Good evening, everyone! Sorry I was away for awhile because I'm working on my video project, but now I've made the next chapter where it based off of the second episode of Amphibia as long as give credit to my friends. This time, I've made a flashback to see how it happens between Anne and Frank. Thank you for your patience and enjoy reading!
Amphibia: Living In A Frog World
Chapter 4: Best Fronds
Few days ago...
It all started when everything was all quiet, but until when Frank suddenly startled as he jolted up after he regained conscious. He looked around his surroundings, but instead the whole background were different. His eyes grew wide when he looked panic and confused.
Instead of the city where he once lives, the whole place is now a giant size trees and bio-luminescent mushrooms that grew on them. He looked up in a sky and sees an enormous lily pads that could cover a human's body, then he heard a huge buzzing as the dragonflies flew passed over him.
Frank couldn't believe what he has seen. It's like being an alien to another world, but he wish to believe it was all just a bad dream otherwise he couldn't wake up. Then he heard a groan as he looked back where Anne lifted herself up from the mud and whipped it off her face.
"Anne? Are you okay?" Frank asked as he went to help her up.
"Yeah, I'm fine." replied Anne, but quickly noticed that she's not in the playground as she looks around the forest. Then noticed her friends weren't with her. "Where the heck are we? And where are the others?"
"I don't know, but we've better figure out a way out of this place." said Frank, before noticing that the music box was left empty on the ground. He picked it up and remembered what had happened to him and the others.
"What are you doing?" Anne asked.
"This thing brought us here, right? Maybe it can get us out." Frank replied, carefully open the box. But nothing happened. He closed the lid and opens again repeatedly until his eyes were shrinking, much to his horror.
"Oh no." He muttered.
"What is it?" Anne concerned.
"You and your friends are the whole reason we're in this whole mess! Now we're stuck here and it's all your fault!" Frank accused her.
"My fault?! How is this my fault?!"
"You stole the most valuable price from my family store!"
"Oh ho! You're the one to talk!"
"Seriously, Anne? You have no idea what I've been through. I nearly got sent to juvie if it weren't for Marcy and Eddie. I left middle school not just because they don't trust me, I left because I don't have a choice! My parents just shut me out because they see me as a criminal and what do I get? Nothing! I moved out of my home, living with my grandparents!" Frank lashed out at her.
"Hey, I'm sorry that you been through! I tried to apologize, but Sasha insisted that me and the others to end your friendship. The only reason she calls you a criminal because she choose to!" Anne retort.
"Oh yeah? Then how come you started to become criminal?"
"I'm not a criminal! And so are you!" Anne just yanked the box from Frank, but yanked the box back out of her hands.
"Then I guess Sasha is a common thief unlike you!" Frank give her a cold glare.
"Take that back." Anne gritted her teeth.
"Never!"
"TAKE THAT BACK!"
"NO!"
Anne suddenly tackled him to the ground as the box flew out of his hands and landed on the ground. She got up just to grab it, but Frank swiped her legs out from underneath. He then got up and grabbed the box.
"Frank! Give it back!" Anne yells, but tripped over by a log, causing her right shoe to lose that she didn't noticed. She rushed over and then tackling him again. Pushing him against a tree and then started a tug-of-war for the box. Anne was athletic, but so was Frank.
"If you want it, you're going to have to try harder than that!" Frank growls, pushing Anne to the ground and continue trying to pull the box off of her hand again, but her grip on the box was still tight and refused to let go.
"WHY DID YOU DO IT, ANNE!? YOU AND I WERE BEST FRIEND, THEN YOU CAME BACK TO MY LIFE, AND WHAT DID YOU DO?! YOU STEAL IT FROM MY FAMILY!" Frank shouted.
"I DID IT FOR MY FRIENDS!" Anne shouted back.
"YOU DIDN'T DO IT FOR YOUR FRIENDS! YOU DO IT FOR YOURSELF! YOU GUYS RUINING MY LIFE!"
"YOU RUINED YOUR OWN LIFE!"
He kicked her off angrily and stumbled back a bit, but not noticing that the edge of a slope that he was backing up and then rolling down that slope, before hitting the ground with a hard thud. Anne gasped after dropping her anger when rushed over to the edge and looked down with worry.
"FRANK!" She cried.
He groaned as he lifted up to his arms and knees. Due to his safety, she stuffed the box back into her backpack, and rushed down the muddy slope over to him.
"Frank! I'm so sorry! Are you alright-" But when she looked up, she gasped. Frank looked up to see what she was looking at and then gasped in horror as well.
The vicious snakes that were normally sized to larger than any Burmese python record. Swooped all over the area in front of the teenagers, hissed and slithered over each other. Their green eyes piercing the night as they glowed, looking at their prey.
Anne and Frank stared at the snakes in terror before she grabbed his hand and pulled him back to his feet. The snakes continued hissing and slithering until they stop and noticed that they've just approached before retreating to the trees. Anne and Frank ran a few meters away until they stopped and heard the water splashing, but a little splash sound
"You hear that?" Ann asked.
Frank nodded, and the two turned back at the water until something is rising. For what shocking them even worse when there's an alligator. A giant alligator like a size of a dinosaur, crawling towards them, knocking down trees in its past.
It started to sniff to its new scent and growls lowered that it looked very hungry. Anne remembers what she used to watch the movie with her friends, but Frank didn't. They looked very frighten that the alligator slowly open its jaws.
"What do we do?" Anne whispered, fearfully.
"RUN!" Frank yelled.
They've make a break for it when an alligator pursue them. They ran through the forest as fast as they could while the alligator is crawling fast behind them. They quickly climbed up to the tree just in time before the alligator pop its jaws so loud. Once they reached to the top, the alligator tries to climb up, but pushing the tree down to the ground and they fell to the water.
They've being swept as they flowed through the river with an alligator roars that can't fit through the tree. That's when the snakes they encountered, slithered on the branches when trying to attack them, but luckily they were about to dodge these attacks. Frank grabbed Anne's arm and pulled her up with him to the surface. Together, they broke the water and coughed out the water in their throats.
"Dude! Where the heck are we!?" Anne yelled over the rushing waters.
"I don't know!" Frank yells back, then they saw a large truck of a tree and swamp over to it. Climbing halfway onto it. "We've got to get onto dry land!"
"How?! We've got an alligator and hundreds of snakes that aren't going to let us just swim out!" Anne retorted.
Then all of sudden when a giant python burst out of the water and roars as the two screamed before jumping out of the way before the python came down and snapped the log in two. Diving below the water when Frank looked back to see the python coming at them for another attack.
Anne closed her eyes and turned away from what was likely going to be a very gruesome death, but suddenly an alligator that they encountered just came out of nowhere, biting on its neck. The python roared in agony before dying until the alligator drags it to the river, making a huge splash all over them. Frank looked to Anne as she stared at him with total shock before swam up to her.
"Are you okay?" Frank asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You?" She replied
"Yeah, maybe." But then, he gasped that they were coming up to a waterfall with a large rock that was right center on the edge of the falls. "Quick! Swim towards the rock!"
Anne and Frank swam hard as they could by swimming towards in front of the rock as they were taken to the waterfall. Frank was able to make it first and climbed onto it. But Anne wasn't so lucky. She tried to hold onto the rock, but her hands slipped as she screamed and moved around the side of the rock.
Frank saw this and quickly jumped on his front to reach her hand before she could fall to the bottom of the surface. Anne screamed as she held onto Frank's hand with the water splashing around him. He looked down to see Anne staring up at him with eyes-wide fearfully, begging him to not drop her and tightening her grip on his arm.
"FRANK!" Anne screams fearfully.
"HANG ON!" Frank yells as he tried to pull Anne up, but he couldn't because of her backpack were too heavy.
Anne stared at him, afraid that she was going to die and she'll never see her friends and her family again, but Frank wasn't going to let that happen and this time, he was more successful as she reached up with her free hand to grab the rock. But then a cracking noise came from under Frank, looked back and gasped in horror when he saw the rock at he was starting to break off.
When the rock snapped, Both Anne and Frank fell towards the pool with the largest spikes. They couldn't even scream as they fell. Frank tried to reach out to Anne and she did the same as they were only a few inches from their fingertips touching until his body suddenly slammed against the side of one of the spikes.
Anne gasped in horror when his head was injured, before she safely landed in the water. Frank slammed again into the side of a spike, then the side of his head into another rock. He would've been killed into a smaller spike, but he didn't.
Anne quickly dived back into the water and swam towards him and sees his body as he floated towards the surface of the pool. Frank had blacked out from his injuries as Anne swam towards him and carried him to safety.
Few days later...
"Frank?"
"AAAAHHH!"
Frank screamed as he sprang up in his bed. Sweating profusely, he tried to catch his breath.
"I just had a horrible dream that all of us got teleported to a crazy world of talking frogs!" He exclaimed, before claiming down and sighed "Good thing it was all just a dream."
"Uh, Frank?"
Frank slowly turned his head and saw Anne sitting up on her sleeping mat. Standing next to her were Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop as the eldest frog croaking, thinking that one of them will try to attack him and his grandkids.
"Oh, right." Frank lied down on the mat.
"Hey, guys. Sleep well?" Sprig greeted them when smiles.
"Careful, boy! They could be hungry." Hop Pop looked suspicious.
"For your guts!" Polly hopped over in her little bucket, holding a rolling pin like a weapon.
"Dude, relax. We're not gonna eat something that clearly doesn't bathe." said Ann when flies buzzed around the eldest frog before he caught one with his tongue.
"Fair point." replied Hop Pop.
"See? Told you they were harmless." said Sprig.
"Hmph. Sure, she's harmless for now." Hop Pop replied to his grandson, sarcastically as he picked up Polly's bucket while referring to Frank. "It's him that I'm concerned about."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Frank looked a little offended.
"Just don't go doin' to use like ya' did to that mantis." Hop Pop warned him before walking up the stairs with Polly, but the tadpole hopped out of her bucket and hopped back down a few steps to glare at the two of them.
"Just give me an excuse to use old Doris here." Polly threatened the two while patting the rolling pin on her little flipper before she turned and hopped out of the room.
"What's up with her?" Frank asked.
"Polly? She's harmless. Unless you her wake up, or take her desert, or rip her bow, or..." Sprig was shushed by Frank pressing his finger against his lips.
"We get it."
"Just saying, she'll warm up to you."
"I think the little one wants to kill us." Anne said.
"What was your first clue?" asked Frank.
"Yup. So, you must be so excited to be trapped in another world? Very jealous." Sprig smiled, but he bent too far back and fell over. "Oh!"
"Nothing is really excited about being stranded in another world. This place is sucks. No offense." said Frank.
"What's wrong with frogs?" Sprig asked.
"Nothing... You're pretty cool." Anne gave a smiled. "You defends us against the mob."
"Aww. It was nothing." Sprig waved his hand, but then he noticed that she's feeling down a bit. "Hey, you okay?"
"It's not all that. I miss my home, my family, and my stuff and especially... my friends." Anne handed her photos to Sprig with Frank saw it and frowned a little. "Without them, I just feel kind of lost. You know?"
"(sighed) I know what you mean. I miss my grandparents, my family's shop. I may have learned to survive out in the wild by my grandpa, but I never thought I would have to use that knowledge." said Frank, sadly/
Sprig looked at the humans. Feeling sorry for them, he looked away to the photo thinking for a moment, before a smile came across his face. He just had an idea.
"Well, then, why don't I be your friends in the meantime?" Sprig offered kindly.
"You?" Anne asked.
"Me!"
"You?"
"Come on! I mean all of you are friends, right? Who says that there's more than one?"
"We're not friends." Frank frowned.
"Really?" Sprig asked with a surprised look on his face. "But you guys were buddy-buddy yesterday."
"We used to be friends until..." Frank trailed off for a moment as he glanced at Anne before she noticed this and looked away. "Look, I'd rather not talk about it, okay?"
"Well, who's to say that you two can't be friends again? Come on. It'll be fun! Anne, what did you do with your friends?" Sprig asked.
"Everything. Marathon dumb TV shows, drink boba till we vomited, hung out at the beach." Anne explained
"Oh, we've got a lake. Would going there with me make you feel less homesick?" replied Sprig
"That sounds awesome! Remember when our families would take us to the lake to swim?" Frank asked when he remembers his good time.
"Man, those were awesome times! Alright, let's do it!" Anne pumped her fist.
"Heck ya!"
Later on, they brushed their teeth before going to separate rooms to change into their swimming clothes, then applying sunscreen, putting on their flip flops, and then grabbing their own towels as they came back to the living room. Getting ready for their swimming.
Frank looked at Anne as she wore her sleeveless black swim shirt, with cyan linings across the sides, lilac-colored shorts, and dark aquamarine sandals, which contain yellow straps. He had no shirt, but with a pair of blue shorts with flames at the bottom, and a pair of red sandals with black straps.
"Kind of weird that we both have our swim trunks in our backpack, huh?" Frank asked.
Anne shrugged and threw the towel over her shoulder. Sprig was already waiting for them, placed his goggles over his eyes.
"You guys ready to go?" Sprig asked.
"Yeah-ah!" replied Anne, ready for a day of fun after days of survival
"Let's do this!" Frank exclaimed with a big smile.
"Lake, lake, lake!" The kids were chanted as they ran over to the front door, only to be stopped by Hop Pop jumping in front of them.
"And where do you two think you're going?" Hop Pop asked when suspicious.
"We're going to the lake," Sprig said, pulling out his short and then letting them go back into his waist. "Ooh. Ow."
"Why? You want in? You wanna come?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, the more the marrier." said Frank.
"Absolutely not!" Hop Pop yelled at them.
"Yeah, dude. Let us go stretch our legs." Anne agrees
"Have you met my Grandkids?" Hop Pop asked when recalls that question.
"Point taken." Frank replied as Hop Pop moving past Sprig when talking.
"Look, kids. You're a new, unsettling, strange, bizarre, gangly, horrifying-"
"Thanks. We got it." Anne held up her hand.
"The point is, the frogs in this town can be pretty small-minded..." He walked over the window and pulled down the shades to look outside, seeing some frogs walk and interacting with each other. When one frog was walking his fly waving and saying hello to him. "And paranoid."
"Are you talking about everyone else or just yourself?" Frank asked.
"We just need to give 'em time to get used to ya. I think it's best you stay put." Hop Pop suggested when he pulled out his key to locked the door.
"Hop Pop, we're not prisoners! You can't just lock us in here!" Frank complains.
"Oh, but I can! But until then, you're not leaving this house without my permission!" replied Hop Pop when he locked the door just as Anne protested.
"But-"
"No buts!" Hop Pop interrupts, before slipping the key into the pocket of his shirt and walked over to his office. "Now I'm gonna go into my study to get a little reading done."
"Ugh, Hop Pop." Sprig complained.
"Come on, man!" Frank added.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Hop Pop told them, before slamming the doors too hard.
"Ugh! Adults are all the same!" Franks groans in annoyance.
"Same, dude. Curfews. Rules..." Anne paused for a moment to think of a three thing. "Old."
"Yeah, looks like we're stuck here." said Sprig before getting an idea in his head. "Ooh! I know what'll be fun. Let's try some of Hop Pop's pain peppers."
"Pain peppers?" Frank asked as he followed the little pink frog pulled out a wooden barrel that had some reddish liquid leaking from the top before he opened it and looked inside to see the peppers.
"Oh, that's a load of baloney." Frank scoffed when reaching in and grabbed one of them by their stem and eat it.
He was expecting something that he was accustomed to, but what he wasn't expecting when his eyes widened before he screams as fire came out of his mouth and then started running around the room, screaming.
"WATER! WATER!" He screams.
Sprig ran over with a jug of water before he jumped on Frank's shoulders and start pouring water down to his throat, but Frank still screaming despite that it was gone.
"It doing nothing! Why isn't the water doing anything!?" Frank cried before collapsed on the ground, holding his neck, and reached his hand out in a dramatic way. "Someone just kill me, please! Say hello to all the girls I've loved before!"
"Uh, dude?" Anne looked uneased a bit, but then he sprung back up with a smile.
"Woah! Man, was that something!" said Frank, before grabbing another one and held it out to Anne. "Here, Anne, you should try it. Once you get past the pain and agony, it's really good."
"No, thanks. I'd rather go to the lake." Anne declined just as Sprig was just about to eat a handful of the pain peppers, but then he turned to her.
"What? But Hop Pop said, uh-"
"Sprig, you wanna know the best thing about friendship? When you got your friend by your side, anything is possible. Whatever you want, a real friend will help you get. And you know what I want?" said Anne, which made Frank smile as he stood next to her.
"The lake!"
"Yup. Now let's go rob an old man!" Anne proclaimed, pointing a finger to the air.
"Really?" Frank glared at her with his arms crossed.
"Yeah, that didn't sound as cool as I wanted it to." She replied.
Frank sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He really wanted to have a fun time and reconnect with Anne, but stealing someone else's item has done enough by damaged by breaking each other's trust. And so he went along with it, the three of them walked over to the doors of the study and looked inside through the hole where Hop Pop had taken off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair with the key sticking out.
"Any ideas?" Anne asked.
"I've got a few, but they involve using technology that doesn't exist. But I've got another idea." Frank started walking cautiously towards Hop Pop. His bare feet softly stepped on the wooden floor without making a sound.
When he got a few inch closer, but then he heard something. He held up his fist when signaling to Anne and Sprig to be kept quiet. His eyes widened when he found out what it was
"You've got to be kidding me." said Frank in a low voice.
"What is it?" Anne asked.
"It's okay. He's asleep." He replied when signaled them to come closer.
Anne and Sprig shared their glance before they walked closer to Frank until they were shocked to see that Hop Pop was indeed snoring, but his eyes went wide open as he stared down at his book. Anne waved her hand in front of his face, but remained still.
"This might be the creepiest thing I've ever seen." Anne commented.
"Happens all the time." said Sprig.
"Really?" Frank looked skeptical.
"Yeah, he makes a great scarecrow." He replied.
Frank looked down at the key and carefully reached down by taking it out of Hop Pop's couch, gently and then tiptoed out of the study before Anne closed the door behind them.
"Alright, I've got the key. I still don't feel right about stealing it from Hop Pop like that." said Frank, but felt a little guilty about stealing it from an old frog.
"It's not stealing if we're going to give it back. Besides, we'll be back before he wakes up." Anne assured to Frank. "Come on! Lighten up. Now, let's go to the lake!"
"To the lake!" Frank and Sprig cheered with her.
Later on, all three of them were strolling through the forest. In fact, this is the first time since coming to the world of Amphibia, they can able walk through the woods without having reptiles or giant insects chasing after them. Anne breathed in the fresh air before letting out a big sigh.
"This is great. Three pals beatin' the odds to have some fun." said Anne.
"It is nice, but I'm kind of used to this, really." replied Frank when the sun was blocked by the trees.
Anne leaned in with Sprig by holding her other arm when she pulled out her phone that had a cat cover.
"Here. Smile!" Anne stuck out her tongue while Frank smiled and held up a peace sign. Sprig tried to do some kind of smile before she tapped it as the camera on the phone flashed. "Whoa. Hey, that turned out great."
"Yeah, we look so cool." Frank chuckled as the Thai girl showed the photo to him and Sprig, seeing how weird this is.
"I don't know what's crazier, that you just stole my soul in a tiny box, or that we look so incredible." said Sprig before handing back Anne's phone. "I gotta say, this friend's business is amazing!"
"Wait, you don't have any froggy friends?" Frank asked curiously.
What do you mean?" Sprig puzzled.
"Didn't you have friends before we showed up?" Anne asked.
"Uh..." Sprig went silent for a moment.
(Flashback starts)
We jumped to a flashback where two kids are playing with each other at the playground.
"Your turn!"
Then suddenly, Sprig jumps out with a giant snake skull that he was inside.
"Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys! Check this out! Aaah!" Sprig scares them when faking it. "Aaah! Help! It's eating me alive!"
When Sprig scares, two kids that were screaming, knowing that he's scaring them to death, fearfully.
Ha-ha! I'm just kidding, guys. Aaah! Aaah!
(Flashback ends)
"Kids around here don't really get me." Sprig admits it.
"Well, hey, they are missin' out. Come on." Anne playfully punched his elbow.
"So, is punching part of friendship?" Sprig asked.
"Absolutely." replied Anne.
"Yeah, I get what you mean. You know, I don't have any friends either." said Frank with a smile, placing his hand on top of the little frog's head.
"Really?" Anne and Sprig to him with surprised looks.
"Yeah, I mean I used to be friends with Anne and the others. But then..." Frank paused for a moment as he glanced at Anne for a short moment. "Well, not anymore and I never really got close to anyone."
"Well, then I can be your friend." Sprig suggested.
"Huh?"
"I mean, you don't have any friends, so I can fill the role as your friend." Sprig offered before looking at Anne. "And if I'm your friend too, Anne, then that would make the two of you friends! Then we'll all be friends!"
"Sprig, that's not how it works." Frank frowned.
"Well, why not make it work? You used to be best friends, so you're already off to a good start, and then we'll all be friends together."
"So you're telling me is that the only reason that Frank will be friends with us is because we're friends with you, and the only reason you're friends to all of us is because we'll be friends?" Anne asked.
"That's right." Sprig answered.
Anne and Frank shared their glanced when Sprig made the proportions for the two of them to be friends again, they were hesitant. Anne was all for being friends with Sprig, but Frank hesitate.
"I'll think about it, buddy." said Frank with a smile before continue his walk.
"That's not a no?" Sprig asked as he pranced along the road behind Frank, and then Anne followed behind, feeling a bit upset and sad.
Few minutes later, the trio has finally arrived by walking through the bush.
"We made it." said Sprig.
Anne and Frank stared out at the lake with an awestruck where the most beautiful sights they've ever seen with water that was clear when they could see the bottom, wild lily pads flooring around, and in the lake comes alive with vibrant colors like rainbows.
"Whoa. It's beautiful." said Anne with an awe at the scenery.
"You ready, guys?" Frank asked, looking excited to get into the water.
"Yeah! Whoa-ho!"
They all shouted and ran to the water, only for their fun to be cut short when they came up to a sign standing on the beach. Telling them not to "DON'T SWIM..." With the red paint trailing off after the "M".
"Wait, frogs can write in English?" Frank asked.
"This was not here last week." replied Sprig.
Frank took a glanced at him with a look of confusion before turning back to the lake.
"Wondered what happened to make someone put up the sign." said Frank.
"Huh." Anne placed a hand under her chin and looked at the sign with a suspicious, then she looked out at the lake as a rainbow formed over it. "Hmm. I know exactly what's going on here. Some jerk just wants this beautiful lake all to themselves. Well, forget that."
"Anne, are you sure that's a good idea?" Frank asked, stepping in front of her to block her.
"What, are you scared?" Anne mocked him, before looking a little bit frightened when Frank glared at her. "Well, Sprig is on our side, right, buddy?"
"Ah, I don't know, Anne." Sprig agrees with Frank, looking at the sign with squinting eyes. "Whoever wrote this wrote it in a hurry, like they were scared to be here."
"Or maybe they just had bad handwriting. Come on. Don't be a buzzkill." said Anne, walking past Frank and taking off her backpack and then took off her sandals before dipping her left big toe into the water.
"Ooh, that's nice." Suddenly, Frank grabbed Anne's right arm and pulled her back from the shore. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Something's not right about this lake, Anne! I can feel it!" Frank said urgently, letting her go, but only to get Anne annoyed.
"Ugh, I thought you wanted to have fun with friends?!."
"I do, but-."
"Well, this is what friends do, Frank. Remember?" She questioned him, but Frank was a little shocked and upset with Anne's attitude towards him. "They help each other get the things they want."
"What?"
"Look, if a friend likes a pencil case, you get it for them. If your friend likes your new shoes, you give them to her. And if a friend wants you to steal a crazy music box from a thrift store that belonged to your grandmother, even if you don't really want to, you do it, okay Frank?" Anne explained.
"Is this what friendship about? By manipulating?" Frank raises his voice.
"Come on! I had to figure out a plan all day just to get here and you're bailing on me right now!?" Anne protests.
"I never would have agreed to sneak out of the house to come to a lake if it meant putting us in danger!" Frank argued
"And if a friend tells you to ditch you even though, you're the nicest boy I've met and I really liked you, then you do it, because that's what friends do, Frank!" Anne finished that sentence by whirling around, but she quickly slapped her hands over her mouth when she realized. She quietly turned around to see Frank, but devastating frown.
"Wait- what did you just say?" Frank looked like he was about to get snapped just as Sprig didn't want to get involved with this.
"I, ah...I'm just gonna go and enjoy the water." said Sprig nervously, before jumping off into the water to have fun. "Whoa-ho!"
"You told me that you didn't want to hang out anymore." Frank storming up to Anne with her panicking face, then he gasped before he glared at her.
"Frank, I swear I can..." Anne tried to talk but was interrupted by Frank.
"I can't believe you, Anne. All this time you've been LYING TO ME?!" He shouted at her, before throwing his arms up. "And what, Sasha threatened she might not want to be your friend anymore if you didn't ditch me?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Why would you do that?!"
"I had to! Sasha don't...well, she didn't like that you stood up to her and so she..."
"So instead of standing up to her yourself, you and the others just went along with what she said and ended our friendship? Just because I wasn't going to stand for her anymore?!" Frank questioned her, jabbing his fingers into her chest, making her more upset.
"Oh, here we go again! Friends make sacrifices for each other, Frank!" Anne argued, but it wasn't her words.
"Friends do make sacrifices, but not like that! You don't just exchange one friend for another!" Frank angered.
"Yeah? Well, it seems like I dodged a bullet! In fact, ditching you was the best thing I've ever done!" Anne finished her sentence before shifted her anger into shocking look that she would even say that to him after all they've done together in the past and after slightly opening up to each other during their travels.
"Fine." Frank crosse his arms, quietly as Anne walked around him, she ran towards to the lake before she jumped in.
"CANNONBALL!" Anne yelled as the water splashed.
Frank sighed sadly, but not because of that comment. It's because how Anne has changed since then. A friend he knew was becoming like Sasha, but not like this. He just sat there and crosses his legs, putting his down in shame.
Anne stopped playing when she saw him sitting on the shore, but didn't come closer to the water. She thought that cannonballing and playing with Sprig would be fun, but it's no fun without Frank because of that argument. How could she? Sprig swam over to her as they watched Frank drawing into the sand.
"I don't know if it's my place, but is that really true?" Sprig asked.
"(sighs) Yeah, it is..." Anne sighed sadly.
"Well, why not just talk to him and just be friends again?" Sprig asked.
"What's the point? After everything that I've done and said..." Anne paused for a moment, but she couldn't say no more.
Sprig turned back to Frank as he looked back at them, but the boy's eyes widened with terror before he jumped to his feet. He started jumping and flailing his arms with his expression showing nothing, but panic.
"Hmm. Hey, Frank! What are you doing?" Sprig asked.
"Snake..."
"What?"
"Snake..."
"Can you speak louder?!"
"THERE A FREAKING SNAKE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"
Their eyes widened as the snake sticking out of the water, blinking. It's head's shadow looming over them while they're slowly turning around when the snake raised out of the water, revealing its very large, dull brown body, with a light gray underbelly. It had brown spots with a darker shade of outlines across its back, orange eyes with light red, slit pupils. Its fangs stick out of the bottom of its lower jaw, and pink salmon colored spines along its back towards its tail.
The snake stared at the two of them in the water when they both screamed in terror before the snake let out a loud roar. They turned around and started swimming as fast as they could, but the snake gives a chase. Being a frog, Sprig was able to swim faster than her.
"Stupid non-webbed human hands!" Anne complains, before looking back and gasps when the snake lunged down and ate her whole.
"ANNE!" Frank screamed, seeing her being eaten.
With anger, he picked up a rock and gripped tightly in his hand, then he rushed over to the lake, and start hopping across the lily pads. The snake saw him rushing towards it and roared at him, as Frank raised the rock over his head before he brought it smashing down onto the nose of the snake, making its nose bleed as it swatted its tail by knocking Frank onto a lilypad.
The snake hissed and lunged its head at him again, but Frank jumped onto the snake's head to reached down its fangs. Sprig crawled onto one of the lilypads and watched as the snake shook its head wildly in the air, trying to shake him off, but the human boy held on as long as he could before the snake dove down into the water.
Frank struggled to hold his breath and onto the snake before looking down at the fang he was still grasping with a hard yank he ripped out of its jaws. The water snake roared in pain, rearing its head out of the water. Frank twirled the fang around to hold it in reverse by stabbing it in the broken nose, making it screech in pain with every blow before it managed to throw him off and fell into the water as the snake dove down under the surface.
It saw Frank and swam towards him just before it could eat him, but Sprig's tongue reached down into the water and yanked him out of the way just in time. Sprig pulled him out of the water and set him onto the lilypad.
"We've gotta save Anne!" Sprig cried.
"Any ideas?" Frank asked, getting back up again while Sprig jumped onto him and clawed over his body to be hanging onto the back of the human boy.
"I do, but you'll have to trust me." said Sprig as the snake recovered from his injuries, and with a messed up nose and a missing fang before turning its head towards the boys flailing his arms and screaming at it. "HEY! OVER HERE! YOUR MOTHER WAS A WORM!"
The snake hissed angrily. (Translation:) "My mother was a saint!"
It then swam straight towards them. Frank stood his position as the snake's fin stuck out of the water. His plan is to get Anne out of the snake. When the lake serpent was getting closer, Frank and Sprig let out a war cry together and jumped towards it, right before the snake leaped out of the water and opened its jaws and then swallowed them both.
Inside of its mouth, Frank and Sprig's bodies were moved all the way down tight, but slippery and slimy when being pushed further down into its stomach. With the little frog still on his back, Frank grabbed at the inner wall to get a grip just as they entered the stomach. Underneath them was green glowing stomach ache that would have burned them in seconds.
"Sprig?! Frank?!" called out a familiar voice.
Looking over to his right, Frank was surprised to see Anne hanging onto the walls of the stomach just next to them. Anne looked baffled to see the frog and her former best friend inside of the snake with her.
"What are you guys doing?!" Anne shocked.
"What does it look like we're doing? We're getting you out of here!" Frank answered before looking at Sprig. "What's the next part of your plan, Sprig?"
"Uh..."
"Are you kidding me?! Whoa!" Frank yelped as his left leg slipped and nearly fell down into the ache, but quickly regained his footing. "Alright, just let me think of something."
"Why are you doing this, Frank? After everything I've done?" Anne muttered sadly, gaining them attention. "This was all my fault anyway. Just get out of here and leave me. It's what I deserve."
Frank looked at her shocked and surprised. He has never seen her look, but now it's not the time to think.
"Anne, look at me. You're right, this is your fault. It's your fault we're in this mess. But we're not leaving you!" said Frank, making her surprised
"Anne, you used to be my best friend! You were smart, brave, weird, and most of all kind and compassionate! We may not have been friends for years, but if you think you can just come back into my life, just to die like this, then you've got another thing coming. Besides, we're partners and Sprig's first friends."
Anne stared at him with wide eyes, before a stream of tears flowed down her face. Hanging off the stomach's inner layer, she wiped off the tears and grinned with determination.
"Right!"
"I've got an idea!" Sprig got an idea when he reached behind his back and pulled out one of those pain peppers. "So hot, they'll make you wish you were dead."
"Sprig, you magnificent frog!" said Frank.
Sprig dropped the pepper into the stomach ache and it instantly got a reaction. The green liquid turned red as it started bubbling wildly. On the outside, the snake felt painfully hot sensation came from inside its stomach.
Its cheeks puffed out as smoke came out of its broken nostrils before it opened its jaws and released a massive stream of fire by spitting Frank, Anne, and Sprig right out of it and fell in the water. They quickly resurfaced and breathed a deep breath of fresh air, then watched as the snake toppled over after the fire was extinguished before the serpent fell back into the water.
"Glad I didn't have one." said Anne.
"They're actually really delicious." Frank added, then they heard some splash when the snake just roars at them. "Welp, time to go!"
"Go idea!" Anne agrees as the trio swam away ashore to safety.
Back at the Plantars farm, Hop Pop was still sleeping with his eyes open until he finally starting to wake up. Sighing as he blinked and mumbled to himself. However, he quickly realized that he had fallen asleep and gasped.
"I'm up! I'm awake!" He yelped and start to remember why he was in the study, then he looked back and immediately checked the pockets of his jacket, but it was empty
"The key. It's gone! Oh, no. Did they get out?" Hop Pop started to panic and ran over to a window to look outside. "Is the town rioting? Are they dead? Has the kids eaten the kids?! THE WHOLE TOWN!?"
Hop Pop rushes out of the study and ran to the door with the intent to go find the kids, but he stood when he saw the lock was still on the door.
"What's this now? It's still locked." Hop Pop turned towards the basement and walked towards it before opens the door and heard Frank complaining by saying "This game sucks." Hop Pop looked down into the room and saw all them with their clothes back on. Three kids were all huddled around one of his grandson's board games Frank handed the dice to Anne, who started rolling them in her hands.
"Come on. Mama needs a new pair of shoes." Anne stopped for a moment. "Seriously though, I do need new shoes."
"At least you have something on your feet." said Frank, trying to gently pull one of the leaves out of Anne's hair before noticed Hop Pop coming down the stairs. "Hey, HP! What's cracking?"
"Don't call me that." said Hop Pop as walked over to them. "You guys have been here all day, huh?"
"Yeah, dude. I'm on a winning streak." replied Anne.
"That's only because the rules of this game are dumb!" said Frank, gesturing to the game.
"I owe her my first-born child." Sprig said.
"Point taken!" muttered Hop Pop.
"Oh, by the way, Hop Pop. We found this on the floor." Anne said, pulling out the key that they had found on the floor since they got back. "You must have dropped it.
Hop Pop took the key and stared at it for a moment.
"Dang shallow pockets. Well, you get what you pay for." said Hop Pop, slipping the key into his shirt pocket.
"So, what do you say? You trust us now with not eating you all?" Frank asked with a hopeful expression.
"Hmph, trust isn't as easy to earn as it is to break." said Hop Pop, marching up the stairs and exiting the cellar. Just then, Polly went down into the cellar with her rolling pin.
"Aha!" she yelled, expecting to see the two teens trying to eat Sprig, but they couldn't.
"'Sup, Polly?" Anne greeted her.
Polly lowered the rolling pin.
"You're not gonna eat us, are you? You're not even gonna try. Dis... appointing." Polly looked deadpanned, but Frank picked her up, then he tossed her out of the cellar, and then slammed the doors shut. He then walked back down and sat down next to Anne.
"Well, that's over with." said Frank.
"Hey, sorry I almost got us killed today." Anne apologized, rubbing her arm.
"Are you kidding? That was the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me! My heart was beating faster than a dragonfly on a sugar rush. In fact, I'm feeling a little sleepy." Sprig felt a little tired.
"Yeah, I'm wiped out too." Frank chuckled when standing up and went over to his sleeping mat. However, Anne turned to Sprig if she wanted to say something in private.
"Hey, Sprig. Could you give us some privacy to talk?" Anne asked kindly to Sprig.
"Oh! Right, you got it." replied Sprig before he yawns. "Well, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Anne. Goodnight Frank."
"Night, Sprig." said Frank with his eyes closed, laying down with his head against his hands. Sprig hopped up the stairs and left the basement when the door closed.
Anne watched him as he prepped himself for bedtime and looked sad that she never got a chance to apologize to him. She couldn't help but felt guilty that she had an argument with him like the last time she was forced to end her friendship with him. She exhaled and started to whispered
"Frank?" Anne whispers.
"Yeah?" Frank asked, not opening his eyes.
"Are you awake?"
"No."
"Cool...Cool… I...can we talk?"
Frank sighed and sat up before turning his attention to her as the Thai girl sat down on her bed too.
"I owe you more than just an apology, Frank. And not just for forcing you and Sprig into going to the lake and not just for stealing from your grandma's shop...I need to apologize, for everything..." Anne trailed off.
"Anne, you don't have to..." Frank's word cut off.
"Yes! I do! I abandoned you for God's sake. I ended our friendship, not thinking twice about your feelings. Everything that's happened to us was my fault! I'm sorry for that...a-and...I'm sorry for being a horrible friend...I'm so sorry, Frank." Anne cried when shed her tears.
Frank watched her in silence as Anne panted for air and wiped her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She wanted to continue, but there's no point of for a reply or asking him forgiveness.
"I understand if you don't wanna forgive me. Honestly, I don't expect you to." said Anne, softly.
"You're right. You shouldn't. Because there's no easy way out of this, Anne." said Frank, lowered his head with a depressed expression. "You know, I remember when we were kids. I didn't really have a lot of friends. I was shy and kind of a scaredy cat. But, I also had...the best friends in the world, once. I really did."
She looked at him as the boy continues.
"I always felt safe around you, Anne. And I grew to be braver because of you. Brave enough to stand up to Sasha when she started changing into who she is now. And when I was…" Frank paused to hold his emotion because he knew that she couldn't see him crying, but decided to let it out. "And honestly, I miss that so much. I miss the people we used to be, Anne. I miss not being alone..."
Anne clenched her heart, seeing the boy she knew was crying. It made her sad and shed her tears softly.
"But I guess that'll only be a distant memory, from another lifetime. I don't know why life sucks. Or we're here together. Or why that music box sent us to this world. And I especially cannot, for the life of me, figure out why the universe decided to put you, Sasha, Marcy, and anyone else back into my life." said Frank the tears started to died off, Anne grabbed her arms and held them tightly.
"Do you still want anything to do with me?" She asked, shutting her eyes and waiting for rejection.
"Franne against the world, remember?"
Anne's eyes snapped wide open when she heard that. She looked up to see Frank went over and knelt down. She remembered when they used to do everything each other before they ended their friendship. He really wanted to reform his friendship with her.
"There's no going back to how things were, Anne. But...we are all we've got. That's why...maybe we can start over. Start a new friendship, all the way from square one. What do you say? Prove to me that you're worthy of being my friend again, Anne Boonchuy." said Frank sincerely, holding out his hand to her.
Anne stared at the hand reaching out to her, eyes widened and absolutely speechless by his words. Her tears slowly started to leak out again before she lunged and hugged him tightly. Frank's eyes widened at this sudden action, as she started crying happily.
"I will. I promise." Anne whispered.
This made Frank smile as tears formed in his eyes, before hugging her back. They held each other in their arms for a moment before letting go as Frank went back over to his sleeping mat as Anne sat back down. For the first time ever, she felt happier. She had Frank back, the bestest friend that she ever cared about. She held out the photo of her and her friends, praying that they'll be safe.
"I hope you guys are okay, because I am." said Anne with a smile before she laid down on her mat and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "Frank, I'm sorry for what I said at the lake, and I got us into this mess. But...I'm lucky to have you as a friend."
"We'll both figure out a way out of this world. Together with." said Frank, smiling.
"Franne again the world?" Anne blushed a little before reaching out her fist.
"Franne against the world." Frank fist-bumped to hers before closing their eyes and drifting off into sleep. They've had a long road to recovery, but now they were finally ready to take the first step.
Meanwhile at the Toad Tower of the South, when it's raining with lighting storm. Inside the dungeon, there was toad wearing an armor that held up a shoe. A yellow sneaker that recently belong to a certain girl when it was lost.
"Take a look at this please, Sasha, Ethan. It was found far from here, in the South Forest. Now we know that you've been lying to us. Now we know that there are more of you."
The thunder flashes when it two more of the human teens, Sasha and Ethan that they have been captured and locked up in a dungeons for days. They crossed their arms and their legs like they were tired and hungry as Ethan looked frightened while Sasha just glared at the toad. The only question remain is how will they ever gonna get out of this dungeon.
It appears that Sasha and Ethan were both separated from the group after they were transported to a deepest, darkest woods. Now that's the story for which you may know. As of now, it'll take time to catch up rather than rushing. Just to let you know that I'll be attending three day events of Fan Fusion in just one week and I'll be happy to meet some celebrities and look around. Hope you enjoyed reading and I'll be seeing ya, real soon!
Amphibia (c) Disney
Frank Ramirez (c) Cowboy-Alchemist
Ethan Day (c) aggiefrogger.
