Something swept onto the beaches of the Sunken Isles; what looked like a leaf folded onto itself and wrapped up, like it was holding something. And something was indeed inside, as bumps came up and down before a fist tore through the leaf.

Said fist was joined by another that reached down to rip the leaf open. The tear was followed by a gasping redheaded boy with two mismnatched eyes; one yellow and the other purple.

"Willow Park…! I am naming…my first born…after you!" Oliver Clawthorne managed as he gasped for and crawled further onto shore, looking at his impromptu raft/lifejacket. "…Either that or making you their godmother, I'll talk it over with Anne."

That adventure on the toes….which he still felt badly about…had ended with Willow being given some rare seeds by Vitamir as 'hush bribe'. She had kept half and given Olivier the other half, saying something along the lines of:

"With how crazy your life is with Anne and Luz, I think you'll probably need them more than me."

And as usual, she had been right: Out of desperation as he and Fleetwing had fallen into the Boiling Acid sea, Oliver had poured all his magic into the seeds, which turned out to be seeds of the same plant that Terra Snapdragon used to navigate the boiling sea, along with a flower whose petals diluted acid.

"CAW!"

Fleetwing staggered onto the shore, one wing free of the bolo that had taken him out of the fight. The normally fearless Palisman was worried for his master, who weakly reached for him and helped remove the bolo before Fleetwing let out a shriek of pain:

One of the falcon's wings had been twisted; nowhere near as bad as the snare in Gravesfield, but he wouldn't be flying anytime.

Olivier normally would've sworn revenge, but he was too drained; holding that spell for hours would do that. He and Fleetwing wordlessly considered trying to fuse; it had healed them both up before….but Olivier at least had been at full strength: Here, they were both drained.

"Come on buddy, let's splint that wing up."

Fleetwing grimaced as Olivier tied the injured wing to his side before he shifted to staff form, helping Oliver get to his feet and look around:

He was on a warm island, filled with isnects chirping, babbling water and croaks and hisses. He immediately knew where he was:

The Sunken Isles.

"…Well, just take what you learnt in Amphibia and dial it up to 11." Olivier mused as he began to walk upwards and then recalled the last thing he saw before falling into the water:

His mother desperately reaching for him as her curse began to take over her.

Anne, bound and gagged by Toad demons who had also grabbed Luz and King and flown away on fly steeds.

And Maddie being tossed overboard, which had broken his concentration long enough for Fleetwing to be boloed.

Desperate and not caring for his condition acting up, OIivier spun a magic circle before placing a finger to the ground, silencing his mind from everything else.

This was usually a Beast-keeper spell, but with a few tweaks it could help one track and find familiar magic signatures.

And lo and behold, thank Titan! They where on this island!...Which also proposed a problem: Who to go to first?

Maddie?

Mom?

Anne, Luz and King?

OWLPHIBIA

"Thanks." Anne growled at the Toad who had removed her gag.

The Thai girl found herself forced onto her knees in a throne room of sorts: Not as nearly as nice as Andrias'; this castle was in need of a major face lift and paintjob at the least. Still, it was at least more homely than Belos' throneroom.

"Ow! Easy! I may not bruise easy, but I am a nerd after all!"

Anne turned to see Luz on her knees as well. The two girls breathed out a sigh of relief that the other was safe, along with shooting a look to a scared King, who was trapped in a cage.

Suddenly the door swung open and the toads all stood at attention as their superior walked in. An officer Anne recongized.

"Grime?!" Anne asked.

"…How do you know my name?" The leading Toad asked, glaring at Anne before realizing. "Are you with Grunge?"

Anne and Luz's eyes widened at that name.

"He was here?!" Luz asked

"Still is. Somewhere." Grime said, now turning his attention to Luz. "You reek of weakness…and yet the Owl Lady chose you."

"Where is Eda?!" Luz demanded. "What do you want with her? And us?"

Grime glared at Luz.

"Something that is rightfully mine…and in the case of you two? Your Glyphs, Luz the human."

"Oh you mean…Like THIS GLYPH!?"

Luz revealed she had made an impromptu Ice glyph in the ground with her knee, which she slammed onto the glyoph….

….

Nothing happened.

Luz tried again,

Nothing.

"Nice try, but that only works for the Boiling Isles..unless you have some Titan Blood." Grime smirked with a chuckle as he turned to Anne.

"Tell me…Anne, was it? Did the other me ever tell you how he went blind?"

Anne paused and reflected. Now that she thought about it? No. No, Grime did not say how he went blind.

(AN: Did we ever get an explanation for Grime's blind eye? If so, where, and when?)

"I was not older than you two when she was brought to our island." Grime explained in memory. "Just starting my service, alongside my siblings; Grunge and Beatrice."

"…Oh, I don't like where this is going." Luz grimaced, guessing what was coming.

"Now to be fair, Edalyn was kidnapped." Grime admitted. "My predecessor saw her fleeing the Pleasure isles and interrogated her for something she couldn't have been, then sent her to hard labour rather than admit fault.

"Sounds like that Captain Monta-something from Ollie's Zorro movies." Anne mused.

"…Did you just presume me a mere captain?" Grime snapped. "My name is GENERAL Grime, humans. Soon to be King once I find and kill Andrias."

Anne snorted. Okay, there was ONE thing about this Grime she could like.

"Ah, not a fan of newts like that false version of Grunge." Grime smiled.

"'False?'" Anne asked, not seeing Luz shaking her head in desperation.

"Eda KILLED my little brother in her escape." Grime revealed, genuine sadness clear…and then a sadistic smile taking over his face. "So, Its only fair I take her son."

And with those words, Anne went BERSERK.

Her hair erupted into blue and she broke free of her chains, drawing her sword and cleaving through the toads.

The General simply pulled out his music box, and instantly Anne's blue magic faded. Still in motion, Anne swung her sword…which Grime caught between his fingers.

"So…The box can't just absorb your magic…." The general mused as he tossed Anne back to Luz, where she was quickly chained up.

"WHEN I GET OUT OF THESE, I AM GOING TO RIP OFF AND STUFF YOUR HEAD, MOUNT IT ON MY ROOM AND TURN YOUR INSIDES INTO PAD SEW EW!" Anne roared in rage.

Said rage was short lived, as Grim leveled Anne's sword at Luz's neck.

"I need your magic, so you need to stay in one piece. Her on the other hand? Less so."

Anne calmed down, but still glared at Grime as tears escaped her eyes.

"Take them to a holding cell." Grime ordered, bored at Anne's outburst but admiring her sword. "Minus 'King.' I have a use for him."

"Weh?" King whimpered as his cage was brought to Grime's throne.

"Wait! Wait, please! Don't hurt him!" Luz begged as she and Anne were taken away. "Please! He's just a little guy! I'll teach you glyphs! KING!"

Her pleading went unnoticed as the geneal looked at King.

"Now then, 'King of Demons'…" Grime smirked evilly. "Tell me all you know about the Titan."

OWLPHIBIA

Life on the Boiling isles had been normal for most today; go to market, the library and obeying/applauding the Emperor's Coven for rounding up Wild witches.

That was upon a pillar of water suddenly jetted upwards on each side of the Titan's corpse, tall enough for all to see. Then the pillar began to morph into a buck tooth, big cheeked toad with hair styled like horns and a wizard's crown atop his hat.

"Good afternoon, citizens of the Boiling Isles!" The water golem announced in a creepy, high and slimey voice. "Name's Barry, top mage of the Sunken isles, here with a friendly notice and reminder: See, about….60 years or so, someone from your isles broke into our most sacred place and stole a gem from our most precious totem. Said gem no doubt helped them amass great power…and while we've reclaimed the box and half of the stolen gem thanks to your now late Golden Guard…Well, we do believe we're entitled to the whole thing. So, you have three days to find and return that Gem to us. Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it. If you don't? Well, it'll finally be time to prove if your coven system made you stronger….Oh! And if anyone tries to sneak in or away? We attack early. So start searching and we'll see you in three days!"

And with that, the fountain image returned to the Boiling Sea, leaving the witches to freeze in realization.

To be continued…

Next time: Escapes and Escapades! As Luz and Anne try and break out, the Boiling Isles go into lockdown…a little too late to stop some familiar faces to rushing to help and two unhappy reunions to unfold.

Things are looking pretty dire, ain't they? Short chapter, I realize, but I think it set up the stakes well enough and established General Grime as our main villain. Plus, there's the drama that without Titan Blood, Luz can't use her glyphs.

As stated previously, we will see MANY alternate versions of the Amphibia characters in this story. While I have most sorted out, I will happily listen to suggestions and credit those who share said ideas. So, if you have 'twisted' or 'AU version' of an Amphibia character, leave it in a review and we'll see if we can use them.

The Toe adventure Olivier mentioned here will be covered in a chapter of 'Brought to a Boil' titled 'Double Jeopardy', a chapter I'm looking very forward to posting and writing. That's all I'll say about it, other than the fact it takes place right after 'Finding Willow.

'Brought to a Boil' will; be updated tomorrow or Thursday and spoiler warning; this chapter will be bittersweet.

Until we meet again!