Another cloudy, sunless day in Amphibia. Anne, Sprig, and Giorgio (who didn't like having the two of them wake him up) sat on a hill, spying on a group of soldiers with a wagon full of weapons being carried by an Infected rhino beetle. "Those newts and toads are wearing Andrias' armor," said Anne. "How could anyone choose to be on Andrias's side?"

"Ugh, those traitors," said Sprig.

"Don't blame them," said Giorgio. "These poor saps are most likely only obeying him out of fear. They either obey him, or they end up getting Infected or used as a living battery."

"I still consider them traitors," said Sprig. "Wait a second. Who's that?"

The soldiers stopped when a boy newt who looked like Tiny Tim ran in front of them and cried, "Please, kind soldiers, I've twisted my wee ankle and could use some help."

"Hey, you okay there, little guy?" one of the soldiers asked.

"NOW!" the child shouted. All at once, a group of newts dressed as Robin Hood's Merry Men jumped out of the bushes, fired arrows at the soldiers, then made off with the wagon.

"Wow! Rebel newts," exclaimed Sprig.

"Awesome," said Anne. "Let's see if they'll join us."

Giorgio suddenly smelled unfamiliar scents. He turned around and his eyes widened. "Uh, Anne? Sprig?" They turned around and saw what he saw. The Merry Men copycats were pointing their bows and arrows at them. "Something tells me they don't want to."

"Whoa, we're on the same side," Anne exclaimed.

A French accented voice laughed and said, "I'm on no one's 'side' but my own!"

Anne, Sprig, and Giorgio immediately recognized that voice. "Oh, no..." The band of thieves parted way to reveal a yellow newt with black hair and wearing a red and white musketeer outfit, green tight pants and boots. "Tritonio." Giorgio reached out and ripped his mustache and goatee making him scream in pain. "That's for knocking me out and locking me in a closet, you traitorous stronzo!"

Tritonio groaned in pain, but quickly recovered and said, "Ah, JoJo. One of my favorite pupils."

"I am?" asked the Tiny Tim newt.

"I wasn't talking to you, JoJo Potato. Ooh, this is gonna be confusing," said Tritonio, scratching the back of his head. "I know, we'll call you..." He pointed to Giorgio. "JoJo 2!"

Giorgio made an outraged sound, "You will not-"

"And Anne and Sprig," said Tritonio. "My two other favorite pupils. Still have my family sword, Anne?"

Anne pulled out her sword and pointed it at him. "Why don't you come over here and find out?"

"Charming," Tritonio replied. "Well, we had a great 'ha ha' catching up, but we're in a hurry. Lil Louise..." he said to a big newt woman with light purple skin and carrying a bow. "...relieve these three of their supplies."

Giorgio pulled out his pistol sword and pointed it at him. "Any of you try it and you're dead!"

A gun clicked. Giorgio slowly turned to look at a newt dressed as a cowboy and pointing a fancy looking pistol at him. "Go on, little lady," he said. "Let's see who's the faster shooter."

"Uh, why is he pretending to hold a gun," asked Sprig. Then he realized, "Ohhh. That's a gun Stand, isn't it? That's why we can't see it."

"Oh, come on," whined Anne. "It sucks that I don't have a Stand!"

Angered at the cowboy newt's comment, Giorgio summoned DARE. "I AM NOT A GIRL, YOU..." His voice trailed off when he got a good look at the newt. His eyes widened in recognition. "Hol Horse? What are you doing in Amphibia, and why are you a newt?"

"You know this guy," asked Anne.

"Not personally," admitted Giorgio. "Signor Polnareff told me about him. He used to work for DIO and almost killed a good friend of my Zio Joseph, Muhammad Avdol."

Anne and Sprig's eyes widened. "DIO?! As in your grampire, DIO Brando?!"

"I told you not to call him grampire, Sprig!"

The cowboy newt lowered his gun Stand and made a look of genuine confusion. "Hol Horse? Lady, I think you got me confused for someone else. I am Hol Horsefly!"

"YOU CALLED ME A LADY AGAIN," shouted Giorgio. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU! WRRRYYY!" He shot jets of air out of his eyes, only for them to be blocked by Tritonio and his Stand Iron Man.

"Now, now, no need for bloodshed," he said. "We'll just take your supplies and be on our way."

"Typical," scoffed Anne. "The world is falling apart, and you're still just looking out for yourself."

"What did you expect Anne," asked Giorgio. "Have you heard the phrase, no honor among thieves?"

JoJo Potato ran up to Tritonio and jumped into his arms. "Mr. Tritonio! How'd I do?"

"Excellent, my little JoJo Potato!"

Giorgio glared at the sight. Still using children to do your dirty work, are you, he thought.

"Ooh, and I heard those soldiers say there's gonna be an ever bigger caravan passing through the woods at three o'clock."

"Ah, great recon work, JoJo," Tritonio said, patting JoJo Potato's head.

"But Mr. Tritonio, how will we get past the giant, Infected beasts that guard the caravan?"

Lil Louise groaned in annoyance. "Ugh, not those things again. They were such a pain last time. If it weren't for Hol Horsefly's The Emperor here, we would have been smoked."

"Yep," said Hol Horsefly, twirling his gun Stand before dismissing it. "The Emperor never misses its mark."

"Infected beasties, eh? They're easy to take down once you know the trick," said Sprig with a snap of his fingers. "And we don't need a fancy schmancy Stand."

Tritonio was shocked to hear this. "So you've dealt with them before? What am I saying? Of course you have! You are the smartest, bravest pupils I've ever had!"

"You're buttering us up so we'll help you," said Anne.

"And it's working," said Sprig. "Come on, Anne, JoJo. Let's help them!"

"Are you talking to me," JoJo Potato asked.

"Not you. Him," Sprig pointed to Giorgio.

"You know what? Just call the kid JoJo Potato, cause I will NOT be called JoJo 2. And the answer is no, Sprig! Are you forgetting that this is the same guy who tricked you and your sisters into robbing a train and abandoned you to take the fall for it?! He's been doing the same thing to kids for years!" JoJo Potato looked up at Tritonio, who laughed awkwardly.

"But we could use them as members of the Resistance, and that Hol Horsefly is another Stand user! We could use more of those!"

"Hell no! The Hol Horse from Earth was a coward whenever he realized he didn't have the advantage and I'm pretty sure this guy is the same!"

"Hey," Hol Horsefly snapped. "I'm not a coward! I'm just cautious!"

Sprig turned to Anne. "Anne, you gotta back me up here! We don't have that many members in the resistance and we could use more Stand users."

Anne thought it over then said, "He's right, JoJo. We do need more members, and we could use more Stand users." She turned to Tritonio and said, "Alright, we'll help. But only if you join the Resistance."

"Done," said Tritonio.

"And no backstabbing, double-crossing or other such deception."

"And if you even think about doing it," said Giorgio, his eyes glowing red. "I will put you in a wheelchair for life."

Tritonio gulped. Why do I suddenly feel fear, he thought. Then he laughed and said, "You wound me, Anne, JoJo! Come my friends. To the secret hideout!"

"Wait. Before we go, what's up with the tights?" Anne asked.

Tritonio and his Merry Band looked down at their pants. "Reduces friction. We run faster," he said. He did some backflips and posed on a rock.

"And we look amazing," said JoJo Potato.

"Amazing," the Merry Band chanted, showing off their tights.

"I shouldn't have asked," said Anne in disgust.

"Well, how come he doesn't wear them," Sprig asked, pointing to Hol Horsefly's chaps.

"Because I refuse to wear pants that show off my bulge," the cowboy replied. "Or in some cases, lack thereof." Some of the male members of the Merry Band turned red in the face and crossed their legs.

"TMI," said Giorgio.

The group returned to the Merry Band's campground. The friar played a jig on his banjo while the Merry Band danced to it. At the dinner table, Sprig sat next to Lil Louise as she ate a drumstick. "So, why do they call you Lil Louise," he asked her. "You're gigantic!"

"That's the joke."

"Eh, I don't get it."

Hol Horsefly sat at the table and said to Lil Louise, "You know, I..."

"No."

"I didn't say anything."

"I know you're trying to flirt with me, but the answer is no."

Hol Horsefly made a fake hurt expression. "You wound me, Louise."

"And voilà!" Hearing this, Sprig turned around to see Tritonio coming up with a plan with Anne and Giorgio at a nearby stump. "We ride away from the caravan, victorious."

"Wow. You have a real talent for strategy," said Anne. "Too bad you're a no-good, backstabbing scallywag."

"You'd be a scallywag too, if you grew up like me," Tritonio explained. "I learned to survive by joining whatever street crew I crossed paths with." His expression turned sad. "But alas, living on the street meant loyalty was thin. It's like you said, JoJo. There is no honor among thieves. When things get bad, it's always everyone for themselves."

"Is that why you're always leaving kids to take the fall for it," Giorgio asked, disgusted. "Because that's how you learned to survive?"

Anne couldn't help but feel sorry for him. But she still asked, "You're telling me, if push came to shove, you'd even leave these guys in the dust?" She gestured to the Merry Band, who were currently having a contest over who made the best Tritonio painting.

"It is the law of the streets: no loyalties, no attachment."

Giorgio slammed his fist on the stump. "That's not true! When you're in a Mafia gang like Passione, you're not just some scallywag, you're familia! That means family! Family means nobody gets left behind. My gang is one whose loyalty is built on skill and trust, and it's going to take more than some measly caravan raid to gain my trust."

Tritonio scoffed. "Families are like marriages. They don't last forever. Nothing does." He looked at his watch. "Ah, it is time. The caravan shall be passing through in mere minutes."

Anne, Sprig, and Giorgio spotted the caravan wagon. It was being pulled by an Infected beetle and guarded by two Infected snakes. The three of them jumped in front of the wagon and Anne shouted, "Hey, slither brains! The dum-dum convention is two miles that way."

"That is so rude," said the driver. "Guards!" The snakes charged, but Giorgio used his blood vein tentacles to decapitate them. "Uh-oh," said the driver before running away.

The Merry Band jumped onto the wagon. "Now let's see what kinda loot we just scored," Lil Louise said. But when they opened the wagon's roof, instead of treasure, they found a horde of frobots waiting for them. "It's a sting!" shouted Lil Louise as they grabbed her and the rest of the Merry Band and rode off. Hol Horsefly pulled out his The Emperor and fired, but the wagon was already out of his Stand's range. "Damn it!"

As the wagon drove off, Anne called out, "Tritonio, you have to help them!"

But instead of helping, Tritonio turned tail and ran. "Farewell, my friends."

Tritonio returned to the camp and packed his bindle, only to stop when he spotted when of the paintings the Merry Band drew. Tears started to leak from his eyes, only to stop when he heard a gun click. It was Hol Horsefly, pointing The Emperor right at him. "You said we were in this together," he snarled. "But you're nothing but a coward who runs away at the sight of danger!"

Tritonio scoffed, "Like you, you hypocrite? How many times have you run away every time the battle wasn't in your favor, Hol Horsefly? You and I are the same. Everything we do, we do to survive!"

Hol Horsefly pistol whipped Tritonio and he fell to the ground. "Well, you're not gonna survive much longer!" He was about to shoot, when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Giorgio. "JoJo?"

"Don't bother," he said. "He's not worth it."

Holding his newly received black eye, Tritonio got up and muttered, "Definitely going to need an ice pack for this."

Anne and Sprig joined the others and the former said, "Tritonio, come on! We can still save them."

"And risk capture ourselves? No can do, kids. The rules of the street, remember? No attachments. No regrets."

"But what about the Resistance? You said y-"

"Oh, come on, Sprig," Tritonio snapped at the young frog. "You know I was never going to do that."

"Sheesh. Okay. Dang."

"If that's true, why are you crying, Tritonio," Giorgio asked. The newt quickly wiped his tears. "Is that how you really feel, or are you just projecting your fear of being betrayed and abandoned onto them?"

"Don't play psychoanalyst with me, boy! So what if I'm a selfish coward? I do what I do to survive! How many lives have you and your gang taken to do the same? There are no heroes here, JoJo. Only survivors. As a gangster, you of all people should understand."

BANG! Giorgio fired the pistol sword at him, missing his head by inches. "Dios mío!" he shouted.

"Wrrryyy," Giorgio growled. "First of all, it's Gang-Star. Second of all, if you want to continue living as a thieving hobo for the rest of your life, that's your choice. But I can tell you're hurting inside. We all can. You love those people."

Tritiono snapped, "If you grew up how I did..."

"I get it. We do what we need to do to survive," said Anne. "But I gotta say, for a 'master thief,'" she air quoted. "I'm disappointed in you."

"How so?"

"You're leaving the best loot in the world on the table." Anne held Sprig and Giorgio's hands. "Friendship, comrades, someone to count on. By throwing those things away, you're only robbing yourself." She picked up one of the paintings, one JoJo Potato drew that depicted Tritonio as a superhero, and handed it to Tritionio. "Come on, Sprig, JoJo. We have a very merry band to save."

Giorgio turned to Hol Horsefly. "And what about you? Are you gonna run away, too?"

Hol Horsefly looked at him, then at Tritionio. "Nah. I don't wanna be like him. Besides, I couldn't bear to leave a pretty lady like that Louise all by her lonesome," he said with a smirk.

"Typical," said Giorgio. "You really are just like Hol Horse."

"My name is Hol Horsefly!"

The group left, but not before Sprig called out, "Later, Tritonio." And with that, Tritonio was left alone with his thoughts and the painting.

Anne, Giorgio, Sprig, and Hol Horsefly followed the wagon's wheel tracks until they came to a clearing. Poking their heads out from a bush, they saw the frobots throw the Merry Band out of the wagon and at the feet of a giant frobot dressed as a judge and carrying a huge gavel. It said, "In the name of the King, I find you guilty of disturbing the peace. To which there is only one punishment."

A pair of executioner robots raised their axes... BANG! BANG! BANG! ...only to get shot in the head. Hol Horsefly blew smoke out of The Emperor. Anne said with her sword drawn, "Hey, ya metal freaks! Permission to approach the bench?"

"Aw, no fair," complained Giorgio. "You two got to do the cool lines."

"Slow to the draw, aren't you, little lady," teased Hol Horsefly.

Giorgio punched him in the face and shouted, "I TOLD YOU, I'M NOT A GIRL!"

"Uh, would you mind saving us, please?" Lil Louise called out.

"I'm on it!" Sprig took out a pair of scissors and freed the Merry Band. "Voilà!" Now freed, the Merry Band began attacking the other frobots. Biting them, dismembering them, beating them up with their own limbs, and chopping them up with their own axes.

"Order! Order," shouted the judge bot. "There will be order in my court!"

SHINK!

Giorgio shot his eye air jets at the judge bot, slicing a good portion of its body off. "Order that," he shouted. Then he said, "Oh, I hated that! Let me try again."

"I! WILL! HAVE! ORDER!" The judge bot not only repaired itself, it grew in size, sprouted a pair of rocket launchers out of its wig (are you really questioning this?), and its gavel became a war hammer.

"Oh...no," was all Anne could think to say.

"Deploying corporal punishment!" The judge bot fired his wig rockets (are you still questioning this?), causing Anne, her friends, and the Merry Band to scatter. And unfortunately for little JoJo Potato, he was caught in the judge bot's path. "No amnesty for minors!" Before it could squash him, Hol Horsefly fired The Emperor at its servos and an arrow shot its right eye. "Justice is half blind!" the judge bot shouted as it swung the gavel wildly.

"Wait, who shot that arrow," asked Hol Horsefly.

More arrows rained down and shot the remaining frobots. It was Tritonio, riding on a white stag beetle like a horse. Everyone cheered for his return, everyone except Hol Horsefly and Giorgio. Tritonio hopped off the beetle and approached JoJo Potato. "Mr. Tritonio, you came back," he said with happy tears. "But what about the rules of the streets?"

"Ha! You think I, Tritonio, give a fig for rules?"

The judge bot recovered and grabbed its hammer. "This court holds you in contempt!"

"Hol Horsefly," shouted Giorgio. "Get behind the judge bot and take out its engine!"

"On it, kid," Hol Horsefly responded. He took out The Emperor and fired at its engine, killing the frog that was being used as a battery. But the stubborn robot refused to die and began to thrash around violently.

"Merry Band, to me!" shouted Tritonio. The group used their muscular legs to move out of the way quickly. Lil Louise launched Tritonio and JoJo Potato up into the air. Tritonio launched JoJo Potato like an arrow and he shot right through the judge bot's chest. At the same time, Tritonio encased himself in his Stand Iron Man and smashed himself in the judge bot's head.

Anne caught JoJo Potato before he could hit a tree. "Gotcha."

Giorgio walked over to the pile of scrap that was once the judge bot and said, "Court adjourned." Then he cheered, "Yes! I got to say a cool one liner!"

The Merry Band ran up to Tritonio and held him up. "Three cheers for the greatest newt of them all," they said. "Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!"

"Toss me higher," laughed Tritonio. "Higher, I say!"

"Our hero," cheered JoJo Potato.

Anne, Sprig, and Giorgio winked at each other while Hol Horsefly tipped his hat. Then he asked Lil Louise, "So, do you think a hero deserves a kiss?"

"A hero? Yes. You? No." And she punched him, knocking him out cold.

That night, the group returned to the campsite and started a campfire. The Merry Band sang around the campfire, Hol Horsefly was sitting on a cot, recovering from a MAJOR headache, and Tritonio was serving food. He passed two bowls to Giorgio and Anne. "Some victory gruel, señor and señora?"

"Grazie," said Giorgio, taking his bowl.

"So, what happened to 'no loyalties'?" Anne asked with a smile.

"Uh, I just happened to be passing by, and my arrow flew out of my bow," said Tritonio awkwardly. "What are the odds?"

"Yeah, we're not buying it. You love these guys, don't you?"

Tritonio stirred his own gruel and said, "Yeah, I do."

"Face it, Big T. It feels good to have someone's back," said Anne.

Tritonio glanced at the Merry Band and did his best to hide his smile. "Yeah, maybe."

"Listen. Being on your own may have worked before, but the fate of Amphibia rests on whether we can defeat Andrias."

"Yeah! The Rebellion could really use folks like you on our side," said Sprig.

"Sasha keeps saying we need help with our battle strategy," said Anne. "And who's better at strategy than you?"

Tritonio scoffed, "I know you're just buttering me up so I'll help you."

"Is it working," Giorgio asked.

"Mmm...maybe."

"Well, I learned from the best," said Anne.

Tritonio smiled at her. "I gotta say, uh, you're not the same girl I met all those months ago." He called out, "All right. We're in! Henceforth the Rebellion shall be our new crew."

Giorgio said, "Hold on, before we return to base, I want to do something." He called out, "Gather round everybody! I want to tell a campfire story!" He waited for everyone to take their seats around the campfire. "I want to tell you a story about someone in my familia who was like you, Tritonio."

"Oh, really," Tritonio asked. "Was he a swashbuckling puckish rogue who manipulated children?"

"Nope. This is the story of a boy named Zio Narancia Ghirga. Uh, Zio means Uncle in Italian."

"He's your uncle?"

"No, but he was a member of the familia. This was before I was born, FYI."

Anne leaned in. "Ooh, another story of the familia. I like these."

Giorgio cleared his throat and began his story. "Zio Narancia was born on May 20, 1984 and was a Leo. When he was ten years old, his mother died from an eye infection. His father wasn't much of a caring parent and began to neglect him more when she died. Zio Narancia rebelled against his father and dropped out of school. He hung out with a rough crowd and they were thick as thieves. But not for long. One of Zio Narancia's older friends convinced him that he'd look cooler if he dyed his hair blonde, like him."

"This is gonna end tragically, isn't it," asked Anne.

Giorgio nodded his head. "A few days later, an old woman accused Zio Narancia of breaking into her house and robbing her and beating her husband. He realized that his friend had set him up, and when he tried to explain it to the authorities, the inspector interrogating him thought that he dyed his hair blonde to frame his so-called friend, and punched him in the eye. For his troubles, Zio Narancia was sentenced to a year in juvenile hall. After he was released, Narancia developed an eye infection, and his former friends stayed away from him like the plague, and began spreading rumors that he'll die since his mother died of an eye infection as well. But the one who was most afraid of these rumors was Zio Narancia himself. He gave up on life at the age of fifteen and became a scavenger who rooted through garbage bins for food."

"Dude, that's quite a bummer story," said Sprig.

"I'm not finished," said Giorgio. "It was during this time that Zio Narancia met a member of Passione named Zio Pannacotta Fugo. Taking pity on the boy, he brought him to a restaurant, then told his friend at the table and the shop's host, 'I'd like to feed him spaghetti! You don't mind, do you?' His friend at the table didn't ask any questions, nor did he give him a look of disgust. He just set the plate of spaghetti he'd ordered for himself in front of Narancia. He then had the kid receive the treatment he needed for his eye." Giorgio smiled. "That man's name was Zio Bruno Bucciarati."

Anne and Sprig gasped. "The OG!" they said in unison.

Giorgio continued the story, "Three weeks later, during his final days at the hospital, Zio Narancia asked Zio Bucciarati why he was being so nice to him. No reason, he said. He told him that he should go to school. Zio Narancia realized he was talking to a Mafioso and he asked if he could join. Zio Bucciarati got angry and yelled at him to go home, go to school, and never even think about joining the Mafia.

"As instructed, Zio Narancia went back home, and he even started going back to school. But he could never trust his father again. The whole time, he wondered, why did that man yell at him and scold him back at the hospital? Then he realized, Zio Bucciarati didn't yell out of hate or disgust. He did it because he showed genuine care for him. This made him want to work for Zio Bucciarati even more. And so, without Bucciarati knowing, he joined Passione six months later and gained his Stand, Aerosmith."

Giorgio chuckled. "Dad and Zio Mista never told me what Zio Bucciarati's reaction was when he found out, but I like to imagine he was angry at Zio Narancia for disobeying him, but eventually accepted him when he told him that his kindness was what wanted him to join Passione in the first place. Zio Mista told me Zio Narancia was...for lack of better words, childish. He was brash, immature, quick to lose his temper, and not too bright. But at the same time, he was sweet, cared for those he considered friends, and was a clever strategist despite the lack of formal education."

"So, where's Narancia now," Sprig asked.

Giorgio's face turned sad. "He was killed when the previous boss of Passione, Diavolo, used his Stand, King Crimson, to impale him on a fence. He was seventeen years old." Anne put a hand over her mouth in shock. "But his death did not go in vain as Dad and his friends were able to avenge him and kill Diavolo." Anne put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "But his loyalty, his love, it never wavered. He did everything for his familia, despite knowing the risks. That's what made him a Gang-Star."

Tritonio said, "Do you think if I met someone like this Bruno Bucciarati, I could have been a person better than who I was?"

"Quite possibly. And honestly, I think you're on your way to being a better person already," said Giorgio.

"So, what's Bruno's story," asked Anne.

"I save the best stories for last, Anne."

Meanwhile, Hol Horsefly was lying on the cot, still knocked out. That is until he opened one eye and whispered, "Damn, I still can't get used to the fact that you swapped bodies with a human counterpart of yourself, Mr. Valentine."

Funny Valentine approached his cot, arms folded. "It's been a while since we last made contact. I was beginning to worry King Andrias bought you off."

"Please. That fat king's money isn't worth shit here anymore. Speaking of which, I did my job and I even didn't get paid!"

"Fine. Here's half the money I owe you." Valentine placed a money bag on Hol Horsefly's lap. "Now, you have what I asked for, right?"

"Here." Hol Horsefly reached into his pocket and handed him a set of papers. "I had to shoot a lot of people to get this. Almost got Infected for my troubles, too. I hope it was worth it."

Valentine looked at the papers. "Yes. The Speedwagon Foundation will benefit from this. Now, remember our deal."

"Yeah, yeah. Keep an eye on the human kids and I'll get paid the other half," Hol Horsefly said before he added to himself, "I'm getting too old for this crap."

"And remember what will happen if you even think of telling King Andrias what's been going on," Valentine warned him as D4C appeared next to him. "Your human counterpart couldn't beat DIO's The World, and you certainly cannot beat my Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."

"Hey, this human version of me," Hol Horsefly asked. "His name is Hol Horse, right? Is he handsome like me or...does he look more like you?"

Valentine didn't respond. "Just do your job, and you will retire a happy man." D4C grabbed him and pulled him and itself through the ground.

Hol Horsefly scoffed. "Can't take a joke."

The group returned to the Plantar Family Tunnels, where Anne, Giorgio, and Sprig gave Sasha the good news. "Good news, Sasha," said Anne. "We just recruited the top newt strategist."

"That's awesome! Now come follow me, Hop Pop just found something really interesting."

"Please tell me it didn't come from his body," said Giorgio.

"Nope. Even more mysterious."

She led them into another tunnel where they found Hop Pop. "Oh, there you are. So I, uh... I got lost while looking for the bathroom and found this strange-looking door." They looked at the door. It was old, older than the other doors in the tunnels, and on it was a gold cursive letter L somebody flipped upside down to look like a P.

"There's no telling what could be in there," said Sasha. "Trouble is, we can't figure out how to open it. There's no knob or handle. Just this like, book-sized slot."

"Sasha suggested calling Joan Jett to have her blast it open with Cherry Bomb," said Hop Pop. "But I didn't want her destroying Plantar family history."

Giorgio knelt down to take a peek through the slot. With his vampiric vision, he was able to see clearly. "There's nothing in here but a bare room."

"Oh," Hop Pop, Anne, and Sasha said in disappointment.

Meanwhile, Sprig rubbed his chin in intrigue. "'Book-sized'? Hop Pop, have you tried sliding the family tome into it? The one that had the Calamity Box drawings inside?"

"It's worth a shot. Lemme go get it!" A few minutes later, the old frog returned with the book and slid it in the slot. The sound of gears and cogs turning could be heard as the door sank into the floor. Giorgio was almost right about the room being bare. The only things inside were one bed and a writing desk. On the wall hung a red cloak with a gold cursive letter L on it, the same one that was on the door.

On the writing desk, Sprig found a red envelope. He opened it, and found a red paper inside. Taking it out, he tried to read it. "It says...nothing! It's blank."

"Well, this is disappointing," said Sasha.

"Our family sure was mysterious," admitted Hop Pop.

"More like they were pulling somebody's leg," said Giorgio.

"Come on, let's get outta here and head to the canteen," said Anne. "I'm starving."

Sprig looked at the blank letter, then put it in his pocket. Then he left to join the others as the door closed behind him.

Giorgio and Sasha kept on eye on Hol Horsefly as he tried to flirt with Felicia Sundew and for a moment, it looked like it was working, that is until Ivy grabbed his hair and fling him to the ground. "You sure we can trust this guy," Sasha whispered to Giorgio. "I mean, you said he's an Amphibia version of one of your evil vampire grandfather's minions."

"He seems alright," he replied. "But we'll keep a VERY close eye on him."

"It's crazy," said Anne. "That there's an Amphibia and Earth version of the same guy. I mean, Funny Valentine is one thing, but this..."

"Well, I read somewhere that some worlds in alternate dimensions have a few similarities. It explains why Amphibia and Earth have Ripple techniques." Then Giorgio thought out loud, "Do you think there's an Amphibia version of Zio Bucciarati somewhere?"

"Doubtful," said Sasha.

"Yeah, what are the chances?" Giorgio asked as he drained a large chocopede dry.

"I can never get used to that," said Anne.

⬅ To be continued...