Previously on Calamitous Intervention
Last time, Luz accidentally charred Hop Pop's cane with a fire spell and went to find the Doom Tree to replace it, to make up for what she did. Luckily, she succeeded. In the following days, the basement flooded and Luz and Sprig decided to be roommates until the situation was resolved. This experience allowed the two to tighten their bond, and they worked together to defeat the river lampreys.
Chapter Seven - Hop Luck / Magic & Mystery
It was a beautiful, sunny day outside in Amphibia. Above, a dragonfly was still carrying a frog it captured weeks ago in the sky, even before the human showed up. He cried out for help while being carried away.
Luz was showing Sprig and Polly pictures and videos on her phone. "And this is a picture of me when I had my bad hair day." It was a picture of her as a kid with very messy hair, with bow-ties in very random places.
Sprig laughed and picked up the phone, still amazed at how it worked. "Oohh…" He then showed it to Polly, who frowned. "If I had hair like that, I'd go bald. But I feel huge looking at this. She's so tiny."
The frog boy took the phone, studying it. "Hmm… I will… SET HER FREE!" He brought out a hammer and Luz froze in shock, barely getting her phone out of the way as he tried to smash it.
"Sprig, you can't break my phone," Luz said. "It's a picture, not a tiny person." Suddenly, the most awful, gut-wrenching, hideous smell reached her nostrils, and she gagged, covering her nose. "Did that other river lamprey die under the house? What is that?"
Sprig took a big whiff of it before realizing what it was, and it wasn't pretty. "Worse, Luz. Much worse. Hop Pop is cooking!" They walked up to the front door and Sprig placed his hand on the handle, turning toward the human. "Brace yourself." Remembering what she had eaten these past weeks in this place, she took his advice and covered her face and nose.
When Sprig opened the door, a massive wave of stink hit them and knocked them to the ground, while it sent Sprig flying. In the house, Hop Pop hummed as he chopped three odd-looking bugs with seemingly no faces in half. They tried to escape, but he grabbed them in his arms and dropped them into a pot, which was the source of the foul smell.
He grabbed a spoon and stirred it around, taking a sip in the process to taste it. Sprig hopped over, leaping up from under the table. "What's the plan this year, Hop Pop?" He pointed a finger gun at him jokingly. "Poison the competition?"
In response, Hop Pop bonked the frog on the head with his wooden spoon. "The plan is to win." Luz walked over, holding Polly's bucket while covering her nose. "What are you making anyway, Hop Pop? It smells… uh…" She felt bile rising in her throat before swallowing it back down. "... great! But, uh… Quick question, how are you able to digest that?" She laughed nervously. "Not that it's bad or anything."
"Why, thank you, Luz," Hop Pop said, not answering her question. "At least somebody has an appreciation for my cookin'. It's a traditional recipe from my family's cookbook. We been usin' this baby since I was a pollywog."
"That's neat, but what are you trying to win at?" Luz asked, now curious.
"It's the annual village potluck," Hop Pop explained. "Every year we frogs gather for a great contest." He pointed his spoon up to some portraits on the wall of this competition. "The family who brings the best-tasting dish is showered with love and copper coins. The family with the worst-tasting dish spends the night in... the Shame Cage!"
"That's a bit harsh," Luz murmured, starting to realize who might've been the family that had to be there every year.
Sprig glanced up at Luz with a sad look in his eyes. "And guess which family ends up there every year…" They all sighed, confirming the human's theory. Luz remembered back when she was little. She used to make her favorite snack with her dad every Friday. It was one of the things she looked forward to the most, and she had fond memories of spending time with him. That was before the…
She shook her head, getting these thoughts out of her head. It did give her an idea, though. Luz cleared her throat, getting the attention of the Plantars. "Maybe we don't have to deal with the Shame Cage this year, because I can help!"
The frogs smiled at this, and Sprig cut in. "Luz, we'd sure appreciate it." The human walked up to the cookbook Hop Pop possessed, which had the label Ye Olde Ways on it. She flipped through the pages, looking for a recipe that could work, but she only found sloppy, disgusting nightmares no sane human would eat.
She scratched her head, before looking at the hopeful Plantars. "So, uh… Maybe we should try something else? I have one idea." She handed the book back to Hop Pop, who reluctantly took it. "But we Plantars have always cooked these recipes. What would my great-gam-gam say?"
"Well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you tried something different," Luz replied. "She'd find it boring. You're sticking to one book of recipes."
"I suppose," Hop Pop muttered. Luz took out her phone and scrolled through pictures before she grinned. "Found it!" She showed her phone to the frogs, and it was a picture of… "Guacamole! I used to make this with somebody very close." Her smile wavered a little, and Hop Pop noticed this, a bit concerned.
Sprig and Polly looked at the picture in awe, before Polly's smile faded. "That looks like vomit." Luz grinned widely. "It's anything but that. You haven't lived until you had a tortilla chip dipped in that stuff."
Hop Pop waved his hand, trying to get them to reconsider. "Now, now, hold on. Before we get carried away, what about this tried-and-true recipe?" He flipped the books to a page of a pie that looked absolutely rancid. In the picture, it looked to have cricket legs and worms sticking out of the crust. "Swamp mold pot pie!"
The kids stared at it, mortified, before making their decision. "Wackamole! Wackamole!"
"It's 'guacamole'," Luz corrected. Hop Pop grumbled, shutting the book. "Okay, okay. Sheesh."
"We'll win for sure with this, Hop Pop!" Sprig assured him. The old frog rolled his eyes. "Sure, when I cook something that looks like that, I'm the one that gets ridiculed."
Ignoring his comment, Sprig placed the phone on the table, pulling out a hammer and glaring with determination. "Now all we gotta do is…" Luz snatched the phone away to stop him. "Okay, so what we need are avocados, onions, lime, and some other vegetables."
"I hate to break it to ya, Luz," Hop Pop cut in, "but the avocados here are poisonous." Luz's jaw dropped at this. "No! That's the key ingredient!" This saddened her, but luckily, Hop Pop has the solution. "Well, if you're lookin' for a creamy texture like that, maybe you could try huntin' for a Vovocada."
"Vovocada?"
"Vovocadas are large bugs that eat plants, making them herbivores," the old frog explained. "They defend themselves by spittin' at ya to blind ya and get away. It's harmless though. It's basically their vomit but, from what I heard, it's edible and has a creamy texture. None of us have ever tried one since they're too fast." He cleared his throat. "Now, what did you mean by other fresh vegetables?"
"So, my only hope is vomit from a plant-eating bug," Luz muttered. "Well, the other ingredients are garlic, jalapenos, tomatoes, salt…"
"Well, it shouldn't be hard for the most part, except none of us have ever really tried a tomato either," Hop Pop said. "They're in the 'dangerous vegetables' section. It suggests we go for prunes instead. Can't go wrong with prunes!"
"Sorry, Hop Pop, but if I keep substituting, it won't be guacamole anymore," Luz replied. "Now, who's ready to go?"
"Oh! Oh! Maybe we should add cheese to it!" Sprig suggested. "Seems like a natural fit." Luz shuddered at this since cheese does not belong in guacamole. "Uh… Let's just stick to what we got, okay? We're also going to need flour. Anybody know where we can get some?"
"Well, we can go to Chef Flour's," Hop Pop suggested. "I know where it is."
Later, at Chef Flour's Bakery, the chef himself pushed a pile of flour into a large bag. He is a blue, short frog with purple eyes and an apron. He turned toward the Plantars. "If you want the flour, the boy has to marry my daughter."
He pointed to the corner where Maddie was stirring in her cauldron. She unnaturally turned toward Sprig and smiled, almost creepily. "Hi, Sprig."
Sprig waved at her, having gotten more comfortable being around her these past weeks. "Hey, Maddie!"
"Ain't she adorable?" Chef Flour said with pride. Luz frowned, turning toward the chef. "But they're too young. Shouldn't they… I don't know… get to know each other more? They've become friends just recently. Why do you want her to marry?"
The chef leaned over to her, whispering. "I want my daughter to be happy."
"We'll have to wait," Luz whispered back. "Just give it some time and maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't."
He nodded, handing her the bag of flour. Luz grinned and turned toward the Plantars and Maddie. "Alright, we came to an agreement. We have what we need to make the chips."
She walked up to Maddie. "Hi, Maddie. Sorry, we're kind of in a rush to win the potluck."
"It's cool," the frog replied. "Thanks to your help, I might be able to move onto level two spells sooner than I think. What did you tell my dad?"
Luz smiled nervously. "Uhh… I'll tell you about it later. See ya!" She gestured for the Plantars to follow her and they quickly left. Sprig waved to her goodbye, before following his best friend. Maddie watched, confused. "Takes a weirdo to know one."
"What's next on the list, Luz?" Hop Pop asked her.
"We need milk next," she replied.
The next location they arrived at was Croaker's Dairy, which looked to be a barn owned by Sadie Croaker, an old, purple frog woman with white hair and ragged clothes. She watched as the Plantars and Luz ran away from a cowapillar that was angrily chasing them.
"Thanks again for helping me out!" she said. "I know Brutus can be a handful!" Hop Pop panted while Polly laughed, riding on his head. He held out the book to Luz. "You know, there's a recipe in here that doesn't need milk."
"No need!" Luz replied, getting very exhausted. She picked up a red leaf from the ground and waved it to get the cowapillar's attention away from the frog family. "Here, nice cow! Here-..." She realized she made a mistake as the cowapillar quickly headed straight for her.
She yelped and jumped out of the way just in time for it to run past her into its pen. She panted and got up, wiping the compost off her arm. Sprig used his tongue to close the gate as she jumped over the fence. The two smiled and high-fived before Brutus roared behind them, making them get away from the pen.
They turned to see Mrs. Croaker, who was holding a bucket of milk. "Here ya go, deary. A bucket of the fresh milk of those cowapillars."
"Thanks, Mrs. Croaker," Luz replied, her heart still racing, but she found herself recovering more quickly than before. "I guess I've built up my stamina a little."
Soon after that, they went into the forest, setting down their ingredients. "Alright, we only need one more ingredient," Luz stated. "What we need now is to find those vovocadas. We know where one of their nests is, and we also have… this!" She pulled out a map leading to the tomato plants.
"Still can't believe I traded my favorite dentures for that map," Hop Pop muttered. "Most in town don't sell vovocada cream or know where they are because these bugs are endangered. Same goes for tomatoes, except they can actually kill ya."
"You got the flask?" She asked, and the old frog nodded, handing her a metal flask. "I've had this thing for years. Never found a use for it."
They headed deeper into the forest, soon approaching a small nest filled with large green bugs. To Luz, they kind of looked cute. They didn't have mandibles; they had big, shiny black eyes, and seemed rather peaceful.
"So, how are we gonna handle this?" Polly asked, pulling out her rolling pin. "Beat them to death?"
"That isn't necessary," Luz replied. "I'll be right back." She hopped out into the clearing, and the bugs noticed her, stepping away from her and growling. She felt nervous, but tried her best not to show it. "Hi, sweet… things… I just need some of your vomit and I'll leave." She held out a flask and the bugs just stared at her.
"Please?" The bugs did nothing, so she decided to act threateningly. She yelled, and the bugs screeched, one of them launching a glob of bile at her. She held up her flask, allowing it to fill it up, but a lot of it hit her and slid down her face. She licked her lips. "Huh, that tastes kinda good. Well, bye, bugs!"
She wiped her face off and hopped back into the trees, and the bugs continued with their lives.
"That was impressive," Hop Pop said. "Those creatures don't resort to violence unless they're threatened. Also, you were inches away from stepping on one of their eggs."
Luz looked over and saw that he was right. "Huh, so that's why they were so scared. Anyway, let's go get some tomatoes."
They left the nest and walked through the forest, following the map to the tomato plants. "So, how dangerous are these tomatoes?" Luz asked.
Soon, they found their answer as the four of them stared in awe at giant tomato plant monsters. It had three red heads attached to large stems. Below them was a pile of massive tomatoes. A dragonfly flew overhead, but one of the heads snatched it midair, tearing it apart with its teeth.
"Ho…" Polly started.
"Ly…" Sprig continued.
"Tomato…" Luz finished, watching the monster in shock. One of the heads noticed them and let out a roar, prepared to attack them.
Hop Pop winced at this, trying to get out of this situation before it was too late. "You know, this baby's got some great substitutes, all of which are delightfully harmless." The Plantars and Luz slowly backed up, reconsidering their decision.
"Couldn't hurt to hear a few options," Sprig considered. Luz stopped backing away, feeling a lot of fear. Despite this, she stood her ground. "I'm not gonna back away and serve incomplete guacamole. I have an idea."
"Luz, it's sweet what you're trying to do," Hop Pop said, "but it's also STUPID! You're just gonna get yerself killEEEDDD!" He yelled as a root snatched him away toward the plant monster, who threw him into its mouth and ate him, before letting out another roar.
The remaining Plantars and Luz cried out his name as the thorn tried to grab them too, but they got out of the way, trying to escape it. Luz felt rage and anger at herself for what happened. She felt herself tearing up. "This is all my fault! I probably got Hop Pop killed because of my stupid idea!"
They were unable to outrun the monster, as it snatched them and held the three over its mouth. At that moment, Luz felt something stir within her as her eyes flashed blue for a brief moment. "I'm not gonna let anybody else get eaten!"
It dropped them toward its mouth, but she grabbed hold of the root holding her and swung herself through the air, grabbing Sprig and Polly and getting them out of harm's way. The roots tried to grab them again, but she threw a potion in front of them, a burst of green fire creating a barrier between them.
Luz panted, suddenly feeling fatigued for reasons she didn't know, but this didn't stop her. "I will go save Hop Pop. You two hide!" Before they could reply, she ran around the fire and toward the tomato monster. It roared at her, diving its head in to try to snatch her in its mouth.
She ducked and avoided the head before grabbing a small tied-up bag and throwing it at the base of the monster. A massive burst of wind hit it and it roared, before the middle head's cheeks bloated, and it vomited back up the old frog.
Hop Pop plopped on the ground, covered by a green liquid. He groaned, getting up. "I'm never gonna feel clean again…" The tomato plants were disoriented, giving Luz the chance to grab him and get him out of the way.
The frogs and Luz hid behind a tree, with the latter panting hard. "Are you okay, Hop Pop?"
"I'm fine," Hop Pop replied, smiling. "Thanks, Luz. What about the tomatoes, though?"
"If we try to fight that thing, it will eat us all!" Sprig said, and Luz grinned, having an idea. "I have the perfect plan."
She grabbed the last potion she has and ran forward. The heads noticed her and roared angrily as they dived toward her, with their mouths open. She took the chance to throw the potion into the middle head's mouth, and they all stopped before shaking.
"What's going on?!" Hop Pop said, before the monster suddenly shrank down, being much smaller than before, slightly smaller than even Sprig.
"I don't believe it!" Sprig said, hopping from behind the trees. "You did it, Luz! Let's go get those tomatoes."
They cautiously approached the monster, which tried snapping and grabbing them, but was too weak to really harm them. Luz picked up some tomatoes, which had shrunken as well. They were now about as big as the ones in her world. "And that's the last ingredient."
"So, uh, what are we gonna do about this thing?" Sprig asked, as the plant monster nibbled on his head, with its teeth not strong enough to break through. "Cause this kinda hurts."
Luz gasped, having a great idea. "You guys could take it and sell tomatoes! The first frogs in Wartwood to sell them. You'd be rich!"
Hop Pop imagined this, grinning widely. "That's perfect, Luz! We can add tomatoes to our family stand! Now, let's hurry up and make the food."
They rushed home, bringing the tomato plant with them and putting it in the front yard. They used the flour and oil to bake the tortilla chips quickly, adding salt afterward, then they combined their ingredients to make guacamole. Hop Pop took a chip and dipped it into it, cautiously taking a bite, before his eyes lit up. "Holy smokes! Until now, I've been eating garbage!"
Sprig and Polly tried it as well, loving the flavor. "With this, we'll be able to win for sure!" Sprig said confidently. A little while later, during the sunset, they all gathered up at the Pot Luck, alongside other residents of the town. They all presented their unique dishes that Luz would rather stay away from. The frogs muttered to themselves.
"Put it right over here."
"Just a little touch of goodness."
"A few more bug legs should do it."
"Is that fly gonna stay up there?"
Just as Luz and the Plantars placed their dish on the long table, they heard a trumpet from a small teal frog with a red bowtie. Next to him, a toad pushed the small frog out of the way. Mayor Toadstool grinned, raising his hands excitedly. "All right! Let the annual potluck begin! Let's get to tastin' those dishes." He stuck his finger into a pot of soup with bug legs sticking out of it. An old frog couple prepared it. He stuck it into his mouth, tasting it. "Mmm… That is scrumptious. Oh!"
A family of teal frogs prepared the next plate. "Ooh, what have we here?" He tasted it as well, enjoying it. "That is delicious!" He walked up to the third plate, which looked to be a tower of shelled bugs stacked on top of each other. "Excellent effort!" After that, the final ones were Luz and the Plantars. "At last, but not least…" His enthusiasm faded, and he groaned. "The Plantars. What filth have you cooked up this ti-... hmmm?"
He looked at the plate of guacamole and tortilla chips. "Tomatoes and Vovocada bile? What are these small, triangle things?"
"That is guacamole, and those are tortilla chips," Luz explained. "You take a chip and dip it."
"I've never seen a dish like this," the mayor muttered, before picking up a chip and doing as instructed. He chewed it, savoring the flavor. "Hmmm…" Next to him, the small teal frog with the trumpet was playing a drumroll.
Luz and the Plantars watched on in anticipation as Mayor Toadstool's eyes opened wide. "Why, I do declare! This is the best dish the Plantar family has ever brought to a potluck!"
He took another bite, and another. "I've never tasted anything quite like this!"
Sprig gasped in joy. "What? Did we do it? Did we actually win?"
The mayor cleared his throat. "I never thought I'd say this in all my years for being this town's mayor, but the Plantars have redeemed themselves! I declare them as the winners of the annual potluck!"
He placed a first-place badge on Luz's chest and the four of them cheered, hardly able to believe they finally won after all their years of humiliation. Perhaps this gangly creature they took in had been changing their lives around for the better. Instead of the Plantars, the two frogs that created the tower of shelled bugs had to spend the night in the Shame Cage.
"You were right, Luz!" Hop Pop said, laughing. "Maybe this old frog's still got some things to learn."
Luz hugged him tightly, feeling nothing but joy and pride right now. "Thanks, Hop Pop. I guess we should go home. We can share the rest of the dip-"
They realized the bowl was suddenly missing, and they briefly felt panic–until they saw Mayor Toadstool running off with their bowl in the distance.
"Well, at least somebody gets to enjoy it," Sprig said.
The next day, Luz and Maddie were in the forest, going through the latter's spell book. Luz tapped her chin, looking through various spells. "Man, I'd love to make all of these someday. I wonder when we'll be able to move onto level two spells."
"They aren't as easy to make as level one spells," Maddie explained, flipping through pages. "This is a level two spell. Necromancy is really advanced magic. It said that only level two witches can pull it off. We've only done level spells up so this wouldn't be easy to pull off. We don't need it right now anyway, right, Luz?"
Luz stared at the page, having a dark thought go through her head. Could she resurrect him…? No, that's playing with life, but she misses him…
She got that thought out of her head, turning toward the frog. "Yeah, we don't need it. What other level two spells are there?"
Maddie flipped through more pages, before stopping on one that seemed very useful. "This is an invisibility spell. Imagine what you could do with an ability like this."
Luz clapped her hands, getting excited. "Ooh! Invisibility? I could sneak a cricket cookie from the cookie jar without Hop Pop noticing."
"What we need is a piece of glass, the tears of a giant firefly, a-" Suddenly, three tadpoles hopped onto Maddie, interrupting their peaceful studying session and making her and Luz flinch. "Maddie! Maddie! Maddie! Maddie! Maddie!"
Maddie groaned, knowing this might take a while. "Hi, Rosemary, Ginger, and Lavender. What are you doing here?"
Luz gasped when she saw them. "¡Ay, Que Lindö!" She ran over and picked up her siblings, hugging them. "Aww, Maddie, are these the sisters you've talked about? They're so cute!" They giggled at this. She set them down and Rosemary spoke up, "Hey, sis! You promise you'd play with us, remember?"
"I'm in the middle of learning magic with Luz," Maddie replied. "We can play tomorrow."
"That's what you said yesterday," Ginger muttered sadly.
"Look, Luz and I are trying to learn a level two spell," Maddie argued. "If we pull it off, we'll be able to create spells that allow us to become invisible for a short period of-"
"Boo!" Ginger interrupted, getting a bit impatient. They didn't really care about magic or all that complex mambo jumbo. All they wanted was to have fun with their sister, no matter what. "Magic is boring!"
"And creepy," Lavender added, before smiling. "Let's play instead!"
"Remember when you used to juggle us?" Rosemary reminded Maddie, and then they began chanting together, hopping up and down excitedly. "Juggle us! Juggle us!"
Maddie sighed, knowing they wouldn't leave her alone if she didn't comply. "Fine, give me a few minutes to wrap this up, and we'll play."
"Yay!" They were excited because they got to play again! They hoped Maddie didn't let them down again. The siblings waited patiently for minutes, but then minutes turned to hours, and three hours later, Maddie still wasn't done.
"Almost there…" Maddie said, grinning, as Luz dropped a glowing eye into the pot. The siblings watched, bored, with one of them sleeping.
"What happened to a few minutes?" Rosemary asked the other two. Because Maddie was too focused on the magic instead of balancing out time, all these hours had been for nothing. In the corner of her eye, Rosemary saw something and woke the other two up. They hopped up to a stick balanced on a rock and played with it, balancing and hopping up and down on it. Ginger lept up onto Rosemary's side, sending Lavender flying toward Maddie and Luz.
Lavender hit Maddie in the head, sending Luz and the pot toppling over. The contents of the pot flew out and hit a nearby tree, making it flicker and turn clear before reappearing.
Maddie reached out her hand, shocked. "No! That took all morning!" The siblings realized what they'd done and immediately felt guilty.
Luz got up, brushing the dirt off of her clothes. "We were so close! What happened?"
Maddie growled and turned toward the three tadpoles, feeling frustrated beyond belief. "What's the matter with you three?!"
The siblings looked up at her sadly, regretting what they did. "We were just trying to play with you," Rosemary muttered.
Maddie groaned, placing a hand on her cheek. "Well, now I definitely don't have time. Go home and help dad with the bakery or something. I swear, sometimes, I wish you three would grow up."
The siblings hopped away sadly, and Luz watched, frowning. "Maddie, they're just babies. Don't you think you were a bit too harsh with them?"
Maddie picked up her spell book, grumbling. "They always do this. They bother me about this every single day. They just ruined our spell. Why aren't you mad at them?"
"Everybody makes mistakes," Luz told her. "Maybe you should spend some more time with them, or they might grow up and resent you."
"I got my own interests," Maddie replied. "Magic became my passion, my calling. I didn't have time to waste on kids' stuff anymore. And ever since then, they've been so annoying."
"You don't have to always do magic," Luz argued. "You should spend some time with your family. Your sisters care about you and just want attention. Their dad's always busy running the bakery, so they only have each other."
The frog took a deep breath. "I suppose you're right. Maybe after we're done, I can make some time for them." Luz smiled at this, as they did their secret handshake. "Creepy spiders!"
Later that night, Rosemary, Lavender, and Ginger were in their bedroom, talking about what had happened earlier.
"I can't believe it!" Rosemary complained. "Maddie replaced us?!"
"Why did she want to hang out with that stupid old lady?" Ginger added, picking up a crude drawing of their depiction of Luz with a red X drawn over it.
"I wish we were older," Lavender said sadly. "And then Maddie would want to play with us like she used to." In response, Rosemary gasped, getting an idea. "That's it! That's it! That's it! We just have to use one of Maddie's witchy spells to grow up!"
"Grow up?" Lavender smiled, considering this.
"And then we'll be older and Maddie will wanna play with us again!" Ginger added. The three cheered before laughing evilly. Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and their father peeked in. "Night, girls!"
"Good night, daddy," the siblings replied, immediately changing their expressions to innocent ones to not arouse suspicion. In the morning, Chef Flour opened the oven to check on the bug muffins he was baking, as Maddie came down the stairs. He noticed her and smiled. "Morning, daughter."
"Dad, have you seen my spell book?" Maddie asked him, not having been able to find it since last night. "I need to perform a level two invisibility spell with my apprentice."
"I think I saw your sisters with it," he replied, and Maddie, putting two and two together, yelled in frustration, and ran back up the stairs. "I'm gonna kill them!"
"Well, make sure you resurrect them when you're done," her father told her jokingly, going back to baking the muffins. Maddie kicked the door to her siblings' bedroom, seeing them stirring a potion in what looked like a jar of honey. Next to them, her spell book was leaning against the bed, completely scribbled out.
They noticed her as Maddie stomped over to them, feeling a lot of rage at what they had done. "What have I told you about playing with my stuff?!"
"We're not playing," Lavender said. "We're making a witchy spell." Maddie gasped, reaching over and grabbing her spell book, which was ruined. "Wh-what did you do to my book?! It's ruined! This is why I don't spend time with you anymore, because you're annoying little babies!" She yelled as she stomped off, wanting nothing else than for them to leave her alone for good.
The tadpoles frowned at this, before looking into the bubbling green liquid. "Won't be babies for much longer," Rosemary reminded them, cheering up the other two.
Next to them was a piece of paper labeled, "Growth Potion". Next to it were the words, "With moss and slime and poisonous vine now thee shall grow!" Just then, a green glow enveloped the room, being visible from outside the house.
Later, Maddie was stirring something in her cauldron, still annoyed over what happened. Luz approached her, smiling. "Hi, Maddie! How's it going?"
"I'm so done with my sisters," Maddie grumbled. "Look what they did to my spell book!" She gestured to the scribbled book and Luz winced. "Ouch… I didn't think they'd go that far."
"Whatever. They won't stop me from reaching level two," Maddie said with confidence. "Let's work on the invisibility spell again."
Soon, they finished, and they walked over to a plant on the ground, pouring the contents of the potion onto it. It flickered and disappeared from vision. Luz reached over to touch where it used to be and still felt it. "We… we did it! We did it!"
Maddie lept with glee. "We did do it! I'm finally a level two witch!" Suddenly, an enormous shadow loomed over them and she looked up, confused. "Huh?"
A massive Ginger lept down, speaking in a comically deep voice, "Maddie!" It landed and crushed the invisible flower, making a wave of dust. "Found you!"
Maddie couldn't believe her eyes and realized something was horribly wrong. "Wait, Ginger?!"
"You wanted us grown up," Ginger explained, and the other two siblings landed by her, grinning widely.
"So, here we are!" Rosemary said as they grew more in size, becoming even bigger than before.
Maddie realized what they did. "Oh, no… They didn't!"
Luz gasped. "They used the growth spell! But how? Do you keep potions in your room? Or…"
"No, they made it themselves!" Maddie replied, horrified by what they had gotten themselves into.
"Come on Maddie, play with us!" Lavender said excitedly. They all lept up into the air, grinning. "Hide and seek!"
Maddie and Luz screamed as they ran out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed by the tadpoles. They ran through the forest with the three siblings following them, destroying trees along the way.
The two magic users hid from them behind a house, trying to lose them. "Why would they use a growth spell?!" Luz asked Maddie, before realizing something. "Wait… You told them to grow up. You should've listened and spent time with them!"
Maddie knew she was right. "This is bad… Really bad! They did the spell all wrong!" Luz remembered reading through her spell book and learning what the spell did. "I didn't notice that, but they're still growing! What happens if it keeps happening? Will they become bigger than the planet? Will they become the UNIVERSE?!"
"They will balloon until they explode way before that!" Maddie told her before Rosemary's giant face peeked around the corner. "Found you!" Maddie screamed, as Ginger landed on the other side of them, crushing a barrel. "Now we hide…"
Lavender landed on top of the house's roof, crushing it. "... and you seek!" A green glow enveloped them again, and they grew once more, laughing. A farmer frog casually strolled along the path before he saw them and dived out of the way, yelling, as the three siblings hopped off toward the main part of town.
They began causing havoc, not realizing how much damage they were causing. Terrified frogs ran for their lives as they destroyed houses and endangered lives. Lavender picked one house up to peek under it and find a hiding spot, but there was a frog in the bath, who yelled when they saw the giant tadpole.
Rosemary, Lavender, and Ginger hopped across the entire place, causing major damage. Soon enough, they grew again, towering over the entire village.
Rosemary noticed this and got concerned. "Wow, we're big. Maybe a little too big?"
Ginger picked up on this, too. "Hey, uh, guys? How much bigger are we supposed to get?"
"I don't know, but I don't like it," Lavender replied, before crying. "Make it stop!" Her tears started flooding the village, even stopping a mob that Polly was taking place in.
A short, green farmer frog was watering tulips, until the tears passed over him and the plants. "You grow tulips."
All three siblings bawled, growing bigger and bigger by the second. Just from outside Wartwood, Luz and Maddie watched on in horror, thinking of what to do before it got any worse.
"We gotta do something!" Maddie said.
"We need an antidote!" Luz told her. "I think I remember the ingredients."
"Then let's hurry up and make it!" Maddie replied, and they ran off back into the forest where their hideout was. Luz gathered up the ingredients for the antidote as quickly as possible and ran up to Maddie with them. "I got them! What now?"
"Good," Maddie replied, stirring a pot of green liquid. "I'm gonna need you to make four doses while I calm them down."
Luz nodded, running over to the cauldron and placing down the ingredients. "Wait… Four?!"
"One of them is for me," Maddie told her, stepping back and pouring a growth potion on herself. A poof of green smoke enveloped her as she grew to insane heights, even bigger than her siblings.
As Rosemary, Lavender, and Ginger cried, a giant Maddie walked through the trees, calling out to them. "Rosemary, Lavender, Ginger. I'm here!" Birds flew away as she stepped closer to them.
The siblings were relieved to see her, but were still afraid. "Maddie! Help us! We made a mistake!"
"I'm the one who made a mistake," Maddie replied, feeling guilty that all of this had happened because of her negligence. "I should've made time for you three. But now, I'm gonna make up for it." She reached over and picked up the three giant tadpoles, juggling them. It was a very bizarre sight to see for everybody below.
Her siblings laughed and cheered, as Maddie did different juggling moves with them. "Crosshand shuffle. Around the swamp. Three wog monty!" Luz ran up with the potions, yelling as loudly as she could. "Maddie! MADDIE! I have the potions!"
Luckily, Maddie heard her and leaned down, taking the antidotes and throwing them at her siblings, shrinking them back down. She did it to herself as well, and they all returned to their normal size.
Maddie lept down to the ground, catching her laughing siblings in the process, and bowing. Luz ran up to them, laughing. "This was the weirdest yet coolest thing I've ever seen."
"Nice job with those antidotes, apprentice," Maddie commended her.
"I had the best teacher," Luz replied. "I'm glad I met you. I never thought I'd be able to do magic in my life." The siblings called out to her in her arms after she blushed at the compliment. "Maddie! Maddie! Maddie! You're the best sister ever!"
"No, I'm not," Maddie replied, setting them down on the ground and getting on her knees. "Because of me, you three almost exploded."
"Wait, what?" Rosemary replied as all three of them sweated nervously.
"I got so caught up with my witch stuff that I forgot being a good older sister is my responsibility too," Maddie continued.
Surprisingly, they all said, "We forgive you." She didn't want to accept it, though. "No. You should be mad at me! I'm mad at me! Let me have it, really. I deserve it."
Instead of getting angry, the three tadpoles lept into her arms to hug her. "We love you, Maddie!"
Maddie's surprised, but she smiled, hugging them back. "I love you too, you little scamps."
Luz cooed at this, finding it adorable. "Ustedes son tan amorosos…"
After her siblings left, they went back to the forest and attempted the invisibility potion again. They both worked together in gathering ingredients and stirring them around. Unfortunately, Luz didn't realize she gathered the wrong flower, and it failed completely.
She got frustrated, taking some steps away from the cauldron. "Of course, I'd mess up your potion! I should've paid closer attention!"
Maddie went over to Luz, placing a hand on her shoulder. "So what if you failed? I fail all the time. We all make mistakes."
Luz glanced at her as she continues. "Don't beat yourself up about it. After all, I made a worse mistake than you did, and that was rejecting my siblings. I was able to reconnect with them. I should be thanking you."
The human considered this before smiling. "Thanks, Maddie." Maddie then remembered a question she had on her mind since yesterday.
"Hey, Luz. I've been meaning to ask you… What did my father tell you?"
Luz tapped her fingers together before sighing. "Well… He wanted you and Sprig to marry, but I told him to give it time. You never know."
Maddie blinked at this, before scratching her head, not sure how to feel about this. "Huh… I don't even know Sprig that well. I don't know what my dad's thought process was."
"Well, I'll leave you to think about it," Luz said, hugging her. "I've got to go home and check on Sprig. He's probably a hundred chapters into Monster Slayer Academia right now."
She leaves, and Maddie watched, before remembering what she said about Sprig. These past weeks, the two had gotten more comfortable around each other. As she thought about it, she felt a blush rising to her face before she shook it off. "Nah, it could never work." She picked up her things and headed back home.
To Be Continued in Chapter Eight
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I basically adapted Maddie & Marcy earlier on, since I feel as if it is a good replacement for Stakeout. That never happens because Luz doesn't argue with Hop Pop in the same way that Anne did.
Also, perhaps we have a new relationship stirring that isn't canon. ;)
~ Scruffy