The Character of Officer Miller belongs to Opin88 and Dragonlovinggirl6 used with their permission.
...
When Officer Miller joined the police he expected a lot, after all being in law enforcement was a thankless job, one which many people would openly despise him for justly or not.
Despite this he continued doing his job, no matter what the world threw at him.
He had not expected the end of the world.
Monsters and robots attacking the city, a teenage girl fighting a giant robot and a giant castle vanishing through a portal, they didn't teach that at the academy.
Suffice to say the L.A.P.D were stuck trying to keep the city from falling apart in the aftermath.
The majority of his department was busy panicking, many of them had gone home to be with their families, he should have been there himself, his mother had been trying to reach him for three hours now, probably scared out of her mind.
Yet, he did his job.
It was around the fourth pair of people he helped reunite (two tourists, one Canadian, the other Dutch) he knew he was doing the right thing, however right now he was going to take a break.
He was sitting in the remains of a garden taking in the devastation all around him, buildings were destroyed, there was smoke everywhere, dozens of helicopters in the sky surveying the damage, could the city go back to normal after this?
Rubbing his eyes, a part of him just wanted to go home and relax, hug his mother and tell her everything was okay.
That's when he heard the cry.
It belonged to a baby.
He stood up and walked to the source of the wail.
After turning a corner he saw a car whose entire front half had been crushed, lying just by was an arm, there was no sign of the body.
Rushing towards the back door he opened it and saw a baby sitting in a baby seat crying, they were wearing a green onesie and had short brown curly hair, written on the onesie was the name, "Max."
Officer Miller looked at him for a second and sighed, poor kid, his parents were gone, What was going to happen to him.
Picking him Max up he started to walk towards the nearest station. After that he'd go out and see if he could help others.
He wouldn't hear about the kid for ten years.
…
It was odd how nights in Amphibia could be so calm, oh certainly there were dangers of course, the nocturnal wildlife was not to sneeze at, and the nights were darker now the moon was gone, but for the small group of six sitting on the dock basking in the light of the fireflies was more than enough.
Max sat on the edge of the dock his legs dangling off the side, Anne, Sprig and Hop-Pop were sitting next to him, Polly was currently grilling Beetle burgers and Snail sausages on Frobo with some help from his booster jets.
"It doesn't get better than this," said Hop-Pop.
"Yep," said Anne, throwing a stone across the lake, it skipped three times then sank.
Max didn't say anything, but he would admit that he enjoyed how calm this was.
"Hey Hop-Pop?" said Polly, "We need some more rolls, could you get some?"
"Sure," said the old frog, "Max come and help."
"Why me?" Protested Max.
"Consider it as punishment for what you did at the fair," said the old frog.
Max grumbled and stood up, he ignored the judgmental glare from Anne, the piteous look from Sprig and the grin from Polly.
Entering the house they started to walk to the kitchen, however that's when a loud thud came from upstairs.
Max turned to the elderly frog, he briefly looked scared then saw Max was looking at him, and put on a brave face.
"I'll go look," said Hop-Pop before Max could react. The frog was walking up the stairs, and in the next moment there was a yell of fright and Hop-Pop fell from the stairs, his body landed with a thud.
"HOP-POP!" shouted Max, he rushed to his side.
The old frog wasn't moving.
Max started to breathe heavily, images from that day long ago entering his head, the door to the dock opened, and he saw the remaining Plantars Standing there.
"What have you done?" said Polly terrified.
Max watched as the three rushed over to help the downed frog.
Anne briefly looked at Hop-Pop's body then at him, "Did you do this?" She said trying to control her rage.
"He didn't do anything," said a charming voice from the top of the stairs.
Max felt his blood chill, he slowly turned to look up.
There was a Caucasian man with a pleasant smile standing there, he was wearing a nice suit, next to him was a Caucasian woman wearing a nice dress. She had a smile, but it was slightly larger than the man's.
How were they here? Had they been looking for him?
"Is that true Max?" said Anne.
Max wanted to respond, to tell them no, but words wouldn't escape his mouth.
Tell them the truth Max," said the man.
"He…" Max felt the words in his mouth he tried to fight it but nothing worked," "He fell."
"Oh," said Polly smiling," Well that sounds innocent."
"Yeah it's not as if Max would lie to us," Said Sprig,
"I mean it's not his fault an old person fell down the stairs," said Anne, starting to laugh.
Max wanted to say something, they'd get away with it again.
"Yes, it was just a mistake," said the man who started to walk down the stairs, he stood in front of Max, he gripped the boy's shoulder, "Max is a good kid who knows right from wrong, he knows not to lie, now let's talk about the money."
No
"Oh yeah you could probably help us there," Said Sprig.
No
"Yes, I'll just need you to invest in our group, and we'll look after the money."
No, not again.
"Sure, here's all of our money," said Sprig, handing the man a bag of money.
Stop it, don't trust them.
The man looked at Max again with a smirk, "Thanks kid, you did it again."
Max finally screamed.
…
The next moment Max opened his eyes, the room was dark, it had been a dream.
One thing felt weird however his hand was wet, look closer he could see it was covered in mucus.
"What the-" he then noticed lying to the left of him was an unconscious Sprig.
"Oh god, Sprig."
Sprig groaned, Max was out of his bed and helping the frog stand, "Are you okay?" Max asked.
The frog shook his head, "Yeah I'm fine, I've been hurt worse by Ivy."
Max looked at him, "Um, that sounds… worrying?"
"No it's cool it's only when she tackles me to the ground that literally hurts"
The human looked at his temporary roommate worried, loving families seemed weirder and weirder to him.
"Anyway I'm fine," said Sprig walking back to his bed, "I was worried about you."
"Me?" Said Max worried, "Why?"
"You were tossing and turning around in your bed, I tried to make you gently but… well…"
"Oh," said Max entering his bed, "Sorry, bad dream."
"Really what was it about?"
"The water snake," lied Max.
"Yeah that thing was terrifying, and the fact that you almost drowned had to suck too."
"You're weirdly casual with life of death situations." Max deadpanned.
"Welcome to life in Amphibia, still kind of surprising you don't know how to swim, Anne knew, and she wasn't that older than you."
"Yeah, well my parents thought it wasn't that important."
"Huh, that sucks."
Max shuffled in his "Yeah" he said flatly.
The room was quiet for a few seconds.
"So do you want to talk about it?" Asked Sprig.
"What?" Replied Max.
"Your bad dream, I know it was terrifying but if you need anything-"
"No, thanks."
"Oh," replied Sprig.
The room was quiet again.
"My last nightmare was about Anne."
"Really?"
"Yep, I was on earth, and I was trying to look for Anne, she was missing, I was scared that I'd never find her again, funny thing she came back the next day."
"Oh."
"So do you want to tell me your dream now?"
Max turned away and pulled his sheets tighter.
"Okay," said Sprig, "if there's anything-"
There was a violent knocking on the wall "GO TO SLEEP." shouted Polly.
Sprig stopped talking after that.
Max lay there trying to get back to sleep, which was hard to do when under a constant state of paranoia.
Earlier in a moment of weakness he had suggested that the three Amphibians he had been spending time with run away to start a new life, as it turned out it was the wrong choice.
Now three Amphibians knew what he was going to do, and secondly Marcy Yunan the biggest snitch he'd ever known was going to rat him out.
The rest of the evening Max was on his toes expecting someone to come through the door to reveal his plans to Anne and the Plantars.
He barely had gotten to sleep, the last few hours he had been lying on his futon trying to get to sleep.
It was fruitless, however.
Tomorrow Marcy would reveal his secret, they'd send him back to earth, and they'd question him and then…
Max shut his eyes, no that wouldn't happen.
Tomorrow was the day, tomorrow he'd run away.
…
It was light when Max woke up, grabbing his phone he saw that it was just ten minutes to seven a few minutes before the rest of the family woke up.
This was it, the perfect chance to run.
Grabbing his shirt and shoes he got dressed, he tried to ignore the smell of his shirt, he had been wearing the same set of clothes for a week now.
Taking one good look at Sprig, he had to admit that the frog was alright, he was basically a decent roommate who looked after him.
The Plantars were good frogs, despite being an unexpected surprise they allowed him to stay here, a part of him felt guilty about what he was going to do.
His plan was to steal Micro Angelo, The snail was ultimately transport and would be useful getting around Amphibia, as much as he disliked it the Plantars were rich hey could afford another snail.
Max tried to ignore the familiar feeling of guilt, the more he thought about it the more like his adoptive parents after all.
He tip-toed down the stairs and found himself by the door, he took one last look around the Living room, it was cozy, it might have been nice to stay longer.
Shaking his head he banished that feeling, no it was time to go.
Turning back to the door he turned the handle
Opening the door he was shocked to see that Anne was standing there.
"Max?" said the Herpetologist.
"Anne?" said Max worried.
"What are you doing here?" they both said at the same time.
"Getting some stuff from earth." replied Anne, "What are you doing."
Max started to sweat, "Umm, I…"
Anne closed her eyes and sighed, "Oh, Max really?"
She knew, Marcy must have blabbed, he sighed.
"Yeah, You caught me."
"Pulling more pranks, you know you're still in trouble for the fountain."
Max let out a sigh of relief, she didn't know he could still do it.
"Oh, well you caught me. Guess I should go back upstairs and…"
"You can't keep doing this." said Anne sternly
Max laughed, "Doing what?"
"Sprig told me about what you did yesterday."
Max thought back to yesterday, "What you mean smashing robots?"
"You cheated in that contest."
"Against a jerk," he murmured.
"Then there's the fountain prank."
"So the water now looks like it's bleeding, it that so bad?"
"And then there was what happened with Hop-Pop."
"He bribed me! How Am I responsible for that?"
"You should have told him no."
Max groaned, "So what? Those were just a few mistakes."
Anne looked at him sternly, which melted slowly. It was replaced by a look of concern, "Max, listen, you've almost died like three times, that's three times more than I like, I just want you to be safe."
Max for a moment Max felt her fear, she seemed worried and quite so, she was responsible for him.
It would be hard for her when she left, but he'd send a note to her saying he was safe later.
"Okay, Anne but only if you promise the same."
Anne snorted, "kid please ice almost been killed…four times since I got here."
"Oh four times," said Max, a smile appearing on his face.
"Yeah, well."
"Four times more than I like," said Max, his smile growing smuggler by the second.
Anne glared at him slightly before she chuckled, "Okay. I promise."
Before Max could respond an oversized mosquito flew in through the door.
He hovered in front of Anne who took the notice from its foot, the mosquito flew off, she unfolded the letter and gasped, "It's from Marcy."
The bottom of Max's stomach fell out, "What?" he said terrified.
"Marcy, just suggested we go visit Bessie and Joe."
Max just looked at her confused, who was Bessie and why had Marcy found her, he quickly gathered it was not the frog girl but the webcomic artist she was talking about.
"Who's Bessie?"
"The sweetest snail in the world, she's basically family."
Max stood there nodding. "Oh well that sounds-"
"And she's inviting us to come and visit."
Max smiled, if they were busy visiting the snail he could steal his own
"Oh that's great you can go, and I'll-"
"She's also inviting Sasha and your friends."
MAx froze terrified, "What?"
"Seems we can make a day of it." said Anne cheerfully.
"Well…"
Anne rushed to the stairs, "HEY GUYS WE'RE VISITING BESSIE TODAY!"
"GREAT!" shouted Hop-Pop
"Wonderful!" Moaned Sprig
"I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" screamed Polly.
"Maybe I should stay here" Max started to say "I mean…"
"Nope you're coming with us Max, I don't like the idea of you staying here alone.
"But-"
"No buts," said Anne, who walked to the kitchen, "By the way when was the last time you washed?"
"...a week ago."
Anne stuck her head through the door, "Gross."
"What? I don't have spare clothes I…"
"I'll drive you back later, you can pick something up."
Max swallowed, he couldn't go back, they'd be watching, "Oh darn, I lost my key and…"
Anne continued to look at him, her stare growing suspicious, "What really?"
The boy nodded, "Yeah it looks like I can't go back home until my parents get back and-"
"Shouldn't they be back now? In fact where are they?"
"Bolivia" the boy shot out.
Anne continued to look at him, "Okay then So I'll call them tonight."
Max swallowed, "Tonight?" he whimpered.
"Yes, Tonight, We'll go to Mr. X and talk to him and well he'll call your parents, I'll tell them you lost your key, I'll get Mr.X to put you in a hotel or something, and I'll get you some new clothes."
This was shocking to Max, Anne was trying to look after him, "What really?"
"Yeah…" said Anne confused, "You're ten Max, I'm technically the only responsible adult here."
"Well, looks like your ignoring me," said a voice from the top of the stairs, Max turned and saw Hop Pop standing there, he tried to fight off the panic
"Hop-Pop, Um… do you need help getting down?"
The old frog snorted, "I'm old Max not helpless."
"I know but…well…"
Max, Is everything alright?" asked Anne.
"It's nothing, Just be careful Hop-Pop.
The orange frog looked and him, and seemed to understand, he walked slowly down the stairs reaching the ground safely, "There I'm fine Max it's okay."
Max nodded, and walked to the kitchen table, he didn't notice Anne looking at him, a small smile on her face.
…
Marcy Yunan was doing her best to keep a secret. One that she really needed to say, usually it was a point of pride that she would tell the truth to the adults, it had labeled her a tattler, but the truth was that it was so much easier than just telling everyone the truth.
The only problem was that this wasn't someone bullying someone else or someone breaking the rules, no this was ratting on someone who had helped her and her friends earlier.
Her feelings for Max were…complicated.
At first, he was a braggart who liked to pull pranks, then he wanted to help Hop-Pop, and they bonded, then she thought he was just using Hop-Pop for money, then He was nice to Nicole then… things had just gotten weird.
On one hand he could be nice and kind. On the other hand he was a manipulative jerk, worse was that he would change at the drop of a hat.
Whey was he so annoying but wonderful.
Yesterday had been the turning point, he had stood up to Montgomery, and after they had fought a robot army (She briefly wondered if things were this weird ten years ago?) he had asked them to run away with him.
This left Marcy in her current predicament, She knew that running away was basically another form of suicide in Amphibia, but she didn't want to say anything because he might get into trouble.
She held her head in her hands and groaned.
"Marcy you okay?" said the toad boy sitting next to her in the cart.
A human on the other side of the seat turned to him, "I'm fine, Lucian how are you?"
"I was asking my Marcy," replied Lucian.
"Oh," said the human, "turning away."
"Ha," said the blonde human sitting next to the human Marcy, "This is going to turn into a comedy routine."
"No," Marcy Yunan whispered to her best friend, "It's about Max I didn't tell anyone last night, Did you?"
"Nope, I figured you would?"
Marcy shrugged, "I mean I want to, I don't want him to get hurt but…Would telling them not just cause him to run off anyway?"
"Umm-"
"And there's the idea that I don't need to look after him, he could look after himself, besides why should I, he's been a jerk since we got here."
"Well-"
"But I think he's a good person despite everything and I-"
"Marcy?"
"Yes?"
"Could you take a few minutes to calm down?"
Marcy looked at her friend seeing the worried look on his face, she sighed, "Sorry it's just… He's a jerk."
"But…"
"But I also kind of like him, like he's loyal and brave, I don't know what to do?"
"Why not talk to him? Like you did with me two days ago?"
Marcy Yunan looked at her best friend she was surprised just how smart he could be, admittedly he didn't listen to her that day but still.
"You're right, I'll talk to him, and maybe I'll get though to him"
"And if not?"
"Well then I'll tell someone, Sasha, Marcy, Anne, anyone."
"Okay kids we're here," said Sasha stopping destroyer just outside the animal sanctuary.
Marcy Yunan had been to the Animal sanctuary before, they had even been camping here, but there was something strange about it today.
It was empty, usually there were dozens of animals walking about, however today nothing, the only thing she could see were the snirds.
"Why is it empty?" she asked
"RANDOM ATTACKS!" said a voice from behind the four, They turned to see a frog with a tangled beard wearing a jacket, he had a manic look in his eye.
"Scroogy Joe?" said Marcy Wu, "Wait, they've been acting weird here too?"
"Yeah, They've attacked so many of the staff here, most have gone on vacation, I've been forced to get outside help."
"Anyone we know?" said Sasha.
"Three, Two, one…" said Marcy Yunan knowing the answer already
"Bow before the master of beasts." said a small blue ball with legs wearing a smaller version of Scroogy Joe's hat.
"Joe," said Sasha rubbed her eyes, "You hired a five-year-old to help you?"
"No." said Joe defensively, "Nicole's six."
Sasha sighed, "Good grief."
Marcy Yunan walked over to the small newt, "Hey seen Max anywhere recently?" she whispered.
"Nope not since yesterday, You said anything yet?"
The frog girl shook her head, "Nope, I'm going to talk to him when we're alone."
Nicole nodded.
"Merp Merp."
The gathered humans and Amphibians turned to see a snail come slithering up the road, they could just make out the riders.
In a few seconds it stopped just in front of them, Anne jumped off, she was wearing a yellow jacket, tan pants and shirt with a blue heart on it.
"Hey guys I… Sasha nice armor."
"Thanks, Grimesy made it for me."
Anne nodded and turned to Marcy, So Bessie's here?"
Yeah!" said Marcy nodding, She's located near the Snird habitat, Lady Olivia and Yunan moved her here a few weeks back."
Anne nodded, "Okay, what's a snird?"
The herpetologist question was answered when a small creature landed on Micro-Angelo, Anne could see the feathers and the shell.
"Okay!" said Anne nodding, "That's biosocially impossible, but I'm going to lt off for one reason."
"And that is?" said Sprig who rushed next to her.
A wide smile appeared on Anne's face "That I'm an aunt."
"Yep," said Hop-Pop lowering himself from Bessie, "it Was a shock to see the old girl was pregnant, but she was so happy to be a mom, and they were so cute we decided to keep them."
"Yeah, I mean after we all stopped screaming, we saw that they were really adorable abominations." said Polly.
Marcy Yunan turned to see Max sitting on the snail, he seemed to be ignoring her.
"Hey Max," said Lucian sounding as friendly as usual.
The human didn't even pay attention to him, he just stepped off the snail, Marcy couldn't help but feel bad for Lucian, a few days ago she's love to see Lucian trust in Max damped a little, she had been jealous, hopefully she could fix this.
"So, Where's Bessie?" asked Anne happily
"She's in the Snid sanctuary," said Joe, "Nicole will walk you there."
Nicole started to run, the group followed, Marcy tried to get close to Max but when she did, he just stuck close to the Plantars.
…
Max was in a bad mood, he didn't need to be here, he could be miles away from Amphibia by now but no, he was here in the middle of an animal sanctuary, with weird bird snails, they were cute but still.
He could tell that the other three were secretly waiting to tell Anne and the others about what he asked yesterday, they'd ruin everything.
It was over he was going to get caught and lose everything.
So caught up in his thought he didn't notice that Anne who had been walking in front of him had stopped, he bumped into her.
"Sorry, Anne"
She didn't say anything, Max looked from behind her legs… and gasped at what he saw.
All around him were hundreds of Snirds, there were dozens if not hundreds of nests on the ground, the snirds looked strange, each seemed to have different colors of feathers and patterns on their shells.
Many of them were near their eggs or their young, he could just see a somewhat Small Snird start awkwardly flapping its wings, it jumped a few times, then it took off.
After all the wildlife that had almost killed him Max had to be honest, seeing these creatures just act peacefully, it makes him smile.
Anne then let out a yelp and starting running, he watched as the rest of the Plantars, Humans and other Amphibians followed her, Max slowly followed him, he watched as Anne rushed to a nest in the middle of a field.
Max kept walking at the same pace as Hop-Pop, he couldn't help but noticed that the old frog was smiling.
"She's been looking forward to this for such a long time." said the old frog.
"Who Anne?"
"Yep, She's been busy with us for the last few days she's been neglecting seeing another member of the family."
Max just looked at him, "You consider a snail family?"
Hop-Pop laughed, "And you don't?"
Max nodded, He didn't want to admit it, but the snail was special to him.
The eldest Plantar chuckled.
In the distance Max could see the rest of the group stopping at a nest.
Moving just a little bit faster, but not fast enough to Hop-Pop he made arrived to see Anne, Sasha and Marcy peering over the side of the nest.
"Hey Bessie," whispered Anne.
Two small orbs appeared just above the rim of the nest, followed by two stalks and an old face.
"Merp" it said, "it sounded tireder than Micro-Angelo's small cry, but still sounded as gentle as usual
Before anyone could react the snail's, head landed on Anne's hair and started to nuzzle.
Anne wrapped her arms around it and hugged, "I've missed you girl," she said tearfully.
Max had to admit it was cute, suddenly a shadow flew over them.
He looked up to see what appeared to be a sparrow, only larger, it swooped down and landed next to Marcy, who squealed in delight.
"JOE!" she said hugging the giant bird.
Max stood there watching this, he then turned to see Marcy Yunan looking around, if he wanted to talk to her, he'd ask what she was looking for, he looked at Lucian as well who seemed equally interesting in finding something.
There was cheap from behind him, he turned to see a smallish snird flying towards him, or at least trying to fly towards him.
It landed jerkily in front of him, a little too close for comfort.
"JACKIE," shouted Lucian and Marcy.
Max watched as they rushed up to the hybrid and started to stroke her.
"Whoa, smaller Marcy, You have a snird," said her human counterpart.
"WE, have a snird," said Lucian.
"We've known Jackie since she hatched, we're basically best friends."
Max watched as the group of Amphibians and human interacted with the animals petting them stroking them, he was almost temped to join in, when he realized this was his chance to sneak off.
Slowly he looked around as he started to walk backwards, after a few seconds he was close enough to start running.
When he reached the green building he stopped and looked around, he needed to stop Micro-Angelo and get out of here
That's when he heard the creek, he turned around to see a set of large doors slowly open,
He couldn't see what was inside the building, but he could hear something move around.
Slowly he could make out red two eyes looking at him, it made a weird purring sound.
Max froze, no… it couldn't be, not here, not in Amphibia.
Slowly a paw stepped out from beyond on the doors, it was white, the paw was followed by a white head, in the form of one of those horrible things.
It continued to move and max could see that it had wings attached to a long brownish gray body.
Closing his eyes Max prayed that it would leave him alone.
Opening his eyes he could see the things was directly in front of him, looking at him curiously, it was probably wondering how he tasted.
This was how he was going to die by this monster.
The Cat monster from hell opened its mouth and licked him.
He screamed, and the cat monster jumped away.
The rest of the group arrived upon hearing Max's screams
"MAX WHAT'S…. DOMINO!"
The demon cat turned to her and flew over to her
Max brief thought that the giant demon cat that would kill her and everyone else if it had the chance to however it landed just in front of her, and then lowered its heard towards her, Anne hugged its giant head and kissed it.
"You… You know that monster," said Max terrified.
"Yeah, this is domino 2, My previous baby angel."
Max mouth dropped open, he tried to make a sound but nothing came to him.
Sprig walked up to him, "Hey Max, are you okay?"
"Yes," said Max nodding his head "I'm just looking at Anne hugging a monster I'm fine."
Anne turned to him, "Domino two isn't a monster, She's a magnificent creature of nature.
"It's Evil," said Max, "Like all cats."
"You don't like cats?" said Polly who had arrived with the rest of the group.
"Nope, all cats are monsters."
"Well these aren't really cats their costal Kill-a-Moths." replied Nicole.
"That's not calming me down." replied Max.
"Relax, Domino's a sweetheart she would hurt you," said Anne.
"Yeah, her and nest had what like only eaten two Amphibians since they've been here." said Nicole nodding.
"That's not comforting." said Max sarcastically.
"I mean they survived…if you call that living," said Nicole who produced a small red ball from her hat, "Here girl."
Nicole threw the ball and Domino followed it into the building.
"Scent ball, we use them to get them to where we want to go, You guys want to take a look?" said Nicole smiling.
"No" said Max, his voice was drowned out in the out pour of yes's
…
The inside of the Kill-a-moth's hive took many of the groups' breath away, all around them were flying feline hybrids, one several pillars hung cocoons, alongside the west wall there were small little alcoves where the still adorable young were being looked after by some of the older Kill-A-Moths.
Anne's eyes were widened, this was like a Cat heaven to her.
"So we're safe right?" asked Marcy, "I read these things are pretty dangerous, though super cute."
Nicole nodded, Yep, They're mostly gentle nowadays.
She pulled another red ball and threw it on the ground near a feeding trough, before warning three large Kill-A-moths descended on it, gouging themselves on the food.
"Why are they here though?" said Anne, "I figured they'd go back to their old nest after the trees grew back.
"Some left, some stayed a few of them saw us as creatures that would look after them, like pets"
"Ha." said Anne worrying just how badly she might have just screwed up the ecosystem, "Yeah, who would have thought."
Every looked at Anne who was sweating guilty.
"So does anyone want to see the babies?" asked Nicole.
A few seconds later the group was standing by a group of newborns, each of them small and adorable, Sasha was currently holding on in her arms, a small orange tabby like creature, making baby noises, Anne laughed underneath her breath enjoying the sight of the former cat hater holding one like it was the most fragile thing in the world.
The Plantars were already petting a few of them, with Sprig the only one keeping an eye on them just in case one of them decided that it wanted a frog snack, Marcy was currently sketching one of them, Marcy, Nicole and Lucian had a kitten each.
"Who's a cute little future killing machine," said Lucian.
"I wish I could take you home," said Marcy Yunan to her kitten, "But my moms would say no."
"That might not be a bad thing." said Anne sheepishly remembering that night of terror.
So who wants to see a cocoon?" asked Nicole putting her cat down near a full trough, the small furry kitten larva crawled towards its food
The group slowly disengaged from their kittens and started to follow Nicole.
None of theme noticed that one of their number wasn't following them.
Max stepped out from behind the large Pillar covered in claw marks, smiling to himself.
"The perfect escape," he chucked to himself before he took a closed look at the pillar, "Why is it so scratched up?"
As if answering his questions one of the Larger Kill-A-Moth landed in front of the tree and with his massively sharp claws started to scratch at the pillar.
Letting out a quick yelp, Max ran away from the pillar, he took a deep breath and looked at the doors to the Hive, he started to run.
However, he was briefly distracted by a small stampede of kittens running past.
Max froze watching the small creatures waddle past him and up to a feeding trough.
As he watched them eating he would admit that these monsters could be a little cute, he saw a tiny white kitten with a small black ring around its eye trying to get to its food, but the bigger larva was blocking its access,
It was pitiable, but it wasn't Max's fault.
He turned and took two steps before he heard the sad little meow of the creature.
The human boy stopped and sighed, he turned and picked up the smallest kitten, who was surprisingly slimy and evil then he figured it would be, he walked over to the trough, towering above the other kittens, he lowered his to the food, he could hear the sound of the little white thing munching away happily.
After a minute the kitten stopped eating and started to squirm again, with it fed, Max moved it away and put on the ground near to the trough, the kitten was looking at him expectantly
"Okay then, you got your food now, just go."
The kitten just kept looking at him, he slightly to crawl away.
There now he could leave, he turned around.
"Max?"
Sighing he turned around, Marcy Yunan was standing there with Nicole and Lucian, He knew what this was, it was them trying to talk to him, he turned and started to walk.
"Max, Wait we need to talk." said frog girl.
"About what?" he said bitterly.
"You don't have to do this, Heck you really, shouldn't do this, Amphibia is extremely dangerous."
Max continued walking not answering her.
"Please come on Max, I don't know what your home world like, but it's…"
As they walked out into the sun Max turned his head to Marcy, "It doesn't matter what you think my home is like I'm not going back there."
"Well maybe you could tell us a-"
"JUST STOP," shouted Max, "We both know you're going to tell them, so just do it already and stop pretending you care."
Max continued walking.
"I haven't told anyone yet," said a voice from behind him, he turned to see Marcy standing looking sheepishly.
"What?" said Max stopping.
"I haven't told anyone yet, I… was hoping I could convince you not to go." she said rubbing her arm.
"So you're trying to guilt me now," said Max.
Marcy face paled, "What?"
"You'e just trying to guilt me into staying, I can tell what you're trying to do, it's what people like you always do."
Lucian stepped forward, "Hey, leave her alone, she's just trying to look after you."
"Nobody asked you Lucian, why not actually make your own decision once in a while," Max shot back.
Lucian fists tightened into a pair of balls, "So it's stupid for me to run away, but it's brilliant for you?"
"Because I'm not an idiot like you who'll pay attention to anyone who will make you a hero."
Lucian started to stop towards Max, when Marcy grabbed his arm, "Don't please," the toad boy was going to argue but when he saw the tears starting to appear in her eyes.
"Yeah, just listen to her Lucian."
"STOP IT!" shouted Nicole.
The three other children looked at her, even Max looked worried over how the young Newt was reacting.
"Just stop," she whimpered.
For a brief moment Max looked at her and felt the full weight of what he was doing, a part of him just wanted to apologize, but if did that now he might not have the strength to go on, turning once more he started to walk.
"I'm going to tell them." said Marcy.
He turned to see Marcy standing there still hugging Nicole, a defiant look on her face.
For the last time turned away and kept walking.
It was for the best they didn't want to come with him so breaking off all contact with them now was for the best, they'd never see him again.
In truth was upset he had to admit that he'd enjoy spending time with them, but that was over now, he had no contacts on earth, and now he'd gotten rid of the only few in Amphibia.
Now he was really alone, he tried to banish the through from his mind, he didn't need them, he'd be fine
After of minute of walking however he heard a scream, he recognized it instantly.
"Marcy." he said to himself, he ran in the direction of the voice.
….
"I was right the first time." said Marcy bitterly.
"You were," said Lucian behind her, depressed that he had been wrong about his human friend.
"I shouldn't have thought he was even possible of changing, he's always going to be a colossal jerk."
Nicole was quiet, she kept walking with tears in her eyes.
All of a sudden two hands wrapped themselves around Nicole. Her mouth was covered before she could scream. Her hat fell to the ground, the scent balls rolled out onto the grass
Lucian was next, he was pushed to the ground, a foot landing on his back, his face being held to the ground.
Marcy didn't notice this, she kept walking, "I'll never trust a human again," she said bitterly.
"Well I see you've come to your senses and lost that brute," said a snide cruel voice from behind her.
Marcy froze and slowly turned, standing there was a newt boy in fancy clothes, next to him, she saw Nicole being held by a large Toad boy wearing a black leather armor, on the other side of the newt was an identical copy of the toad wearing the same armor.
"Have you met my friends? Bruiser and Basher? They were expelled from toad training camps for being to… murderously violent, but they'll listen to money so that a positive," said Montgomery
Marcy froze, Montgomery was smiling a cruel smile, "L…Let them go." she said meekly.
Montgomery stood there for a second looking thoroughly, he tapped his index finger on his chin, before smiling again, "No, but I might be willing to do it for a date."
The small frog girl was scared, but she knew she couldn't say yes, she had been able to stand up to a human earlier standing up to this jerk would be nothing.
"I'd rather kiss a slug."
The next second she was lying on the ground, her cheek crying out in pain, she looked up to see Montgomery, standing there his hand raised.
"How dare you," snarled the Newt boy, rage in his eyes
Before Marcy could respond, he grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her up, she let out a small scream, "I've given you every chance to agree, Now I'm going to be a bit more aggressive in my question."
He looked at the toad holding Lucian and nodded, the toad nodded back and toad, removed his foot from the toad boy's back.
Before Lucian could do anything the larger toad kicked him in the side of his stomach
"NO!" shouted Marcy horrified, she struggled to try and help her friend, but his grip was too strong.
"You can stop this, just go on one date with me and-"
"Finish that sentence, and I'll kill you." said Lucian, wincing in pain, hoping his threat would still work.
Montgomery sighed, "Honestly this is depressing, we both know you'll not exactly good at fighting Lucian, you're just Marcy's charity case."
Lucian glared at the newt hatefully, Nicole tried to wiggle free from her captor, there was no way out.
The young frog girl was terrified, the choice was obvious, but she knew that if she said yes, it wouldn't be the end he'd find an away to control her and would always threaten her friends.
She swallowed, even so it was to protect her friends, she opened her mouth.
"HEY PUS FOR BRAINS!"
Marcy looked up to see a very pissed off human running towards them.
…
The moment Max had seen the three Amphibians his brain kicked into gear, Okay, so he had gotten into a fight with them, but that didn't matter, he wasn't just going to let them get hurt by this jerk.
The moment he saw those scent balls on the floor the plan fell into place.
Running towards the group of Amphibia's he pushed through the two confused toads and knocked them to the ground, dropping both Nicole and Lucian.
He picked up the scent balls, taking aim he hit the first toad, the second one tried to dodge him, but he too was struck
"MAX DON'T" shouted Nicole.
He turned to Montgomery who looked at him confused, "What's that going to do?" said the rich jerk.
The third ball hit him on the nose, it wasn't a strong throw but in the shock he loosened his grip, Marcy wriggled out of it and ran to Max.
They both looked at each other, Max could tell she was confused, a part of him wanted to apologize but… he shock his head and looked at Montgomery
"Your about to-"
"What's going on out here?" said a voice from the building entrance.
The children twisted their head to the nest door to see Anne, Marcy, Sasha and the Plantars standing there.
"Max, What did you just throw at that kid?" asked Anne with a tone of irritation in her voice.
Before Max could say anything there was a sound of something flapping against the wind.
Nicole picked herself up and looked at the Bruiser, Basher and Montgomery, "RUN!" she said panicked.
"What, Why?" demanded Montgomery.
From the doorway Max could see dozens of eyes moving towards the door.
"That ball was to call the Kill-A-Moths to dinner, THEY THINK YOUR FOOD, GET TO WATER, NOW!"
As the three Amphibians turned to run one of the Kill-a-Moths exploded from the door and glared at started to fly after them.
More and more of the Feline Insect hybrids flew out of the hive, and after the children, Anne grabbed the Plantars and dived out of the way of the creatures as did the other Human and Amphibians.
After thirty seconds, the Kill-A-Moths had departed, Max covered his head terrified, he didn't know when they had departed, the next thing he next someone was picked him up.
He opened his eyes to see Anne standing in front of him, looking at him in anger and fear.
"What have you done?" she asked barely controlling her anger.
Before Max could respond, she turned away from him and towards Nicole, "Where's the nearest water source?"
Nicole was already and watching the Massacre of Kill-A-Moths chasing after the marked Amphibians.
"From where they're going… the town fountain."
Max eyes widened, "The town?" he didn't expect them to go there he just wanted to scare Montgomery not to hurt anyone.
"We got to go after them," said Anne she turned to Max with a glare, "I'll deal with you later"
"I'll stay here and get Joe," said Nicole.
"And I'll get Micro-Angelo," added Hop-Pop.
Anne nodded, The rest followed, including Max, hoping things would be fine.
Little did he know it was the beginning of the worst day of his life.