Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Branch stared at his skin in awe, a wide smile growing on his face as he looked up at Poppy, "I'm... happy! I'm happy! I can smile again; I can sing!" He cheered.

Poppy laughed, scooping him up and spinning around with him, "I'm so proud of you! Look at you, you're gorgeous!"

The siblings laughed, forgetting where they were for the moment in their excitement.

But their happiness quickly died down when they came to a stop, and the bergens and their chanting were super close now.

The trolls all huddled together, squeezing their eyes shut as the chef opened the lid.

Branch stared up at her, cuddling closer to Poppy, he remembers the Chef very well, she had been the one to take his remaining family member.

Poppy held him close, gently rubbing his back, "It's okay, it'll be alright. I'm right here..."

She bit her lip, glancing over at them, "Maybe we could try and convince them they can be happy?"

Branch, in a rare moment of optimism, nodded, "Yeah, it's our best bet..."

With that, the village jumped out of the pot and landed on the table, staring at the bergens warily.

Poppy took a step forward, "You guys don't need to eat us; you can be happy! It's inside you all, inside of all of us!"

Branch nodded, staring up at the bergens, "Yeah! I used to be grey, which is the saddest a troll can be! But look at me now, sixteen years after being grey. I'm finally happy again!" He smiled.

King Gristle stared at him, genuinely thinking this over for a moment, "Maybe... maybe we should hear them out?" He asked hesitantly.

Chef instantly became angry, and she slammed her hand on the table, making Branch fly up.

"There's only ONE way to be happy, MY way!" She shouted, grabbing Branch tight.

Branch yelped, trying to escape as Chef forced Gristle's mouth open.

Bridget's eyes widened as Branch was placed on Gristle's tongue.

The small troll screamed, moving backwards to try and escape, the desperation on his face was obvious.

Poppy's heart pounded, and she tried to move forward to save her baby brother, but her father held her back.

"Poppy, don't-!" King Peppy said, just as Branch screamed and he was killed.

Everyone in the room froze, staring in shock as Gristle's eyes turned bright pink and blood slipped from his mouth.

Branch's blood.

Poppy's breathing became heavy, she stared the bergen king down for a few moments before releasing a feral scream and lunging at him.

She was quick to scratch his face up, making him yelp, and when he tried to smack her away, she jumped down and grabbed the knife nearby.

She growled and stabbed him in the neck, watching him choke to death on his own blood.

When he finally died, Bridget grabbed Poppy and shoved her in her mouth, upset that her crush had been killed.

As soon as Poppy was gone, Kismet officially snapped.

They had already lost the most important troll to them when Branch died, but now his older sister, too?

That's it.

Kismet took charge, leading the attack and starting the war between trolls and bergens.

Many Bergens dropped dead as the trolls attacked them angrily, a few trolls dying in the process.

One of which had been Creek, though he had been an accident, not that anyone gave a flying fuck.

As bergens fell, so did trolls, causing a giant massacre.

Blood spilled on the floor as Bergen's were stabbed and choked and trolls were eaten, but the war didn't stop, and no one was spared, not even trollings and Bergen children.

Eventually, only Chef was standing, though she soon fell to the floor.

She tried to crawl, but due to her injuries, she was unable to get far before she died.

On the table were a few ghosts: Trickee, Ablaze, Hype, Boom, Poppy, and Branch.

They all stared at the blood bath and piles of dead bodies, each of them watching emotionlessly as Chef finally died.

Branch looked up at the others, then he looked back to the scene in front of them, "What now..?" He asked softly.

Poppy grabbed his hand, "I dunno, buddy..but we shouldn't stay here. Let's go travel the world together. We can see the pretty sunsets and get close to animals. We can do what we want."

Trickee smiled, "We're finally free; we can't be touched."

"Let's go, guys. There's nothing left for us here." Boom said.

With that, they all held hands and slowly walked out.

They stepped around the giant bodies of the Bergens, ignoring the wide open eyes and the closed eyes.

They were all dead, it didn't matter.

Ablaze took a deep breath as they stepped outside, then he chuckled, "We don't even need to breathe.."

Hype sighed softly, "Yeah... I'm gonna miss our lives..."

Branch hummed, "We lived good ones..well, at least you guys did..I was just the village crazy guy..." he hiccuped.

Poppy hugged him close, "Don't cry, bud. It's okay, it's all gonna be alright now."

"The last time you said that, I got eaten, and there was a massacre."

She winced, "Sorry.."

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean anything bad. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

Then Boom got an idea, "Hey, maybe we should see what we can do as ghosts?"

The others perked up, "Oh, yeah!"

"Yes, please!"

"That sounds fun!"

"Let's do it!"

"I'm down."

Boom grinned, "Then let's go!"

They all made their way out of Bergen Town, glancing back to where their friends had died.

Then they turned back to the forest, and they walked in, ignoring the wails and screams echoing in their heads.

When they made it a good distance into the forest, they paused to see what they could do.

"Who wants to go first?" Ablaze asked.

Branch raised his hand, "I will. Ghosts can walk through things, right? I'll try to walk through this tree." He said, walking closer to a tree.

He stared at it for a moment, then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, hesitantly stepping into it.

When he didn't feel anything but a tingly feeling, he looked around and laughed, "We can go through things!" He cheered.

"Are you able to touch things?" Poppy asked, watching Branch float back over to them.

"Maybe, but we can also float!"

"Cool!" Hype grinned.

Then Poppy walked over to them, looking more visible and solid than they did.

"Guys, we can touch things!" She squeaked.

Branch giggled, "What else can we do?!" He asked excitedly.

"Oh, do you think we could become fully invisible?"

"I'm sure we can!"

"Oh, oh! Do you think I could get back my childhood?" Branch asked, genuinely curious.

The others stared at him sadly for a moment, then Trickee smiled warmly, "How about you give it a shot, kid?"

The youngest of the group nodded a small smile on his face.

Then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, slowly letting the air out.

As he released his breath, the others watched in awe as he became smaller and smaller.

Finally, stopping when he was small enough to be about two or three, meaning his age was likely four.

Then Branch opened his eyes, his gaze landing on Poppy first.

"Mama?"

Chapter Text

The group gasped softly, staring at the tiny trolling that stood in Branch's place.

Poppy teared up, lifting him up, "Yeah?"

Branch laughed, "Mama!"

She squeezed him gently, "You did it, buddy! You did it.."

The other boys huddled around them, happy tears rolling down their faces as they saw Branch's innocent baby face.

Branch's giggles became hiccups, sounding like he was about to cry, but why would he cry?

"Branch, what's wrong?"

He looked up at them, "I still remember everything...I can't get my childhood back!" He sobbed.

Poppy bounced him gently, "Shhhh, shhh..yes you can, look at you! You're the perfect size, we just need to figure out how to make you forget!"

The youngest of the group looked around, "You guys would..you'd do that for me..?"

Trickee ruffled his hair, chuckling softly, "Of course we would, squirt. We got you."

Branch gave then a wobbly smile, "You guys are the best!"

The group chuckled, then Hype spoke up with a smirk on his face.

"So, Poppy's your mama?"

Branch puffed his cheeks, "Shut up, Hype! I was just trying to see if it would help, don't be mean!"

The older boy laughed, "But you're so fun to tease!"

Branch looked up at Poppy, still pouting.

The girl laughed, "Aw, Branch..you know how adorable you are, that's why you're pouting."

"I am not adorable. You're just bullying me."

"Yes we are."

"Correct."

"Absolutely."

"Most definitely."

"We're your big siblings, it's our job."

Branch stared at them for a long moment, then he crossed his arms and grew himself back to his normal size, just a head shorter then Poppy.

The girl continued to hold him on her hip, almost as if she didn't notice him growing back to his size.

"You're all so mean."

"Aww, you know you love us."

"Unfortunately."

They all stared at him for a long moment, just trying to process what he had said.

"THAT WAS SO MEAN!"

"BRAAAAANCH!"

"SO RUDE!"

They continued to playfully yell at Branch, not noticing the shocked figures in the grass behind them.

-With Barb-

She sighed, looking around the table where all the leaders were tied up.

"Good news, now we just need Pop. It'll be fun. This tour will make history!"

Essence frowned, "Dear, is this really necessary? I don't think you need to do this.."

The younger queen rolled her eyes, "Please, you're just jealous you didn't think of this first."

"Why are you even doing this?" Delta asked, feeling like they all already know the answer.

"Because the Pop trolls caused us to split, I want to join us again so we can all be one big family again."

Trollex spoke up, "But that's not fair to any of us, you can't force people to be family."

The girl sighed, "I will send you back to your cells, don't make me do that before our final guests have arrived."

They all went quiet, wanting to be in the know in case anything went wrong.

Barb took a deep breath, just thinking to herself.

The whole reason she started the world tour was honestly just to find the Pop trolls, and partially for her dad.

The smaller part, for her dad, is so he can see something great before his mind finally slips.

The great thing being them all connected under Hard Rock.

The main thing she was doing it for, the Pop trolls, is so she can punish them as she sees fit.

You see, there are levels of Hard Rock zombies, the ones who are completely compliant, the ones who are compliant to few others, ones who are only compliant to her and her dad, and the ones who will be able to do what they want when they want, but they'll still be Hard Rock trolls.

Now, the Pop trolls would be the only Hard Rock zombies to be fully compliant, it would be their punishment for causing the split in the first place.

As for the others, it would depend on how feisty they were.

She chuckled softly, sitting in her chair as she stared at the other leaders, she's doing the right thing.

Then Trollzart's voice snapped her out if her thoughts.

"How do you even plan on finding the Pop trolls? They've been missing for years now!" He said.

Barb smirked, "I've been waiting for the question. You see, I've hired the best Bounty Hunters there are. If anyone can find them, it's them."

Delta's eyes widened, she hopes the Bounty Hunters won't find the Pop trolls.

-With Hickory-

His eyes widened as he stared at the Pop trolls who seemed to..lose opacity..?

Was that an odd trick the Pop trolls could do then?

It must be, he knows that he can't do that and, well he's positive none of the other genres or Bounty Hunters can do it either.

He took a deep breath, glancing at the others, "Are we all ready for this?"

"Yeah. But can I ask why there's only six of them?"

"Maybe their city's just a little ways away? You know how carefree they are."

"That's true, but don't they look a bit..weird to you?"

"Actually, yeah. Have you guys noticed that they seem to lose opacity? They also look kinda..see through."

"Yeah, I agree with Chaz, it's so weird. I don't think they should have that ability."

"I don't think so either to be honest. It's too..eerie for a Pop troll, you know?"

"Yeah, I think Ari's right. They just..don't look real?"

"That makes sense."

Dickory was about to speak, but he nearly screamed when Branch grew to his normal size.

"Did that Pop troll just change his size?!"

-With Branch-

He squirmed around until Poppy finally set him down, "Tall jerks."

"Rude brat."

"Not a brat."

"Then why are you being so bratty?"

"Screw you."

"Brat."

Poppy chuckled, patting Branch on the head, "How about we try to eat something?"

Branch perked up, "Yes! I have skittles, since we're pretty much all gay here, right?"

Ablaze pouted, "Branch, skittles are NOT just for gay people."

The smallest grinned, "I know, I was just messing with you." He said, passing skittles around.

They all stood in a circle, looking like they were doing a ritual, then they popped the skittles into their mouths.

They were all pleasantly surprised to find out that they could still eat and taste, but it just fell through their bodies when they swallowed.

"Well, at least we know we can kinda eat?" Branch asked softly.

Just then, a bunch of random troll hopped out of the bushes and surrounded them, all of them looking shocked when getting a closer look.

"More trolls?!"

"You're ghosts?!"

Chapter Text

Branch tilted his head, examining these new trolls.

He'd never seen anything like them before!

Sure, when Cooper had been alive he was odd, but none of these trolls looked like him at all!

He huffed, shuffling closer to his siblings, not trusting these new trolls.

Hickory cleared his throat, trying to snap out of his shock, "Hey..it's okay, you wanna come meet us? One of our...friends...wants to meet you guys, and considering you're..dead..it's crucial that you come with us."

Poppy frowned, stepping in front of Branch protectively, "We don't know who you are or why you're here, we don't know your friend who somehow knows us. We're not going with you!"

Trickee nodded, "Yeah, we don't want any trouble or anything.."

"How did you die?" Baby Bun blurted.

The Bounty Hunters stared at her for a long while in shock but the Pop trolls didn't react much.

In fact, their faces became horrified, almost like they had just realized their..situation.

Then they began to freak out.

"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!"

"WE'RE FUCKING DEAD, THERE'S NO GOING BACK!"

"WHAT DO WE DO?!"

"CAN WE EVEN DO ANYTHING?!"

"WHY, WHY, WHY?!"

"HAVEN'T WE SUFFERED ENOUGH?!"

"APPARENTLY NOT!"

With that, the group of ghosts began to cry, startling the Bounty Hunters.

Chaz shuffled forward, "Hey..hey um, please calm down?" Then he mumbled to himself, "Will my music work on ghosts and if it does will we be able to move them..?"

He paused at that, not knowing what could happen.

Gomordi stepped forward, wanting to calm them down, "Hey, hey..it's okay, it's gonna be okay. How long have you been like this?"

Ablaze hiccuped, "A few hours.."

When hearing that, the Bounty Hunters froze in place.

If they had arrived a few hours sooner, would they have been able to save these trolls?

"Would you like it if we buried your bodies for you?" Wani asked softly.

Branch sobbed, "You can't!"

"Well, why not?"

The ghost group looked at eachother, nodding slightly after a silent conversation.

They all looked over to the Bounty Hunters, "We can show you."

The Bounty Hunters exchanged nervous glances, but they followed as the ghosts began to float away.

After a little while, they arrived near the blood bath.

But before they could enter the room, Boom spoke up, "There's..lots of blood and it's a..it's a disturbing sight."

The Bounty Hunters didn't bother to tell the poor Pop trolls that it wouldn't bother them due to it being a kinda normal sight for them to see.

So they all just nodded.

Then Hype, with Ablaze's help, pushed open the door.

The sight was nothing like the Bounty Hunters had ever seen before.

Large creatures were all around the room, injured and dead.

But there was no sight any troll had ever been there.

Branch went over to who seemed to be the king or leader of these things, then he gestured to it's stomach, "I'm in there."

Poppy stepped up, pointing to a girl who seemed to be a maid, "I'm in her stomach."

Then the boys all pointed to different bergens, saying they were each in a stomach.

To say the Bounty Hunters were mortified would be an understatement.

"What the fuck happened here?"

Branch whimpered, shrinking down to a smaller size and floating into Poppy's hair.

Poppy hummed soothingly, allowing Boom to explain.

"Well, Branch and Poppy tried to show the bergens that they could be happy too! But then Chef got super upset..."

Hype took over, "She hit the table and Branch flew into the air, then she forced their king to sit and open his mouth.."

"She put Branch on his tongue and she forced him to eat Branch and our old King held back Poppy, who's his daughter, but Poppy snapped as soon as Branch was gone, admittedly we all did.." Ablaze mumbled.

Trickee took a deep breath, "But then Poppy was eaten and we snapped completely, we actually uh..we kinda started the war between trolls and bergens. Obviously no one survived though.."

No one spoke for a while, too stunned to even try to come up with something to say.

Then Tambora walked a bit away from the group, putting her wrist, that has a bracelet, closer to her mouth.

The bracelet was given to the Bounty Hunters by queen Barb who forced the Funk trolls to hand them over.

Anyway, once she was a few feet away, she spoke into the bracelet.

"We've got a situation with the Pop trolls.." she said.

On the other end, all of the trolls in the meeting room tensed up.

Then Tambora's voice was heard again, "There's been a um..a massacre.."

Barb froze, her plan was falling apart, "What.." she asked.

Before Tambora could speak, a soft, echo sounding voice was heard.

"They killed us." The ghost hissed.

Tambora jumped, looking at Branch who had already figured out how her bracelet worked.

But Branch just continued.

"For years and years, decade after decade..they raised us like sugar cane for picking." He snapped, becoming angry by what had happened to him and his siblings.

Branch's faint, but partially white form became red and much more visible.

His eyes blackened and he grew back to normal size, "For...CENTURIES!" Branch growled.

Tambora flinched away from him, "Hey!" She yelped, stumbling back.

Essence frowned, hearing the pain and agony in the voice.

"Is everything alright? Did I just hear a little boy?"

Barb shook her head, "Whatever we just heard, it wasn't a troll."

Poppy and the older four boys watched in horror as their baby brother completely lost his mind.

"What's happening to him?!" Poppy asked.

Trickee narrowed his eyes, then he paused, "I think..I think Branch is feeling too much anger, he's becoming corrupted!"

"What does that mean?!" Marimba asked.

Ablaze scoffed, "It means, if we don't calm him down soon, he's gonna lose himself to the darkness and if that happens he's gonna take all of us, and himself, down with him."