"And that was 'Tarantulad: The World I call home'," Bee tearfully explained as he turned off Netflix. "Quite possibly the finest film ever made."
It was the next day and everyone, exhausted from the previous one, had decided to join Bee in his movie marathon. Mostly so that they could all avoid having to reveal some big news, at least for one more day.\
Reactions varied throughout the assembled group. Fangora had been awestruck and Maddie had no doubt her Palisman would so try to pull off some of the tricks she'd seen. And judging by his eyes and hanging mouth, so was Sprig.
"I…I've never seen anything like that! So moving! So, inspiring!" Sprig managed, fighting back tears in his eyes before he looked out the window and sighs. "I wish I could be lovingly embraced by all of humanity."
Anne, knowing what her best friend was thinking, shut the curtains.)
"No can do, dude. Low profile, remember?"
"I know, I know, but it's not fair!" The Pink frog pouted. "You and Olivier got to make your mark in Amphibia!"
"That's because in Amphibia, we weren't in hiding."
"And in my case, Barry, Grunge and all those other 'wizards'" Olivier used finger quotes for that last word. "Came looking for me."
Sprig Ugh, fine.
"I still can't believe you guys actually LIKED that movie!" Polly called out. "It was stuffed with predictable tropes and lazy writing!"
"We have got to cut back on your internet use." Hop-Pop mused.
"….I didn't like the love interest. Too much screaming, not enough at least trying." Anne and Olivier admitted together.
"THANK YOU!" Oum and Eda said together, raising their hands in relief.
"Y-yeah, the movies did her wrong." Bee admitted sheepishly.
(A/N: I grew up with the Sam Raimi Spiderman movies. Heck, Sam Raimi movies are still among my favourites. But…it can't be denied that he doesn't really do 'independent' and strong women well or often in his movies. At least not from what I've seen, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. That, and if you've ever read any comics from the 1980s-1990s and even 2000s, you'll known Mary Jane is nowhere NEAR a damsel in distress that often. Sorry for the rant, back to the story.)
"I've never understood the whole 'damsel in distress' thing." Olivier admitted, getting a smile from his mother and Anne, and a knowing smirk from Oum.
"Really, Ollie?" the Thai woman smirked.
"Well, please remember I grew up with my mom, aunt and granny as my primary female role models: Take no scat, powerful, brilliant…." Olivier recounted.
"Cheapskates!" King added in his own bit and getting whacked for his trouble. "OW!"
"So, yeah." Olivier shrugged. "Never understood it."
"Oh?" Anne mused, adopting a sad look. "So….you didn't like saving me all those times?"
Olivier tensed and became worried.
"No, no, no! I mean, yes! I mean…!" The half-witch boy stuttered, fumbling all over his words and thoughts; Yes, there were one of two times Anne really should've known better, but she came from a world without magic and most of the time, saving her had led to something cool...
"He's a boy, Anne. What boy DOESN'T mind saving a pretty girl every now and then?" Eda smirked.
"MAMA!" Olivier wailed in embrassment, retreating into his hoodie until Anne lifted his chin and nuzzled his nose.
"Just kidding." She smiled, then hugging Olivier.
"All I'm saying is that you'd have to be pretty dense to think any of what the movie should would be possible." Polly continued. "First of all, the idea that a vigilante would be given free reign..."
"Wait, Eda." Bee noted. "Aren't you a hero on the Boiling Isles? Standing up to Belos and the Coven system?"
Eda, Olivier and King looked at Bee. Then themselves. Then Bee again…and then they burst out into laughter, rolling onto the floor and howling.
"ME?!" Eda asked, tears in her eyes. "A hero? That's a new one! Good too! But…nah. Aside from keeping my boys safe? I look out for number one: Me. Not my fault the rest of the Isle is too stupid to see Belos for the chump he is."
"…But you saved us from Hettie." Maddie pointed out.
"Well, duh. Of course, I did. You're family." Eda recounted. "And Anne had to get back here."
"And Olivier? You saved me, Anne, the Plantars and all of Wartwood….at least eight times." Maddie guessed.
"I cared about you and Anne right away, because you had magic and Anne looked like a fellow witch." Oliver explained/admitted. "And the Plantars gave me a roof over my head and food in my belly, so of course I'd take care of them. Only reason I saved the town was because you all liked them…that and I needed Snails to live and without the townsfolk, we'd have all gone broke in days."
"Maddie, look at it this way." King explained. "A 'hero' looks out for everybody. A 'hero' makes sure everyone is happy and fights the good fight, even if they might lose. Heck, they're happy if they lose, cause they'll inspire others. And we ain't and never will do any of that."
Hearing these words from her guests didn't sit well with Oum…especially not Olivier's. Anne herself, despite knowing this was the case, looked slightly hurt her boyfriend didn't seem to truly care for Wartwood beyond her, the Plantars and Flours. Not that she entirely blamed him….
Olivier spotted this and gently reached towards Anne.
"Annie, I know that sounds…Okay, yeah I could've…" he paused, sighing. "Look. I love you, Maddie, Sprig, Polly and Hop-Pop. The triplets are cute, Ivy is fun, her mom makes decent tea and Wally actually plays good accordion…"
Anne smiled and kissed Olivier on the cheek before nuzzling back into his arms.
"Eda, didn't you say you're the strongest Witch in the Isles?" Oum asked.
"That I am." Eda beamed. "And whatever the Titan Belos is? He's even stronger than me. Scared cause he can't control me though…and that bit of fear is all I need. Besides., You want to know what happens to heroes on the isles? Three words: Conformatorium or petrification….sometimes with shattering if Belos hates you enough."
"Eda, that's 11 words." Hop-Pop said after he counted.
The Owl Lady then pulled out several videos from out of her hair. Videos that made Olivier's eyes brighten and his smile grow.
"Sides, if the Isles do ever get heroes, THESE are the kinds of folks that'd get results." Eda remarked, letting Anne observe.
"Zorro? The Scarecrow? Captain Blood? The Count of Monte Cristo…Wait, didn't they remake this one?"
"Yeah, but it skips over a lot and changes the ending for 'Hollywood' standards." Oum nodded.
"Honey to be fair, the original book is like, half of a 'War and Peace' volume in terms of length." Bee added.
"These look ancient, dude." Anne grimaced to her boyfriend.
"Nah, they're only….GRANDMA'S AGE?! I remember watching these bouncing on mom's lap." Olivier mused.
Sprig, absorbed in his thoughts, ignored the rest of the conversation.
"He was just a mild-mannered frog boy who never made a fuss…"
"THAT IS A BOLD FACED LIE!" Hop-Pop added
Maddie spying this, excused herself and followed Sprig as he made his way to the attic.
"But he was destined to be something more..."
"Who knows how long he's got left on Earth. But it's time to put his mark on the world and be adored by all!"
Maddie a light blush on her face at the costume Sprig had made, then controlled herself and sighed.
"OLLIE! SPRIG'S AT IT AGAIN!"
A few minutes later
"Wha…what am I looking at here?" Olivier asked.
"I'm fulfilling my destiny as FROG-MAN, your neighborhood superhero!" Sprig announced, now wearing goggles, a scarf and blue baby jumper
"You mean neighborhood attention-seeker?" His sister smirked.
'The sad part is? Mean as she is, she's not wrong.' Anne and Maddie thought.
"The only thing I seek is justice!" Sprig saluted as he neared a window. " Hop-hop, and AWA….HEY!:
A tongue wrapped around Sprig pulling him to the ground. It was the blue she-frog.
"What about 'keeping a low profile?'" Maddie asked. "Or training before going out? What if that…X guy Olivier mentioned is out there?"
Seeing his friend's look of disappointment, Olivier looked at Anne. She was already breaking out the 'doe' eyes, so the half-witch sighed
"Okay. You and can go out for an hour or two while Maddie, Anne and I research..."
The ampbibian boy's eyes glow in happiness
"BUT DO NOT LEAVE THE NEIGHBORHOOD!" Anne hurriedly added.
"Deal."
"You're never gonna solve systemic societal problems with a sock on your head!" Polly shouted.
"Watch meee!" Sprig retorted, scaring a dog
"And remember what the movies say: With great power comes great responsibility aaand he's already out of earshot…." Maddie added. "…Urgh…Olms, why? Why did I have to fall for such…"
She then remembered she wasn't alone. Anne was squealing and Olivier was smiling knowingly. Polly was already heading back to watch robot videos.
"….Oh like you two were any better!" Maddie hurriedly said, dashing downwards and towards the guest room.
"Got to say, you handled that well." Anne smiled, giving Olivier a hug and nuzzling her face in the crook of his neck.
"Being a big brother helps." Olivier said. "But did you have to break out the 'doe' eyes?"
OWLPHIBIA
An hour later, Anne and Olivier went for a grocery run at the convience store and found Sprig., bored oit of his gourd. Apparently, fighting evil was NOT as usually happening as the movies and comics made it look.
"Well, ya gave it a try dude." Anne mused. "Hows about we go home and dazzle mom and dad by cleaning the place top to…"
They were cut off by a voice.
"All right, I'm writing you kids up. You need a permit to sell goods on this street."
"Oh, Mom's going to hate this." A little boy grimaced when he saw the note.
"Dude, we're eight." His sister noted.
Sprig, beaming at the sight, leapt over to the scene.
"What seems to be the problem here?" he asked.
Anne and Olivier quickly followed and saw Robert Otto, now on rollerblades and wearing a vest, standing and looking disapprovingly of a lemonade stand.
"Oh yeah…forgot about this." Anne mused.
"What?"
"Just…just watch,"
"Who are you? Some kind of masked vigilante?" Robert asked the newcomer.
"Exactly." Sprig beamed, pointing to himself as he lowered his mask. "I am... FROG-MAN! RIBBITER OF JUSTICE!"
Oliver and Maddie face palmed when the Frog boy's tongue flopped to the ground.
"Subtle." The Thai girl said.
"Well, these streets don't need you, because they've got me!" Robert beamed as he struck a pose. "Robert Otto, Neighborhood Safety Supervisor!
"More like Neighborhood Butt Cheek..." The girl mumbled.
Olivier chuckled.
'Oh, mom would love this kid! Also, just lost a bit of respect for the old guy.'
Robert's pride vanished when he realized something.
"Wait…You're Anne's friend. Spring, was it?" Robert asked.
"Spr…I mean, I don't know who you're talking about but he sound cool."
Oliver and Anne face palmed.
"Subtle." The half-witch said.
"Listen kiddo, Robert said, lowering himself to Sprig's level. "This neighborhood ain't big enough for the both of us AND I was here first, so get lost!"
"Hey, I don't need want to fight you, I only want to fight injustice!" Sprig retorted.
"Fellas, fellas!" Olivier tried to defuse the situation. "You're both doing good, why not…?"
A scream filled the air, and the two 'heroes' in competetion dashed down the street, Robert rolling fast and Sprig swinging with his tongue.
"A day. Can we have ONE DAY?!" Olivier mused as he rushed after the two…before doubling back and kissing Anne. "Back in a flash. FLEETWING!"
His Palisman tore through the skies toward him and landed on his shoulder, THEN the halfwitch followed.
"….This neighborhood finally hit rock bottom." The Lemonade seller girl noted before she saw Anne come over with a $20 in her hand.
"So…you guys still open?"
The kids beamed at that and readied a few cups for the Thai Girl.
OWLPHIBIA
As they raced towards whatever was going on, Fleetwing noticed that Olivier was avoding nuzzlijg him,
"Sorry buddy. Much as I would love to fuse and believe me, something tells me that form would help, with Mr. X checking in with the Gargoyle clans, us fusing…?"
Fleetwing grimaced at that, seeing his master's point. He let out a caw.
"Yeah, I know! I don't want to draw attention either…heck, don't even know why I'm getting…!"
He then spied something oit of the corner of his eye.
"….Interesting…"
OWLPHIBIA
The danger, as it turned out a school bus rolling fast and down a hill. The children were in a panic and the driver was trying to brake, but the cable was broken. To make it worse, a traffic jam was right ahead.
But just then, Robert Otto stood in front of the bus
Robert Otto "It's OK! Your Neighborhood Safety Supervisor is her….!"
CRASH!
Evidentally, being a Safety inspector did NOT save you from the crash of the front of a bus.
"HIT THE BRAKES" Robert begged, somewhat through pain.
"THEY'RE OUT! AND NOW I CAN'T EVEN SEE!"
Just as people started to realize the danger that was about to unfold, Sprig reached the cross above a light. He had only seconds to act….
"Not so fast! TONGUE WEB!" The frog boy, channeling the anime he'd seen on Anne's phone, jumped back and forth, forming a safety net with his tongue. The bus hit the web full on, but seemed to be powering through. Sprig put more effort and fought through the pain….whjich suddenly lessened. And…was he…glowing? Wait, this light?
"OLIVE-VA?!" The frog boy managed, spying the half witch boy in a costume of his own, using his magic to heal and empower the frog boy's tongue and finally managing to stop the bus.
It wasn't until the bus came to a complete stop, that he let go and collapsed. Just as he did that, drivers and passers by all realized what had happened.
"Oh my gosh... That kid did it…"
"What a hero!"
"Hey hey. Way to go, kiddo!"
"Hey, what about me?" Robert pointed out. "I mean, I slowed the bus down first!" He then grimaced in pain and nearly fell, but someone caught him.
"Easy. I got you, Robert. Let me help."
Robert suddenly felt his pain going away, a warmth filling him…and rewinding the pain? He looked to see a redheaded boy in a dirty cowl and owl mask…with one blue and one yellow eye.
"O-Olivier?" The man managed, getting a shush and realizing. He then nodded in understanding.
"Please, citizens, please.:" Sprig tried to downplay the thanks. "It was nothing. As long as no one got hurt."
The kids finally got off the bus and raced towards their savior. One of them was a very familiar face.
"Molly Jo?!" Robert gasped in shock. "You were in that bus?!" Oh, thank goodness you're... !"
She raced past her grandfather.
"….Safe."
'….huh. Now I know how mom and Auntie felt.' Olivier mused.
"Thank you Spr…I mean, Frog-Man, for saving me and my Grandpa Robert!" The girl beamed as she and Sprig shook hands….only to get stuck.
"No prob….Oh. Oh no, not again! O-one sec!"
'Ah, you never forget your first slimey handshake.' Olivier beamed, as did the two kids when they finally parted….only to frown as memories of…Those which he loathed…filled his mind. 'No matter how much you want to.'
As the crowd continuesd to cheer Sprig, Robert was growing more and more annoyed.
"Stupid Frog-Man…" Robert grimaced. "Hey! He wasn't the only hero, ya know!"
He lifted up Olivier's arm.
"Wait, what?!"
"Yeah! THIS kid here! He gave Frog-Man the strength to stop the bus! And he healed me!"
The crowd looked at Olivier in costume. Then Sprig.
"So, how do we know HE didn't cause the accident?" Someone said.
"Yeah, he looks awful shady!"
"he's like a vampire!"
"And he has scars!"
"And how do we know he wasn't weakening Frog man?!"
"Wait, what?" Sprig asked.
"…A-are you people KIDDING ME?!" Robert snapped, only for the boy to pull his hand down.
"Its okay." Olivier said. "I only did it to help my friend. I don't care what people think."
"Wait!" Molly Joe then raced to Olivier…and hugged him. Instantly, the half witch boiy felt…warm. Fullfilled. "Thank you for helping."
Molly Joe then moved to her grandfather, checking he was okay.
Okay, ONE person being thankful was worth it.
"Um…what do we call YOU?" Molly Joe asked.
Olivier smirked, adopting 'vampire pose' with his cloak.
"Me?" The half-witch asked in his most dramatic tone. "It doesn't really matter what you think of or call me. Hero, villain? All titles. But…if you must call me something….? Adress me as…Baron Barn!"
And with a dramatic turn, he slammed his hand onto the ground, disappearing in a flash.
OWLPHIBIA
Later that night!
"SPRIIIIIIIIIIIIG!" Anne roared when she saw the news reports of Frog-Man. "WHAT PART OF 'LOW PROFILE' DIDN'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"….Uh oh." The pink frog whimpered.
"….Might I suggest running?" Hop-Pop offered his grandson, who took the advice.
Elsewhere in the Boonchuy residence….
"Baron Barn?!" Eda managed between cackles later that night as Olivier tried in vain to prepare an experiment. "BARON?! BARN?! Really, sweetie? THAT was what you went with? What, was 'Captain Hoots…?' Actually yeah, never mind…..BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"….Captain Falcon, Nite Owl and Owlman were already taken!" Olivier grumbled, trying to focus on the experiment before he saw Maddie pouting at him.
"I can't believe….You went all superhero with Sprig…" She growled before frowning, genuinely hurt. "WITHOUT ME!"
She then revealed what she had been working on: A costume and identity that made Eda beam with joy.
"Maddie, sweetie? Welcome to 'alluring' school: Gauranteed to make the one you love stutter and blush."
Maddie beamed.
"…I have so many….mixed feelings." Olivier admitted.
"Me too!" King added.
OWLPHIBIA
All the while, a certain assassin watched and chuckled….