The Plantars took another trip to the Archives (this time, without locking themselves in) trying to find any information about the mysterious music box that brought Anne and T'Challa to Amphibia. They even brought it with them to compare to some of the symbols. Unfortunately, there was no match found, so no new information came to light for any of them.

Once the family was done, they left the Archives and rode on Bessie. On their drive home, Anne pouted in disappointment.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Hop Pop said.

"Ugh, you said it." Anne said looking at her box. "Can't believe there was nothing in the Archives about my music box."

"You really think this is your key to getting home?" Sprig asked staring at his own reflection on the music box.

"Well, it zapped me and T'Challa here," Anne answered, "So yeah, it's pretty much my only lead."

"Why this world though?" T'Challa asked. ""I mean, judging by the frog marks, it must have been made in this world, so that makes sense. But how did it end up on Earth for us to find?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, dude." Anne answered. "Really looking forward to finding someone who can help us fix this thing. When we tried to open it again, there was no flash like before. It just acted like a normal box."

"Don't worry, you two. We'll figure it out eventually." Hop Pop said before noticing something that made him stop Bessie. "WHOA!"

"What happened?" T'Challa asked acting on high alert.

Everyone looked in front of Bessie and saw a whole line of tiny, cartoony critters walking across the road. Flowers, duck heads, snakes, caterpillars, walking fruit. It was a whole assortment of little pests walking in a row.

"Hey, get out of the way, you… whatever the heck you are!" Hop Pop shouted.

Sprig followed the trail of critters back to where they came from, which was a tree near the edge of the forest beside them.

"Oh, hey, what's that?" Sprig asked bouncing to the tree just as the last critter climbed out. "Man, these things are cute."

Once the last creature was gone, Sprig curiously looked into the tree and feasted his eyes on something that made him gasp out in a delighted surprise.

"WHOA! Guys, look what I found!" Sprig pulled out what looked like an egg, but it was round with strange markings over its shell. "I think it's an entry ticket to the Bizarre Bazaar!"

"The what now?" Anne asked.

"The Bizarre Bazaar." Sprig repeated. "I've never been, but I've heard stories. It's a mysterious night market that passes through once a year. Exotic foods. Games. Mysterious treasures."

"Mysterious treasures?" T'Challa asked. "Wait, could this place have answers we need for the music box?"

Anne gasped. "Holy smokes! T'Challa's right! Maybe someone there will know how it works."

"Hold up!" Hop Pop cried out. "From what I've heard, that bazaar is full of greedy degenerates. Wave that thing around, and it'll get stolen for sure."

T'Challa paused when he realized something. He gently placed his hand over his necklace. "They might try to take my Black Panther pendant too."

"It's more than a possibility." Hop Pop said. "Tell you what. I'll reach out to some frogs I knowand see if they know a thing about your music chest."

"Box." Anne corrected.

"That too."

At that moment, the critters finally cleared the road allowing Hop Pop to continue driving his snail. As he did so, the kids in the back had a quick conversation.

"We're going to the Bizarre Bazaar tonight, aren't we?" Sprig asked.

"Obvi." Anne answered.

T'Challa sighed. "All right. Worth a shot, I suppose."

Later that night, the three kids—T'Challe, Anne, and Sprig—waited for Hop Pop to fall asleep before sneaking out of the house through the front door.

"You got the music box?" T'Challa asked.

"Yeah." Anne said patting her pink backpack. "Got it right here in my backpack. Just a quick look around to see if anybody knows anything about the music box."

"And if things go bad, we can always pull through with our own skills." Sprig said. "Including my slingshot skills and T'Challa's Black Panther skills."

"Um, actually…" T'Challa said earning worried looks from the others. "I kinda left my pendant back at the basement."

"What?" Anne asked. "Dude, why?"

"You heard Hop Pop. The Bizarre Bazaar is full of thieves. We may be willing to risk the music box, but I'm certainly not going to risk my pendant being stolen, especially if it provides its user with a nearly-indestructible suit of vibranium."

"I guess you have a point." Anne said. "Okay, Sprig. Which way?"

"I don't know." Sprig said as he pulled out the red egg he found. "I think the egg is supposed to show us."

Suddenly, as if it jumped out, the egg slipped out of Sprig's fingers and fell to the ground where it shattered to pieces.

"Whoops."

"Dude!" Anne shouted.

"Wait, look." T'Challa pointed at the egg, where a small, purple fuzzball with a tiny leaf in its fur stood out of its broken shell. After looking at the three, it ran away from them heading far away from the farm. "After it!"

They followed it deep into the forest far away from Wartwood for a dozen or so minutes. The little creature proved to be very fast until it stopped at a small batch of dirt in the forest, where it quickly burrowed deep into the ground. The kids tried to catch it, but it was too late. It had already disappeared into the ground.

"No! We were so close." Anne sobbed.

At that moment, a few lights flickered around them. The golden mushrooms began to illuminate lighting a path through the mist before them. They followed the mushrooms to what looked like a curtain made of moss. The three proceeded to enter and found that it was exactly what they were looking for.

The Bizarre Bazaar.

They couldn't be seen on the other side of the moss, but the whole area on the other side was filled with a whole collection of stands and vendors and people from all across Amphibia. Many of them dressed strangely and sold gross and unusual products as well as unbelievable selections of food. Among them, a small, masked thief was pickpocketing many of the Bazaar attendants while they weren't looking.

"Whoa!" Anne said looking around. "Hop Pop was right. This place is intense." She stopped when she accidentally bumped into a brown frog with very, very long legs.

"Hey! Watch it, string bean!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Anne apologized as the long-legged frog walked off.

"Who was he calling string bean?" T'Challa asked. "He's not exactly rotund."

"Let's just forget about him." Sprig said. "Let's see what we can find around here."

"Hey, look!" Anne cried out when she spotted a certain stand. There was no one there, but the shelves were full of old treasures and relics, most of which had a certain symbol that was familiar to both Anne and T'Challa. "T'Challa, don't these things remind you of anything?"

"Of course." T'Challa said. "They bear the same markings as the one on the music box."

"Suspiciously so." Sprig added.

T'Challa checked the sign in front of the stand and read it aloud. "Valeriana's Mysterious Goods. Guess this Valeriana owns the place."

"So where is she?" Anne asked before spotting another sign. "Out to lunch? Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, it's fine." Sprig said. "This Valeriana woman will be back. And in the meantime… might as well check out the rest of the bazaar."

"You sure that's a good i…" T'Challa didn't finish speaking before Sprig ran off to curiously check out the hot food cart passing by. He then sighed. "Well, all right. But we gotta keep a close eye on our stuff."

"And we come right back here." Anne added. "I don't wanna mess this up."

Sprig bought three meat buns and brought them back to his friends. He gave one to T'Challa, one to Anne, and kept the last for himself.

"Hey, this actually looks pretty good." Anne said right before Sprig took a bite of his bun revealing a lot of bugs inside. "Ugh. Or not."

"Anne, we've eaten bugs half of our time in this world." T'Challa said. "I think we can handle a few more." He proceeded to eat his own bun grossing Anne out a bit more.

"No thanks. You to you, T."

The hour passed on as the kids traveled around the Bizarre Bazaar. They started off by tasting grilled crittered. They then participated in a card game. Sprig tried his luck in riding a giant beetle that acted like a mechanical bull ride quickly throwing him off. During that time, Anne and T'Challa were indulging themselves with what looked like boba drinks, but the boba turned out to be little bug eggs.

Once the hour was up, the three decided to check on the stand. On their way, they continued to look around fascinated by what was going on in the Bizarre Bazaar.

"Wow. It's amazing how far removed this place is from Wartwood." Anne said. "There's absolutely nothing familiar here."

"I wouldn't say that." T'Challa said pointing ahead. "Look. There's One-Eyed Wally."

They watched as Wally gambled in a dice game. He threw his ice for a lucky roll, but right when he was about to win, a tiny bug pushed one of his dice putting it on the wrong side. He tried to protest and demand for his money back, but he was quickly removed by a bunch of hooded figures who told him that there were "no refunds" in the Bizarre Bazaar.

After seeing that, the kids proceeded return to the treasure stand and saw that the "Out to Lunch" sign was gone, and someone was inside the stand rummaging around.

"It's open!" T'Challa cried out. He quickly fled to the stand with his friends beside him. They stopped and heard a woman's voice with a Romanian accent coming from inside.

"Now, where did I put that incense burner?" The woman peered out noticing the three and walked out. It was an elderly newt woman with a black hood and a glove on her tail. She was accompanied by a small, purple, bug-eyed bird. "Ah, velcome. Velcome to Valeriana's Antiques."

Sprig looked at once of Valeriana's arms. Instead of it being made of flesh, it was instead a thin, wooden stick. "Guys, I think she's missing an arm." he whispered.

"I heard that." Valeriana said.

"Oh, hey." Sprig chuckled nervously out of instinct. He grabbed one of the treasures at random and held it up. "What is this thing?"

"Just one of the many treasures collected from my years of travel." Valeriana answered. She poured a bit of water into the pot that Sprig was holding, and out sprouted a spiral tree in a magical moment. "I've seen and heard it all."

"BAWK! Seen it all! Heard it all!" the bird repeated.

"Betcha haven't seen anything like me and T'Challa here, though." Anne said wrapping her arm around her friend to pull him in.

Valeriana leaned in with a magnifying glass to look closely at them. "No. Not exactly. Tell me, vere did you children come from?"

"We're from a… far-off place." T'Challa said. "Actually, we found a strange music box and noticed that most of your treasures here have the same markings."

Valeriana widened one of her eyes while the other one looked dead like before. "A music box, you say? Is it, by any chance, embedded with three gemstones?"

"Yes! Exactly! In fact, I'll show it to you." Anne said. She set her backpack on the ground and unzipped it. While she did that, T'Challa looked uneasy just looking at the strange woman.

"Uh, Anne, are you sure about this?" Sprig asked. "Maybe Hop Pop was right."

"You heard her. She's seen it all." Anne said. "If anyone knows anything about the music box…"

"Anne, it seems like she knows too much about the music box already." T'Challa said. "That three gemstone guess was awfully spooky. Maybe we should…" He stopped when he widened his eyes to the floor. "Wait. Where's the music box?"

Anne looked at the ground and gasped. Her backpack was gone. "My backpack! Where'd it go?"

"I see it!" T'Challa shouted. He fixed his eyes at a little, hooded frog with a mask on. He was carrying Anne's backpack and running as fast as he could away from them.

"Hey! That's my backpack, you little creep!" Anne shouted. She, T'Challa, and Sprig ran after the masked thief away from Valeriana's stand.

As she saw the three run away, Valeriana kept watch over the two humans curiously while talking to his bird. "Could it be, Leander? Could those two be the ones we've been searching for? The ones who will help us defeat the Creator?" The bird's only response was a gagging sound as if he was about to throw up. "No, Leander! Not on the carpet!"

The thief hopped on one head over another while the kids followed behind him. He was chased along the aisle until they caught up to him at one of the stands that had an assortment of other items hanging on the wall. The masked thief hung the backpack on the same wall and removed his costume, a small toad with black eyes and no pupils. He turned to his pursuers and gave an innocent smile.

"Greetings! Come to try your luck at my fun and exciting game?"

"Absolutely not!" Anne shouted. "Give me my backpack!"

"Back… pack?" the toad asked.

"THE ONE ON YOUR PRIZE WALL!" Anne shouted pointing at the item in question.

"Oh, you mean the magical pouch of mystery." the toad said. "Who could say where it came from or how?"

"You're not fooling us." T'Challa said. He picked up the toad's mask from a nearby table and held it up for everyone to see. "Obviously, you stole it from us to try and pass it off as one of your prizes, which are probably more stolen stuff."

"Yeah. What he said. Now, give me back my backpack." Anne said. She was about to climb into the stand, but she felt a pair of hands stop her. She and the boys found themselves surrounded by the hooded security of the Bizarre Bazaar keeping them in place.

"Hey! What gives?" T'Challa protested.

"Uh, uh, uh." the toad said. "Once something is on the prize wall, the only way to get it back is to win it. Sorry, hon. Bizarre Bazaar rules."

"But the music box!" Anne pleaded. "I can't lose it!"

"It's all right, Anne." T'Challa comforted. "If winning it is what it takes to get it back, then we'll just have to beat its game."

"It's not like we have any other choice anyway." Sprig said.

"All right." Anne said with determination toward the thieving toad. "We'll play your game, you little sicko. So what is it? Dunk tank? Whack-a-mole? Whack-a-tank-a-dunk-a-mole?" She brought up a bag of coins.

The toad chuckled. "Oh, it's a little more involved than that. BEHOLD!"

The toad opened a door behind him revealing a large race track surrounded by fans on the bleachers. Along the track raced a couple of frogs riding on the tops of giant cockroaches. They were racing in laps while avoiding the deadly traps before them.

"That's right, folks!" the toad announced. "Thrills! Chills! Spills! The best cockroach racing this bazaar has to offer!"

"Giant cockroaches. Of course." Anne stated.

"Now, then!" the toad shouted out to the crowd. "Who has the guts to challenge this strange-looking biped, the little pink frog, and her also-strange-looking bipedal boyfriend?!"

Both Anne and T'Challa blushed at that. They denied that last statement while talking over each other frantically.

"I WILL TAKE THIS CHALLENGE!" shouted a loud, thunderous voice.

Among the people in the crowd stood a very large, very intimidating frog man with an eyepatch and scars over his face. The crowd gasped as he stood and approached the stage with the kids and the toad.

"The Wrecker!"

"He hasn't been seen in years!"

"The Wrecker?"

"The legends says he'll wreck yourself if you don't check yourself!"

"Oh, boy." Anne said looking up at the Wrecker.

"It'll be all right." T'Challa said. "There's three of us and only one of him. We got this."

"All right." Anne said. "Let's do this!"

"THE RACE IS ON!" the toad announced.

Anne, T'Challa, and Sprig hopped on the back of a blue cockroach while the Wrecker sat on top of a red one. Both bugs made a revving noise as everyone got ready to race.

"On your marks… get set… GO!"

Immediately, both cockroaches left a cloud of dust in their way. While the audience bet on the Wrecker, both cockroaches were ridden around the track. Along the way, the Wrecker steered his cockroach to the side and bumped right into the others knocking them off-track.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Anne shouted.

"Anything goes in the Bizarre Bazaar!" the crowd cried out while holding out signs that say exactly what they said.

"Oh, no. They have signs. It must be true." Sprig said worryingly.

"Oh, anything goes, huh?" Anne asked. "Then I have a plan. T'Challa, you still have Black Panther reflexes, right?"

"I do." T'Challa answered.

"Good! Then here's the plan!"

After a brief explanation on the plan, the kids rode their cockroach back on the track trying to catch up to the Wrecker. They were right behind him.

"All right, Sprig! Tongue him!" Anne ordered.

"Tongue him? I hardly know him!" Sprig replied.

"Just do it, please!"

Sprig shot his tongue out and wrapped it around the Wrecker's body. He then used it to launch him, his friends, and the cockroach over the Wrecker landing in front of him and taking the lead.

"Cool! It worked!" Anne yelled. "Now, T'Challa, it's your moment!"

T'Challa nodded and turned to face the Wrecker. He leaped off of his cockroach and landed right on the Wrecker's, where he then jumped onto his face to blind him. The Wrecker was forced to slow down his cockroach while the others sped up.

"Nice try, big guy, but my friend really needs that backpack back!" T'Challa shouted. Suddenly, he was caught off-guard when the Wrecker started whispering something into his ear. "Come again?" He leaned in as the Wrecker repeated his whisper. This time, T'Challa understood it with wide eyes. He then released himself from the Wrecker and returned to his team's cockroach.

"T'Challa, what are you doing here?" Anne asked. "You were supposed to slow that guy down!"

"Anne, trust me, it'll be all right." T'Challa said. "Win or lose, it'll be fine."

"What do you mean, win or… WHOA!"

She gasped when the Wrecker pulled out what looked like a blue turtle shell with white sparks on it. He threw it with all his strength toward the kids. Once it landed on them, it blew up like a grenade scattering the kids off the track while the Wrecker crossed the finish line.

"Winner, winner, cricket dinner!" the toad announced the end of the race.

"Well, that didn't feel balanced." Sprig said.

"And I'm pretty sure I saw that trick in a video game once." T'Challa said.

"Our reigning champion takes the prize!" the toad announced giving the Wrecker Anne's backpack.

"NOOOOO!" Anne screamed.

After the race, it didn't take long for the Bizarre Bazaar to close. Everyone packed up their stands, said their goodbyes, and fled. Everyone disappeared too quickly for Anne, T'Challa, and Sprig to process until they found themselves in the middle of the forest all alone.

"The music box." Anne said sadly sitting in defeat. "It's gone. Now, I'll never get home."

"Hey, it's okay, Anne." Sprig assured. "Maybe, uh, we can find someone who knows the Wrecker. Track him down, you know."

"The frogs in there said they hadn't seen him in years." Anne said. She then turned to T'Challa. "What happened, T'Challa? We had a plan, and it was working. Why didn't you stay on him?"

"Anne, it's okay." T'Challa said. "I told you, it would work out, win or lose."

"How do you know that?" Anne asked.

"Because the Wrecker's right behind you."

"Wha… AAH!" Anne and Sprig screamed as they turned around and saw the Wrecker behind them looking down with his scary, stoic stare.

"Look, I know you won my backpack," Anne said with pleading eyes, "And I don't know what you said to T'Challa back on the track, but there's something inside I really need. You gotta give it back. I'll do anything."

The Wrecker stared some more before grabbing onto his head and body. He tore it off showing the truth beneath.

The "Wrecker" was really Hop Pop standing on a pair of tall stilts.

"HOP POP?!" Anne and Sprig gasped.

"Hop Pop." T'Challa said.

"Wait, you knew?" Anne asked T'Challa, who nodded.

"He told me who he was right when I grabbed him during the race." T'Challa said. "It's like I said, win or lose, things will work out."

"I'm… so confused." Anne said.

"Isn't it obvious, Anne?" Hop Pop asked. "I knew you three couldn't resist the Bizarre Bazaar, so I decided to keep watch in case you got yourselves in a pickle. Which you did! A big, fat pickle! Hmm?" He paused for a moment to let the kids feel guilty. "Anyways, here you go." He then returned the backpack to Anne, who gasped in excitement.

"Hop Pop, you're the best! Thanks for having my back… pack. You were right. I was too impatient for answers."

"I guess you're not entirely to blame." T'Challa said. "I came along to help you out if we were in trouble. But even with my powers, it wasn't enough."

"Hey, I got an idea." Anne said. She leaned in an whispered in T'Challa's ear for a second. He stopped to consider before smiling.

"Yeah. That might be best."

"What did you two decide?" Hop Pop asked.

Anne unzipped her backpack and pulled out the music box, which she then gave to Hop Pop. "Here. Go through your trusted channels. We're okay with waiting a little longer."

"You always had our backs, Hop Pop." T'Challa said. "So you're the person we trust most. See what you can dig up on it, and let us know if you find anything."

"I'll do my best, kids. I know how important this is to you." Hop Pop said before hiding a small frown.

"Okay! Back up! You're Wrecker, Hop Pop?" Sprig asked in gleeful excitement. "How many games have you beaten? Did it ever get dangerous, Hop Pop? Have you ever killed a man, Hop Pop?"

Hop Pop laughed before answering, "Whatever happens in the Bizarre Bazaar stays in the Bizarre Bazaar."

"Aw, man!" Sprig complained.

"Just like Vegas." Anne chuckled.

"Sure, Anne. Just like Vegas." Hop Pop repeated pretending to understand her.

"Well, let's head back home." T'Challa said. "After tonight, I need rest."

Everyone said their good nights and headed to sleep. Well, almost everyone. With everyone else tucked away in their beds, one of them stealthily sneaked out through the front door with the music box in their arms.

It was Hop Pop, making sure no one was looking before heading out and circling the house. He reached a dead tree with red mushrooms sprouting from the side. He stopped there and pulled out a shovel, which he used to dig into the ground making a big, deep hole. Once he was done, he pulled out the music box and stared at it for a moment while holding it over the hole.

"Sorry, Anne and T'Challa, but I can't have you showing this thing around. Too dangerous for all of us." Hop Pop said before placing the music box into the hole. "Now it's where it belongs, where no one can find it."

With that, Hop Pop picked up his shovel and dropped the dirt back in the hole. Once every last drop of dirt was returned and the music box was completely buried, Hop Pop returned to the house without looking back.