Race to Arms

"So Maddie, any results?"

"No, Marcy." The blue frog replied by looking up. "I consulted all the books I had on hand, but I couldn't find anything that would help us find out anything about the Box."

Marcy sighed. Part of her, the part that had pushed her to trick Sasha into making Anne steal the Box, was not sad that they had made no progress. After all, if they never found a way to reactivate the Box again, they would be forced to stay in Amphibia forever, as she had wished. No matter what happened, she would stay with her friends forever, a life of endless adventures...

Yet at the same time, she could not help but feel guilty about these thoughts. Not only for kidnapping her best friends; not only for having involved Jacob, James, and Amelia against her intentions; but also because Amphibia was far and different from the fantasy world she imagined. Far from a world of adventure and magical creatures, Amphibia was a place where danger lurked everywhere and where injustice and bullying were the laws of those who ruled. It would still have been a splendid setting for a role-playing game or a video game.

However, this was not a game, but the world where they now lived. And in the real world, people could get hurt for real, could get wounded for real. And they could die for real.

A pain in her chest made her stop: if Anne or Sasha died, indirectly because of her actions...she would never forgive herself.

"-Marcy!" Maddie said loudly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, Maddie. I'm-I'm fine! It's just...some unhappy thoughts..."

"It's okay. I understand your concern, but just because we haven't made much progress doesn't mean things are bad. At least, one thing I was able to clarify for sure."

"Which is?"

"The gems," Maddie pointed to the sketch of the six differently colored gems. "From what I could tell, whatever energy was contained within them was not consumed, but somehow drained as a result of the event that brought you here. This means that if we could identify where that energy went, we could try to extract it and transfer it back into the stones.

According to the law of conservation of mass, the reasoning lines up, Marcy thought with an analytical eye. Yet, if the energy of the stones was no longer in them…where it was now?

(…)

"Ok, everyone." Sasha said, looking around, a map of Wartwood's area on the table "This is the first meeting we had since we founded our militia…"

"Don't you mean, the Wartwood's Militia?" James snickered on his chair, pointing with his eyes to a handmade flag adorning the wall behind them. It was something Sprig and Ivy did together, with the symbol of a hammer and a sword crossing over a big white W in a green scenery.

"Yes, yes, that. Anyway…where's Mar-Mar?"

"She said she would arrive a little late, Sash." Amelia replied while continuing on polish her katana. "Something about an experiment with Maddie, or whatever."

"Sorry I'm late!" The aforementioned dark-haired girl said slamming the door open, "So…what did I miss?"

"So far, nothing important Mar-Mar." Anne was quickly to reassure her friend, "Sasha…had barely begin."

"Yes I had." The blonde grumbled, clearly irritated that the meeting didn't start flawlessly as she hoped, "as I was saying, this is the first meeting we had since we took the role as Wartwood's protectors, and I think it's a good time to discuss what we've done so far."

"Well," Jacob spoke, "We took care of those large mantises who threatened the city a week ago. We vanquished them good, right James?"

"Indeed Jacob. Who would have thought such big monsters taste just like burgers?"

"Boys, you're missing the point!" Sasha angrily said, "In all the time we have been tasked with the protection of local townsfolk, what have we achieved so far? Nothing! Wartwood is still defenseless just at it was the day we arrived."

"Hey, Wartwood is not defenseless!" Anne protested from her corner, "I mean, they have us to protect them, and so far we've doing a great job!"

"Plus, all the people who promised to help us!" Marcy smiled, only to once again come to confront Sasha's cynical glaze.

"That wasn't skill guys, that was luck, and luck always runs out in the end. I mean, I'm not unhappy that we took down those mantises, but what would've happened if we hadn't been able to face them? What if before we could confront them, they had made their way to Wartwood's central square? There was nothing to stop them if we had failed."

Jacob moved to talk before he realized that, under her callousness, Sasha had a point. Plus, there was another "elephant in the room" that no one had addressed yet.

Until now, that is.

"Don't forget the toads," Amelia pointed out. "If they do end up returning with a large army and siege engines, no matter how hard we try to protect the city, we would fail. Even if we manage to stop the first assault, they would simply circumvent all of us, cut off our retreat and take us prisoner…or worse."

A cold chill of horror ran through everyone's bodies and veins. They still remembered the ugly expression Ferns had while she said she wanted to "taste" them, and nothing assured them she or someone else would not try again, given the chance.

"So…" Anne raised her hand, "Does someone have some suggestion? Something we can do to make Wartwood less defenseless, maybe to reduce the risk of large wildlife attacks or even in prevision of a toad attack?"

"Actually," Marcy opened her journal, showing off some sketches and blueprints she had worked on in the past weeks, "I may have come up with something…"

As the various humans looked over her friend's handwriting and drawing, they were quick to notice that Marcy had single-handedly planned a flawless strategy to better protect Wartwood and his people: a wooden wall and a moat, to protect Wartwood from the large wildlife coming out of the woods; watchtowers at the gates and in strategic points, to spot upcoming menaces from afar; large stationary ballistae, with enough piercing power to perforate even the toughest exoskeleton of a predatory bug; embrasures and machicolations in the walls and the towers, to give the defenders the chance to attack the enemy while still protected by their defensive works…

"Marbles," Jacob wondered, looking at her friends with newfound surprise and respect. "You wrote all of this? Alone?"

"I had the time, and I wanted to help." The girl replied, unsure about the looks everyone was giving her, "Plus, Maddie did tell me I needed something to clear up my mind after spell-studying."

This is what you call downtime? James thought, unable to formulate a coherent thought. Every time he believed to know everything about his friends, they still found a way to surprise him again and again.

"This-this is actually a good plan!" Sasha smirked, turning to her, "Wait, if you had this already, why have you never talked about it with us?"

"Huh, no one asked me about it?" Marcy replied, chuckling nervously. "Plus, before starting any of this, we have to get the permission of the city's leader."

Jacob grumbled at the implications, "How good are our chances to convince Toadstool? I mean, nothing of this plan looks cheap, and yet, I don't think there's anything we can remove or cut without reducing the chance to protect the town as well."

"Leave it to me!" Sasha suddenly jerked up, a grin forming on her face, "I'm a smooth talker, you should know it by now. Trust me, Toadstool is not going to say no to me…"

(…)

"No." The toad said, confronting Sasha's glare with his own. "No, no, no, no, no! On second thought… no! Do you realize what you're asking me to do?"

"Huh, do your job as the mayor?" Jacob said, "I mean, it's your duty to provide the townspeople with what they need: Nurture, Healing, and Defense."

"You're asking me to pay for large works that would deplete the town's treasury, less than a week before the elections!" Toadstool finally vented all of his emotion. "Are you trying to make me lose my position?"

"I guess your attempts to win back your townspeople's trust and confidence had not been very successful for now."

Toadstool didn't see it, but behind his back, Toadie make a signal that the humans quickly comprehended: yep, Toadstool was still unpopular in Wartwood. Very unpopular.

"This is why we're asking you to support us with this project. " Sasha pushed forward, "If you help us, it could be the biggest chance to regain people's trust just before the elections come."

"By emptying the city coffins? Hah!" Toadstool mocked the idea, "Sorry kids, but I can't afford any reckless plan for now: polls say I'm in third place!"

"Third?" Anne asked puzzled, "Aren't you the only candidate so far?"

"There is a large number of people who express their desire to vote "Neither of the above" or "White Board" Toadie reviewed the poll results.

Amelia exchanged a glance with Anne and James: Toadstool was in serious danger to lose in a mayoral election where he was the only candidate.

"And tell me," Sasha spoke again, trying to find an opening to bypass her adversary's defenses. "How do you plan to regain public support in the little time you've left? What strategies are you actually using to boost your popularity?"

"The best strategy ever: I'll remind Wartwood's people all the good things about me!" Toadstool proudly announced as Toadie pushed in a large poster, unrolling it in front of the humans. The poster had a large image of Toadstool smiling with a sentence down it:

"Toadstool. This time is not that bad?" James read aloud.

"It doesn't look like a good political slogan."

"I know. We didn't need one before, since we could simply buy back their support-"

"Toadie!"

"Sorry, sir!"

Sasha had to summon all of her willpower to not laugh at the toad's pathetic attempt. This is going to be a piece of cake…

"Tell me, Toadstool: do you know the way longtime politicians of our world stay in charge?"

"Huh, by bribing the voters and silencing the opposition?"

"No," Actually, yes. But this wouldn't be a good speech for me to use. "By giving the voters what they need. And what people need can be summarized as a comfortable lifestyle, safety in their everyday lives, and barely enough luxuries to make them happy. And by helping us, you can achieve all of this."

"H-how?"

"First, if you support us," Sasha's powerful manipulating skills started to play their tune, "You'll show everyone that you care about the safety of Wartwood inhabitants. People will look at you, and see someone who did something tangible to make their lives safer instead of relying on empty promises. Second, to prepare the city defenses, we will need materials and resources from local shops and businesses. Covering those expenses, even if it will empty the city coffins for the time being, will bring enough economic return to those businesses to start up several beneficial circles and flows of incomes: the shop owners will use that money for their families, or to upgrade their activities, and those who will earn them will spend them as well. As long as the flux never stops, the people's lifestyles will keep getting more and more comfortable, and even taxes will be paid more willingly, thus returning what was lost to the town's coffins…with interest."

I have to admit it's interesting to see Sasha's manipulating skills in actions, Jacob mused from behind, at least when they're used on someone else, other than me.

"People…paying taxes more willingly?" Toadstool said in wonder, having understood nothing of Sasha's explanation but this short sentence."

"Sure, and not only that. Once the flux is regular enough and words start to spread that Wartwood is more affluent than before, shop traders and frogs looking for a place to start their business will come here, thus adding to the income from tariffs and other incomes. Once enough money has been gathered by the town hollow, you can use that to finance new public works to start new positive flows and gain a lot of positive press. For example, you could use that to rebuild the school, which was destroyed and never rebuilt; or you could repay the main roads of the city, or any of the other repairs Wartwood needs for a long time, and that was never done!"

"I didn't have the money to spend on such frivolities!"

"They're not frivolities, they're opportunities. Your city will become more beautiful, your townsfolk will be richer, and you're going to be more popular than ever! And as long as you'll remain popular and frogs will vote for you, you'll still be the mayor. This is your opportunity. You just need to take it…"

Sasha retreated a few steps, letting her words sink into Toadstool's mind. The large toad may have been a seasoned politician, but he was a newbie when it came to charisma and speech. Meanwhile, Sasha, who was so used to getting everything she wanted by saying the words people wanted to hear from her, had more practical experience than he could ever imagine.

In short, the outcome was already decided by the time the blonde human had managed to get his attention on what she was saying.

"So…where do I have to sign?"

Sasha smirked.

"I have to admit, kid," Loggle said, his voice sounding astonished as he gazed over the list Jacob was presenting him, "When I offered to give my help to Wartwood's defense, I didn't even consider it would mean receiving so many commissions!"

"You're not the only one," The boy smirked at his former boss. "Toadstool offered to pay for our work to make Wartwood much more defensible, and thus we decided to divide everything we needed among the shops we knew for their quality."

"Oh, for a moment I thought…you did it for the bond that tied us."

Bond? You cheated me out of my wages! The boy mentally yelled, "Anyway, can you provide this immediately? This is the most important work we need!"

"Well, I absolutely…have enough wood for this little project of yours, but…what are you planning to do with it?"

"A palisade," Jacob replied. "The idea would be to encircle Wartwood with stone walls to protect it against large wildlife or incoming Toad attacks, but it would take too much time and there aren't many frogs who are experts on that. So, we have to settle for a wooden wall."

"And where's the issue with that?" Loggle looked back, almost sounding offended, "What's the problem with a wooden wall?"

"Loggle, do you know of a wood that's resistant to fire, very hard to break and that termites cannot get at it?"

Loggle smirked, sensing an opportunity. "I absolutely…have just what you could need for. Follow me…"

Jacob walked behind the axolotl to the back of his store, up to a large pile of light trunks. "These trunks are from a special kind of tree, called "The Weeping Pine". Once cut, their wood hard so much to be almost indestructible, and thus is unassailable both by parasitic insects and fire."

"That sounds like what we are looking for, but tell me, how do you have such wood in the back? And why do you look so eager to sell it?"

"Well…to tell the truth, I bought it some time ago for a client who wanted to rebuild his house. However, he disappeared without paying, and it's taking up a lot of space in the back-"

"-and I guess it's quite an expensive wood, right?" Jacob looked at the axolotl with a nonplussed expression.

"Absolutely!" Loggle admitted, "Of course, if you do not want to buy it-"

"Why would the price be an issue?" The human retorted, "After all, it's Toadstool who pays!"

(…)

Once the materials they needed were gathered, construction work on Wartwood's defensive measures began, with the help of local laborers (mostly, people still looking for a job or for a chance to earn some extra copper to help their families) and following Marcy's projects. Through hard work and determination, a large moat and a tall palisade were elevated, to protect Wartwood from any large monster coming out of the woods; two towers were elevated on both sides of the town's main gate, giving the would-be defenders an excellent vantage point in case of upcoming toad armies looking to raze Wartwood to the ground; another tower (even taller), was built on a hill to act as the Militia's "observation point" from which they could spot any incoming menace.

And of course, everywhere something was being built, there was Sasha shouting at everyone to work harder and faster.

"Come on people; move, move!" The blonde girl yelled at full lungs, as half a dozen of frogs (plus Anne and James) sweated on the tower's building. "We need to have this finished as soon as possible!"

"Instead of yelling, why don't you come and help us?" James jerked back, her eyes full of snark. "You're the only of us who's not working!"

"But I'm working!" She replied, "I'm overseeing you and distributing the tasks in the most efficient manner so you can work to the best of your capacity."

"All I'm seeing is that we're sweating to secure the structure while you're yelling at us without doing anything concrete!"

"James, listen to me-"

"Actually, Sasha, he may have a point." Anne stopped for a second, dropping some water on her forehead to better withstand the hot temperature "Why do we have to rush it? Even if we end up finishing late, would that be such a bad thing?"

"In these circumstances yes, Boonchuy! Do you remember that the tower we're currently building is supposed to host the anti-mantises weapon Marcy and the others are currently building? If we end up late, it could spell the difference when the city will get attacked!"

"But-"

"No buts! I'll return to check on this later, I have to see if Jacob is slacking off again. Keep going!" She repeated, before walking away.

"I cannot stand her authoritarian way anymore!" James grumbled once he was sure Sasha was out of earshot. "Who does she think she is?"

"Come on, James. Sasha's just worried about everyone's safety, and she is right on this issue. It may be tiring now, but if the defenses are not ready by the time we'll need them, it could be worse."

"It's not the reasoning I'm contesting, Anne, it's her methods! Sasha's always micro-managing everything we're doing, and she's quite imposing with her ideas as well."

"Sasha's not that imposing…"

"Have you already forgotten what she did to your last proposal for the militia?" The boy looked at her. "She basically did a hostile takeover on it!"

"No, she's just…Sasha has the natural skill set for a leader and thus she's the best suited to take certain decisions-"

Blimey, does this girl have no self-respect at all?, James glared over the unaware pushover. Jacob had told him about the girls before Amphibia, how Sasha basically bullied and blackmailed her so-called "friends" into doing only what she wanted, and yet, he hadn't dared to interfere in the situation so far. Even if they were stranded together in the same frog-populated world, that was a private issue among them; he didn't interfere, because he reputedly to have no reason to do so.

Until now, that is.

"Anne, I know that you and Sasha are friends, but I feel like you're acting…a bit too flexible and mellow."

"Mellow?" Anne glared back at him, realizing there was something wrong with his words.

"I mean, you're used to letting others do whatever they want, they can basically walk all over you."

"Walk over- wait, are you saying I'm a pushover?!" Anne replied in anger, as James' snipe cut right through her, the frogs stopping their work and watching them, "I'm not a pushover!"

"Oh, ok: you're not a pushover." He replied with a neutral tone full of sarcasm.

"You think I'm a pushover?" Anne yelled, "Seriously James, that hurts! I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends! However, a real friend doesn't try to hide the facts just to make you feel a little better! A real friend will tell you your flaws and be supportive or take action if necessary, and your flaw is that currently you're not used to standing up for yourself."

"You think I cannot stand up for myself? Well, watch this: I'm leaving! What do you think of that, I think that's pretty strong is what I think!"

"Foolish girl," James grumbled again as Anne, already tired by the work and irked by his words walked away, looking for some alone time to clean her head. A part of him wanted to say back to her that leaving in the middle of a conversation was not strong at all; in fact, it made her look quite childish.

Yet, he decided to not say anything. Maybe, he already spoke too much.

"Come on, guys, let's get back to work. Anne needs some time by herself."

I messed up. Maybe, I should have kept quiet. Besides, why should I worry about them? I'm not their friend, just…someone they're forced with for now.

(…)

"Slowly…slowly…"

At some distance from the tower's building site, Toadstool, dressed in work clothes and with a small helmet all over his head, was busy with another project of his own. Sasha had promised him reinforcing Wartwood's defenses would have favored him in the long game, and yet, while the results of his approval were under everyone's eyes, he still felt unsure of his position. Sasha had promised him a miracle, but what if such a miracle wouldn't have happened? What if he ended up depleting the town's treasury for nothing, just before the elections?

It was this fear, and the fact he knew that his popularity was still hanging on a precarious balance, that drove the mayor to do something he never thought he would have done before.

That is, trying to come up with a popularity boost of his own, by fixing the old school's building, destroyed and abandoned for a long time already.

"Come on…no, no!" The mayor yelled, as his latest attempt failed and the building he strived so desperately to salvage fell on its side, sending his work back to square one. He was tempted to yell, but fortunately, he had failed so many times already that he hadn't the strength left to yell anymore.

"Huh, Mr. Mayor? What are you doing?"

Toadstool's eyes widened, as he heard a young voice call him from behind. He turned around, seeing several frogs, many of them children, looking at him with curiosity.

"Huh, I…I…" he strived to come up with a good excuse to protect his reputation, before realizing he couldn't. "It's not what it looks like?"

"No?" A young light green frog said walking forward. "To us, it looks like you're attempting to repair the building, but your skill leaves something to be desired.

Toadstool grumbled, as the young frog hit the mark: before even attempting, he never imagined construction work could be this hard. Now, he knew.

"Come on, let's help you."

"What, help me?" The toad gasped, not understanding why people would be willing to help him without promises of a reward or even asking. "Why do you want to help me?"

"Because you look like you could need some help. Besides, this is the old school: why are you trying to fix it now?"

"Because…" Toadstool spoke, sighing as long-repressed guilt was finally released. "I want to fix an old mistake of mine. I may not have been a good mayor, but I never wanted the school to be destroyed and left to rot."

Toadstool didn't notice, but among the frogs around him, some smiled as they heard his words.

"Then, let me help as well."

"What?"

"The more the merrier, no? Plus, we can finish it sooner!"

One by one, several frogs came to Toadstool's help, and slowly, the school started to retake its old form. Toadstool didn't understand what was happening, but for the first time in years, he once again felt like a leader.

(…)

"Marcy!"

"Gah!" The dark-haired girl yelled in shock, her heart beating at a fast speed. "Amelia, please don't slam the door: you scared me!"

"Sorry, Mar-Mar, but Akitsu and I… just had an idea to help the Militia and the defense of Wartwood!"

"Bri! Bri! Bri!"

"You did?" Marcy asked, amused. Amelia had already tried to suggest ideas in the previous days, but since many of hers, were…not feasible, none of them had been accepted yet.

"What kind of idea it was?" Marcy asked with hope.

"It's simple: you remember that Akitsu is a dragonfly, right?"

"A baby dragonfly. Anyway yes, I do remember."

"Whenever she will grow up, she will be able to fly just like the other dragonflies. So I was thinking…would it be a good idea to be able to see our enemies from afar? Right from the sky?"

"I…I admit it's not a bad idea," Marcy pondered about it. She already had the idea of keeping watch from the sky, using a hot-air balloon hooked to the ground, but she had to repeal it after Sasha (rightfully) pointed out that with so many predators bugs who were known to be able to fly, the risk was too great.

Nevertheless, if the observers were riding a flying mount that could move more freely than a hot air balloon…

"For this reason, I need your help to prepare…this!" Amelia smirked, showing Marcy some crude drawing she had made, depicting herself riding an adult Akitsu and screaming "Yipee!"

"W-what is this?"

"A jumpsuit, you silly!" Amelia replied, as it was the most natural thing in the world. "Better than a common parachute, it would allow me to fly alongside Akitsu whenever I need to land on my own or to dive upon my enemies! So… can you help make me one?"

"Sorry, Amelia," Marcy started to apologize preemptively, "but I don't have the time now. Maddie asked me to work on this very difficult spell, and later I have some more sketches of defenses Sasha asked me to work on. I know you would have wanted my help, but so far-"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Marcy." Amelia waved her hand, surprising her friend with how mature she was acting, "At least... you're open about it"

"Open about what, Amelia?"

"Well, that such a project it's beyond your capacity, of course!"

Time seemed to stop as Marcy's undivided attention focused on her. The dark-haired lovable nerd was one of the nicest and friendliest people ever, and while her friend Sasha was used having an angry expression, Marcy was too carefree and devoid of responsibility to be angry. Yet, even Saint James' most adorable nerd had some things that could make her angry. Among them, the main ones were badmouthing War of the Warlocks, upsetting her friends, cheating at chess...and calling her dumb.

"What?" Marcy said, in a smiling yet somehow furious expression, her voice growing cold.

"Not that I'm blaming you or something like that!" Amelia continued, apparently unaware of the expression Marcy was showing now, "I mean, designing a whole jumpsuit sounds like a pretty difficult thing to do. And you're still a Middle School student, thus-"

"That's it!" Marcy roared, grabbing a piece of paper and starting to furiously sketch out a plan for Amelia's jumpsuit "I'm going to show you how difficult it can be! I'll make it light to wear, and still resistant so it can cross as a light armor if needed; then I'll add some small throwaway weapon hidden on the sidearm…"

"And that's how you can outsmart smart people into doing what you want them to do, by pinching their pride." Amelia silently nodded, looking at little Akitsu chomping on a small green apple, Marcy was too focused on her new propriety project to even notice.

"Bri! Bri!"

"Aw, you're just the cutest, baby girl!"

(…)

"Hurry up!" Sasha shouted, "This section wall must be finished by tonight!"

"We are already working as best as we can," one of the frogs replied, his voice sounding tired from all the work they were doing, "Can't we take just a small break? We've been on this since morning!"

"A break? You're not allowed to take breaks: if the defenses are not ready in time, the whole of Wartwood will be left defenseless. Of course, you don't want-"

"Sasha?"

Hearing that voice, the blonde girl stopped, turning around to see a small yellow-skinned frog looking at her with a worried expression. "Ivy? What are you doing in here?"

"Mom let me out early, so I decided to come and check how you were doing, but…what are you doing? Why are you yelling at everyone?"

"I'm not- Ivy, I'm not being mean on purpose." The human girl defended, earning some doubtful looks from the frogs working on the palisade. "We are currently busy working on the defenses for the whole city, and if they're not ready for when they'll be needed, the whole city might be in danger."

"But then, why aren't you helping?" Ivy sniped, noting how Sasha's uniform was clearly still clean in comparison to the frogs working behind her.

"I am helping! I'm directing the whole project so everyone can work better!"

Ivy looked at her adoptive sister with a doubtful look. From what she was able to see so far, Sasha was acting all bossy and overbearing, like everything had to be done exactly as she wanted. A part of her wanted to ask her why she was acting like this, why all of a sudden her cool adoptive sister was acting like a jerk and a bully.

Yet, she did say it was for the good of the town. And one of the main lessons her mom taught her, among various sessions of martial arts, was that everyone deserved the benefit of doubt.

"Ok, then. I'll get going; by the way, mom wanted me to tell you that tomorrow you're supposed to come working. Will you remember?"

"I'll remember, I'll remember." Sasha grumbled, watching as Ivy jumped away, before turning around to face her workers once again, "Well, what are you doing? This is how you're supposed to work, not that way! That's the wrong way!"

Seriously, what's wrong with everyone today? Why does everyone look like they have issues with how things have to be done? It's the natural way to do things, after all…

(…)

"Stupid James and his mouth!" Anne grumbled as she walked, kicking a pebble over and over. "I'm letting others walk over me? Just because I'm friendly, that means I'm basically a pushover?"

The girl kept on grumbling, unable to let go of her grudge over the words James had told her. She knew Sasha was her friend, and that friends would do everything for each other. She was proof of this, given how many fancy hats or pretty shoes she had let Sasha "borrow" from her, and yet-

-why did those words hurt me that much? Why do I keep thinking about them?

"Hey, Anne?" A familiar voice called her, distracting her for a few minutes from her own inner turmoil.

"Jacob, what's up?"

"I just came to tell you that now is your turn at the watchtower," He pointed back at the recently built tower far away. "Sasha's reprimanded me already just because I was bored so I decided to watch a movie on my phone."

"Well, the point of an observation tower is for you to keep watch for upcoming dangers," Anne tried to mediate on Sasha's behalf. "Thus, if you get distracted-"

"Anne, do you know what Sasha's greatest flaw is?"

"What?" She replied, taken by surprise by the sudden question.

"She lacks humility." The boy replied all of a sudden, looking afar. "Even when she's the most well-meaning, she doesn't respect the opinions of others, and she always forces others to do what she wants, either by intimidation or psychological blackmail."

"Blackmail? Sasha would never blackmail anyone!"

"No? Not even using your so-called friendship as chains, feeling offended if you don't like her ideas, threatening implicitly to stop being your friend if you don't submit? Look, Anne, I know you, Marcy and Sasha have been friends since you were toddlers, and I know how good of a leader she is, most of the time. How passionate she is," he sighed.

"However, at the same time… that passion means Sasha's not the easiest person to disagree with. Whenever someone has a different opinion than hers, she gets all defensive and acts like everyone must agree with her, either by smooth-talking and manipulating them with that silver tongue of hers…or by outright forcing you, even if you just wanted to see a different movie at the cinema. I know that's not something I should say behind her back, but sometimes…I feel like Sasha's being a bully with you and Mar-Mar."

"A bully?" Anne gasped, too disoriented to even refute the idea.

"I mean, I know that her parents are divorced, and she grew up in a toxic home and so on, but sometimes I feel like she's acting toxic with you as well. Whenever you're out together, you always end up doing what she wants; you go where she likes, you do what she likes…I never dare to say this to her, but when she acts like this, she resembles her mother. And not in a good way!"

Anne opened her mouth to reply, before realizing she couldn't. Her mind drifted back to the day of her fateful birthday, before the box, before ending up trapped in Amphibia: she remembered Sasha's suggestion to skip school, how she didn't feel sure about it, Sasha's menacing glare all over before returning to be cheerful as she decided to accept…

She remembered that moment as if it had happened yesterday; and every other time something similar had happened to her. Every time Sasha pressed her to do something she didn't like or she didn't want to do.

"Anne, are you ok?" Jacob rushed to her side, suddenly alarmed. "I didn't want to badmouth Sasha, of course. I'm sorry if what I said was uncalled for-"

"No, I mean- no need to do that, I get it. Sasha can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but we're good friends!" Anne hid her worsened turmoil behind a circumstantial fake smile. "Anyway, I suppose we should get going, huh?"

"Indeed." The boy smiled, unaware of the shock his own words had caused in Anne. "I'll go check with Ma-Mar and the others. Good luck on the watch duty."

Anne waved as Jacob left, before feeling her heart grip as the sudden weight of the words fell all over her. Once again, she remembered James' words, but this time, she no longer felt anger at them; rather, she felt an epiphany, as some wool which until then had been covering her eyes had been suddenly removed.

Was this how she looked from an external point of view? As someone who couldn't stand up for what was right and who was always doing what the others wanted? As a spineless fool? As...as a pushover?

No, no! Sasha was not some kind of abusive manipulative toxic bully, she was her friend! She always has been her friend, ever since she saved them from those bullies when they were little. And every time someone tried to mess with her, she protected her. She was the school's queen bee, and she used that influence of hers to protect her, not to…exploit her.

Yet, why do I feel this messed up inside? Why do I feel bad the more I think about it?

Suddenly, Anne realized that she needed to talk. She would go and see Sasha, she would tell her about her insecurities, Sasha would reassure her and they would go back to be best friends! It was perfect! She just needed to go and see her and-

Her feet stopped, as she realized that she couldn't go and meet Sasha if she was on watchtower duty. The wisest thing would have been to face her later, but Anne doubted she could wait that long.

Oh well, Jacob himself said it was very boring. I'm sure Wartwood will still be fine if I start later…

And so, once again, Anne rejected her responsibilities for the most immediate satisfaction of her personal needs, embracing the lesson Sasha herself has taught her by skipping lessons. Fate, however, had different plans, and soon, the blonde girl's own lessons would backfire on her…

(…)

"Sasha, do you…have a minute?" The girl peeked inside the barracks' main room, where a certain blonde-haired girl was checking on a map.

"Boonchuy, what are you doing here?" Sasha Waybright, head cheerleader of Saint James' School and current de-facto leader of the Wartwood Militia said looking at her. "Why aren't you at work with the others?"

"James and I…had a disagreement, Sash. I couldn't stand him, so I came here to talk with you."

"Talk with me?" Sasha almost chuckled "About what?"

"About us, Sash." Anne said, trying to work up the courage to speak "Do you-do you-"

"Come on, Anne: we don't have all day! If you've forgotten, Wartwood's defense don't build themselves!"

"I know that! I just had something important to ask you."

"Whatever it is, just tell me. Don't dance around it!"

"But-"

"That's an order!"

"Do you think that I'm a pushover?!"

Silence. Anne covered her mouth, almost unbelieving she had managed to say that, while Sasha looked at her with widened eyes.

"W-what gave you this idea, Boonchuy?"

"Well, James told me about how he sees us, how you keep making decisions for all of us…"

"Ugh, you're already letting others mess with your head?" Sasha's expression turned to disgust, "You know how this works, I'm the leader. I'm the one who's best suited to make decisions! And now, just because some guy tells you something, you act all like this? I thought we were friends!"

"We are! But, Sash-"

"Enough!" Sasha's voice turned hostile in a second, a familiar cold glare falling on Anne. "James is wrong, and there is nothing wrong with me! There is no point to continue this conversation. We won't talk about this anymore!"

"But-"

"Boonchuy, I said it. Drop this issue, now!"

"B-"

"END. OF. DISCUSSION!"

The moment Anne heard those words, something clicked in her mind. All of her memories of Sasha "passing" her works to her, all the times she forced her to skip classes just for the fun of it, every decision she had interfered with… up to her last fateful birthday. The day she made her skip school all day promising to let her go home for her birthday party with her family, only to renege that promise the moment she changed her mind. How she made her go into that shop to steal the Box, and how she blew what could have been her last chance to see her parents just because…because…

Because she wanted to have fun. Her fun.

This time, that sentence didn't manage to subdue her like it used to; rather, Anne felt a wave of unfamiliar emotions flowing through her body. Frustration, stress, anxiety, bitterness, resentment, anger…everything connected and mixed that even she couldn't understand what was that feeling.

She remembered her mom, her dad, her lovely cat Domino. All of her life on Earth, everything she liked and wanted to treasure. All of it, now faraway and out of her range, because up until now she didn't manage to stand up to Sasha, even when she was basically threatening her.

The illusion fell, and the harsh truth was out for her to see. James was right, Sasha was exploiting her. Manipulating every action of her, forcing her to do what she wanted without any care for what she thought about it. Treating her like an underling rather than a friend.

As feelings of betrayal flushed into her mind, something changed inside Anne. Or rather, something inside of her snapped. She could feel an unfamiliar feeling spread from her heart to the rest of her body, clouding her mind, as she gritted her teeth and her eyes widened in rage, looking at the one who now she could see for what she really was.

The architect of her misery.

"No." The girl said, tears leaking out of her eyes, the blonde not even bothering to run around and face her.

"Boonchuy, this is not funny anymore. Let me-"

However, Sasha's bothersome look turned to shock, and then to horror, as she saw Anne's hand grabbing a spare sword from the wall, not a wooden training one, but a real metal sword taken from Pollianna's underground room. Then, with a fury that Sasha had never seen before in her, Anne launched herself forward, the blonde girl barely managing to grab her pink sword to block the incoming blow.

"Anne!" Sasha cried, not expecting this situation, "W-what are you doing!?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago," she replied, her cold voice filling with long-repressed fury. "Standing up TO YOU!"

"I'm home!" Jacob announced, noticing Sprig and Polly sitting in the living room, playing one of their games with a glass of water nearby. "Hey, where's everyone?"

"Outside," Sprig melancholically said, "You were all busy with your building things, and Hop Pop needed to go out for a short commission, so he told us to stay inside and safe."

"This blows!" Polly nodded in agreement. "Why couldn't he trust us more? We did demonstrate we are responsible. Or at least, I did."

"Well, your grandfather is worried about you, I guess." Jacob sat down on the sofa, his tired body relaxing as he let out the exhaustion from before, "Though I have to agree with you that sometimes he can get a little bit too paranoid. What kind of danger he could even fear, to be scared to leave you alone-"

At that moment, almost to reply to Jacob's rhetorical question, the three kids inside the Plantar's farm heard a loud shriek coming from outside. It was a shriek that Jacob had never heard before, but Sprig and Polly did: the human saw their eyes widen in horror, their skin becoming pale, as traumatic memories of the past resurfaced all of a sudden.

"W-what the frog was that?" Jacob grabbed his war hammer by reflex. It was then that Jacob noticed something was wrong: outside of the farm, everything was quiet, too quiet to be normal. As the kids grew used to living on a farm, they also grew used to living on no insulation at all, so every time they could hear the sound of wildlife outside. Now, however, Jacob realized that outside of the farm, there was no sound. Suddenly, the words of his father echoed in his mind:

"The sea is never quiet if everything's alright. If you see all the fishes around you disappear, all of a sudden, take note: there is a good chance that they are fleeing a predator, like a shark or a giant squid…"

Almost to cut this unnatural silence, another shriek, even louder than before from outside. Whatever made that noise, it was getting closer, much closer. Jacob's eyes glanced at the glass of water and saw ripples forming on the surface.

This is not good, Jacob thought as he recalled seeing the same scene in another favorite movie of his, this is not good at all!

Sprig and Polly exchanged a knowing glance before getting into action, closing every curtain and turning off every light in the house. Jacob could see the terror in their eyes, and the fact that he didn't know what was happening scared him even more.

"Seriously kids, can you tell-"

"Shhhh!" Polly mimicked, putting one of her fins on his mouth to stop him from talking. The human had never seen so much fear in her before and mentally wondered what could be so scary to cause such a reaction in the bravest pollywog she ever met.

The farm shook as two sets of heavy footsteps were heard from outside, walking around. Silently, Sprig and Polly signaled to Jacob to follow them, the three of them walking to the kitchen and cautiously peeking outside.

And it was then that the human saw them.

Roaming on the borders of the forest, near some of the early defenses the group had prepared earlier, two giant white-and-gray birds were grazing around, their beaks lined with razor-sharp teeth like any other Amphibian kind of bird. They had long, dark legs with sharp talons, a crest of navy-blue color, purple beaks and bright red eyes with black pupils. Nevertheless, the most terrifying thing about them was their dimension: compared to any other kind of bird Jacob had seen so far, they stood to them and everyone else like an AT-AT, or Jurassic Park-likebird monsters.

"W-what kind of bird is even that?" The boy gasped, unable to look away from those creatures.

"They're not just some kind of bird!" Polly said in horror, her usual aggressiveness suddenly gone. "Those are herons… murderous predators that happen to love the taste of flesh!"

Love the taste of the flesh? Wait, does that mean… "Do-do they-?"

"Yes, Jacob!" Sprig anticipated his question, still trembling in unnatural fright. "They're known to feast on Amphibians!"

Suddenly, Jacob realized why Sprig and Polly were in such a panic: just as on Earth, in Amphibia herons were frog's natural predators. However, while Earth's frogs were small animals unable to realize the danger, Amphibian frogs were smart enough to see them as gigantic monsters.

Wait, Jacob wondered for a minute, Anne's at the watchtower, so why hadn't she sounded the alarm? Didn't she see them? Alternatively, had something bad happened to her?

As he thought about their situation, Jacob could see the herons moving, getting closer to the farm. Immediately, Sprig and Polly let go of the curtains, trying their best to make themselves smaller and smaller as the giant shadow of the birds could be seen through the draperies. Even Jacob lowered to the ground, fear gripping his heart, as he silently prayed for those monstrous birds to go away. Then, after some more minutes of terror-filled silence, the shadows moved, and the herons' footsteps grew further and further. Only then, the three of them exhaling in order to expel their inner tension.

"It looks like they're going away…" Jacob said, swill whispering "Maybe they're going back to the forest?"

"Now, the most important thing to do," Sprig replied, trying to contain his fear "is to be very, very quiet. We can hide in the basement, we just have to be careful to not do anything that may attract their attention…"

Suddenly, a loud noise of someone playing concertina came from around the corner, and through the window the trio saw regular town vagrant Wally walking in, playing his instrument completely unaware of the danger.

"Wally!" Jacob tried to yell and whisper at the same time. "Quite, please! Quiet!

"Stop the music!"

"Stop playing your concertina!"

"Stop the music? Hah!" Wally laughed off, turning his back to the worst direction possible. "An artist can never stop his art!"

A giant talon stomped down, toes landing on either side of Wally as the frog froze in shock. He looked up, his eyes meeting those of the two giant birds towering all over him, one giving a shrill screech that echoed across while the other looked at him with soulless, hungry eyes.

"Waaa!" Wally yelled as he ran away, away from the farm but toward Wartwood, while the two herons kept on following, trying to catch him with their beaks to eat him, only for Wally to evade them every time.

"He's running toward Wartwood!" Sprig yelled in realization, "He's leading them right to the town!"

"We have to do something! We can't just stay here and let our friends and the people of Wartwood be eaten!"

"Then there's no time to lose!" Jacob nodded, grabbing his hammer. "Sprig, Polly, you find Marcy, Amelia, and James, tell them what's happening, and gather their weapons. I'll go take care of them!"

"Jacob, are you crazy? Those birds will eat you alive!"

"You can't face them alone!"

"Of course, I can't!" The boy conceded, just before resuming his run. "But at least I can distract them and buy time for everyone to get to safety!"

Marcy, Amelia, everyone, Jacob thought in horror, I hope you're someplace safe now…

(…)

"Anne, stop!" Sasha said, parrying her friend's furious blows. "This- this is insane!"

"Insane?" Was the response she received, "I'm sick and tired of you ruining my life! Like you did on Earth, now you're doing it here as well!"

What? Sasha gasped, as she realized the implications of what Anne was telling her. "I-I didn't ruin your life!"

"No? Didn't you always force me to skip class, even when I don't want to?

CLANK!

"Don't you always force me and Marcy to do your homework?"

CLANK!

"Don't you always force me to lend you every cute hat or nice shoes I get? You borrow, and never return?

CLANK!

"Don't you always force me to watch the movies you like, and never the ones I do?"

CLANK!

"Don't you always push your opinions on me, when we are shopping together?"

"L-like what?"

"Like the time I found that cute blue scrunchie, but you forced me to take a pink one because you thought it was horrible! I don't even like pink!"

"B-but then, why did you choose the pink one?"

"Because you forced me to!"

Now, Sasha was scared. Her friend, her best friend she had always known since they were kids, was attempting to hurt her with a sword, yelling, like she had been hurt by her. But how?

"But above everything else-" Anne continued, her eyes leaking with tears, "-I'm sick of you meddling in every aspect of my life! I wanted to make my own decisions and for you to be there for me, not for you to force me to do something else! Something you want, not me!"

And it was then, that Sasha realized how she had hurt her best friend. How many times her actions had actually wounded her on a psychological level.

Yet, Anne had not finished with her.

"Do you know what's the worse thing you did?" Anne glared through their swords crossing, her eyes filled with desperation. "The day of my birthday…I really wanted to go to that party. Yet, you forced me to go with you, because Marcy had something she wanted to show us, and you decided it was more important! You already promised to me I could go home! Do you-do you have any idea how much I miss my family? Mom, Dad, Domino? Do you have any idea what it's like to not be able to ever them see again, someone you loved? To know you're trapped here, and they're there, with no way to know what's happened to you?"

Anne's words shot right through Sasha's heart, cutting it in two with the brutality of her accusation. Sasha realized: even if she didn't exactly miss her family who had paid little attention to her, that wasn't the case for Anne, and she had been bottling up how much pain she was feeling by being separated from hers, and it was only apparent now.

What have I done?, Sasha realized as she felt her hand slip. One second later, her pink sword fell to the ground, and she was on the floor, looking above at the sword Anne was holding, pointed at her.

"It's over, Sash." Anne said, her tears now hiding her eyes, "You're not going to push me around anymore!"

Yet, before she or Sasha could do or say anything else, the girls heard a horn blowing. A horn that reminded them to be the alarm signal.

Anne's eyes, still wet from the tears she cried during the duel, widened as she remembered her meeting with Jacob, her duty at the watch tower, and how she had foregone it to face Sasha. She assumed it wouldn't matter if she went there after speaking with her, but… what if it did?

Anne had barely time to look out of the closest window, before hearing a monstrous screech and the yells of frogs in danger coming in the direction of Wartwood. And it was then, that her brain resumed control, and all the emotions and desperation she had felt during the fight with Sasha melted, as new emotions took over her.

Oh no, the town! Hop Pop! Polly! Sprig! The girl yelled in her head, immediately jumping out of the building and rushing away, hoping she wouldn't arrive too late.

Sasha remained motionless, taking deep breaths to slow down her heart, as she looked Anne ignore her all of a sudden and ran outside, leaving her beaten and bruised on the floor, her muscles aching, her hands feeling sore.

And yet, the pain she felt for her body was nothing, compared to what she was experiencing emotionally. She could still remember the glaze Anne looked at her with, just a few minutes ago, filled to the brink with pain and grief; all the words she had thrown at her; all the things she had accused her for…

I abused my best friend, Sasha thought in an epiphany as she come to face the full consequences of her actions, I manipulated her. Blackmailed. Threatened her. I- oh frog, I'm no better than my mother.

It was then, that Sasha heard the horn again and came to her sense: the city was in danger. And judging by sound alone, it was something bad.

She looked back, her eyes focusing on the pink sword with the herons-shaped quillon…

(…)

The town's bell rang in alarm as the giant herons attacked the city, the frog attempting to run for their lives or to find refuge to avoid being eaten by the monstrous birds.

"Ah! No, no!" Monroe yelled as one of the herons focused on him, his toothy beak descending on him to grab him and ingest him alive. Yet, before he could feel the crushing weight of the heron's mandible on him…

The Heron screeched in pain as something exploded right next to his eyes, stopping him and giving Monroe a few seconds to run away, while another figure in blue armor, armed with a heavy hammer and some makeshift grenades yelled at the 50-foot tall bird.

"Hey, Birdbrain! Why don't you pick on someone of your own size?"

The giant predatory bird, seeing what it looked like one of its prey yelling at him, screeched again, attempting to capture it and eat it. However, Jacob was fast and evaded the attacks using one of the buildings as cover.

"Jacob!" The boy heard some voices calling for him. Looking to his side, he saw Marcy, Amelia and James, all dressed in full armor, coming toward him, Marcy's crossbow already loaded, Amelia's katana unsheathed and firmly in her hands. "Are you ok?"

"I'll live," The boy replied, as Sprig and Polly emerged behind her friends. "Ok people, it looks like we are dealing with a real emergency: these things are big, and very tough too. I tried to hit them, but I wasn't even able to scratch them."

"Not even with your gunpowder?" Marcy asked, looking in shock at the devastation those birds created.

"Nope eyes are the only vulnerable point they have, and I wasn't able to hurt those as well. The best I can do is hit them when they try to pick on some unfortunate frog; doesn't do jack, but it distracts them long enough to save their would-be prey."

"Ok, suggested strategies so far?" James looked at the herons with a scowl. Seeing such large creatures wreaking havoc as they pleased, and having nothing yet that could hurt them…it made him feel weak and useless.

"Listen, we will divide into two groups: Amelia, Marcy, you're with me; our job is to keep those brutes distracted and block them from feasting on any frogs. Attack whenever they lower their head, then retreat as fast as you can; use the ruined building as a cover.

"What about us?" Sprig raised his hand, Polly on the other. For a second, Jacob admired them: even if they were scared to the bone, they were still trying to help.

"You and James are the rescue squad." Jacob replied, "While we keep them occupied, you help everyone evacuate and get them to safety. We will give you as much time as we can."

"What about Sasha? And Anne?" James asked in worry, "Did they-?"

"I don't know. I didn't see them so far, so I can only guess either they're occupied elsewhere or they didn't notice the giant birds of doom. Either way, this is no time for speculation. Wartwood Militia... Attack!"

"Attack!" Amelia roared as she and Marcy followed Jacob. The herons quickly got notice of them and tried to devour them, but the three teens worked together, managing to distract the two large birds from each other (and the frogs) with short raid attacks aimed at the herons' eyes, beaks, and legs, every time one of them was getting cornered the other two attacking to give they an opening to retreat or counterattack. Marcy, in particular, to everyone's surprise, was quite proficient with her "magical ranger wizard" abilities, moving quickly to avoid the herons' beaks and attacking them with her crossbow or her spells, taking advantage of every opening to delay or distract the humongous foes.

"Yes, yes!" Marcy gleamed as another of her spells hit one of the herons' forehead, making it screech in pain and retreat a couple of steps, as James took advantage of that to bring ol' Mrs. Sadie Croaker to safety. "Stay away from my friends, you oversized Ardeidae! Huh-oh…" She gasped as she caught a glimpse of the other heron, towering above her and moving to attack.

"Marcy!" Someone yelled, pushing her from aside and pushing her out of the heron's aim.

"Anne, you ok?"

"I'm…good, Mar-Mar. What is happening? What are those things?"

"Herons." Her friend replied laconically, "Giant carnivores birds who feast on frogs. They're attacking the city!"

Feast on frogs? Anne gasped in shock, feeling her guilt once again take over. Was this the result of her actions? When she decided to ditch her watch tower duty to…

"Yeeeh!" A voice called for help from Stumpy's Thai-fusion restaurant, as one of the herons clawed through the roof, using his beak as a pick to open itself a path. A voice that Anne immediately recognized to his horror.

"Sprig!"

(…)

"Help!" Polly cried as the heron's beak kept getting closer and closer from above, slowly but without stopping, her brother holding her with both hands as he desperately tried to find a solution.

A couple of minutes earlier, he and Polly had entered Stumpy's to check if someone had remained trapped inside, only for one of the herons to notice them and move to attack them, blocking the exit with one of his talons and proceeding to smash the roof in an attempt to catch them.

Sprig looked around, desperately trying to find another way for him and Polly to exit, but in vain. The main door was now firmly blocked by part of the roof, already removed by the heron, while other wreckage blocked the door that connected the main hall to the kitchen, where the backdoor's exit was located. And both he and Polly were too weak to remove it.

"Sprig…"

"Don't cry, Polly," his brother tried to comfort her, even as his eyes witnessed the heron's beak getting even much closer by the minute. "Everything will be fine."

"You-you promise?"

"I promise," he lied, not wanting her last moments to be sad. As the heron mounted on final assault, he could hear someone stomping on the door of the kitchen, shoving, the door opening…

"Kids!" Sasha yelled, jumping toward them as the heron's beak snapped forward-

(…)

Anne ran, as fast as her heart allowed her, her muscles hurting in pain but she ignored them, rushing toward Stumpy's, hoping to make it on time-

Only to see the heron retreat, standing over the ruined remains of her workplace, something dripping on the side of his mouth.

Sprig's hat.

"No!" Anne gasped in horror seeing that, falling to her knees, as she realized she was too late.

Suddenly, something triggered inside her heart.

All Anne could think about were the moments she shared with Sprig, from their very first meeting that day, as they were running from the mantises, as they went to the beach together, as they-

Suddenly, she felt something growing inside of her, as rage as she had never felt before bellowed through her body.

And then, her eyes started glowing blue.

(…)

"Sasha!" Sprig gasped, unbelieving to be still alive. "You…you saved us."

"Sash, that was…that was-"

"It's ok, Polly." The blonde girl murmured, smiling as she crawled through the ruins of Stumpy's. "Now, let's get out of here before-"

It was then, that it happened. Before Sasha could finish her sentence, she saw a powerful light glow, just outside of the passage, stopping the battle as both humans, frogs, and herons stopped, stunned by the event.

As they saw Anne's body glowing in blue light.

"What's going on?!"

"I don't know," Polly tried to protect her eyes with one of her flippers "Maybe it's a human thing!"

Sasha watched as she saw Anne get back on her feet, her hair turning blue as the leaves and stick in it grew into small branches. While she didn't know what was happening, of one thing she was certain.

"This…this is not a human thing." She quietly said, the shock in her voice voiding all her emotions.

(…)

"You are not some monsters, at all! You're a hero!"

"That was the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me!"

"Spranne against the world!"

"Give them back." Anne yelled with a voice filled with determination, her sadness quickly turning into rage. "Give... Them... BACK!" She shouted, her body glowing with energy, as she launched herself toward the herons.

The giant birds saw it and tried to move, yet somehow, Anne was now moving at light speed, punching the first heron on its face, the blast shockwave strong enough to make the heron's beak crack, before slamming the other one on his side, making it fall over one of the still-completed defense works, the heron hissing as one of its legs broke in the impact.

The battle lasted barely a minute, Jacob, Marcy and everyone else reduced as mere spectators as Anne curb-stomped the herons, hitting them on their wings, on their necks, on their backs, every time the giant birds roaring in pain as they couldn't stop the energy-powered human hitting them at light speed.

Suddenly, Anne appeared on the top of one of the herons, her fist colliding with its head as Jacob felt the bird's skull bones crack, the heron falling to the ground dead while Anne took on the last one, impacting its chest and ripping it in two.

"Give them back!" Anne roared again, even as the last heron fell to the ground, keeping punching it and breaking it apart with unseen fury. "Give them back!"

"Anne!"

The girl stopped, hearing a familiar voice calling from behind, turning around to see Sprig and Polly. Not in the heron's stomach. Not hurt. Not wounded. Alive.

Her feet began to move on their own, the fury that had dominated her mind until then receding, as the branches in her hair reverted to twigs, and her body and eyes stopped glowing.

"Sprig! Polly!" The girl hugged them while crying "You're... alive! Oh, thank goodness!"

"Sasha saved us," Polly smiled, pointing to the blonde girl behind, looking at them from several steps afar.

"Sash?" Anne looked at her, only for Sasha to look aside, feeling guilty. She still remembered the accusations that Anne told her earlier; all of them painful for her to hear; all of them true.

"Anne! Guys!" New voices called out, and Jacob, Amelia, Marcy, and James came to join the hug.

"Kids!" Another voice called out, as Hop Pop came to hug his grandchildren. "You're alive! Thank frog, you're alive!"

"Sasha saved us." Sprig said, leading to the old frog to give a puzzled look at the blonde girl, before smiling.

"Anne, are you ok? Do you feel well?"

"I'm fine, James." The girl replied, before sensing her senses going dizzy. "I may only need…a little sleep…"

"Anne!" Was the last word the girl heard, before falling unconscious.

When Anne regained consciousness, the first thing she realized was that she was back at the farm. She was lying on the couch, a hot blanket covering her body, a wet towel on her forehead, her body feeling tired and sore like after a 10-hour session in a gym. Marcy sitting in front of her, writing in her journal.

"H-hello? Guys?"

"Anne, you're awake?" Marcy gleamed up, hearing her voice, seeing her eyes open. "Anne has awakened! Guys, guys – she's awake!"

"Anne!" Thunderous voices called out, as everyone rushed into the room, "You're alive!"

"How-how long was I out?"

"Half a day!" Hop Pop said, his eyes leaking tears of joy now that Anne had awakened, "We were so worried, all the best doctors in Wartwood came to visit you, but they couldn't help!"

"Yeah, they're not used to curing humans," James chuckled, smiling at Anne. "How do you feel?"

"I feel…tired, my body aches, my muscles are sore and I cannot get up to get a chocopede."

"On it!" Amelia jumped away, ready to help, as Anne realized one person was missing.

"Guys – where's Sasha?"

"I'll go get her," Felicia replied, walking out of the farm and looking at a certain blonde girl.

"Sasha! Anne is-"

"I know," Sasha replied, chuckling but also looking sad. "No insulation remember?"

"Don't you want to come and talk with her?"

Sasha grimaced, the weight on her chest suddenly feeling even heavier "I-I don't know," she admitted. "I mean, I…maybe…maybe I should leave her alone."

"Sasha Elizabeth Waybright Sundew," Sylvia called out, joining Felicia. "I know that something happened between you two. I know you probably quarreled. Yet, this is of no importance right now."

"But-"

"That girl inside is worried about you, yet she cannot move to check if you're ok. Do you want to force her to get up and come for you on her own?"

Sasha's grimace grew, her guilt and remorse clashing over whenever come to see Anne or leave her alone. She really wanted to come inside and check on Anne, but…did she want that too?

You already took so much of her time; even if you were to leave forever, it wouldn't make a difference-

Shaking away the depressing thoughts from her mind, Sasha looked at the two older Sundew frogs, "I'll come. Just, I hope not to mess up."

As the door opened, the chatting inside stopped, Anne's eyes meeting Sasha, the two girls standing in silence as Sasha slowly walked toward her.

"Anne-"

"Before you say anything else," Anne smiled at her, surprising Sasha a bit, "I wanted to thank you for saving Sprig and Polly. I ran as fast as I could, but I didn't manage to get to the herons on time. If-If it wasn't for you-"

"No, Anne," Sasha replied, her voice now filled with shame. "What happened, it's my fault. It was me that had been a jerk to you, Marcy, and everyone else! It was I that always forced you two to do what I wanted, rather that decide together, it was me that acted like a total control freak! The one who emotionally blackmailed you, the one that threatened you, bossed you around, and stomped out every disagreement. You gave me your friendship, and I poisoned it with my toxic behavior and personality because I needed to feel in control. How-how could I have taken something as beautiful as our friendship and corrupt it in such a twisted way?"

"Sasha-" Marcy began to speak, only for the blonde to make a sign to let her continue.

"I…I apologize girls. I know that after today you probably won't want to be my friends anymore, but-"

"Sasha," Anne spoke, looking at her with newfound happiness. "What you did wasn't good. Yet, I would never want to lose you. This is what friends are for, no?"

"Anne-"

Marcy moved forward, her hands connecting with Sasha and Anne "I don't want to lose you either, Sash."

"You're my cool older sister. No way are we letting you go!"

"You're a Sundew, Sash, and Sundews never give up!"

"You saved our lives!"

Sasha felt overjoyed, seeing as everyone, even Anne supported her, new tears leaking from her eyes. "Guys, I…I really don't deserve your forgiveness. I know I was a very toxic friend, but…this ends now. From now on, I'll be the friend you deserve."

"Sasha…"

"I'm me, Boonchuy, and I can never be you, no matter how hard I try, I can only be me. But from today forward… I'll be the best version of myself!"

Sasha and Anne hugged, Marcy, Jacob, and everyone else joining in as they felt the heartwarming moment.

Until Sprig, in his usual fashion, broke the mood with a single question.

"So, what was that blue powers of yours?"

"That wasn't a dream?!"