I do not own Trolls or Trolls World Tour or Trolls Band Together or any of the characters in the franchise or the songs! And I especially don't own any of the songs I use from the movie or any other song I pick out in general! I also don't own the characters of Trollstopia! The only thing I do own are my O.C.s Melody Song, McJagger, Buckaroo, Stereo, and Twilight Tidepool; I.M. Rally owns her O.C. Aggie Galido, and Cheah owns his O.C. Finn Okazaki Tidepool. Now, strap in, ladies and gentlemen, and let's get on with the show!
Over on Mount Rageous, all of the Rageons were gathering by the entrance of the Rage Dome, eagerly awaiting to enter the building for the start of the performance by Velvet and Venner; many of the present fans were all jumping about in excitement, waiting by the red rope, with security guards guarding the entrance and keeping it safe. Music played through the speakers, which made the experience of waiting all the more enjoyable for them.
On the ground, too small for a Mount Rageon to notice right away, Branch was cycling on the tricycle, eyeing the Rage Dome in the distance. Poppy hopped down from her stand from behind the tricycle and pulled out a pair of binoculars through her hair, getting a closer look of the large crowds by the Rage Dome, while also scoping out any possible entrance path they could sneak into.
While she did that, Branch was analyzing the security that monitored the event, detailing, "All right, look; security is really tight, so we're not gonna be able to just walk right in."
"You know what that means," Poppy started to answer before she took the binoculars off her eyes and faced Branch, telling him in determination, "We're scaling the walls."
Tiny, taken back by what the adults planned to do, commented in confusion, "We're huh? Doing what? When"?
With a plan in motion, Poppy hopped back onto her stand on the tricycle, with Branch pedaling it down the path towards the Rage Dome.
Once they found a quiet spot that they could park it without anyone spotting it or catching the Trolls trying to sneak in, Branch pointed out as they walked up towards the side wall of the building that was near the Rage Dome, where Velvet and Veneer's dressing room was, looking up, "We should plan to make our ascent about 200 meters east of the entrance. Around here would match the approximate measurements."
Poppy fished through her hair and brought out a large stack of what looked like different colors of rubber gummy gloves that you could wear on your hands to give you an extra sticky grip, and given how slippery and rounded the walls of the Rage Dome looked, this was perfect to use.
She handed a pair to Branch before giving Tiny an extra small pair to wear on his hand before placing a pair onj for herself.
Hands now extra sticky, the trio began to make the climb up, moving like the large spiders that live amongst their forests while trying to also remain inconspicuous with how they climbed in case someone caught the eye of their actions.
Halfway up during their climbing, Tiny's hands were starting to become really sore from all the climbing, and his limbs felt like fire; his little self wasn't used to all of this action, and his adulting was beginning to take a physical toll on him. He struggled to catch up, saying to Poppy, "I'm tired; carry me."
Though as much as Poppy wanted to carry Tiny up, she and Branch could see right through Tiny's facade; they could tell that the little Glitter Troll REALLY wanted someone to carry him just because he was, how to put it lightly, lacking the required independence that every "adult" had. Trying to motivate him to keep going, Poppy told Tiny, " You have to walk on your own, Tiny; you have to be a big boy."
Tiny, feeling achy and all, rebutted in the way that most kids his age did best: he disdainfully complained, arguing back, "But my feet hurt; I don't wanna"!
Seeing that Tiny looked close to throwing a really bad fit, Branch let out a slow exhale through his nose and offered Tiuny a hand out to him, saying, "Come on up."
Tiny grinned and accepted the hand up, hopping into Branch's hair, saying, "Thanks, Daddy's friend Branch"!
With Tiny safe in tow, both Branch and Poppy continued their climbing escapade up until they were close to the roof, which allowed Branch to tell Poppy about the next obstacle that they had to tackle if they were gonna sneak in safely to find Floyd, "The quickest way in will be at the roof; and once up there, we gotta find the Rage Dome's ventilation system that we can slip in undetected."
Poppy's eyes caught on something in the distance that matched exactly what Branch had described: there was a large gold metallic structure with a shimmering glittered vent that looked big enough to transfer a lot of air in and out, and it was especially big enough for the pair to sneak into. Eyeing it, she quickly pointed out, "The HVAC system"!
Hearing the way that Poppy called it, Branch felt a little swooned, commenting cheerfully, "Ooh, I love how you say HVAC."
"Thank you," Poppy replied, blushing a bit that Branch thought her comment was endearing.
As the Trolls made their way into the HVAC, they soon eyed that they had another, more dangerous obstacle to tackle: the fan blades that spun to keep the flow of air movement moving constantly and transferring excess heat out. The speed at which the fan blades spun looked fast enough to slice someone's head off in but only a millisecond if one weren't careful enough. With this in mind, Branch pointed out, " But we'll have to bypass the fan blade so that our "cupcakes" don't get sliced in two."
Hearing the word "cupcakes" made Tiny think that Poppy or Branch had brought cupcakes, asking eagerly, "Ooh! We brought cupcakes"?
Poppy and Branch, a little alarmed by Tiny's innocent yet very broad question, didn't know exactly how to tell him about what they were really referring to, Poppy giving a shy and awkward, "No," while looking away, not wanting to go into very explicit details for the little Glitter Troll.
Branch, sharing the same mindset, had a little more blunt approach with his response, clarifying, "Not what I meant; it doesn't matter," before he made the courageous dive toward the fan blade, going headfirst towards what many would call "Certain doom."
As Branch eyed the way the fan blades spun, he took out a piece of cotton candy that he had in his pockets and threw it at the edge of the fan blades, watching it begin to get caught along the blades as they continued to spin.
Branch eyed carefully the way that the cotton candy began to take hold, and while it looked like it did absolutely nothing at first, it didn't deter Branch or make him flinch fearfully; his eyes narrowed in determination, and his heart beating almost as fast as a snare drum, he still kept going and going, all while Poppy and Tiny watched in intrigue and concern that there was that possibility that Branch could get hurt.
Luckily, that concern went away when Branch saw the cotton candy spread along the rest of the fan blades, and it soon took a strong, sticky hold, making the fan blades stop spinning, and provide an escape hole easily for him to slip through, with Poppy, who cheered as she dove down, and Tiny, following right behind him.
This led to the Trolls sliding down a tube chute that took them into a new area of the HVAC system, one where there were a lot of different wires that controlled the power of the entire building.
"Alright, looks like we made it into the air duct's power system; once we find the main battery connectors, we need to cut the power, so we can move freely through the interior air ducts."
Poppy looked around before her eyes caught sight of a large connector system that had a lot of different-colored wires sticking out from it.
"Found it," Poppy declared before pulling out a welding flamethrower and a welding mask.
The sight of seeing Poppy with this made Branch as curious as he wa surprised to see his girlfriend, who was well-known for all things fun and happy and positive, even be able to know just how to use this kind of tool, asking her, "Woah, Poppy, since when do you know about to use a flamethrower"?
"Well, I got inspired to learn how to use it by you," Poppy replied while playfully booping Branch's nose, which made the survivalist Troll smile and blush in response.
Poppy then threw the mask on and turned on the flamethrower, using it to start cutting whatever wire that her eyes caught sight of, watching as the flames cut right through thre wires like melted butter.
While Branch watched his girlfriend use the flamethrower, he did have one slight concern about letting his girlfriend handle this responsibility: he didn't know if Poppy was cutting the right wires needed to cut the power off.
Looking around cautiously, he asked Poppy, "How do you know which wires to cut"?
Poppy lifted the mask up and told Branch in response while still using the flamethrower, "I don't; I'm just blasting everything until something turns off."
On cue, the lights and power immediately got cut off, startling the Trols at first before they realized that they had gotten the power in the air ducts cut off successfully.
However, what the Trolls didn't know was that the power also got cut off in the bathroom, and one of the Mount Rageons who was currently using one of the stalls witnessed the power getting cut off, with only his shoes glowing and showing a little light. A little taken aback, he asked shyly, "Hello"?
Up in the air ducts, Branch and Poppy, with Tiny in Branch's hair, both snuck into the air duct pipes, a flashlight in hand, which Branch used to shed some light as they searched for the right vents that'd lead to where Floyd was. While they looked around, Branch explained, "From there, we'll have to do some exploring, but we'll find Floyd in one of those rooms."
Poppy and Branch kept looking around the air ducts, peeking through each available vent and into the rooms connected to the vents. So far, they had found an empty janitor's closet, a deserted recording room, and the public bathroom, but they still found no sign of Floyd.
Suddenly, something caught Poppy's eye as she looked down at one of the incoming vents on the floor, and the view of what looked like a Troll figure locked in a diamond bottle that sat on a vanity inside of, what was most definitely, Velvet and Veneet's dressing room, could definitely not be mistaken.
She pointed to what she saw while telling Branch, "Look, there he is."
Branch peered down through the vent flaps and gasped when he saw Floyd in the bottle, stunned to see him in poor shape, but also very relieved to see that he was still alive and could be saved. Yet there was also another emotion that Branch was feeling as he saw Floyd sitting there by himself; this was the first time that he was seeing him in over 20 years, and yet, amongst all those years away...not once had Floyd ever come back like he promised Branch back when he was a baby.
He remembered Floyd's words, how he said that "he'd be back" and that he "wouldn't be gone forever," but...not once did Floyd ever return since that night...and it tore Branch apart at the seams because Floyd was his favorite brother...and for him to walk out under the false promise of returning when in reality he never did...it hurt Branch. Albeit, he did not know how long it's been since Floyd has been trapped, so there was that aspect that he couldn't really blame Floyd for...so why did it still hurt as much to see him again like this? Not from seeing how much Floyd has endured during his captivity...but like this when HE'S the one going to him...instead of Floyd coming back to Branch?
Inside the bottle, Floyd was not looking so good; his hair was becoming a more profused shade of white, with the tips of his bangs and the top tip of his hair still showing signs of color; his hands and up to his forearms were now transparent, and even his shorts had become the same transparent-like jelly substance that his limbs were. While sitting down, his breathing was strained, and his body racked in constant muscle sores, yet no feeling seemed to come from when his feet or his hands touched the diamond bottle.
There was not a moment to lose, and Poppy and Branch both had to act quick before Velvet and Veneer came back to take more of Floyd's essence.
Poppy launched a sticky hand towards the vanity desk, watching the hand attach to the wooden surface, before saying to Branch, "Come on," as they both held each other tight while riding the sticky hand down and into the dressing room.
Landing softly on the vanity desk, Branch immediately approached the diamond bottle, calling out to Floyd, saying softly yet in relief, "Floyd."
Branch's voice stirred Floyd awake, and the moment his eyes caught a glimpse of Branch, he could easily recognize his baby brother, or moreso now, his fully-grown adult "little" brother, his heart almost felt like beating in awe and hope as he asked, placing his hand softly up against the bottle's wall while asking him, just to rectify that this was really happening, "Branch? Is it really you"?
Branch's hand met up with Floyd's on the other side of the diamond bottle, and while they couldn't touch, the connection between them was still real, as Branch, with the biggest relieved smile on his face and his eyes glimmering in emotion and happiness to see Floyd still alive and alright, "Yeah; it's really me."
Floyd stood up to his feet and looked Branch up and down, smiling to see how much Branch had grown up since he was a baby. Floyd couldn't help but feel so proud to see the brave man that Branch had become. And the vest, the vest Branch wore? It brought back many memories for the ailing Troll, who remembered how he passed it onto Branch that night he left to start a solo career.
He let out a small chuckle while saying, "Wow, you've really grown into that vest; you're a man now."
Those words meant the world to Branch, especially when it came to how Floyd was always the one Troll who could see him for who and what he truly was and never once treated Branch like a baby or like he didn't matter; he made Branch feel special, and even now, captive and in pain, to see that Floyd was still that same caring Troll he looked up to when he was younger...Branch wanted to cry so badly and let out every ounce of what he was feeling, not caring who saw him sobbing. He brought his arms up and hugged the prism, trying to hug Floyd, and said as his cheek pressed aginst the cold diamond texture, "Oh! Finally, somebody gets me."
Floyd, while he coulsn't properly reciprocate the hug, brought his arms up and hugged the prism wall, doing his best to show the same love and support in his "hug" like Branch was.
Poppy and Tiny watched from a good step back's distance, with the Pop Queen smiling when she saw the big smile Branch had on his face as he reunited with Floyd. She knew that this meant so much to Branch in getting to see his brother again after so long, and she could only imagine how much warmer the reception was gonna be once they could get Floyd out of that bottle.
Then, as Branch and Floyd were in the middle of their hug, Poppy's ears suddenly picked up on what sounded like...sniffling? And she didn't need to look far to see kit coming from Branch, who just couldn't hold it in any longer, letting his tears fall like rain as his sobs were silent, but prominent.
Branch tried to hold back his sobs as he told Floyd, "Floyd...I've missed you."
"Same here, Branch," Floyd answered back, sharing the same sentiment as Branch did.
However, Floyd then noticed that Branch's demeanor grew a little bit, changing from a happy cry to that of an almost trance-like gaze, one laced with something that resembled the feeling of longing. Branch looked towards Floyd and asked him, his voice soft yet vulnerable, "How long"?
The question, while vague, hit Floyd like a ton of bricks, as the older Troll asked, "How long what"?
"How long were you gonna be away from our family," Branch asked, his voice wavering from emotions as he continued to ask, "How long were you gonna be gone for? How long was it gonna be till you came back...if you ever were gonna come back"?
The wavering tone of voice laced with emotion gave way to another emotion that was just as painful as Branch's choked sobs: hurt—not anger, not bitterness, but genuine hurt. He told Floyd, "You said that you wouldn't be gone for very long and that you'd come back, but... you never did. You stayed gone till...now."
As more tears flowed down Branch's face, his voice now almost sounding like that of his younger years, he looked at Floyd and asked tentatively, "Why...Why didn't you come back...why'd you break the promise you made me"?
Floyd's muscle contractions were but only little compared to the pain in Floyd's heart when he heard his youngest brother ask that, and all that guilt he felt just came flooding in like rainwater.
He placed one of his transparent hands over his chest, his heartbeat frighteningly slower due to the effects of his life being drained out, and told Branch, "I...I have no excuses for...being away for so long. I thought that if I could follow what my heart told me, I could take off in a solo career and then be able to come back and be with you and we could make music together...but it never...sat right with me."
He explained, "Every time that I played a song or was performing for an audience, on the outside, I had a smile...but inside...I wasn't happy. I couldn't feel happy about it because...it didn't feel right doing it...without our brothers...and without you. Every time I sang a note...I thought about when we were BroZone and how our performances had that special soul feeling with them because we sang together. when we broke apart and...went away...that soul feeling just didn't sit right. It felt so...lonely."
He solemnly looked at Branch and said, "And I feared that if I wasn't able to find a way to bring that feeling back...I wouldn't be able to have you experience it with me and...we'd just grow to resent each other...and I didn't want you to be subjected to that, especially at such a young age."
Floyd then said, "Regardless of it though, it still doesn't excuse that I still didn't come back, and I wanted to come back to you...but I just couldn't...choose to. And I've regretted it ever since. I can't say "I'm sorry" about it because...I am sorry about it, but I know...I can't take away those years of pain from it."
Branch couldn't even find a single bone in his body to be mad at Floyd, he never could, and this just proved why: he knew Floyd was as honest as he could, and the fact that Floyd was the only brother who acknowledged that he never came back and could give an honest reason as to why, and at the same time, show that even with that, he still very much cared about Branch and his well-being. Though Floyd was still very much vague on what exactly Branch has experienced since the time of his brothers' departure, the fact of seeing Floyd being able to apologize while not demonetizing his actions and feelings helped Branch be able to understand.
Of course, he also knew that while he wasn't mad at Floyd, he still felt hurt by the way Floyd had left, but the hurt from that broken promise just made it sting a lot more.
That was something Branch knew, and this was something Floyd knew, and Floyd was not afraid to address that, saying, "I know I can't do anything to fix the fact that even as such, I still broke the promise I made to you, and I regret it deeply. But it doesn't change the fact that I still care about you, Branch, and if there is still a honest word that I can say with absolute confidence, it's that not once while I was on my journey did I ever stop thinking about our family, about our brothers; not once did you guys ever leave my mind. When I played...I played a little more...for all of us."
Branch sniffled and wiped away the remaining tears, saying with an emotional smile, "Floyd, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still feel hurt with the way that you left, and I don't think that it's something I'll ever really get over, but I get it, and I'm happy to see that there's at least someone in our family who can still find the heart to show love to us even while apart after the way that things went."
"Well, that's the thing about family, Branch," Floyd commented with a small smile, saying, "Even when we;re apart...we're still together, through memory, and through heart."
Then, panic seemed to overcome Floyd, who quickly told Branch, "But, while I'm really happy to see you, you need to leave, right now."
This made Branch feel a little taken aback, asking, "Wait, what? Why"?
Poppy, on the other hand, tried to reassure Floyd that they had come to get him free, telling him, "No, Floyd, it's okay; we're here to rescue you."
But Floyd, his sympathetic heart taking in mind to look out for the well-being of others, explained, "No, this is a trap; Velvet and Veneer, they-they lured you here. That letter you got from them was fake; Velvet wrote it so you guys would come so she could capture you"!
Poppy and Branch were both shocked to hear this, as Branch now realized that if this was all an elaborate get-up, then this meant that John Dory, Clay, and Bruce were coming to the "rescue," unaware of what lay ahead of them.
Floyd saw Branch having that same thought and quickly warned him, "You gotta leave before they come back, hurry"!
As worried as Branch was about him and Poppy and Tiny getting captured, the only thing he was more concerned about was getting Floyd out and rescued, telling him, "No, I'm not leaving here without you, Floyd. I'm not gonna risk losing you again."
Floyd knew that Branch deeply cared about him, but the guilt that nagged at the older Troll's side pushed him into trying to get Branch out in time so that he wouldn't wind up in the same fate as he was, telling Branch worryingly, "Branch, please, do it for me. It'll kill me if I let them do to you what they've done to me too."
Before Branch could say something in response, the Trolls could hear the dressing room door open, and the lights flick on, with Velvet's voice commenting as the two figures approached the entrance to the dressing room, "We're so close; I told you BroZone would show up. My letter worked; I'm a genius"!
Realizing that they now really had no moment to lose, Poppy tugged on the sticky hand string and it pulled her, Tiny, and Branch back up to the vents while Floyd watched forlornly, seeing the worried look on Branch's face as he watched his little brother quickly hid before the Rageon siblings could get their hands on him. All while watching Velvet and Veneer entered the dressing room, with Veneer hesitantly asking Velvet, "Are you sure you're sure about this"?
Suddenly, Velvet turned her head, feeling like something was going on, and eyed the area, which seemed to be untouched; the Troll (Floyd) was still in the diamond bottle, sitting down, only weakly looking up at her, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary amongst the room itself.
From above, Poppy, Tiny, and Branch had softly entered back into the air ducts without being seen or heard and watched in concern when they saw that Velvet and Venener had gotten a hold of Rhonda, the armadillo bus, who struggled in their grip.
Branch, however, found something even more worrisome to look at; John Dory, Clay, and Bruce were all in diamond prisons, and the diamonds were stuck inside the Rageons' fabulously tasseled shoulder pads, and they couldn't get out! He let out a quiet but worried "Oh, no," as he saw the brothers all stuck together. While he could admit to feeling mad at them earlier, to see them all trapped like this? About to suffer the same painful fate that Floyd was being subjected to? He knew they didn't deserve this, none of them did, no matter what happened between them or how mad he was at his brothers; he still cared for them, and he didn't want his family to have to suffer through this...except they now were.
Rhonda, in Velvet and Venner's arms, angrily barked at the two and tried to wriggle its way free, but Venner, who it almost bit his fingers and face off, shouted while being startled, "Oh! Ow! It's biting me"!
"I got this, bro," Velvet shouted as she opened the closet door, harshly throwing Rhonda inside as the armadillo bus bellowed in pain as it landed and watched frightfully as the door shut on it, trapping it inside alongside Crimp, who thought Rhonda was a new friend and said to her, her voice heard outside the closet, "Hello"!
"Velvet, you could've put it in slowly, not throw it in like garbage; you almost hurt her," Venner, who saw how his sister handled the critter, rebutted harshly.
"Why should I care? It almost bit your face off," Velvet bluntly argued back.
Veneer retorted, addressing to Velvet, "Yes, i know, but it's still living creature, and even if it tried to bite us, she's still sensitive and-,"
However, Velvet had absolutely no patience in dealing with her brother's sensitive and sweet side, telling him harshly, "Listen, it's take care of now, she won't bother us; stop worrying about it like it matters."
"That's because it does" Veneer tried to tell his sister, but seeing Velvet not listening as she picked up the diamond bottle with Floyd inside of it, he sighed sadly, knowing that Velvet was way too stubborn for her own good to even listen.
He walked over to the closet and whispered a morose, "Sorry, lil' girl; I hope Velvet didn't hurt you too badly," and got Rhonda's bellow in response, which meant in armadillo talk "It's ok. I've dealt with worse."
Meanwhile, as Veneer nervously returned back to Velvet's side, Velvet had placed Floyd in the empty pocket on her shoulder pads, and Clayt, eyeing Floyd, smiled and commented, "Floyd"!
This prompted John Dory and Bruce to look up, both sharing eager and static looks and greetings, happy to see Floyd alright and still kicking, despite his deteriorating condition.
"Brothers," Floyd commented, sharing a small grin from getting to see his other brothers again.
"It's so good to see you," John Dory added happily before he started to explain how things went so "poorly" pointing blame to Bruce and Clay while shouting, "We would have been here sooner, but these guys wouldn't stop yelling at each other."
"What? Us getting captured was your fault, you jerk," Bruce bitterly spat back, arguing back against John Dory.
Floyd, feeling a bad headache coming, could not mentally take seeing his brothers argue like this again, especially how the last argument left them all split up and walking out in the first place. He stifled a tired groan, and tried to retain the peace, saying begrudgingly, "Guys, please-,"
But Clay interrupted Floyd's plea by harshly scolding John Dory, "John Dory; you're the one who parked in the spot marked "Reserved for BroZone." Didn't that seem a little sus to you"?
"Oh, so it's my fault," John Dory rebutted bitterly, with Bruce saying, "Yes! Thank you for finally seeing that"!
Velvet rolled her eyes before scolding the Trolls, shouting, "Will you all just shut up?! Your voices are messing up my make-up."
"You wear makeup? Or is ugly your natural tone," Bruce spat back at Velvet, with Clay saying in agreement, "Word."
Velvet did NOT appreciate that, but before she could threaten the Trolls menacingly, Veneer stopped her, saying, "Sis, stop! We're already hurting them enough by stealing their talents, we don't need to subject them to anything more. Besides, they're all cute together like this; I mean, sorry if this sounds bad to you lil' guys, but they're even cute when they fight."
"I mean, look at 'em; don't they look just so cute that you wanna boop the top of the bottles and see them move," Veneer added before he innocently began to boop the diamonds on his shoulder pads, which made John dory and Bruce get pushed back, grunting in pain.
"Hey, stop," John Dory quickly spoke up, getting Veneer to stop booping them.
"Sorry," Veneer apologized as he stopped.
But his display of kindness for the Trolls only seemed to rile up Velvet, who angrily asked her brother, "Veneer, why are you listening to these Trolls? I mean, BroZone has basically become "has beens" who don't deserve to keep their musical talents of all they're gonna do is waste it on petty fighting and not making music."
"We can hear you, you know." Clay argued back at Velvet, who punched the diamond bottle top and made clay be sent back to the back of the container, hitting his head hard.
"Clay," Bruce shouted in concern while Floyd asked Clay worryingly, "Are you ok, Clay"?
Clay sat up while holding his head, replying back while granting in pain, "I'll live."
Veneer, seeing his sister acting liem this, quickly spoke up, telling his sister, "What are you doing, Velvs? Come on; we're better than this."
"You may care about these musical bags of meat, but I don't, and you shouldn't be, either. Besides, they'll be easy to "take care of" after we're done with them and we officially stake our names into music legend," Velvet spat back at Veneer, who felt intimidated by Velvet's tone of voice.
With her brother "checked in line," Velvet then told the 4 Trolls who were in their shoulder pads, "And in any case, I really don't see why you're so upset; at least we're putting your talent to good use. I mean, you're welcome.
"What? You're sick; at least your brother has a heart while you just have nothing bit black in your soul," John Dory quickly reprimanded her, not appreciating how she and her brother have been "putting their talents to good use" with this entire scam.
However, his defense fell on deaf ears as Velvet debuted back, stating while sounding cocky and proud of what she was doing, "You mispronounced, "Thanks for not letting our talents go to waste anymore, Velvet and Veneer."
Velvet then swung her arm around her brother, telling him, "Come on, they're waiting for us on the red carpet. Let's go autograph some butts," as they both began to turn around and leave the dressing room, preparing to go head out for the performance at the Rage Dome.
However, while Veneer would normally say eagerly, "Oh, that's fun; I'll grab my butt marker," this time...he just couldn't. He and Velvet were about to put on a legendary performance...and he couldn't enjoy it. Not if it meant that these Trolls who they captured were gonna suffer and most likely die in their hands from having their essence, talents, and lifeforms drained away...all just to stake a claim in becoming famous. And even if he tried to...he couldn't get Velvet to stop and see things from a better way.
So, as reluctant as he felt about having to do it, he did what he only could do: followed Velvet...and went along with what she said, but it did nothing to curb the guilt he felt and the sadness that clouded his mind.
As Velvet and Veneer exited the dressing room, Poppy and Branch watched quietly before looking up at one another in concern.
"There's no way they're gonna be able to last in the show," Poppy commented fearfully.
Branch nodded, adding in concern, "I know; Floy'd already got it bad enough, but if they do this...I may not just be losing Floyd, but the rest of my brothers."
Something in Branch seemed to click, and in his mind, he thought back to what Poppy had told him, saying, "You said before that a brother is a friend who never leaves. Well...they may have left me..." before his eyes narrowed in determination, declaring, "But I'm not gonna leave them, especially not like this."
He stood up, saying, "Let's go rescue my family."
Poppy smiled, seeing Branch revitalized and determined more than ever to rescue Floyd and now, the rest of his brothers, and stood up, saying, "I'm in."
Both Trolls, with Tiny included, hopped out of the vents and reentered the dressing room, walking over to the closet where Rhonda was stuck in. Branch used his hair to open the door and as the door slid open, they walked inside and saw Rhonda, who had recovered quickly, back on her feet.
The armadillo bus looked at the Trolls before itspat out Crimp, the mop-top hairball figure landing on the floor and standing back up, gazing at the new people who had come to let her out.
Poppy, being the first to see that Crimp had obviously been through a lot, said reassuringly, "Oh, it looks like you need a hug."
Crimp, seeing the kindness in the offer, wasted absolutely no time in picking up Poppy and giving her a big hug, sobbing openly while saying, "You have no idea how badly I've needed this"!
Tiny, watching this firsthand, asked curiously, "Okay, now, whose sibling is this now," and sucked on the ringpop pacifier, lost track of everything that had been going on in this entire trip.
Branch approached Crimp and asked her, "Say, would you be willing to help us-,"
"Yes," Crimp eagerly replied, placing Poppy down while saying, "Velvet and Veneer have been nothing but awful to me since they hired me; well technically, not Veneer as more Velvet, but, they need to be stopped! And I'll do anything to make sure that justice is delivered on this."
Rhonda let out a purr and opened the side door, with Poppy saying, "Come on, we gotta get moving," as they group entered the armadillo bus, with Tiny at the wheel while shouting, "Let's get a move on"!
With the door closed after the last person went inside, Rhonda let out another bellow and began to run out of the dressing room, chasing after the scent of Velvet and Veneer, set to teach them down.
"Operation: Brother Rescue is on and popping," Branch's voice exclaimed while inside Rhonda as the Trolls, with Crimp now alongside them, set off to go rescue BroZone and save them before it was too late.
Out on the road past the vast lands of Bergen Town, Gristle and Bridget were out on their continuous journey that is their beloved honeymoon. Bridget was currently at the wheel, driving the heavy metal motorcycle while Gristle was hanging on for dear life, holding onto his seat to avoid falling off.
As they headed down the sunset road, entering a dark set of woods, Bridget told Gristle, "Wow, Grissy. I've never seen anyone get kicked out of a water park like that."
Feeling slightly embarrassed from what had happened earlier during their trip to the water park, Gristle tried to point out, "All right, for the record, it was the water slide that ripped off my trunks."
"Ooh, so hot," Bridget replied while acting very flirtatious, which while it didn't do much to soothe Gristle's nervousness, it did put him at ease and make him fall in love with his wife even more than he was already.
Just then, there was a particular aroma that caught Bridget's attention, making her smell the air while saying, "Wait. Do you smell…"
Gristle seemed to catch onto the scent that Bridget smelled and could easily identify it by a square mile as it was a Bergen's favorite fast-food treat! One that could go with literally ANYTHING! The crunchiness of fried potatoes, the particular aroma of sea salt, all mixed in with the flavors of pressed tomato, mustard seeds, and BBQ sauce, it had to be...
"French fries," Gristle eagerly shouted, bouncing a bit in his seat when the aroma of french fries waved through the air.
And to his and Bridget's luck, she found a place that seemed to serve the tastiest french fries that their noses could pick up on, commenting while pointing to the place in particular, "French fries."
The scent was coming from none other than the old, abandoned Bergen golf course that the Putt-Putt Trolls called home, and what both Bergens didn't know was that what awaited them were some creatures who knew how to handle Bergens in a very protective manner.
After Bridget found a good spot to park her motorcycle, she and Gristle entered the golf course through the back route, passing by the door. However, as they trekked the course, the darkness of the forest surrounding it made it very hard to really tell where they were going, and it made all of the different course obstacles look a lot scarier than they were designed to.
But the scariest part? Was what the two Bergens couldn't see. The Putt-Putt Trolls who remained in hiding had seen the two Bergens come into the course and, while terrified, were defensive and ready to put their Bergen elimination protocol into action. they whispered to one another what they caught sight of, keeping track of their movements and eyeing where they were exactly heading.
Many of the Putt-Putt Trolls began to roll up into their colorful golf-ball appearances and followed after the Bergens without being traced.
Meanwhile, Bridget and Gristle kept walking slowly and cautiously, keeping a sharp lookout of their surroundings, before Bridget suddenly felt her shoe step on something with an audible CRUNCH sound, making Gristle gasp in fright.
She looked down and saw that she had immediately stepped into a large pile of french fries on the ground, letting out a slightly disgusted "Ew" in response to stepping onto the food.
What the Bergens also didn't know was that they were standing in front of the same clown hole machinery that Poppy and Branch had met Viva by earlier. And just like before, the clown mechanism activated, glowing and a scary voice, low and onimous, declared as the mouth moved along with the speaker, "Who goes there"?
Gristle and Bridget were easily terrified, both hugging one another while screaming in shock to see it acting all on its own, though the reason why it did was even scarier, and they were about to find that out first-hand.
Rolling down the tongue slide while chanting, "PuttPutt. PuttPutt. PuttPutt," was a group of Putt-Putt Trolls, all moving while their hair wrapped around themselves to look like golf balls. They soon rolled right over to the Bergens' feet, which made Bridget and Gristle look down to see what they were exactly.
"Are those golf balls," Bridget asked curiously while trying to determine if they were genuine golf balls.
On cue, and with a unanimous "PuttPutt," the Putt-Putt Trolls unfurled and revealed themselves to the Bergens, which made Gristle confused while Bridget smiled, telling Gristle, "Oh, good; they're just trolls; look how cute. Though i wonder what are they doing out here and not with Poppy and the others."
Before either Bergen could get a proper answer, both Bergen suddenly felt themselves being kicked up by their feet and glanced down, seeing that it was these Trolls who were doing just that.
Above them, on the poles of the bridge, trios of Putt-Putt Trolls awaited them, swinging sticky hands like lassos, while on the ground, another group of Putt-Putt Trolls laid out a long line of tickets, lining it up so it would be at ankle-level, perfect for tripping the Bergens.
Gristle felt a sticky hand from one Troll hit his face while he asked in a panic, "What's happening"?
As another sticky hand landed on Bridget, both Bergwns were soon carried to the ticket line and forcibly tripped over,r plopping both of them to the ground. Bridget, who had no idea that this would have happened either way, told Gristle while now fearing a little bit for her life, "Grissy, I didn't think we'd both find ourselves tied up on this honeymoon."
No Bergen even had a moment to breathe before they became overwhelmed by a sea of sticky hands that tied them up tight together.
While this was going on, by the metallic door, Viva was sitting on the ground, her back against the door and her knees on her chest, her arms wrapped around them in a forlorn hug. The Pop Troll let out a small exhale through the nose while resisting the urge to let tears fall again, though she felt way too upset to even muster the strength to do that.
Viva felt nothing but downright awful, mixed with a range of different emotions: she felt sad that after reuniting with her sister after so many years, the two were separated again, scared that her sister was out there amongst everything dangerous, frustrated that she couldn't do more to have helped keep Poppy safe, and worst of all, mad...at herself.
Her eyes darted away from the ground and up over to where the chain mechanism that helped move the door, where the rope lay, and where that dreaded noose still hung. Her pupils dilated in fear as Viva quickly turned away, not wanting to even look at it, though the hitched panic in her breathing showed not only fear but resistance to avoid going down that path again. However, it didn't do anything to stop the first teardrop that DID successfully escape.
Viva choked back a quiet sob, burying her head into her knees to hide her face away, already feeling those longing feelings of how much she missed her sister returning. 20 years of not seeing her, 20 years of wishing she was ok...all culminated in one happy reunion...and then disappeared between the distance of the outside world and a metal door.
Just then, a loud CRASH made Viva perk her head up, looking around to see where that sound came from, in case it was something dangerous. It sounded like it came from the other side of the door, on the outside. Viva climbed up the fence and towards the door mechanism, scaling the wall that towered over to the roof of the golf course's ticket booth that resided right next to it.
Once Viva got to the roof, she looked around cautiously, trying to spot what or who made that sound, but before she could do a closer analysis, something on the outside DID catch her attention: Poppy's scrapbook! It was still on the ground outside the door!
Viva gasped, realizing that Poppy must've left it when she left, as a way for her and Viva to still stay connected, and the sight of the scrapbook made the regretful feelings that Viva had returned with a stronger vengeance. Viva wanted to punch herself for even trying to make Poppy stay here by force in the first place; while she did have a lot of concern for Poppy's safety, making a Troll stay here by force was just as bad as putting them up against something dangerous to begin with. Plus, she was her sister, and sisters are, yes, supposed to look out for each other, but not to keep them sheltered forever, but to help them through whatever comes their way, even if it's something scary.
Viva launched her hair forward to pick up the scrapbook before placing it into her hands, gazing at the cover. She gently opened it back up, looking at the page that Poppy had shown her about her and this "Bridget," who was a Bergen that was "supposedly" her best friend.
Viva, on the one hand, was still firmly sure that Bergsn still ate Trolls and was without question a danger to Troll society as a whole. Though, on the other hand...was Poppy right when she said that things had changed? Plus, seeing the picture of Poppy smile, she has only, so far, seen that smile since the two have started to reconnect as sisters so...if this "Bridget" really is as great as Poppy says she is...was what she said about the Bergens being changed true?
Well, it was true that no Putt-Putt Troll had stepped out of the golf course since the night they arrived, and since they've been here this whole time...how else were they supposed to know what happened in the outside world?
But, it was dangerous! There are so many things out there that could harm them or kill them, and Poppy was possibly blindly going out there as a fool, in Viva's mind. But...if Poppy has been doing that, and was able to find all these other Troll tribes who lived among them, and be able to find her after 20 years of separation...did it make the risk really worth it as Poppy says it is?
And there it was again; once more, Viva was feeling that punch of regret for not going with Poppy, and missing her deeply like before, though these emotions were also laced with a lot of guilt, which only made it harder for Viva to feel truly "alright." She gazed at the scrapbook page and commented softly, "Poppy...wherever you are...just please please, please be ok. I...I'm sorry."
Suddenly, the sound of loud shouting and machinery made Viva turn her head and look up, asking to herself while closing the scrapbook, "What the"?
She hopped down from the roof and went to go see what all the commotion was about.
Back over by the clown mechanism, which had now been fully activated, its eyes glowing, its nose red as Rudolph's, and the teeth moving up and down like it was gonna eat something, the tongue slide held two tied-up Bergens, bound by sticky hands and tickets, and was slowly bringing them to its mouth so it could eat/kill them.
All while the Putt-Putt Trolls gathered 'round, holding lit matches up high like torches, and chanting angrily. "Bergens! Bergens! Bergens! Bergens! Bergens"!
As the mechanical tongue brought them closer and closer to those bone-crushing metallic teeth, Gristle looked to Bridget and told her, uttering what would possibly be famous last words, "Bridgey, loving you is the best thing that ever happened to me. You helped me see what it means to truly be happy, and I will always be grateful that you helped me see that."
"Oh, Grissy," Bridget replied, adding, "And you will always be my one and only true love, from here to wherever this will take us next."
She then added, "Um, this might sound like a weird thing to ask as we are about to die but, would it be weird if we made out"?
Gristle smiled and answered flirtatiously, "Babe, it would be weird if we didn't. If we're going out like this, let's go out while we make out."
The pair then proceeded to kiss each other deeply and passionately, their love open for all to see, which made the Putt-Putt Trolls a little bit confused by this, and, while still wanting them to be demolished, did find some appeal to knowing that they loved each other.
Viva came over and saw what was going on, gasping in shock when she saw the two Bergens that the clown was about to crush, when she noticed something about the female Bergen tied up. Her skin, her hair, and even the alignment of her teeth, they looked...just like the Bergen Poppy's scrapbook had! Does that mean that this was...Bridget?
She was scared out of her wits, but...something in Viva clicked, and the Pop Troll knew that, as terrified as she was, she HAd to get answers! She had to see for herself!
Just as the two Bergens were right over the teeth, just narrowly about to be crushed, Viva leaped up, shouting, "Wait," and landed on the lever, getting the clown mechanism to stop, and just in time as the teeth were barely about to touch them.
The Putt-Putt Trolls looked up and were surprised to see Viva had stopped the machine. They were now very confused as to what Viva was going to do.
Viva leaped down from the pushed-down lever, landing on the female Bergen's stomach, and opened up the scrapbook again, eyeing the picture on the page and comparing it with the Bergen in front of her. It all seemed to be a perfect match, but to really be sure...
She showed the scrapbook page to Bridget, asking her, "Is this you"?
Bridget looked at the scrapbook page before saying happily, "Hey, that's me and my best friend: Poppy."
That really did it: there was no denying it that this Bergen was really none other than the same one whom Poppy has spoken highly about! And she almost just got crushed to death, alongside her husband, if she hadn't taken such a risk and stepped in to save her sister's best friend, who was practically as much family to her as Viva was...even more than Viva herself was after what had happened earlier.
Letting out a small resignation sigh, Viva told Bridget sadly, her voice laced with guilt, "Yeah, Poppy, she...she's my sister."
This came as a surprise for Bridget, who asked curiously, "You're Poppy's sister"?
The nod that came from the Troll made Bridget happily gasp and say, "That makes us best friends too."
"R-Really," Viva asked, almost feeling a little...surprised that the same Bergen whom she almost had her own people kill wanted to be best friends with her.
"Of course, girlfriend," Briget replied, "Any sister of my best friend Poppy is my best friend too; I'm Bridget, and this is Gristle," while Gristle gave a hesitant, but shy smile.
While the allegory itself didn't make much sense, seeing Bergen still wanting to be her friend made Viva feel, shockingly, at ease somehow, as she replied, "I'm Viva, and yeah, she told me about your wedding; congratulations."
"Thanks, girl," Bridget happily replied.
Viva herself almost couldn't believe it; she was talking to an actually friendly Bergen, who appeared to have no intention at all of eating her or her people! Poppy was right; things really had changed, and she wouldn't have gotten to see this firsthand if she hadn't taken that risky step to stop things before they got out of hand. If...she had come along...
The feelings of guilt had returned, which made Viva frown and let out a small sigh, saying, "I think I made a huge mistake."
"It's fine; we're not gonna press charges," Gristle answered, not wanting to press charges, though he did feel uncomfortable about being tied up still.
Bridget could see that the issue of "the Trolls capturing them and almost murdering them" didn't seem to be the mistake that Viva was talking about, clarifying to Gristle, "I don't think that's what she means."
"Yeah, no; that's not what I'm talking about," Viva added, explaining, "I should've gone with Poppy, but...I let my fear of what's out there keep me sheltered and refuse to risk danger just to...help my family out. I feel...really awful about it, especially 'cause-"
"You were worried that Bergens still eat Trolls," Bridget asked Viva, who, as upset as she was about it, nodded in response, awaiting for a hateful remark from either Bergen.
But that didn't come; no, instead, she got a sympathetic smile from Bridget, who told Viva, "You're not the first Troll to think that."
This made Viva surprised, as she asked, "I'm...not"?
"Oh no," Bridget replied, explaining, "After Poppy helped us make peace between the Trolls and the Bergens, it took a little while for us to get adjusted to things, but for the Trolls in her village, it took them a while too to get used to being around us without the fear of being eaten present. A lot of trolls found it easy to accept, some didn't and were still afraid for a while, but that's ok. What mattered most to Poppy wasn't how long it took, although she did try a lot of things to help strengthen the relationship between the Trolls and Bergens. In fact, one time, she and her friends even tried our favorite sport: Bergen Ball, and it was-,"
When Bridget saw the confused look on Viva's face and realized she was going off track, the Beegne chuckled while continuing with, "Sorry. But what I'm saying is that what mattered most is that we were now part of the family of Trolls, as new friends and cohorts, the same way that the Trolls now became part of our family, helping us learn to embrace being happy. It's not perfect, but we do what we can at our best and, when we are together...it's a lot of fun."
Viva was really amazed to hear this firsthand, and it helped her realize that what Poppy had been telling her really was true: these things were, without question, huge risks, but when it's for friends and family, then those risks are worth it, especially when you help make new friends...and reunite with old ones.
With this in mind, Viva then said, "Here, let me make it up to guys, and get you two out of these ties," and placed the scrapbook down, pulling out a pair of scissors. She knelt down and grabbed onto one of the sticky hand strings, preparing to cut it. But just before she did, she stopped, looking up and asking Bridget, "So, you're really not gonna eat us"?
Bridget smiled and shook her head, saying, "No, but I understand the fear."
She then suggested while opening her mouth really wide, "If you want, I can open my mouth, and you can take tiny steps toward it, letting yourself feel and breathe your way through the anxiety. It's called systematic desensitization."
As Bridget let out small exhales while keeping her mouth open, Viva was...perplexed by the approach but did have to admit that it was...unique. Although perhaps she wasn't exactly ready for that kind of step yet. However, it didn't stop her from suggesting to Bridget, "Or I let you go, and you promise not to eat us."
The idea seemed to fit fine with Bridget, who replied happily, "Oh, that's fine too."
Satisfied and also relieved, Viva made the snip, followed by another and another, until the ties that held the Bergens were cut loose, and both of them were able to stand up and be free again.
Gristle and Bridget both were able to stretch and reutn to their feet, with Gristle saying as he stretched his back, "Oh man, I'm gonna feel that in the morning."
Viva then approached Bridget and asked her, "So, where are you two gonna be heading to next"?
Bridget replied, "Oh, next, we're gonna be heading up to Mount Rageous to hit the casinos."
Viva gasped in surprise, remembering that Poppy had gone up there with Clay to help him rescue his brother, Floyd, asking Bridget incredulously, "You're heading up to Mount Rageous"?
"Yeah," Bridget replied before she offered a hand out to Viva, asking her, "Do you wanna come with us"?
Viva thought about it intensely before she looked back at the scrapbook, which she had picked back up, before looking up at Bridget and, with a smile on her face and some sugary pep back into her step, knew what to do.
Back in Mixed City, Laguna's group was still inside Lizzy's house, preparing to go fetch Laguna and break the news to her.
McJagger was the first to exit ther house, feeling very nervous about having to be the one who broke it to her. He called out, forcing a smile while trying very hard not to break down, "Uh, Laguna, my beloved intelligent boo? Think we can maybe talk for a minute"?
However, when he looked around, he wasn't able to find her anywhere.
He walked over to the statue where Melody had told Laguna to go and take a look of earlier, calling, "Laguna? Hey, girl, where are you? As much as I can tell you are probably enjoying learning about this fascinating structure, I..have to talk you about something."
But when he looked by the statue, she wasn't there either.
McJagger began to feel worried, calling out, "Laguna? Where are you"?
He looked by the plants, by some of the other houses, by the smoothie shack, but no matter where he looked, there seemed to be no sign of her anywhere, which now only made McJagger become very worried, wondering where Laguna was and if she was ok.
As he walked back to Lizzy's house, some of the other Trolls were coming outside, and one of them, Trollex, noticed McJagger's frantic state and asked him, "Hey, McJ, you alright? Were you able to talk to Laguna"?
"No, I haven't; I can't even find her, your majesty," McJagger worryingly replied.
"She's not by the statue," Melody asked when she noticed the worried look on McJagger's face.
McJagger shook his head, saying, "No, she isn't there anymore."
Hearing this made the Trolls, whom everyone had soon came outside with Lizzy, confused and worried at the same time, with Holly asking, "Where the hay did she go"?
"She's gotta be around here somewhere, yo; Trolls don't disappear into thin air," Synth commented, before asking curiously, "Right"?
Buckaroo then eyed something and commented, "Naw, they don't; but they do leave clues," and trotted over to the side of the house where the open window was.
They knelt down and looked through their magnifying glass, eyeing some small in dents in the ground that were in the shape of Laguna's fins, saying, "Look here, y'all; footprints. Aw rathuurr, fin prints. Ayn' they're fresh too."
"Unless it's a Mixed Troll who's half-Techno that was standing on their fins," Lizzy brought up as a possible point.
Buckaroo quickly told her, "Strong theory, but the tailfins on y'all are ayy lil' smalluurr than the walkin' fins ov Techno Trolls, ayn' these prints are walkin' fins."
"Wait, Laguna was standing by the house," Dante asked, inquiring, "Wouldn't she have come in if she came by here"?
Aggie suddenly came to realization, saying, "Unless...she wanted to, but then stopped and-," before turning her head and looking at the open window, saying, "She heard us through the open window...and must've overheard our conversation."
"Wait, if she overheard us, then how come she didn't come in and ask us about what we were talking about," Val asked while crossing her arms.
The group then all realized something startling; if Laguna had overheard them, that could mean one thing: Laguna might've mistaken what they were talking about and misinterpreted it as her thinking they wanted to go home! And if that was the case, that meant-
"Of course, Laguna wouldn't want to come and ask us about it because she must've thought we meant that we didn't want to help her anymore," McJagger theorized, his eyes widening in fear, "And she must've gotten upset thinking we wanted to go back home"!
"But if that's the case, yo, then does that mean what I think it means," Stereo fearfully asked.
As much as they hated to say it out loud, unfortunately, the truth was in the pudding, and McJagger worryingly stated with a sad nod, "She must've ran off and headed to the "Catacombs of Music" all by herself! She's walking right into Ramon's trap"!