The fact that they had to let their daughter go to another world entirely was enough to make The Boonchuys worried.
But knowing that essentially an alien invasion was being prepared by a technological force from said world they sent Anne to was scarier.
Mr. X's eyes were wide as Mrs. Boonchuy finished the story. He then took a deep breath. "So, let me get this straight...there's an evil newt king with an army of robots that wants to conquer Earth?"
Mr. Boonchuy blinked and nodded. "That's pretty much the story."
"...that...is amazing!" Mr. X exclaimed with a giddy grin.
The Boonchuys looked at each other and then back at Mr. X, clearly very confused.
"I've been preparing for an alien invasion this whole time! Now, I'm actually gonna be a part of one!" Mr. X cheered.
Mrs. Boonchuy, Oum, looked at her husband and then whispered into his ear. "I think he's a little too excited about our possible impending doom."
Mr. Boonchuy, Bee, leaned in as well. "Yeah...it's kind of freaky."
Mr. X then cleared his throat. "Anyway, thank you for this helpful information! Now, it's time for training."
Bee's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"
"You're one of our most valuable assets for this upcoming invasion, so? You're gonna need to learn how to defend yourselves." Mr. X said with a smirk, tilting his glasses.
"DO WE GET COOL GADGETS?!" Bee asked with glee.
Mr. X blinked. "Sure."
"Now, hold on a minute," Oum said, standing up from the interrogation table. "Anne isn't the only one who's in Amphibia. Our friends' daughters are over there, too."
Mr. X hummed. "And their parents don't know about this...?"
Bee shook his head. "Nope."
Mr. X sighed. "Oh, boy..."
"The only reason why we didn't tell them is because..." Oum took a deep breath, clenching her fist a bit. "Because we don't know what could have happened to them. Anne didn't know, either."
Mr. X took a deep breath. "Well then, there's two options. We get them involved in this or we do the rest of this in secret."
Oum bit her bottom lip, and then looked at Mr. X. "Is the giant praying mantis still alive?"
Mr. X blinked and nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"Because we're going to need to show them proof," she said, her brown eyes full of determination. "They've been agonizing over their daughters' disappearances as much as Bee and I have been agonizing over Anne's."
Mr. X sighed. "Alright then. I'll call them over." He said before he grabbed his phone, putting it to his ear. "Get me The Waybrights and The Wu's."
Later that day, everything was in place. Or rather, everyone was in place.
Three people slowly entered the strange, almost empty warehouse. None of them could quite remember what it was used for, but it had been shut down a decade or so ago.
"Where are we?" A woman asked. That very woman was Marcy's mother, Lin Wu.
"You'll see. Trust us." Bee said, looking back at the three of them.
Lin's husband, Chen Wu, was uncharacteristically quiet. He was once a polished, straightforward and rather strict man... but ever since Marcy disappeared, he had become disheveled, and lost a bit of weight, his white t-shirt almost looking too big on him. His oval-shaped, brown eyes that Marcy had inherited from him were now constantly full of regret and sorrow, and the worst part was that he seldom spoke to anyone anymore, besides his wife.
Next to them both was Sasha's father, Thomas Waybright, who looked ready to punch someone since he was kind of suspicious of where they were. He was a fairly strict, but kind man once...that did kind of change after his divorce with his wife, which even The Boonchuys could tell affected Sasha just as much. Perhaps even more.
"Alright, what's going on?" Thomas asked, crossing his arms.
Bee faced his wife. "Is X here yet?" He whispered.
"He'll be here in a minute," Oum whispered back, before she took a deep breath, and then stepped forward. "Alright, everyone... the reason why Bee and I have brought you all here is because..."
She closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them and looking at her friends in the eyes.
"We have a lead to where the girls are."
Chen's eyes widened and he looked at the Boonchuys, his face full of shock, and for the first time in months, a glimmer of hope sparkled in his eyes.
"Y...You know where Marcy is?" Lin asked, her eyes as wide as her husband's.
Thomas stepped forward. "A-And Sasha...?"
Then, that's when Mr. X himself, followed by a few agents, entered the room. Mr. X was holding some kind of laptop. "Yes. Yes, we do."
"Where are they?" Chen suddenly spoke in a raspy voice, causing almost everyone in the room to jump; especially with the fact that they hadn't heard him speak in months. "Where's my baby? Is she okay? Is she alive?!"
Mr. X bit his bottom lip for a second before sighing. "Well, we don't exactly know...but we can confirm one thing. Their location." He then opened the laptop...showing multiple pieces of footage that showed what they saw of Amphibia, the giant praying mantis, and almost too much footage of the Plantars.
And that's when the soldiers, to prove that it wasn't fake, brought in the giant praying mantis, which was chained down, too weak to even try to escape. Thomas yelped a bit. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
Chen's eyes widened and he gasped, stepping backwards in fright. He even almost fell to the floor, swearing in Mandarin. "Nà shì shénme tiān a?!"
Mr. X chuckled quietly at that, since the reaction was fairly priceless. He then cleared his throat. "Your daughters have been transported to another dimension dubbed Amphibia, which as it sounds, is a world filled with frogs, newts, and toads. According to Oum and Bee Boonchuy, they were transported there by a portal from a music box Marcy found after...well, something happened. I don't exactly know that part." He said. "Anyway, Anne managed to come back to Earth with a warning. Their king and ruler, King Andrias, is planning to use the music box to transport himself here...and invade the entire planet."
He then gestured to the mantis. "And if you don't believe us, look at that."
Chen's eyes widened and his mind suddenly went numb. His face went terrifyingly blank, and he stared at Mr. X for the longest time.
Lin was dead silent before she finally spoke. "Someone catch me-" She said before fainting, with Bee rushing in and catching her.
Oum's face filled with concern as she walked over to Chen, her hand raised as if she was trying not to scare a wild animal. "Chen?"
Chen couldn't hear her. His mind was overcome with memories. Every single memory he had of Marcy... his baby girl. His sunshine... the center of his galaxy...
She ran away. She had run out of the house, upset about moving away from her best friends, and it was all his fault.
She found the music box and...and tried to run into another world on purpose. Just to get away from her 'home'. To get away from him.
He accepted his new job without hesitation, because he wanted to give Marcy everything that he didn't have at her age; a good home, all of the toys and books she could have ever wanted, and only the best education. He barely scraped by when he was her age, and had vowed to make sure that Marcy would only have all of the things she'd need to succeed in life.
But it seemed, in thinking about giving her everything she needed to succeed in life...he completely ignored everything she needed to be happy. Her friends. The girls she loved with all her heart.
He was taking that away from her.
"Mr. Wu...?" Mr. X asked, walking over.
"Chen?" Oum called, looking very worried, now.
"...It's all my fault," he uttered, tears streaming down his cheeks, his voice cracking around his words.
Thomas stepped forward. "C-Chen-"
"I-I wanted to move...t-to give her a new home." Chen whispered with a small sob. "I-I forced her away instead...I-I couldn't...I-I'm a...!"
Mr. X took a step back, knowing he was most certainly not the type of person to help out. He was almost starting to wish they didn't know what happened and they had continued this operation in secret. But it was too late now.
Oum walked over. "Chen. Chen, look at me. You made a mistake, yes, but you can fix it. That's why we're here...!"
Bee nodded. "We're gonna save both Marcy and Sasha. We promise."
Chen doubted that. Not saving Marcy, just doubting that he could ever fix this kind of mistake...his own daughter must've hated him. He shook his head, wiping away his tears. "...I-I'll do anything to make sure Marcy is okay..."
Thomas stepped forward. "I'll do the same for Sasha..."
Mr. X took a small sigh of relief and chuckled. "Then, let's get to work, hmm?"
Meanwhile, in the Resistance Base...
Sprig held the telescope Anne had given him for his birthday while they were on Earth. He dragged his hand across where Anne's name was written and closed his eyes. "...whatever took you, Anne...I swear...I'm getting you back..."
He opened his eyes, tears beginning to fall down his face. "I-I promise..."
But then, Hop Pop walked over and sat beside his grandson. "We will, Sprig."
Sprig rested his head on Hop Pop's shoulder. "...how's Sasha?"
"Still healing up." Hop Pop sighed. "Leading the Resistance from her bed though."
Sprig gave a weak chuckle. "She'll never give up, will she...?"
Hop Pop laughed, shaking his head. "All good leaders never do."
But then, the ground shaking alerted every member in the Resistance. They quickly grabbed their weapons, raising them into the air...until suddenly? Someone poked their giant head right out of the dirt walls.
Mother Olm.
She looked terrified. Mortified even. "Where is Sasha?! This is urgent!!!"
Grime stepped over. "She's injured. She'll-"
"What?" Sasha suddenly asked as she stepped out, using a spear to keep her balance as she walked over. "Mother Olm, what's going on?"
Grime's eyes widened. "Sasha! You're supposed to be resting!"
"Not when I'm needed, Da- I mean. Grime." Sasha said, not wanting to admit Grime was her father figure during a time like this. She faced Mother Olm. "What's going on?"
"The Prophecy..." Mother Olm whispered. "It...it has changed. The original Prophecy was, well, a request for help from The Three Stars. The champions chosen by the stones...but now..."
Sasha stepped closer. "What...?"
"It's become a warning." Mother Olm said gravely. "Three stars burning bright have come to expel the Night. But, only in darkness, can a star burn bright. What is a star to do when she's lost her light?"
Sasha's eyes widened. "Wait...what...? What does that mean?"
"I can sense it...Marcy and Anne have been taken by a dark force that I can't make out. They can't shine, and The Prophecy requires all three of you...Sasha...the warning is that you may be the only one left."
Sasha's eyes widened, and she suddenly felt weak in the knees. "Wh... what?! That... that can't be!"
Mother Olm quickly spoke again. "N-Now, now! I'm not saying they're dead or gone! I'm just saying that a dark force has taken them and they need to be saved...and without them, The Prophecy cannot be completed."
"Dark force...?" Grime questioned. "Andrias?"
Mother Olm shook her head. "No. It's not Andrias. It definitely involves him, but it isn't him directly." She then looked at Sasha. "You and your Resistance can't waste your time with the king and his army at the moment. No matter when they're going to invade, your friends may be in even greater danger."
"But, we don't know enough about this dark force," Sasha told her. "We still can't get past Andrias' army, and we still don't have the Calamity Box to give me my powers. It'd be suicide to just face this thing head-on. We need a plan, and to prepare for any possible outcome. Anne and Marcy would want me to protect everyone as much as I can, and if you're right, then this dark force is more powerful and dangerous than Andrias himself."
Mother Olm sighed. "I'm aware, Sasha. To be honest, I don't have much of a plan myself and the last thing I want to do is make the threat you're facing greater."
Sprig then stood up. "Then we'll make a plan! Something! Anything! We'll even unite everyone in Amphibia if we have to!!" He declared. "We're saving our home and we're saving Anne and Marcy!!!"
Sasha's eyes widened, and then she looked at Sprig. "Easy, kid. We will save Anne and Marcy, but we'll need information about this dark force, first. If we rush into things, especially right now, people will get hurt, or worse. Anne would want you, your grandpa and sister to be safe. Don't forget that."
Sprig sighed and sat down. "I know, I know. I just...everything's gone from bad to worse...I'm getting desperate..."
Sasha's eyes softened and she sighed, sitting down next to him. "I know, Sprig... I know. I'm desperate, too... but we have to think carefully about this. That is very important right now, especially if we want to save Anne and Marcy."
Sprig nodded. "Yeah...you're right..."
Sasha smiled softly and then patted him on the back. "Just try and keep holding onto hope. Anne is going to be okay. No matter how hard, no matter how difficult, no matter what kind of state she and Marcy may be in when we get them back... we'll help them. No matter what."
Sprig smiled a bit at that. "T...Thanks, Sasha."
"Of course," Sasha said as she stood back up, and then turned to Grime. "Grime, send our best spies to the castle. I may not be able to go to the castle, but if Mother Olm is right about this dark force, then it's too risky to launch an attack. We need all of the information we can gather on this... thing."
Grime gave a quick salute. "Right, Commander."
"Good. For now, we watch and observe... and then we kill it."