Chapter 11

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Poppy excitedly ran towards her father's pod as Branch followed slowly behind, fiddling nervously with his fingers as his heart raced, pounding rapidly right out of his chest.

     'I'm dead... I'm dead... I'm dead,' he thought to himself over and over again, picturing in great horror what Peppy would do to him when the old king found out he had stolen his treasured map... "I am so dead..."

He paused, no longer following Poppy as he pulled at his hair, his mind full of overwhelming panic... what was he going to do...

 what was he going to do

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     'Pst...' he suddenly heard in a soft whisper, raising his eyes to look up at Gary who sat hidden in his hair. "Hey, dad...'

     With that, Branch pulled his son out of his hair, holding him gently in his hands to look at, wondering what he was about to 'say'... maybe it would be helpful to his current situation?

     'Since your about to die...' Gary started, giving his father a smug grin. "Can I have your bunker? I can throw the sickest parties without you there to poop all over them...'

     At the sound of those downright unsupportive words, Branch glared down at his son with a slight growl, stuffing the inanimate remote control back into his hair...

     "Shut up, Gary..." he grumbled, crossing his arms in anger.

     'Oh... and by the way..." Gary smirked. 'What type of cake do you want at your funeral?'

     "You're not helping, Gary..." Branch groaned, looking angrily off into the distance, not giving his son the satisfaction of crumbling under his words... but secretly... he was still freaking out inside...

     'I never said I was helpful,' Gary shrugged before finally shutting his nonexistent mouth...

—————

     "I'm so excited, Branch!" Poppy squealed, continuing to run towards her father's pod. "I'm actually going to meet my mother! Isn't that awe..."

     She paused, realizing Branch was no longer beside her...

     "Branch?"

     Confused, Poppy turned to look back, noticing how far behind Branch was...

     "Come on, slowpoke," she urged with a quiet giggle, Branch looking up at her with a slight jump of alarm, not expecting the sudden call out... "Pick up the pace!"

     "Y... yeah..." he replied with a quick gulp of fear, beginning to fiddle nervously with his fingers once more. "I... I'm coming..."

     Poppy smiled at him, not seeming to notice his terror before quickly turning away yet again, continuing to run through the village...

     "Gary?" Branch whimpered once his girlfriend was completely out of sight...
'Yes, dad?' Gary replied smugly.
"You can have my bunker..."
'Yes! Party time!' 🥳

—————

Finally, the two companions reached Peppy's pod, both of them walking inside...

"Dad? Dad!? Are you here!?" Poppy called out as she looked around the empty room. But there was no answer... it seemed as if Peppy still wasn't home... good...

"Well... looks like no one's here. Guess we're too late... Come on Poppy, let's go," Branch said in slight panic, quickly turning to head for the door...

     But Poppy didn't follow... instead she walked farther into the pod...

"I'll write a note," she informed cheerfully, grabbing a piece of paper from off the desk...

Branch froze at the queen of pop's words, his eyes widening in dread...

"A... a note?" he asked quietly as he slowly turned back to her, his ears drooping down lower than ever before...

She nodded in reply, grabbed hold of a pen so she could begin writing something down...

"Dear dad," she said as she wrote, causing Branch's heart to stop, his face overly sweaty as he seemed to struggle breathing. "Thank you so much for giving us the map to mom. Branch and I are headed out now to find her, and bring her home. I love you so much. XOXO. -Poppy."

"O-kay!" Branch said, quickly rushing Poppy out the door before Peppy could come home and find them. "You wrote your note... now let's get out of here!"

He pushed Poppy out the door, quickly turning once he was out of her sight to stealthily grab hold of the note, crumpling it up, and tossing it towards the trash can, so it would never be seen again...

     With a sigh of relief, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, quickly running out of the pod to follow Poppy...

     What he didn't notice however... was that he had missed his intended target, the paper bouncing off the rim of the trash can before falling to the floor...

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