Falling Gravity
"New town! New town! New town!"
"All right kids, calm down!" Hop Pop admonished them, "We are now in the last part of our journey, and we should arrive at Newtopia in a few days at most if nothing bad happens. I don't want any crazy shenanigans, catastrophic fights nor fleeing the giant monster of the week! We'll have all the time you want for adventure once we arrive at our destination."
"That means," Felicia nodded, her glare passing over Sprig, Polly, Ivy, and Maddie, "behave correctly and think before you act. I don't want another crazed sugar rush!"
"It was their fault for cutting off my free samples!" Polly lamented, crossing her short tadpole 'arms'.
"And you," the veteran adventurer now looked at the six humans, all wearing capes and coats to hide their bodily features, "remember to keep your hoods up at all times!"
"Geez, thank you mom," Jacob lamented, only for Sasha to jab him on the shoulder. "Ow! What the heck?!"
"Stop playing the fool and listen to what they tell you, Viking caveman!" The blonde human girl said with an irked tone, "we're finally close to Newtopia now, the last thing we need is some other mess to get entangled with."
"I can't believe we're almost there," Marcy sighed. "I'm just…sad this journey will soon come to an end. All the adventures we had, the crazy stuff we found, the mysterious places we explored… a part of me doesn't want it to end. Ever-"
The dark-haired girl stopped however, as she raised her head and noticed the odd looks everyone was giving to her, Jacob even raising an eyebrow while Maddie slapped her forehead with her right hand. Her eyes widened in horror and her mouth twitched in dread, her blood turning cold as she realized what she had just said and how it sounded.
"I mean, I wasn't saying I still think I was right about trapping all of you here! I mean, of course I never thought it was right, with all these huge ferocious bugs, the never-ending danger- NO, I'm not saying this is a horrible place to live!" Marcy looked at Hop Pop and Felicia, before turning to her human friends. "I'm just saying, I did regret bringing you here…not in that way! I didn't mean, I would have preferred to bring someone else: in fact, I always wanted to be with my girl friends," She facepalmed as she looked at Jacob and James, realizing how that sounded. "I wasn't trying to imply I am disappointed you are here too, guys, only-"
"Would you like a shovel for that hole?" James spoke in an amused tone, "If you keep going like this, you may end up digging all the way to the other side of the planet."
"But I-"
"Marbles, calm down." Anne came forward, embracing her friend. "We know what you were trying to say. True, you weren't thinking logically when you found the Box, you ended up making a tragic decision and we all ended up paying for it. "She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before resuming her speech, "I won't lie, we still haven't forgiven you for that. Frog, I think I'm the one who had the easiest time assimilating it, and I still feel hurt anytime I think about it. But… as we said, we aren't going to hate you for it."
"From what you told us, you were under heavy duress when you found the Box, for what your parents told you and…how you felt about it." Sasha nodded, seeing the situation under a more analytical eye now, "And while this can't excuse your actions, it surely helps us understand them. You didn't want to lose us, and I agree that: I wouldn't want to lose you too."
"Plus, you had no way of knowing the Box would work for real," Jacob quickly joined it. "I mean, even if you had told us what it was supposed to do before opening it, I probably wouldn't have believed it. I mean, real-life magic?" He concluded, ignoring the glance Maddie was giving him.
"And let's not forget, you did try to clean up it yourself by trying to understand how the Box works and how we could use it to go back home." James agreed, patting over his chest. "So, now we know where the Gem's power has gone, we just need to move it back!"
"And let's not forget about us!" Sprig loudly said, "If you hadn't come here, we wouldn't have ever met!"
"Biz-buz-buz!"
"Yeah, Akitsu. I don't regret meeting you too!" Amelia smiled at her flying companion.
"Moreover, wasn't Cynthia Coven the one to say that, once an adventure ends, a new one begins? Think of all the adventures we may end up having in Newtopia, while we work on a way to reactivate the Box."
"Yeah…you're right," Marcy smiled awkwardly, the negative thoughts once again banished from her head, as he turned to Sasha and Anne, her two friends smiling at her as she smiled back at them. The wounds were still there, but they were steadily healing, day after day, step after step. Her friends gave her a second chance and she didn't want to waste it.
"Ok, people!" James peeked out of the Fwagon's window, "Stony Gulch's waiting for us. We better set camp and prepare for the night before going in."
"Are you sure I can't bring Akitsu with me?" Amelia pouted, "I mean, I'm starting to get tired of leaving her whenever we stop in some place. And she is sick of it too!"
"Bizz-buz-buz-buz!" The large white dragonfly buzzed, underlining her annoyance.
"Sorry Amelia, but you know it's the same argument" James shrugged, "don't do or bring anything that may draw excessive attention. The difference is that Akitsu is too big to be hidden by a simple hood."
"But dragonflies ARE creatures native of Amphibia!"
"Yeah, and almost everyone of them are carnivorous creatures who will feast on any frogs in sight." Jacob rolled his eyes, tuning out his cousin's protests, as he wondered what they could end up seeing in this strange new town called Stony Gulch…
(…)
"Did you see?" Marcy said, looking at the stone-made buildings that composed the small town, as the group passed under a large stone sign with the name of the settlement and a small red drape with the words 'Travelers Welcome!' written on it. "The people of this place use stone, rather than wood, for architecture."
"Yeah, it's related to the city's history and culture," Felicia explained. "As you probably have noticed, this town is much further North from the Valley, thus frogs who live in this region are forced to deal with much colder temperatures. Moreover, while in the Valley the cold lasts barely a day, here frogs must face extreme coldness for weeks or even months! Wood is vital as fuel to keep the inside of homes warm and comfortable, thus they use rocks, which are more available in this region, for building."
"I guess that also explains why everyone is wearing fur-made clothes, and why there are so many Davy Crockett imitators," Jacob mused, noticing the big number of frog residents wearing fur hats with tails. Frog, the more I look around, the more this place reminds me of our old home, before we moved to the US.
"Yeah, hunting and adventuring are some of the biggest businesses here, as well as herding and woodcutting. And everything else the city lacks is provided by its connection to the Northern Trade Road. Meaning that Stony Gluch has easy access to Newtopia but also Loggington, the Great Snow plains of the North or, of course, the Northern Toad Tower."
"The Northern Tower..." Sasha repeated with wonder, before raising an eyebrow in a curious expression, "I heard Grimsey talk about it once in a while. Isn't that where the current leader of the Toad Army resides?"
"Technically, Captain Aldo is just the commander of the Northern Tower since the Toad Army is under the command of the Newtopian Army. Only, it's been years since the last Commander-in-chief died without a successor being selected, and with the connections between the Toads and Newtopia weakened, Captain Aldo emerged as the de-facto leader of the Toad Army due to his age and…his reputation."
"You're talking about those rumors of necromancy?" Jacob intervened, "Because if so-"
"Everyone, everyone, hear!" A voice suddenly announced, the group seeing a small frog, around Sprig's age, with a pale orange skin, handing fliers to the passerby. He wore a navy-blue vest, a reddish-orange t-shirt, gray shorts and, on his head, a bright green and white hat with brim and a green leaf symbol on the front. "Come to see the most amazing spectacle ever, to the Curiosity Hut! For a few coppers each, you can see the most surprising and strange creatures Amphibia has ever seen!"
"Geez, poor kid!" James said, scratching the side of his head, "No one is paying him any attention."
"Jacob, what are you doing?" Anne gasped, noticing her friend detach himself from the group and walk toward the young frog.
"Just being generous to someone who looks like they need it," the boy answered back, walking toward the newsboy until he was noticed by him.
"Huh, hi?"
"Hi!" Jacob saluted him back, "So, what is this show you're talking about? Can you give me more info about it?"
"You're interested?" The eyes of the poor lad seemed to brighten up in hope in reaction, "Here, it's all written on the flier! You can read it and-"
"I'm not interested in what a mere piece of paper says, I want to hear them from someone living." The human boy's hand ran to his side and took out a couple of copper coins, raising it so the frog could clearly see them. "How about we make a deal? You tell me everything you know about this place you are trying to promote, and these are yours."
"O-of course! You want to see the Curiosity Hut?"
Curiosity Hut? Jacob pondered as he heard that name once again, as his mind drifted back to that time he and Amelia visited a small town in Oregon called Gravity Falls, and they ended up visiting some kind of 'vintage museum of strangeness' called Mystery Shack. Was this something similar?
The more the frog in front of him explained, the more it looked like that.
"So, this place collects specimens of strange creatures gathered from the most mysterious places all over Amphibia?"
"Yup, and the hut's open to everyone, regardless of age or species, every day of the week. Plus, there are also artifacts of unknown origins, ancient tapestries and paintings, old tomes of the lost past …"
"I see. This sure looks like some kind of spectacle worth seeing."
"Oh, it's also quite close sir! If you want, I can lead you."
"Sorry, but my friends and I are… a bit busy, at this moment. However, if the place still open, I'd gladly come and give a look."
"Oh, we are open all day, so you can come whenever you want! If you come, I'll make sure you get a good experience."
"I think I should thank you for the offer, Mr…"
"Dippit, my name's Dippit Ponds." The young frog smiled sympathetically, "Come to see the show, you won't be disappointed by it. At least, I hope…" he ran away, resuming his yelling as he tried to get more people interested in his announcement, while Jacob rejoined his friends.
"Jacob, what were you doing?" Hop Pop grunted, "We came here to buy supplies, not to slouch!"
"I was just hearing what he had to say," as Jacob explained himself, passing some of the flyers Dippit had given to him. "And, I think I have found something interesting to go and see if we have time, today."
"Curiosity Hut?" Amelia raised an eyebrow as she, Marcy and James checked the pamphlets. "Hey Jacob, doesn't it remind you of-"
"Yeah, I know." Jacob nodded "Who knows, maybe it's some kind of local equivalent of that place? With a creepy old guy wearing a fez as its owner too?"
"Old guy with a fez?" Sprig asked, unable to follow the conversation.
"You know what? I'm interested. You want to come and see too, Ivy?"
"Sure I do, Maddie!"
"Hey, don't forget about us!" Polly protested.
"Kids, please, calm down!" Hop Pop snapped his fingers, using his 'grandpa' tone to get everyone to listen. "Let's make an agreement: you can go and explore freely after we take the supplies we need, ok? Anne, Sasha, Jacob, James, you're in charge."
"What?!" Amelia protested, realizing she hadn't been included again.
"You heard him…" Her cousin teased her, a smug smile on his lips.
(…)
"So, this is the so-called Curiosity Hut?" James said, as he looked at the strange building in front of them, a triangular facade with one central door and two side windows with bars over it, a larger round-shaped glass window (resembling an eye) above, with the sign 'Curiosity Hut' just over the entrance, the drawing of some kind of one-eye triangle (maybe a crude drawing of the building's facade) carved into the wood. There were two lanterns lightening the entrance and…some kind of creepy antennae creature plush on the right side of the roof.
"Yeah, it does send some creepy vibes." Anne nodded before looking at Jacob and Amelia, the two cousins looking at the entrance like they had just seen a ghost. "Guys?"
"It-it looks exactly like that! Like the Mystery Shack place we visited back in Gravity Falls!" Jacob was the first to speak, taking out his phone and taking advantage that the street was almost empty to snap several photos of the place.
"Yeah, this surely is… uncanny." Amelia nodded, freaked out by the astonishing resemblance.
"So, are we going to get inside it and explore?" Marcy said with a cheerful smile, taking the lead. "The place's still open, so let's get inside!"
"Come on, Sasha! Let's go!" Ivy looked at her sister, who simply rolled her eyes as she followed her.
As they approached the entrance and peeked inside, the six humans noticed that the interior of the place looked like a classic old-style freak show. Everywhere around them, stood giant creatures, all weirder (or ridiculous, depending on who you asked) than the other.
There was a two-headed love dove; some kind of cross between a ferret and a giant rat; a mantis that, for some reason, was wearing a basket uniform and holding a basketball in one of her claws; some kind of odd creature with large teeth and hooves, resembling a goblin, another creature that resembled a large snake but with olm/axolotl growths coming from the back of its head… and even a small group of gnome-like creatures, with stereotypical cone hats, (Jacob jokingly called them 'Frognomes'). And all of them were encased in solid wax.
Small yellow glowing mushrooms, all around the museum, provided just enough light for the visitors to see the 'exhibits', and on the floor… a large red and yellow carpet, once again depicting the same figure of a yellow triangle with an eye on the middle of it.
"Uh, I think this place is closed!" Polly said, suddenly feeling scared by how creepy the place looked on the inside. "So, let's leave, get back at the camp with Hop Pop and Felicia, and never come back!"
"Leave? Are you kidding?!" Marcy retorted, "Look how cool this place is!"
"Relax, guys, this stuff is probably all fake." Amelia said as she walked over Sprig, as she tried to calm the small tadpole in his arms. "Jacob and I already went to a place like this once. Sure, it may look weird, but that's their selling point."
"Fake or not, this place does look cool." Maddie murmured, "Ivy, I'm going to check down further. Do you want to join me?"
"Sure I do! Sash, are you coming?"
"Nah, I think I'll stay here at the entrance," The blonde human scoffed, "Sorry Ivy but I'm not much into old stuff, and I'm even less into rip-offs! I'm not paying to see obviously fake stuff."
"Hey, we have places like this in ol' England too." James felt the need to protest, "And even if the stuff is fake, it doesn't matter as long as it gives you a good scare."
"Mr. Jacob?" A voice resounded, the mentioned human boy turning around to see Dippit emerge from inside the oddity museum, another frog to his side, same height and skin color as him, but clearly female in aspect with long brown hair that reached her hips and curled towards the bottom, wearing a loose purple pencil skirt and a light blue sweater with the drawing of a lily pad "You-you really came! I wasn't actually expecting it."
"Hey, we did tell you we would come once we were done with our stuff," Jacob chuckled, looking at the other frog with him. "And you are?"
"She's-"
"I'm Mabbit, Dippit's twin sister!" The other frog cheerfully introduced herself, with a joyful tone of voice that reminded Jacob of Marcy's. "Hey, why are you all wearing hoodies? Are you afraid to show your faces?"
"Huh, sure, let's go with that…" Sasha said. "So, you work here?"
"Kind off. Actually, we're here because the Hut's owner is our grand-uncle and our parents entrusted him to take care of us for a while." Dippit explained, "So, you want to take a tour of the place? Usually, it'd be Stan to take care of it, but-"
"-he said he was going to be pretty occupied for the time being." Mabbit concluded her twin's sentence without missing a beat. "So, wanna see what this place can offer?"
Before James could even give his positive answer, Marcy squealed in delight before stumbling in front of the frog twins.
"We'd love to!"
It had been several minutes since the group started the tour, with Dippit and Mabbit serving as their temporary chaperons and while some were a bit 'weirded out' by the fact their current guides were two frogs barely older than Sprig and Ivy, both of them seemed to display good knowledge about the place, and Mabbit's cheerful personality and Dippit's instinctive intellect seemed to act as powerful charms on Marcy, the dark-haired girl kept adding new stuff and sketches in her journal as they kept on exploring the place.
"So, just to ask," James raised his hand as the group was now in front of yet another of the Hut's curiosities, this one being some kind of giant fish with legs and chameleon tongue, "how many of this stuff is 'oblivious fake' and which ones are close to the original? Nothing against this place, but surely, creatures like this can't be real?"
"Actually, they are. They all are." Dippit replied, almost as he was expecting that question. "Try to touch it in the eye."
"You mean like this-"
The British boy jumped back in shock, and so did everyone else, as they saw the eyes of the creature move under the wax.
"Yeah, they're all real and still alive, as you can see." Dippit continued, "Apparently, Grunkle Stan uses some kind of special wax to encase them, keeping them alive and cognizant even while trapped forever with no food."
"That's…sure creepy as frog!" Ivy commented, realizing it wasn't just an impression, and the eyes of the creatures were following them.
"Well," Sprig replied, "at least they're still alive?" trying his best to find some positive in the situation.
"Wow, this place is even cooler now!" Maddie said with a manic smile.
"Don't worry, they can't escape!" Mabbit hurried to add, "Grunkle Stan assured us of that!"
"You keep saying that, but what is a 'grunkle'?" Amelia asked, before she and the others heard some footsteps coming from the backrooms. Out of the shadows, appeared an older frog with large yellow eyes and bushy-gray eyebrows, dressed in a black suit over a white shirt with a red bow tie, and over his head, a fez hat of the same color with the amphibian symbol engraved on it. He had a cane topped with an eight-ball pool in his right hand and a black eye-patch over one of his eyes.
As soon as they saw him, Jacob and Amelia gasped in surprise, as they realized it was basically a frog version of the guy who managed the Mystery Shack back at Gravity Falls. So many similarities, one after another? If these were all coincidences, it was rather uncanny.
"Dippit, Mabbit, where were you? I was-" he stopped, as soon as he noticed the humans' group, his behavior immediately doing a one-eighty. "Oh, visitors! Welcome to my Museum of Oddities. I go by many names, but you can call me…The Curator."
"A little on the nose, don't you agree?" Ivy murmured to Sasha, the blonde human replying with a shrug.
"Believe me, I heard much worse entertainer names."
"And if you chuck some of that cash into this sack," the Curator continued, "I'll give you a tour of the greatest museum these parts have to offer!
"Thanks for the offer, but… we were already having a nice tour, thanks to them." Marcy pointed at Dippit and Mabbit, "Though it's only fair we pay for the visit's price." She took out some coppers and dropped it in the Curator's sack, quickly followed by everyone else.
"Oh, I see…" The curator looked at his grandniece and grandnephew. "Dippit, you know these people?"
"We met on the outside," Jacob hurried to clarify, "he was talking about the stuff in this place, and I got curious, so I asked him. He was quite helpful."
"He was? Good one, kiddo! Looks like you're earning your paycheck this week."
"I'm not exactly being paid…" Dippit murmured as he rolled his eyes. Still, if they managed to turn things around, maybe they wouldn't have to rely on their 'desperation' show so often. Including the pre-teen wolf-frog act he had been forced to play in the last few days.
"Anyway, feel free to look around. But keep in mind, breathing in the dust will be extra!" The Curator threw a smoke bomb on the ground, taking advantage of the smoke explosion it caused to run away, hiding behind a wax statue as he panted.
"Amateur…" James hissed with a low voice, as he checked his own 'smoke curtain' bombs.
"No way, he disappears after we paid for the tour?" Sasha grumbled in protest. "Typical."
"Our grunkle is…always focused on keeping the, and I quote, 'mystery halo going'." Dippit said as he apologized in his stead. "Anyway, want to keep following us? We still have to show you the Artifacts room. That's where we keep most of our non-living exhibits."
"And there is also a gift shop for those who want to take home souvenirs!" Mabbit added.
"For one, I would like to see that!" Sprig proposed, "Polly, you want to come with me?"
"Everywhere is fine as long as we move closer to the exit!" The tadpole nodded.
"I guess I'm coming with you as well." Ivy nodded, "I was thinking about getting some souvenirs to bring back home and, well, this place looks perfect to start my search!"
"Guess I'm joining too." Maddie agreed with the disguised human. "Might be a good chance to get something for my sisters."
(…)
As the group divided itself in two, Mabbit led Jacob, Sprig, Polly, Amelia, and Maddie back to the gift shop (next to the exit, to Polly's relief) while Dippit led the remaining visitors in a small round room, a sign with the word 'ARTIFACTS' over it while various objects of mysterious nature were placed on as many pedestals and containers.
"So," James tried to start a conversation with Dippit, as he kept glancing over strange items and images placed all over the wall, not sure what they were supposed to be or represent, "this place has some…unique collections. I bet a lot of people come from all over Amphibia to see them."
"Once, it was," Dippit replied with a shrug, "but recently, the number of our visitors had been steadily decreasing. I did offer to help Stan by suggesting ideas on how to relaunch this place, but…"
"You're speaking like you do have some solid ideas for this place," James was quick to notice the bitterness in his tone of voice.
"You have no idea. Stan keeps showcasing this stuff when I have seen better, more amazing things in the woods surrounding Stony Gulch every day! Yet, when I proposed to hunt down some new attraction for this place-"
"Come on, the stuff you have is not too bad," Anne chirped. "You got so many things, like-"
She stopped talking, as while she kept gazing over the 'artifacts' that composed the exhibition, her eyes fell upon an object that she knew very well. A round-shaped object of aquamarine color, with a pair of human cuffs connected to it, and several buttons on the main 'face'.
"Oh, my gosh!" The girl yelled, walking to the human-made item and taking it into her hands, her eyes widening in surprise, "Is this an old Skip Man?"
"You know that object?" Dippit asked, "Stan bought it along with some other stuff, from some traveler almost three weeks ago. Even though he didn't know what that was supposed to be, he thought it would be a fine addition to his 'menagerie'." He shrugged, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised it wasn't something that amazing, if you have heard about it."
"I was curious." Anne replied, "You see, my parents once had one of these…"
"Wait!" Sasha intervened, "You said he bought this…and other stuff?"
"Well, yeah. Check it out," Dippit moved aside, showing some other items who were hidden just behind him. "These are all the stuff Stan added in hope to get more visitors. Not that it helped, of course…"
Sasha's surprise grew, her eyes widening in shock, just as did Marcy's and James, as they come to recognize several items who obviously come from Earth. One was a small bag of pitch-black color, that she recognized being a high-class beauty bag (of the kind that usually her mom or herself would use as status symbol or to make other people envious), still unopened and (hopefully) with its content intact; another was a phone-charger (compatible for each of their phones) composed of a white recharge connector and its universal wire, and last, the final item was a…
"A Nintendo Switch." Marcy quietly murmured, her eyes widening in surprise as her lips began to salivate. Three months in Amphibia, she was already missing her own: could it be that her silent prayers had been answered?
"You know what that is too?" Dippit raised an eyebrow. "The guy told us it was some kind of strange glowing glass, but so far, I never saw it glow even once!"
"Because that's not a glowing glass," James pointed out, "those are items from our…land. As you can guess, we come from…very, very far away."
Dippit didn't reply, but now, he started to pay more attention to the mysterious hood-clad visitors who he was chaperoning. They were quite hellbent on not showing their faces, and their apparent knowledge of mysterious items was becoming suspicious as well. They weren't other frognomes searching for a Queen, he was sure, but then… who or what could they be?
"I wonder if the Curator's willing to sell them..." Anne said, looking around in search of the Hut's owner. "Hey, Curator! How much do you want for these?"
"Ah!" The Curator suddenly appeared behind them, scaring them for a brief second. "You interested in that stuff? Of course you can get them, everything here can be bought…for the right price. Dippit," he looked at his grandnephew, "how about you go and check Mabbit? I think I have a little… business negotiation to take care of."
"But-" Dippit instinctively began to protest, before giving up. After all, this would give him an excuse to go check the Gift Shop… and Wendip.
"So, you can have all of them," the Curator said once Dippit was gone, pointing to the Skip Man, the Nintendo, the beauty bag and the recharger, "for one million coopers, each!" He laughed, "Since there are four items, that's four million coopers."
"That's an outrageous price!" James protested, the three girls agreeing with him. Sure, they may have some good money in their stashes, but not this much!
"Yeah, we can't afford this much!" Anne nodded.
"We're offering you two thousand coppers for the whole stuff," Sasha counter-offered, "and that's us being generous!"
"Ah-ah-ah!" The Curator waved his finger, "I wasn't born yesterday, I know something of value when I see it."
You literally have no idea what this stuff is, the blonde human lamented in her head, but you're still trying to overprice us for it? No wonder this place is going down the drain if you behave like this with everyone.
"Come on, you said it, this is a negotiation!" Marcy tried to come up with an alternative solution. "And from what Dippit told us, I don't think you're in the position to withhold a sale."
"Okay, fine." The Curator replied, silently cursing that the Hut's economic situation was making it difficult to 'play hard to get'. "How about instead we make a trade then? You see, the Curiosity Hut lives off weird relics and oddities to expose to a paying audience, and we're always changing our repertory to keep our public's interest. So, do you have anything rare, odd, or even just vomit-inducing that you could give me to display, even just for a few days? If your offer is worth my interest, I'll accept to exchange your stuff with mine."
The latest main attraction of the Hut was the Bar-Bar, some kind of mix-up creature belonging to another traveling freak show, with which they had a partnership a while ago, and it was the most amazing oddity Stan Pond had ever seen, earning him nice money. Too bad the actual owner of the creature refused to sell it to him (Stan even willingly offered 10% of all profits), but maybe, these strange new visitors could propose something even better?
The four humans looked at each other, as the words 'odd' and 'rare' kept repeating in their heads, an idea blossoming in their brains at the same time. Sure, neither Hop Pop nor Felicia would have liked it, but they weren't here to stop them, right?
"As a matter of fact… we do." Anne said before removing her hood, quickly followed by Sasha, Marcy and James. Letting the Curator see them for what they were. The old frog's eyes (apparently, that eyepatch was only for show) widening in shock, his mouth wide gaping, same as Wally on that day, confirmed the sudden reveal had reached its objective.
"Sweet tadpole Mary!" The Curator could simply gasp, unable to believe what he was seeing. Sure, he knew these strange 'visitors' had to be weird, but… he didn't know they would be THIS weird.
"That's right." Sasha teasingly said, looking over the speechless Curator. "Long, spindly limbs, huge heads, bumps on the middle of their faces," she touched the tip of her nose as she smiled. "We are the ultimate oddities, baby!"
"So," James took charge, as he marched right in front of the fez-wearing frog, letting him fully see what his human face looked like. "How about we make a… different deal?"
(…)
Meanwhile, at the Curiosity's Hut gift shop area, Sprig, Polly, Ivy and Maddie were searching across the various souvenirs the place sold to its visitors, trying to find something good enough for their intended use, while Jacob and Amelia, with Mabbit 's assistance, were getting acquainted with the place's two main dependents: the first one was Frog Soos, a large swamp-green slightly obese frog with a lighter underbelly and yellow eyes wearing a brown hat, beige shorts and an old, dark green T-shirt, with a question mark printed over, the shop's main cleaner and fix-it guys. The other, Wendip, gift shop's cashier, was a tall, bright green frog with eyes of the same color, freckles and long red hair that ran just past her hips. She was dressed in a deep green lumberjack shirt with a white tank top underneath, stud earrings and dark blue jeans, and a dark brown lumberjack hat over her head.
The fact that they looked just like people Jacob and Amelia had met back on their trip to Gravity Fall made the whole situation even weirder.
"So," Mabbit asked with curiosity, "this is not the first time you saw a place like this?"
"No. Back home, we once ended up going to someplace called 'the Mystery Shack" and…well, it looked just like this one. Same creepy-looking building, same odd freakshow exhibitions, same old creepy guy with a fez-"
"No way, you met someone that looked just like Mr. Ponds?" Wendip asked, amused by the notion. "That's crazy!"
"Wait, did you perhaps see if that guy had grandnephews too?" Mabbit's eyes began to shine in excitement.
"Sorry, we don't know about that," Amelia replied, before turning to gaze over Frog Soos and Wendip, "But, I do remember he had two employees that looked just like you. You remember, Jacob? She was the girl that you were smitten with!"
"Hey!" Her cousin protested, "First, I wasn't smitten, that was just a simple flingy hormonal crush. Second, she was cute. And third, it didn't go anywhere, remember?"
"Well, you asked her out and she agreed to date you."
"For a couple of minutes, she then broke up with me as soon as Dad got into the car. How the heck could I've known she was dating for flings? What kind of girl dates a new guy and breakup with him this fast?!"
Jacob didn't see, but as he said this exact sentence, Wendip looked aside, a guilty expression on her face. This other frog, whoever she was, from what she heard sounded too much like her, and not just physically.
"So, I guess this confirms it, does it?" Frog Soos said, "That we exist simultaneously in multiple parallel places and versions, completely unaware of the other's very existence?"
"Wait, that wasn't just you licking yourself?" Wendip raised an eyebrow. "Frog, I lost five coppers."
"Hey, Dippit!" Mabbit exclaimed as she saw her own twin brother walk in, "Did you- what happened?" She noticed the grumpy expression he was showing.
"Grunkle Stan got into a negotiation with your friends," he looked at Jacob and Amelia, "about some stuff they wanted. I can only hope he won't let his greed blind him from the situation-"
"I'd say, we are on the brink of bankruptcy." Wendip grunted, more with an annoyed 'if this place goes broke, who's going to pay me' tone than any real worry. "Unless Mr. Ponds finds something odd enough to attract back any public interest…"
Unfortunately, the capricious hand of the Universe was once again playing fickle with them and, pushed by the minds and souls of many extra-dimensional individuals who were busy reading the events that were happening, in the form of written fiction, on their own electronic devices, decided to force the plot by making a small trinket fall of the counter and next to Amelia's feet, the human girl noticing it and lowering herself to grab it, unknowingly allowing for a spare hook to get entangled into the fabric of her own hood. And as soon as the girl stood up on her feet…
R-RRIIIIP!
Amelia had barely a few seconds of disorientation before she realized something had ripped her hood off her head, removing her disguise and allowing everyone to see her real human features. Maddie, Ivy, Sprig and Polly noticed it and stopped their search to try and help her while Jacob's eyes widened in horror, as he turned around to see the reaction of the shop's dependents.
Frog Soos took a step back, Wendip dropped the magazine she was reading as she gasped in shock, Mabbit squeaked in surprise. Dippit said nothing, but Jacob could see his eyes growing even larger, a strange sound coming from his mouth.
"Huh… we can explain." Sprig murmured, trying (and failing) to come up with a good-enough explanation.
Jacob shrugged, tearing off his own hood. Now that the truth had been revealed, refusing to acknowledge it would only be wasted time, and Dippit…he deserved to know the truth.
"I guess it's time we would explain-" he began to say, only for Dippit's and Mabbit's expression to fill with enthusiasm as they rushed toward him.
"No way! A living, sentient supernatural being from another world!" Dippit said, his tone now squealing in delight like Jacob himself once did to a Star Wars convention. "I always knew such things were true, but I never had any proof! And now you are here, in front of me!"
"You know, you look a lot nicer than most of the creatures we end up facing on a daily basis," Mabbit murmured, looking over Amelia. "What is this…thing in the middle of your face?"
"That's called a nose! We humans use it to smell things."
"Humans? That's what things like you're called?
"Yeah…" Jacob scratched his head, turning head for a second only to see Ivy, Polly, Maddie and Ivy all sharing dumbfounded expressions, clearly not expecting for this to happen "I…I guess I can tell you more, if you're interested?"
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Hop Pop gasped, grabbing his head with both hands, his piercing yell loud enough to disturb Bessie and Liptea from their grazing.
"We made a deal with the owner of the Curiosity Hut," Anne repeated with a sheeply grin, "You see, he had some stuff from our world, but he asked us a price too excessive for it, so when he asked us if we were interested in a trade…"
"So, that's your idea for a trade?" Felicia reprimanded Sasha, using her 'mom' voice. "You agreed to be his exhibitions for one day, all to pay for some stuff?"
The discussion had barely started, and already Sasha hated how it was going. She did love her frog mom with all her heart, but right now, that expensive-looking handbag hopefully filled with high-quality make-up for her hair, her face and her skin looked so attractive. So, what if they had to play on her 'freakish appearance' to get it? It wasn't like human-made items were common in Amphibia.
"It's not just 'some stuff'!" Sasha protested, thinking this was better than simply admitting she really wanted it. "Those were items from our world, from Earth! We don't know how they arrived here in the first place, but… we just wanted to have some kind reminders of home."
"The fact you're home sick is understandable." Felicia said with a veil of sadness over her features, "But that you willingly exposed yourself to such a frog, that may well trick or betray you for his own gain, is not! And this goes for either of my daughters!" She now glared at Ivy, who was standing at her adoptive sisters' side, looking remorseful.
"I'm innocent! I was just checking the gift shop when it happened!"
"She's telling the truth," Marcy nodded, "it was the three of us, plus James, who decided to reveal ourselves, out of our own free will."
"Well, that was the dumbest thing you could do!" Hop Pop lamented. "I told you; you weren't supposed to remove your hoods-"
"Didn't we do that enough already, on your journey to arrive here?" Anne challenged, "I feel like every time we stop, we end up revealing who we are and where we come from, so what's the point of keeping the ruse at this point? After all, soon we will be in Newtopia, and hopefully we will be able to find some help to find our way back home."
"Yeah, Yunan promised us she would set the stage for us, so once we arrive, they won't be too surprised!" Marcy raised her hand, "Plus, we aren't doing this just as payment for that stuff. We are helping a small business to recover its visitors! And while I can't say I trust the Curator… his grandniece and grandnephew, Dippit and Mabbit, surely deserve our help!"
"But why didn't you simply accept to pay the price he asked for, when he showed you those items?" Felicia tried to clarify, "Sure, he may have asked for a high price, but we have more than enough for-"
"He asked for a million coopers." Sasha answered, before her 'mom' could even finish her sentence. Felicia was now stuck in place in surprise as Hop Pop grimaced instantly.
"Ok, no matter what kind of items he showed you, there is no way they were actually worth that much!"
"Plus, he gave us free all-access passes!" Ivy proudly showed hers.
"Passes?" Both adult frogs said at the same time.
"Yeah, so, funny story." Marcy began to explain, "You remember how Sash and Anne worked a deal for us to work as attractions for just one day, in exchange of those items from our world? We also made a subsidiary deal, for those of you who want to…support us?"
"In short, you can come and see the spectacle for free," Anne said, "and in exchange, you only have to disguise yourselves among the public and pretend not to know us or each other, to add on to the dramatic effect."
"So, is it like being part of a claque?" Felicia raised an eyebrow, "I can do that… as long as there is nothing dishonest about it."
"There shouldn't be." Sasha replied. "You just have to ask some arranged questions or do some preset actions in order to push the effect of the show. The Curator said to come back later, just after closing time, so we can finalize the details tomorrow."
"Well, if it's free…" Hop Pop seemed to consider the idea. After all, if the kids were already onboard with it, why waste the chance?
"And tell us, where are the others?" Felicia pointed out the absence of the other three humans, alongside Polly, Maddie, and Sprig. "Don't tell me they are still carousing around…"
"They aren't!" Ivy replied, "Only, they befriended Dippit and Mabbit, so they decided to share some of our experiences with them..."
(…)
"So, you ended up finding out this 'Seamstress' was a Glass frog?" Dippit asked, his eyes wide open in excitement. "And she was harvesting other frogs' skins to make her own suits?"
"Yeah, as you can imagine, it was quite scary." Amelia nodded, still shivering a bit as she remembered the experience. "Thankfully, she's not going to hurt anyone else now… I hope."
In the backyard of the Curiosity Hut, Jacob, Amelia, and James were spending some time with Dippit, Mabbit, and Wendip. The two groups sharing their own experiences, both from the Valley and on their journey toward Newtopia with talks of the crazy adventures the frog twins and their friend had experienced around Stony Gulch.
Right now, Dippit was listening to Jacob and Amelia's stories with eyes full of enthusiasm while his sister pet Akitsu, the large white dragonfly taking pleasure in the gentle touch of the young frog's hands over her exoskeleton; while Wendip was sitting with James, her eyes kept moving between the human's silver hair and his face.
"I…I admit that this whole situation is still really weird." the red-haired frog said. "This is the first time that we meet something weird like you, and yet, friendly."
"Oh?" The British boy quickly grabbed on the 'friendly' part. "So, you already experienced supernatural stuff around here?"
"Indeed!" Mabbit nodded, "Ever since Dippit found that book, we basically had one crazy adventure a week, sometimes even more!"
"Book?" Jacob raised an eyebrow, only to see Dippit smile as he showed him a large book with a burgundy cover, its four angles covered with golden decorations, and the image of a golden frog hand with the number '3' on it.
"Found it inside some fake tree, the same day we arrived here," Dippit explained. "It actually helped me save Mabbit from a band of frognomes disguised as a cute boy!"
"I thought it was my summer love!"
"Seriously, kiddo," Amelia rolled her eyes in amusement. "Real love is neither instantaneous, nor it works like a work of fiction. It needs time, and nurture, to fully blossom."
Hearing this from his cousin, Jacob couldn't stop himself and said, with a large smirk over his lips: "So, does it mean you won't have any other 'Husbando of the Week' moment?"
"That's absolutely different!" Amelia almost cried in outrage, her face now bright pink in embarrassment.
"What's an Husbando, and why does this sound like a beautiful prince?!" exclaimed Mabbit as she clutched to Amelia, while Jacob could only laugh at the expression her cousin-samurai was doing right now.
"So!" James said, to change topic of the discussion before Dippit could focus on it, "This book contains info on various supernatural stuff?" James asked, noticing how similar this looked to the other book Marcy was so busy trying to cross-translate, back at the Fwagon. "Maybe it does contain something that may help us? Some more info about on how to return to our world?"
"I can look!" Dippit exclaimed, opening it, and starting to check its page, Jacob noticing how several pages were literally filled with strange drawings and descriptions of mysterious creatures or places, as well as codes and warning in red. "What kind of information are you after?"
"Well…does this book perhaps talk about a magical box powered by bright, colorful gems?" Jacob asked, his heart starting to beast faster and faster as the hope rose inside of him… only for Dippit to unwittingly crush it with his next sentence.
"A magical box? Sorry, there is nothing like that inside it." Dippit shook his head. "We have faced cursed doors, haunted paintings, and even a literary bottomless pit, but nothing about magical boxes. Is this related to how you arrived here?"
"Unfortunately, yes." James shrugged, "We've been looking for information about it ever since we arrived, but we have found very little. This is what we found, so far." He took out his phone and showed them an image from Hop Pop's book, depicting the Calamity Box, "Enough to give us an idea of how this happened, but now how to reverse it or send us back."
"Fascinating..." Dippit said as he gazed over the image of the Box, realizing it was something intriguing in its drawing. "Maybe…we can still help you, though? You're going to Newtopia, right? Maybe we can mail you there? Should we find something, I mean."
"Thanks, we appreciate it!" James smiled, "However…I am curious about this book of yours. Do you have any idea who wrote it?"
"Not even the beginning of a clue." Dippit looked dejected for one second, "The Author never says anything that may help us recognize him. I once asked Stan, and he said he can't help me. The only thing I knew was that it had to be a frog…different from anyone else."
"Why do you say that?" Amelia asked, as Wendip chuckled in response.
"Check the image on the cover." The teenager frog replied, waving the right hand as to underline her words, pointing at the image of the golden frog hand in the cover, the same suction cup on the finger. "This hand has five fingers! No frog ever had more than three or four fingers."
"No frog, indeed," Jacob murmured, as he raised his own hand and kept moving his eyes between it and the frog hand on the cover. They were different, and yet…the utter impact that humans had the same number of fingers was weird.
"Wait, you have five fingers too?" Dipper said, noticing that, "Frog, humans are weird!"
"Hey!" Amelia retorted, "Many things of Amphibia looked weird to us, when we had just arrived. The place, the climate, the humidity, the giant carnivorous bugs roaring on the countryside-"
"You don't have them, back in your world?" Wendip asked, raising an eyebrow in turn.
"Sugar, in the world we come from, bugs are this big." James held two fingers close, imagining to hold an Earth ladybug among them, "And frogs are small critters known to live in swamps and small rivers, and lay thousands of eggs at once."
"What?" Mabbit said, her eyes widening in surprise.
"And we have machines that allow us to fly, that keep our food good for weeks or even for months, that entertain us and do countless other things!" Jacob nodded.
"What?" Now it was Dipper to gasp, his face assuming the same expression as her twin.
"And one of the most common meat humans consume comes from birds!" Amelia added.
"WHAT?!" Wendip yelled in shock.
Both sides now stood in silence, the Frogs in shock and awe, and the humans looking at all of them as seriously as possible. The silence dragged on for a second, then two, then three… Before they all start laughing out loud from the situation, because of how weird it was.
"So," Dippit spoke quietly to James, a sad smile on his face. "I guess you'd never meet any frog with five fingers on each hand huh?"
"We didn't, no. But because you're willing to help us on our quest, let me return the favor. If we learn anything while in Newtopia… we'll mail you as fast as we can."
"Truly?" The frog boy couldn't believe his own ears, as some strangers were willing to help him resolve a mystery that anyone else would've considered unimportant.
"Truly, Dippit!" exclaimed James, holding his hand in his direction. "Friends?"
"Friends!" Dibbit nodded as he clapped his hand with the human, a new friendship blossoming between the two groups that day.
Later that evening, a strange event was happening in Stony Gulch. All its Amphibian inhabitants and visitors were gathering around the Curiosity Hut, attracted by the strange music and lights, and the promise of a 'new show' unlike anything they'd ever seen before.
"Come one, come all! Just for one night, you'll be able to witness a spectacle unique in the story of the Curiosity Hut! The Mammalian Beasts of Planet Aeth! Those creatures who come from a world unlike ours, are now here to scare you with their appearance! Surprise you with their feats and amaze you with their abilities! Come on, people, just three- no, ten! Ten coppers to enter!"
All around the Hut, were various posters of the six "Mammalian Beast" (thought with more beast-like appearances of reality) that contributed to boost the curiosity and attract customers to the Hut. Right now, Felicia and Ivy were near a large depiction of Marcy, presenting her as 'The Living Calculator', some kind of 'creature' that was able to do complex calculations in real time, answer 'yes' or 'no' to any kind of questions and other kind of feats focused on intellect. And barely a few feet from them, a small group of frogs were discussing how 'impossible' this had to be, and what kind of tricks the Curator would surely employ.
"I have seen other kinds of shows like this, and they always share the same scam." One of the frogs lamented, "The trainer has some kind of trick to make it looks like their beast know the answer: if they scratch their head on the left, the creature must move head up and down as to say yes; if they do on the right, they must wave it from side to side. And if they need a numerical answer-"
"But if you claim to know it's a scam, why are you so hellbent to see the show?" one of his 'friends' asked.
"Because Stan Ponds had always been a nuisance at best, and an embarrassment to our beloved town! Since now people have opened their eyes and his business was failing, he tried to work out some new scam, but I'm going to go and see with my own eyes so I can expose him! I bet those beasts he's promoting so hard are just some frogs in makeshift costumes!"
"Mom, maybe it's better to…proceed, don't you agree?" Ivy said, holding her hand. "These guys don't know, they'll surely have a chance to see the truth once inside."
"I know, Ivy, I know, but…I can't stop feeling uneasy by how this whole thing is going. Just the fact that Sasha and the others agreed to play as 'specimens' for one night, it remind me of Hoffanio!"
"This is NOT like Hoffanio!" Ivy protested, "They're just pretending willingly, doing this to help the Hut regain public interest and pay for that stuff at the same time!" Ivy countered, "Plus, they gave us free passes to participate in the show."
"I guess at least this will help us keep an eye on the whole situation," Felicia sighed. She did trust Dippit and Mabbit, especially since Jacob had vouched for them, but… she wasn't ready to trust the Curator, not yet at least. Who said he wasn't going to try and trap the six into the same sticky wax as the rest of his 'exhibitions'? Felicia herself had known a couple of con-frogs who were too greedy to let go of their 'goose-bugs that lay the golden eggs'.
For this reason, she and Hop Pop had made an agreement to watch over them during and after the spectacle, as to make sure he would keep his word. And if he didn't… she had her sword with her, hidden among her garments, Maddie had her spells, Hop Pop had his hammer and Polly had her anger. More than enough fighting power to cut through anything they might face and rescue the kids, should it be necessary.
As they took their place among the sitting audience, in the 'New Exhibition' stage in the back of the building, the veteran adventurer looked around, trying to locate her friends and journey companions among the crowd. Hop Pop and Polly were sitting in the back, close to the entrance; Maddie was on the opposite side from where she and Ivy were now; Sprig was sitting in the front, next to the stage where the six humans would soon appear. Everyone pretending not to know each other… and in strategic positions to intervene, should something go wrong.
Little by little, the crowd marched inside and took their spots, Frog Soos sitting next to the entrance as, immediately after, the light inside dimmed everywhere except on the stage, and the Curator appeared in front of everyone.
"Ladies and gentle-frogs! Welcome to the Curiosity Hut, for our special one-of-a-kind spectacle! Be amazed as you witness… The Mammalian Beasts of Planet Aeth!"
The curtain behind him raised, and on a cue, the humans walked on-stage, various cries of surprise, shock and excitation escaping from the visitors. The six were all dressed in fur and light leather-like clothes that made them resemble savage outfits, their hairdos were all messy and added on the 'savage' appearance. Of the six, James was playing the 'strongman' role, flexing his muscles, glaring at the audience like he was going to attack them anytime soon, while Sasha was dressed in full 'Savage Queen' regalia, with a mock outfit made of bones and woods that Felicia knew it wasn't made until barely two hours ago.
Yet, the crowd didn't know that, and kept watching and gasping as the Curator finished his speech, before continuing with the spectacle.
(…)
The show was now going into full swing, and it was Jacob's turn to shine. The boy was dressed in a leather shorts and boots, making him resemble Conan the Barbarian, and instead of his trademark hammer, was now holding a large wooden club that moved around threatening, every once a while 'pretending' to move toward the public to attack it, only to be repelled and sent back by the Curator.
"-as you can see, the Berseker's inner aggressiveness and battle prowess can never be underestimated, for they'll always look for a fight and enemies to attack, should they have the occasion. That is-"
"Those things, dangerous?" One of the spectators in the second row said, laughing mockingly, as Hop Pop turned his head to look at him. "It's obvious such an unintelligent beast couldn't never be able to compete with a frog."
The old frog gritted his teeth, struggling not to show his emotions. Not only was the frog unknowingly insulting his kids, but his words reminded him too much of those of another human they met, and whose presence kept threatening him and his family.
"Oh yeah?" The Curator quickly grabbed on the opportunity, as he turned to face the smug watcher. "You sure look confident in your skill, why don't you prove them? I'll allow you to face it, and if you beat it, I'll pay you back the entrance's money, if not, you'll have to pay five times that."
"Five times?! That's downright robbery!" The spectator lamented, before getting up on his feet and walking toward the podium. "I'm in!"
Silence fell on the crowd, the spectators watching in shock, Hop Pop, Felicia, and their families sensing their own bodies tensing up as the frog, grabbed a couple of mock weapons from Frog Soos, walked toward Jacob, the human boy silently waiting for him, holding steadily on his club.
As the frog moved forward, Jacob was ready and countered, slapping the weapon out of his hands with one swing, before hitting him on his right knee on the return, making the frog yelp as he got distracted too easily by the hit. Thus, allowing Jacob to lift him with both arms high above his own head, and roaring in victory as a challenge to anyone in the audience who would try their luck.
After a short eye contact with the Curator who, oh so slightly, smiled in return, Jacob threw his 'adversary' among the rest of the crowd, mocking the frog even more with a full belly laugh. The one who believed he could easily win against 'such a beast' wouldn't have any long lasting wound other than his hurt pride…
(…)
Anne internally smiled as the crowd cheered for her, as she kept wiggling her nose and ears.
"I have to admit," one of the spectators, who had slowly turned from one of its main detractors to one of its biggest interests, nodded. "This is a lovely performance!"
"Do it again!" A small tadpole cried, "Make her do it again!"
"Sure thing!" The Curator replied as he gave Anne a signal, pretending to command her while Anne kept with her gigs…
(…)
"Ok, it is time for the Living Calculator to prove her intelligence!" The Curator dramatically announced as Frog Soos pulled a large chalkboard over the stage, Marcy standing right in front of him as she waited for her turn to act. "Ok, how much it is…" the Curator began to write number on the board with a small, greasy piece of chalk, "six multiplied seven?"
Marcy smirked, almost amused by the utter simplicity of the math problem in front of her. Yet, the public who was watching her right now had no idea of how advanced her math knowledge was, and simply gasped again as she walked to the chalkboard and wrote the answer so everyone could see it.
"Four for the tens… and two for the units." The Curator said, giving one swift glance to the public, "And that's right, six multiplied seven makes forty-two!"
"How in the frog's name she did that?" A young frog, sitting next to Maddie, said in wonder, not noticing the annoyed look the spellcaster gave him.
"Let's try again! How much it is… ninety-six divided-"
"Don't let yourself be fooled!" Another voice interrupted the show, Felicia recognizing it as the frog who they heard back at the entrance, the one who claimed he came to the show only to 'bust' Stan. "This is obviously a trick! There is no such way a creature dumb like that could know math! Didn't you see how he kept moving his head and his hands? I bet there was some secret code in it!"
The crowd began to murmur, as the Curator turned around to face him.
"No code, no trick, no deceit, mister…"
"Tobbs Determn, a real expert in math!"
"Oh yeah? Then, how about you put that expertise to the test?" Stan moved aside. "Ask freely any kind of math operation you want, she'll answer freely!"
For a moment, Tobbs looked stunned, clearly not expecting this turn; but then, he looked at Marcy, and smugly said. "Five hundred and three multiplied seventeen!"
Finally, some real challenge, Marcy internally said, as she once again returned to the chalkboard and wrote the answer, the crowd and Tobbs gasping again while the Curator smiled in turn.
"Eight thousand five hundred and fifty-one!" Stan read aloud, to underline how Marcy had actually calculated that. "Is that proof enough for you? I wasn't even looking at her, what kind of signs were you expecting?"
Tobbs stuttered, looking at Stan with a glare filled with hate before making another attempt. "Six hundred forty-four divided by seven!"
Ninety-two, Marcy wrote on the chalkboard, and the crowd gasped again, this time in awe.
"Forty-seven to the second!"
Two thousand two hundred and nine Marcy wrote, and now Tobbs felt his throat becoming sore. No way, this thing actually knew how to do math?
"T-three hundred sixty-two times the square root of forty-nine!"
Two thousand five hundred and thirty-four Marcy wrote down, as the crowd cheered once again.
For several minutes, Tobbs tried every math operation he could think off, even using concepts and elements that weren't commonly known, as Marcy continued to answer every problem with ease, not even breaking a sweat, doing instant calculations in her head, the crowd cheering louder and louder with each success of her as Tobbs became more frantic, panicked, his hands began to tremble, unable to accept the idea that such a 'freakish beast' could know advanced concepts of math better than an expert like him, his gaze keeping moving from the Curator, the public, Marcy and then back at the Curator that looked at him with eyes filled with smugness. He opened his mouth, but no more words came out, waving his hands until…
He felt down, his body unable to manage the huge amount of stress, his voice now reduced to an unintelligible mutter.
"…that can't be… it had to be a trick… Stan Ponds always uses tricks… why does she keeps answering…"
"That was epic!" Dippit said as he, his sisters and grand-uncle, Frog Soos, Wendip, the six humans and their own frog families looked over the amount of copper coins they had made in the evening. "Grunkle Stan, is this enough to save us from bankruptcy?"
"Indeed it is!" The Curator smiled with greed, as he kept mentally counting the huge amount of money on the table. "Alright you, you kept your part of the bargain and you gave us the best show in decades. I guess it's only fair I keep mine."
"You mean-"
"Yes." Stan replied, before Anne could ever finish her sentence, "The Skip Man and the rest of that stuff is yours. "Mabbit, Wendip, Frog Soos, go help them with it. They've more than earned them."
The three aforementioned frogs walked out, with Anne, Amelia, Marcy, James, Maddie and Polly following them, as the Curator shrugged.
"You know, it's been so long since we had such a good, and especially fruitful, show. Are you sure I can't convince you to stay, even just for a couple of weeks? I have some ideas for new number that-"
"No," Sasha replied with an irked voice. "Look, we agreed to be your attractions for a day in exchange for those things AND to help you save your business, but we have our own journey. We can't stop right now, not with our destination this close."
"Plus, I don't think you have anything you can offer her that could convince her." Felicia intervened, looking at Sash, "I guess you really wanted that make-up stuff, don't you Sash?"
"Hey, my skin does deserve attention too! Plus," she nodded at Sprig, "we have the best makeup artist ever with us, don't we?"
"I…I guess I could do that again?"
"Great!" Ivy hugged him, and Sprig became red in his face. "I call dibs!"
"No, I call dibs!" Maddie countered, grabbing Sprig too.
"We had an agreement! We're supposed to share him!"
"That's my point: you get almost all his affections already!"
Sprig could only look at Anne, pleading his big human sister for help… only for said human to look at the whole scene while cooing, as if it was the cutest scene she had ever seen.
"I…I understand." Stan sighed, ignoring the small love-squabble happening a few feet from him. "Still, that's a shame. The stuff I have isn't generating any more interest, and while the Hut may be saved from going under, I wonder how long it will last without some new attractions."
"Why don't you ask him?" Hop Pop pointed at Dippit, "He had many ideas for new stuff and things that may generate new interests, how about you listen to him? He is quite a smart and inventive kid, after all. And I learned myself that sometimes listening to other people's suggestion is not a waste of time."
"I-I guess I could do that?" Stan's eyes widened in response as he looked to his grandnephew, Dippit for his own part felt his open eyes widen up in surprise. Could this be…?
"Dippit, so…you think you have ideas on how to get new attractions for the Curiosity Hut? Something that could drive up many people interest… and earn a lot of money?"
"I-I think I do, Grunkle Stan!" The young frog smiled, feeling accomplished. "Mabbit and I have already met a couple of creatures that I think would be nice additions to the Hut's oddities! Maybe, if we-"
Jacob smiled, seeing how their own intervention had actually helped the young boy get the recognition he deserved, before noticing his head felt strangely cold, and he remembered that he hadn't worn back his helmet, the one that Loggle made specifically for him, and that it was probably still in the back room where they had changed back from those leather outfits.
"I'm going to get my helmet back," the human boy said, as he passed near Hop Pop. "Back in a minute!"
"Sure, just don't be late!" The old frog said with a chuckle, "I still think this place looks creepy."
Jacob laughed in response, as he made way to the small room, his eyes immediately focusing on his wooden Viking-like helmet laying on the table, the remains of his and his friends' stage outfit all around, his boots stomping on it as he walked to the table and quickly put the helmet back on its head.
"Well, well, nice show kiddo!" A voice spoke behind his back, the boy turning around just in time to see…
Jacob's eyes widened in surprise and horror, as he saw a yellow two-dimensional and triangular figure floating mid-air. The weird being had a single large eye with a snake-like iris, thin black arms and legs, and to make the apparition even weirder, it was dressed in a black bow tie under his eye and a tall black top hat that floats above his head. A figure that Jacob could recognize, as he had seen many times already in various drawings and tapestries all over the Curiosity Hut.
"I admit I was quite surprised when I found a copy of the Shack in this backward, sludgy place… and they have their own versions of Pine Tree and Shooting Star too?!" He yelled, looking beyond the fourth wall, directly toward the unaware humans who were reading this very sentence. "WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THAT?!"
"W-who are you?" Jacob sputtered, as he grabbed his hammer, his brain trying to think if it would be better to just run or try to open his path with violence.
"Name's Cipher, Bill Cipher, and I take it you're the son of some politically incorrect stereotypical Viking boss?" He laughed. "I'm just kidding, I know who you are, Jacob!"
"H-how do you know my name?!"
"Oh, I know lots of things!" Bill said as blue light came from behind him, his eye widened while different pictures and images flashed through his body. "LOTS OF THINGS..." His voice was now slow and deep, before returning to normal immediately after. "And I especially know about you and your friends!"
"You know about us?" Jacob now was getting angrier, realizing this guy, whoever (or whatever) it was, surely wasn't friendly. "How long have you been watching us, you fake dorito?"
"Oh, it had been quite some time since someone called me a dorito!" Bill laughed, even wilder than before. "And to answer your question, It's ever since you and your friends ended up in here that I've kept my" Bill suddenly became red and bigger, his pitch-black eye focusing on Jacob, while his voice turned ominous, like the voice of a demon, "EYE ON YOU" he immediately turned back to normal, leaving Jacob with the scared memory that would haunt him for the rest of his life. "And I must admit I was quite impressed by what you did."
"For real?" Jacob raised an eyebrow, his tone full of sarcasm. He had seen enough villain monologues to know Bill was trying to bland him with sweet talks.
"You deserve a prize! Here, a screaming toad's head!" Bill clapped his hand, and the disfigured, decapitated head of a toad appeared out of thin air and fell into the ground, Jacob jumping back in horror and disgust as the head kept screaming in endless agony, before suddenly starting to melt and evaporate, disappearing fast as it has appeared, Bill laughing in sadistic self-amusement.
"I can say, it was quite nice to see how you kids were doing, after your own childhood crush trapped you in this world just because she wasn't ready to grow up and still wanted to play games like an overgrown child. How about I give you a hand? I could give you some precious hints for the Box, or even bring you back home immediately. I only ask for a small, "his hand and eye began to burn blue, and his voice once again became deeper, "FAVOUR in return."
"Fat chance!" Jacob roared, angered by how Bill described Marcy, and by the blatant attempt to exploit their current situation. "You take me for a stupid? I KNOW that making a deal with beings like you is never a good idea! What are you hoping to gain? Steal my soul? Hijack my body? Start the apocalypse? That's what things like you always do! We don't need your help to get back home: we have Hop Pop's book, we have the Gems, the Box, and our own skills! And soon we'll be in Newtopia, and the best minds of Amphibia will help us!"
"Sure, they will 'help'," Bill scoffed while, unseen from Jacob, images of Aldritch and the Core flashed over his body. "Anyway., I was kidding when I said I could help you. I mean, I would LOVE to make a deal with you, but the fact is… I can't. Not anymore at least. I'm no longer my own boss, and I can't trick- I mean, make deals with mortals anymore."
Jacob simply scoffed, and Bill held his chest like the human's disbelief was stabbing him in the heart. That is, if he had a heart to begin with.
"I'm not lying! Check it!" The triangular immortal searched into a 'pocket' and, in front of Jacob, pulled out some kind of parchment that, to the human's eyes, seemed 'made' of deep-blue bright light and written in golden letters, with the words 'GOOD BOY IN PROBATION' written in a bigger print, and in place of the signature-
Is that an axolotl sticking their tongue out? Jacob wondered, as Bill put back the parchment back on his 'pocket'.
"Still, I guess it was nice to see the spectacle today: it brings me back…so many memories." Bill looked far away, thinking back at the girl in a rainbow shirt and the boy with the pine hat whose frog versions he had seen today. "Hey, want to hear my impression of you in about three seconds?"
"Wait, wha-"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!" Bill screamed, waving his arms wildly.
(…)
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!" Jacob sat up and screamed, waving his hands just like Bill had done three seconds before, from his point of view, before stopping, realizing he was lying on his bunk bed inside the Fwagon. And, judging by the sound of the large carriage moving outside and the absence of sunlight, the sun had set already for a couple of hours already.
"Jacob, are you ok?" Marcy was the first to come and check on him.
"I'm…fine, Mar-Mar. Just having… a nightmare of some kind." He said with a reassured tone, convinced that Bill had been just a figment of her imagination. "So… we're back on the road?"
"For the last part of our journey, yes." Sasha announced as she and Ivy walked on Jacob's view, both girls having their faces perfectly decorated through expert make-up skills, indubitably coming from Sprig's hands. "Hop Pop's driving, said we should arrive in sight of Newtopia in a couple of days at most."
"That is," Amelia snickered, looking at Anne. "If no one hits him again in the eye with the Skip Man's laser."
"I said I was sorry!"
"You know, I actually liked the roles Stan made for us," James confessed. "I know we had to pretend to be savages, but… frog, it sure felt good to get some good scares on those frogs."
"That's because it was only a small play-pretend, like those guys who disguise themselves as monsters and freak people out for Halloween!" Marcy pointed out, "And, we didn't do it to benefit ourselves, but to help save their museum from going bankrupt. We've been seen as freaks ever since we arrived, so why not simply ride the wave instead of waiting to be hit by it?"
"Oh, so the Nintendo you found is no way related to your current happiness?" Jacob challenged, as he got up and looked outside, the stars starting to shine in the sky.
"I…managed to recharge it, and allowed Maddie and Polly to see how it works. Looks like I'm not going to be the only passionate one soon…"
"You know, I was quite positively impressed by the Curator." Felicia nodded, as she too looked outside, back toward Stony Gulch, the small town becoming smaller in the distance. "At first, I thought he was just some classic scam guy, but in the end, not only he kept his word, but he also even showed he genuinely loves those kids who live with him! You know, sometimes I'm not sad that I was wrong…"
(…)
"So, those 'humans' have already left Stony Gulch?"
"Exactly," Stan said as he looked around the secret laboratory, whose entrance was hidden behind the vending machine in the gift shop. In the many years that had passed since 'Stan' had taken over the Hut, the laboratory had been modified to accommodate a small bunk bed and other living facilities, to become the permanent home of the original owner of the building.
The only frog in all of Amphibia that had five fingers in each hand.
"You know, I feel guilty for not telling them what they're going up against." Stan said, as his brother kept working on some unknown gear. "I mean, they looked nice, even if a bit freaky, plus from what Dippit told me, they do know some interesting stuff that may be related to… what you said you have seen, that night.
Ford didn't react, or at least, he didn't seem to, as he continued to work on his own stuff, so Stanley continued.
"I still think we should have told them."
"Stanley, NO." Stanford Ponds, former valedictorian of the Newtopia University, a genius specialized in numerous fields who was said he could change Amphibia himself, officially having disappeared in the same night he was invited to Newtopia Castle for a private dinner with King Andrias himself, turned around and glared at his brother, his face and eyes filled with resolve. "We already had this argument: we can't allow anyone to know about the Core! If they did, it would be only a matter of time before they found out I'm still alive, and our whole family may be at risk!"
"We could at least tell Dippit and Mabbit that their other granduncle is alive and living in a room hidden under their own beds!" Stanley scoffed, looking hard at his twin brother, before calming his nerves. "You know, Dippit's really caught up that book of yours. And apparently, he has a keen mind, just like you. I bet you would become his hero the second he'd meet you."
Stanford sighed, glancing over a small drawing that Stanley himself had made for him, depicting Dippit and Mabbit, his great nephew and niece (HIS!), who he had never met in person, but he knew everything about them, thanks to Stanley. "To never again see my family…is the price I must pay, if I want to protect them," he said, as he tried to steer his resolve. "Believe me, no one hates this more than myself, but… but the dark, weird road I travel, is not for them to follow."