Episode Three: The Tower

"Are you sure about this?" asked Marcy, "Why would you ever wanna go to Toad Tower in the first place? Let alone right after the vision you had!" "We just have to find out where Sasha and the toad who saved her went," stated Ash, "Have Joe Sparrow set us down here." Marcy tugged on the reins and Joe Sparrow landed softly before the destroyed tower. "There's nothing here!" exclaimed Marcy. "Shut up!" whispered Ash, pulling Marcy behind some rubble, "Look." "Who is responsible for all of this!?" demanded Yunan. "Look lady," said a toad, "I don't even know who you are!" "Here it comes," groaned Ash. "I AM GENERAL YUNNAN!" exclaimed Yunnan, "SCOURGE OF THE SAND WARS! DEFEATER OF RAGNAR THE WRETCHED! AND THE YOUNGEST NEWT TO EVER ACHIEVE THE RANK OF GENERAL IN THE GREAT NEWTOPIAN ARMY!" "Okay okay!" cowered the frightened toad, "Just don't hurt me!" "I won't," said Yunnan, "I just want to know who was responsible for this tower's collapse." "It was Captain Grime and his human lieutenant, Sasha!" "Sash?" Marcy asked herself. "Great," said Yunnan, "Thank you for your cooperation." Yunnan then jumped on her bird and took off. "Let's go," said Ash. "But we gotta follow her!" said Marcy. "We gotta find Sasha and 'Captain Grime' before she does!" said Ash, "Yunnan is relentless! She'll get Sasha killed!" "You're right," said Marcy, "So where do you think they went?" "In my vision," said Ash, "I saw who was most likely Captain Grime carry Sasha into the woods- going… south!" Ash then ran into the southern woods, hoping to find Marcy's missing friend. I would go after Anne, thought Ash, But it would be a little suspicious if I suddenly knew where she was too. "How far into the woods do you think they went?" asked Marcy. "I think to that campfire," said Ash, pointing at a burnt out campfire, "This must be where they stopped for the night." "Which way do you think they went?" asked Marcy, "It's almost impossible to figure that out!" "They went west," stated Ash. "How do you know?" asked Marcy. "There's tracks," said Ash, "Someone most likely ran over the firepit and got ash on their boots." "Well it's a good thing that I have this ash on my boots," said Marcy cheesily. "Oh shut up," said Ash, "Puns on my name are one of my biggest pet peeves." "Sorry," said Marcy, "Now let's go!" The pair then followed the tracks left by the toads that had retreated from this campsite, not knowing what lurked in the woods.

"It feels like we've been walking forever!" groaned Marcy, "We have to get back to the competition!" "But we're so close," argued Ash, "I can feel it! Just a little further." Ash then heard a branch snap. "Did you step on a twig?" she asked Marcy. Marcy looked down. "No," she replied. Ash readied her fists and Marcy loaded her crossbow. They stood back to back, ready to fight what was coming their way. They saw the bushes start to rustle. "Whatever it is…" said Ash, "It's most likely not alone. Be prepared." The rustling got louder and suddenly, a blonde haired girl with a scar on her cheek stumbled out. "Sasha!" exclaimed Marcy. "Mar Mar?" asked Sasha. Marcy enveloped Sasha in a big hug. "Oh," said Ash, "So you're the one Marcy told me about." "And who are you?" asked Sasha. "Ashla Moltono," replied Ash, "I landed here two days ago." "Yeah I don't care," said Sasha, "Marcy, let's go. You're coming with me, back to the toads." "But-" argued Marcy. "That's that, Mar Mar," said Sasha, "You're coming with me. End. Of. Discussion." Marcy frowned and hung her head. "No she's not," said Ash. "Excuse me?" asked Sasha. "You heard me," replied Ash, "I've only known Marcy Wu for… forty eight hours, but I've learned that she doesn't let herself get pushed around by people like you anymore." "Ugh," groaned Sasha, "You sound like Anne's pink little frog friend. Just leave me and my bestie alone." "No," said Marcy, "She's right. I've let you push me around all my life. You've been controlling me since the day we met! And you know what? I'm done! I'm finally in a place where I have a little control, and you have no right to take that away from me! So you have two options. You can crawl back to your toads, or you can come with us, back to Newtopia. Your decision." Sasha just scoffed and turned around. "You just made your biggest mistake, Moltono," said Sasha, menacingly, "And Marcy, you can forget about us being friends." "It doesn't seem like we ever were," called Marcy as Sasha stormed back through the bushes. "Talk about a heart stomper," laughed Ash. Marcy laughed with her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on," she said, "We gotta get back to the competition."

"We still have no song idea!" stressed Marcy, "What are we gonna do!? The next round starts in ten minutes!" "Relax," said Ash, "We still have that long, and a few acts before us…" Ash then got a good idea. "Hey," she said, "Would you say that, to get home, you would do whatever it takes?"

The stage went dim, and the final act of the night began, starting with a light fiddle.

Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes (Lyrics / Lyric Video)

Marcy: Falling too fast to prepare for this… tripping in the world, could be dangerous… Everybody circling is vulturous, negative, nepotist. Everybody waiting for the fall of amphibian, everybody praying for the end of time, everybody hoping I could be the one, I was born to run, I was born for this.

Ash and Marcy: Whip, whip!

Marcy: Run me like a-

Ash and Marcy: Race horse!

Marcy: Pull me like a-

Ash and Marcy: Rip cord! Break me down and build me up.

Marcy: I wanna be the-

Ash and Marcy: Slip, slip!

Marcy: Word upon your-

Ash and Marcy: Lip, lip! Letter that you rip, rip! Break me down and build me up- Whatever it takes! 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins! Whatever it takes! 'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains! Whatever it takes! Yeah, take me to the top, I'm ready for- whatever it takes! 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins… I do what it takes...

Ash: Hipócrita, egoísta, no quiero ser el paréntesis, hipotética. Trabajando duro en algo de lo que estoy orgulloso… fuera de la caja, un epoxi para el mundo y la visión que hemos perdido. Soy un apóstrofo, solo soy un símbolo para recordarles que hay más para ver, sólo soy el producto del sistema de catástrofe, y sin embargo una obra maestra, y sin embargo estoy medio enfermo y cuando muera, al menos bajaré a la tumba y moriré feliz, y dejaré el cuerpo y el alma para ser parte de ti- I do what it takes.

Ash and Marcy: Whatever it takes!

Ash: ¡Lo que sea necesario!

Ash and Marcy: 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins! Whatever it takes!

Ash: ¡Lo que sea necesario!

Ash and Marcy: 'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains! Whatever it takes!

Ash: ¡Hago lo que se necesita!

Ash and Marcy: Yeah, take me to the top, I'm ready for- whatever it takes!

Ash: ¡Lo que sea necesario!

Ash and Marcy: 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins… I do what it takes.

The crowd cheered for the pair, watching them bow and walk offstage. "You won't win," said the same newts from the previous night. "Maybe," said Ash, "But I know for sure that you won't." "Don't be so harsh," said Marcy, "They're just confident." "No," said Ash, "They're snobs! They're entitled brats- como Sasha!" "Calm down," said Marcy. "It's just…" sighed Ash, "She treated you like crud for your whole life… and I don't want you to have to go through that treatment anymore…" "It's okay," said Marcy, "The truth is, in life, you'll always have someone pushing you around and telling you what to do." "I just can't stand people like that…" sighed Ash, "Everyone has people like that… and I do my best to help them stand up to them- it hasn't gotten me many friends." "Obviously," said Marcy, "Being a hero never gets you any friends." "But at least it helps you do the right thing," said Ash. "Then that's what you need to do," said Marcy, "Insulting them back doesn't do anything. It just makes you as bad as them." "You're right," admitted Ash, "Thanks Mar Mar." "Hey," said Marcy, "That's what friends are for, right? Giving the right advice." "Let's just head back to the castle," said Ash. "Sure," said Marcy,

"Hey Ash?" asked Marcy. "What's up?" replied Ash. "I've been thinking," said Marcy, "Sasha said something about Anne and her pink frog friend." "And?" asked Ash. "Well, there are multiple villages and towns that frogs live in in Amphibia," stated Marcy, "Well, the most heavily populated one is a town called, 'Wartwood', which also just so happens to be the home of a family that contained the only pink colored frogs in the history of Amphibia, the Plantars." "So you're saying that Anne could be in Wartwood?" asked Ash. "Exactly," replied Marcy, "I also figured out that there's a natural ice barrier that blocks off the valley that Wartwood is located in from the rest of Amphibia. That ice barrier is melted now-" "Which means they most likely have started on a journey outside the valley to get to Newtopia so they can send Anne home!" "Precisely!" exclaimed Marcy. "Then we have to intercept them," said Ash. "Why would we intercept them?" asked Marcy, "We want to be prepared to welcome them." "Escucha," said Ash, "Andrias is not what he seems!" "Why don't you trust him?!" questioned Marcy, "He's been nothing but trustworthy!" "I- I-" stuttered Ash, "I wanted to avoid telling you this…" "Who's not trustworthy now?" asked Marcy with a smirk. Ash looked up at Marcy from where she was sitting, tears forming in her eyes. "Ash?" asked Marcy, her voice full of concern. "In a vision…" started Ash, "I- I saw… I saw Andrias stab you in the back…" "Well that doesn't seem like anything to cry over," said Marcy, wiping a tear away from Ash's face, "But why-" "Literalmente, Marcy!" interrupted Ash, "He's literally going to stab you in the back!" Marcy gasped. "Why would King Andrias do that!?" questioned Marcy. "He- He doesn't mean to… but he had to stop our success somehow…" sighed Ash. "You mean," started Marcy, "You've seen how all of this ends?" Ash nodded slowly. "Listen," said Marcy, "No matter what happens now… I will protect you. No matter what." "But you're the one that needs to be protected…" sighed Ash. "I can handle myself," said Marcy, "And even if that does happen, I'm willing to make the sacrifice if it means my friends survive." "Marcy…" sighed Ash, "I don't know if… I'm willing to make that sacrifice…" "Oh Ash," said Marcy with a smile, "No matter what, I promise that I'll be okay." "What if you can't keep that promise?" asked Ash. "I will," said Marcy, "Now that I know what'll happen, I can prevent it." "Okay," said Ash, her tears not relenting. "Ash," said Marcy, cupping her friend's cheek, "Please don't cry…" Ash wiped her tears and sniffled. She felt her face heat up from Marcy's concern… and touch. Marcy smiled and brushed a stray piece of hair from Ash's face. Ash backed herself up a bit, hiding her face and wiping away her tears. "I'm sorry," said Ash, "I just don't wanna lose a friend… not again…" Marcy gasped and pulled Ash into a big hug. The two stayed like that for a while. Eventually, Ash fell asleep in Marcy's arms. Marcy smiled, not letting her friend go. "Miss Marcy," said Lady Olivia, walking into the room, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but King Andrias has a message for you." "Can it wait?" asked Marcy, "She really needs me right now…" "I'm afraid not," said Lady Olivia, "He requested that I deliver it now." She then handed Marcy a piece of paper, rolled up in a scroll. "Read it when you feel ready," said Olivia, "It has some news about your friend." "I'll just do it now," said Marcy, unrolling the scroll. Marcy then gasped and dropped the paper. The message… was a wanted poster of Sasha.