After their battle with the Night Feeder, the journey to Newtopia began surprisingly uneventfully and pleasantly peaceful. Hop Pop drove Bessie at a slow pace as Frank and Anne sat with him. The Hispanic boy sat in the middle, the old frog sat on his left, and the girl he liked sat on his right. The road they were on took them along a narrow path formed into the edges of giant mountains. Craved out by frogs long ago that used the pass.
Seeing how they wouldn't be going any faster, Anne took the opportunity to check the map. "Hey, looks like we're almost halfway to Newtopia, HP," she said. Prompting Frank to lean in close to her to get a look.
"Yep, we're making good time," said the old frog. "Before you know it, we'll be in. Newtopia."
Frank smiled as he leaned back on the seat. "I gotta say, after the Night Feeder, this trip has been much smoother than I thought it'd be," he said.
"Yep!"
Anne leaned back with Frank. Together, they smiled and stared at the clouds passing over their heads. However, it wasn't all great, and the Thai girl began to point this out when she said, "But, the one thing I'd change…."
"The only thing I'd change…." Hop Pop trailed off. Knowing that if he continued his sentence, he would be interrupted by two certain family members.
"Stop pushing me!"
"NO! You stop pushing ME!"
"…Is that." Frank finished Hop Pop's sentence the moment Sprig and Polly were heard fighting for the hundredth time today. His right eye twitched as he and the others with him were forced to sit and listen to the two kids fighting.
"Get that stupid stuff out of my face!" Polly yelled.
"Well, sorry for showing you all this cool moss I found!" Sprig said back to her. The Hispanic boy then heard the sound of Polly punching her brother. "Ow! What was that for?"
"I saw a punch bug! Punch bug!" Polly hit him again.
"For the last time, I'm not playing punch bu…." Sprig was interrupted when Polly hit him again. "Ow!"
Frank groaned and placed his hands on his face. His head was pounding from the constant fighting that had been going on for the past few days. What started as a small argument over God knows what turned into back-to-back fights over the stupidest things. They would fight over what game piece they wanted to play, what seasoning to put on their food, and what tourist attractions to visit. When one argument was over, another would start over how the other was breathing.
That's not an exaggeration.
"Two weeks of non-stop arguing," Frank said, moaning in anguish. "I don't know how much I can take!"
"Tell me about it. It's starting to wear on me," Anne said, digging into her ear with her pinky.
"At least they're keeping it in the fwagon this time," Hop Pop said.
He was proven to be wrong the very next second. Throwing the hatch open, Polly came out of the fwagon with Sprig's hat and inhaled a deep breath. She then talked in a perfect impression of Sprig's voice. "'Look, everyone, I'm Sprig,'" she said, hopping onto Hop Pop's arm. "'Look at all this dumb moss I found.'"
Polly pulled out a clump of moss from her back and threw it in Hop Pop's face.
"Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!" Polly chanted before leaning close to her grandfather. As if being pelted with moss wasn't enough, the tadpole screamed into Hop Pop's ear in a deep tone. "Woooooooow!"
Frank's respect for the old frog grew when he saw how well he was handling the young frog girl. Knowing he would have been punching her in the face. However, things were only getting started as Sprig pulled himself out of the fwagon. Bringing his fight with his sister outside.
"Oh, yeah?" He said and inhaled. He then started talking in Polly's voice. "Well, I'm Polly, and I decided we're all playing punch bug." The young frog clung to Anne and started punching her in the face. "Punch bug!"
"Wow! Wow!" Polly continued yelling in Hop Pop's ear.
Sprig continued hitting Anne. "Punch bug! Punch bug!"
"SHUT UP!" Frank yelled, his patience finally snapping, and grabbed the two frog kids. The Hispanic boy then slammed their heads against each other's, making them cry in pain.
"Ow! What did I do?" Exclaimed Sprig and Polly.
"No! Shut up!" Frank snapped. When both kids fell silent, he took a deep breath and claimed down. "While your impressions of each other are spot on…."
"Yep, they always had a knack for that," Hop Pop said, jumping into the conversation before hopping back out.
"Thank you, HP," Frank said and returned to the point of his conversation. "You two are driving everyone crazy with your arguments!"
"It's his/her fault!" Sprig and Polly yelled, pointing at each other. Next, they were shocked by their accusation at one another. " My fault!?" They then pressed their heads against each other and glared into each other's eyes. "Why you…"
Anne groaned in complete despair. "You see! That! That right there is what Frank is talking about, and I agree!" She shouted at Spirg and Polly, frustrated that they were still trying to fight each other after being told that they were not doing anyone any favors in doing so. "I don't think I can take two more weeks of this. If only there were some way to get you two to stop fighting."
"Ya!" Hop Pop yelled, stopping Bessie after catching the sight of something. The sudden stoppage threw Sprig and Polly onto the seat floor while Frank and Anne hung onto the seat.
"What the heck, dude? I almost bit my tongue," Anne yelled at Hop Pop.
"Shh!" Hop Pop pointed at the object that got his attention and made him stop. "Look!"
Straightening out his hat, Frank looked at what he was pointing at. Up the road, a feet meters away, was a fork in the road. One path was average looking, while the other was stranger-looking. Winding and crocked, it appeared extremely unstable.
And it was that road that had a sign pointing at it. "'Quarreler's Pass. A road to reconciliation for weary travel-mates.'" Frank said, reading the sign.
"Okay, so what," asked Polly.
However, Sprig's eyes widened. "Wait, Polly; you don't think they're gonna…"
The next thing Frank knew, when Bessie road up to sign, Anne and Hop Pop dumped him, Sprig, and Polly on the ground, directly in front of Quarreler's Pass.
"¡Qué diablos!" Frank glared at the two on the fwagon, shocked they would kick him off the wagon.
"You're seriously leaving us here?" Polly exclaimed.
"Aw, quit your bellyaching," Hop Pop said, putting on his glasses before flipping the sign around to show the backside. On it was a map showing both paths going around a mountainous valley before meeting again on the other side. "It says right here that the paths meet up eventually."
"Your fighting is driving us nuts!" Anne yelled while pulling her hair. The look in her eyes bordered on insanity. "You brought this upon yourselves!"
Frank's feet pushed against the moist, rocky ground as he stood up. His poncho fluttered lightly in the gentle breeze as the siblings got into yet another fight. "This is all Sprig's fault for being so zippy and obnoxious all the time!" Polly started the fight by hitting her brother over and over.
"Me?" Sprig said, indignant. The pink frog retaliated against the punch he got by hitting her in return. "You're the one who's punching everyone!"
"No, you are!"
"No, you are!"
"How about THIS?!" Frank yelled, punching them both in the head.
"Ow! What did I do?" Both frog siblings asked, again.
Hop Pop gave them a knowing expression. "Mm-hmm. You see that right there?" he said, pointing to his two grandkids. "You kids need to learn to value each other and learn to get along."
"Uh, I've got a question. Why am I being kicked off!?" Frank yelled, throwing his hands up. "I'm not the one that's fighting with them!"
"Well, someone has to keep them safe," Anne said. Frank, however, was not happy about being forced to babysit the fighting siblings. Even though it wasn't far from him, Anne knew that the Hispanic boy would be the best choice for the job. "Frank, I'll make it up to you. I promise. If you get in trouble, just call me." She pulled out her phone.
Frank raised a finger. "Uh, Anne…"
"There, we're all good," Hop Pop said, not giving Frank a chance to voice his concerns. "See you kids on the other side. Good luck. Heeyah!"
And so it was, with a fling of the reins, Anne and Hop Pop fled with the fwagon on the safe path. Leaving Frank with the two fighting siblings. As they sped away, Frank looked at the dust cloud they left behind when they went around the corner. His face morphed into a horrified expression as he realized that Anne and Hop Pop had basically abandoned him and the kids.
Frank pitched his nose and asked, "How long until Anne realizes she's an idiot?"
As it turned out, not long at all.
As Bessie drove down the run, Anne and Hop Pop were laughing. Finally, they were free! Sure, they had to sacrifice Frank to the annoying kids arguing, but they were free. No more pointless fights and yelling. They were finally able to have peace and quiet.
"'Call me?!'" Anne yelled in anger as she hit her forehead. Finally realizing just how much of an idiot she was. "Argh! There's no phone reception in this world!"
"I don't get it," Hop Pop said.
"Estoy enamorada de una tonta," Frank said. Luckily Sprig and Polly didn't understand Spanish. The three friends turned around and looked down the dangerous-looking passage for a moment. "Alright, we're not gonna meet them standing here, so let's just get this over with."
Frank walked in front of the two. Sprig was about to start following when Polly hit him in the back of the head. Knocking him to the ground. "Try to keep up, slowpoke," she exclaimed and tried hopping away.
However, Sprig grabbed her. "Oh, no, you don't!" he yelled, throwing her back.
Frank groaned in misery as the pink frog ran away after him, and Polly chased the two of them. Eventually, she caught up, and they were about to go at it again when Frank turned around and glared at the frogs. "Alright, you two, if this path is supposed to resolve arguing travelers, that resolution is going to start now," he told them sternly. "From now on, no more fighting."
"I'll stop when Polly stops being a brat!" Sprig said, pointing at his sister. Polly punched him in the leg. "Ow!"
"You're the brat!" she yelled at him.
"¡Ustedes dos son mocosos!" Frank yelled at them in Spanish.
"What," Sprig asked.
"The two of you are brats that I'm going to have to deal with until we get back to the fwagon—I mean wagon," Frank corrected himself. "And if I'm going to be dealing with you cabrons, I will do it in peace and quiet. So you two—get along."
"Oh, please," Polly said, crossing her arms and looking away annoyedly. "You wouldn't be so happy to do this stupid pass if Sasha was with you."
The moment the blonde girl's name came out, Sprig became worried and motioned for his sister to stop. However, it was too late. Frank grabbed Polly by the head and picked her up. Glaring at her furiously as Polly looked at him with fearful wide eyes.
" Don't go there."
Dropping her to the ground, he turned around and started walking down the path.
Sprig and Polly glance at one another, frowning in anger. They weren't too happy about having to be together after all their arguing and fighting. And now, they were forced to go on this path alone? The presence of Frank made it somewhat bearable. So, for now, they were going to play by his rules. However, that didn't mean that they had to like it. They started following Frank while swinging their arms and hitting each other.
Frank tried to ignore the siblings and continued walking. This was their path to forgiveness, not his. Frank had his own problems to deal with. And it all involved his former friend.
Frank frowned as he looked down at the ground, still walking along the path. There was no way he could ever forget what that girl did to him. Nothing she could do would ever wash away the sins she committed against him. Frank wanted to hate her with all the hatred in his soul. She ruined everything. His friendships, good name, and his family's love for him. Why would he ever forgive her?
The most obvious answer was Anne. She seemed to think that there was some good in Sasha, buried deep inside the cruelty and selfishness that had corrupted her soul. Frank supported Anne in this, but he wouldn't think there was any goodness in her less he saw it for himself. Sasha tarnished those chances with every action she took at Toad Tower. All the lies, manipulation, and willingness to kill Hop Pop just to get her own way told him that his old friend was dead. Killed by the type of person Sasha had become.
And yet…
"Frank…" Sasha pulled her hand away from her mouth and reached out to him.
"How could you?!" Sasha gasped when Anne shouted at her. The Thai girl glared angrily at her so-called best friend as two toads held her back. "How could you ruin his life, Sasha?!"
"W-Wait, Anne, it's not what you think!" Sasha said. For the first time since reuniting with her friends, she looked genuinely scared and remorseful, if some believed it.
Lowing his head down so that his hat covered his eyes, Frank started marching towards Sasha. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he got closer to her.
Seeing him coming towards her, Sash tried pleading with him. "Frank, what happened was an accident. I swear! If you just let me explain…."
"Accident, my ass," Frank growled, not believing a word she said. Why would he? Not when she's lied before.
The young man continued to brood until he came to a stop. Sprig and Polly were so focused on hitting each other that they didn't see him and bumped into the boy. "What's going….on?" Sprig drifted off as he looked at what was in front of them.
In front of the trio was a large gorge a few meets apart. At the bottom were thousands of sharp spikes that would kill them on impact. And a tree log was the only way they could get across.
Luckily there was a sign for them to read and give them an explanation of what to do. "'The Beam of Balance'?" Polly said, chuckling. "More like the beam of…" she suddenly pushed past Sprig and Frank. "Race you across!"
"Hey!" Sprig yelled as he and Frank watched the young frog girl run across the beam without a care in the world. The pink frog then hopped on the log and chased after her. "Get back here, you dang cheater!"
"Guys, hold on!" Frank yelled, holding out his hand towards it.
"Eat my dust, lame-os!" Polly yelled back at the two boys, cockily optimistic that she'll win the race.
However, just a quarter of the way across the beam, she gasped as she felt it starting to move. She and Sprig tried to maintain their balance, but the log twisted and turned under their body. Sprig quickly hugged the wooden log as it turned over, but without legs, Polly couldn't grab on and fell off. Falling towards the sharp spikes below.
"Help me, lame-os!" She screamed for Frank and Sprig.
"Hang on!" Sprig yelled at his sister while hanging upside down from the beam.
The young frog then shot his tongue out of his mouth and launched it at Polly, grabbing her just in the nick of time. He retracted his tongue back and brought his sister to him. However, with his arms holding onto the beam, he ended up taking her in his mouth.
Polly looked absolutely disgusted being her brother's mouth. "Thanks," she groaned, wanting to get out. Luckily, Sprig spat her out, and Polly landed on the beam behind him.
Frank balanced himself on his feet as he slowly walked across the beam towards them. "You two, get on me!" Sprig and Polly quickly hopped on his shoulders, nearly throwing Frank off his balance as he waved his arms around in circles. However, he quickly recovered and stood straight with his arms stretched out. "Okay, I think we're supposed to go across slowly. So, we're going to take this one step at a time."
Frank raised himself up on his tips and started tiptoeing across the beam. In order to avoid losing his balance, he went as slowly as possible. However, Polly sighed in annoyance as she saw they barely made any real progress. They were still less than a quarter of the way there.
"Okay. This works," Sprig said, standing on Frank's right shoulder.
"Yeah. Slow and steady," Frank said nervously. He was sweating profusely as he tried not to look down. "Lento y constante…"
Polly, however, groaned impatiently. "This is gonna take forever. Let's just jump."
"Jump? Are you out of your fucking mind? I can't make that," Frank said, glaring at her from the corner of his eyes.
"Alright, then Sprig and I will jump off you and make it," Polly said.
"What? This is wider than Croaker's Creek. We can't make it!" Sprig exclaimed.
Polly laughed and said, "Remember when you tried to jump over Croaker's Creek?"
"Yeah, don't remind me," Sprig grumbled.
"Was it really that bad," Frank asked her as he continued tiptoeing across the beam.
Polly giggled as her brother was getting embarrassed as she explained what happened to Frank. "He landed right on a cactus flower! All those spikes sticking out of his…" At that moment, Polly gasped and looked like she had just devised an excellent idea. "Wait! Remember Croaker's Creek?"
"Yeah! I don't wanna talk about it!" Sprig said.
"No, no! There was a rickety bridge, remember?" Polly questioned as she started to explain her plans further. Hopefully, she will give enough information to let her brother pick up what she had in mind. "And the only way we got across was…"
That was when Sprig gasped and realized what her plan was. "The walk-and-roll! Polly, you're a flipping genius!"
"Guys, I love a good flashback as much as the next guy, but now is not the time," Frank said, trying not to look down. His toes were getting tired, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold himself up and keep going.
"It's okay," Sprig said, hopping on his human friend's head. "Just hold your arms out and start walking. Use Polly as a weight to balance yourself."
"Okay…if you say so." Frank did as he was told and made a T-pose. Then, placing his feet flat on the beam, he started walking as if he was walking on a tightrope. Only he was doing it at a faster speed than what professionals did and without a really long pole. "Whoa! Whoa!" he said as he felt himself falling to the right. "Okay, left."
Polly quickly pulled herself up his left arm. Her body weight dropped Frank's balance back to normal before he started to fall to the left.
"Right!" Frank yelled, teetering his left up and rolling Polly down, over his shoulders, and onto his right hand. Bringing back to the right. And this repeated over and over again as the log rolled back and forth with his feet. "Left! Right! Left! Right! Left! Right! Left!"
Before long, the Hispanic boy managed to get to the other side while falling. At the end of the log, he jumped off and landed on the ground, breathing heavily as he tried to calm his nerves and placed his hands on his knees to make his legs stop shaking.
"We did it!" Sprig and Polly cheered and threw their fists in the air as they smiled at each other.
Frank panted for a moment before he was able to speak again. "Yeah. That was amazing, you two," he said with a grin of relief. "How did you know that would work?"
"Polly and I knew because we had to do it together a long time ago," Sprig stated as he looked down at his little sister with a grin. Polly grinned back at him, as the two felt great after working together like that for the first time in a long time. And with Frank, no less.
"Now, let's breeze through this thing so we can slap Hop Pop," Polly said, hopping back on Frank's shoulder.
"I support that," Frank said, wanting to give the old frog such a bump on the noggin. Together, the trio continued their journey through the mountain path. "Huh. Wonder how those two knuckleheads are doing without us?"
As it turned out, they were doing absolutely nothing without Frank around and the two frog kids arguing. Taking the time to enjoy the peace, Anne leaned back in the seat, placed her hands behind her head, and closed her eyes with a smile as she beside Hop Pop, with the only sound to be heard was the wind howling. In times like these, a girl could be left alone with her thoughts. But as it just so happened, Anne's mind has been on her best friend. In fact, Frank's been on her mind for a while now, and she's been thinking about him more and more lately. Ever since they danced together on the lilypad, Anne began feeling her heart beating faster than usual the moment she started thinking about Frank.
At first, she'd hoped that with Frank not around, Anne would be able to sort out her feelings and emotions, but now she's more confused than ever. And there's no one who she can go to with her feelings and help the Thai girl sort them out.
Well, except for Hop Pop. The old frog stared intently at the road, trying not to be bored by the peaceful calm. But it was too much for him, and he sighed. "Finally. Peace and quiet. Almost a little too quiet," he said with a chuckle. "Almost a little awkward, isn't it?" Hop Pop puckered his lips and sweated a little bit.
Feeling the painful awkwardness, Anne opened her eyes and stared at Hop Pop. Waiting for him to come out and say what's on in his mind.
"So…you kissed Frank, huh?"
Anne grabbed his coiler and pointed at his face. "I said you didn't see anything!" The Thai girl yelled the same thing she said to the frog family when Frank was all loopy and asked her for another kiss. He didn't remember saying that, but Anne remembered all of it.
"We saw everything Anne," Hop Pop said, having seen almost every step of Anne's growing relationship with Frank.
Anne groaned in dismay as she let him go and leaned back in her seat, covering her eyes with her hands. "Noooo! Why is this happening?"
"What's the big deal? If you love him that much, then you should be—" Hop Pop was cut off when Anne grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him towards her.
"Love?!" Anne yelled indignantly. She started laughing like a mad woman as she pushed Hop Pop back. Creeping him out as Anne continued laughing the same way she did when he told the Thai girl she needed experience with driving Bessie. It stopped when she curled up into a ball with a paranoid, horrified expression."No way, dude," she said, grabbing her hair with her right hand as her face expressed the conflict she felt in her heart. "There's no way I'm in love with Frank, Hop Pop. I don't even know why I kissed him. It just…happened!"
Not believing her for a moment, Hop Pop raised an eyebrow. "Kissing someone 'just happened'?"
"It was on the cheek!" Anne shouted. "And you would have had to have been there!"
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Hop Pop knew that it was Anne's turn to need his help. "Anne, I've been in love—twice." Hop Pop said, holding up two fingers. "It's clear to everyone that you have feelings for him. Why don't we talk it out? What is it that makes you feel like that about him?"
Anne's cheeks blushed brightly as she looked at the reasons she had been developing feelings for her best friend. But they were too numerous to list. "Okay, maybe I think Frank is cute, strong, swift, brave…and funny He's a natural leader," Anne said with a smile as she thought of her friend. However, she quickly tried to correct herself with a big blush on her cheeks. "B-B-But it's Frank! The same boy used his earwax for a science fair project in 2nd grade. Who's scared of ghosts and thinks that one is following him."
"I'm scared of ghosts too. Basement ghosts," Hop Pop said. "But do all his flaws make you feel any less of him?"
"….No." Anne sighed and pulled out her photo. Turning it on, she started looking through her photos. "Look, I don't know how it worked in ancient times, but Frank is my best friend, and I just got back together with him. With everything so crazy right now, what with Newtopia and Sasha, I don't want to do anything to mess up my relationship with him."
Anne stopped talking when she came across a photo on her phone. It was a picture of her and Frank hugging each other as he held the phone and took the picture. It was taken while they were still at the farm, and Frank still had his jacket.
The Thai girl stared at the photo as her heart beat with admiration and love for the boy she had known for years. "…Even though I've wondered if we could be more than best friends, the other part of me would say that it would make things totally weird between us and ruin all the bonding we've built back up," she said, as her doubts came back. "But then the other part of me…knows the truth, and that…I...I like him."
Anne's eyes widened as she scrolled down and looked at a photo of her best friend. Sitting on a small stone wall, smiling that cute, adorable smile she grew to love so deeply. There was a ring-shaped cloud over his head in the sky, and it looked like he had a halo. It was Anne's favorite photo of him, and if she could print, frame, and put it on the wall of her room, she'd do it in a heartbeat.
"I've never said it out loud before, but it's the truth," Anne said, smiling lovingly at her friend in the photo as her voice said what she's been dying to say for months. Possibly for years since the day she knew Frank. "I…I love him. I'm in love with Frank Ramirez."
Anne turned off the phone and leaned back in the seat, sighing as the old frog smirked at the young girl. "Feel better," he asked.
"I…guess? I'm not sure. What do I do now?" Anne looked at Hop Pop with a lost expression. "I mean, we're so focused on getting to Newtopia and going home."
"Well, whenever you're ready, just tell him," Hop Pop said, turning back to the road.
"But what if he doesn't like me too?"
Hop laughed at the thought of Frank, who was clearly in love with Anne, rejecting her. "Oh, I doubt that," he said. The two sat quietly again, but Hop Pop couldn't take the silence. "So…you want some tips on how to kiss?"
Anne kicked Hop Pop off the fwagon.
Frank and the frog kids breezed through the rest of the challenges with the help of each other. Whether climbing out of a hole or throwing Polly at a rope ladder to bring it down, from using mushrooms growing out of the mountain like monkey bars to a trust fall off a waterfall, they did it together and won. Now they were walking across a rock bridge, nearing the end of their journey through the pass.
"Man, this pass has been surprisingly easy," Frank said with a smile.
"I know, right?" Polly said, hopping beside him and Sprig. "We're acing these challenges."
"Yeah, nothing can stop us now!" Sprig said happily, throwing his fists in the air.
However, fate would not take too kindly to their hubris. As the trio walked towards the end of the bridge, a massive shadow passed over them. Frank saw this and looked up at the sky, but saw nothing but a bird flying around high above.
Frank raised an eyebrow and looked at the shadow as it appeared on the ground behind him and his friends. Moving slowly over the floor before dropping off the edge and gliding across the mountains. It was absolutely massive, too big for such a small bird.
It was at that critical point that Frank felt his eyes winding in horror as the shadow circled around him and the two frog kids. "Guys," he said, backing up and getting the attention of Sprig and Polly, who were both ahead of him and were on the other side of the bridge. "We gotta get out of here."
Sprig and Polly were examining the entrance of a cave that was boarded up with planks of wood and had the sky and sun painted over it. When Frank called out to them, they looked back and saw that he was still a few meters away from where they were. But seeing that he was looking up, they did the same.
That's when the bird had the sun directly behind it and seemingly disappeared. Frank couldn't see it. However, when he looked down, the Hispanic boy saw the shadow on him and saw it was growing. Meaning only one thing…
…it was coming down.
"Oh shit."
The massive bird shrieked as it dived down at Frank and opened its talons to catch and kill the Hispanic boy.
"Aaaaaaaah!" Frank screamed in terror as he jumped out of the way of the bird's talons before they could slam into the rock bridge. Smashing where he was standing and destroying that section of the bridge. Debris was scattered across the bridge and the valley as Frank was thrown to the ground.
Groaning in pain, he placed his hand on his head and looked at the monster that attacked him as it circled around and climbed into the sky to make another attempt at its target. Allowing Frank to see what it was.
As big as a Tyrannosaurus Rex with massive wings, the bird that attacked him bore a striking resemblance to the harpy eagle, one of the most powerful eagles on Earth. Black and dark blue feathers on the upper side and white feathers on the underside, with red tips on the wings' feathers. The head was pale gray and crowned with the iconic double crest on the top. The upper side of the tail is black with three gray bands, while the underside of it is black with three white bands.
Frank stared at the Harpy with his eyes wide open at the sheer size of the eagle. "Frank!" The boy turned around to see Sprig and Polly waving at him. They were both standing at the entrance of another cave next to the original. Over it were the painted words "THIS WEIGH ALSO GUD."
"Over here!" Polly shouted. "Hurry!"
Frank scrambled to his feet and rushed towards the cave.
The harpy eagle looked at Frank as he ran and saw him running toward the cave. But it wasn't going to let him get away. As it turned out, when it first attacked Frank, the bird held onto a massive boulder from the bridge in its talons. It turned back around and dived down again before throwing the boulder.
Luckily for Frank, he looked back just in time to see the boulder flying at him. He quickly ducked down as it passed by and flew towards the cave's entrance. Sprig and Polly saw it coming at them. They screamed in terror and ran deeper into the cave, surviving the rock as it slammed into the cave's mouth with a large amount of dust going everywhere.
Frank looked up and saw the damage as the dust settled.
The boulder clogged the cave's mouth. Frank was now trapped on a broken bridge with a giant bird about to have him for a snack.
The bird shrieked again. Frank looked back and saw it circling around and getting ready to make another attempt to get him. He had to get out of there—and fast.
Grabbing the Hellcat scythe from his back, Frank ran to the boarded-up cave and slashed at the wooden planks. Cutting through them with one chop. He then started desperately pulling them off the walls.
The harpy eagle narrowed its eyes and dived at Frank. Its talons were ready to grab him.
Frank looked back and saw the eagle getting closer at breakneck speeds. He turned back to the planks, ripped the last one off, and then dived into the cave. Just in the nick of time, the harpy eagle crashed against the wall of the mountain. Its claw was too big to reach inside and grab the boy.
The eagle shrieked wildly as it flapped its wings and backed away from the mountain. Landing on the bridge, the eagle leaned down and looked inside the cave with its yellow eyes. Frank was backed up against the wall, his heart pounding hard and fast as he clung to the cave wall. Sweating profusely and looking at the bird with his eyes open as wide as he could possibly have them be.
Growling, the eagle pulled away and shrieked in the air before opening its wings. Flapping them created powerful gusts of wind that could blow away cars, and it caused the entrance of the cave to collapse in on itself. Trapping Frank inside.
With a mighty shriek, the eagle lifted off the ground before flying off into the sky.
Back in the cave, Frank rushed to the rocks blocking his exit and tried pushing them away to escape. However, there were so many, and some were too large for him to move. "Dammit!" He yelled.
"Frank!" The young boy gasped when he heard Sprig's muffled voice from the cave's wall.
"Sprig? Polly?" Frank called out to the two young frogs. He walked to the wall and placed his hands on it. "Are you two okay?"
"Yeah! But we're stuck in this cave!" Polly yelled.
"Same here," said Frank as he looked down the cave. Luckily there was a tunnel that had glowing mushrooms. "Alright, if your guys' path is good, then keep going that way. I'll go down this way."
"Alright, but be careful," Sprig said from the other side. Frank then heard his feet and Polly's jumps fading into their tunnel.
"Okay…" Frank sighed and turned to face the tunnel he was in. "Let's do this," he said, walking down the underground passageway and descending into the depths of the mountain.
Feeling the cool touch of the smooth stone on his feet, Frank continued his way into the tunnel. Following the large path as it remained relatively straight and stable.
"Why would someone block this path if it wasn't dangerous," Frank asked. "It looks relatively safe."
"This One does not have an answer to your question."
"Okay, thanks," Frank said.
A second later, Frank froze in his tracks and remained silent for a moment. His eyes were wide open as he slowly turned his head and looked back at the owner of the woman's voice.
There she was, the same glowing red frog from the Ruins of Despair.
"AAAAAAH!" Frank screamed as he stumbled back from the ghostly frog and tripped on his own feet. Falling on his butt, he quickly pulled out his sword and scythe. Holding them together in a cross. "Begone, spirit!"
But as he stared at the frog, Frank's feared expression turned to a look of confusion. She didn't disappear—nor do anything but stand still and smile at the young boy. Frank uncrossed his weapons and cautiously stood up.
"Uh…why isn't this working," Frank asked.
"You thought that This One was a ghost, the spiritual consciousness of a being that hasn't crossed into the afterlife," said the glowing red frog. "Of which I am not."
Frank lowered his guard and sheathed his sword, but kept his scythe out just in case he had to fight her. "So…not a ghost?"
"I am not a ghost."
Frank sighed in comical relief. "Oh, thank goodness," he said with his hand on his chest. He then looked at the frog with a wary look and approached her. "If you're not a ghost, then what are you?"
The frog girl smiled and said in a complex and cryptic voice, "This One is a construct of the power that resides within your body and mind. And it is through your mind that I'm able to speak with you, using a simulacrum version of the very last person who we have spoken to through the mind, once known as Leif."
Frank looked at the frog in wonder as she pointed to his heart. He looked down at his chest, and his eyes widened again as he saw a glowing red light coming from his chest, where his heart was located. His left hand was placed over it for a moment, before Frank lifted it up. When he looked again, it was gone.
"So, is that why the others can't see you? I'm basically hallucinating," he inquired.
"In a sense, yes. This One has only been able to be seen by you because of your awakening," said Leif.
"My…awakening?"
"When you first used our giant power," Leif answered.
Frank's eyes widened with the realization of what she meant. "When I was fighting Sasha…!" he gasped, looking at Hellcat's Claw. "Wait, hang on. So, that means that you're the embodiment of my anime powers?"
"Not so much an embodiment, but merely a projection of This One's power. The same power that you were given when you came to this world. A power that was once locked away in This One's original host," said the ghostly frog girl.
Frank raised an eyebrow at the frog, wondering what the original host was and why it was granted to him. "Uh…okay? Look, we'll talk about this later. Right now, I've got to get back to my friends," he said, turning around and walking away from Leif. Not realizing that she'd disappeared the moment that he turned his gaze away from her.
Alone again, Frank continued to follow the tunnel to another area of the underground path. Entering a large chamber with main large mushrooms illuminating the darkness. However, there was something different about it.
There were red currents whose colors had long since faded, along with statuses of frogs, toads, and newts who held up bowls filled with the large illuminating mushrooms. Most of them had pieces missing, like arms and faces.
Frank walked past them as he looked at the statues. He was not paying attention to anything until he came across something that caught his eye.
It was a drawing of five people. Two humans and three frogs riding on a wagon together, being pulled by a snail. The frogs were sitting in the front together, while the humans were sitting together, facing each other and holding hands.
"That's…us?" Frank said as he reached out and placed his hand on the painting.
Suddenly, small rocks and pebbles fell from the walls between the statues. Frank gasped and stepped back, fearing that he had triggered the tunnel to collapse. However, something even more remarkable happened.
Behind the rocks and pebbles, a giant mural spanning the entire length of the chamber's wall was revealed. Frank backed up and watched as more and more of the mural was unveiled. Looking at the left side, Frank's eyes widened as he saw what was painted.
He saw himself, Anne, and Sprig running into the Ruins of Despair. Then he saw his fight with Sasha on Toad Tower. Frank ran back down the tunnel to see where it all started. When he reached the end of the chamber, Frank stopped and watched the last of the painting was uncovered. To his shock, the Mural began with the music box that brought him and the girls to this world. After that, it showed him and Anne together in the forest, running from snakes.
"It's really us," Frank said as a smile formed on his face. He slowly followed the mural back to where he'd started. Along the way, Frank was filled with a sensation that made him feel like he was literally watching the past, as the Hispanic boy saw more and more of the most significant events that happened during his stay in Amphibia.
"This One sees that you're confused." Frank gasped and turned around to see Leif standing behind him.
"Don't sneak up on me like that," he yelled at her.
"Then how do you want me to sneak up on you?" Leif disappeared again when he blinked. "Like this?"
"AAAAAAAH! KNOCK IT OFF!" Frank shouted at her after appearing behind him again.
Unfazed, Leif turned to the mural and looked it over with Frank. "This One sees that you're familiar with these events," she said.
"Well, yeah! These are all things that have happened," Frank said, pointing to a painting of himself and Anne on top of two elephant beetles. "That's us…when we fought the elephant beetles. But how…?"
His hand rested on another part of the mural. The man-bats and the mega spider, and my fight with Tartarus!" Frank exclaimed. A part of the mural to the right caught his attention, and he moved toward it. "The Ruins of Despair and…the Night Feeder? But that just happened."
"Just a week ago," said Leif, standing beside him.
Frank's eyes widened as the realization of what he was seeing set in. "Wait—the person that made this…they knew everything that was going to happen," he said, his eyes widening even more. "From when we came to Amphibia to Sasha…All these drawings…this is our story."
"No, This One doesn't believe so," Leif said, much to Frank's confusion. So, the being clarified her answer. "Anne may be in it, but This One believes that, in reality, it is your story, Frank Ramirez. Fate has chosen you as its lead role in this journey you've undertaken."
Frank looked back at the mural and backed away from it, allowing him to see the bigger picture. She was right. Anne didn't make an appearance in some of the paintings. He was in every single one of the events documented by the spanning mural. Everything that was happening was a part of his story.
"But…what does this all mean," he asked his ghostly companion, feeling more lost and overwhelmed than ever. "Were…we supposed to come to Amphibia? And if it foretold all of this, it must know if we make it home!" Frank ran down the mural, expecting to find the answers to his questions.
However, there was no such luck. The mural ended with a painting of Frank in front of the first one he found. Symbolizing the Hispanic boy finding this place. Everything else after that was a blank, rocky canvas.
"Oh no. The rest of the story is missing," Frank said, his shoulders slumping. "They must not have finished it."
"Or they wanted you to find the rest," suggested Leif. "This is where the rest of your story is up to you. Only your choices can lead you to your destiny." She nodded to something further down the wall. Frank turned around to see what she was looking at.
That's when he saw it: a part of the mural that depicted the future.
There were four humans together, standing against a giant, evil-looking frog with diamond eyes and a ball of fire in its hand. However, the humans were what stood out to him. Thanks to the hat, Frank instantly recognized himself at the front of the group. He was red, with both his sword and Hellcat's Claw. As for others, it took Frank a few minutes to figure out that they were the girls. Anne and Sasha were blue and pink, respectively, and they were both holding swords. The one in green behind them was Marcy, wearing a cloak and armed with a bow and arrow.
"Wait—that's all of us together!" Frank exclaimed with an expression of shock and happiness, realizing that he and Anne were destined to find Marcy. "Me, Anne, Marcy…Sasha? What's she doing with us? And what are we fighting…?" He trailed off his sentence, and his expression turned to confusion.
What came after the epic battle painting was one last drawing on the mural, before it once again became rocky blankness. This one showed Frank lying on the ground, his head in Anne's lap, as the Thai girl looked down at him. Surrounding him were Sasha, Marcy, the Plantars, Grimes, and three other individuals he didn't know. However, his eyes were merely focused on himself in the mural.
"Is that me…?"
Suddenly, he heard Sprig and Polly's screams coming from further down the tunnel. "Guys!" Frank yelled. They were in trouble, and he had to go and save them. But there was no telling how far they were from him. So, he turned to Leif and knelt down to her level. "Leif, if you're the consciousness of my powers, please tell me how I can use that power. I need to know how so I can save my friends."
For a moment, Leif was silent. And then she looked at the boy with a wise smile. "My child... you have only but to ask."
And just like that, Frank gasped as he felt the power through his body. His eyes glowed red, and his hair glowed a dim red. Feeling the energy in him again, he was about to say something to Leif, but she was gone when he looked at her. Disappearing the moment Frank powered up.
"Thank you," he said. Frank turned around and dashed off through the tunnel at high speeds.
While zooming through the tunnel at incredible speed, he felt the ground underneath him began to shake. Something big was going on, and it was threatening to collapse the tunnel itself. Not knowing how long he had before the power faded away, Frank ran faster.
However, he stopped at a dead end. Frank now found himself in a massive cave that was supposed to have a bridge to connect to the other said. And it was on the other side that the exit to the mountain was. But someone had broken that bridge a long time ago.
That someone was discovered when Frank looked down and saw them. But he was more confused than ever.
Below was a sea of bones and remains of the poor frogs, toads, and newts that had taken Quarreler's Pass. However, what had him confused was what was going on down there.
Fighting one another in combat was a pair of twin olms bearing a snake-like resemblance, similar to their earth-counterparts. They were giant beasts with short front legs, lacking any back legs. They were also blind, hence the bleached eyes, and had two glowing branched gills forming tufts atop their heads. Both creatures also had various scars on their bodies from their multiple fights.
But the most notable thing about them was that the siblings connected at the waist. Each olm's side of the body had a different color from the other—one being purple and the other light pink.
"Mom always liked me best!" yelled the light pink olm.
"That's because she had terrible taste!" The purple one replied.
"What the hell is going on?" Frank said as he watched the two fight each other. All while the cave shook and debris fell from the ceiling.
"Frank!" yelled Sprig's voice.
Frank looked down in the direction the voice was coming from and saw him and Polly down below. They were still alive, thanks to their quick thinking and working together to make the bickering olms turn against each other.
"Hang on!" Frank yelled, using his powers to dash towards them.
Landing on the floor of bones, Frank grabbed the two frogs and then jumped high up. Zooming up to the other end of the broken bridge and landing on the edge of it. That's when his powers faded away, and he felt extremely exhausted, just like when he used the power at the Ruins of Despair.
He collapsed on his hands and knees as the cave continued to collapse around him and the frog kids. "Sprig! Help me get him out of here!" Polly yelled frantically.
Sprig wasted no time, and the two siblings grabbed one of Frank's arms. Then, they started pulling him towards the exit. At the same time, Frank tried desperately to use his legs to push himself forward to not slow them down.
And in the end, it worked. The trio made it out of the cave and into the outside world. And just in time, because the cave entrance behind them collapsed in on itself and caused a dusty explosion that sent the kids off the ledge they were on. They screamed as they bounced off another ridge and landed on the main mountain road below. At last, the danger was gone.
Exhausted and full of relief, Frank, Sprig, and Polly panted and started laughing. "We're alive!" The Hispanic boy threw his arms up as he laid on his back.
Polly got up and wiped a tear from her eye. Whoo, man. Promise me we never end up like that," she said to her brother.
"Us? Are you kidding? We're way too good of a team," Sprog said to his sister.
"Okay, you two are going to have to explain to me what happened because I was having my own little adventure," Frank said to his friends. "But, it's great seeing you guys are backing to being friends."
"Bring it in, buddies," Polly said, before bouncing over to Frank's head and hugging him as Sprig did the same, placing his hands around both Frank and his sister. Frank felt his eyes tearing up as he hugged his friends.
When the hug came to an end, Frank sat up and looked to see the sun going down, and they had made it back to the main road. "Huh, looks like we're back on the road. Where's Anne and Hop Pop," he asked, standing back up.
Sprig said, "Yeah, they should be here by now."
That's when Polly heard someone mumbling. "Wait, do you hear that?"
Frank stepped around the corner and saw none other than the Fwagon coming down the road. Bessie looked like she was going to collapse at any minute, and Anne looked like she was about ready to lose her mind as Hop Pop continued to talk to her. "You see, Anne, a relationship is like a farm. You plant a seed of trust and it grows into a better relationship," he said to her.
Happy to see the girl he loved, Frank waved and called out to her. "Anne, over here! Anne!"
Anne gasped when she saw the boy she fell for and jumped off the wagon. "Frank! Thank frog!" Anne said as she ran into him and hugged him as tightly as possible, beyond happy to see him again.
"Whoa, hi!" Frank grinned as he blushed and hugged her in return. "I didn't think you'd be so happy to see me."
Anne pulled away and smiled at him with a blush. "You know I'm always happy to see you, Frank," she said gently.
"Well, you're gonna be happy to see us too," said Sprig as he and Polly stood beside each other and looked proud of their accomplishments on the Quarreler's Pass. 'Anne, you'll be glad to know we've decided to stop…"
Anne suddenly grabbed them and threw them on the moving fwagon. "I don't care!" She yelled and grabbed Frank. Anne got up on the fwagon and pulled him up by his hands. Then she sat him down beside her. "I need you to fill the silences. Hop Pop can't deal with them! He can't deal with them!"
Hearing more than his own voice, Hop Pop snapped out of it and looked at the trio that just returned. "Oh, hey, kids. Didn't see you there," he said. "How'd the trials go?"
"It was fine, except for the bloodthirsty olms and giant eagle," said Polly.
Sprig then chimed in. "And you'll be glad to know we've decided to stop arguing…"
He was stopped when Hop Pop when interrupted him. "That's great, Sprig. Anyway, we were just getting into the nitty-gritty," he said, too far gone from reason to talk about anything other than Frank and Anne's relationship. Now that you guys are back, we can talk about Frank and Anne's relationship—"
Panicking now that Frank was right beside her, Anne quickly kicked Hop Pop off the wagon and the road. He screamed and free-fell into the void below.
Frank and the others watched as he fell before looking at Anne in shock. "What was that about," Frank asked.
Anne yelled, "Nothing!"
An hour later, Hop Pop was sleeping in the fwagon in a full-body cast. The others slept in the cable with him as Frank took the first watch. They parked the wagon in a grassy field, far from the mountains.
However, Frank's mind was far from rested like the others. As he gently petted Bessie's shell, smiling when the giant snail purred, he looked back at the direction he and the group came from. Staring at the mountains as he looked back on what he saw and learned.
What he learned from Leif was incredible, but the mural was more complicated to understand and mentally process. Why was he so important that someone drew a mural of his time in Amphibia? Did the artist really see the future? And if so, why did they stop the mural and leave it incomplete? How did Sasha become his friend again? After what she did to him, Frank would rather turn her into the police and clear his name the moment he got home. What could happen that would change that? What was that thing they were fighting?
…and was he really going to die fighting it?
Frank shook his head and grabbed his face. No, he couldn't think about what he saw. Frank couldn't let some wall painting say about his destiny. There was so much he wanted to do in his life. Be a fighter pilot, have kids, see his family again, and Anne…there were so many things he wanted to do with her.
There was no way Frank was letting his life come to an end without a fight. If death wants him, it will have to earn him.
Climbing back up on the roof of the carriage, Frank laid on his back and looked up at the sky, thinking about what he would say when he saw Marcy again. He first wanted to give her a big kick in the butt for stealing from his abuelita. After that, he wasn't so sure.
To clear his mind, he did the one thing he never would have done in front of Anne, mostly out of embarrassment.
First, he started humming a slow, short tone in his throat. He hummed it again, and then he began to sing.
"Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day
To find our long forgotten gold…
The pines were roaring on the heights
The winds was moaning in the night
The fire was red, it flaming spread
The trees like torches blazed with lights…"