The group had finally united once again as they marched to the throne room. They all knew what was going to happen, what they were about to do. If any of them had second thoughts, they kept it to themselves. The only ones who were notably absent were the snapdragons.
The door to the throne room opened revealing King Andrias sitting on the throne with the music box next to him. The royal newt guard stood off to the sides like statues. Lady Olivia, General Yunan, and Marshal Kerry were already here speaking with the king.
When King Andrias noticed the newcomers, he stood up, waving the newt officials away. "Aha! Welcome back! So nice to see you all again."
"Why are they out of their cells?" General Yunan asked referring to Sasha and Grime who were both currently armed. She readied herself for a fight.
"Now, now General Yunan. They are Marcy's friends, we need to treat them with respect," King Andrias said.
General Yunan straightened herself. "Yes my king."
Andrias grabbed the box and walked down from the throne. "I wanted to thank you all for delivering the box to me fully charged."
"Yeah... about that. I'd like to hold onto that for a little longer," Anne said trying to remain diplomatic.
"Now hold on. I've waited a thousand years for this moment. Please let me enjoy it for a little longer. In fact, I think you may want to hear what I have to say next." King Andrias held the box in the middle of the room for all to see. "Long ago Amphibia was once the greatest empire to ever exist. Then under my watch, this box was stolen from us by those I foolishly believed were my friends. After a thousand years we have forgotten our legacy. But now that it has returned our glory will be restored. For you see, my ancestors weren't peaceful explorers. They were glorious conquerors!"
A small pedestal appeared in the middle of the room. King Andrias placed the box onto the pedestal causing it to glow. Immediately, the entire castle began to shake as it took off into the sky. In the distance, robots that looked almost exactly like Frobo flew into the castle.
Sprig was looking out the window. "Oh, we are way high up."
"I'm sorry Anne, but I'm afraid you can't go home just yet. After all I can't have you warning earth about the oncoming invasion. I will finish the work my ancestors have started and rule not just this world but all worlds!" King Andrias said.
"No! You won't get away with this!" Anne declared.
"Anne's right! We'll stop you!" Sasha agreed.
"You dare threaten the king in his own castle?" Kerry asked threateningly.
"Looks like the room is against you. You had that chance during the siege. Only one of you had the foresight to figure out this was going to happen. Only one of you actually stood a chance at stopping me. It's just too bad Drake isn't here to see this. He gave his life for nothing. What would he say knowing you let him down?" King Andrias said.
Anne looked to her side to see Sasha with a frown and Marcy looking defeated. She felt her own stomach churn as well. "We were so focused on each other; we couldn't see what was right in front of us. That mistake costed us our friend," Anne said sadly.
"Focus Anne! If we get that music box away from him, maybe we'll stand a fighting chance," Hop Pop said.
"What about that blue power? That might really help." Sprig suggested.
"We can't count on that. I still don't know how to call on it," Anne said.
"Wait! Andrias! You promised nobody would be hurt!" Marcy protested.
"All I needed was the music box. I would have said anything to get you to deliver it to me. I'm afraid you've been duped kiddo," King Andrias said.
"But... but..." Marcy just looked on with shock. "I thought we were friends!"
"Let me out it this way. I used you from the very beginning. You were nothing more than a means to an end," King Andrias explained.
"What about Drake? What did you do with his body?" Marcy asked.
"Oh don't worry about that. I still fully intend to keep my part of that bargain," King Andrias said.
Anne placed a reassuring hand on Marcy to calm her down. "The three of us may have made some mistakes, but you? You're evil and we're going to stop you!"
"If you're serious." King Andrias ignited a flaming sword. "Let's have some fun."
"Defend your king!" Marshal Kerry shouted.
The royal newt guard were the first to charge into battle. They were completely silent save for the clanking sounds of their armor.
Sasha charged at the nearest one to fight. She stepped to the side, avoiding a potentially fatal stab. She grabbed the halberd, holding it in place as she tripped the guard in front of her.
Polly meanwhile jumped at another royal guard and started pounding on the guard's helmet. The guard tried to pry her off his face but was reluctant to harm a tadpole that had only just grown legs.
Frobo began swinging his arms around, hitting the newt guards and knocking them unconscious.
Sprig hopped forward trying to get to the music box. As he hopped, the robots began shooting lasers at him forcing him to shift his tactics. He began jumping between the robots, trying to get them to shoot at each other while he used his mud to blind them.
While this was going on, Marcy put her rogue skills to the test. She used the distraction to sneak over to the pedestal and managed to grab the calamity box. The entire castle began to power down as everyone realized what she had done.
"The box! Stop her!" King Andrias commanded. He began running in her direction but felt metal arms wrap around him, attempting to hold him in place.
"Must help Polly!" Frobo said.
Suddenly he was sliced apart with General Yunan standing where he once stood.
"Frobo!" Polly cried out. She ran to the destroyed robot.
"Get everyone through! Me and Grime will hold him!" Sasha ordered.
Marcy quickly began tapping different parts of the calamity box, creating a bright white portal. "Come on! Into the portal everyone, hurry!"
"Come on Polly! We gotta go!" Hop Pop grabbed Polly while she was holding onto Frobo's severed head.
Anne and the Plantars were able to make it to the portal. "Marcy hurry!"
"Almost..." Marcy was focused on the box when suddenly a hand grabbed her from the side.
Marshal Kerry held onto the box and attempted to wrestle it away from her.
"Marcy!" Anne called out.
She was about to step out from the portal and help her friend when suddenly the two tripped. The box fell out of Marcy's hand and slid across the floor to the other side of the throne room. When it collided with the wall all Anne could see was a white void.
A few seconds later she found herself on the ground in the middle of what looked to be a highway. Cars were honking each other.
Polly was the first to recover. "What the...?"
"Oh my frog!" Sprig exclaimed.
"What is this place?" Hop Pop asked.
Anne looked at the familiar buildings. She knew exactly where they were. "Home..."
Author's Note
________________________________________________________________________________
I'll admit this chapter wasn't nearly as grandiose as how the original show portrayed it. Still I managed to finish this chapter before my final deadline. This wasn't easy and I second guessed a lot of decisions.
One of my goals for this chapter was to try and set things up similar to how it ended canonically. It's kind of tragic if you think about. Drake fought and died but in the end his death had no meaning.
I do have some differences planned so it's not going to play out exactly like the original show. In fact I have an idea to introduce another OC on earth. I may have hinted towards this character a few times. Go ahead and guess at who it might be.
I have to confess. I still haven't properly watched Season 3. I know what occurs but I am taking a break from the fanfic. At least until I properly watch it.
I may just put this fanfic in a temporary hiatus. There is another fanfic I am working on the side. After watching the Fallout TV series I decided to revive my fallout fanfic I wrote months ago. I may release the first chapter in that fanfic real soon. I'm curious how many of you here would be interested in that.