Calamity Returns: Rocketing Down The Road
Hop Pop was driving the fwagon through the mountain pass when he heard a noise from Andrias. The elderly frog looked over his shoulder and saw the slightly concerned expression on the former king's face.
"Ye doing good back there, Andrias?" Hop Pop called to the giant newt.
"...Yes," the ex-king replied after a moment.
Hop Pop frowned when he saw the Salamander newt look down and followed the ex-king's eyes. The orange frog cocked an eyebrow when he saw Marcy sitting on Andrias's lap.
Hop Pop couldn't help but smile faintly when he noticed the warm smile the current four-year-old was giving the former king. Andrias also had his arm close to the Thai toddler in case something happened during the trip back to Wartwood.
The sight was quite adorable, and Hop Pop wished he had a camera to capture the moment. Unfortunately, the moment didn't last; the top door suddenly swung open, and Olivia appeared, looking a little frantic.
"Mister Marcy!" the refined Newt called, looking around. "Mister Marcy! Where have you gone!"
The aquamarine newt continued to look around and eventually found Marcy. The Taiwanese girl waved happily to Olivia, oblivious to the stress she caused the lady newt.
Olivia sighed, relieved that the current four-year-old was safe. She then turned stern and stepped onto the roof. She walked over to Marcy, looking at the human with a scolding glare.
"Marcy Wu!" the aquamarine newt scolded, hands on hips. "What do you think you're doing out here?"
The smile faded from Marcy's face, replaced with a sad frown. She shrunk slightly from the scolding glare Olivia was giving her.
"Well, young lady," Olivia asked with slight disapproval, "What do you have to say for yourself."
Marcy shrunk further into Andrias and looked away, shame riddling her face. The former king noticed the human was starting to shake and gently placed his arm in front of the current child. He looked at Olivia with a gentle expression.
"Miss Longclaw," Andrias said politely, "I have been keeping my eye on Marcy since she came up here a few minutes ago."
Olivia turned her glare on the former king, and Andrias flinched ever so slightly. He never realized how fierce the lady newt could be.
"That's not the point, Andrias," Olivia said sternly, "Marcy is currently a child, and everyone knows how dangerous these roads could be!"
Hop Pop, seeing how nervous the ex-king was getting, decided to jump in. "Actually, Miss Longclaw," he said calmly, "I have traveled these roads a lot. And I have been going fairly slow…due to some extra weight."
Hop Pop looked at the ex-king when he heard Andrias groan. The farmer gave the giant newt a sheepish smile when he realized he might have insulted the former king.
Before the farmer could make up for his small mistake, Olivia turned her eyes to the farmer. Pop Hop couldn't help but flinch from the look she was giving him. It remained the elderly frog of his grandkid's mother and how fierce she could get.
"This isn't just about outside forces," Olivia explained. "But Mister Marcy is currently a child, and without her Calamity power reinforcing her body, I don't want to take the risk of her getting hurt."
Hop Poo gave the lady newt a perplexed expression. Olivia stared at the elder frog, starting to feel a little awkward from the look she was getting.
"What?" the lady newt asked awkwardly, lightly touching her face. "Is there something on my face?"
"No, ma'am," Hop Pop was quick with a polite reply. "I just don't know what you meant."
Olivia continued to stare at the farmer with an unreadable expression. Thankful, the ex-king decided to chime in before things got really awkward between the newt and the frog.
"What Miss Longclaw is talking about," Andrias explained, "was that after Marcy injured herself falling for a fleet of stairs, we learn the Calamity energies in Marcy's body reinforced her to the point where nothing but my sword, which was powered by imitation calamity energy, could seriously injure her."
Hop Pop starred at the ex-king, confused, but suddenly gasped as he recalled the incident with the tax collectors. Anne had taken a mace, a spiked mace, to the arm, which caused a sprained elbow and some light bruising.
At the time, Hop Pop thought the reason was that humans were tougher than frogs. But thinking more on the matter, the farmer realized that Anne took a lot of punishment and often came out of it with only minor wounds.
While Hop Pop was having this revolution, Andrias heard a noise behind him. He looked over his shoulder and frowned when he saw something pop out of the back of the wagon.
"Why did a set of booster rockets suddenly pop out?" the ex-king asked.
Hop Pop was brought out of his thoughts by Andrias's question. Before he could ask anything, he heard a click and looked down in time for a plate to slide under Bessie.
The frog and two newts screamed when they suddenly rocketed forward at high speeds. Olivia was flung off her feet, but Andrias caught her before she flew off the wagon. The salamander newt held the smaller newt close, and Olivia quickly hugged Marcy.
"SPRIG PLANTAR!" Pop Hop screamed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
(A Few minutes earlier)
"Anne!" Sprig screamed. "Stop this instant!"
The Thai girl giggled before blowing a raspberry at her frog brother. Sprig groaned at the gesture as he tried to capture his best friend/sister figure.
Anne was currently running wildly around The fwagon, giggling. Sprig was trying to catch her, but the current toddler was proving to have more than enough energy to avoid capture.
"HA!" Sprig screamed victoriously, "Got you now, Anne!"
The pink frog had chased the Thai girl into a corner and was ready to catch her. Sprig grinned in triumph, wiggling his fingers as he leaned in close. Anne didn't look concerned; instead, she was mischievously grinning.
Sprig lunged for the human girl, and Anne jumped when the frog was close. The human girl's eyes glow faintly as she bounded off Sprig's head.
The pink frog groaned as Anne's move knocked him off balance and hit face first into the wall. Anne did a double somersault and stuck her landing, holding her arms up high.
The current toddler looked up when she heard clipping and blushed slightly when she noticed the former general sitting on the table, admiring the human.
"Impressive," Yunan complemented, clipping lightly. "Don't you think you, Ovi?"
The ex-general frowned as she saw that her wife wasn't beside her. The tall newt looked around the room and couldn't find a trace of Olivia. Yunan's frown deepened when she realized she didn't see Marcy either.
"If you're looking for Olivia," Polly told the former general, "She just headed to the roof. I think she was looking for Marcy."
Yunan frowned at the young frog. Polly was engrossed in one of her projects and the retired general wondered how she knew where Olivia went.
Before she could question Polly, Yunan felt a tug on her hip. She looked under the table and saw Darcy tugging on a makeshift toddler leash. The Core-created entity stopped her struggle when she noticed eyes on her and glared at the newt.
Yunan looked at the leash tied around her waist; it was short, barely five inches long. The leash was also made of a tough material. So, it was unlikely that Darcy could break free in her current state. Still, that didn't stop the Core-created entity from trying.
Darcy glared at the newt for a few more seconds, then returned to her struggles.
Yunan stared at Darcy for a minute, then returned her attention to the young frog inventor. The former general noticed Anne had gotten close to her surrogate frog sister, watching Polly curiously.
"Rhat dhat?" Anne asked curiously.
Polly smiled at her human sister and showed her project. The current toddler looked at the item with childish curiosity. It looked like a blaster from a Frog robot, but it was smaller. There was a handle with a trigger on it, and Anne could see a small container inside the weapon.
Anne was confused by the item and looked at Polly for answers. The young female frog grinned cockily and picked up her invention, holding it close to her face.
"This, Annie," Polly said proudly, "Is my fwagon water blaster cleaner."
The young former aimed it at a nearby wall and pulled the trigger. There was a faint click but nothing else. Polly looked at her human sister and grinned when she saw how awe-struck Anne was.
"When I get this bad boy ready," Polly explained proudly, "I will use it with my soap cannon and power wash the heck out of the fwagon in record time!"
Anne let out a large gasp as her eyes sparkled with childish wonder. She reached for the item with grabby hands, and Polly didn't see the harm in letting her human sister hold her creation.
The young frog handed her creation over to the regressed human. Anne groaned slightly as the modified weapon was heavier than she was expecting. The sudden shift in weight nearly knocked Anne off her feet, and she stumbled somewhat to the right.
Anne regained her balance, smiled at her accomplishment, and then proceeded to play around with Polly's creation. She randomly pointed the modified blaster and began making noises.
"Po, Po, Po!" the human said.
Polly couldn't help but laugh at the sight; she finally understood what Anne and her mother meant when they said Anne was a spirited kid. The young frog watched as her human sister did a clumsy duck and roll and nearly stumbled when she got back to her feet.
Polly heard a moan and looked at her brother. Sprig was rubbing his head as he got to his feet. The young female frog grinned teasingly as her older brother looked around.
"Feeling your age, bro?" Polly teased her brother. "You used to bounce back right away after having your face rammed into a wall."
Sprig looked at his sister with a slight glare. Polly countered the gesture with an all-to-innocent smile. The male frog glared at his sister for a few more seconds before he turned his attention to Anne.
Sprig's eyes snapped open when he saw what the current toddler was playing with.
"ANNE!" the male frog screamed in worry. "What are you doing with that?"
Anne stopped playing and looked at Sprig with confusion. Polly also looked at her brother with a perplexed look.
"What's the problem, Sprig?" Polly asked curiously. "There's nothing in the blaster that could hurt Anne?"
That didn't put the young adventurer at ease. "That's not the point," the male frog replied. "Remember that story Mrs. B told us?"
Polly stared at her brother for another second, then slowly looked at the current child. The young inventor's mouth slowly opened as she recalled the story her brother was talking about.
One slow day, Polly remembered asking about a picture she found in Anne's family album. The photo showed the entire Boonchuy living room covered in paint splatters. When Polly showed the picture to Anne's folks, they wore matching grimacing expressions before both had a near panic attack.
It took a few minutes for the Bee and Oum to calm down and tell the Plantars the story behind the picture.
It turns out that Anne, age 7, had gotten her hands on a paint sprayer her dad was using on a project. Anne then went on a spree, covering nearly every inch of the living room in paint.
How Oum explained it to the Plantars was why the living room was the color it was.
Polly's face twisted in thought, and she looked at her brother. "I…see your point," she said reluctantly. "But, like I said, there's nothing in that thing. So nothing could go wrong."
Sprig frowned as he looked at Anne. His eyes snapped open when he saw Anne no longer in front of him. He looked around and felt his stomach drop at what he saw.
While Sprig was talking with his sister, Anne had climbed up the stove. The Thai toddler was still messing around with Polly's gadget, making gun noises. Sprig nearly dropped a load in his pants when he watched Anne slip and fall from the stove.
"ANNE!" the young adventure screamed, rushing over to the toddler.
He dove to catch the regressed human as she fell. Anne, however, had a different idea; she threw the blaster to the side, shifted her body weight, and springboarded off her frog brother.
The young adventure groaned as he lost his balance, and his face had a nasty meeting with the surface of the stove.
Anne landed in front of Sprig and looked at her frog's brother. She walked over to him as Sprig pulled himself off the stove. The frog grimaced as he rubbed her nose and then looked at Anne. The Thai girl just gave Sprig an all-too-innocent smile.
Sprig wanted to be a little mad with his human sister, but the look Anne gave made it hard to get angry. So, he sighed and stood up. The pink frog went to pick up the human when he tripped over Polly's gadget.
"Ahh!" Sprig cried as he stumbled forward.
He thrust his hand out to the wall to keep himself from falling and felt it press against something, a faint click sounding out. Sprig blinked as he awkwardly removed his hand, seeing the switch he had just clicked.
"Umm, Polly?" Sprig asked awkwardly, looking at his sister. "What's this?"
Polly couldn't help but laugh awkwardly as she replied, "That's the rocket boosters I just installed."
Sprig cocked an eyebrow at this. Before he could question why Polly put something like that in the fwagon or why the switch was in such a weird place, the fwagon suddenly rocketed forward.
The group screamed as the sudden acceleration threw them back. Sprig grabbed Anne when she was thrust against him and shielded her as the two were slammed against the wall.
Anne heard her frog brother groan and looked up at him with wide, concerned eyes. Sprig saw the look and tried to smile at his human sister.
"Don't worry," Sprig said, trying to sound upbeat and reassuring, "You know we got this."
Anne stared into Sprig's eyes and couldn't help but feel some of her worries disappear when she saw how comforting they looked. She started to smile when the Fwagon suddenly made a sharp turn, and everyone was thrown about.
"What's going on out there!?" Yunan screamed as she dove under the table and hugged Darcy.
(SC)
Hop Pop fought to regain control of the wagon, pulling on the reins to slow it down. He soon realized why he couldn't get the fwagon under control; Bessie was no longer pulling the wagon.
"Can't you do something?" Olivia screamed desperately.
Hop Pop wanted to scream a retort but had a bigger concern coming up: namely, a sharp turn. The elderly frog's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets when he realized the Fwagon was fast approaching the turn.
If Hop Pop couldn't do anything soon, the fwagon would rocket right off the turn.
There was a sudden click, and Hop Pop watched as a steering wheel flapped in front of him. He grabbed the wheel and turned it sharply to the right.
The fwagon made a sharp turn, barely making it around the turn.
Hop Pop gripped the steering wheel as he looked firmly at the road. Muscle memory and habits for his days as the Whecker filled Hop Pop as he saw a narrow turn coming up. He cranked the wheel to the right, and the Fwagon went onto its right wheels.
From their spot on the top of the fwagon, Andrias and Olivia screamed when they saw the mountain's wall come dangerously close. The female newt of high society tightened her hold on Marcy as Andrias moved to use his body to shield the two.
Thankfully, the turn ended, and Hop Pop leveled the wagon out.
Olivia sighed a sigh of relief, remembering that the rest of the trip was mostly a straight path to Wartwood. Better yet, the Fwagon was starting to slow down, so she hoped things would go a little smoother.
"Are you okay, Young Master Marcy?" Olivia asked, looking down at the toddler in her lap.
The black-haired toddler looked up at the lady newt and smiled. Olivia was a little surprised by the lack of fear in the human's eyes, but she smiled slightly when she remembered that, despite her current age, Marcy was a tough girl.
That smile didn't last long, as the high society newt began to think about something. Not long after Marcy and her friends returned to their world, Olivia wondered how much of Marcy's actions were based on guilt instead of true bravery.
After all, Marcy was the one who trapped her two best friends and herself in a strange land. Even if Marcy had planned it from the start, part of Olivia had wondered why the human was so willing to throw herself recklessly into one danger after another.
The female newt frowned as she remembered a conversation with her wife from a few days ago. Even Yunan had acknowledged that some of Marcy's actions were more reckless than necessary.
If someone like Yunan could see something like that, then Olivia couldn't help but wonder what was going through the black-haired human's mind during that time.
Before the female newt could ponder her charge's past actions further, Olivia heard a noise. Suddenly, the Fwagon rocketed forward just as the last turn came up.
Hop Pop couldn't react fast enough, and the vehicle flew off the mountain pass. The four screamed as they flew across the sky for a second before gravity took hold. The elderly frog and two newts' screams increased as they watched the ground rapidly approaching, Olivia hugging Marcy close to her chest.
Suddenly, an air balloon deployed under the Fwagon and cushioned its fall. The group groaned and jerked forward at the sudden stop but were otherwise unharmed.
"What in frog's name just happened?" Andrias asked calmly.
Hop Pop sighed a tired sigh as he heard a few clicks. He watched the air balloons pop, and the platform slid back under the Fwagon. He took Bassie's reins as the steering wheel folded back into the vehicle.
"That was something my grandbaby came up with," the elderly frog answered warily. "I'm going to have a long talk with her about this. But for now, let's get back to Wartwood before anything else happens."
The frog didn't wait for a response; he snapped Bessie's reins, and the snail took off toward town. Unaware to the group, there was a light moan from where the fwagon crashed landed.
(SC)
"Steve," I asked accusingly, "What are we doing here in my Amphibia story?"
I looked at my otherworldly cousin with suspicion. Steve just gave me an innocent look before looking away and whistling.
I narrowed my eyes in a glare as I studied Steve. My partner-and I use that term extremely loosely-in story writing had changed his appearance so as not to stick out like a sore thumb.
Not surprisingly, the ex-scout had gone with a toad disguise, keeping his natural skin and hair coloring and wearing his usual outfit. The only thing that seemed out of place was his horn, given he was a species that didn't have horns.
After a second of glaring at Steve, I sighed and looked down. I was wearing my Michelle/Aunt Milly outfit, but I had gone with a newt disguise with pale green skin. I was a little wider than your typical newt, but I wouldn't complain.
I looked back at Steve, ready to grill him for more information, when I heard screaming. I didn't bother to look up, as I knew what that noise meant.
Instead, I just groaned and glared at the mischievously grinning Steve as the Plantars' fwagon came down on me.
Thankfully, Steve reinforced my body before we traveled here. So, while I was probably going to be sore from having an entire wagon dropped on me, I wasn't going to suffer any severe injuries.
Steve strolled up to me as Hop Pop drove the fwagon off towards Wartwood, not hearing my pained moans.
"Yo, boss girl," the ex-scout chirped, "You unicorn panties are showing again."
I didn't reply, too busy thinking about finally making good on my threat about giving my otherworldly cousin Creeping Root.
(G Corner)
I had planned to use that ghost character, Zechariah Nettles, in the last scene of this chapter, but Steve talked me into changing it and, once more, making me the butt of a joke.
