20. A Brief Interlude

Chapter 20: Brief Interlude

"I've been thinking a lot about Sasha since the toad incident. About how it was her example that gave me the strength to stand up for everyone. Would I have been able to do it if I'd never known her? I'm not sure I would. I'm just glad I've been able to draw on her for inspiration in these tough times. I'm really lucky to have known her, and I'm sure she's doing well out there without me to drag her down. I just hope I can keep living up to what she taught me on that playground, so many years ago."

Damn it, Anne, why do you keep doing this to me, Sasha mused as she once again found herself fighting back tears.

This would've been around the time of the heron attack, she realized. It was just after that that Bog and his crew had returned to report the presence of another strange creature in the valley town of Wartwood.

Looks like that day was a turning point for both of us, she realized. That was the day that Sasha had fully thrown in her lot with Grime and his soldiers, and apparently it was also the day Anne truly became a citizen of Wartwood. And the day that had set them on paths that would inevitably collide catastrophically.

"Don't tell me you've been reading that journal again," Grime's disapproving voice rumbled from behind. "You know what that does to you."

Sasha gently closed the notebook and laid it aside. "It doesn't do that all the time, Grimesy," she denied even as she brushed away the few errant tears she couldn't suppress. "It's… actually really funny for the most part. You know, fun little one-offs where amusing misunderstandings lead to fun adventures and valuable lessons being learned." She sighed. "But then every once in a while, it hits you in the feels."

"You can stop any time, you know," Grime reminded her. "And if we're going to be honest, I'm fairly sure reading someone else's diary is considered 'not cool.'"

"Yeah, well…" Sasha paused, her eyes darting back and forth. The thought had definitely occurred to her when she'd found the journal a few days prior, just before the attack of the "Golden Boss" (as they'd decided to call it). These are Anne's private thoughts, she had reminded herself, her deepest, darkest secrets. They are absolutely none of your business. But in the end, she could not resist.

Over the next few weeks, in between battles with Andrias's robot hordes and fortifying Wartwood, Sasha had spent a good deal of her time reading Anne's journal. It had proven useful; she'd gotten some insight into Wartwood's locals and their habits, smoothing out the learning curve of learning to live in a rural farm community after three months living exclusively with brutish toads and two more lived on the run from the authorities. But more than that, it made her feel as if her friend was still right there in the room with her. Not an entire world away, and… maybe not even her friend anymore.

Sure, they'd fought side by side when Andrias had revealed his true colors, but Sasha was under no illusion that things had been magically mended between them. Sasha knew that she would have to work to fix their relationship, and that there was a very real possibility that it couldn't be fixed no matter what she did. But she knew she would sure as hell try.

"…maybe I was meant to find it," she finally justified. "Like she left it here for me."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to justify it, I suppose," Grime remarked dismissively. "I just came to tell you that our intelligence network suggests we're about to have company."

Sasha put down the journal. "No rest for the wicked, huh. What is it this time?"

"Unknown. Rumor has it Andrias is testing new models. One is even said to be able to turn invisible."

"Great. Invisible robots. As if we didn't have enough problems." She rubbed her forehead in annoyance. "Do we have any idea on when this thing's going to get here?"

"I'd say…"

Suddenly, something crashed through the wall. Sasha felt something long and metallic wraparound her body, squeezing the breath out of her. She could swear she heard a mechanical chuckle. Great. He's building them with a sense of humor now.

"…now," continued Grime, his good eye glowing as he hefted his Warhammer.

"Don't swing that thing in here," Sasha gasped. "You can't hit what you can't-"

Grinning, Grime activated the warhammer's thruster, using the exhaust smoke to reveal the robot's outline. Without missing a beat, he swung it in the general direction of the robot's chest, denting its armor and temporarily short-circuiting its cloaking device. It was a model neither had seen before, taller, with longer, thinner limbs and a prominent head fin. The robot let go of its target as it retreated.

"Well. I guess you can," Sasha corrected herself.

"Yes. Now I suggest we press our advantage while we have it," Grime exhorted. Sasha nodded, grabbing her swords as the two chased the robot. Catching up wasn't too difficult as the robot had sustained quite a bit of damage from the hammer's blow, and was moving erratically and clumsily. Grime leaped over it, cutting off its escape. The robot stopped as suddenly a beam of light projected from a disc on it's shoulder pad, resolving into a floating image of King Andrias's upper body.

"Well," it said, "Looks like there's still a few bugs in this model. I thought it'd be more sturdy than the one I sent after your friend."

"You sent one after Anne?"

"Oops, spoilers!" the Andrias hologram replied jovially. "Never mind that. It's not like you can do anything about it anyway. In fact, I'd be more worried about yourself. I was going to have my Cloak-Bot bring you two in… after all, there's nothing like a public execution… but I'll settle for the next best thing."

The robot's chest slid oped, revealing a screen with a digital countdown. "BYE-BYE." It said, letting out another of those creepy mechanical chuckles.

"Shame about… what was it now? Zitburg? Pimpleton? Eh, it doesn't matter, it'll be a crater now." With that, the hologram blinked out.

"I don't get it, do the descending numbers have any significance?" asked Grime, puzzled.

"It's a countdown. It's going to self-destruct!"

"That's not good."

"YA THINK?!" Sasha snapped sarcastically. "Just knock that thing into the sky.

"I'm not sure I can knock it high enough."

"We can." Sasha replied, grabbing hold of the hammer's handle. The two swung the hammer with everything they had, their combined strength adding to the hammer's innate power, knocking the robot up into Amphibia's stratosphere where it exploded in a spectacular display.

"Well, that'll attract some attention…" Grime muttered.

"WHAT?" Sasha replied, her ears ringing.

"WHAT?" echoed Grime.

"Ugh, I hope this doesn't last long," muttered Sasha.

"WHAT?"

True enough, the pyrotechnics had attracted Wartwood's citizens.

"Fireflyworks? Swamphallow's Eve ain't for months," remarked Mrs. Croaker. "You spooked poor Archie." The spider whimpered fearfully.

"It was another robot attack. Just one this time. We took care of it," explained Sasha. No need to worry the people with details. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get back to what I was doing."

"Y'mean reading Anne's diary?" asked Wally.

Sasha blushed. "I don't-"

"I don't blame her. It's a pretty good read," remarked Loggle.

"Yeah, she's got a real talent for description," added Soggy oe.

"Ehhh, her action scenes could use a little work," critiqued Ivy.

"Wait," Sasha asked, confused, "you've all been reading her diary? That's-"

"…not cool?" Grime supplied with a smirk.

"Shutup," muttered Sasha.

"Actually, it's inspired me to come up with my own story," Chuck interjected. "It's about this young frog who gets magically transported to another world, where he's adopted by a family of talking lizards. Now, these lizards live under the oppression of a warlike race of crocodiles, who themselves are dominated by a highly advanced society of turtles. I call it… *jazz hands* Reptillia." He paused to let it sink in.

"Well, that's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Mayor Toadstool judged.

"Yeah, it's way too farfetched," agreed Duckweed. "Talking lizards? The very idea is patently absurd. Now, Maddie's story about a frog befriending a witch and a demon… that's got potential."

"Stick to tulips," added Mr. Flour.

"Everyone's a critic," grumbled Chuck.

"I can't help but notice you glossed over the threat that robot posed, Sasha," Grime whispered as they left.

"Wartwood's got enough to worry about right now," explained Sasha. "Besides, I doubt he's got that many of the cloak-bots. It seems like he just uses them to take out specific targets, like us and…" She took a deep breath.

"Sasha, if I have learned anything about Anne and the Plantars in my, admittedly, brief association with them, it is that they are very capable. If anyone can survive an encounter with a robotic assassin, they can. Plus she has that magical glowing thing, right?"

"I… guess that's true," admitted Sasha.

"So, you can stop worrying about them."

"Yep."

"…you won't stop worrying about them."

"Nope."

Grime nodded. "My sister is one of the fiercest, deadliest warlords on the continent. I have utmost faith that she can handle anything that comes her way."

"You're worried sick about her."

"Obvy. You can't control your feelings, but you owe it to your friend to trust in her. It helps, believe me."

"I guess you're right." She sighed. "I wish she trusted in me still, but I kinda killed that."

"Give it time," Grime suggested.

"Time may be the one thing we don't have," came a voice from behind them. The two turned to face a tall, orange-skinned newt with short upswept blond hair. Her battered armor spoke of the many battles she'd been to make it here. Sasha's hands immediately went to her swords, but the newcomer held up her hand. "I'm not here to fight. I've had about enough of that just getting here. I'm here to deliver a warning."

"You work for the king. Why should I believe you?" asked Sasha suspiciously.

"Because…" She struck a dramatic pose, "I am Yunnan. Scourge of the Sand Wars, Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and…. Traitor to the King." Symbolically, she removed her claws. "He is no longer worthy of my allegiance."

Grime raised an eyebrow. "So, this warning of yours… is it that he's gone mad? That he commands a seemingly endless horde of mechanical soldiers? Because we are already well aware of that, thank you."

"This is far worse," the ex-general replied. "What few people are aware of is that the King is not acting on his own. He works at the behest of an ancient intelligence called the Core, an amalgam of all the most brilliant minds in Amphibia's history."

"So some big brain is in charge. Potato-tomahto, as Anne would say," retorted Sasha. "How is this important."

"Because Andrias has found a living host for that 'big brain'. Your friend, Marcy Wu."

Sasha's eyes widened. Though Yunnan's warning was full of dire information, one word stood out. Living.

"Marcy's alive?"

"Sasha, I don't think that was the most pertinent bit of inf-" interjected Grime.

"Get everyone together," Sasha interrupted. "We've got planning to do." She eyed Yunnan. "You too, stretch."

"Sasha?"

"It's time to take the fight to the King," Sasha stated. "We're getting Marcy back."

A.N.: An entirely original chapter? Yep! Because a straight adaptation of "Prison Break" simply wouldn't fit what I have planned for his story.

As you can guess, this is the very same journal Sasha finds in "Turning Point". Which means that the series will end on "Battle of the Bands" since that's the canonical end of the journal (she left it in Wartwood, so she wouldn't have been able to chronicle the events of "True Colors" and onward). What'll I do from then onward? I have some ideas but it's still a long way off, so don't expect me to talk about those plans for a while.

Jose: Yep, slow to accept they may be, but accept they did. Seems like Sasha dd a speed run though…

Next: Grubhog Day