The intro opens with Anne's hands on the Calamity Box, opening it. Light from inside the box shines brightly before it switches to a scene that shows Kenji, Anne, Sasha, and Marcy, looking inside. Suddenly there was a white light and everything when blank.
Kenji was on the ground when the light faded, covered in mud with Anne next to him. When he woke up, he looked shocked to see he was in Amphibia with Anne. The two friends stood up and looked at their surroundings in awe.
The camera then zoomed out and showed the entire world of Amphibia.
Tenohira ni kizama re teru
Tsugihagi no yona sono sen ni furete
The scene then changed to the town of Wartwood as the frog inhabitants go about their daily lives. As a pair of dragonflies fly past the camera, it followed them until stopping at the Plantar farmhouse while the sun was starting to rise in the sky.
When the camera changed to show the house's front door, Kenji and Anne stepped out from inside and out into the world. Ready to take on the day. But first, they ducked their heads under some dragonflies that passed them.
Hibiware sona atama to
Gurasu ga sasata kokoro de mae hashiru
The camera moves up to a window on the side of the house. Sprig opened the window with a telescope in hand. He looked through it at the horizon before slipping off the windowsill and started falling. Inside the house, Hop Pop was reading one of his books in his study when Sprig's falling and screaming made him look at his window. Down on the ground, Sprig had landed in Polly's bucket. His little sister responded by punching her brother in the butt. Sending him flying out of the bucket. She then dove back into her bucket of water.
Sprig landed on Anne's head, and the three of them smiled at one another. Then Sprig pointed at something. Kenji pulled out one of his Class Cards, and the friends rushed off into the unknown.
The scene changed to show Kenji, Anne, and Sprig hopping across multiple mushrooms that lit up when one of them landed on it.
Koware kake no sekai
Kuzure so o de memai
The next scene showed Anne, Sprig, and Kenji running for their lives from a giant chicken monster. Kenji summons a black steed from his Rider Card then gets the others on and gallops away faster from the giant poultry. The scene begins to break apart as red line spread across the screen.
The next scene showed Sprig, Anne, Kenji, Polly, and Hop Pop fishing together on a lily pad before it suddenly rose into the air. Underneath it was a giant fish that started swimming around as everyone started screaming. Kenji, however, started stabbing it with a white curved short sword. The scene to break apart like the scene before.
Another scene showed Sprig in a temple looking at something before Kenji and Anne came rushing down the stairs beside him. Anne picked him up as they ran away from a giant boulder that came crashing into the temple. And just like the last two scenes, it begins to break apart in red lines.
Karappo na karada de
Ibtsuna shikai
The next scene showed a red, dark area. Anne and Kenji had their backs together, and both having looks of determination. Anne raised her tennis racket, and Kenji raised his cards: Saber as it begins to glow.
Still, in the same scene, the viewer is suddenly pulled back to reveal that they were surrounded by dozens of twisted frog/toad/newt-like creatures and a giant snake crawling up from behind them. Towering over them and hissing.
Zokkuri to myako o utsu inochi no sen
Naifu de nazotte nobashite shimaetara
ne dareka oshiete Tsuki ga mierunara
The amphibian-like abominations started attacking as Kenji now armed with Balmung/Gram and Anne rushed towards the viewer. Smashing, slicing, and killing any twisted being that came at them. Just as the viewer watched them go past the camera on both sides, the Giant Snake lunged at the fleeing kids. Its mouth opens as it comes towards the camera before the viewer is in the blackness of the snake's mouth, but it didn't last long as Kenji swung his sword and cuts down the snake with one strike.
Kesenai de
mada kesenai de
The scene changed again to a split screen with the left side show Anne's photo of herself, Kenji, Sasha, and Marcy together being held in a gloved hand and on the right is an older man in his fifties with a grin on his face. A flash of light showed the man's face more and the infamous Toad Tower in the background.
Kienaide mada Kienaide
The final scene of the intro showed Kenji standing in the middle of a road looking at the Class Cards he has. He looked to his left and saw Anne walking over to him with a smile. Then Sprig came over to his right and jumped on Kenji's shoulders. Hop Pop and Polly walked/hopped over and joined the trio. The screen begins to pan downwards as it shows reflections not of the group but of legendary heroes of Earth's history.
The intro ends with the title of the story.
FATE / CALAMITY
Book 1: Amphibia
Chapter 3: Cane of Crazy Fate
(?)
Kenji slowly opened his eyes to a wide-open blue sky. 'Where am I?' was his first thought. He sat up and found himself in a field of grass that was dyed in metallic silver, surrounded by trees of the same coloring. The air had a delightful woody smell instead of the metallic smell he was expecting and was rather cool as well. Kenji was now very confused.
'I went from the basement bedroom to a field of tall silver grass that reaches to my shins. What is this place?' Kenji thought as he turned his attention back to the sky. He spotted an open area with ten statues depicting warriors that he wasn't familiar with and a giant silver gemstone the size of a small house, in the distance. He began to walk toward the clearing. As he did, a faint sound could be heard in the distance, the ringing of a bell could barely be heard. Kenji stopped and looked towards the sky.
'What is this place?' Kenji once again asked himself as he approaches one of the statues. The first one shows a fantasy knight, wielding a sword with both of his hands in a knightly position with sword pointing downwards. As Kenji got closer to the statue, he could feel a pull from it and places a hand on it. As soon as he does that, the statue glows an ethereal aura as kept glowing brighter causing Kenji to close his eyes and to back up. As he opens his eyes, he can see two people in front of him.
The first one a tall tan-skinned man with silver-grey hair. His body was encased in radiant silver woven plate armor with the only exposed skin was chest with a glowing tribal mark at the center that looked like it spread the front with one line went up his right cheek. He carries the Phantasmal Greatsword, Balmung, on his back.
The second one is a tall fair-skin man with silver-black hair wearing a pair of glasses. Black pants and a long-sleeved black top covered his form, along with armor that covered his shoulders, arms, and all along his legs. A purple cloak was draped over his shoulders. In his hand is the Dawn of Ruin Greatsword: Gram.
"So." The man with Gram started his voice sounding familiar to Kenji as if he heard this voice from before. "Finally decided to show up here. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Master."
"…Wait a minute, you're that voice from before. Sigurd, right?" Kenji stated as Sigurd nodded at what he said. The teenager turns to the one carrying Balmung. "Then I'm guessing you're Siegfried, right? Well, it's nice to meet you two."
The man, now known as Siegfried, nodded with a smile. "That I am. It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Master."
"Same here." Sigurd spoke with a smirk. "So Master, do you know of our enemies for our battle that's coming?" This question caused Kenji
"Wait, Battle? What are you talking about?" Kenji asked in confusion as the two swordsmen looked towards the young man in surprised confusion at what he just said.
"Wait. Don't you know about the Holy Grail War? Servants? Do you even know where you are?" Siegfried asked as Kenji shook his head at the Hero of Germanic Lore.
"No. Nothing at all. The only thing that I know is that my friends and I got transported to a world filled with anthropomorphic amphibians, giant insects and reptiles, and that the cards that I got from that old man from my world allow me to bring out weapons from which card I used. That's about it." Kenji said as the two warriors looked at each other before nodding.
"You best sit down, Master. This is going to take some time to explain the situation." Sigurd said as Kenji nodded and sat down with his legs crossed.
First, they begin to explain that where they are is Kenji's Inner World, A mental and soul landscape, the world of the mind and spirit. Kenji was surprised at what they said that this was his Inner World. It was like one of his Anime that he watches from time to time.
Secondly, they explain the Holy Grail War or as it is really called the Heaven's Feel Ritual, which is a competition that decides the ownership of the Holy Grail, A wish granting relic that grant anything by the wisher's desire, through intense battle royale. While there have been many conflicts over supposed Holy Grails in the past, present, and/or future, this term refers to those specifically based around Masters, usually proficient magi, summoning Servants, Heroic Spirits, spirits from a place called the Throne of Heroes, a place existing outside of both the World and the time axis. brought forth as familiars, and meeting in battle until only one pair is left to claim the Holy Grail.
However, the true purpose is to obtain True Magic from the Akashic Records, The Swirl of the Root, which is a metaphysical location within the universe that acts as the "force" that exists at the top of all theories in every dimension, as well as the source of all events and phenomena in the universe. It is also referred to as the "Outside of the World," as opposed to the World and the Reverse Side of the World. Existing outside of time, it stores and archives information of all possibilities and events, past, present, and future, of the world. It is the place from where all souls, including those of Heroic Spirits recorded on the Throne of Heroes, originate from and to where they return after death.
"So…Let's see if I get this right. The Holy Grail War or as it's really called the Heaven's Feel Ritual is basically a battle royale that has magus, people who uses scientific magic, and Servants, spirits that were once Heroes, fighting each other for an artifact that grants wishes." Kenji said as the two nodded at Kenji's explanation of what was told to him. "Well, I guess that would explain the Great Fuyuki Fire that happened in 1994 and the incidents that happened there 10 years later."
The two warriors nodded as they also looked though Kenji's memories and now know that there is no current Holy Grail War that is happening right now, and they are now in another world that is inhabited by anthropomorphic amphibians. At first, they were skeptical at what they saw, but after seeing though his memories they agree that this is the reality that they are now in.
"Still…We have to get you ready for whatever this world has through at you because you and your friends coming here was not by coincidence. For now, you must go back, your friend is calling you." Sigurd said as the world begins to fade out as Kenji looked back to two warrior, only to see them disappear as the world fades to black.
(Real World)
"Ken…Ken!" A voice spoke out as Kenji work up as he saw Anne and Sprig looking over him with concerned looks on their face. "Are you okay? You were sweating and muttering under your breath?" Anne asked as Kenji stood up and swiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I'm fine. Just had a weird dream. Don't worry about it." Kenji said, deciding not to tell them the details of the dream that he had, as he looked towards Sprig and Anne then notices that some of their stuff was laying on the floor. "Why is some of my stuff laying on the floor?"
"Just looking at all of your cool stuff! I hope you don't mind." Sprig exclaimed cheerfully as he looks though the contents that was in Anne's and Kenji's backpack with a smile on his face. Anne had a small smile on her face and Kenji just gave off a low chuckle at the frog boys optimism.
"If you wanted to look at my stuff, ask first ok?"
"Ok Ok…Oh what's this?" Sprig asked while grabbing onto Anne's toenail clipper as he studied it curiously. "Ah, I get it. This is a torture device, right?" Sprig asked as Anne chuckled amusedly.
"Ha, ha, no, dude, that's just a toenail clipper."
"Oh, okay, okay, sure...oh! What about this thing?" Sprig suddenly asked while grabbing into Anne's red air pump as he proceeds to stick the nozzle into his mouth and began pumping his head with air. "It's painful."
"Don't just stick random stuff into your mouth like that!" Kenji scolded as Sprig nodded before opening his mouth as his head inflated like a balloon and flew around as he crashes somewhere offscreen. "Also, why do you have an air pump in your backpack, Anne?" Kenji asked as Anne was about to speak up but promptly shuts up as Sprig's voice rang out in the background.
"Hey, look at what I found!" Sprig said as he pulls out a small oriental box from Kenji's backpack, who look surprised at what the frog boy is holding. "I wonder what's in here." He said as he was about to open the box, but Kenji places a hand on the top of the box to prevent Sprig from opening the box and taking back from him gently.
"Sorry Sprig but it's best to not open this box. Ok?"
"Oh ok…and this." Sprig then started clicking a pen that he picked up from the pile repeatedly. "Oh, I love this," he said, stopping his clicking before continuing. "This is amazing."
"That's a pen," Kenji said, grabbing the pen from Sprig. Clicking it once to have the point out, he grabbed Anne's notebook and wrote something down on it. When he was done, he showed Sprig that he had written down 'It's used for writing' on it. "You can keep it if you want." Sprig took the pen back, and then went back to clicking it.
Anne and Kenji continued to watch him. "I think we created a monster," said the Taiwanese girl.
"You think?"
Their moment was cut short when they heard a bell clanging. "Kids! Breakfest!" Called from upstairs.
"Time to eat! Time to eat!" Anne, Kenji, Sprig, and Polly chanted while slamming their hands on the table a bunch of times as Hop Pop shakes his head at this with a warm chuckle.
"Hold on, you kids. Hold on." Hop Pop says while placing each of their bowls into his cauldron as he proceeds to hand it over to each kid, and Sprig and Polly instantly went to eat it, but the humans, however, were a little hesitant on eating it due to their bowls being filled with green slime and bugs as they grimaced before Kenji sighs heavily as he began eating from his bowl.
"Dude, seriously? Gross!" Anne says while sticking out her tongue in disgust as Kenji turned to her and shrugged.
"Hey, food is food. Besides, we've eaten way worse stuff than this on our first few nights in Amphibia."
"Ugh! You know what? I think I'm going to pass," Anne said, pushing her bowl away.
"Oh, really? Going to pass, huh? Well, what about Sprig, Polly, and even your little boyfriend here? They were able to eat my food with no trouble. Is my food really not that edible, or is my food not good enough for you, Princess?" Hop Pop asked with a sharp glare as Anne blushed and growled as she glared back at him slightly.
"First of all, Ken is not my boyfriend. Second, if I am the Princess, then doesn't that makes you the King of Crappy Cooking?"
"Oh, snap!" Polly yelled while trying to snap her fingers...before remembering that she doesn't have fingers as she pouted.
"Oh, yeah?! Well, you...I...uh..."
"What's the matter, Hop Pop? Frog in your throat?" Anne quipped while leaning against the table smugly.
"Ohhh! She got you again!" Sprig and Polly exclaimed while sharing a laugh as Kenji, however, didn't find the situation to be amusing once he saw Hop Pop legitimately getting angry by Anne not only insulting his cooking but making fun of him in front of his Grandkids and quickly stood up as he walked over to Anne and bends down to place his hand on Anne's shoulder.
"Anne, stop, that's enough," Kenji said in stern tone as Hop Pop gritted his teeth, and his face went red with unbridled rage as he slammed his hands on the table.
"Oh, dang it, that is it! You know what? I'm going to take a nap." Hop Pop says while turning around to storm off to his room as he grumbles under his breath angrily and places his hand on the door handle of his room as Hop Pop turned to glare at Anne. "I don't believe this! You're such an ungrateful brat, Anne! I feed you, I house you when literally no one else wants you around, and this is how you repay me?! Why can't you be more like Kenji!? At least he's well-behaved and grateful for everything I've done for him! I swear to the great Frog in the sky, Anne, if you don't shape up soon, I'm throwing you out!" Hop Pop yelled firmly before walking back into his room as he slammed the door shut...before opening it and slamming it shut again in his anger as everyone blinked at this in stunned shock.
Whack!
"Ow!" Anne says while rubbing her head as she looks up to glare at Kenji. "What was that for?!" Anne asked as it was now Kenji's turn to glare down at her.
"I told you to stop teasing Hop Pop! And now, he's threatening to kick you out if you don't cut out with your shit!" Kenji yelled with worried, panicky eyes, not wanting to see Hop Pop kicking out his best friend to fend off for herself as Anne rolled her eyes at this and scoffed.
"Oh, calm down, Kenji. Hop Pop just overreacted. It's no big deal." Anne says dismissively before coming up with a mischievous idea as she grinned and ran over to grab one of Hop Pop's discarded jackets and his wooden canes as Anne puts on the jacket before hunching over as she pulled back her hair and puts on a more grumpy, stern look. "Hey, look at me! I'm Hop Pop, and I cook badly and have a temper problem!" Anne says while imitating Hop Pop's voice and mannerisms as everyone, sans Kenji, begins laughing.
"That's so Hop Pop!" Sprig says with a laugh as Polly giggled.
"Anne, seriously, cool it with the jokes already. They're not even funny anymore." Kenji says with a frown while crossing his arms in irritation as Anne promptly ignores him and continues making fun of Hop Pop.
"Eat your aphids, don't play with them. Elbows off the table!" Anne said as she walks back to the table as she raises the cane into the air. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother putting up with you at all!" She finished as she swings the cane down. Only for the top end to hit the edge of the table and break off with a loud snap. Sprig and Polly gasped in horror at what just happened and Kenji…
Whack!
"Ow...okay, I deserved that," Anne says admittedly while rubbing the sore spot on the back of her head where Kenji hits her as he was about to berate his friend about accidentally breaking Hop Pop's cane but stopped as the humans noticed that Sprig and Polly still had looks of shock/terror on their faces.
"Are you guys, okay?" Kenji asked worriedly as Anne furrowed her eyebrows at them concernedly.
"Yeah, I mean, I know that I accidentally broke one of Hop Pop's canes, but what's the big deal? It's just one cane. He has several more." Anne says while pointing at a small bin filled with more of Hop Pop's canes as the Plantar Siblings snapped out of their shock and gave Anne nervous looks.
"That wasn't just any cane, Anne," Polly says as Sprig nodded with a grim expression on his face.
"Yeah, it was Hop Pop's special cane, passed down from his father, Hop Poppity Pop, all the way from his father, Hop-and-Lock-Drop Soppity Pop!" Sprig says while pointing at their family portraits as Anne's face grew pale by what he said and panics as she turned over to give her friends a pleading, nervous look.
"Guys, I know that I missed up and that I was rude and everything, but you all have to help me buy Hop Pop a new cane that looks exactly like the old one that I ate, or else Hop Pop is going to kick me out the house! And I cannot, repeat, I cannot go back to living in a cave!" Anne says as she and even Kenji flinched wildly as they both had a small flashback appear in their brains.
~[Flashback]~
"S-So cold..." Anne murmurs under her breath as we cue to their first day in Amphibia and see both her and Kenji living in a small cave in the woods that was filled with hundreds of bugs and other kinds of small, disgusting animals as it was raining heavily outside and thunder rang out as the humans were sleeping together on the ground, using a couple of rocks as makeshift pillows and cuddling each other for warmth as they would be incredibly embarrassed and blushing to be so close with each other if they didn't stink like crap and were scared out of their minds to be in a new alien world.
"I-I know, Anne, I know," Kenji says while placing his hand around Anne's waist to hug her tighter as both were shivering terribly by the cold.
"Ow, Ken, your thing is poking me!" Anne says as she felt something long and pointy poking her lower body.
"Oh, sorry about that," Kenji says while bending down to grab his...wooden stick that he was carrying around inside of his pocket as he tossed it away.
"Why did you bring that in here, anyway?" Anne asked in irritation while turning her head to look at Kenji as he rolled his eyes.
"I was trying to build a fire, okay." Kenji drawls out with a groan as Anne rolled her eyes, but then both kids gasped in fear as they heard a familiar noise rang out from outside, and the humans shuffled deeper inside of the cave to hide with fearful looks on their faces as they hugged each other in terror.
~[Flashback Over]~
"The nights were the hardest," Anne says with a haunted expression on her face as she shivered, and Kenji did the same before bending down to place his hand on Anne's shoulder with a reassuring look on his face.
"Don't worry, Anne, I-Uh, I mean, we won't let that happen," Kenji says with a small blush on his face as Sprig nodded in agreement with a big smile on his face.
"Yeah, Anne, we'll do whatever it takes to help you out." Sprig says as Polly, however, didn't really agree with her brother as she shrugged with a bored look on her face.
"Eh, count me out."
"Polly!"
"What? I hardly know her and Kenji. Why should I help her?"
"Would you help us for one of these?" Kenji asked teasingly while pulling out a wrapped-up chocolate bar that had the words 'Snackers Chocolate Bar' written on it.
"Candy from another world!? Heck Yeah! You guys got yourself a deal!" Polly exclaimed gleefully as Kenji and the others smiled as Polly then leaped up to snatch her new snack out of Kenji's hand and began eating it.
"Now that we bribed Polly to help us, let's go and save my skin from getting kicked out of this house!" Anne says as Kenji nodded.
The first thing they tried was to glue the two pieces back together. Luckily for them, the food that Hop Pop served them was just as sticky as glue. So, Sprig placed some of the food onto the bottom piece of the cane. Kenji, crouching down and holding the bottom piece, held it in place as Anne pushed the top piece down with her body weight. Polly then tied the two ends together with her bow.
After holding the two ends together for about thirty seconds, Anne slowly let's go of the cane as Kenji held it. Seeing that it worked, the group all cheered. "Yeah!"
And then it broke again. The top part falling off onto the ground.
"Okay, this isn't working," Anne said, picking up the other piece. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Yeah, we need to find someone who's good at making canes. Maybe like a woodcarver or something." Kenji says thoughtfully as Sprig beamed and leaped up into Kenji's arms as he smiled at him excitedly.
"Ken, you're a genius! We'll just take it to Leopold Loggle, the Woodsmith! He loves wood...almost a little too much." Sprig says with a deadpan, blank expression on his face as everyone blinked at this quietly until Anne snorted as she chuckled.
"Well, that's a sexual innuendo as I've ever heard one." An amused Anne says as Polly turns to her confusedly.
"What's a sexual innuendo?"
"Oh, nothing, Polly. Anyway, let's go and meet the Woodsmith." Anne says as Kenji and the others nodded before making their way into town.
After waiting around for Anne to time out and transform back to normal, we see the gang standing in Wartwood's very own Wood Shop, where a Woodsmith was currently inspecting the portrait of Hop Pop with his cane that Anne and the others had stolen earlier as he hums thoughtfully. The Woodsmith is a 4'8-feet-tall, 65-year-old, anthropomorphic Axolotl Male with small closed white eyes that has blue pupils, small white tufts of hair on the side of his head with a large bald spot, wrinkles on his face, no nose, a large white mustache, a light green tongue, dark blue gills, light blue skin, two long four-fingered arms, a tall slim built, three-toed long legs, and his outfit consists of a pair of goggles that are wrapped around his head with the left lens being clear while the right lens is green that has three small settings on it (Similar to a microscope), a brown work apron with a beige shirt underneath, a red scarf that he wears around his neck, and grey boots. His name is Leopold Loggle, Wartwood's Finest Woodsmith.
"Uh-huh. Oh, oh, yes. Well, aren't you fascinating? Yes, you are." Leopold says creepily while inspecting the photo as he was impressed by the craftsmanship of the cane in the photo. "So, how did you all break it?" Leopold asked curiously as Anne, and the others shared awkward looks with sweatdrops.
"Trust me, dude, you don't want to know," Anne says as Kenji stepped up,
"Anyway, can you fix it?" Kenji asked anxiously/hopefully as Leopold smiled at him cheerfully.
"As a matter of fact, young man, I can...not, sorry." Leopold says with the same smile as the group shared confused, disappointed looks.
"Can you make a new on?" Sprig asked.
"Absolutely…no way."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Do you have one we can buy?" Polly asked as Leopold beamed.
"Of course, I do...n't. I don't."
"Dude, why do you keep doing that?!" Anne asked in frustration/irritation toward the annoying old man.
"Old smithing accident...you don't want to know," Leopold says ominously as everyone blinked at this with disturbed looks on their faces.
"Uh, okay, so-,"
"I used to be a Metalsmith, but one day I accidentally tripped on an anvil. Yep, landed neck-first right into a metal pipe, and it pierced right through my voice box!" Leopold shouted while pulling down his scarf to show off the scar on his neck as everyone groaned in surprise/disgust at the sight of it.
"Blegh!" Polly gags in horror while sticking out her tongue in revulsion as a green-faced Kenji covered her eyes.
"Dude, come on!" Anne yells while holding out her arm as she looked away.
"Cool." Sprig commented with his usual cheerful smile as Leopold raises up his scarf to cover his scar, much to everyone sans Sprig's relief as Leopold rested against his table.
"I was able to heal my injuries eventually, but I accidentally healed my voice box wrong, so now I have a speaking issue in which when I say saying introducing adverbs, I pause...before saying the ending negative word," Leopold explains as everyone nodded but didn't say anything as they were still disturbed by his scar. "Anyway, after I finished healing my voice box, I switched over to wood."
"Look, that's a nice story and everything, but can you please tell us why you can't make a replica of Hop Pop's Cane?" Kenji asked as Leopold nodded and begins to explain why he can't make them a new cane.
"Alright, look, I'm afraid I can't do much for you guys because your Hop Pop's Cane was made with wood from the incredibly rare, extremely dangerous Doom Tree!" Leopold says while turning around to grab a large ancient-looking book from one of his bookshelves as he placed it on the counter and opened the book as it showed a page about a magical creature named 'The Doom Tree' and it shows the picture of a black tree with red eyes and a red mouth. "Few have made it to the Doom Tree alive, fewer yet returned. It holds many secrets that mortals dare not-,"
"Dude, we don't care. It may be a rare, cursed tree or whatever, but fought worse. I think we can handle a magic tree. So just spare us the dramatics and just tell us where it is." Anne says sassily while crossing her arms as Sprig nodded.
"Yeah, Loggle, cut the chitchat!"
"You're bald!" Polly randomly insulted as a sweatdropping Leopold raises his arms in surrender.
"Okay, okay." Leopold says while turning the page of the book to show the map of how to get to the cursed tree. "I got a map to the Doom Tree right here, but it'll cost ya."
"Click." Kenji said as he takes a photo of the map then shows it to Leopold.
"Or you could do that...for free." Leopold says with a massive sweat drop on his head, regretting showing them the map as Kenji smiled at him cheerfully.
"Thanks for showing us the map. Anyway, let's go, guys." Kenji says as Anne nodded anxiously.
"Yeah, come on, guys. We got to hurry. Hop Pop could wake up at any second!"
"Right!" The Plantar Siblings stated in unison/determination as the group turned around to run away.
"Be careful, you kids. It's cursed, I tell you. Cursed!"
"To the Doom Tree, everyone!" Anne stated gleefully with Kenji taking lead as he opened the door and ran out of the Wood Shop as his best friend followed shortly after while carrying around a cheering Polly on her hair as Sprig ran behind her but stopped as he noticed a... wooden statue of a muscular, naked Leopold doing a pose.
"Whoa, Loggle. T-This is a... yeah, we got to talk about this, man. We're coming' back. We're going to talk about this. All right, goodbye." Sprig says to Leopold while giving the statue one final disturbed, disgusted look as he runs off to follow the others.
And so, the four kids traveled together to find the Doom Tree. Going past Death Ridge and the Mushroom Forest, before stopping at Swamp Lake. While Kenji and Anne went around it, Sprig and Polly went through it. About an hour into their journey, Kenji was walking in front of the group. With a borrowed mantis hand-scythe from the farm, he hacked and cut down plants and vines that were in his way.
"Alright, guys, we're getting close," Kenji says as he and the others were making their way through Doom Forest as an irritated Anne was trying to swat away a couple of annoying bugs and animals that wanted to live in her hair, Sprig was humming a little song under his breath, and a bored Polly was riding on top of her brother's head as she yawns. "Wait, stop! We're here!" Kenji yelled as the others perked up and gasped expectantly as the group moved forwards, and the humans pushed back a couple of big leaves as they and the Frogs gasped in shock at the sight of a giant, black tree resting in the middle of a small meadow.
"Whoa, now that's a huge ugly ass tree!" Anne commented in shock as she and the others stared up at the tree in awe.
"Just one of Mother Nature's greatest yet ugliest wonders." Sprig says as the others nodded and began walking towards the tree with all of them feeling slightly unease by the creepy atmosphere forming around the area as they saw multiple Frog skulls littered across the ground.
"Like the platypus," Kenji said jokingly, but it really didn't do much in lightening the mood. There was still a strange and foreboding aura that seemed to be emanating from the tree. It towered over them as they approached it. Pasting by many bones of frogs that had died.
"Ha, ha, Frogs died here," Polly says with an awkward, nervous laugh as the group made their way towards the giant tree and studied it curiously/nervously as Anne spotted something that made her beam.
"Hey, look! That branch is perfect!" Anne stated cheerfully while pointing at a long black tree branch that was placed fifteen feet above them as Kenji and the others nodded at it approvingly.
"Agreed, so who's going to fetch the tree branch?" Kenji asked as Polly crossed her arms with a scoff.
"Well, I don't have any legs, so you people with your legs have to fetch it."
"Oh, I'll get it!" Sprig exclaimed while grunting as he leaped up into the air and latched onto a small tree branch as the pink Poisonous Frog began climbing up the tree.
"Oh, let me tag along to help you, Sprig. That tree branch looks sturdy." Anne says while walking over to latch onto the tree as she started climbing it.
"Uh, are you sure that you don't want me to help Sprig, Anne?" Kenji asked worriedly as Anne rolled her eyes amusedly.
"I know how to climb a tree, Ken. Besides, you were basically our human map throughout all the journey. The least I can do is fetch the stick." Anne says as Kenji frowned before shrugging as he and Polly watched as Anne and Sprig had made it up to the tree branch that the poof-haired teen had selected and grabbed onto it as they began trying to pull it. "Ugh, come on, come on..." Anne mumbled under her breath as both she and Sprig tried their best to rip out the tree branch, but it proved to be too sturdy for them to come off easily as Anne and Sprig took a short break to catch their breaths. "Man, this branch is strong. Although, this is supposedly a 'cursed' tree, so I guess that makes sense." Anne says to herself thoughtfully as Sprig shakes his head.
"Nah, we got this, Anne. We just have to pull at the same time." Sprig says while placing his hands on the black tree branch as Anne nodded and did the same.
"Got it. Alright, pull on three. One, two...three!" Anne yelled as she and Sprig grunted as they pulled on the black tree branch with all their strength and had managed to crack it a bit as they were close to ripping it out of the tree but, before they could, the cursed tree let out a painful, angered shriek as everyone paused what they were doing and blinked in confusion.
"D-Did the tree just screamed?" Kenji asked Polly in disbelief as the Tadpole shrugged, but then she and the others gasped in shock as the giant tree began shaking violently and caused a screaming Anne and Sprig to fall off the tree as Kenji quickly swoops in and caught them in his arms with a surprisingly amazing amount of strength as he held Anne bridal style and Sprig laid on her lap.
"Wow, good catch, Ken." An impressed Anne says while placing her arms around his neck to balance herself as he smirked.
"Thanks," Kenji says before he and the others gasped loudly as they watched with wide eyes as the giant tree continued trembling violently before suddenly uprooting himself out of the ground as his roots slowly formed into multiple leg-shaped appendages and two huge arm-shaped thick branches popped out of his sides as two red eyes and a mouth formed out of the tree bark and the Cursed Tree proceeds to glare down at the stunned group.
"...We should run now, right?" Kenji asked as the Cursed Tree growled angrily and roared, spitting a bunch of maple syrup onto their bodies as he raised his arms, and suddenly the frog skeletons around him sprang up into life as they grew up to be four-feet-tall with rotted flesh begins to surround the bones as each of them had glowing yellow/blue eyes, large, jagged teeth, and carrying rusted weapons as there was at least twenty of them currently surrounding the group.
"Yep! Everyone! Run!" Anne shouted as she and the others quickly turned around to run away with Polly jumping onto Kenji's head to hitch a ride as the Cursed Tree roared at his Undead Frog Minions to chase after them and kill the intruders for trying to steal one of his branches as they obediently followed their master's commands and rushed forwards to chase after the group.
"Okay, so maybe the curse was real after all!" Sprig yelled nervously as we see him and the others running through Doom Forest with the Undead Frog Minions chasing after them as the group tried to lose them by zigzagging around, but they were relentless in trying to kill them as they managed to duck around or evade the obstacles that the gang had put up to try and stop them.
"Yeah, which is why we need to continue running and get the hell out of here!" Kenji yelled as Anne and Sprig nodded in agreement while a confused Polly turned towards the Humans.
"Wait, guys, why are we running?" Polly asked with a puzzled look on her face as the group turned to her in disbelief.
"What do you mean why we're running?! Don't you see that we're being chased after by an army of undead monsters that a cursed tree spawned!?" An exasperated Anne yelled as Polly rolled her eyes at this and crossed her arms.
"Yeah, I know, but still, why are we running away from the monsters? Can't Kenji just use one of those cards that Sprig told me about? Use them!" Polly yelled as Anne and Kenji blinked...before looking at Sprig with a crossed look on their face while the frog boy looked at them with a guilty smile.
"Sprig what the hell?! Why did you tell her about the cards? Also, when did you even tell her?" Kenji said as Sprig scratches the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Sorry, it was just popped out when Polly and I talked when we crossed the lake, but she has a good point though. You can use one of those cards to beat these guys." Sprig said as Kenji sighs at this knowing that the frog boy has a point. So, Kenji skids to a stop, and Sprig leaped out of Anne's lap as he grabbed onto Polly and runs off as Kenji gently places Anne back down onto the ground just as the horde of undead frog minions appeared as the Kenji pulls out a Class Card, but instead of the Saber, he pulls out the Archer Card and Anne pulls out her tennis racket.
"Ok, Tree Monster, you and your army of evil undead minions are going down!" Anne exclaimed with a confident grin on her face as Kenji looked at her in confusion.
"Where on earth did you keep that thing?" Kenji asked as Sprig and Polly popped their heads from the tree that they were hiding in.
"Ask later! Bring on the heat, guys!" Polly yelled with a big, excited grin on her face as Anne and Kenji shared a smirk as the Undead Minions were beginning to approach them as Kenji raises the card into the sky and said...
"Include: Archer!"
Like before at the lake, a pillar of light surrounds Kenji as the Doom Tree Insect and its minions backed off from the light and Anne, Sprig, and Polly had to cover their eyes so that they wouldn't go blind. As the light dies down, the trio were expecting Kenji to wield a bow or something of a similar nature, but what they didn't expect is Kenji now having two twin swords in his hands. They are identical in shape with the only difference being their color. The black sword is covered in a red hexagonal pattern, and the white sword has less of the shine of a polished metal in its ore than it has the haze of a cloud.
"Woah!" Anne said in awe.
"Cool!" Sprig with his eyes looking at the dual blades
"Wait you said Archer? Where's your bow?" Polly asked in confusion as she does make a point. Where was the Bow if Kenji was using the Archer card?
Kenji wasn't responding as he was looking at the swords in confusion, but his eyes widen as if he realizes what this class can REALLY do. So, without a word, he charges forwards towards the Undead Frog Minions. One of them swung their sword to strike down Kenji, but he was quick to block the attack with the black blade and with quick reflexes he severs the undead arm that was holding the sword then cuts the head off with ease.
As the first one fell, Kenji kicks the rusted sword that was on the ground to Anne who catches it as she blocks a strike from another undead frog minion with her racket and beheads it with a swift cut. Kenji smiled as he saw Anne can handle herself quite well, but words of complements will have to wait has he strikes down another undead frog minion.
After a few minutes of taking down a few minutes of taking down multiple enemies, Kenji and Anne were breathing heavily with their weapons beginning to wear and tear as the last remaining foes are two undead frog minions and the Doom Tree Insect itself. The last undead minions ran forward to take the teens down, but Kenji and Anne took them down without a hitch. The duo turns to the Doom Tree Insect, which was growing at them, as Kenji raises the white cracked blade towards the bug.
"You're next, you overgrown maggot." Kenji said as the Doom Tree Insect roared at the insult that was thrown at it and charges forward to kill the teens. As it tried to strike the two down with its pincers-like claws, Kenji and Anne swung their weapons at the legs to cut them off, but unfortunately the twin blades and the rusted iron sword broke as they looked at their weapons in shock, but it didn't last long as they were both knocked back towards the tree that Sprig, and Polly were hiding behind.
"Guys?! Are you Ok?" Sprig asked as the two nodded as the stood up with their broken weapons.
"Your swords are broken!" Polly said in surprise.
"Do you have a plan, Ken?" Anne said as Kenji begins to look at the Doom Tree with a hawk-like gaze to find a weakness.
As Kenji notice that the eyes were one thing that isn't covered in wood, he acted by throwing the broken blades towards the Doom Tree's head which landed straight into it's eyes. The giant insect screeched out in pain at the two blades in its eyes. "While that thing is distracted, go for the branch with that broken blade and cut it off. It will give me the time to go in for the kill."
"Are you sure?" Anne asked as Kenji nodded
"I'm sure. You can do it!" Kenji said as Anne nodded as she begins to climb the Doom Tree again with the rusted sword. As Anne reached to the top and begin to hack at the loose limb, Kenji then raises his left hand as a metallic black longbow materializes in his hand and in his right hand is a sword of a unique design. The blade of the sword coils into a spiral that looks like it can penetrate any target when fired.
As Kenji draws the bow with the spiral sword, the weapon begins to shift as turns into a longer and thinner version of itself, making itself a makeshift arrow. When Kenji begins to aim at the creature's head, Anne finally cuts off the branch off and jumps off the creature in time for Kenji to deliver the killing blow.
"Caladbolg!" Kenji said as he let loose the shot, causing a shockwave to happen as the shot not only took the creature head clean off, but the shot kept on going until it disappeared into the stars above. Anne was very close to hitting the ground, but Kenji was faster as he dismissed the bow and catches her bridal style before she hits the ground. "Are you ok, Anne."
"Uh huh." Anne said in daze as a blush appeared on her face at how close she and Kenji were as Sprig and Polly came out of there hiding spot.
"GUYS THAT WAS AMAZING!" Sprig said with a big smile.
"Yeah, you kicked that grody bugs butt!" Polly said with glee as the teenagers chuckles at the admiration that the frog kids where giving them.
"Hey, Ken? Remember how you were holding Anne earlier when we were running away from the cursed Tree's minions?" Sprig suddenly asked as Polly, and the humans turned over to him confusedly.
"Yeah, why?"
"Heh, I thought Anne wasn't your girlfriend. Is she your bride now?" Sprig says jokingly, referring to the time that Kenji was carrying around Anne bridal style as the humans blushed massively as they glared down at Sprig.
"SPRIG! / YOU LITTLE TURD!" Anne and Kenji yelled angrily as Sprig smirks slyly while running from the two blushing teens while Polly giggled.
Two hours later, after making their way back to Wartwood Swamp and briefly taking a detour to Loggle's Shop so that he can shape the tree branch that they had acquired from the Doom Tree to resemble more like Hop Pop's cane and also bring pieces of the Doom Tree Insect as compensation for the map, we see the group making their back to the Plantar Home as they opened the door and walked inside with Anne holding onto Hop Pop's new cane as they were about to place it in the cane holder and sneak away, but stopped as the door to Hop Pop's room opened up, and the old Frog walked out as he yawned loudly and scratched his back as he smiled cheerfully.
"Whoa, boy. I needed that. Hope nothing happened while I was asleep to make me mad again." Hop Pop says before deadpanning as he saw his Grandchildren and Human Guests standing in front of him with a nervous Anne holding onto his cane as Hop Pop sighs heavily and rubbed his temples. "Oh, great. What did you do? And, Anne, why are you holding onto my cane?"
"O-Oh, uh, well, you see, while we were hanging around, Sprig and Polly told us about your favorite cane, and we saw that it looked old and a little broken, so Anne here suggested that we take it to a Woodsmith to get it fixed," Kenji lied smoothly as Hop Pop raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Really? Is that true?" Hop Pop asked Anne, who froze up as she sweated nervously and smiled at him awkwardly as she nodded. "...well, that's rather nice of you, Anne." Hop Pop says with a rather warm, happy smile on his face as he walked over to grab the cane out of a trembling Anne's hands and inspected it as he hums in satisfaction. "Heh, wow, this cane looks practically brand new!"
"Oh, you have no idea." Polly says before being smacked in the head by Sprig and Kenji as she rubs her head and glared up at the boys in irritation.
"Well, anyway, Anne? I want to say thanks for getting this old cane fixed up a bit. I was fixing on doing it anyway, so I appreciate you doing this for me. You're a nice House Guest, after all. I'm glad that you took my words to heart and are shaping yourself up a bit. Keep up the good work, kid." Hop Pop says while patting Anne's arm fondly as the young teenage girl, however, felt like her heart was being stabbed by a knife repeatedly as she felt incredibly guilty for having her friends lie for her, breaking the cane in the first place, and for having Hop Pop praise her for being a 'great' houseguest as Anne gritted her teeth and trembled as she pulled on her hair in frustration.
"Aaaaaahhhhh! I can't take it! The guilt is killing me!" Anne shouted while dropping down to her knees as she looked up to give a startled, confused Hop Pop a regretful look. "Hop Pop, I'm sorry, but I had Ken lie for me because I was too nervous to lie to your face. I didn't take your cane to have it fixed by Loggle. The truth is that I-I was goofing around with your cane and... I accidentally broke it!" she finished as she pulls out the broken remains and placed them in front of him.
"You what?!" Hop Pop asked in shock as Anne nodded with a rather guilty look on her face.
"After that, I practically begged everyone to help me get you a new cane, which was not easy at all because it took us defeating a giant cursed tree and his minions of undead frog corpses to get you your new cane." Anne says as Hop Pop continued staring at her in stunned shock, and Anne grew sad by this as she hangs her head low, thinking that Hop Pop was so mad at her that he couldn't form words as Anne stood up from the floor and began solemnly making her way towards the exit. "I know, I know, Hop Pop. Your silence says it all. I messed up badly. You don't have to kick me out. I'll do it myself." A remorseful Anne says while grabbing onto her school bag as Sprig, and even Polly ran/jumped over to hug her.
"We'll come to visit you, Anne. We promise/And just when I was starting to like you!" A crying Sprig and Polly stated in unison as Anne sniffled and teared up a bit as she hugged them back.
"Please, don't make this harder than it is."
"Anne, please, be reasonable. You can't go out there alone. At least let me come with you so that I can help protect you." Kenji says while walking over to the trio as Anne raised her head to him and shakes her head somberly.
"No, Ken, I don't want you to be forced to sleep in a cave with me because of me. It's my mistake. I was the one who screwed up, so I have to face the consequences."
"I don't care! You're my friend, and I won't allow you to go out there on your own!" Kenji yelled fiercely as Anne simply shakes her head.
"I'm sorry, Ken, but this how things have to be." Anne says sadly as Kenji glared at her angrily and tightened his fists as he growled in frustration with tears running down his eyes.
"You are stupid, reckless, stubborn-," Kenji says before breaking down as he joined the hug, and Sprig and Polly began crying as Kenji started doing the same, and Anne, who was trying to stay strong, eventually broke down as she sobs.
"I love you guys! Thanks for trying to help me out there with Hop Pop's cane! I'm going to miss you all so much!"
"We will miss you too, Anne!" Kenji, Sprig, and Poly cried out as the kids continued sobbing, much to Hop Pop's discomfort as his eyes darted around awkwardly.
"What the...what's going on, kids? Why are you all crying?"
"Because you're throwing me out. You know, like you said you would." Anne says with a sniffle as Hop Pop raised an eyebrow at this before smiling warmly as he chuckles and shakes his head.
"Oh, Anne, I'm not kicking you out."
"What!?" Everyone asked in shock/surprise as Hop Pop nodded.
"Yeah, I mean, sure, you accidentally broke my cane and while that does infuriate me, I'm at least grateful that you went out of your way and worked your butt off to get me a new cane. It shows that you feel remorse for your actions...you do feel guilty for destroying my original cane, right?"
"Yes, I am. Very." A serious and guilty Anne stated as Hop Pop smiles lightly and nodded.
"Well, then I forgive you for destroying my cane, and you can continue living here with your boyfriend and us."
"Ken is not my boyfriend, but yay! Anne Boonchuy is not moving out! Whoo!" Anne cheered while dropping her backpack as Sprig and Polly cheered while Kenji places his hand on Anne's shoulders as the teenage best friends shared a relieved, happy smile.
"He, he, yeah...oh, and Anne? Truth be told, I was never going to throw you out. I was just talking tough so that you'd show me a little bit more respect."
"Wow, that's kind of messed up, man, but I'm not mad. I do kind of deserve it for acting like a spoiled bitch to you for these past few days. Sorry about that." Anne apologizes as Hop Pop waves it off carelessly with a small laugh.
"Heh, heh, heh, it's alright. Besides, I probably was a little bit too harsh on you, but I only did it because you remind me of myself when I was your age. Rough around the edges."
"Maybe, but still, I feel bad for causing you so much stress and trouble. I just want to say that I'm sorry for giving you a hard time, old man. You were kind enough to allow me and Kenji to stay here until we figure out a way to come back home, and here I am insulting you and belittling you as if you were nothing. So, Hop Pop, I once again want to say that I'm sorry for everything that I've done to you, and I promise that I will try to be more respectful to you." Anne apologized somberly as Hop Pop blinked before smiling warmly as he nodded.
"Apology accepted, Anne. Anyway, now that that's settled, I wrote a long list of comebacks to get you back for this morning." Hop Pop says while pulling out said list as he clears his throat. "Hey, Anne, is that your hair, or is it a dandelion?"
"..."
"Ha...uh-Oh! Are those long, lanky limbs, Anne, or are those, uh, twigs? Ah! He, he,"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...The moment has passed, hasn't it?" Hop Pop asked awkwardly as the teens and frog kids nodded stoically as Hop Pop sighs in disappointment and ripped up his list as he stalks off in a huff.