house such civilizations although the crevices served as a major roadblock, and the freckles across her face not normally viewable by normal eyes painted the skies above like stars. Then he finally got to her trademark bushy hair, and if her face and hands held colonies everything atop her head brought an entirely new dimension. It spanned an entire galaxy that brought new worlds to the forefront, although he didn't know how anyone could find their way through it after everything she went through. He may have called it a hiding spot during certain occasions, but at his new tiny size he would never find his way out if he ever took a dive in. Navigating an entire galaxy basically equaled a lifetime in his eyes, so a trip through Anne's personal one meant he possibly never had the sun or moon in his sights ever again. While the leaves that somehow never fell out served as landmarks to help navigation, no spaceship potentially had the numbers on their side to trek through the galaxy of Anne's hair. One size change alone painted his human friend in an entirely new light, one of which he never wanted to see, and even though his feelings for her never changed he already wanted his normal size back.

Anything he attempted to relay back to her ended in nothing but abridged Spudley speak, and he felt pretty sure that it would have offended them if he said it to the creatures' faces. Because of the troubling setback, it pretty much brought the same language barrier situation of the Spudlies over to the human girl and the frog.

"I'm fine down here Anne…for the most part!" Sprig shouted with some nervous stutters. "I'm trying my hardest to…not freak out or anything!"

"I can't hear you down there Sprig. Can you speak a bit louder?" Anne asked, which became a stark contrary to Sprig's low vocabulary.

His head rebounded inside and rang of Anne's voice for a couple of seconds until he finally managed to settle down. Maddle clearly wanted any kind of communication between him and anyone else to become as difficult as possible, unlike what became as her sudden growth, and the curse placed on him served as the perfect opportunity. Once he diminished she made sure to make him feel like the helpless gnat like she wanted as punishment for his actions previously against her…which Anne intended to undo due to the injustice behind the curse.

In an attempt to understand anything that Sprig had to say, Anne brought herself a bit closer to the near microscopic frog and put her right ear up close, which to Sprig almost seemed like impending doom from a massive meteor in the sky. The grim darkness of her ear hole seemed to go on endlessly like a bottomless pit, and some brief sightings of ear wax nearly made him hurl. He knew Anne maintained some kind of proper hygiene schedules, but she lacked absolute perfection in certain aspects. When he finally grows back to normal size, he might have to borrow Wally's bubbly soap just for the extra cleanliness for her.

He tried to speak to her again from the bottom of his lungs.

"I'M YELLING AS LOUD AS I CAN! I SAID I'M FINE FOR THE MOST PART!"

He exclaimed to near exhaustion that almost left him tattered against Anne's skin, but it went by as successful as his other attempts. Anne withdrew her head back and frowned.

"Nope, still not understanding anything. Sorry Sprig, but Maddie really planted a number on you, and since curses only can get lifted by the caster… Well…"

Her loud booming voice struggled to say the words, but Sprig understood what she desired to state. Ever since the first time the two came into contact with the dark arts they pretty much had to understand most of the basics behind them. While not enough to conjure up curses of their own, they learned that they stuck to their targets and lasted as much as the caster intended. If they wanted a spell to effect their target permanently they just needed to perform the extra minor steps, and they bet that Maddie left that particular detail across Sprig's tiny body with dark intentions. Their only saving grace, since they required next to no reminders that Maddie likely intended to never dispel the hex, completely disappeared off the face of the planet when the giant witch girl swallowed her whole. Any trained caster in the dark arts knew of a technique to pass inflicted curses from one victim to someone else, and even though Marcy only started such a hobby if she became lost in the books she likely would have learned it to remain on the safe side and in case she accidentally cast a hex on someone she never intended…which wouldn't be out of the ordinary for someone like her. However, after her unintended spelunking trip into Maddie's maw that option remained long gone. Maddie likely wouldn't reverse it under any circumstances and their only chance to transfer it to someone else vanished, which meant Sprig possibly had no way out and might live as an indescribable speck for the rest of his life.

The stricken frog accepted none of it and nearly snapped himself.

"NO, NO, NO! I CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS FOREVER! I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR! GAMES WITH IVY, GOING THROUGH THAT TEMPLE QUEST THING, AND I NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO TASTE A CRICKET PIE FROM THE MUSICAL TADPOLES! PLEASE, WE HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY THROUGH THIS-"

He continued on and on in his panicked rant while he hopped all over inside Anne's hand. Like all of the other times she heard nothing but high pitched squeaks, and soon enough the teen started to also suffer an anxiety attack.

"So Maddie went berserk, swallowed Marcy, has Wartwood in her clutches, and Sprig sized down to where ants can mistake him for food. Come on Anne, you have to think of something! You've gone through so much already, but…I had friends by my side in those moments. Am I the only one left to possibly put everything to rest? Oh man, I'm really not enjoying these conditions as much as I-"

Anne's panic stuttered to a halt the moment a very distinct set of noises hit her hearing. At first she hesitated, especially with the squeaking Sprig in her grasp. As for the shrunken frog, he too recognized the commotion from sounds alone, but he couldn't tell Anne that unless he wanted to leave her guessing from his incomprehensible speech. For now, he had to let Anne handle the problems even though his courage never matched his size.

He almost lost his footing at first once he felt the surface under him suddenly move, and he soon figured out that his larger than life friend began to move again. The land around him suddenly hit an earthquake and almost tossed him off of his feet as the continents shifted from under him. Most would run for cover and take shelter, especially on higher levels of the Richter scale, and while it applied to Sprig to a certain extent, such actions never came across his mind in an instant. The deity above of his best friend Anne acted with no such malice as such an occurrence ended up as a side effect while he sat in the humongous enclosure of her palm. As long as the endless spires of her fingers kept him safe, the young frog knew he remained in safe hands…quite literally.

He kept quiet as Anne walked over to the spot where she heard the noises. She tilted her head a little before she came across a rather normal table with a large tablecloth over the surface. It worried her to an extent, but for the most part her adrenaline levels remained rather low. While not one to lose her temper that often, for such a fiery emotion usually fell to her friend Sasha, if the circumstances called for such measures any form of hesitation became null and void. The type of danger for the moment aroused no such suspicions, but such drastic actions lingered for her beck and call if needed.

While she hesitated at first, once she took a couple of breaths she finally lifted the tablecloth. Right off the bat her head rattled from the sheer yells that immediately bowled her over to the point where she almost dropped Sprig. They rang through her head before her picked up the sights she needed, and once she figured out what remained hidden the tension built up in her lowered to a more tolerable setting. The last time she heard of the young triplets they stayed with their father back at the bakery, but from their presences in the tea shop they somehow made their way over, possibly without their parent's consent. Just the pure blankness in their eyes told her everything about the young ones' current mindsets, and she couldn't blame them. To see their older sister finally snap and lay waste to their home brought a devastating precedent as to how not to act as someone who cared and looked out for them, and she had no idea if they could even grasp the concept from their infant minds in the first place. While two of them stayed near the front, the third kept herself hidden behind the other two and didn't show her face, which ruffled Anne a little. She easily concluded as to who stayed out of it once she remembered their individual traits, and after what she heard Marcy any form of slight astonishment buzzed right over her head. While the young polliwogs set themselves a hiding spot, they also shared it with one other creature, who seemed to have gotten out of the bind from earlier…but also shuddered and lightly squeaked under its breath in apparent nervousness. Even with its timidness that pretty much left it bound to Marcy, Anne could gaze at it all day and never have any fatigue. Such cuteness only hit her sweet spots very rarely, and yet the situation above her threw her priorities out of whack. She had to admit though, in a weird way it fit in with all of Maddie's younger sisters even down to their current moods.

The Spudley fell onto its back in surprise which left it unable to get back up. It squeaked over and over while it flailed its round feet in the air, but Lavender quickly hopped over and pushed the adorable potato back upright. It soon let loose a deep long squeak before it sat down and relaxed a bit, which left Ginger to speak on their behalf.

"Oh, the tall friendly lady of Maddie! Errrrm, sorry for startling you."

"None taken. I understand how you feel after she went crazy." Anne answered. "You okay?"

"Well, for the most part." Ginger stated while she glanced down and rubbed her stubs for arms. "We managed to get away before our sister, urrrgh, ummmmmm…"

The pictures in her eyes pointed in a certain direction, and her small sniffs helped reinforce the idea. Anne could tell that such a snap from the young kids' older sister left them to fend for themselves, and they cared for her more than anyone. It didn't surprise Anne as she saw the toddlers on the fringe of a breakdown, and yet they couldn't do anything to possibly solve such a crisis on their own. To see someone close suddenly switch to such a grim mentality left impacts against the kids in more ways than one, and they still had much to learn as they grew older. They wanted their sister back more than anything.

Anne tried to calm her down a bit so she wouldn't cause a scene.

"Easy, easy there! I'll find a way to change her back, don't worry! I've helped Wartwood out in the past, remember?"

Her choice of words appeared to work on the young polliwog. Ginger's sniffing quickly ceased before she seemed to wipe something out of the bottoms of her eyes before she answered.

"Yeah, I…I know you always do your best…" Ginger said with a few stutters. "I…I just really want my sister back…"

"I think all of us want to see Maddie as herself again." Anne said as she slightly smiled. "Can you at least tell me how you managed to get here in the first place?"

Ginger seemed not too keen to answer, especially with the chaos outside, but for Anne to possibly fix Maddie it required the full picture.

"Well, you see, we…sort of wanted to see our biggest sister ever since she can't fit back home, and since we've grown very bored without her we…wanted to check up on her, you know? We love Maddie despite her preff, errrrr, ummm, preeeff…"

"Preferences?" Anne asked.

"Oh, yes, yes! Preffyrencey, like you said!" Ginger answered before she continued. "Uhhh, anyway, we really care for Maddie and wanted to see her, and right as we approached…she went all mean and…scared us…"

Some more tears slowly started to form in the young one's eyes, but before it went completely south Lavender hopped up close and warmed up close to her sister. While she also stood on breaking point, at least the three siblings had each other when situations drove in the opposite direction. While Rosemary still had her back to everyone, after what Ginger stated she likely steered through her own train of thought far beyond the others. The other two possibly tried to help out only for the results to fall somewhere beyond their control, but such a mindset never carried permanent changes. If they put their minds to it anything became achievable, despite their young ages. Three minds were better than one after all.

"So bad…so very, very bad…" Lavender muttered.

Even the Spudley seemed to take the vibes rather personally as it lightly squeaked and huddled up close to the other two. All three of them shook uncontrollably, and yet Anne pretty much put two and two together so they didn't require to finish their tale. The mere sight of such ruined individuals hit the young tween in the chest pretty hard, especially on the adorable side, and it helped exemplify how much emotional damage the titanic frog witch's attitude inflicted on vulnerable young kids unlucky enough to have witnessed such destruction.

"You…you bolted at the sight, didn't you?" Anne asked in a slightly deeper tone.

She watched as Lavender glanced back up and lightly nodded. For just a simple motion even that hurt Anne to see from such delicate and innocent beings.

"We couldn't believe our eyes at first, but once we heard her utter some chilling phrases, well, we…lost it. I don't remember the full picture after that, but my heart pounded through my chest and the thought of Maddie catching us…"

"SHE'LL GRIND UP OUR BONES AND POP US LIKE GRAPES! WE'LL NEVER SURVIVE ANY LONGER! SAVE YOURSELVES!"

For the first time since all of them met up, the last of the three Flour toddlers finally let her voice out…in a rather dire vocabulary. It startled everyone else at first, and once they eventually glanced over to the one that still had her back to them she slowly shuddered and stirred uncontrollably. Anne quivered from the mere sight of her motions, and yet she definitely had more in her at the ready. If the young one only provided a sample of what to come from her stubby mouth, a certain part of Anne dreaded to what might happen next especially with the unpredictability of certain ages. She heard of her panic attack at one point, but from the rampage of her older sister…

Yikes.

"Errrrr, Rosemary?" Ginger asked as she hopped over to one of her other sisters.

She gave her a few taps on the back, but Rosemary refused to budge. An unnerving sense hit the others to the point where they hesitated to prod at her further. The poor girl went through a lot more high end emotions ever since that one night, but if she needed assistance the others couldn't just leave her. The other three glanced at each other one final time before they pretty much decided what to go for next, much to Ginger's discomfort. If she lost one of her few limbs in the process, she already thought of an excuse at the ready.

Just another one of Maddie's crazy hexes.

She took one deep breath before she finally went for it and turned her sister around. The instant she saw the signs the young one instantly regretted it, as a different picture plastered all over Rosemary's face. From wrinkles around her eyes and lips to her enormous pupils that basically took up both of her eyes, it almost seemed like the polliwog went through the burning depths and back like a zombie. Her teeth even set at crooked and sharp angles that almost hurt to watch the paleness of her skin made the undead blush with embarrassment. Her small tail went dead across the ground and only wriggled at seemingly random times, which one could have easily mistaken for a dead fish in a sick manner. One could assume she only required a quick dip in the bathtub to completely wash away all of the disgusting attributes, but such a choice of actions never cleansed the deep emotions within. If she wandered off and accidentally witnessed a horror movie than such problems remained justified, but when it came to her older sister's rampage it set on a much higher level than anything she could have imagined.

Rosemary wasted no time to speak her mind.

"I DIDN'T SEE THINGS AT ALL! I KNEW I SAW A MONSTER OUT THERE, AND OUR SISTER BECAME THE BEAST! WE HAVE MEANINGLESS LIVES! WE'LL NEVER MAKE IT OUT UNTIL SHE TEARS US APART! WE HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR!"

Her outbursts caused the Spudley to move back while it uttered some underlying squeaks in private. What looked like some excess skin fell off of Rosemary's face while she soaked herself in dust and dirt like a maniac. After everything that went along with Maddie, her younger sister may have fell back on instinct from the grave sights alone which put her on edge and provided her the extremist thoughts she spouted on a regular basis.

"Easy, easy there! Don't draw conclusions so soon now!" Anne said in an attempt to calm her down. "You still have the hero of Wartwood here, remember?"

Her charming smile failed to rub off on Rosemary at first.

"LOCK THE HATCHES! HIT THE DECK AND RUN TO THE SHELTERS! WE'VE STUMBLED UPON THE END OF THE WORLD! SAVE THE BABIES!"

The young polliwog went off on more nonsensical tangents as she fell to her back and stared at the underside of the table as if she reverted back into an animal. Everyone else that watched couldn't help but feel mortified at what Maddie's destructive mindset did to Rosemary in more ways than one. At that point she drifted off somewhere that cherished her personality but sacrificed her sanity, which came at the cost of nearly everything. She deserved absolutely none of what arrived and slapped her in the face.

At that point Anne's hearing picked up something throughout all of cries and wails from Rosemary as she completely lost her mind. The two sparks connected and immediately a certain recollection surged through her head. With no hesitation in her actions, the tween quickly glanced down at the small speck in her hand that her eyes almost never picked up. She deeply sighed in relief without moving her lips once she saw him move, although his low audibility made it difficult, if not impossible, to properly communicate. She barely picked up his constant jumps while he waved his hands for her attention, but she lacked the pristine sense of her ears to understand anything that he exclaimed to the best of his ability. Not only had Maddie made the entirety of Wartwood her playground, but she also forced Sprig into a destructive shrinkage that required Anne's attention.

Of course her actions failed to escape the rapid eyes of the others, as the Spudley perked up and turned its attention over to her. Whether it heard Sprig or not, it lightly squeaked before it stood up on the tips of its round feet and slightly uttered another squeak. It suddenly tipped back and forth until it wandered over to Anne and quickly took a glance itself into her palm, to which it then squeaked again before it rapidly backed up. Suffice to say, Anne had her guesses as to what the potato creature felt at that moment.

"Hmm?" Ginger said as she saw her potato friend back up.

Soon after it caught the attention of Lavender too, although Rosemary completely left reality behind and crazily progressed through her own nonexistent agenda. Before long, Anne shuddered for a second and then slowly revealed the tiny frog speck in her hand to the others. At first they saw next to nothing, but once they kept their focus on one particular spot they eventually figured out what the human grasped between her fingers. Initial reactions varied between the two, as Ginger lightly jumped up while Lavender covered her mouth with her stubs for hands while they saw the miniaturized Sprig. Even though the two still had much to learn in their future, they understood enough to know that the tiny picture carried something abnormal.

For Sprig though, the presence of of two planetoids that took up the skies above brought tons of unnerving tensions across his small shoulders. While his smarts picked up the fact that Anne maintained intentions that brought no harm to him, for young polliwogs, minus Polly to a certain extent, they thought pretty unpredictably and basically carried unbound energy if given the chance. One gaze over at the ruined Rosemary told him everything he needed about the nature of such young kids. Normally such unpredictability stayed preserved within the confines of the parents, but as huge globes that rivaled moons such tactics fell into the impossible territory. If he found himself crushed under their humongous bodies he would easily blame it on poor parenting… if he lived to tell about it. Maddie inflicted the guise of an inconsequential gnat upon his sorry self, and such pictures came with dire consequences if anyone lost him in their sights.

The near microscopic Sprig tried to say something, but his size meant it fell on deaf ears.

"Ummm, am I seeing your close friend…but all teenie weenie?" Lavender asked.

The Spudley tilted back and forth while Anne answered.

"Unfortunately, yes." Anne answered. "Maddie placed a shrinking curse on him before I got away. I'll figure something out, but for now…"

"Hey, I can totally handle this on my end, you know!" Sprig exclaimed. However, his words went completely unheard by everyone other than him.

"Aww, I have to admit…he looks pretty cute like that!" Ginger said. "If our sister didn't cause it to happen, well, I would go head over heels for him!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Lavender stated.

The Spudley gave off a couple more squeaks soon after before it tapped one of its feet a few times, which nobody understood similar to Sprig's incomprehensible shrunken speech.

"SHE'LL SHRINK US ALL! OUR BODIES WILL BECOME DUST IN THE WIND TO HER! EVERYONE HEAD FOR THE HILLS UNLESS YOU WANT TO BECOME STAINS ACROSS HER FEET! AAAAAAAAHHH!"

Rosemary lashed out yet another one of her crazy rants as the sclera in her eyes reddened into a flushed crimson that truly painted her as someone who lost all sense of sanity. Her body stretched and morphed as she let loose multiple outlandish statements and fell onto her back, which Ginger and Lavender immediately took hold of. They hastily made their way over to her and sat by her sides while the crazy polliwog went on and on about their complete demise in some very colorful vocabulary…sometimes even TOO colorful.

Ginger glanced at Anne one final time.

"Please, umm, big lady…"

"Anne. It's Anne." the tall girl corrected.

"Oh, uhhhh, okay then." Ginger responded. "Errrr, Anne, please… If you can do anything, please save Maddie. I don't know how we'll survive without her, and…we love her so much…"

Anne silently nodded with a smile.

"I'll fix everything, don't worry. Just stay safe and I'll do the rest."

Her expectations took a nosedive as quick as a blink. While she wanted to head off to think of something that might solve the "large" crisis, before she even had a moment to act she instantly found her lower abdomen covered with both Ginger and Lavender. They held their stubs out and took hold of her while they buried their faces in her shirt, but they never intended to harm her in any aspect. In fact, Anne pretty much let them have their moment once she heard the light sniffs and felt her clothes as they became lightly soaked. She even had to angle her hand in another direction just so she wouldn't inadvertently drop Sprig on one of their heads. While she had one of her hands full, she used her other to embrace the two polliwogs as if their family tress intertwined, which kindled her heart and warmed it up. If Rosemary never lost her mind from the chaos outside she probably would have joined in, and yet the Spudley seemed to take her place behind the others. While it lacked limbs in every aspect, it found some space behind Ginger and Lavender and squeezed between them like it also wanted some attention. While not related to the kids in any capacity, Anne estimated as to what it intended from actions alone which also warmed her heart to see. They showed that they wanted Maddie back more than anyone else, and yet they found next to nothing to possibly snap her out of it. It became yet another problem for the hero of Wartwood to complete, and she primed herself to fix everything…even if she didn't know how at the moment.

Lavender's muffled speech barely made it through Anne's soaked shirt.

"Please…please bring her back…"

"We love her so much…" Ginger said, also through Anne's shirt.

"…I promise to solve everything." Anne muttered to them.

The two polliwogs pulled back with dozens of tears in their eyes, which accidentally caused the Spudley to find itself pushed back before it fell to the ground. As if on repeat, it flailed its stubby feet in the air and squeaked again and again, which caught the attention of the sisters, minus Rosemary. They instantly brought the potato creature back on its feet before it shook itself off for a second and squeaked one final time in a deep manner.

"…we can tell that you care too…even if you don't express yourself like we do." Lavender stated before she sniffed a few times.

The Spudley's eyes lit up before it spoke up again in its own squeaky language and tapped the fronts of it feet behind it. While unfortunate that Marcy didn't decode the unique language in the allotted time, for once they required no extra help to figure out its meaning. They estimated on a couple of choice words, but nothing too concrete to leave in the dictionary. Despite the cowardly exterior, the Spudley still had feelings underneath it displayed in its own methods. It brought a distinct appeal that nobody could ignore.

"HIT THE DECKS! SHE'LL FEAST ON OUR FLESH WHILE SHE RIPS OUR FACES OFF! OUR ENDS DRAW NEAR! SHE BENDS OBJECTS TO HER WILL!"

The more Rosemary spouted out her incessant rants, the further she fell into the depths of lunacy. Her shouts smacked the realism back into everyone, which left Ginger and Lavender as her only supporters as they rushed back over. The Spudley lightly jumped up and backed away into Anne until it had its back to her, which the tween allowed as she heard the squeaks while it moved. She held herself back while the "cuteness" beast in her shouted and banged against its cage, and it basically took all of her willpower to eventually force it back. Such adorableness occurred once in a millennia, at least from what Anne thought, but her friends always come first before anything else. She hoped to have her chance with it, but despite its presence…such actions had to wait.

Lavender took a moment to glance back at the Spudley while Ginger handled Rosemary's insanity.

"You…want to stay away from Rosemary for now, do you?"

The Spudley gave off two skewed squeaks before it sat on its behind then stood back up. It became yet another one of its weird methods of communication that flew over everyone's heads. Despite the issues though, the young polliwog assumed a certain answer and followed up with it in mind.

"I…think I get it?" Ginger said in a confusing manner. "We'll, ummm, continue to hide out here for now while you can hang around with Anne if you want."

The Spudley hopped up and down before it quickly turned to face Anne and buried its face in her shirt, all while it squeaked to its heart's content. The squeals behind her lips reached a fever pitch and demanded release, and yet she remained vigilant so she wouldn't appear like someone unfit to solve Maddie's case in front of her younger siblings. To think a walking potato brought her to her knees and wielded no weapons on hand…even if it lacked them sounded preposterous, and yet denial changed nothing. The potato acted and sounded like a creature that desired endless amounts of hugs everywhere it moved, and for someone like Anne it left her in dazzled shambles. If she ever found a moment to adopt one she would do so in a heartbeat, and she assumed it wanted her as well more than anything.

"STAND BACK, I'M GONNA BLOW! LOCK YOURSELVES UP TIGHT! THE CATACLYSM HAS BEFALLEN WARTWOOD AND EVERYONE IN IT!"

"Rosemary, you'll give us away at this point!" Lavender said.

The crazy sibling rocked back and forth before she fell on her backside and provided some choice words in rapid succession. Everyone looked at her in shock for a quick moment before Ginger hastily grabbed the top portion of the tablecloth above her and tugged it down. While nothing luckily fell to the ground and shattered, she still pulled at it until it completely covered the three of them. Anne and the others could still see them as silhouettes, but the gesture clearly showed that they required alone time to calm their sister down. They wouldn't win a game of hide and seek anytime soon, but as long as they kept the percentages low any type of risk that involved crossing paths with Maddie ended up on a much safer side. They just needed Rosemary to shut up, and the requirements involved some private time between them.

The others understood pretty quickly and gave them some space. They retreated over to the stairway while Anne tried to think of another course of action. Maddie desired to stay huge and use the world around her as her own personal playground after all, which wouldn't go by overnight. Too bad the tactical and brilliant mind of Marcy pretty much succumbed to the depths of Maddie's gut which left part of Anne in shambles from a lost friend. She kept it suppressed for the most part, but to see someone you grew up with suddenly cease left a very nasty sting in her mentality. Nobody can predict mortality, and yet the fact that Marcy's time ended like only brought further pain for someone like Anne. While she knew Sasha still remained out there, for her tenacity left her with valorous grit that often reared back to bite others, it mattered less minus one missing. Her wishes to see Marcy again expanded exponentially, and yet the light faded overhead. For Marcy, Maddie had to pay the price.

At least the Spudley's appearance prevented a total breakdown, for any amount of cuteness served as a plus in Anne's book.

"We're…going to need some kind of plan here." Anne said as she gazed at it and pondered. "Just how do you deal with a gigantic frog witch on a rampage anyway? I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

The Spudley tapped its round feet and uttered a series of squeaks that left Anne scratching her head more than anything else. It sat down and spun around a couple of times in the process just to complicate communications even further.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we won't understand any of that." Sprig said as he kept watch from between Anne's mountain fingers. Of course, he spoke to basically nobody due to his miniature status that impaired his speech.

Anne couldn't leave the potato creature hanging either.

"Uhhhhhh… Me too?" Anne answered in a somewhat lukewarm expression.

The Spudley gazed at her with its eyes halfway open before it squeaked at a low volume. The language barrier really made any form of plan against Maddie a million times more difficult than it needed to, and they still needed to deal with her in the first place. While they worried for their lives as the giant frog witch spread terror across Wartwood, someone had to step to the plate even if they never particularly considered themselves an expert planner. The problem with Sprig complicated such ideas further, because Anne could always rely on him when she required extra backup. However, because of Maddie's shrinking curse she practically neutralized him to where he no longer stood out as a major threat. Suffice to say, between both the Spudley's and Sprig's blabbering nonsense, Anne basically had more on her plate than she could handle and barely held it together for the sake of her remaining friends.

Because of their communication problems, any sort of expectations against the walking potato burned to the ground. That said, when Anne and Sprig noticed the creature as it suddenly bolted upwards and turned left and right it took them by surprise. Such actions blew straight through their minds as the Spudley lightly squeaked and fidgeted its feet while its eyes darted around the place.

"Whoa! Did something rile you up there?" Anne asked while slightly startled.

The Spudley shuffled around and squeaked everywhere until it finally settled on a certain direction and charged forward…but it immediately bonked on the first step and fell backward. It squeaked again and again while its feet hit nothing but air, which prompted Anne to slowly push it back upright. It lightly hopped in place soon after and kept its eyes glued to the top of the stairway, but due to the traits behind it Anne and Sprig still didn't get it at first.

"I think it might want to head up those stairs." Sprig said as if Anne could hear him. While it didn't, Anne pretty much matched him.

"Umm, you want to head upstairs?" Anne asked.

The Spudley turned to her before it went back and charged at the step…only to hit itself against it again. The constant squeaking didn't help matters in determining a particular conclusion, which left the tween to make a wild guess. In retrospect she pretty much had to creates hunches when it came to nearly everything Spudley related, and while she may have struck a certain ratio multiple times a certain percentage loomed in the back of her mind. The possibility existed and she wanted to never find herself in that space.

"I'll…take that as a yes." Anne said.

The girl glanced up toward the top while the Spudley attempted, and failed, again at the first step. At first Anne thought she would have to carry the little thing with her other arm, but after she gave it a couple more seconds she soon realized that it also required some time to think. It squeaked some more as it faced the first few steps, and after it tapped its feet slowly it carefully hopped up and safely landed on top. The creature squeaked in a higher pitched sequence before it rotated in place and hopped up the next few stairs, and even though Anne didn't understand the full picture, her assumptions concluded that it possibly acted in triumph despite the mundane activity. While such a deal completely flew by Anne's head, she had to admit that accomplishments varied from one to another. Her stay in Amphibia became one of her most drastic ones despite what everyone else thought, especially since she wandered through unknown territory. Even so, such displays made her warm inside and made her realize that everyone maintained individual views of how they perceived reality.

She gave it time to make sure it progressed enough, since she didn't want to accidentally trip over it, before she went up after it. Her skyscraper fingers prevented Sprig from falling off, while the tiny frog himself held on for dear life as his best friend shook continents once more. In all of her time spent in Wartwood, Anne never found the chance to see what the second floor of the tea shop looked like. Whether she wanted to respect privacy or some other reason that slipped her mind, she never found the time to act as a guinea pig and snoop up there. She kept her hopes high that Felicia had it in her to let her lay low in her quarters for a while until Maddie forgot about them, even after she made it clear to leave her alone with Flint…or else. Such safety nets lingered in her head while she followed the Spudley close and made sure she kept her spirits up. As long as she thought of the chaos with Maddie as another potential strange occurrence and nothing more it kept her anxiety levels low. Some many colors connected into dozens of pictures in head, and her attention constantly switched between all of them.

Once the Spudley made it up the final step, it once again hopped up and down in place and squeaked up a sequence like it always had them built up. It scurried off down the small hallway to its left while Anne followed close behind with assumptions all over the place.

"I feel like I'm losing brain cells by watching this." Sprig said, which nobody could hear anyway. "No offense to the Spudley, but this whole concept of following it seems…a bit stupid in many aspects."

"You, uhhhhh, have something in mind, cutie?" Anne asked.

It took only a short while, but eventually the Spudley stopped in front of a certain door. While she still understood nothing about its current intentions, once she saw the as it constantly ran at the door and banging its head one concept became obvious. The little potato's height in combination with its lack of limbs meant such an action stayed out of reach, so Anne came in for the assist and grabbed the handle. In one swift turn the door opened, which revealed a spare room they have never witnessed before. While they didn't know it at the time, the Spudley just lead both Anne and Sprig to the room that housed Flint while her recovered from his injuries a few days ago. As to why it directed them over to the specific area, the two still had no clue.

"Ohhhhhkay, I'm still left in the dark here." Anne said as the Spudley glanced around the place.

"I have to admit, the Sundews know how to make cozy bedrooms." Sprig said.

The little Spudley waddled around the room, which caused Anne to gasp from the sheer cuteness factor, and squeaked in the process while it glanced at every single visible corner. It bonked its head a few times which required Anne to place it back on its feet, but soon after it immediately wandered around again for reasons Anne and Sprig couldn't determine. The creature went around for a couple of minutes with no end in sight until Anne and Sprig instantly saw it perk up followed by some more low audible squeaks. Its round feet became frenzied blurs before it zoomed off toward the one door near the back, but as it tried to slow down a bit the Spudley knocked its unfortunate face against the wood and tumbled backward. Anne instantly acted and raced over to pick the creature back up slowly from the floor, to where it fell and couldn't get up like every other time. The living potato sat dazed for a moment until it shook itself off and hit the door again, to which Anne and Sprig quickly got the message.

"In here now? At this point I think we stumbled into private territory, sooooooo…"

The Spudley then immediately hit her in possibly the weakest spot that she never saw coming. As the small potato turned to face the young girl, its pupils dilated and nearly took up the entire spaces of its eyes while it uttered a low, and also lightly skewed, series of squeaks. The fact that its eyes appeared to shimmer a bit in the sunlight served as the icing on top of the potato laden cake, and it pretty much left Anne with nothing left to fend for herself. The skies above bestowed the creature the most perfect set of traits that many celebrities desired beyond anything, and anyone that laid eyes on such became enamored beyond recognition. Whether inadvertently or the polar opposite, the perception of the Spudley to many young girls hinged on one of the most fitting titles meant for it.

…and Anne fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

As if on instinct, Anne quickly fell into a shambled wreck. Her pupils matched the Spudley's, but in a different manner, while her mouth went southbound in a very comical fashion. Her legs shook while the rest of her body trembled all over, which put Sprig into a series of endless quakes as she held him. Even the shrunken frog himself nearly felt compelled to follow everything the Spudley wanted, although not to the same level as his giant friend. The complete overload of emotions coursed through Anne to where such actions to maintain stability left her on edge. Never had she come across the perfect adorableness in her lifetime, and she wanted EVERYTHING from it.

Her completely wrecked and overloaded self sniffed a few times before she found the very minor motivation left to speak.

"…I can't help it…SOOOOOOO CUTE!" Anne said. "Okay, okay, I'll…open this door for you…"

The Spudley perked up and wiggled its feet while the defeated tween trudged over to the door near the corner and firmly grasped it in her other hand. She took a moment to try and recollect herself from the overload of the small potato's appeal, and after a couple of seconds she breathed deeply before she turned the handle. In one fell swoop the door flew open, which probably wouldn't have surprised Anne or Sprig if the room behind it ended up empty. They personally concluded that they possibly stumbled across one of the various bathrooms in the establishment, so their expectations stood pretty low in terms of anything out of the ordinary. Nothing but the essentials and nothing more.

…at least they told themselves again and again until the visuals hit.

Anne and Sprig lightly yelped upon the sights before them, while the Spudley squeaked soon after and took cover behind the tall girl's long legs. They stumbled into a bathroom in the end, but in terms of any unoccupied guests they definitely found their fair share on the tub and toilet alone. Sprig in particular took certain aspects more personally than the others, especially when it came to someone specific all tuckered out on the toilet. For once social etiquette in privacy became the last thing in their minds at the moment, for they didn't have to knock to see the travesty everywhere. They knew Maddie made destruction outside, but they clearly never witnessed what happened inside a certain bathroom in the Sundew residence.

From the claw marked walls to the suds all over the floor the whole place had the appearance as if a twister hit. Soap and toothpaste littered the floor while the mirror hung shattered and beaten within an inch of reflection left. Despite the handles of the sink and tub turned in a position to activate the faucets, nothing came out other than some very minute drops that fell in intervals. The shower curtains somehow ended up wedged in one of the walls that didn't look too pretty and the pipes under the sink showed signs of beatings from all of the dents and cracks in the steel coating. One would have possibly drowned under the circumstances if the faucets actually functioned, but from what Anne and Sprig saw they potentially went dry some time ago. While puddles of water existed across the floor none of them appeared capable of drowning anyone, although they showed some dirt patches underneath. Felicia usually always desired to maintain certain levels of cleanliness across her massive shop, and yet the bathroom went against all of her ideal conditions.

Even though they could care less about a clean bathroom, they certainly paid attention to the ones inside in every aspect. Sprig glued his eyes on one in particular, especially since he had a close friendship with her, and it horrified him to see her in the shape he found her in. From raggedy clothes to loose mucus all over her face, those details alone told him everything about what possible situation she went through. Her arms and legs even twitched uncontrollably at times while she sat and cradled herself in a fetal position, and at points he heard some low mumbling her way. Her hat displayed multiple holes and bite marks while her bloodshot eyes stayed close to the wall beside her. The girl's upbeat and outrageous attitude left the building as the hollow shell took its place, and yet she didn't sit alone in the room. The mother of the house possibly had it even worse as she sat in a slump inside the bathtub with her head against the back wall, but she too displayed her fair share of messed up imagery. The long curled hair she became known for around town ended up as a frazzled and busted mess as if she just rolled out of bed, while multiple holes dotted around her dress like termites chewed on it. Calling her skin outright dirty would be an understatement, as piles of dirt and grime formed around her that left Anne's and Sprig's noses in shambles. Like her daughter, her eyes pulsated ever so slightly in deep crimson while parts of her teeth displayed chips and dents all over. For an ever loving mother that always looked out for her daughter, to see such care evaporate under the deadly stink hurt to watch. They almost failed to take into account the last one next to her, but they only managed to take into account his dangling muddy feet and the bottomless sack he always carried around. The rest of him stayed beneath the halfway mark of the bathtub, but they required next to no extra visuals to figure out what he went through. His minor celebrity status didn't help him in any way as he stayed with the mother and daughter, and he certainly remained ruined with them.

They finally found Ivy and Felicia after a week of absence, along with Flint…or what remained of them.

Sprig let loose his mind almost immediately.

"IVY?!" he shouted. "YOU LOOK HORRIBLE! WHAT IN FROG'S NAME HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

If Maddie never cursed him his words would have easily reached her, but because of his shrunken status nobody heard him. Instead, Anne's voice took center stage.

"OH MY GOSH, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED HERE?!"

The alienated and isolated Ivy continued to muck about her merry mentally damaged way and stayed put in her own mind, but for Felicity she immediately perked up and slowly turned her head toward the tween like a zombie rising from the grave. Anne took a step back while she closed a couple of her fingers for the safety of Sprig, but the Spudley hastily moved back and kept itself behind Anne's legs. Flints legs appeared to twitch a little, but other than that he still remained covered in the tub next to Felicia.

They could see the dead skin fall off of her lips as her words escaped.

"Oh yeeeeeessssss, I remember someone like you… She went around…claiming to become the hero… So many good memories… So many…"

Her speech trailed off into no man's land as her head swiveled and swirled before it hit the back wall. She groaned and drooled like someone left her there to die, which creeped the other three even more.

"Okay, whatever you just went through clearly messed with your head. Do you need some-"

As Anne wandered into the ruined bathroom to check up on them further, she slowly began to close the door behind her. She didn't think much of it, especially with more pressing matters on hand, but for the one who sat isolated on the toilet the long worn wires slowly started a brief spark. Suddenly, it occurred to the girl about what miracle showed up before them, but she only had a brief moment to act before history repeated itself. The gears in her arms and legs instantly roared to life as the rest of her body shot up, for they may miss their only remaining chance. Her eyes received the biggest jump start she had ever felt, and it became well warranted. The stars aligned, and her desires drove her into a last resort attempt.

"DON'T CLOSE THAT-"

It could have possibly progressed down the same road that Felicia went through that doomed their fates in the first place. Ivy made her intentions known throughout the whole building as she shouted to Anne to keep the door open at all costs. The brief interaction and exclamation seemed to startle her at first before she inadvertently pushed the door further open than she initially went for. From one horrific set of circumstances to another, the tall girl got her scares for the day from Ivy alone. Even so, everything paid off in the end. They no longer had to remain inside the cramped space any further.

As if she received a blessing from above, Ivy entire body went through the most divine of reliefs in existence. She deeply sighed with one of the most grateful smiles across her face while her entire body collapsed to the ground like a gelatinous mush. The Spudley, while still freaked out for the most part, made sure the door stayed open while Anne raced over to Ivy and helped her back on her rickety feet. She wouldn't let a close friend perish in front of her after all.

"IVY!" Sprig exclaimed while Anne brought the frog girl's face back up.

"What the heck happened here Ivy?!" Anne exclaimed in slight panic.

Ivy could only muster up a light smile from the pure gratefulness that overcame her.

"You…you saved us."

She lightly chuckled in a heartfelt manner while Felicia and Flint glanced on at the display before them. It didn't take long before the wires connected in the mother's brain and the realizations hit her like a millions freight trains.

"Wait… Am I seeing things… Did the door…"

She attempted to move out of the tub but accidentally slipped a little and hit the floor. Luckily, she endured a lot more than just a simple fall throughout the week and pushed it aside like nothing.

As for Flint, his unconscious body slowly stirred before Anne finally saw his face over the rim, and he suffered just as much as the others. Upon first glance Anne only really determined the bloodshot eyes, ruffled and wasted shirt, and torn skin, but from what Ivy and Felicia displayed he clearly took more under the hood than her initial impressions. He may have went through a lot in his travels, and yet he fell defeated to an inconspicuous bathroom. How…weak?

"Mmmmrrrph… Ergh… Wha… Did I just hear the gates opening?" Flint drowsily asked as he slowly woke up. He held his head as he eyed Anne like a divine savior, and soon after it hit him just as hard as Felicia. He shuffled himself a bit before he found his footing, which caused his legs to shudder, before he carefully walked out of the tub and pulled his sack behind him.

Before Anne and the others found a single moment to think about everything, Ivy, Felicia, and Flint all rushed past her and into the bedroom. The tween spun around dizzily for a moment, which also took Sprig for the ride, before she witnessed the frog revel in the scenery around them. Ivy bent over and placed herself against the ground before she endlessly began to kiss it, Felicia rolled around across the floor like a cat, and Flint fell onto the bed and relaxed like he never did before. Anne and Sprig stood dumbfounded while the Spudley uttered an elongated squeak that increased in pitch near the end, for it almost felt like they just lost their minds. Something screwed with their heads in the time since they vanished, and it weirded Anne and the others out.

"Oh, sweet, sweet carpeting! How I longed to enjoy your fluffiness in ages!" Felicia said as she stretched across the ground.

"Never have I thought that such a minor detail became a treasure in disguise!" Ivy exclaimed. "I can stay here ALL DAY and never get tired! So, so refreshing!"

Flint remained muffled against the covers, but even then Anne and Sprig could tell that he enjoyed himself rather nicely. It almost seemed criminal to break the ice and ask the obvious, especially from how the relief swept through the room like hay fever. However, it didn't solve the dire questions Anne had about how it occurred in the first place. Only she potentially wielded the hammer to break the ice for the Sundew family. While a travesty for them, for Anne it provided the insight required to understand.

"Ummmmmm, I'm going to have to ask the obvious here." Anne started. "Care to explain so I'm not left in the dark?"

Ivy, Felicia, and Flint immediately brought their attention over to Anne with expressions as if she completely missed the bright neon letters over their heads. Just their red exhaustive eyes sent chills down Anne's spine, and Sprig certainly felt the tension increase despite the fact that he finally found Ivy after a week of absence. The Spudley shuddered all over while it ran behind Anne's legs once more, but it soon tripped over its own feet and tumbled head over heel. Luckily it landed right side up so it required next to no assistance from Anne, but it quelled none of its assumed nervousness.

Before Anne could think about anything further, the incredibly disturbed Ivy zoomed straight up into the girl's face with eyes akin to someone who witnessed…many things.

"We have stayed stuck in that BLOODY bathroom for SO LONG…and my SANITY can only contain SO MUCH before…I BREAK."

She gnashed her teeth while her eyes stared into Anne's soul. Suffice to say, Anne got the message pretty quickly.

"Okay, okay, I get that you suffered a lot in there! Ummmm, how long have you remained stuck in there exactly? Just curious."

Ivy basically got up in front of Anne's grille like a maniac, and her bloodshot eyes took up the tween's entire vision.

"ONE…WHOLE…WEEK."

After a revelation like that, Anne completely understood how the three of them appeared straight out of a city alley. To think that they stayed cooped up in that type of cramped space seemed like a miracle in disguise, and yet they clearly took their toll in the process. They basically went on a trip through solitary confinement in full, and even she knew that such a punishment lingered near the range of a death sentence. If they ever had a chance of recovery such therapies possibly would take months, or even years, to fully adjust themselves back to society. She heard horror stories about damaging types of isolation from specials on TV, and she steered clear of any possibilities so she won't pick up any sights of a crazy guy in the back seat. Social aspects maintain sanity after all, and while Anne never fell to such extremes she knew of the consequences if she ever fell off the face of the planet and found herself somewhere else.

…and then she opened the Calamity Box.

"Whoa, one whole week?!" Anne replied. "Dang, no wonder you look like that! How did you eat, drink, and, you know, the OTHER essential?!"

Felicia got back on her feet to answer while Ivy backed off.

"Flint had to sacrifice some of his rare food wares to feed all of us. He refused at first without payment, but once he realized the dire circumstances…he caved in."

"You still owe me!" Flint's stated in a muffled manner from the bed.

"Yet you couldn't have brought out something to break the door down?" Anne asked Flint.

"I specialize in rare items, not weapons." Flint's muffled voice answered. "I definitely don't hoard those types of objects, and besides…they would have needed to pay for them later. I may have been stuck…but I still have a business!"

"And yet you gave out food when you had no options left…" Sprig said while he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

As the Sundews, plus Flint, caught up with the times, Ivy and Felicia couldn't help but notice the strange potato creature against the ground and the tiny speck in Anne's grasp. Flint stationed himself on the bed with his face against the covers so he didn't pay attention at first, but for the others their eyes stayed glued to them. Ivy's gaze made the Spudley exclaim a brief squeak before it tried to slide under the bed…only to get stuck halfway through. Anne held back the massive urge to roll her eyes herself before she walked over and pulled the living potato out with her other hand. The Spudley tumbled out while its eyes spun like wheels, but otherwise it suffered no injuries.

"…uhhhhh, Anne? Am I acting up again or really seeing a short and stout walking potato by your feet?" Felicia asked while her head tilted back and forth.

"And…is that a tiny speck in you hand?" Ivy asked while she held her own head from dizziness.

Anne hesitated at first to answer. If their normal personalities remained in their heads any attempts to think twice stayed in the back, but after what she heard about their unofficial "solitary confinement" and how mentally damaging such a trial inflicted on them, part of her conscience advised against such a reveal. One wrong move before the gates opened and more troubles brewed over the horizon, and a giant rampaging Maddie already placed more pressure over her duties. Such travesties provided insights as to why one shouldn't let all of the animals out of their cages, and such risks came with dreadful costs. If she chose poorly either nothing would happen or the beasts ended up with the key to their freedom.

One side clearly took priority over the other.

"Well, ummm…your eyes aren't deceiving you. Uhhhh, say hello to our small Spudley friend!"

The Spudley gave out another short squeak before it raced behind Anne's tall legs again. The tall girl felt the creatures shiver and shudder as it wanted all eyes off of it, but it couldn't hide forever. Flint even jolted from the bed and flipped around quickly after Anne finished, and soon enough the Sundews had their eyes on the living potato as well. At that point Anne almost forgot that he took refuge with Felicia and Ivy because of his injured eyes from the Petoskey Asp's acid, and because his peepers stayed up and active when she came in they possibly healed in the week he remained trapped in the bathroom. She couldn't blame him for his forgetfulness of the issue after what he went through with the Sundews, but she found it rather nice as the crusty bulges that once took place in those spots still gave her chills as she thought about them. Even so, his healed eyes managed to pick up the sight of the potato clearly, and if his cautious nature still lingered in his skull such damages will always remain out of reach from now on.

Ivy shook herself a couple of times just to make sure, and once the image stayed the facts etched into her head.

"Wait…so you actually found the mythical creature after all?" Ivy said. "I…I can't believe it. When I heard that other girl as she read the facts…I certainly thought she went crazy."

"Aww, I find it pretty cute!" Felicia said as she leaned in for a closer look. The Spudley supposedly didn't appreciate it as it instantly jolted upward with a brief squeak and bolted straight for one of the room's corners. It kept its back to everyone while it uncontrollably shuddered, which dampened the spirits of the ones that watched.

"Yeah, it doesn't get along with anyone that easily." Anne stated with a tepid smile.

Flint mumbled something under his breath as he watched in obvious curiosity at the small critter.

"Fascinating… So it does exist after all…" Flint muttered before he addressed Anne. "So…I take it you found more than you expected?"

"Well…sort of." Anne answered. "First off, uhhhhh, were you there when Maddie suddenly grew huge?"

Ivy tilted her head.

"Ummmm, yeah. She pretty much became the talk of the town in every aspect. Why do you ask?"

Anne struggled to find the correct words.

"Well, errrrrr, you see…" Anne stuttered. "Did, ummm, did you hear any commotions outside recently?

"Uhhhh, maybe?" Felicia responded. "We felt some strong tremors and…some loud shouting, I think? I assumed out craziness acted up at that moment, so-"

The scene instantly came to a halt when a series of tremors shook everything around them. The Spudley took to the air a couple of times and Anne nearly lost her grip on the miniaturized Sprig, but it didn't end there. Ivy and Felicia fell onto their back while Flint smacked the ceiling and fell back down to the bed. It continued for a couple more cycles, but as the moments passed the shakes increased in power and volume that indicated one major fact for the ones that understood its true meaning. Whether she tracked down their location or not none of it mattered when they saw the writing on the wall. All of them had to act FAST.

Anne couldn't help but resort to drastic measures.

"Everyone, find a hiding spot NOW!"

As much as they wanted to act on their own, from Anne's tone of voice the seriousness basically poured from her mouth after every words. From her status as someone who watched out for others before herself, her perception's blatancy reeled them in so such additional details became naught and unnecessary. While not one that usually resorted to barking orders and leading groups, when the situation called for it Anne acted for the sake of others. She already concluded on someone more primed for the job, who she claimed as her friend Sasha, and yet she put her foot forward for the ones she cared about. Just because they had webbed feet and sticky skin didn't mean she lacked empathy toward them, and they deserved protection just as much as anyone else close.

Soon after, it became a mad scramble to find a working spot to avoid detection. The loud booms came in closer over time which shortened the calm before the storm, so they had to find somewhere fast. Anne already had a no brainer in mind and bolted straight for the ruined bathroom with Sprig in tow between her fingers, who held on for dear life around one of her digits in a typical "Sprig freakout" manner, and once the Spudley caught wind of what she had in mind it scurried straight after her. The tall girl swiftly arrived inside and shut the door just inches away from the Spudley's feet as the creature slipped in with her. Even with the stench and dirtiness inside, the lack of windows made it ideal to avoid detection for someone as tall as Anne. Ivy and Felicia zipped around the room in a frenzied manner before they settled on somewhere that appeared cramped at first, but anywhere with potential stood out as a potential candidate. With their eyes on one of the small cabinets, Felicia ran up to it first and pulled one of the drawers out before she performed a swan dive inside. In a surprising twist, she cleanly landed in it despite the unlikely scope of such a spot which Ivy took as a firm confirmation. She zoomed straight over to the same cabinet and leapt into it, only for her mother to push her out due to space issues. Because of that, she went into the drawer under where Felicia stayed hidden and made herself comfortable there instead, which also surprisingly became a great spot to hide. As for Flint, he probably went with the most original and straightforward place, although it carried the risk of getting caught easier than the others. For his choice, he followed the Spudley's initial worried reaction and squeezed himself under the bed similar to stories about monsters in someone's closet. It required a bit of compression across his body in conjunction with his endless sack, but he managed to find some comfort under the mattress. The Spudley couldn't make it work, but Flint proved it as somewhere decent when he put his mind to it. He essentially had a steamroller pressed against his back, but as long as he kept quiet and immobile he cared less about it. After all of the initial panic, everyone in the room made themselves a place that bestowed them the titles of hide and seek pros. All of them kept focus and made sure the remained out of the spotlight for what would come.

…and it arrived in the form of a long black streak in a sea of yellow right before the one bedroom window. The blackness took up the entirety of the square and left no room for the yellow around it, and yet it only meant one thing.

"Come out you stragglers, for you can't hide forever when I've boxed you in. The more you stay away…only makes me hungrier…"

The black around the window quickly disappeared before a series of fading quakes followed soon after. It became blatantly obvious who decided to visit uninvited, but at least the managed to evade capture. Whether Maddie had her attention set on Anne or not, such details fell into obscurity when the real facts lined up. The giant frog witch made it perfectly clear that she changed Wartwood into her own personal playground with no escape, and everyone that lived there suffered for it. The necessity to circumvent her deadly games echoed through the mind of everyone in survival mode, for her desires became top priority for the girl.

Ivy and Felicia mustered their way out of their hiding spots first. While cramped, they avoided detection in one of the most unlikely spots like pros. Ivy accidentally found herself tangled in some extra clothes, but her mother helped and pulled her out like any family member should. They heard some knocks against the infamous bathroom door soon after, and thankfully they knew better now than before. They made sure someone stayed on the outside while Felicia walked over and slowly opened the door…only for Anne to deeply gasp for air and the Spudley to rush out immediately. She took a couple of moments as the air reached her lungs before her head cleared, and it required no genius to figure out why she acted that way. Flint followed up soon after, although he needed a little help to get his bottom half free from under the bed. After that he got back on his feet like normal, although he stayed a bit silent at first. Whatever the case, all of them successfully became champions of hide and seek from a giant manic frog girl.

"Wha… What happened to Maddie?" Ivy asked while a bit shaken. "That tone, and those words… She doesn't sound like the one I know about."

"Well…" Anne began. "You see, ummm, Marcy kind of finally conjured up the antidote to revert her back, but she didn't want to, and…"

"She snapped and went crazy." Sprig finished, only to fall on deaf ears yet again.

"She went on a rampage?" Felicia finished instead.

The tween slowly nodded her head as she put on a small sad frown before she wrapped the rest of the details up from her perspective.

"Maddie wanted nothing to do with any possibility of shrinking back to normal, so she immediately destroyed the antidote and…"

As much as she didn't want to reveal the last tidbit, especially to Ivy, any amount of additional info became crucial for the ones that became accidentally sheltered from the world since they may end up as the last ones in town left if Maddie didn't ruin everyone else already. She learned in the past that they could fend for themselves, but they needed to know what type of threat went against them. If they unknowingly guessed wrong the endless prospects of what Maddie thought on standby for potential torture pretty much acted as a living death sentence. Their eyes required the sights of the warning signs for the sake of their safety.

She glanced down for a second at the miniature frog in her grasp while Sprig gazed back, for he knew what had to happen. He quivered in a worried way for a second, but eventually he watched as his larger than life best friend opened her fingers and revealed his sorry self to the others in a somewhat nervous fashion. From the depths of Anne's hand, the tiny Sprig revealed himself. At first he didn't think she would go for it, but any information to possibly the only remaining survivors became crucial.

As Sprig saw the gargantuan Ivy overhead, she almost appeared like she just emerged from the underground system of someone's closet on a planetary scale. From his perspective all of the irregularities from her tiresome efforts inside the stinky bathroom became front and center. The canyons of wrinkles across her face, the seething red rivers dotted in her eyes, and the crusty flakes around her eyelids almost forced a few heaves out of him. Since he knew her well he stuck around, but if anyone else donned the type of ruined face Ivy displayed such expectations took hold beyond normal recollections. He had to admit though, if she lacked all of the details of a dirty bum and showed up in her normal attire sure a terrible desperation never stood a chance. Despite the fact that she acted tough at times when they met up, she understood how to not rough him up under punishing conditions. In fact, she almost acted out as a large friendly guardian angel since any attempts of his own mindset became inhibited by his crippled stature. As much as he wanted to get down and dirty with big threats, as the helpless gnat such attempts poorly ended in negligible outcomes. A big Ivy became a protective Ivy despite what her messed up appearance told.

It took a moment for Ivy to focus on the tiny speck in Anne's hand, but soon after she pulled back and lightly gasped.

"Hold up… SPRIG?!" Ivy exclaimed as she put her hands on her cheeks.

The volume of her outburst sent Sprig to his back and brought deafening headaches, but nothing compared to her stinky breath that filled his nostrils. He left that detail sealed up tight while he tried to answer.

"Ummm, yeah. I'm here all right. Uhhhhh, hi there?"

Like all of his other attempts, his speech became mangled squeaks that left next to nothing distinct in his words to the world above. As if to compare patterns, the Spudley uttered a series of stretchy squeaks while it tilted up on the front of its round feet then back down, which nobody understood anyway.

"Ummmm, Sprig? Did you say something?" Ivy said while she tilted her head a bit. "I can't exactly hear you from down there."

"Yeah, ummmm, he can't exactly…speak normally like that." Anne said in a nervous tone. "Maddie kind of put a number on him…in retaliation for a previous incident. I'm kind of left in the dark about a possible reversal, especially since I heard…only the caster can lift it."

"WHAT?!" Ivy exclaimed. "HE MIGHT STAY LIKE THAT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE?!"

Anne's mouth remained shut while she put her head down and glanced at the tiny Sprig. The answer became pretty obvious to everyone in the room, much to their dismay. Any attempt for Sprig to communicate ended up as nothing but squeaky nonsense, which would have made him relatable to the Spudley if more details about them became more apparent beyond the surface level. It hurt to think about, but they had to accept the facts set straight. They'll see only a tiny Sprig possibly for the rest of his life.

"No, no, NONONONO!" Ivy exclaimed as her emotions flared up. "Not like this! I'll…I'll show Maddie that she made the wrong choice! Yeah! One bop on the face and-"

"Yeah, not going to happen." Anne interjected while she shook her head. "Didn't you hear outside about her voracious appetite? She'll gobble you up instantly with no remorse…like Marcy."

At that point Anne kept bombarding the Sundrews with info dump after info dump and it left damages across their beings…more than any bathroom inflicted on them. In some respect their accident that left them to rot shielded them from Maddie's rampage, for their shop remained spotless since she suddenly went through her growth spurt. Whether "Felicia's wrath" over Flint's well being became part of it or not, they couldn't deny that they completely missed most of the drastic changes over the course of a week, for better and worse in every aspect. While a catch up to the current times unloaded bomb after bomb from Anne's lips, they've taken so much already that it seemed reasonable for them to handle only a couple of extra nips. Anything to potentially stop the crazy giant girl became a blessing in their books.

While Felicia allowed her daughter to take care of most of the talking, she still kept her ears open and understood the gravity of the situation. However, even though she heard every last word from their conversation, what the particular sense failed to determine caught her attention more thoroughly. Discounting the Spudley since nobody fully gripped its mindset in any capacity anyway, only one other stayed quiet throughout most of the explanations Anne went on and on about. To an extent it worried her, especially after she made it the utmost importance that she only tailored to Flint and ONLY her, and while Ivy conversed with the tall human she peeked a few times in his direction. At first she saw nothing too abhorrent, only his normal attentive self and his bargaining expressions like he usually put on, but as the details continued to pour out the signs pointed somewhere else. His arms fell limp while his skin turned pale, and soon enough the uncomfortable nature rubbed off on the worried mother. He took a moment to hold his head while he continued to listen in on the others until Anne finished, and soon enough he sat back down on the bed as if all of her words tired him out. Many conflicting thoughts wandered through her head, but nothing conclusive to the point where something stood out. Such worry became warranted for someone like her, especially when it came to her daughter, and yet she cared for his safety despite all of the foreboding signs that he plastered over his face.

Eventually, she broke the ice and addressed the assumptions she saw in him.

"Flint? You've stayed quiet this whole time. Something wrong?"

She found her answer when he slightly shook his head before he glanced over to her with dead eyes.

"She didn't… She couldn't have… How could…"

His foreboding murmurs eventually caught everyone's attention and soon enough all eyes set on him. The color of his body drained before he held the sides of his head like firm denial, which placed pits in everyone's stomachs as they watched, but then he gazed at them for a second until a few choice words escaped his lips.

"We need to talk. This is more serious than you think."

---

Such a dreadful set of words laid precedent to something terrible only Flint seemed to understand in full, but such conversation had no such business in a bedroom with a faulty bathroom door. Even so, Felicia and Ivy desired to stay away from such a terrible accident, at least for the time so they can scrub it out of their brains, which the two agreed on instantly as if on instinct. The lower floor served as a suitable replacement, especially parts with multiple round tables dotted around, so everyone concluded that such an area became their best option. For the most part everyone made it down the stairs with no issues, except for the Spudley who slipped and bonked on each step until it landed on the floor below. As painful as such a display may have indicated, the creature only required a lift back up to its two round feet before it squeaked back in action. Once they decided to seat themselves near the middle, away from any potential windows, they sat down comfortably before Flint made the last action. Despite the fact that they stationed themselves nowhere near the back, Rosemary's outlandish outbursts still reverberated through everyone's heads enough to cause minor headaches. While Anne and Sprig knew that the other two sisters attempted to keep her calm, they seemed to have not the best of success rates. It could easily change over time, but for now two giant red target painted over their young foreheads. As long as Rosemary didn't shout too much their chances remained slim as to whether Maddie will catch them or not, and any small number served as an instant plus from her slimy tongue. The set of circumstances swerved all over the place, and only ones somewhat sane could somehow catch on to what occurred around them.

For better visibility, Anne picked up the Spudley and set it on her lap while she placed the shrunken Sprig close by on the table. The others had their own chairs, which included Flint and the tension he brought to the table…both figuratively and literally.

"So Flint, what spooked you back there?" Anne asked. "Did something happen?"

Flint's expression never changed while he shook his head.

"You have no idea the kind of BOMB Maddie placed on herself."

"Bomb? What do you mean by that?" Sprig asked, which equated to a couple of incomprehensible squeaks on the other end.

"Yeah, sorry Sprig. Still can't hear ya." Ivy stated.

Flint glanced at the speck on the table and pinched his forehead for a second. It seemed like nothing too important, but when everyone else saw him turn around toward his endless sack they knew something definitely stirred in his head. He stuck his head inside and appeared to rummage around for a little bit until his movements suddenly ceased. Before long his head popped right back out while he held something in his right hand. Their expectations took a turn again once they noticed the small bag he brought out, which brought up some out of place questions for a couple of the onlookers, but he wasted no time as he undid the knot and set his eyes on the speck on the table.

"Uhhhh, what exactly do you have in there?" Anne asked in a shaky tone.

"Something useful, I'll tell you that much." Flint answered.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that easily." Sprig said.

With the words out of the way, the traveling collector took a few deep breaths before he carefully aimed the bag over Sprig's minuscule body, open up first. It started subtle, for even Sprig couldn't determine what sort of particles fell out, but over time the visuals became more apparent. From a few sparkles that poured out to entire clumps, the tiny frog watched in awe as the weather shifted immediately to winter all around him. Granted he usually hibernated when snow fell, but it felt rather nice to fully witness something similar and not appear like he just rolled out of bed. If anyone else tried to go for anything suspicious Anne and the others probably wouldn't have allowed such an act, but since everyone around town knew Flint and his feats they backed off but still watched closely.

After a few more seconds of "sprinkling" particles over Sprig, Flint eventually stopped. At first they waited for some sort of happening to occur, but after a short while they saw nothing. If Flint wanted to reverse the effects of Maddie's curse such signs probably carried some type of blatancy to ease their nervousness over his unfortunate fate, and yet their eyes never fooled them. Sprig still stood at a height that made Anne's fingers seem like sprawling mountain ranges, and no such positive results passed by their sights. Nothing, just a young frog miniaturized to the point where only the keenest of eyes had a slim chance to distinguish him from dust, and such a positive outcome disappeared out of reach.

"Uhhhhhh, what exactly did you try there?" Ivy asked. "I'm not seeing anything substantial."

"Yeah, I'm not exactly feeling any different." Sprig said. "Maybe a bit tingly, but not by much. You sure you didn't mix anything up?"

"Sprig, I'm pretty sure Flint wouldn't have misplaced anything too-"

Everything changed once she connected the dots in a millisecond. It also rubbed off on the others, minus Flint, as they too perked up and realized the assist bestowed upon them. The Spudley though acted in its own way, as it shook its feet and wiggled up and down in Anne's lap. While it provided next to no extra clues as to whether it followed the examples set by others, such assumptions became naught when a more pressing issue presented itself. Their heads hollowed out as to how he managed to perform such an achievement, and yet their admonishments replaced what should have appeared in their minds. If Sprig somehow carried hidden loudspeakers the whole time they sounded out at the most opportune moment, but because of the unlikely nature of such details they concluded on a much more possible outcome.

"Sprig, did…did I just hear you from down there?" Felicia said as she struggled to think of the correct words.

Sprig likewise stiffened his back at such a response. Soon enough he caught on rather quickly as to what Flint cast on him, and immediately after he zipped around to face the galaxy sized Anne behind him. While details stayed rather sparse across the board due to his tiny stature, especially with the naked eye, one piece of the puzzle ended up placed in the correct spot. He still had questions, but none of it mattered at the moment for the young frog.

"Oh my frog, can you actually hear me now?!" Sprig exclaimed.

The others took a moment to cover their ears for a second, but for the most part only one specific answer became obvious.

"Yup, uhhhhh, loud and clear buddy!" Anne answered.

Her voice stilled boomed overhead from his perspective, but it mattered none to him in comparison to the other solved problem. Flint opened the floodgates of communication for everyone that towered over him, and it put a crucial first step into a reversal for his shrinkage.

"Yes, yes, YES! I can't believe it! At least now this whole reduction won't impede anything word related, and I've had A LOT about this stupid curse I wanted to get out there! How about-"

"As much as I want to hear what you have to say Sprig, we kind of have more pressing matters here." Anne interjected.

She spoke the truth and brought sense to the bigger picture. The fact that Sprig no longer spoke to deaf ears became a diamond in the rough, but Maddie's massive self wandered about freely and dictated everything their futures held as long as she reigned over all of them. At least her best friend finally reacquired the ability to speak normally to others, and yet it also hit an inconsequential break point in the dilemma overhead. Part of his fate untangled, and yet everyone else looked to the skies and saw the giant frog girl's eerie smile.

Sprig settle down a bit once Anne's words hit his ears, and soon enough everyone else caught on to the situation at hand.

"Oh, wow. Umm, I…I guess you make a good point there. We still have Maddie to worry about, and…I'm still tiny…"

"Don't worry, we'll figure everything out." Anne replied while the Spudley lightly shook in her arms.

"Hey, I'm still in this too you know. I can't let a close friend of mine stay as a bug barely visible to the naked eye!" Ivy replied. "I'll take Maddie down myself if I have to!"

Ivy stood up in her chair and held up a fist in anger before her mother gave her two cents.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm sweetie, but from what we've heard a brash course of action won't do any good at Maddie's size. We need to think things through, especially as possibly the last ones left that eluded her sight."

Ivy glanced over to her mother and witnessed the worry and care for her safety in her eyes. She clearly wanted her daughter to stick around and not fall under Maddie's tyrannical fist, even if the circumstances provided the contrary perspective from Ivy's own point of view. While strategy never ended up as one of her strong attributes, she understood when it came time for such. If situations called for serious brainpower, even though she usually let others do the talking, the bold and brash girl allowed the activation of others' thinking caps. Brains and brawn worked in tandem with one another after all.

The active frog girl gazed for a moment at her mother before she thought about it for a moment.

"Wow, uhhhhh, I…never thought of it that way."

"Your mother understands the threat and knows that we need a different approach." Flint added. "Sit down and I'll explain everything."

He spoke in a pinch of seriousness, but not too highly. The correct mix kept Ivy's temper from steaming up, and he clearly knew something she didn't. So he wouldn't have to delay much longer, the frog girl glanced at him for a second before she silently acted like he wanted. Once her behind hit the wood, everyone knew it became time, but someone had to speak up on their behalf. Any further upsets only delayed the inevitable after all.

The one to do so became the tiny frog on the table.

"Okay, first off, why do you have some sparkly stuff that can undo my speaking problem…and yet not my size at the same time?! I CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS ANY FURTHER!"

"With an attitude like that, you're lucky I had it in me to use it in the first place." Flint answered. "I would have required some top trades on the marketplace for that kind of deal."

Sprig settled down a little bit as the realizations hit.

"Okay, I get it, I get it. I still have plenty to go through, even with this stupid curse. Umm, how exactly did you get hold of that?"

Flint deeply sighed and shook his head for a moment before he answered.

"I concocted that myself. Wrestled some mighty creatures for some of those ingredients, but I managed to squeeze them out. While not a permanent solution to…whatever that girl inflicted on you, at least you won't have to shout for a chance for others to hear you. Curses can only be undone by the caster after all."

The Spudley gazed at him while it squeaked in a certain sequence, but Anne forced it back down so she could speak up.

"Wait, you made that? I'm a bit behind on stuff related to the dark arts, but aren't only high level mages and witches able to create all of those elixirs and such?"

Flint nodded.

"Correct. Such contained spells and hexes only find themselves in the hands of experienced spell casters. One misread step and the whole creation collapses."

"Does…does that mean…" Felicia said as she began to catch on.

Flint soon nodded again. It didn't take a genius to figure out what trail he left for the others while they wandered about aimlessly.

"Yes, your suspicions have found the confirmation. I…used to have a profession in the dark arts. Guess you can say it lead me into such travels around the globe, heh."

For most, they most likely placed their assumptions in line with the common follower stereotype as such an info reveal threw them a surprise attack they never realized until it hit their cranium. As for the ones that listened in when Flint dropped the nuke, they easily followed the crowds. In all of their times as they went through their lives in Amphibia, such traits became scarce. For the most part, they only knew about Maddie, and her understudy Marcy, as the only ones they knew who understood and performed acts of the dark arts, so to hear that another existed blew their minds. Even when Anne and Sprig traveled outside of Wartwood not a single magic user showed complete blatancy in their eyes, which helped exemplify the fact that such interests carried a particular rarity in the eyes of the common folk. Of course such pristine details eluded all of them, but to hear that such an interest set dormant in the mind of a minor town celebrity planted seeds of intrigue for the listeners. The wandering shopkeeper with the bottomless bag held back such a crucial fact that never escaped him until that very moment in the tea shop.

"You…you're a curse wielder?!" Anne exclaimed while the Spudley squeaked a little in her arms.

"I was, but I stopped a while back." Flint answered. "I don't want to get into the gritty details, but I have my reasons. Used to stand out as one of the better wielders out there too, even among the elites. How do you think I'm able to keep my sack empty and full at the same time, hmm?"

He finally revealed the reason behind his infamous object, and after the big reveal it made complete sense. If he wanted to haul around an endless library of treasures, such a spell straight from the dark arts fit his needs perfectly. While he never stated while one he used, it didn't matter. He pulled back the curtain and let them see for themselves.

"Ah, so you cast a spell and it hoists that bag around like nothing! Sweet!" Sprig said as his excitement rose. "What else can you do? Show me, SHOW ME!"

"I would if I wanted to, but I'm sure we have a much BIGGER problem to worry about." Flint said.

Sprig deeply frowned soon after and crossed his arms, but even then he knew he correctly stated the obvious. Not like anyone could have seen his expression in full due to his tiny status, but his disappointment fell pretty low despite the right course of actions.

"Yeah, uhhhh, right." Ivy added soon after. "Umm, does that mean you know what went wrong with Maddie?"

"Possibly, but I need a final confirmation on something." Flint replied while he clasped his hands and looked over to Anne. While nothing but a standard gaze to most, if one returned the favor over to him closer they would notice the seriousness that nearly poured out from his eyelids.

"Did she just become a level two witch?"

"Uhhhh, I think so?" Anne replied. "I think I heard from Marcy that she finally pulled off her first successful curse a few days ago. Why do you ask?"

The expression across Flint's face dipped drastically on the spot. He shook his head again and again before he placed his elbows on the table and muttered something inaudible that rubbed everyone else off the wrong way. He continuously rubbed his head and covered his eyes a couple of time, although the brief sightings of them displayed the deep red capillaries that stretched across the whites. His body shuddered and shook all over that almost made it like someone lit a fuse on the back of his head, and anything could have set him off at any point. As much as the others became a bit spooked, it became far from the deepest of worst sightings they have ever experienced. Clearly something about the facts backed the salesman into the corner, and they pummeled him into a mangled mess that left him with next to nothing left.

Even though he acted to the point of no return, the conflicts in his head eventually gave him a moment of relaxation that lowered his emotions to a manageable level. It took a few extra moments, but he found enough to pick his head back up and look over everyone again.

"Umm, everything okay there?" Felicia asked.

Her answer came with a few more shakes of Flint's head.

"I don't want to admit it, especially with the circumstances, but your friend out there let loose something she shouldn't have. For a witch in training, I thought she would have KNOWN of the ONE SINGLE CAVEAT to ALWAYS pay attention to!"

Even though he calmed himself for the most part, some leftover anger still resided in him. From such power in his words, various red flags stuck into the listeners' heads like flies against flypaper.

"Errrrr, just how bad of a problem do we have to deal with?" Anne asked. The Spudley shook in her arms, but for the most part it didn't act up too much.

"To put it bluntly, VERY catastrophic from what she cast on herself." Flint answered. "Unfortunately the explanation as to why doesn't exactly…pass easily to those not in the know how."

Anne tilted her head.

"Is there a TLDR version we can understand?"

"Uhhhh, what?" Sprig asked.

"It's human terms. I'm basically asking for a condensed version."

Everyone around her that wasn't Flint mouthed out a silent "Ohhhhh" in understanding while the Spudley uttered a long squeak as if it also learned something new that day. Despite the reactions, it didn't stop Flint as he slightly frowned.

"I still think you won't fully get it, but I'll try my hardest to shorten it into 'non magic' speak." Flint replied.

He took a moment for relax for a bit since he now understood how all of it started, and yet nobody else knew of the ramifications such actions brought to Wartwood's soft underbelly. If such an explanation required ones unfamiliar in the dark arts to acquire the bigger picture, such details must compute into a language their minds filtered into relatable terms. One wrong direction then nothing but nonsense filled the air around them. Either his explanation tread carefully with terms digestible to the masses or it faced the incomprehensible languages of low intellect.

After one final deep breath, Flint finally began.

"So, you see, when it comes to magic and the dark arts, the first couple of times one conjures up a hex, maybe as a one off or something similar, nothing too adverse happens. However, if one chooses to take on the hobby and embrace it, when they just start off with some more simple curses, then something else takes shape. As you mature into a more established caster a 'magic side' grows up alongside you, and their influence underneath helps stabilize your magic so the outcomes don't immediately fall into another direction. Think of it as a personal assistant that makes sure anything doesn't explode on contact…or the millions of other possible outcomes that could go wrong."

"Sooooo, you're saying that all of us have basically a magic clone of ourselves if we ever dabble in the dark arts?" Anne asked. "Yeesh, that sounds like a commitment."

"Only if you CHOOSE to take spell casting as a hobby will that happen." Flint responded. "Didn't choose to become a mage or witch? No magic side. Only just successfully created your first curse? Also no magic side. Even so, the term 'clone' kind of overstates the boundaries of the concept."

The Spudley squeaked a couple of times and flailed its stubby round legs in response, which nobody understood in the slightest.

"Uhhh, thank you for those…words of wisdom." Felicia replied to the Spudley.

The creature's eyes narrowed before it shook and squeaked in a much deeper tone. Soon after it sat back down which allowed Flint to continue.

"Anyways, similar to how everyone gains maturity and skills as they grow older, a curse user's magic side also understands concepts and everything in between at the same time. For the most part you can say it watches and learns as the caster learns more complicated and higher ranked spells, and in return it helps keep hexes from complete unintended destruction. A good relationship between both sides leads to a more stable learning curve…with one major outlier."

The tone in his voice went deeper in seriousness as he proceeded to the most crucial part.

"The trouble starts in a phase shortly after level two status. On the outside the curse user grows up perfectly normal, but for their magic half…it pauses. Think of both sides like a cup of water. Your body steadily pours a gentle stream in an almost calm manner as the glass always contains the correct amount at all times. For the hidden side however, it waits until the whole cup fills near the brim before it instantly turns over and releases all of its contents in one massive pour."

As if the time arrived for such a moment, the others watched as Flint reached into his endless sack, which everyone now knew became that way because of a curse he placed on it, and rummaged around inside for a few seconds until he seemingly found what he wanted. One quick pull later and it came as no surprise to the others once the cups and bucket entered their visions. While the bucket contained a couple gallons of water in it, the cups contained none until Flint dunked them into the open top. Soon enough he brought both out, but he filled each one in different amounts of water. The one on the left held what some considered "standard", which ended up as around three fourths or possibly a few centimeters lower, while the right almost measured up to the lip and almost on the verge of spilling. While they pretty much figured out the demonstration, for him to go through with such left some scratching their heads. They could have easily just pictured the example without such a display, so the obviousness felt completely unnecessary. However, Flint appeared to know how the progression of such a mindful report stood in the eyes of the uninformed. He unquestionably understood more than he currently let on about.

"Here's your normal self…"

He then proceeded to tip the left cup ever so slightly until the water inevitably poured out at a sluggish pace. He continued on with it for a minute or so until the cup completely emptied out into the bucket, after which he focused on the second.

"…and here's a curse user's magic self."

He wasted no time with what he planned next. The instant he finished with his sentence, the near full cup immediately flipped upside down and splashed everyone around it as it fell into the bucket. It soaked everyone minus Sprig, who got to play a game of "Dodge Water" once the drops sailed through the skies above. He yelped for a moment before he put his froggy legs to use and hopped all over the place just to avoid the entire pools that nearly hit him straight on. Luckily for him it didn't last too long, but by then he already found his workout session for the day that left him on the fringe of exhaustion. Flint made his point, even if it came at the cost of great fatigue from Sprig.

The others shook themselves off before Felicia spoke next.

"Ohhhhhkay, you have ways with words, I'll give you that, but how does this compare to Maddie's growth in the first place?"

Flint leered at her for a brief moment before he strictly answered.

"Because she inadvertently tampered with herself at the worst possible moment."

Without diverting his serious gaze away from the others, Flint hastily reached inside his back and pulled out something else. They recognized it almost instantly as a sweet sugary mint common around most candy stores outside of Wartwood, and they each came in different bug filled flavors. Sprig in particular enjoyed "Cricket Caramel Cream" while Anne's fancied herself a "Wormwyrm Stuffed Vanilla" girl, and even though they don't often treat themselves when they do they immediately went for their distinct tastes. The outer coating of white and green indicated somewhere around the "Mamu's Maniac Mint" flavor, which they didn't consider their favorite but didn't mind it either. Even so, Flint had something else planned for such a sugary delight.

He placed the treats down for a moment before he filled the cups again around the same margin as before.

"Now, for the normal body, if such a change occurred it would easily muster through it over time with no problems whatsoever. Picture it like this."

With that said, Flint dropped the treat right into the water of the second cup and let it sit there for a moment until he began to slowly pour out the contents once more. As that happened the mint drifted forward until it hit the lip of the cup and fell forward into the bucket below, which caused a minor splash but nothing too badly. For the most part they still didn't fully understand what he lead on about, but he still had part two.

"And for the caster's magical side, it goes something like this."

He let the water in the cup settle for a bit before he raised the next mint over the top as the surface rippled. Such stillness almost gave the others chills, especially to a creature like the Spudley, before Flint released his hold so the mint plopped straight into the cup. As the bubbles formed around it when it sank into the bottom, a very subtle difference formed in the water. From a pristine clear that bent the light when you gazed through it, after a few minutes such cleanliness fell into the murky and grotesque green one easily associated with rubbish and grime. Clouds puffed around the mint and muddled the water until the sweet disappeared into nothing, which left what it contaminated as an ugly shape of its former appearance. Before everyone else had a chance to think, Flint instantly flipped the cup over so it splashed quickly into the bucket which drenched the others and gave Sprig a second chance at "dodge drop" atop the table. Such a second part left a lot for them to determine on their own, and yet they only had one perfect answer from such actions on display.

"Geez, you kind of put a bit TOO much into that display." Anne said before she shook herself off. "Sooo…she tampered with herself a bit too much?"

For once, Flint actually turned to Anne and lightly smiled.

"Nice to see some of you catch on rather quickly." Flint replied. "Level two witchcraft has a lot more to it under the surface than you think. One must hold back on spells for at least a couple of days just so the magic self grows up to match the physical self outside, and as you saw with my example…"

"Maddie accidentally caused it to mature into something different." Ivy finished. Now Flint had his eyes over on her and raised his eyebrows in response.

"Wow, I guess I don't need any reiterations then. Looks like I came across some very fast learners here that understand concepts more thoroughly! I can't help but appreciate that."

"We've went through A LOT in your absence here, so we've…pretty much had to adapt on the spot." Felicia responded.

The two exchanged nods before Flint continued on.

"If one ever uses a spell in that certain period, which messes with the magic side, it desyncs and takes on a form of its own accord separate from the normal body. However, because it lacks a shape initially it uses the last curse the user cast and references that as its new definitive shape…but amplifies the hex exponentially whether the user wants to or not. It overwhelms them until the power seeps into the caster and completely takes over, and when that happens…"

His head drooped down before he gravely shook his head and deeply sighed. No extra details became necessary to figure out where he lead to, but by then they understood why Flint acted the way he did upon seeing Maddie's destructive behavior. Her soul burned as her magical side reigned havoc upon Wartwood and everyone bound in it by the giant girl's barrier hex. If they didn't stop her terror she would stay as a hulking monster forever, and the others wouldn't allow such a fate smitten on her. They knew deep down Maddie wouldn't have done all of the heinous actions, but that didn't solve the fact that they needed to subdue her magic side at all costs before she faded from existence completely.

"I had no idea until now about how serious of a problem such a simple curse could cause on someone like her…" Sprig said. "She doesn't deserve that level of torture. I may not follow her types of hobbies, but even I understand when she made a genuine mistake."

"She only took that spell for her sisters after all, and such drastic measures probably warranted her ignorance of the consequences." Anne said. "Even so, after everything I heard, we need to seal that monster back in its cage where it came from."

"Hey, you just so happened to speak my language!" Ivy answered as she widely grinned. "If it spells danger I'm all for helping out no matter what. Got any bright ideas?"

"No. Such measures can only worsen the circumstances."

Everyone's attention went over to Flint again, and his worn face painted some fiery red flags over their faces. At first, due to the unpredictable nature of his methods so far, they threw all of their expectations out of the window and set on the bare minimum so they would wring their brains out any further, but after a short while he settled on something easier to digest…although reactions easily varied from individual to individual. He slowly brought he back to the others and sat in silence for a moment before he eventually took off his shirt, which caused nearly everyone to loudly gasp in unison. He showed no deep tan from he ventures under the searing sun, but a wide white gash that strangely never seeped out any extra juices or blood of any kind. Even so, the fact that it pulsated ever so slightly while it wriggled lowly as if it gained sentience almost forced some to hurl bile on the spot. In all of the years Flint spent during his visits to Wartwood, nobody ever suspected something of a monstrous injury under all of the kindness he gave on a daily basis, so the ones around the table became the first ever to witness such a spectacle. It reeked of unnatural healing all around, but it never oozed anything out even though the sights told otherwise. Whatever the case, it made sure the memory stuck in their heads for a long time.

Felicia felt sick to her stomach and held her lips tight just to hold everything in.

"Sweet frog on high…what sort of travesty gave existence to THAT?!" she asked through her closed muffled mouth.

"I'm sorry I have to show you this, but, well, this can happen if you attempt anything to fix a corrupted magic side. It may look simple at first glance, but the deeper you go into such purification methods the worse it gets. One wrong step…and you'll find yourself on the brink of death in an instant."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, but then Anne dared to ask the certain question.

"…you went through the same problems, didn't you?"

Even though they couldn't see Flint's face, they definitely figured out that those words hurt on the inside. As he brought his legs inward and covered himself in his arms such faces became evident, and the outcome displayed a certain bleakness that shook everyone that watched. The gash still put on a display that made everyone sick, but to hear that something unnatural caused such a fate plagued the minds of the others in a dark light. The attempt to let the cat out of the bag relied on whether Flint desired to cooperate or not, and the signs pointed toward the latter.

He let loose a hail of bombshells their way.

"I used to really enjoy the arts of magic and curses, and early on I saw my career have the potential of dazzling diamonds. Some called me a prodigy and others ridiculed me behind my back, but I managed to carve a name for myself throughout the masses. I became extra overcautious just so any further after effects never lasted longer than a millisecond, and while some left with tentacles in their heads and legs made of wood, as a level one caster I've memorized everything and nearly perfected the basics. I even dabbled in some extra credit and peeked ahead at some of the later spells even though I couldn't perform them yet, so I gained the upper hand just in case it ever came to such situations. Bookworm? Maybe. Obsessed? You can say that in a certain sense. So much potential up those pearly steps…only to see them crash before my eyes."

He deeply sighed and shook his head again for a quick second.

"So many amazing outcomes passed through my young eyes, and the eagerness to finally perform them myself contributed to the energy my young body contained at the time. I wanted more than ever to have the spotlight on me when I eventually earned the higher levels required. While my intellect of level one spells knew no bounds, along with some rogue higher leveled curses that didn't help dictate status, everything beyond that stayed out of my reach. My desire to stand among the highest of elites took over, so I rummaged through multiple documents, page after page, footnote after footnote, and everything in between until I finally found the one set of details required for my expectations."

"…and those were?" Sprig asked, before he found himself shaken up by Anne's tapping fingers.

Flint closed his eyes and provided the answer.

"A curse to increase your knowledge on anything."

A few eyebrows raised around the table.

"A spell like that actually exists?" Ivy asked while she tilted her head.

"When it comes to the dark arts, if you put your mind to it you can make almost anything happen." Flint replied. "Anyways, I learned the exact steps necessary to conjure up a special hex to make myself smarter in everything related to curses, which you can imagine threw my excitement through the roof. Call it cheating or whatever, but for me at the time if a curse like that existed it became an option more than anything else. So with everything set in stone-"

"You succeeded, but it occurred during the sweet spot." Felicia interjected.

Flint turned to her with a slight frown.

"Okay, I may have underestimated all of you on the learning side. You could have at least given me a bit more time to explain further."

"Errrr, sorry. When you put two and two together most of it just clicks." Felicia replied in a slight tepid smirk.

"You know that cleverness can end in your downfall…like what happened after I cast that spell." Flint replied.

"Does that mean you went through all of the struggles Maddie has going on right now?" Anne asked. "Not only that, but to see you still standing… That means you must have found a method to reverse the whole thing then!"

Flint's dead and serious eyes turned over to Anne, which spooked the Spudley a little and caused it to lightly squeak before it buried its face into the tween's dirty shirt.

"Except the circumstances set at the time aligned so I had help almost instantly. I read everything thoroughly and made sure I only gained the necessary topics, but even then because of the terrible timing it didn't stop there. My magic side took the hex as its new mature form, so it continued to pour knowledge into my brain like rapids of swamp water. The pain, the surges of info…all of it brought me to my knees and left me in excruciating pain beyond belief. The swells around my head expanded into balloons of pure knowledge that a young me couldn't handle in one endless take. If the elites and higher ups never saw the signs and acted too late…"

He shut his eyes and clamped his teeth tightly before he lightly sniffed to himself. Already everyone could tell that all of the harsh memories took a toll on him like the end of everything, and yet they kept their eyes on him. The Spudley still stayed with its face buried in Anne's shirt, and while it became rather instantaneous to conclude of nervousness and fear, after all of the strange habits it left on full display it left most up in the air about its true intentions. Even so, the story left impacts against the others, and while results varied they had one unified thought in their minds. Flint went through more than just a simple curse thanks to the brief transition between levels, and he paid for it if the scars had anything to say.

It almost felt criminal to speak up, but Ivy did so anyway.

"So…how did they fix you up?"

It took a brief moment for him to come to, but once he brought his head back up he shakily answered.

"Not easily, I'll tell you that. After the…DEADLY procedure that left the fiery depths breathing down my neck the entire time…I've had it. I just couldn't continue down that path any longer, no matter how much I loved everything about the dark arts of Amphibia. After an experience like…THAT, I only saw one possible option left… I…I quit the dark arts altogether."

For such few words of a supposed ending, he left a lot of open holes in the listeners bodies. They never saw such a maniac with a machine gun before, and yet the wounds left behind told a different story. Anne couldn't imagine how much of her guts splattered against the ground below, and after that point any further numbers weakened her even more. They never questioned as to how he got his hands on such a concealed weapon, and yet such a nugget of information became unnecessary. Everything spouted from his weapon of choice gave everyone open wounds in their well being as if war erupted right before their eyes, and yet he never intended for such heaps. The bombshells of his information bullets brought Anne and the others to the ground in pains of pure shock and astonishment, and yet he still left them in the dark of many details.

"How…how terribly unfortunate to hear." Anne responded while the Spudley shook uncontrollably in her arms. "I'm very sorry you went through such a process…even though we still don't know those specifics."

"Honestly, you're probably better off not knowing about it." Flint said. "One wrong misstep and you basically lost your soul in an instant. No other possible method can even COME CLOSE to a potential fix for a misshapen magic side, and because of everything dangerous about it, while I hate to admit it, you basically have a giant rampaging Maddie for the rest of your sorry lives. Sorry, but it's the truth."

One final bomb. One last nuke. He left nobody behind as their limbs flew over the horizon. After such a weapon of mass destruction laid waste to complete desolation, no sparks of life remained on the radar. He never intended to completely ruin such innocent ears, but the truth required such tactical artillery to reinforce the point. If he decided on anything else impacts bounced off into oblivion, so something more heavy handed ended up as the last known option. All while he displayed the noble intentions across his face, if anyone survive they most likely still held on to life by a thread. He still watched just in case, but any amounts left would become food for the wolves and vultures.

The smoke settled upon the decimated battlefield.

"…that's it? Just another heap of danger to watch out for?"

The smoke cleared to reveal a clad Ivy with barely a scratch across her chest. It nearly stunned everyone who watched, as nobody could have survived without serious damages.

"Did…did you just listen to everything I said? The entire process to fix Maddie has FAR too much peril and risk to ever attempt by anyone nowadays, as one wrong move could result in her DEATH! Doesn't that faze you to any extent?"

Everyone else stared at the bold and brash Ivy like she completely lost her mind, but as the seconds passed some eventually caught on rather quickly as to why she acted like that. Even so, she still answered back to Flint as if everything progressed normally in her life.

"Umm, yeah. I easily heard everything you talked about, and while I understand the seriousness behind such a solution…I've pretty much had to live with danger everywhere around here. The last couple of months have went by SO crazily around here that I've basically taken it as something to get used to. In fact, I EMBRACE it on a daily basis! I LIVE for such dangers, and if such feats require clashing with them I'LL TAKE EVERY SINGLE ONE HEAD ON!"

The vigor underneath all of the bold demeanor hammered home her current beliefs, and for the most part everyone accepted it. Flint just gazed at her and slowly shook his head to himself, but everyone else understood her thorough implications. Wartwood didn't only consist of strange qualities day by day, but the frequency behind attacks and the insanity behind them became a way of life that everyone just had to accept. They may have driven everyone crazy in the long run, and yet everyone took the town's status as a misshaped badge of honor. If the word "danger" in Amphibia's dictionary displayed a picture next to it as an example, it would most likely have the town's broken gate with two large arrows next to it. All in all, welcome to Wartwood.

Anne chimed in and added her own two cents.

"I appreciate your condolences and caution Flint, but Maddie can't continue to rampage everywhere in an endless march. You said that there's too many life threatening factors to even attempt the process to reverse everything, but I have to agree with Ivy in that we pretty much go through those situations on a daily basis. It just ends up as something we have to learn to live with, and, I mean, I had to do so when I arrived here. Look at me now. I'm still standing and up for whatever comes at me next. Even though the future looks bleak, as long as we have even the slightest chance we have to go for it. We need to put a stop to her NOW."

To help reinforce her point, Anne raised one of her fists and slammed it against the table that shook the piece of furniture against the ground. Unluckily for Sprig, he never prepared for such an action and pretty much hopped away on instinct right as Anne fingers nearly clipped his back legs. His heart pounded excessively before he glanced up at his larger than life best friend, who instantly realized her mistake and pulled her hand off of the table.

"Oops! Sorry Sprig!"

"None…taken…" Sprig answered as he caught his breath with some deep inhaling.

The Spudley flailed its feet in Anne's arms that went nowhere while Flint pointed daggers at the young teen's face. Ivy and Felicia had no idea where the conversation turned next, but anything that didn't involve beatings or fights stood out as a plus in their books despite the appearances of both parties.

"You SERIOUSLY want to go through such a damaging technique in the wrong hands? Give it to me straight. Do you REALLY want to potentially screw up Maddie forever JUST to change her back?"

Anne equally glared back at him with a deadly sting.

"I don't care what we have to go through, she needs our help more than anything."

The two intensely stared at each other as the opposite side reflected in their eyes. Sprig, Ivy, and Felicia couldn't help as they observed the two in one of the most serious staring contests of all time, but the Spudley, in its own unique living potato way, actually had its eyes more open than everyone else. It lightly uttered a couple of low audible squeaks while it tipped on the fronts of its round feet to the display around the table. As most of the attention set on Anne and Flint, the Spudley went largely unnoticed when stars glistened in its eyes. It squeaked in an odd sequence before it tilted its body then sat back down, which only served as another series of actions nobody understood at all. Wartwood had its fair share of weirdos, but they clearly haven't seen a Spudley before.

Before long, Flint finally pulled back and deeply sighed to the others before him. He gnashed his teeth for a brief second then gave his response.

"Fine. You know what? Fine. You desperately want to see the process through? Okay, I'll let you witness Maddie's soul as it gets ripped apart from one simple mistake. Everything will fall on all of you if ANYTHING goes amiss, so don't come crying to me if she keels over instantly. Do you accept the potentially fatal responsibility?"

Anne nodded sternly followed by the others.

"…we'll do whatever it takes." Anne answered.

Flint stared into space at everyone around the table, which also included the miniaturized Sprig, before he mumbled something under his breath that nobody picked up. He then clasped his hands together and provided the next info dump required to potentially set Maddie's mind back on track.

"So, you want to fix Maddie's magical side the only way possible? We won't have the ability to do so unless we have one specific material to craft into the required tool, and it only comes by once in a blue moon. I've traveled far and wide across this land, and not once have I encountered the creature that hoards such an object. If we find it, we find the material. Simple as that, but near impossible to locate."

"I think we can work something out if we put our minds to it." Felicia answered. "What creature do we need to find?"

Flint glared over to the tea expert.

"A large lummox called a Meteor Snap."

"Snap?" Ivy asked. "Soooooo, it's a type of turtle then, right?"

"Yes, and a massive one at that." Flint explained. "The ancient reptiles have lived in Amphibia for generations and even garnered a legendary status in some cultures. Their huge shells have provided millions of tall tales from their drastic appearances alone, for they have details many claimed as straight out of something you see from the emptiness of space…or possibly different realities and dimensions. With durability far beyond anything in this vast land, anything that requires metal would DREAM to have part of the creature's shell as a primary material. In fact, the higher ups at Newtopia primarily use what parts of the shell they have for armors, weapons, and anything robotic related due to the immeasurable durability."

"Ah, so we just need to find one of them then." Sprig said. "Sounds simple enough. We just need to break out of Maddie's barrier and-"

"I'm not finished." Flint interjected. The cold stare of his eyes shut the tiny frog up immediately.

"Because of their status, they pretty much left the face of the planet over the generations from hunting, poaching, and even the occasional hoarding. The royal families in particular loved to stash them away for materials later, and thousands of them perished from the sheer neglect given to them. Since then, any sightings of such mythical creatures remain relatively scare, if not fully extinct. Even someone like me, who has traveled to almost every inch of this vast land, never witnessed such a legendary animal yet. Rumors have it that they migrated underground, but even then nobody seemed to find a single one. If they went extinct all those centuries ago, well, I wouldn't be surprised."

To hear something of that magnitude turned the wheels of several listeners. First off, for someone like massive stellar turtles to exist a one point in Amphibia astounded such uninformed minds to certain degrees. It helped explain why anything metal related when it came to Newtopia's castle maintained such impenetrable defenses, although the large caveat of the creatures' deaths really brought their energy down a peg or two. It certainly left Newtopia out of the question as to a workable substitute for the material, which left very few left to go off of. Whatever the case, they still needed to use the reptile's dense and astral shell to craft the required tool for Maddie's restoration.

"Wait, you said you had associates that helped you out of your bind when the incident happened to you." Ivy said. "Couldn't we ask them for…whatever we need?"

Once again, Flint shook his head.

"Nope. They left their posts a long time ago and I haven't seen them since. I wouldn't blame any of the higher ups for hoarding away anything created from a Meteor Snap's shell in case of anything potentially dangerous in the future. Tch, from how valuable such a simple piece goes for nowadays I wouldn't blame them if they acted like such a substance never existed, and from a collector's standpoint it really irks me to no end."

"Then we need to track one down some other way." Anne said with slight power. "Got anything else we need to know?"

The others watched as Flint lightly half grinned.

"You do realize that you just so happened to come across a factor that gives the smallest of chances to find one? Notice anyone missing from the equation?"

He stumped the others for a brief moment with his words and left them to figure it out for themselves. However, it only required a quick scan across the table to find out one of the meanings, and from its weird ways of communication and motions the blatancy flew into their faces like flies…which would have taken up its entire body in Sprig's case. Once she saw that a certain someone no longer sat in her lap, Anne backed up and got out of her chair before her ears picked up the infamous noises that stirred up the "cuteness" meter in her head. Right behind one of the cabinets near one of the walls stood the small critter that completely shrouded itself in darkness and refused to set foot anywhere outside the restricted space. The constant shuddering and erratic shuffling of its feet gave clear signs about how it currently felt, and to see one in a complete submission of such facts drilled holes into everyone that dared to gaze into its frantic eyes. Flint sure made his point and he never lifted a finger in its direction.

"Oh my gosh, the Spudley!" Anne exclaimed.

The creature further embedded itself into the wall and refused to come out. She tried to reach out for it, only for the living potato to further back away from the friendly gesture.

"Whoa, it really made a beeline for cover it seems." Felicia said. "What's gotten into that critter's head?"

"It bolted the moment I mentioned its natural predator." Flint answered.

"Natural predator?" Sprig asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Flint turned to face the tiny speck on the table.

"Meteor Snaps feast off of Spudlies as their natural diet."

The announcement probably hit Anne more than anyone else. To think that such a creature had small living potatoes as their main source of food seemed almost incomprehensible. An adorable critter like the small and skittish Spudley never deserved to go on someone's dinner plate, not even for a large turtle resilient to everything thrown its way. No wonder the mere mention of such a monster spooked the little potato into hiding even though they remained unseen to the general public, which possibly contributed to the Meteor Snap's demise. Even so, if Flint stated the truth, they still needed parts of its dense and nigh impenetrable shell if they ever wanted to create the tool to revert Maddie back.

The Spudley peeked out for a quick second, which let the others have one good look at it, before it zipped back behind the cabinet and refused to move.

"Wow, uhhhhh, that sounds a bit…disturbing." Ivy said before she lightly shuddered.

"I guess you can say that." Flint answered. "Those huge turtles LOVE to chomp down on anything related to those little guys, enough to possibly stir them out of their immeasurable laziness. Once the Spudlies disappeared, the Meteor Snaps had to settle for less than average substitutes which contributed to their sluggish nature and rarity nowadays. No Spudlies to eat, no Meteor Snaps to exist."

"And so…?" Sprig asked as he tried to catch up to the conversation.

"I'm saying…" Flint explained. "If we can't find one normally…maybe we can coax them out of their hiding spots. It might seem a bit harsh at first, but with your Spudley friend there…"

It didn't take millions of brain cells to figure out what Flint lead on about, and almost instantly everyone's eyes widened into dinner plates. Anne in particular wanted absolutely none of the harshness to fall upon such an endearing creature, for it practically cranked up the adorableness through the roof to a point where she would do anything to keep it around her. As if in an act of "cuteness" instinct, the tall tween immediately reached back and grabbed the Spudley around the bottom and pulled it in close to her chest. Her face went crazily defensive as her arms embraced the small potato and left it struggling to move. It kicked its round feet around and squeaked in a certain sequence, but Anne wouldn't let go. It deserved none of what Flint had in mind after all.

"Unh unh, definitely not!" Anne exclaimed in a strict freakish manner. "I will not let this utter cutie serve as live bait just to find that turtle! It deserves NONE of the terrible fates ahead! Think of some other idea bub, because I'm NOT LETTING IT GO!"

Her breathing shortened as the tightness of her grip began to force more pressure on the Spudley, which only caused it to struggle further to no avail.

"Easy, easy there Anne! I'm not going to let your little friend there perish to any extent!" Flint replied as he waved his hands forward and sweat in a tepid manner. "I just want it to come along while we wander a bit outside of Wartwood so a Meteor Snap hopefully shows up! They'll easily come out of hiding the instant they take a whiff of the food they haven't eaten in generations! I'm not that heartless to actually FEED it to them!"

Anne frowned in a very comical and cheesy way as she dug her fingers into the Spudley's body. She only heard all of the negatives and didn't let go of them, especially with her cute potato friend on the line. At that point the Spudley possibly lost around half of its oxygen from Anne's grip alone…if it even breathed in the first place. It cried out multiple squeaks and flailed its feet even more only for the tall girl to hold onto it even more. Any suffering across its body wouldn't pass on her watch…even though her "protection" hurt it more than anything else at the moment.

"Nuh unh, no way! I refuse to let such MONSTERS handle this innocent creature! YOU'LL HAVE TO RIP IT FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!"

"Then can you think of any other possible idea to lure a Meteor Snap out?" Flint asked. "Tell me, because I'm all for a much better plan."

At first Anne's mood shifted more positively upon hearing about another option that could possibly help them without the death of the adorable Spudley. She wanted the little one to still exist after all and anything that didn't involve its death became the best outcome for all of them. While she never fancied herself as a deep thinker, for she usually relied on Marcy when it came to good ideas, she still ran her brain through the wringer for anything to save the small potato from the status of live bait. She gave her mind a good chance for an epiphany, and yet after a couple of minutes…it flattened. Absolutely nothing became conclusive for a better plan when it came to Anne's thinking, and in the end she found only a massive migraine and nothing more. Even so, she still wanted to keep the Spudley safe no matter what, and yet it came at the expense of Maddie's normal personality. If they didn't find that turtle they would have to start back from square one, and any further moment where the giant frog girl remained huge could serve as a death sentence in an instant. She would save the Spudley's life, but in return thousands upon thousands never stood a chance against Maddie and her voracious appetite. The trade off heavily leaned in one specific direction.

She glanced down at the Spudley one more time, which loosened her grip, as the Spudley finally found some room to move and gazed back at her.

"I'm…I'm terribly sorry about this…" Anne said in a slightly deeper pitch. "Little Spudley…I need you to go through with the process."

Everyone watched as the small living potato's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets before it squirmed around uncontrollably at an alarming rate. It squeaked long and loud while it tried to break out of Anne's grip, only for the tween to hold it in place despite all of the signs. If it kept up with its supposed mini freak out, since any type of read on the creature became next to impossible, it could lead to their eventual discovery from Maddie, and after all of the hassle Anne went through to flee from her she definitely wanted to the details to remain that way.

Anne attempted to talk it down either way.

"I know it seems like I'm sending you to the your fiery fate, but I won't let that happen! I'll make sure Flint does absolutely nothing out of line, for your importance keeps some of our sanity in check with these current times. I kept a promise, remember? You know I made it a solemn duty to bring you back to your other Spudley friends, and I intend to see it through! Besides…you would do anything for Marcy, right?"

The last sentence took a lot out of Anne, especially after what she saw Maddie do to her friend right in front of her face, but after all of the time the Spudley spent with her it made sense in the long run. Marcy stated that she wanted to have the small potato bunk in with her, and it clearly went through with her wish in that time period. She took the statement as more plausible the moment she felt the Spudley's movements as they slowed down while its squeaks went mute, and even though it still shook a little bit any bit of progress helped with its cooperation. If it ever wanted to assist in solving the crisis it would do so in a heartbeat, and yet its own weird methods made it next to impossible to read. Even so, from what Anne saw after she spoke to it a personality and palette of emotions did briefly crack out of the Spudley's squishy and adorable body even though it expressed next to nothing in return.

Even though nobody understood it in full, they saw certain signs once the Spudley's actions slowed down and its squeaks waned into something more manageable. It soon sat back down in Anne's lap and placed its back to Anne's chest, which only stumped everyone even further.

"I'll, ummmm, take that as…confirmation I guess." Flint said. "I'll keep my word so your little friend there lives to tell the tale. However…I'll need one more person to accompany me when it eventually comes to butting heads with the beast."

At that point Anne would have spoken up and volunteered for such an excursion. She mustered through so much the moment she ended up trapped in unknown territory so it seemed reasonable to help out again in any way she could. While her best friend may have taken an undignified punishment that left him crippled into a speck in her grasp, she went solo enough times to understand how to go through with certain trials and tribulations. From someone who shirked responsibility in her early years to where she stood now, she sure flipped herself over into someone one may never recognize at first. She still lacked certain corners in a couple of places, but Anne earned enough to call herself a young guardian to everyone she cared about.

Of course, expectations in Amphibia compared to living unicorns that farted rainbows from where Anne came from.

While it began as only a very faint buzzing, once the volume increased it became apparent that something loomed near them. Luckily for them it lasted for only a few moments, but then it literally zoomed in through a nearby window at breakneck speeds. If someone just started an angry mob and just threw something for the sake of damage it clearly felt like it for a majority of the ones inside the establishment, but once the image materialized they saw the false alarm. Their blood pressures lowered, but they still didn't quite understand what they noticed at first. What appeared as some sort of large buzzing bee zipped straight before all of them, although the cone shaped front below their common insect eyes made it stand out from something Anne understood from back home. The fact that some type of grainy filter covered the large opening provided certain impressions akin to a common utility used for communication from what Anne determined, and yet the rest of it remained wrapped into a small buzzing package that gave off a different picture. Even so, she still had plenty to learn about the ins and outs of the strange land, including devices and creatures, and if she never set foot in such a place she probably would have freaked out in an instant. For a surprise guest appearance, it could have went by on a worse merit, especially if Maddie got involved to an extent.

Such a set of unique details never touched Anne fancy, but when she heard it speak her heart almost stopped for a second.

"Ummm, hello? Anyone still out there? Anne?"

Her childhood and deep connections flowed strong the moment such a voice resonated through her head. After what Maddie pulled earlier such ideas burned to the ground upon the picture of the respective person's demise right before her very eyes. Any amount of respect she had for Maddie became trash, and yet her ears told the true outcome. She almost wanted to stay mute just to let the moment persist, as such bliss only reared its head once in an eternity. However, Anne had more questions that required answers if she ever wanted any true satisfaction from all of the signs brought her way. As much as she wanted to squeal with joy, due to Maddie's influence it quelled such emotions into something more serious.

The others almost fell out of their seats from such a surprise thrown there way, and yet they couldn't leave such questions unanswered. The weird bee soon glanced over to Anne, who carefully placed the Spudley on the floor before she grasped the bug and spoke to it. While she felt a bit squeamish at first from the sights, the voice that bellowed from it kept her from avoiding it completely.

"Marcy? Uhhhhh…am I really hearing you?"

The voice on the other side quickly picked up in high vibes.

"Oh, thank goodness! I'm so glad to hear you at this point in time! Not gonna lie, I thought Maddie would have gotten you by now. I KNEW always having one of these on the outside would come in handy!"

Any amounts of denial fell to the wayside as they received the final confirmation they needed. The Spudley in particular stood up more than usual and leaned on the front of its feet to get higher, which accomplished next to nothing. Even so, Anne had her guesses that it cared for Marcy just as much as she did so it became relatable to get in closer for some sort of clearer picture.

"Marcy?!" Anne exclaimed in pure astonishment. "I can't believe it! But…but how?! Maddie wiped you off the face of the planet!"

Anne heard her stutter a bit from the other side.

"Well, ummm, not…exactly." Marcy's voice answered. "You see, I'm sort of stuck in-"

Her voice fell short when some very…disturbing noises went through soon after. Some low audible groans vibrated through the bug's mouth followed by something really…wet? Anne failed to comprehend where Marcy possibly ended up at first, although something slowly crawled into her train of thought she couldn't ignore. It gave her goosebumps and chills as she thought about it, and yet she still needed the full picture. If Marcy truly never perished, it required more details.

"Ugh, yuck! Right into my boots too! I'm going to smell terrible for weeks!"

Anne shuddered before she asked the inevitable question.

"Marcy…where are you?"

It took a couple of extra moments, and some low muttering on her end, but she finally came through with what Anne asked for.

"Anne…I'm trapped inside Maddie's stomach."

Her response sent surprised waves across the room. To hear that she found herself in a place like that and didn't perish in an instant shocked most of the listeners, including Anne, but they knew it could have possibly gone much worse. Dangerous scenarios pretty much became a daily occurrence in Amphibia after all, and if you didn't adapt quickly enough you basically provided your own gravestone. While Marcy never fit the bill of uninformed idiot, her wits have left her open on certain occasions…like her confrontation with Maddie. She understood well enough to survive in the treacherous landscapes, so in some respect any guesses about her possible soulless husk lowered into the single digits to anyone that understood more about her. She managed to defy the fate placed before her by Maddie's appetite…but not without certain consequences.

Sprig broke the silence soon after.

"Eew, that…doesn't sound too pleasant."

At first it seemed like Marcy didn't catch Sprig's voice, especially after his shrinkage, but the others quickly found out after a couple of seconds. The bee turned to face the indescribable speck on the table before her voice came out again.

"Yeah, I'm not too keen about these…state of affairs. At least I'm not the only one stuck in here."

"Oh, really?" Ivy asked. "Who else?"

It took a couple more seconds to process until they heard Marcy again.

"Ummm, did I just hear Ivy?"

"Yes, I'm right here." Ivy replied. "I'm sticking with Anne and a few others since…Maddie may have already dealt with a large majority."

She almost hesitated to find the right time to answer. She twiddled her fingers and glanced down for a second until she settled back in her seat, which everyone else related to instantly. To think that Maddie dealt with everyone else and presumably kept them for her own agendas sent shivers throughout the others like clusters of spiders stuck to their backs. Who they once called a friend now saw them as nothing but toys to mess with when she felt like it, and if they didn't comply she always had numerous ideas on how to deal with traitors. Maddie made it clear that she called the shots from now on, and it potentially left only very few left as opposition.

Even the bee creature seemed to dip down in sadness a little before Marcy spoke up again.

"Wow, I'm…I'm terribly sorry to hear that. If I can find a way out of here I'll help in any way I can. It won't go by easily, but I'll think of something. I'm not alone in this endeavor after all."

Her last statement left everyone scratching their heads, minus the Spudley since it lacked any limbs.

"Uhhhhh, not alone?" Felicia asked.

What followed on the other side of the voice line only carried descriptions of "scuffling" and "shifting" in that order. She most likely never intended for the bee to pick up such sounds, but something on the other end gave the others such impressions. If anything, it provided more reasons to relate the insect to other common communication devices, for Anne at least, and how different methods of thought invented such marvels. Of course it could have been a living creature the whole time, since Amphibia was no stranger when it came to its wildlife, and yet such questions carried no importance at the time. Even so, if one put in the time and effort such fascinations provided crucial assists despite their rather "unnatural" appearances.

Another few voices became known shortly after, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who.

"Hey, you speaking to Anne Boonchuy over there? I can't take it any more in here! I'M GOING CRAZY! GET ME OUT OF THIS GIRL'S BELLY NOW!"

"Easy there sir, you don't want to set an example for the others behind you. Ummm, just think about the time you-"

"I'M TOO YOUNG FOR THIS! I DEMAND RELEASE FROM THIS STINKY PRISON! GRRRRRRRRAAUUGH!"

Some really loud pounding followed the outburst before some very angry grunting that pretty much spelled the scenario instantly. Leave it to the money grabbing lout to eventually snap and try to force his way out via any means necessary while his assistant kept a leveled attitude for some type of comfort for his boss…to failing results. To think they somehow managed to find themselves with Marcy became a mystery at first, but once everyone had a couple of seconds to themselves, minus Ivy and Felicia, they found the obvious outlier. Even so, they survived in such punishing conditions and the others couldn't help but commend them for their tenacity. Out of everyone to willingly muster through a rather grotesque territory certain picks stood out…but not one of them as the greedy mayor of Wartwood.

Everyone heard some lukewarm chuckles on the other end from Marcy after a short period.

"Yeah, uhhhhh, I finally figured out where the missing townsfolk disappeared to. Maddie must have went on chomping sprees during those certain nights, and even though we still have plenty of room…I don't know how long it will last."

"I'm not sure we can live this long either as long as Maddie calls the shots." Anne answered. "If it makes you feel better, Flint knows of a particular idea that might put us in the right direction. As to its effectiveness, well…"

The tall girl glanced over to the stingy shopkeeper who gave her a wink and a sign with his fingers that indicated a great success rate. Anne nodded back while she let Marcy respond on the other end.

"Ah, so you already have something on your mind! I guess that alleviates some weight off of my shoulders. I'll try to keep in touch in case-"

Her voice nearly became inaudible when some loud blaring rumbles rang through everyone's hearing. It unnerved them to a certain degree as a few more went through the bee and over to the other side. While the group lacked the visuals of Marcy's face, they pretty much unanimously concluded on something rather horrific. Mayor Toadstool's and Toadie's voices barely stuttered through the disturbing noises along with a couple others, which worried everyone even further. Something unprecedented possibly occurred and took the ones trapped in for a ride.

"Oh no. Ohhhhh, nononononono! I almost forgot about the digestion periods!"

They heard the utter worry and horror in Marcy's voice, and from the bumping noises soon after it painted a bleak picture.

"Marcy?! Marcy?! What's going on over there?!" Anne exclaimed as the emotions rubbed off on her.

The rumbling noises became higher and higher over the bee, which barely left any further room for Marcy's voice throughout all of it.

"I'll…I'll have to talk later Anne! I'm already seeing the gastric juices pour in…and I-OOOOHHHHH, IT BURNS! I'll handle whatever I can in here, just-OWWWWW! PLEASE FIGURE SOMETHING OUT TO FIX MADDIE BEFORE-AUUUUUUUGGGGHHH!"

Her screams of pain burned through the minds of everyone at the table but before Anne could answer back to Marcy…everything ceased. The large bee in Anne's hand suddenly stopped the communication between the two and left the others to conclude for themselves. The girl's face turned pale while she shook the insect again and again, but she heard nothing.

"Marcy?! MARCY?!"

Nothing but deadly silence.

Her eyes never left the sight of the been alone as it squirmed in her grasp. At that point the fact that she had others around her completely left her head, and the strength of her muscles sapped away to the demons underground. Her legs wobbled and twisted until she lost everything and fell back to her chair, which released the bee from hand to the table. It wiggled and sputtered a bit on its back before it picked itself up and shook itself off. Luckily it landed nowhere near Sprig's minuscule self or else it could have spelled bad news for him, but even then no such care blew through her mind. To hear such pain from her best friend left her in shambles, and while she knew Marcy's destruction never passed through her radar it took a lot out of her just to hear.

It almost seemed criminal to speak up after such a delivery, and the others around her wanted to clamp their lips shut. The Spudley even ran under the table, which made it utter some low squeaks in the process, and cowered uncontrollably like it saw a lit fuse over Anne's head. Unfortunately for everyone else they knew the silence wouldn't last, and eventually Flint broke the ice.

"I'm…I'm terribly sorry. I wish I could speak more, but I don't want to outright offend you in any aspect. She…she most definitely wouldn't succumb that easily though, right? I'm certain she'll find a way throughout those troubles and live to tell the tale."

Anne didn't look up. She kept her eyes down while everyone else, minus the Spudley, gazed at her like they came across an anomaly. They dared to not utter a word just in case, as any upset could give away their hiding spot to the giant frog girl outside. Nobody understood for certain how Anne felt at the moment, and from the foreboding signs they didn't want to. No need to awaken the raging dragon when they struggled to survive with an angry frog witch already.

"I guess…you don't want to accompany me then?" Flint shakily asked.

The tween never responded or moved a single muscle. Just the look of her sent waves of tension throughout the room.

"Ohhhhhh…kay…" Flint nervously said before he got back to the others. "I, ummmm, guess that leaves only one…other option."

"I've pretty much concluded that I'm not fit for such an excursion while I'm like this." Sprig answered while he obviously referred to his shrunken size.

The Spudley squeaked a few times under the table before it sluggishly dragged itself from under the table. It still shuddered everywhere, and once it caught sight of Anne it briefly uttered another squeak and rushed back under the table. It's clumsiness lead it to accidentally bash Ivy in the legs, which didn't hurt but surprised her nonetheless. The living potato fell onto its back and flailed its legs in the air as it tried to pull itself up to no avail, but since Ivy sat nearby she lent it a hand and brought it back up. The Spudley hopped up and down for a few seconds, which made it utter some more squeaks, before it backed up and kept itself hidden under the flat piece of wood.

"Errrr, you're welcome?" Ivy said while completely clueless as to what she jut saw.

The Spudley stayed silent while the others, other than Anne, finished up their long meeting.

"I already have the ideal partner picked out, so no need to volunteer." Flint stated.

The traveling frog glanced over everyone one more time, to varying expressions across the board, until he settled on one certain other. His eyes narrowed for a second until he formed a finger and pointed it right at the one frog, which caused the others to lightly gasp in response. The one picked already had its eyes wide open as the infamous Flint made his decision, which likewise remained final through and through. Most would fight at each others throats for such a privilege, and yet it fell to one special frog. The one bestowed with Flint's blessing automatically gained a couple of ledges on the respect ladder.

"Muhmuhmuh…me?! But…but why…"

"I have my reasons Ivy, and I need your help more than ever." Flint said.

Felicia took the news like any mother would.

"Oh no, young lady, I won't allow you to undergo such a dangerous mission even if Flint insists. You aren't exactly prepared for the outside world just yet, and even a single percent of something bad happening is too much for you just yet. I just can't risk it."

"Mom!" Ivy exclaimed as he mood dipped down pretty harshly.

Even in the face of a celebrity her mother refused to allow such a venture. While she understood why her mother expressed caution for the most part, it still didn't mean she always had to enjoy the news when it arrived. She finally had the chance to prove herself only to see it crash before her very eyes. Her desire to explore the world flared in her soul and she wanted such feelings more than ever. At that point she wished she didn't have her current age, for if she went a little higher she could easily shirk any parental controls for her own agendas.

"Easy there, let me explain everything." Flint said.

He attempted to calm the young frog down, and if she heard anyone else she likely wouldn't bat an eye in their direction. However, because Flint spoke she closed her eyes for a few seconds and took a few deep breaths until her mood soothed into her typical mindset once again. She held her forehead to settle a slight migraine while she Flint took the wheel. He apparently knew what to go for to settle with her mother.

Felicia remained somewhat upset by the intentions of the traveling collector and her daughter's willingness to follow through, but she allowed Flint to speak anyway. Sprig let the ones above him do the talking, because he clearly lacked the size to cram himself into the conversation.

"Felicia, I need you to hold down the fort here and keep watch of any survivors. Despite her massive stature, if Maddie still has any amount of her previous self left she would easily leave you alone on account of your 'fiendish tenacity' to keep me to yourself. Even so, out of everyone else in this room…you keep everything in order better than anyone else. If you can stay out of Maddie's line of sight, keep track of any survivors, and assist them in any way possible it would benefit everyone in the long run. We can't risk anything out of line on the process to possibly change Maddie back, and nobody can possibly go through with such guidelines other than you. I know it seems like a lot, but we need this."

The mother's eyes went flat for a moment before she took two long looks at both Flint and Ivy. While they only had a couple possible hunches about her current mindset, it meant a lot with whatever she decided on. If her motherly instincts took over too much it became completely plausible that rejection got ready behind the gates. Ivy learned the hard way to not get between her mother and her decisions, but even then she stilled butted heads with her on occasion. Despite the ambiguity of her expression, Maddie's fate either fell into relative ease or excruciating difficulty upon such a decision. All eyes, minus Anne's and the Spudley's, glued to Felicia and whatever fifty fifty stirred in her head.

She finally answered as she closed her eyes and shook her head lightly.

"I…guess you have a point there. As much as I prefer for someone else to go…the lives of everyone else carries more importance. If someone needed to stay back to keep watch of everyone taken captive my Maddie, I'm probably the best bet for now. If it helps to subdue the current crisis…I'll do my duty back here."

Ivy brought up one of the biggest grins imaginable, and soon enough it rubbed off on Sprig…even though nobody could visibly see it.

"Thank you so much for the opportunity mom! I won't let you down or anyone-"

"I'm not playing games here Ivy. This won't go by easily." Flint interjected with a cold stare. The seriousness in his tone immediately shut Ivy up and everyone else around the table.

In a surprising twist, Ivy hastily got back in her seat and kept watch on the traveling merchant like everyone else.

"I may not have much in me anymore, but I know enough to dispel a portion of the barrier Maddie set around this whole town. We'll slip through and hopefully find a Meteor Snap for a piece of its shell while everyone else keeps Maddie in check. If luck shines on us, it won't take long."

"No… Not me though."

The power behind such a voice shook everyone to their core. Such statements only ever escaped the lips of the truly valiant and vigilant, and yet appearances told them otherwise. Not a knight in full clad armor, but a young girl who set foot on ruined grounds made her impact throughout the room. Even the Spudley waddled out from under the table from such words, although it still shuddering and shook as it gazed up at her. Such determination dripped from her mouth as her hair covered her eyes and left them hidden to the public, and yet no further words became required to spread her message. She sent everyone to their knees and she never threw a punch, and yet she wouldn't hurt them in the slightest.

Sprig stood completely stunned for the moment from his friends sheer power in her words that he almost didn't notice her hand as it set down before him, but once they crashed down and shook the ground under him he found it impossible to willingly turn away. While her fingers may have the thickness of mountains and the height of some of the tallest trees, if anyone else had to climb up they probably wouldn't reach the top of one of her fingernails, but for Sprig and his frog legs it only required one strong leap. He had no trouble at all as he took to the skies and landed safely on the tip of one of Anne's fingers, but soon after he found himself elevated even further up. It only lasted a quick second, but once Anne brought him over to one of her shoulders he knew where she wanted him. After one extra leap he landed right on her shoulder before she drew her hand back down, but even at his new angle he never saw the tween's eyes from under her bush of hair. It actually creeped him out a little, but he knew better than to doubt his best friend even at near microscopic size.

While the Spudley uttered some low leveled squeaks as its whole body shuddered all over, everyone else kept their mouths shut at first. Eventually, Ivy spoke up.

"Uhhhhh, Anne? Errrrrrr, ummmm, do you have…something in mind?"

Without a single beat missed, Anne's face turned upward and revealed the pure resoluteness and valor built up in her from her eyes alone. She only had one statement to say to the entire group.

"…I'm going after Marcy."