Return to Amphibia Chapter 8
Ten Years Ago.
It was strange being back on the world she used to call home.
They had arrived in the playground where they had opened the box all those months ago, Anne of course called her parents who were instantly on their way to pick the girls up, eventually, Anne's parents arrived, followed by some of Anne's new friends, Marcy hadn't been surprised by the latter, It was Anne of course she'd make new friends, (Better friends.)
The men in suits however were a surprise.
They were bundled into a van and driven to a nearby military base, Sasha of course complained about this, but Anne was able to calm her down, Marcy just accepted it.
After a few hours of talking to the bald man in a purple suit the girls were free to go, On the way back to L.A. Mrs Boonchuy told Marcy that her parents were still flying in from across the country.
To that, she just silently nodded.
Arriving at Anne's home, they were shocked to see Sasha's parents were already there. The Waybright's ran to their daughter and hugged her, the look on Sasha's face was one of discomfort, they then took their daughter away, only after checking up on Anne and herself.
She didn't ignore the glares the Waybrights gave to the Boonchuys.
That night, Anne and Marcy spent the night sleeping in the same room, Anne checked up on her several times, Marcy was able to convince her she was fine.
She spent the majority of the next morning trying to keep calm, she was wearing some clothes borrowed from Anne, just waiting for her parents to arrive.
After seven months, she had no idea how to deal with this.
Before that day she had loved her parents, Her mother had always encouraged her to enjoy her hobbies despite not understanding them, her father however was a workaholic and always encouraged her to study, despite that though they were good to her.
Then came that day, and instead of her parents, they became two people who were trying to ruin her life.
During her time in Amphibia she barely thought of them, and why would she? She and a new dad, someone who believed in her, someone who encouraged her?
She had a new family, one that accepted her for who she was.
Then came the day it all fell apart.
The day the man she had come to see as her new father revealed his true colors, only briefly did Marcy think about her parents, about how right now she would have loved to apologize right now.
In her last moments of consciousness, she thought about them and all the others she had wronged.
"I'm sorry"
The next morning at 10 o'clock, there was a knock on the door
Mrs Boonchuy opened the door, Standing there were her parents, her father still had his sensible haircut, he was wearing a white t-shirt and brown pants, her mother looked older, brown short hair, she was wearing a pink dress and a Green cardigan.
Before she could say anything, her mother rushed over (Pushing past Mr Boonchuy) to hug her.
She said the things that any mother would say after almost losing their child.
It was her father's reaction that she focused on.
He just stood by the door frame, like a vampire afraid to pass the Boonchuys threshold, like he had no desire to pass into somewhere he didn't belong.
Marcy couldn't blame him for that, he could probably see himself for what she was.
A cruel, selfish child who had endangered two worlds.
After Marcy said goodbye to the Boonchuys, they drove back to the hotel Mr. X had put them up in, it was a four-star hotel, "A nice little gesture from your government," he said.
Marcy's mother tried to treat this like a vacation her offer to go tour around their home one last time, To which Marcy turned her down,
Her father however didn't, he just kept quiet, only trying to ask Marcy how she was doing occasionally.
She hadn't told them about Amphibia yet, all the things she had done, all the mistakes she had made, all the harm because she was selfish.
During this time she had started to draw, It had started with a small drawing of Joe Sparrow, then of Olivia and Yunan.
Eventually, she almost everyone she had known in Amphibia.
Then on her third day in the hotel, She drew herself.
She could have drawn herself when she took down that cult, or the time she reunited with Anne
Instead, it was the moment Andrias stabbed her.
It was a moment that reminded her of just how awful she had been, part of her wished she was back there, in that one moment where she paid for her crimes.
"Marcy?" said a voice from behind her
Her blood froze, she turned to see her father standing above her, with a shocked expression on his face.
She packed up the paper and screwed it into a ball, and started to run to the bathroom.
"Marcy," her father barked, "What is this?"
She froze, a part of her wanted to run to avoid this, to hope this would never come up again.
However, another part knew that was her chance for someone to finally for someone to finally just say what she wanted them to say.
To call her a monster for all she had done.
"It's what happened to me in Amphibia." she said cheerfully.
Her father expression changed to shock.
"What?" said her father.
"That was Andrias, he manipulated me into helping him into helping out with the invasion. I guess I wanted a father figure who would listen to me, so I went to him, and then he stabbed me with a laser sword. "
"Marcy, I…"
"I mean when you get down to it anyone could have seen it was a trick, I mean a mythical king who told me I was amazing that I could fix things, That I could be the hero I always wanted from stupid anime and stupid books, Hell anyone could have seen that was a huge red flag."
"I…" said her father, clearly trying to tell her how awful she was.
"Hell that's nothing really, Did you know I trapped my best friends in that dimension because I was too scared to lose them, Heck If we get down to it, I'm responsible for the invasion, hundreds of dollars in damage, Destroying the Hollywood sign, Betraying all of humanity and ruining all of Amphibia, I should be in jail right now."
She started to laugh, "I might just be the worst human being in the world."
The look on her father's face was one of horror, He understood how much of a monster she was.
That's when he hugged her.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." he said, his voice barely audible, "This is all my fault.
"No," she said, pushing him away from her, "Didn't you just hear me?"
"IT'S. MY. FAULT." She yelled, hoping if anyone one would finally blame her, it would be him.
It was the sad look on her father's face that broke her.
After everything, he still loved her.
She couldn't stand to look at someone she hurt anymore, she fell to her knees, closed her eyes and wept.
Despite being lost in her guilt, she felt two strong arms wrapping around her.
"Why won't anyone blame me, it's all…"
"If I ran after you, none of this would have happened." Said her father, sounding like he was on the edge of tears.
Marcy opened her eyes, her father was crying.
"No it…"
"Your mother begged for us to go after you, But I told her that you were just being a teenager, that it would work out for the best."
"I-"
"For seven months I wanted her to tell me how I was the one who lost you, but she said nothing."
Marcy looked at her father and saw the guilt in his eyes, tears flowing from his eyes, for years she had known him as a man who had never really shared any of her interests, a man who was far more interested in work than anything else, now here he was holding on to her and crying.
And he was talking about how he was the monster.
"I'm sorry," she cried, she held her father burying herself deep into his shoulder, he held on tighter hoping to never let her go again.
The two held on to each other for a while, both trying to comfort the other.
When Marcy's mother returned later that evening. She told her parents what happened in Amphibia from the moment she arrived to the moment she left, the adventures, the friends, the pain, she told them the exciting bits and got them to laugh at the moments she found funny, she told them of Andrias manipulation, and how he had transformed her into a host for something truly evil.
After she finished, they held her, They toppled that it wasn't her fault and that despite everything they loved her, and they would help her through this.
And for the first time in a long, long while, Marcy felt like she was home.
…
"Where did I leave it?" asked Marcy to herself, she was currently standing in her shirt and jeans looking around the room, desperately searching for her tablet.
"Okay, try and remember what you did with it yesterday," she said to herself. "You had dinner with Olivia and Yunan, following that you went outside to draw, you brought it back home after that, and then you went to bed, You undressed and then…"
All of a sudden it came to her, she rushed over to the antique chair in the corner, on the cushion there was her jacket wrapped around something, unwrapping it she found her phone and Tablet there, still safe.
She let out a breath of relief.
"Thank frog,"
Slipping on her jacket Marcy was fully dressed, she turned on her tablet, and went to the Art studio, she opened up a photo of the map she took yesterday.
The map was covered in marks of various different colors, Red covered the town and some of the outskirts, that was the places her target never visited, Yellow, what was near Polly warehouse, was areas he might be, and The Green with took up a lot of the areas on the edge of town, those few places that hadn't been headed since desolation, the places that he was seeding.
She felt a pang of guilt for that, she tried to remind herself that it was the core that did it.
"Okay, So with what I gathered from the town and the Yunan's I've narrowed down my search quite a bit." she said to no one yet again
She opened the room and walked downstairs, she could hear a conversation between three Amphibians.
"...and after that I'll come home." she heard an unfamiliar voice say.
"Just be careful," Said the concerned voice of Olivia
"She doesn't need to be careful," said the boisterous voice of Yunan, "She's our daughter she'll fine, When I was her age I was already training to be…"
"See you later Mom's" said the unfamiliar voice.
All of a sudden, something shot out of the room and collided with Marcy's leg, it only pushed her back slightly
Laying on the floor was a frog girl with blue skin, covered in the black spots. She was wearing a purple dress, her neat auburn hair was still in a bun.
To her side was a basket laying upright, its contents had thankfully still remained inside.
Marcy knelt and offered her hand, "Are you okay, Kiddo?"
The Frog quickly stood up, shot the woman a quick glare, picked up the basket and rush past Marcy.
The human watched her frog namesake rush off, opening the dining room door, she saw the two Newts sitting there.
"Morning." said Marcy politely.
"Morning, Marcy." said Yunan.
Lady Olivia looked at her with what some would consider disgust, "Marcy, do you have any other clothes?"
The webcomic artist looked down at her clothes, she took a brief sniff.
Her nose was instantly full of the smell of sweat.
"Ugh," she said pulling a face, "I might need something cleaner to wear."
"Well, we could help you, We could arrange for some clothes to be made for you at tailors." suggest Olivia.
"No, I can't, I…"
"That's not a friendly offer, Marcy," said Olivia sternly, "you're starting to smell."
Marcy laughed a little, "Yeah, Okay." she said
She then say down, "I bumped into your daughter as she left, Well she bumped into me."
"Oh, Yes, she's busy visiting a friend." replied Yunan.
"Huh, she doesn't seem particular friendly" muttered Marcy.
She felt the glares from both Yunan and Olivia.
Marcy threw her hands up, "I'm sorry, that was rude, It's just I think she hates me."
She expected more glares from the parents, but Olivia nodded, "She can be a bit… difficult."
"She's recently gotten a bit of a know-it-all steak," said Yunan, "But at least she talks to others now, before that it was just us, Lucian and Sprig."
"Can I ask a question?" asked Marcy, "When did you adopt her?"
"Well around nine years ago." replied Olivia.
"But we found her before then." said Yunan casually.
"What do you mean "found her?"" asked Marcy.
A sullen look appeared on Olivia's face, "We found her, the day after you left, During a walk together."
"Maybe we shouldn't tell this story to her, dear." said Yunan.
"Wait, she out in the woods, why?"
"There was a kart, turned over, some robots were standing by it, they were just standing there, they were deactivated… but not soon enough "
Yunan looked at her wife and sighed, "We found two bodies, her parents"
"Marcy was still being held by her mother, You should have heard her cry." said Olivia weakly.
"We took her to an orphanage, we visited her and kind of enjoyed looking after her, so after getting married we decided to adopt her."
Marcy sat there listening to their story and sighed, "So I guess we know the reason she hates me."
"Marcy," said Yunan worried.
"I'm responsible for her losing her parents and…"
"We're her parents, Marcy," shot back Olivia defensively.
"I know, but her biological parents…"
"The Core was responsible for that, you have nothing to do with it." responded Olivia.
At that moment, Marcy was surprised just how much Olivia sounded like her own parents, how they kept her together after returning to earth.
She nodded, not really believing it but ultimately just putting on an act, "You're right, I should go, I have to find Andrias today."
She picked up some toast and walked out the door.
Olivia and Yunan looked at each other.
"Should we have told her?"
"About Marcy and Andrias? No, not yet."
…
Marcy Wu had only walked for five minutes when she heard her stomach growl, it was then she remembered she had forgotten to have breakfast, she sighed, at least she had remembered she had forgotten to eat this time.
She could go back to the Yunan's house, however… another thought entered her head, another friend from Amphibia who she needed to visit, she smiled and changed direction to Wartwood.
She was in the mood for a pastry, and maybe a curse.
…
Marcy Yunan was walking through the town carrying her basket, she waved back to anyone who greeted her, she popped into a few shops to do some browsing. She was just on the outskirts when someone shouted to her.
"Marcy," said a voice full of excitable energy.
She turned to see a toad boy running towards her, It was her best friend, Lucian.
Theirs was an odd friendship, he worshiped the heroes of Amphibia and always lived for adventure, she on the other hand was skeptical, she questioned things, she wondered just what the old Amphibia was like before the humans.
From that alone they shouldn't be friends, logically it didn't work.
Marcy however didn't care, Lucian was loyal and always by her side when needed someone to talk to, he was kind and would always help her despite their arguments.
"Hey Lucian, What are you doing today?"
I'm waiting for Max to show up." He said excitedly.
"Of course," said Marcy sarcastically.
She had only known the human for a day, but she already disliked him, he had tricked her into pulling a prank and seemed to have Lucian (And Nicole) wrapped around his finger.
"He's going to show me his phone later, you know that thing Sprig has, and then I'm going to help him with…"
"That's great," said Marcy interrupting him, she knew it was rude, but she also knew that if she let him talk he'd go on forever.
"You staying?" Lucian asked nicely
"No, I'm visiting him today." replied Marcy in the politest voice, the one that her mother had taught her to use when telling someone something that didn't want to hear.
"Oh, Him." replied Lucian, a bit of venom entering his tone, "He doesn't deserve a picnic."
"Well, shame because I'm giving him one anyway."
Lucian snorted, "Okay, but seriously, Why him?"
Marcy was quiet, She never told him the story mostly because despite his unquestioning belief in the humans (Which she was counting as a tone off like a four leaf clover or Wally secretly being rich, A one off no one could explain.) he would never accept this one.
…
It was five years ago, during the first trip out with her new legs, and like all first time walkers she was desperate to run.
She had wandered deep into the woods and had eventually fallen down a large hole, possibly one dug by some animal in the woods, or an old trap.
She was there for what felt like hours, (Even though her moms said it was thirty minutes.)
That's when she heard the first boom.
It was quickly followed by another, and another.
Something big was coming her way, she curled into a ball and lay there. Hoping that it would go away.
Eventually it stopped.
Just above her.
She briefly looked up to see something tall standing there.
There was a giant shape standing above her.
She closed her eyes again and tried to look even smaller, this thing was going to eat her, her mom's would never find her, she'd end up like a character in one of those cautionary tales Hopediah Plantar told.
"Do you need help." said the thing above her, in a voice that seemed quieter than one she would have expected.
She looked up and saw the face of a large newt standing there he had a white hair and a white beard full of leaves, was wearing a cloak covered in chains, on the cloak were two broaches, one a leaf another of a robot but not like any she had ever seen.
Marcy had heard stories of a giant newt about how he was a monster from many years ago, from the description she had heard about him, she would agree.
However, seeing him right now with the friendly smile on his face, she wondered if she was wrong.
She uncurled herself, and looked up.
"Yes, please." she said meekly.
All of a sudden a large fist entered the pit, Marcy backed away a little worrying that he was going to crush her, however it stopped just about her and then extended his index finger.
"Jump on." said the newt.
Marcy did, and she was lifted out of the pit, The Newt's finger touched the surface and Marcy jumped off.
She turned to the newt again and saw just how big he was compared to her, right now he was just sitting there, it was a little scary, but he didn't seem scary.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome," he said politely before looking around, "Are your parents around here?"
"No, I ran off." said Marcy, feeling embarrassed.
"A fight?" looking sad.
"No, I just wanted to run and…"
"Let me guess, you just got your legs and are trying them out?"
Marcy looked at him surprised, was he a mind reader, "How did you…"
"Everyone does it, Personally I'd be more careful if I was you, You'll never know when you'll lose one.'' With that he lifted his clock slight to revel his missing limb, Marcy was used to seeing grown-ups with missing limbs, Uncle Grime for instance.
"What happened to it?" She asked.
He stood there quietly for a second, "I lost it in a fight." he sounded sad while saying it.
Marcy stood there impressed, "Woah."
The king laughed a gentle laugh, "Yes, Well I think we need to get you back home, "
With that he reached for a hammer that was beside him, using it as a make shift cane he stood up, "The exits over here, just keep up."
The giant newt started to walk, however keeping up was a lot harder than it looked, his footsteps were around a dozen of her own, meaning the small frog was already a few feet behind him.
"Wait up," She cried.
The newt stopped and turned, "yes, this might be a bit of a problem. How about this," He knelt.
"Jump on." he said with a chuckle
Marcy jumped, he was still too big, but she was able to latch onto his shoulder with her stubby arms and pulled herself up to sit on his shoulder.
"Nice jump." He said.
He then started to walk, slowly so as not to throw Marcy off.
They walked quietly for a moment before Marcy spoke up, "So do you live in these woods?"
The newt laughed, "No, I have a shack nearby, I was just walking by this place, it reminds me of my old friend."
"Really?"
"Yes,"He chuckled, "I remember the first time we met, back then I was a different newt, my family happened to have several walking bushes."
"Walking bushes? Those exist?"
"Yes there are, you don't see many nowadays, anyway I wanted the walking bush to dance, So I decided to make it dance."
"How?"
"Back then I was crueler, I tried to hit it with a stick."
"That's mean." said Marcy, shocked that this kind newt could do such a thing.
"It was, I was only able to hit it once when a small pink frog run out of nowhere took my stick away, Before I could say anything she jumped on my shoulder and started to hit me with it, calling me a big bully for picking on the bush."
"Did you hit her back?"
The newt chuckled, "I tried to, but that's when a young toad boy, son of the guard captain charged in, he knew who I was and tried to save me, He charged at me with the stick raised high, and struck."
"Did he get her?" asked Marcy, curious.
"No, she jumped, and he knocked me out."
Marcy laughed, "So what happened next?"
"Well I woke up a few hours later in bed, My father grounded me, and I blamed the frog and the Toad for knocking me out, I vowed to hate them forever."
"Did you ever see them again?"
"Did you fight?"
Andrias nodded, "Yes, and we became best friends."
The frog looked at him shocked, "What? How?"
The newt was about to answer when…
"MARCY." cried a voice,
The newt stopped walking, the look on his face turned to confusion
"Marcy?"
Marcy recognized it, it was her mom, Lady Olivia, "That's my Mom."
She jumped off the newts shoulder and started to run towards her mother, she turned expecting to see her new friend to follow her.
He was standing there looking at her, the same confused look on his face.
"Marcy, There you are." cried the voice of her other mom.
Marcy turned around and saw her mother's running towards her, She waved to them.
"Marcy there you are what are you…" started Olivia only to stop midway her worried face took on a hint of anger, "What is he doing here?"
All the newts were just standing there Marcy was confused, she ran towards her mothers, "Mom, You have to meet my new friend, he just saved me and…"
"You talked to him?" said Olivia scared
"Yes, He's really nice and told me a story about his friends and…"
"Did he hurt you?"
"No, he helped me, when I fell down a pit." Marcy explained excitably.
Both of her mother looked at her worried, That's when Yunan picked her up, and walked towards the giant Newt.
They stopped in front of them, the look on the massive newt was one of fear, Marcy was confused, he was nice, her mother's wouldn't hate him, And they wouldn't hurt… Okay her taller mom would try but still.
"Andrias." said Olivia in the same stern tone she used when she was trying to tell if Marcy had done something wrong, "What happen?"
"I found her in the woods, she was trapped in a pit," said the king in a voice so fragile it sounded like it could break."
"Oh," said Olivia, her own voice sounding smaller, "Thank you."
"Yes, Thank you." said Yunan quickly trying to end this conversion, "We have to go home now,"
"What now?" said Marcy, confused, what was going on.
"No arguing," said Olivia gently, she turned back to Andrias, "Thank you"
Andrias nodded, Marcy noticed the tears in his eyes, she wanted to say something, but her mothers turned around and started to walk away quickly, she heard a thud from behind her, she turned around to see Andrias, his hammer on the ground, him on one knee crying.
Marcy had no idea what was happening, but she wanted to help her new, friend, that's when she thought of an idea.
…
"Because he's my friend," replied Marcy to Lucian's question, "At least he isn't conning me."
"Max isn't conning me, He says he's going to pay me back."
"He's probably going back to earth soon, You heard what Sasha told us, if he does another prank like that again, We're supposed to tell her, and then he's back on earth." said Marcy putting on her smartest voice, which was usually the one everyone hated because they were stupid.
"She did," said Lucian annoyed, "But..."
"Well then, If you can have a human friend, then I can be friends with the ex-king."
"Okay, be friends with a monster," shot back Lucian.
"Hey, you seem to friends with one, I don't see why you're complaining."
Lucian stuck his tongue out and her and ran away, Marcy smiled she won a lot of the arguments she had with him, That would teach him for hanging out with that jerk.
She started to walk towards Andrias shack, with her basket in her hand, smiling.
This was going to be a perfect day.
