Max was alone in the crowded aquarium.

Looking around he could see dozens of other children walking around with their families, a part of him was jealous, to have parents that weren't criminals.

The Does would never come here, they said spending time with Max was just a waste, they had other things to do like find next clients and arrange meetings.

During this time they didn't want him around, they just gave him money to go out and do something far away from them, that was fine with Max, ever since the hospital he didn't want to be alone with them ever again.

He had come to the aquarium after hearing from some classmates at school how fun it was.

Walking around the aquarium he would have to admit that it was pretty interesting, he had already touched a starfish, and see the giant whale model, though he wondered why there was a parrot display.

By lunchtime, he had grown hungry.

Looking at a map on the wall he could see that there was a food hall at the other side of the frog hall.

The first thing he noticed when saw the worn sign saying frog hall was just how empty it was, clearly people were trying to stay away,

The walls were gray, the exhibits were small, it looked like the last person who had cared for this place had quit one day and never bothered to come back, the entire room was just a line of glass cases in the wall.

However, there were some signs of life, all the displays had Amphibians in them, all of them seemed to be Healthy and alive.

Max had to be honest he liked frogs, they were slimy and gross, to a seven-year-old that basically perfection.

As he walked however that's when something caught his eyes.

There was a large green frog with its arm in its mouth.

Max froze, confused, was that frog hurting itself?

He got closer looking more concerned at the poor thing.

"It's okay, it's natural," came a voice from behind him.

Max turned to see a woman wearing a green shirt and brown shorts, she had a kind smile on her face.

"What?"

"It's natural, Frogs eat their skin to use the proteins inside. It's kind of like recycling."

Max eyes widened, that was disgusting, and somehow amazing

"Cool" he said "Is he slimy?"

The woman's smile grew larger, she walked towards him and pointed at the frog, "He's especially slimy, all frogs need their Mucus, Um that's what the slime's called, to breathe through their skin."

"That's amazing," he said in response.

The frog lady laughed, "I thought so, that's why," the woman put both her hands on her fists, stuck her chest out and put on a heroic face, "I became a herpetologist."

"Oh, I like rosemary." Said Max politely.

"No not herbotologist a herpetologist."

"Ooohhh," said Max impressed, "what's that?"

"I'm basically an expert in Amphibians." said the frog lady, "You know, Frogs, Toads, Newts, Olms, Salamanders, everything that's covered in mucus."

"That sounds like the coolest job in the world," said Max enthused.

The frog lady laughed, "Thanks, glad to see someone thinks so," said the frog lady a little depressed, "Not many people visit this section, You're the first person I've seen all week, that's not just passing through."

Max looked at her feeling a little guilty "Umm…actually I was just going to-"

The Frog lady sighed, and leaned on the frog tank sinking to the floor, she pointed in the direction of the exit, "Over there to the right."

Max stood there for a second, feeling bad for hurting her feelings.

"Umm, I actually kind of wanted to spend some time looking at frogs."

The frog lady looked up at him, "Really?"

Max nodded.

"This is pity interest isn't it?"

Max nodded, "Pretty much."

The frog lady stood up and shrugged, "Eh I'll take it."

"So, Who's your favorite frog?"

The frog lady gestured for him to follow her.

They stopped at the case inside was a small pond and a few sticks, hanging on to one of the sticks was a small pink frog.

"This is Sprig."

'What is he?"

He's a South American tree frog, they're not usually pink, but I found him and brought him back."

Max looked at Sprig as he jumped to another branch, he turned to ask the lady how far they could jump, that's when he noticed the wistful look on her face.

"Are you okay?"

The lady sighed, "Yeah it's just… he's named after a good friend, whenever I see this little guy I'm reminded of him."

Max couldn't help but worry that he had upset the lady, he was about to apologize.

"Well, it looks like someone is actually visiting the frog hall," said a mocking voice from behind them.

The frog lady sighed again, this time more annoyed.

Max turned to see a large white man in a blue shirt and tan shorts standing there, he wore a smug expression on his face.

"Doctor Ritt," said the lady, annoyed.

"It must be so nice having anyone visit you," he said condescendingly.

Max instantly disliked this man, he showed too many teeth when he smiled, a little like the Does

Doctor Ritt looked at Max with a condescending look, "Sorry kiddo, the shark tanks are being cleaned today, you'll have to come back to see the cooler exhibits next week."

"Why are you going to be swimming with them? I suggest lathering yourself with Barbecue sauce."

Ritt stood back a little bit shocked by the boy's response.

"Ha," he said trying to regain some composure, "Good joke, but no, you'll just see some of the most misunderstood creatures in the world."

"Eh, I prefer frogs."

"Ha," said Doctor Ritt, "funny kid, but you can't be serious, this exhibit is where fun goes to die."

"Ritt, don't you have anything better to do?" Said the frog lady.

"You're right I need to supervise my successful exhibit, Have fun with your little fanboy."

The man walked off,

"He's a butt," Max said.

"No arguments here kid," said the frog lady sighing, "though he isn't wrong this fun left this place a long time ago.

"Oh please it's…" Max paused for a second, "pretty awful I can't lie."

"Yeah, the aquarium has a limited budget, and we can renovate a single exhibit but only once a few years and the shark exhibits always win," said the lady dejectedly, "everyone loves sharks"

Max looked at the frog lady, and felt something, he didn't know what it was, but he wanted to at least try and cheer her up.

"Why don't you try applying for it?" he asked.

The frog lady scoffed "Didn't you hear me, they'll just give it to Ritt."

"So what do you have to lose then?"

"Well nothing but-"

"Then do it."

The frog lady looked at him for a second before placing her hand on her chin, "I do have plans, I worked out with an old friend but-"

"Well do it then."

The frog lady chuckled, "kid it's not that-"

"I won't stop saying do it, until you agree," said Max smiling, "Annoying adults is my greatest weapon."

The woman laughed, "Okay, okay I'll do it, you're a lot like him, you know."

"Who?" asked Max

"Sprig," Replied the woman beaming.

Max smiled back, it felt nice to talk to an adult who didn't see him as a tool or a nuisance.

That's when he stomach rumbled, the woman looked at him concerned.

"Sorry, I haven't had anything to eat yet," he said blushing.

"Stay there," said the woman walking towards the staff room, after a minute she returned carrying two green things.

"Here, take this, she handed him one of the things, it was something wrapped in a leaf."

"It's a Thai treat, my mom made me some, eat up… Sorry I didn't get your name."

"My name's Max."

The Frog lady smiled, "The names Anne, Doctor Anne Boonchuy."

The Plantar farm experienced many dark days.

Fourteen years ago, a grandfather brought in his crying children, each morning those they loved.

Ten years ago that same family had to rebuild the house, while mourning another loss.

Now it was something different, not a loss but something just as hard.

Hopediah Plantar walked down the stairs to see his granddaughter sleeping on the couch, she was wearing different clothes from yesterday, a gray tank-top and dark green pants.

After being dropped back by Grime and destroyer, he, Sprig and Polly had been surprised to see Bessie was there with a hurt Micro-Angelo, the poor snail's shell was broken, Polly had been enraged, wanted to hurt whoever damaged her snail, They had entered the house to ask Anne and Max what happened however there was no sign of the two.

At first, they had been worried, Sprig had insistent on looking for theme, however Hop-Pop had calmed him down saying they should at least wait for a few minutes.

However, an hour later there was a knocking on the door and Hop-Pop was shocked to see a muddy Anne standing there, with Max on her back crying.

After getting the boy down he instantly dashed over to the basement door opened it and slammed the door shut.

Anne explained everything that she knew, Max had gone into the woods and had gotten hurt, scant details, but it was hard for him to hear.

Hopeidah had not mentioned other things to Anne, money and food were missing, he didn't want to suspect Max, but there was only one suspect.

He should have been angry, but after seeing the kid last night he couldn't find it in his heart to do so.

"Anne?" he quietly.

In response the woman rolled off the coach and onto the floor, She stood up looking around all confused before she remembered where she was, a wave of tiredness hit her.

"Oh, Hi Hop-Pop." she said morosely.

"Is everything okay?"

Anne nodded, "I'm fine, Max… He's still downstairs in the basement."

The old frog looked at her, "Did you talk to him yet?"

The woman just sat there, rubbing her arm, looking even more ashamed.

Hop-Pop let out a disappointed sigh, "Anne."

"I know," she groaned in shame, "But I just can't, I know he doesn't want to see me."

"And what brought you to that conclusion?"

"It's how I felt when I discovered you hid the box."

The old frog stood there, he was wondering when she'd bring that up, after their fight yesterday he still felt pretty bad about it, he should have talked to her more, but neither of them thought that Max would try and run away like that.

"You sure about that?" said the old frog gently, "Maybe he just needs someone to talk to."

"It's not going to be that simple Hop-Pop, after what I did, He probably doesn't want to see me," with that Anne stood up, "I'm going to town, I'm going to see how Miss Croaker is doing."

Hopediah looked at her, and sighed, "Okay, but you have to talk to him, it's the only way to make this thing right."

Anne stood there hesitantly for a second before nodding, "When I get back."

Hop-Pop looked at his adoptive granddaughter, he could see all the weight on Anne's shoulders, she really blamed herself for all this, it was funny, he always thought her taking responsibility was a good thing, true she had grown into a strong brave woman but a part of him wondered just how much blame she was taking on.

Anne reached the door she paused only briefly to look at the basement door, she should have said something already, she should have done something to help him.

She closed her eyes and opened the door.

"Anne?" said the old frog.

She turned and looked at the old frog.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I might have been too harsh."

Anne smiled, "It's okay, I should have listened to you."

With that she walked out the door.

Hopediah sighed, he took two steps towards the basement door when he heard a knock on the door, Anne probably forgot something.

He cursed the pain in his legs and he walked to the door, he opened it not to be confronted with a human but a small frog girl, dressed in Newtopian fashion.

"Can I see Max please?"

He should be dead.

No, he wanted to be dead.

Max covered himself with the bedsheet, trying to avoid thinking that anything outside the sheet.

His escape attempt to try and make a name for himself had failed horribly, there was nothing he could do, he was doomed no matter what, he could stay here and die in this world or be murdered in another.

He closed his eyes, there was nowhere for him to go, hell Anne didn't even want him here in the first place.

Stupid, he was stupid for even doing this, he should have stayed on earth and just been killed, heck maybe he should have just told the police and gone to jail.

Tears fell from his eyes, they rolled down his muddy face, he wanted this to end, just end.

He hadn't even gotten changing out of his clothes, he just lay in the bed allowing the mud to harden on his clothes

He heard the basement door close, he tightened the blanket closer.

"He's down there, please try to be nice." he heard Hop-Pop say.

There was the sound of bare footsteps walking down the stairs.

"Max," said a gentle voice.

The human boy peeked out of his basement, standing there was a frog girl wearing a dress, on her neck was a shell necklace, she looked at him with a mixture of sadness and fear

"Marcy?" Max asked confused, "What are you doing here?"

"Anne sent a fly message to Sasha last night saying what happened to you, Lucian was there, and he rushed over to my house to tell me."

"Oh," said Max quietly.

The room was quiet once again as Marcy and Max looked at each other, both not knowing what to say.

"I… I'm sorry." said the frog girl sitting next to Max.

"It's not your fault." said Max quietly.

"No it is, If had snitched on you earlier, this would have never happened."

The was silent again, however this time it was a different sort of silence, one that had something building up, something angry

"What?" said Max glaring at her shocked at what she had just said.

"I said-"

"ARE YOU THAT MUCH OF A GOODIE TWO SHOES?" Max screamed.

Marcy looked at him, "Yes, Yes I am, If I hadn't kept quiet you would have been caught, and you'd be back home right now, not covered in mud"

Max stared at her, his mouth open, "You're crazy, You are crazy," he had a laugh one that sounded desperate.

"What?"

"I almost died, and you're trying to apologize for not getting me int trouble? What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me," replied Marcy, "I just wanted to apologize for not doing the right thing, and-"

"Are you that stupid?"

"I'm not stupid you massive jerk." snapped Marcy, "I just came here to say I'm sorry for what happened,"

"Oh good, Let me guess, you want to apologize for the fact that I almost got myself killed."

"No I-"

"Or is the fact that I destroyed the town and let Montgomery blame me."

Max I-"

"Or is the fact that everyone in this stinking town hates me and barely anyone here likes me, Or-"

"I'M SORRY I LET YOU GET HURT, YOU MORON."

Max froze, the frog's outburst had been a surprise, he could see the tears in her eyes.

"I-" he started to say.

"If I had said something about your plans you wouldn't have run away."

She looked down at the basement floor.

"If I had stood up to Montgomery earlier, he wouldn't have blamed you for what happened."

She closed her eyes, "If I had been nicer than maybe we wouldn't have gotten into a fight and I wouldn't have gotten one of my best friends hurt."

Max looked at her, and felt like slime, was the reason she was here apologizing because she felt responsible for me?

"We're still friends?" he said, removing the blanket.

"You stood up to one of the worst bullies in town, of course we're friends."

"Yeah, but best friends?"

"Consider yourself lucky," murmured Marcy.

"No, I mean we fight all the time, we barely have anything in common, Heck I've blackmailed you, I'm not that good of a friend," he paused for a second, "I'm not that good of a person."

"Oh, please stop being overdramatic," replied the frog girl, "You looked after Hop-Pop, You stood up for me twice now, you stood up and tried to help Lucian, and Nicole told me about the dress you brought her, you're not the worst."

Max looked at her for a second.

"Also I'm friends with Lucian, I'm used to arguing with my best friends."

Max let out a chuckle, "Well, yeah, he is kind of…it's a little mean to say dumb."

"I'd say excitable, but I don't care, he's like you, someone's who's a lot better than they think they are."

"Where is he anyway?"

"I told him and Nicole to wait outside."

Suddenly the door leading outside bust open, and two figure fell to the ground. One was shorter than Max but bulkier wearing armor, the one was smaller than Marcy, only being more round and with legs.

"But they decided to sneak in any way." continued Marcy not surprised.

"MAX!" shouted Lucian standing up quickly, "You're alive!"

"Yeah," thanks Lucian," said Max dryly.

"I told you guys to wait outside," reprimanded Marcy.

"I know, but I was worried that you two might fight again."

"We didn't fight." replied Marcy.

"I heard yelling," said Nicole

"It was very heated encouragement."

Nicole deciding to that it would be quicker to let Marcy win that argument, she walked forward and claimed on Max's bed sitting next to him,"Are you okay Max?"

Max sat there, Nicole look was one of genuine concern, he wouldn't be okay, but he didn't want to worry her.

Maybe it was the fact that they were all there but this just made Max feel worse, they had all come here to help him to see if he was okay, after what he did yesterday, heck it didn't even matter after today he'd never see them again, it back to earth either way.

"I'm fine, you guys can go."

"You're not fine," replied Marcy flatly.

"I'm fine," he snapped back to her.

Marcy just looked at him for a second then shrugged,"Okay then, you'll come with us."

Max looked at her, and glared, "What?"

"Consider it your reward/punishment."

"Reward/punishment?" said Max.

"Punishment for being a massive jerk yesterday and reward for helping us," said Marcy smiling.

Max sat there looking at the three Amphibians, a part of him wanted to go with them, a part that felt maybe he should spend time with them, but then the memories returned everything that happened out there, what happens if someone from the town accused him of something, or what would happen if there was another monster.

What if Tim and the others found him?

"No," he said bluntly, "I'm staying here."

"But Max-"

"Don't bother Marcy, I don't want to be here anymore."

The frog girl looked at him for a second, not hurt, just confused, Lucian looked like he wanted to saw something, but one sad look from Marcy changed his mind, Nicole just looked upset.

"HOLD ON A HOPPING SECOND," said an impossibly loud voice from the top of the stairs.

All four turned to the stairs to see a pink frog wearing overalls, standing there, she was holding a plate of pancakes. Behind her was a large metal figure, she thudded down the stairs, and turned to the three younger Amphibians.

"You guys have had your chance," she turned back to Max, a serious look on her face, "It's my turn."

The three amphibians gulped, each had been babysat by Polly, many of them remembered her rough ways, How her bedtime stories had been full of horror, how any infraction was met with a deathly glare.

A part of them wanted to stay and protect Max, however their fear gave out.

"Wait for him outside."

Without another word the three rushed upstairs.

"Welp they're gone," said Polly, "So what's bugging you then?"

"I almost died," Max said flatly.

"Pfft, Wimp."

Max kept looking at Polly as she sat down next to him on the bed, she placed the plate of food on the bed, on it was a pancake and some beetle bacon.

"Hop-Pop insisted you eat."

"I'm not hungry," murmured Max.

"Good," said Polly, "More for me."

She took the spoon and dug into the pancake, "Yeah this is pretty good."

"Are you here to make me feel better?" said Max, confused.

"Nope, I'm just here to ask what's with turning your friends down, seems kind of really dumb."

"You wouldn't understand," replied Max.

Polly sat there for a second and dropped the spoon, "You're upset because you thought running away would be a good idea, and now that you got your ass handed to you like a brat, and you were carried back here crying."

Max looked at her like she had read his mind, he was somewhat right, but in other ways wrong.

"Does Hop-Pop and Sprig know you're down here?"

"Yeah, they know,"said Polly smiling, "they said maybe I shouldn't, but they're not the boss of me."

Max just sat there and looked at her, "So why are you here?"

"To tell you to go with your friends."

"They're not my friends," said Max turning away, "I was a jerk to them yesterday-"

"Yes, the biggest jerk, standing up to that creep Montgomery, trying to protect them, Totally irredeemable."

"You wouldn't understand," replied Max.

"Max… I'm Sprigs sister," replied Polly sarcastically, "I know what it's like having someone stupid enough to love you, and even dumber to think you're worth it."

"They're not stupid," said Max.

"No, but they're persistent. A few days ago I called Sprig a jerk, for not doing a stupid speech, you know what the big jerk did next?"

"Nope."

"He showed me a video of us and Anne playing, just to make me happy," said Polly wistfully for a second before an annoyed look appeared in her face, "The massive idiot."

"How is he an id-"

"I mean there I was," said Polly, flinging her arms to the sky, "all ready to be angry at him, and then he has the nerve to be a good brother."

Polly looked scornfully at the floor, "Fricken jerk."

Max looked at her confused, "That doesn't sound like a jerk to me."

"Trust me he is," said Polly pouting, a smile appearing on her face, "the best jerk on the planet."

Max looked at her confused, "Polly, why are you really here?"

"Because I know how you think, I know right now you want to go with your friends, and that you feel bad about what happened yesterday to them and that you're willing to stay in the basement, I just came here to tell you to go outside and hang with your friends."

"That's it?"

Polly nodded, "Yep, trust me Max it's hard to admit, but it's better to be with people who love you than wallow alone in sadness."

Max looked at her, she wasn't wrong, a part of him did want to spend a some time with his friends.

But then he remembered all that was dangerous out there, and froze, he closed his eyes.

"No."

"Okay." said Polly chirpily as she jumped off the bed, "Frobo, Do it."

Marcy Yunan stood outside the farm waiting for Polly or Max to come out of the farm, she stood there looking at the front door, a part of her wanted to rush back down there and drag Max out.

She turned to Lucian who was sitting waiting patiently, Nicole was watching the farmer, the young newt had given up a day of work to her Max.

It was funny, a few days ago she'd probably be happy to see Max miserable, for him to be out of her life, for her to ever see him again.

He was arrogant, a liar, a manipulator, everything she hated, and worst of all he had a good side.

He could be kind, generous, loyal, brave, it was like he was two different people are times.

The more time she spent around him, the more she grew to like him.

When she had heard from her mothers that something bad had happened to him last night, she grabbed her cloak to go and see how he was doing, only her mothers had stopped her.

She spent the night looking up at the ceiling, wondering what she was going to do tomorrow.

Thankfully human Marcy had offered her a few suggestions, she told her that whenever her best friends were upset she'd do anything to make them happy, go shopping eat nice things, go to the beach.

That inspired her to give Max a day he wouldn't forget.

She just hoped he would come out.

"I don't think he's coming," said Nicole depressed.

"He'll be here." replied Lucian who puled up a tuft full of grass.

"How do you know?" asked he small newt.

"Because he's our friend, and because Polly's far too terrifying for him to resist."

Marcy stood there waiting for Max to exit the farm.

"I hope you're right Lucian."

Suddenly from the now broken basement doors Max emerged, Marcy expected him to come to them, but instead he started jumping, the three Amphibians rushed over to their human friend, filling the hole where the door formally were was a mattress.

"THIS ISN'T FAIR!" shouted Max.

"TOO BAD," came the muffled voice of Polly behind the mattress, "you're spending a day with your friends.

"POLLY'S GOT ME PROGRAMMED TO KEEP YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE TILL EVENING," Hissed Frobo, "SO DON'T EVEN TRY SNEAKING BACK."

Max tried kicking the mattress a few more times before sighing and turning to the others.

"This isn't me agreeing to this," he said.

"Well too bad, Prepare yourself or the best day of reward/punishment ever." said Marcy smiling.

The group took a few steps, "So are we going to walk to Wartwood or…"

"No we're going to get there in style." said Marcy, she put her fingers to her mouth and gave a sharp whistle.

Sudden a shadow passed them, Max looked to the sky to see a sparrow above them, it swooped left, then right, before flying towards them.

Max's first thought was an impressive 'Woah'

His second thought was 'It's getting pretty close.

That quickly turned into 'Oh crud it's coming right towards us'.

"HIT THE DECK," said Lucian who dove out the way, followed by Marcy, Max picked up Nicole and jumped.

The bird slammed into the ground, Max looked at it and was surprised to see that on the back of the bird was a shell.

"Max, Meet Jillian Sparrow."

The boy stood there as the bird picked itself up turned and looked at him, she gave a pleasant chirp, on the top of her shell was a large sheet

"We're flying that?" said Max somewhat terrified.

"Yep." said Marcy happily, she jumped landing on the top of the shell.

Lucian joined in.

Max stood there, "You want me to fly on that?"

"She has a name." said Marcy offended.

"She crashed into the ground." replied Max,

"Come on, She's not that bad." replied Lucian, "I've only broken…three bones in all the times I've flown her."

"Oh only three," said Max sarcastically.

That's when two small arms hugged his leg, "Please Max, Come with us."

The human boy looked down and saw Nicole standing there holding on to him, she was looking at him with sad eyes, the same ones he used when he needed to appeal to someone's sense of cuteness.

After a second of looking he sighed, "Fine," he moaned, he knew he shouldn't, but he didn't want Nicole to feel like her cuteness didn't work on people.

"Good," said Nicole letting him go, "Now pick me up peasant."

Max grumbled as he picked her up and climbed to the top of the snird.

"So how fast does she go? Like Sixty-"

"JILLIAN SPARROW!" shouted Marcy holding on to her Snirds reigns, "LETS FLY!"

The next thing Max knew he was flying a hundred miles an hour, a part of him found it fun.

The rest of him found it terrifying.

He let out a scream one of fear with hidden excitement.

None noticed the frog in the tree watching them.

Indoraptor101: I can see why people are willing to blame Anne but there's something people have been ignoring, Max is kind of at fault just as much for his own suffering, this Arc will look into why Anne's been acting like this and we're also going to see Max start to change as well, thank you for your comment.