"What happened to my cabbages? My carrots? And my squash?!" the elderly frog griped.
"That's the fifth time this week, gotta be a thief," said the pink frog boy.
"Then let's steak out the place! And when we find 'em, we'll crush 'em!" the purple round tadpole exclaimed.
Anne was watching in the distance, with a burlap sack full of the vegetables that she "borrowed" slung over her shoulder, as the frog people were discussing how to address the issue of their produce going missing. In all honesty, Anne did feel bad about stealing, but she had to survive. A week had passed since Anne arrived in this world, and with the discovery of her powers, she was able to make great headway in scouting out the area. From what she was able to find out, this place was called "Amphibia", it was populated, so far as she's seen, by talking frogs. She also overheard things about newts and toads, so that was possibly the other species that were ruling this place.
The frogs of the town were farmers, and could usually be seen hocking their wears in a literal farmer's market, or in stores. Anne had used her superspeed to dash in and out of the town, quicker than they could see. It was how she was able to procure a cloak, some tools, and a variety of different foods when she didn't want to just pilfer from that frog family. It really did weigh on her that she was taking all these things because, at least from what she could tell, the townspeople were pretty nice to each other and family oriented in some cases.
But Anne couldn't let her guard down. She was in a world where humans were nonexistent. If they saw her, they might try to kill her. A thought that was always swimming around in her head when she thought about Sasha and Marcy. She hoped they weren't killed by these creatures, if they were, Anne wasn't above going full Rider and exacting revenge for her friends. Anne shook that dark thought out of her mind. She had to think positively, or else the idea of bad things happening to those she cared about would just keep popping up.
The Thai teen would bring her haul back to the dead tree she had temporarily called home. The critters and creatures that tried to encroach on her living space were swiftly taught a lesson in coming too close to her or her home. She had procured a scythe from one of the other farms and used it as her weapon for the time being. Combined with her superspeed, she was able to swiftly cut down any animal or insect that dared threatened her. And after some time, they learned to stay away from her, or at least recognize her as the new apex predator in the forest.
One such example was when she went to a lake to bathe herself, but was attacked by a giant water snake. Anne nearly got eaten but remembered that water was a perfect conductor for electricity. So, she released a surge of her lightning into the water at full power, and electrocuted the snake until it was completely dead in the water. Of course, not one to let this chance slip by, Anne cut up parts of the snake and brought it back to cook in the pans she also "borrowed" from the town.
It was the middle of the day, the seventh day of her landing in Amphibia, and Anne was no closer to finding out where exactly she was, or where her friends were.
"This place seems way bigger than it looks." Anne checked her phone again, at this point, out of habit. "Ugh, if I had my GPS map, I could start checking off places where I've looked."
That was another issue for Anne. Without a map of the area, she had no idea where to start looking. Up until now Anne had just been zipping around the forest without much direction, staying relatively close to her campsite. Sometimes she would end up in the same place she explored twice. It got to the point that she was carving routes on the dirt from where she started. But then a rainstorm came in and wiped all that away.
"I need a map or something," Anne sighed. "At least then I could start checking different spots. Sasha's probably doing the same thing I'm doing. Taking what she can from these frog people to survive."
Anne rubbed the back of her head as she thought about her recent thefts.
"Wish I could pay 'em or something, but, again, creature from another world. Probably tie me up and burn me at the stake or something. Well…maybe I should check out the town again, see if I find something new?"
Anne arrived at the edge of the town, which was called Wartwood. She spent some time observing the people there from a distance, only going into the town when night fell so that she could go in and steal some things from the stores. As she watched from her hiding spot, Anne noticed something new. A wagon pulled by a large spider came rolling into town, and on it were three burly looking toads.
"Huh, that's new," Anne observed.
She waited in her spot, and after about twenty minutes, the wagon with the toads left the town with a big sack in the back of the wagon, and down the dirt road.
"I've tried everywhere in the forest. Maybe I should try someplace different?"
Anne used her superspeed to follow the wagon, keeping to the trees as much as she could to avoid being spotted by the toads. It took some time, but eventually the toads arrived at their destination. A place that was a bit darker than she was expecting. She saw that the forest changed a bit the further they traveled. It was darker, and with think roots that came out of the ground, and vines that sported some sharp thorns. As she kept running, she saw where the toads were heading. It was a fortress, stone walls on all sides protecting a central tower that loomed intimidatingly over everything in the area. The fortress had a bridge that seemed to have been chiseled out from the natural rock, connecting it to the other side. The fortress itself was located upon a rock formation that acted as a platform for it, and below was a several hundred-foot drop into a chasm filled with more rocks.
"Whoa," Anne gasped.
A pair of huge, iron double doors, riddled with spikes, swung open, revealing another set of doors that opened and allowed the wagon to enter into the fortress, and once inside, they swiftly shut closed. This place was in stark contrast to the town that Anne had seen. Where Wartwood seemed folksy and warm, this place seemed cold, and heartless.
"Yeah, no way Sasha's in there," said Anne as she readied to turn around.
However, before she could dash away, something stopped her. A tingling feeling in the back of her head. Anne looked back up at the tower, she didn't know why, but her eyes naturally went to it. Just then, her eyes glowed blue, and somehow the world around her faded away into black and white, save for one speck of magenta light shining from within the tower.
"Wait…are…are my powers telling me something? Is someone up there?" Anne asked herself.
As if responding to her questions, the spot of magenta light blinked, as if saying, "yes".
Anne didn't know if this meant that one of her friends was up there or not, but whatever was up there was important enough for her power to react to.
"Well, all those hours playing stealth games with Mar-Mar are about to come in handy."
Anne channeled her powers again and dashed straight for the fortress. Once she was at a good distance, she focused that power into her legs and jumped straight into the air and onto the wall of the tower. She quickly ducked down and waited to see if anyone had spotted. So far, no alerts had gone up. Anne followed the wall until she got to an entryway into the fortress itself. From what she saw, the light was near the top of the tower, so she had to go up as much as possible. So, as stealthily as she could, Anne zipped through the halls of the fortress, ducking around corners, and running into empty storage rooms whenever she heard a toad soldier come by. She even hid in a wooden crate and moved around in that for a little bit before ditching it and made her way further up.
Anne had no idea if either of her friends were here, if this light that she was seeing was in any way connected to her. But her powers made it a point to show this light to her. Whether or not it was her friend, Anne at least hoped that there would be something useful up there for her to use. Finally, she arrived at the door with the magenta glow was coming from, and when she did, the world faded back to its original color. Anne took a deep breath, unsure what she was about to find behind that door. Slowly she turned the knob and peeked inside. It was kind of dark, so she couldn't see much initially. However, she paused when she heard a voice speak out to her.
"Ugh, how many times can I give you the same answers to the same questions before you finally get tired of asking me? Seriously."
I know that annoyed tone! Anne thought happily.
Anne opened the door fully and called out, "Sasha!"
When the door was opened, Sasha fully turned around when she heard the familiar and welcomed voice of Anne. Sasha's blue eyes widened with joy upon seeing friend, she had to stifle her normal reaction, and the same was said of Anne. Both girls wanted to go into their typical joyful screaming session, but if they did, it would only alert the guards. Anne closed the door and quickly made her way to the bars.
"Sasha! I can't believe it! I finally found you!" Anne exclaimed.
"Anne! Holy hell! I can't believe it either! You actually–!" Sasha rushed to the bars, but immediately fell to the floor. "Augh! Goddammit!"
"Sasha! Are you alright?!"
Sasha picked herself up and rubbed her face. "I'm fine, I forgot this damn shackle they have on my leg is short."
"They haven't hurt you, have they?! They haven't done anything weird to you either, right?!" Anne asked as she gripped the bars hard. "I swear to God, if they did, I'll–!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chill out, Anne. First of all, no. They just threw me in here and have been asking me the same damn questions over and over again. And as far as anything 'weird', depends on what you mean, Anne. What kind of 'weird' stuff did you think they did to me?" Sasha asked as she shot a cattish smirk at her best friend.
Anne blushed, knowing exactly what Sasha was insinuating. "S-Sash, d-don't make it sound like that! These are giant talking frogs and toads! We don't know what they can do to us!"
Sasha chuckled a bit, "Sorry, sorry. Just had to lighten the mood a little. Still…" The blonde-haired teen reached out with her right hand towards the bars. "I'm so happy to see you, Anne."
Anne pressed herself against the bars as she reached into the cell with her left hand, trying to take Sasha's hand into her own. "You have no idea how happy I am, too!"
Their two hands finally managed to grasp each other. However, the moment they made contact, Anne's eyes shined blue. Electricity began surging through Anne's left arm and traveled down it and up through Sasha's arm. The moment the lightning flowed into her body; Sasha's eyes immediately glowed a bright magenta. Sasha quickly let go of Anne's hand as she felt warmth building up in her body, within seconds both of Sasha's hands caught on fire.
"SASHA! OH, MY GOD! HANG ON! I'LL–!"
"Hang on, Anne! Quiet down!" Sasha ordered.
Anne paused; she didn't know why Sasha just said that. Her hands were literally on fire, and all because she touched her. Wait…Her hands are on fire…but she's not screaming in pain or anything. And her eyes…their glowing magenta. Just like that light I saw that led me here.
Sasha looked at her hands as the flames continued to burn, she felt no pain, and her skin was completely unharmed. It was a strange phenomenon, not including the fact that she felt a strange warmth inside of her body. Like being in front of fireplace on a cold winter's day.
"What's…What's going on? How am I doing this?" Sasha asked.
"Sasha, listen to me. I know this might sound weird, but I want you to try and imagine a belt forming around your waist," said Anne.
"What?"
"Trust me."
Sasha took a deep breath an visualized a belt around her waist. A ring of flames ignited a few inches away from her waist before closing in and materializing into a Driver. Sasha opened her eyes when she felt something that wasn't there before and gasped when she saw the belt, and somehow her hands stopped flaming.
"W-What the heck is this thing?" Sasha asked.
"Sash, I don't know how to explain it, but I think you got Kamen Rider powers, too!" Anne exclaimed in excitement.
Sasha stared blankly at her friend. "What?"
"You know, 'Kamen Rider'. That Japanese TV show that Mar-Mar had us watch together! You know, the one where they say, 'henshin', and then get these crazy suits of armor," Anne explained.
Sasha thought about it for a moment, and then it finally clicked in her head what Anne was talking about. She did vaguely remember watching something like that with Marcy and Anne awhile back. "Wait, but how do you know that's with this is?"
"Because…" Anne took a step back from the bars. Her eyes shined blue as a circlet of lightning formed around her waist, and within seconds a Driver appeared similar to Sasha's, except Sasha's crystal filament was magenta, while Anne's was blue. "I have one too, dude! And I totally transformed to take down a giant praying mantis! It was so badass!"
Sasha's jaw dropped when she heard this. "No way…you're kidding me. You actually got armor and everything?!"
"Yep! Did a Rider Kick, too. Busted that sucker up!" Anne stated with pride. "All you have to do is press down on those two devices on your hips, and then you'll transform. It's weird at first, 'cause it somehow makes you grow taller, I looked like a twenty-year-old version of myself. Then the armor comes on, and then, boom, you're a Kamen Rider with crazy powers."
Sasha looked at the belt around her waist again. "Hold on. Did you transform in order to get up here?"
Anne shook her head. "Nah. From what I can tell, we also get powers outside of the transformation. For instance, I got superspeed, and I can generate and shoot out electricity." The Thai teen demonstrated this by zipping around the room, and then standing still as she opened her hand and let sparks of electricity dance on her fingertips for a few seconds. "See?"
Huh…So, Anne has lightning, and I have fire. I don't feel like I can move fast, but I have this strange energy coursing through my muscles for some reason.
Sasha eyed a large rock that had broken off from the stone walls. The blonde cheerleader walked over to it and picked the rock up. She took a moment to feel it in her hand, already finding something strange about it.
Weird, when I picked this up yesterday, it was a lot heavier. Now, it's like it weighs nothing. I wonder…?
"Sash?"
Sasha furrowed her brow as she clenched her hand into a fist, upon doing so, the rock she held in that had shattered like brittle glass. What remained fell to the floor or was now powder in her right hand. Sasha's eyes went wide as she exclaimed, "Holy shit, I'm strong! Super strong!"
"You got super strength, and I got superspeed! This is great! Now we can bust out of here and search for Marcy together," said Anne. "Hurry up and transform so we can get going!"
Sasha eyed Anne and her Driver, then those same eyes returned to her own Driver, and her powder covered hand. A plan started to form in the cheerleading captain's head, and at the same time, a devious smirked appeared on her lips.
"Actually, Anne, let's wait up on that," Sasha suggested.
"Excuse me? What do you mean, wait?! We have a chance to break you out! We should take it while none of the guards know I'm here!" Anne argued.
Sasha raised her hands in a calming motion as she said, "Hold on. First, tell me how much you know about where we are."
Anne sighed heavily and told Sasha all she was able to learn from overhearing the frogs in Wartwood. It was bits and pieces since she was actively avoiding the locals, but after telling Sasha all she knew, the blonde teen was able to get a better idea of what they were dealing with.
"Okay, so the toads are, like, the elite warriors that the frogs have to obey. There's gotta be more to it than that, though," said Sasha as she pondered aloud.
"Okay, so what? What does that matter?" Anne asked.
"Here me out, Anne. I know you want to go and find Marcy right now. But think about this. We don't know how big this area is. We could probably search for a month and never find her."
"I found you! I didn't realize until I got in here, but when I was outside the fortress, I saw a magenta light shining from the top of the tower, and it ended up leading me to you," said Anne.
"Yeah, but how long was it until you finally saw that light?" Sasha questioned.
"…I…A week…"
"And only because you decided to follow those toads here to the tower. If you hadn't, you'd probably still be trying to find me out in the woods. So, we know that your powers led you to me. But maybe it was because I had powers, too. We can't bet on the chance that Marcy also got powers, if she didn't, then your powers might not lead us to her. And, plus, it seems like you can't see that glow unless you're generally close to someone who does have powers. Otherwise, you would've rushed over to me a lot sooner."
That was a fact that Anne couldn't deny. She had searched most of the forest for a week and found no trace of Sasha or Marcy. And half the time she went in circles. Sasha's right, even if Marcy has powers, unless we're close by to her, I won't see her glow.
"We need more eyes out there to find Marcy. More than we have right now. So, here me out, what if we get these toads to help us out?" Sasha suggested.
Anne blinked in confusion. "Wait, what? Why the heck would they help us out? They threw you in here."
"True, but I've been hearing things, Anne. I know some, if not most, of the soldiers in this tower really dislike their Captain, his name is Grime. Apparently, a great warrior, but his leadership skills leave a lot to be desired. These toads are starving for a good leader, one who's powerful, strong, and most importantly, values their abilities. I propose we topple Grime, take control of this fortress, and command the toads!"
Anne didn't know what to say, oh wait, yeah, she did.
"Are you nuts?! You want to stage a coup?!"
Sasha shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, a 'coup' is more about toppling a political figure or leader in order to take over a government. What I'm suggesting is a mutiny. Think about it, Anne. Between the two of us, we can command an army to help us locate Marcy. If we control the toads, we control the frogs of this place."
Anne bit her bottom lip as she thought about this plan. It sounded good, but there was still something about this that felt wrong. "O-Okay, but how long would this take?"
"Well, I need more information about this fortress, the toads who are open to rebelling against Grime. As well as about this area in general…I'd say…two weeks at most."
"Two weeks?!" Anne exclaimed before slapping her hands over her mouth. She ran to the door to make sure no one heard her. Once she was sure, she ran back to where she was and said, "Sasha, we can't! Marcy's out there! You know how she is! We've been here a week already! Two more weeks and she could be dead, if she isn't already!"
"Anne, come here."
Anne approached the bars. When she did, Sasha got as close as she could and reached out with her right hand again. Anne did the same with her left and their hands grasped each other once again.
"You know I love you and Mar-Mar? You know I would do anything to keep you two safe, right?" Sasha asked.
"Y-Yeah, I know, Sash," said Anne.
"Then you need to trust me right now. Like I said, if it's just the two of us out there, we could be searching for months before finally finding her. We don't know how big this place is. We could be on an island in the middle of the ocean for all we know, and Marcy's on some continent far away from here. We don't know enough about this world yet to be wandering around trying to look for her. If we go through with my plan, we'll have every frog and toad under our command looking for her, or at the very least we can start eliminating places she hasn't been seen and focus on the places that haven't been searched. And with an army at our beck and call, we can search these places all at once."
"But…Sash…"
"Anne, I know how much of a klutz Marcy is, but you and I both know that girl is a freakin' genius. She's probably already figured almost everything about this place by now and is waiting for us to find her. We can shorten the search from months to weeks if we do this. We'll find her, and then find a way to get ourselves back home. But to do that, I need you to trust me, Anne," said Sasha.
Sasha gave a gentle squeeze of Anne's hand, trying to convey how much she needed her to go along with her plan.
Anne's eyes drifted from Sasha's hand to her beautiful blue eyes. The Thai teen blushed a little and sighed heavily. "I do trust you, Sash. Okay…we'll do your plan."
Sasha smiled as she gently rubbed Anne's hand with her fingers and said, "That's my girl. I promise you; we will find her. You two are the most important people in my life."
Anne felt her heart skip a beat for some reason when she heard Sasha say that. But thankfully she managed to shake it off as she smiled back and replied, "The same to you, Sasha. So, what should I do in the meantime?"
Sasha and Anne released each other's hands, and Sasha used her left to scratch at her head. "If we could call each other, I could update you with what I find out."
"Unfortunately, there aren't any cell towers here," said Anne. "Man, if Marcy were here, could probably MacGyver us one or something."
"Heh, she totally would," Sasha chuckled. "Wait. Maybe you can, Anne."
Anne blinked and then pointed at herself. "Me? Uh, dude, did you forget that I sometimes copy off of Mar-Mar's homework."
"C'mon, Anne, I know you're smarter than that. Think, do you remember anything from science class about how cellphone signals work?" Sasha asked.
Anne thought about it for a moment and then snapped her fingers. She slid off her backpack, unzipped it, and then reached into it. After some rummaging around, Anne found what she was looking for. "Yes! I knew it was here!" The Thai teen took out a textbook. "My science textbook! That was my next class before we ditched school! I forgot it was in here! It might have something about that kind of stuff."
"Oh, God. Something from school is really going to come in handy in the real world. Don't ever let the teachers find out about this," said Sasha jokingly.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, dude. I'm not even sure I'll be able to do anything with this. I'm not a brain like, Marbles," said Anne.
Sasha smiled at her best friend as she said, "I know you, Anne. You can do anything when you're determined and focused enough. I believe in you, Anne." Sasha winked at Anne at the end of her sentence.
Anne blushed again, and she felt her heart racing again. "F-Fine, I'll see what I can do, no promises though."
"That's fine. Go ahead and get out of here before the guard comes and finds you. Otherwise, the whole plan will be ruined and we'll have to bust out now," said Sasha.
"Okay, two weeks, and if I manage to figure this out, you'll hopefully get a call or text from me. Later!"
Anne put up her hood and dashed out of the room, leaving Sasha alone in the cell once again.
Sasha's warm and kindly smile shifted to one of devious intent as she chuckled a little. "Oh, Anne, you're so easy. Not that I was lying about finding Marcy, but if this turns out how I want it…"
The blonde teen raised her right hand and conjured the flames from earlier, letting them dance along the palm of her hand as she stared into its light.
"We'll end up ruling this place. If all that bull about us being 'Kamen Riders' is correct, we'll be the most powerful people in this world. Oh God, me, Anne, and Marcy, ruling over this world like a trio of goddess empresses! It's so perfect I can't even stand it!"
Sasha's face began to turn red as all manner of thoughts ran through it.
"Anne at my right, Marcy at my left. The three of us always together, never too far from arm's reach. My two cute little nerds all to myself. And all while we stand at the top of this world's peak. If we can make that possible, why the hell would I ever want to go back home?" Sasha clenched her fist and snuffed out the flames as the embers danced in the air for a few seconds before disappearing. "You belong to me, Anne. You and Marcy. Not your parents, but to me. And before we find Marcy, I'll make sure Anne belongs to me, mind, body, and heart."
(5 DAYS LATER…)
Anne had been spending the last week reading the section in her science textbook that dealt with radio waves and how they interact with cellphone signals. It honestly made Anne's brain hurt, but since she had nothing else to do while Sasha did her interrogation of the toad soldiers, Anne decided to buckle down and try. Plus, Sasha was counting on her to figure this out, and she didn't want to let her best friend down. And if it worked, they could call Marcy and find out where exactly she was.
"Okay, let's go over this again. 'Wireless telephones communicate via radio waves. Calls are connected using a system of base stations – also known as cell sites – that relay calls between telecommunications networks, which wireless service providers use to establish their network coverage areas.' 'Mobile devices use radio waves to transmit signals to a network of base stations. The radio waves used by mobile devices are part of the electromagnetic wave spectrum and travel at the speed of light.'"
"'Radio waves have the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. They range from the length of a football to larger than our planet. Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves in the late 1880s. He used a spark gap attached to an induction coil and a separate spark gap on a receiving antenna. When waves created by the sparks of the coil transmitter were picked up by the receiving antenna, sparks would jump its gap as well. Hertz showed in his experiments that these signals possessed all the properties of electromagnetic waves.
"'You can tune a radio to a specific wavelength—or frequency—and listen to your favorite music. The radio 'receives' these electromagnetic radio waves and converts them to mechanical vibrations in the speaker to create the sound waves you can hear.'"
Anne had been focusing on this part about radio waves for a bit now, as she felt it might be the key to getting the cellphones working. From what she understood, she needed a tower to act as the relay to send signals from one device to the other. However, Anne lacked the knowhow, tools, and material to fashion even a makeshift tower. But there was another option, and again, this had to deal with the radio waves.
"Hmm, it says that the radio waves operate on the electromagnetic spectrum. My powers deal with lightning and electricity. Maybe there's a way for me to send out a signal if I use myself as the tower?" Anne hypothesized.
It was a long shot, and she had no guarantees if this would work or not. Because to do this she needed to have at least a rudimentary understanding of how her powers worked. So, in between her study sessions, Anne would spend the other half of her time learning how to control her lightning powers. She would transform into her Rider form as well to better get an idea of how to channel the power of electricity through her body. Her Rider form made it easier to channel that power. She would sit on the ground and meditate, and while she sat, she concentrated on feeling out the electrical energy in the air. Through her training, she found out that a lot of things around her were generating electricity. Seeing this, she looked it up in her book. Essentially, all things have electrons due to being composed of atoms. And it also stated that humans do give off a small electromagnetic field, but when placed against all the ambient background EM fields of the modern world, it's hard to detect them.
But, since I'm in a world that doesn't have any technology, living things stand out way more than anything. Plus, I'm sure my powers are giving me the ability to detect these fields a lot easier than any machine could, Anne thought.
Once Anne had figured out how to sense the living creatures in her area, she expanded further out. Bit by bit she would expand her field of awareness, sensing all things small and big that moved in the forest around her, to the point that she could close her eyes and know exactly where everything was. The trees and plants gave off their own unique aura, so it was easy to filter that out and focus only on the living things. Anne would switch between doing this in Rider form and in civilian form, although doing so in civilian was much harder. Transforming doubled her powers and abilities, so it didn't take nearly as much concentration or as much energy. But she couldn't transform all the time if they needed to call. Plus, whenever she did, her cellphone was trapped inside of her armor. Unless she put it down before transforming, there was no way that would work. And in that time, anything could happen to it.
On the sixth day of rereading and training with her powers, Anne finally managed to expand her field of awareness so now she could sense Sasha from her current location, and she could sense her friend's cellphone which, like Sasha and everything else, had its own unique EM field similar to her own cellphone.
Okay, I have to concentrate on manipulating the EM field. I need to essentially become the tower and connect our phones together.
Anne took out her cellphone, her eyes were still glowing blue as she called upon her powers. She could see the EM field, and imagined a wire snaking out and reaching towards another end, like a homemade cup phone. Anne grunted a little as she found the process a bit difficult, but so far it was working, she just had to keep it up. The Thai teen kept pushing the thread further and further out until she made the connection to Sasha's phone. Anne looked down at her cellphone and saw that the signal bars had gone from nothing to at least three bars. Anne focused a bit harder, trying to bump it up to at least four, but as she did, she found the action taxing.
"Great, guess I'll just have to work on this, but let's hope it works otherwise this was for nothing," said Anne.
The Thai teen pressed on Sasha's number and held it up to her ear. To her amazement, she heard it ringing. It just occurred to Anne that if Sasha hadn't switched her phone to vibrate, she could be alerting the toads to her cellphone, and they might attack her.
Don't think about that, Anne. Sasha has powers now; she can fight them off if she needs to.
{Anne, is that really you?!}
"Yes! Sash! I did it! We can use our cellphones now! Well, at least to talk to each other," said Anne.
{Hells yeah! I knew you could do it Boonchuy! You're way more talented than you think you are.}
Hearing that made Anne blush and made her heart swell with pride from being praised by Sasha.
{You gotta tell me, how did you make a cellphone tower? Did you have to raid all the villages around this area and melt down their metal? Even then, it'd probably take longer than five days,} Sasha inquired.
"Yeah, that was the tricky part. I'm actually using my powers to manipulate the electromagnetic field. Long story short, I turned myself into a cell tower and kind of manually connecting our cellphones together."
There was a pause for a moment before Anne heard Sasha's reply.
{Okay, seriously, wow. You're amazing Anne.}
"Heh, y-yeah, but doing this is hard. Maintaining this connection is kinda giving me a headache, but I can manage it," Anne assured.
{Hey, don't push yourself. I don't want you dying on me just so you can make a phone call. Cut me off if you start to hurt more, or before.}
"Gotcha, anyway, what's the word?" Anne asked.
{I'll keep it brief for you. My plan can work Anne. Just like I thought, a lot of the soldiers here absolutely hate Grime. And thanks to a couple of toads that I managed to persuade to hear me out, they're willing to spread the word and help jump start a mutiny against him. However, they want proof that we're legit as far as our powers.}
"Did you show them your fire thing and super strength? Did you transform?" Anne asked.
{I did show them my fire, and I punched a small hole in the wall. But no, I didn't transform. I didn't know how flashy it would be, and I didn't want to risk it snapping my shackles. I told them that this was only a fraction of my power, and that my friend and I can become a lot more powerful once we transform. And once we do, Grime won't even be challenge to us. But they still want some proof that I'm not fibbing about that last part. So, I need a favor from you Anne.}
"Okay, what?"
{We'll set up a meeting. Tomorrow at sundown, I want you to come by the tower and wait at the tree line. There'll be two toads, their names are Percy and Braddock. Show them your transformation so that they know we're legit. Once you've done that, it'll go down by the end of next week.}
"That quick, huh?"
Sasha chuckled on the other end. {These guys are starved for new leadership. They want someone who'll actually see value in their skills, and not put them down like they're lower lifeforms. So, I'll give 'em that. I'll become the leader they need, and I'll put their skills to good use for us to find Marcy.}
"Cool…ugh…w-what else did you find out about this place?"
Sasha quickly rattled off what she learned from the toads. That the place they were currently in was called Frog Valley, and that the valley itself was cut off from the rest of Amphibia until Spring when the mountain pass became unfrozen, which would be in exactly three months.
"WHAT?! THREE MONTHS?!" Anne exclaimed. "Ow!"
{Take it easy, Anne. Yes, but that's only a problem if Marcy isn't here. I want to find her, too, but if we rush it then we'll do more harm than good. So, let's concentrate on what we can do right now. Go to Percy and Braddock tomorrow, show off your stuff, and then we'll figure out a time to call again so we can coordinate our mutiny plan. This'll be our first step in finding Marcy, before finding our way home.}
"You're right, as always. Ugh…okay, now it's starting to hurt a little more," said Anne.
{Didn't I say to cut me off if that happens! Hurry up and end the call!}
"Yeah, okay, sorry! I love you, Sasha! Bye!"
Anne ended the call and cut off the connection. The moment she did, she felt immediate relief, the pain in her skull had vanished.
"Dang, gonna have to work on that. But at least I can maintain it long enough for a quick info dump. Alright then, better get something to eat and head to bed."
Anne was about to start doing just that, but after taking five steps towards her dead tree campsite, the Thai teen froze in place as the realization struck her like a lightning bolt from the sky, no pun intended.
"Did…Did I really just say, 'I love you', to Sasha Waybright just now…? Did I seriously just say, 'I LOVE YOU', to SASHA?! WAYBRIGHT?!"
Anne dropped to her knees, and then onto the ground, and proceeded to roll around on the grass yelling in frustration and embarrassment that she actually said something like that. You never say those three words, not unless you're in serious relationship! And even then, not if you're willing to be totally committed to that person! Yet here she went and said it. To the girl who has been her best friend since grade school. The girl who has practically been watching her back since they've entered middle school, and even before that. The girl who is the most popular teen in all of Saint James Middle School, captain of the cheerleaders, and a knockout beauty.
"Did…Did I just admit that I find Sasha attractive…?" Anne asked herself. "UGH! What's wrong with me?! Now she's going to be all weirded out! How else would she react to hearing her best friend just say that so casually?! Dammit…!"
The Thai teen finally stopped her rolling around until she was lying on her back and staring up at the sky.
"I shouldn't call her back…there might be a guard there now. Plus, I don't know if doing that again will hurt more if I don't rest up. I'll meet up with those toads and clear the air with her after its done. God, I'm such an idiot! She's going to think I'm a total lesbo or something!"
Am I?
That was actually a good question. Anne never thought of herself as gay, she was all about romance, she loved seeing it, but she never thought about finding someone for herself. Much less what gender they were. But…did it matter? Was it okay to feel something towards Sasha? Anne shook her head of these thoughts as she tried to apply logic to it.
"Stop it, Boonchuy! You're just blowing your feelings out proportion because you're in some strange world and fighting for your survival! You're all hyper aware of yourself and stuff. That's it. I'll just explain that to Sasha when I call her tomorrow."
Anne was at the assigned meeting place, keeping to the tree line in her cloak and sticking to the shadows as much as she could. The sun had set over the horizon and night fell over the land of Amphibia. Anne was creeped out by how the forest took on a sinister feel to it now that it was nighttime. Much different to the section of the forest she was used to. Thankfully she didn't have to wait too long as she spotted two hooded figures sneaking out of the fortress and heading towards the tree line. The two cloaked toads stopped a few feet from the tree line and called out to her.
"Anne Boonchuy!" the male toad, Percy, called.
Anne slowly emerged from the tree line, the two toads arched their necks up to look at the tall human girl, and then gasped when she pulled down her hood. "That's me. Sasha told me to expect you two."
Both toads pulled down their hoods, one was wearing a helmet over his head, and had a green tint to his skin. The other was female, Braddock, she assumed, and had a pinkish tint to her skin, and blonde hair tied into a braided ponytail.
"Yeah, I'm Braddock, and that's Percy. Sash told us you were going to show us your powers or something," said Braddock.
"I am, but let's move a little further in, it's a bit flashy and I don't think we should draw attention to ourselves right now," said Anne as she turned to walk into the forest.
That's when she heard the unsheathing of swords. Anne turned around and saw that both toads were indeed brandishing swords.
"What are you doing?" Anne asked.
"She didn't say anything about you taking us into the forest," said Braddock.
"Yeah, a nice spot for an ambush," said Percy.
Shit! No! I can't mess this up right! How can I convince them to come in so I can show them?! Think, what would Sasha do?!
Anne scoffed as she turned around and crossed her arms. She glared down at the two toads and said, "Are you really doubting Sasha right now?"
"What?" Percy asked.
"Why would Sasha go through this trouble of wanting to stage a mutiny against Grime, just to have me lure you into an ambush or whatever? I thought you trusted Sasha," Anne accused.
"We do trust her," said Braddock.
"You've seen what she can do. If she wanted to, she could break out right now, and the two of us would be far away from here. But here we are, wanting to help you guys out. I can tell Sasha that you're doubting her and pulled out your swords on me. I don't think she'd like that very much," Anne threatened.
Percy and Braddock nervously glanced between themselves before quickly sheathing their swords.
"Cool. Now, c'mon. The sooner you see this, the sooner we can get things started."
Anne walked back into the forest, with Percy and Braddock behind her. Once she was sure they were far enough in where the trees would block at least some of the light, she turned around to face the two toads. The Thai teen removed her cloak and widened her stance. Once she had, Anne called upon her powers, making her eyes shine blue as a circlet of lightning appeared around her waist. The Driver appeared once more, and once it had, Anne pressed down on the devices and cried out, "Henshin!"
A dome of lightning surrounded Anne, and within seconds she was transformed into her Kamen Rider form. Percy and Braddock stared slacked jawed at what they just witnessed. Not only had the already tall human girl gotten taller but now she was donned in a mysterious blue armor and had electricity sparking off her body here and there.
"HOLY FROG!" they exclaimed.
"Now do you believe her? We have way more power than we know what to do with when we're like this. I'm probably not exaggerating when I say, between the two of us, we could probably demolish that whole fortress before the night is over," said Anne.
Percy looked at Braddock, and Braddock looked at Percy. The two toads seemed to have come to a conclusion regarding their decision in Sasha's mutiny plan.
"Okay, we're in!" Percy exclaimed.
Anne fist pumped. "Sweet! Sasha's going to be happy when she hears the news!"
"We'll start spreading the word soon. I should tell you, there are some toads who are still loyal to Grime," said Braddock.
"Whoa, really? How many?" Anne asked.
"Hard to tell, some are loyal just out of fear. Others because they actually like the guy. Together I'd say that's half of the toads in the tower," Percy answered.
Anne did a double take upon hearing this. "Half of the soldiers are loyal to him?! Dude, that means we'll have to fight them, right?"
"Well, yeah, but it shouldn't be an issue for you and Sash," said Braddock.
"I mean, no, we could take them, but are you guys okay with us fighting your friends? Are you okay fighting them?"
Percy tapped his two fingers together and answered, "Not gonna lie, I'm not thrilled by the idea, but considering the alternative is just more of Grime and feeling put down every single day, then I'd rather take my chances with Sasha than Grime. Plus, I don't think it'll be that many we'll fight before it's over."
"How do you mean?" Anne asked.
"Percy means that the ones who follow out of fear just might switch sides when they see just how powerful you and Sasha are. They fear Grime for what he'll do them if they don't follow him, and because, well, he's a damn good fighter. But when you show them just much more powerful you two are, and that fighting against you two is way worse than fighting with Grime, there's a high chance they'll defect to our side and the tide will turn quick," Braddock explained.
"And once those guys do, the number of loyalists is way less than those of us fighting for you and Sasha. We'll overwhelm them easy," said Percy.
"Cool…good to know."
After their exchange, Anne changed back and bid farewell to the two toads. Anne decided to jump up onto a tree branch that gave her a good view of the tower and was in the direction of where Sasha's cell window was. Since she was closer to the tower, she figured establishing the connection now would be less taxing. Thankfully, she was right. The moment Anne created the connection, the throbbing in her head was a lot less painful, now it was only a minor annoyance. After creating the connection, Anne immediately called Sasha.
{Anne, hey! How did it go?}
"We're a go, Sash. Percy and Braddock are gonna start spreading the word to the toads who are on your side," said Anne.
{Hey, our side, Anne. We're a team. Also, did you get back to your campsite already? You're faster than I thought.}
"No, I'm still here. Connecting our phones is a lot less tiring and painful if I'm close by, so right now I'm on a tree branch looking up at your window," said Anne.
{Really?} Anne watched from her perch as Sasha appeared in the window. At first, she didn't think Sasha could see her and was just looking in a general direction, but it seemed as if she was looking right at her. {Ah, found you.}
"Seriously?! You can see me from up there?!" Anne exclaimed in shock.
{Well, not see you, see you. I can see two blue glowing dots from a gap in the leaves. I assume those are your eyes glowing.}
"Oh, shoot! Uh, guess I should close them before I get spotted."
{Don't worry, I don't think they can see you. I only spotted you 'cause I'm this high up. They can't spot you from the wall.}
Anne breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, cool. Uh…Sasha…a-about yesterday…you know, before I hung up…I…I…listen I was–"
{Did you mean it?}
Anne paused.
{Anne, I'm gonna be real with you right now. 'Cause no matter what happens, whether we succeed in this plan, or end up flopping, I want you to know how I feel. Will you listen to me?}
Anne gulped audibly and answered, "Go ahead, Sash. I'm listening."
{I've been trying to figure out a way to come out to you and Marcy for some time now, but I could never find the right opportunity, or chickened out at the last second. But given we're in a whole other world, and have no idea what each day will bring, I think I should say this before something happens either way. Anne…I'm bi. And…for the longest time…I've had a huge crush on you and Marcy.}
Anne's face was blushing bright red when she heard this, and her heart was jackhammering in her chest. Sasha Waybright didn't just come out of the closet to her, but also just confessed that she has feelings for her, her, Anne Boonchuy. The girl who just went with the flow and whose only notable quality – as far as he was concerned – was her athletic prowess. She didn't consider herself attractive on any level, and not a single boy or girl at school has ever expressed anything of the sort to her. But just now Sasha said she had a crush on her.
{I know it's messed up, but I've had this fantasy since I was twelve that the three of us would go on being friends into adulthood. And that…maybe you two felt the same way and we could all be together, as girlfriends…}
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up, y-you mean…y-you want to go out with me and Marcy?" Anne asked.
{That so hard to believe?}
"Y-Yeah, for me anyway…I mean…Marcy's a genius and will more than likely win a Nobel prize when she's older. You're probably going to be the CEO of some major corporation, and me? Tch, I don't have anything. I'm just good at tennis, but I'm not good enough to go pro or anything," said Anne.
{Ugh, please don't say things like that, Anne. I hate it when you put yourself down like that. You don't think I see your potential? I mean, look at yourself. You figured out how to turn yourself into a living cell phone tower and connect our phones so we can talk. I world that has ZERO modern tech. And you're telling me that's not a sign of talent?}
Anne balled up her fist as she responded, "I only managed to do this because of my powers. If I didn't have the–"
{But you DO have those powers, and YOU used them to do what you're doing right now. Sure, Marcy probably would've figured out how to whip up a tower somehow, but you did it with your own body and power. You did something that a piece of equipment built for that purpose could do with your mind. If that's not noteworthy, I don't know what is. And I love that about you. I love Marcy because she's a genius and a damn cute nerd. And I love you because of your hidden potential, and you make me laugh, and you're kind and caring, and just make being around you an experience I can't get enough of. Not to mention you've got badass cooking skills from working in your parents' restaurant.}
Anne rubbed the back of her head, the blush persisting. "Y-You like it when I cook stuff?"
{Girl, you look so hot in a cooking apron, it's practically criminal.}
Anne felt like her face was about to melt off from hearing this.
"Sasha…I…I don't know what to say."
{Anne, I'm not going to force you. That's the last thing I want. If you don't swing that way, then you don't. But…could we give it a shot? And then when we find Mar-Mar, would you be willing to try having all three of us together?}
Anne didn't know, she never considered ever having a girlfriend before, and Sasha was proposing that all three of them be together. Somehow, she felt like Marcy would be all for that, but was she ready for that?
I mean…I do like Sasha. Maybe more than I thought I did…? And, honestly, yeah, Marcy's is super cute. I wouldn't mind being with them…all three of us…together, forever. Not just as best friends, but something more? It sounds nice actually.
"Okay, Sasha. L-Let's give it a shot," said Anne.
{Seriously?!} Sasha asked happily.
"Yeah, I mean, I feel something for you Sash. I know it's not just like friendship. I want to explore this feeling a bit more. And, well, since we're not back home, I guess we have as much time as we want to explore it together. Along with Marcy if she's willing," Anne confessed.
{Anne, you honestly don't know how happy you've made me after hearing you say that. Oh, I can't wait until we get this mutiny thing over with, so I hold you and give you your first real kiss!}
"…Now that think about it, those times you convinced us to 'practice kiss', were you setting up for this?" Anne asked.
{Oops. Found out.}
"Sasha Elizabeth Waybright, you sneaky little–!"
{Don't be like that, you didn't seem too bothered by it from what I remember. Especially when you and Marcy locked lips.}
Anne made a few unintelligible noises before letting out a defeated sigh. "You're sneaky as hell for that."
{Hey, considering what else I could've convinced us to practice, you two got off easy. Well, if I had it my way, not that easy.}
"SASHA!" Anne squeaked.
{Hahahahaha! Okay, seriously, go head back to your campsite before it gets any darker. I'll need you ready before the end of this week.}
Anne nodded and said, "I got it. I'll call you again at nine to see where things are at. Ugh, I wish I could keep the line open, but it's draining."
{Don't worry, you know I can handle myself if things go sideways here. Just concentrate on resting up. See ya soon, Boonchuy. I…I love you.}
Anne's heart fluttered. "I…I love you, too, Sash."
With those parting words, Anne cut off the connection and dashed at superspeed back to her campsite. All while Sasha watched from on high.
"Anne you beautiful, naïve thing. Everything I did say was true, I love you and Marcy. And you do have so much potential. And I'll draw it all out. But first, I'm going to have as much fun as humanly possible with you…"
A/N: Work citing because it's habit from college, crudely done, but i'm not getting graded, lol
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