Trolls World Tour With A Twist

by Kitty Korner

Sequel to Trolls with a Twist. Follow along with Branch, Poppy and Kitty as they tackle a new challenge: Queen Barb.

I woke up to my brother singing, "Lived underground to get away from the world, 'til I had my life changed by a beautiful girl. Just need the guts to tell her that she's the one, but you know Trolls they wanna have fu-un." and that's when he went up the elevator. I buried my face into my pillow and screamed. Two years and he still hasn't told her.

One of these days I'm gonna slap some sense into him. I get out of bed, stretch and go to get some coffee, but when I go to pour some into my cup, none comes out. I sigh irritatedly, put my cup down and stomp over to the elevator. I go up and I'm just in time to see the other Trolls surrounding Branch and Poppy in the shape of a heart. Guess I'm not the only one who thinks it's obvious.

I go over to Branch ready to chew him out for taking all the coffee but then I overhear him wanting to tell Poppy something, so I wait and eavesdrop. Big surprise, he crashed and burned. Then before I can say anything about the coffee or make fun of him, we hear Biggie yelling for Poppy. Turns out he was being chased by a bat.

Poppy caught it with her hair, but then freaked out because it was stuck in her hair, so Branch leaped into action and calmed it down. Poppy grabbed what the bat was carrying and thought it was an invitation, but it sounded more like a warning to me. Then Peppy freaked out and shredded it so Branch calmed him the same way he calmed the bat.

The Peppy explained about the other kinds of Trolls. Everybody else started freaking out, but it kind of made sense to me, I mean why would'nt there be other kinds of music? Then we broke into a smaller group with just Peppy, Poppy, Branch, Cooper, Smidge, Biggie, Guy Diamond, a little shiny dude, Legsly and me.

We listened to Peppy's explanaition, and then Poppy said, "Now Barb's announcement makes sense. She wants to reunite the strings so the Troll world can be one big party again." "Wait, that's all you heard? One big party?" Branch and I say at the same time. "Yeah! It's when all the Trolls lived in harmony, and what's more important than living in harmony?" Poppy said, looking at us, since we were side by side. "Well, I heard fighting. The strings together leads to fighting." Branch said, looking at Poppy meaningfully.

"Exactly Branch, that's why we need to our string safe." Peppy said, while the ribbons moved to reveal a white lyre with only one string on it. "Behold, the Pop Music String." Peppy continued, and then he plucked it and the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard came out of it. I couldn't help a little "Woah" escaping my lips as Poppy said, "It's beautiful."

"And powerful, which is why we can't let it fall into the wrong hands." Peppy said, voice shaking a little. "And we won't, not on our watch. What we need is a plan." Branch and I said at the same time. "Don't worry, I've been preparing for this day for years. We run." Peppy said. "Run?" Poppy said, incredulous. "And hide." Peppy finished. At this point Branch and I had gone full camoflauge mode and said, "On it."

"But we don't even know what we're running and hiding from." Poppy said, stopping us in our tracks. "We're hiding from Barb and all the other different Trolls. Peppy said, and I could see that it hurt Cooper a little. "You're assuming the worst about someone you haven't even met!" Poppy said, and I tried to keep my snort of laughter in because she was assuming the best of them.

"You're not listening to me."Peppy said, trying to get through to Poppy. "You're not listening to me!" Poppy said indignantly. "I'm your father!" Peppy said, putting his foot down. "And I'm the Queen." Poppy said, refusing to listen. "Uh, father trumps Queen, now there's no time to debate this, let's go." Peppy said, and walked off, then he called back, "Come along Branch, Kitty." Branch looked like he didn't want to go but I pulled him along with me.

We went to the bunker with Peppy to plan defenses for the village. After we were done Peppy left and Branch and I were alone. "Any reason you're extra grumpy today?" He asked me, eyebrows slightly raised. "Yeah, there was no coffee left this morning." I said, scowling. "Dang, I thought I refilled it." He said, looking apologetic. I shook my head and said, "Nope, also nice crash and burn earlier."

I didn't even have to clarify on what I meant, he knew. "I just get so tongue tied around her and I don't know how to say it." He said, dejected. It was at that point that we heard something coming from outside so we went to check it out. It was Poppy at the balloon, I shake my head not surprised. I don't pay attention to the conversation between Branch and Poppy until he says, "This is a terrible idea that will most likely blow up in your face."

I nod agreeing, then Poppy cuts the rope holding the balloon and says, "OK, bye!" "What!" Branch and I say at that same time. When we realize that she's really leaving we make our way up and land in the balloon and say, "And we guess, we're coming with you." "OH, thank you! I really didn't want to go by myself!" Poppy basically sobs. "Road trip!" The balloon says. "Yeah!" Poppy agrees. I look at Branch and say, "The next time I say a want to build something that talks, slap me." Then I lay down and try to get some rest.

I thought back to when Peppy said he would run and hide from the different Trolls. I didn't realize Poppy had went to sleep or that I was crying softly until Branch put his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him through blurry eyes."What are you over-thinking now?" He asked, smiling softly. I rolled my eyes and wiped my tears, then said softly, "How everybody would react to seeing my colors, because let's face it, they're not normal."

"Hey, I love your colors. So did our brothers, especially Floyd." Branch said, looking me in the eyes. "Thanks Branch." I said, and sat up, then I hugged him. It was then that I noticed that it was light out so we woke Poppy up. While Poppy took a deep breath of the morning air, Branch found the manual and said, "Alright, in a short 456 pages I'm gonna know how to fly this thing." But before he could read it, Poppy said, "Ugh, Branch we don't need a giant comprehensive manual." and threw it overboard.

"Hey!" I said as Branch whimpered and reached for it trying to catch it. "How hard can it be?" Poppy said as she went over to controls humming and then she sing-songed, "Try one of these." and we went all over the place. "Alright Poppy, easy on the buttons!" I said at the same time as the balloon. Then when Poppy was apologizing I heard snoring and apparently Branch heard it too because he shushed her and asked, "What was that?"

It was then that we noticed the cotton candy moving so, we moved it to reveal Biggie underneath with Mr. Dinkles sucking on his finger. "Biggie?" Poppy says as a question looking relieved. Biggie wakes up and says, "OH, hello. Sorry, I couldn't help myself, you know how I am around cotton candy." Then Mr. Dinkles got stuck to his chest, then his hand so he said, " Oh, dear, now look what's happened. Mr. Dinkles got all gummed up." and he shook his hand trying to get him off his hand but Mr. Dinkles went flying over the edge of the balloon.

Biggie raced to the edge of it yelling, "Mr. Dinkles! Mr. Dinkles! Oh, there you are. Right then, we'll just be on our way- hey! Poppy! Wh-where are you balloon flying us to?" It really was lucky that Mr. Dinkles got stuck to the side of the balloon. "We're on a mission to help Barb unite the Trolls, and I'm so glad you're coming with us!" Poppy said excitedly. "I did what in the who now?" Biggie asks confused. "Hey man, join the club." Branch and I say at the same time.

"And I hope you didn't eat all the cotton candy because Barb's gonna love it!" Poppy says going over and making a heart out of some of what's left and trying to show Branch who is busy trying to hide the bin he's got our weapons in. I shake my head at his stupidity as Poppy says, "Branchifer?" when she spots him messing with it. He clears his throat and says, "y-yes Poppifer?" while leaning very conspicuously on the bin. "What is this?" She asks walking towards the bin.

"OH, it's nothing, nothing. That's just my man stuff." Branch lies very badly climbing on top of the bin. Poppy gasps and says, "I love man stuff!" and pushes Branch off the bin while opening it. "Weapons? Ugh, for shame." Poppy says, sounding very disappointed. "W-well I-" Branch begins but Poppy interrupts him, "Violence never solves a problem Branch, Kitty." while throwing one of the spikes we had and it landed in Mr. Dinkles' mouth. He mewed and Biggie squeezed Mr. Dinkles so the spike came out but it almost hit Branch in the head, and would've if he hadn't caught it.

"We're not saying we have to use them, we're just sayung it's better to be prepared in case we need them." Branch said. "We won't need them unless these pointy sticks help you listen, or these rocks help you put yourself in someone else's shoes, and what about these? Is this-what? Is that some kind of jewelry? Oh, that's actually kind of cool looking, OOH." Poppy said, going through the weapons and admiring my brass knuckles at the end.

"Give me that! We don't even know what's out there." Branch said, grabbing my brass knuckles and putting them back in the bin. Poppy sighed and nodded slightly like she was giving in and Branch relaxed, the poor lovesick fool. Then she kicked the bin overboard and he stuttered protests. "Man. By the way, I whittled those for hours." Branch said, all mopey. The only thing I was upset about losing was my brass knuckles. "Branch, the only weapons we need are this guy, and this guy, for hugs." Poppy said, holding her arms out like she wanted a hug.

"Uh, guys, you may want to take a look at this." Biggie said pointing at something. We all looked over and it was nothing but devastating destruction everywhere. "This is gonna take a lot of hugs." Branch and I say at the same time, me being sarcastic of course. The balloon lands and we all get out and look around, then Poppy makes friends with a woodwind and it tells us how Queen Barb is bad news. Branch and I say at the same time, "We need to make sure our own string is safe, " and Poppy reaveals that she had brought it with us.

"Poppy are you crazy?" I practically yell while Branch asks in a calmer tone. She thought it was a good idea, no what's a good idea is slapping her upside the head. "OK, change of plans, we need to get home as fast as we can and get everyone in the bunker." Branch and I say, trying to get Poppy to listen this time. "Um, no, change of plans, we have to stop Barb from destroying all music. If we don't stop her who will?" Poppy says putting the string back, and that's when Biggie loses his cool.

Poppy tries to calm him down, but that only makes it worse, so then she becomes childish and they make a pinkie promise. "Ugh." Branch says and I say, "So stupid." too quiet for the others to hear. Then Poppy pulls out the map of the Troll Kingdom and says, "We have to get to the country music Trolls in lonesome flatts before Barb does." then she asks the woodwind if it'll come with us, as if it'll be much help. It says no, that somebody's got to start rebuilding here, as if it'll be much use here either.

We turn and leave and make our way to Lonesome flatts. I thought about what my other brothers would say about knowing about the other Trolls. John Dory would probably be suspicous at first but eventually warm up to them. Spruce would say ," give them a chance to show us who they are." and be really cool like that. Clay would automatically trust them but always be wary. Floyd would say, "Don't jump to conclusions, give everybody a chance." When I came out of my reverie we were at the edge of Lonesome Flatts.

"This must be where the Country Music Trolls live." Poppy said, holding the map. "Well, it looks like nobody's here, we're too late. Time to go home, come on guys, let's go!" Branch said, trying to slip one past Poppy. "There is no I quit in team!" Poppy called back from where she had walked ahead. Branch stopped in his tracks and we all went to catch up to Poppy.

Then we heard the Country Music Trolls singing. It was such a sad song, but I loved it because life is sad sometimes and that's what I heard Branch say. Then Poppy said, "You do? Huh. But it's so different. Oh, they must not know that music's supposed to make you happy. That's awful." I shook my head, realizing that she's not getting the point of this mission at all.

Then they made a plan to sing a medley of songs from our music, and I shake my head and stay out of it. Seeing Branch in that outfit was so so funny I had to take a picture though. He's probably gonna kill me when he finds out, but I am so gonna hold it over his head. After the medley was over, I said, "Finally." and a tumbleweed made me laugh by saying, "You suck!"

The next thing I know we're all in jail, with who I presume to be the leader saying, "Now I want you 3 to sit in here and think about what you just done. That was a crime against music." with a scowl on her face. "Wait, no! We're here to warn you about Barb the Queen of Rock!" Poppy said stepping forward bravely. The lady sighed and said, "Sweetie, I already know and have heard about this Queen Barb and her fancy world tour. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go wash what you call music out of my ears."

Poppy gasped and before she could walk away I said, "Uh, ma'am? Why am I in here? I didn't sing with them." She faced me and said, "No, but you're clearly traveling with them and that's good enough for me." Then she she walked away and out of her hair came a young Troll who laughed and said, "You in real trouble now, right Aunt Delta?" Then Poppy said, "No, no! Music should bring us together not divide us!" then she turned and kicked the dirt muttering, "Sugar."

I leaned back, closing my eyes not paying anymore attention until the door was yanked off its hinges. I climbed onto the door with Biggie and Branch and we made our escape. Then we landed in the river, Branch helping me because I'm not the strongest swimmer. Then we lay down catching our breath next to Poppy when she said, "I'm really glad you came with me." "Me too." Branch said, I had not caught my breath yet but I did not share the sentiment.

Then Hickory shows up ssaying, "There ya are, Whoo! I think we lost them. We should be alright." while shaking the water off onto Branch. "Thank you, I don't know how I can ever repay you. OH! Wait! Yes I do! Gumdrops!" Poppy says, handing him a handful of gumdrops. Branch and I simultaneously facepalm. "Gum-what?" Hickory asks before taking them and saying, "Oh, well thank you. Ooh, that's got a zing don't it?" He went to grab another one to eat but Branch grabbed them out of his hand said, "It's not candy time, it's question time."

Then his Hug Time bracelet went off and Poppy said, "Hug Time!" at the same time as Biggie and they all hugged, Branch not exactly happy about it. He wigggled out of it and asked, "Why are you helping us?" and his Hug Tiime bracelet went off again, so he slapped it. "What's in it for you?" he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. I nodded because he had a good point and Poppy said, "Woah, hey Branch! I'm sorry about my associates." looking at us sharply. "I loved your message about music bringing Trolls together. You may be Pop and I may be Country, but Trolls is Trolls." Hickory said, him and Poppy walking ahead of us.

"Trolls is Trolls, WOW deep." Branch and I both said sarcastically. "This is going to be the beginning of a partnership between Trolls that's going to save all Trolls!" Poppy said super excited. "Your darn skippy." Hickory said. Poppy acted flattered and Branch was being super jealous. "OK, we need to get to the Funk Trolls before Barb." Poppy said, pulling out the map and pointing. "Well, the quickest way is down that river. I'll build us a raft." Hickory says and gets to work.

"Che, this ought to be good. Guy probably doesn't know the first thing about building a raft." Branch said, still being jealous. We watched him work and it was jaw dropping impressive. Then he said, "Cappucino anyone?" and I was already on the raft holding out my cup before Poppy could say, "Cappucino? Cappuci-yes!" Then I heard Branch say, "Oh, I do want one, but I am not happy about it!" I turned and watched him stomp over, slowly sipping my cup.

"Yum." I sighed. Poppy looked at me and asked, "How long has it been since you've had caffeine?" I glared at Branch and said, "Well I didn't get any yesterday, so a day and a half." Poppy looks at Branch and says, "Branch, haven't you learned not to take all the coffee by now? She is your sister, you'd think you'd know that by now." in an exasperated tone. "I know right?" I say, playing along because I know she's just teasing him. We finally stop picking on him and Hickory starts a little campfire for us to cook dinner on.

I'm not all that hungry so I lay down and go to sleep. My dream isn't a dream, so much as a memory. Floyd letting me try coffee for the first time. John Dory wasn't too happy when he found out, and he was yelling, screaming, and hollering. Spruce wasn't exactly happy either but he was too focused on calming John Dory down. Clay said as long as it didn't make me too hyper and go bouncing off the walls he was ok with it. Grandma didn't know about it at the time, until she caught me sneaking some after they left and I told her about it. She wasn't happy, but she wasn't mad either.

I woke up hearing Hickory singing and muttered, "Does everybody have to sing all the time?" and went to sit by Branch at the edge of the raft. Then Hickory came over and said, "Something tells me your heart ain't i this mission Branch." I smile because he's spot on, and Branch says, "What do you mean? I'm here aren't I?" "Yeah, you're on the mission alright, but your heart is with miss Poppy." Hickory says intuitively.

Branch looks panicked and says, "Hey! Hold your horses!" Then realizing how offensive that might be he says, "I'm sorry, is that offensive?" I sigh shaking my head as Hickory sits down and says, "Not as offensive as you thinking I can't see what's right in front of my eyes. Did you tell her yet?" I laugh loudly before I cover my mouth with my hands trying to muffle the sound and Branch gives me a dirty look before saying, "I tried, but-" then he makes a crash and burn noise. "Well, if you did tell her who knows if she'd even hear ya." Hickory said, and I stopped laughing and nodded because that actually made sense.

Branch was confused though and said, "What do you mean by that?" "Well, let's just say only one of you is doing the listening in this relationship and it's not her." Hickory explained. I looked around and vaguely wondered where Biggie was. Then Poppy said, "Uh, guys?" pointing upwards, and we saw a UFO. Branch and I got up, backing up and Hickory said, "What in buttered biscuits?" Then this bubble came down and completely enveloped the raft. Then more bubbles came down and picked us up and took us up to the UFO.

When we were going up the beam I looked around because I heard music, and I saw Trolls that looked kinda like Cooper. Then we landed and Branch was on his back kicking his feet in the air, so I took a picture while I heard someone say, "Welcome to Vibe City. You are cordial guests of Prince Cooper." "Cooper?" Poppy and I said at the same time but when I looked at who was talking, it looked like Cooper, but I could tell it wasn't him so I stopped talking but Poppy continued, "What are you doing here?"

He laughed and then I heard the real Cooper say, "Actually, I'm over here!" and we all turned to look. "Cool." I said as Poppy said, "What?" Then Hickory said, "Bacon wrapped hot dogs!" Dang those sound good, now I'm hungry. "It turns out, I'm actually from Vibe Ciry, just like my twin brother." Cooper said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'm Prince D. What's poppin?" the other one said, then started laughing and ran over to Cooper who said, "I've got a twin brother!" excitedly.

"How is this possible?" Poppy asked confused. "Well it's a very complicated story." Cooper began, which means it's very simple. "When we were both babies my egg got snatched out of the nest. Mom and Dad looked everywhere but they couldn't find me, so you guys raised me as one of your own. And then when I went out to find other Trolls like me, my Mom and Dad finally found me. I guess it wasn't too complicated." Then him and Prince D laughed again.

"Oh, Poppy, I want you to meet the King and Queen of Funk!" Cooper says as he and his brother step over to the two Trolls I saw singing earlier. "King Quincy and Queen Essence." Prince D introduces to us. "My Mom and Dad!" Cooper says, super hyped. Then Queen Essence starts kissing Cooppers cheek like there's no tomorrow and I mutter into Branch's ear, "That's the only thing I don't miss about Grandma." and he nods.

"Wow Cooper, you look just like your Dad!" Poppy says walking forward a few steps. "Yeah, that must be why he's so good looking." King Quincy says high fiving Prince D. "Was that a Dad joke? It was lame!" Cooper says, a big grin on his face, and all 4 family members laugh. "So that means you're a Funk Troll?" Poppy asked. I give her a sharp look as Cooper says, "You don't have to be just one thing. I'm Pop and Funk." while smiling. "Or maybe you're Hip-Hop like me." Prince D said. "Yeah!" Cooper said, nodding excitedly.

"Hip-Hop?" Poppy asked confused and pulled out the map. "Yeah, I think your map is a bit outdated." Prince D said trying to be polite. Branch and I walked over to it and said, "Oh, he's right. Look at that. It still has Disco." jokingly. "Well, your majesties. We need your help to save all music from Queen Barb. If we combine our music, she'll see that music unites all Trolls and that we're all the same and that she's one of us!" Poppy said excitedly. I shake my head because she still isn't grasping the fact that we're NOT all the same.

"Poppy, I mean no disrespect, but King to Queen, anything but that." King Quincy says grimacing. "Why not?" Poppy asks dejected. They lead us down a hallway and push a button on a wall opening up a sealed room. We walk in and King Quincy says, "Let's tell 'em how it was Prince D." "Sick." Prince D says, then continues, "Long ago, our world was without song or dance. Then the Trolls found the Strings and life was one big party." Then we see them leading us to their string and Poppy says, "Oh, yeah. I-I've heard this story before." but I can't help but wonder if it's gonna be different.

"That is, until the Pop Trolls tried to steal our Strings." Prince D continued. I felt my eyes go wide as Poppy said, "Steal your Strings? That-That's not what it said in our scrapbooks." "Scrapbooks? Those are cut out, glued and glittered by the winners. Let me tell you how it really went down." Prince D said, then he went into a song that explained the history of the Troll Kingdom and how the Pop Trolls tried to take all the Strings to control all music, just like Barb is trying to do now, and that the leaders decided to seperate the Strings for the safety of music.

"And the Trolls never lived in harmony again." King Quincy finished off. "So the Trolls live in isolation because of what Pop did?" Poppy asked sadly. "Pop tried to destroy our music." Queen Essence said. "Just like Barb is trying to do." Branch and I both say. "I can make it right. History's just gonna keep repeating itself until we make everyone realize that we're all the same." Poppy said, frantically.

"But we're NOT all the same." I say at the same time as King Quincy. Then Queen Essence says, "It's why all our Strings are different. Because they reflect our different music." "Denying our differences is denying the truth of who we are." King Quincy said wisely. Poppy looked thoughtful as she said, "I hadn't thought of it like that." Then an alarm went off and a cage dropped over the String.

"Rock has arrived! It's on!" Prince D said. "Prepare for battle." King Quincy said, and we are led out of the room. Cooper put us in those stupid bubbles again and luckily I was with Branch and Poppy. Hickory's bubble bounces away from our and he says he'll find us but Branch and I are more worried about what's in front of us, so we say, "Uh, Poppy." and the Hard Rock Trolls pass by us with no trouble, but they're clearly heading for Vibe City.

"No!" Poppy says and tries to get the bubble to do what she wants. "We have to get back down there. There's still hope. We can still fix this." Poppy continues. "Poppy enough!" Branch and I say at the same time. She turns to face us so I let Branch continue, "I've listened to you and I've done it your way, and now it's your turn to listen. It's time to get back home." I nod along with him.

"I'm not like you guys. I can't just give up." Poppy says, and I get the feeling this mission is about more that just saving music for her. "Give up? I want to protect our friends and family." Branch says, being very reasonable. "I can't go home until I've proven myself as a good Queen." Poppy says and I shake my head thinking 'Whoop there it is'. "So that's what this is really all about?" Branch asks, very disappointed. "Why are you so upset?" Poppy asks, genuinely confused.

"Because your Dad was right, and Biggie was right, and Queen Essence was right. And I've been backing you up even when you ignore them. But you never listen to me." Branch says, blowing up at first but then turning around and his voice cracking at the end. I put my arm around him thinking, 'wait-Biggie? Something must've gone down while I was asleep.' Then Poppy says, "Branch what are you talking about?"

He takes a deep breath and says, "You want to be a good Queen? Good Queens actually listen. You know what I heard back there? Differences do matter. Like-like you and me. We're too different to get along. Just like all the other Trolls." By the end of Branch's little rant our bubble had landed and popped, so he started to walk away, and me being the good sister I am and not the biggest fan of Poppy at the moment I went with him.

Then Poppy said, "We are really different." "So different." Branch said, turning around. "Completely out of harmony." Poppy said, voice cracking slightly. "Completely." Branch agreed. "I don't even know why we're friends." Poppy said. "Neither do I." Branch said, hands outstretched , then he turned and started to leave again. He must've caught the look on my face which was saying, 'TELL HER!' because he suddenly said, "So, why do I care about you more than anybody else in the world? Weird right?" and that's when we left.

Not exactly the confession I was hoping for, but close enough. Then Branch starts singing, AGAIN.

I know your favorite song, I hear it everyday.

Whoever made your smile, made it to get in my way.

And every time you laugh, you make that little sound

It's just the hardest thing, to love you but not know how.

I hate that you're perfect, you're perfect for me.

What good are words when they always just get in our way?

And it hurts the most just to know that you don't feel the same, the same.

And I hate that you're perfect, you're perfect for me.

I hate that you're perfect, you're perfect for me.

I was so mad at Poppy and getting ready to turn back around and give her a piece of my mind when I heard quiet laughing and muttering nearby. Branch and I immediately jumped into defensive positions and as we looked around we were suddenly grabbed by our feet and dragged away from the water's edge, and tied up. "Hey crybabies. One of your names Poppy?" A troll asked as 4 others dropped down by her. "No." I simply said as Branch said, "What? No. Who are you guys?"

The one with the pink hair next to the one who spoke first said, "We are the K-Pop Gang." Then the one who spoke first said, "And you're going to take us to Queen Poppy." Branch and I finally got each other up and he chuckled saying, "What?" Then we heard a different kind of music so we looked over and 3 Trolls came out. Then the clear leader of the K-Pop Gang stepped around us and said, "Not so fast, Tracy. We're taking them." and grabbed Branch because he stupidly tried to hop away.

"It's pronounced Tresillo. If you want them, you're going to have to dance for them. I can't live in a world without reggaeton." one of the new Trolls said, stepping forward. "And we can't live in a world without K-Pop." the K-Pop Troll said, stepping forward to meet him in the middle. Then she backed off and untied me and Branch and started dancing and singing with the rest of the girls in the gang.

I stepped back out of the way, but Branch tried to run and one of the girls glared at him so he started dancing along. Then I believe it was Tresillo, grabbed Branch for their turn and he had to dance with them as well. They were pretty smooth about tieing him back up though. "Wow, respect." The K-Pop Gang said. "Respect. Why don't we split them?" Tresillo said. "Huh?" Branch and I said at the same time. "Good idea. Yeah!" The K-Pop Gang Said.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Branch and I both said at the same time, moving to the middle of the two groups, him struggling because of being tied up again. "Why does Barb get to decide which music gets to be saved? All music should be saved." Branch and I both say. Both groups look at each other, then Tresillo says, "All right, OK. I'm listening Pop Trolls."

I can't believe that worked. "We need to stop Barb and get the Strings back to their rightful leaders." I say. Everybody nods and we head out, then we find the balloon so we climb in and fly our way to Volcano Rock City as fast as we can. When we get there Barb is pointing a Guitar with what I assume are the Strings on it at Poppy who is in a cage. I hand Branch my spare manual for the balloon and he throws it, hitting Barb right in the face, and we silently high five.

"Ha! I guess a giant comprehensive manual does come in handy!" We say jumping up onto the edge of the balloon. "Branch! Kitty!" Poppy yells. "Well isn't that puke. Poppy's little boyfriend and sister in law came to cresh the concert. Too late, Branch, Kitty!" Barb says pointing the guitar back at Poppy. "Wait!" Branch said, and when a beam shot out of the guitar he jumped to her rescue, and before I could go after him Tresillo grabbed my arms and held me back. I watched as he took the hit for Poppy and was encased in rock. Then when it split open and he didn't look or act anything like himself, I sank to my knees sobbing.

I let the other Trolls around me hug me as I thought back on all the memories I shared with Branch. Meeting him for the first time, neither one of us were so grumpy back then. Him promising to be the best big brother ever. Watching him sing with our other brothers, playing with them. Bonding when they left. Spending time with Grandma, bonding with her, then losing her together. Then building the bunker together, spending all our time together, well when he wasn't stalking Poppy that is. Then going on that mission to save the other Trolls from the bergens, becoming friends with the bergens. Then the last two years we haven't spent all our time together anymore, but I did spend more time with Satin and Chenille while he was with Poppy.

I don't pay any attention to what's going on around me until I feel a familiar pair of arms encircle me and I open my eyes and wipe them to see Branch back to normal, with Poppy beside him. That's when I notice that everybody's gray and Barb is saying, "What have you done?" looking back at Poppy. "You've destroyed music! Give it up, everybody. Thanks to the Queen of Pop, We've all lost our music. History repeats itself. Pop has ruined everything." Barb continued angrily.

"What's going on?" I ask Branch and Poppy. Branch shrugs so I look at Poppy. "I smashed the guitar with the Strings on it and they shriveled." Poppy explained, quietly and looking down. We sit in silence for a second then we hear a beat through the speakers. We look up and it's Cooper using his heartbeat! Then Prince D walks over and starts beatboxing to Cooper's heartbeat!

Then Queen Essence says, "Those are my sons. Making music." Then the Country Music leader starts clapping and stomping out a beat, and we slowly see everybody's heartbeat in the audience. Queen Essence then says, "Queen Barb can't take away something that is inside us. Because that's where music really comes from." "It started with the Strings, but now it comes from us." King Quincy added.

"Yeah, it comes from our experiences!" The King of the Techno Trolls said. "Our lives!" The Queen of the Country Music Trolls said. "Our culture." Queen Essence said. Then the Trolls in the audience started vocalizing. "Beautiful." The Classical Music King said. "Listen to that. Barb can't take away." Poppy whispered. "Nice heart." I muttered to Branch and he looked at me and smirked and said, "I could say the same to you." I looked down and noticed that indeed my heartbeat was showing, and like my colors it was odd as well. It looked just like my hair.

When I looked up I heard Poppy sing,"Let me hear you sing. Sing it together, louder than ever. Forget everything." Then Branch joined her, "Just sing, like it's what we've been missing. And they're gonna listen, listen. Forget everything, just sing." Then they got their colors back. Then Barb's Dad did, and he said, "Just let everyone be what they wanna be. Including you." Then Poppy, Branch and a whole bunch of others continued singing.

You've think you've got to hide it?

Don't keep it on the shelf.

Let your waist start moving

Watch the way I do it, do it.

See me do it like nobody else.

We sing it all together

We sing it all as one.

It's louder than yourself.

All together, everyone.

Everybody's looking (Sing it loud now).

Watch the way we do it, do it.

Hold up, watch out how I do i- do it.

'Cause we do it like nobody else.

Let me hear you sing.

If you got it can't deny it.

Let me hear you.

It's waiting for you, already you know.

That you do it like nobody else.

Just sing!

At this point color washed over everybody from the leaders, including me, but I stayed gray.

Sing it together, louder than ever, ever.

Forget everything, just sing.

Like it's what we've been missing

And they're gonna listen, listen.

Forget everything.

Hey, I've been right here where you're standing.

I've been standing on the ground.

And the walls are caving in.

All the walls are fallen down.

When my lips start moving with the soul I put into it.

And you never heard it done like this.

Then the K-Pop Gang came and sang some, but I couldn't understand it. Then Tresillo and his Group came and sang some but again I didn't know what they were singing.

It's waiting for you, already you know

That you do it like nobody else.

Just sing, sing it together, louder than ever, ever.

Forget everything, Just sing.

Like it's what we've been missing.

And they're gonna listen, listen.

Forget everything.

Then a whole bunch of things were going on at once so I walked up to Barb and said, "You should join them, you know." "Heh, says you." She says. "I have my own reasons for that." I said, thinking of Floyd. Then Poppy came over and threw Barb her regular guitar. She looked at it, then up at me, and I nodded. She joined in with style. Then a rainbow transformed Poppy's dress and hair as well.

Then the lava turned into a rainbow as well. Then everybody except Poppy went quiet and she finished off the song, "Just sing." Then Poppy went to talk to her Dad, so I went to talk to Barb and said, "How did you know that Branch and I are Brother and Sister? Most people just assume that we're really close friends." She looked at me and said, "We're gonna have to have a conversation." Then I saw Poppy come over and she said, "Now that you're not forcing me, I hope we can be friends." "Yes! Did you hear that Carol? We have a girl group now!" Barb says excitedly grabbing both me and Poppy.

"Wait, what?" I ask confused. "Yeah! Carol! Heh, she psyched." Barb says ignoring my question and walking away. Then Branch comes over so Poppy says, "Branch I love that we're different." I give him a look that hopefully says 'GOLDEN OPPURTUNITY HERE! SAY SOMETHING!'. He opens his mouth and I wait for him to crash and burn, then I hear, "And I love you Queen Poppy." Can't believe he didn't crash and burn this time.

I look at Poppy and she looks excited and shy at the same time as she says, "I love you too Branch." Then they high five while I'm internally screaming 'FINALLY!'. It must've been showing on my face though becuase Branch says, "Go ahead and say it, I know you want to." I smile and say, "FINALLY! It's about time you weirdos. I've been watching you two dance around this subject for two years! Even longer if you count the time Branch spent crushing on you, Poppy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to someone." When I walked away, they were both blushing, so mission accomplished there.

I went and found Barb and she wordlessly led me to a private office. "OK, what's with the secrecy?" I said, ready for her to tell me. She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh and started, "A few years ago, a Troll showed up. He wasn't a Rock Troll but my Dad seemed to know where he came from. This was before I knew about the Strings. He stayed with us, and he seemed pretty cool, for a Pop Troll. He also wouldn't shut up about his siblings, 3 older brothers, 1 little brother and a little sister who he found as an egg." She finished looking me in the eyes.

"NO." I said, almost a whisper. "Dude's name was-" Barb started but I finished with, "Floyd." My voice still just a whisper. "That still doesn't explain how you knew it was me and Branch." I say after clearing my throat. "Well, I did say he wouldn't shut up about his siblings right? Well you two were the ones he talked about the most. Branch and Kitty this and Branch and Kitty that. Kind of got annoying. But you know the thing he brought up the most? How much he regretted leaving you, and how he hated breaking his promise to protect you." Barb says coming over and putting her arm around my shoulders.

"He really said that?" I say, tears streaming down my face. She nodded and we sit in silence for a while so I could calm down. "Earlier, you said you have your own reasons for not having your colors, I take it Floyd leaving is one of them?" Barb asked. I wiped the remainder of the tears from my eyes, nodded and said, "Partially. Him leaving is definitely a big part of it, but also him breaking that promise."

She looked a little confused on why the promise would be part of it so I said, "Floyd promised he would protect me, when he found me after I had hatched alone. Then he took me to meet the rest of the family. Our brothers left Branch and I when we were 3 years old. A year later we lost our Grandma and we've been on our own ever since." I finished, tearing up again. "Woah, you've definitely had it rough. You hatched alone?" Barb said.

I nodded and said, "Floyd was the first Troll I met. The first thing he said to me was Happy Birthday, then he introduced himself and asked me what I wanted to be called. Then after I picked, he said 'That's perfect' and then when he went to pick me up I was still reluctant so he said, 'Don't worry, I'm gonna protect you'. And that was that, I put my complete faith and trust in him not thinking that when our other brothers started fighting and leaving that he would leave too. I begged him not to go, but he did anyway and that's when I stopped putting my faith in people. The only ones I trusted after that were Branch and Grandma. Then Grandma died, and it was just me and Branch." I shut up after I looked at Barb and noticed she was smiling slightly.

"What?" I asked, suddenly feeling self conscious. "He was right, you do ramble a lot." She said simply. "Sorry." I pouted slightly. "No, no. It's cute. He did the same thing when he was here. I take it you picked it up from him?" Barb said, smiling. "Yeah." I said, chuckling slightly. "Anybody else in your family do that?" She asks a small smile on her face. My smile drops automatically and I say, "I don't know where I came from. I was just some egg that Floyd found and decided to take care of 'cause he's a nice guy like that."

"Oh man, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry." Barb says, looking extremely apologetic. "It's OK. I'm sorry too. I'm just so used to Trolls asking about where I came from and if I know anything, or if I want to know anything, or if I've ever found anything out and I'm just keeping it secret from Branch because I don't want him to know." I rambled slightly. "That's ridiculous, if you did ever find something out I'm sure you'd share it with him, right?" Barb said.

I nodded and said, "Yeah, of course. Then again the Troll who used to say that one also used to bully both me and Branch so yeah." "Two things: one-who is this Troll so I can go pummel them? and two- used to bully you?" Barb said kinda fired up. I sighed and pulled her back down and said, "Yes, used to. His name was Creek. Long story short he sold us out to the berens to save his own skin, but it backfired on him when we made friends with them, and he was in the bag of the one who wanted to eat us when a few Trolls, who I'm very friendly with now, made sure that they ejected from the castle and we later learned that they both got ate." I rambled a bit.

"Huh, there is justice in this world after all." Barb says grinning a little. "That's what I said!" I said excitedly. "So who are the Trolls you became friends with?" Barb asks curiously. "Satin and Chenille, and Cooper. Satin and Chenille because they tripped the bergen and Cooper because he lit a match and threw it onto her when she had landed in the pot she had us in previously." I explained, grinning at the memory.

"OK, now that I had to see." Barb laughs. I take a deep breath and look her in the eyes and ask her the question that's been burning in my mind since I learned that Floyd had been here, "Do you know where Floyd went or might've gone?" She looks me in the eyes and says "I'm sorry, I have no Idea. But aren't you glad to know that someone's at least seen him?" I nod and then I realize how hungry I am.

"Thank you for the information on Floyd, Barb, but unless you want me to eat out your fridge, I've gotta go. I'll definitely keep in touch though." I say and get up hugging her and head towards the door. "Wait, how will you get home? Do you want me to give you a lift?" Barb says looking concerned. "Thanks, but if I know my brother he's still out there waiting for me, and Poppy is probably with him too." I say and smile, thinking back to their confession.

"OK, but I'm coming down too just in case." She says, still concerned. "Oh, but before I forget." She turns to a table and pulls out the drawer and pulls out a picture and hands it to me. "Here." she says smiling. I look at it and gasp, it's the picture of Floyd, Branch and me on the day I became part of their family, which also doubles as my birthday. "Thank you." I say and put it into my hair to hide it. We go out the door and back outside, where I am proven right, Branch and Poppy are by the balloon waiting.

I look at Barb and say, "Told ya so." then I turn back to Branch and Poppy and call out, "Hey guys!" They turn to see me and Barb and Branch raises his eyebrows at my choice of company but I shake my head, indicating that I'm not gonna explain. He nods at me respecting my decision and Poppy and I say goodbye to Barb and we climb into the balloon with Branch. When we get home I raid the food, super hungry, then go to my room. I pull out the picture Barb gave me and set it up next to my bed and lay down, but before I go to sleep I have one final thought: I will find Floyd.