Episode Seven: The First Temple

Marcy's eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed. "FIRST DAY IN WARTWOOD!" she exclaimed, running around the fwagon, "FIRST DAY IN WARTWOOD, FIRST DAY IN WARTWOOD, FIRST DAY IN WARTWOOD!" She then left the carriage. "Cinco minutos más," groaned Ash. Marcy ran all around the farm, screaming those same words. "CALM DOWN MAR MAR!" screamed Ash from the fwagon. "GOT IT!" replied Marcy from the corn field. "Why am I in love with this idiot?" Ash asked herself. She then turned around to see Sprig standing right behind her. "IN LOVE!?" exclaimed Sprig. Ash quickly covered Sprig's mouth with her hand and closed all the windows and doors. She then let go of him. "You CAN'T tell anyone!" exclaimed Ash, "I swear to Frog if you tell anyone, I'll throw you into the river with all the lampreys!" "Okay okay!" said Sprig, "I won't tell anyone! I know what it's like to have a crush and have someone find out. It's scary when you know that they could tell anyone at any moment!" "Thanks," said Ash, "Wait… how did you even get in here?" "I came to wake you two up," stated Sprig. The two stood there in silence. "So…" Sprig said, "Marcy huh? What do you love about her?" "Her quirky, nerdy personality," replied Ash, "That and the way she cared for me when she barely knew me." "Aww," said Sprig, "What I really love about my girlfriend Ivy is just how adorable she is. And how she randomly attacks me." "AMBUSH!" screamed a voice from the ceiling. A yellow frog in a beanie jumped down on Sprig and pinned him. "You got me," said Sprig happily. "The girlfriend, I presume?" asked Ash. "Ivy Sundew," she said, "Pleased to meet you. I couldn't help but overhear that you got a thing for the one running around in the cornfield?" "Yeah," admitted Ash. "Your secret's safe with me," said Ivy, "And I won't let Sprig spill it at all." "Thanks," said Ash, "Now we gotta get ready to go to a temple." "Oh right," said Sprig, "Gotta go Ivy." "Kay," she said, "See ya Sprig!" She then jumped out of the hatch and closed it behind her. "Let's go Sprig," said Ash, "And remember what happens if you tell a SINGLE SOUL about this." "Got it," said Sprig with a gulp. Sprig then exited the fwagon. "I knew I should've said that in Spanish," groaned Ash as she walked out as well.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Marcy, mounting Joe Sparrow. Sasha, Anne, and Ash all got on behind her. "Hop Pop," said Anne, "Did you get the box back from your contacts?" "Got it right here," replied Hop Pop, holding up the box. "Fifty coppers says he actually buried it in the front yard beside that old tree!" exclaimed Ash. Everyone stayed silent and looked at her, except Hop Pop, who had a nervous expression on his face. "Let's just go!" said Marcy. Sprig and Polly jumped on with the humans. "Where will I ride?" asked Hop Pop. "Hmmmmm," muttered Ash, "I got it!"

"This is nice," said Hop Pop as he rode in his 'Hop Pocket' (Trademark Ashla Moltono). "We're here," said Marcy, landing Joe Sparrow. The trees around the area looked just like brains. "Hey," said Sprig, pointing at a dinky little shack, "This is the temple?" "No, Sprig," said Ash, knowing full well that that is where they were actually supposed to charge the stone. Ash turned the little frog's head to look at the giant temple. "Ohhh," said Sprig, "Yep, that makes more sense." "Let's go guys!" exclaimed Marcy. "Does anyone else feel like that outhouse is gonna be important later?" asked Sasha. "So I'm not the only one," gasped Ash, "I mean, it's there for a reason." "Glad we agree on something," said Sasha. The two then followed everyone else into the temple, Ash not stepping far enough for the spinning room to effect her. "Hey," said Ash, "I'm sorry if it seemed like I turned Marcy against you when we first met." "It's cool," said Sasha, "I was a jerk. I deserved it to be honest." Ash then saw Marcy pick up the puzzle cube first, rather than Anne. "Hey Mar Mar!" exclaimed Ash, "Don't get too 'in the zone' with that cube!" "Got it!" said Marcy, being picked up in the green orb. "Hey guys," said Ash, "You might wanna step back a bit." "Why?" asked Hop Pop. The room then started spinning and throwing everyone around as Marcy solved the puzzle. Ash just sat back and laughed at them. "I hate you!" screamed Sasha. "Got it!" exclaimed Marcy. The orb set her down and she gently put the cube down, instead of breaking it like she did in the show. The doors opened and Marcy ran through them. Ash snorted slightly at Sasha's screwed up hair. "Not a word," said Sasha menacingly, "Or I'll announce your little crush to the whole world." "How!?" gasped Ash, blushing like crazy. "It's obvious," said Sasha, "Like, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Thankfully for you, the genius that you're in love with is totally oblivious. Don't make me make her aware." "Jeez," said Ash, "I was just messing around. You didn't have to bring up my feelings for Marcy." Sasha chuckled as they followed the group. "You know," said Sasha, "I just tricked you into telling me your crush." Ash was speechless. "It was actually just a wild guess, so… yeah." "You really are still just as manipulative as you used to be," said Ash. Sasha playfully elbowed her and continued on. "Okay," said Marcy, "We just have to-" "Jump on the green squares!" exclaimed Ash as she jumped out to a green square. Everyone flinched and covered their eyes as they waited for something to kill Ash, but nothing happened. "She's right," said Marcy, "Cannonball!" She jumped onto the second green square, which then caused all of the other magenta and blue squares to turn green. The rest of the group dropped down on them and followed Marcy through the door. They then made their way through a long… LONG hallway.

ONE HOUR LATER...

"Oh… my… FROG!" exclaimed Marcy as they walked into the final room, "IT'S FLIPWART!" "Not just that," said Ash, gesturing towards the darkness, "Mirar." The lights got brighter, revealing a giant Flipwart board. "EEEEEEEE!" squealed Marcy. Ash accidnetally bumped into the flipwart board, which then glowed green. "Eso no es bueno," she gasped. Holes in the floor then ended up appearing underneath Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly, and Anne. They all then appeared on the board, restrained by stone outfits to make them look like Flipwart pieces. "Hey," said Marcy, "It looks like we're not going down there." "I wouldn't be so sure," said Sasha, seeing a green hole appear underneath her. She and Marcy then dropped down, appearing as pieces on the other side of the board. "Okay," said Ash, stepping on her side of the small Flipwart board, "All I have to do is play so no one gets hurt." "Ash!" called Marcy, "Shouldn't I be up there?" "You should," Ash replied, "But since I accidentally touched it, it registered me." "Ash," said Anne, "We only get one chance at this! If you lose… we can't go home!" "Yeah we can, you'll just have to do this again without me," said Ash, "But I've been training a lot with Marcy. I got this." She then started playing the game, moving the pieces that weren't her friends around, and the ones that were out of harm's way. "Let me at 'em!" screamed Polly. Ash giggled and moved the pollywog's piece towards the other side of the board. "WAR CRY!" exclaimed Polly as she attacked a piece.

Finally, Ash moved her piece to the end of the board, right in front of the wart. "Hora de acabar con esto," she said. The piece then attacked the wart, but it jumped up, dodging the blast. It then turned around on its pedestal and smacked its butt. "Hijo de un-," sighed Ash, "I should've seen that coming." "They cheated!" exclaimed Marcy. "I know," said Ash. The wart then attacked Ash's piece which left it, Sasha, and Marcy as the last pieces on the black team, and Anne, Hop Pop, Sprig, Ash's wart, and Polly as the last ones on Ash's side. "This is bad," said Ash. Sasha's piece then moved towards Anne's. "ASH!" they screamed in unison, Ash moved Anne all around the board, and Sasha followed. "I know what I have to do," said Ash, "I forfeit!" She flipped over her own wart. Nothing happened. "Derecha," she said, "I have to flip the big one." She jumped on the board. She then saw Hop Pop's piece moving towards Marcy's getting ready to attack. "I must've hit it by accident!" stressed Ash. "ASH!" screamed Marcy. "I'm sorry!" cried Hop Pop. Ash then felt a surge of strength go through her body. A flash of purple went through her eyes. Her eyes then turned fully purple, her hair following ensue.

She then lifted the wart up off the ground, pedestal and all, throwing it at the enemy's wart, which of course jumped over it. Ash then fell to the ground, her hair and eyes returning to normal… except for her hair having a purple fade. Everyone's restrictive piece costumes then turned to dust. As soon as Marcy's did, she ran to Ash's aid. "Ash!" she exclaimed, "That was amazing!" "Outhouse…" she groaned. Everyone shared confused glances. "The outhouse!" exclaimed Sasha, "Anne! Give me the box!" Anne handed Sasha the box, who then ran out of the room, not even acknowledging the green arrows on the floor. "Come on!" she called. Marcy picked up the now unconscious Ash and followed the crowd. Sasha ran into the outhouse, removing a stone from the box. "Here," said Sasha, handing the stone to Marcy. Marcy traded Ash for the stone, finding that the outhouse now had a place to charge the stone in it. She put it in the charging station and watched it glow green. As it did this, a flash of green went through Marcy's eyes. "We did it!" she exclaimed, hugging Anne tightly. Anne smiled lightly at this. "Yes, Marcy," said Anne, "We did it…" "Look," said Sasha, grabbing the stone, "There's some light coming from the stone!" "I think it leads to the next temple," said Marcy, grabbing Ash back from Sasha. "Then we had better go tomorrow," said Sasha as they exited the outhouse. "Why don't we take a break tomorrow?" suggested Sprig, "I mean, we've all been going non-stop all day. Don't we all deserve a break?" "He has a point," said Anne turning to the other humans, "We could take tomorrow for me to show you all around Wartwood!" "I don't see why not," said Marcy, getting a better hold on the uncoscious girl in her arms. "I guess so," Sasha agreed reluctantly, "But are you sure the people will accept me? I almost got them all killed like, a week and a half ago!" "Oh Frog no," said Anne, "But you can start making it up to them. Make your last few days in Amphibia good." "You're right," said Sash, "Thanks Anne." "It's what I'm here for," replied Anne. "Awww," Ash said to herself, waking up in time to see this happen. "You ship it too?" asked Marcy quietly. "Absolutamente," said Ash with a smirk. "I'm glad we got that established," said Marcy. "They're just perfect together," said Ash, "Sash being the cool one who protects no matter what, and Anne being the one to always pull her out of the trouble she gets into." "Right?" asked Marcy, gently lowering Ash to her feet, "That's exactly how it is!" "What are you two talking about?" asked Sprig. "How Sash and Anne would make a cute couple," whispered Ash. "I don't know," said Sprig skeptically, "I just don't trust her all that much." "But if you did?" asked Marcy. "I guess so," said Sprig, smirking at Ash, "But you know who would really make a cute couple?" "Sprig and Ivy!" interrupted Ash, "Because they are! Now go up there with Hop Pop and Polly!" "What was all that about?" asked Marcy, watching Ash push Sprig up towards the front of their party. "Nothing!" defended Ash, "I was just saying what he was gonna say!" "You sure?" asked Marcy with a slight laugh. "Absolutely," replied Ash. "Whatever," said Marcy with a smile, "Even though I don't entirely believe you." "Fine by me," said Ash, leaning her head on Marcy's shoulder. Marcy put her arm around her friend and rested her hand on Ash's shoulder. The two stayed like that for the rest of the trip home, earning a few smirks from the rest of the party.