Hello! It's meeeeeeeeee! I'm back with another of my famous random crossovers! This time surrounding the Dreamworks Trolls franchise! Ever since I saw Trolls Band Together, I have been riding the Trolls bandwagon, and I don't think I'll be getting off anytime soon... Thus, in keeping with my usual traditions, my brain began processing all kinds of different scenarios concerning how far I could take what the film had given us concerning both the context of the plot and it's characters, and as usual, I stumbled upon a very interesting idea, which after further contemplation, modifying, and research, THIS delightful little gem was born!
Now I know what you're thinking... Of all the sources I could use for a crossover with Trolls... which is LITERALLY renown as a franchise about the happiest creatures in existence in a world literally made of colorful scrapbook materials, what made me decide to chose a movie related to a book series that is LITERALLY about a constant bombardment of sad and troubling scenarios that befall 3 poor orphan children who are just trying to find a home in a big, cruel world that won't seem to cut them a break? Well, like always, the way how my brain works is that is finds connections between two unlikely sources at the most random times, and when a link is created, I try to see just how far I can take the connections and see not only if it works all the way through, but how exactly I can create a masterpiece in the process. And this attempt definitely did not disappoint!
Besides, we all know that a major focus point of Trolls is that even in a world like theirs, and even to creatures like them, bad stuff still happens and both their world and the people in it are just as complicated as our own. And what really attracted me from Band Together, was not only learning that Branch's family is bigger than we thought, but even more family drama surrounds him that, when we understand the full story, contributed to what made him into the troll we saw from the first movie. Plus, I absolutely adore family fluff and drama, and seeing that we now have so much material surrounding Branch in that area gives me life cause I love that poor boy so much!
So here, let's explore a slightly different destiny that befalls Branch and his brothers... One that actually brings them all closer together... rather than drives them apart... I hope you all enjoy!
Peppy pop music played in the background as a colorful felt scrapbook began flipping through pages depicting a vibrant and luscious forest with a village in the middle of it, encompassing larger than average trees that had colorful pod-shaped houses hanging from their branches, serving as the homes for various colorful trolls.
HarmonyTrollscket – Once upon a time… in a happy forest, in the happiest village… lived the happiest creatures the world has ever known. The Trolls. They loved nothing more than to sing, and dance, and hug, and so on.
All the scrapbook trolls were portrayed to be singing, dancing, and hugging one another happily and lovingly, all without a care in the world.
Harmony Trollscket – Everyday they would throw parties just to celebrate the happiness and the music inside their hearts. In the eyes of these joyful and naturally musical-oriented creatures, their world was, quite literally, all cupcakes and rainbows.
All of a sudden, the music came to a stop via record scratch.
Harmony Trollscket – Which is why I'm sorry to say that this is not the type of story you will be hearing.
The scenery then changed to show a wall filled with clues and notes, acting as a giant clue board.
Harmony Trollscket – The story you are about to hear is extremely unpleasant. If you wish to hear about trolls who happily sing and dance, I'm sure there is still plenty of songs on the top 40s list that will suffice nicely. However, if you like stories about clever and diversely talented orphans… suspicious fires, carnivorous leeches, Italian food and secret organizations, then stay as I retrace each and every one…
The angle shifted towards a dark silhouette of an adult troll, whose features couldn't be fully made out, writing at a desk in a small pod, on a piece of paper with a quill pen, and with a glowfly lantern sitting by the side for lighting.
Harmony Trollscket – Of the BroZone brothers' woeful steps. My name is Harmony Trollscket, and it is my sad duty to document this tale.
Harmony Trollscket picked up a picture of a young teenage troll with beautiful cyan skin and forest green hair, wearing a pair of orange goggles strapped around his forehead, and standing by a large pond.
Harmony Trollscket – John Dory, the eldest, which to him meant he naturally maintained the role of "The Leader" of the group. With BroZone being renown as the most popular boyband in the entirety of Troll Village, John held not only the responsibility of 4 little brothers, but also as manager, songwriter, and overseer of the entirety of the band's very career.
John Dory was suddenly shown in a cut-off memory, striking a flint against a rock to create sparks until he got a proper fire going.
Harmony Trollscket – But on his off-time, outside the performances and the image the band upheld, John was an adept wilderness expert.
Having his campfire set up, John proceeded to whittle away at some leftover firewood to create make-shift spears which he then put up around the area to keep away any possible predators.
Harmony Trollscket – Whether it be camping, trailblazing, tracking, or weapon proficiency, John cultivated more top tier survival skills than any troll twice his age could even think to master. In the heart of Mother Nature herself, John knew there was always something. Something that enabled the use of his skills to solve whatever problem he was faced with.
John Dory was then shown in real time, standing by the lake just as he was in the photograph Harmony Trollscket had; the teenage troll adjusted his goggle over his eyes before he took out a grappling hook gun, shot it up to a nearby tree branch and swung himself over the lake. He waited right until the optimum moment before retracting the hook and used the momentum from the swing to flip through the air and then spread his arms out at his sides as he began falling downwards. Seeing the target of his landing, a severed tree trunk floating in the middle of the lake, he folded his arms back, aligned to his body to gain more velocity, staring at his destination with a focused gaze underneath his goggles… only to land flat on his face as he smacked ungracefully onto the trunk, earning a small groan of pain.
Harmony Trollscket – Of course, when it came to being… physically versatile, there was no one who better outmatched him…
As John picked himself up and shook off his distortion from smacking onto the wood face-first, he heard a whistle from up above him and looked up in response to see another teenage troll, slightly smaller than him, with the same cyan skin color but purple hair along with a six-pack, standing on the branch John himself had grappled from. With a confident smirk on his face, the purple haired troll leaped off the branch before extending his hair out to grab it and swing himself over it about 3 times before he finally let go, flipping through the air himself before he began his descent towards the trunk as well. As he fell, he tucked his arms and legs close into his body, practically curling up into a ball, and proceeded to somersault through the air until at the very last second before reaching the trunk, with perfect positioning and timing, he shot his hair out below him to cushion his impact and then used his hair to push himself upward with just enough momentum to right himself back up and land expertly on his feet.
Harmony Trollscket – …than his brother.
The purple haired troll folded his arms as he looked over at John with a prideful smirk, who returned it with one of his own along with a playful jab to the purple-haired troll's arm.
Harmony Trollscket – Spruce, the second-eldest, held the role in the band of "The Heartthrob," due to his prominent charm, and thanks to an intense daily workout regimen, exquisitely chiseled rock hard abs. As the name implies, his image garnered him the reputation of being the band member that made the girls swoon during shows; and while many fans would acclaim the ladies' troll went out picking up dates with said girls when not on stage, I can firmly attest to these being baseless rumors.
A cut-off memory was then shown of Spruce sitting on the floor in his and his brothers' pod, waxing a surfboard. Once he was satisfied, he smiled before promptly jumping out the window of the pod, surfboard under his arm, and expertly parkoured down the tree until he reached the ground without even breaking a sweat.
Harmony Trollscket – Even without the impression his abs would give, Spruce was considered the athlete of the family, having remarkable nimbleness and natural physical prowess. But aside from prep work for performances, he much more preferred to spend his leisure time partaking in more tranquil sports such as yoga or his particular favorite, surfing.
Another cut-off next showed Spruce expertly, yet leisurely surfing on some big waves with a very relaxed smile on his face, as though all troubles in life were no n-existent in that moment.
Harmony Trollscket – When facing the pressure of needing to maintain his image of the best-looking troll in the band, nothing better put Spruce's mind at ease than cruising on those waves and allowing himself the small window of luxury he had in his daily schedule.
Back in real-time, the momentum from both John Dory and Spruce's landing on the log had caused it to drift all the way to the other side of the lake, just as they intended. Once reaching the shore, both trolls jumped off the trunk to and onto the ground before passing by another young troll with the same cyan colored skin as them, only this one had a head of bright yellow hair and appeared to be just a tad smaller than Spruce. This troll, unlike the other two, was sitting down on the grass and writing in a notepad, appearing to be crunching some numbers.
Harmony Trollscket – Clay, the middle child, was referred to the public as "The Fun Boy," on account of his love for pranks and goofy demeanor. Privately however, he had a more serious passion.
A cut-off memory of Clay was shown this time, the young troll taking a book off a bookshelf in the bedroom of his and his brothers' home pod.
Harmony Trollscket – Clay loved to read books, specifically sad books. Apparently, he was even a member of a Sad Book Club, which probably sounds absurd for creatures that literally embody the very essence of happiness. But for Clay, it was something that allowed him to be more than just the fun one; where he was with trolls that took him seriously and could freely express such complex and intense feelings.
Sitting in a circle with a few other trolls, Clay was deeply engrossed in his book, until he lifted his head, showing big tears pooling in his eyes and shamelessly falling down his face, indicating he just read a particularly sad passage. The other trolls in the group were fairing no better and soon all of them joined together for a big comforting group hug. Later, Clay was shown returning home, only to see John Dory sitting at a table, looking completely overwhelmed as he went over a bunch of papers. The yellow-haired troll walked over to his older brother, hoping to offer some form of help, before he looked at all the papers and saw they were bills, contracts, checks, etc. all relating to the band. However, Clay wasn't put off by the sight, rather, he seemed invested.
Harmony Trollscket – And perhaps that was the basis behind what eventually led to his growing interest in numbers and finances, followed by John's decision to assign him as the band's official accountant.
Clay grabbed a spare pen and began going through each paper, settling each one with apparent ease, earning him a surprised look from John Dory. The older troll then smiled as he seemed to have an idea, and put a hand on Clay's shoulder, grabbing the younger one's attention as John looked at him with a proposing expression.
Back in real-time, Clay appeared to finish up working through the band's most recent expenses, as he looked satisfied with the results, before he turned his attention to his left, where just a little way away from him, was another teenage cyan colored troll that appeared to be tuning a guitar. This troll was only a tad smaller than Clay, and had magenta-colored hair, but unlike the Clay, Spruce, and John Dory's sky-blue eyes, he had violet-colored eyes.
Harmony Trollscket – Floyd, the second youngest, also known as "The Sensitive One," earned his title based on his renown as the most emotional and empathetic member of the band. Even off the stage, Floyd was known to be sincere, compassionate, and had a knack for connecting with others on a deep emotional level.
Floyd stum a few notes on the guitar, smiling while doing so.
Harmony Trollscket – But anyone who knew Floyd well knew his most adept talent extended beyond understanding merely emotions. For the 4th brother of BroZone was in fact, a hyperpolyglot.
In a cut-off memory of Floyd, who was standing with John Dory in the backstage area of their usual performance venue, the two brothers appeared to be writing on a sheet of paper sitting on a music stand. John was shown writing down certain concept words and phrases to use as song lyrics, which Floyd then looked over before he effortlessly wrote down a new sentence in Spanish. Separate cut-offs then came one after another, depicting various instances where Floyd would write song lyrics, each time in a completely different language.
Harmony Trollscket – From a young age, Floyd picked up various different languages with ease. There was hardly any language that Floyd could not understand or fluently speak himself.
Once again in real time, Floyd continued strumming on his guitar before he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head around to see Clay smiling down at him before the yellow-haired troll pointed ahead, gesturing for Floyd to follow his gaze. The magenta-haired troll turned his head back around to look towards the direction Clay was pointing before an endearing chuckle escaped from his lips from the sight ahead of him. The subject of Clay and Floyd's attention was in fact an infant troll, who looked no older than at least 3 years old, though still wore a diaper, and also possessed the same beautiful cyan skin color as the other BroZone brothers. This baby troll however, had beautiful blue sapphire colored hair along with the same sky-blue eyes as Clay, Spruce, and John Dory.
Harmony Trollscket – Branch, the youngest, was to no surprise "The Baby" of the group. In spite of his age, the infant member of BroZone had a falsetto made of gold and the skill to match all of their dance choreo with ease, which served in making him one of the most popular members of the band. And like the rest of his brothers, Branch too had a unique interest.
Baby Branch was shown hammering a plank of wood on top of a wooden crate with a mallet before reaching into his hair and pulling out a small wheel and slotting it into a small opening in the wooden plank, all with focused concentration.
Harmony Trollscket – Along with having the voice of an angel, Branch liked to build things and had the makings of one of the most promising future engineers in the entire village. Possessing a skill for organization far beyond anyone's comprehension, much less for a troll as young as himself, Branch was always collecting things, driven by a compulsive need to be prepared for any situation.
Going into a cut-off memory of Branch, the baby troll was shown constructing a different gadget in the middle of his and his brothers' bedroom, wearing safety goggles while using a power drill, until he stopped momentarily before looking over at a nearby cupboard, each drawer labeled and organized both alphabetically and by category. Branch glossed over each section momentarily before finding what he was looking for and went over to the drawer to get the item he needed before going right back into his work. Later, he was shown presenting his contraption to his brothers, pulling a sheet off it for dramatic effect and revealing it to be a bed-making machine, earning impressed looks from the four teenage trolls. Branch then turned around and took out a remote from his hair, grinning as he pressed the button and activated the machine, which began to do its function exactly as intended. This earned Branch cheers of excitement and a bunch of hugs and kisses from all 4 of his big brothers, causing him to laugh from the bombardment of affection.
Back in real time, Branch had just finished his newest creation, followed by Clay and Floyd coming over to see what it was this time. Branch smiled happily at his brothers before he was next shown handing a smooth, flat stone to Clay and gesturing for him to skip it across the water, towards where the device was now floating near the middle of the lake. Clay nodded and skipped the stone, which entered the crate and caused the wheel slotted on top of it to start turning before the contraption shot the stone right back out, skipping across the water back towards Clay and into his hand. Both him and Floyd looked amazed while Branch looked excited to see his device working before the two older trolls began ruffling the infant's hair, proud of him for his brilliance as usual. Soon enough, John Dory and Spruce joined the three to see what the fuss was about, until the five trolls heard the sound of grass ruffling behind them, prompting them all to turn around to see an adult orange-skin colored troll with dark pink hair and a big pink mustache, sporting a blue cape along with a leaf crown sitting atop his head walking towards them.
Harmony Trollscket – It wasn't uncommon for fans to stumble upon the brothers during their days off. But of all the trolls to wind up finding them at their favorite leisure spot, seeing King Peppy of Troll Village emerge from the forest and trudging towards them was perhaps the most surprising.
The 5 brothers watched in both slight astonishment and curiosity as the troll King approached them, all with what appeared to be a despondent expression on his face before he finally stopped in front of them.
Peppy – Boys, I'm afraid I have some news regarding an extremely unfortunate event.
John and the rest of his brothers glanced at each other in slight confusion before diverting their attention back to King Peppy as he continued.
Peppy – I'm very, very sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid your grandmother has been lost to us in a fire that's burned her pod to the ground.
With that piece of news, all 5 of the brothers' faces morphed into ones of shock, devastation, disbelief, and of course sorrow. Floyd and Branch in particular, were the ones who began tearing up the most before straight up bursting into tears, holding onto one another for comfort while Spruce put a hand on Clay's shoulder as the two clenched their eyes tightly shut, attempting to hold back their own sobs. John however, continued to stay frozen to the spot, staring into space as a few tears just silently fell down his face.
Harmony Trollscket – If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels. And if you haven't, you cannot possibly imagine it.
Back in Troll Village, the BroZone brothers, with Floyd carrying Branch in his arms, were all shown stepping through the smoke, towards the wreckage of their grandmother's burned pod, which had fallen from the branch it was hanging from and was now lying on the ground. All 5 of the brothers looked around with grief-stricken expressions on their faces as they made their way through the charred remains of their home, everything in sight destroyed and burned beyond repair.
Harmony Trollscket – No one knows the precise cause of the BroZone fire. My own friends and I investigated the best we can. But all we've discovered is that the blaze was started from a great distance through the refraction and convergence of light. And within moments, the entire pod was in flames.
Each of the brothers cautiously and apprehensively searched through the rubble, taking the damage in while trying to recognize anything that may have survived the blaze. John searched through what was left of the living room, past the burnt couch and through the rubble now littering the burnt floor where he and his brothers practiced their choreography. He soon came up to the wall, where various pictures once hung from, but now lay broken and destroyed on the ground, and sifted through the rubble to find at least one picture frame that was still somewhat intact, with the picture inside having been miraculously spared as well. John smiled bittersweetly as he looked at the photo with tears in his eyes; it was a family portrait, of him and his brothers all cuddled around their grandmother who was lovingly embracing all of them. Spruce and Clay were shown next, navigating what was left of their bedroom, the beds, Branch's bed-making machine, all of Clay's books, and Spruce's surfboard charred and ruined. Clay and Spruce gazed mourningly at their burned personal items before turning towards each other, understanding in both of their expressions as they shared their respective sentiments in everything they had just lost. Finally, Floyd and Branch were shown in their grandmother's own room, Branch pulling out his stuffed toy alligator, Crocko from underneath the bed, knowing it had fallen underneath when he was last in the room. Due to being hidden under the bed which had taken the brunt of the damage from the fire, the toy was luckily only singed in certain areas, with at least one of its arms being completely burned. Even so, Branch trembled as he grasped his toy, hugging it close as he began to cry once again.
Branch – Grandma…!
Floyd came over by Branch and kneeled onto the floor, putting a hand on his baby brother's shoulder as he attempted to offer some comfort, all while trying hard not to cry again himself. Branch then launched himself into his brother's arms, now full-on sobbing as he clutched Floyd tightly, who held him close in return. After a moment, Floyd finally stood up, Branch still in his arms, and began to turn to leave, until a twinkle of light caught his eye. Floyd looked curiously towards the direction the light was reflecting from and saw it was being caused by a miniature golden spyglass that was lying in an open drawer on his grandmother's vanity, right next to a box filled with green sticks that had a label with the initials VFD on it.
Harmony Trollscket – And as mysterious as the source of the blaze, other mysteries began to unfold before the boys' eyes. Every family has its secrets, doors left unopened. But as Floyd now realized, the smallest discovery would send his mind reeling with questions.
Floyd approaches the vanity slowly and curiously, never once taking his eyes off the spyglass. He cautiously reaches over, attempting to grab it, but immediately flinched away the moment his fingers brazed against the metal, still sizzling hot and even emitting steam.
Harmony Trollscket – What was this spyglass hidden in his grandma's vanity? Were there other secrets about their grandma's life yet to be revealed? Questions he now feared might never be answered.
Despite the fact it was still too hot to touch, Floyd continued to stare at the mysterious spyglass, until Branch shifted his head up to see Floyd's expression and then around towards the spyglass as well, curious as to what caught his brother's attention. Not too long later however, all 5 brothers were shown being escorted out of the wreckage of the pod by some adult trolls that had arrived earlier to put out the fire, as the boys had finished collecting whatever surviving bearings they could from their now destroyed home.
Harmony Trollscket – And just like that, the BroZone brothers became the BroZone orphans.
They were led towards King Peppy, who sympathetically gestured the boys over to him as he began to lead them away and through the large crowd of trolls, consisting of nearly the entire village, who were all surrounding the wreckage of the burned pod at a safe distance.
Harmony Trollscket – I tried to warn you.
The entirety of the burned down pod was shown as King Peppy guided the brothers through the crowd, before transitioning into a photo of the burned down pod that Harmony Trollscket was gazing at, at his desk before he put it to the side and continued his documentation.
Harmony Trollscket – This is an excellent opportunity to walk out of the pod where this story is being told…
The BroZone brothers were then shown again, all sitting close together inside King Peppy's own pod as they awaited the news of what would happen to them next.
Harmony Trollscket – It's not too late to listen to some happy top 40s songs.
And so... it begins. You heard the troll, if you'd rather hear some happy pop songs or read some more happy troll content, take the time to leave now... But if not, then I urge you to stay and buckle your seatbelts... because this is only the beginning...
Even though we only had one movie with them, I utilized what I could concerning what we know about Branch's brothers and how that translated to their other talents besides their obvious singing and dancing ones; John, Clay, and Branch weren't hard to figure out obviously, but I had to put some thought into Floyd's, and ultimately decided to go with having him have a natural gift with languages considering he is a very empathetic and understanding troll, which still applies here, but I thought, why not have his ability to understand other people literally go even farther to the point of being able to get past language barriers as well? Now Spruce, and yes he will remain Spruce in this story, since in this world, he found no need to change his name... he was harder to come up with anything concrete considering the only things we really know about him was that after BroZone split up, he settled down in a more relaxing area, had a family of his own with a family business restaurant, and put on more weight than he used to have, which gave us all the impression during the band days he was constantly putting himself through rigorous training just to keep his image, and just wanted to have a life where he could really relax. So for his talent, despite the fact he has his abs, he's not so much the muscle of the group, as much as his skill lies in being more versatile; he's also not under as much pressure here as he was in the movie, so he indulges himself in his favorite sport, surfing, whenever he just needs a chance to chill and get away from it all. The brothers really got the chance to explore their other interests during their band days in this AU rather than just staying in the boxes of their band roles, so their relationship with one another is not strained like it was in the movie.
An important thing to know as well, is that in this story, so I could make various plot points that will later come up work, trolls are bigger in size in this AU than they are in the movies; they are still small compared to other creatures, but essentially, a fully grown adult troll would be about the same size as Gristle or Bridget when they were kids; now this doesn't mean that all the creatures trolls normally use as transportation are bigger too, if anything any and all transportation critters that trolls use will not have that function in this AU, however, they will have different functions...
Also, if anyone's confused, a hyperpolyglot literally means someone who can speak various languages fluently.