Chapter 8:

Vegetable Mayhem

"Okay, Polly. Time for a supply check. Hopefully, we didn't miss anything."

"You got it, Sprig!"

"Mushroom bars."

"Counted 80 of them."

"Beetle jerky."

"10 bags. Pretty sure most of them are for Anne."

"Wooden planks."

"20 of them all accounted for."

"Uh… Olde Creame?"

"That stinky old cream? Eww… Why does Hop Pop need this anyway?"

"I dunno. Something about an itchy butt, I heard?"

"Well, I'ma toss it in the trash instead."

"Don't throw it out, Polly! We paid for this, remember?"

Sprig and Polly were on their way home after finishing what they were set out to do. The orange-haired Plantar was pushing a wooden cart full of supplies that their grandfather wanted them to get, while the purple tadpole was inside of the cart, checking to see if they got everything that was on the list.

In spite of them getting weird looks from the townsfolk while they were shopping for supplies, they were relieved that the whole experience was rather smooth, so they were able to get what they needed with no issues and no one approached them with hostile intent. As much as Sprig would like to think that everyday would be like that, it's possible that he was simply lucky today, and he wouldn't be so lucky the next day and beyond.

"Aaaaand that's all of them!" Sprig said, as he scratched off the last item on the list.

"Great!" Polly shouted, as she popped out form the mountain of supplies in the cart. "Good thing too, because we barely have any copper left to buy any more stuff. And I'm pretty sure that's all that's left of Hop Pop's life savings."

"Now, all that's left to do is take these supplies back home, and we can finally start packing up for our trip to Newtopia!"

"Wooo!" The Plantar siblings both cheered at the fact that they were getting closer to starting their journey outside of the valley.

Sprig continued to push the cart towards the Plantar farm, as there was silence between the siblings, besides the sound of the wheels turning over the earth and the creaking of the wooden cart. That allowed each of them to think over their own thoughts.

For Sprig, he thought about the list of ingredients that Maddie gave them. He was definitely going to talk to Hop Pop about it, but he was trying to figure out what was the fastest way to get to the location of each ingredient without burdening everyone else. Even though the logical path to take was to wait until the opportunity to get to those locations presents itself, he was not sure if he was willing to wait that much longer. Perhaps Newtopia might have a solution for his problems.

As for Polly, the only thing that came to mind was Anne's sudden appearance from a while ago. Sure, she was the one who chalked it up as Hop Pop asking Anne to get more stuff for the trip, but the more she thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. Did Hop Pop really needed that many swords, shovels, rakes, sickles and arrows? And what about that large barrel? The barrel which seemingly contained an ominous, glowing, green substance leaking out of it…

"Sprig," she started to speak to her brother. "Remember when we bumped into Anne while she was pushing that large barrel?"

"Yeah? What about it?" Sprig asked.

"What do think it's inside?"

"Uhh…" Sprig tried to recall what the barrel looked like, but he could not get a clear image forming in his head. "I dunno. Maybe it's full of those drinks that Hop Pop sometimes takes at night."

"Yeah, I doubt that." Polly shook her head. "What kind of drink looks like it came from a bog in the most weirdest place in Amphibia?"

"Well, maybe it's a new brew that just came out."

"With a biohazard label glued on the barrel?"

"Really?"

Polly nodded with certainty.

"Huh. Okay, I see what you're saying." Sprig said, as he took his sister's words to heart. "Maybe we'll ask Anne once we get back to the fa-."

The cart suddenly bumped into something.

SNAP!

"AHH!" Sprig and Polly yelped as some sort of contraption swung its metal part down on itself before making a short jump as a result. Looking over, the siblings saw that they had the cart bump into a giant ta-rat-tula trap and activated it by accident.

Looking around themselves, they saw that there are several of those traps laying around the area.

"What in the world is going on here?!" Polly exclaimed. "Why are there so many ta-rat-tula traps?!"

"Hey, guys!" They heard Anne's voice calling out to them. Looking up from the ground full with traps, they saw the brown-haired girl running towards them, carefully maneuvering herself past the traps without tripping them up. "Careful, there. There's not a lot of room to move around here, especially with what you're bringing home."

"Anne, what's going on here?" Sprig asked. "Why are there so many traaaaoooh wow, what happened to the farm?"

Looking past the human girl, Sprig and Polly realized that they had already reached the farm, and noticed that there were various changes applied to it since the last time that they were there.

On top of the many ta-rat-tula traps surrounding the farm, there are barbed fences installed around it. Barb wires can be found on various parts of the farm, including the outdoor shed, the mailbox, and even the giant dandelion. The house itself is fitted with spikes all around it, as well as an axe placed on top of the chimney, a cannon installed on the roof, and even a giant knife that was sticking out of the tree branch of the house. And in some areas, various weapons are sticking out from the ground, as if someone had buried them in a poor attempt of turning them into spike traps.

"Wow…" Polly looked in awe at the farm's heavily armoured appearance. Everything about it just hit the right spots for the weapon-crazed baby.

"Anne, did you do all of this?" Sprig asked his best friend, assumed that she was the one responsible for that.

"Oh, well, yeah. But it wasn't my idea." Anne replied. "It's all Chuck's. He figured that the house needed a huge makeover while we're gone."

"Really? That's crazy…"

The orange, elderly frog came out from the front door of the house, carrying a suitcase in hand. "Anne, did you see if Sprig and Polly are back home yet?" he asked as he was about to approach the human girl, until he was met with the sight of the farm's new look.

"Wow!" Hop Pop expressed his amazement. "Chuck really outdid himself! Ain't nothing happening to this place while we're gone!"

Anne chuckled to herself, as if she knew something that the others don't.

"Well, since you two are back home, go ahead and pack your things."

"Sure, Hop Pop!" Sprig said as he started to unload some of the supplies from the wooden cart. "Anne, Polly, you guys mind giving me a hand here?"

"Not a problem, buddy." Anne complied, as she began to help out the orange-haired boy with the supplies.

"In a minute, Sprig." Polly said, as she hopped off the cart and made her way towards the farm. "Right now, this girl needs to see what kind of deathtrap this place has in store!"

After hopping past the ta-rat-tula traps and went through the entrance of the farm, Polly's first stop was the house itself, to see if it had any hidden contraption that contained even more traps that could not be visible to the naked eye.

However, she stopped herself short when she noticed a large barrel laying on its side next to the crops of vegetables. She immediately recognized the barrel as the one that Anne was bringing with her back at the main square, the greenish stains on the wood being more than enough to identify it as such.

"Huh. I wonder what's in it?" she asked herself, as she approached the barrel. When she took a peek inside, she saw that there was barely anything left inside, barring a very small amount of green liquid still stuck at the bottom of the barrel.

She noted the position of the barrel, and how the opened top was aiming towards the crops. She moved herself around to see if there was anything else noteworthy about it, and stumbled across a sign stuck on it. She started reading what was on the sign.

Give your crops a fighting chance with Loggle's Miracle Glop!

*Just be careful not to use too much.

"… Uh oh." Polly simply said, realizing the implications behind the matter at hand.

BrumBrumBrumBrumBrum…

"Uh… Guys? Why is the ground shaking?" asked the worried Sprig, trying to keep himself steady as the earth shook underneath them.

"What the…! What's going on?!" Hop Pop exclaimed.

As the Plantar family tried their best to not lose their footing, a hand suddenly popped out of the ground near Polly.

"AAH!" she screamed, as she quickly retreated back to her family.

Once their attention was brought towards the hand at the vegetable crops, they watched as another hand came out next to the first one, then both hands brought themselves down against the ground and something emerged from there. It turned out to be one of the turnips that the family had been growing, suddenly growing a pair of arms and letting out a terrifying cry.

"What the heck?!" Anne shouted.

Then, one by one, each crop pulled itself out of the ground, all of them turning out to be monsters with their own unique appearance. A pumpkin with a large mouth and an eye sticking out from there. A potato with several eyes. An eggplant that grew a body that made it look alien-like. Another turnip that looked like a small person with a big bump.

"Veggie monsters! Just like in one of my nightmares!" Polly yelled.

"Wait, wait! Maybe they're friendly monsters!" Anne reasoned.

"What makes you think that?!" Sprig asked his best friend with skepticism.

"Well, uh… Call it a hunch?" The human girl offered a rather flimsy response, despite looking certain about the nature of the monsters.

She slowly approached one of them and extended a friendly hand in an attempt to prove her point. "Look, these monsters used to be the crops that we grew, right? Maybe they see us as their family, so that means that they're actually really friendly-."

The alien eggplant tried to snap its maw on Anne's hand, who quickly pulled away at the last second.

"AH! Okay, not friendly! Not friendly!" Anne admitted her error in judgment, as she backed away and rejoined the family.

The veggie monsters slowly moved towards the Plantar family, snarling at them and with the full intent of tearing each of them apart to satiate their bloodlust.

"They're not going to let us leave!" Hop Pop said. "We need to fend ourselves against them!"

"Way ahead of you, Hop Pop!" Sprig quickly pulled out his slingshot from his pouch, grabbed a decently-sized rock on the ground, readied his slingshot and aimed it at the veggie monsters. "Okay, you freaks of nature! Me and Old Reliable are gonna show you not to mess with-!"

CRACK!

Sprig blinked.

He thought that he heard and saw something that was inconceivable.

He blinked.

He saw that he was holding the handle of the slingshot with one hand, like usual.

He blinked.

He saw that he was holding the band back with the other hand, with the rock settling firmly at the center, like usual.

He blinked.

He saw that the fork of the slingshot broke apart, and its broken pieces had fallen to the ground. It was unusual.

"… Good job, Sprig." Polly said sarcastically, as she witnessed her brother somehow destroying his trusty old slingshot by accident.

"AAAAHH!" Sprig screamed, as he got down on his knees and picked up the broken pieces in his hand, pressing his broken slingshot against his cheek in distraught. "Old Reliable! What happened to you, girl?! Stay with me! Stay with me, please!" he cried.

He then lowered his hands down so he could look at the poor, severed state of his beloved weapon. He wondered how he could have broken it, since he didn't do anything different to it, compared to all the other times that he used it.

It was there that he caught a glimpse of a small spark of electricity running itself along the broken pieces before dissipating.

"… Huh?"

"Boy, look out!"

Hop Pop's shout snapped him out of his distraction, as he looked up from his slingshot just in time to see the big turnip monster diving at him with its mouth open. He quickly put his arms up to defend himself from the attack.

SLASH!

At the sound of a sword slash and an object falling on the ground twice, Sprig lowered his arms and noticed that Anne was standing in front of him with her back facing him, her sword and tennis racket both drawn in each hand. She saved him by slicing the turnip monster into two.

"Pull yourself together, dude!" Anne said, as she turned her head around to look at the boy.

"R-right! Sorry!" Sprig quickly apologized, as he stood up from the ground and put away his broken slingshot.

Regardless of seeing one of their brethren slain right before them, the veggie monsters' approach continued undeterred.

"You guys want some too, huh? Fine then!" Anne said. "Alright, everyone! Action time!"

"Yeah!"

The Plantar family split up so that each member handles some of the monsters of their choosing. Anne rushed towards her part of the group, slicing some of them with her sword, and bashing others with her tennis racket. Hop Pop pulled out an unbelievably large cheese grater from his suitcase, as he tackled each of the monsters and reduced them into bits and pieces.

Sprig, meanwhile, was standing his ground, observing his surroundings carefully. The first thing that he thought of was to find an opening through the veggie monster horde so he can slip past them and get inside of the house to get one of his many slingshots. While he waited for the opportunity to present itself, he heard a ferocious roar from behind. He quickly turned around and he was introduced with the sight of a giant pumpkin monster who was about to sink its fangs on him.

He intercepted the attack by having his hands hold its mouth open, each hand pressing against each jaw. A power struggle ensued, as Sprig tried to keep the pumpkin monster's mouth open so it doesn't munch on him, while the pumpkin forced its jaws down with all its might towards the boy.

The struggle got interrupted when the pumpkin monster tripped from having its legs slammed by a flail. Once the monster had fallen on the ground, Polly hopped on top of it and swung her flail on it multiple times until it became mush.

"Nice going, Polly!" Sprig shouted.

"Yeah, keep the praise coming, brother!" said the confident tadpole.

"HASHBROWNS!"

They heard their grandfather shouting a battlecry, turning their attention towards where he was, as he mercilessly grated a potato monster down to pieces.

However, he was oblivious to another giant, turnip monster approaching him from behind, as it was about to get its hands on the elderly frog.

"Hop Pop!" Sprig yelled out to his grandfather, who was too preoccupied with his assault to hear him. The orange-haired boy was about to run to his aid, when he nearly bumped into one of the many ta-rat-tula traps lying around the area. He then had an idea.

With all of his might, he kicked the trap forward, sending it flying towards the sneaking monster. The turnip monster only had time to turn around before the trap collided against its face, setting off the trap, as the metal bar snapped onto the monster, splitting it into two.

"Nice!" Sprig pumped his fist victoriously at his successful saving of his grandfather.

"Here comes some more, at 6 o'clock!"

Polly pointed at what was behind her brother, and the latter turned around just in time to see a few more monsters coming at them in a straight line, one behind the other.

"Got some ideas, Polly?" Sprig asked.

"I got one!" Polly then hopped on her brother's hands, as she readied her flail. "Throw me at them!"

Sprig nodded and proceeded to throw his sister like a ball, sending her flying towards the monsters at a fast speed. Polly spun herself around while holding her flail in front of her, as she basically turned herself into a flying, circular saw blade that ripped through the whole line of monsters.

The purple tadpole landed on the ground afterwards, stumbling as she became dizzy from spinning around so much. "Whooaa…! Everything is spinning…!"

"You okay, Polly?!" Sprig asked his sister, shaping his hands like a blow-horn around his mouth to make himself heard from afar.

Once her senses had nearly recovered, she turned towards Sprig and raised her hand up as a sign that she was alright. "When did you get so good at throwing stuff?"

When she asked him that, Sprig looked at his hands and realized that he had done some impressive feat that he hadn't done before. He was able to hold off the pumpkin's attack with his own strength, kicked the ta-rat-tula trap so hard that it reached a monster from far away, and he was able to throw his sister pretty far. He never achieved that kind of effort when he was a frog.

"Whoa… I didn't know that I have it in me." Sprig commented in astonishment. "Is this a human thing?"

A nasty cry alerted the boy, as he turned his head towards the sound and spotted an alien eggplant running at him on all four at full speed.

He assumed a defensive stance and was preparing to intercept its attack, when Anne suddenly slid right in front of him. "I got your back, buddy!" she said right before she charged at the running monster, crossing her arms and pulling her weapons behind in preparation for a strike.

Once the opposing fighters were at very close proximity of each other, the brown-haired human swung her weapons forward, while the alien eggplant threw its claws at her at the same time. After a split second, the two of them found themselves directly behind one another. A moment had passed, and the alien eggplant's head fell off of its shoulders just before its body collapsed to the ground, while Anne was left unscathed.

"Thanks, Anne!' Sprig shouted to her, as he jogged to where she was. "I think that's twice that I owe you for saving my skin!"

"Don't worry about it, Sprig!" Anne smiled at him. "It's what friends do, right?"

"Are you kids alright?!" Hop Pop cried out to his grandchildren, as he ran towards Anne and Sprig while wiping the small pieces of the monsters that he grated into nothing off of him.

"I'm doing great!" Polly replied, joining the others by hopping their way.

"Anne and I are fine, Hop Pop!" Sprig said with a thumbs-up.

Anne looked around and saw that all of the veggie monsters had been dealt with. All, except for the turnip with the big behind, who simply dropped to the ground face first.

"We did it!" she cheered. "And the house is undamaged!"

BrumBrumBrumBrumBrum…

The ground shook once more before the Plantar family had the chance to celebrate.

As they tried to figure out what was causing it, the corpses of the veggie monsters sprung back to life, shocking the family of four. Then, the bodies all gathered together, as they began to form into something gigantic.

"Whaaa?"

The Plantar family watched as the monsters formed up to become a single, gigantic vegetable monster with a red, two-horned head and two arms and legs, with three root-like tentacles taking the spot where the left hand was supposed to be. It let out a mighty roar once it was fully formed.

"Cool!" said the impressed Polly, right before the giant monster punched her, Sprig and Hop Pop with its huge fist, sending them crashing into the stone fence.

"Guys!" Anne cried out to them. However, she could only spare them a quick look before her focus shifted towards the fused veggie monstrosity who was slowly approaching her step-by-step.

She was left with only a few seconds to think of a way to take it down before it makes its move, but she was uncertain how. As the monster became dangerously close…

SNAP!

It cried out in pain as it lifted up its foot that accidentally stepped on one of the ta-rat-tula traps.

"Yes!" Anne cheered, as her trap placement actually paid off.

However, her cheerful expression changed into a horrified one when the fused monster stumbled towards the house.

"Wait, no! Don't go that way! That's towards the house!"

Whether the monster didn't understand her at all or it was too preoccupied with trying not to fall, Anne's plea was for naught either way. The monster continued to stumble until it finally started to fall on top of the house.

"NOOOO!"

The Plantar house. First built by the first Plantar generations ago, it was the crucial home in the Plantars' history. It remained intact for several centuries, passed on to each generation up until Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly. You can even say that it was a part of the family.

And now, it was completely demolished by the gigantic veggie monster basically sitting on the entire structure.

Anne watched helplessly, as the home of the family who took her in when she was lost in a strange, new world was reduced to rubble. "The house… Everything I worked hard to protect…" She lowered her head, tears falling from her eyes.

The gigantic monster recovered, as it removed the trap off of its foot and stood up from the destroyed house. It closed in on the brown-haired human once more and lifted its foot up with the intent of squashing her. The tearful human did not move from where she was standing.

The monster brought its foot down, and at the very last second, someone pushed her out of the way of its attack, as they both fell to the ground a couple of feet away from the giant foot.

"Anne!" Sprig shouted to her, having just saved his best friend from being stomped. "What's the matter?! Are you hurt?!"

"… This thing…"

"Huh?"

"… It just made a huge mistake…" Anne's voice was low with a threatening tone, her sadness replaced by anger, her tears already dried as she lifted her head up and glared at the monster responsible for destroying the house.

At a single glance of her eyes, the orange-haired boy widened his own eyes. A strange sense of familiarity came into him, as he noticed that what he was seeing from Anne was…

'Glowing, blue eyes…?!'

The fused veggie monster roared, as it pulled its fist back before thrusting it towards the two humans. Anne stood up from the ground, stepped in front of Sprig, and blocked the giant fist with her sword and tennis racket effortlessly. The monster let out a confused sound from its mouth as a result.

Anne let out a battlecry, as she pushed the huge fist off and ran towards the monster. The vegetable monstrosity responded by sending its root-like tentacles flying at her to intercept. Anne quickly cut them off before they could even touch her.

She leaped forward and pulled her sword back before stabbing one of the monster's foot when she reached it. The veggie monster roared in pain as a result, as it quickly lifted its injured foot up. The momentum sent the human girl flying up in the sky, and she took advantage of it by diving down towards the monster.

The two-horned fiend lifted its hand up in attempt to catch her in her descent. However, she dodged its hand and proceeded to plunge her sword into its arm, as she slid down across the arm while leaving a cutting trail.

Once she reached the shoulder, she jumped off the arm and towards the red head. With a loud yell, she skewered the red-headed monster's eyes with both her sword and tennis racket.

The fiend fell backwards before crashing down to the ground, pulling Anne along with it and creating a large smoke that covered the two of them.

When the smoke cleared, all that was left of the monster were chunks and pieces of vegetables lying around the ground. Anne stood where the monster used to be, spitting out a piece of its remains.

"Eat your vegetables."

"… Awesome…" Sprig looked in awe at his victorious best friend.

"Woo! That's what I'm talking about, girl!" Polly cheered as she walked near the Thai-American girl, alongside her grandfather and her brother. "You show that veggie monster who's boss!"

"Once again, Anne, you said our tails." Hop Pop praised his adopted granddaughter with a smile.

"Yeah, but the house…" Anne sadly said, as she looked at the destroyed Plantar house.

"It's okay, Anne." Sprig reassured her, as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We're all safe here, thanks to you. Sure, the house is completely wrecked, but it sure beats getting my bones turned into dust."

"Oh Sprig…" The brown-haired human smiled at her friend.

"Besides, Anne," Hop Pop added. "It's not your fault a mysterious green energy turned the crops evil."

"Actually, it is…" Anne confessed.

"Say what?!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sprig asked in confusion.

"You're talking about that barrel, right?" Polly said, as she pointed at the large, empty barrel next to the crop field. "The one that you bought from Loggle and it contained that weird, green juice?"

"You got it, Polly…" Anne confirmed. "Truth is, Chuck wasn't the one who came up with the idea of fortifying the house. It was all me. I got rid of Chuck because I was afraid for the house's safety."

"Hm. That explains it." Hop Pop remarked. "I did find it strange that Chuck fortified the house when he hadn't done so before."

"And the veggie monsters that we just fought," Sprig said, as he tried to figure out the source of the monsters. "You created them using Loggle's potion?"

Anne nodded in shame. "I'm sorry, guys… I just wanted the house to be safe while you guys were taking this big trip for me…"

Once they heard the entire truth from the Thai-American girl, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop all smiled sympathetically at her.

"Anne, we're not taking this trip for you." Hop Pop clarified. "We're taking it with you."

"We've got your back, no matter what." Sprig said, squeezing her shoulder a bit harder to show his support.

Anne looked at the Plantar family with gratitude, as tears started to form in her eyes. "Thanks, fam…" she said, wiping the tears away with her finger. "That means a lot to me…"

She looked over once more at the destroyed house. Even though the family forgave her for taking such drastic measures, she still felt that it was her responsibility to fix her own mess, starting with rebuilding the house. "We can hold off on Newtopia. I'll fix the house." she said, as she was about to get started on the rebuilding process.

"No need!" Hop Pop suddenly stopped her. He pulled out a horn that was shaped like a tulip and blew on it.

Not even a second had passed before a large ball of smoke was approaching the farm at high speed. Before Anne had time to process what was happening, the ball of smoke tackled the entirety of the farm, seamlessly rebuilding the house back to normal, cleaned up the chunks of vegetables and removed every single trap, tool, weapon and other protective gear around the farm.

It took only a few seconds for the entire farm to be back to the way it used to be. The ball of smoke stopped in front of the house and vanished, revealing a short frog with a straw hat and overalls standing where it used to be, holding a hammer in one hand and a saw in the other.

"I grow tulips." said Chuck.

"Hoopa da boopa!" A flabbergasted Anne exclaimed, slapping her forehead.

"Hehehe! Why do you think I hired Chuck in the first place?" Hop Pop asked the brown-haired human, after showing the short frog's skills right before her eyes.

"Sorry I doubted you, dude!" Anne apologized to Chuck.

"I grow tulips." Chuck simply said.

"Yes, he does." Hop Pop confirmed. "Well, now that everything is settled, all that's left is for you two to pack your things already, and we're off for our two-week trip to Newtopia!"

"Woo! Finally! We're going to Newtopia!" Polly shouted as she hopped back inside of the house to prepare her things.

"Alright! My most important journey of my life is almost here! I ain't gonna rush this!" Sprig said, as he walked towards the front door. He then took out his broken slingshot from the pouch and rubbed his cheek against it. "And while we're at it, we're gonna fix you up back to normal, Old Reliable. Oh who needs a good fix? Who needs a good fix? You are! You are!"

Anne and Hop Pop watched in amusement at Sprig interacting with his slingshot like it was his child before disappearing inside of the house.

"That's kinda creepy." Anne commented.

"Yes, well, it wouldn't be Sprig if he didn't act like this towards his slingshots on a regular basis." Hop Pop said.

Anne nodded in agreement.

Some time had passed after the entire family finished preparing themselves for the trip outside of the valley. The Plantars were sitting on the bench seat of the fwagon, with Hop Pop taking the reins driving Bessie who was carrying the entire fwagon behind her. They had just left Wartwood, and they were on their way towards the mountain pass where the world beyond the valley was waiting for them.

"Alright, kids!" Hop Pop announced. "In just a couple of hours, we'll officially leave the Frog Valley and into the entirety of Amphibia! No turning back now!"

"Hop Pop, I hope that you didn't forget about anything else, like giving Chuck the key to the house." Polly said.

"Of course not, Polly! I made triply sure that nothing else is missing even before we left Wartwood!"

While the fwagon was moving towards their destination, Sprig nudged Anne on the arm, gaining the brown-haired girl's attention. "Hey, Anne? I didn't get the chance to say this back at the farm, but you were really amazing back there." he praised her.

"Thanks, buddy." Anne appreciated his compliment. "But you know that everything that happened back there was my fault, right?"

"Well, sure. But that didn't stop you from kicking some major butt." Sprig insisted

"Not gonna lie, I didn't think I had it in me. I was mad when that monster destroyed the house, and I sorta, you know… went with the flow, if that makes any sense."

"I gotcha, Anne. Seriously, though. You blocked that monster's punch like it was nothing. The way that you dove down at it and ran your sword across its arm is nothing short of excellence. Oh, and let's not forget how your eyes were glowing before you went hard on it."

"… Wait, glowing?" Anne raised a confused eyebrow.

"Yeah. Your eyes were glowing blue, right?"

"Dude, what are you talking about?" she asked Sprig as if he was talking nonsense. "My eyes have always been brown. And they definitely don't glow like you said they are."

"Wait… That's not a human thing?"

Anne shook her head. "Are you okay, dude? Did you get knocked on the head and started seeing things?"

"Well, he did get punched by the monster's huge fist." Polly said, joining in on the conversation.

"You and I also got punched along with Sprig, Polly." Hop Pop clarified. "Though, in his case, he might have been affected by that a lot more than any of us."

"You guys think that I'm hallucinating? No way!"

Sprig refused to believe that he was seeing things. He knew what he saw, and he definitely saw that Anne's eyes were glowing blue during their fight against the veggie monster. And if they were talking about strange phenomenons, then the fact that he saw sparks of electricity on his slingshot was also a thing that he definitely saw. Not to mention that, while he was fixing his slingshot, he saw that it grew a mouth and it was crying out in pain the whole time that he was-.

"Okay, now that I think about it, maybe you're right." Sprig conceded. "I think I'm gonna lie down on the bed inside. Maybe some shuteye will do me good."

"Take as much rest as you need to, Sprig." Anne said. "We have a long road ahead of us before we get to Newtopia."

"Thanks, Anne." Sprig hopped over behind the bench and opened the fwagon's rooftop hatch leading to the inside. "Can you give me a heads-up when we're about to leave the valley?"

"Sure can, buddy. Have a nice nap!"

"Thanks."

With a nod, Sprig entered the fwagon from the hatch and stretched his arms up, as he walked towards the lower bed, where he proceeded to lie down on his back.

He sighed as he looked at the ceiling for a short moment. He then pulled out the scrolls that Maddie had given him from his person and opened them up, reading its contents as he familiarized with it.

Not only was the trip to Newtopia served to find a way to get Anne back home to Earth, it also served to collect the ingredients needed to turn himself back into a frog. He was determined to find what he needed, because his livelihood was riding upon it.

Drowsiness slowly overtook his psyche, as his body became accustomed to the softness of the bed. The orange-haired closed his eyes, as he allowed himself to fall into a short slumber…

When Sprig opened his eyes next, he was expecting to see the ceiling of the fwagon above him. Instead, however, his eyes were gazing up at the dark, starry skies.

"Huh?"

The Plantar boy sat up from the grass, which was not the mattress that he remembered resting on last. Looking around himself, he realized that he was no longer inside of the fwagon, but on an island floating aimlessly into space, alongside many other floating islands from a distance.

"This place… Isn't this…?"

When he came to a realization that everything around him seemed awfully familiar, he turned himself around, expecting to find some sort of house on the island that he was standing on.

And sure enough, there really was one. A small house that looked suspiciously like his own.

"I'm back here? Again?"

That was the third time that he came to this place. How could this be? Having the same dream 3 times seemed impossible. He wanted to brush it off as just another enigmatic function of a dream, but it just did not make sense, even for him. Could magic be involved somehow?

As much as he would like to figure this dream out, he instead found himself being drawn towards the house for inexplicable reason.

He remembered that he was not alone on the island. There was someone else with him. A pink, female frog who was sitting all alone inside of the house. Would she still be there when he inevitably check the house again?

As he stood right at the front door, and his hand was grasping on the doorknob, ready to turn it and push the door open, he decided against fighting his own body, which was moving on its own.

The door opened. Light from the inside engulfed the boy, who had his hand shielding his eyes from it. When the light began to fade, he lowered his hand and was presented with the interior of the house.

It was the same as last time. The house was completely empty. All, except for a single, hooded individual sitting in the middle of the room.

It had to be the same person that he met last time.

Sprig remembered their last encounter. In his attempt to ask for her help, he only managed to scare her, which led to her pushing him back through the door, which was when the dream ended. He wondered if there was another way to talk to her without getting kicked out.

He figured that he should start by making his presence known to her.

"Um… Hi there."

Like last time, the hooded person got startled by his voice, as she turned around and crossed gazes with him. She seemed to recognize him immediately, as she quickly stood up from the ground in alarm, closed her eyes and opened them up again to reveal her glowing, blue eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sprig quickly said as he lifted his hand up in defence. "I'm not here to hurt you! Honest!"

"… Who are you?" The female frog asked cautiously, her eyes still glowing blue. "How did you get here?"

"I-I don't know! I was just taking a nap back at the fwagon and, uh… I end up here!" Sprig explained himself.

"… Get out. Now." she warned him.

"I'm serious! This is the third time that I dreamt of this place! I literally don't know anything else about how I got here, besides dreaming of being here!"

The pink frog girl stared at the boy with skepticism. She had every reason to believe that he was hiding his true reason for being there, since as far as she knew, she was supposed to be the only person standing on the island.

And yet, there was something within her telling her that he was speaking the truth.

"You… really don't know how you got here? Besides dreaming?" she asked.

Sprig shook his head as a response.

"Then… Are you in the same boat as I am?"

"Wait, you mean… You're also dreaming of being here?" Sprig asked in his turn.

The girl shook her head. "No… As far as I can tell, I'm not dreaming. In fact… I've been in this place for as long as I can remember…"

"Really?"

Witnessing his dumbfounded reaction, the frog girl was convinced that the boy had no ulterior motive for being in the same place as her. She still kept her guard up in case she was wrong about that assumption.

"I've been on my own in this place for a really long time. Maybe even my whole life. Seeing another person who came here, like you… Well, I have my reasons for thinking that you're nothing but trouble."

"But you don't know who I am." Sprig said, as he lowered his hands down. "And admittedly, I don't know who you are either. Still, you don't have a good reason to think that I'm a bad guy."

"You're right. I don't." she admitted. "But I would feel a lot better if you leave this place."

Sprig could not believe how hostile she was acting towards him, when he was nothing but nice to her. Was it really because that she was alone for so long, anything new that she came across, she would immediately label as a threat? What more could he do to convince her that he was harmless?

He could just heed her warning and leave her alone. However, the idea of leaving her in her lonesome, which lasted as long as she could remember, as she claimed, it did not sit well for the boy. He decided to do one last try before calling it quits.

"Well, how about we just talk?" he suggested.

"Talk? Really?"

"Yeah, this way, we might get to know each other. Then you'll see that I'm not such a bad guy."

"I don't think that I want to talk."

"Aren't you doing it right now, though?"

The frog girl widened her eyes. He was right. She was talking to him and judging his character through their conversation without even realizing it. And so far, the boy showed no sign of hostile intent. Perhaps he really was speaking the truth.

Seeing that she was close to being convinced, Sprig proceeded forward with the current method. "How about we start by introducing ourselves?" He took a couple of steps forward, offering the girl a handshake. "Hi. My name is Sprig. Sprig Plantar. What's yours?" he asked while flashing a smile at her.

The frog girl looked at the boy's face, then at his extended hand, and went back and forth between them for a short moment. Nothing about the boy was screaming danger to her. Everything he did, there was nothing but benevolent intent behind his actions. And when she looked at his smile, she could not explain it, but… she felt at ease.

She closed her eyes, as she took a deep breath. When she opened them up again, her eyes were no longer glowing blue. They were back to their normal colours.

She accepted his friendly gesture and grasped his hand with her own.

"I'm… Leif."

End of Chapter