Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was funny how much time being stuck in a cage could go from scary to boring.

I have been trapped in this cage for a week now, (Well a week to my captors, to me, it was nearly two years, This dreamer liked to procrastinate), and I was starting to get slightly bored.

Not that I could show it.

I should probably explain myself a little bit better, I am the calamity guardian, or as this particular dreamer calls me ‘Space cat.’

My power is so great that I could free myself from this cage and have the core lying on the floor terrified at my power, I could destroy him with just a thought.

The problem is that so far I happen to be stuck in this dreamer's narrative.

Mentally, I can leave at any moment, just leave this body and see another world.

“Soon,” said the Core, its large monolith stood in front of me, “We will attack Amphibia.”

Inwardly I sighed, he had been saying vague threats for the last two years, outwardly I looked at him defiantly.

“I wonder,” said the monolith, “How can god deal with powerlessness,”

Hold back a snot, I walked slowly towards him, being in a cat body I needed to remind myself one step at a time.

“They’ll stop you,” I said, putting all my effort into sounding brave. The truth was that this Core could destroy me here, but not in the metaverse.

“I don’t think so,” replied the Core, “I have been planning this for years, there is no possible way they will stop me.”

Sighing I closed my eyes, I had heard this before, these long motive rants about how he was right and how I was wrong, I heard these so many times from various Gary Stu's who are angry when I tell them “No you will not get cosmic power, Do it again.”

Side note, you don’t get credit just because you stole the female character's place in the story, You just come across as really regressive.

When I opened them, I was not in the cage anymore.

I was in an infinite cosmic space, all around me where glowing orbs, each one was a different color, no two were alike, (Okay some were, but that’s because some dreamers do not effort into their stories) There were dreams of pure light, one where Heroes fought and justice wins, others were dark stories of suffering, and anger.

Others were blue ones where happiness could be found, usually in a coffee shop.

The pink ones were of passion, of romance, and of personal feelings.

Turning back to them, I saw a green one, The orb of adventure, of fun.

That’s when I noticed the tether to it.

Another one, This dreamer, had been thinking again.

I followed the line, it connected to another dream.

A dream I was familiar with.

It was a different dream from the others, one where the three champions who saved Amphibia live there, raised as different creatures, only to discover their true forms, in time they learned to accept their humanity but bonding it with their Amphibian sides.

I turned back and looked at the one I had just been to, A world where after years of waiting the girls had returned to Amphibia, however this time they had brought others with them.

The author had been to this world before and now was merging two of them.

I smiled, This dream might have not the positive feelings for me, but he cared for his friends and I knew he would try his best to make a good story.

Leaning in closer, I was absorbed into the story.
…

The first thing Max thought when he saw the room was just how dark it was. On the plus side, he was lying on a soft mattress, the second thought was.

Instantly, fright took hold of him. Was he locked up in some sort of basement dungeon?
Picking himself up, he slowly made his way through the darkness. With his hands stretched out, he eventually touched a wall. Feeling his way along, he eventually felt a wooden banister, he was near stairs.

He tried to remember what happened, slowly his memories came back, fall through a portal, seeing the earth below and then nothing.

The last thing he saw was him flying towards the ground, he must have hit it and blacked out, it would explain why everything hurt right now.

Slowly moving around he found the start of the staircase and walked upstairs, slowly he heard a voice.

“Okay Max, listen,” said the woman on the other side of the door, “I know you want to take a potion but… you're too young, and turning back hurts a lot.”

“But you did it when you were my age,” whined a young voice.

Pushing the door slightly, he saw a boy, wearing a green shirt and purple shorts, his hair was curly, and his yellow shoes were far too large for him.

Standing in front of him…no…it couldn’t be.

In front of the boy was a frog, but she was standing and looking at him tired, she was wearing a green shirt and tan shorts, she had the exact curly hair as the boy

“No way,” he whispered.

Clearly they were aliens, he had been kidnapped by monsters.

Max let out a breath and closed the door.

“Oh god, I’ve been abducted by aliens, They’re going to cut me up and drink my blood and…”

“Probe your brain?” said a voice from behind him.

He turned to see a pink frog alien monster standing there, they were wearing overalls, and on their face was a terrifying smile.

“Nah I don’t think there’s anything in there, but I can say you’d make good eating,” with that she started to creep towards him.

Max stepped back and tripped over the small and fell through the door.

The boy and Frog woman turned to look at him, both in shock, Max quickly stood up and looking around the round, it looked like a normal living room. It was small, somewhat cozy, on a wall there was a picture of the blue frog and the pink one with two others: an old orange one and a pink frog.

Looking around, he could see into the next room, a kitchen. Hope entered his heart and he ran towards it.

From behind, he could hear a small argument break out.

“Polly, I told you to watch him,” said the blue alien.

“I did…and I messed with him, it was fun.”

The kitchen continued this cozy image the aliens were going with, he opened the drawer.

Afterward he would admit that expecting to find a knife in alien drawers was a little dumb, but when he did, he felt relief.

Picking it up, he turned to the doorway, standing there were the two frog aliens. One looked worried, the other was smiling.

“I mean he’s threatening us with a knife, we can take him down now, right?”

“No,” said the blue one, aggravated.

“Let me go,” said Max, trying to be brave.

From the right of a door, came the sound of footsteps. Max saw a pink frog join the other two, he saw Max and smiled, “Oh he’s not dead, that’s a relief.”

“Stand back,” said Max again, “I’m getting out of here, Just give me the other kid and-”

The blue frog eyes widened and looked to the right, “MATT NO!” she shouted and dove away, the other two frogs looked, they were distracted.

Now was the time, Max ran at the two remaining aliens, pushing them away.

He stood in the living room again and saw the boy slowly changing.

The human boy's skin was starting to change, it turned bluish, he started to shrink smaller and smaller, his body turned from the normal bipedal human to some sort of round shape, his legs vanished.

Max's mouth dropped open, The kid was secretly an alien.

That’s when something jumped on his back.

“Oh no, you don’t,” said the voice of the overall wearing alien. Max tried to shake her off, but to no avail. He walked backwards and slammed into the wall.

“I’m a frog,” shouted the small alien frog that was a human excitedly, he then looked down, “Huh, I don’t have any legs…oh well.”

From the stairway, a voice called down, “What in tarnation is all this ruckus?”

Max turned to see another alien, older and uglier, standing there, looking at the chaos of the room, however in all the commotion he misplaced his foot/

Time slowed down then, Max found his body moving on its own.

He caught the old frog just before he hit the ground.

He looked at the old orange frog confused, the frog looked at him just as confused.

“Thank you kindly.” said the older frog, smiling.

“No problem,” replied Max, just as shocked, he placed the frog down.

“Um,” said a voice from behind Max, he turned to see the pink frog still on his back, looking at him just as shocked, “Thanks for saving my grandfather.”

Without another word she let go of him, Max looked around the room, everyone was looking just as confused what to do next.

“Um, excuse me,” said the boy pink frog, with a goatee, “I know you're scared, but can you put my grandfather down, so we can talk?”

Max nodded, and placed the frog down.

“Okay, So… sorry I didn’t get your name?”

“Max.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

…

Three hours Later Max was sitting on the coach, after he had told them the last things he remembered, they had told him a story.

“So let me get this straight, this is a world full of amphibians?”

“Yeah,” replied Sprig.

“And Anne,” he said pointing towards the blue frog, “Is a human and also the older sister of Matt?”

“Pretty much,” replied Polly.

“Okay…but why did you guys have to tell me those three mini stories set on earth? You know, the hardware store, the Sprig and in school, oh and the weirdo who shoots a van lock and doesn’t go to jail?”

“Well, I thought they were fun,” said Hop-Pop. In his arms was Matt, still happy he was now a frog.

Max’s mind was running about a thousand miles a second, he looked at Anne, she shared the name with her, he swallowed.

“This is a lot to take in,” he said.

“I understand, If you want you to lay down and rest for a few minutes, I have a few questions for you, but they can wait,” said Anne.

Max shook his head, “No It’s fine I just… What questions?”

Anne looked at the boy worried for a second, then turned to Matt, “Matt, do you know this boy?”

The polliwog shook his head, “Nope, This is the first time I saw him.”

“Matt, where were you before this?”

“I was in my room, preparing for an adventure, then I woke up with Anne stand above me.”

“And other than that?”

“Nothing.”

“What about Mom and Dad?” said Sprig.

“You mean Mr and Mrs Boonchuy?” added Polly.

“No, They’re Anne’s parents, so they’re our parents.”

Polly stood there for a second before nodding, “Good point.”

“I didn’t see them, They were in the front room, but I don’t remember what they were doing.”

Anne looked at the polliwog, it was strange, they were siblings, but he seemed to be taking being lost in another world really well, she turned to Max the boy was sitting there looking at her oddly,

“So what about you?” she asked.

The boy shifted in his seat a little like he was trying to hide something, “Oh, me, I was at home…praying.”

Anne nodded, “Religious?”

Max nodded, “Yeah, I worship at the church of the glowing child.”

The boy sat there looking scared, was he still worried they would hurt him? Or was he scared about how they were going to treat him.”

“Oh,” said Anne nodding, “Okay so other than that?”

“Nothing,” he paused for a second, “So how did you find us?”

“You landed in the garden, You were unconscious, Max dragged you to the farm.”

The room was silent for a few minutes, “Um… Can I ask something?”

“Sure,” said Anne.

“Can…Can I see what you look like as a human?”

“Why? Asked Anne.

“Because…” The boy paused for a few seconds, “I’m curious.”

Anne stood there for a few seconds debating if she should, then she walked towards a small tree in a pot by the door, there were berries growing on it, she plucked out and threw it in her mouth.

The change was almost instantaneous, her skin turned brown, she grew taller and her hair grew longer.

She turned around, Max's heart stopped, it was her.

It was the savior.

“Oh, god.”

“God?” asked Sprig

“Human frog,” said Polly, “They're weird like that.”

“You…you're the one who saved earth ten years ago.”

Anne rubbed her fish on her chest, “Yeah I did l, it was pretty-”

“My parents worship you.”

“Oh, like fans?”

“More like fanatics, it's an entire religion.”

Anne's eyes widened, “What?”

“Is he talking about those people wearing white shirts and green shorts?” asked Matt, “they come to the house and kneel, Mom and Dad don't like them.”

And walked to the couch and fell into the empty space next to Max, she groaned.

“I don't want to be a god,” she said, her face in her palms she turned to look at Max, “at least tell me it's a good religion?”

“Umm.”

“So…” said Hop-Pop, “What are we going to do with these two?”

“We keep them here,” said Anne.

“What?” Said Max and Matt together.

“She's not wrong,” said Hop-Pop, “this world already treats Anne like a hero, if more humans showed up then who knows what trouble might come up.”

“Well, there's a solution to that,” said Max, pointing at Matt.

“You will not be having a potion.” Said Anne sternly.

“Why not? We'll be able to leave the house, and you'll be able to pretend we're like second or something?”

Anne stood there for a few seconds, thinking the idea over.

Max hoped she would agree.

“Okay,” said Anne nodding, “but remember this, when you turn back into a human… it hurts.”

“How bad?” asked Matt.

“Imagine your body being pulled, your skin and organs on fire, imagine the worst possible pain.”

Max gulped, it did sound bad, but he couldn't lie, it might be fun to be a frog.

Anne walked to the kitchen, ducking beneath the door frame and opened a cabinet, inside were vials of yellow liquid.

“So what do you want to be then?”

“What do you mean?” asked Max.

“Well, you can choose between a frog, toad or newt,” explained Anne.

Max thought about it, this was kind of strange, it was like someone had asked him if he wanted to change his race or gender with the simple use of a liquid, was there a right choice? A wrong choice?

He decided to go with the obvious answer.

“I guess it would help if I was a frog.”

“You're not just saying that because there are frogs-” Anne turned to the kitchen door, “WHO ARE LISTENING INTO THIS CONVERSATION.”

There was the sound of groans from behind the door, “Spoilsport,” said Polly.

“Yes, and it’ll help me fit in with you guys better.”

“Good point,” said Anne, who pulled out a potion. On the label was a picture of a bipedal frog.

Taking the potion, Max swallowed it.

He felt something in his stomach, slowly he got smaller, his skin turned green, he felt mucus start to pour from it. He looked at Anne again and closed his eyes, she was bigger and somehow more terrifying, something about those horrible eyes.

“It's okay,” said Anne, “first times tough, but it's over now.”

Max opened his eyes, Anne now towered above him, he stepped back instinctively, he brought up his hands, they were green coated in mucus and now lacked a digit.

He looked around the room, and spotted a picture snail, looking back at him in the reflection was a green frog, clear skin and curly hair.

Turning downwards, he could see his clothes fit him perfectly.

“Are you okay?”

He turned to look at Anne again, the human had a potion in her hands.

“Yeah,” said Max, "it's just…you're big.”

Anne laughed, “Trust me, I know the feeling.”

She swallowed her potion and quickly turned into a frog, “we’re going to town, are you coming?”

As Anne walked away Max turned back to the cabinet.

An idea entered his head.

…

It was market day in Wartwood, hundreds of Amphibians were walking around, many were shopping, others were talking, Wally was standing next to the fountain playing his accordion.

Max kept watching as everyone went about their business, this world was a lot different than L.A.

The snail stopped as it pulled into the parking area.

“Okay, Sprig help Matt down,” said Anne.

Max turned to the small Polliwog, he was now wearing a rubber onesie, and currently floating in a bucket.

“Can’t I just jump around like you guys.”

“No, You small,” said Hop-Pop as he slowly stepped off the snail, “Dang kids trying to act more grown up than they are.”

The frog man carried him off the snail and walked towards his sisters.

Max climbed off the snail.

As the group walked through the town, Matt kept asking questions.

“So, how did you get powers? So do you prefer being a frog or a human? What's the best fight you ever fought?

Anne laughed, “Matt, calm down, We can ask questions later, We need to get some groceries. Then I have to talk to autobiographers, then Toadie wants to talk to me about negotiations with the Olms and-

Max couldn’t help but smile, after years of hearing that this frog was a savior, hearing her talk like she was just an overworked woman.

As they kept walking, Max started to hear a chaotic orchestra of voices.

Up ahead there was a tall bridge, dozens of young frogs were standing at the bottom trying to jump a small circle plaint on it, only a few frogs were able to reach it. On top of the bridge overlooking the group was a frog, her skin blue sprinkled with black spots, who was holding on to a book and seemed to be drawing something.

“Hey, what’s that?” asked Max.

“Oh they're playing leap,” answered Sprig, “It’s basically jumping practice. Jump and touch the circle, I did it when I was five.”

“It’s been there since I was a lad,” replied Hop-Pop.

Max looked at it and started to run towards the bridge.

“MAX, NO,” shouted Anne.

It was too late, he was already running, he took a jump.

He was surprised just how high he leapt, at first it looked like he had jumped higher than the bridge.

The frog in the dress looked up at him, her eyes grew wider, for a brief moment Max thought he was coming to collide with her.

Thankfully he started to descend, he was not going to slam into the girl.

Instead, he slammed into the bridge, directly in the middle of the circle.

For a few moments, there was nothing but darkness.

The next thing Max knew he was lying in the middle of a mud puddle, he could hear his name being spoken.

Eventually pulling all of his marbles together he looked up to see the Plantars standing there, Sprig and Hop-Pop looked concerned, Anne looked annoyed, Polly however was holding back a laugh, Matt had a smile on his face, at least he was impressed.

“That happened on my first time as well,” said Sprig.

Suddenly something from the top of the bridge fell, “Sorry I know you’re hurt but could you keep that pose.”

Max looked up to see the Frog girl standing there still drawing, she turned the book around showing the image of him lying in the mud, “What do you think?”

Max groaned and stood up, This was not the best start to his day.

“Hey, Anne, who’s the new boy?” asked the frog girl.

“Hi Marceline, This is Max and the Polliwog is Matt, Max, Matt this is Princess Marceline Yunan.”

Max looked at the frog girl, she was wearing a pink dress, now she was closer (and he wasn’t flying towards her) she had a few flowers in her hair.

“Max and Matt are our cousins from out of town, they’re visiting,” said Sprig.

“Yeah, way out of town,” snickered Polly.

“Oh,” said Marceline, “Do you want me to show Max around?”

Max was surprised, “What?”

Hop-Pop and Anne looked at each other, then back to the frog girl.

“Well, Marceline…” Hop-Pop started to say.

The frog girls eyes widened, “Pwease, I take good care of him.”

Hop-Pop instantly gave in, “Oh why not,” he said.

“Just keep him out of trouble.” added Anne.

“I promise,” said Marceline.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” asked Max.

“Nope,” said the Plantars, as they walked away.

Max just stood there with the frog girl by his side.

“Soooo…” Marceline started to say, “Your massive fumble back there… Can you do it again but pull it off this time?”

…

The house they were standing at was huge, probably one of the nicest he had ever seen.

Max hated it, it reminded him of his home on earth.

Max could see that there was a balcony on the third floor, around the height of the bridge he had smashed into ten minutes ago.

“The Towers Tower,” said Marceline, “Home to some of the biggest jerks in Amphibia.”

“How bad?”

“They're high class newts that like to pick on people, a few days ago the son Monty stole a doll from a young frog.”

“Okay and?”

“We're getting it back.”

Max looked at the window then at her, “how?”

“Well, that window is around the height you jumped earlier, so just do that again and don't mess up this time.”

Max frowned, “and what will you be doing?”

“Something worse, I-”

Marceline paused as she dry heaved, she slowly turned her head to Max.

“I have to be nice to him.”

Max stood there confused, “Is that it?”

“Yes, the frog girl groaned, “Any other stupid questions?”

“Yeah, why should I do this?”

Marceline stood there, “Because It’s my job to look after people, it’s my duty as their princess.

The human turned frog looked at her, she was crazy, Sure Anne had called her princess, but… No, there was no way she was a princess.

“You’re crazy,” said Max.

“I know,” replied Marceline determinedly, “But Monty’s parents are rich, Charlotte parents are not, Monty is never going to give back that toy on his own, and as Princess I have a duty to make sure justice is served. You in?”

Max stood there looking at her, somehow the frog girl radiated a level of maturity he didn’t understand.

“Besides, if you don’t, I’ll tell Anne you were being mean to me.”

“That’s blackmail,” said Max, annoyed.

“I consider it Polite enforcement, now start creeping, I have to embarrass myself.”

Marceline ran towards the run door, Max started to creep towards the back of the house.

He hid behind a bush as he heard the sound of a door opening.

“Marceline, What are you doing here?”

“Oh, hello Monty, I was hoping that we could talk a little, I forgot to mention how cute you are.”

Max shook his head, that wouldn’t work, there was a moment of silence, then the newt boy started to blush

“Well, Thanks Marcy.”

“Seriously?” whispered Max from the bushes shaking his head. She was right, this was nauseating.

Sneaking from the bushes, he reached the back of the house, it was built at the edge of town near an open field.

He looked around. No one would see him, so he walked around one hundred feet, the same distance he had run earlier, then turned to the house. Was he really going to do this for a girl he had just met?

But he had a feeling that being in trouble with the Plantars might not go so well, so he sighed.

He ran, the wind rushing past his head, and then he leapt, high into the sky, the balcony growing closer and closer. However, he was only half way there when he started to drop. As he fell lower and lower, he reached out his arms, and then caught onto the balcony floor.

Pulling himself up, he looked into the room. It was circular with white walls and a large chandler on the ceiling.

The room was full of dolls.

Dozens of dolls, Small frogs, toads, newts, and more, all wearing dresses, all looking at him with their imitation eyes, eyes made of buttons, glass and more.

“Creepy,” said Max.

He looked around the room and started to panic, Marcy hadn’t told him which one to grab, he'd be here for hours looking for it.

That’s when he heard a voice from outside the room.

Panicking, he looked for a place to hide, and that’s when he remembered something: His grip on the balcony was good, and looking at his fingers, he noticed they had pads on them.

An idea entered his head, so he looked up and jumped.

Using his finger pads he clung to the ceiling, swung his legs forwards and held on with his toe pads as well.

The door opened and in stepped a newt boy and Marceline, the newt boy was dressed in a fancy robe.

“And this is my collection,” said the next boy with a smile.

Marceline looked around the room with wide eyes, “Oh wow, That’s impressive.”

“Yes,” said Monty, “It's quite a collection, I’ve been taking toys from Amphibians for years, my parents built this balcony just to display them.”

“Wow,” said Marceline, holding back her vomit, “That's so impressive.”

Monty walked into the room, Max crawled, so the newt wouldn’t see him, he made his way to Marcy.

He shot his tongue at her, hoping it would get her attention.

When Marceline felt something hit her, she looked up to see Max on the ceiling. She mouthed: “What are you doing?”

Max tried to respond, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying, because his tongue was in the way.

“Yes, all of these dolls, each one caused someone to cry as I took them,” said Monty, not noticing the two frogs.

Marceline grabbed Max by the tongue, and ripped him from the ceiling, she grabbed him before he hit the floor and shoved him into a pile of dolls, there was a rustle as he landed.

Monty turned back to Marceline, who had a fake smile on her face.

“Did you hear something?”

“No, I was just looking at this pile of dolls on the floor,”

The arrogant newt sighed, “Ah, the reject pile, they're the unimpressive ones. I took one from that Charlotte girl yesterday, I didn’t even need a second to decide he belonged in that pile.”

Inside the pile, Max had shoved his tongue back into his mouth and smiled, so the doll was in this pile, that made things a lot easier.

“Oh, Wow, so if someone wanted to take them back, they’d have to take every single doll in this room and run like a mad man.”

“Yes, that is the answer to your oddly specific question.”

Max stuck his head out of the pile, “Every single one?” he mouthed at her.

“Yes,” she mouthed back as she pushed him into the pile, she then started to wobble.

Monty turned to see her, wobbling, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m feeling faint, it’s a problem all princesses have, if only there was a brave knight here to catch me… who will probably get an official title for helping me”

Monty was there in a second to catch her.

“Don’t worry,” he said feigning bravery, “I’ll help you…and I was thinking about becoming an earl.”

He carried her out of the room and closed the door.

Bursting from the pile, Max took a deep breath, he had to get all of these dolls out of the room, sighing he grabbed the pile he had been hiding in and rushed to the window throwing them out.

The next few minutes he was grabbing dolls and growing them out the window, five minutes later he was done.

Lying on the floor was the last doll, a small little rag of a thing, he picked it up and sighed.

As he turned to the balcony, the door opened, standing there was Monty. The newt boy looked at him, Max looked back terrified, for a few seconds they just stood there,
Monty was the first to break the silence

“GUARDS!” yelled the newt boy.

There was the sound of large, heavy feet rushing up the stairs.

Max turned to the balcony and looked down.

Marceline was standing there with a sack, she was shoving dolls into bags, she looked up, “HURRY UP!” shouted the girl.

The boy jumped and landed on the grass, he shoved the doll in the bag, grabbing the bag with Marceline they started to run.

…

Matt Boonchuy was bored.

Right now, he was sitting in a large room. It was decorated in the way his mom liked, but he felt it was too old.

His sister was there talking to a cyan frog and a mint axolotl.

Anne smiled at them “I like the first ten chapters, but two things but two things, One, Why do you start off with me then go to Sasha?”

“Well,” said the frog called Opinew, “it’s just to make sure the readers know that we haven’t forgotten about her and we’re aware of the nuance with her situation. As you saw, it goes right back to you immediately after.”

“Okay, and my new question is, why are you starting with me being a teen, you're not going to say what happened to my parents?”

“Oh we’re not doing that,” said Dragiva Lovina the sixth, “We’ve got another guy doing that, a toad called Nite, he’s already finished yours and Sasha’s, he’s working on Marcy's… at least that’s what he said it’s been nearly two years since he wrote a chapter.”

“Ah, yes,” said Anne, “Well, I’m happy for you guys to continue and-”

“This is boring,” moaned Matt.

The amphibians turned to look at him. Anne scowled, “Matt,”

“It is! We should be fighting monsters. Or robots.”

“Oh, our story will have robots,” said Opinew, “But we’re not going to focus on Frobo that much.”

“Really?” said Anne, “Why?”

“He already wrote his biography,” sighed the frog, “and considering what happened to him I-”

“Can we go, please?”

Anne sighed, “Why don’t you wait outside?” she said.

“It’s boring outside as well,” groaned the former human.

Sighing, Anne wondered how her parents handled him, she instantly regretted it, it had been years since she had to deal with a child. Of course she had Polly and Sprig to deal with, but it had been years since they needed her help too.

Another pang of guilt hit Anne. She had been away from her siblings for a while now, as being an ambassador for the various races of Amphibia took so much time. Heck, Sprig was also away from home a lot.

This week was supposed to be just the Plantar family spending time with each other, she had been looking forward to it.

Now she had to deal with two humans who arrived from nowhere, one of whom was her brother and the other one a part of a church that worshiped her, both with no way to get back home.

“Max, Why don’t you wait with Hop-Pop.”

“But he’s old,” said Max.

“Why don’t you give him to Polly?” asked Opinew, who slapped her own head, “Oh sorry I forgot, she’s a psycho.”

Anne sighed, were Polly and Sprig this difficult…Okay, Polly was worse, she still remembered how she had bobbie trapped the house that one time when she babysat her.

“I just want to go outside,” whined the five-year-old.

Anne stood there and nodded, “Okay, but you need a chaperone…and I think I know the perfect frog.”

She opened the door and stuck her head out, “Hey, Sprig?”

…

As the two frogs ran, Max couldn’t help but wonder what he had done to be paired with this crazy frog.

He looked back behind him, seeing Monty and two large toads chasing them, the muscles on the frogs informed him what would happen if they caught up to them.

“They’re going to beat us up,” he said to Marceline.

“Nah, they don’t go after girls, they’ll beat you up.”

“Thanks,” said Max, scowling at her.

“Well, it’s not my fault you got involved in this,” replied Marceline casually.

“You literally dragged me into this.”

“Just keep running,” said Marceline, dropping the subject of blame, “We’re almost where we need to be.”

“What?” asked Max, but the girl didn’t respond.

They kept running passing by confused Amphibians as they watched the five children run, the building architecture changed from the high class to something more rustic.

“Down there,” said Marceline, pointing towards an alleyway.

Max turned with her and entered the alleyway.

It was a dead end.

Max swallowed, and looked at Marceline, she was smiling.

“Oh, this is part of your plan,” he said relaxed.

“Yeah, kind of, my guy is late.”

“What?”

“My friend Lucian, he was supposed to be here.”

“Ah,” said Max, trying to remain calm.

“Yeah, he was supposed to be here already,” said Marceline, looking at the rooftops surrounding them.

“Great, so what now then?”

“Simple,” replied Marceline, “This.”

She pushed Max to the floor and ran to Monty, “Thank goodness you saved me, This ruffian forced me to steal from you,” she said, milking it for all it was worth.

Monty in response just looked at her, annoyed at her lie.

Marceline looked at him for a few seconds trying to look even more helpless, before sighing, “Fine It was all my idea but come on, we both know you two bully boys won’t go after me.”

The fancy dressed newt clicked his fingers, and a third toad joined them.

She had longer hair, and had lipstick on, other than that she looked similar to her brothers.

“This is their sister,” replied Monty with a smile.

“She looked like her brothers.” responded Marceline.

The newly arrived Toad looked hurt at that.

“And you look like a piece of crap,” replied Monty indignantly, “Not nice to make fun of peoples appearances, is it.”

“He’s a jerk, but he’s right.” said Max, “That was way out of line.”

Marceline rubbed her arm, “Yeah, I’m sorry,”

“It’s okay,” said the third toad, who still seemed really upset.

“Okay, with that over with, Get them.”

“NOT SO FAST!” came a voice from above.

Marceline looked up. Standing there was a toad boy in black armor, he had short hair and looked down at all the Amphibians in the alley.

“YOU’RE LATE!” shouted Marceline, smiling.

“HEY I WANTED TO BUILD UP THE DRAMA,” said the toad laughing.

Suddenly, the rooftop was surrounded by an army of Amphibian children, each holding a rotten vegetable.

Monty stood there terrified. “Oh, no,” he whispered.

“FIRE!” shouted Lucian as he let the first of many tomatoes fly towards Monty and his thugs.

It hit Monty in the face. The boy fell to the ground as more tomatoes hit him, his thugs also took the hits. After a few minutes, Monty stood up and started to run, trying to get away from this, however the floor was now wet from tomato pulp, so he slipped and fell down again.

His thugs grabbed him, and carried him away.

The roof tops cheered in victory at the defeat of the bullies, the toad boy jumped from the roof and landed in between Max and Marceline.

“So, this is the patsy?” said Lucian, “He didn’t do too bad.”

Max glared at the two of them, “Patsy?”

“Yeah you know the fall guy, the one who we got to break into Monty’s house and-”

“I know what a patsy is,” He turned and pointed at Marceline, ”You were using me,”

Marceline shrugged, “Fair, but look at it like this, You helped a lot of kids today, speaking of which.”

Pulling a doll out of the bag, Marceline waved it in front of the kids, “WHO WANTS THEIR STUFF BACK.”

The rooftop cheered again and many Amphibian children jumped towards the floor, Marceline and her friend started to hand things out, while Max stood there annoyed at the both of them. They had used him.

Marceline looked back and threw him something, he caught the same grubby rag doll from earlier. He looked at it, who would want something like this?

His answer came in the form of a small tadpole girl who hopped towards him.

Suddenly feeling bad about how he judged whoever played with this toy he landed it to her, she gently took it.

He was surprised when she hugged him, but he hugged her back.

By the time he let go of her Marceline had finished handing out toys, she turned to Max, “Well that was fun, You want something to eat?”

“I was thinking about a fairy cake today, I’m having a large lunch,” said Lucian.

“Sorry, don’t I get an apology?” said Max, annoyed.

Marceline and Lucian looked at each other, “For what?” asked Marceline.

“You both used me to break into someone's house,” replied Max.

“And…” asked Lucian.

Max just stood there for a second then shrugged, “Forget this, I’m going to find the Plantars.”

“Okay,” said Marceline, “I was going to treat you to some candy but… I guess you don’t want to go.”

“No I don’t,” said Max, turning away.

“Okay… Lucian grab him.”

Before Max could do anything he found himself being lifted off the ground.

He could see the back of the Lucian as they walked.

“Sorry Max but when she wants to reward someone she makes sure they get their reward,” said Lucian casually.

“Speaking of which, Remind me to send that toad girl a gift basket.”

“I will,” said Lucian, “And our hostage is right, That was way out of line.”

“Well, nice to know you're not a jerk,” replied Max sarcastically.

…

Finally free from that boring room, Matt hopped through the town excited. He was surprisingly good at it, Polly had given him suggestions on how to do it. When asked why she responded that she was an agent of chaos.

During all of this, Sprig was chasing him, pleading for him to slow down. He had given up trying to order him to stop and was now onto bribing him.

“I’ll buy you candy, Let you have Sasha’s sword, I’ll give you my firstborn.”

Not that it worked, Matt just kept hopping, searching for someone who needed a hero.

That’s when he saw a group of younger Amphibians standing near an alley, each of them were holding toys, each had a smile on their face. Only one thing could have made them happy, a hero.

He rushed up to an eft girl and asked, “What happened?”

“Princess Marceline got our toys back, She’s a hero.”

Matt let out a squeal, “Where is she?”

“She was down that alley,” said the girl.

Without another word, Matt ran down the alley way, only to be annoyed when he saw there was nothing there.

The boy sighed, he needed to find Princess Marceline.

“There you are,” said Sprig behind him. Matt sighed and turned to see him standing there, trying to look intimidating. Matt found his efforts to be depressing, his mom was far more scary, even his dad, the less mean one, was more scary than Sprig’s failed efforts.

“Matt, we have to go now,”

The young polliwog sighed, “Fine, Where are we going?”

“Well, I was thinking about going to see my girlfriends and-”

Matt groaned, love stuff was gross.

The frog picked him up and turned around.

However, the entry was blocked.

Two newts were standing there, in front of them was a small toad, he was wearing a jacket, his skin was pasty and clammy.

“Ahhh, Sprig Plantar, I presume.”

“Yes?” replied Sprig, confused.

“I happen to be a big fan of your sister.”

“Oh, wonderful, I’m a fan too.”

“Yes, but I’m her biggest fan,” said the toad sinisterly.

“But you're so small?” asked Matt.

Before the frog could respond, the two newts leapt and grabbed Max and Matt and shoved them into a sack.

“Good job gentlemen,” said the toad in a slimy way, “Soon Anne Boonchuy will give me what I want.”

The toad ran out of the alley, followed by his two henchmen.
…

Max tried to free himself from Lucian's grip but failed to, he turned to see where Marceline and her thug were taking him.

He saw a building with the words General store written above it.

Marceline took the lead and opened the door, Lucian dragged Max inside.

Max was placed on the ground, and he looked around the room.

In front of him was a counter, above that were some shelves. Placed on those were books, seed bags, tools, and more.

Sitting in front of the counter was a blue eft.

“Hello, welcome to the Sune family store, I’m Nicole Sune. What can I help you with.”

“Hey Nicole,” said Lucian in a friendly tone, “You running the store today?”

A door to the side opened, “No she isn't, she's not even supposed to be working.”

In stepped a newt girl, she looked tired, and was looking at Nicole, “Get out from behind there sis.”

The eft groaned, “But I want to have a job.” she whined.

“Too bad,” said the Newt girl, she picked up the eft and placed her in front of the store, “why don’t you go play?”

“Don’t worry, Raine,” replied Marceline, “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

The tired look disappeared from the newt woman's eyes at the sight of Marceline, “Oh your highness, You don’t have to, I mean-”

“Wait, even she’s acting like this?” said Max

“Yeah dude, she’s the princess of Amphibia,” replied Lucian.

“I just thought it was a nickname.”

“Nope, look over to the right.”

Max turned, There was a portrait of five figures, one a human with black hair, she was wearing a green dress, standing opposite her facing the other direction was a green newt with a black hair, wearing a green dress, below them were three newts, one a blue newt woman in a white dress, a tall red newt in armor and finally a small newt girl who was in a fine dress on her face was a regal frown.

In front of him wearing something a little bit more simple was the same girl, her smile however was mischievous.

Max turned to Lucian, his eyes wide, “You mean… she’s an actual…”

The toad boy nodded, “Yep, all hail the princess.”

“Fourth in line,” corrected Marcy as she carried three bags of candy, she passed one to Max, “Here, sugar-coated caterpillars.”

Max looked in the bag and saw several caterpillars covered in white dots, he pulled one out and saw it was squirming.

He stared at it for a few moments, “Um… I don’t think I can eat this”

Marceline looked at him then shrugged, “Fine,” she opened her mouth and her tongue flew towards Max, it touched the caterpillar and flew back towards Marceline's open mouth.”

“More for me,” said Marceline with her mouth full.

Max stood there for a few seconds, then turned around, “I’m out.”

The human turned frog walked towards the door.

“Ah, come on,” said Marcy who was now walking next to him, “What’s wrong?”

“You forced me to steal something, and now you want me to eat bugs.”

Marceline looked at him confused, “Yeah, that’s what we eat.”

“Well not me,” said Max, turning around.

Marceline sighed, “You could have told me you were a vegetarian.”

The frog boy kept walking.

“In all fairness, Marceline, you might have gone a little too far,” said Lucian, who was following the two.

“What was it this time, another boy she roped into committing her schemes?” asked the small newt from the store.

Max ignored them and kept walking, hoping he would lose them, he wondered if there was a building he could hide in.

The house at the end of the lane was old and dilapidated, it looked like it could fall down if one was to look at it in the wrong way, standing there were two newts, as Max drew near he could hear what they were saying.

“I don’t know Goeff, This is risky.” said the newt sitting on the stairs to the house.

“I know, but the boss has already paid us, and if we leave this job early we’ll be labeled as unreliable.”

“Yeah, but kidnapping the family of the girl who saved the world? This is too dangerous.”

Max froze. The newts hadn’t noticed him yet. He thought about running away, but before he could, someone grabbed him and pulled him into an alleyway. He looked up to see who had grabbed him, and it turned out to be Lucian, next to him were Marceline and Nicole

“Why did you-”

“Ssshhhh.” said the toad boy.

Goeff sighed, not noticing the children, “Just keep thinking about the money, Think of what we can do after this.”

The other newt stood there and sighed, he stood and turned around, “Okay, but I don’t like this, kidnapping her brother and that weird polliwog who says he’s her other brother.”

Both newts entered the house.

“They’ve kidnapped Sprig.” said Marceline.

“And another polliwog?” said Lucian, “One who thinks he’s Anne's brother, what’s with that?”

Max looked at both of them and sighed, “That’s because he is her brother.”

The three young Amphibians looked at each other back at Max, “What do you mean?”

“That polliwog might be Max, Anne’s human brother.”

For a brief moment the alley was full of silence, then the three Amphibians started to laugh.

“Nice one,” said Lucian.

“Another human, Really.” said Nicole

“Sorry Max, but that’s impossible.”

Max stood there for a second, and reached into his pocket, he pulled out a berry. Anne had told him that it would hurt, and only to use it in emergencies.

He swallowed the berry.

Instantly his stomach started to rumble, then something started to pull on him, his limbs started to stretch, his bones cracked, muscles felt like they were being ripped apart.

The pain was blinding, he fell to the floor, he tried to hold back a scream.

He looked up at the amphibians, they looked at him terrified.

“It hurts,” he said weakly, he closed his eyes.

Something grabbed his hand, “It’s okay.”

He opened his eyes, Marceline was looking at him, there was a terrified look in her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” she said, swallowing, “We’re here.”

Slowly the pain started to fade, he stood up.

He was surprised at how much he towered over his friends, a part of him was worried over the looks they were giving him.

“So,” said Max, “Any questions?”

“Yes,” said Marceline, “Who are you?”

“Max, I told you.”

“Where did you come from?”

“Earth, I got here somehow, I landed at the Plantars farm and Anne gave me a potion, and I was a frog.”

“Are you going to eat us?” asked Lucian.

“No, I actually am a vegetarian.“

Nicole stood there, “Okay, So what now?”

“We should get Anne,” said Max.

“We could,” said Marceline, that mischievous smile plastered on her face, “Or we could do something fun.”

“You want to have fun while some frogs are in danger?” asked Max.

“I know it sounds bad,” said Marceline, “But think of it like this, We can really make some bad frogs pay.”

Max stood there for a second, “How can I trust you?”

Nicole stood there, and for a moment Max could see she was try to appear brave in front of a monster, “You can’t really, I’ll admit that I go a little overboard in pranks.”

“True,” said Lucian walking next to her, “But she only goes after real jerks.”

“And she looks after all the kids in town.”

“Why?” asked Max.

The princess shrugged, “I’m fourth in line to the crown of Amphibia, I’m probably never going to be queen if Princess Marcy has kids of a family, and I barely get into trouble, why not help others.”

Max stood there for a second, he looked into her eyes, as saw something there, something strong.

Slowly he started to smile, “I’m in, What’s the plan?”

Marceline and the others smiled, “You ever heard of how Anne saved a young frog kid once, it’s a pretty fun story.”

…

Sprig had to admit that out of all the times he had been kidnapped, this was possibly the nicest dilapidated house he had been to, at least in a while. Oh sure there were cobwebs, but the furniture was mostly fine. He looked at the toad who had kidnapped him sitting in a plush chair, there was a smile on his face, not a deranged one of a killer but one whose goals were within his grasp. By his sides were the two newts, watching the two frogs.

The kidnappers rated highly on the scale of the usual abductors, they were polite and had already given him food and water. Matt stood there glaring at all the Amphibians there, both Sprig and Matt were tied up just tight enough so it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Overall Sprig would have to rate this kidnapping an 8, Good location, basic needs met, still being held against will.

“So,” Sprig said, deciding to strike up a conversation, “What do you want us for?”

“Simple,” said the toad, “I want something from your sister, and if I don’t get it, she’ll never see you or the polliwog again.”

“Ah,” said Sprig, nodding, “That old routine.”

“You're taking this quite calmly.” replied the toad, “Not your first time being a hostage?”.

“Nah,” said Sprig, “This is my fifth.”

“Really?” said the toad interested, “that many.”

“Yeah, this happens to my family all the time, Hop-Pop has been kidnapped twice and Polly seven times.”

“What?” said the toad shocked, “She’s the dangerous one in your family.”

“Eh she encourages it, she enjoys escaping, and making kidnappers pay, BTW you might want to let us go before she finds you.”

“Ha,” laughed the toad, “That won’t happen today, I have an escape plan.”

“Too bad,” said the Polliwog, “My sister’s going to rescue us.”

“Ha,” said the toad, “Like I need to fear some random frog girl.”

“You should, She’s Anne.”

The toad stopped laughing and looked at the small polliwog, “What?”

“Oh, ignore him,” said Sprig worried, “He’s crazy.”

“No, she’s my big sister, she’s both our sister, and we’re both her brothers.”

“Kid Keep…” Sprig paused, “Wait…does that mean we’re brothers?”

Matt sat there for a second, he blinked a few times and smiled, “Yeah, we are… THIS IS AWESOME.”

There were Tears in Sprig’s eyes, “I can’t believe it, I always wanted a brother.”

The small polliwog was doing the same, “Can we play catch after this?”

“YES,” said the frog openly wearing, “This is the best day ever.”

“Sorry,” said the toad, raising a hand, “But he’s really her brother?”

“I mean, they have similar colors,” said the newt thug.

The toad sat there, his eyes slowly growing wider, “Oh my frog, We have another human.”

Sprig groaned, “Aren’t you jumping to conclusions pretty fast?”

“Why not?” said the toad, “We live in a world where anyone can change species at any time, heck my boys are actually a frog and toad.”

“Really?” said Sprig, “Why change into something-”

“No one recognizes us,” said one newt, “Perfect for anonymity.”

Sprig sat there and nodded, “Yeah…you know the more you think about it the more revealing potions that can change people easily might not have been the best idea for us, remember all those newt toad duels?”

“My cousin died from that,” said the toad shaking his head.

“Sorry,” said Sprig.

“No it’s fine it’s just… That Val woman has a lot to pay for.

The front door the of the house slammed open, standing there was a frog girl in a dress looking terrified, “HE’S AFTER ME!” she shouted

The newts walked over to grab her, but she dodged them and run up to the toad, grabbing his shirt, “YOU HAVE TO HELP ME, THERE’S A MONSTER, HE TOOK MY FRIENDS AND- AND…”

Sprig recognized Marceline instantly, he wondered what was going on.

Before he could say anything, he watched as she was pushed to the floor by the toad.

“What’s going on,” demanded the toad.

“The town, it’s being attacked by a monster,” said Marceline terrified, “He had brown skin, bushy hair, he’s like the three humans but… He’s evil.”

Before anyone could respond, something fell from the stairs, it was the body of a toad boy. There was a red substance around his neck, his eyes were wide open and his tongue was sticking out.

“BOSS, What’s going on?”

…

Elliot stood there looking at the dead child lying in front of him. This had been a simple plan to kidnap one of Anne’s family and get what he wanted.
Things had gone so wrong.

Before he could react, there was something standing at the top of the stairs.

Looking up, Elliot spotted something he was fascinated by but also terrified of.

Crouching there was a humanoid, blood covering his face, his hands and clothing, its long spindly limbs, its predatory eyes were fixed on them.

Elliot stood there, both in marvel and in terror, he hadn’t noticed that his two newt allies had run away a while ago, followed by the frog girl and his two recently freed hostages.

“F…” said the human, his voice was croaky like it was trying to replicate how a frog's croak.

“What?” said

“Foo…”

“Food?” said the toad, staring to figure out what the monster wanted.

The beast smiled and leapt towards Elliot.

Letting out a scream, and rushed to the door, only to find a large figure standing there.

Another human, however this one was different, she was taller, and looked annoyed.

The beast that was chasing him turned the corner and froze the moment he saw the woman standing there, he transformed instantly, he stood up and looked embarrassed.

“You,” she said to the smaller human, “Are in trouble.”

The small human swallowed, “Did Nicole find you?”

Anne nodded, still glaring at him.

“What about me?” said Elliot shyly.

Anne glared at him and picked him up by his collar, “You kidnapped my brothers, I want to know why?”

“Umm, well, I’m a huge fan and I-”

“Oh god, was this some sort of plan to make me your slave or mate?”

Elliot pulled a face, “No, that’s disgusting.”

Anne looked confused, “Well then, what?”

The toad blushed, “I wanted an autograph.”

The taller human looked at him for a few seconds, then sighed and turned to Max.

“Come on, You too, Lucian.”

The toad boy stepped in from the front room, then looked at Max, “How did I do?”

Elliot slowly realized that this had been a trick, of course.

“You were a good corpse,” said the human nodding, “Did it hurt falling down the stairs?”

“Nah,” said the toad, “This isn’t the first time I’ve fallen down the stairs for a con.”

…

An hour later, five kids were sitting on a coach, Max sat there worried, Marceline sat there looking tired, Lucian was following in her footsteps, Nicole was somewhat excited, and Matt was pouting.

The Plantars were waiting upstairs, Anne said she needed to do this on her own.

“If you're going to punish us,” said Marceline, “You might want to do it now.”

“No,” said Anne, “I’m waiting for someone else to show up first.”

“What? You called our parents?” asked Lucian.

“Oh, they know, But it’s not them.”

“Then who?” asked Nicole.

The slammed open and in rushed a blonde human wearing armor, she glared at them then focused on Marceline.

“What mess have you gotten my brother into this time?”

Marceline smiled politely, “Hello Sasha, Nice to see you too.”

“Don’t mess with me, Yunan, I know this is your fault.”

“She didn’t do anything.”

Max raised his hand, “Hi, who is this?”

“That’s Sasha, She was brought her with me and-”

“She looks like Aunt Jess,” Matt whispered.

Sasha turned away from him and looked at the human, her anger faded replaced by confusion, “What are you doing in Amphibia, you're a human.”

“Thanks for noticing, You’re a human too,”

From the door stepped a third human woman, the same one Max had seen in the picture in the general store, she froze and looked at him, “Oh,” she said quietly.

Marceline sighed and waved her hand, “Hey sis.”

The queen looked from the human and to the frog girl, she frowned slightly, “Marceline, you're in trouble with your moms.”

“For what? Saving two hostages?”

“For breaking into a house, stealing, getting a mob to attack four amphibians,” said the queen, “And also I talked to a toad girl who you were really mean to.”

Marceline sighed, “Okay, it was a bit of a problem but-”

“You know if you keep this up, we’re going to have to send you to Reform school, right?”

The frog girl’s mouth dropped, “No, not Saint O's”

“That’s probably for the best,” said Sasha, “Best get that dealt with early.”

Marceline stood there for a second and looked at Marcy, for a brief moment she was hesitant, her face turned downwards, she looked at Lucian who looked back at her then at Sasha, the human gave him a glare, and she let out a whimper.

No one was going to defend her, and maybe they were right, she had broken into someone's room, and her plan was dangerous.

She was about to stand up and take the blame.

“No,” said Max, surprised to find himself standing.

Everyone in the room looked at him.

“What?” said Sasha.

Max blushed at the attention, but kept going, “I can’t believe I have to say this, but she’s not as bad as you think.”

Every looked at him surprised, especially Marceline.

“Yeah, she’s kind of evil, brought me into her scheme against my will, but she’s also brave and looks after the kids here, did Monty tell you he had a room full of stolen dolls?”

The three humans looked at each other. “No he didn’t,” said Anne curiously.

“And the plan to rescue your brothers was hers.”

“Really?”

“And Lucian was the one to suggest that he should throw himself down the stairs.”

“That’s not a good thing,” said Sasha.

“If you're going to punish her, you have to punish the rest of us.”

Max hoping his speech would save them, he didn’t notice the other kids were looking at him smiling, the three adult humans looked from him to each other, and smiled.

“Okay, you kids are off the hook.”

There was an outburst of cheers from the couch, Max found himself jumped by Marceline, the Eft and Polliwog hugged him, he felt a large slap on the back from Lucian.

“However,” said Marcy, “for the next few days I want you to spend time together.”

The cheers stopped, Max looked up at the princess, his mouth fell open, “What?”

“Yeah, what?” said Marceline.

“I want you five to spend some time together, Marceline, Lucian and Nicole can help you two start to fit in here, and Max can try and keep Marceline on the straight and narrow.”

“What about me?” asked Matt.

“Well, I need someone to look after you, and who better than an eft girl with way too much time on her hands.”

“You mean… She’s my babysitter?”

“Yeah. Be glad I’m not giving you to Polly,” said Anne, “Now if you don’t mind, I have to go talk to my autobiographers. They want to see who has rights to this story.”

“Yeah, I have to get back to that council meeting,” said Princess Marcy, “They want to retrial my dad.”

“If you want us to be there-” Sasha started to say.

“No, It’s fine,” said Marcy, interrupting her friend, “It’s going to be hard seeing him again.”

With that, the three adults left.

“I think that went pretty well,” said Lucian leaning back in the chair, “All we have to do it look after these two, and we’re home free.”

Max slumped into his chair, he was stuck with these two now, he was doomed.

“Um Max,” said a quiet voice.

Max turned to see Marceline sitting at him, there was a small smile on her face, for the first time she looked genuine.

“Thanks for sticking up for me,” she said rubbing her arm, “I’m sorry I got you into this, I can try and convince them you don’t have to hang out with us.”

The human boy sat there, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

“Nah, it’s fine, besides I need your opinion, what should I be tomorrow?”

“What do you mean?” asked Marceline.

Max pulled out two vials from his shorts, the labels on them had a picture of a toad and a newt respectively.

“Should I be a frog tomorrow or something different?”

For a brief moment the group looked at him.

“Toad,” said Lucian, “Not to toot my own species horn, but we’re really strong.”

“Well if you're a newt you can have a tail,” said Nicole, “it's the one thing I’ve been looking forward to for years.”

“Why not be an axolotl,” suggest Marceline, could be fun.

“Salamander,” suggested Matt.

In no time flat, the five were discussing what sort of creature Max would be tomorrow, full of laughter and jibes.

Max smiled, maybe being stuck here wouldn’t be bad after all.

…

The new thing Max knew he was in a dark room, something was covering his face, he struggled for a second to remove the apendance on hsi face.

He sat up and realized he was in Marcy’s room.

Sitting next to him was Lucian, his arm in Maxs hand.

Marcy was sleeping in the frog bed.

It was all a dream.

A weird one, it would teach him not to eat so much garlic pizza before going to bed.

On the plus side it was a decent one, one where he met his friends again, even if they were different.

He stood up and walked to the window.

The city ahead of him was familiar, with tall skyscrapers and bright lights, he could see a plane coming into land somewhere in the distance.

After all that time in Amphibia being back in Los Angeles was still a little shocking.

He turned back to his friends and swallowed, he wondered if his dream self would have let this happen.

Now because of him they were stuck ni another world, and were being hunted by Amphibia’s ancient enemy, the government wouldn’t help them and Eddie was still out there probably looking for him.

He swallowed and walked to his futon, he stared at the ceiling, he thought back on his dream, he remembered how that version of him protect Marceline when she needed it.

Closing his eyes, he promised himself to protect the friends he had.

As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered, What was up with that cat?