The Plantars, Anne and Johan traveled down the road toward a desert landscape. Anne was busy looking at pictures on her phone when she came across one she'd never taken before. "Huh. I don't remember taking this picture of Toad Tower."

"Oh, that was me," said Polly as she sat on Hop Pop's head. "Wanted a little reminder of how we messed those toads up!"

Hop Pop chuckled. "Heh, sure did!"

Johan rubbed his arm nervously. "The only thing I remember is Sasha glowing pink and turning me into a human pincushion. I still have nightmares, you know."

"You know, I've actually been working on a song based on the battle," said Sprig as he picked up his fiddle.

"Oh! Am I in it?" asked Hop Pop.

"Maybe," said Sprig. He cleared his throat.

Hop Pop giggled with excitement and said to Polly, Anne and Johan, "I'm in it."

Sprig began his song, "There was a little frog who stood for revolution. The toads didn't like that, so they tried to execute him. But thankfully, our Anne and JoJo stepped up to take the tower. And they saved Hop Pop, who mostly hid and cowered." When Hop Pop heard those lyrics, his cheerful expression gave way into one of annoyed disappointment. "And cowered and cowered and cowered and cowered and cowered and cowered and cowered and cowered..."

"All right, that's enough!"

Anne and Polly cheered and clapped while Johan said, "Uh, Rametto, that was a...kinda mean, don't you think?"

"No it's not," said Sprig. "It chronicles our battle in the tower!"

"What?!" exclaimed Hop Pop. "It made me sound like a coward! It was missing all the context! Like what about the time I courageously ran for mayor? Or that time I stood up to those nasty tax collectors?"

Anne and Polly said, "Eh. Boring."

"Audiences want clear stakes, Hop Pop," explained Sprig. "And action."

"Act‐ion!" shouted the girls.

Hop Pop sighed in disappointment. "Feels like just yesterday, people thought I was a revolutionary hero. Heck, there was a time people thought I was the boss of Passione."

"Glad everyone cleared that up," said Johan. "I don't want anymore innocent people getting caught in the crossfire." He looked ahead and saw a sign that read, "Welcome to Bittyburg!" He said, "Looks like we're about to enter a new town. Let's stop here and buy some equipment and food."

"My first town outside of Wartwood," said Anne with excitement. "I wonder what it'll be like. Will the frogs be friendly? Will they have a bathroom?"

"Forget bathrooms," said Johan. "Will they have indoor plumbing?"

"Don't get too excited, kids," said Hop Pop. "It's just your average small town."

"Pssh, how small can it be‐" Anne found out the hard way that Hop Pop meant it literally. The town was a typical western town but with how small the buildings and people were, you'd think they were in Lilliput from Gulliver's Travels.

Anne squealed at how adorable they were. "Just look at the 'wittle' buildings." She tore the roof the salon and looked inside. The people inside gasped. Well, you would too if a giant tore off the roof. Anne needed to calm them down. "Uh, yee-haw?" he said with a devil horns gesture. The people inside cheered. She put the roof back on. "Nailed it."

"Real smooth, Anne," said Johan sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Hop Pop gave Bessie her food. "There you are, girl." Suddenly, a fighting sound made him look around. "What's all the ruckus?" He got his answer when he saw a toad bullying the little frogs. The toad was green, wore an open vest, an eyepatch, a spiked beanie hat, a belt with a letter "H" buckle and spurs.

"All right. Y'all know the rules. Pay me, and no one gets hurt." The bitties reluctantly handed over their money. "That's right, pay up, keep it coming. That includes you!" He pointed to a bitty father.

"Sorry, Mr. Judro, sir, but I need the money for my boy Bailey." He showed the toad his little boy, who was wearing a sailor suit. "He's been very sick and, uh‐"

Judro grabbed the frog by his throat and lifted him up. "I don't want your excuses. I want your money." He laughed maniacally as he shook the frog, making him drop his money.

The Plantars, Anne and Johan saw the whole thing. "I can't watch this anymore," said Johan as he took out his gun.

"NO!" said Hop Pop. "This is my time to shine. No need to use your gun or your Stand."

"Huh?"

"Sprig, get that fiddle ready. You might have a song to write," the old frog said as he hoisted his pants up and marched toward the toad.

Sprig held up his fiddle and bow. "Ready and willing."

Hop Pop pointed to Jurdo and said, like a cowboy from a western movie, "Hey there, uh, feller. Who do you think you are, pushing good people around?"

The toad dropped the bitty he was shaking and growled, "I'm Judro Hasselback, and this here's my town. Who in the heck are you?"

"Name's Hopediah Plantar, the frog that's gonna teach you some manners!" He swelled up his throat sack and pushed Judro down to the ground.

"Hey, you better‐" Hop Pop pushed Judro down again. "Stop!" And again. "What in the‐" And again. "Oof! You'll pay for this!" Judro shouted as he retreated.

"Nobody's paying you anything anymore," Hop Pop said with a sense of accomplishment. Suddenly, he felt a pair of tiny arms wrap themselves around his leg. He looked down to see Bailey hugging him. "Huh?"

"You saved us, mister! Three cheers for Hopediah Plantar!"

All the bitties came out of hiding and lifted the old frog up as they cheered...only to get crushed as they could not carry him anymore.

"Wow, Hop Pop. Nice work," said Anne.

"Go, Hop Pop," said Sprig.

Hop Pop brushed it off and said, "Why, that was nothing. Judro's just a big blowhard. Not like those tax toads I stood up to."

All the bitties gasped. "You stood up to toads?" one of them asked.

"Tell us the story. Please? Please?" pleaded Bailey.

"Aw, sweetie, there's not much to tell."

Three hours later...

"And then I lifted not one, not two, but three toads over my head and threw them off Toad Tower!" The bitties cheered when Hop Pop finished his story.

Nearby, the kids sat on a rock. "Threw three toads? I don't remember that," said Polly.

Sprig whispered, "That's because it didn't happen."

"Oh, let him have this," said Anne. "He's just juicing up the details a bit. In my world, we call this marketing."

"Yeah, well, where I come from, there's a thing called showboating," said Johan. "The guy claimed he is leader of Passione."

Hop Pop resumed his tale, "And so, using my frog‐given natural strength, I kicked the side of Toad Tower, and it exploded."

The bitties cheered. Bailey said, "Hooray for Hopediah Plantar, here to protect us from the ruthless Hasselback Gang."

When he heard that, Hop Pop's heart nearly stopped. "I'm sorry, Bailey, did you say 'gang'?"

"Hopediah Plantar!" The sound of Judro's voice made the bitties hide behind Hop Pop's back. Accompanying Judro were a red toad with a goatee, a squat green toad with a handlebar mustache and a female newt with long blue hair; behind them was a large, fat green toad with her silver hair tied in a bun. They all wore cowboy outfits and belt buckles with the letter H on them.

"Whoo‐whee! You done asked for it, so here it comes," said Judro. "This here's the Hasselback Gang. My brother Heathro, half sister Ruth, Uncle Talbert, and of course, the matriarch herself, Mama Hasselback!"

The matriarch toad slammed a large metal rolling pin into the ground, causing the ground to shake. "You the frog who dare throw my Judro outta town?"

"Whoa, that voice is deep," commented Johan.

Hop Pop chuckled nervously, "Well..."

"Yep. And he's gonna run you outta town too," said Bailey. "Right, Hopediah?"

The other bitties all sent their words of encouragement to the old frog, "Hop Pop! You show 'em, Hopediah! Go get 'em, Hopediah!"

The Plantars and Anne looked at each other nervously. Johan chuckled. "This is gonna be good."

Mama laughed loudly. "Now this I gotta see." She sat down, waiting for Hop Pop to make his move. He looked nervously at her then tried to put on a brave face. "Um, uh, you're‐ You're gonna regret this!" He activated his Ripple and channeled it through her body.

"Oh?"

With a great heave, Hop Pop lifted the old toad off the ground and over his head. "Ha, ha! I told you you'd regret it!" And then Mama smacked him and sent him flying into a stable.

"That's it!" Johan pulled out his gun as he, Anne and the Plantars readied to defend the old frog, only to be stopped by Hethro, who used his tongue to grab them all and throw them in barrels.

Anne struggled to get out, but couldn't. "Aw, man. This is just like middle school."

"Not much different from my bucket, really," said Polly.

"JoJo, can't you use your Stand?" asked Sprig.

"Even if I wanted to pummel them, they're out of DARE's range!"

"Great..."

Mama grabbed Hop Pop by the leg and laughed again. "Looks like you folks chose the wrong frog. Or should I say 'fraud'?" She said to the bitties as she dropped him to the ground. "Word of advice, folks: Don't believe everything you're told about heroes. After all, they don't exist."

Bailey looked at the old frog as if pleading with him to say what she said was a lie. "Is it true, Hopediah? Are heroes a lie?"

Hop Pop couldn't even bear to look at the young frog as he cried. "It's true, Bailey. It's true!"

"Now get lost, and take your garbage with you!" Mama shouted as her family literally threw Anne, Sprig, Polly, Johan and Bessie out of town. Hop Pop could only walk away in shame as the gang laughed at him.

After freeing the others from the barrels, Hop Pop got them on the fwagon and they were on the road again. "Well, that was humiliating," said Johan. "I didn't even get the chance to use my Stand."

"Dude, not helping," said Anne.

"Oh, who cares? This whole mess is Hopediah's fault! He's the one who had to act like a big showoff and try to convince the town he's something he's not, all because he didn't want Sprig to write a song about how much of a loser he is!" Sprig and Polly frowned at him. "What? You know it's true. Right, Hopediah?"

"Hey, I wouldn't go that far," said Sprig as he readied his fiddle only for Hop Pop to grab it from him.

"No. He's right. I did it FOR A STUPID SONG!" Hop Pop screamed as he smashed the fiddle. Then he calmed down and said, "Not proud of what happened back there, kids. Sprig and JoJo are right. No one's ever gonna write a song about this old coward."

"Now that you smashed my fiddle‐"

Anne shut Sprig up. "Pssh, Hop Pop, you're not a coward. And who cares about some dumb old song? Being a hero isn't about songs and glory anyways. It's about doing the right thing."

"It's the same thing with my father," said Johan. "When he took over Passione, it wasn't about songs and glory either. He wanted to put an end to the corruption that was going on in Napoli and he didn't ask for any glory and praise."

When he heard those words from Anne and Johan, Hop Pop stopped the fwagon so abruptly, it knocked everyone out of their seats. "My frog, JoAnne. You're right. This whole time I was so focused on getting a song that I lost track of what really matters. Heroes are supposed to help those in need, and I was only trying to help myself. Well, that changes now. We're going back!"

"Well, I like the courage," said Johan. "But what are you going to do about Mama? She'll sit on you the moment you step into town."

"Well, it goes a little bit like this, you see..." He leaned in to whisper his plan to everyone.

"WHY ARE WE WHISPERING?!" shouted Polly.

"Just go along with it," said Johan.

That evening, things had not gone well for the bitties. The Hassleback family had taken over the town and made the bitties their slaves. Currently, they were forced to give them all their money while massaging Mama's feet. "Keep it up, bitties. That's good. Just keep working on Mama's toes."

After dumping the last of his fortune into the money pile, Bailey's father said to his family, "Looks like no birthday gifts this year, kids."

"Don't worry, Papa. We'll always have the gift of music." Bailey took out his flute and was about to play a song when Jurdo took it from him and used it as a toothpick. "You know, I'm actually pretty numb at this point."

Mama taunted the bitties, "Serves you little runts right. If you thought things were bad before, just wait and see what we've got planned for you‐" The sound of a harmonica playing stopped her from talking. "What the..."

She saw who it was: Hop Pop, dressed as a cowboy straight from a western film. He stopped playing, looked up at her and said, "Ma'am."

Mama stood up and said, "Well, look who decided to show his fraudy old face again. Ya back for more punishment?"

Hop Pop placed the harmonica in a holster like it was a gun and pointed at her. "I'm back to do what's right. Stand up to bullies like you."

The two of them stared down at each other, then Mama said, "Get him."

Jurdo charged at Hop Pop only for the old frog to slap him in the face with a Ripple charged tongue. He fell down and was knocked unconscious. Hop Pop twirled his tongue like a lasso and said, "You boys ready for a lickin'?" Heathro and Talbert charged at him only to get struck by the tongue.

"His tongue feels like iron!" Hethro shouted.

What the Hasslebacks didn't know was that Hop Pop wasn't actually hitting them. Instead, he had Johan and Sprig shoot at the gangsters from afar with the latter's slingshots and rocks charged with Ripple. Johan wanted to use his gun, but Hop Pop did not want them to die unless they drew blood first. Anne stood on look out while the boys shot and Polly reloaded.

"Two degrees left," said Anne.

"Load me up," said Sprig to Polly.

The rock flew across the sky and struck Ruth before she could stab Hop Pop. The bitties cheered at their hero's victory. Now only Mama was left. She staggered back, only to shield her eyes when something shined in her face. Then she saw them: the Plantars, Anne and Johan's silhouettes on a cliff, aiming their slingshots at the Hasslebacks. She grinned as she realized what was going on. "So that's the game, is it?"

"End of the line, Mama," said Hop Pop.

Mama showed no fear as she walked forward. "You're a fella of many tricks, Hopediah Plantar. So am I!" Suddenly, the sand beneath her began to shift and sprung up behind her and took the form of a humanoid frog whose entire body consisted of sand and gravel.

"What the heck is that?" asked Hop Pop.

Johan's eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" He called out. "HOPEDIAH, RUN! MAMA IS A STAND USER!"

When Hop Pop heard that, his heart nearly stopped. "Oh, frog..."

"What?!" exclaimed Anne. "I thought Stands can only be seen by Stand users!"

"That's not the Stand's physical form, Anne! That's a construct made from the sand on the ground!"

Hop Pop knew that despite his cunning, he was no match for a Stand user as powerful as Mama Hassleback and he started to flee. But, the looks of fear and hopelessness on the bitties' faces suddenly made him stop dead in his tracks. He remembered what Anne and Johan said.

Being a hero isn't about songs and glory anyways. It's about doing the right thing.

He wanted to put an end to the corruption that was going on in Napoli and he didn't ask for any glory and praise.

With that, Hop Pop turned around and faced the matriarch. "You know what, Mama? I'm through running. When you see someone that can't fight for themselves, it's your job to fight for them! Standing up to bullies like you is the right thing to‐" A fist made of sand punched the old frog in the face.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

At that moment, Mama fell flat on her face with four bullets in her head. The Hassleback kids gasped and turned to see Johan with DARE at the ready. "Step away from the grandfather."

Ruth was the first to charge at him only for DARE to slam her in the fist and send her flying into a manure pile. Talbert and Heathro ran up them, but Johan fired his gun at their knees, making them scream in pain. Then DARE pummeled them and sent the two of them flying into a water tower, crushing it. Jurdo leaped into the air and tried to shoot Johan with a machine gun but Johan dodged the bullets and used DARE to punch him in the groin, making him squeal in pain.

Johan rushed to Hop Pop's side and helped him up. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry, JoJo," groaned the old frog. "I can't feel anything."

"Hopediah!" called out Bailey. "Look!"

Johan gasped as he saw Mama slowly get back up and glare at him with hate. The bullets he fired were being pushed out of the holes before they were sealed up with sand. "No way," he gasped. "She encased her body in sand, like a suit of armor!"

With a growl of hate, she used her Stand to grab Hop Pop and Johan. Then, before they knew it, Anne, Sprig and Polly were grabbed by the sand and flung at Mama's feet. "You hurt my children," Mama wailed with anger. "It's only fair I do the same to you only a hundred times worse!" The sand began to crush the Plantars, Anne and Johan, making them scream in pain.

Suddenly, the water tower dropped onto Mama and water spilled everywhere, turning her sand armor into mud that slid off her body. "What the hell?! Who...wha?" It was the bitties. They had all undergone a strange transformation. Their eyes were red and their teeth were sharp.

"Your Stand is worthless now," Bailey's father shouted. "This is our home!"

The bitties roared and shrieked as they attacked the Hassleback gang, biting and scratching and clawing them. As the Plantars, Anne and Johan freed themselves, they watched with awe.

"Well," said Johan. "Didn't see that coming."

"Well, I guess after years of abuse, even the most timid of frogs might get a little...er...what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Bloodthirsty?" asked Polly.

"Crazy?" asked Anne.

"Angry?" asked Sprig.

"You know what? Let's go with all the above," said Hop Pop.

Bailey turned back to normal and approached Hop Pop. "Hi, Mr. Plantar," he said cheerfully.

"Bailey? You frogs are fighting back?"

"Yep! All because of what you said."

"Uh... no. The part about how when someone can't fight for themselves, you need to fight for them. You clearly can't fight for yourself. Here's a tooth, by the way." Bailey handed the old frog a gold tooth before resuming the bloodshed.

"Time to go," said Johan.

"I couldn't agree more," said Anne.

The Hassleback family escaped with their lives and managed to find a hospital, but after the horrible injuries inflicted upon them, which were only made worse thanks to DARE amplifying their pain receptors, they gave up the life of crime and became ordinary citizens. They developed a fear of small creatures that they never recovered from.

As the fwagon fled the town of Bittyburg, Sprig played a song on his shoddily repaired fiddle. "Oh, Hop Pop stood his ground n hopes he'd save the day. But then the townsfolk went berserk, and so he ran away."

"It still sounds kinda mean," said Johan.

"But," said Hop Pop. "This one does not make me sound like a coward." He made a smile as he looked out to the setting sun. "And that's good enough for me."

Johan smiled and placed a hand on the old frog's shoulders. "You earned it. Say, why don't you head back in the fwagon and let me and Anne drive? You definitely need a rest."

Hop Pop nodded as he allowed Johan to take Bessie's reigns. "Wake me up when I feel like it."

"Wait," said Anne. "You have Ripple. Can't you just heal yourself?"

"Like I said, when I feel like it." The old frog climbed into the fwagon and plopped face first in the bed. Polly patted his head and pulled the covers over him.

The robot still followed the fwagon across the desert...

To be continued ➟

Stand: Sandstorm

User: Mama Hassleback

Power: B

Speed: B

Range: C

Durability: B

Precision: D

Potential: C

Ability: Gives the user the ability to use sand for both attack and defense purposes. When exposed to water, the sand becomes mud.