Everything's Wrong

All of them but John threw-up out a window the instant so-called 'hustle time' was over, but Clay couldn't deny the results.

What would've likely been at least a full day and night of travel had been cut down to mere minutes, as John declared they'd stopped approximately ten minutes away from Bergen Town. All they had to do was find the town, double check the direction, and then circle around it and start heading straight towards their lost siblings.

They were nearly there. So close.

They just needed a couple more minutes to recover.

"I promise the first time is the worst." Clay could feel John patting his back sympathetically as he hung halfway out the window groaning, waiting until his body didn't feel like it was about to vomit up his intestines.

By the time he dragged himself back in, Viva and Bruce had more-or-less recovered as well, though still looked queasy.

"You couldn't just get us straight to the new village with that?" Bruce asked, sitting on the ground and leaning against a cupboard.

"Don't have enough direction for it. 'North of Bergen Town' is too vague, we'd end up way off course. But we've skirted around here before, so…" John said with a shrug.

"You've actually come back here?" Clay asked incredulously.

"Only a couple times. Went back to the Tree once, then back with Rhonda a few times to see if they'd restarted Trollstice. I figured if they hadn't, it meant everyone was… maybe okay. Or already all dead. But at least not actively being eaten." John winced as he continued the explanation, finally waving a hand dismissively. "Point is, Rhonda can't hustle anywhere if she hasn't either been there before or has a specific guide, like a scent to follow or something."

"When you went back to the Tree, is that when you left your note?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah," John said, before doing a double-take. "Wait, right, you found my note. When did you go back to the Tree?"

Bruce nodded, sheepishly scratching at his arm. "Like, eight years or something after the band broke up. When did you go back?"

"Nearly five years after, give or take a few months." John leaned against the wall, loosely shaking his head. "Still can't believe the state of that place… it must've been even worse when you got there."

"So when… when did it all happen?" Bruce asked, tilting his head in Clay and Viva's direction. "You two were… you were there, right?"

Clay immediately averted his gaze to look at Viva, who was stubbornly looking down at her fingernails. "Yeah, I suppose so," she muttered, all the excitement from learning of her sister's survival nowhere to be seen.

"The escape happened about four years after the band broke up, so John, you would've just missed it," Clay said. They were already so close to that awful place, no point making Viva retell the story. "I wasn't there for it though."

John and Bruce's eyes both widened, though John spoke first. "You weren't? But I thought–"

"I left the Tree like ten months after we broke up, and then came back a couple years after everyone else escaped. None of us were there, except for Branch and Grandma."

His older brothers were both silent for a moment, pained expressions on their faces. None of them could seem to bring themselves to make eye contact. Viva was stiff and still where she was sitting on the ground next to Clay, her eyes distant.

"Okay," Clay finally said. "Let's get this over with. We just need to get a visual on Bergen Town and then we can start making our way around it. If we see any Bergens, we flee unless we get cornered, and then we fight. Viva and I have maneuvers already planned if we need to fight, so don't get in our way." He directed a particularly pointed look at John, who nodded in surprising acceptance.

"Don't worry, bro. Rhonda can be real stealthy when she feels like it."

He jumped back in the front seat, Bruce shooting Clay and Viva a slightly concerned look before heading to the couch. Clay took Viva's hand and gently squeezed it, pulling her up to her feet and walking to the front so they could watch as they got closer.

It wouldn't take long. They'd find Bergen Town, and then just go around it. Easy. Then they'd find the village and they'd never have to come back here again. They could leave it behind, forever this time.

Clay watched intently as they made their way through the forest, Rhonda going a bit slower than normal, weaving around trees and bushes rather than sticking to more open paths.

It took about eight minutes before they caught their first glimpse of the town, thin wisps of smoke rising from above the village and the tallest towers of the castle visible through the trees. With that as a guide, they began skirting around, mostly heading north but trying to keep at least a part of the town in sight until it was behind them.

All four of them were nearly deathly silent within Rhonda as they traveled, Bergen Town slowly shifting from being in front of them to the side of them. Bruce began to pace restlessly at the back, John was very focused on his driving, and Clay never lost sight of the town for a second.

The town which… seemed a lot cleaner than he remembered.

And brighter.

At one point, they stumbled upon a clearing of sorts, a spot where the trees suddenly parted, giving them a far better view of the town.

A view of banners hanging from windows and towers of the castle. Balloons, floating in the air. Like a celebration. The Bergens were having a celebration.

But Bergens had never had anything to celebrate.

Nothing except Trollstice.

"Something's wrong," he whispered. "Bruce, what did the town look like when you came back?"

Bruce frowned, the atmosphere in Rhonda having gone from tense to deadly in an instant. "It was… dark, and gross, and awful? The Tree was all overgrown and messy…"

"Like the Bergens hadn't had any Trolls in around eight years?" Clay's eyes were still laser-focused on Bergen Town. Rhonda had come to a stop, all of them looking out the window now.

"Yeah…" Bruce was behind the rest of them.

John cursed under his breath. "You don't think… maybe the Bergens heard about the Rock Apocalypse too?"

A million different possibilities were running through Clay's head, each worse than the last. If the Bergens had heard of the Rock Apocalypse, which seemed to have been a pretty big deal, maybe they'd been able to track down the Pop Trolls again. Maybe they'd all been recaptured, taken back to Bergen Town, and were all about to be eaten. Maybe they already had been eaten.

Maybe the Bergens had been searching all this time, and this had been their lucky moment.

There was no other way they could be happy enough to have banners and balloons.

Maybe they were already too late.

"We have to investigate." Clay heard his voice like it was someone else speaking. "We have to find out what they're doing."

"Like, go in town?" Bruce asked.

"Climb up the outsides, get up on the roofs." Viva's voice was almost clinical, her hands gripping Clay's so tightly he couldn't even really feel it. Or maybe he just couldn't feel much of anything right now. "We can get height, and see what's happening."

"Agreed." Clay finally stepped back from the front window.

"Woah, guys, let's pause for a moment," John said, getting out of his seat and putting a hand on Clay's shoulder. "What's the plan here?"

"Sneak up to Bergen Town and find out if the Bergens have trolls."

"And if they do?"

Clay hesitated. A full-scale mission in Bergen Town itself wasn't something he'd ever planned for. It was unthinkable. But they couldn't just do nothing. "We rescue who we can and come back for the rest."

"No Troll left behind," Viva said softly.

"You can stay if you want." Clay went to shrug John's hand off his shoulder, but his brother's grip was firm.

"Of course we're not gonna stay here, we're going with you. But you two–" he hesitated, looking past the two of them towards Bruce.

"You two are looking seriously freaked right now," Bruce finished John's thought.

"The last time we were here wasn't exactly pleasant," Clay said honestly. John's hand remaining on his shoulder and Viva clutching his hand felt like the only things keeping him from dissolving into nothingness, so he stayed put to let his brothers finish.

"Tell us what we need to do to help," Bruce said, John nodding in agreement.

"Just follow us. And stay quiet." Viva started to move, pulling Clay along.

They all fell in step behind her, John grabbing his weapon as they left Rhonda and Bruce grabbing a random stick off the ground seemingly just to be holding something too. Considering he'd lost his weapon a few days ago, Clay also had to improvise, finding a more suitable stick than what Bruce had as well as a decent rock and starting to whittle. It wouldn't be the greatest spear in the world, but anything was better than nothing.

It took a few minutes for them to make it to the edge of Bergen Town, where the steep cliff sides lifted the town up from the forest surrounding it. Clay and Viva both had their sticky hands, but there weren't many useful roots or things sticking out from the rock for Bruce and John to use to swing up with their hair.

Clay frowned at the problem for a moment, trying to spot a path that would be easier for his brothers.

"Hey, I'll call Rhonda back over. She's a great climber, she can get us up," John whispered. "It'll be quick, too."

He was probably right, but the idea of going back inside Rhonda right now made Clay itch with nerves. They needed freedom of movement, if a Bergen caught Rhonda with them inside, they were doomed.

"Okay. We'll go up ahead, you two follow with Rhonda," Clay decided.

"Are you sure?" John asked, and Clay nodded.

"We'll make sure the path is clear. If it is, we'll whistle down."

John looked hesitant, but Bruce nodded in agreement. "You got it, bro. Be careful."

Clay nodded, before turning to face the steep walls of Bergen Town with Viva.

Not exactly what they'd spent years preparing for, but they were ready nonetheless.

It was a taller wall than they'd ever had to scale while practicing at the Hole N' Fun, but the concept was the same. Reach up with the sticky hand to launch himself, then release at the apex of his jump to swing up higher and bungee down to regather momentum and keep going.

Stopping to catch their breath would lose them all their upward movement, so by the time Clay reached the top his arms were aching. Still, he tucked into a ball and rolled to the nearest house wall, searching for a crevice to get his bearings in.

He found himself at the end of an empty street, tall and narrow buildings reaching up around them. Towards the center of town, he could hear voices. Excited voices, anticipatory voices.

Viva had rolled to a house on the opposite side of the street, looking in the direction of the noise before looking back at him and making an all-clear signal.

Nodding, Clay jogged back to the edge of the wall and whistled twice. Less than a minute later, Rhonda clambered up the wall, having seemingly run directly upwards.

"What's next?" John asked, guiding Rhonda to a hiding spot behind the building where she wouldn't be spotted by any passing Bergen.

Clay pointed upwards. "Vantage point. Find out where the Bergens are, then see if we can locate any trolls."

There were far more things for John and Bruce to grab with their hair off the buildings, so Rhonda was given instructions to stay put unless called for. As useful as she was, she was also incredibly conspicuous, so calling for her would be a last resort. The four trolls climbed their way up to the top of the building and began running across the roofs, heading towards the center of town.

Towards the Troll Tree.

As they got closer, they began to see more banners, streamers, and balloons. Some of the banners had the faces of the Bergen Prince on them – or at least, he had been the prince the last Clay remembered, perhaps he was King now – along with a female Bergen he didn't recognize at all. There were rings, pictures of cakes, and stylised images of the two in a suit and gown.

A wedding. It was a wedding. A royal wedding.

He picked up the pace, forgoing the sticky hand entirely and simply leaping and rolling from rooftop to rooftop if he could make the gap. The Troll Tree was visible now, the top branches bright and colorful. Hadn't Bruce said the Tree had been overgrown?

It didn't look overgrown now. It looked healthy, and looked… lived in.

They only stopped when the town center was finally in view, ducking behind a chimney, pressing against the brick to remind themselves to breathe again before they peered around to investigate.

Okay. Observations.

Observation one. The Tree was healthy again, with no sign of overgrown branches or weeds. The iron gates that had always surrounded it were completely gone, which Clay couldn't understand at all, and part of the grass seemed to have been set up as the altar. A carpet ran through the middle of the cobblestones with chairs set up on either side, Bergens filing in and taking seats on one side of the carpet.

Observation two. On the other half, were trolls. Dozens of trolls, hundreds of trolls. After spending twenty years with a community of barely fifty, Clay had forgotten what so many trolls looked like all together. They were perched on the chairs, too far away for Clay to tell what they were doing but they were there.

Just… on the chairs.

Not in cages, or pots. Just… free.

While the Bergens were right there.

"Something's weird here," John whispered while Clay was still trying to process the picture in front of him. "They look… fine?"

That couldn't be right, there had to be some kind of explanation. There must be some kind of coercion, maybe there were trolls being held captive elsewhere, maybe this was all some kind of sick charade, maybe there was a trap if any of them tried to leave-

"Poppy." In amongst the confusion bubbling in his brain, Clay barely heard Viva's faint whisper.

In the next instant, she was gone, jumping down to the outskirts of the town center, obviously intending to run around the edge until she got to where she wanted to go.

Clay didn't hesitate before he jumped after her, his brothers' surprised voices left behind.

Viva was a blur, sprinting across the cobblestones before suddenly switching direction and darting underneath a row of chairs towards the front before finally slowing down. Clay caught up to her, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention.

When her eyes flickered his way, he pointed up towards the chairs they were under, whispering. With the chatter and din above them, they didn't need to particularly worry about being silent. "Rescue?"

Viva nodded, tilting her head towards the front row. "I saw her."

"Grab and run?" Clay asked. "We won't be able to get everyone, not without the Bergens noticing."

"Poppy will know what's going on here, we can get her, ask her why everyone is just standing here, and then make a plan for everyone else."

"Okay. You do the grab, I'll do the run."

This was not a good plan. They were out in the open, they were exposed, everyone was in danger. If the Bergens spotted them doing this, everyone else could get in trouble. If they got caught they were doomed.

But there were too many Bergens to fight. They could try to get everyone to scatter all at once, but they had no idea what kind of preparations the Bergens had in place for that sort of thing. They simply wouldn't let all of the trolls be standing there unless they had something to keep them there.

Most of all, Clay knew Viva wasn't going to leave without Poppy. She wasn't going to fall back and regroup, she wasn't going to wait until they had more information. She'd seen her sister, somewhere in here, and she was getting her back now.

So Clay was going to help her.

Hopefully, Poppy would know what the Bergens had in place, and they would be able to make a better plan.

"Down that alley, and then up to the roof." Viva pointed to the closest set of buildings, a narrow street in between them with plenty of spots for them to jump to and from.

"Got it." Clay gave her a final nod before tucking into a ball and rolling towards the buildings, ready to catch Poppy.

"Clay! Clay!" John's voice was a hissed mixture of someone trying to shout quietly, him and Bruce running up to him at the side of the building. "What are you doing?"

"Viva's grabbing her sister, then we're gonna regroup and work out what to do next."

"Dude, I don't think they're in trouble," Bruce said, holding up his hands.

"It's Bergens," Clay scoffed, not taking his eye off Viva for a moment. She was waiting for the perfect moment, for the closest Bergens to all be distracted by something else.

There was a flurry of movement somewhere near the back of the wedding setup, and Viva struck, swinging her sticky hand out and hitting in on one of the chairs, catching a troll and immediately flinging her in Clay's direction.

"There's nothing stopping them from leaving!" John was in the middle of trying to explain something but Clay wasn't listening because Poppy was shrieking in surprise as she flew – now they really needed to run – and he started running backwards to make sure he caught her, twisting to the side at the last moment so he didn't get knocked flat on his back but instead was able to roll to the side, scraping his leg but managing to get up and start running immediately.

"What the HECK?" Poppy exclaimed, clinging to Clay seemingly out of instinct as he swung out his own sticky hand and started to jump up. She was a little lighter than Viva, a crown on her head and with different hair, but he had no doubt she was his girlfriend's sister.

"Hang on!"

It only took a few swings for them to get to the roof and Clay could let Poppy go, still holding onto her hand so he could pull her to a crouching position. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah?" Poppy looked at him in bewilderment, opening her mouth to say something else, but Clay started pulling her along. Now they needed distance. "Hey! Stop!"

She dug in her heels and yanked her arm out of Clay's grip, nearly making him slip on the roof. What was she doing? "We need to go before the Bergens realize we're up here!"

He reached out to grab her hand again, Viva would kill him if he didn't get her to safety.

But before he could touch her, dark navy hair wrapped around his wrist and yanked.

He was over the side of the roof before he could react, desperately trying to twist to get his sticky hand ready to grab something in time.

The building was too short, he wasn't going to have enough time-

"Clay!"

More hair grabbed him, this time around the waist, knocking the air out of his lungs when he was pulled to the side, slamming into someone's chest, arms immediately wrapping around him.

"Dude, are you okay?"

He'd been pulled to a window awning, suddenly realizing Bruce was the one holding him, keeping him from slipping off the perch in his shock, John next to them and speaking. "Clay, talk to me, bro,"

What was going on?

He saw a flash of pink darting up the building, unfamiliar voices up above, a rumble of confusion coming from the direction of the town center.

"Let go–" He wiggled out of Bruce's arms, undoing his sticky hand properly.

"Clay, something's going on here, we need to chill for like two seconds and–"

He was already swinging up, his brothers cursing below him.

Clay landed on the roof again, panting. When he'd been pulled off, it had only been him and Poppy there. Now there were four, including him.

Viva, breathing heavily like him, stood in the middle of the roof, her sticky hand still out like she'd only just landed.

She was staring at Poppy, who was standing where Clay had unintentionally left her, next to another troll he didn't recognize. One who looked to be about Poppy's age, with muted blue skin and dark navy hair. One who… who almost looked familiar.

When Clay landed on the roof, the familiar-unfamiliar troll dropped into a ready stance, hands held up just like John did when he thought they were about to get into a fight. Poppy was far more casual, looking confused more than anything.

"Poppy, we need to go." Viva darted forward, hesitating when the familiar-unfamiliar troll stood in front of Poppy.

Viva paused for a moment, before reaching for her weapon. "Step away from her."

"Uh, no. I don't think I will," the other troll said incredulously. "You're kidnapping her? We've had enough of that recently, thanks."

"I'm saving you." Viva was only looking at Poppy, taking a pleading step forward. "We have to get away from the Bergens, they're going to find us if we–"

"No, no, wait." Poppy put a hand on the other trolls' shoulder, stepping around him to be at his side rather than behind. "We don't need to get away from the Bergens, they're our friends!"

Clay couldn't help but laugh brokenly, feeling lightheaded, while Viva only flinched.

"N-no, they're not."

Dimly, Clay recognized John and Bruce climbing up somewhere behind him, the familiar-unfamiliar troll tensing up again before his eyes widened, now staring at them rather than at Viva.

"We've been friends with the Bergens for like, more than a year now," Poppy was saying, a nervous smile on her face. "You don't… you look like Pop Trolls, where did you come from?"

Viva was almost vibrating, her entire body wound tight and ready to snap. Clay felt like he was glued to the floor, his heart pounding in his ears.

Something was wrong. Of all the truths he knew in the world, the threat of the Bergens ranked chief among them.

Bergens had eaten Trolls for years.

Bergens had eaten his parents.

Bergens were the reason he had never been able to find his brothers, were the reason Viva had been forced to lead a tribe at the age of thirteen, and were the reason they'd spent two decades training and preparing for the worst every single day.

Just about everything bad that had ever happened in his life was because of the Bergens.

They couldn't be friends. They couldn't be allies. They couldn't even be acquaintances.

Why was this other troll looking at him like that?

"I think we all need to take a breath and cool down for a moment," Bruce said, somewhere a million miles behind him. "I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"Poppy…" Viva said, breathlessly. "It's me."

"Wait–" The other troll suddenly spoke up, a million emotions running through his face. "Spruce?"

What?

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." Poppy still had an awkward smile on her face, taking a step closer. "Buuuuut, I'd love to get to know you! Though maybe after the wedding of my best friend, I am kinda the maid of honor, so…"

Another thing that couldn't possibly be true. Because the wedding was for two Bergens. So that just… It just couldn't be true. Something was wrong,

"Bitty B?" That was John's voice, the name enough to break through the static building in Clay's brain as his entire reality shifted around him. Branch.

Branch?

The familiar-unfamiliar troll (no, just familiar. Different colors but so familiar) blinked at them, seeming just as stunned as him. "John Dory? Clay?"

"No, no, that doesn't make sense." Viva was starting to sound almost manic. "Bergens are evil, your best friend can't–"

Two entirely different conversations were crashing into each other right in front of him and Clay felt like he was about to explode. Every word was distant yet deafening at the same time, his head was hurting, everything was wrong.

"They've changed! I guess you haven't been around since they did, wherever you've been, but that's okay!" Poppy said, still smiling brightly.

"No, no." Viva reached out to Poppy before pulling back, her eyes shimmering. "You have to come with me, we're going to get out of here. Whatever they've been doing, it must be a trick, you have to trust me–"

"I promise, it's not a trick."

"Branch! You're alive!"

"You guys…? What are you doing here? Where have you been?"

"It has to be a trick, they can't… Poppy, I'm your sister, you have to believe me, we have to go!"

Finally, Clay's body tripped into motion again, stumbling towards Viva.

The other troll – Branch, it was Branch. Under any other circumstance he would be thrilled; he would be picking up his baby brother and spinning him around, he would be jumping for joy, but everything was wrong and the universe was flipping upside down and he didn't know what to do – had taken a step back from John and Bruce, who had at some point walked forward, disbelieving grins on their faces.

Viva was shaking, her hands curled up tight to her chest as if protecting herself.

Poppy was just staring. Not in recognition, not in sudden joy, not in anything but confusion and bewilderment. "I… I don't have a sister."

"What's going on up there?" A voice shouted from down below, loud and gravelly. A Bergen.

Clay's heart skipped a beat and Viva violently flinched, stepping back with a whimper like Poppy's words had been a stab in the heart.

Slowly, things were starting to rearrange.

Observation one. Branch was here. He was alive.

Observation two. The trolls were walking freely in Bergen Town, an impossibility.

Explanation. The Bergens were friendly now. Unfathomable.

Observation three. Viva was one moment away from completely collapsing.

Clay crept towards her, reaching out a hand to put on her shoulder to be an anchor, a reassurance, anything. Just to give her something that wasn't smashing everything they had known for their entire lives.

"Is everything okay, Poppy?" Another Bergen voice, more feminine but distinctly raspy. "Do we need to climb up there?"

In the same instant as the Bergen spoke, Clay's hand brushed Viva's shoulder. When she tensed rather than relaxed, he knew it was the wrong move.

Her leg swept his feet out from under him before he could react, the back of his head smacking the tiled roof amidst shouts of shock from the others.

"Clay!"

"Are you okay?"

"Viva! Come back!" That was John shouting out, and Clay opened his eyes to see Viva was gone, sprinting across the next rooftop like a deer fleeing a bushfire. There was no plan, no trajectory, just desperate flight.

"Viva, wait–" Hands tried to grab his to help him up but he pushed them all away, rolling over to try to scramble to his feet as well and run after her. "VIVA!"

"Clay, STOP!"

"Let me GO!" His head was pounding, his back ached with every movement, but he had to follow her. He couldn't let her go alone, it wasn't safe-

"Clay." Suddenly Bruce was in front of him, hands holding his shoulders firmly in place. "Clay, you need to breathe."

Clay was pretty sure he'd stopped breathing somewhere back in the forest. "I need to go after her!"

"We will, I promise." Bruce's voice was stressed but firm, thumbs rubbing circles into the top of Clay's shoulders. "We'll find her. We just can't be looking for you too."

"We have to go now!"

"JD's calling Rhonda, he'll help you. Just wait a minute. Breathe."

Bruce took a long, slow breath in as an example. Clay couldn't manage anything more than a series of shallow, stuttered half-breaths, but the longer Bruce did it, the closer Clay was able to get. Still nowhere close to what most would call calm, but he was at least getting enough oxygen to feel like he wasn't one moment away from passing out.

"What is going on?"

"I don't know." Bruce kept talking calmly, kept breathing. "I'll stay here with Branch and figure it out."

"It's dangerous–"

"I don't think it is anymore. Just worry about Viva, okay?"

"I don't know which way she went!"

"We all saw. JD will take you in the right direction. I know you'll find her."

Clay did his best to inhale, squeezing his eyes shut and ignoring the buzz of pain in the back of his head. When he opened them, Bruce was weakly smiling.

"Okay. JD's got Rhonda ready now. When you find her, come back here, okay? I'll meet you here."

He nodded, tearing his gaze away from Bruce to look for JD, spotting Rhonda first. Bruce loosened his grip on his shoulders and Clay ran over as soon as he was free to move, stumbling through the open door.

John had him wrapped in a hug as soon as he stepped in, and Clay didn't have the energy to fight it. "Let's get going, bro. Don't want her getting any further ahead of us."

Clay nodded mutely, letting John pull him up to the front, clinging to the back of the driver's seat so he could see out.

They were in the town of their nightmares and everything was wrong.

Author's Note: Ahhhh! Branch is here! All the brothers have been found and everything's going to be okay! Right? Maybe? Hopefully… And poor Clay and Viva. Bros can't even have a happy/proper reunion with their younger siblings because of all the confusion and chaos happening right now :( Hopefully they'll get another chance though

Honestly, I don't think the bros had any right to recognize Branch in the movies as fast as they did 😭 It's been 20 years since they last saw each other, not to mention Branch was a BABY, and his entire color palette literally changed along with his general physical appearance. If Viva didn't recognize Poppy right away, then I really think neither should the brothers for Branch.