(Scarlet Avenger Universe)
Multiple explosions rang out through the base of an insurgency camp as hundreds of mercenaries fired several rounds of ammunition. Many more broke out RPGs and fired them off in a single direction. The rocket propelled grenades flew through the air and struck something three times, creating three powerful explosions that went off at the same time.
A huge cloud of smoke was kicked up, obscuring the target of their attack. However, it didn't take long for them to realize that they did nothing to stop their attacker. A beam of crimson red light pierced through the cloud, punching a wide hole through it as the beam struck a building in the distance and made it explode on impact. Some of the mercenaries, distracted from the explosion, were then set on fire as a huge plume of scarlet red, plasma flames erupted forth and engulfed them. The mercenaries screamed bloody murder as they ran around in a frantic fashion, their bodies melting and burning in mere seconds before hitting the ground. Not even their bones were spared as they too were melted away.
The remaining mercenaries turned back towards their attacker, still in disbelief about who it was that was attacking them. It was a girl, about fourteen years old. Her hair was made of red flames, while her eyes shined bright red as well. Upon her right hand the red ring she wore shined with a deep rage that made anyone in the vicinity of her light instantly get angry and attack her without thinking. For this was the power of the Red Light of Rage, something that Anne discovered after a few fights.
The ring's light had a passive ability to induce an angered and agitated state in people around her if she wasn't actively suppressing it. She found it a hassle to do it, but she did it anyway. It was only in times like this, when she was in the heat of battle, that she could let it all go. Despite her own rage idled mind, Anne was still able to think clearly, but that was due to her direct exposure to the light and her own willpower. But for average people, like this group of mercenaries, they stood no chance. They were already hopped up on whatever propagandist bullshit their leaders fed them, and angry to begin with. So, with Anne's light, it just made them even angrier. And normally that would be a bad thing, but in this case it worked to her advantage.
The rage induction made the mercs less coordinated, less willing to listen to their superiors who were barking orders, and instead, going off and fighting without thinking. Half the time, Anne didn't even need to do anything, since most of the mercenaries were so angry and pissed off that any backtalk or snide remark from their own allies just made them snap. A few times Anne witnessed the mercenaries killing each other before turning their ire onto her.
"X, you really know how to put me in the shit, don't you?" Anne complained.
{Sweetie, like these guys are actually giving you challenge,} Mr. X replied.
"Hardly, it's just annoying. What are – hold on." A mercenary, stupidly, tried to attack Anne with a knife. So, she made a sword construct in her right hand, activated her aura shield, and let the knife snap when it hit the shield. When the knife snapped like a twig, Anne spun, keeping the sword in a reverse grip, and cleaved the man behind her in one swipe before turning to the same standing position she was in. "Okay, so, what are these guys even fighting about?"
There was a wet thudding sound as the upper and lower halves of the merc she had killed hit the ground behind her.
{Oh, typical BS. The government's out to get us, blah, blah, blah. It's a group made up of people here who want to stir up something, and some overseas backers who want to see chaos break out.}
"Tch, how original. Whatever, I'm not about to let Marcy and Sasha get swept up into their shit. Before I nuke this place, you have everything you need, right?" Anne asked.
{Would I have sent you if I didn't?}
"Clean up duty, of course. What the…?"
{What is it?}
"Did you know these guys have a tank?" Anne inquired.
{WHAT?!}
Indeed, it was an M1 Abrams tank. The metal beast rolled out of a warehouse, busting through a metal door as its cannon turned and aimed directly at Anne. Once the cannon was aimed, the tank fired its round. Anne braced herself as the tank round arrived and exploded right in front of her. The explosion sent her flying backwards, skipping on the ground like a stone in a pond before she crashed into building. Anne groaned for a moment, and then she growled.
"And now…I'm ticked."
The building that Anne was shot into suddenly exploded. From that explosion, a huge red dragon emerged. It was a western style dragon, with four long claws, big membrane, bat-like wings, a long neck and tail, and a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. The construct beast roared into the air as it flapped its wings and flew right for the tank. The mercenaries in the tank fired round after round at the large dragon construct. Each shot exploded upon impact, but it wasn't slowing the dragon down in the slightest. The dragon construct raised its right leg and stomped down on the tank like a bug. The dragon repeatedly stepped on the tank, making it explode under its foot. And for good measure, it blew a torrent of fire on the remains.
Anne dismissed her construct before turning to the smoldering remains and spitting on them. "That'll teach you to shoot me with a damn tank."
Deciding to end this already, Anne flew into the air, rising higher until she was above the entire base. Anne raised her right hand into the air, concentrating as she had the ring create a huge flaming energy sphere above her head. The sphere grew with each passing second, to the point that it eclipsed the sun and bathed everything below in its scarlet hue. With a wave her hand, Anne threw the huge crimson orb, having it descend like a meteor. The burning sphere of light immediately hit the center of the base and released a massive explosion that swallowed the base, the mercenaries, and everything else within a two-mile radius of the explosion. What was left was a smoldering crater, and some red flames here and there.
"Ring, life sign readings?"
{Enemy Life Signs: 0.}
"Good. X, send your other clean-up crew. I'm out."
Anne shot off into the distance, leaving the destruction she caused for someone else to clean up.
"Okay, Marcy, take it slow," Sasha cautioned.
"Sashy, I got it," Marcy whined.
Sasha was busy keeping watch on Marcy as she walked. The Taiwanese teen was currently using her arms to support herself as she gripped the bars on either side of herself. Walking alongside her was the Physical Therapist assigned to help her, and Sasha, who was walking on the opposite side just in case. It was clear by the way Marcy's arms were shaking that she was struggling, but the look on her face was one of determination. She wanted to get to the other side, and she was going to do it. Marcy's brow beaded with sweat, but eventually, she managed to get to the other side where the wheelchair was waiting for her. Once there, Sasha and the PT helped the fourteen-year-old into the wheelchair, allowing Marcy to rest as she panted and huffed.
"You did great Ms. Wu," the PT praised.
"Way to go, Mar-Mar," Sasha cheered.
"T-Thanks…That was…more intense…than I thought," Marcy panted.
"It's good that you have the drive, but you mustn't push yourself too hard," the PT warned. "We don't want you to set yourself back."
"I…understand…I just…wanted to…prove it to myself…that I could do it."
Sasha leaned down and kissed Marcy on the top of her head as she said, "Well, you definitely proved it."
"Aww, Sashy…I'm all sweaty and gross," Marcy whined.
"What's your point?"
The PT rolled her eyes, but she was used to their couple-y banter. "Well then, can I leave it you to return Marcy to her room, Ms. Waybright?"
"Oh, yeah," Sasha replied.
The blonde teen got behind the wheelchair and turned it towards the doorway as she began pushing Marcy along.
It had been almost a year since Frog-vasion, the moment their lives were changed. Sasha's injuries had healed nicely thanks to Mr. X insisting and making sure that she was getting the best medical treatments, and the same went for Marcy. The Taiwanese teen, thank Frog, finally came out of her coma about five months ago. Unfortunately, it was to some not so good news. Sasha wanted to sugarcoat what happened the best she could, but Marcy was vehement that she be told the truth about what happened during the invasion. Much to Sasha's dismay, she divulged the gruesome details. How Darcy tortured Anne, and how the dark persona killed their Amphibian friends. Grime, Olivia, Yunan, the Plantars, and even Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy, were all killed.
Sasha told two lies during that retelling. The first was that it was done at the hands of Andrias and the robot army. She wanted to spare Marcy as much as she could, it was already hard on the poor girl when Sasha said that Darcy tortured Anne. The last thing that Sasha wanted was for Marcy to know she had the blood of their friends on her hands and was responsible for killing Anne's parents. Well, Darcy was, but she knew Marcy would blame herself either way.
The second lie was that Anne was dead. She wove the tale of how Anne tapped into the strongest form of her Calamity powers and used that to fight back against Darcy and Andrias' army. Which ended with Anne burning out her life energy and disappearing into embers. Sasha had to pat herself on the back for that one, she made sure that Anne went out in an incredibly epic fashion, at least. And it took care of the "where's the body" problem.
Of course, Marcy sobbed for a long time, and Sasha did her best to console Marcy. She vowed to stay by Marcy's side, no matter what, and make sure she wouldn't have to go through what she was feeling alone. Along the way, with the rehab, and visits, Sasha and Marcy started to grow closer. Then it became less platonic and more romantic. It probably wasn't the best time to feel like that, but Sasha and Marcy needed each other now more than ever.
"You keep this up, you'll be walking in no time, Marce," Sash commented.
"Heh, I hope so. If nothing else, I'll develop a lot of upper body strength because of the rehab," said Marcy.
"Ooh, buff armed Marcy. Now I'd like to see that. 'Course, you got a ways to go before you can match my guns," Sasha teased as she flexed her left arm.
Marcy giggled as she tilted her head back to look up at Sasha. "Oh? Challenge accepted. I just hope you'll still want to be GFs after you see the Amazon I'll become."
Sasha smirked.
Marcy smiled up at her and then returned her gaze forward. When she did, Marcy tilted her head down a little and said, "Sashy…I know I've said this before."
"Then I don't want to hear it."
"I mean it, though. If…If I become too much of a burden, if…if my rehab doesn't go well. I don't want you to stick with me and deal with me like that. So, if you ever feel that way you can–"
"Stop it," Sasha interrupted. "I want to be with you, Marcy. I'm not sticking by your side out of some obligation. I care about you. Besides, I'd be a shitty girlfriend and person to just up and break up over the possibility of you being wheelchair bound. But that's not going to happen, because Mr. X is making sure you get the best of the best care. So, get that out that nerdy brain of yours."
"Sorry," Marcy apologized.
"I get it, just take it one day at a time. No one's forcing you to get better right away. I'll be right here with you, so will your mom and dad…" Sasha then whispered under her breath, "…and Anne."
Sasha passed by a patient's room, and stopped for a moment when she heard the news broadcasters.
{The "All Saints" movement, which has been labeled as a militaristic and cult-like, has had all members of its organization arrested following shocking evidence that the group was poised to stage a violent coup of the government. This group has been rumored to be receiving funds from some rogue nations, as well as others, in order to destabilize and cripple the U. S. government and throw the country into chaos. This all came out following the destruction of one of their hidden military bases.}
Sasha pushed Marcy's wheelchair along, deciding to leave before the report said anything more.
"That sounded bad," said Marcy.
"Eh, dumbasses getting what they deserve. Don't worry about it," said Sasha.
"I know. You know me, trying to solve problems," Marcy chuckled.
The two arrived at Marcy's room, and when they did, they found a fresh bouquet of roses in the vase. There was a card there as well. Sasha wheeled Marcy over to the stand where the card and roses were, and once there, Marcy got the card and opened it.
"Keep up the good work. You'll get there."
"Another mysterious well-wisher card, huh?" Sasha asked as she moved the wheelchair closer to the bed.
Marcy raised her arms and let Sasha pick her up and seat her on the bed. Marcy raised her hand when Sasha went to move her legs, indicating she wanted to do it herself. Sasha backed off and let Marcy do it. With great effort, Marcy managed to get both of her legs onto the bed, and from there, Sasha helped situating her.
"These cards are never signed, should I be worried? It kind of sounds like this person has been watching me," Marcy wondered.
"You know X has people keeping an eye on us. If there was anything suspicious about the flowers or cards they'd have flagged it by now," Sasha explained.
"Yeah, good point. Well, I guess, thanks whoever you are."
Sasha walked over to the window to open the curtains, when she did, she spotted a lone figure standing on the roof across from them.
Anne kept watch over the two remaining people she cared about. She couldn't afford to feel anything stronger than what she was feeling now, if the rage left her, and was replaced with love, Anne would die. Such was the fate of those who wore the red rings. So, Anne kept watch. She knew Mr. X had several FBI agents watching them, because he knew if anything happened to Sasha and Marcy, then there would be literally nothing keeping Anne from just rampaging across the entire planet. And there wouldn't be a thing anyone could do to stop her. So, it was in the best interests of everyone that Sasha and Marcy were to always remain safe and healthy.
It's better this way, Anne thought.
"X, I'm heading home."
{Copy that, Anne. I have your fave ready for you.}
"Yeah, yeah – WHA?!"
Suddenly, Anne disappeared in a flash of white light.
(The Avatar of Avarice Universe)
"Heh, this is the life."
Anne had been very busy. It took her about three months to learn how to control the energy of the Calamity gems that she had siphoned a while back, in that time, she explored the universe that Amphibia was in, coming across multiple worlds with people and shiny new things that she had never even seen before. Technology, jewelry, vehicles, games, food, a whole lot of new things. Things that were hers now. Each world she visited; Anne was met with resistance. They should've known better than to get in the way of what was hers. The fools didn't realize that everything in this universe belonged to her, and her alone.
One after the other, worlds fell before her. They put up an admirable fight, let no one doubt that. But in the end, it was futile. With each world that Anne conquered, she only added to her horde, and added to her ranks. She forcefully inducted the different aliens of the worlds she conquered, growing her army of Orange Lanterns. She eventually discovered the pocket dimension where the Orange Power Battery was located, Anne made sure to keep that hidden, it was her precious. And no one was allowed to touch it or get near it, so she kept it safe in there until she needed it. Only periodically opening the pocket dimension to make sure it was there.
However, despite the growing number of Lanterns she had, Anne had her favorites. Whenever she wanted to have some fun, like destroying a few buildings, creating havoc throughout different cities, she would always have the Plantar family, along with Sasha and Marcy, at her side. They never strayed too far away, the rest of the constructs, like the Wartwood residents, stayed fairly close, but the others, she had them go out and do whatever.
Although, right now, Anne was just kicking back and enjoying the pink sunset against the crystal blue waves of latest planet she had conquered and inducted. She was lounging on an alien equivalent of a deck chair, while she had Sasha and Marcy feed her and provide her with a drink.
"You guys like the outfits I chose for you?" Anne asked as Orange Sasha fed her that planet's version of a grape.
"Definitely, like it," Orange Sasha replied.
"You have good taste, Anne," Orange Marcy added.
The best part about having her friends as constructs was that she could dress them up however she liked. Whenever they were planet conquering, she had them in their uniforms. When having some private time like this, she would swap out their uniforms for different outfits she had seen across the different planets, or whatever she could imagine or liked. Anne had Sasha dressed in a two-piece bikini, while Marcy was in a cute one-piece swimsuit. Anne had dismissed her Orange Lantern uniform and slapped on a pair of swim trunks, and bikini top as she lay there and enjoyed her time.
"When do you think we'll go to Earth?" Orange Marcy asked.
"Soonish. I wanna see what else we can find here. A whole alternate universe full of planets and things I haven't seen before! Things that I want! Plus, I figure I can use our universe as storage space. After I've gone around and collected what's there," Anne clarified.
"I can't wait to have Margo as part of the Corps. You gonna order her around?" Orange Sasha inquired as her teeth changed to razor sharp fangs for a moment.
"Eh, why not? I'll throw her at whatever missile or laser beam tries to shoot me. She can be my shield! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Orange Sasha and Marcy laughed at the thought of Anne's bully being relegated to shield duty.
"But I'm definitely enjoying this view. Wish I could take the entire planet with me. Hmm, maybe I can," Anne pondered.
"The power of the Calamity gems should let you move large objects through different universes. And with the power of the orange light, it's probably strong enough to pull in planets as well," Orange Marcy explained. "But you might also want to consider that if we pull a planet from one universe to another, it might end up destroying it if they're not exactly in the right place."
"Mar-Mar, TL;DR version please."
"Just like Earth is positioned just the right distance from the sun, if you put Amphibia in the same orbit as our Earth, you could end up destroying it. You'd have to be very accurate with its placement," Orange Marcy warned.
"Ugh, that sounds like a hassle and a half. On second thought, they can stay where they are, I'll just port to them. Now, you two, I think it's time we – WHOA!"
Anne suddenly disappeared in a flash of white light. Leaving the Sasha and Marcy constructs to look at each other in confusion.
"Uh, if she leaves, doesn't that mean we also–?"
Sasha didn't get to finish her sentence as both she and the Marcy construct disappeared as well.
(The Fear Queen's Universe)
Anne was disoriented, to say the least, when she was first dropped into Amphibia. She had immediately knocked out and – by the grace of God – was not eaten alive by the locals. When she arrived, Anne was dropped out of the sky right in the middle of the Plantar's family home. Of course, this caused a ruckus for the family, having seen a strange creature like her drop into their vegetable garden and flatten most of their produce. After Sprig poked her a few times to confirm she wasn't dead. Sprig suggested that they bring her inside, much to Hop Pop's reluctance.
When they brought her inside, the Plantars placed her on the couch. Polly was standing guard with "Ol' Doris", her favorite rolling pin to beat people with. It took a couple of hours before Anne finally woke up, and when she did, she was understandably shocked at the frog people around her and reflexively pointed her ring hand at them. Also, understandably, Hop Pop put himself between Anne and his grandkids to keep them safe. However, Sprig – who either had no sense of danger or didn't care – hopped onto the couch and poked at Anne's ring with fascination.
Anne realized quickly that these frog people weren't a danger to her, except maybe for the little one with the rolling pin who was giving her the stink eye. After that, Anne introduced herself to the frogs, and the Plantars did the same. They informed her that she was in the land of Amphibia, and it wasn't like she could deny it, the air felt different, there were talking frogs right in front of her, and apparently the house was fashioned from a giant tree. Anne was aware of other planets thanks to doing a little info dumping from her ring, and to make sure the frogs were telling the truth, she asked it to tell her where she was. The ring quickly confirmed that she was not on Earth, more specifically, she wasn't even in her own universe anymore.
She asked if the ring had the power to take her back, but the ring had told her it did not possess that kind of function. And after telling her froggy hosts that the ring wasn't possessed – and instead convincing them it was "magic" – she managed to secure housing for herself. She wondered if Sasha and Marcy were there with her, or if they had gotten thrown into another universe as well? She hoped it was the former. If they were there with her, then she could easily find them and protect them, but if they were flung to different universes…
Anne pushed that depressing thought out of her head and decided to focus on her current situation. For one thing, she needed to know how things worked around there, and see what level of technology they had. If she was lucky, there might be a mad scientist, or even some kind of powerful magic user, who could send her back. After being taken in by the Plantars and after convincing the town folk that she wasn't going to eat them, Anne managed to find the local witch, Maddie. But she wasn't exactly an all-powerful sorceress, essentially she was rookie witch, but still well versed in "curse casting".
One of the things that Anne could tell was that the people in the town feared her. Thanks to the ring, she could sense fear, and what that fear was directed at or stemmed from. They were paranoid and fearful of her, which she couldn't blame them for being. She was only thirteen and she was way taller than most of the frog people, plus she was a creature that none of them had ever seen before. Anne was just lucky that an angry mob hadn't formed yet.
Scratch that.
Anne looked behind her and saw a mob with pitchforks and torches.
"C'mon, guys, I haven't even done anything! I'm just out grocery shopping!" Anne complained.
The mob grumbled and then snuffed out their torches as they dispersed, but when they did, Anne noticed that Polly was among them.
"Really?" Anne asked.
"I go where the mob goes, Anne!" Polly exclaimed as she put out her torch and began hopping in her bucket towards the Grub & Go.
Anne rolled her eyes, at this point she expected as much from Polly. The little pollywog was still suspicious of her, not that she blamed her. Any of them really. Anne held a secret, a deadly secret. With the ring's power, she could probably wipe out the town, and more. Heck, she already had blood on her hands, she was a killer. But then again, the ones she killed weren't exactly upstanding citizens. Heck, Maggie was cursing her name right up to the moment Anne sealed her in that box and buried her alive. Even the creep that Anne killed wasn't exactly redeemable either.
Maybe Polly can sense that I've killed before. They say little kids can sense those kinds of things, Anne thought.
"Well, we got everythin', how's it goin' out here?" Hop Pop asked as he and Sprig exited the store.
"Eh, you know the usual. I'm just standing here with Bessie, and then I turn around and see an angry mob," Anne explained.
"Yep, another day in Wartwood," Sprig commented.
"Well, let's get this back to the house, we got some work to do."
As Anne helped Hop Pop get the groceries onto Bessie, she spotted three toads rolling into town on a wagon pulled by a huge spider. They looked much rougher and meaner, the word "warriors" came to mind.
"Hey, HP, who are they?" Anne asked.
Hop Pop turned to see what Anne was talking about, and that's when he spotted the three warrior toads and sighed dejectedly. "Those three are from Toad Tower. Ya see, the toads run the valley, and different regions of Amphibia for the King."
"Wait, you have a king?!" Anne exclaimed.
"Of course we do, Anne. We're not anarchists."
"Speak for yourself, old man," Polly retorted.
"Anyway," Sprig spoke up. "Toad Tower is filled with the fiercest, and strongest toads in the valley. They can be…um…"
"Assholes," Polly answered, "the word you're looking for is assholes."
"Polly Petunia Plantar! Watch yer mouth!" Hop Pop scolded.
Polly winced, but Anne smirked and nodded at the pollywog. She could feel the people's fear of the toad warriors, if they were supposed to be enforcers, soldiers for the king, that should make people feel safe. But her ring was telling her otherwise. Anne decided to put that aside for now and went back to the house with the Plantars.
It was several hours later while Anne and the Plantars were outside working that they were approached by the three toads, Bog, Myer, and Fens. Hop Pop furrowed his brow and told the kids to stay where they were as he went to find out why they were there.
"Now what in the world are ya doin' here?" Hop Pop asked.
"Sorry to say, old man, but you're behind on your taxes," said Bog as he unfurled a list of frogs who were also delinquent on their taxes.
Hop Pop examined the list and scoffed at what he saw. "Say what?! Ah already paid meh dang taxes, and Ah know Wally did to. He may live in squalor, but even he pays taxes."
"Well, the Mayor's list says otherwise," Bog stated as he wrapped up the paper.
Anne put down the hoe she had and headed to Hop Pop. "Listen, I know for a fact that Hop Pop did his taxes. He…He made me watch."
The three toads titled their heads when they looked at Anne.
"What the…doesn't she kinda look like…?" Fens spoke.
"Probably a coincidence, no way it can be. Let's just stick to what we're here to do," Bog replied. "Now then, what shall we take?"
Fens looked around and saw Bessie, and then her eyes fell on Anne. "How 'bout we take the snail and this thing?"
"WHAT?!" Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop, and Anne exclaimed.
"Perfect. Consider the gangly creature a bonus old man, we'll overlook your next delinquency if you throw her in," Bog stated as he pointed at Anne.
Hop Pop grunted and stated, "Ya ain't gettin' Bessie, and ya ain't takin' Anne!"
"Yeah!" Sprig shouted. "She's one of us! Part of the family! And we're not letting you take either of them!"
"Sprig…Hop Pop," said Anne astonished.
"I'll bite your faces off if you touch either one of them!" Polly added.
"Even you?" Anne asked.
"Hey, you helped us out more than once, and saved my butt a few times. I'm returning the favor."
Anne smiled as she took a step forward, putting herself between the Plantars and the toads. "You heard them. In fact, get the hell off our property!"
The townsfolk were gathering at the edge of the Plantar farm as they watched the family of four stand up to the toad tax collectors. They couldn't believe what they were hearing and seeing.
"I can't speak for everyone about their taxes or whatever, but I know for a fact that Hop Pop paid his! And if that list says he didn't, then the whole thing is bogus! Now that I'm thinking about it, you three are going to return everything you took from everyone!" Anne ordered.
Fens, Bog, and Myer glanced at each other, and then broke out into fits of laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Creature, let it not be said that you weren't funny! AHAHAHAHA!" Bog laughed.
"Seriously, what's a scrawny thing like you going to do to us? I'm afraid to let you hit us, you might snap your own twig of an arm! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Fens guffawed.
Anne narrowed her gaze and smirked as she said, "Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly, stand back. Waaay back."
"Anne, we got your back! We can take them together!" Sprig insisted.
"I'm serious you three, back up. I'm not defenseless, remember?" Anne raised her right fist, showing off her yellow ring.
The Plantars remembered that Anne said it was a "magic ring", but she hadn't used it all that much in her time here. Mostly whenever they were in a bind, but they figured Anne wasn't using its full power. Now, it seemed Anne was going to be serious with its usage. Heeding her warning, Hop Pop grabbed Sprig and Polly and took them away until they were at least ten feet away from Anne.
"You guys rule this valley with fear. I can tell that the frogs here feel that fear, and you did whatever you wanted never thinking that there was a bigger monster for you to be afraid of." Anne closed her eyes as the ring on her right hand glowed brighter. "Well…today…I AM that monster!"
Anne's eyes suddenly shifted to yellow, and her pupils formed into black slits. The ring released yellow light energy that wrapped around Anne's body for a few seconds before shattering apart. Now Anne was donned in her uniform, she was the Fear Queen. Bog, Fens, and Myer were shocked by the transformation, and took a few steps back.
"What's the matter? You two were all gung-ho about taking me and Bessie, why are you backing away now? I thought you guys were supposed to be the 'fiercest warriors in the valley'," Anne mocked.
Bog didn't take too kindly to that, and neither did Fens or Myer. Be it out of pride, anger, or a combination of both, the three toads decided to attack. Fens broke out a spiked club and swung it at Anne. The Fear Queen didn't even move as a barrier formed around her. Fens' club struck the shield, but it didn't even leave a scratch. Bog came in with this warhammer, but just like Fens' club, the barrier did not break. Myer attacked this time, using his own claws to try and cut into the barrier, but just like the last two times, nothing happened.
Thunder started to roar overhead as the heavens opened. Rain poured down over the area, but none of it touched Anne while coated in her protective aura. The three toads began to back away from her as she peered down at them with her sharp eyes.
"So, you guys done? If so, it's my turn," Anne was about to dole out some justice, but then was reminded of her audience. Polly and Sprig behind her, and Ivy and Maddie across the way. She had no qualms about killing these guys, but she wasn't about to shed blood in front of these kids. To keep them from spectating the coming carnage, Anne created a large box around them that would keep what she did next as private as possible.
"Now…what do you fear?!" Anne demanded as she held out her ring and pointed it at them. Fens, Myer, and Bog's eyes glowed for a second, giving Anne what she needed.
With a wave of her hand, a large millipede construct roared savagely within the box, appearing overhead as its eyes locked onto Fens.
"WAAAAAAAH! NO, NOT MILLIPEDES! NO!" she screamed.
Myer suddenly found himself being backed into a corner by a pack of hybeenas, the hybrid creatures chortling and buzzing as the inched closer to the masked toad.
"Any last words before I end you?" Anne asked.
"WE KNOW WHERE THERE'S ANOTHER ONE OF YOU!" Bog exclaimed.
Anne raised her hand and had the millipede and hybeena constructs stop.
"You've seen someone like me?"
"Well…Maybe not exactly like you, but she's tall and gangly like you!" Fens quickly added.
"Does she have dark or blonde colored hair?" Anne asked.
"Blonde!" Myer squeaked out.
"Sasha! Also, he can talk?"
"Yeah! That's her name! Sasha! She's been our prisoner for a while now," Fens explained.
Anne's eyes narrowed once again as anger boiled inside her. "WHERE IS SHE?!"
"At Toad Tower!" Bog shouted. "We have her prisoner in our base!"
"…One last question. Does everyone know where Toad Tower is?" Anne asked.
"Yes," Myer squeaked.
"Good. Then I don't really need you three."
Anne released a stronger flash of light from her ring, and immediately the millipede and hybeena constructs took on more ghastly and nightmarish forms, snarling and growling at their intended targets. Another construct formed; this time it was for Bog. It consumed Anne, as she stood at its center, but the creature itself was a snake, and after a moment, it too was given a nightmarish design that made it and the others look like demons dragged from the pits of hell. Fens, Myer, and Bog screamed their lungs out, and just before the constructs could go for the kill, all three began foaming at the mouth as their eyes rolled into the back of their heads. A moment later, all three fell to the ground.
The Thai teen dismissed her constructs and asked the ring, "Are they dead?"
{Subjects are in a comatose state due to an overstimulation of their fear response in conjunction with adrenaline.}
"Pfft, you three got lucky." Anne swiped her hand out in front of her, and immediately the box construct she formed dismantled itself, but not before the nightmare constructs vanished.
When the box was gone, the Wartwood citizens gasped in shock as they saw all three tax collectors on the ground.
"Are they…?" Sprig asked.
"No, I just made them face their worst nightmares. It was too much, and they passed out, but not before giving me some information," Anne explained.
"What kind of information?" Hop Pop inquired.
"They told me that they're keeping Sasha prisoner at Toad Tower." Anne looked out into the crowd and asked. "Which direction is Toad Tower in?"
"Wait, what are you going to do?" Sprig asked. "Are you going to rescue her? By yourself?!"
Anne looked down at Sprig and said, "Trust me, they won't know what hit–!"
A flash of white light erupted before the Plantars and townsfolk, and Anne had vanished.
(The Emerald Knight's Universe)
It was a peaceful day in Los Angeles, right up until two rival gangs decided to have a war in the city. Several police officers were called to the scene, but it was becoming clear that they were going to need heavier firepower and more men. Unfortunately, the real victims here were the civilians who were caught in the crossfire, with the two rival gangs not caring in the slightest if they had to shoot through some people to kill their targets on the other side.
One of the civilians, a young blonde girl with streaks of pink and green in her hair, was running for her life as bullets flew around her, and explosions rang out.
The young girl tripped and fell to the ground, and unfortunately she landed near some gang members who were returning fire to their rivals. That's when something flew over their heads and landed with a light "tink" sound. The object rolled along the ground for a few seconds before the blonde girl opened her eyes and gasped. She had seen enough movies and played enough video games to recognize a grenade when she saw one. The three gang members seemed to have just now noticed it as well, and all of them froze, knowing that they had no chance of outrunning the blast.
However, before they could all meet their demise, a dome of green light formed around the grenade. A moment later, there was muffled "thud" sound. When the dome released, there was a small crater and scorch marks where the grenade had gone off. The gang members and the girl were confused for a moment, but then the cause was made itself known. Descending from the sky was the hero who had been making the rounds on both the local and national news networks. A young teen girl clad in a green armored chest plate and wore a mask. The hero who was known as the Emerald Knight.
The Green Lantern, Anne, looked down at the four she had just saved. Anne recognized the young girl as Molly Jo, the girl who was a fan of Sprig when he was "Frog-Man", and has sense become her fan as well.
"Emerald Knight!" Molly Jo exclaimed.
"S'up?" Anne glanced at the three gang members, narrowed her gaze, and pointed her ring at them. The weapons they were wielding were suddenly ripped out of their hands as Anne used her ring to compress all three assault rifles until they were turned into a clump of metal. "Good night."
Anne fired three beams at the gang members, hitting them with a concussive blast that slammed them against the cars, and knocked them out cold.
"It's not safe here, Molly. Let's get you outta here."
Anne formed a spherical barrier around Molly and quickly flew her to the nearest police officers. They took Molly and promised to keep her safe, and upon hearing that, Anne went back into the fray. Her first priority was to get the civilians out of the line of fire. To do this, Anne quickly made several construct bubbles which she fired at the civilians. Thankfully, the bubbles managed to capture all the civilians that weren't able to get out of the war zone in time, and with a wave of her ring hand, Anne managed to get them all to where the police had set up a kind of "safe zone".
"Okay, the people are safe. Now let's take care of these idiots," said Anne.
{Recommending use of the Taser Field to neutralize enemy combatants,} said the ring.
"Is it nonlethal?"
{Affirmative.}
"Then let's do it!"
Anne flew straight towards the center of the action, unfortunately, there were gang members on both sides who did not look favorably on the teen hero, and now they were focusing their firepower on her instead. The Emerald Knight quickly made a spherical barrier to keep their bullets from hitting her, watching as they ricocheted off her shield and ended up hitting a few of the gang members in the process.
"Geez, you guys, give it a rest already! You're only hurting yourselves!" Anne watched as a gang member on either side raise a new weapon. "Is that freakin' RPG?"
The two rival gangs fired their RPGs and both rockets hit the shield, creating a powerful explosion that detonated the cars around her into a cascade of explosions. Anne noticed the debris from the cars was hurled into the air and was going to crash into the safe zone, but the Emerald Knight swiftly shot a beam of green light at the area, creating a wall above it as the debris crash landed onto the wall. Anne raised her right hand up, causing the debris to fall onto the street where there was no one.
"Okay, this ends now! Activate Taser Field!"
{Taser Field, deployed.}
Anne flew up into the air, and then came down as on one knee as she slammed her right fist into the ground. A bright dome of light erupted from her, growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. The gang members on both sides tried to run, but the time to do so had passed. The field washed over them, and upon getting caught in the light, all gang members were knocked out at the same time. The field kept expanding and stopped just mere inches away from the safe zone. Anne disengaged the field and rose to a hover as she looked around to see all the downed gang members scattered around her.
{All enemy combatants have been rendered unconscious.}
"Nice. Let's round up these guys and hand them–"
Before Anne could finish her sentence, she was whisked away in a flash of white light.
(The Azure Guardian's Universe)
The restoration of Amphibia took some time, but not as much as the inhabitants thought it would, and that was partially thanks to Anne. Utilizing the power of her ring and channeling the hope of the people of Amphibia, Anne went around the different areas of the continent to heal nature. There were a lot of places that needed to be healed, and Anne could only go to so many places. To help facilitate this, Sasha, along with Marcy, Olivia, and even the mind controlling mushroom, Gary, the Rebellion was redubbed the "Amphibia Restoration Movement" or otherwise known as "ARM".
Thanks to ARM, they were able to coordinate efforts across Amphibia, gathering information about which areas were harder hit. The pollutants being pumped out of the Frobot factories were poisoning the rivers and cutting down on the few places that had clean, drinkable water. And the deforestation that was done to create the multiple factories also meant that those same pollutants were not able to be filtered from the air. There really was a lot of work to do, but between Andrias and Polly repurposing the remainder of the Frobots to help with the restoration process, things were progressing smoothly.
Currently, Anne was at a town in the eastern region of Amphibia. She pressed her right hand against the ground, and focused. With the power of her ring, she brought forth the hopes of the people who lived in the area, and with that combined power, a blue light spread across the ground. The frogs and toads gasped as they watched the ground they stood upon glow with a warm and soothing blue light. The color of the dirt started to change as it regained its luster, a moment later, grass started to grow. The light spread out, reaching the area where the trees once were. The few seeds that were still inside the soil were rejuvenated by the power of the Blue Light of Hope, and from those seeds the trees began to grow back.
After a couple minutes, the forest near the village, and everything else in the surrounding area was purified of the polluted soil. Thankfully the rivers around the village were purified as well, and with the factories gone, there were no more hazardous chemicals being poured into the rivers to harm the environment. Anne released a sigh as she stood and looked back at he villagers.
"It's done, but remember, you'll have to monitor the soil and the river to make sure it sticks. We've cleaned up as much as we can, and I've purified the area thanks to your help. But that doesn't mean everything's fixed. Contact ARM the moment you spot anything wrong," said Anne.
"We will, thank you, Azure Guardian," the frog leader of the village thanked.
Anne rubbed the back of her head bashfully. It was a moniker that was given to her by Marcy, she was still getting used to being called by that name. She never set out to be a superhero, but now she was one. And with that power came a lot of responsibility, but thankfully, there were a lot of people willing to help her share that responsibility. They recognized that while Anne did have the power to restore a lot of the damage done, they didn't want to make Anne do all the work. It was their world, and the Amphibians believed that they needed to be responsible for restoring it as well. With her work done, Anne rose into the air and waved farewell to the villagers as she flew in the direction of Newtopia, or what was left of the city.
As Anne flew she slowed her speed, deliberately. To be fair, she needed this time to think. It had been two months since they defeated the Core, and Anne still hadn't made her decision as to what to do about Sasha and Marcy's confession. The restoration work took up most of their time, so they decided to put any decisions on hold for the time being.
"We get it, it's not something you just say, 'yes' to on the spot."
"We'll wait for you, Anne. We're gonna be busy for a while, so take your time."
Anne sighed out loud. "I do want to answer them, but…"
The Thai teen wasn't sure of her own feelings. Whenever she thought of Sasha or Marcy, in that way, she got that iconic fluttering butterflies feeling in her stomach. She didn't think she swung that way, but perhaps she didn't really feel it with anyone as strongly as she did with her two best friends. They knew each other well, and after everything they had been through they've grown as people. All their good and bad points had been laid before all three of them, so it wasn't as if she didn't know going in what kind of people they were. Still, how could she choose?
"I mean, Marcy's been through so much. Being taken over by the Core, and not to mention the guilt she's felt over being responsible for bringing us here. I mean, it's not a healthy reason, but even I gotta admit she's cute as hell. Then there's Sasha, I mean, wow, Sasha. I didn't really think about it, but the whole barbarian look really works for her. And those muscles…"
Anne felt her face heating up and she quickly shook her head. She was definitely crushing on them. But if she chose one over the other, even if one of them says that they would accept her decision, it would still weigh on Anne's mind how the one who was rejected was feeling. Honestly, after everything that's happened, did they not deserve some kind of happy ending? Well, technically speaking, they did get their happy ending in the form of everyone being alive, and the Core's threat being ended. But still…
"Hmm…would it be really selfish of me if I just…went out with both of them? Ugh, c'mon, Boonchuy! If I said that to them I'd seem like the most indecisive, not to mention probably sleaziest jerk of all time! 'I can't choose, so I'll take 'em both'! Pfft, yeah, that'll go over really well." Anne could just hear it now.
"Seriously, Boonchuy? You can't make up your mind, so you just want us all to go out with each other? Just…wow. I bear my heart to you, and you want to just make us part of a little harem."
"Anne…I…am I not enough for you? Are either of us not enough for you? I'm sorry, but I didn't survive the trauma of being the Core's meat puppet just to have the girl I love tell me that I'm girlfriend number two."
"But I mean, it could end up as the best option? All of us get to be with the person we like. I think Marcy called it 'poly shipping'? 'Polyamorous'? Hmm, maybe I should casually bring it up? Yeah, yeah. Just bring it up to each one of them – alone – and see how they react to the idea! It's perfect!"
{Incoming mountain, Sister Anne.}
"Mountain? AAAAAAH!"
Anne was so lost in that thought that she crashed right into a mountain. A huge plume of snow was kicked up into the air, and as the snow dispersed, Anne was revealed to be lying upside down, and with a deadpan look on her face.
"Well…that was embarrassing." Anne rolled onto her side and dusted herself off. Thanks to her ring's protective aura, she didn't sustain any damage or pain from the impact. "At least today can only get better from here."
Just then Anne disappeared in a flash of light.
(Indigo Shaman's Universe)
Life in Wartwood was…strange. Getting accidentally teleported to a world of walking talking amphibians was a shocker, but after saving the Plantar family, Anne managed to secure some lodging. Anne still had a rather stoic demeanor, a carryover from her time in that gang, but her heart had been opened more thanks to her friends, and the power of the ring. Thanks to the ring, she was able to sense many things about the people around her. She could sense the love and compassion from Hop Pop, but also the slight amount of fear he had for her. Not that she blamed him. She did defeat a huge mantis with a ring that Anne herself was not sure if it as magic or not. Sprig had an abundance of willpower and hope, which checked out because the little guy was full of energy, and goofy from time to time.
His presence was a breath of fresh air, in a way. It worked to chip at her hardened heart and made her start to see Sprig as a sort of little brother. Then there was Polly, Anne sensed rage, fear from her suspicion of her, and willpower in abundance. More than once, she caught Polly eyeing her from across the room, and other times she would call her a "witch". Not that she could completely blame her for arriving to that conclusion, when you consider the clothes she wore when she went full power, she did have kind of a shaman/witch doctor-like vibe.
Regardless, she managed to find her place among the Plantar family. She even befriended the family snail, Bessie. The Indigo Light of Compassion allowed her to connect with the large snail, and thanks to that, she could easily tell what the animal was thinking. And after reading that ridiculously long manual, in one night, Anne was cleared by Hop Pop to drive Bessie. Polly questioned why Anne would even bother, considering that she was capable of flying on her own and could go anywhere she wanted.
To which Anne replied, "I just…wanted to accomplish something on my own. I'm not very good when it comes to certain things, so…it felt good try at something and succeed."
Polly had looked at Anne differently after that. She could see it in the human's eyes that Anne had been through some things, and Anne didn't seem to have that high of an opinion of herself. So, in Polly's own tsundere way, she began pushing Anne. Sprig would be the upbeat moral support, while Polly would be the one pushing her. Whether the siblings planned it or not, Anne found it sweet that they would do this much for her. Hop Pop even took the time to teach her what he knew about farming, which she also helped out with. Having a power ring to create constructs for moving things around and collecting the crops made the work that much easier. However, Hop Pop made Anne promise she would only use that power when they really needed it. The last thing he needed was for Sprig and Polly to rely on her for everything on the farm. She agreed to that, mostly because she knew that she needed to find Sasha and Marcy and get back to their own home.
Wartwood was a different matter. There were times when a creature from the woods would wander in and cause mayhem for the townsfolk. On one of those days, Anne and the Plantars happened to be there. The Wartwood frogs were already weary of her to begin with, after that day, when she managed to drive the beast away in her Indigo Tribeswoman outfit, they were even more weary of her. Oh, with the exception of a young witch-in-training, Maddie Flour. Sprig had made mention of Maddie, she was a little on the weird side, someone that Anne would've pegged for one of the goth girls back at school if she were human.
But after that incident, Maddie wouldn't stop hanging around Anne, or visiting the farm to spend time with her. It was both endearing and kind of annoying.
"Not a witch, Maddie," said Anne.
"Whatever you say, my Master," Maddie replied.
"Uuuuuggggh…" Anne groaned. "Maddie, I promise you, whatever this ring is, it's not magic, or if it is, it's unlike anything from your world or mine."
"Well, how'd you get it?" Maddie asked.
"It literally flew down from the sky and appeared in front of me. After that, well…I used it to save myself and my friends." Anne raised her right hand and stared at the ring for a moment. "The ring said I 'have the ability to feel great compassion'. But before it came along, 'compassion' for anyone was the last thing I felt."
"Sounds like you went through some things."
Anne sighed heavily, Maddie was into the macabre, and didn't shy away from things that were considered dark. So, maybe she could confide in the little frog girl, if even just a little bit. "I did. I had – have? – a lot of self-doubt. To the point that I believed I was useless for anything else. So, I joined up with a gang. Not my finest hour. And pushed away my two friends. I hurt people for that gang, and I did it because I believed that fighting was the only thing I could do. But when my friends were in danger, I had to make a decision, and thankfully I made the right one. And I guess this ring was my reward. But I still feel like I don't deserve it."
Maddie held out her hand and asked, "May I?"
Anne looked at her ring for a moment and shrugged. What could it hurt? The Thai teen removed her ring and gave it to Maddie to examine. The little goth frog girl looked at the ring from different angles, trying to find some kind of evidence that the ring was magic in some way. After a minute of examination, Maddie sighed in disappointment.
"I can't really find anything that screams 'magical' to me. Plus, this thing gives off some kind of aura. It's not bad, it just feels oddly calming, welcoming even," Maddie explained.
"Heh, guess it remains a mystery." Anne smirked as she raised her hand. The indigo ring began to glow and within a second, the ring rose from Maddie's hand and zipped right to Anne and over her middle finger. "I learned that trick a few days ago. Now even if it falls off, I can call it back."
"Whooooa! Master, that's amazing!" Maddie exclaimed in awe.
"Dude, seriously, not your 'master'!"
Suddenly, Maddie and Anne heard screaming coming from town.
"Sounded like Wally," said Anne.
"Eh, probably nothing then," Maddie shrugged.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"…"
"…"
"Okay, that sounded like more than just Wally!" Maddie shouted.
Anne didn't waste anytime as she focused and had the ring transform her into her Indigo Tribeswoman attire. Once she had, Anne grabbed Maddie, hooking her arm under the goth frog girl's body, and held her in the crook of her right arm.
"Hang on, this is going feel weird at first!" she warned.
"Wait, what?!"
Anne raised her staff and struck the ground. Upon hitting the dirt, a large plume of purple smoke swirled around them, and the two of them were gone.
Anne and Maddie poofed into Wartwood, appearing on the roof of one of the buildings. From their vantage point, they could see what exactly it was that was attacking them, and it was big. It was a huge centipede, its exoskeleton was a crimson red color, with legs that were yellow that faded to a brownish color as they got closer to the main body. Its antennae were long, black, and whip-like, and its four slit eyes were a piercing green color. The beast also possessed multiple spikes that ran along its back, with the tips appearing black in color before fading to the crimson color of the rest of the exoskeleton. The giant insect snapped its pincers multiple times before releasing screech into the air.
"Holy crap! What is that?!" Anne asked.
"One sec, can you put me down first?" Maddie requested.
"Oh, sorry, here."
Anne gently placed Maddie on the roof, to which the young frog girl replied, "Thanks. Now excuse me one moment. BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
The Indigo Shaman winced as she watched Maddie throw up. She figured that it would probably turn her stomach, Sasha and Marcy experienced something similar when she teleported them out of that situation. Maddie wiped her mouth and inhaled deeply.
"Okay, now that that's over with. This is bad. That's a 'Crimson Death' centipede!" Maddie informed.
"I'm gonna regret asking, but how bad is this?" Anne asked.
"Really bad! It's one of the most poisonous centipedes in Amphibia! But what the heck is it doing here?! It only inhabits the eastern region of Amphibia!"
"…Alright. Stay up here, I'll take care of it," Anne ordered.
"Oh, if it isn't too much trouble, Master, could perhaps not make sure its venom sacks are intact?" Maddie requested.
"Uh…why?"
"I can make a lot of good curses with its venom, oh, and some of its scales!"
"…I'm just gonna…yeah."
Anne's body coated itself in a protective aura as she flew down to the center of town and landed right in the path of the giant insect. The Crimson Death made threatening, hissing and chittering noises as it looked down at her, snapping its mandibles as it readied to attack her.
"Woah, there, big guy! Let's calm down, you don't want to eat these frogs. I was told you're far from home, so let's see if we can get you back there. What do you say?" Anne asked.
Her answer came in the form of two nozzle-like appendages protruded out from just above the joints of where the mandibles were. And once they were out, the nozzles fired two streams of dark violet liquid straight for her. Anne hurriedly jumped into the air just as the poison – she assumed it was the poison Maddie warned her about – hit the ground where she once was. The Crimson Death shut of the poison stream and quickly lunged at her, snapping its pincers in an attempt to cut Anne half.
Anne concentrated and raised her right fist into the air as her ring glowed with indigo light. Indigo construct chains started to appeared out of thin air, and on both ends of those chains were harpoons. Anne brought her hand down, and several of the harpoon chains fell on either side of the centipede, one after the other. The thick chains pressed against its body, forcing it to the ground as at least ten sets of the chains fell and held the beast against the ground.
"Gotcha!" Anne exclaimed.
The centipede wriggled its head around, clearly agitated as it got ready to unleash another stream of poison. But Anne quickly formed a kind of muzzle for the centipede, covering its pincers and mouth completely so that none of the poison could come out.
"Not this time, big guy."
"ANNE, WATCH OUT FOR ITS SPINES! IT CAN SHOOT THEM OFF ITS BODY!" Maddie warned.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Anne looked back, and sure enough, the spikes that lined the back of the centipede started to elongate and then all forty spikes shot like arrows out of the creature's back. The spines that lined the back didn't travel far up, and started to angle themselves downward, while the ones on the sides fired in those directions. Unfortunately, some managed to penetrate through houses and businesses alike. Anne hurriedly formed a big shield over the town just as the remaining spikes lost altitude and fell out of the sky. The twenty spikes clanked against her hard-light shield, and harmlessly bounced off to the outskirts of the town.
Anne furrowed her brow as she leaped into the air and pressed her right hand against the centipede's forehead. Using the Indigo Light of Compassion, Anne tried to connect to the insect, and find out what was causing it to rampage like this. Unfortunately, when she did, Anne could feel nothing but rage radiating from this creature. Why? Anne tried to find a reason for this thing's anger, but it felt as if it was just in a blind rage for no reason.
"What the hell?! Did you wake up today and choose violence or what?!" Anne deadpanned for a moment. "Pot calling the kettle black here."
The centipede kept thrashing more and more until it managed to throw Anne off its head. The Indigo Shaman flew forward and crashed into Loggle's wood shop. The axolotl noticed Anne as she groaned in discomfort. Anne felt like she had crushed something under her and when she got up, she realized the thing she landed on used to be a clock.
"That took twenty years to carve!" Loggle exclaimed in lament.
"S-Sorry, Loggle!" Anne apologized as she flew out of the shop.
Unfortunately, her impact made her lose her hold on the constructs keeping the centipede held down, and now it was rampaging yet again. Anne knew she had to stop this thing from hurting any more people. Anne closed her eyes for a moment, and that's when she made her choice. With a determined glare, Anne flew towards the centipede. The beast lunged forward to snap its pincers on her. But Anne ducked low to the ground and slid on her feet across the ground until she was right under the centipede's raised midsection. Anne cocked back her right fist and thrusted into the air in the form of an uppercut. Upon completing this move, her ring released a powerful blast indigo light.
However, instead of the light piercing the beast, it was more of a concussive energy blast that pushed the centipede straight into the air in a matter of seconds. The centipede shrieked out of both fear and rage from being tossed up like a rag doll. In a matter of seconds, the centipede was now flying high above Wartwood. The Indigo Shaman jumped straight into the air, taking off like a rocket as she formed a giant tennis racquet construct. With a swipe of her ring hand, the giant tennis racquet struck the centipede and sent it flying straight towards the outskirts of town. A giant "BOOM!" echoed throughout the area as a huge dust cloud was kicked up into the air from the impact. When the dust settled, the centipede was effectively dead. Most of its body was broken apart, and its body was bleeding green blood within the crater.
Anne made sure it was as swift an end as she could. The Indigo Shaman raised her right hand into a prayer position as she uttered a single word, "Nok."
Once she was sure that the threat had been ended, Anne flew back down to the center of town to inspect the damage that had been done, and to help anyone who had been injured. Anne used her ring to move debris from the ruined businesses and homes. What would've taken days as far as clean up was getting done in minutes thanks to Anne levitating debris with her ring.
"MASTER!" Maddie cried out.
"Ugh, Maddie, I swear, you call me 'master' one more time–!"
"WE GOT A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO GOT HIT BY THE POISON!"
Anne immediately shut her mouth as she turned and flew directly to where Maddie was. There were several frogs who had either been scratched by the spikes or were hit by the poison streams of the centipede from before they arrived. Anne stopped when she saw all the frogs who were laid out and were writhing in pain from the poison. And among the frogs that were poisoned was Maddie's father and her three younger sisters. Maddie spotted her witch "master" and hurried to her.
"Master! They're dying! I tried to whip up a counter curse to get rid of it but…but…I'm still too green…I can't do it," Maddie gritted her teeth as she grabbed fistfuls of her skirt and lowered her head as she began to cry. "P-Please…can you help them?!"
Anne descended and landed on the ground in front of Maddie. The Indigo Shaman gently placed her right hand atop Maddie's head and patted the goth frog girl's head. Maddie looked up and saw the gentle smile of the human girl before her.
"M-Master?"
"Don't worry, Maddie. No one's dying while I'm here," Anne proclaimed.
Anne walked up to the assembled injured frogs but was stopped by Mayor Toadstool and a few other frogs who were holding torches and pitchforks.
"Now hold on there, Missy! We don't need any more nonsense goin' on," Toadstool warned.
"Please, I just want to help them! They're going to die if I don't do something!" Anne pleaded.
"How do we know she didn't bring the centipede here?!" one of the frogs accused.
"She's a witch, so she probably summoned that thing with her witch powers!" another shouted.
Anne was gripping her staff hard, but she had to remain calm. If she started acting out, if she looked hostile, then she could risk making an enemy of the entire town.
"JUST LET HER TRY!" Maddie exclaimed. "She's the only one here with any kind of power to help them! I don't have the skill to do it!"
Surprisingly, another frog came to their defense, the resident town healer and bounty hunter, Tuti. "It true. I don't have antivenom for this centipede. And if creepy little frog girl can't fix them with magic, then must rely on creature's strange magic."
The townsfolk glared at Anne for a moment, but Anne gave them a pleading look for her to help them. With a reluctant sigh, Toadstool and the others stepped aside and allowed Anne to approach their sick and injured. Once she as there, Anne took a calming breath as she raised her staff and tapped the ground as she pointed her ring at the assembled frogs and tadpoles.
"Alan forosom, anra ka. Saha brak ela soun ba arke el."
(Hear me, listen to the sound of my voice. Those who love you are gathered here. Your time isn't now. By this light, be healed.)
Anne spoke the language of the Indigo Light, connecting to the feelings of those around them, feeling their fears and hopes for their loved ones to be saved. The ring on Anne's finger started to glow brighter and brighter, and as it did, a layer of indigo light washed over the injured frogs. The frogs were still squirming and writhing, but soon that began to cease as the wounds of the injured and poisoned started to feel their pain drastically lessen. Another moment passed and their wounds closed, along with the impurities of the poison that had coursed through their bodies.
The Indigo Shaman stopped once she felt the frogs were no longer in pain. Anne struck the ground once again with her staff and spoke aloud, "Nok."
The frogs who were injured suddenly rose to a sitting position as they gasped and marveled at their healed bodies. Maddie's eyes were drawn directly to her family, and a smile broke out across her face as her father and three little sisters were okay.
"DAD! ROSMARY, GINGER, LAVENDER!"
"MADDIE!" Mr. Flour and his younger daughters cried.
Maddie flung herself into the arms of her father as the three tadpoles grouped around their father and big sister, having a family group hug. The little witchy frog girl glanced back at their hero and said, "Thank you!"
Anne smiled, feeling a real sense of accomplishment.
"Hey, anyti–"
A bright flash of white light went off, and Anne suddenly disappeared.
(Violet Star's Universe)
Amphibia had entered a new age of love and peace under the rulership of Queen Anne, along with her royal consorts/advisors. There was some resistance here and there, especially considering that the one in charge wasn't even a frog, newt, or toad, but something else. On top of that, Anne and her court were trying to undo a thousand years' worth of prejudice between the three races. Something that Andrias regretted in hindsight, the division was initially fueled by the betrayal of someone he loved, and that hurt spilled over onto everyone else.
Sasha, along with Grime and Yunan, were in the process of helping create a new army and police force for Amphibia, one that incorporated all three races, so that no one would feel like they were being oppressed by one group or the other. And thanks to Sasha's natural charisma and manipulation tactics, they were making great progress. Plus, it helped that Sasha was already a badass to begin with.
Marcy was overhauling the educational system of Amphibia, while the people here were advanced in some ways, there was more than one thing they didn't know that Earth had figured out long ago. Of course, Anne called a meeting of the best scholars in Amphibia, and had them meet with her, Marcy, and Olivia. Anne really didn't understand even half of what they were talking about, but thankfully Marcy made little notes for her to review later. What it boiled down to was hashing out a new route for the educational system, along with granting better access to knowledge for all citizens of Amphibia. Along with this change came others.
With Olivia and Marcy's help, Anne decided to overhaul the laws of Amphibia. There were some laws that were just really medieval, which more or less fit with the current aesthetic of this world. But there were others that just either needed to go or be changed entirely. Of course, many of these laws were going to be phased in gradually. Olivia warned the new queen that if they just rolled out all these new laws and changes at once, it could cause great confusion, and make it appear that Anne was trying to shove her ways onto the Amphibian people. Anne understood, the last thing she wanted was to cause strife to the people. So, a plan was implemented to have new laws and regulations rolled out in batches gradually. Which would allow people time to adjust to each batch as they rolled out.
Despite how busy they were, Anne was insistent that three of them would spend quality time together. Whether that be just hanging out in Newtopia, going for flights over the planet because Anne could create constructs that the girls could ride in. Or…ahem…more "private time" to themselves. Love was the central aspect of the new kingdom, and how would it look if the Queen of Love didn't make time for her loved ones? Both the romantic and familial ones.
From time to time, Anne would bring her parents over into Amphibia so that they could see what she and her girlfriends were accomplishing. And to be honest, they were impressed by what they were doing. Anne had her human family meet her Amphibia family, with Hop Pop hitting it off really well with her parents. They even brought them to Stumpy's to try the food at the revamped restaurant, "Lily Pad Thai".
Oum and Bee tried the maggot larb. It was good. Stumpy had even spoken about how Anne rekindled his love of cooking when his outlook on his business and cooking in general had been more on the pessimistic side. It was both seeing and hearing these things that helped Oum and Bee understand the kind of impact Anne and her girlfriends were having on this world. And every once in a while the topic of the Wus and Waybrights came up, much to Sasha and Marcy's reluctance.
Currently the Queen and her consorts were enjoying a luxury spa day for themselves, thankfully during a trip to Earth, they brought back some human anatomy books so that the masseuses of the palace wouldn't bend them to the point that they could see their feet. The girls were lying in a huge mud bath pool big enough for more than one person to be in, and in this case, big enough for the three of them. Anne was lying back as Sasha rested her head on Anne's left shoulder, and Marcy rested hers on Anne's right shoulder. All three girls sighed in content, and from the soothing properties of the mud.
"At least my parents aren't causing yours any grief," said Sasha.
"Same, but like we told them, it's not as if the police are going to take them seriously," Marcy remarked.
"Yeah, and yes, they were total assholes, but they do love you guys," Anne assured them.
The two girls sighed heavily. They knew that Anne was right, despite their parents being…their parents, Sasha and Marcy were aware that it came from their love and concern. Anne's ring allowed her to be in tune with people's emotions, specifically, their love for others. She could sense on that day that they proclaimed their – more or less – emancipation, that the Wus and Waybrights did still have great familial love for their daughters.
"If they're willing to keep an open mind, and accept our love, then we can begin to show them what we're doing here," Anne added.
"Still, what if my parents try some shit with yours? My Dad has some lawyer friends who could seriously mess with your family's restaurant," Sasha warned.
"I'd hate to say it, but my parents know some people too. If they did want to retaliate," Marcy mentioned.
It was true, Anne was fully aware that both of her lovers' parents had the financial means, and connections to make her parents' lives a living hell if they so wished. They had to keep up the lie of the three girls going missing for now, and Anne's parents were playing the part of the worried mother and father. Although the Waybrights and Wus didn't exactly have to pretend since they were still worried for their children, but again, how were they going to explain that their daughters were away in another universe with a girl who had superpowers?
Anne shrugged. "Worst case scenario, we go back, and bring my parents here to Amphibia."
"And if they're in police custody?" Marcy questioned.
Anne closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and revealing the violet glow of her power. "Let's just say, love is a hurricane."
"Pfft! Wow, that was the cheesiest, threatening line I've ever heard," Sasha chuckled.
Anne blushed as the glow left her eyes. "What?! I'm just saying, you know, my power is based on love, and hurricanes are forces of nature you can't stop…plus there's a song like that, right?"
Sasha chuckled again before leaning up and kissing Anne on the cheek. "I said it was cheesy, I didn't say it wasn't appropriate."
Marcy giggled and kissed Anne's other cheek. "Same. Although, let's hope that doesn't happen either way."
"Same, I'm willing to storm in and save my parents, but I'd rather it didn't happen at all," Anne sighed as she leaned her head back and enjoyed the presence of her lovers, and the mud bath. "You know, it's weird how I hate getting doused in mud when I was back at Wartwood…and everywhere else. But when in a mud bath, love it."
"Heh-heh. Different context. This is spa mud," Sasha emphasized.
"Hmm, yeah. Plus, having a nice Anne pillow makes this all the better," Marcy added.
"Oh, I'm your guys' 'pillow' now, huh?" Anne asked cheekily.
"Weeeeeellllll…if we wanna get technical," Sasha teased.
"Don't even go there, Sash."
"Just sayin', Boobchuy."
Marcy snickered.
"I will dunk you under this mud, Waybright."
Sasha glanced up at her lover and said, "You wouldn't dare."
Anne stared back at Sasha and dared, "Call me 'Boobchuy' one more Frog damn time, I dare you – no, I double you, Waybright."
Marcy started to drift away, knowing exactly where this was going as her girlfriends stared each other down.
Sasha smirked and decided to tread on the tiger's tail. "Booooooooobchuy!"
True to her word, Anne swiftly grabbed Sasha by the shoulders and shoved her down into the mud. The blonde teen erupted out of the mud a few seconds later, spluttering as she spat out some of the mud from her mouth.
"UGH! ANNE!"
"I warned you, Sasha!" Anne remarked.
Sasha got a hand full of the mud and tossed it like a baseball pitcher. Anne hurriedly ducked, but then cried out, "MAR-MAR! HEADS UP!"
"Oh…mud."
Marcy didn't duck in time and got smacked in the face, the force of which sent her splashing into the mud, back first.
Anne glared at Sasha with a grin as she declared, "Oh, you hit my Mar-Mar. This means war!"
"She's my Mar-Mar, too," Sasha retorted.
As Anne and Sasha flung clumps of mud at each other, Marcy rose from the dead. The Taiwanese teen grabbed two handfuls of mud and flung them at her lovers. Anne and Sasha never saw it coming as both girls were struck in the sides of their heads, sending both of them splashing into the mud.
"Never underestimate a former captain of the Night Guard, girls," Marcy proudly proclaimed.
Anne and Sasha rose from the mud and turned to Marcy.
"Uh-oh…"
Their little mud war took all of five minutes before they stopped. Anne used her ring to clean up as much as she could, the last thing they wanted was to make too much of a mess for the cleaning staff later. Afterwards, they cleaned themselves up and headed towards the dining hall for some food. Their little mud war worked up quite the appetite.
"Hey, I was wondering. You think we could explore that new continent that popped up?" Sasha asked.
"Don't we have an exploration team or something for that?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, but I'm talking about the three of us. Off on a mysterious landmass that rose from the sea, unexplored and uncharted. You know, a little adventure getaway for us."
Marcy's eyes sparkled at the idea. "Oooh! Yes, yes! That sounds like so much fun! Anna-banana, we totally gotta do that!"
"I don't know…we still got a lot of work to do here," Anne remarked.
"You could fly us there and back with your power ring in a day or less if you wanted to." Sasha raised her right index finger. "Plus, you figured out how to use that neat little 'Love Line Teleportation' thing. You could bring us back here in an instant so long as you focus on the Plantars."
Anne rolled her eyes at the name that Sasha called her ring's ability. The "Love Line Teleportation" was a function of the power ring tied to the Violet Light of Love. It allowed Anne to create a kind of "invisible thread" that only she could see. And that thread would allow Anne to instantly teleport from wherever she was to the person or people she held dear in her heart. They tested this a few times by having Anne go to Wartwood, and then had her focus on Sasha and Marcy. She was instantly teleported or "pulled" across the vast distance instantly. Through their testing, they found out that it extended to anyone she loved, like the Plantars. So, any of them could act as an "anchor" to bring them back to continent of Amphibia.
"Well…you do have a point there," Anne hummed in thought.
"Sooooo?" Sasha and Marcy asked.
"Heh, alright, alright. I'll think about it."
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Anne hooked her arms over her two lovers, feeling happy that they were at her side as she kissed them both on the cheek.
"Alright, girls. What say we grab some grub, and then…" A cattish grin appeared on Anne's face. "We have some alone time."
Marcy and Sasha blushed; they knew exactly what Anne meant. And they were very much onboard with that suggestion.
"Lead the way, your highness," said Marcy.
"Gla–"
A flash of white light went off around Anne, and afterwards, she was gone.