Chapter Five: Hop Luck

"You have to hit harder than that!"

It was another beautiful day in the world of amphibians, and another week of training between Anne and Shadow, the latter easily blocking the strikes from the former, Shadow still having a relaxed stance and using the weapon with his left hand while Anne was swinging down with both hands on the handle of her sword, maintaining her stance while she tried to get a hit in, while at the same time defending herself as best she could from his own attacks, all the while Sprig and Polly were watching from the sidelines.

"BREAK HER LEGS!" Polly yelled, clearly siding with Shadow.

"Come on, Anne! Show 'em who's boss!" Sprig chimed in, showing support for Anne.

Anne brought her sword down, Shadow blocking before crouching into a leg sweep, only for Anne to jump to evade, only for the boy to turn and lift his leg into a kick, knocking her out of the air and sending her tumbling into the dirt.

"Another lesson of combat." Shadow stated. "Always expect the unexpected from your opponents." He then helped her up before noticing how tired she looked. "Let's take a break. We've been going for hours now."

Nodding, Anne nearly collapsed when she sat near the Plantar kids, letting out a loud sigh before taking what looked like the longest swig of water.

"Man, you're being worked to near death." Sprig commented. "I can't tell if that's good or bad."

"Well, I'm getting the hang of some stuff." Anne admitted. "Still, I think I could learn more."

"Sure, you still have a lot to learn, and you've yet to master what I've taught you." Shadow said honestly. "But you're still making progress."

"Usually, I don't meld well with teachers." Anne said. "But I'm more invested with you."

"I'm glad to hear that." Shadow smiled. "Now, anything else you can tell about your home life?"

"Boy, do I?!" Anne exclaimed before fishing her phone out to show them pictures of her life on Earth.

"And this bad boy is my kitty Domino."

The kids spent the next several minutes looking at pictures of Anne's home on Earth, now watching a video of a small cat with mostly black fur, white paws, huge black eyes, white fur on her chest, and a splotch of white on the end of her tail.

"You guys would love her." Anne said with a proud smile. "She's got fire."

"Ooh!" Sprig said in awe as he held the phone.

"Aw, she's so tiny! I feel HUGE!" The hyperactive Polly exclaimed.

"Did you have any pets, Shadow?" Anne asked.

"I tried to have a pet mantis before." Shadow shrugged. "Sadly, it got too big for the hut, so I had to let Cutter go."

"Hmm…" Sprig hummed as he looked at the video. "I will…" He then reached behind his back. "…set her free!"

Anne quickly swiped her phone away before Sprig could bring a hammer down upon it, hitting the ground instead.

"Please don't do that ever again." She requested, Shadow chuckling at their antics.

Suddenly, there was a terrible stench in the air, one that the teens noticed quick.

"Ugh, what is that?" Anne asked as she pinch her nose shut. "Did something crawl under the house and die?"

"Worse, Anne." Shadow said with dread written on his face. "Much worse."

Sprig nodded, with as much dread on his face, "Hop Pop is cooking!"

The four kids left the forest clearing before arriving at the Plantar house, Shadow wearing a makeshift gasmask out of a small bag with leaves on the sides.

"Brace yourself." Sprig warned as he put a hand to the door handle.

"Brace myself for what?" Anne asked.

The moment Sprig opened the door, a horrible smell that built up inside the house blew out, knocking Anne on her back while she still held Polly in her bucket, and sending Sprig flying, the young frog screaming as he flew, while Shadow stood in place.

"Always knew this thing would come in handy." The boy remarked.

The kids entered the house to see Hop Pop preparing some unholy concoction on the stove where the terrible stench was coming from, the old frog chopping up some grub and dropping them in the boiling pot.

"So, what's the plan this year, Hop Pop?" Sprig said as he popped in. "Poison the competition?"

This earned him a light bop on the head from Hop Pop's spoon, "The plan is to win."

"Win what?" Anne asked, still pinching her nose.

"The annual village potluck." Shadow stated.

"Every year, we frogs gather for a great contest." Hop Pop explained as he pointed his spoon at several pictures of winners of previous potlucks. "The family who brings the best-tasting dish is showered with love and copper coins. The family with the worst-tasting dish spends the night in…" He then pointed outside where a cage was being suspended in a tree, with the word 'SHAME' nailed on top. "…the SHAME CAGE!"

There was a bolt of lightning clapped across the sky.

"Brutal." Anne commented.

"And guess which family ends up there every year." Sprig said, before all three Plantars give a collective sigh.

Anne looked at the frogs and frowned, feeling genuinely upset at them feeling sad and miserable, especially after they had shown her such kindness. With determination, she slammed a fist on the countertop.

"Well, if you think I'm gonna let my favorite froggy family end up in a cage, you've got another thing coming!" The Thai girl declared. "I know I'm not living in your basement, let alone not a Plantar, but maybe I can help!"

"Anne, we'd appreciate the help." Sprig smiled before looking at the boy. "What about you, Shadow?"

"I don't see why not." Shadow shrugged. "Besides, making sure the old man doesn't end up in a cage would help pay off my debt."

"Shadow, I already told you before-" Hop Pop tried to say.

"Well, why don't we get started." Anne said as she looked at the boiling pot with squinted eyes. "So, what're you making over there, Hop Pop? Sock gumbo?"

"It's a traditional recipe, silly." Hop Pop stated as he held up his 'Ye Olde Ways' cookbook. "From my family's cookbook. We been using this baby since I was a pollywog."

"May I?" Shadow asked, the old frog giving him the book and the boy quickly looked through the pages, humming to himself. "I think I understand the problem already."

The Plantars all gasped before the boy slammed the dusty old book shut, "This old thing is likely to poison someone rather than sate an appetite. You keep losing because you're using 'recipes' that never worked in the first place."

"Yeah, you're right!" Anne said in realization. "Old things are dumb!"

Shadow proceeded to throw the book behind him, Hop Pop catching it with his tongue before it hit the ground.

"Oh, that makes sense." Polly nodded.

"It's all so clear now." Sprig agreed.

"But we Plantars have always cooked with these recipes." Hop Pop argued. "What would my great-gam-gam say?" He pointed at a portrait of a really old female frog knitting a blanket with "TRADITION MEANS EVERYTHING" on it.

"She'd say 'move on'." Anne said with a stern look.

Hop Pop sighed in defeat, "She was a fierce woman."

"Look, if you're gonna win this, you're gonna need something new, something fresh." Shadow declared. "Something revolutionary, that's different from everything else."

"And I have just the thing!" Anne declared before pulling up her phone and pressing a few keys before showing it to everyone. "Pizza!"

"Wow." Sprig said in awe at the picture of the dish.

"I don't know what it is, but I love it." Polly shared her brother's awe.

"It certainly looks appetizing." Shadow admitted. "I wonder what I've been missing over the last fifteen years…"

"Pizza is the ultimate dish." Anne declared with a confident smile. "You haven't lived until you've shared one with your friends at the mall!"

"Now, hold on, before we get carried away," Hop Pop interjected, desperate to convince his grandkids to stay with tradition. "What about this tried-and-true recipe?" He then opened the cookbook to a page with a rather disgusting looking pie. "Swamp mold pot pie!"

Shadow, on the other hand, wasn't having it, closing the book in his hands, "More like tried and failed miserably."

"Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" Anne, Sprig, and Polly started chanting.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh." Hop Pop said begrudgingly.

"We'll win for sure with this, Hop Pop!" Sprig declared before pulling out a hammer. "Now all we gotta do is-"

Anne swiped her phone away before Sprig could attempt to smash it, then cleared her throat, "All we gotta do is get four ingredients-" She said before typing in several commands before showing a picture of the four ingredients. "-dough, cheese, basil, and tomatoes. Are you guys ready to make our pizza dreams a reality?"

"Pizza dreams!" Sprig and Polly yelled with excitement.

Shadow only chuckled at such enthusiasm. It made him smile to see Anne bring such energy and happiness to such children.

"Oh, oh! Maybe we should put pineapple on it." Sprig said. "Seems like a natural fit."

Suddenly, Anne grabbed Sprig by the collar of his coat and pushed him against the wall, a deathly glare on her face and nearly choking the poor frog, as she menacingly whispered, "Don't you dare talk about pineapple on my pizza. Ever."

Hop Pop and Polly stared at Anne with wide eyes, shocked by this sudden aggressiveness. Even Shadow was taken by surprise by this, before soon pulling Anne away, letting go of Sprig.

"Okay, out of nowhere anger aside," He said as he turned to the Plantars with a smile. "Let's go get those ingredients."

"Pizza dreams!" Polly and Anne declared.

"Pizza dreams." Sprig choked out, still recovering.

Anne, Shadow and the Plantars went to the bakery, which was run by Mr. Flour, a blue, short frog with deep eyebrows and purple eyes. He had purple stripes and dots along his back and a light-sky-blue underbelly. He currently wore an apron with several stains and a baker's hat. He was currently kneading some dough with his own two feet. Ignoring how unsanitary it looked, Anne allowed Shadow to explain their bargain.

"And so, we require dough for our potluck dish." Shadow finished his explanation. "Do you happen to have any for sale?"

Mr. Flour stopped kneading his dough before throwing it into the oven.

"If you want the dough," The baker said before pointing at Sprig. "The boy has to marry my daughter."

They looked over to see Maddie in a dark corner of the room, the young female frog turning and stared at them with a creepy expression and an equally creepy smile, holding a Sprig doll.

"Hi, Sprig." She greeted creepily, as she slowly stabbing a small stake through the doll's heart.

"Ain't she adorable?" Mr. Flour asked with a smile, not at all bothered by the creepiness of his daughter.

"Done." Anne declared.

"Anne, must we sell Sprig's happiness like this?" Shadow frowned.

"Yeah, if we used a traditional recipe, we won't have to sell Sprig." Hop Pop chimed in.

"No! That old book is old." Anne retorted. "Besides, Sprig's eternal happiness is a small price to pay for pizza."

"Agreed." Polly said.

"Do you have any idea how wrong that sounds?" Shadow narrowed his eyes at this before turning to the baker. "Mr. Flour, can't we just buy the dough instead? With money?"

"Either the boy agrees or you get no dough." Mr. Flour countered. "My final offer."

Shadow felt his eye twitch at this.

"It's not so bad, Shadow." Sprig waved it off, unaware that Maddie was standing right behind him. "Maybe we'll learn to love each other."

When he looked behind him, he jumped with a yelp, jumping into Shadow's arms Scooby Doo fashion.

"I've seen your death in my mind." She said.

"I was kinda hopping it'd be a surprise." Sprig replied with a nervous chuckle.

"It will be." Maddie said creepily.

Shadow could hear the sinister chuckle that Sprig was hearing.

"Congratulations on your new son." Anne said. "Now cough up the dough."

"Yay!" Mr. Flour cheered in a monotone voice before tossing the roll of dough, Anne easily catching it.

"Pleasure doing business with ya." The Thai girl said with a satisfied smile.

"Well, looks like we'd better go." Shadow said as he sat Sprig down and picked up Polly in her bucket.

"Yeah, see ya." Sprig said as they started to leave.

"I wanna be the maid of honor!" Polly yelled as they left.

Maddie watched them leave, waving her dolls arm at them, "See you soon, hubby."

The group arrived at Sadie Croakers Dairy farm, Croaker Dairy, and after some bargaining, they agreed to help with one of Sadie's more aggressive caterpillars. Actually, scratch that, they were letting Shadow handle the hard work while Anne and the Plantars watched from the sidelines, while the boy was riding on the back of the caterpillar as though it were a mad bull, apparently having the time of his life.

"Yee haaaaaaww!" Shadow yelled happily, hanging on to the bull horns of the caterpillar, said caterpillar trying to throw the boy off its back.

"Thanks for helping me out!" Sadie called. "I know Brutus can be a handful!"

"What're we here for again?" Sprig asked.

"Cheese." Anne answered. "But Shadow's taking his sweet time."

"He always makes riding a caterpillar look so fun." Polly laughed at the scene.

"You know, there's a recipe in here that doesn't need cheese." Hop Pop said.

"No old recipes!" Anne snapped.

Steering the caterpillar, Shadow led the creature towards the caterpillar pen, before jumping off and shutting the gate, locking the caterpillar inside the pen.

"Okay, ride's over." He said, wiping his hands.

"Nice going, Teach!" Anne cheered as she jogged up to him. "You make it look so easy!"

"Had plenty of practice." Shadow shrugged. "Maybe sometime, I'll show you."

Anne laughed a bit, blushing at his confidence, before an angry Brutus crawled up to the pen fence and roared, startling the Thai girl.

"Here you go, dearies." Sadie approached, giving them a generously large wheel of cheese. "A hunk of cheese-" She pointed over to a pen of angry caterpillars. "-made fresh from the milk of ca-"

"Please don't tell me where it comes from." Anne quickly said.

A few hours later, Shadow walked through the forest, sword covered in insect blood, as he approached the group with a handful basil leaves, setting the leaves on the ground before Sprig grabbed a handful.

"Careful with that basil, dude." Anne warned as Sprig placed them in a small bag. "We had to fight off like ten giant aphids to get it."

"You mean I had to fight off ten giant aphids." Shadow corrected. "And it felt more like thirty. Lost count after twenty."

"I helped." Anne defended.

"Well, I'm the one who killed them, so you get no credit." Shadow smirked.

"Who knew ultimate flavor could be so painful?" Sprig said, his face covered in bruises and missing a tooth.

"Almost lost my behind to those things." Hop Pop added, showing that the but of his pants was bitten off, showing his underwear.

"This is the price of progress, Hop Pop." Sprig exclaimed.

"Exactly, and we've only got one ingredient left. Tomatoes." Anne said.

"According to this map here," Shadow pulled out a map from his pocket. "They should be up ahead."

"Still can't believe I traded my favorite dentures for that map." Hop Pop said, pulling his mouth down a bit to show off his gums, toothless, before pulling out another pair of dentures and popped them into his mouth.

"You know, I've never actually tasted a tomato." Sprig said. "No one in town really sells them."

"There's a reason for that." Hop Pop said as he flipped through the pages of his cookbook. "They're in the 'dangerous vegetables' section. It suggests we go for prunes instead. Can't go wrong with prunes!"

"Whoa-whoa, hold up." Anne said, not entirely convinced. "'Dangerous vegetables'? Come one! What's so dangerous about vegetables?"

The Thai girl stared in shock as she and the Plantars stared at the creature in front of them; a massive, three-headed carnivorous plant with three tomato-shaped heads, lined with razor sharp teeth, joined at the base of the plant where several tomatoes could be seen growing.

A dragonfly just so happened to fly too close before one of the heads reached up and clamped it between its jaws, shallowing it whole, the wings fluttering to the ground.

"I hate my big mouth sometimes." Anne said with a gulp, looking down at the tomatoes before one of the heads lowered down and roared.

Shadow was only staring at the creature with barely contained glee, a grin as wide as Texas.

"You know, this baby's got some great substitutes," Hop Pop suggested nervously, as he and the kids started to slowly back away. "All of which are delightfully harmless."

"Couldn't hurt to hear a few options." Sprig agreed.

Anne, however, ran behind them and stopped their attempt to escape, "Hold on! Guys, the shame cage isn't just in the town square." She then pointed to her head. "It's up here. You're not gonna change the world without taking a few risks. We need to be bold, groundbreaking, brave!"

As Anne spoke, none of them noticed Shadow making his way towards the creature, sword drawn and that smile never left his face.

"Anne, there's a big difference between courage and stupidity!" The old frog stated, having had enough of Anne's stubbornness.

"Uh, guys?" Polly spoke up. "Look what Shadow's doing."

Everyone turned and were shocked to see the boy running towards the creature, laughing like a maniac, as one of the creature heads moved in, the boy jumping…right into the head's open move and swallowing him whole!

"SHADOW!" Anne screamed in horror.

"Anne, don't worry too much." Hop Pop said, his shock faded away. "He always does this."

"Yeah, remember that giant snake, Anne?" Sprig chimed in. "He finds it fun."

"How does he consider THIS fun?!" Anne demanded.

The creature roared as it was about to turn its attention to Anne and the Plantars, but before it could act on anything, it felt cuts appear all over its body. Eventually, it exploded down the middle, all three heads falling over dead, and Shadow jumping from its base, covered in tomato juice, breathing heavily.

"THAT…was awesome!" He declared before picking up all the tomato's and giving one to Anne. "One fresh grown tomato!" He then held up the remain vegetables. "And the rest for my farm patch!"

Anne only looked on in shock before quickly shaking herself, "I really shouldn't be surprised, I really shouldn't."

Off in the distance, the sound of a bell tolling can be heard coming from town.

"There isn't much time!" Anne declared. "We need to get busy on this pizza, pronto!"

Back in town, the annual village potluck was about to begin, frogs all over coming to participate with their own dishes. On the long table, each contestant had their dish for tasting, and on the end of the table, Shadow, Anne and the Plantars setting up a beautifully cooked pizza.

"Absolutely perfect." Anne said before gesturing with a chef's kiss. "The ultimate dish!"

A small frog played the trumpet to signal the beginning of the contest, before Mayor Toadstool slid in, pushing the small frog to the ground before speaking, "All right! Let the annual potluck begin!"

Anne watched as the fat toad tasted the various dishes before whispering to Shadow, "How much do you wanna bet that he's just taking advantage of this competition to eat for free?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Shadow whispered back.

"And last but not least-" Toadstool soon made his way to the Plantars section, when he opened his eyes, he sighed. "-the Plantars. What filth have you cooked up this ti-" He stopped when he took a look at the pizza, his eyes widened with curiosity. "And what's this? I've never seen anything like this before."

"It's called 'pizza'." Anne stated.

"And are those tomatoes?" The mayor asked, pointing at the tomato slices. "Awfully dangerous."

He then took a slice, looking it over with a critical eye, the Plantars sweating nervously, Anne practically hugging onto Shadow, the boy simply watching with anticipation. Finally, the mayor took a bite, and almost as soon as it hit his tongue, the mayor's eyes widened with sparkles.

"It's unlike anything I've ever tasted!" He yelled before downing the slice in one gulp. "The Plantars win!"

"Say whaaaaaaat?!" Hop Pop gasped in shock.

"Did we just win?!" Polly gasped.

"We did it!" Sprig cheered, throwing a fist in the air.

After the contest, the Plantars and humans returned to the Plantar residence, everyone enjoying a slice of the leftover pizza.

"Man, this is amazing!" Sprig declared.

"My pizza dream is finally real!" Polly shouted.

"I admit, this is pretty good." Hop Pop admitted.

"You know, thinking about it, I was being pretty stubborn." Anne said, looking down. "I was so caught up with winning, I almost put you guys in harm's way."

"You were just trying to help this family out, Anne." Hop Pop said with a smile. "And that's more than enough in my book."

Anne smiled at this before looking over at Shadow, "Hey, what do you think of the pizza, Shadow?"

"I must say, it's delicious." The boy responded with a satisfied smile. "Don't suppose we can make more sometime?"

"You bet!" Anne declared, glad that everyone likes her pizza.