It was in the early morning when the Pop Trio got an early announcement that they were a few miles away from Symphonyville, the first location on their map. As Poppy took a deep breath of fresh air, Branch laid out a blue book that contained instructions on how to fly Sheila.
"All right," Branch rubbed his hands together, "In a short 456 pages, I'm gonna know how to fly this thing."
"More like 456 minutes," Meadow Spriggs tended to her potted plant as she peered over Branch's shoulder, "You would figure to start on this last night."
"Well... It was nighttime last night, Meadow. That would mean I would get tired halfway through, forget my place, and start from scratch. Plus..." Branch spared a glimpse at Poppy, who looked downright majestic up in the air, "I had other things to worry about."
"I'm sure you did," Meadow's tone was clearly skeptical, hammered down with a look that clearly read 'Branch, not to rush you, but you're gonna have to tell Poppy sooner or later and hopefully much sooner than later.'
"Aw, Branch," Poppy saw the petty squabble between the two and dismissed it as such as she intervened, "I appreciate the thought, but we don't need a giant, comprehensive manual."
Taking said giant, comprehensive manual and chucking it out of the balloon, Branch could only whimper in disbelief as Poppy skipped over to the controls while Meadow patted his shoulder in sympathy.
"How hard can it be? Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, try one of these!"
Without even looking, Poppy's index finger landed on a control that was colored half blue and half purple. This caused Sheila to screech to a stop two times before she flew backwards, all the while screaming in fear. Everybody seemed to echo her sentiment as they flew around the world at high speed, occasionally changing the trajectory once in a while.
Meanwhile, Delta Dawn was in her office getting ready for the day when suddenly a horrible noise echoed throughout her ears. Whipping her head so fast she almost snapped her neck, she listened the noise came as quickly as it went, dying down as it passed her town. Grimacing in the distance with uncertainty, she shook her head in contempt and got back to work, chalking the unexplained effect down to one explainable cause.
I have to got to stop drinking late at night...
It wasn't until Branch was launched at the controls that the madness was allowed to end. He pressed a different variant of the button Poppy previously thumbed, causing Sheila to again screech to a stop, this time in the same spot she was in prior to flying out of control. The occupants ended up flying forward, thankfully not breaking any bones with sticks or stones.
"All right, Poppy! Easy on the buttons!"
"Sorry!" Poppy winced, realizing her not-so-harmless mistake. You know what else Poppy realized? Immediately after Branch pressed whatever button it was that allowed the chaos to cease, he was unwillingly thrown into her own awaiting arms. Unfortunately, she couldn't get up in time when he was launched at her, resulting in catching his body...with her body.
"Uh..."
"Um..."
"Sorry..."
"It's fine..."
"Are you..."
"I'm fine..."
Poppy and Branch softly chuckled as a means to break the tension. They didn't want to let this moment end, but of course...
"Yeah, don't mind me. Just hanging by a thread while living on a prayer here, woo hoo."
The couple turned to find Meadow tangled up in a pile of rope that prevented her from falling from the casket. In the meantime, she was left dangerously hanging from the edge with her back facing them both, thankfully preventing her from seeing their own pile of embarrassment. Shooting up from their compromising position faster than a speeding bullet, Poppy and Branch worked together to free Meadow from her entanglement. When they were done, Meadow inhaled and exhaled as she continued to tend to her plant as Branch and Poppy continued to work controlling Sheila while exchanged longing looks.
"I'm glad you came with me," Poppy smiled.
"Me too," Branch smiled back.
SNORE!
Poppy, Branch, and Meadow looked up from their respective responsibilities, processing that the fact that a fourth Troll had intruded their rescue mission...and inadvertently slept in halfway through. Pinpointing the source of the snoring, their gazes turned toward a pile of cotton candy, candy canes, and lollipops that Poppy insisted on storing away in case of an emergency. What kind of emergency would involve or require assorted confectionery Meadow never knew, but she did know better than to question her queen.
Digging through the cotton candy haystack, the trio found a familiar-looking face sleeping away while covered in cotton wool. Poppy's face brightened up, Branch's face closed its eyes in disbelief, and Meadow's face squinted hers in confusion.
"Who's this again?"
"Biggie?"
The chubby Pop Troll in question stirred and his eyes blinked open.
"Oh, hello."
His face brightened as well as he sat up from his spot, hugging tight Mr. Dinkles.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You know how I am around cotton candy."
Mr. Dinkles himself mewed as he shifted, causing Biggie to fuss. "Oh, dear. Now look what's happened. Mr. Dinkles got all gummed up."
Attempting to shake him off to clean him up proved to be his undoing, as he shook a little too hard and caused his pet worm to go fly out of the casket.
"Ahh! Mr. Dinkles! Mr. Dinkles...!" Biggie glanced left and right before down, seeing Mr. Dinkles gummed to the casket's side, "Oh, there you are. I thought you were... Oh. Right, then. We'll just be on our way... Hey!"
Downward, Biggie saw nothing but green land as far as the eye could see, leading him to finally mind his surroundings. "Poppy... Wh-where are you balloon-flying us to?"
"Oh, I'm glad you asked!" Poppy cheerfully began to respond, unaware of her friend's frightened tone, "We're on a mission to help Barb unite the Trolls, and I'm so glad you're coming with us!"
Behind her, Branch could only wave his hands while mouthing 'No'...not that it would help him much. Meadow seemed to notice this fact as she shot him a sardonic glare.
"I did what in the who now?"
"Hey, man, join the club," Meadow crossed her arms.
"And I hope you didn't eat all the cotton candy," Poppy went to gather the leftover sweets into one large pile, "because Barb is gonna love it."
"Ugh, I knew we should've brought weapons along," Branch remarked in lament.
"Oh, Branch..." Poppy patted his shoulder in reassurance, "Believe me when I say this: the only weapons we need are this guy (her left arm) and this guy (her right arm)...for hugs!"
"Uh..." Biggie's eyes widened at the sight before him, his face clearly displaying fear once again, "You may want to take a look at this..."
Poppy, Branch, Meadow, and even Sheila all turned in the direction Biggie was pointing and gasped in unison. All of their eyes widened in horror at the horrible sight that came into view. A large field of gold, white, and brown awaited them on the ground. It was safe for the group to assume this place was the first stop on their list, but they'd never know it upon the first glance. Holes were blasted into the mountains high above and dirt down below leaving massive craters beyond repair while white stuffing was leaking out from certain buildings like blood from a dying piece of Troll life. Being critically damaged or up in flames were most of the buildings that remained standing. In fact, this was what frightened them the most: everything was set ablaze on purpose. Adding to that, black and red graffiti decorated the place in the worst way possible.
The Queen of the Pop Trolls never saw the destruction of a town or village that was completely devastating since the first time the Bergen Chef ambushed Pop Village. Those terrible memories came rushing back to her at full force. Her friends were taken, her citizens were panicking, and her father was almost killed confronting the intruder. Her thoughts immediately latched on Branch, who had warned her beforehand of this attack happening and whose warnings she had shot down and blatantly refused listen to. Her lack of preparations nearly got her kingdom destroyed and her people captured if not killed. She was so desparate in maintaining the peace that she failed to take into account the suffering that came along with it, before and after. It was that event that served as a defining chapter in her epoch.
Being a great Queen was not the same as a good Troll.
"They..." Coming precariously close to crying in sympathy, Meadow turned to Branch, "They never stood a chance."
"Take us down, Sheila," was Poppy could only say.
Sheila wordlessly nodded and did as Poppy commanded, floating down until she hit the ground with a soft thump.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Suki," Trollex shook hands with the Pop Troll now known as DJ, "Although I wish we could've met under better circumstances."
"Don't worry, I can relate," DJ Suki nodded in understanding, "Trust me, it's gonna get better."
"Is it true, then? Queen Poppy is building an army to stand up against this Queen Barb?"
"Well... It's less of an army and more of a team. Poppy doesn't exactly know that Queen Barb is up to no good just yet."
"Not yet?" Trollex was taken aback by Suki's response, "Why not?"
"Poppy's just getting adjusted to this new Queen position. She was recently just coronated in addition to being unaware of this whole...six different kinds of Troll Tribes part."
"Huh, neither was I..." Trollex understood that part. After all, it was today that he learned the existence of the Rock Trolls.
"What's it like?" A skeptical Bliss Marina interjected before clarifying, "Your music, I mean? How do you define Pop?"
DJ Suki rubbed her chin before answering as she didn't want to offend the Techno Troll way of life, intentional or not.
"You know how your music is characterized by simple sample mixing and loops in order to create a good vibe that you can jump in synchronization with large crowds to the beat? Where you can make quick, sudden movements with your head and hands while your hair and fins can bob freely?"
Trollex and Bliss shared a surprised look as the former nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty much Techno Music."
"Okay then," DJ Suki continued, satisfied with the answer, "So...Pop is quite similiar to Techno, although with a few discernible differences. Like our former King Peppy said before, Pop Music contains a lovable hook, an upbeat melody, and a catchy rhythm that we can snap our fingers, tap our toes, and wiggle our butt to. That's what makes the Pop String the Pop String. That's what makes Pop Trolls Pop Trolls. That's what makes Pop Music Pop Music."
Similarly, Trollex was satisfied with the answer Suki gave him and even found his interest piqued. He could imagine the opportunities rising if he combined his music with theirs. "A lovable hook, an upbeat melody, AND a catchy rhythm? I like that."
"So will you join Poppy's resistance?" DJ Suki asked expectantly, "This could be your only shot at getting your Techno String back."
"If that's the case..." Trollex nodded in agreement before stating confidently, "Then I'm not throwing my shot! I'll join!"
"Yes!" DJ Suki fist pumped in celebration as Trollex, Bliss, Drop Beat, and Coral Blush looked on in equal parts bewilderment and amusement. Suddenly, a pair of female trolls climbed down from the cliffside to the seashore. The fact that they were conjoined by the hair freaked them out.
"Suki! Suki!"
"Satin? Chenille? You two are supposed to be waiting with Bella and Gia!"
"Yeah, about that..."
It was upon them getting closer that Suki noticed a smaller Pop Troll hanging onto the back of Chenille. This specific Pop Troll looked all too familiar to her with her purple skin, blue hair, and green wishstone.
"CJ...?"
"Heh, heh," CJ nervously chuckled, "Um... Hi."