"Poppy, help! We're being attacked by a monster! Someone stop it!"
DJ Suki and her niece CJ ran into Troll Village as Biggie, Mr. Dinkles, and the monster itself trailed behind. The occupants parted ways to make room for the people entering, even jumping out of the line of fire. Those who were unfortunate enough be part of the action took cover to avoid it more. When the group arrived, they found the monster harmlessly prodding Biggie's back as he held on to Mr. Dinkles tightly. Meanwhile, DJ was hugging CJ to protect her from whatever was "attacking" Biggie.
"DJ! CJ!"
Both family members looked up to find Poppy, Branch, and a select few others running in their direction.
"Poppy!"
"Queen Poppy!"
The both of them ran towards Poppy, unintentionally forgetting about a harrassed Biggie.
"What's going on?" Poppy checked them for injuries.
"I don't know! We were being welcomed by Biggie!" CJ shook her head.
"We were just on our way to visit the village when..." DJ Suki turned back and pointed at the creature attacking Biggie, "That thing attacked us!"
"Gotcha!" Poppy turned toward the one-sided confrontation and used her hair to lasso the creature off Biggie. Unfortunately, she didn't plan ahead of "saving her friend from certain doom at the hands of a bloodthirsty, winged monster". In response to being unexpectantly restrained, the creature screeched in distress and desperately attempted to fly away, freaking Poppy in return.
"Ah! It's in my hair, it's in my hair! Get it off, get it off, get it off!"
"Hiya!"
There was no doubt that seeing Poppy in danger triggered a protective stance on Branch's part, as he quickly jumped into the air to tackle the creature off and out of her hair. He had no intent to seriously injure it, though, and proceeded to soothe its nerves. Rubbing its eyes and smoothing out its wings, the creature visibly softened and Branch nodded in satisfaction.
"Shh. Shh. There you go. There you go, calm down. Who's a good boy?"
"I...don't think that's a boy, Branch."
The survivalist Troll looked up to find Dr. Plum, Dr. Moonbloom, and an approaching Milton Moss and Ginger Jo wanting to examine the "boy" themselves. Milton was the first to ask despite being the last to arrive. "May I?"
Branch nodded and carefully handed the girl(?) over to Milton, who examined the creature with an attention to detail. Ginger, meanwhile, took a handful of notes on her notepad. All the while, they both ignored the concerned statements of the crowd surrounding them, specifically Legsly...
"What is that thing?"
...Cooper...
"It's creepy!"
...Satin and Chenille...
"It's scary!"
...and Guy Diamond and Tiny Diamond, who instinctively hugged each other out of fear.
"And naaasty!"
"Hold me, Daddy!"
"The creature appears to be female as it lacks the male reproductive organ and sports distinct eyelashes," Milton confirmed his studies. "Judging by the wings and crazed state may be a bat."
"But..." Ripley Wisp approached the crowd and held an aluminum implement in her hands, "That bat doesn't look anything like my bat..."
"No, Ripley," Ginger Jo explained to her and (by an extension) everybody else, "A bat is basically an animal like Mr. Dinkles and Barnebis. Except bats tend to be just as dangerous, if not more so than alligators. They carry rabies, which is a disease that causes fevers, comas, and hydrophobia. However, they don't like sunlight and too much and loud noise."
"But if bats hate sunlight so much..." Karma rubbed her chin in contemplation, "Why would it come here? It's literally the brightest place in the kingdom."
"I think I know," Priscilla approached, "I saw it carrying what looked like a letter in its mouth. I think it was delivering a message."
"Bingo!" Tug Duluth snapped her fingers, "We just find the letter and read what it says! Hopefully the message will shed some light on the bat's appearance."
"You're right, Tug!" Poppy smiled enthusiastically, "It seems like it's just an invitation."
"I don't think it is."
Everybody now turned to Harper, who walked and handed Poppy the "invitation" herself.
"Oh, thank you, Harper. Let's see here." Poppy cleared her throat before reading.
"Barb, the Queen of Rock, announces her One Nation Under Rock World Tour. Bring your string to the biggest party the world has ever seen. You're going to have a rocking good time and hopefully come to see our point of view."
Who was Queen Barb? Why did she want our String? What did she mean by...the "biggest party the world has ever seen"? And what in the world was Rock? Was it...another type of music?
"The Queen of Rock...?"
"It's nothing!"
Suddenly, a flash of orange, pink, and green snatched the letter from Poppy's possession. A moment later, Peppy pulled and tugged at the letter, tearing it apart and proceeding to snarf it down.
"It means nothing at all! It's just junk mail! You don't need to worry about it! Quit looking at it, everyone!"
"Hiya!"
Branch tackled a surprised Peppy and repeating the soothing process he performed on the bat. "There you go, there you go. Calm down."
After a moment, Peppy indeed calmed down as Branch helped him to his feet. "Okay. I'm calm, I'm calm."
"Dad, what's going on?"
"I have long feared that this day would come. I was hoping to protect you from this, Poppy."
"Protect me? Oh, Dad... I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm the Queen now."
Poppy regretted sounding out what was said in a dismissive and overconfident tone, but she felt that her father needed constant reminding that she wasn't a child any longer. That being said, she did appreciate the fact that he still cared for her even in retirement. Peppy himself seemed to understand, as he nodded and elicited a gentle smile.
"You're right. The truth is..." Peppy sighed in hesitation before revealing said truth. "We are not alone in this world. There are other kinds of Trolls."
The crowd gasped in excitement and intrigue. Harper was less excited and more skeptical in contrast to her friends. Part of the reason for her apprehension toward this news was the fact that, all her life, she was raised the likes of Pop and only Pop. As far as she was concerned, Pop Music was the only kind of music. Why now were she and the others just figuring this out?
"Wow. Dad's great!" As usual, though, Poppy was more accepting and open-minded toward new things. "The more Trolls, the merrier! Right?"
"You don't understand," Peppy stressed, "These Trolls aren't like us. They're...different."
"Different how?" Maddy, the village hairstylist, approached the front of the crowd. "Different like Legsly?"
"I like being me!"
"Like Fuzzbert? Like Smidge? Like Skyscraper Troll?"
"Yeah! Different like me?"
"No, no!" Peppy assured them, not that it would bring them any comfort for what came after, "It's not like that. They're different in ways that you can't even imagine."
"Oh, believe us," Karma turned up beside Maddy, "We can imagine quite a bit." Chuckling under her breath, they both high-fived each other and waited for former King Peppy to continue. "Sorry about that. Keep going."
Peppy nodded and explained the abridged synopsis of their kind of Trolls. "You see, we love music with a hummable hook, an upbeat melody, and a catchy rhythm that makes you want to snap your fingers, tap your toes, and wiggle your butt. That's our music. That's what makes us...the Pop Trolls."
The crowd murmured in understanding and comprehension...
"But..."
...before immediately gasped again, this time in fear and alarm for what Peppy disclosed next.
"These other Trolls... They sing different."
"What?"
"They dance different."
"No!"
"Why, some of them can't even begin to grasp the concept of Hammer Time."
Suddenly, the Pop Trolls begin to dance in defiance to the tune of "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.
"You can't touch that!"
Thus, a panic ensued over the majority of the village. Satin and Chenille attempted to run in seperate directions, failing to remember their connection by the hair. Guy Diamond and Tiny Diamond simultaneously threw hissy fits over the apparent bad news, and Mandy and Moxie barely managed to prevent themselves from being trampled in the enusing chaos. Aspen rushed forward and yelled at the stop of his lungs:
"STOP."
And stop, everyone and everything did, even as anyone who was suspended in midair. Smidge exchanged a glance with Poppy and Branch, wondering what in the world just happened. Harper huffed in annoyance and turned to an equally confused Peppy.
"So what you're saying is... These other Trolls are wickedly evil?"
"Oh, no! Of course not, my child," Peppy reassured her once more, "It's just that...people don't like what they don't understand, and they have their own ways of coping with it. Should I explain some more?"
"Yes, you should," Mandy pulled Moxie to the front of the crowd, "I nearly got trampled by Dr. Plum. Man, can that woman run."
Harper chuckled. Never change, girls. Never change...
A/N: I'mafanofFANFICTIONS wrote "Hmm the story is doing good so far. I know the focus of this story would be more on the background characters and all. But I didnt expect Harper to open the letter and read it, rather I expected her to give it to Poppy instead. Yes, the may not be big on titles, and Poppy and her Dad seems to like being treated like any normal Troll, but she is still the queen. The main leader of the tribe. And the letter specifically addressed to Queen Poppy so that would be private, invitation or not."
After reading my chapter a little more closely, you sir (or ma'am) have a good point, which is why I'm releasing this rewritten chapter in response. I thank you for your criticism.