Previously on Calamitous Intervention
After stopping Hop Pop and Sprig from challenging each other, Luz broke it up and asked for an allowance, but the old frog didn't have enough money to do so. This led to her coming up with a way to instantly ripen tomatoes using potions, and she succeeded but a gigantic tomato monster resulted from her failed experiments, causing damage. Working together, they managed to defeat the beast, thanks to Sprig's help.
Days later, the Plantars decided to go on a journey for some intense camping, and Luz took their advice and stayed at the house. During this time, she found out more about the Calamity Box and eventually discovered where Hop Pop had buried it. She experimented on it, causing strange effects to occur. When the Plantars returned, Luz had decided to keep the fact she had found the box a secret from them.
Chapter Seventeen - Feverish Frenzy / Family Shrub
It was a stormy day in Wartwood, which to Luz was a nice departure from the otherwise hot and humid days. In the basement, Luz peeked out the barred window, having felt the splashes of raindrops on her face. The cold water felt refreshing against her skin.
As she was deep in thought, the door to the basement slammed open, making her flinch. Standing there was Hop Pop, who looked irritated. "Luz, move! This is the third time I've called you!"
Luz pulled out her head from the gap in the wall, looking at the old frog with a confused expression. "You did? I guess I couldn't hear you over the rain."
"Let's go!" he said, clapping his hands to get her full attention. "We got work to do!"
The Plantars and Luz all gathered in the living room, Hop Pop wearing a raincoat on his body and plastic wraps on his feet. "Okay, we got a full day of hard work ahead of us."
He handed out identical rain gear to Luz, Sprig, and Polly as well. "Here ya go, put this on! Polly…" He tied Polly up in a layer of plastic to protect her delicate body. She looked uncomfortable and agitated. "There you go, sweetie," the old frog said.
"Rain gear? Hop Pop, we're frogs!" Sprig reminded him, tossing the rain gear onto the floor, before he took off his vest and swung it around. "We should actually be taking off our clothes. Woo hoo!"
"Keep your pants on, boy," Hop Pop told him. "This here ain't no ordinary rainstorm." He gestured to the window, where Wally was desperately trying to walk across the grass with the wind blowing hard, but an uprooted tree flew in and smacked into him, sending him flying alongside it.
"We gotta cover up the crops before they're destroyed!" he continued, having known something like this could become catastrophic if not handled quickly. "It'll be hours of back-breaking work in the mud and the muck. Thankless, hard, character-building labor that will push you to your limits, but it will all be worth it in the end."
"You'd make a great motivational speaker, Hop Pop," Luz said. She turned to look out the window at the storm, before adding, "So… We have to go out… there?"
He nodded, while Sprig put on his rain gear. "With you here to help us, it'll hopefully go much faster. Uh, you don't have any of those potions that could help us, do you?"
She shrugged. "I mean, I still have a resurrection spell, just in case. Maddie and I are still learning level-two spells, but they're pretty complicated. This shouldn't be that bad, though, right?"
As it turned out, it was way worse than she expected. Once they went outside, they had to face the intense weather. The rain came down in heavy buckets, and lightning flashed through the sky, frightening them. Thunder roared in the air, sounding like a cannon firing. Covering up the crops wasn't so easy when a cruel, intense wind was trying to blow you sky-high. Sometimes, Luz wondered how their house was still standing after all the abuse it was taking.
At one point, a twister roared toward the house, and swept up the frogs into the air. Luz leaped up after them and barely managed to grab onto Sprig, pulling him and the rest of the Plantars back to the ground.
It took hours of painful labor to get the crops finally covered up, and by then, exhaustion had taken hold of them. Their bones ached from the rigorous labor, their muscles sore from the long hours, and their spirit was all but broken.
The Plantars made it back to the house, dripping wet, exhausted, and miserable. Right as they walked inside, they quickly realized they had more to worry about than just being wet.
Hop Pop's nose was running, and Polly was sneezing, but Sprig seemed to be fine, surprisingly. Luz also felt the aftereffects, having figured this must be Amphibia's equivalent to a common cold.
Noticing Luz was wiping her nose, Hop Pop said, "Looks like Polly and I have come down with something, too."
"Who said that?" Polly denied it, even though her eyes were looking puffy, and she couldn't even open them from how swollen they were.
"It was brutal out there," Sprig groaned. "Thanks for helping us, Luz. You saved us a lot of trouble."
"It's no problem," she replied, before sneezing.
Sprig knew what he must do. "But nobody has to worry, because I'm going to take care of everyone- Ah, ah…." He inhaled, before sneezing intensely to the point his tongue flew out of his mouth and across the room, splatting on the ground. "Oh, no!"
"Yep, it got Sprig, too," the old frog muttered. "Looks like we all caught it."
"Sure looks that way," Polly agreed, barely able to see anything. She tried to hop over to her bucket, looking for some relief, but accidentally hopped into the trash bucket out of how tired she was. As a result, she got covered in gunk and had no idea why.
Sprig tried chasing after her to stop her. "Polly, no!" Sprig tried to regain his balance but instead got entangled in his own tongue.
"Oh, dang," Hop Pop groaned, stumbling around and crashing into various objects around the house, the objects sticking to him. "I'm sticky."
Coming out of the trash, Polly asked, "Who's gonna take care of us?"
Luz coughed into her arm, having realized the others were completely helpless without her help. She took a deep breath before saying, "I'll do it."
"But, Luz," Sprig mumbled, barely able to speak coherently, "you're sick too." His tongue spasmed and ended up slapping his face, which made him yelp and fall over.
"I'll be fine," the human assured them, clearing her throat loudly. "Besides, it looks like you guys are affected way worse than I am. Someone's gotta feed you."
"You don't have to do that, Luz," Hop Pop said, now having had a lot more objects stuck to his body. "We'll manage. Besides, you already do enough for us."
"It's fine, really," Luz said, before Polly sneezed, which caused her to bounce around the room from the force of it. First, she helped dry them off, so they weren't soaking wet anymore, which was a lot more difficult with Hop Pop, who had a lot more mucus than usual covering him. "Sorry, Luz…" She cringed inside seeing all the mucus but was okay with doing this to help them.
Next, the human put eyedrops in Polly's eyes to soothe them, which helped a lot with the irritation. "Ah, sweet release… Give me that!" She snatched the eyedropper out of Luz's hand before filling her eyelids with them. It poured onto the couch, making a mess, but Polly didn't care about that.
As for Sprig's tongue, she figured leaving it on the ground where there were plenty of germs wasn't a good idea, so with effort, she pushed it back into his mouth.
Luz realized how hungry she was after all that painstaking work, so the frogs must've been as well. She walked into the kitchen, tapping her chin. She'd seen Hop Pop cook before, so surely whatever they make couldn't be too difficult. She grabbed a pot and filled it with water, heating it up. Next, she chopped up some vegetables and added a few spices.
Luckily, she was able to figure out how to make Hop Pop's soup quickly, but couldn't taste-test it herself. Oh well, if she couldn't taste, they couldn't taste either. In the corner of her eye, she saw an odd red mushroom sitting on a wooden board next to where they washed the dishes.
She picked it up and examined it before smelling it. Even with her clogged-up nose, the fumes were overbearing. She gagged. It smelled like Bessie's stable, so she decided not to use it. As the food was cooking, she poured just a bit of a healing potion she'd been storing for the past few weeks into it. It was worth a shot, but Maddie warned her that too much of it could have grave consequences.
After she finished, she called over the Plantars as she set their bowls down. They quickly drank it, their expressions unchanged for a moment. "Oh, did it… not help?"
Just then, all their faces lit up just a bit. The healing potion would hopefully provide them some temporary relief from their sickness. Polly could even open her eyes a bit now. "What did you put in this?" she asked.
"I put a bit of my healing potion into it," the human explained. "You guys will probably go back to how you were in a few hours, but at least it'll help."
Luz sat down, joining them as she ate her soup. The warm soup helped to heat up her cold, tired body. As she continued to eat, she couldn't help but feel better. This gave her the encouragement she needed to continue helping around the house and watching over the frogs.
Later that evening, while the frogs were asleep, Luz was in the basement, trying to see if there were any other potions that could treat or help with sickness. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything useful and her session was cut short. As the hour grew later, she felt the healing potion wearing off. Luz tried to fight against the fatigue but it was no use and consequently, she ended up falling asleep in the middle of her work session.
Throughout the following days, Luz quickly realized that one nasty side effect of the potion was losing a lot of energy when it wore off. But she wanted to be able to take care of the Plantars and so decided it was worth it. The healing benefits helped a lot, and she was willing to make the sacrifice if it meant the Plantars could rest and recover.
Luz continued pushing herself as much as she could, neglecting something important–getting enough rest. She hadn't slept much these past few days, putting the Plantar family first and trying to find a cure for them. While they had gradually gotten better, Luz had not.
A few more days passed, and the Plantars felt well enough to walk around on their own. Having more time to herself, Luz continued experimenting in the basement, determined to find a cure at all costs–even if her own neglect had caused bags to appear under her eyes, a sign that she desperately needed some good rest.
With the urge to take a break as her stress kept building higher and higher, she decided to head up the stairs and go to the bathroom. A quick wash should've been enough to get her back in the groove.
She washed her face with water, while feeling a lot more anxious than she usually did because of the lack of sleep. She looked in the mirror, thoughts racing through her head. Her heart beat faster as she thought about the fact she hid the box from Hop Pop, what her mother would've said, how she would get home. It started to become too much for her.
She closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing and calm down. Her paranoia flashed through her mind. She was afraid of what would happen if Hop Pop found out about her secret or her mom found out about the fact she never went to summer camp. She collapsed on the floor, making a loud thump as she had a panic attack, seeing stars in her eyes. Her vision blurred as her eyes briefly flashed blue. Before she passed out, she heard voices around her.
After a very strange and indescribable period of time, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself back in her bed. The human took a moment to realize where she was, and could barely remember what happened before she blacked out. She had absolutely no memory of what happened or how much time had passed. She was about to sit up when she felt a throbbing pain in her head.
She groaned, having had a massive headache. It had been days, or possibly more, since the four of them covered up the crops, yet she hadn't felt any better. Maybe it was because she'd been pushing herself too hard. She was so caught up in taking care of the Plantars, that she had barely looked after herself.
Just then, the basement door slowly creaked open as Sprig peeked in to check on her. When he saw that she was awake, he gasped, hopping down to see her. "Luz! You're okay!"
She rubbed her eyes, waking herself up. "What happened…?"
"You had a panic attack," he said, worried. "You've been out for around an entire day. How are you feeling?"
"Not really any better," she muttered, still struggling to keep her eyes open. "In fact, I feel worse than I did before."
"That's because you were sick too, and you pushed yourself too hard," he told her. "You need to rest."
"How are you guys feeling?" Luz asked.
"We're fine," Sprig assured her. "You've taken care of us, so now we'll take care of you."
She sighed, lying back in bed. At this point, she realized she definitely needed a long and well-deserved rest and accepted their help. "Thanks, guys. I hope I get better soon."
The frogs took shifts during the night to watch over the human, making sure she was alright. The next day, the Plantars booted up the Tindo Swap, hoping to get her to play to make her feel better, but she wasn't willing to leave her bed or do anything, so that plan was a bust.
They all tried to think of a potential solution, but so far, they couldn't think of anything other than just waiting. However, Sprig had one idea, and that was to visit Luz's close friend–Maddie. She was more experienced than the human and perhaps could've had a cure.
Thankfully, it was a sunny day outside with no more storm in sight, so they could leave the house freely. With this plan in mind, he went to Hop Pop and Polly, telling them about his idea. With no other choice, Sprig and Hop Pop headed off to her house while Polly stayed behind to watch over the human.
Since they were riding on Bessie, it didn't take very long to get there. Thankfully, he knew which days Maddie was at home and when she was at her hideout. Walking up to the door, Hop Pop knocked and waited, hearing footsteps approaching from behind it.
The door creaked open to reveal Chef Flour–Maddie's dad. The smell of pastries baking in the oven hit their noses, making the house feel inviting. "What brings you here, Hopediah?"
"We're just here to see your daughter Maddie," the old frog replied. "We need her to help with some of those magical potion things she makes."
Completely used to his daughter talking about that stuff all the time, he cleared his throat and called out to her. "Daughter! Your friend is here!"
"Is it Luz?" a voice piped in from the other side of the house. Her father simply shrugged. "Is the… pink frog Luz?" Sprig stared blankly at him when he heard this, unamused.
After they heard some shuffling, Maddie walked up to the door, gesturing for her father to go back to the kitchen. She looked to see who it was, and her eyes widened. "Sprig? What are you doing here? And why'd you bring your grandpa?"
"Well, Sprig here said you could possibly help cure sickness?" Hop Pop asked. He'd heard about Maddie from Luz, and how she taught her how to do magic in the first place.
The young sorceress narrowed her eyes. "Sickness?"
"Long story short, Luz is pretty sick," the frog boy elaborated. "It got worse after she had a panic attack."
"She what?!" Maddie said in surprise, never having expected her friend to have to deal with that. "Come inside. I'll show you to my room."
Sprig followed her, with Hop Pop reluctantly doing so as well. He looked around the house, finding it to be a nice place to live in. It was spacious and inviting. Those feelings didn't last long, however, when they entered her room upstairs.
When Maddie opened the door, there were strangely patterned carvings on her walls and ceiling. Along her shelves were random potion ingredients stored in containers. In some of them, there were limbs of dead insects and even a disembodied hand stored in a jar of clear liquid, which sent chills down Hop Pop's spine.
He was unsettled by how creepy her room was. "So, what was Luz doing before she passed out?" she asks.
"Well, she was pushing herself a little too hard," Sprig explained. "I think she also made some sort of… healing potion, I think, and added a bit to our meals."
Maddie walked over to her spell book, quickly flipping through the pages. "Healing potions? Those aren't meant to be used for sickness, but for injuries. If she had been drinking some every day, that was bad. Sure, it boosts your energy, but afterward, it not only exhausts you, but it temporarily weakens your immune system too."
"I'm not really following," Sprig said.
"Basically, if she isn't treated, she'll… Well…" Maddie clenched her fist, not needing to finish the sentence to get her point across. "Well, good thing I do have one way to do it, but it's super risky."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Hop Pop interrupted. "Luz needs our help!"
The young frog nodded, grabbing her backpack and packing it full of the essentials she'll need, including a marker, for some reason. Quickly, they left and headed back home to where Luz was.
Upon arriving, they headed through the front door. Maddie just now realized she'd actually never been inside the house before–only stopping by to deliver bread. Maddie followed the Plantars downstairs into the basement, where Luz was resting in bed, looking paler than she had when they first left.
The human slowly opened her eyes, noticing Maddie walking up to her. "M-... Maddie? What are you doing here?"
"Save your breath," the frog replied, opening her backpack and pulling out a marker. "You've been drinking too many of those healing potions, haven't you?"
Luz realized she had been caught and flashed a guilty smile at Maddie. "Oh… I thought that's what I was supposed to do."
"Those aren't for daily consumption," Maddie said sternly as she lifted up the human's shirt up a bit to reveal her stomach. She drew a sophisticated pattern on it that branched off into lines covering her body, before opening her spell book and clearing her throat. "This is an ancient healing ritual practiced by King Aldrich's servants over a thousand years ago, capable of curing any sickness. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it'll work."
She began to chant in an ancient language, with her words having been unrecognizable. The pattern on her stomach began to glow red, illuminating the room.
"So, it's as easy as that?" Sprig asked, having expected a major twist.
"To make it work will require a big sacrifice," she paused, before adding, "We'll need someone to give up half their lifespan to save Luz."
"WHAT?!" all three Plantars yelled simultaneously, shocked at this revelation. The Plantars froze in place, not knowing what to say, which made Maddie increasingly frustrated.
"Why aren't you guys saying anything?" she asked, clenching her fists. "Don't you wanna save her? If you don't do this, she won't be here for much longer!"
"But… there has to be another way!" Sprig pleaded. "I don't wanna have a shorter life, but I also don't want Luz to… not have life."
He stopped, realizing how selfish he was sounding. Sprig sighed and walked up to her with a determined expression. "Fine, then I'll do it."
Despite her frustration from before, Maddie was now visibly upset at this and didn't know what to say. Well, at least he would be able to live fifty years at most…
However, before she could continue the ritual, Hop Pop walked over, grabbing Sprig's arm. "Now, hold up, boy. I'm not about to let you do that. I've got a better idea."
He ran off to his study room before returning with a book several minutes later. He plopped it down on a table before flipping through the pages.
"Ah, here it is," he said after flipping through some pages. "I read about some mineral pond in the mountains. It said it was able to cure sicknesses like Red Leg, but it could maybe work on Luz. What do you think, Maddie?"
Maddie tapped her chin. "Well, I suppose it could be worth a shot. We still have some time. If it doesn't work, we can complete the ritual before she expires."
"The mountains…?" Luz slowly opened her eyes. "That's… dangerous. You guys don't have to do that."
"We're going, whether you like it or not," Maddie told her. "I'd say… you have eight to ten hours at most. We need to get this done quickly."
With that thought in mind, they worked together to carry Luz, wrapping her in a blanket and setting her in the wagon outside so they could ride on Bessie. The snail took off at a leisurely pace, heading toward the exit of Wartwood.
The mountains were much farther away than they thought, so it took three to four hours to get there finally. They had to stop occasionally since Luz felt dizzy at some points, so they chose to go to a nice place where there was lots of sunlight. Maddie made sure to watch closely while she asked the Plantars to gather a couple of potion ingredients while she was out there. As they finally got there, they stopped in front of a sign titled "Peak of Health".
"This must be it!" Sprig said enthusiastically. "Don't worry, Luz. We'll get you back on your feet!" She simply groaned in response. They looked up at a tall, slim mountain where the mineral pond resided.
"... Are you sure you don't wanna give up fifty years?" Polly asked. The other two just simply glared at her, and she crossed her arms. "Fine."
Without any more hesitation, they forged ahead, heading up the path. The trip was rather calm, and it was quiet outside. This made them feel on edge, as if something was going to mess with them.
"How are you doing back there, Luz?" Hop Pop asked, and she slowly opened her eyes. "Just… great…" She was fading in and out of consciousness, barely able to stay awake. Unfortunately, the path got steeper, making it more difficult for Bessie to continue forward. Luckily, the snail was just able to make it to the top.
"We're almost there!" Sprig said. In front of them was now a plateau covered with steaming geysers. One of them completely vaporized a clueless fly, emphasizing just how hot the water was.
"That's not gonna be easy to cross," Hop Pop muttered. Suddenly, a geyser burst from under the cart, demolishing the front of it. They gasped, managing to catch Luz before she hit her head.
"How are we gonna get there now?!" Maddie asked, concerned. "She's looking extremely pale!"
Luz looked at the plateau before letting out a sigh. "You guys don't have to risk your lives for this…"
"Don't say that!" Maddie replied, frustrated. "We're gonna get you to that pond, no matter what it takes. Everybody, we're gonna carry her!"
They nodded, and each of them hoisted Luz on their shoulders, running forward. Maddie was in the front, acting as the guide. "Just gotta get the timing right… NOW!" They ran forward, screaming, as they were narrowly able to avoid the geysers.
Before they reached the end, however, a geyser erupted right behind Hop Pop, very close to his back, which burned it a bit. He grunted but would worry about that later. They took a moment to breathe before cheering. They made it in one piece!
The final step was to get up the steps, which unfortunately due to their steep placement required one to hop instead of walk. They weren't sure how they were gonna get Luz up there, but they needed to think of something quickly.
"Maybe you can launch her up there with one of your potions?" Polly suggested.
"That's too risky," Maddie replied. "If it misses, she will fall and…. Splat. Someone needs to carry her. We can't all do it at once."
"I'll take care of it," Hop Pop chimed in, picking up Luz and carrying her over his back with less difficulty than he expected. She was surprisingly light, but it didn't make things much easier. He crouched before yelling and hopping up as high as he could, skipping a few steps.
His legs were aching, but he felt the tradeoff was worth it. The other three followed him and, after a lot of struggle, sweat, pain, and tears, they finally made it to the top of the mountain. The old frog collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.
Quickly, the other two lifted Luz up and carried her over to the spring water, gently setting her down in it. The human closed her eyes, the cold water having felt refreshing. They waited and got worried when it seemed that nothing was happening.
Thankfully, the color began to return to her face as she opened her eyes, her illness disappearing. Her vision cleared, and she felt awake again. She took a deep breath, sitting up in the water.
Sprig cheered and Maddie smiled widely, glad to see their close friend was safe. They hugged her, with Luz still rapidly blinking, trying to understand what was going on here, then her memory came back to her. "You guys… saved me…"
Her lips trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. She cried, hugging the two frogs close. "I-I thought I was a goner."
"So the story was true," Hop Pop chimed in, finally recovering himself. "This spring water really can cure sickness!"
Luz scooped up some of the water in her hands, taking a close look at it. "It looks like ordinary water, for the most part."
Maddie also examined it before bottling it up. "I'll have to study it when I get home. It could be a naturally created potion–a one-of-a-kind phenomenon."
"Well, I'm glad you're back to normal," the old frog said, placing a hand on the human's shoulder. "Now, let's go back home, shall we?"
She sighed, looking down into the water. "I'm sorry, guys. I was so focused on helping you that I barely thought about myself."
"What matters now is that you're okay now," Maddie told her. "I'm not mad, though. Just think of this as an important lesson."
Luz nodded, knowing she had to be more careful and less reckless with her potions. Otherwise, next time, she might not be so lucky. After this entire ordeal, they decided they wanted to go home and treat Hop Pop's burns.
Ever since the incident with the sickness and nearly dying, Luz had been a lot more cautious when it came to experimenting with her potions. She had gained a new appreciation for how they worked and realized that, if used improperly, they could be dangerous. Today, however, she had decided to take a break from that kind of stuff and sat in the living room with the Plantars helping them with a project. They were sitting around a short wooden table, putting together a family shrub portrait of their other relatives. She squeezed a bit of glue onto the branch before sticking a small portrait on it of an older frog not too dissimilar from Hop Pop.
Next to them, Hop Pop had his head buried in a book about the Plantar family history. As Luz glued another sticker on, she said, "In my world, we actually call this a family tree instead of a shrub."
"That's 'cause everyone in your world is crazy," the old frog replied, glancing at her before he looked back at the book. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes, Great Aunt Gertrude." He looked at a photo of an elderly blue frog holding a rake. "She was a masterful dirt tiller. I mean, how cool is that?"
Sprig and Polly grimaced while Luz grinned, curious about this family's history. "That's pretty cool. I guess the Plantars were always farmers."
"But of course!" Hop Pop smiled. "I'm glad you can appreciate it as much as I do."
He flipped the page, stumbling upon another relative he almost forgot to mention. "Oh, and you can't forget second cousin Alfred. He was the king!" He showed the picture to them, and the three kids gasped.
"He was the king of Amphibia?!" Luz's eyes widened. "How come I never heard of him?"
"Yeah!" the old frog said, before clarifying, "The king of single-tiered irrigation systems."
Sprig and Polly groaned in disappointment while Luz raised an eyebrow. "So, not that kind of king. If the Plantar family history goes back a long way, how old is this house then?"
"That's a good question," Hop Pop noted, flipping through the pages to the beginning of the book. "Hmmm… There's hardly any information here, but it does mention somebody by the name of… Leaf? Leaf Plantar. Huh… I can barely make out anything. Could be a few hundred years old. Only detail is she was the first Plantar to settle in Wartwood."
Polly groaned. "How is this appealing to you, Luz? Our ancestors were boring!"
"Were they really all just farm frogs?" Sprig added. "Where are the artists? The poets? The dreamers?"
"Just farm frogs?" Hop Pop's eye twitched, getting a little irritated. "Kids, the point of the shrub is to give you an appreciation for your past. The Plantar family has layers. You just have to know where to look."
"I'm sure some of them chose to not be farmers," Luz said. "Everybody is different. They have different dreams."
"You could be right, but this book's all about farmin'," Hop Pop told her, trying to squeeze out some glue onto a wooden chip, but realized it's empty. "Uh-oh, looks like we're out of glue!"
"Does that mean we have to stop?" Sprig asked optimistically, not wanting any more part in this.
"Can we do something fun now?" Polly added.
"No fun till the shrub's done," Hop Pop replied, walking up to the front door. "Just gonna run to the store real quick and get more glue. Be back in a jiffy." He opened the door and walked outside, humming to himself. Right before he closed the door, he peeked in. "Don't go anywhere!" he ordered, slamming it shut.
Polly scoffed after he was gone. "You're lucky you're an outsider, Luz. Our family history is weak!"
"You shouldn't undermine them like that," Luz told them. "Besides, farming's cool. You should at least read the book for yourself. My family has a history too. My mama immigrated to the U.S., which is a country back at my home." She opened her mouth to say a comment about her dad, but nothing came out.
"But our family didn't do anything weird. Or different. Or fun," Sprig protested, before hopping over to the top of the fireplace in front of an old framed photo of two elderly frogs. "I mean, look at this. Even this painting's making me feel depressed." He leaned his hand on it, before a small rectangle-shaped section pushed in, revealing it to be a switch. "What the? Whoa!"
The portrait tipped over, before the shelf he was standing on slanted, making him fall off. They all watch in surprise while Polly yelled, "Sprig! You broke the house!"
Luz gasped as the fireplace rose, with a stone brick wall behind it sliding open to reveal a long underground passageway to Frog-knows-where. They cautiously approached it, seeing a set of stairs going down. "Whoa…"
Luz stared down into the dark tunnel, her eyes wide. "Either this has been here for a long time, or Hop Pop's hiding secrets from us. Well, regardless, I wanna see them!"
"There could be treasure!" Sprig said, getting excited.
"Or dead bodies!" Polly added out of nowhere. Her priorities have been clearly out of line. "Let's do it!"
Without waiting any longer, Luz grabbed a lantern, and they cautiously headed down the secret passageway. Unexpectedly, the entrance shut behind them, scaring them. "Uh, did we just get locked in here?" Sprig asked.
They ran up to the sealed door, with Sprig yelling and banging his fists on it to try to get help, but Luz placed a hand on his shoulder. "Relax. I got potions, remember? We'll find a way out."
"Yeah, what she said!" Polly agreed, so they continued on, doing their best to avoid cobwebs in the way. The human had to crouch because this tunnel was clearly made with frogs in mind, which made it more difficult to traverse.
After going down a bit further, they found themselves in a worn-down chamber. In the other corner of the room was a shelf of jars filled with different mysterious plants, body parts, and liquids. In the middle was a wooden press with a lever next to it. Luz grimaced at the sight, hoping it wasn't for torture.
Regardless, it all mesmerized her, especially Sprig. "This place is amazing!" he said, taking a closer look at the jars on the shelf. "Whoa!"
Next, he climbed on the press and pulled the lever, which shot the press into the air, sending him flying. He fell upside down and grunted before laughing it off. Even a fancy drawing of the word, "Science!" amazed him. Luz watched him, amused by his eagerness.
"Hey, why do you think the entrance was hidden like that?" Polly asked, examining a jar in her hand half-filled with what looked to be soil.
"To keep it a secret, obviously," Sprig replied, holding a small stack of papers. "Who wouldn't want to steal this stuff?"
"We probably shouldn't do that," the human said. "This stuff has to be left down here for a reason."
Ignoring her, the frog boy continued reading the papers. "It says here this place belonged to Great Uncle Skip Plantar." Luz walked over curiously, holding Polly in her hands.
"He was a farmer and a brilliant scientist!" Sprig continued, showing them an illustration of said frog. "He experimented with all kinds of stuff. This is wild. I wanna know more! Like, what does this do?"
"Wait!" Luz tried to stop him, but he reached above the table and pulled a lever chained to the ceiling, making a rumbling sound. They looked over to see a metal gate being opened, only seeing darkness behind it.
The human shuddered a bit as she saw two clawed feet made of entangled vines step forward, cracking the ground, then a giant white pumpkin head poked its face out, growling. Green slime was dripping from its mouth and it had a large orange leaf protruding from the top of its head.
They stared at it in shock, standing completely still. "Whoa…"
"Maybe it's harmless," Sprig whispered to the others. Unfortunately, it appeared to be rather hostile. It roared, sending green goo flying on their faces. They all screamed in response, terrified of what it was going to do.
Meanwhile, at the Grub n Go, Hop Pop was pulling his shopping cart through the aisles, specifically the glue section. "My, my, so many glues to choose from," he remarked as he approached a section labeled 'Yolk of the Maggot'.
"This is gonna be a little difficult…" he muttered to himself as he grabbed one of the glue bottles on the shelf and examined it, not noticing a blue face peeking behind the bottles.
"Hey, Hopediah!" Loggle greeted him, which caused Hop Pop to scream and fall down in an over-the-top manner.
"What brings you here?" he continued asking as he peeked out of the shelf, his full body in view.
Hop Pop screamed in a panic as he was still knocked down, and uncomfortably leaning so far back as to expose his posterior. He recomposed himself as he sat in a more comfortable way. "Oh, hey, Loggle. Just trying to find some glue to put my family shrub together."
"Oh, Hop Pop," Loggle replied. "All you need for that… is this," he explained as he anticlimactically put both hands over his heart.
His words moved Hop Pop, and the old frog started to tear up visibly, his eyes watering. "Dang it, you're right. In the end, it's all about love."
Loggle was slightly confused by this. "What? No, I meant you need this," he clarified as he pulled out a small glue labeled 'Wart Slug Glue' and held it high up in the sky. "Nothing stronger!"
"This stuff will fix your shrub. Heck, it'll fix your house!" Loggle told him rather enthusiastically.
Loggle held out the glue for Hop Pop to grab, and as he examined it, he was quite fascinated by it. "Hmm, intriguing. Yet another choice." He stopped looking at the glue, and as he looked up, he came to a realization. "Looks like my day just got a lot more challenging."
The pumpkin monster rampaged across the chamber, knocking over jars and clumsily bumping into walls. Luz, Sprig, and Polly were hiding behind an overturned table.
"What is that thing?" Luz whispered before remembering the papers Sprig showed them earlier. "Wait, that Skip guy you were talking about… He must've made it!"
"This abomination must be destroyed!" Polly demanded, but Sprig stopped her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute. There may be another way."
Without warning, he hopped over the table, running toward the monster. Luz and Polly watched from behind, concerned for his safety.
"Sprig, stop!" Luz yelled, reaching down to grab a small tied-up bag just in case she needed to fight it.
"Yeah, that pumpkin will squash you!" the tadpole said.
The frog boy approached the monster, which noticed him, and growled. In response, Sprig raised his hands, speaking in a calm tone, "There, there. Easy does it."
It snarled, ready to attack, but he hugged it and stroked it to calm it down. "There, there, you beautiful, disgusting thing." Unexpectedly, the beast relaxed and leaned in, smiling and drooling on him. Luz and Polly watched this, not knowing how or what to feel.
"Ah, I got it!" Luz said. "This must be a dream. No way this is happening, right?"
"I wish," Polly muttered.
"That's right," Sprig shushed the beast, as it chuckled in a deep voice. "Mama Sprig is here. Oh, you horrible, horrible, sweet boy. Forgive me."
Suddenly, he spun the monster around, catching it off guard, kicked it back into its enclosure, lept up, and closed the gate.
Walking up to him, Polly was impressed. "Dude… That was ice cold!"
"Love is the cruelest weapon," Sprig replied. Luz preferred not to think about what just happened. That thing seemed to have been down here a very long time, so she felt a little bad for it, but it was for the best not to let that thing out. "I think I've had enough of this dungeon for now. I don't think I wanna know what else this place has in store."
Before they could move, however, the ground under them suddenly collapsed, sending them falling down to the floor below it. Thankfully, it wasn't a long drop, so nobody was hurt. They ended up in another chamber different from the one above.
The human groaned, sitting up as she brushed herself off. "Well, that happened. Where are we now?"
Sprig shrugged before their lantern hit his head from above, bouncing and heading toward Polly, who caught it. "Oh, cool, our lantern."
Then they noticed the place was filled to the brim with weapons such as swords, clubs, axes, and more. They looked around in awe, especially Polly, who hopped forward to take a closer look. "This is heaven," she said, her eyes full of wonder.
She turned and gasped to see a portrait of Polli Anna–one of the frogs from the family shrub they were working on. She went up to it, realizing this figure looked familiar, then it clicked with her. "This is the same Polli Anna from Hop Pop's shrub!"
"Hey, check it out," Sprig told them, picking up a book from a bit of rubble and showing it to Luz. "I found her diary."
Luz flipped through the pages, curious to know more. Why such an extensive part of the Plantars' history was hidden was a big mystery to her. The diary went into detail about Polli Anna's life, especially the battles she took part in. "Wow, this is really cool."
"Right?!" Polly agreed. "She was the coolest, most terrifying Plantar ever! Like me!"
"Wow, we sure are learning a lot!" Sprig added eagerly. "I'd like to learn more! Like hey, what does this do?"
He ran over to another lever chained to the ceiling and pulled it. This time, Luz immediately stepped away just in case another pumpkin beast or something else came out of somewhere. Instead, some frog-shaped knight armor holding an axe behind him started to move, attempting to chop him, which he was narrowly able to dodge.
The rest of the armor sets on display also began swinging their axes in the path to the exit, with spears coming from the ceiling and two giant wooden hammers clashing together, followed by saw-blades.
"This must be how she trained!" Luz said in awe, keeping a good distance from the equipment. "Also… Sprig, you really should be more careful."
"But levers are for pulling, Luz!" he argued, before dodging a spiked ball coming in from the side. "So you said this is how she trained? It looks more like a death trap to me."
To confirm her theory, Luz flipped through some more pages, finding the information she was looking for. "Yep, it's a training simulator."
"Look out!' Sprig yelled, grabbing her and forcing her to duck just as arrows flew by. "Okay, how do we turn it off?" he asked.
"To do that, we'll need to reach the other side," Luz said, sweating nervously as she pointed to it. The only problem was that the lethal equipment was in the way, and she wasn't about to traverse it herself.
"Okay, we can do this," Sprig assured her. "We just gotta go very slowly-"
Suddenly, Polly let out a battle cry, swinging a spiked ball around as she charged right in, terrifying the other two. Luz was about to rush in to save her, but shockingly, it seemed the tadpole had the situation under control.
Impressively, she hopped around, swinging her ball chain to destroy the armor sets. She was having the time of her life, and it showed in her crazy expression. Luz and Sprig watched, mouths agape, as Polly then simply went up to the lever, switching it off with the spiked ball.
"That was possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen," Luz muttered in awe. "I'm glad I'm not your enemy."
"So, you guys wanna do it again?" the tadpole asked them, sounding a little exhausted. but they did not want to risk their lives again, Sprig immediately picked her up, and the two headed into the next room.
Near the checkout section of the Grub 'n' Go, Hop Pop was carrying a ton of glue bottles, all wrapped around his arms, and surprisingly, he wasn't struggling with them. "You know what? I'll just buy all of them," he said out loud as he approached the checkout counter, just about to lay them on the shelf. "You can never have too much glue, I always say."
"Good choice!" Loggle suddenly shouted as he popped up from under the counter, startling Hop Pop yet again. The old frog screamed as he collapsed to the ground, and since he was carrying all that glue, they all fell with him.
Hop Pop lay in agony on the ground, completely covered in a pale yellow sticky substance that extended all around him. With his senses all impaired in some way or another, he screamed as he frantically ran across the floor, looking for anything to stop his predicament. "Glue! Everywhere! Need water!" he shouted as he found a container with lots of liquid labeled 'Slug Saliva'.
Seeing all that liquid, he immediately assumed it was safe to use, so he dunked his head into it, letting it slather all over him. Unfortunately, it was too late for him to hear Loggle shouting back from the counter. "Hop Pop, no! That's more glue!"
In total panic, the old frog got out of the saliva and continued running all around the area, not being able to see anymore and running out of pure instinct. He only got so far before he inevitably crashed into something, which, unfortunately, happened to be the glue aisle…
The bottles all fell from their shelves and onto Hop Pop, crashing and causing their contents to spill all over the floor, and especially all over him. For a few seconds, everything seemed unusually quiet, as at first there appeared to be nothing more than lots of creamy sticky goo and shard fragments.
Everything began to rattle before Hop Pop suddenly emerged from the mess, completely covered in all kinds of glue, all sticking onto his body in a way that resembled an otherworldly monster. "Loggle! Help me!" he pleaded as he reached out his arms and slowly attempted to crawl ahead.
The sight made up all of Loggle's worst nightmares and then some. "No. NOOOOOO!" he screamed as his eyes opened wide, a rarity for him.
Sprig and Polly continued down the long corridor, with Luz following them while holding the lantern. Their next destination was what looked like a study room. Luz headed down the steps to take a closer look at the piles of boxes and realized they were… board games and puzzles?
"This is amazing!" Luz said, eagerly checking everything out. "I like this person's taste. I wonder who could've done all this…"
She approached the two siblings, who were curiously looking through a book they found in the corner of the room. She grabbed another book from the small pile, opened it, and began reading. "Wait… this is…" she gasped. "Emma the Newt?! She's an honorary Plantar. I need to know more!"
She skipped some pages until she found more info about her. "She was a traveler who collected all this stuff! I bet a lot of it came from Newtopia. And then she came here to settle down."
"Wow, so cool!" Sprig said, and Luz started to feel a bit emotional. In a way, this newt reminded the human of herself. The Plantars took her in, despite her not being like them. Hop Pop even tried to adopt her a little while back, but she definitely wasn't gonna just leave her mom behind. "Maybe… I can be an honorary Plantar, too!"
"Oh, Luz, you solved the puzzle…" Sprig said, having similar feelings. "... of your own heart."
The human smiled before closing the book and getting up. "Alright, we gotta go back down here sometime. There are way too many awesome things to just leave down here. I think I'm ready to go now, though."
With that thought in mind, she walked forward, with the other two following her. She approached the supposed exit, which was a tall door made up of several cubic stones, some in various colors, and others slightly peeking out over the rest, with others even having shapes like circles and diamonds carved into them.
Sprig's first thought was to push it open, but it didn't budge. "Well, it's locked."
Luz tried to think of a way to solve it while Polly leaped up, suggesting, "Well, maybe I could smash it! Hi-yah!" She yelled as she swung her spiked ball toward the door, but it bounced back pathetically, with no effect. "Well, that didn't work."
"We're gonna die down here!" Sprig yelled in a panic, but Luz waved her hand. "We'll find a way out of this, but…"
She walked up to the colored stones, taking a closer look at them. "This might be some kind of puzzle, but I don't know how to solve it."
She tried rearranging the stones in different patterns, but nothing seemed to happen. "Well, I think I played a game like this, but… there has to be a twist. I've seen enough movies to know where this is going."
Luz slowly looked up to see spikes attached to the ceiling. "Yep, that checks out. Alright, we're gonna find another way out of this."
The human gestured for the other two to stand back, which they did. She pulled out a tied-up bag and winded her arm back before throwing it at the exit. Immediately, an explosion erupted, knocking her off her feet. "Oof!"
Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect of what she wanted. The explosion caused a crack in the wall, resulting in some of the colored stones being destroyed. It also triggered a mechanism that caused the spike ceiling to begin to descend. Luz, Polly, and Sprig looked up at the ceiling and then at each other as they realized they were trapped.
Luz began to panic, instantly regretting her decision to destroy the puzzle. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't complete it now. "Uh oh…"
"Luz, what did you do?!" Polly yelled. Luz quickly tried to think of a solution, so she pulled out another tied-up bag and threw it at the door. The bag exploded with green flames spreading from it, but it didn't do anything helpful.
Sprig grabbed Polly, dodging board games that were falling from above. "Luz, no pressure, but we're gonna die!"
"I-I don't know what to do!" Luz yelled, scared for her life. She threw the rest of the explosives, but they weren't enough to destroy the wall. "No! No, no, no!"
She felt the ceiling press against the top of her head, knocking her down. All three of them tried to stop it from moving with their arms and legs, but it continued to sink lower, crushing them. There was no escape, and Luz began to fear that this might be how she'll die. As her arms lost the battle against the unstoppable force, she could only hear her heartbeat. She couldn't die here. She would not die here.
She looked over at Sprig, who was quickly running out of room and would no doubt be squished in a few more seconds. Sprig had become so close to Luz over her time in Amphibia, and she would do anything to protect him. Seeing him in danger seemed to awaken something inside her, and suddenly, something clicked. Her eyes flashed a light blue as she let out a fierce yell.
Luz pushed with all her strength and managed to stop the spiked wall from coming down any further, saving Sprig and Polly's lives. She began pushing it back up, much to the amazement of the Plantars. She felt this new burst of energy fading rapidly, so she winded back her foot and kicked the exit with just enough force to break it.
"GO!" she commanded. Sprig and Polly slipped out the exit, and Luz followed them, feeling exhausted as the sudden burst of strength she had just experienced seemed to fade away. The three of them took deep breaths, trying to process what had just happened.
"I didn't know humans were that strong!" Polly told Luz, having been the first one to speak up. "That was so cool!"
Luz rubbed her aching arms, realizing the feat of strength she just did. How did I do that? she wondered. That is beyond human strength. There's no way that's possible.
Finally regaining her composure, Luz decided to not think about it too much and stood up. "Alright, I've had enough near-death experiences in one week to last a lifetime. At least we got to learn more about your family's history."
"Yeah, it was pretty cool," the tadpole agreed. "Now, can we finally find a way out of here?"
"Yeah!" Sprig said, getting up and noticing yet another lever above them. "And I think I know how…"
Before he could even try anything, Luz grabbed his arm, narrowing her eyes at him. He took the message, immediately shutting his mouth as they finally made their way back to the surface.
A little while later, Hop Pop opened the front door, still covered in some glue. He looked miserable and was already done with today. He pulled a wad of glue off his eyelid before hearing footsteps coming from toward the clock, for some reason.
The clock spun around as the three kids came out of the gap, relieved to see the light of day again finally.
"Oh, there you are, Hop Pop," Luz said, wiping the sweat from her face. "So… quick question… You didn't know about that dungeon, did you?"
"Eh? Dungeon?" the old frog raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'dungeon'? Are you calling this house a dungeon?"
"Well… Kinda?" Luz walked over to the fireplace and pressed her hand on the portrait above it, revealing the secret tunnel once more. This absolutely flabbergasted Hop Pop, who slowly walked up to it, barely believing it's real. "What is this supposed to be?"
"It was full of weird science experiments, weapons, death traps, family heirlooms…" the human listed off some of the stuff they encountered. "Whatever you do, don't open the gate."
"Secret rooms? Full of Plantar family heirlooms? Why, this is incredible!" the old frog said excitedly. "And most importantly, once again, I was right!"
"Our ancestors were the most amazing scientist, warrior, farmers ever!" Polly told him, as all three of them rushed over to the family shrub portrait and jotted down notes on it.
"Everyone needs to know!" Sprig added.
"Well, I want to see these rooms, too!" Hop Pop said, and Luz shuddered at this. "Well… Whatever you do, don't take the exit, and no pulling levers."
"Oh, and there was a pumpkin abomination! A real affront to nature," Sprig also added. "I loved it! And then betrayed it." He said that last sentence in a menacing tone.
"No offense, but I'm not sure you could handle it," Polly told the old frog, who scoffed. "You have no idea what I can or can't handle," he said. "What do you say, Loggle? Up for another adventure?"
He turned around to reveal Leopold Loggle was glued to his back the entire time, who replied, "Absolutely… NOT!" He yelled that last bit as Hop Pop rushed down the corridor, taking the poor woodsmith with him.
"I hope he remembers my warnings," the human muttered, but then they heard the roar of the pumpkin monster down below, followed by the screams of a panicking Hop Pop and Loggle.
"Should we go help them?" Sprig asked the other two.
"Yeah, probably," Polly replied, rolling her eyes as she pulled out the spiked ball again, swinging it around as they headed toward the fireplace.
"Oh, oh, let's adopt that pumpkin monster!" Sprig said, and Luz winced. "I'd prefer it if we don't."
As the frogs ran down the corridor once again, Luz stopped and looked down at her hands, contemplating what happened earlier. She didn't know why she had a surge of strength like that one, but maybe sometime she should look into it. Her only guess was one of her failed potions caused an unexpected side effect.
To Be Continued in Chapter Eighteen
As you may have noticed, the writing style from now on is changing to use past tenses instead of present tenses, so it's more proper and has a better flow. After posting this chapter, we will be replacing all existing chapters with revised versions we recently made to account for this change. I also took the liberty of running through all of them alongside my co-writer and fixing many mistakes left in, especially the Prologue.
Also, special thanks to ChampionElCid, a friend of mine, for helping us improve this chapter! Please be sure to read their Owl and The Frog story!
P.S., "Leaf" was an intentional misspelling. I know how it's actually spelled, haha.
~ Scruffy