Chapter 4

Toadcatcher

The gang stopped near a small mill in a grassy field. Matt and Aaron were sparring outside the wagon when suddenly…

A small pink watermelon was sent flying in Matt's direction. He saw it and sliced it with his spear before it could hit him. He looked around to see who would have thrown it, and that's when he saw…

Sasha Waybright. She stood in front of him wearing bronze armor and a black cape. She was holding a bright purple sword.

The two lowered their weapons, realizing who they were seeing. They were both really shocked.

"Matt?" asked Sasha.

"Sasha?" Matt asked back.

The two put their weapons in their respective holders. They then ran towards each other, happy to have finally reunited.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Matt cheered. "I wasn't sure anyone else ended up here! I woke up all alone! Are Anne and Marcy with you? Where have you been? I missed you so much!"

"I'll fill you in later, but for now," Sasha replied, before turning behind her. "Hey, Grime! Come meet my…" She stopped herself, realizing that Grime wasn't there. She smacked her forehead and groaned in frustration. "Of course he's still binging Suspicion Island."

"Wait, you mean that garbage show that Anne really likes?" Matt asked, disgusted at the thought of someone else liking that show. His mind went back to that day.

Flashback

Sometime before sixth grade, Anne tried to get Matt into Suspicion Island. After half of the first season, it started to feel repetitive.

In one scene, this character, Randy, confessed to his crush that she's the only one he's not suspicious of, but she tells him that she thinks he's suspicious. Matt predicted that part 100% accurately because of how predictable it was.

Before they even finished the first season, Matt fell asleep.

End of Flashback

"Like, is there any reason for the show to be as popular as it is?" asked Matt. "It's very predictable,"

"Super lighthearted," Sasha added.

"And worst of all," they both finished in unison. "There's way too much filler."
The duo laughed for a bit before Sasha led Matt to the mill.

Once they headed inside the mill, they saw Grime in a very bad condition. He was binge-drinking. He was also very fat and lazy. Despite that, he looked very similar to Dareth, which gave Matt an uncanny vibe.

Sasha glared at Grime, causing him to notice she was there.

"What's up, Sasha?" he asked.

"I'll tell you what's up," Sasha scolded. "You're sitting here binging trash TV all day when we should be training. What are you gonna do when someone comes for that big bounty on your head."

As if on cue, a couple of bounty hunters came in. Sasha drew her blade while Matt grabbed his spear. They both dueled the bounty hunters. Grime reached out for a weapon, but couldn't get it, all because he wouldn't get off of his lazy ass. In the end, Sasha and Matt defeated the bounty hunters. Matt pulled their masks off to reveal two toads. A green one and a pink one.

"Percy? Braddock?" Grime reacted. "What are you doing?"

"Sasha thought a little action might help you out of your rut," Braddock replied.

"So you staged this attack?!" Grime shouted angrily. "Sounds like you two belong…" Sasha smiled, hopeful that the old Grime was returning. Matt, Percy, and Braddock got nervous. However, Grime finished with, "On Suspicion Island!" Sasha smacked her forehead in frustration while Grime continued talking. "Hey, wanna join me? The season's just getting good."

"Oh, hell no," Sasha replied before turning to Percy, Braddock, and Matt and handing them a small sack of money. "You three, head into town and get some food or whatever. I need a word with the captain, alone."

Matt, Percy, and Braddock did as they were told. They left the mill, on their way to a nearby town.

Once they reached the town, they entered a small diner. They found a table and sat down.

A bit later, a violet red newt approached them.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"Not at all," Matt replied. "Wait, who are you? A server?"

"I am General Yunnan!" the newt replied. "Scourge of the Sand Wars, Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the Great Newtopian Army! I am here for a certain toad! Perhaps you know of him?"

The newt showed a wanted poster of Captain Grime.

Fearing Yunnan was hunting for Dareth, Matt lied, "Nope, I haven't seen him." Though he was sweating.

"Then why are you sweating?" asked Yunnan.

"It's hot in here," Matt replied.

Yunnan glared, suspicious, but she digressed. "Well, I've done all I could. I shall search elsewhere."

Yunnan left the room and then Percy sighed in relief. "Thank goodness you're a good actor. Now she'll never find Grime at the mill on the edge of town."

As the three left the diner, Matt saw that Yunnan was hanging on the ceiling, signifying she was listening and now knows of Grime's location.

Matt made a run for it and met up with Aaron, Dareth, and Catherine. It was clear they were upset at him.

"Where have you been?" asked Dareth.

"To keep things short," Matt replied. "I found one of my friends, Sasha. We were getting caught up for a bit, but then she sent me to get some food at the nearby town, and I came across this newt named, General Yunnan or something, and I think she's coming for you."

Catherine made a face signifying that she's annoyed. She muttered, "Of course she's out here."

Matt noticed this and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Not really," Catherine replied. "Just the fact that Yunnan was a colleague of mine during the Sand Wars. She was really boastful and obnoxious. She brags a lot about her accomplishment and how she single-handedly won the war, all because she left her army, including me, behind."

That's when the four heard noise. They turned and saw Yunnan approaching. Sasha and Grime came out of the mill.

"Finally, I found you at last," said Yunnan, before she saw that there were two toads that looked almost exactly the same. "This is going to be harder than I thought, but it still won't stop the Great General Yunnan! Scourge of the Sand Wars, defeater of… Wait, Catherine? You're here too?"

Catherine just waved, not very happy to see her former colleague again.

"Whatever, which one of you is Captain Grime?" asked Yunnan.

Everyone pointed at Grime. Grime even pointed at himself.

Yunnan was shocked to see Grime in this… condition. "You're Grime? The toughest fighter in the coliseum?"

Grime chugged a can of a beverage, and burped, before replying, "Yep, that's me. What? Here for my autograph?"

"No, I came for your head!" Yunnan replied.

She brought out her claws and swung them, somehow cutting down every tree in the area.

"Alright, time to run," said Sasha as she grabbed Grime and made a run for it.

"We'll hold her off!" Matt told Sasha as he brought out his spear. "Go!"

Sasha nodded and continued running.

Matt, Aaron, Dareth, and Catherine charged towards Yunnan. She brought out her claws and charged right back.

Catherine leaped towards Yunnan, but Yunnan swung her tail and knocked Catherine to the side.

"Thanks for teaching me that trick," Yunnan complimented.

Dareth ran with his sword in hand. The toad and the newt clashed their respective weapons three times before Yunnan kicked Dareth to the ground.

Aaron lasted a bit longer than the others, the fight lasting a good minute, but in the end, Yunnan prevailed.

Matt stepped up right after Aaron was taken down. He tried to surprise Yunnan while she was busy fighting Aaron. Yunnan saw the attack coming, and was about to use her tail attack, but Matt was one step ahead. He used his spear to parry the tail. The two continued to duel each other, locking eyes on one another.

Meanwhile, Sasha and Grime were running.

"Just my luck!" Grime shouted. "They sent that psychotic glory hound after us! We'll never escape her!"

"Like hell we won't!" Sasha shouted back.

Sasha bounced on some mushrooms, swung on a branch, and landed perfectly on the other side of a small gap.

Grime, however, couldn't reach the branch.

"Couldn't there have been an easier route?" he asked.

"Maybe if you trained once in a while, we wouldn't be in this mess," Sasha replied.

Grime had enough of Sasha acting like this. He reached the vine and swung across, just barely making it.

"Enough of this!" he shouted. "At least be honest with why you devoted yourself to training!"

"What do you think?" Sasha replied. "I'm angry that I lost the fight at Toad Tower, the biggest fight of my life!"

"That's bull!" Grime shouted back. "You don't care that you lost a dumb fight! You're upset that you lost a friend! You're upset that Anne stood up to you and things will never be the same again, and you're worried that Matt will do the exact same thing!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Sasha screamed in denial.

She was about to run, but Grime stopped her. She would've fallen off a cliff if Grime didn't save her.

That's when Yunnan showed up, carrying Matt's unconscious body.

At this point, Sasha couldn't deny her fears anymore, seeing Matt on the ground the way he was. She cried and admitted, "You're right. I am worried. I've already lost Anne and now Matt. I can't lose you too."

"Time for you to submit to the Great General Yunnan!" Yunnan shouted. "Scourge of the Sand Wars, defeater of…"

"Do you have to do that every time?" Sasha interrupted.

"Yes, yes I do," Yunnan replied. "Repetition helps it stick. Alright Grimesy, it's time to go."

"Hey, only I call him that!" Sasha shouted.

Sasha was about to attack, but Yunnan used her tail to send Sasha back.

"Lieutenant!" Grime shouted, before grabbing a nearby tree branch. "If you wanna get to me, you gotta fight both of us!"

Sasha got up and said to Grime, "Welcome back, Captain."

"Thanks, Sasha," Grime replied. "For reminding me there's something worth fighting for. I'm talking about our friendship, to be clear."

"I got it," said Sasha.

Grime fought back, but he was easily overpowered.

Sasha stepped in and put up a better fight. After a good while, Sasha brought Yunnan to her knees, shocking her.

"What?" asked Sasha. "You didn't think you'd meet your match?"

Yunnan got back up and brought Sasha to her knees. Sasha saw Grime sneaking behind Yunnan and came up with a plan.

"What was your name again?" she asked with puppy dog eyes.

Yunnan was about to do her introduction again, but she saw how Sasha looked behind her. She turned back and saw Grime about to push her, so she pushed him.

"Ow," said Grime, as he landed hard on his head.

"You almost had me there for a second, but nothing can stop the Great General Yunnan!" Yunnan shouted. "Scourge of the Sand Wars, defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of general in the Great Newtopian Army!"

"Seriously?" asked Grime. "All that and we're still toast?"

"Not on my watch!" a voice replied.

Everyone turned to see Matt up on his feet. His eyes were glowing teal and a wave of teal energy was surrounding his body.

Sasha was instantly shocked at the site. She blushed at the site of Matt looking like a young super-saiyan.

Matt ran towards Yunnan, dashed, and punched Yunnan in the gut, leaving a huge dent in her armor. Yunnan fell off the cliff and into the river.

"This cannot be!" Yunnan shouted as she floated away. "I am General Yunnan!"

"Oh yeah?" Matt replied, his powers deactivated. "Well I'm Matthew Ellis, Master of Combat, Top Player in my Track Team, and best friend to Sasha Waybright!"

"I'm Sasha Waybright!" Sasha added. "Top scorer in Dance Dance Revolution, Captain of my Cheer Squad, and the youngest girl to ever achieve the rank of First Lieutenant to Captain Grime!"

"And I'm Captain Grime!" Grime finished. "Drinker of Bog Grog, Grower of Beards, and Watcher of Suspicion Island!"

"THOSE TITLES ARE WEAK!" Yunnan shouted as she floated away, never to be seen again.

"First off," Sasha said, turning to Matt. "Since when could you do that?"

"I have no idea," Matt replied.

That's when he finally passed out, having lost his energy to his powers.

Grime wasn't paying attention to that. He instantly shouted. "I've almost forgotten the thrill of battle! I am so pumped up! Forget taking back the valley! Forget serving the king at all! I say we siege the capital! It's high time toads ruled this place for a change! But first…"

"You wanna finish Suspicion Island don't you?" Sasha interrupted.

"Yes, yes I do," Grime replied, before running back to the mill showing childish excitement.

Sasha picked up Matt's unconscious body and carried him away.

Later that night, Grime led Dareth into the mill for a private conversation.

"Dareth, I know we have a rough history," said Grime. "But I'm proposing a truce. All our lives, the newts looked down on us and saw us as nothing but creatures meant to enforce the law, but I propose that we overthrow them and show them that there's more to us than they think."

"Let me think about that," Dareth replied, though he already knew his answer. "No!"

Dareth ran out and met up with Catherine and Aaron. He ordered Aaron, "Go get Matt. We gotta get out of here."

Meanwhile, Matt was with Sasha and they were catching up on everything.

That's when Aaron came in and said, "Matt, come on, we gotta go."

Sasha instantly jumped to the conclusion that Matt was leaving her the way Anne did and got angry. She turned to Matt and said, "I see how it is. You're choosing him over me, aren't you!"

"Sasha, it's…" Matt was about to say.

"Save it," Sasha interrupted. "I hope you're happy, because this friendship is over. End, of, discussion."

Matt was very hurt by what Sasha just said, tears formed around his eyes. He shouted, "Well, if that's the case, then I will go!" before running over to Aaron.

Sasha instantly realized what she said. She wanted to take it back, but it was too late. Matt already left. Sasha fell to her knees and cried, knowing that she lost another friend, and it was all her fault.