Chapter Text
Krel's Side
Everyone was recovering from last chapter's events, but they all managed well, with a few changes... The boys we're talking about recent events, "Yeah, apparently they had to remove it from her" Krel recoiled in disgust, "Are you sure she ate a parasite?" "That's why Em isn't here right now" "Tell her I hope she recovers soon, that is all".
Edric sensed something and stepped back as a ball slammed into a locker, "Aww I missed" Boscha said before leaving, "She really hates us now" "I keep telling you, nothing is more pathetic than that" The two of them had a good laugh about it, Luz finally made it to school, and met up where Krel was, "History class is starting Luz, I was waiting".
"Yeah, sorry, I know I overslept that's my bad come on gotta go" The two of them rushed to the classroom where they we're just on time as class was almost about to start, they sat down near the front desks with their friends, Krel mostly didn't bother much as he focused on copying down notes while Luz introduced her friends to DVDs.
Specifically Good Witch Azura DVDs, apparently she's been studying magical sports with it, Krel wasn't judging, The teacher asked a question about the councel headquarters, Willow answered correctly and got some praise from outside, "What's going on? It's like all of Hexside's caught Willow fever!" "Ever since I patched thing up with Amity, I've been feeling more confident".
She twirled her hair clip, admitting it's probably the reason, the clip slowly floats away seconds later as Boscha takes it, mocking her for even thinking she's popular, "See what I mean? she's pathetic" Boscha threw the clip at Krel, who gave it back to Willow, "You think that's pathetic? Well-" "Yes" Krel cut her off, which ticked Boscha even more, "Well would you call THIS pathetic?!" She used her magic to levitate Willow's bag.
But before any of it's content's we're dumped Krel blocked it with his serrator, "YOU THINK YOUR LITTLE TOYS MAKE YOU BETTER THAN ME-" "What is with that noise!?" The teacher screamed, "My apologies sir, I was going to practice my aim for Grudgby but YOU'RE" now referring to Krel, "Making it a LOT harder than it needs to be!".
"Boscha, how could you throw things at them..." The teacher suddenly... drew on himself "When you can throw things at me!" Krel just stood dumbfounded, was he really bowing to her command? "Thank you sir but I already have my targets... it's this one I seem to have trouble hitting" She said as she threw a rock at Krel but he blocks it.
Willow just groans in sadness, Luz consoled her "It's not like she can follow us around all day right?" as class ended Krel had different classes so he had to separate from the rest of them, not noticing what was happening while he was in Bard class again, "Now I'd just like to congratulate our star pupils for their shocking performance during Grom" The teacher said.
Krel smiled and waved, so did Skara, they continued the lesson afterwards so it went by quickly, Krel's notes filled up but otherwise an average school day, It was already dismissal time so he went to the front where... "What... happened here?" Krel saw Luz, Willow, and Gus... covered in drawings, garbage, and hurtful messages.
"They followed us... all day!" Willow sighed "I'm really sorry I pulled you guys into this, we should have just kept a low profile, Boscha could get away with murder if she wanted to" And Principal Bump walked by, not making the situation much better since he didn't seem to bother if Boscha DID kill someone, "You could have asked us for help right?".
"That's only a temporary solution Krel, you and Edric might be able to handle her, but we're not" Luz made a good point, "We'll just have to find a way out of this" Luz saw someone walking by, "And I know just the person who can help!" She ran over to whoever it was, Krel looked closer and it was Amity so he didn't bother to think much of it.
He sat down next to Willow, they both knew how it felt, but Willow had some envy towards Krel, "How do you avoid the whole thing happening? wish I could be as good as you are" "Willow, come on, you remember I have Edric to protect me, maybe you just need..." Krel looked up for a split second and saw trash, he immediately shielded Willow, "What was that about having Edric to protect you?".
"Okay maybe I am a bit wrong in that assessment, but... I am sure there is a way you can fight back you just... have to find it..." "Easier said than done" "And easier to just let it happen Half-a-Witch" Boscha stood behind them, "You might have those boys to protect you now, but remember... you're only as powerful as your weakest teammate, once they're gone... that's you".
"Watch this" Krel said, he snapped his fingers as a potion was thrown behind Boscha, "Okay who did that!?" She looked behind but no one was there, "What? can't I know a little magic?" Krel snickered, secretly behind Boscha, was Edric who was invisible at that time, Luz came back and seeing the situation, "Willow, I got an idea".
She stood infront of Willow and faced Boscha head on, "Uh.. is that a blemish on your hair? It looks like... nevermind that but uh... Willow challenges you to a Grudgby DUEL!" "She what? oh and what is on my hair!?" "Forget the hair" "Luz, what are you doing?" "I'm just following Amity's advice, Boscha only speaks in grudgby terms so trust me, I have a plan".
Luz stared back at Boscha, "We'll settle this once and for all on the field" "Or we could just talk about our issues" Willow tried to butt in, but Boscha was locked in, "If Willow's team wins, you don't get to pick on her anymore" "Fine! And when we win, Willow and your team will be our water gofers" "Ha! That's not even a punishment, I love water" Luz said smugly before Boscha added another clause, "And we get to use you as target practice".
Demonstrating her point by throwing a grudgby ball straight through a tree, "See you after school, losers" Boscha and her posse leave the scene, Amity stayed however, admitting Luz's idea was terrible, "Yeah, I've never even played grudgby before! How am I supposed to beat Boscha?" "By being the better witch".
Krel left as Luz was giving her speech, but apparently Boscha returned so he had to hear the rest of it "Actually, I already chose the team you're gonna have to pick, You, round ears, you, half-a-witch, and" She pointed straight to Krel, "You, four-arms" "No thank you, not a sports person" "Oh yeah? you really gonna abandon your friends over here?".
"Don't listen to her Krel, you don't have to do this" Willow said interrupting Boscha, She looked at Krel, he stood for a moment, sighed, "How about I help Luz with training, not competing, just training" Boscha looked at him for a moment, then back at the group, "I'd enjoy it a lot more if I got to punt your stupid face in the game but, I think having four targets is a lot more satisfying than three, you're in" Boscha left, for real this time.
Amity knew it was a bad idea, Willow was genuinely scared but Luz was stubborn, she wanted to help her friend and by the titan, she was, in her own way, "With a little team spirit and a training montage, we can win!" She made a convincing argument and Willow, finally agreed to Luz's plan, and Gus joined too, Luz asked Amity if she wanted to join but...
Well she panicked a little and ran off saying she had something important, Krel just shrugged, thinking nothing of it, They all left to the Grudgby field for training, Gus explaining the rules to the two newbies, "There's a ball, and you score by getting the ball through the other team's goal" But there was a catch.
Willow casted a leaf and threw it into the field, where it got decimated by every magical trap that came from it, "Right, Boiling isles, should've expected that" Luz put on a sweatband, turned on some motivational music from her phone, Krel's orb was back at the house so she had to work with what she had, and she had to explain montages to Willow and Gus.
\\ Meanwhile at The Owl House \\
"Hoot-hoot! Guess who found a special friend in the forest" Hooty went and dragged whoever he tangled in his body into the house, out came Lilith, "It was me! Hoot!" The two sisters met eye-to-eye again, Eda in her old uniform because of laundry day, but Lilith was already set on her goal, "Edalyn Clawthorne, you are hereby under arrest by the order of the Emperor of the Boiling Isles-".
Eda flips the scroll and ignores her, "Come on Edalyn! It is time for you to join the coven, you and that fou-" "You do not talk about him like that" "He has potential!" "He's been learning just fine with me!" "He could learn more from us! and what are you even looking at?" She grabbed Eda's photo album, "Feeling sentimental?".
"Me? Never, I was just telling King here how good I was" Lilith opened the picture to reveal her with a bigger trophy, mocking her about her curse possibly effecting her memory, "Ah, tell you what, I'll go with you peacefully to the Emperor..." She added a clause afterwards, "If you beat me at a game of grudgby, Luz is always challenging people to things, why not me?".
Lilith accepted the wager, "We play in the front yard" She left the house hoping Edalyn would be honest, but Eda ran to Krel's room to grab something and hid it in her hair, She announced she was ready to play as the two sisters faced each-other in a makeshift Grudgby field, Lilith reminding her not to use magic as Hooty said.
\\ During the Montage \\
Luz pushed Willow and Gus to their limits, joining in the chaos and getting them all trained for their match, through fireballs, ice spikes, and vines, the light in her shines as the light starts to fade for Willow and Gus, Krel watched from the sidelines trying to optimize the efforts being put.
\\ Montage Over \\
"Now for our big finale! Let's try..." She grabbed a plant glyph attempting to perform the "Thorn Vault" she slammed the glyph into the ground summoning roots that launched Willow and Gus into the air, Willow casted a spell to break their fall, landing on the plants with a light thud and crack, Gus checked and found... his flags got snapped in half, Willow was going to take Gus away to the greenhouse to repair said flags.
"Guys, let's try the Thorn Vault one more time-" "Not now Luz... we're tired" Luz tried to lift their spirits again, "But we're the underdogs, we have to stay upbeat and keep trying and-" But Willow wasn't having it, "Luz, we can't just put on a good attitude and solve all of this, we're just going to lose... and no movie will ever change that".
"Guys, wait!" But they already left, she looks at the broken hair clip, walking back to Krel at the bleachers, "Welp, that's our efforts gone to waste" Luz slumped onto the bleachers, "I just wanted Willow to prove Boscha wrong!" she vented before dumping this question onto Krel, "How are you so good at helping her?".
Krel took a bit to process the question, and answered, "I know from experience, you only did what you thought would help her, a way to fight back against Boscha..." He looked at Luz, "You just need to find a different way" Krel looked up to see Amity walking towards them, "Maybe she can give you some insight" He said letting Amity take over.
"Did I miss something?" Amity said, confused as to what Krel was doing, Luz took her attention off Krel for a moment to talk to Amity, recapping what she did and pushing her friends too hard and exactly why she did all of it.
"While you two do that I have some... other business to attend to" Krel was wondering about something, he checked the canteen to find someone else, looking around the school premises and found nothing, he chose to activate his communicator to call Edric, "Hey, where..." Krel asked where Edric was and the green haired witch replied soon after.
"So uh... remember how you asked me to help you prank Boscha?" Krel replied with a yes, "Well... They found out and pranked me back, I'm in the closed off detention pit right now, if you can go there you can find me" and hung up.
"Seriously..." He muttered obscenities in Akiridion as he walked to find the detention pit, closed off, he pondered for a moment on how to enter before just resorting to cutting through the walls and opening up into the still under repair premises, he called Edric's name once, and he replied back in a faint voice down below.
He hopped down and found him tied up, but fine overall "Hey" he said casually, "My stuffs over there, well I can't point right now, my hands are uh... tied?" Krel released him from the ropes as he explained how he got there, "Well I was just minding my own business, Boscha grabbed me out of nowhere and tied me up, she thinks I helped you humiliate her, which is totally true but she didn't know that, anyways she wasn't just ticked about that" he chuckled.
Krel grabbed his shoulders and asked if he was fine, "Oh just fine, she didn't really... try to hurt me or anything, I dunno why she decided to jsut lock me in here, but that doesn't stop a prankster" He grabbed his akiridion tech and activated his hoverboard, "Where do you wanna go right now?" Krel said the Grudgby field, to which they flew.
They made it to the tail end of Luz and Amity's conversation, watching as Amity stumbled seeing Luz so close to her face, "Looks like something's happening there" Edric said implying something, something Krel didn't understand, but Luz left immediately leaving Amity behind, "Hey sis" he greeted her on his hoverboard.
"Please tell me you didn't see-" Amity looked at Edric's smug face and crumpled in embarasment, "You saw that last part didn't you?" Edric didn't respond but just kept looking at her with a smug expression, "Look Luz is trying to find a way to help Willow and... can you both just look out for her while I get her friends?"
"Actually I recommend you two boys stay out of this!" Boscha said, loud enough to get their attention, "Your little round eared friend here decided to forfeit and take Half-a-Witch's place... wait how did you get out of the detention pit!" referring to Edric.
"Magic!" Edric said shooting his hands up dramatically before falling off his hoverboard, "And a little help" that got Amity's attention, "Edric... she trapped you in that old pit!?" "Hey if Princy didn't untie me then i'd probably be left down there for... hey how long would you have kept me down there?" He said not taking Boscha's antics seriously.
"We're not done talking about this" Amity said, before asking "Can you two make sure Luz doesn't get hurt? I don't think an adorable human could handle it" Edric asked why Amity said adorable, "I didn't say anything! I gotta go!" She said blushing hard.
"Oh yeah she's definitely got something" Edric said, "Alright Princy, how do we wanna do this?" He asked Krel, and he replied "Just shoot the balls before they get to Luz, they cannot stop us, and they cannot touch Luz as long as we are here", the two of them aimed, Boscha's friends unknowingly threw balls but they we're shot down by lasers, Krel and Edric hiding and trying to keep it in secret.
\\ The Owl House \\
The sister's we're still locked in their grudgby match, the score was tied, but Eda had a few... legal tricks up her sleeve, "Hey sis! you know something those two kids taught me?" Lilith didn't know what she meant before she threw Krel's bubble trap at her before shooting the ball into Lilith's goal, she decided to be a fair sport and released her from the trap.
"I thought the rules said no magic!" Lilith said but Edalyn's trick was, "True, but what I used wasn't magic, Boom! loophole!" Confusing Lilith, "There is no way that is not a magical hex or..." "What a sore loser am I right? Krel's technology junk isn't part of the rules, so fair game! Loopholes! like cheating but you don't get punished for it" She said.
Lilith gave up, scared because she couldn't go back to the Emperor empty handed, so Eda gave her a little mercy by giving her her ring, "You can tell them I put up one heck of a struggle" Lilith took the ring and... before she left, "I will be back for you, and next time, I won't be alone" Eda just smirked but her attitude changed once Lilith mentioned someone else, "Once we do, your blue kid's next".
Eda's expression soured, "Good luck getting him Lilith, I'll be waiting" the sister leaving without another word, "Seriously what's her problem?" She said rhetorically before going back inside.
\\ Grudgby Field \\
Every time a ball came close to Luz it was shot down by mostly Edric, "Nice aim" Krel said as a compliment, and while he was shooting Edric blushed a little from the compliment, but shook it off and continued shooting.
"UGH! WHOSE DOING THIS!" Boscha said as she threw another one in anger, every single ball they threw deflated immediately, she was focused on her target... too focused, she didn't realize who was at the side, the two boys shared a high-5 while blasting, each suddenly deflated ball only ticked Boscha even more, "HUMAN! YOUR MAGIC TRICKS WON'T HELP YOU! YOU'LL RUN OUT EVENTUALLY!" She threw one more and then... it was blocked not by a laser but by a tree.
Boscha stumbled back, she looked to the side to find Willow, "You're issue is with me, not Luz" Luz ran up to Willow with a big hug and an apology, Krel asked if she found her way, "Yep, thanks to the both of you for helping me, now Boscha" She faced her tormentor, her bully, "The game's back on" Boscha scoffed asking her if they had a third member.
And before Krel or Edric could think of joining Amity stepped up, "...You just destroyed your social life" The tri clops said, cockily.
She looks at the two girls, "Nah, I think I made it better" She then looked at her brother, "That and you imprisoned my brother so... yeah you're going down" She crossed her arms.
It was game time, on Boscha's team was herself, and two of her friends, Cat and Amelia, and on Willow's team was herself, Amity, and Luz, Krel, Edric and Gus stood by the bleachers watching, Gus was cheering them on while Krel was just watching, Skara was also on the bleachers, seated, she saw the boys and waved enthusiasticly.
"You got benched?" Edric said, "Yeah..." Skara chuckled, and continued "Boscha seems a lot more disappointed in me, being the one to slip was, in her words" she made a mock accent of Boscha's to illustrate her point, "A total embarassment on me" stopping the accent, "She didn't even think of me at all".
Krel listened intently, "Have you ever thought of leaving her?", Skara just looked at him, "I can't, her dad and my dad work together and we are practically forced to be friends, same with Amity".
"Well you see Mittens over there?" Edric pointed at her lil sis, "If she can stand up to Boscha then... what about you?" Edric said trying to motivate her, then muttered under his breath, "And I think she has a thing for the human" no one heard him as the round went on.
The game of grudgby was... for lack of a better term, tense, the teams tied at 9-9, Luz using all of her magic glyphs accompanied by abominations and flora, her team looked like they could win and... in one fell swoop Luz and Willow manage to pull of a score, Amity taking a hit for the team as they score a 9-10.
But then the opposing team's score shot up to 999, Boscha held a golden insect in her hand, "Yeah, while you were celebrating your "victory", I caught this guy, and it means we automatically win, all magic sports are like this" She laughed in their faces.
Fortunately her victory was ignored by everyone, her own team complimented Willow and Luz, with the fun they had it was worth more than the victory they earned, even offering her to join, "Mm, thanks for the offer, but I think I'm done with grudgby for a while" She didn't see someone else and asked where Amity was.
That's when they found her still on the ground, they ran up to her, Edric jumping into the field, Krel joining slightly after, during the last part of the game Amity broke her leg, Luz took action "Are you sure you're okay? I could help carry you if it really hurts, either to some healers or Edric's hoverboard" but the thought of being carried by Luz made her chuckle and act a bit... off.
"What's with her?" Krel asked before it clicked in his head, "Ay yi yi" Edric shoulder bumped him, "What?... okay at least she's better than the Oaf but I will keep my eyes on her" Edric smiled, "You are a bad influence" Krel snickered.
"Don't worry sis, I'll just uh..." Edric slowly whispered to Amity, asking Luz to cover her ears, Krel doing so for her, "Do you want to take the hoverboard or Luz?" Amity just blushed and said the latter, so Edric just told Luz she wanted to be taken to the healers, Edric taking Krel with him as the two of them left the girls to their own business.
Aja's Side
It was a complete overload for the Plantars, and Aja, as they we're met with so many new things they never saw before in the human world, Anne dragged all of them to a nearby bush and somewhere quieter, "Are... are we dreaming?" Anne had only one way to be sure she wasn't, she checked her phone and saw it immediately flash with more signal, "We made it Aja! we're... home...".
Aja was still thinking about what happened back in Newtopia, "Hey..." "Marcy risked her life to save us..." Anne knew what she felt, "We'll get back to them, for now... come on I'll take you guys to my house" She opened her phone to a map app, she also gave Aja her cloak, "Wait... Did I leave my gifts back at-" "Don't worry, I kept all the gifts in my bag".
So they walked through the streets of Los Angeles, Aja hiding her staff as everyone was excited about everything, "Reminds me of when we first crash-landed on Earth, we tried everything in Arcadia" Polly was jumping around with her new legs, "Look Aja! I got legs!" "I did not have time to notice but that is lively".
Hop Pop was still concerned, "What's our next move Anne? I mean, so much has happened. Do you think Marcy is..." Anne hoped she was alive, "And with her Sasha, Eli and Steve, still stuck over there, one thing's for sure, we gotta find a way back" "But before we can do that, we have to stop Morando" "I didn't forget".
They made their way and walked a few blocks where Anne stopped, "It's.... my house, this is really happening, I'm... gonna see my parents!" Sprig asked if it was too early to call them mom or dad or other names, but Anne brushed that off, "Okay... you four should probably hide here for the time being" Inside the trash cans.
"I wanna ease them into all of this slowly, and when the time is right, I'll signal" She cawed and told them not to come out until they hear the signal, Hop Pop, Polly, Sprig, and Frobo hopped inside, Aja just hid behind, "Oh... And I'm not gonna tell them I plan to go back and stop Andrias, or that Andrias betrayed us, or that Marcy did, or that Sasha did, but I will have to say about fighting Morando because I made that promise, and not A WORD about my weird glowing blue powers".
Sprig and Aja we're confused, "It was a thing" Polly said, Aja really missed out on a lot, "Yeah she glew about... same color as Aja is all I can tell, but it was just the hair- sorry memory's a little foggy" Hop Pop tried to juggle his noggin but that was all he could remember, Polly looked at Frobo, "Don't worry Frobs, we'll fix you up soon".
"I promise, if we get to Krel we can ask him to help fix that and... my serrator, oh kleb he is going to be so mad at me for that" "You think he isn't already mad about you being gone for months" Aja chuckled a little "Alright he probably is" She knew she was in for an earful but... a welcoming earful, "Hey, if they haven't left the planet yet they're probably still in Arcadia".
"Hold on that reminds me... I forgot my communicator at home but... maybe I can try texting through my phone" Aja grabbed her phone but couldn't text anything, "Nothing, I will have to ask Anne for that later" A bird caws "Oh frog the signal!" "No wait!" Aja tried to stop him but he already toppled over and introduced himself.
"And we're the Plantars! The lovable frog family Anne's told you all about" "Hop Pop back inside! that was not the signal!" Aja tried to put him back inside but Sprig was already at the front porch, and Aja immediately noticed she was making eye contact so she tried to hide behind the trash again, Anne's dad passes out.
Anne's mom picked her husband up and asked Anne who they we're, Anne sighed "I'll explain everything inside, guys... come on in" Aja popped out of the trash can and grabbed Polly and Frobo with her first set of arms, and Hop Pop with her lower pair, "Does that girl have..." "We'll talk about that inside" So the Boonchuys went inside.
And the Plantars, and Aja followed after, where Anne's parents sat, Aja sat on the other side of the couch with the Plantars, "So, about where I was gone for, hold on" Anne grabbed a bunch of easels, she decided to explain the dimension she was in first before talking about Aja, she brought her parents up to speed on Amphibia specifically.
Both parents being finally caught up to speed about the dimension, wishing they we're eased into it finally acknowledged the elephant in the room, "So, what's with her?" talking about Aja, "Let her explain that", if you may Aja" Anne and Aja took center stage at the living room as she removed her cloak revealling her blue skin.
Mr. Boonchuy fainted again, "Really Dad?" Anne sighed "Hello" Aja said awkwardly as Anne's Dad regained conciousness to finally process everything, "So... my name is Aja Tarron... Queen-in-waiting of Akiridion-5 and... resident of Arcadia Oaks" That really got to the parents "So, you're essentially the queen on your planet?" "Only Queen-in-Waiting, my parents are... still alive of some sorts".
Anne decided to take over for a bit, "So, Aja's been... kinda my closest friend since she got zapped where I was in, I didn't even know she was Akiridion because she had a whole... transduction thingy" "Can she show?" Her dad asked, "Unfortunately it was broken after a... lightning incident so until I can get it fixed it is stuck like this".
"Anyway... Can they all stay with us until we get them to Arcadia?" Her parents laughed for a moment till they realised she was serious, "Anne, all of this is crazy, I wouldn't have believed a word of it if the little frog wasn't kicking me right now" "New legs, you know how it is" Anne's Mom got up to console her daughter, "Your adventure is over, Anne, you're home now, The authorities will take care of your friends".
Anne and Aja gasped "With the police? The government? I can't let them be probed and dissected in a secret lab and used for all kinds of weird experiments! and besides! Aja has to get back since some general's taken over her planet!" Anne huddled with the rest of her frog family, and Aja, "Don't worry guys, I'll keep you safe, I was living in a cave when you found me, and when you took in Aja... The least either of us can do is return the favor".
Anne's Mom sighed "Okay, they can stay... for now" "Hold on while I search up where Arcadia Oaks is, we'll try to get you to Arcadia as soon as possible" her dad said, "Thank you!" She hugged her parents, "Until then, we have to be extra careful so" Her dad locked the door, "No one out there can know you exist so you're all on lockdown".
Which meant they we're all locked inside for a while, "Come on guys, let's have some Earth-style quarantine fun!" Anne brought everyone up to her room while Aja dispersed into the kitchen and saw the fridge, she opened and closed it multiple times, "I wondered this back at Arcadia but how do you know whether the light turns off" She said while closing the fridge.
"Er..." Mrs. Boonchuy didn't have an answer, "Sorry, I have not been in a human house in a while" "Don't worry Aja um... are you going to be okay with staying for a while?" "After what happens when I usually run away, I really am fine with not running away for once uh... what do I call you?" "You can just call me Oum and my husband, Bee" "Thank you Oum".
"And what was that about running away?" "Oh um..." Aja admitted she usually runs away from the palace, "But I promise I don't usually run away on my own anymore, at worst I tell someone about it" "Good, because I don't think you'll be able to go out there like that" Aja just looked around and realized she almost forgot something, "I have to head to Anne's room for a mekron, thank you for the talk!".
She ran upstairs to Anne's room to find her covered in hundreds of clothes, "Help" Aja helped take all the extra layers off, "Thanks" "So Anne, I need help" She had her phone in hand, "You need the Wi-Fi?" "Uh... yes" Anne grabbed her phone and connected her to her Wi-Fi "Here" "Thank you, I have to find if I can text anyone" She had contacts with Krel, Stuart and Varvatos.
She tried to call both of them, Krel's contact didn't respond at all, neither did Varvatos, she groaned wishing she had a communicator, but she contacted the last one, Stuart, she waited on the call for sektons, asking Anne to stay with her while she was on hold, sektons passed and from the other side, "Hello?" Stuart said.
"Stuart, STUART IT IS ME!" "Hold on- Aja?! You're back!" "Stuart I need you to let me explain everything for a moment" And so she recapped all the events in Amphibia, how she got zapped there and what she plans on doing now, "That is... a lot" "Please tell me Krel is still there" "Not to worry Aja, he has been doing well but has gone into hiding".
"Hiding? where?" "Another dimension" "Him too?" "I know, crazy coincidence but he's been hiding until you returned, don't worry about your parents tho, Zadra's been protecting them" "Zadra? but what about Varvatos?" "Didn't hear much on that, but last I saw he crashed into the Mothership stopping the OMEN that almost went kablooey!".
"So where is he?" "I tried to look for him but he's been missing for weeks now..." "Alright, is it fine if you can drive all the way to... Los Angeles?" "Not right now your majesty, unfortunately the Taco truck's been out of commision, some bounty hunter demolished it" The damage made a lot of dents as he described, "The latest I can go is in a wardon" "Thank you Stuart" "I'll call when I begin driving, I'll fill you in on what Krel's been doing when we meet", The two said goodbye as Aja hung up the phone, "That's Stuart?" Anne said.
Time passed as the day was one big montage, it turned to night, the Plantars all chose to sleep in the living room while Aja chose to sleep in Anne's room as her roommate, "Alright Aja hold on while I do some research" "Please, don't stay up past your bedtime you two" "...You heard that too right?" Anne checked the closet and found her mom inside, "MOM!" "Right, right, I'll leave" She left the room.
"You... can go to sleep, I have some work to do" Aja grabbed a few tools from the garage, slowly sneaking around the house as silent as possible, as she returned to Anne's room to find her asleep, she took that as an opportunity, she took the desklight and started trying to fix her charred serrator, mumbling about not being the techy one.
But it was hopeless, every bit of tech inside was overloaded and none of it could be replicated, she banged her head on the desk as quietly as possible, she checked her phone and looked for tutorials, but considering the tech she was handling was more advanced than anything humans have achieved, she didn't know what to do.
She wiped the tears off her face, mouthed that it'll work one day and left it at that, she got into a mattress and slept, it was different being able to sleep in a house instead of the basement, but it still wasn't like her room.
\\ The next day \\
Aja was still sleeping but she woke up immediately after hearing Anne yell, "Emergency family meeting! Major boundary violation!" Bee went to check in Anne's room, "Sorry, something happened and... considering you're here you may join us" He closed the door as Aja stood up and joined the rest of them at the living room.
"Mom, Dad, I'm really happy to be home, I know it's a big deal I was gone for so long and I get that it's scary to think about losing me again, but I need a LITTLE bit of space or I'm gonna lose my mind! you guys are being way too overprotective" Her dad was going to say that she was exaggerating a bit considering it was a big house, but he started to listen because of Polly's kicking.
"We're tired of being shut up inside, how about you let us out just for an hour?" Met with a no, "Oh, c'mon! I can't go out alone for an hour?" "Last time you went out alone, you got trapped in another world for months" Bee made a good point, Aja was going to speak but Anne hushed her, "Don't make this worse".
Oum was tired and still had errands to run "Your father and I have to go to the market, We'll talk later" Anne blocked the door, her Frog family plus Aja joined in, "That's perfect! Let us come" Her mom was going to disagree but, "I know what you're gonna say, we can't take them out in public But the market's always empty except for a few old people, plus I'll make them disguises and take full responsibility for their safety".
"You think you can take care of the whole family?" "I'm not alone, Aja can help me out when I need it" "No offense Anne, but you're the literal poster child for hating responsibility, and considering your friend had a history of running away... it is not looking good" Aja was a bit taken aback but she couldn't really argue.
Anne really did change, she wanted them to understand that, HP had a talk with her parents, "Look, I'm a parent too, and I know what they used to be like, so trust me, I get it" "But they grew, Anne was voted frog of the year by townsfolk who used to HATE her! and Aja was nothing but a tough girl willing to fight for her friends, sure they made mistakes, like Anne burning the town down once, Aja taking bets to wrestle a beetle, and maaaybe they've almost gotten... what was I talking about again?".
Yeah HP wasn't helping with that, but it did have points, "The old one's got a point, ever since she got back, she has seemed... a little more mature" "And having someone else would probably help" They made a decision "Okay Anne, we're willing to give it a try" That got their attention, with a clause, "But you stay with us at all times, and if anything goes wrong, it's back to lockdown".
"Thank you so much! I promise you won't regret it!" Anne, Aja, and the Plantars all ran up to Anne's room to prepare, "Okay. This is gonna be a cinch, Earth is a cakewalk compared to Amphibia" "If we don't run in to any bounty hunters.." Anne dismissed the idea, "I don't think that would happen until we get to Arcadia".
\\ Newtopia \\
"My plans are in motion, our forces are growing, and soon we will be ready to invade, only two remain who could stand between me and my conquest" A projection of Anne and Aja are seen before it disintegrates, "They must be eliminated, that is your one objective" A robot stood infront of the King, "This mission requires the utmost discretion, we cannot allow the other world to know of the coming invasion, make sure no Earthling sees you".
The robot saluted "While you're down there I'm going to contact General Morando to make sure bounty hunters are sent to Aja's location" He opened the portal, made some last second additions to get some stuff from Earth cuz Marcy got him hooked on some of the book novels, and as the portal disappeared he went to contact the General.
"Val my old friend, how's it been?" "No sign of the royal cores, the Prince has been hiding well" "Well I got a surprise for you, Aja Tarron is on Earth!" "Which means..." "Which means you can send more bounty hunters to her, I sent one of my bots to kill her and her allies, his location will help you locate the last of the Tarron family... but there is something you need to know...".
\\ Earth \\
Anne already gave disguises for the Plantars, and now was left to deal with Aja, she started by giving her a hoodie, She seemed to like it, but it was a bit small as her torso could still be seen, not something sweatpants couldn't fix, she then put shoes on her feet then had to figure out the face... She tried to give her a mask, but realized she had no ears so she just gave her the old cloak.
The five of them got ready and hopped in the car, crammed together but they managed, "Hey Aj, how do you feel about these babies" Polly asked Aja, referring to the car, "A lot slower than most advanced ships, especially when being hunted down during drivers ed, if it weren't for Krel's modifications..." Bee just stared at her, "You we're hunted down?".
"General Morando wouldn't do it himself so he just sends them to do his job" The drive was awkward, Aja was looking out into the skies, it went by until they stopped at the market, but before they could, Bee and Oum locked the door and gave them conditions, "We stick together in there, understood?" "And if anything goes wrong, it's back in the lockdown for all of you until we can figure everything out", "Actually I have something to talk about when we're done shopping" Aja said as a surprise.
"We'll tell them later, now let's get shoppin!" Anne said making sure to keep the rest of her other family close to her, Aja was already busy inspecting something with Hop Pop, "Ah a classic Durian" "I wonder why it's called that" "Dunno, but not really my thing cuz the insides smell like" She was cut off by Hop Pop who opened the fruit, both him and Aja got a whiff of it and HP started convulsing over the floor.
Aja hunched over trying her best not to heave, "Now I know why Stuart's called a Durian" Aja said struggling to breathe "What he really smells that bad?" Anne asked him, "Of course! Durians are the stinkiest species of the galaxy!" A bystander made a comment under her breath, "Kinda an overreaction to some stinky fruit but what can you do" before leaving.
Anne took Aja, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop somewhere else, "Alright guys, time for a little cuisine" She ordered four bowls of noodles, and placed them on a table where the rest of them sat, "Dig in!" HP, Sprig, and Polly tried theirs and already loved it, Aja took a few sektons as she tried it, slumping over, "This would taste a lot better with the transduction".
She still ate it, just wished she could get the full experience, but was caught off guard when Sprig yelled about a killer robot, at first they thought it was nothing but then... some invisible force grabs Anne and crushes her, "Hey! Let go of her!" Aja took action and grabbed whatever was holding her, meanwhile the Plantars threw ramen at it.
The force stumbled and let go of Anne, Aja grabbed her and ran to hide, "Did you see that thing? It's a new kind of Frobo!" Aja looked up to see it was back to invisibility, "More advanced than any blank I have seen" "Yeah can you put me down now?" Aja finally let go of Anne as HP realized it's probably there to capture them.
"But we have to take this thing out before my parents notice anything's wrong" "Ooh! use your blue powers Anne!" Polly suggested, "Uh uh, don't know how to use em yet" "I can take him" Aja said almost ready to run into battle but Anne stops her "At this rate it'll be too noisy to fight this thing, I have an idea, cover me!" Anne ran off and Aja ran torwards the robot and dodged it's attacks.
Rock music started blaring torwards the store, Anne came back and the Plantars finally joined, all ready to fight, Aja ran in with her staff, parrying it's attacks and avoiding every weapon in it's arsenal, Anne flanked and tried to attack from another angle but it took them by surprise, even the Plantars had issues with attacking.
But then a bystander came by, the robot immediately hid and everyone started acting and pretending to shop, as the bystander left the robot came back, "Looks like the robot doesn't want to get caught either" Anne's assessment was proven true and they needed a change of plans, somewhere more secret, They both grabbed the frogs and ran into the freezer room.
Hiding inside was difficult, it was cold and... the Plantars froze up, but at least they we're out of seeing eyes, Aja planned to fight till her last breath, Anne stood by her "We're doing this together" The two of them tensed up seeing the robot but they ran in prepared to attack... only to fail and get tangled in the robot's arms.
They struggled for a moment, the Plantars near-helpless and forced to watch, they tried to inch up but their attempts only lead to sliding near and bumping into the robot, said robot decided it wanted to kill the frogs first, but the sisters weren't gonna let that happen, Aja bursted out of it's grasp freeing Anne too.
The two of them stood together against the robot but something more... unusual happened, someting the robot sensed, Anne started glowing but as she did, Aja dimmed, Aja looked at herself and then at Anne, "If you think you can hurt my friends... my family?! well you've got another thing coming" Aja let go and Anne immediately pummeled the robot causing major irreversible damage.
The robot fled leaving the two girls alone, the powers finally disappeared and the two pushed the frogs out of the freezer... and fainted, HP immediately went and grabbed a Durian to wake the two up, repulsed by the smell it worked! "Anne that was amazing!" He turned to his family "You weren't kidding about those powers!".
"Yeah but... I think I know how they work, or at least somewhat..." Anne realized in that moment, "For now let us just go home, we can talk about it later..." Aja pat her back, the family lied to the Boonchuys about having a good time shopping as they left for home, during the car drive home.
"Oum, Bee" "Wow first name basis?" "They asked me, anyways I have an announcement" The parents paid attention to her during traffic, "So, I contacted a friend of mine in Arcadia and he said he'll pick us up in a week" "Oh that's... wonderful" Bee said, "Aja are you sure you can take care of the Plantars by yourself?" Oum asked.
"I thought Anne was going with us" Hop Pop said, "Well, unfortunately she has a human life to live" "Mom, Sasha and Marcy are in Amphibia right now, I have to help..." "My brother Krel is the smartest person I know, if anyone can get us to Amphibia it has to be him" "We'll... have to think about it" Anne's Mom said leaving it at that.