The sun is low, almost ready to disappear behind the horizon. Almost fourteen hours have passed since Luz brought Hop Pop back home. Luz herself had used the time since then to catch up on some sleep. Anne, Sprig and Polly have, to pass the time, taken turns to check on Hop Pop and let the rest of them know when he wakes up. So far, unfortunately, this hasn't happened and he was still fast asleep when they last checked.
Now, however, the four of them are on their way to the village meeting to which Mayor Toadstool has personally invited them. As the four children approach the heart of the village, they see that countless other frogs have already gathered in front of, and around a makeshift wooden stage and are chattering wildly. Anne realizes that they must be among the last people to arrive. The crowd quiets down a bit, and Anne gets the feeling that everyone is looking at her. Unfortunately, the feeling is not new to her. For the first few weeks at Wartwood, she felt exactly the same way. She was considered a monster by everyone for who she is. At that time, she was just a human. Not a human with a super power. She knows deep down that no one saw her but Luz, but the thought that anyone else could have seen her, is extremely uncomfortable. Especially considering what she did with that power...
Mayor Toadstool steps onto the platform and gestures for everyone present to be quiet before he himself begins to speak.
"It looks like most of the people are here... ... As some of you may have witnessed, there was an incident last night. A valued member of our community has been brutally attacked.", Many of the frogs whisper wildly before Toadstool continues, "The victim was our esteemed Hopediah Plantar. My information is that he will survive though. Now, before we all discuss how to condemn and respond to this attack, I'd like to ask Anne and her friend to come up on stage, to tell us exactly what happened, since they were the first to find the good Hopediah."
Anne and Luz hesitate for a moment, but now that all eyes are actually on them, they head towards the platform. Since the two girls are the largest creatures in Wartwood, it would not have been necessary for them to climb onto the platform to be seen better. But nonetheless, they accepted Toadstool's invitation.
"I'd have to go back a bit to get it all right. It started a few days ago in Toad Tower when everyone here was invited to the banquet. What most of us didn't know, however, was that this was a trap for Hop Pop. I'll get to the reasons for that in a moment. Then, when Luz showed up, and we all left, she kinda nullified that trap. Then I invited Sasha, my former best friend, to dinner at the Plantars yesterday evening. She must have been ordered to kill Hop Pop by Captain Grime, because Luz and I ended up finding her around here with Hop Pop next to her. Luz and I fought Sasha for a while, who then escaped heavily injured. I don't know if she had other targets though… Or if she survived…", Anne's voice trails off to which Luz continues.
"Although the mayor said Hop Pop survived and would pull through, that wasn't the case the whole time. For about two to three hours, he was dead. Bled to death. With Maddie's help and guidance, we managed to bring him back to life."
Again, some wild, concerned and puzzled chatter spreads among the listening crowd, shortly before Mayor Toadstool re-enters the platform.
"Are there any questions?", he asks the crowd.
Sylvia Sundew raises her arm.
"Why did your friend wanted to see Hoppy dead? What did he do?", she asks full of worry, to which Anne remembers that she forgot to mention that part.
"Oh right.", she mutters before pulling Hop Pop's revolution poster out of a bag, and holding it out in front of the crowd for everyone to see. They look quite little confused. Anne explains.
"When Hop Pop ran for mayor, frogs from all over the valley saw it as an opportunity, or motivation, to stand up to the domineering toads. In response, the toads may have decided to make an example of Hop Pop. Most likely they wanted to kill him already at the tower, with all of us as witnesses. Thanks to Luz's appearance there, this plan probably failed.", the crowd begins whispering wildly again, before Anne continues, "I have to confess something too... After the tower, I was warned several times that Sasha was up to something. But I ignored those warnings. This didn't apply to Luz and Sprig, though. Both suspected Sasha from the start and watched her. Luz noticed Sasha, but only after she had already left the house with Hop Pop. She woke me up and we ran after her."
Leopold Loggle, the carpenter, now raises his hand.
"What was that ball of ice this morning?", he asks. Luz excitedly responds to this question.
"That was me.", she says before pulling an ice glyph out of a trouser pocket, which she quickly activates. She hears several "Uhh"s and "Ahh"s coming from the crowd. Luz continues.
"Although I'm originally from Earth, like Anne, before I came to Amphibia, I lived and learned magic on the Boiling Isles, yet another world."
"Thank you, Anne and Luz.", Mayor Toadstool now takes the floor again as the two girls leave the platform, "If anyone else has a question, that person is now out of luck. So, now that everyone has been informed about what happened, I would like to start a discussion about how we should handle this situation. Any suggestions?"
In fact, several residents are calling out ideas.
"Revenge!", one shouts.
"Let's improve the village defenses!", another shouts.
"Let's blow up Toad Tower!", Polly yells enthusiastically.
"Rebellion!", Luz yells, whereupon Anne looks at her questioningly.
"Seriously?", Anne asks her. Luz merely shrugs her shoulders.
"Sure. I'm always in for proving jerks wrong... ", Luz explains calmly.
Anne is unsure about all those plans. 'These suggestions all sound like they're going to go awry pretty quickly, with really bad consequences... I don't like it, but people seem pretty determined right now.', she ponders. Shortly after, Anne comes up with an idea of her own.
"How about we combine these ideas together. Improving village defenses is a good idea, but overdoing it also makes us a target. We could spread the word that the toads tried to kill Hop Pop, thus making him a martyr, which would start some kind of rebellion that could reach all the frogs in the whole valley, possibly strong enough that the toads could be driven out of the valley...", Anne notices Polly being all fidgety, "And Polly could blow up Toad Tower afterwards."
Mayor Toadstool speaks up again and asks, if there were any other suggestions. When no one else answers, he holds a vote. Towards the end of the vote, Anne's proposal is neck and neck with the proposal to improve village defenses. Ultimately, Anne's proposal wins, albeit narrowly. Toadstool speaks up.
"Anne, since your proposal won, you are automatically involved in the organization. However, knowing that you will not stay here in Amphibia forever, you may choose representatives to take care of everything, just in case you're not available. Hopediah maybe?"
"Ugh, not a good idea. Hop Pop is still recovering and I'm about to travel to Newtopia with the Plantars to look for a way back home. Can we take care of that when we get back from Newtopia?", Anne asks.
"All right. I'll make sure that other villages in the valley get the news. If there are no further questions, the meeting is hereby dissolved.", Toadstool states as he's already leaving the platform without even looking back at the crowd, which is slowly dissolving. Luz leans towards Anne, as they are leaving as well.
"Is he always like that?", she asks.
"Oh, yeah.", Anne, Sprig, and Polly reply in unison
"Most of the time he's actually even worse.", Sprig adds to their previous reply, "He's making a good living at everyone else's expense. I was surprised that he called this village meeting at all... "
"Sorry if I interrupt you", Luz cuts in, "but I just thought of something: I'm probably flying earlier to Newtopia than you guys."
The group stops at that. Anne speaks up.
"Why this sudden change of plans?", she wonders.
"Well, I could take a look around Newtopia in advance together with Maddie, and also look for ways to support the rebellion. I might also find some helpful allies... You can always use them...", Luz argues, "Oh, almost forgot: I haven't even asked Maddie if she wants to go... Um, I'll see you guys later."
And with that said, Luz runs back towards the stage, while Anne, Sprig, and Polly continue their way home.
"Anne?", Sprig asks after a while, "Why didn't you tell people about your power? You're Super-Anne now..."
"First of all: Not Super-Anne. Never. Second: What do you think I should have told them? Hey guys, I discovered a superpower this morning and almost killed my friend with it?!", she sounds quite upset.
"Okay I understand. But I think eventually people will find out..."
"I know. But until then, I want to find out for myself what it's about, and why I have that power…"
The day ends without any further events. The kids just ate something and then went to sleep.
The next morning came surprisingly quickly, and Anne is surprisingly the first one to wake up. Well, she hadn't slept very well either. The memories of last night are still too fresh in her mind, for her to sleep peacefully. Strangely enough, even if it was actually just a little over 24 hours ago, it already feels like an eternity. Anne carries herself out of her bed and, when she sees that Luz is still asleep, she walks very quietly up the stairs out of the basement, directly towards Hop Pop's study. The last time she checked on him was just before she went to sleep, but his condition was still the same. Yesterday, she and Sprig had taken care of the blood trail and Hop Pop's blood-soaked bed. Originally, Luz wanted to help as well, but she stayed longer at Maddie's that anticipated. Anne opens the door to his room and, to her surprise, sees Hop Pop sitting upright on his couch.
"HOP POP!", she shouts while running towards him to hug him tightly. Coincidentally, Sprig and Polly are also coming down the stairs, and hears what Anne just yelled. They look into Hop Pop's room and as they realize that he's awake again, they also run towards him and join in in the hug. They are over the moon that Hop Pop is with them again.
"How are you feeling?", Anne asks, feeling relieved beyond her ears.
"Ugh kids, I feel like I slept all day..."
"Well, you did.", Polly replies happily.
"Oh. I feel pretty good then, considering I was dead... Heh... I am actually alive again though, aren't I?" Anne gives Hop Pop a doubtful look while Sprig replies.
"Yes, Hop Pop, you're alive"
"What do you remember?", Anne asks.
"Let me think... I was lying in bed and woke up thinking someone had come into my room. I thought it was one of you, so I hadn't thought too much about it. Then I heard your friend Sasha behind me. She said, 'I'm sorry'.", Anne snorted at that statement. He continues, "Immediately afterwards, she stabbed me in the back with a knife. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. She grabbed me by my shirt and dragged me out of the house. Somewhere along the way I think I lost consciousness. The next thing I remember, I woke up in a cave with Luz and Maddie standing next to me."
Anne, Sprig and Polly look at each other worried. The way Hop Pop just told them, it felt like he was just telling one of his stories. As if this whole experience hadn't affected him at all. The kids know though, that he went through an extremely traumatic experience, and that Hop Pop is only now beginning to process it. It's most likely going to be quite a long process...
Suddenly the basement hatch opens and a completely sleepy Luz crawls out.
"What's all this noise about?", Luz complains. Hop Pop notices her and smiles a little.
"You know that I have to be well rested for the trip... ... Oh, Hop Pop, you're awake...", Luz now notices as well, and she couldn't help but smile as she slowly walked towards the door, but does not enter the room itself.
"What do you mean 'for the trip later'?", Hop Pop wonders.
"Oh right. I'm flying to Newtopia today, together with Maddie, to do some research."
"But I thought you would ride in the fwagon with us...", Hop Pop mentions sadly.
"Fwagon?", Sprig asks.
"Uhh, listen kids. I've owned a wagon for a while that I wanted to surprise you with so that everyone doesn't have to squeeze onto Bessy, and it makes the ride a little more comfortable."
"Aww, Hop Pop... Thank you", Sprig says.
"I actually knew that already. Glad I don't have to keep this secret anymore...", Polly sighs in relief.
"How could you have known?", Sprig asks his sister with a critical tone.
"We picked up the fwagon together after he bought me my new bucket.", Polly explains.
"The reason Luz is flying ahead, is that Sprig, Polly and I are not ready to leave until you are fully recovered. Originally Luz wanted to wait too, but a village meeting yesterday changed the plan a bit. I think you can think what the meeting was about..."
"Let me guess...", Hop Pop begins, "it was about my death, and there was going to be a vote on how to deal with it. What was decided: Sheer revenge or improvement of village defenses?"
Anne's jaw drops to the floor.
"How did you know those were options?", she asks. Hop Pop laughs dryly.
"Oh, you know kid… I've been to a lot of meetings like this in my life and the propositions have always been the same. So? What is it this time?", he wonders. Everyone hesitates at first. Anne replies.
"None of that. The plan is to start a rebellion against the toads to drive them out of the valley..."
"Wow, that's a really, really stupid idea. Who suggested it? Steve? Chuck? He's always craving for violence..."
"Let's talk about it later and have breakfast first.", Anne immediately tries to change the subject, "You must be quite hungry, am I right?"
"Oh, absolutely. Will you help me get up, kids?"
Anne helps Hop Pop stand up, and aids him out of the room towards the kitchen. Sprig, Polly and Luz follow them. Everyone sits down and Hop Pop repeats his last question.
"So? Who came up with the idea of rebelling against the toads?"
"It was me. I had this idea", Anne admits after some hesitancy.
"Say whaaaatt?", Hop Pop says, shocked. "Why did you do that?"
"Quite simply: On the one hand, all other ideas were trash. On the other hand, something had to happen. Sasha attacked my family on behalf of Grime."
"What actually happened to her?", Sprig wonders. Anne replies coldly.
"If it was up to me, she's dead. And if I hadn't fallen over, I would have killed her myself..."
"Whoa, that's cold", Hop Pop replies terrified.
"She deserved it. She Killed You. SHE…", Anne gets loud again.
"Anne. You're turning blue again...", Sprig says.
"I don't care", Anne states, her voice filled with anger and pain.
Before Hop Pop could react in any way, a knock on the front door distracts him. Luz gets up and opens the door. It's Maddie who seems unusually energetic.
"Good morning... Why are you here already? Or even awake?"
"Oh, I've been up for a few hours getting ready for the trip...", Maddie explains before noticing that Luz was still half asleep. "You apparently haven't yet, right?"
"Nah, I just woke up a few minutes ago. We're just having breakfast. Would you like to eat with us, while I try to wake up a little?"
"Yes of course.", Maddie gladly accepts the invitation and walks towards the rest of the Plantars, while Luz goes up the stairs to get ready. Maddie notices the blue aura around Anne.
"Hi... Is it inappropriate right now?", she wonders.
"No, it's alright...", Anne replies as her aura is fading out already. Hop Pop now looks at Maddie.
"I guess it's thanks to you that I'm alive again, right?"
"Not really.", Maddie replies, to his surprise, "Luz brought you back. I actually have no idea how she did it. That's one reason why I'm going to accompany her to Newtopia."
"I see", Hop Pop says, not knowing what to do with this new information.
"By the way... I'd like to ask you a few questions to see how fit you are now."
"Alright", he agrees.
"First question: Can you move your arms and legs?", Maddie asks. Hop Pop stands up from his chair, trying to stretch himself.
"Well, they still feel a little stiff", he notices.
"Okay, that's part of rigor mortis, which probably hasn't completely subsided yet. Next question: Do you have a putrid taste in your mouth? Like when you ate expired meat?"
"No, I don't", he answers.
"Very good. So, we weren't too late. Last question: How good are the reflexes in your tongue?"
"You tell me", Hop Pop says while catching a small fly in the air.
"Impressive. You passed all the tests.", Maddie replies contently. Now Anne speaks up.
"Maddie, do you have an estimate on how long your journey to Newtopia actually takes?"
"I guess we'll get there tonight.", Maddie replies, "Though you should ask that question to Luz. She's the one with the flying staff…", Hop Pop chokes on water that he had in his mouth.
"JUST ONE DAY? With Bessie, the journey takes almost two weeks. One and a half if we hurry and never stop...", he states in shock.
"Well… flying has its advantages... Do you and Luz have any plans other than just research?"
"Well, I have a few contacts who would take us in.", Maddie remains vaguely, "I also have opportunities to get us access to the royal library. And before you ask Anne, we'll keep our eyes open for your other friend." Anne smiles at that.
"Thank you, Maddie. I miss Marcy terribly."
"What's Marcy like? Hopefully not like Sasha, otherwise you have pretty questionable taste in friends... ...excluding everyone present.", Sprig wonders, to Anne smiles as some memories begin to occupy her mind.
"Marcy is by far the clumsiest person I know. She's incredibly intelligent, and she was the one who had the idea to get hold of the music box and try it out."
"Music box?"
"Oh, wait...", Anne says before pulling out her phone, and showing Maddie a picture of the box. She continues, "The box is currently with Hop Pop contacts who are also trying to find out more about it."
"I'm not ready to believe she's harmless until I meet her in person," Sprig clarifies dubiously, "Until then, I remain skeptical."
Meanwhile, Luz walks down the stairs from the upper floor, now looking both a bit more awake and ready to fly. She heads into the kitchen.
"Maddie, I'm ready. If you want, we can leave", Luz says. Maddie stands up, but before she and Luz can start heading out, Anne stops them.
"Not so fast... I won't let you go without a proper goodbye.", she states sternly and pulls Luz in for a tight, warm hug.
"It would be great if you could find Marcy in Newtopia. And also, if you could keep my power to yourself.", she whispers.
"No problem, Anne."
Shortly afterwards, Sprig, Polly and even Hop Pop join in and say goodbye to Luz, well, for now, before everyone follows Luz and Maddie outside. Luz picks Maddie up on her staff.
"See you in a few weeks", she waves goodbye, before taking off and flying toward Newtopia.
"I already miss her.", Anne says.
"Me too", Sprig agrees.
"She was only here for a while, and she left such a deep impression... I'll miss her too. But we will see her again sooner than we even realize. You'll see, time will fly...", Hop Pop says, before heading back into the house.