On this day, Frank and Anne were doing what they promised to do for each other. They were going to have a pizza together. It wasn't just them that was going to have it. The Plantars were helping in the baking of Amphibia's first pizza.
Covered in bruises from battling yet another tomato monster, Frank sat at the table with Polly. Stirring a bowl of freshly made tomato sauce. Even though he was hurting, he never stopped smiling, even when he looked up at Anne, who was teaching Sprig how to toss the pizza dough.
"There you go. Now you're getting it," Anne said, before the dough landed on Sprig's face.
"Anne, wanna chop us some veggies for me?" Hop Pop asked while stirring a pot.
"You got it, HP." Anne walked over to a cutting board and grabbed an onion and cleaver. With masterful skill, she sliced the onion up into multiple slices. Using the face of the cleaver's blade, she scooped them up and placed the slices into a bowl.
"Wow! Nice job, Anne!" Frank said with wide eyes and a big smile.
"Where'd you learn to cut like that?" Hop Pop said with Polly on his head.
"You know, my parents actually owned a Thai restaurant back home," Anne said, bringing out her phone and turning it on. Opening her photos app, her cat domino was the first thing to pop up. "Ah, whoops. Hold on." She kept swiping until it showed her family's restaurant, Thai Go. "I used to work there all the time and help out. I hope they're doing okay without me."
Frank paused what he was doing when he heard that. Thinking about how his family was doing. No doubt they would have been devastated when he disappeared. Especially his grandma. But what about his parents? They weren't perfect, but they did their best for him, even with all their flaws. So why? Why did things go so wrong between him and his parents? After his release, things were never really the same. His mom grounded him for a year, and they became stricter with him. They treated him like a prisoner again in his own home. It was one of the reasons why he left to stay with his grandma.
However, even after what they did, he'd be lying if he said he wished that his parents were okay. After all, he still loved them. But as he thought about them, Frank wondered if they knew about his disappearance. Were they sad? Did they care?
"Frank?"
"Huh?" Frank looked up and saw the others looking at him. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, what about you, Frank?" Hop Pop asked. "Does your parents own a restaurant?"
"Ha! Sorry, but no," Frank laughed, shaking his head. "The only one of my family that owns a local business is my Abuelita Rachel. She's the one that owns the Thrift Shop."
Anne had to pause for a moment to think. Then she remembered. "You mean that…"
"The sweet little old lady you, Sasha, and Marcy stole from? Yeah." Frank nodded with a knowing frown. He still wasn't happy about what they did, even if Anne was peer pressured into doing it. "Grandma was the best cook of the family. When I was staying with her...after Grandpa Teddy died, I started learning how to cook from her."
All of a sudden, there was an explosion. The two humans, Hop Pop, and Polly turned around and saw that Sprig caused it, having blown up the oven with the pizza still in it.
"Of course, that never happened," Frank said, picking up Sprig and setting him on his feet.
Sprig coughed up some smoke as he was covered in ashes. "Yep, I blew up the pizza."
"Oh, dang it, Sprig!" Hop Pop yelled. "Well, looks like this meal's a bust. Who wants to eat out?"
They walked together through the small town of Wartwood. Frank remained by Anne's side, with his new sword on his hip and his shield strapped to his back. She was the one person that he felt the most comfortable being around. Not that he didn't enjoy being around Sprig and his family. It was just something about being around her that made him feel relatively warm and happy inside. As they walked alongside one another, they looked at each other. Frank smiled at her, and she smiled back, before the two looked away with noticeable blushes.
"We're here!" Hop Pop said as they arrived at a diner. But to call it a restaurant would be the biggest overstatement the two human kids have ever heard.
When they walked in, they saw that the place was quite literally a dump. The floor was covered in water, and there was moss growing on the furniture, bits of food scattered about, and spider webs everywhere. Sure, Frank and Anne were used to every building in Wartwood looking like a mini swamp inside, but this one took the cake.
"Oh, wow. This place is not to code," Anne said.
"What is the code for a frog restaurant," Frank asked as he saw a rat crawl up to a bowl of soup and start eating out of it while the frog just stirred his spoon in it. The rat quickly pulled its head out and threw up.
The family sat themselves at a booth and looked at their menus. "Oh, man. The font on these menus is way too small. Rookie mistake," Anne said with a smirk.
Just then, a frog came over with their food. He was a sizable amphibian with yellow-colored eyes and a white shirt, stained with grease and drinks. He possessed a spatula for one hand and a cleaver for another. One of his legs was missing and had been replaced with a piece of wood. He also had a crab's leg in his mouth and a greasy chef's hat.
"Here you are. Four bowls of slop," the frog said, dropping the bowls onto the table. "Enjoy. Or don't. Makes no difference to me." And then he walked off with a dead look in his eyes.
"Thanks, Stumpy," said Sprig as he and the Plantars started eating.
"Thanks," Frank said, looking at his soup. He then started scooping up a spoon full and ate it, much to the disgust of Anne.
"You're actually eating stuff?" Anne asked, winching.
"I've had worse," Frank replied.
"Excuse me, hello. Over here. Yoohoo!" Said a voice that got all of their attention. The five of them looked to see Stumpy being stopped by a newt that, judging by the way he dressed, obviously wasn't from around there.
The green newt with a light green underbelly and darker green spotted tail had teal hair tied into a ponytail with a purple bow. The newt wore a purple overcoat lined with golden buttons shaped like crosses, black pants and purple dress shoes with yellow buttons, and a black tricorn hat on his head.
Stumpy walked back over to him. "There be a problem, sir?"
"Um, yes, there's only one fly in my soup. There should be dozens!" The newt complained. "I mean, how hard is it to run a restaurant, anyway? You just put food on tables. A tadpole can do it."
Frank and Anne watched from behind their booth before the girl groaned in annoyance. "Who's that jerk?" She asked.
"A jerk that won't shut up," Frank added.
Sprig stood up and looked at the newt before turning back to the two. "That is Albus Duckweed. He writes reviews for the paper," Sprig told them. "They have comic strips sometimes."
"Blah! He thinks he's better than everyone else just 'cause he talks good," Polly said, covered in slug gruel.
"It's true," Hop Pop said.
"So he's a food critic," Frank said.
Just the mention of that made Anne groan. "Say no more. We dealt with snobs like him all the time back home. Just listening to him is driving me crazy." She complained, laying her head on the table, trying to drown out Duckweed's criticisms. But it was no use. She groaned, slammed her hands on the table, and stood up. "I can't take this anymore!"
"Anne, don't get involved," Frank warned her, but she was already getting up and walking over to Duckweed and Stumpy. Knowing that she would get them into trouble–again–he got up and followed her. "Great."
The two walked over to the two amphibians as Duckweed kept complaining. "I mean, seriously, look at this place!" He yelled, gesturing with his hands at the whole restaurant.
"Hey. Lay off, buddy," Anne said as she approached them. "Running a restaurant is hard."
"Kid, what are you doing?" Stumpy asked nervously.
"Ha! Well, what does a creature like you know about running a restaurant?" Duckweed asked mockingly.
"Well, what does a little lizard like you know about anything?" Anne retorted as Frank walked over to her. "Besides, my parents ran a restaurant back home, so I know what I'm talking about."
Duckweed was not a fan of that lizard comment. "Well, if your parents are anything like you, I'm sure their restaurant was terrible."
"Hey! I've had their food before, and it's actually quite good," Frank said, coming to Anne's defense.
"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "In fact, you don't believe us, why don't you come back in, I don't know, two days or something?" She said, grabbing Duckweed and started pushing him to the door. "And we'll have completely turned this place around."
"I, uh, I beg your pardon. What?" Stumpy asked, completely taken aback.
"Wait, Anne, you can't be serious," Frank said, just as nervous.
"Oh, a wager is it? Fine, I'll be back in two days. Looking forward to writing my review and shutting this place down," Duckweed said, taking off the napkin around his neck and dropping it to the floor. He then turned and walked out of the door.
After he was gone, Frank turned his head to Anne with a frown. "Anne! Are you out of your mind!?" He yelled.
She thought for a moment. "Nope! Pretty sure I'm in my mind," she said, walking off to a booth.
"Kid, what have you done?" cried Stumpy as he and Frank walked over to the booth. "That was the most popular critic in town. One bad review from him and we're finished."
"Stumpy, I know I got carried away, but we can do this. The Boonchuy family's pride is at stake," Anne insisted with a determined grin. "What do you say?"
"I say...you just put me out of business," Stumpy told her. Then he turned and limped back to the kitchen. "Bound to happen eventually, I suppose."
Hop Pop walked over to Anne and Frank. "Anne, did you just promise to save this restaurant?" he asked as Sprig hopped over to sit next to her.
"In two days?" He added.
Polly landed on his head. "By yourself?"
"Yep. That's, uh, that's pretty much what just happened," Anne said, now realizing that she was in way over her head. "Uh, me and my big mouth."
"Not by herself." The four of them looked at Frank, frowning at her with his arms crossed. "Look, Anne's an idiot for making that kind of bet, but she's not doing this alone. Not when I'm here to help her out."
"Thank's Frank," she said with a grateful smile. "Wait, did you just call me an idiot?"
The next day in the early morning, Frank rolled over on his bed when he opened his eyes. He looked at Anne's bed, but saw that she wasn't there. Knowing where she was, Frank groaned and sat up.
Frank approached Stumpy's and walked in through the front door a few minutes later. "Anne? Anne!" He called out to her, but the dining area was completely empty.
But as he scanned the area, he noticed a light coming from inside the kitchen. Narrowing his eyes, Frank walked towards it. Opening the kitchen door, Frank found her standing under a lamp with a big, creepy smile on her face and her hair a mess. Well, more of a mess than it usually is.
"Hey, Frank!" she exclaimed, giving him a two-finger salute.
"Anne, it's the ass-crack of dawn," Frank said, walking over to her. "How long have you been here?"
"All night. Couldn't sleep, I was so excited! Now let's get down to business!" Anne said.
However, before they could start doing anything, the backdoor opened, and Stumpy came into the restaurant. Dragging in the carcass of an alligator-like creature he had just killed. Frank watched as the frog reached out and tapped a mushroom that tried to light up. On the first tap, it didn't light. On the second tap, it finally lit.
"Damn mushroom needs replacing. Not that it matters anymore," Stumpy grumbled to himself and was about to start dragging in his catch when he saw Frank and Anne. "Mother of pearl!"
"Hey, Stumpy!" Anne greeted.
"How did you get in here?!"
"Your front door," she said. "So, you ready to beat that critic?"
Stumpy scoffed at that and carried the dead alligator to the table to be cleaned and cut up. "Creepy kid," he muttered under breath.
"What do you wanna start with? Change the menu, redecorate…" Anne trailed off as the roof over Frank's head caved in and spilled green gunk and goo all over him.
"I vote to burn this place to the ground and start over," Frank said, trying to wipe the goo off his face.
"Look, kids, you're on your own," said Stumpy. He turned to them with a look of apathy. Like he was absolutely done with life and just didn't care anymore. "Do whatever you want. It's not gonna make a difference in the end, anyway."
Anne laughed. "Oh. That is where you're wrong," she said, before walking off.
"She does know what she's doing, right?" Stumpy asked Frank.
"Oh yeah," he said. But after a moment, he rushed after Anne to make sure she knew what she was doing.
And so began a long day of cleaning the entire restaurant from head to toe. As Anne started mopping the floor, Frank tied a mask around his mouth and started dusting the walls and furniture. He peeled away the moss that had been growing on the tables and booths before he and Anne gathered up all the trash to take out to the dumpster. But before they could do that, they first had to deal with Wally, who wouldn't leave.
Once they had all the trash, Frank and Anne worked together to carry out the garbage to the dumpster. They carried the massive bag out of the restaurant and were just a few feet away from the dumpster when it burst. Covering them is trash. So, they tried to grab the waste by hand and throw it into the dumpster.
But then the dumpster grew eyes, limbs, and….yeah, it wasn't a dumpster, but a garbage lizard. It rose up and started to attack Frank and Anne, who began running away from it. Stumpy watched them from the entrance of his restaurant with a smile. He knew about that lizard.
Then came the dishes, which were stacked as high as the ceiling. With a sigh, Anne grabbed a plate and handed it to Frank, who grabbed the eel that acted as the sink's faucet. He took the plate from her and squeezed the eel, making it shoot out water from its mouth. But then it started to go crazy in his hands while spraying him and Anne.
He tried getting it under control. However, the jet of water hit the top of the towering stack of dishes. It started to topple over, and Frank was about to pull Anne out of the way when Stumpy rushed in and saved her. He tried getting it under control. Grabbing the plates and pushing them back upright. He then offered to help, which the two humans very much appreciated. Together, they got the dishes down in record time.
They'd completely turned the place around by the end of the day, and it looked brand new. "I gotta hand it to you, kids. This place looks great," Stumpy said, leaning on one of the mushroom seats as Anne wiped down the counter.
"Sure does, Anne," Frank said, walking over with a broom. "It took some effort, but I finally kicked Wally out."
"That's what you think! Hahaha!" Wally said as he messed up the kitchen. Seeing this, the boy threw down his broom.
"You know what? Fuck it. I tried." Frank said, raising his hands in defeat. "But seriously, that uptight critic is gonna be blown away."
"Blown away? Ha! No," Anne said, walking over to a window that had its curtains closed. "All we've done is mop the floors and clean some dishes. This place is still a house of broken dreams."
She pulled back the curtains and looked out the window. Even though they thoroughly cleaned up the inside, the outside was another story. Her point was further driven home when the diner's sign fell off.
"Harsh, but on point," Stumpy said.
"If we're gonna impress that critic, we've got a lot more work to do," Anne told the boys before raising her hands over her head with an inspired smile. "We need a complete and total transformation."
"So, what do you have in mind?" Frank asked, crossing his arms.
Apparently, she had a lot of time on her hands, because Anne pulled out an already complete blueprint of her vision for the restaurant. "Behold!" She proclaimed proudly, laying out the blueprint on the table.
"Oh. I'm gonna need me hammer hand for this," Stumpy said, taking off one of his hands to put on his hammer hand.
And so began more hard work to transform the restaurant into what Anne envisioned it to be for tomorrow. By the time the project was complete, it was already late, and the moon was high in the sky. As Stumpy went home, Anne decided to camp out in the restaurant. Frank stayed with her, wanting to keep her company.
"Alright, we're all ready for tomorrow," he said, walking over to her with a lantern. He sat down on the other side of the booth, and she sewed together her outfit for tomorrow.
"Yeah, I can't believe we got it all done in just one day," she said, finishing her dress and setting it down. Anne blushed as she looked away with an embarrassed smile. "Hey, thanks for helping me with this. I know that I got us into this mess, but…."
"Don't worry about it. I know that you were just trying to help," Frank said with a smile. "And I know that you really miss your parents."
Anne looked down at the table sadly. Truthfully, she genuinely did want to help Stumpy, but that was because he and Duckweed brought back many memories of her parents and their restaurant. Back then, she wasn't allowed to speak out against the critics that tried to ruin their business. Anne now had a chance to make a difference. To do what she never had the opportunity to do. Tell the critics where to shove it.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Frank placed his hand over hers. "I'm sure they miss you just as much as you miss them," he said with a warm smile.
Smiling back at him, Anne held his hand. "Thanks. And I'm sure your parents miss you as well."
Frank tried keeping the smile on his face, but he couldn't. He let it drop as a bitter expression formed on his face. "Yeah, sure," he said, pulling away from her.
However, his sudden bitterness worried Anne. She watched him open the lantern and blow out the fire before lying down on the booth. Anne did the same on the other side. However, while laying on her back, she turned her head and looked at Frank.
"Hey, Frank?"
"Yeah?" He asked, turning his head to her.
"Well…don't take this the wrong way, but what happened to you?" She asked hesitantly. "I mean, you were there for one moment, and then you disappeared for ten months. No one at school knew where you were, and then you suddenly showed up again."
Frank remained silent as that bitter expression returned. "Get some sleep, Anne. We've got a big day tomorrow," he said, turning over to have his back facing her.
This worried Anne again. The young Thai girl didn't press the issue any further, even though she didn't like it when her friend shut her out. Knowing that something was seriously bothering him. And she had a good idea what it was. After all, she did lie about one thing.
Everyone in school did know where he was.
The next day, the entire town of Wartwood woke up and went about their day. However, they were amazed when they laid eyes on Stumpy's diner. The crowd that formed in front of the restaurant attracted more attention. They too were amazed to see just how much the place had changed.
Lotus flowers surrounded the restaurant in the ponds surrounding it. There was a lotus-themes water fountain sitting in front of the building and paper lanterns hanging from strings. The most noticeable change to the building was the entrance. Anne and Frank added in a sweeping, multi-tiered roof over the door. It was a design choice based on Thai temples. All made Stumpy's new Lily Pad Thai diner stand out on its grand opening.
The frogs entered the establishment, and Anne greeted them in a traditional Thai attire known as a "Sabai." It consisted of a green wrapped skirt with geometric print, a cream breast cloth draped over one shoulder, a chain of flowers in her hair, and an elaborate flower bracelet on her wrist.
"Sawatdee kha," she greeted, bowing to them with her hands together. "And welcome to Stumpy's, Wartwood's first frog-Thai fusion restaurant, now with napkins." Anne held up a folded napkin.
Behind her, Frank poked his head out from behind the kitchen, wearing an apron and a chief's hat.
"Hola mis amigos rana!" He spoke in Spanish before switching back to English. "Who's hungry!" He then showed them a fleshly cooked fish curry.
The smell of the curry flew into the nostrils of every visiting frog, and they all thought it smelled amazing. It didn't take long for everyone to grab a table and start ordering food. Within a few minutes, the place was packed and filled with the sounds of happy frogs chatting and eating.
"Need a refill of fly ice tea? On the house, sweetie," Anne said, refilling one customer's glass.
"Order up. Enjoy!" Frank said, setting down plates filled with food for three frogs. They picked up some of it with their tongues and pulled it into their mouths. They hummed at how good they were.
Frank walked back into the kitchen and started working on the next order when he heard Mrs. Croaker. "I'll take the maggot larb. Did I say that right? Larb?" she asked. Frank looked out of the kitchen window and saw Anne taking the old frog's order.
"It's actually pronounced 'laap'," she corrected.
"Well, how about that? One foot in the grave and still learning new things," Mrs. Croaker said with a smile.
Starring primarily at her, Frank smiled at his friend working. Though he wouldn't say it out loud in fear of embarrassing himself, Frank couldn't help but think Anne looked terrific in her dress. Going as far as to say beautiful.
Stumpy walked over with freshly made maggot noodles. He rang the bell and handed the plate to Anne as she walked past them. "Amazing…" he said.
"She sure is," Frank said, still gazing at Anne as she dropped off the order.
"I meant the place, loverboy," Stumpy said, making Frank blush in embarrassment and look away from Anne. "I've never seen this place so packed. What- What's this weird feeling in me chest?"
"That is called hope," Frank said, pan-frying a fish. "I think we might actually pull this off, dude."
A moment later, someone was ringing the service bell multiple times. And that someone was none other than Sprig, along with Hop Pop and Polly. "Please. Please stop ringing that bell," Anne said, walking over to them.
"Anne, this place is amazing," Sprig exclaimed.
"You weren't kidding when you said you were good at this," complimented Hop Pop as he held up Polly in one hand.
"Oh, yeah! Score one for Anne!" Anne cheered victoriously.
"Hey!"
"Oh, right. You too, Frank!"
"So, table for three." The old orange frog requested.
"Ooh, sorry guys. All the tables are full," Anne told the frogs as she looked around the diner. However, just as it seemed like everything was going great, it would all change.
It happened when a frog cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of the humans. However, it turned out to be a costume when it unzipped and revealed Albus Duckweed inside it. "They can have my table," he said smugly. He pushed his plate away before crossing his arms with an unimpressed expression. "I am done here."
Anne gasped and dropped her menu in shock. "It's…"
"Duckweed! He's here!" Stumpy said as he and Frank walked out of the kitchen. Together, the three of them started heading towards the critic.
"I have another question," said Mrs. Croaker as she walked up to them. But the humans and the large frog breezed past her.
"Thanks for coming."
"Okay, great, see ya."
"Tell your friends about us."
Frank and Anne walked up to Duckweed's booth with frowns as Stumpy stayed close behind them. "Duckweed, you actually came," Frank said with disdain for the newt. "What's with the disguise?"
"Oh, this?" Duckweed asked, holding up his disguise. "It's kind of a critic thing. It's to guarantee that we get a genuine experience, you know? If you knew it was me, you'd probably zhuzh it up a bit, make it a little bit better. But in a disguise, you're just gonna serve me like anyone else.
"That's...actually really clever," Anne commented.
"Thank you!"
"So, did you like the food?" Frank asked, hoping that he did.
"Oh, right... No!" Duckweed yelled, slamming his fist on the table. "I found the experience had no cohesion. Like one thing was clumsily grafted on top of another. And when I publish my review, your restaurant will be ruined." He pulled out his review on a piece of paper, before crushing it as he hugged it and laughed maniacally. "I love my job."
Realizing just how bad things were getting, Frank, Anne, and Stumpy glanced at one another. "Will you, uh... Will you give us a moment? Stay right there!" Anne requested before she and the other two rushed back to the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, but I must–" Duckweed's smug attitude was cut short when Frank's knife was thrown and stabbed into the table.
"YOU'LL WAIT!" He yelled, before going into the kitchen.
Stumpy was already freaking out while Anne was pacing around. Trying to think of a way to turn this disaster around. "That's it. It's over. We're finished!" He exclaimed. "The second that review goes up, this restaurant goes down."
Anne suddenly grabbed him and smacked him across the face. "Pull yourself together, man!" she shouted, shaking him. "We can do this. It's time to bring out the big guns. My parents' squid and basil special. No critic in town could resist."
"Then let's do it!" Frank said with a grin.
"Yeah!" Anne cheered, then smacked him across the face too.
"OW! What was that for?!" Frank yelled, holding his cheek.
"Sorry, sorry. I am amped!" Anne exclaimed with a determined grin. The three of them ran out of the kitchen and headed towards the door. "Hey, we've got a special dinner just for you. Be right back. Don't go anywhere."
"Amusing. All right, I'll play your little game," Duckweed said with a smirk.
"Yeah." Frank walked over and pulled his knife out of the table. "You will," he said in a threatening tone before running off after Anne and Stumpy.
"So…" Hop Pop walked over to Duckweed. "Does this mean we can't have your table?"
A few seconds later, Frank kicked the door to the backdoor. Then he, Anne, and Stumpy dragged a massive white squid into the kitchen. Leaving a trail of slime behind them. "Man, squid here are huge here," said Anne as she grunted.
"It's not a squid," Stumpy said. "It's a Kraken."
"Eh, potato, tomato." Frank shrugged.
Together they got to work on the squid and basil special. First, Frank started a fire and placed a large sauté pan over it. As he poured in the oil for the basil, Anne cut up the vegetables and threw them in. Then, the two worked together to throw the squid into the pan. Anne took over the cooking, pouring in an entire bottle's worth of Arroy Arroy fish sauce as Frank and Stumpy took care of the last few steps.
When they completed the squid and basil special, they placed the squid on a large plate and covered it. They then put it on a cart and Anne rolled it out of the kitchen with Frank following her.
"Make way! Coming through!" Anne exclaimed with an excited smile. Everyone's attention was on the giant dish as Frank placed it on the table. "All right, dude. Get ready to be blown away."
Anne then removed the cover and revealed the squid to Duckweed. The sight and smell attracted the critic as his interest and appetite peaked. "Oh, my...What an exotic selection," he said, picking up his fork.
Frank and Anne glanced at one another and winked. It looks like they are finally going to win, just as long as nothing goes wrong.
And that's precisely what happened.
You see, for squid and basil, you're usually supposed to cut up the squid. But Anne didn't.
Just as Duckweed was about to dig into his meal, the meal opened its eye. The newt screamed as the squid warped its tentacle around his neck. It then lifted him up into the air and let out a mighty roar. Flailing its other arms around.
"Assassinating your critics, I love it," Poly said. However, the squid grabbed her and the other Plantars. It then lashed out at Frank, Anne, and Stumpy. Forcing them to run and dive behind the counter.
"Okay, this is a disaster," Frank said, taking off his chef hat and putting back on his baseball hat.
"Guys, I'm so sorry," Anne said, looking down with a look of guilt. "I never should have made this dumb wager."
"Anne, calm down. Maybe we can't save the restaurant, but we sure can save those people's lives," said Stumpy. "What do you say?"
"I say...let's crush this calamari!" She said with determination.
"Good, because I've got an idea," Frank told her. He reached over the counter and grabbed a cup. It was the same cup Wally had for days, and it just so happened to have a large lemon. "Stumpy and I will create an opening. That's when you get it with this."
Frank handed Anne the lemon before drawing his sword from his hip and shield from his back.
"You ready, Stumpy?" He asked.
"Read as I'll ever be," he replied, replacing one of his hands with a large tenderizing hammer hand.
Together, the two jumped over the counter and rushed towards the squid.
The monster attacked them first, swinging its tentacles at the two. Frank was about to block the attack with his shield and then cut off the limbs. This made the squid shriek in pain and fury.
Cutting off the tentacles created an opening for Stumpy. He jumped towards the squid and bashed it in the face with his tenderizing hammer hand. The hit knocked the squid back, before it countered by spraying black ink at Stumpy. Taking down the chef. He landed on the ground, face covered in ink. Stumpy licked some of the ink on his lips. "Mm... Oh, that's good."
Frank saw another tentacle coming at him as the other customers took cover. He quickly dodged and cut the tentacle off before blocking another one with his shield. "Now Anne!" Frank yelled, turning to Anne.
"Pad See Ew, you later!" Anne jumped over the counter and squeezed the lemon in her hands. Sending the juice flying out of the fruit and into the eye of the squid.
The squid screeched in agony as the lemon juice stung horribly, making it let go of Duckweed and the Plantars.
Seeing his chance, Frank rushed towards the squid and jumped at it. With his sword raised in the air and holding it in reverse, Frank landed on the head of the squid and stabbed it in the eye. The squid let out one final death screech as Frank drove the blade deep inside, causing its black ink blood to spill out and splatter onto him. The mighty creature then fell to the ground with a great thud.
Once the danger was over, the frogs all peaked out from behind their covers around the now tarnished restaurant. Frank pulled his blade out of the squid and jumped down. He looked at the ink on it and hummed. Then the boy gave it a lick, tasting the ink.
"Hey, that's not half bad!" He said with a smile.
With the squid now killed, Anne turned to Duckweed with her hands behind her back. "So, Duckweed. Guess you got a bad review to write, huh?" She guessed. After what had just happened, they could kiss Stumpy's Diner goodbye.
"Bad...Bad? That was incredible!" Duckweed exclaimed, however.
"I'm sorry what," asked Frank.
"A food that tries to eat you? The irony, the ecstasy! I simply must tell everyone. To the message board!" And with that, the newt rushed out of the restaurant. After he left, the customers still there started clapping and cheering for Anne and Frank.
"You go, girl!"
"Go, Frank!"
"They live in my basement."
"Wait, you guys have a message board?" Frank asked, cleaning off his sword and sheathing it.
"Sure do. It's a literal board," Sprig said, pointing out the window at a message board that was sent up in the middle of town. Frank and Anne looked to see Duckweed pinning his restaurant review on the board. Giving the place five stars.
As the frogs all started walking out of the restaurant, Anne turned to Stumpy. "Well, guess we better clean this place up. Again," she said, before looking at the chef frog with shame. "Stumpy, I'm sorry about all this. I took things way too far."
"No way, Anne," Stumpy said instead. Smiling happily at both Anne and Frank. "This whole thing was a big success. You even convinced this old grump to actually care. If your parents could see this, I'm sure they'd be proud."
"He's right, Anne," Frank said. "I mean, look at all that you've done in just a day. You were able to turn this whole place around into a thriving restaurant and manage it like a boss."
Anne smiled gratefully at the two. "Thanks, guys. Put her there," she said, holding out her hand to Stumpy. The chef happily gave her his spatula hand, and the two shook hands. Making Stumpy's replacement creek. "Oh, this feels nice. What is this? Oak? Mahogany?"
Stumpy said, "It's carved from the bones of me missing hand."
"Oh, come on!" Anne complained as Frank laughed.