The early morning sun rose, shining into Ivy Sundew's bedroom. It had a dartboard, a practice dummy, a map of Amphibia with a drawn section that led from Wartwood to Newtopia, and various motivation posters. An alarm bug sitting next to Ivy's bed let out a loud chirping sound only to be kicked by the frog girl, who was hiding on the ceiling. "Think you can sneak up on me, alarm bug? I've been awake for hours!" She went to her hanger and jumped up to put on her hat. She then grabbed a butterfly net and kicked her bedroom door open. "Boom!" Just as she was about to leave the house, Felicia grabbed her net, stopping her.

"Excuse me, young lady," she said sternly. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm meetin' Sprig for some Glitter Bug huntin'. I told you last night, remember?"

"I remember saying you had to finish your chores first," said Felicia as she dragged Ivy back into the house.

"Aww!"

"Now let's see how good a job you did." Felicia picked up a plate and showed it to Ivy. "Aha! What's this?"

"A plate?" snarked Ivy.

"A FILTHY plate," said Felicia as she held up a magnifying glass, showing a tiny speck of dirt. "And just look at these napkin swans. Their necks are looking pretty sad." Well, they were sagging a little.

"Aw, come on, Mom. They're good enough."

"They most certainly are not! Now fix your shoddy work or you aren't goin' anywhere, young lady."

"But, Mom, I'm gonna be late! Can't you get JoJo to do it?"

"Up, bup, bup. Should have thought of that before you rushed your chores. Besides, JoJo's already done with his chores and is at the shooting gallery." The sound of the door knocking made her go to it. "Heavens! That'll be the morning rush!" She opened it and a bunch of old frogs slowly made their way inside. "Come on in, everyone! Oh, Mr. Patterson, is that a new scarf?"

Ivy groaned. "Thanks for leaving me with all the real hard work, JoJo."

Somewhere around back, Johan lined up his gunblade and fired a bullet at a bottle sitting on a fence. He was about to fire when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. "Hey, JoJo."

"Wah!" He turned around to see Anne and Polly, both wearing bandanas around their heads. "I could have blasted your heads off! What are you doing here?"

"Can't you tell?" Anne asked, gesturing to her sports outfit and the sports tape wrapped around her hands and feet. "Polly and I are practicing Muay Thai, and we want you to join us!"

"Mostly so we can enjoy beating you up," said Polly. Anne shushed her.

"But I don't know Muay Thai," said Johan. "My Dad and Zio Mista did teach me how to fight, but nothing like what you learn in the schools." He added softly, "They also taught me personally so that I wouldn't get caught cheating using my Stand."

"Well, your dad had a point," said Anne. "You can't keep relying on what he taught you forever. You gotta learn new moves and luckily for you, I'm gonna teach you some. But first, we gotta get you in uniform."

"That's not a request," growled Polly.

Somewhere in the forest, Sprig sat on a stump, waiting for Ivy and practicing what to say to her. "Hello, Ivy. Uh, how's it hanging, Ivy? Oh, Ivy. Sorry, didn't see you there."

Suddenly, Ivy popped up from the tree stump, sending him flying. "AMBUSH!"

Sprig looked up at her and said, "Hey, Ivy. I wasn't here talking to myself. That's for sure."

"Uh-huh. Well, sorry I'm late. My mom was on my case again. It's so annoying!" Ivy said as she helped him up.

"I'm sure she's got her reasons."

"I guess."

Just then, Anne and Polly passed by, doing fighting moves. "Muay Thai! Muay Thai! Muay Thai! Muay Thai! Muay Thai! Muay Thai!"

Polly saw them and said, "We're Muay Thai-ing!"

Both frog kids said, confused, "You're what?"

"It's a form of traditional Thai martial arts," said Anne. "My mom enrolled me in a class when she realized how high-spirited I was."

Anne remembered when she was five-years-old, causing havoc in the kitchen and singing loudly, "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!"

Her mother stopped her and said, "You know what Mommy really wants? You, out of her kitchen! Txn nī̂!"

"Anne's gonna teach me and JoJo some sweet moves. You guys wanna join?"

"Aw, man, that sounds awesome," said Ivy. "But Sprig and I can't. We're about to go Glitter Bug hunting."

"Suit yourself. JoJo! Come on out!"

"I feel silly wearing this!" Johan's voice called out from behind a bush.

"It's a traditional Muay Thai uniform," said Anne.

"I know, but..." He stepped out of the bushes, revealing to be wearing one of Anne's spare outfits. "...this is a girl's uniform!"

"Sorry, it's all I have."

"He looks kinda cute in it," teased Polly as Sprig suppressed a giggle.

Johan growled. Then he saw Ivy and said, "Shouldn't you be helping Felicia around the tea shoppe?"

"Pbbth. You sound like Mom."

"Come on!" Anne said, dragging Johan along. "Muay Thai! Muay Thai! Muay Thai!"

"Now, let's catch some bugs," said Ivy as she dragged Sprig deeper into the forest.

"Okay," said Sprig, smitten.

Ivy caught a shiny beetle climbing a tree. "Gotcha!"

"Nice one," complimented Sprig.

"So tell me more about your adventures on the road. I wanna hear all the details. JoJo's told me some stories, but I want to hear them from you."

Sprig said as he put the bug in a jar, "Well, they really looked up to me in Bittyburg. And Ribbitvale was crazy ritzy, but I fit right in." He chuckled. "I pretty much have friends in every town from here to Newtopia."

Ivy caught another bug and said, "Ah, your trip sounds amazing. Man, I've never even been out of Wartwood." She put it in Sprig's jar.

"Well, next time I head out of the valley, maybe you can come with me. I mean if you want, no big deal."

He gave her a wink, making her blush. "Heck, yeah, I do!" She gasped. "Check it out." She pointed to a white Glitter Bug with colorful patterns. She and Sprig jumed to the top of a tree. A"ll right, Sprig. Time for the super net." She and Sprig combined their nets together, making a big net.

"Aha! Ready? One, two, three..."

But before they could jump, a bee-like phone creature flew up behind them and Felicia's voice rang out, "IVY SUNDEW!" Startled, Ivy fell to the ground, scaring off the Glitter Bug. "No! Come back!"

"Ivy, you're late for your tea ceremony lessons," Felicia said sternly.

"But, Mom, me and Sprig just got started!"

"Don't 'But, Mom!' me. Come home this instant!"

Frustrated, Ivy punched the tree, knocking Sprig off it. He looked at her lovingly, ignoring the pain in his recently recieved black eye, "She's so cool."

In a muddy swamp (the same one Sprig and Hop Pop had their sumo wrestling months ago), Anne, Polly and Johan stood on a lily pad and bowed to each other. Anne inhaled, activating her Ripple. "Okay, listen well, JoJo and young pollywog. Muay Thai is all about..."

"ENOUGH TALK!" Polly threw a punch but Anne easily blocked it and sent her onto her back "Ow. Wha... How did you..."

"You're too eager. My instructor always used to tell me: 'Jai yen yen.' It means to have patience and a cool heart."

Polly clearly didn't hear her as she charged at Anne, who quickly dodged her and she flew into the cattails. A loud bonk was heard followed by a familiar sounding "Ouch!" Wally stepped out of the tall grass, carrying Polly. "Uh... totally wasn't watching. Nothing creepy going on here. Say, that looks like fun. Mind if I give it a try?"

"Ha. You? Good luck, Wallers." But to Polly's surprise, Wally was fighting Anne and was actually keeping up with her.

"Holy cow, Wally. You're pretty good at this. You see this right here, Polly? This is what you should be doing."

Polly pouted.

"Hey, let me in on this," said Johan as he joined in the scuffle.

That evening, back at the tea shoppe, Johan watched Felicia give her daughter a lecture. "First things first. We need to evaluate your attention to detail. Now, this was my table setting from this morning." Everything was perfectly in place. "And this was yours." Ivy's setting had one flaw: the teapot's lid was crooked.

"What's wrong with it? There's no difference!"

Johan was about to say something, but then decided against it. He didn't want to face Ivy's wrath. Felicia said, "You're just missing that extra something-something." She put the lid on the tea pot properly. "It's the details that count, Ivy. Now, I'll demonstrate. Then you follow. We'll start with folding the swan napkins." She made an origami swan napkin perfectly. Ivy tried to follow suit, but the neck on her swan was a bit droopy. Felicia shook her head. "We all have our off days, I suppose." Ivy growled at her.

"Next, let's steep the tea." She spun some tea bags above tea cups placed in fancy cup holders. Ivy did the same thing, but nearly knocked over one of the cups. "Careful. Don't break my frog china." Ivy growled and steam came out of her ears, making a whistling sound. Felicia looked around. "Oh, shoot, did I leave a kettle on? Oh, we'll deal with that in a bit. Now for my favorite part. Changin' the tablecloth!" She danced and placed a tablecloth on a table perfectly. Ivy only put hers halfway onto her table. Felicia scoffed, "Ivy, if you're going to do things halfway, we'll just have to start over."

That was the last straw for Ivy. "That does it! I don't want to do any of this boring, frilly garbage. I wanna travel the world and have my own adventures."

"The only thing that's garbage is your attitude, young lady. A nice cup of oolong will cure that right up."

"Do you care about anything other than tea?! You just don't get me Mom!" Ivy stormed into her room and slammed the door shut. Luckily, Felicia caught them and balanced them on her arms, leg and head.

"Whoa, where did you learn to do that?" Johan asked, impressed. "And without your Stand, no less!"

"Years of practice. I can do a lot of things without The Rose," said Felicia as she set them down. "Ugh. I need some darjeeling," she said, pouring a cup for herself. "Can you believe that girl?! She's so frustrating! Always getting things wrong, making impulsive and brash decisions, getting herself in danger!"

Johan scratched the back of his head and said, "Well, I don't really blame her."

Felicia made an outraged "What?"

"I mean, you criticize her for every small imperfection. You expect her to be perfect on the first try."

"She has to be! Did you hear what she said? She wants to go out and see the world outside of Wartwood, but she's not ready! With all the monsters and rival gangs out there, of course I expect her to be perfect, so she can survive!"

"Survive? All you're doing is teaching her how to set tables and... Ohhhh...this is a Karate Kid thing, isn't it?" Johan realized.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know, teaching mundane stuff that really teaches how to fight." He exhaled as he reached out and poured some darjeeling for himself. "You know, Ivy is not going to learn anything if you go down the same route George Joestar did."

Felicia looked at him, confused. "George Joestar."

"The father of my grandfather Jonathan Joester."

"I thought your grandfather was Dio Brando."

"It's both, remember? Anyway, Jonathan was clearly the sort who wanted to be a gentleman, but was lacking in the maturity department. Because of this, George berated him for every misstep he made and it put a damper in his confidence. It only got worse when Dio, the so-called perfect adopted son, came into the picture and he started to show favoritism toward him. It was only when Jonathan grew a spine and beat up Dio for kissing his girlfriend Erina Pendleton did he finally find the confidence he needed."

"What's the point of this story?"

"The point is, you're not going to get anywhere with Ivy if you keep criticizing her for every mistake she makes. Try to be patient with her. And if that doesn't work, make her understand the way she would."

"You mean, use violence?"

Johan shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe."

Felicia exhaled and said, "We'll see. Tomorrow morning, I'll go up and talk to her. You clean this up."

Johan put the tea sets and table cloths away as soon as she retreated to her room. "Oh, Edera," he muttered, saying Ivy's Italian name. "I hope you and your mother don't make things even more complicated."

The next day, Johan returned to the swamp to resume his Muay Thai lessons with Anne. He let out a series of punches and kicks, all of them blocked by Anne. "Not bad, JoJo. You're getting better, but..." She landed a kick to his stomach and knocked him flat on his back. "...not as good as me."

"MUDA!"

An invisible punch knocked Anne off her feet. She rubbed her chin and said, "Cheater! You used DARE!"

"Sorry," he said as he got up. "Force of habit."

"I swear, you're just as bad as..." Polly let out a yell as she tried to charge at Anne only to blocked at every turn. "Not bad, Polly. But you still lack..." She kicked the little tadpole into the air and caught her. "...patience."

"This is impossible! I'll learn how to fly before I learn..." Suddenly, Sprig and Ivy ran out of the grass and bumped into Anne and Johan, knocking Polly into the air only to be caught by Felicia. "Oh, hey, thanks."

"What's going on?" Johan asked.

"Uh...we're running away," Sprig said uncertainly. "At least I hope we aren't."

"Huh?"

"That's right!" said Ivy defiantly. "We're running away and finding our own lives outside of Wartwood."

"Ivy Sundew, I've had it with your disobedience!" shouted Felicia as she set Polly down.

"Well, I've had it with your nitpicking, your rules, and your tea lessons!"

Felicia exhaled. "I can't believe I have raised such an ungrateful and disrespectful daughter!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, then... maybe I don't even wanna be your daughter!" Immediately, Ivy clapped her hands over her mouth. Everyone, even Wally who was watching from the sides, gasped. Felicia made a hurt look. "Sorry, it's just... I wanna see the world, you know? Get my hands dirty, learn martial arts, things like that."

That gave Felicia an idea. "Martial arts, eh? Fine. You don't have to take tea lessons anymore, if you can beat me in a martial arts fight. Three rounds. And you only need to win one. Oh, and neither of us can use our Stands."

"Wha... Seriously? Me against you?" Ivy laughed. "This is gonna be easy, I won't even need my Stand."

Later that day, Ivy and Felicia dressed in Muay Thai uniforms and glared each other as they stood on opposite sides of the lily pad. Anne, Johan, Sprig, Polly and Wally sat on a log, watching the match. Anne rang a bell and said, "Begin!"

Ivy lunged forward with a punch, but Felicia effortlessly jumped over her head and landed on her feet gracefully, impressing everyone. Except for Ivy. "Huh, must've been a lucky dodge. Here I come!" Ivy tried to punch and kick, but Felicia dodged them effortlessly before going into a stance. Quickly, Ivy jumped away, but Felicia lunged forward...and gave her a poke on the cheek.

"And Felicia gets the boop!" shouted Polly as she dinged the bell. "Round one to Felicia!"

Anne asked, "Whoa. Where'd you learn those moves?"

Felicia nonchalantly said, "Oh, picked them up on my travels."

"Travels? What travels?" Ivy asked before she lunged at her. Felicia spun her around and poked her on the nose.

"Two for Felicia!" shouted Polly.

"It's the third and final round," said Sprig. "Whoever wins this, wins it all."

Ivy charged at Felicia, but she swiftly dodged her, tripped her and pinned her to the ground. Polly shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. Shouldn't have rushed in," said Polly.

"Now you're gettin' it," said Anne.

Ivy struggled to get out, but it was no use. She accepted defeat and said, "Finish it."

"Fold the swan napkin."

Ivy, confused at her mother's words, looked up at her. "Huh?"

"I said, fold the swan napkin."

Still confused, Ivy did as her mother told and used the hand movements needed to make origami swan napkins to free herself, much to her surprise. "I got free, but-but..."

"Now sift the tea."

"Huh?"

"Sift. The. Tea." Felicia said, sending a barrage of punches and kicks, all of which were blocked by Ivy, who remembered the technique used on the tea cups in the cup holders yesterday. Everyone watching was in awe. "Now, Ivy, change the tablecloth." Ivy smirked, grabbed Felicia by the hands, spun her over her head and slammed her down onto the ground. Everyone watching gasped. Ivy ran up to Felicia, who smiled at her. "It's alright. Do it."

Ivy poked her on the nose and everyone cheered. "Round three to Ivy! Ivy wins! Whoo!" Sprig shouted happily as he rang the bell.

Ivy helped Felicia up and asked, "Mom, where did you learn those moves?"

"I was a little bit of an adventurer myself back in the day. Where do you think my exotic selection of teas comes from? Or my frog china?"

"I-I had no idea," Ivy stammered.

Felicia continued, gently, "Ivy, you think I don't see you, but I do. You want to travel the world, and I get it. But you have to be patient, because it's dangerous out there, and I just want you to be ready before we go."

Ivy then realized something, "You don't mean..."

"Mm-hmm. All of these tea exercises were to prepare you for when I take you on my next tea-gathering adventure."

Ivy hopped into Felicia's arms. "You're the best mom ever!" Felicia hugged her back. "I still can't believe you used to be some kind of world traveler."

Felicia chuckled. "Oh, honey. Where do you think I met your father?"

Ivy's cheeks turned red with embarrassment. "Mom, please!"

"Well, I guess our work here is done," said Sprig.

"To be honest, I have no idea what's going on," said Wally.

Anne looked around. "Hey, have you guys seen Polly?"

"GOTCHA!" Polly lunged at Anne, but she, Sprig and Johan ducked just in time. Wally wasn't so lucky. He got punched square in the cheek and fell flat on his face, knocked out cold.

"Oh caro," said Johan, surpressing the urge to giggle.

"That was technically your fault," Polly said to him, Anne and Sprig.

Anne shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, there's a good chance he won't remember this."

To be continued ➟