The guardian had made a mistake.
It was funny really when they blinked into existence eon's ago they had no idea they would be focusing on two worlds in particular, Not that there weren't other worlds to focus on (Thing on the Boiling Isles were most concerning.) but they were responsible for the events that have disrupted both therse worlds.
They watched as Anne stood watching the small portal close. They watched as Sprig walked away from the stage, and felt guilt.
Eons ago the guardian had grown bored with their duties.
So they decided to conduct a test, They decided to give infinite cosmic power to a world and watch the results.
Amphibia wasn't anywhere important, it was a basic Feudal world inhabited by Amphibians, it did have more aggressive fauna than other worlds, and the guardian chose it because they could just use the power to defend themselves from larger threats.
At first, the Amphibians had viewed the gems as something holy from the heavens, but around 100 years later they started to understand their real purpose.
Societal progress started quickly afterward, technology progress had been amazing, they had gone from the snail and cart to motorized vehicles in five years.
Seeing this as proof that they had made the right decision the guardian sent a message in a dream to a king, showing them how the gems worked, showing them more power, and showing them the true possibilities of the gems.
A box was made, and the gems placed in it, And the Amphibians had their first world to discover.
At first, they had visited harmless empty worlds, but in time things changed. Resources in Amphibia started to Bry up, so there was only one other choice other worlds.
The first invasion failed, so eventually, it was decided that a new army would be required.
The first robot had only been for something innocent as moving large objects. Eventually, the question was raised why not use them for more.
In time vast armies of metal were located all around Amphibia,robot production plants were built around the countryside, and Life started to fade from the wilds.
Soon they were ready.
The guardian watched as they started their assault for five hundred years, the conquered worlds harvested them for all they were worth.
The Guardian watched in horror. This was their fault, they could not interfere directly with what they had done.
She had sent psychic messages to the inhabitants, appearing in their dreams. a few listened and an order was established but they didn't achieve much other than creating a way to drain the stones, she sent them images of the future of the one she knew who could steal the box.
The world fell apart in some ways but in others, it just returned to its natural self, however, there was still the evil that lived in that world still waiting to restore the world to darkness.
After years of waiting heroes did arrive and the world was saved.
But at a huge cost, the death of the one called Anne Boonchuy.
Of course, the guardian brought her back but after everything that had happened, there was no way the guardian could remain in their position, so she offered it to Anne, who bravely had proven that she could handle this role.
The girl refused, she claimed that she wasn't ready for this and that she needed time, the guardian agreed.
They sent Anne back with enough of the gem shards to send her home, The guardian could have given her the full gems but it was the best that she went home, and the mistake of multiversal travel would not happen again.
And that was it.
Or at least that's how it should have been, The guardian had kept a watch on the three girls who saved the multiverse from her mistake, watched as they made their decisions in life, watched as they grew.
Watched when they cried over the world they had lost.
The guardian felt guilt, not only had three humans fixed their mistake now she had forced them to be separated.
She saw the Amphiains and how their world had been made better because of three humans and saw those who they had touched.
Thus they decided to fix things.
The guardian knew about the man-made attempts to traverse the Multiverse, However something like the thing in the warehouse would never work, there was one portal in a town called gravity falls, but that was powered by a method that could destroy worlds if used incorrectly, Only used by a man desperate to fix the past.
No to create a portal one needed to be a powerful being, like the titan of the Boiling isles or a being born from magic itself. (The guardian still wondered why they choose scissors)
Of course, that didn't mean that there was no way to help a man-made portal.
Reaching out The guardian used their powers to widen the portal, They watched as the humans looked at the portal in wonder, they watched Anne as she ran through, The guardian would contact her later and inform her, they would ask for forgiveness, and hope it would work.
All of the guardian's hops and dreams vanished the moment something take a hold of them and drag them.
…
The moment Anne stepped into Amphibia she felt her heart explode, she was back in Amphibia, really back. She looked around the same foliage, the clean air, after all her time away the world had been healed from the Core's devastation.
Looking around she realized where she was, She was just at the entrance to the valley.
He never realized how warm Amphibia was even during the cool nights, of course, was because of the humidity, she should probably take notes now that she was here, the Amphibian's biology here was different from that on earth, who knows what knowledge she could bring back,
She shook her head, she was back home and was already thinking about her jobs, she smiled, she was here.
Looking around she noticed she was only a twenty-minute walk to the farm, she could see the Plantars again, and She could see Sprig again.
In the next second, she was running towards Wartwood.
She didn't see the small group of people who followed her through the portal and were running after her.
…
Sprig was looking at the crowd who had gathered at the campfire, only a brief walk from the Farm., she was surprised to see just how many had gathered, clearly Yunan and Hop Pop had gotten the message out, He saw Wally playing his accordion, He saw Loggle sitting there talking about how the Beast had destroyed his shop, He saw Feleica laughing about the time she called the law upon Anne's head, Mayor Toadstool was talking about how Anne had changed the town and him.
Sprig smiled, he had slightly changed his mind on the speech earlier, but he was glad he was here hearing Amphibia talking about Anne.
Sprig noticed that Yunan, Olivia, and Grime were walking up with Marcy and Lucian, the young frog girl had a sour expression on her face, Meanwhile, Lucian had a grin on his face.
Lucian sat down on the stump his eyes wide where open, and looking around waiting for the story to start,
Marcy was the opposite, she sat on a stump next to Lucian and looked ahead her hand beneath her chin, clearly wanting to be anywhere but here, she had just been through three stories already now she needed to hear more.
On the outskirts Sprig could see Andrias standing nearby, the former king never attended the celebration or speeches, he seemed to be willing to come to this one.
All around him Amphibians Anne, Sasha, and Marcy had known were talking about them, waiting for him to tell his story about them, He saw Polly sitting next to Frobo who was currently in grill mode, Hop-Pop was sitting next to Sylvia the two of them holding hands, He saw Ivy looking at him smiling, he couldn't help but smile at her, He hoped it looked cool but he knew it looked goofy.
Eventually, though people started to call for him to start talking, he smiled, It was the perfect time to start.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Thanks for coming,"
The crowd cheered, It felt better than the crowd earlier, it felt like he was talking about the girls to people who knew them.
"You all know why we're here, to tell the real story of our girls."
The crowd cheered even louder, Loggle was screaming, Wally was dancing, Lucian was sitting but he looked like he was going to explode.
Marcy on the other hand was just sitting there bored.
"We all know what they became but let's talk about where it all started, lets talk about Anne, It started with-"
"ME" shouted Wally. "I first found her in the middle of the woods and.."
Sprig was about to complain but then decided to let him go ahead, He was surprised just how enraptured the town was over Wally's storytelling, All of them smiling at Wally and laughing at his jokes, despite his role in the story being minimal Wally stretched out his role in the story for fifteen minutes before he finished.
"Anyway now that I'm finished telling my part in the discovery of the greatest hero in amphibian history, I now hand it over to her best friend Sprig."
Everyone clapped, Lucian whistled, Marcy continued her frowning, only adding sulky eye-rolling into her performance.
Sprig smiled "Thank you, Wally," Sprig coughed and smiled.
"When I first met Anne It was just a normal day like any other, I was younger and a lot more brash and impulsive back then,"
"Oh don't sell yourself short Sprig, you're just as dumb now as you were back then," said Polly.
"Thank you, Polly," said Sprig taking the jab in jest, "We were in the town and Hop Pop had not put me in charage of the Wagon choosing to put Polly in charge."
"Well I was the responsible one back then, more so than you," said Polly slightly defensively.
"Yeah, this was before you crashed the Fawgon isn't it?"
"One Time I crash it into a ditch one time," Said Polly annoyed, the audience laughed at her outburst.
"Anyway, Wally then came running in to talk about a hideous creature that was in the woods, The town had decided that it needed to go."
"I would like to say before Srpig continues that what I suggested was the responsible thing to do at the time," added Toadstool.
Everyone looked at him annoyed, He felt the heat of their gazes, "Okay but you all thought she was a monster at the time don't deny it."
"Anyway, Eventually after Toadstool have gathered the Mob I snuck off to go and find her, I was brave, I ran into the forest and instantly got caught in a trap.
The crowd laughed, and even Marcy smiled a little.
So there I was trapped when the monster emerged from the bushes, Wally was right, She was hideous.
He saw Marcy was slightly more interested now. Lucian's eyes had widened shocked that he had insulted her.
"I looked at her as she laughed maniacally, Expecting her to eat me, after I screamed I was shocked to discover that she was angrier at me than I was scared of her.
"The Savior got angry?" said Lucian, Marcy snorted at Lucian's shock.
"Oh yeah, And that's when things got worse, There was stomping noise coming towards us, The beast was the first to react, she ran off, leaving me to die."
The crowd was quiet now, Sprig felt a little alone, "It's kind of funny, I was worried about the fact that I was going to leave Polly and Hop Pop alone, I guess I was a lot dumber back then to do something like that."
Sprig didn't mean to make put a damper on things but he did.
Polly broke the silence "Eh, Don't sell yourself short, Since then you've done even dumber things."
Hop Pop was the only one who glared at her, the rest of the crowd laughed, and Sprig smiled, As much as she could be a pain Polly knew how to break the silence, and brought him back to the story, in a way his decision to run into the woods was like Anne stealing the box, it was something wrong that had lead to something wonderful.
"So the beast grabbed me and carried me to a log where the red mantis stomped away, we hid there for a few seconds before we noticed we were safe, It was then I realized that she had saved me, the monster had just picked me up and protected me when she should have just run away to protect herself. I realise then that maybe I was wrong, So I told her, She was a hero, an ugly one at that."
"You called her ugly." Asked Lucian shocked.
"You've seen the statue," said Marcy, "Would you date her?"
Lucian looked at her and then shrugged, "Fair."
" and then she said to me-
"Call me ugly again and Maybe I will eat you." said a voice in the darkness.
…
She ran through the forest, She knew it was stupid, This was Amphibia, the forests of this world were full of hundreds of things that could see her.
But she didn't care, she was home again, she could see them all again, Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop, Wally, Loggle, all of them.
She kept running until she saw the Farm, that wonderful torturous farm, where she had worked away hours doing her best to help her family.
Just outside it was a fire and crowd. She could make out a few figures sitting there, she slowly recognized them, from Grime, Olivia, Yunan, what she had thought was a giant tree was none other than Andrais, she could see Hop Pop Ivy, Maddie, Frobo, the all of them were there and...
Sprig, he was sitting there talking, the back of his head was facing her. she couldn't hear him, she was about to walk closer than all of a sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Boonchuy, What were you thinking."
She turned to see Sasha there looking angry, not at her but how she just run out into the middle of a portal into Amphibia.
"Sash, Look they're just over there." said pointing towards them.
Sasha looked and her anger melted slightly, "Oh." she said her voice trembling slightly, "Anne, I... I think we need to go back and..."
"GUYS" shouted Marcy who came crashing out of the forest she was grabbed by Sasha who then covered her mouth with her hand and made a shushing gesture, Marcy looked around for a second and then noticed the campsite and froze.
"Moh," she said, her voice muffled.
Sasha removed the hand from Marcy's face and nodded, "Listen I know it's tempting but..."
All of a sudden Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy exited the woods.
"So this is Amphibia, It looks nice," said Mr. Boonchuy smiling.
"Reminds me somewhat of Thailand," added Mrs. Boonchuy.
"Seriously did anyone stay back on the other side of the Portal," said Sasha annoyed.
Jan, Teri, and Mr. X burst through the forest and took one look at Sasha's face.
"Yeah we'll go back," Said Anne's mentor, Jan took her wife's hand "Come on dear."
Teri was about to respond when Mr. X interrupted her.
"Honey, I've seen the look the blondes giving us on murderers, we should go back," said Mr. X. as he lead the two women home.
The remaining Humans stood there watching the campfire.
They heard laughter and cheers, They knew someone had to go over there and say something.
"Anne you should go," said Sasha.
Anne was about to argue when she felt Marcy's hand on her shoulder, "Do it, Anne, For us."
Anne looked at her best friends and then her parents, They looked at her proudly, she smiled and held back the tears, though she knew it was going to be impossible to get there with any sort of dry eyes.
She started to walk slowly towards the campfire, she wondered what she would say, She thought about running up and tacking Sprig in a hug but that might just get killed when people saw a strange woman running up to Sprig, Maybe a joke or something to break the tension.
As she neared them, she started to hear Sprig.
His voice had changed again, slightly deeper but she could recognize it anywhere, He was telling a story, it was the story of how they first met, she was close enough that she could start to make out individual faces again, she briefly stopped and tried to look for Polly, That's when she remembered that Polly wouldn't be a Pollywog anymore, She then heard Sprig say how he was stupid for almost dying, she wanted to rush out and comfort him instantly that's when she heard a frog wearing overalls say something snarky and instantly knew it was Polly, she was surprised to see how much her adopted sister had grown.
She stood there as Sprig told his story, eventually, he got to the part where they were trapped in a log.
She just couldn't help it, it was just a simple mistake, she said the words, "Call me ugly again and maybe I will eat you."
Half of the Amphibians there jumped up in shock, Half of those standing had pulled out some sort of weapon.
It was the traditional Wartwood reception to anything hidden in the dark, seeing her friends and adoptive family pointing weapons toward her made her feel nostalgic, fighting back the tears she almost failed to see Polly leaping towards her, a wrench raised high about to smash her head in.
A Smile appeared on Anne's face, Polly was still Polly, the young pink frog leaped at her with the wrench raised high.
Anne caught her and held the small frog in the air, Polly of course refused to stop fighting, she was cussing who she thought was a monster, demanding that she be let go.
"Polly," said Anne laughing, it's me."
Polly stopped trashing and looked at her, the anger turned to shock.
"A…Anne?" Said the small frog girl, her voice wavering.
"Yeah it's me, I-" Anne didn't finish her sentence when Polly wormed herself free and jumped wrapping her arms around Anne's neck, the smaller frog buried her head on Anne's shoulders.
"I'm sorry," said Polly weeping, "I'm sorry I.. I.. started to forget you, I'm…"
Anne hugged her tighter, "it's okay Polly, it's okay."
"Anne, Is it you." said the voice of Hop Pop
Anne looked at the older orange frog, there were some liver spots on him now but he was still her adoptive grandfather.
"Hey, H.P, You did say it was okay for me to stop by."
That was all it took for the patriarch of the Plantars to start running towards Anne, however, he started to trip, Anne lept out and caught him before he hit the floor.
"Are you okay?" said Anne terrified for the older Plantar.
"Yeah, I just, Anne I thought… I thought I wouldn't live to see you again."
Anne felt the old frog's tears fall on her arms, now she hugged him even tight, "Remember what you said, We're family we always find a way back to each other."
Anne sat there as she held on to the two most important frogs in the world to her, however, it quickly became apparent that there was a Plantar missing.
"Sprig?" she called out. And saw the frog boy sitting on the stump, his eyes were closed
…
The moment he heard the voice he closed his eyes
It was another nightmare, a cruel nightmare, this whole day it had to be.
He knew where he was.
He was back on the boat with Ivy, her sleeping next to him, that's the only thing it could be, after all, it made sense, he missed Anne so his mind would have a course created a perfect scenario where he would get to talk about all the things he loved about her, Where he would help his sister come to terms with Anne's disappearance, Where he would talk to Hop Pop, where he got to praise her in front of the strangers and tell her story to the town that loved her, Of course, he was a dream.
He heard his Sister and grandfather reuniting with Anne, it was everything he wanted them to feel, That's when he heard the voice calling for him.
"Sprig?"
"No," said Sprig.
"What," said dream Anne her voice shaking.
"I know what this is, It's another dream and I accept that, You're not here."
"Sprig please it's…"
"I'm not going to open my eyes because I know you're not real you're just a figment of someone I miss."
"Sprig, It's me, please open your eyes."
"No I want the idea of you being back in my life to last a little longer," said Sprig.
Everything was quiet for a moment Sprig briefly thought that the dream was over.
That theory died the moment he felt something hit him hard on the shoulder, he fell off his stump and landed on the grass, he opened his eyes to see a human standing there.
She was taller, the same size as most of the adult humans Sprig had met, She had Anne's skin, her hair was clean though now in a pony tail, Her shirt was Green and her shorts were light cream, she was wearing two boots, If this was Anne she had changed a lot.
But the look on her face and the look in her eyes brought it all back, She was smiling, that smile that always reminded him of she cared for him, he saw in the times he knew that she was truly happy.
"Friend Punch," she said sheepishly.
The realization hit him like a Snail going over fifty.
It was her.
It was her.
The most important person in his world had returned and had just punched him in the shoulder
"Anne," he said his voice shaking like a leaf.
"Hey Sprig, It's been…"
Sprig Launched at Anne's chest, he wrapped himself around her neck burying his face into her shoulder, Anne fell to the ground her eyes widened in shock.
Sprig I…"
He looked up at her, crying, "I Missed you, I missed you so much, How did you get back.
"We made a portal, It shouldn't have done this but… Oh, Frog I've missed you, buddy," said Anne crying, she held on to her best friend tighter than ever, Hop Pop and Polly joined in, and the rest of the frogs walked around and cheered, Anne, didn't hear them she was too busy, holding on to her family.
The only one who didn't was Ivy, who was scared of what the future would bring.
…
Grime was still dealing with the shock of seeing Anne Boonnchuy back in Amphibia that he didn't notice her footsteps coming from behind him.
"Captain." said a confident voice from behind him.
Grime smiled briefly, he composed himself and turned around.
Standing there was a human taller than he last saw her, she was wearing a leather jacket with a blue shirt underneath, a long purple skirt and sunglasses, her hair wasn't in the ponytail anymore.
The scar was still there though.
"It's Paladin now Lieutenant."
They stood there looking at each other for a few seconds and they both embraced each other.
Ten years Grime spent wondering how Sasha was, he knew that she would have continued fighting, she would have joined her worlds army, and would do her best to live up to her role as a hero.
"I've missed you so much," the human said holding trying to hold back the tears but failing.
"Me too." replied the toad.
The hug was interrupted by a loud breathing noise.
Both Grime and Sahsa turned to see a toad boy breathing heavily.
"Is he okay?"
"Oh yes, Sasha this is Lucian, he's my godson," said Grime sheepishly
Sasha let go of her friend and walked over to Lucian, "Hi, Lucian, I'm Sahsa, nice to meet you," she placed her hand on his shoulder, in response Lucian fainted.
"Is he going to be okay?" said Sasha.
"Probably," said Grime shrugging.
…
Marcy looked at Sasha as she hugged Grime, she kept an eye open for Yunan and Olivia.
It took a while but she saw the orange newt with white hair wearing a white shirt and dark pants, standing next to her was a slightly smaller new, with green skin, wearing a regal dress, Marcy rushed over towards them.
"Oliva, Yuna.." she called out.
The two newts turned around and saw her running towards them, they rushed, over, Olivia reached her first and hugged her
"Marcy," said Olivia.
"Good to see you again kid," said Yunan patting the human's shoulder.
Marcy hugged them both, she raised her head to see a young frog girl who was looking at her shocked
"Oh," said Olivia releasing Marcy from her hug, she gestured towards the young frog girl, "This is our daughter, Marcy."
Marcy smiled, they named their daughter after her.
She knelt "Hey there, I'm an old friend of…"
Marcy the frog fainted, Yunan caught her before her head hit the ground.
"Ha, It's been a bit of a busy day for all of us,"
Marcy nodded, "An understatement."
She looked around the clearing, and that's when she saw something large walking away from the camp. "Isn't that…"
All of a sudden something took her by the hand, she turned and saw that Olivia was holding her hand, on the newt's face was a pitying look, "You must be exhausted, We have a spare room at our house, why not stay with us."
Marcy was about to protect however the look in Olivia's eye told her everything she needed to know, she nodded and followed the older newt, when she looked back the large form of Andrias had vanished.
…
Anne eventually let go of the Plantars, it was hard but she would have enough time to make up for ten years later.
"Guys, I can't even begin to describe how much I've missed you."
"Same," said Polly.
"How're your folks." said Hop Pop wiping a tear from his eye."
"Why not ask them yourselves," Anne gestured towards a pair of humans walking out of the darkness, the loving couple who had raised Anne and took in the Plantars were walking through a crowd of confused Amphibians, both humans were just as confused but not scared.
"Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy," shouted Hop Pop, who started to walk slowly towards them
"Hop Pop," said Oum as she walked briskly toward the frog, she hugged him, "It's been so long,"
Bee Boonchuy was slightly jealous that his wife go a hug first but that vanished the moment Polly and Sprig jumped at him, thankfully he didn't fall.
Anne watched this and laughed, when she heard a series of stomps coming towards her, she turned to see Frobo walking towards her.
"Oh Hi Frobo, didn't notice you there."
"Hello Anne." replied the robot in a friendly yet windy tone.
"Woah, Dude you can talk now."
"I always could." replied the now blue robot.
"Oh yeah,"
"Anne, come over here," shouted her mother.
Anne and Frobo walked over to the rest of her family only to see Felicia and Sylvia Sundew. Had joined them.
"Good to see you again Anne," said Felicia smiling.
"Amazing to see you too," said Anne before turning to Sylia, "Sylvia, You married Hop Pop yet."
"No," said the elderly green frog, "We chose to live in sin."
The Boonchuys were the only ones to laugh at that joke, Sprig, Polly and Felicia groaned, Hop Pop blushed,
"We've decided we're going to stay here for at least a day, See what this world offers," said Bee, "Felicia has graciously decided to put us up for the night."
"Great, I'm going to stay at the Plantars," replied Anne, You guys got the room?"
"There's a bed in the basement," Said Sprig, "Need it when I'm up late planning."
"Planning, What you finally going to propose to… Hey, where is Ivy?"
Sprig was about to respond to that but then looked around the hill trying to find her, but he gave up after a second, Anne was here, Ivy could wait a day, He didn't notice how Hop Pop, Sylvia, and Felicia looked at him oddly.
Anne said goodbye to her parents, That's when Sasha and Marcy walked over.
"Sasha, Marcy, Great to see you guys," said Sprig.
"Sprig, you've grown," said Marcy hugging him.
"And Polly, killed a man yet," said Sasha joking
"You're just jealous that I've got a higher kill count than you'll ever have."
"Good to see you again girls," replied Hop Pop.
Marcy then hugged Hop Pop, before releasing him, "Hey Anne, I'm going to go, Yunan and Olivia have a guest room."
"Same with me and Grime, See you tomorrow?" said Sasha.
"Okay, meet you in the town square, I've gotta see how Wartwoods changed."
Spring smiled, he wanted to see the look on her face when she saw the statue.
After saying goodbye to her friends everyone in the town started to depart.
Eventually, it was just Anne and the Plantars, reunited at last.
"So, what did I miss?" said Anne.
"We're rich," said Hop Pop.
"What?" said Anne shocked.
"It's true," said Polly, Only Avacado suppliers in Amphibia.
"I thought the last one was destroyed?"
"I found a seed, AND NOW WE'RE RICH," shouted Hop Pop.
The four younger members of the family looked at him, "You don't need to shout." said Frobo.
"I know but I just like to remind myself whenever possible THAT WE'RE RICH."
Anne laughed at the old frog's declaration, however, the laugh turned into a yawn, "Well guys, I'd like to keep the reunion going but I need some sleep.
With that the five made their way to the farmhouse, Anne was surprised just to see how bigger the farmland had gotten over the past ten years, Hop Pop explained that they were now one of the biggest employers in the valley.
As Anne reached the farm, she was pleasantly surprised to see that everything looked mostly the same, after ten years the only things that had changed were a few new pieces of furniture and a painting of two frogs, one tadpole, and the human they took in.
Anne was touched by the painting, so touched that she bumped her head on the door frame, she was taller than she had been ten years ago.
she opened the basement door and wished the Planters a good night, after one last hug she was alone.
Turning on a mushroom for the first time in ten years, Anne looked around the illuminated room.
All around there were charts, of a different island, looking around she could see noticed around all of these different places.
One note read, "Freezing temperatures, Me and Ivy almost froze, saved by Grime."
Another read, "Ivy and Polly fought off Primates, Possible inhabitants of this land."
She kept looking until she saw a board without any maps.
This one seemed to be dedicated to her and their time together, there was a picture of a Mossman, there was an ad for Thai-Go, one of the polaroids pictures they took while on earth using her dad's ancient camera.
"She smiled, Sprig hadn't forgotten her.
The basement door opened and Anne turned to face it, hopping down the stairs was Sprig.
"Like what I've done to the place?" he said smiling,
"I love it," said Anne, "What is the map of?"
"Oh, that's the new continent."
Anne's eyes widened, "Dude seriously? There's another continent?"
Sprig laughed, "Yeah, it must have come back when you destroyed the moon."
Anne went to her old bed and sat on it. "And you've been exploring it since?"
"Sprig laughed, "Yeah, Me Polly, Ivy, Maddie, Grime, we've spent years exploring these lands, What have you done?"
"Well I didn't explore a new continent but I did explore a Jungle, I'm a herpetologist now, so I went looking for specimens"
"Cool," said Sprig
"You don't know what a Herpetologist is do you?"
"No idea" replied the frog.
"I study Amphibians, I work at an aquarium now one of the biggest in the country, I designed an exhibit and everything."
"Woah." said Sprig said impressed before his voice turned worried, "Wait specimens?"
"Yeah," said Anne whose face took on an evil look "And I've come to make you a part of my collection."
Anne let out an evil laugh and grabbed sprig toyfully shaking him,
"No after years of being away she's turned to evil," said Sprig laughing.
"Yes, first things first I'm going to get rid of that disgusting growth on your face," Anne said before she tugged slightly on Sprig's goatee.
"No, Leave Kevin alone." pleaded Sprig."
"You named it?" said Anne her voice returning to normal.
"Just this moment, I will never give him up." declared Sprig.
Anne laughed before turning to him and smiling, "I've missed this,"
Sprig smiled back "Me too."
It had been ten years despite all the things they went through Nothing had changed between them.
"So what did I miss on the Ivy front," said Anne with a sly smile on her face.
Sprig blushed, "Haha, Well…"
The two talked throughout the night, making the most of Spranne being back together.
…
This might not have been a good idea.
Sneaking through the portal to follow Anne and the others might not have been smart, but he followed them towards the farm staying back just enough so that no one would see him, he saw That blad guy walk back with the women in the dino shirt and the blue harried lady a while back,
he stayed back when he saw Anne walk over towards the campfire, and stayed back as the others went as well.
A few minutes later when the fire went out and the voices died down he started to walk towards the hill, eventually, he came to a farm.
Max looked around, his eyelids started to feel heavy.
Right now though he needed shelter, looking at a small shed he smiled, he figured he might be able to hide out there.
He walked over to the door and opened it, there was a strong musky smell but he took it, he left the door open slightly hoping to air out the place a little.
He took a few steps forward, into the darkness, he looked down and saw straw on the floor, was this where they kept livestock?"
Berp Berp," Max jumped at the noise, in the blackness he saw a long limb reach out, towards him.
He reached inside his pocket and pulled out his phone, by the light of the lock screen he saw what was coming towards him.
In front of him were two eyes attached to two stalks, those were attached to an odd-looking face pink face, the thing he was looking at had a body long thin body that retreated into something round.
It took Max a moment to recognize it was a snail.
A giant snail.
Max looked in awe as it sat there looking at him.
"Um, Hello?" said Max thinking himself an idiot for talking to a snail.
The Snail chirped happily at him and then placed its face on top of his head, Max stepped back in fear it was going to eat him, The creature looked hurt by his rejection, Which Max felt slightly guilty over.
"Okay, Listen can I stay here for the night? I'll be gone by morning I promise."
The snail just looked at him for a minute, Max was about to feel stupid for asking a Snail a question when all of a sudden it turned slightly, and entered its shell.
Max decided to take that for a yes and sat beside the Sanil, he looked around the place, the first night of his new life was going to be spent sleeping in a smelly shed with a large snail, some might be scared off by this.
Not Max, He knew what lay back on earth for him and he found the will he needed to stay here, this was a new start, and he could survive here.
He fell asleep, dreaming of the freedom that lay ahead.
…
The guardian tried to fight back, against what was pulling it but it was impossible.
This was unimaginable how could they have ever been falling like this, the guardian noticed they seemed to be heading towards earth, it know that its form would have driven anyone who saw them insane.
They changed from their true form into one that they had taken some time ago.
They transformed into a cat.
Eventually, they blacked out.
It was the first time the Guardian had ever encountered something like unconsciousness.
When it woke it could barely see, it was laying down, in a small glass container, they tried to do something anything, but it felt like its body was in pain, their power was gone.
No not gone, Held back.
"It worked." said the gruff voice of an elderly woman.
"Did you doubt me?" said a robotic voice.
"No your science was sound it's just. I wasn't expecting a cat.
"A form it has taken on in an act of desperation no doubt," replied the other voice.
"Okay, but are you sure we can use this?"
"Doctor you insult us, We know everything."
The guardian tried to stand, they looked around trying to see the others in the shadows.
"Who are you?" they said.
"Oh, You know me, Guardian, " said the robotic voice, Meilliana ago you gave my people the gems, Now I want more."
Above the guardian, thirteen red lights flickered on and glared at them.
Horror entered the Guardian's heart.
"I believe you know me, I am the core, and I intend to settle my affairs."