The drive back to grandma's was pretty silent for a long time…until Branch decided to break the ice.
"So uhm...how did grandma die? Did she get eaten by a bergen?" he asked his brothers, both who unfortunately had a shocked reaction as John Dory immediately stopped the caravan and looked at Branch in shock.
"HUH!? Grandma got eaten!?" exclaimed Clay who was now freaking out over the fact.
Floyd facepalms at this "Branch what part of going to the house do you not get as far as waiting to talk about all this?" He said.
"oh...sorry.." Branch apologized.
"..*sigh*..you're ok branch" John Dory said as he starts Rhonda up and drives again.
"Grandma didn't get eaten, that would be cannibalism. But the Bergens did kill her. Just for clarification." Bruce explained.
"yeah...that's an awful way to die…" said Clay as he started to shiver in fear.
And so, after a few minutes, they made it to grandma's house.
"Ok guys, we're here, let's head inside" said John Dory as he turns off Rhonda and gets off the seat.
"Ok JD" said Clay as he got up and headed to the door.
Floyd gets up and pats Branch's back with a small reassuring smile.
Bruce also gets out of the car as he starts thinking, 'This is gonna be a very weird and very interesting conversation.'
Branch gets up and heads out of the car and walks to the house and John Dory, who is now at the porch, opens the door of the place and lets his bros in.
"Thanks JD" said Clay as he heads inside first
"Thanks Bro" said Floyd as he walked in after Clay.
"Yeah, thank you," said Bruce as he smiled before heading in behind the others.
"Thanks," said Branch as he went into the house.
After that, JD closes the door and heads to the living room where his brothers are waiting.
Clay was sitting on the couch, including Bruce, Floyd and Bruce were also sitting in the same spots as earlier in the day and finally, JD then sat on the same couch.
And now, it was time to discuss what they were all thinking about,
"Ok so clearly everyone has a lot of questions but I think most of them will be answered if branch starts." said Floyd.
"I agree but also I believe it needs to be said that we know you aren't our branch but you are still unquestionably branch. Whatever is going on isn't gonna change us helping you with whatever is going on with this gem of harmony." said Bruce, who looked understanding.
"Yeah Branch or Bush, you're still our brother" said Clay.
"Yup we're here for you, Bitty B" said John Dory.
"Right, we will never leave you behind," said Floyd.
Branch honestly wasn't expecting that coming from Bruce, Clay, John Dory and Floyd, he actually thought that they were like his own brothers from his home but these guys were definitely different from the brothers who left him alone with their grandma as a baby, it almost drove him to tears.
"...y-you mean it?.." Branch whispered as he tried holding back his tears.
"110% mean it" said Floyd.
"Yeah we're your brothers," said John Dory.
"yeah we're with you, even if the truth is pretty crazy" Saud Clay.
"like our grandma getting cannibalized crazy or me having 13 kids crazy if your earlier outs are anything to go by" remarked Bruce.
Branch felt relieved that they were willing to stay by his side so he now decided that it was time to tell them the truth "...thank you guys...ok uhm...here's the truth...I'm not...whatever we are called...what are we?" He starts to say.
"Uh...we're called humans?" said JD.
"and we live on the planet earth, the only planet that supports life" said Clay.
"Well..if you're not human..Then what are you? Because clearly you LOOK human." asked Bruce.
Branch took a deep breath, knowing that once he tells the truth, there's no going back but he also knows that he has to do this if he wants these humans to help him in his mission, "...I'm a troll...from another world.." he finally said as he now waits for their responses.
The silence from the human brothers was VERY loud until Clay broke it.
"...say what?" he said in an super confused way.
"A troll? From another world? Am I hearing this correctly?" Asked John Dory, who was like Clay, Super Confused.
"Uh..Like one of those wood doll things in the 2000s? The ones with the weird hair that gave you nightmares? RIGHT JOHN?," Bruce asked as he looked at JD with a mischievous grin.
JD paled at this "T-THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO A SECRET, BRUCE!" He exclaimed, now feeling embarrassed.
"OH YEAH! I remember that we pranked John that those troll dolls were going to kill him in his sleep" said Clay as he started laughing.
Floyd then pulls up a picture of a wooden troll doll and exclusively starts showing it to John "Aw they're cute, you were scared of these, Johnny Boy?" He asked with a smirk.
"A-AH! KEEP THAT AWAY!" John began to freaked out.
"HAHAHAHAHA! WE DEFINITELY GOT YOU GOOD THAT TIME!" Clay began laughing his butt off more.
Branch was starting to feel that they were not taking him seriously about this "...guys...I'm being serious" he said as he pouted.
"Oops, Sorry, go on ahead." said Bruce.
"Yeah Continue Branch," said Clay
"We're all ears, you have the spotlight now," said John Dory.
Floyd saves the picture to terrorize John later, "Sorry we got a bit carried away." he said.
"Thank you..as I was saying, in my world, I belong to a group of trolls based on a music genre known as The Pop Trolls," Branch started to explain to them.
The human brothers began to process this information branch was telling them.
"Pop Trolls?" Clay said with wide eyes, meaning that he's actually getting interested.
"wait..so..basically you're a music troll?" asked John Dory.
"Huh…I guess you can say that" said Branch, who is now rethinking his existence.
"Ok So you're a pop music troll, that's interesting but I have had this burning question in my mind ever since this morning when I mentioned that crystal…Why did you need to come here for the gem of harmony?" asked Floyd.
"Oh Right, Creek took it from my world and brought it to your world" Branch gave his answer.
"really? Oh that reminds me, why do you hate this creek?" asked John Dory, not understanding why Branch hates this creek so much.
"Oh that's easy, he sold out my tribe to be fed to bergens to save his own skin and he is a jerkface" said Branch.
Everyone was shocked by what he said about his hatred for Creek.
"HOLY...HUH!?" exclaimed Clay.
"HE DID WHAT!?" John Dory screamed in shock.
"...That jackass.." muttered Floyd.
"That is a scummy move…wait a minute…i just realized something, Aren't Bergens not the same as trolls in your world?" Asked Bruce.
"What Do you mean by that, Bruce?" asked Branch.
"I'll answer this one, Bruce," said John Dory as he started to explain what the Bergans are in the human world.
"ok so here in this world, they are human just like us but they were a bad criminal gang you didn't wanna cross up with until last year or so." he said.
Branch was obviously experiencing a type of culture shock when John Dory explained what the Bergans are in this world and Floyd noticed this.
"So Branch…are the Bergans in your world like ours?" He asked him.
Branch then began explaining his world's Bergens to the human brothers,"No..they were miserable giants and they used to eat trolls because we give them the ability to be happy..until Poppy was able to convince them that they have happiness in their hearts all along and we became friends with them including their king and his girlfriend-now-wife after that"
The human brothers were obviously shocked by this new info.
"Not to mention, Poppy's the queen of pop in my world and my girlfriend," said Branch.
"HOLY SHIT, you're dating royalty!?" Clay exclaimed.
"If poppy and viva are sisters in this world they likely are in that world so… clay you would also be dating royalty."
"...OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT! THAT'S SO AWESOME"
"Heh, looks like our two bros got more game than we thought, right bruce?" said John Dory
"They learned from the best, John," said Bruce, who smirked proudly.
"yeah..and I have brothers who are like you guys..and we called ourselves Brozone" Said Branch.
"Oh..so that's how you came up with that" said John Dory.
"also…at the cafe, you said that I almost died?" Asked Floyd.
"you were held captive at a place called Mount Rageous by Twin Talentless Mount Rageons named Velvet and Veneer who were sucking the talent out of you in a diamond perfume bottle" Branch explains.
"...holy shit that sucks.." said John Dory.
"...wait, is diamond unbreakable?" asked Bruce.
"Well under the right circumstances, diamonds can be broken," said Clay.
"How were you able to free floyd?" John Dory asked.
"with the perfect family harmony, and an song I wrote a long time ago"
"huh...sounds like a good song collection," said John Dory.
"So in your world Floyd is dead because he got his talent sucked away?" asked Bruce.
"yeah...but only for a short while...he was able to recover from his torture" Branch explains.
"Oh thank god.." Clay breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, Well I'm glad he's okay.." said Floyd but deep down, he's still angry at the troll version of him for giving Branch an empty promise.
"yeah..oh! I also saved the world from the rock apocalypse 2 years ago" said Branch, but the brothers were now more confused.
"wait…did you say..Rock Apocalypse?" asked John Dory, now looking more fearful.
"Yeah John" said Branch.
"Like rock n roll or like actual rock monsters?" asked Bruce.
"Rock n Roll, and to recap, the Queen of The Hard Rock Trolls, Brab was taking the strings of every troll tribe : Country, Funk, Techno, Classical and Pop so she can play the ultimate power cord, which turns a troll who is not a rock troll into a rock zombie"
"...this reminds me of that insane rock concert that the city suffered 2 years ago"
"I unfortunately remember that happening…"
"So from all this I think we can assume your world events are like ours and vice versa. So what exactly does this gem do?"
"It contains the six elements of harmony : Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Music…if Creek finds a way to use it...the voices of everyone will be taken away" said Branch who looked down in terror.
"...oh my god…" said JD, shocked
"that sounds horrible" said Floyd
"what would a would without music even be like?" said Bruce.
"It will be silent for all of us.." said Branch.
"this is getting serious...and I'm all for seriousness" said Clay.
"So this creek guy not only sold you and your tribe to save his ass then turned around but stole a very important yet world ending gemstone?" Bruce asked.
"yup unfortunately" said Branch.
"Why didn't you guys execute him?" asked John Dory.
"Honestly we thought he died after we sent him to exile..until he came back and immediately everyone welcomed him back because he said "Sorry", like really really sorry.." Branch explained.
"Damn that sucks" said Bruce.
"Ok first of all, how the hell does a sorry excuse being sold out to be eaten?!"
"We pop trolls are forgiving and caring creatures" groaned Branch.
"oof that definitely sucks" said Clay.
"If we act the same as well, going off of poppy I can definitely see her forgiving anybody if she feels they are sincere in their apology." said Floyd.
"Yeah that is true, also a funny thing, she tried to strangle creek when he revealed his betrayal, that was fun to watch" said Branch as he remembered the event.
"So she can snap…. Good girls that snap would actually be a pretty good song name…hold on" Floyd said as he took out his phone and pulled up his note app.
"heh that sounds pretty awesome, so now we got the full picture of what's happening, are we good for the plan tomorrow?" said Bruce.
"Oh are we doing the bake sale tomorrow?" Clay asked.
"Oh definitely" said John Dory.
"oh yeah"
"great!"
"Yeah brandy should be here tomorrow morning to go ahead with baking," said Bruce.
"I'll let poppy know.. unless Bush wants to give her a call to hear his girlfriend's voice?" Floyd teases, slightly moving his phone back and forth.
"oh! Yeah hehehe.." Clay chuckled.
Branch blushed madly and embarrassingly as he covered his face.
"hehe" John Dory chuckled as well.
"Go on Bush no one will judge you. We may tease you half to death maybe but no judgment." said Bruce.
Floyd gives the phone to branch "ok just press the green button to call"
"ok then.." Branch said as he pressed the green button and it began ringing "So now what?"
"Ok, now wait for Poppy's voice to answer," said Clay.
Poppy immediately answers on the first ring "Hey Floyd! I wasn't expecting a call so soon. What's up?" she asked.
"Uh, it's Bush, Poppy," said Branch.
"oh hey Bush!" Poppy exclaimed.
"Hey, we decided to do the bake sale tomorrow," said Branch.
"oh that's awesome! I can make some Bush cupcakes!" Poppy said happily.
"that's a cute idea, poppy" said Branch.
"I'll also make the fliers advertising it! Where are we meeting up?" said Poppy.
"hmm...probably at a community center" said Branch.
"Great! I'll see you over there tomorrow Bushpop! Was there anything else you needed me to do?" said Poppy.
"well…maybe..can you bring some boomboxes tomorrow?" Branch asked.
"I totally can. I'll even ask my friend DJ if she can help out!" said Poppy gleefully.
"Oh definitely, thanks poppy" said Branch.
"Of course! Oh I can't wait, I gotta call your brother though. It's a little silly I know but I miss him so much. Talk to you later Bush!" Poppy said.
"o-oh ok bye!" Branch was starting to get nervous as he said bye on the phone.
"Goodnight Bush" said Poppy.
"Goodnight! Bye!" Branch yelped as he immediately hung up.
Bruce looks at Floyd with a knowing look before giving a devilish smirk.
After getting hung up, Poppy immediately calls Branch excited to tell him all about her day and see how his day was and that conversation continued on.
And back with the alternate Branch, he breathed a sigh of relief, "oh muses, that was stressful" he said.
Bruce puts his arm over branches shoulders, "Listen to your alternate heartthrob bro here, you need to chiiiiillll, she is your girlfriend, just from another universe" he said.
"yeah..but this is a human version of my girlfriend! I don't want her to react badly if she finds out that I'm not human..I can't bear the thought of being called a freak by her.."
"Ok, calm down Baby Bro from Another World" said Clay.
"yeah we're with you, Branch," said JD.
"yeah and going off of earlier poppy is a total sweetheart. She might have one mean bone in her body and that seems to be reserved for a very specific situation." said Floyd.
"that is true," said Clay.
"yeah so leave the worrying to us" said John Dory proudly.
"For now we need to make you prom king and kick creeks butt… and hopefully not get the police involved. Preferably I still need to propose to brandy next weekend and I can't do that properly in jail." said Bruce which was true to the human brothers.
"oh yeah definitely, we gotta be careful with this and I don't want to have a record today or ever" said Clay.
"Ok before we get off-topic, how about we make some cookies now? It's still early. I'm sure the stores are still open." Said Floyd
"Yeah that's a good idea, Floyd!" said Clay.
John Dory then takes his keys to Rhonda out and heads to the front, "Ok, who is in need of a bathroom break before we go?" He asked and all the brothers raised their hands. "...just go and I'll get Rhonda up and running" he groaned as immediately the brothers went to the bathroom.
After their bathroom breaks, the brothers then got into Rhonda then they went to the local Wal-Mart and bought all the ingredients they needed to start making the food, it only took 6 hours to fully complete making the goodies and the brothers were already exhausted by the baking, for the exception of Branch who is clearly enjoying the cooking session with his bros.
"yeah we did pretty good here.." said Clay who wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"yeah we did, clay! Now let's get these goodies wrapped up and put in the refrigerator" said John Dory.
"Wait, does this mean we're sleeping here tonight?" asked Clay.
"Of course we are, Clay" said John Dory as he wraps the goodies he made.
Floyd smiles happily as he starts wrapping the goodies but suddenly he forgets to ask something important, "So..What charity are the profits going to?"
"There are quite a few that need it... maybe we can ask Poppy if creek is doing or has done something similar so we don't donate to the same place?" said Bruce.
"That's a good idea, Bruce, we need to be one step ahead if we're going to win prom king for alternate branch here" said John Dory.
Bruce grinned as he looked at branch "So..wanna call your girlfriend again Branch or would that be too much?"
Floyd then once again pulls up poppy's contact on his phone.
"wait..would she be asleep at this time?" Clay asked.
"Oh I'm sure she's probably awake." said Branch.
"oh? What makes you so sure?" asked Floyd as he gave him the phone.
"Just watch," said Branch as he pressed the green call button.
Poppy immediately answers on the first ring once again "Hey what's up?"
Floyd looks at his brother smugly before turning to clay. "She's like viva, she might be too excited to sleep right now."
"hey poppy it's Bush, I need to ask you something" Branch starts talking.
"Hi Bush! What did you wanna ask? Is it about the bake sale?" asked Poppy curiously.
"yeah it's about the bake sale..and i want to ask you something.." said Branch.
"Oh! Sure, what is it you want to ask me?" said Poppy.
"Is Creek donating money to a Charity?" Branch asked.
"oh yeah actually he is donating to wildlife preserves and local animal shelters." Poppy answered.
"oh ok..I was just wondering" said Branch.
"So the reason why you called me and asked me what Creek is up to…You're trying to think of a charity to donate to that isn't the same as creek's huh?." Poppy asked him, figuring out the answer.
"Yeah I am," Branch admitted to her.
"Well if I remember correctly, Creek's whole shtick is he's an animal and meditation lover so if you want something different, it has to be something you love the most, so tell me, what's something you are passionate about? Something wrong with the world you would wanna fix?" Poppy asked him.
"oh probably to do with shelters, defenses and safety" Branch said to Poppy on the phone.
"Oh you mean like homeless shelters? Or like bomb shelters?" asked Poppy curiously.
"Oooh Bomb Shelters? That is safe, right?" asked Branch who started remembering his bunker back home.
Floyd looks at Branch curiously plus concernedly, thinking 'why is he talking about bomb shelters?'
"Yeah, I don't know of any charities that help with that but I think that the Red Cross would be the closest thing. They help with many kinds of shelters and help people around the world with food, first aid, blood transfusions and safe water, that's all i can explain right now," Poppy said.
"Red Cross..that's a good idea.." said Branch, who knew that he didn't have time to ask her what Red Cross is.
"Well it sounds like you have the perfect charity, by the way you might wanna do some research on it though because people will ask you a lot of questions." explained Poppy.
"Ok then, thanks" Branch thanked her.
"Of course, anything for a friend. I mean we are friends.. right? And I don't mean just cause I'm your brother's girlfriend either.." Poppy slowly gets off topic and starts rambling a little bit.
"Poppy..easy, of course we're friends" Branch assured her.
"OH! cool. I mean good I'm glad.. was that everything you wanted to ask?" said Poppy who felt pretty embarrassed about her rambling moment.
"No, that's it," said Branch.
"ok well I think it's about time I sleep anyway. I am still super excited to help you out tomorrow though!" Poppy yawned on the phone.
"yeah me too, I'll see you very soon then," said Branch.
"Ok then..Goodnight Bush" said Poppy who yawned once again.
"and Goodnight to you too, poppy, see you in the morning," said Branch.
Poppy then hangs up and Branch gives back the phone to Floyd while the others look at Branch with more concern than ever before.
"So…What was all that about a bomb shelter?" asked Bruce.
"Oh yeah, I built a bunker when I was 5 years old in my world, it was supposed to be a hideout for me and my brothers but...they walked out of my life when I was a baby," Branch explains to the human brothers.
"...I'm sorry what?" John Dory gawked in shock at what he just heard.
"we...walked out on you?" Clay stuttered while trying to hold back tears.
"When you were a baby?" said Bruce whose eyes were wide as dinner plates.
"The hideout with the slide?" asked Floyd as he started remembering something.
"Wait…You mean that picture our branch showed us when we were kids?" asked Clay who looked at Floyd curiously.
"the one that is on the fridge" said John Dory as he pointed at the kitchen.
Floyd walks into the kitchen and grabs it, bringing it back out. "Here it is," he said.
"Is that the picture?" Clay asked, feeling uneasy.
"yup...I remember our branch showing me that when I took him back from the police station.." said John Dory as he was almost ready to shed tears
"...are we horrible brothers?" Clay sadly said.
"We must've been if we walked out of our baby brother's life..in another world.." said John Dory who was shaking angrily at himself.
"I just... can't... Why would we do that?" Bruce was so shocked and appalled that a version of himself walked out of his baby bro's life.
"It doesn't matter why..but even if we aren't your real brothers, I'm sorry on their behalf... I can't imagine missing you growing up Branch." Floyd apologized as he sat next to Branch.
"yeah..we're going to be there for you Branch, and that includes our branch when he comes back from studying abroad" John said proudly as he pats him on the shoulder.
"Exactly, so till then, you're stuck with us, alternate baby branch" said Clay who sat next to his bros.
"Yeah! You don't deserve to be alone like that! We'll fight back anyone who hurt you and us" proclaimed Bruce.
Floyd put his hand on branches back with a smile, "Yup we're here for you 100%."
Branch was on the brink of tears as he felt actual brotherly love for the first time in 20 years, "y-you guys are the best!"
"Aw come here!" said John Dory who hugs him.
"Bro Hug Time!" Clay joins in on the hug.
Bruce walks over to the bros, giving him a huge hug, Floyd also joining in, making this a group hug and as they hug their alternate baby brother, suddenly, glowly symbols appear on each of their body parts, mainly on their arms.
Then Clay suddenly noticed this as he saw John's new tattoo "...uh John, there's a tattoo on your arm.." he said as he pointed at the freshly made mark.
"huh? OH WHAT!?" John exclaimed as he saw his new mark for the first time.
"OH MY GOD, You have one too Clay!" Bruce pointed to Clay's new tattoo on his arm.
"Oh my...What is that?" said Floyd, looking mystified at this.
Branch was silent by all of this as he realized what was happening to them "wait..those symbols.." he whispered.
"Wow! My tattoo looks like a diamond with a golf ball inside, yours looks like two crossed machetes, JD, Floyd's looks like a teardrop and Bruce's a flower" Clay exclaimed as he pointed at their new marks.
"I mean..mine would be a teardrop if I was man enough to get a tattoo" Floyd slightly joked as he was trying to lighten up the mood right now.
"But what are they? I don't remember getting a tattoo at all" Bruce asked, confused as heck.
"I have one too, it's a star with a music note in it...it's the gem of harmony...it sensed our bond..that it chose us as the vessels for the elements of harmony" Branch said.
Bruce hugs him tighter, "I'm glad."
"wow...that's so cool," said John Dory, who was starting to like his tattoo.
"so..how many elements are in the gem of harmony?" Clay asked.
"Six and they're Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty and Music" Branch explained to the Humans.
"Ok so we are missing one... what are we missing?" asked Floyd.
"Loyalty, Floyd.." said Branch, looking at his new tattoo.
"Ok, so who is the loyalty in our group?" asked Clay, who scratched the back of his head.
"Maybe we should probably find out tomorrow, it's getting late," said Floyd, who rubbed his eyes.
"yeah gotta get some beauty sleep before my girl gets here and thinks I'm sick or something" said Bruce who yawned.
"yeah..ok so where are we sleeping?" asked Clay, who knows what everyone was thinking.
"Why in our old rooms of course," said John Dory, who smiled.
The three human brothers were surprised by what John Dory said, like how he planned this out.
"wait..Our rooms are still intact?" asked Bruce in astonishment.
"yup and I also made our beds adult sized if we grew up and if we come back here" said John Dory who rubbed his arm.
"..that's very nice of you" said Clay, looking surprised.
"Yeah, very thoughtful Johnny Boy, thank you" said Floyd as he hugs him.
Branch was feeling happy that his alternate brothers are getting along well and he hoped that they would be like this with their branch..yet there's always that little thought that will surface up soon.
"ok let's get some sleep" John Dory declared as he could see how tired his bros/babies looked.
Bruce stretches and yawns "ok, good night bros. I'll see you in the morning and I will call dibs on making breakfast!"
"Ok then" Clay agreed as he heads to his old room
"Alright Bruce, Goodnight" John Dory said as he went to his old room to sleep.
Bruce goes to his old room and starts getting in bed, "Good Night Guys!" He yelled out.
Floyd gives branch one more hug before heading to bed, "good night Lil B, see you in the morning"
"mm..good night floyd.." Branch mutters as he heads to his room and gets on the bed, as he lies on the bed, looking up of the ceiling, he couldn't believe how far he's gotten in this adventure and have allies who will help him save his world, ...I'm so happy that I'm not alone in this.. as he thought for the night, he closes his eyes and falls asleep.
TO BE CONTINUED.