Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 67: Rallying the Newts

Anne was sitting at the edge of a bridge. In her hand was a polaroid of her alongside her best friend Marcy, Drake the friend she was unsure about, and Sasha her ex best friend. She felt a tightness in her stomach the longer she stared at the photo. Was it anger? Frustration? She still wasn't sure.

"Hey Anne?" a young pink frog sat next to her. It was her bestie Sprig. "Are you... okay?"

Anne looked down at the photo again. "I really thought she had changed. I guess I was wrong."

"Maybe she won't change. I mean... she was kind of... totally evil." Sprig said.

Anne didn't argue. "Don't get me wrong, I love the time we spent together. But I was really looking forward to going home. Now, I don't know if I ever will."

She felt Sprig cling onto her. "Don't worry Anne. We'll fix this somehow."

Anne smiled. "Thanks Sprig. As for Drake, I still don't know how I should feel about what he did. He stole the music box, sided with Sasha, betrayed us."

Sprig looked up at her. "You heard what King Andrias said. I couldn't believe it either but there's no other explanation. Maybe his loyalties lie with Sasha."

"I just don't understand why he would side with her. After everything she's done? After betraying our trust twice? Can't he see she's manipulating him?" Anne complained.

"Yeah, and he went on and on about how King Andrias was manipulating us." Sprig joked.

Anne kept silent. She tried to focus on the comfort Sprig was offering her but her thoughts kept returning to Drake. Was King Andrias the reason he betrayed them? It very well could be and even if that was the case, Sasha was the bigger threat. That should have been obvious when she took over Newtopia.

Regardless of his reasons, he was the enemy now. Stopping Sasha was top priority. This meant Drake needed to be stopped as well.

Anne broke the embrace. "Hey, we're not getting anything done by sitting here and feeling bad. We need to do whatever we can to stop Sasha!"

"Yeah!" Sprig jumped.

The two took a walk around Newtopia. The one busy streets were now heavily damaged, a direct result of Sasha's troops sacking the city. For the first time in possibly decades, it looked as though Newtopia may one day become nothing more than a ruin.

Some establishments were permanently closed down. Such as the arcade Anne, Sprig and Polly tried to enter but was banned from during their first visit to Newtopia.

Not even Newtopia's greatest landmarks were spared from the devastation. Places such as the aquarium looked as though it may never truly recover. The windows were broken and the inside looked to be empty.

The people of Newtopia were stuck picking up the pieces. The future wasn't looking bright and for many people, hope seemed to have been lost. Anne knew what she needed to do. She found a nearby box and stood on top of it.

Anne started a speech. "Everyone! I know you're all upset, but you can't lose hope. That is what they want."

A small number of newts stopped and listened. It was mostly out of curiosity but most continued on their day, ignoring Anne. That small crowd of newts began to grow as Anne continued her speech.

At another part of the city, Hop Pop was watching Polly walk around in an empty street. Frobo stood off to the side, watching the whole affair.

"Remember, one foot forward then the other one." Hop Pop said.

Polly stepped forward, carefully trying to maintain her balance. "Alright, I think I got it."

"Alright, now walk to me." Hop Pop ordered. His arms were held out in front of him, ready to lift Polly once she arrived.

Polly moved her left foot forward, then her right foot. She was careful not to cross her legs as she walked. After some time repeating that motion, she made it to Hop Pop.

He picked her up. "That's my baby."

Suddenly, distant cheers were heard. That was strange, the city was usually extremely silent. Hop Pop, Frobo, and Polly curiously walked in the direction of the noise. The group arrived at a large crowd gathered around Anne who was standing on a box.

"Let's show those toads they can't push us around!" Anne yelled so the people in the back of the crowd could hear her.

The crowd erupted into cheers as Anne stepped off the box. She noticed Frobo which meant Polly and Hop Pop couldn't be too far away. The crowd was beginning to disperse now that Anne's speech was over.

"Wow Anne, that was some speech." Sprig said.

"Yep, I just saw how bad things were and felt they needed inspiration. Everyone needs a little motivation once in a while." Anne explained. She found Hop Pop and Polly near the back of the crowd.

"Hey Hop Pop! Did you hear Anne's speech?" Sprig asked.

"Yes, yes. It was great." Hop Pop said. "Look Anne, I get what you're trying to do but giving out a speech like that is dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Anne was surprised.

Sprig and Polly were just as surprised to hear Hop Pop's disapproval.

"Why would this be dangerous?" Polly asked.

"A war is brewing, and we're not really soldiers. We should keep our heads down and leave this to the professionals. They know what they're doing." Hop Pop explained.

"We can't just sit back and do nothing. Every day we wait, Sasha is planning something." Anne protested.

"What if Sasha ends up winning?" Sprig asked.

"I agree. I'm just worried we may end up doing something we'll regret." Hop Pop said.

"If we try to run from this, it will come to us. Something needs to be done." Anne said.

"We don't know if what we're doing is actually helping the soldiers. They have enough to worry about. We'll talk with King Andrias about this. He'll know what to do." Hop Pop said.

Author's Note

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Looks like Anne is adding her own contribution to the war. Only time will tell how her presence will affect the outcome of the siege. Still, the siege seems to be going in Sasha's favor.

I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about the first kill I am going to make with this arc. Now I am ready to start crossing off names on that kill list. Let's go with something small first.

Also, if you want to guess at either who I am going to kill, or which characters are on my kill list. I'm interested in hearing what people's predictions are.