A Plantar's Stand
Warning: This chapter contains mild amounts of graphic violence towards the end. Please read at your own discretion.
The Wartwood Farmers Market. The economic center of Wartwood, where frogs from all over the surrounding region (sometimes even from neighboring towns) came regularly to sell or trade their produce. Many stands sold agricultural products from their respective farms, insects fit for consumption, or various products ranging from flowers for decoration to homemade jellies. Certain families, who had participated in the market for generations, had very old stands and loyal clientele, whose location and presence was a source of pride and boast for the families themselves.
Among them, the Plantar's family stand, whose history was as long as Wartwood itself, was the oldest and most respected of all stands, a fact that emboldened the current head of the family in no small measure.
"I'll take ten of these tomatoes," said a brown-haired frog, a basket of various vegetables over his shoulder and holding a tadpole of blue-green coloring by the hand. "I don't know what they taste like, but I feel like finding out."
"Good choice, Mrs. Brownfly." Hop Pop smiled, taking ten of the better-looking tomatoes and tying them in a small bag, while Marcy, sitting behind the cash register, took note of the vegetables sold and the price. "Here, a sweet carrot for little Daisy."
"But mom!" The pollywog protested, "I don't like carrots."
"They make you grow strong and healthy," her mother admonished. "Don't you want to sprout legs soon?"
Polly, who was laying on the counter next to Marcy, rolled her eyes. She was old enough now to know that legs didn't sprout faster just because you ate vegetables.
"That's five coppers total," Marcy smiled toward Hop Pop and the customer.
"Only five? I'm surprised, I expected to pay more. No one else sells them in the whole market"
"Just because tomatoes are an exclusive of the Plantar's stand, doesn't mean we have to sell them for exorbitant prices."
As Hop Pop sealed the deal with the customer, Sasha huffed, turning to Anne beside her. Both girls were uninterested in the market, and were concentrating on other things; Anne reading one of her magazines (surviving the previous disaster of the Firefly Formal night by not being a tabloid about love) while Sasha was playing a little game on her phone. Nonetheless, the blonde girl could not help but show her disapproval of the way Hop Pop ran its stand: keeping a price too low even for unique products and "warning" its customers of product defects by replacing them with better ones.
The customer was happily leaving, promising to return in the future, when James, Jacob & Amelia arrived, each carrying a heavy crate full of baby vegetables.
"Hey, you took your time," said Polly looking at the three humans.
"You try moving these heavy crates without tripping," said Jacob, holding his aching arms. "Sprig said he would give us a hand, but instead he disappeared."
"Disappeared?" asked Anne as she looked up from her magazine, "But where-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the aforementioned hot pink frog made its return like a rocket, jumping on Anne's head and hiding in her hair. A few seconds later, the humans understood why.
"Where did he go?" Spoke Gentle Jon, the owner of the nearby stand "Gentle Jon's Expensive Jellies" (no, the name was not a hyperbole) arriving at that moment. Despite the name, his appearance was anything but gentle, and to make matters worse, he was clutching a spiked mace in his hand with a menacing air.
"That way!" Said Jacob pointing to the left, Gentle Jon following the sign and striding away.
"All clear," Sasha said with a chuckle as Sprig stepped out of Anne's hair with great caution. From the looks of things, the boy had gotten himself into big trouble.
"Sprig, what happened?"
"I didn't do anything, Anne. I mean, not on purpose. Maybe…I drank one of his jellies' jars, but I thought it was a free sample."
"You're kidding, right?" Sasha said amused. "His stand never gives free samples. What were you thinking going in there, especially with no money? Do you remember that his stand is literally called "Expensive Jellies?"
"Ok, in retrospect, it wasn't much of a good idea."
"I guess we'll have to refund him when he returns." Hop Pop, who knew Jon's prices, scolded his nephew. At least, with the tomato business and everything else, the stand was making more than usual.
"Good morning Hopediah Plantar, good morning kids." Mrs. Croaker said at that moment, approaching with a smile on her lips and her pet spider, Archie, on her shoulder.
"Good morning, Mrs. Croaker."
"Good morning, Mrs. Croaker. And you too, Archie."
"Good morning, Mrs. Croaker. You look splendid today."
"You have a good eye, dear boy." Replied the elderly frog, smiling at James. "Ever since I started to go to those public workout sessions of yours, I'm feeling energized, invigorated, like I'm becoming young once again. And today, Archie and I were in the mood for some nice stew. I think I'll take this gangly gourd here, Hopediah." She grabbed one gourd from the nearest basket.
"Oh, I sense a batch of some Croaker stew coming on." Hop Pop said, before his eyes turned to the gourd, as his eyes turned concerned and her expression thoughtful, making Marcy wonder what he was thinking. "Hmm... Hang on there, Sadie. You don't want that one."
Oh frog, Sasha though as she experienced another mental facepalm, don't tell me you're going to throw that gourd away just because you're not convinced of its freshness, again!
Under the humans' glaze, Hop Pop walked up to Sadie Croaker and started to inspect the gourd, first by knocking on it, and then approaching it to his ear and listening to it as he shook it. Lastly, he opened the gourd in half, revealing something inside. Something alive.
"Blech!" Sasha took a step back, as her eyes laid on the parasite inside the gourd, while Amelia covered her mouth and Marcy (as usual) took some new notes on her journal with glee.
"Ah-ha! It's a gourd maggot. These guys taste terrible!"
The disgusting maggot, realizing it was in the open, jumped out of the gourd and into the ground, trying to get to the stand, but Jacob quickly grabbed his hammer and knocked it away, making the gourd maggot fall into a shrub and crawl away in defeat.
"Here, take this one instead." Hop Pop continued, offering Sadie a brand new gourd "It's maggot-free."
"Classic Plantar honesty. I have been buying from this stand since your father was running it. And you all have never steered me wrong. Your kids are lucky indeed to be part of such a family."
"I think we are also lucky to have them in our family as well," Hop Pop smiled, looking back at the kids. His kids, as he proudly remembered.
"Wow, that was very impressive, Hop Pop."
"You think, Boonchuy?" Sasha scoffed, "Look, I appreciate honesty, but I don't think it's a good way to do business." She pointed with her eyes to a large box, with the word "REJECT" written on it, full to the brim with spoiled, non-optimal vegetables and products that Hop Pop had refused to sell, and thus planned to throw away. A useless waste of money, in Sasha's opinion.
"Hey, Sash! You expect us to sell rotten vegetables?" Jacob called her out, "Most of the stand' clients are returning, loyal customers who like to be served by honest people."
"I'm not suggesting tricking the clients, Jacob. But I think the stand's honesty policy is a little too rigid, when we could double business just by tweaking it a little."
"This is the Plantar difference, kids." Hop Pop said, looking proudly at the stand, "You can't taste honesty. But if you could-"
"-it'd taste like a Plantar stand's vegetable." Sprig, Polly and Amelia said at the same time with a droned, annoyed look. Hop Pop used that sentence so often, they had learned by heart now.
"Besides, we are not in dire need of money now." Marcy interjected, showing the others the results of some math of her. "Between the earnings from the tomatoes, both with direct sales and to the other stores, the net increase in the farm's income, the fact that we no longer have to buy fodder for Bessie, and other incomes, not only did we make a net gain, but we could also afford to enlarge and improve the stand."
"Improve the stand?" Hop Pop looked at her with an interested, fascinated look. She did so much already to upgrade the farm, could she do the same with the stand as well?
"Mar-Mar, you do have a plan to upgrade the stand?"
"Of course, Anna-Banana!" The dark-haired girl showed some sketches she had drawn, depicting the Plantar's stand but with some upgrades and addictions. "First, we could have a larger stand, perhaps with a solid canopy instead of canvas. The larger space would allow us to secure and sell more products at a time and would provide more counter space to handle buying and selling. Similarly…"
As Marcy continued explaining her vision on how to upgrade the stand, Amelia and Polly were the first to grow bored out of it, and instead decided to focus on a little game among them, while Sprig and James, unable to understand one word of Marcy's technobabble, kept on listening out of politeness. The real surprise was Sasha and Anne, as they carefully listened to their friend's ideas, their eyes filled with glee and enthusiasm.
"-we could also make a bargain bin and sell those soon-to-expire vegetables at a lower price, instead of throwing them away. It would not be a scam, since customers would know-"
The dark-haired nerd continued on her hyper-detailed explanation, never once stopping to breathe, while Hop Pop watched the three girls discuss with newfound enthusiasm. Before she and the other humans came to them, the stand was barely making enough to keep itself in the black, and every day he was distressed at the idea that he might soon lose it forever. Now?
Now, not only was the stand making more money than it had ever made, but they could also afford to expand and improve it. It seemed almost too good to be true.
"Don't forget about some ways to advertise the stand, Marbles." Sasha suggested, looking at her friend with a smirk, "We could put some banners under the canopy, with big characters so people could read them from afar. Maybe the stand's motto, so customers can recognize it quite easily? A list of the best offers of the day?"
"Hey, we could even use some of the vegetables to make drinks and beverages for others to buy and drink on hot days." Anne suggested, joining the conversation. "Thus, the stand would benefit on both hot and cold days."
"Wow, they're really into helping with the stand, after all," Jacob smirked, nudging Hop Pop. "They may already have independent jobs, but this is nice to see."
"You know what makes me the most proud?" The old frog replied, looking up at the Plantar's stand sign, a golden P engraved. "This stand is the very heart and soul of our family. It existed since our family lived in Wartwood, and we always strived to always be honest and truthful to our clients. Honesty is the best policy, as my father taught me like I want to teach to my children." He then looked at his side, to the boy with the Viking hat.
Jacob was taken aback by this heartfelt confession by the old frog. Before they ended up in Amphibia, he always considered honesty as just a baseless high ground that some people used to justify their actions to themselves or the people around them, but now? He felt like, the more time he spent around Hop Pop and his family (which he was a part of as well now, he gleefully reminded), the more honesty and similar teachings stuck inside his heart and mind.
"I don't know what I'd do if we ever lost it."
"Bad news, everyone!" Toadie, alias Toadstool's assistant, walked in with several scrolls under his arm, passing one to Hop Pop. "Bad news! I'm going to run away before you read it!"
"What was that?" Jacob looked as Toadie moved to other stands, passing a scroll to each one.
"That Toadie…" Hop Pop mumbled, putting on his reading glasses. Yet, as soon as he read the scroll, his face became incredulous, and then went into panic.
"Say what?! Mayor Toadstool is quadrupling the rent! And he wants it in three days?!"
"What?" Jacob grabbed the scroll and read it in turn, hoping that Hop Pop had read it wrong. Sadly, there was nothing wrong in Hop Pop's reading skills: Toadstool had really quadrupled the rent. And he really wanted it all in three days from now.
Around them, the other members of the Plantar household (born or adopted) reacted in concern.
"That stinky, fat blob! This is not fair!"
"It cannot be!"
"No pre-advice at all? He simply quadrupled the rent, and still expects us to pay?"
"In three days from now! Does he really think the people here are all made of money?"
"What a jerk!"
As Jacob looked around, he realized the sudden increase of rent concerned all the stands, as the various farmers showed each other the scrolls, badmouthing the mayor and calling his sudden news "outrageous" and "crazy".
Seriously, that fat toad knows that many of the market' stands barely make enough to keep going? Where does he expect for every one of them to find the money?
"Mar-Mar!" Anne looked back at her friends, "Tell me, can we afford to pay the newly-increased rent?"
"Let me check!" The cute nerd replied, taking a small sheet of paper and starting to make calculations on it. As Marcy was the only one who managed to stay awake when Hop Pop taught them the Plantar's family finances, she was the only person among them who could calculate the difference between income and expenses. Meanwhile, Hop Pop, Jacob and everyone else focused on her, silently waiting for the reply.
Finally, Marcy finished her math. Her gloomy look wasn't very reassuring.
"We can do it," The dark-haired girl finally said. "It's a big sum, but with the boosted income of the stand, and putting in some of our personal wages, we should be able to pay it without too much problems for the family as a whole. The issue is…now we cannot afford to expand the stand!"
Marcy looked down, sadness taking over her, as Sasha and Anne moved to comfort her. Sasha, in particular, was feeling mad: now only Toadstool's sudden tyrannical move would force her and the others to use part of their hard-earned wages to pay for the stand's rent, not only was he basically sending them back to square one with one swift, tyrannical decision out of the blue, but he had also crushed Mar-Mar's hopes and dreams, as well as hers and everyone else.
If there was one thing Sasha hated, it was arbitrary decisions that she could not go against. Things she could not control…
Just like your parents' divorce, or the way they treated you compared to Esther…
"This is not fair!" Amelia reiterated, Polly nodding on her hat, "We worked so far to get up to this, and now we're back to square one!"
"Hey, at least you'll be able to keep your stand!" Another farmer, who was selling mushrooms at a nearby booth, shouted back at the girl. "I can't afford to pay the raised rent! I'll have no choice but to lose my place in the market!"
"I don't have that much money," another one said, his voice broken in shock. "How will I be able to feed my family? I have two tadpoles at home to feed; I can't afford to lose my only source of income!"
Around them, the angered reactions of the other stand owners made Marcy realize that, while difficult, their situation was still better than the others were. It was a large sum, but they would be able to pay for it; but what about them?
Somehow, the whole situation reminded her of the lore of some RPG she liked, every one of them united by the same identical concept of a stratified society, where the upper strata and species oppressed the lower ones. And Amphibia was no better: newts were the upper class, toads were just under them and acted like the "muscle", then were the axolotl and, on the bottom, the frogs, as she got to learn since they had arrived there.
Knowing something because you read the game's manual, or because you saw a cut-scene was different from witnessing with her own eyes. No matter how much she tried to assimilate it, seeing such prevarications with her own eyes hurt. It really, really hurts.
And apparently, she wasn't the only one to think so.
"You don't have to submit to such an abuse of power!" Amelia walked up to them, her face full of determination, "True, both choices are terrible, but you don't have to choose one, you know?"
"What does that mean?" One of those farmers said, looking at her, "Toadstool gave us just three days to pay a sum none of us have ever seen in their whole life, but if we don't pay, we are going to lose our stands! What other options do we have?"
"Standing up to this injustice!" Sasha said, walking to Amelia and climbing on top of a stand, starting an impromptu speech. "Instead of trying to find the money in such an unrealistic short time, let's march to the city hollow and kick that fat toad out of the town!"
"What?" Everyone at the Farmer's market gasped, hearing Sasha's bold proposal. Every frog of the market, even those who were far from the Plantar's stand, suddenly turned their heads and became very attentive to what Sasha was saying. Even the Plantars looked at her, with mixed reaction: Hop Pop looked at the blonde girl with horror, while Anne and Marcy's faces were full of surprise and Jacob grinned, clenching his fist around the war-hammer's handle.
"Taxes are supposed to be paid to allow the mayor to fund the necessary needs and services to all citizens," Sasha continued, as the crowd listening grew larger and larger. "Yet, since we have arrived in your town, I never once saw your so-called mayor care for anyone but himself! He doesn't care about you, he lets your houses crumble and leaves you defenseless against the bugs who roam in the countryside! Now, out of the blue, he raises the rent of every stand in the market, with no explanation nor justifications, and he expects you to pay in just three days? This is preposterous!"
"Pssh, Sasha?" Hop Pop tried to call out to her, "Come down immediately. This is not the time to make a ruckus-"
"Preposterous, preposterous!" The crowd chanted together, smitten by the girl's words. It was then that Hop Pop saw Jacob and Anne walking to Sasha's side, but contrary to his hopes, they weren't trying to calm their friend down.
Au contraire, they joined her!
"Some of you might ask, what do we know about injustice?" Jacob intervened, moving the hammer on his hand to add emphasis to his words, "Let me tell you this: once, we were under the rule of a tyrant as well! He was called King George, and he was a cruel, vainglorious person who kept oppressing his people with taxes!"
"Boo." James replied with a knee-jerk reaction, as Jacob ushered a biased and abridged (and historically incorrect) version of the causes of the American Revolution. Luckily, no one managed to hear him.
"One day, our people said, no more!" Jacob kept going, feeling excited by his own words. "No more unfair taxes, no more disproportionate taxation, no more submitting and being treated as spineless servants! We rejected the king, and we fought back! We fought back, and we won! And we were free!"
"Don't let yourself be trampled!" Anne shouted as well, to take in the moment to think about her actions, "We won't pay any more taxes, as long as our current mayor will keep on refusing our needs!"
Suddenly, Amelia unsheathed her katana and united it with Jacob's hammer, while Polly jumped on her hat with an approving tone. It was a dramatic moment, and as everyone focused on the group, the wannabe samurai uttered the decisive words, quickly setting fire on the whole protest and turning it…into a full-blown revolt.
"Down with taxes! Down with injustice! Down with Toadstool!"
"Down with taxes! Down with injustice! Down with Toadstool!" The crowd chanted together, as Hop Pop looked in horror as his own kids contributed to spreading the fire of rebellion among them.
"Let's walk to the City Hollow, and get back our rights!" Polly shouted, her usual aggressiveness surfacing once again, "Get your revolution gear!"
"Huh, we don't have revolution gear," one of the farmer frogs of the crowd pointed out. "We never had a real revolution, before-"
"Just use the mob gear!" The pollywog replied from above Amelia's hat "It works the same!"
The crowd shouted at unison, everyone grabbing torches and pitchforks, while Jacob, Sasha, Amelia and Anne marched at their head, walking in direction of Wartwood's central plaza and the building who hosted Wartood's city hollow, where Toadstool and his assistant Toadie lived. In a few minutes, the whole market was empty, with Hop Pop remaining alone with Sprig, James and Marcy.
"They- they can't have done that!" Hop Pop sputtered, his brain unable to accept the truth. "I refuse to believe that!"
"Oh, yeah, they did," James nodded, looking in the direction where the mob had disappeared. "Gosh, I almost feel sorry for Toadstool. Almost."
"Maybe we should follow and watch?" Sprig proposed, "I mean, you think it's going to be like a regular mob event?"
"I'm not sure," Marcy nodded, feeling a bit worried. "I mean-"
"Why does no one listen to me?" Hop Pop spoke again, his voice full of terror. It was then that the remaining three of them (minus him of course) realized his dread was too much to be normal.
"Hop Pop, everything ok?"
"If you're worried about Toadstool, I'm sure Anna-Banana and the others-"
"I'm not worried for him, I'm worried for them! Once word comes out that a rebellion has started, they…they will come to Wartwood and suppress it in blood!"
"Who?" Marcy said, looking at Hop Pop with fear, as she started to feel dread as well. "Who would come to Wartwood?"
"The garrison of Toad Tower," Hop Pop said, making Sprig shiver, "as well as their commander, Captain Grime…"
"Oh, this is bad, Toadie. There is not enough money to pay the new taxes promoted by Toad Tower!"
"The sudden tax increase sure caught us by surprise, sir."
"How can a mayor quietly embezzle money from the town if every year the taxes Toad Tower demands skyrocket? Toadie, are you sure there is nothing else we can do to raise the revenue?"
"Not without relinquishing the funds you've already embezzled, sir," the smaller frog said, checking again his already-verified counts. "The fact of quadrupling the rent to the whole farmer's market is sure going to create discontent, but it's the only way we can raise more funds by the time the Toads will arrive to fetch the money."
"I'm not worried about some frog making a whining," Toadstool stood up from his desk and walked to the window. "It's not like they're coming here to protest in person. Hey, what the-"
Surrounding the city hollow, a large crowd of frogs, many of them wielding torches, pitchforks, and rotten vegetables, looking at the City Hollow like it was the hideout of an ugly, dangerous monster.
"Toadie, did we forget about some mob event today?"
"No, sir. There is no mob event scheduled for today; the next one is in three days from now."
"Then let's see what this is about."
As Toadstool and Toadie walked out of the city hollow to the metallic gate fencing it, the fat toad recognized four of the "humans" creature that Hopediah Plantar had got into his house, namely the ones called Anne, Sasha, Jacob and Amelia, as they stood in front of the gate, looking ready to take on the enemy.
The enemy, apparently, were him and Toadie.
"I demand an explanation!" Toadstool said, facing the crowd and the humans through the still-locked gate, "What's the meaning of this farce?"
"Farce?" Sasha called him out, "Seriously, old toad! This is a protest, we are here to complain about this!" She threw a scroll into his face. As Toadstool and Toadie managed to look at it, they were quick to realize it was one of those scrolls notifying the Market's stand owners of the quadrupling of their rents, that Toadstool sent Toadie to spread earlier.
"This is-"
"Yes, we know that you raised the rent of all the stands of the farmer's market!" Anne nodded, her expression full of rebellion, "You demanded quadrupled rent in three days from now! Do you seriously think all of these people would simply go for it? Do you think they are made of money?!"
"I couldn't do anything different, we need the money!" Toadstool protested.
"Oh, yeah?" Jacob said, looking at him with an angry glare, "And tell me, for what you need it for?"
Toadstool wanted to reply, to tell him that the quadrupled rent was the only way to put together the funds they needed to pay the raised taxes from Toad Tower, only to stop as realization dawned on him. If he told them about the raised taxes, they would have asked more questions, and in the end, he would be forced to reveal that he was embezzling public funds.
And if Captain Grime or any of his officers caught wind of that…
"T-that's nothing of your concern!"
"Oh yes, it is!" The boy replied, "The People are sick of being forced to pay taxes while the city is crumbling out of neglect! Down with taxes! Down with Toadstool!"
"Down with taxes! Down with Toadstool!" The crowd (or rather, the mob) changed in unison, as Toadie took a couple of steps back. Even Toadstool was starting to feel unnerved by the whole situation.
"We want you to retract the rent raise," Amelia said, "and we want it now!"
"And what do you plan to accomplish?!" Toadstool said, striving to keep on a brave façade, "No matter how much you whine, I'm not retracting it! You better get the money you need, if you don't want to lose your stands!"
"Oh yeah?" Sasha looked at him with a challenging face, like someone who knows she has the upper hand in the situation. "Then we will force you to! As long as the rent raise stands, we won't disperse. We want justice, and we want it now! And as long as you refuse, we will refuse to leave!"
"Hope you got hidden stacks of food and beverages in that place," Jacob mocked Toadstool, "because we'll lay siege until you decide to capitulate!"
Toadstool tried to reply, only to be hit by several rotten vegetables, thrown in that moment by several angry Wartwood farmers who made up the mob surrounding the city hollow. Quickly, both he and Toadie decided the safest path they could take was to run back inside, and lock the door.
"Sir, this is bad!" Toadie said, as he checked to make sure the chains on the door were strong enough, "Our citizens never reacted like this before!"
"I have to admit this is a…unexpected situation," Toadstool peeked from the window. The mob was not trying to pass over the fence and the gate yet, but it refused to leave and it kept growing as time passed by, as more and more farmers and outraged citizens joined them. "Quick, Toadie. Check the food supplies: we need to know how much time we can survive as they besiege us."
Toadie rushed away, and Toadstool remained alone, contemplating the situation. He had no illusions about the gravity of the situation: if word spread that Wartwood had rebelled against him (and by association, against Toad's control and Newtopia's rule), Captain Grime would surely send a military force to quell the rebellion, and he would be probably be arrested and tried for his "failure" to keep his city in check. Soon, they would have found out about the embezzled money, and whatever punishment they would find "fitting" would have sent him to jail, or worse.
"Sir, bad news!" Toadie returned, with a frantic expression. "I checked the food and beverages we still have with us. We can resist… a day at most!"
A day?, Toadstool asked rhetorically in his mind. His previous plan, to simply wait and hope for the rebelling mob to leave, was now impossible to use. He could either submit to their request, or attempt to flee. But he knew he wouldn't get far.
Unless…
Toadstool looked back into his office, behind the painting depicting him, and to the special messenger paper he kept hidden behind it. There was a direct way to contact Toad Tower, trough mosquito messengers, and if he could sent a message informing them of a rebellion in the city, before the situation aggravated once more, the toads reinforcements would come to pacify the situation and restore proper order on Wartwood, before the rebellion could spread to other communities. Toadstool knew that the Toads's response would be swift, crushing and unforgiving.
He hesitated. On one hand, he didn't want to contact Toad Tower just yet, before he ran out of other options; moreover, calling for the Toads to set the whole Wartwood to fire and sword would massively destroy whatever credibility he had left for the next elections. On the other hand…
He looked outside, at the crowd and the humans who were inciting it. Would this ever have happened, if Hopediah Plantar had not taken those creatures under his wing?
I could name him as the one responsible for everything, Toadstool mused for a moment, I could tell Grime that all happened because he took those creatures with him, and they are disrupting the peace in Wartwood. I could…
He stopped, as he realized the implications his actions would lead to. If the Toad thought the old Hopediah was the one behind the rebellion, they would probably label him as a rebel and a traitor, and deal with him accordingly. And there was only one fate for those who dared to rebel against Toad Tower's (and by association, Newtopia's) authority.
Even if he didn't like the old frog, Toadstool would never sentence him to death.
"Sir? What do we do now?"
"Check if every door is locked and bring me ink. I think I have a…letter to formulate…"
(Back at the Plantar's family farm)
"So, Wartwood, just like every other village and town of Frog Valley, is under the authority of this "Toad Tower?"
"Yes, James!" Sprig jumped to explain, showing the boy a map depicting the valley, with the crude drawing of a tower in the middle. "It's a big, scary tower deep in the swamp, and the toads that live there are the valley's fiercest warriors."
"Every once in a while, Toad tower sends some of his soldiers to the various towns to collect tributes," Hop Pop explained, as Marcy listened carefully at his side, writing down the details in her journal as always. "We pay our taxes and they protect us from dangers."
"At least, that's how it is supposed to be."
"What do you mean, Spriggy?"
"The fact is, Marcy," the old frog continued, "that for a while, the Toads have been a bit more…reluctant to intervene."
"Do you mean that they bother to come only to retrieve the tributes while doing nothing to protect you?" The dark-haired girl realized at first glance, "You know, their whole job?"
This setting too was awfully familiar to her: an imposing military force, who "supposedly" was entrusted to protect civilian towns and villages, but in truth never cared about them, treating the people they were supposed to protect more like a conquered nation to extort and plunder, only bothering to come when taxes were due. Again, this was a setting she had seen many times before in her role-playing games, but she had never seen in reality.
Suddenly, it felt like a punch into her gut, as Marcy realized that such a thing was not just an interesting background for the hero's first good deeds in his heroic journey. For the people suffering under it, it was painful.
"Us Wartwood fellows are tough as well, so in the end we don't typically need to be rescued."
Would this make it more acceptable? Marcy replied in her mind, unsure if voice her opinion as well. The fact you're used to it doesn't make it more right or acceptable. It's just-
…what you always wanted. Weren't you hoping to live an adventure like the characters of Vagabondia Chronicles? Didn't you want to walk on the same path of a hero? You're experiencing only what you always wanted to…
Was that her imagination, or the thought she felt in her head felt awfully correct?
"And who is this…Grime you've talked to us about?" James continued, looking worried.
"Captain Grime," Hop Pop continued with a pale look on his face. "He is the current commander of Toad Tower. He was a gladiator in Newtopia once, the fiercest fighter of the colosseum, and after he was noticed for his skills he ended up being selected to join the Toad Army, becoming their leader in no time."
"Wait, Ivy used to talk about him once!" Sprig jumped forward, "Wasn't he the one who's called the Rockwall Toad?"
"Rockwall Toad?" James and Marcy asked at the same time, confused.
"They gave him this nickname because every adversary he faced could never get past him like going up against a rock wall."
"He used to be a gladiator?" James pondered, as his mind came up to think of Spartacus.
"Yup. He is blind in one eye, his right one." Hop Pop explained. "He lost it after he fought a large cockatrice, and he still crushed it."
"Wasn't it because he defeated a Rhino beetle by charging it full-frontal? Ivy told me this was the reason."
"I don't know, there are many ways folk tell the tale. My point, however, is that if Anne and the others succeed in running Toadstool out of the town, the Toad Army will see it as an obvious rebellion, and come to quell it. I don't want to face Grime myself, or for any of you to catch his attention."
James and Marcy looked at each other with a nervous, unsure look. If this "Grime" was bad as Hop Pop described him, it was not a joke.
"B-but what do you expect we will do?" Marcy raised her hand, "Even if we have barely enough money to pay the quadrupled rent, many other stands are in a more difficult position. If Toadstool succeeds in forcing them to pay, many farmers will be forced to give up their stand and source of income. Is there aren't any other way we can help them?"
Hop Pop struggled to refuse, looking for aid. Yes, what Marcy said was right, but what would they do? Ask Toadstool to go back on his decision? He already knew he would never do that, unless they would actually coerce him to do so. And if they did try to coerce him, he would probably still send a message to Toad Tower and the Toads arrive by the next morning.
He didn't want to submit to an injustice, but he also wanted to take care and protect his children.
It was then that the old frogs' gaze landed on the old clock in the living room, and he remembered something his kids had found out, some time ago. About the underground rooms, full of heirlooms of the Plantar's family and all the things they left to their descendants.
Among them, cousin's Alfred room, once believed to merely be the king of single-tiered irrigation systems, later Jacob and Sasha found out he was secretly the King of merchants, and that he left a large stash of golden coins to his family, to be used…
Hop Pop remembered the words from Alfred's last will and testament, as he read them when Sasha showed it to him:
…the gold you will find in my room (…) I leave it all to my future relatives and descendants, so you can use it to help the rest of your family, or others.
This wealth, which I earned by hard, honest work, cannot be used but to help the people you treasure, in the moment of dire need.
…to help the people you treasure.
…to help in the moment of dire need.
Hop Pop stood on his feet, feeling rejuvenated. Now, he knew what he had to do.
"Hop Pop?"
"There is another way." The old frog said, his voice full of determination, "One that will allow us to help the others without risking having to face the Toad Army."
"Oh, there is?" James asked in a dumbfounded tone, "What is it?"
"Marcy, you said that the other farmers cannot afford to pay the raised rent, but…what if someone else paid for them?"
"Well, as long as Toadstool doesn't raise an issue, I suppose that could work." The girl though, quickly falling into "the Zone" without realizing, "But where can we find- wait, you mean…?"
"Cousin Alfred left all that money for us to help the people we treasure, our friends and close ones, in a moment of need. Isn't this a moment of need?"
Marcy gulped, exchanging glances with Sprig and James. Then, she smirked.
"Count me in!"
"Me too!" James nodded, raising his fist with resolve.
"Huzzah!" Sprig joined in, putting the decision in unanimous agreement.
"Good! Now, Marcy, I need your help to determine how much the gold cousin Alfred left to us is worth, and if it can cover the quadrupled rent for all the stands. James, you and Sprig need to find out how much is due."
"I think I already have a couple of ideas on who can help us with that…" The British boy smirked, thinking about it.
Outside Wartwood's City hollow, the angry mob protesting the sudden increase for every stand in the Farmer's market showed no sign of calming down. Instead, the anger and determination of the crowd lived on, as Sasha kept inciting them with strong words and powerful assessments, playing on their emotions and keeping the "blockade" on. Anne, for her part, contributed to stop the mob from dispersing by providing baseline needs: in agreement with Stumpy, her boss, she set up a "communal soup kitchen" just above the gates leading to the hollow, and she was serving some small, but nutritional Thai-inspired dishes to the protesters, while Jacob and Amelia assisted Sasha in keeping the mob focused on their objective and to make sure Toadstool didn't try any dirty tricks. Meanwhile, the crowd's presence all around the building led to other people to come and see what was happening out of curiosity, which in turn led to other people (such as Mrs. Croaker, Loggle and even Buck Leatherleaf ) finding out about the sudden rise in rent and joining the crowd.
"Sir, the situation isn't getting any better," Toadie said in a shuttered voice, looking outside with nervousness. "With every passing minute, the mob keeps getting bigger and stronger."
"I knew we were hated, but not to this point!" Toadstool said, leaning on his chair. Was this the result of his small embezzling activities? Yet, how could he even hope to be re-elected without them seeing how much Wartwood citizens hated him?
"There is good news, however." Toadie rushed to say, almost attempting to make the whole situation less dramatic, "So far, they haven't tried to breach into the hollow, and they're content with simply upholding the siege. This gives us time."
"Yeah, but for how long?" The mayor said, holding his head in his hands, striving to use whatever grey matter he had left to come up with a solution. "We have barely any food left, and if this keep going-"
Before he could finish his sentence however, a tasteful, delicious smell reached his nostrils, thrilling his stomach and making the fat toad realize that he was hungry. Even Toadie felt that, and apparently, he realized the smell was delicious as well.
"W-what is this smell?" Toadstool asked, as his mind battled against his stomach for control over his future actions.
"It must be coming from outside, sir." Toadie realized, as he walked up to another window, not the one facing the mob, who was open and letting the smell get inside. "I opened it a while ago to get some fresh air and…"
"But where does the smell come from?" Toadstool asked, as his eyes looked back at the mob and-
He realized, as soon as he saw Anne among them, providing hot, delicious meals to those in need. He could see the food she was serving, and even from this distance, he could clearly see it was delicious.
"It's…it's that creature!" The toad said, pointing at the girl from behind the window. "She's serving them food!"
"I had the opportunity to learn something about it, sir," Toadie intervened, starting his explanation, "Apparently, that creature ended up being hired by Stumpy's and turning around his diner, changing it all and serving new delicious dishes that everyone talked about. They even managed to get Albus Duckweed to write a positive review on that place."
That caught Toadstool's attention. Duckweed never had any love for Stumpy and his diner; whatever could make him change his mind was surely worthy of consideration.
He had written a message to Toad Tower already, and thanks to Toadie, it was already sent to Toad tower. By the time it would reach it, Captain Grime would find out about the "starting civilian disturbances" in Wartwood, started by "strange gangly creatures" tamed by a local farmer, Hopediah Plantar. Thus Grime would send a small unit (since Toadstool skillfully wrote the letter downplaying the danger and treating it more like a casual mantis preying over the city's livestock) to check out the situation. At that point, Toadstool would use his own charisma (and the fact that, with insufficient forces to quell the rebellion on their own, the toads would still be forced to make a deal with him) to play both sides and convince the frogs to renounce to their protest while "managing" to have the Toads leave, and convince the Toads to return to the tower after using his skills to "calm down" the rebellion.
Every side would think they had won, everyone would be happy, and the issue about the raised rent would be forgotten. But now?
Now, they could not wait until Toad Tower sent his own soldiers, while their own stomachers rebelled against them. If they still wanted to save the situation, they had to play a more awkward hand.
"Let's follow me, Toadie. I guess we're running out of options."
"Where are we going, sir?"
"I guess we're going to have another face-off with the farmers and those creatures…"
(…)
"Down with the rent! Give us a rest!" Sasha chanted, holding on the barrel she was using as an impromptu podium.
"Down with the rent! Give us a rest!" The crowd repeated, letting their emotions control them, as Sasha used all her charisma and skill to take their emotions and direct their course.
"Down with tyranny! Down with Toadstool!" Amelia chanted to her side, using her katana to "lead" the crowd and boost her own dramatic effects.
"Look, the city hollow's door is opening!"
Hearing their fellow protester's voice, everyone turned around to see Toadstool walking out, Toadie just behind him, walking toward the fence and the protesters while striving to keep a solemn, brave face in strive of his own stomach rebelling against him, and everything he was experiencing in his mind.
Keep up your façade, don't show your weaknesses, just suppress your hunger…
"Toadstool!" Jacob called out to him, leaning on his "Ragnarok" hammer with both hands. "Have you come to surrender?"
"No, I have come to invite you one last time to cease your illegal assembly and stop disapproving of the town's government decisions."
"Illegal assembly?" Anne noted, "There is no rule forbidding us to assemble here!"
"Plus, we are disapproving of injust decisions that have no representation with the local population." Sasha added, "And even so, what do you plan to count on? You expect us to simply leave just because you say so?"
"Yes!"
"Welp, too bad! We aren't going anywhere until you remove your raised rent!"
Toadstool grimaced, clenching his fists, the impossibility of the situation leaving him no way out. He could say to them that the sudden rent increase was to pay off the raised-in-turn taxes from Toad tower, but if he did his people would soon find out about the embezzled money. But if didn't-
Toadstool was not a toad to believe in miracles, and yet, apparently someone had listened to his silent plea, as a miracle was going to come and unstuck him from the whole situation. Though it was going to come from the most unexpected of the sources, someone who Toadstool openly despised and would have never expected to come to his help…until today.
"Stop!" A voice called out, making Toadstool, the humans and the whole crowd turn once more, as Hop Pop, Marcy, James, Sprig, Felicia and Ivy arrived at that moment on Bessie and Liptea, both snails carrying large, heavy bags on their shells.
"Hopediah Plantar" Toadstool looked at him, expecting another migraine, "What are you-"
Before the fat toad could finish his sentence, however, Hop Pop and Felicia dropped the bags on the ground, revealing they were all filled to the brim with coins.
Golden coins.
"I'll pay the quadrupled rent," Hop Pop immediately said, causing a gasping reaction in the various crowd of farmers and the humans as well, "not just for my stand, but for every stand in the market!"
"What?"
"HP, you're serious?"
"Hey, aren't those the coins from cousin Alfred' room?"
"Hopediah Plantar!" Toadstool gasped too, as his eyes laid on the fortune who was literally being dropped at his own feet, "W-where did you find all this gold?"
"It was an inheritance from one of our late relatives," Hop Pop said with a scolding look, looking at the mayor like he was nothing more than a young, whiny kid who just attempted to make his own kids trip. "To help the ones in need. Marcy helped me calculate the rent due for the whole market. I'll pay it in full, so they don't have to."
Anne, Sasha, Jacob and Amelia looked at the old frog with shocked expression, almost unbelieving the scene happening right in front of her eyes. Only when Ivy walked up close to them, Sasha managed to find the words to give voice at her confusion.
"Ivy," the blonde girl asked, looking at her adoptive younger frog sister "how…"
"Mom helped Marcy calculate the whole rent of the market, and thus the quadrupled sum. Looks like the hidden stash you talked about had more than enough to pay for it in full."
"Wait, Felicia knew the rent of every stand?"
"Of course I did, Sash," her employer said, almost chuckling. "Did you forget? I own a tea shop; every gossiping frog in Wartwood comes there at least once every two days. If something happens in Wartwood, I'm always one of the first to know it."
"You-you…"
"I'm not doing this for you, Toadstool," the old Plantar's householder said, keeping glaring at him. "Even if I do not approve their approach, my kids and the other farmers are right in saying that your sudden rent raise was tyrannical and unfair. Truth to be told, I would not be too sad if you were forced to leave town and leave someone competent to take the reins as our new mayor. The only reason why I'm stepping up, instead of leaving you to face the consequence of your own actions, is because I don't want Captain Grime and his soldiers to use this as an excuse to take on my children!"
As Hop Pop nominated Grime's names, the various frogs shuddered, looking aside with bad-hidden distress. Even Toadie, who as Toadstool's assistant was one of the most important members of Wartwood's government, suddenly went pale in fear. Maybe because, due to his job, he knew how high the risk of Grime coming into Wartwood currently was.
"Huh, who is this Grime?" Sasha asked.
"I'll tell you later, Sash," Ivy quickly said, making a sign for her to postpone the conversation.
Silently Toadstool walked up to the golden coin's bags, as Marcy ripped off a piece of paper and showed it to him. "This is the exact amount of the quadrupled rent for the whole Farmer's market. I checked it and this amount would be more than enough to cover it all. Just to ask, how often are the market's stands expected to pay rent?"
"We usually pay rent once a year." One of the farmers quickly replied.
"So," James intervened, "Can we assume you won't force them to pay again for at least one year from now?"
Toadstool stuttered, trying to calm down and in his voice "O-of course…"
"Then it is settled!" Anne jumped forward. "Take your stinking money and leave these people alone until next year!"
The farmer frogs looked at each other: even if they knew they would have to pay the quadrupled rent again next year, they had more than enough time to think how to quadruple their own incomes as well. By the time the next rent was due, they would be ready.
Thus, their stands were safe. Their incomes were safe. And they knew who they had to thank for this.
"Hooray for Hop Pop the Generous!"
"Huh?" The old frog stopped, as he saw every other frog looking at him with eyes filled with happiness and gratitude. "Wait, I didn't do anything special. I simply-"
"He saved our stands!"
"He paid for everyone so we don't have to!"
"Let's carry him in triumph!"
"Plantars are honest and righteous!"
"Hey, hey!" Hop Pop protested (barely) as the other farmers grabbed him and carried him away in triumph, the humans and the others quickly joined them, leaving Toadstool and Toadie alone with the money.
"So, in the end…we won, sir?"
"Indeed, we did," the mayor said, still looking in the direction the former protesters had carried Hop Pop. But then, why do I feel like the loser?
"Thankfully, everything ended up for the better, sir. We have more than enough money to pay the raised taxes, we won't have to worry about our people wanting to hurt us, and we didn't even have to risk contacting Toad Tower."
"Oh, yeah," Toadstool looked aside, a cold sweat running on his forefront as he remembered the letter he already sent. "That would be bad, I guess…"
(…)
Captain Grime, commander of the Southern Toad Tower and the highest-ranking toad of Frog Valley, was not amused.
The toad troops under his command, supposedly the valley's strongest warriors, were in truth a bunch of pathetic buffoons, without discipline and dignity, who spent their days fooling around rather than training or actually doing what they were supposed to do as soldiers. Even as he strived to reinforce discipline by punishing the most disappointing ones, nothing seemed to work and he was feeling more and more like a kindergarten tutor rather than a toad commander.
And now, according to the message he received by mosquito mail, there was unrest and a sign of an imminent rebellion in Wartwood, one of the main towns in the Valley. Normally, this would not be an issue, if it weren't for the fact that he hadn't enough efficient soldiers to send and quell the rebellion.
Thus, he decided to summon one of the best soldiers he had left.
"Captain Grime, sir!" Bog said, walking into Grime's office. "You wanted to see me?"
"Of course I wanted to see you, idiot! That's why I summoned you in the first place."
Bog was a great fighter, and sufficiently cunning, but he didn't have enough grey matter between their ears to have a critical thought alone. He was unable to plan strategy, or even use tactics; he was a good grunt, useful on the frontline, or to scare small communities into submission, but nothing more.
At least, he would never question Grime's orders.
"I received a message from the current mayor of Wartwood." The toad captain continued, showing Toadstool's letter to his underling, "According to his words, the frogs are getting unhappy about their current government. Just today, there was a large protest against him and the toads' rule."
"Sir, that's practically treason!" Bog immediately said, not caring about (or maybe, being simply unable to) disguising his own emotions, "Toads are born to lead, and frogs are born to follow. That's the natural order of things!"
"I agree with you on this, soldier. For this exact reason, I summoned you: can you guess what my decision on the whole issue is?"
"What is there even to decide? Let's march on their town and burn it to the ground! This will teach those frogs to never question us ever again!"
"That would be the ideal course of action, Bog." Grime sighed, "The problem is, I can count toad soldiers worthy of this name that the fingers of just one of my hands. Haven't you seen how many of your fellow warriors behave more like clowns than soldiers? Yesterday, there was someone wearing his breastplate as pants!"
Bog stopped, realizing Grime was right. The garrison was in no shape to quell a rebellion; if the captain even attempted to bring such a bunch of unruly fools to fight those uppity, rebellious frog farmers, not only would they be easily repelled, but the Toad Army's reputation would get a huge blow.
"Moreover, this is not the only reason of concern we should have, according to the mayor."
"Sir, what do you mean?"
"Try reading for yourself."
Grime passed Bog the letter, focusing on the soldier's face as he strived to get through its content, his few brain cells going into visible stress, before his face twisted into a grimace.
Yes, this is the reaction I was expecting out of you.
"Monsters? Monsters with huge heads, long spindly limbs and a weird, stubby bump right in the middle of the face, raised by one of those locals' farmers to use against us? It's impossible! That's ridiculous."
Actually, it could be. You may have forgotten about that strange object we found some time ago, and that we sent to Newtopia by Fly Postal, but I surely have not.
"That's what I want you to check."
"Sir?"
"Take Fens and every soldier you trust is disciplined enough, go to Wartwood and check the truth in this report. If the mayor is lying, or simply trying to play a prank, you have my authorization to arrest him and bring him for punishment, while we select a new mayor to keep those farmers in check. But if he's telling the truth…"
"Sir, what are your orders?"
"For now, just check the situation and return to report to me. If the locals are really raising monsters to use against us, we could be facing something more than a simple rebellion. Worse yet, the shape the troops currently are means we are ridiculously unprepared to face any kind of insurrection. I need someone I can trust to give me a trustful report on the situation."
"I will make sure the toad's rule won't be uncontested!"
"I have faith in your success, Bog. Since Kron and his squad disappeared, you are the best soldier we may have left…"
Grime did not notice, nor did Bog, about a small black bug hidden on the room's ceiling, reporting everything they said to one of those strange monsters with a huge head, long spindly limbs and a weird, stubby bump in the middle of his face…
(…)
"Well, well, well. Looks like your captain has finally realized something's not alright." The boy in armor said, looking down at the lone toad survivor, the only survivor of the squad who had disappeared just a few days ago, as they were investigating some strange rumors about frog families disappearing and unknown noises in the night. The rest of his squad had long since been executed, their deaths nothing more than a fun spectacle for the master of the mechanical pikeys currently holding him on the ground.
"T-that's Captain Grime, you freak! He's the baddest toad of the Valley, and once you met him, you will understand why!"
Aiden simply snapped his fingers, as one of the mecha-soldiers twisted more of the toad's arm, making him scream in pain as he felt his own bones break.
"You seriously think that a mere toad could pose any threat to a real intelligent being? To someone like me?" The boy walked up to the toad, grabbing one of his eyelids and pulling it by force, threatening to rip it off. "You're just a toad, a puny beast infused with a mockery of what being intelligent truly means!"
By response, Kron looked at him and defiantly spat on him, trying to hit the unknown creature in one of his eyes, but only managing to dirty one of his cheeks with a mix of spittle and blood. The creature, noticing this, pulled the toad's face down to the ground as the two mechanical soldiers moved to break other of his bones.
"I guess you're really useless to me, animal. And I have no use for beasts as you," the boy snapped his fingers. Immediately, the pikeys grabbed the toad by the neck, and with a disgusting sound, turned it around, breaking it and killing the Amphibian instantly, making the traumatized frog family (now Aiden's unwilling servants) curl up in fear.
If the Toads are sending an expedition to Wartwood, the boy analyzed the situation; it won't be long before Grime realizes that those rumors are real. Moreover, if my fellow brethren are really starting to go against these animals, I can't afford to stand still and do nothing to rescue them.
A hissing sound announced the metallic eagle, returning from its mission.
"StormHawk, report me what you saw."
Once again, the robotic bird moved his head, his eyes reproducing what it had seen for his master and creator. Aiden silently watched as he saw the humans leading a revolt of frogs against their current toad masters.
So, they started putting frogs and toads against each other? Aiden thought as his expression twisted into a smirk, Looks like they have not only beauty, but also brains on their side. Predictable, if Wit is really among them.
He looked away, in direction of the main military feature of the Valley. Even from where he and his soldiers were currently settled, the human boy in armor could clearly recognize Toad Tower, its imposing figure dominating every other visible settlement in the valley.
Still a far cry from the Black Tower, Aiden smiled as his memory went back to his personal castle and fortress.
"My fellows started the dance, so it's only natural for me to join." Then, he turned to his mechanical minions, "StormHawk, start a reconnaissance mission on Toad Tower: I want to know how many soldiers they possess, and what is their preparation state. Also, I want to know the stability of their fortress, and if it has weak points in its architecture."
The giant steel eagle hissed, soaring again in the sky as fast as he landed.
"Thanks to the efforts of my future consorts and retainers ," the boy monologue to his still motionless minions, "now the Frogs of the valley are starting to rebel against the authority of Toads. I will approach their commander, and help assure that both sides will destroy each other in the upcoming conflict." Aiden looked down, at the sobbing frogs, his servants, still quivering in fear, unable to cry in absence of tongues.
"I have no more use for them. Get them out of my sight."
The pikey mechas nodded, walking up to the horrified frogs, once again struggling to resist, to escape, the parents striving to give their child a chance to run and-
Among trees and swamps, no one could hear them in their last moment of life.