Another chapter that could have gone better.

Giorgio was snoring away when he heard his phone buzz. He answered it and muttered, "Anne, don't you know what time it is? It's still daytime."

"JoJo, great news! Dr. Jan says she might know someone who might help us build a portal to Amphibia!"

"What?!" exclaimed Giorgio as he shot up. "That's great! Who is it?"

"Someone named Dr. Frakes. She hasn't met her, but we're going to find her at the Brainasium tonight."

"Hold on," said Giorgio, confused. "Dr. Jan hasn't met her? How do we know she's legit?"

"We'll find out tonight," replied Anne. "Oh, and the Plantars are coming with us."

"Wait, they are? Shouldn't they be staying home this time? Especially after that whole debacle with the commercial?"

"I know, but they insisted! And you know I can't resist the puppy eyes."

Giorgio pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're spoiling them."

"Hey, it's not spoiling! I just want to do stuff with them so they don't feel sad! They're feeling homesick! I tried making them a swamp in the backyard, but it didn't work. They're so sad, they made their own miniature version of Wartwood!"

Giorgio blinked. "Wow. That's...creepy."

"Exactly. Nothing else is going to cheer them up."

Giorgio exhaled, "Alright. But wait for me before going in. I don't want you and the Plantars getting into trouble...at least more than usual."


That night, Giorgio followed the address Anne gave her and found her and the Plantars in front of the Brainasium. "Finally," Anne said as soon as she saw her. "Do you know how long day is?! They," she gestured to the Plantars. "Wouldn't stop asking 'Can we go now?' all day!"

"Can we go now," the Plantars asked. "Can we go now? Can we go now?"

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," Giorgio said, about to use his hypnosis, only to be stopped by Polly when she threatened, "Hypnotize me, and I'll gouge your eyes out."

"Coming from you, I can't tell if it's an empty threat or not." Giorgio looked at the Brainasium. "This is the museum? It looks like a child's play pen!"

"Well, it is a children's museum," said Anne. "And it closes at nine. And it's..." She checked her watch. "Eight. So, we got an hour left."

"Stupid JoJo and his vampirism," complained Sprig.

"Patience is a virtue," Giorgio sang.

"Come on, let's just go in," said Anne.

They entered the museum, unaware that Funny Valentine, who was pretending to read a newspaper, was sitting on a bench nearby.


The interior of the Brainasium was chaotic. Like Anne said, it was a children's museum, compete with a virtual reality helmet, a pipe sound system, an edible chemical lab, and a robot that answered questions. All around the place, there were hyperactive children and bored parents. A scientist held up a piece of candy and said, "...and whoever can answer the question gets a snack."

"HE'S GOT SNACKS!" A swarm of children pounced him.

Giorgio gave Anne an uncertain look. "Are you sure about this, Anne?"

"Not really anymore."

The Plantars, however, were amazed.

"Whoa. So this is where they keep all the dark Earth magic," said Polly.

Sprig wiggled his fingers, eager to touch everything in here.

"I can't believe we'll be going home soon," said Hop Pop.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're only here to ask some questions," said Anne. "Now stay close, the government's still on our tail."

Giorgio said, "I don't think so. After that embarrassing stint in Hollywood, I don't think they'll be hounding us any time soon." He looked across the way. "There's the director's office. Let's see if she's inside." He walked toward the office's door, only to look back to see Anne following him, keeping the Plantars huddled to her. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry dude, not taking any chances," she replied.

"Santo cielo." Giorgio knocked on the door and a young woman with blue dyed hair and a freckled face and wearing a lab coat answered it. She said in an impatient tone, "I keep telling you kids, we don't have extra snacks back here." Then she saw who she was talking to and her tone changed to a softer one. "Oh, hello. I see you like blue hair dye too," she said, gesturing to Anne hair, not knowing it wasn't dyed but her hair color changed thanks to her calamity power.

"Thanks," said Anne.

"Are you here to see Dr. Frakes?"

The Plantars immediately shouted their responses.

"Yeeeah!"

"Absolutely!"

"We want to meet the doctor!"

Anne and Giorgio glared at them and they corrected themselves.

"I mean, maybe."

"No big deal."

"Meh."

"Is she available?" asked Anne.

The blue-haired scientist replied, "Only by appointment. Sorry."

"Ooh... Well, we tried," Anne said to the Plantars. They immediately did the puppy eye look in response. Anne was about to cave when Giorgio said, "No! Anne, fight it!"

"But...look at them!"

The Plantars quivered their lips and tears started to form. Giorgio was having none of it. "We will not be persuaded by tears! And you can't change our minds! We're going home!"

Realizing that tactic won't work, the Plantars decided to use violence. "Okay, we tried being nice," said Polly. "But if you don't give us what we want, we're going to do to you two what those kids are doing to that guy." She pointed to the scientist getting ripped apart by the kids still hungry for snacks.

Giorgio scoffed. "Empty threats."

"We Plantars don't make threats," said Sprig.

"We make promises," finished Hop Pop.

"In case you forgot," said Giorgio as he summoned DARE. "I'm a Stand user, and you're not. You won't see my attacks coming."

"But we're Ripple users," said Sprig as he charged up his Ripple. "And we know how to use them."

"This is ridiculous! You're willing to turn me into a pile of ashes just to see some scientist who might be a quack?!"

Anne said, "Hold it. Let's just get this over with so we won't fight each other and get us kicked out." She said to the blue-haired woman, "Actually we are... reporters and we were just wondering if you could answer some questions about inter-dimensional travel."

"Aren't you a bit young to be a reporter," the blue-haired woman asked.

Someone pushed her aside and shouted, "Silence, Terri! At last, the media has caught wind of my amazing discovery!" It was an old woman as short as Hop Pop and wearing a lab coat and goggles.

"Dr. Frakes, I presume," said Giorgio.

"Yes, it is I! And my amazing discovery will rock your world!"

Hop Pop raised his hand and asked, "Oh, nothing big. Just a portal to another dimension!"

Anne and the Plantars exclaimed, "DID YOU SAY PORTAL?"

"We know a bit about inter-dimensional travel ourselves," said Giorgio. "We met a Stand user that could travel to other dimensions."

Dr. Frakes suddenly jumped onto his shoulders and exclaimed, "A Stand user that travels between dimensions?!"

Giorgio blinked. "Wait. You know about Stand users?"

"Of course I do! It's one of my side projects! I plan to build a whole wing devoted to Stands! I don't have one myself, but videos of them pop up all over the internet! I always search for the right Stand to help me in my research, and you found it! Where is the user? They might be able to help in my research!"

"He's dead," said Anne, frowning. "And good riddance."

"Oh." said Dr. Frakes as she hopped off Giorgio and said, "No matter. I've got a working portal! Now come with me. Terri, music!"

As everyone walked in Dr. Frakes' office, Terri exhaled in exasperation. She pressed a button on her phone that played "Dr. Frakes Super-Mega Cool Playlist 2003". As the music played, Dr. Frakes showed them her office and it was far more impressive than the children's museum. It had real lab equipment, robots, chemicals, and spare lab coats hanging from a rack.

Dr. Frakes began her speech. "The great Dr. Frakes may current current be stuck running the Brainasium and looking after hordes of snot-nosed brats, but that doesn't mean my research has stopped! Oh no! Behold! Frakes Ferrofluid! Over here is an example of a Frakes Fractal. Look over here! My Frakes Field!"

"Wow! So many things thing named after you," said Polly.

"Well, science is the pursuit of naming thing after yourself," said Dr. Frakes.

"Huh. I thought it was the pursuit of knowledge."

"Don't be stupid, Terri!"

Questa donna ha un ego più grande della sua altezza corporea, Giorgio thought. The sound of muffled cries for help made him turn his head in the direction of a door labeled, "Do not enter!" Unlike the rest of the doors in the room, it did not require a keycard to open it, but a classic skeleton key. Curious, he peeked into the keyhole. What he saw made his heart nearly stop. Quickly, he ran to Anne and whispered, "Anne, we've got to get out of here!"

"Shh, JoJo! It's getting good!"

Terri swiped her keycard on a scanner and a large metal door opened, revealing an even larger chamber and in the center of it was a large metal archway that reminded Giorgio of the Stargate. "The Frakes Portal Chamber!" exclaimed Dr. Frakes, impressing Anne and the Plantars. "It all began a few months ago when the city was hit with a wave of very strange energy."

Giorgio's eyes widened. The day the girls and I first came to Amphibia, he realized.

"I was doing my work while Terri was doing whatever..." Terri frowned at that comment. "...when all of a sudden, an energy appeared in between my Frakes Antennae, creating a wormhole that nearly sucked me in! I saved myself at the last second, but lost my Discman in the process."

Giorgio thought, That was HER Discman we found in Amphibia?

"Since then, we've been able to repeat the anomaly several times," continued Dr. Frakes. Then she said through gritted teeth as she voiced her frustration, "But no matter how many times I do it. no one believes me! Everyone says that my images are faked. Hard to get a good picture with all that magnetic distortion." She turned on some monitors and images were shown. Images of worlds that looked completely alien. One of them was a series of islands made from a horned giant's corpse. Something about that one looked familiar...

Dr. Frakes turned to face the group with excitement. "But here today, I will prove otherwise! Now... who's ready to see me burst through space-time?"

"Doctor, this process is still very unstable and dangerous," said Terri. "Should we really involve civilians?"

"'Unstable and dangerous'," mocked Dr. Frakes. "Fine! Fine! We'll let the press decide."

"I think one of those pictures is Amphibia," said Hop Pop. "I'm almost somewhat certain about it!"

"No," said Giorgio. "We're leaving this place, and I'm calling the police on this mad scientist!"

"The police," Anne said, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what," said Polly. "Forgive my language but SCREW YOU! We're opening the portal NOW!"

"Polly's foul language aside," said Hop Pop. "She's right. We've been stuck on this planet long enough! We wanna go home now!"

"Yeah," said Sprig. "Dr. Frakes, open the portal now!"

"That's what I'm talking about, baby!" shouted Dr. Frakes happily. Cackling like a mad woman, she ran to the portal computer, readied the ignition, and by pressing the red button, a portal began to open inside the archway. It started out small, but it started to grow and an image started to appear in it.

"It's...it's..." said Hop Pop...only for his and the others' hopes to dash when they saw a landscape that wasn't familiar to them at all. "Not Amphibia..."

The portal closed, creating an explosion that knocked everyone off their feet...and caused a blackout for the entire neighborhood. When the dust settled, Dr. Frakes got up and said, "Unfortunately, I can only hold the portal open for about 5 seconds before it collapses and-" She stopped when she saw the Plantars. "Uh, were you three always talking frogs?"

Giorgio gasped. "Guys! Your disguises blew off!" Uh-oh.

"Ummm... so... I can explain it," said Anne, trying to come up with a good excuse.

"We're frogs people from another dimension!" shouted Hop Pop.

"We just wanna go hooomeee!" cried Sprig.

"I knew they weren't reporters," Terri said with the snap of her fingers.

Dr. Frakes ignored her and inspected the Plantars. "I see... Terri, clear my schedule. Frakes Field activate!" A device popped out of her watch and caught the Plantars in a force field. She laughed as she carried them out of the chamber. "I can see the headlines now: 'Frakes' frogs change the world'! I'll be the most famous scientist in history, as soon as I dissect you and catalog your organs."

"Oh, no, you don't!" Giorgio stretched his blood vein tentacles out his fingers, tying Dr. Frakes' legs together and making her fall flat on her face. "What the," she exclaimed. "Another alien?!"

"Vampire, actually."

"I see. Not as interesting as aliens, but, maybe I can study your remains later. Frakes UV activate!" A UV lamp popped out of the floor and flashed its light at him, disintegrating the tentacles and making him scream in pain.

Anne pulled him up to his feet and said, "Come on, we gotta hurry!"

"No, you go ahead!" He ran toward the "Do not enter" door and smashed it open.

"Where are you going?!"

"To get help," he said as he walked in.

Anne had no time to argue. She chased after Dr. Frakes with Terri following her. "Don't try to stop me, Terri!"

"I'm not! Frakes may be an unparalleled genius but that doesn't mean she can just kidnap people. We have to stop her."

"Oh. Well, that's a nice turn. Let's do this!"

They kicked their way out of the lab and into the children's museum where they saw Dr. Frakes running upstairs. "There! The stairs! She's heading for the dissection lab!" Nobody questioned seeing a crazy old woman with a family of alien frogs. Anne and Terri were about to follow her when a group of children blocked their path and pointed at Terri. "SNACKS!" they shouted.

Terri gasped and looked in her lab coat. "Oh, no! My granola bar from lunch! Run, Anne!" She pushed Anne out of the way as the kids pounced on her. "Go! I'll be fine!"

Anne looked at Terri for a moment and then ran upstairs, entered the dissection lab, kicked open the door and entered. She spotted the Plantars in a sealed off chamber, strapped on the dissection table, and terrified out of their wits.

"ANNE!"

"HELP!"

"POKEY THINGS!"

Dr. Frakes pressed a button on a control panel and robot arms with dissection tools slowly made their way toward them. Anne combined her Calamity power with her Ripple and smashed through the door. "Get away from my frog family!"

"You can't stop me, Anne," shouted Dr. Frakes. "When I'm done, everyone know my name."

"You're crazy, Dr. Fink," shouted Polly.

"IT'S FRAKES!"

"Whatever."

"Not today!" Anne flew toward the Plantars, but Dr. Frakes pressed another button and robot arms with spinning blades popped out of the ceiling and tried to slice Anne, but she used her powers combined with her Ripple to destroy them. "What is this power," asked Dr. Frakes. "It's almost like that energy from months ago! Maybe I'll keep you to find out your secret!"

Dr. Frakes pressed another button and robot arms with machine guns popped out of the floor and fired at her, but she used her powers to catch the bullets, then redirect them at the guns. Dr. Frakes let out a screech of rage as she pressed another button and a laser cannon popped out, but before she could even get a chance to use it, it shut off.

"Huh," Anne asked as her power dimmed.

It was Terri, holding the plug for the machine. She was covered in bruises and there was a little boy gnawing on her leg. "They wanted snacks so badly," she said as she kicked him away. "But I fought my way through."

"Thanks," said Anne. "Now help me get these guys out."

Terri put her hands on the straps holding the Plantars down when Dr. Frakes said, "Don't you dare, Terri. One e-mail from me and you'll never work in any scientific field ever again. Do you really want to risk your entire career for these creatures?"

After giving herself a literal second to think about it, Terri said, "Yep." and freed the Plantars.

"Let's go," said Anne as she grabbed them and ran with Terri to the children's museum. Unfortunately, Dr. Frakes chased after them with a circular saw, scaring the kids to death.

"What do we do, Anne," asked Hop Pop. "She's after us and madder than a hornet!"

"Don't worry," said Giorgio as he and a bunch of people charged out of the door to the lab and charged after Dr. Frakes. "We're here to help!"

"What the- Who are they?!" exclaimed Anne.

Dr. Frakes gasped. "No! Get back in your cells!" She swung the saw blade at them, but she ended up getting it stuck in the floor, leaving her vulnerable to the beatings the people decided to give her.

"I'll ask again, who are those people," Anne asked Giorgio.

"Stand users. Dad said that people had been disappearing in the past two days, and that they were all Stand users. We didn't get any leads, but thanks to my curiosity, I found out Dr. Frakes had been kidnapping them so she could subject them to her experiments!"

"Dude, that is one crazy woman," said Polly.

"Why did you work for her again," Hop Pop asked Terri.

She said, "I was desperate and needed the money badly."

"Alright, I think she's suffered enough," said Anne. She whistled loudly, getting everyone's attention. "Alright, I know she's kidnapped you people, but I think you're going too far."

"Too far," snapped one of the Stand users, who was a boy no older than ten. "She took me from my Mom and Dad!"

"Yes, and that's a bad thing. But, she doesn't deserve a beating. She deserves..." Anne reached into her pocket and took out a cookie she was saving for the Plantars. "...a snack!" she shouted as she threw it at Dr. Frakes.

When all the kids in the children's museum heard the "S" word, they all became like zombies and charged at Dr. Frakes who had only enough time to say "Oh, no!" before they pounced on her. "This is all your fault, Terri! YOU'LL NEVER WORK AGAIN, ARE YOU HEAR ME? NEVER AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIN!"

Anne patted her hands and smirked. "Cookies are the answer to all life's answers."

The Plantars cheered Anne.

"Good thinking!" said Hop Pop.

"Nice job, Anne!" said Sprig.

"Any cookies left?" asked Polly.

Suddenly, an automated voice rang out, "The self-destruct sequence has been activated. This is not a drill. You have five minutes to evacuate. Have a nice day!"

"I didn't do it," shouted Sprig.

"Who puts a self-destruct button in a children's museum?!" shouted Anne.

"Less talky, more runny," shouted Polly as everyone escaped the building.


Inside Dr. Frakes' office, Funny Valentine smirked as he raised his hand from the big red button on the console. "Oops," he said as he walked out of the emergency exit, taking all of Dr. Frakes' research notes on the inter-dimensional portal with him.


Dr. Frakes wailed in despair as the Brainasium went up in flames. "All my work! All my research," she cried as she slammed her head on the grand. "It's all gone!" She didn't even care that the cops put her in cuffs and arrested her for kidnapping.


After the captured Stand users returned to their homes and families, Terri decided to take Anne, Giorgio, and the Plantars home in her car. Along the way, Anne decided to have a word with the froggy family. "Look, guys, JoJo and I are doing our best to get us back to Amphibia, OK? And I get how much you miss it, but you gotta stop guilting me. I can't resist!"

"And you can't just threaten people to get your way," said Giorgio.

"Sorry, Anne," said Sprig. "Sorry, JoJo."

"We should have known better," said Hop Pop. "The Plantars always did have powerful guiltin' skills."

"And threatening skills if guilting didn't work," said Polly.

"Yeah, but you cost this poor lady her job and nearly got dissected," Anne said as she gestured to Terri.

"On the plus side," said Giorgio. "It did help rescue all those Stand users and convinced the whole world that Dr. Frakes is a mad scientist. By this time tomorrow, she'll have all her scientific degrees and licenses revoked."

"Still, I feel pretty bad that we just cost Terri here everything."

But Terri didn't feel bad at all. "I think you all actually did me a favor. Frakes was brilliant, but also a huge jerk. This whole thing reminded me that science is for helping others, not just helping yourself. And I think the portal we'll build together will be more than enough to get me a grant."

Anne realized what she was saying, "Wait, you mean..."

"What," asked Hop Pop, also catching on.

"Yep. I'm gonna help you get these goobers home," said Terri.

Everyone cheered.

"Thanks, Terri," said Anne. "You're good people."

Sprig asked, "Hey, Terri, can I drive your car? Please!"

"Oh, no you don't," said Giorgio, activating his hypnosis immediately. "Stay in your seat!" Sprig obeyed him.

Terri said, "Wow. You're a real vampire, huh?"

"Yep," Giorgio said. "Anyway, I've been thinking, if you're going to build a portal, you're going to need some funds and resources. I think I can provide you with both."

"Really, how?" Terri asked, confused.

Giorgio smiled. "The Speedwagon Foundation will be able to help."

"The oil company?"

"That's a front," said Giorgio. "It's actually a private organization that specializes in the paranormal such as Stand research. Not to mention my family has certain ties to it. I'm pretty sure they'll be able to help."

"They're not going to dissect us if they know the whole story, are they," asked Hop Pop cautiously.

"Not if I explain them everything," said Giorgio as he took out his phone.


One phone call later...

"Good news," said Giorgio. "There's an agent on vacation here in Los Angeles and he might be willing to help!"

"That is good news," said Polly. "And quite the coincidence!"

"The bad news is that they haven't gotten hold of him for some time now."

"Aw..." said everyone.

"But when they do, this agent go straight to your house and begin the project right away, Terri!"

Terri smiled. "Thanks, JoJo."


After dropping the Plantars, Anne, and Giorgio off, Terri returned to her small flat. She was going to have to find another job in order to keep up with the rent. But right now, she just wanted to sleep. However, before she could even think about sleep, she screamed when she saw a man in a pink suit sitting at her table. "Who are you?! I'll call the police if-"

The man held up her hands. "My apologies, ma'am. The door was unlocked and I let myself in."

"That doesn't give you the excuse to just come barging in here! Now get out!"

The man said, "You are right. It doesn't. However, when Giorgio Giovanna called the Speedwagon Foundation and told us about your portal plans, they sent me your address."

"Wait," said Terri suspiciously. "You're the agent that's on vacation? JoJo said they hadn't gotten hold of you."

"I didn't check my emails," the man said with a shrug. "You tend to forget these things when you're on vacation."

"I suppose..."

The man said, "You still don't trust me. Understandable. Perhaps this..." He slapped a folder onto the table. "...might change your mind?"

Terri took the folder and her eyes widened. "This is Dr. Frakes' research! How did you get this?"

"It managed to survive the explosion. I thought we could use it together. That is, if you think I'm trustworthy?"

Terri thought on it, then said, "I don't trust you, but if you say you're the only one who can help me with this portal, do I have a choice?"

"You could just walk away," suggested the man.

"No. I'm not going to abandon my friends in their time of need. I'll accept your help, reluctantly though."

"Very well."

"Wait. What do I call you?"

The man smiled. "Agent FV at your service."

What Valentine would never tell her was that he hid in her trunk before she, Anne, the Plantars, and Giorgio got in, and snuck into her apartment using Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. He took the first napkin, and he had to make sure they stayed on the path he set for them.

⬅ To be continued...