Amphibia: Calamity Warriors
Chapter Forty-Eight: New Wartwood
The morning sun rose over Wartwood, the townsfolk getting up to perform their morning routines. Near the Plantar Homestead, the fwagon sat out front with a sign hanging over it reading 'Marcy is here', and underneath that was another sign saying 'and so is Apollo' before said girl kicked open the door, full of energy and excitement.
"Woo! Look out Amphibia!" She declared loudly, jumping out onto the dirt ground. "It's Marcy's first day in Wartwood!"
She ran off towards the swamp, while inside the fwagon, Apollo had just woken up.
"It is too early for all that noise." He grumbled, trying to wake up.
Back with Marcy, she had already rushed inside Shadow's hut, running around yelling with her fists in the air, while the residents of the hut were still asleep. Valor and Ina were also sleeping in the main hub of the hut, both in sleeping bags.
"First day in Wartwood! First day in Wartwood! First day in Wartwood! First day in Wartwood!"
She chanted over and over before running back out.
"Marcy, settle down." Ina mumbled in her sleep.
"Too early." Valor mumbled.
"Too early for shouting!" Kaemon yelled from his room.
"Five more minutes." Anne grumbled in her sleep, cuddling next to Shadow in bed.
"Or an hour." Shadow added.
Marcy was so excited, she took off into the air and started flying through the sky, doing all kinds of loops and tricks in the sky.
"First day! First day! First day! First day! Woo!"
Diving down, she landed on the ground at the center of town, enthralled by the countryside.
She let out a gasp. "It's so cute! It's got a folksy country vibe." She said before a random frog let out a burp. "Colorful characters." Three more frogs burped. "Gosh, Anne was right. It's the perfect little farm town!"
"A town covered in filth and dirt." Apollo said, fully awake and clothed, as the frog captured by the dragonfly flew over and burped in the background. "Honestly, I don't see the appeal."
"Nothing a little exploration can't hurt!" Marcy declared. "And now, to introduce myself."
Watching his girlfriend run off, Apollo rolled his eye. He could never see the appeal to the countryside, but he wanted to at least try, for her sake. Looking around, he saw a stall selling vegetables, where Mrs. Croaker was buying food before the prince approached.
"Greetings, farm frogs." He declared formally, getting the attention of both frogs. "My name is Apollo Leviathan, heir prince of Newtopia. And you are…?"
Mrs. Croaker only narrowed her eyes, "Oh, great. Just what we need. Another outsider." She said before walking off.
Huffing in annoyance, the prince turned his head to the merchant, who only closed the shutters of his stall, the prince grumbling before walking off.
"Hi there! My name is Marcy." Marcy declared with excitement, pulling out her journal. "Do you have any time to talk about Wartwood's unique architectural history?"
The people she was asking were none other than Maddie's three sisters, all just staring at the human, unsure how to react.
"Are you a weirdo?" One of them asked, pointing a flipper at her.
Not too far away, Wally was sat on a barrel, playing his accordion with a smile on his face, when Apollo approached with an unimpressed look on his face.
"In Newtopia, you'd be arrested on the spot for vagrancy." The prince stated flatly, the local kook looking at him as his smile dropped. "Are you even a real vagrant? Is that eye actually gone?"
"Too many questions!" Wally exclaimed before throwing his accordion through a window, smashing the glass and jumping through it, the prince growling in frustration before stomping off.
A bit later, Marcy and Apollo were seen sitting at the statue in the middle of town, Marcy sporting a disappointed frown while the prince seemed more frustrated than his female companion. One would think that the countryfolk would be ecstatic about seeing royalty visiting their humble town, but apparently not.
'What's even the point if they're this closed minded?' Apollo thought to himself.
"Hey, Mar-Mar." Anne greeted as she and Shadow approached, having arrived in town. "Hey, App-App. How's your first day in Wartwood going?"
"What kind of nickname is that?" Apollo asked with a raised brow.
"Well, you didn't want me using Marcy's pet name for you, so I made my own." Anne said. "What do you think?"
Apollo looked at her with an unimpressed look before answering, "I think you need to work on your naming."
"Nobody's perfect, brother." Shadow said. "So, your first time in Wartwood. Going good so far?"
"Oh, great." Marcy said. "Did you know this entire town is built on top of a swamp but never sinks?"
"That's because the designers knew exactly how heavy to make everything." Apollo stated.
"Well, obviously." Shadow said with a chuckle.
"That's a cool fact." Anne said. "What else ya learn?"
"We also learned that these frogs are close minded and don't tolerate outsiders." Apollo huffed with crossed arms.
"Which means me and Apollo don't have a chance." Marcy said, slumping forward sadly.
"That's just how small communities like this work." Shadow frowned, as he and his girlfriend sat near them. "Sure, they'll be wary at first, but they'll warm up."
"Yeah, of course, they'll accept you." Anne nodded.
"There's literally an angry mob right there." Apollo stated, pointing over at an angry mob near them. "And we haven't even done anything."
"That's enough, everyone." Shadow scolded.
"Yeah, they're with us." Anne added.
"All right, if you say so." The frogs said before dispersing, all but one with a familiar pollywog atop his head.
"Seriously, Polly?" Shadow frowned.
"I go where the mob goes, Shadow!" Polly shouted as she raised a trowel before leaving.
Marcy let out a sigh, Apollo gently rubbing her back comfortably.
"They will warm up to you, it just takes time." Shadow said.
Marcy suddenly had a look as though she just sprung an idea. "Time or maybe a strategy."
"Gonna go with Shadow and say time still." Anne said.
"Marcy, it's best we take things slowly this time." Apollo suggested, already not okay with the idea Marcy was thinking up. "While your ideas worked in Newtopia, this is frog country, where frogs aren't known for being the strongest nor smartest." He took notice of a frog frowning at him. "Well, you aren't, so deal with it."
"Come on, Appa. People are just another puzzle to solve." Marcy objected before standing up and doing a heroic pose. "Operation Connect with Wartwood engage!" She then suddenly lost her balance and fell back, knocking over the statue, the statue breaking upon impact on the ground.
"What the?! The town founder whose name I don't even know! How dare she!" A random frog yelled.
"It's that clumsy outsider!" Another yelled, an angry mob forming once again.
"Bet she'll knock the whole city down before she's through!" Another added.
"No problem, no problem, I-I can fix it." Marcy assured, pulling out two vials of red and blue liquids before mixing them together. "Apollo, mind lending a hand?"
After Marcy spread the liquid on the broken parts of the statue, Apollo picked it up and put it back into place, then polished it, giving it a bright green color by the time the two had finished.
"Whoa, they fixed it." Mrs. Croaker commented, impressed.
"Whoa! When did you learn how to do that?" Anne asked.
"I took a sculpting class in Newtopia." Marcy declared proudly.
"You've been taking classes?" Anne asked with a raised brow.
"Yeah, haven't you?" Marcy said.
The frog mob started to disperse until one frog girl remained.
"You seem all right, lady. For an outsider anyway," She said before spitting on the ground and walking away.
Marcy let out a gasp of excitement. "Oh my gosh Anne. I just got a spit of approval." She said, hooking an arm around her friend's neck.
"Hmm... You did win the people of Newtopia over by improving the city." Apollo admitted. "Perhaps you could do the same with Wartwood."
"I guess that can work." Anne said.
"I don't see the harm in trying." Shadow added.
"Then we must get started." Apollo declared, wrapping an arm around Marcy's waist. "By the time we're done, this town will be kissing our feet!"
"Right on!" Marcy exclaimed. "Come on Anne, show us all the cruddy things to wrong with this town."
"Where do I even start?" Anne said, all aboard with the idea.
Just then, Valor and Ina had arrived, both having woken up and dressed.
"What'd we miss?" Ina asked.
"Feel like a montage is about to begin here." Valor said.
The six kids began their work, fixing up the town by filling in the potholes, fixing the lampposts, the picket fences, even the stockade, all the while Marcy leaving a sticky note reading 'Marcy wuz here', along with another reading 'and so wuz Apollo'.
As the teens admired their handiwork, the frogs also admired the work put into the improvements. Some, however, were still unconvinced.
"Stuff's okay, I guess." Sadie admitted.
"Still not sold on these outsiders." Mr. Flour stated firmly.
"Hear hear!" Wally exclaimed.
Hearing this made Marcy a bit disheartened, while Apollo seemed heavily annoyed.
"Nice, you guys. The town looks great." Anne said.
"Yeah, it's looking a lot better." Shadow added.
"While we appreciate the compliment, it doesn't seem enough for these country bumkins." Apollo said flatly. "They still see us as nothing but outsiders."
"Hey, it's not so bad." Valor said. "I mean, they see me and Ina that way and it doesn't bother us any."
"Still could do without them running scared when they see us." Ina added.
"Still, we could do more." Marcy said. "We need to go bigger."
"Did someone say bigger?"
At the sound of that bellowing voice, the teens turned and saw none other than Toadstool riding a hot air balloon shaped in his image, landing the balloon near them.
"Never seen that balloon before." Anne remarked.
"Nor one so tacky and oozing with ego." Shadow said in disgust.
"Who's the fatso?" Valor asked.
"Guys, meet Mayor Toadstool." Anne said as the mayor approached. "He's like if the Monopoly man had a baby with a piece of fried chicken."
"That better be a compliment, Boonchuy." Toadstool said with a frown.
"Don't bet on it." Valor snickered.
"So, you're the local toad, huh?" Marcy said with intrigue.
"Right on the money, uh-huh." Toadstool said. "And speaking of money, are you the one who's been making these delightful little improvements to our town?"
"That's a me!" Marcy declared with her fists on her hips. "Of course, I've had some help." She added, gesturing to Apollo, Ina, and Valor.
Toadstool gave the mentioned three a look, Apollo looking back blankly, Valor letting out a burp while Ina gave a happy wave, before the toad gave the newt prince another look.
"Wait, hold on," He said, squinting his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to be THE Apollo Leviathan, son of King Andrias, would you?"
"That I am." Apollo nodded.
"Well, how about that? Royalty in town!" Toadstool exclaimed, money in his eyes. "I wasn't expecting Andrias' very son to be visiting out humble little town."
"I wasn't expecting to meet such a money-grubbing toad." Apollo remarked under his breath.
"I gotta hand it to you, I find your work mighty impressive." He said, a hand on the shoulders of both Marcy and Apollo. "How'd you like to help me make some bigger improvements, huh? I have a mind to turn this Podunk little town into a real money-making tourist attraction."
Marcy gasped with sparkles in her eyes. "If I make this town super successful, then people will have to accept me." She said with excitement.
Valor and Ina, on the other hand, didn't seem to find the idea appealing. Remembering how they were first brought from the human world into Amphibia, it took to newts of Newtopia quite some time to accept them as protectors of their city. Not to mention, the money hungry aristocrats they came across that seem to only care about class and money.
Apollo also shared the concerns of Ina and Valor. On one hand, he found the idea interesting. By making the town more successful, the Leviathan name would be known and the frogs would view the royal family in a more positive light. But on the other? This was the notorious Toadstool, whose ambitious ideas have a tendency to fall apart.
"Yeah! Sure, whatever." Toadstool said. "Toadie!" Toadie ran up and gave a scroll, containing blueprints, and gave it to Marcy. "Here are the plans. Take a look. Think it over." He then snapped his fingers. "Fetch the balloon, Toadie."
"Uh, it drifted away, sir."
"It what?" He said before turning around, seeing the balloon in fact drifting away. "Oh, dang it. That's the third time that's happened today. Toadie, you're promoted to balloon now."
"Whoo!"
"Welp, I hope we can do business soon." He said as he hoped on Toadie's shoulders, the small frog struggling to hold him up as he walked away.
"This is it, Anne. The way to everyone's heart." Marcy said, holding the blueprints close as she turned to her bestie. "If we do this, the town will HAVE to accept us."
"I don't know, Marce. Any plan of the Mayor's is sure to go belly-up." Anne said, unsure about this course of action.
"Yes, I recommend giving it some thought." Shadow suggested. "Toadstool doesn't usually have the best laid plans, nor the best intentions."
Marcy looked to Apollo, who nodded, before sighing. "Eh, you're probably right."
"What do you mean we shouldn't?!" Marcy asked, shocked at Apollo's rejection, the couple in the fwagon getting ready for bed.
"Marcy, I've dealt with people like Toadstool before in Newtopia." The prince said. "Plans from people like those never end well."
"Okay, but maybe we could make this work." Marcy insisted.
"Marcy, I get it; you want to be accepted, as do I." Apollo said, a hand on Marcy's shoulder. "But we need to give them time to adjust." He then kissed her cheek. "Have patience, Mars."
Marcy watched her beloved prince retire to bed, the girl letting out a sigh before sitting on the bottom bunk, watching him slumber, thinking back to the first days as a member of the Knight Guard.
Months ago…
It was an early morning in Newtopia, as the trainees of the Knight Guard were lined up in the training yard, Marcy being among them, alongside her soon-to-be fellow cadets.
First was kettle, a small newt with light green skin, unkempt olive hair and freckles. Next was Javi, a medium sized newt with light aquamarine skin, and shiny red hair, both he and Kettle wearing cadet uniforms. Third was Femur, an eight-foot-tall newt with pink skin, and besides wearing a cadet uniform, he also wore a helmet.
Finally, after several minutes, the murmurs died down the minute Cody and Apollo stepped outside, the cadets standing at attention as the two stepped forward, Marcy watching with interest.
"From here forward, your morning drills will be handled by his majesty, Apollo Leviathan." Cody announced. "Though he might be your prince, he is also your captain and your instructor, and so, you are expected to treat him as such." The older human turned his head to the newt prince. "Apollo, if you will?"
Nodding, Apollo stepped forward, and with grace, he shot his spear from under his sleeve, Marcy watching in awe as he spun it between his fingers before slamming the butt of the spear on the ground.
"Each of you are to try your luck in this, every morning before the daily routine." The newt prince declared. "Anyone who says otherwise, will answer it to either Master Cody or me."
"Ooooh. The prince is a tough guy." Kettle said under her breath.
"Kettle."
Hearing the prince's voice, the little newt looked to see Apollo holding his spear as though he was aiming it at her. This surprised her at first, her eyes widening in fear, but then he threw it upward, on top of a coral-made pole.
"Thank you for volunteering." He said. "Retrieve my spear."
Frowning, Kettle cracked her knuckles, getting ready to do so.
"Try not to be too disappointed, with your little arms." Javi said with a snicker.
She glared at him, then look at the pole with determination. Standing before it, she made to jump at it.
"One moment. You seem to be missing something." Apollo said, a couple of guards bringing him a couple of heavy rings with straps on them, carrying them like heavy boxes. He grabbed them and gave them to Kettle, who at first struggled to lift them up. "Discipline and strength, you need both to reach the spear, and to serve Newtopia faithfully."
Undeterred, Kettle then tried to climb up with the stone disks, but failed, sliding back down, even trying to use her teeth to keep herself from falling, to no avail.
The same resulted with Javi and Femur, both falling to the ground. Finally, Marcy tried but ended up hurting herself, falling on her butt and groaning in pain.
"Not surprising to see you fail." He commented harshly before turning away, which hurt her to hear.
Later, the recruits were in the training yard, doing group exercises, when they gasped at the sight of General Hemlock stepping out, everyone making two lines and saluting, making a path for him as he walked with his unusual strut, Marcy watching with intrigue.
"Who's he?" She asked Javi in a whisper.
"General Hemlock, the leader of the King's army, which includes us." He answered in a hushed tone.
"Really? Do all generals dress like fashion designers?" Marcy asked, looking at the large, pink feathered cape the general was wearing.
"No, just him, but I wouldn't say that to his face." Kettle added, with Femur nodding in agreement.
Hemlock then stopped for a moment, looking left to right before looking down to see Marcy's journal on the ground, no doubt dropped during the scramble to get in line. Picking it up, he observed it, flipping it over.
"Hmm..." He hummed to himself, before opening it to look inside, much to Marcy's horror. She gasped before quickly rushing over.
"Hey! That's my journal! You can't just look at other people's personal thoughts!" She snapped, swiping it out of his hands.
Everyone let out a collective and overly dramatic gasp in shock at the act. Hemlock looked down at her, turning his head away while keeping his eyes on her, and raising an eyebrow.
Then suddenly, he started laughing maniacally, throwing his head back at the second round, and chuckling more loudly, much to the human girl's confusion. After a long moment of laughter, Hemlock sighed in relief, as he looked down at her.
"You must new around here." He said with a predatory grin.
Suddenly, Marcy was then caught in a surprise chokehold, as the general used his tail to choke and lift her up to look at his eyes.
"Because if you knew who I was, you wouldn't have done that." He said. "A shame you won't be alive long enough to fully learn that lesson."
Marcy tried desperately to free herself from the tight grip of the tail, but she was slowly losing oxygen.
Suddenly, Hemlock felt a stinging grip on his tail, as Apollo appeared and taking hold of his tail, a deathly stare on his face.
"Release her, now, or you will be spending the rest of your days in the dungeon." He growled. "She is under the King's protection, and my command. Now release her."
Hemlock stared at him for a moment, before dropping Marcy and letting her fall to the ground.
"Better keep your recruits in check, your Highness." He told him with a cruel grin. "Wouldn't want your first time as a Captain to be sullied, now, would you?"
The tall newt then looked down at Marcy, giving her a grin that would haunt her for days, before moving forward. As soon as he left, Apollo looked down at the human girl, Marcy coughing and rubbing her neck to relive it from Hemlock's grip. She looked up, seeing Apollo glaring at her like she was a child who embarrassed her parent, before he too left. Marcy remained on the ground, letting out a sad sigh.
Sometime after, near the afternoon, the recruits were assigned to crafting bombs using the provided materials. This excited Marcy greatly, as bomb crafting always fascinated her in games. It seemed to go well, at first, until she accidentally knocked it off the table she was crafting on, and the bomb rolled out the window, right on top a statue of Karlia in the garden.
Moments later, Apollo stood before the destroyed statue with an eye of shock, before turning his head to an equally shocked Marcy, before his expression turned with venom.
"You need to leave."
"Bu, but Prince Apollo, I-" Marcy said, hoping to explain herself.
"I don't care what you have to say." Apollo stopped her in her tracks, not having any of it. "You are a disgrace to the Knight Guard, to our city, and most of all, a disgrace to yourself. I don't care if you want to be part of the Knight Guard. I don't care if my father allows you in the castle! I don't care if you even exist!" He got close in her face, that angry sneer not leaving his face. "And if you have any respect for who we are and what we do, you will be gone by tomorrow. Now get the hell out of my life."
The prince turned and left, marching right past Javi, Kettle and Femur, the three cadets looking at the Taiwanese girl who looked like she was about to break down in tears.
"Marcy? You know he doesn't mean that, right?" Javi spoke up, only for Marcy to run right past him. "Marcy!"
Marcy didn't stop, she just kept running as she sobbed.
Marcy sat alone in the training yard, still sobbing from the recent disaster. Of course, she didn't mean to destroy that statue; it was an accident. And whoever that statue was seemed to have so much importance to Apollo, that it made him angry to see it destroyed.
Marcy was clumsy, this was a known fact. She tried her hardest to not let that get in the way, but she just couldn't help herself. Every time something caught her attention, she had the tendency to block everything else out and focus all her attention on the object of her attention, even if the things she blocked out happen to be a stone she would trip over, or oncoming traffic.
Her sobbing ceasing, she looked up at the coral pole, Apollo's spear still stuck at the top, then back at the stone rings. Determined to prove herself, she picked up the stone rings and wrapped the straps around her wrists and jumped to try again, but the weight of the rings pulled her right back down to the ground. Looking at the rings, Marcy suddenly got an idea.
Holding the straps, she swung the rings around the pole, the rings wrapped around, before proceeding to climb up.
Emerging from the barracks, the cadets all saw the human girl climbing up the pole, getting closer to the spear, all watching in amazement before they started cheering, urging her to keep going. For a moment, Marcy almost lost her footing, but her determination kept her going, and as she pulled herself up, if one paid close enough, one could see her eyes turn green for a split second.
The moment Apollo stepped out, he saw his spear hit the ground before his feet, the prince looking up to see Marcy sat atop the pole and the cadets cheering below. Picking up his spear, Apollo grinned a bit before seeing her eyes flash green for a moment.
'There's potential in her after all.' He thought, finding her determination impressive, and at the same time, attractive.
Although he wouldn't admit it aloud.
Present…
Marcy treasured those moments like a jewel. Sure, it started off rocky, but it led to her proving her worth in the eyes of not only the Knight Guard cadets, but also Apollo, earning his respect. And over time, after the incident involving the traitor Ernst, the two fell in love and sealed their relationship.
After looking back at those moments, she was determined to prove her worth more than ever.
"I appreciate the concern, Appa," She said silently, picking up the scroll. "But I gotta do this!"
The next morning, Apollo yawned before getting out of bed and getting dressed. Grabbing his spear, he stepped out and did a doubletake at what he saw.
"What in the…" He looked around, seeing most of the buildings seeming replaced with impressive stone works, a garden planted in the shape of the mayor's face and a train station with a fresh coat of paint.
Apollo blinked several times, knowing full well who could have done this. "She didn't…"
The newt prince wasn't the only one shocked by the changes, as some of the townsfolk stepped out in amazement by the changes. Eventually, the Plantars had stepped out, with Valor and Ina following behind, and soon Shadow, Anne and Kaemon, the group in utter surprise at the changes, Anne wearing a black hoodie.
"What in tarnation is going on here?" Hop Pop asked.
"Take a wild guess." Apollo said blandly.
"Marcy actually did this in one night?" Ina asked.
They approached the stage set up at the center of town, where the town founder's statue is covered in drapes, as a marching band played music before Marcy and Toadstool jumped on stage, both dressed in shiny ringmaster outfits.
"Good morning, ladies and gentle frogs!" Marcy announced.
"And welcome to…" Toadstool began.
"NEW WARTWOOD!" They finished in unison, fireworks shooting out on cue.
"Your city is new and improved," Marcy declared. "Thanks to the work of myself and Mayor Toadstool."
"Gone are the days of stump stores of Wartwood," Toadstool exclaimed. "Replaced by newly imported Newtopian marble!"
"Feast your eyes on the new clock tower!" Marcy added, pointing upwards, prompting everyone to look up.
Atop the nearby building was a massive golden clock shaped as a grinning Toadstool, the clock placed where the stomach should be.
"Not loving that clock." Anne remarked, already put off by the look of the clock.
"I don't know which is creepier. That," Shadow said before pointing at a Toadstool mascot. "Or that thing."
"And finally, may I present," Marcy went on. "The new and improved town square statue!"
They pulled down the tarp, revealing the statue to have been completely replaced with one made of gold and muscular.
"Oh, is he single?" Sadie Croaker asked, infatuated.
"Uh, it's a statue." Wally pointed out.
"That's not what I asked!" Sadie exclaimed.
"And for a limited time only…" Toadstool said before muttering, "about fifteen minutes," He then declared. "Everything is free!"
Fireworks went off as the crowd roared with applause before going off to explore their new town, Anne, Shadow and the group looking with expressions of concern.
"Oh, we're gonna make oodles!" Toadstool declared, happy at the prospect of making more money.
"Mar-Mar, are you sure this is a good idea?" Anne asked her best friend as she approached the stage.
"Isn't it great? We completely transformed the place." Marcy replied, not at all concerned. "Now everyone with have to accept me."
"That's not how this works, Marcy." Shadow spoke up. "People will accept you when they're ready to accept you."
"Yeah, you can't just force things." Anne added.
"Yeah, which is right now." Marcy said. "Look, Anne, you and Shadow found a way that worked for you, and I found a way that worked for me."
Apollo only shook his head before asking, "Marcy, did you even check the weight limit?"
Marcy's eyes widened at his question. "Wait, what?"
Suddenly, there was a rumbling beneath their feet, before soon crack started forming in the ground and water started bursting from below, causing the people to panic and causing the buildings to collapse.
"What the heck is going on?" Anne exclaimed in shock.
"It's the weight! Too much has been built!" Shadow yelled. "The town is gonna sink into the swamp."
"I, for one, refuse to learn anything from this." Toadstool declared before making to run off, only to be caught by Valor. "Hey, lemme go!"
"Oh, no you don't." The red head growled. "What kinda captain abandons his ship?"
"Well, they definitely aren't gonna like me after this." Marcy said.
"But we can at least make sure everyone lives." Apollo affirmed.
"And you won't be alone in this endeavor." Shadow declared, jumping onstage.
"Right on." Anne added, joining them.
"First off, we need to keep the town from sinking." Shadow said, a plan forming in his mind. "Ina, you get underneath the town and keep it from sinking."
"On it!" The blue head saluted before diving into the water, swimming underneath the town before using her powers to manipulate the water, keeping the town above the water.
"Honestly, it's not that bad." Sadie Croaker commented. "We are frogs, after all."
"Valor, you and Kaemon get everyone to safety."
"Got it!" Valor nodded before running off in a blaze, with Kaemon following behind, grabbing the townsfolk and dropping them off on more stable land.
"Calamity Warriors, time to lessen the weight!" Shadow declared, activating Calamity Trigger.
Marcy and Apollo followed suit, but when it came to be Anne's turn, it faded, the Thai girl nearly collapsing to one knee.
"Anne, are you okay?" Marcy asked with worry.
"I'm not sure," Anne said, panting and rubbing the side of her head. "I was fine before, but now I feel off."
"Don't worry, we'll handle it from here." Shadow said, rubbing her back. "You earned a rest."
"And I have just the replacement." Arcy said before shouting, "Joe Sparrow!"
With a snap of her fingers, the shrieking of a bird was heard as Joe soared through the sky before landing near them.
"You're not the only one with a bird companion." Shadow said before raising his hand to his lips before whistling.
An even louder shriek was heard before a large roc descended from the sky, a size bigger than Joe Sparrow.
"They grow up fast." Shadow, wiping an invisible tear. "I still remember when she was just a chick."
"Alright, let's lighten the load. Come on Joe!" Marcy declared before looking over. "Joe, not again!"
Once again, Joe was doing a mating dance before wiggling his eyebrows at the roc. Skye's response, shrieking as if to say 'focus on the mission, boy!'.
"Save the flirting for later, pal." Marcy said.
With Anne on the back of the roc, the Calamity Warriors took off, picking up the sizable marble buildings and tossing them out of town, along with that tacky clock tower, much to Toadstools dismay.
Joe flew towards the gold statue, Anne throwing a rope around it, the sparrow pulling with all his might.
"Come on, Joe Sparrow!" Marcy yelled, giving the bird encouragement.
"We believe in you!" Apollo cheered.
The bird's confidence rose before pulling the statue free from its base before sending it flying off a cliff, the panting bird landing from exhaustion.
"You did well, my friend." Apollo said with a smile, patting the bird's side.
Skye approached the bird, giving a nod of respect.
With the weight lifted, the town stopped sinking and rose back up from under the water. Shortly after, Ina popped out, pulling out several large fish.
The teens set on the ground, their eyes and hair going back to normal.
"Good job, everyone." Shadow said.
"We did it, gang." Marcy said with a raised fist. "Total success."
"Ahem!"
The teens turned and were met with an angry mob of frogs, angry glares directed at the Taiwanese girl.
"Everyone, let's all just stay calm here." Shadow spoke up.
"Yeah, she just wanted to help." Anne added.
"It's okay, you guys." Marcy said, a hand on her friends shoulder. "I can face the music on my own." She took a deep breath before letting it out. "I'm so sorry, everyone. I mean, you're all really important to Anne and Shadow, and I know how much you love them, and I guess I just wanted you to like me too. But I took things way too far." Apollo placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Sadie Croaker was the first to step forward. "Marcy, was it? I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're all pretty mad at you."
"To be fair," Toadstool spoke up, sliding into view. "I shoulder just a bit of the blame here."
"You will shoulder the majority of the blame, Toadstool." Apollo said, giving the mayor a deathly glare. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, your majesty." The mayor gulped.
"We'll get to him in a bit, youngster." Sadie said before returning her attention to Marcy. "As for you, you're a walking disaster who doesn't know when to quit! You nearly destroyed this town and killed us in the process."
Marcy looked down in shame, Apollo sporting a disapproving look.
Suddenly, Sadie said, "In other words, you're just like Anne and Shadow when they each got here."
The Taiwanese girl and newt prince did a double take. "Huh?"
"Yeah, which means we'll probably get around to liking you eventually." Wally chimed in.
"Whether we want to or not." Duckweed added. "Am I right?"
The crowd started laughing, before Marcy started giggling herself, although Apollo still seemed dumbfounded.
"Is this true, brother?" He asked Shadow.
"Believe it or not, yeah." Shadow smiled. "Took a long while before the town got used to me. Took just as long for them to get used to Anne."
"Oh, for sure, man." Anne said. "I got into a tussle with some toads to earn their respect."
"Let's not forget how you set the whole town on fire that one time." Kaemon quipped.
"Burned me trousers off." Wally said.
"I remember that." Duckweed nodded.
"I'm still on fire." A random frog said, his hair still burning, making everyone laugh.
"Just be patient and I'm sure you'll fit in eventually." Sadie said, when her face suddenly got dark. "After a lengthy period of regarding you with extreme, borderline paranoid suspicion, mind you."
"Fair enough." Marcy shrugged, accepting it. "Thank you, everyone. I'll do my best." She then rolled her sleeves up. "In the meantime, let me at least clean this mess up."
"And allow me to land a hand." Apollo suggested. "I also feel a tad responsible."
"Okay, but you better not do any more than that." Sadie said with a raised finger.
The couple darted off, fixing up the town in record time, the others watching in amazement.
"I've gotta say, she's pretty amazing." Wally admitted.
"Yup, she's one of a kind." Anne nodded with a smile.
"And Apollo taught her well." Shadow added. "Although he still has a ways to go himself."
"Yeah, he needs to control that temper of his." Hop Pop chimed.
"Yeah, but he looks like he's doing alright." Ina spoke up.
Valor nodded, before taking notice of the mascot. "Who the heck is even in there?" He asked, pointing at it.
Suddenly, the suit burst open, and several bugs popped out, causing everyone to scream in panic.
"BUGS! IT'S JUST BUGS!" Anne yelled.
"WHAT CAN I SAY?! THEY WERE CHEAP!" Toadstool screamed.
The whole crowd ran off, leaving only Shadow, Valor and Ina looking on in confusion.
"But they're frogs." Valor said. "Why would they run off screaming?"
"I have no clue." Shadow said with a shake of his head.
Just then, Joe and Skye returned and started pecking at the bug pile.
After the hectic events, it was nighttime. Most of the townsfolk of Wartwood had already retired for bed. So far, Anne was the only one still awake, as she was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, dressed in a white T-shirt and black shorts, gurgling, and spitting out the liquid and washing out her mouth.
"Another tiring day down the drain." She let out a sigh. "Man, I really got used to all this craziness."
Just as she was about to leave for the hut, she let out a groan as she felt a strange pain in her chest, then a pain in her head, the girl almost falling to her knees, grabbing the edge of the sink, and putting a hand to her head, groaning in pain.
"What the heck…" She groaned, steadying her breathing. "What's wrong with me…?"
Looking herself in the mirror, she seemed mostly the same, she stuck her tongue out as to check her throat, she pulled her left eyelid down a bit as to check her eyes. So far, nothing seemed off.
That is, until she pulled the collar of her shirt down a bit, seeing a strange mark on her chest resembling a wolf's face on her chest, just above her breasts.
"What the…" She did a double take. "Where did this come from?"
And there's the new chapter! Nothing much to say, besides the addition of more chemistry between Apollo and Marcy. I love these two so much, and thank you Guest for the suggestion!
And then we have the Mark of the End's first appearance and the first signs of its symptoms. So far, it's causing heart pains and headaches. But that's not all it does.
With all that being said, I hope you guys stay tuned for more, and look forward to more! Next up is Friend or Frobo! Reviews are greatly appreciated!