I do not own Trolls or Trolls World Tour or Trolls Band Together or any of the characters in the franchise or the songs! And I especially don't own any of the songs I use from the movie or any other song I pick out in general! I also don't own the characters of Trollstopia! The only thing I do own are my O.C.s Melody Song, McJagger, Buckaroo, Stereo, and Twilight Tidepool; I.M. Rally owns her O.C. Aggie Galido, and Cheah owns his O.C. Finn Okazaki Tidepool. Now, strap in, ladies and gentlemen, and let's get on with the show!
Inside the restaurant, the interior looked like something out a mix between a karaoke bar and a resort cafe! There was a lot of pools where the Vacay folks were all swimming around and enjoying themselves, floating on tube rings, sipping on cups of their ordered beverages, and eating food that they ordered. There were plants growing around the dry parts of the interior, a large plant chandelier that hung from above, a back room where all of the food was prepped and placed to be brought out to the customers, and a white clam-based stage where if someone wanted to, they could get up and perform on stage for all the customers.
One male Vacay folk ran by the Trolls, screaming, "Cannonball," as he dove into the water with a mighty splash, startling the Trolls.
All of the Vacay folks that were having fun didn't seem to mind the presence of the Trolls since they were busy with their own things.
Meanwhile, Spruce was busy taking orders from some of the customers, saying to one person, "Running drinks to the back two-top."
He passed by another person who had on a blue cap, telling them, "Lenny! Seaweed floats are almost out."
"Thanks, boss," Lenny replied as he enjoyed his drink.
As Poppy, Branch, John Dory, and Tiny spotted Spruce, they all eagerly ran up to him, trying to catch him for a moment so they could talk. John Dory was shouting from the top of his lungs, trying to call out to Spruce, "Hey, yo, Spruce! Spruce! Hey"!
Spruce didn't seem to hear John Dory or even turn around to look behind him to see the Trolls coming up to him as he tossed a menu over his shoulder and it hit John Dory in the face, with Spruce telling them, "Specials are on the back. Don't order the clams, don't ask why."
He then took another person's order, writing it down while saying out loud as he headed to the main back kitchen to start prepping the food, "Fricassee squid and one jellyfish slider."
Branch, this time, decided to try and call out to Spruce, shouting, "Spruce, wait."
This time, Spruce DID hear the call, but didn't turn around to see who it was yet as he thought that whoever was calling him, and by THAT name, was someone who recognized him from his days in BroZone, and the boyband days of ol' were ones that Spruce did not want to reminisce about, not now. He let out a worried sigh before saying, though not looking back or facing the ones who were calling to him, "Huh? Oh, no. I knew this would happen one day. Listen, I know you recognize me from BroZone, and I'm happy to give you an autograph or whatever, but can you please be discreet about it"?
As Spruce started to write something on the order pad, frantically, his mind raced because he was still emotionally reeling from those days and how the pressure and stature of being the "Hearthrob" of Brozone were so stressful to him. It's not that he didn't enjoy it, nor did he not like getting to interact with the fans, but all the anxiety and limitations in how John Dory kept pushing for him to be this hunk of a figure that'd drop the hearts of all the girls, it just drove him a little crazy, and ever since the day he walked out and ventured out onto his own, he's never been happier. He felt a lot more relaxed and easy-going, and no longer did he feel like he had to keep this rigid persona that someone wanted him to be, and he could just be himself, his free self.
Little did he know that the "fans" he was about to write autographs for were two new friends and two people that he hadn't seen in 20 years.
John Dory, quickly clarifying for Spruce, shouted, "Spruce, it's us, it's your brothers."
The sound of John Dory's voice made Spruce curiously turn around, and seeing him and Branch standing there, Spruce was SO elated! He was very excited to be seeing his brothers again for so long, and it was as same a surprise for him to be seeing them after so long, making him shout, "Woah"!
He had his arms up and ran to them, looking like he was gonna run over to John Dory and hug him first, with John Dory ready to reciprocate. But what the eldest did not take into account for was the underlying resentment Spruce still had for John, though it wasn't as visible at the moment, and that hug was really for the baby brother Spruce has missed for so long.
"Bitty B," Spruce shouted excitedly as he ran right past John Dory, much to the shock of the eldest sibling, as he watched Spruce eagerly hug Branch and give him a hefty toss up high, startling Branch, before he was brought back down to his feet again.
John Dory, meanwhile, had his mouth agape, and...felt a little hurt. He though that Spruce would've been just as happy to see him as he was happy to see Branch, so why a quick, but still sharp, cold shoulder?
Branch, as he returned to the safety of Earth's gravity below, was not still over how John Dory had tossed him earlier, and Spruce's tossing didn't do much to help, as he quickly clarfied to the purple haired brother, "Whoa! No tossing, okay? I-i'm too big to be tossed."
At the same time, Branch has seen how much 20 years has done to Spruce; he looked VERY different compared to before; gone wee those beautiful abs and now was replaced by a bit of a rounder figure and much thicker, flowy hair, yet it didn't at all take away his charismatic charm.
Spruce was also eyeing how much Branch has grown up since his baby days, commenting giddily, "The last time I saw you, you were in diapers"!
That soured the reunion a little because it meant that Spruce also seemed to still see Branch as the "baby" of the family, and not the adult that he's grown up to be, which made Branch let out a small sigh, saying sarcastically, "Diapers, right." Now, Branch did not have a much bitterness about seeing Spruce again compared to John Dory, but it was also still a little hard to be seeing Spruce again and seeing that he's changed, but only a little. He still seemed to be the same carefree, serious, yet opportunistic second-oldest brother who stuck more to the thoughts of what he has done now with his new life instead of thinking about how things have changed for Branch since he walked out.
And speaking of opportunistic, Spruce decided to poke a little ol' brotherly mischief by licking his finger before shouting, "Wet willy," and gave Branch a wet willy in his left ear, while John Dory watched in amusement.
Branch, however, was not amused at all; it was disgusting, it was cold, and it was immature! That last word "immature" was the other term that defined how Spruce was back then; he may have been the "Heartthrob," but mature? He was not. I mean, he had some more maturity than Clay, but a lot of Clay's earlier mischievous behavior rubbed off on him, and it had Spruce have a more "silly" side, a side that bothered Branch seeing that it had not gne away after 20 years of separation.
He quickly pulled himself away from Spruce, telling him off quickly, "Stop it, that's disgusting; I am a grownup."
Soruce seemed to take the apology, saying at first, "Oh, sorry," before clarifying, pretending to hone a fancy accent, "A wet William," and prepared to give another wet willy.
Luckily for Branch, Poppy stopped it by interrupting the interaction, saying to Spruce while feeling a little shy about meeting him since it was shaking her excitement to be meeting another one of Branch's brothers, "Hi, Spruce; I'm Poppy. Wow, it's, like It's so cool to meet you or whatever."
She then bent down to introduce Tiny Diamond, saying, "This is Tiny Diamond."
however, no longer was Tiny Diamond standing by Poppy; instead, he was standing on the edge of a tall bowl of nachos a Vacay folk was enjoying, telling Spruce, "Hey, what's up? Killer nachos you got here, by the way," before he dove into theme excitedly.
Spruce shook hands with Poppy, saying, "Enchante. A pleasure to meet you," before he asked Branch, "Bitty B, is this your girlfriend"?
Brnach held back a blush as he replied, "Uh, yes."
That earned a hearty chuckle from Spruce as he smield and swung his arm around Branch, saying, "Congrats, man! Who knew that you'd be the one to score such a beaut? She's definitely a keeper"!
Branch, however, while he appreciated the acknowledgment, was not so comfortable being around Spruce at the moment given that he was still treating him like a baby, which made him very uncomfortable.
John Dory then quickly interrupted the moment, telling Spruce, "Okay, Spruce. We're here because Floyd-, "
Then, Spruce interrupted John Dory by telling him, "Actually, no one's called me Spruce in years. I go by Bruce now."
That...was shocking, to say the least, he changed his name?! And really? Like, ok, kudos to deciding to do something that drastic with your life, but out of any new name to pick, you chose one that has some relation to your old name?
Of course, as these thoughts were racking everyone's minds, John Dory was the one who braved up to ask, "I'm sorry. Did you say Bruce"?
"Yeah," Spruce, or rather, Bruce, replied, explaining, "I wanted to put the whole boy band thing behind me now that I'm a dad."
Now THAT was even more shocking; it was one thing that Bruce changed his name, but he had become a DAD!? With who?! Who was the woman?!
"Wait a minute, you're a father," john Dory asked in confusion while Branch himself was trying to comprehend it himself; if Bruce had become a dad, did that mean he was now...an uncle?! Of course, Poppy was really excited to hear about it, seeing how her jaw dropped ine excitement.
Spruce walked over to the edge of the counter, telling them, "Yeah, I can't wait for you to meet everyone."
On cue, there was a yellow and orange female Vacay Folk with red hair up in a tall round bun with straight bangs, round earrings, and orange eye shadow. She was holding a plate with a tall tropical drink in a purple glass in one hand, and a plate of cookies in the other hand. Seeing her presence, Bruce told her, "Hi, honey. These are my brothers," adding with a small hesitant/troubled look, "unexpectedly."
She saw the Trolls on the counter and, surprised, she greeted them while placing the plates down, "Oh! Oh, hello there. So nice to finally meet you."
"Hi," Poppy greeted with a friendly wave.
"Hey," Branch commented, his greeting a little more casual.
"Hello," John dory commented afterward.
The female Vacay folk bent down, her arms resting on the counter, as she gave Spruce a kiss while he introduced her to his brothers and Poppy, explaining, "This is my wife and business partner, Brandy. She is my soulmate, my very tall soulmate, but we make it work," as Brandy then stood back up to return to maintaining the orders
Poppy was very amazed to hear about this, while Branch and john Dory looked so confused about this partnership; it was romantic, to say the least, and they looked ute, but the one question that racked both their minds was...how on Earth did this work...in bed? John Dory was the only one who asked a verbal, "How," in relation to that same thought.
Brandy replied, "We don't even really know how it works," before adding with a chuckle as she bit into a cookie, "I'm kidding. I'm-I'm not. I'm-I don't know."
That was gonna be a lot to unpack later, but before that could even get touched upon in more detail, a little green Vacay folk kid crawled onto the counter, asking Bruce, "Daddy, Daddy, can I have a cookie"?
Bruce fed the little boy a cookie while saying, "Becoming a dad was like a..like a seismic shift in my brain."
Then, two more of Bruce's kids appeared, one of them telling the Troll, "Daddy, Bruce Jr. bit me," while the other one, who was named Bruce Jr, tried to bite his brother again.
"No biting," Bruce gently scolded him before they disappeared.
Then, a little girl with a flower in her hair approached Bruce, telling him, "Daddy, I don't see how any government stands a chance."
"You're not wrong, kid," Bruce told his daughter before she walked away.
Another of Bruce's sons rolled up onto the counter, stuck in a ketchup bottle, as he told his father, "I'm stuck in this ketchup bottle."
Bruce tried to pull him out before he rolled him over to where his other kids were, "Okay, gonna handle all of that. Just give Daddy two seconds, okay? Love you."
With that out of the way, Bruce then started to tell his brothers, "As a dad-"
Then, one of his other daughters came up to him, telling him eagerly, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! Guess what? I have pink eye"! And she had some very nasty pink eye; the pupil looked swollen, and there was some gunk that looked disturbingly not natural!
Of course, the Trolls were very grossed out, with Poppy screaming, John Dory wincing and trying not to puke, and Branch, wo had his hands on both his cheeks in shock, commenting in concern, "Oh, my, pink eye."
"Oh, ****," Tiny Diamond shouted, looking away from how gross the pink eye was. and he was NOT gonna get into detail on how he learned THAT word!
Then, John Dory spoke up, telling Bruce, "Look, Spruce, gotta cut to the chase. We're not here to catch up; we're here because we need to hit the perfect family harmony."
Of course, the minute John Dory finished that sentence, Bruce looked ready to flip; it bothered him how even after ALL these years away, he's gotten the chance to rebuild his own life away from the aspects of his boyband past, and now, after getting to see his brothers again for so long, John Dory, whom he had blamed for being the cause of all the stress and pressure that he couldn't take and motivated him to quit, was STILL so focused on accomplishing something that they were never able to do?! And possibly couldn't?! He was not gonna live through that again! He could tell that John Dory looked like he wanted to do this JUSY so he could boss him around the same as before, but nope! He was nobody's push-thing!
He quickly stood for moral ground, asking John Dory, though his face showed how bothered he looked, "Oh, no. You're still going on about that," before he turned his head and told Brandy, "Hey, get these guys their meals to go."
Before Poppy and Branch could explain things properly, John Dory beat them to it, explaining, "No, no, no. You don't understand. It's for Floyd; he's being held captive."
THAT was a turning point for Bruce; hearing that one of his other brothers was in trouble? That made him all the more ready to do anything he could to help, but he also didn't want to be pressured into trying out the same action that they all failed at that basically messed up their whole lives. Addressing the concern about Floyd, he replied, "What? Well, then, what are we waiting for? We need to-,"
"Call the authorities/Hit the perfect family harmony," Bruce and John Dory said at the same time, but John Dory heard what Bruce had said and quickly clarified, "Spruce, it-it-it has to be us. Floyd's being held captive in a diamond prison."
As much as Bruce hated to admit it, John Dory...made a point. The perfect family harmony was the only thing strong enough to shatter diamonds, and if Floyd was being held captive in a diamond prison, it really was the only thing that could break him free. Reluctantly, he commented in response, "Oh. Well, yeah, you need the perfect family harmony for that."
"Exactly," john Dory stated before he started to walk off somewhere.
Still reminiscing to what happened back then, Bruce then addressed, "Wait, but how? We've never even come close to pulling it off. You do remember our last show, don't you"?
John Dory suggested as he walked onto the clam stage, "If we practice, I know we'll be able to nail it. We have to."
On the one hand, it was a good idea; perhaps a little practice would help Bruce kick back into things that could help him be able to aid in creating the perfect family harmony. But, on the other hand, he hasn't performed in a group in a LONG time, only doing solo performances by himself. He never did shows or even karaoke nights! Plus, it's been a while since his boyband days, so he felt a little...rusty.
This, of course, had him feeling hesitant, leaving Bruce to step back and state nervously, "At my age? I really don't think that-,"
But then, he heard one of his sons telling his brother, "See, guys? I told you Dad wasn't in a band."
Hearing that, Bruce quickly turned around and addressed firmly, "Oh, I was in a band. I was in THE band. You ask your mother if I was in a band."
"Oh, he was in a band," Brandy replied.
But proof was shown more in actions than words, and Poppy knew that there was one thing that could get Bruce on board. She shouted, "Prove it," repeatedly, which got the kid to chant along with her, everyone saying, "Prove it! Prove it! Prove it"!
That did it, convincing Bruce to get up on that stage and perform, telling his family, "All right, I'll-I'll prove it. I'll prove it right now"!
The kids all cheered eagerly as Bruce made his way up onto the stage while john dory cheered, "Yes! Bring it in, brother"!
As the kids were all happily cheering, anticipating to see their dad perform, Poppy had noticed that Branch had his arms crossed while looking at the stage. While his face didn't show it a lot, part of him was nagging him to...go up on that stage and sing with his two eldest siblings. But no! He didn't feel ready to be singing with them again, not after the last time, which still brought him negative feelings about it, especially with the same bitterness he still felt about John Dory and Spruce.
Poppy figured that maybe what Branch could use was just a little encouragement, telling him, "Branch, get up there. Go sing with your brothers."
Standing true to how he felt, Branch retorted, "I'll do it to save Floyd when I have to, but I'm not doing it right now just for "funsies."
Poppy, seeing that Branch made a point, replied, acknowledging that he was correct, "Oh, yeah. Okay, you're probably right."
Branch didn't seem to get at first that Poppy agreed with him, about to argue back, "No, no, no. You're the one who-" but then stopped when he realized Poppy...agreed with him. Poppy...agreed with him? That had him question, "Wait, what did you say"?
Poppy clarified, "You're afraid that singing with your brothers again after all these years will overwhelm you with emotions too powerful for you to handle. I agree with you, I don't think you can handle it, so I think you shouldn't do it."
Branch felt a little...speechless. It was one thing that Poppy had AGREEd with what he said; she usually encouraged him to break out of his comfort zone and do something he didn't feel like doing before reluctantly going through with it anyway! Now, she was telling him that he shouldn't do it because he was afraid to? And for what? singing a song with two people whom walked out of his life 20 years ago? Well...she was right on some degree, but it didn't meant that he wasn't able to sin with his brothers. In fact, he was more than capable of doing that. in fact, he could do this easily without worry! Singing a song was just as easy as tying your shoe, and if he had to go up there and sing with his brothers just to demonstrate, he was more than welcome to do so!
Oh...so that was Poppy's game, Branch then realized. Albeit, a little off-brand, but...it was working.
That led him to defend quickly, "I think I can handle singing a song."
Which cued poppy to start up the "Prove it," chants, leading her and Bruce's kids to chant, "Prove it! Prove it! Prove it"!
Realizing that he nbow had no escape from this, the only thing he COULD do was just follow the lead, and go up on stage, admitting as he started to head to the stage, "All right, fine, but this is more than likely beneath me."
All of Bruce's kids cheered while Poppy declared happily, "Yeah! Whoo," as she popped in a mixtape into a nearby radio and pressed play, starting up one of BroZone's most popular tracks.
~~BroZone's Back (Homemade Extended Version) by Eric Andre, Daveed Diggs, Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick~~
As the music started to play, Spruce and John Dory began to dance in sync together.
Spruce: Everybody (John Dory: Yeah!) Rock your body (John Dory: Yeah!)! Everybody! Rock your body right!
John Dory and Spruce: BroZone's back! Alright!
All of Bruce's kids, Brandy, and the customers in the restaurant were either floating or standing on their feet in the water, cheering for the 2 Trolls performing on stage!
John Dory: You are...my (Spruce: Fire!) fire!
Spruce: The one...(John Dory: Desire!) desire!
John Dory: Believe...when (Spruce: I say!) I say!
John Dory and Spruce: I want it that way!
John Dory: Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!
Spruce: So, tell me what you want, what you really, really want!
John Dory: I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want!
Spruce: So, tell me what you want, what you really, really want!
John Dory and Spruce: I wanna (Spruce: Ha!)! I wanna (John Dory: Ha!)! I wanna (Spruce: Ha!)! I wanna (John Dory: Ha!)! I wanna really, really, really wanna zigzag!
As Spruce was finding his groove, the sound of his harmonic singing swooned Brandy, having her sigh heavenly and fall backward, pretending to faint.
Spruce: Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk!
John Dory: Music loud, and women warm, I've bene kicked around since I was born!
John Dory and Spruce: And now it's all right, it's ok! And you may look the other way! But we can try to understand the love of family's effect on man (Spruce: Tell me why!)!
John Dory and Spruce: Ain't nothin' but a heartbreak (John Dory: Tell me why!)! Ain't nothin' but a mistake! (Spruce: Tell me why!) I never wanna hear you say! I want it that way!
John Dory saw that Branch, who was watching along the sideline with Poppy, still had a scowl on his face, and he didn't need to read minds to know that seeing him and Spruce was bringing back memories that Branch still wanted to forget, especially since the anger Branch had towards his brothers was still imminent. But luckily for John Dory, this particular song they were singing had a line that he thought would be very convincing for Branch to see how sorry he was, and also motivate him to join in at the same time.
John Dory: It's hard to say I'm sorry. It's hard to make the things I did undone. A lesson I've learned too well, for sure.
Spruce: So, don't hang up the phone now. I'm trying to figure out just what to do. I'm going crazy without you.
John Dory and Spruce: Girl, now!
The beat started to change up a bit for the next few lines of the song, with Spruce taking the lead on the dance for a bit, John Dory following how he moved and danced in sync.
Spruce: My girl's like candy, a candy treat; she knocks me right up off my feet!
John Dory: She's so fine as can be!
John Dory and Spruce: It's like a perfect harmony!
John Dory and Spruce: Candy girl, you are my world! You look so sweet, come back to me!
At this point, Branch was stretching his limbs and preparing for the inevitable "join-in" on this mashup.
Then, both John Dory and Bruce eagerly pointed at Branch, who then, a spotlight shind on him, and both brothers pulled him onto the stage, with Poppy cheering her boyfriend on as he danced with them.
John Dory and Spruce: All I know, when I'm with her!
Branch, at first, danced reluctantly. He didn't sing, as the frown on his face showed that he did not seem to be enjoying himself while dancing with his brothers again.
John Dory and Spruce: You got the right stuff, baby! Love the way you turn me on!
"Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh," Poppy shouted among the sidelines as she was moving her feet to the beat of the song hile eagerly watching them perform.
However, as Branch started to dance more, doing the steps, his frown slowly morphed into a look of surprise, seeing that he was somehow able to remember how to do them since his boyband days. It was surprising, it was...kind of cool. In fact, it was...fun!
John Dory and Spruce: You got the right stuff, baby! You're the reason why I sing this song!
His surprised look then grew into a smile, especially when John Dory and Bruce let Branch have a moment to show off his vocals. And Branch was more than happy to let his falsetto of gold shine, with John Dory and Bruce harmonizing along.
Branch: You're all I ever wanted (John Dory and Spruce: Baby, you're all!)! You're all I ever needed, yeah!
"I can't believe this is happening," Poppy squealed in awe as she used a blue Polaroid camera and snapped a picture of the brothers performing together! It was a dream come true; BroZone was really coming back together!
Branch, John Dory, and Spruce: So tell me what to do now! When I want (John Dory and Spruce: I want you!) you back!
Doom, doom, doom, da-dab! Doom, doom, doom, da-dab!
Hey, yeah-yeah-yeah-dab! Da-dab!
Then, Branch offered a hand out towards Poppy, as if to ask if she'd like to join in. The blush and beaming smile on the Pop Queen was all the answer she needed to join in with BroZone and sing and dance with them!
All: BroZone's back, alright!
All: Whether you're a mother or whether you're a brother, you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive! Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin', people stayin' alive, stayin' alive!
Ah, ah, ah, ah (Branch: BroZone's really back again!), stayin' alive, stayin' alive!
Ah, ah, ah, ah (Poppy: Tell me!)!
Branch: Am I original?
John Dory, Spruce, Poppy: Yeah!
Branch: Am I the only one?
John Dory, Spruce, Poppy: Yeah!
Branch: Am I sensible?
John Dory, Spruce, Poppy: Yeah!
Branch: Am I everything you need?
All: 'Cause I want it that way!
Doom, doom, doom, da-dab Doom, doom, doom!
I want you back!
Everyone in the restaurant was up on their feet, cheering loud and proud! they were amazing! BroZone sounded as good as they did back then!
For Branch, the feeling itself was surreal! Being up on the stage, singing, dancing, all in front of a crowd, it was...it was...it felt really good! As much s he was doubtful about it, he even had to admit it himself; it was really fun getting to do this again.
He wasn't the only one thinking this; Bruce too was thinking the exact same thing as John Dory cheered happily, "Ah, yes, we still got it"!
"Oh, tell me that didn't feel good," Bruce added as the two eldest siblings headed back to the counter.
Poppy saw how genuinely happy Branch looked as he said, still shocked himself by how excellent the performance went, "I can't believe I remembered every word and every step"!
"Looks like your band days aren't behind you," Poppy told her boyfriend before she gave him what sounded like a seductive purr, and it all the more made Branch blush happily and his heart pound heavily.
Seeing how well that performance went gave Bruce all the more motivation to join in on the trip to help save Floyd! But, before he could go, he had to let Brandy know where he was gonna be going. He approached his wife, asking her slowly, "Um, Brandy, my love. So, I know we have kind of a lot going on here, but do you think it would be crazy if I were to-
Brandy, who was busy managing some orders, replied, "Uh, leave me here to manage the restaurant and all these kids so you can go on a musically charged rescue mission with your brothers"?
"Yeah...that," Bruce hesitantly answered, unsure if his wife would be ok with letting him go on this mission.
but to his surprise, Brandy was all the more happy and willing to let Bruce do this rescue mission, telling him as she got one of their kids out of the ketchup bottle, "It'd be crazy if you didn't. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't help your brother."
She then added as a form of compromise, "And you can cover when I go on my girls yoga retreat next month...all month," and while the idea of managing the restaurant for a whole month while Brandy'd be gone on the retreat was a bit of a task in return, but one Bruce would be more than happy to do.
Then, Brandy warned him, "But you should leave now before you get pink eye. Save yourself," and took her glasses off, revealing that she had caught pink eye, as well as some of their other kids, who all, with gross pink pupils, eagerly called out to their dad.
While a little grossed out about the pink eye, he commented, "Gross! Love you," as John Dory pulled Bruce away and towards Rhonda.
"Quick," Tiny Diamond, who had hopped out of the nachos and hopped back onto Rhonda, called out as Bruce boarded Rhonda, telling his wife, "You got this," and gave her an air kiss.
With the doors closed Rhonda then proceeded to take off, running along the sandy beaches and off towards the next location on the trip to find the rest of BroZone! with Bruce now with them, all they needed was to find Clay! No trouble in finding him next, right? ...Right?
Meanwhile, with Laguna's group, she and her friends entered the dense brush of forest that revealed the flora content that made it appear so luscious. Already, they were greeted by the sight of a beautiful curtain of blue flower petal chains, which each Troll pushed aside to enter slowly.
As they made it into the entrance, they were greeted to the sight of all sorts of flowers and plants around them! The trees were tall and blossomed with bright red roses and yellow daffodils, there were arching marigolds of pink and purple that grew above them, offering colorful shade. The bushes were alive with blue and green leaves that shined like diamonds, and leaves of all sorts of colors rained down, coloring the ground beneath them. To the Trolls, this place could only be equivalent to that of a desert oasis!
"Wow," all the Trolls said in awe.
"Hot dang, y'all! This here's beautiful," Holly commented while sniffing one of the roses that fell on the ground from the tree.
"Look at all the flowers, yo," Synth cheered as he picked up a leaf, smelling it before saying, "Ooh, smells so...Earthy."
"Golly, they look so bright and vibrant, like a rainbow," Aggie mentioned in awe while looking at one of the colorful bushes.
"It's like someone took out paint and littered everything with an abundance of beautiful colors," Melody stated happily while sniffing one of the growing marigolds.
"All the beautiful flora! It's a symphony for the eyes and mind," Dante declared in awe while flying around one of the trees.
Val looked a little bit disinterested, saying, "Eh, they're just plants is all."
"So, 'Guna, where do we go from here," Stereo asked curiously.
Laguna looked at the map before saying, "According to my map, we appear to be entering what is called the "Flower Arena." We have to go through here so that we can enter the next location that we have to go to: Bubble Swamp."
"Well, that should be a cakewalk considering how quiet and serene it is around here," McJagger commented in awe while he caught a rose and he placed it on the edge of his jacket.
"He's raheet, ay mean, y'all ken't help but admaare how beautiful everythin' looks," Buckaroo addressed while they had decorated their braids with a mix of tulips and roses.
As the Trolls made their way across the brush of flowers, Laguna was using her camera to snap pictures, commenting as she took each picture, "Wow! Wow, wow, wow! Wow, wow, wow"!
As she stood by a tree and snapped another picture, she said one more, facing her friends, "Wow," in awe.
Suddenly, from above, a gold daffodil fell forward, opened up, and closed itself upon Laguna, looking like it swallowed her whole. The sight of this caused every Troll to scream in shock of seeing their friend get "eaten."
"Laguna," McJagger cried out as he ran towards the flower, which then lifted itself up out of his reach, before more daffodils came raining down, grabbing each Troll in their mouths. Some of them tried to flee, but they got caught in the flowers' mouths as well, with Synth being the only Troll who hadn't gotten caught by a flower yet.
He saw a few daffodils approach them, stepping back nervously while saying, "Nice flowers...nice flowers." but the closer they got to him, the more panicked he got, causing him to turn nd scream, "Not nice flowers, yo," and was about to run before a daffodil had opened up under him and closed, catching him, before lifting him upward before spitting Synth out.
There were orange-and-pink magnolias that caught wind of the scenario that was going on.
Inside the daffodils, the Trolls were fighting for their lives, trying to break free. In one of them, every time Dante was able to open it, he screamed in panic while desperately trying to hold the opening of the flower so that it would not close on him. Then, the closed on him again before he spat the Classical ambassador out, with Dante flying in the air before he fell into the mouth of another daffodil, who had spat Aggie out before catching him, as Aggie ended up caught by another daffodil who spat out Low-Note Jones. It became a back-and-forth exchange, with the daffodils spitting out the Trolls and catching them again, with pollen littering the air, as everyone appeared to be flying through the air in slow motion.
In the flower that caught Laguna, the Techno quickly used her hands and feet to fight her way out on the inside, which then prompted the flower to spit her out, with the other daffodils following so and spitting out the rest of the Trolls. Everyone fell to the ground, tumbling into the leafy bushes.
As everyone tried to regain their footing, Laguna saw that someone was missing, asking as she looked around, "Where's Melody"?
The daffodil that still held onto Melody soon spat her out, the Pop/Rock Troll sent flying into a bushel of flowers that had big petals that looked like pink lips. On cue, the plants all leaned forward and proceeded to kiss her, the Pop/Rock Troll wincing, shouting, "Hey, we just met! I'm not that kind of Troll; I'm heterosexual," before the plants let her go, making her tumble to the ground.
Trying to wipe off the lipstick on her face, she plucked a nearby leaf and proceeded to use it to wipe the lipstick residue off, but didn't know that the leaf she took was from a bright bluer boxing plant, who noticed her and took the leaf-plucking VERY personally. Its shadow loomed over the Mixed Troll, who saw it and gulped nervously, saying, "Oh, geeze."
The plant proceeded to throw punches, literally, beating her over and over like a punching bag, before punching her aside, set to defend itself if necessary.
"Ooh," the Trolls commented while cringing in concern.
"That's gonna leave a mark," Val commented worryingly.
"Quick! Follow where's she going," Laguna shouted as they all quickly followed where Melody was sent flying to so they could find her and bring her back to safety.
Melody was sent flying back towards a tree, landing face-first into the trunk before falling to the ground, landing beside a bush, groaning in pain. Luckily, she wasn't in too much pain, only possessing a bruise on her left cheek, as the Pop/Rock Troll commented, "Man, who knew plants could pack such a punch"?
Then, she heard something rustling, which prompted her to be on guard in case it was something that wanted to attack her.
In the bush that she was standing next to, she saw a pair of royal blue eyes staring back at her. Melody blinked first, before the person in the bush blinked next before it then ran off in a frenzy.
"Wait, come back! I'm not gonna hurt you," Melody shouted as she tried to follow the mystery figure, but couldn't keep up as they had already run a good distance ahead of her. Seeing that she wouldn't keep up, Meldy stopped, but couldn't help but question who that person was and what they were doing out there, or if they were in any danger.
Before the Pop/Rock Troll could ponder any longer, she heard her friends' voices call out to her.
"Melly," Val's voice shouted.
"Where'd you go," Aggie's voice followed afterward.
"Ms. Song," Dante's voice followed.
"Shout if you ken hear us, girl," Holly's voice followed afterward.
"I'm coming, guys," Melody quickly shouted back before she followed the sounds of the shouts, tracing her way back over to the rest of her friends.
She quickly made her way back to the others, who were relieved to see that Melody had not been harmed to a great degree.
"Melly," Val declared as she pulled her younger cousin into a hug before eyeing the bruise on her cheek, saying, "Yikes, that doesn't look good."
"It's fine, Val," Melody commented, using her hand to cover the bruise, trying not to have Val be so worried about her, adding on, "It doesn't hurt too bad."
McJagger pulled out his first-aid kit, saying, "Not to worry about that bruise; I have the perfect cure for it," before pulling out a small ice pack and handing it to her.
Melody placed the ice pack on her cheek and sighed in relief, commenting, "That does make it feel better; thanks, McJ."
"Always happy to help keep us safe and healthy," McJagger replied as he placed his first-aid kit away.
Laguna then spoke up, saying, "Note: we're relieved that you're back safely, Melody. Now, let's see if we can try to find our way to Bubble Swamp from this point."
She inspected the map before saying, "Hmm, if we stick to going downhill here, we should be able to walk right up to the edge of the swamp. Then, once we make it, we'll need to get to the other side of the swamp, and find two twin Tikki Troll statues."
"What's a Tikki Troll," Dante asked in confusion.
"A Tikki Troll is a statue of a Tropical Troll from long ago; they said to reside in islands and tropical arenas," Laguna explained, before adding, "Once we find the statues, we'll be able to find the path that will take us into the upcoming forest."
"Then, let's roll, y'all," Holly shouted as everyone began to follow the path on the map to find Bubble Swamp.
As they were walking, Low-Note Jones commented, "Low-Note Jones is very curious to know what Bubble Swamp is like since it sounds so cheery."
"Maybe the water's full of bubble bath," Synth suggested.
"Ooh! With loofah flowers and baby rubber duckies swimming in the water," Dante added on in intrigue.
"Nah, I doubt that a swamp would be full of bubble bath," Val debuted.
"Val makes ayy good point," Holly agreed before suggesting, "Maybe the water's capable of making bubles of all shapes and sizes"!
"Like heart-shaped bubbles or bubbles in the shape of musical instruments," Aggie asked curiously.
"Yeah," Holly replied, adding, "Y'all could play ayy bubble pianio, aw kick around ayy bubble soccer ball"!
"Or even eat a bubble ice cream cone," Stereo added while licking her lisp eagerly.
"Yuck," Melody replied while sticking her tongue out, saying, "You can't eat that; you'd be swallowing soap, not ice cream."
"Hey, a Troll could dream, right," Stereo replied.
"Well, whatever the matter is, I'm sure Bubble Swamp will be as cheery as it sou-," McJagger started to say before everyone stopped when they saw what was ahead of them, and they were pretty surprised.
They had made it to where Bubble Swamp was, and it looked...far more depressing than its name gave off. The swamp grounds were dark green and muddy, with fuzzy green moss growing on the ground, the sounds of birds screeching emitting through the air, bugs flying about, and the swamp itself looked like one giant pool of yuck.
"On second thought, names can be deceiving," McJagger commented in surprise.
"Are we sure this is the right place," Aggie asked in confusion.
"It primarily looks like a swamp, but it looks so...dark," Val stated in uncertainty.
Laguna looked at the map and compared it to the place, saying, "Well, it matches the picture on the map. It must be the place: Bubble Swamp."
The Trolls walked all the way to the edge of the swamp, gazing at the scenery around them. The sight of the large, massive swamp greeted them, with murky grey, thick, bubbly water that emitted a lot of bubbles that floated up into the air before popping. There were large swamp trees with purple fruit growing from their branches and massive leaves that could shade anyone from the sun.
Just from seeing the swamp water alone, the Trolls felt very unsure about how they were gonna cross it.
"Ok, there is NO way I'm stepping foot in THAT," Val commented while looking very disgusted.
"Yeah, that there water's so nasty, ay ken feel ever' strand ov my hair dying out," Holly commented while clutching her head.
One bubble floated up towards Aggie before it popped, emitting a scent that Aggie smelled before recoiling back, holding her nose while saying, "The water reeks as bas as it looks"!
Synth looked at the water and saw a green glowing fish with a bright orange underbelly that glowed in the dark, and big yellow teeth, jump out of the water and almost bite his npose off, causing Synth to shout and step back, saying, "Yo, we ain't gonna swim in this, right? Those fishes look ready to make us their lunch, yo"!
Laguna was thinking about the situation, commenting, "Note: it is quite obvious that we can't physical cross these waters ourselves. But perhaps if we had a floatation device or a boat, we could cross it safely without having to touch the water."
"Good idea, 'Guna," Low-Note Jones commented, adding, "And luckily for us, Low-Note Jones happens to have been building a boat for this exact moment."
Then, his eyes widened in realization before he added with a small frown, "Though, Low-Note Jones just remembered that it is left back up on the Vibe Town spaceship."
"Whel, there goes that idea," Buckaroo declared with a sigh.
McJagger then came up with a suggestion, saying, "Well, if it's so easy to build a boat, why don't we just build one now? We can use the old trees around the swamp to build a raft, and tie it up with some rope and vine."
"But those bitey fish might bite through the wood," Stereo pointed out worryingly.
Laguna herself was feeling her head twist, trying to think of some form of idea to help get everyone to the other side of the swamp safe and sound, as she commented, "Note: there has to be some logical solution. If we all stand here, we won't be able to get anywhere, or be any closer to finding my mom."
"But if we go out into those waters, we'll either be metaphorically swimming with the fishes, no offense to the Technos," Melody stated in concern before adding, "Or we'll stink like we've been metaphorically swimming with the fishes"!
"Dante and I could fly everyone above the swamp, but we don't have enough strength to carry everyone together," Aggie mentioned.
"Well, we gotta do something before something comes out and tries to eat us," Val pointed out.
Just then, there was a rumbling sound that the Trolls heard, and they could feel it min the ground beneath them that something was vibrating, but it wasn't an earthquake. This signaled to them that there was something coming their way, and judging by how fast the vibrating of the ground got, it was coming fast!
"Really, Thundershock? Ya had ta say that," Buckaroo scolded the Rock ambassador.
"Don't blame me for this happening; it was just some lucky timing," Val quickly debuted.
"What is making the ground shake like this," Dante asked worryingly.
"Whatever's coming this way is coming fast, guys," McJagger quickly warned everyone.
"Brace yourselves," Laguna shouted as everyone held on tight to each other and braced for what was coming their way.
In the distance, small quadruped feet could be seen running on the ground rapidly, with pebbles on the ground shaking due to its heavy body weight. There was a looming shadow of what appeared to be a large figure that was running, heading towards the Trolls.
Once they were in its sight, the figure ran right up to them, appearing to look like it was gonna run them over. Instead, what really happened was once it was close enough, the mysterious figure came to a sudden halt, right in front of the Trolls.
Everyone slowly opened their eyes when they didn't feel something hit them, and they saw what it was that had stopped in front of them. To their surprise, it was an Angler Bus from the Rock Tribe and not just ANY Angler Bus, but this was the one that Barb used most of the time to travel! What on Earth was it doing here?!
"Hold up, yo, ain't that.." Synth asked in curiosity.
"Barb's Angler Bus," McJagger asked, confused to see it.
"What in haybales is it doin' here," Holly asked while raising a curious eyebrow.
Suddenly, the zipper mouth moved, allowing it to open its mouth and let whoever was inside come out, and who it was that was currently standing on its tongue, which became let out so the person inside could walk out onto the ground in front of it, why it was none other than...
"S'up, guys," Queen Barb greeted everyone as she stood on the ground, with arms happily crossed and a determined grin.
"Queen Barb," Val and Melody quickly shouted in excitement, both Trolls running up to their leader and high-fiving her before the trio proceeded to shoot the Rock hand gesture proudly in unison.
"Queen Barb? Oh-ho-ho, what a world," Low-Note Jones happily commented with a chuckle.
"Queen Barb," Laguna commented, surprised to see the Rock Queen, asking her, "What are you doing here"?
"You think that we'd miss the chance to go on an adventure like this," Barb replied.
"Wait, did you say "We," Val asked her queen.
On cue, instead of saying the answer, Barb simply lifted her arm, gesturing for everyone to look up and see who else came along with Barb.
Exiting the Angler Bus were the rest of the leaders, sans Poppy and her boyfriend Branch: Trollzart, Delta, Quincy and Essence, and Trollex.
Everyone was surprised to see that their leaders were here, and had somehow found them while they were out on the expedition.
"Maestro," Dante eagerly greeted Trollzart, flying up toward the conductor as both Classical Trolls greeted each other with a courteous bow.
"Delta," Holly happily cheered as she galloped up to Delta, the pair hugging for a bit.
"Boss," Buckaroo declared excitedly, the two sharing a hug as they also high-hoofed one another.
"Howdy, you two," Delta commented, titling her hat.
"Your funkiness," Low-Note Jones commented as he and McJagger approached the Funk leaders, with McJagger adding, "I can't believe you guys found us out here"!
"Well, it helps that we used some of our Funk tech to locate where you guys had gone," King Quincy commented with a chuckle.
"And we're glad to see that everyone's been doing ok while out on your trip," Essence added happily.
Trollex was the last Troll leader to exit the bus, but he was a little bit bothered by it, mainly because being on the Angler Bus brought back some bad memories from during the World Tour when he got captured, and he made sure Barb knew, telling her off sternly, "That's the last time I voluntarily agree to ride your stupid bus, Barb."
"You had no choice, fish boy," Barb quickly argued, pointing out, "We couldn't walk here, and the Vibe City ship was out of commission."
Trollex grumbled under his breath, pinching his eyes.
Luckily, his mood was quickly lightened up when he saw Synth eagerly running up to him, shouting happily, "Bro"!
"Bro," Trollex cheered as both twin brothers hugged one another before doing rave motions in sync, shouting, "Yea-eah"!
"Your majesty," Stereo commented in surprise, bowing towards Trollex before saying, "What an a-meh-meh-meh-mazing surprise"!
Trollex then laid eyes on one Troll who was more than happy to see Trollex, as Aggie flew up to Trollex and kissed him on the lips, the pair locking lips for a while before Aggie commented, "I've missed getting to kiss your cute face."
"Well, I've missed getting to kiss yours too," Trollex replied with a big smile, the pair kissing again before Aggie stepped back.
"Your Technoness," Laguna commented, very surprised to see her own king, as well as the other leaders, here, and asked them, "While we're all very happy to see you, what are you guys doing here"?
"Well, Laguna, to put it lightly, we all came to help with the your search for your mom," Trollex replied humbly.
Laguna gasped in surprise, asking, "You..know about that"?
"Wait, how in the hey do y'all know about that," Buckaroo asked in confusion.
Aggie shuffled her foot and confessed, "OK, I admit it; I told them earlier before we left. I was a little bored, so I told the leaders about what we were doing and where we were going."
"Ayn' we all wanted ta help too, so we came lookin' faw y'all so we could offer our services on your search expedishun," Delta replied.
"Your Majesties, you didn't need to do all this," Laguna stated, feeling very shocked, yet at the same time, honored that the leaders wanted to help.
"While yes, we didn't need to," King Quincy started to say.
"We volunteered," Queen Essence added to the sentence.
"As leaders, it's our responsibility to help any Troll with whatever it is that they need or desire to do," Trollzart added on.
"Which includes you, nerd," Barb added as a playful gesture, but with sincerity to choosing to volunteer to help.
"Plus, Laguna, you're one of my people, and it's my duty as king to help my people, no matter what," Trollex mentioned as well.
Laguna couldn't help but feel very grateful how the leaders were even willing to take the time to help her outwith looking for her mom. She had a very grateful smile as she told the leaders, "Thank you, your Majesties. Words can't even express how much I'm in gratitude for this."
"You don't have to thank us; it's what we do, as leaders, and as friends," Trollzart replied.
"Like we said before, we're not just friends, we're all one big, happy family," Aggie declared.
"And family looks out for family," McJagger added.
"Ayn' speakin' ov lookin' out, seems laake we've arrived just in taame ta help y'all across that there swamp," Delta stated.
"Yes, please," everyone in Laguna's group said in unison, prompting the Trolls to all look at one another before smiling and breaking into laughter.
Laguna showed the leaders the map, explaining, "We need to get across this swamp so that we can find these twin Tikki Troll statues; they're our next landmark to get to the Catacombs of Music."
"Well then, everyone, hop on board the bus; this baby can float us to the other side," Barb declared while patting the side of the Angler Bus.
On cue, everyone started to board onto the Angler Bus, and once there was no more Troll outside, it zipped its mouth closed, safe and secured.
Everyone found a place to sit before the bus started to walk backward a bit, wanting to get a running start to head into the swamp water. When it made a good distance between itself and the swamp, it started to run, its little feet moving as fast s it could.
Everyone could feel the bus running and held onto something so they would't be too rattled once it made its splashy landing.
Once the bus was close enough, it made a grand leap and landed into the water with a mighty splash, before it started to float on the water, just like a sailing boat.
"We're off to the Tikki Troll statues," Laguna's voice could be heard declaring as the bus began to make it long sailing trip to the next location.