Episode Five: The Infinity Box
"Hey Ash?" asked Marcy, "Do you think we should tell King Andrias about your little- burst of power at the hotel last week?" "No," said Ash, "I don't want him to know anything about me. No después de lo que le he visto hacer en mis visiones." "Well," said Marcy, "I've been researching those powers of yours." Ash raised a brow. "They seem to be stemmed from the 'Infinity Box'," stated Marcy, "Much like the Calamity Box that took Sasha, Anne, and I here, it has extraordinary powers to help you travel between realms and so much more! Time happens to be one of those powers, along with space, reality, power, soul, and mind." "I've heard of something like that," said Ash, "The Infinity Stones. But that's only in movies and comics!" "You're right!" exclaimed Marcy, "How did I not make that connection sooner?" Ash shrugged. "Anyway," stated Marcy, "What do you think we should do about all that?" "The Infinity Box isn't the mystical box we need to worry about right now," said Anne, who was standing in the doorway, "The Calamity Box is." She then pulled up a picture of the box up on her phone." "We have to show this to King Andrias!" exclaimed Marcy. "And just let him invade earth?" asked Ash, "I don't think so!" "Why would Andrias invade earth?" asked Anne. "It's his plan!" replied Ash, "¡Siempre lo ha sido!" "How could you possibly know that?" asked Marcy. "Because- I- I-" stuttered Ash, "Wait… follow me." Anne led the two other humans down the main hall of the castle. "Take a look at this tapestry," said Ash. "Looks like Andrias proclaiming peace," replied Marcy. "Yeah Ash," said Anne, "I don't see anything wrong with it." "Think again," said Ash, grabbing the tapestry and tearing it off the wall, "Not so peaceful now." When she did this, Marcy and Anne gasped. They saw the mural of Andrias with the box, The Core in the background, the corpses that looked like they were drawn with crayola. All of it. "No… way…" gasped Anne. "You… you were right!" exclaimed Marcy. They then heard footsteps approaching them in the hallway. "Put it back up!" whispered Anne. Ash grabbed the tapestry and jumped up the wall, hanging the tapestry back up. "Run!" whispered Marcy. The three ran down the hallway and out of the castle. They stopped before they reached the stairway. "Ash," said Marcy, catching her breath, "How did you know that was there?" "I saw it in a dream last night," Ash replied. "You always tell me when you have those visions," said Marcy, "Why didn't you tell me about this one?" "I thought it would've been better if I showed you," said Ash, "I know you don't ever want to believe me when I tell you things about Andrias being evil… especially after-" "We don't need to talk about that," interrupted Marcy, "And I never said I don't believe you!" "Wait, talk about what?" asked Anne. "It's nothing…" said Ash, seeing the image of the orange blade stabbing all the way through Marcy flash through her mind. "It's not nothing," said Anne, "That's obvious enough. What did Ash tell you?" "Why do you wanna know?" asked Ash, "Maybe it's just something that's too hard to share, Anne!" "Well why is it so hard to share?" questioned Anne. "Because it was Marcy's death!" screamed Ash. Anne stopped everything. "That can't be right," said Anne, "You're lying!" "No I'm not!" defended Ash, "Marcy believes me! Right?" "Well…" started Marcy, "I believe you saw something and were really scared…" "You- You really don't believe me…" stuttered Ash, "I always had hope that you did… but I guess I was wrong." "Ash-" said Marcy. "It's okay," said Ash, fighting tears and slowly starting to walk down the stairs, "¿Quién le creería a la chica que literalmente detuvo el tiempo..?" "Ashla!" called Marcy. Ash proceeded to run down the stairs at top speed. "Anne," said Marcy, "After claiming to see me die, she sat there and cried in my arms for the whole night." "Mar Mar…" sighed Anne, "I had no idea." "Yeah," Marcy said, "So next time… drop it." Marcy then ran after Ash, being careful not to tumble down the stairs like she did when she first got there, leaving Anne to her own devices.
Ash turned into an alleyway, leaning against a wall and sliding down it. She hid her head in her knees and let her tears flow. She then lifted her head and rested it on the wall behind her. She ran her hands through her dirty blonde hair and adjusted her beanie. Ashla then hid her head back in her knees. "I'm sorry," said a voice, snapping Ash out of her emotional state. Ash lifted her head to see Marcy standing in front of her. "Sometimes, Anne gets a little too invested in things," Marcy continued. "That's not why I left, Marcy," responded Ash, "You told me you believed me! ¡Me mentiste! And about something like that…" "I know," said Marcy, kneeling down in front of her and cupping her cheek, "And I feel so bad about it. I'm furious at myself. But I'm also terrified… if you were right about the tapestry, then there's a huge chance you're right about what'll happen to me." "I was also right about Sasha," said Ash. "Yes you were," laughed Marcy, "You're right about everything. And look, no matter what happens in the future… I know that everything will turn out okay." "That's a false belief," said Ash, rolling her eyes. "It's called being optimistic," corrected Marcy. "Marcy," said Ash, "I care a lot about you… and I don't wanna lose you." "You won't," said Marcy, "I promise. No matter what, I promise that I will always be here… and that's a promise I intend to keep." "Thanks Mar Mar," said Ash. "Guys!" exclaimed Anne, who had just rounded the corner, "Andrias wants us!" "Estupenda," said Ash. "Then let's go… together," said Marcy, standing up and extending a hand to help Ash up. Ash blushed and took it. "We'll face this together," said Anne, "And Ash, I'm sorry for pushing you… and accusing you of lying. You were right about the tapestry… I guess I just didn't want you to be right about that." "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I'm not," said Ash, "We're all going to make it back home by the end of this, and that's a promise I intend to keep." Ash shot a wink at Marcy, who responded with a light blush. "Let's just go face the music," said Anne.
"Girls," said King Andrias, "I have some news to share with you." "What is it?" asked Anne. "You all will be able to go home soon!" said Andrias with a smile, "And by all, I mean all. Bring her in, Yunnan." Yunnan kicked the door open and dragged in a figure with a sack over her head. "What's with the sack?" asked Andrias, "She's a guest, not a hostage. Take it off." Yunnan removed the sack to reveal Sasha underneath… Sasha with a big scar over her right eye. Anne and Marcy both gasped in unison. This did not happen in the show, thought Ash. Sasha smiled weakly at her two former friends. "Hey girlfriends…"
"What is she doing here!?" questioned Anne. "Yeah I wanna know the same thing," said Ash, "I think I would've seen this in some of my visions. Esto es bastante grande." "Well," said Andrias, "I had General Yunnan go out and collect her and Captain Grime… so we wouldn't have to find them later." "Captain Grime resisted," said Yunnan, "And in the process of trying to contain him…" "SHE KILLED GRIME!" screamed Sasha, "THERE WAS NO ACCIDENT! SHE DID IT OUT OF COLD BLOOD!" Tears streamed down Sasha's cheeks. "SHE MURDERED HIM!" she screamed over and over. At this point… Ash was confused as all heck. This didn't happen in the show! she thought, How is this happening!? I had no idea that any of this would happen! Is it my mere presence here!? "General Yunnan," said Andrias, "Is she telling the truth?" "Of course not," replied Yunnan, "She's in a blind emotional rage, she has no idea what actually happened there." "Miss Waybright," said Andrias, "I am terribly sorry for your loss, please just go with the other girls back to Wartwood to collect the music box." "What?" asked Ash. "Anne went behind your backs and told me a music box brought you all here," replied Andrias, "I've read about it. The stones in the box are what power it, so you must charge all three at three different temples. So, you all and the Plantars must go back to Wartwood to get the box and then charge all the stones." "Okay then," said Marcy, "We'll have to get going then." "This isn't supposed to happen…" Ash muttered under her breath. "What was that?" asked Anne. Yunnan then handed Sasha's chains to Anne, taking her mind off of her question. "SHE TOOK GRIME FROM ME!" screamed Sasha, "SHE'S A MURDERER!" Anne then hugged her friend. "It'll be okay Sash…" she assured, "You may not have Grime, but you have me now… no matter what you do anymore, I will always be here for you…" Sasha cried into Anne's shoulder, earning concerned looks from their companions. "We have to get revenge…" sobbed Sasha, "WE HAVE TO AVENGE GRIME!" "Sash!" said Anne, "I believe you, but you can't just attack a general." Sasha nodded and turned her back to the king and his general. Anne removed the chains and the four headed for Joe Sparrow so they could collect the Plantars.
Joe Sparrow touched down right in front of the Plantars' house, dropping the four humans and three frogs off in the process. "Guys," said Anne, turning to her froggy family, "Could you give us four humans a moment?" "Of course," said Hop Pop, "Come on kids, let's unload the sparrow." Anne led the three girls to her room in the basement. "Sash," said Anne, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder, "What happened to Grime?"
