Deep beneath Wartwood, in the Plantar Family Tunnels, business went on as usual. Stumpy was serving his customers at the diner, Mayor Toadstool was counting taxes, and Toadie was helping gather the taxes. "Aren't these worthless, sir?" he asked Toadstool.

"That don't mean we don't have to count them, Toadie."

Elsewhere, Fern the barber was giving Resistance members punk haircuts.

In another part of the tunnel, Polly and Maddie were playing amongst the giant, glowing blue mushrooms while Sadie Croaker sat on a bench with Archie. Nearby, Sprig and Ivy were walking down a path when a black and white moth flew by. "Oooh. A corpse-maker moth," said Sprig. Ivy did not respond. He cleared his throat and continued, "You're supposed to kiss when you see one, otherwise your crops will be cursed for seven years." He gave Ivy a quick peck on the cheek. "Just to be safe."

Ivy blushed and said with a giggle, "Crops are very important."

Suddenly, the moth flew down and tried to attack the two young frogs only for Ivy to punch it while Sprig shot a Ripple-infused slingshot at it. "Whoa, nice shot," complimented Ivy. The moth crashed down in a heart-shaped mushroom cloud.

Suddenly, the sound of a bell ringing snapped the two out of the mood. "Oop. sound like the mission briefing bell."

"Come on!" Ivy grabbed his hand and the two of them went to the war room, only to find it was packed. She groaned in frustration, "There's no seats left together."

Sprig called out, "Attention, fellow freedom fighters. Will someone give up their seat for Sprivy, Wartwood's cutest couple?" The two of them struck a pose.

Loggle muttered in annoyance, "Not this again."

"Ever since Sprig got back, those two have been inseparable," said Joan Jett. "And they won't shut up about it. We get it! You're a cute couple!"

Sadie Croaker shook her head. "Young love is the worst."

"No takers, hey?" said Ivy. "Hmm. Guess we'll just stand in the back together."

"As long as we're together," Sprig said.

Everyone groaned in annoyance. "GET A ROOM, YOU TWO," shouted Ram Bamboo.

Soon, Sasha, Anne, Giorgio, and Grime arrived. "Good morning everyone," said Sasha before asking herself, "Wait. Is it morning? It's hard to tell underground. Whatever."

"I don't mind the dark," said Giorgio. He and Sasha glanced at each other, then blushed and looked away. "Ahem. But that's not important right now. We've got good news and bad news."

"Good news is we've secured a major shipment of crucial supplies from a wealthy pro-Wartwood elite," said Grime.

Everyone cheered.

"But the bad news is the only way to Wartwood is through the mountain pass," said Anne. "And Andrias has it locked down, guarded by a giant laser cannon."

Everyone booed.

"Laser cannon stinks," one of the farmers shouted.

"I like the other news better!" shouted Wally.

"Why does Grime always get to do the good news," Anne whispered to Sasha, who merely shrugged her shoulders and said to everyone, "The cannon is protected by a force field. If we can take that out, we can destroy the weapon. There's a robot battalion protecting both structures. But every hour, there's a five-minute window where the robots change shifts. That's our chance to strike."

"Wait. The robots change shifts?"

"Everyone deserves a break, Loggle," said Sadie.

Maddie raised her hand and asked, "Can't you use your glowy hair and eye powers to blow it up?"

"Anne and I are trying to conserve our powers. Using them all at once takes a lot out of us and we can't afford to become exhausted. So, I'm bringing two teams of two," continued Sasha. "One for the shield generator, one to take out the cannon before the five minutes are up. Joan Jett, Stumpy, Fern, Ivy, and Sprig, follow me."

"Wait, why Joan Jett," asked Anne.

"Because this job requires some Stand users, which Ivy, Joan Jett and I are," said Sasha. "Also, because it's daylight outside, and we can't risk losing JoJo."

Giorgio sighed sadly. "Great. I miss out on a mission because of my vampirism."

"I wish you could come too." Sasha immediately blushed when she said that. "I mean, because you could help us out on the mission with your Stand and vampirism! I've been talking too long." She immediately snapped out out of it and said, "Fall in line, people! Let's go!"

"Looks like our number's up," said Stumpy as he and Fern the barber followed Sasha.

Behind them, Sprig and Ivy held hands as they followed. "Ha! Of course they want the two of us," said the former.

"Yeah, after all, we're perfectly in sync," said the latter.

Giorgio shook his head as he watched them go. "I know they make a cute couple, but it's distracting them from their missions. I think Sasha's making a mistake bringing them."

"She knows what she's doing," assured Grime. "She has confidence in their skills. Although, I do admit, their love is too sickeningly sweet. It's giving me a tooth cavity just thinking about it."

"Hey! Don't bash the cute couple," snapped Anne. Realizing people were staring at her, she coughed and said, "All right. Well, that's the only mission today, so what do you guys wanna do?"

Wally raised his hand and asked, "Can we have a piñata party?"

Anne, Grime, and Giorgio glanced at each other before Anne said, "Don't see why not."

As if on cue, a piñata of Andrias dropped from the ceiling as mariachi music began playing. Everyone cheered and started wailing on the piñata with sticks. Giorgio suppressed a giggle. "I don't know if I should be laughing or disturbed." He suddenly noticed Anne smiling at him. "What?"

"I saw the way you and Sasha were blushing," she teased.

Giorgio instantly hypnotized her and commanded, "You will partake in the piñata party." Anne picked up a stick and left. Giorgio sighed. "They cannot know about that kiss," he whispered as he took out a grubble and drained it dry with one hand before throwing its withered husk into a compost heap. He noticed Grime staring at him. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just a little unnerving seeing you drink blood like that."

"Well, normal food doesn't make me feel full no matter how much I eat. Besides, I only drink animal blood. You don't have to worry about me draining everyone here."

Grime narrowed his eyes at him and gave him a "got my eye on you" gesture.

In the stables where the snails, including Bessie, were kept, Sasha laid out the teams. "Okay, so the teams are, Sprig with Stumpy, and Ivy with Fern. Joan Jett, you're with me."

Sprig and Ivy gasped when they heard that. Joan Jett helped Sasha load some boom shrooms into a cart when Sprig said, "Uh... heh, heh... Sasha, shouldn't me and Ivy be partners?"

"He means 'cause we're dating," said Ivy.

Joan Jett face palmed. "Good grief, I knew it. This was a bad idea."

"Joan Jett, shush," said Sasha. She said to Sprig and Ivy, "Listen, twerp and twerpette, you're not here to pass notes and play footsie. You're here to do a job. And these pairings are super important to the mission."

"What will I do without you?" Sprig sobbed as he and Ivy hugged.

"I'll miss you every second," blubbered Ivy.

"Good Lord," said Sasha as she rolled her eyed.

Joan Jett asked her, "Do you want to leave them here? They're clearly not taking this seriously."

"No, no," insisted Sprig. "We're serious! Look! These are our serious faces!" He and Ivy scrunched their faces.

"Those aren't serious faces. More like constipated," said Joan Jett. "Look, you're going to take the pairing Sasha assigned to you and live with it. Otherwise, you two are out, got it?" The two young frogs nodded.

Joan Jett hooked the cart to Bessie and the group rode her out of the hideout via one of the secret tunnels. As they went down the road, Stumpy showed off his mace and cleaver prosthetics. "This one is for bashing and smashing, and this one is for slicing and dicing."

Fern said, "Wow. I wish my hands were scissors. Working at the salon would be a breeze."

"Aye, lass, but then you'd never be able to caress a wee baby tadpole. Or hold hands with the love of your live!" Stumpy cried that last part.

Fern made scissors motions with her fingers and said with a smile, "Seems worth it to me!"

Joan Jett leaned in and said to Sasha, "Didn't you watch a movie on your phone about a guy with scissors for hands?"

"Yeah. It's not one of my favorites, but it's a pretty good matinee. I wouldn't mind seeing it again with my friends."

Joan Jett then whispered, "Or your boyfriend?" Sasha's heart almost skipped a beat. "Oh, yeah. I saw the way you and JoJo were looking at each other. You like each other, don't you?"

"No!" Sasha shouted, a little too loudly. Noticing everyone was staring at her, she quieted down and said, "No. I mean, why would he like me? After all I've done, I don't think I'm worthy."

"Well, you'll never know if you don't ask him out. Unless, of course, this is your first date," Joan Jett teased.

"Not a date," hissed Sasha. "Besides, I've had plenty of dates, half of them boys and half of them girls, all of them ended in disappointments. I had Anne break them up for me." She groaned when that reminder of her past came back to haunt her. "But JoJo's not like most boys and I'm not like most girls. And it's not just because we're Stand users. We're both tough, smart, stubborn, kinda rude yet nice at the same time, and we both like 'Berserk'."

"So, ask him out," said Joan Jett. "When the time is right, of course."

Meanwhile, in the back of the cart, Sprig and Ivy were suffering their own love problems. "I can't believe we have to split up," said the former.

"This is the worst thing that has ever happened to anyone," said the latter.

"There's gotta be a way to switch, as long as Sasha doesn't find out."

The group eventually reached a cliff road that looked out over the mountain pass where the laser cannon was positioned. "There's our target," said Joan Jett. "And our supplier is just on the other side of the pass."

"I'll keep watch up here, and signal him when the cannon is down," said Sasha before she took out some flags and waved them as she did a dance. Everyone stared at her. Blushing, she put them away. "Sorry, cheerleading muscle memory. Here's a watch for each of you." She handed everyone a pocket watch. "The shift change is about to start. Follow my plan exactly and it should just be enough. Okay, team, move out!"

"WAIT," exclaimed Joan Jett. "We've got a snag. Those aren't robots guarding it, they're Infected!"

Sasha face palmed. "Great."

"So," asked Sprig.

"These guys aren't like robots. They DON'T take shifts! The parasites in them can make them go on for hours without rest. They won't leave." Sasha put her hands together, inhaled and exhaled. "Okay. The plan is the same, but we first need to get those Infected out of the way. Joan Jett, think you can get rid of them?"

"On it." Joan Jett slid down the mountain and headed for the cannon. Sasha kept watch through her telescope, spotting a postman walking down the pass and singing, "Delivery for Wartwood, delivery today." The cannon fired at him. Somehow still alive, the postman sang, "Delivery for Wartwood, delivery delayed."

"Eesh," winced Sasha.

Joan Jett poked her head out from behind a rock and did a head count of the Infected. "There's too many to take head on. I could use Cherry Bomb, but her sticker bombs need to make contact in order for them to work." She spotted some rocks on the ground and got an idea. She threw them up in the air and summoned Cherry Bomb, who proceeded to punch sticker bombs on them and launch them at the Infected. Seeing them all destroyed, Joan Jett gave the all clear signal.

"She's done it," said Sasha. "Alright, teams! Move out quick!"

The teams of two climbed down the mountainside and scrambled toward the cannon. Sprig and Ivy put their plan into motion. The former took out a note from his pocket and said, "Oh! Hey, guys. I forgot. Sasha gave me this note. Something about switching up the teams."

"That sound important, Sprig," said Ivy. "Let us read it together."

Stumpy read the note, "'Dear nerds, I, Sasha, order you to switch partners. Sprig should be with Ivy since they're dating.'"

Fern thought it over, then said, "Well, it certainly sounds legit."

"Let's switch it up then," decided Stumpy. "Sasha is a tactical wizard. Mucking about with her decisions could have devastating consequences."

Sprig and Ivy grinned as they held hands.

The group reached the cannon and Sprig and Ivy hopped the fence and toward the cannon. "Boom! Now, all we've got to wait for that force field to come down," said Sprig.

Meanwhile, Stumpy and Fern walked up the hill toward the power generator. The former started to sweat and pant. "Don't know why old Stumpy was picked to go uphill. This sure is a hard climb. You doing okay back there, Fern?"

The barber was lying on her back, looking up at the sky. "Look, Cutsy," she said to her giant red scissors. "That 'cloud' looks like a cloud."

Stumpy shouted, "Fern, get a move on!"

Finally, they reached the top, and Stumpy was sweating up a storm. "We finally made it. Now, let's shut down this generator with no one the wiser." He took one step forward and the rock he stepped on let out a shriek. It wasn't a rock. It was a giant claw.

Stumpy let out a scream.

Back with Sprig and Ivy, the latter checked her watch. "Hmm, think the shield is down yet?"

"Let's check." Sprig touched the cannon and was immediately zapped. "Ouch!"

"Huh, it's still up. Well, we can't expect Fern and Stumpy to work as good together as we do."

"Good call," said Sprig as he recovered. "Let's give them a little extra time."

"HEY!" Sprig and Ivy jumped when they heard Joan Jett's voice. She was stomping toward them with an angry look.

"Crud, we forgot about her," whispered Ivy.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO KIDS DOING HERE," shouted Joan Jett. "WHERE'S STUMPY AND FERN?"

"I-It's alright," said Sprig as he took out the note. "Sasha wrote down a change in partners at the last minute."

Joan Jett took it out and read it. "This isn't Sasha's handwriting." She crumpled it and threw it to the ground. "I told her you two weren't ready for this! Your stupid crush compromised the mission!"

"Hey, give us a break, Joan Jett," said Ivy. "We've been separated for months! We deserve some time together!"

"Enough! I'm going to help Stumpy and Fern; you two are to report to Sasha and tell her what you've done!"

Joan Jett reached the generator, and was surprised to find Stumpy and Fern lying on the ground. "What are you two doing?" She took a step forward...

"STOP!" Joan Jett turned around to see Sprig and Ivy hopping toward her. "What are you two doing," she asked. "Haven't you done enough?"

"We're sorry, okay? We really do want to take this mission seriously," said Ivy. "And right now, you're walking into an..."

"AMBUSH!" shouted Stumpy.

"Yeah, like, what he said," said Fern.

Two claws popped out of the ground and caught the two of them. Then, the owner of said claws rose out of the ground. A giant robotic crab with the generator attached to its shell. The sight of it made Joan Jett exclaim, "You've gotta be kidding me! The generator is another robot?!"

"This was not in the mission briefing," shouted Stumpy.

"Holy crab," screamed Fern.

The robot crab threw them to the ground, charged at the group. Joan Jett summoned Cherry Bomb, who proceeded to punch sticker bombs on it. "ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA!" All the bombs set off and the crab collapsed. Joan Jett did not celebrate, though. "This is too easy," she said. Sure enough, the crab immediately repaired itself and roared at them. "Yep," said Joan Jett.

"What do we do," asked Sprig, not realizing he and Ivy had finally let go of their hands.

Ivy and Fern saw the power supply on the crab's back: a newt with wires and plugs fused to it. "Look! That's where the generator is getting its power. Fern, if I can keep that thing busy, can you cut those wires and shut it down?"

Fern looked at the newt, who was giving her a pleading look that said, "Please, kill me!" Sighing sadly, she took out Cutsy. "Gladly."

"Sprig, take Stumpy to the cannon! Me, Joan Jett, and Fern will get the shield sown."

"Right! Let's go, Stumpy. And, Ivy..." Sprig paused before sobbing, "...I'll miss you so much."

Ivy started blubbering too. "I'll count every second until we're back together. And not just 'cause I have to for the mission."

Joan Jett face palmed. "Oh, for crying out loud! GET! GOING!" She had Cherry Bomb blast Sprig and Stumpy to the cannon.

"Was that necessary," shouted Stumpy.

"IVYYYY!" screamed Sprig.

"I think that guy likes you," said Fern.

"Yeah. Too much," said Joan Jett.

The robot crab charged at the girls. Ivy used her Stand, Invisible Touch, to make herself disappear, then she began to punch and kick at the crab's legs. Try as it might, it could not find its attacker. Joan Jett had Cherry Bomb place sticker bombs on its shell, setting them off all at once. Fern jumped onto its back and raised her scissors. "Looks like you're due for a cut," she said before adding silently to the newt, "Forgive me, fellow amphibian."

Meanwhile, Sprig and Stumpy crashed through the fence surrounding the cannon and the former began using his slingshot combined with Ripple to take out the defenses along the way. Stumpy put down Sprig and put on his prosthetic spatula hand. "Okay, let's see if these shields are still up," he said.

"I wouldn't recommend that," said Sprig. But Stumpy touched the shield anyway, and nothing happened. "Oh, yeah. Your spatula hand is made out of bone. That doesn't conduct electricity. So that's why Sasha picked you," Sprig realized.

"Come on, girls," said Stumpy. "Come on!"

After a moment's hesitation, Fern finally gathered the nerve to impale the newt with her scissors. She felt a few tears drip down her face as she did so. At the same time, Ivy tripped the crab robot while still invisible, giving Joan Jett's Cherry Bomb the opportunity to punch one final sticker bomb to its head.

The shield disappeared and Stumpy shouted, "It's down!"

"Go time," cheered Sprig.

Stumpy removed a metal plating, exposing the cannon's wires and circuits. "Looks like five oughta do the trick," he said as he placed five boom shrooms in it. "That should do it. Let's get out of here, kid." He grabbed Sprig and ran off to a safe distance as the cannon was destroyed.

Meanwhile, Sasha, who saw everything with her telescope, cheered "YES!" and did a flag dance, giving the all clear signal.

"Go on," said Joan Jett to a very ashamed Sprig and Ivy after regrouping with Sasha. "Tell her what you did."

"No need," said Sasha. "I saw everything. You and Ivy ignored my orders and almost beefed the entire mission because you couldn't spend five minutes apart!"

Sprig and Ivy winced. "That is... surprisingly accurate," said the former.

"I separated you two because I needed two of our best commandos protecting two of our best specialists, so they could do their jobs."

"Oh," said Sprig and Ivy in unison.

"Yeah, that makes sense," said the latter.

"Yeah, we're dumb," said the former.

"YOU THINK," shouted Joan Jett. "We almost died because of your lovey dovey crap!"

"But you still managed to pull off the mission. So I'm only sort of furious," said Sasha.

"Oh, no," said Joan Jett. "Don't even think of giving these two a slap on the wrist."

Then she sighed. "She's right. There will be some punishment for this. You two are banned from future missions and will be tasked with menial jobs at the base until I say otherwise."

Ivy sighed. "She's right. Hey, Sprig. I really like where our relationship is headed, but..."

"Maybe we shouldn't let it dictate every decision we make in our lives," Sprig finished her sentence.

"Wait, you guys are dating," asked Fern.

"How did you not notice," asked Joan Jett.

"And I'm glad y'all learned your lessons and we ain't dead," said Stumpy.

Joan Jett heard the sound of wagon wheels clattering and turned around to see someone heading up the mountain pass. "I think our rich supporter's coming."

It was none other than Wally's father, Wigbert Ribbiton. He was riding on one of his beetles, who was carrying a wagon full of supplies with the Ribbiton family crest on them. "Cheerio, my good frogs. The Ribbiton state is here to pledge its full support for your rebellion."

"Thanks, Wigbert," said Sasha. "Your supplies are really going to make a difference."

Fern looked at Wigbert and said, "What the... Uh, guys. Does this guy look like Wally to anyone?" She didn't know.

"So, the mission almost flopped because Sprig and Ivy couldn't stand being separated from each other," said Giorgio when they got back to the base with the supplies in tow.

"Yep," said Sasha.

"I knew the shipping would get us in trouble."

"Don't blame the shipping," snapped Anne. "So where are they now," she asked Sasha.

"They're on stable duty until further notice."

Giorgio scoffed. "I hope we don't end up like that."

"I know," laughed Sasha. "Holding hands all the time, kissing every ten seconds, going out on dates, watching our favorite movies, meeting our families..."

"...catching up on the latest 'Berserk' chapters, learning new Stand abilities, going to the video arcade, playing co-op video games at home, eating pizza..."

Both Giorgio and Sasha glanced at each other, then looked away, blushing. "I mean, if Sprig and Ivy are into that kind of thing," he said.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be so bad," she said. "For Sprig and Ivy."

Anne made a knowing smile. "What," asked Sasha. "Stop smiling like that! It's creepy!"

"You two like each other, don't you," Anne teased.

"Shh!" hissed Giorgio. "So what? It's not like we have enough time to go on a date even if we want to."

Anne raised an eyebrow. "Do you even want to go on a date?" She got no response. "Well, I learned my lesson when Hop Pop and I tried to force Sprig and Ivy to go on a date, I'm not going to do the same with you. You two decide. I'm going to watch Suspicion Island with Joan Jett. I think I'm getting her hooked." She left, leaving the two of them alone.

Giorgio and Sasha glanced at each other, then blushed again. Giorgio asked, "Do you even WANT to go on a date?"

"...Yes. Do you?"

Giorgio nodded. "But, are you sure you don't mind dating a vampire mafioso? I mean, we can't go on dates in the daytime for obvious reasons. And what would your parents think when we get back?"

"I think we can find a way to make it work, somehow. As for my parents...I think we can keep certain details secret from them."

"There is one more thing we have to consider. I'll have to go back to Italia once this is over."

Sasha balked. "What?! Why?!"

"The only reason I came to America in the first place was to get the arrow. And since Dad got it while we were stuck in Amphibia, there's no reason to stick around anymore. I have to go back home and return to school in Napoli, and get back help Dad run the family business."

"What about us?" asked Sasha, her voice cracking. "I mean, we could have a long-distance relationship, but does that kind of thing even last?"

Giorgio thought it over. "How about this? We'll stay in contact with each other, via voice mail, video chat, emails, and texts. Video chat works best in my opinion. And after I graduate from school, I'll rise up in the ranks and try to convince Dad if I can start an American branch of Passione, that way, we can stick together and I can continue contributing to the familia."

Then Sasha had an idea. "Does this mean I can join Passione?"

Giorgio's eyes widened. "Y-You want to join?"

"Sure, why not? You did say anyone can join, so long as they have the right amount of skill and trust. I'm a Stand user, I have leadership skills, and a silver tongue. I have a way with people, and I can find a way to contribute to Passione while working a regular job at the same time."

Giorgio didn't know what to say. "Uh...I think you'll have to talk to my Dad about that. That's not my decision." Truth be told, Giorgio did want her to join if it was possible. Sasha saw it in his eyes.

"Anyway..." Sasha took out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it. "Here's where I want to go for our date. Don't be late."

"I promise. Oh, and one more thing, if either one of us start to act like Sprig and Ivy, the other has to slap their partner in the face."

"Deal."

Meanwhile, Anne and Sprig poked their head out from behind a corner, grinning with glee. "So beautiful."

"When do you think they'll kiss?"

"Baby steps, Sprig. Baby steps."

⬅ To be continued...