I feel like I could have done better with this chapter.

Things didn't go so well in the following week. First, there was the incident where Mayor Toadstool was offered the chance to become the new head of Toad Tower in an attempt to bring order to Frog Valley, and also to capture and arrest the ones who started the mess to begin with: Passione. In the end, Toadstool's loyalty to Passione as well as his newfound love of Wartwood proved to be more important than his dream of being head of Toad Tower. Unfortunately, his replacement, Captain Grime's old minion Bog, swore to make everyone's lives a living hell.

But that was nothing compared to the incident at the town archive.

Marcy squealed with delight. "Oh, my gosh! You frogs have an archive?!" She immediately went inside and grabbed as many books as she could find. "I mean, it's not exactly as big as the castle library in Newtopia but still! So much knowledge, so much reading, so much potential!" She was in heaven.

"Yeah," said Johan. "Feel free to look around and." But Marcy already had her nose stuck in a book.

"Why are we here again?" Sprig asked Anne.

"Because JoJo wants to find any information regarding the robot factory that was in the Ruins of Despair and see what it was made for. And since Frobo has no recollection and we destroyed the factory in the first place, this is the next best thing."

"Are you sure? The last time we were here, I don't recall reading anything about robots."

Johan gave him the stink eye. "You didn't read because you trapped us in here last time!"

Sprig winced. "Oh. Right. But, I learned my lesson! I'm gonna find a book that interests me and read it, and if I don't, I'll just look at Anne's phone."

Johan looked at the lens above the door. "It's a good thing Loggle let us use one of his spare lenses so the door mechanism will work again."

"So, where do we begin?" asked Hop Pop.

"Well, we've got all day," said Johan. "So, grab a book and start reading."

"Okay." Anne extended her arm and a stream of blue energy shot out, grabbed a book and brought it to her. Johan blinked in surprise. "When could you do that?!"

"I've been training with Marcy over how to control our powers," Anne explained. "The only downside is..." The blue energy disappeared and Anne collapsed in her chair. "It leaves us drained. We're hoping to reach a point where it doesn't happen."

"This power goes surprisingly well with the Spin. Check this out!" Marcy said as she took out her die, made it Spin and applied green energy to it. She gave it a flick and it phased through the wall. Everyone who saw this were stunned, except for Anne.

"D-Did it fly through the wall?!" exclaimed Polly, who was reading a book on armor.

"Yep!" said Marcy happily.

"But...where did it go?" Sprig asked, looking around frantically.

"Dunno. But, whenever I do this..." Marcy held up her hand and the die flew back into her hand. "...it always comes back." The energy disappeared and Marcy fell back into her chair, totally winded. "Hoo. That took a lot out of me."

"Maybe we should hold off on that until Valeriana arrives at Wartwood," said Johan. "In the meantime," he said as he reached out and grabbed a book. "Let's start reading until we find anything about Frobo's origin." He placed the book he had finished reading on a nearby table.

Twelve hours later, the table had a whole pile of books. Some of them were falling off. "JoJo..." When he heard Anne's exhausted voice, Johan lowered the book he was reading, revealing tired eyes with dark circles under them. He saw that Anne had those same tired eyes. "I hate to say it, but we haven't found anything."

"Reading...for...twelve...hours," droned Sprig.

"No...coffee..." Hop Pop plopped face first onto the floor.

Polly was sleeping in Marcy's lap while the latter kept on reading, but it was obvious she was starting to get tired as well. Even a bookworm like her had her limits.

Johan muttered, "Why can't we find anything?" He looked at the book he was reading and put it in the pile. "Is there invisible ink?"

"Probably," said Marcy. "There is a species of mushroom that acts a blacklight, but I don't have it with me right now."

"I don't get it," said Anne. "With how old that factory was, you'd think that there would be at least an instruction manual for it."

"There are no records of a robot factory anywhere in Amphibia," said Marcy as she put her book down. "Maybe these things were lost in history. Well, maybe even more lost since you guys destroyed the only one left from what you told me."

"It wasn't our fault," said Sprig. "The place was trying to kill us!"

"It's better off destroyed," said Anne, clearly remembering when Hop Pop almost got crushed by the machinery.

"Maybe something might be salvageable?"

"Nah," said Johan. "The only thing that survived is Frobo."

"I did suggest we try to find a clue in his inner workings, but Polly won't let me," Marcy said, shivering as she recalled trying to take apart Frobo with a screwdriver, only for Polly to chase her around with it.

Johan said, "What if someone didn't want anyone to find it? Think about it. There are no records of any factory despite the fact that it has to be decades old and left abandoned."

"But who would want to hide it?" asked Anne.

Ooh, boy. Johan had been dreading this conversation. "What about King Andrias?"

Marcy said defensively, "Why would you say that? I think if Andrias knew about the factory, I would have known about it! He tells me everything and even allows me access to the restricted section of the castle library."

"Everything? Are you sure?"

"Yes! I read every horrible, evil book there is! The kind of stuff you won't show to the public!"

"EVERYTHING?!"

"JoJo, you're acting weird," said Anne. "Ever since we left Newtopia."

"No," said Sprig. "He's been acting weird ever since our sleepover adventure in the crypt."

Johan exhaled. "Avevo paura di questo. Marcy, do you trust Andrias?"

"Of course I do," said Marcy, starting to become angry. "He was the first friend I ever made. We tell each other everything, even personal secrets."

Anne made a hurt look. "I thought we told each other secrets."

"And he told everything?" asked Johan.

Marcy said, angry, "Yes! JoJo, why are you asking these questions?"

"Because I think he's hiding something!" shouted Johan.

"What?"

"Think about it, Marcy! Why would he go through so much trouble to hide the crypt?"

"It was off-limits! And for a reason! I mean, I never knew why, but we do know!"

By this point, Polly and Hop Pop had woken up from the arguing and they, along with Sprig and Anne, were not liking where this was going.

"And what about what the Bearded Dragons?" asked Johan.

"We already covered that," snapped Marcy. "Andrias was forced to let them into Newtopia or else they'd go on a killing spree."

"That's not what Diego told me at the hospital! He said Andrias intentionally hired the Bearded Dragons to test if Passione could be useful to him!"

Marcy let out a scoff. "You're gonna believe what Diego says? That jockey hates us! He practically strangled you, me, and Anne when we first met! And don't forget that he poisoned you at the race!"

Johan exhaled. Here was the part he was dreading most of all. "Marcy, you're too trusting."

"What?" Marcy's hair and eyes started to flicker green as her anger increased. Anne was the first to notice this. "Marbles...JoJo..."

Johan didn't notice, or maybe he did and didn't care, and continued, "You see good in people even if it's not there, Marcy! Did you ever stop to think that maybe a guy as nice as Andrias might have something to hide?" Ipocrita! Sei un ipocrita! You've got something to hide as well! No, two things! I'm gonna tell them the truth about the stone mask and the real reason I came to America eventually! Oh, yeah? When? Zitto, cervello!

Marcy's hair and eyes completely turned green as her anger reached its peak. "Well maybe growing up where you did as made you a little touchy! But I think you're blowing this whole thing way out of proportion! If you look at the facts-"

"It's called surviving, Marcy! Something I'm surprised you've done considering you have the attention span of a squirrel!"

POW! Marcy punched into Johan's solar plexus, sending him flying into a shelf and making books fall on top of him. "Take that back, JoJo!"

"Stop it!" Anne, her hair and eyes glowing blue, stood between them. "We're just feeling cranky because we haven't slept in hours. Now, let's just go home and get some real rest and try not to tear each other apart!"

"You're taking her side?!" snapped Johan. "She nearly punched me through a wall!"

"I'm not taking anyone's side, JoJo! I just don't want us fighting, not after we just got back together!" Anne's hair and eyes returned to normal. Exhausted, she said, "Please. Try to get along. I don't want a repeat of the Toad Tower incident."

Marcy and Johan glared at each other before the former's hair and eyes returned to normal and she almost fell to her knees. She got back up and said, "I trust Andrias. Can't you trust me?"

Johan got up, dusted himself off and said, "I do trust you, Marcy. It's your judgement I don't trust. Look, Marcy, I don't want us fighting either. Just, please beware of the company you keep."

The ride back home was an awkward and silent one. Johan and Marcy stayed on either end of Bessie's saddle while Anne and the Plantars sat in the middle. "Anyone want to hear a song to break the tension?"

"Sprig, read the room," said Johan.

As soon as the group returned to Wartwood, they were met with Ram Bamboo. "JoJo! Remember about the records for the tailor you were looking for? The one regarding the cufflink you guys found at the temple ruins?"

"Yes," said Johan. Finally, he can get his mind off the argument with Marcy. For now, anyway. "What have you got?"

Ram Bamboo held up a sheet of paper. "A list of names of people who came to that particular store to get a new cufflink in the past couple of months."

"Really? Oh, that's good," said Sprig. "Now we can lay the smackdown on whoever blew up the temple!" Then he realized what he said. "'Lay the smackdown'? Oh, no! Hop Pop's rubbing off on me!"

Hop Pop gave him the stink eye. "You act like that's a bad thing."

Johan cleared his throat loudly, getting everyone back on track. "Anyone in particular stand out?"

"Just three. A wealthy nobleman from Ribbitvale named Crumpet, a sleazy and rather casino owner from Bog Bottom named Gizmo, and the mayor of Swamp Shiro, Funny Valentine."

"So, what do we do with this information?" asked Anne.

"I'll send three groups to these locations," Johan held up three fingers. "Have them interrogate the suspects and get any information as to why they destroyed the temple. And if they know more about the music box since they know about the temple."

"And how are they supposed to get to Ribbitvale," asked Marcy, still feeling irritated after the argument she had with Johan. "It's halfway to Newtopia!"

"The mayor's hot air balloon," answered Johan, just as equally irritated. "Assuming it hadn't floated away again."

Ram Bamboo noticed the tension between the two of them and asked, "Is something okay?"

Marcy and Johan looked at each other and the former said, "Yeah, we're fine. We just had a little argument. I...I need some time alone. Categorizing plants and all that." And with that, Marcy grabbed one of her books and walked off into the woods.

Johan sighed. "I hate making her angry, but she had to know that her trusting attitude will get her in trouble."

"I think she's right," said Anne. "Don't you think you're a bit paranoid regarding King Andrias?"

"Yeah, a guy who gives giant hugs like that has to be pretty nice," said Polly.

"Look, no one is that nice unless they've got something to hide," said Johan. "I mean, look at Hop Pop and how he buried the music box under a tree for months!"

Hop Pop winced. "You had to bring THAT up."

"Still, I think you were a bit too harsh," said Anne. "I think you two should patch things up, lest we have another Sasha incident."

Recalling how Sasha almost killed him back at Toad Tower, and remembering Marcy's punch that sent him into a wall, Johan said, "I'll try. After I give Marcy some space."

Meanwhile, in the forest, Maddie the little frog witch was brewing a corpse revival potion. "Seed of swordspine, one cup of dirt from a widow's grave, add both to bubbling bog water, and finally, one half drop of worm snake venom. Steady... steady..."

Suddenly, three little pollywogs younger than Polly hopped onto her head. "Maddie! Maddie! Maddie! Maddie! Maddie!"

Startled, Maddie sprayed the worm snake venom onto the ground, causing a weed to turn into a snake before it shriveled up. She groaned after seeing her hard work ruined and asked, "Hi, Rosemary, Ginger, and Lavender. What are you doing here?"

Rosemary was sea foam colored, and had 3 strands of hair. Lavender was, like her name, lavender, and had a single strand of curly hair. Ginger was blue, and was completely bald.

"Hey, sis! You promise you play with us, remember?" reminded Rosemary.

"I'm in a middle of a spell. We can play tomorrow."

"That's what you said yesterday," complained Ginger.

"Look, Mrs. Jonkins is counting on me to bring her pet, Fleafy, back to life." Maddie gestured to the corpse of the flea lying on a stump. A scavenger bird swooped down and pecked at it, but Maddie chased it away. "Hey, hey! Get out of here!" She turned to her sisters and said, "Necromancy is really advanced magic. It said that only level two witches can pull it off. I've only done level spells up so-"

"Boo! Magic is boring!" said Ginger.

"And creepy," said Lavender. "Let's play instead!"

"Remember when you used to juggle us?" Rosemary asked.

"Juggle us! Juggle us!" cheered the trio.

"Fine, give me a few minutes to wrap this up, and we'll play," Maddie conceded.

"Yay!"

Three hours later, Maddie was completing the potion while her sisters watched, bored. "Almost there..." she cackled.

"What happened to 'a few minutes'?" asked Rosemary.

Deciding they needed to entertain themselves, the three sisters used a branch and a rock to make a seesaw. Unfortunately, one sister bounced too high and she crashed into Maddie, making her spill the cauldron's contents onto a tree. "No! That took all morning!" That was the least of Maddie's problems. The potion caused the tree to become a monster and attack. "Uh-oh." She grabbed her sisters and ran out of the way before it could crush them.

Meanwhile, Marcy was examining plants and taking notes in her journal as a way to take her mind off what Johan said. Of course she could tell who were good and bad people, she wasn't naive and too trusting! She could tell Andrias was a good person! On the other hand, there were times. "No. No, Marcy. Don't focus on that. Focus on the plants." She took out a magnifying glass and examined a strange-looking bush. "Crockside conifer. What a find! And they said compiling a plant-cyclopedia would be boring." The sound of screams made Marcy stop her examination and arm herself with her crossbow and Spinning die. "That doesn't sound good."

She followed the sounds until she came across Maddie and her siblings fighting the tree monster. Well, Maddie was the one doing the fighting while her sisters hid. Maddie stopped the monster by throwing a bag and turning it back into a normal tree. Marcy gasped with excitement. "No froggin' way! A curse user?! Here?!"

Maddie panted heavily before shouting at her sisters, "What's the matter with you three?!"

"We were just trying to play with you," Rosemary said sadly.

"Well now I definitely don't have time. Go home and help Dad with the bakery or something. I swear, sometimes, I wish you three would grow up." The three little pollywogs went "Aww..." and hopped home, leaving Maddie alone to clean up.

Marcy saw this as the perfect opportunity to make a new friend and said to herself, "Okay, Marce. Be cool. Just get out there and introduce yourself with confidence." She walked up to Maddie, extended her arm out for a handshake and said a little too loudly, "Hi, there! My name's Marcy!"

Maddie, startled by Marcy's loud greeting, accidentally flung a curse bag at her. It exploded and scorched her back, and she fell flat on her face. Maddie said, "Oh, oops. You're Anne and JoJo's friend, right?"

Marcy immediately got back up and said excitedly, "Oh, my gosh! That was the coolest thing ever! Some kind of low-grade fire curse?"

Maddie made a smile. "I'm impressed you knew that! Do you also have an interest in the dark arts?"

"Are you kidding?! I've read every Cynthia Coven book, five times!" She held up her copy of "Cynthia Coven and the Sorcerer's Stepladder" with glee. "I searched all over Newtopia for someone who could teach me, but magic users are so rare these days. It's all about Stands now."

Maddie became even more intrigued. "Wow! No one's ever interested in what I do! They usually run away screaming!"

"Baby, I'm running towards you! How do you feel about that?"

"I'm feeling like a beautiful friendship is about to start. Wanna be my apprentice and help me bring a dead flea back to life?"

Marcy smiled and pushed her bangs over her right eye, similar to Maddie's and even imitated her creepy voice, "Do I ever!"

And thus, Marcy Wu made her first friend in Wartwood. However, they were so caught up in their joy, they didn't notice the three pollywogs watching the scene from behind a tree with jealousy.

"If we're gonna bring this flea back to life, we need a few more ingredients," said Maddie as she showed Marcy her list. "First up, bile of a vomit bird." They found a large bird that resembled a toucan and it looked like it was about to spew. Maddie held up a jar. The bird spewed all over them, but they weren't disgusted. In fact, they laughed.

"Then, some big ol' ticks."

Marcy shook a branch and a bunch of ticks fell into her basket. She and Maddie laughed, but their laughs turned into screams as some ticks escaped and crawled all over them.

"A really rotted corpse." Maddie looked around and saw a fresh fish corpse, a giant rat skeleton, and then Hop Pop, who was sitting on a fence. "Hey, perfect!"

Hop Pop asked indignantly, "Did you girls mistake me for a corpse?!"

"Of 'corpse' not, Hop Pop," said Marcy. That pun earned her and Maddie a slap with Hop Pop's Ripple charged tongue.

"Fresh soil from a graveyard." The mourners at a funeral taking place watched, offended that the girls were digging during a private moment.

"Assorted limbs." Maddie and Marcy happily walked out of the forest, carrying buckets full of giant bug legs. "And lastly, a high-five from your new best bud." Maddie added that one.

Night fell as Maddie led Marcy to her family's house/bakery. "Well, this is me," Maddie groaned in annoyance. "I hope my sisters are asleep. I do not want to deal with them right now."

"What's wrong with your little sisters?" asked Marcy.

"It's a long story. I used to play with them all the time. Especially, juggling; that was their favorite. Then, I got my own interests. Magic became my passion, my calling. I didn't have time to waste on kids stuff anymore. And ever since then, they've been so annoying."

"As someone who goes hard into her hobbies, I relate," said Marcy. "But, don't you think you should still make time for them occasionally? JoJo says your family sticks by your side like glue, no matter how annoying they may be."

"Nonsense. Being a witch is a big responsibility, Marcy. I've got more important things to do now than babysit."

"Well, you are the master. See you at the sacrificial grove tomorrow for an unholy ritual!"

The two girls then did their own secret handshake. "Creepy spiders!"

"Can't wait!" Marcy squealed with excitement as she left.

Maddie's sisters watched them with jealousy from their bedroom window. "I can't believe it!" exclaimed Rosemary. "Maddie replaced us?"

"Why did she want to hang out with that stupid old lady?" Ginger mocked Marcy.

"I wish we were older," Lavender said, desponded. "And then, Maddie would want to play with us like she used to."

That gave Rosemary an idea. "That's it! That's it! That's it! We just have to use one of Maddie's witchy spells to grow up!"

"Grow up?" asked Lavender, liking this idea.

Ginger liked this idea, too. "And then we'll be older and Maddie will want to play with us again!"

"Yeah!" all three of them exclaimed before they cackled like Maddie.

Suddenly, Mr. Flour came in. "Good night, girls."

"Good night, daddy," they said innocently.

The next morning, Maddie came downstairs to find Mr. Flour making breakfast muffins. "Dad, have you seen my spell book? I need to perform a level 2 resurrection with my apprentice."

"Well, I think I saw your sisters with it."

Hearing that, Maddie got angry. "Aah! I'm gonna kill them!" She ran back upstairs.

"Well, make sure you resurrect them when you're done," Mr. Flour said casually.

Maddie kicked open the door to her sisters' room and found them brewing a potion in a honey pot. "What have I told you about playing with my stuff?!"

"We're not playing, we're making a witchy spell," insisted Lavender.

When Maddie saw her spell book covered in scribbles, she gasped in horror. "Oh, what did you do to my book?! It's ruined! This is why I don't spend time with you anymore because you're annoying, little babies!"

She stormed out of the room with her book. Her sisters grinned at their potion. "Won't be babies for much longer," Rosemary said, holding up a page torn from the book. The recipe for a growth potion.

Later that day, Marcy approached Maddie as she brewed her potion. "Check it out! My first successful curse! Some kind of horrible abomination!" Marcy held up a flower that began to yodel until she covered the its mouth. "Okay, that's enough." She noticed Maddie's angry face and asked, "You okay?"

"I'm so done with my sisters. Look what they did to my spell book!"

Marcy winced at the ruined book. "Yeesh. They didn't even color in the lines." The flower tutted in disapproval.

"Whatever. They won't stop me from reaching level two. Let's get to resurrecting."

The two witches in training, garbed in mad scientist coats, boots and gloves, approached the flea's corpse and Maddie poured the potion on it, making it glow purple. The glow stopped and the girls watched and waited. Then the flea's whiskers twitched. Marcy gasped. "It's alive. It's alive! Or there's a slight breeze."

But, to the girls' joy, the flea sprung to life and barked like a dog. "We did it! We did it! I'm finally a level 2 witch!" cheered Maddie. Something falling from the sky made her look up. "Huh?" What she saw made her gasp.

It was a tadpole, only, she was the size of a bull! "Maddie!" she shouted in a deep voice.

Maddie and Marcy jumped out of the way, but the poor flea ended up squashed under the giant pollywog. "FLEAFY!" screamed Maddie.

"Holy cow!" shouted Marcy.

"Found you!" shouted the giant pollywog.

Maddie took another look and realized who it was. "Wait. GINGER?!"

"You wanted us grown up..."

"So, here we are!" said Rosemary as she and Lavender landed next to her.

"OH, NO! THEY DIDN'T!" shouted Maddie with horror.

"Didn't what?!" asked Marcy.

"Come on Maddie, play with us!" the three giant tadpoles shouted happily. "Hide and seek!"

Maddie and Marcy fled for their lives while the three tadpoles chased them, not realizing that their giant size was going to get them hurt. They fled to Wartwood and hid behind a house. "This is insane," exclaimed Marcy. "Why would they curse themselves with some half-baked growth spell?"

The word "growth" made something click in Maddie's mind and she mentally slapped herself. "Oh, no! It's because I told them they needed to grow up! They only did this to spend more time with me! And it's bad, REALLY bad! They did the spell all wrong!"

"How can you tell?"

"Because they're still growing! A curse like that should be done already! At this rate, they're going to balloon until they explode!"

Suddenly, the three tadpoles lifted the house and Ginger said, "Found you!" Maddie let out a scream.

"Now we hide..." said Ginger.

"...and you seek!" finished Lavender.

They laughed and hopped toward Wartwood.

Johan was sitting at the water fountain, waiting for the three groups to arrive. Eventually, two of them arrived. One led by Ram Bamboo, the other led by Joan Jett. "Well?"

"It's a no go," said Ram Bamboo. "I used my Green Onions to create an itchy gas to interrogate guy from Ribbitvale, but he swore he had nothing to do with it."

"And what about you," Johan asked Joan Jett.

"Nothing," she said. "I beat the casino owner senseless until he was virtuously unrecognizable. He didn't know a thing about the temple."

Johan realized one group was missing. "I see Suave Rico hadn't shown up yet."

"I hope nothing bad happened to him," said Ram Bamboo.

"He'll be fine," said Joan Jett. "Uncle Rico has a knack of getting out of trouble."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Everyone looked up, then screamed and scrambled away before the three giant tadpoles landed on the ground. Then they began jumping around, ripping lamp posts out of the ground and lifting houses off their foundations.

"What the-" exclaimed Johan as he got back up. "Are those Maddie's sisters?!"

"What happened to them?!" shouted Joan Jett.

"Knowing the Flours," said Ram Bamboo as she dusted off her cop cap. "Something magical."

"We gotta stop them without hurting them," said Johan. "Come on!"

While this was going on, Anne and Sprig watched Suspicion Island on the former's phone, completely oblivious to what was going on outside. "Do you ever think it's weird when the main characters aren't in an episode," asked Sprig.

"Eh, you don't miss 'em," said Anne.

"Girls, enough is enough! You're destroying the- AAAAHHH!" Johan screamed as one of the girls jumped on him. He definitely felt his legs snap. "AAAUUHHH!"

"Oh, no," exclaimed Rosemary. "JoJo!"

"Get off me!"

"Hold on, we'll get out of the way!"

Suddenly, the three tadpoles grew even more. Now they were twice the size of King Andrias. "Wow, we're big," said Ginger. "Maybe a little too big?"

Johan let out another scream. "You're crushing my legs!"

"Oh, sorry, JoJo," said Rosemary. She tried to hop off him, but she couldn't move. She panted, "I'm too heavy! Hey, uh, guys, how much bigger are we supposed to get?"

Lavender began to cry. "I don't know, but I don't like it! Make it stop!"

The three tadpoles cried giant tears that threatened to flood the town. Johan tried to free himself as he tried to keep his head above the water. "Girls! Stop crying! You're gonna drown me!" But they couldn't hear him.

Maddie and Marcy watched the whole thing nearby. "We gotta do something," exclaimed Maddie.

"But what?" asked Marcy.

"Come with me!"

"Right behind you, teach!"

Quickly, Maddie found her cauldron and brewed up another growth potion. Marcy returned and said, "Alright, Master, I've got all the ingredients for the antidote."

"Good. I'm going to need you to make four doses while I calm them down."

"But...I'm not ready for that level of potion making! Wait. Four antidotes? Why four?"

"Because one of them...is for me!" shouted Maddie as she poured the potion onto herself. Marcy gasped as she watched her grow...and grow...and grow...

Meanwhile, Johan couldn't keep his head above the water anymore. He was sure he was going to drown...until suddenly, he felt a pair of strong hands grab him and pull him out. He was dropped onto a boat and he let out a scream of pain. He saw who was in the boat with him. "Joan Jett! How did you save me?"

"I used Cherry Bomb to blast a hole under the giant tadpole and free you," she said. "Yare yare daze. You didn't think to use your Stand to free yourself, did you?"

"Hey, I had my legs broken and was about to drown! I panicked!"

"Well, anyway...what are we going to do about them?" Joan Jett gestured to the crying tadpoles.

"I don't know. We need to find their dad or..."

"ROSEMARY! LAVENDER! GINGER! I AM HERE!" Maddie's deepened voice echoed across Frog Valley. Johan and Joan Jett's eyes widened when they saw her coming. She was the size of Newtopia Castle!

"Oh, wow," was all Johan could think to say. Joan Jett didn't know what to say.

The three tadpoles cried, "Maddie! Help us! We made a mistake!"

"I'm the one who made a mistake! I should have made time for you three. But now, I'm gonna make up for it." Maddie picked up the tadpoles and began to juggle them, making them giggle.

Joan Jett and Johan stared at this scene, unsure what to make of it. "Well, there's something you don't see every day," said Johan. Then, he saw something climbing up Maddie's shirt. "Is that...Marcy?! Oh, hell no..." He tried to get up, only to remember his legs were broken.

"You're staying here," said Joan Jett. "Trust Marcy. She can do it."

Johan watched Marcy go and he said, "Yeah. She can handle it herself. If Maddie trusts her, I will too."

Maddie did her juggling tricks with her sisters, "Cross Hand Shuffle, Around The Swamp, Three Bog Bugs!"

Marcy climbed up her shoulders and shouted, "Maddie, get ready!" Maddie nodded. With careful timing and relying on Maddie's juggling skills, Marcy threw the antidote bags into the three tadpoles' mouths, turning them back to normal. Then she used the last one on Maddie herself. As she shrunk back down, she caught her sisters gracefully and they cheered. Marcy clapped her hands.

"Nice job with those antidotes, apprentice," said Maddie with a smile.

"What can I say? I had a great teacher." Maddie blushed when Marcy said that.

"Ahem!" Everyone turned to see an angry Johan, who was being held bridal style by Joan Jett. "You are in so much trouble! And you're going to have to pay for my hospital bills!"

The three sisters winced, but Maddie stepped in. "Wait! This is my fault, JoJo! My sisters caused all this because they wanted to spend time with me and I ignored them! Because of me, they almost exploded!"

"Wait, what?" asked Ginger.

"I got so caught up with my witch stuff that I forgot that being a good older sister is my responsibility too!"

"We forgive you," said Maddie's sisters.

"No! You should be mad at me! I'm mad at me! Let me have it! Really, I deserve it!"

But the witch frog's sisters gave her a hugging tackle instead. "We love you, Maddie!"

She hugged them back. "I love you too, you little scamps."

Marcy smiled at the scene as she pulled her hair back. "Now that's magic."

Johan said, "Well, if those three can forgive you, I can too, Maddie. However, I expect you to repair the damage they caused."

"No problem," said Maddie.

Marcy approached Johan and said, "Still think I can't be trusted to make the right decisions?"

"Marcy, I can trust you to make the right decisions. But I want to trust your judgement. Can you try to do that and beware of the company you keep?"

Marcy said, "Well, now that I think of it, Andrias had been doing some weird things, but I still trust him. He's just as much a friend as you, Anne and Sasha."

Johan didn't like that answer, but he accepted it reluctantly. "Very well. I'll trust your judgement. For now anyway. Ah, I have to ask, can you use your Spin to mend my broken legs?"

"Sure thing, JoJo." Then Marcy saw something that made her exclaim, "Oh, my gosh, everyone look!"

Fleafy came out of hiding and approached the girls. Joan Jett made a look of disgust. "Didn't that flea die some time ago," she asked.

"Sure did," said Marcy. "Maddie and I brought him back! Bring it in, Fleafy, you crazy freak of nature!" She and Maddie hugged the flea. A little too hard apparently, as his head popped right off his neck.

Everyone screamed, "FLEAFY!"

Johan couldn't help but laugh. "I guess they don't make resurrection potions like they used to."

As Johan lied in a hospital bed, letting Marcy heal his broken legs with the Spin, he couldn't help but wonder out loud, "I wonder what happened to Rico?"

Rico laid against the wall, breathing heavily as he bled badly. He got careless, that's what did him in. That and the power of this freak's Stand, which did his crew in. Funny Valentine stood over him. "You come into an official's office unannounced, tried to take what belongs to me, and you tried to flirt with MY wife. How did you think this was going to end?"

"Y-You...stole the box...stole those kids' only way home..."

"No, Rico. I haven't stolen their way home. They have the power to go home themselves. It's just that I need them to serve my purpose."

"What...purpose..."

"Unfortunately, you'll never know. You're going to bleed out in a second or two." Suave Rico's eyes had become opaque and dull and his breathing stopped. "And that's that."

Scarlet snorted as she blew smoke out of the pistol. "Served him right, trying to flirt with another newt's wife."

"Not just another newt's wife. MY wife." Valentine leaned in to kiss her. "A man's wife is his life, after all."

"And I will preserve that life however I can."

"I know you will, love." Suddenly, the secretary walked in, annoying the Valentine couple. "What is it?"

"It's Valeriana, sir and ma'am," she said. "She's been spotted and is approaching Wartwood. What should I do?"

"Let them meet. If all works out as I planned it out, she will bring Anne and Marcy to me."

"But we haven't even found Sasha Waybright yet! She's still on the run with Captain Grime!"

"Which is why I've sent someone else to track her down and deliver her a message. And if all goes well..." Valentine glanced at the painting of the three champions. "...she won't refuse."

Suave Rico's body was removed from Valentine's office and fed to a dumpster lizard.

To be continued ➟