A/N: Glad y'all liked that I combined the last two eps of the Newtopia arc together. Honestly if I just wrote it out on its own, it'd be way too short a chapter and I didn't want to shortchange you guys like that. As it turns out, that was the best option as I was able to get to the fun chap of bringing in Chicka-lisk.
And I had no intention of nerfing Chicka-lisk, he is a deity of some level, it would absurd that Anne could beat him when she hasn't even obtained her Final Form yet, but she did provide an exciting fight for the elder god, so that earned her some brownie points in his book.
Now then, all aboard the emotional rollercoaster!
"WHY DID YOU NEED THIS AGAIN?!" Anne screamed.
"I MY SPELL BOOK NEEDED A BRANCH FROM A DOOM TREE!" Maddie screamed back.
The human and frog girl were running through the woods, being chased by a Doom Tree Mantis. Maddie needed the bark off one to perform one of her witchy spells. So, Maddie had asked Anne to help her out in getting the piece she needed, and since Anne knew what she was going to walk into, Anne wanted to make sure Maddie was safe. And in the end, they made the Doom Tree Mantis angry and were running for their lives.
"Why don't you just change into that blue warrior and beat that thing?!" Maddie asked.
"It may be a grody bug, but it's still just an animal! And honestly, I'd be ticked off too if someone broke off a part of my skin!" Anne retorted.
"Touché!"
Anne focused her energy and made her eyes glow blue again. Doing so allowed her to see the Doom Tree Mantis slash at them with its sickle, but Anne quickly grabbed Maddie and jumped out of the way. Anne landed on a tree branch and deposited Maddie onto it. "Stay here." Maddie watched as Anne jumped back down and got into a fighting stance. "Okay, last time I dealt with one of you, I was running for my life, but not this time!"
The Doom Tree Mantis raised it sickle arm again and brought it down on her position. Anne channeled her power into her legs and dashed out of the way, she zipped around to its left, jumped into the air, and punched it in the left side of its face. The Doom Tree Mantis spat sap as it fumbled backwards.
"Just do yourself a favor, dude, run away," said Anne.
The Doom Tree Mantis screeched at Anne in defiance.
"Okay, guess we're doin' this the hard way."
Anne widened her stance and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and waited. The Doom Tree Mantis charged straight ahead for Anne, screeching the whole way as it readied its sickles to cut her down. Maddie watched from her perch up on the branch, worried for Anne as the creature approached her. However, the moment the Doom Tree Mantis threw down its sickle, Anne's eyes shot open. The young Thai teen thrust both of her hands forward and caught the sickle with her bare hands. Anne dug her heels into the ground and called upon her power to surge into her arms. Using the momentum of the bug, Anne swung the giant bug around and tossed it straight back from where it came. The creature chittered and screech as it flew through the air, and then landed with a large dull "thunk".
"Whoa…" Maddie exclaimed.
"Whew…Okay, that was heavy. Let's get outta here, Maddie!" Anne called out.
"R-Right!"
Anne and Maddie ran as fast they could, eventually leaving the forest and making it back to the main road. Once they had, Anne and Maddie smiled at each other before slapping a high five.
"Thanks, again, for giving me a hand with that," said Maddie.
"No prob, just promise me whatever it is you're going to do with that spell is not going to hex the entire town." Anne waited for a response, but Maddie kept silent. "Maddie?"
"Oh, wow, I think I hear my father calling! See ya!"
Maddie ran off as quick as she could, leaving Anne standing there with a deadpan expression. "I should probably be ready to do something about that later."
Anne decided to walk through the town to kill some time, a couple of days had passed since they returned to Wartwood, and so far, things have been kind of peaceful. As she entered the town proper, Anne noticed a new stand, when she got closer, she deadpanned again. The stand had the words "Hero Of Amphibia Merch" emblazoned upon a fancily painted sign. The merchandise in question were sewn dolls that looked like Anne, and others that looked like her when she was Amp.
The Thai teen sighed as she said, "Toadstool."
The Mayor of Wartwood had made good on his intention of milking the hero merch for all it was worth. Wasting no time in setting up this stand to sell plush dolls of Anne, he also commissioned a sign at the town gate that read, "Home of the Newtopian Knight, Anne Boonchuy, Kamen Rider Amp." That sign was the second iteration since the last one read "Common" instead of "Kamen", as much as Anne did not want to go through the whole being famous thing again, she did feel she had to correct that on principal alone.
"Maybe I should've gotten a lawyer, I'm pretty sure I should be getting royalties or something?" Anne thought aloud.
Anne suddenly sensed a presence behind her, but it was not that threatening. She easily sidestepped to the right and watched as Ivy passed her as she tried to nail Anne in the back with a flying kick. The young frog girl landed on the ground, quickly recovered, and launched herself at Anne again. Anne smirked as she raised one arm and began blocking Ivy's punches. Ivy dropped low and went for a sweeping kick to knock Anne down, but the human saw it coming and leaped into the air to avoid the attack. Ivy brought her legs back under her and hopped up to meet her.
Their combat continued in the air as Ivy would throw multiple punches and kicks, only for Anne to either dodge them or block them. Ivy threw a punch with all she had, and Anne blocked it with the flat of her left hand. The impact pushed both girls a couple of feet back, leaving a wide gap between them. When Ivy landed on the ground, she stumbled a bit as she lost her footing. Anne took advantage of this and dashed forward, closing the gap between them, and throwing a right punch for the redhead. Ivy scrunched her eyes and waited for the contact, a rush of wind came at her, and pushed her onto the ground rear first. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Anne's fist had stopped about ten inches away from her face.
"Aw man, I thought I had you that time," said Ivy.
"You're getting better. Guess your mom's been teaching you more since a couple of days ago," said Anne as she opened her fist and offered Ivy a hand.
Ivy took the proffered hand and stood back up. "Yeah, she's been really teaching me this time! Not just with the stuff in the shop, but actual sparring matches." Ivy sighed sadly. "When I think about what I said to her, I feel like a real butt."
Anne knelt before Ivy and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, she knows you didn't mean it, and you guys are cool now. Probably better than you once were. She loves you, and you love her. That's all that matters in the end."
"Yeah, I know. And thanks for letting me test out my new moves on you," said Ivy. "I love Sprig and all, but I don't want to spar with him. Just because I'm afraid I might hurt him.
Anne chuckled as she stood to her full height. "No worries. I get it, better to try out your skills against someone who's fought a lot already."
Ivy's expression changed to one of determination as she clenched her fists. "Just wait, Anne, I'll get so good, I'll have to make you transform just to beat me! Oh, and don't forget about our lesson with my mom this weekend!"
"I'll be there!"
Anne watched as Ivy hopped away to go train some more. Ever since the Chicka-lisk incident and hearing Anne's tales, Ivy had become inspired to get stronger and see the world. There were some issues with Ivy's mother, Felicia, but those were smoothed out when Felicia revealed herself to be quite the expert fighter and agreed to train her daughter in earnest. Anne asked if Felicia would teach her as well, and she has. The last couple of days she had been attending some lessons with Ivy, learning the art of "Frog Kumite". For some reason, she thought that sounded very familiar to her. But she didn't care, the moves that she learned from Felicia translated well. Since Anne already had combat experience and was trained in Muay Thai, learning this new style of martial arts was relatively easy. While she and Ivy learned side-by-side, Felicia would end the joint session and do a private session with Anne, since Anne was bigger and a bit stronger, Felicia did not have to hold back as much as she did with her daughter. She could not wait to try some of these new moves on the next Fallen that tried to mess with them.
After saying "hi" to the frogs in town, Anne headed back to the Plantar Farm. Her powers had also made it easier for her to do the chores around the farm, she felt it only right. Anne still felt guilty about pretending to be sick, so she tried to make up for it with doing more on the farm and giving the Plantars some extra time to relax when they could. Of course, Hop Pop told her to cut down on the use, as he did not want Sprig and Polly to be reliant on her always doing all the work or at least a good chunk of it. Mostly because he knew, as well as she, that when the music box was charged and the Fallen defeated, Marcy, herself, and Sasha would have to return home.
It was still sad to think about, she really wanted to go back home and see her parents, but at the same time, Anne was sad that she would leave the Plantars. I hope it's not exactly a one-way trip. Maybe Marcy could figure out a way to allow us to hop back and forth safely? Heh-heh, hop, like a frog.
The Plantar Farm was now in sight, as she passed the front gate, Anne spotted a fly buzzing towards her. She was about to swat the thing but paused when she noticed that it was dressed like a mailman and had a letter in its legs. Anne looked at the letter and saw that it had the official seal of Newtopia on it. Anne gasped and hurried inside the house where she found Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop enjoying their lunch.
"Yo guys! Check it out! I got a Mail-Fly message! Look how cute he is," said Anne as she pointed to the little fly buzzing beside her.
Polly blew a raspberry. "Jealous, I never get mail."
"Who do you know that would send you mail?" Sprig asked.
"You don't know my life!"
"Ooookay. On that note. Open it! Open it!" Sprig urged as he hopped off his chair and landed on Anne's head.
Anne quickly took the letter, nodded her thanks to the fly, and opened it quickly. "It's from Marcy! She says we're ready to travel to the first temple!"
The Plantars cheered excitedly, the time had finally come to start their quest to finally help Anne and her friends return home.
"Ooh. She even included a checklist of things to bring. Let's see here. 'Food. Weapons…'"
Sprig hopped off Anne's head and grabbed the bowl of food as he said, "Food, check!"
Polly reached behind her bucket and pulled out a mace. "Double check!" Much to her brother's shock, when she whipped out the mace, the spiked ball flew towards him, making Sprig jump back, missing the spiked ball as it cracked the table a little. "Jumpy little fella."
Anne nodded and went back to the list. "Cool, now what else…Armor! Armor? I mean, I practically carry a suit of armor wherever I go when I transform." Anne looked at the Plantars. "Actually, never mind, we do need armor."
"Got it covered," said Hop Pop as he winked at Anne. "Believe it or not, Ah made each of you your very own suit of armor."
"Whoa!" Sprig exclaimed.
"Coool," said Polly as she grinned.
"Seriously?! Hop Pop you're the best!" Anne praised.
TEN MINUTES LATER
"I take it back…" Anne, along with Sprig and Polly, were wrapped in puffy, padded suits, which were way too big. Anne tried to move, but in so doing fell backwards onto the couch and flailed around like a turtle on its back. "I'm down! Anne's down!"
Polly tried to move in her suit, but she had even less luck than Anne did. "Hop Pop! This is the opposite of a suit of armor!" About that time, Sprig fell flat on his face.
"Exactly. Less mobility means less trouble," said Hop Pop.
"Or easier targets," said Sprig, although it came out muffled due to his face still kissing the floor.
"Yeah, yeah," said Polly as she rolled her eyes. "Hey Anne, anything else on that list?"
Anne wiggled around but managed to grab the list to see what else they needed. "Oh yeah, just one more thing. Ya know, the most important thing. The music box!"
Hop Pop's expression became one of mild panic upon hearing Anne mention the music box, but in spite of that he managed to keep his cool as he said, "Uh, right, the music box. No problem. My contacts will have it ready by tomorrow."
"Great, you're the best, H. P.," said Anne as she gave him the thumbs up.
Hop Pop reciprocated the gesture by throwing up two of his thumbs. Ah've got to dig up that thing tonight before Anne realizes Ah've been lyin' to her all this time!
The Plantars spent most of the afternoon and into the evening getting what they needed. The letter had also gone on to say that Marcy would be arriving in the next couple of days. The letter just arrived, so it was possible that Marcy was on her way very soon. Everyone headed to bed early, since they were sure that Marcy would be in Wartwood sooner than later, they wanted to be well rested for when she arrived.
Anne did not even change out of her clothes, she still had on her uniform and one shoe, and had her backpack on, practically ready to jump out of bed and head off on their quest. "All packed and ready to go." Anne tossed and turned in her bed, eventually flinging off the blanket as she declared, "Ah! Too excited to sleep!"
The Thai girl placed her hands behind her head as she thought about Marcy. Even though Marcy said that she should go with the Plantars, Anne still felt a little guilty about running off and leaving Marcy behind. They were newly minted girlfriends now, they had barely had a date or anything, and she just left. When I see her, I need to make things up to her and show her how thankful I am that she knew how important spending time with the Plantars is to me.
As she contemplated this, Anne could hear footsteps overhead. "Sounds like someone else can't sleep either." Anne headed up the stairs and pushed open the basement door ever so slightly, allowing her to watch as Hop Pop walked out through the front door. Curious, Anne exited the basement and followed him. When she got to the front door, she watched as Hop Pop quickly made his way to the dead tree near the house and began digging like a madman possessed. The whole thing made Anne giggle. "Classic old Hop Pop bein' a freak. I'm gonna give that nerd a little scare."
Anne began to stealthily creep up on Hop Pop, preparing to scare the old man. Yeah, it was a little mean spirited, but she knew he would know it was a joke. Anne paused when she saw Hop Pop his head out the hole he had dug, she was about to give him a scare but stopped when she heard what came out of his mouth.
"I-It can't be. The music box, it's gone!" Hop Pop exclaimed.
The world came to a grinding halt for Anne, her high spirits were shattered in that moment. What did he mean by that? What did he mean by the "music box was gone"? How was that possible? Hop Pop had told Anne that he left it with his contacts. Anne took a step forward and said, "What did you say?"
Hop Pop swiftly turned around and yelped. "Anne, what're you doin' here?!"
Anne took another step forward. "I heard you wrong, right Hop Pop? You said it was gone? But that can't be true because you said that you left it with your contacts. So, why were you digging a hole if you left it with your contacts?"
Hop Pop shifted his eyes back and forth as he began to sweat bullets. He could see the disbelief in her eyes, but at the same time there was a sliver of hope that perhaps she was wrong. Hop Pop wanted to say that his contacts buried the box for them to keep it safe and told him about its location when they got back to Wartwood, but the guilt was too much.
"Ah can't lie anymore! Ah buried the box here! And now it's missin'!" Hop Pop confessed.
Anne could feel her heart shatter. "Wait, what!? But you said your contacts were gonna–!"
"There were no contacts!" Hop Pop interrupted. "Ah read the box was dangerous! Ah didn't know what to do! Ah panicked! You gotta understand. Ah was just tryin' to protect Sprig and Polly!"
Anne stepped back as she shook her head, pressing her right hand to her hair as she tried to comprehend what she had just been told. Hop Pop, the old frog who had taken her in, sheltered her, given her food, treated her like family, had been lying to her. "You've been lying to me…this whole time you've been lying to my face?!"
"No! Well, yes, but…it's complicated!"
"NO IT ISN'T!" Anne's eyes flashed blue, making Hop Pop jump. "I need the music box to get home, and you buried it UNDER A TREE! What're you trying to do, keep me here forever?!" Anne gasped. "That's it, isn't it?! You sicko!"
"No, no! I-It's not like that! I-It's just…Ah've lost so much already and–!"
Anne raised her hand and harshly said, "Stop! Just stop…!" Anne began sniffling. "I trusted you, Hop Pop…I was alone in this world, and I trusted you to look after me. I thought we were family, after everything that's happened to us, I truly believed you thought I was a part of this family."
Hop Pop started form tears in his eyes as he tried to explain himself. "Anne, y-you are! You're like a granddaughter to me!"
"I took on your name when King Andrias knighted me, you looked so damn proud of me, and that made me happy…" Tears started to roll down Anne's eyes as her vision blurred a bit. "So, this whole time I thought you were honestly searching for a way to get me back home, you've had my one hope of returning home buried under a freakin' tree! And you lost it!"
"Ah…well…Ah swear it was there! Ah swear on my ancestors Anne, Ah buried it right there in that hole!" Hop Pop swore.
Anne stamped her foot, causing a surge of electricity to arc off her hands involuntarily. "THAT DOESN'T MATTER! IT'S GONE NOW! MY ONE SHOT AT GETTING BACK HOME, THE ONE SHOT THAT ME AND MY FRIENDS HAD OF GOING BACK HOME IS GONE! This temple quest is for nothing now! We're officially stuck here and it's all thanks to you!" The tears started to flow in earnest now, causing Anne to wipe them away with her right forearm. "I-I can't be here right now…!"
Anne began walking away towards the woods, but as she did, she could sense Hop Pop about to go after her. "Don't follow me! I don't want to see your face again, Hop Pop!" Anne kept walking, but then broke into a fall on sprint with her powers aiding in her speed.
The Thai girl's heart was broken, she trusted Hop Pop to look after her, to protect her, and do the right thing to help her get back home. And yet, it was all a lie, he said as much. He was trying to protect Polly and Sprig, not Polly, Sprig, and Anne. Hop Pop did not see her as part of the family, despite what he had said about not having to be blood related to be part of a family. What a complete load.
Anne stopped in the middle of the woods, panting, and crying. She dropped to her hands and knees, letting the tears fall onto the ground. The young teen pounded the earth with her right fist again, and again. The anger and sadness welled up inside as she yelled out, "HENSHIN!" A ring of lightning appeared around her waist and materialized the MetamorphRing. Anne pressed on the two devices and transformed into Amp.
Without thinking, Amp began to lash out at everything around her. She struck a tree with a roundhouse kick, smashing right through it and causing the timber to fall. She then switched to Spike Form and began slashing at every tree that was around her and began stabbing the ground repeatedly as she bellowed out her sadness into the air. All of this lasted about five minutes, and in that time, she had mowed down a good fifty trees, smashed them to pieces, and left a wide-open area around her. Amp was on her knees as she looked up into the night sky, tearful sobs could be heard coming from inside of her helmet, and after a few seconds the transformation was dismissed, revealing Anne as she continued to gaze into the sky.
Anne took a moment to survey the damage she had done and lamented what she had done. She stood back up and walked over to one of the downed trees and said, "I'm sorry…" After apologizing to the innocent trees, Anne tried to figure out what her next move was. She could not go back to the Plantar home, and it was too late in the evening to go asking one of the other residents of Wartwood to take her in for the night. That left one other place she could go, but she was reluctant to do so.
Anne glanced in the direction of the Plantar's house and muttered, "Better than the alternative."
With that settled, Anne walked deeper into the woods. Even after all this time, she had not forgotten about that place. It took about ten minutes to find the spot she was headed to. A cave made from a large tree sat in the middle of the clearing, it was in this cave that she spent the first few days in Amphibia, wandering about, lost, and confused, and scared. Anne walked inside and saw the words she had painted on the walls that read, "Anne Wuz Here". This was her shelter for those days before she met the Plantars, her refuge, and now, it seemed that it was going to fulfill that purpose yet again.
Anne sighed heavily as she threw down her backpack and lied down on it, using the pack as a makeshift pillow. So many thoughts were swirling in her head, along with just as many emotions. She had no idea how she was going to face Marcy when she finally arrived. Marcy, the girl who told her to follow her heart, to go with the Plantars back to Wartwood.
"I'm sorry, Marcy…I trusted Hop Pop…and now, we can't go back home…"
Anne cried again, and she continued to cry until she eventually fell asleep.
Hours passed as night turned into day, and still Anne had not returned. Hop Pop had been pacing through the living room and kitchen with a mug full of coffee, waiting for Anne to return. Every so often he'd open the door, hoping to see her on the other side. But who was he kidding? After what he did, why would she return? Still, the old frog held out hope that Anne might come back, maybe not to forgive him, but perhaps to allow him to explain his reasoning as to why he did what he did.
His mind was in a panic last night when he realized Anne was there, he was so riddled with guilt, about lying to her about his "contacts", and even now losing the music box. He broke the trust that they have been building for over four months now, all in one night. And he had no one to blame other than himself. Still, he hoped, he hoped that Anne would come back, and let him explain. The old frog could not help but worry about her, last night he heard chaotic noises, like a great many trees were being cut down and striking the ground. It did not take a genius to put two and two together, it was Anne. She was lashing out at the trees, in pain because of what he had done.
Hop Pop was so deep in his guilt and depression that he barely noticed when Polly and Sprig came rushing down the stairs and repeatedly cried out, "Quest! Quest! Quest!"
Their shouting stopped; no doubt having spotted him in his sorry state.
"Uh, Hop Pop, are you okay?" Sprig asked.
Hop Pop sighed heavily and sadly as he turned around to face his grandkids. "Ah really mucked it up this time, kids…Ah lied to Anne about the music box, and Ah buried it under the tree out front."
"WHAT?!" Sprig and Polly exclaimed in unison.
Hop Pop chuckled sadly as he continued, "Oh, it gets worse. When Ah went to dig it up last night, it was gone! Anne saw the whole thing and ran off. I've been waitin' all night for her to come back. Ah'm so ashamed of myself…Ah think Ah broke her heart…Ah've never seen her look so hurt…And Ah was the one who hurt her."
Sprig and Polly glanced at each other, they were shocked to hear this, and they too wanted an explanation as to why Hop Pop had done such a foolish thing, but that did not matter right now. They needed to find Anne and find that music box. Sprig grabbed Polly and placed her on his head, he then hopped over to the table and took Hop Pop's right hand into both of his. "Look, Hop Pop, I don't know why you did what you did, but you gotta fix it!"
Polly hopped off her brother's head and landed on the table. Once there, she grabbed both sides of Hop Pop's face and looked the old man in the eyes. "Yeah! You gotta get out there and bring Anne back!"
When Polly released him, Hop Pop felt a renewed sense of determination. They were right, nothing was going to get down with him moping around in the house and just hoping that Anne would return. If there was going to be any chance of salvaging their bond, then he had to act, now. "Dang it kids, you're right! Ah caused this mess, so Frog dang it, Ah'm gonna clean it up!" Hop Pop downed the last of his coffee and threw his mug onto the floor. "And then I'm gonna clean that up!"
With his mind made up, Hop Pop burst through the front door and ran towards the woods where he saw Anne go. The old frog kept going and stopped when he saw the destruction that laid before him. Multiple trees had been cut down, or in some cases smashed through. Some were broken in half and turned into splinters, others seemed to be cut up by an incredibly sharp object. Hop Pop knew that this was Anne's handy work, she was frustrated, angry, and sad, and took out all those emotions on the trees.
Hop Pop walked up to one of the trees and patted it as he said, "Ah'm sorry, you took what was meant for me. Ah'm sure Anne is sorry, too."
After apologizing to the trees, Hop Pop went further in. He wasn't sure where to find Anne, or even where she would go. His first thought was to head into town and see if any of the residents of Wartwood had given her shelter. But after what happened last night, Hop Pop was sure she wanted to be alone, and was more than likely not in the mood to talk to anyone about the incident. He was sure that if someone in Wartwood did give her shelter, perhaps that person would come and tell them, or maybe Sprig and Polly would find her. He had no doubts that they were probably going to go looking for her as well, if not that then they might be searching for the music box.
"Hmm. If there was only some clue as to which way she went – ow!" Hop Pop stepped back and looked under his foot. When he did, he found that the thing he stepped on was a bobby pin. "A bobby pin?" Although that was not the only thing he found. "And hairbrush, mascara, sunglasses, teen magazine. Ah think Ah'm on the right track!"
Hop Pop followed the trail of items that had fallen out of Anne's backpack, either she was too distraught to notice, or she had a hole that needed patching. About an hour had passed since he started looking, and during that time the sky began to darken. Thunder rumbled in the sky and then a flash of lightning streaked through the sky, followed by another thunderclap. Rain began to pour down upon the land, soaking Hop Pop, and everything around him, but he did not care, he was a frog on a mission, and nothing was going to stop him from finding Anne and making things right. Thankfully it seemed as if he was getting closer, which was a good thing since the rain was starting to wash out the trail.
In the distance Hop Pop could see a tree with a hollowed-out bottom. Hop Pop figured that such a place would make a good shelter, and perhaps Anne had used it as one as well. As he got closer, Hop Pop started to hear someone talking. It was hard to make out due to the storm, but it he definitely sounded female. The old frog cautiously moved closer to the opening and when he did, Hop Pop stifled a gasp, it was Anne.
The storm had started about an hour ago and was not letting up, Anne decided to stay in her makeshift shelter until it stopped and then she would make her way to Wartwood and see if she could ask one of the residents if she could stay for the night. In her mind she had the workings of a plan, her first stop would be to Mrs. Croaker, and if she said Anne could stay, then she would. If that was a no-go, she would move onto Wally, and then Loggle, and if that did not work, she would see if Maddie or Ivy would be willing to put her up for a night.
The next part of her plan was simple, she would talk to Marcy and apologize like there was no tomorrow for losing the music box, and then with her help, they could tear the whole town apart looking for it. Not literally mind you, but with Marcy's abilities and genius intellect, finding the music box should be relatively simple, hopefully. And once it was located, the two of them would head to the temple, do what they needed to do, and instead of heading back to the Plantars or burdening anyone else in Wartwood, Anne would have to head back to Newtopia with Marcy, riding Machine Stormer the whole way if she had to.
As she contemplated all of this, Anne was busy fussing with "Rocky's" hair. Rocky being an inanimate rock with a painted face on it, and the "hair" being a mess of long moss that had grown from the top of it. "I thought I knew him, you know? But he was lying to me the whole time." Anne sighed. "Wish I had my bobby pins."
Lightning flashed outside of the cave just as Anne's eyes turned towards it. That's when she screamed, spotting something standing in the entrance. Anne bolted to her feet and got into a fighting stance, prepared to make the poor creature that tried to come in and eat her regret its life choices. When the creature stepped inside, the glowing mushrooms in the cave illuminated its features, revealing it to be Hop Pop. Anne's guard lowered, but only just a little considering who it was.
"Oh, tch, it's you…"
"Hi, Anne…"
Anne turned her back to the old frog and said, "What the heck do you want? And how did you even find me?"
Hop Pop got closer and deposited some of the things he found. Anne glanced over her shoulder raised an eyebrow. "Huh, so that's where my bobby pins went." She then turned her back and said, "You can leave now."
"Anne please, just let me explain to ya why Ah did what Ah did," Hop Pop urged as he got closer.
Anne shot to her feet and growled, "I don't want to hear your lame excuse for betraying and lying to me for all these months! 'Ya don't have to be blood to be a Plantar', what a load of crap! You never once thought of me as family! Didn't you?!" Anne accused.
Hop Pop was feeling worse by the second, he could see just how much the human girl was hurting thanks to his actions. "Anne, Ah…"
"NO! 'Cause if you did, you wouldn't have done something so…!" Anne paused as she tried to stifle her tears. She did not want to break down into another crying fit in front of him. "I'm done talking to you, Hopediah Plantar! Just go! I don't want to see you ever again!"
"Anne, please, Ah know yer angry at me, and you have every right to be! But ya gotta understand why Ah did it! Ah read that the box was dangerous, and Ah only did what Ah did to protect the family!" Hop Pop confessed.
"You know, if you had said that from the beginning, maybe I would have believed you. But now, it just sounds like an excuse! And again, 'the family', meaning Sprig and Polly, and you. You know what, that's fine, I could live with that, but it would've been better if you had just told me! And that's what frustrating me even more!" Anne turned around and glared at the old man. "Because right now I can't believe anything that comes out of your mouth, but at the same time, some masochistic part of myself wants to hear it! So, why, why would you lie to me instead of telling me back then?!"
Hop Pop's heart grew heavier by the second, he thought he would never have to retell this story to anyone other than Sprig and Polly. But after everything he had done, Anne deserved to know what drove him to such an extreme. "Well, because…there's somethin' Ah've never told you. Somethin' hard to talk about…"
Anne let her anger subside a little, she could tell that Hop Pop's demeanor had changed, even the tone of his voice had shifted to something melancholy.
"The truth is–"
Just then, two screams pierced through the clatter of the rainfall, two familiar screams that made both Hop Pop and Anne rush to the entrance of the cave.
"That sounded like–!"
"Sprig and Polly!" Hop Pop finished.
Both rushed off into the woods, following the sounds of distress. After a minute of running, the two skidded to a halt at the edge of a large hole. Inside of that hole were an untold amount of bugs swirling about, chittering, and clacking as they moved in a swirling, vortex pattern. But along with them were several random items, tables, books, golf clubs, a globe, Loggle's wood statue, and numerous other random objects. And at the center of the swirling insects were Sprig and Polly, with several of the bugs having clamped their pincers onto them.
"What the heck is this mess?!" Anne asked.
"It's some kind of 'love monsoon.'" Hop Pop could see that his grandkids were in danger and needed their help to save them. "Anne, we have to work together!"
Anne glared down at the old man and retorted, "Did you forget who you're talking to? Plus, work with you? Not gonna happen." Anne's eyes glowed blue as she concentrated her power into her arms and legs. "I'll save them myself!"
The Thai teen jumped off the edge of the hole and landed on a random table. She stayed there for a few seconds as she tried to determine her next jump point. Spotting a dresser, Anne leaped straight towards it, but unfortunately, the entire body of bugs shifted, causing her to quickly shift her momentum so that she landed on a painting. Her sock and shoe could not get a good grip, which caused her to slip and fall backwards. Anne hurriedly grabbed onto the first thing her hands could reach, in this case that thing being Loggle's statue. Anne had miscalculated that, at this point wishing she was like Marcy, she would've figured out where the bugs were going to shift and jumped to where they were going to be instead of where they were at.
Just then, Hop Pop appeared, having landed on a large bookshelf that was floating along in the sea of bugs, and reached out towards Anne. "Please, Anne. Ah know Ah lied to ya but trust me! At least long enough to save the kids!"
Anne furrowed her brow and reached out to Hop Pop's offered hand and took it. She may have been angry at Hop Pop, but that fault did not fall onto Sprig and Polly, she still cared about them, and would do whatever she had to save and protect them. Once Hop Pop got ahold of her, he lifted Anne onto the bookshelf alongside him, and together the two of them hopped onto different floating objects, getting closer to Sprig and Polly. They noticed that there was a large gap up ahead, and decided to go for their signature move, the Tongue Lash.
Anne raised her right arm and Hop Pop spit out his tongue, wrapping it around Anne's forearm before latching into it as well. Once she landed on a floating box, Anne flicked her arm forward, launching Hop Pop into the air as his tongue extended the further he went. Eventually he landed on a table, and once he had, Hop Pop reeled in his tongue, bringing Anne with it. Now they were even closer, but they were still out of reach, at least for Hop Pop.
Anne extended her left leg and stretched out her body and right arm towards Sprig and yelled, "SPRIG, GRAB ON!"
Sprig, happy to see his surrogate big sister again, grabbed her hand without a moment's hesitation. After, he reached out to Polly, and she grabbed his hand. The little pollywog spotted something behind her, which was the very object they had come to look for, the music box. Without wasting a second, Polly snatched the box with a loud, "YOINK!" However, doing so greatly angered the beetles, causing them to hiss as they prepared to attack her.
"ALL RIGHT, KIDS! HANG ON!" Hop Pop yelled as he used all his Frog given strength to swing them around and around.
After swinging them six times to build up enough momentum, Hop Pop flung them, using that same momentum to carry all four of them out of the hole as they flew into the air and about three feet from the edge of the hole. Anne panted heavily from the ordeal, but then her eyes spotted the music box. She quickly grabbed the treasured item and hugged it close, tears flowing down her face from happiness that it was back with her. She placed it into her backpack for safekeeping, making sure that everything was zipped up completely. But alas, it was not over. The beetles, it seemed, did not take kindly to being stolen from – this despite the fact that they stole everything to make their little shells – and started to rise out of the hole as one large entity.
"Holy!" Sprig began.
"Frog!" Polly finished.
"Now it's a love tsunami," said Hop Pop in a panic.
Anne looked to the Plantars and said, "GET AS FAR AS YOU CAN, NOW!"
Hop Pop acted quickly and grabbed Polly and Sprig, he then ran into the woods as fast as his legs would carry him.
Anne looked at the incoming bug tsunami and called forth her Driver. "I'm about to become the world's biggest bug zapper…at least I hope so." The tsunami was nearly upon on her, its shadow darkening everything around her as it was about to crash down. "HENSHIN!"
The "love tsunami" fell upon Anne, but the moment it did, lightning flashed through the sky and struck down on her position. The beetles all chittered in pain as they got electrocuted from the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity that was coursing through the collective. In the next moment a burst of that same lightning exploded from the center and scattered the beetles about, revealing Kamen Rider Amp. Her entire body was sparking with electrical energy, the rainy ground and air helping in carrying the discharge of electricity to everything around her.
From what she could tell the beetles were stunned, not dead, the ground helping to siphon off some of the damage, along with the many bodies of beetles acting as one to take on that electrical load. Amp dismissed her Rider form, returning to her civilian form. She ran into the woods for a moment and stopped when she found the Plantars hiding under a large leaf that acted as a big umbrella.
"Anne was that you?!" Sprig asked.
"Yep, dude, I brought down the lightning," said Anne.
"Awesome!" Polly commented.
"Yeah, it was. But…now that you guys are safe, we're through here." Anne turned her back to them and began walking away.
"Anne, no! Please don't go!" Sprig begged.
The Thai teen sighed as she said, "I'm sorry, Sprig, but…I can't be under the same roof as Hop Pop, or anywhere near him for that matter.
"But where will you go?!" Polly asked.
Anne shrugged. "Don't know, but it'd be nice to stay with someone who isn't a liar. Like, I don't know, maybe Loggle? He seems like a straight shooter."
The kids were depressed, part of them hoped that finding the music box would at least help in mending what was broken, it seemed that was a child's wish. Hop Pop could not take it anymore, Polly and Sprig saw Anne as not only their best friend, but also as a big sister, and she was their hero. There was no other choice. "Anne, wait. Let me at least explain. What Ah did wasn't right. But Ah didn't do it to trick ya." Anne kept walking. Hop Pop clenched his fists and said, "Sprig and Polly's parents…"
Anne…stopped walking.
Sprig and Polly raised their heads upon hearing what Hop Pop said and knew where this was going.
"Hop Pop…"
"That wasn't your fault," said Sprig.
Hop Pop raised his right hand, silently telling his grandchildren to be silent. "It was a few years ago. Ah was on a journey when the herons attacked Wartwood. Sprig and Polly survived. But their parents…weren't so lucky." Hop Pop gritted his teeth as the perceived guilt of his inaction, along with guilt of his current actions were coming to bare. "If Ah just had been there…Ah know things would've been different! Ever since then, Ah swore Ah'd never let my family down again! That Ah'd do anythin' to protect them!"
Anne turned around and saw that Sprig and Polly were standing at Hop Pop's sides, and that the old frog's face had morphed to one of shame and guilt, sincere sadness plastered all over his face, something that not even Anne could deny.
"So, when Ah found out the box was dangerous, Ah lied to you and hid it away. Ah thought Ah was protectin' my family!…But now Ah realize how foolish it was…" Hop Pop fell to his knees as he confessed. "Ah do consider ya family Anne…Ah truly do…but the thought of somethin' terrible happenin' to Sprig and Polly after Ah already let them down made me do somethin' so incredibly foolish, that it ended up hurtin' another member of this family… Ah've let you down….Let us all down Ah'm sorry. Ah'm sorry! Ah'm just so sorry!"
Anne watched as Hop Pop wept openly and wholeheartedly, it moved her, she could feel it. There was a kind of aura about him that Anne could see at that moment, and it resonated with her. Hop Pop was telling the honest truth, he meant every word he said. The young teen walked over to Hop Pop, dropped to her knees, and wrapped her arms around him.
"Huh?"
"Hop Pop…I forgive you."
A few minutes passed before the Plantars returned home, all of the Plantars. The storm had passed, and the sun was shining bright in the sky, a fresh start to the day. After drying off, Hop Pop brought the kids into his study, had Anne sit in his chair, and said, "Ah shoulda showed ya this a long time ago, Anne. Especially now with everythin' goin' on with the Fallen and Rider powers and all." Hop Pop went to his bookshelf and removed the tome he was looking for. "This book has been in our family for as long as I can remember." He brought the book to his desk and flipped through some pages until he found what he was looking for. "And look."
Anne looked upon the pages that Hop Pop showed her, she let out a gasp when she realized that picture in the book was the exact same as the one in the book back in the Newtopia and was identical down to the last detail of the physical box itself. However, unlike the book that King Andrias showed them, this one came with a warning, and a name.
"'Calamity Box'…'Danger'…'Destroyed'…'Beware'?" Anne read. "Yeesh, that does sound bad."
"Yeah, not exactly comfortin'," Hop Pop commented.
Polly and Sprig looked at the pages, and Sprig gasped when he remembered something. "Anne! Remember what the Fallen kept saying every time they fought you?!"
Anne's eyes widened when she realized what Sprig was getting at. "'Calamity of Heart'…and when they fought Marcy, they called her 'Calamity of Mind'!"
"Wait, wait, wait, are you saying that the Fallen know about the box?" Polly asked.
Anne began to think hard about this. "What if the Fallen, and The Night, want the music because they want to invade other worlds?! Remember, the king said that the box can open up portals to other worlds! What if that's what they're after?!"
"If that's true, and if this Night has been around for a while, then why hasn't it done it already?" Hop Pop thought aloud.
"It couldn't, because the music box was sent to my world somehow, maybe to keep it safe from The Night." Anne facepalmed herself. "And I opened the thing and brought it back here. It must've been waiting all this time for it to come back."
Sprig placed Polly on the table and snapped his fingers. "That must be why you and Marcy have Rider powers! It must be! You're meant to stop The Night!"
Anne took a moment to let that sink in. Was Sprig right? Was it their destiny to fight The Night and its Fallen minions? Was this all preordained? Was this destiny at work? But why? Marcy, herself, Sasha, they were just ordinary middle school girls, there was nothing special about them. None of them had tragic backstories, none of them were in league with supersecret organizations, or were told some kind of cryptic prophecy by some random fortuneteller or something. But, then again, what were the odds that the music – Calamity Box, would be there in that thrift shop? That it would be Marcy who found it, that Anne would steal it and be the one to open it.
Anne's head was spinning now, there were so many more questions that needed answering, and boy was she glad Marcy was coming soon, because she did not have nearly enough brain power to figure all of this out.
"Guess, all we can do now is wait for Marcy, huh?" Sprig asked.
"Definitely…She might be able to figure out how all this fits together," said Anne. "Guys, I hate to say it, but this temple quest may be more dangerous than we thought."
Hop Pop smiled as a look of determination appeared on his visage. "Well, Anne, think this gang can handle it?"
Anne smiled down at the old frog and brought him, and her surrogate siblings in for a group hug. "After today, I'm pretty sure this gang can handle anything."
They had some bumps along the way, this was a pretty big one, but in the end, Anne knew that it would be together, and only together, that they would be able to figure out the box's mysteries, and the mysteries of this world.
"You kids sure ya don't want to wear the puffy suits?"
"Hop Pop."
"Just thought Ah'd ask."