After a decently lengthed break, I'm finally back.
Chapter 12
New Wartwood
After the first temple, Marcy, Matt, and Aaron have spent the night in the Plantars' family wagon. Once morning came, Marcy and Matt burst out full of excitement.
"Look out, Amphibia!" Marcy shouted.
"It's Marcy and Matt's…" Matt continued.
"First day in Wartwood!" the duo finished in unison.
The duo ran down into Anne's basement cheering, "First day in Wartwood! First day in Wartwood!" while Anne was busy writing stuff on a piece of paper.
"Five more minutes," Anne waved them off.
Later, Marcy and Matt were flying in the air. Marcy was on Joe Sparrow while Matt was using his anime powers. They continued cheering, "First day! First day! First day!"
Once they landed, they looked around the town.
"It's so cute," Marcy commented. "It's got a country vibe. Matt, you said you've been in a small town before coming to Newtopia. What was it like?"
"Well…" Matt replied.
He thought back to life in that other town before the journey to Newtopia. He never learned its name.
Flashback
As Matt walked down the streets of this nameless town, a lot of the frogs around him ran away in fear. Some didn't run, nor did they scream. It was like Matt wasn't the worst thing they've seen. However, they stepped back when Matt got close. He didn't try to speak with them. He didn't wanna risk being outcasted, like he was before meeting Anne, Sasha, and Marcy.
End of Flashback
"Hopefully the frogs here will be more accepting," Matt said aloud to himself. "They've accepted Anne after all."
The two nerds saw an elderly frog lady shopping for food, and greeted her.
"Hi, I'm Marcy and this is Matt," Marcy introduced. "What's your name?"
The frog didn't introduce herself. Instead, she commented, "Just what we need. More outsiders."
The frog walked off.
Matt and Marcy turned to a nearby merchant. He instantly shut his stand.
Marcy approached someone and started talking to them. "Hi, I'm Marcy. Do you have time to talk about this town's architectural history?"
The someone, or someones in question were just tadpoles. They had no idea what Marcy was talking about.
"Are you a weirdo?" one of them asked.
Matt saw a blue frog holding an accordion. He approached him.
"Is that an accordion? Do you like music? Can I tip you?" Matt asked.
"Too many questions," the frog replied.
He threw his accordion through a window and jumped through.
Matt sighed, knowing it was happening again.
Later, Marcy and Matt were sitting in front of the town statue. Anne and Aaron approached them.
"Hey, you guys," said Anne. "How's your first day in Wartwood going?"
"Great," Marcy replied. "I learned that this town was built on top of a swamp but never sinks. It's because the designers knew how heavy to make everything."
"That's a cool fact," said Anne, before turning to Matt and blushing a bit. "Did you learn anything?"
"I learned that small towns in this world are all the same," Matt replied a bit frustratedly. "They don't take kindly to strangers, which means neither me or Marcy have a chance here."
"Don't be ridiculous," Anne reacted. "Of course they'll accept you."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Matt.
Next to the humans was a mob that seemed like they wanted to gang up on Matt and Marcy.
"Come on, they're with me!" Anne yelled at the mob.
The mob walked away frustratedly. Surprisingly, Polly was in the mob.
"Polly, what are you doing?" asked Anne.
"I go where the mob goes!" Polly replied.
"They'll warm up to you," Anne assured her friends. "Just give it time."
"Time, or maybe a strategy," said Marcy as she stood up. "This is just another puzzle to solve. Operation 'Connect with Wartwood', engage!"
Marcy lost her footing and fell on the statue, breaking it. This upset the townspeople. They all started shouting stuff.
"The statue of the town founder who's name I don't remember!"
"It's that clumsy outsider."
"They'll tear the whole city down!"
"I can fix this, don't worry," Marcy assured. "Matt, I'll need your help."
Matt nodded. "What do I need to do?"
Marcy raised her eyebrow. "Do I really need to answer that?"
It took a second for Matt to realize what Marcy was saying. "Oh. Right."
Matt activated his anime powers a bit and used it to lift the town statue up. Marcy inserted some glue to the statue's feet, so Matt can reattach the rest.
"Where'd you learn how to do that?" asked Anne.
"I took a sculpting class in Newtopia," Marcy replied.
The frogs all walked away to get back to what they were doing earlier. One stayed.
"You both seem alright," she admitted. "For outsiders anyway."
The frog spit and then walked away.
"The spit of approval," said Marcy. "I did get the Newts respect by improving their city, we can do the same thing here. Come on, Anne. Show us what's wrong with this town."
"Where do I even start?" asked Anne.
First, the three humans used some random creatures' vomit to seal some holes in the road. One of the frogs fell through a deep hole they didn't seal yet.
"Should've started with that one," Marcy remarked.
"You think?" Matt asked sarcastically.
After that, the group went to the broken street lamps. Marcy used her intellect to build more modern looking lamps.
Matt saw a lot of homes with dirty walls. He and the girls grabbed some soap and sponges and they used them to clean up the dirty houses.
The frogs were very impressed by the changes, but they still weren't trusting of Matt or Marcy.
"You two did great," Anne assured.
"Thanks, but it's not enough," Marcy said to herself. "We need to go bigger."
"Did somebody say bigger?!" a voice boomed.
Everyone turned to see a giant hot air balloon advancing towards the crowd. The balloon had the appearance of a light green toad. The balloon landed and a toad of similar appearance came out.
"Marcy, Matt, meet Former Mayor Toadstool," said Anne. "He's like if the Monopoly man had a baby with Colonel Sanders."
"That better be a compliment, Boonchuy" Toadstool warned.
"So you're the mayor here?" asked Matt.
"Was the mayor," Toadstool replied. "I may have been kicked out for hoarding money. Speaking of money, are you the one who's been making these changes?"
Marcy and Matt nodded.
"I gotta hand it to you," Toadstool complimented. "Your work is mighty impressive. How'd you like to help me make some bigger improvements? I have a plan to turn this podunk little town into a real money making tourist attraction."
"If I make this town successful, people will have to accept us," said Marcy.
Toadstool's assistant, Toadie, approached Matt and Marcy with a scroll revealing the plans.
"This is it," said Matt. "The way to everyone's hearts."
"I don't know," said Anne. "Any plan of his is sure to go belly up."
"You're probably right," said Marcy.
That night, Marcy and Matt laid awake in the Plantars' wagon. They couldn't stop thinking about the pros of helping Toadstool.
"No you're not!" they both shouted in unison.
That morning, the townspeople woke up to a fancy looking town. They all saw this huge stage with a blue curtain. It had the initials, "New W.W."
Oh no, Anne thought to herself. They didn't.
Music played and a light shone upon the stage, even though it wasn't necessary. It may have been cloudy but everyone could see the stage perfectly fine.
Marcy, Matt, and Toadstool ran onto the stage.
"Good morning everyone," Marcy greeted.
"And welcome to…" Toadstool continued.
"New Wartwood!" the humans and toad finished in unison.
"This city is new and improved," said Matt. "Thanks to the work of the three of us."
"Gone are the dumpy storefronts of old, replaced by new ones made of Newtopian marble," Toadstool added.
"Feast your eyes on the new clock tower," Marcy continued.
The clock tower in question was admittedly creepy with how its eyes moved back and forth.
"And finally, may we present, the new and improved town-square statue," Matt finished.
Matt, Marcy, and Toadstool pulled the curtain to reveal the new statue, depicting a buff version of the founder.
While everyone explored the new town, Anne approached Matt and Marcy.
"Are you two sure this was a good idea?" she asked.
"Yes," Matt replied bluntly.
"Isn't it great?" Marcy added. "We completely transformed this place. Now everyone will have to accept us."
"That's not how it works," said Anne. "People will accept you when they accept you. You can't force it."
"Yeah, they accepted us just now," said Matt. "You found a way that worked for you, and we found a way that worked for us."
That's when the ground shook and water emerged.
"Crud, we built too much," said Marcy. "The town is sinking into the swamp."
"I want no part in this," said Toadstool as he made a run for it.
"They won't accept us after this," Marcy sighed. "But we can make sure no one dies. Come on, Anne."
"Right on," said Anne.
"Joe Sparrow!" Marcy called out in an anime voice.
She snapped her fingers.
Joe Sparrow arrived. The kids jumped on.
The kids flew over to some nearby frogs and saved them from getting crushed by a falling building.
"You two can relax," Marcy assured. "You're perfectly safe."
If you had to ask the frogs, though, they'd rather be crushed than in the situation they're currently in.
Once the kids got the frogs to dry land, they went back to the sinking town.
"We need to stop the town from sinking," said Anne. "But how?"
"We'll need to lighten the load," Matt replied.
"Exactly," said Marcy. "I know what needs to go."
Marcy had Joe grab everything she added to the town and throw them aside. He even managed to lift up the statue. The town floated back up to the surface.
"We did it, Anne," said Marcy. "Total success."
That's when someone cleared their throat.
The humans turned to see a bunch of disappointed townsfolk glaring at them. Well, more specifically, they were glaring at just Matt and Marcy.
"Don't be mad, they just wanted to help," Anne tried to assure them.
"It's okay, Anne," Matt assured Anne. "We can face the music on our own." He then turned to the townsfolk. "We're so sorry."
"Yeah," Marcy added. "We know how much you love Anne. We just wanted you to like us too, but we took things way too far."
The elderly frog lady that Marcy and Matt first met approached.
"Marcy and Matt, was it?" she said. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're all disappointed."
"To be fair, this was mostly my fault," Toadstool admitted.
"Shut it, Toadstool!" the woman snapped. "We'll get to you later!" She then turned back to Marcy and Matt. "As for you two, you're both walking disasters who don't know when to quit! You nearly destroyed the town and killed us all in the process. In other words," She smiled a bit. "You're both like Anne when she got here, which means we'll probably grow to like you two eventually."
"Is that true?" Matt asked Anne.
"Yeah," Anne confirmed. "I even set the town on fire once. No lie."
"Just be patient and I'm sure you'll fit in eventually," the woman assured. "After a lengthy period of being cautious mind you."
"Fair enough," said Matt. "Thanks everyone. We'll do our best. In the meantime, let us at least clean this up."
"Okay, but go no farther," said the woman.
Marcy and Matt ran towards the broken houses and fixed them in a mere instant. It was mostly thanks to Matt's powers.
So, this was the first in my trilogy of Matt and Marcy's adventures in Wartwood. Just a few lighthearted chapters to give us a break before things get serious in the last few chapters.
New Wartwood wasn't changed much. I didn't feel the need to do it. Matt accompanied Marcy the entire episode, and there is a reason. For those that don't like how Matt hardly interacted with the townsfolk of that unnamed town he stayed at in Part 2, now you know why that's the case. He didn't even try to make friends with them out of fear of being considered a freak. Here, he did try to impress Wartwood, mainly because he finally ran out of patience.
One of the other changes was Matt using his powers to fix everything. I surely think it's better than just Marcy automatically doing it quickly. I get Amphibia is a cartoon aimed at children, but still.
Overall, this chapter wasn't my best work, but it's definitely not my worst.