Marcy wanted to treat Anne, the Plantars and Johan to a treat, so she brought them to a local burger joint. "Enjoy, everyone! This place makes the best beetle burgers in all of Newtopia!" Everyone was quick to chow down.

After Polly swallowed her burger whole, she looked at Marcy who was writing down in her journal. "What's that?"

"Oh, just my journal. I like jottin' down theories and observations. You know, all about indigenous fauna, medicinal techniques, customs and nuances of Amphibious species-based caste systems..."

Johan saw Polly about to drone out and he said, "Marcy, you're doing it again."

Marcy saw this and quickly saved face. "Sometimes I even do drawings." She showed Polly a picture of herself eating the burger. It was pretty ugly.

Polly didn't care as she gasped with excitement. "It looks just like me!"

"Wow," said Hop Pop. "Anne, have you been keeping a journal too?"

Anne stuck two straws up her nose. "Look, guys! I'm a straw-lrus! Like a walrus, but with straws!"

Sprig laughed, then asked, "What's a walrus?"

The server arrived with the bill. "Now, who should I give the bill to?" He looked at Anne and said, "Probably not you." That made her frown.

Johan reached into his bag and placed a pile of money on the table. "It's all there. Count it if you like."

The server blinked then asked, "Uh, would you like some change?"

Marcy finished her drawing of Anne the straw-lrus and asked, "Ooh, I know how much! Let's see." She looked carefully at the money pile and asked, "That will be five coppers, right?"

"Right you are," said the server as he placed five coppers on the table and carried off the money Johan left. "I wish I brought a wheelbarrow!"

"You made all that money from making and selling absinthe?" Marcy asked Johan.

"Actually, half that money doesn't belong to me. I stole it from the toads."

Marcy made an uncomfortable look.

"Wow! Can you do math like that too, Anne?" asked Hop Pop.

Anne snorted the straws out. "Uh, you mean like with numbers and stuff?"

Johan was tempted to say "No, she can't." But didn't want to hurt her feelings. So, Polly did it instead. "Can you imagine if Marcy got stuck with us instead of Anne? We'd be set for life! Heck, she'd probably be a greater asset to Passione!"

Marcy coughed a little and looked away. "I'm not exactly comfortable with the whole gang lifestyle thing you guys are doing."

"Same here," said Hop Pop. "And Polly, hush. Think those thoughts, don't say them."

Anne, offended, snapped at Polly. "Oh, yeah? Well..." Suddenly she screamed. "Look out!" Everyone ducked as an arrow flew over their heads and hit a pole.

Johan immediately pulled out his gun. "We're under attack!"

"No, no. It's fine," said Marcy as she took the scroll tied to the letter off. "It's just a message from the king."

Johan scoffed. "Is that the king's idea of 'air mail'? He must have a sense of humor."

"He really does." She opened it and said, "Oh, correction. It's a puzzle-gram from the king."

"What?" everyone asked.

Marcy showed them the scroll. On it were pictures of a tree with an eye, a compass with only the west symbol and a dragon fly, and a letter M and what looked like a triangle with what looked like a radiation symbol. "He's basically hidden clues around the city and when I collect them all, I get a message. Ah! It's so fun!"

"For some people, maybe," Johan said to himself, though Marcy didn't hear him.

She rambled on, "Okay, this first symbol is a tree, so we should head towards Coral Park. Now come on, team. It's puzzle time!"

"A puzzle tour of Newtopia," asked Sprig with excitement. "Count me in!" He and Anne ran after Marcy, cheering. Johan followed them, muttering to himself in Italian.

Hop Pop put the little pollywog on his head and said, "Come on, Polly! This may be our most exciting adventure yet!"

At that moment, the server returned to gather their plates. "Hey, thanks for coming in. Would you like to join our customer loyalty program? You can get free gifts."

When Hop Pop heard his two favorite words, he exclaimed, "Gifts? Free?"

"Oh, no," said Polly with worry.

As the three humans and Sprig walked down the street, Sprig babbled in excitement, "Wow! Whoa! Look at that!" Then he noticed Anne looking downhearted. "Anne. You're not marveling. Is everything okay?"

"Well, I don't know. It's just... Marcy's always been the smart one in our group. I've always just felt kinda dumb around her."

Sprig stopped walking. "What?"

Anne put a finger on his lips. "Shh! She'll hear you."

"Sorry."

"I think you're worried about nothing," said Johan. "Marcy's not the kind of girl who brags about her intelligence."

"I know," said Anne. "But it always bums me that I'm not smart like her. Don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid, just..."

"You just feel inferior compared to her. Come on, there's some things you're better at than her."

"Oh, yeah, like what?"

"You got Ripple. I haven't seen Marcy do something like that."

Anne put a thumb and finger on her chin. "Well, you're right about that. Yet, somehow I don't feel better."

"Well, hey," said Sprig. "Maybe if you can solve the king's puzzle gram before Marcy, it'll prove you're just as smart as she is."

Anne thought it over. "Well, I did get us out of that puzzle dungeon that one time."

"Yeah, you did!"

"Wait, when was that?" asked Johan.

"It was back in Wartwood when we found those tunnels under the house," said Sprig. "You weren't there."

"Oh, right."

"Mission 'Prove I'm Not a Dumdum,' engage!" She ran forward...and ran into a sign.

"So, how's that mission coming along?" teased Johan.

"Shut up."

After catching up to Marcy, who hadn't even noticed they were gone, she said, "Here it is, guys. Coral Park!"

Instead of trees, there were coral stalks sticking out of the ground and in the center of the park was a statue of a newt holding a telescope.

Sprig looked at Anne and nodded. Okay, you can do this, Anne thought. She looked at the first clue in Marcy's scroll and said, "So, one eye open and one closed." She thought it over then snapped her fingers. "Ooh! What if we aren't supposed to look at the trees? What if we're supposed to listen to them?" She ran up to one of the corals and hugged it.

"Uh, wouldn't it make more sense to peek in one of the holes?"

Marcy grabbed Johan and exclaimed, "You're onto something!"

"Uh...I am?"

"He is?" asked Anne.

Marcy approached the statue. "This statue of Ezra Brackish is looking through a telescope. He's got one eye open and one eye closed, right?" She peeked her eye into the telescope and saw a hidden message written on the trees. "Gotcha! 'Bring.' So that's the first part of the message. Brilliant!" As she reached for the scroll, she fell off the statue and onto her back. "Okay. So the next clue is..." The dragonfly with the compass symbol with only the W for west. "Oh! I recognize this. Come on, gang. Let's motor!"

Anne remained where she was, staring dumbfounded. "Maybe you'll have better luck on the next one?" asked Sprig.

Her spirits were raised a little. "Yeah, I can do this! Let's go get that next clue!"

Johan said, "And I will...uh...make sure Marcy doesn't slip on a banana peel and break her neck."

"I heard that!" Marcy called out.

Suddenly, before they could leave with Sprig, Anne and Johan heard a little newt girl (whose name is Efty by the way) cry out, "Goblin! Come on, girl!" She was trying to reach for a black coastal kill-a-pillar stuck in a tree. "Goblin, get down from there!"

Johan's eyes bugged out. "Oh, God! I'll take care of this!" Efty gasped and Anne stopped him.

"Whoa! I think I should handle this."

"Anne, are you kidding me?! Remember Domino 2? That thing is waiting to bite someone's head off!"

"Not my Goblin," said Efty. "I raised her when she was an egg! Please, don't kill her!"

Anne patted Efty on the head. "Don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to her. I'll get her down." She inhaled, activated her Ripple and began to walk along the side of the tree until she was in arm's reach of Goblin. She grabbed the kill-a-pillar and jumped off the tree, landing next to Efty. The newt girl took the bug and hugged it tight. "Thanks, lady," she said.

"I actually have one just like that back home. But with less legs. And you," Anne pointed to Johan. "Owe this little guy an apology."

Johan sighed, knelt down and said to the girl and Goblin, "Sorry for trying to kill this little guy."

Goblin licked his cheek. "That means he apologizes," said Efty.

"Sure he wasn't just tasting me?"

"Anne, JoJo, come on!" called out Sprig.

"Whoop, gotta go!" said Anne. "Don't let that thing grow up."

"Seriously, don't!" said Johan as he followed her.

Efty waved them goodbye. "Catch you later!"

Goblin meowed.

Anne, Marcy, Johan and Sprig arrived at the museum, a small building with a dragonfly weathervane. Marcy looked at the clue. "Why the 'W'? I mean, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Duh," said Johan. "'W' means west on a compass. So, we have to look west!" Everyone looked to their left. Except for an old lady newt sitting on a bench across the street, they saw nothing. "Boy, do I feel stupid."

Anne scoffed. "Let me see that." She snatched the scroll out of Marcy's hand and looked at the clue. For some odd reason, she had the feeling that it was taunting her. You'll never solve me! Anne made a startled sound, but then remembered Marcy was standing nearby. "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom! BRB!"

"Anne, wait!" Johan shouted, rushing up to catch up with her.

Sprig asked Marcy, "Hey, can I see your crossbow arm?"

"I don't see why not."

"Anne, wait!" Johan managed to catch up to her.

"Go away!"

"Anne, stop!" He managed to get her to stop by using DARE to numb her legs, making her fall flat on her face. "Anne, let me help you."

She slapped his hand away and snapped, "I don't want your help, and I don't want you making me look bad in front of Marcy!"

He gave her a confused look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You helped her solve the last puzzle! How do you think I feel about that?"

Johan chuckled nervously. "Honestly, it was just a lucky guess."

Anne sputtered, "S-So you did it without even trying?"

"It was just a fluke!"

"Whatever. I need someone who can help me, someone who's not you!" She saw the old lady newt, still sitting on the bench. "Aha! An old person! Old people love puzzles," she said, walking up to her.

"Anne, leave her alone," Johan said.

She ignored her and whispered to the old woman, "Psst, hey. Wanna solve a puzzle?"

The newt threw away the crossword puzzle she was doing and said, "Ooh! Looks like a juicy one. Pull up some bench, dear. The name's Doris."

"Anne," Anne greeted as she sat down next to Doris. "And this is JoJo," she gestured to Johan. "Okay, any idea what this symbol has to do with the museum? JoJo thinks it has something to do with west."

"Oh! My son Harris used to work at the museum," said Doris. "Oh, wait, no. Harris worked at the library. Dusty worked at the museum. Or was it Dave?"

Fantastico, è uno di quei vecchi chiacchieroni, thought Johan.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on," said Anne, stopping Doris. "How many sons do you have?" In response, Doris held up her wallet and about fifteen folded up photos rolled out of it.

"Whoa," said Johan, stunned. "Someone sure got busy. Any grandkids?"

"Too much to fit in this wallet," joked Doris.

Meanwhile, Marcy was still trying to figure out the puzzle while Sprig stared intently at the crossbow she gave him. Then she snapped her fingers. "JoJo was onto something! Again!"

Sprig accidentally fired the crossbow and shot down a bird. He whistled innocently as he joined Marcy, who was inspecting one of the museum's walls. "The lines between the bricks of this west side wall of the museum match up perfectly with the street grid of Newtopia. Which puts us right about... here!" She pulled out the brick where the museum would be, revealing a word carved into it. "'Me!' 'Bring... me...'" Marcy gasped with excitement. "Only one clue left to go!"

"And get this," said Johan with a laugh. "That was the SECOND time Joseph had to crash a plane!"

Doris laughed. "Whoo! I wouldn't want to go on a flying machine again after that."

"I know, right? It's like my family is cursed every time they go on a plane!"

"Remind me not to buy plane tickets with you," said Anne as she painted Doris' nails.

"Yeah," said Johan with a chuckle. "Hey, Anne. Did we forget something?"

"Hmm, I don't know. One minute we were talking about Dusty and Buster, then Joseph and now... I can't remember why we were here."

At that moment, Sprig arrived with some bad news. "Hey, Anne. So... Marcy figured out the second puzzle."

"Oh, that was it."

Anne gasped. "The puzzle! Sorry, Doris. Gotta run." She grabbed the scroll and ran off with Sprig and Johan. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too, Anne, JoJo," said Doris with a wave. "Don't forget my offer to set you up with one of my sons, Anne."

Anne blushed. "Doris, stop it!"

Johan gave her a weird look. "You're actually considering it?"

"Where's the harm in that?"

Anne, Sprig and Johan caught up with Marcy. "Hey, Anne. Glad you could catch up. Take a look at the final clue." Anne looked at the third clue, the letter "M" above a triangle with what looked like a radiation symbol in the center. "It's referring to the big bridge downtown. Come on!"

They passed by the burger joint. "Hop Pop, Polly!" called out Sprig. "We're goin' to the bridge!"

Polly pleaded, "TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

Hop Pop, who had just finished Lord knows how many burgers, babbled with his mouth full, "Polly, look! Just nine hundred and eighty-seven more lunches, and we get a free suit of armor!" Polly groaned.

"Okay, Anne. One clue left," said Sprig as they followed Marcy.

Anne looked down in disappointment. "Yeah, and Marcy'll probably solve it before we get there."

"Oh, come on. So she's good at puzzles. That doesn't mean she's smart and you're dumb," Sprig reassured her.

Anne smiled a little. "Thanks, dude."

"OH, MY GOD!" shouted Johan when he saw what was ahead. Sprig and Anne stared, equally shocked. In the center of the bridge was a gold statue of Marcy holding a book and a pair of compasses. "THEY BUILT A FREAKING STATUE OF YOU?!"

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I know," said Marcy like it was no big deal. "I made a few suggestions on how to increase the weight limit, and they kinda, like, named it after me. Now, come on! Let's see where this triangle fits in."

Johan looked at the clue. "That looks like a nacho."

Marcy scoffed. "Okay, you got lucky the first few times, but there's no way it has something to do with nachos. No, it has to do something with the architecture somehow."

Meanwhile, Sprig noticed the sad look on Anne's face. "Okay, so she designed a bridge. That doesn't mean..."

She held her hand up. "Please, stop."

Now it was Sprig's turn to look sad. "Yeah, okay."

"Why don't you two go ahead? I think I need a moment alone."

"Uh, okay. Just holler if you need something."

Johan didn't follow Sprig. He just watched Anne leave, wondering how he could make her feel better, but he couldn't think of any.

Alone, Anne sat on a bench next to a nacho stand. Suddenly, the wind picked up and blew away the nacho trays. The vendor, a plump, purple female newt, tried to grab them. "My trays!"

"I got 'em!" Anne quickly grabbed them before they could hit the ground and brought them back to the stand.

"Thank you, sweetie!" The vendor handed her a tray of nachos. "Here, have some gnatchos on the house."

"Thanks!" The human girl ate a few. "My name's Anne, by the way."

"I'm Gertie. Nice to meet ya." Gertie heard the sad sigh Anne made as she ate a few more gnatchos. "Something got you down, Anne?"

"Have you ever had a friend who's so smart, they make you feel dumb?"

"Honey, this is Newtopia. Everyone here's a genius. And then there's me, with my dumb old gnatcho cart."

"What? Gertie, don't say that," said Anne. "You're an independent businesswoman. You've got it goin' on!"

"Oh, aren't you a sweet one!" Gertie said with a chuckle. "You wanna know my trick? Fake it till you make it. If you act like you're smart, everyone assumes you are."

Anne raised an eyebrow. "Really? That works?"

Gertie nodded. "Mm-hmm. I don't know the first thing about cooking, and look at me. I'm a famous chef! Well, I'm a chef. Well, I'm in the food business."

"If my friend JoJo were here, he would say, 'Do you even have a food vending license?'"

"He say that and I will say, 'None ya business!'"

Anne chuckled.

"Hey, Anne!" shouted Sprig. "Marcy and I are stumped. Get over here!"

Anne turned to Gertie, who gave her a thumbs up. She met up with Marcy, Sprig and Johan, still at the bridge and looking over the clue. "All right. What do we got here?"

"I still think it's a nacho," said Johan.

Anne scoffed. "Don't be stupid. It's so obvious!"

"Yeah, what is it?"

Come on, Anne... fake it. "So, a triangle has three sides, right? Three rhymes with, er... 'tea.' You brew tea with water, and there's water in, uh... The sewer!" She pointed to an open manhole. "Let's go down there."

Johan frowned. "Stai scherzando vero?"

"I don't know what you said."

As they climbed down the manhole and into the spacious sewer tunnel, Sprig took note as their feet touched the water, "Whoa! This sewer's shockingly clean."

"And it doesn't have that sewer smell," said Johan.

"There's actually a reason for that. I..."

"Rehauled the sewer system," Sprig, Anne and Johan finished Marcy's sentence.

"How'd you know that?"

"Hey! Check that out," said Anne, walking over to a valve sticking out of a pipe. "That looks just like the circle in the clue. Kinda. We obviously have to turn it."

She was about to turn it when Johan stopped her. "Shh. Do you hear that?" The girls and Sprig listened carefully and sure enough, they heard what sounded like voices. Taking out his gun, Johan walked forward with the others walking behind him. He poked his head around the corner and saw what looked like three newts wearing yellow jackets with a darker gold lizard symbol. It looked like they were dumping something wrapped in cloth into the water.

"Frogging sumo wrestlers," said one of them.

"When we say take a dive, you take a dive, you fat frog," said the second.

"I don't think he understood you," said the third.

"Well, he's about to be fish food! I gotta say, that freak the king found has made our jobs easier. If it weren't for her 'sewage cleaning system', getting rid of bodies would have remained as difficult as ever."

When Marcy saw them, she frowned. "Bearded Dragons," she whispered with hate.

"Who?" asked Anne.

"The gang who set up shop in Newtopia."

Johan looked at the newts. "This is them?" He was about to fire when Marcy stopped him. "What?"

"I'll take care of this. This isn't my first rodeo with these creeps."

"WHA-" Anne's scream was muffled by Sprig's hand.

Marcy smirked. "You want to know how I was able to beat the barbari-ant queen from the inside?" She reached into her pouch and pulled out a twenty-sided die.

"Marcy, this is no time for your games," hissed Anne.

"I wanted this to be a surprise, Anne. You're not the only one who's got a new cool anime power."

Anne was stunned. "You...learned an anime power too?"

Johan groaned. "Oh, no. Please tell me you didn't get a Stand. The idea terrifies me."

Marcy's smile grew wider. "Not as great as a Stand, but it's just as practical as Ripple. Watch." She held her hand up and to Johan, Sprig and Anne's surprise, the die began to spin all on its own.

Sprig's eyes nearly bugged out. "The die is possessed!"

"Heh, heh. No. It's an ancient technique I learned from Lady Olivia," said Marcy as she did calculations in her head. "It combines my two favorite subjects! Mathematics and anime physics. She calls it...the Spin!" She flicked the die and it bounced off a wall, impacted a valve and it ricochetted right back into her hand.

The valve turned and a pipe opened up. The Bearded Dragons looked up, startled by the noise and let out a scream as something big landed on top of them. Johan screamed. "IS THAT AN ALLIGATOR?!"

It was an alligator, alright. One as big as two station wagons put end to end. It saw the Bearded Dragons' bodies and began to devour them.

"Just one of my improvements," said Marcy.

"Wait. THAT'S the reason the sewers are so clean?!"

"Would you guys believe that in addition to eating live meat, these babies love eating trash?" As she spoke, she was completely unaware that the gator was now looking at her and her friends with a hungry look.

"I believe," shouted Johan as he summoned DARE. "I believe it prefers DEAD meat!" The gator lunged at them, only for DARE to sock it right in the snout. "MUDA!" The gator fell onto its back with a yelp of pain. "RUN!"

The group made a break for it down one of the tunnels and climbed up a ladder, only to find the manhole blocked by a cover. Anne tried to push it, but it wouldn't budge. "Holy crud, that's heavy!"

"Hold on! I got this!" Marcy pressed her hand on the manhole cover and gave it a Spin.

"Gnatchos! Get your gnatchos!" called out Gertie. Suddenly, the nearby manhole cover shot out of the ground like a rocket and landed next to her stand. "Whoa!"

Anne was the first to get out, followed by Marcy, then Sprig. Johan tried to climb out, only to let out a scream when a sharp pain shot into his right leg. He looked down to see the gator closing its jaws on him. "Help!" he screamed as it began to drag him back in.

"JoJo!" shouted Anne. She reached out, grabbed him by the arm and pulled. "Let go of him, you overgrown gecko!"

Gertie came rushing forward and pulled on Anne. "Hold on, Anne! I gotcha!"

At that moment, Doris and Efty left a tour bus and heard the commotion. "Did you say 'Anne'?" asked Doris. "The tall, gangly creature?"

"She saved my Goblin," said Efty. "We gotta help her!"

Meanwhile, Polly left the burger joint with Hop Pop, who was now fully clad in the suit of armor he won. "Okay, they said they'd be at the bridge," she said. "Do you see 'em?" Imagine their surprise when they saw Anne, Marcy, and three total strangers trying to free Johan from the jaws of an alligator. "Typical," muttered Polly.

Hop Pop used his Ripple to jump into the air and slam onto the gator's head, making it let go of Johan's leg and retreat into the sewer. Johan clutched his bleeding leg and made pained hissing sounds. He undid the red sash and used it as a gauze. "That's going to leave a scar," he said.

"Hold on," said Marcy. "Maybe I can use the Spin to close the wounds."

Johan looked at her and asked, "Can you do that?"

"First time for everything."

"GET ME A REAL DOCTOR!"

"Anne, what happened? Are you okay?" asked Hop Pop with concern before he said sternly, "Can't you go ten minutes on your own without getting into some kind of crazy danger?"

"Aw, give her a break, Hop Pop," said Sprig. "Anne's already sad because Marcy's so smart she makes her feel dumb."

"SPRIG!" snapped Anne.

When Marcy heard that, she briefly stopped healing Johan's leg and looked at her. "What? Anne, is that true?"

Anne confessed, "I don't know. Maybe? I guess I get a little jealous of you sometimes. I mean, you're so smart, and I'm... not."

Marcy smiled as she stood up. "Anne, that's insane. Besides, I'm jealous of you!"

That left Anne confused. "Huh? What for?"

"Yeah, what for?" snarked Polly.

"You get along with people so well," said Marcy. "Three people you met today just risked their lives to help you save JoJo." She gestured to Gertie, Doris and Efty. "Heck, the Plantars here adopted you and would do anything for you. Yeah, sure, I'm good at solving puzzles and calculating the check, but you're amazing at making connections." She looked away with a blush. "Me, I have trouble looking people in the eye sometimes."

"People skills, Anne," said Johan as he stood up, only to wince from the pain in her leg. "That's one of the main things of being in a gang, connecting to people, whether it's business or emotionally. It makes people trust you more. It's how Zio Buccellati was able to win the hearts of so many people in Napoli."

Anne smiled. "Thanks, Marcy, JoJo. Maybe that's why we make such a good team. Come here, you." She pulled the two of them into a hug.

"Hey, anyone else want a snack?" asked Sprig. "That nice lady gave me some gnatchos."

When Anne looked at the gnatchos, she was suddenly reminded of the final clue. Her grip on Johan started to tighten. "Anne? Okay, Anne, it's getting hard to breathe."

"You were onto something again, JoJo," she said through gritted teeth.

Johan pulled away from the group hug. "What? What now?"

"About the gnatchos! The final clue is the gnatchos! Sprig, empty that tray!" Sprig ate all the gnatchos, revealing a phrase written in the tray. It said, "The Plantars and JoJo."

Everyone gasped.

Marcy said with realization, "That means the message is... 'Bring me the Plantars and JoJo.'! Oh, guys, we've been summoned! And you solved the puzzle gram, Anne!"

"Self-esteem boost and an audience with the ruler of this world? Win-win, baby!"

"Up top, Anne!" said Johan. The two of them did a high five.

A growling sound made everyone look at the manhole. "So... you guys wanna feed gnatchos to that alligator?" asked Anne. Everyone said yes.

"Just keep him away from me in case it developed a taste for human blood," said Johan.

Anne dumped a few gnatchos down the manhole and watched as the alligator happily ate them.

"Just look how happy it makes him," said Anne.

"I think he likes it better than flesh," said Johan. "That's good news. Speaking of news, who's going to break the news to the authorities that there were gangsters dumping bodies in the sewer?"

"Already on it," said Marcy as she filed her report.

"Wait, what did you say about dumping bodies?" asked Hop Pop.

To be continued ➟