Previously on Calamitous Intervention
Luz planned to leave the house for a bit to do some activities, but Hop Pop forbade her from doing so. She instead decides to try experimenting with the pain peppers but she finds her game system the Tindo Swap, making her completely forget about her original plans. She and the Plantars played it for a while until the battery ran out unexpectedly, and they had to go get it charged.
At another point, Luz and the Plantars were practicing spitting when Ivy visited and brought Luz to have some girl time together. The human also included Polly and Maddie and they had lots of fun, using up Ivy's allowance until they met Tuti. After Luz accidentally wrecked the shop, she threatened them so Polly had to win the spitting record to pay her back for the damages.
Chapter Fifteen - Froggy Funds / Unveiling Calamity
It was a scorching hot day outside in Amphibia, as Luz, Sprig, and Polly worked together to pluck weeds from the field, crawling across the dirt, and sweating in the terrible heat. Sitting far from them was Hop Pop, as he rested on a chair, his feet propped up, and happily drinking lemonade. He felt relaxed, not having to go through the tough physical tasks everyone else was doing.
Sprig got up, already exhausted, before hearing a moo. He looked over to see cowapillars munching on wheat in their pens, and the frog immediately got an idea that could make their work a lot easier. He ran up to the old frog, yelling, "Hop Pop! Hop Pop! Great idea! What if we trained the cowapillars to eat these weeds? Then we wouldn't have-"
"Hup bup bup," Hop Pop cut him off, waving his hand. "Suggestion barrel's over there." He pointed over to a barrel covered in mold and mushrooms, surrounded by flies. Next to it was a tilted sign labeled, "Suggestions".
Excited, Sprig ran up to the barrel with a piece of paper, sticking out his tongue to eat all the flies in one swoop. He grabbed a pencil, writing his idea on the piece of paper while Luz, carrying Polly, walked up behind him curiously.
"Suggestion eighty-nine…" Sprig muttered, writing as Luz spoke up. "At least Hop Pop's considerate of your ideas. How much has he read?"
"I doubt that he's read any of them," the tadpole simply replied. "I suggested a swimming pool months ago, and that never happened," she finished as she looked ahead with a blank and deadpan expression.
"Oh, come on, guys," Sprig lightened things up. "Have a little more faith in Hop Pop." He stuck his paper through the slot, before accidentally getting his hand stuck inside. "Oop…" He chuckled nervously, doing his best to pull it out. "Hand stuck."
With one last pull, he got his hand out, but in turn, the barrel tipped over as well. To their shock, underneath the barrel was a deep pit with flames rising from inside. They quickly realized that the pit had been burning up their suggestions all those months, and Hop Pop had never actually read any of them.
They peered down into the pit, shocked, as Polly said, "A fire pit? That's the opposite of a swimming pool!"
"Why, Hop Pop?!" Sprig dramatically cried out. "Whyyyyy?!"
"Because your suggestions were ridiculous," the old frog explained. "You can't just dig swimming pools anywhere. It attracts pests. Running a farm ain't easy, kids."
"Maybe. But if I were in charge, I'd listen to other people's suggestions, not burn them!" Sprig retorted angrily. As if on cue, the fire pit behind him grew larger, peeking out of the hole.
"You? Run the farm?" Hop Pop scoffed. "Run it into the ground, maybe." He inflated his vocal sac, smacking Sprig and making him stumble back. In return, Sprig did the same, surprising the old frog. Polly gasped, realizing what this meant. "Is that an official challenge?"
"Why are we fighting over this?" Luz cut in. "Can't we just compromise?"
Ignoring her, Sprig ran to a tall pole in the middle of the farm, climbed up on it, and used a stick to ring a bell while hollering obnoxiously. As he hopped down, the three walked up to him while Polly announced, "Sprig Plantar, you have rung the Plantar Family Challenge bell! What is your challenge?"
"I want to replace Hop Pop and run the farm my way," he stated.
"Hop Pop?"
"I do formally accept this ch-" Hop Pop started, but was cut off by Luz. "Okay, okay, what kind of challenge are we talking about?"
"It's the Plantar Family Challenge," Hop Pop told her.
"An artful test of skill where the winner takes all!" Sprig added.
"They push each other until someone falls off a lily pad," Polly summarized to Luz. "It's dumb, but fun to watch."
Right as they were about to run off to prepare for the challenge, Luz grabbed Sprig by his vest, not letting him go anywhere. The young frog frantically rocked his legs in the air before stopping and sighing. "I really don't think that's the best way to handle this," Luz solemnly told him.
"Why don't we go back inside to the living room and just talk it out?" she suggested. "Back home, that's how we always managed these conflicts so that things won't get messy."
"What? But talking's for babies!" Sprig angrily protested. "A real, violent showdown with bruises and tears is the ONLY way to do this!"
"If that were true, I don't think society would be the same," the human replied. "Why don't we just settle things peacefully? Maybe make an agreement to satisfy both sides."
"Yeah, I don't really care how you two handle this," Polly said. "Count me out."
Hop Pop sighed, realizing they probably should listen to Luz's idea this time. "Well, she's got a point, I suppose. Not like it ever ends in Sprig's favor."
Angered by this comment, Sprig began to open his mouth to say something, raising his shoulders up, but stopped before saying anything. He slumped down as he sighed and looks down with a disappointed, "Okay."
The four walked back into the house and shut the back door, silently walking back into the living room as they sat down on the main sofa. The atmosphere was filled with awkward silence, but Luz clung onto hope, optimistic they could handle this smoothly.
Realizing she was the one who has to start talking, Luz inhaled as she tilted her head back, thinking of what to say. Back home, she always got pretty nervous when talking to anyone other than her mom, especially when being thrust into the spotlight in moments like this. Regardless, she began.
"So… Sprig, you said you want to run the farm and do things your way," she began. "You do realize how many responsibilities and challenges you'd have to face, right?"
"I feel like Hop Pop doesn't care enough to even consider our ideas," the young frog began. "He doesn't even wanna hear our suggestions, he just burns them up like they're trash!"
"Well, maybe it's 'cause your ideas are terrible!" Hop Pop snapped back. "All your suggestions could lead to the farm being ruined by pests! Of course, you wouldn't know because you don't run the farm."
"Well, maybe I should!" Sprig yelled, and Luz waved her hand. "Hey, yelling isn't going to help! Just breathe a bit and calmly talk about it. It helps out a lot more than you might think," she suggested.
"Fine, fine," the old frog grumbled. "Look, I'm not lettin' Sprig run the farm. There's gotta be another way."
"I'd make a great leader!" Sprig said, and Luz winced. "Sorry, Sprig, but I don't think you're nearly as ready to run the farm as you think. Hop Pop, can't you at least read their suggestions from now on?"
His shoulders slumped at this. "Come on, can't I just stick to the fire pit?"
The human shook her head. "Just because one idea is bad doesn't mean all of them will be. Maybe they could benefit all of us."
Hop Pop sighed, scratching the side of his face. "Fine… I guess I could give it a shot. Let's just call this off, Sprig. I'm not even in the mood for it anymore."
The frog boy tapped his foot before nodding. "Then the challenge is off. I accept your terms." They shook hands, which made Luz smile as Sprig walked off back outside.
As she saw him walk outside, she felt good about the positive impact she had made on many people around here. It especially surprised her how much she had changed since her days back home. With not much to do, for now, she wondered what she could do.
She sat on the couch, taking a breather after the hours of work they'd had to do on the farm. It was boring and tedious work, and she wished she could do something else. As she got lost in thought, her mind drifted to memories of a few days ago, when she, Ivy, Maddie, and Polly went out to different places in Wartwood, spending some time together.
She wished she could relive those events, but one thing quickly dawned on her–she didn't have any money. She wasn't about to let Ivy waste all of her allowance on her again, no matter what. Before Hop Pop was about to join Sprig, Luz spoke up. "Hey, Hop Pop, I was thinking… that maybe I could get an allowance somehow?"
The old frog halted before looking back at her. "An allowance? Not happenin'. Right now, I barely have enough money to provide us with food and a house to live in."
"Wait, why don't you just use that tomato monster I brought home nearly a month ago?" Luz suggested. "You guys could get rich with that!"
"It's not that we haven't thought of it," Hop Pop told her. "It's just that vegetables take time to grow. They can take months. You can't just magically make them grow in an instant."
As he went outside, those words gave the human an idea that could secure the family's financial future. "I think I know what I'm gonna do today."
She went outside after the old frog, going to the left side of the house where they placed the tomato monster. They had to move it because it chewed a hole through their front door weeks ago.
Upon seeing her, it growled before snapping at her. She instinctively flinched, but approached it anyway. It was pretty small, so it couldn't really harm her. It tried biting her arm, which hurt but wasn't enough to pierce her skin. Reaching down, she plucked an unripe tomato before going back inside the house.
She went down to the basement, pulling out her cauldron and ingredients. She was ready to begin experimenting to see if she could grow or accelerate the process to ripen the tomato.
Luz then paused before beginning. She had always made potions that went by Maddie's spell books, yet one that could instantly grow a plant never came up. To even attempt this, she would need to create her own spell, which she had never tried before.
She was confident she could get it to work, though, as she began experimenting. She had learned what every ingredient she had does, so she would need to get the perfect ratio in her custom potion.
As she boiled the water in her cauldron, she started adding ingredients one after the other, while also listing down her ideas. Her first idea was to try using a bit of the only ripe, non-spoiled tomato they have. She scooped out the insides and tossed a slice into the cauldron before stirring.
She next put a bit of fertilizer in, tapping her chin as she squeezed more tomato juice into the cauldron, allowing some seeds to spill in. The cauldron had a strong tomato-like smell, with a faint twinge of soil mixed in it. It wasn't quite as bad as she thought it would be.
For the final ingredient to actually make it a potion, she needed something magical, something to bind it all together, but something that wasn't dangerous to consume. She then had the perfect thing in mind.
She grabbed a handful of leaves from a plant called a willue. Maddie told her it was the safest option for a binding agent, mostly used by beginners. She chopped them up and tossed them into the cauldron, changing the liquid's color.
As it finished, she scooped it into a potion, walked over to the ripe tomato, and poured some drops over it to see what would happen.
She excitedly watched before the tomato suddenly deflated like a balloon, confusing her. "Huh?"
Out of nowhere, it shot up at quick speeds, splatting against the ceiling and going everywhere, including on her face.
She slowly wiped the gunk off, realizing this was gonna be harder than she initially thought. For her second attempt, she went through the same process, but this time, she put fewer seeds in. This time, it didn't deflate, but instead just exploded in her face again, covering the basement with gunk. "Darn it."
She spent hours trying to perfect this recipe, but no matter what, she was barely making any progress. She didn't want to bother Maddie by asking her for help since she wanted to accomplish this herself, but she was running out of options.
Then she got an idea. Why was she blindly adding ingredients she thought could work when she could just go borrow Maddie's ingredient guide? The young sorceress had been listing ingredients she had studied and still did so to this day. She hoped she could one day publish it, even.
Technically, this still meant she made the potion herself. Even if it doesn't, her top priority right now was helping her frog family. So as it approached noon, she quickly headed off to Maddie's, coming back only thirty minutes later. Running that long still took a lot out of her, but it wasn't as bad as it was before. Thankfully, Maddie was completely fine with her borrowing the guide, even thinking about making a copy just for Luz.
Unfortunately, she was starting to run out of time, since Hop Pop wanted her back on the farm soon. Going back to the basement, she plopped the book down and opened it, revealing pages upon pages of ingredients. The fact that her friend had worked this hard and studied countless hours to describe everything in detail impressed her.
Flipping through the pages and reading each one thoroughly, she stumbled upon an ingredient that might've just been what she needed.
On one of the pages, she spotted something called 'Giant Caterpillar Hair'. What it was is pretty self-explanatory, but what it did interests her. The book said that they had a rare blend of minerals and skin material that worked together to quickly and surprisingly healthily grow plants.
Her eyes widened as she read this. If she succeeded, then perhaps tomatoes weren't the only thing she could quickly grow. The Plantars would be rich!
She started supplying herself with some potions as she prepared to search for a giant caterpillar. It shouldn't be difficult, considering she had seen many in her time here. Wasting no time, she left the house, heading out into the wilderness. She was a bit nervous about going out alone, but knows she would probably be fine.
Around her, she could hear birds squawking and bugs chirping. It sounded rather peaceful, but knew she couldn't let her guard down. After a bit of searching, she spotted a giant caterpillar. Up close, it was covered in thick, green hair. She thinks it would've looked cute, except it immediately went on the offensive upon spotting her.
It screeched, crawling toward her. Luckily, she was able to outpace it, but that didn't make the huge bug any less terrifying. She pulled out a bottle, drinking it as she watched her body gradually fade out of view. Now affected by the invisibility potion she had almost completely mastered, the bug screeched to a halt, confused.
She snuck past it, trying her best not to make any sound. The bug looked around, trying to find where she went, but was unable to. "Sorry, big fella," she whispered as she reached out, yanking a handful of hair off the creature.
Immediately, it shrieked as she ran off. The potion wore off just in time when she was nearly back home. As she walked through the front door and went down to the basement, Luz resumed stirring the cauldron before dropping a few strands of the giant caterpillar's hair into the mix.
When the mixture was finally done brewing, she bottled it up, walked over to another unripe tomato she set down, and poured a few drops on it. This time, a different reaction occurs. Her eyes lit up as she watched it slowly grow and turn red. "Yes! I did it!"
Unfortunately, it exploded right after, sending gunk everywhere. Despite this, though, she wasn't too upset. She was definitely on the right track. She went back to reading the ingredient guide, adjusting the portion sizes of the ingredients as she learned more about what each of them did in more detail.
No matter how much she changed it up, the results always remained the same. When it turned ripe, it exploded everywhere. If she had to clean up the entire basement one more time, she was gonna lose it.
Feeling frustrated, she took a quick break, lying down on her bed. The potion should've worked, but there was one crucial thing she was doing wrong. It was almost as if it wasn't working together properly. When she thought about this, she realized something. The binding agent she used–a willue–wasn't strong enough, explaining why it exploded immediately after.
She suspected it was because of too many caterpillar hairs, or too much fertilizer at first, but that only just slowed down the ripening process. It exploded into mush either way. Maddie said a willue was the safest option, but she might have to take a risk.
Luz got up, flipping the pages and going to the section listing the binding agents. After a bit of searching, she found what she needed: A Terraca. This ingredient was a lot trickier to work with, but it wasn't going to risk poisoning or ruining the edibility of the tomato. Terraca produced a strong sharp odor that was dangerous to sniff in bulk but could be very effective, as long as you apply just the right amount. It was very stingy with how precise she had to be with it.
She expected it to be some sort of plant, but surprisingly, it was a mineral. Her arms slumped at this, wondering how she was going to be able to get it. Upon reading further, it was revealed that the minerals were primarily found in Misty Peaks.
The human realized that was the same place Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly went to get her Tindo Swap charged. Considering how long they were gone, she guessed it wasn't very close by. She really didn't want to ask Maddie again, but she wasn't equipped to deal with something like that.
Sighing, she got up, heading out the front door again. It took a little while, but she made it back to Maddie's hideout to ask her about the mineral. Panting, she walked up to the young frog, who noticed her. "What happened, Luz?"
The human took a deep breath before speaking, "Sorry to ask you for another favor, Maddie, but do you by chance have Terracas? Those mineral things?"
"Why do you need those?" Maddie asked. "Are you attempting a level two spell? You know that's risky. You're an apprentice."
"Well, if you consider instant plant growth a level two spell, then yes," Luz replied. "I'm trying to make a potion that will instantly grow a tomato, which started from me wanting an allowance."
"Huh, I've never attempted speeding up the growth of vegetables," the frog pondered. "Well, I have a limited supply, so please be careful with these."
She reached into her bag, pulled out a small container, and handed it to her. "Don't touch these with your bare hands, unless you want to deal with hair loss, potential Red Leg, and possibly death."
The human shuddered at this. "Wait, how do you know that?"
"You don't want to know."
"Yeah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Luz said nervously, before turning and walking off. "Thanks, Maddie. I'll make it up to you."
As soon as she arrived home, she set down the container and opened it. Immediately, a strong odor hit her nose, making her cringe. Her mind immediately thought of a pungent, cheddar-like smell, even though it was a bit off. It was still very unnatural to her, and she preferred to not think about it too much.
She started a new batch, following the same steps as her previous one. Instead of adding willue, however, she grabbed tongs, using them to pick up the mineral from the small container. She walked up to the potion, cautiously lowering it into the cauldron and waiting to see what would happen.
It bubbled as she stirred it, even more than before. When it was finally done, she scooped up a potion, walked over to her second to last ripe tomato, and poured a few drops on it.
Immediately, it swelled, growing in size and turning red. She gasped as it became bigger than her previous attempts, closer to the variants the giant tomato monster from back during the potluck had.
It stopped, and she hid in case it exploded. She didn't even want to know what the after-effects would be. After a few minutes, she peeked to see it hadn't budged. Her face broke into a wide smile as she cheered, feeling accomplished for managing to master this recipe in less than a day. She couldn't wait to tell Maddie about this.
However, she didn't get the chance to do anything, as the entire house shook, nearly knocking her off her feet. She stumbled around, wondering what was going on. The cauldron didn't seem to be the source of it, so what was?
Running outside, she spotted something that horrified her. She heard a roar as the tomato monster became massive–even bigger than back at the potluck. What could've caused this? She didn't have time to think about it, as it started to rampage. Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly ran away, yelling as a root barely missed them.
Immediately, the human sprung into action. She'd have to find the cause later, but right now, she needed to stop it before it destroyed the entire house. It had already caused enough damage as it was. Running forward, she grabbed a potion from her belt, tossing it at the tomato monster. Immediately, it burst into the air, creating a gust of wind that made it flinch.
Throwing more potions, she got concerned. She didn't have a shrinking potion on her right now. She hadn't made one since the potluck because she didn't think she would need it, but now she realized how stupid that was.
It shrieked, shooting vines to grab the others. The frogs were able to avoid it, but Luz wasn't so lucky. It wrapped around one of her legs, yanking her toward the monster. She screamed, trying to break free, but the monster was too strong.
Luz tried to think of something as she quickly approached its giant mouth, but she didn't know what she could do. Before she was eaten, she came up with something as a last resort. It was kind of risking her own life, but she had no other choice. She grabbed an empty bottle with a label on it, tossing it as far as she could toward Sprig.
"LUZ!" the frog boy yelled, before noticing the bottle flying toward him. He caught it with his tongue before reading the label. Now he knew what he must do. "Hop Pop, Polly, keep it away from the house!"
Without waiting for their responses, he darted into their home, heading into the living room. "I hope you know what you're doing, Luz," he muttered, approaching a barrel and dragging it down into the basement.
Outside, Hop Pop, carrying Polly, was doing his best to distract the tomato monster. It wasn't easy, considering he was not nearly as nimble as he used to be, but he was doing a decent job for now. One thing that worked was his awful singing voice.
In the basement, Sprig was doing his best to come up with something. He had been tossing different ingredients left and right that looked like they could work. He opened the barrel, grabbed a few pain peppers, and dropped them into the boiling cauldron. Immediately, a strong odor and a red cloud of steam filled the room, making his eyes water. "Come on… What else do I need?!"
In the corner of his eye, he spotted the container of Terracas. Not knowing how powerful this binding agent was, he ran over, grabbed it, opened it, then poured all the contents into the cauldron. Immediately, the cauldron bubbled violently, vibrating and spilling over a bit. He stepped back, not knowing what to expect.
Then the smell hit him. He coughed, tears streaming down his face. "I hope I don't get some sorta disease from breathing this stuff in…" As soon as the reaction calmed down, the potion was now a purple color.
Not wasting any more time, he grabbed a potion and scoops the contents into the bottle before running upstairs. Outside, the old frog had finally run out of luck. The frog boy gasped, seeing his grandfather being dragged toward the monster with a vine.
"Oh, no, you don't!" he yelled, running forward, winding back his arm, and tossing the potion at its mouth. Without a second thought, it opened and swallowed the potion, before hissing and going to grab Sprig.
He flinched, closing his eyes tightly until it completely stopped. He slowly opened his eyelids as he noticed the monster was standing completely still. It then started toppling backward, luckily missing the house. After it hit the ground, it inflated before exploding, sending stomach acid and other disgusting juices everywhere.
In the middle of it was Luz, who was panting heavily. She looked back and forth between the frogs and the remains before slowly standing up. "What just happened?"
"I made a potion to save you!" the frog boy proudly told her.
"How did you even manage that?" Luz replied, still in shock. "That's like a level two spell. It just stopped, fell, and exploded."
He shrugged. "I just added whatever looked important, including this small container of weird-smelling rocks."
"Well, those weren't really made to be used all at once, but regardless, thanks, Sprig," she said, wiping the gunk off her shirt. She then remembered something. "Oh! I forgot to show you guys something!"
"Right now?" Hop Pop muttered. "We kinda have to deal with damage to the roof…" He noticed her puppy eyes and sighed. "... but we can wait until after. What do you want to show us?"
The human gestured for them to follow her to the basement before showing them the massive tomato. This mesmerized everybody, especially the old frog. "H-how did you do that?! I thought it took months to grow tomatoes!"
"I know, so that's why I did a little experimenting," she replied. Luckily, everything was intact in the basement, so she grabbed the instant growth potion she made, walked over to an unripe tomato, and poured a few drops on it.
Immediately, it inflated, turning red and swelling. It didn't explode, thankfully, and there was a big, ripe tomato. Hop Pop's eyes dilated at this, as, without warning, he hugged Luz tightly. With this, their financial situation was definitely secured. "What did I do to deserve you?!"
The human smiled, patting him on the head. "It's nothing, really. All this started cause I simply just wanted an allowance."
Out of the corner of his eye, the old frog noticed something walking over behind the cauldron. "Huh? There's a hole in the wall here."
Luz's eyes widened, putting two-and-two together. The tomato monster was right outside behind the cauldron. Her previous attempts must've leaked into it and created the abomination. Upon realizing this, her face dropped.
The Plantars noticed this, looking at her with concerned expressions. "What's wrong, Luz?" Sprig asked her.
"It's my fault this happened in the first place," she told them, before explaining what she realized.
Instead of getting angry as she expected, Hop Pop just laughed at this. "Luz, it's not that big of a deal. Trust me, the damage to the roof is nothing compared to the stuff Sprig did over the years."
In response, the frog boy's arms slumped as the old frog continued, "Besides, we can repair that damage once we sell these tomatoes."
Hearing this lifted the human's spirits up again, making her crack a smile. "Thanks, Hop Pop."
Then he said something completely unexpected. "For Frog's sake, you've secured our futures financially! Luz, how would you like to be adopted?"
"HUH?!"
It had been a few days since the tomato incident. Thankfully, Sprig and Luz have mostly managed to repair the damage to the roof. Ever since they killed the tomato monster, they've lost their main source of getting tomatoes in the first place.
On the bright side, Luz's new potion allowed her to ripen tomatoes instantly, and the Plantars managed to double their profits from the stand, and it's still rising. Things were looking up for them.
The human sat in the living room, pondering. Since they weren't producing any more tomatoes, they would eventually run out and have to figure out a way to get more somehow. Maybe they could just grow them without one. In that case, they didn't need the tomato monster in the first place.
With this plan in mind, Luz got up and walked out the front door to see Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly loading up many wrapped boxes and gear on Bessie's back. She blinked, wondering what they were up to. She was pretty surprised but curious enough to ask them, "What's up, froggy fam?"
"The three of us are going to Camp Phlegmington," Sprig replied as he struck a pose, leaning on Bessie's shell. "Gonna rough it outdoors and get filthy!" He pumped his fist, excited about the trip.
"An ordinary camp?" Luz pondered. "That doesn't sound so bad."
"When we Plantars camp, we camp hard," Hop Pop told her, sitting atop the snail's back. "No sense in you coming with us and being miserable."
Upon hearing this, she started having second thoughts. Camping sounds pretty fun, but hard camping? She didn't wanna know what hard meant in this context.
Hopping onto the shell behind Hop Pop, Sprig added, "You told us about your first week coming to Amphibia. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to go through a similar experience."
"You're soft, Luz," Polly teased, "like a baby."
"Really, you should be glad you're not one of us," Hop Pop said. Luz opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She knew they were right. Upon being sucked through that portal, she had no prior experience of surviving in the wilderness. Her first week in the world was traumatic enough, and she didn't want to go through anything like that again.
As much as she had been adventurous and wanted to discover new stuff, she didn't wanna go too far away from the only safe place she knew here. With this in mind, she made her decision.
"Well, I guess you guys have fun then," she told them. "What do you need me to do, Hop Pop?"
"All you need to do is watch over the house," the old frog said. "Don't go searchin' for Stringbean or doin' crazy magic experiments. Got it?"
She nodded and started walking inside as the Plantars left the property, leaving her alone. As she headed inside, she stretched before lying back on the couch. She tapped her fingers on the cushions, trying to think of something to do. Hop Pop didn't want her to do any potion experiments, which was disappointing, but she didn't argue because of the incident a few days ago.
She considered playing on her Tindo Swap, but she wasn't really in the mood right now. She chose instead to unplug things a bit and do something relaxing, like reading a book. Perhaps she could learn more about how this world works. She's read stories about other amphibians besides frogs, such as toads and newts. There are many more out there.
She went around the living room, trying to find a book she hadn't read already, but thanks to her nerdiness, she couldn't find a single story she hadn't read in there. She couldn't leave the house either, since Hop Pop wanted her to watch over it. Even if she could, she had no money.
She racked her brain, trying to think of something, but she suddenly remembered. So far, the old frog had never allowed her to enter his study room. But with him gone, she got an urge to see what may lie inside. She knew it may not be the right thing, but with no one here, who would find out? There's probably so much she hadn't learned yet about this world.
The door creaked loudly as she opened it, dust filling the study room. Walking in, she looked around. She was impressed with how many collectibles and things were spread across, including bookshelves and desks.
She grabbed a stack of five books from a shelf, all regarding certain topics like the history of Amphibia, their rulers and wars, and family trees. Figuring it could be at least many hours before they come back, she plopped them and sat down with a glass of lime juice by her side, ready for a long reading session.
She didn't keep track of the time, and as she finished those books, the sun hadn't set yet, but the whole room was bathed in a more orange and gold glow. With the sun setting soon, she decided to put those books back and maybe check out some other secrets of this room. She had nothing to lose and no one would figure it out.
As she started to put the books back into the bookshelf, she spotted a thick book innocently hiding near the bottom of the shelf. It was a book containing information about many legends and artifacts lost to time. She was very curious about what secrets could lie in this book, so she pulled it out and plopped it on the desk (but not before grabbing another glass of lime juice, since this book would be good).
She flipped through the pages, finding a lot of them amusing. In one of them, she could see the outline of a strange triangle-shaped being with an eye and a top hat. Something about it deeply unsettled her, so she skipped past it and went through more pages.
After a bit of reading, her heart skipped a beat as she stumbled upon a familiar page. It's the same page Hop Pop showed her upon first arriving at Amphibia, but she never got the chance to fully read it in detail.
She assumed this thing was dangerous based on how the text was written with great urgency. If that's the case, however, why did she have it with her? She'd never seen it prior to being sucked into that portal.
Curious about what it does, she read further into it. The big blocks of text were blocking some of the words out, but she could get a basic idea about how this thing works. She gasped out loud when she discovered what the box's true purpose was. It can travel to other worlds.
She sat there in silence, reading the rest of the page. Could this thing be her only way back home after summer camp is over? If so, she has to get it back, but she didn't know where Hop Pop put it. Her face dropped as she realized she'll need to tell him about this. He seemed very insistent on burying it, but surely he would listen to her, right?
After thinking about it further, she pulled out her phone and took a picture of the page. After that, she closed the book, putting it back, and got up, trying to get her mind off of it for now. She always had that little impulse to explore and discover, so she made a tough decision and started looking for what else could lie in this study room. Surely there could be more than just books to discover.
After a few hours of skimming through props and indescribable goodness, she felt herself slowly drifting off. It's so peaceful and quiet in the house right now, and, before she knew it, it's already the afternoon. She had completely lost track of time but decided to shrug it off, figuring it would still be a good while before the Plantars came home.
As amazing and interesting as all those goods and books were, she still couldn't stop wondering about the Calamity Box and how important it could be for her future, so she decided to start searching for where Hop Pop put it. She faintly remembered he buried it somewhere, but where exactly was a mystery to her. Her best guess would be either in the front or the back of the house - either way, it likely wasn't too far from where she was.
Without wasting any time, she grabbed a shovel and went outside, trying to find any patches of dirt that looked a bit off. She dug around the farm until sundown, and it was a lot of work since she had to fill the holes back in.
After failing to find it the first day, she went to sleep as per usual and got up the next day, eating breakfast. Being completely alone and in charge of the house felt strangely liberating to her, but she knew she couldn't ignore this predicament while she was still alone. She went straight back to work and spent most of the day outside. It took a few hours, but luckily, Luz finally got lucky. In front of the tree outside, her shovel hit something.
Upon digging it up, she couldn't believe her eyes. She actually found it! Grabbing the buried Calamity Box, she wiped the dirt off it and gave it a good glance. "Huh, I guess that's it, then?" She brought the box back inside and down to the basement, wanting some cool air after spending hours in the hot, presumably Summer sun.
Completely alone with no one to see her, she pulled out her phone, looking back and forth between the box and the picture she took. Thanks to the darkness of the basement, she was able to realize something was off. The gems aren't colored like they are in the picture, and she's confused as to why.
The human briefly hesitated before opening the box, wondering what would happen if she opened it in this state. She braced for anything to happen as she opened it, but not surprisingly, nothing happened. Her shoulders slumped as she felt disappointed by what had happened. Maybe Hop Pop found a way to turn it off? No, because she didn't remember the gems glowing when she first had the box, either.
Luz stared at the lifeless gems before her eyes, trying to piece together what was happening. It then hit her. Maybe it's like a lightbulb in a way and needs to be powered. She slowly turned toward her cauldron, trying to resist the urge to do experiments. Hop Pop told her not to, but making potions is in her blood. She can't just simply stop doing it and feels this is the best approach, even knowing there could be a small risk of damaging the gems.
Making sure she did the procedure carefully, she started a small fire, causing the cauldron's water to boil. She rubbed her hands together, feeling excited as she started experimenting for a few hours.
She quickly scanned through some ingredients that could cause some sort of electrical reaction, since once she breaks things down mentally, this could be the best and easiest way to try to get some reaction out of them.
Luckily, she's recently learned about one ingredient that has such properties, which would've been useful for her Tindo Swap. She grabbed the ingredient that was light blue and has some markings on it, which is essential to pumping electrolytes and keeping the flow and energy of a potion up. Thinking of what could be energized by this, she thought of adding some bromine and barium to the mix, realizing that with how mysterious and unknown the energy might be, any unusual combination might also do the trick.
Okay, she realized she was completely nerdy and overthought this, but she sometimes just got lost in thought. As she added the ingredients and a bit of willue to bind it all together, she walked over to the gems and poured a few drops on them, waiting for something to happen.
A quick puff of smoke rose from the gems, which wasn't a good sign. She dabbed them with her fingertips and immediately recoiled at how burning hot it was. She got nervous that they would shatter, but thankfully, they aren't as brittle as glass.
With her first experiment failing, she wondered what else she could do to power the gems. Apparently, electricity doesn't work on them, so she'll need to try something else. However, to do that, she doesn't want to risk damaging the box itself.
Once the gems cooled down, she tried to pull them out, but they wouldn't budge. Maybe they're a part of the box, or there's a way to detach them. She looked closely at every part of the box, trying to figure out a switch, but she was having trouble.
After a bit, she resorted to pressing her finger on different parts of the box to see if there were any hidden buttons. Luckily, there was. After some tinkering, she found three switches in total. She couldn't find any others, so she started pressing the three in different orders randomly.
Eventually, it succeeded. Her eyes widened, and she slightly jumped back as the music box played a tune before the gems twist and emerge from the box. She grinned, taking all three of them and carefully laying them out on a table. "I don't get why Hop Pop's so afraid of this thing. It doesn't look that bad."
She pulled out a tied-up bag, slowly opened it, and poured a bit of the content onto a gem. A tiny burst of green fire puffed out, but nothing else happened. She frowned at this. She should start using more variety in her potions.
Next, she tried a drop of the invisibility potion. Of course, the gems turned invisible for a few minutes. She didn't know what she was expecting. All other potions she tried have no effect on the gems, so she has one more idea left that sounds ridiculous, but could be useful if somehow they are alive.
She spent the next three hours gathering ingredients for the final potion attempt, which was harder than she anticipated. After finally returning, she got to work on brewing the potion. When she finally got to the last ingredient, it was finished. "One-half drop of worm snake venom, and…. It's done!"
She created a corpse revival spell, which not even Maddie has needed to create (yet). Luz tapped her chin, walking up to the gems before pouring some drops of the potion on them.
At first, nothing happened, until they started shaking, confusing her. This is unlike any previous reactions thus far. The blue gem was acting up a lot more than the others, and she didn't know why.
Suddenly, she gasped, feeling strange as her eyes flashed a light blue, and a purple shockwave knocked nearly everything over, creating a mess. Luckily, the gems were unharmed.
She panted, not knowing what had just happened, but it was definitely not what she was expecting. The human felt strange for a moment, and a bit tired out, but maybe it was an error in making the potion. Regardless, she grabbed the gems and put them back into the box. Luz will have to find a solution later with the help of Maddie.
After cleaning up and putting her stuff away, she decided to take a break from working on this project for the rest of the day. She's still got months left until summer camp is over, so she has a lot of time to figure it out. In the meantime, she hid the box out of Hop Pop's sight for now, tucking it into a secret spot in her room. He would inevitably find out about it, but she'll cross that bridge when it comes to it.
The Plantars returned to the house at sundown after a long camping trip. Luz got up, yawning as they carried in some of the equipment they used. "We're back!" Hop Pop announces. "Luz, where are ya?"
Walking up the stairs, she exited the basement to greet them. "Hey, guys! How was your trip?"
"Oh, there ya are," Hop Pop said. "It went pretty well, surprisingly. Well, except for this one oddball who was stalking us from a bush."
"Sounds like a normal day in Amphibia," the human muttered.
"And you didn't do any potions, right?" the old frog asked, before smelling a burning sensation from her experiments earlier. "... I'll just overlook that."
Luz was relieved to see them back home and safe, but hidden within her smile was a tiny bit of worry, now that she knew something Hop Pop definitely didn't want her to know about.
To Be Continued in Chapter Sixteen
Sorry for the delay in this chapter! I hope you liked this adaptation of Sprig vs. Hop Pop and Anne (Luz) vs. Wild. Things started out the same, but they quickly changed to original segments, primarily focused on Luz's potion-making.
I also saw Watching and Dreaming the night it came out, and was absolutely stunned, to say the least. My co-writer and I have come up with ideas about how to make this story awesome.
~ Scruffy