Episode Eight: The Waybright Redemption
"Get up Sasha!" exclaimed Anne, "Today's the day!" "Five more minutes," she groaned. "It's eleven thirty," stated Anne, "You're fine." Sasha grumbled as she slowly sat up, coming face to face with Anne. "So," said Anne, "I got a whole schedule set up for today to help us make up for everything you did!" Sasha zoned out while Anne read everything on the list, getting lost in Anne's beautiful blue eyes. "Sash?" asked Anne, "You good?" "Y-yeah," she stuttered, "So what are Ash, Marcy, and the Plantars doing all day?" "They're going and running errands," said Anne, "So it's just us today." "Great…" sighed Sasha, putting on a fake smile. "You okay?" asked Anne, grabbing Sasha's hand. "I guess I'm just nervous to go out today," admitted Sasha, blushing wildly. "It's okay to be nervous," said Anne, "The Plantars used to keep me in the house all the time so I didn't cause a scene just by being in the town, but that's not gonna work for you. We gotta start directly making things up to these people. So let's go." "Let me get dressed," groaned Sasha.
Sash stepped out of the basement in a white polo with the buttons undone and the collar popped. She didn't even bother to wear anything other than her leggings and armor boots. "Let's just get this day over with," she grumbled. "That's the spirit!" said Anne happily, "Now let's get out on the town!" "Wait for me!" exclaimed Polly. "I thought you were with the others," said Anne. "They left me behind," stated Polly, "Said it was 'too dangerous', whatever that means." "Welp, the more the merrier," said Anne, "Now let's go!"
"So why did we lie to Sasha and Anne again?" asked Marcy, "Don't you think we could've told them we were going to research Ash's new powers instead of leaving them with Polly and telling them we're running errands?" "Because we didn't want them to worry," said Hop Pop, "Especially Anne. She worries way too much about us." "It's okay Mar Mar," said Ash, "I know you hate lying to your friends, but it's for their own good. Besides, Anne and Sash need some time together." "Okay," sighed Marcy, "I guess we all want that ship to sail, so this is necessary." "Exactamente," said Ash. "That's not the only ship we want to sail," grumbled Sprig. "¿Qué?" asked Ash, creating a small ball of purple power in her hand. "Nothing," squeaked Sprig. "Ash," said Marcy sternly, covering her hand and putting out the small purple flame, "You can't use your powers just like that. We don't want you completely drained before we get there." "Lo siento," said Ash with a nervous smile, "It won't happen again." Marcy smiled at her. "So long as a certain pink frog doesn't comment on my crush," Ash whispered to Sprig. The certain pink frog lowered himself in his seat and gulped. "Alright kids," said Hop Pop, "We're here. The Wartwood town archives." "Do you think someone fixed the door since the last time we were here?" asked Sprig. "I sent Loggle up here as soon as we got back," stated Hop Pop, "Whether he actually fixed it, I have no clue." They walked down the stairs and found that the door was shut all the way, in broad daylight. "I got this," said Ash with a smile. "Don't do what I think you're about to do…" said Marcy with concern coating her voice. "I'll be fine," said Ash, holding Marcy's hand, "Confía en mí." "Okay," said Marcy, "I trust you. Just don't drain yourself, alright?" "Alright," said Ash. Ash then let go of Marcy's hand and ran back up the stairs. "I ship it!" coughed Sprig, receiving a small purple blast to the face.
Ash approached the hole in the ground that led to the archive. She dropped down a rope that she pulled out of her beanie and climbed down it. Ash then looked around at the broken room. "¿Cómo puedo solucionar esto?" she asked herself. She then felt something. She became surrounded by red energy, her eyes and hair turning red. She watched as the energy rebuilt the room. "Reality…" she mumbled. She watched the lens unshatter and return to its place on the door, which then flung open. Marcy gasped as she saw Ash's new powers, and as she saw her using too much. "Ash!" she exclaimed. Ash felt herself get pulled back to reality by Marcy's voice. The red energy disappeared and Ash lowered herself back to the ground. Her eyes returned to their normal forest green, but her hair now had a red fade added to the purple base and green tips. Ash then fell to the ground from the drain. Marcy ran to her aid, crouching beside her. "Are you okay?!" she stressed, "I told you not to drain yourself!" "Estoy bien…" groaned Ash, struggling to sit up. "Let me help you get in that chair," said Marcy, helping her friend stand up. While Marcy escorted Ash to the nearest chair, Sprig looked around the newly rebuilt room. "Now don't go trappin' us in here again boy," said Hop Pop, "Today needs to be nice and quiet." "Okay Hop Pop," groaned Sprig, "At least Ash's powers are more interesting than facts about beyond the valley." "That's one way to think about it," said Hop Pop, "Now look for anything that says 'Infinity' on it. These powers might be able to help us get Anne, Marcy, Sasha, and Ash home faster." "Anything to get Sasha out of our world," mumbled Sprig, running to find a book.
"Alright," said Anne, "One way to gain the people of Wartwood's trust is by performing random acts of kindness." "Oh?" asked Sasha. "Yeah," said Polly, "When the toad taxers came to town and robbed everyone, Anne kept giving people back their stuff when they took it." "Well, the toads aren't coming around here anytime soon," said Sasha, "So what do I do?" "Well," said Anne, "That's how I earned their respect. I earned their trust by not trying to kill them. But what could help is just helping people out with their everyday activities." "Oh hey," said Polly, "Here's your chance. Go ask Mrs. Croaker if you can help her load her groceries in her ladybug. She always gets more than she can carry." "I guess…" sighed Sasha, slowly walking towards Croaker. Sasha quietly cleared her throat. "Hello ma'am," said Sasha nervously, "Would you care if I helped you load your groceries into your ladybug?" "Go bother some other old lady, murderer," said Croaker. Sasha felt hurt by this. Sure, she tried to kill Hop Pop, but she never actually killed anyone, and besides, she never even knew that she was in the wrong. "Mrs. Croaker," said Anne, stepping up beside Sasha, "She only means well. And she's not a murderer. She tried to kill Hop Pop, but she had no idea what she was doing was wrong." "I'm not talking about Hopediah," said Croaker, "Didn't you hear? She killed that Captain Grime fellow. Sure, he was a jerk, but he never did anything out of the way to her-" "Other than keep me in a cage for almost a month…" muttered Sasha, fighting the urge to cry. Sasha hung her head and walked away. "She didn't kill Grime," said Anne. "Arrest this murderer," demanded Mayor Toadstool, the police surrounding Sasha. Sash had a look of pure fear in her eyes. "For the murder of a respected toad captain, I hereby sentence you, Sasha Waybright, to death," said Toadstool. People started surrounding Sasha. As this happened, something snapped in Anne. She felt a surge of rage swell in her. "SHE DIDN'T DO IT!" screamed Anne. Everyone in town square stared at her. "And who did?" asked Toadstool. "Newt General Yunnan," stated Anne, calming down a bit since they were willing to listen. "Do you have proof?" asked Toadstool. "Enough," said Anne, pulling out her phone and walking to Toadstool. She showed him a video of Yunnan admitting to 'accidentally' killing Grime. "Well well well," said Toadstool, "The good ol' king knows about this and won't do anything about it." "I say we revolt!" shouted Croaker. "Simmer down Croaker," said Toadstool, "We don't have the forces." "But you have me," said Sasha. "Excuse me?" asked Toadstool. "Sash…" whispered Anne, "What are you doing?" "Earning their trust," replied Sasha. She stepped on the porch of City Hollow. "I was able to morph the most miserable of toad soldiers into the greatest warriors this valley has ever seen!" exclaimed Sasha, "Surely I can turn this town into an elite army that can easily overthrow King Andrias!" "Sasha!" exclaimed Anne, "We don't need to talk about a revolt right now. We're so close to getting home and getting killed in a revolution doesn't seem like a smart thing to do!" "Anne," said Sasha, "I'm trying to fix things… That's all I wanna do." "Leading a town on a suicide mission isn't 'fixing things'!" yelled Anne. "Oi!" exclaimed Wally, "She's right!" Wally climbed up on the staircase. "I may be just One Eyed Wally, but this is just more the reason to listen to her!" he said, "If I think it's a bad idea to go up against the king and his army, then it must be! If we lose, what'll happen to us? What'll happen to the kids, the seniors, the town!" "He's right," muttered Croaker. All of the townspeople started murmuring. "Sash," said Anne, "We'll find another way to make it up to them… I promise." Sasha reluctantly nodded. "I'm sorry everyone," she said, stepping down, "I should never have said anything…" "You saying that is a start," said Croaker, walking up to Sasha and handing Polly back to Anne, "Now please be a dear and help me with my groceries."
"I can't find anything," groaned Sprig, "Any luck Hop Pop?" "Nada," replied Hop Pop, "I actually got distracted by volume three of 'Older Than The Old Ways'. What about you, Marcy?" "Nope," she sighed, "And Ash is still out of it." "Santo-," gasped Ash, "It's like I have snakes for arms!" "Her reality bending thing messed with her mind," stated Marcy, just as Ash wiggled her arms and hissed at her. Marcy giggled and continued looking. "Hey come look at this," said Sprig. Hop Pop and Marcy stepped up beside him. He had unrolled a scroll on a table. "It says here that the founder of these archives was the original wielder of the power of the Infinity Box, and all information on the box is sealed away for only the worthy's eyes." "Do you think that…" started Marcy, glancing at Ash, who had just fallen on her face. "You guys are everywhere!" Ash called. "She is the one who's wielding those nifty powers," stated Hop Pop, "Where does it say they're sealed away?" "It only says that the worthy will know," replied Sprig, "Hey I found a thing!" exclaimed Ash, who had just moved a painting and revealed a button with the infinity symbol on it. Everyone stared in awe. "I'mma push it," said Ash, placing her hand on the button, "Bap." The wall then opened up and revealed a staircase. Marcy, Sprig, and Hop Pop ran to Ash before she could go down. "Be careful," said Marcy, holding Ash's arm, "We don't know what's down there." "Estaré bien," said Ash, "I found the thing, I'm pretty sure what's down there is no big deal." Ash took a single step and tumbled down the stairs. "Ash!" exclaimed Marcy, who ran down after, eventually tripping as well. Sprig and Hop Pop both facepalmed and followed slowly. Marcy held her head and leaned up a bit, finding she was directly on top of Ash. "You look sooooo pretty in this light," stated Ash cluelessly. Marcy blushed and quickly stood up helping Ash get up as well. "Whee!" said Ash as Marcy did so. They looked around, seeing mushrooms light up down the hall. There were six different colored mushrooms. Green, yellow, red, orange, blue, and purple. "I think this is it," said Marcy. Hop Pop and Sprig got down there and the four then ventured farther into the chamber.
"How many groceries does an old lady need?" Sasha asked Anne, cracking her back. "Mrs. Croaker doesn't come to town much," stated Anne, "So she gets everything once a month." "At least it's done," said Sasha, "I feel old now." "You smell old too," said Polly, "You absorbed the smell of Croaker's house." "Just great," said Sasha. "Don't be negative now," said Anne, "You've made progress. Doesn't it feel good?" "You're right Anne," said Sasha, "It does feel good!" "Gross," groaned Polly, "Helping people is boring. I would've been fine with the revolution." "Will this make up for it?" asked Sasha, handing Polly a chocolate bar. "Human candy!?" gasped Polly, "Lady, you've got yourself a deal! And now that we're on good terms, your scar is so cool!" "I'm glad you like it," said Sasha with a smile. "Hey Anne?" asked Polly, "Can Sasha hold me?" "I don't see why not," replied Anne, handing Polly to Sasha. Sasha smiled at the pollywog as they walked off towards the town for their next redemption opt.
"Infinity! Powers! Box!" exclaimed Ash, pointing at a wall that looked like it had something lodged in it. "I know Ash," said Marcy, "It's everywhere." "No!" argued Ash, "Caja-" "There's books about the box everywhere," interrupted Hop Pop, "Now let us keep looking." "I found the box!" screamed Ash. Everyone dropped the books they were holding. Ash reached into the wall and pulled the box out of the hole it was in. "Look," she said, "Three of the stones are charged!" "I guess this one's different," said Marcy, "It must have to be charged by the one connected to it discovering their powers." "Well, obvi," said Hop Pop sarcastically. "No one needs sarcasm right now Hop Pop," said Sprig. "This box has unlimited power," said Marcy, "So, if you get all your powers before we charge the Calamity Box, you could send us home." "I doubt that," said Ash, "Just remodeling that room took everything. How do you think interdimensional travel is gonna work?" "You'd have the added power of the box," stated Marcy. "I don't wanna risk it," said Ash, "Let's just take the box and a few info books and get out of here." "We're not allowed to take books from the archive," said Hop Pop. "No one else has access to these books HP," said Ash, "It's basically my birthright." "I guess that makes sense," said Hop Pop. "Entonces vamos," said Ash.
The door to the Plantar house swung open, revealing a rough looking Sasha and a perfectly fine Anne and Polly. "Who knew earning trust was so hard!" groaned Sasha. "You did this to yourself," stated Polly. "You're right," admitted Sasha, flopping down on the couch. The door then flung open again and Ash, Marcy, Hop Pop, and Sprig walked in. "We lied," said Hop Pop, "We went to go gather info on Ash's powers." "Figured," said Anne. "Girl, red looks perfect in your hair," said Sasha. "Thanks," said Ash. "So which one is that?" asked Polly. "Reality," replied Ash, "Also, we found the Infinity Box in the town archives. Apparently the founder was the original owner of the box and the wielder of the powers." "Well that was convenient," said Polly. "It really was," agreed Sprig. "Well, I'm beat," said Ash, "I'm heading to bed." "Preach!" exclaimed Sasha, walking down into the basement. Ash then walked out of the house and into the fwagon. Marcy smiled at Anne. "Good day?" she asked the Thai girl. "Good day," replied Anne, picking up Polly and placing her in her bucket. "Great," said Marcy, "I guess I'll follow Ash. Goodnight." "Night," replied Anne.
Hop Pop then snuck into his study and opened a big book. He found a picture of Sprig's mom, who had the same hair as Ash had now, one orange eye, one yellow eye, and blue faded pupils. In the picture, she was holding tadpole Sprig in one hand, and the Infinity Box in the other. "I'll make sure she uses them wisely…" whispered Hop Pop, "I promise…"
