Previously on Calamitous Intervention
After learning about Bessie, Luz decided to take her for a spin, driving her across Wartwood until she met up with Ivy, who joined her on the trip. They had fun outside the town for hours, until they ran into another coastal kill-a-pillar with that they had a close encounter. After that, one day, Luz had gotten pimples and now the town accepted her only due to her appearance. Mayor Toadstool gave her a fancy home away from the Plantars. She initially decided to keep at it, sacrificing her own happiness for the town's benefit, but she lost her pimples and decided to finally spill her heart out to the villagers.
Chapter Thirteen - Game On! / Girl Time
It was a rainy day outside in Amphibia, with the occasional thundering. Luz and the Plantars were eating breakfast that Hop Pop prepared, as per usual. Luz was surprised at how quickly she had gotten used to eating his cooking, having thought she never would.
After finishing her bowl, she went into her room, grabbed her bag, and prepared herself for another trip outside. She was excited to see more of this world and who else lived beyond Wartwood. As she grabbed some potions to defend herself, the old frog walked in with his hands on his hips.
"And just where do you think you're going?" he asked sternly, already knowing the answer.
"I'm gonna go exploring!" the human informed him, hoisting the bag over her shoulder. "I have a lot planned for today. I plan to go study with Maddie, visit Ivy, continue my search for Stringbean, and anything else I think of."
"Absolutely not!" Hop Pop said, and her smile immediately disappeared. "Why not?"
"Don't ya remember what happened the last time I let you take Bessie?" he replied. "You ran into another coastal kill-a-pillar! You're lucky you got outta there with no injuries."
"But I'll be careful this time," Luz pleaded, but the old frog remained unconvinced. "You're not goin' anywhere today. You said last time you could defend yourself, but you nearly got eaten. This is for your own good, Luz."
The human sighed, her excitement vanishing. "I was really looking forward to at least going to see Maddie."
"Every time you leave the house, something dangerous always happens," Hop Pop reminded her. "I wouldn't say you're naïve, but… Actually, I would. You are too naïve. You're gonna get yourself hurt one of these days. Also, it's pourin' outside. Do you wanna go out in that kind of weather?"
Luz's head hung low as she thought about this. "I like the rain, but since I can't leave, I don't know what I'm gonna do here. I've already read most, if not all your books."
"You'll find somethin' to do," he assured her, turning to leave the room. "Just stay away from the pain peppers. I saw Sprig tasting one of them and those aren't meant for us… in particular…"
When he was gone, Luz plopped down onto her bed, getting lost in her thoughts. She didn't know what to do, but the thought of the pain peppers lingered in her mind. She then got an idea of how she could defend herself a lot better. It sounded cruel, but it would definitely be useful in a life-or-death situation.
She went into the living room where Sprig and Polly were, taking a glance outside the window to see the rain pouring over the farm. Sprig's eyes lit up when he saw his friend and walked over to her. "Hey, Luz. Got anything planned for today?"
"I'm planning to do some experimenting with Hop Pop's pain peppers," Luz told him, and this seemed to pique his interest. "Why are you using those? Unless you're…"
They pointed at each other with one finger in a mutual understanding, with Sprig grinning mischievously. "Ahhh, I see what you're planning. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemies, though, if I had any."
"It's more for a life or death situation," Luz assured him. "I'm not cruel like that."
Polly hopped over, also having an interest ever since the pain peppers were mentioned. "Is someone gonna suffer today? I'm in!"
Luz walked over to one barrel containing the pain peppers. As she opened the lid, an intense spicy odor hit her nose. It was so strong that it made her eyes water. She reached over, grabbing one pepper, doing her best not to touch the bubbling hot liquid.
Together, the three of them went to her room, where she set the pepper somewhere safe. She began to sift through her backpack to get her equipment, before freezing as she spot something familiar and unexpected inside.
Her eyes lit up as she reached over, grabbing a handheld gaming device. "I found it! I thought I lost it for good!"
As all three of them immediately forgot about their original plan with the pain peppers, Sprig walked over, taking a close look at this strange new artifact in his eyes. "It kinda looks like your phone thing. What does it do?"
"This, my good friend, is a Tindo Swap," she explained, turning it on. A Tindo logo appeared, followed by the logo for the device, then it cut to the main dashboard where she could access her games. "You can play lots of video games on this!"
"What's a video game?" Polly asked her, and the human grinned, knowing she had a lot to teach them. She went through her installed games, telling the frogs about them: Splanimate 3, Hyper Bash Siblings Definitive, Mammal Pathway: Fresh Sunshine, and more.
"The heck kinda names are those?" Polly muttered. "And I thought Hop Pop's board games were weird."
As Luz played games next to them and showed them the basics, this unfamiliar technology completely entranced them. Before they knew it, it had already been two hours, and they were still playing in the living room.
Hop Pop finally noticed something was up and walked into the living room with a confused expression. "What in tarnation is that thing?"
As he approached, Luz explained the device to him as she did to the other two, but the old frog didn't seem too interested in it. Sure, this new technology was pretty neat to him, but gaming was by no means his thing. He scoffed as he stood across from them. "Instead of that garbage, how 'bout I treat you to some real entertainment?"
He pulled out a scroll, and Sprig and Polly cringed, knowing what was gonna happen. "Oh, no."
"A scene from The Shallow Pond," Hop Pop said, before clearing his throat and opening the scroll, beginning to read it in a dramatic voice. "Sadness. The world is sadness. But look. There, a pond! Is it deep? Or shallow?"
He opened one eye, expecting them to be impressed, but instead, they didn't react at all, looking disinterested. "So, do you have more controllers, Luz?" Polly asked her.
"Mama insisted I bring a couple more so I can play them with friends at camp," the human replied, "so yes, they're around here somewhere."
Hop Pop grumbled at their lack of respect, getting up off the couch. "Fine, enjoy your little gadget! I'm gonna continue reciting this in town. Maybe then someone will appreciate my actin'."
"At least give it a try," Luz pleaded. "You might be pleasantly surprised."
He rolled his eyes in response. "Fine. Let's see what you kids find more entertaining than my raw acting talent."
After ten minutes of searching, the human finally found three controllers and decided to show them how to play Mushroom Dash, one of her favorite racing games.
As Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop learned the basics and played five rounds, the latter was surprisingly really good at racing. He kept nailing Luz, Sprig, and Polly with the red shells, securing his spot in first place.
"How are you so good at this?" Luz asked him, doing her best to avoid the green shells he was tossing at her from behind. "You play like a pro!"
"Let's just say I have my own racing experience," the old frog simply replied, refusing to go further into detail. Luz felt skeptical about this but chose to not think about it further.
As time went on, Luz took the lead, finally able to beat Hop Pop. Polly got angrier and angrier as she kept getting last place.
"Stupid RED SHELLS!" she yelled after one flew behind her and slammed into her kart, incapacitating her for a brief moment.
After a bit, she finally had enough and threw her controller down onto the couch cushions, which did nothing as she hopped off, grumbling to herself. "Stupid game."
"I can't believe humans have stuff like this," Sprig said, trying to stay focused on the game but ultimately trailing behind Luz. "Why didn't you bring it out sooner?"
"Well, I kinda lost it when I moved in here," the human explained. "Plus, I wasn't really planning to use it anyway since who would after ending up in an entirely new world to explore?"
"Good point," Hop Pop said. "What's your home like, anyway?"
"It's a lot different from yours and more advanced," she explained, getting hit by a rocket from Sprig's kart. "It's hard to explain, but the buildings are way taller, there are probably machines to farm for us… We'd be here all day if I told you more about it."
"Automatic harvesting? That's preposterous," the old frog said, setting his controller down as Sprig managed to win the race. "Nothin' beats real hard work."
"Did you have fun, Hop Pop?" Luz asked, and the old frog chuckled. "It definitely was a fresh experience for me. Just when I thought I'd seen it all. I still prefer my way of entertainment, though."
"Alright, we better stop for today," Luz said, turning off the Tindo Swap, much to Sprig's disappointment. "Why?"
"We have to save its power," she told him. "As far as I know, this world doesn't have electricity, so we have limited power. I'm not really too worried about it since I like exploring this world, but I don't know about you."
"I think that's for the best," the old frog said. "If you keep playin' that game, you will end up neglecting your farming duties. You also are behind on your chores, Sprig."
"Darn it," the frog boy muttered, having completely forgotten about them.
"It's already nearly nighttime, anyway," Luz said, getting up and stretching her limbs. "I'm gonna reread a bit of Bessie's manual and drift off to sleep."
As she left, Sprig just now realized how tired he was as well. They'd probably been playing for three hours in total. (With breaks, of course.) The last time he checked, the number on the top right said 67%. He didn't know what it meant, or what would happen if it hits zero, but he decided not to think about it.
The next morning, as soon as he woke up, he had one thing on his mind, and that was to try more of the games Luz had available on her gadget. He even woke up minutes earlier than everybody else to get a headstart.
As soon as he went into the living room, drinking water to fully wake himself up, he walked over and picked up the device, turning it on.
It displayed two separate logos before displaying the dashboard once again. At first, he didn't notice anything wrong as he grabbed a controller, browsing through the games, but then he noticed something off.
When he glanced at the top right corner, he noticed the number going from 2% to 1%. He blinked, not knowing what was about to happen, until right as he started a new game, the screen turned black with a strange battery icon appearing on the top left, before the Tindo Swap powered down.
His eyes widened as he tried turning it on, to no avail. Afraid of having ruined something precious, he yelled at the top of his lungs in a panic, waking up the Plantars and Luz.
One by one, they quickly rushed into the living room to see what was going on. Luz yawned, looking at Sprig with half-closed eyes. "Sprig? What happened?"
"The device doesn't work anymore!" the frog boy said, showing her the black screen. "The number went down and then it broke!"
The human wiped her eyes, walking over and taking the Tindo Swap from his hands, trying to turn it on. "Huh, I guess it ran out of battery. I thought I turned it off, though. Weird."
"Can someone explain what the heck is going on here?!" Polly yelled, hopping into the living room. "I was trying to sleep!"
"You two are overreactin'," Hop Pop said, taking the device from Luz's hands and placing it in a drawer. "Those gadgets will probably fry your brains if you keep playing with them."
"Someone must've used it," Luz muttered, turning toward the three. "Which one of you did it? I'm not mad."
Nobody answered, which warranted a sigh from her. "Oh, well. That's an issue you three will need to sort out."
Sprig tapped his chin, trying to piece together evidence in his head. "Well, I heard Polly get up last night. It could've been her."
"I needed to pee!" the tadpole protested angrily. "Plus, if you heard me, you were awake, too."
"Don't change the subject," Sprig said, and Polly groaned. "Well, if it wasn't you, then Hop Pop must've done it!" She pointed to the old frog, who was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
"Heh! Me?" the old frog scoffed, holding a pan and spatula. "In case you forgot, I prefer the traditional ways of entertainment."
"Exactly!" Polly theorized. "Maybe you ran down the battery so we'd have to listen to your boring play!"
"Oh, that's good," Sprig agreed, considering her point.
"That is preposterous!" Hop Pop yelled, and Luz waved her arms, trying to get their attention.
"Fighting like this isn't going to solve things," she told them. "You guys don't have electricity, so we can't charge it. Maybe when I go back home, I could let you guys come visit and we can play some more video games."
As she walked off, leaving them alone, Sprig and Polly contemplated her words. "There's gotta be some way to charge it," the frog boy said.
"Don't even think about it," Hop Pop cut in. "You're gonna get so addicted to those games, you're gonna keep procrastinatin'."
"Please, Hop Pop?" Sprig begged. "I'll do double chores for a week if you help!"
"Well-..."
"I'll even do it for two weeks!" he said, and the old frog sighed. "Fine, but you better keep your word. What do we need to bring this thing back to life? Magic? Live sacrifice? I know a guy in town."
"Didn't she mention something about charging, though?" Polly asked them. "What does that mean?"
The old frog tapped his chin, trying to recall what he read about a while back. "Charging? Hmm, so this thing needs power. I think I have an idea. Quickly, to my study!"
Once he took them to his study room, he plopped down a dusty old book labeled, "Beasts of Amphibia".
He opened the book, showing them the page of the creature he was thinking about. "I've heard talk of a creature called the zapapede that lives deep in the Misty Peaks." He used his finger to trace the trail from Wartwood all the way to said creatures. "It zaps its prey with a small spark of lightnin'. Yeah, it's pretty cool, actually."
"How long will it take to get there?" Sprig asked him, hoping it isn't too far.
"It's half a day's travel," the old frog told them. "Should be no problem for us."
"Shouldn't we get Luz to help us?" Polly said. "She's got magic, for crying out loud!"
"Don't bring her into our problems," Hop Pop said. "I'm sure we can handle this ourselves. After all, double chores mean half the work for me. More time for me to work on my warship replica."
Despite their willingness to work together, they were still a bit skeptical since they didn't know who ran down the device's battery, but they weren't going to keep worrying about it as long as they could get it powered up again.
Luckily for them, they were frogs, so they didn't mind the rain. The weather wasn't dangerous, so traveling would be fine.
Later in the day, as initially planned, they finally made it to Misty Peaks, which is a tall arrowhead-shaped mountain that peeks out of a dark and murky forest. Clouds covered the sunlight, with a thin fog covering the area.
As the three frogs walked along the path, Sprig was playing the violin to entertain himself while they finally approached their destination. As they headed up the mountain, they traveled on a steep path. One simple misstep and you could fall to your doom.
They approached a worn-down wooden bridge, and Hop Pop raised his hand to stop Sprig from making any more music. "Quiet, boy. Look! There's one now! A zapapede!"
As he said that, the clouds parted to reveal a centipede-like creature curled around the lower peak of the mountain. On its head were two antennae that generate lightning, an arc of electricity occasionally sparking.
Without wasting any more time, Sprig took a cautious step forward onto the wooden plank, making it creak loudly. As the frog boy took another step onto the bridge, Hop Pop followed behind him. "Step lightly, Sprig. This thing doesn't look like it can take much weight."
As they carefully trod across the old wooden bridge, Hop Pop noticed Sprig yawning, which made him suspicious, but he decided to drop it. He would do double chores for two weeks anyway to make up for it, even if he was the culprit.
The old frog was not the only one to notice this, as Polly did as well, squinting as she hopped closely behind him. Sprig was the first to make it to the other side, slowly approaching the zapapede. It still hadn't noticed them as it was napping peacefully.
"Wait, how are we gonna even do this?" Polly asked the two. "That thing looks dangerous."
"Zapapedes are relatively peaceful if you don't threaten them," Hop Pop replied. "I'll do it."
As the old frog grabbed the dead Tindo Swap, he slowly inched closer to the zapapede, which finally sensed a disturbance and opened its eyes, staring directly at him. It tilted its head as its antennae sparkled with lightning, as if to warn him about approaching.
"Yeah, I don't think risking your life for some stupid gadget should be on your bucket list," Polly saod. "Maybe we should reconsider."
"Heh! I'm sure it isn't that bad," Hop Pop said, slowly raising the device up to the zapapede's head. But as predicted, it definitely was a bad idea. He immediately got shocked, his body spasming for a split second. He gasped, taking a step back as his entire body was covered in burns. "Uh, is there such a thing as too much power for this device?"
The zapapede seemed completely unbothered as it stared at the three frogs, tilting its head. The device turned on as it displayed 250 percent. "Huh, I guess a little more couldn't hurt."
This time, he grabbed a branch to set the device on as the zapapede sparked again, lightning consuming the device.
As he pulled it away, he picked it up and turned it on to reveal it having 5,000 percent, which shouldn't have been physically possible. "Holy smokes. That's a lot of percents."
He turned around, placing the device in his pocket. "Alright, now that that's taken care of, who used it last night?"
Despite the situation being resolved, nobody responded. He rolled his eyes, walking back toward the bridge. "Whatever. Not like it matters now."
As they headed back home, things went pretty smoothly. They hadn't run into any near-death experiences unless you counted the zapapede.
They walked through the front door at sunset, where Luz was doing the usual, reading books while sitting on the couch. She noticed them and immediately got up. "Where the heck were you three?"
In response, the old frog went up to her and pulled out the device. She raised her eyebrows as she took it and turned it on while drinking a glass of water. As soon as she saw the percentage, she spat the drink out, taking a closer look to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "Uh, am I reading this right?"
"Yep," Hop Pop said, "we took it to get it charged, in exchange for Sprig doin' double chores for the next two weeks."
"That's cool, but is this even possible?" Luz muttered as she tilted her head, making sure the device wasn't fried, which it somehow wasn't. "You know what? I'm not gonna even question it."
She handed the device to Sprig, who hopped on the couch. "Yes! I can't wait finally to try Hyper Bash Siblings!"
"Oh, no, you don't!" Hop Pop said, snatching the device from his hands. "It's past your bedtime. You better get plenty of sleep since you got a lot of chores to do tomorrow."
Sprig groaned, wishing he hadn't made this promise. What was the point in getting the device charged if he didn't even have time to play on it?
After he went to bed, alongside Polly, Luz went into the basement to finish the book before going to sleep as well.
Seeing as everybody else was in bed, Hop Pop tiptoes over to the living room, the Tindo Swap standing invitingly on the table, before turning it on and grabbing a controller. For twenty minutes, he played Mushroom Dash, finding it rather fun, though he didn't want to admit it to the others.
Just then, Polly exited her bedroom, wiping her eyes as the old frog noticed her, hiding the controller before she could see it. "Polly, what are you doin' out of bed?"
She wiped her eyes before looking at Hop Pop and then looking at the screen, which he forgot to hide. The tadpole gasped, pointing at him accusingly. "You were the culprit! I knew it!"
"Wait, but it wasn't me!" Hop Pop replied, trying to defend himself.
"Zip it, old man!" Polly yelled. "I'm so gonna tell them! You probably ran down the battery because you don't even know how to exit a game!"
"Well, excuse me!" Hop Pop grumbled. "Why? Do you know how to do it?"
"You can just suspend it!" she yelled, as if it was obvious.
"Oh, that's neat," the old frog replied, before putting two and two together. "Wait, a minute… How did you know that?"
At the back of the house, Luz, Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly were spending some time together. Sprig and Hop Pop had their feet dipped in the pond while Polly was sitting on Luz's lap, who was watching the Plantars a couple of meters away from them.
"This one is goin' all the way, baby!" Sprig stated, before leaning back and hawking. He spat high in the air as it splashed a fair distance from them in the pond.
Hop Pop laughed at his attempt, knowing he could do better than that. "You call that a spit? Now watch this." He gurgled loudly and spat in the air, easily beating Sprig's attempt. It even nearly reached the other side of the pond.
Luz, watching them, found this cool yet a bit gross. "I don't know how you guys do that, but that's really impressive."
"Spitting is practically a sport in Wartwood," the old frog told her, smiling.
"We even have a town record," Sprig added, referring to a tall pole erected in the center of the plaza, on top of which lay a gold crown and a statue of a spitting frog. "Whoever breaks the record gets a trophy."
"You guys really must have a lot of yearly traditions," the human said. "Are you gonna try it, Polly?"
In response, the tadpole hopped out of her lap, going next to Hop Pop and Sprig. "You bet! THAT RECORD IS MINE!"
She inhaled and gurgled loudly, inflating her own body as she built up a lot of force. Luz winced at this but watched as Polly let out a spit even greater than Hop Pop's. It reached all the way to the other side of the pond, even landing on a small creature on the grass that resembled a crayfish wearing an old, cracked mug on top of its back.
"That's my little spitter!" the old frog said, proud of the tadpole.
"You can spit the frown off a widow!" Sprig added, knowing he'd have a long way to go before he could reach her level if he wanted to keep practicing.
"What about you, Luz?" Hop Pop asked. "Can you spit like us?"
The human winced a bit, knowing she couldn't even compare to them. "Uh, most humans aren't good at that."
"Aw, I'm sure you'll do fine," Sprig assured her. Now motivated a bit, she reluctantly went to the pond next to them and inhaled, before trying to gurgle and spit as far as she can.
As expected, her spit barely left the dock as it hit the water right next to the wood. The frogs stared at her blankly, before Hop Pop coughed into his fist. "Maybe with some practice?"
She decided not to take part in this unusual sport any longer. "Well, I guess you three have fun, then." Before she went back inside, she heard the roof above her creaking. She looked up curiously to check, but saw nobody.
Just then, a familiar young female voice came down from above, yelling, "AMBUSH!"
Out of nowhere, Ivy tackled Sprig into the water, who was surprised. She surfaced and laughed when she saw Sprig's face covered in moss, who also started laughing. "Sorry, sorry, just was too good an opportunity."
Luz walked up to the edge of the dock, smiling widely as she saw one of her closest friends. "Ivy! It's been days since we last spoke."
Hop Pop gasped loudly when he saw Ivy. "Ivy Sundew?! I don't believe it! You two have changed your minds!"
"Yeah, no," she corrected him. "We're just friends."
"We've talked about this, Hop Pop," Luz said, glaring at the old frog who scratched the back of his head. "Right, right."
After Sprig climbed out, Ivy did so after him. "I was just coming to say hi. What are you guys up to?"
"We were just practicing our spittin' techniques," Hop Pop explained to her. "I doubt you have any interest, since your mother really dislikes the sport."
"Oh, no, I still do it," she replied, "just not too often. Last time Sprig and I tried it, I could only go a bit further than him. My mom finds it disgusting, so I do it away from my home. Anyway, what are you up to, Luz?"
"Well, I can't really spit like them, so I was just thinking of going back inside," the human told her. "Maybe I'll visit Wartwood in a bit to try to make some friends."
"I actually wanted to ask if you would come adventuring with me," Ivy offered, smiling. "The last time we left, we almost got eaten, but it was the most fun I've had in a long time."
"I don't see why not," Luz said, feeling excitement boiling up within her. She turned toward the Plantars. "Any of you wanna come with us?"
As expected, all three of them declined, but when Polly does, Luz realized she's hardly ever spent time with her. "Are you sure, Polly? Maybe it could just be you, me, and Ivy. Maybe you could even learn some new spitting tricks."
Hearing this, the tadpole was unsure. "I don't know. What would we even do?"
"We'd just do stuff like exploring the town, maybe going to Felicia's tea shop and getting some sprouty sun beanies," Luz explained, "'cause it has kind of become our favorite snack, and… yeah."
"If we're going to Felicia's, are you paying?" Polly asked.
Ivy chuckled at this. "Well, I mean, sure-"
"I'm in!" Polly cut her off, hopping up toward the human who caught her. "Away we go!"
"Luz, what did I tell you about adventurin'?" Hop Pop cut in, still remembering what he had told her days ago.
"I'm not alone this time, though," Luz reminded him. "Plus, we're not gonna really go far. We'll be back before sunset."
The old frog sighed. "Well, alright, but take care of Polly, will ya? I'm trusting you to do this for me."
"You have nothing to worry about," Ivy assured him. "We'll just be gone for a few hours." And right away, they ran off, leaving Hop Pop and Sprig alone.
"Hope Luz doesn't get into too much trouble this time," Hop Pop muttered.
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Sprig told him. "Anyway, less talk, more spit."
Later, as Luz and Ivy were walking toward the town, with the former carrying Polly, the human got an interesting idea. "Hey, Ivy, what would you say if Maddie could join us?"
"Huh, I haven't thought of that," the Sundew replied. "Do you know where she is?"
Luz nodded in confirmation. "Yep, there's one place she always hangs out at. Follow me." She led them to the forest. It took a bit but, sure enough, they came across Maddie's hideout.
The pink-haired frog hadn't noticed them yet as she was stirring her cauldron as usual, reading one potion recipe out loud to herself. Luz walked up behind her, clearing her throat to get her attention.
Startled, the young frog grabbed a small bag from her pocket, spinning around and preparing to throw it at her. When she saw who it was, she lowered her guard. "Luz? I didn't know you were coming today."
"Yeah, sorry, it was kind of a last-minute decision," Luz replied. "Ivy, Polly, and I were gonna spend some time together in Wartwood. We were wondering if you wanted to join us."
Maddie looked surprised at this, not having ever been asked this sort of question before. "You want me to come with you to do… what?" she flatly asked.
"I don't know, maybe some girl time," Luz said, and Maddie pondered this. "Well, usually I would just stay here, but things have gotten kind of repetitive, so I don't see the harm."
Hearing this made the human elated. "That's awesome! I've never been asked to do this either, so this is completely new to me."
The young sorceress smiled. "I'll wrap up what I'm doing real quick and join you three." After she put away some of her equipment and stored the contents of the cauldron, the four of them headed into town, ready to have a fun day together.
First, Ivy took them to the tea shop, where she ordered them a basket of sprouty sun beanies. Polly absolutely loved them while Maddie didn't have too much of an appetite herself, still full from breakfast.
When Felicia came over to check on them, she seemed to have warmed up to Luz a bit, not treating her much differently from the rest. She also seemed a little surprised to see Maddie, since she had almost never seen her, much less in a casual scenario like this.
After they left, full of the delicious snack, Polly asked them something. "So, what are we doing next? Toad rustling? SNAKE PUNCHING?!"
"Uh, maybe let's start off with something more peaceful than that," Luz suggested.
Ivy had another idea. She wasn't planning to do it originally, but with three other friends, it was hard not to suggest it. "Hey, why don't we go to the spa? My treat."
"Ivy, you shouldn't spend your money on us," Luz protested. "You should save up your allowance and get yourself something cool."
"It really isn't a big deal," Ivy insisted. "Besides, it barely costs anything."
"Well, if you say so," the human said, though she still wasn't too happy about Ivy having to be the one to pay for everything. If only she had her own allowance…
As they entered the spa, it looked surprisingly pretty. Polly was disappointed they weren't doing something more action-packed, but the interior mesmerized the rest as they'd never been to a place like this before, except for Ivy on rare occasions.
Inside the spa, there was a wide marble path to the front desk, and on each side, there were two lime-green ponds, each decorated with a statue of a spitting frog. Above were glowing crystals hanging on the ceiling that illuminated the place.
As the four of them headed toward the front desk, two frogs were floating in one pond next to the path, wearing facial masks and cucumber slices on their eyes. They floated in the water, bouncing against each other without a care in the world.
As they reached the desk, Ivy went in front of the others, walking up to the receptionist, who seemed to be wearing a white wig on their head. "Four spa treatments, please."
"That would be…" the receptionist began, before playing the xylophone. "... ten coppers… each." He then rang a bell for dramatic effect, which sounded a bit similar to a gong.
"That's like forty coppers," Luz muttered to Ivy, who played it off. "It's fine, I have uh… thousands." Maddie and Polly looked at each other, realizing she was lying about it to not make Luz feel bad, but neither of them said anything about it.
Ivy placed forty coppers on the counter, so she still thankfully had enough, which the receptionist counted and then put away. "Thank you. Here are your towels."
Behind him, a smaller door opened as an orange frog wearing an identical wig came out, carrying a stack of four towels for each of them. As they each grabbed their towel, Polly didn't seem thrilled. "I don't know, Luz. This seems boring. Why don't we do something fun instead?"
Before any of them could reply, Polly grabbed the towel and whipped the orange frog with it, making him yelp as she burst out laughing.
Seeing this, Luz quickly picked Polly up. "Uh, sorry about her." As the employee walked away, rubbing his backside, the human squinted at the tadpole. "Polly, that wasn't very nice. What's gotten into you?"
"I don't know, this whole shtick just seems lame," the tadpole complained. "You have magic! Ivy and Sprig can fight! Why don't we go fight some monster or something?"
Before Luz could reply, Ivy cut in. "Ah, give her a break, Luz. She's just a baby. Maybe later today I can take her to see some of the cool beasts I've seen out there."
Hearing this, Polly's expression lit up as Luz scratched the back of her head, smiling. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I just don't want anybody to get into trouble."
As they headed into the spa, they sat down on smooth wooden chairs, while cucumber slices were put on their eyes. They dipped their feet into a small pond where koi fish were nibbling at the dead skin on their feet. Spa employees surrounded the four, watching over them. One was pouring water into a fancy chalice for each of them to drink out of, one was playing music for them on a harp, and the other was carrying their towels away.
As most of them enjoyed the experience, especially Luz and Maddie, since neither have had such an experience before, Ivy lifted a cucumber slice off of her eye to check on Polly, only to realize she wasn't there. She saw Polly in the small pond riding on one of the fish like a horse, having fun. Despite knowing what Ivy had promised her, she couldn't help herself.
Seeing as the employees seem to have no issue with the tadpole, she decided to leave her be as she went back to relaxing. While lying there, Maddie had time to think to herself, which led to her recalling the events that happened a while back when Sprig and Ivy were nearly forced to marry by their respective guardians.
She didn't want to admit it, but she did feel jealous when going to the ceremony, but Sprig and Ivy were definitely a better pairing than Sprig being with her. Their interests clashed, and she had a feeling he wouldn't ever like her in any way, other than as a friend. Still, she couldn't help but think about what could have been.
When they finished, they left the spa and talked about how it was strangely beautiful and addicting. Just when they thought their day couldn't get any cooler, Ivy suggested they go to the hair salon.
After arriving, the three girls were treated, except for Polly, who just sat there out of boredom since she didn't have any hair.
As the barber was bantering with them, Maddie opened her eyes to realize the tadpole was gone and looked to see her throwing combs like they are knives onto a poster. Seeing this, Maddie's eyes widened as she nudged Luz to get her attention.
The human opened her eyes to see the dangerous activity she was doing and quickly got up, running over to pick up Polly, who was about to throw the combs at the employees. "Sorry!"
Because of her behavior, they, unfortunately, got kicked out. But not deterred, Ivy led them to a clothing shop where they tried on different dresses. Luz enjoyed trying new things but still preferred her current outfit. Next to them on the floor was Polly, wearing a fancy dress too big for her, with the neck ruff covering her mouth. She grunted, trying to wiggle out of it, but was stuck.
Although she didn't really care about it, Ivy insisted on buying Luz a dress since she had seen her in the same clothes all the time, and it wouldn't hurt, so she graciously accepted it. It looked way too fancy for her, but maybe she could wear it if she ever went on a date. Maddie also got herself a new dress she thought would look nice on a sorceress like herself. The dress was black with a long, flowing skirt, and elegant, yet had a hint of magical wonder in it.
After they left, Luz and Ivy were laughing, and even Maddie was smiling, while Polly just looked uncomfortable.
"So, there's one more place I'd like to show you," Ivy told them. "You can get a full-body massage there. I think it's run by a lady named Tuti."
"Luz, I thought girl time was gonna be exciting," Polly said. "You, Sprig, and Ivy are always getting mobbed, or eaten, or eaten by mobs."
"I figured this kind of stuff would be exciting for you, though?" Luz said. "Are you not having fun?"
Polly frowned at this. "Well, none of this is for me. It's just boring, bland nonsense what you three are doing. I'm gonna pass this time, get home, and work on my distance."
"Well, if you say so," Luz replied, not too bothered since she got to spend time with the tadpole in the first place. "Here, I'll take you home."
"Nah, I'll go on my own," the tadpole told her, hopping off. Despite Luz's worrying about her, she knew she could handle herself.
As soon as they approached the shop, they walked in, looking around to see if anybody was around. The place looked more like an antique shop than a place to get massages. "Hello?" Luz said. "We're here for a massage."
Suddenly, from behind them, a tall, imposing female purple frog walked out, pushing the leaves out of the way. "I help you?", she said in a heavy accent.
This made Luz flinch, not having expected her to appear like that. The purple frog was wearing a pointy fabric hat and a red vest, which was tied up by a brown belt. Her expression clearly stated she meant business.
"Hi, my name's Luz," the human greeted, holding out her hand, which the female frog shook with a firm grip. "Am town healer, Tuti." She reached up and plucked a couple of leaves, dropping them into a bowl on the counter, which made a puff of pink smoke. "Also part-time bounty hunter."
Seeing as Maddie mentioned nothing about it, Luz figured the female didn't have much magical knowledge.
"Alright, we're each here for a full-body massage," Ivy told her.
Tuti nodded, walking forward. "Full body is good." She went up to a flat wooden table, sliding her hand across the surface. "Come, we get personal."
"Wait, now that I think about it, how different is frog from human anatomy?" Luz asked with sudden concern as she lay down on her stomach, looking at a poster of a frog assuming many flexible positions.
"Is same," Tuti simply muttered, not bothered by it as she jumped on the human's back, making her flinch. She then grabbed Luz's left arm and leg, pulling them toward her back as it audibly snapped, making her yelp. "Ow!"
"Uh, is she gonna be okay after this?" Maddie asked Ivy, looking a little concerned.
"I don't even know that myself," Ivy muttered as Tuti stretches Luz's limbs in awkward, painful places that made her eyes water. The human twitched as she was constantly adjusted. "I'm definitely… not like frogs…"
After a painful massage, Tuti jumped on her back one last time before clapping her hands twice. "Is done. You are… reborn!"
Luz took a moment to rest her body from the experience, before slowly getting up. She expected her bones to be dislocated, but she felt surprisingly fine. She stretches her arms, feeling reinvigorated. "Wow, that actually worked."
As she got up, she didn't realize something was wrong until it was too late. Because of her intense massage, several holes were torn in her pants, including a hole in her pocket. A small tied-up bag fell from the pocket onto the ground, creating a burst of wind that knocked everybody back.
Luz, Ivy, and Maddie screamed as a huge explosion of wind completely wrecked the shop, tearing an enormous hole in one of the walls, and causing dust to float everywhere. The first one to get up was Tuti, who looked furiously at them. "Who destroyed shop?! Speak now!"
Sweat went down Luz's face as she nervously stepped forward. "Sorry! I didn't know there was a, um… hole in my pocket."
The purple frog went up to her, glaring in her face. "You pay for damage or you go missing. Make choice now."
Seeing this, Ivy immediately ran over, grabbing whatever allowance she had left and giving it to her. "She didn't mean to. Here."
Tuti grabbed it and looked closely at it. "Is not enough. Pay up."
Unfortunately, neither Luz nor Maddie had any money on them. Luz sweat nervously, worried if this was really going to be how she went out. Thankfully, Ivy came up with an idea. "Wait, I think the trophy for the spitting record is made out of gold. If we can win that, would that be enough?"
Tuti tapped her chin before crossing her arms. "Fine, but I follow you. Keep word or else."
"I'll go find Polly," Luz told Ivy and Maddie, "you go take her to where that trophy is." They nodded, and she ran off, hurrying through town. She was about to go straight back to the house, but luckily, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
Just outside Stumpy's Diner, Wally and Polly were sitting on the patio, chugging some lime juice. As she approached, Wally set down his mug, letting out a burp.
After him, Polly set down her drink and let out a massive burp. Hearing this, Luz couldn't help but giggle at Polly's blatant disregard for basic etiquette as she approached them.
"Dang, kid," Wally exclaimed, impressed. "You got the burp of a titan!"
"Thanks, Wally," the tadpole replied, before Luz finally reached them, panting. Polly looked up at her, smiling. "Oh, hey, Luz."
"Sorry to bother you again, but we're kind of in trouble," the human explained. "Long story short, I accidentally wrecked a bounty hunter's massage shop and she'll probably kill us dead if we don't find a way to pay her back, so we need you to beat the spitting record."
Polly wiped the lime juice off her mouth, jumping down from the table. "Looks like my training is going to finally pay off."
"Thanks, Polly," Luz said, feeling relieved as she picked the tadpole up. "I owe you big time."
"I'll think about that last bit," Polly replied as Luz hurried off back to where the trophy was. There, they found Maddie, Ivy, and an irritated Tuti waiting for them. The human panted as she set Polly down. "Alright, Polly. I know you can do this. I have faith in you."
As a small crowd of villagers gathered to see what was going on, some of them muttered to themselves as Polly hopped onto a small wooden stool in front of a rope tied to two posts to mark where she had to be.
As the tadpole prepared herself, an older, green frog with a white mustache and a sheriff outfit walked forward to proctor her. "Okay, little lady. You get three official chances. You ready?"
Polly looked at him, and then Luz, Ivy, and Maddie, who were giving her encouraging nods and gestures. She smiled back as she got ready to put the record to shame. "Let's do this!"
She began to gurgle loudly and build up force as her body swelled to be bigger than any of her previous attempts. She released the spit as it flew through the air at full velocity, with everybody watching on in anticipation. On the first try, the spit was powerful enough to crash through the sign, landing on the ground and beating the current record.
Seeing this, the crowd looked in shock before cheering. Everybody was impressed that she managed to beat it in only one try. Even Tuti looked a little impressed and reached up and grabbed the trophy from the pole. She walked off with it, meaning the debt was paid off and they didn't have to die today.
As they left, they all noticed that Luz looked sad. Ivy tugged her shirt and asks what was going on, but the human looked to the side, feeling guilty. "Because of my stupid mistake, you lost all of your allowance. I'm so sorry, Ivy."
"Luz, really, it's fine," the frog assured her. "We all make mistakes. Besides, I've had fun with you three. I'd give up ten allowances to do this again."
"Hey, sorry, girl time was such a bust," Polly added, and Luz had a slight smile. "No, it wasn't. I figured it'd be fun for you, but of course, I'm not going to change anybody. After all, I know how that feels." Her smile wavered for a moment.
Ivy then thought about something and chuckled. "The time you were riding that fish did look pretty fun, I won't lie. I was kinda jealous. So, wanna go sightseeing later?"
"Eh, I'm all tuckered out for today," the tadpole replied. "Maybe tomorrow?"
"Sounds like a plan."
When they parted with Ivy, Maddie took this chance to ask Luz a question she had on her mind for a while now. "Luz, hypothetically, would it be weird if Sprig and I got together at some point?"
"Of course not," the human replied. "Why? Do you like him?"
In response, the sorceress blushed before looking away. "Of course not. We're not compatible. Sprig and Ivy are better together."
"They are just friends, though," Luz reminded her. "Neither of them wanted to marry on that night." Despite the human knowing that Sprig reciprocated Maddie's feelings, she decided not to say anything, since it was none of her business.
To Be Continued in Chapter Fourteen
My co-writer and I had a lot of fun writing this chapter in particular. I wanted to give Ivy and Maddie some more screen time, plus make the episode more interesting than in the original. (I personally didn't like the canon episode that much.)
Thank you for reading this chapter! Please be sure to support the artists, and consider joining the Discord server to interact with us!
~ Scruffy