The Night of the Sleepover
As Sasha entered the old house, she peered around, trying to see through the darkness. It was hard to make out anything with no light sources, so Sasha stumbled around, trying to find a place she could sit down. As she stumbled in the dark, her hand managed to land on something on an old desk. She picked it up and realized it was an old mask of some kind. It was wooden and looked to have antlers coming out of the top. It looked extremely old and worn. Sasha stared at the mask intently.
Huh, wonder what this is, she thought
Playing with the mask, Sasha put it on her face and pretended to be a scary monster.
"Bwhahahah! I'm a masked deer person! I'm gonna get you!" she taunted. "I bet Anne, Luz, and Marcy would freak if they saw me come out wearing this!"
As she pulled the mask away, she noticed there was some sort of greenish-black sludge on it. She realized only too late that some had gotten on her face.
"Eww, gross," said Sasha, trying to clean the sludge off her face. "No way I'm wearing this again."
It was at that moment, though, that Sasha heard something, almost like a laugh, inside her head. A cruel laugh that sounded different from anything she had heard before.
Is someone there? thought Sasha, talking to herself. She didn't expect a response and was surprised when she heard one.
Hello, Sasha, replied her thoughts, though something about the voice was different.
Who are you? thought Sasha nervously
Oh, I'm just your inner voice, replied the voice. You're having a conversation with yourself to try to distract yourself from how scared you're feeling right now.
What? Get real, thought Sasha. No way I'm scared right now. You can't fool me. If you really are my inner voice, why don't you prove it by telling me something only I would know?
Alright, said the voice…
Present Day
The frog army stood assembled close to the capital of Newtopia. Emmanuel took out a telescope and aimed it at the capital city. At the moment, nothing was out of place, though he knew it was only a matter of time before the Toad Army appeared on the horizon. He'd stationed lookouts around the edge of the city and given them orders to alert him at the first sign of trouble. After putting his telescope away, he went back inside his tent. Lilly was already there, buckling her scabbard to her belt.
"Anything unusual, Dad?" she asked, her back turned to him.
"No, not yet. The anticipation is killing me, though, not knowing when they may strike."
"Well, we've done all we can to prepare, so now all we have to do is win a fight against the combined might of all four towers," said Lilly with a laugh.
"Oh, is that all?" replied her father sardonically.
"Yep," said Lilly, turning around. "And with the Masamune on our side, how can we fail?"
Emmanuel took in the sight of his daughter. She was now wearing a silver breastplate with a blue cloak that billowed behind her. She also had on white pants and boots. The Masamune was clipped to her belt. She looked so much more confident and seemed to project an air of power around her.
"You look amazing," he said, coming up to hug her, "but I want you to know I was already proud of you, even before you pulled the sword."
"I know, Dad," said Lilly, returning the hug. "Now I get to make you even prouder."
"Have you gotten used to using the sword then?" he asked.
"Yeah, I've been practicing ever since I got it, and I've been practicing my other abilities, too," said Lilly. With that, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were glowing a deep blue. She brought up her hand, and an orb of water appeared in it. Lilly focused and made the orb move about in the air, and after a few minutes, she shot it out of her hand and out of the tent.
"Very impressive," said her father. "Is that the only element you've been using so far?"
"I think I can use others too, but water seems to come easily to me, so I'll stick with that for now. I still have my bag with potions in it too, just in case," said Lilly.
At that moment, three other figures entered the tent.
"How you doing, Lilly?" asked Gustav.
"I'm ready. I don't know what may happen today, but I am ready. Do you think Luz was able to find a way back to her world?" asked Lilly.
"I hope so. She probably wouldn't want to be here, considering what's about to happen," said Gustav. "Maybe if she did find a way back, she took Sasha with her."
"Somehow, I doubt that," replied Lilly. "From what you told me, Sasha wants to conquer Amphibia, and I don't think she'd give up so easily."
"Perhaps that's just wishful thinking on my part," answered Gustav.
"Aw, don't worry, son," said Percy. "Whatever happens, at least we'll be together."
"Actually, about that," began Emmanuel. "Listen, there's something I need to talk to you and Braddock about, but the rest of you can stay if you want."
Lilly and Gustav looked at each other before deciding to stay. Emmanuel became serious before speaking, "I won't lie. The odds are not in our favor. The Toad Army vastly outnumbers our own, and even with Lilly and the Masamune, it might not be enough. If I had my way, I wouldn't even be having us fight this battle, but I know we have to. We can't let the toads gain control over Amphibia, or we'll never be able to defeat them."
"So what do you need from us?" asked Braddock.
"I need you to leave and go underground," said Emmanuel.
"What? But we want to help!" said Percy.
"Look, we realize that it was wrong to oppress the frogs," said Braddock. "We want to make things right."
"I understand that," said Emmanuel, "but a leader needs to be prepared for any scenario. I've given the army instructions that if the battle goes poorly and we are forced to retreat, we will regroup in Wartwood. That's the town that the 'Freedom Frog' is from, and it's far enough away from Newtopia that it should be a safe gathering point. I want to send the two of you there ahead of us in case we lose this battle."
"Dad, why are you doing this?" asked Lilly.
"Because… if we lose, then the rebellion is finished," said Emmanuel emphatically. "But there may be hope if there are some survivors who manage to escape, and if the toads do come into power, then it would be wise to have some toads who are on our side already in place."
"But we want to help fight," said Percy.
"If the toads see you fighting with us, then they'll know you're traitors," countered Emmanuel. "And again, if we lose and the toads take power, they'll hunt you down and execute you. If you aren't seen with us, then they won't know you helped us, and you can use your status as the new ruling race to help others. That's how you can help."
Braddock and Percy looked at each other as it sunk in what Emmanuel was asking of them.
"Help protect other frogs, and help keep them safe if you can," continued Emmanuel. "It's better for us if the toads never realized you helped us. This is my backup plan in case of a loss. Will you do this for me?"
Braddock and Percy hesitated for a second before both nodding.
"What about me?" asked Gustav.
"You don't have to fight with us either, Gustav," said Emmanuel, "but I heard you got that letter from Amara, right?"
"Yeah, she asked me to meet her in Newtopia. Said there was something important she wanted to tell me," answered Gustav.
"Then you should probably sneak inside and see if you can meet her. I think it would be best to have you there, just in case. I heard reports that the toads may have already planted some of their forces inside the city," said Emmanuel.
"Should we maybe put some frogs of our own in the city?" asked Lilly.
"If we do that, it will reduce the strength of our army," countered Emmanuel. "We're going to try to keep the toads from gaining control of the city. If they do make a move from the inside, we're going to have to hope that the newts can counter it."
"Still, it's for the best that I go ahead of you inside. Once I find Amara, maybe the two of us can help you if it comes to that," said Gustav.
"What about Amara's friend? That newt general you told me about?" asked Emmanuel.
"Amara said she was here, so maybe I can get her to help, too," said Gustav.
"Alright. It might not turn out to be anything, but if she's really as fierce as she brags, she could be a helpful ally," said Emmanuel.
"Dad, Braddock, good luck!" said Gustav, coming up to his father and Braddock and giving them both a hug.
"Bye, son," said Percy. "Please be safe. I hope I'll see you again after all this is over."
"I hope so too, Dad," said Gustav.
As Joe Sparrow landed (or rather fell) into the water, the group disembarked, ready to enter the city of Newtopia. Luz looked up at the high walls in awe.
"Wow! So this is Newtopia?" she said in amazement. "It feels just like a fantasy city!"
"I know, right?" said Marcy, coming up to Luz. "That's right. This is your first time here, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is, although Amara occasionally talked about it. Still, it's nothing like I could have imagined," said Luz.
"Oh, speaking of Amara…" said Marcy as the gates to Newtopia opened. Standing at the entrance was a familiar pink Newt. Her eyes instantly found Luz.
"Luz!" called Amara, waving at her.
"Amara!" yelled Luz in response, running up to her old friend and almost knocking her over with a hug. Amara returned the hug, glad to see her again.
"Oh, it's so good to see you!" Luz said. "I got Marcy's letter saying you were coming here. I'm glad I get to see you again."
"It's great to see you too, Amara," said Luz. As she was hugging her, Luz looked down and noticed Amara's tail.
"Hey, your tail is back," she said.
"Yeah, took a few weeks, but it's grown back nice and strong," said Amara, moving the tail around a bit and flexing it.
"Oh, man, I have so much to tell you," said Luz. "Oh, but uh, first, let me introduce you to my other friends."
"Actually, I've already met them," said Amara, waving to both Marcy and Anne.
"Hey, Amara, nice to see you again," said Marcy, coming up to her.
"Same," said Anne. "Great to see your tail is back. I know not having it upset you."
"It upset my mom more than me," said Amara, "but in any case, I am glad it's back." She looked at the two other figures and let out a gasp.
"Hey, wait a minute. Is that Sasha and Grime?" asked Amara in disbelief. "What are they doing with you?"
"It's a long story," said Luz, "but don't worry, they're fine. They helped us recharge the last stone on the box."
"We're gonna wait a bit to introduce them to the King," said Anne. "We'll make sure to put in a good word for both Grime and Sasha since they helped us."
"I think I can convince King Andrias to give you both a pardon," said Marcy.
"Okay, if you say so," said Amara. "Are you going to see the King right away?"
"Yeah, we are," said Anne.
"Oh… Are we all set to go then?" asked Amara. As she said this, she looked over at Marcy, who made a motion with her hand to not say any more.
"I guess so… Aw man, I only just got here. I would've liked a chance to look around the city first," said Luz.
"Well, maybe you can," answered Amara. "I can give you a quick tour before your audience with the King. It won't take long."
Luz looked between Amara and her other friends, not sure what to say, though Sasha eventually spoke up.
"Yeah, you should go and see the sights, Luz," said Sasha. "Marcy and Anne got to see the city, so why shouldn't you?"
"Really? You sure?" asked Luz.
"Well, hey, what about you, Sash?" asked Anne. "Do you want to see the city before we leave?"
"Nah, I'm good," said Sasha quickly. "Plus, I think I'm still technically a wanted criminal, so I probably shouldn't be out in public."
"Oh, well, if you're sure, I guess it's okay for Luz to have a quick look around before we leave," said Anne. "Meet us at the palace when you're done, okay?"
"You got it!" said Luz, walking to join Amara. The two went off to explore the city. As they did, Sasha cast a glance toward them, hoping Beatrix had gotten her message…
"So this is the outdoor market of Newtopia," said Amara, showing Luz the sites. "It's right by the harbor, so it gets a lot of imports from all around Amphibia."
"Oh, neat. I can only imagine all the exotic goods you have here," said Luz.
"Well, I'm sure it's nothing compared to what they might have in other worlds," said Amara. "I'm sure we'll see amazing things in these other worlds, and there's one specific world I hope we get to go to."
Luz paused upon hearing that. "Uh, what exactly are you talking about?"
"Wait, didn't Marcy tell you?" asked Amara.
"Tell me what?" said Luz.
"Oh… She didn't mention it. Maybe she forgot," began Amara. "You see, apparently, that music box you guys used to get here is capable of traveling to other worlds."
"Yeah, I know," said Luz.
"Well, Marcy and I had a talk with the King," began Amara. "King Andrias said that once you got the music box charged again, he wanted to go exploring other worlds. He offered to take the four of you along and then asked if I wanted to join you. I said yes."
"Wait… Really?" said Luz, a bit confused.
"Yeah, Marcy was supposed to tell you all this," said Amara.
In her mind, Luz flashed back to a conversation she had had with Marcy, one line in particular sticking out from that conversation,
"You guys are already thinking of going home?" asked Marcy in a somewhat sad tone. "I mean, neither of you even want to think about maybe keeping the adventure train running?"
"Hmmm," said Luz aloud. "Now that you mention it, Marcy did seem as though she wanted to keep going on adventures. I guess maybe she was testing the waters to see if either of us wanted to go, too."
"Oh, do you not want to go then?" asked Amara.
"No, not really," said Luz. "I mean, part of me would love to keep exploring other worlds, but another part of me knows I can't keep doing this forever. Plus, I need to at least let my mom know I'm safe. I don't want her to worry about me, and she doesn't need to lose me, too."
"Oh," said Amara, crestfallen. "I had kinda hoped you were all set to go, but if not, then I guess I understand."
"Hey, now that we have the box working again, I mean, who's to say we can't come back and visit?" said Luz. "I'd be down for that. Maybe you could even come and check out my world too!"
"Oh, really?" said Amara. "I mean, I guess that would be cool too! I just wanted to explore these other worlds because… well, actually, I have something to tell you about."
Whatever Amara was going to say was forgotten, as suddenly a large toad came up to her, putting her hand over her mouth and quickly holding a knife to her throat. She let out a muffled scream as the toad flashed a glance toward Luz.
"Come with us or your friend gets it," she said in a rough, gravelly voice. Another toad appeared behind Luz, grabbing her and putting his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
"No calling for help, and no using your powers either," said the first toad. "Understand?" She moved the knife closer to Amara's neck to make sure Luz got the point. Luz quickly nodded.
"Alright, take 'em to the Arena," said the female toad. "Beatrix is waiting for them there."
With that, the other toad threw a large burlap sack over Luz, blocking her vision and picking her up.
"Remember, kid, no powers or your friend gets it," said the soldier as he gave the sack a rough shake to make sure his prisoner wouldn't trouble him.
Sasha and Grime had worked quickly, overpowering the King and getting the toads in place to start the rebellion. Andrias had been defeated and imprisoned. A group of toad soldiers led him to the dungeon.
"You'll never get away with this!" said Andrias as he was being led away. He spared a quick glance at Marcy, giving her a nod.
"Well, frogs, say hello to the new rulers of Amphibia," began Grime. "Pretty hot, right?"
"Sorry, things got a little crazy back there," said Sasha, coming up to Marcy and Anne and putting her arms around them. "You guys good?"
"Good?! Are you serious?!" exclaimed Anne, pulling Sasha's arm off her.
"Sheesh, don't be a sore loser," said Sasha, going up to the now-empty throne and casually sitting on it. "I'm gonna stick around and get this toad regime off the ground, but I can totally send you two home if you want." As she glanced over at Anne, she could see anger building up in her face.
"Or you can stay here with me. How about it, Anne? How's you like to be the new queen of Amphibia?" asked Sasha.
Anne was angry at Sasha, but even so, that question caught her off guard. "Wait, what?"
"Well, I mean… Ruling over a world is hard, and I don't know if I could do it alone. I sure could use someone by my side to help. And Anne, I'd like that person to be you. If you really care about the frogs so much, then you can help me rule over them and be a voice for them." Sasha came over to Anne, looking deeply into her eyes. She brought up her hand to caress Anne's face, but Anne quickly knocked the hand away.
"Don't touch me, Sasha!" yelled Anne.
"Oh, come on. I'm offering you a chance to actually help those frogs you care so much about," said Sasha. "What do you say?"
"What do I say?!" said Anne, her temper rising. "After everything you've done?! I say you're clearly insane if you think I'm gonna let you bully me and everyone else just to get what you want."
Sasha seemed unfazed by this response. "Hey, Anne, have you noticed that Luz never came back?"
As she said this, a deep pit formed in Anne's stomach as she only now realized that Luz had been taking a while to come back.
"Where is she?" asked Anne.
"Don't worry, she's safe," said Sasha. "I had to get her out of the way when we were planning this rebellion; otherwise, she would have just used those fancy powers she has to stop us."
"Sasha, Luz doesn't have her powers anymore. Where is she?" asked Marcy, her voice quiet and scared as she thought of her friend.
"Relax. Like I said, she's fine," replied Sasha. "Now, let's talk more about us. Don't you think that the three of us worked better as a trio? I mean, things were so much easier before Luz came along. Wouldn't it be great if we could just go back to how things used to be?"
"Sasha, how can you say that?" asked Marcy in disbelief.
"Admit it, Marbles," said Sasha. "We had a great thing going on between the three of us. We were already BFFS, and we'd known each other since we were kids. Wasn't it great that way?"
Anne took a long pause before she continued, "So, that's what this is really about… You're jealous of Luz."
"What!? No," replied Sasha unconvincingly.
"Oh, yes, you are," said Anne with conviction. "I can't believe I didn't put it together sooner. You set us up at the dance, you told me not to be friends with her anymore, and now this?"
"That's not it at all," said Sasha, her voice faltering.
"Well, you know what?" began Anne. "You should be jealous of Luz, because she's a much better person than you'll ever be!"
Sasha was hurt by that remark but tried to recover. "Anne, I know you're upset—" began Sasha before being interrupted by Anne.
"No, I am done listening to you! I'm done trusting you!" yelled Anne. "You're a horrible person, and I am done being friends with you!"
That last statement seemed to upset Sasha. Marcy came over to Anne, trying to calm her down.
"Anne, you don't mean that. We can still fix this," she said.
"No, Marcy, we can't!" declared Anne flatly.
"Fine, well, since we're not friends, I'll just send you home!" said Sasha. "And you can say goodbye to both your frog family and Luz, 'cause you'll never see either of them again!"
"You wouldn't!" said Anne in disbelief.
"My box, my rules!" answered Sasha, holding up the box for emphasis.
"Sasha, wait," said Marcy. Meanwhile, Anne turned and ran toward her frog family, covering them with her body to protect them from Sasha.
"Sorry, Anne. Say hi to your parents for me," said Sasha with a cruel smile as she opened the box…
… only for nothing to happen.
"What?" said Sasha as she fiddled with the box, trying to get it to work. "Huh, well, that was embarrassing. Until I can figure out how to use this thing, guards, take them to the dungeon."
With that, a group of toad soldiers appeared around the group and marched them out of the throne room and towards the dungeon.
"Sasha, where is Luz?" asked Anne desperately as she was being led away. Sasha turned her face up, not saying anything.
"Sasha, if anything happens to her…" was all Anne managed to get out before the doors to the throne room closed.
Luz was dumped unceremoniously out of her bag onto the floor. The toad soldiers who were handling Luz stepped back as she stood up. When she looked up, she noticed she was in some sort of coliseum. It looked right out of one of her history books about ancient Rome. The ground was covered in dirt in a ring shape, with many seats for observers to sit in. Luz quickly noticed that the seats were filled with toads, who were murmuring and making various noises, looking intently at her.
"That's the one," called a random toad from the audience. "I saw her at Tadpole Pond. She's the one with the strange powers."
"She burned me good," said another. "I hope Beatrix knows what she's getting into."
"Should provide some good sport for us for sure," said a third.
"Amara, where are you?" called Luz, trying to find her friend.
"I'm over here," called Amara. Luz turned and saw her friend chained up at the other end of the Arena. She could see that Amara had a black eye and several bruises on her body.
"Your friend started making trouble for us, so we roughed her up a bit so she'd behave," called the female toad, who had captured Amara. She stood right beside her, still holding her knife. Luz flashed the toad a vicious look, and as she did, the Arena became quiet as a new toad entered it. She was a female toad holding a deadly looking axe. She was wearing a strange uniform with a spike on her right shoulder and some sort of medal on her chest. Like Grime, she seemed to be missing one of her eyes—the right one. It had a nasty-looking scar over it.
"Well, well, Luz the Humus," said the toad in a loud, grand voice. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."
"I don't even know who you are," said Luz in a spiteful voice.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Beatrix, Lord of the West Tower," said the toad, introducing herself with a bow. "Also, the only Toad Lord who's come closest to beating Uodeela in a fight."
"So, what am I doing here?" asked Luz in anger.
"Well, this is the coliseum," explained Beatrix, spreading her arms wide. "In days of old, this was the proving grounds for toad warriors! Here, every five years, the toads would gather, and the strongest among them would fight to the death to determine who would be the new Toad Lords. Nowadays, the process isn't as brutal, and Newtopia has a say in who gets to be a Lord, but we still use this arena as a way to test each other's strength. I've fought my share of battles in this very arena, and now with you here, I think I shall have one of my greatest challenges yet!"
"That's all well and good," said Luz, annoyed, "but you still haven't explained why you brought me here."
"Ah, yes, of course," said Beatrix. "You see, us toads are planning a rebellion of sorts against the King. It was all Sasha's idea," explained Beatrix.
Luz's face fell at hearing this, and yet it didn't surprise her that much. Why did I ever trust Sasha? thought Luz, feeling a deep sense of regret. Beatrix continued talking.
"And we knew that we couldn't hope to succeed if you were still a factor. We had to do something about you and those powers you have. I've heard the reports from the soldiers who were at Tadpole Pond, so I know what you're capable of. That's why Sasha and I made a plan to get you away from the group and bring you here."
Again, Luz's face fell, though this time it almost felt numbing to know that Sasha had once again betrayed her.
"So, Luz the Humus, seeing as I'm the only one who's fought a magic user before, I thought I'd take a crack at you and see if you really were as tough as I heard. Plus, this keeps you away from our main army, which is only an hour away from the gates of Newtopia, though I hear they're making good time and may, in fact, be here sooner."
A cold sweat was starting to form on Luz's face as she realized that she was going to have to fight Beatrix without her powers. She slowly started considering her options, wondering if there was any way out of this situation. As she was thinking, a bat flew into the Arena and towards Beatrix. It seemed to be carrying a letter that it gave to her.
"Eh, what's this?" said Beatrix, taking the letter and opening it. "Hmmm, it's from Sasha. 'Dear Beatrix, I just want to let you know that Luz doesn't have her powers anymore.'" Beatrix stopped reading the letter aloud after that and continued to scan it with her eyes. But that statement was enough to make Luz feel a deep, burning rage in her core.
"Sasha, you bitch!" said Luz aloud.
Beatrix looked up from the letter towards Luz and the other toads in the arena. "It seems there's been a change of plans," she said to the toads assembled there. "We're needed in the streets to help secure them in case the newts try anything. I guess in the meantime, we'll keep the humus locked up here. If she doesn't have any powers, then she's not worth my time."
Luz's mind was racing as she heard what Beatrix said. If they go out and join the other toads, then any hope we have of defeating them is gone, she thought. But maybe if I can keep them here, then Anne and Marcy can come up with a plan. Marcy's smart, so I know she can come up with something, and Anne is a strong, courageous fighter. I know they can turn this around, so I just have to find a way to keep Beatrix here and give them a chance.
As she was thinking this, Luz felt her pockets and realized she still had many of the pre-drawn wind glyphs on her. Thinking quickly, Luz called out to Beatrix.
"Hey, uh, Beatrix, you wanted a fight, right?" called Luz. "Well, I can still give you one!"
"Thanks, but I'm not interested," replied Beatrix. "You look so weak and scrawny there. If you don't have your powers, I could probably crush you like a bug."
"Sasha's lying about my powers," said Luz, desperately thinking of the first thing that came to her mind. "I still have them."
"Eh, what?" said Beatrix, confused. "Why, in Toad's name, would she lie about that?"
"Well, if I didn't have my powers, could I do this?" Luz quickly pushed a wind glyph into her hand so Beatrix didn't see it. She activated it and blew a strong gust of wind at Beatrix, almost knocking her down. The toads in the arena all let out a gasp at this. She recovered from being blown over and flashed a deadly looking smile at Luz.
"Looks to me like she's still got them powers," called a toad from the audience.
"I saw her use wind magic at Tadpole Pond," said another.
"We can't go out into the streets if Luz is still a factor," said a third.
"She must've tricked Sasha somehow, trying to get us to abandon the original plan so she can fight our army," said a fourth.
Beatrix stepped forward, looking intently at Luz, before turning around and raising her hand, signaling she wanted silence.
"Okay, change of plans again," she said. "Looks like the original plan is back on! I'll be fighting Luz one on one, and once that's dealt with, we'll head out and join the other toads. And as for you," she pointed straight at Luz, "don't even think about heading out to fight our main army, or your friend here gets it." She pointed her axe at Amara.
As she said this, Beatrix stepped closer to the toad, who was guarding Amara. "From what I've heard, this humus is pretty powerful. I hope I can beat her, but if not, at least I'll soften her up a bit for the rest of you. If she manages to beat me, then have the other toads swarm her. We need to keep her distracted for as long as possible."
The toad guarding Amara nodded. With that, Beatrix stepped forward, axe in hand, ready to face Luz. Luz responded by getting into a fighting stance, raising her staff, and looking Beatrix straight in the eye…
With the help of General Yunan, the group managed to escape the toads and flee the palace. As they made their way through the streets of Newtopia, it was obvious that the situation was quickly deteriorating. The toads that had been placed there were looting the stores, taking whatever they wanted, and just generally causing destruction. Anne and the gang moved quickly and quietly so as not to be seen before they all took cover inside Sal's. As they did, a small toad in a sky-blue cloak observed them enter.
"Uggh, the city's crawling with toads," said Sprig in disgust.
"And there's still a whole army coming," said Hop Pop in terror.
"Yep, it's a full-on toad rebellion," said Marcy. "But don't worry, I've got a simple plan to solve this."
She took out her telescope and looked out towards the entrance of Newtopia, and as she did, her face fell.
"Oh, no, we're too late," she said, her voice heavy with despair. "The army is already here."
Anne came up to where Marcy was standing and looked through her telescope. She could see that the toad army was less than a mile away from the gate.
"No, no, no, it can't end like this," said Anne, realizing the hopelessness of their situation.
The group had all but resigned themselves to their fate when Lady Olivia got their attention and said, "Wait, something's happening."
The group looked out the window and towards the main gate. They saw all the water around the city begin to gather in a wave that built up by the gate and then came crashing down on them. The large wave pushed the army away from the gate and scattered them around the entrance of the city. As the toads tried to recover, a large sound came from over the hill, and a new army charged towards them, this one composed of frogs.
Lilly pointed her sword at the toad army and led the charge of frogs against them over the hill, her father right beside her. As they neared the army, Lilly concentrated and used her powers again, summoning a large amount of water to her and then blasting it straight at the toads as she approached. The blast knocked many of them away. The frogs closed the distance to the toads and, within moments, had engaged them in a fight. Weapons clashed as the two armies began to struggle against each other.
"Block the entrance to the gate!" called Emmanuel to his army. "Don't let them enter the city!"
The frogs positioned themselves so that they stood between the toads and the gates of Newtopia, preventing them from entering the city, at least for the moment.
On the front lines, Bufo was confused. He shouted at a nearby lieutenant, "What's going on? Where did this frog army come from?"
"Sir, I don't know. They just appeared suddenly," answered the lieutenant. "The frogs have blocked the entrance to the city."
"Bah, they're just frogs," growled Bufo in disgust. "This is a minor distraction at best. We'll break through their ranks and take the city. Forward!"
As he said this, a large wave appeared in front of the toad army, washing over them and scattering them again, making them easy pickings for the frogs as they overwhelmed them.
"What?!" said Bufo in surprise, seeing this display of magic. "Is that humus with the magic power here? I thought Grime, Sasha, and Beatrix were supposed to handle her!"
"I don't see a humus anywhere on the battlefield," replied the lieutenant, searching around for the source of whoever had caused that wave. His eyes finally found Lilly as she used her magic powers again, this time blasting a jet of water straight at a column of toad soldiers, blasting them out of the way.
"Sir, it would seem that the frogs have a magic user on their side," explained the lieutenant to Bufo.
Bufo's face fell in worry as he realized this rebellion might suddenly be harder than he thought.
"I don't believe it! An army of frogs!" said Hop Pop. "And they're standing up to the toad army."
"They've stopped the toads from entering the city," said Yunan. "This may be the opening we need."
"It seems there is a magic user among their ranks," observed Olivia as she watched Lilly unleash another water blast against the toads.
"Wait, really?" said Marcy, focusing her telescope on Lilly. "You're right! That's amazing!"
"Where did this army of frogs come from?" wondered Sprig.
"Who cares?" answered Polly. "They're kicking butt and taking down the toads!"
"Yeah, you're right," said Marcy. "If they can keep the army distracted long enough, then we might still stand a chance here."
"Excuse me," said a new voice entering the room. "Are you, by chance, Luz's friends?"
The group turned to see a small toad taking off his sky-blue hood, revealing his face, and looking at the group. Yunan quickly approached him.
"Ah, a spy. They've sent you to… Wait, Gustav?" she asked in surprise.
"General Yunan," answered the toad. "Haven't seen you since that business with Sasha and Grime."
"Yes, it has been a while, though it would seem as though your mission has failed," said Yunan. "We're in the midst of a rebellion here."
"Given the circumstances, I'd say that's an understatement, but I was at least able to let the frogs know of Grime's plan. I'm the reason the army is here now, fighting them. I hoped I might run into you again. With you on our side, we may stand a chance at defeating them," answered Gustav.
"I see. Well, thank you for that at least," replied Yunan. She turned to face the rest of the group. "It's alright; we can trust him. I've met Gustav before. He was spying on Grime and Sasha, trying to figure out what their plan was."
"Hold up a second," said Anne, coming up to the toad. "Did you say you know Luz?"
"Yes, I do," answered the toad. "You must be Anne. I'm Gustav. I studied magic with Luz. I take it that if you're here, then she hasn't yet found a way home. But wait a sec, where is she? I thought she'd be here with you?"
"We, uh, don't know," answered Anne. "Sasha took her somewhere. We have to find her!"
"I'll add that to the plan," said Marcy. "So in addition to finding Luz, we also have to close the front gate so we won't get overrun, then we have to free the king, defeat Sasha and Grime, work through our emotional baggage, and finally redesign the current political system so that this sort of uprising never happens again." She let out a gasp of air as she finished.
"Gee, is that it?" asked Hop Pop sarcastically.
"Yeah, this ain't looking good," agreed Polly. The group let out a heavy sigh as they realized the weight of all they would need to do in order to win the day. Anne looked over the group before speaking up.
"Come on, you guys. We can do this!" she said, trying to lift everyone's spirits. "They may think we're a weak little frog family, a clumsy nerd, a weak metal baby, and a goofy pushover, but they have no idea who they're dealing with." She looked over at Olivia, Yunan, and Gustav. "Well, except for you guys. They probably think highly of you."
"They do," said Yunan.
"Uh, they actually don't think very highly of me," said Gustav. "Truth is, I've kind of been banished from the toads."
"Wait, really?" asked Anne, intrigued. "They can do that?"
"Ehum," said Lady Olivia. "Please continue your speech. We'll have time for more formal introductions later."
"We've been through a lot together," continued Anne. "Cannibals, giant killer moths, combining vegetables, you name it, and we're gonna beat this too, 'cause when we're together, nothing can stand in our way. Now who's ready to kick some ass?!"
The others cheered in response to Anne's speech, ready for the plan.
"All right, now here's how we're gonna do it!" said Anne. "Firstly, we need to free the king."
"Actually," said Gustav, speaking up, "we don't need to do that right away." The others looked at him.
"We should focus on getting control over the city first, as well as shutting the gates," he said. "If we do that, then we can drive out the toads who are already here and retake the palace with ease. Once we have control of the palace, we can free Andrias, no problem."
"The boy has a point," agreed Yunan. "We should also consider reinforcing the frogs. They're fighting the toads, but they can't hope to last forever, even with that magic user helping them." She came up to Marcy, taking her telescope and looking out at the battle.
"Ah ha!" she exclaimed. "They're being led by Bufo of the East Tower. Send me out to deal with him! If we can stop Bufo, we'll deal a huge blow to the army. They'll be leaderless and disorganized."
"I have an idea myself," added Olivia. "When the toads took the palace, they captured some of our newt soldiers. If we can free them, we will have reinforcements of our own to help deal with the toads."
"Okay, then new plan," said Anne. "Yunan, go outside and help the frogs. Hop Pop, Polly, and Frobo, attack the toads in the city head-on and see if you can drive them away from the gate. Olivia and Marcy, you two see about freeing the newt soldiers so we can add them to our ranks. If you can get them freed, then have them join Hop Pop, Polly, and Frobo and help reclaim the city. Meanwhile, Sprig, Gustav, and I will sneak into the guard tower and close the gate."
"What about Luz?" asked Marcy.
"After you free the newts, see if you can capture a toad soldier and find out where they took Luz," said Anne.
"Okay, got it," replied Marcy.
With that, the group split off to fulfill their tasks.
Luz blasted a tornado at Beatrix, causing her to be trapped inside the vortex. Luz came up and stabbed her with her staff, but her armor took the blow, protecting her from any serious damage. After a while, Beatrix broke free and came at Luz with her axe, who barely managed to dodge the blows. While on the ropes, Luz activated a light glyph and sent the orb straight at Beatrix's face, but she covered her eyes.
"Nice try, Luz," snarled Beatrix, "but Uodeela used that same trick. I've learned to guard against that."
Luz panicked for a second before jumping back out of the way of another of Beatrix's swings. She was already starting to feel a little tired from the fight, so she reached into her belt and pulled out a stamina potion. Luz downed the potion, and her fatigue went away, but she knew it was only a temporary solution.
After finishing the potion, Luz slammed a wind glyph into the ground, causing a tornado to form. It began spinning, blowing everything away. Beatrix stood her ground against the mighty gale, finally planting her axe into the ground to keep her from moving. Luz began to realize how bad an idea this was as the force of the wind picked her up off the ground and blew her around the stadium. Her light frame was able to be buffeted more easily by the wind than Beatrix's large and heavy frame. Eventually, Luz got slammed into a wall by the wind. The tornado faded, and Beatrix came straight at her.
Beatrix swiped at her again, and this time, the blow managed to graze Luz, giving her a cut above her left eye. Luz put her hand on the spot and pulled it back, seeing blood on her hand. Beatrix came at her again with renewed vigor. Luz managed to dodge the attack and used another light glyph to summon up an orb and send it at the toad, but again, she managed to block the orb. This time, Luz came up to her and tried kicking her in the chest, but her blow didn't do any damage, and Beatrix recovered, coming at Luz again.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Beatrix. "I heard you were a lot tougher than this. Why you holding back, girly?"
Luz didn't respond, as she instead pressed two wind glyphs into her hands before aiming them straight at Beatrix. The double burst of wind managed to blow her back, but Luz was starting to realize that she had been on the defensive for this whole fight. All she had managed to do was keep Beatrix away from her, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could do that.
Back outside the gates, the battle was raging fiercely. Trying her best to inspire the soldiers, Lilly led her troops from the front, engaging in different battles with various toads while using both her sword and magic to give her the upper hand. She tried her best to take out the strongest toads on the battlefield to prevent them from gaining an advantage.
Lilly was locked in combat with a large blue toad. The two continued to trade blows until suddenly, he let out a yelp of pain before falling over, dead. From behind him, General Yunan appeared, withdrawing her claws from the toad's back, covered in blood. Lilly gazed up at the newt in awe.
"Who are you?" she asked. Yunan was about to respond when a group of toads around them yelled out in terror.
"AHHH! It's General Yunan!" screamed one of them
"The scourge of the Sand Wars?" asked another next to him.
"The very one," replied a third. "I heard she defeated Ragnar the Wretched!"
"She's the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the great Newtopian Army!" said the first again. The three toads all looked at each other before running in terror from the newt. Yunan turned to Lilly and gave her a wink.
"That's who I am," she said in a cocky voice. "Don't worry, I'm here to help. With me on your side, it's like you have another army fighting with you!"
Lilly's face lifted with that news, and she gripped her sword with new resolve. She and Yunan shared a look before rejoining the battle, hoping to turn the tide! Yunan leaped straight into the fray, instantly decapitating a toad before using her tail to cause another to trip to the ground. She came over to that toad, sinking her claws into him and ending him. Another toad came up to Yunan, trying to attack her, but her armor took the blow. She turned around, slashing at the toad, destroying his weapon before slashing at him multiple times, killing him.
With the toads in the city distracted, Anne, Sprig, and Gustav quickly made their way to the guard tower that held the controls for the gate. They glanced up and saw only a few toads guarding them.
"This shouldn't be too hard," said Gustav. "I think we can take them in a fight."
"Ready for one last adventure?" asked Anne, looking at Sprig.
"Spranne against the world!" replied Sprig. "Hey, uh, real quick, Gustav. If you don't mind me asking, why are you helping us against the toads?"
"Uh, it's a long story that would take too much time to explain," answered Gustav. "I promise I'll tell you later."
"Right, let's get up there and take control of the gate," said Anne as the three went up to the tower. There were three toads there, standing watch and guarding the mechanism for opening the gate. Luckily, they hadn't noticed the trio. Gustav looked at both Anne and Sprig.
"Here, I have a new trick I want to try," he said. He pulled out a piece of paper with a strange symbol on it. Gustav emerged from the entrance of the tower and hit the symbol on the paper, causing a jet of water to emerge from it and knocking off one sentry. The other two charged at Gustav, but he dodged out of the way before bringing out two more papers and activating the glyphs on those. Two more jets of water slammed into the toads, sending them careening off the tower. Sprig and Anne emerged from the entrance, stunned at the display.
"Pretty cool, right?" said Gustav.
"You know how to use glyph magic too?" asked Anne in shock
"Yeah, I… Wait, how do you know about glyphs?" asked Gustav.
"Luz and Marcy discovered them," said Sprig. "They found them while they were studying magic. They found a symbol for wind and one for light."
"Where did you find that water one?" asked Anne.
"Well, ever since Lilly got her powers, she's gotten particularly good at water," explained Gustav. "One day, while she was practicing, I noticed a strange shape in a puddle that she had left behind. Lilly saw it too, and out of curiosity, we copied it down on paper and tried tapping it. And lo-and-behold, water magic!"
"That's crazy. You have SO got to compare notes with Luz when this is all over," said Anne.
"I'm sure we will," replied Gustav. He looked down at the battle that was raging below, trying to find Lilly.
"Looks like Lilly's getting the hang of her new powers," observed Gustav. He pointed her out to Sprig and Anne. The two stared at her for a few seconds before noticing the sword she was wielding.
"Hey, wait a sec. Is that the Masamune she's using?" asked Anne.
"Yes, it is. You know about the Masamune too?" asked Gustav.
"Yeah, we all tried to pull it from the stone," said Sprig, "but none of us were worthy."
"No kidding," said Gustav, surprised. "Wow, I guess that must have been before we got there. Yeah, she's been practicing ever since she first got it, so I'd say she's doing pretty good."
"Luz told us about her," said Anne as she watched Lilly fight another toad. The two engaged in battle, their swords clashing as they struggled against each other. Lilly put her hand to the water that was all around them and caused a stream to come up from under the toad, launching him into the air!
"Looks like we all have a lot to talk about later," observed Gustav. "But first, we have to win this battle."
"Right, let's shut this gate already!" said Anne. She and Sprig moved to the mechanism. They both pushed hard against it but couldn't make it move.
"What the hell?" asked Anne. She looked over the side, noticing the wedge that was jammed up against the gate, preventing it from being moved.
"Don't worry, I'm on it," said Gustav, also noticing the wedge. He jumped down from the gate and reached into his bag, pulling out a strength potion. He downed the entire bottle in one gulp before pushing against the wedge. It took time, but he slowly began to move it away from the door.
Back down below, the battle raged on. The frogs continued to hold the line against the toads and their advance against the city. Despite the strength advantage of the toads, some frogs were using the water glyph to help even the fight against them. A group of frogs stood by the gate and used water glyphs to push back any toads who got too close. On the frogs' side, Lilly leaped around the battlefield, using both her sword and magic to fight. While on the toad's side, Bufo was proving why he was a Toad Lord as he brutally cut down any frogs who dared oppose him. He struck down another frog, quickly removing his sword from its body, before turning to see the gate beginning to close.
"What's going on? Why is the gate closing?" he asked in outrage.
"It's over, Bufo!" said a voice from behind. Bufo turned to see General Yunan, who had just killed the lieutenant that was fighting next to him. Her claws flashed in the bright sun.
"I think it's time for you to admit defeat and surrender," said the General, "or don't. Honestly, it would be more fun that way!"
"General Yunan, I've heard of your exploits," sneered Bufo. "Don't think for a second that I'm impressed. Our army still greatly outnumbers these worthless frogs. We'll kill them all, then break the gate ourselves if we have to!"
"So you don't want to surrender. That's fine by me," answered Yunan, getting into a fighting stance and flashing a deadly smile at Bufo.
Bufo responded by pounding his chest and pointing his sword at Yunan. "I am Bufo, Lord of the East Tower! I will die before I surrender!"
"I hope you'll entertain me first!" answered Yunan.
Bufo let out a yell and charged straight at her, trying to slice her with his sword. Yunan dodged his attacks and brought up her claws to block his strikes. The two traded blows as the fighting around them intensified.
Back inside the palace, Sasha was still fiddling with the music box, trying to determine how it worked. Finally, the voice in her head spoke to her.
You don't know how to work that thing? it asked, slightly annoyed.
Hey, give me a break, replied Sasha to her thoughts. I just got it. If you're so smart, why don't you tell me how to work it?
I… don't know how to work it either, said the voice.
Hmmph, you sure are bossy, aren't you? thought Sasha.
Hey, I helped you get this far, didn't I? said the voice
I guess you did. Still, it's a little freaky to learn you've been talking to me this whole time. I thought I was just having a conversation with my inner thoughts,said Sasha to herself. Now I find out that you're a different person who's been in my head since that incident at the abandoned house. You were the one who spoke to me that night, weren't you?
Yes, and you have to admit that I've helped you ever since then, haven't I? said the voice.
I guess so. You were right about Luz and her trying to steal Anne away from me. I can't believe I didn't notice that on my own, thought Sasha. I never should have let her join our group to begin with. Here Anne and I have been friends for so long, so if anyone gets to date Anne, it should be me!
What about Marcy? asked the voice. She's known her for at least as long.
Yeah, but Marcy is… Well, you know Marcy, replied Sasha, she's not exactly girlfriend material. But hey, it always helps to have a nerd in your friend group. Every time there was any sort of group project that needed to be done in school, all I had to do was flatter Marcy a bit and tell her how smart she was, and she'd do all the work for all of us.
Ha ha! You really are great at getting other people to do what you want, said the voice. You're like the daughter I never had. You know, if things with Anne don't work out, I have a nephew who you might be interested in.
Hey, don't even say something like that. Anne will eventually realize that we were meant for each other, answered Sasha.
Well, everything will work out now, said the voice. Once you send Luz to my world, you'll be rid of her, and I will have her right where I need her.
Are you going to tell me why it's so important that I send her to your world? asked Sasha.
No, I don't think I will, replied the voice smugly
Fine, be that way, said Sasha. All that matters to me is getting her away from Anne.
As she continued to talk to the voice, Grime came up to where Sasha was, holding something behind his back.
"Ehum," he said, "I got you something. Had it made especially for this day." With that, Grime brought out a long, thin gift and handed it to her.
Sasha was elated. "What?! Grimesy, you didn't!" She took the gift and quickly opened it to reveal another sword. It was just like the one she already had, although this one was a bright silver instead of red.
Sasha let out a gasp of delight as she took the new sword in her hand. "How'd you know I wanted to dual wield?"
Sasha brought the sword up to her face and looked directly at it. She could see her reflection looking back at her, and for a moment, her face fell. Grime noticed this.
"What's wrong? You don't like it?" he asked in a worried tone. "Ah, dang it, I didn't get a gift receipt."
"No, no, it's just—" began Sasha. "What if Anne's right? What if I am a horrible person?"
"I don't see how that can be true. You didn't cut her down when she insulted you," said Grime. "Also, you changed the plan with Luz to protect her."
"Oh, uh… How did you find out about that?" asked Sasha, slightly embarrassed.
"You just told me," said Grime, matter-of-factly. Sasha had a surprised look on her face.
"But I suspected as much when I saw you writing that letter, so I suppose what's done is done. We've taken over the city, and that's what matters," said Grime.
"So you don't think I'm a horrible person, Grime?" asked Sasha.
"If you really wanted to, you could have had Luz killed, but you didn't," said Grime. "But in any case, who cares what Anne thinks? You and I are in charge now, and we get to do whatever we want!"
As Grime said this, the voice in Sasha's head spoke to her, Greatness requires sacrifice. You'll never achieve anything if you always put others before yourself. Take it from me. I had to sacrifice much to get to where I am today!
"The thing is, I thought what I really wanted was Anne, but now she says she hates me," said Sasha out loud. "What would I have to sacrifice in order to get her to love me?" She realized a second too late that she had said that last part out loud, earning her a weird look from Grime.
"Eh, what are you talking about, Lieutenant?" he asked, confused.
"Oh, uh… It's not what it sounds like," said Sasha nervously.
"No, come on. If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you," began Grime. "I've guessed for a while now that you fancy Anne, don't you?"
Sasha didn't say anything, but her nervous look and blushing cheeks were enough of a response for Grime.
"I won't pretend I know how you humans judge each other as potential mates, but I think I can see why you want Anne. Is that why you're so worked up over what she thinks of you?" asked Grime.
"I guess so…" answered Sasha, not really sure. "I mean, I offered to let her be a queen by my side, so what more could I possibly do to show her how much I like her?"
"Well, you could always threaten Luz," answered Grim nonchalantly.
"What?" said Sasha.
"Or Marcy, I suppose, but yeah, just tell Anne that unless she gives herself to you, you'll hurt one of her friends. That should solve your problem," answered Grime as though it were the simplest thing ever.
"I can't do that," said Sasha, aghast. "I want Anne to… you know… like me for real. I don't want to force her into it."
"Hey, you wanted advice. I'm giving it to you," answered Grime.
"Oh, uh… Well, thanks for that," said Sasha, as she continued to fiddle with the box.
"Still haven't learned how to work that thing yet, have you?" asked Grime
"No, not quite," answered Sasha, "and I need to figure out how this ding dang box works. Once I do, I think I'll test it on Luz and send her to another world. That way, she'll be out of our way for good."
"Yes, you've mentioned that before," said Grime, "but enough about that for now. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you come help me redecorate this place?"
Sasha smiled, joining Grime in moving to a tapestry that hung in the throne room. It depicted Andrias with a rainbow over his head, tending to various amphibians, and generally looking like an old, kindly ruler.
"Yikes, this thing has got to go!" said Grime. He and Sasha pulled hard on the tapestry, finally removing it, though as it fell, it revealed another tapestry beneath it, one that was far less pleasant than the previous one. Immediately, Sasha's eye caught what seemed to be a pile of skulls at the bottom. The rest of the image seemed to depict nothing but death and destruction.
"Whoa, is that the king with the music box?" asked Sasha
"If it is, it's a really good thing we stopped him," said Grime.
Sasha was about to reply when a strange sound caught her ears. She went to the window of the castle and saw Anne and Sprig turning the mechanism and closing the gate.
"Are you serious?! They escaped?!" she said in disbelief.
"Wait, what's going on outside the city?" said Grime, pointing to the battle taking place in the water near the gate.
"Hey, the army's here, but they're fighting another army of frogs!" said Sasha.
"What?!" exclaimed Grime. "What is an army of frogs doing here? Where did they come from?"
"It won't matter for much longer," said Sasha. "Anne and Sprig are about to close the gate!"
"Where are the rest of our forces?" said Grime, looking around the city. "Shouldn't Beatrix and her battalion be here?"
"Captain Grime!" said a toad soldier, entering the throne room. "The toads in the city have been routed. We've lost control of the gate."
"Where the hell is Beatrix?" asked Grime in annoyance. "She was supposed to back you up."
"She's fighting the humus in the coliseum," replied the toad.
"WHAT?!" said Sasha, fear filling her face.
"That hummus still had powers, so we're sticking with the original plan to stop her," said the soldier. "It shouldn't take much longer, though. Once Beatrix finishes her off, we can bring in the reinforcements."
"You fool! We're losing the city!" yelled Grime. "Get back to Beatrix and tell her to forget about the human and bring her soldiers here now!"
"No, no, no, no, no," said Sasha in an almost pleading voice. "I changed the plan to keep Luz safe. Grime, I'll go! I have to save Luz!"
"What about the gate?" he asked in a panic. "We need to stop them from closing the gate!"
Sasha was torn. On the one hand, she wanted to keep Luz safe, but on the other, the gate needed to be saved if they didn't want to lose the city and prevent whatever Andrias had planned.
Go and save Luz! Hurry! Yelled the voice to her. I need her for my plan!
Shut up! Thought Sasha. Who cares about your dumb plan? I have to save Luz!
"Grime, go and stop them at the gate. I'll go get Beatrix!" commanded Sasha.
Wait! Take the box with you! yelled the voice. Use it on Luz!
"SHUT UP!" yelled Sasha out loud. Grime gave her a look, but she quickly tried to play it off. "Uh, forget I said anything, Grime. Just go stop them at the gate. I'll go get Beatrix!"
"Alright! Good luck!" called Grime as he leaped out the window towards the rampart, where Anne, Sprig, and Gustav were. Meanwhile, Sasha ran out of the throne room doors, out of the palace, and towards the arena.
No, you fool! yelled the voice in her head. Take the box with you! You need to use it on Luz!
Sasha ignored the voice as she rushed toward the arena as fast as she could run.
Back at the arena, things weren't going well for Luz. In an attempt to actually fight Beatrix, she tried using her staff to hit her, but her blows weren't strong enough to hurt Beatrix, and the toad lord simply shrugged them off. Luz again brought up her staff to defend herself from Beatrix's axe. The staff had taken more than a few blows, and Luz wasn't sure if it would last much longer. The battle had been full of many close calls and near misses, and she now sported more bruises and cuts on her body as Beatrix had grazed her more than once.
I need to get that axe away from her, thought Luz. Quickly, she came up with a plan. Letting Beatrix swing wildly at her again, she skillfully managed to plant a wind glyph on the axe. Beatrix stopped attacking for a second, confused by what Luz was doing. Luz used that moment of distraction to activate the glyph, which caused a powerful gust of wind to shoot out of the axe. The gust blew it out of Beatrix's hands, up into the sky, and over the wall of the arena. For a second, Luz was relieved, as she thought this meant she might finally have a chance against her. But that relief was soon replaced by dread as Beatrix simply punched her hard in the face, causing her to fall to the ground.
The blow made Luz start to lose focus, and the world around her began to spin. She tried to stand up but was so dizzy and disoriented from the blow that she fell back down.
"LUZ, GET UP!" yelled Amara from across the arena, still in chains. She could see that Luz wasn't doing well. It was the only thing Amara could think to do. Luz tried to stand up again but fell down again. Beatrix didn't make any move to finish her, instead taking the time to gloat and play to the crowd of toads who were all cheering her on!
"GET UP!" yelled Amara again, desperately hoping her words would have some effect on Luz.
Luz heard Amara's words and slowly lifted her head up. From her position, she saw Beatrix reach behind her back and pull out a deadly-looking club. The club was lined with sharp spikes. Luz's face fell at seeing this new weapon.
"Ha ha ha!" cackled Beatrix as she stood over Luz. "Are you really the one who defeated Grime at Tadpole Pond? Pathetic! I thought you might actually give me a challenge."
Luz didn't respond as she lay there on the ground, bruised, bloodied, and broken. She struggled to stand back up, even though she had almost no strength left.
"Well, this has been fun," gloated Beatrix as she raised her club over Luz, "but it's time to put an end to you!"
She swung her club down at Luz, and at the last second, Luz managed to roll out of the way and dodge the blow. Using every ounce of strength she had left, she got back up on her feet and faced Beatrix, defiance in her eyes!
"Oh, good, I was afraid you'd die too easily," said Beatrix, rushing at Luz. Luz brought up her staff to block her club and tried desperately to fight back. As she felt in her pockets, she realized she only had a few glyphs left and had no idea what she would do when she ran out of them…
Grime landed with a loud crash on the rampart, catching the attention of Anne and Sprig.
"Stop! You have to let our army into the city!" said Grime desperately. "It's the only way to stop whatever Andrias has planned with the music box."
"Really, Grime? Is this what you're reduced to? Lying to try to get us to stop?" said Sprig.
"Frankly, I don't care whether you believe me or not. I have Barrel's hammer. I can make you stop!" said Grime as he swung his hammer wildly at Sprig, though Anne quickly came to her friend's defense.
"Like we'd ever believe you, Grime," said Anne as she exchanged blows with Grime. He and Anne continued to fight before he thought up something that could maybe distract Anne.
"We have your friend, Luz. I know where she is," said Grime, causing Anne to stop her attack. "I'll tell you where she is if you leave the gate open."
"Luz," said Anne in a whisper as she stopped and considered the offer, only for her thoughts to be interrupted by Sprig.
"Don't even think about it, Anne!" called Sprig. "You know Luz would want you to do the right thing. We can't let the toads take the city! We'll find another way."
"Shut up!" yelled Grime as he again swung his hammer at Sprig, but the frog dodged and launched himself at Grime, causing him to stumble backward. Unfortunately, Grime was already near the edge of the tower, so when he stumbled back, he lost his footing and fell over with Sprig. The two kept falling until they both landed on a roof, almost falling through it and into the house below.
Anne rushed over to the side of the tower. "Sprig!" she called worriedly, casting her eyes about for the pink frog.
"I'm alright!" yelled Sprig, waving up at Anne to indicate he was okay. She let out a sigh of relief, though she quickly yelled, "Watch out!"
Grime had snuck up behind Sprig and swung his hammer at him. Sprig dodged the blow and took out his slingshot, aiming straight at Grime's face. He launched a rock at Grime, but Grime brought up his hammer to block it. He quickly closed the distance and swung again at Sprig, attempting to smash him with the hammer. The frog hopped around the roof, avoiding Grime's blows and using his slingshot to fire back at him whenever he had an opening. Grime kept blocking Sprig and eventually landed a punch on him, knocking him to the ground. Grime brought up his hammer, ready to crush Sprig, but before he could, a stream of water blasted him out of the way. Sprig turned and saw that Gustav had climbed up to the roof and had just used a glyph to blast Grime away. Grime recovered from the blast and stared straight at Gustav.
"Gustav, what are you doing here?" he asked in anger.
"I'm stopping you and the toads from taking over the city!" declared Gustav proudly.
"You fool! You have no idea what Andrias is planning! Stop this right now!" yelled Grime.
"Did you forget you banished me? I'm not a toad anymore, so I don't take orders from you," mocked Gustav.
He ignored that comment and charged straight at Gustav, but his charge was interrupted as Sprig launched another rock at his eye, this time scoring a hit!
"Aw! My one good eye!" cried Grime. He began swinging his hammer around wildly, trying to hit either Sprig or Gustav. They both nodded to each other before Sprig got down on the ground while Gustav came up to Grime and pushed him so that he tripped on Sprig. Grime fell to the ground, the hammer falling on top of him and hitting him hard in the face. Gustav came up and grabbed the hammer.
"But you're just a little frog, and you… You're just a runt," said Grime in a slow, pained voice.
"Guess I'm not so little after all," bragged Sprig.
"And I guess this runt just beat your ass, Grime!" bragged Gustav. He looked over at Sprig before offering his hand in a high five, which he quickly accepted.
Outside the gate, Bufo continued fighting Yunan. The two seemed evenly matched as claws and sword struck each other, each one matching the other. Yunan used her tail to try to trip Bufo up, but he saw what she was doing and swung his sword at her. Yunan withdrew her tail and swiped at him with her claw. Bufo brought up his arm to block the blow. His armor absorbed the blow, and Bufo tried to push her off. Yunan allowed herself to be pushed back and used that momentum to charge at Bufo again!
"Ha! You truly are a fearsome opponent. Perhaps your reputation is well earned," admitted Bufo, blocking another blow from the newt.
"Really, I was just thinking the opposite of you, Bufo," said Yunan in an attempt to distract him. "If you're the best the East has to offer, then we should have appointed a new toad lord years ago."
Bufo growled at that insult and resumed his attack on Yunan. Again, his sword clashed with her claws. The two traded blows as they tried to strike each other. Yunan again used her tail to try to trip up Bufo, but he saw it coming and this time grabbed her tail with his free hand, quickly pulling her to the ground. Yunan smiled, though, as she used the opportunity to kick Bufo in the face, knocking him off balance. She then used her claws to stab him in the leg, causing him to let out a yell of pain. Yunan quickly moved to his other leg and stabbed him again, causing him to fall to his knees. Finally, Yunan struck Bufo's arm. Even though it had a guard on it, she still managed to make him drop his sword. She quickly kicked it away, leaving him on his knees at her mercy. Bufo slowly glanced up at Yunan, feeling fear for the first time in his life.
"I am General Yunan," declared Yunan. "Scourge of the Sand Wars, defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the Great Newtopian Army! Today, I add a new conquest to my ever-growing list…"
Yunan smiled as, in one swift motion, she slashed her claw at Bufo's neck, separating his head from his body!
"…. slayer of Toad Lords!" With that, Bufo's lifeless body fell over!
Some soldiers noticed this and called out, "Bufo has fallen! What do we do?"
"Retreat!" called another.
"No! Stand and fight, you cowards!" called another. "We can still win this!"
At that moment, the battle was broken up as suddenly, the form of the Red Heron burst forth from the trees and into the water where the frogs and toads were fighting! Both armies stopped fighting immediately as they noticed the imposing monster.
"All frogs, fall back now!" called Emmanuel to his troops. "Regroup at the rendezvous point!" With that, the frogs wasted no time in quickly fleeing. The Red Heron spared a glance at the frogs, and, for a moment, began chasing them. Lilly came up to the heron and used her water powers to send a stream directly at the heron. It pushed her back for a bit, but it wasn't enough to stop her. Still, Lilly had grabbed the heron's attention and decided to use it.
The Red Heron reached down, trying to snatch Lilly up in its beak, but she dodged the attack. Lilly began hopping around like crazy, all the while continuing to hit the heron with water bursts, trying to anger it into focusing on her. It tried again to eat Lilly, but she dodged it. Finally, Lilly summoned up a stream of water and jumped on top of it, riding it like a surfboard and directing herself away from the frogs. The heron turned around and followed her.
Yes, my plan's working! thought Lilly.
Once she had the heron's full attention, she directed her stream toward the retreating toads, quickly riding past them. The heron kept following and soon noticed numerous toads in front of it. The heron licked its beak in anticipation of the feast!
"What are you doing, you fool?" asked one of the feeling toads. "You'll get us all eaten!"
"Exactly," replied Lilly coldly.
The same toad looked back in horror as the heron had forgotten about Lilly and instead focused her attention on the large number of toads in front of it. It let out a horrible growl and began to chase after them. Some toads began pushing others out of the way to save themselves, while many of them were not fast enough and got scooped up and deposited into the heron's hungry maw. The toads continued to flee, all the while being pursued by the hungry red heron.
Lilly continued to ride on her stream of water and directed it back towards the gates of Newtopia. She aimed for the gate tower and successfully managed to dismount onto it. She wanted to make sure the gates were truly secured and to help drive away the toads that were still in the city. As she got up to the tower, she saw a human at the controls.
"Oh, hello," said Lilly to the human. She glanced at her for a second before saying, "Are you Anne?"
"Yes, that's me," said Anne. "And you're Lilly, aren't you? Luz's friend."
"Yes, I am. Did she find you in Wartwood? Did the two of you make amends?" asked Lilly.
"Yes, we did," answered Anne, "but I don't know where she is now. We got separated before the battle started."
"Don't worry, I'll help you find her," said Lilly. "Looks like you've got the gate secured. Good job on that, by the way!"
"Thanks, but you were the one doing a great job!" said Anne. "I saw you using that sword and magic and jumping all over the battlefield, then you managed to lead that heron away from the frogs and make it chase after the toads. You were amazing down there!"
"Thanks. I only just started learning how to fight with this sword," she said, indicating the Masamune. "I never would have thought of all the frogs in Amphibia that I would be worthy of it."
"It's good to know that it wound up in your hands. You know, Luz and I actually tried to pull it off, but neither of us was worthy," explained Anne. "Good thing you were."
"Wait, really?" asked Lilly. "You found the temple where the Masamune was housed? Wow! It looks like I have a lot of catching up to do with Luz once we find her."
Anne looked out toward the still-retreating toads, the form of the red heron fading off into the distance.
"Hey, uh, not sure how to ask this, but… Is that heron…" began Anne
"Yes," answered Lilly, already knowing what Anne wanted to ask her. "As you can see, she has no recollection of who she was. I knew it would be pointless to try to get through to her, so I did the next best thing and had her chase after the toads." As Lilly spoke, her face fell as she also looked out towards the fading form of the red heron.
"I'm really sorry to hear that," said Anne, coming up to Lilly. "Luz told me how much Uodeela meant to her." They were interrupted, though, when a voice from down below called up to them.
"Anne!" called Marcy from down in the streets. Anne went over to the edge of the tower and saw Marcy waving up at her. She stood there with Olivia and a squad of armored newt soldiers.
"I found out where they took Luz!" she called. "They're holding her at the Arena!"
"What?!" said a worried Gustav. "The Arena? That's where toads used to fight to the death. If she's there, they might have forced her into combat with another toad."
"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" called Sprig. "Let's get over there and save her!"
Sasha ran as fast as she could down the streets of Newtopia toward the Coliseum. As she did, she noticed that the fighting in the streets had died down.
Can't worry about that now, she thought to herself. I have to save Luz.
After turning another corner, the arena was in sight. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she wasn't much farther now, and continued running towards the entrance. Before she could get there, though, she felt a tug on her leg and was quickly tripped. As she fell to the ground, Sasha turned to see Anne, Marcy, Sprig, and a frog she didn't recognize and…
"Gus?" she said out loud
"Sasha," said Gustav, looking deeply into her eyes.
"Guys, Luz is in trouble! We have to help her!" said Sasha.
"Yeah, we know," said Anne, anger in her voice. "That's why we're here. You really are the worst, Sasha. Is it not enough for you to kill Luz? You have to make her fight for her life for sport? And without her powers!"
"What? No, that's not—" began Sasha.
"Save it!" yelled Anne. "We're here to stop you and save Luz!"
"I don't want to fight," said Sasha, throwing up her hands. "Please, I'll explain later, but first, we have to rescue Luz!"
"Yeah, we'll take care of that," said Anne. "But first, I'm going to take care of you."
Anne pulled out her sword and charged at Sasha. Sasha brought up her own swords to block her. The two traded blows only feet from the Arena entrance.
"Anne, stop! We have to save Luz!" said Sasha.
Anne turned to the others who were with her. "Guys, go get Luz! I'll handle Sasha!" called Anne.
The others all nodded before running past Anne and Sasha and entering the arena. Despite the circumstances, Sasha was at least relieved to see this. She turned back to Anne, trying to convince her of the king's plan.
"Anne, I need you to listen to me," pleaded Sasha. "There's something wrong with this Andrias guy." She tried to continue, but Anne interrupted her.
"You expect me to believe you after all the lying and manipulating you've done?!" exclaimed Anne. "Sorry, Sasha, but you're out of chances. In any case, it doesn't matter. Your toad army has already been defeated!"
"What?" said Sasha.
"We've already stopped them from entering the city, and we secured the gate," said Anne, as the two continued to fight.
"No, no, no!" said Sasha. "This can't be happening."
Anne and Sasha continued to fight, though Sasha was clearly on the defensive. In fact, she spent most of the fight blocking Anne's blow instead of trying to hit her. Though eventually, one of her strikes landed on Sasha, grazing her right cheek and giving her another scar like she had on her left side.
"Oh, good, now you match," said Anne sarcastically. Sasha brought her hand up to her cheek and felt blood. She renewed her attack on Anne, hoping that if she could at least get her to stop, she might be able to convince her of the king's treachery. Anne charged at Sasha, slicing at her, but she ducked out of the way and gave a kick to Anne's hand, causing her to lose her sword. Anne wasn't bothered by this, as instead she slid behind, Sasha grabbing her cape and bringing it up over her head, blinding her. Once her head was wrapped up in the cape, she punched Sasha hard, causing her to fall to the ground and drop her swords. The battle was over.
Back in the arena, Luz was all but worn out from her fight with Beatrix. She had used up the last of her pre-drawn glyphs and had nothing left but her staff to fight with. Still, she refused to give up as she struck Beatrix again with her staff, but the blow barely hurt her. Beatrix recovered and went after Luz with renewed vigor. Luz's collection of cuts and bruises had grown over the course of the fight, and the stamina potion she had taken earlier in the fight seemed to at last be wearing off. As the two continued to fight, Luz again brought up her staff to block a blow from Beatrix and her spiked club. This time, however, Beatrix managed to break her staff with the blow. The staff broke apart into two pieces in Luz's hands. Beatrix prepared to strike at Luz again, and this time, instinctively, Luz brought up her arm to defend herself…
"Ahhhh!" Luz screamed as intense pain flooded her arm! She knew instantly that it was broken, as the pain she felt in it quickly became unbearable.
"Ahhhh!" she screamed again, hoping that maybe the scream would help soften the pain, but no relief came. Her scream slowly turned into a whimper as she cradled her broken arm. Tears formed in her eyes as she fell to her knees, unable to do anything else. Beatrix came up to her, lifting Luz's face so that she could stare into her eyes.
"You know, Sasha said I didn't need to kill you, just get you in a weakened state," began Beatrix, knowing that she had all but won against Luz. "So, tell you what, I'll give you one chance right here, in front of me and all these other toads. Surrender! Admit defeat, and I'll let you live."
Luz responded by forming a large glob of spit in her mouth and then spitting directly into Beatrix's face! The toads in the Arena let out a gasp. Beatrix was stunned by this, yet she made no move to punish Luz.
"Wow, I have to admit you have guts!" said Beatrix, genuinely impressed, as she wiped the spit from her face. "Here you are, utterly defeated with a broken arm, facing certain death, and you still spit in my face. I have to admit that takes a lot of courage!"
For a second, Luz wondered if that meant she wouldn't be hurt for her act of defiance, yet that hope was dashed as Beatrix roughly punched her in the face, causing her to fall down and hurt her arm even more. Luz let out a pained whimper, like an injured animal, as she fell to the ground.
"But I can't let such an act of defiance go unanswered," said Beatrix, raising her club and preparing to bring it down on Luz. "Goodbye, Luz the humus. May you find glory in Toadhala!"
Luz looked up at the club over her head and knew that this was going to be the end for her. She closed her eyes and braced herself, hoping her death would at least be quick. The last thing she thought of was her mom, Marcy, and Anne, and how she would never see them again…
She heard a sound, like a large stream of water rushing by, and opened her eyes. She saw Beatrix get pushed away from her by a jet of water, then she saw a figure leap over her at Beatrix and engage her in combat with a sword—a sword that looked very familiar. Luz heard the toads in the audience gasp and saw some of them get up from their seats to help Beatrix. She looked back to the entrance, and her heart leaped as she saw Anne and Marcy approaching her. Anne called out her name desperately. Behind them, she saw a squad of newts in armor being led by a fancy-looking newt in a dress. The newts quickly rushed forward and began attacking the toads in the coliseum. Meanwhile, Anne and Marcy came up to Luz, tears forming in both their eyes as they saw Luz's condition. Anne came up to her, again picking her up in her arms, and began to carry her away from the fighting. It was the last thing Luz remembered as the pain from her battle finally caught up to her and she slowly drifted off into unconsciousness…