The Plantars and their human companions arrive at a new town called Stony Gulch. The children chanted excitedly, "New town! New town! New town!"
Jean and Anne both have cloaks on, covering them completely. While Anne was chanting along with the others, Jean walked quietly with Hop Pop, observing the shops and amphibians they passed curiously.
"Food! Shops!"
"This place is so cool!"
"What should we do first?"
"Could we go get some ice cream?!" Flossie flaps her hands up and down excitedly. A couple of amphibians walked by, a mother and her child. Spotting Flossie, the mother hurriedly grabbed her child's hand and speed-walks to the other side of the street. The axolotl doesn't seem to notice, but her human friend sends a glare after the amphibian mother. Just because Flossie looked and acted different, didn't mean she deserved to be treated like an outcast. People like that made Jean's blood boil.
At the kids questions, Hop Pop pulls out his wallet. "Let's see." He opens the wallet, only to reveal no money. He looks sadly over to his grandchildren. "Nothing. All we can afford is window-shopping, kids." He explained.
All the kids let out sad sighs. "Aw..."
Anne waves her face, sweating. "Man, it's hot!" She breathed. Taking off her hood, she lets out a sigh of relief. "Ah, better." Jean shakes her head at her friend. "Anne, that really isn't a good idea-"
She was cut off as surrounding amphibians gasp, staring at Anne with a mixture of horror and curiosity. Anne snapped her fingers. "Riiiight. Sometimes I forget about the whole "I'm a freak in this world" thing."
Jean facepalms.
A tadpole starts crying at the sight of the younger human. Anne waves his hands in front of her. "Whoa, whoa! Don't cry! I'm not a monster, I'm just weird. See?" The human tries reassuring gently. She wiggles her nose and ears before striking a pose. "Tada!"
The townsfolk "ooh" and "ah" at her performance. The tadpole starts laughing. "Mommy, mommy! Give the freak money!" He says, clapping his hands. The mother holds out money for Anne to take. "It was a lovely performance. Here."
"Do it again! Do it again!"
Anne glances back to the Plantars. Polly, Flossie and Sprig give her a grin and thumbs up. "Milk it!"
With that, the polliwog pushes her bucket labelled "tips" in front of the human to collect money. Anne does a "magic trick", by pulling her own thumb off. The crowd gasps, throwing money at the human. As the amphibians cheer, the Plantars and humans overhear one conversation in particular.
"This is so much better than that creepy oddities museum."
"Oddities museum? What the heck is an oddity in amphibia, am I right?" Anne chuckles. The crowd was silent, not getting the joke. Anne smiles awkwardly. "Stick to physical comedy. Got it." With that, the human punches herself in the face. The crowd laughs.
As the day went on, Jean noticed how quiet Flossie had become. She was still watching Anne, but she would glance around anxiously at the surrounding crowd, which had gotten noticeably larger as the amphibians came to watch Anne.
——
Flossie watched the surrounding crowds warily. She could feel their eyes on her, watching her every move.
Even though she didn't show it, she had spotted the mother frog and her child hurriedly walking away after seeing her earlier that day, and that small, seemingly harmless gesture reminded Flossie that she was different.
That she didn't belong anywhere, even among the amphibians.
And now, there was a whole crowd of amphibians not only watching Anne, but also watching her. Everything around her was becoming louder and brighter with each second.
The axolotl was tempted to cover her ears, and shield her face from the stares. But she couldn't move.
Instead, she shut her eyes tight. Maybe if she pretended they weren't there, it would stop?
Feeling something cover her head and shoulders, the axolotl hurriedly looked up to see Jean placing her own cloak on the axolotl. The crowd around gasped at the second human amongst them, but the human ignored them. The eyes stopped watching the axolotl, instead moving over to stare at Jean.
Jean gently lifted Flossie to her feet, guiding her away from the crowd. When they were far enough away, Jean got Flossie to sit down on a tree stump. "This better?" She asks softly. Flossie nods, leaning her head on Jean's shoulder. Taking in deep breathes, she closes her eyes, pulling the cloak tighter around her.
They couldn't see her anymore.
Lifting her hand, she starts twirling droplets of water between her fingertips, distracting herself enough to calm down.
——
The day was almost over, and finally the crowds dispersed, leaving the humans and the Plantars alone. Anne collected her money into the tip bucket.
"Wow, Anne. You made a bucket of money. Literally!" Sprig states. Anne grins, whooping in victory. "Now, how are we gonna spend all this cay-esh?"
Looking around at the shops, she notices that the doors to the Oddities Museum were wide open. She points excitedly to it as Jean and Flossie walk over, the human now wearing the cloak once again.
"That oddity place is still open. How about it?" She asks. Flossie, now feeling better, nods her head excitedly. "Yeah yeah! Let's go!" Hop Pop lets out a sigh.
"Well, you made the money. But only if you keep your hood up. I don't like you drawing so much attention to yourself." He says, gesturing to her cloak. Anne grins as she pulls up her hood. "Deal! Let's do it!"
Stepping inside the museum, the amphibians and humans found out the museum was a wax museum. It had several creatures made of wax lining the hallway, before it lead to a wide room filled with even more creepy figures.
Flossie, brave and excited before, felt goosebumps cover her arms as butterflies filled her stomach. The feeling of someone or something watching her made her shiver.
Polly glances up at Anne. "Uh, I think this place is closed." She says nervously. "So let's leave and never come back."
Anne scoffs, stepping further into the museum. "Are you kidding? Come on!" Walking on, the amphibians and Jean shudder at the sight of the creepy figures, but follow the younger human. Flossie stuck close to Jean. She was intrigued by how life-like the figures looked, but she couldn't shake that feeling of being watched.
Anne turns around to see the Plantars ALL huddled around Jean, getting the same idea as Flossie. The older teen gave Anne a pleading look, to which the brunette chuckles at. "Guys, it's all fake. They're trying to scare you!" She explains, pointing to a particularly scary beast with sharp fangs. She gasps, pointing to another one.
"Whoa, look at this hot mess." The amphibians and Jean turn to see Anne pointing to a frog wearing a formal suit and red fedora. He had an eyepatch over one eye and held a cane in his hands. "It's actually pretty life-like."
The Plantars all step away from Jean, gaining a sigh of relief from the older teen. Polly jumps over to Anne and the frog figure, gagging as she reaches out to it. "Yeah, it even smells real." She comments. Just as she's about to touch it, the hand of the "wax" figure shoots up, slapping the polliwogs hand away.
"Hands off the merchandise!"
The Plantars and humans scream, as the figure bursts into laughter, slapping his knee. "The ol' "mistaken for a grotesque lifeless being". Works every time!" The frog cackles, moving his eyepatch over to his other eye as he walks up to them. Jean glares at the frog, getting sketchy vibes from him already. Who stands in the corner of the store and watches their customers like that? That's just plain creepy.
"Welcome to my Museum of Oddities! I go by many names, but you can call me "The Curator"."
Polly shrugs. "A little on the nose, but okay." She says mostly to herself. The Curator pulls out a bag, with a question mark design. "And if you chuck some of that cash into this here sack, I'll give you a tour of the greatest museum these parts have to offer." He says, holding out the bag to the group. Anne pays the frog, who looks her up and down with curiosity. "Hmm. What's the matter, honey? Face too ugly for public? HA!" He chuckles to himself.
Anne grins from under her hood, pulling it further over her head. "Wouldn't you like to know." She says mysteriously. The Curator grins. "Oh. A mystery. I love it!"
Clearing his throat, he turns around, pointing ahead of them with his cane. "But enough chitchat. Walk with me."
The group follow. Jean keeps an eye on the Curator, as Flossie stuck close to her side. She could've sworn the Curator's eye glanced at Flossie, lingering on her for a brief moment before he continued talking.
"I've been all over Amphibia, collecting its most rare and frightening creatures." The frog guiding them explained, stopping by a large bird with two heads. "Like the two-headed love dove! There's...I dunno, probably some kinda marriage allegory in there." He mutters out, unsure. He leads them over to a mantis holding a bug ball. "Oh, and over here, the bug ball playing preying mantis. Airbug. There's nothing in the rule book that says a mantis can't play bugball."
As the amphibians and humans look up at the bug, none noticed the Curator disappear. At least, until he popped up behind Flossie, earning a yelp from the young axolotl. He casually wraps on arm around her shoulders.
"And what about you, young lady? Your kind are pretty rare around here. I haven't seen any albino amphibians before! Say, you don't happen to live in a secret hidden village of albino amphibians, do you?" He asks, saying "wink, wink" as he blinks his eye.
Flossie glances between the Curator and Jean. "I-um...no?" She says uneasily.
The older human, spotting the Curator standing too close to her uncomfortable little sister, glares down at him.
Protective big sister mode: activated.
She pulls Flossie behind her. "Back off." She growls. The Curator holds up his hands in surrender, his creepy smile never fading. "Whoa, calm down ma'am. Just asking the little lady a question." He states. Walking back up to the front of the group, he continues his monologue. "Well in any case, I've got the weirdest stuff right here! Feel free to look around. But keep in mind, breathing in the dust will be extra."
He laughs, pulling out a smoke bomb. Throwing it to the ground, it explodes, smoke surrounding him. When the smoke clears, the Curator was gone. Only to pop out from behind a nearby wax figure and scurry off.
"....well that's not creepy at all." Jean mutters, as Polly hops over to a wax figure by herself.
Flossie lets out a sigh of relief, looking up at a nearby wax figure.
"Do you want to leave?" Jean asks, to which the axolotl shakes her head. "No, I wanna look around a bit-"
The two were cut off by Polly's screams. The pollywog jumps into her grandfathers arms, pointing an accusing finger at the same wax figure she was looking at moments before. "It's eyes! They're watching me!" She shrieks.
"Well, I had enough."
"Yep, me too." Sprig and Hop Pop hurriedly told Anne that they were going to wait outside, leaving the two humans and axolotl alone. Jean looks down at Flossie, seeing her shaken up from the scare.
"...do you wanna-"
"Yes-please-very-much!"
"Well, we're gonna go wait outside too. Don't stay too long Anne." Jean states, to which the younger girls shoots her a thumbs up. "Okay, cool. See you guys later."
Jean takes Flossie outside. Now, it was only Anne. Looking around, she spots something in a corner of the room. A light shining down on a certain, familiar object. Taking a closer look at it, she gasps. "Is that an old Skipman? My parents had one of these." She picks it up. "But how did it get here? Hey, Curator. How much is this Skip-" turning around, she lets out a yelp to find the Curator right behind her.
The Curator takes the Skipman from her hands, holding it up to the light. "Ah, the Skipman! It can be yours...for a million coppers!" He cackles.
"Aw, come on, man! I can't afford that!" Anne exclaims, exasperated. The Curator hums in thought, placing the Skipman in his jacket pocket. "Okay, fine. How about we trade for it then? Got anything rare or vomit-inducing I could display in exchange?" He asks.
Anne gets an idea, smirking. "As a matter of fact, I do." She states, pulling the hood of her cloak off. Mr Pond lifts his eyepatch, gawking at the human. "Sweet tadpole Mary!"
"That's right. I'm the ultimate oddity, baby! I'll make you a deal. I'll be your special attraction for one day only." She bargains. The Curator lifts his hand. "Say no more, kid! One day of you in exchange for the Skip thing and everything I know about it. You got a deal!"
Anne excitedly shakes the frogs hand. "Seriously? This is hu-yuge!" She squeals. "You won't be disappointed, dude!"
Wiping his hand, the Curator leans on his cane, grinning like a maniac. "I've already got some pretty elaborate plans for your exhibit. Come back tonight after closing time and we can discuss. Oh, and bring your albino friend, too. I wanna ask the little missy some more questions." He says casually.
Anne doesn't notice the red flags, scratching her chin in thought. "Elaborate huh? I like the sound of that. And sure thing, Mr Curator! See you later!" With that, the human left.
She doesn't notice the frog smirking evilly to himself. "Looks like we just hit the pay dirt Frog Soos." He chuckles darkly. A frog behind him hummed a tune to himself, mopping the floor. He looks up, seemingly realising something. "Say, Mr. Pond, do you get the feeling that we exist simultaneously in multiple parallel universes, completely unaware of the other's very existence?"
The Curator groaned. "You've been licking yourself again Frog Soos?"
Frog Soos chuckles. "Caught me again, Mr. Ponds." The larger frog then licks his arm.
Anne squeals, kicking the door to the museum open. "You guys! You won't believe what I found in there!" She yells excitedly. Jean raises a brow. "Uh...more wax figures?" She joked. Her amphibian companions chuckle at the stupid joke, and Anne rolls her eyes.
"No. A Skipman!"
The amphibians glance at each other, confused. So was Jean, but for different reasons. "A Skipman? Here?"
"I know! I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes!"
"Uh, we're a little lost here. What the heck are you two talking about?" Hop Pop points out. Anne waves her hand at them. "Trust me, it's big! And that Curator guy's gonna give it to me. All I have to do is be the museum's main attraction for a day, and-"
"What?!"
"No!"
"Are you crazy?!"
"Anne, you cannot, by any means, do this." Everyone yelled at once, making Anne groan. "But th-this is the first time I've found something from our world." She explained. Hop Pop gave her a sympathetic look. "I understand that, Anne. But the curator guy is...."
"Just look at him!" Jean butted in, gesturing to the curator. The curator was staring out of the window right next to the exposed human, smiling widely as he closed the curtains. It was revealed that the curtains have eye holes, letting the curator watch everyone without anyone outside noticing at a glance. Jean glared at the frog.
"Creep..."
"Tell you what, let's sleep on it, come back in the morning, and see if we can get some answers, okay?" The elderly frog asked Anne softly. The younger girl let out a sigh, defeated. "Okay, you're right. I can wait."
Everyone nods, as Hop Pop guides his grandchildren toward the fwagon, leaving the younger girl to smirk to herself. "Until you fall asleep."
——
It was now nighttime. Everyone was asleep. Except for Anne. She climbs down from the ladder, accidentally tripping. The force of the fall made a figure above Hop Pop's head to teeter and fall, about to land on the elderly sleeping frog. The human saved it, however, letting out a sigh of relief. Placing it back onto the window sill, she tip-toed over to Flossie's sleeping form.
"Flossie. Floss! Wake up!" The human said quietly, shaking the axolotl. She opened her eyes, groggily rubbing them. "Anne? What are you-" she was interrupted to Anne placing a hand on her mouth, glancing over her shoulder to where Hop Pop and Jean slept.
"I need to go to the bathroom. Can you come with?" She asks. Flossie let out a tired groan. "Fiiiiiine." Ripping the blanket off, she quietly followed Anne out the fwagon.
Anne chuckled to herself, as she closed the door after them. Not noticing the figures tilting dangerously above Hop Pop's head.
——
The human ushered Flossie toward the wax museum. The axolotl was too sleepy to recognise her surroundings. That is, until they were right outside the lit-up museum. She gave Anne a disapproving glare. "Really Anne?!" She asks, gesturing to the museum.
Anne sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay, I know that was bad."
"Really bad."
"Right. But we'll only be here for maybe a half hour. Come on, Floss. You can stick with me till it's over, can't you? I promise, no more deceit from now on!" She said.
The axolotl glanced at the wax museum, letting out a sigh. "Okay. But after this we're going back to the fwagon. And I'm never coming back to this creepy place again." She states, as Anne gave a victory cheer. The human rushed inside, with Flossie right behind.
"Curator? Yo, curator!" Anne called. No reply. Flossie glanced up at the wax figures, shuddering at the life-like creatures.
A torch flickered to life, revealing the curator to be standing in the corner, smiling widely as he watched them. Flossie stared at him, while Anne walked over to him. "Oh, there you are. That's not creepy at all." She chuckled.
The curator threw his arms up in greeting. "Welcome, welcome. So glad my little star is here. And we can't forget our second special missy!" He said, as Flossie quietly walked up to Anne. The human wrapped an arm around the axolotl. "Yep! Our fav Floss!" She said. Flossie awkwardly waved, as the curator looked her up and down.
"Wonderful! And now, our little star needs a stage. Luckily, I have one here!" He said, dramatically opening the curtain, showing an entirely new room. The other side of the room held a stage, lit up by many signs saying things like "New!". Arrows pointed to the centre, where a large red "X" was.
"Whoa! Fancy!" Anne complimented, entering the room. Flossie stared at the stage, mouth agape. She had to admit, the stage definitely caught her attention. Anne turned back to the curator. "So, about that Skipman..."
The curator cut her off, placing a hand on both Anne's and Flossie's shoulders. "Bup, bup, bup! All in good time, kid. You'll get what's coming to you." He said suspiciously. Flossie furrowed her brows. "I don't like the sound of-"
"Liking the sound of that!"
"Say, why don't you stand up there? Soak it all in!" The curator beckoned, pointing toward the stage. Anne hurriedly got onto the stage, leaving Flossie alone with the curator for a moment, before he too went closer to a mysterious shape hidden under a cloth.
"Whoa-ho! Is this my mark? Should I hit it? I'm gonna hit it. Wha-bap!" Anne said excitedly, striking a pose as she jumped onto the massive red "X".
The curator chuckled. "That's the stuff! Now, since you're the main attraction, I'm gonna let you two in on this museum's biggest secret." The curator said, placing his hands behind his back. Flossie glanced warily between Anne and the creepy frog, dreading what he had to say.
"You see, truth is nothing's fake. Everything here is real. Real and frozen in wax." Reaching out a hand to the cloth, his grin widened. "Just like you!" Ripping off the cloth, he pulled down a lever. A glass cylinder landed on Anne, trapping her inside. The human just stared at the creepy frog, shocked. "Ah, yep. Yeeep. This all tracks." She muttered to herself.
Flossie snapped out of her own trance, shaking her head. "Anne!" she glared at the curator, who only cackled. "You! I knew you were evil! Let my friend go, or else!" She yells. The curator only laughs. "Or else what, little missy? What are you gonna do? Beat me up?" He slapped his knee at his own joke.
Anne hissed through her teeth. "Oh...you shouldn't have done that."
The curator stopped laughing for a moment, wiping a stray tear from his eye as he turns to Anne, not noticing the axolotl raising her arm up. Or her eyes flash a bright gold. "Done what?"
All or a sudden, the curator was enveloped in a giant watery hand, and flung across the room. He let out a scream as he hit the wall, knocking over a few wax creations. Anne pointed at him. "Tempted fate."
Flossie rushed over to the machine, looking down frantically at it "Uh- which one is it?!" Seeing a lever, she pulls it down. Looking over to Anne, she panicked even more as wax started filling the cylinder trapping her friend inside. The human screamed, trying to back away from the growing puddle. "Oh no! It must be this-"
Before she pulled the other lever up, a hand grabbed her arm, yanking her away. She let out a yelp, as the curator tied her up, dropping her against the wall.
"Whoa. Gotta say, I'm impressed! Wasn't expecting that at all! It's a shame I gotta mummify you though. Lots of people would LOVE to see water tricks! I could've made billions!" The curator laughed, walking back over to the machine. Anne and Flossie stared at him, horrified.
"What!?"
"What!?"
"Wow! I still can't believe how easy that was! Honestly, I thought I was being way too obvious about it!" The curator ranted on.
"Ugh! I can't believe this! I'm so stupid!" Anne face palmed. The curator held up his hands. "Hey, hey. Don't talk about yourself like that. You're both probably very bright young girls, who are just having a bad day." The curator said, gesturing to the both of them.
Anne gave the axolotl an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry for dragging you back here, Floss. You guys were right. I shouldn't have trusted this guy." She said. Flossie looked down. "It's okay. Honestly if he wasn't being so creepy about all this, I would've done the same thing." She admitted, to which the curator yelled out an offended "hey!". The axolotl shrugged. "Well it's true. You're way too creepy to even want to be around."
Anne giggled at the axolotl's words, as the curator shrugged it off. "Doesn't matter. So, as you've probably already guessed, you're not the main attraction tomorrow. You'll be here forever!" The curator cackles. Anne tried moving around the puddle of wax, which was now up to her ankles, but found she couldn't move. All the while, Flossie struggled to break free from the rope.
——
Back at the fwagon, the three figurines that were on the windowsill tilted, falling off and into Hop Pop's open mouth. He gags, spitting out the figures. "Dang it, boy!" He yelled angrily. Noticing two figures missing, he looked around the fwagon. "Wait. Kids, where's Anne and Floss?!"
Immediately, Sprig, Jean and Polly sat up, wide awake. Sprig gasped. "Oh no! She went back to the museum!" He yells frantically. Polly hugged her blanket tightly. "Back to the museum? At night? You know what, I'll stay here and hold down the fort." She offered. Hop Pop picked her up, throwing on his shirt. "Oh, no you don't. Come on! Jean, get out of-" looking over to where the older human was supposed to be, he was surprised to see the bed empty.
Where Jean's weapon had been laying moments before, was now gone too.
Hop Pop, Polly and Sprig race toward the museum. They soon spot Jean up ahead, waiting for them. She waved them over impatiently. "Come on!"
Hop Pop was surprised by this. The human was waiting for them? Instead of barging in? He guessed the sleep the human was forced to take did more good than he thought.
The four sneak in through a window, Polly holding a torch while Jean was in the lead. As they passed by a wax figure, Polly glared up at it bravely. "Stop. Staring at me!"
Jean, Sprig and Hop Pop peek around the corner into a room, where they heard the curator cackling. He was leaning against the glass keeping Anne trapped, eating something out of a can. "That's when it hits me. Artifacts! You can charge people when they break them!" He explained to the human. "Win-win!"
Anne lifted her head, groaning. "So boring!" The wax was up to her waist now. Sprig nudged his grandfather and human friend, pointing to the other side of the room. Flossie was trying to chew on the ropes, but wasn't getting anywhere.
"And Newtopia's got a ton of 'em. That's where I got that, uh, Skip guy you wanted." The curator added, eating another spoonful of what Jean realised was canned meat. She gagged at the thought. Anne's eyes lit up at that news. "Newtopia, of course!" She exclaimed.
The curator held up the can. "Hey, you want some of this canned meat? It's edible!" He chuckled. The machine above the two malfunctioned, stopping the flow of wax. The curator groaned, walking over to the machine. "I swear, if you did this with some sort of psychic powers, missy-"
"Nope. I didn't do anything." Flossie states, giving the curator a glare. He rolled his eyes. "That's what I get for going with a cheap machine." He grumbled more quietly, giving the machine a hard punch.
Hop Pop took a step back. "Okay, kids. Here's the plan. First, I'll go in with a distraction. Then, you two come in behind-"
"I think I got it!" The curator called out, giving the machine a hard kick, unblocking the pipe. The wax started flowing back into the cylinder, much faster than before. "Now we're cooking with gas! Or whatever it is we frogs use." He muttered the last part himself.
Sprig runs toward the door. "There's no time! Come on!" With a battle cry, he runs into the room. Jean pinches the bridge of her nose. "Oh for frogs sake..."
The curator turns around, facing the pink frog. "Who are you?! A cop!? I ain't going back to frog prison!" He screamed, picking up a wax creature and welding it like a weapon. Sprig and Hop Pop, who'd chased after him, stopped in their tracks. "Oh no."
The curator grinned, realising his mistake. "Just a couple of common frogs. Ooh. I can stick 'em in the same mold. Call 'em the Two-headed Frog of Froglantis!" He cackles, raising the wax weapon. Jean rushed into the room, pushing Sprig and Hop Pop out of the way as the curator swung downward. "It's genius!"
Anne gasped, barely holding her head above the wax. "Guys! Get out of here! Save yourselves!" She screamed. As Jean stood up, letting Hop Pop and Sprig go, they heard the curator gasp. "Holy frog! Another one! This is my lucky day!" He exclaimed. Jean stood protectively in front of the two frogs. "Oh, you think so? Well, too bad for you..." reaching behind her back, she pulled out her sword. Her voice got deeper, sounding like it was over-lapping with another voice as her eyes turned white. "I'm not in the mood for these games."
She charged at the curator, who had to use the wax weapon to protect himself from the humans swings. While they were busy, Hop Pop and Sprig ran over to Flossie. "Flossie! Are you okay?" Sprig asked, as his grandfather untied the axolotl. The pink frog helped her to her feet, as she gave a nod in reply. "I-i'm okay."
The curator was on the defense, as Jean had a wild, yet calculated look in her eye. She managed to knock him over, pointing her sword at him. The curator stared up at her, terrified. Jean's face was cold, blank. "It's over, peasant." The same over-lapped voice muttered, bringing up her sword one last time. "Say your prays."
"Jean, wait!"
Jean looked over to the voice, seeing Flossie, Hop Pop and Sprig staring at her with wide, scared eyes. Something inside the human seemed to click. Her eyes returned to normal, and she stared at the three amphibians in confusion, then her gaze fell to the curator at her feet, who was trying to reach for the wax weapon. Realisation hit her like a truck, and she dropped her sword from shock, covering her mouth. She was about to kill someone. "Oh frog-"
"Hiya!" The curator quickly hopped to his feet, swinging his weapon and hitting Jean across her head. The human collapsed, hitting the ground, unconscious. The frog stood victoriously over her, holding his weapon above her head. "Don't move! Or the monster gets it!" He yelled, threateningly.
Meanwhile...
Polly stared up at the wax figure, not noticing the amphibians and humans in danger in the other room. All her attention was focused on the creature, torch in hand.
Squinting, she saw with her own eyes the wax creatures eyes move. It stared down at her creepily. Polly gasped. "I knew it! Enjoy being mush, you wax demon!" She cried, putting the torch at the wax figures feet. The wax melted, releasing the horrifying creature from its prison. It let out a roar, causing the polliwog to cower.
"This is worse."
The curator hovered Jean's own sword above her head, threatening to let it drop at any moment if the amphibians moved to help either of there friends. The three amphibians watched, terrified.
"Don't hurt her, please! We won't tell anyone if you let us all go, we promise!" Flossie said fearfully, eyes glancing between the curator and Jean. The curator chuckled. "C'mon, kid. We both know that won't last long. Besides, a frogs gotta make money somehow. And I gotta bring something new in at least once a month to keep people comin'. It's the end of the line for you lot-"
A loud thump sounded from the other room. The curator pauses, turning to look at the source. "What the..."
The curator gasped, spotting the creature Polly had melted walking free, and was now glaring at him angrily. "No! My beautiful creation!"
While he was distracted, Flossie held out her arm, making another watery arm grab the curator. Hop Pop ordered Polly and Sprig to free the other monsters. The curator glanced at the wax figures now being melted, to the watery arm. He looked at Flossie, panicked. "Kid, you gotta let me go!"
Flossie glared at him. "You just tried to kill me and my friends. Why would I do that? So I can give you another chance to turn us into your exhibits?" She asks angrily, as her three friends released the rest of the monsters. The curators panicked look only grew.
"Please! I'll tell you anything! I-I'll tell you what I know about the secret city of Froglantis! Or the secret village!" He said, starting to struggle. Before Flossie could ask what he meant, the old frog managed to get out of her watery grip. He attempted to run as the monsters he'd held captive for months or even years entered the room.
"You'll never catch me!" The monsters pounced, catching him in seconds. They started dragging him toward the storage. "You definitely caught me!"
The curator started bargaining with the Plantars, or maybe the monsters, as he was dragged away. Flossie rushed over to Jean. "Jean, wake up!" She said frantically, shaking the humans shoulders. The human had a small cut on her forehead, which was bleeding.
Hearing glass smash, Flossie looked up to see Hop Pop had released Anne from her prison. She was frozen in wax. Hop Pop grabbed Anne, yelling "Take her to go!", while Sprig helped carry the still unconscious Jean out.
——
The sun had risen once more. The Plantars had built a fire to help melt Anne. By morning, the human was already half melted. Hop Pop was finishing up bandaging Jean's head, who'd woken up at some point during the half hour till morning.
Anne leant back, letting out a sigh. "I'll never get that Skipman now." Sprig grinned, leaning behind the log and pulling something out. "You mean... this Skipman?" He asks, presenting it. Anne's eyes sparkled, pulling the pink frog into a hug. "No way! Dude, you're the best!" She exclaimed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh!" Putting the pink frog back down, she gestured to the Skipman excitedly. "And the curator said he got this from Newtopia. Which means we're on the right track!"
She looks back to the three amphibians sitting opposite her. Hop Pop points a finger at her. "You know what else is on the right track? You keeping a low profile and not jumping into things without us!" He yelled angrily. Polly, sitting on his head, nodded. "I'm tired of facing my fears, Anne!"
Flossie had her arms crossed, a mixture of disapproval and hurt on her face. "Yeah! Jean got really hurt! And that curator guy was gonna have all our heads!" She said, gesturing to Jean. The human was zoned out, sitting a bit away from the rest of the group. Her eyes were unfocused, as she stared at the fire.
Anne let out a sigh, looking away. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off on my own. It was reckless. Besides, we work better as a team." She smiled softly at that. Hop Pop's angry expression fell, as a softer look took over. He let out a sigh. "Well, the important thing is, we're all okay." He said, smiling at his grandchildren.
"Except for that curator. He's dead."
Sprig nods, placing the Skipman down as he hops over to sit next to his family. "Onward, family. To Newtopia!" He yells excitedly. Anne picks up the Skipman with her free hand, grinning. "Hey, guys. Wanna see something cool?" She asks, gaining the attention of the frogs and the axolotl.
Did you know this thing has a laser? Wha-bam!" Opening the Skipman, a red beam of light hits Hop Pop's eyes. He screams in pain, making Jean jump in fright, snapping her back to reality.
"ANNE!"
——
After a whole day of travelling, it was once more nightfall. Hop Pop drove the fwagon on, as Anne, Sprig, Polly and Flossie slept inside. The elderly frog looks up at the stars, letting out a yawn.
"Need me to take over for a bit?"
Hop Pop glances up to see Jean climbing out of the trapdoor, taking a seat next to him. He gives her a smile, handing her the reins. "Thanks Jean." He says tiredly. The human drives on, as Hop Pop lays back, looking up at the stars tiredly.
"I thought you'd be in bed by now." He scolded playfully. "You know Anne won't like it if she finds out." Jean chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I couldn't sleep though."
"...was it because of what happened at the museum last night?" He asks carefully, recalling the strange incident. Her eyes glowing white, her cold demeanour. Almost as if she wasn't Jean anymore.
Jean looks down, brows furrowing. "Yeah...I don't know what came over me. All I remember was feeling angry. Angry at the curator. But I don't think I've ever been that angry to black out and almost kill someone." She said. She looks over to Hop Pop. "Is that normal?"
Hop Pop shakes his head. "I don't know. I've never been through anything like that. Maybe it's a human thing."
"Huh. Maybe."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Well, any way. Thanks for kinda, you know, snapping me back to reality before I did something I'd regret. And bandaging my head." She chuckled, rubbing at the spot her cut is.
"And I should thank you for helping us out back there."
"Well I couldn't just leave my fam hanging." The human says, giving him a nudge. The elderly frog chuckles. "Alright, alright. Hand me that." He says, taking the reins from Jean. "Now, you get back to bed. I better not catch you staying up too late." He states, wagging his finger.
Jean climbs back through the trapdoor, giving the elderly frog a salute. "You got it, HP!" She says, disappearing back inside the fwagon.
Once inside, Jean climbed back into her bed, laying down. As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard whispering. That's weird. She swore she saw all the kids asleep.
"Oi, be quiet over there." She muttered a loud. The whispering stopped, and the older human snuggled under her blanket for the night.
—
My first attempt was a success. But next time it has to be longer than a few minutes. I need Soul to give up entirely if I hope to succeed with my plan.
—
A/N: Me realising that with each chapter I write, Flossie is becoming more and more neurodivergent-coded: Is-is this allowed?? (Its probs too late to actually do that, I mean)
Also I like to think that Pebbs homeschooled her thanks to all the other kids would pick on Floss (not just because the school was destroyed and never repaired), and now whenever Flossie is in large crowds, she gets anxious. Especially when the townsfolk don't know her and had heard about the tales of albinos being dangerous.
This is more of a "is very happy to meet new people but gets overwhelmed and shuts down in crowded places" sort of thing. She's still very much more then happy to meet new people and get them to like her. Just make sure its not too crowded. And I don't know bout ya'll, but once I get so overwhelmed to the point I'm about to completely shut down, I'm usually upset for the whole day. Hence why she was spooked in the wax museum.
Wonder what [REDACTED] is planning...