Living in a Frog World (Male OC x Anne Boonchuy)

Chapter 9: Tales of Newtopia: Part Two: Hard-Boiled Frog

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If there was one genre of movies that Frank would never have known Anne loved, just as much as he did, it was old black-and-white noir movies. That was mostly because of his dad and grandpa's love of them.

Right now, as Hop Pop drove Bessie down the street, they were watching a movie called Little Town Noir. The main detective character, Baskin, was doing his inner monologue as he stood in an office. The man he'd been hunting down was right in front of him, sitting behind a desk, with his chair facing away from him.

"There I was, about to split the case of the century wide open. The person behind it all was right behind this chair, and it was my job to deliver justice with my fists."

Polly, Sprig, and Hop Pop, who were leaning over to watch the show on Anne's phone, were all very impressed. "Whoa."

"Aren't these old detective films the greatest," Anne said as the big fistfight broke out. "It's like a normal movie, but no one talks out loud, and everybody loses in the end."

"I love it. Just a hard-boiled guy tryin' to right wrongs, without any of that fancy color nonsense getting in the way," Hop Pop said.

Frank raised an eyebrow. "Hop Pop, shouldn't you be focusing on driving," he asked, noting the long line of cars behind them. All thanks to Hop Pop driving Bessie so slowly just to watch the movie, traffic had become backed up.

Luckily, Hop Pop made a left turn, allowing traffic to resume at a normal pace, while he looked at the destination he intended to take the kids to.

"All right, kids. We're here," he said.

To Frank, Anne, Sprig, and Polly's utter amazement and excitement, across the street of the T-section was a massive arcade that looked like a mix between a casino and a movie theater. A large sign hung over the entrance of the building, and two wizard-like newt statues stood over it. Outside of the entrance, a long line of people waited to get into the arcade and have the time of their lives.

When the kids saw the arcade, they were thrilled and ready to jump off and run to it—especially the two humans, who had yearned to see an arcade for so long. Somewhere where they could eat pizza, play video games, and win tickets for cheap and breakable prizes that would only keep their attention until the day's end.

"An arcade?" Frank looked at the old frog with a big smile. "Honestly, this is the best thing you've ever done for us."

"Totally worth it," Anne said.

Polly exclaimed, "You're the best Hop Pop who ever hopped."

Hop Pop, however, like always, quickly dashed those hopes away when he looked back and said, "What? No, no, no. We're going there."

The four kids followed his finger as he pointed to an arcade, but two a different building next to it. Unlike the casino, which was doing very well for itself, and was brightly lit with customers, Hop Pop's intended destination was nothing more than a rundown sandwich shop. The sign above the shop, which was crooked from repairs having gone to waste, had the title of "Sal's Wartwood Style Sandwiches" on it, along with the bust of a frog that looked to be about Hop Pop's age with a small mustache, a hat on his head, and a tie.

Everyone instantly had a negative reaction, with Anne yelling, "Boo!"

Polly and Sprig moaned, "Aw, Hop Pop."

"Should've known it was too good to be true," Frank said, crossing his arms.

All that did was get them a slap in the face by the old frog's newspaper.