Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Well don't give the temple a chance to change its mind. Charge that bad boy!”
The gem whirred on its pedestal, like violent white noise. Marcy’s mud brown pupils glowed green before slowly fading. Then…
“ARGH!”
“MARCY!”
Marcy fell onto her fours in agony.It was like 100 horses had simultaneously bucked at her brain.
“GET OUT!” she heard a voice whisper-shout
“YOU’RE NOT WANTED BY THE STONES!”
“GIVE UP!”
In one felled swoop, she snatched the stone from the pedestal, feeling the migraine fade.
“Marmar… don't you want to charge the gem fully?” Anne questioned.
“Nah!” she snorted, “It's fine! Cmon!”
She slotted it into the box, admiring the intricate design, before shoving it into Anne’s bag and stumbling out of the outhouse, holding her head the whole way.
“Are you sure you’re fine?” Anne asked, holding her friend’s shoulder.
“Don't be silly. I'm fine, Anna Banana!” she chirped, approaching Joe Sparrow.
Anne reluctantly boarded, the gem, unbeknownst to her, flickering in the void of her bag.

Chapter Text

“I… I did it for us!”

Anne backed away from her slowly. Marcy leaned forwards, desperate for Anne’s approval.

“Th-the day we left-your birthday-they told me my dad got a new job out of state! They were gonna tear us apart!”

“Marcy-”

Marcy didn't care anymore.

“I…I found the box. I had no idea it would actually work but, it did! And it sent us to a place where we’d never grow apart, where the three of us could be friends forever!” Marcy grabbed their hands, crying while smiling hopefully. Surely her girls would understand.

Maybe not, as Sasha slapped her tied hands out of her grasp.

“How could you?!” Anne scolded, disgusted, “I've been missing my parents! MY LIFE!”

“But look at how much fun we’ve had! Look at how much you’ve both grown! Look at Sprig! I gave you this, I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING!” 

Marcy was so desperate, she didn't even realise how vain she sounded. Anne shook her head, looked at her best friend with disappointment and disgust before walking off.

“I just… didn't want to be alone…” Marcy said, defeated as she fell to the ground in the realization of her actions.

She felt a pang of anger.

Who cares about Anne? Who cares about Sasha? You did the right thing! Why do you have to suffer? Fight for yourself!

Marcy glared bitterly at Anne.

“The three of us may have made some mistakes…”

See? Anne didn’t acknowledge what you did! You did give her everything!

“...and I'm gonna stop you…”

See that? Playing the hero. That should be YOU. She’s taken everything from you.

This was your dream, to live in a fantasy world. She’s the one who didnt want to, yet she gets the joy. And Sasha? How come Anne forgave her so easily for betraying her and trying to kill her family, but wont forgive you for your good deed?

Marcy’s blood boiled. Then, her eyes glowed a vibrant green. Her hair swirled up and gleamed the same colour. She stared through her crying tears at Anne, giving her heroic speech. 

“That… should be ME!”

In a fit of rage, she almost teleported towards the clueless girl and met her fist with her face. Anne flew through the room and smashed against the column.

“You… YOU UNGRATEFUL IDIOT!” Marcy yelled in a distorted voice, “IM THE REASON YOU HAVE THIS FAMILY! I'M THE REASON YOU GET TO RUN AROUND PLAYING THE HERO! I PUT IN THE WORK TO LIVE MY DREAM, BUT INSTEAD, I NEED TO WATCH YOU HAVE IT FOR ME! WELL… NOT TODAY!”

Anne’s head span from the concussion and the fact she was in front of a glowing version of Marcy.

“So…” Marcy giggled sadistically, picking up Anne’s dropped sword, “How does it feel to be dumped on by your best friend? Anna… Banana?”

“You… you’re…” words failed to come out of her mouth. Suddenly, behind the girls, a slow clap could be heard, thundering throughout the silent throne room.

“Bravo Marmar, bravo,” Andrias’ booming voice chuckled. Before he could begin treading towards her, she turned her head 90 degrees to the right, making sure the newt king saw her eye flash, like a nuclear explosion confined to her retina.

“We’ll talk later… Drias,” Marcy smirked. The monarch’s eyes widened, his brain rushing with thoughts of mourning, anger and sadness. He paused, Anne swearing she saw one of the frogs from the Plantar family tree in his eyes, before snapping his eyes shut and clenching his fists in acceptance.

“Now…” Marcy said charging up a green fireball with her fist, “let’s have some fun.”

The girl snapped her fingers, causing the frobots to power up and fly into battle. Anne picked herself up before nodding to Sasha. The blonde flashed a sly grin before kicking her pink sword towards Anne. She sprinted towards her friend and cut her tied hands before Marcy could attack. Sasha grabbed her new blue sword while Grime broke free of his restraints, and both charged into battle. 

Anne and Sasha worked together to slice the frobots to electronic parts as they sparked and exploded. They stared at each other, both hatred and love in their pupils, before screaming and charging into battle. Just behind them, Hop Pop noticed a frobot looming over him. Out of instinct, he punched upwards, spiralling like a drill, making the piece of machinery fall backwards. He channeled all his 50 years of hard labour, farming and caring for the rambunctious children into one smash from his fist, disabling the bot. Amongst the pride in destroying it, he felt a searing crack in his fist. He groaned in pain, holding his hand. Before he could react, another frobot aimed at him. This time, Grime helped out, the large toad smashing the thing to pieces with his Warhammer. 

Frobo positioned his lasers, shooting down 2 of his mechanical siblings. Before the third could be defeated, Sprig shot a hard stone at it. It turned and fired 3 lasers, but the pink frog effortlessly dodged it by leaping and fired 3 mud splats, blowing up the bot. The resistance regrouped, bracing their weapons at Marcy. 

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, striking the ground with her fireball. It created a shockwave, sending the group flying in every direction, most of them smashing against the floor or columns. As Polly regained herself she noticed a shadow looming over her. It was Marcy's fireball, ready to strike her. The Pollywog's eyes widened for a second then...

"POLLY! NO!"

Marcy felt herself restrained. Frobo's arms wrapped around her waist, torso and legs. 

"POLLY, I WILL SAVE YOU." he said robotically. 

"Oh, Look at that! One of Andrias' robots. Must be defective."

With that, she brought her empowered fist down on the bot. Frobo smashed to pieces in front of Polly. 

"FROBO!" She cried, "YOU... YOU MONSTER!"

"Don't worry, you're up next!" Marcy said menacingly, smashing Polly with her fireball. The hit created a fog from all the dust in the air. Sprig gasped, watching his sister die. The girl smirked, expecting to see frog bones on the floor, but was created by nothing but pure stone. 

"What the-"

"Over here you big bozo!" 

The mist from the blow cleared, revealing Polly with... legs?

"Guess who just got her le-" she stumbled over her new found appendages. 

"My little baby's got legs!" Hop Pop cheered, peering over a frobot. 

"This is weird!" Sprig spluttered in surprise. 

"Polly! Get the box, get the box!" Sasha commanded the tadpole. 

"On it!" she grunted, sprinting like a professional acrobat. 

"Stop that little brat!" Marcy almost spat, pointing at the pollywog. The fobots whirred and charged towards her, armed with lasers and all. Despite this, Polly managed to climb onto the pedestal and grab the music box. 

"Got it- woah!" Polly screamed as the castle started descending. The group began cheering for her. 

"Go, Polly, go!" Sasha whooped. 

"You did it girl!" Anne smiled, reaching to hug Sprig. Huh? Where was he? Then... 

"Not so fast!" Marcy grinned mischievously, "You've all got spunk, real chutzpah..." she held up her arm, revealing the pink frog's arm in the grip of her hand, "but this ends now."

Her green hair was slowly fading. Her eyes were blood red, bags as big as ping pong balls under them as if she hadn't slept in days, determined to stay awake. Her breathing was raspy and heavy. 

"Guys, don't listen to this bully! I'll be fine!" Sprig almost pleaded, side eyeing the girl. She just flashed a smirk back. He was right. He was right all along. When she saved him from the babriants. When she sang with Anne onstage. When she helped defeat the hornets. It was all worthless, fake even. 

"We'll see. Now put down the box, or this twerp learns how to fly," she said, moving her tired arm. Sprig's dangling legs banged and scraped against the window ledge and scraped against the window ledge before swinging over a kilometer drop. 

"Anne!" He yelled, ignoring his terrifying reality, "don't-" He was cut off as Marcy squeezed his wrist so hard it distracted him. 

"SPRIG! Polly, do what she says!" she commanded strictly, almost as if she were Sasha. 

Polly reluctantly placed the box back, causing the castle to float back up. A frobot gently lifted her next to frobo's head. 

"Frobo... " She mourned, hugging him. 

"Ok dude, you have what you want. Now please, just put him down! He's my best friend, in this world or any other."

Something cracked in Marcy at that moment. 8 whole years, thrown away. That first time they met... 

"Hello! What's that?" a young Marcy heard a voice behind her. She placed down the stick she was drawing on the sand with and turned. Behind her was the friendliest face she had ever seen with curly brown hair. 

"It's a blueprint for Zorda's castle from Vagabondia Chronicles!" she explained, pointing to a sand castle so detailed, it could have been real. 

"Ooh, I wanna play! I'm a big, angry dragon here to protect the Princess!" the girl roared. 

“What’s your name?” Marcy giggled, picking up the stick.

"My name's Anne. Anne Boonchuy," the girl said proudly, picking up a shovel like it was a sword. 

"I'm Marcy Wu!" Marcy laughed, "Wanna help?"

Anne smiled and knelt down, her 5 year old brain attempting to understand what Marcy had written in the sand. And there, just there, was the birth of a beautiful, unbreakable friendship. 

Unbreakable? 

Really? 

Marcy didn't notice tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't handle it anymore. Her friend, her best friend had replaced her with the smelly, sticky, ugly pink frog that was in her hand. 

Wait. 

She could fix that. 

The fate of a life she hated was in her hands. 

She could take it away, take it all away right then and there. 

"That's the thing about friends, isn't it?" she spoke, "The more you love them, the more it hurts when they go. Allow me to demonstrate."

With that, she smiled and opened her hand, causing Sprig to cling onto her wrist, meaning her unspoken rage got the better of her. 

"JUST GO, OK?!" she yelled, turning to the young frog, "YOU'RE IRRELEVANT! ANNE ONLY PUT UP WITH YOU BECAUSE SHE FELT BAD!"

"You... don't deserve Anne... " Sprig growled, still gripping onto her. 

"I almost feel bad about this... little frog," she smirked. She slowly raised her other hand, revealing her crossbow, and fired.

Anne watched in horror. The arrow seemed to move in slow motion. With a rip of flesh, and a bloodcurdling scream, she witnessed her best friend have an arrow lodged through his wrist. The shot had pushed him away from Marcy, about half a meter, causing to fall to his certain end. 

Anne stared as Polly and Hop Pop cried after him. 

Something triggered in her as she fell to a fours, weeping. 

When they first met. 

When he saved her from the mantis. 

When they ventured to the doom tree. 

When they killed the cannibal couple. 

When he stood up for her at toad tower. 

Everything. 

Was just gone. 

Like that. 

Her eyes glowed blue. 

Her gem flickered and emitted an aura that made it's way toward her, creating a fire around her. Marcy was shocked, but not as much as Andrias. 

"No.. It can't be... " He spluttered as the flame grew bigger. 

"She's still connected to the stone! But that's impossible!" 

Plant life began to grow out her blue hair. She stood up, as Sasha stared. 

"Give him back," she growled, a single tear falling from her eye, "Give. Him. BACK!"

She slammed the floor, disappearing in a flash of blue, magically dismantling multiple frobots.

Marcy looked around in panic. 

"Where'd she g-" she was cut off as Anne launched into her face, sending her flying across the room. Everyone gasped in shock as Marcy held her bleeding cheek, charging towards her ex best friend. She flew and kicked at her, but disappeared right before her. Marcy looked up, seeing Anne charging up on the ceiling. 

"FIRE!" she yelled, as the remaining frobots shot their lasers upwards. Anne effortlessly dodged the lasers, let out a battle cry and collided with Marcy, creating a shockwave that evaporated the machines.The traitor lay onto the floor, slowly opening her eyes. All she saw was Anne, letting out tears of mourning. 

"Give him back... " She said weakly, hair slowly fading back to brown. 

"Give him..... Back.... " She fell to the ground. 

"Looks like she can't control it..." Marcy chuckled weakly, picking up Anne's dropped blade. 

"Come on, get up Anne!" Hop Pop and Polly ran up to her unconscious body. She slowly opened her eyes to see Marcy looming over her. It was truly terrifying, blood draining from her swelling cheek, cuts and bruises everywhere, bags so large they looked heavy and red, pained eyes. 

"I have to admit, I'm surprised. Somehow you've still got the gift, Anne. Which means... I can't let you live," She spoke, drawing the sword. Suddenly, the castle powered down. Everyone turned to see Sasha, carefully opening the music box. 

"Please work, please work, please work... " she muttered to herself. 

"NO!" Marcy screamed, running over. She was stopped by Grime. 

"I'll hold her! Just go!" he yelled. Anne nodded and aided Polly in dragging Frobo, supported by Hop Pop. 

"Quick, into the portal everyone, hurry!" Sasha commanded, directing her friends into the portal. 

Grime hammered at Marcy, but she jammed at the head of his hammer, knocking him backwards. 

"THE BOX!"

"Sasha, hurry!" Anne Panicked, poking her head out the portal. 

Sasha thought about Grime as she held the box. She couldn't just leave him! 

"I just need to-"

She was cut off. 

She looked down in horror to she Anne's blade, pierced through her armour... and her flesh. 

The room was silent. 

Marcy held the sword with one hand, panting like a dehydrated dog. 

"Now look what you've made me do," She breathed, retracting it, only causing Sasha more pain. 

"Anne... " she gasped her last words, "I'm sorry... for everything."

"SASHA!" Anne yelled, tearing up. The blonde fell to the ground, dropping the music box, causing the portal to activate. 

When Anne opened her eyes, she was sitting in a green car, stuck in Los Angeles traffic. 

"Oh my frog!" Polly yelled. 

"What is this place?" Hop Pop questioned. 

Anne finally took it all in. 

"Home... " was the only word that came out of her mouth.

Chapter Text

**1 week later**

Anne was sitting on her bed, legs crossed scanning through Marcy's journal. The illustration, the word choice... she made it seem like she did a good deed, taking them away from their families. What really shocked Anne was the final entry. The page was burnt. Creases lined every gap between words, which were scrawled on, unlike Marcy's signature, cursive handwriting. 

"I HATE ANNE. 

SHE BETRAYED ME. 

SHE LOVES THAT FILTHY FROG MORE. 

I'M HIDING BEHIND THE PILLAR AS ANNE POWERS DOWN. 

SHE'S HORRIBLE. 

AND I'M GONNA MAKE SUR" 

Marcy didn't even finish her words. She must have accidentally dropped it when she saw Sasha with the box, as Anne instinctively picked it up when she saw it on the ground. As Anne read through the pages, there was not a hint of evil in it at all. She even felt remorseful. 

ENTRY 16

I CAN'T SLEEP. I'VE BEEN TOSSING AND TURNING THINKING ABOUT ANNE AND SASHA... WHERE ARE MY GIRLS? 

I'VE BEEN HAVING A BLAST HERE, BUT I MISS THEM... AND I WORRIED ABOUT THEM... AND... 

WELL, IT'S MY FAULT THAT... 

SORRY, JO. I'M STILL NOT READY TO TALK ABOUT THIS. 

Anne shed a tear. 

A single drop of salty enzymes. 

She was left questioning herself. 

"You're so mean, Anne!" she heard Marcy's voice cry internally, "I gave you this, I gave you everything!"

"N... NO!" she yelled, "YOU... YOU.... MONSTER! 

"Anne, how could you say that? We're supposed to be BFFs!" the voice grew louder. 

Multiple Marcy voices overlapped each other, yelling at the girl. 

"YOU MONSTER!"

"YOU PSYCHO!"

"YOU'RE WORSE THAN SASHA!" 

Anne brought her hands to her ears, but it brought no benefit, as the voice came from her mind. 

"YOU'RE THE REASON SPRIG IS DEAD!"

That was the final straw, Anne feeling the energy return to her. 

"THAT'S IT!" she yelled. She tore into the journal, ripping out the final entry, but almost obliterating the other pages with blue fire. 

When she calmed down, she started at the book. The string tying the paper to the cover had unravelled. The stickers on the front peeled off. The whole book looked like a house after a tornado. 

"ANNE!" Hop Pop yelled, his slimy feet heard padding up the stairs. He was met with his adopted daughter, crying on all fours... Just like when Sprig was dropped out the window. 

"Are... You ok?" He asked, genuinely worried. 

"I just.... Hate Marcy so MUCH!" she slammed the ground with her fist, causing her possessions to fall from the dresser to the ground. Her hand mirror just so happened to land under her head, just where she could see it. She must've been in a state of madness, because she saw Sprig's face, completely unharmed, on the reflection. 

"Anne... " he started, ".... How could you! You're why I'm gone! If you had tried to forgive Marcy, she wouldn't have killed me!"

"Sprig! No... you're not real!" she yelled. 

"Sprig?" Hop Pop asked, confused. 

"Anne... how could you say that after what you did!? " The reflection yelled. 

"Stop it... " Anne muttered. 

"Stop it.... " She said, louder. 

"STOP IT, STOP IT!!"

She was screaming at this point. 

"No, Anne."

She couldn't take it anymore. She brought her hand down, sharp shards flying everywhere. 

"ANNE!" Hop Pop yelled, rushing over to pat her back. 

 slowly opened her eyes. She didn't see the elder frog. She didn't see anyone she wanted to. She saw Marcy, looming over her with the same wicked expression, eye bags and injuries as last week. 

"Talk to me-"

Without warning, Anne smashed her fist into his body, causing him to fly across the room, crashing back first into her wardrobe. 

"ANNE!" he cried, "STOP! IT'S ME!"

Anne still saw red (or blue, in this case), picturing her former best friend, weak on the floor, smiling horrifyingly, speaking Hop Pop's words. 

"No... NO!" Anne yelled, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

With that, she full force headbutted him, smashing his back again into the wardrobe. 

"Anne? Everything okay?" Mr Boonchuy called, feet racing up the stairwell. 

"Everythings... Fine, Mr Boonchuy! We're just... Playing' a video game!" Hop Pop managed to muster. 

Anne froze. Video games? 

"Marcy, I really don't understand how to play this," Anne confessed blankly, staring down at her Z-Box controller. 

"You've never played a JRPG before, Anna Banana?" Marcy said, making a goofy expression at her best friend. 

"Well, while you nerds play Vagabond Crusaders or whatever, I'm getting some snacks from downstairs," Sasha yawned, casually stepping out of her bedroom at 2am.

"Thank you, Marbles, " Anne smiled as her friend slowly showed her how to game, "Video games will never be the same again. They'll be better."

"Aww, shucks," Marcy smiled, Anne wondering how she fought a boss battle while looking away from the screen. 

Anne was right. 

She could never look at video games the same. 

She grabbed Hop Pop by the scruff of his neck and smashed him against the wall. She pinned him there with one hand, and with the other, she continuously rammed her fist into his wrinkled face, or Marcy's in her eyes. It seemed no matter how much she punched them, the girl's smile would not fade. She would not gain any new injuries. Instead, she held up one arm weakly, showing Sprig, clinging onto her arm. Anne sent one final blow so hard, Hop Pop was shoved a quarter of a meter into the wall. 

"ANNE!" Polly, Mr and Mrs Boonchuy burst into the room to see their daughter ready to beat the frog once more. Before she could, her parents held her by the arms, like 2 police officers restraining a dangerous criminal. Polly ran to the wall, pulled out her grandfather, and took a look at his battered, cut up pulp of a face. He still looked terrified as Anne bared her teeth at him viciously. Slowly, she didn't see Marcy. She saw the reality of what she had done. 

"Anne, you're ok!" Mr Boonchuy shushed, helping her to her bed, "you're safe."

"No... " Anne sighed, head in hands, "I'm not."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, "All that's left is to get Marcy and Sasha back and send the Plantars home!"

"No, " Anne said firmly, "I've... Not told you everything."

She sat down and informed her parents. How Marcy betrayed them. How Sasha was probably dead. Even her glowing blue powers. 

".... And Polly isn't Hop Pop's only grandchild. He had another, Sprig, but Marcy murdered him and Sasha."

The Boochuys' mouths hung open. 

"Wait, so Sasha is dead, Marcy is evil and killed her and a small pink frog and you have superhero powers? I thought the talking frogs were enough!" Mr Boonchuy reiterated. 

"I'm... Such a failure!" Anne sobbed, "If I just forgave Marcy, none of this would've happened!" 

"Hey, hey! It's not your fault!" Mrs Boonchuy, "It's good her true colours showed. Come here."

Anne cried as her parents hugged her tightly. 

"Uhm, excuse me, but I need MEDICAL ATTENTION OVER HERE!" Hop Pop yelled, hanging his arm, "I think something's broken."

"Hop Pop!" Anne tried to leap off her bed, but her parents held her back. 

"We'll take care of Hopediah. You rest," Mr Boonchuy smiled, sitting her down. 

Anne sighed, lay and closed her eyes, as she heard Hop Pop complaining about who knows what. 

****

Sizzle! 

Anne smelt something warm and familiar as she awoke. She felt so fresh as she stretched and clambered down . 

In the living room, a plate of pancakes was perched on the coffee table, accompanied by a butter block, syrup, chocolate spread and honey. The pancake was filled with what looked like cockroaches. Sat on the couch was the elder frog and the pollywog. Hop Pop had a cast on his right arm and left leg and plasters spread across his face. Polly was passing him a delicious breakfast. 

"I'm so sorry, Hop Pop," Anne sniffled, sitting next to him. 

"It's alright, Anne," he sighed, cutting open his pancake, "I don't blame you for having a bit of trauma from WHEN MARCY DESTROYED OUR FAMILY!"

Anne had to catch his plate to ensure syrup wouldn't pour over her mum's light beige carpet as Hop Pop threw his bony arms, one of which was in a cast, up into the air.

"Do you think... Sprig is... Still alive?" Anne asked, pausing between words in worry. 

"It's a nice thought... " he sighed, "... But probably a wishful one. I can still stare at him, though... "

Hop Pop looked through the window, the pure, white clouds roaming through the blue sky. 

******

"There she is!" Yunan gasped, pointing directly into the room. Olivia stared, squinted her eyes to see a rejuvenation tank filled with pink liquid. A familAte  blonde floated lifelessly in black armour, tubes connecting to her with a face mask helping her breathe. Yunan quickly ran over but Olivia grabbed her wrist. 

"Are you sure?" She asked firmly, "she tried to take over Amphibia!"

"She's the only way we can do this," Yunan growled with gritted teeth, snapping her arm out of the noble's grasp. She climbed over the edge, pulled the girl out of the tank and ripped of her face mask. Sasha coughed up pink liquid before slowly opening her eyes. 

"Marmar? Anne?" she droned drunkenly.

“...She’s out of it,” Yunan said, stating the obvious. Olivia made the mistake of letting her guard down for a nanosecond. As she turned away, she heard a loud, clean, stinging slap.

“WAKE UP HUMAN!” Yunan yelled, sending 3 more hits to Sasha’s face, “WAKE UP, I SAID!”

She grabbed the girl by her collar and lifted her, ready to attack again.

“YUNAN!” Olivia screamed, feeling like a newt with status and power again, “GENTLE!”

She bared her teeth and threw her arms down in fists, like a 5 year old angry about a tablet being confiscated.

“Sasha, it’s Olivia and General Yunan,” she explained nicely, wrapping a blanket around the human and pouring her a cup of tea.

“Hooooow long wuz that coop of tea there?” Sasha asked woozily, clearly trying to be commanding but failing miserably.

“There’s no time to explain!” Yunan whisper-shouted, “We need to get out of here!”

“Okey dokey!” Sasha droned, tossing the cup away like a ragdoll, “Lead the way Lady Olivia and Captain ah-Yoohoo!” 

Sasha used her finger to pry open Yunan’s mouth before promptly falling on her face.

“I’m okay!”

Olivia and Yunan helped the girl up. As they began walking away, steam hissed out of vents along the wall and eyes appeared all over the walls. Smoke surrounded the group.

“What the heck is going on?” Yunan yelled aggressively.

“What in newt’s name?” Olivia yelled, their surroundings slowly forming. It was amphibia, but different. Like an apocalyptic version of Newtopia, smoke and machines everywhere. Sasha fell over again as Olivia ran towards a figure formed in front of her.

“Mother?” she questioned, “Is that you?”

“Olivia?” the newt gasped, “The sky, the trees? How could you let this happen?”

“I’m sorry mother!” Olivia whimpered, “I did everything I could!”

“Well,” her mother said, narrowing her eyes. Suddenly, she was no longer a newt. She was a beast. In a distorted voice, she yelled, “IT WASN’T ENOUGH!”

Olivia screamed as Yunan pulled out her claws.

“What is this witchcraft?” she cried.

Sasha squinted, seeing something glitching in midair.

“OH!” Sasha said, chuckling, “Its a projection! You know like a… VR?!”

“Vrrrrrr…r?” Yunan spoke, confused.

“It's not real, ya goof!” Sasha teased, finally standing up on her own. In Front of them, a sandy tornado appeared.

“The room’s changing again. Just try not to freak out!” she exclaimed, watching the spinning thing.

“Oh, please!” Yunan spat, “Nothing scares the great GENERAL YUNAN! SCOURGE OF THE SANDWARS, DEFEATER OF-”

Suddenly, she froze still with fear.

“Oh, no…” she mustered.

“What? It’s just a little-”

“GRUBHOOOOOOOG!” the once fearless newt screamed as the tornado revealed a creature resembling a chubby worm.

“You’re afraid of… that?” Sasha reiterated, scrunching up her face.

“I had a bad experience,ok?!” she yelled, “When I was a little girl, one of those monsters nearly took my arm off!”

Sasha didn’t quite understand until a tornado began to swirl around her. When it cleared, she was in the school hall, next to her locker.

“Oh no. Oh no,” she muttered, bracing herself. In Front of her was Anne, staring with disappointment.

“How could you Marmar?!” she yelled in a distorted voice, “You betrayed us!”

"I know!" Sasha sobbed, "I'm sorry!"

"It's too late!" Anne yelled, stomping closer, "I want nothing to do with you ever again!" The sockets where her eyes once were glowed white as she grew larger and marched over. Suddenly, Sasha felt herself falling. Once she landed, she looked up, and there she was, being Impaled by Marcy. 

"MARCY!" she screamed, as a blinding flash of light bedazzled her. 

"No... No!" Yunan yelled elsewhere, "Stay back stay ba-"

She straddled her arms, one hand blocking an orange eye thing. Suddenly, one grub hog disappeared. Not even fading, just gone, like clipping an image out of a document. 

"Oh. These eyes!" Yunan gasped, "these eyes are making the nightmares, guys!"

"Eyes?" Sasha raised an eyebrow, "That must be where all these things are being projected from! Guys, TAKE OUT THE EYES!"

Olivia and Yunan snapped out of their terrors. 

"RIGHT!"

The three went on a rampage, kicking every eye they saw. Slowly, Olivia's mum, the 5 grub hogs and the projected girls disappeared. Soon there was one eye left at the top of the room. Sasha instinctively grabbed Yunan's claws, ripped one out and flung it at the projector. It let out sparks of orange before the image around them faded. 

"Woohoo!" Sasha cheered. 

"We did it!"

Without thinking, she grabbed Olivia by the waist and span her around, the regal dress flying in the artificial wind.

“Ahem, I'm not normally one for teamwork, but uh…” Yunan grunted awkwardly, placing Olivia down gently, “Good job out there everyone. Very nice hustle.”

Olivia laughed and lightly punched the general on her shoulder, something Anne taught her.

“You goof,” she giggled.

“We make a good… team…” Sasha’s eyes widened. A team? Months ago, she would’ve cringed at that idea. She didn’t want to be a team! She wanted to be a leader!

Like she said on that fateful day, “Maybe I don’t wanna go home and rule a school. Maybe I wanna stay here and rule a kingdom.”

She’d never committed to letting Anne have… choices. Was that bad? The fact she basically made Anne’s decisions? She thought long and hard, not even noticing the tears of regret streaming down her face.

“Uhm… human?” Yunan raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to do in this situation, “We uh… need to go…”

“What?” Sasha said half-heartedly, still in the realm of her thoughts, “Oh! Yes, yes.”

She aggressively wiped her tears with her armoured forearm and pressed on to the entrance. Olivia and Yunan scurried like small dogs after her, but were stopped by… Andrias?

“Leaving so soon?” the blue newt boomed, “But we have so much to discuss!”

“How did you-” Olivia began.

“Simple!” Andrias said, playing with his fingers by pressing them together, “We’ve been watching you the whole time.”

A small, orange dot appeared like a zit on his crown. Behind them, a large, octopus-like being with thirteen glowing, orange eyes and tentacles Sasha couldn’t count. It let out a sickening roar.

“What the heck is that?” Sasha exclaimed, taking her hands off her ears, raising an eyebrow. The beast’s eyes seemed to widen. It turned inquiringly to Andrias, the eyeball on his crown looking down on him. The trio couldn’t make out what was being said, only hearing faint whispers, like wind brushing along dandelions.

“Is this the smart one?” 

“Well… no… but-” Andrias began.

“NO, YOU FOOL!” the voice whisper-yelled, “A barbaric brute is no use for the core!”

“Well… she doesn’t need to be… uh… assimilated… just as a host! She’d give us the advantage,” the newt mumbled.

“Fine,” the eye closed, and disappeared, like a hole in a jumper being stitched with invisible thread.

The monster retracted a mechanical tentacle before shooting it towards Sasha’s head. It grappled at her face and pulled her along.

“AAARGH!” She yelled a high pitched scream, unusual for the embodiment of strength.

A chair slowly raised from a platform on the other side of the room where Sasha was placed, restraints strapped over her ankles and wrists as she strained to escape.

“Behold! Our ultimate creation. A collection of Amphibia's greatest minds, preserved for all eternity,” Andrias proclaimed as Sasha strained, “Studying the Moss Men improved our medical technology. But it wasn't until we met the Shadowfish that we truly learned to conquer death. And thus, the Core was born.”

“LET ME GO!” Sasha yelled furiously, running out of options.

“I wish I could, but the core needs a physical host to neutralize the prophecy,” he said, “They originally wanted Marcy, but, with her being on our side, that isn’t the best solution, but you’ll do.”

Tubes appeared from all over the room, connecting to Sasha’s armour and body.

“Wha- what is this? Huh?” she looked upwards, seeing an antlered helmet being lowered down onto her head.

“Argh!” she screamed again, scrunching her shoulders, trying to find an escape.

“Think, think!” she groaned in her head, “What would Marcy d-”

She was cut off as the helmet landed on her head, covering her eyes. She paused for a few seconds. Nothing. Then… burning agony, like the impalement but 50 times worse.

“ARRRRGGGGHHHH!” she yelled a final time, a burning, red flame surrounding her. Visible data and binary code seeped through the tubes, downloading the core’s consciousness into Sasha. When it was complete, the eyes of the monster turned black, the body creaking and falling down, Sasha’s head drooping. As Olivia and Yunan gasped, Andrias slowly walked towards the unconscious human.

The time has finally come for the Core to lead us to our destiny. But what destiny, you ask? Well, I suppose I should let it speak for itself,” he announced, stepping aside to allow whatever he was showing to be seen.

The core cracked its joints, sitting up awkwardly. Once finally sitting up straight, it opened 10 eyes- 3 large, 4 medium, 3 small ones. In both Sasha and the core’s voice, the being spoke.

“Why, hello there.”

Chapter Text

Why, hello there!

So, as you may have noticed, I haven't posted in a while. That is because I've been addicted to demon slayer (thank my friend for that). However, now that I've finished watching it, expect a new chapter in the coming week!

Stay tuned, nerds!

Cats_Ramen

Chapter Text

"Oh my frog, oh my frog!" Anne squealed, "The winter dance is coming up!!!"

"Uh... Winter dance?" Hop Pop scrunched up his face and tilted his head, perplexed. 

"It's the highlight of the year, after prom, obviously, " Anne explained, sighing like it was so simple as she perched on the sofa arm rest, "there's music, dancing, food and so much more! Sasha, Marcy and I always had a blast, dancing together. Heck, at the last one, there was a whole thing with a girl getting kicked out for wearing an otter costume!"

"O... Tter?" Hop Pop attempted to pronounce. 

"Anyways, I was gonna ask Polly to go dress shopping with me!" the girl squealed, right as Mrs Boonchuy wandered in with her warm, purple jumper and pink crocs, folding her arms. Anne could tell by her expression that she'd need to do a bit of bargaining. 

"You think you're going to the Winter Dance?" she laughed, "Absolutely not. That newt king thing is still after you.""But muuum!" She whined, "The robot he sent didn't wanna be seen, and the dance is full of people. Either way, I still have my blue powers!" She cracked her knuckles, emitting blue electricity to prove her point, "if I go dress shopping now, since it's early, no one else will be there! I'll take full responsibility for her safety!"

Mrs Boonchuy sighed and held her nose between her index and middle finger. Her daughter had never been so good at making points. 

"Ok, Anne!" She muttered, defeated, "You can go."

"Yes!" Anne yelled. She jumped up maybe a bit too excitedly, accidentally firing a bolt of blue magic into the ceiling. Through the hole, Polly fell through, bow partially on blue fire, soot covering her tadpole body.

“Yo, Polly!” Anne laughed, picking up the dazed pollywog, “time for team P’Anne to get more screen time! Or, technically, book time? Page time? Eh, it doesn't matter!”

“Alright!” Polly laughed, jumpkicking the air, casually stopping, dropping and rolling to put out the flame, “Lets go!”

“I want that one!” she yelled every ten seconds as Anne piggy-backed the tadpole through the High Street. The paving was grey and smooth, cracks everyone used to dodge as kids. Anne remembered doing that with Sasha and Marcy… until…

“Look!” Anne laughed, jumping over a gap, “This one’s filled with frogs!”

“No, they’re filled with crocodiles!” Sasha corrected, jumping along with Anne, expecting the girl’s usual, “Ok, Sash!”

“Yeah, Anne!” Marcy giggled rudely. With one motion, she shoved her 5-year-old best friend onto the floor. Her tights ripped, revealing bleeding skin over old bruises.

“Marcy!” Sasha screamed, pushing the perpetrator away from Anne. She scrambled towards the casualty, checking her legs.

“Come on, Anne,” Sasha spat, supporting her, glaring back at Marcy, “Let's find someone else to play with.”

“Wait!” Marcy yelled, running after them, “Come back! I’m sorry! I’m super dumb!”

Sasha and Anne ignored her, the former carrying the latter’s arm over her shoulder.

Anne and Sasha didn’t talk to Marcy for a month. They found a new nerd to play with- Alicia Raja. She had tan skin, chocolate brown eyes and long, wavy, mud hair that hit her hips. Finally, she wore a pair of rimless, circular glasses that perched on her nose.

Whenever Marcy saw Alicia, she felt intense pangs of hatred. 

Alicia had always been second best to Marcy when it came to grades. Marcy could accomplish anything without studying. Alicia would always get one or two wrong, but those flaws were what stopped her from being at the top. However, Marcy’s grades slipped horribly. Alicia finally got what she had wanted, but, being the kind soul she was, she sat next to the girl at lunch.

“Are you… ok?” she asked, seeing the black haired girl crying into her legs.

“Anne?” Marcy slowly lifted her head to see Alicia. Her eyes widened with absolute rage. With all her might, she delivered the most devastating blow to the brunette’s perfect face.

Alicia didn’t stumble back. She fell off the green park bench she sat on, landing hard on her head, as red, gooping liquid poured from the back of the skull. Her facial features weren’t much better- she looked like she had been fighting on the frontlines of a terrible war with no weapons.

Marcy gasped. She hadn’t meant to do that! Was she dead? Did she have brain damage now? It sent the girl into a spiraling panic. Going to jail for murder would surely ruin her perfect record! Her thoughts were interrupted when she sensed a looming presence over her.

“Miss Wu?”

It was her gym teacher, Mrs Paul. She was quite a beautiful woman, long, black hair in a braid and a tracksuit with the SGMS crest embroidered into the side.

“What happened here?”

Marcy was too scared. She’d never been good at lying, but, if she told the truth, she’d face detention, suspension, expulsion, even legal action! After about 5 seconds of thinking, she raised her shaking hand to the basketball court and curved her fingers into a pointing gesture. 

“The basketball team?” Mrs Paul questioned, turning to look at the other PE teacher, Mr Hull’s, pride and joy. The 11 year old slowly nodded. Despite the fact that she was failing her class, Mrs Paul was reasonable, and knew Marcy was a perfect ambassador for the school. Without missing a beat, she stormed over to the court and intercepted the captain, Tyler’s, chest pass. Marcy couldn’t hear the words, but she knew it was bad. 

And in that moment, a spark, a seed of a villain started to blossom.

No one would expect the innocent, little nerd to start drama.

But that wouldn’t stop her.

“On that day…” Anne said vaguely, “We forgave Marcy. She told Mrs Paul she tried to protect Alicia… and we believed her. After everything that happened… I’m not sure she was even telling the truth…” She was just about to drift back into her memories, when Polly slapped her with her small yet strong arms.

“Pft, forget that!” she scoffed, “Amphibia can wait. Right now, we need to find you a perfect dress!”

“Oh, yeah!” Anne laughed, “Let’s go to Lily’s Gowns. They ALWAYS sell the best dresses for great prices!”

She pointed to a cute, yet quaint shop with colourful prom dresses in the windows and a large sign that read, “Lily’s gowns”, in perfect, cursive handwriting. As Anne pushed open the door, the familiar scent of lush perfume and incense filled the air. At the counter was a teenage employee, probably around 19 years old. They had a large tooth gap, short, black hair and painted nails.

“Hello there!” they waved.

Chapter Text

So, I wanted to ask you a question- Would you prefer it if I wrote shorter chapters but posted more often or wrote longer chapters but posted less often?