Things were moving along swiftly now, the Resistance had managed to obtain a good number of fighters to their ranks, with the addition of Tritonio's Merry Band, Beatrix's toad army, and of course their own Resistance fighters that have been growing in number since the Resistance was started, they were almost primed and ready to begin their attack on Andrias's forces. However, there were still some problems that needed to be resolved, which was why Anne had to stage an intervention with the three young frog children. It was fair play as far as Anne was concerned, Sprig more or less did it to her, so it was only right she did it to him.
Ivy, Maddie, and Sprig were sitting in a triangle, and outside. Ivy didn't look fazed at all by the goings on, while Sprig looked as if he was ready to hop out of here at the drop of a hat, but considering his surrogate big sister has superspeed, that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Maddie was definitely nervous, since it was her who confessed to liking Sprig via a kiss and was doing her best not to look Sprig in the eyes. She would've used one of her curses to get out of this situation, but Anne used her superspeed to swiftly remove any and all curse making ingredients, along with any pouches the goth frog girl might be hiding. Now practically disarmed, Maddie had no choice but to sit there and talk.
"Okay, you guys, it's been days since this all started, and you've barely talked to each other. So, I invited you–"
"Kidnapped is more like it," Maddie interjected.
"Forced, really," Sprig added.
"Invited you all here to air out whatever little things are worrying you three. Especially Sprig," Anne explained.
"I'm cool with this, I've actually wanted us to talk some, but you two have been dodging each other a lot," said Ivy.
"Gee, I wonder why?" Maddie retorted.
Anne sighed.
"C'mon guys, at least try."
Sprig glanced between the two girls sitting across from him, there was really no way of getting around this, so he decided to just air it all out.
"Okay…well…Maddie, do you really like me like Ivy does?" Sprig asked.
Maddie wanted to disappear, but thanks to Anne, that was impossible. That is if she could just reach that small batch of wormwort growing just to her right…Maddie stopped when she felt Anne's gaze on her, she briefly glanced at the Thai teen and noticed that her eyes were dimly glowing blue, letting the goth frog girl know that she wasn't getting out of this and if she thought that going for that plant was going to save her, she was wrong. With little choice in the matter, Maddie had to answer.
"I…I do, Sprig. I…I didn't even realize it until you came back. No, I realized it a long time ago, little by little, but it was there," said Maddie.
"I kinda noticed it myself back then, too. But I wasn't sure until recently, around the time when Anne and Sasha were 'trying' not to flirt like girlfriends," said Ivy.
Anne blushed and whistled a little.
"I just thought, it would be cool if we could all be together. But…I may've pushed things along too fast. I just saw how Maddie liked you, and I didn't think it was right for her not to say anything," Ivy explained.
Maddie sighed and added, "And, for whatever reason…I felt that she was right. Especially with everything that's happening. The Resistance, King Andrias invading Earth, the fate of Amphibia on the line…I guess I felt like it was now or never, and when I went for it, I was happy, nervous, confused…and ashamed."
Anne, Sprig, and Ivy looked at Maddie when she said that last part, confused as to why she would feel that way.
"Wait, Maddie, why would you feel ashamed?" Anne asked.
"I don't have any right to just barge in on you two and your couple stuff. And I don't want to be the reason, later on, if you two breakup," Maddie confessed.
Ivy rubbed the back of her head, and Sprig twiddled his thumbs.
"But one of the things I hate, is that I never just talked to you about it. I kinda did the same thing my Dad did when Anne traded your future for bread dough."
"One time! I traded Sprig's future for bread dough ONE! TIME!" Anne complained as she crossed her arms.
Maddie rolled her eyes at Anne, but returned her gaze to Sprig, and asked, "Do you want to be mine and Ivy's boyfriend? It's not fair that we're the only ones who thought of this, we should've talked to you first.
Ivy rubbed the back of her head, looking contrite.
"Yeah, Maddie's right, I just gave Maddie a push, thinking that this would just work out. Sorry," Ivy apologized.
Sprig became less tense as he saw the apologetic faces of the two girls in front of him. The pink frog child glanced up at Anne, who nodded at him, silently telling him to go ahead and speak from his heart. Further emphasized by her pointing at her own heart.
"I guess, I don't mind, it could be fun. But…are you sure you two want me as your boyfriend? I mean?…I don't even know if I'm good enough to be a good boyfriend to two girls," Sprig confessed.
Ivy and Maddie glanced at each other, smiled, and then crawled forward before sitting closer in front of Sprig. Each girl took one of his hands, making Sprig shift his gaze between them.
"Sprig, you are good enough," said Ivy.
"I don't expect you to do anything big or grand as my boyfriend. I just want to be closer to you," said Maddie.
Ivy nodded and added, "We'll figure out the more complicated stuff as we get older. But for now, let's just enjoy being a throuple."
"Still don't think that's a word," Sprig commented.
"It is now," Maddie stated.
"Seconded," Anne chimed in.
"Well, if you guys are okay with me, then, let be a 'throuple' then."
The two frog girls smiled more broadly, and then, in a surprise move, leaned forward and kissed him, with Maddie kissing Sprig's right cheek, and Ivy his left. Anne was busy sniffling and bawling, now having found her new favorite ship, "Sprivdi", she made sure to omit the "e" as sounded too close to die. Although, considering it was Maddie, she probably wouldn't mind.
Sprivdie it is then.
"Uh, 'scuse me, y'know we are on a stake out, right?"
Anne looked over her shoulder, spotting Loggle, Wally, and Soggy Joe crouched behind a hill.
"This is for the future of Sprivdie! Wally! Don't interfere!" Anne exclaimed.
"Yeesh, sorry. Sasha did assign us to find out what's been taking our food, and Ah don't want to get on the Commander's bad side," Wally warned.
Anne sighed in frustration. She knew Wally was right, plus, she'd get chewed out more considering she was the girlfriend of the Commander. She remembered a conversation regarding something like that.
"Anne, if I break the rules around here, I want you to be extra harsh with me when it comes to punishment."
"Seriously?"
"We're friends again, and more than that, we're girlfriends. It'll be bad for morale if you or I do something against the established rules of the Resistance and just casually walk away without any consequences. So, to even it out, we have to show that neither one of us gets special treatment. If you step out of line, or if I do, our punishment will be the same as what anyone else in the army would get, or a little harsher than normal, no special treatment."
With that in mind, Anne returned her attention to the three frog children.
"C'mon, guys, let's get back to the mission," said Anne.
"Ahem, I think you need to give me something," Maddie stated.
"Oh, right!"
Anne grabbed a sack from the ground behind her and placed it in front of Maddie. Inside the sack were several of the goth frog girl's curse pouches, along with some unmixed ingredients ready for use. Maddie quickly re-outfitted herself with her magic items and was happy to have them back. It felt wrong not to have a curse on hand.
"By the way, I have been meaning to ask. Since we're in this throuple thing, does that mean that you like Maddie, too, Ivy? And Maddie, do you like Ivy like that?" Sprig asked.
The human girl's eyes widened, in focusing on Sprig, that was one aspect of this relationship she had overlooked. The big factor of whether or not Maddie and Ivy had any kind of attraction towards each other, otherwise this throuple thing might be one sided.
Maddie glanced at Ivy, and Ivy at Maddie.
"Yeah, totally, she's cute," said Ivy without a hint of hesitation.
"…Kinda figured she did after that kiss she gave me back when Anne and Marcy had their date in Wartwood," Maddie answered, using her bangs to keep her face hidden.
"Whoa," Anne and Sprig uttered.
With that settled, the four of them returned to their stake out position, with the three adults finally glad that they could get back to their mission. And that mission was to find out what had been stealing their food supplies, and then get rid of it once they had. Ever since getting aid and supplies from the Ribbiton estate, other wealthy frogs, and even newts, were secretly buying supplies and sending them to the Resistance. While the excess was good, it was unfortunately more than their underground storehouses could handle. So, what wouldn't spoil was placed above ground in locked crates with camouflage hiding their presence. But somehow something was finding their food, and while it wasn't a big problem, at first, as the fighting continued and their numbers increased, keeping the army fed was one of their top priorities. So, having some creature coming in and stealing their food was not going to be tolerated.
"Hope this thing, whatever it is, shows up soon," said Anne.
"I can't remember the last time an animal came out of the woods to scavenge for food, aside from that ferret that apparently kept snatching one of us up during hibernation time," said Maddie.
"With all the deforestation from King Andrias's war machines and the ravaging of the land, it's disrupted the natural ecosystem of Amphibia. And as a result, has forced the animals away from their normal grazing and hunting grounds," Soggy Joe informed.
"And as a result, they're going for the closest source of food. Namely, our food stockpiles," Anne added.
Sprig nodded as he kept his eyes peeled.
"Well, like you said, hopefully this thing shows up soon. Otherwise, we might have resort to cannibalism. Dibs on eating Loggle!" Sprig called out.
"Ha! You'll have to catch me first!" Loggle stated as he ran away.
Ivy took out a bolo and threw it, which wrapped around Buff Loggle's legs, and brought him to the ground. The yellow frog girl quickly pounced, and hog tied him as she dragged the axolotl back to their stake out area.
"Wow," Sprig and Maddie awed.
"We'll be eating good later," said Ivy.
Suddenly, a large shadow swiftly flew over their heads and down towards the supply depot. The light was dim, so it was hard to make out, but a huge creature landed down below. It was still hard to tell what it was, but whatever it was, it raised its arm and struck one of the camouflaged bins. This creature must've had a good sense of smell, because it wasn't fooled at all by the camo. Another strike from its, possible arm, struck the bins directly, opening them up and revealing the various vegetables, bugs, and fruits that were stored inside. About the only thing they could see from their position were its glowing eyes when it leaned its head forward and began gobbling up some of the food inside of the bin.
"What the heck is it?" Sprig asked.
"Does it matter? Whatever it is, we're taking it down!" Anne ordered.
Anne leaped over the hill and ran down towards the beast. Maddie, Ivy, Joe, and Sprig followed behind her, but Loggle was not able to, on account of Ivy forgetting to untie him before running after. Maddie got a curse pouch ready, while Ivy busted out a couple of daggers. Sprig got his Silverbolt slingshot out, while Soggy Joe unsheathed a large sword weapon from his back. Anne drew her sword as they quickly closed in, but the beast was swifter than they thought, spreading – what they believed to be – its big wings and flew off towards what remained of the forest.
"It's getting away!" Maddie exclaimed.
"Let's go after it! If we don't, it'll just keep coming back," said Soggy Joe.
The group chased after the flying creature. To a degree, they all felt a little bad about having to kill this poor animal. It was doing all of this because it had no choice, it was all King Andrias and The Night's fault, for depleting much of Amphibia's natural resources, and forcing this animal to hunt for food outside its normal territory. But if they didn't do this, then their own food would just continue to dwindle more and more each day. It was a hard thing to do, but they had to think of their own army's survival, otherwise they wouldn't be able to save Amphibia in the end. After a few minutes of giving chase, they spotted the creature landing in a small clearing just up ahead.
The five of them took cover behind a huge rock and took a quick glance to see what the creature was doing. The creature lowered its head, and opened its maw, releasing the food that it had just previously eaten. Well, they thought it had eaten the food, but for some reason it was only carrying it in its mouth.
"Okay, on my cue," Anne ordered as she gripped her sword tight. "One, two…"
The creature turned around as some of the smog clouds parted and allowed some moonlight to shine down. With the added light, they were now able to see what it was they were about to fight. The creature had six white legs that resembled a cat's, it even had paws. But this creature also had a black and gray abdomen, and its thorax was covered in a thick mane of black hair. Its head resembled a cat, with white fur, and red compound eyes. Its large wings were black and orange with white spots, resembling monarch butterfly wings.
"Well, bless my bowie knife. It's a Coastal Kill-a-moth!" Soggy Joe exclaimed.
It wasn't just any kill-a-moth, oh no, it was one that Anne was well acquainted with, and was surprised to see this kill-a-moth after so long.
"DOMINO 2!" Anne yelled as she gushed.
Domino 2 looked like she was going to attack, but seemed to stop, seeing that her would-be attackers stopped as well, and turned her attention back to the spot where she dispensed the food it had taken earlier. While Domino 2 was doing whatever she was doing, Anne was still gushing over the fact that she had been reunited with her wild Amphibian pet.
"I haven't seen her since she flew off months ago," said Anne. "What should I do?! Should I approach her? Should I say hello? Is that too forward?"
"Wait, you know that thing?" Maddie asked.
"You named it?" Ivy questioned.
"Oh yeah, Anne said it looked just like Domino, her cat, back home. Which, after seeing her, yeah, she did look very similar to what that thing looked like when it was a caterpillar. By I digress…" Sprig cleared his throat. "Anne, are you kidding?! That thing nearly ate us! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if she…remembers my flavor…"
Anne knelt next to Sprig, and calmly told him, "Don't hold a grudge, Sprig."
Soon after saying that, some Frobots appeared in the sky. Five in total. Three of the five dropped down in a triangle formation around Domino 2, but the kill-a-moth roared threateningly at the Frobots. The robots started to move in, Domino 2 extended her claws and slashed through the first Frobot, tearing three huge gashes into it. The second came at her from the left, but she quickly flapped her wings, bringing her to a hover as she flapped even harder. A strong gust of wind pushed against the Frobot, making it have to struggle to walk forward. Once it was close, Domino 2 opened her mouth and attacked with her barbed proboscis, which she used to wrap around the Frobot's head and tear it off. The third was about to attack, but she quickly turned around, opened her mouth, and bit the robot in two.
However, the three Frobots were little more than a distraction as the other two stayed in the air. The fourth robot changed its right hand into a type of blaster that fired an electrical blast that stunned Domino 2. The kill-a-moth fell to the ground, allowing the fifth robot to fire a huge net that ensnared the beast, and together, the two robots carried it away to a power station located atop one the various peaks surrounding the valley.
"Domino 2! NO!" Anne cried out.
When it was over, Anne just stood there stunned. As for the others…
"Well, that problem solved itself," said Sprig.
"Yep, least we won't have to eat Loggle now," Ivy added.
"Anyone want pancakes? I'm making pancakes when we get back," said Soggy Joe.
As the others started to leave, Anne obstinately declared, "We're going to rescue her!"
"WHAT?!" the others yelled in shock.
"Domino 2 and I still have a connection. I can feel it," she stated.
"Anne, she's not your buddy, she's a vicious animal! She's been living out in the wild for months now and–!"
"Shh!" Anne stopped Sprig's tirade. "Did you hear that?"
Everyone strained to try and hear what Anne heard, and after doing so they could hear, what sounded like, low meowing. Anne walked towards the spot that Domino 2 had dispensed her food, and when she got close, she gasped.
"OH! M! GEEE! AAAAAH!" Anne squealed.
"What? What is it?" Maddie asked.
"Domino 2 has kittens!"
The others gathered around Anne, and sure enough, lying in a little nest were six little caterpillars, each one was a different color, and had different shaped ears. Heck, even one of them looked like Wally to a degree. Now it made sense to Anne why Domino 2 was taking so much food, it wasn't for her, it was for her babies.
"Hey, little cuties," Anne said as she extended her left arm towards the kittens.
Whether it was because they didn't know any better, or perhaps they could sense Anne's love for their mother, and them. But the six little kittens trusted her enough to crawl up her arm and began nuzzling her affectionately. One of the caterpillars, an orange one, fell off Anne's arm and into the nest, where it cutely sneezed before getting back on its feet.
"Well, that settles it. We're taking these lil' babies back to Wartwood."
"Absolutely not!" Sprig affirmed, putting his foot down on the matter.
"Yeah, I'm with Sprig on this one. Those things grow up into killing machines," said Ivy.
"Ditto for me, we can't have those things running around the camp. We don't even know how long it's been since they were born. They could become kill-a-months in a few hours, or by morning," Maddie argued.
"With the kids, hard no," Soggy Joe stated.
"Guys, we can't just leave these defenseless little kittens out in the wilderness on their own! It's just until we save their mother," Anne promised.
All four of the frogs shook their heads.
"No way. No how. Not in a million years," Sprig assured.
Anne presented a handful of caterpillars to the frogs. Ivy and Maddie looked into the eyes of the innocent little kitten bugs at the same time as Soggy Joe. But Sprig managed to turn away, trying to resist the cuteness.
"No! Not this time. Must resist!"
"I don't think I've ever seen eyes this big before," Soggy Joe said.
"T-They are kind of cute," Maddie admitted as she blushed.
"Awww, I think that one is holding its paw to me," Ivy gushed.
Sprig was disappointed that his two girlfriends just gave into the cuteness, even more so with Soggy Joe. But he had to keep resisting, he had to put his foot down on this.
"Never!" For whatever reason, he dared to glance at Anne.
Which ended up being a mistake as he was treated to a scene of Anne crying, along with the adorably sad faces of the six kittens she was holding to maximize the guilt. Sprig kept looking, and looking, and the more he looked, the more the guilt rose. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Gah! Fine! We'll take them back! But I have a feeling the rest of camp isn't gonna like this," he warned.
"Pfft. Don't be so dramatic. They're gonna love it."
"YOU DID WHAT?!" everyone yelled at the same time.
Or maybe they'll be angry, thought Anne.
So, as she said, they brought the caterpillars back to the Plantar house. Loggle had informed everyone that their group had gone off to find and eliminate the food thief, doing this after he managed to break himself free from the ropes Ivy forgot to untie. Most of their Wartwood friends were waiting for them in case something went wrong, but instead of telling them that their food thief was vanquished. Anne and company returned with six caterpillars. Needless to say, everyone was rightfully peeved.
Sasha was still confused about the outrage everyone was feeling, so she asked, "Okay, I'm seriously confused. What even are those things, and why are you so ticked off about 'em?"
"They're monsters. But they're cute as can be, and once they've transformed into adults, they'll eat us all for breakfast!" Hop Pop warned/explained.
"I lost my uncle Magnus to one of those things," Grime regaled. "Found his bones in a giant pellet…the horror."
Polly hopped onto the warrior toad's head as she told her big sister, "Read the room, Anne. This is a hard no!
"Guys, seriously, I get your concern. But their mother is Domino 2! She was my baby precious, and she's been captured by Andrias's robots! All I'm asking is for you guys to watch the kittens while I go on a rescue mission to get Domino 2 back," said Anne.
Wally, Grime, Croaker, Polly, Hop Pop, Felicia, and even Sasha were opposed to this idea.
Sprig sighed and decided to step in.
"C'mon, guys. Anne's done so much for us, for everyone here. We can at least do this much for her, right?" Sprig asked.
"Sprig, no one's denyin' that we owe Anne a huge debt, but this…"
"Sprig's right, Anne hasn't asked much from any of us, and she and Sasha have been working hard to protect our world," said Ivy.
"I think we can at least give her this, and it's not as if they're staying with us," Maddie added.
Sprig brought one of the caterpillars close to Croaker, who nuzzled the elderly frog woman under her chin. She tried to resist it, but in the end, even she wasn't able to resist the cuteness, and the slight guilt tripping.
"Ugh, fine! We'll do it. But you better hurry back young lady," Croaker stated.
Hop Pop walked up to Anne and took one of the caterpillars.
"Yeah, we don't want to be stuck with these little savages for any longer than we have to."
Soggy Joe walked to Sasha and presented her with one of the caterpillars.
"I'm more of a dog person so…AAAAH!" The caterpillar immediately started to scratch and claw at Sasha's face in an agitated state. The blonde teen managed to grab the little kitten and held it aloft in her gloved hand. "JUST MAKE IT QUICK!"
"Thanks, everyone! I just have to bust her out of a mountaintop fortress. So, I shouldn't be gone long," Anne informed.
Sprig hopped over to Anne and remarked, "I still think this is a bad idea. What if we save her and then she…tears you to shreds?!"
Anne shook her head, retorting, "Domino 2 would never hurt me. I just know. I feel it in my heart."
"…Alright." Sprig hopped onto Anne's back as he said, "Count me in!"
"Thanks, dude. I appreciate the help."
"I mean, someone's gotta save you when this all goes horribly wrong."
"…We really need to work on your pep talks."
Anne's eyes glowed blue as electrical sparks arced around her legs. She took a runner's stance and then dashed in the direction of where the robots took Domino 2, leaving a trail of blue lightning in her wake. With Anne gone, the others decided to put the kittens into a corral, outside of the base. After hastily constructing a crude looking corral, the kittens were placed inside, and Wally was placed at the entrance.
"Wally, you take first watch. And be careful," said Croaker as she, and the others, left.
"Aye, aye, ma'am! I'll guard the prisoners with me life!" Wally replied as he saluted.
Once they were gone, Wally picked up a guard stick and then turned around to point it at the kittens in a threatening manner.
"If you little blighters know what's good for you, you won't try anything!"
Unfortunately, one of the kittens, who had curls near its head, and had one eye closed and the other eye open, crawled onto Wally's guard stick and began crawling up the stick and his arm.
"Oh, no. NO! Stay back. Stay back I say!" Wally ordered. "Stay BAAAAACK…!"
Anne and Sprig made it to the mountains, and once there, they scouted the area via a nearby cliff. They kept low to avoid being spotted, and it was here that Anne could see what was going on. There was a huge metal cage, at the center of the cage was a rotating pillar where not just Domino 2, but other kill-a-moths were. Each of them were wearing a control collar and were attached via a rope to the rotating pillar. The turning of the pillar by the kill-a-moths generated power, which was sent via a long glowing blue tube to a hub on the other side.
"Take a look. Another one of King Andrias's robot bases," said Anne as she handed over the spyglass.
Sprig looked through it and saw what they were dealing with. There were several kill-a-moths there, much more than he thought they would encounter, which made him all the more nervous about this mission.
"And they're fitted with mind control collars. He's really using all of Amphibia's resources," said Sprig. "How are we going to get to them if they're moving around like that?"
"They can't be doing this all the time, otherwise they'd be dropping dead from exhaustion left and right. We'll wait until they go to sleep, and then we'll sneak in and free my baby precious," said Anne.
"Anne, there are dozens of moths, how are we going to find–?"
"She's right there."
Anne pointed and Sprig followed the direction of her finger and saw Domino 2 flying around.
"Oh. Huh. Nice."
Just then, a loud buzzer went off, and immediately after, all the kill-a-moths stopped flying and landed on the ground below. A moment later, they all closed their eyes and went to sleep. Just as Anne thought.
"Alright, come on. Let's motor!"
Meanwhile, back at the camp, Wally had succumbed to the cuteness of the kittens and was lying in the corral, letting the little baby caterpillars lay on top and around him.
"I'll call you Cali-coco, and Nutgrass, and Josey-Pie, and of course, little Wally Jr.!"
Wally picked up the one that looked similar to him, and placed a cute little hat that matched his own.
"Wally!" The blue-green frog was caught off guard as Croaker, Felicia, Ivy, Maddie, and Grime came to relieve him, and found this. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing!" Wally nervously chuckled as he tried to hide Wally Jr. "I'm just, uh, passing time with my accordion!"
And that's when Wally began stretching Wally Jr. back and forth as if it was an accordion, which made the kitten make meowing sounds with each pull and scrunch.
"Wally, that…"
Wally and Wally Jr. began sweating bullets. He knew he messed up; he knew he was sucked in by the adorable cuteness, but it was so hard to resist. And now he–
"…Is the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Felicia exclaimed.
…Not in trouble.
"Aww, lemme hold one!"
Felicia couldn't hold back anymore and ran up to the orange kitten, taking it into her arms as she cradled the little creature in her arms. Ivy sighed, even she wasn't immune to the cuteness as she walked up to her mother and tickled the little kitten under its chin.
"They're really not that bad," Ivy commented.
Grime walked up to one of them, which was purple in color, and had pretty big ears. It was lying on its back, minding its own business until Grime came near it.
"And this one's a…" The purple kitten hissed when Grime tried to touch it, but stopped when he retracted his finger, "…cute little warrior!"
Another of the kittens, which had one blue eye and one yellow eye, crawled onto Mrs. Croaker playfully.
"Get off me, you disgusting, little…" The kitten settled on her head and took a nap. "…angel. Oh."
Maddie was fighting it, but it was a losing battle as a hairy one came up to her and handed her something from its mouth. The goth frog girl, curious, bent down to pick up what it had brought and was surprised by what it was.
"This is heronsbane! I've been looking for this for one of my curses!" Maddie bent down and petted the little hairy kitten. "Huh, looks like you got a knack for finding ingredients, very interesting."
Just then, Hop Pop kicked open the door of his house, having seen how everyone was falling for the cuteness. He needed them to stop, before it was too late.
"YOU FOOLS! Quick, shield yer eyes!" he warned. "Don't look at 'em! That's how they get ya!"
Just then, another one descended from a branch right in front of Hop Pop. This kitten, who looked a little smaller than its brothers and sisters, opened its big, round eyes and stared directly into Hop Pop's eyes. The moment this happened, it was if their souls communed, a connection forming between the kitten and Hop Pop that was pure and loving, one of euphoric happiness that filled a spot in the old frog's heart and soul that he never thought would be filled after all this time.
Aaaaaaaaah~ Aaaaaaaaaah~ Ah~ Aaaaah~
AAAAAAAAAAAAAH~
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind!"
Anne and Sprig managed to make it to the cage that was holding the kill-a-moths. They slipped in through one of the cage gaps, it was big enough for them to get in and out, but not enough for any of the kill-a-moths to do so. Not like they could, considering all of them were fitted with control collars. Regardless, Anne and Sprig carefully, and silently, maneuvered their way through the dozens upon dozens of kill-a-moths, knowing that if they made the wrong move, they would no doubt attack them on sight. Sprig was especially concerned as he was getting flashbacks to when Domino 2 almost ate him and his family alive. Sprig stepped over the paw of one the kill-a-moths, but stopped as his back was facing another, which sniffed him. The kill-a-moth got Sprig in its paws, but this seemed to be an unconscious action as it was still asleep. Thankfully, Sprig managed to wiggle his way out without waking it.
Finally, the two of them found Domino 2. The former house pet was still asleep like the rest of her kind, which was good for them.
"Shh. Wait here," said Anne.
Anne moved closer to Domino 2 and got her hands on the collar. She tried detaching it manually, she could've used her lightning to short it out, or her sword to cut it off. But Domino 2 was her baby precious, and she was not about to risk accidentally shocking her or cutting her.
"C'mon…C'mon…"
That's when Domino 2's purple glowing left eye opened and looked directly at Anne.
"Uh-oh…"
Domino 2 roared as she hurriedly rose to her feet. The swift action threw Anne onto her back, and within easy biting distance of Domino 2's fangs.
Sprig jumped in between them and shouted, "Stop right – OMPH!"
Domino 2 swatted the little frog child out of the way and began to circle Anne, getting ready for the attack. Anne managed to get back up as she allowed her powers to flow through her, enhancing her reflexes and speed in preparation to dodge and evade.
"Anne, hurry! Let's get out of here!" Sprig exclaimed.
"No! I have to save her!" Anne retorted.
Domino 2 lunged at Anne, trying to snap her jaws around the Thai teen, but with her enhanced speed, Anne easily dodged the attack. The kill-a-moth kept snaping her jaws and swiping her claws, trying to kill Anne with every action it took, but Anne was not about to harm the giant moth creature that was her first Amphibia pet, and a dead ringer for her Earth cat, Domino. Anne, instead of drawing her sword, unhooked it from her belt, scabbard and all. When Domino 2 lunged again, Anne jumped into the air and held her sword aloft, she was not going to cut the collar off, she was going to smash it. Anne concentrated and used her lightning to propel her forward, as she came down with an overhead strike right to the center of the control collar. Domino 2 released a roar as the collar snapped in half, falling onto the ground in two broken pieces.
Anne, due to the hastiness of her attack, and not wanting to land on Domino 2, lurched to the side where she bounced off the ground and landed on her rear, right across from Domino 2. The kill-a-moth shook its head as its purple eyes shifted back to their natural red color.
"Anne, you have to get away! Now!" Sprig warned.
"No! Sprig! She'll remember me! I know it!" Anne stood up and threw her sword to the ground as she held out her arms as if to give Domino 2 a hug. "I believe in you. I know you remember me. Come on girl."
Domino 2 tilted her head when she looked at Anne, and that's when the kill-a-moth roared and charged straight for the Thai girl. Anne held her ground, she had to believe in Domino 2, she knew their bond was strong even after all these months apart. The fact that she didn't kill her after she evolved into a kill-a-moth had to mean something. Domino 2 didn't have to ignore her, she chose to ignore her, Domino 2 had no intent on harming her. At least that's what Anne believed back then, and that's what she believed now as she closed her eyes and waited for whatever may come.
The huge kill-a-moth came to an abrupt stop in front of Anne, the fast stop caused a gust of wind to hit Anne, putting her on her rear. And once she was, Domino 2 leaned forward and…licked her. Domino 2 opened her mouth and bit down on the top of Anne's head. Although, while the fangs of the kill-a-moth were a tad hurtful, Domino 2 wasn't biting down with any amount of force, this wasn't a predator trying to bite down on their prey, no, Anne recognized this level of discomfort, although it was scaled up to match Domino 2's size.
"She's play biting! She's play biting! Ahahaaha! Ow!" Anne squealed with happiness.
Sprig was flummoxed. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, but it was happening right in front of him. Despite all the odds, Domino 2 wasn't attacking Anne, Domino 2 recognized Anne.
"I don't believe it…She does remember you!" Sprig exclaimed in shock. "Huh. Big win for blind faith."
Domino 2, after letting Anne go, used her teeth to pick something out of her mane. Once she had it in her mouth, the kill-a-moth presented it to Anne and dropped it in front of her former caretaker. When Anne looked down, she gasped. It was the stuffed mouse toy she used to lure Domino 2 out of the house, the very same one she played with before she became a kill-a-moth. Anne reached out and took the toy into her right hand, her eyes tearing up as her heart swelled with love for her former pet.
"Domino 2, you did remember me."
To further show her remembrance of Anne, Domino 2 willingly rolled onto her back and exposed her underbelly, an action that animals only ever do in very particular cases. One case was to show submissiveness to an "alpha", and the other case was only done when an animal trusts someone enough to expose themselves like that. So, Anne knew that this action was not without significant meaning. In response, Anne walked up to Domino 2 and began giving her belly scratches, causing the huge moth to purr in content.
"Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?" Anne cooed.
Sprig had to admit, no matter his feelings regarding Domino 2, even he couldn't deny how moving this was as he cried a little.
"Wow. This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my–" Sprig suddenly felt a large presence behind him, and his elation dropped sharply. "…I'm about to get eaten, aren't I?"
No sooner did he say that did another kill-a-moth open its mouth and gobbled up Sprig in one snap of its jaws.
"Why always meeeeeeeee…!" Sprig cried from inside the mouth of the orange kill-a-moth.
The kill-a-moth swallowed Sprig and then took off into the air. All the kill-a-moths woke up at the same time and began the robotic routine once again.
"SPRIG! HANG ON, I'M COMING!" Anne cried out as she hopped onto Domino 2 on instinct and quickly realized she had no idea how to fly her. "Uh, okay, how do we do this? Um, Domino 2, up, up, and awaAAAAAAH!"
Domino 2 immediately lifted off into the air, which was very abrupt as Anne had a hard time staying on her former pet's back.
"WHOA! DOMINO 2! STOP!" Anne yelled.
The kill-a-moth heard her and did as she asked, but in so doing, accidentally launched Anne off her back and into the air. Anne was flying higher and higher towards the cage and reached out to try and grab onto it but fell short.
"Ah, nuts."
Anne began to fall and was about to summon her Driver, but Domino 2 swooped in at the last second and caught her. Unfortunately, Anne was now clinging onto Domino 2's left wing, putting too much weight on it for her to properly flap and causing them to go into freefall. Anne quickly shimmied her way to Domino 2's back, this time getting a firm grip on her mane. Once she did, Anne pulled up on Domino 2's mane, letting the kill-a-moth know to pull up. Domino 2 immediately began flapping and curved upwards just messing the ground. Anne steered Domino 2, and she complied, allowing Anne to direct her movements with complete trust.
Together they found the kill-a-moth that swallowed Sprig, and Domino 2 flew even faster. She made a beeline straight for the orange kill-a-moth and immediately headbutted the creature in the gut, causing it to violently cough up Sprig from its gullet. Anne held out her arms and quickly caught Sprig, who was covered in stomach juices.
"I got ya, buddy! Now let's get out of here!" Anne exclaimed.
Anne steered Domino 2 towards a gate control lever, which she hit as they flew by and caused the main gate of the cage to open. Domino 2 flew towards the gate but suddenly came to a stop a few inches in front of it.
"What's the matter, girl? We're almost free," said Anne.
Domino 2 looked back up at the other kill-a-moths, who were still flying around, enslaved. Anne glanced back up at the other kill-a-moths and immediately understood why Domino 2 didn't fly out.
"You want to save them too, right?" she asked.
Domino 2 nodded as she meowed.
"Okay, then let's go save them!"
"I mean, we could just leave."
"Sprig!"
"Alright, alright."
With their new mission in mind, Domino 2 flew towards the rotating pillar. Sprig used his tongue to strike the weak point of the control collars and broke them upon contact. At the same time, Anne drew her sword and began slashing through the ropes that were keeping the kill-a-moths attached to the pillar. It took some time, but after a couple of minutes, all the moths were freed from their restraints and control collars, with their eyes changing to red to show that they were in fact free from Andrias's control.
"Looks like we did it," said Anne.
And that's when another moth came in and snatched Sprig by the collar of his jacket, flying off with him with the intention of eating him. However, another of the kill-a-moths flew in and tackled it, forcing that moth to release Sprig as it snatched him away and flew off to eat him. Soon the other kill-a-moths started to fight over who was going to eat Sprig as they played keep away, and at times, tug of war with him.
"SPRIG, NOOO!" Anne yelled in desperation.
Domino 2 glanced between Anne and the frog that her kind were fighting over. She could sense her sadness, her pain, she cared for that little frog. Just like she cared for her. With that thought in mind, Domino 2 inhaled deeply and released a powerful roar into the air that made Anne have to cover her ears. Immediately upon hearing her roar, the other moths stopped their fighting over Sprig and gave Domino 2 their full attention. One of the kill-a-moths who had Sprig flew to Domino 2 and offered the pink frog child to her. Domino 2 accepted the offering upon her two front paws, and once in hand, held Sprig up to Anne so that she could take him.
"Domino 2, thank you!" Anne exclaimed happily as she took Sprig into her arms.
Sprig, a little bruised from getting treated like a toy by the moths, groaned as he asked, "W-Why did they stop?"
Anne looked at Domino 2 and the other moths who were now just hovering in front of them, as if waiting for a command. That's when it clicked in Anne's mind.
"No, way. Sprig, Marcy told me about animals like this! Domino 2 must be the 'alpha moth'," said Anne.
The realization hit Sprig as he remarked, "Alpha? So, wait, that means if we've tamed Domino 2…!"
"We've tamed them all!"
[ALERT! ALERT! WORK STOPPAGE DETECTED.]
Anne, Sprig, and Domino 2 turned their heads in the direction of the power station connected to the cage. The station began to open, and when it did, inside was a huge robotic weapon. It had a robotic heron head, with mechanical wings on its back and three thruster vents on each wing. Compared to some of the other robots, this one was kind of thin, with long retractable arms, and legs, allowing it to move around with greater flexibility than its brethren. At the end of each of its limbs were four sharp claws that gleamed in the faint light of the power station. Its eyes glowed bright blue, shining light down wherever it gazed. The robot was colored dark gray with the new crown-like symbol emblazoned onto its chest. It turned around to face the cage and released a horrible mechanical screech, opening its beak to show off its rows of sharp teeth, which now rotated like chainsaw blades.
"…Well, that's nightmare fuel," Sprig commented.
Anne furrowed her brow as she pushed down on Domino 2, silently telling her to go to the ground. Once Domino 2 landed, Anne and Sprig got off her as she dashed out of the cage and looked up at the mechanical monstrosity.
"If you think I'm going to let you hurt my baby precious and these moths, then you're in for a world of hurt!" Anne declared as her eyes shined blue. A circlet of lightning formed around her waist, followed by a flash of blue light that summoned the MetamorphRing.
The Thai teen readied to transform, but stopped when she heard Domino 2 roar. She glanced over her shoulder and watched as her faithful moth companion flew out of the cage and stood beside her and roared defiantly at the mecha-monster staring them down.
"Domino 2, no! You need to get Sprig and the others out of here! I'll be fine!" Anne assured.
Domino 2 looked at Anne and shook her head.
"Do…Do you want to fight that thing with me?" she asked.
Domino 2 nodded her head, purred, and then nuzzled Anne's arm.
"Oh, my baby precious. No, you can't. I know you want to protect me, but I'm stronger than you remember. I can take that thing down myself. You need to do your duty as the alpha and get the others to safety."
Domino 2 pulled her head back, and again, shook it in a negative sense. She then used her left paw to touch Anne and then touched herself.
"Are you trying to say…I'm part of your, uh, flock? Pride? Um, your family?"
Domino 2 furrowed her brow and nodded vigorously. She was the alpha, and it was her duty as an alpha to protect her packmates, and her family. And Anne was her family.
"Alright, Domino 2, we'll fight this thing together!"
Domino 2 roared in agreement as she flared her wings.
"Henshin!"
A dome of blue lightning wrapped around Anne's body. The dome expanded until it shattered apart, releasing sparks of electricity that crackled in the air, and revealed Kamen Rider Amp However, something strange occurred. The MetamorphRing's crystal filament started to glow brighter and brighter until it released a huge bolt of lightning that shot out and then arced itself until it struck Domino 2.
"DOMINO 2!" Amp cried out in a panic.
However, despite getting struck with the bolt of lightning, Domino 2 didn't seem to be in pain, if anything, she seemed to be invigorated by the bolt. The lightning stopped streaming out of the Driver, and now fully encased Domino 2. The kill-a-moth was shrouded in a dome of lightning, making it hard to see her. Smaller bolts of lightning started to shoot out from the dome, striking the cage as it literally carved and pulled off pieces of the metal, breaking them down and bringing them into the dome. This continued for a full minute before the dome finally shattered and revealed a new Domino 2.
Her wings were made of pure lightning, but still retained their shape, albeit with sharper, crackling edges. Her body had elongated a few inches, and she was bigger, about a head taller than she used to be. Her legs were now made of crackling lightning but were outfitted with silver armored greaves that bore the symbol of Amp on them. Domino 2's abdomen was now covered in silver metallic plates, there were two sharp plates that extended a few inches out beyond the abdomen, and attached to them were two long electrical tails that had silver spikes at the ends of them. Domino 2's thorax possessed a spot where one could sit to ride the beast, with her mane having turned into a kind of organic, metallic silver material that shimmered in the light of her wings. Domino 2's face, which was originally flat, jutted out a little, giving her a snout, while a metal helmet was fitted over the top portion of her head, with two holes for her ears to fit through, a crest that resembled Amp's, and two sharp slit holes for her eyes. The moth's head looked like a feral, wild cat, and was made of electricity. When she roared this time, it was like hearing thunder and a lion's roar at the same time.
"Whoa…"
"Whoa… Domino 2 got an upgrade," Sprig commented.
Amp walked up to her empowered companion and gently placed her hand against her head. Domino 2 leaned into her head, nuzzling it lovingly.
"A Kamen Rider needs a ride, right?" Amp jumped into the air and floated down onto Domino 2's back, placing herself in the rider's seat. "I think you need a new name when you're like this. You're not really a machine, so I can't name you Machine Stormer 3. So…something else. How about…? Tempest! Like a wild and raging storm!"
Domino 2 roared in acknowledgement of her new form's name.
"Alright then, Tempest, let's ride!"
Amp held onto the grips in front of her as Tempest flared her wings and gave one flap, instantly sending them straight into the air as electricity crackled in their wake. The robot heron released its screech as the wing thrusters ignited and it, too, flew into the air after the moth and Rider. The machine gave chase, but Tempest was much faster than the machine, as every time it looked like it was about to close in on them, Tempest would effortlessly accelerate forward, putting them out of the robot's reach. The robot was getting annoyed as its shoulder pads opened and fired off several salvos of rockets at the moth.
Amp glanced over her shoulder and smirked as she gave a tug to the right, as if she was driving her motorcycle again. Tempest complied with the action, turning around towards the incoming rockets. As they neared them, the electric wings of Tempest began to glow brighter and brighter until they released several bolts of lightning. The lightning chained from one rocket to the other before setting all the rockets off at once and detonating them in the air before them. Tempest bolted forward, blasting through the smoke cloud that was created from the explosions and she closed in on robot heron. The robot monster opened its mouth, but this time, showed a red glowing node in the back of its mouth. That node glowed until it fired a red laser beam at them. Tempest took evasive action, weaving around the column sized beam of red light. But that wasn't the end of it. The robot's arms, legs, wings, and chest had panels that slid open and revealed dozens of similar red nodes.
"Oh, this might hurt," said Amp.
"Meow!"
The robot fired laser beams from all the nodes, which turned out to be omnidirectional laser beams that bent towards Amp and Tempest. Every angle of escape was closed off as the beams surrounded them and started to converge on their location. Within seconds the sky was filled with multiple explosions where Tempest and Amp were before one huge explosion went off. A heavy cloud of smoke filled that spot, making it hard to tell if the heron-bot managed to kill them or not.
Sprig was watching, anxiously, from below. He knew it would take more than that to take Amp down, but the frog child still couldn't help but worry anyway. Thankfully, his faith in the hero was rewarded as the smoke cleared and revealed a dome of lightning that acted as a shield to protect them.
"Okay, Tempest, think you're done having fun with this thing?" Amp questioned.
"RAWR!"
"Then let's take it and head back home!"
Amp's crest fanned out as the lines on her arm began to glow. At the same time, the crest on top of Tempest's helmet fanned out, as she too started to gather energy. The symbol of Amp formed out in front of them as the electrical energy they built up began crackling more violently as they prepared to finish off their opponent. The heron-bot opened its mouth again and fired its super laser from its mouth. Tempest let out another thunder roar as she flew towards the symbol. Once they passed through it, both her and Amp turned into a lightning tornado that streaked through the air. The beam from the robot heron was parted down the middle as the lightning tornado struck the center of the of the heron-bot's chest.
The machine released another screech, as if it were in pain. The rotation and power behind the attack acted as a drill that tore apart the metal, while the electricity it produced started to short circuit the mechanical monster's systems. After five seconds the lightning tornado pierced all the way through the heron-bot's chest, blasting a huge hole through it as they appeared on the other side. The catastrophic damage was too much to bear as the entire robot exploded grandly in the air as the eyes of Amp, and the eyes and wings of Tempest glowed in the shadows cast by the explosion.
"Tempest, you are the most badass moth in all of Amphibia!"
Tempest released another thunder roar in victory, as if to say, "And don't you forget it!"
Back at camp, everyone had fully fallen for the cute little kittens, practically adopting them into the Wartwood family. Especially Hop Pop, who had never really gotten over the passing of their pet tarantula, Charlie Big Bottom, despite his many complaints about their past pet.
"Oh, Lenny Long Bottom, you filled the spider-sized hole in my heart," Hop Pop gushed as he hugged the kitten close.
"No one's ever gonna take these babies away from us," Mrs. Croaker declared.
Wally happened to look up into the sky, and that's when he saw several large shadows heading right for them.
"Oh no, look!" Wally warned as he pointed towards the sky.
Before any of them could run off with the kittens, many kill-a-moths descended on the Wartwood Resistance frogs, completely surrounding the corral. Maddie, Croaker, Ivy, Felicia, Soggy Joe, Grime, Wally, and Sasha all drew their weapons and made ready to fight the huge beasts with everything they had.
"You stay away from them!" Croaker warned as she brandished a morning star.
"You want 'em, you gotta go through us!" Felicia dared.
Everyone went quiet as they saw something else flying in the sky. All of their jaws dropped as they watched a big, armored, electrified kill-a-moth land behind swarm, and let out a thunder roar that made them part for her.
"Uh, Sasha, I think this one's all you," said Maddie.
"Yeah, definitely on it," Sasha stated as she readied to summon her MetamoprhRing Driver.
"Whoa, Sash! Hold up!"
"Wait…did anyone else just hear Anne?" Wally asked.
"Yeah, put your weapons down!"
"And Sprig?" Ivy questioned.
Tempest lowered herself and showed that Amp and Sprig were on the back of the huge kill-a-moth.
"ANNE?! What the heck, Boonchuy?! I thought you said you were going to go and get Domino 2?" Sasha questioned.
"You're looking at her. Everyone, meet my new valiant steed and baby precious, Domino 2. But call her Tempest in this form," Amp announced.
Sprig hopped off Tempest, and once he did, a dome of lightning wrapped around Amp and Tempest at the same time. In a matter of seconds, the dome dispersed, and revealed Anne and Domino 2 in their civilian forms.
"Leave it to Anne to come back with somethin' crazy," said Hop Pop.
"And I have good news. The moths are with us now! Domino 2's an alpha, and they'll follow her commands!"
Sasha looked between Anne, Domino 2, and the many moths that were now around them. She could hardly believe it, but now they had a bunch of huge, fierce kill-a-moths under their command.
"Well, everyone, looks like we just got air cavalry!" Sasha announced. "We are going to rule the land and air in our fight against Andrias!"
"YEAH!" everyone cheered.
Unfortunately, that same orange moth came up behind Sprig and clamped its jaws around his head.
"AAAH! Okay, good! But can we please teach them to not to do this?!"
"Anne!" Hop Pop exclaimed.
"I'm on it. Domino 2."
Domino 2 glared at the moth next to her, and then raised her left paw and bopped it on the head, making it spit out Sprig. The alpha moth let out a yowl and a few meows as if explaining to her kind that they were not to eat the frogs or Anne, or the one other creature that looked like Anne. The kill-a-moths understood her orders, and Domino 2 meowed up at Anne as if to tell her, "We're good."
Anne petted the top of her baby precious's head, as she said, "Thank you, girl. Hey, Sasha, let's see about getting them fed. If we start showing them that we're willing to feed them for working with us, that'll help with taming them."
"Good idea, we'll set them up in the stables."
Anne looked down and smirked.
"Why are you grinning like that?"
"I thought you were more of a dog person?" Anne asked with a knowing, cattish grin.
Sasha looked down at her arms and just remembered that she was still cradling the caterpillar in her arms. Now that Anne looked around, she realized that the others were very close to the kittens now, even Hop Pop.
Can't beat the cuteness.
A/N: The next Chapter will be out soon, it was a bit bigger than I anticipated so, I need to finish editing it. But it will be uploaded soon.