About a week and a half had passed since the whole…romantic tension thing got resolved between Anne and Sasha. And thankfully for the rest of the resistance, those two no longer had to keep doing this whole "I want to go out with you but I'm afraid to" thing. Now they were flirty and loving, but at least there wasn't any more tension between them.
Since then, the resistance had been making some strides in the battle against Andrias. Anne and Sasha had seen a bit of a reduction in the number of Beast Fallen and Robo Fallen, which both gave them confidence and unnerved them. Either this meant that Andrias didn't see any further need to throw Fallen at them, or he was just amassing a Fallen army to unleash on them when the time was right.
Anne was still worried about the person that Sasha fought, the one who said they were The Night, Kamen Rider Terminus. Since Anne and the Plantars' arrival back to Amphibia, they hadn't seen any sign of the Dark Rider, and neither had Sasha since that one fight that practically demolished all of Wartwood. Sasha had told Anne that Marcy was more than likely still alive, the fact that this Terminus had a MetamorphRing means they must've gotten the belt from Marcy, as the three of them were the only Riders in Amphibia.
These thoughts would plague Anne from time to time, along with Marcy's fate trapped in that castle. Anne knew that that stab through her chest should've killed her, but their powers managed to keep death away from Marcy long enough for Andrias to take her to get some help.
I still don't like that. Why would he save her life after what he did to her? Why would he bother to do that? Dang it, and we still don't know Marcy's condition. Damage like that…What if she can't be moved? What if she hasn't recovered enough to be away from whatever stuff they're using to keep her alive? Anne thought.
"Anne, you're still up?" Sasha asked.
Anne glanced over to her right; Sasha was lying next to her. She had gone to Sasha's room, the nightmare that the blonde had was still fresh in her mind even now and having Anne there helped to give the resistance commander some peaceful sleep. And Anne wouldn't lie, having Sasha sleep next to her, knowing that she was safe, helped her to sleep better herself.
"Sorry, did I wake you," Anne apologized.
Sasha shook her head, "I wasn't fully asleep yet. I could smell your brain matter frying over there."
"Har-har."
"Seriously, though, what's up? You look like you're thinking hard on something," said Sasha.
Anne turned onto her side to face Sasha as the Thai teen let out a long sigh. "I've just been thinking about Marcy, and what might happen when we eventually attack Andrias and the castle."
"Anne don't get too ahead of yourself. We still have a lot to do before we're ready to attack him," said Sasha.
"I know, but I just can't stop worrying. You said that Marcy was still alive. And I wouldn't put it past that asshole to do something to Marcy to make it so that we don't dare hurt him or The Night. What if he finds a way to make it so that if we destroy either of them, it'll activate some kind of booby trap that'll kill Marcy too?" Anne thought aloud.
"Anne…"
"Or what if we find her, and she's still recovering using whatever tech they're using? The only ones who could figure out or use it are Marcy and Andrias. And if we end up destroying him, we could end up dooming Marcy!" Anne rambled.
"Anne, stop," said Sasha as she reached out towards Anne.
The blonde put her hand on her lover's shoulder, trying to make her stop her frantic thoughts from going too deep into that rabbit hole.
"I know you're worried for Marcy. I am too. But if we start thinking that way, we'll be playing into Andrias' hands. I wouldn't put it over him to use Marcy as a human shield, or as a bargaining chip to keep us from stopping him. However, you have to think about what's at stake if we don't."
Anne knew what was at stake. The fate of Amphibia, the fate of Earth. Two worlds hung in the balance, along with all the lives of the Amphibians, and the billions of lives on Earth. If they failed, every single human in their world would be wiped out. Their friends, their families, everyone.
"Marcy's a diehard Kamen Rider fan, you know that. She believes in what they stand for. And you know and I know that Marcy wouldn't want us to sacrifice billions of lives like that."
"You're not saying –!"
Sasha shook her head as she said, "I'm not saying that we sacrifice her life, Anne. The last thing I want is to have her or you die. We will find a way to get her back, and when we do, we'll make Andrias and The Night pay for using us, and for hurting her."
Anne calmed down as she moved her head a bit forward and pressed her forehead against Sasha's. "I miss us all being together."
Sasha didn't let it show, she was still not too sure about bringing Marcy into their relationship again. Anne seemed to have forgiven her, but Sasha was still having some issues regarding that. Learning that it was because of Marcy that they were all sent to Amphibia was still something she was processing. Sasha had been a manipulator, but even she hadn't gone as far as to purposefully get them all stuck in another world or manipulate them into a polycule as they were.
Who am I kidding? It's not as if I didn't want us all to be together, I can't put that on Marcy. But the other stuff…? Heh, damn, being on the receiving end of this level of manipulation sucks. Definitely never doing that again, Sasha thought.
"C'mon, let's get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do in the morning," said Sasha.
"Sorry, again."
Sasha kissed Anne's forehead and had Anne turn around so that the Thai teen's back was facing her. The cheerleading captain gently wrapped her arms around Anne's waist and spooned her, both girls taking comfort in the other's presence as it lulled them to sleep.
The following day saw yet another successful raid take place. Croaker, Loggle, Wally, Grime, Croaker, Maddie, along with Anne and the Plantars were organizing some things in the war room and getting it ready for their meeting soon. Right about then, Sasha pulled back on the curtain to the war room and began addressing everyone.
"Alright, team, listen up."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and gave the resistance commander their full attention.
"We've been on a roll lately," said Sasha as she walked further into the room. "Destroying factories, taking out marauders, freeing captured civilians, busting up Fallen left and right…"
Everyone released cheers of excitement. Their missions had been going a lot smoother and had become more efficient in hurting Andrias' war machine, and their resistance army was steadily growing in number.
Once Sasha reached the table she slammed her palms against it, causing everyone to go silent.
"But don't even think about celebrating!"
Everyone immediately deflated.
Sasha brought up a map of Amphibia on the table, showing the amount of territory that Andrias controlled as opposed to what they liberated. And unfortunately, it was barely a blip on the metaphorical radar.
"All of this is barely a dent in Andrias' army! Even with Anne and me acting as the spearheads of our efforts, we're just not causing enough damage to Andria's army! And if we don't act fast, he'll be ready to invade other worlds soon! We need an actual plan that'll either give us an edge or slow down his plans – ideas, go!"
Everyone began thinking hard on what their resistance could do to stop Andrias' plans, or at the very least slow them down.
Croaker snapped her fingers and suggested, "What if we have free bangle Fridays and Saturdays?" Croaker paused a moment. "Oh, you meant to defeat Andrias?"
Sasha facepalmed. She loved these guys, but sometimes they could frustrate her to no end.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Anne rushed to R/C Frobo and snatched him up, Wally was standing on him at the time, which caused the blue-green frog to hit the floor. Anne brought R/C Frobo onto the table and pointed him towards the wall. "While we were back home, we found this really old vase with Amphibian writing on it!"
Anne took out her phone and fed it to R/C Frobo. The robotic head on wheels analyzed the phone's contents and brought up the image in question as his eyes glowed and projected an image of the writing on the wall.
Mrs. Croaker looked at the writing and read aloud, "Let's see, it says, 'Seek the Mother of Olms, she will guide you to your destiny'."
"Huh, cryptic. Anyone know what it means?" Sasha asked.
"We don't know, but we found this message on Earth, so we figured it must be important somehow," said Hop Pop.
"I'm sure if we find this 'Mother of Olms' she might be able to give us some information. Maybe she even knows something about our powers that can help us defeat The Night?" Anne suggested.
Grime, who had been sitting on the floor and polishing a sword, gave a chuckle at the suggestion. "All of this is not much to go on. Plus, no one's even seen an Olm in decades."
"WE HAVE!"
The room looked towards Polly and Sprig with surprise.
"What?! You have?!" Sasha asked.
"Lysil and Angwin! The olms that almost ate us in Quarreler's Pass!" Polly explained.
Sasha was not expecting that. But leave it to the Plantars and Anne to wind up in situations like that. "Okay, so, anyone else know any nonmurderous, friendlier olms we can talk to instead?" Unfortunately, everyone shook their heads. "Alright, murderous olms it is!"
With their mission and destination set, Anne, the Plantars, and Sasha, mounted Joe Sparrow and flew towards the mountain region where Quarreler's Pass resided. The Plantars and Anne looked over the side of Joe's riding chair, realizing that they crossed several miles in just a couple hours by flight alone, where they didn't reach this far until days of traveling.
"Sure didn't think we'd be back here again," said Sprig.
"You're telling me. Hey, Hop Pop, wasn't this the same place where I fought that armored Fallen and got my Spike Form?" Anne asked.
Sasha raised an eyebrow as she asked, "You don't remember when you got your form change? I remember mine vividly."
"Eh, can't remember if I mentioned this, but when I got my powers initially, I blacked out. I was essentially on autopilot when fighting the Fallen, and for when I got my other two form changes. It wasn't until I got my Trinity Form that it finally got full control," Anne explained.
"Whoa, that sounds dangerous. Glad you managed to get control," said Sasha.
"Ah, you had nothin' to worry 'bout. Even when Anne was like that, she was still strong and fast, none of those Fallen managed to beat her." Hop Pop looked down and said, "Oh, ya know what, Ah think yer right. And Ah think that's the spot where you kicked me off the fwagon and over the edge."
Sasha looked back at Anne, shocked to hear that she actually kicked the old frog off a cliff. "Boonchuy, what the heck?!"
Anne deadpanned as she said, "You would've yeeted him off the edge too if you had to listen to him drone on about 'romantic relationships' and constantly asking if I had boyfriend."
"Hop Pop can't deal with awkward silences," said Sprig.
Sasha looked down at Hop Pop, who shrugged and chuckled nervously.
"Fair enough," Sasha said.
"Uh, guys, that wasn't there before!" Polly alerted.
Everyone looked down as Joe hovered in place. Down below they watched as several Frobots littered the area, and along with them was a huge mechanical drill. It walked on four robotic limps between the chasm below, two glowing red eyes, and a huge drill bit attached below it.
"Yikes. Go low, Joe!" Sasha ordered.
Joe Sparrow released a screech of confirmation as the giant bird lowered its altitude to avoid being seen by Andrias' forces. The giant sparrow managed to find a clear flat area and landed on it. Once fully down, Sasha, Anne, and the Plantars disembarked and headed towards the cave where Polly and Sprig encountered the two killer olms. The group walked in about halfway before stopping.
"Sooo, how are we supposed to make these olms come out?" Anne asked.
Polly's face morphed into a devious smile as she reached over and pinched her big brother's leg hard.
"Ow! Hey! Cut it out!" Sprig complained.
"Yes! Yes! Good! Whine louder!" Polly exclaimed.
Polly's last word echoed loudly through the entire cave, going further and further back until it began to fade into a whisper. Suddenly, the cave began to rumble and shake, and in the darkness appeared two sets of glowing eyes. From the darkness of the cave appeared the creatures they were seeking. Lysil and Angwin were actually a conjoined olm, with Angwin's pigmentation being a pale-pink with glowing, neon pink frills. Lysil's pigmentation was lavender, with her frills glowing a bright neon purple. The conjoined olm twins had two short arms each, were riddled with scars and dirt splotches, and were blind, but were keen of smell and hearing. In fact, after sniffing the air, Angwin was able to recognize Sprig and Polly's scents.
"Hey! It's those two bickering frog children from before, and they brought some company," said Lysil.
"This time we're going to actually eat you! And you're little friends, too!" Angwin threatened.
Angwin roared as he lunged forward, opening his jaws to bite down on the group. Sasha and Anne tapped into their powers as Anne used her speed to grab the Plantars and whisk them to the side. Sasha stood her ground as she widened her stance and planted her feet. As soon as Angwin got close enough, Sasha reached out with both of her hands and grabbed the lower and upper jaw of Angwin.
Angwin's eyes widened, he had been completely stopped, and from what he could feel, this creature holding him was far smaller than him. Despite his efforts, he could not push forward, unfortunately, he found out that he couldn't get away from Sasha's grip either.
"What are you doing, brother?!" Lysil exclaimed.
Sasha smirked as she lifted Angwin up, which also lifted up Lysil. With a mighty roar of her own, Sasha tossed the conjoined olms to her right, slamming them against the wall of the cave with little effort. Lysil and Angwin groaned from the hard impact against the cave wall, but Sasha wasn't quite done yet as she drew her turquoise-colored heron sword.
"Sure, go ahead and try and eat us," Sasha dared.
The Caucasian girl walked up to Angwin and pointed her sword at him, but as soon as she did, the sword's blade caught fire, making the conjoined olms back up upon feeling the heat.
"I'll just carve our way out of your stomachs and charbroil you from the inside out!" Sasha threatened with a murderous smile.
Anne couldn't help but swoon a bit when she saw her girlfriend take charge like that. Damn that's hot.
"Okay, okay, point taken," Lysil assured.
"Literally," Angwin added. "So, what do you want?"
"We didn't come here to fight. We just needed to talk to you two," said Sprig.
Anne looked up at the two olms and asked, "Do either of you know a 'Mother of Olms'?"
Lysil gasped as she asked, "How do you know of Mother Olm?!"
Angwin quickly slapped his sister across the face as he admonished her, "You idiot! Now they know we know her!"
"No, you're the idiot!" Lysil retorted as she managed to grab her brother's snout.
Anne groaned in annoyance as she snapped her fingers and said, "Guys, focus! Focus!"
The two siblings managed to end their squabbling and regained their composure.
"Ahem. Sorry, sorry. To answer your question, Mother Olm is the oldest, wisest olm in the world. The keeper of ancient secrets and prophecies," Angwin said.
"She resides in our homeland. The subterranean city of Proteus," Lysil added.
"So, she does exist, that's great! Can you take us there?" Anne asked, hopeful.
Lysil and Angwin glanced at each other uneasily as they looked back down at the humans and frogs.
"We could…but it'd be pointless," Lysil informed. "Olms are famously suspicious of outsiders. They'd never let outsiders like you inside."
Angwin rubbed the back of his head as said, "Plus we're sorta, kinda…banished."
"What? Why?" Sprig asked.
"Well, one time, we were on night watch and…well…we started arguing," Lysil started.
Saw that coming, they thought.
"Because we were distracted, a swarm of troglodytes snuck passed us and nearly destroyed Proteus," Angwin finished.
Angwin and Lysil lowered their heads in shame as the latter spoke, "Not our finest hour…"
Sasha was confused. "Wait, that's it? Did anyone die?"
Lysil and Angwin thought about it for a moment and said, "No."
"Did you two mess up before that?" Sasha asked.
"Not that I can think of," Angwin answered.
"So, hold on." Sasha pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to make sense of this. "Granted that was a big mistake, and property damage is a big deal. But no lives were lost, and you didn't mess up any other times before that while you were on duty, and just for that they threw you out of the city?!"
The twins nodded in confirmation.
"That's…That's messed up! That's totally not fair! Everyone deserves a second chance!" Sash exclaimed.
She saw part of herself in the twins, she had messed up more than once in big ways. When she wanted to kill Hop Pop and control Anne, and when she helped lead the coup and poisoned her girlfriends to make them easier to manage. Sasha never expected complete forgiveness from Anne, but the moment she came back, that's what Anne did. She forgave her. When by all rights Anne didn't have to, but she did. And now they were together again, as girlfriends. If not for that second chance.
Anne moved closer to her lover, and gently gave Sasha's left arm a squeeze to reassure her of her own forgiveness towards her. Anne looked up at the twins and asked, "Lysil, Angwin, the fate of Amphibia may rest on us finding Mother Olm. If you take us to Proteus, you'll have a hand in saving the world."
Sasha smiled as she added, "Yeah, and the other olms will have to take you back. Right?"
Lysil and Angwin smiled for a moment, looked back at the group, and then deflated.
"No, probably not," Lysil admitted.
Angwin gave a shrug as he told them, "But we really don't have anything better to do, so…
"That's the spirit…ish," said Sasha.
The group followed the conjoined olms down a maze of tunnels, thankfully with them as their guides they were able to navigate the tunnels fairly quickly. Anne used the light of her cellphone to illuminate the darkening tunnels, and as they were getting closer to the city, they were starting to notice signs on the walls. They were carved into the wall, with writing that looked very different from the Amphibian language everyone was used to. The symbols were not carved into the wall, but rather they were carved from the wall.
"Whoa, what are these?" Anne asked.
Angwin and Lysil moved to one of the signs as Lysil explained, "These are how olms communicate."
Anne walked up to one of the signs and touched it, Sasha did the same as she realized something.
"Huh, this reminds me of Becky's books, remember?" Sasha asked.
"Oh, right, you mean brail books, so this is like olm brail," said Anne.
Sprig walked up to one of the signs and felt the symbols as he asked, "Coool! Hey, what does it say?"
Lysil placed her hands against the olm brail and said, "Steve's…a…jerk? Huh, okay."
"C'mon, we're almost there," Angwin complained. The olm twins continued to lead the group and stopped when they reached the opening of the tunnel. "Welcome the city of Proteus."
The group stood upon a platform, from there, they could see everything. The city was massive, built out of a huge cavern that stretched far into the distance. Several natural earthen pillars held up the ceiling of the cavern and were littered with homes. The entire city had neon glowing mushrooms and crystals, and the lake, which had various ponds that were sectioned off, reflected the light from these crystals and mushrooms, giving the entire city and cavern a beautiful iridescent glow. There were even huge chandeliers made from polished stones and crystals. Just looking upon the city, one could tell it was ancient, but no less marvelous to look upon.
"Holy Frog," said Anne in awe.
"You can say that again," Sasha said.
"This is amazin'!" Hop Pop exclaimed.
"So cool!" Sprig and Polly shouted.
After their moment of awe, Lysil and Angwin continued to lead them down the winding path and to the gates of the city below. However, as soon as they reached the gates of Proteus, they were stopped by two olms garbed in armored helms and wielding long iron spears.
The guard on the right, who was a pale blue color, sniffed the air curiously before scrunching his face as he said, "Lysil? Angwin? What are you two doing here? You were exiled!"
The other guard, who was pale purple, slithered close to the group of five and sniffed at them. "Ugh, and you brought strangers? Oooh, Parisia is not going to like this."
"Parisia?" Anne asked.
"She resides over Proteus," Angwin answered.
"Is she a warm, sweet natured olm who'll help us any way she can?" Hop Pop asked with a hopeful tone.
"You're about to find out," said the pale purple olm guard. "Now move it!"
Their new olm escorts brought them into the city, with the conjoined twins and the five resistance members walking/slithering behind them. Sprig was admiring the city, and as per usual with any new thing or surface, he just had to touch it. Specifically, a statue with an urn that was pouring out water. As soon as Sprig touched the statue, the entire cavern started to rattle and shake. The shaking lasted for a few seconds before it finally stopped.
"Sprig, what did you do?!" Hop Pop questioned.
"It wasn't him," the pale blue guard acknowledged. "Mysterious earthquakes have been wreaking havoc on the city for weeks. Water's been diverted, caves have been blocked, even sunlight has seeped in."
Angwin's eyes went wide upon hearing this as he exclaimed, "No! Not sunlight!"
Anne, Sasha, and the Plantars were wondering how that was a problem. They did see some openings in the roof of the giant cavern that allowed sunlight to beam down and hit different areas of the city. As they walked, they passed through a roped off area where the sunlight was beaming down on. The five walked through it, while the olms seemed to completely avoid it. Angwin, unfortunately, had some of the sunlight hit his skin, and upon doing so, his skin hissed and became an angry red color as he let out a painful hiss. The guards kept their pace, and from what they could tell, they seemed to be leading them to the gates of an arena.
"Have you gone out to investigate the cause?" Anne asked. "Or asked the surface dwellers for help?"
"Olm skin is very sensitive to direct sunlight," said the pale purple olm.
"If we go up top side, we'll burn alive. Plus, we don't associate with your kind if we can help it," the pale blue olm added.
"Indeed."
The guards slithered off to the sides, allowing their guests/captives to step forward. Before them stood a female olm, she had a pale salmon pigmentation to her skin, and also had scars. She wore an ornate, beaded necklace, bracelets, and a flat headdress. The frills on the sides of her head glowed neon yellow, and on all six were at least two earrings each.
"Insularity is how we olms survive," said the olm. "Fewer friends? Sure. But even fewer foes. I am Parisia. Now, what do you want, outsiders?"
Anne looked up at the leader of the olms and said, "We've come to see Mother Olm."
Parisia's eyes widened upon hearing the name of their most revered and oldest olm's name spoken from a surface dweller. "Mother Olm! How do you know about her?!" Parisia sniffed the air for a moment and scowled upon recognizing two familiar scents. "YOU TWO! I should've known you were involved!"
Lysil and Angwin cowered before her anger and gave an audible gulp.
"For bringing outsiders here, you shall be punished severely!" Parisia threatened.
Sasha growled in anger upon hearing Parisia's threat. The resistance commander stepped forward and said, "You should be thanking them! King Andrias is going to destroy Amphibia and everyone above and below it if we don't come together and stop him!"
Parisia scoffed at the warning that Sasha gave her. "What occurs on the surface is none of our concern. We will thrive down here as we always have! By keeping out snouts out of other species' business!"
No sooner had she declared this did the cave, once again, begin to rumble and shake. Unfortunately, the quake was a bit stronger than the last one, causing chunks of dirt and rock to break off from the roof of the cave and fall down to some areas of the city, even some of the statues and structures were cracking and breaking apart.
"Anne, you don't think?" Sasha asked.
"It has to be!" Anne looked back up at Parisia. "None of you are safe down here! There's a giant drill outside! Andrias has to be mining for something around here!"
"Probably iron ore. The entire city is built upon a huge deposit of it," Angwin informed.
"Son of a – he must be planning on drilling down into Proteus to take the ore to build more of his war machines!" Sasha stated.
"A giant drill? War machines? AHAHAHAHAHA!" Parisia laughed, mockingly. "Preposterous. These natural tremors are nothing more than common earthquakes."
Anne, Sasha, and the Plantars listened as the other assembled olms spoke in agreement with Parisia.
"Okay, but how do you explain the sunlight?! Have any earthquakes ever been able to crack the ceiling so bad that it allowed sunlight to come in?" Sprig questioned.
"SILENCE!" Parisia ordered. "I won't hear any more of these lies and propaganda and fear mongering! Guards! Get rid of these outsiders and those two at once!"
The guards quickly advanced on the group, pointing their spears right at them.
"Wait, please," Angwin begged.
"Give us a second chance," Lysil pleaded.
Parisia furrowed her brow and glared at the conjoined olms as she stated clearly, "No! Second! Chances! This is the olm way!"
With negotiations having broken down, their group was taken back to the gates of Proteus, and upon standing on the other side, the gates themselves slammed shut in front of them.
"And stay out," said the pale blue guard.
Lysil and Angwin released defeated sighs. Despite what they might've said earlier, they were hopeful that these surface dwellers could convince Parisia to grant them a second chance. But it seemed their leader was as harsh as she ever was.
Sasha looked upon the two downtrodden olms and showed them a sympathetic expression. "Hey, I know it's like to make a huge mistake you regret. And even though the person I wronged has forgiven me, I'm still going to fight to make up for that mistake. So, you two shouldn't give up either."
"We'll try," said Angwin.
"Easier said than done," Lysil commented.
"Believe me, don't I know it," said Sasha.
The cave started to shake yet again, but now it was more violent than before. Bigger chunks of rock were falling from the ceiling, and a few of them nearly squashed the Plantars, but thankfully, Anne used her superspeed to move the Plantars out of harm's way.
"That drill must be getting closer!" Anne exclaimed.
"We have to do something, or the entire city will be in danger," said Sasha.
A large boulder nearly came down on her head, but Sasha quickly tapped into her super strength and threw an uppercut that smashed the boulder into tiny pebbles.
"C'mon, I know a shortcut to the surface!" Lysil stated.
All five mounted the back of Lysil and Angwin and rode on top as they slithered through a series of tunnels. After a few short minutes, they were brought to the opening of a cave that led to the outside. However, upon dismounting the conjoined olms, some of their party were covered in medium sized bugs and chucking them off their bodies.
"You coulda mentioned that the shortcut was full a stank beetles!" Hop Pop complained.
"Don't worry, you're stop smelling in five days," said Lysil. "Or was it five years?"
"Ugh, definitely showering for hours when we get back," said Sasha.
"Ditto," Anne agreed.
Anne, Sasha, and the Plantars went to the mouth of the cave while Lysil and Angwin hung back. Once they looked, they found that the cave's exit brought them right over where the drill and robot army was. They thankfully had the element of surprise.
"Alright team! We're above the enemy, and they have no idea we're here! We'll take them fast and hard! Attack plan Epsilon!" Sasha ordered.
"Roger!" Anne and the Plantars confirmed.
"What about us? We want to help, too," said Lysil.
Sasha walked up to the twins and said, "The sunlight's too strong for you guys. Don't worry, we got this."
"Alright, Plantars! Let's do this!" Hop Pop exclaimed.
Anne, Sprig, and Polly nodded.
The robots were standing sentry as they kept watch over the drill, and so far, nothing had gone off plan. However, that was about to change very quickly. A blur of blue lightning came whizzing past three Frobots, and in the next second, the robots found their bodies sliced in half before exploding on the spot. The other Frobots saw this and got ready to fight but were then assaulted by a large fireball that flew down from above and struck the ground near them. The resulting explosion threw the Frobots in different directions as the heat from the explosion overloaded their scanners.
Sprig had created a makeshift slingshot from two rocks and a rubber band he brought with him. The Plantars employed the same strategy they used when fighting the Hasselback Gang, Sprig would act as the sniper, while Polly loaded him with some boom-shrooms they brought, and Hop Pop acted as his spotter.
"Ten degrees down, five degrees left," said Hop Pop as he looked through the spyglass.
"Load," said Sprig.
Polly tapped the boom-shroom and quickly loaded it into the slingshot.
Sprig saw the target that Hop Pop had designated, aimed, and fired the boom-shroom. The explosive fungus whizzed through the air until it struck against one of the Frobots, upon impact, the boom-shroom exploded and took four other Frobots around it. The Plantars continued their sniper shots, picking off stragglers while Anne and Sasha tore through the ranks of the Frobots.
Once the last Frobot was taken down, the Plantars came down from their sniper's perch and joined the girls as they all ran to the console that seemed to be controlling the drill.
"We were right, the drill is on a course for Proteus!" Anne exclaimed.
"No, no! Hurry! Start pressing anything! We have to shut it down!" Sasha ordered.
Everyone started to press any button that was in arm's reach, but no matter what they pushed, it didn't seem to make it stop. The drill seemed to extend itself, adding more bits and merging them so that it could go deeper into the ground, and each passing second, was another foot that the drill was piercing through before it got to the underground city. Anne typed on the keyboards, and as soon as she did, a window popped up on the screen that indicated a password was needed.
"Oh crud, its password protected! A-Any guesses?!"
"Try one-two-three-four-five!" Sprig suggested.
Anne typed it in, and as expected, the computer rejected the password.
"Eh, worth a shot," said Sprig.
"Okay, the heck with this! Everyone get off the platform!" Anne warned.
Sasha, Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop got off the raised platform of the control console until they were now standing on solid rock. Anne's eyes glowed bright blue as she raised her hands up and funneled lightning into them until they were coated in it. She then slammed both of her hands onto the console and released her built up charge. The lightning surged through the control console, and within seconds fried the entire thing. Everyone glanced towards the drill, and when they did, the red eyes of the drill immediately went dark and stopped.
"Whew, we did it," Anne sighed.
The celebration did not last long as the drill's eyes glowed and resumed its actions once again.
"Oh c'mon! I fried the control console!" Anne complained.
"I might have a backup internal control system! Or it might be a failsafe command should it stop receiving any signal from the main control console," said Polly.
Sasha looked down at the little pollywog with awe, "Wow, since when did you become a robotics expert?"
"Eh, kinda overnight," said Polly nonchalantly.
"Now what?!" Sprig asked.
"We go to plan B!" Sasha stated as she cracked her knuckles and walked towards the drill. "We just stop the drill ourselves!"
Suddenly, Sasha sensed something, a familiar sensation that only meant one thing.
"SASHA, LOOK OUT!" Anne warned.
Sasha looked up and watched as a glowing net was about to descend upon her. But before the net could land on her, Anne dashed straight towards her girlfriend, wrapped her arms around Sasha's waist, and carried her away at the last second as the net hit the ground and cut into the rock, burning in impression of it into the rock itself.
Anne came to a halt several feet from where the net hit and released Sasha.
"Thanks, Anne," said Sasha. "But what was that?!"
"Up top!" Sprig announced.
Everyone looked up and watched as something new crawled down from the canyon walls. And it was just as they feared. It was a Robo Fallen. The lower half of this latest monster resembled an arachnid, with eight long legs, and each one tipped with a razor-sharp spike. The entire body of this mechanical monster was covered in reinforced black armor, further enhanced by the power of the Dark Ichor that flowed through it. There were a total of eight spikes that lined the back of its thorax, and two more spikes at the rear of the thorax that acted as its spinners. Instead of a normal spider head, a humanoid torso replaced it. This torso had the symbol of the thirteen eyes upon its chest plate. Its arms were elongated, with the left forearm being much thicker and sporting a pincer claw, while the right arm was thinner and had three long talons. The monster's head was oval in shape, with four horns, eight glowing red eyes, and chittering mandibles.
"Of course, it's never that easy," Polly complained.
Sasha and Anne gave a quick glance to each other before nodding. They didn't have time to waste on this monster, they needed to stop the drill and save Proteus, so that meant no holding back. Circlets of fire and lightning appeared around their waists before materializing into the MetamorphRing TRI. Anne and Sasha went into their hand motions before pressing down on the hip devices and crying out, "HENSHIN!"
Domes of fire and lightning formed around the two teens as a bright light shined at the center of the domes. The color of the flames for the fire dome suddenly changed, turning a bright magenta color. Within seconds, the domes grew and then shattered apart, revealing Kamen Rider Amp Raging Heart: Vengeance Mode, and Kamen Rider Bellona Invictus: Burst Gladiator Mode.
"I'll take the spider bot! You destroy the drill," said Amp.
"On it!" Bellona confirmed.
The Robo Arachnitaur Fallen reared back its head and then spat out a ball of pure plasma energy. The ball of light sailed towards Amp, and right before it got to her, the ball burst out into a large web. Amp quickly summoned her sword, Saipha, and slashed the upwards, cutting the net in two and letting both halves fall on either side of her. The hero of lightning waited for the web to disappear, but it lingered. She soon found out why as the plasma net glowed brighter and brighter until…
"OH S–!"
The two halves of the net released a powerful dual explosion on either side of Amp that threw her backwards into the canyon wall. The Robo Arachnitaur Fallen crawled down the wall as it pointed its pincer claw at her. The pincer opened up and revealed a cannon inside. Once locked on, the cannon fired powerful violet energy blasts at Amp. The blue Rider quickly dislodged herself from the wall and ran up the canyon wall. Each blast exploded against the wall of the canyon as Amp ran to avoid the shots. It was then that the eight spikes on the Robo Arachnitaur Fallen's back glowed and launched themselves like missiles.
Amp came to a halt and vaulted off the wall as she headed straight for the eight missiles. After charging Saipha with her lightning, Amp slashed at rapids speeds as she appeared behind the missiles. Within seconds those missiles were diced apart and exploded one after the other behind her. However, another round of missiles had already been launched while Amp was dealing with the first round and were too close for her to slash. Eight explosions went off around Amp, hiding her in a cloud of smoke.
Bellona got a bit worried for her girlfriend, but she knew Amp was strong enough to deal with that monster. She had to focus on the drill. Bellona raised her right fist as she channeled her flames into that same fist, creating a burning sphere of magenta fire. The flame Rider picked a spot and was about to charge for the drill, but at that moment, several laser beams rained down on her position. Bellona released her attack, conjured her flame wings, and flew straight up and away from the barrage. Once in the air, Bellona scanned the area, and once she had, she saw what it was that attacked her.
"Oh, give me a break! A second one!" Bellona groaned.
The second Robo Fallen looked like a monstrous butterfly. It was fairly huge, almost as big as the one that Amp was fighting. The dark robotic creature had a black, armored body, its thorax curled under it and had a very sharp stinger blade at the end. Its head had two red compound eyes and a pair of mandibles and jaws that released a hideous screech. While most of its body was dark as night, its wings were a different story. The outside of the wings were framed by the same dark metal, but the inside was made up glowing panels that shifted in color like the aurora borealis.
"Two Robot Fallen, Andrias must've had them on standby to massacre the olms once they broke through," Bellona thought aloud.
The hero of fire looked down at the drill, which was getting closer the longer these monsters stalled them.
"I won't let you kill all those olms!"
Bellona's flame wings burst as she propelled herself forward. The Robo Papillion Fallen's wings glowed brighter as it began shooting off several laser beams. Bellona quickly took evasive action and dodged the initial barrage. However, the beams that the monster fired off suddenly bent and chased after her.
"Tracking lasers?!"
Bellona summoned a fireball and shot it towards the incoming beams. The fireball made contact and exploded powerfully in the air, it managed to stop the beams, but that was only the first volley. The Robo Papillion Fallen flew higher into the sky and began shooting off more guided laser beams at Bellona. The flame Rider was left with little choice but to dodge the beams as she kept weaving around them and launching fireballs to detonate them before they reached her.
{One minute until Proteus breach,} the drill's onboard computer announced.
"We're runnin' out of time!" Hop Pop exclaimed with worry.
"But Sasha and Anne are busy fighting those Robo Fallen! Maybe we can use some boom-shrooms?!" Sprig suggested.
"We're out!" Polly stated. "We used the last few on the Frobots!"
Lysil and Angwin moved closer to the opening of the cave, listening to the sounds of battle and frantic words of the Plantars.
"It doesn't sound good out there, brother," said Lysil.
"Then we'll have to go out there and stop the drill ourselves! Are you with me, sister?" Angwin asked.
"We're literally joined together; does it look like I have a choice? But yes!"
The conjoined twin olms rushed out of the cave and out into the open. The moment they did, their skin began to burn and hiss from the direct sunlight exposure. The olms hissed from the pain, but they ignored it, pushed through it, and kept rushing towards the drill bit as they passed by the Plantars, and the battling Robo Fallen and Riders.
Amp stopped her dashing around and watched as the olms were heading towards the drill, "LYSIL! ANGWIN! STOP!"
Bellona heard Amp's cries and took a moment to peer down towards the ground and gasped. "YOU GUYS! NO!"
The twins dove into the drill, following its rotations all the way down until they were near the tip. Once they were there, the conjoined twin olms constricted their body as tightly as they could around the drill bit itself, halting its rotation. The drill groaned and moaned as it tried to keep spinning, Lysil and Angwin held fast but it wasn't easy. The machine was relentless as it tried to spin, forcing the twins to hold it tighter and tighter to the point that they weren't sure which was going to give out first, the machine, or their body.
"Hold fast, Lysil!" Angwin encouraged.
"You too, Angwin!" Lysil replied.
Bellona dropped down from the sky and landed behind Amp, dismissing her flame wings as the two stood back-to-back. The Robo Arachnitaur Fallen began circling them as the Robo Papillion Fallen did the same overhead, its wings glowing brighter as it primed them to fire.
"Sasha, we have to end this now!" Amp stated.
"Then let's end it together!" Bellona shouted.
The two heroes stood up straight and then entered mirrored fighting stances. The Robo Arachnitaur Fallen reared back to shoot another of its laser webs as the Robo Papillion Fallen fired its tracking lasers down towards the two Riders.
Bellona reached behind her and grabbed Amp by her left hand. The flame Rider used her incredible strength to swing Amp around and toss her straight up into the air, and at the same time, she dashed straight for the Robo Arachnitaur Fallen. The mecha butterfly released dozens of lasers towards the incoming Rider, but Amp thrusted her left hand out and unleased dozens of lightning bolts all at once, blanketing the air in front of her as the beams and bolts collided in midair, exploding upon contact. The lightning Rider sped past the explosions, tossed her sword down towards Bellona, and flew straight for the Robo Papillion Fallen with her arm blades extended.
Down below, pressed her right hand against her MetamorphRing TRI and pulled out her Hyperion while Bellona reached up with her left hand and snatched Saipha out of the air. The Robo Arachnitaur Fallen blasted a large laser web at Bellona, but the flame Rider engulfed her entire body in her magenta flames as she sped towards the net at full speed. Bellona then spun around, creating a fire tornado as the symbol of Bellona appeared in front of it. The web started to get twisted as it fought against the fire tornado, at the same time the Robo Arachnitaur Fallen started unleashing a barrage of cannon fire and missiles on the tornado. Multiple explosions erupted around the tornado, but none of it had any effect as the tornado broke and struck the monster mech. The Robo Arachnitaur Fallen was wrapped up in the magenta flame tornado as Bellona sliced it from every direction before she slashed it down the middle with Saipha, and spun once, sending a crescent flame slash at it with Hyperion. The tornado finally dispersed, and when it did, Bellona tossed both swords straight up towards Amp.
The azure Rider was dodging the laser beams left and right as she landed a few blows against the Robo Papillion Fallen, cutting it at the wings to damage the beam panels and lessen the number of laser beams it could fire. The Robo Papillion Fallen saw two objects heading in its direction and flew up to avoid getting hit, however, they weren't aimed for it. Amp flew to intercept as she grabbed Saipha in her right hand, and Hyperion in her left. Amp got in an attack stance as her dragonfly crest, arm blades, and leg blades fanned out, gathering power as the symbol of Amp appeared before her.
Amp charged Hyperion with her lightning power and threw it at the Robo Papillion Fallen. The dual bladed sword spun around like a buzzsaw as it approached the Robo Papillion Fallen. Unfortunately, it did manage evade the attack, but it failed to notice the electrical energy tether attached to the lightning aura around the sword. Amp yanked back on the tether and made Hyperion fly back towards her. The Robo Papillion Fallen was not prepared for the weapon to boomerang back and as a result got its left wing sliced through. Once back in hand, Amp flew through her symbol, energizing both swords as she slashed once with Saipha and a second time with Hyperion, forming an "X" pattern on the monster bot's body.
Amp quickly landed on the ground as both Saipha and Hyperion were dismissed. The two Robo Fallen finally succumbed to the damage they were dealt as both war machines exploded a moment later, ending their existences. At that same time, the drill started to short circuit from the strain of trying to exert more power to spin the drill. Unfortunately, the ground was already unstable due to the drilling, and once it had finally broken down, the ground beneath it began to crumble. The rock continued to fissure until a good swath of it shattered, taking the drill, the olm twins, and the Plantars down into the hole.
"SPRIG! POLLY! HOP POP!"
"LYSIL! ANGWIN!"
The two Riders quickly flew down into the hole, but they were a bit too late. Everyone laid scattered across the ground, with the hole opening into Proteus below. Amp and Bellona landed near the drill and changed back to civilian form, thankfully they managed to find the Plantars.
"You guys alright?!" Anne asked.
"Oh, rough landin', but Ah think Ah'm okay," said Hop Pop.
"Same here," said Sprig.
"Ugh, I'm going to feel that all day," Polly complained.
"Thank Frog. Now, where are Lysil and Angwin?" Sasha asked as she looked around.
After getting the Plantars on their feet, Sasha and Anne looked around for the conjoined olm twins. That's when they spotted a group of olms gathering around something. Sasha, Anne, and the Plantars rushed towards them and pushed through the crowd. That's when they saw the olms they were looking for. They were heavily bruised and burned, with scratches and cuts from having to squeeze against the sharp edges of the drill. It was a miracle that they weren't crushed or cut in two.
"Lysil! Angwin! Are you guys okay?!" Sasha asked as she approached them. "I can't believe you two threw yourselves against the drill! You could've gotten yourselves killed!"
"It was…the only way…to save the city," said Angwin with a weak voice.
"Proteus will always be our home…even if we don't live in it," Lysil added, her tone also weak.
Sasha sniffled as she smiled down at the heroic olms.
Just then, Parisia managed to slither on up, sniffing the air as she assessed what was happening.
Anne leaned down to Hop Pop and whispered with a smug tone, "Gonna be real hard denying the existence of that drill now."
Parisia stood tall as she crossed her arms and announced, "This proves nothing!"
"WHAT?!" Sasha, Sprig, Anne, Polly, and Hop Pop yelled at once.
"How do I know you didn't fake this?" Parisia accused.
"LOOK AT THEM! Lysil and Angwin nearly killed themselves to protect you and your dumb city," Sasha shouted.
"Did they? Maybe they injured themselves on purpose to make it look like they protected us," Parisia suggested.
Sasha couldn't believe what she was hearing, yes, she knew they were blind when she made that statement earlier, but how could Parisia not smell the blood coming from their wounds or the upturned dirt? How could she not hear their labored breathing? But that's not what angered Sasha the most, no, what started to really tick the blonde girl off was the fact the other olms around them started to nod their heads.
They…They actually believe her…the evidence is right here in their damn faces…AND THEY BELIEVE HER?!
Parisia looked to some of her guard and addressed two of them, "You two, get these outsiders out of our city!"
Sasha had had enough, her hands clenched into shaking fists as her eyes shined with magenta light. The resistance commander jumped onto the broken drill bit and ran up to the top so that she was at least somewhat close to the same height as the olm leader. Sasha's hands ignited with flames, and some of the flames looked as if they were being spewed from her mouth as she directly addressed Parisia.
"YOU ARE THE BIGGEST MORON I HAVE EVER MET!" Sasha yelled, incredulously.
Parisia actually looked taken aback by the human girl's words. "Excuse me…?"
"Whoa, Sasha, calm down. I don't think this is a good id–"
"I DON'T CARE ANYMORE, ANNE!" Sasha interrupted. "Lysil and Angwin bent over backwards to prove they deserved a second chance! This haughty, witch, of a despot and her damn town of brainless followers aren't even worth the effort! You know what, Hop Pop, Anne, cover Polly and Sprig's ears for this! Now!"
Hop Pop got Polly and pressed his palms over her head, while Anne did the same for Sprig. Sasha kept her glare on Parisia and then she let her have it.
"YOU'RE SUCH A [BLEEP] [BLEEP]! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D SIT HERE WITH YOUR HEADS UP YOUR [BLEEP] ASSES! HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DO YOU [BLEEP BLEEP] NEED?! I'VE SEEN DENIAL BEFORE, BUT [BLEEP] HELL DO YOU GUYS TAKE THE [BLEEP] CAKE! YOU GUYS CAN ALL JUST GO [BLEEP] YOURSELVES! YOU DON'T DESERVE LYSIL AND ANGWIN'S LOYALTY!"
Parisia blinked.
Anne and Hop Pop just stared wide eyed, along with the rest of the olms.
Sasha huffed and puffed, and each time breathed out flames until she finally calmed down. The resistance commander jumped off the drill bit and landed close to Lysil and Angwin's heads. Carefully she helped them lift themselves up, using her super strength to give them a hand.
"C'mon, guys, let's go. The next time Andrias sends another drill and robot army here, we'll just let them handle it themselves! I'm suuuure they're strong enough and capable enough to fight against an army of machines that don't get tired and have no concept of mercy! Enjoy your future massacre without any help from us surface dwellers! But that's how you like it, right?! It is the OLM WAY after all!"
Parisia listened as the humans, frogs, and Lysil and Angwin moved further and further away. And as they did, the leader of the olms hummed in contemplation.
The group was climbing the path back up to the cave entrance, and the whole time they were walking, Sasha was feeling down.
"Anne…I'm sorry," said Sasha.
"For what?" Anne asked.
"I completely shut you down back there. We're supposed to be co-leaders and I just ran over whatever you were saying…and for that, I'm sorry," Sasha apologized.
Anne smiled a little and placed a comforting hand on her girlfriend's pauldron. "Sash, it's alright. I get it. I was ticked off, too. But did you really mean it when you said we'd just let them get killed if Andrias came back?"
Sasha sighed heavily as she replied, "I…I don't know. It was the heat of the moment. Sometimes you just run into people who don't want to help themselves and deny the truth even when it's hitting them square in the face, and some will deny the truth all the way to their deathbed. We just so happened to find the one species in Amphibia that's all about that. It sucks, but if they're not going to help out in their own defense, then we can't spare half our forces to come here and protect them when our own forces can't expect to be reinforced by these idiots."
As messed up as it sounded, Sasha did have a point. It kind of reminded Anne of the stories that her parents told her of some people who would just hate on them for being different, and saying stupidly racist things about them to make the other members of their community dislike them. Thankfully, their community were smarter than idiots like that, and constantly berated the perpetrators for their remarks. Eventually those people moved away, and their community was better for it, but no matter how much they were told to stop, they just kept at it believing that they were right.
"Yeah, I get it. Guess that ends the Mother Olm lead," said Anne.
"Sorry, again. But we'll come up with another plan. I have a few ideas, but we'll hash them out back at base." Sasha looked up at the two downtrodden olms and said, "Don't worry guys, Proteus may not want you, but Wartwood and the resistance will gladly have you."
Sprig raised an eyebrow and asked, "We will?"
"NOT SO FAST!"
The group stopped in their tracks and turned around. That's when they saw Parisia slithering up a column. The olm leader looked down on them from her perch as she said, "YOU DARE INSULT PARISIA! THE GUARDIAN OF PROTEUS WHO HAS RULED OVER THIS CITY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS!"
Sasha glared daggers up at the olm leader as her eyes shifted back to their magenta color. She was about to draw her swords and show this dictator what happens to tyrants when they ignore the wise council of others. However, Sasha paused when she saw that Parisia was smiling, and then chuckled a bit.
"Impressive, you've all got guts. Especially the fur clad one," said Parisia.
"HUH?" everyone gasped.
"I haven't been yelled at like that for about five-hundred years. Kinda shook me up to be honest." Parisia sighed as she continued. "I know about what's been going on top side. The sound of heavy marching, the unmistakable sound of metal shuffling and moving about. Not to mention the putrid stench of pollution that I've noticed slowly seeping even to our depths."
"Then…Then why haven't you done anything?! Do you realize how close you all were to dying if we hadn't shown up?! It was sheer dumb luck that we did, otherwise that drill would've broke open a bigger hole, and hundreds of robots would've come flooding in here!" Anne argued.
"As I said, it is the olm way. And our way has, as I now realize, made us too complacent in the goings on above ground. We've literally buried our heads in the ground, believing that anything that happens over our heads in the business of the surface dwellers. So long as we thrive and survive, that was all that mattered. But as it seems, the business concerning you is now starting to concern us as well," said Parisia.
"Ya think?!" Polly exclaimed.
"Perhaps it is better to be safe than sorry. By my authority as leader of Proteus, I hereby grant the five of you permission to have an audience with our great Mother Olm," Parisia proclaimed.
"Whoa, whoa, hang on. What about Lysil and Angwin? They risked their lives to save your sorry asses, and as ungrateful as the rest of your people are, they still love this city and the people in it, even after getting banished," said Sasha.
Parisia groaned in annoyance as she replied, "Fine, fine! Hence forth, Lysil and Angwin's banishment is hereby revoked, and they may once again have access to the city–"
"WHOO-HOO!" Lysil and Angwin exclaimed joyously.
"You won't be sorry," Angwin said.
"–but under constant supervision," Parisia finished.
"Boo," Lysil jeered.
"Ah, that's lame," Angwin complained.
Sasha elbowed the conjoined twins in their gut and shot them a look that said, "Do not look a gift horse in the mouth!" or at least the Amphibian equivalent of that saying. The twins, thankfully, understood her glare and bowed in acceptance of the condition.
Anne, Sasha, and the Plantars bowed, respectfully, to Parisia.
"Thank you, Parisia," said Sasha.
"We very much appreciate this," Anne added.
Parisia rolled her eyes as she said, "Yes, yes, I'm kind, whatever. Just don't make me regret this you two. Now, come and follow me, Mother awaits."
After being granted permission to see Mother Olm, Parisia sent Lysil and Angwin away to have their wounds treated and assigned two guards to escort the others to the dwelling place of their great Mother. The group was brought before a large archway where two sliding doors parted and granted them all passage.
"This is it, Sash, you ready?" Anne asked.
"Let's meet Mother Olm," said Sasha.
The two girlfriends raised their fists and gave a light fist bump as they all followed the guards into the tunnel that led to Mother Olm. The doors slammed shut behind them, but unbeknownst to them, the door, unlike the front, had carvings on it. Strangely, it depicted three, female, human warriors clad in ornate armor.