A/N: Well, the finale of "The Owl House" was, in a word, AWESOME! I'm not gonna spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched it, though. In any case, Still can't believe "The Owl House" is over, but I'm finally catching up in this Amphibia story as well. I'm sorry it took 15 days since then. But before we continue, first off, I made a major error on who the bosses would be, so I had no choice but to make a couple of major changes, the first one being in this chapter. And the second is in chapter 18 as you already know by now. Other than that, I have a surprise reference in store for the chapter later on. But first, my friend has a message for you.
"Hello, everyone. So, I feel like I need to clarify something before the chapter begins. While I did say that things for both stories would get dark, I meant that for Amphibia that it would start at the same chapter as Owl House. So expect a medium amount of light and dark stuff from this chapter and the next for chapter 16 is when things truly start getting darker for Amphibia and beyond. Other than that, please enjoy the chapter."
Well, you all heard him, let's enjoy it, shall we? :)
Amphibia: Secrets of Newtopia
Chapter 14: The First Temple
Act I
The next morning, Hop Pop was making breakfast while Polly ate what appeared to be chocolate pancakes with Anne, Sasha, and their respective siblings eating said breakfast, especially Sprig, Grime, Bombina, Percy, Braddock, Sylvia, Felicia, Ivy, and Yunan.
"Whoo, boy! Those chocopede pancakes are delicious!", Yunan shouted excitedly.
"Who knew there was a bug that tastes just like chocolate?", Anne asked.
"Why didn't anyone tell us sooner?!", Sasha asked in amazement, a chocopede slipping off her hand and onto the floor.
"It's like tasting Chocolate Pancakes!", Rose beamed.
"I know. Just like back home!", Jackie agreed.
"Hop Pop! You never let us have chocopede pancakes. What's going on?", Polly asked.
"I thought you kids deserved a treat after, well...", Hop Pop began, carrying a whole tray of chocopede pancakes over to the table.
"You lied and buried the music box, causing Anne and Sasha to almost leave the family forever?", Sprig chimed in, making Polly, Anne, Sasha, and their siblings and friends to gasp while Hop Pop whimpered and Sylvia to inhale sharply due to the awkwardness.
"Mm, boy am I glad Anne forgave you. Some people would carry the scars of that betrayal for life. Just like with Marcy. Not you two, though.", Sprig spoke before laughing only for Polly to elbow him.
"Sprig!", Polly glared.
"What?", Sprig puzzled.
"You weren't supposed to bring that up, Sprig.", Ivy responded.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry.", Sprig apologized sheepishly.
"It's okay, Sprig.", Anne responded.
"Yeah. We've been betrayed by our so-called best friend, Marcy. This coming from Hop Pop is nothing.", Sasha added.
"Oh, sure. Rain on that parade, why don't you?", Grime asked to himself.
"What did you just say?!", Sasha glared, instantly making Sprig widen his eyes uncomfortably.
"Okay, I think I need to go outside now! Anyone else who'd like to is welcome!", Sprig said quickly and nervously before dashing out as did everyone else; everyone, that is, except for Yunan, who received slight glares from Anne and Sasha.
"Non-specific excuse!", Yunan shouted before she took off and ran out.
"Whatever.", Anne and Sasha scoffed.
Meanwhile, everyone else was outside, each holding a small quarter piece of a chocopede pancake.
"Guys, as much as I'm happy that almost all of us made up, I'm still a little sad for Marcy.", Sprig said.
"Me, too...", Rose agreed.
"Yeah. But what can we do? It's not like she cried herself to sleep last night.", Polly asked.
"Well, the night that she has is the day I start showing sympathy for her again. But after what she put me through a few nights ago, that day is not coming anytime...!", Jackie began as the stable door opened.
But when they all came in, they were shocked to see that Marcy's eyes were still red and puffy and that she was hiccuping due to a lack of breath, cradling Cotton in her arms.
"...soon.", Jackie finished, stunned.
"Oh... H-h-h-hey, guys...", Marcy greeted sadly.
"I stand corrected.", Polly said, stunned.
"Wow, Marcy. You really have been crying yourself to sleep last night, haven't you?", Sprig asked.
"Oh, th-that? Psshh. It was nothing. Really...", Marcy responded as Cotton and Bessie woke up.
"Mew?", Cotton squeaked.
But no one here was convinced, only giving sad looks for Marcy.
Suddenly, a cawing sound was heard, attracting everyone's attention.
"Huh?", Marcy puzzled.
"What's that?", Bombina asked.
"I'll get it!", Hop Pop shouted.
Everyone rushed outside as a cawing sound rang again. Much to their astonishment, it was a large sparrow with a scar and a helmet, chirping as it perched on the ground. Hop Pop screamed from the sight of it.
"A monster bird, ridden by a pile of books! Wait, huh?", Hop Pop puzzled.
Then, suddenly, Olivia popped up from a pile of books apparently on top of her.
"Honestly, with the way this stack of books just keeps falling off, it's a miracle none of them fell off on the way here.", Olivia spoke.
"Owivia!", called Alex as Adam and Jamie giggled.
"Greetings, everyone. Listen, I have some urgent news and...", Olivia began only to see Marcy's red puffy eyes, much to her shock.
"OH, MY FROG! Master Wu, what happened?", Olivia asked.
"Oh, this? J-just had a rough day yesterday... But, hey. No big deal.", Marcy assured, feigning a smile.
"Mew?", Cotton only squeaked worriedly.
"Right... Anyway, I have urgent news. King Andrias says we're all ready to head to the first temple.", Olivia announced.
"That's great!", Max grinned.
"I just need to see the music box. Then it's, as you say, Master Wu, 'go-time, gang.'", Olivia grinned.
"Aw. She copied me.", Marcy grinned sadly.
"Good thing she didn't show up a few days ago, am I right?", Sprig asked.
"Sprig.", Ivy glared.
"You need to stop.", Polly added.
"Well, let's get started.", Marcy spoke only to notice Anne and Sasha glaring at her.
"Uh, on second thought, why don't you do the honors?", Marcy asked, offering it to Olivia.
"Uh... Very well, then.", Olivia said.
"You need to press here, here, and there.", Alexis spoke, pointing to the apparent keys on the box at the left and right sides of the box's lid and the frog at the front.
"Huh.", Olivia spoke before pressing them.
As a result, the box started playing before the gems were lifted up as Alexis picked up the green gem while the rest went back inside, astonishing all.
"There you go.", Olivia said, offering the box to Marcy.
"Oh, uh... I better not.", Marcy sighed.
"What? Why n...", Olivia began.
"It's nothing! Don't worry about it!", Anne and Sasha interrupted.
"Well, we've got a big journey ahead of us. I'll explain everything on the way. Come on, Joe Sparrow. Joe Sparrow?", Olivia called before gasping at the sight of what the bird was doing.
"Joe Sparrow!", Olivia exclaimed.
Joe Sparrow was doing some funny moves to flirt with Bessie, chirping to her. Of course, the snail blushed as she chirped back.
"Joe Sparrow, I demand that you leave that snail alone!", Olivia demanded as Bessie left, still blushing.
"Well, everyone, we'd best be on our way.", Olivia said as she got on.
"Oop, pardon me.", Anne spoke as she climbed up as did Sprig and Polly.
"Pretty cramped up here, huh?", Sasha asked.
"Oh, uh, eh, so where do I sit?", Hop Pop asked.
But later, Hop Pop was screaming as he was carried by Joe Sparrow by the talon with Marcy carried by an adjacent one as well, only Marcy didn't seem to happy or excited. Cotton, in the meantime, was flying in the air with everyone else in amazement as they were shown to be flying in the air, too, thanks in part to Cotton's powers. As amazed as they were, Jackie turned to see how down-in-the-dumps Marcy was and sighed sadly for her. Just then, Rose spoke to Jackie.
"Jackie, are you okay?", Rose asked.
"To be honest, not really... the tension between Anne, Sasha, and Marcy is just too much to bare.", Jackie sighed.
"Because of how you were mad at Marcy, too?", Rose asked.
"Well..., yeah. Only I'm not mad at her anymore. I guess I was just really upset with how you ran off and said you hated me back then.", Jackie admitted.
"Yeah, but this is different. You may've told a small lie that never hurt anyone, but Marcy was the reason we're all trapped in the first place. That's gonna take longer to get over.", Rose responded.
"I know. And I think she knows it, too... She's been like this ever since the truth got out. And it didn't help that I lashed out at her for it...", Jackie sighed.
"We just have to hope that we patch things up eventually. We need to work together if we wanna get back home.", Rose responded.
"Yeah. I know... It's Anne and Sasha I'm worried about knowing how important that is.", Jackie responded.
"What have you learned so far?", Max asked.
"Well, apparently, these three ancient temples are filled with difficult challenges to keep out the unworthy. All we have to do is complete the challenges, and then we can charge the stone.", Olivia responded.
"Nifty. So, what kind of challenges we talkin'?", Anne asked.
"This first temple is said to specifically challenge one's intelligence. That means it's full of puzzles. No frog, toad or newt in history has been able to survive it.", Olivia responded.
"Uh...", the group worried.
"Well, clearly, they haven't met the Wu's. We are masters at puzzles, especially Marcy.", Alexis assured.
"No way! We can totally do this without Marcy.", Anne reacted out of spite.
"Yeah. We can solve all those puzzles if we had enough time.", Sasha agreed just as spitefully.
"Absolutely not! As it stands now, only Marcy and her family have the intelligence to make it past those trials.", Olivia argued.
"Uh, nope. I mean, nothing against Marcy's sibs, but we can totally make it there without her.", Anne argued angrily.
"No, you can't.", Olivia argued.
"Can so!", Anne and Sasha argued.
"Cannot!", Olivia argued.
"Can so!", Anne and Sasha argued.
"Cannot!", Olivia argued.
As the back-and-forth exchange continued, Alexis noticed that they're finally approaching the 1st temple's location.
"Huh? Guys, look! We're here.", Alexis beamed.
Unfortunately, Olivia was still arguing with Anne and Sasha.
"Can so!", Anne and Sasha argued.
"Cannot!", Olivia shouted.
"Guys? Guys?! Guys!", Alexis shouted, the 3 too busy arguing with each other to even hear her calling them.
This frustrated her as the arguing continued before she had enough.
"GUYS!", Alexis shouted.
"What?!", Anne, Sasha, and Olivia shouted in unison.
"We're here!", Alexis responded, pointing to the location of the 1st temple down below.
But at that instant, Joe Sparrow swooped straight down, causing Olivia, Anne, Sasha, Sprig, and Polly to scream while falling swiftly down as everyone else followed after them. They descended very quickly until Joe Sparrow got near the ground with Hop Pop and Marcy tossed toward the ground with the latter sliding into the ground face first as Hop Pop just bounced on the ground and landed on a brain mushroom nearby.
"I deserved that...", Marcy sighed dejectedly, her voice muffled by the dirt.
"I'm upside down.", Hop Pop spoke.
"Welcome to Amygdala Woods, everyone, home to the first temple.", Olivia proclaimed as everyone else caught up and arrived there with one of the brain-like trees squirting out some pink goo.
"Whoa.", everyone spoke in awe.
"Little help here?", Hop Pop asked.
"Whoa! What are these things?", Ivy asked as she and Sprig went over to him, the latter poking a brain mushroom.
"Th-they're Gyromitra esculenta... Also known as brain mushrooms.", Marcy said flatly with a sniffle before Ivy and Sprig pulled Hop Pop off said brain mushroom while Marcy just got up sadly.
"A forest full of brains for the intelligence temple? Kinda on the nose, don't you think?", Anne asked.
"Yeah. This seems obvious.", Sasha agreed.
"Speaking of temples, I think you way overhyped this place.", Polly stated, gesturing to the outhouse nearby.
"No, no, no. This is the real temple.", Olivia gestured, pointing to the actual first temple with 2 waterfall fountains, one on each side, much to everyone's amazement as they gasped.
"But if that's the temple, what's this, then?", Percy puzzled before opening the outhouse door only to see that it is an actual outhouse.
"Outhouse. It's an outhouse.", Percy spoke as a few flies buzzed around in the outhouse before he closed the door.
Then, everyone climbed up the stairs toward the temple entrance.
"All right, guys! Let's do this thing!", Max shouted with an echo.
Not long after Anne and Hop Pop inadvertently touched one another's hands.
"Oop, sorry about that. After you, dude.", Anne apologized.
"Oh, no, no, no. A-After you, my dear.", Hop Pop offered before Anne chuckled.
"Oh, don't be silly. I insist.", Anne offered.
"Those two seem a bit off.", Olivia said.
"Uh, yeah, you kinda had to be there...", Alexis responded.
"No, I insist.", Hop Pop spoke.
Soon, the group entered the first temple and were amazed by what was inside, especially Marcy.
"Wow.", everyone spoke in awe.
"So, this is the first temple? It definitely has some next-level lore stuff going on here.", Grime commented.
"Wow.", Polly spoke, looking around until she stepped on a panel.
"Uh-oh.", Polly spoke before the lights turned on to light up the entire ruins, revealing that on each door, there's an inscription in a different language.
"Wait. I think I know what it says. It's a good thing I learned an entire dead language just for today beforehand. Now, let's see. 'Keeper of the box, one strong of mind, four trials await, that will return the stones' shine.'", Marcy translated.
"Okay. Obviously, there's going to be four trials, guys.", Max said.
Just then, another door opened.
"And there we go.", Max added in surprise.
But then the gate finished opening, there appeared to be a dead end.
"A dead end. Well, we tried our best and that's what counts.", Sprig spoke with everyone turning away.
"Wait a minute. There's gotta be a puzzle here somewhere. Everyone, look for clues.", Alexis urged.
"Wight!", the 9 triplets spoke in unison.
Soon, they were all looking around for any viable clues in the room. As they did, Adam, Jamie, and Alex found a puzzle box on the ground and picked it up.
"Cwue!", the Wu triplets shouted.
Suddenly, a green bubble formed around the 3 Wu Triplets, making them giggle as they floated, making Marcy exclaim as Hop Pop gasped while Cotton giggled.
"Frog, help us. A cursed cube possessed by evil magic!", Hop Pop shouted.
"No, it's the puzzle! Also, I'm pretty sure that's a magnetic field holding them up, so, yeah, you're correct.", Marcy said, worriedly, before turning to the triplets.
"All right, guys. Time to put the box down.", Marcy urged.
Then, Alex tossed the box out before it landed in Marcy's hands.
"Oh, no.", Marcy spoke before she got caught in a bubble and floated up as the Wu triplets' bubble popped and they fell.
"Oh, no! The triplets!", Alexis shouted as Max gasped before they landed on top of Marcy, 2 on the shoulders and one on the head, much to their relief.
"Whoa, this thing's got, like, a zillion permutations. I wonder how it works.", Marcy puzzled, turning one side of the puzzle.
Unfortunately, when she did, the room started to shake.
"Uh...guys?", Polly asked before part of the room turned to the right with some of the gang forced to hold on to the side, much to Marcy's worry as she noticed.
"Oh, no!", Marcy spoke in worry.
"Anyone else tasting chocopede pancakes right about now?", Sprig asked.
"Guys! Are you okay?", Marcy asked in worry.
"Barely.", Anne responded.
"No thanks to you.", Sasha added, making Jackie and Allison glare at them.
"What?", Anne and Sasha puzzled before Marcy sighed sadly.
"All right. Maybe you guys should hang back by the entrance. You'll be safe there.", Marcy assured.
"How do we know we won't get crushed by some kind of booby trap out here?", Sasha glared.
"The only danger is in this room. Every time a piece of this puzzle gets turned, so does a piece of this room. Look.", Marcy said, turning one piece of the box halfway before similar piece of the room turned halfway.
"Okay. Entrance it is.", Anne said.
She and the others then quickly ventured to the entrance.
"Okey-dokey!", Anne shouted.
"Whew... At least, this way, they won't get hurt.", Marcy sighed in relief.
And so, as Cotton playfully bounced on the bubble she's in, Marcy turned the cube in every possible direction. But neither Anne nor Sasha were impressed.
"You'd better not fail this on purpose!", Anne glared.
"Yeah, like how you stranded us here on purpose!", Sasha added just as glaringly.
Hurt by their words on account of how true it was, Marcy quickly stopped, starting to get too sad to be able to focus on the puzzle, which caused the room to be halfway changed. Jackie and Allison noticed this, too, and were very angry.
"WOULD YOU GIRLS JUST SHUT UP!", the two shouted to Anne and Sasha.
Needless to say, they were very surprised.
"It's bad enough that she feels bad about stranding you all here!", Jackie scolded.
"So, she doesn't need you two making it worse by reminding her about a horrible decision she made! When will you two let that go?", Allison added just as the Wu triplets saw how sad Marcy was getting.
"Nothing comes to mind!", Anne shouted.
"Nope, nothing at all! And we haven't decided when we'll let this go yet.", Sasha added, making Jackie and Allison growl angrily in frustration as Jamie saw how sad Marcy was getting as did his brothers.
"Mar-mar...", Jamie spoke in worry.
Then, he got determined and turned to Adam and Alex, who both nodded with him, before all 3 triplets proceeded to get to Marcy. Only after clasping onto a piece of the puzzle and moving it did the room finish changing at the stage with Marcy seeing the triplets with her.
"That's right... I gotta focus if I wanna help my friends get out of here. Thanks, you guys.", Marcy thanked as she and her triplet brothers pressed against and slid every row until the cube was in alignment just as the room was changing along with the cube, much to Anne and the others' surprise.
"Got it!", Marcy shouted before the green orbs on the cube and on the wall glowed green with key forming out of thin air in a bright green light with a brain symbol grafted on top of said key as a portal with red lights streaking down toward the center ring then appeared overhead with a slot befitting the shape of the key that materialized before it and Marcy (with her triplet brothers in tow) descended before the bubble popped and the key landed in Marcy's hand.
"Well, I'll be danged.", Anne said.
"Me, too.", Sasha agreed as she and the others walked up to Marcy.
"You did it, Marcy!", Jackie grinned.
"We knew you could do it.", Allison added.
"Thanks, guys. But I didn't do this one alone.", Marcy responded, placing the key into a slot, activating the portal, the red lights of which turned blue.
"One down, four to go. Right, guys?", Marcy asked.
But Anne and Sasha only turned away, still miffed over what she did, much to her sadness.
"Oh. Well... I guess I'll be going then...", Marcy sighed, sadly moving on to the 2nd trial as she pressed her hand on where the key was placed before the portal then zapped her away while Cotton and everyone else followed her and got zapped away, too; everyone else except Jackie and Allison, who turned back toward Anne and Sasha.
After a moment, though, as Jackie and Allison were about to scold them again, they saw Anne and Sasha turn back out of genuine worry. From seeing this, the two friends grinned cautiously and went onward, getting zapped away, as well.
Act II
Once everyone reappeared from the other side of the portal and made it to the 2nd trial, Rose was amazed to see how it looked.
"Wow! That floor looks colorful and fun.", Rose grinned as Anne and Sasha caught up.
"Colorful, maybe. Fun? Not quite. Watch.", Alexis said, tossing a rock towards a red square, which seeped down before fire burst out from it until the fire went away.
"Woah. Not getting good vibes from this room.", Sprig said.
"Neither am I.", Ivy added.
"Welp. Time to turn back. Thanks for playing, everyone!", Polly shouted.
"Hold on, gang. Look!", Felicia urged before glowing writings appeared with Marcy reading again.
"'A dangerous room. What to do? Don't be jealous of my hue.'", Marcy read.
"Huh?", everyone puzzled.
"Who's Hue?", Sprig asked.
"Hold on. If red tiles trigger fire, what do the blue ones do?", Max asked, tossing a rock toward the blue tile.
Upon landing, though, a square-shaped mace fell down from below and crushed the rock.
"Okay, so red is death by flame, blue is death by crushing.", Max said.
"But what about the green spaces...?", Alexis puzzled before she rushed off.
"Lexy, no!", Marcy shouted.
Alexis took her crossbow and then used it to fire an arrow before then sliding down said rope via bow to slide down to the green space and land on it, teetering on it for a bit before it slid down with nothing happening.
"It worked!", Alexis shouted, making Marcy gasp in realization.
"Of course! Okay, guys, listen up. Green is the safe color. We all know that, right?", Marcy grinned, puzzling the others.
"Eh...", the rest of the gang puzzled as Anne and Sasha nodded in reply.
"'Don't be jealous of my hue.' It's a reference to green, or as some people call it, the color of envy.", Marcy stated.
"Ah, yes, naturally.", Sprig said.
"Hmm...swell.", Polly agreed in unison.
"I have a lot of green friends who would find that offensive.", Hop Pop spoke.
"I find that offensive already.", Grime commented.
"But why hasn't the door opened then?", Percy asked.
"I think it's a two-person job. One of us has to get to the other green square.", Marcy stated.
"Marcy, are you sure?", Max asked.
"Yeah, how do we know that one isn't some kind of trapdoor?", Percy asked.
"With spikes in it!", Braddock added.
"As fun as that sounds, it's not helping.", Grime responded.
"Guys, I've done the research. You all saw it, right?", Marcy asked.
"Well, can't argue with that.", Anne responded.
"In that case, I'll go.", Max offered.
"Just be careful, Max.", Allison warned.
"Yeah. The last thing I want is to put any of you in danger. I don't want you to get hurt. Or worse.", Marcy added.
"All right.", Max assured.
After a moment, Max quickly ran off with a jump toward the 2nd green square.
"Max!", most of the group shouted while the rest gasped.
"Careful, dude!", Polly urged.
Soon, Max may have landed on the green square, but soon, he lost his balance, making the present company scream out of worry.
"Max!", Alexis spoke in worry.
Unable to keep his balance, Max pressed his hands against the red tire, making him gasp before leaning back just before the ignited fire could burn him only to land toward the blue tile behind him, making him even more worried before leaning back in time to avoid the mace hitting him. The young man screamed loudly in terror before the fire went away just as the mace was then lifted up off the square, allowing him to sigh in relief just before the green square he was resting on fell into place, causing the rest of the squares to turn green one by one. And thus, another key appeared as did another inactive portal.
"You both did it! Are you okay, Max?", Marcy asked, heading over to him and lifting him up.
"I think I lost an eyebrow. Although, I dodged the fire and the mace, so it's hard to tell.", Max responded.
"Let me see.", Marcy said, examining Max's eyebrows to see that none were burnt off at all.
"Phew. No, you still have 'em, Max.", Marcy sighed in relief.
"Thank frog for that...", Max exhaled in relief.
"At this rate, we'll get the stone charged in no time.", Marcy grinned before heading up to the portal and placing the key into a slot, activating yet another portal.
"Dang, girl!", Polly beamed.
"This leads to the top floor. That means 2 down, 3 to go.", Olivia stated.
"Come on, team! Let's get going!", Allison urged, running up to the portal and getting zapped away, too, as everyone else followed, even Anne and Sasha, who became more worried for Marcy than before as they were seen traveling through some kind of wormhole.
"Uh..., should we even worry about her right now, Anne?", Sasha asked.
"Well, she did ask us to wait at the entrance where it's safe. Plus, she also told us what space to use.", Anne spoke.
"Yeah. She did do that.", Sasha sighed.
"The point is, she never took us into consideration before. Whenever she gets this into something, she always tends to tune everything else out.", Anne explained.
Then, it showed a flashback where Marcy was playing a game reminiscent of Flappy Bird on her game console while pulling down a frozen yogurt lever.
"Oh, my gosh, guys. I'm about to beat my all-time record!", Marcy shouted eagerly while Anne, Allison, and Max tried frantically to clean it up.
"We're so happy for you!", Anne, Allison, and Max shouted.
At another point, Sasha, Anne, and Marcy were doing a school play for Peter Pan. Anne was swinging from a rope while Marcy was playing with her game console backstage.
"Marcy! Let me down! Marcy! Help!", Anne screamed before the rope broke, causing Anne to fall into the audience and the triplets that were watching to giggle.
Later, Anne was in her room, where she was laying on her bed eating marshmallows while listening to the news.
"Breaking news, 500 snakes have escaped from-Wait, is that a middle school student?", the news anchor asked just as Marcy obliviously walked towards the snakes.
"Marcy! No!", Anne shouted before the flashback ended.
"That was the worst Saturday of my life.", Anne stated.
"Now, that you mention it, she's actually worrying about us this time. But why? She got us stuck here on purpose, Anne. I know she was freaking out about moving, but it's still super messed up.", Sasha said.
"We've all made mistakes, Sasha. And besides, maybe we're partially to blame.", Anne responded.
"'Ex-squeeze' me?", Sasha puzzled.
"Remember that movie she used to make us watch? 'War of the Warlocks'? And how we'd always fall asleep?", Anne asked.
"It was a three-hour movie.", Sasha groaned.
"It wasn't just that movie, though. We ignored all her interests. We might have ignored her needs too. Maybe that's why she went behind our backs with this crazy plan.", Anne realized.
"All I'm saying is, even if we charged all 3 stones, can we really save this friendship?", Sasha asked, ashamed.
"I don't know. But we have to try.", Anne responded.
Soon, everyone arrived from the other side of the 2nd portal and arrived at the 3rd trial.
"Wow. So, that's the 3rd trial?", Rose asked, gesturing to a large maze overhead.
"I know. It looks like some kind of maze game.", Anne agreed.
Just then, the green writing turned up above in the black light-lit sky below.
"It says here, 'To escape this room's sudden daze, clear the trash from this maze'", Marcy translated.
"May-ze?", the triplets asked in unison, getting excited.
"May-ze!", the triplets shouted before attempting to jump in only for Marcy, Max, and Alexis to grab each triplet.
"NO!", the Wu's shouted before moving them back.
"We don't even know the first thing about what that trial is like.", Marcy said in worry.
"For all we know, it could be a death trap.", Max added.
"It could be dangerous.", Alexis added.
"But we know how do this!", Alex said.
"Wike video game!", Adam added.
"Like a... video game?", Marcy asked, earning Adam, Alex, and Jamie's nods.
Then, Marcy looked at the maze and back at the triplets.
"Huh. What do you know? It does look like a video game.", Marcy grinned, looking back to the eager triplets.
"Oh, okay. But you three need to be careful. I don't want to lose any of you three.", Marcy warned.
"We will.", Jamie assured before the Wu's set the triplets back down.
"1... 2... 3!", the triplets shouted before jumping and falling into the maze.
As they fell, though, they suddenly became more circular in shape. What's more, their arms and legs started to go in their bodies until they were no longer visible, let alone the fact that their bodies were starting to turn completely green. When the triplets landed, they have become little, sentient green orbs, much to everyone's astonishment, amazement, and joy.
"Oh, my gosh! They just turned into cute little orb people!", Marcy grinned, her eyes tearing up with stars in them and tears dripping down as everyone else gasped in awe.
When the triplets landed, they turned to each other and just giggled to each other.
"We wook funny.", Adam giggled.
Just then, an 8-bit theme started playing.
"Aww wight, guys. Scatter!", Jamie urged before he and the other 2 triplets split in 3 directions.
From there, the triplets began eating white orbs all around the maze. While they were doing so, however, a horde of Mini-Herons were invading upon the maze. At one point, each triplet found themselves cornered by one of them (much to the group's distress, especially Marcy's) just as Adam found a bigger white orb and ate it, causing the herons to turn blue and give a panicked look. This gave the triplets the idea to chase the mini-herons and gobble them up. With them out of the way for now, they continued clearing the maze by eating several orbs.
"Mmm. Dewicious. Wike Marshmawwows.", Jamie beamed.
Suddenly, a cherry appeared in front of him.
"Oooh. Chewwy.", Jamie beamed before eating one and then proceeded to eat the rest of the white orbs.
In no time, the entire maze was stripped clear of all the orbs big or small, though not without having to avoid the mini-herons that came back. Once it was clear, the key appeared in a bright green light as the triplets turned back to normal and the triplets turned back to normal. The key landed in Adam's hands before a portal materialized overhead and the stairs formed, allowing the others to catch up.
"That was really great, you three! Oh, I'm so proud of you three!", Marcy grinned, hugging the triplets.
"In fact, we're so proud of you.", Max added ad he and Alexis hugged them, too.
"Aw, I wanna get in on this.", Sprig spoke before he, Polly, Hop Pop, Ivy, Sylvia, Felicia, Jackie, Allison, Rose, and Pat joined in.
The sight at least made Anne and Sasha happier for them and they were going to join in just before Olivia popped up and spoke.
"All right, everyone. Time to get to the 4th trial. Chop, chop!", Olivia urged.
"Yes, Ms. Owivia.", the triplets spoke before Adam placed the key into a slot and the portal opened up, sending the group to the 4th trial as they went through it.
In another wormhole, Sasha spoke to Anne.
"OK, so let's say you, Jackie, and Allison are right, and we've been taking Marcy for granted, that doesn't change what she's done.", Sasha said.
"It's not about what she did, Sash. It's about why she did it.", Anne stated.
"So, I'm supposed to forgive her? Like it's easy?", Sasha glared.
"It's not easy. Forgiveness is hard. And it can take time.", Anne responded, holding Sasha's hands.
"But believe me...", Anne began, glancing at Hop Pop as he raised his thumbs.
"It's worth it.", Anne assured.
Sasha sighed for a moment.
"You're right. Of course, you are. Now let's catch up to that lovable little nerd, so we can make things right with her.", Sasha grinned.
Just then, everyone finally arrived at the 4th trial.
"Here we are. The fourth puzzle.", Olivia stated.
"Oh! I'm so excited.", Marcy grinned.
When she turned back to see Anne and Sasha, they were still at a distance, but this time, they were smiling for her; although they became flustered and looked away afterwards. Seeing this, Marcy took a deep breath and sighed.
"Anne. Sasha.", Marcy began, starting to break down in tears.
"I'm sorry. I was so scared about moving away. The thought of losing you was just so big. I was afraid that if we weren't together, we wouldn't be friends anymore.", Marcy said sadly.
"I know it's hard, Marcy. But no matter how much we fight it or deny it, things change. We can't stop it. But nothing, not distance or time, can break the bond that we share, because nothing can take away the memories of the time we spent together.", Anne assured.
"Well, then at least I know that I'll have girls as my awesome friends.", Marcy said, her tears rolling down her cheeks before she sniffled and wept them away.
"Anyway... 'Few have the brains to make it to this door, but are you wise enough to solve what's in store?'", Marcy asked.
"What is in store?", Alexis asked.
"Let's go find out.", Max responded before the Wu's led the way for everyone else and were stunned by what they saw: a life-sized game of what appeared to be Amphibia's equivalent of chess.
"I don't believe it! It's flipwart!", Marcy gasped before Anne and Sasha did, too.
"What's flipwart?", Jackie, Rose, Allison, and Pat puzzled.
"It's a strategy game I learned to play in Newtopia. It's like chess but to the max. I got so good at it, I even beat King Andrias.", Marcy responded.
"Impressive.", Hop Pop grinned.
"Impossible is more like it. They say King Andrias is one of the best flipwart players around. And I should know. I saw one of his games at one time before you all showed up.", Grime added.
"Uh, more like was. Because Sasha and I beat him, too.", Anne said.
"What?! Okay, how and why?", Grime asked.
"Well, you see, Grimesy, it went a little something like this.", Sasha began.
Then, it flashed back to the time when Marcy beat Andrias first and then went to Anne and Sasha, offering them to try their hand, even pulling a cute face, making the two hesitant before they nodded and started with Anne playing against Andrias next.
"After Mar-Mar beat King Andrias, she offered us to try and beat him in Flipwart.", Sasha added.
"We would've refused against that since we didn't know if we were any good at it, but Marcy roped us in with the cute face, so we couldn't.", Anne stated.
For Anne's case, she was the first to move her white pawn with Andrias moving his toward Anne's. Then, Anne moved another pawn to be next to her first on its right with Andrias doing the same on his right.
"So, that's how you wanna play it, eh, Boonchuy? Okay, then. I'll play along.", Andrias smirked as he did so.
After a moment, Anne knew just what to do from seeing a knight piece.
"Oh, wait a minute. I know this!", Anne shouted, moving a knight piece up ahead.
"So what? I can do that, too.", Andrias spoke, moving his own knight up ahead.
But that was where Anne decided to strike. Thinking quickly, she used her knight to knock over a pawn.
"Ha! Got your pawn.", Anne grinned.
"Hm. Not bad. For a beginner, that is. Now, it's my turn.", Andrias smirked, moving his knight piece toward one of Anne's pieces, surprising her.
"Oh, come on, Anne. Did you really think it'd be that easy?", Andrias asked.
"I'll admit, I did. A little bit. Still, I knew this was gonna happen at some point. But regardless, the game ain't over until I say it is!", Anne sneered.
"That's the spirit, Anne!", Andrias grinned.
As the match went on, with each black piece that Anne captured, Andrias captured hers until both were down to only 2 pieces each with Andrias' only remaining pieces being a Queen and a Wart and Anne's being an Archer and a Wart.
"I can't believe how many pieces we each have left now.", Andrias stated, surprised.
"I know. Crazy, right?!", Anne exclaimed as Marcy beamed in awe, stars glittering on her eyes while Sasha was slack-jawed in awe and disbelief.
"So, the question is, which piece will you use this time?", Andrias asked.
Anne placed her fingers on her chin as she examined the board. After a few seconds, Anne turned to her archer and knocked over the queen, making Andrias gasp.
"Flipwart!", Anne shouted.
"I didn't think it was possible, but I have been bested fair and square, Anne Boonchuy. You are the bold.", Andrias spoke, flipping his wart game piece.
"You really beat King Andrias at Flipwart, too?!", Yunan asked in surprise.
"Yep. At least, that's how it went for me, Yunan. But when Sasha played against him, well...", Anne began as it then started off the similar way with Andrias' last match, only the big difference this time around is the fact that Andrias claimed Sasha's first piece: a knight.
"HA!", Andrias shouted, baffling Sasha.
"What the...?! How did..?!", Sasha began before Andrias chuckled, peeving Sasha enough to growl before calming down and taking a deep breath.
"Okay... That was only one piece. I'm just getting started.", Sasha sighed, moving one of her pawns up.
"Big mistake, sister.", Andrias spoke before moving his knight straight toward the pawn she just moved up!
"What...?! Grr...!", Sasha growled before moving her knight to the right side of the board.
"You don't mind if I move this bishop over here, do you?", Andrias asked, moving his bishop straight toward one of her pawns, much to her shock.
Every move she made gave Andrias the opportunity to strike and capture every one of her pieces. He even captured some of hers with his queen, bishop, and archer!
"Looks like you're down to two pieces left, Waybright. Care to make a move?", Andrias asked.
Sasha was worried. She found herself in quite the dillema. In fact, she was even sweating a bit before she moved her claw away from the wart.
"Not gonna make a move, huh? Then allow me.", Andrias smirked before moving his queen towards Sasha's capturing it.
For a moment, Sasha's eyes were little black dots before another set of black dots appeared next to Sasha one by one as if she was processing what happened. After a moment, she finally reacted.
"What the... HOW?!", Sasha exclaimed in shock.
Andrias simply laughed, confident of his Flipwart skills. That served to worry Sasha even more as she tried to move her Wart forward once.
"Uh, uh, uh.", Andrias wagged, making Sasha growl before she moved her wart back and then moved it to the left.
"Uh-uh.", Andrias discouraged, making Sasha move the wart back with a growl and then move it to the right, only making Andrias.
"Come on, Waybright. You've gotta be kidding me.", Andrias chuckled.
As he laughed, Sasha was getting madder and madder by the second, her face starting to turn red, much to Anne and Marcy's worry.
"Oh, no. This isn't good.", Anne spoke worriedly.
Even Andrias began to get worried.
"Hey, uh, Sasha? You doing okay over there?", Andrias asked.
Marcy knew what would happen next.
"Duck and cover! She's gonna blow!", Marcy shouted, she and Anne ducking.
But then, something unexpected happened.
"HEY, WHAT'S THAT?!", Sasha shouted quickly, pointing to the right side of Andrias' head.
"What?", Andrias puzzled.
Very quickly, Sasha flipped the board around when he wasn't looking, making Anne and Marcy gasp.
"Wh-what is it? I can't see it.", Andrias puzzled.
"Oh, never mind. I just thought I saw something.", Sasha responded.
"I see. Well, then. Your turn, Waybright.", Andrias smirked.
This time, Sasha kept a cool head as Andrias chuckled.
"Aha!", Sasha beamed, picking up the queen and then moving it to the only wart remaining, making Andrias gasp in shock.
"Beat that, Your Highness.", Sasha smirked.
Andrias tried to voice his surprise, but failed, only managing to sigh in a bit of frustration before flipping his wart, earning Sasha's chuckle before it went to the present.
"In short, Sasha only won because she cheated.", Marcy said.
"Not surprising in the least.", Max, Alexis, the Boonchuy's, and Wu's responded in unison.
"HEY!", Sasha reacted.
"Well, they're not exactly wrong.", Grime responded.
"Oh, I love this game!", Alexis beamed just as Hop Pop walked over and saw the glowing green lights on the wall.
"Hmm. Hey, Marcy, what does this say?", Hop Pop asked.
"'Any commander whose wart falls may never set foot inside these temple walls.'", Marcy read.
"Uh-oh. Looks like we only get one shot at this.", Max said.
"One shot is all I need. But first, to set up the board...", Alexis spoke, taking the pieces.
"Well, I guess we'll just sit back quietly and watch.", Sprig said.
"Yeah. It'll be nice to relax every once in a while.", Ivy agreed.
"You said it, sister, 'cause these flippas be tired.", Polly agreed.
However, as soon as Alexis set up a rook, a panel suddenly opened up beneath Polly, making her scream as she fell down.
"Polly!", the group shouted.
Suddenly, the light turned on, revealing what appeared to be...
"A giant flipwart board?", Marcy asked in surprise.
"Wow. Now, I've seen everything.", Yunan spoke in surprise.
Suddenly, Polly appeared on the panel of a life-sized flipwart board, her face on the monitor of the rook.
"Polly, are you okay?", Sprig asked.
"'Okay'? I've got a sword, baby! I'm doing better than all of you.", Polly assured.
"Uh, Lexy, do you think we should stop?", Marcy asked in worry.
"Mar-Mar's right. This could get dangerous.", Anne agreed.
"We don't have a choice, guys. You wanna get home, right? Then we've gotta play or we'll never recharge the stone.", Alexis urged.
"She has a point.", Hop Pop agreed.
"Trust me, okay?", Alexis requested.
"Okay. I'm not sure about this, but I trust you. I just hope you know what you're doing.", Max responded before Alexis set up a bishop and pawn piece on separate squares, causing Hop Pop and Sprig to scream as they, too, were sucked in and placed on the life-sized board with their faces on video monitors of the pieces.
"Ooh, I get a scepter.", Hop Pop grinned.
"You're a pawn.", Polly chuckled.
"Aw, man.", Sprig groaned.
Then, Marcy, Jackie, Grime, and Max wound up on the board next with Marcy being a queen and with Grime being a knight and Max being an archer.
"Whoa. Never expected to be that regal.", Marcy grinned.
"Or that coordinated.", Max added, looking at his armor.
"Ha! A knight is a definite step-up right here.", Grime said eagerly.
"Get ready, girls. There's a good chance you're next.", Alexis warned before placing the rest of the white pawns on the game, big versions popping up in the life-sized board.
"Oh, looks like we're not in the game.", Anne said.
"Well, you guys have fun, I guess.", Sasha added before she and Anne fell through two panels on the floor.
"Anne!", Jackie and Rose shouted.
"Sasha!", Allison and Pat shouted at the same time.
Suddenly, the 4 fell through, too, and all 6 found themselves on the opposite team with Anne being the queen, Sasha being a pawn, Jackie and Allison being knights, and Rose and Pat being archers, all of which have their faces on video monitors of said pieces.
"What the...? Am I seriously a pawn?", Sasha reacted.
"Aw.", Rose and Pat groaned.
"Wait, what?", Hop Pop puzzled.
"Anne, Sasha!", Marcy shouted.
"Girls, no!", Sprig exclaimed.
"Traitors!", Polly shouted.
"No, this is good. I'll just play badly and sabotage the other team. Didn't think of that, did ya, temple? Ha! Here we go. Sabotage!", Anne smirked.
She was preparing to smack the other team only for magic restraints to suddenly appear and prevent Anne from doing so, especially forcing her into an idle piece position.
"Okay, I can't move.", Anne said.
Suddenly, the same thing happened to Sasha, Jackie, Allison, Rose, Pat, Hop Pop, Sprig, Ivy, Polly, Marcy, and Max.
"Aw, come on!", Sasha growled.
"Anne? What's going on?", Sprig asked.
"Our hands are tied, literally.", Hop Pop stated.
Act III
Everyone struggled to break free from the magic restraints, but with little to no success.
"I knew this was a bad idea!", Max said in worry.
"Don't worry, everyone. I'll just play well enough so that none of you gets hurt. It'll be like hard mode! Fun!", Alexis grinned.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you were the pawn.", Sprig mumbled.
"Well, on the bright side, we can all get to know what life-sized Flipwart is like.", Marcy spoke nervously.
"Okay, white goes first, so it's our move. Let's flip this wart!", Alexis shouted eagerly, moving her pawn up first as the 12 looked on in worry.
"You got this, bud.", Sprig spoke before a pawn moved forward.
"Now, let's see how they respond.", Alexis said.
"Pfft!", Anne scoffed before Jackie wound up hopping toward the pawn.
With that, Jackie's magical restraints made her strike the pawn.
"Oh, that's a bold move. Well done.", Grime said.
Sprig, however, was not happy.
"I don't like this game!", Sprig whined worriedly.
"Oh, suck it up, Sprig. The sooner Alexis wins, the sooner we get out of this.", Grime sneered to Sprig.
"Such a basic response. This is gonna be easy.", Alexis scoffed as she moved her archer piece onto the board, which fired a blast at Jackie, knocking her off the board, much to the others' worries, especially Alexis, as they gasped.
"Jackie, are you okay?", Alexis shouted.
"I'm okay...!", Jackie groaned, lifting her arm.
"Phew...!", the group sighed in relief.
With that, cautious as she is, Alexis competitively moved her piece, allowing Polly to strike one of the opposing team's pieces by beheading the pawn with a sinister laugh. Next up, Alexis moved Sprig away from the archer, much to his relief as the archer's blast, or rather, Rose's, missed him.
"Whoa! Phew.", Sprig sighed as Rose sighed, too, just as relieved.
Next up, Anne was moved toward a pawn and struck it.
Then, Allison slashed a white pawn with a white archer firing at her, Polly barely able to avoid the blast.
"Ah!", Polly yelped, dodging before the blast hit Allison, knocking her off the board as well with Jackie, having recovered at least a little bit of strength, catching Allison.
Soon after, Hop Pop gently touched the bishop with his scepter, blasting the black bishop away before a white knight was smashed along with 3 black pawns due to Grime smashing one of them and an archer blasting the 2nd with a spear tossed at the 3rd. Soon, most of everyone on the board panted, exhausted and bruised.
"Everyone doin' okay over there?", Jackie asked.
"Yes...!", everyone else sighed.
"Gotta admit, this temple's good, but not good enough.", Alexis grinned, moving an archer toward the black wart.
"Gotcha! We win!", Alexis grinned excitedly.
But when the white archer fired the blast, the black wart jumped up, dodging the blast. And when the black wart landed, he chuckled and taunted the white archer before turning around and smacking his rump. This baffled Alexis to the point that her eyes looked like tiny black dots for a moment as she processed what happened (3 big black dots appearing near Alexis, 1 for each second, before vanishing as soon as she finished processing).
"Huh?! What?! No! Guys, this thing cheats!", Alexis exclaimed, making everyone in and out of the board gasp.
In no time, Anne was unable to stop herself from moving.
"Mar-Mar, look out!", Anne shouted.
"Huh?", Marcy puzzled before noticing Anne about to uncontrollably attack her, much to Marcy panic before, try as she might, Anne couldn't stop herself from attacking her 3 times.
"Man, what a day.", Marcy groaned.
"Marcy!", Sasha shouted.
"Lexy, now would be a good time to do something!", Max shouted.
"All right, so what if it cheats? Still not enough to beat me.", Alexis spoke, moving Marcy away from Anne, only for Sasha to end up following her around in one turn and then Anne again in another and so on, Marcy screaming as Anne and Sasha followed her in every other turn.
"Oh, for frog's sake, Master Alexis! This has gone on long enough!", Olivia shouted.
"Yeah, she's getting pulverized out there!", Yunan shouted.
"But I still have way more pieces. If I can just attack from a different angle, I should be fine.", Alexis chuckled nervously.
Then, Anne smacked Marcy first and then Sasha and then Anne again.
"Oh, I bet you two're loving this, aren't ya?", Marcy accused.
"What?! No!", Anne exclaimed.
"Ex-squeeze me?! We might've been mad at you, but we didn't wanna hurt you! In fact, we still don't!", Sasha added.
"Well, you two already hurt me! Every time you reminded me of the mistakes I made back at the first trial, every time you rubbed it in my face that I let you both down, EVEN WHEN YOU REMINDED ME OF THE TIME JACKIE ATTACKED ME AND CURSED ME WITH EVERY OUNCE OF VENOM IN HER VOICE!", Marcy snapped, remembering when Jackie lashed out at her several days prior.
"EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT! IT'S YOUR FAULT ROSE RAN AWAY, IT'S YOUR FAULT WE GOT SEPARATED FROM OUR FAMILIES! AND WORST OF ALL..., IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT MY FAMILY IS NOW BEING TORN APART!", Jackie shouted as she prepared to blast Marcy into ashes for what happened before it went back to the present.
The memory of that alone was enough to make her sob as she collapsed on her knees (well, as much as she could). Jackie felt worse with that memory brought up.
"Marcy...", Jackie said sadly.
"How could I make any of this right if all I do is make everything worse wherever I go?!", Marcy shouted, starting to sob as she broke down.
"Mar-Mar, I... I...", Sasha began.
"Just tell me and I'll do it. Anything!", Marcy shouted.
After a moment, both Anne and Sasha snapped.
"I DON'T KNOW!", Anne shouted.
"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?!", Sasha shouted at the same time Anne did, catching Alexis' attention before she looked up.
"Huh?", Alexis puzzled as Braddock gasped while Marcy got surprised enough to look up, still shedding tears.
"Look, Mar-Mar. Anne meant what she said to you just before we started this 4th trial, she really did, but... we just need time.", Sasha admitted.
"Yeah. We want things to go back to the way they were. But-but-", Anne began before lightly sobbing a bit, herself as she shed tears, too.
Marcy gave a sad sigh with a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Anne, Sash. You girls take all the time you need. Maybe it's enough to admit we still got issues, instead of pretending they don't exist. I mean, we haven't even started pretending that yet, so that's saying something.", Marcy admitted a bit sadly with a grin before Anne and Sasha sniffed.
"I think that'd be good, Mar-Mar. It's... a good start.", Sasha grinned sadly.
"We'd hug you except, you know, magical restraints.", Anne added.
"Aw...! Th-that was so... touching!", Braddock sobbed happily with a sniffle.
It was then that Alexis saw the horror before her as first off, she saw Sprig sobbing while holding a pawn's broken head.
"He had a family! He had a family!", Sprig sobbed.
"Oh, Sprig...", Ivy spoke sadly.
Then, she even saw Jackie helping Allison up as her arm rested on top of Anne's sister.
"It's okay. We're gonna make it, Ally.", Jackie assured.
"Look at those two carrying on out there! They are brave souls out there!", Felicia shouted, touched by the display.
Even worse, Alexis saw Max and Grime roaring in vengeful anger as well as Polly roaring while holding a sword and shield before then seeing a fallen Rose and Pat laying down next to each other.
"War... is... Flipwart.", Pat spoke weakly.
"Oh, those poor kids...", Sylvia spoke sadly.
"What am I doing?", Alexis asked.
Then, all of a sudden, Sasha found herself uncontrollably lifting her weapon.
"No, no, no, no, no!", Sasha shouted in worry with Marcy helpless to do anything but scream.
"No! Anne, Sasha, Marcy! Who cares about this stupid game? You were right, Olivia! This HAS gone on long enough! I forfeit!", Alexis shouted before grunting as she flipped her wart.
Unfortunately, nothing happened.
"It's not working! Maybe I have to flip the big wart too.", Alexis spoke before grunting as she jumped onto the board, which triggered an alarm that blared, causing the white wart to turn to spot Alexis with the 2 archers firing at Alexis, who only dodged.
"What the heck's going on?", Sprig asked.
"I'm trying to throw this game, but it won't let me! I need your help.", Alexis urged.
"Say no more, Alexis. Leave this to me. I only wish it was on the other team's wart.", Grime spoke before he turned to the white wart.
"Sorry, Your Majesty, but the games must end!", Grime shouted before he then jumped toward the white wart and whacked him off the pedestal and onto his back on the floor.
It squealed like a pig as it wiggled its legs just before it cracked and exploded.
Alexis panted before groaning as the whole board and pieces started to dissolve, turning into dust and the green door's lights turning off, restoring Anne and the others who participated back to normal, though not without coughing at said dust.
"Ow.", Polly spoke.
"Lexy? Lexy, I don't understand.", Marcy puzzled as she and the others caught up to Alexis, who was now curled up like a ball.
"Yeah, why'd you throw the game?", Max asked.
"Because it wasn't worth you guys getting hurt. I got so caught up in proving I was smart enough to win, I couldn't see what I was about to lose.", Alexis responded.
"Yeah. I know how that feels.", Marcy agreed.
"I'm just glad you had the humility to think of your friends and save them before things got any worse.", Olivia sighed in relief.
"Well, in your defense, that game was a ding dang cheat!", Ivy shouted.
"You tell her, sister!", Sprig agreed before he and Ivy hi-fived.
"Yeah! I still think you're pretty smart. Just like Marcy. A little obsessive, though.", Polly commented.
"Thanks, everyone.", Alexis thanked.
Surprisingly, though, the temple then bestowed Alexis the key and gestured to the portal appearing from the ground on the other side past where the board was.
"What...? But why...? I lost.", Alexis puzzled just before words appeared above the portal gate in green lights.
"Wait a minute... 'Only the worthy will have the wisdom to choose whether it's more important to win, or have the humility to lose. A choice was made to save thy friends and, honestly, doesn't that make you a winner in the end?'", Marcy read.
"That last bit was oddly casual!", Anne grinned.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of it sooner?", Marcy asked.
"Think of what?", Alexis asked.
"The temple wasn't just testing for intelligence. It was also testing for humility!", Marcy realized.
"So, that means...", Alexis gasoed.
"Yes. You all passed. And now, the 5th and final trial of the first temple awaits us.", Olivia grinned.
"Well, don't give the temple a chance to change it's mind. Open up that bad boy!", Polly urged.
Alexis gave a nod before going to the portal gate and placing the last key into the slot, activating the portal before almost everyone went through it.
The only ones who didn't so far were Jackie, Marcy, Sasha, Anne, and Hop Pop, who groaned while trying to get up as did Marcy. Then, Anne went over to Hop Pop as Sasha went over to Marcy.
"Need a ride, old-timer?", Anne asked.
"I'm not that old. But, yes, thank you.", Hop Pop responded before hopping on to Anne's back and she went forward.
"And scoop.", Sasha spoke, lifting Marcy up and making her blush.
"Oh. Wow. Temples...", Marcy blushed.
"Marcy, look, about what I said back there when the truth got out...", Jackie began before sighing.
"I didn't mean any of it. I was just really upset because of the way Rose ran off on me... It turns out, she didn't mean any of what she said either. She was just hurt. Like I was when she ran off on me. Still..., that was no excuse to lash out at you the way I did. I know that now... and I'm sorry.", Jackie apologized, shedding a couple tears.
"Aw... It's okay, Jackie. You were just really, REALLY worried for your sister. But for me...? Anne and Sasha don't want what I want. And it hurts. But... your words back then? I'm not gonna lie: it DID hurt. But it also helped me realize that forcing them to follow my dreams is wrong. I learned that the hard way. I started this whole mess because I wanted to escape that reality. But when we charge the stones, as soon as we get back home, I won't run away from it anymore!", Marcy vowed, touching the 4 who heard this.
Then, Jackie gave a light-hearted grin to Marcy.
"Then when we get home, I'm gonna help Anne set up a video chat with you first thing! That is, assuming none of us get grounded first...", Jackie chuckled nervously.
Then, all 5 laughed as they crossed through the portal, not knowing that Melkor was watching this with a growl. On the other side of the portal, they all arrived in a sort of outdoor area which appears to be a crater in which there are two podiums, one which is small and the other which is very big. Connecting them is a stone bridge.
"Wow...", the triplets spoke in wonder.
"So, uh, Anne, you guys cool with waitin' here while Max, Lexy, the triplets, and I take a crack at this one?", Marcy asked.
Under normal circumstances, given Marcy's betrayal, she would've flat-out refused to let her out of her sight. But recently, Anne and Sasha have now made up. Or at the very least, starting to. And besides that, it'd only allow the Wu's in there.
"Yeah. Go get 'em, Mar-Mar.", Anne grinned.
"Yeah! Kick that 5th trial in its butt!", Sasha agreed, making Marcy grin a bit sadly before sniffling and then sighing.
"All right! Let's do this!", Marcy spoke in her usual mojo, earning her 5 siblings nods.
With that, Marcy and her siblings were crossing the stone bridge to the center of the temple when suddenly, the bridge started to crumble. The Wu's ran with the bridge collapsing behind them, until they safely made it to the center.
"Marcy, are you all okay?!", Anne shouted.
"We're fine! We'll take it from here!", Marcy replied.
"Okay, we'll all wait back here!", Sasha responded.
Marcy and her siblings heard a crashing stomp behind them and turned with a glare towards none other than the first temple's guardian itself.
Play Sonic Frontiers Music: "Cutscene: Star Crossed"
It was quite a giant dragon made of stone, mainly gray in color, with a body that was very narrow and thin, along with pulsing green streaks along its sides, two large arms and two sets of jaws.
"Hahahahahahahaha!", the first guardian cackled with an echo.
"What the heck is that thing?!", Max exclaimed.
"I think that's the Guardian of the First Temple.", Alexis responded as the Wu triplets looked in awe.
"The Guardian of the First Temple? I never thought I'd see it with my own eyes.", Olivia spoke in awe.
"Well, if it isn't the chosen warriors of wit. It's been a while since I last defeated the previous warriors in battle.", the first guardian spoke.
"Huh? Actually, since the gem was at full power when I found it, that would mean THEY defeated YOU.", Marcy spoke.
"They did? Really? Hahaha. I don't remember that at all. Man, I guess it has been awhile.", the first guardian responded.
"So, are we going to do this whole 'prove myself worthy' routine, or what?", Marcy asked.
"All right. Let's get started. 'If you are willing to commit, Ingenii shall test your wit'.", the first Guardian rhymed as her one good eye flashed green.
Then, Ingenii started flying around in the air, firing missiles at the group, who were barely able to dodge. Soon after, they rippled across the ground, creating an earthquake, causing most of the Wu's to lose their balance and only Marcy lost her balance completely.
"Whoa!", Marcy shouted before landing on the ground.
"Missiles?!", Marcy shouted in annoyance, earning Ingenii's somewhat childish laughter, peeving Marcy.
"Come on!", Marcy groaned.
"I thought the first guardian would have more dignity than this...", Olivia huffed.
Then, Marcy looked up and saw, much to her surprise as Ingenii laughed, a stone-charging spire on the top of the Titan's head and the tower with which to climb up to board the titan!
"No. It can't be. Guys, this is where we charge the stone!", Marcy exclaimed.
"Huh?", Max, Alexis, Adam, Alex, and Jamie puzzled.
"If we can get to the top of the tower, we should be able to board the titan and charge the stone.", Marcy spoke.
"There's a slight problem, though.", Max said.
"How are we going to get up there?", Alexis asked.
At that moment, Ingenii spun toward the Wu's and lurched her clawed hand toward them.
"Everyone, scatter!", Max shouted before he, Marcy, Alexis, Adam, Alex, and Jamie took off from all directions, causing the guardian to miss.
"Come on, guys. They need our help.", Anne urged.
"But how can we help them?", Sasha asked before noticing some big rocks nearby.
"Of course. Ask a silly question.", Sasha scoffed.
Meanwhile, Marcy launched her arrow tied to a string toward the tower and managed to get a good, stable area for the arrow to stick to just near it.
"Got it!", Marcy grinned before turning to the Wu's.
"Everyone, grab on to me!", Marcy shouted.
"Got it!", Alexis agreed before she, Max, and the triplets all held on as the 3 themselves were held onto by Max and Alexis.
"On 3!", Marcy shouted.
"1...! 2...!", the Wu's began.
But before they could finish, a rock began to hit the guardian, causing her to turn toward Anne and the others.
"Hey, Ingenii! You leave our friends alone!", Anne shouted.
"Oh, Anne...!", Marcy spoke, groaning in slight frustration.
"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!", Ingenii shouted, turning toward Anne and the others in anger before blasting her mouth laser near the gang, making them scream in a panic as they were tossed in the air from the explosion.
At the same time, Marcy and the Wu's were launched away up to the top of the tower due to the guardian's quick-turning toward Anne and the gang, now in the air. As the Wu's landed on the top of the tower, they only looked up and saw their friends in danger just as the titan was looming near the edge where they stood.
"Oh, no! Anne, Sasha!", Marcy shouted.
"THIS WILL TEACH YOU TO MEDDLE IN THE AFFAIRS OF GUARDIANS!", Ingenii shouted, raising her claws.
However, seeing their friends in danger, let alone the thought of anything bad happening to them infuriated Marcy, Max, Alexis, and even Jamie, Adam, and Alex! They growled angrily as their eyes all glowed green in rage.
"NO!", Marcy shouted in anger as her eyes glowed green.
Anne, Sasha, Jackie, Rose, Allison, Pat, Olivia, their triplets, the frogs, and the toads all screamed as Ingenii moved in to strike the blow before... WHOOSH!
Stop Sonic Frontiers Music: "Star Crossed"
Much to the Guardian's surprise, as well as everyone's relief upon not only seeing that they're back on the ground safely, but also the fact that Marcy suddenly struck the Titan from below, knocking it off-balance, and in her green-haired, superpowered form, no less!
"Hey, Ingenii!", Marcy shouted, lifting the hand up.
Play Sonic Frontiers Music: "Break Through it All (feat. Kellin Quinn)"
"THOSE ARE OUR FRIENDS YOU'RE MESSING WITH!", Marcy shouted before then grabbing the edge of the titan's tail, spinning it around, and then tossing it toward Max, now in a calamity form of his own, who kicked Ingenii by the back with Alexis, Adam, Jamie, and Alex, now in their own calamity forms as well, raining down kicks upon Ingenii as well, crashing her onto the mountain.
(Yeah!)
"Whoa.", Anne, Sasha, Jackie, Rose, Allison, and Pat spoke in unison as everyone else watched.
Then, Marcy and the Wu's hovered together in the air as Ingenii recovered from the surprise assault before the titan screeched in a rage and took off from her.
"Anne... Sasha... This time... I'll protect you.", Marcy spoke softly.
"Master Wu...?", Olivia puzzled before Marcy turned to her.
"Guys... Watch me!", Marcy spoke before dashing over to Ingenii with Max and his siblings following Marcy.
Don't look down!
Show yourself!
"Go get 'er, Marcy!", Anne shouted.
"We believe in you!", Sasha added.
When they caught up, Ingenii was now soaring through the air.
"Okay... That was a cheap shot, you know... But that's cool. Because I'm just getting started...!", Ingenii spoke, firing her missiles again.
I've been here waiting for the longest time
I can't believe it's real
"Ruh-roh.", Marcy spoke before she and the others dodged as many missiles as they could.
After a moment, though, Max wound up knocked back by one of the missiles.
"MAX!", Marcy, Alexis, Adam, Jamie, and Alex shouted before flying over to him and helping him recover.
You lose the battles that you never fight
Can't hide from what you feel (come on!)
No more compromise
This is do or die
And now you've crossed the line
You'll wake the beast inside
"Are you okay, Max?", Marcy asked.
"Yeah... It still hurt, but less than I thought it would...", Max replied.
Then, the Wus caught up to the Titan next to them. When they did, however, it was spinning, readying its claw to slash them down as Ingenii spoke up.
"Not so fast.", Ingenii spoke before stretching her right claw out.
In no time, she slashed only to miss before the Wus retaliated with their powers as Alexis produced 10 spheres of emerald light and fired them at the beast. After Marcy, Max, and the triplets slashed at the creature, though, it got its 2nd wind and tried to attack again only for the Wus to counter and knock her off-balance like before. This time, they simply attacked the beast harder with concentrated attacks on several weak points up until Ingenii was forced down by a kick.
No more compromise
This is do or die
I'll warn you one last time
You'll wake the beast inside!
You'll wake the beast inside!
"All right, that does it!", Ingenii growled before the Titan fired a laser beam again, prompting the Wus to duck.
You'll wake the beast inside!
"Whoa! She's not making it easy for us.", Max commented before Marcy then saw the way the missiles were launched toward her before she smirked.
"Go ahead. Sic those missiles on us. I know what's going on here.", Marcy sneered before the 6 Wu's each countered a missile as best they can toward the Titan, knocking it off-balance again.
Once it recovered, though, the Titan screeched with a roar as it once again tried to slash them, only to miss and get countered from below, knocking Ingenii back and making Anne and the group cheer. Of course, Ingenii wasn't done yet. The titan screeched with a roar right before 16 rods went up, 8 on each side, charged up green energy in the form of 3 green rings on each rod, and fired multiple rounds of them as it shook around, amazing the audience.
Don't look down!
Show yourself!
"Ooh...!', the group spoke before the titan's laser blasts ceased with it reeling back and then screeching with a loud roar.
"Who do you think you're dealing with?!", Ingenii asked.
"We were just about to ask you the same thing, Ingenii.", Alexis retorted.
Frustrated, Ingenii took off from them again and started launching missiles again, this time while shooting green rings from the 8 rods on each side.
So break through it all
And don't look down
You won't fade out
Cause the fire in you never dies
It comes around
To light the flame
They'll know your name
Burned into their memory (so break through it all)
"Seriously? Green rings?", Marcy asked.
"I don't think we wanna know what would happen if any one of us touches those.", Max warned.
"Agreed.", Alexis concurred.
"Well, it's a good thing we know what to do about these missiles. Right?", Marcy grinned.
The other 5 nodded before they flew over to the missiles and all 6 reflected them all toward the Titan, which knocked it off-balance for a moment.
"Oh, you think you're hot stuff, don't you?! Let's see if you can still think that after this!", Ingenii shouted before the titan then tried to slash them not once, but twice.
Both times failed, leaving the titan open before the superpowered Wus struck, damaging it and making it lean to its side again.
"Hey! That hurt!", Ingenii groaned before the titan circled around them.
It then fired an array of missiles toward them.
"Really? More missiles? It's like you're not even trying anymore.", Marcy commented before she and her siblings caught them and gathered them together into a big ball right before kicking it toward the titan.
Don't stop we're on a mission
Overdriving over all the competition
Counting up the damage when it's done (so break through it all)
We can't pretend to listen
Sorry if it puts you in an imposition
We won't stop until the battle's won
"Agh! Are you kidding me?!", Ingenii exclaimed.
Marcy summoned a green ball in the form of a 20-sided die before tossing it with it landing on 20 on the terrain.
"Nat 20, baby!", Marcy shouted before Ingenii suddenly got chained up by the claws and mouth by green chains of light with an assortment of gladiatorial weapons hoisting her up from below.
"What the...?!", Ingenii shouted.
This gave Marcy and her siblings the opportunity to charge in and attack Ingenii in the face. It was only after Max delivered a zipline kick that the titan flew into another rage fit before it flew up and prepared to retaliate.
Don't stop we're on a mission
Overdriving over all the competition
Counting up the damage when it's done (so break through it all)
We can't pretend to listen
Sorry if it puts you in an imposition
We won't stop until the battle's won
What goes around
Comes back around again
And if we don't come down
We'll be lost in the wind
"All right, that's it! I'm DONE playing around!", Ingenii growled as she thrusted down toward Marcy, who flew toward her.
When the two met halfway, Marcy managed to catch the spiraling titan with her hands, eventually slowing it down until it stopped, seeing the titan up close and personal.
"Whoa! Is that how that thing looks up close?", Marcy asked in surprise before the Titan gave a screeching roar again with Marcy then kicking it away from her.
Ingenii then launched several missiles at the Wus, who dodged them and flew away from them until Marcy stopped near the Titan, which chomped down on her in an attempt to crush her.
I know that we will find our way
We'll do whatever it will take
And if we never reach the crown
We'll take the whole thing down
"MARCY!", the 5 Wus shouted before remembering the missiles headed after them and dispersed, causing them to hit the wall, which broke apart to reveal an apparent spring garden just beyond the crater, much to everyone's astonishment.
Meanwhile, of course, Marcy was not willing to let herself get crushed again, let alone literally.
"You think I'd let myself be crushed like that again?! YOU'RE WRONG!", Marcy shouted before then pushing the titan's upper jaw off her.
Don't look down!
Show yourself!
"Way to show that thing boss, Marcy!", Yunan cheered.
Marcy then yelled out as she kicked the titan's mouth open, allowing the remaining missiles to zoom past her and right inside the Titan! The moment they went in, the Titan suddenly convulsed and exploded in a condensed red orb of light, which exploded before the head of the Titan crashed into the ground.
"Wow...", Marcy spoke in awe before dropping her calamity powers while returning to normal, but not before she rested on top of Ingenii's head where the stone-charging spire is.
End Sonic Frontiers Music: "Break Through it All (feat. Kellin Quinn)"
"This is what you've been guarding... isn't it?", Marcy asked as Ingenii struggled to get up, leaving the downed Titan to head to the top of it, eventually succeeding while being carried by Marcy the rest of the way.
"Yeah... Those springs are very important for the ecosystem of this forest. If anything bad happened to them..., who knows what might happen?", Ingenii asked.
"But what was the 5th trial a test for?", Max asked as he and his brothers and sister turned back to normal, too, and caught up to Marcy.
"It was a test to see how much you've all learned from those 4 trials. And you all passed.", Ingenii responded.
"So, does that mean...?", Marcy began.
"Yeah. You came here to charge the stone, right? Well, go ahead. You all earned it.", Ingenii responded, making Marcy and her siblings nod before walking up to the stone-charging spire and placing the inert green stone inside.
When it did, it gave off a bright light, making the Wu's gasp before their eyes glowed green. When they did, they not only saw flashes of the future, but also heard heard an ominous language throughout the following: Amphibia ruined, the Music Box opening, the malicious mural, Melkor's talons clamping onto the ground with his clawed hand seen through the smoke and ash, the Castle flying in the sky, Luz with a half-crazed look complete with white hair, crimson red eyes with yellow sclerae seen only through a hood on her head, and an innocent, yet mischievous chuckle, and the same vision with Melkor, only his horns glowed, puffing out with fire as he lifted up his monstrous face with his eyes glowing blank yellow.
"Your end has come.", Melkor spoke as next, it then showed a screaming Titan and multiple meteors shooting toward the ground and producing smoke and sparkles when it landed amidst a chaotic scene of people running around outside the head of the Titan and screaming in terror.
At that moment, Marcy and the others came to with a gasp when the green glow in their eyes was half empty and half full.
"Wait, stop!", Marcy shouted before grabbing the stone, which looks as though it's charged enough, and panting.
"Huh? What's wrong? You wanted to charge the stone, right?", Ingenii asked.
"Yeah... we did. It's just that... it's actually charged just enough. Thank you.", Marcy responded, holding the stone up only for it to suddenly give off a bright green glow in the form of a small laser, which seemed to be going farther away.
"What the...?", Alexis puzzled before Marcy gasped in slight realization.
"Uh, Geni? Can I call you Geni?", Marcy asked.
"Sure. You can do that.", 'Geni' assured.
"Great. So, uh, any chance you could set us back down? Please?", Marcy asked.
After a moment, Geni gently lowered Marcy and the Wu's back down to the others.
"That... was... AWESOME, MAR-MAR!", Anne shouted.
"Yeah! You were all like, 'Womp!', and then you were all like, 'Take this! Womp! Womp!' And then...", Sasha began.
"Guys, I know. But if you think that's something, now that it's charged, the stone's leading us to the next temple!", Marcy grinned.
"That's good.", Anne beamed.
"Now, we won't have to worry about trying to locate it. It could be like a compass.", Sasha grinned.
"Thank goodness.", Hop Pop grinned.
"Thank frog!", Sprig added.
"We should be able to triangulate its location with a bit of work, though.", Alexis grinned as Marcy gave her the stone with Alexis putting the stone back in the box before Marcy inhaled.
"Whoo! This just keeps getting better!", Marcy shouted.
"All right! One down, two to go!", Anne grinned.
But before anyone can get started, Marcy stopped and turned to the others.
"So, uh, you guys wanna go straight to the next temple tonight, or take a break first?", Marcy asked.
"Break, please.", everyone responded.
"Fair enough.", Marcy beamed.
"Actually, you can all use the springs to relax. The trials of this temple are over and you all passed anyway. Your friends are welcome to join, too. In fact, I think that girl here already went in ahead of you.", Geni assured before it showed Alexis already in the spring water, even scooping some in the jar.
"Yes! Just one more thing we need now.", Alexis grinned.
"Aw. Thanks, Geni.", Marcy beamed.
"Don't mention it.", Geni responded.
"But is that thing gonna be okay? They banged it up pretty good.", Sasha puzzled.
"Yeah. I have my ways of making sure it's in relatively good shape.", Geni assured.
"I hope so.", Sasha responded.
"Well, guys, let's get to relaxing.", Marcy grinned before the screen went dark to show only the green calamity stone, which fizzed out for a bit before flashing back again.
Meanwhile, at Newtopia Castle, Bartley, Branson, and Blair were speaking with Andrias.
"King Andrias, we may not be much on politics, but the political situation is worsening.", Bartley began.
"Yeha. What started as a small valley riot is quickly becoming something more.", Branson added.
"Not only that, the toad lords have agreed to meet. Who knows what that could mean?", Blair asked.
"How disappointing.", Andrias sighed.
"And we still haven't received any word from Salamancer about his missi-a-aah!", Bartley began just before the hornet messenger arrived, zooming past him and up to Andrias.
"Message for King Andrias.", the hornet messenger spoke.
"Why, it's a message from Marcy!", King Andrias spoke eagerly before dropping it off to him and flying off just as Andrias opened it and read it.
"Looks like they're making progress. That's enough for now, Triple B. I'll handle the rest.", Andrias spoke as he got off his throne and walked off.
"Sire?", Bartley, Branson, and Blair asked in unison.
Soon, Andrias walked up to the statue of his late father, King Aldrich and pulled down on the arm holding a coral light, opening a secret passageway before he took the coral light and went downstairs toward a spiral staircase, leading to the lab where the Core resided, kneeling as he set down his crown before both the machine and the black smoke in front of him, not knowing that Aruman and Maltheal were near the entrance and listening in on the conversation.
"I trust things are proceeding as planned, Andrias?", Melkor asked.
"Indeed. The prophecy is being undone as we speak, my lord. Soon..., we will have our revenge.", Andrias assured.
"Excellent. Once all the stones are charged, nothing can stop us from conquering the entire multiverse...!", Melkor sneered before laughing as the Core growled as it opened 2 eyes first and then the rest of its 13 eyes with a hiss.
A/N: Looks like something big is going down for sure. Oh, and there is one more thing. The Guardian of the First Temple, Ingenii, is voiced by Michaela Jill Murphy, also known as Jessie Flower, herself.