The Domino Effect
"A comfortable chair, a bright sun, and nothing to do all day: this is life!"
"I am surprised HP gave us the day off. I guess he truly wants to make amend."
"Well, Marcy, you were quite distraught when you found out the truth about his "Suggestion" barrel."
"I thought at least he would read them! Who even puts a fire pit under a suggestion box!?"
"Someone uninterested in hearing suggestions. Though, I guess it was more Sprig's suggestions than anyone else's."
"That doesn't excuse him! He made Mar-Mar cry!"
"Come on, Sash. I got better!"
"Still, you shouldn't have got that angry at him. For a minute, I thought you were going to cut him for real."
"That was my intention, Jacob."
"But if you removed Old Pop's head from his body, he wouldn't have been able to give us the day off today. And you could not work on your tan."
"…point."
"Plus, HP now is quite interested in any suggestion Marbles makes," the boy smirked. "That means less work and fatigue, every day!"
"That does remind me," Amelia intervened, looking up from her phone, "What are you writing, Mar-"
"Amelì?"
"Who is that?" the wannabe samurai asked, noticing her drawings.
"Friends, meet Marcy Newt, my newtsona! Amphibian ranger and part-time mage, who aims to explore Amphibia and discover its secrets!"
"Marcy, you seriously draw yourself as a newt? That must be the dorkiest thing you ever did."
"I don't know, Sash. Marcy Newt looks kinda cool and cute; of course, not as the real one…"
"Amelia, please, you're making me blush!"
"And the crossbow arm? Quite epic! Just…why did you choose a newt?"
"Because…she's got friends." Marcy smirked, showing off some more drawings she did, "Behold, the Friends-fellowship of Amphibia!"
"Mar-Mar, seriously, I'm a toad? Why you couldn't draw me like a newt too?" Sasha protested, noticing the drawing of her.
"Well, I already draw James as a newt; plus, toads are strong and powerful-"
"And fat! I'm not that fat!"
"No?"
"What do you mean, Jacob?"
"Hey guys!" a voice called, and the kids saw Anne, James, and Sprig walking to them, "How are you doing here?"
"Anne, check this! Marcy drew all of us in Amphibian roles: Sash and I are toads, James and Marcy are newts, while you and Amelia are frogs!"
"Really?"
"Yup, here's yours!"
Anne took the paper and looked at it. Sure, she still got her characteristic hair and clothes, but she was now a light blue-skinned frog with a friendly expression "Aww, is that me?"
"Anne, you look like my sister."
"You and Anne act so well now, Sprig. I wanted to make you brother and sister for real!" Marcy chuckled, "I think it may be even better than the fursonas I made."
"The one where you drew me like Domino?"
"Yep. You and Domino were fur-sisters."
"Hey bro!" James looked at Jacob, "Anne, Sprig, and I were going to try a local game: interested?"
"Sorry, not today!" the boy laughed, "Hop Pop gave us the day off, and I plan to enjoy it to the fullest!"
"Same here. I got a day full of nothing to do, and a tan to work on."
"Interesting. Can I join?"
"Amelia? You're interested, For real?"
"Yup!" The girl smiled under her Vietnamese hat, "Plus, it's a good chance to work out on my muscles and become a better fighter!"
"Then, why you simply didn't ask me for some training?"
"I'm not going to challenge you unless I'm 100% sure to win, Anne!" She poked her tongue out, making a face "And I plan to do that without facing your Muay Thai first."
"You realize you're going to lose, then?"
"A samurai never loses" Amelia emphasized.
Anne grinned. Something inside of her wanted so badly to give this little brat a lesson.
"Want to follow us?"
The four of them (Sprig, Anne, James, and Amelia) were now a bit far from the farm, in a small opening among the trees with bubbling mud pits and a little mound.
"Ok, girls," James announced. "Are the rules clear to you?"
"Yup!"
"Yeah!"
"Ok. Sprig, ready to start?"
"Affirmative, James!" the frog replied, pushing a large watermelon gourd.
"Anne?"
She held a large makeshift scythe, built by them with a wood log and some pieces of one of the giant mantis they faced days before, "Hey, batter, batter, batter!"
"I'll catch it! I'll catch it!" Amelia murmured, playing the catcher.
Sprig raised the gourd, grumbling a little under its weight, before throwing it.
Anne saw it, and moved the scythe to hit the gourd, but missed and lost the grip on her impromptu bat. At the same time, the gourd landed on Amelia, breaking in slices and covering the girl's face with its pulp.
"Ah, whiffed it." But she gasped, realizing the issue, "Sprig!"
"Huh? Ah!" the frog lowered himself just in time to avoid the scythe, which flew all over him and into the woods. A narrow escape, as anyone could see, when the frog's hat ripped in two.
"Let's do it again?"
"Yeah-uh! Wait, you have hair?"
"I suggest we try to use something different from a gourd!" Amelia called, trying to remove the residue from her face. "Still, I must admit it tastes good."
"I also strongly advise you to reconsider using the scythe as a baseball bat" James intervened. "We have some sturdy logs that could work better, in my opinion."
"And now we also have to retrieve the scythe. Did anyone see where it went?"
"I'll go check. Sprig, I'm sorry about your hat," Anne said as she looked behind the shrubs, and saw the scythe stuck in a tree, "Oh, there it is." She moved to recover it, but as soon as she grabbed it, she heard a meowing from afar.
"Hey, you found-"
"Shh."
"Anne, what are you-?"
"Shh." She repeated, "Didn't you hear anything?"
"Like what?"
Then, another meowing echoed. This time, they all heard it.
"Something's in trouble!" Anne gasped, running in the direction of the sound.
"Wait, Anne!" James exclaimed, grabbing the scythe.
"Don't rush like that!"
The group followed Anne as she ran until they arrived in another clearing, similar to the first. Here, three giant wasps were towering and attacking a smaller creature, of black color, trapped in a pit of mud.
"Oh, bollocks!"
"We have to save her!"
"Right beyond you, Anne!"
"Zattenayo!"
Anne rushed to the pit and grabbed the small creature, thus making the wasps attack her as well. However, Amelia was at her side and unleashed her katana, hitting the wasps and blocking their lunges, while Sprig started to hit them with his slingshot.
"Take that, buzz brains! Go stung someone your own size!"
The wasps, under the attack of Sprig's slingshot, were unable to focus and thus notice James as he rushed forward, hitting them with the scythe, forcing them to a hasty retreat.
"Run, you cowards!"
"You've been defeated by Amelia, the Westerner Samurai!"
"Anne!" James turned to her, her voice full of worry-derived anger. "Acting like that was moronic, you know? Rushing into such a situation without-"
He stopped however, as he noticed Anne was not reacting to his words; instead, she was looking at the small critter she had just rescued, with big eyes, and a gleaming Marcy-like expression on her face.
"Anne?"
"You okay, Boonchuy?"
"What's wrong? Are you stung? We'll have to amputate."
"No! Guys, can you believe it? This caterpillar looks exactly like my cat Domino from back home!"
She passed her phone, showing a photo of her cat. As James and Amelia glanced between the photo and the caterpillar in her arms, they did notice it was quite similar indeed.
"An uncanny resemblance."
"I love my cat more than anything in the world. She was irreplaceable. But now, I found a replacement!"
"I do believe there is some faulty logic in this sentence."
"Let's take her home with us!"
"What?"
"I don't know, Anne. This's a wild animal. I'm not sure bringing it home is a good idea."
"I agree!" Amelia intervened, "I was with you into rescuing it, but bringing it home? This is not your cat, Anne. This is a caterpillar, from a world of giant carnivorous bugs, where everything is trying to kill you! We should simply let it go and forget."
"No, I'm not leaving her! Plus, my cat back home was a stray before my family and I adopted her. All it takes is love and patience and… love."
"You said "love" twice."
Anne lowered the caterpillar to Sprig's face, so they could see each other in the eyes, and the caterpillar licked Sprig.
"Sold!"
"I'm not!"
"Come on, Amelia!"
"No, Anne! I understand you miss your cat, but simply taking this home just because they look alike, it's not a good idea! We don't even know what kind of species it belongs to!"
"Plus," James intervened, putting himself between the two girls, "Before you take such a decision, I believe we should talk about it with the others. Don't you agree?"
"Oh, right. The others!" Anne brightened up, "Come on, Domino II! Let's go home, so you can meet my friends."
"Oh, frog. You named her."
"Anne, I don't like to curb your enthusiasm, but are you sure the others will agree? I mean, what if they refuse?"
"Don't worry, James. I know my friends! Marcy would love her and I am familiar with Sasha! She will never say no to such a cutie."
"Absolutely no, Anne! Have you lost your mind?"
"Sasha, please!"
"Anne, I never thought I'd say this in my whole life, but I must agree with both Sasha and my cousin. We do not know what kind of creature she is, and it comes from a world where even the most inoffensive-looking creatures are dangerous predators! Sure, I'm not saying you shouldn't have saved her, but maybe you should have simply left it to her device."
"But look how cute she is! Oh, come here, you little fluffy caterpillar- Huh? You're exactly like Anna Banana's original Domino."
"Marcy, please! You can't start treating it before we take a final decision."
"But she is cute, and fluffy, and looks harmless, and–"
"– and we are now in a world where even tomato plants can eat you if you give them a chance! Boonchuy, my answer doesn't change: we can't take it."
Sprig looked around and noticed that the humans were currently dividing into two sides: on one front, Anne was determined to take Domino II home (no matter what risk Sasha or Jacob could try to evoke), Marcy fully supported her intentions while James (even with some worry) was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. On the other, Sasha insisted that it was too dangerous, and that they should release it into the wild, with Jacob and Amelia supporting her logic.
"I promise you that I'll take good care of her. It will not be dangerous at all!"
"Boonchuy-"
"Plus, you do not need to actually help me take care of her. You just need to accept her, and let me handle the rest."
"Boonchuy-"
"Please, Sash!" Marcy intervened, looking at her friend. "Anne misses her cat so much, why can't we let her at least have a replacement while we are stuck here? Please…" she said, with large puppy eyes.
Sasha looked aside, grumbling, before replying, "Fine! You can keep her!"
"Yay!"
"But! If we ever find out to be part of a dangerous species, I will throw her out myself. And you can only count on my silence; don't expect me to take care of her!"
"Don't worry, Sasha. It wouldn't be different from taking care of the original Domino, no?"
"That's the point, Marbles! You remember the last time Anne left me alone with her cat?"
"Aww, who's my precious middle bwaby-wabby?"
"Anne!" an older female voice came from the stair, "Help me bring the groceries inside!"
"Coming mom!" the girl replied, looking at Sasha watching her phone on the bed.
"Ok Sash, I'll be right back. Just take care of Domino until I return"
Sasha looked at the cat, trying to come up with something to say.
"Huh, good kitty?"
(…)
"I'm back-"
"Anne!" Sasha said, her face and arms covered with scratches, her hair a mess, while Domino jumped back in her owner's arms, "Never leave me alone with that beast ever again!"
"Plus, if you do remember, I'm more of a dog person. I'm definitely not good at dealing with cats, even as cat-like caterpillar bugs."
"Come on Sash, there is no way Domino-"
"Boonchuy," Sasha said, her eyes full of post-traumatic stress (due to the recent flashback). "Please, stop saying her name around me."
"Anne, what the heck happened between Sasha and your cat?" the Viking-hat boy asked, while Sasha walked into the house with a dreadful look.
"I have no idea. And yet, since then, she refuses to stay at my home."
"I actually wondered why Sash always insisted on doing sleepovers at her house or mine."
"Marbles, please," James replied.
"So," Anne asked, looking at both cousins. "Do you think I can keep her? Please?"
"If Sasha accepted it, fine." Jacob murmured while trying to hide his irritation, "Anyway, I suggest we keep an eye on it and try to identify what kind of creature she is."
"I can do it!" Marcy said, "I'll stay with Anne and monitor Domino II's behavior as she grows. It will be cute and interesting: Cutesting combo!"
"Maybe I can help with that," James added. "Hop Pop has many books about Amphibia's wildlife. By checking them, we may find out what kind of creature Domino II is. And what to expect from her."
"Then I guess I'm helping you" Jacob high-fived him, "Three heads are better than two, no?"
"Huh, guys?" Sprig called them, with a worried expression, "Should we be concerned about this?"
He lifted his leg, showing that Domino II was nibbling on it.
"That is called "play biting." Isn't it cute?"
"Yeah, kinda seems like she's tasting me."
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"I don't know, Anne. She's giving me this impression too."
"Come on, Jacob. Why don't you trust me? I know cats."
"Precisely: cats. But Domino II isn't a cat, it's a caterpillar."
"But that still has the word cat in it, right?"
Marcy moved to Sprig, grabbed Domino II, and with care removed her from Sprig's leg. Domino II, as soon as her mouth was free, started to meow with hungriness.
"Interesting," Marcy said, as she examined Domino II's mouth. "She has sharpened teeth, suggesting a predatory diet. I guess this little fellow is a carnivore."
"Knew it!"
"Amelia, don't!" James grabbed her katana before she could unleash it, "Even cats from our world are carnivorous. Plus, the fact that she was biting Sprig doesn't automatically mean it's a risk for frogs."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Hey, we are living proof of that. Human kids use to bite everything they can to check if it's edible or not."
"They do?" Sprig asked with amazement.
"Sup. Even my mom used to tell me that when I was younger, I had quite peculiar mandibles-"
"Honey, have you seen the TV remote? I put it here a few moments ago, and now I lost it."
"I don't know. Are you sure you didn't drop- James Tyler Blueingham, stop right there! Don't bite it!"
(…)
"Mom, why this table's leg is so ruined?"
"Well, James, let's say that we used to have a very…mandible-able pet in our house."
"Cool! Was it a dog, a cat, a lizard?"
"No, just something much cuter and more stressful to watch over."
(…)
"James, it's time for your dental appointment."
"But Mom!" protested the child, with little desire to go out, "Why do I have to go today?"
"Because going to the dentist is essential to take care of your teeth. Considering the use you make of them -"
"Are you referring to the toy bulldozer? Because I can assure you - "
"I'm referring to the apple you got in the living room. How could you ever think of biting it?"
"It had a bad taste, but I don't understand why-"
"James, it was a fake apple made of wax!"
"Of course, if anybody asks you about it, the story of Mrs. Pleidf's wooden table is nowhere close to the truth."
"Anyway, we should try to keep it feed. Is there something we can feed to her? While we try to figure out what kind of creature she is?"
"How about some of Hop Pop's classic cuisine?"
"You're not going to feed Domino II with that grub!"
"Anne, it was only a suggestion. Do you have a better idea?"
"Well, HP uses many raw bugs for his recipes. I can get enough to properly feed her day to day."
"Of course, you do realize that's assuming HP agrees that you can keep her? We may laugh at him, but he is still the householder, and we are the hosts. How can we bring her inside if he disagrees?"
"Don't worry about that. I have a proven technique to get his permission."
In the farm's kitchen, Hop Pop was busy chopping off some large worms for lunch, unaware of the events folding around him.
"Hey, Hop Pop, old buddy, old pal."
"Good day, Mr. Plantar. Is everything ok? How are you?"
"Anne, Marcy, what do you want?" the old frog replied. He lived long enough to recognize that if the two girls wanted to talk, it wasn't a selfless thing.
"Oh, nothing'." Anne immediately replied, "I was just thinking. Doesn't this house feel empty to you?"
Hop Pop had to stop himself from snorting. With six humans to watch out for and take care of, his house felt everything but empty.
"Not especially."
"You see, Marcy and I had an idea. Wouldn't it be nice to have a sweet, fuzzy, loving critter around?"
"Yeah, something cute and lovable, to make your day feel less heavy and more heartfelt?"
"A fuzzy critter- you mean a pet?" Hop Pop asked, looking at both.
"Great idea, Hop Pop!"
"Oh no, no, no, no pets in this house! Not again! At least once a month, Sprig and Polly ask me for one, and every time we get one, they promise and swear they are going to take care of it themselves! Like this one spider we had, Charlie Bigbottom!"
Anne instinctively took a step back, while Marcy's face twisted into a worried look. From Hop Pop's words and emotions, they realized that the Plantars' previous experience with pets wasn't positive, and left a standing impression on the old frog, as he continued to rant and monologue.
"I mean, sure, they were there every time they wanted to cuddle him, snuggle him and give him raw treats from their dishes, but whenever it needed proper care, or to be taken outside, or he got in another mess, who gets stuck doing all the work to watch over him and take care of him? Good ol' Hop Pop, that's who! I swear to Frog, whoever brings another fuzzy critter into this house, will be on dung duty for a month! Each!"
Anne realized there was no way to convince Hop Pop if they brought the argument forward, so they decided to get to Plan B. Silently, she looked at Marcy and asked to keep Hop Pop occupied while she walked back to the door. James was already holding Domino II in his arms, and the two tried to sneak her to the basement without Hop Pop noticing her.
"–And how many times did I tell Charlie Bigbottom not to go up the chimney? And that little spider would look at me with those big green eyes like he understood me. Two minutes later, where do I find him? Up the chimney!"
"I'm curious, Mister Plantar" Marcy asked, making a sign to the other to move, "So, in this world, spiders can be taken as domestic pets?"
"Spider can be used as much more than domestic pets, kiddo. In some of the largest cities, outside the Valley, they use them as transportation vehicles. They are fast and expensive and everyone who sees you on one of them thinks "wow, this guy sure is rich and cool to have a Spider" but they cost so much and have much less autonomy than snails. I'd never buy one, even if I didn't have Bessie already!"
"Interesting!" Marcy said, unable to resist adding more notes to her journal "And besides-"
However, Domino II, whom Anne and James were sneaking inside, cut the conversation short by sneezing suddenly, alerting the old frog of her presence.
"What's that?"
"Huh, it was me, sorry Hop Pop!" Marcy hurried to say, "Anyway, you said spiders are used as both vehicles and pets. Is there someone in Wartwood who currently has a pet spider?"
"Oh, yeah, you should ask Mrs. Croaker. She has one of those things, and calls him "Archie". I still cannot grasp how she managed to tame it or make it behave. Sure, Charlie Bigbottom was as cute as Archie, but Archie is still better educated than Charlie Bigbottom ever was! And he drove me crazy with all the messes he made: Jumpin' out in front of Bessie and overturnin' the wagon. Gettin' tarantula hair everywhere. Then there was the time he put a hole in the roof!"
"A hole in the roof?" Marcy asked, "I never saw it."
"What do you mean? The big hole right there."
"I don't see it."
"Right-It's right there!"
Thuck!
"One hundred and thirty-five!"
Thuck!
"One hundred and thirty-six!"
Thuck!
"One hundred and thirty-!"
"Amelia?"
"Augh!" the girl screamed out of surprise, almost losing the grasp on her axe. "Polly! What are you doing?"
"I saw you here all alone, chopping wood with no pause, even though there is no need for firewood yet" the polliwog mocked her. "Either you like doing useless work, or you are just looking for an excuse to vent some anger."
"It's not anger, it's frustration!" Amelia replied, instinctively defending her actions, "Since Anne's got the idea of taking a wild caterpillar as a pet-"
"A pet?" Polly exclaimed with eyes full of glee, "We have a new Charlie Bigbottom? He was so cute and fluffy and fuzzy and-"
"Polly." Amelia looked at her, "First, is not a pet but a stray wild animal that Anne brought without taking into account any risk; second, it's a caterpillar, and she took it just because it looked like her cat from home; and third, who is Charlie Bigbottom?"
"That was the name of our pet spider we used to have. Hop Pop did not like him, but Sprig and I loved that fuzzy furball. Every time I ordered him to do something, he did! Hop Pop still thinks it was his own doing that he kept getting up the chimney."
"But you didn't take it from the forest. It was a trained pet from the beginning, wasn't it?"
"Of course. We bought him at the market-"
"The problem is that Anne's caterpillar is not a trained pet!" Amelia let out some of her pent-up frustration, "It's a wild creature that's used to live out into the forest, and whose behavior is decided by its instinct. You can't simply take it to the basement and hope everything will be ok! I know that from direct experience!" She pouted.
"Wait – the basement? The new pet is there?"
"Huh, yeah? I mean, unless Anne suddenly come to her sense, which I doubt could happen-"
"Can bring me to see it?"
Amelia stopped for a second and looked at the small polliwog with a puzzled look in her eyes, as she noticed her smile bordering between "glee" and "insanity". She could feel every bone and piece of her guts screaming to her it wasn't a good idea.
"Why are you so much interested in it?" The girl replied, hoping to gain more info playing on the defensive.
"Because- new pet! I want to see it! And if I can train it, as I did with Charlie Bigbottom-"
"Sorry Polly, no!" Amelia turned her back on the troublesome Plantar, "Besides, I'm still in the middle of my self-training and I do not want to interrupt it just to carry you see some stray caterpillar."
"You know, you shouldn't be so hasty." Polly replied, her smirk turning evil, "Did you forget that Hop Pop is still the house owner, right? And as one of his dearest grandchildren, I could tell him of something that he wouldn't approve, happening under his nose-"
"Free to try, go ahead!" Amelia laughed with disinterest, "Even if Hop Pop has a strict "No Pets" rule, I'm not touched by it. Anne and Marcy would be willing to listen, but that doesn't work with me!"
"I wasn't talking about the new pet. I was talking about Hop Po's favorite toothbrush- and what you did with it."
Amelia stopped cold, her blood freezing and sweat running down her forehead. As she turned around, Polly smirked.
How could she know?
"Huh, what are you talking Polly? I can assure you-"
"When the new meets the old it always ends the ancient way," Polly started to sing the words she learned from her, the same song Amelia loved to sing alone. "And as history told the old ways go out in a blaze-"
"You wouldn't dare!" Amelia yelled, grabbing Polly and moving her at her eyes level "Polly, you realize that if you tell this to Hop Pop, I'll be kicked out of home for real? Then Jacob will mock me to the end of the times!"
"I would." Polly simply replied, her tone of voice devoid of any hint of joking. She had the upper hand, and knew it.
Amelia grimaced, before conceding "Fine. What do you want from me, in exchange of your silence?"
"Just bring me to see the new pet!"
"Psh psh psh" Anne said, holding Domino II with newfound happiness, "Who's mama's little girl, huh?"
"Please!" Sasha said, focusing on her magazines and trying to ignore her friend's spoiling of the new unofficial pet.
"Sash, don't get angry. Domino II is sweet and nice, just like the original!"
"Sorry Mar-Mar, but until you find out what kind of creature she is, I don't want to stay too close."
"I am looking," the group's titular nerd replied, tapping the large book she managed to borrow from Hop Pop before joining them, "Yet, Amphibia is apparently so species-filled that it will take a while to check them all. Would you believe this is just the first volume of all the books about indigenous species Hop Pop owns?"
"How many more he's got?"
"Sixteen." Marcy replied, "This is a precious occasion to add new materials and info for my journal, but it also means we'll have to search slowly. Don't you agree, James?"
"Indeed, Mar-Mar," the boy snorted. "Now I feel like I'm back at exam season!"
"Come on guys," Sasha looked at their "intellectual duo" "There must be one book that allows us to understand how much this thing is dangerous!"
"Tell us which one" James replied, "And we'll do this way faster!"
"Sasha, Domino II is not dangerous" Anne replied, still nurturing the small caterpillar with love and happiness, "She's just a cutie!"
The little caterpillar meowed down, making Marcy grab her journal and take additional notes.
"Oh, it's so interesting. And cute. And cutesting!"
"Is that even a real word?" Sasha protested.
"Hey guys!" a voice came down from the ladder and the humans noticed Amelia, carrying Polly, walking inside "Where is the new pet?"
"Polly? Amelia, you told her?"
"Actually, she blackmailed me in order to bring her to see it," the girl replied. "Where's Jacob?"
"He went outside, to listen to his music." Sasha replied, with nonchalance "Maybe I should follow him up there."
"Is this the new house pet?" Polly asked, noticing the caterpillar in Anne's hands.
"Yup. Her name is Domino II because she's the splitting image of Domino, my cat from Earth. Come on Domino II, meet Polly!"
Anne moved Domino II right in front of Polly, thus allowing the caterpillar to lick the pollywog.
"Hey!" the little frog-to-be protested, "Charlie Bigbottom never did that!"
"Charlie Bigbottom, the household spider you used to have?" Marcy asked, stopping herself from drawing yet another doodle of the little caterpillar in Anne's hands. "Do you remember it? Hop Pop told us that he used to be a real troublemaker."
"Well, he-"
"He wasn't," Amelia replied, taking the chance to avenge herself. "It was her who kept making the pet spider act as he did."
"Polly?" Anne, James, and Marcy said at the same time.
"Amelia, you weren't supposed to tell anyone."
"Then I guess Hop Pop would not be very keen on finding this out, huh?"
The two started to quarrel, trying to figure out whose of the duo held blackmail advantage over the other, and James rushed to play peacekeeper, leaving the three old-time friends to their own devices.
"Anyway, Marbles," Sasha asked "From what you and Anne were able to figure out so far, what do we know about…Domino II?"
"For now?" Marcy replied, reading her notes once more, "We have learned that Domino II is a small carnivore, with a behavior very similar to Earth's cats. We also learned that we can keep her fed with small bugs or raw pieces from Hop Pop' kitchen and that she reacts to the toys Anne made for the original Domino-"
"What about her teeth and claws?"
"She does have retractable claws in her upper arts, but they are small and cannot give us anything more than a couple of scratches. I guess the only creatures she can be hurt are small insects."
"Also, she likes the Plantars," Anne said, noticing how Domino II was looking at Polly. "Thus, what is the worst thing that could happen?"
The next morning, as some rooster-flies craw, announcing the beginning of another day, Sasha yawned, feeling herself walking up.
"Still here." She grumbled as she started to move, before realizing something was different from last night.
Namely, she was enveloped in a soft cocoon of something sticky and hard to break.
"What the-" the girl said, moving her legs instinctively to break free. It was difficult at first, but after some kicking and pushing, she managed to rip a large chunk of the thing that was imprisoning her. Once Sasha was able to see it more clearly, she managed to realize that it was something that looked similar to a spider's web.
"Oh frog, I think I'm gonna barf!" The blonde girl replied, freeing her legs, moving up to the closest light- mushroom and activating it.
The scene that appeared before her eyes looked a lot like a science-fiction horror movie. The room was covered in webs, with some other large cocoons surrounding the "provisory beds" of Marcy, Anne, and the others.
"Oh no!" Sasha yelled, rushing to Marcy's place and hurrying to remove the webs "Mar-Mar, you hear me?"
"What's up, Sash?" said the Taiwanese-American girl with a sleepy voice "Did something- whoa!"
"What the frog has happened, Marbles? Don't tell me that the little furry…"
"Domino II wasn't trying to do anything bad, Sash!" Her reply came immediately. "You see, last night, while you were sleeping, Domino II had … a bumpy phase adapting to her first night indoors."
"A bumpy phase? She enveloped all of us in cocoons!"
"Don't worry, Sash. From what I was able to discern and note in my journal, the cocoons are just her way to express her desire to protect us from any harm."
"Any harm? Do you realize that-"
"Whoa, girl, what's happening?" Jacob's voice arose from his cocooned bed "If the bed bugs have returned – wholly molly, have we been kidnapped by giant spiders?"
"I do believe I have already seen this exact scene in some horror movies!" James nodded, "I do guess our new little critter still needs to learn how to properly behave?"
"Guys, guys!" Anne intervened, yawning as she removed her covers, her hair messy and covering her eyes, Domino II peacefully sleeping on her stomach "Everything's alright: Domino 2 just had a bit of a rough first night and she wouldn't get to sleep. Don't worry; I managed to calm her down."
"Anne. this cannot go further. Look around!" Sasha moved her arms, indicating the whole basement in a mess "Hop Pop is surely going to notice this!"
"Keep calm Sash. It's normal for a recently-adopted critter to make a mess on its first day in a new home. I'll just keep an eye on her while she adjusts to her new life."
"Wait a second, where's Amelia?" Jacob looked around, noticing that Amelia's bed was empty. Judging by the loose webs covering on it, Amelia had not slept on it since yesterday at least.
"Up here, you troublemaker," the Japan-obsessed girl peeked from above. "I expected something like this to happen, so yesterday I resumed the hammock and slept outside. Advantages of having mosquitos-repellent bitter blood type."
"Anne, you ok?" Sprig leaned from behind Amelia "What happened in here?"
"Like I said already, Sprig" Anne moved to sit down on her bed, gently patting the still-sleeping Domino II and moving her to her legs "She just needs to adapt and learn how to live indoors."
It was then that Sasha and Jacob noticed that Anne had visible scratches and cuts on her left side and back, and her school uniform was damaged.
"Anne, what happened to your face?"
"As I said, just needed- to calm her down."
"Well, we now know that Domino II, whatever it is, can scratch us just like common cats do," sentenced Jacob. "I just hope the similarities will stop before I get allergic."
"Jacob, you are allergic to cat fur?" Sasha asked, as Amelia and Sprig moved down and toward Anne.
"I don't know, I never had a cat at home before."
"Believe me girls, in a couple of days everything will be settled. We just have to keep an eye on her while she's adjusting to her new more comfy pet life. Isn't that right, Domino 2?"
The caterpillar meowed again, as Anne grabbed the toy mice from under her pillow and moved it before her. However, her eyes soon moved from the toy and focused on Sprig, drooling slightly.
"Ah, I don't know why," the frog admitted, "But she scares me every time she does that."
"Even I felt that. And I'm a human!" Amelia nodded "Anne, are you sure about her? I still feel uneasy every time she is around Sprig or Polly. Maybe, we should reconsider the idea of releasing it into the wild-"
"No way!" Anne shouted, ready to defend her new pet, "Domino II is not some large bug who eats frogs!"
Almost as a response, the small cat-like caterpillar sprouted another web, hitting Sprig in the face.
"Hey!"
"That's just how she says, "I love you." Anne looked at Domino II, kissing her, while Amelia helped Sprig to get free.
"Anyway," Sasha interrupted the scene, "You have any idea of how to keep her a secret from old Pop? We cannot stay here all the time, remember? Today we have to -"
"Girls, guys!" Hop Pop's voice called down from above. "Get ready: it's farming time!"
"-return to those tiring, bothersome, ungrateful jobs on the fields." The blonde girl concluded with disgust.
Now taking care of a pet is not a simple matter, especially if it's an animal belonging to an unfamiliar species (albeit one with traits and behaviors familiar in terrestrial felines) and which you ultimately know nothing about. The matter then became even more complicated if the house owner is against the idea of a pet and you have to keep it hidden to avoid reprimands (at best) or being forced to abandon it.
The long shift schedule on the farm actually seemed to make it impossible for at least one of the humans to remain free to keep an eye on Domino II. However, Anne and Marcy, with the silent cooperation of James, the tacit disinterest of Sasha, and the "sympathetic" neutralism of Jacob (who, as a born rebel, could not help but feel empathy for those who violated rules) had managed to create a strategy to make sure that Domino II would never be alone for too long.
During the day, whenever a large basket full of vegetables needed to be moved, Anne volunteered and taking a long ride, took advantage of the basement's secondary entrance to go check on Domino II and make sure she was still inside. Three times the little cat-like caterpillar had tried to get out, and every time Anne made sure to bring her back to safety.
Marcy, for her part, devised a small tool to make sure Domino II had no reason to escape. In a small box, attached to a bell, had been stowed several raw insect pieces and other morsels, which Domino II could open whenever he pulled the cat-like bell. The idea was simple: if Domino II remained sated and had no need to look for food on her own, she would not need to move away.
Even when Domino II did go out on her own, James would act to prevent Hop Pop from noticing her, and to do so he managed to get assigned to a slow and detailed job, which Hop Pop constantly came to check on. In this way, the more time the old frog spent checking the boy's work, the less chance he had of noticing Domino II if she wandered around the house. Finally, Polly and Sprig acted as sentries outside and inside, and with a couple of code words, would inform Anne if Domino II was outside her hiding place.
It was a good strategy, even if it came close to being discovered several times (for example, when Domino II secretly stole Hop Pop's sandwich). Still, by noon, there was so little work left that Anne was able to go back to taking care of her new pet, while James and Marcy resumed their book research and Sasha went to lie down on her own bed again.
Only one of the humans, at the time, had not yet accepted Domino II (although Sasha and Jacob's feeling could be described as apathetic neutrality) and the animal's continued presence in the house, combined with a feeling she herself could not easily understand, caused an ebb of emotion in her.
(…)
"Amelia?"
"What's the matter, Jacob?"
"You ok?"
"Why that matters to you?"
"It matter because I can see you feel uneasy, even nervous since Anne brought Domino II home."
"I'll ask again: does it matter to you?"
Jacob took a step back, "And what that is supposed to mean?"
"You don't get it? It's something that bothers me alone, so why should you worry? You should just go back to compete the leader role with Sasha and-"
Amelia stopped to talk, however, as she felt Jacob's hands grab her, and looked at her face.
"Now you listen to me Amelia!" the boy said, his voice devoid of any smug or amused hint, "It's true; I don't like you. Mostly, I hate the fact that you kept watching me and reporting everything I do to my mom. Or acting as her daughter even if you're just her niece, my cousin. I don't like that you keep playing this samurai nonsense and putting me in dire straits with the girls. And yet, we are family. True, I hate you, but that only proves I see you as an obnoxious sister, not as a distant cousin. And when I look at you right now, I notice there's worry in your eyes."
"And-"
"I care because that's what families do! I care because under all this reciprocal disdain and hate for each other, I care about you! I care because we are family! And no matter how much I dislike that everything you know about Japan and China comes from online videos; if there is something hurting you, I need to know!"
Amelia looked at him. She hated the fact that Jacob played the better person than her, as she considered it her role. To be the smooth and tempered one, looking out for their most boisterous and emotive relative and playing the role of "conscience". Yet, there was something irking her in such words, as well as, if she refused to talk, he would probably call her a baby and think she was not mature enough.
Fine, he wants to know? Let him.
"Jacob, would you believe that I know that what Anne's trying to do can't possibly work? By personal experience?"
"Personal experience?"
"It happened a long time ago, before my parents got…separated, and I had to move with auntie and you," the girl looked at him. "I saw a movie where the female lead finds a lonely wounded animal in the forest, and she nurtures him back to health, and they become friends."
"Was it a Disney movie?"
"Nope, a Japanese anime."
"Point."
"Anyway, after I saw that movie, I found a small animal in the house's backyard. Sure, it looked dirty and starving, and it almost bit me the first time I tried to approach it. But it looked cute, so I gave him some food and tried to adopt it as a pet."
"Was it a stray cat?"
"I thought so." she confessed, "Sure, it did a lot of mess, but my parents were always outside, never returned home so I - I found only later that it wasn't a cat."
"What it was? A huge rat?"
"No, it was a raccoon. And after it bit me, I got sick!"
"You got sick?" Jacob exclaimed, his voice now full of worry, "What happened?"
"Nothing that should matter now. My parents found out, we had a rush to the hospital, and I got out by the end. But I felt very bad, and I didn't want you to laugh at me for the rest of your life."
"As someone who had an idea of what kind of sickness being bit by a stray animals could give you, I'd never laugh at something like that," he admitted. "And if I can make you feel better, I can promise to not tell anyone." At least, anyone in Amphibia.
Amelia looked at him, "Pinkie Promise?"
"Huh, yeah? Pinkie Promise!"
"You know what happens when you break a Pinkie Promise?"
"…I'll make sure to uphold my promise," Jacob replied, unnerved, as he started to grasp what he got himself into.
"So, now you know why I am wary about taking a wild animal as a pet. Plus, I'm still getting bad vibes out of Domino II."
"What do you mean?"
"She tried to eat Polly, before. Twice."
"What."
"Huh-uh. She lowered from the ceiling on Polly, like a spider, and tried to bite her. If it wasn't for me, she could have hurt Polly, or worse."
"And why you didn't –"
"Anne is totally smitten by her, and so is Marcy! I didn't want to be the party pooper for everyone: that's Sasha's role!"
Jacob listened in silence, before replying, "Let's go back to the farm."
"Jacob?"
"I've got a bad feeling. Let's go back and check if Marcy and James managed to find what kind of creature Domino II is. Especially if it's harmless or not!"
"Let's hope she is, and that whatever species she belongs to, is not deceitful as that rabid, ungrateful raccoon that made me sick in a bed for half a month!"
"Nothing!" James murmured, taking his eyes off the book to make them rest a bit, "How are you doing, Marcy?"
"So far I have gone through one hundred and fifty-three chapters of Amphibia's encyclopedia of species with as many animal descriptions and sketches," admitted the black-haired girl, "and I have copied them all into my journal. However, I haven't yet found what kind of species Domino II might be."
"Same. I must admit, I am relieved of this. If it's not among the dangerous creatures, perhaps this means it is a harmless creature?"
"I hope so!" said Marcy resuming her notes on the new pet, "Domino II is such a cutesting creature! I really hope Hop Pop, someday-"
"What's going on?" came a voice they both recognized. Immediately, Marcy hid her own journal, and they both smiled as Hop Pop entered the room.
"Did you guys see-hey, why are you so focused on books today?"
"Here, we-"
"We were trying to study all the most dangerous creatures in this world, Mr. Plantar," Marcy said, sporting one of her neutral smiles of understatement, "We thought that given the number of dangerous insects out there, it might be a good idea to know what we're likely to face."
"Huh, yeah! I mean, better to know than risk meeting some unknown dangerous creature, no?"
"You kid sure are a revelation!" Hop Pop laughed unnoticing James's nervous smirk, "I did try to push Sprig and Polly to learn all the possible dangers by heart, but they never did!"
"I'm sure they can be both responsible enough for – hey, James looks! Are these the giant wasps from before?!"
"Giant wasps?" Hop Pop asked, "Did you meet them before?"
"Kind of. While we were playing, yesterday, we somehow meet up with a group of them," he said, carefully avoiding mentioning Domino II's presence. "They attacked us, but we managed to fend them off."
"That's strange" Hop Pop murmured with a thoughtful look. "Sure, wasps may look big and scary, but they're not mindless creatures like the others. They would never endanger themselves unless something endanger them or their nest."
"But- don't wasps attack harmless caterpillars?" James asked. "We heard about three large wasps attacking a small caterpillar, some days ago."
"That's impossible!" Hop Pop laughed, "Three wasps attacking one defenseless caterpillar? That is a waste of time and effort for such meager prey! Unless, that caterpillar turns out to be something worse than many other Amphibian creatures, of course."
That put Marcy and Jacob on alert.
"Can you, huh, give us an example, Mr. Plantar?"
"Sure thing, Marbles. Check page 365, the Kill-A-Moths. They are nasty, ravenous beasts I hope I never meet!"
Both the humans moved through the book's pages until they found the description Hop Pop hinted at. As soon as their eyes laid on the first page, Marcy felt her heart jolt, as she saw a monstrous, terrible cat-moth hybrid with cruel red eyes, a row of pale-yellow teeth, and a green tentacle-like tongue lined with white spikes in its mouth.
"W-what are these things?"
"These are kill-a-moths! They are dangerous amphibivores able to fly for great distances and hunt using both their claws and spider-like web. One adult kill-a-moth alone can wipe out a whole Amphibian town in just one night! You know what the most curious thing about them is?"
"What?" both humans said, feeling nervousness grow inside of them.
"With the hyper-predatory behavior every kill-a-moth has, all living creatures in Amphibia fear them and try to defend themselves by killing any kill-a-pillar they meet, before they can mature into deadly monsters; thus, to protect themselves, the young kill-a-pillars disguise themselves by assuming cute and cuddly looks."
Marcy and James both felt fear grow in their mind. When Anne met Domino II, large wasps were attacking it, and she assumed the wasps wanted to kill, or maybe eat, the small caterpillar. However, with the information Hop-Pop just gave them, it seems that Anne maybe did a terrible mistake.
"Hop Pop, small question: the youngest forms of kill-a-moths, the kill-a-pillars - they are basically a kind of caterpillar, right?"
"Right."
"And these kill-a-pillars have black fur with white stripes on their back and on the chest?"
"Of course not! Kill-a-pillars have solid-colored fur!"
Both James and Marcy sighed in relief.
"They develop the white stripes only as they're about to mutate in their adult, vicious predatory stage. It's extremely dangerous to be close to a kill-a-pillar with white stripes, because it could mature into an adult kill-a-moth and devour you!"
James and Marcy looked at Hop Pop, their faces full of dread "How much time do you have before a white-striped kill-a-pillar matures into a full-grown kill-a-moth?"
"A day, two at most if you're lucky. Why do you ask?"
"Oh no! Anne, Sasha, Sprig!"
"We have to warn them!"
"What's going on?" Hop Pop protested as the duo bolted toward the kitchen.
As Marcy and James reached it, they saw Anne and Sprig eating a large amount of food, as they were hungry after a long day of working and taking care of Domino II. Sasha was nowhere to be seen.
"Guys, Where's Domino II!?"
"And where's Sasha?"
"James, Marcy, what happens?"
"Domino II is sleeping. And Sasha is on her bed listening to music-"
"Oh, no, Sasha is in mortal danger!"
"What?"
"What is all this ruckus?!" Hop Pop grumbled, entering the kitchen, "And what is a Domino II?"
"Uh, well-"
"That's a pet name, for a pet! You sneak a pet in here?"
"No!" Sprig said, before noticing the way his grandpa look at him, "Okay, yes, we did."
"It's worse than we thought! Anne, Domino II is a predator who feasts on frogs!"
"What?" both Sprig and Hop Pop gasped at the same time.
"Anne-Banana, look" Marcy grabbed the book and showed everyone the picture of the kill-a-moth "Domino II's a kill-a-pillar. When they mature, they become large predator moths who eat frogs for breakfast!"
"They eat frogs for breakfast?!" Sprig repeated in full terror.
"And the white stripes are a sign it's going to mature very soon!"
"You snuck a kill-a-pillar in here?" Hop Pop grabbed his head, more scared than angry, "Are you crazy?!"
"We didn't know!" Marcy hurried to defend Anne, "It looked just like Anne-Banana's pet from back home. It was small, cute-"
Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and the house shook, everyone silenced by the sound.
"What was that?"
"Oh no, we are too late! Sasha!"
Marcy moved to the basement, James behind her, with the others following. As soon as they reached it, they saw the basement covered in webs, with larger scratch marks on the floor and the walls. On Anne's bed, was an empty and smelling cocoon that looked like it had just hatched.
The reality of the situation sank in all of them.
"It hatched! It hatched!"
"Sasha! If you're alive, please yell!"
A murmur came from behind them, and the group saw a larger cocoon, attached to the wall, trying to move. Immediately, Marcy and Anne run to it and started to rip the webs covering it, freeing a certain blonde girl trapped inside.
"Sash, are you ok?"
"What the heck was that?" the blonde-haired girl replied, a look full of terror in her eyes.
"Funny story." Marcy laughed nervously, "You remember Domino II? Turns out her adult form, is a large predator moth that feasts on frogs. And, it just metamorphosed."
"What? Boonchuy!" Sasha yelled.
"Sasha, did you see it? What happened to her?"
"It was terrible, James!" She replied as the others helped her get free. "She had large butterfly wings, and she was white with red eyes-"
Suddenly, they heard a shriek, and a large figure moved, crawling on the roof. Instinctively, Anne put herself in front of Sprig and Hop Pop; Marcy assisted Sasha, while James grabbed a rock.
Then, Domino II came into their sight.
The now adult kill-a-moth roared, bearing her claws as it was going to attack them. The group, seeing her, clutched together, looking for protection.
"Domino II, is that you?" Anne murmured, unable to believe her own eyes.
"It looks exactly like in the book, Anne-Banana," Marcy sweated cold.
"Boonchuy. If we die today, I'm blaming you!"
"Sash, can we do the blame game later?" James gripped the rock in his hand, readying himself to throw it, "Right now, we have bigger problems!"
"Shh, stand still and silent, kids!" Hop Pop looked at them, "These creatures react and hunt by sound. As long as we move slowly and don't make too much sound, we should be able to get above and-"
"Guys!" the trapdoor opened with a loud bang, and Jacob, Amelia, and Polly (in Amelia's arms) leaned inside, "We know that Domino II may look cute and cuddly, but we really got a bad feeling and-"
Such words died in their mouths, as they glanced about whom, or better, what Domino II had become.
"Oh-oh." both gasped as fear froze their brain, Polly's eyes big due to the shock.
Domino II, alerted of new prey, roared again, flapping her wings and creating a strong wind while Polly screamed in terror.
"Run, kids!"
"Not cutesting! Not cutesting at all!"
"I don't wanna die in a basement!"
"Get me outta here!"
However, before exiting the basement, Anne stopped and looked back at her former pet.
"Anne, what are you doing?" James yelled with a scared voice, ready to lock the basement door, "Move!"
"Domino II? It's me, Anne," the girl said, walking toward the large predator moth. "We bonded. I gave you treats. You gave me dead things. Don't you remember?"
For a single second, it looked like Anne's attempt was working, but then, Domino II roared again, and produced a new wind, knocking Anne down, while launching herself on the trapdoor. Immediately, James tried to lock it, but the large moth was stronger, and it pushed through, knocking him aside and ending any chance to lock her in the basement.
"No, wait! Come back!" Anne yelled, rushing behind her.
"Anne…" James murmured, trying to get back on his feet.
"James! Are you hurt?"
"I'll live, get the others!"
"Stop, you oversized moth!" Amelia yelled, hushing and trying to use her katana to attack Domino II. However, she pushed too much forward, and the kill-a-moth grabbed her katana with her teeth, throwing her against the wall and trapping her with her web.
Meanwhile, the Plantars (alongside Jacob, Marcy, and Sasha), were trying to get out of the house and run to safety, but Domino II was smart enough to realize and try to stop them. First, she put herself between the door and the Plantars, blocking their retreat, and then she used both her wing-generated wind and superior strength to divide the group, trapping the humans on the wall before focusing on the frog family.
"Oh no! Not again!" Sasha lamented as she found herself trapped by webs for the second time in a row.
"These webs are stronger than before!" Marcy cried, "I cannot get free or even try to use my spells!"
"Sometimes I hate being right," Jacob gasped, unsuccessfully trying to get free while Domino II grabbed the Plantars and toss them up and down with her paws.
"I would like to get off the ride now!" Polly screamed in fear.
"What the heck is she doing?" Jacob asked, still trying to get free.
"She's toying with them, just like a cat" Marcy exclaimed, "That means that after she's stopped having fun… she will eat them!"
"And us with them!" Sasha cried, "I knew bringing a wild animal inside was not a good idea!"
"Ungh" Amelia groaned, striving to move, as she realized she was trapped on the wall too, and upside down "Oh, come on!"
"Anne!" James said, "We have to stop them, or she will eat them once she gets bored with toying with them!"
"Toying with them? Wait a minute: I got an idea! James, can you distract her?"
"I'll try, but be fast!"
Anne nodded, rushing back into the basement, while James tried to face Domino II on his own. The large kill-a-moth, meanwhile, had grown bored to play with her prey and was now lurking on them, her long spiny tongue touching their faces.
"Hey, Domino!" James yelled, hitting the large moth on the back with a rock, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
The kill-a-moth, hearing James' voice, left the Plantars trapped on the wall as she turned to face him, growling voraciously. The British kid walked back, trying to look her right in the eyes.
Don't be afraid, look her in the eyes, James repeated, don't show her your fear, animals can see when you're afraid-
Domino II roared in James' face, making the kid lose all his leftover courage in a beat.
They can smell your fear too! The kid covered as if frantically trying to save himself from being chewed alive.
"Domino II!" Anne's voice intervened. "Over here!"
The girl shook something on her hand, producing a tingle. James saw it was the small toy mice, originally made for Domino, that Anne successfully used with her namesake.
Hearing the tingle, Domino II stopped her attack and meowed, before charging toward Anne at full speed.
"Oh, crud." The girl realized, starting to run outside, while Domino II smashed the door following her, flying low to the ground.
Anne ran until she reached e peak cliff, a vast forest stretching out below her sight. She turned around, ready to face her former pet.
"Oh, Domino II. I thought I could change you; teach you how to live among us. However, I guess I was wrong, and Sasha was right again. A wild animal can't become a pet, she told me, but I didn't listen."
Domino II leaned forward, her growls and hissing becoming more and more vicious.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make it work. I just wish we could have more time before this." She sighed, remembering all the beautiful moments she shared with the caterpillar, thoughts that made her happy and sad at the same time.
"And now, it's time to go."
She threw the toy mice as far as she could, and Domino II followed it, shortly disappearing into the Amphibian forest, her natural environment. Anne fell to her knees, her heart gripped by melancholia.
"Goodbye, Domino II."
Anne looked down, as she heard footsteps running toward her, and a voice calling for her.
"Anne?"
"James," she replied, without even standing back on her feet. "She-"
"I know, Anne." The boy replied, hugging her from behind, while a lone tear ran down his cheek, "I know."
(…)
Meanwhile, back at the farm, those who were free already were helping the others out of the leftover webs of Domino II's rampage.
"Sash, are you ok?"
"Ok? Ok? Mar-Mar, I was attacked by surprise, imprisoned in a cocoon twice, almost eaten alive by our friend's former pet turned giant predator moth, my hairs are a mess, I got mucus all over my clothes, and I wasn't even able to eat dinner. I'm absolutely not okay!"
"Looks like your bad vibes were actually closer to the truth than anyone of us guessed, cousin. I'm amazed you got something right for once."
"How about focusing more on getting me free, Jacob? I feel all my blood rushing to my head!"
"Oh, the house is a mess! And who has to clean up everything the pet did? Hop Pop, that's who!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Plantar! Maddie taught me some low-level cleaning spells that would allow us to remove all the web and mucus remains in the house."
"Marbles, your magic spells would have been more useful before, when the giant moth-cat tried to eat us alive!"
"I told you: I hadn't them with me at the moment. Plus, Maddie didn't teach me any spell yet that could have stopped-"
James and Anne walked through the large hole that was now in place of the door, Anne with a sorrowful expression, James trying to comfort her out of the pain that the separation had caused her.
"Anne, you're okay!"
"Tell me that thing is gone!"
"Yeah, it's gone," Anne said, not even looking up.
"Did you-"
"She's not dead, if that's what you are asking" James patted Anne on her shoulder, a look of piety in his eyes, "Anne managed to get her far from here. I guess this is the last time we will ever see her again."
"You guess? You guess?" Sasha yelled, all her emotions boiling under her skin, "That thing tried to kill and eat us! I told you that taking a wild animal home was a bad idea, Boonchuy, but did you listen to me? No, you didn't, you acted on your own, and look what this caused us! Anne, next time you try to pull such a stunt-"
"Sasha, enough."
"James, I'm talking to Anne, you're not involved. Stay out of this!"
"I know you're talking to Anne" the British boy replied, "But enough! If you think that yelling-"
"James, I appreciate your wish to support me, but Sasha's right" Anne sighed once more, turning to face the others.
"I'm so sorry, you guys. I made a decision that ended up putting all of you in great danger. Sasha warned me, Jacob warned me, even Amelia warned me of the danger of bringing a wild animal home. I didn't listen to any of them, because I missed my cat so much that I wanted a replacement for her, no matter what. I know that I was ignorant at first, and yet, you told me to not bring any animals into the farm, and even with so much evidence, I simply ignored them. I choose to see only what I wanted to see because the only thing that mattered to me was that I had a loving pet once again. I don't expect you to understand."
"Understand? Understand!" Hop Pop cried, "I miss Charlie Bigbottom with all my heart and soul!" he admitted, crying copiously. "I didn't care he always got up the chimney, he had the key to my heart!"
"No, Hop Pop, the reason why Charlie Bigbottom kept getting up the chimney was that Polly ordered him to."
"What?" Sprig looked at his sister with shock.
"Traitor! You weren't supposed to tell him! Hop Pop, you know that Amelia-"
The girl covered Polly's mouth with her hand, and the two started to quarrel once more. Jacob walked to Anne, a weak smile on his lips.
"Everything's ok, Anne. We survived, and while your actions did put all of us in danger, I can understand your desire for a replacement for your cat. Still, Amelia should have told you about the raccoon earlier."
"What raccoon?"
"The one that ended up biting her and putting her in a bed for more than a week," Jacob smirked, "Apparently, she tried to do the same thing you did, with similar results."
"Wow, I guess that explains why she was so against it."
"Huh, guys?" Sasha walked toward them, "I know this is a very touching moment, but shouldn't we focus on fixing the giant hole in the door? It's getting cold here!"
The next day, the humans were all gathered in the basement, trying to fix and clean the mess left by Domino II. While Anne and Marcy were swiping any cobwebs left on the floor, Sasha was ripping apart the webs on the walls and Jacob was removing the mucus residual.
"The door's all fixed," James announced, descending the staircase, "It was tough, but in the end we did it."
"Congratulations," Sasha replied ironically. "Meanwhile, here we're still far from over!"
"Kids" Hop Pop announced, entering behind James "I do believe there is something we should talk-"
"We know Hop Pop, but I guess we have learned our lesson so far," Anne replied. "If there's something this whole story taught to us, is that you can't take some wild, unknown animal you found in the woods, make it live in your basement, and think everything's going to be okay."
Hop Pop smiled, "That's not true at all. Actually, it already happened to me. Six times already."
The humans looked at him, puzzled, for a few seconds. Then, Marcy followed his gaze, and noticed he was looking at … their bunk beds?"
"Wait a minute-"
"Are you talking about us, right?"
"I never expected I would play the role of the stray animal rescued from the wild-" Marcy murmured, before her eyes and natural-born enthusiasm gleamed up again, "-but I love it! That sounds amazing!"
"Welp, I never imagined someone would consider me their pet," Jacob smirked. "And yet, I find it cool that you think this."
"Me too," Sasha looked back, showing a rare, sincere smile of happiness, "I'll admit it, old frog. While I still miss my Earth life and all the commodities I'm used to, I'm quite happy you took us into your house, that day."
"Wow, Sasha just showed gratitude? That must be an event beyond comprehension."
"Even a broken clock shows the right time twice a day, no?" Marcy laughed. "And a monkey who presses random buttons might write an exact copy of Shakespeare's works. Don't you agree, James?"
"I call neutrality, as I'm involved nationally."
"Hey, Anne!" Sprig said, arriving at that moment, "We made you a little something. Here, look!"
The frog gave something to Anne, and the girl recognized it was a stuffed replica of Domino II (in caterpillar form) with buttons for eyes.
"I'm sorry if it's not good-looking. Marcy and Sasha helped me to gather as much leftover fur from Domino II's hairballs to make it, but we still had not enough. Here ya go."
Anne looked at the stuffed doll in complete silence, her eyes moving from it to Sprig, from Sprig to Sasha, from Sasha to Marcy, and so on.
"You- you did this?" she finally said, "For me?"
"Well, you looked very sad after what happened-" Marcy nodded.
"And that's what real friends do, isn't right?" Sasha thumbed up.
"You hate it, don't ya?" Sprig asked, as Anne still didn't show any clear reaction, "It's too ugly, right? You know what, give it back to me-"
"I love it!" Anne finally said, hugging the plushy with wet eyes.
"Happy that you like it, Anne-Banana!" Marcy hugged her too, while Sasha simply laughed amicably.
"Anyway," Hop Pop smirked "I'm not going to punish any of you for everything that happened. It was an honest mistake, and no one of you knew much about Amphibia's wildlife-"
"Thank you, HP!" Sasha smirked.
"However" the old frog continued, "Since I assume no one here wants such a thing to happen again, I think there is something all you five should do."
"Five?" Jacob asked, "What about Amelia?"
"After what Polly and she told me last night, I think they would be quite a capable duo for a very important mission."
"This is all your fault! Why you told Hop Pop what I did with his toothbrush?"
"No, it's your fault! Why did you tell him I was the one behind Charlie Bigbottom's behavior? You were the one that made us clean this chimney!"
"Stop jumping! This flue is narrow already without you moving!"
"Never!"
"You snotty spoiled ball!"
"You treacherous snake-tongue!"
"Ok kids!" Hop Pop said as each of the humans looked with a disbelieving look at the voluminous books in front of them "You have to memorize all the major Amphibia species, their diets, habitats, and level of danger."
"But there are thousands!" protested Jacob as he looked at the big book in front of him, "And many books don't even have pictures!"
"It's the bare minimum to be informed about all the dangerous species you might encounter. Study well and takes notes. There will be an interrogation!"
"Nooo!" Sasha, Jacob, and Anne yelled at the same time.
"We pass them our notes, Mar-Mar?"
"Sure thing, Jim-Boy!"